This is some good shit.
To start with, atmosphere. This fic doesn't go in on the facts of the Victorian era with quite the same intensity as, say, The Mare Who Once Lived on the Moon. Fundamentally, this fic isn't interested in a broad critique of the era. And that's fine. It just fucking
nails the vibes. DezoPenguin sprinkles in just enough period details, and enough description, that it
feels like the Victorian era, plus some mad science. As far as I'm concerned, that's the important part.
The plot is very narrowly focused. For the record, I'm going to go into some spoilers for the fic's mid-game here, so if you're someone who cares about that skip to the next paragraph. Anyway, the core goal of everyone in this fic is related to Pandora Development and Doctor Hyde
1, whether to find him and capture him, or in Hyde's case to fend off his pursuers and continue his goal of advancing the biological sciences by perfecting his ability to create Faunus.
Theoretically that means every major part besides Hyde and his ilk should be working together, but they aren't, because the Faunus understandably don't trust the SDC and there are further faultlines within both groups. There are many good reasons Weiss and Blake spend most of the fic having to investigate things by themselves, groping in the dark for answers.
But as with most RWBY fics, we're here for the characters, and Belladonna Lilies fucking delivers. Accounting for the changes in circumstances, Weiss and Blake are characterized pitch-perfectly. They also bounce of each other really well - this is the kind of fic that makes you understand the whole "enemies to lovers" thing Tumblr is so obsessed over, because that's how their relationship progresses. They start as enemies, then rivals, then start helping each other, and verbally sparring, and about two-thirds of the way through they're kissing and in a committed relationship. And it all feels
right. One of Dezo's beta readers noted that there's more lesbian subtext here than most dedicated lesbian fiction, something Dezo did not intend. Lol. I know that feeling of two characters developing romantic chemistry on you.
And damn if the OCs aren't well-crafted, too. By necessity most of the cast is OCs, and they range from deeply fleshed-out - Hyde is wonderfully, fervently deranged - to background extras who butt in for a single scene and yet are nonetheless memorable for that fact. Shoutout to the one couple at the masquerade ball who bought Weiss' explanation that there was a spy game being played.
Now, as far as problems go, there's really just one. I mentioned in my last review we'd get another review soon of a story that lacks dialogue tags, and this is the one I was talking about. You have to really pay attention when the story shifts to long dialogue sections to track who's talking, and frankly I lost track multiple times. The rest of the fic is so good I didn't mind overmuch, but it was there.
Also, this was written before Adam Taurus was revealed to be Blake's Psycho Ex-Boyfriend in canon, so something to keep in mind.
Anyway, a great character study and Dustpunk Victorian adventure fic. You're on the list!
- Yes, that Hyde. There are multiple whole-plot references to Victorian science fiction literature; the main plot is basically a RWBY-flavored take on The Island of Dr. Moreau, for example.
