[RWBY] RWBY Shorts

[AndrewJTalon]

Some plot bunnies:

-Nora makes some wooden figurines of her friends for fun and acts out various adventures with them. Ruby gets in on it. Mischief ensues.

-At a village during a training mission, everyone imbibes the local drink... Which includes psilocybin, a naturally occurring tryptamine alkaloid-IE, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms. Thanks to his medical training and his mother's efforts, Jaune is basically immune to the stuff... But his teammates sure as hell aren't. How does Jaune Arc keep his friends from destroying the village?!

-Ren gets dragged into making a short martial arts movie by Team SSSN, Jaune, and a few other fighters at Beacon. Nobody expected him to be as deadpan and awesome as Bruce Lee during it, but he absolutely is.

-What other insane episodes of Valewatch do our heroes watch? And how many of them involve Pyrrha and the equivalent of David Hasselhoff fighting a giant fake looking Grimm Kraken?

-Jaune is not just a good gamer, but he's an incredible ero gamer-He figures out puzzles, mini-games, and all the routes for all the love interests. And Blake wants him to play her favorite games for her. Shenanigans ensue.

 

[cavalal386]

-Nora makes some wooden figurines of her friends for fun and acts out various adventures with them. Ruby gets in on it. Mischief ensues.

Click to shrink...

either Nora accidently made voodoo dolls and shenanigans ensures.

OR this happens:

 

[TheFabulousCustodes]

-What other insane episodes of Valewatch do our heroes watch? And how many of them involve Pyrrha and the equivalent of David Hasselhoff fighting a giant fake looking Grimm Kraken?

Click to shrink...

Given that Pyrrha's mother is an actress, she could have co-starred in an episode with Pyrrha.

So the albino Grimm Kraken kidnaps Pyrrha's mom during the annual Vale jet ski race, but it retreats into Vale's sewer system, which the Atlesian army rigs with explosives under the orders of Captain Ahab. Pyrrha and Not!DavidHasselhoff have to do one of those terrible fake race scenes, rescue Pyrrha's mom from the Kraken, and leap out of the sewers on their jet ski's just as it explodes behind them.

 

[ExFelineServer3]

I can totally see that episode playing out

 

[MetalHead]

-Jaune is not just a good gamer, but he's an incredible ero gamer-He figures out puzzles, mini-games, and all the routes for all the love interests. And Blake wants him to play her favorite games for her. Shenanigans ensue.

Click to shrink...

Blake's favorite eroge is about a hapless guy sneaking with no training in demon hunter academy.
Where he meets:
Tomoe - who becomes his mentor and confidant, who keeps his secret and tutors him in marital arts. Elder sister ara-ara type.
Akane - a perky goth girl, who becomes his best friend. Imouto type.
Yuki - a noble lady who is initially distant (hardest route) but eventually warms up to his honesty. Tsundere type.
Kuroko - enigmatic half-demon ninja, with tons of fetishes. Kuudere/pervert type.
Hikari - bright and passonate pyromancer. Whom he bonds with on shared family values. Genki type.

Jaune helps Blake unlock the harem route, the hardest path in the game. Though, they both have strong feeling of deja vu for some reason, when they play it.

 

[AndrewJTalon]

The Beacon courtyard was a tranquil haven, dappled with the fading light of dusk, the air carrying the faint scent of blooming flowers. Lie Ren sat cross-legged on the grass, his eyes closed, his breathing steady, the picture of serene meditation. Beside him, Jaune Arc was decidedly less serene, wobbling precariously on his head at Ren's insistence, his blond hair splayed out and his face flushed red from effort.

His hoodie bunched awkwardly under his armor as he groaned, "Gah… uh… you sure you trained like this, Ren?"

"Very sure," Ren replied, his voice calm, a faint smile tugging at his lips.

"Nnnngh… how do you achieve inner peace standing on your head?!" Jaune grumbled, his arms shaking as he fought to balance.

"Practice," Ren said, his tone even, his magenta eyes still closed.

Jaune scowled, his voice laced with exasperation. "Like not getting upset over your teacher making you do ridiculous things?"

Ren's smile grew, subtle but genuine. "Exactly."

A booming laugh shattered the quiet, rich and warm. "Hahaha! Oh man, I remember that! Shifu put me through that all the time at the start!"

Ren's eyes snapped open, his calm fracturing as he sprang to his feet, turning toward the voice. Jaune, still upside-down, craned his neck awkwardly, catching sight of a portly Panda Faunus in elegant green robes, a conical hat perched on his head, a wooden staff in hand. His teeth gleamed under the fading light, his grin wide and infectious.

Ren's hands clasped in a respectful fist-over-palm salute, bowing deeply. "Master Po! I-I did not know you were coming!"

Po's grin widened, his eyes twinkling. "Well, I was in the area. I wanted to see how you were doing." He glanced at Jaune, still wobbling. "Your student?"

Ren straightened, his voice steady but warm. "He is my team leader… and friend."

Po's smile grew, his staff tapping the ground. Jaune, with a grunt, flipped off his head, landing with a stumble before offering a bright grin. "I'm Jaune Arc!"

Po bowed, his robes rustling. "I'm Po! Ren was my student!"

Jaune's eyes widened, his voice curious. "So, wait, you're… a kung fu master?"

Po chuckled, his tone humble. "I'm called a master, but you never truly master anything. You learn something new every day…"

Jaune nodded, his grin thoughtful. "Huh… sounds familiar."

"Now!" Po clapped his hands, his stomach growling loudly. "Let's catch up… at the cafeteria."

The Beacon cafeteria was a bustling chaos of clattering trays and student chatter, but the arrival of Teams RWBY and JNPR turned heads. Nora Valkyrie led the charge, her turquoise eyes blazing with excitement as she spotted Po. "PO!" she shrieked, launching herself at him in a tackle-hug that sent the Panda Faunus crashing to the floor with a laugh.

