#& dealing with merc and tyrian

[bestworstcase]

actually the funniest part of the ‘summer rescues them on salem’s behalf’ scenario is conceivably, if global comms are still down, norse continue to be under the impression that rwby+j are dead until the five of them turn up in vacuo with neo cinder summer rose and salem in tow. and jaune is like fifty for some reason. like this is insane right. it’s three days after atlas fell vacuo is splitting apart at the seams there isn’t enough water to go around half the refugee camp got buried in another sandstorm yesterday afternoon and the immortal witch they’ve been getting curb stomped by for a year rocks up with a wyvern and seven dead people to negotiate a ceasefire.

[anthurak]

I for one cannot wait for the Ruby/Mercury rematch where she just eviscerates his cynical let-it-all-burn worldview better than Tyrian did. Something tells me that after the past few volumes, she's going to have precisely zero patience with selfish edgelord bullshit.

The funny thing is that on the one hand, I absolutely agree that Ruby COULD tear Mercury's whole edgy worldview to shreds at this point.

But on the other hand, I feel like at this point Ruby just has WAY bigger fish to fry (Jax, Cinder, Salem, etc) to waste time on Merc.

Mercury is flat-out small potatoes to Ruby right now, and I think it's way more likely that Emerald is going to be the one to deal with him, possibly with some backup from Oscar (to provide helpful advice and giving Merc a 'kid in way over his head' to relate to) and/or Yang (to deliver a helpful and cathartic ass-kicking)

[nightofmiracles]

cinder and winter's similarities (and differences) are pretty easy to acknowledge because they meet & fight in the actual show but like

recently i realized emerald = weiss & mercury = whitley also match?

where emerald's whole thing is about looking for a family/a place to belong (like weiss' relationship with her team, away from home) and while doing so she has "left behind" mercury to deal with his very dramatic situation by himself; where he puts on a brave face like he belongs there and acts like he isn't scared shitless about having to deal with tyrian (like whitley's whole fawning trauma response to his father)

i can see the hypotetical vacuo arc starting with merc seeing her happy with new people around her, just assuming she forgot about him and abandoned him to his own fate. and tyrian fueling that feeling for him to completely isolate him, basically anchoring him to his side

[rwbyazre]

Do you have any lore about Mercury’s backstory? His mom/other parent, how they met Marcus, how it was living with him, how he got his prosthetics, etc?

Mercury's mom is a person who he both loves and hates because she ultimately chose herself. She and Marcus both worked in the assassination business, but because of his Semblance allowing him to steal others' Semblances, he was the best of the business.

And Mercury's mother hated it. They never got together officially, they never really loved each other, they just used each other for whatever they wanted.

Which ended with Mercury being born. Neither of his parents particuarly loved him as parents should, but his mother at least didn't want him to go into the assassin lifestyle when she saw how kindhearted he was, whereas Marcus wanted a child to carry on when he hoped Mercury inherited his Semblance.

Mercury didn't. He inherited his mother's style of Semblance with gravity manipulation, allowing Mercury to glide for a brief moment of time.

Marcus put him under intense abuse disguised as training, which his mother slowly started to disagree with. She didn't want Mercury to be an assassin after all, she had grown to actually care about someone in the world that wasn't herself, but that love wasn't enough when she had to choose. Either she left Marcus and Mercury, or Marcus would kill her.

So she abandoned Mercury and ran. He was twelve.

This was the catalyst of his cynicism, but that wouldn't be cemented until he was fourteen. Marcus was unhappy with his progress, and hated that the last reminder of his mother was holding him back; his Semblance. So, Marcus took it.

Obviously with Ruri's story, having your Semblance taken is not only traumatic, but agonising. Mercury is left in constant pain because of this, but he held on because of hope that, when he was stronger, Marcus would give him his Semblance back.

Only Mercury didn't know how Marcus' Semblance worked. While he can take and use others' Semblances, there's no way for him to give them back even if he wanted to. Mercury would never be able to get his Semblance back.

And when he found out by the horse's mouth, after training to the brink for months, that's when they fought. Mercury ultimately won, but Marcus destroyed his legs so badly that when Cinder and Emerald found him, he was on the brink of death.

He got his prosthetics from Watts, who also designed Tyrian's tail when that gets amputated.

So that's the basic outline of his backstory. There's a few tidbits about him, some revealed in the fic, which are:

He smokes and started when he was ten, stealing them from his mother, and then later stealing them from stores since Marcus only drank, never smoked.

His nails are painted blue and green for himself and Emerald. The blue later connects to Ilia, who he starts getting along with.

All his scars are from his training and missions gone wrong, but the long scar across his neck happened during the fight where he killed Marcus. He managed to slice Mercury's neck with a broken glass shard, but it wasn't deep enough to kill him.

He distrusts men because of his trauma under Marcus. The only person he is less distrustful of is Banesaw, and only when he sees Banesaw's devotion to Ilia. Really, Mercury is only comfortable when around women.

He's just queer. He doesn't do labels.

His eye colour before the loss of his Semblance made them grey were orange, like his mother's. He had Marcus' hair and facial features, but his eyes were the only thing besides his Semblance that he got from his mother, another motivation for Marcus to steal them.

Him and Emerald are complicated. Are they friends? Lovers? Rivals? All of the above.

Because he lived in the mountains and is part of the ethnic group that originated from the mountain range running along Vale, he can deal with rougher conditions. Add onto his rough survival training, and he can survive a lotta situations that others would struggle with.

That's pretty much it for Mercury. I enjoy his character, and honestly his rooftop scene with Ilia was one of my favourite scenes to write.

[rwbyconversations]

Do you have any strong opinions on how they handled Emerald's arc this volume? As someone who has been waiting for this moment I felt a bit cheated with how they dropped her wants and needs like a hot potato. Do you think so many people wanting to see it led to the writers rushing it?

Strong feelings would indicate a lot more of an emotional reaction than it generated in the moment. In the grand scheme of Volume 8, Emerald’s arc has been one of the highlights, but I ultimately think they rushed it, or at least they put the cart before the horse. And I’m saying that as someone who wanted her to join the heroes. 

Yes, Emerald’s arc was always pointing towards her walking away from Salem- this was never in question, Emerald point blank says in Volume 5 she doesn’t care about Salem and is here for Cinder. And yes, she had moments of expressing sympathy for her actions, but these on their don’t do enough work to sell that by Volume 8, Emerald is ready to go and is just looking for someone to carpool her redemption arc with.

The problem is that the issue was never with Em leaving Salem, it was that her arc was tied to Cinder. That Emerald finally realizing definitively that Cinder doesn’t care for her was going to be her breaking point of leaving Salem’s side for good. But in Volume 8, that resolution doesn’t arrive. Despite visibly resisting Mercury’s insistent note that Cinder doesn’t care about her, Emerald sticks it out and sneaks onto the Amity fight, and none of her scenes between then and helping Oscar escape indicate she finally reached her breaking point. 

Maybe, if Cinder survives Volume 8, her and Emerald can have that scene, but I assume it’s super low-priority for the team and will be cut if it even makes it to a script. I think seeing Cinder get angry at Jinn’s vision showing Emerald is the most we’ll get there. 

Yes, Emerald’s turnabout had setup, but they hadn’t sealed the deal within Volume 8. And I think the writing team decided pragmatically that they could get away with rushing the final steps of Emerald’s call to leave because most of her fandom would just be happy that “Yay Emerald’s a hero now, shipping her with RWBY is morally OK!” 

