Line #46 Fanfic/SAPR


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6	[[caption-width-right:270:Cover of the second part by [[https://twitter.com/MRK_50/status/1230136613717438465 MRK50]] [[note]] Clockwise from the top: Ruby Rose, Specialist Blake Belladonna, Specialist Rainbow Dash, Specialist Ciel Solleil, Sunset Shimmer, Cinder Fall, Pyrrha Nikos, and Jaune Arc. [[/note]]]]
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8	->'''Becoming a hero isn't an easy thing, especially when you start out as a villain.'''
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10	''[=SAPR=]'' by Creator/ScipioSmith is a crossover between ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' and ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' available on [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13052012/1/SAPR Fanfiction.net]], [[https://www.fimfiction.net/story/418151/sapr Fimfiction]], [[https://archiveofourown.org/series/1798804 Ao3]] and [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/sapr-rwby-mlp.674638/ Spacebattles]].
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12	Sunset Shimmer wanted power, she wanted to be adored, she wanted to claim that which Princess Celestia had denied her. What she got when she stepped through the mirror to another world was [[FantasticRacism being a faunus in Atlas]]. Now she sets her sights on Beacon to finally claim the fame she so craves.
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14	Jaune Arc stole his family sword and set off to become a hero like his ancestor. He didn’t have a clue, he didn’t have much of a plan, but he had the drive to succeed in excess, and failure was not an option. If he couldn’t succeed at Beacon, then he couldn’t succeed at anything.
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16	Pyrrha Nikos was burdened by her legacy, and by her success in the gladiatorial ring. Since the day she could walk she has been trained to be the world’s greatest fighter, and she has never lost a fight. Now she is making a choice for the first time in her life, and she is choosing to go to Beacon, for the possibility of failure it brings is surely better than a destiny she did not choose for herself.
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18	Ruby Rose was the quintessential huntress, born into a family of huntsmen. Selfless, kind, and almost supernaturally pure of heart, she never had nor wanted any choice in what she wanted to do with her life. When the headmaster of Beacon offered her the chance to join two years early she took it, for joining a Huntsman Academy was the only logical path for her to take.
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20	Together, these four different individuals will form Team [=SAPR=] (pronounced as Sapphire), and though their start is rocky, they’ll go on to have many adventures together. Along the way they’ll find friends and allies among their classmates, their teachers, and in the powerful Atlesian military. They’ll also come to face off against dastardly villains with terrible goals. Life would be easy if it was just that, but along the way the lines of friends and foe got a little blurry.
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22	The story is in the midst of a heavy revision.
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24	-----
25	!! ''[=SAPR=]'' contains examples of the following tropes:
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27	* AdaptationalHeroism: Ironwood is depicted much more unambiguously heroic in ''SAPR'', not undergoing SanitySlippage following the Fall of Beacon, and being a genuine ReasonableAuthorityFigure and AFatherToHisMen. Contrast that with canon where he would go behind Ozpin's back thinking his methods were better, and [[spoiler:his ProtagonistJourneyToVillain culminating in him becoming a tyrannical despot willing to kill his own men for daring to disagree with him, all while deluding himself into thinking he's the only one who knows what is right.]]
28	* AdoptedIntoRoyalty: Sunset Shimmer was raised by Princess Celestia in this version of her backstory. She doesn't remember her birth parents, or any day at all before she arrived at the palace in Canterlot. Naturally she comes to consider rejecting Celestia to be one of her biggest failures.
29	* AmazonChaser: Russell wolf-whistles and calls Coco his “future wife”, after watching her tell off Cardin for bullying Velvet.
30	* AntiHero: Sunset Shimmer, since she wasn't hit by a friendship beam like in canon WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirls, has to learn to become a good person the hard way. Since she doesn't actually think she is a bad person, this road is rockier than normal. Thus, she develops into this trope part way through the first part of the story.
31	* AssholeVictim: Phoebe Kommenos, her sister, and her mother all qualify as this. [[spoiler:They also are all killed by Cinder Fall as revenge for all the abuse they heaped upon her.]]
