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noxhawthorne · 2 months

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Flickerbeat: Prologue

Note: there are some things referred to in the prologue that you won’t know (mostly the names of guns in the future). Those will be accompanied by illustrations in the final novel.

The stargazer fish is an interesting little guy. One wouldn’t necessarily call them physically beautiful like some of their other fish friends, with two bulbous eyes on top of their heads and the complexion of mottled mold. They’re an ambush fish, meaning they hide on the ocean floor, watching their prey. Poisoned spines are their weapon, but there’s another interesting aspect of the nightmarish fish. It has organs in its head capable of producing up to fifty volts of electricity, making it a deadly predator.

In the Philippine Sea, in the year 2052, there was more than one type of stargazer. While the fish hid in the dark depths of a black sea, the U.S.S. Pensacola cut through the surface, churning water and sea foam in its wake. It was an aircraft carrier, one that held over four-thousand Navy and Marine Corps personnel, and that was powered by a shoddy nuclear reactor that could go at any moment (at least that’s what engineers had been saying for the past five years… and yet she was afloat). The Pensacola had been assigned to watch for enemy activity in the area, the enemy being the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Following the second Korean War, in which the North Korean regime was dismantled, it was believed that many of the country’s weapon supply caches were moved to allied nations, hidden from the hands of the United States government. Since then, a silent war had been raging between East and West, one made up of subtle threats and espionage. That was the Pensacola’s assignment. Survey the area for enemy activity.

Of the personnel on board, most were asleep in their racks, the sheets stiff and mattress thin. After a day on board, the scratchy cloth-covered rack felt like a cloud of heavenly comfort.

However, not everyone was resting peacefully. On the flight deck, standing in the midst of the salty sea air, were a dozen sailors and their leader, one of five Force Reconnaissance Marines on board, a tall and intimidating man that went by the callsign ‘Jaws’. The sailors were performing maintenance on an experimental aircraft, the latest attempt by the U.S. military to create a combat-ready stealth jet. Meanwhile, Jaws was peering through a pair of night vision spectacles, head on a constant swivel as he watched for movement on the horizon, an XRS-52 in hand and loaded.

However, it was below deck, in the Hangar Bay - a large room with only two walls, the other two open to the night air - that the second type of stargazer could be found.

Scarlet Adams, callsign ‘Stargazer’.

Another one of the unlucky few on the night shift, she too had watch orders, her main focus being unidentified vessels. She was to look over the dark ocean, watching for any potential enemy ships coming within range of the Pensacola. This wasn’t her first time, having stood in the exact spot nearly a dozen times since leaving Amnia Bay, and it wasn’t that bad of an assignment. At this hour, the Hangar was quiet, leaving the slosh of the ocean’s wake to fill her ears. Various aircraft and a few gray shipping containers filled the otherwise empty space, the normally white fluorescent lights replaced by dim red ones.

Scarlet leaned against the frame of an open wall, though it wasn’t the sea that she was watching. It was the stars, vibrant this far out from the light pollution of civilization. Prior to joining the Corps, Scarlet had studied astronomy, igniting her passion for the celestial cosmos. She intended to further pursue her studies, but… well, the Butterfly Effect cut her time in academia short.

The catalyst was a simple request: to borrow a pen. It had been the beginning of her fourth year astronomy course, stuffed in a musty class room twelve other students. The walls had been covered in maps of the stars, with dusty bookshelves lining the bottom. If Scarlet focused hard enough, she could still smell that room, even nearly two years later.

She had been focusing on an assignment, diligently preparing it to be turned in, blocking out all other sights and sounds. It was a tap on her shoulder that gained her attention, and she quickly turned to see a familiar face. Jack Halifax, a transfer student from across the country. He had only been at the university for a few weeks, and seemed to be the ‘class clown’ type. The professor would often bring up a Holo-Graphic of the stars, using a laser pointer to circle each cluster he was speaking about. When this happened, Jack would take out his own laser pointer, and discreetly use it to mess with the professor. It was funny in a way, but always annoyed Scarlet to know end.

“Can I borrow a pen?” he had whispered, holding his up to show the clearly empty ink cell.

Scarlet, being ever prepared, reached into her bag and gave him a new one, not thinking much of it. He thanked her, and returned to the assignment.

When class had finished, Jack returned the pen with a small piece of paper wrapped around it. All it said was ‘Dinner?’ with a phone number below it. Call her sappy, but Scarlet fell for it, deciding to give this guy a chance. What could go wrong, after all?

One date turned to two, then two to four, and, before they knew it, the two had fallen head-over-heels for one another. It was a love that tamed Jack, yet freed Scarlet, opening her up to adventures she never fathomed. They were seemingly inseparable, a bonded pair that clung to one another.

