#what's flynt and weiss ship name again?

[bridgyrose]

Recently divorced Ruby Rose (former Ruby Schnee) is trying out dating again. She meets a special someone who reignites the fire in her life, even though Weiss is clawing to get back with her.

Ruby sighed as she started to flip through a few dating applications on her scroll, swiping through a few pictures as they were recommended. After a few moments, she dropped her scroll down onto the table and leaned back with a groan. “Why does this have to be so hard?” 

“Because its only been a month since your divorce with Weiss,” Blake answered back. “Shouldnt you give yourself a bit more time before rushing back into a relationship?” 

“Probably. But… I dont know, maybe the divorce didnt hit me as hard as I thought it would. I love Weiss, but we lost the passion we had and it felt like a relief for us to finally end it. I… I think I’ve been ready to date again for a lot longer.” 

“Then maybe I can set you up with someone.” 

“I’m not going on a blind date.” 

Blake grinned a bit and pulled out her scroll. “It wouldnt exactly be blind. You remember Ilia, right?” 

Ruby slowly took Blake’s scroll and looked over the picture of Ilia, pausing for a moment. It had been a few years since she last talked to her, only briefly as an acquaintance when Blake brought her around to help with a few changes in Vale. “She’s still single?” 

“She’s a bit picky with who she dates. But I’m sure she’ll like you.” 

“So you dont know.” 

“Its hard to get a read on who she likes or what she likes in a person.” Blake sighed and took her scroll back from Ruby. “I’ll talk to her and see if she’ll agree to go on a date with you. Worst case, she says no and there’s no time wasted.” 

Ruby nodded and smiled a bit. “Alright, I’ll give it a shot. But if she says no, then you have to agree to no more set ups.” 

“Just as long as you quit complaining about your dating luck.” 

—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Weiss paced around with her scroll in hand, flipping through flower shops. “She’ll take me back, I just need to make sure I have the right things.” 

Yang rolled her eyes. “Werent you the one who wanted the divorce in the first place?” 

“It was mutual at the time,” Weiss said as she stopped in her tracks. “But I need her back in my life. I… I didnt realize what I was messing up at first.” 

“Then you’ll have to talk to her.” 

“I cant just talk to her about it! I… I have to set things right and make sure everything is perfect when I talk to her again! Which is why I came to you for help.” 

“And why would I help you?” Yang asked as she folded her arms with a scowl. “You’re the one who started talking about a divorce a year ago! You’re lucky I’m not trying to hurt you for putting Ruby through all of that!” 

Weiss sighed and sat down. “Because you know that if I was trying to hurt Ruby, you wouldnt have even bothered to let me talk to you in the first place. I… I know I messed up. I threw myself into my work and I know she wasnt happy with our marriage. I thought I was doing the right thing with the divorce, but now… now I realize where my mistake was. And I want to make it right with her and start over.” 

Yang pinched the bridge of her nose and took a deep breath. “I’m not going to stop you from trying to get Ruby back, but I’m not going to help you. As far as I care, that ship has sailed and sunk. But I swear to the gods, if you hurt her-” 

“I wont hurt her.” Weiss gave a small smile. “I promise, I wont hurt Ruby again.” 

“Fine.” Yang stood up and started to walk out. “But you’re on your own.” 

“Can you at least tell me the name of the bakery she likes-” 

“No.” 

Weiss winced as she heard the door slam, nearly dropping her scroll. She crossed Yang’s name off her list and stared at the ever shrinking list of names that she thought she could go to for help. Jaune, Yang, Nora, and Pyrrha refused to help, more than justified in being upset at her, Blake never got back to her, which left Ren, Neon, Flynt, and Penny as her only options to help win Ruby’s heart. She sunk back into her chair and started to run through the bakeries in Vale as she tried to figure out how to ask Penny for help. “I’ll get this right and I’ll get her back. No matter what it takes.”

[bloodraven55]

If FNKI is going to show up in v7, what do you think they'll react when they'll met again with team RWBY, in particular Yang and Weiss?

I think Neon would probably start flirting with/insulting Yang again and Blake’s protective girlfriend instincts would kick in 😂

And I kinda lowkey ship Flynt and Weiss, not gonna lie, so I would really love to see some more interactions between them. Like, with the backstory of her father putting his dad’s Dust shop out of business but him still admitting Weiss isn’t so bad at the end of the fight in V3 I see real potential there and I’d be here for it.

[psyga315]

Fixing RWBY Volume 3

Volume 3 is most likely not going to receive a lot of changes due to how this is the lynchpin for which all other RWBY volumes make or break. It is because of Volume 3 that people were either turned off or were re-engaged by the tonal shift and it is because of Volume 3 for which people compare all other finales to, as well as scenes that were clearly made to recapture that feeling from Volume 3.

So, instead of going episode by episode in trying to change plot elements, I’m going to go in broad strokes with this.

Like before, I’d recommend Celtic Phoenix’s Fixing Volume 3 video, though only for the Vytal Festival Tournament and Cinder’s overall plan. After that, all bets are off.

Though, we need to address the Goliath in the room. Midway through Volume 3’s production, Monty Oum passed away and, if Shane Newville is to be believed (which, given how they used Adam’s V3 fight footage for V6, might be more likely), a lot of stuff was changed last minute, much to Shane’s chagrin. Now, some rewrites would simply go for “let’s go with the original plans” route, but I find that would be not only too easy, but would go into the route of “this is what Monty wanted”, which is not only a stupid complaint in more ways than one, but a real slap in the face to his friends.

