#Hazel silver rwby

[autumnsorbet]

Rosegarden suffering

With there weapons at there back Ruby not wanting to be her self anymore

And Oscar losing him self and not wanting to merge

This is the right angst I love 💕

#rwby #Oscar pine #oscarpine #rubyrose #ruby rose #rwby epilogue #rwby9 #rwby fan art #vacuo #rwby10 #rwbyv10 #rosegarden #hazel silver rwby #Hazel silver #rosepine #rosegold #rwby rg #rg #rwby rosegarden

[strqyr]

...salem found hazel. somehow, be it bc hazel had made news trying to attack ozpin, or bc someone could tell her that 'hey, there's this guy who already has a grudge against ozpin, that's a recruitment opportunity right there.'—either way, the reason doesn't matter. salem found hazel, and let him kill her over and over again to prove her immortality.

to prove that ozpin's cause—the one that gretchen possibly could have been part of, if ozpin personally did seek her out to get her to attend beacon—was futile from the get-go, and that ozpin knew.

the very same cause that gretchen, if she at any point was the spring maiden, died for.

that's... pretty damning, and probably one of the easiest recruitment pitches salem has ever had to do.

#rwby #ozpin is practically setting himself up for these skdgkjgh #delivered on a silver platter #( possibly quite symbolically if. ya know. it was summer who informed salem of hazel )

[pilot-boi]

Following the NR explanation of the Rusted Knight, could we get Oscar/Ozpins? I feel like most play it off as a joke with Oz saying he 'knew all along' and that's why he let Jaune into Beacon. If you don't mind, of course.

Oscar knows that his time is limited. Every time he uses magic (his own, theirs, Ozpin’s) he can feel the edges of himself and the consciousness in his head blurring.

Is he Oscar or is he Ozma, the farm boy or the wizard? And can he even mark a difference between the two?

For Oscar, feeling too old for his body is an uncomfortable familiarity at this point. He’s gotten far too used to looking in the mirror and feeling surprised to see his own face.

Is his hair supposed to be brown? He could’ve sworn that it was gray, blonde, darker, lighter. Are his eyes supposed to be hazel? Weren’t they brown, gray, blue, silver- And older, so much older than the face they sat in.

At least that part of his face always looks right.

Feeling too old for his bones is a fate he never would’ve wished on anyone. But then his family comes back from the grave- (They used to be friends. Did he only realize he thinks of them as family after they didn’t make it through the portal?) -and his big brother’s eyes are an echo of his own.

His wayward friends tell their tale, a story of quite literally fairytale proportions. Jaune looks surprised at his own voice and his own limbs and Oscar hates how it feels like looking in a funhouse mirror.

In the back of his mind, Ozpin is silent. Even without being able to read the old man’s thoughts, Oscar can tell he’s shocked beyond words. Oscar can’t tell if that’s gratifying or horrifying.

While Jaune talks to his team, Oscar loiters outside the door. It’s probably the last thing Jaune wants to do, but Oscar needs to talk to him, needs to assure him that it gets better. A quiet part of him whispers that he’s truly a like minded soul, lying to Jaune just to make himself feel better.

“You okay?” he murmurs to himself, to the voice in his head.

“I’m just… unused to the metaphorical shoe being on the other foot,” Ozpin responds eventually. 

His voice is deliberately even. His presence has felt locked away ever since Ruby looked him in the eye (looked through his eyes) and asked “What’s your favorite fairy tale?” Oscar doesn’t know why that would make the old wizard shutter himself, but it clearly means something to him.

For his own part, Oscar can’t stop thinking about how he used to dream of living in the Ever After, how the idea of falling into another world sounded amazing. How naive he used to be.

“Out of all the stories in the world, I certainly wasn’t expecting that one to be true,” Ozpin admits, and Oscar can feel how that rankles him. The old man hates not knowing things, almost as much as he hates seeing people hurt on his watch. 

“Yeah…” Oscar leans against the wall beside the door. His hands feel too small, too big. He shoves them in his pockets. “You didn’t know, then?”

“Not at all. If I had, then-”

The door opens and Jaune steps out. Only Jaune. He closes the door behind him and slumps against it, and he looks older than ever, younger than ever. He rubs a hand across his eyes and lets out a shuddering sigh, slumping in on himself even further.

Oscar shifts awkwardly, suddenly feeling like he’s intruding on something private. He’s never seen his big brother so vulnerable, and he’s quite certain that’s the point.

He clears his throat, and Jaune jumps, his sword in his hand and his arm pinning him to the wall before Oscar can react. His eyes are wild as a trapped animal, hard as steel, and looking at Oscar like he’s a threat. He’s Jaune, but he’s not Jaune, teeth bared and hands shaking.

Oscar realizes that Jaune is scared of him. Like his old barn cat, hissing and spitting and making itself look bigger to hide the fear inside.

And then the moment passes. And Jaune looks horrified with himself.

“Oh gods-” He drops his sword with a clatter and stumbles back as if burned. Oscar gasps for air and Ozpin murmurs comforts in the back of his mind. “Oh gods, Oscar. I’m so sorry, shit, I-” Jaune’s hands are up, hovering just in front of Oscar, wanting to touch, to comfort, but too scared of himself to approach.

“It’s okay,” Oscar interrupts. And really, it is. This isn’t the Jaune who slammed him into a wall in anger. (Against Oscar? Against Ozpin? Is there even a difference?) This is a Jaune terrified of what he’s become, and how could Oscar ever hold that against him?

“It’s really not…” Jaune mumbles, miserably. His hands are still shaking. 

“Are you sure you’re alright?” Ozpin asks, and Oscar nearly rolls his eyes at the old man’s mother-henning. 

“I’ve had worse,” he reminds Ozpin, and Jaune winces. It’s been how long for him, and he still feels guilty? “No that wasn’t to you-“

“I know.” 

“Oh.”

Jaune won’t look at him. His hands are shaking, and Oscar can’t help remembering how Jaune immediately started healing him as soon as he and the others found him in the whale. But now, not even a flicker of Aura appears on his brother’s hands. 

Did the people in the Ever After even have Aura? If they got hurt, could Jaune even have healed them? Did he try? Did he fail? How many pieces of himself did he flicker away trying to help people he couldn’t?

How many pieces has Oscar lost the same way?

“Did Ozpin know?” Jaune asks. And he doesn’t sound angry, not like last time, in Mistral. No, Jaune just sounds tired. “Did he know I’m the Rusted Knight?”

“I…” Oscar hesitates, registering the phrasing.

Not that he’d become the Rusted Knight, that he IS the Rusted Knight. Oscar wants to take him by the shoulders and assure him that he isn’t the fairytale character. But Oscar is many things, and a hypocrite is not one of them.

“May I?” The question comes and Oscar relinquishes control without a second thought, retreating to the back of their mind. He sees his posture straighten, his hands fall behind his back. “Hello again, Mr. Arc.” The voice that speaks from his mouth isn’t his own. (But it is, isn’t it?)

