It's my birthday :p and here's a chapter
Emerald and Hope should've left.
They really, REALLY should have left years ago. It had been stupid enough to follow some random lady in an alleyway. It was equally stupid to join someone who was virtually unstoppable. It was already stupid to stick around and follow her lead because she gave you a (probably) hollow promise.
And yet, here they were.
Standing atop a building, watching Beacon burn.
"Beautiful."
That was the word Cinder used to describe a tragedy. Beautiful.
There was nothing beautiful about this- true beauty lied in the sight of a flowery field, a sunset on a mountain, the stars at night. What she reveled in was destruction, precious annihilation devoted to death.
Emerald kept a straight face as she watched the flames rise up. "It's...almost sad."
"Yeah, it's horrendous," Cass scoffed. "Where's Tennyson?"
A massive explosion caught their attention.
"Found him."
Emerald shook her head. "So, what's the plan now?"
"Wait until the signal. Then you may spread out," Cinder declared.
She raised an eyebrow. "The signal?"
"You'll know it when you see it." Cinder stepped through a portal, leaving Cass, Mercury, and Emerald alone.
Emerald continued to watch the flames. She could've closed her eyes and ignored it, but then she'd just only be able to focus on the screams. They were numerous and horrible, only adding to the horrific atmosphere.
"Where's your girlfriend?"
"Huh?" Emerald snapped to attention- Mercury was recording everything on his scroll, a sadistic grin on his face.
"Where's your girlfriend? She disappeared after she amped up your Semblance," Mercury said. "Where'd she go?"
"I...I don't know," Emerald said quietly.
"Really? You two are usually inseparable. Think you have a right to know wherever she is, right?" Mercury laughed.
"And not give her agency? A life beyond mine?" Emerald spat. "That's not how it works."
"Eh, whatever. I'm just saying, you might wanna find her." Mercury shrugged before he started to walk off. "But I'm sure as hell not standing around. Hate doing nothing. I wonder if I can find one of Tennyson's friends down there, see what they got."
"Think I'll join you on that. No way I'm not leaving my mark on this," Cass jeered, following after Mercury, though with her own targets in mind.
Emerald stood alone on the tower, staring out at the sea of fire and terror. Her feelings about all this were mixed. She knew her target, she wanted her to suffer, but...looking down on all this...it was just confusing.
Here's a simple question. Why do we stay in unhappy situations?
Some existing research has suggested that some may find it hard to let go of people who make them unhappy because they are afraid of being alone, and the alternative beats everything out.
Sometimes people hate to admit failure. Failure is simply unacceptable for some, especially if they are surrounded by success stories. For a major character like Salem, a woman who oozed success with her chessmaster mind and overwhelming charisma, Hope would obviously be drawn in.
...but maybe that was because of the manipulation.
Emerald had realized this long ago- Salem had no intention of helping Hope liberate Ledgerdomain. She had alluded to the idea, but nothing ever came of it. Hope would sometimes get to that point where she wondered what her role was in Salem's grand plan and consider leaving, but then the witch would bring up her end of the bargain and it would put a collar back on Hope's neck.
It wasn't a promise, it was just a weapon for Salem to use to keep one of her cronies in check.
Emerald was in too deep.
They should have left a long, long time ago.
But...they couldn't. At least, Hope couldn't.
Speaking of the sorceress, she was walking through the chaos filled streets of Vale. She had hoped to find a certain chaos demon and sway her to Salem's side. Yes, it didn't work the first time, but then again, she DID attack before she spoke.
Even she had to admit though, the bloodshed and chaos was...new to her and not in a good way. Just like Emerald, she couldn't look at some of the atrocities for too long. Unlike her girlfriend, she kept trying to justify it.
It's for Ledgerdomain, it's for Ledgerdomain, she repeated in her head like a comforting mantra.
Is that what you tell yourself, child? A voice in her head made her stop and her blood ran cold. That voice. That horrible, menacing voice. The one that haunted her dreams every time she closed her eyes. Hope took a deep breath and looked behind her. There he was. That dreaded turtle-like monster. The pink fire-like energy surrounding his head flickered.
"Addwaitya," Hope said. She knew he wasn't there. He was just a projection, a nightmare...something.
