#with the help of may they’re able to transfer the remnant of his soul from ling’s body to his own

[mar-marmallu]

Without text:

Happy (belated) Holidays, @lady-vicky-toria !!! I’m your secret santa from the @fmasecretsanta event~

I hope this suffices! I had a lot of fun making this one hehe <33

(Context in the tags)

[commandervisor]

Since you're just about to start vol 7, is there any theories you have going forward? Is there something you really want to see happend? Have you been spoiled for anything?

Putting this under a “Read More” because this is just one thing after another… 

Theories? In hindsight after writing all of this, most of it is not the main cast because I guess at the moment, they’re rather well-adjusted and/or recovering from their issues rather well lol, so I can’t make big enough guesses on them right now.

Emerald and maybe Mercury GTFO there, I think being stuck in Salem’s castle with Hazel until whatever goes down in Atlas I guess will 

Emerald becomes a Maiden, my guesses are:

A “redeemed” Cinder thinks of Emerald in her last moments, but it’s kept vague if she was thinking of her because she actually cared about her or because of something completely unrelated to that (ex. “Emerald better have-*gets killed midsentence*”).

Otherwise, Cinder finds out Emerald is now a Maiden and turns against her. Now Emerald has to deal with her mother figure, the woman who saved her life, wanting her dead.

Either way, I think this could lead to her redemption.

Mercury is pretty hard to read, especially after what he said in V6 about why he acts the way he does and how he feels about his relationship with Cinder and Emerald. Tyrian summed him up as just putting up a tough exterior because he doesn’t know anything else, so if something like Emerald going rogue happens, then it’ll be interesting to see how long he’ll keep those barriers up against Emerald.

Cinder “redemption” arc. I don’t know how, but it would constitute showing her backstory (because that infatuation for power and not wanting to be powerless has to come from something, and she’s based on Cinderella, so.). V6 already had Salem basically kicking her out of the house for disobeying her (albeit she’s apparently still keeping an eye on her…), so Cinder left to her own devices could end up doing a lot more loose cannon-y things outside of trying to get revenge on Ruby and this eventually leads into her becoming an anti-villain and something of an anti-hero?

Pyrrha’s and maybe Amber’s souls are actually connected to Cinder, kind of like with Ozpin and Oscar, because 1) Maiden mechanics? and 2) It seems strange to me that back in V3 when they hooked up Pyrrha to Amber in that aura transfer machine, they made a big deal out of how Pyrrha “might not be the same” if the transfer works but then she died anyways so that part seemingly didn’t matter outside of brief angst? At the moment, I don’t know where this would go other than Pyrrha and Amber kind of haunting Cinder like ghosts, maybe this could lead to her “redemption”?

After what happened with Vernal, I don’t know what to make of Winter Schnee and Summer Rose as possible Maidens, but it seems relevant? We’ll just have to wait and see.

Likewise, I don’t really know where Hazel’s arc may go, either they’ll keep him as someone who refuses to move forward and ends up dying a bitter, meaningless life, or he’ll finally realize that and maybe help the heroes against Salem and/or Em & Merc leave Salem (I think him trying to take the blame for Cinder’s failure in V6 was foreshadowing), probably at the cost of his life because I can’t imagine him turning against Salem and managing to walk away alive.

Weiss tearing Jacques a new one, because we got Yang doing that to Raven in V5 and Blake (and Yang) doing it to Adam in V6 too, so I think we’ll continue to see cycles of abuse, hate, spite, and so on get broken from this point on.

And also take Whitley and GTFO there too, it’d be neat to see him unlearn his behavior from being under Jacques this whole time and I guess “redeem” himself… I have no idea who should take him in but he could stay with Maria if she and the group are parting ways in Atlas, it probably wouldn’t be safe for him to tag along with RRAYNBBOW (or however they’re called now lol). I pretty much envision this as what Eh**z said about Azulademption if it had happened in ATLA (”I’m happy.” “Yes, we know you are, Whitley.”).

Tai fighting, because they’ve established him as being retired while Raven and Qrow are still in action, so I think we might see him fight at some point as things come to a head.

