#jax asturias

[misstrashchan]

I know people have picked up on the board game scene in RWBY V2 Episode 2 (Welcome to Beacon) as foreshadowing the events of the show, but for funsies I want to take a stab at how it foreshadows the general arcs of each four kingdoms myself.

So we have Blake playing as the Kingdom of Vale, and she's completely unaware of the events of the game unfolding and not really paying attention, clearly distracted.

"Alright Blake, it's your turn!"

"Huh? Sorry, what am I doing?"

"You're playing as Vale, trying to conquer the four kingdoms of Remnant!"

"...Right."

The Vale arc is the first three volumes of RWBY, where all our protagonists are at Beacon, but during that time, much like Blake during the game, they're unaware of the larger conflict with Salem, and aren't actively participating in the war at that point. They are ignorant and reactive instead of active. However it's ironic that Blake plays as Vale, since the reason she's not paying attention to the game and seems distracted is because, out of all the main characters in the Vale arc, she is the one most concerned about being kept in the dark and that they're ignorant as to what's really going on.

Blake: I just, I don't understand how everyone can be so calm.

Ruby: (approaching Blake) You're still thinking about Torchwick?

Blake: Torchwick, the White Fang, all of it! Something big is happening and no one is doing anything about it!

She also leaves the game during her turn, much like how she runs away after the FoB and the end of the Vale arc.

"Right. Well, I think I'm done playing, actually"

Yang is playing as Mistral, and she's the most savvy and knowledgeable (hah) player, winning many rounds of the game, teaching Weiss how to play, and has the other players falling into her trap cards.

"Heh, pretty sneaky sis, but you just activated my trap card!"

There's two ways this can be interpreted, with how the Mistral arc (volumes 4-6) is when our protagonists start to gather more knowledge and awarenesses of themselves and the world. It's also in Mistral that our heroes have their most decisive victory so far. It's fitting to have Yang playing as Mistral then, since during the Mistral arc she's the one who who learns from Tai to fight smarter, and to question the authority figures around her from Raven, and after confronting her in the vault is the one who retrives the relic of knowledge.

But, most of the losses our heroes experience are because of Cinder, who is from Mistral, and them falling into her own "trap cards" with the Fall of Beacon being orchestrated by her, killing Pyrrha and Ozpin. And in Atlas the same, with her manipulating Ironwood, undermining the heroes plans to evacuate everyone from Atlas, and killing Penny. She often finds ways to trick and exploit others, and is most dangerous when overlooked and underestimated, like falling into a trap.

Which brings me to Ruby playing as Atlas, where Ruby and Yang have this exchange after Yang's trap card is activated by Ruby:

"Giant Nevermore! If I roll a seven or higher, fatal feathers will slice your fleet in two!

"But! If you roll lower a six or lower, the Nevermore will turn on your own forces!"

"That's just a chance I'm willing to take"

In the Atlas arc (volumes 7-9) the theme of trust and taking risks is very prevalent. Like the move Yang makes in the game it is a risky one, that could end badly for her, but it is one worth taking nonetheless. They take the risk of trusting Ironwood but he ends up turning on our heroes. Oscar takes a risk trusting Hazel and Ozpin, as well as Emerald later on being accepted into their group, and it ends up working out for them. Ruby takes a risky chance in sending a message out to all of Remnant and evacuating Atlas, which saves a lot of people, but they still lose some, including Penny, a dear friend of Ruby's.

"Noooooo! My fearless soldiers!"

"Eh, most of them were probably androids anyways"

"Goodbye my friends... you will be avenged!"

Ruby acts distraught when losing her turn in the game as Atlas, expressing anguish over losing her friends who are described as androids by Yang, just like how Ruby is incredibly depressed and broken after the Fall of Atlas in V9, mourning the loss of Penny, who was both a sentient android and Ruby's friend. (I do wonder if Ruby's comment on avenging her friends might be foreshadowing for her wanting to avenge Penny's death in the future, like how Jaune tried to 1v1 Cinder in V5 to avenge Pyrrha, but I think it's too soon to say)

As a sidenote the fact it is a Nevemore in this turn that has a chance of turning on Yang or helping her is interesting, as it puts me in mind of two characters who can turn into ravens/crows, like the bird and poem Nevermore is associated with. It could pertain to Raven, someone who turns on Yang in v5 during the battle of Haven, but appears to help her and her friends in the V9 epilogue. It could also be about Qrow and his semblance, since during the Atlas arc it begins to evolve so that it is not simply a bad luck semblance, but one that can generate good luck too. In other words he can affect whether the chances are in people's favour or not.

After defeating Ruby (Atlas) Yang says this:

Yang: Not until I draw my rewards! Which are double this round thanks to the Mistral Trade Route!

Ruby: Bah!

Yang: Oh, and what's this? The Smugglers of Wind Path?

Ruby: Bah! Bah, I say!

Yang: I say, it looks like I'm taking two cards in my hand!

After the Fall of Atlas Cinder retrives not one but two relics for Salem, and with Atlas falling into Mantle, two kingdoms are destroyed in one fell swoop.

