#and Pyrrha is an I do don't do causes I just love you kind of gal

[sandyca5tle]

Was having a semi-serious conversation with some friends, and accidentally found myself quoting RWBY in a way that actually helped the discussion at hand, which got me thinking, there's a good few lines in RWBY that are just generally good things for life, so i decided to write a post about it 'cause fuck it. Some'll have commentary some are self explanitary enough. "I'm not any one thing, I'm somewhat of a lot of things" - this was the one that actually sparked this, was talking about identity with a friend, and found this quote very applicable - you don't always have to neatly fit in a box, you can be somewhat several things at once, if that's what fits for you. "Well that embaressment, that desire to go back and tell yourself not to be so stupid, that just proves you're not the same person you used to be. And you're not done growing yet" "You don't have to look cool all the time"

"Of course you are [a real girl]. You think just because you've got nuts and bots instead of squishy guts makes you any less real than me?" - This is less a general life lesson, but more of a 'just because someone is different to you, doesn't make them/their experiences any less real'. And obviously there's the trans angle on this, not being a 'real girl' is an anxiety many trans girls have struggled with, or is something people throw at us to put us down. But just 'cause we're built a little different than cis girls, doesn't make us any less girls "Pyrrha thought that, if there was even the smallest chance of helping someone, that it was a chance worth taking" "I'd be lying if I said that it didn't hurt, that I didn't think about them everyday since I lost them. That I didn't wish I had spent more time with them. If it had been me instead, I know they would have kept fighting too, no matter how dangerous it was, so that's what I choose to do. To keep moving forwards." - Mostly putting this here 'cause it's always nice to have a talk like this regarding grief/loss, and yeah, i just think this is nice and fairly honestly reflection of how a lotta people feel when they lose someone, coupled with the adivce to keep moving forwards. "I'm not asking you to stop. Just please, get some rest, not just for you, but for the people you care about," - I like this one 'cause a) self care is important bitches! Burning yourself out isn't gonna help whatever you're trying to do and b) hurting yourself like that is also gonna hurt those who care for you, 'cause no one wants to see those they care for suffer. So remember to take a break from time to time. "You think you're being selfless, but you're not. Yeah that chameleon friend of yours got me pretty good, but I'd do it all again if it meant protecting you... and I promise Yang would say the same. You can make your own choices sure, but you don't get to make ours. When your friends fight for you, it's because we want to, so stop pushing us out. That hurts more than anything the bad guys could ever do to us," - Obviously the parts about fighting can be taken a little more metaphorically for everyday life, but I like this quote 'cause yeah, the people who are there for you *want* to be there for you, so deciding that you're a burden on them and hiding away/pushing them away is gonna hurt them because they *want to be there for you* - don't decide something for other people. "My losses, my failures, those, more than anything, are what have shaped me into who I am; showed me how I need to grow. If there's something I'm missing it's not because I've lost it, it's 'cause I haven't found it yet" - I just think this is a beautiful line. We've all wished at moments to undo the mistakes we've made, however those mistakes made us the people we are now. And yeah, I love the idea that something you're missing is not because you lost it, it's because you haven't found it yet. "One small kindness, in one small moment, lead to such a marvelous transformation, just like one act of dishonesty caused an unfortunate change" - Reminder that even small actions can mean a lot to others "What happens if I chose me?" "Then maybe, that girl is enough,"

But yeah, all of this to say I love RWBY, it has so many amazing and emotional moments and yeah, if you haven't given it a watch I would highly reccommend (and if you've heard bad things, i'd maybe give it a watch yourself first, a lotta people like to hate on the show in bad faith). But yeah, love RWBY and love all the wonderful moments and messages within it

[winepresswrath]

g1deon has more game than anyone else in that universe. he's got Pyrrha leaving the cops for a deranged necromancer he's got Wake fucking a deranged necromancer (him) he's got Pyrrha proxy fucking Wake because she's only ever known two people that insane and it gets her down horrendous. the man is ugly & according to Jod he mostly doesn't fuck. Wake thinks he deserves a quick death. Pyrrha loved him on sight and asked him to kiss her before she died. what is going on with this man.

[novankenn]

What If...

Pyrrha was also under the sway of Salem Cinder and Pyrrha loved each other (Pompeii)

Scene : Mistral in Little Miss Malachite's hideout.

==> @draggokid What if jaune survived and vol 4 is theme hunting the person who betrayed them.

Ruby was sad for Jaune. Ever since it had become public knowledge that Pyrrha helped Cinder orchestrate the fall of Beacon... Jaune hadn't been the same. Even to her the world wasn't the same. A week after the fall as she still lay in a coma, Jaune had received a visitor, his sister and she brought with her some requested items.

