#console jaune

[whengarfielddiets]

Eclectic Kids - Kids Room Illustration of a large eclectic girl's medium tone wood floor children's room with pink walls.

[yangscowlick]

I still think my biggest bummer with V9 is that — by the logic of the Ever After — episode 4 established that WBY didn’t need to be there. And the speeches they give to their shadow-selves are ones they could have given three volumes ago.

[dragon-razor-writings]

*RWBY and JNPR are vibing*

Nora: "Hey, Jaune?"

Jaune: *looks up from handheld console* "What's up, Nora?"

Nora: "Can you do The Voice?"

Jaune: -_- "I'm not doing it."

Weiss: "Voice? what voice?"

Jaune: "So I've told you all how I can do impressions, right?"

RWBY: *general confirmations*

Jaune: "Well, I kinda did one around her and now she won't stop badgering me about it."

Blake: "Now I'm curious."

Jaune: "Please don't make me do it."

Yang: "Come on! Do it, do it, do it!"

Nora, now chanting along: "Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it-!"

Jaune: "By the Shepherd and the fuckin' Twins, fine! But I don't want to hear shit about this from any of you! Got it?"

Jaune: *clears his throat, then in a voice that is definitely not his* "Just remember, I’m never going to leave you. That’s a promise. Until my dying breath, I’ll never let you go of you, my dear Beloved~.”

Jaune, in his normal voice: "Happy now?"

RWBY, stunlocked: "..."

Pyrrha: "A-are...are they okay?"

Nora: "Eh, they're probably fine."

Meanwhile, Team RWBY:

Ruby: *caught off guard*

Blake: *now interested in what other voices he can do*

Yang and Weiss: *having Thoughts That Shall Not Be Said*

[drenosa]

Ruby: *Lying prone on the couch, playing on a games console*

Jaune: *Coming home from work, looking exhausted* Uuugh... so hungry.

Ruby: *Still gaming, not looking away* Well, you can go grab a bite to eat to pass the time.

Jaune: *Sees the Rubooty swinging as Ruby continues playing* I know what I could bite.

Ruby: Oh, what'd that b- EEEH! *Looks over her shoulder to see Jaune nipping at her but* I thought you said you were hungry?!

Jaune: I am hungry. But now I'm hungry.

Ruby: ... *Gulps* Do go on.

[howi99]

Cinder: *now a prisoner* Tsk, i've traded one slavery for another all my life it seems.

Jaune: *opening the door to her cell* I've got you some food.

Cinder: *looking at the food with apprehension*

Jaune: Cinder, if i wanted to kill you, i got a nice little device which would make your head go *pop* in an instant. I did NOT poison your food, as tempting as it might be.

Cinder: Then why keep me alive? Salem is gone and you have three Maidens against-

Jaune: *cutting her* I honestly don't care, Cinder. I stopped feeling pity for you a looooong time ago and you made sure of it. *Looking at his scroll* You have so many consecutive life sentences, it's a wonder why they didn't bring back the death sentence just for you.

Cinder: *sitting on the mattress* Well, if it's any consolation, i'll probably be killed in a prison fight.

Jaune: *laughing without joy* You think i'll let you die? *Goes to her bed, placing his hand on her shoulder* Remember, you have 467 years in prison and i am your jailer. You will live, as painful as it is for both me *tap her shoulder* and you.

Cinder: ...

Jaune: *turning around, goes to the door then stops at the door* Oh and by the way, me giving you back your eye just now wasn't a show of compassion. Just a reminder that if at any time you did switch sides, i could have given you back everything that you once lost.

Cinder: ! *Remove her eye-patch, revealing that she could again see with that eye* What the-

Jaune: *slowly closing the door* You had your chances. *Completely close the door* But now? *Begin to leave* you reap what you sowed.

[arc-misadventures]

Heavens Newest Angel

Nora: Why! (Sobbing uncontrollably)

Ren: Why must the good always die so young…?

Weiss: I’ll never get to hear him call me, Snow Angel again…

Oscar: Big bro…

Yang: My blond bro… he’s gone…

Blake: My threesome fantasies… They’re all over now… all over…

Ruby: (Sniff)

Ruby: I know… I know we are all saddened by the loss of our dear… dear friend, Jaune Arc. But, we should rejoice in the life he lived, and the actions he took within this life. His self sacrifice saved all of us. Saved the word! We should celebrate in his nobleness that he would do all these things to save us, and the world!

