Jay Strun

Did a little thingy for my pfp, decided to play with keyframes a little, figured out why not post it here as well :D

Obviously there are some differences, but I can't help but think Ruby's alternate Volume 2 outfit was influenced by Penny.

They're both wearing lighter coloured long sleeved shirts under a darker pinafore-esque dress with two slits up the front. Ruby's is poofier, but the silhouette of the dress is straighter (for lack of a better word) than her other outfits, which brings it a bit closer to Penny's, too.

But it ain't called love/Without a little tragedy

Penelope hummed to herself as she swayed around the kitchen, sponge in hand and flour sack towel flung over her shoulder. They were going to be baking later, preparing for Haven’s Day which was only a few weeks away.

(Penelope's mind stuttered and her processors chugged at the notion. Half of the year had passed already?)

Haven’s Day remained Penelope's favorite time of the year: the smells and the sights and the sounds; the music and the laughter and chiming bells and everyone's spirits lifted—if only for that short moment.

The celebration of Haven’s Day was actually an entire week, celebrating the ceasefire and the treaty that ended the Great War. And, what Penelope knew her friends considered the most significant part, her birthday fell within the week!

Technically speaking, Penelope's life began as an android and thus she had no “birthday”, but Dad always considered the day her consciousness was brought online within her chassis to be the day of her “birth.” And that day was December 26th.

She felt her processors shift into higher gear as her cooling fans spun up, a reminder that her emotional state was nearing “elated” classification. And that made her smile, because it was nice to feel nice and know she was feeling nice. Because she’d already known, intrinsically, innately, that she was elated. She knew that this life was exactly what she’d wanted.

She was machine and meat in the same form, and something mystifying that even Remnant’s brightest minds couldn’t quantify. She was the daughter of Pietro Polendina and her body was the creation of an ancient magical being who once lifted a major city into the sky.

Perhaps most importantly of all…Penelope’s focus shifted from her meticulous cleaning job to the presence in the kitchen with her. A girl similar to her in height and stature was leaned against the small island, half-on half-off her stool, chin propped up on a hand and paying attention to nothing but Penelope.

And that…well there was a reaction in Penelope’s body that had as much to do with code or subroutine as something entirely human. She felt her cheeks heating up, a response sourced deep in her heart and soul, in her battery and circuits.

“Flustered” was the name of this emotion, and Penelope enjoyed the way that word sounded but did not particularly enjoy the way it felt. To have someone’s attention so wholly dedicated to her, completely observant of her behavioral quirks and whatever embarrassing stims she might have (a word she’d learned from Nora and Yang that she quite enjoyed)…but it was Penny who was observing her, and that made things...better and worse.

Those two-toned eyes burned into Penelope’s back with something more scorching than fire. They melted her with something more intense than simple heat. She could almost feel them, following the light sway of her hips, the swish of her skirt, the flouncing of her braid, the bouncing of her bow and side plaits of ginger hair as a soothing saxophone serenaded the space.

(Penelope adored the saxophone: she adored the way it resonated in her chest and she especially enjoyed the playfulness of the piano accompaniment that almost encouraged her to dance—or at least nod her head in time.)

Penelope whirled around on her metal heel, sending her braid whipping around and her layers of tulle swishing, and suddenly she was beaming at a red-faced Penny who must have just become aware she’d spent the better part of an hour simply staring at the other girl. Penny sure attempted to look away but Penelope was faster, crossing the short distance and taking one of Penny’s hands in her both of hers.

Bright green eyes met silver-blue as Penelope ducked her head, angled it sideways, crouched somewhat and bent at the waist to meet Penny’s averted gaze.

“Dance with me, starlight.”

Penny could only stare, wide-eyed and silent, looking for all intents and purposes like she’d just crashed—which should be impossible for a human but Penelope’s girl was special indeed.

Several moments passed as Penelope made sure to give Penny time to process, and then she felt her own eyes softening and her hands squeezing a little tighter: providing tactile sensations for Penny to latch onto.

“Nods and taps?” Penelope urged gently, and the unmistakable light of recognition lit up in Penny’s eyes. Penelope had a cheeky ‘there’s my girl’ queued up but it was promptly deleted as Penny shook her head, silver-and-blue eyes alight with…excitement, now. Desire.

“No,” she whispered, and her voice was a squeak which made her pout for a moment. Penny gathered her courage with a deep breath, and her eyes met Penelope’s with newfound heat.

“I want to say it…” still she was hesitant, and quickly her eyes darted between Penelope’s as if seeking permission. And Penelope’s heart was completely melted (the residue sinking past her knees currently) but she found the presence of mind to nod.