Instead, I want to go with a somewhat more… meta route. I understand that this is a little more controversial, so if you wish, you may skip this. The long story short is that we’d be getting a 2.5 where we see the Vytal Festival Tournament and its ulterior motive is to get animators that hopefully would not lead to the fight scene drought of Volumes 4 through 5. Also, Jason Liebrecht is Qrow instead of Vic because Vic was busy in another role by the time RWBY finishes up with 2.5.

Those Who Treasure Monty

We begin in our world, on February 2, 2015, news of Monty Oum’s passing breaks out onto the web and a long, lingering shadow is cast over RWBY’s future. Even with multiple confirmations that RWBY will continue, it’s clear that without Monty Oum’s animation, RWBY would eventually slow to a crawl in fight choreography.

So, RT is forced to make a decision. They need to put RWBY off for a year while they figure out how to proceed. To ensure the RWBY fans stay sated and to search for talent that could either replicate or even succeed Oum’s, they create short, five-minute fights set during the Vytal Festival tournament that anyone with an animating talent can use. While some used Poser like RWBY, the fact that Maya is used more gets RT to thinking… Perhaps they should make the switch to Maya.

It’s been stated that Monty insisted on Poser when Maya was a superior option, and I wanted to reflect that in this meta-arc. This would also pave the way for animators to get RT’s spotlight.

In the middle of this hiatus, we’d also get Grimm Eclipse, which, given how not a lot of attention is given to RWBY proper, means that RT would funnel more support into the game’s first year than they did originally. This might also get Gray to try and put his name out by doing Gen:Lock, or at least releasing teasers for it, much like how Monty hyped RWBY through the four trailers.

The fights are in a purgatory of “semi-canon”, where it technically happened, but don’t expect RT to actually call back to it. Much like the DC Comics. HEY-O!

By the end of this hiatus, RT will most likely get their new talent and will definitely cut ties with Sheena and Shane, much like they did originally, but hopefully with less resentment given the cooldown. RWBY would get an October 2016 premiere which would be predated by RWBY vs. ABRN, JNPR vs. BRNZ, and SSSN vs. NDGO being the final three fights for Volume 2.5, done by people who would end up being lead animators for RWBY going forward. The last of the fights will end on a familiar scene.

“Wow, now that was a match!”

“Pheh, that was a mess…”

The latter of which being delivered by Jason Liebrecht. I reason that, in the time RWBY took to process the passing of their brainfather, Vic would most likely have been in another role and be too busy to do Qrow. This would also avoid the… unfortunate circumstance of which we shall not name.

With that, we shall properly proceed to…

RWBY, Volume 3, The Vytal Festival Arc

By the time 3 kicks off, we’re already done with the first round, having already seen most of it from 2.5. We instead open up with Ruby talking to her mom, the final moments of RWBY vs ABRN, and Ruby and her friends celebrating their victory, much like V3. What changes is that JNPR is also celebrating their victory over BRNZ.

However, it’s clear that not everything is bright. Ruby’s still scarred over the Breach, Blake is frustrated with the lack of closure they got and believes that the case is still not over, and Yang is thinking back to what Raven said, to which we get an extended flashback of Raven explaining that she saved her once and that Yang should not expect her to save Yang again and also how Summer was a pawn in a larger game. She doesn’t say much, but she leaves enough information for Yang to know who Summer was a pawn for: Ozpin.

We end Episode with a ship entering Vytal and Qrow deliberately going over to face it as Weiss looks on in a bright smile. Episode 2 kicks off with Qrow vs. Winter, now being a lot more vicious as Qrow believes Ironwood to be putting his jackboot over Vale and strangling what free will the people had remaining. We get to see his bad luck be put into motion as bystanders get attacked by debris and getting injured in the process. His Semblance is literally uncontrollable. However, the trick is to not show that this is his Semblance until Volume 4.

Glynda and Ironwood arrive and chew out both Winter and Qrow for their fighting. Even though they have differing opinions on Ironwood, Qrow is explicitly told that his drunken fits only help to cause fear, something Ozpin does not want in the Vytal Festival. Qrow brings up that Ironwood’s army is bringing fear and while Ozpin agrees, also agrees with Ironwood that it also brings some form of safety. Bottom line with how the scene plays out is that Qrow, while a valuable asset on the battlefield in more ways than one is outright a liability in social situations, made apparent when he hangs out with his niece(s) and only makes a bad situation worse by making his “cut one Taijitu head and now the other one calls the shots” speech sound way worse than it sounds.

However, there’s also subtle nods that imply that the only reason he’s such a drunken wreck with social skills so bad that he’s actively making things worse is because of the trauma he received from his days of being in STRQ and serving Oz. Basically, downplay the comedy of Qrow being drunk and show off that Qrow being drunk is a bad thing like in Volume 6.

Winter also has her hangups. Because of being raised by her abusive father, Winter inherited a bit of that. Think the DC Comics version of Willow. Weiss notably sees just how much like her father Winter’s become and Winter tells her that her ambition of being a Huntress has done more harm than good, bringing up her scar. Winter then tells her why she came. Not just to oversee the deployment of new robots, but also to warn Weiss. Jacques cutting Weiss off and constantly calling her is his way of saying “Okay, this is getting out of hand, come home or I will take you myself.” This kinda worries Weiss quite a bit.

The doubles match are the ones that are a major focus for episodes 3 & 4, showcasing Yang and Weiss vs. Neon and Flynt, Nora and Pyrrha vs. Sun and Neptune, Mercury and Emerald vs. Coco and Yatsuhashi, and Penny and Ciel vs. some random members of CRDL. Not a lot of changes here. With a whole episode to ourselves, we can spend that to see our cast one final time before the plot throws them into hell. Weiss talks to Ruby about her father, she assures her that RWBY will not leave her side. Blake tells Yang about her worries for the White Fang, especially since her name had been publicized by the tournament, even knowing that Yang is hiding something.

