#OR. a hint that salem has been to the ever after

[bestworstcase]

Do you think The God of Animals from the RWBY fairytails The Shallow Sea and The Judgement of the Fanus might be another powerful Afterian who decided to go through the door? Because looking at the stories I'm not sure, but the creation of Fanus in the stories does actually seem to be pretty similar to ascension so I feel like there was influence from it. Maybe someone brought a bunch of Tree leaves to Remnant and the tea or smoke made from it turned people or animals into faunus.

genuinely i think the god of animals—as in the inspiration for the mythical entity, i don’t think there is an actual ‘god of animals’ in the way that the brothers are real—Is Salem.

one of the faunus creation myths is about outcasts with nowhere else to go and nothing to lose choosing to jump into magical waters offered to them by a capricious, wild god, and emerging transformed and liberated from their unhappy fates only to be condemned by humans who perceive their changes as horrific. the other is about being transformed by the judgment of a god into beings who are then immediately blamed for leading grimm to a human settlement and exiled forever.

salem is “your grace” to some of her followers, particularly tyrian, and this is also the form of address used for ghira belladonna—she is literally addressed by her own followers in the form of a faunus monarch! there is a cultural adjacency to faunus baked into referring to her this way!

the world of remnant episodes on grimm and faunus imply HEAVILY that 1. faunus have historically been viewed by humans as adjacent to grimm and 2. there is a strong cultural perception that grimm are an existential threat to humans specifically, with faunus being at best an afterthought. and of course adam’s white fang carted grimm around no problem and menagerie just…doesn’t seem to have a grimm problem, so it’s entirely possible that grimm really don’t prey on faunus except incidentally.

in ‘after the fall’ as in V2 ozpin singles out The Faunus Member Of The Team for questioning after an incident, and while we don’t get to see it directly with velvet she is in tears when her teammates burst in, and of course with blake it is transparently obvious that ozpin suspects blake of being salem’s spy; it probably also bears repeating that back in the day ozma factored “the people telling me scary stories about The Witch who lives among Beasts and Monsters also enslave faunus and keep them in cages” into his assessment of these stories not at all, and doesn’t seem to have been all that fussed about the cages situation itself. the man is quietly racist but also, like, “beasts” in this context is a euphemism for faunus, we’ve all grokked this, yeah?

all of which is to say, there are a lot of small hints as to a cultural Connection between salem and faunus that together add up to, well, i think at one point she was similarly influential to the development of faunus myth as ozma was to that of human folklore, if probably not with the same degree of intentionality. like ‘the shallow sea’ is an allegorical retelling of salem’s plunge into the grimm pool told from the perspective of freely chosen transformation being a good thing. also the god of animals is said to be a shapeshifter and we know that shapeshifting is something magic users can do. also ‘the shallow sea’ Specifically brings up the grimm three separate times just to say “don’t worry about them, they’re not a problem in This story” which, Okay.

[terapsina]

Let us begin with the moment where they made their first mistake.

[so many SPOILERS for AGATHA ALL ALONG 1.05]

"We got to get off The Road."

Remind me again... what was rule number one about straying from the path?

Was it mayhaps... not to?

Yeah, I think it's from this point on that they made themselves TRULY vulnerable to the Salem Seven. Not to say that they had much choice, they would definitely have been caught and killed otherwise, but if there are Rules that protect them on The Road itself while between the Trials then leaving that road negates that.

Second mistake. Flying through the Bee-Swarm Of Nightmares.

Also probably the moment the Salem Seven took hold of the next "Trial" (I'm not going to go into the hints about this not being a real Trial that have been noticed by lots of other people here and described better than I ever could, suffice to say that I absolutely agree).

Also of significant note is that after they "escape" the Salem Seven there's still the sound of a buzzing insect that Agatha has to shake out of her hair. So it's a safe bet that they didn't truly slam the doors in the faces of their hunters.

They have eyes on them at the very least.

And then of course they get to the point where they get told what they're supposed to do to escape this Trial is to punish Agatha.

There's two ways that can be looked at. Either this is a legit Trial and they are supposed to come together and remain a united Coven ("Burn and brew with coven true, and glory shall be thine"). Or the Salem Seven are in charge and this is the perfect way to make Agatha face the betrayal of her new Coven the way she betrayed the Coven of their mothers' (which is bullshit actually, I'd say being put to death as an eighteen year old by her own mother puts her pretty firmly in the 'betrayed' camp then too, but we're talking how the Salem Seven would see it).

And if this was a real trial... why would them turning on each other and Agatha killing Alice give them a door?

But I'm getting ahead of myself. At first the really big moment that felt really weird to me was this here.

"What do they want?" "They already told us. Punish Agatha!"

Yes, Jen has the strongest case of a survival instinct in the whole Coven (barring maybe Agatha) but the abruptness of the turn into aggressive Burn The Witch mentality was just... iffy.

It felt more like Classic Under a Spell reaction than something that feels truly in character (something along the lines of that Buffy episode where Joyce and Willow's mom almost burned Buffy and Willow at the stake because of the demonic Hansel and Gretel).

Unconvinced?

Explain then to me this face? This one right here? Right after Jen tells them what the voices screaming in their ears want and the voices... stop.

That is way too creepily pleased for it to be Jen just freaking out and deciding to do what the ghosts want.

Being conflicted and going with the highest chances to live through this would make sense. But smile?

And not even a relieved smile, because that looks way more 'possessed by an evil entity' type of smile (or at least possessed by the feelings of the evil entity smile).

And here's the deal. I do think everyone is exactly who they are, and it's not just a vision in Lilia's head, or an illusion just for Agatha, or anything of the sort.

But I also think that there are certain moments where they get... influenced by an outside party.

And then Agatha's mother possesses Agatha for a second time and Agatha kills Alice.

Basically wrapping everything up with a nice bow to show 'look, see? I was totally right to hate my daughter since birth, see how evil she is? You should hate her too. You should finish what I started'.

Now. I'm not saying this "Trial" won't have consequences. I am however saying that this might not be as bad as it looks like right now (fingers crossed we haven't seen the last of Alice).

[anthurak]

Ever since I started posting about the Rosebird Parents theory, aka ‘Raven is Ruby’s real dad’, the most common question/criticism I’ve gotten regarding it* has been ‘What is the point of such a reveal?’ and ‘What does this add to the story?’

Well here is the answer:

A reveal that Taiyang isn’t Ruby’s father and that Raven IS would fit PERFECTLY into Ruby’s and Yang’s looming family drama, the dysfunctional MESS that is the STRQ family, and just how much said family FAILED Ruby and Yang as parents.

Raven being Ruby’s real father is the final, ultimate ‘dirty little secret’ of Team STRQ that they’ve kept from Ruby and Yang all these years.

Not some grand plot reveal tied up with Salem, the relics and/or Oz. But rather this much more PERSONAL and ugly product of STRQ’s numerous personal hangups, baggage and dysfunctions.

And far from being ‘out of character’, Tai and Qrow keeping such a secret from Ruby and Yang would be par for the course. Not just for them, but basically EVERY OTHER ADULT in the show. Whether it’s letting Yang think that Summer was her birth mother until Yang figured it out only AFTER Summer (supposedly) died, or Qrow letting Yang think he didn’t know anything about where Raven was despite having been in contact with her for YEARS and even having a pretty good idea where she is, or of course ALL THE OTHER SHIT the adults of RWBY have been hiding from their kids/students/charges.

And let’s not forget how Volume 9 ended with Ruby discovering a massive secret that was long kept from her and COMPLETELY changes something she once believed about her family. With the Blacksmith commenting “Who knows why they kept the secrets they did…”

Or how the last episode of Beyond has Ruby herself commenting to Yang “Maybe we don’t have the full picture…” in regards to Tai’s absence from Vacuo.

Throw in just how LITTLE we can truly be sure of regarding Team STRQ thanks to the aforementioned unreliable narrators and this is ABSOLUTELY telegraphing that Ruby and Yang are due for some MASSIVE reveals regarding their family in the near future. And given all the other hints or flat out statements as to what a hot fucking dysfunctional MESS Team STRQ truly is, those reveals are almost certain to be ugly and painful.

So a reveal that Tai and Qrow have actually been lying to Ruby and Yang for their ENTIRE LIVES in regards to who Ruby’s father ACTUALLY is?

Yeah, that sounds EXACTLY like something we could be expecting.

--

*At least as far as actual arguments go and not people just going ‘WAAAA! I don’t like Raven so this theory is bad!’ and ‘Well… you’re just crazy/stupid, so there!’

[child-of-the-danube]

Right, it's time to go absolutely bonkers with theories. This whole episode has to be one of Lilia's visions (or Teen controlling them subconsciously) because everything was off about it.

- First Lilia wakes up knowing that the Salem Seven are there. As much as we know, Lilia is rarely ever able to so directly read her visions/premonitios, she usually just blurts them out in a nonsensical order and doesn't remember doing so, but this time she was completely sure.

- Jen was strangely VERY antagonistic towards Agatha from the start of the episode. They aren't really the best of friends but this was different. The way she shut down Rio for defending Agatha. Then "tell us more" when Agatha mentioned selflessness with the brooms.

- Alice then suggests that they have to get off of the road which was thing no.1 Agatha told them not to do and they saw the road swallowing Sharon at the start of episode 3 for straying off the path. Which later it does to all of them again, which makes me think this wasn't a real/the correct trial at all. The moment they hopped on the brooms they fucked up and the road was punishing all of them just to swallow them in the end.

- Also the road forces them down. They're falling and the world is inverted. What if the road swallowing them wasn't just Teen's doing but actually the road taking them to the proper trial which is Lilia's. We saw in the snippets hinting to Lilia's trial that there's a floating and falling down scene but the people around Lilia aren't the coven. It's the Salem Seven. Maybe that's how they get back up as later on in the snippets there's a scene of Agatha fully covered in mud speaking to Teen so they clawed their way back up.

EDIT 1: YO NEVER FUCKING MIND THIS. In the scene where Agatha is covered in mud talking to Teen, the road is still yellow so they probably clawed out BEFORE Lilia's trial

- The door of the trial house is plain wood. All of the doors before had the Moon phase fitting to the person who's trial it is ON THE DOOR. But this time they see the Blood Moon through a window. In the episodes before, the outside of the house they were in wasn't real. Also, Alice's Moon was a Waxing Crescent. By all means, the following Moon phase should have been the First Quarter (when obstacles start to rise and decisions need to be made - obstacle being Teen knowing who he is now), not a Full (Blood) Moon cause the Full Moon comes after a Waxing Gibbous. And the Moon was the colour close to Wanda's look and crown.