32	* TheAtoner: Sunset Shimmer eventually evolves into this, though there is no single moment that flips her.
33	* BeamOWar: The magical battle between Sunset and [[spoiler:the Remnant version of Sombra]] eventually devolves into this by the end of the chapter "Grimm Magic."
34	* TheCameo:
35	** In "Belladonna" a large one-eared and one-eyed rabbit faunus shows up among the White Fang. The faunus' name? [[Literature/WatershipDown Woundwort]].
36	** In "You Got Nothing On Us" Kazari Uiharu of A Certain Scientific Railgun is seen with Mistral military, being their best technical genuise.
37	* CategoryTraitor: Blake gets called this a few times after [[spoiler:becoming an Atlas penal soldier.]]
38	** Rainbow Dash also reflects on being insulted because she's a faunus working for the Atlesian military.
39	* ColdSniper: Ciel is just as calculating and efficient as she is in canon ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'', but here she's also totting a seven foot long anti-materiel rifle.
40	* CoolBike: Sunset uses a motorcycle that she built from spare parts, though it's described as being less cool and more of a horrific abomination of random parts.
41	* DamagedSoul: After being attacked by Cinder, [[spoiler:Amber's]] soul was left in tatters, and she starts acting unhinged.
42	* DefeatMeansFriendship: Inverted. Sunset finally becomes friends with Pyrrha after challenging her to a fight and getting beat into the ground for her trouble.
43	* DeathByIrony: [[spoiler:Amber is killed by a disintegration caress by Cinder in exactly the same manner in which she herself murdered Ozpin just a few minutes earlier]].
44	* DeathSeeker: [[spoiler:Cinder becomes one after the failure of her plans, seeking to bring about a reenactment of ''[[Literature/TheIliad The Mistralliad]]'' that will see her killed and remembered as one of history's greatest villains.]]
45	* DefectorFromDecadence: Blake, as per ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' canon, left the White Fang when she thought it was becoming too violent.
46	* DeliberateValuesDissonance: Much worldbuilding effort is done to differentiate the values of each of the Kingdoms. Vale is mostly similar to our values, with an emphasis on the heroic individual fostered by Ozpin. Atlas emphasizes civic duty and nationalism while priding itself on it's technology and wealth. Mistral by contrast is revanchist, old fashioned, and puts great stock in bloodlines, honor, and glory, and finally, Vacuo prizes freedom and prides itself on being tough enough to survive in it's deserts.
47	* TheDogBitesBack: [[spoiler:Cinder's StartOfDarkness involved her killing her stepmother and stepsister after years of abuse.]]
48	* {{Doorstopper}}: The fic has passed two-million words and is continuing to update.
49	* DramaticIrony
50	** During the Battle of Vale, Shining Armor and the rest of the Atlesians try to protect his wife, Councilor Cadenza, assuming that the White Fang and any other attackers are after her. [[spoiler:In actuality the White Fang is targeting Kali Belladonna and her daughter Blake, who have managed to seat themselves next to the councilor.]]
51	** During the same battle as the above, Ironwood makes a speech that cites Rainbow Dash as an inspiration and quotes her speech on guts and loyalty too. [[spoiler:His feelings end up being very different when he finds Rainbow stood by and let Sunset enable The Breach months later.]]
52	* DreamingOfThingsToCome: Both [[spoiler:Amber]] and [[spoiler:Pyrrha]] have prophetic dreams.
53	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The author hadn't watched a single episode of ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' before beginning work on the project, and as such some odd things exist in earlier chapters that do not in later chapters. Perhaps one of the biggest examples of this is how the author originally subscribed to the [[AdaptationalVillainy "Evil Ozpin"]] theory, and so many of his interactions with members of Team [=SAPR=] are written so that if the author had decided to commit to that idea they could be taken in that light. That purposeful ambiguity would turn out to serve the author well when he decided to not only keep Ozpin as the BigGood he is in canon, but also to go a step further by having a landmark in Sunset's redemption being [[spoiler:her realizing just how good he is]].