"HAHAHA! Nora! I missed you too!" Po roared, his staff clattering as he hugged her back.

"How's Old Tavish?!" Nora demanded, bouncing on her heels.

"He's doing well!" Po said, climbing to his feet. "Still blowing things up, but happy in retirement. He was really excited over you blowing up a Deathstalker!"

"YAY!" Nora cheered, fist-pumping.

Ren quickly introduced Po to the others, his voice calm but proud. Yang Xiao Long, leaning against a table, raised a skeptical eyebrow, her lilac eyes glinting. "You're Zen's master?"

Po, happily munching a meat bun, nodded. "Mmhm! Hnnn… they're way too salty."

Ren's voice was soft but firm. "I agree, Master."

Nora beamed, her voice bright. "Yeah! Ren's pork buns are way better!"

Po grinned, swallowing. "He was very good at those. I also taught him cooking!"

Yang's eyebrow arched higher. "Uh huh…"

Weiss Schnee, arms crossed, frowned. "You just seem… very unlike what we expected."

Yang snorted, her voice teasing. "I mean, can you even run a mile?"

Ren's eyes narrowed, a rare scowl breaking his calm. "Yang! This man took me and Nora into his home! He trained me!"

Yang raised her hands, her grin faltering. "Hey, hey! I'm sorry! No offense meant—!"

Po held up a paw, his voice gentle. "Ren. It's all right."

Ren's scowl lingered, but he forced himself to relax, the outburst startling everyone.

Po's grin softened, his tone reflective. "Heh. Nobody thought I was cut out to be a kung fu master when I started, either. Me least of all. But! It turns out appearances can be deceiving. Not that it was easy. I sucked. I sucked hard, at the start. But eventually… with enough hard work… you realize you can stop sucking."

He held out his paw, and the pork buns in a nearby bowl glowed with his Aura, rising up into the air. The teams gaped as the buns floated in a graceful orbit above Po's head, then behind him, his control effortless.

"But only if you believe you can be more than what you appear to be," he said, waving his hand to guide the buns back into the bowl.

Yang stared, then grinned wide. "Can you teach me that?"

Po laughed. "Maybe! Right now, I gotta make some real food. Come on, Ren! We're commandeering the kitchen! Let's make you and your friends a real dinner! We'll be right back!"

"Yes, Master," Ren said, following Po into the kitchen.

The cafeteria kitchen was nearly empty, the staff unbothered by the intrusion. Po set to work, his paws a blur as he kneaded dough and chopped vegetables, while Ren assisted, his movements precise but heavy with unspoken weight. As Po started a pot of broth, Ren sighed, his voice low.

"I'm sorry, Master. I shouldn't… I shouldn't have lost my temper. I don't have any right to defend you or… or anything. Not after what I did."

Po glanced at him, his tone curious as he rolled out noodles. "Hm? And what did you do?"

Ren's head bowed, his hands kneading dough. "I… I left. With Nora."

"Yeah," Po said, his voice light. "And why?"

"I wanted to be a Hunter… and…" Ren's voice faltered.

Po raised an eyebrow, frying noodles with a sizzle. "And?"

"... Get justice for my family," Ren admitted, his voice barely audible.

Po nodded, his tone warm but firm as he stirred pork into the broth. "Wanting justice isn't a bad thing, Ren. I wanted justice for my family, too. And being a Hunter is a wonderful thing! Protecting and saving people, pow pow pow! That's great! We're very proud of you both, all of us!"

Ren's lips twitched into a small smile, but Po's expression grew somber.

"But vengeance… vengeance is not the way to do it."

Ren's hands stilled. "I shouldn't kill that monster?"

"I didn't say that," Po said, his voice gentle but pointed. "What I did say… is that you shouldn't go into a fight not caring if you come back alive."

Ren froze, his breath catching.

Po's eyes softened, his tone heavy. "Hey. My masters did the whole 'I can see into your mind' thing with me, too. I was amazed and annoyed by it, like, all the time… Your dough's getting dry."

Ren blinked, adding a pinch of water to the dough, his hands moving mechanically. "Ah…"

"You know," Po said, pouring pork and broth into buns with aura-fueled precision, "it was a very sad day when you two left. You were really good, Ren. Amazing, even. One day, you could be better than me."

Ren's eyes widened, his voice a whisper. "I-I could never be the Dragon Warrior—"

"Heh," Po chuckled, sealing the buns with a flick of aura. "And that's what I said, too." He slid the tray into the oven, his voice softening. "For me? It was doubting I was anything more than some fat dummy raised by the best cook in the Valley of Peace. For you? It's fear and anger."

Ren's jaw tightened. "I don't fear—"

"You fear, Ren," Po cut in, his eyes locking onto Ren's. "Come on. Be honest. You fear getting too close to anyone because you think you're going to die." His voice dropped, heavy with truth. "Because part of you feels you deserve to."

Ren's breath hitched, his eyes dropping to the counter. "…Shouldn't I?"

Po's paw rested on Ren's shoulder, firm and warm. "Wha—of course not, Ren! It's not your fault the Nuckelavee killed everyone, any more than it's my fault some crazy peacock attacked my village!" He turned Ren to face the cafeteria, where Nora was animatedly recounting tales of the Valley of Peace, her eyes catching Ren's with a radiant smile. "And most importantly, you saved Nora."

Ren's gaze softened, his voice a whisper. "…I did…"

Po's grin returned, gentle but firm. "She cares for you, Ren. Loves you. And you don't want to break her heart, do you?"

"…I do not," Ren said, his voice steady but raw.