- Also why would the main character's trial be in the middle of the show? Makes no narrative sense. And Agatha's biggest trauma isn't her mother and the coven, even if it was very significant to her becoming who she is, it's her son. Her trial would be Nick focused. A cabin in the woods, the 80s look, Ouija board etc. are all very much staples of teen focused horrors. Besides why on Earth would Agatha's trial make Teen get his powers? The trial ends with Teen speaking Nick's name and Agatha telling Teen he's so much like his mom. Lilia even tells him to pray to the Divine Mother at the start of the episode when they hop on their brooms. Him getting his powers means his sigil is broken. He remembers who he is, who his mother is and now Agatha knows too. This was 1000% percent his trial nobody can convince me otherwise

- Lilia asks what's on the back of the pamphlet and it says "for ages 3 and up" so again alluding to kids, which Teen is the only one of there.

- They're all dressed as campers beside Lilia. She looks like a camp counsellor or a mom that went to see her kids there. Which, ok, she is the oldest, but not that significantly older than Agatha. In the trials before, she always matched the others perfectly, this time she doesn't. Why?

- Lilia accidentally lets go of the Ouija board thingy, which Teen said not to do under any circumstances but nothing happened to her. By road logic, shouldn't she have been the one possessed or hurt? Actually, nothing happens to her for almost the entire episode (and Rio, but that we know why). Agatha gets possessed, Teen is attacked by both one of the Salem Seven and possessed Agatha, Agatha almost kills Jen and Alice dies. Lilia is at no moment in true danger nor does she intervene. She's practically just a spectator.

- Then the board says Death is with them which shouldn't be a shock. Agatha knows who Rio is and they all know by song that walking the road means holding Death's hand. Lilia is constantly bringing up death. Why would it single Rio out when the rest of the trial didn't have anything to do with her and Agatha's bond or trauma?

- When the board freaks out and the screams begin, Lilia says she hated this the first time. What time? There were no spirits screaming from beyond the veil before unless we count her hearing the pictures in Alice's episode but I'd say that was just her memories as she was the only one hearing it. Now everyone hears it. And Teen says that Lilia is being weird again. I might be reading to much into it, but the screams kind of have the echo a tubular space, like a tower, would perhaps make. On the Tower card we see a blue crown at the top. I believe Teen (and Rio whom we didn't see getting swallowed by the earth end of episode as she was probably guiding Alice to the other side) are sitting Lilia's trial out next episode and it's gonna be Agatha, Lilia and Jen trying to get back to them.

EDIT 2: This one I still somewhat stand on, except the crawling back part, cause in the trailer we only see Lilia with Agatha and Jen dressed like Wizard of Oz/Wicked characters + the Salem Seven, but no Teen and Rio.

- Ok, Agatha is possessed and kind of out this episode but I'll still point out that when Evanora appears, it's Lilia asking the questions and standing in the middle protecting the coven. She works as an almost narrator this episode.

- When Alice tries to save Agatha, Lilia says "Knight of Wands" which one of the meanings is caution against hasty decisions such as Alice blasting Agatha knowing that's how she takes power.

- The door out of the trial opens upwards which it didn't do before. Both Jen and Alice's trial had them go down a door as the road seems to be a descent into further hardship/hell metaphor. The only door it would make sense to go upwards is the end of the road.

- The road turns yellow when they get back so Lilia's trial is next

EDIT 3: I just realized that Lilia repeats "punish Agatha" she looks right at Teen, not at Evanora. She could feel something was off AAAAAA

I'm begging people to discuss this with me. Give me your theories, the things I might have missed or ignored. Cause I'm going nuts about this episode

[the-silence-in-between]

When I sift through my heartbreak about the Agatha All Along finale, the thing I keep coming back to is what a terrible choice it was to make The Road a con.

Now, I've seen folks theorizing (with evidence) that Billy subconsciously created The Road for weeks now, so I'm not going to say that the twist came out of nowhere. The hints were there.

But thematically, episodes 1-7, were about womanhood, sisterhood, and community. We saw Agatha deeply long to be part of a coven, even though she didn't trust anyone and felt so obviously, deeply uncomfortable sitting around that campfire in episode 4.

Episode 8 seemed like it would be continuing that same theme, but once we get to The Twist, episode 9 necessarily has to be all about Explaining The Twist. And so, even though the flashback scenes in episode 9 are truly beautiful, they feel like they belong to another show.

Agatha's Character Development

Think back to everything that episode 1 set up. We've been teased with Agatha and Rio's relationship since the very beginning, but we get nothing about how they met and virtually no backstory for Rio. I had zero illusions that we were going to get some sort of happily ever after for them as a couple, or that the show would be all about them. But this was a seminal relationship in Agatha's life, and given how much the actors were talking things up, I really expected more.

Episode 1 also seemed to set up so much more with regards to Agatha's backstory. There was so much about the Darkhold (and it came back up again in episodes 2 and 3, too), but we never found out how or when Agatha attained it. At one point in episode 1, Agnes tells Rio that every case is always about the specific small town and the secrets buried beneath it, but we don't find out anything new about Agatha's life in Salem or why she was nearly executed, nor do we learn why Evanora thought Agatha was born evil.

In fact, when we look at all nine episodes, Agatha really doesn't have a character arc. Once she breaks out of Wanda's hex, she doesn't grow or change. She doesn't make peace with Rio, or with what happened to Nicky -- she literally chooses to become a ghost because she's too afraid to face him in the afterlife. She clearly longs for sisterhood, but Sharon, Alice, and Lilia are dead, and despite Agatha and Jennifer being incredibly similar as characters, they never make peace with each other. Episode 8 presents Agatha choosing to sacrifice herself for Billy at the last minute as "growth," but she literally drank poison for him way back in episode 3. This was already something we expected her to do.

So we end episode 9 with Agatha in the same position she was in in episode 1, only translucent and filmed through a thick layer of Vaseline. Yes, I know she forms a "coven two" with Billy, but after all the earlier focus on sisterhood, the fact that it's just Billy feels really insufficient. And yes, I know that Agatha will likely return in other MCU titles, but this was her show, damn it, and it felt like a miracle that we even got a show starring a queer character played by a woman over 40. And if Agatha can't even get a character arc in her own show, how am I to believe that she'll get one as a side character?

(On a personal note, I think I have always loved seeing a villain do a heel-face turn because I find something so hopeful about seeing a character overcome and grow beyond behaviors and characteristics that only harm them. I've identified really strongly with Agatha's desire for sisterhood and difficulty opening up and trusting others, and for this show to essentially end with "the only change Agatha is capable of making is dying" is just ... honestly devastating on a truly embarrassing level.)

Breaking the Spell Cast by The Ballad

But beyond the way the need to explain The Twist short-changed Agatha's development, it also retroactively cheapens the ~magic~ of The Road and The Ballad. The Road was presented as a journey that sisters in the craft would embark upon together -- the comics have a really moving storyline where Wanda actually meets her biological mother on The Road -- and in singing along with the ballad, it felt like we the audience were part of that sisterhood, that journey. But now knowing that The Road never existed, and only exists now because of a teenage boy who can't control his magic, it feels like the spell Jac Schaeffer spoke about casting on the audience with The Ballad has been broken. It's no longer something I can sing to make me feel like I'm a powerful witch -- it's something darker and less than what we were promised.

Two Halves That Don't Fit

Because of the shift that had to happen once The Road was revealed to be Billy's creation, so much foreshadowing and character development that were begun in the first seven episodes really seemed to just seemed to have no resolution by episode 9.

Maybe this is the story that the writers set out to tell, with The Twist firmly in place from the beginning. But it just feels like at the 11th hour, someone was like "OMG what if The Road is another hex?" and they shoved it in, sprinkling some breadcrumbs backwards so eagle-eyed fans could spot the clues, but not stopping to make sure that the themes they laid out in the early episodes came to a resolution by the end.

And hey, maybe they originally did that, and Marvel/Disney execs came in and removed stuff at the end to fit better with other MCU properties. (Though if that is what happened, I have very little hope for anyone trying to tell an interesting story within this universe.)

This was obscenely long, and I've begun to ramble. There were parts that I liked about both episodes 8 and 9, but over all I just felt so let down after six weeks of falling in love with this show and the story they told us they were telling. They came so close to perfection and really just dropped the ball at the end.

[deadbeatbirdmom]

I think I've recovered enough from watching the episode to actually say something about it, or at least more than I managed right afterwards.

I loved it.

It's great to see chibi-ish!Ruby used for comedic effect again, for the first time since Volume 1 I think. First acting playfully mad with Yang, and then in her excitement at the boba.

On that note, it's great to see and hear Ruby excited again. It's impressive how high her voice can go without breaking, especially considering Ruby's VA's normal voice seems to be lower pitched than Yang's voice.

I'm not surprised Ruby's uncomfortable with the cult that has sprung up around her message to Remnant. She always wanted to be a normal girl, if one who became a huntress, which is a fairly normal thing in Remnant. Especially for someone born to a family of them.

It's good to see that refugees from Patch can set up their business in Vacuo, and even better that it lets Yang and Ruby carry on the tradition they had before Beacon. That it was something they did with Tai also ended up revealing why he isn't there with them: he's on assignment, according to Qrow. What is more important than being in Vacuo, where the majority of Remnant's population is gathered? And more important than being with his daughters, who he might have heard were presumed dead and miraculously reappeared.

I've seen the suggestion that Tai's guarding the Crown aka Relic of Choice, but I've also seen the great point that if that's the case and Salem finds him, there's not much he can do to stop her, no matter what his Semblance is. Although I guess Raven might feel that he's in danger and open a portal for him to escape through. It's not confirmed that's how her Semblance works, but it explains how she knew when Yang needed saving in Volume 2.

Anyway, back to Yang and Ruby! I love that Yang brought up what happened in the Ever After. That she's understands, or at least understands enough after what Yang herself has been through, and the important thing she gets across to Ruby is that she's not alone. That she's not going to carry the weight of leading them alone. Not anymore.

It's also important that they've figured out a code word to signal that Ruby needs help, because she doesn't always know how to reach out. I figure that they will tell Blake and Weiss about that, or it could confuse them:

Ruby: "Boba!"

Weiss: ...

Blake: :3 ???

Yang: Hugs Ruby. "I'm here for you."

Weiss: "Is. Is this another weird Xiao Long-Rose thing?"

What I particularly appreciate about it is that Yang acknowledged her mistake but didn't actually apologise for it, and Ruby didn't mind that. Because the important thing isn't saying sorry, it's changing things so that Ruby never feels that alone again. Actions speak louder than words.

It's also equally important that Ruby recognised she still has issues saying when she needs help. They're a team and they need to work together.

