First off, to the followers of my profile, sorry for the 30 notifications. It's something I had to do to get this up all at once. Some of you might remember this fic's name and/or intro, whether because of the author notes of Chapter 1 from Signed off in Blonde, or you read the fic when it was around on AO3. Maybe you've never heard or seen this before.
This fic was removed from AO3 a while back, when I was getting SoiB started because I didn't want people to get the plot spoiled and not look at the remaster because of it. I have decided to reverse my decision on that front, as I have realized that problem is way overblown, and more and more small plot changes are coming in with every chapter of SoiB that I write.
️Normally I would just put this up and be done with it, but because I like taking a look back at things, and because I have been really bad with writing recently, there's gonna be a bit of spice added in.
Let's not beat around the bush, this fic is an absolute trainwreck. It's chock full of bad sentence structure, half-baked plotting, and characterizations that are both clichéd and/or straight up radioactive garbage. But it's pretty funny to look at. So, as the story goes on, I'll be putting in comments pointing out a whole bunch of these mistakes, just like this.
You could skip them all while reading this… if you're brave enough. ;)
Since Signed off in Blonde is a rework/remaster/whatever of this, it should go without saying that reading this will at least partially spoil that fic, so if you don't want that, navigate away. Let's dive into it!
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"I wasn't really accepted into Beacon."
"Wh-What do you mean?!"
"I mean, I didn't go to combat school! I didn't pass any tests! I didn't earn my spot at this academy!"
"I lied! I got my hands on some fake transcripts and I lied."
"What? But why?!"
"Cause this is what I've always wanted to be!"
"My Father, My Grandfather, My-"…
Pyrrha Nikos has just walked past the roof door after hearing about Jaune's transcripts.
This may seem like just a touching moment for the two of them, but there was something different about her.
As soon as the lie was revealed it became a battle of will to avoid giving away her disdain.
She lost this battle too, sporting a microscopic grimace on her face and having a burning fire in her eyes (and not the good kind).
But even someone who was a master at picking up subtle cues would find it hard to see, never mind someone as socially oblivious as Jaune.
But, as always it is not that easy. After the initial shock, her mind has
entered a state of conflict;
"Should I crush his dreams?"
"Should I help him out?!"
"Should I support him in a dream so insane?!"
This gets even worse as she watches Cardin climb on the ledge and extort the hell out of him.
She watches the confidence that she just knew took him ages to muster fall apart like a bullet hitting a glass window.
She watches her crush wilt like a flower starved of water.
She just watches…
-️-️-️-️Pyrrha POV️-️-️-️-
Yes, POV markers. Most are self explanatory, but there is one that is not:
-️-️-️-️*-️-️-️-
This is basically omnipotent third person, (whatever it is called) i.e, a normal perspective. The remaster got rid of POV switching and used a normal perspective from the beginning because first person is bad, and even the end of this cools off on the perspective stuff.
Back in the JNPR dorm room, everyone is asleep. But not her.
After watching Jaune struggle with himself for almost a half-hour before finally giving in to sleep, she can only think one thing:
Why did I fall in love with him?
Of course there's the surface; Jaune didn't treat her like a porcelain doll.
He didn't even know who I was until I mentioned Pumpkin Pete's cereal of all things.
He didn't stand in awe like a kid would after meeting Mickey Mouse.
He didn't treat me differently because of my success.
But, just as in her life, everyone has a mirror…
He didn't know my clues in class earlier.
He didn't take the obvious hints I've been giving him.
He didn't ask m- NPR when he needed help.
He didn't stand up for himself.
He didn't leave Weiss alone after the million-and-one rejections.
He didn't ground himself to reality.
Where did that thought come from?
I thought this and the whole Jaune/Weiss thing were all in Volume 1 together. Which is completely wrong. Of course, I didn't notice this, so yeah it's just kinda here. I know this can't be the only fic to make this kind of mistake though. Really, if the plot had not been the one that ended up happening, this would have mattered little, but the specific time this fic ended up being set in makes it particularly bad for the people who care about that sort of thing.