"Or the hearts of your friends, right?" Po said, pointing out at the teams. Ren slowly shook his head.

"No."

"Or our hearts?" Po asked, looking very solemn. Ren slowly shook his head, his voice catching.

"No… But…"

Po nodded as he let go of Ren, pulling the buns from the oven, their aroma filling the kitchen. "Yeah. I get it. And hey, one conversation doesn't fix everything. That's just in movies." He levitated a bun with his aura, grinning. "But it's like my dad said: It's like pork buns."

Ren blinked. "Pork buns?"

"Every single pork bun adds up," Po said, popping the bun into his mouth, then yelping, "AH! HOT HOT HOT! TOO HOT!" He fanned his mouth, his eyes watering, but his grin held.

"You eat one on your own, eh, it's just a meal. Even if they taste really, really good. But! Keep making pork buns, and more people come in. They pay you to make more if you make 'em good enough. They come to eat, and talk, and you meet great people. You become friends. Even family. And after a while, the pork buns aren't just pork buns. They're every happy meal, every satisfied customer, all your happy memories."

Ren's lips curved into a rare, genuine smile, his eyes soft. "…Master… I'm sorry I left you in

anger."

Po swallowed the bun, his grin wide. "Eh… as long as you don't come back to take revenge on everyone, you're good. Just like…" He popped another bun into his mouth, sighing happily in bliss. "This pork bun."

Ren smiled back at his master. Soft, still guarded, but the warmth was still there. Po nodded back.

"Now, let's have dinner with your friends," Po said cheerfully. "We want to make more happy memories!"

"Yes Master."

 

[SharkCultist]

Nora and Yang during a "friendly spar" managed to rack up a million in damage debt that both teams need to scrounge up the money before the year ends (so about five months) otherwise they'll be expelled.

And there's only one way they're gonna get that money in time.

The biggest not so secret illegal but tolerated enterprise in Vale.

The ULTIMATE MUSCLE aura wrestling league. Filled with all the freaks, dropouts, crazies, and scum in the kingdom with a unlocked aura.

The fights are wild, illogical, and full of bullshit. They're also incredibly lucrative.

As long as the teams can keep up a good win streak they can do this.

Wait what do you mean no weapons?

And separate divisions for girls and guys outside of tournaments?

Ah shit and it looks like the reigning champ has something out for team RWBY.

What'd they do to piss of Jack Frostbite (trademarked stage name)?

 

[Dragon Bob]

Nora and Yang during a "friendly spar" managed to rack up a million in damage debt that both teams need to scrounge up the money before the year ends (so about five months) otherwise they'll be expelled.

And there's only one way they're gonna get that money in time.

The biggest not so secret illegal but tolerated enterprise in Vale.

The ULTIMATE MUSCLE aura wrestling league. Filled with all the freaks, dropouts, crazies, and scum in the kingdom with a unlocked aura.

The fights are wild, illogical, and full of bullshit. They're also incredibly lucrative.

As long as the teams can keep up a good win streak they can do this.

Wait what do you mean no weapons?

And separate divisions for girls and guys outside of tournaments?

Ah shit and it looks like the reigning champ has something out for team RWBY.

What'd they do to piss of Jack Frostbite (trademarked stage name)?

Click to shrink...

No one expects Ren to be the one who gets the most into it. Sure he's the best at hand to hand, but when he puts on the costume he is like a different person. As insane and bombastic as Nora.

 

[SharkCultist]

No one expects Ren to be the one who gets the most into it. Sure he's the best at hand to hand, but when he puts on the costume he is like a different person. As insane and bombastic as Nora.

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He puts on the costume and only speaks in ancient mistrilian. Next to nobody understands a word he says and yet somehow he gets his points across perfectly.

 

[Dragon Bob]

He puts on the costume and only speaks in ancient mistrilian. Next to nobody understands a word he says and yet somehow he gets his points across perfectly.

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Except Nora, why translates for him. Or at least she claims to understand him, and he seems to accept what she says he's saying. No one is entirely sure.

 

[Gur40]

FIXING Penny V8

Spoiler: LET HER COOK

She Deserves the World

---

V9 vs Beacon Era

Spoiler: Picture Meme

Or Leadership Meeting AU {Paperwork}

---

Super Schnee

Spoiler: Whitley x Ruby

I just wont someone to Bane back breaker Hazel

---

GOL is truely his mother son

Spoiler: SEW have it hard

Ruby got it hard

 

[SharkCultist]

They failed to stop Salem, she summoned the brother gods so they would wipe away her and humanity.

But the brother gods weren't satisfied, the lessons they wanted learned were ignored. So they decided to make everyone do it again. But this time they're making things harder on everyone.

Welcome to Fragment, the Remnant of a Remnant.

Here humanity is locked in a three way war. Themselves against the Grimm that seek to destroy all of humanity, and the Blighted which seek to add humanity and the Grimm to themselves.

Among the lands are two resources that humanity used to defend themselves. Dust, the mysterious power of nature in crystal form.

And echoes strange bits of a unknown material, fluid like water yet solid as stone. To touch it is to add the echo to yourself whatever it may be.

Perhaps it's skill with a blade? Or knowledge long lost, it could even be changed to your form.

But be careful with these seemingly mystical resources. Nature's power is never fully at the command of man, and a loud enough echo can overwhelm sounds yet to be made.

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Remnant's nations would need militaries for the same reasons all nations throughout human history have needed them.: Militaries exist to address the strategic needs of a nation state. This military is maintained as a deterrent against invasion, a fast reaction force in case of natural disaster or civil unrest, as a system for the advancement of technology that can later be released to the private market, and as a tool in foreign policy before and after diplomacy breaks down.