Ruby: We lost our golden haired angel, but heaven gained a new one! An angel that shines above all others! And, from up on high he is smiling at us, smiling at a job well done. He is smiling down upon us. He is smiling… s-smiling…

Ruby, then felt tears falling down uncontrollably down her face as her friends rushed over to console their grief stricken friend.

It was a sad day for them, one that they would all remember. But, they knew there was a new angel up above, smiling down on them.

And, that was all the comfort their grieving hearts needed.

~~~

Meanwhile in hell.

~~~

The Gates of Hell blew open as an irate blond steps through.

Jaune: Haaaa…

Jaune:

WHERE THE FUCK IS, JACQUES SCHNEE?!!!

///

I thought I already did something like this before.

But, apparently I did not.

[novankenn]

What If...

Pyrrha was also under the sway of Salem Cinder and Pyrrha love each other (Pompeii) Jaune and Emerald are married (Topaz) Jaune and Emerald have a child (Jasmine Esmeralda Arc) Jaune and Emerald are on the run from Salem & Ozpin

Scene : The Arc Household

==> throrn2048 - Ren and Mercury fight over who's the best uncle and you can't convince me otherwise

==> A/N - yes I know... I still need to do the one that shows how Merc joined the ranks of Jasmine's Uncles. But I couldn't not do this one... 😁

Nora was nearly crushing Emerald in a hug, causing a small plastic tube to clatter on the floor. Jasmine being the inquisitive child she was, picked it up and looked at it.

"Mommy?" Jasmine asked her voice sounding even more whistly since loosing her other front tooth.

"Yes, sweetie?" Emerald gasped as she was finally released from Nora's grasp, due to the energetic bomber wanting to congratulate Jaune. Jaune of course was having none of that and soon Jasmine was watching Daddy racing about the house being chased by Auntie Nora.

"What's this?" she held up the plastic tube, showing a small oval window with two pink lines in it.

"Oh, um... that's a special tool used by mommies and daddies to see if you're going to have a baby brother or sister?"

"Oh." Jasmine replied, turning the window back towards herself, and cocking her head to the side as she studied the strange object. "So pink means sister?"

"Ah... maybe?" Emerald stammered out before yelling over her shoulder, "Honey... Assistance... PLEASE!"

"Call off Nora and I will!" Jaune shouted from the backyard.

"Not happening Daddy times two!" Nora cackled.

"Two?" Jasmine's eyes lit up brightly. "Two pink! Two sisters!"

"Ah... um... ah..."

"Help me!" Jaune wailed.

"You're mine Jaune-Jaune!" Nora cackled.

"Mommy? Two pink lines. Two sisters?"

"No, honey, you see this... tool let's mommies and daddies know if there is a baby on the way, not if it's a boy or girl." Emerald shot her daughter a hopeful look, that the baby questions were over for the day. She was wrong.

"So when will the baby be here?" Jasmine asked, pouting and scuffing her feet. "I thought the baby was here now."

"My back!" Jaune screamed from the back yard.

"Why did you think that, sweetie?" Emerald asked crouching down to look her ruby eyed , blond haired angel directly.

"Auntie Nora said you and daddy need alone time for the baby, so I looked and didn't fine one."

"Ah..." Emerald tried to think of a way out of this when Mercury and Ren came walking in through the front door of the modern two story home. Arguing about who was the better uncle. "Hey, sweets?"

"Yes, mommy?"

"Ask Uncle Ren and Uncle Mercury about babies. I bet they're so smart then can answer all your questions!"

"They is smart, but smarter than you? I though you and daddy were the smartest?"

"We are, but this a test, to see if they are as smart as mommy and daddy. Okay?"

"Okay!" Jasmine chirped, before turning about and bouncing her way into the kitchen area, as that was where her uncles' voice were coming from.

"Emerald stood up, smoothed her pants out, smiled, and then marched out into the back yard to save her husband, and broach the subject of how to tell their darling daughter about babies.

In the kitchen/dining room, Ren and Mercury had piled several shopping bags, upon the table and pulling various products from inside said bags.

"A herb garden? You serious dude?" mercury asked, a little stunned at Ren's choice of present. "She's five, what in the H-E-Double Hockey Sticks would she want with a garden?"

"It's a soothing and intellectual hobby." Ren defended his choice. "It's never too late to expand your mind."