Justifying your actions? Did I not justify mine by claiming 'order' for our realm? Or have you forgotten that part so as not to- The projection motioned with his flipper-like arm as he thought of the word- inconvenience your vendetta?
Was this...was this just a trick? It had to be, right? There was no way Addwaitya had found her, not while she was with Salem. Hope tried to ignore it but she could still hear his voice.
You were too young to remember, I think. When I first committed to ruling our home. My actions were always justified...'for order' I told myself. 'For order, I would do anything.' And here you are, doing the exact same thing. 'For revenge' is YOUR statement though.
Charmcaster balled her fists. "You're not real. You're an illusion. You're not here, and I'm CERTAINLY not at the same level as you."
HA! Not on my level? Please. When the first dissenters heard of my plans, did I NOT put an unrelated city to the torch? Did I NOT tie innocent practitioners to pyres and set them alight? All to make a POINT? There may not be any pyres here, girl, but I certainly see an innocent city being razed just to get the message across. In fact...was your father not one of those I burned? My, what words he would have with his daughter about THIS. I can hear him disowning you from the grave...
Hope growled. "Did you not do awful things yourself, just for the prospect of power!? Was the mastery of magic not enough? Did you need to feel superior over a race who taught you everything you needed to know!?"
Those with power must find ways to...apply it. I ruled, not out of superiority, but out of necessity. Our realm was chaotic. Unfocused. Yes, some SEMBLANCE of order existed, city states and all...but they never truly amounted to anything substantial, did they? They bickered with each other, claiming their way was best. With a firmer grip guiding the way, progress could actually be made. And the atrocities you speak of? Do you think your new master is above them? Above causing that kind of pain a thousand fold?
"...she's certainly better than you," was all Hope had to say. She walked away, ignoring further comments from Addwaitya.
She was right in doing all this. She needed to get help, anyway she could...
The projection raised a flaming brow at this and shrugged. The flames from a nearby ruin burned brightly in front of him and, just like that, he was gone.
Hope and Emerald didn't see each other for the rest of the long, long night. Their defeats were...most disappointing, but not unforeseen by Salem. She was pleased enough with the overall success of the night that she simply sneered at them for their losses. That was equivalent to a "don't do that again" talk from a strict mom.
After Beacon fell, however, those who had taken part in the attack reconvened at Evernight come morning. Salem and Zs'Skayr were absent as both had a more pressing matter to deal with. Medical duties were handled by Watts and Viktor, despite neither of them actually having medical doctorates. Fortunately, nothing was that bad.
Emerald huffed as she rubbed her bandaged hand. She wasn't sure if it was Schnee or some rubble, but it certainly hurt. "I could heal it if you want," Hope offered.
Emerald smiled. "You're not too drained after everything?" She appreciated the offer but didn't want to push Hope's magic. Everyone was exhausted from the night's "festivities", as Zs'Skayr and Cass would call them.
"I regenerated from a massive explosion. I feel great," Hope pointed out, taking Emerald's hand. "What did Schnee do to you, anyways?"
"She...used her Semblance, I think," Emerald groaned as she remembered the pain from each hit. "She summoned a giant knight, of all things."
"Like a summon?" Hope asked as she unwrapped the bandage. "Jeez, I can't tell if a majority of these Semblances are just a watered down form of magic or just weird in general."
"Sometimes I feel like it can go either way. I make illusions, she summons giant, talking suits of armor, I think someone at Beacon had the power to boost the power of Dust..."
Hope huffed. "Well, that's something to make note of. Anything else interesting happen?"
Emerald scowled. "I think I almost broke her. I almost broke her and she came back from the edge."
Hope chuckled. "Certainly a bit less one sided than my fight."
She raised an eyebrow. "You found Min again? Let me guess, the answer's still 'no'?"
"Yeeeep." Hope nodded. "She's certainly ballsy, that one. I think Kevin's a bad influence on her."
"Heh, yeah, maybe." Emerald shook her head. She wasn't sure what else to say so she segued into another conversation topic. "So uh...anything else interesting happen before that?"
Charmcaster paused as she looked down at the wound in Emerald's hand. It was pretty bruised up. She needed to focus on that.
The silence actually said more to Emerald than any words could have. Something happened, something bad. Even if she wouldn't talk about it now...Emerald knew she'd have to talk to her about it. Never a good idea to let something like that fester.
