Knight of Lancaster Epitaph

Because the longest story never written has even more thoughts behind it

Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY. If Knight of Lancaster had been canon, would it have been as successful?

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First off- welcome back and a warning. If you were hoping for another chapter in this story, I'm sorry to say there won't be. Spin off musings/one-shots/whatevers might come one day, but this story is done. Ruby Rose slew the dragon, won the day, and got her man. Knight of Lancaster ends with that, even this particular Lancaster has a lot more adventures ahead of them.

This 'chapter' is a retrospective of sorts. It's something I like to do- jot down side notes, background thoughts, and some of the meta that wouldn't be apparent or obvious in the story proper. Considering how there's like two major antagonist agendas in play, and yet the story was almost exclusively restricted to Ruby's POV, there's a lot of blank spaces. This is to fill them in for posterity even after I leave this mortal coil/give up FFN/forget what my own thoughts were.

(This was also written while sick and in a daze, so… rambling ahead.)

It's also the FAQ area where I'll try to answer all the questions people asked along the way, on the grounds that if someone asked it several more somebodies probably don't get it either. To start with the most common question…

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'Summary Style' Story: Why not prose?

The most common question and the most common complaint were one and the same. Why didn't I write this like a 'traditional' or 'normal' story, with dialogue and description and all that? Some people didn't feel this was a 'real' story, so why not do it 'right'?

To which my counter-question is… did you see how long that was?

As a narrative-slash-quasi-summary alone, this story was over 380,000 words and took the better part of 3 years to write and finish as a narrative summary of sorts. If I'd tried to write this as prose- the 'normal' style of descriptions and dialogue where I tell you exactly what happened in as much detail as I could, I never could have. I would never have written, or finished, this story.

So, in one word- laziness. If laziness means not being able to write a couple novels worth of story. A perfect story never written or released is worse than something that gives you something to think on.

Or, here's the more abstract answer… sometimes prose isn't the end-all/be-all of writing. It certainly isn't the only well to tell a story, which can go anywhere from epic poetry to Madam Bovary to purely visual/audio mediums with no script or dialogue at all. Prose might be the most common style of writing on FFN, but it's hardly the only kind that can tell a story. This isn't prose, and it was never trying to be prose.

This is a Narrative, and closer to fable/fairy tale than anything else. Which is good, because that was sort of the feel I was aiming for from the start- a 'fairy tale' romance for the RWBY setting, with Ruby getting the very sort of romantic adventure she grew up wanting… and having a story that itself would become worthy of being a story in the setting itself afterwards.

Think of your fairy tales, and how much they skim over. That was a goal here, and one that worked well with the scope and length.

So, why summary style? Part necessity for length, and part deliberate design. The first is the limiting factor, the second just exploits that limitation. Unlike, say, an Affair or Something- which was just something I couldn't/wouldn't write- this is one where narrative was a point.

And there are advantages to a more minimalist style as well. Namely- imagination. When a writer gives prose, they're telling the audience exactly what happened and how. But if a writer gives a narrative, they leave it up to the audience to fill in the gaps as they see fit… and sometimes, and in some ways, that's far better. Can I write a cool fight scene as prose? Eh… barely. But can you imagine a cool fight scene if I give you something to work on? Could you imagine the flutter of Ruby's cloak as she prepares a dramatic knight strike, the way her knuckles tense or her eyes focus as she prepares? A lot better than I can describe.

It's similar for dialogue. With some exceptions for Very Important Scenes (that admittedly got more common towards the end), I didn't give exact words- I gave you a premise, a sentiment, and let you fill in the words yourself. And guess what? If you enjoyed it… you did good. You got to imagine the scenes in ways that made the most sense for you. The tone, the facial expressions, the dramatic lighting… some people say they can't imagine a scene if it's not in prose, but I disagree. Prose replaces your imagination. Minimalism lets you fill in the gaps with your own masterpiece… one tailored to what you think is best, and which makes sense to you.

Which is another benefit of minimalism- the self-correction nature of your own rationalization. If you try to come to a reason or depiction about something, you'll probably come up with something that makes sense to you. If I try to give you an exact scene, it'll only make sense if you agree with me. No one satisfies/agrees with everyone all the time (just look at Coer's fanfic reviews), but almost everyone can agree with their own ideas.

And why shouldn't they? They're your ideas. And you're awesome.

(Unless you're one of those people who wants to come to the worst conclusion possible and make themselves miserable, in which case… congratulations? You got what you wanted?)

So that's benefit three of narrative-style: letting you use your own imagination to make things better.

If there was one downside to this style in this story, I'd say it wasn't the summarization but the use of meta early on, when things were still appreciably close to canon. Things like 'instead of X like in canon, Ruby did Y.' Instead of presenting it purely as a narrative from an in-universe perspective- imagine if the last chapter of the story was Ruby closing a book and revealing that the entire story was a bed-time story to her children- that might have been cool. But it would have been harder to do, since meta-knowledge is key for understanding the early story set-up, even if it does move the story closer to 'summary' than 'narrative,' which is weaker. I thought about trying to do otherwise, to make it a purely in-universe retelling, but…

Well, relying on the meta of the readers is half the point of fanfiction in the first place. It's a reason the genre is distinct from stand-alone fiction and appeals to fandoms in general. By referencing common points all fans understand (characters, clichés, and comments), it saves time by having a frame of reference everyone understands various characters, dynamics, and secrets. In fanfiction, you don't have to re-introduce/re-develop the entire cast- you get to assume everyone knows the basics of the character before you pick up at the fun part and start developing them. And in a canon-divergent story like this- where the familiar train of canon skips the tracks as early as chapter 1, and starts going increasingly divergent from thereon out, being able to reference meta-knowledge can help the story communicate to the real audience (the readership) in a way that wouldn't to an in-universe audience of Ruby's children. If I say 'and Ruby fights the beowolves at Forever Falls like she did in her trailer,' you can understand what it means and visualize it. If I don't, I have to write up an entire fight scene that either describes something you already know, or doesn't and so needs more description.

(Did I mention I hate/suffer at writing fight scenes?)

So overall, the meta-references are a weakness, but a weakness that serves a point. And given that some scenes needed to be outside of Ruby's own perspective- things like the Jaune scenes, or the post-gala chapter with the Monarch's death, or the White Fang flashes for dramatic tension… well, I could have handwaved it as 'Ruby would have known in retrospect/it's part of the story,' but by the end I was just trying to finish the story and didn't feel it was that important.

So… that's the long and not-short of 'why this style.' Let's go over the story itself.

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Inspiration

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The inspiration for the Knight of Lancaster probably comes from two places. The first is the term Lancaster itself. Who would have guessed.

For those who missed the history allusion/need a reminder, the War of the Roses was an English Civil War in ye old England where the two rival houses for the throne both used (differently colored) roses as their symbols. One of those Noble Houses was Lancaster, which served as the fandom inspiration for Ruby-Jaune shipping as 'Lancaster' because Jaune was a Knight (like who fought in the civil war) and Ruby's symbol is the rose (which symbolized the civil war).

Naturally, though, I take it entirely way too far and go 'but, uh… who's the Knight of Lancaster anyway?' Jaune's a knight, but his symbol isn't a rose. Whereas Ruby has a Rose, but isn't a knight…

See where this is going?

Here's where the second inspiration of sorts came in- my own personal kink desire to see a romance story where the girl pursues the guy rather than the other way around. Chalk it up to whatever you want- pushback against stale social dynamics where I grew up, fondness for strong/assertive female characters who work for what they want (half the appeal of RWBY), or an act of rebellion against what I felt was a fandom cliché with Jaune and RWBY, in which every single Jaune romance has him more or less clueless about the heroine's feelings/growing crush until all is revealed, at which point there's nothing left because there's nothing to stand in the way. I wanted the hunt, the bitter-sweet longing, the setbacks, and the ultimate triumph of a female lead over adversity beyond her own shyness. I wanted the girl courting the guy for once, and not that cringe-worthy 'flirting' they made Jaune do in canon.

See how it tied together? It's less that I'm a fan of Lancaster (though I lean that way), and more that it was a couple of idea bugs that came together.

Now, to be honest, I actually tried to get out of writing this myself. Back when Coeur and I were still doing the Writer Games, I gave him a prompt that I hoped would lead to something… probably not this, but which would scratch my itch. 'The Curious Courtship of Jaune Arc,' I think I tried to frame it.

Naturally, Coeur made an Arkos of it.

After overcoming my disappointment (it truly wasn't a bad fill), I decided that if I wanted something done the way I wanted, I'd have to write it myself. And almost three years later (because it was long, and I didn't focus on it, and only got longer as I tried to make it work as a political story as well), here we are.

Which comes to a third and final inspiration for the story, in structure more than subject. As I realized the initial story was growing quite a bit as I sketched out the outlines, a final frame of reference/inspiration was the idea of the never-ending manga series. Specifically, romance manga- the sort where 'will they/won't they' is the eternal question over hundreds of chapters of unresolved romantic tension. Shifting from seeing this as a single story to a series of stories- the opening arcs, the courtship of Weiss, Ruby's arcs of her feelings, the succession crisis and its many phases- gave this more of an arc-structure for phased development of the relationship. No two arcs have quite the same dynamic between Jaune and Ruby- there's almost always some development in how one or the other feels and acts- and keeping that dynamic helped drive the overall story.

So, now that the 'why' of the story is out of the way…

What exactly happened in the succession crisis anyway?

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The Meta-Plot: What Really Happened

AKA the Salem-Ozpin-Mordred Story

Bottom Line Up Front: The meta-plot behind Knight of Lancaster is that Salem tried to instigate a succession crisis to distract Ozpin and weaken Vale after her own early-story setback.

On the face of it, Knight of Lancaster begins with what was actually one of my more appreciated parts of the RWBY canon- the innocent 'school story' aspect which makes a natural coming of age tale, along with the 'reward for heroism' trope and then the early school frictions. Even if I cringe at how Jaune's machismo and S2 flirting were handled, I appreciate how a 'school for heroes' was a big selling point for RWBY's fandom before diverging with the loss of innocence of Season 3. I do think that wider worldbuilding is often under-done in RWBY fanfiction, but there's more than one reason so many stories focus on the Beacon period. A lot of them outright ignore the 'serious' plot of RWBY… which is what I wanted to do, and why I derailed canon in chapter one with the capture of Roman and Cinder.

Which actually is a big plot hook for the audience, since it keeps them in the familiar setting while also introducing them to an unknown direction. At that point, the audience is left with two pieces of information- the canon no longer applies (Cinder stopped), but that the canon Big Bad is still out there (true). The real story starts from there, even if on the face of it Knight of Lancaster starts as just a school love story.

(Actually, the real canon divergence is Mordred's conception back before Ruby or Yang are even born, but more on that later.)

So. Back to Season One. While Ruby is suffering through her first crush and struggling with her own character development, all the Big Picture plot is going on in the background and totally over her head/invisible to her. With Roman's capture leading to Cinder's, the Ozpin Illuminati have a huge hidden victory over Salem. In capturing Salem, they stop one of Salem's agents and are able to save/restore the Fall Maiden. Implications for Cinder are… unpleasant, but Amber is saved and is kept safe and secret in Beacon, while Ozpin cleans house with Haven Academy.

(In hindsight, an early-story cameo from Amber to/for Ruby might have been warranted around the period of the troubles with Jaune and Pyrrha, likely counseling Ruby on loneliness and making up for mistakes… but that would have been difficult to fit in, likely would have led her to being a reoccurring character when the story was already over-burdened, and Amber's late-game assistance is more of an indication of the butterfly effect of the story as a whole catching up with Ruby than anything else.)

While Cinder is stopped, there are a few loose ends regarding her conspiracy. Cinder dies before she fully breaks (a side-effect of restoring the Maiden Powers to Autumn in the machine in Beacon), while Roman Torchwick- held by the Royal Police- only knew bits and pieces. Mordred and the Royal Police were contacted by Goodwitch in the first place because they could keep Roman's capture a secret to go after Cinder, and after her capture are left to do Real Policework as they try to find Roman's stockpile of stolen dust and chase down Cinder's third Conspirators, the White Fang. At this time, Mordred and Ozpin are entirely on the same side… but tensions are uneasy. Familiar with the royal family, Ozpin doesn't quite trust Mordred and is keeping him in the dark, not bringing him in on the full secret of what the Cinder conspiracy represented, while Mordred resents not being entrusted when it was he and his Knight who actually allowed captured Cinder. Things are uneasy but aligned.

For the White Fang, the loss of Cinder is a loss of a patron and coming up with new plans… but their mistake is to try and make use of what they already knew. The Schnee Dust Freighter at the docks was something planned with Roman in advance, which Adam wanted to pull off as a last operation before leaving Vale with the rest of Roman's dust. Steal this dust, blow up the ship and the docks, then leave and try and make use of Roman's stockpile at Mountain Glenn. However, Roman had already confessed the docks scheme to Mordred as part of betraying Cinder, which is why the Royal Police and Garnet are prepared to intervene at the docks like they do. Adam is captured, and the last of Cinder's conspirators rolled up.

Even though Cinder was a bust, Salem begins Phase Two of her new plan, because evil always finds a way. Salem starts using her own agents- who make contact with the still-free remnants of Adam's White Fang- to start assassinating Valean nobles with a claim of the throne, setting the stage for the succession crisis.

Salem- not Mordred or even Adam- is responsible for the noble assassinations that start in this phase of the story, which Ruby sees as media reports and such. Her primary tool is Tyrian, who can liaison with the White Fang easily enough, but likely also Watts. (Hindsight/missed opportunity- Watts would have been a good named cameo at the noble dances, and in the company of Belle before the assassination. Unfortunately that segment was written well before Watts' canon reveal, and he might have been too obvious a lead-in of Salem's involvement at a time when Mordred is being hinted as the villain, and so too meta to be used.)

