#RWBY Blacksmith

[anthurak]

Okay, so it seems like Ruby was sent to the Tree at the end of this episode.

And we still haven’t gotten our second meeting with the Mysterious Blacksmith where we get her ‘What if you could leave Ruby Rose behind...?’ line from the trailer.

Yeah, I’m calling it now that the Blacksmith and her forge have been inside the tree this whole time.

And of course, she’s who Ruby is going to be meeting next episode XD

[armenianwriterman]

Can I just say I love how rwby, a show with “has crazy weapons” as one of its main focal points, named the creator/god of the universe The Blacksmith?

[erros429]

rwby textpost memes pt8! except make it ao3 tags i stole from @/thefunniesttags

[desib717]

I though this was lost forever, how do you have it?

Nothing, no one, is ever truly lost

She chose to leave a part of herself behind

I won't be gone, I'll be a part of you!

A wish to fix what she had broken

I've been having Penny Thoughts™ again this morning and I sfhjdiualcs Penny's sword turning into Alyx's dagger in Ruby's hands while she was talking to the Blacksmith for the first time. A knife that represents Alyx desire to undo her mistakes and fix the things she broke. A knife that was passed on to Jaune, who is currently being very heavily weighed down a certain major mistake he made. A knife that restored Jaune to his former self with a flash of golden light.

I know this is super incoherent but like, do you see my vision????

[howi99]

Meeting with the blacksmith

Jaune: ... Couldn't you fix Ozma and Salem?

Blacksmith: I could, but-

Jaune: All they need is a way for you to interact with them, right?

Blacksmith: Yes, but-

Jaune: Beside, isn't the state of our world the express result of both of your "sons"? Like, i thank you for fixing me, but i really think they need it more than i do.

Blacksmith: ... But wouldn't that be a boring story?

Jaune: If they didn't want that to happen, the writers shouldn't have created you in the first place. You can literally fix Remnant biggest problem in like 5 minutes. All we need to do is send them both here.

Blacksmith: That would be lazy writing.

Jaune: Because copy-pasting alice wonderland and fixing my age in literally 16h after i met back with team RWBY isn't?

Blacksmith: ... *Sigh* Bring them here. Shouldn't be too hard since both of them are suicidal.

[aspiringwarriorlibrarian]

Was ruminating while bored, and I realized that we've all been thinking about how the Blacksmith's words on balance apply to the gods and to Salem and Ozpin. "Balance cannot be restored through force or calculation, true balance finds its own equilibrium" is a reflection on how the Brothers failed in their attempts to create balance, which could also be read into Ironwood failing to control Atlas and how Ozpin's ending of the Great War by forcing the kingdoms to end things and accept surrender ultimately left serious flaws in the system. But I was thinking about it from the other end, about Salem's attempts to disrupt the balance.....and I realized that it applies both ways. Balance cannot be restored by force or calculation, but force and calculation cannot easily disrupt it, either.

Cinder's masterstroke at Beacon was meant to provoke war, but war doesn't come. Most of the other kingdoms are suspicious, yes, but they accepted Atlas' explanation, and Atlas' Dust embargo and isolation was imposed from the inside. Salem tried to hijack the Faunus rights movement for her own purposes, and the Faunus decided they didn't want to see their cause corrupted and foiled Salem's plan at Haven without even knowing about the secret war. (Salem doesn't learn from this, by the way, she just blames it all on Cinder, even dismissing Hazel when he tries to point out the Faunus militia's part in Haven.). The Crown tries to destroy Shade and reinstate a king...but Vacuo has moved on from kings and doesn't want one now, so they join the Academy's forces to destroy them. All of Salem's failures have one common factor: they weren't planned by Ozpin or any of the secret conspirators, but arose naturally from the simple weight of history and the desire for peace. The world is too vast and too complicated to reduced to a chessboard, no matter how powerful Salem is. When you create a wound, blood rushes to fill and seal it again.

Nature tends towards equilibrium, and change requires not a single action but a consistent force until a new equilibrium can be made. There are moments of imbalance, drastic imbalance perhaps, but stability is a force as well. Ozpin alone cannot force all the Kingdoms into harmony, but neither can Salem alone force them to break apart. "Balance is not two forces locked in endless struggle. Balance is an ecosystem, an organism. A living breathing thing.".

