Just finished reading an extremely well-paced fic by Remnant_Writer called The Me I Used to Know.

The summary as written by the author:

A young woman desperate to be normal, seemingly destined to be anything but.

An emissary from another universe, searching for a way to atone for past failures.

The last bastion of reason in a bitter feud, trying to hold her fraying family together.

The strongest warrior on any world, powerless to save that which matters most to her.

Team RWBY has been fractured, and if they and the rest of Remnant are to be saved, Ruby must survive a journey across realities — and learn to understand the bond between herself and another, so powerful in all its forms that it persists across the multiverse.

A canon divergence AU focusing on the relationship between Ruby and Weiss.

Why I’m recommending it:

• It’s just under 60K words, so it’s nice and meaty without being bloated
• Each chapter is a nice bit-sized 15-ish minute read
• The prose is breezy and comfortable without any typos or odd grammar
• The pacing of the story is a match for most published fantasy books I’ve read, including the first and last chapters being very clear prologue and epilogue bookends
• It delivers its message with subtlety and grace rather than being up-front and over-the-top about it
• It made me cry

I will note that that last one isn’t exactly a high bar for me, but I always give recognition for written works that can bring tears to my eyes.

In all technicality, this is a Whiterose fic, but it is decidedly NOT a romantic fic. In point of fact, Weiss is kind of the main antagonist of the story, even if she is the one who is driving the plot along. The main focus of the fic is about dealing with grief and loss, but again it’s not trying to be an angst-fest; it touches on these themes with subtlety and grace rather than pushing it in your face. Check it out if you can. <3