#Be Ruby not Salem

[erros429]

rwby textpost memes pt47!!! i miss my blorbos so much :(

[arc-misadventures]

Lap Pillow GF

Ruby: Jaune! Where is, Salem?!

Jaune: She's in my bedroom.

Blake: What?! Why is she in your rbedoom?!

Jaune: Well… after she was freed from that, Grimm curse thingy, and de-aged I started looking after her.

Yang: Yeah, we know that.

Jaune: Well she declared herself my girlfriend, and has been living with me since then…

RWBY: …

Weiss: You're joking, right…?

Jaune: I'm being a hundred percent honest.

Ruby: And, you're okay with this?

Jaune: Yes, I'm quite happy with, Salem.

Blake: Are you just saying this? I mean. are you actually dating, Salem?

Jaune: No, I'm telling the truth. You can ask, Salem yourself.

(The open the door to, Jaune's room, and peer in.)

Salem: Jauney! Ready for a lap pillow~?

Salem: Oh? It's Team RWBY; Hi guys~!

RWBY: …

Ruby: A-Are you dating, Jaune?

Salem: Yes! He is my darling boyfriend who I hope to marry one day!

Weiss: Marry?!

Blake: A-And, you give him lap pillows…?

Salem: Among other things~!

Yang: What things…?

Team RWBY turns to look at, Jaune.

Jaune: …

Jaune: What?

Yang: Nice~!

[screaming-sparrow]

can you tell who my favorite rwby character is yet?

[shana340artblog]

A little stuck but she got this! Fighting Salem is not gonna be that easy anyways!

[hadesisqueer]

RWBY as Tweets

[drenosa]

Salem: You wretches can't stand against me!

Ruby: We can! And we will!

Salem: Will you now? What silly ideas gave you that impressions.

Ruby: Plenty! Sound off, guys!

Yang: Always give 100%, because one's best is always good enough!

Weiss: Never lose hope, for it brings forth miracles in the unlikeliest of places!

Jaune: The world's largest military was nothing more than a personal guard for the ruling class. One willing to commit genocide to maintain a brutal status quo of oppression and exploitation. Only through an uprising of the working classes could this regime be toppled and with it reclaim their freedom and dignity.

Blake: Friends together are unbeatable, thanks to unbreakable bonds forged in the heat of battle!

Salem: Is... is that blond one okay?

Ruby: Who, Yang? I mean the whole arm thing was a bit of a downer but she's all good now.

Salem: Not that blonde, the blond one who looks like he's in a purpetual state of PTSD!

Ruby: Oh... yeah we don't think about that too much. These days, we just point and he stabs when we tell him to.

Salem: That's... interesting?

Ruby: It is. Jaune! Go stab!

Jaune: *Battlecries* AAAAAAAH!

Salem: *Terroryells* AAAAAAAH!

[rontra]

THE ORIGINAL SIN IS

KNOWING THAT YOU DESERVE BETTER THAN THIS.

[lwde-encrusted-sideblog]

Ruby: Jaune, I ned you to fuck me so hard my Mom feels it, YOu understand?