So, when Jack expressed interest in joining the Marine Corps, Scarlet found herself eager to go with him. Not as a military wife, but as a fellow Marine, one that no longer feared her own death, but the death of her lover. She knew the pain of being alone all too well, having never known her father, while her mother died in a car crash when Scarlet was young. She’d been alone most of her life, and it had felt normal. Now that she had experienced the warm of Jack’s presence, the thought of reliving that emptiness sickened her. So, when Jack went to the recruitment center, Scarlet tagged along. By the end, they both had a one way ticket to Officer Candidate School.

During their training, it was determined by higher ranking officers that both would excellent candidates for Force Reconnaissance, having a knack for gathering information and being talented marksman. When offered the chance to take the Basic Reconnaissance Course and attend Marine Special Operations School, Jack accepted without hesitation. Scarlet, on the other hand, was apprehensive, having hoped to become a pilot instead. However, it was the excitement she saw glinting in Jack’s eyes that convinced her to join him once more.

Prior to the second Korean War, call signs were mainly used for aviators. However, following the capture, extortion, and subsequent execution of Reconnaissance officers by North Korea in 2038, it was determined that call signs were necessary for anyone serving with a secret security clearance. The enemy couldn’t know who was working Recon if their names weren’t used, and that was who they targeted to most.

Scarlet gave Jack his call sign — ‘Jackalope’, a nickname she’d given him back in college. Because of her astronomy degree, and her affinity for gazing up at the night sky during drills, she was dubbed ‘Stargazer’.

In the quiet Hangar, Scarlet was doing much the same, this time admiring the Orion constellation. If she had been performing her duties, she might’ve seen the silhouette sneaking up behind her, each step deliberate, planned. Instead, she was startled out of her thoughts when two hands gently slid around her waist, giving her a soft squeeze.

“Hey, lil’ Stargazer,” the voice of Jack whispered in her ear, breath hot and smelling of stale coffee.

Scarlet relaxed, leaning back against the man who held her, a content smile gracing her lips.

“You’re supposed to be on watch,” she said, though her tone had no malice, but rather a slight laugh.

“So are you,” Jack countered, his lips moving down, skirting the skin of her neck.

“I am!”

Jack pulled Scarlet in closer, resting his chin on her shoulder. His presence was more soothing to her than the stars.

“Sure you are,” he muttered knowingly, kissing behind her ear, “which one were you looking at?”

He knew her too well, aware of her tendency to focus on a particular star rather than the cluster that the sky offered.

“Meissa,” she responded, “it’s bright tonight.”

“Show it to me,” he whispered with a tone that sent goosebumps rising across Scarlet’s skin.

“You, uh, you know where it is. Professor Weldon covered that.”

“Mm, you know I never paid attention,” Jack said, his fingertips caressing her waist, “my eyes were always on something else…”

Scarlet could feel herself melting in Jack’s arms, this kind of physical touch having been foreign to her prior to their relationship. Her heart was beating a little faster.

Raising her hand up, she pointed to the sky.

“Well… well, you see Orion’s Belt?”

Jack made a sound of affirmation, his eyes following where Scarlet pointed. She moved her hand up further, tracing the invisible lines of the constellation.

“Go up on either side… those two stars are Betelgeuse and Bellatrix…”

“Mmhm,” Jack mumbled, kissing her neck.

“You’re not even looking,” Scarlet said, quietly gasping when she felt a gentle bite on the sensitive skin of her throat.

“Of course I am… keep going.”

Scarlet hesitated, savoring the slight sting from his teeth.

“And then… then the one above them, in the middle… that’s Meissa.”

Jack hummed, nodding, “Almost as brilliant as you.”

Scarlet felt her face begin to heat up, a light pink hue filling them. Her lips twisted into a lovestruck smile. Twisting in his arms, she turned to face Jack, finding her look mirrored back. She cupped his cheeks, reaching up to gently kiss him. Soft lips caressed her own, reciprocating the love received.

As the kiss broke, Scarlet sighed in content. She had never felt as safe as she did with him. There was never any pretending, no fear of judgement, just… acceptance, something she had yearned for, something she had never experienced. She was accustomed to being the outcast, the last chosen in gym class, the only one without a valentine. Alone. She had always been alone.

It was then that a twinge of sadness tugged at her heart, a common occurrence since joining the Marines. One that Jack was familiar with, easily recognizing the shift in her demeanor.

“In your head again?” he asked, knowing her all too well.

