#i do love alyx still

[aethernoise]

liberator

[vv-ispy]

Ships that could have worked out if it wasn't for one (1) thing

[agatharioscoven]

I dunno, maybe I'm over reacting with the stills thing, but I'm literally spending months of my life to do this and it just feels like I'm not asking for much? Just tag this blog or @willow-stills and say that's where the still came from?

He'll, or even just put an X inside brackets with a link to the original post?

Am I asking for too much? Am I over reacting?

Just makes me not want to post stills anymore

[hanahaki-arcade]

You are not seeingbthis

[eyepatchdate]

i enjoy the main characters of miraculous too, i promise, and the plotlines etc.  i just only post about gabriel. hes my brand.

[halflifebutawesome]

List of observations from the first 20 minutes of HL2 that are honestly probably really base level takes but I think about alot .

I made a post about it months ago but Barn literally turns his ENTIRE FUCKING BACK to Gordon and FULLY OBSTRUCTS HIS OWN VISION and completely bares his throat when he takes off his mask. This man is incredibly stupid and incredibly lucky that Gordon didn't just like. Jump him.

kind of fucked that when teh other CP asks barney if he “needs help with this one” (refering to interrogating and presumably Hurting Gordon in some capacity) and barney replys “no ive got this” the other CP jsut. Believes him. Fully accepts that Barneys capable of enough violence/force that he doesnt need backup. Like. Okay. The alternative here is that the other guard is also undercover but like. Yknow.

I've thought about this before but him saying "it's me, Barney, from black mesa" isn't just a line to tell the Player who this is, it's also in case. Well. The Combine canonically have been wiping peoples memories and making people forget. Here comes Gordon, missing for 20 years and looking probably disoriented, one has to assume he just Forgot everyone somehow and doesn't know what's going on. Saying it's me, Barney, from Black Mesa, he's trying to in some way jog his memory, just in case

the guards will just straight up attack you in the train station if you keep bothering them. I jsut didn't know this and I think it's scary and interesting.

Gordon running through city 17 before you meet Alyx genuinely feels so frantic and scary and disorienting I really like it.

Alyx takes out like ~7 CP by herself. God what a woman. They way they're like strewn about the room though fucking kiiills me. WHAT DID SHE DO .

I also just really like all the npc dialog and animation. Its got such a good feel to it all it makes me smile. Theyre FRIENDSSSS OKAY. theyre friends and they care about eachother and they care about Gord. sniffles. This time he doesn't have to do it alone......

NOBODY TELLS GORDON FUCKING ANYTHING. they're like well. Get in the HEV Gordy. Get in the Contraption Gordy. Okay here's a crowbar go run around in the canals see ya later and it's like. COOL. SEE YOU. I LOVE YOU. I STILL DONT KNOW WHATS GOING ON. CAN I HAVE A GUN

[rwby-encrusted-blog]

RK!Jaune: Alyx? ALYX! SLOW DOWN!

Alyx: *Disappearing into the forest* We're Almost out- If you would just speed- *Cough* S-speed ...

RK!Jaune: ALyx!

Alyx: (Possessed) OH Jaune! It's been a long time! How's the girlfriend?

RK!Jaune: You get out of her!

Possessed!Alyx: Or what? You'll Beat Me out of-

RK!Jaune: *Hucks a flaming pile of Tree leaves*

Possessed!Alyx: *Hack, Cough, Splutter*

Alyx: *gasp Gasp, sniffle*

RK!Jaune: *Looking her over for injuries*Alyx! Are you alright?

Alyx: ...

RK!Jaune: *sigh* a decade of Hunting for this?

Alyx: ... Why? Everday I spend here is one nightmare after the next! I KNEW It would end up like this!

Alyx: ... This place just wants us to suffer ...

RK!Jaune: I don't think it's like- I don't know-

RK!Jaune: ...

RK!Jaune: Let's forget about that. Nothing's chasing us right now, so let's just sit and catch our breath.

