#marcus black

[brokentrafficknight]

I'm Still Here

RWBY doesn't do 'found family' well at all.

I also really loved Treasure Planet and think the best Jim stand-in would be that lovable little misanthropic asshole Mercury. Of all of the characters who needed a good dad, he needed it the most.

[rwby-tuesday]

saw your post where talked a bit about Mercury and I think the one most crazy thing about him is that Marcus legit just decided to cut off his legs. The semblance thing you can see some really messed up reasoning in it but the leg thing just comes off as an incredibly hateful, spiteful thing because he also replaces the legs afterwards. Also I know some people think he needed prosthetics because of the fight but we see that he has bloody bandages where the prosthetics would be attached so I feel it is pretty clear the surgery was very very recent.

you know what's really weird about that scene?

who puts bandages on top of their pants?? that's not how it works lol

but to your point, I hadn't considered that marcus might have been the one who wanted to give him prosthetics. it would be pretty brutal, either out of cruelty, like you said, or because he was trying to turn his own son into a living weapon, even if he has to remove his very humanity.

I think there's still a question as to who gave him the prosthetics. the injuries are bizarre if it wasn't marcus, because those are not typical fight injuries. he would have to have been specifically trying to slice off his legs. even with mercury's kick-based fighting style, you'd expect more damage to his lower legs than his thighs. and why is the rest of him unscathed?

on the other hand, why don't we see the prosthetics? my assumption had been that in the fight, marcus just injured him so badly that he needed the amputation, like you mentioned above. if marcus had been the one to cut off his son's legs and give him prosthetics, why wouldn't they show that directly? I mean, the pants cover his entire legs, with those ridiculous bandages on top. seems like a deliberate choice to hide them.

I am now imagining a scenario where marcus gave him the prosthetics, thinking he was crafting the perfect killing tool to help with his job, only for mercury to turn on him, fed up with the abuse and now finally armed with the means to defeat him. am I convinced that's what happened? no, I just don't think the crew put that much thought into it. it is compelling though!

[throrn2048]

What was the plan, Mercury?

[nerdygirlwithanxiety]

" you feel it don't you..? His love..his sorrow and shame...his inner thoughts?.."

The mysterious voice spoke making chazz pant softly feeling his and Anthony's soul intertwining

"What...what the hell is this feeling...?"

Chazz spoke feeling Anthony touching his chest having his thoughts clouded and his emotions running wild all while the mysterious voice chuckle

" dear human isn't obvious? Your souls...your auras they're intertwining. You're both simply becoming one. How does it feel?"

The voice answered the goth, chazz took a moment before he shiver and smirk and chuckle

"It..feels amazing"

Princeton blissfully admit letting the mysterious feeling to do deeper and allowed it to grow until he noticed anthony was getting closer, hoping it was a kiss he closed his eyes. Anthony blink looking at him and chuckle getting close to chazz's ear

"My soul is now yours love..."

Was the last thing Anthony said before chazz woke up alone in the dorm. Once chazz processes it his eyes water and began to break down softly

[howlingday]

Doctor: (Hands over Mercury) Your baby is perfectly healthy, Mr. Black, but your wife...

Doctor: She didn't make it...

Marcus: (Stares in horror at his newborn son) THEN WHO DID...?

[dragoonbutched]

Quick is it OK if I share with you my version of marcus?? (My headcannon au look) seeing you're the only one on here who draws him too

on the one hand, I am all in on diving into the whole "Marcus Black" character. On the other, any acknowledgement of him makes me feel like I'm playing with matches, so yes, go light up a fire for me. I'll toss Mercury in it after ya have it ready for me

He won't live through another encounter with Marcus Black lemme tell ya that

[tumblingxelian]

Okay so, given Mercury Black's and Cassandra Cain's backstories, what do you think both characters would feel after an encounter with each other where neither dies?

Sorry I've been neglecting asks recently, been kind of down and so just doing low effort reblogs with the occasional burst of energy.

Anyway!

This is a fun and interesting question I actually sought help in answering from but a humble good, who always has good Cass takes and loves RWBY!

Off the cuff and for anyone confused, the characters being asked about are:

Cassandra Cain - who was raised by master assassin David Cain to be the perfect killer. She was never taught to speak and only learned through physical action. Because of this she can essentially predict what a person will do before they act and she is functionally the best martial artist in the DC Universe, or always in the top 3. Said body language reading ability though also means she can experience her targets deaths by proxy which... Yeah basically led to her adopting a 100% no kill policy after her first mission. Thus leading her to running away, living homeless for several years before joining the Bat Clan and becoming Batgirl.

