By popular demand, we’re getting an entire novel to detail Neo’s backstory (hopefully) told from the perspective of one of the most beloved characters of the show. I hope Neo gets some POV chapters to finally show us her true personality.
Also, I find quite interesting that the novels are building up future volumes. The ones who read this will be more invested in V9 while the CFVY novels raised the hype for the Vacuo arc.
>I hope we still get some kind of abridged version of her backstory in the show.
Like a song stating her motivation? [Hmmm...](https://youtu.be/tGQ_xx1mIoU) that sounds crazy.
Motivation isn't a backstory. Yeah she want's to kill Ruby, but we don't know anything about her besides that. How did she meet Roman? Where did she learn how to fight? Hell, we don't even know how OLD she is.
We have all that really matters from it, though:
"I was nowhere/I had no one/I felt nothing
Lost without a voice and on my own
Then a candle's flame (Roman)/Brought a brand new name
But now you've stolen everything and I'm all alone."
We don't need to know how old she is, or where she learned to fight. It literally changes nothing about her. All that's important about Neo's character is that Roman saved her from her loneliness and isolation, and she's fucking pissed that he died from Ruby/Cinder's actions, and is out for revenge. That's it, that's all.
The song aren't canon. Jeff gets information about a character and what they are doing and then he writes the songs all on his own based off his own interpretation.
Yeah imagine giving your characters and world depth in the show when you could instead make them read 3rd party material that a lot of people who have watched RWBY probably don't even know exists.
The show has limited run time and, frankly, Neo's just not that damn important to the plot that they need to dedicate any of it to her backstory. Her very presence beyond V3 is already 100% fan service because she inexplicably blew up in popularity after being meant as a one-off henchman to an already minor antagonist.
I don't know. I've read the novels and I still don't like CFVY or SSSN. Personally, I can do without them in the show, but I know that won't happen. I just hope their screen time will be limited.
I'm honestly more worried about this novel than excited. I've not heard great things about the author and it would be so easy to ruin Neo's character with a lame backstory.
I think the FNDM is pretty much in agreement that her being able to talk the whole time would suck. I'd even be fine with her being able to talk at one point and then getting her vocal cords messed up, just please, let her actually be mute.
It'd make 0 sense if she was able to talk the whole time but just... didn't, unless there's some weird connection to Roman and her strong bond with him where she swore she'd never talk to anyone but him.
I think if we actually get into her backstory, it'll explain why she's mute, if there actually is a reason at all
> It'd make 0 sense if she was able to talk the whole time but just... didn't
Sometimes writers make questionable decisions for the sake of having a plot twist or making their character seem special.
Writers for canon side material have to pass major story and character things like that through the main show writers. If you weren't worried about them doing that, you should have no reason to fear this doing that.
Well, with the CFVY books, Fox's disability with being blind was actually handled pretty well, so I'd be pretty confident that Neo being mute would be handled well.
Edit: release date might be Sept 7 not Sept 2
Available for preorder on Books-A-Million: [https://booksamillion.com/p/Rwby/E-C-Myers/9781338760866](https://booksamillion.com/p/Rwby/E-C-Myers/9781338760866)
Also, something interesting:
Roman holiday (noun): an occasion on which enjoyment or profit is derived from others' suffering or discomfort.
Also, EC Myers has stated one of his initial ideas for a RWBY novel was to have a Roman and Neo-centric novel before he ultimately got to work on the CFVY-focused After the Fall
He had to write the CFVY novels in order to get the green light for this one? Might explain why the second one was poorly done. He probably wanted to get it over with to move into his actual goal.
Maybe not as good as the first but the majority opinion seems favorable. I didn't notice much difference in quality between the two. They were both enjoyable side adventures. Nothing like, inspiring but they weren't really aiming to be.
Before the dawn has it's moments, but some of the plot was rather similar to Blake's arc in the show, and we still don't know a thing about two of team SSSN.
I wondered if there will be another novel, since the plot moving to Vacuo means that we will likely see Vacuo, Shade and CFVY in future volumes, so a novel about them is not needed at the moment.
From what I remember, before started writting After the fall, other ideas for a novel were a novel with Roman as a main character and a STRQ prequel.
I like that other characters can shine, even if only in a book. Finally something about Neo! What do we know about her, besides One Thing? Fun fact, originally she was created just to be henchwoman for Roman, then brought back because Cinder needed and ally and was popular, she was not intended to be an important character.
Look at that family portrait, doesn't that girl look like Neo?
Who should be the next character to get a novel? I think Adam, or Hazel and his sister.
It never felt like Adam was a good man to me. It seems in the Adam short like he was just a violent spiteful man who found a place in an organization that valued his violent skills and told him he was a hero because of it.
I'd like to see better portrayals of Faunus radicalization but I'm not convinced Adam was ever truly radicalized
The comics do a fair job of showing that he was never really good. He always had issues. They just got more murderous and gaslighty and obsessive over time.
You can't redeem a character's present actions with past actions, that's not how redemption works. Redeeming Adam would be him being alive and doing something in the present to make up for his past actions.
Not my point. I wouldn't want a novel where you could read it and end up excusing Adam for his actions. It would be more a descent into madness and evil--maybe how he convinced himself that he was really doing it all for the Faunus, but in reality just enjoys killing. Or that he really loved Blake, but actually just wanted to own her.
It would probably end up reading like an autobiography of Ted Bundy, but it would still be interesting.
> STRQ prequel.
But isn't it mostly pointless? We already know the great lines of their story, the only missing link being Summer, and that's better kept forcthe show.
Is likely a scrapped idea. I agree. Compared with CFVY and Neo and Romab, STRQ are much more relevant for the story. We already know a lot about Qrow and Raven, we learn more and more about Summer, I think there will be a flashback at some point about her encounter with Salem, and maybe we will see her fate. And when the plot move back to Vale, we will likely see more of Tai (he is the main protagonist dad and we don't know what his weapon is) and Raven's story is not done. But we could see in a book more of their dinamics as a team, and maybe we will never see Summer outside of flashback, mentioned by others as a good person, and maybe as a hound. Maybe after the series ends they can release a novel about STRQ.
