#of course pyrrha would be the one to step in and confront her

[mayasaura]

I was thinking about how we don't actually know how Pyrrha died. Just that by her own telling, she "was killed," and that she was the first cavalier to die outside Cristabel and Alfred's suicide pact.

Before Nona came out, I suspected Gideon the First must have killed her, probably with her consent. That seems unlikely to me now, with everything we've learned about them in Nona.

Also before Nona came out, I came to the conclusion that the lyctors demanded John kill Alecto following a "great attack" on Canaan House and the revelation of what a Resurrection Beast is. Based on Mercymorn's assumption that Alecto was a freak who would attack her on sight, I also highly suspected that Alecto either participated in or perpetrated the attack on Canaan House, thus proving herself beyond a shadow of a doubt to be untamed and dangerous in a way that not even John could talk his way out of.

I just recently noticed a detail in Nona the Ninth that might slot all this together like puzzle pieces:

Pyrrha has seen something very like Nona's tantrums before, and that memory scares her. Enough that she avoids even thinking about it.

I think Alecto may have killed Pyrrha.

[lunatriense]

Pasithea 29

One headcanon about this OTP that breaks your heart

Sorry this one took so long, anon; this isn't a ship I really ever thought much about (funnily enough, I do ship Emerald with my OC, who is Pyrrha's little sister lol), so it took some figuring to work out how things would go in my head. But in return I gave you an extra long one after the cut, so I hope you like it!

Emerald begins dating Pyrrha when she's posing as a student to infiltrate Beacon, but she's still too deep in Cinder's thrall to defy her. Even though she doesn't really want to hurt anyone — and actively wants to not hurt Pyrrha — she follows the plan and tricks Pyrrha into killing Penny as the catalyst for the attack on Beacon.

Emerald doesn't understand how psychologically damaging this will be to Pyrrha, though. She knows Pyrrha won't like it, but never expects it will break something in her like that — after all, Emerald doesn't like killing either, certainly not the way Cinder does, but it never affected her like that. When she sees Pyrrha's reaction after killing Penny however, she begins to seriously regret what she's done.

She decides she'll make it up to Pyrrha somehow, so she tries to stick close to her during the battle, but of course she loses her when Pyrrha follows Ozpin into the tower. Receiving Cinder's report of success brings her nearby however, so Emerald is there to see Pyrrha come out of the tower… and then go back in. This wasn't part of the plan, and she knows it's bad… very, very bad.

Emerald follows, but can't reach the lift before Pyrrha is taking it up to confront Cinder. She has to climb after (which is much faster for an aura-enhanced person, granted), arriving just in time to see Cinder gloating to a defeated Pyrrha. Emerald sees Cinder draw her arrow, and feels her heart freeze.

She can't let this happen. Not like this. She has to think fast; how can she save Pyrrha when Pyrrha doesn't know what she's doing and there's no way and no time to tell her without ruining the attempt? She uses her Semblance on Cinder to make her see Pyrrha sway on her knees.

Cinder adjusts her aim and looses her arrow; it slams into Pyrrha's shoulder and spins her to the ground, but in Cinder's eyes it pierces her heart. She walks over and flash-burns the air above Pyrrha, thinking she's disintegrated her opponent. Emerald didn't account for Ruby — how could she? — but her arrival is timely; she sees Cinder launch her arrow, sees it strike Pyrrha and send her unmoving to the ground, sees Cinder step over and extend her hand to do… something. She doesn't know if Pyrrha is alive or not, but her desire to protect her friend is strong, strong enough to trigger her silver eyes.

The flash blinds Emerald. When her vision clears she sees that Cinder's arm and eye are a charred ruin — she's not even sure if she's alive — and the wyvern that had been clutching the top of the tower has been petrified. Ruby's unconscious and so is Pyrrha, but she has no way to carry her wounded girlfriend down from the tower, so she waits. Someone will come eventually, they have to.

And eventually someone does: Mercury. She's been ignoring his calls because she didn't know what to do, but when he shows up she knows she doesn't have a choice anymore; she has to disappear. She hides everyone but Cinder from him — he knows she's there, and Emerald doesn't want him getting suspicious or sticking around any longer than necessary to look for her — and watches him rouse Cinder enough for her to call a Grimm to escape.

After Pyrrha and Ruby are picked up by their allies Emerald vanishes, allowing herself to be presumed dead by her old comrades. She keeps her distance and waits while Pyrrha recovers from her injuries, then follows her and the rest of her team when they leave with Ruby for Haven.

The group runs into Emerald shortly after leaving. She apologises for what she did, for her part in it — she's a thief, she says, and Cinder told her they were there to steal something; it may not be right, but it wasn't supposed to be like that — and tells them she wants to help them to try to make amends. Although they're extremely suspicious of her — she had been part of Cinder's team along with Mercury after all, both of whom they know to be enemies — they accept her story that she didn't know all of what Cinder intended, largely at Pyrrha's urging that she's a good person at heart.

Over the course of their journey, Pyrrha and Emerald grow closer, and what began as a spark soon blossoms into actual love. They each have their demons, but neither pry; they have a good thing going and don't want to risk it after all, but deep down — especially for Emerald, who knows what she's done and that she's responsible for the guilt she sees in Pyrrha's eyes — it continues to fester.

And then they come to Oniyuri and Tyrian makes his attack. He's delighted to see Emerald there — not out of any sense of camaraderie of course, he just loves having more knives to twist — and immediately begins taunting her, and her new companions about her. In the midst of it, he lets slip the secret she'd hoped would never come out — it was she who had tricked Pyrrha into killing Penny, she who had done such grievous harm to the one she loves, and not only that but she'd done so as part of a plan to trigger a massive Grimm attack on the festival.

Pyrrha is devastated; not only did Emerald do these horrible things, she also lied about it all this time. The others are furious and kick Emerald out of the group. She can't go back to Cinder, and even if she could she doesn't want to; she wants to be with Pyrrha, that's where her heart belongs. She decides to shadow the group, to help out where she can, and maybe she can prove that she's changed… maybe she can somehow mend the rift that's formed between Pyrrha and herself.

Pyrrha goes with the others to Haven, worse than ever; now she's not only blaming herself for murdering Penny, causing the fall of Beacon, and failing to stop Cinder, she's also blaming herself for not seeing through Emerald's lies and allowing herself to fall for someone like that. It only gets worse once she finds out about Salem, the relics, and the missing hunters of Mistral. When the battle breaks out she goes after Cinder hard, throwing caution to the wind. She doesn't care if she dies in the process — she deserves as much, she thinks, after causing all this — so long as she puts an end to it here, but that isn't how she wins her battles and she can't match Cinder on pure power.

This time it costs her dearly. Defeated again, she watches Cinder raise her scimitar to deliver the deathblow only for her arm to be yanked back by a chain just as it begins to descend. Cinder angrily turns and finds Emerald, who has now interrupted her kill twice, who betrayed her. In a rage she attacks, and although Emerald's Semblance allows her to evade for awhile, she can't keep up with the wide attacks Cinder's Maiden powers allow. Pyrrha can only watch, her emotions in turmoil, as it plays out toward the inevitable conclusion, which comes all too soon.

As Cinder rushes into the vault after Raven, Pyrrha scrambles over to Emerald — who's been run through by an obsidian blade — cradling her and trembling. "You're going to be alright," she says.

Emerald smiles weakly. "No I'm not... you're a terrible liar."

"You will, just stay with me!" All the anger Pyrrha had felt before is gone, replaced with desperation to keep Emerald with her now. She looks down from Emerald's face to the wound in her chest, where she's trying to keep pressure; there's so much blood... too much, she knows. Pyrrha turns and screams for help, but there's no help to come — everyone is busy with their own opponents, and nothing could heal this. Her attention is pulled back by a ghost of a touch at her cheek from wet fingers that smell of blood.

Emerald is pale now, her eyes dull – just seeing her like this brings new tears and steals Pyrrha's breath as a hot blade of pain stabs her heart. "It's okay...," she manages faintly — Pyrrha has to strain to hear her now — "because... I got to... love you..."

Emerald's eyes drift closed and her hand falls, leaving a smear of blood on Pyrrha's cheek. Pyrrha calls Emerald's name, then louder, but it's no use, she doesn't respond. Sobbing, she kisses Emerald one last time, holding her close and crying out in despair.

When her friends have finished their own fights, they find Pyrrha clinging to Emerald's body and weeping. They don't understand. How could they? They didn't know her as Pyrrha did, didn't love her as Pyrrha did. She thought that what Emerald did to her at Beacon was unforgivable, but she was wrong. She knows now that she would forgive it all in an instant just to feel her warmth, to see her smile, to share one more kiss, for if Emerald's betrayal broke her heart, her loss tore it from her chest, shredded it into a thousand pieces, and scattered it to the wind.

[dragynkeep]

Hi there, ironpines! (Love the name btw, I read a really good fic about ironwood being a father-figure to Oscar when RWBY and co. get to Atlas).

So this is probably going to be very long but I’ve really gotta vent about some stuff.

(Also, first ask. I honestly didn’t know how to do this for the longest time. Just got back into tumblr a bit ago).

1. I hate Jaune Arc (a lot of people do), but I want to know why. Do you think/believe he’s an author’s pet? Also, why the HELL did he kill Penny in the first place?!? Why not Winter, Nora, or Ruby? Why did he have to go to the island? Just- WHY?

2. In the first three volumes I really liked Team RWBY, but now….how did they get so skewed? What went wrong? How can Ruby be THAT arrogant that she point-blank says to Qrow: “we never needed an adult’s help.” Like- yes you did! If not for Qrow killing the Grimm in v4 they would have been continuously fighting Grimm. I’m the fight against Tyrian (one of my favorite characters and favorite fights) if not for Ruby getting in the way Qrow wouldn’t have been POISONED!

3. (This is the one I’m going to get cyber-ly killed for). (I also had just started RWBY when volume 5 was airing weekly.) The beginning of Volume 5, in my opinion was good. I liked the first five-six chapters, but when AU watched ‘Rest and Resolutions’ V5C7, I was so angry! Everything about the conversation between Ruby, Weiss, and Yang felt so out of character and out of place. It was so bad and the next episodes following that were not good either (only the raven v cinder fight was any good). The battle of Haven was a train wreck that I honestly have no idea how I even retained braincells after that. Like- why KEEP teasing Weiss v emerald if you aren’t going to do anything with it. Why tease Mercury v Yang if you’re not going to do anything new and interesting with the two (Mercury isn’t even a character anymore!)

4. I wish we got good rep. I really wish we didn’t get confirmation on LGBTQ+ characters from supplemental material (that’s not even canon). And I’ve gotta ask, why do you consider cannon? Cuz for me, the only things I consider actually CANNON to the storyline are the Red, White, Black, Yellow Trailers and the show itself (Grimm Eclipse just for the sake of more cool lore about Mountain Glenn and the fact of mutant Grimm). That’s it. I don’t consider the World of Remnants, manga (DC or otherwise, those were HORRIBLE!), anthologies, and the DISGUSTING novels.

(This is the last thing, I promise!)

5. I’m working on a quasi-rewrite RWBY fic and I didn’t know whether or not I should post the first chapter on my page or not. I just really don’t want the simps to come for my head (though it might happen anyway). But I’ve been writing this for about a year and a half now and I really want to post it but I’m so nervous about the reception and backlash. What do you think?

Thanks for answering me and indulging the fact that it’s okay to like something and still want it to be better (critics/the Rwde tag is my favorite because I can read opinions that I mused share but are too scared to put as a post).

Thanks, we picked Ironpines because we loved Ironwood and Oscar, and then our friends, being the good friends they are, immediately told us it was the ship name for them so now we can't have anything nice.

1) First off, yes, we absolutely think Jaune is an author's pet. We don't really go for self-insert anymore since everyone in RWBY was a self-insert, Monty clearly based them off his friends. But now, Jaune is absolutely an author's pet and has been since the start of the show.

Just look at Volume 1. Jaune literally had more of a storyline than Yang, one of the girls in the title. He then went on to have a dumb love triangle in V2, only to resolve it with Neptune without any input from Weiss, because why not, and then V3 was Jaune finally taking more of a step back for Pyrrha, who was long over due some character.

Until V4 where, rather than everyone mourning Pyrrha, we focused on Jaune mourning her instead. Nevermind that Pyrrha was Ren and Nora's teammate too, probably their only family since they're orphans, or how Ruby literally watched Pyrrha die in front of her. Nope, gotta focus on Jaune. Add that it stretches into V5 also, adding another storyline about his Semblance while Ren, Nora, and Ruby have to stand in the background and wait their turn, while Weiss literally loses all her braincells so she's injured for Jaune's development, how the confrontation with Cinder doesn't go to Ruby, the main protagonist, but Jaune.

Then we get that stupid statue scene in V6 that took over Oscar finally getting some development of his own. It's not even the whole team, because it's only Jaune that gets to meet the lady who totally isn't Pyrrha's mother, it's Jaune that gets the big teary moment, and how Ren and Nora have to stop and comfort Jaune because of course they have to.

I was glad that Jaune finally took a backseat in V7. I actually started to like him again, because he wasn't sucking screentime away from those who need it. But then V8 happened and now I want him dead.

I've said it countless times before so I don't wanna repeat myself, but Jaune is one of the last people that should've killed Penny. He shouldn't have killed her, he shouldn't have had the big tearful scene because another redhead died, he shouldn't have fallen into the void to join Team RWBY, but he did. Now there's no doubt in my mind that Jaune is a fucking author's pet, because the writers won't let him go into the background where he belongs.

2) There's not much to say about Team RWBY. They just suck now.

3) After watching V8, V5 is no longer my least favourite volume. That's how bad it was.

4) Yeah, RWBY's rep is absolute trash and it's because they keep putting it in supplemental material, and also because they look at the LGBT and only see L. The only MLM we have is Scarlet, and he's a catty fae gay stereotype that is so unlikeable and voiced by a creep. Nevermind the whole Fairgame queerbait controversy because this company can't stop themselves for five minutes.

5) I always say that, when you post work on the internet, whether its art of writing, you have to understand that you will get criticism back. It'll suck, especially when you've put so much time and effort into something, but that's the risk you have to take as a content creator.

The good thing is that AO3 has features that let you manage what you see properly. If people just want to hate without giving proper criticism, you can always remove it and ignore it, but I personally believe that people aren't entitled to criticism when it's only said nicely. Sometimes, people will get annoyed and say it in a meaner way, but that doesn't make the criticism any less valid.

Either way, decide based on how you think you'll react to it. If you don't want the stress of criticism, be careful, but if you think you can handle it? Then go for it, the world's your oyster.

[honeyby]

Blake’s Words and Character Arcs

Blake describing her friends as the embodiment of certain words is one of my favorite moments in the series. We get to see how she views them, even after everything that happened. Ruby is purity, Weiss is defiance, and Yang is strength. They are the perfect words for these three characters, and part of that is because those traits are such a big part of their personal arcs. And all three of them are challenged on those traits throughout the show (particularly in volume 4).

Ruby’s word is purity and it fits her right away. She’s the youngest and least experienced in how the world works. Her mother is dead, but she was still very young when that happened. There’s an innocence about her in the first three volumes that everything will be okay as long as she has her friends. She knows there’s darkness in the world but she believes light will prevail!

Then comes the end of volume 3, where she sees first hand the brutality of Salem’s forces. She watches two of her closest friends die, sees Beacon falling from the attack and wakes up to find her sister depressed and angry and her other teammates scattered to the wind. The good guys...lost. How can anyone come out of that and still embody purity? She’s seen the worst the world has to offer. But she keeps going. She decides to do what she can to stop the people responsible for Beacon. Ruby watches her friends grieve and pushes down her own grief so she can fulfill her mission.

She doesn’t let what happen make her jaded. Ruby continues to place her faith in her friends and believe that there is good in the world and that that good is worth protecting! She’s willing to give people the chance to help them even when they no one else will (we see this with Raven and Cordovin). Ruby isn’t purity because she’s never been exposed to the darkness of the world. She’s purity because she has but still chooses to believe in the good in people.

