This isn't rwby fanfiction. This is some generic fantasy novel pretending to be related to rwby. It's possible that this is a perfectly good generic fantasy novel but I didn't come for the standard fantasyland#523353, author. At least Forged Destiny had "what if rwby was jrpg" thing going for it.

I love the story of this so much, would kill for a physical version with the names filed off I could put in my bookshelf

It was a true pleasure reading this story. If you did not, I recommend that you do now. No regrets will be sown.

NGL, whenever I read "Arcanum" I just think of Schwarzenegger Red Heat(1988) saying "COCAINUM!"

this is definitely one of your better stories, you've outdone my expectations once again, I might even say that this stands up there with Relic and Forged Destiny, however much nostalgia and time tinges my memory of those masterpieces as even greater than they were when I first read them

lost a perfect opportunity in not naming the ace-ops "The Wild Hunt"

I have to admit that I was this fic sank its hooks in me fairly early. Just like with Forged Destiny I really got into the whole medieval fantasy vibe this had for it. This removes the RPG elements and replaces them with a focus on magic. It helps the world feel different and unique despite what one could consider a similar setting in many ways.

I liked Ruby as the main protagonist. Your known for Jaune focused fics but every time you've stepped out of that realm you have written some of your best works in my opinion. Her differences in personality here are easily believable considering her altered backstory. She's not the young woman trying to be the hero and save the world. She's just trying to survive in the messed up situation life h as thrown at her and keep the people close to her safe. Her relationships with the other characters are also well done, with Yang, Weiss, and Jaune being the best of the bunch in my opinion.

Unfortunately, I think this is where some of this fics problems also crop up. Cinder for example does not feel as prevalent as she should I feel, given how she sort of begins as Ruby's Wildmage mentor and something of another older sibling. Her end in this fic is also a tragic one. But comes with what I saw as a retcon. Originally, if I am remembering correctly, she was only locked in the Sanctum at ten or eleven. She would be of similar age to Adam if she is keeping her canon age. Ten years of surges is what she stated to Ruby I believe. Adam did not surge to that extent when he was released from Menageries Sanctum. The same should apply here. Its only around this moment that Adam states that Cinder was experiencing twenty years of surges instead of ten. Like I said, it comes off as a retcon, of which there are several. Like Blake early on saying that the Grimm ignored the populace of Menagerie and rushed the Collegium (which would have tied into Merlot trying to keep civilian casualties down). Further down the line she states that they stopped in each section of the city and destroyed it before moving on. Adam being a wandering swordsman was another. It was established when he was introduced that he was locked away as a child and taught swordsmanship by the guards. This one in particular was also pointed out by other reviewers of that chapter.

Weiss also has one or two issues. It feels like there is a chapter missing right after her fight with Ruby about the White Arcana flooding the slums. It just jumps to her being out in the wilds with Qrow in the next chapter, completely skipping her reaction to seeing the devastation she helped cause. It would also have made her realize that Glynda had lied about the evacuation, given the number of dead. We also never really get a reaction to her finding out that Ruby is a Wildmage. This happens off page. This also isn't the first time this happens.

It would have been nice to see Cinder's reaction to the confirmation that her family had indeed been brainwashed. Seeing her relief that her family had not willingly forgotten her would have been a good read.

Something with Raven would have been appreciated as well. Qrow mentions her once and I would imagine that Yang is her daughter here. Either that or she is biologically Summer's daughter, which wouldn't make sense given Yang's appearance not being different from canon. There's a story there that really isn't explored or explained. Yang realizing that she still has family in the form of an uncle would have been nice to see, along with all the drama of Qrow ignoring her while she grew up in the slums. This could easily been explained as being and affected of the memory tincture. And she could have accepted it as it was what Qrow had to do to protect Summer. Also, if my eyes are deceiving me, its also hinted at the fact that Qrow is Ruby's biological father here. The revelation wouldn't change too much. She'd just have two dads instead of one and Qrow could serve as another family member she could confide in, which she kind of does anyway so that's a bit of a moot point.

I also feel that this fic had some pacing issues. Several times throughout my reading it I felt that the plot was not progressing in any way. It felt slow at times.

But that's enough negative. Back to the good stuff. I enjoyed the White Arcana as the main villains. They come off as deliciously evil. A villain organization you love to hate, with Glynda taking the cake as best. She comes of as someone getting high of of her own fumes. She truly believes in the bull she spews. And despite saying she doesn't like the steps that the White takes, she never tries to change anything, favoring societal stagnation and gaining more control for the White Arcana over all else.

Another reviewer described the White Arcana as well-intentioned extremists. To an extent I can agree with that. In the past, as Ruby and others point out, the White Arcana were likely a well intentioned group of Arcanists. But due to noble intervention and schemes they became something darker over time. They eventually became something that represents absolute order. On the opposite end of the spectrum, our other hidden antagonist, Merlot, represents absolute freedom. Both of those concepts doom any society they take root in. Absolute order is oppression and leads to totalitarian regimes. Absolute freedom is complete anarchy where anyone can do whatever they want to whomever they want. Both sides, Merlot and the White Arcana, at their cores have a good points but take their ideologies to the extreme. In the end, there has to be a middle ground between the two extremes, something that appears to have been achieved/being worked towards in Menagerie in the epilogue.