[thepalestrose]

The Blacksmith working on the Herbalists new wings while she talks with Ruby in episode 5

[iamafanofcartoons]

It’s well worth the wait. 

#ThankYouCRWBY present and past for bringing us this this beautiful, heart-wrenching, and insightful volume. Definitely my favorite volume yet and it’s not over. Here’s to getting volume 10! Keep moving forward. And beyond. 

#RWBY #RWBY9 

#GREENLIGHTVOLUME10

Artist AG Nonsuch

 https://twitter.com/AG_Nonsuch/status/1649792727071031296

[marcmarcmomarc]

Ruby telling this story in front of the whole Remnant Alliance, using Robyn’s Lie Detection to prove what she’s telling them is the truth, inspired by this post:

ROBYN: So what happened on the other side of the portals?

RUBY: Well, after I fell, I met a talking mouse I named Little, then we found Weiss and Blake captured by a whole village of talking mice whom we convinced to let them go, then we found Yang fighting a Jabberwalker while missing her arm, then we realized we were in our favorite childhood fairy tale, The Girl Who Fell Through the World.

OSCAR: That fairy tale actually happened?

RUBY: Then we went to the village in the Crimson Acre to bargain with the Jinxy Peddler for Yang’s arm.

EMERALD: You met the Jinxy Peddler?

VELVET: Was he cute?

WEISS: Yeah.

RUBY: And he was older than he was in the book. Anyway, toy soldiers won the arm, and we only got it back from them because Little tried stealing another “fine treasure”, exposing Jinxy’s treasures as fakes. The soldiers escorted us to the Crimson Castle, at first to arrest us for stealing Yang’s arm, or “royal property”, before I traded Penny’s sword, with a story of her being the greatest warrior to ever live.

REMNANT ALLIANCE:

RUBY: The occasion was the birthday of who we thought was the Red King, but turned out to be the Red Prince, who was more of a spoiled brat than Weiss was at Beacon.

YANG: (nudging Weiss) Heh-heh.

RUBY: Then we challenged him to a game of chess, where he shrunk the girls to the size of chess pawns, and when we beat him, he threw a tantrum and wanted us beheaded, and the Curious Cat rescued us.

NORA: The Curious Kitty?!

REN: Were they as chatty as the book made them out to be?

RUBY: Mm-hm. Not to mention easily distracted. Anyway, they took us to look for ingredients for a Growgurt Parfait in the Garden Acre, and we met a smoking caterpillar called Herb who drugged us into seeing our past selves via leaves from the Great Tree, which we all rejected, well, which the other girls rejected, I almost gave in, before the Cat stopped me, then got Herb swallowed by a hole in the ground.

TAI: You guys did drugs?

QROW: Whoa, whoa, don’t start drinking like me, girls.

RUBY: Anyway, the Cat led us to a market to keep looking for the Parfait ingredients. Along the way, they told us about Ascension, a process that occurs when an Afteran is no longer doing the assigned role that they are supposed to be, triggered by them losing their ways, wearing out, doubting themselves, or even just finishing their assigned tasks, upon which they are taken to the Great Tree and repurposed into someone or something else with a new identity, personality, and role. Their memories are erased in the process, but the heart barely ever forgets.

REMNANT ALLIANCE: Ooh.

RUBY: And then, the market was attacked by Jabberwalkers using Neopolitan’s Semblance. We had all of the ingredients for the Parfait, and the girls grew back to normal size just as we got assistance from the Rusted Knight riding his white rabbit.

WHITLEY: You know, Weiss had a crush on the Rusted Knight when she was a kid.

BLAKE: I think everyone had a crush on the Rusted Knight at some point.

RUBY: Well, things didn’t help when he turned out to be a grown-up Jaune with longer hair and a beard, who grabbed a fruit that sent him back in time twenty years right after he landed.

REMNANT ALLIANCE:

NORA: Oh, my Gods, Jaune.

JAUNE: I was stuck there isolated from other human contact, too.

