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wangxianficrecs · 7 months

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Before the dawn by apathyinreverie

Before the dawn

by apathyinreverie (@apathyinreverie)

T, WIP, 4k, Wangxian

Summary: Where Lan Qiren reacts a little differently to Wei Wuxian’s remarks in class and, instead of punishing him, resolves to take him under his wing, intent on ensuring that Wei Wuxian’s obvious talent isn’t wasted on the wrong path. How that decision then leads to the entire cultivation world caught in a sort wooing war around Wei Wuxian, all of the sects attempting to poach him from his adopted clan, even he couldn’t tell you. - Wei Ying is simply confused, halfway convinced it must be some sort of prank for the other disciples to keep gifting him with what looks suspiciously like courting requests. Well, at least Lan Zhan doesn’t seem to have joined in on the madness. Right? Kay's comments: I really love AUs that make more use of genius Wei Wuxian and especially if they take a look at what might have happened if Lan Qiren nutured his inventing tendencies instead of being just another autority figure who punishes Wei Wuxian for his parentage during the Cloud Recesses Study arc and I really enjoyed the flavour of jealous Lan Wangji in this story as well. Excerpt: As expected, a mere few seconds later, Wei Ying appears, grin broad in his obvious excitement as he sprints along the walkways, clearly with a goal in mind. A goal which, however, is not Lan Zhan. Though, Wei Ying does slow slightly at spotting him making his way across the courtyard. “Hi Lan Zhan!” he exclaims brightly, his smile broad and honest and genuine at the sight of him, but also not pausing for so much as a second. Yelling is not permitted in the Cloud Recesses, his mind reminds succinctly. Again, he says nothing, watches as Wei Ying darts past him, a clear goal in mind, namely towards the hall where Lan Zhan knows his own uncle tends to hold council this time of day. Admittedly, Wei Ying does slow enough to pause in front of the door to said hall, announcing his presence and then waiting impatiently to be called inside. The sight of him impatiently hopping from foot to foot as he waits, so joyous and eager about showing off his newest idea to someone, grin unabating, eyes still widened excitedly with whatever he is about to present to Lan Qiren, talisman papers clutched in his hand, so obviously delighted at the mere thought of having someone to show his inventions to, someone who will listen and let him explain and even argue details and different approaches with him… The sight has something within Lan Zhan soften helplessly.

pov lan wangji, pov wei wuxian, oblivious wei wuxian, jealous lan wangji, cloud recesses study arc, mutual pining, not jiang family friendly, good person lan qiren, genius wei wuxian, inventor wei wuxian, canon divergence, falling in love

~*~

(Please REBLOG as a signal boost for this hard-working author if you like – or think others might like – this story.)

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strqyr · 23 days

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having thoughts about this one lads:

"Carmine always had a soft spot for the Asturias twins," Bertilak explained. "She used to call Gill 'Queenie' in school. She bought into their whole royalty thing big time. I think she just wanted to get as far away from the Atlesian way of life as possible." He laughed. "Ironic that she left Atlas so she wouldn't be pressured into joining their militia, but here she is, part of another dictator's army." "What about you?" Sun asked. "What did you see in them?" Bertilak was unashamed. "I bought into the promise of being rich and helping to rule a kingdom. I don't care if they're really heirs to the throne or whatever nonsense. If you have the power to take something, then that's all the birthright you need. Jax and Gill have a lot of power." He scowled. "Some of it even came from me." Sun pressed him for more. "Does it bother you they thought you were more useful as a battery than in the battle?" he asked. Bertilak shrugged. "It's a paycheck."

idk. there are just some... vibes. if the asturias twins were salem, then the way bertilak talks about carmine is giving me more tyrian, his dedication to salem, how he calls her 'a goddess' and 'a queen', whereas bertilak talking about himself is giving me more mercury / cinder; "salem's promised us everything. we wing this thing for her, we'll be top dogs in her new world. what more do you want?" <- a promise of being rich and helping to rule a 'kingdom' for merc, while for cinder it's about taking whatever power the enemy has, about being more worthy of it than others, and being strong enough to take it by force.

but also: does it bother you they thought you were more useful as a battery than in the battle?

lol. lmao, even.

#rwby #before the dawn #some thoughts that are half thoughts but i need them Out

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ape-apocalypse · 3 months

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Road To The Kingdom - My Planet Of The Apes Retrospective

With the hype for Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes on the rise, I decided to do a bit of a deep dive into the trilogy of reboot movies starring the incredible Andy Serkis and the various tie-in titles.