Because RWBY is a good show that knows how to properly “subvert expectations”, it is to be expected that a lot of questions and mysteries will get answered (ex. Almost everything about Summer, Raven/The Spring Maiden subplot to come back, probably if a Maiden killing another Maiden actually boosts their power or not, whatever they have to do to teach Salem her lesson, etc.), and there are a lot of endgames they’re likely building up to (ex. Salem is defeated, Oz and Salem reunite and reconcile in the afterlife, Oscar is the last Oz reincarnation because Oz’s quest finally gets a happy ending, the Gods leave Remnant alone, maybe the Grimm disappear from Remnant, etc.).

Things I want to see happen (outside of ships because I think y’all know already lol):

I think this is a victim of the show trying to find its footing early on, which does happen, but I think it would be/have been neat if we got to see Ruby’s friends from Signal at some point (I’m guessing this might be prime self-insert OC material) or at least get a glimpse of the “elementary”/”primary” Huntsmen academies, if only because I like worldbuilding/lore and Chekhov’s guns/foreshadowing :P. Though I doubt this will happen since the show is moving in a really different direction from the school setting it had back in V1-V3, which is fine.

Jacques joining Adam in clown hell

STRQ flashbacks, and maybe a TRQ reunion? Again, I can see this as something happening as things come to a head, especially since this would require Raven to kind of turncoat back to the good guys.

EDIT: I would also like to see Goodwitch come back, but I guess that might be a while since we’re focusing on Atlas at the moment and then presumably Vacuo?

Watts shaving his dumb moostash

More anime voice actors, because OH WOW IT’S AMAZING HOW THE ACTING INDUSTRY WORKS, HUH VI? 

I think that’s all I can think of for now… Anything else I usually wonder about is something I bring up in my liveblogs? I think??

Have I been spoiled for anything? Yeah, I guess, but it was because of people rb’ing RWBY on my dash/TL/whatever before I started watching the show, so I didn’t have context and I didn’t think much of any of it beyond that they looked neat. That, plus me having the memory of a goldfish about all of that probably helped… For example, ask me about Homestuck, The Adventure Zone, Critical Role, The Arcana, etc. because I see those on my dash a lot, but I have no idea what they’re about other than maybe some general info and a couple of character names.

That being said, I knew/know about some characters that hadn’t/haven’t shown up yet because that’s pretty hard to avoid (at the beginning, I only really knew RWBYJNPR, Sun, Penny, and also Ozpin, Qrow, and Summer but pretty much in name only; back when V7 started, I did notice a lot of popularity with certain characters from that volume), and some things I did know like someone being able to turn into a bird (when the Faunus lore got introduced, I thought this was going to be a Faunus power lol*), Blake was or was not a cat-person, Summer being gone, Bumbleby being the ship, and maybe more that I can’t remember at the moment.

* …“What I expected vs. What I got: RWBY Edition” is probably something that warrants its own post. Hmm…

It’s 3 AM and this is a huge garbled mess, but as you might guess, I’m really invested in RWBY right now and it’s fun wondering where they’ll take the story next. This is quality.

[green-eyeddragonfanfiction]

Time: Chapter 12

Summary: Soulmate!AU/Reincarnation!AU. Female!Reader lives in a world where alien invasions threaten Earth, hordes of death robots destroy entire  towns and past lives and soulmates are very real. Like most people, she gets brief glimpses of her past. Although a person’s past lives and their current life may have little to nothing in common, soul mates tend to transfer between lives, the core of a person staying the same throughout the eons. What happens when reader’s soulmate from her past life, Steve Rogers, shows up out of the blue? Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Female!Reader, Steve Rogers x Female!Reader Warnings: Language, angst, fluff Word Count: ~3,719 A/N: I apologize for the super late update. I’ve been busy with real life obligations and also I’m trash who got pulled back into a game by a friend. Chapter 13 will be out soon, I promise. Who are you guys rooting for? I’m curious! Lemme know in the comments :) (Or don’t. I’m a writer, not a cop)

Masterlist // Previous Chapter // Next Chapter

“(Y/N)?” Steve asked, voice deadly quiet.

You jumped, startled by his voice, thoughts years and a lifetime away. Steve closed the sketch pad and placed a hand on your arm and gently squeezed. The sensation was enough to break you out of the lingering remnants of your reverie and you forced a smile onto your face.