“Did you know?” Jaune looks wary, but resigned, like a man being led to the gallows. “Is that…” His hands clench at his sides, and he looks away. “Is that why you let me into Beacon, even though I lied?”

Jaune lied to get into a Huntsman Academy? It seems trivial in the face of immortal witches and the creators of gods, but from the swell of regret and understanding he feels from Ozpin, clearly this is something that weighs heavily on Jaune’s mind.

“No, I did not know,” Ozpin replies. Oscar can feel how hard that is for the old man to admit. “I knew of the fairy tale, of course, but I had no idea that it was true.” He chuckles. “Even by my standards, it’s quite fantastical.” Jaune  nods, but doesn’t laugh, and Ozpin sobers.

“As for your second question, it’s true that I knew you falsified your transcripts. However-” Jaune tenses, bracing for a blow. Ozpin’s expression softens. “However, your drive to make a difference, the lengths you must’ve gone to and the ingenuity needed to acquire those transcripts… Not to mention the way you inspired and led your teammates during initiation.” 

Jaune shrugs. “I mostly just got in their way.”

Ozpin smiles. “That may be so, but those traits are what convinced me to grant you entry to my school, and to make you the leader of your team. Your own bravery and drive. Nothing more, nothing less.”

Jaune nods, slowly. He doesn’t look like he believes him. Jaune starts to speak, and Oscar hates the familiar surprise at the sound of his own voice. "Would you have told me? If you'd known?" he asks, and Oscar can feel Ozpin hesitate.

"On the contrary, if I had known I never would've let you enter Beacon.” Ozpin’s voice is grave, and he meets Jaune’s eye when he looks up, clearly surprised. “I would’ve tried to convince you to spend more time with your family, to live life away from battle.” 

“I have never claimed to be without flaws, but…” Ozpin’s hand rests on the familiar weight of his cane, and Oscar can feel a wellspring of guilt in the old man’s chest. “...if I had known, I would’ve tried to save you from the fate that was forced upon me, upon Oscar.”

Hazel eyes meet blue. Too old, too young, and Oscar hates the understanding that he sees in them. “To live beyond your years is something I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy,” Ozpin says, “You deserved better than the cards you’ve been dealt, Mr. Arc, and for that I am deeply sorry.”

Blue eyes widen, suddenly bright with tears, Jaune’s breath hitches, and Ozpin retreats, relinquishing control back to Oscar. He rushes forward and then hesitates, remembering Jaune’s initial reaction.

But then his brother meets his eyes, (too young, too old, too familiar) and Oscar closes the distance.

So much has changed and would never be the same again, but Jaune’s hugs are still warm and all-encompassing. Even when he’s shaking with relieved sobs.

“I’m sorry I didn’t make it back to you guys,” Jaune chokes out.

“You’re here, aren’t you?” Oscar murmurs into his chest, and Jaune sobs. He’s here. He’s here. Oscar’s not sure if he’s convincing himself or his brother.

“How do you deal with it?” And neither of them need clarification of what he’s talking about. Feeling out of time, feeling wrong in your own body, feeling like you’ve lost time you’ll never get back.

Now faced with the reason he hung behind, Oscar doesn’t know what to say. A lie or the truth? Comfort or pain?

“By being with my friends,” Oscar replies, and he wishes it was more reassuring, wishes it was that simple. Lies and platitudes. Like minded souls indeed.

But from how Jaune nods holds him tighter, like a drowning man clutching a rope in a storm, maybe it is. Maybe it is enough.

#rwby #jaune arc #oscar pine #professor ozpin #mine #asks #my writing #officialgalaticdeliveryman

[bestworstcase]

So after that first ep of rent beyond how are we feeling about the summer maiden/mysterious hooded lady? The "No new characters!" line leans on the fourth wall pretty hard, so I feel like the audience is definitely being invited to speculate on which already established character it might be. The only viable candidate I can think of though is Starr Sanzang followed by a billion question marks and asterisked conditionals given Sun didn't recognize them at all.

i think it’s maybe a little early to take it for granted that neptune is jumping to the right conclusion (“could she be the summer maiden?”)—neither character is in the loop and qrow kicks them out when he catches them eavesdropping, and neptune is just making a guess based on the presence of two known maidens. note the framing:

the mirroring. two headmasters, two maidens, and two figures framed by the doorways and cast in deep shadow. only one is known to us, and only he steps forward into the light, but mystery girl is paired visually with qrow in the same way oscar is with theodore and winter is with raven. what is qrow’s role? he’s a spy.

given the circumstances, it would also be beyond stupid for the vacuo coalition to not have at least one informant in the ranks of the crown—and we know the crown actively recruits from shade academy. jax’s semblance creates a very serious risk should a spy be found out, necessitating extreme caution to protect her identity. and that’s a damn good reason for qrow to be as pissed as he is when he catches sun and neptune spying—those two cannot be trusted with secrets, period.

so i think there are four possibilities:

she’s the summer maiden

she’s a maiden candidate

she has silver eyes

she’s spying on the crown

or some combination thereof. notably, in before the dawn, theodore DID have rumpole spying on the crown—but she was compromised, so she’s not an option anymore. likewise, both qrow and raven are way too high profile. but the fact that theodore did have someone spying on the crown in the book makes it highly likely for the vacuo coalition to resume spying on the crown after the twins are broken out of jail.

sun’s “i already told you, there’s no way!” implies that he did recognize this girl, and he either knows who the real summer maiden is and mystery girl isn’t her OR he knows definitively that mystery girl isn’t a maiden. if it’s the former, then the summer maiden is undoubtedly starr sanzang and mystery girl is someone else. if it’s the latter, then mystery girl has to be someone sun knows well enough to have an ironclad reason to believe she isn’t the summer maiden—and i can think of exactly one character who fits:

emerald.

emerald, who is conspicuously absent in the 9.11 animatic; we see more of neon than we do of her! emerald, who until quite recently worked not for salem but for cinder fall, the lady who keeps trying to gank the other maidens; there is not a snowball’s chance in hell that emerald would have survived being the summer maiden whist in cinder’s employ.

emerald, whose semblance makes her an ideal spy… there’s the wrinkle of tyrian and mercury, but emerald was able to disguise oz and oscar as hazel convincingly enough to fool salem for a minute or two; she could easily make herself look and sound like someone else to tyrian and mercury, or make herself imperceptible to them in a pinch. dangerous yes, but the coalition cannot afford to be flying blind while salem infiltrates the crown, and emerald is their best bet.

and like oscar said… they’ve all seen what emerald can do, and they could really use someone like her on their side.

the “no new characters!” joke is way too on the nose for it to not be a hint that this is a character we’ve already met. but the full line is “besides, there’s no more room on our suspects board! no new characters!—i mean, perps!” which suggests that this is a character sun would consider to be a “suspect” in team rwby’s (and jaune’s) disappearance.

who were his other “perps”? ren, nora, and qrow. the ones who were involved in planning the evacuation from atlas/mantle and made it to vacuo safely. none of the vacuan characters introduced in before the dawn fit that description—emerald does.

and, if you look at the group shot:

she’s not actually in deep shadow, her sprite gets darkened as she’s brought into focus:

appearance-wise, the only thing we know about her is she’s “a girl” (ergo, probably somewhere in the oscar-to-wby age range of 15-19) and relatively dark-skinned by the standards of rwby’s cast. and while it’s tough to gauge perspective in this art style, oscar appears ‘taller’ than winter—

—but on a level plane, he’s quite a bit shorter than emerald, who is of a height with winter. so winter and raven are set pretty far back, and mystery girl is probably about as far back from them as they are from oscar.

here’s an approximately-similar shot from the show proper with oscar in the foreground and emerald in the back:

so accounting for different art style, mystery girl does look to be within a margin for error of emerald’s height.

and from a doylist perspective, if you’re doing a “no new characters!” joke to hint to the audience that the mysterious hooded figure is actually someone we’ve already met… doesn’t it make sense to do that with a character everyone who watches the show has a fair shot at figuring out, versus one who had a single cameo in an ancillary novel that only a small portion of the viewership is invested enough to read?