"...did, uh, anything else happen?" Hope asked tentatively.
"...Hope, be honest with me. Are you happy where we are now?" Emerald asked her girlfriend.
"Am I...happy?" She wasn't ready for that. "Did...did something tell you I'm not? Something I said?"
"N-no, I just meant...I dunno. The destruction we caused kinda just...hit me, you know?" Emerald said helplessly. "I'm used to sowing chaos, but not on a level as big as this."
Hope sighed, looking away from her. "Yeah, I know what you mean." She could still hear Addwaitya's words echoing in the back of her head. Not loudly, but still there. Just persistent enough to unease her.
"...so, do you think we're in a good place now?" Emerald asked.
Hope mentally shut out the warlock's words and turned back to meet Emerald's gaze. "Yes. And even if we're not, we can talk to each other about it. Improve. Right?"
Emerald's eyes shifted away. She was worried...if she said the wrong thing, she might be alone after she said the truth.
So she lied instead.
"Yeah. We're-we're safe. We're not the ones living in fear," Emerald said.
Hope smiled before pulling her into a hug. She hugged her back, even if that worry lingered in the back of her mind. But Emerald wasn't blind. Something was bothering Hope, too. She'd ask about it later. No point in opening what might be an old wound after going through a literal warzone. Maybe in a couple of days.
"...I want to help you as best I can," Emerald eventually said, holding Hope close. "Open up, please. I want to be a bigger part of your world..."
"Wait, what? What're you-" Hope started, but then Emerald gave her a look that clearly said, Don't hide it. I can see right through that. What's wrong?
"...fine," the sorceress sighed, "I had a flashback, I think."
"What happened?" Emerald asked, holding Hope's hands a bit tighter. She hated when Hope hid stuff like that.
"...I...hallucinated, I guess. Maybe cause of the stress?" Hope shrugged. "But it was the one who's...'in charge' of Ledgerdomain right now..."
Emerald had only heard bits and pieces of the magical dimension- Charmcaster often spoke fondly of its past...and bitterly of its present.
"I saw Addwaitya. The man who killed my father."
"You...you saw..." Emerald's eyes were wide in shock.
"Yeah. It…well, saying it 'wasn't pleasant' would be an understatement," Hope admitted. She was thinking over whether she should mention what he said to her. About rationalizing all this. If he was right then...how would taking him out change anything back home?
"If this guy is bad news, then..." Emerald took a deep breath. "I want you to teach me magic."
"What?"
"Teach me magic."
"Are- are you sure? The last time you tried-"
"The last time I tried was years ago with an unstable amulet. That was a quick and stupid power grab that almost got me killed," Emerald stated flatly, as if it hadn't happened to her. "This is me being taught by one of the best magic users I know."
"You're just saying that because me and Salem are the only proper magic users here. Cass and Cinder are…" Hope struggled to find the right words. "...something else."
"Yeah, exactly, more power to her. Think of it as a backup to your plan if you ever try and take down this Addwaitya guy," Emerald explained, clasping her hands around hers. "Please. Let me be part of your world."
Hope thought it over. As much as she never wanted Addwaitya anywhere near Emerald...the illusionist did have a point. If Salem went back on her word or, in the most unlikely event, was killed, Hope would need a backup plan. And she knew for a fact she wouldn't be able to take Ledgerdomain's current "king" along.
"...ok."
Emerald grinned. "Really?"
"If it brings us closer...then, yeah. I'll teach you." Hope smiled.
Emerald smiled back and hugged her again, holding Hope tightly. "Thank you."
A part of Hope was still worried about what would happen if Emerald had to face Addwaitya...but another part of her was just as excited as Emerald was.
Emerald's training started with the basics. The first step was learning energy projection, something all witches knew how to do.
"You're going to want to channel the magical energy into a single point," Charmcaster explained. "Think of it like focusing power in your hand."
"Okay, doesn't sound that hard," Emerald said, smirking lightly. She closed her eyes and took a few breaths, holding out one of her hands.
Charmcaster held her hand. "Let's start with just making a small sphere. Not even strong enough to do blunt damage yet."
Emerald sighed and steadied her breathing, focusing on that one spot to channel the energy. She started to feel...something...surge through her, flowing into her hand. Maybe this was it. She smirked, feeling all that energy coalesce in the palm of her hand, feeling something start to surround it. Hope saw green light flicker around Emerald's hand, never truly staying on for more than a few seconds, but it was there. Briefly.