As she learns more about her silver eyes it only becomes more apparent. Maria tells her that her eyes exist to protect life, which mirrors Ruby’s general attitude. There’s a beautiful moment in volume 4 where she decides not to focus on the people they’ve lost but instead on the people that they haven’t lost yet as her motivation. She may have lost some friends but she’s going to do everything in her power to make sure they don’t lose anyone else. It all culminates in the moment where she uses her eyes on the Leviathan, failing when she focused what they’d lost and only succeeding when she focused on the good memories that she wanted to protect. She’s able to think about the good times with Pyrrha and Penny and Yang instead of what they lost, to think about her mother and the joy that brings her even though she’s gone. Ruby can find that silver lining no matter how bleak things seem and that ability is her greatest strength. 

For Weiss and Yang (and Blake when we get to her) we can actually start at their trailers. Weiss’s fight is a direct result of her defying her father’s wishes. She’s at Beacon because she chose to be, not because she was told to. And yet, defiance is also something Weiss struggles with early on. She’s the most by the book member of team RWBY and by far the least likely to break the rules. Her early non-trailer defiance comes more in her rejection of being who her father wanted her to be.

Weiss makes more progress in volume 3 when she decides to forge her own path and ignore her father. She sacrifices herself to take out Flynt, refusing to let him attack Yang. When Velvet is in danger from the Paladin it’s her sheer determination to stop it that allows her do what she hadn’t been able to do before. She knows it would be safer to stay at the docks but finding Pyrrha is more important. There’s not just one singular thing she’s defying in volume 3; she just continually refuses to back down.

Like the others however, volume 4 challenges her growing defiance. She finds herself going right back to Atlas and the place she fought so hard to escape. Suddenly she’s faced with all these expectations and not-quite demands again and doesn’t feel like she can say no. Much of the defiance she’d gained disappears, and we don’t see it again until she snaps at the party. When Jacques puts her under house arrest she has two options: slip back into the obedient little girl in an attempt to regain her status or reject him and his orders so that she can escape. she chooses the latter, and in her defiance she finally manages to summon on purpose. She could’ve just as easily given up and been obedient but she chooses defiance.

And after she leaves it’s there in full force. She refuses to cower before Vernal and Raven and doesn’t hesitate to talk back to them. When facing Vernal she rejects being labeled by just her name. Come Atlas she’s openly defying her father at every opportunity and questioning Winter’s acceptance of the fate Ironwood has thrust upon her. When she’s face to face with Winter after Ironwood has deemed her and her team traitors she doesn’t hesitate to side with her team. Weiss knows who she is and that person is someone who won’t stand by when Ironwood wants to leave Mantle to die, even if it puts her at odds with Winter who she still deeply cares about. She’s done filling the role others expect her to play.

Yang’s word, strength, is evident from the moment we meet her. She walks right into a club full of armed goons and goes straight up to the guy in charge, knowing she can take them all if she needs to. And she can! Physically she’s the strongest on the team, but when Blake calls her strength she’s not talking about just physical strength. She was old enough to really remember Summer, found out shortly after that her birth mother had given her up, and dealt with a lot of feelings of loneliness as a child. Someone else who went through what she did might’ve turned out cold and distant but Yang is full of warmth and love, and able to use her own experiences to relate to others.

Her emotional strength is also very clear when Blake hesitates to believe her after the Mercury incident. She’s hurt of course, but she’s able to see that Blake has a very good reason for her reluctance and is able to give her that reassurance. It’s one of the biggest ways she and Adam are different. Adam seeks power, but Yang has a strength of character he never demonstrates. Adam relies on control and manipulation for his power where Yang is open and honest and gets her strength from her desire to protect those close to her.

Like the others, Yang’s strength faces a massive challenge in volume 4. Physically she’s dealing with the loss of her arm, but it’s her mental struggle dealing with her PTSD/general fear of getting back out there and dealing with Blake leaving that’s her biggest obstacle. She’s made good progress on the former by the time we see her in volume 4. Like with Weiss, she finds herself at a crossroads early on: does she stay home and keep recovering or does she try to find Ruby? She knows Ruby isn’t alone and she knows that Qrow is with her or at least near her. She doesn’t have to go find her. Ruby understands that Yang needs time to take care of herself. But having that goal, having someone out there she could find gives her a reason to try.

So she takes that first step and decides to work on getting back out there. It’s a step even a famed huntress like Maria wasn’t able to do. Yang’s not completely better at the end of volume 4 or even several volumes later, but by finding the strength to start fighting again she starts really healing. She’s able to find and face Raven and is able to get the relic from her by being not physically but mentally stronger. When Blake comes back she has the strength to forgive her even if things are awkward for a while (especially noteworthy after Ghira’s comment that there is strength in forgiveness). She’s able to open up about her fears about Adam and eventually face him even though it terrifies her. Her strength, particularly mentally, is even more apparent now than it was when we first met her.

Blake may not have given herself a word but I believe there’s only one word that suits her: bravery. It’s a huge contrast to how she sees herself for a lot of the show which in turn makes it a powerful choice for her. In volume 2 she expresses that she feels she runs away too much between leaving Adam in the black trailer, running away after she outed herself as a faunus, and just the very nature of her semblance. It’s only compounded when she runs after the fall of Beacon. Her tendency to run away and struggle with bravery is something she spends the next two volumes working on, much like how Ruby, Weiss, and Yang also deal with having to navigate their purity, defiance, and strength in the context of a post fall of Beacon world.

The biggest thing is that Blake’s view of herself isn’t accurate. A lot of it is a result of the way Adam treats her. He frames her parents as cowards for leaving the White Fang, makes her believe she’ll always run when she finds him at Beacon, and refers to her as a coward multiple times just in what we see. But the people that love her know that none of it’s true. Ghira sees how brave it was for her to face the White Fang time and time again. Yang sees her as someone who won’t back down from a fight. Ruby and Weiss know she had a good reason to leave, and Yang does as well when she’s able to distance herself from how hurt she was. And they’re the ones that are right, not Adam.

Blake cites running from Adam as one of the things that makes her a coward, but leaving is one of the bravest things she’s ever done. She pulled herself out an organization that turned into a cult-like terrorist group and managed to escape someone that abused her for years. She doesn’t hesitate to confront the White Fang any time she can and infiltrates a meeting like it’s nothing. When she first runs into Adam at Beacon she, despite the absolute fear she must be feeling at seeing him so unexpectedly, stands her ground. Even right before she runs she stares him down all in the name of protecting Yang and drags her through the Grimm infested Beacon to get her to safety.

And even when she runs and heads home, she’s still far braver than she gives herself credit for. It’s been years since she’s seen her parents and she’s so scared they’ll reject her but she still decides to face them. And they accept her back because they love her and know that she’s so much better than she thinks she is. While she’s not initially ready to fight the White Fang in Menagerie because she still needs to deal with her trauma, she makes it very clear that she’s not done fighting. Even after everything she’s been through she never lacks the courage to do what she thinks is right. And when the time comes she’s able to convince the faunus of Menagerie to come to Haven with her courage. She understands their fear, how it’s easier to stay home and say nothing than it is to stick yourself out there and put yourself at risk for complete strangers. It’s not the exact fear she struggles with, but she still gets it. Blake doesn’t know if her speech will work, but she’s willing to face Adam and the White Fang alone if she must.

And in Haven she does face him. She sees him for the first time since Beacon and she’s able to triumph. Blake is done with running away, done with letting Adam manipulate her and make her feel small. She’s able to face her team, knowing they had every reason to reject her but that wasn’t going to stop her from trying. And they welcome her back with open arms. When she faces Adam for the final time she’s able to stand side by side Yang and triumph, even if she’s so afraid that Yang will believe what Adam says about her. She’s worked so hard to undo what he did to her and makes it clear that she’s done with running and Yang understands that.

Blake’s struggle with bravery and viewing herself as a coward is just such a big part of her character arc, the same way maintaining purity despite the darkness in the world is for Ruby, the way fighting to stay defiant and to be herself despite familial expectations is for Weiss, and the way regaining the strength she never really lost is for Yang. She faces more challenges with it thanks to her history with Adam, but she also expresses her bravery constantly even in the smallest of ways. Blake lets people in despite her fears of hurting them, is able to express how Adam made her feel and face him multiple times, and never backs down from a challenge. If there were a living embodiment of the word bravery in RWBY it would be Blake.

[real-jaune-isms]

RWBY Volume 8 Chapter 5 Review/Remix

PAIN! PAIN! EVERYTHING IS PAIN AND SADNESS AND FEAR AND AAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHH!!!!!

*Ahem...* So this was a great chapter, let’s talk about it.

We start on a lovely view of Amity floating over the mines with the purple lightning of Salem’s storm in the background. Pietro is near the top of the tower doing some wire repairs when he gets a beep on the comms from Penny. She expresses her dislike for their current plan, but Pietro explains that even if it’s not an outright good idea it’s the best one they have right now. Turns out that plan is setting a series of bombs inside the mine and blowing up all the volatile Dust. With what repairs and renovations they’ve gotten done up to this point they will be able to broadcast the pre-recorded message and keep Amity in orbit, but getting it launched up there is gonna be the problem. The solution is apparently setting off a massive chain reaction of explosions beneath them and using that as extra thrust for the launch. Maria is piloting a construction mech to help carry heavy components, so that’s a cool way for her to be helpful, and she’s the one who reveals the plan to use the Dust for thrust. Pietro finishes laying out the plan: once in the proper atmospheric height they’ll stabilize their orbit and send out the message for the whole world. Turns out the big contraption Maria was carrying is the terminal from which the good doctor will be making this all happen. Once the message is done, they’ll fly Amity away from all the chaos in Atlas. Penny is unsure if they will actually receive the aid they are asking for, and again expresses her desire to stay behind and provide her impressive might to the fight. Pietro puts his foot down, metaphorically of course since he’s in his walking chair, and insists that she stay with him and Maria on board the tower. It’s notable that when Penny agrees to this with a great deal of sadness she calls him sir instead of Dad. It’s a professional order, not a kind request, and she treats it as such. Maria is finally the one to point out that Penny has had a lot of people telling her what she has to do and not a lot of chances to do what she actually wants or feels she should do. Pietro seems to ignore that and just asks that they prepare for the launch. Penny zooms out of the tunnel entrance to the mine and flies up to the tower. We next see her sitting off on the edge of the platform while Pietro does the set up work, before he gets her attention and tells her they’re ready to send the permission request through. The moment of truth, the reason RNBW and May snuck into Atlas HQ with her and what Nora got so badly hurt working towards. Penny gets the request instead of Ironwood, just like they planned, and greenlights it. Success, at least so far. The thrusters fire up, and the bombs are set to detonate in 30 seconds. Better hang on to something...

But before even this can go quite right, a fireball bursts up through the arena and gets their attention. Penny flies to the edge to see what’s going on, and sees a sizable hole burned in the floor. Through it rises Cinder, standing atop the airship still being flown by Neo. They’re not going anywhere that easily. Penny knows she has to fight, to stop that madwoman before any more destruction befalls the tower or her father. But of course Pietro doesn’t want her getting involved at all, he’s so afraid of what could happen to her. Heroic duty calls though, and she swoops down to confront Cinder, Maiden vs Maiden. It’s of course at that moment that the bombs go off and a very visually pleasing explosion of many colors goes off beneath the tower as its own thrusters roar to life and indeed get that boost up up and away. Cinder is better prepared to handle the jolt since she’s standing on firm ground while the floor comes rising to meet the floating Penny and knock her off her guard. Bad start already. Ironwood gets an alert in his war room about the tower launching, and doesn’t seem shocked about it at all. In fact, he’s ready for it with a next step of his own. That’s also a very bad sign. Cinder taunts Penny, saying she wishes Team RWBY were here but she’ll settle for the tool they sent to do this job for them. Penny tries to refute that in favor of her own autonomy, but Cinder is too busy summoning fiery glass blades to listen. Once the thrusters stop and target altitude seems to be achieved, Cinder launches into action by shooting all her blades at Penny, who has to dodge backwards and parry them way with her own spinning array. But its a few more than she can quite take. Luckily, Maria jumps in the way and tanks the hits. She charges at Cinder and does her best Ripley from Aliens, but Neo crashes the ship into her before she can finish the line “Get away from her, you bitch!” Convenient censorship. While Penny gets Cinder’s attention and starts flying around, Maria struggles against the ship trying to push her down. She tilts it so it slams into the ground instead, but Neo slaps the very convenient reverse thrusters screen and staggers Maria by pulling out of the grip. She’s lost sight of the ship, and with Emerald seen on the sidelines it’s not hard to guess why. Suddenly the ship appears out of nowhere and mows her down into the wall of the arena. Neo lands her ship and hops out, Maria isn’t so lucky. She pops off the top to the cockpit and is greeted by a smug Neo. Emerald yells for her fellow illusion master to get going and presumably follow Cinder’s fight, but Neo wants to stay and play with the old lady. Maria is aware enough to ask what Neo wants if not to go help her cohort, and Neo explains through disguise. She wants Ruby. “Ruby” tosses Maria out of the mech, but surprisingly the old girl lands on her feet with a grin. While all the fighting is going on, Pietro rushes back to check on their status and thankfully sees they’re still at transmission altitude. He powers on the stabilizers, but therein lies a dire problem. When Cinder burned her way inside she made the hole right next to a stabilizer, and now its been damaged to the point it can’t function. They’re be dropping out of broadcast range in 3 minutes, and Pietro immediately gets to work trying to find a solution.

Penny and Cinder continue to fly around the outside perimeter of the arena as Cinder tries to take Penny down. Penny dodges the hits the best she can, but what attacks she doesn’t receive is damaging the tower instead. Cinder has the nerve, the nerve I say as one of many who loved Pyrrha, to make a bow again after all these seasons and starts shooting arrows at Penny. She avoids those too, but it causes rumbling trouble for Pietro. To avoid that kind of collateral, Penny flies into the open skies and Cinder follows, shooting fireballs and going as fast as she can to catch up. But then she realizes she’s being lead on and instead turns around to go back and start wrecking the tower before Penny can catch up and stop her. Back in the arena, Maria is having the time of her life. She’s dodging and blocking just about everything Neo throws at her, and when the girl does hook her can on her umbrella and tosses her in the air, the devilish missy just turns her cane into the short scythe it hasn’t been for years and pulls herself back in to kick Neo in the face. Guess she’s still got a little of that Grimm Reaper spirit in her after all~ Neo continues to fail at beating the fiery granny, and ends up knocked to the floor. I would guess Maria’s Preflexes helped out here, but I really hope she continues to live long enough to give Ruby some pointers on how to fight this mute minx. Pietro is doing his best to work the computer, but that becomes more difficult when Cinder flies in and starts torching the steel beams keeping this platform hanging where it is. Penny comes to stop Cinder, much to her apparent delight, and tries to appeal to her better nature by saying she doesn’t have to work for Salem. The Fall Maiden is still very deluded as to her place in the world, and thinks she isn’t serving anyone when really terror and the cycle of abuse has her wrapped around Salem’s finger tighter than that spider ring she wears. Cinder insults Penny’s ability to act for herself yet again by saying she was built to only serve others. It takes her a moment to come up with a rebuttal, but Penny says she choses to fight for this side, because it’s in service of the people who care about her. The beams are at their breaking point, so Penny anchors her swords into the floor of the platform and pulls on the strings to try and keep it all staying up. She uses her powers to freeze the melting steel on either side of her, but that takes both her arms and leaves her open to attack. And attack Cinder does, locking her legs around Penny and trying to grab her face with her Grimm hand. Penny, naturally, screams in fear and loses concentration. She does go back to freezing one of the beams that needs more ice, but that leaves her with only one arm to hold back Cinder’s nightmare grab. Cinder thinks fast and uses her own Semblance to heat Penny’s hand to the point she has to pull away, and that gives her the chance she needs. Stifling her screams like a facehugger, Cinder starts sucking out Penny’s Maiden powers as the two flail through the air. Amazingly, through all this the swords are still jabbed into the floor, even as they fly below it and hang like bungie jumpers. Penny thinks fast and does something new with her powers, or at least new for her, by summoning ice spears to jab into Cinder and try and shove her as far away as possibly. The Grimm arm hangs fast, but eventually the two are separated when Penny hits her with her rocket boots. 