YANG: Weiss certainly loved how mature he was.

RUBY: And the white rabbit was a jackalope Jaune named Juniper.

NORA: Aw, Jaune.

RUBY: Then Jaune told us his perspective on the Tree, that he believed it was death, that Alyx backstabbed her brother Lewis, the author of the fairy tale, who wrote the story the way he wished it had happened, and that the Cat couldn’t be trusted, then we got sent to a punderstorm, which creates a physical manifestation of a mental or emotional problem. Jaune, Weiss, and I were sent to metaphorical and literal crossroads, while Yang and Blake were sent to two broken, wooden, rickety bridges connected to a giant pillar they could only advance toward if they were honest about their feelings for each other. Yeah, Yang and Blake are girlfriends now.

REMNANT ALLIANCE:

NORA: See, Ren? I told you there was more going on!

KALI: Our baby girl found love?

TAI: With my sunny little dragon?

RAVEN: She really is your daughter, then, Tai.

RUBY: Then the Cat bailed on us after mistaking us for selfishly using them to get home, and once the storm passed, Jaune let us spend the night in his house in the Origami Acre, then he introduced us the next morning to a village of paper stars called the Paper Pleasers whose purpose was finished and kept trying to go to the Tree to gain a new purpose, but Jaune had been stopping them for as long as he knew them. Then Neo’s Jabberwalkers attacked, and while we were distracted, the Paper Pleasers finally managed to commit mass suicide via destroying the koi pond dam, then when the girls asked me to help comfort Jaune, I blew up at them for caring more about everyone else’s feelings or getting home, and taking my mental health for granted and ignoring my suffering…

REMNANT ALLIANCE:

WBY+J:

RUBY: …then I ran away, came across the Abandoned Acre, and entered a random mansion, where Neo had made clone illusions of Roman Torchwick, Penny, Pyrrha, Professor Lionheart, Clover, Professor Ozpin, and General Ironwood, and used them to physically and psychologically destroy me, and when the chaos was over, I didn’t want to be me anymore, not helped by Torchwick’s question: “Do you really think you can stand to watch more of your friends fall, or are you ready to admit the truth? That the world would just be better off without you?”

REMNANT ALLIANCE (passing tissues around):

RUBY: Then Neo offered me tea made from leaves from the Tree intended to wipe me from existence, then the Cat blasted her away, but then turned out to be evil and tried to possess me, then Neo fought them off and stomped Little to death, then I drank the tea, offing myself, and got swallowed by the Tree.

YANG: (tearing up) Oh, Rubes.

RUBY: Then I met a Blacksmith, who I also found at the market, or, rather, she found me, and then she presented me with a choice to either be someone else or myself. I saw my mom’s weapon and was treated to a vision of the night she left with Raven on another one of Ozpin’s secret missions and never came back.

TAI: (turns accusingly at…) Raven?

RAVEN: (sheepishly) Uh, surprise?

HARE: (to Ruby) Wait. What did you say your mother’s name was again?

RUBY: Summer.

HARE: (muttering) So, her uncle is Qrow, her father is Taiyang, and her sister’s mother is Raven. All are members of Team STRQ. Summer, Summer, Summer… (out loud) Summer Rose, the leader of Team STRQ, was your mother?

REMNANT ALLIANCE (walla): Summer?…Summer Rose?…The previous silver-eyed Huntress?…That’s Summer Rose’s daughter?

RUBY: Yeah. And then, I finally chose to be myself and grow into a better Huntress. And I. Came. Back, and helped the girls fight the evil Cat. And we won.

REMNANT ALLIANCE:

RUBY: And then Neo killed the Cat with the Jabberwalkers, who, by the way, are the only creatures to prevent Ascension if they eat Afterans. And, according to the girls, Neo was possessed by the Cat, and she chose to accept Torchwick’s death and undergo her own Ascension. Oh, and Little ascended, too, into who we called Somewhat, and succeeded Jaune as the protector of the Ever After. And then, we had made it to the Tree, and we walked through the door back home, landed inside the plane of the Tree met the Blacksmith again at her workshop, and when we noticed two statues of the Brother Gods, she told us their backstory. That the Ever After was overfilled with plants and dangerous wildlife in its primordial years, but the Brothers were created to clear it out. Then they created the Afterans as well as the different acres for them to live in. They designed new creations that would replace them in maintaining the Ever After. This was how the Cat was created. They later created the Jabberwalker as a form of destruction. However, the two disagreed on whether it disrupted the balance or not and began to wage war.

