Intro

Hi there, and welcome to 'Behind the Story', this thing I made up where I talk about a whole bunch of aspects of the story so we both finally get the closure we need.

The reason why I made this is that, well, why not? It's a fun thing to do for me and I'm sure it'll be fun for you to read as well! Plus, as I said before, we'll finally get closure, and you as an audience get to see - well, read - how I formed this story and what inspired it and the changes made within this story and many more.

Warning: This is my personal thoughts on the story. Don't take everything I say to heart and don't let this affect your enjoyment of the story too much. This is formatted as a blog-ish, rant-ish kind of writing, far different from how I write stories. In short, this is simply me putting all my cards on the table for you to see, to give you - and myself - insight of this story.

Before we get started, a word from my beta and partner-in-writing, FeugoFox42.

[FeugoFox42]

Now I know how the CRWBY and VA's felt when the Volumes were premiering - I wanted to share exactly what was going to happen, or at the very least tell you "ooh, you're going to enjoy this part", but spoilers abound, and I feel like I'm better than that. Props to them for having to keep knowledge that they'd been holding on for far longer than I had to, some even keeping secrets since 2013!

Anywho; I'm so glad Clementine gave me the opportunity to work on the story with her. Seeing how she works and builds everything up is really quite special. Thanks to her for letting me be part of the journey. I promise to pay the ransom as soon as you let me go home, cool?

Small Response to Fox

No.

You're my captive. Forever.

At least until I found a cooler fox, which is… unlikely.

Ahem. Anyway, moving on-

A Thank You

-I want to begin this by saying thank you to everyone.

To you, the readers, for taking the time to read my story and review on it, thank you. I love to read your reviews, they're all such a blast to read and they remind me of why I continue to do this.

And also… A thank you to my beta, FeugoFox42. Hell, at this point, I shouldn't even call him a beta reader, because he practically helped me write the second half of the story! Without him, wow, the story would've sucked hard.

You guys should really check his stuff out, please. He really is passionate about writing and he does his best to improve in every way he can. He helped me out so much, it wouldn't be fair to call this "my story" anymore, it's "our story" now.

My Reasons

So… Why did I decide to make this story?

I know none of you has probably never asked that… ever…

But I sometimes find myself asking that question.

And that is because… well, I wanted to test myself, to see if I could handle writing such an intense story that doesn't include romance only. I wanted to go all out after F&GF ended, to really see how far I've come as an author.

When I first wrote this story, I, admittedly, didn't give it much thought. There's no solid reason why I wanted to write this kind of story specifically, just that, "Now that F&GF, I need to write something."

I have a lot of ideas floating around in my head, but they're all really, really good ideas and I didn't want to risk writing them then and ended up ruining such a good idea. I didn't think I was ready to write such stories. So… this is the alternative.

That said, it doesn't mean I think little of this story. In fact, I think this story is great. It exceeded my expectations on so many levels. The characters feel real, their motives feel real, Yang's little arc was pleasing to write, and many, many more.

Scrapped Scenes

There are quite a few scenes that I had to delete from this story due to either it not making a lot of sense, or the events leading up to it being a little too confusing, or simply it not moving the plot forward in any way.

Let's talk about them!

Yang taking care of "Drunk" Blake

Yang finds Blake unconscious on that alley and brings her to the hotel. Blake then wakes up but isn't 'all there'. Yang is forced to deal with her partner who tries to kiss her and keeps poking at her and all sorts of shenanigans.

It would've been fun for me to write and for you to read. It's just a shame that it doesn't make any sense and that it removes the tension from the story.

See, Blake needed to find the bad guy. If she's in the hotel room with Yang (and possibly Weiss), then they'd notice if she were to leave. Don't try to tell me otherwise. Not to mention, seeing that Blake is a big ol' panther, they'd be smart enough to lock the doors and windows and take even more precautions, not to mention call Glynda and tell her everything, maybe even request back-up to deal with Blake being 'unBlake-y'.

I'd be pushing your suspension of disbelief a little too far if I were to go through with it.

Yang and Monster Blake Vs OC Villain

Blake would hurt Yang, again and again. Yang would then try to communicate with her, and Blake would regain some of her memories. Together, they defeat the villain in an "epic" battle.

The reason why I didn't write this - despite how badass it sounds - is because… well… it's pointless.