We end the episode with Glynda asking Ozpin if he’s sure about something and he reassures her that time is of the essence and that they have no other option. “The only one with a choice will be her.” Before we cut to Pyrrha.

Episode 6 is unaltered, except there’s a heavier emphasis of Ozpin pushing the issue onto Pyrrha and making it clear that it’s making her mentally unstable.

RWBY, Volume 3, The Fall of Beacon

Okay, the only thing that changes for Episode 7? NO BLACK SCREENS! It works for some mystery with the Grimm and Salem, but for meeting Roman?! So, no black screen. If you need to add mystery, just add dark shadows and for the Grimm, glowing eyes. The biggest change would be how Cinder interacts with Adam. Obviously, we keep how he acts in the flashback… But we get a bonus scene of Cinder talking to Adam and manipulating him into resenting Blake for leaving him. Boom. We got our transition covered.

The only change for Episode 8 is that Blake doesn’t go “lol, okay” when she gets Yang to say she’s sorry for kneecapping Mercury. In fact, she expresses doubt on Yang and does not change her mind about it, believing that the thing she was hiding had something to do with injuring Mercury. We end Episode 8 not with Ruby encountering Mercury, but Hazel.

Episode 9 remains relatively unchanged, as it’s the necessary lynchpin to cause the Fall of Beacon. Really, most of the final act can remain unchanged for the most part, save for some quality of life changes like “how come no one called out Emerald when she was in the middle of the crowd even though they were told that her team went home?” or all those tiny nitpicks that really makes Cinder’s plan fall apart if you think too hard about it.

The most that changes is that Hazel fights Ruby reluctantly. Obviously, he doesn’t want to fight Gretchen’s partner. Cinder would have no idea Ruby’s incompetence led to Gretchen’s death, so Hazel wouldn’t use that to guilt trip Ruby. He does, however, rant about the flawed system that Ozpin has made and it’s clear that this is him talking about how flawed the system is, not Cinder whispering sweet nothings in his ear. He lets Ruby go just as the fight between Pyrrha and Penny ends.

Yeah, this still takes place despite Cinder not knowing, since she lacks her virus for now. Cinder is smart and is able to put two and two together when she sees that Penny is doing a lot of the heavy lifting during her fights. I mean, it was obvious to us that she was a robot from Volume 1, Cinder didn’t need no fancy scroll to tell her “hey, Penny’s a robot.”

I should add that, throughout the tournament, Cinder had been rigging the tournament so that it’d come down to Vale vs. Atlas, using the narrative of the Breach to set the stage. She’s also making sure the losses for Mistral and Vacuo sting so the Grimm get attracted sooner. How is she doing this? Via the backdoor program she had. As I said previously, the virus feigns being dead and can only be reactivated by a backdoor program. However, this isn’t the full extent. Cinder is basically using the program to activate a few nodes in the CCT to rig the randomizer enough so that no one stops and goes “wait, this is fishy”. It doesn’t help that the way the tournament is held, each Kingdom representative is guaranteed to face an opposing Kingdom once per round, so if one Kingdom was really good, they’ll overcrowd the subsequent doubles and finals. Two Kingdoms? Then you essentially guarantee that the rest of the fights can be nothing but Kingdom A vs. Kingdom B.

Penny is killed and this becomes the straw that broke the camel’s back. I also would make it so that her big speech, while imposing and setting the tone for the fall, doesn’t sound like “I’m the big bad evil guy and I’m going to announce my terrorist attack!” Also, Adam can get involved too, saying how humans are so sad over a dead robot, but when it’s a Faunus, no one gives a crap, white guilting the crowd. When the Beacon staff cut the feed, Cinder goes “OMG! CENSORSHIP!” and riles up the crowd that way. Basically, her speech causes fear and panic. The Grimm and White Fang attack, we kick off the Fall of Beacon Arc.

One major change to kick off the finale: Port and Oobleck are killed. It doesn’t have to be shown, but it would be implied as Ozpin notices that he lost contact of the two. Really, this is your chance to get rid of all the characters that won’t make an appearance in later Volumes or wouldn’t really matter. After all, there will be no rest or love. Hell, kill off CFVY while you’re at it. Hammer home that the dark tone is here to stay. Also, the backdoor is the thing Roman puts on that ship and thus reactivates the virus.

Of course, the major change is Adam’s fight with Blake, since they fought before. Blake tries desperately to ask why he’s hurting people, but Adam gives her his response: “Because this world doesn’t reward the kind-hearted people. You should know that after what happened to your father!” This puts Blake in a lot of fear and anxiety, requiring Yang to interfere. The one thing I’ll change from this is that Adam does not one-shot Yang, because that horribly unbalances him in the grand scheme of things. Instead, he relies more on manipulation to put Yang in the absolute worst spot throughout the fight, absorbing the increased blows he got from Yang before letting it all out in his Moonslice, taking off her arm.

The other major thing I’d change is the handling of Pyrrha. The bit where they’re underground changes immensely as Ozpin explicitly instructs Jaune to wait by the door, thus separating him from Pyrrha. Ozpin and Pyrrha go to the pods, but as Pyrrha begins to have second thoughts, Ozpin activates the switch as Pyrrha screams in pain.