[crossovershipstournament]

Crossover Ships Tournament Contestants

Alright, after putting it off for a bit (due to real life being busy and also I got lazy), I’ve finally gone through and prepared the list of ships for the tournament! Congrats to the lucky 64, and apologies to anyone else whose ship didn’t make it in. I did appreciate every single entry that followed the rules, though, and all the infodumps made me smile!

Before the list, however, I wanna say that this post and the eventual bracket matchup post are going to double as places to post your propaganda via replies and reblogs (or even asks). Going forward, I will use whatever propaganda people add to the posts/send via asks with permission to add as propaganda on the eventual bracket matches. By adding any sort of replies/tags/etc to any further tournament-related posts, you are consenting to having that propaganda added into the tournament. If you are uncomfortable with this, please state it outright on any posts/asks you might send.

Also the rule about fanart for the ships still remains; if you send/provide fanart, please also provide explicit permission from the original artist or proof that you made it yourself. Otherwise, I will not feel comfortable using it in the tournament.

With all that said, let’s meet our 64 ships for the tournament! Please let me know if anything is misspelled or any information is incorrect:

Bayonetta (Bayonetta)/Palutena (Kid Icarus)

Beastman (Masters of the Universe)/Lifeweaver (Overwatch 2)

Ben Tennyson (Ben 10)/Rex Salazar (Generator Rex)

Chibiusa (Sailor Moon)/Kid Trunks Briefs (Dragon Ball Z)

Damian Wayne (DC Comics)/Marinette Dupain-Cheng (Miraculous Ladybug)

Dib Membrane (Invader Zim)/Dipper Pines (Gravity Falls)

Dimentio (Super Paper Mario)/Jevil (Deltarune)

Ash Williams (Evil Dead)/Crawford Tillinghast (From Beyond)

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III (How To Train Your Dragon)/Jack Frost (Rise of the Guardians)

Isabelle (Animal Crossing)/Wolf O’Donnell (StarFox)

Jake Long (American Dragon: Jake Long)/Juniper Lee (The Life and Times of Juniper Lee)

JD (Heathers the Musical)/Nathan Prescott (Life is Strange)

Jigglypuff (Pokemon)/Kirby (Kirby)

Johnny Bravo (Johnny Bravo)/Samurai Jack (Samurai Jack)

Leonardo Hamato (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)/Yuichi Usagi (Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles)

Michelangelo Hamato (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)/Miles Morales (Marvel)

Reagan Ridley (Inside Job)/Toriel Dreemur (Undertale)

Fenton Crackshell-Cabrera (Ducktales 2017)/Clover Ebi (RWBY)

Gyro Gearloose (Ducktales 2017)/Hazel Rainart (RWBY)

Gandra Dee (Ducktales 2017)/Winter Schnee (RWBY)

Dewey Duck (Ducktales 2017)/Whitley Schnee (RWBY)

Mogar (Xray and Vav)/David (Camp Camp)

Jimmy Neutron (Jimmy Neutron)/Timmy Turner (Fairly Oddparents)

Jane Porter (Tarzan)/Captain Amelia (Treasure Planet)

Max Goof (Disney)/Yakko Warner (Animaniacs)

Huey Duck (Ducktales 2017)/Wakko Warner (Animaniacs)

Dewey Duck (Ducktales 2017)/Silver the Hedgehog (Sonic the Hedgehog)

Wirt (Over the Garden Wall)/Dipper Pines (Gravity Falls)

Webby Vanderquack (Ducktales 2017)/Mabel Pines (Gravity Falls)

Max (Camp Camp)/Phineas Flynn (Phineas and Ferb)

Sora (Kingdom Hearts)/Jim Hawkins (Treasure Planet)

Angus McDonald (The Adventure Zone)/Shigeo Kageyama (Mob) (Mob Psycho 100)

Anne Boonchuy (Amphibia)/Nepeta Leijon (Homestuck)

Applejack (My Little Pony)/Hol Horse (Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders)

Aqua (Kingdom Hearts)/Cinderella (Cinderella)

Commander Peepers (Wander Over Yonder)/Wilt Michaels (Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends)

Ditzy Doo (My Little Pony)/The Doctor (Doctor Who)

Jiminy Cricket (Pinocchio)/Timothy Q. Mouse (Dumbo)

Sam Winchester (Supernatural)/Spencer Reid (Criminal Minds)

Bowser (Super Mario)/Dr. Eggman (Sonic)

Kokichi Ouma (Danganronpa)/Venti (Genshin Impact)

Charlie Bradbury (Supernatural)/Rose Tyler (Doctor Who)

Alex Mercer (Prototype)/Desmond Miles (Assassin’s Creed)

Adrien Agreste aka Chat Noir (Miraculous Ladybug)/Berry Shirayuki aka Mew Berry (Tokyo Mew Mew)

Pinkie Pie (My Little Pony)/Shockwave (Transformers Prime)

Floyd Leech (Twisted Wonderland)/Kanata Shinkai (Ensemble Stars)

Skales (Lego Ninjago)/Starscream (Transformers Prime)

Selina Kyle aka Catwoman (DC Comics)/Loki (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

Phone Guy (Five Nights at Freddy’s)/Wally Franks (Bendy and the Ink Machine)

Megaman (Megaman)/Pit (Kid Icarus)

Merida (Brave)/Rapunzel (Tangled)

Ange Ushiromiya (Umineko no Naku Koro Ni)/Rin Tohsaka (Fate/Stay Night)

Bendy (Bendy and the Ink Machine)/Cuphead (Cuphead)

Luca Paguro (Luca)/Maisie Brumble (The Sea Beast)

Princess Peach (Super Mario)/Samus Aran (Metroid)

Blossom Utonium (Powerpuff Girls)/Dexter (Dexter’s Laboratory)

Daffy Duck (Looney Toons)/Donald Duck (Disney)

Kefer (Egyxos)/Dragon Shiryu (Knights of the Zodiac)

Gaz Membrane (Invader Zim)/Mabel Pines (Gravity Falls)

Gregor (Star Wars the Clone Wars)/Harley Quinn (DC Comics)

Sally “Thorn” McKnight (Scooby Doo Franchise)/Skwisgaar Skwigelf (Metalocalypse)

Astro Tenma (Astro Boy (2009))/Wilbur Robinson (Meet The Robinsons)

Apollo (Percy Jackson)/Clark Kent aka Superman (Superman)

Madoka Kaname (Puella Magi Madoka Magica)/Shinji Ikari (Neon Genesis Evangelion)

#Mun Speaks #Poll Talk #Submission List

[anthurak]

It might be subtle, but has anyone else noticed how... odd Yang’s ability to change her eye color is compared to other semblances?