54	* {{Expy}}: Due to the author's love of fairy tales and their tropes many characters from canon ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' who are based off a fairy tale counterpart and don't have much canon information about them will find much of their backstory and characterization filled in with characteristics from the character they were initially based off. The most prominent example of this is Cinder, who has an abusive stepmother and stepsisters as part of her FreudianExcuse (though this became canon in Volume 8). In addition, any time the author needs an OC for an arc they'll often take fairy tale characters that haven't been used in canon and put them through the same process.
55	* FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler:Amber decides to join Salem's faction because she's afraid to be hurt in any way, and so figures it's best to just give the Relic of Choice to Salem so that she can just wonder off into the sunset with her enthralled 'friends.']]
56	* FantasticGhetto: Atlas is divided into two cities. In the sky there is an upper city which is situated on a giant floating rock, which is mostly inhabited by humans and is extremely advanced and affluent. On the ground there is a lower city (also called Low Town) that is inhabited mostly by poor faunus and is constructed a ramshackle and thrown together manner with little in the way of the technology the kingdom is famous for.
57	* FantasticRacism: Against faunus, as per ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' canon, but more pronounced in this story.
58	* AFatherToHisMen: General Ironwood isn't just the leader of his nation, he's also seen as a bit of a father figure by some of those under him, and he in turn treats all those under him as if they were his children. Perhaps nowhere is this more evident than with Rainbow Dash, who has known Ironwood since she was a kid and is extremely loyal to him for giving her a shot when almost no-one else would. [[spoiler:He's extremely disappointed when she confesses to choosing to not stop Sunset during the Breach, which is even more crushing than her guilt.]]
59	* TheFettered: Ruby Rose is bound by her ideals and duties as a Huntress, and in those binds she draws the strength to inspire armies and face down challenges that every other person flees from without flinching.
60	* FriendlyEnemy: After she is revealed and before she [[spoiler:turns good]] Cinder Fall fills this roll for Sunset, with the two genuinely considering the other their friend with the only hiccup being that they have to fight each other because of their jobs.
61	* GlorySeeker: ''Penny'' of all people falls into this trope, with a consistent wish of hers being to be loved and adored by a cheering crowd in everything from music to combat.
62	* GodzillaThreshold: With no time or possibility of reinforcements, Pyrrha and Jaune [[spoiler:release the supposedly-repentant Cinder from stasis to help them stop the corrupted Amber from taking the Relic of Choice]].
63	* HeelFaceTurn:
64	** Sunset Shimmer and her path from selfishness and wickedness to TheFettered which takes up much of the first half of the fic.
65	** [[spoiler:Cinder, following Salem's acceptance of Amber's defection. She wanted to kill Amber and take her power, and when this was denied to her she decided that it was better to run than continue serving a woman who would only use her and throw her away.]]
66	** [[spoiler:Gilda]] grapples with the morality of her position as part of the White Fang terrorist for a long time before deciding to defect rather than hurt children.
67	** Cardin Winchester, true to his appearance in canon, starts off as as one of the biggest jerks around and minor foe that inadvertently helps Sunset with her gradual alignment shift just because it's like looking into a mirror for her. After the [[spoiler:Battle of Vale]] he ends up one of her best friends and one of the heroes after having responsibility thrust upon him.
68	* HeroicLineage: Both Pyrrha and Jaune are descended from heroes, and try their best to live up to the example of their ancestors. Though Pyrrha's are quite a bit more famous than Jaune's.
69	* HeroicSelfDeprecation: Pyrrha develops an inferiority complex after seeing what Cinder can really do. She also repeatedly says that she's not a leader, even though she's of royal blood and people constantly look up to her. [[spoiler:This turns out to be accurate when she's given the leadership of Team SAPR and then later that same day given command of Mistral's army during the Battle of Vale, and both times she turns out to be just as terrible a leader as she said she would be even when trying her hardest to live up to the burden she was given]].
70	* {{Homage}}: Chapter 180, "It's Always Darkest Right Before a Hero Enters," has two notable ones.