Why ramble on about a series that most people seem to overlook? Well, I think back to an interaction I had here on Tumblr in 2017, just one week before War For The Planet Of The Apes came out. While scrolling through the POTA tags, I found a post that wondered if anyone was actually excited for the new film or if the studio hadn't gotten the message and was making it for an audience that didn't exist. I responded that I was genuinely excited for the new film, that I loved the motion capture apes and the action scenes and the surprisingly engaging story, and would be seeing it opening weekend. The other person seemed surprised by my honest answer and apologized for their snarkiness (a truly shocking turn of events in the history of the Internet!).

I explained that I'd gone into these films thinking of them like Jurassic World series; I wasn't there for a great story and deep writing, I just wanted to see dinosaurs destroy things. So when I went into the POTA films, just expecting to see fun action movies with monkey chaos and apocalyptic results, I was surprised that I was swept up in the characters and their stories. I loved seeing the life of Caesar from tiny carefree baby to resilient revolutionary to fearsome leader, and the lives of all the humans and apes around him. The other poster said they hadn't actually seen the movies, just expected them to be shallow cash-grabs on reboot nostalgia, but they might have to reconsider giving them a shot after my enthusiastic response.

So if I can sway the minds of anyone who has written off these films, more movie tickets sold might mean more films and other media told in this ape apocalypse world!

And even if you already know and love the films, I also want to give some love to tie-in materials. Books, comics, YouTube shorts, video games; POTA has a surprisingly large catalog of bonus material for a series not considered mainstream like Marvel or Lord Of The Rings or Star Trek. I don't see them get many mentions in the fandom so hope a little spotlight on them can help them shine. They have delicious tidbits of world-building and character backstory, filling in gaps between the movies. I already have my fingers crossed there will be some tie-in material covering some of the huge time jump between War and Kingdom. With three hundred years passing between them, there is so much to learn about the ever growing and changing ape societies. I'm eager for any scrap of info they'll share!

But really, even if nothing I write changes anyone's mind about this franchise, it's still fun to gush about one of my favorite fictional universes.

My brief history with POTA was that I didn't know much about the original films before going into the new Andy Serkis trilogy. I'd heard enough about the original film to know the main beats of the first movie (quotes like 'damn dirty ape', the reveal of the planet being Earth with the Statue of Liberty). I saw the Tim Burton film which didn't leave any kind of impression other than the incredibly realistic costumes/make-up, so much so that I was apprehensive of the CG apes. Since getting into the new films, I've started watching the originals and may cover those just for fun.

So whether you're a long-time die hard fan or a fresh face to Caesar's legacy, I hope you'll enjoy my thoughts on the Planet of the Apes franchise!

Links to all my posts as they are released:

- Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes Film

- Prelude and Contagion Comics

- Motherboard YouTube Shorts

- Firestorm Tie-In Novel

- Fall Of Man Comics

- Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes Film

- Dawn Tie-In Comic

- Revelations Tie-In Novel

- Last Frontier Video Game

- Crisis Video Game

- When Worlds Collide Comics

- War For The Planet Of The Apes Film

- War Tie-In Comic

- Caesar's Story Novel

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oddlyhale · 10 months

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(Except from Before the Dawn, Velvet speaks to her father.)

Our boy James Ironwood was on first name bases with Velvet's dad. I love that he always wants to be referred to by his first name than his official title, that's so adorable.

AND A MILITARY FAMILY DISCOUNT

#james ironwood #general james ironwood #before the dawn #james banging velvet's dad headcanon

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neptunevasilias · 5 days

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Sage Ayana in Before the Dawn breakdown

The cover: Present in the very back. Don’t blink now! This is his most important appearance.

Prologue: While saving Sun from his attackers, Velvet uses hard light copies of Neptune and Scarlet’s weapons as a passive-aggressive reminder that he’s leaving his team behind while he sneaks out at night. She doesn’t use Sage’s weapon. As the attackers run off Sun thinks to himself that those people are lucky more of his friends didn’t show up (I will be including references to Team SSSN as a whole, clarifying when Sage is or isn’t specified). Velvet asks him where his team is, and if they know where he is. Sun thinks that if Scarlet, Sage, and Neptune (each name is listed) heard about him getting saved by Velvet and Yatsuhashi, they’d never let him live it down. Sage is said to have been giving Sun the silent treatment.

