Jaune Arc in The Self Made Man

In *The Self Made Man*, **Jaune Arc** is introduced as a reject of Beacon Academy, later becoming a victim of theft and battery before being rescued by Hei "Junior" Xiong and taken under his wing after being inspired. Jaune starts out as a bartender before advancing as head of the Xiong clan following the death of Hei to Cinder Fall.

## Background

Coeur Al'Aran was fascinating with underground crime such as the Mafia or Yakuza, and wanted to focus on the idea of Jaune ascending the crime world, similar to mobile ads proclaiming going from a mook to a boss. Coeur looked to focus on the romanticized version of organized crime syndicates. This is similar to the illustrious stories of gangsters such as Al Capone during the Prohibition Era.

## *The Self Made Man* from Jaune's Perspective

### Early Life—Beacon Rejection (17—1 BB)

Jaune Arc was born in 17 BB in Ansel, Vale to Nicholas Arc and Juniper Arc as the fifth child out of seven. According to Jaune, he desired to become a huntsman to achieve glory like his ancestors, but Nicholas refused to train him. Nicholas instilled Jaune with optimistic wisdom, such as that confidence and effort is all that is needed for success, and that participation is as good as winning. This likely instilled Jaune with the idea of the "just-world hypothesis", that he could apply confidence and training to achieve anything he desired. Despite these optimistic words, Jaune observed the attitudes from his parents and siblings and how they believed he could not be a Huntsman. At some point, Jaune received a scroll, likely second-hand from one of his sisters, which he continued using into the present day. Eventually, in 1 BB, Jaune sent his transcripts for Beacon Academy and ventured to Vale in hopes of attending, Since he did not meet the prerequisites, he was rejected and left to wander the city with little sleep.

### Robbery

Jaune soon found himself caught in a case of violent robbery by unarmed gang members. Two muggers stole the content of his X-ray and Vav collectible wallet, about 60 lien as they remarked that homeless people carried more money. Jaune also had his scroll stolen, which one thief remarked may be worth a few hundred lien. They turned their attention to Crocea Mors, noting they may receive some value, but that it was likely worth more as scrap. Jaune was concerned that Crocea Mors would be scrapped due to him, and tried to do something, but was punched to the ground before he could intervene.

#### Intervention by Hei

As the muggers planned their getaway, they were intercepted by Hei, who was worse-for-wear from his fight with Yang Xiao Long. Jaune witnessed the muggers try and fight Hei, confident they could defeat him since he was beaten by a huntress in training. Hei managed to defeat the two muggers with a demonstration of skillful dodging between a few seconds and two minutes, which amazed Jaune, as he was not on a comparable level of skill. Jaune questioned why Hei helped him, to which Hei provided him 300 lien, just before Jaune passed out due to blood loss and vertigo. Jaunes last thoughts reflected on his recent rejection from Beacon, noting the relative skill difference between him and Hei contextualized the rejection entirely.

### Recovery in Hei's Bar

Jaune dreamed of Ansel and his family, wishing that they could be proud of him for chasing his ambitions, and potentially marrying an attractive woman, but this dream was interrupted due to pain. He first saw a beaten-up Melanie Malachite, who informed him he was at The Club. When Jaune asked what happened, Melanie told him a "dumb broad" came for information Hei did not have, and attacked the staff. Hei entered the scene, and Jaune remarked that he was the one who saved him, much to Melanie's amusement, initiating a conversation. At some point, Hei and Melanie finished their conversation, and asked Jaune about his health. After conducting a rudimentary diagnostic, Hei concluded Jaune would be fine, and that he needed painkillers. Jaune, not considering the potential risk of analgesic addiction, immediately consumed the pills.

Hei offered to call a taxi for Jaune, but Jaune noted this was impossible since Ansel was a frontier village. Jaune made up a story that he came to Vale looking for a "fresh start", but was off to a difficult start, much to Melanie's sympathy. After shooing Melanie away, Junior told Jaune that his scroll was broken, and that he would replace it if his crew could not fix it. Jaune was confused why Hei was being so generous, to which Junior responded that it was business and insurance. Jaune was still confused, but realized Crocea Mors was missing. Jaune reflected as Hei ordered men to find the sword, realizing that his family would not be angry or surprised at him but would find him disappointing and pitiable.