Salem's goal is less of a 'plot' from start to finish and more of a scheme to hobble Vale, disrupt Ozpin, and create new opportunities she can exploit in the future. Salem is in no way an ally of Mordred- who doesn't even know she exists- but she knows of him, and of his ambition, and that by causing a succession crisis she can at least put him and Ozpin at odds and keep them from aligning against her. Because Ozpin favors the status quo and Mordred is obviously ambitious, a little assassination and suspicious circumstances can keep the two from uniting and keeps Ozpin from allying with what amounts to Vale's best/only secret police force that isn't bound to the Council's complacency.

Disrupting Ozpin is ultimately the only real reasoning behind the bullhead sabotage/attempted assassination of Jaune and JNPR after the Dance. Jaune is only targeted by Salem for his infamy/publicity, not his value, and only because the recent Royal descendent curiosity story provides an obvious incentive in light of the other noble assassinations. An assassination attempt of a Beacon student from Ozpin's own school on his doorstep is both an affront to Ozpin and a way to make him more defensive/reflexively opposed to Mordred, who is the obvious suspect given the recent deaths in the line of succession. If Jaune's backstory hadn't broken as news after the Bridge Battle, Salem wouldn't have bothered.

(So… thanks, Lisa! Free press for the win!)

Salem is also responsible for breaking Adam out of prison by assisting the White Fang remnants, again via proxies- the same proxies who provided the Atlas paladins of canon. Mordred and the Royal Police begin their infiltration of the White Fang in pursuit of Adam. The Battle of the Bridge happens, and Adam is recaptured by Mordred (thanks to Jaune/RWBY/JNPR). Up to now, Salem's been trying and mostly failing (due to bad luck/Jaune and Ruby) to sow the sort of division and chaos she can use, but failing because the White Fang keep getting caught before they can do much thanks to our meddling kids.

And then Mordred learns of Salem's existence from Adam.

Mordred learning of Salem from Adam (who learns of her from his new patrons after they helped break him out and gave him Paladins) is a Big Deal even if it happens off-screen. It's a galvanizing events that gives Mordred the worst possible reason to seek to change the status quo: a good one, for fear of a legitimate threat to all of Vale.

This is where and why Mordred starts to step up his assertiveness in strengthening the throne (the royal regiments) which Salem has left conceivably within grasp- because there is a real threat out there, Vale is under threat, and no one seems to be doing anything about it. No one even seems to acknowledge it, even as the Royal Line (and thus the Royal Family and Mordred's own distant if unloving relations) are being murdered to the point that even he could make a claim. The Council doesn't care, either complacent or maybe not really believing in Salem, and they'd rather see the Monarchy wither away than empower it against a real/not-real threat. Ozpin won't openly deal admit it or share his plans with Mordred either, both because he believes spreading the truth/knowledge of Salem would be more bad than good, and because (thanks to Salem's assassiantions) even Ozpin suspects Mordred of possibly making a claim for the throne.

Mordred knows the True Evil exists, but no one trusts him/will work with him against it. The Council is complacent and hates him, Ozpin doesn't trust him (this is what Mordred is referring to the night of the White Fang attack on the noble gala), and the media is under their control, so…

Before he learned, Mordred was a cranky and unlikable man who complained about the way things were and hated the Council but mostly kept himself to his mother and the Royal Police, which if it wasn't obvious is basically a secret police without the ominous reputation both because Mordred generally ran it well(ish) and it was, well, actually secret (or at least far removed) from most of the public. After he learns, Mordred is a cranky and unlikable man who sees himself as the only one able and willing to Do Something in the face of an evil uber-witch who conspired with terrorists against Vale.

So Mordred does what he can, takes initiative when Jaune's heroism offers a pretext to start building Vale's defenses, and makes a big proposal for a royal regiment with his own money that he doesn't even insist he be the one to lead…

And then his mother is assassinated, and Salem doesn't have to do anything else for a long while as everything Mordred does is just as planned and the Kingdom of Vale begins to turn against itself.

Neo and Roman assassinated the Monarch at Salem's order, after being captured/broken to her will as 'punishment' for their betrayal of Cinder. This was the cause of their mania/fear before Mordred caught them. While Mordred is getting his revenge, Salem exploits the divisions already apparent, but by this point pretty much everything flows by its own momentum. Mordred is both ambitious and determined to protect Vale. The Council will never allow him to do so because they fear their own position/power, even as they aren't really concerned about Salem. (They likely know of her… but largely dismiss her as a real/credible threat.) Ozpin, who was willing to work with Mordred before for the sake of the Kingdom, will side with the Council by default out of concern for the state of the Kingdom and his own suspicions of Mordred, suspicions fanned by Salem.

Instead of a Kingdom united against Salem, the succession crisis keeps it divided against itself and Ozpin distracted. All the while, Salem is able to covertly keep things bad and worse- secretly supporting the White Fang to keep them independent of Mordred, and so on.

Mordred himself is something of a chump here- not all his own fault, but enough. Mordred 'tries' to take the righteous road at first when making his claim to the throne, but as Ruby and Jaune see Mordred's 'justice' isn't really just, and despite his ominous air Mordred is the real (political) under-dog in the story. Even before he agreed to try and run as a candidate, Jaune had a lead thanks to the Council's support. Once Jaune was committed, Mordred was all but doomed to loose. When the signs of a Jaune-Belle alliance are obvious- and Belle refuses Mordred's own approach- Mordred succumbs to his First Real Sin, and resorts to the White Fang assassination attempt on Belle.

This development was something of a 'Just as Planned' moment for Salem- who counted on him breaking down- and she's the one who encourages/influences Adam to play along, setting up the end-game betrayal. If Mordred lost the succession crisis honorably, he'd be out of the throne but still in a position to protect Vale with the Royal Police once Ozpin discovered who was really behind the noble assassinations. Instead, by becoming complicit with the White Fang, Mordred raised the stakes for himself- if he lost, he stood an increasingly good chance to getting the axe himself. So, already condemned by his own complicity in a political assassination, Mordred begins to use the White Fang as proxies, not realizing they're actually Salem's proxies, even as everyone else just suspects Mordred of being the one behind the convenient White Fang attacks from the start. (Which he wasn't, but is now, but didn't have to be.)

Meanwhile, Adam thinks he's the one in charge of the White Fang, but… yeah, he's even more of a tool than Mordred, who's just predictable. Adam's a tool, blinded by revenge, easily manipulated, etc. etc. etc. People smarter than him give him ideas, he feels it's in his own interests, but he's just malicious/malevolent/racist and all that. Not a compelling character, and not intended to be, but he makes for good example of what he is- a front, diversion, and proxy for the Real Enemy.

From here to the end, pretty much everything is as described in the trial. Anything not provenly pinned on Mordred is probably Salem's fault in her plot to make the crisis worse, including the White Fang attack on the tower the night of Jaune's fall- an incident meant less to kill Jaune and more to spike international tensions right before the Vytal Festival. Then there was the attempted assassination of Melody Arc- Salem's first real attack on Jaune (in)direction, and intended to spark an actual civil war.

This would have been a Big Deal, and a real catastrophe if it hadn't been for Ruby. Had a faunus (Tyrian) assassinated Melody, Jaune would have blamed Mordred and never believed his claims of innocence, while Mordred and his faction would have believed the assassin came from an extremist in Jaune's own ranks. Conflict would follow- especially since no matter how hard they looked Jaune and allies wouldn't find evidence of Mordred's guilt of that because there was none (just other stuff)- and the fallout would have been an actual civil conflict.

But that didn't happen thanks to one little girl who- thanks to media laws/Jaune's own popularity- had completely been beneath Salem's notice. Ruby's intervention didn't just save Melody, it saved the Kingdom from a civil war AND tipped off Ozpin (and the audience) to the fact that there really was a third antagonist in play.

That's useful for the audience, who starts reconsidering past suspicions of Mordred, but for Ozpin it's already too late. The succession crisis is already in full swing, Jaune and Mordred are both committed, and Mordred is too guilty to back out now.

Mordred's ploting was mostly covered in the trial, but to briefly recap with the objective truth…

Mordred discovered Salem's existence, and Cinder's Breach Plot, from Adam after his second recapture, when more intensive interrogation was done and complicity began. That was the lead that took the Royal Police to Mountain Glenn, which was part of the shaky/failing partnership between Beacon and the Royal Police. The Beacon presence was supposed to keep an eye on the Royal Police/report if they found anything, but Salem's sabotage conveniently/coincidentally took the Beacon group away from Mountain Glenn. Mordred- already chafing at Ozpin's lack of trust- decided to keep the discovery of the tunnel and all the discovered dust a secret out of pride/ambition/possible future uses. Selfish flaw, not malevolence.

(Also a possible divergence point for Mordred. If Mordred HAD turned over the tunnel and Dust with Ozpin at this point, revealing Cinder's breath plot, it likely would have convinced Ozpin to trust him enough to avoid the distrust-suspicion that put them at odds later.)

Mordred's plan to enact the Breach was a late-crisis desperation plot, one when Mordred was already neck-deep in the White Fang complicity and had reason to fear the consequences of losing. Mordred's plot, however, didn't include the Breach of the faunus quarter- his was just a Council assassination plot, possibly timed to Jaune's coronation. That's not a fact, however- because the fact is that Mordred never committed to it, and likely would have gotten cold feet and backed down because of Garnet.

Like Ruby, Garnet herself is a minor/under-recognized player of the crisis. She played a support role like Ruby, but she tempered Mordred as much as she enabled him. Garnet is the one who made the initial call about the Mountain Glenn tunnel, and she was the one who- off-screen again- tempered Mordred's use of White Fang terrorism with ways to reduce the damage (the bomb call-ins for terror rather than casualties) and convinced him not to re-try assassinated Belle post-failure.

But Garnet was also the reason Mordred was willing/did put so much stake in betting everything on the tournament. Not just his faith in her, but her own appeals. Garnet's gambit about winning the tournament and claiming Jaune wasn't just a way to keep the succession crisis going in hopes Mordred would find a win eventually- it was her own way to push Mordred away from the Tunnel plot. The 'scandalous marriage' plot wouldn't have been necessary if the plan was to just kill Jaune at coronation, but if Garnet 'won' and had to marry Jaune- and thus be with him at the coronation for appearances sake- then a coronation bombing would have killed her as well as everyone else.

And if you think Mordred would kill one of the only two women to ever love him…

(Alright. A lot of the above is headcanon/out of story… but there were so many stories to this story, not all of them could be told. Just saying.)

So Mordred had ideas, Garnet tried to dissuade some of those from her positions, but whatever he would have chosen Mordred was at least considering a coup enough to make preparations, which is bad enough.

Salem's last influence was to assist Adam in the betrayal to drag it over the lines that made it what it was- a political decapitation strike, and mass chaos, and a last-ditch effort to attack Beacon and salvage the remains of the original Cinder conspiracy to hobble Ozpin one last time. Framing Mordred would guarantee his illegitimacy in the future, while getting Adam to attack Beacon and summon the dragon (a dramatic handwave, I admit) would hopefully sack Beacon and set Ozpin back years. The relic and Maiden were likely out of reach no matter how well they did… but unlike the Cinder conspiracy, which was intended to get the Maiden, the 'Coup' was just intended to sow maximum chaos and damage to Vale over the long term.

Even without capturing the Maiden/Relic, Ozpin would be distracted, Vale weakened, and Salem would have future opportunities to exploit the divisions in Vale for future plots. Helping Adam curse/kill Jaune for maximum political destabilization would have just been the cherry on top… but that was more to keep Adam happy than her own desire. Even Salem underestimated Jaune's unifying potential as King/Ceremonial Monarch. If she had known how much Vale would unify under him, she likely would have tried harder to kill him… but the struggle against Salem is a long, long saga of another story.

The White Fang's Betrayal's timing was mostly out of necessity. If/when the crisis ended with Jaune's imminent victory, Vale's political situation would stabilize and Ozpin would be able to turn his focus to Salem as the third actor, while Mordred would go about cutting loose ends and betray the White Fang before they could out him. Once Mordred threatened to go public with Salem, the White Fang's betrayal was a necessity lest Salem's own plots and agents be exposed. Fortunately for Salem, the Council was publicizing Jaune's imminent victory and coronation as loud as they could, giving her a strong indicator of the time limit (by the end of the week) and a good head start on Mordred.

The final part of the meta is the behind-the-scenes of Mordred's trial. It was obviously a show trial, but what else?

First, Adam's fate. It's basically analogous to Cinder's in the 'don't expect to ever see him again' sort of way. Adam's imprisonment and interrogation is definitely under Ozpin's control as a state secret, a good part of which is his ties to Salem. Adam is officially gone, and will never see the light of day again lest Salem find him and discover just what Ozpin did or did not learn from him. Spy games, and all that.

Next, Mordred's deal. 'Plea bargain' isn't quite accurate, but once he gave up and surrendered Mordred was fully cooperative with Ozpin during the interrogation/investigation phase. Once it was clear he had nothing else to hold out for/he was already blatantly and publicly guilty of high treason, Mordred mindset in the end is that at least his death should have meaning for Vale. Mordred cooperates, and accepts all the blame- even to the point of keeping Salem's involvement a secret from the public. In 'exchange,' Ozpin's intention was what he said in the trial- to spare Mordred's life, but render him a political non-factor for the rest of his life. Mordred didn't really expect that to be honored, though, and was expecting a public execution as Jaune threatened.