Alyx: *PUlling her knees into her chest, glancing at Jaune*

Alyx: *She begin sobbing quietly*

RK!Jaune: ... It's my fault we wound up in this acre, isn't it? I'm really sorry for that.

Alyx: ... Why have you been acting so different lately?

RK!Jaune: ... I have, haven't I? I'm normally not too good with memories. But the scent of leaves ... the cover of darkness and stars ... It brings me back to a certain time.

RK!Jaune: ... So many nights with the love of my life, training on that roof with the moon and stars hanging over head, the smell of her perfume, nothing too sweet or floral, not overly strong while keeping it's scent over the sweat ...

RK!Jaune: ... The night she died she kissed me for the first, and last time. It was warm. Soft. Under the night sky, the scent of that leafy perfume ... Then she was gone ... I'm always brought back there in place like this, at times like this ...

Alyx: You had a Girlfriend? Like here in the Ever After?

RK!Jaune: *Chuckles* Sure. She was Funny, and Sweet, and kind - she was really good at fighting! If she was around she could still ... I think she'd still be able to beat me. I was less than a novice when we first met, but she got me the basics, and that let me survive.

RK!Jaune: I know that last one ... Isn't the most cheerful memory, but it's one I at least have control over.

RK!Jaune: I know how it can feel on this Island. Sometimes it all just feels ... Pointless.

Alyx: ... yeah ...

RK!Jaune: But it's not.

Alyx: ?

RK!Jaune: Not if you have people that Care about, people that are waiting for you. *Undoing his ponytail, staring at the tiny, ragged red cloth* Hang onto them, Cherish them. You'll never know when they'll be gone. In this world the worst thing you can do is ... make someone think they're not wanted or loved.

Alyx: ... *Wiping her tears* I'm glad you're here with me.

RK!Jaune: *Smiling softly*

RK!Jaune: You know ... A long, long time ... ago? uh, A friend got ... Possessed. I was able to use my semblance to help her fight it. I think ... I think maybe I can get us out.

Alyx: I- I'm scared. I don't want to go back in there.

RK!Jaune: How about ... We try thinking about the people we want to see when we leave, and not the things that want to see us when we enter? Is that okay?

Alyx: If ... If we leave, and head deeper into the Ever After, you're just gonna go back to being Crazy! You're not gonna remember any of this, are you?

RK!Jaune: Don't worry about me, as long as you remember, things will be okay.

RK!Jaune: you're very strong, and smart, and brave Alyx, and I know you'll be able to get through this. *he reaches out a hand* Just hold onto me.

RK!Jaune: We'll get through it together!

Alyx: ... *Stands up, taking Jaune's glowing hand*

RK!Jaune: *helps her get up as they walk into the gnarled trees*

The two walked through a gnarled, haunted forest in the ever after, but Alyx couldn't take her eyes off of Jaune, glowing like a star in the void of an endless night. She'd never felt safer than right here, with him.

[brookahs-mind-palace]

post canon hl2 like a few years down the line gordon decides hes going to go live in a cabin in the woods and live his lumberjack fantasy and him and alyx go there and they find a shitty little run down house and do all these renovations together and its so stupidly sweet and they build furniture and start a garden and gordon tries cooking for alyx all the time and even though its not anything crazy gourmet she thinks its like the best thing ever because whens the last time she had a home cooked meal and she still goes to white forest and the surrounding areas to help out with stuff and eli and kleiner come around to visit for family time and gordons just happy kind of being the house husband and not having to deal with society at large anymore and at the end of the day him and alyx just get to be all domestic and lovely in their little bedroom with the sunset coming through the windows and kissing each others blemishes and scars and then they go to bed and its beautiful and then gordon freeman dad bod happens (very important detail) thanks for comign to my ted talk i hope you all can share my vision with me

[pilot-boi]

Whiteknight time travel Au

Pyrrha: Weiss why are we throwing away Jaunes razors

Weiss: Dear trust me give it 2 weeks and you'll never let a blade near his face... more than you already do

*weeks later*

Pyrrha: Weiss you are right it was worth it

Passing student: How could there be a not a single razer or blades in a 50 mile radius