Jaune: O-OKay?!

~~~~~ Salem: Tyrian! Why is the Hound limping!

[anretoga]

What if the heroes took the roles of their enemies ?

[jedidragonwarriorqueen]

[pilot-boi]

palette swap of Salem ( the grimmified version) and Ruby

I am deeply concerned by how much Salem looks like Summer

Swap Spreadsheet

[erros429]

rwby textposts pt46!!! volume 10 save me…… volume 10…….. save me volume 10……..

[arc-misadventures]

Team RWBY, Vampire Hunters

Ruby: Wait... You're not a vampire?

Jaune: Nope! I'm a hundred percent human!

Blake: But, people call you a vampire?

Jaune: Anyone who isn't a local calls me that.

Yang: Then, why do they call you a vampire?

Jaune: Hmmm...? Probably because I'm a doctor.

Jaune: And, that I know so much about blood, and the fact I invented blood transfusions.

Weiss: Blood transfusions...? What exactly is that?

Jaune: Oh, human's, and faunas have different types of blood running through their veins. It is possible to transfer the blood of one person with a similar blood type to another person with the same blood type to supplement the blood they possible lost. A process I call: A blood transfusion.

Ruby: And, because of that people call you a vampire?

Jaune: More, or less.

Yang: That... makes sense.

Blake: It makes too much sense why people would refer a doctor that specializes in blood as a vampire.

Weiss: But, what about all the reports of vampires coming here?

Yang: That's right! People have made various reports of vampires coming to this town! Some have reported that they've visited the local taverns, and enjoyed a meal there!

Ruby: What are they talking about, is that true?

Jaune: I would advise you that you remove that knife from my neck missy.

Ruby: Answer my questions!

Jaune: Okay, okay, okay! I keep the blood on ice, and every other day a vampire, or two stops by my clinic, and buys a pint of blood, and drinks it.

Weiss: You're selling peoples blood?!

Jaune: It's a mutual business agreement! People sell their blood to me for a few coins, and I sell the blood to the vampires for a few more coins! It's a good, and honest business! Besides, it keeps the vampires fed so they don't go out to eat people!

Blake: People can't honestly think that's a good deal now can they?!

Jaune: You'd be surprised, most people are totally fine with it! I mean as the saying goes: 'A pint of blood a day, keeps the vampire away.'

Blake: People aren't actually saying that... are they?

Jaune: I wish they weren't, it sounds cheesy.

Yang: So what is this place? The perfect vampire society, where they live in harmony with humans so long as the are freely given a pint of their blood to drink?!

Jaune: Well, it isn't for free. But yeah, that's pretty much it.

Ruby: What the hell is this place...?

Weiss: Why? Why would you do all of this; Just to live in harmony with the vampires?!

Jaune: Well, that wasn't my main reason why, that just happened to be a positive sideeffect of my research.

Ruby: And, what was the main reason?

Jaune: To feed my girlfriend.

Yang: Wait, does that mean you're dating a vampire?!

Jaune: Yep! Her name is, Salem the Vampire Queen!

RWBY: She's the what?!

Jaune: The Vampire Queen! Say hi, babe!

RWBY: What?!

Salem: GET THE HELL AWAY FEOM MY BOYFRIEND!!!!!

RWBY: AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH?!?!!?!!!

[anthurak]

Okay, so here’s a Salem theory I’ve recently come up with that ties into an aspect of her character that I feel has been largely under-explored:

The fact that in many respects, Salem is all too similar to RUBY.

As I’ve stated in the past in other posts, there are some very interesting similarities that can be drawn between Ruby and Salem. To the point where I think we can consider Salem to be Ruby’s true ‘evil-counterpart’ in the story. Particularly ever since the ‘Girl in the Tower’ episode of Fairy Tales of Remnant.

The Girl in the Tower showed that Salem ALSO had a great love for stories as a child, just like Ruby. And across the show, we have shown Ruby develop a number of traits and abilities much like what we have seen from Salem.

Both have built a select group of close and loyal allies, and in recent volumes, Ruby has displayed a growing talent in manipulating her enemies to gain advantage over them just like Salem. And as of the Volume 9 epilogue and Beyond, we are seeing Ruby rallying the entire world against Salem, just like Salem once did against the gods.

Heck, Ruby likely has her own equivalent to Ozma in PENNY, as recent volumes have emphasized more and more. A great warrior in green touched by magic who is tragically taken from Ruby, only to be brought back and then taken from her again.

There are even notable similarities in their physical abilities: Ruby’s Silver Eyes seem to be a power drawn from the God of Light, just like Salem’s immortality. And as I’ve theorized in other posts, recent revelations about Ruby’s semblance might mean that Ruby could potentially be just as unkillable as Salem.