C'mon, we all know Bumblebee was going to win as soon as Blake is out of his mind-control thingie.

Plus, the villain is an OC. An OC that I intentionally made to be as bland and uninteresting as possible. All so none of you would care about him.

The fight would be too one-sided anyway. Monster-Blake could've seriously hurt Yang - and she kind of did, too. Defeating the crappy OC villain would be a walk in the park for her.

Small Ladybug Conversation

It's exactly as it sounds like:

Ruby giving Blake a pep talk about relationships and all that.

The reason why I didn't include this in the story was that it didn't affect the overall story, not to mention I already have Weiss giving Yang a pep talk, doing it again would be repetitive.

When it comes to the romance side of the story, Yang takes a more active role since it fits her character more. That's why I have her be the main focus in the middle of the story because she'll be the one to confess to Blake.

Blake, meanwhile, takes a more active role on the whole "Rogue Fang" deal… no surprises there.

This scene would be nice… but it ultimately had to be scraped off or else it'll waste everyone's time.

Monster-Blake and WhiteRose

Yang passes out and Blake carries her to the tunnels where she meets Ruby and Weiss. After being convinced that the monster is, indeed, Blake, Ruby and Weiss have an awkward time trying to interact and tame Monster-Blake. 'S all in good time.

This scene isn't exactly deleted from the story - per se - I just… didn't write it because it'll take away the audience's focus. Remember, this is a Bumblebee story. And it'll mess the flow of the story if we suddenly go from Yang semi-dying and Weiss and Ruby interacting with Monster-Blake.

It didn't really add anything to the story, but I did show bits of snippets through Blake and Yang's conversation at the last chapter.

Larger Resolution

After the incident is over, Blake is finally being given a proper explanation as to what had happened to her and what will happen to the OC villain. As a cherry on top, Sun will appear one last time to sort of announce that he was never into Blake.

Again, this is utterly pointless and seems a little too lighthearted for my taste - and for the story's overall tone.

Sun bit's just cringy, now that I look back on it. Past Me was an idiot. I'm glad Now Me didn't include it in the story.

As for the explanation…

While it would've been great, I decided not to put it all in the story - only remnants of it. Why? Well, because this story was never about the whole "Rogue Fang" or "Experiments" thing, even if those parts played a huge deal.

At the very core, it's a love story. And thus, I shall end it as a love story.

Simple as that.

Mistakes I Spot

Yes, like any other story, this story has mistakes. I don't want to be a coward and simply ignore these mistakes, I want to tackle them, figure out what makes them "mistakes" in the first place, and hopefully not make them again.

Though another fair little warning, some of these can actually be far from mistakes, and others can feel like little nitpicks that only I'm bothered with. This is just my personal view.

Ending

Sometimes I reread the ending and I just feel like there could've been more to it than… that.

This is less of a mistake, and more of me knowing I could've done it differently but didn't.

Before you say anything, please note that I did try my best to salvage the ending, to do my best, like I always did with every fic. And I "subtly" hinted that there's more to be said than what Bumblebee have said to each other.

The reason why I ended the story the way I did is because… doing anything else would've dragged the story on a little too long. I mean, c'mon, you people are smart, you can basically guess what would've happened afterwards. Blake and Yang said more apologies - both to each other and to their friends and their poor professor.

I felt as though it was unnecessary.

The story's done as soon as Yang and Blake kissed each other. Everything else is just… subplot.

Technically, as I'm writing this, I could've rewrite the ending, add more dialogues, add more scenes, make things a little more satisfying, but… no. I don't want to keep dwelling on this one story when I have other projects I'm working on.

Plus, the ending was appropriate, in my opinion. The "feels" of it is similar to the way I opened this book, the way I first wrote Chapter 1. Or maybe that's just my opinion.

To put it simply, I end the story the way I did because it needs to end.

Pacing

I've always felt like I'm no good at pacing my stories. Sometimes, writing a scene that takes place in a day can take 2 or more chapters… and sometimes, writing a scene that takes place for an entire month can take less than a thousand words.

I did my best to make sure that nothing feels too slow or too fast, but… sometimes I feel as though I failed in this aspect.

I don't think I've yet grasped the difference between good and bad pacing, I can't tell what differentiates them, so I do apologize if the pacing feels off, and if you will, I'd like your thoughts on what makes good pacing and what doesn't.