Meanwhile, Jaune finds Cinder entering the chamber via a superhero landing (No one’s gonna acknowledge that she managed to follow the group down a longass shaft?) and as Jaune tries to fight Cinder, realizing she’s the one who organized all of this, she tells him “I didn’t cause this… I merely exposed Ozpin for what he truly is… Arrogant and willing do to anything to win.” Jaune pieces together what Cinder could possibly mean and enters the chamber, seeing Pyrrha in pain. Just then, Cinder kills Amber and takes her power.

Ozpin decides to hold Cinder off while Jaune and Pyrrha go to get help. While this will be revealed in Volume 5, it’ll be revealed that Ozpin threw his battle with Cinder so that, not only would he reincarnate quicker, but also to avoid the Council chewing his ass out. This leads to the consequence of Cinder forcing Pyrrha’s hand, however…

Like with the show, Pyrrha fights Cinder by herself since Jaune did enough. We’ll have him try to contact Glynda and the others, but they’re unfortunately busy and it’s this poor communication that causes Jaune to panic call Weiss. The fight proceeds like normal and Pyrrha is killed by Cinder, making her sacrifice seemingly in vain before Ruby, having enough with all this bullshit, Silver Eyes the fuck out of Cinder and the Dragon, turning the latter to stone and Cinder into a cripple.

Ending remains the same, but give a lot more emphasis on Ruby and Yang coping with the new change and the losses of their friends. One day, Jaune comes by and asks Ruby if she and Yang would like to accompany them to Mistral, figuring that Cinder came from there and that they’d be able to find some answers. Ruby, having had enough of moping around, leaves much to her father’s chagrin. Salem’s speech remains the same and we get two stingers, split by Divide and Cold. Divide’s credits would be for the Volume and Cold would be for all the animators who helped out during Volume 2.5 and a tribute to Monty. The first stinger is Qrow following RNJR in bird form, the second is Cinder, literally on the edge of death before the parasite Grimm begins to heal and nurture her. She’s furious that Ruby managed to hurt her and this negative emotion causes a Grimm to stalk her. She tries to sing to it, but her voice gives out a rasp.

Just as the Grimm is about to kill her, it gets killed by an unknown assailant, who just scoffs to Cinder. We don’t know who it is, but the shadow of a scorpion’s tail and the creepy voice pretty much gives those with foresight a good idea who he is: “Poor, poor little girl… Bit off more than you can chew, hmmm?” before cutting to black with him giggling.

DVD Extra

This would basically be an encore of Volume 2.5, where animators that nearly made the cut were invited to animate doubles and finals battles and even have a speculative RWBY vs. JNPR battle for ol’ time’s sake.

And that’s RWBY Volume 3 tweaked. Only two more left to go and they’re the most… interesting ones to tweak. Well, with this isolation, I might as well give a little bit of time to this…

[shadows-twilight]

RWBY Volume 7, Chapter 5

My thoughts and opinions on Chapter 5 of RWBY Volume 7, "Sparks"

SPOILERS BELOW:

Once again, Team RWBY are in their classic bunk bed configuration, albeit now with them on the same wall.

I must say, I like the standard issue Atlas Academy pajamas.

Due to Penny waking them so cheerily, I wonder if Penny, a robotic being really understands the concept of tired.

Montage Time!!!

New song!

Is it just me, or do these Manticores and Beowolves look different from the others? It seems Grimm have regional variations as well.

Haha, the the doodle of Nora braiding Ren's hair on the latter's concept art is officially canon.

Yeah, don't try and split up the Bees at this point, Marrow. It's not going to go well for you.

I love how the anime lines changed color with Yang's eyes.

So that was the "Really Thirsty Moms" segment. Not as far in the forefront as I expected, but still funny.

I love their training room. Very X-Men.

I wonder what Vine meant by "extending [one's] aura". Are you able to make a wider shield around oneself?

I don't know why, but the animation of Ruby getting out of bed and geeking out to Penny reminds me of Marinette from Miraculous. Ironic, considering who shows up later.

TEAM FNKI!!!!! I absolutely love Neon and Flynt's new designs, and their teammate's looks are pretty swanky too.

I'm guessing Nora's weapon upgrade was her riding it around like a broomstick?

I love the upgraded for Neon's propulsion semblance (assuming that's what her rainbow trail is). Very ethereal looking while still rainbowy

Ruby may be asking why they aren't using airships, but what I want to know is why they're not using bigger vehicles. With all of the stuff they're supposed to transport, surely they could do better than a small U-Haul.

PENGUINS!!!

Why do I get the feeling that relationships are going to be a big theme from for this Volume? I mean, sure, we've had little ship-bait moments all over the place, but even on a grander scheme, we've had the Ace-Ops talking about their professional relationships, Weiss calling the rest of Team RWBY her family, and now this conversation with Penny. I really can't wait to see how this plays out as the Volume goes on.

Yeah, honestly that's about how I would imagine a poker game would go for Bad Luck Charm vs Good Luck Charm. Guess their semblances don't cancel each other out as much as we were hoping.

I am still incredibly wary of just how likeable Clover is. Do I want to know what the six possible outcomes were that Penny planned for, because I can't help but feel that at least one of them involved everybody dying.

At long last, we get to meet Robyn Hill, voiced by Ladybug herself, Cristina Vee.

So the "Show Them Your Teeth" graffiti wasn't a White Fang tag? Good to know.

So Ironwood is diverting resources from Mantle's security to this whole Amity plan. Yeeeaaah, this is doing nothing good for Ironwood's credibility.

I must say, I really like Robyn. She can be diplomatic when the situation calls for it, but she's not afraid to get her hands dirty when need be. Very on brand for her character inspiration.

I'm getting the feeling that Penny isn't exactly enjoying having to go against the potential Mantle representative.