71	** The first is to monster movies like ''Film/KongSkullIsland'' when [[spoiler:when the Atlesian military throws everything they have against the [[OurDragonsAreDifferent Wyvern]] and they fail to so much as scratch it]].
72	** The second is to Battle of the Pelennor Fields in ''[[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings The Return of the King]]'' when [[spoiler:the Wyvern turns its attention the battle line of Mistral. The homage is so deliberate and overt that not only are the characters going through similar trials, but the book is actually quoted directly when Pyrrha is given courage by Ruby's example to stand with her against the dragon]].
73	---> [[spoiler:Like a spark that catches to become a flame Pyrrha felt her courage stir once more within her; she should not die, so young, so brave, so desperate; at the least she should not die alone, unaided.]]
74	* TheIncorruptible: Ruby Rose is explicitly described as being so pure of heart that telepathic communication with her wipes away negative feelings in people. Sunset herself describes the inside of Ruby's soul like a vast warm white light.
75	* ItsAllAboutMe: Sunset Shimmer, at least at first. She goes to Beacon explicitly to become famous, and has a distinctly selfish stance on how she interacts with the world. However, she does eventually grow to become an unselfish and self-sacrificing individual.
76	** [[spoiler:Amber turns out to be this after Sunset revives her, to the point where she doesn't feel comfortable unless everyone around her is willing to throw down their lives to protect her at the slightest provocation and holds her above every other person and thing in the world. Though in this case it's a direct result of her soul being torn apart when Cinder stole half of the Maiden power, and a memory of the uncorrupted Amber is nothing like that.]]
77	* LampshadeHanging: In "Chapter 195: The Father of Monsters" Sunset angrily points out how she's constantly faced with the [[SadisticChoice the Trolley Dilemma]] over and over again.
78	* LikeASonToMe: Sienna Khan thinks this of Blake, and is reluctant to kill her as a result.
79	* MassiveNumberedSiblings:
80	** Jaune has seven sisters, just like in canon. There is a mini-arc where they appear in the story, and are revealed to all be older than Jaune and protective of him.
81	** Ciel is revealed to have seven younger brothers in "Overwatch," though they haven't appeared in the story yet.
82	* MilitaryBrat: Ciel comes from a long line of people who have served in the Atlesian military and the Mantelian military before that, and she expects that when she has her own children they will follow the exact same career track.
83	* MoralityPet: {{Deconstructed}}. The friends Sunset makes along the way lead her away from her selfish, self-aggrandizing path to become a better, more heroic person. [[spoiler:But those very same friendships lead her to a decision that may well be considered crossing the MoralEventHorizon.]]
84	* MoralMyopia: [[spoiler:Sunset Shimmer decides to enable the Breach to happen by destroying the controls of the train ''explicitly'' because she values the lives of her team, but she doesn’t value the lives of the people of Vale.]]
85	* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [[spoiler:After spending some time in prison, Sunset comes to the realization that the people of Vale are, well, people, and has this reaction to her actions during the Breach.]]
86	* NamedWeapons: In addition to the weapons from canon ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' there are several unique weapons introduced in the story.
87	** Sol Invictus, Sunset's revolver rifle with attached gas-powered extending bayonet.
88	** Distant Thunder, Ciel's collapsible anti-materiel sniper rifle.
89	* NotHyperbole: Nora frequently tells wild stories about her and Ren’s misadventures pre-Beacon, with the latter often interrupting to correct her exaggerations. After one particularly outlandish story involving working for a broke circus and being compensated with exhibit animals, Ren admits that one was completely accurate.
90	* NoSell: Salem is able to completely tank any attack. ''Any'' attack. Her reaction [[spoiler:when struck by the most powerful blast of that the Silver Eyes of Summer Rose had ever produced]] was merely to raise an eyebrow and ask, "Is that all?"
91	* NotQuiteDead: [[spoiler:Yang]] is assumed dead after going missing during the [[spoiler:Battle of Vale]], but in reality was [[spoiler:kidnapped by Raven]].