“Those are amazing, Steve,” you said, motioning to the notebook. “I’m going to go see if Laura needs any help around the house,” you said, turning to sprint out the door before Steve could stop you.

Your POV

Orange light from the sunset streamed in through the window as you tackled the dishes from dinner, effectively avoiding the rest of the household.

“You should talk to him, you know.”

You turned to look at Laura, who was staring at you expectantly.

“Oh, not you too,” you griped, sighing as you placed another clean plate onto the drying rack.

“He’s looked like a lost puppy since you arrived this morning. I don’t know for sure what happened between you two, but I see the way he looks at you...” She said, eyeing you. You felt like she was x-raying you; Her eyes seemed to see straight through you.

You sighed, turning off the sink’s faucets, and turned around to face her. You propped your arms up on the counter behind you and leaned your lower back against it.

“How much do you know about me and Steve?” you asked, wary.

“Clint may have told me a few things. Not that Steve was completely forthcoming with all the details, though; I don’t think he told the team everything, Clint included. But, even with my husband’s keen eye, there are some things I still see better than him,” she said grinning.

You snorted at that, rolling your eyes, then sobered. “We were all together in my past life; Did you know that? Me, Bucky, and Steve? But I fucked up. I was dating his best friend for the last year, and I didn’t even know it was Bucky. I’d always hoped a little bit, y’know? That Bucky was somehow alive? That I was able to spend time with him again? I think I always loved Bucky, even in my previous life, but Steve was always the one for me. But I walked over everything Steve and I had together, treated it like dirt... I didn’t even call and let him know I found someone who looked exactly like our Bucky... And look what happened. If I had just-”

“Don’t start playing the ‘if’ game. That’s a rabbit hole you should never go down.” Laura chastised, taking one of your hands in hers. “I do have one question, though,” she said tentatively.

“Shoot,” you said solemnly.

“Why did you run from Steve? I know you ran into him in DC, but surely you recognized him before that? What kept you from reaching out?” She asked meekly, studying you closely.

A single laugh left your lips. It was a bitter sound.

“Because I didn’t want to hurt him. Have you ever heard of a situation like mine? Meeting your former life’s soul mate in your next life, but they’re just as young as they were in your past life?” you asked, raising a critical eyebrow at her.

She shook her head slowly. “No, I suppose not,” she said, sad smile lining her features as she considered what you said.

“I’m not her, Laura. I may have her memories and I probably share some of her personality traits, but I’m not her. I never will be. Rosie died in the thirties. She’s never coming back. Not really. How am I supposed to face Steve and know that, to him, I’ll always just be the ghost of the girl he loved more than anything else? How could I put him through that?” you asked, torment clear in your voice. “And then with what happened with Bucky in Bucharest-”

Laura pulled you in for a sudden hug, a small noise of surprise leaving your lips. “You need to have more faith in Steve, hun,” she said, leaning back to peer at you. “I think he needs you. And if I’m not mistaken, I think you need him, too,” she said, smiling at you sadly, and reached up and wiped away a tear you hadn’t realized you’d shed. “Don’t shut him out, alright?”

You nodded your head slowly. “Alrigh’,” you agreed, giving Laura a brave smile. Inside, you were still in turmoil. She was probably right, but it didn’t make swallowing your guilt any easier.

She smiled back at you then turned to face the sink, hands on her hips. “If we work together we’ll knock these dishes out in no time,” she said. She was in the middle of rolling up her sleeves when the front door opened. You both whirled, on high alert, but it was only Steve. He looked from you to Laura, alarmed at your reactions, but a shy smile appeared on his face a moment later.

“Sorry for startling you,” he said, sheepish. “I’ll just... go,” he said, turning to head to the sitting room.

“Actually, Steve, your timing is perfect. I need to go check on Nathaniel and I’d feel awful leaving (Y/N) to tackle this mountain of dishes on her own. Could you help her? Please?” she asked, batting her eyelashes at Steve.

You looked at Laura in alarm. You weren’t expecting this to happen so suddenly. You didn’t have time to prepare yourself. You didn’t know what to say.