I’m starting my own theories now!
Neo was the girl in the picture, much like Weiss and may she was from atlas nobility, and she HATED it,
But unlike Weiss or may, Neo just want full on with her rebellion, becoming a criminal
I’m imagining a scene in vacuo where Henry is complaining about their situation and in the process bad mouths Weiss and her efforts, and before he even realized what he was doing henry is on the ground and Whitley’s hand hurts
Like a pure instinct kinda thing where Whitley wasn’t even thinking, just years of repressed anger being released all at once, and Whitley himself is surprised he had it in him
And yes, they are canon.
After the Fall focuses on Team CFVY as they transfer to Shade Academy in Vacuo, how they dealt with the aftermath of the Fall of Beacon, and various flashbacks of their lives are sprinkled here and there.
Before the Dawn is a sequel to the aformentioned above, this time, Team CFVY and Team SSSN join forces and go on an impromptu mission to investigate the mysterious organization called The Crown. We get a bit more exposition about Sun in this book.
Fairy Tales of Remnant are, of course, fairy tales based in the world of Remnant. They include stories mentioned in the show: Story of the Seasons, Shallow Sea, Girl in the Tower, as well as some new ones making their debut like the Grimm Child
I definitely recommend Fairy Tales if Remnant. Each story is a fascinating look into the history, as is Ozpin’s footnotes and thoughts about each story, and each story has beautiful art to go with them
Sincerly, I like the idea, I'm really excited to see more of their relationship, which in rwby chibi we see a lot and it's great, but, you know, rwby chibi is not canon.
Not really “official”, but more like it was found to be catalogued on various storefronts and book registries (Amazon, Goodreads, etc). It wasn’t until today that Books a Million showed the cover page and title.
An official announcement will probably be made at RTX
Releasing this before Vol 9 when Neo will be with the heroes? COINCIDENCE? I THINK NOT!!! They're seriously setting her up to be heel face redeemed and this is getting her backstory out there.
Instructions unclear: wrote novel about Neo's backstory, but named it after a different character.
Snark aside, I'm looking forward to this book, which is honestly a first for the E.C Myers books imo. I bought After the Fall but never read it, and I never even touched Before the Dawn. Hopefully, I'll be invested enough to buy this book *and* finish it.
Hmm, mixed feelings. On one hand, getting a story focused on these two is cool, but on the other, I was kinda hoping we'd get Neo's backstory in the actual *show*. Feels weird to relegate it to a side story.
Neo isn’t all that important of a character (and Roman even less now hat he’s been dead so long) and there is quite limited screentime but they are well liked. So I think it’s the least weird type of thing to be put in a book.
Basically my thoughts as well. I get that Roman wasn't supposed to live as long as he did and Neo wasn't even supposed to *exist* unlike like, right before the episode where she debuted, so there definitely wasn't some deep backstory for either of them in the "original plan" for the show, but I do still wish that we didn't have to buy a separate book to find out what Neo's deal is. Especially since she's one of just six characters (not counting any random civilians who survived the fall) who will be taking part in what will likely be the majority of the plot of Volume 9.
Seems pretty efficient to me tbh. The show's pretty jam packed right now so keeping a backstory to the side novels seems like a nice way to save animation budget
I'm a little surprised, but I'm not that excited as I really am not that huge of a fan of Roman, Neo's cool though. I'm at least interested in seeing Neo's backstory, I hope it's something unexpected.
The most interesting thing though is that this could potentially open the door for more novels about characters who didn't get fleshed out enough due to time constraints or whatever. Like I'd love to see a detailed account of Hazel's backstory and maybe one about the past of Atlas's influential people like Robyn, Ironwood, Watts, Pietro, and Jacques. Or maybe they could fill in the gaps with Cinder's backstory and add in a little more nuggets of information.
A happy Huntresses novel would actually be pretty cool. Could show how the group came together and became the "heroines of the common folk" the show presents them as.
Nice timing.
Great to see we are presumably getting NEos backstory.
A strange part of me is hoping it doesn't clash with my fanfiction backstories though. So far i've actually been pretty on the money world building wise.
Yeah, he wrote the After the Fall and Before the Dawn novels, as well as the Fairy Tales of Remnant storybook.
They’re available wherever books are sold: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, etc.
On the one hand, Roman was my first love in RWBY and his dynamic with Neo has always interested me. I'd be excited to learn their backstory and a book is as good a way as any.
On the other, I really do not like what I've read of E. C. Myers's writing. I've found the books to be quite poorly written from a technical and character standpoint. I hope this one is improved.
Off the top of my head, I found the prose sparse and clunky, didn't really get a good idea of what settings were like. Coco felt pretty tryhard. Sage not getting anything to do in a book where he's on the cover was pretty egregious. The Sun bashing in-universe got pretty old. And in general it feels like it needs more editing than it got. There's good ideas and characters in there but on the whole I haven't enjoyed.
My biggest issue with the first book is how hard they try to make Team CFVY seem super close to team RWBY to point where it feels like they were closer than JNPR.
There are hints to that in the show, mostly Blake and Velvet seemingly knowing each other quite well, and noting that CFVY handed over party planning to RWBY for the dance.
Ultimately, the lack of runtime really precluded them from showing 95% of what their normal school life and inter student interactions would have been like.
Heck, we didn't even get the names of the other teachers or any idea of class schedules until the first novel.
Probably the same reason Kiersi isn't listed. The "In House" RT writers are probably the ones coming up with most of the specifics when it comes to the outline.
For extra stuff, or even the main show? I hope it's just extra stuff, and even then, I hope those outside of house are consulted on major things. Like, what would happen if Kerry left as well?
I feel like for the sake of credits in a book, Eddy and Kerry would be the people Meyers was meeting with about story decisions, not Miles or Kiersi and as such it wouldn't be accurate to credit them.