I have to assume Emerald’s arc was rushed due to needing her off the whale before Ozcar’s Cane Nuke blew up the damn thing. Watts and Cinder already had their out, Hazel was gonna die anyway, Neo could survive anything, so that just left Merc, Tyrian and Emerald to get off the whale before it went kaboom. So they made the call to have Merc and Tyrian leave early, then have Hazel and Em defect.

[littlemisssquiggles]

I like blake's moment with ruby in episode 9 of v8 ,I hope we get one with oscar and ozpin or oscar and ruby like this one day caz I think it it grate

Same anon-chan. The Checkmate moments in today’s episode were really nice and wholesome. It’s great to see Blake and Ruby bonding for the first time in several seasons. This is the type of development that I wished the showrunners had done for them after Blake’s return to the team back in V6. Seeing Ruby and Blake bonding would’ve definitely sold the moment of Ruby awakening her silver eyes for the first time on Brunswick Farm in order to save her.

I genuinely feel as if Blake has been acting more like a supportive older sister and best friend to Ruby than…well, her actual biological older sister and canon best friend???

While Weiss has been preoccupied dealing with her family affairs, it was great watching Blake and Ruby’s friendship blossom during this time. AL thought, I feel as if the reason why the showrunners have been pushing Blake supporting Ruby so much to set up the fact that Blake will chose to stand with Ruby and take her side again in the event that Yang returns and stirs up another argument with her sister regarding leadership and the best cause of action.

Blake is on Ruby’s side and I’m curious where this development is going to go in respect to the Bee dynamic since I remember the showrunners clumsily setting up something with them too back in V8CH4. But we’ll see.

As for other prospective character moments---for me, I’m hoping to see one between Oscar and Oz too. Since Oscar is still in captivity and since the V8 Midseason trailer teased an impatient Salem grasping Oscar’s head, the impression I’m getting is that Salem is eventually going to start mentally torturing Oscar soon.

I don’t have faith that Hazel will use the Lamp of Knowledge. I feel like we’re more likely to see either a) Hazel pussies out of using the last question or b) Hazel attempts to use the lamp only to be caught by Salem with her punishing the man on the spot after catching onto Oscar and Oz’s scheme to sabotage her.

Or perhaps…Hazel never gets a chance to use the lamp since Emerald stole it before he could do anything. Either way, since she’s already claimed the lamp and ultimately the Staff of Creation for herself with Tyrian and Merc on their way to Vacuo to gain the Sword of Destruction, the only Relic left for Salem to find is the Crown of Choice. However the secret to finding that is tucked away deep within Ozma’s memories within Oscar’s mind. So what better way to get that information out than for Salem to go inside Oscar’s head.

I do trust that Salem is going to forcibly enter Oscar’s mind at some point and I’m looking forward to this bit since it’s a chance for us Pineheads to finally learn about Oscar’s past through his memories. Not to mention that it’s an opportunity for Oz to come to Oscar’s aid within his mind. Bonus if…Jaune, Ren and Yang find Oscar on the outside but they’re forced to carry him all way to freedom (making up for the blunder of the V7 finale) since Salem’s mental probing leaves Oscar trapped in some kind of comatose state where he’s immobile.

I just want to see a scene where Oscar’s friends are trying to save/protect him on the outside while Oz is doing the same for Oscar from within and this is how the two souls are able to bond and finally fight as one. That’s what I’m hoping for in respect to the Man with Two Souls dynamic.

As for Rosegarden, I dunno anymore anon-chan. At this point, all I want from Rosegarden is to see Ruby react to learning that Oscar was kidnapped and tortured by Salem as well as a hug between the two smaller, more honest souls. I was hoping to see either Ruby save Oscar from Salem or Oscar save Ruby from Salem. At this point, I don’t know what the showrunners are gonna do about these two beans. But I guess I’ll see as the episodes go.

~ LittleMissSquiggles (2021)

[razorblade180]

So, how is Salem gone in your AUs?

Lasting Embers: The main nine characters and Raven reach Salem’s castle and storm it, while friends they made around the world face off against elite grimm designed to wipe out the kingdoms. The only relic in their possession now is destruction. The team gets split up and end up having to fight grimm versions of old adversaries; including JNPR killing grimm Pyrrha, Ruby fighting Roman and actual Neo. Raven goes against Cinder and Tyrian with Qrow. Blake faces off against a fake Adam. Weiss and Yang end up with Emerald and Mercury; all while Oscar tries to survive Salem. Neo, Em, and Merc are eventually forced to escape. The other heroes kill their foe. Ruby reaches Oscar first to save his life. Silver eyes purge Salem of her connection with the grimm. The sword of destruction nearly obliterates her. Enraged, Salem unintentionally draws grimm to her is ripped apart and eaten by hundreds of them. Ruby turned the group into stone and finally, Salem is gone. The relics are put into vaults again along with some of the stone grimm and other places they can’t be disturbed.

Twin Snowflakes: This world ended up pretty different since the entire world learned about Salem. A small group of people didn’t show up to Salem’s territory. The world showed up, armies and huntsman from each kingdom/menagerie showed up to battle the mass horde of grimm and Salem’s followers. Our main characters lead troops and took down hundreds in an attempt to overwhelm their enemies, but it wasn’t going well. They just kept spawning and reaching Salem seemed near impossible. That’s when Ruby’s plan changed. She wasn’t trying to get to Salem. She wanted the relics. The battle was a game of keep away. The first side to get all the relics in one spot for their leader was gonna win. Humanity eventually managed to gather them all and Ozpin summoned the gods. The brothers saw all the fighting and were about to erase everything but Ruby stood against that verdict, preaching how every kingdom, humans, and faunus were able to put aside their differences to get rid of a problem that the gods causes in the first place. Then she went as far as to say everyone here would challenge anybody who’d threaten Remnant; even if it was the gods. The brothers took another look around. Through the desire to fight for the world they live in, humanity really did unite. War brought about trust. An interesting outcome they never predicted. An outcome worthy of passing their test. The brothers commend Ruby and humanity. They showed their gratitude by restraining Salem and stripping her of her immortality. As they were about to deal the final blow, Oz forced his way in between them. After all she’s done, Oz didn’t want to see her go out like this. Being erased was a thing nobody should go through. The God of Light decided for Ruby to choose Salem’s punishment. Only one thought came to mind. Salem was sent to the afterlife. Ruby was sure her kids wanted a stern talk with their mother.

Rosebud: This universe sorta has a mix of offense and defense when it comes the previous two. The world knows if Salem but not all the details of gods or anything of the sort. The kingdom worked together in boosting defenses and providing aid while Ruby, her friends, and the extended group of friends like SSSN, Ilia, and others went to face Salem. People like Mercury and Emerald turned traitor and Cinder was betrayed by Salem in the final hours of battle for failing to stop Ruby; her maiden powers being taken out of her as a result of that failure. The attack on the castle was more subtle, planned. Thanks to her friends, Ruby was able to traverse it easily, trusting them to deal with any opposition while she aimed for the grimm queen herself. She encountered Cinder for a final confrontation. The woman was angry and desperate to reclaim the power she had lost by killing Ruby to get back into Salem’s good graces. Ruby made quick work of the Cinder and let her walk away with her life still intact. Cinder swallowed her pride and fled. Ruby went on to face Salem. The battle was rough and nonstop, but Ruby was able to cut Salem down and turn her stone. Salem’s immortality was now a true curse. Even if the stone shatters, it still comes back the way it was, stone. Making this Ruby the youngest and strongest Ruby to save the world in my AU’s.