See, when looking over all of the semblances we’ve seen in RWBY so far, including those in expanded material like After the Fall and Roman Holiday, one interesting trend emerges, one that Yang’s semblance actually breaks.

There are no shapeshifting semblances.

More specifically, there seem to be almost no other semblances that allow a person to outright alter themselves physically. Even self-affecting semblances like those used by Hazel or Rhodes don’t really alter their bodies in a truly physical sense. It’s more that they are using their aura to affect their bodies but not actually change them physically.

That seems to be the common trend among all semblances: The projection of aura either internally or externally to produce an effect, but not one that changes you physically.

Indeed, when we consider the Branwen twins and peoples’ usual shock at their ability, it seems like the power to physically alter one’s own body lies purely within the realm of outright MAGIC.

And that’s not even getting into the fact that it’s unclear whether Yang’s ability to change her eye color is even part of her semblance. After all, we’ve seen her both use her semblance without her eyes changing color AND her eyes change color outside of combat when she’d have no reason to activate her semblance. It could be that the ability to change her eye color is something Yang can just... do.

It’s also worth noting the ONE other person with a semblance that allows for truly physical self-alteration: Ruby’s Petal Burst semblance that we now know allows her to flat out manipulate her physical form on a molecular level. And of course, Ruby herself has ambiguous ties to magic and the powers of the gods via her Silver Eyes and whatever else she may have going on, which certainly only makes Yang’s eye-shifting more notable.

I haven’t brought this up in a while now because there hasn’t been much in the way of direct hints in recent Volumes, but my long-time theory is that Yang has unknowingly inherited Raven’s animal-shifting magic. After all, we KNOW that children can in fact inherit magic from a parent, as we saw with Salem’s and Oz’s children.

Needless to say, much like Ruby and Weiss, Yang’s abilities seem to have a lot more going on then what might appear.

#rwby #rwby theory #rwby meta #Yang Xiao Long #rwby semblances #Yang inherited Raven's shapeshifting #its funny how Yang has been doing this really odd thing since her TRAILER but no one has ever questioned it

[lacependragon]

That fatphobia in RWBY isn't something I bring up a lot but holy shit does it bother me. It's literally so pervasive that the actual worldbuilding itself seems to support it.

Thinness is good. Muscles are good on men and men only. Tallness is good. But fatness is evil.

The closest thing we got to a fat character before Port was Junior: bad guy. Port is a good guy but a joke character. And he made a pervy comment when we first met him. This. Speaks a lot to how he's viewed.

Then there's Lil Miss and--

Fuck that's not even getting into the fact that the literal three characters most associated with purity, love, heroism, and goodness are Ruby, Oscar, and Weiss (silver eyes, leader; Oz host & selfless; white/snow/ice symbolism, etc.) the three smallest members of the entire show.

And then Hazel, the biggest guy, is a literal rage man. He's not fat but fuck he's the hugest character! (Not to mention he's not white but RWBY's racism has been well-documented by others than me).

Like. Goodness = small and thin. Badness or comedy = fat.

That's it. That's the basic worldbuilding around the body types of RWBY, and if you don't believe me, look at every single "big" character on the cast and find me one that doesn't turn into a joke or a villain.

#lace speaks #fatphobia tw #3 #4 #5 #rwde #as a fat person #and a person with a LOT of weight issues #god i hate this

[itsclydebitches]

I'm honestly curious as to what Salem was referring to in the first volume when she said, "there will be no victory in strength" - alluding to all the times Ozpin has failed to defeat her. Interestingly, Salem never directly strongarms her followers into working for her - violence only comes in when they disobey her (Cinder) or she has her followers do it for her. Meanwhile every conflict the heroes face is solved with violence with the exception of heel-turned antagonists who are either narratively disposed of (Ilia + Raven), added to the cast-bloat of 20+ onscreen characters (Emerald + Aceops) or killed off (Hazel), thus not having to reconcile with new dynamics that aren't "everyone is best friends, all the time".

In some respects it feels like a reversal of the standard moral we would expect from a tale like RWBY. (Though, as I always want to stress, not an intentional reversal.) Meaning, most shonen-esque, fairy tale-esque, young protagonists fight some evil force-esque stories present the message that it's not their literal power that saves the day, but rather the Power of Friendship/Love/Purity/Whatever. Or, more accurately, one leads into another. By embracing the emotion that the story wants to uphold as significant, they receive their power up as a cosmic reward (like going Super Saiyan over the love of a friend), or are otherwise rewarded with the solution to their difficulty (like the Guardians of the Galaxy crew splitting the power of the infinity stone). The in-world universe looks at the hero who has Behaved In The Morally Correct Way--which often includes overtly rejecting power--and says, "Here, have a lot of power anyway as a treat. You've proven that you deserve it." Something, something the best leaders don't want to be leaders (insert Ruby's Beacon arc here) and similarly, the people to have a ton of power are those who don't inherently want to be powerful because now there's little chance that they'll misuse it. And for a hot second RWBY went in that direction with a "simple soul" who doesn't want to be the "bees knees" but does want to "help people."

Problem is--as you say--Ruby and the group just solve all of their conflicts with violence. Not in a Power of Friendship/Love way, but ordinary, prodigy, punch-them-until-they-stop-moving violence. Particularly in the later volumes. Ruby doesn't defeat Cordovin with a power-up because a teammate was injured in the fight and she now wants to protect them, they just shoot at her until a massive grimm shows up to finish the job. They don't defeat the Ace Ops with the Power of Teamwork, they all split into separate rooms and we're told they're simply more talented than these professionals, period. Blake doesn't find the strength to defend herself by thinking about Ruby, she begs Ruby to wake and do the work for her. Jaune doesn't save Penny by unlocking some upgraded semblance at a crucial moment out of a love for her, he slits her throat. The group doesn't defeat Cinder in Volume 8 at all. There's no strategy anymore, or success tied to Love--and I do use the word "anymore" deliberately. Because for a long time RWBY's saving grace (no matter its other flaws) were the Silver Eyes: a straightforward ability Powered By Love that was at the heart of our hero's development. Ruby sees Pyrrha die and it activates. She sees Blake in great danger and it activates. Even in Volume 6 when it was getting very flimsy with memories of decorating the dorm and what-not, at least it still revolved around the concept of a found family, even if it was retconning the idea of mortal peril being a trigger. It still mostly worked.

