#for context we have a lot of reasons we didn't evacuate

[solarpoweredbirds]

so i haven't posted about this here but my family is in the path of the hurricane. as it stands we haven't seen any major effects yet, we're kind of still in "average florida storm" territory. but the reason i'm posting this is partially to say that if we lose power, i may not be on here for a while, but that doesn't mean we aren't safe. the other part is to say "stay safe" and send my love and support to anyone else who either evacuated or have to stay in the storm's path. it'll be a lot, but we'll get through this.

[quaranmine]

One more ask, lol.

Something just occurred to me that really drives home just how unsolvable this whole thing was.  Grian found Mumbo on pure accident, which just drives home the fact that Grian is not in control.  This is something you made clear through the narrative and in the authors notes. 

It had to be an accident.  Because I'm think back to when Grian and Scar were analyzing the initial search.  They both saw fault with the fact that they focused the search on Cloud Lake without even considering Pinnacles, and the fact that Mumbo was given a permit for a Cloud Lake, a closed trail, in the first place.

But Mumbo was SO FAR off trail in such a tricky, hidden spot that, EVEN IF the initial search would have led them to Pinnacles, EVEN IF they would have found the bag and the bike, EVEN IF Mumbo had been given a permit for Pinnacles instead of Cloud Lake from the very start... it might not have mattered.  It might have already been too late.  They STILL might not have been able to find him alive, or even at all, before the area was evacuated for the fire.

Just... there really was no rhyme or reason.  No hidden cause.  No fault.  Just...

There's this Irish folk song I'm low-key obsessed with in which the countryside is described as "where nature is seen both majestic and savage." 

Mumbo died due to the majestic, savage nature of... well.  Nature. 

And there's nothing anyone could have done.  

(I hope it's clear that I'm using the word "savage" as an adjective describing a fierce, violent force of nature and not... other contexts 😬)

Yes, exactly! Actually putting this under a cut it got long lol

Not going to lie I did Worry a few times throughout writing this about having a plot that was so heavily dependent on accidents. Like, is it undermining character agency to have significant things just happen? Do my characters drive the plot or is it just happening to them? The other hikers finding Mumbo's bike in chapter 3/4 was an accident. Most of the events of chapter 11 were an accident.

But genuinely from a real-life perspective...that's how things just happen. This story is kind of a non-mystery mystery. It's a mystery in the sense that we don't know where Mumbo is or what happened. But it's not a mystery in the sense that is some conspiracy to be unraveled, a killer to be arrested, etc. I talked about this in another ask a few weeks ago about how I mystery write, but this fic had a lot of unique barriers to it. Firstly, from a purely practical plot perspective, Grian has like nothing to work with. He has no access to any SAR tools. He doesn't have access to documents (at first lmao) or any other type of hard copy research. He cannot go out and interview people or do anything else a mystery protagonist would typically do to find "clues" because he's alone in a fire lookout. That's it. That's the setting. There is a guy who is alone in the wilderness who wants to find someone.....out of hundreds of square miles of nothing. With no real tools except his own two feet, a map, and a new friend who can only give voiceover help.

So.....there's already a hard limit on what he can reasonably do without the narrative helping him out a little. And I think I did my best harnessing everything he could do on his own. Now, Grian also THINKS he can solve it all himself. He sees no issue with this set-up. As the author though I'm forced to consider HOW he plans to do all this though lol. So again from a reasonable perspective, he ain't working with much. He himself would not have considered Pinnacles if the bike didn't get found. He might have pieced together that Mumbo took a different trail, but he would've had no way to figure out which one. Meanwhile, I just focused on building the plot of his personal journey. I also just focused on the parallels between how Mumbo got to the place he was and how Grian ended up there too.

Also speaking of the initial search at Cloud Lake, I want to highlight a case I listened to on the Out Alive podcast from Backpacker Magazine. It's the episode "Finding Life on the Edge of Death" about Andrew Devers who was missing for 9 days on the Pratt River Trail in Oregon in 2021 (and survived.) First of all, excellent episode. Also, I did not listen to this until after I had worked out the plot, but it really strengthened my conviction in the storyline I had laid out. And I did end up referencing something from this episode in chapter 10. Specificaly, Andrew went hiking alone on a trail that recently had a landslide. Because the environment was so drastically changed, when he turned around to hike back he couldn't find his way at all. And I was like, yeah. That's why Mumbo's search continued to stay in the same area even though the trail was closed. Because this happens. They thought he lost the original trail in the landslide, just like this guy did. They thought that the trail being closed actually increased his chances of being lost there because it increased his chances of losing his way. They just didn't realize he actually turned around and went somewhere else. No conspiracy. Just a misguided assumption on the situation.

Also it really is horrifying how difficult it is to find people in the wilderness. So many people who go missing are found months or even years later on accident. I'm also reminded of the tragic case of Geraldine Largay, who died after going missing on the Appalachian trail. She survived 26 days. Search teams got within a 100 yards of her location, but they didn't find her body until two years later. She was only two miles off-trail, and only 30 mins walk from a road. She got turned around after simply stepping off trail to use the restroom. It hurts my heart so much. More recently last November, in my own beloved Big Bend National Park, Christy Perry went missing on the Lost Mine Trail for 8 days and was later found alive. She was so lost but only 1/4 a mile off-trail. I've been on that trail many times. I've....um.....been off-trail on that trial many times....Anyway, I was keeping an eye on updates constantly hoping she'd be found because it looked so bad for her, but she was fortuantely okay.

Anyway I guess my point is that people really do get hopelessly lost all the time while being close to trails, and being close to trail doesn't mean someone will be found quickly or at all. And in Mumbo's case...he wasn't anywhere where people thought he might be. Grian's mission was a needle in a haystack. If I were truly being realistic, he wouldn't have found him at all, but that's where I'm using narrative power.

So yeah. Accidents. Sometimes you're just not in control. Sometimes bad things happen. Nature majestic and savage indeed....

[waywardstoryenthusiast]

Jedi Crash

'Greed and the fear of loss are the roots that lead to the tree of evil.' Hey look, it's not just the episode thesis but one of the ongoing themes of the entire series/movies!

Love seeing Rex acting like a big brother to Ahsoka and her acting like a little sister in the hold on part.

One interesting think after seeing so much of this show just through gif's and photo's on tumblr is what a difference sound makes, and what I find interesting about what I hear. I've mentioned several times (and will likely mention again) how much I like some of the music. Another interesting thing is getting to hear Aayla Secura and her accent.

So did the other troopers evacuate already? I assume they did.

Huh, that was a brave/selfless move on Anakin's part. Good for him.

Okay, why does Ahsoka assume that Bly doesn't need her help? She has not idea what the situation is up front, but Aayla does. And what can she do for Anakin that the med droid can't do? Starting to see the episode thesis come into play.

And here we have it again in regards to turning off the power. Can't blame Ahsoka for her concern, but life support won't do Aanakin much good if they hit a star.

Again, loving the music. The flute/woodwind is lovely.

'Don't lose a thousand lives to save one.' Exactly. I've read several Lucas quotes and I agree with him and the message he was trying to place in his films. Attachment, in the context of his Star Wars isn't meant as a synonym for connection or caring but of selfish, possessiveness. Prioritizing one person, or your feelings for one person over all else. I don't think Ahsoka is being greedy or selfish exactly. She cares for Anakin an is understandably worried for him. But staying with him won't actually help him. She's not a medic or healer. The most she could do is be there for him. Which is important, but she could do more good, both for him and the group by helping Aayla go get help.

Cameron, Lucky, and Flash. My least favorite parts of these episodes is when the non main character clones die. I know it's mainly to keep the stakes high/exciting/make the danger seem real and that this is a story about well war. But it's still rough. Which I suppose is the point.

Interesting, how the leader calls out the jedi for fighting, but then uses the line 'I cannot refuse a cry of help..' When that's one of the main reasons (from what I know) why the jedi joined the war. Both the clones and the innocents the Separatists were attacking needed help. Interesting parallel.

Holy shit, I was so focused on my meta, I didn't realize that these people move fast by rolling? I am both amused and fascinated.

Okay, I've been spoiled for a lot of the show, but I'll try to only comment on what I've actually seen. But the chief's comment on it taking two sides to fight is only technically true and doesn't quite apply to this situation. Both sides have to be willing to stop. It's a little hard to set aside ones weapons if the other side is willing to attack people who can't fight back, as the Separatists proved in the Malevolence arc, first with the pod hunters and then when attacking a medical station.

Nice job Wadto for taking down the critter without killing it.

