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#I’m making up for the mishmash of tones and pacing of the last post
corrodedcoughin · 10 months
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Pre-relationship Steddie exchanging mix tapes for each other with pining, lovesick songs over and over again on each side. Handing them over to each other with hopes the other person will Pick Up On The Messages.
Eddie having corroded coffin over that night as a distraction from thinking about Steve listening to The Tape. It’s a pretty normal night except Eddie is crouching on the couch biting his nails and hissing, so actually yeah it’s a normal night. But the guys can tell something is up so Gareth and Jeff start rifling through Eddie’s tapes, hoping that some music will chill him out or get him hyped or just anything that isn’t what he’s doing right now. Ian is sitting by him and trying to start a conversation but it’s a fool’s errand.
So the tape goes in and the music starts and it feels like maybe Eddie will relax. But as the first song goes into the second he freezes. Stares wide eyed. Shushes everyone. Demands gareth skip to the next song, then the next. Oh no. Oh no.
Eddie grabs Jeff by the arm ‘Jeff. Dude. Please. Please tell me what’s written on the tape you put on’ wide eyed and unblinking.
‘Uh I don’t know man. Gareth get the tape out, yeah?’ Jeff asks with a blatantly confused face. And of course Gareth acquiesces, deciding not to escalate the situation for once in his life which Eddie is very grateful for.
And the tape? The tape is the Steve tape. The one Steve was supposed to have. Which is fine. Absolutely fine! It’s okay! Eddie can explain this away. He can, he’ll get his one back and it’ll be fine. Whatever is on the casette steve has can’t be that bad, it just can’t be.
——
The next day Eddie goes to family video. Plays it cool, hopes to earn a smile out of Steve. Maybe a laugh if he’s lucky. Only Steve’s kind of jumpy? Normally he gives a wave and a wink that he’s Eddie struggling to stay upright. This time? This time he’s struggling to make eye contact and blushing? Weird. Maybe he’s sick. Eddie should make him soup.
‘Hey Steve. Stevie. Stev-o’ he’s at the counter now, tapping on it trying to hide his nerves. And Steve is smiling at him, properly smiling, this is nice. Steve should always be smiling.
‘I listened to the tape’ Steve says with a bashful giggle and Eddie loves the way it sounds falling from Steve’s lips. With new found courage eddie continues ‘Actually, about that…any chance I could have my casette back? I want to give it to Gareth.’ Eddie spent far too long on his perfect Steve mix, he will not let it go unheard. If he has to lie to get The Mix To Win Steve in that boys beautiful hands by god he will.
‘Gareth?!’ Steve’s smile drops instantly. Mood souring and expression turning hurt, almost bitchy ‘yeah sure, whatever. Thought we were making tapes for each other but whatever’
Confused by the sudden change Eddie carries on carefully ‘oh yeah, but I gave you the wrong one. That was for Gareth. For all of the guys actually. This one’ Eddie fishes the casette out of his pocket ‘this one is for you’ and slides it across the counter.
‘For…for all of them? You want to give that tape to all of the guys?’ Steve only looks more confused
‘Yeah man, why wouldn’t I? They are my guys!’ Eddie continues, trying to dispel this weird atmosphere. Before he can go any further Robin calls Steve into the store room, something about a stacking tower emergency and Steve is off, a dejected wave thrown at Eddie as Eddie walks out the door.
Weird. Very weird.
Nonetheless eddie hops into his van ready to drive home and start the process of Worrying About What Steve Will Think all over again. Curiosity gets the better of him though and he sticks the mistake casette into the player of the van, expecting a normal metal guitar riff to play out. What he gets? Is far, far worse
Trumpets.
Snare drums.
Oh
Oh no
Oh god
Then the signing starts. And Eddie knows. Eddie fucking knows that this tape only has one song on it. Repeated. On both sides. Over and over again. And Steve thinks. Oh Jesus what does Steve think. What DID Steve think? Eddie pulls over and sinks his head into the steering wheel until the horn drowns out the music of Monty python.
🎶 Sit on my face and tell me that you love me
I'll sit on your face and tell you I love you, too
I love to hear you oralize
When I'm between your thighs
You blow me away
Sit on my face and let my lips embrace you
I'll sit on your face and then I'll love you truly
Life can be fine if we both sixty-nine
If we sit on our faces in all sorts of places
And play, 'til we're blown away 🎶
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tsaomengde · 3 years
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I have watched Star Wars: Visions!  All of them!  On the whole I was entertained.  As with any anthology like this, there are ones I liked more and ones I liked less.  I'm going to do a very quick, spoiler-lite (no twists or reveals, just general impressions) post-mortem on them in order of how much I enjoyed them.  None of these are canon, but I will also address the question: Could It Be?  Not because that's an indicator of quality, but mostly because it's a fun mental exercise.
I watched these in English across the board.  The dubs were all fine.  We've come a long way in that department.  I tried watching in Japanese but there are no English subtitles that aren't also closed caption, which seems like a ridiculous oversight on Disney's part.
9. Akakiri
Animation is okay.  The story is kind of a mishmash of things and I didn't care much for the direction it took.  Not all of these need to be "Star Wars" as I understand it - part of the appeal of anthology productions is the diversity of points of view.  But this really didn't vibe with me.  Disappointing note to end on since it's the last one in the "season." 3/10
Could It Be Canon: Ehhh, not really.
8. Lop and Ochou
Gorgeous animation, solid premise, weak execution.  The stakes are arbitrary and I didn't feel we got a satisfying story arc.  Things felt rushed in some areas and too slow in others.  I enjoyed the pretty pictures though.  4/10
Could It Be Canon: There's a few elements in there that make me say "no," and the bunny people are not one of them, for the record.
7. T0-B1
This was a cute story.  Lots of cute designs, simple story with a nice message.  The animation isn't really my cup of tea but for what it is it was executed with great artistry.  5/10
Could It Be Canon: Not in a billion years.
6. The Twins
Pretty-looking nonsense.  This is definitely the most "anime" of all the episodes, and I don't necessarily mean that in a good or bad way.  I know the Internet has been dying to see Waifu Grievous in action, but I thought the action was just passing okay.  5.5/10
Could It Be Canon: Hell could freeze over, the heat death of the universe could come and go, and this still would never even remotely approach canon.
5. The Village Bride
Very pretty, kind of a contemplative Thing.  Suffers from a lack of... something.  Like there's a lot going on here, and that's not a bad thing, but it doesn't mesh quite right.  Pacing is off, and the climax is cool but I don't know that all the dominoes that fall necessarily add up right.  6/10
Could It Be Canon: Actually this is one of the more canon-plausible episodes.  You could definitely squint and say some of the elements are just artistic choices rather than hard deviations from how we know canon Star Wars to work.
4. Tatooine Rhapsody
This is kind of a ridiculous premise but you know what, they pulled it off.  The animation is fine, in a cute, exaggerated chibi style that really helps sell the tone of the story they're telling.  I had fun with it.  The fact that its story hinges on a band making music means there is music, and I thought it was not bad.  7/10
Could It Be Canon: Again, it's kind of ridiculous, but nothing in the story technically conflicts with how canon Star Wars actually works.  And think about some of the stuff from the old EU.  Waru makes this look down-to-earth.