Chapter 1: Sage glares at Sun while they talk with Team CFVY in the lower courtyard. Team SSSN is said to have bragged about saving CFVY at the end of the last book. Sage says he’s been wondering why they came to Shade instead of waiting for Haven to reopen. Neptune says he came because Sun hyped up how fun Vacuo is, and Sage responds with “Has Vacuo been fun so far?” When Neptune asks Sun and Scarlet not to fight, Sage mutters “At least not in front of other teams.” While CFVY has a discussion in teamspeak (Fox’s semblance that lets select people have a telepathic conversation), “Sun, Scarlet, Sage, and Neptune had reached a new level of anger.” Nothing that Sage said is specified. Coco scares them into being quiet by standing up.

Chapter 2: Scarlet and Sage trail behind the group, “as if trying to show they weren’t really with them.” Velvet in the narration compares the low wall around the Shade campus to the message that Scarlet and Sage were sending by walking behind them: “We’re a part of you, but we are separate.” Sage asks why the people of Vacuo don’t drink the water from the Weeping Wall. Sun tells him it’s because then the wall would dry up. While looking at the missing posters, Sage asks “Where’d they go?” Scarlet pats his arm and says “They wouldn’t be missing if we knew where they are.” “Oh, right.” SSSN and CFVY take pictures of the posters.

Chapter 3: The Beacon Brigade, the support group for Shade students who survived Beacon, invite SSSN to join them. Velvet welcomes Sun, Scarlet, Sage, and Neptune individually. While Sun and Scarlet argue, his narration says that “he still couldn’t figure out what was going on with Scarlet.” Sage being angry with him isn’t mentioned.

Chapter 4: Coco is described as having had a little argument with Sun and Scarlet about changing their patrol strategy, Sage isn’t mentioned. Fox tells Coco that he noticed she didn’t split up Scarlet and Sage, who are guarding the wall that separates the campus and the city. Coco says “it’s what Scarlet wanted” in reference to where they are patrolling, but it could also possibly mean that being with Sage is what he wanted too. As Coco and Fox stop an kidnapping attempt, she tells Fox to call in Sun and Neptune. Fox reaches out to Velvet, Yatsuhashi, Scarlet, and Sage too, not knowing who’s in range of his teamspeak. Fox tells Sun and Neptune to go to where they are, and adds “Scarlet and Sage, you, too, if you can hear me.” Sun and Neptune show up, but Scarlet and Sage don’t. They could hear him, though, because after they chase the kidnappers to a building Scarlet responds after Fox says he can sense Rumpole in there. Scarlet says the guy they saved threatened to report them once they found out they were only students, and Sage corrects him saying that the guy probably cared more that they were foreign students.

Chapter 5: Sage isn’t seen or mentioned.

Chapter 6: Sage isn’t seen or mentioned.

Chapter 7: In the narration summarizing how things have been since reinitiation, Scarlet says he’s been careful around Neptune and Sage because he doesn’t want them to think he’s too thrilled about it, because he genuinely liked them. “But poor Sage was still stuck with Sun, on Team SSEA […]. And Sage had been designated team leader, too, which was proof of the utter randomness of the exercise. Good luck with that, Scarlet thought.” In a flashback to when they first met Theodore, Theodore remarks on how Sun grew up in Vacuo but chose to attend “Mistral Academy” (Haven, the mistake is from the book). He then looks sternly at Scarlet, Sage, and Neptune. Sun says he wanted to see more of the world before settling down, and Sage snickers because Sun doesn’t realize he’s just insulted Theodore and Rumpole. Theodore asks which one is the leader, knowing it’s not Neptune but not knowing which of the other three it is. He says “It’s Sun, Scarlet, Sage… One of you, yes?” In sparring class, Scarlet exchanges looks with Neptune and Sage before they leave with their respective new teams. “They didn’t need Fox’s team-speak to know they shared the same thought: What is going on?”

Chapter 8: Sage isn’t seen or mentioned.

Chapter 9: Sage isn’t seen or mentioned.

Chapter 10: Sage isn’t seen or mentioned.

Chapter 11: In Neptune’s narration, he says the dorms at Shade are much smaller than the suite that he’d shared with Sun, Scarlet, and Sage.

Chapter 12: Sage isn’t seen or mentioned.

Chapter 13: Sage is part of the help that Fox brought to Coco’s team. Sage asks if the large group of people nearby that Fox senses is a nearby settlement. When they all realize they need to dig through the sand to get to the secret base, Sage kicks some up and says it’ll take a while, and they didn’t bring shovels. Sage rolls his eyes when Nolan offers to stay behind and keep watch. Scarlet elbows him and shakes his head, guessing that Sage thought Nolan was being a coward. Reese comes up with a plan for who will go down which of the branching paths, saying Fox will go with Sage. When Gillian says to bring in the army so she can strengthen them for the fight, Sage says “I don’t like the sound of that.”