As Jaune was wallowing, Hei informed him that he was not a huntsman, much to Jaune's embarrassment and confusion. Hei informed Jaune that he was a fighter who knew techniques, but not comparable to a huntsman, as a huntress in training defeated him, Melanie, Miltiades, and his crew without issues. Jaune was stunned at this revelation, as the skill gap became even wider, and realized he never had a chance in Beacon. As Jaune continued spacing out, Hei decided he would stay for the night. Jaune thought this was a good idea in his exhaustion and followed Tony to a spare room to achieve sleep. Jaune could not help but point out how the state of The Club was a good metaphor for his life, which Tony agreed with, and commented Junior would not let fate mess with him. Jaune respected this aspect of Junior, and wished he could take his life into his own hands as well.

## References

1. ↑ **Odd, I know, but I'm going to be taking inspiration from two things. 1) the romanticised view of criminal organisations like the Mafia and Yakuza and 2) the literal game, Yakuza, which does manage to find an odd balance between slice of life and story. In a way, maybe it's best to think of this like Service with a Smile, except that instead of running a coffee shop, Jaune joins the local mob.**
2. ↑ **This story is going to focus on the idea of Jaune dragging himself up from rock bottom, turning himself from a weakling bum into a self-made man. Or, as those old adverts on webpages used to tell me - Turning from a lvl 1 mook into a lvl 100 mob boss!**
3. ↑ **This is therefore going to embrace the more romantic view of organised crime.**
4. ↑ *No wonder dad wouldn't train me. I'm pathetic.*
5. ↑ He wanted to be better. Wanted to be like his old man, like his grandfather and his great grandfather, heroes all.
6. ↑ All he needed was the confidence to try, the guts to make the effort. Dad always said so.
7. ↑ It's okay, Jaune. It'll be okay, Jaune. Don't worry if you're not good at this, Jaune. You only need to be more confident, Jaune. You can do it, Jaune. Well, at least you tried your best, Jaune. It's not winning that counts, Jaune, it's taking part.
8. ↑ Everyone said he wasn't cut out to be a Huntsman, and this only proved them right.
9. ↑ He'd heard it all before. A hundred times over.
10. ↑ How many times had people warned him that being a Huntsman wasn't a game? How many times had he been told that people going to Beacon trained for most of their lives and how he couldn't match them in just a year or two? He'd always dismissed it. Always assumed it was just his dad underestimating him again.
11. ↑ "Wasting our time!" the man roared, rearing his foot back and kicking Jaune again. "Fuck! We stick our neck out and for what, sixty lien and a second-hand scroll?"
12. ↑ He shouldn't have been out either, but he'd been so miserable that he wanted to take a walk and clear his head.
13. ↑ Combined with how little sleep he'd gotten since receiving his rejection letter, his body felt like it was about to crash.
14. ↑ The two muggers arguing over his body didn't care. "Forty, fifty, sixty lien. That's it? I've seen bums with more cash on 'em. Not even a credit card."
15. ↑ "He has a scroll," the other said, his foot still on Jaune's other cheek and keeping his head down. He hadn't tried to break free, not after his initial attempt to intimidate and then fight the two off. Despite having a sword and them being unarmed, he'd failed at even that. "I know a guy can wipe it clean and pawn it off. Might get a few hundo for that."
16. ↑ "Calm it, Pierce. What about the weapon?"
17. ↑ "It's just a sword."
18. ↑ "That it? I thought it'd be one of those fancy mechashift things."
19. ↑ "What, and you think a Huntsman would get their ass kicked like this?" The first sheathed the weapon again, then tossed it to the other. "Talk to Jay and see if it has any value. If not, scrap it for metal."
20. ↑ Crocea Mors. The Arc family weapon. Scrapped because of him.
21. ↑ Jaune dragged his cheek painfully across gravel and out from under the boot. The mugger who had been keeping him pinned stumbled back. *This is my chance!* Jaune thought, lurching up with his hands held before him. "Give my sword ba-"
22. ↑ A fist flashed right through his guard – literally sailing between his raised forearms before he could close them. There was no time for fear, only the sickening *crunch* of bone and cartilage and the cold embrace of concrete once more. The world didn't stay still. Vale's sky twisted and spun as he stared up at it, the rain seeming to cycle down onto his face like it was coming down a swirly slide.
