[RWBY] RWBY Shorts

[Bommel]

Free ideas (though it's a bit late):

- Pyrrha comes back from the dead, but instead of coming back as a ghost or Frankenstein creature situation, Pyrrha is brought back in more of a Jennifer's Body situation.
Pyrrha comes back demonically possessed and becomes a succubus.
Rather than the demon taking over her entire personality, it just amplifies her negative personality traits while dulling her empathy.
This wouldn't be too that much of a problem on it's own, but it also gives her several supernatural powers (and also somehow making her even more beautiful) and has to eat people to sustain herself.

 

[Maximize]

This is probably a completely out-of-left-field take, and I know it sounds a little crazy, but I've always wondered whether there's another way to interpret the whole flirting and guitar incident between Jaune and Weiss.

What if Weiss made some of it up, or at least exaggerated what happened, to give herself another reason to dislike Jaune? I know that sounds ridiculous, but it's not exactly unheard of for people to invent things, exaggerate incidents, or twist what happened just to give themselves another reason to hate someone they already dislike.

The idea would be that Weiss had already formed a negative opinion of Jaune and, rather than simply admitting that she didn't like him, she created or exaggerated incidents that reinforced her opinion of him. In other words, she wasn't necessarily reacting to Jaune as he actually was, but to the version of him she had convinced herself existed.

I'm not saying this is what actually happened, and I know it's a pretty wild interpretation. However, I think it would be an interesting way to look at their early interactions, especially considering how quickly Weiss seemed to develop such a strong dislike of him.

Has anyone else ever considered this possibility, or am I reaching a little too far with this one?

 

[GraveyardShift]

Yeah that's a bit too far since I think the rest of Team RWBY was in the room at the time of the incident. If Weiss was alone sure.

But given that Yang and Ruby were there to collaborate the scene, it actually happened.

 

[SirNameV]

My question is, who's soul was sold?

Did Isabel give up her soul for her son's health and life? Which was a trick in order to turn Jaune into the Devil's Bounty Hunter?

Or did Isabel agree to sell her infant son's soul to the devil, thus making him the Ghost Rider?

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Jaune's soul. Given that he was days old and under normal development would still be inside her body, I'm pretty sure it would be fair for her to be considered an authorized signatory over Jaune's soul in cosmological/metaphysical court.

 

[Maximize]

Yeah that's a bit too far since I think the rest of Team RWBY was in the room at the time of the incident. If Weiss was alone sure.

But given that Yang and Ruby were there to collaborate the scene, it actually happened.

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fair i just did it to explain why Weiss got over her anger so easily and also it does fit Weiss as a character not to mention spite and anger does do a lot i have seen cases where people will make up scenarios in there head even with other people there if those people don't help and tell them to knock it of

 

[Quietview27]

Jaune learned Shield Bash

it;s super effective

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It wasn't the intent, but I can't help but imagine Jaune just Skyrim shield bashing everyone and everything lol (Damn Bandits using it even when I wasn't trying to attack)


"Jaune look out!" Pyrrha cried to her partner as a Beowolf attacked him from the side, 'I can't get to him in time! Please don't let this-!'

*SLAM!*

She blinked in surprise as the beast abruptly stopped in its tracks after Jaune simply bashed its head with his shield. Then again when she saw it raise it's paw, attempting to slash him, only for Jaune to wait and then slam his shield against it again. This continued for a few minutes, before the Grimm's head was smashed in so much it seemed to die from it.

"I did it!" Jaune cheered, while his teammates just stared at him, "Man my arm's kinda tired though."

Then a Deathstalker burst from the bushes, and its tail shot towards him.

"Jaune-Jaune no!" Nora cried, readying Magnhild's grenade launcher mode.

*SLAM!*

The 3 blinked again as its tail went back to its original position after getting its head smashed by his shield.

"How is this working?" Ren asked, face left in a rare moment of intense shock at the absurdity he was witnessing.

"No clue," Nora aimed her launcher, "Keep it right there Jaune-Jaune! I got her locked in my sights!"

"Got it!" he yelled back, slamming his shield as its claw attacked him.

*PLUNK!* *BOOOM!*

"Good shot Nora!"

"Thanks Jaune-Jaune!"