But she couldn’t keep her own eyes from wandering; wandering over a face smooth like porcelain and soft like silk with a dusting of cute freckles like constellations in the night sky. Couldn’t stop herself from taking in how perfectly the golden light of the evening sun lit up Penny’s freckles, caught her ginger strands and curls and seemed almost like a plush blanket to curl up under.

(She was so distracted she might have missed Penny’s words, but they struck her like a jolt of electricity.)

“Yes, I…I want…to dance. With you, f-firelight…” Penny inched her face closer, and her lips brushed against Penelope’s in a featherlight touch that completely scrambled the cyborg’s brain and left her knees weak. She was silent for a long time, synapses firing uselessly as her fans kicked on to a much higher speed.

And that reaction got a sly kind of smirk on Penny’s face, something sparking in her eyes and her shoulders straightening somewhat, and when she got off the stool it was with an exaggerated and chipper bounce in her movements.

Armed with what seemed to be newfound confidence, Penny’s hands found Penelope’s and squeezed tight, pulling her girlfriend after her and into the space between the kitchen counter and the island.

Hesitant fingers were pulled away from Penny’s hand as Penelope’s arm wound its way around the human girl’s waist, tugging her closer into a warm embrace. Almost naturally, almost automatically, Penny’s ear found its way to Penelope’s chest, where the whir of her fans was unmistakable.

Penelope’s cheek found its way to the crown of Penny’s head, and as the music wafted from the CD player she led them in a slow swaying dance. Their rhythm was set by the crooning of a saxophone, the lighting set by the glinting of the rays of the afternoon sun on empty cookie trays, and there was not a single thing about this moment that Penny would change.

…except for one thing.

“I love you, Penelope.”

Her ear’s position on Penelope’s chest made it impossible not to hear the processors whir, the fans working overtime to cool the cyborg girl as if this was the first time those words, that sentiment, had been spoken. It was so adorable.

“I love you too, Penny.”

Penny x Penny (Copper Alloy, Closed Circuit, Circuit Mates)

Glasses Penny (Penelope) owned by me Blue-Eyed Penny (Penny) owned by sintara/pennyirl

A very, VERY self indulgent and crack-filled fic about a ship between my version of Penny's and Sintara's, that began totally organically and based on jokes and has slowly invaded my mind and taken over my inspiration.

(all edits done by me)

There's been art made of them too by someone in the Penny's Planet discord server, it's soooooo cute but I don't have permission to share. You can find comics of them made by me on Twitter!

Friends in Vacuo

Maybe That Girl is Enough

Sintara made a playlist to go along with them, with suggestions by me :)

Lore Dump:

Blue Eyes Penny follows the canon story mostly, except for her surviving and making it to Vacuo while the rest of RWBY+J fell. Winter also died, and later it's revelaed to her that Pietro died as well.

Blue Eyes has eyes that change color based on her emotions, and with all of this heartbreak and loss her eyes have reverted to blue.

When she was a robot, as this color came on, it initially caused one of her eyes to malfunction and deactivate, hence the off-colored tone to it. This oddity was impossible to be fixed and Pietro had to admit defeat. It has persisted in her human form.

Green = Default/Happy Blue = Sad/Upset Firefly Orange = Anger/Pissed Pink = Love/Crushing Red = Error/Corrupted Yellow = Pietro Polendina

--

Glasses Penny, who secretly prefers Penelope but has never stated it, was not made fully human by Ambrosius, instead following a chain of events similar to my Two Kind Souls fic: she's a cyborg.

And in the end, only Penelope and Neo ended up falling into the Ever After.

Penny and Neo come out of the Ever After as a trauma-bonded QPR (queer platonic relationship)

For AU purposes, when Penelope stepped through the portal back to Remnant, half of her consciousness/soul went to her Remnant, and the other went to Blue Eyes'.

"When she was needed most"

It started slowly. So very slowly, you'd be hard-pressed to name where it actually started.

Stares that last longer. Hugs that lasted longer. Large portions of every day spent together. At first, a not-insignificant part of Penny was terrified that Penelope would vanish just like….just like everyone else. Back to her own…dimension? Universe? Timeline?

Or, even more of a deep-seated fear: this was a hallucination born of stress. The machinations of an ailing mind. Because Penelope was literally, genuinely, perfect. A level of perfection that would lend itself to the theory of her being a hallucination.

It was like…like she was exactly what Penny needed. Reminding her to do the things most humans could do automatically; breathing was the big one. Penny would find herself just…holding her breath randomly, unaware she was doing it, this tigthening in her chest, until she felt Penelope's hand on her back, or shoulder, or arm. And then her voice, soft and gentle and encouraging, would say "Breathe, Penny."