Then it's Weiss's turn. Weiss is playing as Vacuo, but has no idea how to play the game. Yang takes it upon herself to teach Weiss how to play and what she can do to win the game:

Yang: Well, Weiss, it's your turn.

Weiss: I have... absolutely no idea what's going on.

Yang: (Yang slides up beside her and puts her hand on her shoulder.) Look, it's easy! You're playing as Vacuo which means that all Vacuo-based cards come with a bonus.

Weiss: That sounds dumb.

Yang: See, you've got Sandstorm, Desert Scavenge... Oh, oh! (She pulls up a card to show Weiss.) Resourceful Raider! See, now you can take Ruby's discarded Air Fleet—

Ruby: (crying) Nooo!

Yang: —and put it in your hand!

We know from the end of V9 that what remains of the airfleet of Atlas, as well as the airfleet of Mistral and Vale, have all flocked to Vacuo's defence. What remains of the kingdom of Atlas, the airfleet, but most importantly the people, have now fled to Vacuo and are trying to make a home there.

Yang continues to give Weiss advice on how to win the game to Weiss, building her up, until Weiss starts to get arrogant, believing she's going to win the whole game and is the one in control:

Yang: And since Vacuo warriors have an endurance against Natural-based hazards, you can use Sandstorm to disable my ground forces and simultaneously infiltrate my kingdom! (Yang points a finger at Weiss.) Just know that I will not forget this declaration of war.

Weiss: And that means...

Ruby: You're just three moves away from conquering Remnant!

But then Yang turns on Weiss, activating her trap card, and Vacuo loses.

Since this is may be foreshadowing for the Vacuo arc that we haven't seen yet, I can only speculate what this might mean.

...But judging from the V9 extended epilogue and the books, my best guess would be that if Yang/Mistral is meant to be in part Cinder/Salem and their forces, then Weiss as Vacuo is in part the Crown. In the extended epilogue Jax and Gillian appear to be recieving help from Tyrian and Mercury, meaning Salem has decided to recruit them to her cause.

The Crown wants to restore the Vacuoan monarchy and detest outsiders, especially Atlesians. They do however wish to protect Vacuo from the same forces that destroyed Beacon, aka Salem, and so they are likely going to be manipulated like Weiss is by Yang in the game, being offered aid and giving them advice on how they can win and achieve their objectives, making them believe they can "conquer Remnant", only for them to realise later they were being tricked and used.

"Once again, Vacuo had been isolated from the conflict raging throughout Remnant—only this time it was an opportunity. With the global CCT network disabled, Vale in ruin, Haven leaderless, and Atlas closed off, Vacuo was theirs for the taking. This was likely their last, best chance for a generation. And it was their only hope to defend Vacuo against whomever had been targeting the other kingdoms. In likelihood they had written off Vacuo, like everyone else did, but if they tried to move against the Crown, they would have an unpleasant surprise.

Vacuo wouldn't break this time around."

Weiss: (Weiss stands and a thunder clap accompanies Weiss' overjoyed psychotic laughter.) Y-yes! Fear the almighty power of my forces! Cower as they pillage your homes and weep as they take your children from your very arms!

Yang: Trap card... (Yang's arm appears holding the card.)

Weiss: Huh?

Yang: (Yang shuffles the pieces on the board, Weiss' pieces disappearing in a puff of smoke.) Your armies have been destroyed.

Weiss: (Weiss slumps in her chair, cries and whines.) I hate this game of emotions we play!

Weiss as Vacuo may lose to Yang after realising they've been tricked, but is offered comfort afterwards by Ruby who relates to her losses and empathises with her, which is interesting since Ruby plays as Atlas. So I'm predicting at the end of the Vacuo arc they'll experience somewhat of a loss, whether that's the Crown, our heroes, or likely both, but Atlas will give support to Vacuo and the two kingdoms will come together to heal and ultimately work together, making steps to overcome their tense history with one another.

"Stay strong Weiss we'll make it through this together!"

"Shut up, don't touch me! "

...Which does make Weiss specifically playing as Vacuo especially intriguing, as she is the SDC heiress from Atlas, and Vacuo is a kingdom that has suffered the most in being exploited and colonized for it's natural resources by Atlas. From the epilogue it seems like the Schnees are being confronted directly with all the harm that has been caused by their family and kingdom, so I wouldn't be surprised if Weiss recieves a certain amount of focus during the Vacuo arc in deciding what her legacy as an Atlesian and heiress to the Schnee name will be. Moving forward to make amends, maybe inspiring the citizens of Atlas/Mantle to come together with Vacuo so they can all help and support one another, instead of isolating themselves and suffering alone.

Jaune offers to plays Weiss's hand for a turn also, with Weiss refusing:

Jaune: (Begging with both hands folded together.) Come on, let me play your hand for a turn!

Weiss: I'm not trusting you with the good citizens of Vacuo!

Which is reminiscent of how Vacuo is mistrustful of outsiders, as we've seen in After the Fall and Before the Dawn books.

Yang follows up to say that Weiss attacked her own forces, which could reference the infighting in Vacuo, especially with the Crown.

Weiss: Besides, this game requires a certain level of tactical cunning that I seriously doubt that you possess.