Pyrrha and Ren simply looked to one another, before leaving it at that. Only for it to return during Combat Class, when Jaune faced off against Cardin again.

"Ow!" Cardin groaned, holding his nose before trying to swing his mace, "Stop shield bashing m-!"

*SLAM*

Cardin stepped back as he got bashed again, "For fucks sake Arc quit it!"

"You've stepped outside the arena Mr. Winchester," Ms. Goodwitch stated, "The winner is Mr. Arc."

Jaune raised his hands in the air, "Woohoo!"

"Oh come on! All he did was shield bash me!"

"Regardless of the strategy, he still obtained victory. Though please attempt to try other techniques in the future Mr. Arc."

Ren and Pyrrha simply nodded in acceptance, Nora whooped in joy at her leaders victory, and everyone else wondered how the fuck Jaune won the way he did.

 

[GraveyardShift]

Jaune learned well from Aurua.

*swats opponent hard enough with shield to turns them into a red mist*

HEH? *checks discord*

 

[Sliverhero]

Jaune's soul. Given that he was days old and under normal development would still be inside her body, I'm pretty sure it would be fair for her to be considered an authorized signatory over Jaune's soul in cosmological/metaphysical court.

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Could also have it that Melphisto type devil in the scene show after jaune becomes his solider that he returns to Isbael and laughs in her face on how she sold her son soul and even tell her that she didnt need to do it he would have survive he surprising has a strong soul.

On another thing how would Jaune losing his soul effect his Aura

 

[emileano154]

I heard sheld bash i think this
smashing board

 

[SirNameV]

Could also have it that Melphisto type devil in the scene show after jaune becomes his solider that he returns to Isbael and laughs in her face on how she sold her son soul and even tell her that she didnt need to do it he would have survive he surprising has a strong soul.

On another thing how would Jaune losing his soul effect his Aura

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Considering that the soul is often considered the fundamental aspect of a person, the animating spark of life, and/or the "ghost in the machine", I tend to interpret the concept of owning a soul to be closer to "owning a person" or owning a piece of land.

You don't physically carry them in your pocket or anything like that, but you are considered to have authority and control over said person.

So Jaune would still have his soul in his body and access to his Aura, but he would, for all intents and purposes, be the Melphisto stand in's slave.

Besides, canonically Ghost Riders still have their own soul in their bodies, technically. They just have their soul bonded to the fallen angel of justice turned vengence.

 

[AJ_Talon]

Considering that the soul is often considered the fundamental aspect of a person, the animating spark of life, and/or the "ghost in the machine", I tend to interpret the concept of owning a soul to be closer to "owning a person" or owning a piece of land.

You don't physically carry them in your pocket or anything like that, but you are considered to have authority and control over said person.

So Jaune would still have his soul in his body and access to his Aura, but he would, for all intents and purposes, be the Melphisto stand in's slave.

Besides, canonically Ghost Riders still have their own soul in their bodies, technically. They just have their soul bonded to the fallen angel of justice turned vengence.

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At least in my RWBY fan canon, this is Jadis-The White Witch from Narnia, since the Jesus equivalent is Aslan.

But it could easily be one of her agents making the offer.

 

[Sift Green]

Remembered something else from the other forum I might as well copy over:


Some thoughts on having Jessica Cruz as a native to the world of RWBY so you don't need to have a big crossover to have her in a story.

Now in order to make Jessica as native as possible and to make her the only crossover element in a story I think her Lantern and Ring shouldn't have SciFi/Extraterrestrial origins. Instead I feel like her Lantern should be an artifact from before the Moon-Shatter that possesses magical properties.

I'm picturing the Lantern as a relatively humble accessory that was used as a kind of magical crutch for mages whose arcane reserves were too low for proper spell casting. Basically a Witch or Wizard would take a Lantern and feed it what little magic they had to ignite its' flame. This would allow them to fuel their spells with one of their emotions instead of their magic. Now as these Witches and Wizards were using their Lanterns to fuel their spell-craft very few of them ever realized that they could use them for the shenanigans we know Lanterns and Power Rings are capable of, and the handful that did figure it out never really explored these uses to their full potential because their spells and cantrips could already do similar enough things to make mastering these things seem unimportant.

