#the theory is also COMPLETELY SHATTERED by ONE SENTENCE in the art book

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god that gaster “””theory””” video makes me so mad

[toooldforfandom-liveblogs]

RWBY - After the Fall: Prologue

Obviously, SPOILERS AHEAD. If you haven’t read the book, probably skip this post. This is going to be more of a chapter-by-chapter liveblog than going through each sentence, mainly to preserve my sanity.

What I know: There were some spoilers going around but I think I skipped most of the serious ones. I did read a leaked page that was going around some months ago but I can hardly remember anything about it. So, here’s what I know:

Velvet is the PoV.

Coco is gay.

Fox (I think?) is blind.

They are studying in Vacuo

The cover art is really bad.

Oh, and there’s a character called “Carmine” that looks like Alolan Yang. Other than that I’m completely blind.

Apparently the book is canon (rather than “secondary canon” like the official manga) so my main hope for After the Fall is for it to give us information about things that could influence the show. I doubt it’ll be a game-changer, spinoffs never are, but at least some of it mattering in the long run would be nice.

Okay, without further ado, let’s do this!

Prologue

The main problem about secondary media is that they need to make me care about their main characters and their tribulations even if they are inconsequential for the main story that I actually like. The rational and objective argument against this would be “it should be able to stand on its own and be judged on its own merits” but I can’t claim to be objective.

So, did the prologue manage to sell me on team CFVY with Velvet as the main character? And the answer is: Eh.

It starts with Velvet thinking about how much everything about Vacuo sucks: its animals, its climate, its sand, even its people (more on that later) suck. And she never stops.

It wouldn’t surprise me if the book ends with Velvet learning to love Vacuo or something along those lines if only because of how frequently the prologue insists in telling me how much she hates the place and the circumstances that led her team to Vacuo. Which serves to set a mystery: why Vacuo?

It’s after the first of these ruminations that the prologue reveals its biggest surprise: Remnant has fauna besides dogs and birds! I’ve always complained about how live animals mostly don’t exist in the show so it’s nice that at least they get to be included here, the magic of not having to create 3d models~. They are just one more thing to hate about Vacuo , because they are giant murderous crabs that are trying to eat them, but it’s something.

The reveal of Fox’s semblance is a surprise too but in a “huh, that’s neat” way. I’m not sure I understand how it works though. It’s described as “teamspeak” but only Fox is shown “sending” thoughts. Can he hear the thoughts of his teammates or is it a one-way thing?

“Velvet thumbed through the images stored in the camera, looking for just the right one to help her friends. Professor Port, blunderbuss raised and aimed at a flock of Griffons in Amity Arena. Weiss Schnee, in a rare unguarded moment, with a giant glowing arm and sword hanging from a glyph floating behind her. Green-haired Reese Chloris leaning on her hoverboard after she and the rest of Team ABRN (Auburn) had defeated a Death Stalker.”

Velvet’s weapon is both cool and unpractical. The fight is mostly over when Coco is ambushed by a giant crab and Velvet has to stop to consider which of the weapons is the most appropriate. While Coco is fighting for her life. And then it transitions into a flashback. While Coco is fighting for her life.

But honestly, I don’t mind. The flashback is a lot more interesting that what’s going on.

“The sky was full of the wings and cries of Griffons, terrible flying Grimm monsters that had carried off several classmates and tourists, shattering the peace of the festival”

The fall of Beacon was terrible, the show made it clear, but it’s interesting to read how terrible it was for everyone.

“ In the last hour, they had seen their friend Penny Polendina torn apart by her own weapons. ”

WHY MUST YOU REMIND ME

Anyway, I’m not sure how I feel about the flashback. I love that it uses the bit between Ruby and Weiss leaving the docks and them arriving at the tower; it doesn’t feel as forced as I would have thought. But, I have the niggling thought it shouldn’t have been used so soon, let me learn more about CFVY before using the big guns that are the RWBY team.

It does gives us more characterization for Velvet though so I can’t complain too much. So far her character is: Dislikes sand (you know who else didn’t like sand? can’t wait for Darth Scarlatina) Vacuo and has an enormous desire to prove herself (it doesn’t help that she gets a bit coddled by her team). It’s not much but it should be enough to drive her character through the plot.

“Team RWBY hadn’t returned after the fall of Beacon, and no one knew exactly where Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang were now.”