Mercury Black - Like Cassandra his father Marcus Black raised him to be an assassin like himself. Marcus may not have denied his son words but he instead stole the manifestation of his soul (His Semblance) claiming it was a "Crutch" and he would get it back eventually. He never got it back & instead had his lower legs mutilated to be replaced with robotic prosthetics which he then used to kill Marcus. Unlike Cass he's not the best of the best, but is definitely skilled & unlike her he's doggedly committed to the role of playing the villain with a veneer of jocularity he uses to hide that he can't imagine any other life.

Conclusion:

So we have two teens/young adults coming from very similar places as far as what they were trained and otherwise horrifically abused to be, but who ended up on seemingly opposite ends of the spectrum.

Cassandra's reaction when encountering most killers tends to be one of two things. A very stern "You need to grasp the enormity of what you are doing and stop or be stopped painfully." Or "Oh, you actually think this is in someway necessary, please do not do this, there is a way out, there has to be."

She's also very chill with people who did kill but choose not too, she's not... Preachy or judgmental in that sense, doing so would be hypocritical in her eyes.

So she'd likely emphasize a lot with Mercury, being able to see him as something of a "Therefore but for the grace of empathic body language go I." So she'd very much want to both stop him from killing but also show him that he can go down another path.

This doesn't mean she'd be inclined to be a doormat, quite the opposite but she'd definitely be working to communicate with him as much as fight him if she had to.

Mercury meanwhile would hate this. He is deep in denial about himself and hates being read for what he is, as local serial killer Tyrian Callows did in Volume 6:

Tyrian: (mocking) Oh yes, the world is mean, and I'm a big, bad man now just like the others. (laughs)

Mercury: (growls as he angrily walk over to Tyrian) How long have you been standing there?!

Tyrian: All you ever learned was pain and violence, and now you're too afraid to leave it. Such a tragedy.

Mercury: You don't know me!

So while he would see the connection the moment he had any details he'd throw up an aloof façade and claim Cass was weak and lacked the stomach for what he does or something to that effect.

Internally he'd be seething with resentment, or more, a blooming sense of inferiority about how someone who proves his beliefs wrong seems to so casually exists and wants to help him of all things.

He'd not welcome or trust her, not a first at least.

[problematic-rwby-shipping-poll]

RWBY I/NCEST BRACKET ROUND ONE

(Click for better quality)

Welcome to Round One of the RWBY I/ncest Bracket! For those participating, you will be voting for the ship you prefer. The matchups for round one and links to the polls are below the cut and will be added as they are posted.

Enabler (Ruby/Yang) vs Godcest (God of Light/God of Darkness)

Malacest (Melanie/Miltiades) vs Ancest (Ren/An)

Harvesting Moons (Ruby/Qrow) vs Liddellcest (Alyx/Lewis)

Mother Snows Best (Willow/Whitley) vs Daddy's Project (Penny/Pietro)

Schneester Love (Weiss/Winter) vs Frozen Idols (Nicholas/Winter)

Mommy Yangst (Yang/Summer) vs Frozen Heir (Jacques/Whitley)

Yangcest (Yang/Taiyang) vs Mother Fearest (Willow/Winter)

Rosecest (Ruby/Summer) vs Naughty or Ice (Weiss/Nicholas)

Branwencest (Raven/Qrow) vs Albaincest (Fennec/Corsac)

Cut Off (Weiss/Jacques) vs Rencest (Ren/Li)

Fireqracker (Yang/Qrow) vs Whitnick (Nicholas/Whitley)

Weisswhit (Weiss/Whitley) vs Northern Swans (Nicholas/Willow)

Yangry Birds (Yang/Raven) vs Distant Snow (Winter/Whitley)

Shadows of Change (Blake/Ghira) vs Planetcest (Mercury/Marcus)

Tairuby (Ruby/Taiyang) vs Done & Dusted (Jacques/Winter)

Bellacest (Blake/Kali) vs Fairest Beauty (Weiss/Willow)

[night-sky-blood-sea]

Marcus Black is not a kind man.