“No, it’s alright I can handle this,” you said quickly, before Steve could say anything, giving Laura a wide-eyed what the hell look that Steve couldn’t see. She simply smiled broadly back at you, clearly biting back a laugh.

“I’d be happy to help,” Steve said resolutely, walking into the kitchen.

“Of course you would,” you muttered quietly, glaring angrily at Laura.

“Thanks, Steve. You’re a life saver,” she said, standing on her toes to give Steve a friendly peck on the cheek before she toddled off upstairs to Nathaniel’s nursery. You immediately turned back to the sink, avoiding his gaze.

“Do you wanna wash or dry?” he asked conversationally as he took a spot next to you. You thought about it for a moment, gazing down at your ever-so-slightly pruney hands.

“Dry, but we can swap after a little bit,” you said, plastering a smile onto your face as you looked up at him.

He looked at you, lips turned down in a frown for a split second before he coached his face back into calm neutrality. “Sounds good,” he said, swapping places with you as he grabbed the grubby blue sponge from the corner of the sink and began working away at the mountain of dishes.

You’d worked through half of the remaining pile when Steve spoke up.

“I’m sorry about earlier. I’d forgotten he was part of those sketches,” Steve said. You noticed how he avoided saying Bucky’s name, likely thinking it might upset you.

“You have nothing to apologize for, Stevie. They were amazing,” you said genuinely, a real smile appearing on your lips as you looked at him sideways. “I’m alright,” you said bracingly. It wasn’t entirely true, but the shock had mostly worn off.

“Are you sure?” he asked, pausing in the middle of scrubbing a dish to study your face closely.

His concern had you reacting subconsciously, standing on your toes to kiss him on the cheek. “I’m sure,” you said, smiling softly. What you did dawned on you a half second later, but you found you didn’t regret the action. It didn’t feel wrong like you thought it would.

His smile was dazzling, making your own smile grow in return. “If you say so,” he said, passing you the plate he’d just finished rinsing. “Ready to swap?” he asked, holding up his pruney hands, and wiggled his fingers.

You giggled and wrinkled your nose playfully at the sight. “I’ll swap if you stop waving those in my face,” you said, switching places with him.

“Deal,” he agreed amicably, trading the sponge for the drying rag.

You cleaned for a while in companionable silence until he spoke again.

“Are you still okay with sharing a room with me?” he asked, trepidation clear in his voice.

You let out a single huff of laughter, smiling. “Yeah, Stevie. Of course I am,” you said earnestly.

He stared at you with an intensity that made you want to squirm and it looked like he was about to say something when Sam and Scott entered the house, door banging open, arguing loudly. They were so into it they didn’t even seem to notice you and Steve in the kitchen.

“I better go see what that’s about,” Steve said, grimacing. He looked at you apologetically, but didn’t move from the spot.

You chuckled. He wouldn’t leave you until you told him it was okay. He was such a gentleman. “Go, go. Don’t let them tear apart Clint’s house; he’ll kill them,” you said, waving a hand to shoo him off.

“Sorry. As soon as I sort this out I’ll be back,” he smiled at you, obviously grateful, and leaned down to plant a tender kiss to your forehead. You felt your cheeks heat and turned away to hide your face from him, staring determinedly at the meager pile of dishes that had yet to be cleaned.

“Good luck,” you said, trying hard to keep your voice even. You heard him mumble a thanks as he jogged after the other two men. It sounded as though they’d made it through the house and into the backyard.

By the time Steve returned you’d finished the dishes and had made yourself a nest of blankets on the couch in the living room. You were flicking through TV shows, grimacing occasionally when certain shows came on.

He spotted you and walked over, gesturing to the empty seat beside you on the couch. “May I?” he asked, small smile on his lips.

You nodded, smiling, and scooted over a bit, pulling the blankets out of the way so he wouldn’t sit on them. Once he was seated, you threw a few of the fuzzy layers over him and resumed your channel surfing.

“Nothing good, huh?” he asked, looking from you to the TV.

“Absolute bull shite,” you replied, groaning as yet another awful show came on. You flicked channels faster than light, not wanting to see any of the Kadashian’s faces for a moment longer. “What were they fighting about?” you asked, glancing at him out of the corner of your eye.