Yang: Uhh, you attacked your own naval fleet two turns ago. (Weiss makes an annoyed sound.)

Overall Weiss as Vacuo recieves the most help as any player during their turn, being taught how to play by Yang, offered comfort by Ruby after losing, and Jaune wanting to help her by playing her hand for a turn. This seems to fit with both how all kingdoms have flocked to Vacuo's aid in response to Ruby's message, but also Weiss as a character, who starts out "the loneliest of them all" but gradually opens up and warms up to other people. The crux of her arc being looking outside herself and at the people around her, relating to their struggles and coming to support them and being supported by them leads to her better understanding herself and becoming stronger for it... Which is kind of what the Kingdom of Vacuo needs to learn too!

Following this is Blake's turn as Vale, which I covered at the start of this post, but that's not the end of Vale's turn. We don't actually see it, but we know the aftermath of the game is this:

Yang: Ugh, we should have never let him play!

Ruby: You're just mad cuz' the new guy beat you!

Blake leaves the game during her turn as Vale, and presumably the "new guy" which is likely Neptune, who they'd just been introduced too, takes over her hand as Vale and wins the game of Remnant overall, even beating Yang and her trap cards. This is likely the endgame of RWBY itself, our heroes return to Vale after the Vacuo arc during the last volume for the final stand, where they win.

How and what that victory will look like I don't know, as we don't see the last turn of the game, so yet again this is even more vaguer speculation. Neptune doesn't really have much plot significance so I can't think there's any meaning to that except that he's a minor foil to Jaune, and the line of it being "a new guy" that wins, so maybe someone who recently joins our heroes side in the final act of the story, possibly Mercury or Cinder.

[howlingday]

And now, his royal majesty, the TRUE heir to the throne of Vacuo...

Ruby: Ghk!

Jax: (Before a crowd) All men... are NOT created equal!

Jax: Some are born swifter of foot. Some with greater beauty. Some are born into poverty, and others are born sick and feeble. Both in birth and upbringing, in sheer scope of ability, every human and Faunus is inherently different!

Jax: Yes! That is why people discriminate against one another, which is why there is struggle, competition, and the unfaltering march of progress!

Jax: Inequality... is NOT wrong! EQUALITY IS!

Jax: What of the Allied Kingdoms, who see equality as a right with rabble politics decided in a popularity contest? And what of the Kingdom of Vale with its equal distribution of wealth; a fallen nation of lazy dullards, just like the rest of the whimpering dog kingdoms.

Jax: But not our beloved Vacuo! Here we fight and compete and our evolution is ever continuous~!

Tyrian: (Behind the stage) Evolution~? Such a silly, little word~.

Jax: Vacuo alone moves forward, advancing steadily into the future! Even the death of my sister, Gillian, only shows Vacuo's unswerving commitment to survival! We will fight on, and we will continue to struggle, compete, plunder, and dominate! And in the end, the future shall be ours!

Jax: ALL HAIL VACUO~!

Crowd: ALL HAIL VACUO~! ALL HAIL VACUO~! ALL HAIL VACUO~! ALL HAIL VACUO~! ALL HAIL VACUO~! ALL HAIL VACUO~! ALL HAIL VACUO~! ALL HAIL VACUO~!

--------------------------------------------------

Jaune: (Listening via scroll) So that's your brother, huh?

[rachetmath]

Fuck it we going to make this short. Jaune is the Odyessus of RWBY. 

Don’t believe it. Let’s do this.

Exhibit A: Pyrrha and Athena

Both are smart. Have won tournaments. Both wield a spear and a shield as primary weapons. They both have taught someone how to fight. Even giving praise to them sometimes. Even though Atheana is immortal it still doesn’t change their similarities. 

Exhibit B: Jaune and Odyessus

Both characters do not fight well. They are cunning. They will do whatever it takes to win. Even through underhanded tactics. And they are both hated by the world. Don’t believe me.

Exhibit C

Odysseus and Jaune were trapped on an island for years. Bedding outside forces to escape.

Exhibit D

Both lost friends and allies due to the said allies not listening to them or doing their own thing. 

Oh and those underhanded tactics;

Exhibit E

Jaune cheated into Beacon despite not nearly being on anyone's level. Then we have Cinder who he…

Yeah, we know he is willing to kill this woman by any means.

Or how was willing to steal from the Atlas military?

Despite the holes in the plan it still worked out in the end.

Then when Jaune, Ren, and Yang were captured, Jaune used the war to go get Oscar and when the dust settled they got away.

And though it hurt him he still killed Penny and more lives were saved for it.

And using the leaves to separate the Cat from Neo.

Then Odysseus;

 Using Moly to fight Circe

Uses wine on Cyclops to put it to sleep and stabs its eye. 

Sacrificing his crew to save himself and others.

And finally, dress as a beggar to kill Penelope’s suitors.

And this four. Not counting the other things he’s done to win.

My point? Trust me, when I say, Jaune is the smartest character in RWBY. He is the MVP of the show. The biggest factor. He is the Oddyssus of the show.