And she would.

There were other things, too. Penny was not used to needing sleep. As a synthetic girl sleep was very differently from organics. She would simply enter her charging station and power down. There was no "quieting the mind" or "getting comfortable."

Penny powered down standing up, back against hard metal, and she'd tried that on some of her first nights as a human but it was almost impossible, and she was barred from doing it when she almost broke her nose after face-planting.

But Penelope would be there, a reminder that it was time to sleep, and she'd sit there (or lay there), beside Penny until sleep came. And it seemed like Penelope never ran out of ideas to help Penny sleep: counting backward, matching her breaths to Penelope's breaths (her favorite one), doing "meditation" by focusing on one small part of her body and imagining herself relaxing them.

Penny wasn't used to needing food. She'd been human now for a couple weeks (and only known Penelope for about nine days) and still she would forge to eat. And she struggled to eat large meals, or certain types of food, or maintain a balanced diet. Whatever was on hand and she could stomach, Penny would eat.

Unbeknownst to her, Penelope had been observing her habits and preferences, making a list of foods and prepping a meal schedule that would be easy to maintain.

She was just...everything Penny could ever want. More than she thought she could ever deserve.

And it was hard to fight those feelings, hard to let herself feel like she could actually ever earn this kind of treatment. This level of being KNOWN by someone. But there was Penelope, who would hold her hand and say she DID deserve it. That just by EXISTING she'd earned it.

What made matters so much worse, was how much more...confident Penelope was. She could SAY things. She could ACT in ways. And meanwhile Penny second-guessed everything. She doubted, she stressed, she at times could only manage a squeak (a SQUEAK), and a single nod. Her eyes would go wide, her shoulders would scrunch up, her tongue would glue itself to the roof of her mouth, and it was like her brain had simply erased the memory of speech entirely.

...which Penelope said was adorable. Instead of being put off by it, or finding it strange (finding HER strange), Penelope simply smiled from behind fogged up glasses and called it endearing.

Penelope showed her true feelings for Penny in everything she did and...that was part of the wonder of her, in Penny's mind.

The love wasn't supposed to come along with it, but like so many feelings toward Penelope it was intrinsically intertwined with everything else. A jumble of feelings and sensations she could hardly make sense of.

"Penny?"

Penelope was behind her, reassuring warmth seeping through the layers of their clothing, but she didn't initiate the embrace. Like always, she waited for Penny's permission. And she got it when Penny leaned back, on instinct more than with conscious thought.

Penelope's chin came to rest on Penny's head and her arms wrapped around Penny's shoulders, squeezing gently. One of Penny's hand came up to grab onto Penelope's forearm.

"Lunch is ready, if you're hungry."

And she said it like she wouldn't disappointed if Penny declined. Like it would be okay if, for the first time in days, Penny broke their delicate schedule of events.

And...and she wondered what ELSE would be okay to do. And wrapped up in warmth and care, there was only one place her mind really went.

The familiar feeling of a leadened tongue anchored Penny to the spot, and almost immediately Penelope detected the shift. Her arms squeezed gently. Penny could detect the faint whirring of Penelope's remaining processors kicking into higher gear.

"Do you want to eat, starlight? Remember our nods or taps."

Nods and taps. Penny really wondered if she deserved all this. But her finger tapped on Penelope's arm once: 'yes.'

"Sensational," Penelope murmured, "I'm going to let go to get it, alright?"

Tap.

Penelope's warmth lingered and it was all Penny could focus on as the other girl brought over the noodles and steamed vegetables Penny had been smelling for the last...however long.

(That was something else that had taken getting used to: being able to SMELL things.)

Penelope took a seat and scooted herself closer to Penny, so their knees bumped, and the contact sent a spark of electricity through every nerve in Penny's body.

And then Penelope's eyes rose to meet Penny's, and the smile that was spreading froze. Green eyes widened in shock and soft lips fell open in shock.

"Penny! Your eyes!" Penelope's voice was breathy and thin, as if spoken at high altitude.

"My...eyes?"

"Yes! They are pink!"

"They...are?" Penny's eyes crossed for a second before she remembered she couldn't see her own eyes likethat.

"You didn't know?" Penelope was close. So close. Big green eyes wide with wonder and surprise and...things Penny couldn't name.

"No..." Penny said, averting her gaze, "what do you think it means?"

Mercifully, Penelope leaned back, and brought a finger to her chin. "Hmmm...the only person I know who can change their eye color is Mr. Klein. And that is based on emotions so...how are you feeling right now? What are you thinking?"