3. The Elder
Slow as hell to get to the actual point, and the characterization is laid on pretty damn thick (we get it, the Padawan is trigger-happy), but the payoff is well done and the animation is very solid.  Plus, I think this is the first time we see trakata (tactically turning off and reigniting a lightsaber) actually used on-screen basically ever.  7.5/10
Could It Be Canon: Absolutely 100% could be canon.
2. The Ninth Jedi
Really beautiful animation, excellent premise and payoff, and good pacing.  I have basically nothing bad to say about this one except that I would have liked more of this story, since they left us with many directions they could go.  9/10
Could It Be Canon: Ehhhh, no.  The central premise of the story is predicated on the idea that a situation could come into being where lightsabers are lost technology.  From everything we know about lightsabers in both old and new canon, the hardest part about making them is acquiring a crystal and then attuning it using the Force.  If you're Force-sensitive and you're even moderately tech-savvy, you should be able to figure it out.
1. The Duel
I would rather have ended on this one, because it is the best by *far.*  Gorgeous animation that seamlessly blends Kurosawa-style samurai cinema with Star Wars aesthetics in the best possible way.  The story is simple, but effective, and the pacing is dead on.  This is what I signed up for when I pressed "play" on Visions and it delivered.  11/10
Could It Be Canon: Not really.  There's a little too much here that can't just be hand-waved away as artistic choices.  But I would watch or read the hell out of something set in this "version" of Star Wars.
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random-mha-thoughts · 4 years
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Boy in Luv (Midoriya x Reader)
Pairing: Midoriya x fem!Reader
Genre: Fluff/crack
Summary: Midoriya has a crush on a girl in his class, but he has no idea how to confess to her, enlisting the help of his two good friends.
Inspo: Based on BTS “Boy in Luv” MV
Word count: 1,802
Tags:  @liviitehe @iamsoftsodonttoucheume-blog @bunnythepipsqueak @yuki-osaki
a/n: As promised, here’s the post!  And with this, I’ve officially added Midoriya to the list of characters in the Touch Starved collection.
Enjoy the cuteness and, mostly, the crackhead friendship between the main 3 characters!  And even though I’m really late, happy 6th anniversary to Skool Luv Affair!
Midoriya, Bakugou, and Todoroki sit on the front stoop of their dorm building, enjoying the good weather since it was raining the past few days.  They've been practicing all day and decided to take a break and snack together.
Midoriya munches on his stick of string cheese.  "Do you guys get the math stuff?  I'm still having trouble with integrals and stuff."
"Tch, you're falling behind again, Deku," Bakugou scoffs, ripping open a bag of spicy chips.
Todoroki, the only one of them who decides to snack healthy with some fruit, chews for a moment before offering, "I can help you if you're stuck, Midoriya."
"Like you're any better, Icyhot.  You went completely frozen trying to figure out that problem in class yesterday," Bakugou points out smugly.
"I was simply calculating the answer mentally before writing down my work," Todoroki answers, cool and collected as ever.
"Don't make me laugh!  Just admit that you can be dumb sometimes too!"
Midoriya laughs awkwardly, stuck between his two friends as they argue - more like one of them screaming while the other brushes them off calmly.  The boy raises his eyes out to the distance, widening his eyes at what, or who , he sees.
The girl jogs towards the dorm building with Yaoyorozu beside her.  Her face lights up into a smile at whatever they're talking about.  A black windbreaker jacket is thrown over her golden honey colored sports bra that shows off her lean abdomen, and black leggings with a matching yellow stripe tracing down the side hugs her toned legs.  Midoriya doesn't want to admit it, but he can't stop staring.
The two girls slow to a stop in front of the group of still-bickering boys.  "My, they're always fighting, aren't they?" Yaoyorozu shakes her head.
The girl lets out a few chuckles.  "That's just how they are, I'd be more surprised if they stopped, honestly."  She turns to the green-haired boy and offers him a beaming smile, her eyes crinkling up.  "You still holding up, Midoriya?"
At first he's dazed, staring at the way her chest heaves as she breathes and the thin sheen of sweat on her face glistening in the fading afternoon light.  At his name, he sobers up and his cheeks flush from what he was staring at.  "Oh, uh, yeah, somehow," he sputters.  "Did you guys just come back from training?"
"Yeah, we had a pretty good session."  She stretches her arms over her head, letting a few hums of pain escape her.  "I'd love a good shower and my bed right about now, but I still have homework to do.  See you tomorrow!"
The boy watches as the girls retreat back into the building.  I never thought yellow would look good on someone besides Kaminari, he finds himself thinking.
"Midoriya, are you okay?" Todoroki's concerned voice scatters his thoughts.
"Huh?"
"Your cheeks are red and hot like you have a fever."  The heterochromatic haired boy leans forward, about to touch his face.  "Are you coming down with something?"
"No, you clueless idiot, he's in love," Bakugou barks, "He's got the hots for (Y/n)."
Midoriya jolts up.  "Is it that obvious?"
"Maybe not to Icyhot, but yeah, you look at her like she's your entire world or something."
The boy's emerald eyes drop to the ground and he hugs his knees to his chest.  "She's a really down to Earth person, and she's really easy to talk to.  And...the way her smile lights up her entire face."  His goofy smile and warm feelings fade as he sinks his head down to rest on his knees.  "I don't really know how I should tell her though."
Todoroki takes a bite of his orange slice, pondering the situation.  "Give her a lamp?  Since you said she lights up easily?"
Both boys shoot him a confused glance.  "I don't think that would impress her."  Midoriya gives it a thought.  "She likes coffee, maybe I can get her a thermos for the morning?"
"Give her a new set of pens, she has a bad habit of always losing her own."
"Maybe buy her a new pencil case to match?"
"Buy a plant for her dorm to brighten it up, like a cactus."
Bakugou finally throws his head back and groans at their stupidity.  "You guys are such idiots!  Neither of you know the first damn thing about romance?"
The two other boys slowly shake their heads dumbly
The ash blond groans again.  "Okay, let me tell you what you should do, Deku, since you're obviously clueless."  After explaining a somewhat elaborate plan to the two other boys, he leans back, a triumphant grin on his face.
Midoriya's eye widen, blush coating his cheeks again at the thought of the scenario unfolding.  "Wow Kacchan, I never expected you to be a romantic."
"Yeah, it's because you idiots are totally clueless.  You need me to educate you."
"If you're so good, why are you still single?" Todoroki asks simply.
Silence.
"SHUT UP ICYHOT! DON'T MAKE ME KILL YOU!"
Two days later, the three boys decide to go through with Bakugou's scheme.  After class, Bakugou silently follows the girl, waiting for her to stop talking to the rest of the girls to get her alone.  After spending an annoyingly long amount of time outside their classroom talking to Mina and Tzuyu, she finally bids them goodbye and makes her way to the library to study.
Unfortunately for her, she never makes it.