Premonition:This is only au where I thought a little out of the box. Beating Salem was simply something no one was prepared to do at the time. Containment was the only solution. With the help of mostly Atlas and Haven, the team was able to seal Salem in a vault, temporarily giving the world a reprieve and for Ruby to properly train. Two years later, Ruby entered the vault with her friends and vaporized all of the grimm that was in Salem. With her empire destroyed and any chance of her plans ruined, Salem now roams Remnant with Oz keeping an eye on her as she finally starts doing the punishment she was meant to do in the first place; reflect on her actions and make peace with how the world is. At least this time she has her ex husband to keep her company for as long as it takes for her to get the message.

[erudite-rebel]

How about my boy Mercury?

Send me a character and I’ll... || Accepting

favorite thing about them

How complicated he is. He insists he’s not, but he is. He’s had it rough. He’s gone where it was easiest to go to, because the things that feel far more right to him are harder, and exist in a world he doesn’t know. He wants the world to believe there’s nothing there but violence, that finding Cinder was serendipity, but Tyrian called him out. Tyrian exposed the truth.

least favorite thing about them

You’re kind of an asshole, Merc. But I love you. Also??? You harassed Qrow about his hair when you have the same fuckin hair. And you stand the same. You are basically the same model. Stop pretending you’re high and mighty making fun of Qrow’s hair. (I love dragging Merc tbh, but I do it because I love him).

favorite line

“I'm sorry you didn't have a mommy that loved you, but I had a father who hated me! He never went easy on me! Every day of training was a beating. And when I unlocked my Semblance, he stole it with his! "This is a crutch!" "This makes you weak!" He told me I could have it back when I was strong. So I got strong, but I never got it back! I've had to work harder than anyone to get where I am. You may not like it here without Cinder, but I think I'm right where I'm supposed to be!” - He’s been compressed into something he no longer needs to bee and it hurts.  

brOTP

Emerald and Merc are such a good brOTP even without shipping. I love the two of them together.

OTP

Emercury. God. I love it. Such a slow, reluctant push into realizing how much they care about each other. Merc not knowing how to deal with the first person he’s really ever loved. I also really like Quicksilver lol

nOTP

I’m not sure what Merc ships are popular beyond ones I like tbh? So I have no idea what would really make me go ‘ugh no.’

random headcanon

He has Silver Eyes, he just can’t use them because he’s been beaten so hard, and so long, he doesn’t know how to draw on a love to protect people. (my canon for him on my multi)

unpopular opinion

He deserves redemption. I think this is probably actually a popular HC but w/e I’m gonna say it.

song i associate with them

Identity - Grandson

favorite picture of them

Punk.

[arse-blathanna]

AU where Hazel adopts Mercury and Emerald

Sorry for the wait for me to get to this, anon. My body’s been trying very hard to kill me this last week and I’ve been doing my best to deal with that. 

Some things that happen in this AU, which I’m going to spinoff of RWBY canon because I can:

The thing that makes Hazel make The Decision to try and get Emerald and Mercury away from Salem and out of her fortress (possibly at the risk of his and their lives) is a consistent escalation in training. Emerald and Mercury were being routinely put into training scenarios which were both drawn out too long and too severe in nature. Just because Tyrian, Cinder, and himself can go through long, demanding sessions doesn’t necessarily mean Emerald and Mercury can. Mercury does okay but is clearly resentful. Emerald struggles constantly.

He pulls the kids aside at one point to just try and talk to them. They tell them about the Weird Shit that Tyrian goes saying, specifically about how he seems really excited to hunt them down after they run.

Hazel wakes them up in the middle of the night while Watts and Tyrian are in Atlas and the two of them take off on foot at first before they find an airship to take them anywhere else. 

They end up in the forests around Vale where Hazel grew up because he didn’t know where else to go. It’s meant to be a temporary arrangement but next thing they know they’ve started to build a life there and Hazel can’t find it in him to force these kids to leave it behind. Regardless of whether he meant to or not, Hazel’s found himself really liking having them around. He’s a dad now, like it or not. 

Hazel has an existential crisis when he realizes that he’s a dad. Not as bad of an existential crisis as Mercury has, however. Having a dad that isn’t a complete sack of human garbage is a big change and Merc doesn’t know how to deal with it. Emerald’s wary, but takes to the situation easier on the whole.

[commandervisor]

Since you're just about to start vol 7, is there any theories you have going forward? Is there something you really want to see happend? Have you been spoiled for anything?

Putting this under a “Read More” because this is just one thing after another… 

Theories? In hindsight after writing all of this, most of it is not the main cast because I guess at the moment, they’re rather well-adjusted and/or recovering from their issues rather well lol, so I can’t make big enough guesses on them right now.

Emerald and maybe Mercury GTFO there, I think being stuck in Salem’s castle with Hazel until whatever goes down in Atlas I guess will 

Emerald becomes a Maiden, my guesses are:

A “redeemed” Cinder thinks of Emerald in her last moments, but it’s kept vague if she was thinking of her because she actually cared about her or because of something completely unrelated to that (ex. “Emerald better have-*gets killed midsentence*”).

Otherwise, Cinder finds out Emerald is now a Maiden and turns against her. Now Emerald has to deal with her mother figure, the woman who saved her life, wanting her dead.

Either way, I think this could lead to her redemption.

Mercury is pretty hard to read, especially after what he said in V6 about why he acts the way he does and how he feels about his relationship with Cinder and Emerald. Tyrian summed him up as just putting up a tough exterior because he doesn’t know anything else, so if something like Emerald going rogue happens, then it’ll be interesting to see how long he’ll keep those barriers up against Emerald.

Cinder “redemption” arc. I don’t know how, but it would constitute showing her backstory (because that infatuation for power and not wanting to be powerless has to come from something, and she’s based on Cinderella, so.). V6 already had Salem basically kicking her out of the house for disobeying her (albeit she’s apparently still keeping an eye on her…), so Cinder left to her own devices could end up doing a lot more loose cannon-y things outside of trying to get revenge on Ruby and this eventually leads into her becoming an anti-villain and something of an anti-hero?

Pyrrha’s and maybe Amber’s souls are actually connected to Cinder, kind of like with Ozpin and Oscar, because 1) Maiden mechanics? and 2) It seems strange to me that back in V3 when they hooked up Pyrrha to Amber in that aura transfer machine, they made a big deal out of how Pyrrha “might not be the same” if the transfer works but then she died anyways so that part seemingly didn’t matter outside of brief angst? At the moment, I don’t know where this would go other than Pyrrha and Amber kind of haunting Cinder like ghosts, maybe this could lead to her “redemption”?

After what happened with Vernal, I don’t know what to make of Winter Schnee and Summer Rose as possible Maidens, but it seems relevant? We’ll just have to wait and see.

Likewise, I don’t really know where Hazel’s arc may go, either they’ll keep him as someone who refuses to move forward and ends up dying a bitter, meaningless life, or he’ll finally realize that and maybe help the heroes against Salem and/or Em & Merc leave Salem (I think him trying to take the blame for Cinder’s failure in V6 was foreshadowing), probably at the cost of his life because I can’t imagine him turning against Salem and managing to walk away alive.