Emerald frowned. "It's gone, isn't it?"
"Yeah." Hope pouted. "But don't beat yourself up. If you jump to the worst case scenario, you're gonna be too out of whack to do anything else today."
"Think it's just the focus?" Emerald asked curiously.
"Possibly. Until you get used to it, certain emotions can interrupt the flow," Hope explained. "Pride, anger, doubt. Same can be said for all magic really. You get angry enough while casting? You could end up causing something worse than you intended. A little flame turns into a wildfire."
"Were you trying to help or make me doubt myself even more with that last bit?" the illusionist raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, sorry. Got a little too into the teacher role." Hope scratched the back of her head. "Uh, forget I said that and try again?"
"Alright, alright. But you said I have to focus on something good, right?" Emerald asked.
"Anything," Hope affirmed. "You need to control that ball for at least five seconds."
"Five seconds," Emerald repeated as she closed her eyes. She knew exactly what to think of.
The image popped into her head instantly. Her and Hope, just...talking. About something. Didn't matter what, it made her happy.
The green energy came back, starting from the palm of her open hand and slowly but steadily growing. It flickered a few times, but not as frequently as before. Before it was short bursts but that quickly changed to several drawn out seconds. It was a more consistent glow that continued to expand, soon enveloping Emerald's hand entirely.
Hope clapped. "Oh~! Oh my gosh, Em! You're doing it! Keep it up!"
Emerald was overjoyed by Hope's reaction-
The energy in her hand crackled, becoming a little unstable. A bolt of green lightning suddenly arced out from the sphere, forcing Hope to jump out of the way as the lightning hit a wall behind her.
Emerald looked down at her hand, shocked. "Uh, my bad." She blushed, a bit embarrassed. She hid her face behind her hands.
"Hey, don't worry about it!" Hope grinned. "You did great!'
"Well, uh, I at least got the sphere stable," Emerald chuckled nervously, trying to ignore the scorch mark on the wall.
"You did! Like I said, emotions can heavily affect the outcome, but that was great! Plus, if you can control that bolt, that's one form of attack down." Hope beamed, adding in that nice silver lining.
"Now then, let's try something else," Hope continued, beginning what can only be described as Emerald's very own magic training montage.
Emerald's training consisted of the basics. Short distance teleportation, learning how to use the rock creatures and give them simple commands, how to briefly transmute things…the interesting stuff that would make Emerald a varied fighter.
Of course, none of these lessons went off without a hitch on the first go, save for the transmutation basics. That was surprisingly easy to do, changing one of the non-Dust crystals in the castle to silver. Teleportation worked, but the distance was far greater than she thought, putting her in a circular training room, one that Cass and Cinder favored using against Grimm training "partners." And as for the rock creatures? She could activate them, but they didn't listen to her at first, either outright ignoring her or just tilting their heads in confusion like a dog.
"Am I just bad, or just thinking way too hard about this?" Emerald huffed as she and Hope settled down for the evening.
"Neither," Hope said. "The stone creatures can be stubborn. I had trouble with them at first too. Though it was more them doing the opposite instead of outright ignoring me. As for the teleportation, that just needs some fine-tuning. Trust me, there are worse ways for that to have gone."
"...do I wanna know?"
"Erm, probably not."
"Well, still. I'm worried my powers won't be as…perfect as yours," Emerald admitted, averting her eyes.
Hope raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, that's fine."
"Huh?"
"I told you, that's fine! You don't need to copy me. You need to be you, Em." Hope poked her girlfriend on the forehead.
Emerald smirked a little at that. She was right, of course. Though, the words still gave her an idea. Considering everything...there were bound to be plenty of illusion spells she could learn too.
"Now, come on. I wanna get up early to teach you some more spells. Before our mission to...where was it again?" Hope asked, furrowing her brow.
"Salem wanted us to take care of some splinter group of White Fang members...because they could throw a wrench in a plan or something." Emerald yawned. "I don't know."
"I guess it doesn't really matter what they plan on doing," Hope smirked, "they're not seeing it through."
"Of course not," Emerald smirked back, "because now they have to deal with us."