Just before she opens the door, she notices a shadow looming behind her.  Turning around, she's startled to have Bakugou's piercing crimson eyes boring into her's.  She backs into the door and he slams an arm by her head.  She's shaking like a leaf.  "W-What do you want, Bakugou?  I didn't do anything to you."  Despite trying to seem strong, her voice comes out feebly.
A sinister smirk crawls across Bakugou's face.  "How'd you like to go on a little trip?"
Before she can scream bloody murder, he grabs her arm and pulls her away on a little "joyride."
Meanwhile, Todoroki and Midoriya move all the chairs and desks of an empty classroom towards the walls to make a clear space in the middle.
The nervous, freckle-faced boy nervously paces around the room, going over the lines in his head while his fears wreck his quivering body.  "I can't do this, Todoroki!  What if she says no?  What if she laughs at me?!  What if she tells everyone?!  I'll be absolutely humiliated!"
"Midoriya, calm down," he stares at the jittery boy with a level gaze.  "Bakugou said he's very confident this will work.  He's sure she also harbors feelings for you too."  He places a warm hand on Midoriya's shoulder to stop his anxious habit.  "Besides, since she likes you, she would appreciate your nervous stuttering because she would find it endearing and think it's genuine of you.  Sounding too practiced ruins the natural anxiety of the moment."
The boy stares back the Todoroki's stoic expression, letting his words sink in.  "So I need to make sure I don't overpractice or else she'll still reject me?" he whines.
The half-hot-half-cold boy sighs, being cut off by his phone ringing.  "It's Bakugou, he says they'll be here shortly.  And he says, 'Don't mess this up, Deku.'"
The boy cries out, feeling his entire body suddenly lose all heat to hysterical cold.  Todoroki turns off the lights and closes the window shades, plunging the room into darkness only to light the few candles scattered across the room, casting a dim golden ambiance.
For the final step, Todoroki produces a single rose out of the inside pocket of his uniform jacket.  Walking over to Midoriya, who's mumbling strings of inaudible, neurotic fears to himself, he juts the rose out in front of him, cutting off his speech.  "Relax, Midoriya.  Just say what comes naturally."
Midoriya blinks, delicately holding the rose by the stem, Todoroki moving to stand behind the door to be out of the way.  The smaller boy feels sweaty, shaky, sick.  His uniform tie is suffocating around his throat, stomach heavy in anticipation and fear, heart hammering in his chest and ears.
Finally, the door swings open and his heart almost stops completely.
Bakugou walks in first, holding the girl by the arm.  The first thing Midoriya notices about her is her insanely windblown hair and dazed eyes.  Bakugou said he would take her out on a ride around school, hitching her on his back, jumping out a window, and using his quirk to rocket them around the school building once.  He says it would get her blood pumping, adrenaline rushing, and cheeks blushing; the perfect primer for riling her up for the big finale.
"Take it away, nerd," Bakugou makes a dramatic sweep of his hands towards Midoriya, and he knows it's his turn to shine.
The girl blinks back into focus and surveys the layout of the room, scanning the messily pushed around desks, the candles, and finally resting on the boy with the rose in his hands.  Her blush intensifies at the last thing.  "M-Midoriya, what's all this for?"
The boy goes cold all over again, perfomance anxiety getting to him.  "I... Uh, (Y/n)- You-"  All the different ways he could possibly start his monologue jumbles together to produce a mishmash of word vomit.  Pull yourself together, don't mess this up!  He takes a deep breath in and clears his throat to start over.  Whatever comes natural.  "(Y/n), you are the most amazing,  bright, fun, cute person I know.  Just seeing you smile makes my day and manages to tongue-tie me.  I'd really like to be...more than friends."  He holds out the flower with both shaky hands and dares to look in her eyes.  "W-Will you...go out with me?"
Her silence seems to last agonizingly forever.  Her entire face seems to lift as she flickers back and forth between the boy and the flower he clutches to keep from coming undone.  She finds it endearing.  In a swift movement, she gently grips his hand, leans in close, and places a kiss on his freckled cheek.  "Yes, I'd love to go out with you, Midoriya."
The boy lets out a strangled yelp of excitement, before slapping a hand over his mouth in embarrassment.  "I'm sorry, I'm just really happy!"  Sheepish chuckles bubble out as he throws his arms around her, and she welcomes his embrace with her own delighted laughter.
The other boys look on at the scene before them.  "The nerd did better than I thought he would've," Bakugou mumbles, shoving his hands in his slack pockets.
"At least his confession was accepted.  Don't know what would happen if you tried this, though," Todoroki comments, his dig smoothly executed.
Bakugou grips the boy's shirt.  "YOU WANNA DIE ICYHOT?!"
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11 and 17 for no specific reason whatsoever <3
11.) [What character do you think deserved better in the film?] Aside from Aina, who I covered my feelings on in the last ask, DEFINITELY Thyma. She did not deserve to be a plot device that was only given a personality in a 10 minute short that not everyone watched or even knew about before seeing the film and watching her die in a hole in the wall in front of Galo. 17.) [Favorite AUs you’ve seen/heard of or your own?] These are my own/shared between me and a friend group but, Solar Promare AU and Burnish Aina AU! Solar Promare AU I have an ENTIRE post dedicated to that I’m still getting around to, so I’ll just talk about Burnish Aina here. (Despite it being an offshoot of Solar Promare AU.) In my interpretation of a Burnish Aina AU, Aina turns out to have been Burnish since before the movie started and it gets revealed when she gets ANGRY at Heris instead of blankly accepting her excuses in their argument after Galo gets imprisoned (Either that, or instead of already being Burnish, Aina awakens during this fight, which personally I think fits better with the awkward pacing of the movie, as much as I like the alternative. But STILL). There's a lot of little things about her that would've made it pretty interesting/decently foreshadowed, which honestly makes me think she could’ve been Burnish in some earlier draft but that it was scrapped for time or because it was hard to fit into the plot?
By comparison with the rest of Burning Rescue Aina has the most passionate tone regarding the mistreatment of the Burnish during the pizza place scene.
Aina is aircraft support, meaning we'd never have the chance to see her non-reactions to fire/being burned on the job.
Furthermore, Aina seems to be good at keeping herself in check. She has passion, but she doesn't lose her cool, so we'd never see her flare up/shoot fire until she blows up at Heris.
Speaking of Heris, by extension, Aina being Burnish would've made Heris's arc less bland and terrible too, as from Heris's perspective, if she didn't hide Aina being Burnish and cut a deal with Kray for her protection, Aina would not just be left to die on Earth as the planet explodes, she'd be forced into the engine instead. Her motive goes from morally 'selfish and dark-grey' to morally 'selfish but grey', as the threat Aina is under becomes INCREDIBLY personal and a source of guilt/shame for building this active threat to her sister's life that Heris feels the need to rectify at the expense of everyone else on the planet. Finally, it'd've said something about how deep the propaganda runs in Promepolis that Aina both actively fears for her life being Burnish but maintains a job at Burning Rescue where she  could easily be outed under the wrong circumstances. And come on, no matter what version, Aina's bike/helicopter getting completely trashed in the final arc and she figures out how to repair it using the same material as Mad Burnish's bikes, ending up with a half 'n half aesthetic mishmash, representing her as a one-woman link between Burning Rescue and the Burnish/Mad Burnish, contrasting with Galo and Lio's two-person bond? It's good shit.
