#if you want neo to have a fighting chance you can't have jaune try to talk her up to ruby

[onewomancitadel]

the neo and jaune opening image is about how jaune is gonna wingman for neo to get ruby to like heevwjfhwkfbwlfnwlfne [cherry branwyns has walked into an electric fence]

God forbid Jaune is ever a wingman, if you want Neo to have any chance.

[rwby-encrusted-blog]

Branches whipped by as Penny ascended through the canopy of the Tree, carrying Jaune in her arms. They reached Weiss, Blake, and Yang still in combat with the Cat, who kept summoning falsifications of their friends and enemies. The girls were clearly getting worn down from the constant onslaught.

Jaune: HEY CAT!

The Curious Cat whirled around to see the Rusted Knight Once more, with that annoying Doll that followed him like a lemming

CC: WHY CAN'T YOU STAY D-

Yang: *Punching the Cat in the Face* FUCK YOU!

CC: GGRRRR!

Weiss: JAUNE! YOU'RE ALRIGHT- PENNY?!?

Blake: *Taking out Glass Clones* Less Talk More Fight!

Jaune: *Getting set Down* Penny, We need to get the Cat out of Neo if we want a chance at beating them!

Penny: Understood! I will attempt to Restrain them!

Penny Began Laying Fire out, brilliant Bursts of Green from her swords vaporizing the glass clones, Slowly closing in on NeoCat

Smaller branches had fallen, some being set ablaze and burning rapidly as the Cat focused on taking out the one who had bothered them for so many years, crying over his 'Friends.'

CC: *Raising Claws to strike* I'M TAKING YOU OUT IF IT'S THE LAST THING I DO!

Jaune: *Catching CC's claws* That's Exactly What I'm Planning on!

Jaune Dove Into a pile of fallen branches and leaves, taking the Cat with him.

WBY+P: JAUNE!

NeoCat Coughed, and hacked until the Cat was ejected from Neo, fell to her knees, dazed and confused by what had been happening to her.

The Cat immediately leapt, dodging one of Penny's lasers.

Penny: You are not Getting to Remnant. You three go save Jaune.

CC: None of you are STOPPING ME!

The Curious Cat Grew to their large, bipedal, black-and-white form while WBY ran to get Jaune.

The Cat leapt into the air, interrupting the charge of full-array blast, sending forcing Penny to spiral, spinning the swords in front of her.

She retaliated by bringing the blades around and slashed at the Cat. They dodged backwards, taking a smaller four-sword beam to the face.

Yang: *Grabbing a Dazed Jaune by the shoulders* JAUNE! JAUNE ARE YOU ALRIGHT?

Jaune: *Hack! Cough* Wh- *Cough* Why aren't you helping Penny?

Blake: YOU DOVE INTO FIRE!

Weiss: And the Cat's Danger Close to her! I- I'm sorry I knocked you off earlier!

Jaune: You can apologize later! Weiss, Can you box the Cat in?

Weiss: Y-yeah! We are talking about this later though!

Weiss began forming Glyphs around, cutting off routes and slowly making a cage around the Curious Cat, before they leapt at Penny. Yang Threw Blake at the cat, and Dragged them to the ground.

The Brightest, largest beam of a Fully-Charged, Full-Array Blast, that enveloped the Cat.

When it eventually faded, The Cat laid in the burnt crater of the branch serving as the battleground. They had been reduced to their small, Blue and Magenta state, struggling to their paws.

CC: U-Useless ... Stupid ... Beasts ... This-

CRACK!

At the sound of a gunshot, the cat was scattered into powder, shard of bullet and branch spraying up from the ground.

Ruby: I was so Tired of them.

Jaune: Ruby!

Yang: *Rushing to her* RUBY!

Penny: Friend Ruby!

Ruby: Guys- ACK!

Yang: *Hugging Ruby tightly, Crying* Ruby! URby I-I'm sorry- I- I-

Ruby: *Hugging Yang back* No- Yang- I

Yang: *Puling back slightly, cupping ruby's cheeks* Dont- please please PLEASE never do anything like that again-

Ruby: *Beginning to Cry* No Yang, I Won't! I'm Sorry!

Weiss: *Swallows thickly* I'm- I'm glad you and Ruby are Back, Penny.

Penny: I am glad to be back!

Jaune: Ruby was always going to come back.

Weiss: And you!

Jaune: Uh Oh.

Weiss: Don't you Ever- EVER Jump into Fire again!

Jaune: The Fire form the Leaves isn't That hot, and my Aura could take it!

Weiss: Would you have jumped into the fire even if your aura was broke?

Jaune: ... No?

Weiss: ... *Walks over to him, cups his cheeks* Jaune, Don't. Nothing like that ever again, alright?

Jaune: O-Okay. I'll try.

Weiss: Good. *She Kisses him on the cheek* I don't want you to leave us anytime soon. You've come too far to be lost now.

Jaune: *Smiling slightly* Okay Weiss. I'll do that. Hey, Penny-

Penny: Thank you for giving me my Choice. B-Back on the Bridge. It has been ... a very long time, hasn't it? Since then?