"Let's just hope you're up to snuff, rookie," Hope teased, kissing her on the cheek.
"Hey, I have a good teacher," Emerald said, returning the kiss.
Hope blushed, turning red in the face. "You're an absolute flirt, you know that?"
Hahaha, cute chapter. Anyways!
Welcome to the Gemstones Q&A, where we take some of the questions asked about the story from your reviews or Discord or wherever. Answering the questions with me are writers Tricia, Will and Matt.
What would you say has changed most about as a writer since you started Gemstones?
Rosie: I'd sAy I've gotten some longer chapters and more details down, honestly. Gemstones aimed for like, 20-30 page chapters originally…and now Matt and I write like 50+ page chapters on accident.
Matt: There are actually two chapters later this season that were supposed to be just one part, and they evolved into multi-parters because of how long we ended up making them. I'm still in disbelief on how many pages one of those reached. It's just insane.
Will: Personally I'd say that my writing style has become a little more compact when it comes to action sequences and dialogue, since I have a tendency to just kinda run my fingers ragged when typing up things. I've yet to reach the level of pages that Rosie and Matt have done, but I aim to do that someday!
Are there any unused concepts that you used to consider putting in as plot elements but have now removed due to changes in the overall plot?
Rosie: We did consider having Adam come back as a zombie thanks to Crystal Dolphin. It wasn't my BEST idea. Adam will make an appearance down the line, when you least expect it. Other concepts that were cut include an episode adapting the "shapeshifter" episode from the Reboot (I believe it was calLed "That's the Stuff") and a plotline with the Fulmini was cut- I promise they'll make an appearance, just not right now in the story.
Power wise, Humungousaur was originally going to have powers similar to My Hero Academia's "Muscular", with muscle fibers. It was dropped after I saw how the Reboot made Humungosaur more than just a run of the mill strength alien. I really like the tail.
At one point, Danny Phantom WAS gonna be in Gemstones…on the side of Salem. We cut him because 1) 5YL, I was scared we were gonna rip it off…and 2) it was just kind of out of nowhere.
Will: I remember mentioning a few specific ideas about Yang's dark haired form a while back, mainly because of the power boosts that a lot of characters were getting and how we could 'even the playing field'. However, because of a certain special that'll be released in the future we won't need to worry about that issue!
I remember that one of the other big ideas was to also include, I believe it was JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, by the time the cast reached Atlas? In a sense this kinda bloated the cast a little too much by including the likes of Giorno and Passione and was swapped out for Rex and the Generator Rex cast instead. Personally if you want a good Ben 10 JoJo crossover then a friend of ours is actually making one that we'll gladly promote later on!
Tricia: Back at the very begInning Rosie and I actually considered putting MHA characters in the second part of the story. I distinctly remember reading over a scene where Ruby mentioned Yang training Izuku Midoriya. This was eventually scrapped because it was adding more characters to an already oversized cast.
What would you say your favorite chapter is and why?
Rosie: It hasn't come out yet. But my favorite chapter that's out right now is…Shut Up and Dance! Tricia and I wrote the Ten Roses confession a WHILE ago and I was so excited to put it out.
Will: There's a lot? But I think it's safe to say it isn't out yet.
Matt: I actually started reading this fic before coming on to write for it, so for me, my favoritE chapter would have to be either Many Happy Returns or Painting the Town. It was around the start of the Rooters Arc that I discovered the story and I just got hooked from there, so there's some obvious bias there. But I feel like there are a lot of future contenders that could take that title.
Tricia: While there are a few good contenders (Shut Up and Dance being one of them), my personal favorite would have to be Revelation. It's the chapter that showcases a true loss of innocence- Zeta Squad and RWBY had gone through their fair share of hardships before that point, but they still believed that, at the end of the day, everything was going to be alright. That justice would prevail with minimal personal cost. Max's death not only changed the status quo plot-wise, but it acted as a reality check, reminding them of what's at stake if they're not careful.
Also, I was the one to write that final scene of everyone reacting to Max's death, and the reactions the other editors had upon reading it was just (chef's kiss).
Rosie: We released it on Christmas on PURPOSE, because we're monsters and we enjoy watching people SUFFER.
Tricia: :D
If Ben 10 wasn't your first choice in crossover for RWBY, what would you have done instead?