It's like, I focus on the characters. I like that I focus on the characters more than the plot - I know most of you do too. But maybe I overdid it a little, maybe I focused way too much on the characters that I miswrote or wrote too little of the plot.

As a result, the first half of the story feels slow. Like, not in a bad way, but it is slow. And the second… well, the second half feels wild, raw, untamed, like a beast (pun intended), like a whole other story entirely.

Now, now, I did foreshadow the events that would come from the very beginning, but…

I don't know, this doesn't feel like an actual mistake, maybe I'm just looking at things a little too deeply. What do you think? Should I improve the way I pace my story? Or is it good enough as it is?

Grammar

Ah, yes. My old and greatest enemy; grammar.

Seeing as how my native language is one where tenses don't exist and that my school couldn't teach more than the basics, I… didn't know what exactly I was doing. I do know that I've made dozens of writing errors in my story. If it ticks you off… I'm sorry, but you can't really blame me.

Right now I'm struggling to try and understand grammar better. Between my school life and my family life and this, it's kind of hard to do it.

So, umm, you'll have to be patient with me, okay? I'll get better, I know that. But it might take me awhile before I can finally get there.

Too Little Info

Another thing I can classify as a mistake is the information we have on the whole experiment and Rogue Fang thing, or, more specifically, the lack of information.

I've said from the beginning that the real focus wasn't on the Rogue Fang deal, but that doesn't excuse me for not giving the "thing" more thought, more insight. I don't mean I should switch the focus entirely on Rogue Fang, but I should've… you know… add a little more detail so it feels a little more significant, especially since Blake isn't the only victim of the experiment, and the other victims - innocent victims, I might add - feels like they've completely disappeared from the story during the second half, only to get mentioned once at the end of it.

I feel like I've done them injustice… Like I don't care about the other victims, like Yang and Blake never cared about the other victims, especially since they clearly do care.

Healing too Quickly

This is just a minor detail and is, in the end, pretty irrelevant to the story as a whole, but I feel as though Blake heals from her monster-state a little too quickly, storywise. It is hinted that Yang was asleep for 2-3 days, but even so, I could've had her say "I still have fangs sometimes" or, well, something.

Earl Grey Tea

This is something I wish you all would pick up on; Blake's favorite tea and the "symbolism" behind it.

See, when we first saw it, Blake and Yang were having an amazing time before the mission, flirting and blushing and whatnot. The second we saw it, Bumblebee were having the worst time of their life. The third time we saw it, it spilled red and one of them was missing. And finally, the last time we saw it, Yang and Blake have forgiven each other and have finally admitted their love to each other.

The tea sort of pinpoints each and every aspect of their relationship. From everything being okay, to everything not being okay, to them realizing everything's not okay, and finally, everything slowly becoming okay again.

It doesn't really influence the story or anything, but… I included it in the story and… I thought you should know.

Planning Out Everything

Another thing I find truly interesting is how I originally planned out the story and how it ended up being. The first few chapters were as intended, as I wanted them to be, but then came the scene where Yang had to take semi-lucid Blake back into her hotel and I… thought about it - about how it didn't make sense story-wise and would only cut the tension.

What I ended up writing instead is, as you all know, far different and not as lighthearted.

From there on, I let the characters decide their fate for themselves. I know it sounds weird, but sometimes when I'm writing, I just… let the characters speak and do things themselves, without any real help from me.

The first half of the story is me building things up, planting seeds to see how it will flourish, and the second half… the second half is me watching those seeds flourish.

That's why I feel as though the last few chapters of the story has this "rough" and "raw" feeling. It's not necessarily a bad thing, in fact, I think some of you enjoyed it. I tried to once edit a chapter to see if the feeling would go away. It didn't.

Though I do certainly hope I didn't ruin the story or stretch things on thin ice with how I execute the story from that point on. I don't know why, I feel like I could've added more words and make it better, and the only reason why I didn't do that is that I have tried to add more words and doing so again would not only be too much hard work but not add anything special to the story.

Inspiration

I bet you're all wondering what inspired me to whip out a bizarre story like this. Is it a slasher film? A psychological thriller? Another anime, perhaps?

The answer to that is: No! Not even close!

Though it would've saved me face if that were the truth.

So, yeah, what inspired me to write this fanstory is… Another fanstory. Of a show called "Miraculous Ladybug". Titled "A Furry Situation".