As an example: The United States Navy has its ships do "Demonstration of Freedom of Navigation" missions. Basically, they send ships into an area of contested waters to ensure that civilian traffic can go through. This is in the United States' interest as it promotes oceanic trade, and in the interest of the nations in the area because there are consequences to bad actors who try to sink or raid local shipping. Those nations are more likely to trade with the United States and with eachother because of the security the US Navy provides. This is not new: The Ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Spanish, Korean, Japanese, Royal (British) and many other navies did exactly the same thing.

Remnant's kingdoms would need militaries to deal with Grimm hordes too large for Hunters to handle on their own, to deal with pirates and bandits, to provide assistance in case of natural disasters and to deal with massive social unrest like riots, to employ people who didn't cut it as Hunters, and to defend their borders and interests from foreign adversaries. Remnant has all the same problems Earth does in terms of human nature on top of the Grimm, so of course they would need militaries.

As for the military equipment being mostly lifted from Earth? Well, one: The inhabitants of Remnant are human or humanoid on a world where the laws of physics outside of Dust and Aura do still apply, so naturally most of their vehicles will resemble Earth vehicles. Two, the idea behind firearms technology is to engage enemies beyond melee range because fighting hand to hand is a messy, bloody business and bullets are more numerous and cheaper than swords and shields. So the principle is the same here: Tanks and mounted guns would engage Grimm at range and cut down as many of them as possible before they got to bite range. When you're behind walls or other defensive positions and/or in armored vehicles that have ammo, this is a perfectly viable strategy for defending your settlement or group from Grimm. The armored vehicles, in turn, can move when your position becomes untenable and you can retreat or move somewhere more advantageous.

For people with no unlocked Aura or very weak Aura, the best strategy is to be fast, mobile, well armed, and protected: And armored vehicles provide all of that.

However, fighting Grimm is not like fighting other humans: They respawn, they have supernatural abilities, they cannot be easily scared off, they cannot be bargained or reasoned with, they do not know fatigue or hunger. So you are correct in that a regular military is insufficient to deal with Grimm. Thus, Hunters are needed and in large numbers. Hunters have several advantages over the regular military in many areas: They are usually more powerful than rank and file soldiers, more experience, can react faster and have internationally agreed upon authority. At the same time, the military has advantages over Hunters in many other areas: They can bring in more firepower and resources, they have better logistics, they have numbers and more discipline, and they have more authority on a local level.

That's not to say there wouldn't be conflicts between the military and Hunters, there always are between different organizations meant to deal with similar threats, but that's a good thing: It gives you opportunities for drama and storytelling.

 

[TheFabulousCustodes]

Thus, Hunters are needed and in large numbers.

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I stand by my assertion that Beacons intake in Season One was way too small if the Kingdom's weren't essentially city states with a few orbiting farming/resource communities.

 

[AndrewJTalon]

I stand by my assertion that Beacons intake in Season One was way too small if the Kingdom's weren't essentially city states with a few orbiting farming/resource communities.

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I chalk it up to Beacon being an elite Huntsman Academy, the absolute top. And there are many other smaller schools or apprenticeships for other Hunters available. Jaune would settle for nothing less than the best, like his ancestors did.

 

[GoldDoesGames]

Remnant's nations would need militaries for the same reasons all nations throughout human history have needed them

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Didn't a previous incarnation of Ozma basically defund the military in all the Kingdoms, except for Atlas? If so, then that was a pretty dumb move.

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Didn't a previous incarnation of Ozma basically defund the military in all the Kingdoms, except for Atlas? If so, then that was a pretty dumb move.

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Again, this is why I keep advocating for a reboot of RWBY by competent writers, because this is just dumb.

And why I use my own headcanon for RWBY's militaries.

 

[GoldDoesGames]

Again, this is why I keep advocating for a reboot of RWBY by competent writers, because this is just dumb.

And why I use my own headcanon for RWBY's militaries.

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Was CRWBY's political stance of the week "Defund the Military"? It's bad writing, especially in a world that actually needs more firepower since it's, y'know, a Death World.

 

[CountvonBarnOwl]

Didn't a previous incarnation of Ozma basically defund the military in all the Kingdoms, except for Atlas? If so, then that was a pretty dumb move.

Click to shrink...

He did.

Was CRWBY's political stance of the week "Defund the Military"? It's bad writing, especially in a world that actually needs more firepower since it's, y'know, a Death World.

Click to shrink...

You can put down to CRWBY's political persuasions that, they cannot conceive of a deathworld where the physical and political realities of a situation on the ground could be in any way substantially different from those of Cold-War/End-of-History Peacetime America that was spawned by WW2-in-living-memory consensus of the West. They give us a setting that by its own definition, is wholly anathema to everything they believe or purport to believe, and it simply doesn't dawn on any of them that maybe espousing those values that they seek to uphold (or at least, that they seek to be seen upholding). Or rather it does dawn on them and they have convulsions and conniptions about it, but since they invest so much of their own self-worth into being seen as right/correct the only thing worse in their minds than blundering is the admission of a blunder.

I'll spare you the rest of the rant, and instead throw another example out for your perusal. Remember how Qrow tried to break it to Yang that Raven's personal system of values was ostensibly extremely twisted? And all we got was that Raven subscribes to the notion that might makes right? How is such a belief not exceedingly socially acceptable on a deathworld? I've got a whole bag of contradictions like this that I like to laugh at from time to time. The sheer cognitive dissonance I mean. But again, I'll spare it unless you ask.

 

[AndrewJTalon]

He did.