Emerald watches in dread as Cinder is pinned to a wall by her cape on one of those spears, while the momentum of the separation sends Penny falling to the arena floor. This distracts Maria long enough for Neo to kick her to the floor, while Cinder frees herself and smirks in Emerald’s direction. Before Neo can finish Maria off, she’s blasted with a laser beam and slams into the side of the airship. Bye bye Aura, and so bye bye Neo for the rest of the fight. Penny is back on her feet, and rises to face Cinder again. The sleazy bitch has the audacity to summon a spear, when we know damn well Pyrrha used a spear AND that Cinder last used one to stab Weiss back in Volume 5. But there are suddenly a dozen Cinders surrounding Penny thanks to the aid of Emerald’s Semblance, not that Penny seems especially phased. She just summons a thundercloud to power her up with electricity and uses her sensors to scan for which one has a heat signature. She finds the right one and ANNIHILATES her with a laser beam. Emerald is none too happy to see her mentor get blasted into a wall, while I replayed the sound of Cinder screaming a dozen times just while writing this review. Get wrecked, scrub~ Penny comes to finish the last of the trio, but she sees the poor girl is utterly distraught at the site of her fallen leader and willing to let herself be taken down if it means filling the terminal with bullet holes as she goes. With some amount of pity and mercy I don’t know if I could muster in her situation, Penny lets Em leave with the battered body of her sadly still breathing boss. Neo is none to happy to have gotten her ass kicked by an octogenarian and now be told to drive, goddamn you. Meanwhile Pietro is very relieved to see Penny and Maria are both okay, but sadly they have fallen out of the necessary orbit and their transmission window is gone. They’re drifting and likely going to crash north of... well we don’t hear where exactly because a loud thud distracts them. The place really is coming apart around them. But Penny believes she can fix this. She can use her own thrusters and strength to push Amity back up as high as they need to be, if only for just long enough to broadcast the message. It’s only a couple minutes long, she’s sure she can handle that. But again Pietro says no, citing her current level of damage and risk factors like the cold. It’s their only option though, their one chance to make all of this hard work mean something in terms of the big picture. Papa Polendina says to hell with the big picture, he wants to keep the things safe he would put in a wallet sized picture. His daughter, dammit, what about his daughter?! He’s already lost her once, no way he’ll risk that again. He wants to see her live her life. But what sort of a life will it be if he keeps her from living it to the fullest and doing what only she can to make a difference? She’s trying to live her life, he needs to trust her and let her do that. With a quiet nod, he knows she is right, and she flies off to get to work. Not before taking a long look at the beautiful night sky though, possibly the last she’ll get for a while... She starts pushing, using rocket thrusters and Maiden magic alike to put all her might into it. And it works, they get back up as high as they need to be. Pietro just slams his fist on a button and suddenly every TV screen in Remnant is taken over with a single broadcast. 

Ruby Rose, 17 year old Huntress, addresses the people of Remnant. 

And she tells them all that Atlas is under attack, not from a neighboring Kingdom or some new enemy but from the oldest and darkest force there is. Ruby tells everyone that Salem exists, that she controls the Grimm, that she orchestrated the Fall of Beacon and the attack on Haven, that her agents hacked the Atlas drones and manipulated the actions of the White Fang into aiding her goals, and that she is indeed immortal. In addition to the worried evacuated people in the crater and Whitley holed up in Jacques’ study, we see so many old and familiar faces take the news with varying levels of shock and confusion. Saphron and Terra back in Argus with Adrian, Neptune and Sun in the deserts of Vacuo, Ilia on a rooftop in what might be Menagerie but could still be Mistral, and even dear Glynda Goodwitch in the Shopkeep’s Dust shop back in Vale... I would like to say that I was so happy to see all these faces and to know some of them are where they are, doing what they’re doing. Seeing the SN boys made me realize we’ll be seeing them and Team CFVY when RWBY finally go to Vacuo, and I’m excited for that reunion. Ilia gets a call from Ghira almost as soon as Ruby’s message mentions the White Fang had been manipulated by Salem, so clearly that’s going to be a deep conversation I want to hear. Glynda is shown at the same time that Ruby says she and Vacuo’s Headmaster Theodore know about Salem and can probably help organize a way to fight back, and it was so nice to finally see her in the Maya engine. No voice yet, but looking better than ever~ Ruby does deliver the rough news though, saying Ironwood can’t be trusted anymore. He’s watching the broadcast with the Ace Ops, and this callout pisses Harriet off so she turns it off. He turns away from the screen to address Watts, who is fiddling with the inner wirings of Penny’s commandeered sword. He explains how they’ll be able to assume control over her by hijacking a single blade and the rest will follow, and has the flair to replace the computer chip with Penny’s emblem with one that has his own stylized W on it. Theatrical even in this... Speaking of villains taking this broadcast well, Salem pets Tyrian’s head as he plays it on his Scroll and listens with a smile to Ruby talk about how the other kingdoms will have time to prepare now. Guess she wants them to put up a good fight, prove that even then she is smarter and stronger... We shift again to see Nora covered in bandages and lying in what I assume might be Weiss’ bed while RWB sit together on the floor and watch Ruby’s impressively inspiring speech. Not one to leave the world without hope, Ruby tells everyone that immortal does not mean unstoppable, if it did Salem wouldn’t have hid herself and bided her time so long. She can be beaten, if we all work together and trust each other. Just as she’s at her most inspiring, Watts replaces the chip and something starts going wrong in Penny. She starts writhing in pain, fighting with herself to stay and keep the tower floating or go to the Vault. Her eyes flicker and flash red to green and back, and she has no idea what’s wrong with her much to Pietro’s confusion. The loss of concentration was enough to make a difference, and the message stops before Ruby can get her final triumphant word. 99.99% of a speech is still a good damn speech, but the premature cut is more than our last cameo can take. Taiyang cries at home, desperate for one more moment to see his baby girl again and hear her voice. Thank goodness he’s got Zwei to comfort him.

Speaking of struggling fathers, Pietro begs Penny to come back inside now that her job is done, but she can’t get ahold of herself. With more human fear and pain than I hear in most great cinema, this young “machine” finds her own mind again long enough to whimper “Dad...” before shutting down and falling to the ground below. Burning up on reentry like a shooting star of fading life and inner turmoil. Pietro tries to get her to say something else, anything else, and as she’s engulfed in heat she tells him “I love you”. He falls into a coughing fit that becomes weeping. 

Back to the room of smug Atlas assholes who I’d rather be seeing burn in a fire, Harriet reports on global communication going back down while Ironwood is none too happy with the fact that he still doesn’t have control over Penny despite Watt’s work. Watts argues she’s probably rebooting, and the tower not working anymore could be a result of Pietro being a shoddy craftsman after all. Clearly, the twat is still bitter his science project wasn’t picked all those years ago and he’ll take any chance to bully the nerd whose project was... Ironwood throws his Scroll at the smirking fucker, and he knocks it away to land broken on the desk. Ironwood sends out the Ace Ops and a fresh out of bed Winter to go find Penny and bring her to him or to the Vault, whichever come first. Winter clearly has a problem with seeing Watts here aiding her boss, but this isn’t the work environment to let you take up such concerns with HR. While everyone’s attention is on getting their orders, including Harriet being the one tasked with taking Watts back to his cell, the mustached ass swipes the broken Scroll while he packs up his tool kit. Clearly he’s gonna use that to break out, and I’m mad as hell no one searched him before leaving the room.

Back in the tundra, Jaune Yang and Ren rush out onto the ice to look at something Jaune saw in the distance. What they find is the honest to gods River Styx, flowing from somewhere below Monstra through the icy wastelands and directly into Mantle. A river filled with Grimm. As is things couldn’t go any worse this episode...

Ah, but don’t worry, it really goes to hell next week! Stay tuned for that dream come true turned waking nightmare!

[pilot-boi]

By Any Other Name: Chapter Seven

Chrysanthemums

Strong and nearly invulnerable, the final flowers to bloom before winter are the last spot of color before the night.

AO3 LINK

Pyrrha didn’t see destiny as a fate she couldn’t escape. She saw it more as a final goal to work towards her whole life. 

She’d always felt that she was destined to be a Huntress, and as time went on it became increasingly clear that she was right.

The flowers also lined up perfectly with her view on destiny. People somewhere out there in the world that would mean more to her than life itself, that she was meant to find and be with. 

Not that it would always work out. Her mother was testament to that. She’d found her soulmate when they were at the academy together. They’d been together for only a year, just long enough for her mother to realize that she’d truly found the love of her life. And also just long enough for them to be taken away.

They died, just as her mother had finally realized how much they meant to her. A month or so later, her mother found out that she was pregnant.

Pyrrha was born. Her mother doted on her and loved her more than anything, but Pyrrha could always tell that her mother’s smiles would never quite light up her eyes. They were real smiles, but there was a pain in them that Pyrrha wouldn’t understand until her mother sat her down and explained why there was a flower arrangement blooming in speckles across her knees and elbows.

The deep red lilies in vases around the house suddenly made much more sense as well.

If she was going to become a Huntress, Pyrrha knew that she’d have to work, and study, and train harder than she thought was possible. She enrolled in combat as soon as she could, and she rose rapidly through the ranks. She was a natural, awakening her aura sooner than any of her classmates. Her semblance followed soon after, and she learned quickly that hiding her ability to control metal would be much more useful than advertising her ability.

She entered her first tournament when she was thirteen. Pyrrha burned her way through the ranks, rocketing to the top and winning the tournament with flying colors. When she stood on the victor’s podium or the first time, all she could notice was how far away everyone else seemed. How they seemed to look at her differently.

Years passed. The tournaments began to blur together, and she won each one by a vast margin. She became the face for Pumpkin Pete’s cereal, which was pretty cool, even if the cereal itself was incredibly unhealthy. The public loved her and that was amazing, but in private nobody would talk to her for her. The pedestal she was on only seemed to get taller by the day.

She began to wonder when she had started to separate Pyrrha Nikos, the champion of Mistral, from Pyrrha Nikos, the girl born with the power to draw things together who seemed to do nothing but separate herself from everyone. Hopefully Yellow, Pink, and Green would see her differently, or indeed see her at all.

Pyrrha committed to going to Beacon, disappointing everyone in Argus who would’ve rather she stayed at home. Her mother understood, brushed her bangs back from her eyes, and told her to stay safe. The worry in her mother’s green eyes, so like Pyrrha’s own, had her nodding and agreeing despite herself. 

She waved one hand at her mother as she boarded the airship, promising to visit during the break after the Vytal Festival. While sitting on board, a crop of daffodils bloomed up and down her arms, joining the plethora of similar blooms she got on a nearly daily basis. Pyrrha’s Aura and skills had prevented any serious injuries for years now. Sometimes she wondered whether her soulmates were worried about her.

Going to Beacon changed everything. Not immediately of course, these things took time.

Before initiation, people came up to her for autographs and to take pictures, and Pyrrha’s heart sank when the hope that it would be different here wilted. When the hall was mostly full and everyone finally left her alone, a tall blonde boy and a short girl with a red cape wandered into the hall. The girl zipped off in a cloud of what Pyrrha could swear were rose petals, the boy lamented that he wouldn’t be able to find another nice quirky girl to talk to, and as Pyrrha watched him, she wondered if she was even capable of being that kind of girl anymore.

In the locker room before initiation, she was confronted by a pale white haired girl. ‘Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company,’ her mind provided helpfully. They had never met, only known each other by reputation, but it had rapidly become abundantly clear that Weiss was familiar with a pedestal of her own. 

It must be a different sort of pedestal, though, because Weiss could not make it more clear that Pyrrha’s reputation was all she cared about.

The blonde boy she’d seen in the entrance hall butted into their conversation, and he was flirting so obviously and so badly with Weiss that she almost felt sorry for him. He introduced himself to the two of them, and it was only after Weiss was forced to introduce her that Pyrrha realized Jaune didn’t know who she was.

After years of living on her distant pedestal, it didn’t seem possible that she’d ever meet someone who didn’t know who she was, but here she was.

Suddenly her pedestal didn’t feel quite as distant and unreachable, because Jaune Arc didn’t even know that it existed. And she had his flowers.

Pyrrha found her other two soulmates. Nora, as bright and bouncy as the flowers she embodied, and Ren, whose water lilies were as still and calm as the man himself. Finally she’d found the people who saw her for herself, and not as Pyrrha Nikos, the Invincible Girl.

The first few semesters were the happiest of her life. She made friendships that would last her for the rest of her life, and she finally felt like she could be a Huntress for herself instead of that just being what she was meant to do.

Jaune Arc was the brightest spot in all of this.

She activated his Aura in the Emerald Forest, trained with him on the rooftops, and danced with him at the ball. They just fit together, in a way that she’d never had with anyone. And with him she felt like the pedestal wasn’t there at all.

If only she could get him to see her in the way she saw him. After the dance, he seemed to come to a realization, but neither of them stepped forward, too afraid of what the other would say. Pyrrha would gladly wait forever, she was just happy to be a part of his life.

Then came the Vytal Festival, and everything went wrong.

Suddenly there was magic, and there were Maidens, and the teachers wanted her to take on the biggest responsibility anybody could be asked to take, and this was her purpose.

Pyrrha was falling apart, and she knew that. Nora tried to lift her spirits, Ren tried keep her focused, and Jaune tried to understand. She closer to laying out her feelings than she thought she ever would, a crack appeared in her mask.

That crack widened.

Penny. Would anyone grow petals for her?

Her pedestal collapsed, and she was buried in the rubble.

The Grimm were everywhere. Civilians and Hunters alike were blooming left and right as countless people fell to the onslaught. They lost track of team RWBY, but in the screaming there was no way to find them again. The Headmaster summoned her away, and she nearly cried when Jaune refused to leave her side. 

Then she was screaming. Pain like fire and hunger filled her system, and it was over before it began.

That woman, one of her classmates an exchange student, shot the Maiden through the chest. She was dead, and trapped. In their fading connection, Pyrrha felt the woman die.

Ozpin sent her and Jaune away, they’d only get in his way.

Outside the tower, the giant flying Grimm circled overhead. Jaune was scrambling for help, begging for answers, and then begging her to stay. But she couldn’t. This was her purpose, to fight the good fight until there was nobody left to defend.

Oh Jaune, I wish we had more time.

The kiss wasn’t nearly long enough, and they fit together. And when he pulled her closer and kissed her back, she nearly changed her mind right then and there. 

When they pulled apart, she looked into his confused blue eyes one last time, whispered an apology, and sent him away. His begging broke her heart, shattered it into tiny pieces, far too small for any possible repair.

Her pedestal was gone, it had fallen in that fight with Penny, but as she watched him fly away she’d never felt further removed from anyone in her life.

[razieltwelve]

Underwater Combat (Final Rose)

Lightning paced at the edge of the small lake. “Although the vast majority of combat occurs on land, you may find yourselves confronted by aquatic Grimm. Not only are aquatic Grimm some of the most ferocious you’ll ever encounter but humans and Faunus are also typically far less effective underwater than on land.”

“It is not uncommon for even experienced huntsmen and huntresses to panic if they find themselves fighting underwater.” Lightning stopped and turned to regard the students with a stern glare. “When fighting underwater, panic is the enemy. You must remain calm not only to minimise your usage of oxygen but also to ensure you can use your Aura properly. When you are calm and focused, it is possible to use Aura to fuel basic metabolic processes. Although you will still have to come up for air, proper usage of Aura will allow you to fight underwater for periods in excess of ten minutes.”

A slow smile crossed Lightning’s face, and the students all gulped. They could tell where this was going.

“For obvious reasons, attempting to master the use of Aura for underwater combat in the field is basically an exercise in suicide, which is why we’ll be practicing now.” Lightning’s smile widened ever so slightly. It was not a nice smile. “You might be wondering why I didn’t tell any of you beforehand. Isn’t it obvious? Do you really think aquatic Grimm are going to let you change into more suitable clothing before you fight them?” She pointed. “Get in the lake. Now.”

An hour - and several near-drownings - later, Lightning was reasonably satisfied that all of the students could at least perform the technique. It was time to progress to the next stage.

“Performing a technique in a training session is a lot easier than performing it under the strain of a real situation, which is why we’re going to be making this a bit more realistic.” Lightning’s lips curled. “Everyone out of the lake except Pyrrha.”

The redhead tried not to shiver as she suddenly found herself alone in the lake. “Uh… professor?”

“Look over there.” Lightning pointed. 