She doesn't know, but they are dominating her mind more and more with each passing hour.
The one thing she was good at besides winning tournaments was putting on a happy face.
But even the Invincible Girl has a weakness…. And that weakness just HAD to be a blond boy with the purest of hearts.
But why him!
Why the one who can't fight a plush teddy bear?
Why the one who makes me melt into a blob of happiness?
Why the one who can't see me that way?
Why the one who makes my heart throb every time he laughs?
Why, why, why, why, why. Why, WHY, WHY-
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
It leaves my mouth before I can stop it. Jaune stirs. He cannot know how much he tears me apart, how much pain I am suffering for him, how much-
"What happened? I heard a scream. Are you ok?"
Quick, put on the mask!
"I'm fine. It was just a nightmare…"
"O-Ok. Sleep well Pyr."
And then he flashes that smile and I am just- uggggh!
Why must life be so hard?
I look at the clock. It's almost 3:30. A M. Classes are in 4 hours and I haven't even gone to sleep yet!
-️-️-️-️*-️-️-️-
She falls into the most tumultuous sleep in her career.
The alarm rolls around faster than a freight train and she awakens.
Pretty descriptive there man. 10/10.
Luckily Forever Fall is not for two days, or else she might have collapsed under sheer exhaustion.
But today is a day of choices. Pyrrha knows she can not keep this down for long.
She has to take this somewhere. But where?
Taking it to Ozpin could get him expelled, and then he'll be really fucked.
Yeah, Pyrrha going to expel him was discarded in her mind, as the first option to go no less, and then brought back later on as the one to go with. Good writing here.
Taking this to Jaune would be like putting kerosene on a fire. Who knows how he'll react to seeing "The Invincible Girl" be cracked like a hard-boiled egg?
Jaune's specific reason for actually caring about her in the first place, that being not seeing her as 'The Invincible Girl', would make this fear she has not valid. But I ran with this anyway, despite what I am saying also literally being all but mentioned as a reason for liking him a couple paragraphs before.
Not. Happening.
So then what? Ren and Nora? They already have to deal with a "questionable" team leader, but to have the #1 fighter in all of Beacon be broken too?
They might distance themselves…
Or if they take it out on Jaune too?
God no!
Glynda? No, that'll just paint a target on his back. He'll always be picked for the spars. He'll always fight Cardin-
Her mind snaps. She had forgotten about Cardin all this time! He'll just beat him to a pulp out there!
NO!
So that leaves only one choice: Team RWBY.
Ruby absolutely loves hanging out with him. No way she'll ever hold it against him.
Yang is something else. She teases him to hell and back, but she never straight-up insults him.
She does that to everyone, but is that really such a bad thing? There's no way she'll do anything. She'll probably just tease him about it, he can take that.
I don't think Blake has thought about Jaune once since she's been here. Probably too invested in those "erotic literatures" to pay attention to him. No reason why that won't continue, right?
Weiss… She's gonna fucking hate him even more. But is that really that bad? Jaune will still keep asking her out like he always does and that would achieve the same thing anyway so…
?️?️?️?️?️?️? Where did Weiss hating him come from? This isn't The Song of Her Heart. I was enjoying reading that (before the lovey-dovey stuff after Chapter 30 ruined it) right before starting on writing this, so it probably snuck in here without any thought.
Also, everyone in the fic curses a metric fuckton. Just letting you know one step too late.
With that decided, Pyrrha finally joins everyone in the lunch area. She goes to the RWBY/JNPR table, and nothing seems wrong! Maybe this will be easier than she thought?
-️-️-️-️Pyrrha POV️-️-️-️-
I sit down at the table and study everyone else's reactions.
It's a thing I'm good at having to see them for so long.
But Jaune draws my attention instantly. He looks gloomy. Very gloomy.
Did he tell them already?
No, because Nora and Ren would be comforting him.
And they aren't, they are happily eating their food, just like RWBY.