“Who would win between them in a fight. They were about three minutes away from pulling on their suits and duking it out,” he said, rubbing a hand over his face in exasperation.

“Seriously?” you asked, raising an eyebrow in disbelief.

“They’re getting a little stir-crazy. First the van and now the house. They’re not taking being cooped up very well. Not that I blame them... For what it’s worth I don’t think they’d actually do it, but I couldn’t risk that. They aren’t exactly subtle,” he said, grinning wryly at you.

“Yeah, can’t Scott also go... huge?” you asked curiously.

“Yeah, he can. We didn’t know that when we recruited him. It was a bit of a shock,” Steve said, chuckling.

“Just a bit?” you asked, turning back to the TV to continue flicking through channels.

“My perception of the concept of ‘normal’ is a little skewed,” he said, shrugging sheepishly.

You laughed at that, the sound filling the room, making Steve smile, too. “Alright, I’ll give you that one, I suppose,” you said, grinning at him. You flicked to another channel and were about to skip to another, but the movie on the screen caught your attention.

It was a black and white movie. Horses and wagons dominated the background, and a handsome man astride a horse was talking to scruffy-looking men in cowboy hats and tattered clothes. You set the remote down on the coffee table and leaned back slowly. You knew you’d never seen this movie in your life, but somehow you felt like you knew it start to finish.

“‘That’s a serious charge. If you’re sure, we’ll call a settler’s meeting in the morning to try ‘em’“ you said, quoting the old man in the movie word for word, the dialogue slipping from your lips before you could think about it, matching the actor’s timing exactly. “‘You can call a settler's meeting to bury 'em,’“ you said, quoting the man you now recognized as a young John Wayne in the same fashion.

You looked to turn at Steve in horror, unable to stop yourself from saying the next line. “‘I kill my own-‘ Steve what the hell is happening?!” you asked, alarmed. He was wearing a matching mask of shock, looking between you and the TV.

His gaze finally settled on you, recognition and surprise warring with each other in his expression. “The Big Trail,” he said quietly, eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

A flood of memories invaded your mind at his words, vision swimming in the onslaught.

“(Y/N)?” Steve said, alarmed, placing a hand on your shoulder. Slowly, the world came back into focus as your mind sifted through the memories.

“This was her favorite movie,” you said quietly. Steve nodded, still tense with concern. “You snuck her out of her house to see it,” you said, fudging the truth. You knew it was Bucky’s idea and Steve had only agreed after he saw how excited you were at the prospect.

Steve seemed to notice how you omitted that part, and nodded. “You saw it four times in the theater and we had to sneak you in each time. Your parents didn’t want you to see it. Said it was too violent,” Steve said, smiling softly at the memory. You ignored the use of “we” as best you could.

You snorted, remembering that part. Your heart ached as you remembered Rosie’s parents, but you quickly shoved the thought down. “I liked it because it was a wild adventure so different from my life in New York. It was an escape,” you said, turning back to stare at the screen. Your lips quirked up in a grin as you watched the classic movie play out.

“I know. That’s why I let you drag me to it all four times,” Steve said, smiling at you.

“Don’t pretend like you didn’t enjoy it, too,” you grinned, nudging him in the side with your elbow.

He chuckled, moving out of the range of your elbow. “Yeah, you’re right. Four times was a little much, though,” he said, smirking.

“Shush, this is the good part,” you said, turning your full attention to the TV.

You felt more than heard his chuckle and you turned and stuck your tongue out at him, causing him to laugh in earnest.

“Oh, shut up, Stevie!” you griped, smacking his chest lightly. You scooted up against him, eyes fixed on the TV, threw some of your blankets over him, and rested your head on his shoulder. He went still while you settled, surprised at your sudden closeness. You plan had worked; you’d shocked him into silence. After a moment he snaked his arm around your waist, pulling you a little closer. It was your turn to be surprised, your heart beating hard in your chest, loud enough you were sure he could hear it. You sat there, frozen, eyes glued to screen, a deer caught in the headlights. What should you do? This wasn’t part of your grand Steve-silencing plan.

Your mind raced, pulse picking up speed as you silently panicked.