She nodded, a slight sting burning her eyes. Without another word, Jack pulled Scarlet into a tight embrace, rubbing her back as he held her.

“Three more years,” he said, “then it’s you and me.”

“I know,” Scarlet whispered, burying her face in his chest.

The truth was, Scarlet didn’t want to be a Marine. She wanted to be with Jack, by his side wherever he went. She wanted a quiet home and an average life. Simplicity, comfort, and the knowledge that Jack, too, was happy and safe. That’s what she wanted, not watching for the enemy through the darkness of night, or traveling the oceans on a dying ship. She wanted peace. As she stood there in Jack’s arms, eyes closed, she could almost feel it.

It didn’t last long, as Scarlet suddenly registered a low buzz. Her face scrunched as she listened to it, trying to separate the crashing waves from the sound. It was becoming louder, almost like a bee buzzing near her ear. Lifting her head from Jack’s chest, she looked at him in confusion. From the look on his face, she could tell he heard the same sound.

“What is that?” Scarlet asked, turning to look out over the dark sea.

A loud rumble shook the ship, causing Scarlet to grab ahold of the wall’s edge. It was accompanied by squealing and incoherent shouts from the flight deck.

Scarlet looked to Jack, both of them wide-eyed.

“The reactor,” she muttered.

Springing into action, Scarlet ran towards the hatch, prepared to wake the crew for evacuation. She was stopped when Jack caught her by the wrist. Looking back at him, she was prepared to rip her arm away. That changed when she saw the grave expression painted across his face.

With a grim tone, Jack spoke, “That wasn’t the reactor.”

———

Atop the flight deck, a strange aircraft was powering down. It was as big as a cargo plane, yet built like a stealth fighter jet, sleek in its design. The sailors gathered around the back of the craft, where the only obvious exit was. Jaws was on pointe, aiming his rifle at the cargo hold. There were no identifiable markings on the aircraft, but it clearly did not belong on board.

Suddenly, the latch released, and the hold’s door slowly began to open. Jaws’ grip tightened, the full force of his focus on whoever was trespassing. However, as the door lowered, no discernible figures could be made out. Instead, they saw that the interior was unlit, whatever or whoever was inside hidden by the shadows.

Jaws, not known for his patience, grit his teeth and shouted, “This is a United States Naval vessel! State your intentions!”

Silence. The sailors started to shift, looking at each other nervously, their hands clamming up around their rifles.

Then, out of the darkness came a spark, and a small flame illuminated a black gloved hand.

“Intentions,” Jaws shouted, growing more enraged by the moment.

The hand lifted the flame, bringing it up to the tip of a cigarette. Beyond that, the sailors and Jaws could make out a pair of chapped lips, and two circular lenses above, barely reflecting the flickering fire.

———

Scarlet and Jack remained silent, the buzz having stopped after the ship shook. They stared at each other, frozen in place, unsure of what to do. If it *had* been the reactor, alarms should be going off, signaling an evacuation and imminent rescue from other vessels in the area. However, the only sound either could hear was the gentle lapping of waves against the ship.

That quickly changed as gunfire rang out, accompanied by shouts and screams of agony.

“Shit, get the rest of Recon up,” Scarlet said, an edge of panic to her voice.

She sprinted to where her rifle laid, near a hatch that led up to the flight deck. Picking up her weapon, she was about to pull open the hatch, when she suddenly stopped.

Jack was about twenty feet behind her, watching in confusion as she pressed her ear to the door.

“Scarlet? What —“

Scarlet shushed him. There was a consistent *thud, thud, thud* going down the ladder, getting louder as it came closer. It sounded similar to a ball rolling down a set of stairs. Then, there was a heavy *clunk* as it hit the hatch.

Silence.

*Beep.*

Suddenly, a small explosion split open the hatch, sending Scarlet flying backwards with the force. A chunk of metal slammed against her head, leaving a deep gash that ran across her cheek, blood spilling from the wound. She went limp.

“Scarlet,” Jack shouted, running to where her body laid. He knelt down, panic rushing through him as he searched for her pulse. Relief ran through him as he found the rhythmic beat, and saw her fading in and out of consciousness, but it was short lived as a new sound came from the smokey ladderwell. It was the sound of footsteps, slow and deliberate.

Grabbing the collar of Scarlet’s uniform, Jack began to drag her to the port-side opening. He kept looking to the exposed ladderwell, watching as a pair of legs came into view. With each step, more of the person was revealed. It was someone in a black combat uniform, holding a white DE-52. As they reached the last step, Jack could see a cigarette hanging from the person’s lips, the rest of their face covered by a matte black mask. It was smooth, featureless, except for two black lenses over the eyes.