Third and finally- why keep Salem a secret? Keeping Salem as a secret actor is mostly a result of Ozpin and context, where Ozpin generally believes it's better to fight Salem from the shadows and leave the rest of the Kingdom free to live their lives in peace than it would be to try to rally a public fight against Salem (which is what Mordred would do in any future in which he reigned- the 'true enemy' Garnet refers to). Publicizing Salem gives a common enemy of sorts, but when she's so hard to find/fight and progress isn't palpable any sacrifices made for the cause start to look more like excuses made by and for the benefit of whoever's demanding them (ie, Mordred). You can argue whether that's the right idea, but publicly rallying against Salem doesn't work in the Mordred-wins Bad Future- in that, people like Ruby aren't concerned about Salem as a Big Bad, but think of her as just the excuse Mordred uses for power.

(It also doesn't help that in the present, the Council is complacent about her to the point of denial. 'If she hasn't disrupted the Age of Peace so far, how bad can she really be?' sort of thing.)

With the public framing of Mordred, though, keeping Salem as a secret villain is a matter of convenience and Kingdom stability. Mordred is a villain- Mordred is villain enough in ways that Salem didn't force him to be- and even if Salem was publicized, it wouldn't help, only distract. Ozpin's calculus is that revealing Salem would cast doubt on Mordred's guilt and culpability when Mordred's already done more than enough. The Kingdom is more united in rallying behind Jaune and blaming Mordred for what he did while chalking up the ambiguities to Adam than it would be in trying to untangle the Gordian knot of Salem's subtle actions. Once defeated, Mordred was willing to accept the same, and play along in the role of villain-martyr in exchange for Ozpin not going after all of his supporters (like Garnet).

In the aftermath, once Vale stabilizes stronger than it was before Salem's attempts to destabilize it, Salem retreats back into the shadows and is low-key enough that it will be years before her influence is overtly felt again. Ruby and Jaune might have indirect encounters with her agents in the interim, especially Tyrian and his grudge against Ruby, but Salem's rise is delayed by years before Ruby and Jaune learn of her directly, by which point they are directly identified as enemies/obstacles for Salem to defeat rather than just pawns of Ozpin.

But I'm rambling. Let's talk about characters and some of the reasonings behind them.

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Characters

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Ruby: The Knight of Lancaster

Where to begin…

Why (focus on) Ruby?

Aside from the pairing in the title, the choice of Ruby as a viewpoint protagonist had a couple reasons. I already mentioned that from the start I wanted a girl-pursues-boy dynamic in the story, which makes the girl the more interesting subject to follow. I also wanted a first-love story with crushing phase, which puts most of the available cast out of reach. But there was also the idea of the character development.

Canon Ruby is, despite her charms, a relatively static character. Things happen around her, but she doesn't really change, and doesn't really drive the plot. Most character dynamics and conflicts in the story would occur without her, with relatively few exceptions. (One of those exceptions- the moment with Jaune in the hallway during the Jaundice arc- was one of the reasons I enjoy both characters as much as I do.) Knight of Lancaster was a chance to shake that up a bit.

In the fandom cliché/naming of 'Lancaster,' the general idea is that Jaune is the knight because he's the guy and has the knightly armaments and armor. There's another side to that, though- the knightly manner- and that never really comes across in canon, at least to me. Though Jaune got that early on in Knight of Lancaster in the first half of the story, the idea of 'being' a knight was what became Ruby's dynamic and character arc across the story. Rising from a nobody to a Knight, going from 'just' a girl with a crush and no class to an honorable guardian with a sort of responsibility and duty she never imagined, Ruby covers a lot of ground. It's not that Ruby ever gives up her dreams to change who she was- she never stops wanting to be a Huntress- but that her dreams change who she is, so that by the end she's evolved into something new.

Ruby becoming a knight- and becoming a good knight, an idealized version rather than the compromised and cynical version of loyalty that Garnet represents- without compromising her honor is her character arc across the story, with many ups and downs. Every time Ruby faces an obstacle or challenge, becoming more of a knight- adopting more of the knightly virtues- becomes her means for progress and getting closer with Jaune, and the reason she ultimately triumphs.

And for that reason, her characters downs really had to be front-loaded to the start of the story.

Ruby's first phase, the immature crush, was necessary for a couple of reasons, first and foremost being to avoid a typical trap of most romance stories. In most stories, the obstacle to romance is simply the expression of interest- the difficulty in confessing one's crush, or the ignorance of another's attraction.

In RWBY fandom, and with Jaune in particular, this is almost every single time.

Thanks to the Jaune-Pyrrha dynamic of canon, almost every single Jaune romance story entails him being comedically oblivious to the attraction of whoever. Oh, what a lovable dunce… for the umptheenth millionth time. If only he realized what was before him, they could be together immediately!

If that was the dynamic across 380,000 words and a dozen narrative arcs, that would have been horrible. So I had to subvert it, hard.

Ruby's initial crush is a deconstruction not just of that trope, but the typical conceit of Lancaster shipping in the first place. Jaune isn't a self-confident knight (yet). Ruby isn't his damsel or noble lady to be protected. In trying to force that dynamic, Ruby comes off as unsympathetic and immature- meaning the reconstruction to a truly Knight-Lady dynamic will need to be done right- but it also means something else, with long-lasting effects that have story impacts later, ie with Pyrrha.

But this all starts when Jaune is not ignorant to Ruby's interest from the start- and that means Ruby has other obstacles to overcome in order to get her happy ending, obstacles that can serve as the tension for the story.

Early on, the issue is Ruby herself- immature, flawed to the point of selfish/clingy, and someone Jaune humors and likes well enough as a friend but Does Not Want. Ruby has to reign herself in (knightly restraint) to be a friend, but her earlier misconduct and unhonorable actions (accusing Pyrrha of cheating) are a mark against her. Then comes Weiss, and the obstacle of Jaune's own affections, which Ruby commits herself to supporting both out of her own promise to support Jaune (honoring oaths) but putting his desires above her own (selflessness contrasting her earlier selfish desires).

Only after Ruby's initial immaturity get resolved does the obstacle become Jaune's ignorance of Ruby's feelings, but by then it makes far more sense in-context. Jaune's already seen what Ruby's acted like when she's interested, and she's not acting like that anymore, and she's grown up. It's plausible for Jaune to believe Ruby is acting like a friend, because she is- and this time, by the time Ruby is able to confess her feelings free of the shame from earlier, there are external obstacles to overcome for romance to be realized.

And so comes the succession crisis, and the Council, which become the new obstacles to romantic culmination. First is the marriage with Belle- a 'reasonable' option in her own right, but one who would give Ruby what she wants if Ruby were willing to resort to dishonorable means. Which Ruby doesn't, and instead makes a vow that defines a lot of her dynamics and concerns for the rest of the story- that she'd have Jaune honorably, or not at all. From this point on, Ruby is unwittingly but firmly invested in playing the role of the 'knight' in her own right, which shows up time and time again. Technically the external obstacle remains through the end of the tournament/the Council, but from thereon out Ruby's obstacles (Pyrrha, learning the Knight Strike, etc.) are met with Knightly virtues, and it's almost always Ruby taking the knightly steps to progress the relationship.

By getting Ruby's flaws out in the open early at the start, the rest of the story is able to track her rise and rise and rise, without her needing to be an unsympathetic character later to balance unmitigated positivity. It also allowed this story to avoid some of the fandom cliché, so points for novelty. But most of all, having Ruby be most flawed at the start was very important for her dynamic with Pyrrha, which will be covered more in the Pyrrha section.

Finally, the choice of Ruby as a primary protagonist had a few other influences as well- notably from the Ruby character songs of the early RWBY, and Ruby's own character.

Knight of Lancaster is something I've felt is both the most and least subtle thing I've ever written. On one hand, there's a lot of deep and subtle symbolism that goes on, political intrigue you can see and some you can tell is going on just below the surface, and a whole lot of character development considerations. There's political debates of reform, implications of social media control, and the question of who really is good or bad in ruling society.

On the other hand, it's a story with a literally shining white knight of goodness and where the main villain is named Mordred. Mordred. Who dresses in black, and is unpleasant and nakedly ambitious, and is totally sinister even before it's proven he's complicit. And then there's the fact that the early chapters- as early as the prologue- outright lays out what the primary character dynamics of the story's romance will be, that of the Knight and Lady archetypes.

Subtle that is not.

But something else Knight of Lancaster is, is idealistic. Like, far and away the most idealized thing I've probably put down in many ways. Yeah, there's a force of pure evil… but the primary antagonist is more of a flawed but well-intentioned extremist who's as much a victim of his circumstances as the cause of problems. In a fight for the fate of the Kingdom, both candidates want to protect the Kingdom and change things for the better- even to the point of both wanting to reform society for the racial under-clalss. Mordred is a dark/cynical antagonist, but he's not malicious, even though the conflicts of the story are almost always in a way where good triumps over evil because of human nature rather than resort to 'good is right/evil is stupid.'

Mordred would be a dark-heroic figure in another setting, but that's not this one. When Mordred makes a cynical ploy, like letting Jaune fall to his death or not spurring his more racist supporters, you can see why he'd do it… but then see how idealism and virtue can prove better. When Ruby is faced with the Belle delimmas, she has a 'reasonable' option- accept the marriage, accept Belle's offer of blackmail, take the affair- but the cynicism comes with costs she refuses to accept. Ruby never gets what she wants just by doing the right thing- doing the right thing constantly just gives her more difficult challenges to overcome- but in the end, it's only by consistently doing the 'right' thing that Ruby does win, and gets her golden victory.

Which is pretty darn optimistic in my book.

Ruby earns her happy ending in an earnest and optimistic way, which is an influence of her being the lead character of the story rather than, say, Weiss- who's own character concept would probably lead to a story where Compromises Must Be Made between idealism and reality.

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Jaune the Other Knight of Lancaster

Hopefully there's less to say.

Jaune's the secondary protagonist who, by virtue of being the subject of Ruby's interest, couldn't be too much of a viewpoint character lest his own thoughts and viewpoints spoil a lot of the drama. If most romance fiction is about whether your affections are reciprocated, Jaune's thoughts being a mystery is important to keep the audience invested in Ruby's own perspective, rather than annoyed. If that sounds off, hear me out.

If the audience knows that Jaune knows of Ruby's crush and Does Not Reciprocate, then Ruby's earlier phase becomes a different sort of annoying. Not just unsympathetic, but downright objectionable- here's a girl hounding a guy she likes when he doesn't like her, and making his life miserable in the process. Support by sympathy goes to Pyrrha, who appears better, rather than waiting for Ruby to grow up. Whereas later, one of Ruby's own personal hook-ups- her insistence on adhering to her bet with Pyrrha- becomes even more frustrating if the audience knows that Jaune reciprocates Ruby's feelings. Then it becomes 'don't be stupid- he already wants you!,' ignoring the way and reasons why Ruby's own sense of honor is restricting herself.

A lot of Jaune's character growth, as a consequence, either occurs early on or partially off-screen. Early on, Ruby has a huge- and ultimately decisive- influence in Jaune's early growth, when he's at his most malleable. More than just fighting, Ruby is the one who teaches Jaune the knightly dynamics that she herself eventually adopts, even as she teaches him about the Lady role as well. A major functional role of the Weiss arc isn't that it gives a Lancaster take on a canon event like the dance, but that it functionally reboots/redevelopes Jaune (and Ruby) along more knightly lines that hold for the rest of the story. In 'training' for Weiss, Jaune gets the 'courtly' attributes that carry him far in the nobility games of the later half of the series. And in the first half of the story as well, the defensive fighting training for Jaune- which Ruby is heavily involved in- is key to his rise to fame and glory and, ultimately, the throne. Ruby has a direct hand in everything, down to the armor he wears which gets upgraded across the story.

In the second half of the story, though- the Succession Crisis- Jaune goes far more into the background as Ruby's own knightly development takes priority. Part of that is because Jaune's development goes from 'knightly' (which he already is/has proven himself to be) to 'royal.' But another factor is limits of attention and other characters. The Succession Crisis brings more focus to the OCs who themselves need to be developed, leading to less time/space for Jaune as Belle, Malik, and even Mordred and Garnet take their turns. Jaune's character arc is mostly (though not completely) done by the time he commits to the succession crisis, with the rest of it being how Ruby helps refine him into the sort of King he will be (a fair and honest reformer, a man of the common people, a protector and a symbol of hope), and in trying to prevent the sort of King she fears he could turn into (the angry/wrathful one who is protective of friends and family to the point of vengeance). Ruby's not blind to Jaune's flaws and what he could do, but takes it upon herself to keep them from ever being realized (by protecting those he cares about and being his moral compass).

Jaune's main development in the end-game of the story, the Vytal Festival, really comes from his own feelings, and how they're seen via Ruby. Ruby's limitations and biases limit us to indirect insights, but how he acts regarding to the Ruby-Pyrrha bet is probably the best indicator. No one actually asks what he wants- neither Ruby or Pyrrha actually ask who he wants- and so early on Jaune is very uncomfortable with the situation. It's Yet Another Thing that's about his future being decided without his input, yet more people squabbling to decide his future for him… until Ruby makes clear that her intention, at least, is to give him freedom rather than put him on the spot.

(That she ultimately does so later… well, by that time, things have changed. And wording is important, since all she asks is permission to court him.)

