Knightshade–Lancaster debacle

Reviews on the day and following day each chapter of Book 6 for Forged Destiny was published between June 11 and September 17, 2018.

### Performers

Coeur Al'Aran, College Fool, Knightshade supporters, Lancaster supporters

### Location

Forged Destiny, Professor Arc Forum, Forged Destiny reviews

The **Knightshade–Lancaster debacle** encapsulates a shipping war between Knightshade and Lancaster fans taking place between July 2016 and September 2018. The debacle centers on the literary piece, *Forged Destiny,* and the ensuing confusion between whether Jaune would get together with Blake Belladonna or Ruby Rose.

## Background

### Knightshade

The first work published by Coeur in November 2014, *One Good Turn Deserves Another*, was a Knightshade piece intended to show off "realistic romance" between the two characters. By November 2015, the piece had 1,016 favorites and 1,194 follows, placing it just behind *Professor Arc* in terms of popularity. It would eventually conclude on July 11, 2016, with *Forged Destiny* replacing it. In its legacy, it would be discussed with praise, including a September 2016 Reddit post for *Fanfic Bookclub*.

In September 2015, Coeur would publish *From Beyond*, which would be the second Knightshade piece in Coeur's collection and the fourth piece overall. By July 2016, *From Beyond* would have 1,617 favorites and 2,037 follows.

### Lancaster

As Coeur was writing *Professor Arc*, he included minor teasing at the expense of Ruby by Yang Xiao Long, which allowed for some interpretations of Lancaster, though this was entirely one-sided on the part of Ruby.

Coeur expressed an interest to write a Lancaster piece since at least early 2015, based on his summary and notes of the piece "A few seconds too late." Sometime between May and November 2015, Coeur updates his biography to state that, if written, "A few seconds too late" would be a Lancaster fic. While it is not known for certain, Lancaster fans likely would have been attracted to Coeur's profile and remained with the expectations of these stories in the future.

In July 2017, Coeur would publish *In the Kingdom's Service*, though the Lancaster subtext would not be made apparent until later on as Ruby and Jaune's relationship continued to develop.

## Preluding Events

### Early Plans

In November 2015, Coeur Al'Aran began drafting the first version of *Forged Destiny* after a *The Writer Games* prompt about an RPG setting for Remnant*.*In an author note for chapter 90, he states the story was "initially planned as a Lancaster", though before any literary narrative was developed to fulfill it. This was a habit Coeur had since late 2014, starting with a pairing before writing and shaping the story around it, seen with *One Good Turn Deserves Another* and **From Beyond** for Blake and Jaune along with *Professor Arc*for Glynda and Jaune.

### Publication

*Forged Destiny* was published on July 11, 2016, to replace *One Good Turn Deserves Another*, with the first author note affirming the relationship in the narrative would be between Ruby Rose and Jaune Arc. This continued on July 25, as Coeur responded to GauchePear23 on the Professor Arc Forums stating it was the second most favorite Lancaster story on FanFiction at that point.

According to Coeur, he did not intend to use the idea of Lancaster to draw people into the piece. He claims that he was not using false advertising since he did not include an indication of Lancaster in the story summary or title, though archives as late as August 23 presented "(Ruby x Jaune)" in the summary indicating Lancaster.

### Change in Pairing

Between August and October 2016, Coeur and College Fool decided that a Blake x Jaune pairing would "work better" for the narrative of the story, as even at the time of writing, they felt that Lancaster had been "tacked on." At one point, College Fool suggested a "Menage a Trois", an arrangement of three or more individuals sharing a sexual relationship, but Coeur was not comfortable with this given his established history with writing harems. However, he mentions in an Author Note for chapter 5 of *The Entertainer* on November 7, 2016 that he "does have a Ruby x Jaune fic" in response to potential implicit themes regarding pedophilia in chapter 4, so it is not known why Coeur would have said this if the pairing had been changed by October.

Another user on the Professor Arc Forums, mjzemancik, stated that if he "did not know it was a Lancaster fic, [he] would've guessed it was another [Knightshade] fic, as other users affirmed such as The Immortal Doctor Reid. Coeur changed the pairing from "[Ruby Rose, Jaune Arc]" to "Ruby Rose, Blake Belladonna, Jaune Arc" without brackets between August 23 and September 5 to indicate a non-romantic affiliation between at least one of the characters. By chapter six, reviewers started to notice a shift towards Knightshade, although Coeur had not publically stated his intentions of writing it in author notes, his profile biography, or the forums at this point. This is indicated by the preconception of other users that it would be a Lancaster piece into October and November, expressing sympathy for Blake at her perceived situation in the future.

Even amidst discussion on the shipping situation, Coeur made no effort for correction due to his preconception that the frame narrative made it clear it was centralizing on Knightshade rather than Lancaster. As such, whenever comments and reviews came up discussing Lancaster, he would laugh it off thinking it was funny, cute, and almost amusing. As a result, he continued his existing process of "getting around to it when it comes" up to June 2018 with the release of chapter 80, when he would have to start giving serious consideration as to who is matched up with who.