Chapter 14: “[Velvet had] been quiet on the trip back from the Mirage last night and during the morning’s discussion with Rumpole, Neptune, Scarlet, and the newly returned group from the Wastelands.” The narration here makes the odd choice to list Neptune and Scarlet by name, but seemingly relegate Sage to being part of the rest of the larger group. When Sun says he could use a little less excitement, Sage says “Did everyone hear that? Are we sure he still isn’t brainwashed? Because that sure doesn’t sound like the Sun I know.” Sun asks him if he wants to come too, and Sage says “Don’t you know it.” So he presumably went along with the rest of them to Finn’s house, but there was no mention of him in that scene.

Chapter 15: Sage isn’t seen or mentioned (this is a chapter from Jax’s POV where he talks to a captured Yatsuhashi).

Chapter 16: Sage isn’t seen or mentioned, although he is presumably in Theodore’s office with everyone else.

Chapter 17: Members of the Beacon Brigade are the first to respond to Theodore’s announcement to meet in the courtyard with their weapons to defend the school. Sun rallies his team to follow him. Sage and Neptune wave in support as Scarlet tells Sun to go help Velvet stop Gillian’s approach.

Chapter 18: Sage isn’t seen or mentioned.

Chapter 19: Sage isn’t seen or mentioned.

Chapter 20: Sage asks Coco if she wants help fighting a brainwashed Yatsuhashi, Coco says no. Sage says “on your left” as he runs past Neptune to attack a woman who turned invisible, his sword passing though air. The invisible woman kicks him in the back, he swings again and misses. Neptune starts to laugh before realizing he should help.

Chapter 21: Neptune sees Theodore walk up to fight Yatsuhashi, and calls out “Hey look! This should be good.” It’s unclear if he’s calling out to no one in particular or not, but if it’s someone specific it could be Sage.

Epilogue: Sun apologizes to his team for leaving, and says they were there for him even though he wasn’t there for them. Sage says “Wow” and holds out his hand, which Neptune and Scarlet put Lien into. Sun asks what that was for, and Sage says “We had a bet on whether you would ever give us a real apology. And I just won.” Sun is hurt that Neptune bet against him, and says “Sage is my new bestie.” Scarlet says he’s realized that Sun isn’t the worst leader out there, and Neptune and Sage nod in agreement. Scarlet gestures to himself, Neptune, and Sage saying that they had all decided to go to Vacuo because they wanted to keep the team together. Sage agrees, saying “We may be in Vacuo, but at least we’re in Vacuo together.” Sun tries to get a hug out of his team, but Scarlet walks away and Sage shakes his head (Neptune embraced Sun). Sun thinks to himself that he can always count on Team SSSN. Later, Scarlet, Sage, and Neptune and Velvet join Sun to Starr’s dojo. Sun almost forgets to invite the rest of his team in. Sage gives “a dorky salute” to Starr. Sun says “They’re kinda my family too.” Starr says she’s going to like them. Sun says “they’re idiots, but they grow on you.” Everyone introduces themselves to Starr and they talk about recent events.

#rwby #before the dawn #sage ayana #team sssn #team sssnn #chris post

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bobauthorman · 14 days

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Say Uncle

I've been thinking about Theodore's allusion in RWBY; He's supposed to be based on Dorothy, that should be a given. But in RWBY: Before the Dawn, it's mentioned that Theodore has a picture of a little girl in his office with a dog.

Now, if Theodore is Dorothy, then who is the girl that was once important enough to keep a reminder of? My theory is that this girl is also Dorothy.

(Insert: "I connected the dots" "No you didn't" meme here)

Here me out. RWBY is not afraid to do combined allusions; Blake is most obvious, being Beauty and the Beast. What we may have here is something similar.

In Ozma of Oz by Baum, what causes Dorothy to return to the normal world is seeing her Uncle Henry dying from the sadness of losing his niece. What I'm saying is that Theodore might be both Dorothy and Henry; Theodore is what if Henry had been the one to fall to Oz, but instead of returning to Kansas, chose to remain in the magic land. In short, Henry in Dorothy's role.