Rosie: I'd probably aim for something with Marvel, specifically the Yostverse with Spectacular Spider-Man, Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes and Wolverine and the X-MeN. They're all fantastic shows. And I'm also super connected to a Janet and Ben friendship.
Will did also ask about a possible sequel to Gems- while nothing is set in stone, I would be open to doing a My Hero crossover. You can easily excuse quirks as Osmosian abilities, Faunus abilities, Semblances, etc. Ben's 'successor' would be…Uraraka. Mainly because she's great, I love her, and she deserves much more in the series.
Will: In my case I would probably have crossed over Ben 10 with a few particular properties, mainly that of series' like My Hero Academia or possibly One Punch Man. On a larger scale though? Sonic surprisingly would've been one of my first choices for a crossover, and not because of Sonic Prime oddly enough.
In my case though since I'm more adept at crossovers I'd probably focus on bringing any ideas for those kinda franchises in my own works in the future, especially since Gemstones combines so much as it is.
Matt: In my case, oddly enough…Transformers. Mainly because the human characters would actually stand a chance against Decepticons and there are definitely interesting interactions you could have there. Especially if you go with the IDW or any of the more complex versions of characters.
If you could rewrite something, an arc, a character, a single chapter, from the ground up, what would it be?
Rosie: I do kind of want to redo the AntiTriX aliens. I did jump the gun on them- I'm a Bio-Chem major now, so I at least have some ideas for how I'd do that. For character arcs, I do wanna rewrite the Rooters, because I feel I underutilized them. For chapters, whenever I reread a chapter, I always find something I could've added…but, probably the biggest one is Cry Wolf, I really hate how I wrote Kai in that episode and have been meaning to put out a revamp of it. Kai will reappear in the future, maybe in an episode coming out this year or next year.
Will: Since I've only been on for so long I can't really give an answer for chapters, but character-wise I absolutely want to try and rewrite the entire thing with The Dagon, possibly try and go for a more Eldritch-type deal with him in the future? RWBY-wise I'd love to give a shot at writing some of the Haven Academy students, mainly Arslan Atlan considering I always was fascinated with her rivalry she had with Yang in the Vytal tournament!
Tricia: At the moment, I just want to rewrite Cry Wolf. It's a weak chapter for a lot of reasons, and I want to help fix it.
Are there any fan made Ben 10 Aliens that you plan to include in Gemstones? If so, are you at liberty to give hints?
Rosie: I can confirm we WILL be using Tom Perkins fan aliens (Transmutor, Terrorsaur and Skele-Ton) down the line. As for any other fan-made aliens, that's a surprise. Terrorsaur, though…holy shit, he was just made for Gemstones.
Will: Whilst I don't know what Rosie, Tricia, and the others would want to include, I've always wanTed to vouch for some more crossover-based aliens. But what I CAN give hints on is some aliens of the Nemetrix might show up in ways you least expect!
Did anything in particular give you the idea to do the crossover, and how did you come up with the name?
Tricia: Honestly Rosie and I have been shipping Ben and Ruby together since 2015, and at some point we wanted to do a proper crossover just so we could properly write these dorks getting together. Well, a few years ago Rosie started a Google doc doing just that, and we both kept adding to it, and then the doc became too big for the story, and, well… here we are.
As for the name, Rosie and I were spitballing titles for the original Google doc when I randomly came up with "Of Gemstones and Watches." Rosie loved it and it's stuck ever since.
What was the main thing you wanted to change/adapt from RWBY for Gemstones?
Rosie: RWBY was a bIt of a tricky world to mesh with Ben 10, and most of my criticisms from the show were squashed (mainly V4-5). I also hesitate to call Gemstones a "rewrite"- I think a rewrite should be like…a grilled cheese. Good on its own but then you add something like…shredded cheese to the top, changing out the type of cheese you're using or putting chips in the middle. Many rewrites I've heard / read pretty much take that grilled cheese…and make it into a PBJ, something so different and alienating. They've changed everything about it, except for the bread. On the surface, it looks like RWBY…but it doesn't taste like it.
Ultimately, Gemstones will follow a majority of RWBY events, but there will be a disconneCt at some point. RWBY Volume 9 needs to come out before we decide where to go next. We do have some ideas for the arcs near the endgame with Salem and Zs'Skayr, something I can't wait to share.