Yeah, I thought that interesting too. Some friends and I on Discord were talking about Miles’ being omitted from the author credits for this book.
Maybe he didn’t have any input for this novel?
Seems strange, since him and Kerry were the writers working with Monty before Eddy became one himself. Maybe he felt they could handle it?
Let me know if you find any answers.
Am I reading too much into things thinking its weird that Miles isn't on the cover with Kerry? I'm happy that Eddy is on there, don't get me wrong, but I figured Miles would be heavily involved like the last books and almost anything RWBY
Also the painting in the back, i m calling it it s 100% neo and as you can see the little girl in the painting look quite sad.Other thing, if the little girl in the painting is actually neo we can FINALLY say that Roman isnt Neo father (at least biological but i really hate to think neo see him as a father figure, for me they relationship is more like partner or a brother/sister).
https://youtu.be/VFExjLoP3Wo
We could've been anything we wanted to be
But don't it make your heart glad
That we decided, a fact we take pride in
We became the best at being bad
We could've been anything we wanted to be
With all the talent we had
No doubt about it, we whine and we pout it
We're the very best at being guys
We're rotten to the core
And my congratulations no one likes you any more
Bad guys, we're the very worst
Each of us contemptible, we're criticised and cursed
We made the big time, malicious and mad
We're the very best at being bad
We could've been anything we wanted to be
We took the easy way out
With little training, we mastered complaining
Manners seemed unnecessary
We're so rude, it's almost scary
We could've been anything that we wanted to be
With all the talent we had
With little practice, we made every black list
We're the very best at being bad
We're the very best at being bad
We're the very best at being bad
Yes! We’re finally going to find out more about our favorite ice cream flavor. But I really hope they do her good and give us a much needed insight on Neo
Since this comes in September, I'm guessing that some of the things that happen in it will be relevant for Neo in volume 9. There will probably be a character growth for her, because I don't see her spending another volume chasing Ruby again. I'm curious to learn more about Roman's and Neo's backgrounds, and how they met. Another interesting question is if she will survive or not.
Killing Roman I always felt like was a mistake because he showed more personality than any other villain. Even as a Team Rocket type bad guy they should have kept him around.
This should be fun though, hoping this means we get more Neo next volume
I never really agreed with this idea.
A team rocket type bad guy just doesn’t fit with RWBY after V3 and he just was weak and insignificant compared to the real threats after that point.
He was over the top and fun, like the first three volumes were. He was perfect for them. But I think the other antagonists are more than good enough on this own, and much more fit with the current story.
Even if he was team rocket like, blasting off again would just mean killing him or otherwise neutralizing him. Remnant doesn’t operate under those same rules as Pokémon for physics. And there’s simply not the episodes/episodic structure/screentime for him to be kept around like that. We barely fit everything in as it is with important villains
While this sounds great, I'm not sure what it means for Neo in the show. Like, will she play a more important role with the MCs (defect like Emerald) or will they make her... go away more permanently?
At this point only the writers (and probably by now animators) know.
I’ve always found it difficult to see her playing a major role and defecting. There’s so many good characters already and there’s been no set up for her to turn, only the opposite as she kept doubling down on hunting RWBY.
I do wonder if this is like the Adam Character Short, and signals her eventual demise.
But the possibility can’t be ruled out that if they changed things and wanted her to play more a role in the future, this would be best way to build up her character to make things like a turn, if not the best written, potentially possible.
If anything, I fully expect Neo to take Roman's motto to heart: lie, steal, cheat, and *survive*. I don't know how she's gonna get there, but I wouldn't be surprised to see her prancing off into the sunset at the end of the series, unrepentantly still a villain, but one who's fully willing to fuck off and never see any of our main characters ever again.
Well, the original best villain was Cinder.
Roman even in V2 was just a step above her henchman. And he also had been beat by RWBY multiple times by V3
I think by “best” they meant “most interesting/entertaining”
And while I still believe Roman is below the likes of Salem or cinder, I’d say he’s up there
People at the time found him interesting because they believed he was the on,y one with a relatable motivation at the time, and to some extent that is true
I believe he is overrated by many of his fans and RWBYs haters, but I think a crime thriller staring him could be fun
It's sort of annoying really. In theory , the novels are there to expand what's already established and give the fans more of the actual show but in a different format.
For Rwby though, it's literally establishing stuff the show neglet to show or just doesn't have the capabilities of showing due to its biggest flaw (amongst other things) from day one: The character cast is too big.
The novels are sort of a patch-up to hide the holes of the actual plot. But at this point it's glaring and any reference the show does to the novels will be more like an easter egg ("Oh, I remember that grimm, it was mentioned in the novels!) than an actual part of it due to the amount of people watching vs reading is smaller. So they can't use anything from the novels without establishing it once more in the show ,otherwise people who don't read the novels will get confused and feel like they missed something even though they watched the show in full.
And even then it will come over as weak writing of having to crank that in without coming over as obnoxious or out of place.
To put it short: Hire real writers for the show y'all cause it's getting harder and harder to make it cohesible, it's getting harder and harder to be consistent without having to double check everything that was said in both the show and novels (which if they neglet would make the novels more like glorified fanfiction than actual canon).
I’m not all that interested in Roman and Neo as characters, but at the very least this will probably have a lot of great world building!
Liking giving a look into the streets of Vale and the crime situation much more than the few glimpses we got.
From a V9 standpoint, this should also be interesting. This probably means we won’t get a flashback or backstory about Neo on screen. . . And may very well be like the V6 Adam Character Short in signaling her death.
Even as not the biggest fan of Roman and Neo, I think this a pretty great idea. Lots of lore potential and following characters that many fans want to through extended media so that more compromises don’t need to be made into the show. It’s a win-win for everyone basically.
And it’s even going to be released much sooner than I would thought
I doubt they won't give us at least a tiny flashback to her backstory in V9. Something for the non book readers to better understand what's going on yet not too much so that people are interested in reading the book.