Pyrrha squinted. “Is… is that a shark, professor?”

“Not exactly.” Lightning chuckled. “You’ve shown a remarkable level of proficiency in today’s technique, Pyrrha, which is why you get to go first.” Lightning pulled out a stopwatch. “You need to last five minutes.”

“Five minutes?” Pyrrha frantically called her weapons to her from the shore. “What exactly am I going to be fighting - gah!”

X     X     X

Diana had often dreamed of being a sea monster in her younger days. She would swim through the ocean’s depths before emerging to terrorise unsuspecting ships. People around the world would fear Diana the Dreadful, sea monster extraordinaire!

Naturally, she'd moved on to other dreams. However, when her mother had asked her if she wanted to help with a training exercise, she hadn’t been able to resist. Getting to act like a sea monster while receiving course credit? Perfect.

X     X     X

Pyrrha had fairly little experience with underwater combat. So when something rammed into her with all the force of a truck and then dragged her underwater, it took every bit of her control to keep from panicking. Instead, she mustered her Aura and did her best to stab at the eyes of whatever had grabbed her.

Despite her best efforts, however, her strikes barely seemed to do anything to the strange creature that had seized her. It looked like a cross between a shark, a crocodile, and some kind of… well… it was really quite difficult to say what it looked like.

A blow thundered into her gut, and Pyrrha folded. Her Aura flashed. The creature let go of her, and Pyrrha tried to get her bearings back. Yet the battle had carried them deeper into the lake, and the waters were a little too dark for her to easily spot her opponent. Unbidden, panic began to well up in her. And that panic only increased when something grabbed her by the foot and began to drag her down into the depths…

X     X     X

Lightning watched one of Diana’s drones pluck Pyrrha out of the water. The redhead coughed and hacked before rolling onto her side once the drone had dumped her onto the shore. The other students were all looking between the redhead and the lake in absolute horror. Pyrrha was one of the finest students in the academy, and she’d barely lasted three minutes. At the centre of the lake, the water churned as the ‘monster’ swam in swift, powerful circles.

“Blake,” Lightning said. “You’re up.”

X     X     X

Diana almost felt bad about grabbing Blake and dragging her below the surface but then she remembered the time Blake had stolen some of her tuna. Still, she had to be careful. Pyrrha had only panicked when placed under real danger of drowning. The instant Blake’s head was below the surface, she had begun to get uneasy, and in less than a minute of fairly pedestrian combat, her concentration was too frazzled to maintain her control over her Aura.

X     X     X

“Well…” Lightning watched Blake glare at her balefully as she wrung water out of her hair. “I do believe it’s Elsa’s turn.” She paused. “And, no, Elsa, freezing the lake solid is not a suitable way to complete this exercise.”

X     X     X

Elsa took one look at the monster rushing toward her underwater and decided that discretion was the better part of valour. Alas, her attempts to retreat to shallower, less murky water were completely futile. Even so, she managed to keep some semblance of calm, right up until the monster opened its mouth to reveal jaws laden with very, very, very big and very, very, very sharp teeth.

She opened her mouth to scream and promptly got a mouthful of water.

X     X     X

Diana cringed. That wasn’t quite the reaction she’d been going for. Oh well. She twisted her body and hurled Elsa out of the water. 

X     X     X

Elsa was vaguely aware of flying through the air before someone caught her.

“Are you okay?” Averia asked.

Elsa blinked blearily. “Huh?”

“Oh, good. You’re conscious.” Averia leaned closer. “But I think you might have swallowed some…”

Elsa passed out.

X     X     X

One by one, each of the students went into the lake. And one by one, they emerged spluttering, coughing, hacking, and generally miserable. The control and precision required to maintain the Aura technique in the midst of combat was exceptional. Panic was the quickest way to lose control of it, and panic was completely natural when people weren’t used to fighting underwater. 

Lightning’s brows furrowed. She could tell the students weren’t happy, but this was necessary. She’d seen too many good huntsmen and huntresses lose their lives due to panic and inexperience. It was better for them to struggle and fail while at the academy than to struggle and fail on a mission.

“All right,” Lightning said. “That’s enough for today.” Her voice softened ever so slightly. “Don’t feel bad for failing today. The purpose of this exercise wasn’t just to show you a new technique but also to show you how far you have to go before you can use it properly. We will be doing this exercise again, but I doubt any of you will last five minutes. What I want, however, is for all of you to do better than you did today.”

“Uh… professor,” someone asked. “What is that thing we’ve been fighting?”

“Oh?” Lightning shrugged. “Diana!”

The teenager stepped out of the water, flesh shifting and changing as she adopter a form more suitable for travel on land.

“Oh.”

“Ragnarok is an exceedingly powerful Semblance,” Lightning said. “Its user can basically do whatever they want with their own body. Using genetic templates, a bearer of Ragnarok can easily take on a form perfect for underwater combat.”

“So… it’s basically cheat, right?” Jaune asked.

“Pretty much.”

X     X     X

Author’s Notes

Yep, Lightning is evil. But that doesn’t mean she’s wrong.

You can find me on fanfiction.net, AO3, and Amazon.

Definitely check out my Amazon stuff if you enjoy my sense of humour.

[the-angst-lord]

Upon reflection of volume 5 and 6.

Probably would’ve been better to have Jaunes semblence revealed while trying to heal Ruby’s eyes.

We already have the information that Silver eyes won’t work if they’re damaged, aka Maria. So what better way to show Jaunes significance than by healing Ruby’s during a confrontation with those Silver eyes hunters? Or Cinder for that matter, actually following orders and not killing Ruby, but crippling her the same way she did her.

There being a similar build up to when Weiss was stabbed, but instead it takes place when team RWBY is separated from JNPR. And there being a confrontation with Ruby and Cinder instead with optimism confronting pessimism.

Ruby believing that they can overcome almost anything so long as they have each other. And cinder countering that with the idea that yes, they would do anything for each other. However they would also leave her behind if she just proved to be a hindrance to them. Thusly, Cinder burns her eyes with her Fall maiden magic.

Effectively leaving Ruby defenseless and open to any Grimm that would pick up on her own despair.

Mirroring what happened to Maria.

So when team RWBY finds her she can’t use her semblence effectively, she most certainly cannot use crescent rose without hurting her allies and/or herself. That brings up the discussion of what to do with her, because she is their leader, but because they care about her and don’t want her hurt they try and reason about leaving her with Jaunes sister in Argus.

We get the same scene where Ruby talks to Maria, who admits that giving up once her eyes were taken was the biggest mistake she made. Of course she couldn’t have been a huntress anymore, but there were alternatives. All she can provide now is a means of helping Ruby accept what’s happened to her and to move on.

There’s time given to the team now adjusting to their leaders injuries. Weiss most certainly tries to push everyone to do something, but for what she lacks due to her fear of Atlus Yang and Blake make up for in support. So while everyone is out building up a plan, Ruby is left behind at the house, now usually sitting in the Garden because she’s low key afraid of stepping on Adrian.

But this is where Jaune comes in, while everyone is arguing about what to do with Ruby and making plans, he actually goes and asks her about how she’s doing. Because clearly she’s distraught about her dreams being shattered in a single moment but is conflicted because as a team leader, she has to prioritize her teammates over her. She can’t see, can’t use her weapon, can’t use her semblence, and now can’t even use her newly found silver eye powers. Easily, it’s her lowest moment, because the obvious choice is for her to remain in Argus.

Their conversation parallels the one they had in volume one, only this time it’s Jaune who tells her that she wasn’t wrong to think about her teammates. He doesn’t try to give her a solution, because in this case there is no clear one. He places his hand on her shoulder, same way Pyrrha did, and that triggers his semblence because in that moment all he wants to do is to help his friend.

It works for the most part, Ruby’s silver eye power awakens again with this newfound hope. However her vision is still blurred, being able to discern light and dark but not able to see anything clearly. Still, it’s enough for her.

So now we see Ruby having scars over eyes glossy eyes, wielding Cresent Rose confidently with Maria’s training to support her.

[helihi]

The Good, the Bad and The Dirty: RWBY Vol 6 Ch 9

#ShieldsOutForPyrrha #SaveEmerald2K19 (We gotta start trending in it now kids).

I think this is a good episode to end the year with. 

Overall rating: 7/10.

A.N.: Nora speaking truth to power, as always. #ShieldsOutForNora

Welcome to my last RWBY review for the year, strap in folks:

The Good:

I had a feeling we would get a Salem Squad scene for this episode, and I wasn’t wrong. We start off Episode 9 with a conversation between Emerald and Mercury. Imma be honest with you guys, I thought this scene was fantastic.

This not only confirmed many analysis done by the FNDM already, but also serves as a set up for the breaking point between Emerald and Mercury or both of them from the Witch’s gang. Although the set up for Emerald has been built as early as volume 3 (remember her being horrified during the Fall of Beacon?).

Emerald and Mercury are like Naruto and Sasuke, or Catra and Adora (shout out to fans of those shows out there). 

On one hand, it is confirmed that Mercury’s father was abusive, not only that, but that the asshole stole his son’s Semblance (I think Miles mentioned something on Reddit about his Semblance being a spoiler). On the other hand, you have Emerald, who didn’t have a family and had to survive on her own, stealing.

Mercury grew up to be an assassin, festered by hatred and abuse, which lead him to a path of violence, and then to Cinder and Salem’s side. Emerald saw Cinder as a teacher, as a chance to grow and survive; she saw her as family, but Cinder is abusive herself. She doesn’t care about Emerald, constantly berates her and diminishes her feelings. Mercury knows abusers, that’s why he’s not loyal to her, and why he pointed this out to Emerald.

In the way they both deal with abuse, and the way they interpret life, 2 sets of characters should come to mind. Depending on their decision, to either stay with Salem or not:

Mercury will be Sasuke or Catra, continuing to go through the path of darkness. Seeking power and the upper hand in an abusive and toxic environment. (Catra is far more complex than Sasuke, of course, I just don’t want to delve into She-Ra more than I need to).

Emerald will be like Naruto and Adora, she will break free from that toxic environment and seek to better herself.

I’m not sure what Mercury’s going to choose, but I’m a 100% certain that Emerald will leave. She will probably meet Cinder, and realize that she is a fucking b—crazy. For more Emerald theories please follow me @helihi

After all of that, we see Team JN_R alongside Saphron. I like the exchange they all have together, and we got some wholesome JN_R interactions. I really like how attentive Nora and Rea are. They are both being the dad n mom friend when Jaune needs them.

Although I prefer the concept statue of Pyrrha we saw during the credits, it’s interesting the people of Argus built one for her. I kinda gasped when I saw that red haired green-eyed woman bringing flowers for her.

Are they gonna reveal she’s her mother?

Is she going to have a meaningful conversation with her daughter’s team?

Well, she does give us some insight on Pyrrha. I don’t personally agree with her views, but now Pyrrha’s sense of duty and sacrifice is confirmed to be one she grew up with. Just like I mentioned in my Pyrrha post: her ideals forced her to make a choice, one she could only make. She knew she was going to die, but she felt like she had to stop Cinder alone.

I really love the exchange between Ren, Nora and Jaune regarding Pyrrha. This step in their character development, and specifically in Jaune’s grieving process is very important. He needed this to be able to move forward.

Jaune understands that Pyrrha’s death is not one on his shoulders, and that he’s not the only one who’s in pain. He will move forward, and keep proving that he’s a leader, a worthy one; that Pyrrha’s impact in their lives was good, and they will honor her.

Then, you got Jaune proposing a plan to steal a ship. 

Get in loser, we’re going to Atlas.

I also loved how Ruby confronted Qrow. it’s very powerful when you know that he was Ruby’s role model for most of her life (the other one bing Yang). Putting her foot down in from of the older generation helps her solidify the idea that she and her friends are not kids anymore. I wonder if Qrow is going to mention something about Summer like Raven did.

Also, Ruby you did a lot of stuff alone yeah, but like... Yang lost her arm, 2 of your friends are dead... if it wasn’t for María you guys would have been dead a couple of episodes ago... just sayin’.

The Bad:

Holy shit was Oscar’s return such a fanfic-ky way of solving that plot point. It’s almost as if his whole “running away” was an excuse to give him an outfit change to make him look cooler. Also, him cooking in a house that’s not his to be the “cute guy” ugh, such fanfic.

I thought this was awful, weird and completely out of place.

Do you know how awesome it would have been if he had received some sort of motivational conversation like Jaune did? Like, as if he was an actual character with emotions he has to sort through?

Yuck.

This shows a complete lack of interest from the writers to one of the most important characters’ arc of the moment. Oscar doubling down on his resolve despite Ozpin lying and the Jinn reveal could have been a perfect character establishing moment, but no.

Also, some characters were standing around with nothing to do or say, like wtf.

The Dirty:

Exposition lady appeared, and left. Could we have gotten a confirmation of who she is? Having a character appear, talk some sense and then mysteriously disappear is cheap.

Overall rating: 7/10.

A.N.: Nora speaking truth to power, as always. #ShieldsOutForNora

[awriterofnoconsequence-blog]

Once Upon A Prompt: One

Prompt: [RWBY]

Arkos Power Play

As requested by reddit user Deathisrebirth:

Jaune dominates Pyrrha. Makes her wears outfits. Grabs her hair and face fucks her.

“Almost done?.” Jaune’s voice had cheerfully rung out as he smiled and sat on the edge of his bed, his eyes occasionally bouncing from one random object to another in their dorm. This seen was a very common one for the members of Team JNPR as it was a Tuesday. Tuesday had been the day that Nora insisted that Jaune and Pyrrha kept to themselves, being an incentive for Pyrrha in the past to try and admit her feelings to Jaune. And, boy, did she. What was once a fruitless venture of Pyrrha trying and failing to try and get the young Arc to try and look at her in a new light, the same light that she saw him in, had somehow one day bore fruit. She confessed her feelings, and after a brief amount of time for Jaune to look at his admittedly beautiful partner as more than just a friend, he returned the gesture on a later Tuesday.

But, as time would pass and their relationship blossomed, it became increasingly more apparent that both partners would draw odd looks from Nora and the rest of their friends, barring Ren and Blake, of course. They continued on for many weeks until one week Jaune found out from Ruby, who may or may not had sold her friends out for a box of cookies, that Yang, Nora, and somehow Weiss had all been placing bets on what the young couple did with their Tuesdays. After they confronted their friends, one thing led to another, and Nora and Yang bluntly admitted that they should be ‘bangin’ by now, and that was one of the only reasons Nora and Ren still left the room available on said days.

After defending themselves with words of awkward embarrassment and shallow words of supposed abstinence, the couple claimed that they never thought of it, which was met with different levels of doubt. But, with the thoughts now in their heads, Pyrrha admitted that should Jaune ever want to, she would be more than happy to advance their relationship. Needless to say, the young Knight was awestruck and positively blighted by nervousness. How could he not be with someone like Pyrrha?

But Pyrrha became adamant, seeing how Jaune not only doubted himself before even trying, he also distanced himself from her. She wouldn’t have that, she refused to lose what she tried so hard for to gain and make her own, especially over something as trivial as sex. It was a healthy thing, and everyone had needs they needed to take care of, and after a week of trying, she finally convinced him to give it a try.

She was blown away.

While it was obvious that they both enjoyed themselves, Pyrrha was astonished at just how amazing everything felt. She wasn’t sure if Jaune was just so amazing at it, or if her body had been longing for him for so long that it trained itself to accept whatever he did or tried with her. Whatever it was, she had to have more.

And more she would have as she eased into the conversation of kinks and fantasies, telling him that, once again, it had been a healthy step in a healthy relationship. While she was more than willing to announce hers to him, she was met with resistance from him as he claimed that she was perfect how she was and nothing needed to be done differently. And though she agreed that he already took care of her needs, her wants were another story that had yet to be opened. She gently pushed to learn more, trying to ease him until he was comfortable to admit of his guilty fantasies.

“Yes, I’m almost done!” Pyrrha called out from the bathroom which had the door creaked open to allow easy communication between the two, but not open enough for Jaune to see her like this. Pyrrha pushed and she prodded to squeeze something, anything out of him, and she could definitely say that she saw why he was apprehensive over the subject. She admitted to him that she wanted to feel him dominate her, and he admitted he wanted her to dress up into a certain outfit. Jaune told her that he could get it, so long as she agreed that she wouldn’t tell anyone and get mad, to which she eagerly promised.