[itsclydebitches]

re: that ask you posted a couple days ago about the male and female representation in RWBY, part of what makes RWBY's whole 'girl power' thing ring exceptionally hollow to me is the fact that there are like... no women in positions of real power in remnant. like at all. except the big bad.

winter is second in command to james. glynda is second in command to ozpin. all of the headmasters are men (for no discernible reason, imo; why theodore and not dorothea?). the leader of the ace ops was a white man (and then winter seemed to take over clover's position instead of either of the women of color on the team, and she was still second to james). RWBY is an all girl team, but JNPR was led by a boy despite a girl arguably being far more qualified (pyrrha). the happy huntresses are all women, and robyn had no real power to speak of--she didn't even manage to win the election, because jacques rigged it, and then the council ceased to matter. there was one (1) woman on the council, but she was so inconsequential that i can't even remember her name. (i suppose we're lucky it was the guy and not her who james shot lol) jacques controls the SDC instead of willow, even though he's not even a schnee by blood and actually married into the family for power. (and we don't even know how he got it over his wife.)

and then there's the white fang, which ghira led and not kali--and it's ghira who leads menagerie itself, while kali seems to be a housewife. sienna had five minutes of screentime before being brutally killed and her position assumed by adam, a man. cordovin is basically a one off lackey we haven't even thought about before or since. neo was second to roman. you have cinder, sure, who is a second but to salem, a woman, and raven as the leader of the branwen tribe--but what does it really say about your 'girl power' narrative when the only women with genuine systemic power in your world are villains or antagonists with massive bodycounts??

atla has the same sort of problem--a couple great female characters, but all the leadership positions are men (except the kyoshi warriors, an all girls group, and even then the leader of their island is an old man) and the one female mentor figure also turns out to be evil--but it at least has some great writing to help overlook that fact, and it came out in the mid-00's and so has some sort of excuse of being a product of its time. but rwby didn't even start until 2013 and it's still going and still making these kinds of decisions well into 2021.

where is this supposed girl power, exactly? am i really supposed to overlook the very patriarchal worldbuilding just because the title characters are girls?

That's an excellent summary of the situation, anon, and as with so much in RWBY, it comes down to the full context. Any one of these examples isn't necessarily going to mean much on its own. It's when you look at the pattern that you can start making a case for those conclusions: Why is the show marketed on "girl power" set in a world where men hold the vast majority of that power? And, more importantly, why is that setup not the point? We could easily have a story where that lopsided gender dynamic is the problem that the girls are looking to fix, but... that story doesn't exist. Like the problems discussed with Jaune, the supposed point here exists only on the surface. Dig just the tinniest bit — the above — and you hit on a lot of structural problems with this "girl power" world.

To add just a few details to what you've already said:

Salem indeed has power, but she's never allowed to fully use it. Each volume the frustration with this grows as Salem accumulates more abilities and then just sits on them. From literally hiding out for a thousand years to worries that she won't use the Staff in Volumes 9-10, Salem really isn't allowed to be the threat she's presented as on the surface. And yes, this is absolutely due in part to the "She's too OP and the writers don't know how to let her be that powerful while still having the heroes win" issue, but again, context. That problem doesn't exclude others occurring simultaneously.

Same double explanation with Summer. Yes, dead moms are an incredibly common trauma to dump on a protagonist, but it still left Yang and Ruby with Tai as their primary influence. And Qrow. The uncle becomes the extended family influence while Raven is the absent one/eventual antagonist. It's personal power as opposed to political power, but Tai, Qrow, Ozpin, formerly James... most of the mentors are men. Maria, a key exception, has been ignored in that regard. The story announced that she was Qrow's inspiration, setup her being Ruby's new mentor, and then... nothing. Nothing has come of that. She disappeared for a volume and then went off to Amity and was literally forgotten by the story when evacuating everyone was the finale's whole point.

Like that Endgame moment I mentioned, the Happy Huntresses feel a little too forced to me. Yes, it's the same basic idea as in ATLA, but ATLA, as you say, has a lot more going for it. The Happy Huntresses feel... on the nose? Idk exactly how to explain it. Like, "Here they are! Another team of all women! Isn't this how progressive storytelling works? Just ignore how this is a one-off team of minor characters compared to the world building issues discussed above." And if you're not paying attention, you miss just how insignificant they are, with a side of Robyn being, well, Robyn. The Kyoshi Warriors, at least, are based off of Kyoshi. A woman avatar who is a significant part of their history. That is, presumably, why they're an all women warrior group (but who notably still teach Sokka). The Happy Huntresses are all huntresses because...? There's no reason except that meta "We want to look progressive" explanation. Just like having all the women superheroes team up for a hot second so people get excited and ignore the representation problems across, what? 21 films? Don't get me wrong, I love that May is among the Happy Huntresses. I think including her in the explicitly all-women group was one of the better things RWBY has done in a long time, but the rest is still a mess.

RWBY is arguably about these smaller groups as opposed to systematic power (despite the writers trying to work that in with things like the White Fang and the election. Not to mention the implication that everything in Atlas is fine now that evil Ironwood has died and taken the symbol of wealth (the city) with him. We saw a human holding hands with a faunus after all. Racism and corruption solved, I guess.) So yes, our group is dominated by women... but Whitley is the one saving Nora, helping to defeat the Hound (plus Willow), thinking of the airships, and providing the blueprints they need to escape. Salem is our Big Bad, except Ironwood is the one the volume focuses on. Ruby is our leader, but Jaune is the one leading the group into the whale and getting praised for how heroic he is. Ren does more to shake things up, even if he's painted as the one in the wrong. Oscar gets to confront Salem and destroys the whale threat. Ozpin provides the information they need to evacuate. Meanwhile, when the girls do things in Volume 8 it's almost always followed by a long-stint of passiveness. Nora opens the door so she can be unconscious for most of the volume. Penny keeps Amity up so she can also be unconscious for a good chunk of time. Ruby sends her message and then sits in a mansion. Blake fights so she can tearfully beg Ruby to save her. Weiss, as said, takes a backseat to Whitley (and Klein). They forward the plot, absolutely, but comparatively it doesn't feel like enough.

It's that pattern then, no one specific example. More and more the personal power, not just the systematic power already built into Remnant, seems to be coming from the men. Not all the time, but enough that scenes like the tea drinking moment feel like a part of a much larger problem. Pietro taking control, Watts hacking, and Ambrosius literally remaking her when Penny is supposed to already be in control of herself and her fate. Winter being presented as the active mentor to Weiss, only to turn around and claim that Ironwood was actually responsible for everything. Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and May straight up commenting on how awful things are out there while Yang, Jaune, Ren, and Oscar lead the charge against Salem — with the latter three doing the most to forward that mission (no fear, semblance, cane). As others have only half-joked, Yang's supposedly badass moment was bringing up a mother she's ignored for six volumes and briefly blowing up the immortal woman for a couple of seconds (with Ironwood's bombs). Even Marrow is arguably the most significant Ace Op after Clover. Vine isn't actually a character, Elm slightly less so, Harriet is there to go crazy and try to drop a bomb (notably before admitting to never-before-existed feelings for Clover), but Marrow? He's the one who breaks out. Who is meant to heroically stand up against Ironwood. Who comments on how awful it is that teenagers are fighting and, regardless of how messed up the moral messages are, is supposedly pushing for active change while all the women in his group, including Winter, insist on maintaining the status quo. Look at all these choices as a whole, it makes throwaway worldbuilding choices like "All the Maidens are women" feel pretty hollow. Why does it matter if Amber is a Maiden if she dies in a flashback so Ozpin can struggle to pass on the power? If Pyrrha dies before becoming one so Jaune can angst about it? If Raven is one and then disappears from the story entirely? If Winter has enough power to break Ironwood's aura, but supposedly had no power throughout every other choice she made getting here? If Penny is one, but is continually controlled by men and then asks another man to help her die? It's just really unconvincing, once you look past the surface excitement of a woman looking cool with magic powers.

When you do consider the whole of the story — both in terms of our world building and who is forwarding the plot in the latter volumes, getting the emotional focus, being proactive, etc. — there are a lot of problems that undermine the presumed message RT wants to write. They say, "girl power" by marketing RWBY with these four women, but too many of the storytelling decisions thoroughly undermine that, revealing what's likely a deeply ingrained, subconscious bias.

[flameo-firelord-hotman]

Part 4

Pairing: Zuko x Fem!Reader

Genre: angst

Warnings: depression

Words: 2.2k

Summary: to everyone she knew, [y/n] was a peasant, destined to be a servant just like her parents. To Zuko, however, she was his best friend. After losing his agni kai and being exiled, [y/n] was devastated. She thought she would never see him again. Three years later, she almost wished he never came back.

A/N: here it is! I finally got it out after a busy few weeks :)

Part 3 <- Part 4 -> Part 5

Series | Masterlist

[Y/n] clutched at her chest. Her breathing suddenly became short and shallow. Her heart pounded relentlessly in her chest.

“W-what?” [Y/n] croaked. Her face contorted in confusion and shock.

“I know. It’s just horrible, isn’t it?” Azula lamented.

[Y/n] was speechless, but her mind rambled rampantly. What happened to him? How did he go missing? Was he taken? By who? Where would he be? She had so many questions, but it wasn’t her place ask any of them.

“But it’s strange,” Azula continued, putting a long, sharp fingernail to her chin, “the day Zuko disappeared, he wrote Mai a break up letter. It’s almost like he left on his own accord, like it was planned...”

But...why would he leave? [Y/n] was puzzled, and Azula, as perceptive as she always was, knew exactly what she was thinking.

“We called you here because we hoped you knew something that we didn’t. You are his best friend, of course. But, according to what you said, he didn’t give you any notice that he was leaving. What a pathetic way to treat his best friend,” she remarked.

“I’m so sorry, Princess Azula and Firelord Ozai. I really wish I could help.”

Azula turned her back to [y/n]. “Father, is there anything you’d like to say?”