Also, if there is going to be volume ten involving Jaune, then Gillian, Jax, and probably Tyrian are dead. Gillian’s semblance is to drain aura away from her opponents. She’s also cunning, and if she is willing to pull any tactic, she will make her dreams come true by all means. Jaune, who has amplification and has been fighting for years, not only counters her semblance but is equally as devious as her.

And then Jax's semblance involves him taking your will- Dominating your soul through suggestion in the mind. Jaune who already survived the Ever After, is one place that messes with your subconscious the most.  Has more experience at using a sword. And has a stronger will than Jax does.

And Tyrian…. Yeah, we all know I want a Jaune vs Tyrian fight. Let’s not be surprised. 

I’m not saying the fight will be easy… but I’m just saying… Jaune got it.

[itsupermanti]

You Kidnapped Who?!

Mash(tied up and glaring at her kidnappers in anger): My daddy’s not gonna let you get away with this!

Tyrian(rolling his eyes): Big f^#%ing whoop! We beat up Qrow, and he’s strong as s%#^!

Mash(glaring at the False King): Yeah? So did my dad!

Mercury(raising a brow): By himself?

Mash(nodding her head): Yeah!

Jax(realization dawning on her face): Oh gods, your father’s Jaune Arc…

Jax(face morphing into one of horror): OH GODS, YOU MORONS STOLE JAUNE ARC'S KID?!?!?! HOW?!?!?!

Gillian(staring at their cohorts in alarm): HOW DID YOU STEAL JAUNE ARC'S KID?!?!?!

Mercury(shrugging his shoulders): Well, first we beat up his wife-

Jax(eyes widening in alarm as he realizes that they beat up Ruby Rose-Arc): Oh my-

*CRASH!!!*

Gillian(as Jaune stands behind her and her brother in his full Lion King armor after busting down a wall): -s%#^…

[youruinedmylifebynotbeingreal]

The added subtitles to the epilogue referenced in Eddy’s tweet!

Individual screenshots below the cut!

[anthurak]

Takeaways from the Volume 9 Epilogue:

--

One thing I really like about Oscar’s ‘If there was anything I wish I could borrow from you…’ monologue is that it laid out/confirmed something I’ve always felt was a major aspect of Oscar’s dynamic with Ruby that I nonetheless feel a lot of the fandom has missed: That Oscar very much sees Ruby as a mentor and an example to follow, and how their dynamic is specifically a foil to what we saw between Ruby and Ozpin. That Ruby acts as a mentor and example to Oscar in the same way Ozpin was to Ruby, and that Ruby is a far BETTER mentor and example to Oscar than Ozpin ever was to her. Which, as an aside, is a dynamic I can’t help but feel a lot of people have been misinterpreting as ‘ship-teasing’ and is one of the main reasons I’ve simply never been able to see Oscar as any kind of viable love-interest to Ruby. Frankly the dynamic of ‘Ruby is the mentor and example to Oscar that Ozpin couldn’t be for her’ is simply so much more INTERESTING than any kind of romance could ever hope to be.

--

Even in animatic form, Winter basically going overdrive on the maiden powers was a sight to behold. And her own monologue had all the self-deprecation we were expecting. Our girl is clearly holding on by a thread and it’s going to be REAL interesting seeing how she reacts and adjusts to her sister not actually being dead. As in, I can imagine a situation where Winter tries to throw herself into a heroic sacrifice with the belief that Weiss would make a better Maiden than her.

Also, Winter’s monologue giving major focus to how Penny is super-super-dead-dead-and-definitely-not-coming-back-for-really-realsies, as she is talking to the sister who she ALSO believes is DEFINITELY also dead? Specifically with the words that Penny is gone, when Penny’s last words to her were that she’d be ‘part of you’?

Yeah, there is no way in hell we’ve seen the last of Penny XD

--

The CROWN. Like it was only a few shots, but as someone who read the CFVY Books (which you totally should if you haven’t, they’re great), holy shit I was NOT expecting them to pop up here.

I mean, in hindsight it makes perfect sense that they’d be involved in Volume 10. They’re basically Vacuo’s equivalent to Vale’s criminal element and the White Fang splinter faction as Salem’s co-opted insurgency group, with Jax and Gillian joining Roman, Adam and Jacques as the latest of Salem’s unwitting patsies. It’s definitely going to be real interesting seeing the crew deal with them. Like it’s really fun to imagine Team RWBY in particular being kind of exasperated at seeing Jax’s probably doing a whole ‘With Salem’s help I shall be King!’ shtick after everything they’ve seen with Roman, Adam and Jacques.

Oh and if you don’t know, Jax has a mind-control semblance, so him trying to use that on Yang could actually lead to a sneaky callback to the Justice League crossover, ie; Yang doing a ‘Yeah, I’m not doing THAT shit again.’ XD

--

Qrow’s whole vibe through this is fascinating. Like his section may have been the one we already saw, but after seeing the abject depression and growing despair of all the other characters, Qrow actually being OPTIMISTIC hit so much harder.

--

Raven showing up at the end is… interesting.