Did he scare them to the point of ignorance?
God I hope not…
Think happy thoughts Pyr, happy thoughts…
He's probably still sad about the whole Cardin thing. I would be too if I was in-
"Staring at lover boy again?"
"N-n-no!" My slightly stained cheeks betray the weak defense I try to put up.
"Sure seemed like you were staring at him like a piece of meat back there."
That stain is really coming through now.
Yang starts to chuckle while I can almost feel Weiss's disapproval staring a hole through my head.
Jaune is like a statue, unchanging… *sigh*
We all eat our food and everyone turns to leave. Jaune waits for me but I wave him off.
"It's okay Jaune, you go on! I'm just asking RWBY a question about something."
He leaves. I swear I saw the tiniest of smiles grace his face… ‹3
RWBY perks up at their mention. Now just me and them, I just say it to them straight, just like Jaune did with me.
"Jaune forged his transcripts."
Shock appears on their faces.
Blake reacts first, turning backward one page in her book. Uh oh…
After more silence, Weiss pipes up next.
"Figures."
…
"Son of a bitch, I didn't think he had it in him!"
Ruby's expression is unreadable, but she's clearly conflicted like I was last night.
"Was this a mistake?!" my mind instinctively bellows. But I beat that down. Can't be too hasty…
"What should I do?"
WBY seem to be having a silent conversation. After some "interesting" expressions pass on their face, they seem to come to an agreement.
Ruby's face still looks distraught though… God I feel for her…
"Tell Ozpin."
"What?!" I say before thinking.
"He's gonna get destroyed out there." They all continue.
"Why?"
"For starters, he's slow, weak, unskilled, and naïve. If he stays here he will almost certainly fail due to poor performance. Even my money can't save him then."
"Vomit Boy is absolutely screwed if he stays here! Can you imagine him trying to fight a big ass Grimm?! His noodle arms will break!"
"He's not fit to be here. He'll disappoint you and the team like he has been with your romantic advances."
That perceptive little cat.
The "I care about him" personality lasted about as long as human Penny did. No, that's actually giving it too much credit. Human Penny at least got to make a decision.
Ruby stands up and speeds away from the table. She's clearly trying to hold back tears. But no one, not even Yang, moves to comfort her.
Yang's eyes turn red. "I might just take VB out mysel-"
I put my arm out to hold her back from terrorizing him. Luckily she relents and the color drains from her eyes. Wouldn't want to deal with that one…
"See? Look what he does to people. He has been more of a nuisance than anything. You better get him expelled. I don't know how many more cringy flirting attempts I can take."
No one denies that one.
I'm still conflicted, but the logic part of my brain is really winning out here. Jaune is really out of his depth here. And I really don't wanna see Cardin smash his face in. But I can't bring myself to do it to him…
Blake pipes up with the sealing quote; "You know what they say, if you love someone, set them free. Maybe he'll come back for you stronger than ever!"
That perceptive little cat.
I do love him though. This has to be what is best for him, I just know it!
He'll get expelled, and he'll train on his own and come back better!
And faster!
And more confident!
And he'll finally notice me!
I break out into a smile at that. WBY notices and a smile appears on their faces in turn.
"I'll go tell Ozpin after class."
"Good luck with that. Hope he gets as broken as possible. Gotta hit rock bottom to rise back up!"
Normally Yang saying that would ring alarm bells, but I'm too focused in my clarity and newfound happiness to pay attention. Now to wait for the end of classes…
(A/N: Trying to make a Jaune Betrayal/Revenge fic that isn't "Jaune gets overpowered and fucks over everyone" like most of them are, despite how fun that is. The thing is I don't even like the RWBY anime. Or really any anime for that matter. I don't know why I can't get them out of my head though…)
And I still can't. Still don't enjoy anime. Also, apparently technically RWBY is not an anime. Which is ridiculous, especially after the switch away from Poser/Volume 3, where they all got the textbook eyes. And the world-bending kind of plot. That's about as anime as anime gets.