#RWBY #Analysis #Theodore #RWBY: Before the Dawn #Before the Dawn #Meta #Theory #Greenlight Volume 10 #Support CRWBY #Save RWBY

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soldieress · 1 month

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[Fic Update] Before the Dawn, Chapter 10

Kimetsu no Yaiba ● Canon Divergence, Rengoku Lives AU | Rengoku & Tanjirou centered, Rengoku/Giyuu slowburn Rated T, Multi-Chaptered Contains future manga spoilers. Summary: After narrowly surviving Akaza’s attack, Rengoku is faced with a potential truth: the road to recovery is long and uncertain, and he may never return as he was. Not all hope is lost, however, and he makes good on his promise to take Kamado Tanjirou under his wing. The boy has potential as a Pillar—someone who could even surpass him and take the mantle one day, but first, Rengoku’s got to get him into shape. And then there’s Giyuu—quiet, mysterious and seemingly closed-off Giyuu—who isn’t anything like Rengoku expected, and who may just be the one person he doesn’t need to hide away from.

Chapter 10: here

#kimetsu no yaiba #rengoku kyoujurou #tomioka giyuu #kamado tanjiro #rengiyuu #fics by jini #before the dawn #my posts #haha… it’s been 2yrs… look it was a struggle to write ok #but hey this ch is 27.6k sjdaslkda

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maor-koren · 11 months

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So i never read "after the fall" and "before the dawn" but i do hear that that there is a character called Gillian Asturias that can transfer aura between diffrente people

Can it also work with human and an aura-less robot body?

#penny polendina #gillian asturias #After the fall #Before the dawn #rwby #rwby theories #rwby theory

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nikkis-best-set-poll · 8 months

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👗 Round One 👗

#love nikki #shining nikki #poll #round 1 #before the dawn #dazzling heartbeats

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howlingday · 10 days

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Hey I need your help. Why does Sun leave his team so much? I think it's played off as quirky in the show but it just bugs me so much. Like to me even as nice as he is he's still not their as he should be. Like if I'm supposed to relie on someone but they just do what they want how am supposed to trust them period? Am I reading too much into it?

They actually covered this "Before the Dawn".

Sun just kinda goes where he wants and barely lets his team know anything. He's been doing it since day one, too. He arrived at Beacon ahead of his team, then left them again to chase after Blake, and then it's all brought up in "Before the Dawn" for about 500 pages, because that's Sun's only character trait.

Honestly, I prefer it as the quirky show version than the book version that endlessly harps on it as a bad character trait and you should hate Sun for leaving his team all the team and he's a bad character because he's bad. Instead of, "Oh, there goes Sun again. Least he could do is tell us in person."

Honestly, now that I think about it, the main inspiration for this is his allusion of the legendary Sun Wu Kong from epic story of Journey to the West. The Monkey King would always run off to do, well, whatever. Honestly, the only thing keeping him in check is the crown on his head that tightens whenever Tripitaka utters a prayer.

As for why? Well, your guess is as good as mine. Like I said, I'd prefer to think of it as a character quirk instead of a thousand word essay on why Sun Wukong is a bad character in a book that made NOBODY look good.

#rwby #sun wukong #my thoughts #my answer #before the dawn #why do I keep coming back to this fucking book #this is like the eighth fucking time and I'm tired of this shit #it's never Before the Fall going in depth about Team CFVY #it's never the entertaining adventurous tale of Roman Holiday #no it has to be fucking bullshit shitty ass fucking stupid god damn BEFORE THE FUCKING DAWN

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rhodeybugg · 3 months

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Before The Dawn Chapter 10: The Lamb

Edelweiss, Edelweiss, Every morning you greet me. . .

The rain kept a steady rhythm against the windows. J still didn't understand why the sky occasionally broke open. "Staring out the window all night isn't going to make it stop." Selune chuckled at the smaller drone, watching from her perch on the back of the old couch that the Elliots kept in Tessa's room. "I don't want it to stop." J never moved her head. "...I just don't get it." Things were still new to her. She'd only been alive for a few weeks now, and she'd barely gotten out of the manor- after all, she never left Tessa's side. "Right." Selune rolled onto her stomach, dangling her head over the side of the couch to look at J. "You're still new to all of this." "All of what?" J tilted her head. Selune shook her head. "It's water. It comes from the clouds." "But why?" J kept her head tilted for a moment, before glancing over her shoulder at Selune. "Because it-" Selune stopped. "It just . . . does." "Small and white, clean and bright . . ."