Jaune: yeah, But it's ... It's been on my mind a lot.

Penny: Well, I am deeply, truly thankful you did as I asked, and proceeded to take care of some form of myself here in the Ever After.

Penny: I am also unable to apologize enough for *Gestures vaguely, both at him and in general* This. I wish you didn't have to suffer alone with the weight of what happened to me on your shoulders.

Jaune: ... you and me Both Penny. Thanks for thanking me, I guess.

Blake: Hey, Uh, What are we gonna do with her?

Neo Stood at the crater the Cat had been in, glaring at it before realizing attention was on her. She strode to wards the edge of the branch and looked over into the darkness.

Ruby: *Standing up, wiping tears form her eyes and handing a still weeping Yang to Blake* Hey, Neo ... You don't have much to live for do you?

Neo: *Cocks head, Shakes head*

Ruby: Well ... You're pretty strong. We could use your help back home.

Ruby: Going down there means you'll probably lose yourself, especially since you don't want to be yourself.

Ruby: Uh- Roman's last words, before the Griffin got him and the Airship crashed were, to me. Over sending you down.

Ruby: "You want to be a hero? Then play the part and die like every other Huntsman in history! As for me, I'll do what I do best: lie, steal, cheat and survive!"

Ruby: I- Obviously- Everyone Dies. My Mom Did. Penny Did. Pyrrha Did. Roman Did.

Ruby: If you go down there You might not die. You might find yourself, who you really want to be. But you might not remember who you were. You probably won't remember Roman.

Ruby: So come with us. So long as you don't double-cross us, we- won't have problems with you. We're gonna stop Salem, and that means getting Answers from Cinder. We can't kill her, not unless she's actively trying to kill us. Other than that ... We'll just ask you not to be selfish and steal things from poor folks. Other than that, I'll defend your right to be free, and who knows, maybe if you help us stop Salem, you'll be pardoned for your crimes.

Ruby: So ... What do you say.

Neo: *Looks over the edge, looks at Group, staring in question*

Ruby: You want to know what they think?

Neo: *nod*

Yang: You've tried to kill me. You've tried to kill Ruby, and also drove her to what amounts to suicide. I can't just forgive like that ... But ... I trust Ruby, and so long as you don't try anymore stuff, and keep away from me whenever possible, then You can join us. I'll bite my tongue on it.

Blake: Many hands make light work. I wouldn't mind having another person on our side.

Weiss: You have caused a lot of issues, Neo. Keep your hands out of other's pockets and weapons away from other's throats, and I won't complain about you.

Penny: Miss Neo, You are a highly wanted individual, with one of the largest bounties on Remnant. Your life there will always be dangerous, with many, many criminals wanting to put a knife in your back, with many, many people that will refuse to help you.

Penny: Personally, I do not like you either.

Penny: However, Ruby seems to believe you capable of avoiding most further violent crimes, and as such, if she is willing to extend a hand to you, I will back her up as her friend.

Jaune: You hurt me and My Team really badly last we all met. You stole the relic of knowledge from us and have been the worst kind of outside pain. You've helped Cinder and hurt a lot of the people I care about, but ...

Jaune: You're a good fighter. Going just off of my Gut tells me ... Yeah. You'd be a good ally. Not a chance you'll ever be an upstanding citizen, but maybe you won't be the worst.

Neo: *Looks across them all, takes one last glance down the Tree*

Ruby: So, What's your choice?

Neo: *Stares at Ruby, questioning*

Ruby: You're Aimless. If I had to guess, Roman gave you the friend you needed. Someone to believe in, to care about. I'm willing to be that for you. Let's call it an apology to him. I can't replace him, but I can act in his stead.

Neo: *Thinks for a moment, Takes Roman's hat off, studying it*

'Roman': Hey. I think She's Gonna Join you.

The false Roman Looked to Neo, who plucked the feather out of his hat, and handed the cap to him.

'Roman': Thanks. I was missing this. Goodbye Neo.

And 'Roman' Stepped off the Branch, dissolving into the shards that made up the illusion of him.

Neo: *Places Feather on her chest like a brooch, stands a little away from the group*

Then, with one last look to each other, the group walked into the Portal in the Tree. Jaune was made Young again, they learned the truth of the Brothers, the origin of the Ever After, and what will become of Little and Juniper and eventually made it back to 'when' they are needed most.

They looked across the Vacuan Sands, seeing the city in the distance and the swarm of ships in the sky.

They'd made it home. All alive, and in time, Well.

Who knows what will happen next?

~The End~

[kitkatopinions]

You know what sad in volume 9 for rwby:

Why did they abandon those people to die when three of the teammates could have stop the jabber monsters? Weiss can summon and yang even took down one with one arm right?

Why didn’t they try to at least evacuate the civilians from the danger?

I trying to understand what direction are they trying to make the characters? Didn’t they just say they are huntresses and that they are heroes?

I am trying to give them a chance but from their actions alone I don’t understand their choices.

Jesus how is it we have villains in the show and yet I am more afraid of what the heroes will do?

