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After fleeing Atlas Academy with a wounded sense of self, the miserable heir to the Marigold family fortune finds themself living rough in Mantle's backstreets. In a world where Cinder never falls, where Winter becomes a much happier huntress, and where Salem still seeks a viable new vessel to inherit the Maidenhood, it is the cry of Marigold's heart that seals their fate. When a powerful stranger comes calling to dredge them out of the slush and grime, and in an instant, sees her for who she really is - and all that she can become - a future, fledgling Fall Maiden is born.
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* AnimalEyeSpy: Ciara's semblance lets her perceive using the senses of small animals, which she uses to spy for Salem.
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* TheBeastmaster: Ciara can control rats with her semblance. [[spoiler:That's what she wants you to think, at least]].
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* TheBeastmaster: Ciara can control rats and other small animals with her semblance.semblance, seeing through their eyes and feeling what they feel.. [[spoiler:That's what she wants you to think, at least]].
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* BreadEggsMilkSquick: While sneaking through an Atlas lab, May notes that small drones are used to fetch coffee, deliver samples and papers, and shoot trespassers.
* TheCameo: Pietro Polendina, Penny's father, is briefly seen when May infiltrates and Atlesian lab. He's recognizeable by his spider-chair.
* TheCameo: Pietro Polendina, Penny's father, is briefly seen when May infiltrates and Atlesian lab. He's recognizeable by his spider-chair.
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* EarlyBirdCameo: May briefly sees a file name called Project: PENNY long before Penny herself becomes important.
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* OneSteveLimit: Averted. May overhears Salem's agents talk about "Winter", meaning the Winter Maiden, and does a double take thinking they mean her friend Winter Schnee.
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* PointOfNoReturn: After her first job for Salem, May is offered a choice; Join Salem wherever she's going, or remain in Mantle with access to the survival bunker and relative comfort. May choses the former, and the rest is history.
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* RequiredSecondaryPowers: May's semblance doesn't just let light pass through her (rendering her invisible), but also replicates it within her invisibility bubble. Without it, she would be blind.
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* {{Synchronization}}: While using her semblance, Ciara can feel whatever her animal spies feel. May learns about this when she pets one she named Gruyere for doing a good job, only for Ciara to chime in that she can feel it.
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* AccidentalTruth: When "Elphaba" explains her supposed Semblance, May notes that it sounds like something the Grimm do. That is ''exactly'' what it is.
* BeautyIsNeverTarnished: Averted for May, who looks like a rat's nest at the start of the fic. Played straight with Salem, who supposedly doesn't use makeup meaning that her "weapons grade" eyeliner is natural.
* BilingualBonus: Ciara frequently peppers her speech with Irish.
* CanonImmigrant: Ciara doesn't exist in the show, despite being part of Salem's inner circle here. [[spoiler:Justified as she dies before the show starts]].
* BilingualBonus: Ciara frequently peppers her speech with Irish.
* CanonImmigrant: Ciara doesn't exist in the show, despite being part of Salem's inner circle here. [[spoiler:Justified as she dies before the show starts]].
* CommonalityConnection: May and Salem bond over both having been imprisoned by cruel and abusive parents. May relats strongly to the fairytale, ''The Girl in the Tower'', which happens to be based on Salem's life story.
* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: PlayedForLaughs. While on her first mission for Salem, May's mental checklist includes "don't panic" three times.
* TheElitesJumpShip: Salem's base in Solitas is a defunct bunker built by a wealthy precious metals magnate and art collector who wanted a getaway in case things ever went south.
* FairytaleMotifs: May jokes that her encounter with Salem sounds like something out of a fairytale, and that Salem is either her fairy godmother or a wicked witch planning to eat her.
-->'''Salem:''' Let us not rush to conclusions. I could very well be both.
-->'''Salem:''' Let us not rush to conclusions. I could very well be both.
* {{Goth}}: Ciara is dressed goth to the nines, with black dyed hair and a black and "gratuitously belted" trenchcoat.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: While ifiltrating an Atlesian R&D facility, May muses that Ironwood probably never expected one of his students to use the skillset he taught her against Atlas.
* IHaveManyNames: Hazel says word for word that "our Lady" has many names.
* InMediasRes: The fic opens on May dumpster diving to survive in Mantle, with the circumstances that led her there only hinted at.
* InMediasRes: The fic opens on May dumpster diving to survive in Mantle, with the circumstances that led her there only hinted at.
* JerkassGods: Salem of course has very little good things to say about the Brother Gods who created Remnant. This is apparently not a sentiment unique to her, as there's a famous controversial painting InUniverse that depicts the gods as drunkards causing suffering through negligence.
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* MeaningfulName: Team RAMM, May's old Atlas team. Rams are notoriously stubborn and can be extremely dangerous, which has made them one of the animals most commonly associated with masculinity. Team RAMM are a group of [[TestosteronePoisoning testosterone poisoned]], toxic masculine assholes who degrade and look down on Marigold for being the least masculine of them.
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* MeaningfulName: MeaningfulName:
** Team RAMM, May's old Atlas team. Rams are notoriously stubborn and can be extremely dangerous, which has made them one of the animals most commonly associated with masculinity. Team RAMM are a group of [[TestosteronePoisoning testosterone poisoned]], toxic masculine assholes who degrade and look down on Marigold for being the least masculine ofthem.them.
** May's new sword, the ''Danse Macabre'', is named after a motif in medieval art depicting skeletons dancing with popes, emperors, and beggars. It's meant as a reminder that all are equal in death.