This is a year after the fall of Beacon so I think CFVY are a bit into the future, maybe a couple of months. Team RWBY has done nothing too noteworthy so far in Atlas.

Moving on, Velvet finally chooses a weapon (from Fox, which makes all the sense in the world because she can take all the pictures she wants from her teammates. Actually, shouldn’t it be always the first choice and summoned ASAP and only afterwards think if the situation requires something else? Hm.) but instead of going to help her friends, she goes help an injured person.

“They’ll be fine for now, and besides, we don’t leave people behind. Not anymore.”

Which… makes sense for a huntress, even if the sentiment is somewhat heavy-handed. Also, is this is a reference to “I May Fall”?

There’s a day when all courage collapses And our friends turn and leave us behind

Because if it is, all is forgiven.

The short fight that follows is… short, but it does its job to sell me that Velvet can fight without blowing through her entire picture album. I hoped her moves would match the one time I have seen Fox fight (in “Breach”) since she’s using his fighting style but it’s mostly jumping around.

And then they meet Slate, who is who I was talking about when I mentioned that Vacuo’s people suck. Every time Vacuo is mentioned in the show it’s accompanied with something about how there are only thieves and scoundrels, that surviving is above everything else. And every time I think “it’s an entire kingdom, how can you know” but I let it go because it could be an in-universe stereotype.

But nope.

“Surviving is what we do here, or don’t,” Slate went on. “We look out for one another, but if it’s down to your life or someone else’s, you choose your own. No hard feelings.”

She’s the first person from Vacuo the book introduces and she’s just like everyone said Vacuans were. Welp. It reminds me of Star Wars and how secondary characters get their characterization through their species and/or planet. A hard place with hard people *yawn*

On the bright side, the encounter allows Coco to show her over the top personality and it’s amazing.

“We’re Shade Academy’s newest star pupils. Team CFVY. I’m Coco, and that’s Fox, Velvet, and Yatsuhashi.” Coco pointed out her teammates.”

“Fortunately, I had this broken wagon,” Slate went on. “I stayed with it and hoped for the best.” “That’s us,” Coco said. “The best have arrived.”

Coco has a strong enough personality that it makes me wish the book was from her PoV. Not that Velvet is not interesting, but she seems to be largely passive, mostly complaining in her own head. It is her start point so I’m hoping she gets better by the end of the novel.

I think the prologue does a good job introducing the characters and the main threads the book will follow: Velvet really dislikes Vacuo, and the second flashback solidifies the idea that something happened that made everyone go to Shade. The way the prologue ends, with Velvet once again asking herself why they had to leave Beacon, makes it clear that it’ll be important through the book.

So, what happened? I don’t have the slightest. They probably desired to continue their education and Fox is from there so that’s a vote for the continent, but did Velvet never complain?

“I don’t know how safe we’ll be,” Slate said. “Something odd’s been going on.” “What do you mean?” Coco asked. “Let’s just say we aren’t one big happy family lately. Not anymore. But there’s time for that later. I’m taking the big one. Looks like she might be carrying egg sacs.” Slate scampered off toward the dead mother crab and then carved out a hefty chunk of meat.”

A hint of a main plot has appeared! There was some already, with CFVY having been sent by Shade to defend a settlement being attacked (by Grimm?), but this looks more personal. Are they going to get involved in Slate’s problems, with Velvet learning to appreciate Vacuo and its people thanks to Slate and maybe also learning how to stand up for herself earning the respect of her teammates (that she always had but she didn’t know)? Eh, probably. But at least it should be fun to read.

Random thoughts

“Fox spoke aloud only when they were in mixed company, or when he really wanted people to listen.” but in the prologue he always uses his power. Even with Slate when talking about the crab meat. It’s like the editor did a Search and Replace of “Fox said” and replaced “said” with “sent”.

Since Velvet’s semblance is “photographic memory”, I thought the flashbacks were part of that, especially considering there are two in a very short amount of time. But, the flashbacks go from third-person limited to a more omniscient point of view so I’m not sure if that theory tracks.

Glynda finally reappears! Poor character, relegated to flashbacks and non-speaking media.

One way to separate fanfiction from official works is that official spinoffs always explains concepts (Aura, Semblances, etc) that should be clear if you have ever watched the show. But who would pick up this book without having watched RWBY?

CFVY has been in Vacuo for more than a year but Velvet’s character reads like she’s suffering from culture shock. It’s like Myers wrote the character and only afterwards decided how long they had been there.