Cuts of RWBY

A RWBY Fic Collection by AndrewJTalon

DISCLAIMER: This is a fan based work of prose. RWBY is the property of Rooster Teeth and ViZ. Please support the official release.

Blake and Jaune have a spat about history...

Ever since Blake had publicly admitted she was a Faunus at Beacon, she had made her political views far more publicl, leading to frequent debates among her friends. One afternoon, the conversation turned particularly heated over cultural appropriation.

"A cowkini is absolutely cultural appropriation, Yang!" Blake declared with conviction.

"But I look so hot in it-!" Yang protested..

"NO!" Blake retorted sharply. Yang pouted.

Nora, bewildered by the discussion, chimed in.

"So, wait, I can't wear my sloth snuggie and pretend to be a sloth Faunus? That's bogus!"

"You can't just pretend to be a Faunus!" Blake insisted, her frustration growing.

"But I wanna cuddle Ren as a Sloth Faunus!" Nora argued.

"No!" Blake was firm.

"What if it was kinky?" Nora suggested, pushing boundaries.

Blake, turning bright red, considered the question before she responded:

"N-No! Not at all!"

While this debate raged on, Jaune was mostly focused on his studies, tuning out the noise. Ruby and Pyrrha also paid more attention to their studies as the lunch break continued on.

"Anything else we must remove for your sensibilities?" Weiss asked with bitter sarcasm.

"As a matter of fact, yes! I don't think it's right to-to romanticize the knights of Albion and Gallia!" Blake said, her voice filled with indignation.

Weiss scowled incredulously.

"What? They're the ones who helped found Hunters as an institution!"

"Yes, and they were all oppressive slaveholders of Faunus! Their Kingdoms engaged in the slave trade before they became part of Vale! They shouldn't be seen as heroes!" Blake argued back, her voice rising.

Jaune slammed his fork down on the table, drawing everyone's eyes to him. Blake scowled while Weiss stared.

"Jaune?" Pyrrha asked in concern.

Ruby, equally worried, chimed in.

"You okay-?"

Jaune stood up between Ruby and Pyrrha, grabbed his Scroll, and after flipping through several pages, confronted Blake. He towered over her, and she glared back defiantly.

"What do you want, Jaune? I-" Blake started, but Jaune cut her off by reading from his Scroll.

"'On this day of our Lord 1839, in cooperation with the Parliament of Albion, it is decreed that slavery and involuntary servitude of man or Faunus alike shall be outlawed in our dominion. All slave masters shall be compensated appropriately for freeing their slaves within our territories, colonies, and outposts, but those who persist in this ungodly and horrific trade shall be considered enemies of God and the Crown, and shall henceforth be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law of the Vytalian Empire. All former slaves, human or Faunus, shall be considered Subjects of the Vytalian Empire and like all subjects, shall be under the protection of the King and have the same rights and privileges thereof.'"

He glared at Blake.

"This is a proclamation by Emperor Liam IV, the King of Albion, Emperor of the Vytalian Empire, and Lord Protector of Pandu. He was also a knight and my direct ancestor."

Blake, taken aback, stammered back a response.

"I-W-Well-"

Jaune, not finished, flipped to another page.

"And this is by the Gallian monarch at the time, Queen Josephine, to the National Assembly of Gallia: 'This final act of this Republic's session will be to signify an alliance between ourselves and Vytal to abolish the international slave trade and end the subjugation of all human and faunus within our empire. For those who have souls must be free lest the darkness consume us all.' She deployed Gallian Knights, including several of my ancestors, to liberate slaves across the Empire. The Vytalian Navy did the same, shutting down the Faunus slave trade to Atlas and Mistral."

"But equal rights-!" Blake tried to interject, but the intensity of Jaune's glare stopped her short. His next words, however, were gentle.

"You're absolutely right. There is plenty of injustice in the world, Blake. And it's good to fight it. I will happily fight alongside you against it. But you do not win by twisting and distorting history. It just pisses people off! Hell!" He pointed to Cardin, "The House of Winchester helped end Faunus slavery in Arminus when they continued to do so against Vale's laws!"

"We did?" Cardin asked in disbelief.

"You did!" Jaune confirmed.

Cardin grinned.

"Cool!" Cardin exclaimed. Upon feeling the scrutiny upon him, he hastily added, "... What? I have issues with Faunus, but I don't want you as slaves!"

"What about me~?" Velvet, with a playful wink, teased.

Cardin blushed and sputtered incoherent denials as Velvet giggled.

Jaune continued.

"So, yeah Blake. I get that you want justice and equality. But haranguing us and distorting history isn't going to get you that. Okay?"

Blake, after a moment of silence, slowly nodded.

"O-Okay."

Jaune returned to his seat, picked up his fork, and resumed his meal and studies, while Pyrrha watched with a proud smile. Blake stared at him intensely. Nora beamed. Ruby looked relieved while Yang was softly amused. Ren shared a rare smile-He did, after all, enjoy peace and quiet.

Weiss then spoke up.

"... Jaune?"

"Uh, yes Weiss?" Jaune replied, looking up.

"Good boy. You actually made her shut up," Weiss said with a small smile.

"YOU HAVE ZERO ROOM TO TALK, WEISS!" Blake sputtered angrily.

"Oh I think I do~!" Weiss retorted, sparking another argument between the two.

Ruby, impressed by Jaune's display, grinned at her best friend.

"Wow... You were like, a super nerd!"

"As much as I like her," Yang added, "it is nice to see her get shut down when she's in a rant. Good work, VB!"

Jaune chuckled and rubbed the back of his head.

"Oh, uh, ya know... I mean, I know my ancestors did a lot of bad things, but they also did a lot of good things too. I just hate it when it's oversimplified, you know?"

Pyrrha, smiling, nodded slowly.

"I agree."

Nora seized the moment.

"So... I can wear a sloth costume to cuddle Ren?"

"As long as Ren has no objections, yes," Jaune granted.

Nora squealed with delight, "HEE!"

Ren slowly nodded as his childhood friend hugged him tightly.

"At last. My life is complete."

"Is... Is that sarcasm?" Yang asked the stoic ninja.

"No."

Notes:

Again, I wanted Blake to grow and change as a character. But the writers have a very shallow idea of what the history of oppression, slavery and civil rights is. And so they were never able to write the Faunus rights issue properly. The actual history of slavery and oppression is wonderfully complex with a lot of potential things to draw from! But RT failed to do it. So hey, I may as well play around with it

And of course, just because slavery was made illegal doesn't mean racial discrimination and injustice didn't happen. But the biggest and most powerful empire in the history of the world, the British Empire (Which the Vytalian Empire is the analog of in my version of Remnant), did gradually end slavery as a legal institution throughout their territories over a period of 30 years and deployed their powerful navy to suppress the slave trade, along with many other nations: And that was certainly a good thing.