He's many things, and being a self-aware individual was arguably one of his better traits. He knows that he was a murderer, an alcoholic in the making, and a shitty father. None of the virtues that makes a good man was present in him for those that dared to take a look, who only saw a monster lurking in the dark corner watching them. Mr. Black was more than happy with such reputation because it made him someone.

Marcus was many things, but being another wretch in the damp, dirty streets of the world, writhing with misery and slowly rot away under anyone else disgusts him more than anything.

Never again shall he let himself come close to such a detestable fate.

Marcus valued power more than the bitter liquid that burns his throat every week, more than the thrill of battle that left him soaking in the warm crimson at the end. Some would even argue that there was more love given to the concept than to the little boy sleeping in the hall of his home, waiting, the same way when he was brought to Marcus' doorstep one silent eve.

Power, in all shapes and form to him, was a sign of being alive.

So when he saw a young man in the cold streets of Atlas with hair the color of blood and a singular eye that reflect a dull summer sky, he knew. In that moment, drenched in the hazy night light of sorrowful Mantle, Marcus Black had found someone just as broken, and just as alive.

--------------------------------------------------------------------- Adam Taurus used to be someone.

More than a slave; the bottom scum of society where every day was spent laboring in the dark mines, and every night held down by much stronger hands until all he could do was limp back to the barracks alone, with the pockets of his tattered jacket filled with an extra handful more lien.

More than a child who stared wistfully at the display window of shops with their food and clothes and cosmetics, reserved for anyone but those like him.

More than an orphan, more than an abused captive, the Adam before was simply a child. A child of Faunus in a human farmstead, with loving parents and hopes of a better life shining within his heart.

No longer was that Adam Taurus alive. His existence, to himself, was just that. To exist, he simply let himself become anything those above him wants him to be. He was no one, with no hopes and no dreams to run to.

So when he was given a single thread of silvery salvation, it cost more than too much. In his pursuit of freedom, Adam was left with a brand on his eye and a corpse of someone he had dared to love.

Adam Taurus was no one.

But when he picked up the gun that was held over him by his oppressors and pulled the trigger, that version of him died as well. When the cold bites into his skin, when the bottom of his feet bleed from running across the streets of the city, he never felt that he was just simply existing. And when Adam came across a man in the alley who smells of death, he had found a new self.

In the dim glow of sorrowful Mantle, cloaked in shadows and blood staring back at him with crimson red eyes, Adam Taurus had found a broken, twisted, and cruel freedom.

-The Crooked Man.

[correctquotesbymerc]

Hazel: Did Marcus ever teach you cursive?

Mercury: Well, I know shit and bitch and fu–

Hazel: Cursive, Mercury, not cursing.

Mercury: Oh.

Mercury: Then no.

[alullinchaos]

idk if i've put this theory out into the world before but I believe that Mercury Black actually did have silver eyes at some point, they were the "semblance" that his father took away. Because his father also had them; the people he assassinated were other SEWs. (how do you think Mercury found Salem?) He didn't literally have the power to steal semblances, he just made Mercury hate everyone and everything. Silver eyes rely on the urge to protect life to work. That's what Marcus took away from him. His will to live and his compassion towards other living things. so when he inevitably defects from Salem to follow Emerald, and Salem tries to make them both pay for it, that's when they'll show could he just have gray eyes? sure. does that make for an interesting headcanon that allows Mercury to develop a real semblance in the future? no (re: his 'actual' semblance, i think that mercury hasn't developed one up to this point because it's an extension of the soul and he's actively stunting his growth emotionally. i wouldn't find it impossible that he actually has less aura than other people as a reflection of this as well.)

[hamliet]

... Can you really say that Qrow was horribly used by Ozpin? Like, Ozpin might have failed, but Qrow and Raven being turned into birds doesn't seem like it has a throughline to the way that Marcus treated Mercury. Also, how could Merc get his semblance back?

Ah, I think there's a bit of a misunderstanding here on two points! Apologies for being rather vague about it in the original post.

Firstly, while Mercury has been "horribly used," I actually wouldn't use that term to describe Qrow. Being able to relate to someone isn't the same as equating experience. I should have been more specific in explaining this.

For Qrow, what I would say is that Oz did mess up. I think what Raven says is that "Ozpin is not the man you think he is. And Qrow is a fool for trusting him. I would know, I trusted him once, too." And... we literally have an entire volume (6) about this. Ozpin does struggle to trust others, and as a result, comes across as untrustworthy. That doesn't mean he has purely self-centered motives or is villainous. He's just a flawed person.