92	* NotSoDifferentRemark: Sunset Shimmer has this line dropped on her multiple times over the course of the story with many people she ends up confronting. From bullies like Cardin to terrorists like Adam to reflections like Cinder they all carry a piece of Sunset in them. This, of course, feeds back into Sunset's own character development as she slowly starts to realize that she's been a villain this whole time and didn't even notice it.
93	* NotSoOmniscientCouncilOfBickering: The councils of both Vale and Atlas qualify, but the dysfunction of the Vale council gets especially highlighted.
94	* TheOneThatGotAway: Sunset and Flash for each other, even though they both agree that they’re better off apart.
95	* OrwellianRetcon:
96	** Originally during the lead up to the Breach Applejack and Fluttershy were infected with a Grimm parasite that would have turned them into sleeper agents. Due to negative viewer feedback, however, this was removed entirely from the story.
97	** An entire chapter involving a trial and one of Jaune's sisters being a member of the White Fang was removed.
98	* OurDragonsAreDifferent: Just like in canon ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' the Wyvern makes an appearance during the Vytal Festival. Unlike in canon this gigantic Grimm is never called by its name and is just called a dragon, and [[spoiler:is able to shoot a powerful energy beam from its mouth along with producing [[SupernaturalFearInducer a fear response]] whenever it roars]].
99	* OverlyLongName: Pyrrha’s full name is apparently Pyrrha Penthesilea Penelope Alcestis Ariadne Hippolyta Nikos.
100	* ParentalSubstitute: In addition to Klein Sieben from canon ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'', Weiss also was raised by her maid Laberna Seacole. Mrs. Seacole, as it turns out, is a raccoon faunus, and when the White Fang became exceedingly violent Jacques fired her. She and her family were forced into poverty after that, and the stress and poor living conditions aged her by decades and gave her numerous health problems.
101	* PimpedOutDress: ''[[spoiler:Ciel]]'' of all people has a fondness for these and enjoys indulging herself at any formal event she attends.
102	* PoweredArmor: After deciding to stay on Team RSPT full time Twilight creates a set of powered armor to make up for the fact that she isn't otherwise very physically strong or capable.
103	* PregnantBadass: Raven was part of the assassination team sent to kill Salem years ago while pregnant with Yang.
104	* ReallyRoyaltyReveal: Pyrrha Nikos is revealed to have come from a long line of emperors of Mistral, and one of the epithets used for her is [[RedBaron The Uncrowned Princess]].
105	* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Ironwood qualifies as this for the Atlesians, giving them leeway to do what needs to be done and when dolling out punishments for wrongdoing always does so in a way that will be a learning experience for his students, as befitting his position as not only the supreme commander of Atlas's military but also the headmaster of its academy. In a break with canon he also [[spoiler:orders rigorous cyber-security checks after Cinder infiltrates the [=CCT=], completely circumventing the virus subplot of the original show.]]
106	** Though this is initially in doubt, Sunset eventually comes to realize that Ozpin is this as well.
107	* RedBaron: Several examples are found, possibly due to the author's admitted love of epic fantasy.
108	** Pyrrha is called both "The Invincible Girl" and "The Uncrowned Princess."
109	** In chapter 182, "Dragonslayer," Penny Polendina is given the titular epithet after [[spoiler:dealing the killing blow against the Wyvern that has been reeking havoc for the past four chapters.]]
110	* ReducedToDust: [[spoiler:Ozpin and Amber are both disintegrated in the finale to Part 1.]]
111	* RunningGag: Sunset didn't break out of prison, she has a note!
112	* SecretKeeper: Celestia has a conversation with Ozpin using Sunset's magic journal, and she quickly pegs him as an immortal due to him being so WiseBeyondHisYears. She promises not to tell Sunset or anyone else.
113	* SelfMadeOrphan: Cinder burned her home to the ground with her stepmother and one of her stepsisters inside. Then years later during the course of the story she stabs her other stepsister to death in a dark alley.
114	* ShoutOut
115	** Rainbow Dash uses a wing pack, [=SMGs=], and goggles with an integrated HUD in combat, just like [[Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse The Falcon]].