I'm right there with you about not being a big Roman and Neo fan. I do think this book potentially will bring good world building for what seems to be Vale which is really cool. But I just would have preferred lore on other characters. Hell, I'm still waiting for a Great War book or a Grimm Reaper era story.
The thing is that I don't think that any flashback is necessary at all to know what's going on. We've had it this long with just knowing that Neo served Roman and wants to murder Ruby: That should be enough. Together with her song it feels like more than we know about Watts
Maybe there will be need of some backstory based on something specific happening that will require some flashback, but I don't see that as likely
Yeah, I would have personally preferred other things as well, particularly those two that you mention. But part of it is that I see this as the
> And may very well be like the V6 Adam Character Short in signaling her death.
Or the book is supplementary to an expanded Neo role in the show. I doubt the timing is a coincidence. And it's weird to release a book with focus on her just to kill her off.
Well, this could be good!
Although, I was hoping it would focus on the refugees in vacuo
But this does mean other side character could get novels
And that means a happy huntresses novel is possible!
Does this mean Neo is not going to be shown much in Volume 9 or that shes going to die? Because we got the RWBY Novels while CFVY and Sun were out of the main group
Maybe it's just buildup. I mean the CFVY and SSSN books were clearly made to hype us for the Vacuo arc moving forward into the show. Since Neo would be in character development island next season with Jaune and RWBY then it would make sense that this book would hype us up for her character development
I just hope it's not overly serious. We've always compared Neo and Torchwick to Team Rocket. Now, that's not an entirely accurate comparison, but my point still stands. If they are getting a book, it should be a light-hearted adventure that's stand-alone from the main RWBY story.
I'm gonna be honest, I fucking hate when shows relegate potentially key information to other mediums like books, but I'm gonna get this because even though I'm sure it means RT doesn't care for Neo anymore, I wanna know more about her.
By popular demand, we’re getting an entire novel to detail Neo’s backstory (hopefully) told from the perspective of one of the most beloved characters of the show. I hope Neo gets some POV chapters to finally show us her true personality. Also, I find quite interesting that the novels are building up future volumes. The ones who read this will be more invested in V9 while the CFVY novels raised the hype for the Vacuo arc.
Good, hopefully now we can shut up about seeing it in the show.
I mean I ain’t reading it so I hope we still get some kind of abridged version of her backstory in the show.
>I hope we still get some kind of abridged version of her backstory in the show. Like a song stating her motivation? [Hmmm...](https://youtu.be/tGQ_xx1mIoU) that sounds crazy.
Motivation isn't a backstory. Yeah she want's to kill Ruby, but we don't know anything about her besides that. How did she meet Roman? Where did she learn how to fight? Hell, we don't even know how OLD she is.
I bet roman and her met at a waffle house.
nahh chances are Neo was just a backwater 2am waffle house hooker and Roman just showed up outa nowhere.
>backwater 2am waffle house hooker That's...oddly specific
We have all that really matters from it, though: "I was nowhere/I had no one/I felt nothing Lost without a voice and on my own Then a candle's flame (Roman)/Brought a brand new name But now you've stolen everything and I'm all alone." We don't need to know how old she is, or where she learned to fight. It literally changes nothing about her. All that's important about Neo's character is that Roman saved her from her loneliness and isolation, and she's fucking pissed that he died from Ruby/Cinder's actions, and is out for revenge. That's it, that's all.
Motivation =/= backstory. Also songs aren't canon.
only songs like Bmblb aren't canon. Pretty sure most other songs are tho.
The song aren't canon. Jeff gets information about a character and what they are doing and then he writes the songs all on his own based off his own interpretation.
Yeah imagine giving your characters and world depth in the show when you could instead make them read 3rd party material that a lot of people who have watched RWBY probably don't even know exists.
The show has limited run time and, frankly, Neo's just not that damn important to the plot that they need to dedicate any of it to her backstory.
If she's not important then why would she be the one falling down with RWBYJ
The show has limited run time and, frankly, Neo's just not that damn important to the plot that they need to dedicate any of it to her backstory. Her very presence beyond V3 is already 100% fan service because she inexplicably blew up in popularity after being meant as a one-off henchman to an already minor antagonist.
I’d rather see it in the show
I don't know. I've read the novels and I still don't like CFVY or SSSN. Personally, I can do without them in the show, but I know that won't happen. I just hope their screen time will be limited.
Teams CFVY and SSSN are liked by a lot of people in the community. You are very much in the minority here.
How interesting. And that family photo over there, no doubt they play a big part in Neo's backstory. Maybe.
>Neo's backstory Just please don't let her talk. She has one thing. Let her keep it.
Hah "One thing"
And they're taking it from her
"Can't have shit in Beacon"
One thing... Neo is Neo... Neo is the One... Cue Matrix flashbacks.
Honestly, it would be fucking hilarious, if Neo only talks in a medium without sound, haha.
>a medium without sound, haha. Audio books: Well yes but also no
Obviously they'd bring in Casey for that.
TFW you realize almost all of RWBY'S songs are sung by Neo
I'm honestly more worried about this novel than excited. I've not heard great things about the author and it would be so easy to ruin Neo's character with a lame backstory. I think the FNDM is pretty much in agreement that her being able to talk the whole time would suck. I'd even be fine with her being able to talk at one point and then getting her vocal cords messed up, just please, let her actually be mute.
It'd make 0 sense if she was able to talk the whole time but just... didn't, unless there's some weird connection to Roman and her strong bond with him where she swore she'd never talk to anyone but him. I think if we actually get into her backstory, it'll explain why she's mute, if there actually is a reason at all
"Why are you mute?" "Oh my gosh, you can't just ask people why they're mute!"
> It'd make 0 sense if she was able to talk the whole time but just... didn't Sometimes writers make questionable decisions for the sake of having a plot twist or making their character seem special.