Reaching the opening, Jack quickly took off his dog tags, putting them around Scarlet’s neck. He had a dreadful feeling he knew how this would end.

*Bang!*

A fiery pain radiated through Jack’s shoulder, a bullet cracking the bone. It went through to the other side, hitting the wall and leaving a small dent. Blood quickly soaked his uniform, tacky and thick. The wound left him weak, though his determination to give Scarlet a shot at survival made him push through the searing pain.

As the masked man approached, Jack gave one final shove, rolling Scarlet’s body over the side of the ship. He watched as she landed in the water, crashing through the inky black sea. Jack never considered himself a religious man, but in that moment, he prayed for her rescue.

———

Just below the surface, Scarlet could barely see the Pensacola through her blurred vision. A black tunnel was beginning to surround her vision, but she could make out moving blobs above her. She heard the muffled sound of gunfire, along with the sight of a quick, bright flash. One of the blobs fell on the extended Hangar Bay deck, barely visible at the edge.

Then, black.

#nox hawthorne #scifi writing #scarlet adams #science fiction #scifi #Jack Halifax #tw blood #tw gun violence #writing #writeblr #writer #writers on tumblr

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iamafanofcartoons · 1 year

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RWBY is a good show, and I’m tired of people pretending its not!

I’m sorry, I’m just so tired of all these random claims that RWBY is “boring anime cliche” or “racist white male writing”, So...let’s go over them in segments

Female characters:

Aren’t walking fanservice shots and aren’t sexualized

Aren’t degraded in their field (combat, tactics, dust usage, etc) to boost up male characters (cause seemingly female characters being too skilled at something is emasculating to incels)

When a woman says no to a man, the man takes no for an answer and doesn’t keep trying. (So dear Hbomberguy, stop claiming that Weiss x Jaune was ever a thing)

Women don’t require a man to “Defend their honor” (This is in response to the dude who harassed me in anonymous about V5 who was upset that Yang punched a creep)

Aren’t woobified or emotionally weakened, instead having reactions to things like normal human beings. (Sorry Shonen anime which loves to make women woobified or emotionally weakened vs men) Being capable of emotions but also doing things effectively.

Aren’t made into waifu for male characters. Nora is still a badass and even being allowed to explore who she is outside of Ren, which runs against the usual anime/manga bs. Weiss didn’t get with Jaune after finding out he helped w/ Neptune. Blake actually defended her boundaries when Sun crossed certain lines (even though they’re brotp not romantic, he’s a male character that could’ve been put as a pseudo-love interest). Yang is also shown to be more than just Blake’s GF as we see in Ruby Yang interactions, Yang vs Salem, Yang ageeing to talk with Robyn. They’re all their own characters not trying to be the perfect wife for a male character.

LGBT+ characters:

aren’t in a world of “everyone is gay or straight”, so for me at least coming across as more impactful

have Ilia (lesbian); Coco (lesbian); Terra (wlw) and Saphron (wlw) also married and w/ kid that aren’t treated different to any other couple; Scarlet (gay-male); Nolan (implied, I think its at this point and not confirmed, mlm); May (non-deadnamed, voiced by and helped crafted with the help of a trans VA, and not having her trans status be the central element of her character trans character); Blake (bi) and Yang (wlw) that are a main pair that are being allowed to build to a relationship at the same pacing as the hetero alt. pairing. BB being naturally built up and not rushed into a relationship, though still soft-canon locked in via Nora.

Are ALL ALIVE (funny how the straight white male characters get killed off?)

PoC characters:

Includes Marrow, Pietro, Joanna, Flynt, Yatsuhashi, Lie Ren, and Robyn as default heroes side

Includes Emerald having switched to the heroes side after having it foreshadowed in v3. Also possibly Elm and Harriet, depending on where they go in the future.

includes Sienna, who was admittedly actual wasted potential, being contrasted against Adam as the morally better version of violence in activism. A controlled violence actually giving a shit rights activist leader vs. a co-opting murderous abusive bloodthirsty psychopathic terrorist.

are easily the lesser in villain count vs. Caucasian villains.

So can the RWDE please stop trying to claim how RWBY isn’t better than anime/manga at least, but overall “isn’t progressive” in these areas.

Adam Taurus represents a very real element in real life regarding “Radical civil rights movements” ; extremism and co-opters; While the actual faunus rights aspect on its own is given a sympathetic light repeatedly. We also have Ilia Amitola, the female POC lesbian, get a redemption. While Adam Taurus, the cis white male edgelord? Is Evil and gets his death by double penetration at the hands of two lesbians. (Edit: yes, I know Blake is Bi, as is her VA. It was an expression explaining how cis white male “authority” individuals get emasculated)

The WF has a lot of references, not specifically the Black Panther one. Also the WF on its own is fine, its the version that gets corrupted by Adam’s psychotic co-opting terrorist ass that is the problem.