"Well, it has nothing what I got her!" Mercury said with a smirk while pulling out the latest wrestling based console game. "Mega-Super-Ultimate Rumble Huntresses! She loved wrestling, so she's going to love me! So there!"

"Did you check the ESRB Rating?" Ren asked while taking the game case from Mercury's hands.

"The what?"

"Rated M for Mature." Ren responded. "This is unsuitable for someone of Jasmine's age!"

"Seriously? Rated M? It's a wrestling game!"

"Scantily spandex clad huntresses with... jiggle physics."

"Oh... that makes sense."

"Uncie Ren? Uncie Mercury?" came the small innocent voice of the little angel the pair of men would do anything for.

"Hey rug-rat." Merc greeted Jasmine, moving around the table and helping the bundle of innocence into a chair.

"Hi, pumpkin." Ren greeted Jasmine while setting the herb garden down onto of the video game to hide the cover from Jasmine's view.

"I have a question, and mommy said you and Uncie Mercury would answer it." Jasmine happily informed her two uncles.

"We'll answer any questions you have munch-kin." Mercury informed the small girl.

"Uncle Mercury is right. So what do you want to ask?" Ren inquired.

"Mommy said," Jasmine proceeds to put the positive pregnancy test on the table. "this means there's a baby, but that two pink lines don't mean two sisters. Is she telling the truth?"

"You're mommy is telling the truth sweetie." Ren answered. "This is a special test that tells mommies and daddies if there is a baby coming."

"Oh," Jasmine pouted. "I want two sisters."

"Well the baby could be babies." Mercury stepped into the conversation in an attempt cheer up the little angel. "That only says a baby is coming, not how many, so you could very well have two sisters."

"Yes!" Jasmine cheered, in her adorable way< "So when?"

"When, what sweetie?" Ren asked, starting to feel as if Emerald threw Mercury under the bus.

"When will the baby get here?" A second after stating that question, her eyes grew bright with excitement. "Tomorrow?"

"Ah, sorry munch-kin not tomorrow."

"Can we go pick the baby up?" Jasmine asked before Ren could say anything additional to Mercury's answer. "There's baby stores in the mall, is that were we go?"

"No, those stores don't sell babies, they sell items for babies."

"So when then?" Jasmine once again started to pout.

"Nine months." Mercury replied, also coming to the conclusion that Em had purposefully submarined him and Ren.

"Why so long? Is it coming in the mail?"

"Ah, no... um..." Ren looked to Mercury, with a very "How do we deal with this?" look.

"Jas?" Mercury stepped in, a smirk on his face. "Do you remember those pictures of your Dad printed off of your Mom? The ones in your special photo album?"

"Yes? Why?"

"Do you remember anything funny about how you mom looked in those pictures?"

"Mom was FAT!" Jasmine exclaimed.

"Yep!" Mercury had to suppress his laughter. A sideways glance at Ren told the former assassin that Ren was in the same boat. "That was you making Mommy fat."

"Me?" Jasmine's eyes growing wide with curiosity.

"Yes," Ren interjected deciding to just finally rip the band-aide off. "Those pictures when you mom was... fat, are also of you, growing inside your mom's belly."

"I was in mommy's belly?"

"Yep, that's were babies, are kept until it's time to... ah..." Mercury paused, not sure how to tactfully mention birth.

"And they hide there for nine months before Mommies go to a special place to... have them?" Ren ended up turning his statement of fact in a question.

"Any other questions rug-rat?" Mercury asked, making a mental note to have a chat with the Arc parents.

"Yes, um..."

"Just ask the sweetie." Ren commented.

"How does the baby get in a mommy's belly? Did she eat them? How do the babies get out? Was it Auntie Saphron's belly, or Auntie Terra's belly that Adrian made fat?"

Mercury and Ren looked at each other, the competition on who was the better Uncle, was put on the backburner through mutual agreement, as they decided the best course of action in this situation was a tactical retreat.

"Emerald, you're NEEDED in the kitchen!" Mercury and Ren called out in unison. "Like NOW!"

"Kind of busy!" Emerald voice drifted into the house from the backyard. "Can you guys handle it just for a little... longer? Please?"

Uncie Ren? Uncie Mercury?" Jasmine looked up at the pair, a hardened assassin and a veteran huntsman, with a pleading look, filled with questions.

"Ah... how about we go for ice-cream?" Ren offered.