Weiss tearing Jacques a new one, because we got Yang doing that to Raven in V5 and Blake (and Yang) doing it to Adam in V6 too, so I think we’ll continue to see cycles of abuse, hate, spite, and so on get broken from this point on.

And also take Whitley and GTFO there too, it’d be neat to see him unlearn his behavior from being under Jacques this whole time and I guess “redeem” himself… I have no idea who should take him in but he could stay with Maria if she and the group are parting ways in Atlas, it probably wouldn’t be safe for him to tag along with RRAYNBBOW (or however they’re called now lol). I pretty much envision this as what Eh**z said about Azulademption if it had happened in ATLA (”I’m happy.” “Yes, we know you are, Whitley.”).

Tai fighting, because they’ve established him as being retired while Raven and Qrow are still in action, so I think we might see him fight at some point as things come to a head.

Because RWBY is a good show that knows how to properly “subvert expectations”, it is to be expected that a lot of questions and mysteries will get answered (ex. Almost everything about Summer, Raven/The Spring Maiden subplot to come back, probably if a Maiden killing another Maiden actually boosts their power or not, whatever they have to do to teach Salem her lesson, etc.), and there are a lot of endgames they’re likely building up to (ex. Salem is defeated, Oz and Salem reunite and reconcile in the afterlife, Oscar is the last Oz reincarnation because Oz’s quest finally gets a happy ending, the Gods leave Remnant alone, maybe the Grimm disappear from Remnant, etc.).

Things I want to see happen (outside of ships because I think y’all know already lol):

I think this is a victim of the show trying to find its footing early on, which does happen, but I think it would be/have been neat if we got to see Ruby’s friends from Signal at some point (I’m guessing this might be prime self-insert OC material) or at least get a glimpse of the “elementary”/”primary” Huntsmen academies, if only because I like worldbuilding/lore and Chekhov’s guns/foreshadowing :P. Though I doubt this will happen since the show is moving in a really different direction from the school setting it had back in V1-V3, which is fine.

Jacques joining Adam in clown hell

STRQ flashbacks, and maybe a TRQ reunion? Again, I can see this as something happening as things come to a head, especially since this would require Raven to kind of turncoat back to the good guys.

EDIT: I would also like to see Goodwitch come back, but I guess that might be a while since we’re focusing on Atlas at the moment and then presumably Vacuo?

Watts shaving his dumb moostash

More anime voice actors, because OH WOW IT’S AMAZING HOW THE ACTING INDUSTRY WORKS, HUH VI? 

I think that’s all I can think of for now… Anything else I usually wonder about is something I bring up in my liveblogs? I think??

Have I been spoiled for anything? Yeah, I guess, but it was because of people rb’ing RWBY on my dash/TL/whatever before I started watching the show, so I didn’t have context and I didn’t think much of any of it beyond that they looked neat. That, plus me having the memory of a goldfish about all of that probably helped… For example, ask me about Homestuck, The Adventure Zone, Critical Role, The Arcana, etc. because I see those on my dash a lot, but I have no idea what they’re about other than maybe some general info and a couple of character names.

That being said, I knew/know about some characters that hadn’t/haven’t shown up yet because that’s pretty hard to avoid (at the beginning, I only really knew RWBYJNPR, Sun, Penny, and also Ozpin, Qrow, and Summer but pretty much in name only; back when V7 started, I did notice a lot of popularity with certain characters from that volume), and some things I did know like someone being able to turn into a bird (when the Faunus lore got introduced, I thought this was going to be a Faunus power lol*), Blake was or was not a cat-person, Summer being gone, Bumbleby being the ship, and maybe more that I can’t remember at the moment.

* …“What I expected vs. What I got: RWBY Edition” is probably something that warrants its own post. Hmm…

It’s 3 AM and this is a huge garbled mess, but as you might guess, I’m really invested in RWBY right now and it’s fun wondering where they’ll take the story next. This is quality.

[sociopath-analysis]

Sociopath Profile: Mercury Black

From the animated web-series RWBY (2014-present(valid as of late April 2020)) Voiced by J.J. Castillo (EN Vol. 2), Yuri Lowenthal (EN current), and Hikaru Midorikawa (JP) Requested by @queenofcandynsoda​

Mercury is one of Cinder’s associates. Much like Cinder herself, he doesn’t care much about the potential casualties that could be caused by her plan. But he doesn’t have as much to gain from it either other than some sick enjoyment.

[SPOILERS BELOW]

Most likely, his upbringing had something to do with his condition. Or at very least, it helped to cultivate the already present tendencies. He was abused by his father, Marcus, and beaten by him often. He was training Merc to be a mercenary like himself, and even stole his Semblance after he unlocked it. Things only got worse after Merc killed him. When Cinder and Emerald came to the aftermath, all he did was spit at his father’s corpse. Marcus was the only one of his victims that actually deserved it.

The rest, however, were actually more innocent. Autumn was one of the first of his targets after he was taken in by Cinder. The first on-screen casualty of his was Tuckson, a White Fang defector. It certainly shows how much of a lack of empathy he has when he can casually joke about it later on and simply talk about a comic book he stole from the owner that he just killed literally a few moments earlier.

He’s casually manipulative of others as well. Not to the extent of Cinder, but he is quite adept at it. He and Emerald both try to put Tuckson on edge since he knows exactly why they’re here. He also gets in a fight in class with Phyrra to figure out her semblance. And lying is something that comes easily to him as well. Part of Cinder’s plan was to pretend that Yang had broken his leg. His prosthetic legs. Obviously, he had to put up a good front since they could be easily repaired.

Mercury also displays a pathological need for excitement. He often gets bored easily when not directly involved in Cinder’s larger machinations. He even joined Cinder because there would be something in it for him to keep him occupied. He’s not inherently murderous, but he sure does like a good fight. The fight to discover Phyrra’s semblance is one example. He enjoyed it as long as it served a purpose, but he immediately dropped it once he got what he needed.

“Learning is so much fun.” - “Extracurricular” (Vol. 2, Ch 3)

After faking being injured by Yang, he was told to lay low as to keep up the ruse. However, he went out to deliberately get caught by Ruby just to pick a fight with her and waits just long enough for her to realize what Cinder’s plan is. This also ties with his sadism as well. When the Grimm beasts are attacking Vale, his response is to record people dying in the attack. And when Cinder tells him to continue doing so, he does so with much pleasure.

In spite of this sadistic personality, he can be superficially charming. Mercury almost always has a kind of jokey, laid-back attitude about things. A good example would be his aforementioned jokes about murdering Tuckson. Him childishly bothering Emerald is one other display of this. There’s also his interaction with Emerald after him faking his injury. He acts less convincingly as a joke once the other witnesses are gone.

Mercury: [“dramatically”] Oh doc, tell me! Will I ever walk again? [Emerald punches him] Ow! What’s your deal?

Overall, he displays confidence in just about every interaction he has. Whenever he’s faced with an opponent, he never drops his smug smile. His overconfidence only disappears in Volume 4 when faced with Salem’s creations and realizing that he’s in way over his head for what he initially signed up for.