** Team RAMM, May's old Atlas team. Rams are notoriously stubborn and can be extremely dangerous, which has made them one of the animals most commonly associated with masculinity. Team RAMM are a group of [[TestosteronePoisoning testosterone poisoned]], toxic masculine assholes who degrade and look down on Marigold for being the least masculine of
** May's new sword, the ''Danse Macabre'', is named after a motif in medieval art depicting skeletons dancing with popes, emperors, and beggars. It's meant as a reminder that all are equal in death.
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** Salem has the grimm ability to sense negative emotion. Negative emotion includes dysphoria, which means she can easily clock trans people at a glance.
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** Salem has the grimm ability to sense negative emotion. Negative emotion includes dysphoria, which means she can easily clock trans people at a glance. She also uses her PerceptionFilter to leave clothes in the bathroom while May showers undetected.
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* NamedWeapons:
** Ciara's weapon is named Eadránai, "Arbitrator" in Irish.
** The sword May makes while working for Salem is named Danse Macabre.
** Ciara's weapon is named Eadránai, "Arbitrator" in Irish.
** The sword May makes while working for Salem is named Danse Macabre.
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* OddNameOut: Elphaba West has no colour motif in her name, causing May to think it's an old pre-war name. Her real name, Salem, doesn't have it either because it predates humanity.
* OnlyOneName: Hazel specifies that his name is ''just'' Hazel.
* PerceptionFilter: Salem has some kind of magic to this effect that lets her move through heavily guarded gates without the guards noticing her. May describes it as like her semblance, only without actual invisibility.
* OnlyOneName: Hazel specifies that his name is ''just'' Hazel.
* PerceptionFilter: Salem has some kind of magic to this effect that lets her move through heavily guarded gates without the guards noticing her. May describes it as like her semblance, only without actual invisibility.
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* RichesToRags: May goes from a wealthy Atlesian heir to dumpster diving homeless girl before the fic even starts.
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* ShoutOut: Salem's chosen alias when first appearing to May is Elphaba West, after the [[Literature/LandOfOz Wicked Witch of the West]]'s name in ''Theatre/{{Wicked}}''.
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* StealthInsult: When Salem specifies that May uses She/Her pronouns, Watts responds by calling her by They/Them, subtly misgendering her without being blatantly transphobic.
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* VictoriasSecretCompartment: Before learning who she truly is, May notices that "Elphaba"'s dress has no pockets, and wonders if maybe she keeps her scroll in her cleavage like some of her female former classmates. She quickly moves away from that train of thoughts.
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* WeaponBasedCharacterization: Prior to joining Salem, May had not chosen a weapon properly. Since weapons in Remnant are meant to represent their wielders, and May had never had the chance to explore or express herself, she couldn't make anything that fit her and just used a variety of academy weapons.
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* OpenMouthInsertFoot: PlayedForDrama. Ciara tries to persuade May to [[spoiler:come with her to Ozpin by saying that Ozpin can get the grimm essence out of May's body, specifically phrasing it as "change you back" and "make everything just like it was before". Given that May is a trans woman who transitioned with the help of Salem's grimm essence, this is perhaps the ''worst'' thing Ciara could've said, even if she didn't mean it like that]].
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* ThatCameOutWrong: PlayedForDrama. Ciara tries to persuade May to [[spoiler:come with her to Ozpin by saying that Ozpin can get the grimm essence out of May's body, specifically phrasing it as "change you back" and "make everything just like it was before". Given that May is a trans woman who transitioned with the help of Salem's grimm essence, this is perhaps the ''worst'' thing Ciara could've said, even if she didn't mean it like that]].
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* ProtagonistJourneyToVillain: May goes from a broken, dysphoric homeless girl to the monster who destroys Beacon and kills Ozpin. This is framed less as a tragedy, and more as a triumphant rise to power.
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* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: The HumiliatingWager that gave May the chance to wear a dress was intended as a well-meaning gesture to let her explore her identity without fear of being outed. The Happy Huntresses had no way of knowing that May's team would walk in on her, or that this would be the final straw leading to [[spoiler:May's attempted suicide and everything that followed]].
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* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom:
** The HumiliatingWager that gave May the chance to wear a dress was intended as a well-meaning gesture to let her explore her identity without fear of being outed. The Happy Huntresses had no way of knowing that May's team would walk in on her, or that this would be the final straw leading to [[spoiler:May's attempted suicide and everything thatfollowed]].followed]].
** Earlier, May laments that she didn't get put on a better team than RAMM because she did poorly during initiation, blaming Cinder for having melted her sword. In other words, pretty much the entire fic can be traced back to Cinder.
** The HumiliatingWager that gave May the chance to wear a dress was intended as a well-meaning gesture to let her explore her identity without fear of being outed. The Happy Huntresses had no way of knowing that May's team would walk in on her, or that this would be the final straw leading to [[spoiler:May's attempted suicide and everything that
** Earlier, May laments that she didn't get put on a better team than RAMM because she did poorly during initiation, blaming Cinder for having melted her sword. In other words, pretty much the entire fic can be traced back to Cinder.
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See also ''Fanfic/HoldingTheWorldOnTheirShoulders'', another ''RWBY'' fic set in an au where May Marigold becomes the Fall Maiden in place of Cinder Fall. ''Holding the World'' is inspired by ''Blackened Bluebird'', but has a different narrative and includes the points of view of Cinder, Winter, as well as many other characters. Note that both fics deal with heavy topics, borderline DarkFic, so be warned.
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The fic is part of ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/series/2030677 What Are THEY So Happy About?]]'', an anthology of (occasionally NSFW) ''RWBY'' fics following the Happy Huntresses. See also ''Fanfic/ConnectFour''.
See also ''Fanfic/HoldingTheWorldOnTheirShoulders'', another ''RWBY'' fic set in an au where May Marigold becomes the Fall Maiden in place of Cinder