Now though, Ruby simply decides that the fight is over and disintegrates the Hound--no emotion necessary--and she doesn't react at all when her sister is murdered. We lost the one aspect of the show that still revolved around the Power of Friendship/Love.

Which finally brings us back to Salem's opening speech. "There will be no victory in strength." AKA, the standard moral. You can't defeat me by training, learning fancy techniques, or even being a prodigy. At least, you can't wield those things on their own. All the straight-forward power in the world isn't going to bring me down. Her immortality should be a metaphor for that message, wherein the cast learns the thematic lesson of upholding the Power and Love by figuring out how to circumvent the practical problem of an enemy that can't die. This setup works. It's tried and true and tested!!

But than, as said, RWBY swerved hard. Now they're saying that strength is enough. Strength is the ultimate weapon. How do you deal with a traumatized ally? You punch him and demand that he return for more violence. How do you convince an abused brother to help you? Threaten him with your sword. How do you beat the best team in Atlas, possibly the world? By just being more powerful than them, duh.

How do you defeat Salem?

By fighting her. That's the closest the group gets to offering Ironwood a "solution" to their problem: we'll stay here and fight her. How is that going to work given the whole immortality thing? They don't know. They don't care. There's absolutely no discussion about the issue, yet the protagonists continue to push the message that the best--the only--solution is to stand your ground, sharpen your weapons, and find a way to punch the problem into submission. Oh, RWBY still appears very Power of Friendship-y with all the speeches about how they have to work together, but post Volume 4-ish the writing hasn't followed up on that message.

RWBY said, "There will be no victory in strength" and then halfway through its run went, "Never mind, strength is awesome. Why would we write a story about strategy, creativity, and the importance of strong bonds when our heroes can just be More Powerful than the enemy? It's so much simpler to write a story where they're inherently as talented as the plot needs and they've all read the script, so they know they'll win in the end--that's their reasoning and justification. So much better than writing that complicated metaphor."

You know, I'm thinking now about Ironwood's final moments as he reached for his gun and then dropped his hand. Besides the fact that it reads as more sympathetically tragic to me than, I suspect, the pathetic angle RT was going for, within this framework it really reflects his whole philosophy. In a "normal" Power of Love story, there might be something to the idea that he isn't trying hard enough; that unlike our protagonists who Persevere, Ironwood demonstrates a pronounced weakness in giving up. But since the story has established quite clearly that conventional violence will not win this fight--AKA, a gun--it reads more like a tragic wisdom. In his final moments he's not giving up because he can't fight anymore (I mean, whatever else we might say about the guy, he's incredibly determined and resilient), but because he understands that the only course now available to him is useless. From the moment Oscar told him the truth, Ironwood has been working within the realities of their situation. It led him to doing horrific things in the name of finding a lesser evil, but it's narratively significant that he (and Ozpin) is one of the only characters who truly accepts the problem of Salem's immortality and doesn't bow out of the fight (like Raven). He understands that picking up a gun and shooting this being is the height of stupidity. It's a waste of time, of energy, of focus. It might be comforting to pretend that their weapons are still a viable option, but he's not going to spend his last slice of life chasing a delusion. It won't work.

Meanwhile, or protagonists are still ignoring this problem 99% of the time and the other 1% they're going, "Hmm... but what if we tried brute strength 🤔?"

#rwde #rwby #mymetas

[darksaiyangoku]

RWBY: Grim Tales

For @kinashia

Caught in the Web

[Kingdom of Mistral - Yún Town]

It was a late, warm autumn evening in the town of Yún and a young boy was walking around the market stalls for ingredients. He had ashen-black hair, tanned, freckly skin, hazel eyes and wore a cream-coloured, raggedy shirt, dull orange gloves, torn brown trousers and black boots. He held a piece of small paper in his hand and looked at the list of ingredients.

Oscar: Okay let's see. Uncle Oliver asked me to get some dill, salmon, mustard, paprika, cinnamon and some apples. Shouldn't be too hard... if this crowd would break away a little.

He waded through the sea of people until he finally reached the stall that sold herbs and spices. He quickly made his purchase before dashing away. Oscar looked around until he saw a sign that a picture of a blue fish.

Oscar: *walks over* Excuse me, madam. How much for your salmon?

Fishmonger: Would you like a whole one or cut into steaks?

Oscar: Oooh! Steaks please.

Fishmonger: You got it! *slices up the salmon* That's 16 silver lien, please.

Oscar made the purchase and bagged up most of his shopping. All that was left were apples. He was about to make his way to the fruit stall but found that it was closed.

Oscar: Wha? Aw man... Well, I guess I'd better head back.

Oscar ventured out of the market place, intent on returning home when a tavern caught his eye. His stomach rumbled with hunger and the aroma of food danced on his nose. A quick snack couldn't hurt and dinner wouldn't be ready until much later anyway. Maybe if he was lucky, they could have some spare apples. With his mind made up, Oscar stepped inside and hopped onto a chair at the bar.

Oscar: Um, could I have a slice of cherry pie, please?

Bartender: Certainly, young man. Would you like custard or cream.

Oscar: Custard, please. Vanilla flavoured.

Bartender: Excellent choice!

Oscar: Oh and do you have any spare apples?

Bartender: We have 6. You can take them, no extra charge.

Oscar: *smiles* Thanks sir.

Oscar looked around the tavern as he waited patiently. He could how lively everyone was, chatting with friends, flirting with each other and singing ballads out of tune. Several minutes had passed and the pie finally arrived, alongside a small sack of apples. Oscar took a spoonful and hummed at the beautiful combinafion of rich, sour cherries and smooth, sweet custard.

Bartender: So then, young man. Are you going to be staying for the Phantom Party tonight?

Oscar: *shakes head* I can't. I gotta get home to my aunt. She and my uncle are cooking dinner tonight.

Bartender: Ah... right. *leans in*

Oscar: Um, sir?

Bartender: Are you sure you want to go back all by yourself? The path away from Yún is dangerous during the night. Grimm prowl about in the forest looking for children to feast on.

Oscar: *chuckles* Come on, that's just a fairytale. I've lived here my whole life and I haven't met a single Grimm. I know the forests like the back of my hand.

Bartender: Are you sure?

Oscar: Positive.

Bartender: Still, take this. *gives Oscar a dagger* Just in case.

Oscar: ...okay? *gives the bartender 3 silver coins* Thank you, sir.

He paid for the snack and headed out of the tavern, unaware of the look he was getting from a hooded stranger sitting in the corner of the tavern.

[Forest]

Oscar's body trembled with every step he took. He clasped onto the knife in one hand, ready for any danger.

Oscar: *deep breath* There's no such thing as monsters, there's no such thing as monsters.

A vicious hiss made Oscar jump. He turned around and swung the knife wildly. But there was no one there. Oscar turned the other way as he heard thumping sounds on the ground. He backed away slowly, gripping the knife tight. Suddenly, the hiss became louder, startling Oscar. He looked up and, from the trees, was a large web weaved atop of the branchss. At the center was a large, black spider-like creature with white, bone-like plating covering its top and red eyes that burned with hatred.