But Jaune's growing favor for Ruby is shown in other ways, including the breakout moment where Jaune breaks confidence- but not word- in his reveal of Pyrrha' secret. That is meant to be a sign of just how much Jaune has changed- and how much Ruby has proven herself to him- that he twists intentions to obey the letter if not the spirit of his promise to Pyrrha. Jaune won't go back on his word to Pyrrha… but does so in a way that blatantly benefits Ruby, a better sign of support than the gifts and covert courting. Jaune goes from merely passively accepting Ruby's feelings (her courting from a distance) to actively returning them (his courting) before the culminating night of the kiss and the not-quite confession.

After which, well… the story's almost over, so the finale is more of the expression of what they are, rather than continuing development.

Let' see, any other thoughts…?

Ah, yes, the role of The Lady. But that will be covered in the Thematic section, so let's start the (really brief) flashes of other significant characters.

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Weiss

Probably the third-most important canon character to the story, even if Ozpin is more important in the meta-plot and in the Grand Scheme of Things.

Weiss is the early-story archetype of The Lady, both for Jaune (the obvious target of his affections), but also for Ruby (when she straightens Ruby out about her crush and immaturity, and her lack of attention as a teammate/partner). Weiss's importance dips away after the early story, when Ruby becomes a better partner and Jaune does his best to move on, but early on she's important in the sense of being a catalyst for (positive) character development, one of the roles of The Lady.

There's not too much to say about Weiss besides backstory/headcanon, and the fact that Weiss represents a major divergence point in the story. If Knight of Lancaster wasn't Lancaster, then the Weiss-route- one where Weiss agrees to make a go out of dating Jaune at the dance- would have been a complete and self-contained story in and of itself.

I posted ramblings and an outline in Coeur's forum, but there was a Weiss-route for the Succession Crisis that would have taken the story in completely different directions, with a completely different outcome. Of Weiss- just entering a relationship she's not passionate about- being caught up as Jaune's partner right as he's dragged into the succession crisis, one which gets her father and the Council allied as well as they treat the untested relationship as a chance for a power-coupling alliance. The faunus village matters more- especially given that they lack the Schnee family history skepticism, and adore her by proxy of Jaune- and Weiss finds herself a player in the Succession Crisis as a whole because Jaune is more devoted to her than anything else. The primary relationship conflict/struggle is that while Jaune is passionately (if chastly) devoted to her, Weiss doesn't reciprocate the passion/intensity and has her worries of if the relationship can work/if she's leading him on, even as their relationship becomes a subject of public interest and tensions.

But Weiss's elevated role make's a difference by virtue of the difficulties/past issues with Belle, who is suspicious/fearful/passively hostile to despite her admiration for Jaune. With Jaune already hooked with Weiss, Belle is much more wavering… and ultimately agrees to Mordred's own alliance, making the Succession Crisis a Schnee-Council alliance for Jaune against a Mordred-Belle Alliance… and one which Mordred gets the advantage of, when he exploits anti-SDC suspicions and Belle forces/leads him to being the faunus reform candidate.

The outline at Coeur's forum has more, but ultimately that story actually ends with Mordred becoming a powerful King… and it not being a bad deal overall, as Mordred is tempered by by his alliances with Belle and none other than Weiss, who decides to cut a deal (and ensure reforms) rather than try to become Queen in a power-game she doesn't want. Jaune- loyal to her rather than interested in the crown- ends up a national hero and quasi-friend with Mordred after both of them are nearly killed by Council Machinations. Jaune and Weiss eventually make their relationship work, even as Weiss and Belle reconcile and make their own Alliance of the Ladies that ends the conflict, and in the end Weiss and Jaune are allies-friends of the victorious Mordred and Belle, which is an interesting end to the conflict where Mordred never crosses the line.

There's a lot more to it than that, of course, but the point is that the Weiss arc wasn't just crushing and filler character development- it could have been it's own entire story and narrative direction, albeit not one with a Lancaster ending.

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Lisa Lavender

Not a major character, but a reoccurring one who had more stories on the back side/meta. Lisa originally had a vague plot idea of her own, one that had her parallel/regularly encountering Ruby and Jaune. Originally there was an idea of her getting demoted from Serious Reporting and becoming the 'face' of the Paparrazi- and then a formal friend/media-shaping ally of Ruby and Jaune themselves- but that was cut because it didn't really fit. Instead she became more of a passive supporter for Ruby/eye-witness for history, which makes sense.

Lisa did sort of bring out what was a significant/reoccurring theme in the story, though- the idea of the importance of the media. But that's yet another subject for the theme section. Lisa herself will doubtless have her own encounters with the couple over time, to the benefit of her career and to the point of her making a (flattering) rendition of their romance.

She's probably jealous of their relationship, like a lot of the Kingdom, but she's the one who makes a career of publicizing it.

Now for the OC's.

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Mordred

Oh Mordred, you unlovable son of a Qrow…

Is that spoilers now? I thought it was obvious, but apparently some people didn't catch that, so…

Spoilers! The villain-antagonist of the story is Qrow's bastard son. Which has uncomfortable implications of just how old Qrow was when he met the Monarch, but also plays with a lot of ideas in and of itself.

Mordred was… well, Mordred is a 'made to be unpleasant' kind of character. One of those easy-to-caricature characters who, despite having a rough shake in life in a lot of ways, doesn't make it any easier on himself. Mordred is the kind of guy who would always be an antagonist, but was only a villain-antagonist because, well, he chose to be the villain. You could say he was only that way because everyone suspected it, but it's sort of a self-fulfilling prophesy no matter how you look at it. Mordred is unpleasant because people were unpleasant to him. People are unpleasant because Mordred's just so darn unlikable.

(Well, I like him, but I created him/can deal with that sort of thing.)

Mordred is a lot of things, and I kind of like that about him. In another story- or even his own- he'd be an anti-hero, or a well-intentioned extremist. He's doomed from the start by his very name to be a traitor. But in another story, he could be King… or even a good King. As bad as the 'Bad Future' was for Ruby… Vale still stood, and was standing strong against Salem. What's a little stormy weather and a crackdown against the last symbol of the Resistance compared to that?

But most of all, Mordred is flexible, and in so a foil for Jaune. He's what Jaune could have been without family and friends, if that temper for justice were unchecked, if that desire to Do Something for Vale were tempered by noblisse oblige rather than commonality with the common man. He's what Jaune would be if Jaune were raised wrong- a flawed character, not necessarily irredeemable, but lacking what could make him (or Jaune) a Good King.

Making Mordred a villain was easy. Put some black vaguely fascistic-uniforms, aristocratic disdain and cruelty to prisoner, and call him Mordred, and the obvious villain of the story was SO obvious that some people (rightly) wondered if someone else was the villain because it was too obvious. Which was true, but also not true, which was the intent. Mordred was so obviously guilty people felt compelled to doubt that.

Humanizing Mordred, though, was a bit harder, but could be done in ways that foisted the parallels to Jaune. His relationship with his mother- strained by politics but sincere with mutual devotion- set up a parallel for Jaune's difficulties with Melody later on. But the devotion of his Knight was another, given that Garnet was herself a foil for Ruby, and so the idea that Mordred must have something to justify her faith in him was strengthened by Ruby-Garnet links. Which we get at glimpses, mixed with his flaws- he doesn't try and Belle from her family legacy (he just tried to kill her once, but got cold feet at assassination thereafter), he doesn't want citizens of Vale being killed (he just wants them scared at times), and his method of protecting Melody is probably his most humanizing moment of putting his beliefs above his ambitions (even as he kidnaps her from public). The fact that he does care for his Knight as well, to the point of stealing blame from her at his own trial, as well as that moment in his defeat where he tells her to stand down… yeah, this is a guy who cares, and is capable of emotion, and is more than an entitled sociopath.

Mordred, hopefully, has just enough to show that he could have been different had things been different… like had a certain someone taken responsibility and given him some sort of positive father figure when growing up.

(Or, in other words- it's all Qrow's fault.)

I'm not sure if Mordred had anything you could call a tragic flaw- his descent to villainy is more of just plain flaws than something that would normally be a virtue- but if you wanted to say he had one, I'd say it was a sense of noblisse oblige. He's more of a foil/contrast to Belle in that way- where Belle's noblisse oblige is positive and takes her own resources/that of the nobility to try and benefit the common people in a way most don't realize, Mordred's drives him to seek power to Do Something in the name of protecting from outside threats. Before his realization of Salem and the assassination of the Monarch, Mordred was someone with different views, not a direct danger to the Kingdom. Afterwards, that sense of love/duty mixed with his (justified) feelings of injustice to push him beyond 'just' antagonism.

With a support cast/friends, Mordred wouldn't necessarily be a bad boss, or King. You just need a lot to put up with him, and not many people are in a position/willingness to try.

(Surprisingly, Jaune could… which makes them reluctant frenemies in a lot of spinoff ideas.)

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Garnet

The obviously villainous-ish Black Knight.

Garnet was Ruby's foil in the story, and if that wasn't obvious from the start on names alone I'm not sure what to tell you. Garnet was a role-model/path for Ruby in her own ways- in how Love and Duty could interact, on how Ruby could hold onto love without giving up her dreams/duty, in the idea of power and composure- but just as Mordred was a flawed reflection of Jaune, Garnet is a flawed example of what Ruby Could Be, the more cynical knight whose honor is defined more by personal loyalty than morality, and someone who just plays the role of Knight (enforcer/champion) without playing the role of Lady as well (beneficence/guidance). She's someone who was an example for Ruby, but both in the sense of what to and not-to do.

I think Garnet was under-utilized in some ways- I don't feel I did enough to bring out or justify Ruby's goodish opinion of her in terms of honor- but that was because it was hard to really put her in a context where her honor wasn't just blatantly the right thing to do, and thus unimpressive. She protects the Monarch? Okay- that what Mordred told her to, so she's obedient. She tries to give Ruby an out to safety? Well, that was marred by the suspicion of Mordred soon enough. (In fact, more people seemed to voice suspicion that Garnet was behind it all.) It was hard to put Garnet in a position to be good… which was also a point in and of itself.

Garnet is not an attractive woman, visually or metaphorically. She lacks 'feminine' characteristics to play the role of Lady, or anything but Knight- she's not pretty, or charming, or wise, or a moral guidestone. And that's a point, because she is a flawed knight- the 'real' knight who cynically chooses obedience over morality- which is why her first introductions are of her appearing menacing and brutish, to the point of almost beating the White Fang prisoners. Sure, they deserve it, and just tried to attack Mordred, but Garnet doesn't reign in Mordred's worse flaws and that is the point. And a reason Garnet calls Ruby the better knight in the end. Garnet does what Mordred says or what she thinks is in his best interest- Ruby does what Jaune needs, but won't do the wrong thing for him.

But Garnet is devoted, a sort of commitment Ruby respects, and in turn she gives Ruby something no one else quite does- respect as a peer. Not as a friend, or a courtier or girl in love, but a sort of understanding that gives Ruby a sort of role model, even if she doesn't want (or try) to be Garnet. Garnet is an example of how one can carry love and duty- Garnet is the example of how to watch one's love from afar yet always close enough to protect them- and Garnet is an example of how someone like Ruby with no rank and no influence can still somehow support and be with Jaune in the high-politics context of the fate of a Kingdom. Garnet isn't exactly right in how she does all these things, and even from their first real discussion at a dance Ruby doesn't agree, but she gives Ruby something to consider and demonstration of respect.

She also gives Ruby an example of the limits of devoted love, but I think we already covered the idea of a flawed supporter.

Speaking of flawed figures related to Mordred…

(Actually, before that- brief version of the 'Garnet wins the tournament' route is that it doesn't matter. Garnet wins, and forces the marriage bargain, but it ends up being for naught as Jaune wins anyway. Well, maybe not for naught, as it pre-empts Mordred from going ahead with his coup and damning himself with treason. It's a loveless trapped marriage, though, where Jaune doesn't trust Garnet (for good reason) despite her attempts to be honorable/faithful/eventually make anything of it. Garnet is watched with distrust by most, regret by Mordred, and with Ruby as Garnet's only friend. Jaune and Mordred's squabbles prevent anything from really happening despite Mordred's guilt once he accepts his defeat and Garnet's wish to have any kind of real marriage. Garnet ultimately dies honorably saving Jaune from a (probably Council) assassin, and her death is what convinces Jaune and Mordred to make peace and not waste their own lives like hers was, and not her life go to waste.)

(Also… yeah Garnet totally gets her guy in the end. She had to follow Mordred into exile, but he realized eventually.)

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'Uncle' Qrow

Qrow, you father of a… Mordred.

Alright, not an OC, but it's hard to touch on Qrow before Mordred. Like Lisa, Qrow is one of those re-occuring characters with their own stories and perspectives of the story. Unlike Lisa, Qrow's is probably way more interesting.

Did you pause to think what Qrow's perspective across the entire story- and much of his life- has been watching his bastard of a son muck everything up? And not having any real way (or idea of how) you could fix your greatest mistake? Qrow might be a cool Uncle, but as a Father he's anything but.

Given that Mordred doesn't know anything about Qrow, saying there is a Mordred-Qrow dynamic is misleading. Qrow's influence on Mordred is by his absence, not genetic (unless you count family villainy), while Mordred definitely has an impact on Qrow. Even if the relationship was only hinted at in-story- apparently some readers didn't realize it till afterwards- it's one of those things that's definitely intended to re-shape your impressions of things looking back. Every time Qrow talks about the state of politics and his own suspicions of his secret son… or that brief throw-away line during the geneology arc, when Yang (and Ruby) call Qrow asking for his family tree. At the time, that probably just felt like a joke relating to his sister and the tribe. But looking back with what you know…

Well, that crude joke in the prologue takes a new tone in hindsight.