You can put down to CRWBY's political persuasions that, they cannot conceive of a deathworld where the physical and political realities of a situation on the ground could be in any way substantially different from those of Cold-War/End-of-History Peacetime America that was spawned by WW2-in-living-memory consensus of the West. They give us a setting that by its own definition, is wholly anathema to everything they believe or purport to believe, and it simply doesn't dawn on any of them that maybe espousing those values that they seek to uphold (or at least, that they seek to be seen upholding). Or rather it does dawn on them and they have convulsions and conniptions about it, but since they invest so much of their own self-worth into being seen as right/correct the only thing worse in their minds than blundering is the admission of a blunder.

I'll spare you the rest of the rant, and instead throw another example out for your perusal. Remember how Qrow tried to break it to Yang that Raven's personal system of values was ostensibly extremely twisted? And all we got was that Raven subscribes to the notion that might makes right? How is such a belief not exceedingly socially acceptable on a deathworld? I've got a whole bag of contradictions like this that I like to laugh at from time to time. The sheer cognitive dissonance I mean. But again, I'll spare it unless you ask.

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Agreed on that for CRWBY for the most part. Bandits, raiders, and others who prey upon those who build and create are always seen as reprehensible and would be seen even more so on Remnant. People who intentionally attack settlements to weaken them so Grimm can finish them off and they can take what's left for themselves would be feared and HATED across Remnant. They would be hostis humani generis, enemies of all mankind: A term applied to pirates, bandits, and raiders, and would be shot on sight.

Now you COULD give them some moral nuance: Raven's group could operate more like a warlord band or yakuza group, in that yes, they do rule over and exploit an area's people, but they also provide real benefits to the populace. As detestable as the mafia and Yakuza can be, they also provide protection for ordinary people where the rule of law is absent and defense against worst threats: In this case, the Grimm. It doesn't make Raven any less of a terrible mother but it would give her SOME dimension and nuance. But again, as you said, CRWBY is so locked into their Liberal Post-WW2 mindset that they cannot conceive of such moral complexities or that a woman could be (GASP!) wrong in some way without something or someone else to blame.

 

[Fallout5368]

It also doesn't help that Qrow heavily implies that the Branwen Tribe has been following Grimm like Old Nuck around for Decades. Even when Raven takes over she still keeps up the practice even though she is a demi-god.

 

[GoldDoesGames]

But again, I'll spare it unless you ask.

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I would like the "whole bag" as you say, but only if it's not much of a hassle.

 

[AndrewJTalon]

I mean, the spirit of cooperation and a wish for humanity to be united together is not a bad thing and if CRWBY were competent writers, this would be the theme they would push throughout the show. Because that unity is needed to defeat Salem. So the Faunus racism is not a BAD idea because it's another obstacle for our heroes to overcome, the execution was just terrible. And indeed, the Kingdoms being largely at peace at this time in history and united by trade and mutual defense is a GOOD THING. Indeed, Ozpin may have felt he was getting close to his goal of uniting mankind.

And then Salem fucks it up and brings it all crashing down and then our heroes have to pull it back together to oppose Salem. But to do that, you need some actual worldbuilding and common sense. Monty took some inspiration from Final Fantasy 8, but he should have also taken inspiration from Final Fantasy 9 wherein the bad guys (spoilers) actually deliberately drive all the most powerful nations on Gaia to war to weaken them so that they can get their hands on vital relics to bring about the end of the world for their own purposes. And it's up to our heroes to stop them while having a world spanning adventure! Taking inspiration from FF8 AND FF9 would have given you a much stronger narrative to build upon if you did the proper worldbuilding.

But they didn't because their modern day Tumblr politics were more important than telling a proper story. Sure, Monty wasn't a writer but he did at least have an idea of where he wanted the show to go and what it was about. Whereas CRWBY just made it about their pet politics and pandering to the tiniest, brokest, most insane part of the internet just so they could look virtuous.

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Just some lame AI Art of Isabel, Saia, Summer and Raven at Beacon as students.

 

[AndrewJTalon]

It also rendered Taiyang, Arjun, Qrow and Nick:

Doesn't really capture their personalities, except for Taiyang. And yeah, Nick doesn't have the scar on his cheek that he should. Freaking wish I had talent in art.

That said, Nick starting out as a little runt and then growing into a seven foot five inch giant is a fun idea.

 

[AndrewJTalon]

I do love the idea of Port having a hot Kitsune Faunus wife who is sexy as hell and loves him dearly.

I imagine her resembling Shinano from Azur Lane:

Spoiler

Jaune: "Wha... How...?"

Port: "I am a man, son. A truly manly man. Which means it is my job to help you, my students, excel in all aspects of life! Including picking up women!"

Jaune: "BEST TEACHER EVER!"

Ren: "But I already have the girl I want to be with forever."

Port: "Have you made a move yet?"

Ren: "... Touche. Train me, Master Port."

 

[Bommel]

Say with all the bashing on Blake for her character and how it was handeled being a trainwreck, I began to wonder; How could Blake character be fixed through character development?
Blake doesn't nessasarily need to end up hooking up with Yang, but at least she could get to a point where she can likely have a healthy teammate relationship with.

That said, Nick starting out as a little runt and then growing into a seven foot five inch giant is a fun idea.

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What if Nick just stayed that length but he got so incredibly buff, strong and an Aura radiationg off him that everyone can feel that everyone looking at him just imagines him much bigger than he actually is.

 

[CountvonBarnOwl]

Agreed on that for CRWBY for the most part. Bandits, raiders, and others who prey upon those who build and create are always seen as reprehensible and would be seen even more so on Remnant. People who intentionally attack settlements to weaken them so Grimm can finish them off and they can take what's left for themselves would be feared and HATED across Remnant. They would be hostis humani generis, enemies of all mankind: A term applied to pirates, bandits, and raiders, and would be shot on sight.