'that you're really pretty when you're excited'

Penelope blinked. "You think I am pretty?"

"I SAID THAT OUT LOUD?" Penny's entire world came crashing down and she stared in abject horror. This was horrible, awful, terrible, but she was back to not being able to speak! Her mouth just didn't WORK her tongue wouldn't MOVE she couldn't--and she didn't--and it felt like she was DROWNING and--

Penelope's fans were whirring. Loudly. It caught Penny's attention and her focus was latched onto it immediately, starving for anything to distract itself from the raging anxiety on the horizon.

"...I think you are pretty too, if that helps."

'What?'

Penny's face was hot. Like she was overheating and--she missed her cooling fans. Her eyes flickered to a brighter, stronger pink. And Penelope was leaning closer. One of her hands inched across the table, fingers twitching like they were anticipating more movement.

As Penelope's freckled face came closer (she has more freckles than me...), Penny noticed her glasses were fogging up, and that tell-tale whirring grew ever louder.

"Did that help?" Penelope's voice was soft. It was soft and encouraging and warm, it was like one of her strong hugs that left Penny feeling safe and wasn't that something? Feeling safe in a world like theirs. "Your eyes are getting pinker..."

There was something about the way Penelope's eyes darted around Penny's face, the way they seemed to constantly come back to her eyes and lips, the way Penelope's own lips twitched idly, making shapes like pursing and pouting, the corners of her mouth twitching upward.

There was something about how their knees pressed firmly together under the table, how easily the other girl claimed Penny's space like it belonged to her: how readily Penny let her, how much she wanted Penelope to do it.

The only thing Penny could do also felt like the absolute MOST she could do. She wanted to say something, wanted to voice her thoughts and feelings for Penelope, wonderful amazing Penelope, but the sound that left her mouth was better equated to--

"Did you just squeak? Penelope's green eyes brightened (literally brightened) and she giggled and it felt like being cuddled up under her soft blanket with her Beowolf plushie.

The tips of Penelope's fingers brushed against Penny's hand and the human girl jerked like she'd been struck by electricity, though her hand didn't move. She could see the pink hue of her eyes splashed over Penelope's face, reflected in her glasses and beyond those, in her jade green eyes.

Those eyes wandered Penny's face once more, lingering on her lips, and then burned with an intensity Penny had not seen before.

"I like this shade of pink. It brings out your freckles...if that is okay to say."

Penelope looked like she was waiting for something, like she was waiting for a response, but Penny wasn't even capable of reproducing that squeak sound any longer. Even as her heart was nearly bursting with the need to express herself, even as every vein was flooded with desire to scream her true thoughts and feelings to the entire world, her mouth wouldn't open. Her tongue wouldn't move.

With all the patience and acceptance and care in the world several times over, Penelope's hand slowly closed around Penny's from above and squeezed. Pink eyes hadn't left green since Penelope started leaning closer, though when the cyborg girl blinked slowly and purposefully, Penny felt compelled to imitate.

"Words...they are hard for you right now, aren't they, starlight?"

The nickname washed over Penny's anxiety with tranquility she didn't think was possible to feel. It almost seemed silly in retrospect: of course Penelope wouldn't mind or judge Penny for her behavior quirks, she never once had.

(that wouldn't stop penny from worrying about it, though.)

"Could you nod for me, if...everything happening right now is 'okay'? Just one nod for 'yes'."

Penelope made it sound so easy. She made it sound like something Penny could actually do. Something Penelope would be happy with her for doing and...Penny liked making her friend happy.

She managed a single nod. 'I am so awkward...'

But Penelope smiled and it was like the sun had risen in their small kitchenette. She dragged Penny's hand across the table and gently took it in her other, wrapping both around Penny's. Penny could feel the gentle thrum of power through Penelope's body, that electric current that pulsed out from her aura generator, the feeling of her soul just millimeters away from Penny's skin.

"Starlight?" The nickname seized every iota of Penny's attention and she locked eyes with Penelope, "I do not...know what I am doing, either. Does that help to know?"

It really did...

"We can figure it all out together," and there was that smile, and it a thousand times brighter than the sun, and it warmed Penny down to her very core, her own soul alight and radiant like Penelope's.

"You really are...very pretty, Penny Polendina."

Penny's face burst into a smile wider even than Penelope's and her shoulders scrunched up, and her knees bumped into the table as she kicked her legs in full-body excitement and release of tension and it all felt so good and wonderful and she was so happy, happy that a pretty girl called her pretty and happier even still that the pretty girl was Penelope!