Yeah, let me explain.

If you don't know, MLB is a show about a blonde who loves making puns who's partnered-up with a noirette who's serious when doing her job and they're in love with each other and they both don't know it.

So, yeah, it's basically Bumblebee, but heterosexual. Oh, and Yang's the cat instead of Blake.

I've always loved the concept of a person slowly turning into a beast, and wanted to incorporate that into my own writing. And when I read that comic, I just knew I had to make a similar story as well, the possibilities are endless! It would be so much fun! Plus, I know most people also happened to like reading this very concept, so I thought it was a win-win!

I'd like to think I was - am - right.

You can tell the similarities between my story and the MLB one with how the main character suddenly wakes up with a tail, though the older story takes on a more lighthearted note. I actually did that as a nod to the fanstory as well as pick up the story's pacing.

Other inspirations that influenced me to write this story are PilamdaOd's "Cursed" and mikotyzini's "The Days of Winter". Both are great fictions which I'll recommend you all to read.

With "Cursed", I tried to incorporate how it uses a simple story-structure and develops it into something awesome. I'll tell you what I mean in a moment.

With "The Days of Winter", I take the kind of romance the author wrote and told a similar kind of romance - in my own version, of course, I'm not a plagiarizer.

It's the kind of romance where the characters are already in love with each other, and the story is about them getting the push they needed to confess their love and move forward.

It's quite interesting for me to write this kind of romance. It's the exact opposite of F&GF and I think that's why I had so much fun writing it.

I've already written a slow burn romance, why would I write it again so soon?

Title Troubles

Another thing to note was how much I had trouble picking the right title for this story. I was a nervous wreck when picking the title for the story, just ask my partner FeugoFox42.

We wanted to have a title that sounds good yet also doesn't spoil anything too much.

At first, the title of the story is A Furry Situation, a nod to what inspired the story in the first place. But then I thought "Wait… I don't think people will like me putting 'furries' as a title of my story… they might get the wrong idea" and "Can't I just come up with my own title?"

The second and one of my personal favorites is Mysteries and Monsters. For a long while, that's the title of this story. But then I realized how spoiler-y that title is and decided to change it - even if it sounds super cool.

Howling for Help was also considered, but like the previous one, it just spoils everything too much.

There are loads of other titles FeugoFox42 and I have considered, but eventually, we settled on The Truth and What Matters More because it fits the overall theme of the story and it sounds poetic and I like it.

Though, small note here, if I was given the chance to change the title of the story… I would've chosen The Beginning of Us, simply because it sounds super cool and it's the words of how I chose to end the story.

Structure

Another thing I wanted you all to take note of is this story's structure… or rather, the lack of it.

You see, when I was planning this story, I didn't think it would go on for more than 6 chapters, and the story itself is simple in terms of conflict, so I used the simplest story structure there is:

Set the scene - Inciting incident - Raising the stakes - The main event - resolution.

Yup.

That is literally it.

There's this picture I have where it explains visually how to use the 5 beat storytelling effectively. Google "5 beats of storytelling by Ethos3" and the first thing that comes up should be it.

I heavily based the entire story off of that when I started writing that story.

Set the scene: I start to answer the 5W1H thing. I showed the audience what's going on, who's involved, yadah-yadah-yadah, all throughout Chapter 1 and 2. I also laid down the romance department as well as showed each character's motive and what would eventually break the bridge of Yang and Blake's relationship (temporarily, of course).

Inciting incident: I introduce the protagonists' dilemma. Both Yang's and Blake's, also throughout Chapter 1 and 2. I wrapped it all up and really emphasized it on Chapter 3. I showed each character being vulnerable and flawed because, hey, they're not perfect. What I really want to emphasize is that they're teenagers; kids who are forced to act like adults. Sometimes when I read fanfictions, I just go "Hold up, I don't think I've ever heard any 17 years old I know talk and act like this! I don't think I've heard any adult talk and act like this!"

So yeah, even if they're both young adults, they're still adults. And it's a pet peeve of mine, reading kids my age talk like Shakespeare and act like James Bond. Like, no! Nada!

Raising the stakes: Most of the story feels like it was set on this part of the structure, not that it's a bad thing. I walked through moments that help add context, build towards the climax, and I never forgot to describe what the characters are feeling. I got to be specific and took my sweet time building everything up, simply progressing things slowly but surely.