Now you COULD give them some moral nuance: Raven's group could operate more like a warlord band or yakuza group, in that yes, they do rule over and exploit an area's people, but they also provide real benefits to the populace. As detestable as the mafia and Yakuza can be, they also provide protection for ordinary people where the rule of law is absent and defense against worst threats: In this case, the Grimm. It doesn't make Raven any less of a terrible mother but it would give her SOME dimension and nuance. But again, as you said, CRWBY is so locked into their Liberal Post-WW2 mindset that they cannot conceive of such moral complexities or that a woman could be (GASP!) wrong in some way without something or someone else to blame.

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Yeah, you know I think about how to make the Branwen tribe more entertaining/formidable/appropriate for the setting that they inhabit. So one of the reasons that I conjured up is that Mistral is like Gotham or Roanapur, and the government is essentially run by representatives/proxies of the most powerful gangs in the Kingdom. Now, they're very old, very traditional type syndicates that nominally uphold such values as honor and tradition, but the thing is about organized crime is that it is organized crime first and foremost. I had it in my head for a while that they hire out and use the tribes of the Hinoki forest as muscle/assassins. The Hinokijin stay largely out of the city and politics and usually just kill whoever they're pointed at. But another idea I had to make the Branwens in particular really beefy, is to make Qrow and Raven's aunt Aurora (another OC of mine) a member of the Mistral Council. Generally to show that Anima is even more lawless a continent than average in a setting where the political landscape looks a lot like Fist of the North Star once you get outside of the kingdoms.

I would like the "whole bag" as you say, but only if it's not much of a hassle.

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If you don't mind, I'll just give you the big three that I can bang off the top of my head right here.

Well, the big one off the bat is everything Faunus-related that we are given by canon. The fact that human-faunus unions can only produce faunus offspring, combined with the fact that all faunus have night vision and such other capabilities in addition to those conferred by each individual's animal trait should have logically seen all of the humans (or almost all, there'd probably be a few uncontacted pockets in the vast wilderness and hinterlands) out-competed, or perhaps deliberately wiped out can only mean any combination of three things. Either 1) Humans and Faunus tend to have so little to do with each other in their personal lives that unions between them are not so much socially frowned upon as they are utterly bizarre and inconceivable in day-to-day life (I think Velvet is the only Faunus shown with any human mentioned in her ancestry, so I do not think this is too likely) 2) Complications. In cases where the human is the mother, she is not biologically equipped to survive her child's gestation. For example, suppose when unborn Tyrian was kicking and flailing around, could his mother have survived without an immunity to scorpion venom? Suppose Adam's mother had been a human, and he caused a pair of grievous lacerations on the way out? 3) Outright hostility. Combined with Remnant's general inhospitality toward life resource conflicts and tribalism are probably the order of the day all across the planet as they are among prison gangs in America. And the Faunus, who have their own mono-ethnic nation (that is canonically doing better than at least one of the big four), and their own continent to themselves, demand political parity in the human kingdoms?

I know CRWBY wants to tell a civil rights allegory story. But they insist on doing so in a setting where a logical consequence of one group succeeding guarantees that the other group is wiped out. So either: we have to drop the plotline completely or rework Faunus biology a lot. And I know (thankfully) at least Talon has committed a few pieces here and on SB to the latter.

Number 2 is the whole deal with the fact that the kingdoms lack professional standing armies, and we've tread that ground enough times for today that I don't feel like typing it all out again. Suffice to say that no, large, organized groups of people with guns are essential enough IRL to keep people from being menaced by other large organized groups of people with guns. Add monsters to the equation, and maybe the people with the guns will be more amicable to combining their efforts, but the calculus only changes to greater favor the men on the walls. And that assumes the monsters are mindless, not being coordinated by an immortal witch.

Number 3: Dumping the populations of Atlas and Mantle in Vacuo. Do mind that Count dropped RWBY after the end of Volume 8, so a good chunk of this what I assume would have happened in Volume 10. We know exactly Dirty Dan and Pinhead Larry would have gone with this had Rooster Teeth not breathed its last. But recall that according to WoR the MTC and the SDC basically stripped Vacuo for parts in the wake of the Great War. Meaning that while the losers recovered fairly quickly, Vacuo - which saw most if the fighting in the War's latter half - did not. Vacuo probably does not have enough food to feed Vacuo and now they're going to be put upon by the descendants of their sworn enemies. We know how CRWBY would reasonably expect the Vacuans to handle this. But really? Out in the middle of the desert, resource competition cranked up to the max? The Vacuans are said to be a hospitable people, but only to those who prove strong. It is the might-makes-right ethos again, tempered by a strong tradition of xeneia/guest right so as to keep travel between the tribes and towns of the desert as peaceable as reasonably possible. Kind of like how the in the Nordic countries they used to leave their doors unlocked on the off-chance a traveler might not want to freeze to death. You need a lot of shared tradition and social trust for that kind of system to work. That's not going to hold up against twice their number in individuals waving the banner of an old enemy. Especially when the food runs low. Societies like this need long memories to function. Honor has to be sacred and trust inviolate. After all, would you give your family's dune buggy to a man, or even the next of kin of a man who in known to leave at least one man stranded to die of thirst? And after two whole volumes of emphasizing Mantle over Atlas that we got, a lot of Vacuans are going to see the ghosts of eighty years ago come again.

That is an especially morbid prognosis right there. If the Grimm don't eat the scions of Atlas and Mantle, the Vacuans would, and consider it a deed well-done.

Edit: Sorry that took so long, Count was called away unexpectedly for a few hours. I will make amends by proffering bonus content.