Firelord Ozai silently shook his head. He never spoke a word, yet [y/n] felt terrified by the man, and the silent gesture sent shivers down her spine. Azula turned back around to face [y/n]. “You’re dismissed.”

On her way home, [y/n] did her best to hold herself together and remain calm. Some tears managed to escape. But once she got home, she collapsed. Streams of tears coated her face and neck. She choked on her sobs. She felt so many emotions, but, most of all, she was in utter disbelief.

Zuko was gone. Again.

This time he left on his own. But why? Was he really that unhappy? He had so many wonderful things: royalty, honor, prestige, riches and wealth, his lavish home--a royal palace--and a beautiful girlfriend among so many other things. Was it not enough?

Regardless of the reason, [y/n] felt just as devastated as she did three years ago. Only this time she blamed herself for being so upset. Not only did she push him away over something completely stupid, she also took their friendship for granted.

Zuko was [y/n]'s only real friend, and, despite being royalty, he was always so kind to her. She wanted to kick herself for not spending time with him that one day. She should've accepted the offer. She should've gotten over her dumb feelings.

Now, once again, [y/n] didn't know if she would ever see him again.

Days passed. Then, days turned to weeks. And weeks to months.

Like three years ago, it was hard to get out of bed, it was hard to eat anything, it was hard to focus on simple tasks. Some days, she felt sadness. Other days, it was anger. On rare occasions, she felt content, until grief would knock her down like a tidal wave.

[Y/n] kept the letter Zuko wrote to her under her pillow. It was the only thing she had left of him...a relic of a recent past, a brief reunion, that felt so long ago. At night, she would gingerly trace the paint brushed characters with her finger. And when she cried, she made sure her tears never touched the ink so that she could trace them again the next day.

Like three years ago, [y/n] faced reality and came to terms with what happened. Maybe her and Zuko were never meant to be. Or maybe the universe gave her what she wanted all those months ago: distance from the prince to kill her love for him.

Another evacuation of the city was ordered. This time, [y/n] had no idea why. She didn’t speak to her parents as often as she used too, and, with what happened recently, her mother was extra cautious about gossiping around her. [Y/n] didn’t expect anything crazy to happen anyway. They would leave, they would come back, and that would be it.

But when [y/n] and her parents marched through the streets back to their apartment, they saw something incredibly unusual. Messenger hawks were cawing and soaring all across the skies, and people in different colored clothing were bustling about all over the city. It was like they stumbled into a whole different world.

Groups of people wearing shades of green were earthbending to repair burned buildings. A few people in shades of blue were gently waterbending on people who appeared to be injured.

[Y/n] was amazed. She had only heard about other forms of bending; this was her first time seeing them with her own eyes. She had also never seen such beautiful garbs either. All of her life had been spent living in the Fire Nation, which was like living in a bubble. She genuinely had no idea what the rest of the world was like aside from what her parents had told her, which was not a lot.

[Y/n] was also confused. What’s going on? Why are they here? What happened? She wasn’t the only one who was puzzled. Her parents and all the other Fire Nation citizens looked just as confused as her. Particularly, the nobles seemed frustrated. Perhaps it was best not to question it.

As [y/n] and her parents quietly made their way to the apartment, they overheard lots of chatter...

“...Ozai imprisoned...” “...Sozin’s comet...” “...burn down Ba Sing Se...” “...Avatar Aang...” “...Azula should be next...” “...the last airbender...” “...just a group of kids...” “...this is treachery...”

And when they reached their home, they were met with a messenger hawk perched on their window. Her father removed the letter from the hawk’s leg. After a quick glance, he smiled widely and handed the letter to [y/n].

“It’s for you,” he told her cheerfully. [Y/n] raised an eyebrow and took it. She unrolled the parchment and, immediately, her eyes widened. She recognized the handwriting.

Dear [y/n], I hope you’re well. I’m so sorry for disappearing without saying anything. I can explain, in fact, I have so much I want to tell you! Before I do, I want to invite you to my coronation ceremony. Yes, you read that right! I’m going to be the next Firelord! If anyone should be at the ceremony, it should be you. I hope to see you there! Your friend, Zuko

[Y/n] stared at the letter, jaw slacked.

“[Y/n], sweetie, are you okay?” [Y/n]’s mother delicately placed a hand on her shoulder.

“I can’t believe it...” she shook her head at the letter. “Zuko is back, and he’s going to be Firelord!”

A long, scarlet red tunic draped over [y/n]’s body. The ends of the fabric trailed behind her through the air. Her shoes clacked on the marble flooring, sending echoes down the hallways of the palace. Her [h/c] hair was coiled into a bun and held together with a single, long, gold colored pin.

For the first time in a long time, [y/n] held her head high and stood straight when she walked. She did a complete 180. Her best friend had returned and she was more than excited to see him again. Today was Zuko's coronation ceremony, as well as a second chance to tell him how she really felt.

Sure, Mai and Zuko had a brief relationship when he first returned, and maybe that break up letter was just a way out. But what if it wasn't? And besides, [y/n] was tired of being sad and pathetic. She wanted to tell him. No, she needed to tell him, she had to get it off her chest, and she was not going to waste this opportunity.

The reception was held in the palace ballroom. It was a grand room, perfect for the size of the large crowd that appeared at the ceremony. Paper lanterns and drapes of all colors hung from the walls and ceiling, giving it a festive atmosphere. A small band played soft, up-beat music in the background. Some people danced, some mingled and others ate food that [y/n] could smell from the moment she walked in.

[Y/n] searched the sea of green and blue for red. It wouldn't be hard considering how few of her own people attended the coronation (so few, they stuck out like sore thumbs). Then, she spotted him, the new, young Firelord, speaking to a group of people that appeared to close in their age.

“[Y/n]!" Zuko called, waving his hand. "I’m so glad you could make it!”

“Of course, I made it. I would never miss your coronation,” [y/n] said, hugging Zuko before continuing more quietly, “especially after you disappeared again.”

“I know. I’m sorry, [y/n], I had to do it. But I should’ve told you. You of all people deserved to know,” he quietly responded in her ear.

Zuko tightened his embrace before pulling away and looking at [y/n] apologetically. She gave him a nod and small smile. [Y/n] didn't have the full context of what happened, but she knew her friend was sincere in his apology (though, that didn't diminish the pain she had felt).

“There are some people I want you to meet. These are my friends.”

Zuko gestured to the group of teens and kids he was just talking to. A Water Tribe boy and girl who were siblings, two Earth Kingdom girls—one with lots of makeup on and one who was blind—and, of course, the Avatar himself.

“It’s so nice to meet you all, especially you, Avatar Aang. It’s an absolute honor,” [y/n] said, bowing respectfully. Aang beamed and bowed in return.

“Soooo, Zuko, is this the girl you were talking about?” The Water Tribe boy, Sokka barely whispered, nudging Zuko with his elbow.

Zuko chuckled, “yeah, this is [y/n]. We've known each other for years. Now, if you'll excuse us,” Zuko spoke to his friends before turning to [y/n], “I believe we have some catching up to do.”

“Oh, yes we do!” [Y/n] said with glee.

Together they departed the group and walked out onto the balcony.

Outside, the sun was setting, radiating gold and orange hues, which merged into the deep blue sky up above. Only a few of the brightest stars in the sky sparkled. Down below, Caldera City glittered with lanterns, outlining the streets and houses of their people.

[Y/n] admired the view. It certainly wasn't often that she got to see the city like this. Then, Zuko began talking.

Three years was a long time, and this conversation proved it. It was long overdue. Neither of them realized how much time had passed, but, to them, it felt like they talked for hours outside.

Zuko explained everything as promised: the hundred year war, what banishment was like, what the outside world was like, how he really felt when he came home, when he realized that his father was an abusive, cruel leader and that his destiny was to help the Avatar, how he escaped, and all of the incredible adventures he had with his new friends, including the historic defeat of Azula and Ozai during Sozin’s comet.

[Y/n] was flabbergasted. “Wow...that’s...just...I-I don’t know what to say.”

“I know. It’s a lot to take in, isn’t it?” Zuko asked, leaning his forearms on the balcony railing.

“Yeah. I had no idea we were such a horrible country. We've been lied to and sheltered this whole time. It all makes sense now.” Zuko hummed in agreement.

“You’re so brave for leaving and going against your family. It must’ve been hard and really dangerous.”

“You have no idea.” Zuko looked into the distance and slowly shook his head. “But it all worked out, and I’m back—for good this time!”

"Well, you have no idea how glad I am about that!"

Zuko smiled and placed his hand on [y/n]'s shoulder, giving it a gentle rub.

"So, there's something I want to talk to you about," Zuko continued in a more serious tone. [Y/n]'s head perked up.

"Okay. I actually have something I want to tell you too, but you go first," [y/n] said. Her heart already began to race in anticipation.

"Well, I was thinking. You've been my best friend for a really long time…"

Suddenly, [y/n]'s palms sweated and her heart picked up the pace. She gulped.

"So, I was wondering if you'd like to—"

“Zuko! There you are.”

[Y/n] turned toward the doorway. She felt Zuko immediately retract his hand from her shoulder at the sight of a woman. A tall woman wearing a beautiful, wine colored, silk robe, whose dark hair was bunched up into two buns.