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psyga315 · 4 years
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Fixing RWBY Volume 5
Well, here we are. Volume 5. The hot mess that helped spark a new generation of critics. Sure, Volume 6 also had its share, but it was more focused on Adam and the Bees. Volume 5 destroyed a lot of things and caused people to voice their complaints. It was so bad, RT had to literally appease the public by giving them exactly what they want. You ever wondered why Ruby suddenly gained prominence as a character in Volume 6 or the sudden focus on Blake and Yang’s relationship or even Penny’s return?
But why is Volume 5 so bad? Well, I made a lengthy post about it, but the long story short of it is that a combination of RT’s over ambitiousness of RWBY, its lack of resource management, and the writers clearly having no idea how to pace scenes out led to a Volume that felt more like the writers just wanted to get it over with and failed to live up to its core theme. I brought this up time and time again with my tweaks that each of the volumes carried with it a certain theme.
Volume 1 was about beginnings and friendship, Volume 2 was about stepping into danger, Volume 3 was the theme of falling, Volume 4 was the theme of picking yourself back up, Volume 6 was outgrowing your mentor’s advice, and Volume 7 was about trust and fear. What’s Volume 5’s theme? Well, from the interviews mentioned in the Reddit post and the opening song, the theme revolves around solving problems on your own and, most importantly for this rewrite, shouting “We’re not done here!”, which, if you’ve seen Volume 5, went more like this:
“Let’s wait until the bad guys call us to fight them. Then we’ll cry about how things aren’t going our way until this guy goes about feeling up- I mean, healing up this girl.”
Obviously, this needs to be changed. Unlike the other tweaks where I change one or two major elements of a Volume and mostly shuffle things around for better coherency, this is just gonna outright be a full rewrite, since while I mostly let things go as they are, the problem with Volume 5 is that nothing should go as they are.
In fact, all the tweaking I did is basically building up for Volume 5. All the bits where Ozpin is untrustworthy? To better sell Yang getting all pissy about BIRDS. Hazel’s appearance? To make him a much more prominent character. Everything in regards to Adam and the White Fang? To set up a better closure for the White Fang subplot. It’s all been to try and fix Volume 5. If Volume 3 is the lynchpin for which all other Volumes try to imitate, then Volume 5 is the lynchpin for which all other Volumes try to avoid being. Like I said, RT had to basically give viewers a shit ton of cookies just to make up for how bad Volume 5 was.
So, instead of going by this arc by arc, I’m gonna go the more traditional route and rewrite the Volume episode by episode. My obligatory recommendation is a mishmash of Volume 5 rewrites that Unicorn of War made. I mean, he made about 3? 4? I lost count.
Episode 0 (Trailers)
Okay, these need to be changed. The point of a character short is to highlight the character’s strong points. Not make them weak or focus on someone else. Ruby’s character short did this, Adam’s character short did this, the original trailers did this, so why the hell did they drop the ball with Weiss losing to common undead mooks and Blake listening to a backstory that isn’t even in the show proper?
So, we’re going to change all this. Weiss’s character short has her fighting against the Beowovles and she manages to win. Winter comes by, but points out how sloppy she was and reveals that she held back. She then gives a foreshadowing line of “if this were a real battle, you’d most likely be bleeding out from that last blow.”
Blake’s character short goes more into detail of what happened to Ghira. Namely him getting gunned down by random humans and in a later scene, Blake fighting them to get revenge, only to stop herself. Adam steps in and personally finishes off the humans, which causes Blake to realize just how much of an asshole Adam is.
Yang’s character short is somewhat the same, but drop the stupid plotline of Ruby learning hand to hand, since RT wants to pretend it never existed to begin with. Also, let’s not have Yang’s aura flicker and tell the Audience she has no aura when you literally just explained a day or so ago that no aura means no semblance.
Alright, now let’s finally get into it:
Episode 1
We open right where the stinger of Volume 4 leaves off with Jaune and co visiting Pyrrha’s mom and dad and dropping off a spare shield that RT joked about in an interview that forever scarred the Floof Artist and blurred the lines of if RWBY should be an anime or a cartooooooooooon. It’s meant to set the tone for this Volume as we get a brief bit where Ruby and Qrow explore the rest of Mistral and not just look at mat paintings. Also, show that it’s in a state of chaos instead of two people with some bamboo heart plant thing.
We also have bits that catch up with our cast. Weiss hears a distress signal and much to Pilot Boi’s demands, she commandeers the ship and flies to them. Blake and Ilia meet for the first time since the fight and Blake argues with her on why she’s vouching so much for Adam. Ilia only warns her to leave Menagerie before she gets hurt and leaves before Blake asks for details. Yang and Heather gang up and get Not!Bakugou to drag them to the bandits.
RNJR and Qrow meet up with Lionheart, who fills them in on the crisis as Qrow tells him that he had to explain the Relics since Ozpin is no longer with them. Namely, Mistral has tons of Grimm going around, not helped by bandits who are making bad matters worse. When Qrow mentions that the Spring Maiden is among the bandits, he nearly has a heart attack. “Bandits are one thing but magical bandits!?”
He also answers Jaune’s question with the same response: “Nothing but lies and forgeries.”, which makes Jaune angry and openly complains about it before Ruby tries to help him. “Hey! We may not have gotten what we wanted, but people here need our help.” When Ruby says this, Qrow decides to inform the group about the possible home base of Raven’s tribe. Note that he does not mention that she’s Yang’s mom nor do they know. Lionheart is a little startled and warns that they only have one shot at this and if they fail, Raven’s tribe will scatter into parts unknown, if they haven’t already. He tries to get them to stay, but Ruby is insistent to stop Raven at the very least, with securing the Spring Maiden being a secondary mission, not asking why she’s important, since she kinda got the idea from Jaune when he recounted how Ozpin forced the Maiden powers onto Pyrrha.
As they leave, Lionheart sighs and warns Watts about it, only for him to say that this game of chess was out of his hand to begin with. The most Lionheart can do is provide the team with the one Huntsman who is at his Academy…
Later that evening, Qrow goes for a drink while RNJR prepare for their mission. He is approached by Oscar and Lionheart. Lionheart says that Oscar had arrived at Haven days ago and refused to leave when he’s told that school’s out for the summer. He leaves Oscar to Qrow while saying how “a day out in the field is worth a week in school.”
As Oscar is alone with Qrow, he asks for his cane in a voice that is not his. Ending the episode there.
Episode 2
Lionheart informs Salem about RNJR arriving at Haven with Qrow and that they’re on their way to retrieve the Spring Maiden. He advises Salem to act quickly, but Salem hushes him (no, she does not strangle him) and says that she’s got the situation under control. She then advises Watts that he is no longer needed at Mistral and is to return to Evernight before the others find him. Watts uses the Seer to teleport and he and Cinder have a bit of a snarkfest now that Cinder can talk before Watts leaves to make Tyrian’s tail.