Video games are for kids. Real Huntress siblings play with Semblance Summons!

"Irownwood isn't keeping secrets. Not from me." Any other Steven Universe fans think that line sounded a little too familiar?

I don't know if there are other security features in place that they just chose not to show us, but with all of the different semblances that are out there, are these guards really going to let Winter through on visual confirmation alone?

So that's the Winter Maiden. She's pretty.

I like the look of the Maiden's room. The easel and the kitchen area make it look very homie. Can't say I'm too hyped about the two aura transfer pods in the corner, though.

So her name is Fria? As in, based off of Freya? The Norse Goddess? Oh boy, those are certainly some implications.

Winter's gonna be the next Winter Maiden, because Ironwood chose her to be so. Yeah, remember the last time the Ozluminati tried to choose the next Maiden? Remember how well that went? I remember how well that went.

Wow. Jacques (or rather Watts) managed to find a way to lay off almost his entire workforce and yet spin it in such a way that everyone else is the bad guy. Perhaps he is suited for politics.

An episode that didn’t end on Watts and/or Tyrian doing shady shit? Combo Breaker!!!

[theunredeemable]

Stealing the Rich

Chapter one: Paradise Rent Asunder 

https://archiveofourown.org/works/17954645/chapters/42404279

Winter's heels echoed down the halls of The Nevermore as she made her way towards the bridge of the colossal battleship. She kept her hands clasped behind her back, her face a perfectly neutral as she marshalled her emotions. Passing various crewmen seeing to mundane, yet important tasks, she paid them little heed. Each saluted her as they passed, their closed fist slamming into their chest above their heart, before resuming their duties.

Winter thought back to the time she had been in their shoes, saluting to superior officers that didn't even know she existed as they passed. She remembered how hard she had fought in ship to ship battles to prove her worth of climbing up the chain of command. Of how she checked and tripled check every task given to her, for one mistake was the difference between promotion or floating lifeless in the void of space.

Pausing in the middle of a walkway, she unclasped her hands to rest them against the rails as she looked down into the hanger bay. The Nevermore's crew was hard at work. Overseeing the final checks and testing, Chief Engineer Coal stalked the bay, pausing to make notes on a data-slate and chastise a new recruit's mistake. Winter could just make out the conversation he was having with Lead Equipment and Vehicle Engineer Katt from her vantage point. Coal let out a whistle as the last of the new fighters were loaded onto the ship. “Damn, those Schnee's certainly know how to make a sleek design.”

Winter turned her attention to the new fighter ships that were forced upon her, grimacing slightly. They were stream lined and coated in a layer of white with a snowy blue tint, as was ever common with the Schnee Dust Corporation's designs and uniforms. She turned her attention back down to her officers as she heard Katt's excitable voice. “Are you kidding Flynt! These are more than sleek, they're sublime. Oh, they barely weigh anything, are rumoured to be fast even in the void, and are packed with experimental dust weaponry. And do you know what's the best part?”

Officer Coal took a step backward holding up his hands in a calming gesture with a smile on his face. “No, but you're about to tell me.”

“WE GET TO TEST THEM OUT!” Katt jumped high into the air in excitement, laughing as she rushed off to see to their loading and system checks personally. Winter's grimace turned into a slight smile at see her officer's apparent joy at the prospect of new technology to test and learn. Shaking her head, she resumed her path. She passed many more faces and junior officers on her way, each giving her the Atlesian Salute. She responded to most with a curt nod.

Within the hour she finally stepped through the doorway leading into the command centre, the central nervous system of The Nevermore. As soon as she stepped through the door she heard the voice of her CCO cutting through the hum of machines and crew. “Captain on deck!” Every soul stood to attention, and with a nod from Winter, each resumed their duties in preparing the battleship for launch. Stepping onto the raised dais from which she could see the entire bridge, she slowly sank down onto the throne. Leaning back and closing her eyes, she heard the footsteps stop next to her as her CCO took their place by her side. “So Captain, what arse end of the galaxy are we being sent to this time?”

She responded with a tired sigh, slowly opening her eyes to look out across the bridge, and out the glass at the stars. “We're to patrol the border between the Mistrali Sector and the Vale Expanse.”

“The Expanse? Didn't the SDC call it a waste of expenses? Why are we being sent there?”

“Because, Miss Sustrai, there have been increased raids into our territory from the expanse. One of them stole some experimental technology, and it's our job to hunt them down and get it back.”

Emerald let out a small laugh. Winter looked at her with a raised an eyebrow, catching her trying to cover up the laugh by coughing into her fist. “We don't get given the easy assignments do we?”

“Not as long as it's my father calling the shots.”

“Do we even have a name of who we're to hunt?”

Winter shook her head, drumming her fingers on the arm of the throne. “All we have to go on is a boisterous laugh and long golden hair. They were unable to even get the name of the ship.”

“Well, we've had worse assignments. Should be more fun than the last one right?”

“Here I thought you enjoyed our time on Xurus Secondus.” Winter allowed a small smile on her face.

“If I never see those green skies again, or another Megapede it'll be too soon.” The Chief Command Officer shivered in disgust at the recollection of the monstrosity, and the feeling of being crushed in it's mandibles.

“Thankfully no Megapede’s this time. Just pirates.”

Emerald nodded, and looked at the data-slate in her hand. She fell silent as she swiped through a few reports, managing the other officers spread throughout the ship. “We're almost set. Coal just finished down in the Hanger, and security is running a final sweep.”

“Good. The sooner we're away the better.”

“Any news on your sister?”

Winter gently shook her head. “Father sent her out to oversee a financial mission. And we both know what that means. Too many questions, or too much rebellion from her.”