And while he has a lack of empathy for most other people, he does show some concern for Emerald despite the constant insults. He shows concern when Emerald breaks down over Cinder’s death and defends her when Tyrian gets a little too close for comfort. He also tries to inform her that Cinder is an even bigger sociopath than he is and doesn’t care about either of them. This has been the only exception for his otherwise heartless nature.

But overall, Merc makes for a pretty clear example.

Remnant Sociopath List

[conretewings]

headcanon: hazel being a particularly heavy smoker/drinker when not on a mission. he has to deal with tyrian or merc stealing his smokes

I'm so sorry this has taken me so long to reply to you dear Anon! 😢 Your headcanon actually inspired a short ficlet which I have been working on. In the meantime I'll just give you the short answer-

I can't really see him being a smoker. Physical prowess is his greatest asset and he knows smoking would hinder that. I can see Watts or Mercury offering him a smoke every so often but he always declines.

Now having a drink every so often he'll do. Once in a while though he'll end up downing far more than usual, up to nearly a full bottle, when things become too overwhelming...

[grifalinas]

earako replied to your post “Imagine a reverse Hallmarks where Qrow is still working with Mercury...”

Oh noes...Nora having to deal with Tyrian-

directium replied to your post “Imagine a reverse Hallmarks where Qrow is still working with Mercury...”

'The swap requires that Nora went to Tyrian' :(((((((((((((( Oh no, that's even WORSE than what happened within the actual story.

Now you’re getting it

BUT ALSO please consider: Qrow is very cynical and hard-knocked, which before he gave up on him and destroyed his chances of trusting him again actually made him a pretty good match for Mercury- he got him on a deeper level than most people. And James is a very tactile person who wants to attend to every detail of his charge’s care, which makes him SUCH a good match for Nora, who NEEDS that level of devotion and adoration and would need it more after Tyrian got done with her.

It’s not that Qrow is a “bad fit” for Nora- he adores her, and she brings out sides of him that he buried along with his parents. And James loves Mercury for the same reasons he loves Qrow and Winter, and is someone that Merc can learn to trust. It’s just that both of them are SUCH a good fit for each other’s kids, too.

[sir-adamus]

If Mercury gets a redemption arc, how do you think it'd go, like what issues would he face, complexes he have to overcome, ETC? I'd ask the same of Emerald but I feel her path is clearer.

well he’s got bigger hurdles to overcome

any character can be redeemed up to a certain point (there’s no redeeming say, an abusive paedophile, which is why he had to die) because it’s not so much about deserving redemption (as no character deserves to be redeemed - and that’s why i wouldn’t even call Ilia’s arc a redemption arc because she wasn’t committed, a big point is made that she’d lost her way and Blake helped her find it again and gave her a way out) so much as it is a character realising they don’t want to be the kind of person they are anymore. and the worst Mercury’s done is be an insufferably smug dick and go against one of the core tenets of the show, Weiss’s trailer quote, “everyone is entitled to their own suffering”, whereas he dismisses what Emerald’s gone through because he believes he’s had it worse - he’s also a murderer but eh, people who’ve destroyed planets have been redeemed, it’s fiction, roll with it - he’s not gone past the point of no return on whether such an arc would be narratively satisfying

on the one hand, it makes sense for him to come to a realisation that just because he’s had it bad doesn’t mean no one else has and register some basic empathy for other people for once in his life, on the other, i don’t think his redemption should revolve around specifically sympathy for Emerald because that could take away focus from Emerald’s much more apparent redemption by having her have to drag him along too when it’d probably be better off if they were doing it separately - they’re different characters and they’ve gotta have their own journeys on this, if you get my meaning

additionally a big problem with Merc is that he really doesn’t care about anyone but himself - like you’ll get people going “but he told Tyrian to back off when he was scaring Emerald”, so? one instance of telling the babbling lunatic to piss off doesn’t mean he gives a shit (oh and the “him telling Emerald how bad he had it was a blunt way of helping her realise Cinder is horrible to her” nonsense is just, so desperate) - and it’s kind of difficult to put him in a scenario where he would

not to mention he has no real investment in what’s going on - he doesn’t care about the world or anyone in it, so what reason would he have to side against Salem at this stage other than she’s terrifying (and that’s more a “get out of dodge and live as long a life as you can” reason, not “yeah i should help stop her” reason) - Tyrian pointed out Mercury doesn’t know what he’s signed up for and is talking himself up way too much, but fact of the matter is Merc still doesn’t really have any solid engagement in the world around him, which is another thing that makes him hard to redeem as an individual (which is why so many people wanting a Mercury redemption arc usually have him redeemed because Emerald is redeemed and they’re treated like a package deal even though Mercury is far less invested in the people around him than Emerald is - no actual reason why he would be redeemed, just that he is because Emerald is, which would be a pretty weak redemption)

so there’s a lot of that to get over and currently nothing really set up for redeeming him either

[yoshimickster]

RWBY Volume 6 Episode 9 “Lost” Micksterecap-GET READY FOR THE FEELSBOMB!

HEY EVERYBLOODY-sorry this one’s a week late, but honestly I think I’m gonna do that from now on as recaps are for catching up on something, and that’s hard to do the day-OF. Either way-LET’S GET TO CRYING!

THE EP STARTS-

-with Mercury practicing his martial arts, while Emerald sits on the floor. I have two minds about this, is Emerald sitting in a gym while Mercury exercises, or is Mercury excercising in a living room? Either way its silly.

Kay yeah, that boy’s practicing karate in a church, WEIRDO!

Onto the plot, Emerald asks Mercury why he joined up with Cinder and her and his response is basically:

Mercury: I ‘unno, I likes killin’!

Yeah I think its safe to say between the two of them, Emerald was the smarter henchperson.

Emerald than vents to Mercury about how much it sucks that Cinder, the only family she ever knew was gone, and how without her what their doing didn’t make any sense, to which Mercury comforts her in the BEST way he can:

3:39

Mercury: Wake up all ready, Cinder doesn’t care about you!

Like I said, the best way HE can, so its PRETTY bad.

3:54

AND ITS EMERALD WHO THROWS THE FIRST PUNCH-which bullet shoes blocks like a boss! Thus begins a good old fashioned-ANGST FIGHT!

Mercury: I’m sorry you didn’t have a mommy who loved you, but i had a father who HATED me!

Somebody’s projeeeeeeeeeeeecting!

Also during the angst-fight, its revealed Mercury’s dad stole his semblance RIGHT after he unlocked it, and NEVER got it back...apparently! Kinda thought that bullet tornado thing he did in season 3 was his semblance but NOPE-all technique!

Right during the fight based on a mix of loose combat and Mercury saying how much he loves working for the Legion of Doom, whose there CREEPIN’ in the shadows and laughing like and Eldritch goblin?

4:46

Tyrian: Oh yes, the world is mean, and I’m a big bad man now JUST like the others!

Emerald: Damn, he cut you quick.

Tyrian: I got one for you to!

Emerald: Dammit.

ALSO-is that a new mecha-scorpion barb? Look at YOU Tyrian, getting so used to multiple prosthetics, GOOD ON YOU!

Mercury tries to kick his ass for roasting him-

5:06 AND-that goes about as well as you’d think. A little harder to kill than a harmless book dealer AIN’T IT MERC?!

Tyrian than gives them some...disturbingly legit advice.

Tyrian: What you WANT from this? Children, if you’re not LOVING what you’re doing, you’re in the wrong field!