Mai.

“I’ve been looking all over for you.” Mai walked up to Zuko’s side and wrapped her arms around his bicep.

“Sorry, Mai. I was just catching up with [y/n],” Zuko replied.

“I see.” Mai turned to [y/n]. “It’s nice to see you again.”

“Yeah, um, it’s good to see you too.” [Y/n] couldn’t tell if Mai was being genuine or not. Likely, she wasn’t.

“Well, I hope you don’t mine me stealing Zuko from you. He promised to dance with me tonight,” Mai said, cupping his cheek. The two smiled at each other.

“Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten," Zuko said. "[Y/n], we’ll talk later, okay?”

“Yeah...”

And she watched the two walk away, arms linked.

[platykool]

Clus!! Did I understand your tags correctly?? You finished Persona 5 Royal?? omg, I would LOVE to hear your impressions! who are your fav characters? your fav palaces and soundtracks? by now you saw just how much persona fanart I reblogged, and now you have context for all of the insanity tag storms I left everywhere OTL superb

Hi Lav !! Yes you did understand correctly, I actually finished it a couple weeks ago !!  And there is nothing I would like more than to discuss it with you ! I need to evacuate all the thoughts about this game and how much I loved it bxhzdsc

Everything is under the cut ! I got a bit carried away and I’m sorry, I hope it’s not too long to read !

Were do I even start ?? I think one of my very first thoughts when I started playing was "why are they giving guns to kids ???" because I didn't know that they were fake guns in real life 

Now having to choose a SINGLE favorite character is very hard, but honestly it’s definitely Akechi. I got attached to him so fast it’s crazy, he is an amazing character, and nothing hurted me more than this terrible scene in Shido’s palace that was SO unfair for both Akechi and Joker I I'm still not over it dghsdzvdh the unfortunate thing is that I knew that Akechi wasn't really an ally in the story at first, so I don't really get the betrayal effect when we learn that he was faking it all along (in Sae's palace I mean), but ! I didn't really know how the events were going to unfold so I still got to experience the plot twists and the pain (hah) and I still enjoyed the moments when you have to raise the rank of his confidant, they were all very interesting ! But during the rank 8 interaction (I think it’s this one) where you have to fight him, -which is something I really didn’t want to do-, AND after the fight he has the AUDACITY to say “I’m going to be entirely honest with you : I hate you” and that really took me off guard gsvhsjc and I could talk soooo much more about Akechi and his relationship with Joker and how I wish we could have seen a bit more of his true self and not the ‘Prince detective’ or the ‘I don’t care about you or the others my soul is black just like my outfit’ mask he puts on but this is already getting long, so maybe for a next time :) But really I loved all of the characters very, very much, with a soft spot for Yusuke, Futaba (precious little sister hgdchdg), Sumire (her story was... very, very painful), morgana, and Sojiro too !! All the characters are very well written, I love them all very much <3

My favorite palace ? Well that’s a hard question too haha, I really liked Okumura’s palace for some reason ?? I think it’s a really cool palace ! the music is very different from other palaces, and I like the futuristic/space aspect very much, but I had such a hard time on the final fight that I hold a grudge against it (only because I was very stupid and didn’t understand that I needed to kill all four robots at once. So I was stuck for a long time). In the end, all Palaces have their own ambiance and I liked each one for different reason, but for the best one for me was Madarame’s Palace, along with Yususke’s story. I loved the whole vibe of this Palace, there’s something very strange and captivating about empty galleries and museums I think, and it was perfectly portrayed here ! And if you add to that the soundtrack and the backstory, it gives us something that is both captivating and disturbing at the same time, I absolutely love it ! I also think that the whole concept of having to manage your time was really well done in this arc ! You know, when you have to go back to the reality to unlock a new path in the Metaverse, I would have liked to have experienced more of this in other parts of the story haha (special mention for the memento’s palace that made me super anxious and sad because of the ambiance I loved it a lot) 

And here are some of my favourite soundtracks from this game, all of which were incredible, I'm not going to elaborate here on why I'm in awe of them, otherwise it will never end </3

No more what ifs  /   I believe  /  colors flying high  /  Freedom and security  /  Life will change  /  Rivers in the desert  /  Wake up, get up, get out there  /  Last surprise  /  Layer cake  /  Life goes on  /  Mementos - lower layer  /  All the soundtracks from Maruki’s Palace, which have something very nostalgic, very beautiful and very sad (going to cry over the ending again brb)

I couldn’t say everything about what I felt why playing this game, but it certainly left a big impression on me, I am really happy to have been able to experience this whole universe !! 100 hours of my life that were very well spent if you ask me

I’ll be also curious to know your opinions on the game !! I mean, I've already guessed some things from your reblogs, but I'll be happy to talk about it with you anyway :)

[hivemind42]

Yeah really does muddy the cannon but for what it's worth the book doesn't really take that much work to integrate into the world of remnant and honestly gives it stuff that it is sorely missing.

AnywayFor context, it is a summary made after using Google Lens to be able to read original Japanese. For those who don't know, Google Lens can translate text from a picture.

[RWBY: The Session - Summary]

I won't be covering the prologue, first chapter, and parts of chapter two because those have already been translated and summarized in the wiki.

Not too much of interest happens in Chapter 2 as it's mostly just the two teams making their way to the resort island and settling in. They're just marveling at how pristine and beautiful the resort is and at the wide assortment of animal-based robots that act as the staff for the resort. There are no human employees. Everything is automated. A lot of this is filled with inter-team banter, mostly from Yang and Weiss arguing over what they should do at the resort.

Yang wants this to be a vacation while Weiss wants to make it a training exercise since the island has automated training facilities where they can combat robots. They argue a lot over it with Ruby desperately trying to get them to come to a compromise, failing, and lamenting how she's not really being as good a team leader as she hoped to be. Blake... doesn't really say or do much, just keeps to herself reading her books and occasionally mentioning her issues with the White Fang.

They meet up with JNPR who get roped into Weiss and Yang's argument, and basically, the teams swap members temporarily. One group to do the training exercises, the other to do the fun beach stuff. The training team is composed of Jaune, Pyrrha, Weiss, and Blake while the beach team is composed of Ruby, Yang, Ren, and Nora.

Chapter 3 starts with the two groups doing their chosen activities. Some minor stuff happens, a few unexpected interactions we usually don't get in the show proper, and a scene that has left me rather baffled in just how... Yikes it is. Let's just say a random group of rowdy faunus hit on Ruby and Yang up for a good time and weren't taking no for an answer. The only reason they didn't get their teeth punched in was because of a Grimm attack happens at that moment. I'm not kidding that actually happened it took me a while to process that.

Moving on, the two teams fight off the Grimm horde; after which, they are thanked by the returning CEO of the SIC, Adu Fort Lee. Due to the Grimm attacks, the CEO does the responsible thing and has the guests evacuated from the island for their safety. While evacuations are underway, he recruits the two teams to deal with a massive buildup of Grimm at the center of the island.

You see, the SIC has an unfortunate history of performing Grimm control experiments due to the machinations of the previous CEO, and the result of those experiments are on the center of the island, contained within a lake at the heart of the island itself. The teams do some fighting, see some weird things that are very suspicious, and head back to the hotel to regain their bearings. One thing leads to another, and they find out too much info the CEO doesn't want them to know, so he pretty much turns the entire island's defense system against them.

So, grand revelation of what's going on here, the SIC has been infiltrated and taken over by a pro-human radical organization. They are called Silver Bullet, but the long ass name the translation kept giving me for their full name is "Silver Ammunition of the Innocent Brothers." My guess is the name sounds better and flows nicer in Japanese than it does in English, so I'm just going to call them Silver Bullet since the heroes keep referring to them by that name several times.

Silver Bullet's primary goal is either the expulsion of faunus from human society at best to outright subjugation at worst. The guys running the island are basically the worst version. They use the resort island as one giant trap for faunus since it's an island in the middle of the ocean where they can't easily escape. They have surveillance drones everywhere. The tickets the guests are using are bugged and constantly telling the staff where they are, and lastly they can jam communication, so their victims can't even call for help. Once the faunus are captured, they are sent to a quarry in the center of the island that is simply called the cage where they are forced to do slave labor for the benefit of Silver Bullet.

Of course, the heroes wants to do something about this messed-up situation and also find a way off the island. They are able to escape from the hotel and are hiding out in one of the unused storage facilities on the island when Fort Lee and his forces find them and blindside them with his Arm Cannon. It just so happens the first person he manages to shoot is Pyrrha, so she is out of commission for the fight and everyone is forced to retreat, pretty much leaving her behind to be captured alongside Iona (I'll explain in the character section).

If you guys are fearing that she's going to become a damsel in distress, don't because when she wakes up she quickly make short work of one of the guards who got too close for their own good and then proceeded to pretty much rip her way through the prison because a lot of the guards had metal, and the drones were next to worthless thanks to her power. We even get a scene where Fort Lee and his guards are watching Nikos tear her way through their prison and can't help but be impressed by her and have a sincere desire to make her join their organization. Though after analyzing her abilities, he proceeds to send his elite squad armed with non-metal equipment.