Well, she wasn’t expecting this...

Jaune’s attention was pulled back to reality as he heard the door open further and the familiar sound of heels clicking off of the floor. The sound had truly been distinct… but not to Pyrrha’s heels. As he looked at her, he couldn’t keep his enjoyment hidden as his jaw dropped. “W-wow, I really owe Ruby for this one.”

Pyrrha stood before him, a playful smile donning her lips as she was adorned in Weiss’s typical combat uniform. And not just a replica, or even a larger set of the no doubt custom clothing, but the genuine article, snatched expertly by Jaune’s inside girl. The difference between Weiss and Pyrrha’s clothing preference was as apparent as their differences in stature, which was only even greater displayed given Pyrrha’s current attire.

Where Weiss stood 5’3” in heels, Pyrrha had been 6’0” in her own. Where Weiss’s dress went down to her thighs, it rested noticeably higher, riding up her much larger and supple legs by a few more inches and giving a better display to her creamy skin. The small piece of black lace that normally sat in front of Weiss’s necklace, that Ruby was unable to grab, had been stretched out while the dress scarcely contained Pyrrha’s much larger bust. Even the bolero clung to the Champion’s arms, barely even making it to the sides of her breasts. All around, the outfit was far too tight and almost seemed a bit childish on someone with Pyrrha’s strong, but womanly shape.

“Well… how do I look?” Pyrrha asked in a low, sultry tone as she slowly stepped towards him, swaying her wide hips in an almost exaggerated fashion that made the bottom of the dress bounce up with each step, giving him a glimpse of her white laced panties that left him wondering if Ruby stole those, too.

As he looked at her, Jaune admitted that the thought of Pyrrha in Weiss’s outfit seemed almost like a joke to put on her when written down on paper, but to actually see her in it, not even including whenever she was in motion, was really getting his blood pumping. A thrill slowly made its way up his back and he gave the covers beneath him the smallest of squeezes as he found his pants becoming increasingly cramped.

“Like a Queen.”

“Oh? I think I like hearing you say that..”

"Say it.." Pyrrha’s breathing had been hitched, her well experienced body trying to keep itself regulated. She found her knees to be trembling as they pressed against each other in the slightest of ways, her eyes would occasionally glaze over from the stimulation she'd been receiving, and finally she'd slowly been arching her back just at the right angle to push her large and firm rear out into view. These were all seemingly done unconsciously, as if her body know what she wanted, what she needed; even if she couldn't say it. Of course, he would notice these things.

He always noticed. Her body had been pressed against the wall, kept at an angle that allowed no comfort to her. His left hand had a powerful grasp along her long red hair as he'd been using that to pin her body, and more specifically her head, against the wall. With her arms bound by Weiss’s bolero, she was completely open and at his mercy. "J-Jaune, please..." Pyrrha’s voice had been shrill as she turned her head back towards him as best she could, her green eyes big and bright as the build up of tears threatened to ruin what was left of her make up. "Please don't make m-" Pyrrha’s eyes winch shut as she bit her lip from the sensation of Jaune giving her big ass a firm smack, causing it to bounce and shake from the impact. The skirt of the dress had been hiked up a bit further to expose her rear to his prying eyes and his harsh punishment. Pyrrha’s breathing accelerated at the sharp sting and her body trembled. She panted and kept her eyes closed, trying her best to keep from whimpering like the weak pet she'd become whenever she'd so much as touch him. "Try again." His tone was uncharacteristically serious, but so familiar to Pyrrha. His cobalt eyes were glaring down at her statuesque body that’d been confined in an outfit at least two sizes too small, so cultivated by years of hard work, so well maintained. It was all his now, and she knew it. She begged him to make it his, begged him to claim her and begged him to do everything he wanted to do to her. Built up saliva slowly drip down from her lips as she panted, her creamy breasts rising and falling in the tight, white dress with each labored breath. She couldn’t handle much more, she desperately wanted him to just fuck her already, to give her the mind-numbing orgasm that he threatened her, but would let slip away whenever she could feel its maddening embrace. It was always like this. "Jaune..." This time, Pyrrha squealed and pressed against the wall when Jaune gave her ass another harsh slap, making sure to hit the same exact spot that now burned and left a large red mark, an imperfection on her smooth and creamy skin. Tears welled up in Pyrrha’s eyes as she pressed her face against the wall, her forehead driving against it as her body shook from the pain and the following pleasure. "I told you to beg for it, we both know just how badly you want it.” Jaune said, finding the sight of her trembling, loving that she so desperately pressed herself against the wall to try and escape anymore punishment yet pressed her now burning red ass back against him just as frenzied.

“Look at you, you're already trembling and whimpering just from getting your fat ass spanked." He continued, now leaning in closer, each word that escaped his mouth being directed towards her ear. He was so close now, so close he could feel the heat that radiated off of her and smell the light sheen of sweat that had been developing on her body from the past thirty minutes of 'training'. He chuckled at how stubborn she could be, having seen this song and dance so many times, yet it never bored him. He found it thrilling to take his 'Invincible' partner, who was no doubt leagues more skilled than he still was, and put her in her place. The place she wanted. Even if he wasn't fucking her to his heart's content, enjoying how tight and soaking she'd be around his cock and how she used them to try and milk out load after thick, creamy load, Jaune still got an insatiable power high from pinning her down, spanking, groping, and turning her powerful body into little more than puddy for him. It was addictive, and that's why he couldn’t truly care whether she begged or not for his fat cock to fill her up just right. But, that’d be a reward, and bad girls couldn’t get rewards. They got punished, punished with spankings, punished with being forbidden to reach their peak, and punished with a good time for someone else.

“You know, if you don’t speak up, Pyrrha, I’m going to find a use for that mouth of yours.” Jaune nearly growled into her ear, the captive redhead gasping and sucking in air through clenched teeth as the blonde’s fingers slowly trailed over the red marks on her shapely ass. The skin had been sensitive to the touch as blood rushed their, the sensation alone being enough for the poor girl to shake, a deep tingling dancing up her spine.

When Pyrrha still said something after a few seconds even as her eyes met his, he decided that she didn’t want it at all. Instead, he gripped her hair much tighter and pulled her face off of the wall as he forced her back to arch before he gave her ass a powerful and rough smack, then another, then another, and one final slap, each met with her literally squealing and screaming out for dear life at the sharp sting. The tears spilled down her cheeks from all the movement as she’d been bouncing on her toes in short but powerful spasms, her legs shaking and her back arching even further. Pyrrha could do nothing but cry from the burning on her rear, the abused skin alight from each punishing strike that left it a vibrant red in contrast to the rest of her skin. The strong Champion sobbed and whimpered, the tears that now so freely streamed down her cheeks, bleeding her makeup with them, were born the the sharp pain of being spanked so hard and thoroughly, and the pleasure of it all. Pyrrha didn’t care how deprived she was, she wanted more, she wanted to be treated like the bad little girl that she was when she was with Jaune.

Without being any ounce of gentleness, Jaune all but forced Pyrrha down onto her knees and turned her around towards him. He was greeted with the sight of her eyes slightly swollen and red from crying, but she’d been panting as if she put her body through a marathon, each breath being so heated with excitement that he swore he saw steam. As she sat on her knees, she bit her lip and looked at him, her eyes unwavering, begging for more. He had to admit, he was having fun being a bit rough with her, but he couldn’t explain why he so easily went along with the idea of doing things to this level with his girlfriend. He long since abandoned the idea of holding back as he’d only get lies of she enjoyed herself or she was completely satisfied.

No.

There was only one way to guarantee that Pyrrha had been utterly satisfied, and that was him to push her boundaries, constantly remind her that until she said stop, or no, all was fair and accepted and she was worth as much to him as a cheap toy. And because of that, as Pyrrha was down on her knees, her ass sore and abused, her arms tied behind her back, and her breathing being as frantic as it was, Jaune lifted up his hand, and brought it down directly against her cheek.

Pyrrha’s heartbeat spiked as her breathing stopped, her eyes winch closed and her body nearly gave out, a powerful wave of tingling shock cascaded down her spine. She wept, her lips quivering as she felt the amazing heat coming from her cheek, the pleasure causing her to double forward as she squeezed her knees together, soaking Weiss’s panties in her own hot juices. But, as she tried to move, Jaune’s hand snapped up and gripped her by her cheeks, squeezing as he lifted her head back up towards him. “What did I tell you, huh? If you won’t do anything useful with that dirty mouth of yours, I’ll give it a use.”

Pyrrha took in what breaths she could like this, her panting having evolved into loud huffing as her head was swimming. Her vision blurred and she nearly lost her balance with each sway of her head, but Jaune kept her grounded. Oh, how she loved this. Oh, how she loved him. As she drifted from consciousness and to the innate, almost primal state of euphoria, she was suddenly brought back when she felt something long and thick smack against her face. With a few confused blinks to bring the life back into her eyes, Pyrrha had become absolutely delighted at the realization that she’d now been greeted with Jaune’s hard and throbbing cock pressing against her cheek. She marveled at the heat it gave off as she drank in the manly scent in deep breaths until she’d uncontrollable let her tongue slip out of her panting lips. She gulped, her gaze fixated on each fat vein and pulse. Then, almost on cue with a silent command, she tilted her head back and opened her mouth, letting the upsurge of hot saliva drip down from the tip of her tongue, staining Weiss’s dress. She fought back a few gulps, desiring to keep her mouth nice and lubricated like a hot bath just for Jaune’s member.

Jaune watched as his deprived girlfriend made herself available for the punishment that he was sure she no doubt expected back when her mind was rational. It was invited, he had to admit, and would love to take things slow and just ease things in and enjoy her hot mouth, but he had other plans. He gripped her now disheveled and messy red strands of hair tightly, angled her head just right, and looked her in the eyes once more. Then he roughly, and unceremoniously, drove his hips forward, driving each thick inch down into her waiting throat, his pulsing cock now all the way into the tight, squeezing embrace with one just thrust.

Apologies to reddit user, Deathisrebirth, as this was all I was willing to write for just a prompt. I do hope that you enjoyed it all the same.

[dyde21]

An Arkos Valentine’s Day.

Pyrrha wandered through the hallways, trying to keep her clear thoughts of frustration and concern from her mind. Her partner had been mysteriously absent the past few days, and it was starting to get under her skin. At first, she thought he may just be in a mood and needed space. But as the days passed, he seemed to be around less and less and that was starting to worry her.

Memories of when Jaune found himself blackmailed by Cardin kept flashing through her mind. She hadn't heard the full explanation till after, but she knew the hell Cardin had put him through. All the assignments he made him do, all the errands he had him run. Of course Jaune had chosen to shoulder the burden by himself, rather than relying on his team. The fear of that happening again had given Pyrrha the resolve she needed. Rather than staying passive like last time, she would confront him and get to the bottom of the situation before he found himself facing Grimm alone again.

But, Pyrrha had faith in her partner. She knew he wasn't dumb, and he had learned from his experiences before. She had a feeling he wasn't in trouble, but whatever it was, she wanted to be there for him.

The fact that today happened to be valentines day was just a coincidence. After all, she was just bringing her partner chocolate in order to cheer him up potentially and show she is there for him. Team RWBY and JNPR had given each other chocolate as a group to each team. Part of Pyrrha wondered if Jaune had been worried about the day, and if he was moping because Weiss hadn't given him any special chocolate. Which both made Pyrrha relieved, and feel sorry that her partner would be facing yet another disappointment.

“Jaune, it's okay.” Ren's voice came from the kitchen nearby suddenly, causing Pyrrha to freeze.

“No it's not!” Jaune's voice snapped out.

“You're over thinking things Jaune. It's not a big deal. Take some time then head back to the room. We're starting to get worried.” Ren's still patient voice offered before he left the room, meeting Pyrrha face to face with a look of surprise.

“Pyrrha!” He said suddenly, before hushing himself.

“Is Jaune in there?” She asked curiously, taking a step. She was surprised when she felt Ren's grab her arm.

Seemingly thinking for a moment, he mulled over something. “Give him a minute before you go in there.” He offered. Noticing the box of chocolate Pyrrha was holding, he smiled. “Nora's going to be happy.”

Pyrrha just blushed, nodding meekly. She saw Ren leave with a small wave.

Taking a deep breath, she decided to listen to Ren and wait for a few moments. She heard the sounds of metal and plastic clanking against each other, and listened curiously. Jaune would let out exclamations of frustration, but after a little while of silence Pyrrha took another deep breath. Coughing once to let him know someone was approaching, he turned the corner.

“Jaune?”

Jaune's head snapped up at her voice. “Pyrrha!” He said in a panic, his voice cracking slightly. Clearing his throat, he quickly hid something behind his back.

“Hello again. Jaune, is everything okay?” She asked a bit hesitantly, approaching him slowly. “You ran off after our teams exchanged the group chocolate.”

Jaune smiled sheepishly. “Yeah I'm sorry. I had some things to do.”

Pyrrha noticed the stack of used baking bowls that were stacked up in the sink next to him.

“Jaune, were you... making chocolate?” She asked surprised.

Jaune's eyes looked down as he let out a sigh. “Yeah...”

Pyrrha thought for a moment. “Is that what you've been doing these past few days? Why you've been avoiding m... us?” She asked softly.

Eyes widening in surprise, Jaune quickly stepped forward, waving his arms back and forth. “I didn't mean to avoid you! Ugh, I'm sorry Pyrrha. I promise you I wasn't trying to. I was just trying to get it right...” He mumbled at the end.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Pyrrha was relieved to at least hear he wasn't trying to avoid her. She must have been over thinking things again, not an uncommon occurrence when she thought about him.

They both stood there in awkward silence for a moment, before the burning curiosity in Pyrrha got the better of her.

“So Jaune... did you happen to give the chocolate to anyone? Or did someone give you some? I saw you with quite a few boxes earlier.” She said carefully, trying to keep her fear and concern out of her voice. Jaune wasn't exactly the most popular guy out there, so she was surprised when he had stopped by the dorm earlier to drop off a few boxes of chocolate that he had gotten. Perhaps others were starting to notice him as well?

Jaune thought for a moment, before laughing. “Oh those! Those are from my family. My sisters all sent me some, I think they were just trying to make sure I wasn't the only one without some today. They're kind... in their own way.” He said with a bit of a sad chuckle.

Pyrrha let out a muted sigh of relief. “So what did you do with all the chocolate you made.” She pressed on, a little fidgety and feeling guilty for prying but she had to know. Her next actions depended on the answer.

Letting out another sigh, Pyrrha noticed his hands clench at his side. “It didn't turn out well, so I'm not going to give them to her. I tried to get advice from my sisters, but making chocolate from scratch is too difficult I guess.”

Pyrrha frowned, now she understood the frustration she had seen in Jaune recently. She knew how he took disappointment, and she felt bad baking seemed to be another skill he struggled with. One she could relate to him on.

Stepping forward, she pulled every ounce of courage she could.

“Jaune. These... are for you.” She forced herself to say, holding out the box of chocolates. They weren't hand made, but she had made the trip earlier to pick them out specially from a shop. Pyrrha knew from past experience that she was... not very good in the kitchen.

Jaune looked at her in surprise, his jaw dropping. “Are... are you sure? Thank you! You really are the best partner.”

Pyrrha shook her head. “Not as partners. Jaune... will you be my valentine?” She forced herself to say.

Jaune's brain stopped for the second time in thirty seconds. “Me?”

“Yes you, Jaune.” She said, suddenly shifting in place as her courage failed her. Maybe she could walk it back somehow?

“Yes...” Jaune croaked out meekly.

Snapping her head up, Pyrrha looked on in surprise.

“If it's fine.” He stammered out.

Pyrrha blushed. “Jaune, there is no one else who I'd rather have as my valentine.”

Jaune matched her blush. “I... see...” He stammered out nervously. Glancing over his shoulders, he sighed before grabbing something.

Holding out a plate of chocolates in the shapes of hearts, he offered it to her, his gaze shifting to the ground.

“I... I had planned on giving you these from the start. I said if I made them well enough that I would ask you. But... they didn't turn out well.” He confessed, wishing a hole would open up and swallow him.