Into early-2017, KegiSpringfield and other readers had a difficult time discerning whether or not the story would end in Knightshade or Lancaster. On March 27, 2017, Coeur states in chapter 23 that he received several questions about the pairing of the fic. Coeur realized that one of the factors that led people to read a narrative was a specific pairing between characters. He stated that "Even now, [little] has changed from the original plan", which several readers interpreted to mean that he would still be writing Lancaster.

On June 12, 2017, College Fool published a post in the *Professor Arc Forum* discussing his disappointment on how his ideas of "Lancaster sexual tension" would not come to fruition. According to College Fool, he states that he asked if Jaune and Ruby should meet during the quest, but Coeur states that it was not important, giving Blake a brief cameo instead. This led to mild ribbing by KGS258, suggesting that Coeur and his love for Blake will infect every story until only Knightshade remains, leading College Fool to express relief in avoiding it for *White Sheep*.

On July 27, 2017, Coeur reveals that CF urged Coeur to incorporate Blake more into the plot of chapter two of Forged Destiny. He mentions that as a result of the discussion, he decided to change several elements of the story. He also mentioned that a ton of reviewers started "screaming about the Lancaster, and how Raven is now doomed to Ravendom", a reference to the relationship dynamics between Taiyang Xiao Long, Summer Rose, and Raven Branwen.

On November 21, 2017, in response to wingofpain commenting on how Blake has fallen out of favor, Coeur responds that "at least [Blake's] getting her man in [*Forged Destiny*]." As this was taking place in a thread about *Captain Dragon*, it received little attention outside of Inthretis commenting that Blake was a "rebound queen", or someone used to get over a failed romantic endeavor. This brief discussion of FD was soon abandoned as Coeur began discussing the conflict between the police force and Blake in the context of CD.

### Lack of Dissemination

Before Coeur revealed the logistical situation of the pairing on August 14, 2018, there were 4,827 posts across 161 pages in the *Forged Destiny Discussion* alone, not including other potential details revealed in other story-based discussion threads.

A point brought up on TV Tropes on February 4, 2019, by AbsolutelyAverage was how several activities, plot points, and other relevant details are only mentioned in the Professor Arc Forum, generally localized around the *Forged Destiny Discussion* page under the trope "All There In The Manual". On the same day, End Bringer edited to say "A staple of the poor quality of the story; one must comb through the site forum for various activities and plot points to make any sense.", though this was changed by ANewEngima on March 23 to be more neutral.

## Climax

### End Bringer's Criticism

In July 2018, the discussion on Lancaster started intensifying again, primarily with criticism by End Bringer on how Lancaster was being "forced." The discussion escalated between End Bringer and Coeur on August 6, so much so that other users started commenting that End Bringer was not bringing in "useful or constructive criticism", which he retorted that he was providing "constructive criticism and suggestions." In spite of his perception, others said he was doing more to nitpick the work rather than provide criticism on an aggregate, structural, or syntactical level.

On August 13, End Bringer posted another message on the forums criticizing chapter 8. End Bringer again mentions the point of Lancaster being "forced" and poorly written, referring back to earlier criticism since July and continuing with follow-up posts delving further into specific aspects of the chapter such as Weiss's personal drama.

### Coeur's Tirade

The next day; Coeur's frustration culminated in a lengthy post on the Professor Arc Forum responding to End Bringer, where he finally clarifies that *Forged Destiny* is a Knightshade story rather than Lancaster*.* He mentions that earlier, he could laugh and say "What Lancaster?", but it started to wear on him as he was under the perception that Knightshade was the clear relationship in the narrative over the past two years. He mentions in a follow-up post that there will never be Lancaster since College Fool changed Coeur's mind before the publication of chapter three.

### Follow-up and Poll

Directly after the frustrated tirade of Coeur, the review spikes visibly began as "260 and climbing reviews" on the latest chapter, though this was partially contributed to the controversial aspects and interactions between Jaune and other members of the legion. At this point, End Bringer left the forums but returned into October 2018 for follow-up discussions. It is established on TV Tropes he was still reading *Forged Destiny* as late as October 2019.

In the downtime, Coeur would establish a poll for individuals to express whether or not they supported Lancaster, Knightshade, or an integration of all three. Coeur finally gave a public statement in a lengthy author's note on August 20, though several frustrated and confused individuals would continue to persist into 2019, the main drama would end by September with the release of the next book.

## Impact and Legacy

### Romance Rules

In July 2017, with the publication of *In the Kingdom's Service,* Coeur stated that his new rule would be to keep pairings secret. This is reaffirmed with the release of *Relic of the Future* in March 2018, which had Coeur not revealing the pairing. It cannot be said that the climax of this debacle was the reason for this change, but it can be presumed that the logistical difficulties of revealing pairings before formulating a narrative, emphasized with *Forged Destiny*, was a contributing factor to his decision. This is further emphasized in chapter 2 of *Null*, in which Coeur states that he decided to "never again [reveal] pairings ahead of time" because of the rage surrounding *Forged Destiny* even before the climax.