She never minded whenever one of Tessa's parents took care of her. It gave her a moment to explore, to take in her surroundings, to be curious, to question absolutely everything, and to drive Selune mad with her hundreds of questions, even if she didn't mean to. Tessa yawned in her father's arms, cooing quietly and snuggling into his arms as James re-adjusted the infant in the blanket, continuing to hum his lullaby to her, paying no mind to the two drones on the other side of the room. "And sometimes it-" Lightning lit up the sky, followed by a rumble of thunder that J could have sworn shook the manor down to its foundation. Her servos tensed up as she shifted a bit closer to Selune, who immediately pushed her back. "You'll get used to it." She snickered. Tessa's fearful cries at the sudden noise snapped J from her curiosity, turning to watch as James held her close and kissed her forehead, soothing her with calming words and promises of safety. J returned her attention to the sky outside the window, tilting her head every so often to glance at the flashes of lightning in the clouds off in the distance, only flinching whenever a flash got too close. The thunder shaking her core seemed less terrifying with each strike. Tessa's grumbling and cooing eventually quieted down to soft snores as she finally gave up fighting sleep in her father's arms, allowing him to place her down in her crib and stretch his arms as he lingered for a few moments, making sure that she was comfortable and indeed, asleep (Even as a baby, Tessa had her ways of faking sleep, waiting just until her parents had left her alone before stirring around and talking with the shadows, laying on her back and giggling at whatever it was that she could see. J and Selune found it amusing. James and Louisa however, usually didn't.) As per usual, J was immediately in her spot, perched on the windowsill next to Tessa's crib, laying so that her head rested perfectly on the edge, allowing her to keep watch over Tessa- while still being comfortable. "Sleep well, princess." James turned to leave, stopping to glance over his shoulder, making sure that J was at least nearby, lying faithfully at her human's side like a dog.

The rain continued, lulling J into a sense of calmness. She never really slept, only putting herself on standby, keeping her systems online and alert- while allowing her to close her eyes and save her battery power. . . Okay, maybe she slept a little.

☽✧ ✦ ✧☾

Clatter. J shot up.

"Shush." Her optics adjusted to the pure darkness of the room. Selune stood in front of the opposite window, staring intensely outside, looking like a wild cat trained on its prey. "What are you doing?" J whispered, carefully climbing down from her spot, making sure not to wake Tessa as she moved. "What's going o-" "Shush." It was much more commanding this time, almost a hiss. The only light outside was the moon, just barely illuminating the old pine trees that surrounded the manor. She still couldn't see anything, or at least not anything worth causing a fuss over. "Something's outside." Selune hissed. "What?" J squinted, desperately trying to see what had gotten Selune all worked up. "Stay here." "Wha- why?! You need he-" Selune grabbed J by the shoulders, pointing to the crib across from them. "YOU. Stay here. Protect Tessa. That's your job." J opened her mouth to protest, clenching her fists in frustration as Selune left without another word. Protect Tessa. But Selune- what's even out there? What could be making her act like this???? J battled with her thoughts, turning in circles as she went over her options. Tessa. Selune. Outside? Intruder. Danger. Tessa. Danger. Tessa, Tessa Danger, Selune, Protect, FUCK.

It was too damn dark outside.

Selune's mechanical hackles were raised as she examined the woods around the manor's front entrance, quietly making her way around the brickwork, staying in the shadows as much as she could. Something was there, she knew it was, there had to have been. Sure, there were coyotes and bears and other woodland creatures around, but this was different. Those animals wouldn't have awoken her from a dead sleep, this was big. She'd tried to shake it off, to go back to sleep, but that damn howl - and she could have sworn she'd seen something peeking in from the windows, staring at her and her human companions like they were its next meal. Her shoulders slumped in frustration. "I told you to stay inside." J quietly appeared at her side. "I wasn't going to let you come out here alone." Selune glared down at her. "YOU are supposed to stay with Tessa, that is your ONE job, and you just-"

SNAP

Both drones whipped their heads up, bodies tensing. The woods were silent. No crickets. No frogs. No owls. Absolutely nothing. ". . . What was that?" "Shut up." A shadow moved. "...Selune?" Both drones ducked out of instinct as the shadow lept over them, clattering against the roof tiles and taking a moment to steady itself above them. "....was that a deer?" J's eyes were wide, still holding her hands over her head. "Get inside. Now." Still in shock, J shot Selune a bewildered glare, only to be picked up by the scruff of her neck by the much taller drone. "INSIDE. TESSA. NOW."

Company drones weren't meant for speed. They were meant to wander, to meander, to take their time with tasks, and to take in their surroundings. J was an exception. She could tell that certain parts of her body had been reused, the metal joints in her legs aching as she practically threw herself up the stairs, digging her sharpened fingertips into the carpet for traction. So many internal alarms were going off, yelling at her to cool her core, to sort out her processor and the hundreds of thoughts it was trying to situate, but one goal sat in the front of her mind: Get to Tessa. Get to Tessa. NOW.