Oscar: GAAAAAAH!!!!! *falls down*

Oscar frantically ran, not even daring to look back. Instantly, however, a jet of silver webs shot out of the spider's mouth and snatched him by the legs.

Oscar: AAAAAAAGH!!!!

The sensation of the webs felt like blades piercing his skin. Oscar's heart was racing furiously. He was desperately grabbing at the ground, but it wasn't working. He was trapped. The spider started to drag him towards its nest.

Oscar: No please! I don't wanna die! Someone, anyone! Save me!!!

SLICE!!!

Suddenly, Oscar felt the webs loosen their hold on him. He quickly shook them off and stood up. In front of him was a tall, hooded stranger face-to-face against the spider. It tore off the hood to reveal a young woman. She had long, spiky black hair that resembled bird's feathers, a torn black skirt and boots, crimson armour and eyes and, on her waist, she carried two swords; a wakisashi and katana. She glared at the spider-creature and drew her katana. Immidiately, it jumped from its nest and landed with a hard thud that shook the forest grounds. It raised its two front legs and started to attack the stranger, only for to parry quickly.

SLASH!!!

In one stroke, the two front legs were sliced off of them were sliced in half. The beast screeched in pain.

Stranger: *raises hand* Aard!

A pulse of wind were pushed back several feet away. The stranger ran towards the spider without even a hint of fear. It tried to bite her with its large fangs, but she leaped into the air and landed on its back. The spider rocked violent trying to shake her off to no avail. From her waist, she got a vial of red powder and poured onto her katana, turning the blade into scarlet red. Gripping her sword with both hands, she plunged it deep into the creatures's head. The impact ignited the spider and set if ablaze, as the stranger leaped off. Oscar stared in both fear and awe. The stranger turned around and walked over to Oscar slowly. She kneeled down and picked up a small sack, handing it to him.

Stranger: You dropped this, kid.

Oscar: *panting* Um... t-thanks. I-I'm Oscar.

Looking at the stranger as she sheathed her sword, she noticed that she was wearing a silver medallion around her neck in the shape of a phoenix.

Oscar: *blinks* Y-You're a Witcher? Aren't you?

Stranger: *smirks* That's right, kid.

Oscar: I-I thought you were just a fairytale. A bedtime story parents tell to their kids.

Raven; Sorry to disappoint you, but we are very much real. As are those sorry sights behind me, the grimm. *offers hand* My name is Raven. Raven Branwen of the Phoenix School.

#rwby #grim tales #rwby grim tales #halloween #rwby halloween #oscar pine #raven branwen #the witcher

[karume-everything-else]

Flufftober 2023

Day 24: "I wish I could spend more time with you." [Reader x Hazel] {RWBY}

Despite not being a good fighter, you were often teamed up with Tyrian. At first, you thought it was Salem being racist, given you were also a faunis. But no, you were there to try and fine-tune Tyrian's wild fighting style with a little planning. However that put a lot of strain on your relationship with Hazel.

Not that he was worried about you cheating or leaving him for Tyrian. The two of you barely saw one another unless Salem had nothing else for either of you to do.

It just rubbed you both the wrong way.

But you did have one such occasion, just relaxing against Hazel's arm. You were reading while he whittled a small wooden figure. It was peaceful, for the most part. Emerald was seeking refuge from Mercury, only able to get the silver-haired male to leave her alone when she was around Hazel specifically. His intimidating physique and the fact he was this skilled with a knife was more than enough deterrent for most people.

Unfortunately, even the sun sets in paradise as Tyrian waltzed into the room, "Well now, what a cozy scene. Shame I have to whisk [Name] away to Atlas."

You sighed, silently standing, following Tyrian to the hanger. Hazel was following you just to see you off, gently grabbing your wrist before you could board the ship. As much as Watts wanted to say something, the sneering 'gentleman' knew better than to cross Hazel.

"[Name], be careful." He stooped a little to kiss your forehead, "Don't let Tyrian get you into trouble. And don't let the people of Atlas get under your skin, you're not just a faunis."

You smiled a little warmly up at him. "I know. I just wish I could spend more time with you. If we were on a team, things would just get done."

Hazel smirked, turning away. Softly patting your shoulder before he went back into the castle. As much as Hazel would love to bring that idea up to Salem, he couldn't help but worry that it would be more trouble than it would ultimately be worth. And it wasn't as if you two didn't get some time together.

#x reader #rwby #rwby x reader #rwby hazel #hazel #hazel x reader #flufftober 2023

[c-jay-s-head-canons-only]

The Ninth Jedi - Star Wars LEGENDS/RWBY AU! Idea

Margrave Juro

Ozpin (Human)

Ethan

Oscar Pine (Human)

Homen

Cardin Winchester (Silverback Wookie)

Lah Kara

Ruby Rose (Half-Zelosian)

Lah Gima

Taiyang Xiao Long (Human)

Roden

Rhodes (Epicanthix)

Niizo

Cinder Fall (Hapan)

Hen Jin

Tock (Barabel)

Hanbei

Arthur Watts (Cerean)

Toguro

Hazel Rainart (Jastus Farr’s Species)

AU! STAR WARS LEGENDS:

Cade Skywalker went missing after the One Sith attacked the Ossus Project, and nearly twenty years later, he has yet to be found found.

Many of his friends have gone missing as well, including Wolf Sazen and Shado Vao.

Darth Krayt has been slain at the hands of Darth Wyyrlok III

Darth Talon has also been slain, but her cause of death is currently undetermined

Maladi and Nihl have joined forces and created their own sect of Acolytes.

Oscar Pine is close friends with Weiss and her family, and was given some gifts by them before he answered the call.

Winter Schnee is a Knight of the Fel Empire, who defected, and passed her armour onto Weiss, who has it repurposed for Oscar.

Winter has kept her imperial lightsaber but intends to switch out the synthetic crystal for something different.

She has also constructed her own personal lightsaber, which is completely unique to her.

The Fel Empire has been rounding up lost and fallen jedi since the attack on the Ossus Project.

Taiyang tempers Pontites and forges synthetic crystals to utilise in his highly customised lightsabers.

Taiyang has also created his own lightsaber using pontite crystals, but this one requires further maintenance because natural crystals do not react well after artificial tempering.

Ruby has found a way to augment the crystals during the forging process into creating a superior blade.

Oscar is given Ozma’s personal lightsaber until Ruby arrives with the new ones, and after the Acolytes are defeated, he returns it to Ozma.

Margrave Ozma’s personal lightsaber has a blue blade, and it is powered by three natural crystals.

One Solari to widen the blade.

One Durindfire, which gives the blade a silver-sheen.

One Pontite that instills a calm in the wielder and others around.

The Acolytes who come to the Margrave's home are sworn to Darth Nihl and Maladi.

But have also sworn allegiance to a hidden Lord of the Sith calling herself Darth Bellum, who hails from the Old Republic.

Rhodes taught Cinder everything she knows.