I always have a section of my reviews of your fics for romance. Its something I enjoy reading regardless of its prevalence within the plot. The first of your fics I read was One Good Turn Deserves Another which has the romance front and center, and is what got me into your works to begin with. Here there is little to no romance. And I think it works perfectly here. Ruby as a protagonist has so much on her plate that her stopping to begin a romance with anyone would only add to her worries. I did like the surprise Dragon Slayer you threw in at the end, one of my favorite ships. Though, like I have stated with other fics, I knew it was coming. Again from spoilers in the reviews of old chapters.

I think the ending is a good one. It was nice to see Pyrrha again and also that she doesn't really believe in the cover story concocted by the Collegium of Vale. And that she feels abandoned by Ruby to an extent, despite not vocally admitting it. Its also interesting to see that the Collegium has essentially been scrambling to grab hold of whatever power they still can. Having tried to frame the new laws as ones they put forth. Any trust the nobles and royal family has in the White Arcana has been destroyed and will take decades to repair, hopefully with the Collegium improving as well. Maybe Pyrrha should take over as Grand Arcanist. Maybe she can be that force of change after seeing the good that's been accomplished in Menagerie. Which has become a thriving rebuilt kingdom in only fifteen years.

It's not a perfect ending though. No resolution of Ren, Nora, and Qrow feels like a missed opportunity to me. We know that Jaune and his mother had planned for Sun to hired at the Arc manor but it would have been nice to see the results of that. Qrow's memories had begun to come back over time. Maybe Sun's would have as well.

You don't really do sequels, and I have in the past said I'd love to read sequels to some of your other fics. This one I would love to see something of an interquel. A slice of life style story that focuses on the rebuilding of Menagerie and all of the issues that come with that venture taking place prior to the epilogue of this fic. (If that ever came to fruition I'd love me some more Dragon Slayer.) Now that I think on that, a similar type of story could also work for Forged Destiny. (I've honestly been craving another Knightshade story by you. For all the flak you get for it, you've only written several Knightshade stories. The ships you've covered have actually been varied.)

I'll probably come back to this eventually and give it another read. It's long so it'll probably be awhile for that to happen. For now, I'm off to read Knight of Salem.

Best wishes and happy writing.

Ahh Arc is a huntsman. Interesting.

Well then… that was a thing. Wish the White got more of an explicit comeuppance given, well, everything, but I suppose a proper dismantling of the Collegiums would have been a massive and unnecessary extension of the story. I’m glad that Ruby’s upbringing prevented some of the more frustrating traits of her canon character from developing while still maintaining her identity to the point where I was actually glad for a non-Jaune protagonist.
The setting was a wonderful departure from the repetitive setting of Beacon (and occasionally wider Remnant), with the worldbuilding and systems being quite intriguing and possibly even deserving of an original story unrelated to RWBY.

Unfortunately, I think this is also probably one of the more disorganized and “loose” stories Couer has written. I won’t dive into too much detail, as Sir Bruno has already covered most of them down below (11/07/22 for specific dates), but a lot of plot threads felt incomplete or lacking, characters felt vastly under or overdeveloped, and plot holes/inconsistencies cropped up frequently enough to the point that I started noticing them even though I rarely examine the details like that.

While I feel this story had some of the most potential of any of the stories Couer had written thus far, I feel like the execution and direction started slipping once Ruby was forced into the White. Maybe it was a result of weak initial planning, maybe certain concepts that were cut or added later were poor decisions, or maybe even just Coeur had so much going on that something had to give. Given that he writes like five different stories at any one time that are updated weekly (and some of the wild ass author’s notes), I’m inclined to believe the latter.

Ultimately, I definitely was more invested than I thought I would be (mostly owing to how despicable the White Arcana are) and I enjoyed exploring such a different setting and arrangement of characters. Alas, even after the ending I am still left with more questions than answers.

Cheers!

This is just a random note, and I might PM about it later, but wasn’t Maria already mentioned as a character when Ruby was trying to get into the Archives? I distinctly remember Ruby interacting with a “cantankerous old woman” named Maria who sent her down to meet with Port. Is that just coincidence, or was there some intentional overlap there?

It’s definitely my personal biases showing, but the White Arcana are scum. All of the other antagonistic organizations you’ve written have their own sticking points, and most of the significant ones are if not sympathetic at least understandable, but man the White Arcana are the perfect mix of everything I despise in this world with all of their “redeeming” qualities just making it worse. Above all, I hate how realistic their motivations are, because of course they would do all this. I’ve never been more excited to binge a stoty to completion, because all I want is for the White to get their comeuppance.

If they don’t, or even worse if they get some form of redemption I’m going to scream and rage, but at least it’ll go to show how invested I am in this story. Can’t always get the ending you want, but at least the passion this story has invoked has been something unique.

I’ll see you soon.

I don’t usually before the end of the story, but since I’ve gotten through some of this story before, some of the hints just seem so obvious to connect even with the memories and details being vague. I suppose that’s on me for not trying to read deep into the subtext of other stories, but meh that’s not what I read for.

Can’t help but think that a lot of us look like idiots to Coeur for not noticing all these hints, but I guess most people tend to just take fanfiction at face value. Anyways, back to the story!

Fantastic story, one of the best fanworks I've had the pleasure of reading.

Apologies for nitpicking, but chapter 36 was never fixed where Ozpin says he wasn't part of the Black Arcana.

At first 'Not This Time Fate' was my favorite of your stories but this one definitely takes the top spot. This read like a novel and I loved every second of it. Thank you for creating such an amazing story! I'm definitely gonna reread this one sometime in the future.