Cinder then asks Salem to personally be the one that kills Ruby, only to be warned that Ruby’s Silver Eyes are a hazard to her. “She is merely a novice with the Silver Eyes and yet put you on death’s door… I don’t want you to get hurt again.” Cinder just flares up and goes “I. Won’t.” And storms off.
Weiss battles with Lancer Wasps like in the original, but she’s acting on initiative so people are being saved. Battle proceeds like normal, but when Weiss crashes the plan, she and Pilot Boi survive before being kidnapped by Raven.
We cut to Adam and Sienna doing their usual talk, but instead of Sienna going out like a bitch, she actually has a battle with Adam because I assume in this universe, RT knows better than to fuck up like this. I’d compare it to Maul vs. Vizsla from the Clone Wars.
Meanwhile, Ruby and co. are ready to depart before Qrow approaches them, drunk, with Oscar, who quickly informs the group that they may know him better as Ozpin… Cue Jaune becoming shocked at first… then turning into outright rage. End episode.
Episode 3
We open with Kali making a speech on Adam’s plans to destroy Haven Academy and the rest of the Menagerians hesitant to step forward. One of the guards approaches Kali, then stabs her. In the chaos, the guard runs off, then appears through the crowd, shedding her disguise and revealing herself to the audience as Ilia, who gives her whole “Now is the time to side with Adam” speech and also reveals how her parents died in the dust mines. This goes into a brief scuffle between Sun and Ilia that Ilia gets out of by disguising herself as Blake when Blake joins the fight. This is where you can do that Blake slaps Sun bit, but instead, it’s Ilia who slaps Sun.
We then cut to Jaune slamming Oscar against the wall and shouting: “YOU BASTARD! HOW ARE YOU STILL ALIVE!?” Ruby tries to pull Jaune away, but he won’t budge. Oscar, still in Ozpin’s voice, gives the explanation that he is able to reincarnate but hides why or how he can do this. In fact, he hides that his “reincarnation” actually means his soul becomes linked to another’s, much to Oscar’s chagrin. He explains that Lionheart has been very sketchy and warns not to listen to what he says. He then advises that they should move quickly. Note that he doesn’t say that they need to train, since the training arc goes nowhere and we need to not only streamline this but make it a lot more entertaining. Ozpin then de-possesses Oscar, who cries about his hurt back, immediately bringing Ozpin’s methods into question for Ruby for the first time.
Weiss awakes to find herself in a cage next to Pilot Boi, who just gives her a comedic calling out just before Vernal and her troops come in and drag out Pilot Boi. Vernal looks to Weiss and tells the bandits “she’s important. Leave her be.” Weiss asks what’s going on as Vernal tells Weiss about how she’s going to be used as a bartering chip. For what, we don’t know yet, but it’s clarified that she’s not being ransomed back to her father. Vernal then explains that Pilot Boi is merely a spare and that they can do what they want. As she says that, she goes to Pilot Boi as he is held down in front of Raven. Vernal approaches Pilot Boi as Weiss looks on in worry. We then end the episode with a crash of lightning.
Episode 4
Heather and Yang get ambushed, but beat up the gang with ease, then enter the tribe, though not without seeing Pilot Boi’s charred corpse crucified outside the gates as a warning for intruders. Heather and Yang get their weapons ready.
We cut to RNJR, Oscar, and Qrow, who are walking to Raven’s camp. Along the way, Oscar is given a lecture from Qrow on Aura, namely on how to activate it. He then asks Ruby, as she’s the youngest of the group, if fighting is as easy as huntsmen make it out to be. Ruby gives the naïve answer of “of course!” though Jaune brings up how inexperience is discouraged. As Oscar grows afraid of Jaune, Jaune sighs and apologizes. “Sorry, I’m not entirely sure what’s going on with you and Oz right now… I don’t hate you… Just the voice inside you.”
“I know… I hate it too…”
Qrow stops them and tells them they’ve arrived.
Cut to the tribe letting Yang and Heather in where they confront Raven… Heather questions if she’s the one responsible for not just the destruction of several villages, but also the disappearance of huntsmen too. Already, this should send warning flags, but Yang decides to ignore them.
Yang: Take off that mask, Raven.
Raven: Is that anyway to treat your mother? {Heather gives a WTF look}
Yang: My mother is dead and you know it.
Raven: {sneers} Regardless. You’ve proven yourself by coming out to find me. I guess you grew tired of Ozpin’s teachings and wanted to join the winning side.
Yang: That’s not why I’m here.
Raven: Then why are you here?
Yang: For my sister.
Raven: Well, hate to disappoint you, but she’s not here.
Yang: That’s why you’re going to bring me there with your Semblance. It can create portals with you and a close bond, right?
Raven: So… you know about that. Well, unfortunately for you, I don’t respect that brat enough to make a portal.
Yang: {eyes go red} Don’t talk about my sister that way!
Raven: What’s so important about her anyways? From her eyes, she’s already a lost cause for that Ozpin.
Yang: What do you know about Ozpin? You got kicked out the moment he saw that you’re using his teachings to kill innocent people!
Raven: Is that what Taiyang told you? Foolish. Simply foolish. I didn’t get kicked out of STRQ. I left STRQ. I’d rather use those teachings for better things than what Ozpin had in store. He turned my brother and your ‘mother’ into his personal attack dogs and put one of them down when they got too gabby.
Yang: {about to go into a frenzy} You shut your mouth!
Vernal: Are we going to have a problem?
Yang: {sees she has Myrtenaster} W-where did you find that?
Raven: {nods to Vernal, who goes over to reveal a caged Weiss} We had anticipated your arrival since you stepped foot on Anima. The fact that one of your friends just so happened to be close by gave us the perfect bargaining chip.
Yang: What are you going to do to her?
Raven: Nothing, if you join us. {Weiss looks at Raven, having suddenly figured out that’s what Vernal meant}
Yang: And if I refuse?
Raven then signals Vernal to execute Weiss. Just then, Ruby intervenes and speed blitzes her. Weiss then breaks out of the prison with her summon as JNROQ come in. The group is surrounded by bandits as everyone quickly finds out that Raven is Yang’s mom. Ren is the first to attack, seeing Vernal and believing her to be the child he made friends with back in Kuroyuri. This begins a massive clash that is sure to sate the appetites of those who want to say “RWBY’s about four girls who kick ass” and give a taste of what’s to come.
The group have little time to figure out what’s going on. Just that Ren, Weiss and Nora are fighting Vernal (this is where you have Weiss trying to summon only to get shot by Vernal), Jaune is battling some bandits with Oscar and Heather, and Ruby and Yang try to fight Raven, only for Qrow to interfere and say that Raven’s on a whole different level. Raven retreats and after battling some bandits for quite a bit, Hazel comes out of the tent. Turns out that Fort Castle (the place where Adam fought Sienna) was not too far from Raven’s base. Ruby and Hazel reunite briefly before Hazel apologizes and enters the fray. He makes everyone his bitch and that’s without the Dust Crystals. Heather and Qrow are the only ones to give him an even fight, but he quickly overwhelms them too thanks to his Semblance.