Pyrrha felt her heart skip a beat. “Were these really for me?” She asked cautiously.

Jaune smiled sheepishly. “Yeah, I promise. I wouldn't lie like that.” He had started to feel feelings for his partner for a while now, having moved on from Weiss a while ago after the dance.

Pyrrha smiled. “I know.” Reaching over, she grabbed one of the chocolate hearts.

Eyes widening, Jaune shook his head. “No! You shouldn't. They aren't that good.” He said, reaching for it.

Smirking, Pyrrha just stepped back and popped it in her mouth. To be honest, she was expecting something awful, but was determined to show him it was fine. Her eyes widened in surprise. “These aren't that bad.” She said truthfully after a moment. Sure the flavor was a little off, slightly too strong towards dark chocolate for her taste, but certainly not the worst thing she had tasted.

Jaune just stared at her in surprise. “But I tried them. They aren't great.”

Smiling warmly, Pyrrha just closed the distance. She took the plate from him, leaning forward and kissing him on the cheek, causing them both to erupt in blushes.

“I love them Jaune, thank you.”

Clutching the ones she gave him closer to his chest, Jaune smiled as well. “Thank you for these Pyrrha. Happy Valentine's day.”

“Happy Valentine's day, Jaune.” She responded, feeling like her heart was going to beat out of her chest.

“Kisssssssss.......” A long drawn out whisper was heard from the hallway, causing them both to jump and look. They saw Yang peaking out from the doorway, snickering.

“Yang!” They scolded, causing her to flinch, before she fell down and the rest of team RWBY and JNPR collapsed on a heap next to her.

“All of you were spying on us!?” Jaune asked shocked.

Yang just laughed nervously. “We couldn't help it. We had been waiting for this for a while.”

“We've taken bets.” Nora explained cheerfully.

“I won.” Blake said with a slight smirk.

Pyrrha and Jaune just looked at each other, blushing madly as they gently set down the chocolate. Nodding at each other, they turned to the door and started chasing their friends. “You guys are the worst, if we catch you it's all over!” They threatened as they ran down the hallways, unable to suppress the smiles on their faces.

XxXxXxXxX

I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine’s Day, whether single or taken! :D This is a little late but I had a bit of a weird night. I promise I’m almost done with the next chapter of my Mechanic!Jaune AU but it’s taking a while and I wanted to do something for this couple. The world can always use more Arkos. =P Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it!

[the-perfect-film-blog]

How To Fix RWBY Volume 4

With the existence of trains and steampunk airships, there's really no reason for team RNJR to have to walk all the way to Haven.

Rather than have an entire season of our heroes in transit to do something interesting, I propose that Volume 4 could be condensed into 6 or 7 episodes without losing anything of value. 

Spoilers below the cut.

Before I begin I just want to say that I could have done without Blake's storyline for much of this season, as it hasn't tied into the main plot or directed Blake towards the rest of the cast yet. I would have instead ended Volume 3 with Sun running off after Blake and come back to her when she is likely to become relevant. (None of this Blake didn't even notice Sun following her nonsense.)

So with that in mind, let's cut fix Volume 4's pacing.

Episode 1. The Next Step

We can still open on WTCH I guess. But instead of Tyrian laughing for no goddamn reason just have him quietly suggest, "Hey Cinder u want me to cut that girl's eye out for u since you're indisposed? ;)"

Instead of the Geist fight, cut between the grimm being born in the opening and show RRNJ pushing a group of grimm into a pit or funneling them through a something that would actually display strategy. for a nearby village to fund the next leg of their journey.

Either Jaune has already upgraded his weapon or he uses his share to have his upgrades done after the fight, not before it like a tool. No need for this scene to last 8 minutes either, just have him see the armory and be like "can you modify this?" then cut to his new weapon.

Team RWBY moves on to the next village where they can board a ferry to Haven. It's destroyed and everyone is dead. Ruby and suggests waiting for an incoming ferry so RRNJ can explain what happen but Ren and Nora object. Eventually they get going. As they move on, we zoom out to Qrow cutting down some Grimm and watching them progress.

No Oscar for now.

Episode 2. Rememberance

Ruby wakes up from a nightmare and walks in on Jaune either practicing with his new sword while watching Pyrrha's tape or trying to figure out his semblance. Pyrrha's tape is also just actually training drills and any "btw love u babe <3" is condensed to one sentence. Ruby comforts Jaune and says, "I know. I miss my partner too." Bonus points if Jaune's training has nothing to do with Pyrrha's instructions and he just wanted to hear the sound of her voice.

And then we cut to Weiss and Jaque after Ironwood storms out. Can reduce the altercation to Ironwood vaguely saying he needs to secure Atlas and Jaques objecting because his monopoly-man mustache needs as much Dust money as it can make.

Weiss reluctantly agrees to sing a song that would be likely to be sung at a banquet for rich people. Maybe Whitley walks in on Weiss being all buddy-buddy with Klein and kind of casually noses in like "lol whatcha doing sis?" breaking up the conversation. Maybe Weiss buys it but Klein doesn't.

Yang can get her arm but neglect to actually try it on for a while, or she tries it on and can't move it the way she wants, gets frustrated and takes it off. (Because irritability is a symptom of PTSD! Why not use it!)

We can have Port and Oobleck drop in, reminding everyone of Ozpin and asking when Tai is going to come help and be useful, since he's an actual huntsman, and he rejects because Yang. Instead of the OMG SHOCKING "callout" from Taiyang about Yang losing a few brain cells with her arm, maybe Yang gets frustrated that Taiyang is never around to help and decides to push herself. Either way she tries the arm again and challenges her dad for not being any more willing to help than he was the past three seasons.

Episode 3. Runaways and Stowaways Family

Salem and Cinder have their little "Is Ozpin really dead?" moment.

Cut to Oscar doing a little bit of his farm work and then going to wash up for the night only to hear, "Hello! I'm professor Ozpin!"

RRNJ reaches Higanbana where they hope to wait for an airship. Except there is not an airship to catch; they're currently in use by some huntsman searching for bandits. RRNJ shrug their shoulders and stay in an inn.

Raven and Qrow have their little, "Hey you asshole you gonna go help your kid?" spat and ask each other about the relics and spring maiden.

Taiyang and Yang spar, during which at some point Taiyang literally disarms Yang (frustrating her) but instead of all the vaguetalk about Raven Taiyang offers an anecdote that reveals more about Raven's character and demonstrates a parallel between Yang and Raven. Instead of his problem with Yang's overuse of her semblance being "it will make you weaker" (which it obviously does not), it should be that a semblance wherin she has to damage herself to use is not viable in every situation. (Also she shouldn't have been 100% powered up vs Adam in Volume 3).

Tyrian does his "Have you seen a girl with Silver Eyes" schtick but instead of laughing maniacally his eyes flash purple.

Episode 4 - Tipping Pont

Not really all that different from Actual! Tipping point. Start off with Weiss at the concert singing some sick Atlas Opera about Grimm and a Princess instead of "Let me live my life, DAD!"

Gala. Weiss has her meltdown. Instead of accidentally summoning a boar maybe she does something innocuous like knock a glass out of a lady's hand out of spite and all these hoidy-toity rich people are aghast and ready to call security. Ironwood intervenes and walks Weiss out, complete with his, "She's the only one around here making sense" line. We see Whitley whispering to Jaques and Jaques ruffling his mustache.

Instead of having both Oniyuri and Kuroyuri we could instead have them come across a sign with the name crossed off, where Ren explains why Kuroyuri was to be built and explains there's no point in going, it's already destroyed.

"But Ren how do you know that--"

And oh shit it's Tyrian!

Maybe Tyrian confronts them in an open space initially - team RRNJ clearly has the advantage because of course they do, it's four on one. Maybe Jaune says as much.

"Hey, it's four against one! We're not looking for a fight, just walk away!"

And then Tyrian, who doesn't really give a crap, goes for Ruby and RRNJ uses powered-up Nora to push Tyrian back. With some distance between them we get the dialogue exchange minus the "the rose has thorns!" line because Ruby’s comeback was weaksauce. Any laughter is going to be used strictly when Team RRNJ thinks they can scare Tyrian off. Tyrian proceeds to wipe the floor with RRNJ until we see a Qrow flying in overhead. We watch from Qrow's perspective as Ruby's aura breaks and Tyrian goes in for the kill incapacitation. At the last moment Qrow blocks Tyrian and pushes him back.

Episode 5 - Punished

Tyrian fights Qrow. Ruby attempts to help despite Qrow warning her numerous times not to get involved. RRNJ attempts to offer fire support, but Qrow warns them to stop.

Tyrian chases Qrow into the forest and Ruby pursues despite Qrow's protests. When she and RRNJ catch up their auras are broken and she rushes in in an attempt to help. Qrow's semblance causes her to trip, drop things on herself, and almost get stabbed. In his rush to stop Ruby from getting hurt, Qrow gets stabbed by Tyrian's tail, which Ruby then cuts off.

Tyrian flees and either Ren or Nora starts to chase him, until Qrow nearly collapses and his injuries are made apparent. He promises to explain everything.

Weiss gets told she's not the heiress anymore, Whitley is, and she resolves to pack her things and hit the road. She asks Klein for help in getting out and he agrees - and he brings her weapon so she can train. Whitley mocks Weiss because “you’re grounded what are you gonna do with that” and she slams the door in his face with zero fucks given.

Oscar and Ozpin have a brief moment in which Ozpin explains what he wants Oscar to do, and it's for the greater good so you gotta, and Oscar kind of vaguely says, "I gotta talk to my aunt."

Qrow gives some exposition to RRNJ and starts to lose feeling in his limbs. This is a slow-acting poison, not a wake up and keel over poison. RRNJ argue about what they should do next and against Ren and Nora's wishes they go to Kuroyuri, because it's the closest place they can actually get to.

Nucklavee tease.

Episode 6 - Kuroyuri

Not too much is different but this time it is clear from Ren's behavior that he is certain of some danger in the village and he warns the team that they need to get what they're looking for and get out fast.

Ren's flashback (condensed into just the part about meeting Nora and finding her once the village has been destroyed) is played as a way of him explaining the danger to Ruby and Jaune, and though they hurry up the Grimm blocks them as they're preparing to leave.

Qrow collapses and there's no choice but to fight.

RRNJ fights the Nucklavee but this time instead of "Run in a circle, team who are already running in a circle!" we see the team overwhelmed at first, trying to charge for perceived weak points like its knees and firing at the head only to be brushed aside.

With the pressure put on, maybe the beast disarms Nora, Ren loses his cool and tries to go for the head. Big mistake. It screams/spews some sort of sludge and Ren is injured. His Aura breaks. Nora is injured getting him out of there.

It is at this point that Nora runs to yell at him for losing his cool and Jaune and Ruby realize that the only way they're taking this thing down is by turning the whole thing sideways (it's a horse, horses are really bad with taking a fall). When Ren and Nora return, Jaune uses Ruby and Nora to use their respective powers to flip the horse over so Ren can slip in and stab it.

Jaune acts as a distraction and tanks a few hits for the rest of the team to do this. As they're fighting we see the first sign of the airships over the horizon, it's almost over. They just need to hold out.

Once the grimm is killed the team goes. Ruby writes a letter to Yang and sends it by drone. Taiyang warns Yang that she isn't ready, but says it's ultimately her choice and he won't stop her. Maybe Yang calls him out on not going to help and tries to rush off on her own again, leaving Taiyang concerned.

Meanwhile we see Weiss sneaking out with Klein to board an airship. Weiss overhears just "Based on information your daughter gave me, I'm closing the border!" and Weiss gasps and hurries the fuck out of there.

Blake arrives at Menagerie where she and Sun are aghast to see Adam Tauras's White Fang flag flying, not the White Fang flag one would typically see in Menagerie.

Tyrian returns to Salem while Cinder is doing whatever it is that Cinder does these days, admits he couldn't take Ruby and says he poisoned Qrow so they're very likely dead.

Salem says, "Yeah whatever you useless turd" and Tyrian has his little meltdown.

Episode (7???) - (Anything to do with Blake)

Rather than Blake and Sun being surprised by the White Fang presence, this trip is about Blake returning to her family for closure, because she knows she did the wrong thing.

And rather than a drawn out sequence in which Blake and her father talk it out we need only a long scene of Blake not wanting to enter.

Maybe she explains to Sun that she left home to be part of Adam's White Fang, that she thought her father's leadership was weak, and that she has done terrible things.

With some consolation and encouragement from Sun, she knocks on the door and her parents accept her. She has her cry with her family, and from there I really don't know where Blake's story is supposed to go yet so I can't go into much more detail about how to rework it.

Oscar meeting Hazel and getting on the train can go here too; it would be easier to make it clear he's not traveling a huge distance but maybe only about 100 km or so if we can easily recognize Haven just on the horizon.

I hope I've more or less demonstrated the ways that the pacing in this season could have been adjusted. Since there are fewer unnecessary fight scenes, this leg of the season should be overall easier to animate, and the finale can instead head towards the team getting back together.

[moonsandstar-s]

The Final Warning - Chapter XXIII

Chapter XXIII - The Brightest Star 

Summary:  As the year draws to a close, peace has finally dawned. The time for unity has arrived. In the Vytal festival, it is time for heroes to rise, bringing glory to their kingdoms. But as autumn dies, the first winds of winter blow over Remnant, chilling the hearts of the people; breathing doubt into their souls. Long-buried secrets will triumph, and every action will have a consequence. Ruby must reconcile herself with her own fate. Weiss struggles to escape her legacy. Blake cannot erase memories. Yang’s search leads her into more peril than ever— but none of them can outrun fate. Shadows turn on shadows, and bonds shatter as they are tested to the limit. For in dividing them, they will fall and burn; at the eye of the storm, no peace lasts forever. In the end and beginning of time, there is a place where the sun never rises, and the dead delight to teach the living. A great danger is rising from the darkness. It’s time to take sides. The final warning is coming. The first chill of winter is the most deadly; it is the chill that kills more than any other. The first betrayal is the most damaging; it is the act that shatters bonds of love and trust, crushing even the strongest heart, tearing teams apart. AO3: http://archiveofourown.org/works/7745314/chapters/21649940 Weiss 

As Weiss stared down at Yang’s broken body, Sage standing over it and frantically weaving a green net of light around to heal her, she couldn’t even feel shock, or horror. She only felt numb, a deep chill slowly seeping through her veins, freezing her heart. Her team was broken, with what had happened, and tonight… the damage had already been done. It was irreversible.

The battle, and the digging of the graves, was over. Ruby still had not returned. Pyrrha and Jaune were both missing, and no one seemed to know where they were. Blake had stumbled out of the cafeteria a little while ago, bloody and gaunt, with a strangely hunted look on her face, but Weiss had barely noticed that… because in her arms, she held Yang, who was unconscious, with only the stump of an arm left. She��d been carrying her bridal style, like some cruel parody, and Yang’s blood— or at least, so Weiss had thought— had been all down her skin, flaking rust-red, though there seemed far too much blood covering Blake to have come from Yang, and far too much of it to just be her own, either.

She had refused to say what happened, who had attacked Yang, and so, unable to confront the reality of what had occurred, Weiss had stalked off the far recesses of the courtyard to wait in silence for Ruby, trying to silence the storm within her mind.

Ruby, she thought longingly, not for the first time that night. Ruby, where are you?

Then, as if the mere thought had brought reality about, a small shout pierced the silent night, and the sound of running footsteps echoed like gunshots behind her.

“Weiss!”

Weiss turned, barely able to believe it, her heart leaping in her chest - and there she was, there was Ruby, running across the courtyard, looking thin and pale and frightened, her hair a disheveled mess, blood streaked across one cheekbone, but she had never looked so much like a miracle to Weiss, a small miracle, the ones you kept close to your heart.

She was so beautiful, Weiss thought, so precious to her. And yet, she might die too. Might befall the same tragedy, like Yang.

Ruby leaped at her, almost knocking her down with the force of her embrace, her arms going around Weiss. She was crying and laughing all at once, her body shaking, and Weiss gathered her close, allowing herself one small, precious moment to let herself feel what she hadn’t dared to feel for so long.

“Where were you?” Weiss whispered into Ruby’s hair, her voice muffled, not trusting it to hold up steadily if she spoke louder.