The glass of the windows hadn't even been shattered, it was like the intruder had simply phased in. A tall figure now stood over Tessa's crib, cradling the little human in its long, slender arms. J couldn't make out details in the dark, freezing up in fear as she came to a screeching halt in the doorframe. A veil covered the lower half of the figure's face, leaving only two bright gold eyes visible, and a mess of white and blonde hair flowing over it's shoulders and draping over the tail of their dress on the floor. "Such a small, innocent little thing." The intruder's voice was soothing, seductive, almost. It felt like one of those sirens from the stories James was always reading to Tessa. "So defenseless." A claw raised to brush against Tessa's face. "Left all alone." It took J a moment to realize that she was trembling. "J, what are you-" Selune froze beside her, eyes landing on the unwelcome guest in front of them, cradling the most precious thing in the Elliot Manor. "Tessa!" "Tessa. That's its name." The creature purred, and J saw a glint of a sharp tooth from underneath the intruder's veil. "Such a strong soul. A pity, it was wasted on this tiny creature." J wanted to lunge. She wanted to snatch her human from the creature's claws and help Selune tear into them, but she couldn't. She knew any move she made while the infant was being held by this..thing, would surely result in both the demise of her and the human she was created to protect. "And you two." The creature turned towards J and Selune, as both drones silently showed their teeth. "They expected you playthings to stop me?" A claw raised from the shadows, taking Tessa from the creature's arms. More shadows moved, J could make out three, maybe four, moving around the two on the other side of the room like snakes. "A pitiful little science project," Her gaze drifted to Selune " and a wannabe mother." Selune's growl became more prominent.

"Hm." The claw moved Tessa closer to the intruder. "No matter. She was mine from the start. As absolutely amusing as it would be to drag this out even more, I have..more important things." J finally shifted, staggering into Seluna's side as the now-attacker removed the veil from their lower face, revealing a split maw of jagged, white teeth. Both drones finally lunged. It was now or never. Now, they wouldn't have a human to protect. J's teeth met the cold, flesh-like substance of the claw that had been cradling Tessa, biting down with everything she had and struggling to pry away the now-frightened child, falling onto her back, Tessa held close to her chest, as the attacker's focus moved to Selune, who had managed to wrestle the attacker to the ground. With teeth meeting teeth in front of them, J skittered backward, hiding Tessa behind her now overturned crib, attempting to soothe her, putting herself over the little human in an attempt to shield her from anything else that may have tried to hit them.

A cry of pain filled the air, and then it went silent. As swiftly as it had started, it was over. "James where is she?! I don't see her!" Louisa. J finally moved herself, and everything hit at once. The attacker had managed to take a chunk out of her shoulder from the initial attack, her legs ached, something felt out of place in her jaw, and she could swear she tasted oil in her mouth, and it wasn't hers. With the lights now on, she could see everything. Selune was wounded and curled up in the middle of the floor, oil surrounding her, a portion of her hair missing, and her face completely scratched up. "James, her face." The sword he was holding fell to the floor. They weren't talking about Selune. Upon forcing herself upwards and staggering over to the two humans, both of whom were now worriedly checking over their daughter, her artificial heart stopped for a few seconds as she finally got a good look at Tessa in the light. Somewhere during the scuffle, she'd been scratched. There, on the left side of her face, starting just below her ear and ending underneath her chin, was an oddly golden-colored scar.

Her legs buckled. Failure.

"J." Failure.

"J, come on." You let her get hurt.

"J, wake up." The world faded.

"J!"

Sunlight hit her face, followed by warmth. A hand was on her shoulder. "Are you okay?" Tessa. J raised her head, feeling her servos snap into place as she stretched herself out. Right. Zara, Tessa, V, and N. They were up on the rooftop balcony. Tessa wanted fresh air while she and Zara studied. V and N followed. "You were dreaming again." Tessa glanced down. "...And drooling on me." "Sorry." J sheepishly looked down. Was it a dream, or a memory? It was getting hard to tell them apart anymore. It all felt so..familiar. "You were mumbling in your sleep too." Zara chimed in, smiling at J, absentmindedly playing with N's hair as he slept beside her, V nestled against his back. Both had been sunbathing. "She kept trying to grab my arm!" Tessa ruffled J's hair. "Was it another nightmare?" J shook her head. A lie. But she didn't need Tessa to go back to worrying again."