Damn, that’s a disturbingly poignant point about happiness in the workplace from someone whose essentially a weird mix of the Joker and Mac Gargan.

Scene than ends with Mercury revealing he and Doctor Watts are going on a work vacation to Atlas, which you KNOW they’ll barely be able to sightsee while their there, work vacations can be the WORST!

A THEN CUT TO-

6:26 ROOSTERTEETH-showing off how hard their background designers have been working this season! Now THAT is a nice park.

We see Team JNRS walking around, searching for the farmboy that Jaune terrorized last episode, as ya do!

Jaune: This is all my fault, I over-reacted.

Saffron: I’ll say, you scared a 14 year old and punched a hole in my wall!

Jaune: I SAID I’ll get the spackle!

Saffron full of worry for her brother and his friends, tries to convince them to go to school in Argus instead of going on an insane mission that they can’t tell her about for fear of the mass public knowing there’s an ancient immortal witch bent on hitting a hard reboot on humanity.

Logically she can’t convince them, so Saffron decides to go pick up Adrien from daycare, Renora decide to get coffee, while Jaune decides to have himself a pity-sit-UNTIL-

8:08

Jaune: HOLY SHIT-a leaf! That’ll look GREAT in my scrapbook!

Jaune than follows the leaf of destiny...and finds-

...Pyrrha’s memorial statue...yeah, really can’t make a joke about that, its utterly sad. And JUST-when you thought this wasn’t enough of a feelsbomb what with the music-

9:30 BAM-Pyrrha’s obvious mom/aunt/adult sister! And its just...such a beautiful scene, she mentions how she never wished she left Argus, but that she always knew what she wanted and-I’M NOT CRYING YOU’RE CRYING!

And the moment Renora come back with coffee-

-she disappears. It actually makes you wander, did Jaune actually have that conversation, or was it all in his head, him trying to deal with the grief? The ambiguity makes the scene work VERY well.

Jaune than tries to give himself yet another pity party but THANKFULLY Ren and Nora tell him he has to stop that. They say they love him to, and that they don’t blame him for Pyrrha’s death and URGH-so sweet! TOTAL feelsbomb yo!

They then decide to go back to the house-RIGHT BEFORE SEEING-

-THE FORESHADOWING PLANE OF DESTINY! Man Jaune, you’re on FIRE with seeing things that lead to other things in the episode today!

A THEN CUT TO-

-a PISSED OF Ruby! Give ya TWO guesses as to why!

If you said “Adult chaperone who can’t get his shit together”-YOU’RE CORRECT! Is there a portable version of AA, because Qrow would logically need it with his travelling life.

Terra: I’m sure this looks GREAT to the neighbors.

Sweet AntlerJesus do I feel bad for these women, they invite these people into their home, and they fill their lives with crazy spy plans, drunkles and punched walls, they all ready have a CHILD to care for, stop dumping your baggage on them!

And RIGHT as they decide to take a break from the search-AN OPEN DOOR REVEALS:

OSCAR PINES-in very snazzy Huntsman clothes that he TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTALLY didn’t steal!

Everybody than logically jumps on him in happiness, asking where he was and how worried they were while NORA asks-

Nora: What are you WEARING?!

PFFT-look at Ren’s face, he SO jelly!

Everyone just has a BIG apology party, Jaune apologizes for over-reacting, Oscar says its cool considering the gi-GANTIC stressbomb that is their lives, and even says he has dinner in the oven. Just a nice and warm scene that I’m sure NO-ONE will rui-

Qrow: I’ma go sleep in drunken despair.

Ruby: YOU GET OFF THOSE STAIRS THIS INSTANT YOUNG MAN...dear god I’m more mature than my adult uncle.

Yang: DARK times.

Qrow than gives the basic Qrow speech about how screwed they are while JAUNE gives off his plan-

Jaune: -we...STEAL an Atlas air ship?

Weiss: DAMMIT-I had a broken one of those LAST season, I should’ve saved it!

Yang: HOW-all I had was a bike?

Weiss: SILENCE FOR I AM WEISS SCHNEE!

Qrow than gives the same self-defeating speech we’ve heard the whole season where as RUBY ain’t havin’ NONE of that!

Ruby: FUCK YOU OLD MAN-we are the young people and we’re gonna fuck shit up!

Maria: BURN!

And that’s basically where the episode ends, a MAJOR feels bomb and a good set-up to one HELL of a heist next week. Hope you all enjoyed it, and I’ll see you NEXT WEEK on Micksterecap!

[rwbyconversations]

Why Emerald and Mercury’s scene in Lost is one of the best scenes in all of RWBY

Lost is a really underappreciated episode in Volume 6. It tends to get overlooked because Dead End precedes it and that’s easily the weakest episode of the season, while right afterwards we get the three-parter of the Argus Battle and Adam’s return meant focus was shifted for a hot minute. But I adore this episode, nearly every second of it barring some choices at the end (barring Oscar getting shafted for development- again- and Ruby’s oddball speech of “we didn’t need adults this far” to Qrow), but it’s honestly one of the best episodes of the season in my eyes, and that falls down to one major scene- Emerald and Mercury’s conversation in the first third of the episode, which is one of my favorite scenes in all of RWBY.

I know when people think of character arcs involving Lost they tend to go for the obvious lure of the Pyrrha statue, which, to be fair, is a really solid character moment and I loved a lot about it- especially the small reference to the Volume 1 OP of Jaune looking at the statue, it’s framed with almost the exact same camera angle. But as someone who mains my two murder kids, I cannot stress how hyped up I was going into Lost. Finally, after years of being relegated to background fodder with their one big moment since Volume 3 being their humiliating appearance at Haven where Emerald took a literal dive and Merc was left holding an arm like a numbnuts, Lost was gonna give me the content I’d been waiting for.

The fact that Merc and Em were getting the thumbnail- something neither of them had been in since Volume 3- was something that made my goddamn day when the thumbnail went up on VRV

And ultimately, I think the scene delivered, and delivered with a gusto that makes me unironically call it one of the best scenes of the Volume, one of the best of the show, in fact- and today I’d like to explain why I love Emerald and Mercury’s scene in Volume 6 Chapter 9, Lost.

1) The establishing context, or: a quick breakdown of Merc and Em in V6C4 

Merc and Em had one scene earlier this volume, in Chapter 4, “So That’s How It Is.” It chronicles them and Hazel returning from Mistral several weeks after the Battle of Haven, Hazel having contacted Little Miss Malachite and gotten the heads up on where RWBY were going next. Spirits are low as they leave the ship, and an unexpected welcoming party in Tyrian doesn’t lift the mood. Emerald in particular lashes out at Tyrian when he mockingly notices Cinder’s absence, which just gives him all the motivation he needs to get up in Emerald’s personal space and mock her for her weakness. 

Fun fact, in the Volume 6 trailer, Tyrian creeping on Emerald happens in Salem’s conference room, presumably to throw people off the scene on when the scene would be happening. 

Tyrian proves to be as sharp as his dearly-departed stinger (now resting in Ruby’s cabinet of Maimed Body Parts), mocking Emerald in a delightfully chilling voice that “Cinder isn’t here to protect you anymore.” You know who is though? 

This asshole, that’s who. Mercury fucking Black, finally showing the spine he lost after Volume 3 and getting up in Tyrian’s grill to protect Emerald. He even got his eyebrows back just for the occasion! 