23. ↑ The man was tall and broad, arms crossed over a wide chest. His black suit trousers and waistcoat over a white shirt might have made him look intimidating in any other scenario. His face gave it away. A black eye had swollen over the left side of his face. His left cheek was red and raw, as if someone had struck him with a burning hot piece of metal. If that wasn't enough, he was clearly favouring his right side and hunched at the shoulder. The man dressed smart but looked a mess.
24. ↑ "Fuck off. The Xiong Clan's down and out. Don't think we didn't hear all about your muck up. Your whole gig got wrecked by a little girl. You can't look after yourselves, so what makes you think you can stop us?"
25. ↑ "Yeah!" Crocea Mors whistled in the air as the smaller man swung it. "You're old news, Junior. Crawl back to your hole and rot. These streets are free game."
26. ↑ In less than two minutes, both of the muggers were down and out, unable to move as Junior walked up and knelt by the smallest, rifling through his pockets.
27. ↑ Jaune stared at the man in awe. He was so strong, so skilled and he'd done what he couldn't in a matter of seconds.
28. ↑ Jaune stared dumbly down at the rolled-up money. At least three hundred lien, more than he'd had on him by far. He didn't know what to do. This man had come and rescued him from two people looking to rob him and leave him in an alley, recovered his belongings and was now offering to *pay him* for the privilege? Jaune opened his mouth to ask what was going on, only for his legs to give way.
29. ↑ The floor rushed in but didn't strike him. Two heavy arms caught him before he could hit the ground, supporting his weight as his eyes slid shut. Even now, he was still weak. Still useless. Unable to even thank his saviour properly.
30. ↑ No wonder Beacon rejected his application.
31. ↑ Jaune dreamed of home.
32. ↑ He dreamed of his family, his sisters, his mother and his father. He dreamed of them wishing him well as he left to Vale. He dreamed of their proud faces and the way his mother and father would hold onto one another. He dreamed of Beacon, its glorious spires and the promise of becoming a huntsman. He dreamed of himself stood tall with Crocea Mors dug into the ground, his hand upon the hilt and a beautiful girl on his arm. He dreamed of adventure and glory.
33. ↑ But dreams would not hold, and soon his world became that of stinging pain, cold air and the constant *tschh-tschh* of a broom sweeping up what sounded like shattered glass, followed by a scrape and a loud tinkling noise like rain. Slowly, Jaune opened his eyes, blinking up at an incredibly tall ceiling set with bright lights, girders and innumerable speaker systems.
34. ↑ His head rolled to the side, taking in a pretty girl who looked a couple of years older than he. She was dressed in white with straight black hair cascading down her shoulders to a fluffy feather neck scarf. Her skin was pale, her eyes bright green, and he would have called her beautiful.
35. ↑ "As for where you are," she continued. "You're in our club. The Club. Best nightlife in Vale," she said proudly. "Or it was up until two nights back."
36. ↑ "In the middle of Vale!? Ha. No. Just some dumb broad with more power than sense. Came looking for information and didn't get what she wanted. Assaulted our boss, and when we tried to intervene, threw down and kicked our asses, wrecking the place in the process. Millions in damage, not to mention the injured."
37. ↑ Boss? Jaune creaked his head around to look the other way, taking in dark eyes set between black hair and a blacker beard. "You!" he gasped, eyes widening. "You're the one who saved me!"
38. ↑ "Saved?" the girl snorted. "Caped crusader now, boss?"
39. ↑ There was a long silence, and it took Jaune longer than he liked to realise they were looking at him expectantly. He would have blushed if he didn't feel so exhausted. Instead, he cringed. "S-Sorry. Did you say something?"
40. ↑ "Still out of it, huh? How's your head?"
41. ↑ "Probably just the pain from being knocked silly, then." Junior let him go. He reached under the bar and brought out a small, sealed packet. Typical shop painkillers. "Here. These ought to help."