In other words before the Moon-Shatter a Lantern was either a disability assistant or a novelty item that was beneath the notice of most proper mages. After the Moon-Shatter Lanterns became one of the most powerful tools in the world. However there weren't a lot of them and most of them were either destroyed or hidden away by the more superstitious people of a post-magical world.

This brings us to the present day, where Jessica finds one of these Lanterns in some unexplored ruins near her hometown. She accidentally attunes this Lantern with her Aura which ignites the Lantern with the Green Flames of her Willpower. After her initial freakout and some experimentation she starts using the Lantern and the Ring that came with it to start pulling off some of the basic Power Ring shenanigans we all know and love. This discovery will ultimately put Jessica on the path of becoming a Huntress and a Hero, but there will of course be some snags along the way.



Now in the interest of giving Jessica a proper place in the world I'd like to purpose that she is a cousin of Oscar, maybe even give her the last name of Pine instead of Cruz so she can be the daughter of the Aunt we know about because Oscar lives on her farm. Her Remnant form in Justice League x RWBY: Super Heroes and Huntsmen, Part One looks enough like Oscar for this to be believable, and this idea would give a writer a bit of flexibility for getting her involved in the main plot. Now having her enroll at Beacon and join the story from the beginning does have its' appeal, but if you want more options Oscar becoming the new host of Oz after Cinder's big attack on Beacon would be a great catalyst to start her journey.

Anyways that's the idea I have right now. Any suggestions or comments for further refinement?



Dozens of pages later someone else brought up the idea of a Remnant born variant of Jessica, so I quoted myself so the above text was in my response and then added this:



And that's how I'd personally fit a Jessica variant into the setting of RWBY, at least if I don't want to tell a wider crossover story of some sort.

I can see the merits of giving Jessica a semblance that replicates the powers of a Green Lantern instead of a Power Ring and Battery: it simplifies the narrative and works cleanly. On the other hand involving an artifact from a forgotten age lets you do some world building and some character work for our immortals as a they react to the emergence of a lost relic of power.

Like I can see Salem being concerned for a moment seeing someone using a Lantern as a new magic user changes the board and could disrupt her plans only to relax and dismiss it once she realizes that it doesn't let Jessica use actual magic, just a few energy construct parlor tricks. Seeing Salem regret that dismissal when a truly determined Jessica manages to solo Monstra with those energy constructs could be a really hype moment.

And then you'd have Oz who'd be a bit disappointed at first when he realizes the Lantern doesn't let Jessica use actual magic, but then he'd be intrigued to see how far someone could push the energy constructs and other non-magic functions of the Lantern.

So yeah, that's my take on things.



Then further down the page someone quibbled with my post so I responded:

...make a hook for the global plot that would stand in the way of characters interacting. Oh, and that's without saying that this requires them to learn of the Lantern and somehow single her out in a long list of historical Semblances that resembled magic in one way or another: visuals, multipurpose, being tied to an object, replicating spell effects, what have you.

That'd depend on a) them being able to discern that it is not magical, and b) Clarke's Law not applying here and for them (in both "I don't understand, so it's magic" and "all old magic is actually tech" ways).

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...So I said:

"I'm picturing the Lantern as a relatively humble accessory that was used as a kind of magical crutch for mages whose arcane reserves were too low for proper spell casting. Basically a Witch or Wizard would take a Lantern and feed it what little magic they had to ignite its' flame. This would allow them to fuel their spells with one of their emotions instead of their magic. Now as these Witches and Wizards were using their Lanterns to fuel their spell-craft very few of them ever realized that they could use them for the shenanigans we know Lanterns and Power Rings are capable of, and the handful that did figure it out never really explored these uses to their full potential because their spells and cantrips could already do similar enough things to make mastering these things seem unimportant."

I.e. in the pre-Moonshatter world Lanterns were the equivalent of a wheelchair for magic. A handicap assistant that most people would be familiar with even if they didn't need one themselves. That means Salem and Oz would be able to recognize a Lantern as a Lantern the instant they saw one because they know what they are and how they were used back in their day, and they would also be able to realize Jessica isn't using it to power any kind of magic.



And that's where discussion of the idea stopped. Anyone here want to give their thoughts on the concept?