Then Steve sighed softly and relaxed into the couch, content. As the tension in his body leaked out, so too did yours. You found that you liked sitting like this with Steve. It felt right. Warm. Like home. Before you knew it you’d sunken into his embrace, enjoying both the movie and his company.

It seemed that, like you, he remembered lines from the most dramatic bits of the movie and you took turns quoting the characters. It was a weird sensation. You didn’t know what would happen next, but you could quote the characters as they spoke. You were enjoying yourself, though. You had to hand it to Rosie; She had great taste in movies. You supposed it made sense that you’d enjoy it, too. As much as you tried to deny it, you were nearly the same person as her at your core.

By the time the movie was over, you were mostly asleep, dozing lightly on Steve’s shoulder as the credits for the next movie began rolling.

“Bedtime, sweetheart?” Steve asked quietly, rousing you from your sleep with a gentle kiss on top of your head.

You hummed an affirmative, too groggy to bother using your words. Steve smiled down at you, gathering you and all of your blankets into his lap before he stood, carrying you out of the living room and up the stairs to your shared room.

“You wanna change into your pajamas?” he asked quietly, breath tickling your ear.

You grunted a negative, shaking your head slightly. You cracked one eye open to peer at him through the gloom of the dark room. Even in the low light his gorgeous blue eyes stood out. “Thanks, Stevie. You’re the best,” you mumbled, as he gently set you down on the bed.

“No problem, (Y/N),” he whispered, placing a light kiss on your forehead as he tucked you in.

You couldn’t resist the pull of sleep and passed out moments after he finished fixing your blankets.

Something hit your bed and you sat up suddenly, sleepy haze rapidly leaving you. You looked around for the source but saw nothing.

A second later, though, a noise came from the floor on the left side of your bed and you jumped as the bed was jostled again. You slowly crept to the side of the bed and peeked over edge, apprehensive.

You breathed out a sigh of relief. It was only Steve. However, your relief was quickly replaced with concern. He was covered in a thin layer of sweat as he tossed and turned, face screwed up in fear. You hopped off of the bed quickly and knelt next to him, barely dodging a knee to the side.

“Steve, wake up. It’s a nightmare. Wake up,” you hissed, shaking his shoulders.

He awoke with a start, grabbing your arms so hard you were sure they would bruise. He sat up, pinning you against the bed before his vision finally focused and he released you, alarmed.

“Sorry. I’m so sorry, sweetheart,” looking at his hands as though they didn’t belong to him.

“It’s okay, Stevie. I’m okay,” you said, reaching up and pulling him into your arms, crushing his head to your chest. “I know you didn’t mean to do it,” you said, planting a kiss on top of his head.

He wrapped his arms around you tentatively, fingers tangling themselves into the soft material of your shirt.

“You had nightmares in the van, too. How often does this happen?” you asked, peering down at him. He buried his head in the crook of your neck in lieu of responding, causing you to worry more. “Stevie?” you asked, concern seeping into your voice.

He squeezed you gently in his arms, not wanting to tell you and cause you to worry more. You looked down at him, sighing when you realized he wouldn’t tell you willingly.

“Come sleep in the bed with me,” you said quietly.

He pulled back enough to look at you in confusion. “What?” he asked as though you’d just spoken gibberish to him.

“Come sleep in the bed with me,” you repeated. “You didn’t have nightmares when I slept on your lap in the van. I think you’ll sleep better next to me,” you said, trying to sound both confident and comforting.

“I can’t-” he began, but you cut him off.

“Look, Stevie. I don’t have superpowers. I can’t mind control the world government back into sanity, or fight off aliens with super speed. But I can help you, which is better. Please let me help,” you said, small frown forming on your face as you ran a thumb over his cheek.

He stared at you, eyes searching yours, before he nodded. You beamed down at him, releasing him so you could stand. Instead of letting you go he simply stood, dragging you up with him. He set you down on the bed and you scooted over so he’d have room to crawl in next to you. He was so big fitting on the bed was suddenly a tight squeeze. You both burrowed under the blankets, he laid on his side to make himself as small as possible, and you moved away from the edge until you were met with the hard planes of his chest.

