#neverfell

Intruders

So I finished writing the first half of Diary of Penny, and: your honor, I love them~

Usually when you have a hero character suddenly partnered up with a villain character, you get a lot of fun banter and that 'maybe we’re not so different after all' dynamic where they develop a soft spot for each other…yeah, this isn’t that. ^^; Instead it’s mostly Watts going "heh, stupid robot with low self-esteem" while Penny has a whole existential crisis.

And yet, I find it really entertaining for some reason. XD I like the idea of Penny having a bad influence who’s barely even manipulating her; really all he’s doing is telling her the harsh truth– she just happens to be in a place in her life where that’s enough to earn her trust. Or I guess you could say, she’s fully aware that she’s being used and berated by an objectively bad person…and yet, it feels like a net benefit, simply because she’s actually allowed to express her emotions and ask questions now. Really puts her life into perspective…

I think this ‘villain arc’ Penny goes through is, overall, a positive development for her. She does need to know that Atlas sees her as a product, not a person; she needs to know that her father built her with that in mind (even if he tries his best to be kind to her regardless). I’d even argue that she needs to feel the resulting fury and indulge it, so she can eventually learn how to manage it as a normal emotion.

There was no mask. There was no mask at all... Across her features, anxiety, resolution, and remorse were being swamped by a surge of recognition, affection, and surprise. Seeing her smile was like being hit in the face with a big, gold gong.

💀🕯️Love Thy Ruler 

The Diary of Penny Polendina

Penny 2.0 looks almost identical to the original, and seems to have all her old memories…but eventually it's revealed that she is actually a separate person with a brand-new soul, who simply studied the diary entries left behind by her former self.

SHOWDOWN

...The completion of this project is so close, I can taste it...unfortunately, this weekend won't be the one, but maybe this upcoming one...or some day this week. By the end of today, I should have a good idea of where I'm at. ^^

So in case anyone hasn't heard (because I've been noodling with this for literal years): I've basically written a RWBY AU fanfic starring Adam Taurus and Cinder Fall. It is now in the form of an hour-and-a-half-long video filled with character discussion, new storytelling, ten tons of manga-style drawings, plus a handful of full-color illustrations like ^this one. It will be called The NeverFell Projects: Beauty and the Beast, and I'm really looking forward to sharing it someday soon.

P.S. Here's a sample of the music style that I ended up settling on, provided by an (entirely fictional) group I hope to bring back for future NeverFell projects~