 

[John Jackson]

Could use Alan Scott's magical lantern

 

[Sift Green]

Could use Alan Scott's magical lantern

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Yeah Alan's lantern was the was the president in my head for making lanterns magical artifacts from a lost age instead of technological marvels made by the universe's first civilization.

I mean Remnant has a lost age of magic, so it seemed like a good thing to take advantage of for making a Remnant native Jessica Cruz.

 

[AJ_Talon]

Heck you could take inspiration from a lot of DC's magical heroes for RWBY. Just have it that some magical artifacts did survive the Moonshatter. Not as powerful as the Four Relics, but still strong and/or dangerous in the right hands.

 

[Leo 123]

Sift, were you the one who had that post about drama milking to replace powerscaling? I'm 70% sure that was your post.

 

[Sift Green]

Sift, were you the one who had that post about drama milking to replace powerscaling? I'm 70% sure that was your post.

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I was the person who did that. Here it is:

Please don't do a power scaling here subject here, I'm not against power scaling in general but you might start something intense.

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Yeah, power scaling frequently goes off the rails enough that I'm experimenting with a different system for how powerful a character is that I'm tentatively calling Drama Milking. The premise is simple: our hero is out and about in good health in the right headspace to use their powers and abilities intelligently with their normal patrol kit; how much drama can you believably milk out of a few basic scenarios?

As an example scenario consider the runaway train: a locomotive's driver and engineer have stepped out for some reason and a troublesome teen sneaks into the control cab and starts messing with levers and buttons, setting the train into motion before the teen panics and bails. Our hero now has to catch the train and then stop it before it crashes.

Now let's run two characters through the scenario: Green Arrow and Green Lantern so we can see both extremes. With Green Arrow you could believably make an entire issue be all about catching the train and another whole issue about stopping the train without having to modify anything about the scenario. With Green Lantern you could believably have one or two panels of him catching the train and then one or two panels of him stopping the train; in other words the basic scenario is part of a montage of heroic deeds and you'd need to significantly modify the scenario before it could generate two issues of believable drama.

And so you run the characters through several of these basic scenarios, see how much drama could be believably generated by each scenario, see how much the scenario would have to be modified to believably generate enough drama for a two parter. Once you've done this with enough scenarios you have a pretty good idea of what weight class the character is supposed to be a part of narratively speaking.

I like this setup because it sidesteps most of the one-off feats that tend to make power scaling wonky, and lets you put characters that frequently punch above their own weight into their appropriate narrative space.


You do this with RWBY characters and you'll find that most of them belong in the "High-End Street Level" narrative space like Andrew described, with a handful like Penny stepping into the next tier up.

 

[Bommel]

So that's why I don't have any problems with an ultimate all-loving omnipotent good guy interpretation of the divine. Bad things do happen, but that doesn't mean god won't take full responsibility for them.

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My issue is not with an all-loving or omnipotent god, those could be fine, my issue is with an all-loving AND omnipotent god.

Because if a being is both all knowing, allpowerful, and all-loving, than they are either lying about one or multiple of those qualities, or all the worlds suffering and horrible things natural disasters are on them, alternative perspective on things be damned.

An earthquake injuring and killing people, the poor starving, deadly degrading muscular disease in children, a doctor getting shot while doing humanitarian work in a 3rd world country (these are all real things that happend to friends or family of mine).
And then there's the natural world like parasites that blind people to complete their life-cycle (Onchocerca volvulus), or the fact that between 40% tot 70% of species on this planet are some form of parasite.

And just to be clear, the abrahamic god depicted in the bible is not all-loving or omnipotent, no matter what modern preachers try to say, and that is totally fine.
That god is more of a tribal wargod, and he even straight up tells people that he's a jealous god.
At one point god says he can't lie/decieve, which is a lie in itself (cause he decieved abraham by saying he had to sacrifice his son, and then telling him he didn't need to when he proved his divotion).
Etc, Etc.

My point is that I have more respect for a god who has limitations and are trying to do the most good, they can, that they're a loving god even if they're not all-powerful.
Heck, I even have more respect of a god who has limitations and is flawed, and "more human" (look at most polytheistic religions), but is still trying their best to do right by their worshipers and people in general, than those who have the power to do anything and everything, and claim to be all-loving good guys while letting the world suffer.

Shield Bash

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Spoiler: Pics of special punching shields.