OSCAR: (scoffs) What else is new?

RUBY: The Blacksmith told us how balance isn’t supposed to be two opposing forces locked in battle; balance is an ecosystem, an organism, and a living thing, thus balance isn’t restored with force or manipulation, it’s restored naturally, requiring love and patience to see it through to the end. The Gods got to Remnant because the Ever After created a door to a “greater beyond” for the Gods, so they can leave and experiment in creating new worlds as much as they like.

NORA: (snickering) So the Tree basically said, “You think you have life sorted out? Then get out of my house”?

RUBY: Pretty much.

TEAM RWBY, JAUNE, AND REMNANT ALLIANCE:

YANG: (wiping a tear) Oh, my Gods, that’s such a hilarious way of looking at it. Thanks, Nora.

RUBY: Anyway, the Blacksmith told us that we have impacted the Ever After significantly; just like Somewhat, Alyx, and Lewis, and that the Cat caused a bad impact, and then she made us a portal in the desert on the outskirts of the city, and now you’re all caught up.

[rwby-encrusted-blog]

Extended Families Shorts

Neon: Hey-Hey Ci-Ci!

Chai: Neon! How's my Favorite Faunus Cousin Doing?

Neon: She's doing pretty Good! How's the new heart?

Chai: Beating to the beat of the Drums! And yours will be too when I give you ...

Chai: *patting his pockets* Give you ...

808: *Carrying a pair of paper slips in her mouth* Mrrow?

Chai: Oh! thanks a ton 808!

Neon: Are those-

Chai: Tickets to Bunk Bed Junction's Concert this Weekend!

Neon: I- how- When did you-

Chai: Well, Miss Vandeley was pretty hyped about me getting her out of Kale's whole "Mind Control" Schtick, so she gave me a pretty rocking Sign-On bon-AH!

Neon: *Hugging Chai with all her might* THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

Chai: *Strained* Not a problem! Now please put me down I can't breathe-

~~~~~

Beatrix: So looks like the little Farm kid finally put his hiking boots on!

Oscar: Auntie Bea? What- How did you find me?

Beatrix: A little birdy told me where to find you! and I figured visiting old stomping grounds isn't too bad sometimes! What have you been up to?

Oscar: Oh ... You know ... This, that, and the other thing?

Beatrix: Really now? You make the trek from Mistral to Beacon for no reason in Particular?

Oscar: ... Yes.

Beatrix: ...

Beatrix: Well that's great! you finally got that Wanderlust! I thought I'd be the only one in the family to make new tracks! Tell me everything You've seen, and heard, and done on your travels!

Oscar: Only if-

Beatrix: *Hands Oscar a bottle of Honey*

Oscar: Okay, so the first time I killed a Grimm ...

~~~~~

Blacksmith: You two wish to see the world?

Princess: A few, Here and there- Just a chance to be "Normal" after the all of that "Echo" and "Construct" and "Forever Killing each other" business.

TLQ: Yeah, Nasty Business that.

Blacksmith: Very well then. Quiet, You'll need to shaped into something more fitting of the world of Remnant, and you'll need to call each other by more conventional Names. Is that alright?

TLQ: I'm okay with it. It'll be new. Different.

Princess: *Flirting* And you Love "different" Don't you?

TLQ: I should say I do~ *The Look*

Princess: *Cupping his cheek* Hmm~ I'm going to miss that Beak of yours~ Hopefully your tongue-

Blacksmith: OKAY THEN! Let's workshop some Ideas on Names and a new look -Clothes for you, Princess, and a new Everything for Quiet.

Princess: *Annoyed* Very well Then.

TLQ: Alright. I'm game. You could've waited a moment more, though.

Blacksmith: I very well Couldn't.