Weiss: Did you buy all th-

Pyrrha: Razors in a 50 mile radius yes

Weiss:(kisses her) I love you so much

Pyrrha summoned them to her with her Semblance, it was deeply alarming

But also, gonna be the person to say it, Weiss wouldn’t do this to him

Fair warning, this is going to turn into a Jaune meta rant. I didn’t mean it to, it just sort of happened

Jaune growing the beard and the hair in the Ever After, no matter how attractive it was to Weiss, was representative of him not caring for himself. That’s why his armor was rusted but Crescent Rose was in perfect condition, he was putting all of his energy into worrying about/taking care of his friends and NONE into taking care of himself

And don’t say it’s because he didn’t have a way to cut it, he absolutely did. Crocea Mors was still sharp, even rusted, and if he wanted to he could’ve used that to cut his hair. Knives clearly existed and were sold, hell the Paper Pleasers had fucking scissors. If he cared about taking care of his appearance, he could’ve done so

But he didn’t. He let his physical body rust just as surely as his armor

Jaune’s whole arc is about loss of agency, and failing to live up to his own expectations

He didn’t REALLY have a choice about leaving Pyrrha, he didn’t REALLY have a choice about killing Penny, he didn’t REALLY have a choice about getting sent into the past. And then as a result of these traumas, he took agency away from the Paper Pleasers

He failed to become the hero on his own, so he doubled down on shouldering the burdens of his team. He failed to stand by Pyrrha’s side as her equal, so he doubled down on becoming a warrior. He failed to focus on protecting his friends at Haven, so he doubled down on becoming a healer/defender. He failed to heal/defend his friends and KILLED Penny, so he broke

His sword shattering was symbolic of that being the last straw. He couldn’t be a hero, he couldn’t be a leader, he couldn’t be a warrior, he couldn’t be a protector. In Jaune’s mind, he had nothing left to be

THATS why he let himself fall apart in the Ever After, in his mind he was only living to get RWBY back to Remnant. The one last thing he could do for them. THATS why he clung so hard to the role of the Rusted Knight, after so long with no purpose it was finally something he could be

That’s also why he focused so much on “protecting” the Paper Pleasers, and especially why he named them after his friends

His fragile helpful loving friends that he NEEDS to protect. Jaune knows he has more Aura than his friends (more than anyone he’s even met) and he’s meant to take the hits that his friends can’t. His weapon is a shield, and HE is a shield. The Paper Pleasers were representative of everything he failed to do for his friends, every time he failed to protect them

“Because I can actually protect these people!”

Jaune lost all of his agency when he landed in the Ever After. He didn’t chose to kill Penny, he didn’t choose to fall, he didn’t choose to go back in time. So he took away the Paper Pleaser’s AND ALYX’S agency because he was terrified of not being able to protect them

Weiss saw what happened to him at his worst, she saw what happened to Jaune when every choice was taken from him and he had nothing but failure to remember.

So no way in hell would Weiss take away his agency now, or make him think he’s failing her by not looking “mature”. She might joke with him about it, but she’d never take away his choice in the matter

[burnin0akleaves]

Here's the draw six fanarts meme I decided to participate in 4 years late

In true burnin0akleaves spirit I didn't ask anyone for requests and just went ahead with all of the characters that have been the most impactful/important to me, so there is a high chance you've seen me draw these guys before.

By the way, unlike the rest of the blorbos here Siyra is an original character and belongs to @nineteen-rats!

Close-ups and rambles under the cut because it's my blog

Ohh the Dark Urge. My latest obsession. I love his design so much, I'm a slut for white/red color schemes, but I feel like it's a double edged sword that takes you out of the horrors he's commiting at the same time?