How'd you choose the aliens for Gemstones?
Rosie: Random number generator. Each number corresponded to the canonical appearance of the alien (ie: Heatblast is the first alien used, so he's number 1, Echo Echo is the 24th alien, Fasttrack is 41).
Some aliens have to be properly redesigned or given powers to distinguish them from other aliens- most notably, Water Hazard was given a more mollusk-like design to set him apart from Overflow, now a suit of armor that's constantly spewing water he can freely manipulate. Feedback handles the electrical spectra, and Chromastone handles the IR/energy spectra.
Most aliens are also chosen by "how cool it'd be to see a fight between these two characters". The only reason we added Sea Strike in is so we could see Ruby and Ben fight a bit.
What was the most unexpected idea for Gemstones?
Rosie: Probably Rex's inclusion- I think I was cooking chicken patties at my apartment when that idea hit me. I immediately pulled out my phone and messaged Tricia: "Rex as an Ace-Op send text now damn it you stupid fucking phone".
I also think the concept of the Omni Drive was a bit out of nowhere? I was torn between the Omni Enhanced forms and Omni Kix forms, when I just thought "Why Not Both". That idea also led to something better, which you'll see in Season 6.
Tricia: the addition of Cammie, if I'm being honest. Adding Doctor Weller from Gen:LOCK made sense because we have a lot of scenes that involve mechanics and tech work, so it was easy to write him in. He was going to be the only character from that series, but then Rosie told me about Gen:LOCK season 2 and how dirty they did Cammie, and I agreed that she deserved a better ending. I have to say, I like her inclusion in the story.
Will: I'd just like to add that I personally advocated for Cammie's inclusion! I also thought she'd fit in a similar category to the Mutant kids from Alien Force, she's kinda like a better Cooper. And there's an idea that I personally constructed that you'll see soon that is…probably one of the most stupid things I could've created buuut I think when we get to properly explore it? It'll be astronomical.
Favorite thing to dip fries into?
Rosie: KeTchup!
Tricia: Ketchup or cheese.
Besides cats or dogs, what pet would you have?
Rosie: Axolotl. I want one soooo bad.
Will: Some kind of snake or exotic animal!
Do you prefer aerobic or anaerobic exercises?
Rosie: Aerobic. I take a lot of walks around my city.
Do you buy music physically or digitally?
Rosie: Digitally, because it's more useful to carry around 1,000+ songs on a phone rather than 12 songs on a disc.
What movie do you think genuinely needs to be remade?
Rosie: Age of Ultron, genuinely bad. I like the hammer scene and that's it.
What instrument that you cannot already play would you like to learn?
Rosie: I've always wanted to learn the piano- I play violin already, so…
Will: I'm a vocalist, but I would love to possibly learn the piano properly in the future.
What is the coolest weapon used in history?
Rosie: Trebuchet. Sometimes you have to launch a motherfucker.
Will: If it's a weapon that just says fuck it to conventional rules? Like sometimes people get mad crazy with this kinda thing! That being said, railguns, fuckin' love 'em.
Tricia: For me, it's the flamethrower. Because someone once thought, "I want to set that person on fire, but they're just so far away…" And then they made it.
What is one food you want to eat before you die?
Rosie: Real Italian food, probably. I like Italy. Sure would like to go one day.
Will: Some kind of "challenge" food, like the kind you see at restaurants that offer you money for beating!
Tricia: Pizza. I get tired of most foods after a while, but pizza is one of the few exceptions.
What is it like on the other Earth's for the other characters?
Rosie: I can't say much, but Bad Ben's Max isn't a paragon of right, he's the paragon of wrong- and even worse, a politician.
Will: Also can't say much, but I'd like to imagine that most of Mad Ben's universe all speak in very thick Australian or British accents.
Tricia: Can't say much due to spoIlers, but… one of the Ben's had an Earth that seemed pretty good, but then someone erased that good thing and now that Ben is trying to fix it…
How hard was it for Zeta Squad to get along initially? What kind of conflict was there?
Will: Well, considering you have Team RWBY's initial interactions with one another, there was that barrier to get over. Ben and Ruby obviously knew each other for a long time, same with Yang and Ben, but then ya gotta introduce Kevin and the others into the mix? Like this is a squad that is full of teens that don't know what the fuck they're doing.