Never forget Volume 4 and Merc’s penciled-on eyebrows

It’s a short but sweet scene that sets up the duo’s dynamic well- they’ve really only got each other out in Evernight so even if they bicker... a lot... Merc and Em will watch each other’s backs because it’s that or deal with Tyrian, Watts and most importantly Salem alone. And that’s not a thought either of them truly want to consider. 

The rest of the Evernight scene in chapter 4 has some small but important moments for them- I especially love Mercury being the first person we see realizing Salem’s about to snap because of his abusive father. If anyone’s gonna know how to read the room and know to get out of dodge before the glass starts shattering, it’ll be him. How he just stands at attention, eyes locked forward when everyone else looks at Salem is also a nice subtle bit of character- eyes forward, since he was probably told not to move without permission. Emerald’s sheer terror for much of the debriefing is just a masterclass in animation- her eyes are these narrow pinpricks that can’t focus on a single spot, she cringes in anticipation of a slap when she rats out Cinder (gee it’s almost as if Cinder is her abuser who conditioned her or something why do people still ship them), how she flinches when Salem touches her shoulder and only relaxes when Salem moves on and reveals that Cinder’s alive. It’s all just great stuff for their characters that you get from looking at their body language. 

That’s all that we see of Mercury and Emerald until chapter 9, and unfortunately the last we see of them from there until the post-credits scene, but fortunately, this is a real doozy of a scene. 

2) The actual scene

We open with Merc and Em alone in a room, Emerald bitterly noting how much she hates being kept in the dark about Salem’s future plans. Mercury agrees, stopping some training to note that at least Cinder kept them up to speed, before resuming his combat. 

Mercury and Yang are two of the easier foils to compare and contrast to in the series, especially in the RWBY/CRME contrasts between Ruby/Cinder, Weiss/Emerald, Blake/Roman and later Adam and Yang/Mercury. Both are close range fights with firearms strapped to their limbs of choice, both have cybernetic limbs and as we learn later this episode, both had fathers with wildly differing views on their Semblances. But something else that connects them is that neither Mercury or Yang stay down for long when they get knocked out. Yang lost her arm and once she got back on her feet, she updated her fighting style to be more acrobatic and all-around, which paid off in dividends when she got to fight Adam and was able to move around his strikes. Similarly, the first time we see Mercury get some free time after Haven, he’s training... except he’s working on his fists, since he was overly reliant on his legs until now. I like this, it would have been easy to have Mercury just working on his legs or even just doing nothing but not only does it give the conversation a more lively feel, but it shows that Mercury is working on covering his weaknesses. And if there’s one thing Mercury hates, it’s leaving a weakness uncovered.

Your daily reminder that Yang vs Mercury is some of the best choreography in the show BTW

Emerald, seemingly out of boredom, decides to pry a bit and asks Mercury why he came with Cinder and Emerald in the Volume 3 flashback. I’ve seen some people criticize that Emerald is only asking this now, but given how when she tried to object to Cinder she got a slap for her troubles, I think it’s safe to say she decided it wasn’t worth Cinder’s wrath a second time for asking too many questions about Mercury. 

Mercury tries deflecting with a simple answer “Just made sense,” to which Emerald calls bullshit with one of the most deadpan-laden lines she’s ever uttered. “It ‘made sense.’” 

Mercury decides to keep up that path, trying to cover the question with his usual sarcasm and wit. It’s notable that his explanation gives nothing away that Emerald didn’t already know- Marcus trained Mercury to be an assassin, Mercury killed him and right afterwards, Cinder showed up. It’s almost clinical how, despite covering it with his usual wit, Mercury doesn’t let anything slip until Emerald gets under his skin by calling bullshit again, since to her that Mercury joined Cinder for as shallow a reason as “right place right time” is anathema to her- there has to be something in this for Mercury beyond just getting to fight. Mercury again deflects, giving Emerald knowledge she already knows- “Salem’s promised us everything. We win this thing, we’ll be top dogs in her new world.” Again, he’s only telling her what she already knows, and when he asks her what she gets out of this, Mercury manages to throw Emerald off the scent and tricks her into talking about herself- a topic Mercury enjoys because it means he’s not the one under the microscope. 

Something I adore and hate in equal measure is how musically when Emerald talks about Cinder, the score itself changes to a more whimsical version of Cinder’s theme- as if Emerald’s using her Semblance on the soundtrack itself to paint Cinder in a better light. 

Also something worth noting is the lighting symbolism for Emerald in the first part of this scene:

She starts in darkness, surrounded by light.

When Mercury gets a rise out of her, she walks out into the light to confront him, but Mercury moves into the darkness, a barrier separating them. But when Emerald begins talking about Cinder...

The camera pans to put Emerald back into darkness. This scene is loaded with this kind of symbolism on a lighting and musical level, the two dancing around the edges of light and dark, separated usually by the barriers that form from the overhead light.

Regardless, Mercury is perfectly fine to let Emerald prattle on about Cinder, right up until Emerald begins having a crisis of conscience. Not one based on how Cinder used her to stage a terrorist attack, no. Mercury butts in when Emerald’s crisis of conscience is based on how now that Cinder isn’t here, Emerald isn’t sure if they’re doing the right thing. And thus Mercury’s fandom finally got to see the scene they had been waiting years for: Mercury telling Emerald Cinder doesn’t care for them. Emerald gets angry, still caught up in the web of lies that Cinder spun around her, but Mercury doesn’t give a solitary shit about any of that and keeps saying things Emerald doesn’t want to hear- that Cinder never cared about Emerald, let alone either of them. 

I absolutely adore how the ever-present smirk on Mercury’s face just melts off while he’s trying to get Emerald to realize Cinder never cared for them- either because he’s done playing nice or because he’s trying to stress to Emerald that he’s not messing around, just this once.

Mercury’s mocking line to Emerald finally sets her off, and she charges him furiously, trying to beat him into shutting up. But it doesn’t work- of course it wouldn’t, Mercury is leagues above Emerald in skill even if she uses her weapons, going in without them is tantramount to suicide. This guy danced around Coco and Yatuhashi and gave Yang and Pyrrha good fights while deliberately throwing both fights. Beating Emerald would take less than a minute if he tried. But he doesn’t. Mercury never actually hits Emerald, focusing on just blocking her blows. It’s only when Mercury finally decides to stop giving Emerald information she already knows and actually give her some honest truth that he begins trying, and immediately Emerald is forced back. But even then, Mercury throws his kicks. Compared to the ones he threw in training they’re sluggish, easily predicted. He’s not trying to hurt Emerald, he’s just stressing his point. 

Literal chills went down my back when I heard that line the first time, Yuri killed it.

Mercury basically decides to throw his abuse in Emerald’s face, which I’ve seen some people deride and describe as Mercury basically playing the victim card, but I think this is perfectly in-character for him. Emerald’s locked in her cycle of abuse with Cinder, even though the bitch is on another continent and now is the perfect time for Emerald to break free, to get out before Cinder maims her like Marcus did Mercury... and she’s not. Taking. The chance. Of course Mercury would be pissed, of course he’d get heated for the first time- he’s basically watching Emerald squander one of the only chances she has to get out of this life before Cinder catches her again, and he (and the audience) know if Cinder gets her hands on Emerald again, that’ll be it; Emerald will be ride or die for Cinder all the way to the finish line due to her paternal/romantic love. If it takes Mercury being this most callous and blunt he’s ever been to finally get Emerald to see the truth or even just to make sure where she draws her battlelines, then he’ll do whatever it takes. 