Oh, by the way, Pyrrha is lacking her weapons and armor during this little jailbreak, and she is further handicapped because she has to protect Iona and her only weapon is the rifle she stole from one of the guards that is running out of bullets, and she is forced to use it as a club. The team Fort Lee sent after her was going to overwhelm her due to a combination of her being handicapped, them not having any metal to take advantage of, numbers, and them having enough skill to be a genuine threat to her. Fortunately, Jaune makes it in time to deliver her weapons at which point she rips through those guards like it was nothing.

Oh, I should have probably mentioned this earlier, but this book pretty much marks the only time the heroes actually sort of teamed up with the White Fang. Apparently, the SIC has some kind of illegal arms deal with the WF as mind-boggling that might seem to you considering what those two groups fight for. Even Roman felt the need to comment on that. Roman knew of the SIC's Silver Bullet connections as well as their slaver ring operation but kept quiet on the matter because if the WF found out it would pretty much start a war between them, which would hinder his dust acquisitions. Also, he was hoping to use the information to blackmail the SIC into giving him more stuff.

That plan of his fell through due to Blake making contact with the White Fang using the fact she was once a member to get their trust and informed them of the slave camp in the middle of the island at which point they dropped everything they were doing and went on a liberation mission. Thanks to the White Fang and JNPR, much of Silver Bullet is tied up enough that RWBY was able to face off against Fort Lee on their own on a four versus one battle in the mines.

Dude put up a good fight but in the end he lost. He made an attempt to call all his forces down on the mine to take out the heroes through sheer numbers only to be shocked when he learns Roman took over his monitoring station has been scrambling his forces with b******* instructions the entire time. He also took over the detonation system and set the entire mine to explode.

Long story short, the heroes were able to get out of the collapsing mine system due to Iona and a little luck. The majority of Silver Bullet ends up getting arrested. The prisoners are released, though some of them disappeared and it's heavily implied that they joined the White Fang for very understandable reasons. Iona is working with the authorities to look into the corruption of the SIC and weeding out any lingering Silver Bullet influences that might be still there. Fort Lee may or may not be dead since he was last seen getting sucked in by a mudslide but no body was found, so there is a very slim chance that he might have survived but it's unlikely.

The epilogue is mostly Ruby doing a debriefing with Oz on what happened on that island as well as Ozpin sharing some info on the main villain since he knew the guy. Once done, she's free to go off meet up with her team, and they make plans to have fun since their vacation was cut so short due to Grimm attacks and insane villain plots. The end.

Character section

[SNew faces from RWBY the session light novel"]

So you can consider this part 2 to my RWBY the session summary in a roundabout way but here I'll be focusing more on some characters. Specifically, the ones introduced inside the light novel. There are really only two worth talking about but you could consider there being three but considering the third one is just there to be the right-hand man to the main villain and nothing else might as well just stick to two.

Iona Rockshow, young tech genius full of regrets

The child tech genius who was is affiliated with star head Industrial company and is the primary reason why teams RWBY and JNPR are even on the island in the first place. She is introduced clearly sabotaging the elephant Mech that went on a rampage during the SIC tech expo which team RWBY fought and took down which earned them tickets to the SIC resort island for their act of heroism. Team jnpr got their invite due to Jaune helping Iona escape from the chief of security at the scene of the crime and she gave him the invite out of gratitude for the help. The reason she sabotaged the expo was the hope that if she could cause a big enough ruckus at a SIC event it would get the book's primary villain the CEO fort Lee to leave his Island to check out what's going on. With the CEO gone Iona hope she'd gain enough free reign of the island to steal a submarine free as many of the faunus slaves and escape with them to blow up the SIC secret slaver operation. Needless to say, the plan didn't work and she just really lucked out that she had two Beacon teams who were willing to help her with the crisis at hand.

Iona is presented as a smart, tech-savvy girl who acts far more mature and serious than a kid her age should be. That being said she does engage in childish behavior like getting into small bouts of bantering and semi playful insults in an almost sibling-like manner with Jaune and she carries around a coin that is from her favorite cartoon show. Iona is not very fond of the faunus due to the white fang assassination of her older brother before her very eyes. Due to her trauma and anger towards the faunus, she was open to the ideology of the radical anti-faunus organization Silver bullet and threw her support behind them when their leader fort Lee was in the process of taking over the SIC. That being said she still had morals and limits she would not cross and when she saw the massive slaver operation Silver bullet turned her family's company into it disgusted her to the point that she turned on them and did whatever she could to put an end to their operation.

Ask for her interactions with the rest of the cast it's sadly limited from order to greatest to least just Jaune, Pryhraa, to a much greater lesser extent Blake and then finally the rest. She interacts with Jaune more than anyone else because he can't help but check on her to see if she's safe and all right or to just see how she's doing seems to unconsciously take up a big brother role towards her and while she does seem to be annoyed with his presence at times she seems to like having him around. This mostly stems from the fact Jaune reminds Iona of her deceased big brother. Apparently, Arc and the older Rockshow sibling were very similar in many regards. She feels extreme guilt over her brother's death because she challenged him over who gets to sit next to the window in the train car and they put it to a coin toss which she won. With him being closer to the isles when the White Fang came to assassinate Rockshow family members he was by far the much closer Target. The guilt also wasn't helped by the fact that he did not hesitate to shield her with his own body when he saw the assassin come for them. It could be argued that her hatred for faunus is really just her guilt and self-loathing directed outward to those she feels were most responsible for his death other than herself.

The only other character she has prolonged meaningful interactions with besides Jaune is Pryhraa since she was captured alongside her and stuck by her when she broke the both of them out from their prison cell. Iona was being pessimistic about how all her efforts to fight against Silver Bullet on her own were proving to be failures and was not hopeful about the chances of her and the champion being able to escape this deep in enemy territory. Pryhraa for her part tries to keep Iona's spirits up and tells her she hasn't given up yet because she knows Jaune and the others will come for them and not let anything stop them. I don't know is baffled by this faith especially in Jaune of all people since while she appreciates the help he gave her she knows full well he is the least impressive of his peers. She basically cannot imagine someone as weak as him being of much help in a situation as dire as this. She had to eat her words when Jaune did come through for them and managed to protect her when the chief of security Anslope tried to attack her out of spite while Pyhraa was too preoccupied with curb-stomping his dudes. She kind of has a bit of a breakdown after being saved by Jaune from the attack because it reminded her of how her brother protected her when he died. Jaune assures the girl it wasn't her fault and that a brother would do anything to protect their sister and how he understands why her brother did what he did and that he would have had no regrets or blame her for it. She just lets all her pent-up emotions out and one big cry session while Jaune and Pryhraa hug her. Iona's last scene is her throwing away the coin she has been carrying with her and used to make major decisions to show she has finally moved past her guilt. The epilogue said she was working with the authorities to root out silver bullet from the SIC.

Honestly, she doesn't really interact with much of the other characters all that much. The most she interacts with RWBY are the two scenes where everyone is together first one being when they escape the resort after the SIC turned hostile on them and towards the end when they're escaping the crumbling cage. In the first one she mostly just gives them exposition on the deal with the SIC and the Silver bullet organization that is running things and also reveals her backstory and is rather snappish with Blake when she finds out she's a Faunus. The second one however was pretty much her last scene where she's the reason everyone even escapes the cage alive at all because she was able to take over the SIC systems to get the drones to evacuate everyone out before the Cage filled up with water and drowned everybody. She doesn't even get a small scene where she reconciles with Blake or apologizes. Funnily enough just like Weiss in Canon in regard to her racism in volume 1 when you think about it.

Fort Lee, a theatrical CEO and radical pro-human supremacist

The primary villain of the light novel and quite frankly a rather unique one in rwby's overall villain roster. If any of you recall the Megamind meme about true supervillains having presentation then Fort Lee tries his best to embody it. The Man's first appearance in the story literally has him send out a troop of dancer robots with music and him doing a whole song and dance number. The man is theatrical as f*** and literally travels around with stereo drones for the sole purpose of providing background music whenever he feels it would add flair like his own grand entrance or engaging in combat with enemies. When he isn't busy monologuing his evil plans dude is a rather affable guy and you get to feel that he is a rather charismatic dude who is easier to approach and get along with. Hell, the guy even went out of his way to give Ruby leadership advice when she blurted out her issues with her team. He tried to play a semi mentorish role towards her and even talk shop on weapons when he saw her interested in him and was actually pretty happy to share info on his armaments with a weapons enthusiast. By all accounts, the man is practically jovial.

Now that I'm done mentioning the positives that would make someone like the guy let's get into the negatives. Just so we're all in the clear about this guy is the villain he is straight up the leader of a radical pro-human supremacist group whose mission statement calls for either the segregation or outright subjugation of faunus within society. Up until now, I describe the dude as friendly and likable. That goes straight out the window the moment faunus are involved. In his first major confrontation with the heroes after the reveal of his true colors, he is still affable with the human members of the cast and is practically giving them a join me and we can rule together speech but the moment Blake opens her mouth it's "SILENCE YOU FILTHY ANIMAL AND KNOW YOUR PLACE!!!" I'm exaggerating but not by much. The guy even has a monologue about how beasts (faunus) should know their place while humanity takes their rightful place on top of the pecking order. To emphasize the point he's quite literally walking up a makeshift stair of animal drones any rather obvious display of what exactly he thinks of said beasts and how they should be nothing more than stepping stones to aid in the Ascension of humanity. Hell even when he's been effectively disarmed and beaten he tries to make one final pass at Blake with a knife to the back which didn't end well for him since it may have earned him a watery muddy grave. Iona also refer to him as a tyrannical control freak and claimed the only one he ever trust was the MIA AI because it was programmed to follow all his orders without complaint.