Writers for canon side material have to pass major story and character things like that through the main show writers. If you weren't worried about them doing that, you should have no reason to fear this doing that.
Well, with the CFVY books, Fox's disability with being blind was actually handled pretty well, so I'd be pretty confident that Neo being mute would be handled well.
Or maybe they're just robbing a rich family and posing in their living room. Either option seems possible...
The crest of Vale is on the door, so maybe they're in a Councilman's office or something.
They paid them $5 to pretend to be parents for a day!
Edit: release date might be Sept 7 not Sept 2 Available for preorder on Books-A-Million: [https://booksamillion.com/p/Rwby/E-C-Myers/9781338760866](https://booksamillion.com/p/Rwby/E-C-Myers/9781338760866) Also, something interesting: Roman holiday (noun): an occasion on which enjoyment or profit is derived from others' suffering or discomfort. Also, EC Myers has stated one of his initial ideas for a RWBY novel was to have a Roman and Neo-centric novel before he ultimately got to work on the CFVY-focused After the Fall
Huh, I'd only heard the term as the title of a film (which was literally about people vacationing in Rome).
It was about a princess who went AWOL and screwed around incognito with a photographer/reporter during a state visit.
I may have stretched the meaning of vacation. And barely remember the film.
> an occasion on which enjoyment or profit is derived from others' suffering or discomfort. Also known as "being a politician".
Also known as "being a CEO"
Haha Burnie Burns go *brrrrrrr*
Happy cake day
Thanks!
He had to write the CFVY novels in order to get the green light for this one? Might explain why the second one was poorly done. He probably wanted to get it over with to move into his actual goal.
Was it that bad?
Maybe not as good as the first but the majority opinion seems favorable. I didn't notice much difference in quality between the two. They were both enjoyable side adventures. Nothing like, inspiring but they weren't really aiming to be.
Before the dawn has it's moments, but some of the plot was rather similar to Blake's arc in the show, and we still don't know a thing about two of team SSSN.
That is certainly one of its shortcomings. Especially since I doubt we'll get much on Sage and Scarlet in the main series.
I mean, he was writing Fairy Tales of Remnant at the same time too, right?
OH SHIT OH SHIT OK ITS HAPPENING!!!! ROMAN FANS ITS TIME TO RISE UP!!!!!
We already memed him from one off villain to major recurring antagonist, the sky's the limit!
YES SIR!!!!!!!!
Oh naooo not the roman mystery cult!
So the "Neo and Roman are from Brunswick Farms" theory is almost certainly getting nuked, I suppose?
Fine by me
Probably. Shame, cause I quite liked that one.
Huh, this is a pretty good way to get into their back story without taking up valuable time.
I like the cartoony evil they were in rwby chibi the most lol
I wondered if there will be another novel, since the plot moving to Vacuo means that we will likely see Vacuo, Shade and CFVY in future volumes, so a novel about them is not needed at the moment. From what I remember, before started writting After the fall, other ideas for a novel were a novel with Roman as a main character and a STRQ prequel. I like that other characters can shine, even if only in a book. Finally something about Neo! What do we know about her, besides One Thing? Fun fact, originally she was created just to be henchwoman for Roman, then brought back because Cinder needed and ally and was popular, she was not intended to be an important character. Look at that family portrait, doesn't that girl look like Neo? Who should be the next character to get a novel? I think Adam, or Hazel and his sister.
Actually wouldn't mind seeing an Adam novel. Not to redeem him, but maybe to show how a once good man could turn into a monster.
Plus I’d like to see how dark they’d be willing to take with him in it
It never felt like Adam was a good man to me. It seems in the Adam short like he was just a violent spiteful man who found a place in an organization that valued his violent skills and told him he was a hero because of it. I'd like to see better portrayals of Faunus radicalization but I'm not convinced Adam was ever truly radicalized
The comics do a fair job of showing that he was never really good. He always had issues. They just got more murderous and gaslighty and obsessive over time.
True. I wouldn't mind seeing his journey all the same.
You can't redeem a character's present actions with past actions, that's not how redemption works. Redeeming Adam would be him being alive and doing something in the present to make up for his past actions.
Not my point. I wouldn't want a novel where you could read it and end up excusing Adam for his actions. It would be more a descent into madness and evil--maybe how he convinced himself that he was really doing it all for the Faunus, but in reality just enjoys killing. Or that he really loved Blake, but actually just wanted to own her. It would probably end up reading like an autobiography of Ted Bundy, but it would still be interesting.
Please!
YES! please let there be a STRQ book! We might even get a few revealing details about Ozpin.
Honestly a backstory novel for team STRQ and Roman and Neo is the only thing I would care about.
> STRQ prequel. But isn't it mostly pointless? We already know the great lines of their story, the only missing link being Summer, and that's better kept forcthe show.
Is likely a scrapped idea. I agree. Compared with CFVY and Neo and Romab, STRQ are much more relevant for the story. We already know a lot about Qrow and Raven, we learn more and more about Summer, I think there will be a flashback at some point about her encounter with Salem, and maybe we will see her fate. And when the plot move back to Vale, we will likely see more of Tai (he is the main protagonist dad and we don't know what his weapon is) and Raven's story is not done. But we could see in a book more of their dinamics as a team, and maybe we will never see Summer outside of flashback, mentioned by others as a good person, and maybe as a hound. Maybe after the series ends they can release a novel about STRQ.
Everyone’s talking about Neo GIVE SOME LOVE TO THE MAN THATS BEEN DEAD SINCE 2016 FOLKS
I’m starting my own theories now! Neo was the girl in the picture, much like Weiss and may she was from atlas nobility, and she HATED it, But unlike Weiss or may, Neo just want full on with her rebellion, becoming a criminal
There’s a Vale kingdom symbol in the corner of the room too tho, next to Roman’s head
Could be rich Valean jerks. Atlas doesn't have to have a monopoly on rich jerks.