As we get an orchestral reprise of I’m The One, Mercury finally gives us a new hint into his backstory- one of the most fucked up of all the cast according to Kerry- for the first time in three years. Marcus didn’t just beat Mercury senseless, didn’t just excuse it as training and potentially even cut off Mercury’s legs to refine him into a perfect killer- he stole Mercury’s Semblance with his own, seeing it as a crutch that Mercury relied on and holding it over his head with the promise of its return once Mercury got strong. To quote the normally Unirkable Merc himself, “So I got strong, but I never got it back!” 

Mercury forced himself to get on the level of titans like Pyrrha and Yang without having the safety net of a Semblance like they have- he got strong in spite of his father, not because of Marcus taking his power from him. But that power- that strength that lets him fight at a skill ceiling beyond what Marcus likely thought possible, destroyed this young child. It stole from Mercury, things that he can never get back- a literal piece of his soul was taken from him and the thrill of the fight is the only thing he’s ever found that can fill the hole. That confidence is earned because Mercury was defiled by his father and spat in the face of destiny, he chose to get back up and try and earn back what was rightfully his. And when he got the strength to kill his abuser and burn his house down, just to realize he couldn’t get that power back? In walked Cinder Fall, looking for another lost youth to corrupt and twist the worldview of- and here was one such youth, with all the corruption done complete with a neat little bow on top. 

All of this- all of this- goes without mentioning how not two volumes prior we had a different character go through an arc involving her Semblance and a father figure teaching her how to control it and not let it control her. 

I’m just saying guys if you still wanna live in denial over Yang and Merc’s foil status and how they’d be the coolest rivals in the show, door’s right there, I’m gonna be here eagerly awaiting their proper rematch (Fuck off and die Volume 5, you mountain of wasted potential). 

The kicker (pun not intended) is Mercury’s line at the end of the training with Emerald- “I’m right where I’m supposed to be,” he confidently declares, absolutely sure in himself. The whole dynamic of the scene has been Mercury and Emerald calling bullshit on each other’s excuses, with Mercury dominating once he got Emerald to play the Cinder card. But he gets so caught up in his rage over how he got defiled by Marcus, that he loses sight for a second and forgets that he’s lying to himself as much as Emerald- the difference is he’s gone thought he cycle before and seen it so he can see that Emerald’s in it, but he hasn’t yet realized he’s gotten caught in a different cycle and still can’t see the trees from the forest. Denial is a recurring trait in Mercury and Emerald, and one neither of them are ever truly free from (”Salem promised us everything,” like how Marcus promised you back your Semblance, Mercury?). Emerald attacking Mercury after he mocks her “crisis of identity” can almost be taken as her subconsciously agreeing with Merc that Cinder doesn’t care, but after all she’s done for Cinder, everyone she’s hurt and helped kill, the idea that it was all for less than nothing is something she’s got to run away from- the alternative is just too nightmarish.

Mercury “I’m right where I’m supposed to be” Black, ladies and gents. He’s feeling really confident in these scenes, can’t you tell?! 

And who sees this and realizes it, but none other than Tyrian fucking Callows of all people. And of all the people in Salem’s castle, who expected him to be an adept armchair psychologist? Tyrian is blunt, completely unforgiving in his assessment of Mercury and Emerald- they’re trapped in a cycle of violence, pain and misery, and they’re too afraid of what’s on the other side to ever leave it- what’s waiting for Mercury out in the world of Remnant? All he can do is kill, and now that he’s burned his bridges with Huntsmen society, all he’d wind up doing is assassination work like father like son. Granted, Tyrian being the one to break this down to them both is... ironic given how Tyrian himself is trapped in Salem’s web of devotion and has been for so long he couldn’t find his way out if he wanted to, but here he raises a valid point. 

After this the scene mostly moves away from Mercury and Emerald and becomes Tyrian informing them and the audience that Watts and Tyrian are going to Atlas to intercept RWBY, but before he leaves, Tyrian leaves some parting advice.

“Do what makes you happy children, please? I’m begging you.” 

Reading through the mile-wide lines, it’s obvious Tyrian wants them to run so he can hunt them down himself, even though he denies telling them they should leave earlier when Emerald asks point-blank if he’s telling them to go (of course he isn’t saying that, he wants them to come to the conclusion himself, no fun stalking prey when the hunt’s made easy for you after all). But the scene ends with a somewhat more optimistic note.

Emerald and Mercury, still unsure about a lot of things after this group therapy session, are still standing together, almost more unified than they were before now- no barriers of light and darkness separating the two now. And that should be something that terrifies anyone who crosses their paths, especially the guy who made a point to T-Bag Mercury and basically promise he’ll draw the straw on killing them if they stray out of line. 

3) Conclusion

Mercury and Emerald are my favorite characters in the show, and while that’s been a bit harder to maintain in the Dark Times of Volumes 4 and 5 where they got nothing to do, 6 reminded me and a lot of other people why they’re the characters to keep an eye on in future years. They have these wonderfully dark backstories that let them serve as haunting foils for two members of team RWBY each (Emerald and Ruby and Weiss, Mercury for Blake and Yang) that show how far things could have gone if the RWBY girls had been born with a bit less luck. On top of all that, I’m The One is just a killer of a song that excites with its spiteful air, its cockiness only accentuating how horrific these two have had it. 

Mercury and Emerald start the Mistral seasons separated by a barrier (the window) but after their conversation in Lost and time away from Cinder, the barrier’s gone. They’re closer than they were before. And Merc got his eyebrows back too, that’s a sign he started caring about Emerald! 

Their scene in Lost I feel encapsulates a lot of what keeps them together and what makes for one of RWBY’s best dynamics- they don’t really like each other a lot of the time, but they have each other’s back come hell or high water because they need each other like a lifeline. Mercury does, at least a little, genuinely care for Emerald; he goes about it in a dickish way but trying to recognize Cinder’s abusive behavior is one of the most noble things he’s done all show. And while Emerald did try to attack him, he goaded her into it and she was indignant with rage when Tyrian pinned Merc down. Everything about the scene just works for me, from the small musical cues (alongside the return of I’m The One and Cinder’s theme, I love how right before Emerald attacks Mercury, this beeping starts and then accelerates into this droning sound like a flatline, which really captures Emerald’s temper reaching fever pitch and then snapping, to the lighting symbolism (Merc and Em both begin the scene in darkness but come together in the light at the end after Tyrian leaves, alongside everything I said above) and of course, Katie Newville and Yuri Lowenthal both knocking it out of the park with a home run of a performance, alongside Josh Grelle being his usual self when Tyrian shows up. While it was overshadowed by Jaune’s scene with the Pyrrha statue, I’d be very comfortable marking Emerald and Mercury’s spotlight scene in Lost as not just a highlight of the season, but one of the best scenes of the entire show. Everything came together for this ambrosia of a scene, and I can only hope I sold how much it means to me and how much I appreciate the work that went into it on a technical, writing, animation, acting and musical level. 

Keep an eye on Merc and Em is all I’m saying, and if you’ve written them off in the past, I hope this convinced you to take another look at them and hope they get their due time to shine in future. 

Thank you for reading.