I used this time to slowly break both Yang and Blake, emotionally, mentally, hell, even physically! I wanted to really push my characters off the edge of the cliff to really give that sense of danger, I wanted there to be a real threat, the thought that "Oh, no… Will they be okay?"

I wanted to really break my characters… because otherwise, they won't be good characters. Just… look at any good book, or any book at all, in fact. You'll notice that all authors make characters suffer. It's just how the story goes. If your character doesn't get hurt, doesn't fail, doesn't get lost halfway, then… what's the point in rooting for them?

The main event: The line that separates the end of the previous structure-point and the start of this point is blurred to me. But I will say that the main event, the real main event, has to be Yang and Blake's conversation when Yang found Blake in that alley.

I know, I know, how can a conversation be a main event of the story?! Especially when the story involves mad scientists and human-experiments and monsters and many more!

Look… The story does involve all of those things, I am fully aware, I am the author. But… at the very core, this is still a love story. And the characters' dilemma is them wondering if the other will ever love them back.

Bumblebee's conversation explains both of the characters' realization - the twist that everyone except them saw coming - and triggers the conclusion of the story.

Everything after this conversation is just… wrapping up the story. Slowly, satisfyingly wrapping up the story.

The resolution: Well… what is there to say about the resolution? It's a resolution, an end to a story.

Yang's Little Arc

Another thing I want to try out in this story is to write a character arc, a flaw or a problem that a character slowly overcomes. I chose to write Yang to be the one to have a character arc because I felt as though that Blake already has a character arc she finished; learning to trust in her teammates, learning to be a good friend, learning that she shouldn't be ashamed of her faunus heritage, blah-blah-blah.

Blake's arc has been done countless of times before by many other authors. It's just… it wouldn't feel that original.

So, why not choose Yang to have an arc instead?

The "ghost/lie" I have her be consumed by is the beliefs that everything's alright and that there's no reason for her to dwell on what happened that night at the Rogue Fang base.

But something is wrong, clearly. And at first, she chooses to turn a blind-eye on it, assuming that it's just Blake being her obsessive-self.

Deep down, she's always known that something is wrong, but she's still distraught by what she saw that she just blocks it all out.

Yang didn't want to admit it, but her trauma and fear of seeing Blake the way she was that night terrified her, and it's what made her act sort of douchey and angrier than usual.

Her not wanting to remember, not wanting to listen, not wanting to get involved is what eventually leads to Blake running away and trying (and failing) to deal with her problem all on her own.

Yang made a mistake.

I intentionally made her make a mistake, because she's not perfect.

And then I did my best to give her the push she needs so she can fix that mistake, and the rest of it… well… it all falls on her hands.

I think she finished her arc quite well, don't you think?

She did her best to fix everything, even using her brain despite herself thinking she's not smart enough to figure out everything. She pressed on. She… well… She did it, in the end! She pulled herself together, she buried her pain aside all to chase after Blake! She learns that she can't just not face a problem!

She went from "No! This is over! I don't want to hear any of this anymore!" to "No… This isn't over yet. We can't leave yet."

I've got to say, I'm proud of my baby dragon!

Supporting Roles

The supporting roles in this story are more important than I first made them out to be, pleasantly so.

Glynda: As I've said before, I chose to include her in the story because I simply disliked Ozpin. But the more I continued to write her into this story, the greater her role becomes. See, she's the only real "Adult" in this story. The rest are just impulsive kids - OC villains notwithstanding. And even she isn't fully able to handle the kind of dangers she's facing. She has a small role, but I like how Bumblebee adores her in one way or another and how she wants to protect them too.

WhiteRose: Hoo, boy. At first, I didn't want to include them as a pairing, because, well, I didn't see any purpose they'd have that would move the plot. But then I sort of write and the characters kinda did their own thing and then, BAM! Purpose!

WhiteRose acts as a sort of guidance for Bumblebee, Yang specifically. You can tell by what little Weiss tells that they've finished their love story long before Bumblebee.

WhiteRose as a pairing might not move the plot forward, but it sure as hell gives Bumblebee the push they need to romance.

Weiss: WhiteRose as a pairing and Weiss Schnee as an individual have differing roles.

One of the many choices I felt was right was having Weiss come with Yang instead of Ruby. And why I thought that was right is because…

Weiss doesn't take anyone's shit.