Yep, this was really hard for me to get over too, especially with Weiss, Blake, and Yang literally trying to define Hunters as 'heroes who protect those who can't protect themselves' and then attaching their identity to the job and acting as if who they are answers the question 'are you a huntress/are you a good huntress.

The show wants us to view huntsman and huntresses as intrinsically good and just paragons of glory and virtue who always do what's right and protect people... and yet also then turns and just has the main four + Jaune abandon civilians to fight to save them while they run to safety without helping anyone or even giving the fight a real try. They took down one Jabberwalker with what looked like relative ease (compare it to them taking down a Nevermore in volume one, compare it to them fighting the mech in volume two.) And then when more showed up and it was revealed to be Neo, they just immediately turned tail and ran to protect themselves. Just like they ignored the soldiers getting beheaded despite them not knowing about ascension yet. Just like they sat in a mansion doing nothing for episodes (except Yang) and let soldiers die despite them previously saying that hunters don't just run from a fight and they're loyal to the people that need them.

The main problem here is the hypocrisy, the lack of real follow through or consistency on morals, and the way that it's as of yet been left completely unaddressed that the mains don't practice what they preach. They yell that Ironwood wanting to leave behind anyone is the act of a villain no matter what reason he may have, and yet they run from the Jabberwalker fight. They yell that every life needs to be treated as worth protecting and then don't protest at the beheading of the soldiers and leave behind someone who was implied to be controlled by the Cat into fighting for them to their possible death so they can live another day. They proclaim Hunters to protect those who can't protect themselves, and yet they don't even stop to help the teapot lady when she's sobbing.

It isn't a bad thing to have characters that have trouble keeping to their own moral code or who prioritize themselves or even characters who are hypocritical and don't practice what they preach. What is a bad thing is when the show itself refuses to allow their characters to grow, when the show itself doesn't acknowledge flaws as flaws, and when they treat other characters differently than they treat their mains. I've said it before, I have some hope left for Ruby that she'll grow in this season, but with the others I sincerely think that they're gonna be stuck like this. And I think it's likely that the 'growth' Ruby goes through might just be her doubting herself and then learning not to doubt herself anymore, instead of actually going through real changes or realizing that the world is a lot more nuanced than she and her friends thought it was.

[kitkatopinions]

Okay here's my concept. When they find Alyx, they find out that only one person can go back to Remnant - which is why only Alex or Lewis could make it out and Alyx made Lewis go back and stayed behind herself. Cue everybody trying to figure out a way around the fact that only one of them can go home and insisting that they need to all go together, and trying to find a solution.

But time is ticking and maybe they somehow find out that Silver Eyes are a trick to defeating Salem, and they wind up eventually coming to grips with the idea that sometimes there isn't a perfect solution right when they want one. Since Ruby has Silver Eyes, she's the one who needs to be sent back to Remnant. The others assure her they'll keep working to try and find a way back anyway even if there isn't a good solution right now, but also that they have a chance to be happy here if they can't get home and talk about trying to 'change the story for good,' they give Ruby messages for their loved ones and exchange tearful goodbyes.

Ruby leaves them and heads to the tree, where she's attacked by Neo who is trying to sacrifice her to the tree because she thinks Alyx had to sacrifice Lewis to get back. Ruby fights her back, but Neo is powerful and Ruby isn't winning, until the Cat comes to help her. Neo is injured in the fight and gives up. The Cat being morally dubious suggests that they kill Neo, but Ruby's pity and compassion makes her instead assure Neo that she'll do everything she can to take down Cinder and Salem and leaves Neo alive. Ruby goes to go back, at the last minute deciding to try to take the cat as a work around since because the Cat is an Ever Afteran, there's still only one person going back home, and it works.

And I know I made the original post as like a 'I hope I never see these guys again' kind of thing - which I still kind of want - but now I'm imagining another 'the girls are split up' storyline where they eventually do reunite. Ruby is at the frontlines in Remnant, dealing with the crisis in Vacuo, reuniting with Qrow, starting to work with Oz more - and you know what this is my AU so James can be alive and his actions mostly waved away with his semblance and he and Ruby can reconcile - and she keeps having to explain to people why there's a talking Cat sometimes following her around and has to exasperatedly pull the Cat out of trouble but also becomes really attached to it. And meanwhile, Blake, Yang, Weiss, and Jaune are still trying to find a way back while dealing with the chaos of the Ever After now that the Cat isn't keeping everyone on track while Neo is not good, but she decides to work with them whether they like it or not so she can go back to Remnant too and she starts on a very slow path to redemption while she and WBY+J overthrow the Red Prince. Then eventually they could find a way back to Remnant after a year and a half, with wby now having spent a significant amount of time stuck in a whimsical nightmare and with Neo as an ally, and they arrive to battle-hardened but better than ever almost nineteen year old Ruby helping to lead Remnant into war against Salem with James as an ally. XD

I might never do anything with this AU idea but boy it's actually super fun to think about.

The only good characters in volume 9 so far are Ruby and the Cat.

I feel like I would be fine if Ruby and the Cat were the only people able to leave the Ever After and now I'm imagining an AU where that happens. I'd say Blake can go back to Remnant with them, but I think the only way it could really work out is if she and Yang started a life together in the Ever After.