Fort Lee was rather proud of the SIC technological advancements with its robotics, weapons, and gadgets. He really liked the most about his various animal drones and how they could be used for utility/domestic services but also how they could so easily be weaponized and add extra firepower to his own personal army. His favorite gadget was a sort of eye mask thing for his left eye that could sort of be considered Remnant's of the equivalent of Google Glass and was essentially a wearable scroll with a very advanced AI called MIA. It gave him complete control over the systems of the entire Island, followed any and all of his voice commands, and continuously feeds him combat data and calculations on the fly while in the middle of a fight. He may greet you so that particular aspect in essentially readjusting his blows and positioning to avoid the most damage possible while delivering the most damage possible. The souped-up data assistant even gives him an extra pair of eyes in the form of drones effectively giving him eyes in the back of his head which again he took advantage of in his fight against team RWBY.

Due to the clunkiness of the translation, Google lens gave me while going through the book I am unsure of whether he had one weapon or two. The artwork presents him as having this wearable literal arm Cannon but in his fight with RWBY, it describes him fighting with a weapon that is a combination of a cannon/war pick/ pile bunker. It never really made mention of him switching out the weapons and said melee form of his weapon is just what his arm Cannon can turn into or he legit just took out another weapon. Anyway, the damn thing was a rather devastating combat implement as its pile bunker form could be driven into the ground and create a shockwave for an area of an effect attack around him while its pick form literally blasts its Cannon head from the flat side to speed up it strikes for extra penetrating damage. Halfway through the fight when team RWBY was actually starting to gain the upper hand using their team combo moves that Ruby was working on inventing throughout the entire trip is on Fort Lee finally whips out his semblance and it's an interesting one. Basically, if any of you guys know Naruto then this dude is pretty much a Nara with how he can manipulate and solidify his shadow and slow down and weekend anyone who steps within his shadow. There is an upper limit to what he can slow down and weekend with his shadows as Yang was able to break out when she went into a berserker state with her semblance when the others point out his gooey shadows were screwing with her hair and Ruby was able to escape the effect by upping her own speed with her semblance and rifle recoils.

So you might be wondering what the deal with Fort Lee is and why he might be the way he is. The man himself drops a few hints here and there but it isn't until Ozpin is talking with Ruby in the epilogue that we get the whole picture. Remember I mentioned that wearable squirrel mask over his left eye? Yeah, the dude lost an eye and is basically using the device to make up for the lacking vision on that side of his face. Well, he had a stepfather. A very violent abusive stepfather. A stepfather who viciously beat him so badly he lost that eye. Ozpin noted this event took place well before Fort Lee went into Beacon as a student where he excelled in his studies and was by all metrics a good student. Oz couldn't help but notice that whenever it came time for sparring Fort Lee would always choose to go up against the faunus every time. When the old headmaster asked him why Fort Lee basically respond that it was an experiment to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the faunus. This sparked an argument between the two and shortly after that Lee dropped out before his final year and ours would later see a report on how Lee's stepfather was found murdered. I think it's pretty obvious what happened there. This is my opinion but I kind of get the impression that his extreme hatred for faunus is tied to his incredibly messed up daddy issues and what he does to faunus is basically him living out his revenge on his stepfather on every furnace he could get his hands on. This isn't something outright stated in the book but considering what we just discussed I think it's a very good guess to make.

Odd comparison to Adam

One thing that kind of caught my interest and was also kind of funny to me is how Fort Lee is kind of the same character as Adam but from the other side of the spectrum. Let's see both wear masks due to extreme ocular trauma. Both have an extreme hatred for each other's races due to said extreme ocular trauma being caused by each other's receptive races. Both are the leaders of radical extremists out to enact their bloody ideas for personal vindictive reasons. Both are in roundabout ways usurpers with how Adam seized control of the White Fang from sienna Khan and how Fort Lee took over the SIC from the previous CEO and make the company a front for Silver Bullet. Both declare the superiority of their own race and call for the subjugation of the other. And oddly enough both kind of die the same way in how they try to kill Blake only for it to end with them in a watery grave. Of course, there are many differences between the two but where are they parallel is just fascinating to me and I can't help but want for these two to interact and absolutely hate each other's guts.

Possible signs of hypocrisy

I wanted to discuss this part because like I mentioned in the previous part the SIC has a business relationship with the white fang. ........ I repeat the company run by a radical anti faunus hate group is supplying the White Fang. The story really doesn't go into details about the intricacies of said business relationship but it does give me ideas. Fort Lee goes on and on about how humans should not fight humans and I should Stand United in the face of grim and beasts(faunus). Despite all that the SIC is literally supplying dust and quite possibly weapons to the White Fang. This is head Cannon territory but I think Fort Lee had his company supply the white fang because he wanted them to continue their terrorist attacks so that he could use this to justify his rhetoric to boost up recruitment for Silver bullet due to said attacks. Again this isn't something that's outright stated in the light novel but it would be kind of brilliant if it were. There's something wonderfully twisted about a dude whose rhetoric is about how faunus need to be put in their place because they are Savage feral animals that will attack without reason and yet here's the white fang doing attacks with weapons he sold to them. The man is potentially engineering justification for his hateful rhetoric at the cost of human lives he claims to care so much about.

That's pretty much all I have to say for these two at the moment. I could have talked about chief of security Anslope, Fort Lee's right-hand man, but the guy is essentially a mini-boss and is just an overblown bully with more authority than he should have. Feel free to share your thoughts or ask me questions.

Hi, this is my first time writing on Tumblr. Since recently, you started mentioning how people are kind of getting sick and tired of the same old talking points circling over and over again I figured why not try to inject something somewhat new. I recently read through the Japanese light novel RWBY the session using Google lens and have made two Reddit posts mostly summarizing the plot and discussing the two major book exclusive characters in it. I just wanted to know if you knew it existed?

Welcome to tumblr!

I've heard about the light novel, yes. To be honest though, I remember checking out the wiki and being turned off by what I saw. The cover art of the girls, the island vacation setup, and the initial plot of "Jaune and Ren go off to woo girls" felt like, well, the worst of what fans have sarcastically imagined for Volume 9's island shenanigans. I'm sure the novel itself has a lot more going for it than a couple of out of context details might suggest, but it never sparked my interest enough search out more info about it and as I only rarely pop onto Reddit, I haven't come across your posts. But I'm glad they exist for those interested in the story! Potential quality aside, it's another example of how far-spread the franchise continues to become. Not that this novel is (presumably) necessary for understanding the webseries like some of the other supplemental materials, but I'm always interested in how the concept of "canon" continues to become muddied in RWBY. It's far from the only franchise grappling with that, but it lacks many of the defenses and justifications I'd apply to other series. It remains a weird space for the series to be in.

[hivemind42]

For context, it is a summary made after using Google Lens to be able to read original Japanese. For those who don't know, Google Lens can translate text from a picture. [RWBY: The Session - Summary] I won't be covering the prologue, first chapter, and parts of chapter two because those have already been translated and summarized in the wiki. Not too much of interest happens in Chapter 2 as it's mostly just the two teams making their way to the resort island and settling in. They're just marveling at how pristine and beautiful the resort is and at the wide assortment of animal-based robots that act as the staff for the resort. There are no human employees. Everything is automated. A lot of this is filled with inter-team banter, mostly from Yang and Weiss arguing over what they should do at the resort. Yang wants this to be a vacation while Weiss wants to make it a training exercise since the island has automated training facilities where they can combat robots. They argue a lot over it with Ruby desperately trying to get them to come to a compromise, failing, and lamenting how she's not really being as good a team leader as she hoped to be. Blake... doesn't really say or do much, just keeps to herself reading her books and occasionally mentioning her issues with the White Fang. They meet up with JNPR who get roped into Weiss and Yang's argument, and basically, the teams swap members temporarily. One group to do the training exercises, the other to do the fun beach stuff. The training team is composed of Jaune, Pyrrha, Weiss, and Blake while the beach team is composed of Ruby, Yang, Ren, and Nora. Chapter 3 starts with the two groups doing their chosen activities. Some minor stuff happens, a few unexpected interactions we usually don't get in the show proper, and a scene that has left me rather baffled in just how... Yikes it is. Let's just say a random group of rowdy faunus hit on Ruby and Yang up for a good time and weren't taking no for an answer. The only reason they didn't get their teeth punched in was because of a Grimm attack happens at that moment. I'm not kidding that actually happened it took me a while to process that. Moving on, the two teams fight off the Grimm horde; after which, they are thanked by the returning CEO of the SIC, Adu Fort Lee. Due to the Grimm attacks, the CEO does the responsible thing and has the guests evacuated from the island for their safety. While evacuations are underway, he recruits the two teams to deal with a massive buildup of Grimm at the center of the island. You see, the SIC has an unfortunate history of performing Grimm control experiments due to the machinations of the previous CEO, and the result of those experiments are on the center of the island, contained within a lake at the heart of the island itself. The teams do some fighting, see some weird things that are very suspicious, and head back to the hotel to regain their bearings. One thing leads to another, and they find out too much info the CEO doesn't want them to know, so he pretty much turns the entire island's defense system against them. So, grand revelation of what's going on here, the SIC has been infiltrated and taken over by a pro-human radical organization. They are called Silver Bullet, but the long ass name the translation kept giving me for their full name is "Silver Ammunition of the Innocent Brothers." My guess is the name sounds better and flows nicer in Japanese than it does in English, so I'm just going to call them Silver Bullet since the heroes keep referring to them by that name several times. Silver Bullet's primary goal is either the expulsion of faunus from human society at best to outright subjugation at worst. The guys running the island are basically the worst version. They use the resort island as one giant trap for faunus since it's an island in the middle of the ocean where they can't easily escape. They have surveillance drones everywhere. The tickets the guests are using are bugged and constantly telling the staff where they are, and lastly they can jam