#4 Ozpin. He has these moments, on reflection. Remember Season 2 when he was miffed at Ironwood for bringing so much firepower to Vale? He was worried about panicking the Valean public, he was not examining the Atlesian fleet as another vector for Salem's infiltrators. No, I had to pull up the quote "If these are our defenses, what are we expecting to fight?" being the question in everybody's head. And sure. You or I would question that if the army marched a division into town and they started profusely fortifying everything they could. But, on a deathworld? I imagine the average Red McBirdword in Vale is watching his news feed - learns the big biannual festival for the Huntsman academies is coming to town, and looks out the window to see the Atlesian army. 'Oh yeah, that's right, Headmaster is another word for general up north. They might have hired him out to handle security. Oh yeah, that's right, he's a general. Even when he's not in charge of security he's in charge of security. I guess he just doesn't want any Grimm within fifty miles looking in Vale's direction.' The answer, he assumes, will be Grimm. Lots and lots of Grimm. And he assumes that every day. Because they are fighting off Grimm, every day. Sure Vale's auto defenses, and the Huntsmen/Huntresses on retainer do the majority of the work, but with all of the extra people showing up? That just means extra Grimm too. And of course to keep people from panicking too much, the Atlesian fleet has to bring enough firepower to hand out a comprehensive ass-whooping to any Grimm within fifty miles of Vale that so much as looks in its general direction.

And then there's the WoR episode about the CCT. I got a funny analogy for this one. The CCT towers. He comments about the poetry of the system's weakness. How all four of the main towers need to be functioning at once in order for the system to work. I checked the wiki and have reproduced the quote here: "If one of the four towers is taken offline, the entire network falls with it; a slight inconvenience during routine maintenance. But to be honest, I find the limitations somewhat poetic. No one voice is louder than the others, and no voice may be silent without the rest. If the people of Remnant are to speak, then they shall do so together... or not at all." He directly states that the towers are not taken offline for maintenance all at once, but in sequence. And that there are four maintenance periods (as opposed to one) per given cycle where global communications completely collapse. But what really burns me is the way he sounds almost? proud. Oh, how clever the deathless man must have thought himself. Now, make no mistake. I think the total global communications blackout pervading the post-Beacon portion of RWBY is a literary good. Adding distance and delay to communication creates urgency. You do not have the whole world at your fingertips nor everybody at your back. But would the people of Remnant really feel that way? Maybe this was legitimately the best that the people of Atlas could do. But I am reminded of one of the old Charlie Brown films. I think it was Race for Your Life. I don't know how it happens but the girls are stuck in a cabin. The radio comes on and says something about mountain climbers in the area properly securing their belaying ropes. Sally is dismayed when she misunderstands the instruction and thinks they have to join a chain gang. Lucy confidently explains that no, mountaineers just tie themselves to each other so that way when one falls, they all fall.

But I imagine that any threat or appearance of a threat to the CCT towers is therefore Priority 1 for sorting out. I can just imagine Ironwood first hearing about the break in and going "I want a full sweep of the tower top to bottom, inside and out, hardware and software. Nobody gets in or out without signed orders from me or Ozpin. I want a patrol schedule set up immediately and then the guards to be doubled. I want EOD techs in every bathroom and every broom closet. I want at eyes on every server and every terminal in the building, at least a whole squad for each. Hump them if you have to. I said hump that server private, move those hips..." and so on. Point being that only somebody who does not think death applies to them, so only immortals and the extremely conceited, do not look at this and see cause for the kind of panic that Ozpin was worried about Ironwood causing by having the army show up.

#5 Lionheart. I just fucking remembered before I posted, there was a commentary or writer-AMA that said Ozpin put Lionheart in charge of Haven because he's a Faunus. Ozpin put a Faunus in charge of the Huntsman academy in the canonically most racist kingdom. Lionheart is a DEI hire. The actual traitor. Not the guy Ruby pushed beyond the breaking point for no ostensible reason, but Salem's mole in the Ozluminatii. I can practically hear CRWBY's voices now saying that Ozpin thought that putting Faunus in positions of power in the most racist of all kingdoms would somehow do anything besides enlarge the general level of contempt the disparate groups of Mistral regard one another with, and legitimately believing that it would work that way.

No wonder Lionheart is so worried. He knows he's out of his depth running Haven. I said in the NSFW I think that Raven has no reason to work with Cinder because, unlike Lionheart, Salem and Cinder have an immediate need to collect Raven's head in order for their plans to work. Lionheart can hold on to the quisling's hope that his treachery will be rewarded with pardon by his new overlord. Now, I do not believe that CRWBY would stand by the proposition that DEI hires are by definition untrustworthy or unsuitable. But how in the goddamn does the idea form in Ozpin's head?

Especially since Mistral is based partly on Greece. And Greece is located in the Balkan peninsula. And given that peninsula gave us the term "Ethnic Cleansing" because of what was going on there between 1991 and 2001. Well, a bunch of academics in the West gave us the term "ethnic cleansing" to describe what was going on in Yugoslavia, because calling what had been going on there a bunch of small genocides was too evocative of Hitler's Reich to describe the affairs conducted in a proper multiethnic socialist country for them, and they were worried that referring to what was going on in places like Srebrenica as a genocide would make Bill Clinton's choice to intervene sound justifiable, and since it is the founding precept of the West's academic left America's actions and motivations must always be pure evil.

If you want to hear something really dark, I know of at least one prominent academic (he is widely regarded as the most accredited, certified, lauded, and intelligent linguist in academia) and he thought Ethnic Cleansing did not go far enough, and wanted to call what was being done there "population exchanges."