"Then the arcade?" Mercury asked.

"Yes!" Jasmine cheered. "You the bestest uncies ever in then whole world!"

[rachetmath]

???: *laugh* Jaue Arc we have your friends.

Jaune: *silent*

???: Surrender and we'll maybe let you go. Or you die here.

Jaune: I see. Well there's only one answer.

???: Hahaha I knew you would... what?

Jaune: *stretching*

???: What are doing?

Jaune: Nothing. I'm loosing myself up.

???: Why?

Jaune: I mean shit- we fighting, right? Come on.

???: But-but you're-

Jaune: Look buddy you already got an army surrounding me. Why are you scared?

???: The fact that you are calmly saying that scares me. Aren't you a healer?

Jaune: Yes. I am. At least I'm supposed to be. But here's what I can't heal. My trauma.

???: What?

Jaune: I've had nightmares. I barely sleep. I still feel the pain. And no amount of alcohol can even make the experience leave my mind.

???: Um.

Jaune: I was so down bad I slept with the first woman I saw. Good experience but still.

???: UH.

Jaune: I wish I could go to therapy but, most of them don't return my calls. Barely listen to me. In fact, most of them say nothing is wrong with me. And keep forcing me back to work. Giving me the old "Fuck you."

???: O no.

Jaune: Yep. Since Vacuo is all about strength then this maybe the best therapy I can afford right now. So who wants to go first?! Who wants to console me before they get put sic feet under? Cause I'm right here.

???: Pfft. ATTACK!

Afterward, about half the army was killed or knocked out.

Jaune: So who else?!

???: Okay. Okay. Okay! You are good! Take your friends!

Jaune: Thank you! I appreciate that!

[razorblade180]

Hey would you be able to write a jaune x coco on date

Coco: Yo.

Jaune:Hmm? Oh hey. Just taking in the view of Vacou.

Coco:Yeah it’s postcard worthy. So…remember what I told you earlier?

Jaune:Do you mean how I look out of style with getting “frosted tips” because you didn’t realize this is my consolation prize for surviving a nightmare?

Coco:Yep. That one. Still feel like shit over it.

Jaune:Don’t be. It was funny.

Coco:You’ve been staring into the distance ever since.

Jaune:Hmm *nods slowly*

Coco:That’s it. I’ve had enough. Let me take you to dinner.

Jaune:Oh you don’t have t-

She pulled him up onto his feet with one arm. Jaune was no very curious and scared of how much her purse weighs.

Coco:You will shower.

Jaune:I will shower.

Coco:I will then swing by at seven where you will be ready to go.

Jaune:That sounds reasonable.

Coco:Then we shall both have a casual seafood dinner that will be delicious.

Jaune:Vacuo has seafood?

Coco:Right!? It actually rules. Anyways, we will experience the joy of lobster, I will pay it for it all, and then everything will be set right between us. Okay?

Jaune:I’m starting to feel like you wanted lobster but didn’t feel like going alone.

Coco:It’s called multitasking. Plus if you don’t like it then I’ll have it and you can order something else.

Jaune:There it is. Hehe, deal. But I do like lobster by the way.

Coco:I figured as much…

xxxx

Jaune:*happily eating*

Coco:…(I may of judged the hair too quickly. Heh, he’s actually sorta adorable. All’s well that ends well.”

Jaune:*slurps oysters clean*

Coco:*squints*….(Don’t say. Dooo not say iiiiit.)

Coco:………You free after this.

[fandomflotilla]

Weiss: So…how old are you now?

Jaune: Fuck if I know. Physically? Like 20? Mentally? Early 40’s…I think. Time was…weird.

Weiss: I’m so sorry you were left there for so long.

Jaune: It’s…it’s okay. I think the healing Alyx gave me is helping. I’m not…losing all memory of what happened, but it’s slowly being locked away in my head. And I think my brain at least is getting back to the same age we all were going in? So in a month I might be more my former self.

Weiss: …so you’re telling me I should wait a month before trying anything, got it.

Jaune: …what?

Weiss: Oh. Nothing.

Jaune: …

Weiss: It’s just…uh. Well.

Jaune: Well what?

Weiss: I was…you know. Going to ask. If we could hang out.

Jaune: We hung out-hang out all the time, Weiss, why would you wait a month?

Weiss: We haven’t hung out before…at least in the way I was thinking.