communication, so their victims can't even call for help. Once the faunus are captured, they are sent to a quarry in the center of the island that is simply called the cage where they are forced to do slave labor for the benefit of Silver Bullet. Of course, the heroes wants to do something about this messed-up situation and also find a way off the island. They are able to escape from the hotel and are hiding out in one of the unused storage facilities on the island when Fort Lee and his forces find them and blindside them with his Arm Cannon. It just so happens the first person he manages to shoot is Pyrrha, so she is out of commission for the fight and everyone is forced to retreat, pretty much leaving her behind to be captured alongside Iona (I'll explain in the character section). If you guys are fearing that she's going to become a damsel in distress, don't because when she wakes up she quickly make short work of one of the guards who got too close for their own good and then proceeded to pretty much rip her way through the prison because a lot of the guards had metal, and the drones were next to worthless thanks to her power. We even get a scene where Fort Lee and his guards are watching Nikos tear her way through their prison and can't help but be impressed by her and have a sincere desire to make her join their organization. Though after analyzing her abilities, he proceeds to send his elite squad armed with non-metal equipment. Oh, by the way, Pyrrha is lacking her weapons and armor during this little jailbreak, and she is further handicapped because she has to protect Iona and her only weapon is the rifle she stole from one of the guards that is running out of bullets, and she is forced to use it as a club. The team Fort Lee sent after her was going to overwhelm her due to a combination of her being handicapped, them not having any metal to take advantage of, numbers, and them having enough skill to be a genuine threat to her. Fortunately, Jaune makes it in time to deliver her weapons at which point she rips through those guards like it was nothing. Oh, I should have probably mentioned this earlier, but this book pretty much marks the only time the heroes actually sort of teamed up with the White Fang. Apparently, the SIC has some kind of illegal arms deal with the WF as mind-boggling that might seem to you considering what those two groups fight for. Even Roman felt the need to comment on that. Roman knew of the SIC's Silver Bullet connections as well as their slaver ring operation but kept quiet on the matter because if the WF found out it would pretty much start a war between them, which would hinder his dust acquisitions. Also, he was hoping to use the information to blackmail the SIC into giving him more stuff. That plan of his fell through due to Blake making contact with the White Fang using the fact she was once a member to get their trust and informed them of the slave camp in the middle of the island at which point they dropped everything they were doing and went on a liberation mission. Thanks to the White Fang and JNPR, much of Silver Bullet is tied up enough that RWBY was able to face off against Fort Lee on their own on a four versus one battle in the mines. Dude put up a good fight but in the end he lost. He made an attempt to call all his forces down on the mine to take out the heroes through sheer numbers only to be shocked when he learns Roman took over his monitoring station has been scrambling his forces with b******* instructions the entire time. He also took over the detonation system and set the entire mine to explode. Long story short, the heroes were able to get out of the collapsing mine system due to Iona and a little luck. The majority of Silver Bullet ends up getting arrested. The prisoners are released, though some of them disappeared and it's heavily implied that they joined the White Fang for very understandable reasons. Iona is working with the authorities to look into the corruption of the SIC and weeding out any lingering Silver Bullet influences that

might be still there. Fort Lee may or may not be dead since he was last seen getting sucked in by a mudslide but no body was found, so there is a very slim chance that he might have survived but it's unlikely. The epilogue is mostly Ruby doing a debriefing with Oz on what happened on that island as well as Ozpin sharing some info on the main villain since he knew the guy. Once done, she's free to go off meet up with her team, and they make plans to have fun since their vacation was cut so short due to Grimm attacks and insane villain plots. The end. Character section [SNew faces from RWBY the session light novel"] So you can consider this part 2 to my RWBY the session summary in a roundabout way but here I'll be focusing more on some characters. Specifically, the ones introduced inside the light novel. There are really only two worth talking about but you could consider there being three but considering the third one is just there to be the right-hand man to the main villain and nothing else might as well just stick to two. Iona Rockshow, young tech genius full of regrets The child tech genius who was is affiliated with star head Industrial company and is the primary reason why teams RWBY and JNPR are even on the island in the first place. She is introduced clearly sabotaging the elephant Mech that went on a rampage during the SIC tech expo which team RWBY fought and took down which earned them tickets to the SIC resort island for their act of heroism. Team jnpr got their invite due to Jaune helping Iona escape from the chief of security at the scene of the crime and she gave him the invite out of gratitude for the help. The reason she sabotaged the expo was the hope that if she could cause a big enough ruckus at a SIC event it would get the book's primary villain the CEO fort Lee to leave his Island to check out what's going on. With the CEO gone Iona hope she'd gain enough free reign of the island to steal a submarine free as many of the faunus slaves and escape with them to blow up the SIC secret slaver operation. Needless to say, the plan didn't work and she just really lucked out that she had two Beacon teams who were willing to help her with the crisis at hand. Iona is presented as a smart, tech-savvy girl who acts far more mature and serious than a kid her age should be. That being said she does engage in childish behavior like getting into small bouts of bantering and semi playful insults in an almost sibling-like manner with Jaune and she carries around a coin that is from her favorite cartoon show. Iona is not very fond of the faunus due to the white fang assassination of her older brother before her very eyes. Due to her trauma and anger towards the faunus, she was open to the ideology of the radical anti-faunus organization Silver bullet and threw her support behind them when their leader fort Lee was in the process of taking over the SIC. That being said she still had morals and limits she would not cross and when she saw the massive slaver operation Silver bullet turned her family's company into it disgusted her to the point that she turned on them and did whatever she could to put an end to their operation. Ask for her interactions with the rest of the cast it's sadly limited from order to greatest to least just Jaune, Pryhraa, to a much greater lesser extent Blake and then finally the rest. She interacts with Jaune more than anyone else because he can't help but check on her to see if she's safe and all right or to just see how she's doing seems to unconsciously take up a big brother role towards her and while she does seem to be annoyed with his presence at times she seems to like having him around. This mostly stems from the fact Jaune reminds Iona of her deceased big brother. Apparently, Arc and the older Rockshow sibling were very similar in many regards. She feels extreme guilt over her brother's death because she challenged him over who gets to sit next to the window in the train car and they put it to a coin toss which she won. With him being closer to the isles when

the White Fang came to assassinate Rockshow family members he was by far the much closer Target. The guilt also wasn't helped by the fact that he did not hesitate to shield her with his own body when he saw the assassin come for them. It could be argued that her hatred for faunus is really just her guilt and self-loathing directed outward to those she feels were most responsible for his death other than herself. The only other character she has prolonged meaningful interactions with besides Jaune is Pryhraa since she was captured alongside her and stuck by her when she broke the both of them out from their prison cell. Iona was being pessimistic about how all her efforts to fight against Silver Bullet on her own were proving to be failures and was not hopeful about the chances of her and the champion being able to escape this deep in enemy territory. Pryhraa for her part tries to keep Iona's spirits up and tells her she hasn't given up yet because she knows Jaune and the others will come for them and not let anything stop them. I don't know is baffled by this faith especially in Jaune of all people since while she appreciates the help he gave her she knows full well he is the least impressive of his peers. She basically cannot imagine someone as weak as him being of much help in a situation as dire as this. She had to eat her words when Jaune did come through for them and managed to protect her when the chief of security Anslope tried to attack her out of spite while Pyhraa was too preoccupied with curb-stomping his dudes. She kind of has a bit of a breakdown after being saved by Jaune from the attack because it reminded her of how her brother protected her when he died. Jaune assures the girl it wasn't her fault and that a brother would do anything to protect their sister and how he understands why her brother did what he did and that he would have had no regrets or blame her for it. She just lets all her pent-up emotions out and one big cry session while Jaune and Pryhraa hug her. Iona's last scene is her throwing away the coin she has been carrying with her and used to make major decisions to show she has finally moved past her guilt. The epilogue said she was working with the authorities to root out silver bullet from the SIC. Honestly, she doesn't really interact with much of the other characters all that much. The most she interacts with RWBY are the two scenes where everyone is together first one being when they escape the resort after the SIC turned hostile on them and towards the end when they're escaping the crumbling cage. In the first one she mostly just gives them exposition on the deal with the SIC and the Silver bullet organization that is running things and also reveals her backstory and is rather snappish with Blake when she finds out she's a Faunus. The second one however was pretty much her last scene where she's the reason everyone even escapes the cage alive at all because she was able to take over the SIC systems to get the drones to evacuate everyone out before the Cage filled up with water and drowned everybody. She doesn't even get a small scene where she reconciles with Blake or apologizes. Funnily enough just like Weiss in Canon in regard to her racism in volume 1 when you think about it. Fort Lee, a theatrical CEO and radical pro-human supremacist The primary villain of the light novel and quite frankly a rather unique one in rwby's overall villain roster. If any of you recall the Megamind meme about true supervillains having presentation then Fort Lee tries his best to embody it. The Man's first appearance in the story literally has him send out a troop of dancer robots with music and him doing a whole song and dance number. The man is theatrical as f*** and literally travels around with stereo drones for the sole purpose of providing background music whenever he feels it would add flair like his own grand entrance or engaging in combat with enemies. When he isn't busy monologuing his evil plans dude is a rather affable guy and you get to feel that he is a rather charismatic