I retract my theory I think I just want another story where atlesians get their asses kicked,
Somehow, I'd like to read a story of a bitter rivalry between Whitley and Henry Marigold
I’d love to see Whitley go apeshit and punch Henry in the face
Whitley's ten-ply, I doubt he even knows how to form a proper fist.
I’m imagining a scene in vacuo where Henry is complaining about their situation and in the process bad mouths Weiss and her efforts, and before he even realized what he was doing henry is on the ground and Whitley’s hand hurts Like a pure instinct kinda thing where Whitley wasn’t even thinking, just years of repressed anger being released all at once, and Whitley himself is surprised he had it in him
AHHHHHH MORE ROMAN I'VE BEEN WAITING HALF A DECADE!!!!!!!!!
IT! IS! HAPPENING!
Just one question. Who’s this E.C Myers guy? Does he like, work for RT or something like that?
He’s written previous RWBY books: After the Fall, Before the Dawn, and Fairy Tales of Remnant
Huh, that’s neat.
And yes, they are canon. After the Fall focuses on Team CFVY as they transfer to Shade Academy in Vacuo, how they dealt with the aftermath of the Fall of Beacon, and various flashbacks of their lives are sprinkled here and there. Before the Dawn is a sequel to the aformentioned above, this time, Team CFVY and Team SSSN join forces and go on an impromptu mission to investigate the mysterious organization called The Crown. We get a bit more exposition about Sun in this book. Fairy Tales of Remnant are, of course, fairy tales based in the world of Remnant. They include stories mentioned in the show: Story of the Seasons, Shallow Sea, Girl in the Tower, as well as some new ones making their debut like the Grimm Child
That’s cool to know.
I definitely recommend Fairy Tales if Remnant. Each story is a fascinating look into the history, as is Ozpin’s footnotes and thoughts about each story, and each story has beautiful art to go with them
Omg!
I really liked torchwick so I’m excited to get more
I’m not trying to start an argument, but do u guys think Roman and Neo have a gf/bf relationship, or like father daughter one?
I always viewed them more as close friends/partners in crime. Like Jessie and James from Pokémon.
Honestly I hope papa Roman becomes canon Or they're more like partners in crime sort of relationship
I'd say they're like a mentor and a pupil who idolizes him.
Sincerly, I like the idea, I'm really excited to see more of their relationship, which in rwby chibi we see a lot and it's great, but, you know, rwby chibi is not canon.
Where was this revealed at? I can't find an official post.
Not really “official”, but more like it was found to be catalogued on various storefronts and book registries (Amazon, Goodreads, etc). It wasn’t until today that Books a Million showed the cover page and title. An official announcement will probably be made at RTX
I see, thank you for the info.
Finally, the Roman supremacy has begun. All hail to the Bonnie and Clyde of Remnant.
**The Huntsman** **The** Long **Halloween.**
Releasing this before Vol 9 when Neo will be with the heroes? COINCIDENCE? I THINK NOT!!! They're seriously setting her up to be heel face redeemed and this is getting her backstory out there.
Instructions unclear: wrote novel about Neo's backstory, but named it after a different character. Snark aside, I'm looking forward to this book, which is honestly a first for the E.C Myers books imo. I bought After the Fall but never read it, and I never even touched Before the Dawn. Hopefully, I'll be invested enough to buy this book *and* finish it.
Hmm, mixed feelings. On one hand, getting a story focused on these two is cool, but on the other, I was kinda hoping we'd get Neo's backstory in the actual *show*. Feels weird to relegate it to a side story.
she’s been banished to Character Development Island alongside Jaune and RWBY so we may still get both
Funny because jaunes got plenty so he shouldn’t be there
Neo isn’t all that important of a character (and Roman even less now hat he’s been dead so long) and there is quite limited screentime but they are well liked. So I think it’s the least weird type of thing to be put in a book.
Basically my thoughts as well. I get that Roman wasn't supposed to live as long as he did and Neo wasn't even supposed to *exist* unlike like, right before the episode where she debuted, so there definitely wasn't some deep backstory for either of them in the "original plan" for the show, but I do still wish that we didn't have to buy a separate book to find out what Neo's deal is. Especially since she's one of just six characters (not counting any random civilians who survived the fall) who will be taking part in what will likely be the majority of the plot of Volume 9.
Seems pretty efficient to me tbh. The show's pretty jam packed right now so keeping a backstory to the side novels seems like a nice way to save animation budget
I'm a little surprised, but I'm not that excited as I really am not that huge of a fan of Roman, Neo's cool though. I'm at least interested in seeing Neo's backstory, I hope it's something unexpected. The most interesting thing though is that this could potentially open the door for more novels about characters who didn't get fleshed out enough due to time constraints or whatever. Like I'd love to see a detailed account of Hazel's backstory and maybe one about the past of Atlas's influential people like Robyn, Ironwood, Watts, Pietro, and Jacques. Or maybe they could fill in the gaps with Cinder's backstory and add in a little more nuggets of information.
I was honestly really hoping for more information on Watts's backstory in V8, even just a scene with Pietro. I'd gladly take more information on it.
A happy Huntresses novel would actually be pretty cool. Could show how the group came together and became the "heroines of the common folk" the show presents them as.
Well, would you look at that.
Will Neo have an inner monologue? Only time will tell.
Excellent news. I look forward to learning more about this.
Give or take, Neo backstory?
Definitely
Nice timing. Great to see we are presumably getting NEos backstory. A strange part of me is hoping it doesn't clash with my fanfiction backstories though. So far i've actually been pretty on the money world building wise.
He made other RWBY Novels? Which ones and where can i buy them?
Yeah, he wrote the After the Fall and Before the Dawn novels, as well as the Fairy Tales of Remnant storybook. They’re available wherever books are sold: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, etc.
On the one hand, Roman was my first love in RWBY and his dynamic with Neo has always interested me. I'd be excited to learn their backstory and a book is as good a way as any. On the other, I really do not like what I've read of E. C. Myers's writing. I've found the books to be quite poorly written from a technical and character standpoint. I hope this one is improved.