It just reinforces RWBY's message of hope, and to keep moving forward, and that no one is perfect but that they learn from their mistakes.

Asjhgsdkjghfdkshjkakjhdhlsj FEELS AUGH

Also that last line kinda hints that Ruby likes to go shopping with Yang, but they haven't got around to it. Shopping for new outfits, perhaps?

[formosusiniquis]

After much delay, please welcome our longest chapter so far of my @steddiebang2024 And can I say thank you again to the fantastic, amazing, brilliant @ablogcalledrevenge and @kaspurrcat they've just been a fantastic team and this chapter especially was a killer.

The woman at the counter looks mad before he even gets in the door. He didn't call ahead, but Eddie also isn't sure how you predict bird related emergencies. Which he's pretending this is, because the alternative is that she's mad because he's accidentally violated some kind of migratory bird act and he thinks admitting that he's been hosting this bird in his closet for the length of a holiday weekend isn't going to improve her mood.

There's something familiar about her, but her name tag dubs her Robin. While he wishes he knew someone whose sense of irony was so fine tuned that she would be Robin who works at the bird sanctuary, the name isn't familiar. 

She's got a good scowl though.

Eyes framed up top by feathery bangs -- actually feathery, the short blonde bob has long tendrils of feathers floating from the back. Style choice or hazard of the job, it's cool either way. A lot more interesting than the way the tips of his fingers are always stained faintly with ink. Feathered or not, they set a nice stage for the narrowed glare they’re leveling at him.

“Hi, should I have called ahead? I've got this bird-”

“What have you done to yourself, you featherbrained dingus?”

“Um, I found him, it looked like he was being attacked by something. Do owls have predators?”

“No, but they're extraordinarily stupid. No room in their head for any brains. They get used in some Greek iconography with Athena, who's you know, beautiful and wise, and through that good marketing everyone thinks they're smart too. But they're really just instinct driven idiots who rush headlong into danger without thinking about how their actions have consequences.”

It’s hard to know what to say in the face of a speech like that. More than impassioned, Eddie feels like he’s been lectured. No, it’s more like the slimy discomfort of being in the room while a friend is getting yelled at by their parent.

Any hint of a response that Eddie would have made disappears as the bird he’s been trying to hold like it’s a strange creature from outside and not like something he’s hoping he’ll be told he could come back to adopt, wiggles from his arms. It screeches at the woman across the counter, using a tone Eddie hasn’t ever heard before. The talons on its feet scratch and scrabble against the counter she’s been leaning boredly against until they’re nose to beak.

“He’s normally not like this,” Eddie finds himself defending, even as Majesty pokes a claw into the freckled flesh of her arm.

The bird’s head spins around its neck to glare, like Eddie’s defense has somehow lost it “cool points” with the strange wildlife rescue employee. To its benefit the strange faintly feathered rehabber has a brow quirked as well. “Spend a lot of time getting to know this random avian? Had a chance to get to know all his little quirks?”

“I mean, it was very well behaved in the car.”

“I’m so sure.”

Majesty croaks, something that on a different bird he’d say sounded like “Rob” but even he knows owls can’t talk. It just serves to make it look a little more muppet-y. Like when the real cat disappears to be replaced by the animatronic anytime Salem needed to talk on Sabrina . It's unfortunate that the longer he looks the more he wonders if Dustin is right.

But surely the bird sanctuary employee would tell him if he had a fake owl.

She mutters something into the feathered crown of the bird that isn’t his. Something that sounds like it ends in ‘so fucking stupid’ but deciphering the what becomes a lot less important when she asks, “Do you want to see where he’ll be recuperating?”

“Yeah! Can I?” His fingers tap the desk in a rhythm he can’t place, nervous energy expending out of himself and into this weird liminal space. Dart had been a stray and Ma had saved Mews from the Walmart parking lot; they'd never adopted anything that hadn’t made its way to them first. He is his own third example that proves the Munson way.

Maybe all animal shelters were like this. Large empty lobbies with big desks that block off access to their single mysterious doors. Buildings that weren’t concerned with things like electricity bills, the air on high enough that it’s got every hair on Eddie’s body currently standing on end: goosebumps down his arms, the hair at the back of his neck is on end.

“Great,” she smiles. There’s something off putting about it, like the mouth that she’s got doesn’t fit right on her face. A grin cut out of a magazine and pasted on a different picture.

“Let me get him settled and I’ll come back for you.”

Read the rest on AO3

[endofradio]

TRUE ECOLOGY — CHAPTER 6: I MET THE BEAST

PROLOGUE | CHAPTER 1 | CHAPTER 2 | CHAPTER 3 | CHAPTER 4 | CHAPTER 5

WARNINGS: n/a

NOTES: please this took me FOREVER to write i am so sorry school has been kicking my ass 😭😭😭 also why are my chapters getting progressively longer. i guess taking forever to write is a good thing because i seem to like. Write more 💀

SUMMARY: after waking up, salem joins her family for an awkward breakfast. as she goes throughout her day, it seems that könig is always in her vicinity. they encounter each other in the forest, and right as things start getting intense, her parents show up. her father convinces her to work as a receptionist at the resort.

WORD COUNT: 2,746

TAGLIST: @trelaney @spookyspecterino @13th-floor-in-moonstone @lokidoki9 @creelkobblelaufeyson69 @fran-tau @visceralbite @crispysafetensors @kolcheksluver @actually-adambarrett @that-one-gay-aew-enthusiast (message me if you’d like to be added to my taglist! commenting is also fine)

reblogs and comments are heavily appreciated! pls don’t be shy.

When Salem woke up the next morning, she realized that she felt horribly... lonely for some reason. As the memories of the night before slowly began to come back to her, that was when everything clicked together. Ah, right... her tryst with König.

And then, along came the guilt again. What had happened between them... it wasn't supposed to have occurred. Yet, at the same time, Salem found herself genuinely missing König's presence. That night, he'd made her feel things she didn't believe she'd ever feel. So now, he was infesting her mind like a parasite.

She wasn't sure whether she hated it or not.

As she finally moved to sit up, Salem realized that she smelled of cologne, specifically König's cologne. The scent was oddly comforting and pleasant, containing hints of a musky, earthy kind of odor. It was... a mysterious smell, suitable for a mysterious individual. Mysterious and sophisticated.

As much as Salem liked the smell, she knew that she had to wash it off. If either of her parents noticed it on her, they'd certainly have a couple of questions. So, she slowly hauled herself out of bed, almost instantly noticing a slight ache in her body as she walked to the bathroom to get in the shower.

Unfortunately, showering proved to be useless. If anything, it almost seemed to enhance the cologne scent. Oh, well. She'd figure out some kind of excuse to make up.

Then, she looked at herself in the mirror, and that was when she noticed the occasional small bruises here and there on her neck and collarbone — another reminder of what had taken place between her and König. Wearing a turtleneck during springtime wasn't something Salem normally did, but it seemed that she'd have to make an exception for today, perhaps the whole week.

Once she changed into her outfit for the day, Salem joined her family in the café for breakfast.

The moment that she arrived, the first thing her parents noticed was her outfit.

"A turtleneck?" Louise asked, her eyebrow raised. "It's quite warm, you know. Wouldn't you much rather be comfortable?"

Salem shrugged as she pulled out a chair, taking a seat at their table. "Just felt like wearing something different." She answered. "Anyway, what's for breakfast?"

"Belgian waffles and French toast," Stephen replied. "Eat up before it gets cold."

For a couple of minutes, the family ate in awkward silence, like there was something on their minds. Eventually, Stephen broke the silence, looking at Salem with a perplexed but intrigued expression.

"Is that cologne you're wearing?" He questioned. "Since when do you wear cologne?"

Salem shrugged again, avoiding her father's gaze. "I just liked the smell, that's all. I... enjoy bolder scents."

"You don't even wear perfume all that much. Only sometimes."

She sighed, wanting to change the subject as quickly as possible. "How's work? I've been... forgetting to ask."

"It's been... nice," Stephen answered, taking a bite of French toast. "Moved out of my apartment a couple of months ago to buy this nice house in Füssen. Though, for this vacation, I decided to check out one of the suites at the resort."

"What do you think?"

Stephen smiled a little. "Very nice. Everything is extremely top-quality."

Salem nodded. "Yeah... I agree. You said you work in a laboratory, right? In the hospital? What's that like?"

Almost immediately, Stephen's demeanor changed, as though Salem had hit a nerve somehow. The smile on his face faded in the blink of an eye.

"I... assist with research." He answered. "Anything else, I can't tell you. That's all confidential information."

"Oh. Uh... sorry for asking, then."

"How did you sleep last night?" Stephen then asked. "You must've had a bad nightmare."

"I slept... fine."

"Well, that's good to hear."

A couple of more minutes of awkward silence passed by before Stephen spoke up again. This time, his eyebrows were slightly furrowed.

"Are you wearing Tom Ford? I... believe that's what König wears."

Shit.

"Coincidence, I guess."

Stephen tilted his head. "How did you even get your hands on that stuff?"

"I went shopping."

Stephen nodded. "Ah. Interesting."

The combination of Salem wearing a turtleneck and smelling of König's cologne probably seemed suspicious, which... it did, to Stephen at least.

"You smell like my boss and you're wearing a turtleneck. In spring. Are you... certain that's a coincidence?"

Salem replied with an "mhm" as she took a bite of her waffle. "What are you trying to insinuate? He's twice my age. I'm not into that."

"Good. Otherwise, I'd be concerned."

Even though Salem felt relieved at his response, Stephen didn't look quite convinced. Deciding not to press for more answers, he simply just switched the conversation topic.

"How have you been enjoying your first week at the resort?"

"I think I'm going to miss it here when we leave," Salem answered. "I'd live here if I wasn't so attached to home.

Stephen finally smiled again. "Germany's a beautiful place, isn't it? I had a feeling you'd warm up eventually. Maybe one day you and Louise could come live here."

Louise chuckled. "Ah, I'd get too homesick."

"How much longer are we staying here, anyway?" Salem then asked Louise. "I can't remember if you said anything specific."

"One more week." She answered.

Oh.

"That's... it?"

Louise nodded, her expression now slightly confused. "I thought you'd be pleased. You didn't want to come here at all, remember?"

"Oh... yeah, you're right. Not like there are any friends I've made here, anyway. Nobody I'd miss."

Salem tried to mask her disappointment. Louise was right — she didn't want to come here in the first place, but she'd made the mistake of getting a little too close to König. Why did she even care, anyway? He probably saw her as nothing but just a simple fling. At least, on her end, it didn't seem like he had any actual feelings.

But, what did she know? She hardly had any experience with relationships, right?