While the group manages to fend off the bandits, it’s clear that with Hazel, Raven, and Vernal, they need to make a retreat, especially since Raven asks Hazel to bring in “that Adam boy”, making Yang go full PTSD mode. However, before they could leave, Hazel defeats Heather. Ruby protests that he shouldn’t kill her, but her pleas fall on deaf ears as he finishes Heather off. Ruby begins to cry and asks why he killed her. Hazel just replies “She made her choice.” The group retreat back to Mistral as we end the episode with Raven going back into the camp as we see that a Seer Grimm is inside her tent.
This reveals a rather big twist: Raven is also in league with Salem’s crew, acting as Huntsmen removal instead of Tyrian and Hazel (since they were too busy with their stuff in Volume 4) and it also explains why Salem and the others aren’t as hard-pressed about the Spring Maiden as they should be. They already have her in their grasps and, were it not for Cinder getting Silver-Eye’d, Cinder would have immediately gained the Spring Maiden powers.
Episode 5
After that rollercoaster of an episode, the story relaxes with Sun trying (comedically) to get people to join in the battle for Haven, only for Blake to stop him and tell him that it’s futile. She just visited her mom, who is currently recovering in the house, and tells Sun that they should just give up and leave. Sun refuses, since he wants to give Adam a thing or two about giving Faunus like him a bad name. Were I to completely redo Sun’s character, I’d definitely see him as Claude from Fire Emblem: Three Houses.
Blake then explains to Sun who Ilia is, complete with a Burning the Candle-like flashback. This is where her backstory comes in. She then explains who Adam is. We don’t get a flashback and even so, she knows little about him. Just that he came to the White Fang one day, asserted himself, then when Ghira was assassinated, took the reins of the White Fang, leaving Sienna Khan to be a puppet leader. As such, Blake believes that she’s the one who made Adam the monster he is, when audience members can obviously tell that’s not the case. It’s just Blake putting herself down and Sun points out how this is probably something Adam said to her to make her feel small. If you’re not getting it by now, Sun is basically where Blake learns a lot of Adam’s tactics from and eventually, she becomes a much better person at handling Adam’s BS. The reason why he knows all this is from his own personal experience. To ensure there’s no “mystery box” element, I’m gonna nip it in the bud and say his father’s the RWBY version of King Louie… Which given how he sings about wanting “man’s red flower” and how people compare Adam to Mowgli because he killed Sienna Khan…
Oooooooh, this could be really cool but this is a tweak, not a fanfic. FOCUS! … I want to say that Adam was an experiment by Vacuan scientists (read: shamans who prefer using Dust as science) before being dumped to the Schnees as part of a deal and that’s how we got his Semblance being as weird as it is.
Back at Haven’s dorm, RWYJNR are shaken up from the battle, not to mention Ruby having personally seen her friend’s father murder someone before her eyes. Oscar himself is rather shaken up. Qrow is the only person unfazed, but that’s because he’s always drunk instead. While everyone takes their time in recovering, Ruby and Oscar talk about the future, as Heather was an experienced Huntress. This is where the infamous speech comes in, but Ruby doesn’t blame Salem for killing Penny and Pyrrha, rather she blames Cinder, then mentions how she’s a pawn of Salem and expresses doubt if they could beat her.
Cut to the Albains. They have no communications with Adam and so they have to move on their own. One of them decides “let’s kill Kali!” and the other’s like “uh, isn’t that going to cause people to turn against us?” “No, no, it’s okay dude, they can trust us!” all while Ilia is like “… wtf?” and Yuma’s like “only here for a few minutes, use me effectively.”
Episode 6
Qrow investigates and finds that all the other Huntsmen have met unfortunate ends and all assigned to the same quest: stop the bandits. He mutters about how Raven could do such a thing, only to find a young girl crying and asking for her mother. It’s made clear that this is Heather’s kid and Qrow, for the first time in a longass while, begins to feel remorse, if only because he mistook her for Ruby.
We cut to Raven as she has a meeting with Vernal, Hazel, and Adam. It’s clear that RWYJNR are gonna try and return and rather than prepare for a rematch, Raven proposes to nip it in the bud. She also dotes on Adam a bit, saying how he is better than Yang in every way possible. We don’t know the full extent of what she means just yet, but we’ll find out later.
Ren and Yang have a chat about Raven. Ren’s absolutely pissed that Yang’s mother is the person who torched his town and stole his friend (he assumes she’s kidnapped and is being forced to fight against her will) while Yang is just as irritated that Raven tried to use her friend as leverage. Weiss copes with having seen someone die in front of her and Nora comforts her, casually joking that, if Vernal tried that on her, she’d be sorry. Ruby, Oscar and Jaune discuss on what to do going forward, having Ozpin come out so that they can get some sort of advice, much to Jaune’s chagrin.
Ozpin, however, refuses to speak. Before Jaune could get upset with Oz, he cites that even walls have ears. Cut to Yang as she sees a red-eyed raven outside her house. She quickly remembers the red-eyed raven from Patch, both the one that screamed at Ruby and the one that was there when she lost her arm. She instantly goes on the defensive as the bird flies through the window and changes to Raven. Yang asks how she can do that and she merely says “Oz did this to me.” End of episode.
Episode 7
Everyone rushes in as Raven brings in her proposition: Surrender Yang and she’ll spare the rest of the group. Refuse and they will have the fight come to them. Ozpin interjects and offers Yang in trade for the Spring Maiden, to which everyone, Qrow included, goes “WHAT THE ACTUAL F, DUDE!?” The two have a little back and forth as Ozpin makes clear that she chose to have these powers and points out that if she was salty about being able to turn into a bird at free will without any drawbacks, he could gladly take them back by force. This casual threat is enough to make Raven back off, only to warn the others that a storm is coming.
With that, Ozpin is forced to explain quite a bit. This, unfortunately, is where we can’t mince the scene, since Ozpin has to explain what’s going on. I guess the only way to make it more effective is a little back and forth where the characters share what they do know about Ozpin’s magic and Ozpin fills them in on what they don’t. First and foremost, Yang is not upset about Ozpin and BIRDS. The person being upset is Jaune, especially since Ozpin reveals that not only did he create the Maidens in the first place, but also that by “reincarnate” he meant inhabit the body of a young boy. This is made worse when he reveals accidentally that he is able to reincarnate earlier than intended if he chooses to die instead of being killed.
This sets Jaune off since, as far as he can tell, Ozpin is responsible for Pyrrha’s death more than Cinder. Cinder may have killed her, but it’s Ozpin who not only put Pyrrha in that position, but also paved the way for Cinder to overpower her. Before they could get into a tussle, Yang shouts and has Ozpin promise “no more lies, no more half truths”. He obviously lies about promising that and Qrow can see the crossed fingers behind his back.
We then end with Cinder and co arriving to make negotiations with Raven.