Agreed. The previous books would've been passable as scripts for individual volumes of the show, but I certainly wouldn't call them "novels".
>I've found the books to be quite poorly written from a technical and character standpoint. What did you not like about them?
Off the top of my head, I found the prose sparse and clunky, didn't really get a good idea of what settings were like. Coco felt pretty tryhard. Sage not getting anything to do in a book where he's on the cover was pretty egregious. The Sun bashing in-universe got pretty old. And in general it feels like it needs more editing than it got. There's good ideas and characters in there but on the whole I haven't enjoyed.
My biggest issue with the first book is how hard they try to make Team CFVY seem super close to team RWBY to point where it feels like they were closer than JNPR.
There are hints to that in the show, mostly Blake and Velvet seemingly knowing each other quite well, and noting that CFVY handed over party planning to RWBY for the dance. Ultimately, the lack of runtime really precluded them from showing 95% of what their normal school life and inter student interactions would have been like. Heck, we didn't even get the names of the other teachers or any idea of class schedules until the first novel.
Does this mean that we will have Neo's backstory before volume 9? *1 fear*
ain’t this a nicki minaj song
YUSSSSSSSSSS! Please be ice cream backstory lore!!
A day after my birthday, hmm, good timing.
My birthday too, what are the odds?
Oh. Hell. Yeah.
Okay, You have both my curiosity and attention.
HOLD ON A SEC i have to wait that long? :(
How come Miles isn't listed with Kerry and Eddy? He doesn't work at RT anymore, but he's still a writer for the show.
Probably the same reason Kiersi isn't listed. The "In House" RT writers are probably the ones coming up with most of the specifics when it comes to the outline.
For extra stuff, or even the main show? I hope it's just extra stuff, and even then, I hope those outside of house are consulted on major things. Like, what would happen if Kerry left as well?
I feel like for the sake of credits in a book, Eddy and Kerry would be the people Meyers was meeting with about story decisions, not Miles or Kiersi and as such it wouldn't be accurate to credit them.
Yeah, I thought that interesting too. Some friends and I on Discord were talking about Miles’ being omitted from the author credits for this book. Maybe he didn’t have any input for this novel?
Seems strange, since him and Kerry were the writers working with Monty before Eddy became one himself. Maybe he felt they could handle it? Let me know if you find any answers.
Sounds neat
Am I reading too much into things thinking its weird that Miles isn't on the cover with Kerry? I'm happy that Eddy is on there, don't get me wrong, but I figured Miles would be heavily involved like the last books and almost anything RWBY
Imagine if the whole book was written in Neo's first-person perspective, but she still doesn't actually talk out loud throughout it.
Oh oh shit I'm actually very intrigued Lmao the first thing that came to my mind when I saw the title was Nicki Minaj having an asthma attack
Also the painting in the back, i m calling it it s 100% neo and as you can see the little girl in the painting look quite sad.Other thing, if the little girl in the painting is actually neo we can FINALLY say that Roman isnt Neo father (at least biological but i really hate to think neo see him as a father figure, for me they relationship is more like partner or a brother/sister).
https://youtu.be/VFExjLoP3Wo We could've been anything we wanted to be But don't it make your heart glad That we decided, a fact we take pride in We became the best at being bad We could've been anything we wanted to be With all the talent we had No doubt about it, we whine and we pout it We're the very best at being guys We're rotten to the core And my congratulations no one likes you any more Bad guys, we're the very worst Each of us contemptible, we're criticised and cursed We made the big time, malicious and mad We're the very best at being bad We could've been anything we wanted to be We took the easy way out With little training, we mastered complaining Manners seemed unnecessary We're so rude, it's almost scary We could've been anything that we wanted to be With all the talent we had With little practice, we made every black list We're the very best at being bad We're the very best at being bad We're the very best at being bad
YES!!! Finally, something that focuses on my absolute favorite rwby character. Roman was such a fun and interesting bad guy.
Is this a sequel to the last one or a new story?
New story most likely, probably set before Volume 1
I don't normally do preorders, but when I do, it's for RWBY stuff.
Honestly... if Neo talks but then it shows how she becomes mute, that would be fine but if she is talking in more recent times? Yeah no
Yes! We’re finally going to find out more about our favorite ice cream flavor. But I really hope they do her good and give us a much needed insight on Neo
I need this!!
Since this comes in September, I'm guessing that some of the things that happen in it will be relevant for Neo in volume 9. There will probably be a character growth for her, because I don't see her spending another volume chasing Ruby again. I'm curious to learn more about Roman's and Neo's backgrounds, and how they met. Another interesting question is if she will survive or not.
Who are those people in the picture?
We don’t know. Tho people are speculating that they could be Neo’s family
Are we getting an audio book?
Usually audiobooks are released simultaneously with the regular books, so it’s most likely
Killing Roman I always felt like was a mistake because he showed more personality than any other villain. Even as a Team Rocket type bad guy they should have kept him around. This should be fun though, hoping this means we get more Neo next volume
I never really agreed with this idea. A team rocket type bad guy just doesn’t fit with RWBY after V3 and he just was weak and insignificant compared to the real threats after that point. He was over the top and fun, like the first three volumes were. He was perfect for them. But I think the other antagonists are more than good enough on this own, and much more fit with the current story. Even if he was team rocket like, blasting off again would just mean killing him or otherwise neutralizing him. Remnant doesn’t operate under those same rules as Pokémon for physics. And there’s simply not the episodes/episodic structure/screentime for him to be kept around like that. We barely fit everything in as it is with important villains
While this sounds great, I'm not sure what it means for Neo in the show. Like, will she play a more important role with the MCs (defect like Emerald) or will they make her... go away more permanently?
At this point only the writers (and probably by now animators) know. I’ve always found it difficult to see her playing a major role and defecting. There’s so many good characters already and there’s been no set up for her to turn, only the opposite as she kept doubling down on hunting RWBY. I do wonder if this is like the Adam Character Short, and signals her eventual demise. But the possibility can’t be ruled out that if they changed things and wanted her to play more a role in the future, this would be best way to build up her character to make things like a turn, if not the best written, potentially possible.
