Sorry it's been such a long time, and sorry this isn't an update.
Since you've last heard from me I've had three members of my family (as of last week) end up in an ICU (they're okay for the most part now, but still need a lot help) lost my house, and had my hard drive (which had had all my notes and my plot outline on it) fry. That took up pretty much all of my time and energy. I was also deeply disappointed with the quality V3's writing, which wrecked my motivation. I haven't abandoned this story, but updates are going to be very infrequent due to the reasons listed above.
I've also noticed a couple glaring mistakes I've made in the previous chapters, and am going to have to rewrite them. I'm also going to change a few small details that I think will be an improvement.
Now I'd like to ask you all a small favor. There's a poll up on my profile which I'd really like you all to vote on. It's about how Jaune's going to fight in the reboot.
I'm also going to be changing Jaune's semblance. It has too much overlap with Cinder's and Velvet's, took too much attention from the techniques papa Ebner taught him, and it was kind of OP. Not in battle, but outside of it. I'm thinking of replacing it with light, or maybe some kind of martyrdom based thing, but if you have something you think would be cooler then send me a PM or leave me a review. I reserve the right to ban anything too powerful, weak, or thematically inappropriate.
Now for a brief round of Q&A.
Q: Details of the AU?
A:Mostly it's in how things are run. The four Kingdoms are exactly that: kingdoms. They're all a little different, but they all have royalty. In Mistral for example, the monarch and nobility are only for show and are mostly ruled by a republic, while the monarch of Vacuo rules with an iron fist. Atlas has most of it's power in the hands of the nobility. Vale has a close split of power between the Nobility and Royalty whith the commons trailing behind though they are still quite significant.
Menagerie is a loose confederation of noble clans, and are really independent. They don't function well together and sometimes fight.
The white fang is also quite fractious, though far less so than Menagerie. It's open secret the white fang sends their troops there to train by killing Grimm, which most of the clans are happy to accept help with. Neither Menagerie nor the kingdoms can afford another costly war, so they nobody makes too much of an issue over it.
The cultures of the five major countries are all very different as well.
Most people in power are highly competent, or else they'd get taken down and replaced by someone who is. So don't go expecting anybody to have an easy ride defeating or displacing them.
The other large difference is the only supernatural abilities are aura and dust. That means no maidens, wizards, or whatever the 'silver eyes' are. Both dust and aura are going to work a bit differently than in cannon as well.
People's back stories are going to be different. A lot of them. Some differences are small, others are very large like Jaune's, or moderately different like Pyrrha's.
In addition a few people's semblances are also going to change, though they'll be very similar to their cannon counter part's, with the exception of Jaune.
Q: Jaune's pairing?
A: I'm not a hundred percent sure. Right now I'm leaning towards Pyrrha/Jaune, partly because of the accidental vibes I put in chapter four, but mostly because of a couple of fics that set up Jaune with another character by sending Pyrrha through hell and then blaming it on her somehow, all of which upset me. I do however realize I'm upset, and am going to wait until I cool down a bit before making a final decision. Actual romance is a little ways off anyway, so I have time. I also rather like Jaune/Yang, Ruby, or Blake for this story, though Blake is marginally less likely than the other two. There's going to be some tension between her and Jaune, and not of the romantic kind. Weiss/Jaune is more unlikely still. They're going to have a major personality clash for a long time. I doubt I'll go for a pairing outside of the main cast, like Arslan or Coco.
I don't think I can write a dramatic multiship well, and this isn't a comedy fic. I am in fact beginning to think this story was too ambitious for a first try, even without trying to put that in. Sorry.
Q: What about the other pairings? White Rose, Bumblebee, Black Sun, etc.
A:There is going to be at least a few pairings outside of Jaune's. Not many though, as I'm not a fan spare pairings.
As for LGBT parings in general? I know that they're very popular in this fandom, but I'm assuming that numbers of LGBT characters in remnant are similar to earth's, so they're in the minority.
Q:Smut?
A: I wasn't planning on it. But before you start clamoring for it, realize that if it does happen it's going to be an awkward embrace between two virgins.
Q: Pyrrha seems a little over protective.
A: That's on purpose. See that little bit of backstory I put in chapter four? About how pretty much everyone she was close to is dead? I figure that would make one a wee bit more protective of those they'd bonded with.
Q: Dietrich Ebner seems like a mary sue to me.
A: You could argue that. He was the best at one thing only though: personal combat. He was however, very good at several other things including tactics, strategy, and survival. Basically if it had to do with war or being a crazy martial arts hermit, he had at least a good idea of how to get it done. And he was good at them because he practiced them for a long time. He wasn't much good at things outside of that on the other hand, including being a dad, though he tried hard at some of them.
Q:How did he win if he wasn't an amazing leader?
A:He was very lucky that Lagune was an incompetent general to be honest. And even if he wasn't a genius he was still pretty damn good.
He also wasn't anything close infallible morally speaking. Most of Menagerie's citizens think of him very much like King Arthur, but most of the rest of the world think he's more similar tp Genghis Khan, and for good reason. He was a very ruthless warrior, but he was fighting against a superior enemy to prevent genocide, so opinions are mixed. In 'verse at least.
Q:What about the Arcs?
A: They exist, and they're an important family. In societies which require warriors to survive against the Grimm, war heroes tend to be pretty important people after all.
That's all for now. Please take a look at that poll and send me any ideas you might have for semblances! Till next time.
Edit: 6/9
Polls over, and Jaune's going to fight like a knight. I really thought this would be between that and the samurai gear, but I was wrong. Jaune was one vote away from being a xia, but thirteen away from being a bushi.