You looked up at him, barely making out his features in the gloom. You could see his eyes trained on yours, fondness in his gaze obvious even in the dark. You smiled at him, reaching up to brush his hair away from his forehead. He closed his eyes, reveling in the simple touch.

“Goodnight, Stevie,” you whispered, fingers trailing over his cheek. He opened his eyes and, before you could react, he leaned down and kissed you gently on the lips. It was a chaste, sweet thing, but your heart was beating a hundred miles a second, neck and cheeks heating. You tried to keep your face calm as he pulled back, smiling softly at you.

“Goodnight, (Y/N),” he whispered, brushing a piece of hair off of your cheek. Unable to look at him for a moment longer for fear of what you might do, you turned away from him. A moment later one of his arms wrapped itself around your waist and reeled you into his chest. You smiled, resting your head on the bicep of his other arm as his legs moved up, spooning you. You should have been alarmed at how normal if felt to lay there like that with him, but you were so tired and happy that you didn’t question it, once again drifting off to sleep.

Chapter 13

This series is finished, but if you want to be tagged in my other fics, check out this post! Sorry, but responses to this post asking to be tagged will be ignored, so send me an ask or like one of the taglist posts!

☕ Buy Me a Coffee! ☕

[eye-burn-neon]

Well, Well, Well; Who do we have here?

Caution: RWBY Vol. 3 and Grimm Eclipse Spoilers

I’m re-watching the entire RWBY series; I just finished PvP, and I want to draw your attention to this figure right here:

This guy’s head appears directly after Penny’s eyes go dark, from 5:35 to 5:41 in the episode's video on Rooster Teeth’s YT channel. Here’s the six seconds I’m going to analyze and then rant about:

<iframe src='//gifs.com/embed/dr-merlot-s-first-appearance-in-rwby-pgxE7m' frameborder='0' scrolling='no' width='640px' height='360px' style='-webkit-backface-visibility: hidden;-webkit-transform: scale(1);' ></iframe>

This guy reminded me of someone in particular – Dr. Merlot. Now for any fans who haven’t played/seen/heard of Grimm Eclipse – y'all are missing out, BTW, it’s awesome – Dr. Melot is this crazy scientist who creates mutated Grimm. He’s basically got a couple of screws loose.

Case in point:

Let’s analyze the original photo of the unidentified figure:

So the man himself has unruly white hair that is balding at the top, tanned skin, pronounced eyebrows, and a white shirt that appears to me to be a lab coat, which is what made me think of the Evil Doctor in the first place. I note there are differences between the two, but we also haven’t seen him for a while, and people change appearance, like growing a full beard instead of a weird mustache - goatee combo. Also, self-destructing your life’s work can probably be cause enough for you to lose some hair.

Furthermore, the environment around him is clearly indoors, and reminiscent of a storage facility or hanger. There appears to be either black garage-style doors in the background, or a storage space for what could be a suit of armor -- or perhaps it’s a prototype for a new robot/fighting machine? Either way the lighting gives the space a creepy, laboratory-like feel.

The man is watching the fight take place on a video screen that projects the feed from Atlas News. I’m assuming that the reach of the Atlas tower would include any islands in the northern part of Remnant, so it’s safe to assume that this man is in that area.

From Grimm Eclipse, we know that Merlot island is remote and an unknown location, though it’s probably safe to assume it’s somewhere close-ish to the NW part of Vale, as the cargo ship RWBY stowed away on left from Forever Falls, which is located in Sanus, the region shown here:

I think after Dr. Merlot fled his island, it’s entirely possible he headed north, possibly to build a new hideaway to continue his crazy-pants work. Frankly, we don’t know where he is, so this is up in the air and completely debatable.

Now let’s go back to the man himself:

Let’s look at the clip from a cinematography perspective: the first shot is one of the back of his head, which could indicate:

he’s just watching the telly

the intent is to have a air of mystery about him, to keep his identity a secret.

I’m inclined to believe the latter because there are TWO clips of this man. The second is just of his hand:

The camera focuses on this hand long enough to see it clench. Why would there be a wasted shot of a random man’s hand clenching unless viewers are supposed to be shown that he’s upset about Penny’s death? On that note, I would like to make the following conclusion:

Dr. Merlot built Penny.