Throughout the rest of the day, it seemed like Salem saw more of König than she ever had during her stay at the resort. Almost everywhere she went, he seemed to be in her vicinity, either talking to people or simply keeping in the background. She saw him talking to Sabina in the lobby. When she went to relax in the lounge, he was chatting with a family at a table. When she went outside for one of her photography walks, he was wandering along a trail in the distance.

Everywhere Salem went, it seemed König was right there too.

She was still in the forest, having not seen him for close to an hour when she suddenly felt a hand firmly touch her shoulder, causing her to tense up almost immediately.

"Taking pictures again?"

It was König.

Salem turned around to look up at him, her heart racing instinctually. Why did being around him make her feel this way all the fucking time?

"Uh... yeah."

It was like she suddenly couldn't speak anymore. Just one look into those eyes of his, and it felt as though he was prying her open with just his gaze, peering through every part of her soul.

And then, he started to run his fingers along Salem's neck in a manner that seemed like he was inspecting her, studying her as though she was some sort of specimen.

"You know, I've been... waiting to see you again."

That single sentence had Salem feeling like her lungs were suddenly being constricted.

Did he miss me?

"Well, I've... seen you a lot today. Everywhere I've gone, you've been there too."

As he continued to gently stroke her neck, König chuckled lightly. "Ah, I was just... doing my job, that is all."

His answer was intentionally somewhat vague.

No, he wasn't going to tell Salem that he wanted to keep her nearby; he'd leave her to figure that out herself. Sure, he was only going to confuse her even more, but admitting whatever he was feeling would only make him feel weak and uncomfortable for showing just a hint of vulnerability. Besides, he couldn't risk scaring her off. He had to play his cards right.

And now, Salem was beginning to tremble just a little. König's touch was like electricity, sending jolts up her spine whenever his fingers danced along her skin.

She found herself slowly moving her hand up towards his face. Suddenly, she stopped, took a step backward, and silently scolded herself.

No. Have some self-control.

König tilted his head at her in a curious manner, though there was a hint of hurt that momentarily flashed in his eyes. It was like he wanted her touch, which he certainly did.

"Why are you afraid?" He asked, stepping closer to her. "There's no need to be."

Why was Salem hesitating? She already crossed a line with him once, yet she couldn't even bring herself to touch his face. Perhaps it was the fact she was still convinced that this was all wrong, that a part of her still felt guilty for allowing herself to get so close to him.

Yet, she couldn't deny that another part of her secretly wanted to experience that all again. Was this what it was like to desire someone? Was that what she was feeling — some kind of secret desire? Of course, she couldn't understand. She had never experienced a sense of desire before... but maybe she was now.

This was all... new to her, and it was unnerving. She had never done anything like this with anyone. Close connections were something she couldn't quite comprehend just yet.

"I feel like I'm doing something wrong."

"Wrong, hm?" König repeated, his eyebrow raised. "And why is that?"

"I'm... too young for you, you're—" Salem began, only to be cut off.

"That didn't stop you, did it? You could've stopped me at any moment, but you didn't."

That made her go quiet. Satisfied with her wordless response, König stepped even closer, his expression carrying a slight hint of smugness.

"Hm, did it feel wrong when you were saying my name?" He asked. "When you were... begging me not to stop? Ah, Americans are so... puritanical."

Reluctantly, Salem shook her head, still not saying a single word. It hadn't felt wrong to her, but she couldn't bring herself to verbally admit it.

König slowly nodded, letting out a quiet hum. "That's what I thought." He murmured. "You've done nothing wrong, my dear. Just let yourself feel."

Just let yourself feel.

"Listen to what your heart is telling you."

And Salem's heart was telling her to reach out and gently touch his face. Nobody was watching, after all. She didn't have anything to worry about, right? But at the same time, she feared getting caught.

I'll just have to be careful.

Slowly, she reached up again, this time allowing herself to not hold back. The second her hands made contact with his skin, König's gaze instantly began softening. All it took was Salem's touch to have him completely mesmerized.

For someone who had minimal experience with men, perhaps just only a few crushes at most, Salem believed that König was the most beautiful man she had ever seen. It was ironic; she could have any man in the world, yet here she was, drawn to a mysterious German man twice her age like a moth to a flame. He was tall with a pretty face and a hypnotic stare, the kind of man she'd expect to have a myriad of women throwing themselves at his feet. Yet, he appeared to be alone, not wearing even a single ring. Was she right to be mildly surprised?

Not to mention, Salem could understand by the look in König's eyes that gentleness was unfamiliar to him. He was looking at her with almost something similar to fascination. Then, that slightly smug look made a return to his face.

"Now, does this feel... wrong?" He quietly asked.

Salem paused. At that moment, it felt both wrong and right at the same time, a confusing combination. She shook her head anyway, and König let out a low hum of approval.

"Hm, exactly. Your feelings can't be wrong." He murmured. "After all, aren't humans... supposed to feel?"

Salem slowly nodded, her heart starting to pound in her chest.

"It's in our nature, isn't it?" König continued. "Denying your feelings, hiding them... that's going against your nature. Don't fight them. Listen to them..."

He leaned into Salem's touch, reaching out with his own hands to pull her body closer to his. He took notice of the way her eyes flickered down to his lips for a moment, her fingers gently continuing to glide along his stubble.

"Hm, I know what you're thinking. Go ahead."

Salem tilted her head. "What is it?"

"Ah, it's quite obvious," König answered. "You want to... kiss me."

Maybe she did.

"Am I... wrong?"

When Salem shook her head, König's lips curved into a small smile. Oh, how he loved being right. Seeing the sheepish expression on her face only encouraged him more.

"Well...?"

When she pressed her lips to his, König responded by pressing her back against the nearest tree. His hands were firmly planted against the bark as the intensity of the kiss quickly grew within a few moments. It seemed that a simple kiss was all that it took for König to completely unravel, almost as though Salem's lips were a drug.

If they were a drug, then he was deeply hooked. He couldn't pull away from her, only pausing the kiss for them both to catch their breath. In an instant, his lips were on hers again as he wrapped an arm around her, lifting her up and pressing her more firmly against the tree.

"Hm, how about this? Does this feel wrong?"

Before Salem could offer an answer, König gently pulled down the collar of her turtleneck. His lips were mere inches away from her neck, but then somebody suddenly spoke.

"Salem!"

It was Stephen.

König muttered to himself and placed Salem back down on the ground, trying to straighten himself up as quickly as possible. Nothing happened, right? He and Salem were just having a chat, that was all.

Cursing under her breath, Salem tried her best to put on a façade that suggested nothing had happened in the past few minutes.

"Ah, there you are," Stephen spoke with a small smile as he approached the pair. "We've been looking for you. Figured we'd find you in the forest, seeing as it's become your... favorite place."

His eyes shifted between his daughter and Konig, suspicion evident in his gaze. He wasn't naive — he'd noticed how close they already seemed. He was growing concerned, and rightfully so.

But... he knew better than to say anything. So, his expression promptly took on a more polite appearance before he spoke again.

"I'm actually quite glad to see you here, König. There's something I'd like to discuss."

König's eyes held a hint of annoyance as if silently communicating to Stephen that he and Louise had interrupted something. After a few seconds, he quickly smiled, but his politeness lacked authenticity.

"Hm? What might that be, Stephen?"

Stephen's gaze then switched back to Salem. "I'll admit that I've been starting to... worry about you. Don't you think you spend your time in the forest a little too much?"

Salem opened her mouth to speak, but that was when König chimed in.

"Ah, I understand your concern, my friend. If it reassures you, she has been safe in my company."

Stephen gave the man a small smile, but he did not respond to him. Instead, he continued to speak to Salem.

"How about you get a job here at the resort? That way you're in a... secure environment. Perhaps you could work at the reception desk."

"You know I'm not good at talking to people."

Stephen sighed. "I know, but it's a simple job. Sabina will help you."

König hummed quietly. "She's... not fond of working at night," he added. "I'm certain she'll be relieved with some company. Salem can work the later shifts with her. Six to eleven, does that sound alright?"

With the way her father was staring at her, Salem felt like she wasn't allowed to refuse. So, she just simply nodded.

"Yeah, sure. That's fine with me."

Stephen’s smile grew slightly. "Wonderful. Could she start tonight, perhaps?"

"Of course."

[itsclydebitches]

it's still so wild to me that RWBY went through the EA without questioning for a moment if there was something there that could help them defeat Salem. I know a lot of the fans saying that the EA has been "hinted at" or "heavily implied" to be the solution, but that is completely lacking in agency. I need more than that.

Same, anon!

"Hinted at" and "heavily implied" are both writing techniques for the viewer. They're meta concepts. I don't go through life noting random details and thinking, "Hmm these all appear to heavily implying that I'll get a new job soon. Obviously then I don't need to try and look for a new job because fate already has one waiting in the wings!" The issue with the Ever After isn't that there's nothing that might lead to defeating Salem somewhere down the line, but that the characters haven't acknowledged any of that potential. Worse, Blake and Ruby straight up dodge the question. It doesn't matter if the story has set up the potential for the Blacksmith to help them, or for new friends to come to their aid, or for Ruby to have gained something from Ascension that will tip the scales, etc. because the girls were in the very heart of Remnant's magic/tragic backstory and never once tried to find a solution to the apocalyptic crisis they're coming back to.

It's stuff like this that, when looking at the story as a "realistic" series of events, makes me go, "Yeah it's great that they're willing to risk their lives to save Remnant, but they're really, really bad at it :/"

[choicesficwriterscreations]

May Creator of the Month: Saibug1022

Each month, CFWC highlights one of our talented fanfic writers or artists, and this month’s creator of the month is @saibug1022! The writer is selected at random. More info can be found on the navigation page. Past COTM's can be found here.

Quick Links:

Tumblr Blog Masterlist

How do you want to be known on Tumblr? 

Salem, Sai, or saibug are all good! They/he pronouns

1- When did you start playing Choices? What was the first book you played? 

I started playing Choices in 2017-ish, I don’t remember what my first book was for sure but I remember the first book I played that really drew me in and got me into the app was The Elementalists.

2- When and why did you join Choices fandom?

I don’t think I really joined the fandom until…a few weeks after that mass cancellation announcement where they announced they’d cancelled It Lives 3, Elementalists 2, Nightbound 2, Hero 2, and RoD 2.

3- How did you pick your blog name? 

Originally it was a mashup of my dead name and a sweet nickname from my childhood, so when I came out I just changed it to incorporate my new name instead :)

4- Pull up the first post in your archive, and tell us about it!  

It was a repost of this screenshot and honestly I was right and should say it. Also this question taught me the archive feature existed so thank you that’ll come in handy lmao

5- Do you write fanfiction, create fan art, or are you one of those really gifted people who do both? 