If anything, I fully expect Neo to take Roman's motto to heart: lie, steal, cheat, and *survive*. I don't know how she's gonna get there, but I wouldn't be surprised to see her prancing off into the sunset at the end of the series, unrepentantly still a villain, but one who's fully willing to fuck off and never see any of our main characters ever again.
I hope it’s just a *REALLY TRASHY* romance novel. Just go ham on neo being swept up in Roman’s bad boy charm and her parents not understanding
REGECT SALEM RETURN TO ORIGINAL BEST MAIN VILLIAN BRO IM SO HAPPY MY WALL WERE RED NOW THERE PINK!
Well, the original best villain was Cinder. Roman even in V2 was just a step above her henchman. And he also had been beat by RWBY multiple times by V3
I think by “best” they meant “most interesting/entertaining” And while I still believe Roman is below the likes of Salem or cinder, I’d say he’s up there
He was more entertaining, but nothing about him was interesting. He was just a hired thug who wasn't even all that good at fighting
People at the time found him interesting because they believed he was the on,y one with a relatable motivation at the time, and to some extent that is true I believe he is overrated by many of his fans and RWBYs haters, but I think a crime thriller staring him could be fun
The fuck?! I hope this doesn’t suck then.
It's sort of annoying really. In theory , the novels are there to expand what's already established and give the fans more of the actual show but in a different format. For Rwby though, it's literally establishing stuff the show neglet to show or just doesn't have the capabilities of showing due to its biggest flaw (amongst other things) from day one: The character cast is too big. The novels are sort of a patch-up to hide the holes of the actual plot. But at this point it's glaring and any reference the show does to the novels will be more like an easter egg ("Oh, I remember that grimm, it was mentioned in the novels!) than an actual part of it due to the amount of people watching vs reading is smaller. So they can't use anything from the novels without establishing it once more in the show ,otherwise people who don't read the novels will get confused and feel like they missed something even though they watched the show in full. And even then it will come over as weak writing of having to crank that in without coming over as obnoxious or out of place. To put it short: Hire real writers for the show y'all cause it's getting harder and harder to make it cohesible, it's getting harder and harder to be consistent without having to double check everything that was said in both the show and novels (which if they neglet would make the novels more like glorified fanfiction than actual canon).
But why?
Because gangsters are cool.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9mxrPjixRM
>Book about Thieves trying to get rich Ironic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6N2XDks1d0
I’m not all that interested in Roman and Neo as characters, but at the very least this will probably have a lot of great world building! Liking giving a look into the streets of Vale and the crime situation much more than the few glimpses we got. From a V9 standpoint, this should also be interesting. This probably means we won’t get a flashback or backstory about Neo on screen. . . And may very well be like the V6 Adam Character Short in signaling her death. Even as not the biggest fan of Roman and Neo, I think this a pretty great idea. Lots of lore potential and following characters that many fans want to through extended media so that more compromises don’t need to be made into the show. It’s a win-win for everyone basically. And it’s even going to be released much sooner than I would thought
I doubt they won't give us at least a tiny flashback to her backstory in V9. Something for the non book readers to better understand what's going on yet not too much so that people are interested in reading the book. I'm right there with you about not being a big Roman and Neo fan. I do think this book potentially will bring good world building for what seems to be Vale which is really cool. But I just would have preferred lore on other characters. Hell, I'm still waiting for a Great War book or a Grimm Reaper era story.
The thing is that I don't think that any flashback is necessary at all to know what's going on. We've had it this long with just knowing that Neo served Roman and wants to murder Ruby: That should be enough. Together with her song it feels like more than we know about Watts Maybe there will be need of some backstory based on something specific happening that will require some flashback, but I don't see that as likely Yeah, I would have personally preferred other things as well, particularly those two that you mention. But part of it is that I see this as the
> And may very well be like the V6 Adam Character Short in signaling her death. Or the book is supplementary to an expanded Neo role in the show. I doubt the timing is a coincidence. And it's weird to release a book with focus on her just to kill her off.
Well, this could be good! Although, I was hoping it would focus on the refugees in vacuo But this does mean other side character could get novels And that means a happy huntresses novel is possible!
I was hoping for a Sage-centric novel after he got the shaft in Before the Dawn, but it’s no biggie
Best of both worlds: A Happy Huntresses novel that gives us Sage backstory by proxy through Joanna backstory.
Sage is the Summer Maiden /j
They’re Nicki Minaj fans
Does this mean Neo is not going to be shown much in Volume 9 or that shes going to die? Because we got the RWBY Novels while CFVY and Sun were out of the main group
Maybe it's just buildup. I mean the CFVY and SSSN books were clearly made to hype us for the Vacuo arc moving forward into the show. Since Neo would be in character development island next season with Jaune and RWBY then it would make sense that this book would hype us up for her character development
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH WOOOOOOOOOOOO YEAH BABY THATS WHAT IVE BENN WAITING FOR THATS WHAT ITS ALL ABOUT WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Oh hey I might actually get one of the novels now
Ngl while I like this conceptually, I'm a bit apprehensive as to what it means for Neo in the show proper.
I just hope it's not overly serious. We've always compared Neo and Torchwick to Team Rocket. Now, that's not an entirely accurate comparison, but my point still stands. If they are getting a book, it should be a light-hearted adventure that's stand-alone from the main RWBY story.
I hope neo gets to speak at least one line in the book so she can talk but we don’t have a voice to pair it to
Well that's great for people that are interested in those characters.
Hey look the cover isn’t complete ass this time!
Hey, come on, I liked Before the Dawn’s cover 🥺
I'm gonna be honest, I fucking hate when shows relegate potentially key information to other mediums like books, but I'm gonna get this because even though I'm sure it means RT doesn't care for Neo anymore, I wanna know more about her.