42. ↑ Two small white pills had never looked so inviting. Jaune took them straight up, swallowed and then accepted the glass of water the man offered, chasing them down. "Thank you," he rasped. "Not just for this but… saving me. I thought…"
43. ↑ Ansel? You couldn't take a taxi from Vale to Ansel any more than you could any of the frontier villages. "N-No. Junior, I-"
44. ↑ He'd come for Beacon, to become a Huntsman, but it felt so stupid to say that to someone who had saved him from being beaten up by thugs on the street. Hei was an actual Huntsman, so he'd see through it in an instant. "Yeah," Jaune said miserably. "I came to make a fresh start. Not been the best so far…"
45. ↑ "Troublesome girl," Hei said. "Wouldn't trade her or her sister for the world. Your scroll didn't survive the tussle, I'm afraid. I've asked one of my boys to take a look at it and see if they can't fix it. If not, I'll get you a replacement."
46. ↑ "Jaune, then. This is business to us. We look after those inside our territory. You were hurt on our turf – your belongings were damaged. Think of this as an insurance pay out."
47. ↑ That explained so little. If he was going to get everything back then he couldn't complain, however. He almost lost- Jaune froze. His heart jumped up to his throat and stuck there. "Crocea Mors!" he gasped.
48. ↑ "My sword! My dad's sword! Where is it?"
49. ↑ Jaune's heart continued to pound in his chest. He fought the panic down. What would Nicholas say if he came back without his sword?
50. ↑ Nothing. The answer was immediate. Dad wouldn't raise any fuss and would never bring it up. That didn't mean he wouldn't react, though. That didn't mean he wouldn't be disappointed in his son for losing it. This would prove his thoughts about teaching Jaune right, too. Everyone said he wasn't cut out to be a Huntsman, and this only proved them right.
51. ↑ His mother and sisters would look at him with such pity. Pity, but not surprise. Here comes Jaune, coming back after failing to get into Beacon, and he's lost Crocea Mors as well. Oh, that's a shame, but really, is anyone surprised? He always was a bit of a cry-baby.
52. ↑ "I'm not a Huntsman."
53. ↑ "And that's it. I'm a fighter. I know how to handle myself. Huntsman, though?" Hei brought a hand up and touched his badly swollen eye. "It was a Huntress that did this to me." He gestured to the ruined nightclub. "It was a Huntress that beat up not only me but Melanie and her sister along with all my boys. All without breaking a sweat."
54. ↑ "And you want to know the best part? It's that she wasn't even a proper Huntress. She was one in training. It was a kid your age," he said, laughing bitterly. "Probably a Beacon applicant."
55. ↑ It felt like Jaune's head was caught in a vice.
56. ↑ Now, he knew. Hei was a man strong enough to beat down two grown men who could have left Jaune for dead, and Hei and his entire bar had been beaten up by one girl, one girl who was at the level of what he'd pretended to be. Jaune had never felt that gap more keenly.
57. ↑ *I never had a chance of making Beacon, did I…? If I can't even protect myself then how could I have made it in a school full of people who can do this?*
58. ↑ "Jaune? Jaune!" Hei snapped him out of his thoughts with a firm shake of the shoulder. "Right. You're staying here for the night. We've spare room and I don't trust letting you out my sight if you keep going in and out of focus like that. You might black out in the middle of the street and get hit by a car." He sighed and muttered, "Maybe I should have taken you to a hospital after all. I didn't think it looked that bad."
59. ↑ Rest sounded good. Even the mention of it had Jaune feeling woozy. With the painkillers kicking in and taking the pain away, the adrenaline that had been keeping him up was fast fading. Combined with how little sleep he'd gotten since receiving his rejection letter, his body felt like it was about to crash.
60. ↑ The Club was in ruins, which sort of fit with Jaune's own life. Through his despair and exhaustion, Jaune couldn't help but point that out.
61. ↑ "Yeah, we've been fucked up a real treat." Tony chuckled. "Guess we're not so different, hey? Both down on our luck because someone tougher decided to kick our asses. Hei will get us out, though. He always does. The boss isn't the kind of man to let fate dick him over. He takes life into his own hands." Tony laughed. "That's why he's the boss!"
62. ↑ *A man who takes life into his own hands…*

That was the kind of man Jaune wanted to be.