Secondly, the point that I do make is that Raven explicitly draws a parallel between how Oz treated her and Qrow and how Cinder treats Emerald and Mercury. Not Marcus. Cinder (and honestly Salem). Mercury's abuse by Marcus, I think, has been called the darkest part of the entire story by the writers and when we get more into it, I wouldn't be surprised if it gets even darker. But I think Qrow might recognize the situation Mercury is in now, under Cinder-Salem-Tyrian, as somewhat sympathetic.

Being turned into a bird is also clearly seen as something of a violation by Raven, which makes sense alchemically because animals are considered less refined than humans (my dog disagrees BUT lol). So, there's a through-line of dehumanization here, which is also clearly an issue that relates to how Marcus treated Mercury, albeit to a far greater extent with Marcus and Mercury. However, me stating that I think it is possibly that Qrow will empathize with Mercury is not the same as saying that his experiences are exactly identical or even equivalent to what Mercury went through. The subtext to literally taking your son's soul is incredibly creepy, and nothing Oz did comes close to this.

As for Mercury getting his semblance back, I think it won't happen until Mercury reaches a point in his arc where accepts that he is a human being, which he currently still doesn't really see himself as. A semblance is unlocked when you reach a point of your own psychological development that Mercury is very much not near at this point.

The logistics of how that happens aren't clear because we still don't know exactly how Marcus stole Mercury's semblance either. I suspect the logistics would become clearer then. My current guess (which I may very well be wrong about) is I would say I think Mercury will realize that no matter what his father did to him, he still has a soul. His soul is unblemished. And he'll unlock a new level of his semblance.

[remorsefullyunapologetic]

posted this in the tse artbook but tumblr can have it too. anyways qrow being a dumbass

[throrn2048]

Emercury headcanon (2)

Mercury knows how to use make up and he helps Emerald with hers.

Emerald and Mercury sitting on a couch with Mercury putting eyeliner on Emerald.

Emerald: (with her eyes closed ) how are you so good at this? Knowing how to make up doesn’t seem like a skill for an assassin.

Mercury: when you got a father that beats the shit out of you 24/7 you have to learn one or two ways to hide the bruises so people doesn’t make you uncomfortable questions.

Emerald: (opens her eyes and looks at him corncerned) Merc I’m so…

Mercury: don’t open your eyes now! You’re gonna ruin my work.

A few minutes later.

Mercury: (gives her a mirror) so… What do you think?

Emerald: (impressed) wow…thank you Merc, I mean it.

Mercury: (shrugs) no problem. Have fun hanging out with these losers.

Emerald: you sure you don’t wanna come?

Mercury: and listen to blondie telling bad jokes the whole night? No thank you. Besides, Cinder wants me to take care of some loose ends.

Emerald: okay, see you later. (Kiss him on the cheek and leaves the room)

Mercury: (starts to blush) the old man didn’t train me for this shit…

[madmanwonder]

Crossover AU: Fandom Fusion AU (RWBY/Marvel Comics) Headcanon

In the Fusion AU between RWBY and Marvel Frank Castle knew Marcus Black from his days as Atlasian soldier and ex-member of Atlas Kingdom Black Ops.

[howlingday]

Roman: (Driving, Hears thunking noises) What the hell is that? I hit somethin'?

Roman: (Pulls over, Goes to the trunk)

Roman: (Trunk thumps, Snaps fingers)

Goon: (Opens trunk)

Roman: Mercury?! What the heck are you doin' there, kid?!

Mercury: Pretendin' I'm a tire iron, what does it look like?! (Climbs out) I wanna learn the family business with you an' pop!

Marcus: You're out of your depth, kid. Hitch a ride back home.

Roman: Whoa, whoa, whoa! At his age?! And this late?! That's not right! (Hands him a gun) Here, kid.

Mercury: (Thinking) Why is Dad being such a prick to me?! I just wanna be like him! It's not like I'm an idiot or somethin-

Goon: (Shot) ARGH!

Mercury: O-Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry!

Roman: Don't worry about it. We were gonna whack Deedee anyways. (Claps his shoulder) Ya made ya bones, kid! (Hands him a cigar)

Marcus: (Lights it, Smiles)

Mercury: (Smiling)