Jaune: …

Weiss: …

Jaune: …wait.

Weiss: *blushes*

Jaune: You’re joking.

Weiss: …no?

Jaune: When did you first-

Weiss: …about five minutes after we met back up in the ever after.

Jaune: Weiss when that happened I was about 20 years older than you. That would’ve been incredibly fucked up.

Weiss: No it wouldn’t! I checked the numbers and given I’m early twenties and you were late thirties the half your age plus 7 rule works! Plus you’d be WAY younger than my father so it wouldn’t be weird at all!

Jaune: …

Weiss: …

Jaune: …you have a daddy kink don’t you?

Weiss: I have a daddy kink, yeah.

Jaune: …

Weiss: …

Jaune: *sigh* If you wait two months for me to be somewhere in the same mental age as you, as consolation I’ll let my beard grow out-

Weiss: DEAL.

Jaune: …You agreed to that way too quickly.

Weiss: …yeah. I’m a little embarrassed too.

Jaune: Don’t worry, you’re still a good girl.

Weiss: …

Jaune: …I said that out loud, didn’t I?

Weiss: *whispers* Two months, it’s only two months…you can make it two months, Weiss…

- Bonus Dose of Crack -

Jaune: I don’t know though, the age thing is still a little weird

Weiss: Relax, even if there’s an age gap, I’m not a kid, I’m a legally consenting adult, Jaune, and you’re a friend, no matter your age.

Jaune: …thanks Weiss.

Jaune: I might still check the laws though, this still doesn’t feel legal.

Ruby: I’mLegalToo!

Weiss/Jaune: What?

Ruby: I. Uh. I’m 18. Had my birthday a month or two ago. So I’m also a legally consenting adult.

Weiss/Jaune: …

Ruby: Just uh…putting that out there…

Ruby: Okaybye-*semblances out*

Jaune: …what was that about?

Weiss: …I’ll…tell you in two months.

[sytokun]

Ok but how cathartic would it have been if instead of Jaune being the famous Rusted Knight all along, V9 was written so that Ruby fell into the Ever After and became this aged warrior in a tattered cape called the Hooded Huntress or whatever, spending the last few decades stewing over her friends' death and her perceived uselessness, pushing herself to protect the Ever After as its sole guardian all this time.

Her teammates try to find and console her, but reuniting with them after so long just brings back all the bitter memories and she does everything she can to avoid them, even Yang. Inwardly Ruby is torn because the chance of meeting her team again was why she's even alive and fighting after all these years, but now... she can't even bear to face them.

Slowly but surely her team reaches through to her. And then it all slowly clicks: Ruby and her friends figure out she's the Hooded Huntress. She's the hero in the books Ruby always looked up to. She's the fairy tale ideal Blake wished the world could be. She's the hero Weiss would think about to push herself through her training. She's the hero Yang would read to her about during bedtime. Her tale may have even been old enough to inspire Maria and Qrow to become Hunters. Summer herself.

All of this hits Ruby like a truck, knowing that she was always meant to be a hero and has still done so much good, more than she'll ever know. And Ruby learns to accept her mantle once again and returns to Remnant wiser and better than ever. She may not have been enough to save the kingdom of Atlas or Penny, but she poured her everything into the Ever After to make up for it and in doing so, became the hero the world would soon need; that it always had.

Fuck your ascension and fuck your suicide tea; Ruby chose to keep going for one more day instead of giving up, if only for the sake of others, but found not only the light at the end of the tunnel; she was the light guiding others through it, even when she was too caught up in the darkness around her to see it herself.

But I guess we needed Jaune to be the big hero again. He's canonically now a bigger and more influential hero than Ruby, Summer or almost any other Hunter in existence can hope to be - immortalised forever as an enduring tale thousands of children and aspiring Hunters would emulate, even after Team RWBY themselves are gone.

Like. Let Ruby have fucking something. Is she still the protagonist or is she fucking not.

EDIT: Also this would have been our one chance to get scruffy long-haired Ruby. Let that sit with you abit.