Ruby had awoken long after Jaune had left, finding his once treasured hoodie folded upon her dresser. He had left it behind for her, for his friends to remember him by.

Jaune walked through the streets of Mistral. His once warm eyes, cold and empty. There was no emotion in them any longer. Just indifference, and determination. He had used his family's connections and influence to gain a flight to Mistral. Once he was stalking through the streets of lower city, he sought out information, and rumors. Cold hard lien freed up more than a few tongues.

"Who are you? What do you want?" the gruff, but rather well groomed man asked. His tone hostile.

"I'm nobody important." Jaune replied.

"Then you have no business here."

"In that you are mistaken." Jaune commented. "I'm looking for information... trying to find two people. Maybe you know them?"

"I don't know anything."

"You sure? There's good lien in it for you... if you can point me in their direction."

"How much lien?"

"Depend on how good the information is." Jaune replied, as a massive denomination of a lien chip appeared in his hand. "I've heard... that they are here, and for a confirmation that they are... 10k."

"10k, for confirmation?"

"Yes. 10k right here right now, if you can confirm that Cinder Fall and Pyrrha Nikos are inside this very building." Jaune commented, while waving the lien chip before the man.

"They are." the man responded, holding out his hand, and just in case he added, "Meeting with the boss, in her back office."

"Thank you." Jaune replied, a cold smile on his lips. He tossed the man the lien chip. A he reached to grab it from the air, a knife appeared from the sleeve of Jaune's jacket. A knife that he plunged into the man's throat without hesitation. "Those who betray and but vermin to be exterminated."

The chip fell to the ground of the back alley, as the man grabbed at his throat trying to stem the flow of blood. Jaune watched him pass without a single bat of the eye. Reaching down he picked up the chip and returned it to his pocket before drawing his sword and pulling open the door.

Screams and shots interrupted the meeting. Cinder, Pyrrha and Miss Malachite exited the opulent room. The three flinched in shock at the pure bloody chaos that overflowed the room. A lone figure, armed with nothing but a longsword was butchering the Spiders. He offered no quarter, but bloody brutal death.

"Jaune?" Pyrrha stammered out, in utter shock and disbelief that the young man she had been leading on. Someone with such a pure and kind heart could be so remorseless.

"We need to get out of here." Cinder hissed into her lover's ear. Inwardly she was confident that she and Pyrrha could subdue the berserker, but she had doubts that they would come away from the confrontation unscathed.

Grabbing Pyrrha's hand, Cinder dragged her away from the blood, gore soaked scene unfolding with in the main room of the bar that served as the Spider's base of operations. As Jaune vanished from her sight, her last vision of him was a blood splattered face twisting in absolute murderous rage, as he struck down one man while his aura tanked automatic weapons fire from another.

"PYRRHA! CINDER!" Jaune bellowed, causing the pair of fleeing women to shudder.

The voice was inhuman, and for the first time since the fall, a tear of remorse rolled down Pyrrha's cheek, at the symbolic death of someone who she still in her twisted way held dear.

"I WILL FIND YOU! PYRRHA! CINDER!" Jaune roared as drove his sword through the chest of another gang member. "I WILL FIND YOU!"

[riku-izanami]

Let's give Pyrrha and Nora a good time and make Jaune dress as Gilgamesh and Ren as Enkidu

Costume Chaos 2.5

Jaune: .......Are you sure this is ok, Blake? This seems a bit.....revealing

Blake: Trust me, it's perfect for you guys.

Jaune's Newer costume

jaune:....idk, kinda leaves a lot exposed. What do you think Pyrrha?

Pyrrha: *trying and somewhat failing to hide her noise bleed* I......It looks absolutely perfect JAune.......

Blake: see, told you it's perfect for you *whispering to Pyrrha* These results are most pleasing

Pyrrha: *whispering back* I know, that's why i asked you for assistance

Nora: Come Renny, come out.

Ren:.....No......

Nora: Please, I promise i won't laugh or anything. Even jaune-jaune is showing off his

Ren:........Fine.......

Ren's Newer Costume (hope this what you wanted)

Nora: See, *rubbing her thighs together* look adorable.

Ren: ......Well......I do look pretty good, but the pants are very loose and leave my legs half-exposed

Nora: All the better to tear them off, my darling femboy

Ren: What?

Nora: Nothing~

Ren:.....Jaune I don't like this.....