I’ll admit that ever since we saw that specific clip a few months back, I’ve been rather conflicts about Raven showing up to deliver RWBY+J to Vacuo, particularly after Ruby’s tree vision. Like for one it felt a bit random and unnecessary. The tree already deposited the Ever After team outside of Vacuo so they didn’t exactly need help getting there. Not to mention that it kind of clotheslines the story-thread set up by Ruby’s vision; that she now has a reason to track Raven down to get the ANSWERS to what happened to Summer. Finally, it’s just kind of… random? Like where did Raven even come from to get the team?

But now having seen the clip with its intended context, I’m definitely more on board with it. Particularly hearing from Kerry and Eddy that the original ending for the penultimate episode had RWBY+J going through the portal to arrive at their memorial stone, and met by a ‘Mysterious Figure’, ie; Raven. Here it feels like were getting more set up to get answers later as to what Raven was doing at the memorial.

And really, now that I’ve thought about it more, this method kind of puts the thread of Ruby going to Raven for answers even MORE into focus. Like the story reintroduces Raven in the present right after Ruby got a vision basically saying ‘hey, Raven is important’. And now going into Volume 10, we’re pretty much perfectly positioned for Ruby to pull Raven aside for those all-important ‘Why were you fucking my mom? What happened to my mom?’ questions.

--

Finally… yeah that ending hit me a LOT harder than I was expecting. Like that ending was HOPE in its purest form and it was honestly beautiful to see. Particularly right now with the future of the show seeming so uncertain. I’ve personally been optimistic about RWBY’s future (in a manner not unlike Qrow’s vibes I suppose lol), but damn the hopefulness of that ending hit especially hard, and was something I’ll admit I needed. And I imagine the rest of us could use as well.

We'll be getting Volume 10. And 11, and 12, and however many more it takes to finish this story. At this point, I have no doubt of that.

[kaleidoarms]

Redraw of one of the RWBY v9 Epilogue shots :)

[strqyr]

we have tyrian, whose semblance allows him to bypass aura.

we have gillian, whose semblance allows her to take aura from one person and transfer it to someone else, to the extent that those boosted by her become near invincible.

(would it be enough to block tyrian's semblance completely?)

we have mercury, whose semblance was stolen by his father.

we have jax, who's father believed he didn't have a semblance due to his weak aura, except he does have one, the ability of mind control, unlocked after gillian started giving him aura with her semblance.

mercury is obviously not having a good time with tyrian, but what i found interesting in the epilogue is that he's more "with" the asturias twins than with tyrian—him and gillian walk past the bodies tyrian has already killed; at least at this point, they were not partaing in dealing with the guards—, and that gillian's look towards tyrian is also kind of... apprehensive.

it would not surprise me at all if mercury did find some camaraderie with jax and gillian; especially when jax's thoughts in 'before the dawn' were very direct about the fact that part of the reason he wanted to oust theodore and take over was to prepare vacuo against those who had attacked the other kingdoms, and... well....

ya know. do they know, at this point of time, who sprang them free? would there be any actual trust between them, if they did, if they were guaranteed vacuo would be spared for their cooperation?

how long would their goals align?

[genimas]

Damage control Qrow who did a very bad performance at his job

*sniff* :')

WHY DID I NEVER NOTICE THESE?!

I may have read to much on these but...

"WHOA MAMA!" (Summer's vision)<-Fall (Ascension)<-"I was defeated by ice cream" (Tea time with Neo)

Ruby asked about Penny and Jaune said this, Volume 8 finale flash back everyone?

So canonically, these two are very good at doing impression

The two empty seats! The two ugly empty seats!

[ficretus]

Vacuomon

*Vacuo during Salem's invasion*

Qrow: Salem could attack from any direction.

Ren: Why are we here instead of frontline?

Jaune: We are backup in case they somehow find a way to bypass our frontline. It happened in Atlas, it might happen again.

Nora: So we'll fight Cinder?

Jaune: It's possible. She'll be the one to go after Summer Maiden and Vault.

Gillian: Your guess is wrong.

Jax: But what can one expect from bunch of mongrels.

Qrow: So Salem sent local theater group after us. How pitiful.

Jax: Watch your mouth. You are in presence of royalty.

*someone jumps down*

Tyrian: Theater group. He he. I do have flair for drama, but even better flair for carnage. HA HA HA.

Qrow: You again. Your luck has run out Tyrian. *unsheathes Harbinger*

Tyrian: But I can always count on you to help me out a bit. Just like in Atlas.

Qrow: You bastard.

Gillian: Talk is cheap, time to settle this with combat.

You are challenged by Team Crown Leader Gillian *8 bit music blares*

Jaune: Huh?

Team Crown Leader Gillian sent out Jax.

Jaune: What am I suppose to do?

Ren: I think you need to send out someone to fight him.

Nora: We believe in you Fearless Leader.

Jaune: Ok... Ren I choose you.

Gillian: You picked unfavorable matchup, how odd. Jax, use Confuse Ray!

Ren is confused.

Ren: What's going on... I feel dizzy.

Jaune: Ren, use Leaf Blade!

Ren: Ouch.

Ren hurt himself in confusion.

Gillian: Fu fu fu. Time to lock you down. Jax, use Thunder Wave!

Ren: Ouch.

Jaune: Ren, Leaf Blade again!

Ren is paralyzed, he can't move.