Reflective of reality where if any group for any cause crosses into violence that involves innocent bystanders; then they lose any credibility and are nothing more than terrorists. I don’t care what the cause is. Which is exactly what the WF under Adam presents; but is just 1 vein of it with Sienna’s vein existing, Ghira’s, and even Blake’s. Was it handled perfectly? No, you could have easily have shaved time from Adam to give to Sienna and had her live to continue. Personally I found Sienna to be the actual wasted potential, but EruptionFang naturally loves cis white male evil men as his favorite Meow Meows. Don’t even try to recommend a gay or bisexual dude to rwby critics, they’ll flip and call it pandering.

The MC’s aren’t remotely “paper thin”, nor secondaries. Heck the only ones that fit that bill are characters in the tertiary vein that are supposed to be that way. The “two traits” falls apart if one actually pays attention to the characters.

And most fixit fanfics not only sexualize the characters in a show with no fanservice...

Sadly they also overfocus on male characters and have their favorite male characters talk down the female main characters.

Robyn Hill represents the people standing up NOT against the military, but against fascism/totalitarianism. We see that for all the “good intentions” that Ironwood MAY have? It is always sabotaged by him. Ironwood backstabs Ozpin, brings an Army as a show of force, does multiple projects behind people’s backs, and yet displays more than few acts of hypocrisy. Volume 7 literally showed him acting as a dictator because he believed that only he knew the answer to everyone’s problems. Yet the consequences of HIS actions are what led to Atlas Downfall. Yang and Blake even tried to get Robyn to work with Ironwood and Robyn was literally willing to do so. Which of course pissed off Ironwood stans that anyone, especially a POC hero of the people, would stand against a Cis White Male Authority figure. The elections in V7 meant that anyone’s authority could be challenged by the people. Of COURSE Ironwood stans REFUSE to acknowledge the election part was good.

The attempt to balance idealism with realism is pretty interesting. What do you do against an enemy with an unlimited army, immortality, and agents who seek to turn everyone against each other? Do you submit to the “inevitable?” Or do you keep fighting to the end, instead prolonging the end?

You can think of this as having borrowed a theme or two from dark souls!

RWBY is at the very least leaps and bounds beyond most anime it's close in genre with. I remember seeing, partially in jest, the idea that RWBY has half the fanbase it does for being an action anime with a female case and no fanservice and I think it might almost literally be true.

It is depressingly hard to find a decent action show with a female cast that doesn't sexualize them in gross ways. Even shows I like on the whole end up doing that.

Of course, the points regarding love are helped by the fact that a good chunk of the female cast is front and center in the story. They’re largely in the driver seat and aren’t secondary to any male titular protagonist. Thus you don’t get cases where a girl on the main cast is there to be… the girl.

In any other story, Oscar and/or Jaune would be front and center. Heck, the three creators of RWBY are guys before their team grew so you’d think they’d “write what they know.” Yet they stick to their guns on having girls get shit done.

One Anime a person I know felt came close to this was, if you can believe it, Fairy Tail where Natsu might’ve been the prominent ass kicker but Erza is the one effectively leader the team, Wendy goes on an arc of learning to love herself and Lucy grows into the wizard that leads the charge against Acnologia.

Yet it sent mixed signals with how the girls (those of age) had designs that left little to the imagination. I can appreciate an artist honest in his horniness… but the Anime did something right when it came to Erza’s torture in Tartaros that helped sell the gravitas of the traumatic experience.

RWBY feels like the above but far more refined in execution. There’s a time and place for schlocky cheesecake but not when it clashes with the narrative and themes overall.

So tell me...without using Hbomberguys’ repeated false information about the “love triangle” or “self-insert” slander...how would YOU respectfully criticize RWBY? How would you claim to be “a critic” yet still encourage people to watch RWBY?

If you try to bring up Hbomb’s 2.5 hour hate video, then anyone who tries to claim that a video from 2 years ago no longer is relevant is just being hypocritical. (Looking at you, RWDE Apologist, you know who you are)

Oh, one more thing. RWBY seasons 1-3 were the weakest in terms of writing and animation. But even so, the fact of the matter is that anything that happened in those seasons are ignored by critics, theorists, and straight shippers.

Material Inspired from https://www.tumblr.com/crimsonxe/691425946111295488/since-i-ran-across-a-dumbass-earlier-that-tried-to