Ruby hesitated, as if taken aback, and she let go, stepping back to meet Weiss’s gaze. “I… do you not know? I thought with the Bond and all, you’d have…”

Weiss cursed herself silently. “I thought… I don’t know. Sun came back with everyone from the arena, and he said you had jumped off… I was afraid to verify it myself.”

Ruby let out a small huff of laughter, but it sounded wobbly, as if all the stress and terror and grief of the night were finally catching up to her. “Verify. Listen to you. Proper as ever, even in the middle of all this.” She reached up to touch her own cheek, fingers gently running along the drying streak of blood. “I saw Torchwick’s ship,” she said, something guarded in her voice. “Did you?”

“Of course. He released a cargo-load of hacked Atlesian-Knights into the courtyard, and Grimm as well. I’d assumed someone had broken him out of his cell. Maybe Cinder.”

Ruby looked away, her mouth working, before she glanced up and blurted out, “I killed him, Weiss.”

Weiss’s eyes rounded as she felt Ruby’s anguish mixing with her own stunned fear. “You… killed Torchwick?”

“Sun told you I left the airship,” she murmured with a feeble shrug, “but he didn’t know what I did. I used my semblance to leap the gap and make it to the arena… I took a rocket-locker and rode it up into the sky before falling on top of the ship he was on. I battled him and… I almost died. I was hanging off the edge, into the sky, with one of his partners pointing a knife at me, but I thought of you and Beacon and my sister, and all I had to lose… so I reached up and knocked her off the edge, and I battled Torchwick… and I won. I got him in the chest before knocking him off the side of the ship. A Grimm got him and killed him.”

“Ruby,” Weiss said gently, feeling her terror and self-loathing at the thought that she had murdered someone, “you shouldn’t feel bad. He would have killed you, and he wanted Vale to fall. You did your job as a Huntress.”

“I know,” she said softly, but she was still trembling softly.

“I don’t think any less of you for it,” Weiss murmured.

“That’s not what worries me, Weiss.” Her silver gaze darkened, a flash of anguish going through it.

Weiss frowned, bemused at the sadness flowing through the Bond, at the expression on her partner’s face. “Then what are you—?”

“I— I saw my sister,” Ruby burst out, stammering, her throat bobbing as she swallowed. “Over there. Her arm… and Blake. I… what happened?”

Weiss shook her head mutely, thinking to herself that she ought to have guessed that was what had been bothering her. Ruby and Yang were close— closer than most siblings, closer than she had ever been with Winter. “Blake won’t tell us. She’s just been sitting there… like a ghost. Whatever happened… I don’t know and I’m afraid to ask her.”

“The White Fang was here,” Ruby said slowly. “She had that old partner in the White Fang… do you think, possibly, that he could have been here tonight and…?”

“Oh, no.” Weiss shuddered at the thought. “If it’s true… poor Blake. I can see… if he was her former-partner and they were on bad terms… he must have taken revenge on Yang.”

“Well,” Ruby said, “she’s safe now, as safe as she can be. I think that we need to—”

She never got to finish her sentence, though, because at that exact moment, her Scroll let out a sharp beeping noise— the call tone. Weiss’s brow furrowed. Father? She thought quizzically, remembering his early incessant calls, but it couldn’t be him; he never called at night, when he was busy with clients, or paperwork, or drowning in a drink. It was someone else, but who? She rummaged in her gear and fished out her Scroll, and surprise filled her as she saw Jaune’s picture bouncing on the screen. It was testament to how much she had changed that she didn’t feel annoyance, but worry for him.

“Jaune!” Ruby looked terrified, which startled Weiss. “Ren and Nora said he was missing, along with Pyrrha. Weiss, answer it, quick, he could be in trouble!”

Fumbling, she swiped right to accept the call, and almost dropped it as an avalanche of noise blared out from the speaker, followed by someone screaming frantically.

“Jaune!” Ruby cried, bringing Weiss back to the present as she held her hand in her own to to press her ear to the speaker. “Jaune, where are you?”

Jaune’s voice came back in a terrified cry, muffled and broken. “Weiss, please, you have to stop her!”

Weiss stared at the lit screen. “What? What?”

“Pyrrha!” he shrieked back. His voice was full of anguish. “She’s going after that woman at the top of the Tower. Cinder! She thinks she can sacrifice herself to buy us time, but she doesn’t stand a chance!”

“Jaune, what are you talking about? Where are you?”

“Don’t worry about me!” He was screaming now, and Weiss and Ruby exchanged horrified looks. “Please— please, you have to save Pyrrha. I can’t…”

“We will,” she promised, knowing she might regret it, but saying anything to calm him down. “Are you okay?”

A noise like cracking stone and yelling went through the speaker before the line went dead, and Weiss turned her Scroll off, fingers shaking as she stuffed it away. Ruby’s gaze had gone flat and cold. It was the look of a warrior about to go into battle, but somehow, it looked very wrong on her face.

“We have to go,” she said. “Pyrrha can’t fight Cinder. If she does, she—” Ruby swallowed, losing composure, and for a moment, Weiss could see through he cracks in her armor to the fear and uncertainty that lay beneath. “She’ll die,” she said more calmly. “We have to hurry, now.”

They both took off at a flat-out sprint, streaking across the courtyard, past the lumps of dirt shielding the bodies of Fox and Neon, past Yang and Blake, who was now lying flat on her back and speaking to Sun, a bloodstain slowly spreading across her torso, past the sparking shells of robots, past broken slabs of stone. They ran past the fountains and the entrance to the school, drawing their weapons, coming to a halt just outside the west side of the Tower.

Weiss looked up.

She could see two figures within the office, engaged in a fierce battle, and the roof had been blown off, exposing them to the stars. A ring of fire burned on the east side of the broken office, lapping flames skyward. The wyvern Grimm was circling overhead, like some specter, its red eyes glowing horribly as it shrieked triumph into the night. It was clearly Pyrrha and Cinder, but Weiss had never seen a fight like this one. They moved with the speed of demons and the brutality of Grimm. She could tell right away that this wasn’t a spar or some mock-fight; it was a fight to the death, and if they didn’t hurry to alter it, there would be one clear outcome.

“Ruby,” Weiss said, feeling strangely calm as her partner tensed, readying herself to sprint up the Tower and intervene. “Ruby— wait—”

Her silver eyes flashed back in mild surprise at Weiss’s reluctance, a pang of confusion tautening the Bond. “What? Weiss, we can’t wait. Pyrrha can’t wait—”

“I’ll let you go up there, but I…” Weiss flinched, lowering Myrtenaster so that its tip scraped the ground. “Ruby, I need to tell you…”

Ruby turned around, looking alarmed at the note in her voice, Crescent Rose planted in the ground beside her. Looking at her— the determined set to her jaw, the dance of her silver eyes, the girl she was, even if she was gone in the face of battle— she knew, as clearly as she knew that she was to be a Huntress one day, that she loved her, more than she could ever have imagined loving anyone. Words swelled on her tongue and then, with a sudden blooming of do-or-die courage, she let them go. “I love you, Ruby,” she burst out, ignoring her own fear, ignoring the way Ruby’s eyes widened. “I have for a while now. I don’t know if you feel the same, but I’ve been dancing around it for a long time and trying to pretend it wasn’t happening because there was just too much to sort out, too much to do… but I don’t think I’ll ever be finished with all of that. It’s always one thing after another; that’s just how life is, and I don’t want to be like Jaune or Pyrrha and have everything slip away from me while I’m not looking. And I don’t know what’s going to happen to us, if we’re going to die tonight, or you’ll be killed up there, or if this is all going to fall, or what… all I know if that I love you, and even if you don’t feel the same way, I had to tell you, just in case I never get another chance.”

She stopped, her chest rising and falling in shallow, fast breaths. It was clumsy, it wasn’t perfect, but it was honest, every bit of it. Ruby stared at her, silver eyes wide.

Then they crashed together, colliding like two waves on a stormy shore, thunder and snow swirling above their heads, and Weiss was kissing her. It was clumsy, unpracticed, and it was the most painful thing she had ever done.

As a child, she and Winter had talked about their weddings, about romance, playing at adulthood, wondering how they would fall in love, and which boy would steal their hearts away. Weiss hadn’t expected this at all— not this, not this pain. It was clumsy, and it felt as though she was cracking apart at the seams, every bit of careful self-control and poise she had learned falling away. The kiss felt like someone had taken a knife to her heart, digging it right into the very center, where it hurt the most. It was a kiss in the shadow of a goodbye, all flickering sparks and fire, a burning coal in the middle of an icy world of snow and storm. She tasted salt on her lips. Salt, she thought. And then, oh. She pulled away, opened her eyes, and saw, with a faint, distant sort of surprise that Ruby was crying, her silver eyes brimming with tears. Crying the way you might if you wanted something, but it was something you could never, ever, have.

“Weiss—”

“No, don’t say anything. I can’t— I can’t bear it if you say anything.” Weiss bit her lip, running her hands  down the sides of Ruby’s face. Already, she had lost the childish roundness of it, leaving behind only angular bones and hollowness. “Ruby, I… you have to save her. You have… you have to come back. Cinder’s up there, but… God, please stay safe.” Her voice dwindled. “You have to stay alive.”

Ruby took pause at that, not looking at her, twisting a strand of Weiss’s hair in her fingers as if it was something precious. Then she raised her eyes up, and Weiss flinched. There was something very old in the look— something ancient and full of a terrible grief. “I’ve never regretted Bonding with you,” she said, her voice sinking into almost a whisper. “Not once. And I never will. Never.”

She turned and took off, streaking off across a roiling sea of Grimm, leaving a wake of petals red as blood behind her, going up the side of the Tower like a warrior into battle.

Then she was gone.

And even then, some part of Weiss knew she had lost Ruby— the Ruby she had fallen in love with, the innocent, optimistic one— forever.

/ / / 

Pyrrha

Cinder’s eyes widened as Akoúo̱ swooped towards her, and she raised her bow with a look of unadulterated fury, letting an arrow fly free. For a moment, Pyrrha was filled with exultant, desperate hope— Akoúo̱ was right in its path; surely it would intercept the arrow— and for a moment, it looked that way. Her shield crashed into the arrow, shattering it midair.

But the shards floated for a second before condensing together and continuing their path, zipping through the air as a red-hot arrow that found its mark and sank into Pyrrha’s calf.

She cried out, staggering a few paces before falling to her knees. The agony that spiked up her leg told her as surely as if the words were spoken that the arrow was poisoned with something— acid, perhaps, or something to do with the fire abilities she possessed. It felt like the blood in her veins was slowly heating up, boiling, making her fevered. Sweat began to bead on her brow.

“It’s unfortunate that you were promised a power that was never yours to begin with.” Cinder’s voice floated around her, above her, beneath her, inescapable and creeping down the back of her spine. “But take heed of this— I will use it in ways you could never have wielded it, and find solace in the knowledge that you fought well.”

Cinder was suddenly standing in front of her, and Pyrrha glared up at her, refusing to cower, even now. Her eyes glowed as she lifted her hand, shards spinning up to coalesce into a dark, curved ship of a bow and arrow.

“Any last words?” Cinder looked at her along the bow’s length, the arrow pointed directly at her.  

Pyrrha met her gaze, her back straight and strong, her heart thumping loudly in her chest, as if it was aware that any second, it would cease. “In the end,” Pyrrha said, her voice calm and echoing in the emptiness of the night, “it is you who will burn. It is you who will die the meaningless death. Not I. I am not scared.”

Cinder’s eyes flashed with something that looked like a mixture of guilty shame and anger, and she lifted the bow, aiming it directly for Pyrrha’s sternum.

Right before she heard the snap of the string as the arrow flew free, the clouds parted to reveal a single, bright star, shining through the snow clouds. It looked like an eye, a silent sentinel, watching her, guarding over her. A guardian. But not a Maiden. Not what had plagued her for long. Snow was falling, gentle flakes of ivory stroking her face with whisper-soft kisses. She closed her eyes briefly, taking in a deep breath of the sharp winter air.

Autumn is gone, and they don’t need me anymore. In the end, it will be okay. I will make it okay. It’s okay. It’s okay. That mantra repeated in her ears, and she opened her eyes, meeting Cinder’s icy amber gaze without wavering. Without faltering. Cinder had won the battle, but Pyrrha knew she had won the war, and as Cinder met her gaze, a look of horror filled it. Pyrrha wasn’t afraid of dying, but Cinder was.

In the end, you couldn’t cheat death. It would have its own.

In the end, it would all be okay, but Cinder could never say the same. I take this victory by my shoulder. In passing we achieve immortality, and I will face the end with my head held high. I choose to be a Huntress. I choose my destiny. I choose the life I’ve always led— courage, and love, not hate and fear, as Cinder has chosen. Let me die, but I will face it unerringly. As a Huntress. I choose to be a Huntress, not a Maiden, and I choose my path.

Her heart was full, not with hatred or fear, but with the same emotion that had walked her through her whole life— the emotion that was her pillar, the one that defined her legacy, and always had. A strong, loving strength— a strength that didn’t crush and hurt, but gave light and warmth.

Jaune’s voice whispered in her ears, filling her with certainty. Destiny is your choice.

Her eyes shifted up to the star, and it twinkled brightly. Still the snow fell, and still, Pyrrha held on to the image before she heard the twang of the string. It almost sounded musical, and she barely felt the impact as the arrow struck her in the throat, half punching her body around and making her collapse, a gasp ripping out of her mouth as a fiery pain consumed her, but it all felt distant. Everything felt very, very faraway.

Her hands hit the ground, but still, she looked up, the tiniest of smiles on her face.

A choice. My choice.

The world shrank to a tiny dot around that bright star, the brightest star, a sense of peace filling her as everything went very silent, before winking out to darkness, like the curtain falling, signaling the end of the act of a play. / / / 

Ruby

The glyphs burned beneath her feet, almost like glue, giving way and pulling her back in with a comforting security, and she ran— ran as if she had never run before, her breath feeling like fire in her lungs as she raced up the side of the Tower. The Grimm wyvern was circling above her like some massive bat, but she couldn’t be scared, couldn’t cower in wait, not if someone’s life was in danger.

She reached the summit, hardly aware of the dizzying drop below. The last glyph burst beneath her, giving her one final shove, and she shot upward like a cork popped from a bottle and plummeted, rolling over a broken slab of scorched stone and coming to a stop in a pile of dusty rubble. Heaving broken breaths, she looked upward, knees stinging from her landing, and blinked as her eyes slowly homed in on two figures before her, one kneeling, one standing. One with a weapon, and one without.

Twang.

What she saw made no sense to her eyes, like a bizarre nightmare from an illogical fever dream with no logical setting. Pyrrha was on her knees, and she was choking and gasping, her hands splayed in the dust, her green eyes dimming and fading as they looked up at the sky, locked on some distant point Ruby could not see and she was slumping over and not moving anymore and there was Cinder standing over her with a bow and arrow and blood on her hands and her amber eyes filled with triumph—

Ruby closed her eyes, a distant humming in her ears, a pressure suddenly throbbing behind her eyes as the scene sank in, replaying in her mind.

Too late, a voice whispered again, and then it was not Pyrrha's face that Ruby could see, filling her mind, but Penny's. Too late.

She saw the arrow sink into her chest, and the gasp that came after sounded like a deafening roar in her ears, louder even than the snap as the arrow flew free. In her mind, she watched again as Pyrrha slumped over, her breathing slowing, stopping in awful, broken heaves, her green eyes slowly losing their light. They were fixed on a point in the sky, fixed on a single glimmering star, and for the fourth time in the night, Ruby watched, helpless and confined another person she knew die by Cinder’s plan. Pyrrha’s body shivered once before going still.

With a noise like ashes brushing together, she turned to a bright, shimmering gold, flames dancing over her body, and she became dust, simple dust that crumbled away in the unforgiving wail of the wind. Cinder’s eyes— deep amber, like the fire— were hard and cold as she dropped the circlet that had once laid over Pyrrha’s head.

Unable to comprehend it, Ruby stared, Pyrrha’s face tattooed on the backs of her eyelids, unable to go away. Then it became overlaid with two others— a paler face spattered with freckles, green eyes that had never been alive, and another, long-faded: a round face with kind silver eyes and choppy dark hair.

Mom.