#star wars legends #star wars visions #the ninth jedi #rwby #ruby rose #taiyang xiao long #oscar pines #cinder fall #professor ozpin #hazel rainart #arthur watts #cardin winchester #cade skywalker #the fel empire #imperial knight #winter schnee #imperial knight lightsaber #lightsaber crystal

[autumnsorbet]

Maybe look off campus ruby

-----

New name idea for rosegarden

Rose gold, or Hazel silver

#rwby #Oscarpine #oscar pine #oscar rwby #rwby oscar #ruby rose #rosegarden #rwby rg #rg #pineoscar #pine oscar #rwby of oz #ruby rwby #rosepine #rosegold #Hazel silver rwby

[strqyr]

If we're talking music though, with War, I can't help but think of RLR Part II. If Summer is alive, what's up with "I was sure that I would see you when I made it back home", "Wish I could talk to you if only for a minute" and "I didn't have a choice, I did what I had to do"? If seems like, whatever it is that Summer did, has made it so that she can't go back and talk to her family, which makes the theories like Salem turning her into a grimm hybrid more likely than Summer flat out joining Salem out of her own will.

my only problem with the grimm hybrid summer theory is that... like... what's up with the timeline, then?

summer disappeared over ten years ago. hazel says they've dealt with silver-eyed warriors before, so safe to say there have been more sews between summer and the hound. the hound was also an experiment, so if summer is a grimm hybrid now, then either whatever turned summer didn't work on others, or salem, for whatever reason, didn't do any other experiments until over ten years later despite having a true-and-tried method.

it's also like... choices are a big thing in rwby; you make them, and then you live with them and the consequences that come with them. summer having no choice because she's a grimm hybrid akin to the hound takes that away, and instead turns her into a victim who needs to be saved or killed.

by no means am i against grimm hybrid summer, but i'd prefer if she was more like salem or cinder rather than the hound; she clearly has grimm parts or 'corruption', but her mind is still her own. it would also explain why raven wasn't at all surprised about cinder's grimm arm and knew it would not be covered by her aura, if that's something that happened with summer as well.

#rwby #summer rose #anon #ask.strqyr

[hotpotrandomfics]

Riordanverse OC: Cylus Cormac, Son of Hestia

Full Name: Cylus Cormac

Alias/Nicknames: Embers, House Husband, Cinnamon Roller, Heart Breaker

Godly Parent: Hestia, Goddess of the Hearth, Fire, Home, and Family

Gender: Male

Age: 18

Birthday: March 12th

Sexuality: Heterosexual

Hairstyle, Hair Color: Wavy medium length, charcoal black

Eye Shape and Color: Upturned and Hazel

Lip Shape: Thin Lips

Nose Shape: Straight

Face Shape: Diamond Shape

Body Type: Mesomorphic, toned welterweight mixed with a swimmer physique 

Extra Traits: Light freckles along the bridge of the nose

Scars: Drakon claw marks on his back, a sword stab into his left shoulder, and a spear on his right lower abdomen

Height: 6'0"

Skin tone: Cinnamon brown

Ethnicities: Puerto Rican, Irish, and Greek

Personality: Calm and passive disposition, shy, compassionate, and rational

Flaws: Pacifism, dissimulation, self-deprecation, and shyness

Strengths: Loyalty, humanity, temperance, and compassion

Likes and Hobbies: Kind individuals, cooking, swimming, martial arts training, pegasus riding, guitar, dancing in private, heavy rock, and reading 

Dislikes: Arrogant and violent individuals, minotaurs, liars, country music, forced physical contact, and wasted food

Voice: Similar to that of Aaron Dismuke's character in RWBY (Oscar Pine)

Fears or Phobias: Genophobia, glossophobia, and atychiphobia 

Favorite Color: Persian Green

Favorite animal: Red Wolves

Favorite possession: A leather necklace with a hearth charm

Favorite food: Thai hot chicken pad thai

Least Favorite food: Pickles

Love interest: TBD

Best friends: TBD

Friends: TBD

Enemies: Extreme children of Priapus, extreme children of Aphrodite

Rivals: TBD

Species: Demigod

Fatal flaw: Low self-esteem

Powers:

Pyrokinesis

Past Visions

Serenity Inducement

Food Generation

Culinary Arts

Weapon(s):

Celestial Bronze cane sword

Stygian Iron and Silver alloy karambit knife

Fighting style(s):

Pankration

Fencing

Wing Chun

Judo

Jiu-Jitsu

Backstory: Cylus Cormac, was born through parthenogenesis in a hearth, out of a whim from Hestia and at the whispers of a prophecy three thousand years ago. Hestia was unsure what to do with her child as she only birthed a few in secret in her unusual manner. Cylus specifically was born in the hearthe of an abandoned home that belonged to an Irish immigrant in the forest of Puerto Rico. Cylus would be founded by a satyr named Natalia Bellerose, who named the infant after the former owner of the house. Natalia would take Cylus to New Athens to be raised in its orphanage until he was of age to train.

At camp, Cylus wouldn't be claimed until the day of his 13th birthday. Oddly enough, he was already settled in the Hestia cabin and would have awoken to a box by the hearthe in the cabin area addressed to him. Grabbing the box, he opened it to find his cane sword though he was unaware of it being a sword for some time. When he pondered his thoughts at breakfast, a symbol of a warm fireplace with a mild fire appears above the child's head and a Celestial bronze fire poker landed on his lap. While he was happy to be claimed there was an omen in the air of something off as he glanced to the Oracle cave within the hills of the valley of Camp Half-Blood and New Athens green lights began to flash. The next Great Prophecy to come...

Picrew:

#percy jackon and the olympians #heroes of olympus #trials of apollo #the sun and the star #pjo #hoo #toa #tsats #pjo hoo toa tsats #pjo hoo toa #son of hestia #cylus cormac #pjo oc #hoo oc #toa oc #tsats oc #riordanverse oc #riordan universe #riordanverse

[bestworstcase]

I'm now imagining the second half of Cinder's backstory - the meeting Cinder and presumably Summer portion of it. And trying to think which of the more family music osts/what shot parallels could be used to drive home that yeah Salem at some point just slotted Cinder in as a daughter in her heart if post that reveal to the audience.