Episode 8
The beginning actually stays the same, all things considered. The only massive change is that Yang is not easily convinced to want Blake back because Weiss told her “lol, my mummy was drunk so shut it”. In fact, we see the others talk about Blake and Jaune is the most bitter, even more than Yang, because Blake was a White Fang member and refused to share any information regarding them, which could have led to an easier time dealing with the Fall.
Ruby puts her foot down and tells Jaune to stop being so salty over Pyrrha’s death, but is quickly outvoted since Ren and Nora are also upset that Pyrrha died. She’s frustrated and goes to interrupt Qrow and Ozpin discussing what to do regarding Raven. She asks Ozpin what he knows about the Silver Eyes, saying how it’s the only thing that might incapacitate Vernal. Ozpin tells her he doesn’t know too much about Silver Eyes, as he did not have any himself, but reassures her that the Silver Eyes would have no impact on a Maiden.
Raven and Cinder chat and Cinder makes it clear that it’s time for the Spring Maiden to relinquish her powers to her, reassuring Vernal that she can make it quick and painless. Raven stops Cinder and says that Ruby and the others have set their sights on the Spring Maiden and that if she were to take them now, she’d have a target on her back, reminding Cinder of the Silver Eyes. She then makes a proposal. Salem has given them a blank check on how Haven falls since they have all the cards on the table, so why not kill two birds with one stone… Or rather, kill one crow and seven kids with one army?
Blake’s bit with Ilia stays the same as well, but the difference is that Ilia wants to keep Blake for herself instead of sending her to Adam, saying how she can keep her safe. Yes, this edges her more into the Psycho Lesbian route, but unintentionally. She genuinely cares for Blake’s well-being and not in some sort of yandere bit. Sun intervenes and the group runs back to the house while the guards have a war with the White Fang.
Episode 9
We instantly kick off the Battle of Menagerie instead of a long, drawn out sequence of Raven talking with Cinder. It mostly stays the same, but how the house catches fire is different. Blake sees Ilia in the dark, shoots her and goes “rly?”, though, in the middle of this, the Albains begin to fight amongst each other.
Corsac is willing to kill the Belladonnas for the cause (“THEY’VE GIVEN US NOTHING BUT GRIEF!”) while Fennec is trying to convince him that Adam is a lost cause and they need to replace him. During this scuffle, it’s revealed that Corsac was the one who set up that roadside ambush that killed Ghira, believing that Ghira was weak and that they needed a stronger leader ready to give the Faunus much needed progress. Fennec tells him that all it’s given them is chaos.
The two clash and set the house ablaze. Ilia realizes that Blake would be in immediate danger and struggles to save her instead of seeing the assassination to the end, thus redeeming her as she nearly dies saving Blake. Sun sacrifices himself to get Kali out of the burning building, but its revealed to have been his Semblance at work. When Sun shows up, Blake finally slaps him for realises, and this time, for good reason.
Blake gives her “humans didn’t do this” speech, Ilia playing a recording of Corsac’s hand in Ghira’s death, and this motivates the crowd to fight for Haven. Fennec emerges, heavily burned and carrying his brother’s tattered cloak. He has much to atone for and offers to remain on Menagerie with Kali to establish a new White Fang, giving Blake the task to destroy the old one. Ilia, Sun, and Blake go with the Menagerian army to Haven, with their captain, having comedically been neglected all Volume, finally getting the spotlight… He’s going to steal Robyn’s line of “still here, everyone” because honestly, that has a better spot here than in the show proper.
Episode 10
Lionheart messages the crew that Raven had left Vernal at his office and they go. They know full well it’s a trap and so Qrow elects to stay behind in bird form. Lionheart instantly stammers and freaks as he sees kids and not Qrow.
Lionheart: W-where is Qrow?
Ruby: I don’t know if you’ve heard of us, but we’re Teams RWBY and JNPR. We’ve accomplished many things without an adult to save us or tell us what to do-
Weiss: Uh, technically-
Ruby: {whispers to Weiss} Ssssh! You’re ruining my groove! {speaks to Lionheart} Even though we’re incomplete, our friends are by our side. And that’s why… {she points her sniper rifle at Lionheart} We’re not going to fall for your tricks!
As she fires, a fireball comes out and there’s a large explosion as Cinder flies through the smoke. The Battle of Haven begins as, one by one, the villains enter the fray. First Cinder, then Emerald and Mercury, then Raven and Vernal, and lastly Hazel. Lionheart is reluctant to fight, but Oscar forces his hand.
Meanwhile, outside, Qrow is attacked by Adam and the two duel it out for the episode. Maybe have Qrow quip a line like “so, you’re the one who severed my niece’s arm? Well, why don’t you give me a leg?” and some joke about equivalent exchange that would be funnier if Vic had voiced Qrow in this universe.
I’m not gonna sugar coat it, the Battle of Haven, at least in the opening act, is a battle royale and one that V5 should have been. We have six people going up against six people, each of them taking turns at their opponents and switching out every now and then, the only consistent battle pairings are Qrow vs. Adam and Lionheart vs. Ozpin. By the midway point, though, the fight has been finalized to…
· Jaune vs. Cinder
· Ren vs. Raven
· Weiss vs. Vernal
· Nora vs. Emerald
· Yang vs. Mercury
· Ruby vs. Hazel
Each of them gives their own reason why they’re fighting. Jaune and Ren want to make their opponent pay, Weiss wants Vernal to give her back her weapon (yeah, she never gave it back), Yang is angry that Mercury framed her, Nora tries to help Ren but is interrupted by Emerald, and Ruby fights Hazel to reason with him.
Eventually, the battle comes to a head when Emerald uses her illusion powers and Ruby witnesses it. She quickly realizes she caused Pyrrha to dismantle Penny and goes ballistic. Before Emerald knows it, she gets speed blitzed and beaten up by Ruby’s fists. Ruby then chops off Mercury’s prosthetics as soon as she notices them, knocking both out of the fight. It then becomes a little one-sided as Nora helps Ren fight Raven and Yang helps Ruby fight Hazel, where Ruby gives her “I’m angry” line.
Jaune nearly getting killed by Cinder, along with Weiss’s aura running out and screaming in pain, causes Ruby’s Silver Eyes to go off as it begins to burn Cinder. Cinder gives her a fireball to the chest in desperation, destroying Ruby’s aura and leaving her venerable for a hit. Jaune swings his sword and, while he misses like in the original, gives Cinder a deep cut on her cheek, right below where the burn is. Qrow’s fight with Adam knocks him into the room and Adam waltzes in, giving Yang the PTSD trip of a lifetime, not helped by Adam gloating…
“I didn’t realize that when we fought at Beacon, I was facing Raven’s own daughter… Now I know what she means when she said I was the superior child!”
Boom! Plot twist! Adam’s Raven’s son! Well, adopted son. But still!
Also, Cinder decides to make Jaune’s life a living hell by trying to stab Weiss… But Ruby runs and takes the blow for her, ending the episode.