[madman479r]

This was it. For decades Jaune had longed for this moment, the time he would finally leave the Ever After and return home.

It honestly seemed sureal. Every now and then, Jaune feared he would awaken and be back in his cabin, ready to start a new day of keeping the Paper Pleasers safe and failing to find a way back to Remnant.

But no such soul crushing reality came.

He... he was really going home.

Jaune watched as team RWBY stepped through the portal and made to follow them until the voice of the Blacksmith stopped him.

"One last thing, Knight." Jaune turned as the Blacksmith came towards him, her larger form towering over him, but not in a form of intimidation.

"The Tree watched over you, saw what you did, how you put your own life at risk to save the Afterans. Such nobility, such heroism." Despite the Blacksmith's encouraging words, Jaune only frowned in disagreement.

"Nobility? Heroism? No. I was selfish, I forced the Paper Pleasers to live in such frail bodies. I played the hero just for the rush, the feeling of being the hero because I could never be one back home." Jaune was no hero. He was, and always will be a fraud.

The Blacksmith only shook her head. "You thought you were saving the Paper Pleasers because you come from a world where death is the end with no new beginning. You became a hero because that's what the Afterans needed. For all you've done, the Tree has decided to repay you."

Now Jaune was confused. "What do you mean "repay me"? I already have my youth back and I'm going home. What more could I need?"

"The gift of youth was from Alyx. The Tree has her own gift for you, she sees potential within you. The same potential your partner saw. Untapped power."

Jaune nearly choked. "Pyrrha?" What was she talking about? What did Pyrrha see in him? What untapped power?

"This gift will be given to you when the time is right. The unlocking of your true potential."

Now Jaune was baffled, but figured it was another Ever After strangeness he had come to expect. With a grateful nod, Jaune bid farewell and left through the portal.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jaune gritted his teeth as his shield took the brunt of Cinder's fireball, the force of the blast pushing him back a few feet but he remained standing.

Damnit, this was bad! He and Winter were on patrol in Vacuo, having received a mission about a few bandits attacking a settlement. That's where they met Carmine and Bertilak, a pair of veteran hunters and members of The Crown.

The Huntsman and Winter Maiden then found themselves ambushed by a new ally to the Crown, Cinder.

Winter was currently occupied with fighting off the veteran hunters, their combined skills and coordination giving the magic wielder a challenge, leaving Juane to fight Cinder alone.

Cinder smirked smugly, fire dancing in the palm of her hand, though she also had a twinge of respect in her eye. "I must admit, you certainly have gotten stronger, a better warrior altogether in such a short time. But it's still nothing compared to the power of a Maiden." Cinder then aimed her hand at Jaune and shot forward a wave of fire, completely engulfing Jaune.

Jaune put his shield up for protection but the fire came over him like water, simply crawling over the shield and directly into him. He felt the intense heat all over, his Aura working overtime to try and keep him safe but even his Aura had limits. His vision was becoming blurry, black spots clouding his eyes and he felt his body losing strength.

This was it. He was going to die. At the hands of Cinder no less.

It was a shame, he never got to avenge Pyrrha or Penny's deaths. Now he could at least join them in the after life.

But a voice called to him, one he never expected to hear again.

"This gift will be given to you when the time is right. The unlocking of your true potential."

And then Jaune saw a bright, blinding light.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cinder felt satisfaction killing the annoying knight. He had been a bigger thorn in her side then she ever thought he'd be. Especially when he denied her the Winter Maiden powers, but she'd have that power soon anyway.

Though she did feel a little disappointed, he didn't even give an scream of anguish in his final, fiery moments. Maybe she shouldn't have done it too hot, it completely evaporated him before he could even feel any pain.

Cinder's eye then widened in pure shock as a golden pillar of pure aura came from the flames, where the fraud stood in the blaze of heat.

Cinder was too focused on the sight, not noticing how the Schnee, Carmine and her partner also stopped in the middle of their fight to see the light.

Her fire vanished yet the pillar remained and a silhouette stood in the centre. The light then disappeared and the silhouette became clear.