Let's start with the start- Qrow being Mordred's father only makes sense if you accept the scandalous nature of age implications. Qrow was a minor, it happened well before Yang's parents hooked up, and while their exact age when they had Yang wasn't specified when I wrote it all it still wasn't late. So Qrow met the Monarch while still a young student in Beacon, and… well, what are they going to do? It wasn't a love affair, per see- it was very much a sort of proximity + grieving widow + your own thoughts here- but it definitely had an affect on Qrow long after he had weakness and ran from responsibility in the name of their responsibilities. Reasonably, you might say, but with long-lasting consequences that haunt him.

(It's not a coincidence that free-spirited Qrow's son is everything he would hate- an authoritarian, elitist, and likely oppressive bastard. The fact that it's likely all Qrow's fault for not being there only makes it worse.)

Qrow is a supporting figure in the story, for Ruby mostly, but something that not explicit but nice to note is that he's never actually right. Even as he seems to be the exposition source of what goes on in the political sphere, Qrow is consistently wrong about important things regarding his own son. Qrow has less faith in Mordred than most, enough to suggest that Mordred killed his own mother and is responsible for other crimes that Salem is framing him for. Qrow doesn't understand his son, in part because he never tried to be there for him, which puts them at odds without Mordred ever really knowing why. And yet, at the same time, Qrow still cares- maybe not obviously, but in the alleyway confrontation after Roman and Neo's death, and at the sentencing trial, Mordred obviously affects him. And that failure is what tempers him and his advice to Ruby, trying to keep her from repeating his mistakes- both in terms of telling her to give up, but also in to have no regrets.

But Qrow's failures aren't limited to parenting- he's also wrong about the nature of knighthood and the knight strike, making him a flawed mentor even as Garnet demonstrates a True (but not necessarily moral) knighthood. Garnet is honor without morality, but Qrow is honorless morality. The reason that Qrow can teach Ruby about the knight strike, but can't demonstrate, is that he gave up his reason/his thing to protect when he fled the Monarch and their child. Qrow failed as a knight, and so forsake that power. Qrow tries to tell Ruby to not use love as a catalyst, because love fades… but Ruby ultimately ignores that, and finds her catalyst through the sort of love that endures. It's no accident that the two characters who are able to pull out the Knight strikes are those who never turned their backs on their love. Qrow gives bad advice because he was a bad knight, and Ruby ultimately grows stronger by ignoring that.

Given that Qrow is a minor character in the story, and Mordred's parentage a big but not-really important secret, leaving it as something never really addressed was meant to make it a cool sort of subplot for those who noticed it, as well as give Qrow some relevance to the story besides 'just' being a cool mentor/exposition figure.

It also made the end of the trial scene- where Jaune spares Mordred to sentence him to exile and tasks Qrow to accompany him- one of my favorites. It's something that obviously has a bit impact on Qrow, a chance to reset the whole relationship… but only makes sense if you put together the pieces yourself.

(How did Jaune know? Ozpin told him… probably. Or maybe he just got lucky in words. Half the story is driven by Jaune's good fortune.)

/

Belle

Where to start with Belle… maybe the origin of the idea?

Belle was actually drawn up before S3 was aired, so before we got our first images of Winter Schnee. If it hadn't been, I'd probably have described her more as 'Winter Schnee in a dress,' because her original appearance concept was literally just 'an older, kinder, more attractive Weiss.' In a way, Belle was a sort of copy-Weiss for a different context- a more 'princess' figure to fill a political role and context Weiss herself couldn't fit. There was always intended to be a visual similarity- something to make Jaune a bit uneasy as she was compared/contrasted to Weiss.

But that was only part of the origin of her character. The other Belle in my mind is a sister-of-Jaune for another story entirely, A Childhood Friend or Something in which Jaune's family is family-friends with the Schnees for reasons not relevant to now. In that story, Belle was a beautifulle belle, best friend for Winter Schnee, and something of Weiss's own (role)model of feminity- aspects of which were reflected in this Belle's (estranged) relationship with the Schnees. She wasn't rich in that story- the Arcs were anything but- but she was a significant feminine force. So this Belle is a hybrid of the role I needed, of a noble for Jaune to get entangled with and that graceful girl. There's even a sort of subtle strength- perfect for the Lady archetype- that underlies the gentle kindness, as seen in Belle's more pragmatic side.

Belle's role in this story is the archetypical Noble Beauty / noblisse oblige who would both present Ruby a different sort of challenge- beauty, wealth, and power unmatchable- but also be a friend for her and ally to Jaune. Her politics are basically driven by empathy- a general feel-good soft and gentle liberalism- but also by her own scandalous connection to the underclass- in her case, the secret. Obviously that scandal gave Ruby a test of character, her passing of which gives her a(nother) powerful and supportive friend. Good deeds gaining allies, and all that.

Despite all that… I actually do find the Belle issue one of the more interesting/difficult portions of the story to justify for myself, because the Belle option just makes sense/is so reasonable that I find Ruby pushing Jaune to refuse the arranged marriage pushing my own suspension of disbelief, which made me worry if others would accept it. The Belle route- another of the Big but Reasonable plot divergences like the Weiss Route- isn't a Bad End by any means. Just like Weiss could eventually find happiness in a relationship with Jaune even if she's not passionate, Jaune and Belle could/would have eventually moved past their hangups and made something real. And even if they hadn't… by that time it would have been a partnership of friends, and better than easily imaginable alternatives. Refusing Belle doesn't stop the problem of the Council marrying Jaune off- it only makes the ultimate choice far riskier, because no one is going to be 'as good' a random marriage candidate as her. If you accept that the arranged marriage is likely to happen, then it's hard to think of someone better than considerate/compatible/a tad interested and ultimately willing to try and make something genuine of it.

But that's letting 'reason' get in the way of morality- what 'should' happen as well as what Jaune wants- and that's part of the point at that point in the story. Ruby's stepping away from reason and into the realm of honor, opposing a (sensible) injustice even as it conveniently justifies itself as stopping something worse. Jaune doesn't want to marry Belle, nor necessarily the reverse even if she has a maiden-crush, so…

Well, can you have a good nobility love-story without an unwanted arranged marriage getting in the way?

So Belle is a Lady-archetype- really taking over from Weiss's own role before Jaune takes the role as a noble- but really that part of the story is what transitions Jaune into the damsel, and lets Ruby gradually transition to the champion. Belle served as a transition character in that arc, and… not much afterwards?

Sad as it is to say, it's true. Most of the characters not named Jaune and Ruby are mainly arc characters, significantly important for their arc and relegated to minor side characters after, a reflection of both the succession crisis evolution and the fact that the main plot is Ruby's own perspective. At least as far as Ruby is concerned, at least. In the Big Picture, and the meta of the Succession Crisis as a whole, Belle is the truly decisive figure in the contest. She was introduced as the King-maker, and that really was the role she served. Short of the bad future or Mordred successfully pulling off a coup, whoever Belle sides ultimately wins the contest for the throne. Malik is just about recovering from a downturn, but Mordred couldn't 'win' as long as Belle was pulling for Jaune.

Which is a shame, because I like Belle and like to imagine that she and Ruby maintain a good healthy friendship from thereon out. As a member of Jaune's powerbase, and ultimately the Council, Belle (and Malik) have the enduring benefit of showing the new and better evolution of the relationship between the Council and the Crown- one where the Council still drives policy and stands for/with the people, but in friendship/alliance with the (Ceremonial) Monarch rather than in opposition to the legacy of the Monarchy.

So Belle. She's beautiful, kind, and has vast tracks of land. And also is a legitimate spin-off/branching path character, if only Ruby hadn't told Jaune not to marry her.

(Short version of that route- Jaune wins the crown after a farce marriage, Mordred never commits treason and is in a three-way power struggle as the Council begins to target Belle's assets and holdings as a way of weakening the Royal Couple. The primary drama dynamic is Jaune getting over his hangup of her looking like Weiss and Belle eventually making something real of the chaste farce with someone far younger than her. It works out once Belle gets over the age gap and makes her own interest in more clear. Also, their first child is a faunus, which is a Total Scandal that surprisingly makes things work with Mordred when Jaune earns Mordred's respect by acknowledging the child as his own despite the scandal that could ruin Belle.)

/

Malik

Malik is a lot simpler in some ways than Belle, and I feel bad that he didn't get more attention and couldn't get the development/ideas I originally had for him. Malik was made to be the Faunus Figurehead- someone who could represent the Faunus Community and whose support would cement Jaune's role as the pro-Faunus candidate- and as someone who could counter the White Fang in the battle for faunus hearts and minds.

The original idea-concept for Malik was for him to be a bit more of a male role-model figure for Jaune- someone who was a Kingly-caliber in his own right. He was even called Malik (which means King), he was a lion-faunus, and he knows of/can do the same noble aura projection trick of using aura shine to broadcast empathy. There was a vague idea of him teaching/training Jaune how to do that, before revealing himself. There was also more ideas of tying in his old ties to the White Fang to the non-Adam White Fang- a sort of using him to convey that Adam is rogue- but that didn't fit in easily either.

Unfortunately a lot of that didn't really fit, or only made sense post-finale, especially as the story became more and more Ruby-centric. Ruby couldn't see all that, and so I just shuffle it off into the 'their relationship improves on the side in the future,' probably in the same frame of reference as the post-coup White Fang plots. Malik was a character with a lot of potential, and a larger roles, in slightly related stories. And, like Belle, his role quickly subsides after his arc.

Which is fine, since that was standard, but I liked him. His character origin concept was really based on the phrase 'A Person of Lordly Caliber,' which was a subtitle for an old game I once enjoyed, mixed with a little of Mr. Shine the Troll-King from Terry Pratchet's Discworld series, in which there's a secret king of the trolls hiding in the city of Ankh-Morpork. Malik was inspired a lot by that. In my mind, he would be the natural King of the Faunus if that's what he wanted/thought he should be… but instead he took a more MLK route for peace and integration.

The dynamic with Blake and her hero-crush was taken from a show called Tiger and Bunny, where one of the protagonists- Tiger- is a (human) single-father. One of the heroines in the cast gets a crush on him despite the age gap. That was more of the dynamic that was played with, with the vague idea of…

Well, no conclusion, but one of the ideas in Knight of Lancaster is that there are a lot of stories Ruby isn't a part of/haven't yet been told. Blake dealing with her crush is one of them. Malik's- and his role with the White Fang and as a mentor for Jaune- is another. After the Succession Crisis, Jaune and Malik would probably have an exceptionally strong friendship/mentorship of sorts as they tackle both faunus reforms and the question of the rest of the White Fang (which wasn't really involved in Adam's deals with Salem).

(Not really a divergence route, but in the Weiss route where President Schnee/SDC end up lobbying for Jaune, the Faunus quarter gradually goes for Mordred and his promised (and Belle-expanded) reforms. Weiss and Jaune do meet Malik as a possible long-shot to reverse that… but the meeting is one that, while easing the faunus concerns with Weiss as a Schnee, also convince Weiss she'd rather see a reformist Mordred win than become Queen thanks to her father and an anti-reform Council.)

/

The Monarch – The King of Vale

She's a Queen Elizabeth figure because that's the benign monarchial image most readers would likely be familiar with. Easy enough?

The joke about the King of Vale being a woman is more than just a gag-line for Ruby to interact with royalty without realizing it, but actually taken from a book I read long ago- I don't remember where- where the King of Dragons was a gender-neutral position. I felt it fit the RWBY-verse context, so I took it.

The Monarch as a person- despite never having gotten a name…

Politically, the Valean nobility-Council balance of power in Knight of Lancaster could be roughly analogous to 1700's Britain- a period where 'the state' and its establishment are significant and passing the Royalty and Nobility, but where the King still has power if they so choose. Here, in Knight of Lancaster, the nobility has untapped power but the Monarch chooses not to- willingly pursuing a Ceremonial role and letting the Council take over- for her own reasons, mostly entailing the bloody power struggles with the previous Council that took her husband/others. The Monarch believes it's better for the Council to represent and protect the Kingdom, regardless their flaws, which puts her at odds with Mordred who believes they (the nobility) should use all their power to protect the Kingdom, and take more power to do that if needed.

The Monarch and Mordred's relationship could be described as sincere, but strained by politics. The Monarch doesn't agree with Mordred, and shares the doubts of others, even if she's the only one who truly understands him. Despite that (occasionally public) disagreement, they're quite close. Even so, she'd probably say she wasn't as good a mother as he feels she was- Mordred's authoritarianism/revaunchism/general unpleasantness is something she couldn't change, and wishes she had/believes his father might have.

The Monarch's views towards Qrow are fond and distant, the distance not being by choice. The Monarch understands why Qrow ran away from being Mordred's father, and feels more guilt herself for putting Qrow in that position in the first place, but she still wishes he'd been present even if she doesn't blame him. The Monarch's feelings for Qrow are vague, but if she was his first love way back then, she still has an enduring fondness and concern for him. They haven't really spoken in the two decades since, but she keeps track of him via Ozpin.

Before she died, the Monarch wished to see Qrow again, and probably had faint hopes of sitting him and Mordred down at a table and introducing them as adults.

Qrow never responded to any invitation, and always found a reason he had to be far from Vale.

/

Melody

Jaune's Mom. What to say… in my mind, she's pleasantly plump to a wide degree? (Definitely not sexy milf material.)

Melody was brought in later in the process, but she kind of had to be. It would have been a weird royal succession crisis if the King-candidate's family was totally uninvolved of being elevated so. While 'they're far away and mostly unaware' works for most RWBY stories, Jaune becoming an international celebrity made that sort of hard to swallow. And it shouldn't have been, because Melody offered a couple of great points, stronger than Malik who's character concept came first.