Tricia: If you recall, all of Zeta Squad was kind of forced together- all of them are good at their jobs individually, but put them on a team and, on paper, they'd be unstoppable. The thing is, when you put a bunch of unknown teens together and force them to get along, you're gonna get some resistance. Add in the fact that Zeta Squad is full of distinct characters with their own hangups and levels of social awkwardness, and you have, at best, a rocky start.
And let's face it, what teenager actually knOws what the fuck is going on, come on-
How famous is the Zeta Squad across the universe?
Will: That I believe might be explored later on? But think about how famous Ben got for facing folks like Vilgax? I'm not gonna spoil stuff for later, but let's just say that there might be some issues pertaining to their fame.
Rosie: Ben's already well known across the galaxy…but like, he's a "Tony Hawk" level of famous. People don't recognize him until he transforms. The Zeta Squad are also well known, mainly through the stories.
Tricia: Zeta Squad has done so much shit that they're basically the stuff of legend. Like, you know they exist, but you imagine them as larger than life people who get into crazy situations all the time, and therefore you wouldn't recognize them on the street unless someoNe told you that was them. It gives them a good level of anonymity despite their fame.
What is something you thought would be a great idea but was terrible when you actually did it?
Rosie: Once again, the zombie Adam idea. It was done by Zs'Skayr's bullshit, something-something alien drug…Especially a weird concept from someone who hates zombies. Black Memory was originally Blake dealing with Adam again.
What Gemstones character can you see yourself hanging out with?
Rosie: Probably Ben or Ruby. They seem nice.
Will: Kevin, Yang, Weiss, like there's a lot of characters I'd wanna hang out with to be frank, possibly even Min!
Tricia: Blake, Min, Lev, Ceres… honestly there's a lot of characters I want to hang out with, but mainly those four since I relate to them in one way or another.
What is the Gemstones writing process like?
Rosie: The process has a few notable details. If the episode is an adaptation of another episode- for example, if we were doing…Divided We Stand, the first step is to rewatch the episode and make note of some things. The second step is to figure out how to change the episode- something like setting or characters has to change, and from then on, we usually pick at the episode through the next few weeks. Length depends on how much mileage we can get from a concept.
What "openings and endings" does Gemstones have?
Opening 1: Haruka Mirai by Kankaku Piero (Chapters 1-24); Very exciting opening, adds some magic to the vibe of the show, and it would make for a VERY hype song to play during a climax.
Opening 2: Inferno by Miss Green Apple (Chapters 25-49); another fun song to "reintroduce" everyone, following the timeskip.
Opening 3: Polaris by BLUE ENCOUNT (Chapter 50-70); While more dramatic, it focuses on the emotions Ben and Ruby are both feeling.
Opening 4: Last Train by knotlamp (Chapter 71 - Current); Probably the most interesting choice- Last Train is a song about choice, something the crew is faced a lot with in this arc.
Future Openings will include "Ranbu No Melody" by SID, "Grey" by Fomare, "DIFFERENT" by Band-Maid and "Calling" by Kimeru.
Ending 1: Never Meant to Know by Tally Hall; reflects on how young and naive Ben is.
Ending 2: Modern Crusaders by Enigma; Scrolling picture of Aliens? Yes.
Ending 3: Sugar Song to Bitter Step by UNISON SQUARE GARDEN; I just picked this one to juxtapose a serious moment. Hey, Ben got stabbed. Now he's dancing.
Ending 4: Sing by My Chemical Romance; I think the song basically means that the generation today has to speak up and be the leaders of tomorrow.
Future endings will include Shunkan Sentimental by SCANDAL, Fate of the Stars by Tally Hall and Ray of Light by Shoko Nakagawa.
Who are the "voice actors" for the original characters?
Ceres: Cristina Valenzuela
Kylie: Either Janice Kawaye or Monica Rial? I can't remember.
Doppler: Arin Hanson
Lev: Dan Avidan
Ari: I think it was either Tara Strong or Julie Ann Taylor.
Cass: Tara Platt
Anyways, that wraps up the Q&A for this chapter. By the way, there is a hint about the next arc in this Q&A. Just gotta have a keen eye, and have watched a lot of Gravity Falls. Pretty capital idea, huh? Makes you read through it.
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