Episode 11
The episode starts off rather similarly, with the exception of Ruby being the one that’s mortally wounded. Jaune cries and says “we need you!”, which given what he said in Volume 4, fits better.
The major remainder of the fight is focused on fighting Hazel, Lionheart and Adam, as Emerald and Mercury are still out of commission and Cinder, Raven, and Vernal f off to the vault. The two prove to be a powerhouse, especially since Hazel powers up Adam’s Moonslices and Lionheart handing Hazel more Dust Crystals. Ruby heals up and tells Jaune “whatever you’re doing, don’t stop”, only for Jaune to go “then don’t take my hands off the wound!”
Pretty standard battle and we have a reveal that Raven was the true Maiden.
Episode 12
The battle comes to a second head when Blake’s army arrives, forcing Adam to leave the battle and confront Blake. His fight happens like before, but Blake appears behind him instead of in the path of the blade.
Hazel, meanwhile, is not tiring out for a second. Not even a stab from a Lancer is enough to take him out. Ruby comes to and evens out the battle by speed blitzing him. Yang and Blake meet each other for the first time, but as Yang tries to reconcile with Blake, not only is she reminded of the bitter words she gave her in V3, but Adam’s presence makes it a hard-emotional hurdle to break. As soon as Oscar warns Yang that the Relic of Knowledge should not fall in to the wrong hands (during this, he explains what’s so important about the Vault), Yang goes after Raven, Cinder, and Vernal, much to Ruby’s dismay. She ends up losing her arm from Mercury grabbing it.
The Battle of the Bitches remains unchanged because it is GOAT.
Episode 13
The final episode of the Volume (because Volumes 6 & 7 are also 13 episodes long) has Blake defeating Adam, with Sun breaking off one of his horns because Monkey King. Sun gives chase, only for Adam to almost kill him were it not for Ilia saving Sun. You can have it so that Ilia is killed by Adam here.
Blake joins in and we have a fight scene with Hazel & Lionheart vs RWBJNROQ. It’s short, but everyone gets a hit in. Ruby realizes that there’s only one way to stop Hazel. She flies over and aims her sniper rifle at the Dust Crystals on Hazel’s arms. Weiss and Blake hold Hazel down with Glyphs and Shadows as Hazel looks at Ruby. He quickly realizes what she’s doing and asks:
Hazel: What do you think you’re doing!? What would Gretchen think of this?!
Ruby: … You made your choice.
BANG! As the sniper rifle hits the crystal, it triggers a chain reaction that causes Hazel to explode, killing him in the process.
Cut to Yang and Raven. The two have a stand off as Yang begins to piece everything together. We have a flashback of the fall of Kuroyuri, this time from the little girl’s perspective. She’s upset since she brought the Bandits to the place and caused enough havoc to have it be destroyed by Grimm. She protests this to Raven who, having run out of patience for her, stabs her and says how she’ll use her powers in ways she can never imagine, mirroring how Cinder killed Pyrrha.
Yang bitterly calls out Raven for murdering a child and Raven claims it was mercy. They get into a heated argument, but no one wishes to move. It becomes apparent that, with Raven out of aura and Yang without an arm and also having very low aura, this battle will not only be quick, but deadly. And yet, the battle lasts for a good chunk of time as the two try to avoid getting hit, Yang out maneuvering Raven while Raven uses her magic. It ends with Yang delivering a fatal punch to Raven’s gut as Raven lays dying in her arms. Raven warns her that, should she take the Relic, Salem will hunt her down. As such, she refuses to give her the Maiden Powers and dies without Yang in her thoughts. Yang goes to get the Relic, then begins to cry.
Emerald awakens from the sound of the explosion and finds that she is out numbered. She goes all “CINDER WILL TAKE ALL OF YOU OUT!” before Yang comes up and devastates Emerald so much, she makes the Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Salem. However, this isn’t a jump scare. Rather, it’s a full-on boss battle as RWBY try to face it like in the opening. While they realize it’s a hallucination, their mind makes it so real that one hit from it is enough to knock Yang out.
Lionheart sees this and, deciding to be brave for the first (and last) time in a long while, stockpiles the remaining Dust Crystals he has and tells the others to get out as he deals with the illusion. Before they do, he tells Oscar to tell the others about his betrayal. Although he was brave in this final moment, he wants everyone to know he was always a coward. He then sets the crystals into overdrive and explodes, taking both him and the illusion out, but also collapsing Haven’s main hall down and with it, the entrance to the Vault.
The group are confronted with police and concerned Faunus… Cut to a few days later as Menagerian Faunus are welcomed with open arms and news of Lionheart’s heroic sacrifice makes headlines. A manhunt is put out for Adam, Emerald, and Mercury, with Cinder being presumed dead.
After having rested for a bit, Ruby confronts Jaune about wanting to kill Cinder and tells him that she doesn’t feel anything good when she hurt Emerald and Mercury and even feels horrible for having killed Hazel. Nora and Ren join in and tell Jaune not to doubt himself for a second. Basically, that bit in V7 is here. RNJR disbands, but not without a tearjerking remark from Jaune where he says that “at least one team is back together”… Not bitterly, surprisingly enough. Oscar joins in and asks Jaune if he’s willing to take him in. Jaune asks for his name so they can figure out how to name themselves and when he hears that it’s Oscar Pine, he just chuckles and says “Well, there’s always JNPR…”
Blake and Yang are clearly shown to not be back together, but Yang is willing to let Blake stay for now because that’s all that matters. Weiss and Ruby talk about Ruby sacrificing herself for Weiss and she chews her out in a rather sweet way. Qrow, meanwhile, pours one out for Raven. She may have been a bitch, but she was still his sister. Oscar comes and calls for a meeting. With the vault no longer accessible for the time being and the Spring Maiden having gone to someone random, they have no choice but to leave for Atlas. There’s a pause before Weiss goes “WHAT THE FU-”
Roll credits.
DVD Exclusive Episode
This is where we have the STRQ flashback episode now that one of the core members is dead. It is a simple how they formed and how they eventually left, with Raven leaving STRQ on her own terms soon after she’s inducted into the shadow war, Summer leaving on her final mission assigned by Ozpin, and Taiyang retiring as a Huntsman. Qrow, the last one, laments on how everyone he loves is gone and is driven to drink more, foreshadowing to his alcoholism spike in V6. Ozpin comes to him and gives him a rather heartwarming speech about how time heals all wounds, using RWBY and JNPR as examples of this.
As he ends the speech, we end on a small girl in the middle of Shion village, now going through a rebuilding, before her eyes flare up and she begins to use gusts of wind to help clean up the debris.
And that’s how you tweak Volume 5. Granted, a lot of stuff has been changed and makes at least one hole in the V6 Tweak, namely the DVD exclusive episode for that. To which I say… Make it an extended look at the beginnings of Remnant 2.0. Apparently, there was a lot more information RT couldn’t squeeze into The Lost Fable, so do that.
With that, the Tweaking Series is finally done. I don’t think I’ll do V8 unless it proves to be just as problematic as V7, V6, or V5. This has been a rather entertaining ride and I hope you guys loved these entries. Adios, amigos.
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