Heck you could take inspiration from a lot of DC's magical heroes for RWBY. Just have it that some magical artifacts did survive the Moonshatter. Not as powerful as the Four Relics, but still strong and/or dangerous in the right hands.

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What if the magic artifacts that survived weren't any of the powerful ones, but just some of the dime a dozen magic items that every household had at least one of and probably lost at least one in the back of the sink cupboard or something.
They survived simply because of the sheer volume, as well as much more easily avoiding notice because they didn't anounce their existance and location to the gods by being powerful.

 

[SirNameV]

What if the magic artifacts that survived weren't any of the powerful ones, but just some of the dime a dozen magic items that every household had at least one of and probably lost at least one in the back of the sink cupboard or something.
They survived simply because of the sheer volume, as well as much more easily avoiding notice because they didn't anounce their existance and location to the gods by being powerful.

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I like this idea for two main reasons.

1. In real life archeology, most artifacts are exactly that.

2. It perfectly synergizes with a fact that I realized while theory crafting a hypothetical battle between Ghost Rider!Jaune and Maiden!Cinder, the Maiden powers, these living super weapons that both sides of the war desperately seek to acquire and maintain control of, are just 1/4th of an old wizard's power. Granted, Ozma was an adventuring hero who was probably decently stronger than the average wizard and his presumed apprentice was able to defy death and challenge the gods (though it is possible that Salem was locked in the tower in the first place because she was born with unusually powerful magic), but he was still just a mortal at the end of the day who's height of power seems to have been when he was one of only two people with magic in the world. It also helps to demonstrate Salem's point in the fight that ultimately led to Ozma and Salem's "divorce". That the current iteration of humanity is so far behind their iteration that what the current views as extraordinary or god-like was common place back among "their kind".

 

[AJ_Talon]

Teddy

---

Jaune woke up to the sensation of something small and heavy standing on his chest.

He opened his eyes. A battered teddy bear with one working button eye and exposed wiring at the seams stared down at him.

"…Oh. Hey, little guy."

The bear's speaker crackled. "Yo. Buddy."

Jaune blinked. "…Uh huh?"

"You're Ruby's best friend, right?"

"Uh… yeah?"

"WRONG, MOTHERFUCKER! I'M HER BEST FRIEND!"

The teddy bear lunged.

"GAH!"

The next thing Jaune knew, he was being slammed through the dorm door and into the hallway, the bear clinging to his face.

"MINE! MY BEST FRIEND! YOU AIN'T GETTIN' YER HANDS ON HER UNDERAGED ASS—!"

Jaune flailed, got a grip, and locked the teddy bear into a chokehold. The bear bit down on his forearm.

"OWWWW! WHAT THE HELL?!"

"USE YOUR AURA, DUMBASS!" The teddy bear shouted.

"…Oh. Okay."

Jaune surged Aura into his arms and hurled the bear through the wall.

The bear's voice came from the other side of the hole. "FUCK! WHY DID I TELL YOU THAT?!"

Ruby skidded into the hallway. "TED?!"

Ted popped back through the hole, saw her, and immediately charged Jaune again. "Oh hey, Ruby. RAWWRRRRR!"

"GAH!"

"TEDDY, STOP THAT RIGHT NOW!"

---

By the time they reached the common room for breakfast, Jaune was shooting Ted a look that could have killed a Beowolf. Ted sat next to Ruby and glared right back. Yang stood at the stove, spatula in hand, not turning around. The rest of their friends were just beholding the latest bit of insanity in their life.

"Wow," Nora said, poking his ear, "He's so cool!"

"Don't touch the ear," Ted growled. Nora pulled her hand back and pouted. Pyrrha and Weiss were in disbelief. Ren sipped her tea, looking almost exasperated. Blake was intrigued, and taking notes.

"You told me you turned him off," Yang growled.

Ted's speaker crackled. "She would never!"

Ruby winced. "I... Sort of did?"

"Sort of?!" Yang demanded.

"What is he?" Jaune demanded. Ruby winced.

"Sooo… um… I made a friend when I was little. Kind of literally."

"Her best friend!" Ted announced.

Weiss sipped her coffee with a sigh. "Of course you did."

Ted pointed a paw at Jaune. "So scram, Justin Beeper! I'm her bestie!"