Gillian: Jax, use Knock Off!

Jax: Idiot like you doesn't deserve such fine weapons. *knocks away Stormflower*

Ren snapped out of confusion

Ren: What did you say?

Jaune: You got him! Ren use Zen Headbutt!

Jax is immune to Psychic type attacks

Jaune: What?

Gillian: Amateur. Jax finish him off with another Knock Off!

Ren's Aura was broken. He is unable to continue the fight.

Qrow: Damn kid, that was a major blunder. Send me in next!

Tyrian: Oh I can hardly wait to fight you Branwen.

Jaune: Wait, what are types suppose to be?

Nora: Oh that's so easy. Basically Fire beats Grass. Grass beats Water. Water beats Fire. Fire beats Ice. Ice beats Flying. Flying beats Bug. Bug beats Psychic. Psychic beats Poison. Poison beats Fairy. Fairy beats Dark...

*five minutes later*

Nora: Fairy is immune to Dragon. Dragon beats Dragon. I beat pancakes. I am immune to Ren's healthy diet nonsense. Got all that?

Qrow: I need to start drinking again.

Jaune: So that guy is Dark type?

Nora: I mean duh. Dark/Psychic. Qrow is Dark/Flying. I'm Electric/Fairy. That girl over there is Psychic/Ground and Tyrian is Dark/Poison.

Qrow: I'm too sober for this.

Jaune: Alright, I understand it now. Qrow, I choose you!

Qrow: Finally...

Gillian: Jax, use Thunder Wave! Cripple that bird.

Jaune: Oh I don't think so! Qrow, use U-Turn!

*Qrow backflip kicks Jax before jumping behind Jaune*

Jax: You mongrels! It doesn't matter, you are still going to be paralyzed by my attack.

Nora: Nu-uh. Because I got swapped in.

Nora's Motor Drive was activated

Nora: Yummy electricity you chump.

Jaune: Nora, finish him off with Wild Charge!

Jax: Wait, wait, wait...

Nora: I heard you were talking shit about Ren. Come on pretty boy, time to light you up!

*Jax electrocuted by Nora*

Jax' Aura was broken. He is unable to continue the fight.

Gillian: I did not expect that. No matter. Carmine, I choose you!

Carmine: Oh I'm too stylish to be kept back.

Gillian: Carmine, use Sand Tomb!

Jaune: Nora, switch out. Qrow I choose you!

Qrow is immune to Ground type attacks.

Gillian: Tsk. Carmine use Sacred Sword!

Jaune: Qrow, retaliate with Night Slash!

*Carmine and Qrow clash with blades*

Carmine: I was itching to fight someone of your status Qrow Branwen.

Gillian: Carmine, use...

Jaune: Qrow, Sucker Punch!

*Qrow punches Carmine in the face*

Carmine: Huh?

Jaune: Finish her off with U-Turn!

*Qrow backflip kicks Carmine in the face before swapping with Nora*

Carmine's Aura was broken. She is unable to continue the fight.

Gillian: That was dirty!

Tyrian: Luckily I don't care about that. Come on, who am I ripping apart?

Jaune: This is not good I...

Nora: Don't worry Fearless Leader, I got this!

Jaune: Nora, use Play Rough!

Gillian: Tyrian, Cross Poison!

Nora was Poisoned.

Nora: Ghhhh.

Tyrian: Come on girlie, fun has just started.

Jaune: Nora, use...

Gillian: Tyrian, Sucker Punch!

*Tyrian smacks Nora*

Gillian: Two can play that game. Tyrian finish her off with another Cross Poison.

Jaune: Nora, Wild Charge!

*Nora and Tyrian clash. Tyrian wins*

Nora is unable to continue the fight.

Tyrian: Ohhhh that's no good Branwen. Your allies really like to lose against me.

Qrow: Time to finish this off once and for all Tyrian!

Tyrian: Finish off? He he, that's my favorite word.

Gillian: Tyrian, Cross Poison!

Jaune: Qrow, Brave Bird!

*Qrow and Tyrian clash*

Jaune: They are evenly matched.

Gillian: Not for long. *activates her Semblance* Tyrian, AURAMAX

Jaune: What?

Tyrian: Time to rip off your little bird wings!

Qrow: What are you doing kid? Boost me up!

Jaune: Qrow... *activates his Semblance* Auramax.

*Qrow gets boosted*

Qrow: Now we are even.

Gillian: Tyrian, MAX Ooze!

Jaune: Qrow, MAX Airstream!

*Tyrian and Qrow clash*

Gillian/Jaune: AGAIN!

*Tyrian and Qrow clash*

Gillian/Jaune: MAX Knuckle!

*Still evenly matched*

Tyrian: He he. Come on Branwen, die already!

Qrow: You first!

Jaune: Hit and run. Qrow, U-Turn!

Gillian: Not this time. Tyrian, Baneful Bunker!

*Tyrian blocks Qrow's strike*

Tyrian: I believe I left you parting gift.

Qrow was poisoned

Qrow: This shit again. We don't have much time.

Jaune: Do you think you can beat him with next strike?

Qrow: Gonna need lot of luck... so no.