Jaune: Come on Ren, Blake was kind enough to help us pick out new costumes, We shouldn't be ungrateful.

Ren: .....But you have to admit it's a little too convenient she wanted to help after showing off our last costumes?

Jaune: I guess, but Pyrrha did say they were bad so...

Ren:*deadpanning*.......did you not hear what i said afterwards?

Blake: Hey...Hey, guys please no fighting "yet". If you don't like it you could just take them off. But I did work hard to get them shipped from Menagerie...

Both Ren & Jaune: Sorry Blake/ We love them. They're greats

Blake: Puuurfect~! Now, just one last thing and they're complete

Ren & Jaune: ?

Blake causal holds up two shackles with chains attached to them, causing both Pyrrha & Nora to Have severe nosebleeds

Jaune: Are those supposed to go on our hands & feet

Blake: Nope~

Ren:.......oh hell no

Jaune: Well...if it's for the effect... *kneels down*

Ren: JAUNE NO!

______________________________________________________________

Please note, I have never watched any of the Fate series so hopefully this is what you asked for

[paradoxcase]

Chapter 28 of Nona the Ninth

A broken Sixth skull this time, but I'd guess probably not for any kind of deception

Honestly curious about who Gideon thinks Nona is at this point. I guess it's plausible that she does know Nona is Alecto since she did think Harrow was in love with Alecto

Are we ever going to find out what happened? Because I would like to know

Also, this kind of raises the question of why Alecto forgot she was Alecto here? Did she forget when John put her in the tomb? But even if she forgot who she was at that point, she spent all of Harrow the Ninth interacting with Harrow and even giving her advice (and her advice to lie to Mercy about her age indicates that she remembers something about who she is, at any rate) and Nona doesn't remember anything about Harrow here. So did something that happened at the end of Harrow the Ninth cause her to forget?

A ward of some sort, I guess

This reminds me of the whole "why does Ross, the largest friend, not simply eat the other friends" thing. Maybe this isn't just because Alecto has a resurrection beast perspective but also because this story is actually full of people eating each other, also, can you really blame her for making this assumption?

So the resurrection beast doesn't just drive necromancers mad, it also makes doing necromancy dangerous, at least for regular necromancers anyway, this didn't seem to be an issue for the Lyctors at the end of Harrow the Ninth

Camilla is like, half-dead in this scene, but she's still making jokes

So if I understand this correctly, they're making plans to somehow travel physically through the River in this BOE truck to Pluto, which for some reason isn't going to be dangerous the way it usually is, but no one has explained why yet

Something that's slightly confusing to me here is that they're talking about Gideon telling them things, and We Suffer is part of this conversation, and I think later GIdeon is outside the truck and sitting up and all, but at the beginning of this chapter Gideon claimed she was still pretending to be dead. So does We Suffer and the rest of BOE know that Gideon isn't really that dead right now, or what?

I think after the last John chapter, it's been sort of established for me that there isn't a right way to do Lyctorhood and there was never any kind of "perfect" Lyctorhood like whatever Mercy and Augustine though John was hiding from them. I guess Pyrrha wouldn't know, though, even if she does somehow remember the story John told, she wasn't alive at the time that John ate Alecto

I guess this is the gay sense and not the political sense?

This is mouth-to-mouth kiss #2, and so far neither of them have been between characters who actually have any kind of romantic hinting

Who is "she"?

I guess Camilla saved some of Palamedes' bones just so that she could eat it to fulfill the cannibalism part of the Lyctorhood ritual?

I don't think we've actually seen what happens during the standard Lyctorhood process looks like - we didn't see Ianthe's, we didn't get a detailed description of Harrow's, and everyone else's happened 10,000 years ago, so I have to wonder how this differs from the others, other than obviously they would usually wind up in the necromancer's body

Also, this seems like possibly a worse or at least not better version of what happened to the other Lyctors, since it seems like both Camilla and Palamedes died and they have become someone new instead

I mean, maybe for Ianthe, but I think Babs is long gone at this point, no?

I guess Ianthe noped out because she realized that there was no way she was going to be able to get back to the shuttle and therefore return with either Gideon or Pyrrha or the Sixth House, and she's obviously been aware of what's going on. But this also means she knows the approximate location of the Sixth House and what their plans are for Gideon's body, which I'm sure will be of great interest to John

[infoglitch]

Why am I doing this again? Oh right cause I'm one of the few who will die on the that crwby ain't shit-(god if I keep ignoring writing my shitty fanfics people are just gonna assume i'm bitch made)

Oh boy here I go again poking the damn bear with my shit takes-

(also before I begin I want to ensure that my message is given context, I hate crwby as writers not as people, I hope people don't misconstrued that because otherwise that's just gonna be frustrating to deal with)

Pyrrha is a wasted character and a PRIME example that crwby can't write women.