Durge is supposed to be murder incarnate, someone that does every fucked up thing related to death imaginable; but when you see a giant lizard eating babies or humping corpses, it dulls the effect a bit since you automatically view it as an animalistic act. Dragonborns are obviously a fully sentient humanoid race in-universe; but when the violence you're seeing is already toeing the line between horrifying and hilarious, seeing a scalie doing it just pushes it over the line. I still think it works really well most of the time and I'm very glad that this is the default durge we get! It's just funny to me that when you choose to play as the giant lizard, the dark and disgusting horror story turns into the hilariously edgy bloodfest.

Reminding everyone again that Siyra belongs to @nineteen-rats! I love this man so so so much. I am the Siyra fandom. I am the number one Siyra fanartist. He did nothing wrong and I will defend his every decision. I also hope terrible horrors befall him and that his actions keep him awake for the rest of his life. Pookie bear xoxo

COMING IN WITH THE STEEL CHAIR IT'S WILL TREATY

He is on my mind, always. I don't talk about him as much but he's probably still the fictional character who had the most impact on me as a person.

PATROCLUS! PATROCLUS!!! SIR I'M YOUR NUMBER ONE FAN!!

I got into patrochilles and the Illiad in general thanks to "The Song of Achilles". It was one of the first queer books I got to have in real life and the prose captivated me instantly, I still have it on my shelf. After reading the Illiad itself however, I hate that book so much. I'm sorry it's genuinely beautiful and I get why people like it but I can never forgive that horrible Patroclus characterization after seeing what he was originally like. Achilles too for that matter.

Hades swooped me up into its arms like I was a sick baby bird and nursed me back to health with its portrayal of the two though and for that I am forever grateful. I can't wait for Hades 2, death to Chronos.

God Half-Life is such an important series for me. My dad would let me play through a few levels since I was a child, he grew up with the games, but I REALLY played through the entire series one summer shortly before dad moved out. He was there watching me play most of it and getting to enjoy someone actually translate the game's dialogue for him for the first time.

Gordon may not speak once but I like the hints of his personality we get throughout the games, most importantly from the way Alyx talks to/about him. I have my own characterization of him obviously but I do really think you can get a good understanding of the kind of man he is meant to be in-universe just by paying attention to his surroundings. Also another reason the games were so immersive for me is that I'm just as in love with Alyx as Gordon is. I must have let her get hit only once or twice the entire time just out of how protective I was over her. I'd topple the entire Combine empire just for her hand in marriage. I rewatched the ending of Half Life Alyx recently and cried.

I read the entirety of LOTR in one week in 11th grade, carrying that damn brick of a book everyday to school and back. I'm so glad I did honestly. Frodo and Sam are my important little guys and I find myself going back to them when I need something to calm me down in a way no other series except LOTR can. I've read most of Tolkien's work at this point, but nothing captivated me like those two little hobbits. Everytime I read a bad take about their relationship I sketch them making out.

People liked seeing my drawing process before so here's the original sketch and the little notes I wrote to myself trying to set the mood. I followed like half of them.

[bsptourist]

Do you have any favorite part or spot from the Half-Life series?

Yeah hang on let me just pick a few favorite children here

In HL1, the area right after you get out of the trash compactor springs to mind— Just a weird little run off area, but it's something someone at Valve still put time into detailing. The lobby/surrounding areas from Questionable Ethics are also up there. (Generally, I've always loved thinking about how Black Mesa presents itself to the outside world, and this is a fun glimpse at that. Excitingly banal stuff!)

As far as HL2 goes, I enjoy any of the areas that incorporate rebel outposts and basebuilding. Scratches the same itch in my brain that building pillowforts as a kid did. I picked the first map of Black Mesa East for the anniversary post because I do genuinely love that area. The way HL1 & 2 both display the passage of time without drawing much attention to it is great. The evening tone and skybox as you arrive to Black Mesa East are still beautiful, and the general hominess of the facility itself has always really stricken me. Any maps in Source that can depict an evening dusk tone convincingly enough always end up winning me over.

People sleep on Episode 1 a lot but I've always adored the citadel meltdown sections, both aesthetically and in terms of gameplay. The overwatch voice just repeating alert... alert... through a shattering Citadel is fantastic. The bridge section from Episode 2 where Alyx mans the heavy sniper also deserves mention!