Jaune: Come on Qrow, what would Ruby say if she saw you giving up already.

Qrow: Using my niece against me... You play dirty kid.

Tyrian: Any last words Branwen?

Qrow: None for you to hear.

Gillian: Tyrian end this! Cross Poison!

Jaune: Qrow, Brave Bird one last time!

*Tyrian and Qrow charge past each other. Qrow falls to his knees*

Tyrian: He he he. Don't worry, I won't keep your friends in sky waiting Branwen.

CRITICAL HIT!

Tyrian: What? Ughhh....

Tyrian's Aura was broken. He is unable to continue the fight.

Qrow: Yeah, fuck you.

Huntsman Team Leader Jaune has won the fight.

Gillian: Curse you Jaune Arc.

*Gillian, Jax, Carmine and Tyrian disappear*

Jaune: Huh, this was a close fight. Just need to heal a bit and...

*someone flies down*

Cinder: Oh Arc, there is no healing... this is a gauntlet fight.

You are challenged by Fall Maiden Cinder *8 bit music blares*

Jaune: Aw crap...

[throrn2048]

Mercury: funny thinking you have a choice

[sailorb00]

Been itching to redraw their fandesigns since their reveal in the V9 epilogue animatic 👀🌟 Bow down to the Crown 👑🙇

[rachetmath]

Jaune vs Jax and Gillian

Jaune fan: You!

Me: Sup.

Jaune fan: This. (https://www.tumblr.com/rachetmath/777145356882509824/rwby-fan-ratchet-whats-wrong-me-dear-god-rwby/replies/789454427349204992)

Me: Oh.

Jaune fan: But the problem with that was this. (https://www.tumblr.com/rachetmath/747652674444525568/jaune-vol-10-character-analysis)

Jaune fan: You said you had better one. So explain.

Me: Okay, yeah, Juane is their best shot at taking on Gillian and Jax.

RWBY fan: How?! You said he’s susceptible to mind control.

Me: Yeah, but what does Jaune have unlike everyone else?

RWBY fan: Um… we don’t know.

Me: Jaune has experience. And a journal. A journal filled with his memories and experiences that happened in his life.

Jaune fan: Oh.

Me: Yeah, I mean he can’t ignore his own handwriting. And it’s not like he isn’t entitled to his privacy so not one would know where it is nor what’s inside it.

RWBY fan; But what if Jax gains control of Yatsuhashi and Fox.

Me: Again Jaune can’t ignore his own hand writing and if Jaune sets remainders on his scroll for his journal, then he just remembers and his journal will tell him everything. Plus Jaune’s mind may still be a mess. Fox wouldn’t want to explore that nor would he believe it.

Jaune fan: Dang.

RWBY fan: Okay so what if Jaune can counter Jax’s mind control, everyone else will be under his foot. Jaune can’t take them on alone.

Me: Who said he’ll be alone? Remember he’s the best option. The MVP. He’s not alone.

RWBY fan: Who can possibly help Jaune. Everyone will be under Jax’s influence.

Me: Emerald. Remember Tyrian and Mercury weren’t in Atlas. They don’t know Emerald betrayed them. Meaning Jax won’t use his semblance on her. Unless he decides to be a lord.

RWBY fan: But how would he be able to tell?

Me: Rwby wiki states;

“Jax is able to use his Semblance on multiple people at a time, with its effects lasting for extended periods of time, lasting from weeks to even months. When used on others, their Auras take on a nearly identical appearance to his own.”

RWBY fan; 😮

Jaune fan; 😮

Me: And what happens every time Jaune uses his semblance?

Me: And he can use it on himself too.

Me; And he doesn’t need to touch you either. And with that another way for him to break out of mind control. Or know you are being controlled.

RWBY fan: No. No way.

Jaune fan: Yes.

Me: Now that this is out of the way let me go on to something more important. How does Jaune stand a chance? First off let’s be clear.

This isn’t Jaune;

This is Jaune;

RWBY fan: …. …

Me: Remember in Rwby’s world, Wonderland existed, but the story about it was a complete lie. Which begs the question what really happened in the Ever After that Lewis never mentioned or altered in the story? Why would Alyx betray Jaune the way she did? What did Jaune do to get her there?

RWBY fan: …

Me: Yeah don’t forget this man was exploring that place probably facing any kind of creature you can imagine. He may be stronger than we think. But we know that. RWBY knows that. But who doesn’t know?

Jaune fan: The villains.

Me: Another advantage. Jaune pretends to be someone he's not. Allowing the villains to underestimate him until it’s too late.

Rwby fan: …. …. Okay so… what would happen if they did figure out Jaune’s resistance and try to turn everyone else against him?

Me: Again he has Emerald, who knows he can maybe persuade and recruit Mercury onto the heroes side.

Rwby fan: …. ….

Me: My point is Jax’s semblance will work on Jaune but not for too long. Not only does Jaune’s journal show him the truth he also has too many triggers to break the mind control. Like the Rusted Knight, he's a part of Jaune. Jax’s powers might as well be similar to this guy’s powers;

But weaker.

Jaune fan: Yes sir.