First, Melody offers a new obstacle to Jaune getting to the throne, and Ruby to getting to Jaune- a personal obstacle largely divorced by politics. Melody offers a rare sort of antagonist in someone who is NOT evil/malicious/personally disliking the protagonist. She's an antagonist because of family affection, and that means she's a different problem than the usual sort to date. Melody's not a problem that can be charmed away with character, or fought away like a thug.

Second, Melody was a great chance for humanizing Mordred. Being uninvolved/unaware of the context and suspicions Ruby and the readers have been swept up with, Melody offered a great chance for a new perspective on Mordred- one that certainly wasn't unbiased, but wasn't tainted by suspicion from the outset. That not only allowed insights/suspicions about Mordred's characters, but also allowed demonstration of Mordred's character when, yes, he proved that he WAS that bad and attacked a would-be ally. And yet, not- because Mordred's suckiness at being good doesn't change the fact that when she was at his total mercy, Mordred proved he did have some and that he was willing to do counter-intuitive and politically-disastrous things for his moral priorities. Protecting Melody by ejecting her not only showed Mordred had a good bone in his body, but it showed how committed he was to his feelings rather than just power politics for power's own sake.

Third, Melody represented a wild-card chaotic moment. By having a significant character of no affiliation and under nobody's control, Melody brought a moment of uncertainty into the story because even if what she didn't wasn't a surprise, what would happen to her (and what would happen as a result) was an unknown. Being under nobody's control brought a lot of real character out of everyone- Jaune's own priorities of politics over family, the council's media manipulations, Mordred's manners- but it also brought out the hidden chaos factor as well in Tyrion/Salem, whose reveal really escalated the stakes of the crisis (to the readers) and putting a lot more uncertainty into play.

Melody might have deserved a bit more of a role earlier on in a cameo or whatnot, but I'm mostly satisfied with her. It would be interesting to explore the implications of Jaune's rural family suddenly being elevated to Royalty, though- Melody might be a scandalous objector, but I imagine any of Jaune's younger sisters might go along with it a bit too easily (and so cause delicious drama/plot schenanigans).

/

Pyrrha and the Love Triangle

Less a character and more of a dynamic consideration. My feelings for Arkos shipping is old news- I find the canon dynamics regarding Pyrrha unhealthy and concerning- but I don't dislike Pyrrha herself. Most of my fics tend to have Pyrrha in a better light than most characters, even Ruby, and this may be the first one where I had Pyrrha be deliberately flawed.

Or maybe not even flawed, but just missing the flags. What do I mean? Let's review.

Let's start with the dynamic divergence from canon- Pyrrha and Ruby are explicit rivals, in more than one respect. They get along well enough at first, when they're both concerned for Jaune at Jaundice. Pyrrha has some pluses and a miss early on- she gets better with Jaune at the start since he lacks machismo, but because she didn't have to work through that she hits his still-present pride with a too-good training session at a time when Jaune is straining at being shown up constantly. Pyrrha has a good relationship with Ruby in trying to help Jaune, to the point of going out of her way to help them make up… but she also takes it upon herself to shield him from her during her fangirl mode on the bullhead to Beacon. She was also there at the Ruby-Weiss confrontation about Ruby and her crush (while running from the Deathstalker), so Ruby's feelings are never any secret, even before Ruby calls her a dirty cheater.

That's actually a very important moment in the story- the lowest point of Ruby's character- and it wasn't actually in the first draft. I put it in much, much later- at the point when Pyrrha had her mistake with Ruby later on- for a simple reason.

If Ruby didn't offend Pyrrha early on, then Pyrrha came off as much, much worse for giving offense later on.

In the first draft, there was no early Ruby-Pyrrha fight, or even a food-fight rematch. There was a the Ruby-Jaune fight, then Pyrrha trying to have time with Jaune during the noble period after hovering around the edges during the Weiss phase, and then Pyrrha trying to push away Ruby after Jaune's rejection.

That came across as terribly unfair to Pyrrha.

How so? Well, without any past grievance, having Pyrrha try to push Ruby away from Jaune, even if Ruby was making Jaune uncomfortable, made her come across as jealous and manipulative, and Ruby as unfairly victimized. Which was somewhat true and is still true in the current… but in being so one-sided, it wasn't fair to Pyrrha. And as much as I don't care for Arkos, I don't condone Pyrrha-bashing just to delegitimize a love rival.

Instead, what the Ruby confrontation does early on is set up a much better (and much more consistent) competition/cooperation dynamic with Pyrrha, one that marks them as equals and tracks their progress. When Ruby makes her mistake early on, it's a mark of her immaturity she needs to grow up from… but it's also a credit to Pyrrha's grace and character that she forgives and moves on as well, making Pyrrha more sympathetic as a character and more credible as a romantic contender. The first fight also set up the food-fight rematch, the Pyrrha semblance issue, and foreshadowing the eventual prospect of a decisive match in the finals- which was always there, because it's key to the scene of Jaune showing how much he favors Ruby by telling Pyrrha's secret. That same bet also overshadows much of the end-game, so it needed a buildup. Having the bet be the result of reoccurring character conflict gave it weight, and paradoxically some absolution for Pyrrha.

If Ruby never offended Pyrrha early on, then Pyrrha's later offense is terrible with no redeeming factor except maybe plausibility, but Ruby would have no reason to agree to the bet if she's clearly superior and ahead. But if Pyrrha is magnanimous and forgiving first, it makes Ruby's later forgiveness a demonstration of Ruby's own character growth- and her own equality with Pyrrha. That sets them, at the very least, as moral equals, and makes their bet a bit more sensible as a way of amicably resolving their rivalry. There's no drama in Ruby agreeing to a bet that Jaune wouldn't like to someone who's her moral inferior- it's only because she and Pyrrha see eachother as equal in terms of respect that the bet is credible. And it's because they are on equal terms that it makes more sense that Ruby cares about Pyrrha's opinion, and upholding the bet even when it could be what ruins her chance with Jaune.

Now, that aside… why did Pyrrha lose the love triangle, even before that rematch came about? And why did Ruby win Jaune's heart, even before she won the tournament?

The reason isn't that the game was rigged from the start because the story title is Lancaster. I could totally write a story in which the main pairing isn't culminated. (See an Affair or Something.) The reason Pyrrha lost is that Ruby (unwittingly) rigged the game from the start by knowing what made Jaune tick… because she was the one to shape his views on love.

Ruby's courtly love training-montage in the Weiss Arc are more than expressing what she finds attractive- they become the basis for what Jaune finds attractive, and shape his own ideas on love. The Knight and Lady concept is integral to how the story works, and integral to how Jaune recognizes and responds to proposals and attraction. Part of Jaune's resistance to marrying Belle is her appearance… but a bigger part of why he refuses is Ruby's counter-argument is that Belle doesn't court Jaune any more than he's (not) courted her. She's not doing what's 'proper'- no one the Council would choose for him will- which is one reason it's all so off-setting. Courting shows chivalry, sincerity, and honorable (and honest) interest in him.

There's a lot of good things you can say about Pyrrha, but courting and open interest aren't among them. Pyrrha may have good intentions befitting a good persson- and be very apologetic- but this is a girl who made the decision for herself that Jaune would be her partner without asking him, and just hoped/expected it would go her way. She's trying to be clever, and that's certainly sweet in its own way, but that's not high on Jaune's list of desirable qualities.

Pyrrha makes a couple of mis-steps out of the story not because she's a bad person, but because she doesn't quite 'get' Jaune's hooks and knightly character development. She acts like, well, a girl going after what she wants- wanting time, to be together, and her own champion mindset of winner-takes-all, even as she herself shyly hides her feelings. That might be how she expresses her interest, but that's not what Jaune wants- not what he's been conditioned by Ruby and the context of courting to expect. He wants his own opinion to matter- to be able to give or not give his favor rather than be treated as a prize. He wants the small gestures and sustained interest of a proper courting. He also wants honor- and while Pyrrha is fair in her own fashion, her use of a secret semblance for her advantage in the bet is just a bit too close to underhanded for his comfort. Betting on it- betting him on it- crosses a line, particularly when it's offering a sucker bet.

Pyrrha's bet with Ruby- a climatic duel for Jaune- is symbolic of the difference between Pyrrha and Ruby's approaches, and the difference between a Champion and a Knight. The Champion fights to win the prize, and will claim it once won. The Knight fights for his Lady's honor, and won't demand it afterwards. Ruby's victory words were 'I love you Jaune, can I court you now?'- a plea to express her interest, but which doesn't commit him to anything. Pyrrha's would have been 'I love you Jaune, will you go out with me?'- a direct request that Jaune wouldn't have been in a position to turn down.

That's the difference in distinction that leads to Jaune's favor going one way and not the other- not because Pyrrha is bad, but because Pyrrha doesn't follow the rules of chivalry/courting that Jaune came to embrace, and Ruby came to follow. Would Pyrrha force such a confession-request on Jaune if she knew it would rankle him? Absolutely not… but her not knowing that instinctively (not clarifying her intent with Jaune about the tournament prize as Ruby did) is the symptom.

After being treated like a princess in an arranged marriage, Jaune is looking for courtly love that is sincere and not so stifling as a forced commitment. Ruby's a Knight fighting for her Lady, Pyrrha's a champion seeking the prize, and that's the difference.

/

Alright, time for the themes and motifs.

(Why is it that I can ramble for 14000 words easily, but struggle for 1500 works of prose?)

Themes are, obviously, the ideas that link the story together. Some of the big ones that come to mind now…

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The Knight and the Lady

Probably the most important pair of themes/motifs in the story, as they describe almost all the dynamics in the story.

This was one of those things that make me feel this story was both really subtle and totally unsubtle at the same time- in this case, because I explicitly laid out the Knight and Lady dynamic twice in the really-early story before almost never mentioning directly it again. Once in the prologue, with Ruby's fairy tales describing the dynamic, and once more in the Weiss training montage. Afterwards, it might have come up a bit in the context of courting, like the Ruby rant against Jaune marrying Belle, but mostly it was left to stand on its own through symbolism or actions that most people would just attribute to 'who's masculine/who's feminine.'

Because, well, that's pretty accurate. The Knight and Lady dynamic is a structure/archetype for the idea of courtly love, where the behavior of both sides is codified. This is what Knights SHOULD do. This is how Ladies SHOULD behave. A knight properly portrays his affections by X. The Lady shows her favor by Y. It's ultimately all a case of acceptable social roles and interactions between two different classes/types of people. It is structured, stereotypical, and totally masculine-feminine. But it also offers a roadmap and a template for what True Love 'should' be. Not because no other kind of love is true, but for a type of love to separate the sincere from the scurious.

The fact that Jaune and Ruby both flip around both archetypes as the story goes? Well, no one said you can't play with gender roles and stereotypical dynamics. It also makes the romantic dynamic fun for both characters. Jaune can go from masculine/impressive Gallant Knight Guy one act, and then be the passive damsel in distress needing rescue from unwanted marriage or danger the next. Whereas Ruby gets to embrace both sides of her own (canon) characterization- both the feminine girly girl who likes cute things and skirts, but also the tomboyish adrenaline junkie who cuts her hair short and likes to fight with cool weapons. These dualities are part of what makes RWBY fun in general, at least for me, and the Knight and Lady dynamic amps them up to eleven.

Knight and Lady isn't a dynamic that I claim is the only version of 'True Love.' It really shouldn't be taken as a template for most love. But it does serve as a template for the Lancaster in this story, as after some crash and burns on both their parts- Ruby's disastrous first crush, and Jaune becoming a prize- the structure of the Knight and Lady is a 'safe' as well as proper output for their feelings and comfort levels. Ruby won't be a ***** in heat if she upholds the codes of chivalry- Jaune can know he's not just a prize to someone who takes the time and care to court properly- both can still expression their passions, even as honor and self-discipline do their own thing.

What's interesting about both Knight and Lady archetypes is that neither is necessarily dominant or passive to the other. There's an, if not equality, equilibrium to them. They both are acknowledged as having a certain sort of purpose and agency, on their own and with the other. The Knight is the pro-active active champion of the causes, but it's the Lady who leads in terms of ideas and direction, and when the Lady speaks the Knight is supposed to listen/obey. The Knight is the one who's supposed to pursue romantically, but the Lady can express her own interest with her favor. The Lady is the one who's supposed to set a moral standard, but it's the Knight who executes those morals in practice, and sets a standard in practice. These really are different sorts of strengths, but they both have power- even if the knight is often martial, and the Lady is usually political.

The ideas of Knight and Lady are described pretty well in the story, but just to call out who filled what role-

Knight: The Active Pursuer (the one who expresses open interest), the Chivalrous Champion, the One who Supports His Lady's Goals,

Jaune- Mostly in the first half of the story, on his rise to glory. He's a romantic knight in pursuit of Weiss, an aimless knight in his various heroics afterwards where he shows virtue that gets him wrapped up in politics but lacks a Lady to give him reason to care, but he's also a Royal(ish) Knight in his secret courting of Ruby during the tournament.

Ruby- Much more in the second half of the story, but with significant moments even early on, with her first 'real' moment of chivalry being at Forever Falls and fighting Cardin. Ruby's return with Blake and holding of her ribbon- and then Ruby's action at the Dance where she saves Jaune from shame by asking him to a dance are probably the first two moments where her gallantry made his heart skip a beat. Later on, becoming the Knight during the tournament/Jaune's marriage crisis is much more natural, as Ruby becomes more comfortable with not only her own feelings but in dedicating herself to support Jaune's cause

Garnet- Knight to Mordred, obviously. As a flawed knight, she doesn't set a higher moral standard to inspire him or bring honor to his name, but she's unwaveringly devoted. Her inability to be the Lady for him as well- to take that moral high-ground and save him from his own flaws- is her fatal flaw and a good part of why he looses the succession crisis.