Yang's on the verge of breaking down. She's angry, we all know it. She was a mess before she even went to Junior's bar.

And someone needs to put her head back in the game, to be frank with her, to tell her "bruh. U need to chill." (pun intended).

If Ruby were there instead of Weiss…

She would've freaked out as well.

She wouldn't be that good at calming Yang down, she would be like "I know you're hurting, I'm sorry Yang, we'll fix everything…" And while that can benefit Yang… it's not what she needs - or rather deserves - to hear.

What Yang should hear is "You're a wreck" and "Remember that we're supposed to be finding Blake" and "You're not the only one that's in pain right now" and "You're supposed to be a huntress, fuckin' act like it".

And the only one who can say that is Weiss.

I also have her relate to Yang a bit on the romance department. Weiss used to be in Yang's place back before she and Ruby became more than partners in school, so she knows what to say to Yang and how to get her to snap out of it.

So, without Weiss, the story would've gone to an entirely different, angstier, darker route that may or may not end in Yang failing to meet Blake in time and Blake succumbing into the madness entirely, far too late for anyone to save her.

So, err… Thanks, Weiss!

(Is it weird that I'm thanking my own characters?

… Nah.)

Sun: He's an amplifier. For Bumblebee's romance. He's there because it makes sense for him to be there in the timeline I'm working on. He doesn't actually appear in the story, but he is there. Yes, his purpose is small, but if he wasn't there, then it would've taken Yang a much longer time to realize what was happening.

… Yeah, he isn't all that important, really, but well, I feel like I was a little too rough on him and he deserves to be mentioned here.

How This Story Ends Up Being

Originally, I wanted this to be a short story with around 20k-30k in total. I wanted this story to be suspenseful, and I want to be unforgiving to our main characters so that they can really grow.

I wanted this to be your average suspenseful, mysterious story.

It's almost bizarre how different the end-product is.

So… This story is… huge, in terms of chapters and characters and, well, everything. I didn't think I'd end up writing such a story like this.

This story includes so many elements, so many things that I feel like there's this sense of "messiness" to it - though I think this is just my personal feeling. This messiness, I believe, is just a result of the character's thoughts and mindset. The more the story progresses, the more they become anxious and scared and angry - rightfully so. So… of course, since I wrote the story from their POV, the writing itself would seem a little rough around the edges.

Overall, I'm… pretty happy with the story. I like that how, in the end, the story is about two teenagers being thrown into dangers they're not ready to face yet face anyway. Teenagers who try to deal with things in a seemingly responsible way. I personally can relate so much to Yang and Blake's dilemma in the story, seeing as how I myself am a teenager. I sincerely hope you all can relate to them too (not in the faunus-experiments and Rogue Fang bit, just in the romance department).

I wanted this to be your average story that goes down the average, almost predictable route… I ended up not being able to help myself and added my own "thing" to it. It ended up being… well… the kind of story I would've written, the kind of story I enjoyed writing so much.

I enjoyed writing this story. I think it's a great story, overall. Sure, there are probably many mistakes and errors, but… I still think it's great overall. It's not perfect, I know. But… it's great. At least, it's slightly better than the average fanfiction people love to read… I think.

This story challenged me to write things I normally don't want to write. It challenged me to be mean to my characters, otherwise, they won't grow. It challenged me not to write certain scenes that won't move the story forward - even if I really wanted to write those scenes.

This is one mess of a story… but I'm proud of it.

Cover Art 2.0 [FeugoFox42]

This one's mine, so I'll take it from here. Just as a head's up, this is going to be a bit of a lengthy part, so strap in.

As mentioned in the A/N in Chapter XV, the new cover art of this pic is actually an original from myself. That's right, I art too.

Going off what had already been written at the time, I wanted to do something for Clementine for the piece, as a thank you of sorts. Even though Blake's Monster-self had already been described, that wasn't what I had in mind, so that's where I started.

Evil Me (because, c'mon - it's a FOX Faunus, and Clementine literally told me when drafting Chapter II that it was supposed to be her way of including me into the story) was trying to make the Faunus he'd captured better, faster and stronger than before, so he created a Special Serum to do that.