Me: And Remember; Jaune faced Cinder three times;

Jaune does not care. He doesn’t care for honor, he will pull whatever tactic necessary to win and you best not have shown him weakness because he will take advantage of it.

Jaune fan: Oh damn.

Me: And one more thing, what characters, besides team RWBY, Ren, Nora and Oscar, does Jaune even care about?

Jaune fan: oh damn!

RWBY fan: Damn!

Me: And if Jaune decides to throw his bond away with his friends and not hold back what would happen? A- again, Jaune survived the Ever After for years. We don't know how strong Jaune is exactly, he could already be on par with them or worse be already on Qrow and Winter’s level. And don't forget he has fought with this team, he probably knows a few weaknesses to their abilities and fighting styles.

RWBY fan:... … Wait, on the Wiki, it said Jax hypnotized- betraying his own sister. What makes you think he won’t betray the villains?

Me: … … That would be a difficult challenge. I’ll give you that. Otherwise he might just have beat the crap out of someone and keep them away from Jax until his power wears off. Work with Gillian until his plan is in motion. Or play the role of a bad guy himself except his actions speak for him to where everyone questions Jax. The possibilities are endless.

RWBY fan: Damn it.

Me: But…

Jaune fan: No.

Me: Team RWBY can avoid Jax by going on a mission that takes longer than usual. Or it can take place after a certain movie.

RWBY fan: Yes!

Jaune fan: Ah.

Me: I mean Jaune can still be involved by again pretending to be hypnotized and work with Emerald to give them information.

Jaune fan: *sigh* I can work with that

[soundkiller0017]

Rusted Moon Knight

Today I decide to post a more serious Issue of Moon Knight. This is MoonKnight Vol 9 #2 2021

[bobauthorman]

the RWBY Volume 9 Bonus epilogue animatic indicates that the Salem Gang and The Crown, the villains of the first two novels are going to team up. This is VERY foreboding, and not just because of Jax’s mind-control Semblance.

Gillian, Jax’s sister, has the power to both boost someone’s aura, similar to Jaune, but also to siphon it. To the point where she can make a gang of hoodlums overpower a skilled fighter like Sun Wukong. However, in order to get this power, she needs to drain people in advance, to the point where the Crown kidnapped a lot of people to feed from.

Do I believe that the villains will start kidnapping again? No. They don’t need to.

Not when they have an inexhaustible source of energy in the form of Salem and her immortality.

[anthurak]

When it comes to Ruby facing the Crown down, I think it would be interesting if (given that he has actual ideology) Jax were to end up challenging Ruby in a way most RWBY villains haven't been able to: Raising a valid point she can't easily refute.

Like, he's no anti-villain, but he has GENUINE grievances with the society Ruby's found herself being the protector of and, unlike Cinder, he's shown to prefer using words to get people on his side before resorting to brute force.

So I just think it could be interesting to have Ruby physically overpower him time and again (there's no way Jax is beating her in a fight, not even with his sister backing him up), only to come no closer to beating him every time she outsmarts and outfights him...

Until she stops using force and gives one of her patented Ruby Rose speeches...

... Except it actually WORKS this time because Jax, based on what we saw in Before the Dawn, ALSO tries to use the "Talk no Jutsu" technique as a FIRST resort and only results to violence or his Semblance when that fails. So he might actually be receptive to it.

Yeah, I think that potentially tracks VERY well as something we could end up seeing play out.

One thing I’ve been feeling fairly confident of since seeing the Volume 9 Epilogue is that the conflict with the Crown is basically going to represent Team RWBY putting all of their experience and everything they’ve learned from Salem’s previous insurgencies into practice, and finally able to stop this one before it tears the kingdom apart. And not just stop it, but actually defuse it in a way that defiantly refutes how Salem has previously manipulated people.

Like Jax and the Crown are very much following in the footsteps of Roman Torchwick, Adam and his White Fang, and Jacques before them, and I have no doubt that Ruby and her friends will likewise see the parallels. And use everything they’ve learned to not just stop Jax and the Crown, but even get them to ultimately stand down peacefully.

And yeah, given the progression we’ve seen of Ruby, especially since Volume 5, I have no doubt that her conflict with Jax will culminate not with some big fight, but instead with a debate and speech from Ruby.

Something particular I think could be very interesting to see is the possible tone that such a speech from Ruby could take. Because we’ve notably seen Ruby’s speeches get more and more forceful as time has gone on. Just compare her speech to Raven in Volume 5 to her one to Cordovin just one volume later. And that’s not even getting into just how frustrated and frayed Ruby has become in recent volumes.

Essentially, I think it would be VERY interesting (and FUN) if Ruby’s big debate/speech to Jax doesn’t have the typical open, high-minded ‘I want to be your friend’ tone we often expect from ‘talk-no-jutsu’ speeches, but is instead frustrated, gritty and ANGRY.

Like it’s not just an optimistic, high-minded call to be a better person, it’s also Ruby dressing Jax down and calling him out on his hypocrisy and ego. Because she has seen his kind time and time again now, and she is DONE with it. Maybe Ruby full-on verbally deconstructs Jax’s whole identity that he can’t even bring himself to try to use his semblance on Ruby. Because he knows he’d just be proving her right.