AndrewJTalon said:
"Just boots! Just boots!" Nora emphasized, waving her hands frantically.
*Long orange sock on door, boot in front of door*
Pyrrha: *Dead-eyed* "I see. So peace was never an option."
*Distant groaning of entire school, Ozpin blinks at his shuddering gears and Glynda scowls as her favorite - metallic pen - explodes all over her*
*Amidst noises of all sort, JNPR's doorknob begins to turn*
Nora: *Like a ninja* "REAR-NAKED CHOKEHOLD, SLOTH EDITION!"
Pyrrha: *Immediately panics as Nora locks her legs in place and air becomes a swift problem* "A-ACK! Nuh-N-Nora . . ."
Nora: *Whispering* "Shh, shh, don't fight it, go to sleep, go to sleep," *Ignores Pyrrha's squirming, her rapidfire tap-out* "stop strugglin', you're only gonna die tired!" *Realizes* "Oops, no, I didn't mean that! Pyrrha--"
Pyrrha: *Out cold*
Nora: *Nervously; Releases Pyrrha* "Hehehehehehehehe . . . boy am I gonna be in the dog house for this one. Gonna have to do something nice for Pyrrha." *Eyes door* "You owe me, Fearless Leader." *Blushes as full realization of sock hits her, grabs Pyrrha by ankle and runs, dragging the Nikos behind her*
Entire snippet was funny as hell. I remember getting super confused by the whole boot-vomit thing when I first started reading RWBY fanfic, but quickly accepted it as sometimes the comedic gold - even unintentional - was beyond glorious. Plus it gives Jaune and Yang a reason to talk, which is always good. But man, hard L for Pyrrha this round. Jaune unintentionally passing charisma checks just seems to be a thing for the guy and none are safe.
None.
I'm now imagining fem!Jaune doing the same with all the boys, unintentionally gathering a harem throughout the multiverse.
AndrewJTalon said:
Meanwhile, in an alternate universe:
Ruby: *Sleeping a bit more lightly; Distant sound of drunken puking*
Yang: *The most ear-piercing shriek in the history of the universe* "JAUNE, I'M BAREFOOT! EW, EW, EW, EWEWEWEWEWEWEWEWEWEWEWEWEWEWEWEWEWEWEWEWEWEWEWEWEWEWEWEWEWEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
*Terrified to wakefulness, Ruby falls out of bed*
I'm sorry. But after the Boots snippet I couldn't help myself. 😭😂
A fantastic chapter though, one that highlights a lot of the problems you'd come to expect with a bunch of seventeen year olds with the weight of the world on their backs, as well as the complete misfortune Jaune had in Pyrrha's sacrifice and Ozpin being willing to sacrifice her (hard yikes there; just realized Oscar might become a speedrun incarnation if the right people aren't there to stop Jaune). That Yang is the one to bring Jaune down back to earth a bit, considering her own situation is a nice choice because once she gets the chance to reflect on what she did it might actually wind up helping her own mental health. Not to say it's an immediate fix for her, or even for Jaune - he's gonna be deathwish-y, classic Deadshot (y'know, the O.G. Deadshot. The one who was suicidal, genuinely wants to die but won't do it himself or make it easy for anyone trying to kill him. He's looking for a glorious death (I swear to f*ck he and has brother hatched the plan to kill his stepdad, the branch breaks and Floyd shoots his brother in the head instead hence his suicidal nature, but now every damn wiki says his mother brought it up; so unless I'm f*cking crazy there's been a retcon or three)) for a while. But it's all a step in the right direction.
Jaune knows he has someone who cares, kind of realizes others do too and Yang, Yang's a little better herself too.
Frankly Tired said:
"Get Unlocked, Motherf*cker!" (A hard aura filled slap to the face)
Qrow: *Raspberry is blown* "Hah, I unlocked my own aura!"
Summer: *Absolutely dazzled by Qrow's coolness* "Ooooh, do tell, do tell!"
Qrow: *Grins* "I just looked deep within myself and said, 'wake up, you miserable c*nt!'" *Long pause as Summer stares, no longer dazzled but offended and mortified; Tai groans* "It always works with Raven, so--OWsh*tf*ck, DAMMIT RAE STOPSTOPSTOP YERGUNNATEARITOFF!!!"
Raven: *Viciously twisting his ear, very annoyed* "What my idiot brother is not telling you is he also took a header off the nearest cliff." *Scoffs* "Still have no idea how that worked."
Qrow: *Smacks Raven's hand, hard and she yelps, snarling a second later* "Because I'm awesome, that's--"
Summer: *Uncertainly looks at Taiyang, who shrugs while not realizing he keeps glancing back at Raven to the annoyance of Summer* "I, uh, got mine unlocked the normal way."