When the first part of her transformation occurred, it was painful. She was frightened of what was happening to her, terrified even. But she fought hard to resist the changes, as involuntary and inevitable as they may be. Then, by the end, Blake had lost her fight and she became the beast in Chapter XV that Yang has to overcome. To me, that screamed "Werewolf", especially hearkening to the famous transformation scene in 'An American Werewolf in London'.

But unlike that one, where the beast is very much a hellish wolf, here I wanted to draw far more of a typical wolfman-esque beast - albeit being a pantherlady in lieu of any wolf or male included in the scenario.

The Beast was Bipedal as a result, as that could invoke far more of a terrifying and physically imposing monster than what was written, though the softer side would have been lost, so that's why I didn't push for what I drew at all - I'm only co-writer and beta, after all. I thought the look would further play into Evil Me's ideas of making something meant to be used against Huntsmen, and the idea that Blake had physically grown into this beast.

The bipedal monster look could also let me add more Blake-isms to the character model that would have been easily missed or would have looked right otherwise.

The eyes of the beast were mentioned to be the familiar shade of amber, but that was a given. But her hair, her eye shadow, her scar from Adam sword (that doesn't happen in this timeline, but it's a big part of her character I feel. I mean, it's why she has the scar, but Yang's still in her Beacon attire), all of them would have been missed or looked just completely out of place with a large panther instead.

Whilst I'm on the subject of Yang, I was stoked when her semblance made a comeback in Volume 6, Chapter 12. I actually finished this artwork about an hour before the chapter went live on FIRST, and sent it to Clementine and hour and a half after. That said, I had concepted it and began drawing last Tuesday, so I was really pleased to see how her hair looked and that I sort of got it right for this.

Of course, it was never going to be perfect - there were far more fire effects in the show proper like actual flames, burning embers flicker off her hair too and there's a heat haze above her head - but I wasn't going for full on "Super Saiyan" for her hair. Just glowing enough to illuminate her surroundings. Plus, if you're in a dark underground workspace with a Faunus - who can canonically see in the dark so well they outright won a battle against humans using this as an advantage - you need as much help as you can get. So, I always saw her taking a few hits to fuel the glow initially, then try and defeat Blake any other way from there.

That where the scratches on her gauntlets come from too. Not only is it written that Blake tears at the metal of Ember Celica in the story, it sort of happens in Volume 6, Chapter 11 too with Adam's attack against Yang.

Overall, the piece was super fun to draw, if a little time consuming - I spent six hours colouring the characters and shelves alone on Friday evening right up until 2 in the morning on Saturday. Time and time again I said to myself "this isn't one of my drawings" because of how different it looks to what I normally do. I am not complaining about that at all. To think how much I've grown as an artist is great, and I'm happy y'all get to see it here.

Last Words

So. This story has ended? What now?

… Well, isn't it obvious, fangirls and fanboys?

I continue posting fan fictions! Because I love writing them!

Okay, okay. But seriously, though. Here's a little sneak peek for my next project~~

...

She was a SCHN33.

The most expensive model on the market.

And rightly so; she was the only one of her kind.

Why the humans didn't want to mass-produce more of her model, she didn't know.

She predicted it was either because her model was just too expensive to mass-produce, or it was some way for the seller-humans to market their product as a one-of-a-kind commodity to the human buyers, like an antique piece of pottery, or a centuries-old painting.

Only, she was the opposite of old. She was, in fact, the newest model of android created to date.

Her purpose? A personal ornament for humans to show their high status. A way for humans to show that they were indeed wealthy; wealthy enough to buy the most expensive model of Cyberlife. Like jewelry of sorts.

Only, unlike jewelry, she wasn't useless. If ordered to, she could complete any task; singing, answering any and all questions posed to her, and perhaps even fencing if her owner demanded it.

But she didn't have an owner. Yet.

So for now, her task was to simply stand and, as the selling-human said, 'look pretty'. That was her current Primary Directive: 'Look Pretty'.

It was a relatively simple task, one given to her by her creator and one that only those with clearance could deem fulfilled. She'd stand and give a smile at the customers who walked in and look at her, though most of them never even considered buying her. From the looks of it, all they did was admiring her and examining her, like an art piece from a museum.

It didn't surprise her. She was the newest, most expensive model, and she was designed to be flawless. Her skin was smooth and white like that of a porcelain doll. Her hair was snow white, tied in a perfectly-centered ponytail.

There was not a single scar marring her features.

…

Can you wait?

'Cuz I can't.