A screech tore from Ruby’s chest, coming straight from her heart itself as it split at the seams with the pain of seeing Pyrrha collapse. A roaring pressure exploded inside her mind, and the last thing she was aware of was a blazing, burning, icy coldness raging through her body, contorting it, lifting her up in the air and flinging her limbs out, arms and legs akimbo as her back arched with the inferno of power erupting out of her skull. Pure, concentrated pain, stronger than she had ever known it, gripped her head, taking everything, every pain— every scar, battle wound, grief over all she had lost— multiplied by ten, twenty, a hundred, until she was screaming, her voice swallowing up all other sounds in the winter night.

She thought, I will die here, as the conflagration burst out of her eyes, the ground whitening and blazing up, roaring through the Tower and blotting out the sky.

She was not afraid.

[i-am-the-entertainer]

I think everyone’s suspected this

(Some spoilers. I am going to talk about the events of this season and the most recent episode, Chapter 11, which is not currently on YouTube but you can watch it if you sign up for a free Rooster Teeth account.)

This season feels a little...rushed. Like they bit off more than they could chew by separating the action.

Like, the opening introduced so many plot elements I felt would be cool to follow along. Cinder dealing with her defeat at Ruby’s hands (or eyes), Ruby dealing with the guilt of not saving Penny or Pyrrha, Weiss realizing her family is made up of entitled assholes, Blake running away from her problems rather than confronting them, and Yang dealing with PTSD, each arc spread out over the season. On top of that, you had Salem’s faction and their thing, Cinder apparently realizing she’s working with a bunch of maniacs, Oscar and Ozpin, and Qrow following team RWBY around. It was an approach kind of like Game of Thrones.

I think that’s the issue. Game of Thrones gets almost an hour to deal with all its stories per episode. RWBY, though its episodes are on average a lot longer than they were in Volume 1, still gets around a fourth of that time this season. So as a result, we only got two or three arcs per episode, the exception of course being the excellent Episode 9, which managed to fit the four members of team RWBY into one story. And while I thought the arcs advanced nicely in their episodes (some may disagree), there’s only so much you can do with multiple arcs over twelve episodes in twenty-minute time frames.

Am I saying the arcs haven’t been giving the show some good development? Not really––I single out Weiss’s story arc as overall a really well done part of this series. I also felt Ruby, Blake, and Yang’s arcs were natural progressions for their characters. But I can’t really say they were that well-handled––like I said at the start of this long-ass post, it was rushed.

The impression I got is that the team introduced these elements to give RWBY this epic scale like Game of Thrones. That’s a compelling choice in itself. But again, the timing meant a lot of things we thought would serve more importance ended up only appearing a few times. For example, Cinder and Salem’s faction are prominently featured at the start of the first episode. So far (as of this writing Episode 12 has not come out yet) Cinder and Salem have only appeared in three, and Cinder’s “treatment” was not really properly addressed until the most recent episode. Oscar was introduced in the first episode, but his connection to Ozpin wasn’t revealed until episode 4, and after that he’s only appeared twice. Yang looked like she was going to have a full arc addressing her PTSD (we saw something like that in the opening credits) but there were just two episodes of her dealing with the trauma and then suddenly she was all better. I could go on, but I think I’ve made my point.

Now for my theory. I doubt Miles and Kerry would have introduced these elements if they hadn’t intended on ever following up on them. But I think they too had this realization. And...I think they had it right in the middle of production. RWBY is animated and recorded while the episodes are coming out. I remember Lindsay posted a photo of herself in the RT Animation recording booth around, like, the third episode, saying she was recording dialogue for Volume 4. In the first few episodes, we saw these elements play out rather nicely. But then things started to get a little more hectic around episode 5. Like, I think that’s around the time they realized something was off about the plotting. Remember how last year the World of Remnants came out every three episodes, whereas this year you really couldn’t predict when we’d get a World of Remnant or when we’d get an actual episode? I think that point where we got a Episode 3, a World of Remnant, Episode 4, then another World Remnant was the time they had to rethink the plot of the show.

Is this a fault of Miles and Kerry, a sign that they are bad writers? That’s a matter of opinion, but I do think they made a major creative mistake splitting everyone up like this. I think based on Rooster Teeth’s budget and RWBY’s overall limitations, this isn’t the best kind of show to split everything up a la Game of Thrones. And even if Monty, rest his soul, were still with us, I don’t think he would have had any major effect on how the pacing went this year, since he plotted out RWBY a really long time ago. Overall I think RWBY got bigger than it should have this season and it needs to take a step back. The biggest step they can take in this direction is reuniting Team RWBY, which it looks like they already plan on doing. At this point I think RWBY can only be about a group of heroes vs a group of big bads, not several different heroes against oh so many big bads.

But these are just thoughts I’ve been throwing around all season. We’ll see what Saturday’s finale will bring. And, despite its flaws, I do fully intend on watching RWBY Volume 5 when it comes.

[rwby-rants-and-theories]

Thoughts on RWBY Volume 4 Chapter 9 - “Two Steps Forward, Two Steps Back”

I was... quite satisfied with this episode. All four of our girls, all four of our babies.

This episode just... felt great. "A Much Needed Talk" frustrated me to no end, but this episode gave me a sigh of relief at the very end. Well, sorta. "We're running into Raven." isn't very comforting even if it means saving Qrow. Does that mean we finally get to talk more about Summer? Qrow was hallucinating about telling Tai she (Summer) isn't coming back. But just imagine what Ruby could learn about her mother from two people who worked with her, specially given the atmosphere around Qrow and Raven. Imagine what it would also mean for the Branwen twins. I don't think Qrow is a snarky alcoholic with a five-o-clock shadow just for the hell of it. (I mean, he could but that would be some of the laziest writing ever known to mankind. And Faunuskind.) With a semblance like "misfortune", guy must've gone through some pretty tough stuff. Add in Summer dying and well, you get more than just "human disaster", no pun intended (a little pun intended).

About Raven, it would shed a lot of light about who she is, about her life philosophy. She left behind some of the most important people in her life (Tai, Summer, Qrow, her own friggen daughter). Is it really just ambition that drives her? Granted, Raven left Yang after she was born, and Tai mentioned their relationship was already over very thin ice (putting it lightly, maybe, have you ​seen​​​ Raven?). Imagine how hard it must have been. Did Raven and Tai have problems before or during her pregnancy with Yang? Maybe a little after? Those are questions whose answers we'll find out through Yang's eyes, hopefully. It's information essential to her and her character, information that will add ​a lot​​​ of meaning if and ​​when​​​​​​ Yang and Raven reunite. They have to. Homegirl <3 started off this series looking for Raven, that pivotal establishment of her character means nothing if she doesn't find Raven ​or if Raven doesn't find her first​​​. Back to Summer and Raven, though. Raven's life philosophy is "The strong survive, the weak perish." She spent years with Summer, Tai, and Qrow. ​​Those aren't the beliefs of someone who bonded so intimately for so long with what's essentially a godly Teletubby, a crass sandwich-making dork, and a dramatic bird dude who loves playing video games. A lot of people have theorized Raven's "kill or be killed" rhetoric is her coping mechanism for Summer's death. Summer was her leader. The strongest woman she knew. Summer was her ​friend. And she ​dies. ​​​​​​No way that makes sense to Raven. She probably went from "Oh gods, it's my fault, I wasn't there for her, I let her die," to something else. It's not likely she thought "Summer was weak, that's why she died," but rather "Something was stronger than Summer, either we step up or we join her." That makes a lot more sense given how many lives Raven is responsible for as the leader of her tribe. Could you imagine how interesting it would be for Ruby, who believes in helping everybody, be told that not everybody deserves help? That they're a burden? How interesting it would be for Raven to feel like she's facing Summer again, being reminded of her old self and what she believed in? That's deep, yo. One last thing: I wish Ren and Nora would have accompanied Ruby and Jaune. Raven is the woman responsible for the deaths of people they cared about and the losses they faced as children. Figure what it would mean for them if they confronted Raven. It would provide the much-needed backstories and developments they deserve (other than Pyrrha, of course. Because Pyrrha's death is not just about Jaune, no matter how much Miles and Kerry might think. Ruby watched Pyrrha die and she also failed to save her, while Ren and Nora couldn't be there for their friend and teammate. You'd figure they would also have some say about her other than Jaune. I want Jaune to grow but it's disturbing how much the story is revolving around him). Granted, it doesn't mean that they won't run into Raven later on, but I'm just worried that the longer they go without meeting her, the more it means ​they never will.​ ​​​Also, I'm a slut for watching Jaune and Ren hug and Team RNJR show each other support and affection.​​ Martial Arcs shippers are going nuts.

Moving on to Weiss, God, I love watching her grow. But I wish we could have seen more of her regaining her confidence and becoming stronger throughout the season. She's had too few scenes, but given RT's budget and constraints, I understand (and I'd be a little less critical if that were the only case). I'm looking forward to see her escape from the Schnee household, and the dire repercussions that would follow. Hopefully, by the time Jacques finds her, she'll be back with ​her smol red girlfriend​​​ Team RWBY or someone friendly. I'd hate for Weiss to feel even more on her own than she already did in Atlas. #WeissSchneeProtectionSquad2K17 I have a few words about Whitley, too. I'm a little annoyed that he's fallen into this "Annoying Younger Sibling/Bitch in Sheep's Clothing" trope. The opening showed Whitley being a pillar of support for Weiss alongside Klein. Misleading openings are nothing new, for sure, but c'mon. Honestly, I'm hoping Miles and Kerry give us a little more substance to Whitley. Why he is the way he is or why he is so dismissive of his grandfather's legacy by calling Weiss and Winter "barbaric" and "beneath" him and his father by being Huntresses? I feel Whitley's anger at Winter and Weiss stems from "They disobeyed Father and pointlessly faced the punishments when they could have just stayed quiet and lived in peace," rather than just "They disobeyed Father." It would give so much more context to their family dynamic and explain a lot. Honestly, where's Weiss's mom? It weirds me out how we've had a look into the Schnees and Nick's daughter, Jacques's entry into the family name, is nowhere to be seen or heard. You'd think she wouldn't have an opinion on Jacques or her own children, specially Weiss. Just what else is going on here that we don't know about? We have seen plenty but what do we KNOW? Again, I'm hoping Miles and Kerry clear this out soon. Although without Weiss in the Schnee household, there is no guarantee we'll have a POV to explore it.

And now, Blake. My favorite. Absolute perfection. I'm quite pleasantly surprised this spy ended up being someone Blake knows and was likely close to. It gives a much-needed dimension to the White Fang and a tie to it for Blake other than ​Fuckboi Supreme​​​ Adam and her parents. It makes so much sense that she'd know someone else in the White Fang other than Adam. If Blake was born into the White Fang, why not other kids? I want to know what kind of relationship Blake had to Ilia. She seems to care about Blake. She could have hurt her but she didn't. She only hurt Sun. Boy, she hurt ​Sun​​​. There's a lot to say about that and y'all know. First things first, Blake and Sun's dynamic this volume has been rather cringe-worthy and borderline mutually abusive. Sun stalks Blake for what could have been six to eight months without any consideration about how paranoid, vulnerable, and anxious she might feel after what happened at Beacon. If it were absolutely necessary for Sun to be on this journey with Blake, wouldn't it have made better sense if we had opened Blake's arc this volume with Blake and Sun already travelling together with Blake stressing how much she didn't want Sun to come with her and only let him come because he'd insist in supporting her? Failing that and having the events of "Of Runaways and Stowaways" play out the same, a conversation between Blake and Sun would have been great. Sun would explain his reasons for doing what he did (keep in mind that an explanation is NOT a justification by any means) and Blake would have had a better opportunity of calling him out and have Sun understand her a little better. It would have avoided Sun rudely and frustratingly interrupting a very meaningful conversation between Blake and Ghira, a conversation that revealed substantial details about Blake's past and her life-long (and recent) trauma. It was a much needed talk (see what I did there?). It was the reassurance and the beginning of a healing process Blake desperately needs. A conversation between Blake and Sun would have avoided her abusing Sun by slapping him not once but twice across the face and throwing away his phone when he needed to show her evidence that she might be in danger. These instances of mutual abuse were writing decisions. They were questionable choices Miles and Kerry took regarding Blake and Sun. These problems weren't something necessary to have between Blake and Sun, but Miles and Kerry thought this was even remotely okay or appropriate. Guys, c'mon. I wanna believe in y'all. Don't show one instance of abuse as reprehensible (Jacques and Weiss) and then show another as comic relief (Blake and Sun). That's gross, lol. Anyway, Blake's "Please, not again," was heartbreaking but I hope that leads to the conversation Blake needs to have about her Saiyan girlfriend Yang and the one she needs to have with Sun. A lot of these issues would be easily resolved or progressed if only characters ​talked ​​​about them, because there are also ​​several other that are more sensitive and immediate.

Finally, let's talk about Yang. There has been too little Yang this volume and this is a valid complaint. The last we saw of Yang, she had decided to start her training with her new arm because she didn't want to feel like a burden anymore. Now, we skip to her behaving more like her former self and holding her own in a spar. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad to see Yang feel a lot more confident, but quite frankly, it feels severely unearned. There wasn't a proper exploration of her feeling like she ​needs ​​​to get better otherwise she is a dead weight, and her overcoming that amount of low self-worth she's been struggling with ever since Summer died and learned that Raven, her own mother, abandoned her while her father suffered a long depressive episode. There wasn't a proper exploration of her PTSD and depression following the loss of her arm, or recovering and getting stronger for us to feel invested in her growth. She just had one panic attack and Miles and Kerry decided that's enough about Yang's trauma to show. Mental illness is a very serious and sensitive topic. It's either addressed thoroughly and sensibly or it's not addressed at all. You can't be on the fence with it due to its complexity and gravity. Skipping through Yang's growth feels sloppy and mediocre. Recovery isn't pretty. It's hard and ugly and tough to swallow. "A few weeks" isn't enough for recovery, even when you count the months that passed between now and the Fall of Beacon. What also bothered me is how Taiyang bothered to mention Yang's performance in the Vytal Festival without mentioning what happened with Mercury. Tai mentions how Yang is lacking in balance and has this great talk with her about her approach to things and still fails to talk about Adam and Mercury. I want to see more of Tai and Yang bonding over their losses and Tai be a father and make us want to feel more involved with him and the relationship he has with his daughters.Their conversation about how Yang is similar but not exactly like Raven is a great example of this. We get a sense of how Tai feels about Raven and Yang learns a little more about her. The dynamic between Raven, Yang, and Tai feels a little more grounded. If we can't see this in the show, hell,  there's other mediums to ensure we are treated to cannon material not covered in the show.

So far, that's about all I have to say about this episode. I loved it but the episode wasn't without some major flaws and missed opportunities, and that goes for the entire volume as well. I'm looking forward for the rest of the season and hope to do some meta analysis for the entire volume and even the other ones in the series.

For now, let's all rejoice in the fact that we got to see ZWEI, GOOD BOY, LITTLE CUTIE, SUCH A PRECIOUS BALL OF SUNSHINE, WHO'S A GOOD BOY, YES HE IS, YES HE IS.

[auber-dee]

#that's why gideon the first was the third saint to ascend #alecto saw what mercy cris alfred and augustine had done and lost her shit #of course pyrrha would be the one to step in and confront her #that's the kind of person she is (op’s tags)

I was thinking about how we don't actually know how Pyrrha died. Just that by her own telling, she "was killed," and that she was the first cavalier to die outside Cristabel and Alfred's suicide pact.

Before Nona came out, I suspected Gideon the First must have killed her, probably with her consent. That seems unlikely to me now, with everything we've learned about them in Nona.

Also before Nona came out, I came to the conclusion that the lyctors demanded John kill Alecto following a "great attack" on Canaan House and the revelation of what a Resurrection Beast is. Based on Mercymorn's assumption that Alecto was a freak who would attack her on sight, I also highly suspected that Alecto either participated in or perpetrated the attack on Canaan House, thus proving herself beyond a shadow of a doubt to be untamed and dangerous in a way that not even John could talk his way out of.

I just recently noticed a detail in Nona the Ninth that might slot all this together like puzzle pieces:

Pyrrha has seen something very like Nona's tantrums before, and that memory scares her. Enough that she avoids even thinking about it.

I think Alecto may have killed Pyrrha.