dude who is easier to approach and get along with. Hell, the guy even went out of his way to give Ruby leadership advice when she blurted out her issues with her team. He tried to play a semi mentorish role towards her and even talk shop on weapons when he saw her interested in him and was actually pretty happy to share info on his armaments with a weapons enthusiast. By all accounts, the man is practically jovial. Now that I'm done mentioning the positives that would make someone like the guy let's get into the negatives. Just so we're all in the clear about this guy is the villain he is straight up the leader of a radical pro-human supremacist group whose mission statement calls for either the segregation or outright subjugation of faunus within society. Up until now, I describe the dude as friendly and likable. That goes straight out the window the moment faunus are involved. In his first major confrontation with the heroes after the reveal of his true colors, he is still affable with the human members of the cast and is practically giving them a join me and we can rule together speech but the moment Blake opens her mouth it's "SILENCE YOU FILTHY ANIMAL AND KNOW YOUR PLACE!!!" I'm exaggerating but not by much. The guy even has a monologue about how beasts (faunus) should know their place while humanity takes their rightful place on top of the pecking order. To emphasize the point he's quite literally walking up a makeshift stair of animal drones any rather obvious display of what exactly he thinks of said beasts and how they should be nothing more than stepping stones to aid in the Ascension of humanity. Hell even when he's been effectively disarmed and beaten he tries to make one final pass at Blake with a knife to the back which didn't end well for him since it may have earned him a watery muddy grave. Iona also refer to him as a tyrannical control freak and claimed the only one he ever trust was the MIA AI because it was programmed to follow all his orders without complaint. Fort Lee was rather proud of the SIC technological advancements with its robotics, weapons, and gadgets. He really liked the most about his various animal drones and how they could be used for utility/domestic services but also how they could so easily be weaponized and add extra firepower to his own personal army. His favorite gadget was a sort of eye mask thing for his left eye that could sort of be considered Remnant's of the equivalent of Google Glass and was essentially a wearable scroll with a very advanced AI called MIA. It gave him complete control over the systems of the entire Island, followed any and all of his voice commands, and continuously feeds him combat data and calculations on the fly while in the middle of a fight. He may greet you so that particular aspect in essentially readjusting his blows and positioning to avoid the most damage possible while delivering the most damage possible. The souped-up data assistant even gives him an extra pair of eyes in the form of drones effectively giving him eyes in the back of his head which again he took advantage of in his fight against team RWBY. Due to the clunkiness of the translation, Google lens gave me while going through the book I am unsure of whether he had one weapon or two. The artwork presents him as having this wearable literal arm Cannon but in his fight with RWBY, it describes him fighting with a weapon that is a combination of a cannon/war pick/ pile bunker. It never really made mention of him switching out the weapons and said melee form of his weapon is just what his arm Cannon can turn into or he legit just took out another weapon. Anyway, the damn thing was a rather devastating combat implement as its pile bunker form could be driven into the ground and create a shockwave for an area of an effect attack around him while its pick form literally blasts its Cannon head from the flat side to speed up it strikes for extra penetrating damage. Halfway through the fight when team RWBY was actually starting to gain the upper hand using their team combo moves that

Ruby was working on inventing throughout the entire trip is on Fort Lee finally whips out his semblance and it's an interesting one. Basically, if any of you guys know Naruto then this dude is pretty much a Nara with how he can manipulate and solidify his shadow and slow down and weekend anyone who steps within his shadow. There is an upper limit to what he can slow down and weekend with his shadows as Yang was able to break out when she went into a berserker state with her semblance when the others point out his gooey shadows were screwing with her hair and Ruby was able to escape the effect by upping her own speed with her semblance and rifle recoils. So you might be wondering what the deal with Fort Lee is and why he might be the way he is. The man himself drops a few hints here and there but it isn't until Ozpin is talking with Ruby in the epilogue that we get the whole picture. Remember I mentioned that wearable squirrel mask over his left eye? Yeah, the dude lost an eye and is basically using the device to make up for the lacking vision on that side of his face. Well, he had a stepfather. A very violent abusive stepfather. A stepfather who viciously beat him so badly he lost that eye. Ozpin noted this event took place well before Fort Lee went into Beacon as a student where he excelled in his studies and was by all metrics a good student. Oz couldn't help but notice that whenever it came time for sparring Fort Lee would always choose to go up against the faunus every time. When the old headmaster asked him why Fort Lee basically respond that it was an experiment to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the faunus. This sparked an argument between the two and shortly after that Lee dropped out before his final year and ours would later see a report on how Lee's stepfather was found murdered. I think it's pretty obvious what happened there. This is my opinion but I kind of get the impression that his extreme hatred for faunus is tied to his incredibly messed up daddy issues and what he does to faunus is basically him living out his revenge on his stepfather on every furnace he could get his hands on. This isn't something outright stated in the book but considering what we just discussed I think it's a very good guess to make. Odd comparison to Adam One thing that kind of caught my interest and was also kind of funny to me is how Fort Lee is kind of the same character as Adam but from the other side of the spectrum. Let's see both wear masks due to extreme ocular trauma. Both have an extreme hatred for each other's races due to said extreme ocular trauma being caused by each other's receptive races. Both are the leaders of radical extremists out to enact their bloody ideas for personal vindictive reasons. Both are in roundabout ways usurpers with how Adam seized control of the White Fang from sienna Khan and how Fort Lee took over the SIC from the previous CEO and make the company a front for Silver Bullet. Both declare the superiority of their own race and call for the subjugation of the other. And oddly enough both kind of die the same way in how they try to kill Blake only for it to end with them in a watery grave. Of course, there are many differences between the two but where are they parallel is just fascinating to me and I can't help but want for these two to interact and absolutely hate each other's guts. Possible signs of hypocrisy I wanted to discuss this part because like I mentioned in the previous part the SIC has a business relationship with the white fang. ........ I repeat the company run by a radical anti faunus hate group is supplying the White Fang. The story really doesn't go into details about the intricacies of said business relationship but it does give me ideas. Fort Lee goes on and on about how humans should not fight humans and I should Stand United in the face of grim and beasts(faunus). Despite all that the SIC is literally supplying dust and quite possibly weapons to the White Fang. This is head Cannon territory but I think Fort Lee had his company supply the white fang

because he wanted them to continue their terrorist attacks so that he could use this to justify his rhetoric to boost up recruitment for Silver bullet due to said attacks. Again this isn't something that's outright stated in the light novel but it would be kind of brilliant if it were. There's something wonderfully twisted about a dude whose rhetoric is about how faunus need to be put in their place because they are Savage feral animals that will attack without reason and yet here's the white fang doing attacks with weapons he sold to them. The man is potentially engineering justification for his hateful rhetoric at the cost of human lives he claims to care so much about. That's pretty much all I have to say for these two at the moment. I could have talked about chief of security Anslope, Fort Lee's right-hand man, but the guy is essentially a mini-boss and is just an overblown bully with more authority than he should have. Feel free to share your thoughts or ask me questions.

Hi, this is my first time writing on Tumblr. Since recently, you started mentioning how people are kind of getting sick and tired of the same old talking points circling over and over again I figured why not try to inject something somewhat new. I recently read through the Japanese light novel RWBY the session using Google lens and have made two Reddit posts mostly summarizing the plot and discussing the two major book exclusive characters in it. I just wanted to know if you knew it existed?

Welcome to tumblr!

I've heard about the light novel, yes. To be honest though, I remember checking out the wiki and being turned off by what I saw. The cover art of the girls, the island vacation setup, and the initial plot of "Jaune and Ren go off to woo girls" felt like, well, the worst of what fans have sarcastically imagined for Volume 9's island shenanigans. I'm sure the novel itself has a lot more going for it than a couple of out of context details might suggest, but it never sparked my interest enough search out more info about it and as I only rarely pop onto Reddit, I haven't come across your posts. But I'm glad they exist for those interested in the story! Potential quality aside, it's another example of how far-spread the franchise continues to become. Not that this novel is (presumably) necessary for understanding the webseries like some of the other supplemental materials, but I'm always interested in how the concept of "canon" continues to become muddied in RWBY. It's far from the only franchise grappling with that, but it lacks many of the defenses and justifications I'd apply to other series. It remains a weird space for the series to be in.