“Maybe we could...pick her up from the mission?”

“If we happen to run across The Silent Breeze I'll consider it. For now, let us be away. Give the order Miss Sustrai.”

“By your command, Captain.” She typed a quick message into the data-slate, sending it off before calling out to the bride. In accordance to their new orders it erupted into controlled chaos. The Nevermore detached from the orbital docking, side thrusters burning hot as they pushed the ship away from the station. When they fell silent the main engine flared up. As the battleship slowly pulled away from Outpost Mandolin, crowds gathered at the view ports to watch it sail into the void. A bright flare of blue light signalled the jump engines kicking in, and the regal ship vanished without a trace.  

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

Weiss was little better than a prisoner aboard The Silent Breeze. Kept in isolation and confined to her quarters throughout the voyage, she huffed in frustration as she threw her personal data-slate onto the bed. The room would be considered nice under normal circumstances, connected to a personal bathroom and even a small kitchen, she had everything she needed except freedom. Ostensibly, she was there to be the lead negotiator between the Schnee Dust Corporation and the rising Argus Augmentics. In reality, she was being sent as far away from home as her father could. She had started asking to many questions about the ethics behind his company, and how much influence he had in the Atlas Empire. What had followed was a shouting match and similar confinement to her room in the mansion.

The next day she was shoved onto the cruiser and sent off into the void. Now, on her third week into the voyage, she was losing any semblance of patience. Pacing around the confines of the room, she began to plot her escape. Every few hours a guard checked on her, making sure she had everything she needed. The guard had been kind so far. If she played the cards right she might be able to convince him to let her out. The only other possibility was to knock him out. She looked around her quarters and felt her heart sink. Nothing was large or strong enough to knock someone out, the largest item she could use was a wooden spoon.

Sitting down on her bed, she picked back up the data-slate and passed the time waiting for the guard's visit by going through the mission briefing. Argus Augmentics had started off just designing prosthetics, but had recently been developing further enhancements that could be installed into the body. So far they had been designed to aid civilian life, such as adding cybernetics into the brain to aide with learning new languages or skills, upgraded prosthetics that could swap between different tools, and new eyes for the blind. Now they had begun research in weaponizing these augmentations and experimenting with Dust, which had drawn the eye of the SDC. A prototype had already been developed in union between the two, but had been stolen by pirates.

Weiss frowned at this, trying to find out more about the prototype, but those files were locked to her. With another huff of annoyance she threw the slate onto the bed next to her again, just as a knock sounded on the door. “Miss Schnee, permission to enter?” The guard had arrived just on time.

“Of course, please enter Mr. Arc.”

The door slid open, revealing the blonde guard on the other side. He held a kind smile as he brought in a tray of tea, placing it down on the coffee table. “Good Day Miss Weiss. We're still a few days out from our destination.”

“You've been saying that for the last week, Mr. Arc. I no longer believe it.”

“Really Miss, it won't be much longer until we reach Argus.”

“And once we're there, how much longer must I wait in here before I'm allowed out?” She glared angrily, before letting out a soft sigh and tried adopting a softer smile. “Please, Mr. Arc. All I want is to see something other than the inside of this room.”

“You know I can't do that. It's against the rules...”

“What trouble am I going to get up to? I just want to stretch my legs.”

“Miss...”

“What if you were to accompany me? I couldn't get into any trouble with such a strong guard looking after me.” The guard felt his cheeks redden slightly, though her stood straighter at the complimentary comments.

“Well...I suppose a little walk down the view-port corridor couldn't hurt...if you were under guard.”

“Thank you Mr. Arc. I promise to behave myself.” Weiss stood up and moved to the door, waiting for the guard to follow. He took a minute to look at the tea, sadden that the effort had gone to waste, then shrugged and escorted Weiss out of the room. The two walked in silence. Weiss was enjoying her newfound, temporary, freedom from the room. A plan began to formulate in her mind on how to change it from temporary to permanent. “Thank you, for letting me stretch my legs, Mr. Arc.”

“Please, my name is Jaune.”

“Well, Jaune, I am sorry about this.” Before he could question what she meant, she grabbed hold of his arm and shoved him into a open maintenance closet. “I have no intention of making it to Argus. I'll not be bound by my Father any longer.” Jaune stumbled back to his feet and tried to run back out, but the door slid shut blocking him, sealing him inside.

Fumbling for his communicator, he opened up a channel to the entirety of the ship. “This is Jaune Arc, Weiss Schnee is attempting to escape! Last seen heading towards the View ports!” Weiss swore under her breath and took off running, veering left down a side corridor. She hoped desperately that the ships security would head the wrong direction, and she could make it to the escape pods before she was found. An alarm started blaring and she could hear the sound of boots running down hallways. She slid to a stop, and ducked into a open room as three guards ran past, oblivious to her location. Waiting a few moments, she held her breath, before once more running down the hallway towards her freedom.

Just as hope flared in her upon seeing the escape pods, a hand grabbed the back of her coat. The fabric ripped, and she was tripped onto the floor. Looking up, she was greeted by a malicious grin and grey eyes. “Well well, looks like I found the escaped song bird.” She scrambled to her knees and tried to crawl away, but two more guards blocked the path to the pods. “Inform the captain that I'll be bringing Miss Schnee to the bridge.”

“Yes Sir!” One of the guards saluted and ran off, while Weiss was roughly picked up off the floor and dragged away from the pods. She struggled to the best of her ability, but her captors just tightened their grips on her arms. Dragged throughout the ship she passed uncaring faces, focused on their own jobs and caring not for her plight. It took half an hour, but eventually she was thrown before the dais of The Silent Breeze's Captain.