I write fanfiction! I am trying to learn and practice art so who knows what could happen in the future. Oh and I also do lots of edits :)

6- How long have you been creating for Choices and for any other fandoms?

If we’re talking my true origins I actually started writing by writing Supernatural x reader fics in like 2017, but I didn’t start writing the fics I write now until Sanders Sides in 2019 and then I finally got around to Choices in about 2022 lmao. 7- What is your favorite Choices book, and what is your favorite Choices book to create for?

My favorite book is probably ILITW which is probably obvious, but as for my favorite book to CREATE for that’s tied between It Lives Within and BOLAS.

8- Share your first Choices fanfic or fan art that you posted with us. Do you still like it, or would you change it if you were creating it today?

My first fic was for Nightbound, called The Wrong Engagement. I still like it overall but I think I’d definitely change some things. When I first started writing for Choices I was so so focused on trying to keep MC as vague as possible while still giving them some character, so the stories often came across as bland or even boring.

9- What is your favorite piece of fiction or art that you created? 

My absolute favorite fic is actually something I don’t think I ever posted, but my favorite I’ve posted has probably gotta be a classic which is Val’s Resurrection. There are definitely some things I’d probably change now but it’s the longest fic I’ve written, still really holds up, and I’m really proud of the characterizations in it.

10- Do you have a fic/art that you didn’t expect to be well received, but it was? What about one you expected to do well but found it could use a little more love?

Walls of Regret is probably my biggest fic ever and let me tell you when I posted and wrote it I did not expect it to do as well as it did but I’m so glad it did. I can definitely think of some fics I think people would really like that didn’t get much love, including pretty much everything from the Windverse, but I gotta say Let The Shadows Fall Behind You, which is a fic/scene from my personal ongoing project, a Hero and Endless Summer Crossover

11- If you could write only angst, fluff, or smut for the rest of your writing life, which would it be and why? 

Angst, wholeheartedly, no hesitation. Angst is not only my talent but kind of what I’m known for. I actually kind of struggle to write fluff and ESPECIALLY smut. I’ve only done it a few times and it took days of me staring at the page for days and getting out maybe one sentence an hour.

12 - Do you ever recognize yourself in any of your MCs or in your writing?

Oh all of them. Every single MC has a little piece of me, whether it’s my experiences or my personality or my style or my interests or even the way I talk. 

13 - What element of writing/art do you struggle with most?

With smut at least I get ideas. I struggle so much with even getting ideas for fluff. My favorite things is to dive into the emotions and pain and trauma PB dance around, and finding the beauty in the dark things. I defer to the other amazing writers on this app for the fluff and I consume their fluff fics like a drowning man

14 - Do you have any neglected work you really want to finish?

Two things off the top of my head. My concept for a Hero sequel which includes an Endless Summer crossover. I mentioned that earlier. The second is something fondly called Into the Rowan-verse which was where my two ILW MCs, Castor and Julian, get stuck hopping through the multiverse and meeting a bunch of other people’s MCs.

15 - If someone you know in real life (who isn’t involved in fandoms) asked to see your work, would you let them? If yes, what would you show them first? 

It highly depends on the person and then from there I think I’d just show them my edits or character profiles because my fics you tend to need either full contextual knowledge or at least basic knowledge of the book.

16 - Are there any writers (published authors and/or fanfic writers) who influenced your writing or art? Are there any artists that influence you?

Published writers definitely Rick Riordan, he’s seriously influenced how I use character voices. But from the fandom my biggest inspirations right now are usually @aces-and-angels and @oh-so-you’re-a-nerd 

17- Which one of your stories would you most like to see as a movie/series? 

If I saw Into the Windverse does that count as cheating? But otherwise I’d die for my version of the It Lives Anthology (including ILW and Into the Rowanverse) to be made into a tv show with my headcanons, changes, and MCs.

18- Do you write original fiction or create non-fandom art? 

I do! I have an entire book trilogy fully plotted out that I’m working on writing, plus just writing a bunch with my own OCs.

19 -  What other hobbies do you have?

Pretty much just OC related things tbh. I watch tv a lot and YouTube, I play video games sometimes, and I listen to music ALL the time

[littlemisssquiggles]

So miles did another cameo video about a week ago someone asked him what it would have been like if Oscar had gone to the ever after and Miles confirmed that if Oscar had been there with Ruby she wouldn't have gone through the conflict and trauma she was going through and volume nine if he had been there cuz Oscar would have been the one to notice it instantly unlike the others who didn't notice it till after she snapped at them

You can even see hints of it in the episode were they meet John again and they're at his house where Ruby sitting at the table and across from Ruby is an empty chair while Ruby sits there and look at Yang and Blake happily celebrating their new relationship Ruby sits there if so she's missing someone and that someone is Oscar I think

Hello anon-chan! Pardon the late answer to your inbox.

Do you mind linking me to this specific cameo you mentioned pretty please? Because I would honestly loved to listen to it.

Funnily enough, you’re the second person to bring up the theory that the empty seat across from Ruby at Jaune’s home in the Ever After during the scene before Jaune returns Crescent Rose to Ruby could’ve easily been filled by Oscar.

It makes perfect sense that Oscar would’ve been the one to notice Ruby’s depression if he were there since he has been shown to be weary of that in previous seasons such as the infamous dojo scene. Oscar noticing Ruby’s change in demenour is what initially prompted him to push her to admit her true feelings about everything that happened during the Fall of Beacon.

Not to mention that when Ruby was shown to be overwhelmed at the Cotta-Arc during the moment when Jaune exploded after JNR learned the truth about Oz and Salem, Oscar was the one to take notice of this and even did his best to help quell the situation.

Oscar has always been observant of Ruby’s feelings especially when she is at her lowest. It’s one of the reasons why I love their dynamic so much. Ruby has always been protective of Oscar since the moment he joined the team, looking out for him in her own way just as much as he looked out for her.

Oscar should’ve been there for Ruby in the Ever After just as how Ruby should’ve been the one to lead the charge to save him from Monstra instead of Jaune back in V8.

I absolutely hated the fact that Ruby was omitted from Oscar’s side of the story back then and this is one of the reasons why I didn’t enjoy that season.

The CRWBY showrunners spent the last few seasons continuously building up this shared sense of caring and protectiveness as the basis of the Rosegarden friendship and yet…there was no payoff?

They showed prior moments of Ruby protecting Oscar yet…she was completely absent during his most dire time of need---being a prisoner of Salem and brutally tortured by her and Hazel for hours. Ruby was not allowed to protect Oscar from that.

They showed prior moments of Oscar being a voice of wisdom to encourage Ruby to open up and be honest with herself and those around her yet…he was absent during her darkest emotional moment yet---her literal breaking point where she committed the Ever After equivalent of suicide.

You see the pattern?

Neither Ruby nor Oscar were present during each other’s worse moments.

They weren’t allowed to because the writers knew, canonically, these two would be each other’s true savior---their beacon in the darkness to get more metaphorical.

Because they needed the story to go a different way to get the ending that we actually got in V8 and V9, that’s how it had to go.

If Oscar has gone to the Ever After then Ruby would’ve never had her whole arc which…needed to happen. Although, some might argue that the whole point of Ruby’s journey in the Ever After was ultimately made pointless by her going from “no longer wanting to be Ruby Rose anymore” to “being Ruby Rose just as I am is enough. I’m Ruby-nough! I don’t need to change at all. I’m perfect just the way I am even with the flaws that I still possess that led me down this path in the first place”.

Sarcasm aside, I don’t dislike the fact that Ruby chose to be herself in the end. Being yourself and having yourself be enough is a good message. I just wished the showrunners had allowed this concept to cook more. While I’m aware they were pressed for time given the fact that no V10 was greenlit, nevertheless, I would’ve rather a twist where only Weiss, Blake, Yang and Jaune were able to return home while Ruby remained in the Ever After to complete her transformation.

We spent nearly an entire season building up to Ruby’s breakdown. It took 8 out of 10 episodes to have Ruby fall apart only to have her have her big revelation in the last episode. That makes the whole thing seem almost flat so I don't blame some fans for being disappointed with the conclusion to Ruby's Ever After story being concluded that way.

I dunno about you anon-chan but this just makes me disappointed that Oscar wasn’t present for the Ever After Arc because all cues prior to V9 hinted that he could’ve easily been added to this season and worked.

Oscar was the one who first introduced the audience to the fairytale of the Girl Who Fell Through the World.

Not to mention the whole theme of the Ever After being about embracing change---Oscar SHOULD’VE gone to the Ever After. Part of Oscar’s journey is about him coming to terms with the Merge with him either losing himself completely or becoming a new person entirely.

Seeing Oscar going through his own arc while trying to help Ruby with hers could've been great to see. But alas, that's not what we got.

I will give the showrunners this though---if Oscar had gone to the Ever After then we probably may not have gotten the clue that Ruby cares deeply for him.

It is very evident after V9 that Oscar's life is precious to Ruby. Shipping and romantic implications asides, you can't deny the fact that Oscar's wellbeing is important to Ruby.

Much like characters such as Penny and Pyrrha, Oscar is someone who Ruby doesn't want to lose.

Better yet, he is someone precious to Ruby that she doesn't wish to lose as a result of her failure.

Take a look at the deaths of Pyrhha and Penny. What do those deaths have in common?

Ruby failing to stop it from happening in the first place.

Ruby was present for Penny's first death but arrived too late to stop it from happening.

Ruby was present for Pyrhha's death but arrived too late to stop it from happening.

Ruby was present again for Penny's final death but got tossed into the Ever After before she could do anything to help stop it from happening.

Once again, Penny died and Ruby failed to stop it from happening. This is why the words of her illusion cut Ruby deeply during the Mad Tea Party fight.

"...Just like you were too late to save me at the Vytal Festival. I died in Atlas too, didn't I? Could you imagine what that's like? To be completely and utterly failed time and again by someone who meant the world to you..."

Similar to Penny, Ruby is someone who Oscar has been shown to care deeply for and Ruby, in turn, cares a lot for him. The evidence of that has been shown sprinkled throughout the seasons. There is no denying that these two smaller, more honest souls care very much for each other.

While there has yet to be any payoff to the development in their relationship as yet, one thing's for certain is that Oscar is a person of importance to Ruby.

He is someone she doesn't want to lose. He is someone she doesn't want to fail.

He is someone she can't stand to watch die because of her own inability to protect him.

Not again after she's failed others like him in the past.

Overall, I guess the point I'm trying to make here is, while it would've been great to see Oscar in the Ever After with Ruby (since he definitely would've prevented her breakdown), at the same time, the showrunners did still found a way to use his presence as part of the narrative to signify something about his connection to Ruby.