I tend to like the weird little understated areas in both games more than anything else though. Gun to my head— I would say this spot in Water Hazard, (d1_canals_12,) is my favorite overall:

It incorporates a lot of the things I like about HL2's early goings, that being the late afternoon/dusk tone and makeshift structures. It's ultimately pretty boring compared to the big setpieces the rest of the game offers, sure, but there's a lot of storytelling power in this very sad little vignette that you can miss completely.

Even without the dead/zombified refugees and the metrocop presence just outside of it, this is a sign of how bleak life under Combine rule truly is. Sure, at this point you've seen it firsthand by way of jackbooted police brutality and suppression field talk, but seeing the places these people have had to hastily hole up in drives it home. This is maybe the most hopeless example: life at the end of a sewer canal, waiting on salvation you're not sure will ever come, surviving on god knows what. If you're particularly unlucky, a squad of people just like you, (only more susceptible to propaganda or the draw of civil protection benefits,) will come to mangle or outright kill you for daring to step out of line.

Also. Well. The lighting is pretty. That helps a lot too

[howi99]

Pet AU

God...I feel sorry for jaune but also for his team. I can see Adam being hard on jaune as he is very weak and not prepared for combat.

I can say jaune would give it his all but he is very unprepared. But maybe there is a silver lining with this. Jaune was made leader his strength right now is his brains and strategy. Maybe he starts training with all his team mates every day to start trying to catch up?

PE class

Blake: You know, it's impressive how Jaune isn't actually dying on us.

Ilia: *shrug* If anything, he got a good amount of stamina for an untrained civilian.

Jaune: *Running laps with all his equipment on* How *huff* many *huff* more?

Adam: *behind him, running as well with a whistle in his mouth* "whistle" Less question, more running!

Jaune: *huff* Fuuuuu-

Blake: No swearing! Mo- i mean headmistress Kali is watching us.

Jaune: -dge.

Kali: *who is looking at everyone's training* You know Blake, I don't mind if you call me mom on campus.

Blake: It's weird.

Kali: *clenching her poor heart* My daughter is in her rebel phase. Oh the humanity!

Blake: *roll her eyes*

Adam: *whistle* Ok, we can stop.

Jaune: Oh thank god!

_____

Study time

Adam: ... I don't understand.

Jaune: What do you mean?

Adam: Why are we learning about literature instead of training to kill grimm?

Jaune: *looking at his own paper* I mean, we still need to be educated. Besides, i don't see Blake and Ilia complaining.

Blake and Ilia: *both reading the same book. They are both smiling like idiots*

Adam: They have... A weird obsession with that series. I think it's called ninja of love?

Jaune: *shrug* the prof said we could choose the book we wanted to write our dissertation about. As long as it's not porn, i don't care what they both are reading.

Adam: *was going to say that it probably was smut, then just give up* What did you choose?

Jaune: *give the book he was writing about to Adam* Take a look.

Adam: "The girl who fell through the world." Hey, i know that story.

Jaune: You do?

Adam: Yeah! I was always a fan of the rusted knight.

Jaune: *chuckle* like everyone else.

Adam: What? You prefer another one?

Jaune: Yeah, the Red Warrior. The man who saves the less fortunate and helps the rusted knight and Alyx during his adventures!

[princess-of-the-corner]

Rose: Hmm, ya know, now that Lilla's back we really do have three famous people in class. Finally enough for kiss marry kill!

Juleka: Killing? Morbid, I'm in.

Rose: We have confirmation, anyone else want in?

Marinette: This sounds super inappropriate.

Lila: Its all right with me, I know your answers ahead of time Marinette, I won't take offence :3c

Marinette (Aggressive eyebrow twitching)

Nathanial: I'm up.

Ivan: Can the marriage be ceremonial? Cos Mylene and I are already dating.

Rose: No, that's playing the game wrong.

Chloe: You're already playing the game wrong!

Alyx: boo, buzz kill.