"Maybe it's just the sunlight getting to me." J re-adjusted herself to lay against Tessa's side, curiously glancing down at Tessa's textbook as she reached over to hold Zara's hand. Ah, human puppy love. She was starting to get used to it. Little kisses between the humans here and there, constantly holding hands, watching them snuggle at night. It was...cute. She'd have to try the hand-holding thing with Sive sometime. At least they hadn't locked her and the other drones out of the bedroom. It was nice. . . J's eyes fluttered back open as Tessa's textbook closed, and she glanced around, scratching her head with her free hand. ".... Has anyone seen Cyn?"

#murder drones #before the dawn updates #before the dawn #solver bound long run stuff #serial designation j #serial designation n #serial designation v #tessa x zara #tessa james elliot

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strqyr · 8 months

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theodore scowled. "he's still a weak, scared little boy under it all. i've dealt people like him before." he glanced at the pictures on his wall. then he shook his head and ran back to his desk.

"she was scared when we found her! weak."

two things:

theodore is part of ozpin's inner circle, and even has a picture with qrow on his wall, meaning he very easily—very likely, really—could have know the rest of strq, and

so much of what is said about the spring maiden also applies to raven, so there's a non-zero chance this applies here, too.

sooo, the fact that jax and gillian are twins, of whom theodore considered gillian the one who would have made a fantastic huntress, while jax never fit in and just generally was someone theodore didn't have much faith in—"i knew that asturias kid was trouble, didn't i, rumpole?"—, i get the feeling that theodore and raven might just not get along that well. if at all.

#rwby #before the dawn

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ape-apocalypse · 2 months

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Road To The Kingdom - Before The Dawn YouTube Shorts

The three 'Before The Dawn' short films were created by Motherboard in association with 20th Century Fox, the studio running the Planet of the Apes films. They were aired as promos in the months before Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, meant to bridge the gap between Rise and Dawn. They focus on human survivors trying to make it through each day as society falls apart around them.

Spread Of Simian Flu takes place in Year 1 post-outbreak and features a family where the mother is locked in quarantine while the father and daughter visit her. The mother tries to be cheery for her daughter while the father lies about them having a safe place to live. It is bittersweet to see the family on both sides of the quarantine glass lying to the other to keep their spirits up. They hold onto hope for one another while searching for food and shelter.

Struggling To Survive is five years after the outbreak. The focus of this short is a woman and the boy in her care trying to survive while power begins to fail in the city. She finds luxury items and trades them for food and other necessities, thinking on how those she trades with are clinging to the past rather than planning for the future. This internal monologue is very condescending, a stark contrast to the strained but still present hope of the family in the first short. Perhaps that was the intent, showing the bitterness needed to survive as the years go on.

Story of the Gun covers a full decade through the fall of society. As the title states, a shotgun is the main character of this video as we follow it from human owner to owner through the years. We don't spend enough time with any one person to get attached to any particular character (though I do enjoy the conspiracy rambling guy, he gets a chuckle out of me) but the whirlwind of moving from person to person really conveys the chaotic feeling of the apocalypse. The ending, with the shotgun being abandoned at the feet of unseen apes, hints at the violence to come in Dawn, one that will lead to the film getting nicknamed as simply "The Apes Riding Horses With Guns Movie".

Motherboard also released a 15 minute documentary alongside the fictional shorts called The Real Planet Of The Apes, a true story that I'd never heard before: an island in Liberia where chimpanzees who were once laboratory test apes are the sole inhabitants and many humans fear to visit. Though not having anything to do with the fictional POTA, it is interesting to see apes interacting with humans. They are gentle and playful with humans they trust but can be aggressive to those they don't know, with locals telling tourists they will be killed if they go there. Major content warning for this short; it talks about and shows videos of real world ape testing and injuries, as well as human death/murder, starvation and violence. The good news is that, as of a 2022 article, the apes are still being cared for by the locals.

The video shorts are a fun little dive into the collapse of human society; personally I'll never pass up the opportunity to see that in fiction. They're good quality for being promotional videos on YouTube. The main downside is there is very little to make them stand out as being part of Planet Of The Apes. No apes are seen (which makes sense; they likely didn't have any budget for a CG ape), just alluded to through shadows and sound effects. Because of this, they feel pretty typical of any apocalyptic story without being entirely unique to the POTA franchise. But they're still well done, even eerier now after 2020 Covid lockdowns than when they first released in 2014. Watching all three fictional shorts back-to-back-to-back takes only 30 minutes so, even without any apes, they're a quick but enjoyable viewing experience.

Intro / Previous / Next

#dawn of the planet of the apes #rise of the planet of the apes #planet of the apes #kingdom of the planet of the apes #war for the planet of the apes #war of the planet of the apes #pota #reboot pota #motherboard #caesar #mine #before the dawn #andy serkis

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