116	** In Chapter 155, "We’re Gonna Take You Down," Team RSPT faces down Team JAMM (Jasmine) in a battle that's a direct reference to ''Film/JasonAndTheArgonauts''.
117	** ''The Mistralliad'' is an in-universe story referenced several times throughout the story, and is a pretty blatant shout-out to ''Literature/TheIliad''.
118	** The Atlesian air cruiser ''Thunder Child'' is a reference to ''Literature/TheWarOfTheWorlds''. [[spoiler:It ends up being destroyed by the [[[OurDragonsAreDifferent Wyvern]] during the Battle of Vale.]]
119	* ShroudedInMyth: After the [[spoiler:Battle of Vale]] Cardin's exploits get exaggerated to such a degree that he's almost brought to shame.
120	* SparedByTheAdaptation: [[spoiler:Roman]] and [[spoiler:Pyrrha]] both survive past the Battle of Beacon.
121	** [[spoiler:Amber]] used to be an example of this, but [[spoiler:she ended up being killed by Cinder in the finale of Part 1]].
122	* SpoilerCover: The cover for part two is the new cover for the entire fic, which spoils several developments that come from the ending of part one. [[spoiler:Namely Pyrrha becoming the Fall Maiden, and Blake becoming a full member of the Atlesian military.]]
123	* SupernaturalFearInducer: An additional power of [[spoiler:the Wyvern and its roar]].
124	* TakeThat: In "P v P, Part 2" Pyrrha tells Jaune not to cut his hair. This is a direct reference to Jaune's change in hairstyle from Volume 7 of canon ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}''.
125	* TimeSkip: After the fic's version of the Battle of Beacon the story skips ahead several months in order to mimic the time skip that happened in ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' canon.
126	* TookTheWifesName: In chapter 124, "Re-Forged," Pyrrha reflects that when her and Jaune get married he's going to have to take her name because she's from an ancient royal house.
127	* TradingBarsForStripes: [[spoiler:After her identity as a former White Fang terrorist is revealed, Blake is arrested. To keep her from going to prison, the Atlesian military offers her the opportunity to join up with them as a penal conscript. She accepts.]] By the time of the Vytal Tournament [[spoiler:she has decided that when the terms of her conscription are up, she’s going to enlist in the Atlesian military for real.]]
128	* TreacheryIsASpecialKindOfEvil: [[spoiler:Sunset is charged with treason when she admits to destroying the controls of the train.]]
129	* VillainProtagonist: When she first arrives at Beacon Sunset is rather explicitly working for her own power and glory, views those around her as pawns whose only purpose is to get her to said power and glory, and is willing to contemplate such wonderful ideas as breaking up SiblingTeam Ruby and Yang because she views Yang's team as competition -- an idea which Sunset abandoned only because of the possible risks if found out. Though, as explained in other tropes on this page, she eventually develops into an AntiHero and then later a full-on hero.
130	* WellDoneSonGuy: It can sometimes feel like Pyrrha's mom thinks of Sunset as the daughter she never had.
131	* WhatTheHellHero: Ruby’s reaction to [[spoiler:finding out Sunset was willing to doom Vale in order to give their team a slightly better chance at survival.]]
132	** Ironwood's reaction to [[spoiler:Rainbow revealing that she not only let Sunset destroy the train controls, but that she also kept it secret for months on end.]]
133	* WhatYouAreInTheDark: The infamous Breach in the chapter "Defined By Choice" has the moment for Sunset. [[spoiler:Turns out she wasn't a hero after all.]]
134	* [[YoureNotMyFather You're Not My Mother]]: In "Belladonna" [[spoiler:Blake is briefly captured by the White Fang, who treat her as a wayward daughter turned to crime]]. Blake isn't having any of it.
135	-->'''Sienna:''' I miss our stimulating conversations. I miss you. We all miss you, Blake. Everyone will be so glad to see you returned to the bosom of your family.\
136	'''Blake:''' You are not my mother and the White Fang isn’t my family.

Context Fanfic / SAPR