Chloe (Flips her off) I'm right though, everyone will just choose to kill me, some of you already tried-

Adrien: Hey-

Chloe: As Akuma, I know, point is, you're undermine one third of the games entire structure, it needs three equals participants or its just lazy!

Nino: Did not expect to be agreeing with Chloe, also you OK with this dude?

Adrien: Eh, you should hear backstage chatter in dressings rooms, though I think Chloe makes a point. What if we sub in Kagami for Chloe? She's nice.

Marinette: Plus, Kagami's pretty and rich and good with a sword! (Buries face in hands in despair)

Alya: (Pats her head)

Kagami (Opens door) I heard my name being shouted, am I needed for something?

Sabrina: They're playing kiss, marry kill and you're being swapped into Chloe's place so there's no easy kill option.

Kagami: I see, well I will put on my best effort, but given I don't share a class with the players I know I am at a disadvantage. Still, I enjoy a challenge.

Rose: Don't worry Kagami, Juleka and I are definitely killing Adrien instead of you.

Kagami: How charming, you have my gratitude.

Adrien: Love wins!

Kagami: Now I only need to strike down Miss Rossi.

Lila (Please say she's not being literal)

Mylene: This game is so violent.

Chloe: It should also be more sordid, but I guess Fu-

Marinette: OK, so whose first!?

So Chloé since you took yourself out of the running what's your answer?

[polyphonicrathivemind]

I always hate it when people say, "Valve can't count to 3." Like with Half Life, I can understand the story ends on a cliffhanger, but when it comes to Portal, how would you even progress the story? The ending of the first portal had a setup at the end with Chell being dragged back in. In Portal 2, the whole ending is strictly focused on getting rid of Chell.

Even the ending song is about Glados wanting Chell gone, and in the end she lets her go. What would the story be? Glados now suddenly needs Chell's help?? I can't imagine the game outside the facility; it's in the portal DNA.

If you even were to come up with some story that would make sense, you still need to tie in portal puzzles into that. It would be sooo hard to make a good third game after the second one raised the bar so high. Valve knows this. That's why they may be doing half-life 3 only now after all this time (based on rumors). Hell, they even retconed some of the original story with HL: Alyx so they could continue it.

I'm not saying that we won't get Portal 3. I myself would love that. But the expectations are so big, and the process of making such a game isn't easy.

End of rant

[internetskiff]

(Screenshots of dialogue from this video since I don't own the equipment to play Alyx myself) Something I find so so interesting about Half Life Alyx's combine grunts is that they're not just humanized for the sake of adding more humor to enemy encounters. They're basically prototypes, and if you pause to pay attention to their idle chatter you may catch them updating their mental reprogramming in real time. Lower units are actively pressured by their superiors into basically wiping unneeded memories out of themselves as if it's garbage data. I'm wondering if Combine Soldiers feel any sort of fear when they go through this? Do they hold on to the remnants of humanity the Universal Union hadn't stripped away yet? Do they feel the urge to defect in these moments? How many of them acted on that urge? Unlike Half Life 2's Combine Units, a lot of these are still people, they have yet to be turned into mindless war machines - but they're getting there. A lot of them were probably fed an entirely different idea of what it'd be like to serve under the Union, and now the truth is staring them right in the face and demanding them to give up their memories. Home? Useless. Loved ones? Unneeded. We need to make room in that cranium of yours for more battle tactics, and these have got to go! [De-masked Combine Grunt up ahead, quite gory.] ... ... ... ...

I'm assuming a lot of these people were ex-metrocops, and this is the Universal Union's exact idea of "moving up the ladder". Imagine being told you're getting a promotion, and next thing you know you get fuckin' sedated on the spot, and once you wake you've had your skin grafted to a suit and your head entombed in armor plating, the eyes scooped out to make room for fancy new optics. They've already mutilated your body but now they're cordially asking for your consent to mutilate your mind aswell. Cognitive dissonance will not be tolerated. Update is live, acceptance is mandatory.