[eyedrateanatomy]

everything about jaune is so. WHY does she do. that. hold on

-jaune is able to enter lilas home at any time. even if lila gave her spare housekeys, its odd how theyre close enough to do that, yet lila doesnt consider having jaune watch over her kid. this is even more concerning when you know that lila calls jaune before 911 during emergencies

-jaunes reaction to lila panicking over the phone is by joking around. she isnt able to take lila seriously until the situation is explained to her. even after, jaune tries to reassure her, and lila ends up being the one to go to jaune once bob leaves the house

-she doesnt watch over her kid. ross hasnt been seen once with her, and it isnt until After facing a serial killer that she begins to worry for ross. jaune could very well be influencing lila to leave her own kid alone or with people incapable of caring for him

-jaune is lilas drinking buddy. although its common to drink to deal with stress, once lila got home and was reprimanded for being irresponsible, jaune scroffed at gregor instead of either consoling lila, or admitting that she was the one who suggested to go drinking

-this is design speculation, but her husband, aaron, having a shadow over his eyes and a snake tattoo (think of the snake at the garden of eden, and the eden hospital in the show). the only other character with a shadow over their eyes is skiddad. and ross? shadowy eyes And black hair. jaune is associated with characters visually similar to skiddad

pelo says jaune is a chekhovs gun, so im wondering just exactly why shes being such a poor friend to lila, and what this does for the story. we already know that skid and ross disappear in sm 7, and jaune must be part of the blame considering she is known for enabling lilas irresponsible parenting skills. lila seems pretty dependent on jaune and trusts what she tells her to do. something isnt right with jaune and i cant figure out what

[rwby-encrusted-blog]

Jaune points to penny " did you bang the robot ruby?

Ruby " .... Yes

Jaune " well so did I

Penny " then maybe you too should also bang

Week later

Ruby " and that yang is how i became part if a trouple

Yang " 😭😭 you use to watch blues clues

Weiss: Is that truly what happened?

Blake: I mean, They were less crude about it, but yeah. Jaune and Ruby slept with Penny, Ruby told Yang about it, and That's what set her off this time.

Weiss: Hmm. Well, then I need to speak to them as well.

Blake: You also slept with Penny?

Weiss: I also slept with Penny.

Blake: ... Please don't leave me with "Console Yang" Duty again.

Yang: *Sobbing* Her favorite Ice cream was Cookie Dough! She'd always have on top of fresh Baked Cookies!

Weiss: Sorry, I have to be a part of my girlfriend's harem.

Blake: Where's my Harem ...

Weiss: There's a member right there *points at Yang* Goodbye!

[bestworstcase]

but no really the narrative is about to snap like an overstretched rubber band

it’s not just that everything ruby has bottled up erupted at a really bad time it’s that she lashed out as viciously as she could at everybody—it’s that she said those things to hurt them, to claw at them the way they’ve been unknowingly inconsiderately picking at her wounds, and all of it landed. it’s that she spent this entire journey locked up inside her head, but once the pressure finally forced her out she knew exactly what to say to stab them where it would hurt the most. and it shocked all of them because they’re all so, so comfortable with thinking of ruby rose as this perfect ideal. the leader. the one who always knows what to do.

she didn’t just fall off her pedestal, she ripped the pedestal out from under herself and smashed it up and hurled the pieces at the ones who put her there, and then she left.

and these kids were taught to think in black and white, hero and monster, good and evil. the ever after defies simple binaries like that and their discomfort with that shines through in their reliance on the book to guide them and uneasiness with the increasingly obvious fact of the book’a fictionality; they’re not really emotionally equipped to handle a story where alyx is a person, neither a set of moral lessons nor a monster.

ruby rose was the hero.

then she experienced trauma flashbacks and froze during a fight, and she became a selfish girl who doesn’t care about saving the village and won’t even bother defending her friends.

and then every hurt feeling she’s been smothering for years boiled over and she said all the meanest things she could think of because she’s in SO MUCH pain that the only thing she can do is reflect it back into the world, and when blake tried to console her she said shut up. don’t do that. and ran away.

as far as any of them can see this happened literally out of fucking nowhere, completely unprovoked—sure jaune snapped at her first, but ruby exploded at everybody—at the cruelest possible time.

how do they make sense of this? how do they resolve the chasm that just ripped itself open between the idea of ruby rose and the reality of ruby rose? jaune already planted the seed of vilification—do they cultivate that, grasping for an explanation and finding maybe that’s who she really has been all along, or do they uproot it, setting aside their own hurt feelings to say no, that’s not who she is, something is wrong and she needs our support right now?

[howi99]

Prince of Vale part 4

JNPR's room

Jaune: *slowly reading a letter* ... *Sigh*

Ren: Another love letter?