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The primary problem, as I see it, is that CRWBY, like tumblr, live in a high-trust, Westernized cosmopolitan world, and they assume that since they can connect with other high-trust, Westernized cosmopolitan types in other high-trust, (at least partially) Westernized cosmopolitan settings half a world away, they may reasonably conceive that theirs is the default state of existence, and that to exist at all is to be like them. Of course, that is me being charitable. In the uncharitable interpretation they are hack writers who are only capable of feeling joy or passion with the aid of a mirror, and thus cannot conceive of a state of existence being unlike theirs. The shame of it all is that they are - at heart - Rousseauians. Meaning that they believe humanity is perfectible. And the minute you start believing this, you believe that first, some (such as yourself of course) are more perfect/good than others, and second, as a logical consequence that it is the duty, prerogative, and privilege of those who are more perfect to be given control over those who are less perfect, in order to make their lessers more like themselves.

So, if the founding principle to their world view is that they themselves are perfect, what happens when you accuse the Rousseauian of being imperfect? Well. They don't like it. One, the very fact that you're calling them imperfect means you must be wrong, therefore you're imperfect, they have a right to control you, and you must obey and never gainsay them. They are right, and you not conceding that point makes you not just wrong but objectively evil. For proof I offer the Atlas arc, the fans' reaction to the Atlas arc, and CRWBY's reaction to the fans' reaction to the Atlas arc.

And of course, when they fuck up, as some can and have argued quite convincingly that to live is to continuously fuck up in a forwards-going way. You would think this would be cause for epiphany, but not so. They try to convince everyone within eyesight or earshot, and themselves most of all, that they did not fuck up. They will find a way to say it was entirely due to circumstances beyond their control. Exhibit A: whichever one Tweedle Fart and Tweedle Belch first said that the reason that the White Fang plot fell apart was because they were too white to write it. You can't control the skin color you're born with, and it is foolish to begrudge anybody over it. Note the punctuation mark prior. So, taking that last statement for truth, and supposing that the White Fang plot fell through because of the writer's complexion, as opposed to say, his thunderous incompetence, he has proven himself faultless and blameless, demonstrated to his own satisfaction that he is in no way flawed, and it is an act of moral turpitude to question him anyway.

Say with all the bashing on Blake for her character and how it was handeled being a trainwreck, I began to wonder; How could Blake character be fixed through character development?
Blake doesn't nessasarily need to end up hooking up with Yang, but at least she could get to a point where she can likely have a healthy teammate relationship with.


What if Nick just stayed that length but he got so incredibly buff, strong and an Aura radiationg off him that everyone can feel that everyone looking at him just imagines him much bigger than he actually is.

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Why do people keep posting tangentially relevant things while I'm trying to catch up? Best way to fix Blake? I'm going to say keep her as the princess of Menagerie. Now that would probably get me called some twelve-letter words on other websites. But her being a walking indictment against the very people CRWBY try to pander to with her is a good thing. As to how she goes through character development. I would first force her into a situation where she can't run away. That's the inciting incident. No, maybe not, that might not give her cause to learn anything. She needs to be put into a situation where running away is an option, that she cannot take. She'll want to, at first, but she must be confronted prior to said incident, and during said incident, both, with the negative consequences of running away. Put her in a position where she has to move forward. Best idea, she catches wind of somebody she knows from the White Fang about to do something exceptionally insidious. This individual will not be moved by reason or compassion. Blake must be forced to use force. She goes through her usual bout of vigilantism (I am assuming this happens in the Beacon Era), and it ends well. Objectively well. She receives the adulation of the sort she secretly craves for the merit of her deeds. She is left feeling wholly good but slightly hollow. Later by her lonesome she stares over the charred remains of the bridge that she has now burnt for good, only to be interrupted by a party of sufficient trustworthiness, but sufficient distance to maintain neutrality. She consults this person for advice. This person imparts some lesson onto her, for example "you can try to outrun your problems, but eventually they'll catch up, and they'll bring regret with them," or somesuch. Blake is left to chew on that as she interacts with RW_Y. Things go up and down, but find the familiar harmony sooner rather than later.

Then the Vytal attack. Here Blake is pushed to the limit both physically and mentally. How you handle the Adam situation is up to you. But whether or not the outcome is the same, Blake's three options are immutable. 1. She can stay. Do not make this the end of her road. Make it the next rest stop. She's committing to the well-being of people that she's found who mean something to her. She had something and lost it. Now she wants to fight to reclaim it. 2) She can run to Menagerie. Her courage fails. The crucible is too hot. But make her commit - on the boat, ideally - to somehow (it doesn't even have to be articulate) making this (whatever this is) right (eventually, she still has to pick herself up first) From there she can ask herself the all important questions of what she did wrong and what she can do better. 3) She can run somewhere else. Blake gets into a headspace not unlike Qrow's ashamed of being near her friends, she wanders off to make this (again, whatever this is) right. But it is more concrete. She at least has a goal in mind here. Paying back Adam, searching out (and possibly gutting) his collaborators. Finding a concrete result that she can come back to the team and say "I'm sorry, accept this token of apology." They will naturally tell her that such was not what they needed, and they merely wished her to stay with them. And she can say "okay, then I will do that." The team is reconciled, if not moving toward reconciliation, and Blake must pass that test too but by this point she faces it front-ways with shoulders square. And check my math, but I think we are still on pace to resolve the whole White Fang plot by the end of Volume 5.

We have reached 3.5k words. I have taken the better part of a day to crank this out, and I am sorry. But I can finally post this now.

 

[TheFabulousCustodes]

I chalk it up to Beacon being an elite Huntsman Academy, the absolute top. And there are many other smaller schools or apprenticeships for other Hunters available. Jaune would settle for nothing less than the best, like his ancestors did.

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How the hell did Cardin, and the rest of his team get in, considering we see them run from their first real combat against the Grimm, and leave Cardin to die?

 

[SharkCultist]

How the hell did Cardin, and the rest of his team get in, considering we see them run from their first real combat against the Grimm, and leave Cardin to die?

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More than likely nepotism, that or beacon accepted them and was seeing if they could shape up, otherwise they'd get transferred.