[littlemisssquiggles]

In today’s episode, Jaune revealed that Lewis and Alyx were actually residents of Vacuo Kingdom (surprise, surprise) during a time before the Great War. And since we know that Lewis actually returned from the Ever After, it make wonder something curious.

If Lewis was the author of the Girl Who Fell Through the World fairy-tale then it would make perfect sense as to why he omitted himself from the written adventures in the Ever After and chose to make Alyx the protagonist. It makes sense since, unlike Lewis, Alyx never returned home and basically “died” in the Ever After.

So my assumption is that Lewis must’ve maintained his sister’s story through his story about her. That way Alyx’s legacy was able to live on in some shape or form despite the real Alyx practically ceasing to exist after never returning home.

Since Jaune was shown to still be have some qualms over his time in the Ever After, it got me thinking.

What if…Jaune were to (somehow) discover the original journal of Lewis which he had used to record his experience in the Ever After in the Vacuo archives?

What if…Jaune were to meet someone closely connected to Lewis and Alyx while in Vacuo? Like a surviving member of their family bloodline still thriving in modern Remnant.

What if… Headmaster Theodore was that surviving member? I know the main popular theory is that Lewis was one of Ozma’s reincarnations but imagine if Lewis wasn’t an Ozma reincarnation but Theo’s ancestor instead?

I haven’t read either of the RWBY After the Fall books so I’m not familiar with Headmaster Theodore in terms of characterization or like what his backstory is.

That being said, I do, however like the idea of the final maiden being connected to Theo in some shape or form.

For me, I like the prospect of the Summer Maiden being either Theo’s daughter or younger sister or cousin or niece or some important person to him as she’s probably the only family he has left.

Again, I don’t know anything about Theo but thus far, none of the other headmasters of the huntsmen academies have had any reason to be protective of their respective maiden outside of a moral obligation as per Ozpin’s instructions.

To make Theo stand out more, I think it would be a nice change of pace if Theo, the final headmaster, were to share an actual connection to the final  maiden as she is a beloved relative of his.

Why bring this up? Well I like the idea of Jaune forming a close relationship with another Maiden candidate. Maybe he could even fall in love with the Summer Maiden.

Technically, Jaune hasn’t had a legit love interest since Pyrhha and I don’t know about ya’ll but…after six seasons (and half a movie), I’m kind of tired of being reminded of Arkos, ya’ll.

It was the Ship that was meant to be that never got to be because Writers decided to kill it off early.

Don’t get me wrong. I love Arkos. Arkos was a great ship that was gone too soon.

To (finally) close the chapter on Jaune moving on from Pyrhha (since even after all of his growth, I still don't think he's over her as the show keeps constantly bringing up whenever they can)...

I think it actually might be cute if Jaune does end up being romantically involved with the Summer Maiden who he actually succeeds in protecting from Cinder when she comes to steal her powers.

I’ve grown tired of new maidens showing up in the story just to die for the sake of the powers being passed onto a main character.

Since Summer is the last maiden, it would be nice if Summer is the one to stop the cycle of original maiden deaths and she actually gets to live on even after opening the vault.

As much as I like WhiteKnight as a ship, I honestly gave up on it becoming canon after V5 dropped and nothing else was done to further develop Weiss and Jaune’s relationship as a prospective romance.

Yeah sure, V9 tossed us a crumb of Weiss being attracted to Jaune in his more mature Rusted Knight persona.

But after further deliberation, I’ve concluded that that little nugget of hope isn’t enough to get me back on the horse of hoping for a romance between these two.

Do you know what would actually be pretty wild?

If Jaune fell in love with the Summer Maiden who is not only a red-head (like Pyrhha) but is also a descendent of Lewis who is the author of the Girl Who Fell Through the World and thus a relative of Alyx.

And unlike Alyx and Pyrhha who Jaune failed to protect/help/save, Jaune is able to do just that with the Summer Maiden by protecting her from Cinder and thus, the two are able to live happily ever after.

That would actually be wild.

Not saying this would become true in the canon. I'm just tossing it out into the RWBY FNDM ether as a food for thought.

~LMS (2024)