Qrow- Failed Knight to the Monarch, which makes him forsworn. He cares, but not as enduringly as a knight should, in nature or loyalty. Qrow believes that because he left he failed, but a True Knight could have/would have retained fidelity despite the distance.

Malik- Unfortunately not a knight. There was an idea of him being a knight for his daughter, who would have been a faunus-princess figure, but there wasn't time/space for that (and then we learned Blake's basically the closest Menagerie has anyway).

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The Lady: The Benevolent Beauty, the Kindly Corrector, the Moral North Star

Jaune: Ruby's own Lady, and from a surprisingly early part of the story. Jaune's guidance/ admonishments for Ruby even early on, when she's crushing- his forgiveness, his help with her insult to Pyrrha, and so on- are part of how he helps and inspires her to be a better person. Jaune has his feminine moments early on- when he's hurting from the tourney and awaits on the balcony, the crossdancing shame at the dance- but he truly begins to fill/unwittingly embrace this role once he's forced into the Succession Crisis and into the role of Ceremonial Monarch. 'Noble' or 'Royal' Jaune isn't always feminine, but he often plays the role of the Lady as the benevolent guidance figure for Ruby to quest for.

Ruby: A Lady to Jaune in the early and mid-game, even when he doesn't realize it (and she doesn't intend it). Her initial combat training and support for him during the Weiss arc takes the teaching/guiding aspect, while her kidnapping him from the tower is both knightly and Lady in how she guides him to Vale to find his reason to fight for Vale in the succession crisis. Ruby is the one who helps Jaune find his reasons and way to be a royal, helping him from being a passive victim of fate. In the final part of the tournament, being the lady to Jaune's knightly courting is her reward/and indication of their relationship to come.

Mordred: Believe it or not, yes. Mordred's not a knight, more of a rogue archetype, but in the context of the Knight and Lady metaphor he's firmly the Lady to Garnet's Knight. His (lack of) moral corrections and opposite-of-kindness are his flaws, but he does have a twisted sort of benevolence, and does offer Garnet her moral guide post and vision for the future.

Weiss: The early-story Lady, for both Ruby and Jaune. Ruby in a non-romantic way, but in her chastisement about her crush and support for her after she offers Ruby a guide path, and then later for her moments of support for Ruby's own wistful courting of Jaune. For Jaune, the romantic dynamic is a bit more blatant- but one of the things undercutting that is that while Weiss is his beauty and subject of his affections, it's actually Ruby who's providing the Lady role of guidance in this part of the story.

Belle: The mid-story Lady, replacing Weiss for Jaune. Belle is the more political aspect of the Lady- the idea of a Lady's power in practice. She does try a little for the romantic aspect of the role- she has a slight fan-crush on Jaune that could have built to more- but at a time when Jaune is in the role of Lady, Belle can't champion and doesn't court him as a Knight.

Monarch: A failed Lady of a sort, for both Qrow and Mordred. For Qrow, the Monarch was his Lady, but he left out of his own circumstances. She's never forgotten or blamed him, but it's Qrow's weaknesses that failed her. For Mordred, however, the Monarch failed to be the moral guide that might have taken him from his darker path, something she's aware of and regrets precisely because she loves him.

Melody: A different failed Lady, this time for Jaune. Melody wants to be the lead/loving authority/moral guidepath for Jaune, but this time Jaune doesn't want to be a Knight for her despite his love. Melody represents a corruption of the Lady- trading grace for disgrace, wise appeals for selfish demands- and so she fails in her well-intended crusade.

/

Knights: Real vs Ideal, Loving Devotion versus Loyalty

Separate from the Knight and Lady archetype, the story pressed the differences in types of knights, mainly between Garnet and Ruby/Jaune, but also between Knights and Warriors (like Cardin or Pyrrha).

The idea of 'real' versus 'ideal' came up at the museum before Blake's flight, and is a general distinction between romanticized idealism and how things 'really' work. In the context of this story, however, Knights are more than mythologized by legend- romantic sentiment is a real part of how they work. The Knight abilities like Knight-strike actually flow from idealism like love and selflessness, and in order to maintain them the Knights have to condition their minds to devotion. Becoming a Knight means a level of Blue and Orange morality in the name of honor and devotion, but that doesn't always align neatly with black and white morality.

Ruby and Garnet represent differing aspects of commitment- the difference between a loyalty out of love and a blind obedience- with Ruby the sort to let her own actions be affected by how they will impact Jaune, like with Belle or on the faunus bridge, while Garnet doesn't care about appearances because Mordred doesn't. Garnet is complicit with Mordred's crimes, and doesn't stop them, while Ruby… well, while the story doesn't force Ruby into complicity with any crime of Jaune, because he doesn't actually commit any, the end-game trial and royal knighting oath at the end makes clear that Jaune and Ruby both care about it.

Knights are also distinguished from warriors in the story, with the emphasis on honor/dedication making the difference. Warriors can fight- and some like Pyrrha can fight quite well- but Knights get those special power-ups from adhering to honor and devotion (even when- as in the Garnet-Pyrrha fight- Garnet's perception of devotion allows cheating).

/

Nobles

Less a symbol, more of an explanation of context.

Knight of Lancaster is a setting that has a declining but still empowered nobility- one that's retreated mostly into isolation, but still has considerable heft if brought to bare. If that seems a bit odd… well, there were periods of history where that was real. A historical context might be the United Kingdom in the 17th/18th Century- a period where the institutions of state (the Council/Parliament) are eclipsing the nobility, but not entirely undisputed yet. This is the context that Mordred's power play takes place- at a point where a royalist rollback of the Council system is still possible, and a return to a strong monarchy is plausible.

That may seem hard to see in a setting as 'modern' as RWBY, but I've never really seen it as such. Part of this is my own understanding/impression/headcanon of the RWBY-verse, but also part of what it isn't. Remnant isn't earth- doesn't have the political enlightenment- and a lot of political philosophy of what we think is 'modern' wouldn't make sense. Liberal democracy it ain't. While RWBY has 'advanced' technology- computers and airships- there's no clear political philosophies besides 'Council reflects consensus'- which, given the status quo, isn't entirely good.

There's also a question to me of just how established modern technology is in Remnant. Generations, or decades? If the Great War that Jaune's grandfather fought Corcea Mors in was a mostly dust-less affair- swords and shields rather than dust weapons- then the rise of RWBY's 'current' technology is only three generations or so. That's more than short enough to leave a nobility system intact if left behind by the march of technology- in which case, Mordred is just trying to undo the Ceremonial Monarchy development his mother believed in.

Now, onto narrative function…

Knight of Lancaster plays it both ways with regards to the nobility. The nobility system itself isn't lionized, per see, but what they can represent is a matter of question. Is it worth having an empowered group of people that can 'do something'? The Knight of Lancaster position seems to be… well, maybe if they're good people. Nobles like Mordred are obviously bad- philanthropists like Belle alright because they do nice things. Not a very in-depth analysis beyond validating/vindicating noblisse oblige ideology. Personally I suspect that Jaune's golden age of nobles taking an active role in improving society will have some hiccups and heartaches down the role when complacent/selfish nobles come around again.

What 'nobles' represent in Lancaster is less the nobility per see and more of the idea of consensus. A good part of the Royal Council division between tradition, nobility, and populist is that these are the three broad pillars of society- the elite, the masses, and the keepers of traditional culture. You can argue about how they should be balanced, but they inevitably exist, and the Lancaster narrative is basically that unity comes when all of these elements come into harmony.

When it comes to the Monarchy in particular, Knight of Lancaster goes a bit more into detail about the merits of one kind of noble in particular- the idea of a Ceremonial Monarch as a symbol for national unity. Obviously this has parallels to the United Kingdom, encounters of which helped shape this story. And the thing is, well…

As much as some people might find the idea of a ceremonial monarch silly… a lot of people who have one seem to enjoy it.

I can't say I share this feelings, or want one of my own, but a lot of people like to project a lot of faith and goodwill on leader figures, real or symbolic or both. Personality cults, or just popular politicians, or irrelevant symbols of national unity. People project a lot of emotion onto such things, and in the process get the solidarity of shared symbols and values, and if you're going to do so it might as well be someone publicly beneficent and politically powerless unless everyone agrees with them.

That's what a Ceremonial Monarch can be- that's what Jaune is- and that's what make Jaune so valuable and important in Knight of Lancaster, which on the meta might seem to be just a power-play by Salem in which Jaune is irrelevant. Jaune is relevant as a unifying figure that all of Vale can rally behind even if he doesn't actually do that much himself. It's Jaune's friends and allies who make policy… but by being a basically good and gallant person and hero for the nation, Jaune does more good than he could if he were just a super-skilled fighter. It's his positive popularity, not his ability to poke people with a sword, that makes Salem's great plot for social upheaval turn into a total failure. Instead of splintering Vale for Generations, Salem's machinations unified it more than ever before, and marching on her doorstep in a few short decades. People have faith in a symbol that will stand up for all of them, and in doing so brings them all together and heralds the sort of gentle reforms that improve a society without ruining it.

That, to me, is the best of what a Ceremonial Monarch can be, and what I aimed for in the story.

/

Media Control

Less a theme, more of a duality. Media in Vale is not presented as 'free.' Friendly to Jaune, yes… but it's pretty clearly because that's in the Council's interests as much as anything else. Were he in place, the Council media would likely turn against him just as quickly, to prevent any potential rival from rising. The fact that the media is controlled for the self-interest of a selfish and rarely sympathetic authority is a feature, not a bug- a warning that popularity is fickle, and public image can be held hostage to (or debased by) entrenched authorities.

The freest media in the story is also the least respected- the tabloids that cater to common (and baser) interests of the unwashed commoners. It's not always right (fake news rumors), or kind (how quick it turns on Blake and Jaune), but it is honest and sincere in a way the Council's media controls aren't.

Though her plot didn't get the development or focus that it could have, Lisa was in a way a symbol bridging the two divides. Falling from grace for breaking the media's rules (airing the almost-deaths at the bridge battle in the heart of Vale), basically covering the celebrity circuit with the tabloids at the balls, but gradually regaining her career as she covers Jaune. By the end she's back to the 'official' media and as biased towards Jaune as anyone- but it's an honestly earned favor more than anything.

Not really developed in full, but stories untold and all that.

/

Not-so-frequently Asked Questions

The final round-up of questions people asked I didn't answer already.

/

Q: The name "Arc Rose" seems forced. I get it's highly symbolic but were there any other names you were choosing from and if so, can we hear them?

A: No, because there were none. Arc Rose was the only name considered for Ruby's anti-Pyrrha weapon at the end. There's more thought in the name than I could really cover, but it was the only real contender.

On one hand, Arc Rose is a pun. As a sister-weapon for Crescent Rose, it needs a related name. 'Arc' and 'Crescent' are synonyms, so on the face of it might seem like that's all it was.

But obviously it's not, because the other point is that revealing its name isn't just a dramatic flourish by Ruby- it's an almost-blatant declaration of love for Jaune, and one that she has no intention of ever taking back win or lose.

Earlier on in the bet, Ruby's mindset is that if she loses the bet, she'll try to get over Jaune and move on. But a key consequence of that night with Jaune- you know the one- is that Ruby won't give up on Jaune anymore, even if she doesn't get him romantically. Because she loves him, and because he loves her and asked her not to give up her feelings. Jaune making Ruby his Royal Knight is more than thanking her with a job- it's asking her to stay at his side for life, and to never leave him. Ruby's knighting blade is her response. Highly symbolic, yes, but also a statement of intent.

Naming her anti-Pyrrha weapon Arc Rose is basically Ruby going 'win or lose, I'll always love him- fight me, bitch.' Only much less direct.

/

Q: As for the whole Ruby vs Pyrrha thing that was hinted at for a large part towards the end, I have to admit I was just so slightly disappointed we don't actually get to see the actual fight between them, especially when Ruby finally got a weapon that was immune to Pyrrha's Semblance. Would it be possible for you to expand on how it would have gone?

A: Ruby would have won, partly on her own merit and partly because Pyrrha would have thrown the match at that point.

By the end of the story, Jaune's favor between Ruby and Pyrrha isn't really a question. He's fond of his partner- he wants to remain her friend- but he loves Ruby. That's why he told Ruby her secret, and spent his time with her when he had a choice, and used his once-in-a-reign-special-appointment to give Ruby a permanent pass into his bedroom rather than share that privilege to Pyrrha. You could say that Pyrrha disclaimed a desire for any titles, but Jaune didn't award Ruby a title because she wanted it- he made her his Royal Knight because he wanted her beside him no matter what, even Pyrrha's victory.

In a scenario where a slightly-less-injured Pyrrha gets well in time for the tourney and goes to the finals, it's not a battle for Jaune's heart anymore. She lost that long ago. It becomes a match to decide whether Jaune and Ruby are together, or Pyrrha makes herself the reason for requited-but-blocked love. Call me a skeptic but I don't think Pyrrha wants to be the third wheel with her own boyfriend, so while Ruby would do the 'honorable' things and sincerely insist Jaune try to treat her right/give her a fair chance, the sheer fact that Jaune would have to be persuaded to rather than want to dampens the ardor and reason to fight well.

Meanwhile Ruby is at the top of her game, hyper-motivated, and has a spiffy new weapon and super-powered strikes that Pyrrha hasn't really training against.