“What do we have here, Mr. Black?” The captain was a large, heavyset man, the uniform barely still able to fit him as he lounged in his throne. Fat fingers were choked with rings, which drummed on the arm of his seat as his cruel eyes looked down at Weiss. She felt small in that moment, and when the captain licked his lips she felt more like a piece of meat before the monstrosity rather than a fellow human.

“The little Princess here got it in her head to try to escape. Found her trying to climb into a escape pod.”

“Is that so?” The throne creaked and groaned as the captain lent forward, appraising Weiss. “That's no good. How do we get paid if we don't deliver her to Argus hmm?”

Weiss frowned, and felt her blood go cold. “D-deliver?”

“Oh, didn't Daddy tell you? Did you think you were here to negotiate a deal?” The captain's smile grew sadistic as he carried on. “Oh no little princess. You are the deal. I heard they were going to use you to test out their new cybernetics. Turn you into the perfect little soldier. Or, perhaps a toy? I wonder how much people would pay for you hmm?”

Weiss looked at the captain with undisguised disgust, and attempted to move away. She was stopped by the foot of Mercury Black, the commander of security. “Now now, Captain Gole. We're meant to deliver her in the state she's in. I have strict orders to stop anyone from doing anything...untoward.”

The captain opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a bright flash filtering through the viewport from the void. “What in the Maiden's name was that!” Everyone has shielded their eyes, and when they finally looked they found their ship face to face with a battle cruiser. It hung their in space silently, before two more bright flashes erupted from its front. The Silent Breeze shuddered as two lasers pierced it, carving out huge segments. The sirens resumed their warning cry and the bridge erupted into chaos. “Shit! Get us out of here!”

The Silent Breeze's side thrusters began to burn hot, trying to turn the cruiser towards freedom. It was a futile endeavour as the two lances of light shot forth again, carving out the main engines and leaving it dead in the void. Pandemonium reigned aboard, during which Weiss was almost forgotten. She contemplated taking the chance to flee to the escape pods, but guards still stood at the doors into the bridge. Mercury had disappeared during the turmoil, and Captain Gole was yelling at his crew. Fear was evident on his face, hands turning white from the force used to grip his chair. Fires had spread across the lower decks of the ship, and debris was sucked out into the vacuum through the holes caused by the battle cruiser's attack. Once more the two lances shot forth, and The Silent Breeze was robbed of even it's thrusters. Weiss looked out the the glass to see several smaller ships launch from the metal behemoth. Each one was headed towards different parts of the ship. Most angled towards where the cargo was stored, but one was headed directly towards the bridge. The Captain noticed it as well, and began to panic. “Close the Blast Shields! Close them now!”

Metal shutters started to slowly crawl over the glass, but the order was given too late. The vessel crashed right through the glass, sealing the hole with it's own size. Several crewman were crushed beneath in, and Weiss could see that the vessel was a escape pod modified for boarding actions rather than escaping. The hatch slowly opened up, filling the bridge with steam and smoke as three figures emerged. The central figure wore a brown duster with the right arm tied up. Long golden locks fell down her back, and her remaining hand rested on the grip of a pistol still in it's holster. To her right and left were two Faunus's, One with raven black hair, the other with light brown. They each held a rifle stolen from the Atlas Military which were pointed at the remaining guards on the bridge. “Good Day Ladies and Gentlemen! I hope we find you in good health and in a wealthy enough disposition to help those down on their luck!” The blonde radiated a confident energy that cowed most of the crew, and even the guards sank to their knees with their hands on the back of their heads.

The Captain, however, was to furious to realise the danger he was in. “We'll do no bartering with filthy pirates like you!” He slowly stood to his feet and pulled out a pistol, aiming right at the pirate's leader. “How dare you attack my ship! Do you know who I am!”

“Captain Gole Retriever. Lap dog for Jacques Schnee, doing supply runs and overseeing the man's more...illicit activities. Such as collecting slaves, black mail, extortion, and much much more.” The cat faunus smirked as she spoke, moving the rifle to aim at the Captain. “Yes, we know who you are. But do you know who we are?”

Gole turned white as his crimes were laid before him in such a factly manner, and he reappraised the situation. He could feel the eyes of his newer crew looking at him in disgust. “What does it matter who you are!”

“Captain...that's the New Dawn out there...They're the Sun Dragoons.” One of his guards chipped in from the side. He was shot a disgusted look from Gole, before what he said was processed.

“Oh, I see at least some of you know us. Let me introduce myself. I am Yang, leader of the Sun Dragoons. And one way or another we will be leaving with your goods and money. Question is, will you make it easy for us?”

Weiss was yanked to her feet with a yelp, and held in front of Gole towards Yang. “L-look, I was just following orders, alright? I don't want no trouble, and I'm not willing to die for Jacques. Just, take her. We were meant to deliver her for experimentation. Take her and any cargo we have, just leave my money.”

The two Faunus looked at each other in the back, eyebrows raised. Their leader however looked shell shocked, before straining to smile. “Interesting proposition you've made there. Why don't you let me have a look at that pretty creature?”

Weiss was pushed forward towards Yang unceremoniously, nearly tripping. She was caught by Yang, and made to stand straight. “Please...help me.” Yang raised an eyebrow at Weiss's plea, before winking at her and turning back to Gole.

“Alright, we'll take the lass. But there's one addendum to your offer.”

“What's tha-” He never got to finish his question as Yang pulled her gun from it's holster and blasted a hole in the man's chest. Weiss screamed in shock, covering her ears at the noise. Yang placed the weapon away, and gently took Weiss's hand, leading her to the boarding pod. As they climbed back up, the rabbit Faunus gently lead her into the vessel and sat her down. Yang stood by the entrance and called out.