Oscar needed to be absent in order to Ruby to have her arc yet ironically, he was the reason for Ruby's breakdown in the first place. While Little's death was the final straw that drove Ruby over the edge, before that moment, it was actually the imagery of Oscar's death caused by HER HANDS that drove Ruby to her final breaking point.

While it would've been nice to see Oscar there with Ruby, in a way, he was still there with her---being used by Neo to indicate to the audience that Oscar is a person of dear importance to Ruby.

Moving forward, I expect the events of V9 to have some kind of impact on Ruby's overall relationship with Oscar. I want to believe the events of the Ever After would make Ruby more overprotective of Oscar; possibly hinting at much deeper feelings. That's how I see it.

~LMS (2023)

[bestworstcase]

New rosebird angst theory spotted in the underbrush: Raven having been forced to kill Sum after Whatever They Were Off Doing went sideways. Deeply skeptical about this one, mainly 'cause I'm not sure birdbandit would even maintain her very limited contact with Qrow after something like that.

Doubt.png

the main thing for me is summer is obviously alive, one way or another. rwby is a story, not real life: a woman who went missing under mysterious circumstances 12-14 years ago, who “never came back” and whose memorial is an empty grave, and who has been haunting the narrative in ever more overt ways for nine volumes now, isn’t a character being set up for a reveal that yup, she’s been dead this whole time. the question is whether she’s been enslaved, coerced into service, imprisoned, or willingly chose to join salem.

i think we can rule out “imprisoned” because a) i have no trouble at all believing that the raven we met in 9.10 had a bond to summer, and b) even if raven fled that night, she’s had fourteen goddamn years to blitz back into salem’s house for three seconds, grab summer, and get out again. she’s not a trembling spineless coward, she played cinder fall like a fiddle and planned to play catch-me-if-you-can with salem to keep the lamp out of her hands. lol

likewise, summer being enslaved as per ruby’s assumption is certainly wrong, a) because ruby is verifiably incorrect about when salem started doing this [the hound is a novel experiment] and b) because i think raven would have reacted very differently to ruby at haven had summer met with some tragic worse-than-death ending because raven couldn’t pull her to safety in time. like, we see what guilt-presenting-as-anger looks like from raven when yang confronts her later, and… that scornful “you sound… just like your mother. CINDER! KILL HER!” isn’t it. again, lol

the only cogent explanation for what happened to cause 1. summer’s disappearance and 2. raven’s naked hostility when ruby reminds her of summer thirteen or so years later is summer stabbing her in the back, which lands us Somewhere in the coercion-to-free-choice zone.

this isn’t even getting into the mountain of hints that salem has a mysterious summer-rose-shaped agent holding the fort at beacon whilst searching for the crown.

i’m convinced that the only reason the fandom at large is so resistant to the very obvious conclusion to draw from the information we know is that a lot of people—a lot of Rosebird People in particular—are very married to this idea of summer rose the paragon and raven the fuck up. like people will pay lip service to summer having been imperfect and… like, occasional lip service to raven maybe feeling betrayed. but that’s mostly in the form of “summer rose accidentally abandoned her children because she thought she could be the hero and died or worse, and raven is horrified and angry at perfect summer rose for Failing” which, uh, Doesn’t Count. lmao

this in spite of the bright red blaring alarm bell in the 9.10 flashback of “summer rose telling lies!” – in a story where this ENTIRE WAR is ultimately happening because oz lied to his wife, and then lied to everyone. in the Lying Is Bad story. what fucked raven up that night is that summer legitimately did betray her in some egregious way, i promise

[palaceofpassion]

White Knight

It's many moons past the adventures of RWBY. Salem long defeated, everyone alive, and happy, AND NOTHING BAD HAPPENED. That said, there is one bad thing that does occur. Every month. And it doesn't. Get. Easier.

BENEFIT GALAS.

Jaune is getting so tired of wearing the fake smiles, and the empty praises, and the whispers of mediocrity. Thankfully, there's one person who makes it worth going for him. Someone who is an expert at this.

He didn't think he'd ever get used to the fake smile, the glass face, the faux positivity. It wasn't like him, never suited, reminded him of how he used to put on a happy face even when he was dying inside. Those were days he much rather not remember, he honestly believed himself to be beyond those.

Yet, here he was, doing the same song and dance over and over. Ever since the group became heroes, they'd been forced to attend these boring soirees, forced to watch the rich and powerful gloat and bloat about their lives. He honestly couldn't stand it, he was a farm boy at heart, and honestly he really just wanted to go away.

Even more so when he found himself accosted by several young men and women, each attempting to get within his good graces, through false friendship or a more sensual means. He didn't want any of it, he wasn't the boy who pined over a pretty girl that thought he was cute. He wasn't after the faces of those that didn't know him.

Thankfully, he didn't have to deal with it, not for long anyways. "Excuse me." A voice that he recognized oh so well, yet hinted with a bit of frustration and venom, called out to the group. The bungle of people began to separate as one Weiss Schnee made her way over to him. The heavenly angel sent by the powers above, had decided to grace his presence. Something he was utterly thankful for. "I apologize, but he is my date. So I'd enjoy spending time with him. If you don't mind."

This got a few grumbles from the group, and a few side eyes from several of the would be bachelors and bachelorettes. Thankfully Weiss nor he cared all that much. When they were finally alone, he gave her a smile. "So... did you want to dance, or were you showing up to be my hero?" The tone of his voice carried a deep sign of affection with it, the words my hero, coming out with pure love and adoration.

"Hmm~ Well, I wouldn't mind spending time with you, as is. But it has been some time since we last had the chance to dance. So... as the hero. Would my princess be willing to follow me outside of his castle, and into the unknown?"

Jaune smiled, beaming with pride and joy as he took her extended hand. "Yes~ I do believe that I would love to accompany my brave knight, after all she deserves a reward."

As the night continued on, it was the small things, her lovely smile, the way they oved in tandem, that reminded him why he came to these things after all.

[etinceelle]

i would like to know...

what exactly in v9 change your opinion about penny?

*cracks my fingers*

So, basically so far the message that I understood from RWBY was kinda always the same, always coming back in different ways but still : the balance of life and death, like in our world. The thing is that in RWBY it always has been THE rule, especially after The Lost Fable in Volume 6 where we saw the "Gods" ideas about it, it was their main rule. The spirits of the Relics also work according to the same rule, just like Ambrosius who can't bring people back from the dead (I think he could do it, but the rule doesn't allow him to do so).

But even at that moment I was a bit conflicted because the "Gods" didn't seem to be on the same page about this rule. The God of Darkness decided to revive Ozma even if he probably knew about the rule, but he still decided to ignore it because his ego was flattered because Salem went to him. Then the God of Light comes, they fight like child, and they break their own rule multiple times while arguing. They acted like children, made Ozma and Salem suffer and then went like "oh you have to understand the balance of life and death", this seems pretty horrible and completely selfish to me aha, but that's another topic-

So we knew the Gods weren't perfect, but they were still the "Gods". I say "Gods" because in Volume 9 we learn they aren't the real Gods of the RWBY universe, but simply Afterans who had more powers than others, who evolved and decided to experiment and create. But they are still Afterans. They aren't perfect and they aren't allowed to talk about balance when they fought each other from the very beginning after creating the Cat and the Jabberwalker.

In fact, the real RWBY God is a Tree represented in a human form as the Blacksmith, who's a sort of avatar I imagine. But even she/they said that her being the Tree was a simplistic view of what is the Tree and what it does. This avatar is gentle, and most importantly, they're from a world where death doesn't exist.

This still seems pretty wild to me to discover in the RWBY universe a place where people just don't die. They change, they evolve, they are reborn but they don't die. Their soul isn't lost like in Remnant. They go back to the very original place, where everything started, and come back different. It can be understood as some form of death, but it's still a different process than on Remnant.

So, about Penny, I'm not saying she'll definitely have a revival but a lot of things start to make me believe this could be the case, maybe in the near future, OR at the end of the series, because I imagine the Brothers/"Gods" will return to Remnant and the Tree might play its part too.

Knowing all of this BIG part of RWBY's lore now just makes me think that we just discovered such a big thing. The Brothers are so stricts about the life and death rule (that they don't even respect), and I never thought what we learned in V9 would truly be a thing. So RWBY's universe is so much more now, it's not just about it, it's about other worlds and about the Ever After that is this origin, the center of everything. It feels almost like if I had blinkers and suddenly woah, a whole new part of the story we didn't know or expected is here, and now I have like a million questions aha.

For Penny specifically, before Volume 9 I was kinda okay with the fact that she died, and was expecting her death to be announced and to be a big thing for Ruby. But we really got SO MUCH hints and references, almost every chapter except 4, 9 and 10. In a world where death doesn't exist, I think it's kinda odd we have so much references (even if it's mostly for Ruby's pain). Like, when you take a step back and look at the overall arcs and story : Penny' always been in terrible situations that ended by death. Even in V8 her "choice" in the finale doesn't really feel like one to me. Penny's never been near any of her goal and she never had the time or opportunity to do so. She was always too busy to fight for people she cared about, or just fighting to survive, to have her chance, but never truly succeeded. It just feel like her arc isn't done, and again when you watch it with an overall view, we see V7-9 being a big arc for her that only led to tragedies (got framed at the election, got the powers she didn't want, got hacked, and then got stabbed and killed).

After seeing Little being killed and come back as Somewhat, even without their memories but still remembering deep down, I have more faith about the fact that character's death don't undo any suffering or trauma the characters went through, or don't change anything for the viewer. We got some weird parts in V9 (I talked about it more in details in another post) that are a bit unclear, and I think deliberately open to the viewer for interpretation. At least this is how it feels to me. I'm thinking about the Blacksmith saying to Ruby about Penny's sword : "nothing, no one, is ever truly lost". This could mean so much things omg. And knowing how much CRWBY loves details and foreshadowing, maybe it means something for later.

Anyway, there's also the fact that at the end of Volume 9, we see Vacuo and Amity Collosseum is there. Which means that Pietro and Maria probably made it to Vacuo. But Pietro without Penny, it feels weird and so sad to me. I talked about it in other posts as well but he's already the kind of man to sacrifice parts of himself to create Penny, and remake her a second time after losing her. Would he really be able to resist to try to remake her a 3rd time ? Would he really not do that ? Pietro is also important in the series because of his connexion and bond to Penny. And I really don't think he wouldn't at least try to remake her, even if that would mean sacrificing himself...