Jaune set his fork down. "No, I am."

"I AM!"

"I AM!"

Yang slammed the spatula on the counter. "SHUT UP, TED!"

Ted's voice dropped to a low, smug mutter. "Frigid bitch. Gonna end up some lesbian's simp with a bunch of cats."

Yang glared death at the bear.

Ruby's head snapped towards her sister, desperately. "I didn't make him think like that!"

Jaune looked at Yang, earnest and a little desperate. "Yang, you're a wonderful woman and you'd make a wonderful kickass wife to a great guy!"

Yang's ears went pink.

Pyrrha's voice cut in, sharp. "Jaune!"

"I'm sorry, this bear's a dick!"

Ted's eye narrowed. "Ooh, you kiss your mother with that mouth? 'Cause I did something to her with this mouth—"

Jaune lunged. "MOTHER—!"

He and Ted went over the table in a tangle of hoodie and stuffing. Ruby scrambled after them.

"TEDDY! JAUNE! NO!"

Weiss stared at the wreckage of breakfast. "How could Ruby make… that?!"

Nora whooped. "BEAT HIS ASS, JAUNE!"

Pyrrha sighed and physically separated them again, one hand on Jaune's collar and the other on the back of Ted's head.

Ruby got between them, hands raised. "Jaune, Teddy… can't you both be my best friend?"

"NO! I'm number one!"

"Like hell you are!"

Blake rested a hand on Ruby's shoulder. "Best you let them fight this out."

The door opened.

Penny stepped inside, bright as always. "Good morning, friends! Oh! A new friend?"

Ted's head swiveled. "AND YOU'RE NEXT, BITCH!"

Penny blinked. "For what?"

"RAWR!"

He launched himself. Penny stepped aside. He hit the wall, rebounded, and went for her back. She bent forward. Ted flew over her, out the open window, and hit the courtyard below with a heavy THUMP.

From outside: "…I'M OKAY!"

Penny turned. "Ruby?"

Yang crossed her arms. "Ruby."

Ruby threw her hands up. "Why do you think it's me?!"

Penny's head tilted. "How many times has it been you?"

"Not that many times!"

"Twelve times to date."

Ruby blinked.

"That many?"

Jaune, still breathing hard and holding one of Ted's loose button eyes, said, "You made a sapient teddy bear cyborg that tried to kill me."

Yang gestured at him without a word.

"You tried to kill him!" Ruby shot back.

Yang's expression said that was not the defense she thought it was.

"He couldn't have hurt you!" Ruby insisted. "You're fine! Once you realized you had Aura!"

Jaune rubbed his face. "I'd rather he didn't fight me at all!"

From the courtyard, Ted's distant voice floated up:

"YOU'RE JUST MAD I WAS KICKING YOUR ASS!"

 

[digcat]

 

[JiggieP]

Oh. That was Studio Trigger. The ones also behind Darling in Fraxxx, Cyberrunners, and Star Wars Visons.

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Pyrrha's death scene is gonna look so good fr fr no cap.

 

[GraveyardShift]

Pyrrha's death scene is gonna look so good fr fr no cap.

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Only if I'm consulted for rewriting the entire battle for beacon to actually BE a proper Pyrrhic victory worthy of her name.

Because mark my words, it will be done properly or not at all.

 

[Gur40]

Schneebling PJ

Spoiler: vibes

Drama divas and the adult

---

Dark Fanart but kinda messed up

Spoiler: nuts and dolts suicides

"Because you're gone..."
"Because you're gone..."

CRWBY did them dirty

Spoiler: Past Ruby Reaction To The Future

She doesn't get with her dorky bestfriend who ends up trapped in an eldritch dimension and her quirky living weapon girlfriend gets turned human then dies? Fuck that!

---

from the games and hilarous

Spoiler: the run

 

[GraveyardShift]

CRWBY did them dirty

Spoiler: Past Ruby Reaction To The Future

She doesn't get with her dorky bestfriend who ends up trapped in an eldritch dimension and her quirky living weapon girlfriend gets turned human then dies? Fuck that!

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Ruby: "As they say on the CCTN." *racks slide* "TIME TO DO A CRIME."

 

[Leo 123]

from the games and hilarous

Spoiler: the run

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Ruby's gonna Naruto Run into Area 51!