---DECADES LATER---
Qrow: *Ranting* "--absolute idiot, kid! Now I don't really give a sh*t about that whole deal you struck with the local crime family, I got into Beacon to learn how to kill Huntsmen 'cause my childhood was sh*t. But if you're gonna go to Beacon, you need aura. You'll get to your first combat class and some poor f*ck's gonna cave your empty skull in."
Jaune: *Flushing in embarrassment, feelings kinda hurt* "Can you unlock my aura, mister Branwen?"
Qrow: *Sighs in frustration* "Fine." *Jaune waits for a grand speech, some display of mystical motherf*ckery* "Get unlocked, motherf*cker!" *Has the living sh*t slapped out of him, the sound echoing like it was a thunderclap*
*Several minutes of Jaune quietly crying clutching his cheek and Qrow, gasping and panting from having his own drained in awakening Jaune's, pass*
Jaune: *A pale pink handprint keeps lightening as Jaune's aura slowly heels his stinging cheek* "Thank you so much, mister Branwen!"
Qrow: *Exhaustedly sitting on a rock* "No problem, idiot," *Sees Jaune about to speak* "and yeah, I'm gonna keep calling you that until you make up for it. Just do me a favor when you get to Beacon?"
Jaune: *Wiping away tears but very resolute* "Anything."
Qrow: "Ruby Rose and Yang Xiao Long. One's short, dresses like a goth with black hair that turns red. The other's tall, blonde and puns like you or I breathe. Look out for 'em."
Jaune: *Very seriously* "I swear on my life, sir!" *Thumps heart*
Qrow: *Dead silent, feels guilty because he actually believes him*
BadHabits said:
Always thought this would be a fun idea. The problem is the application of it: do we give them pre-existing Zanpakuto?
Ruby Rose: Benishidare or Senbonzakura (one's a giant flower with the ability to make flowers bloom on other enemies and the other's a high-speed neverending cavalcade of horrifically fast energy slashes)
Weiss Schnee: Hyōrinmaru or Sode no Shirayuki (entirely depends of what level of power you want with Weiss; I personally think Sode no Shirayuki works better because it's not quite as OP)
Blake Belladonna: Wabisuke (matches her guilt for joining Adam's White Fang and there's something about the idea of sharing that with her enemies that's delightful)
Yang Xiao Long: Sōgyo no Kotowari (energy absorption gal gets energy absorption sword; duh)
Jaune Arc: Minazuki (he's a healer and he's got a darker side later in the series; literally a perfect pairing and allows him to be jut as terrifying as Team RWBY)
Nora Valkyrie: Gonryōmaru (not perfect, but still lightning)
Pyrrha Nikos: Sakanade (there isn't a great choice from what's available, but Polarity is a semblance that helps her specifically in human-to-human combat; Sakanade is exactly that as well and relies a lot upon the user being a good swordsman, which Pyrrha would be)
Lie Ren: Suzumushi (it just works and I don't know why - maybe because it requires smarts to use responsibly?)
Then you could have things like Cinder having Ryūjin Jakka, Roman having Benihime (since it's disguised as a cane; weak, I know), Neo with Kyōka Suigetsu (you could demote the Zanpakuto to the water droplets cover used when Aizen was in hiding or just in some way minimize Neo herself or just run with it, but have a way that doesn't let her be the main villain), Salem with Ichimonji, Ozpin with Shigarami and then smaller things like Glynda with Ashisogi ji*zō, Qrow with Katen Kyōkotsu, etc...
Or do we make them up? Because not only is re-determining abilities based on their allusion or personality difficult, so to is naming them appropriately. A direct semblance-to-zanpakuto ability swap would be kinda lame and the less I say about personal preference (for instance, I go "hurray, Jaune Arc and Moon Vampire are perfect, especially with the initial ability to absorb and release nearby reiatsu and use it to hurt or heal! Even better is his Bankai which gives a massive power increase to the larger gathering of reiatsu which is even better, since Jaune has it for days" . . . and everyone hates it, thus immediately turning the story off for some; it's a bit easier for JoJo fics, if I'm gonna be totally honest), the better.
I'd love to read it, but that'd be a hell of a task to undertake.
It's not RWBY, but SeerKing recently started My Hero Academia: Soul of the Sword, which is a Zanpakuto-in-the-place-of-Quirks AU, if you're interested. I'm enjoying it enough so far even if I'm waiting for the Sports Festival equivalent to decide if I'm reading it to the end.
I'mma go get some sleep though. I think tomorrow since I'm doing the whole "procrastinate on all stories" thing at the moment I'll post some more original characters.
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