Jaune: *shake his head* I wish it was. *Put the letter down* i was summoned to my mother's funeral.

Nora: *questioning look* Weren't you going anyway? You even told us you were leaving this weekend for them.

Jaune: Going isn't the problem, it's who sent the letter. *Look through the window, seeing people walking by* ... My older sister is the one organizing the event, and last time we saw one another... *Sigh, massaging his eyelids* She's probably the person that hates me the most. She's probably blaming me for her death.

Ren: *wince* She was there when you decided to leave, right?

Jaune: ... Yeah. With everything i said to my mom, she's probably not that far from the truth. *Looking down* Words cut deep, and i bleed her without a thought.

Nora: *shake her head* I think you are assuming too much, fearless leader. She probably knows how you must feel, with how much you beat yourself down every time you make a mistake. *Point to the letter* She also sent you an invitation, which i think is more so you'd feel included, instead of out of obligation...

Jaune: *shaky breath* Maybe. But how can i face her or the rest of my family? I still tried fleeing my duties.

Pyrrha: *sitting next to him, sighing* As Ruby said, when she was consoling you, you are a teenager. You wanted freedom and your mom probably knew that. Your sister probably knew that too. I... Can't say i had as much pressure as you when i became famous, but do you really believe i never screamed at my parents? That i never told them i hated them?

Jaune: *now looking at her, all his attention on her*

Pyrrha: I... *Looking ashamed* I ran away, once... I told them i hated them, blaming them for driving all my friends away, for the expectations everyone pushed upon me... *chuckle* I even blamed them for not having a boyfriend. *Shake her head* It wasn't fair for them, they were doing what they thought was best for me. *smiling kindly at him* They searched for me in every corner of Argus. The sponsors were furious and told them that if they didn't bring me back before the end of the week, they would cut all ties with us. Do you know what my father said to them?

Jaune: ... That they would bring you back?

Pyrrha: *shaking her head, smiling* Nope. He told them, and i cite: "You can put your fucking money up your ass, i want my daughter back!" *Blushing with an embarrassed laugh* They were just next to me when i heard him say that, they didn't recognize me since i was more coat than girl. And that's nothing compared to what my mom said to them.

Jaune: *weak smile* You made up with them?

Pyrrha: *nod* Yeah... They weren't mad, all they felt was relief at seeing me well. *Look at Jaune* When you told me about your family, you spoke of them with so much love, i can't even imagine them thinking for one second you are the reason for her death. *Gentle smile* They know how much you truly loved her, Jaune. Heck, you even told us how much like you your oldest sister was. She's probably worried sick about you.

Jaune: ... *Little smile* Yeah... You're probably right... *Sigh* But... i still feel responsible, you know? I hurt her when she was at her lowest and i can't forgive myself.

Pyrrha: *hugging him* Yeah... I know. I won't tell you to stop blaming yourself, but we are here to get you through this.

Nora: *goes and hugs him too* We are your team. And as a team, we will help you all the way until you feel better.

Ren: *nod* You are like a brother to me. Your pain is my pain as well.

Jaune: *slightly blushing* G-guys... *hug them back* Thanks.

[wu-sisyphus-gang]

Jaune: *is examining some spreadsheets*

Ruby: What's that?

Jaune: Penny's training weights.

Ruby: What?

Jaune: The weights for her neural network. There's a couple here in this cluster which don't make sense. Dr. Polendina found them by doing some multivariate analysis and I asked to take a look.

Ruby: What are they?

Jaune: These are tokens which appeared in the transformer but not the training data. User names from the Internet. Console log stuff.

Ruby: Oh?

Jaune: Imagine a word or phrase you have no context for. Like a sensation you've never experienced. That's what these glitch tokens are like for Penny.

Ruby: How does she react when you say them to her?

Jaune: She freaks out. She can't repeat them back to you. She starts hiccuping like crazy. These user names are like Penny's forbidden words.

Ruby: Is she okay?

Jaune: Yeah. I haven't been saying them to her. She's functioning just fine. It's just kinda strange. Dr. Polendina isn't sure what to do about it. He could maybe retrain her but that would involve basically killing her and starting over so he doesn't want to do that.

Ruby: We can't let him do that.

Jaune: No shit. He doesn't want to anyway. But this vulnerability is concerning. If she hears one in combat she might shut down and stop fighting. Luckily they are pretty obscure phrases.