Though in general I'm also thinking how Salem essentially emotionally adopting Cinder would be a good play on the idea of a fairy god mother role - Cinderella mistaking intentions even when they're turning to her favor because trauma and abuse, miscommunication because Salem is unfathomably ancient/"fairy", and sidesteps by Cinder already (lethally) leaving the step family the whole "leaving someone in an abusive situation is a terrible move"... Also a good want versus need lead in for Cinder.

one thing about the cinderella allusion is—while i do often say ‘fairy godmother’ for simplicity—my sense is that cinder’s story hews more to the grimm brothers version of the story wherein the magical benefactor is a white bird which comes to her aid when she visits a hazel tree planted over the grave of her mother. (ie, a reincarnation of her mother.)

rwby flags the relevant imagery in ‘until the end’ (“the tears that you shed will find a tree to water”)—which is ozma’s song, but salient to the cinderella narrative because cinderella’s father provides the hazel twig which cinderella plants and waters with her tears until it grows into a tree. specifically, cinderella’s mother dies in autumn, her father marries again in the spring and allows the stepmother and her daughters to abuse cinderella. at some point after her effective removal from the family is complete, the father goes to a fair and each of the three daughters requests a certain gift: beautiful dresses for one stepsister, jewels for the other, and cinderella asks for “the first twig that brushes against your hat on your way home.” the hazel twig knocks his hat off while he travels through a thicket. 

so… in rwby the cinderella narrative is nested into the ozlem conflict in a very particular way; the hazel tree over the grave of her mother grows from a symbol of her father’s complicit indifference to her abuse and is fed by the intensity of cinderella’s anguish. the point of cinderella asking for the twig that brushes your hat is not to illustrate any virtue in cinderella; she is not humble, she is not temperate, she is acutely and painfully aware that she is an inconvenience in her father’s eyes, an unwelcome reminder of the past he would like to ignore. 

slavery was abolished after the great war. ozpin raised atlas to serve as a shining example of his ideals. cinder grew up enslaved, surrounded by atlesians who politely ignored the obvious abuse happening in that hotel. as cinderella turns to the spirit of her dead mother for aid, cinder turns to salem. “throw gold and silver down to me” -> “you will have the power i promised you”—in this version of the story, cinderella knows she can seek help from her mother’s tree and asks for the specific things she needs every time, and the bird also intervenes to protect her from her stepfamily’s deception when the prince calls on the house. 

(conversely of course, the bird can only do so much to help her because it’s a bird; her mother is dead and cannot take care of her as she did in life. likewise, salem lacks the power to effect change by any means other than violence because she’s been cast out of civilization completely.)

it all clicks together pretty intuitively. although summer rose is an interesting player too in that where the madame, the sisters, and rhodes were straightforwardly iterations of the evil stepfamily + indifferent father i think summer is likely to be the ‘good’ stepmother in relation to the cinderella narrative; ruby and yang are the ‘evil’ stepsisters (in that ruby harmed cinder and cinder is effectively told not to retaliate) but summer rejected ozma’s cause to join salem’s instead and is by extension aligned with cinder against her own daughters, even if cinder doesn’t perceive it that way. so that will be an interesting thread to watch, i think. what happens if the stepmother also needed to escape?

that the central relic involved in this facet of the narrative is a crown is not coincidental, i think. the prince is cinderella’s liberation; the crown is the relic of choice. it tracks.

[waheelawhisperer]

I think V3 & V8 do effectively convey the notion that raw force (be it personal or state level) doesn't solve shit if you're aimlessly saber-rattling, turning on allies & bamboozling (or throttling) the populace to preserve every scrap of power. There's also the ongoing failure of old-guard leaders (Jimmy, Leo, Oz.) to get out of their ruts, though I 'd have tabled the Musical Maiden Chair thing for a volume once Penny got it. *Ruby* has more than enough shit to work out with silver eyes alone.

Yeah, the old guard failing and leaving the new blood to clean up their messes is a pretty common theme in RWBY and we've seen it for several Volumes now, pretty much ever since Weiss started talking about how she wanted to redeem her family name. Between the mistakes of the headmasters, the various failures of Team STRQ, the way Maria talks about herself vs. how she thinks about the protagonists, and even the way Winter and the Ace-Ops struggle to make the right decisions, it's clear that RWBY wants to tell a story about the new generation surpassing their predecessors.

I definitely think Volumes 3 and 8 are really trying to hammer home the "strength is useless without unity" message. All of Atlas's vaunted military power is worse than useless when it's turned against the people of Vale. It fails to defeat Salem in Volume 8 because Ironwood is too rigid to work with others, to contemplate a solution other than brute force and sacrifice. Ozpin can't destroy Salem, no matter how hard he tries, and when we finally see her fight, she shrugs off everything the heroes throw at her. They only escape because of Hazel's sacrifice, because he stalls Salem long enough for Oscar to nuke her and holds her in place for the cane beam to hit.

When I think about my feelings about Volume 3 vs. Volume 8, there's a very similar sense of "what happens now?", but there are some distinct differences as well. It's hard to explain, but Volume 3 made me wonder "where do we go from here?", whereas Volume 8 makes me wonder "what's the point?". Volume 3 was a crushing blow, but it left me deeply invested in what came next. Volume 8 doesn't do that. It carries more of a sense of lethargy, a feeling of pointlessness, an uncertainty about whether it's worth even getting invested anymore, and it's because of the way the Volume handled a number of its plot points.

Basically, the way the Volume ended means a lot of major plot points went nowhere? Oh, Winter is being set up as the Winter Maiden, but that's a red herring and the powers and responsibility go to Penny? Nope, never mind, Winter has the powers now. Penny came back to life? Nope, never mind, she's fucking dead again, killed off in a controversial way by a controversial character in a scene that didn't even effectively establish the necessity of her death. Salem, our Big Bad, has finally taken the field? Surely she'll demonstrate how much of a badass she is now, why everyone should be terrified of the insurmountable evil queen of the Grimm, right? Nope, never mind, she gets sidelined 2/3 of the way through so Cinder and Ironwood can be the major villains. Blake spent her whole life fighting against racism and is now openly displaying her Faunus heritage in the Kingdom that's been most strongly associated with Faunus abuse and anti-Faunus racism? Surely she's going to have a major role to play here, right? Nope, never mind, she's going to do nothing but take Weiss's spot as Remnant's version of Renji Abarai and pine for Yang, all while Weiss and Yang do more to combat racism and Atlas's class divide by throwing a racist in a dumpster and snapping at an old lady and Nora gets the plotline that should've gone to her. Oh, Weiss's goal from the very beginning has been to salvage her company and redeem her family name, and she swears to defend her home in Volume 7? Nope, never mind, her home is now underwater, her company is in ruins, and the final boss of her storyline is apparently her own fucking brother, an abused child who her mother specifically begged her not to leave behind and was never more than a minor annoyance to be counteracted in comedic fashion, with no power or influence of his own beyond the password to his father's laptop. The culmination of Weiss's storyline was waving a sword in the face of her Auraless, untrained sibling and telling him to go to his room, after Willow handed her everything she needed to beat Jacques, and somehow this is supposed to be the big triumph we've waited 8 Volumes, 8 years of real-world time, to witness. Fan-fucking-tastic writing here.

It just... makes me wonder what plotlines I'm even supposed to get invested in at this point. RWBY's always had a problem with just never exploring things or dropping them when they become inconvenient, always rushing on to the next Cool Moment, the next thing the writers want to include, but Volume 8 feels particularly bad in this regard. Frankly, I think it's one of the worst Volumes in the show specifically for this reason. As much as I love the show, I just... don't feel the same hype for the approach of Volume 9 that I did with the approach of other Volumes.

#rwby #analysis #weiss schnee #winter schnee #maria calavera #ozpin #salem #james ironwood #blake belladonna #yang xiao long #nora valkyrie #jacques schnee #willow schnee #whitley schnee #penny polendina