It all feels like something that could very naturally build to a classic “We are not so different, you and I…” twist and exchange between Ruby and Salem.

Ultimately, I think a/the big twist and reveal about Salem that we’re eventually going to get is that she is a fallen hero. And more specifically, that she represents a fallen RUBY.

Let’s consider for a moment that we have every reason to view Jinn as an unreliable narrator when it comes to her vision in Volume 6.

And when we start looking at Jinn’s vision with the knowledge that it is almost certainly both HEAVILY skewed in favor of the God of Light and meant to paint Salem in as UNFAVORABLE light as possible, then I think we can get a much better picture of Salem in the old world.

Again, I think that the biggest and yet most natural and logical narrative twist we could see here is a big reveal that Salem was in fact absolutely a HERO, and more specifically was essentially the RUBY of her time: She united the whole world, just like Ruby is doing. All to lead humanity against a terrible threat, just like Ruby is doing.

And Salem ultimately FAILED.

Salem was able to unite humanity and lead them against the gods, only for it to all go terribly wrong. When the gods (likely Light, given both the unreliable nature of Jinn’s narration and what we learned from the Blacksmith) wiped humanity out and left Salem alive as a ‘punishment’ for her ‘insolence’ for rising up against them.

Thus does Salem represent a dark and tragic look at a Ruby who ultimately failed. And was so completely and utterly BROKEN as a result that she has eventually become twisted into a terrible villain.

And the really cool thing is; if we start looking at Salem as essentially representing a broken, fallen Ruby who has become a villain, I think this could give us an avenue to guessing just what Salem’s REAL goals truly are.

Because what might a fallen, twisted, villainous Ruby who failed to save humanity actually WANT?

Well, what if Salem actually wants to bring Old Humanity BACK?

As in, undo the destruction wrought by the gods and REMAKE her old world. And more specifically, undo her great FAILURE.

Unfortunately, Salem also views the PRESENT humanity/faunus as nothing but regrettable collateral damage or possibly even necessary sacrifices to her plan. Or just as ‘pretenders’ who are in her way.

Thus does Salem possess what seems to be a noble goal to her, yet has led her to becoming all too similar to the gods she once stood against.

And I think we can already find a couple potential hints to this. Like how in Jinn’s vision, we see that Salem at first simply wanted to rule over the ‘present’ age of humanity, and how she was overjoyed at learning that her and Oz’s children inherited their magic.

But then Oz told her about the relics, and Salem started getting IDEAS.

What if the REAL reason that Salem is after the relics is because she sees them as a way to bring back the humanity that was lost? Her humanity.

This could even give us an answer as to what Salem intends to do about the gods:

After all, Salem wouldn’t just be resurrecting just any humanity, she’d be bringing back the humanity that she united behind her. All the loyal friends, allies and followers who followed her into battle against the gods.

What if Salem intends to finish what they started?

And as to how Salem intends to prevent a repeat of what happened last time?

Well perhaps that’s what all of Salem’s hybrid experiments are for. I mean, a combination of the powers of Light in the Silver Eyes and Dark in the Grimm? What if Salem trying to figure out how to use the Brothers’ powers AGAINST them?

All in all, I feel like Salem turning out to represent a ‘Fallen Ruby’ presents a very natural way to tie together all the parallels we’ve already seen between Ruby and Salem, while also just being a great twist.

Like it’s one thing for our big villain to have some general similarities to our main heroine. It’s a whole other deal for it to turn out that at one time, this big villain was in fact JUST LIKE our main heroine. Driven by all-too-similar heroic who sought to save the world from some seemingly all-powerful threat. And showing just how our heroine could become the very thing she is fighting so hard against.

Such a twist and reveal would hit seriously hard for Ruby and co, and really solidify Salem as Ruby’s final narrative foil and true evil-counterpart. Summer showed how Ruby’s self-destructive hero-complex could ultimately break her.

Salem shows how Ruby could become all too similar to the very thing she was fighting against.

[shana340artblog]

Place doubt into their minds, and any semblance of power they once had will wash away

[howlingday]

Ruby: (Dressed as a Beowolf)

Weiss: (Dressed as a Lancer)

Blake: (Dressed as a Sabyr)

Yang: (Dressed as an Ursa)

RWBY: TRICK OR TREAT~!

Salem: Oh, what spooky costumes~! Let me just grab your-

Salem: (Throws hands) TRICK! IT'S FIRE-SPIDERS~! (Cackles maniacally)

RWBY: (Run away screaming)