“Anyone who had no idea of Gole's crimes, and wants a second chance at life, this is your one and only chance. Join us, come with me and learn what it means to be free. Or stay here, trapped and stranded in the void.” The defeated crew looked at each other, a few stood and tentatively walked up the ramp into the vessel. The rest stood their ground. The blonde shook her head sadly. “You may want to leave the bridge.” With a swirl of her coat she retreated further into her vessel as the door closed behind her. She passed by those who had decided to join her, and paused when she reached Weiss. “You're safe now Miss.”

“T-thank you.” Weiss swallowed nervously. “But...where are you taking me?”

Yang smiled as the boarding pod pulled away from The Silent Breeze, causing debris and bodies to be pulled out into space. “We're taking you to Beacon, where all men and women are free.”

[tangent101]

Bumbleby, Black Sun, and inequality in Shipping Fandoms

I recently was reading a post in which someone was starting to go into in-depth detail as to why they consider Bumbleby/Bumblebee (BB) to be a valid pairing when it dawned on me that I’ve not really seen much in the way for Black Sun/Eclipse (EC) and why that ship should be considered a done deal. In fact, I often see that EC is given a pass in areas where BB is forced to explain in detail for the same exact areas. Essentially, there is a heteronormative bias toward EC.

Let’s take the biggest argument: BB isn’t going to happen because we’ve never heard Yang or Blake state that they love each other. You know, the “pics or it didn’t happen” argument. But here’s the kicker: we’ve never actually heard Sun state he is in love with Blake. We’ve not even heard him state he is attracted to Blake that I can recall. Sure, he’s flirted with her but what does that prove?

Think about that for a moment. If you were to apply the same standard of proof that some in the FNDM insist for BB to EC? Then you wouldn’t have a ship. You have a friend who follows his fellow Faunus while looking for an adventure (which he gets) but you don’t have any actual proof that he is attracted to Blake.

So then. Why does the EC crowd get a pass when they state things like “they put Blake and Sun on a literal ship together, that proves EC!” but ignore the fact that you have a girl named for rainbows declaring her attraction for Blake (and Blake doing everything in her power to redeem that friend) and then the two of them taking a ship named the Pride to go to Mistral where Yang is at.

I swear, if they have Neon and Flynt on the Pride when Blake and the Menagerie Faunus set sail and Neon does one of her little rainbow flares while circling Blake and saying how happy she is to see Blake and crew, I will show absolutely zero surprise - and the EC crowd will insist that BB is still dead in the water. 

Personally? If BB happens I want to see it take time. I want to see Blake and Yang work to overcome their problems and for Blake to earn Yang’s trust again and for it to make sense. I don’t want instant forgiveness and hugs and kisses (okay, a hug-reunion is acceptable because they’ve not seen each other and let’s face it, Yang’s a hugger and already got glomped by Weiss - we’re due a Yang-Blake hug in any event). 

And if EC were to happen? I would want to see actual growth and chemistry which has decidedly been lacking. I don’t want heteronormative assumptions that just because Sun’s a decent chap that he’s going to win the girl. Hell, it would be nice to see several male-female friendships in which sex or dating wasn’t on the cards and they just were into each other as friends. Because let’s face it: guys can be friends with girls without expecting sex. Claiming otherwise just works to divide both into camps. 

[dragynkeep]

Flynt Coal?

meme, not accepting.

my top three ships for the character.

electroswing ( flynt / neon. ) walking on sunshine ( flynt / sun. ) non canon cool jazz ( flynt / weiss. )

my three least favourite ships for the character.

canon cool jazz ( flynt / weiss. ) sea shanties ( flynt / scarlet. ) flynt / kobalt or ivori.

my biggest criticism for the character.

the conception of his character. 

it definitely isn’t a criticism of the character in universe but what the hell where miles & kerry thinking when they not only made that racist joke but then based one of their few black characters around that racist joke as two white dudes. everything about flynt ends up being one big black stereotype to his musical type, the way he dresses, down to his name. there are ways to make this work & not feel like a disgusting stereotype but milk & kornflakes definitely never got it down. 

my favourite thing about the character.

i do like his actual character design & his personality, especially the way he works so perfectly with the outgoing & in your face neon, managing to keep her in line but also proving that they do have a really good friendship where it’s believable that they trust each other & rely on each other so well. plus the neat colour coding of his semblance is cute, & his weapon is certainly inventive.

a headcanon i have about them.

flynt had a stutter when he was younger & was functionally mute for a large portion of his childhood, until his father taught him how to use his trumpet & training with that began to give him the confidence he needed to try & begin to work past it. every now & again when he’s under stress or upset, the stutter will resurface but neon has also said she’ll break anyone’s legs who makes fun of him. which shouldn’t be as endearing as it was but he didn’t mind.

what i would change about them if i was making a re-write.

mmm, his name to begin with. i know in luke’s au azre that he actually became flynt quartz, & measures were taken to flesh flynt out beyond being an amalgamation of black stereotypes. which was sorely needed & the impact was lessened somewhat with the appearance of more black characters.

what i think of their character allusion and what (if anything) i would change about it.

his allusion does fit with the “ theme ” of team fnki being memes, it’s just a bit more niche than say, the nyan cat or the black / blue, white / gold dress. i would possibly look for another allusion if you seriously didn’t like it, whether for it’s association with rooster teeth or just because of how niche it is, but i personally don’t have a major issue with it so haven’t thought of another for him.