I’m going to have to do a lot of analysis here, so buckle up.

In Vol. 2, Chapter 3: A Minor Hiccup Penny tells Ruby “I've never been to another kingdom before. My father asked me not to venture out too far, but, oh you have to understand, my father loves me very much. He just worries a lot.” Merlot seemed very fond of his mutated Grimm, so I would imagine he would be just as fond of Penny; if he built her, she may just be his greatest achievement, and he wouldn’t want her to be compromised or fail.

When Ruby asks why she didn’t let them know she was okay after the fight at the end of the first Volume, Penny responds “I, was asked, not to talk to you. Or Weiss... or Blake... or Yang. Anybody really.” If Dr. Merlot is indeed Penny’s father, he would be angry about their interference on his island, but probably has no way to lash out in revenge without raising suspicion, so he just told Ironwood to keep Penny away from team RWBY (I’ll get to the Ironwood thing in a minute).

"Was your dad that upset?" Ruby asks. Penny hesitantly replies "No, it wasn't my father." Penny then becomes uncomfortable watching the military's presentation. "Maybe we should go somewhere else..." After the truck incident, Penny finally confides in Ruby and tells here in the next episode that “Most girls are born, but I was made. I'm the world's first synthetic person capable of generating an aura." I can’t even begin to imagine how that technology would work, but if Dr. Merlot can do freaky things combining dust and grimm, I think he’s the most likely candidate to be able to combine a soul and a machine into a cohesive unit.

After Penny has exhibited her strength and power multiple times, Ruby says during a crushing hug, “I can see why your father would want to protect such a delicate flower!” Penny says "Oh, he's very sweet. My father's the one that built me! I’m sure you would just love him!” (After the analysis I’ve done thus far, I have to say that, unfortunately, she probably wouldn’t, Penny.)

The next part of their conversation makes me veeerry curious:

R: “Wow, he built you all by himself?”

P: “Well almost, he had some help from Mr. Ironwood.”

R: “The general? Wait, is that why those soldiers were after you?”

P: “They like to protect me too!”

R: “Pfft. They don’t think you can protect yourself?”

P: “They're not sure if I'm ready yet. One day, it will be my job to save the world. But I still have a lot left to learn. That's why my father let me come to the Vytal festival. I want to see what it’s like in the rest of the world, and test myself in the tournament.”

R: “Penny, what are you talking about? Save the world from what? We’re in a time of peace.”

P: “That’s not what Mr. Ironwood said.”

So we know that General Ironwood is on the whole maiden-secret-society shindig, so we presume he’s a ‘good’ guy. I’m sure you’re asking yourself, Now why would Dr. Merlot, a crazy scientist who’s probably a global criminal, be working with the general of an army? I, too, wondered about that, and I think that the most likely explanation is that Ironwood already knew Dr. Merlot; he trusts him. We know Ironwood has robotic prosthetics; his right arm, leg, part of his torso, and right forehead are all made of metal. The piece on his forehead makes me think that part of the damage may have been in his brain, which could be a tricky area to repair. Perhaps Ironwood’s cyborg-like parts were manufactured by Dr. Merlot, who, despite turning to questionable research methods, was a brilliant scientist. Knowing this, Ironwood could which could have led him to turn to the doctor, despite any charges against him. Dr. Merlot could still have a secret vendetta; I think it would be awesome if he resurfaces and is in league with Salem and her squad. I imagine he would have a high interest in the nature of maiden’s powers -- OOH WAIT Ironwood supplied the machines to do the aura transfer from Amber to Pyrrha! Connecting that with Penny’s aura, perhaps Dr. Merlot had dedicated his studies to that of auras, in order to keep under the radar and continue his work.

I look forward to future volume of RWBY to see if Dr. Merlot resurfaces I just hope he doesn’t turn out to be as aura-ble as he was in Grimm Eclipse!

--

K, that got a lot longer than I intended. But that’s good, I found more evidence to support my theory and developed it further. Even if it turns out to be completely wrong (that’s the beauty of a show’s plot development), this was fun to make!

Do you agree with my evidence, or do you have another theory as to the unidentified man’s identity and/or Dr. Merlot’s current whereabouts and motivation? Let me know what you think!