### Poll Results

According to the WaybackMachine, the poll Coeur released shows that out of 2,730 people, 1,437 people (39%) supported Lancaster, 1,044 (28%) supported "Menage a Trois", 929 (25%) supported Knightshade, and 249 (6%) had no personal preference. During May 7, 2019; when the data is last available, this is a total out of 5,783 who follow the story or 47% of those who follow *Forged Destiny* contributing to the poll, though it is likely other non-readers influenced it, older followers stopped reading it, and others abstained.

### Coeur's Reflection

In response to a conversation between TeeAiDee and HighSlayerRalton in late-January 2019 in the Outside forum, Coeur publishes a series of posts reflecting on End Bringer's criticism on February 1. He comments that that End Bringer commented negatively on every post since chapter 4-5 of Book 5. Coeur was particularly frustrated by End Bringer using insults in his feedback regarding his "ability" and "arrogance." Coeur reiterates that he is fine with critique but is not fine with people insulting his work or character.

### End Bringer's Return

On October 15, 2019, End Bringer commented on the *Forged Destiny* Forum after being alluded to by Patrick the Observer. In his response, he stated the story began to "fall apart" long before the events of the climax, around Book 5. According to him, the story became more focused on "pandering to [everyone's] pairing lusts, answering [lingering] story questions, and personal drama." He states that he has 1-2 reviews for the story before he is done, likely giving him by the end of October until he stops reading for good.

## References

1. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20151111034529/https://www.fanfiction.net/u/6272865/Coeur-Al-Aran
2. ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/RWBY/comments/51fql5/fanfic\_bookclub\_one\_good\_turn\_deserves\_another/
3. ↑ https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12044591/1/Forged-Destiny
4. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20151111034529/https://www.fanfiction.net/u/6272865/Coeur-Al-Aran
5. ↑ https://www.fanfiction.net/topic/189701/152955139/5/Forged-Destiny-Discussion
6. ↑ http://archive.is/K8rIx#selection-1048.1-1079.65
7. ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20160823182814/https://www.fanfiction.net/anime/RWBY/?&srt=1&lan=1&r=10&len=5&p=4
8. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20200524051404/https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12146135/5/The-Entertainer
9. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20160822223947/https://www.fanfiction.net/anime/RWBY/
10. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20160919172032/https://www.fanfiction.net/anime/RWBY/
11. ↑ https://www.fanfiction.net/r/12044591/5/1/
12. ↑ https://www.fanfiction.net/r/12044591/6/1/
13. ↑ https://www.fanfiction.net/topic/189701/152955139/21/Forged-Destiny-Discussion
14. ↑ https://www.fanfiction.net/topic/189701/152955139/32/Forged-Destiny-Discussion
15. ↑ https://www.deviantart.com/kegispringfield/art/RWBY-Fanfic-Fanart-Forged-Destiny-667805738?comment=1%3A667805738%3A4365182061
16. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20200301061650/https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12044591/23/Forged-Destiny
17. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20200122053601/https://www.fanfiction.net/topic/189701/152955139/71/Forged-Destiny-Discussion
18. ↑ https://www.fanfiction.net/topic/189701/157963823/107/White-Sheep-Discussion
19. ↑ Well, at least she's getting her man in Forged, right!?
20. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20191013191435/https://www.fanfiction.net/topic/189701/152955139/161/Forged-Destiny-Discussion
21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 https://web.archive.org/web/20191013191142/https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/article\_history.php?article=Fanfic.ForgedDestiny&more=t
22. ↑ https://www.fanfiction.net/topic/189701/152955139/158/Forged-Destiny-Discussion
23. ↑ https://www.fanfiction.net/topic/189701/152955139/159/Forged-Destiny-Discussion
24. ↑ https://www.fanfiction.net/topic/189701/152955139/160/Forged-Destiny-Discussion
25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 https://www.fanfiction.net/topic/189701/152955139/161/Forged-Destiny-Discussion
26. ↑ https://www.fanfiction.net/topic/189701/152955139/162/Forged-Destiny-Discussion
27. ↑ https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12044591/90/Forged-Destiny
28. ↑ https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12574905/1/In-the-Kingdom-s-Service
29. ↑ https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12863738/1/Relic-of-the-Future
30. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20200211055546/https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13492440/2/Null
31. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20190507031534/https://www.fanfiction.net/u/6272865/Coeur-Al-Aran
32. ↑ https://www.fanfiction.net/topic/189701/174607388/3/Outside
33. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20191017055354/https://www.fanfiction.net/topic/189701/152955139/363/Forged-Destiny-Discussion
34. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20191017055150/https://www.fanfiction.net/topic/189701/152955139/363/Forged-Destiny-Discussion