I wouldn't say that Ruby would always beat Pyrrha, but for drama's sake I'd expect her to win that time, but not the next time, but by then it'd be decided. It didn't make it into the epilogue, but I imagine their rivalry would take the form of a long-running and near-constant tie over the years- like Pyrrha having retaken the lead in the near-future (that was an initial reason for the Yang-trying-to-comfort session), but with Ruby having re-taken the lead in the further-future (with one of future!Pyrrha's comments being for Ruby to not die and rob Pyrrha of the chance to come back). It's definitely intended to be a very friendly rivalry of near-equals, with Ruby's knightly skills and weapon being a match for Pyrrha.

But as far as the final battle, Ruby and the Power of Love (and a semi-magical weapon tailored to beat Pyrrha) would have beaten the girl who feels sorry for fighting in a love triangle already lost. There could be a scenario where Pyrrha wins and has to work through that… but that's not really 'Arkos' as much as 'Pyrrha settling for being second in heart, and accepting that Ruby isn't/won't seduce Jaune no matter the UST.'

(On the other hand, I hope it was clear that Pyrrha really did move on/find happiness again… and not in a 'still pining for Jaune after all these years' sort of way. She doesn't want to comfort a widower, so don't die future!Ruby!)

/

Q: It was an an amazing story overall. I have to admit I expected something a lot more bittersweet after that statement two chapters ago about Jaune never marrying anyone. I guess incidents kept coming up.

Does that mean his children aren't in line for the throne?

A: No, they are. They're just recognized as his (and Ruby's) children even if they're born out of wedlock.

There was a subtle plot idea for a sequel story of sorts that was foreshadowed way back regarding Mordred's birth, but the Kings of Vale (the men) have suffered a curse that prevents them from siring children. Queens (the female Kings) can conceive, but the King can't, hence why Mordred wasn't born until the Monarch and Qrow did the do. The curse exists though, it is magical, and it affects Jaune.

The epilogue is ambiguous about just what happened, but the 'near future' where Ruby and Yang are meeting up is because Jaune himself has just been found to be (magically) sterile. Rather than cheer Ruby up after, though, Ruby's dreams show her there is a future with kids, so she has faith they'll find a way. It'll be magical, a romantic adventure of its own like Ruby and Jaune will constantly be having for decades to come (true fact- the reason they never marry is because Something Always Comes Up), but in the end part of the curse-judo and magical work-around is that Ruby isn't Jaune's wife- she's his Knight, and so ends up getting around the curse via honorable loophole.

It's not all exactly thought through, but basically a fertility quest for the future.

But no, Jaune definitely takes credit for the kids. And calls the daughters 'Princess' to make them giggle and all.

/

Q: What sort of King would Mordred have been had he beat Jaune?

A: Depending on his allies, a good, bad, or mediocre one. Much like Jaune himself.

In the route closest to the ultimate outcome- the coup route- Mordred is a strong but reviled King who runs Vale like a police state and wages a constant but not particularly effective war on Salem. It's a police-state opposed to Salem, so it survives, but there's a civil war/resistance against him, and he's overall terrible. This is the bad end.

In the Weiss route, where Belle, Weiss, and ultimately even Jaune end up siding with Mordred in the Succession Crisis, it's actually pretty good. Mordred's allies (and wife) temper his flaws, help channel his strengths to something good, and even if it's never easy it's far from bad. Mordred is strong-headed, but can be cajouled to considering his allies, and the uber-rare people who become his friends can get away with a lot.

(Jaune and Mordred are never buddy-buddy, but usually are able to make peace over some woman/child. Fatherhood is a big thing to Mordred, so Jaune recognizing any child of Mordred's as an heir to the throne, or Jaune recognizing his own to the cost of scandal, earns respect. Mordred never pulls a coup against or harms Jaune's future-children.)

There's one other dissident route where Jaune joins Mordred willingly. In the 'trapped in the tower' period where Jaune was being kept from Mordred, if Mordred had found Jaune before executing Neo then Jaune probably would have agreed to Mordred's offer/invitation to exit the contest. In which case Jaune would have been publicly vilified/Ozpin would have been disappointed, but he and Mordred would have worked from uneasy allies to reluctant friends. (Or rather, Jaune realizes he's the closest Mordred has to one and feels obliged to help, Mordred is tsundere, and Garnet lets the former kidnap the later from time to time to go drinking or socialize with the commoners… which tends to lead to Mordred announcing some new reform.)

In a totally AU route where Garnet is more moral like Ruby, or Mordred grows up with more family, Mordred grows up to be a much better person and wins outright and is a good King.

/

Q: What is Mordred and Garnet's kid's name? Do they wield a rapier like their father, or are they seeking to reclaim Honor's Burden some day?

Nothing was ever decided about Mordred and Garnet's implied child, even the gender. It could be male… or it could be female.

There was a dynamic, though. If you ever saw Lion King 2, where Scar's child is sent to infiltrate/enters into Simba's confidence, it would have been something like that. Jaune would have been seriously distrustful/opposed…. But kept his word about not holding anything against the child, who would ultimately prove their honor. Whereas Jaune is distrustful, Ruby would have been welcoming/warmer/the person who gives a chance.

Whether they get Honor's Burden back… maybe after Ruby dies.

/

Q: so is that how a girl expresses her love for a guy? whack him in the jewels with an oversized garden implement and ask him out?

...mam I'm glad I don't live there!

A: In the future of Vale, this is known as 'pulling a Ruby.'

Ruby becomes something of the patron saint of young girls and romantic legends, many of which are made of her and her many adventures with Jaune. Including some time she carves their initials and a heart on the moon…?

(That's a joke, probably. There's definitely some romantic monument/mosaleum for the two that lives on after their death.)

She's a bit less popular with the guys, who just hope that any girl who does that is worth it. Except a certain subsection of the populace who find they like a dominant girl with the whip in her hand…

/

Q: Hayate the Combat Butler? Really dude?

A: I confess to being guilty of being bad with names and liking the occasional allusion. Besides, Ruby and Jaune need a kick-ass butler.

Also, who said I was a dude, dude?

/

Q: Dem dreams… what is up with them? Were they really just dreams, or…?

A: Yes, no, and a bit of prophecy. But mostly prophecy.

The dreams began as a reoccurring element that served as a mood-maker for how Ruby felt/suspected the current situation would unfold if nothing changed. For 90% of the story, that's all they need to be, and probably all they are. Probably. There was always the intent that the house at the ending epilogue would be her 'dream home,' even if it was one she had to make match the dream rather than the other way around. Sort of a metaphor of how you need to make your dreams come true and stuff.

But there was also an element of the supernatural here, and people who've tracked my stories know I'm not beyond a little of it. This is a lot more subtle in most respects than some, and technically all the earlier dreams can count as fore-shadowing. But, ultimately, there's only one point in the story itself that the dreams actually serve as prophecy in providing information Ruby herself didn't already have- the dream of the Bad Future with the broken glass, and Garnet's method of cheating with the invisible body-swap. That comes up in the final battle to save Pyrrha's life- a means to avoid the bad future, which specifically entailed Garnet killing Pyrrha, crippling Jaune, and doing so before Jaune beat Mordred/Adam announced his betrayal. In the Bad Future, Mordred rallied and seized control while denying the accusations, though he's burdened by doubt and everyone's suspicions of the truth.

As for why have prophecy in the story…

Call it an influence of a lot of the side-influences in the story of knightly legends. There was a lot of Arthurian lore that slipped into the story from time to time- Mordred, Jaune being the maiden in the water who throws Ruby her weapon (at Forever Falls), Jaune 'drawing his sword from a stone' (Garnet's sword) as proof of Kingship- and one of the elements of Arthurian lore is the role of prophecy. There was no specific legend, and it generally presented in a way that it's not something Ruby relies on or even realizes she has, but in the end it's there.

For most of the story you can just assume it's dreams, but in abstract it's just something that was helpful for the narrative tone/cliffhanger backstops, but only gains more significant implications in retrospect. (Like, say, the suggestion that Ruby's foresight of Salem's name will allow her to get an even better future than the one she already has.) It's not a tactical ability, though, and hardly something Ruby can control or prove. She doesn't know or believe it, and at best (worst) she can have ominous senses of foreboding or déjà vu, but that doesn't mean something.

After all, haven't most of her dreams in this story not come true?

/

Q: Mordred's invisible assassin/the Chameleon who helped Garnet cheat- any relation to Ilia?

A: Not originally, but sure.

Garnet's chameleon assassin/body-swapping partner was always intended to be invisible and a chameleon, but that's before we were even introduced to Blake's wannabe-ex from the White Fang.

Originally there wasn't much to say about him. He was a faunus who worked for Garnet- not Mordred- in return for some unspecified favor later on. I was never decided on whether he was a White Fang who was turned or a Royal Police faunus, but either way he was basically someone who picked his side and was betting on benefitting from Mordred. He worked for Garnet without Mordred's knowledge, and Mordred stopping him from attacking Jaune was to be a moment that proved that Mordred wasn't entirely in control of his own faction. This was more of part of an older idea that Garnet might have had a bigger thing in some of the crimes/assassinations, but most of that went away. He's just a way Garnet cheats without Mordred knowing about it.

After Ilia was revealed… it could still be that, or this could be Ilia's amnesiac father who sided with Garnet in hopes that Mordred would help find his lost daughter (who, unknown to him, ran away with terrorists). That didn't really fit in, though- it made Ruby's flashback to getting Garnet's weapon far too long/awkward- so it was cut to here. What he does from here… well, how do you keep an invisible man exiled on the frontier?

(If anyone's wondering how Garnet's honor allowed her to cheat with a body-swap- well, part of the point of honor is that it reaches blue-and-orange morality so it isn't the same as morality. For Knight Garnet, winning for her lord is more important than the spirit of the rules, and as long as her invisible ally didn't make any attacks himself…)

/

Q: How much was Garnet responsible for vis-à-vis Mordred?

A: Wow, that's a tough one. Can I dodge and agree with Mordred that he's responsible for everything his knight does?

This actually is a hard enough question that I could never really make a list of absolutely who was responsible for what. The Salem-Adam-White Fang-Mordred links were too convoluted at times, and trying to definitely pin down everything was both a pain and would have undermined the exile resolution by showing that everything could be separated. Suffice to say, though, that there are some things Garnet did without Mordred's knowledge or permission, even if he might well have permitted if he'd known.

Garnet is the one who poisoned Ruby- though that was a breakdown of conscience and duty, as by that point she was getting afraid/desperate to prevent Mordred from doing the coup even if it meant sacrificing herself (either by marriage, or forcing Mordred to cut ties and bury the evidence). Garnet is also responsible for cheating, and also responsible for keeping the Mountain Glenn tunnels a secret. The last she probably wouldn't have if Ruby and the rest weren't called away- another moment where Garnet harmed Mordred's chances because if she hadn't then Ozpin would have trusted him and brought him into the Ozpin Illuminati and avoided the suspicion that led to Salem's plot working.

Garnet may or may not be responsible for some other crimes too, but I couldn't tell you with certainty what. There was a lot of back-and-forth across the story for how much she was really guilty of- some versions had her blameless, and others had her guilty in almost everything to the exclusion of Mordred.

What I wanted most, but wasn't able to really work, was the idea that Mordred and Garnet were both to blame for things that the other wasn't aware of. That Mordred did his crimes without her knowledge, including the coup, just as she did without his. That was a bit too complicated to frame, however, and only made things worse.

But, suffice to say- Garnet did bad things out of love, Mordred did bad things because he was bad, and even if they weren't totally bad between them they were bad enough that the Big Bad wouldn't have been able to do it all without them.

/

Q: Why did you have to finish with that pun…?

A: Because I wanted to show that both Ruby and Jaune got their 'happy ending.'

Or is that not the pun you're referring to?

The epilogues were intended to end on an optimistic high note showing that, among other things, not only would things go well and likely get better for Ruby and Jaune, with more adventures in the waiting, but that it could still get even better for Ruby if she worked on it. The bitter of the bitter-sweet future facing Salem could be changed to save more friends, and all that.

/

Q: Will you (I) write more?

A: 'I' probably won't. You are more than welcome to.

This story is done. There is a non-0 chance I might sketch a spinoff/write a short some day- maybe a humor piece on the time Yang learns that Ruby can't be made into a virgin sacrifice anymore- but it's pretty darn low.

If you or anyone else want to try writing parts of this, feel free. I'd just appreciate due credit for the ideas.

/

Q: What are your (my) next plans?

A: Dunno. We'll see.

Part of the reason this post-story recollection took so long to put out is that beside a serious case of burnout, I'm in the middle of a lot of life changes right now. They're starting to stabilize, but things will also be different for awhile. I'll be able to, gasp, socialize for the first time in awhile.

Next project will (probably) still be RWBY, but undecided now. Some prose shorts are possible- maybe even a legitimate Arkos called 'Breaking through the Friend-Zone.' Or maybe it'll be a longer-form narrative-summary for one of those too-big-for-me to write. There's even a musing or two for a medium-ish prose piece or two that's sure to be a kick to the feels.

What definitely will occur is a resumption with Coeur of A Hunter or Something, which had to be paused due to the life changes and severe burnout. That's already underway with some respects and looking to resume soonish.

But really? I just hope this story makes people look forward to the next one. It certainly won't be as vanilla and idealistic as this one was. I've got a reputation to maintain, after all...

Keeheeheeheehee...

/

And… that's it!

I hope you enjoyed this story, and these post-plot thoughts. Apologies for the delay, but a lot of real life intervened.

If you enjoyed the story, please leave your own review to roll it all up. I know it's a bit late now, but if you did the post-a-day reading then a few months of Lancaster had to leave some thoughts, right?

Cheers,

C.F.