It was a tall, and powerful looking Knight with rusty armour, complete with a helmet that showed only two glowing blue eyes in the darkness of the visor.

Cinder stood in disbelief. What... what was this? Was this the fool? What was that light?! What was this?!

The Knight, with Aura practically flowing out from his body, took a step forward and readied himself for a fight.

Cinder growled in frustrated rage. Why wouldn't this idiot just die?!

"Come on." Cinder used her magic to hover in the air before shooting at the Knight like a javelin. "What now?!" She screamed and shot her hand forward, directly into the helmet as a fireball formed, exploding on impact. The explosion was powerful enough to send dust, rocks and debris flying away, even the other combatants were pushed back slightly.

When the smoke cleared, Cinder expected to see a smoldering, melted mesh of metal and flesh but her heart dropped when the smoke parted, revealing the fraud to still be standing without so much as a scratch!

Cinder looked up and saw the blue glowing eyes glaring down at her, making her feel like the weak, helpless child she once was all those years ago.

Before Cinder realised what was going on, Jaune pulled back his fist and delivered a devastating haymaker right to Cinder's cheek!

The blow sent Cinder to the sandy ground, the force behind the punch made her bounce up only inches from the sand the before falling to the ground again. Cinder lay there dazed as her head shook, her eyes came unfocused and her ears rung, her disoriented mind needing a second to register the pain, only then did she also taste the bitter iron taste of blood in her mouth.

Jaune looked at his own hand, seeing the familiar rusted armour now in place. He could feel strength unlike anything he felt before coursing through his body, through his skin, his muscles, his veins and bones. He also saw what looked like gold vapor coming from all around his form. Was that his Aura, was it literally pouring out of him?

"Huh. Thanks, Tree. That gift came in handy, and not a moment too soon." Jaune clenched his fist again as he finished admiring himself before focusing on Cinder again. His determination saphire eyes meeting her bewildered and angry fiery eyes.

"Alright. Now the real fight starts." Jaune, the Rusted Knight said and launched himself at Cinder.

[anthurak]

One BIG reason I am convinced the Blacksmith is a ‘fallen’ (literally/narratively/morally) Summer Rose despite her not recognizing Ruby?

The Blacksmith has no eyes.

It would only make sense for Summer to have lost her eyes...

[rocknroll7575]

Nora sees her mom " jaune with ever afters time travel fruit?

Noras mom " yes he saved my life and i gave my hero a night of sloppy sex as a reward

Nora putting on jfom shiry " 😭😭😭😭 dam you fearless leader

*Nora eating cake with the rest of the JFOM club*

Jaune: Just remember... I have my ways to fuck your moms... and I will not stop until I've fucked every mom ever!

Jaune: And that included the Blacksmith... I just have to find a way to get into contact with the brothers and rub it in their faces!

[short-wooloo]

Holy crap

The four relics (and the entities within) are a compartmentalized recreation of the Blacksmith/Tree

They possess great knowledge

They offer choice

They "Destroy"

And from that destruction comes new raw materials to create

[hellalesbiangirl]

Look at the roots on her back! Shes vital to the ever after like the roots are to a tree! Shes one of the roots!

[set-wingedwarrior]

I don't think Ruby will ascend.

The Blacksmith offered so many options to Ruby, that I doubt the first picked choice would be the final one. Like, in general I think that who gets to the tree also gets the chance to try out other things before making a choice. It would make sense, it would to help figuring out what works best for whatever objective they have.

So, I think Ruby will litterally put herself in Summer's place. "Try it out". And then we'll get back to what Weiss said: that even the most legendary huntsman must have had failed sometimes.

I think Ruby will understand that it doesn't matter what she chooses, the weight of the responsability won't leave her. That's because her goal hasn't changed. She's presented with weapons because she still wants to fight, she still wants to do good. Her mistake lies into thinking that her feeings and being overwhelmed come from herself being not enonugh instead of from the task being crushing.

And with that understanding, she'll come to accept that the problem isn't who she is but how she's approaching everything, how shutting her friends out because "she's the leader" was wrong. She'll come back anew and the same, at the same time.

That's my opinion at least, but I'm ready with the clown make-up just in case.