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rabbitmilk · 19 hours

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4.13.24

#photography #ohio #ashley ohio #2024 #digital photography #april 2024 #canon eos 30d #canonphotography #canon camera #canon photography #canon #salem #april #ndn artists on tumblr #native american artists on tumblr #native artists on tumblr

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anthurak · 2 days

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Imagine how perfect it would be if it turns out that Salem is actually COUNTING ON the heroes killing Cinder out of revenge?

As in, Salem has a failsafe in place to ensure that if Cinder dies, she can still recover the Maiden powers from her. Perhaps Salem has a small grimm (similar to what Cinder used to extract the powers from Amber) imbedded deep inside Cinder, or some form of mental conditioning to ensure that if Cinder dies, the Maiden powers WILL go where Salem wants them to. Either to Salem herself or perhaps one of her other hybrids or perhaps even a specialized grimm Salem has modified to specifically serve as a storage-device for the Maiden powers until Salem can find a new holder for them*.

Meaning that when Cinder just can’t resist her raging hate-boner for not-actually-dead Ruby and sneaks/tears off to Vacuo against Salem’s orders to murderify her once and for all, Salem isn’t actually worried.

First Salem decides that Cinder has finally lost her ‘free will’ privileges and triggers the ‘assuming direct control’ protocols of Cinder’s grimm implants/prosthetics, causing Cinder to forcibly undergo a horrific and painful transformation into a full grimm hybrid just as she’s about to fight Team RWBY. Complete with Salem giving a terrified Cinder a classic ‘you have outlived your usefulness’ telepathic speech.

At this point, Salem can see only two possible outcomes to this charade: Either Grimm!Cinder is able to survive her rampage and make it back to her, now an entirely obedient slave. Or she’s killed by Team RWBY and co, in which case Salem can still get the Maiden powers back and find a new host, making this far more of an inconvenience than a true setback. And with any luck, perhaps Cinder’s rampage will manage to do some serious damage, maybe kill off a few of Salem’s more prominent enemies.

Even when Ruby is able to hit Grimm!Cinder with a full-power Silver Eye blast that manages to obliterate the vast majority of her grimm-attachments, even if she’s lost direct contact, Salem still isn’t worried.

After all, there’s no way the heroes will be able to resist killing the girl who has done so much to hurt them and take so many of their friends from them.

But then Ruby does the ONE thing Salem wasn’t counting on.

She shows Cinder MERCY.

Instead of simply being killed, Cinder is captured. And is therefore removed from Salem’s influence and given the opening to be shown genuine sympathy, positivity and kindness for what may be the first time in her life.

At the very least, from Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang, who have already seen first-hand the horrors of Salem’s grimm-experiments back in Atlas. And in Ruby’s and Yang’s case, are almost certainly grappling with the looming possibility that their mother was subjected to similar horrors.

And thus, through acts of mercy and kindness, Team RWBY is able to completely blindside Salem, removing one of her most vital agents from her control, and ultimately turning her AGAINST Salem.

Salem has always counted on her enemies showing cynicism, ‘pragmatism’ and cruelty.

But her enemies showing optimism, idealism and KINDNESS?

THOSE are the things Salem ISN’T expecting.

Not to mention it would play PERFECTLY into the themes of ‘Choice’ that have always surrounded Cinder: By chasing after Ruby to Vacuo, Cinder; the girl who has spent her entire life being denied a ‘choice’ by those in power above her, is finally MAKING a choice. And after spending the entire show dancing obediently on Salem’s strings, Cinder is defying Salem. And through this choice to defy, Cinder inadvertently puts herself in the position to be finally FREED of Salem’s control.

All because of Ruby.

Oh, and also the reactions of all of the people who have spent years now baying for Cinder’s blood would be fucking hilarious XD I mean just imagine the show pointing directly at everyone clamoring for Jaune or Ruby to ‘take revenge’ and how Cinder ‘totally deserves to die’ and effectively saying “Yeah, so the villain was actually counting on the heroes to do EXACTLY THAT.”

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*And if anyone is going to say something like ‘grimm can’t use maiden powers’, let me reiterate that it is to STORE the powers. Let’s not forget that we have seen grimm being used as a conduit for Maiden powers when Cinder stole part of Amber power and later tried to steal power from Raven and Penny. So it stands to reason that grimm could also be used to store the power as well. Which all frankly makes perfect sense when we consider that both the grimm and the magic of the maidens ultimately come from the same source: The God of Darkness (remember when he called magic “My gift to them”?)

#rwby #rwby theory #rwby analysis #Cinder Fall #Salem #Ruby Rose #cinderdemption #see this is a REAL 'hard choice' for ruby to make

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boghermit · 3 days

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