In general, this is the RWBY lore expension and all the hints that we got that kinda made me change my mind. We had V8 that ended in a tragic way with Penny's death, and we go back with a whole volume about rebirth ? This is kinda odd to me aha

Also, I thought again about some lines from Volume 8, and again knowing how much CRWBY like to foreshadow things and add little details here and there, I'm thinking that Pietro might meet Ambrosius some day at some point. Ambrosius said that he'd love to meet him, so idk maybe, that would be really great-

There's also the fact that Ruby said to Ambrosius "We kinda want to keep her longer than that", and we saw in the finale how much Ambrosius took everything that is said to him literally. Who knows if he didn't do something with Penny to help her to remain resistant ? And this line as well, "we go to Vacuo, all of us", and it's again odd that Penny can't go in the end. Idk maybe I'm biased but I just would love that aha.

Ruby and Penny's journey together are also very important in both of their arc, and as much as I think Nuts and Dolts is endgame, both being together despite everything would be a really beautiful message, a light of hope, and they would both have a really great influence on each other.

I could continue for a long time aha but I'm tired, there are just so much things in V9 that helped me to think this might not be just over yet for her. Hope you enjoyed the reading !

[princess-of-the-corner]

One thing to note about RWBY is that it REALLY "grew the beard" over the course of its runtime.

Volumes 1-3 were animated in Poser (software that wasn't intended for use in animation), with rougher backgrounds and more simplistic writing related to complex themes. They were also only ever intended to be an extended prologue to the ACTUAL show, with the Big Twist of the Volume 3 finale being that the climax was actually just the inciting incident to the show's ACTUAL conflict.

Starting from Volume 4, the crew switched to Maya (software that's intended for use in animation), got better at writing more complex topics (the White Fang is treated more sympathetically than in the "Beacon Arc"), and Jaune was actually an interesting character for the entirety of the "Anima Arc" that lasted from Volumes 4-6.

Volume 7 is probably the best season of the show (I don't have a Crunchyroll account and so I haven't had the chance to watch Volume 9 in its entirety yet, even if I know what happens there). It deconstructs the whole "America Saves the World" trope with Atlas, and has some pretty good political satire that wound up being eerily prophetic. Also, Robyn Hill is one of the best characters the show has ever introduced.

Volume 8 contains both the best and worst moments of the series. V8C1-V8C11 features some of the best storytelling and most tense action from the franchise ever, but V8C12 has the overall message of "Okay but, the people who dehumanized Penny over her mechanical body KINDA had a point, let's fix what isn't broken!", V8C13 is a pretty descent villain episode, and V8C14 is by far the most offensive piece of media I've ever been subjected to. But still, up until those last three episodes, it was basically flawless.

I've heard Volume 9 is pretty good, but I'm side-eying everything involving Jaune because I honestly DESPISE the direction they took his arc in. But if we ignore EVERYTHING related to Jaune's role in the Volume, I like basically everything I've heard about it.

RWBY: After the Fall is a very good spin-off novel focused on popular side characters Team CFVY and shows what they've been up to since the Fall of Beacon in Volume 3. it also has a really interesting gimmick, as every other chapter is a flashback to something that happened in Team CFVY's past, further fleshing out their minor roles in the show.

RWBY: Before the Dawn is actual garbage. Sun's character arc (wherein his hypocrisy from the show is actually acknowledged and challenged) and Coco's and Velvet's shiptease are probably the only redeeming qualities. Taking this book into account actually makes Ironwood's reluctance to call Vacuo for help look REASONABLE. 2/10.

RWBY: Roman Holiday is a prequel novel focused on Roman and Neo, but Neo is the true protagonist here. The first few chapters leading up to their first meeting alternate between their perspectives, with the book being largely Neo focused after they finally meet.

RWBY: Fairy Tales of Remnant is an anthology of in-universe fairy tales. You can read it at any point in the series, but the further into the series you are when you read it, the more hints to RWBY's overarching plot you'll notice. While all of the Fairy Tales are works of fiction, some of them are dramatizations of actual events in the shadow war that RWBY's plot revolves around.

RWBY x JL: Super Heroes and Huntsmen is a 2-part film series wherein Team RWBY teams up with the Justice League. Part 1 features the Justice League visiting Remnant (kinda) during the events of Volume 7, and Part 2 features Team RWBY visiting DC Earth after the events of Volume 9.

There's also some ambiguously canonical comics published by DC, as well as 2 explicitly non-canon RWBY/DC crossover comic series. One features alternate versions of the Justice League cast who were born on Remnant, another features Remnant and DC Earth fusing due to Salem tricking Lex Luthor into helping her by playing off of his hatred of Superman. Neither of these crossovers are in continuity with the crossover movies.

Fascinating actually

[historyhermann]

RWBY Volume 9 Spoiler-Filled Review [part 1]

RWBY is an anime-inspired science fantasy action-adventure series, using computer animation, which has run for eight seasons, known as "volumes". Originally created by animator and writer Monty Oum, in 2013, and continued after his death in 2015, RWBY is the flagship series of Rooster Teeth, a digital media company and subdivision of Warner Bros. Discovery. As a warning, this review will discuss death, suicide, blood, torture, animal death, physical (and emotional) abuse, and other related themes.

Reprinted from Pop Culture Maniacs and Wayback Machine. This was the thirty-first article I wrote for Pop Culture Maniacs. This post was originally published on April 26, 2023.

This young adult animated series primarily centers on the four primary protagonists: Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao Long, with the series name deriving from their forenames. Set in a fictional world named Remnant, these characters, and others, train to become warriors (huntresses or huntsmen), so they can save the world from monsters known as Grimm, which are driven by fear and dedicated to destroying humanity.

Apart from the aforementioned protagonists, others, such as Ozma/Ozpin/Oscar Pine, Lie Ren, Nora Valkyrie, Qrow Branwen, Robyn Hill, and Jaune Arc, help them fight against evil forces. Uniquely, the series has theme songs, primarily by Casey Lee Williams, at the beginning of each volume, which foreshadows what will happen, making the show unique in its own way.

The show's ninth volume is unlike the previous volumes, which had a classic conflict between good vs. evil, intricate story telling, horror elements, and character development. That is because the protagonists are stranded in a magical land known as the Ever After. Even so, they retain a semblance which allows them to have superpowers-of-sorts, so they can either manipulate objects, disorient people, use super strength, or have other abilities.

Morally grey characters are inherent to RWBY, including the Ace Ops or General James Ironwood. In contrast, Cinder Fall breaks from the strict dictates of her leader, Salem. The latter, and her enforcers, are determined to do anything to achieve their goals, even engaging in human experimentation. This interlinks with the blood, gore, and death of some characters.

The series' large focus on sci-fi and magic elements goes beyond characters like Penny Polendina (voiced by Taylor "Pelto" McNee), a cyborg girl, and scrolls which record and receive messages. Arguably, in this volume, the series has received a "directional reset" and ended on a strong note, even setting up a possible volume 10.

One of the most controversial parts of RWBY, up to the current volume, has been its LGBTQ representation. There have been lesbian couples, like Saphron and Terra-Arc, and lesbian characters who have crushes on the protagonists, as is the case for Ilia Amitola (voiced by Cherami Leigh). This was strengthened by the role of May Marigold, the first trans character in the series, in Volume 8. She was voiced by trans female voice actress, Kdin Jenzen. She did not appear in Volume 9 and Jenzen has been critical of the company's practices. This volume is the last one that Jenzen will be working on, as she was reportedly laid off from the company.

Some fans have held out hope that the Bumbleby ship (Blake and Yang) would become canon, especially after Arryn Zech, Blake's voice actress, confirmed her character as bisexual in May 2020. This came to pass in this volume and there have been hints of other possible romantic ships, which I'll discuss later in this review.

One of the strengths of this series is its visuals, which have improved dramatically from the first volume, and its voice actors. Furthermore, although the fandom of this series can be toxic, the show's fans have come up with colorful ship names. This includes femslash ones, such as Baked Alaska (Yang and Neopolitan), Blood Mint (Ruby and Emerald Sustrai), Freezerburn (Yang and Weiss), Ladybug (Ruby and Blake), and White Rose (Ruby and Weiss), even though some of these are problematic.

The surreal nature of RWBY's ninth volume makes it fundamentally different from the canon-adjacent anime series, RWBY: Ice Queendom. The latter focused on Weiss Schnee, especially on how she needs to "unlearn her white supremacist thinking" and become a better person. There was a non-binary character named Shion Zaiden (voiced by Hiroki Nanami, and Jenzen in English). It was confirmed in an interview with the show's staff and producers. Unfortunately, similar characters have yet to appear in RWBY, even though both series share fight scenes, strong visuals, and soundtrack.

RWBY is somewhat complicated by issues that Rooster Teeth has dealt with over the years. For one, actor Vic Mignogna, who voiced Qrow Branwen until Volume 6, was removed after accusations of sexual harassment. Ryan Haywood and Adam Kovic were either involved in scandals which related to their leaked nude photographs or grooming underage fans, in the case of Haywood. Furthermore, anonymous reviews focused on a negative crunch culture at Rooster Teeth, especially at their animation division, leading to the resignation of Gray Haddock (creator of gen:LOCK), head of this division, as a result.

Former hosts of Rooster Teeth programs stated that they received racist and sexist abuse from the audience. Jenzen argued that an upper manager engaged in transphobic and homophobic abuse. This was followed by other employees posting similar stories. In response, the company released statements arguing they were taking steps to improve the work culture, review pay parity, and even replace the entire Human Resources department, while reducing the number of shows being produced. These issues were compounded by the arrest of then-vice president of Rooster Teeth, Michael Quinn, for assaulting his wife, in November 2019.

In terms of RWBY itself, fans previously claimed that the show queerbaited after the death of a character in the show's seventh season, believing that Qrow Brawnen and Clover Ebi were canon. In reality, the series never directly showed them together. The argument that Clover's death is queerbaiting, is like saying Wednesday did the same by not making the friendship between Wednesday Addams and Enid Sinclair a romantic one, despite the false insistence of fans that it was canon. As such, it is no surprise that some see RWBY as a lost cause and not worth supporting.

From my perspective, I think that regardless of these issues, and the fact that Rooster Teeth seems to be a toxic work environment, RWBY still has value. This is because of the hard work of the animators and writers, known as CRWBY. In fact, I would argue that the latest volume is the strongest in the series up to this point and it has some of the best animation. Although some may balk at the show's style, or even claim that the protagonist's clothing constitutes fan service for the audience, the reality is that the show's style makes it stand out, apart from any other action-adventure science fantasy.

Unlike previous volumes, the ninth volume premiered on Crunchyroll on February 18, as part of "a one-year exclusive release with Crunchyroll", and it will then release on the Rooster Teeth website in 2024. This is a big deal because the series is primary show for Rooster Teeth and its streaming platform of the same name. So, it may portend the end or reduction of the platform.

Whether the worst for Rooster Teeth comes to a head, I'm not sure. It seems very likely that the show will receive a tenth volume, which may be the final season. I would be very surprised if RWBY is not renewed, as it has generated a lot of buzz, has generally strong ratings on Crunchyroll, and, undoubtedly, has thousands of people watching each episode.

The ninth volume of RWBY is captivating. Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang try and find themselves, and anything they have lost. There are new characters like a talking mouse named Little (voiced by Luci Christian), the Curious Cat (voiced by Robbie Daymond), which fulfills a specific role in a land which has many characteristics of Alice in Wonderland, and enemies such as the jabberwalkers (voiced by Richard Norman). Little later becomes Ruby's emotional support animal of sorts.

I was further drawn into this volume by the story of Alyx, her brother Lewis, the Rusted Knight, and the Curious Cat. This was weaved together artfully, with the audience knowing as much as the characters about the real story as the series went forward. This included the revelation that Juane became the Rusted Knight and was reportedly betrayed by Alyx (voiced by Shara Kirby). He became trapped in the Ever After for over 40 years, causing him to become a "mature" older man, who has a steed named Juniper.

The volume interrogates Juane's hero complex. It breaks down when the town of the Paper Pleasers is flooded (possibly mirroring what happened to Mantle in Volume 8) and he can save none of them. He admits as much in the seventh episode, saying he "not ok" or "right". In some ways I see a parallel between Juane (voiced by Miles Luna) and General Ironwood (voiced by Jason Rose). Juane seems to be just as tired and angry at people, thinking he is "saving" people by making "hard choices". Ironwood is different as be became an unhinged military dictator who turned against the protagonists.

Even more than any previous volume, this 10-episode volume of RWBY has a specific focus on Ruby. She begins a downward spiral, although her sister, Yang, repeatedly tries to ask her what is wrong, often to no avail. Understandably, she is further shaken when her friends are shrunk to miniature size. She begins to have so much self-doubt that she isn't sure is a huntress/hero anymore.

This volume shows the extreme pressure Ruby is under as team leader, as she puts the needs of others ahead of her own. This is shown directly when she can't even use her weapon, Crescent Rose, in the show's seventh episode, after having flashbacks to traumatic events from the previous volumes. This is almost akin to the Steven Universe Future episode where Steven Universe tells his friend's mother about all the childhood trauma he has experienced over his life time.

Getting back to RWBY, at the end of episode seven, Ruby has a breakdown, asking why she has to be the leader. She criticizes everyone else for not devoting time to solve her problems, for helping Juane's "make-believe" friends, and seeming to disregard what she is going through. I thought it was interesting that none her teammates push her over the edge, but Juane, who has experienced as much trauma as her, ends up blaming her for everything that went wrong.

Although Juane has a valid point, it is wrong of him to put the blame on her entirely. In addition, Ruby's plan in Volume 8, to use the staff of creation to create paths to evacuate citizens from Mantle to Vacuo, clearly opened them up to a lot of danger. But, its failure wasn't entirely her fault. If Cinder hadn't asked about Ruby's plan, thanks to magic lamp, it might have been successful. Even so, they seemed to ignore the advice from the genie, in the staff of creation, who told them to "not fall".

This reality mattered little to Ruby, who felt overwhelmed by everything, and fled, shocking the rest of her team. Having Ruby snap at her team in the ways she did was inevitable based on what has happened through the previous seasons. In fact, she was already under a lot of stress by the end of Volume 8 and almost lost her life multiple times over.

In watching this volume, I am reminded of the mental health struggles of Steven in Steven Universe Future and Steven Universe, and Julian Chase in the ever-problematic gen:LOCK. However, it is different for Ruby. In the eighth episode, she pushes away Little and faces Neopolitan, a mute villain-of-sorts in a mansion, with Neo bringing back ghosts of Ruby's past to torture her. Through Roman Torchwick, Neo "says" that she will enjoy seeing Ruby break down.

At the end of the same episode, drinks a cup of tea, poured by Neo, with a leaf from the ever-powerful tree. She appears to end her own life, staring into the eyes of her sister, Yang, and feels that the world would be better without her. As this happens, her teammates remain in shock over what she did.

This serious tone of RWBY is only part of the show's mature, and distressing themes. It is coupled with death, loss, destruction, and horrific creatures such as the Grimm, which are attracted to those who are afraid or scared. Although such beings don't appear in this volume, the above scene is followed by the Curious Cat possessing Neo for his own ends. The devious cat sees Neo as an "empty host", and the cat-as-Neo is a being which Weiss, Blake, Yang, and Jaune fight in the last two episodes of this volume.

How RWBY depicts suicide is fundamentally different from how it is depicted in the continually controversial gen:LOCK. The latter featured all of the characters killing themselves, then each becoming the equivalent of a swarm of locusts to defeat the enemy. In the case of Ruby, there are questions as to whether she ended her own life, or she only engaged a suicide attempt.

The final nail of Ruby's descent into a dark place, Neo, is more than a villain. She is not completely heartless, even though she terrorized Ruby into the drinking the tea and killed Little with a twist of her heeled shoe. By the end of the volume, it is clear that she  may have some form of redemption or will become an ally-of-sorts to the show's heroes. Ruby even says that Neo will find herself, one way or another, as she falls back into the Ever After.

In terms of the tonal shifts in this volume of RWBY, they were not as well-executed as they could have been. At the same time, it should be remembered that a lot has happened in a short period of time, leaving Weiss, Blake, and Yang, especially after Ruby "ascends", without much time to process to process everything. Furthermore, it would be inaccurate to say that Ruby's teammates don't care about her, as they clearly do, in more ways than one.

The volume was effective in connecting the previous volumes to this one, with an emphasis on the themes of self-acceptance and self-love. Ruby exemplifies this directly. She isn't sure what choice she wants to make, even as those outside the tree, like Yang, Weiss, and Blake, accept whatever path Ruby wants to go down. At one point, Ruby thinks she might be doing more harm than good, looks at all of the possibilities in front of her, and grabs her mom's weapon. In the end, she embraces herself. This isn't as much change as some had been expecting, but it is a powerful message that you are enough, without a need to remake yourself.

The ever-present tree in this volume is shown to be a place of rebirth and rejuvenation, which does not simply resurrect and kill someone. Instead, ascension isn't death, but it is change, and that is the role of the tree. This is connected with the theme of this volume that you should not condemn yourself for mistakes you make, but accept them and learn from them. In fact, when the Curious Cat, which is vulnerable after the tree's leaves released him from Neo's body, argues that humans are weak, confused, incomplete, and break everything they touch, Weiss, Yang, and Blake disagree, saying Ruby is none of those things.

The volume nine finale of RWBY was one of the best episodes, giving background, but tying up loose ends, even talking about how the Ever After was created. It brought together the aforementioned themes and it ends with the characters walking through the portal to a place they are needed most: Vacuo. It was a fitting end to the series, if this is the last episode ever produced.

There is more about of RWBY's ninth volume, especially when it comes to LGBTQ representation, which put it on the map when it comes to all the representation in series this year. Episode 6, entitled "Confessions Within Cumulonimbus Clouds", was written by Eddy Rivas, and directed by Kerry Shawcross and Yssa Badiola. The latter was known for her short-lived series, Recorded by Arizal.

This episode built upon previous interactions between Yang and Blake, with flirting or blushing at one another in this volume, and in previous volumes. Everyone is trapped in a Punderstorm, a literal and metaphorical crossroads, with individuals only able to get out if they either solve the problems or wait until the storm passes.

In one of the best-constructed and well-done queer romantic scenes I've seen in an animated series, Blake and Yang admit their feelings for each other, as the music swells, then kiss. Significantly, the characters almost express the feelings of the fandom, with Weiss and Ruby surprised to see them linking lips, while Juane says that it "feels like I've been waiting forever for that". It is something which many fans of the Bumbleby ship had been waiting for.

While the scene was hinted in the volume 9 poster, it was no substitute for the scene, which excited fans over the canonization of Bumbleby, including on the show's subreddit. Even the Bumbleby's subreddit was exploding with new content. It could be said that the episode set a high standard for women-love-women romance.

It is only rivaled by the developing yuri story within the recently ended yuri isekai The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady, or the queer romance encapsulated within She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, Dead End: Paranormal Park, Arcane, Star Trek: Lower Decks, Helluva Boss, Craig of the Creek, Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts, and Steven Universe to name a few recent series with prominent representation.

The episode itself generated discussion from the show's roundtable and even on All Good and No Worries, a Rooster Teeth show hosted by Barbara Dunkleman (voice of Yang), in an episode in which she talked with Arryn Zech (voice of Blake). In previous years, Zech and Dunkleman often hinted at this ship, stating their support for the ship, as did actor Kara Eberle (who voices Weiss).

The life of Zech somewhat mirrored her character, as she accused her ex-boyfriend, prominent actor Bob Morley, of verbal and emotional abuse, and said that Morley was furious when he learned that she was bisexual. Blake had been with an abusive ex-boyfriend of her own named Adam Taurus, who wields a chokutō and a gun, and attempts to take over the White Fang, peaceful organization originally aimed at improving conditions for the animalistic Faunus, a group of cat-like people.

In the penultimate season six episode, "Seeing Red", Blake and Yang kill Adam together, and touch their foreheads, which some see as a sign of romantic affection. Blake is also a bisexual character, like Zech is real life. In addition, during the discussion with Zech, Dunkleman admitted she is "not fully straight", but is "for the most part...fairly straight", while Zech talked about the struggles of dating as a bisexual woman.

It is clear that the romantic relationship between Blake and Yang was always planned, despite brutal shipping wars claiming otherwise. The canon nature of Bumbleby flies against those claiming the show's crew was queerbaiting. In fact, some made similar claims about the slow build-up of the romance between Marceline the Vampire Queen and Princess Bubblegum in Adventure Time, whose relationship, known as Bubbline by fans, was canonized in the series finale "Come Along with Me". It is not known if the CRWBY would ever an hour-long episode about Bumbleby, akin to the Adventure Time: Distant Lands episode "Obsidian", which almost exclusively focused on Bubbline, but would be great if that occurred.

The episode six scene was reinforced in other episodes: Blake and Yang fight together in tag team style, Yang protects Blake at one point, or Ruby sarcastically says she is "happy" for Blake and Yang getting their "feelings sorted out" when she has her breakdown at the end of episode seven. More powerfully, in the final episode, Blake and Yang walk through the portal door back to Vacuo holding hands just like Korra and Asami Sato in the Legend of Korra series finale.

© 2023 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

Continued in part 2