Oh boy pyrrha Nikos where do I begin with this cardboard cut out of a character.

So since a few (and I mean A FEW) people choose to live in denial of the obvious fact that crwby cant write and that to claim they can is possibly the most bullshit statement ever.. its time to take out the belt (bout to go Hellsing abridged in this bitch)

I'm mainly using Pyrrha because she is the most GLARING example of how bad the writing of Rwby can get.

Granted I am notorious for consistently and without calling Pyrrha the worst character ever (about as bad as later volume Blake.. then again just Blake in general- hoo boy I really am gonna piss people off huh?) this is mainly due to the fact.. she's quite literally a peice of cardboard and i actively cheer whenever I rewatch her death... Ok that last bit was an over exaggeration but you get the point.

Now to begin why I actively believe Pyrrha is terrible, we need to talk about.. the noodle knight.. sometimes I despise the fact I like jaune but regardless-

Jaune as a character is fundamentally a side character... Yet he has consistent screen time.. again.. and again.. and again. To the point where you could jokingly say he's the real main character since Crwby just love putting him in as much screen time as possible. (However I more take it as the fact jaune is just a scapegoat for Crwbys incompetence. But that's for when I piss of the rwde aspect of the community, because oh boy.. is there an argument I want to rip to shreds and call blatant bullshit.)

But outside of the screentime he is mildly interesting and has made a few actions that add dimension to the character... But why do I bring up jaune when talking about Pyrrha? It's due to the fact Pyrrha's entire character revolves around jaune.

Pyrrha is rarely shown to interact with the rest of JNPR, it's practically non-existent if jaune is not somewhere.

But some of you might say (and honestly I don't blame you and would agree with you) "Pyrrha is a side character, she doesn't need depth." To which.. yes... But she was a part of team JNPR, her death is treated as if it should have affected everyone. Hell her death caused ruby to awaken her silver eyes. But there's one problem.. technically two

1. Team JNPR (or more accurately JNR) are still active participants in the cast, you'd think them being side characters they would eventually be thrown away.. but they aren't. So that would supposedly mean their important.. which includes Pyrrha but if that's the case then why isnt she given depth, you can't three people of an extra be important enough to be a part of the cast and given development but Also have the other team member not be given some given some kind of development, that doesn't work either don't give development to ALL OF THEM or do the inverse.

2. she isn't shown to interact with team Rwby by herself, she's never given any scenes to show that she is friends with ATLEAST ruby, so her death impacting others that SHOULD be her friends doesn't make sense now because there's no scenes with her interacting with them by herself.

Every scene that is pivotal is in some form or way connected to Jaune, but even though characters like her can be good if written well, she isn't.

Pyrrha is never once given anything that is specifically to show off her, she's always written to focus on jaune. Even her death which was supposed to affect all of team Rwby and Jnr only was shown to affect jaune.

To many it may seem like it's not an issue she only showed up for three volumes before kicking the bucket and dying. So what's the point of talking about her?

Well from me specifically, the problem is the fact Pyrrha is not a rare case of bad writing, not just for characters either, may I remind you all of the white fang subplot. Don't worry I won't go into too much detail I'm writing an entirely different post about how the faunus/white fang subplot got swept under the rug because surprise surprise crwby writers are shitty at writing.

Alright time to get on my soapbox to sound all high and mighty.

to explain it simply. The white fang arc was supposed to be a lesson that is meant to talk about how racism is wrong and the fact that it only hurts innocent people, (both of obviously the oppressed and the innocent people who are unintentionally associated with the oppressor, hatred breeds hatred y'all know the phrase) but instead its not even given anything specific. This is especially a problem considering one of our main characters is supposed to be the protagonist that helps talk about the issue. Instead of anything specific that shows the faunus are oppressed and that humanity still has extremely bigoted and shitty people all we get is.. cardin and that's about it.. and then in volume 5 (or 4 I unfortunately lose track sometimes) it's just wrapped up with.. Adam being taken down and the white fang essentially being forgotten about.. the white fang, you know the organization that is full of faunus who do want equality but are somewhat misguided.. their apparently just disbanded after the piss baby that is "Adam Taurus" just gets defeated.. is it me or doesn't it make more sense to atleast hear mention of some white fang stragglers who still misguidedly fight in the name of equality. Honestly it feels like it got rushed and not properly expanded on.

To put it bluntly I find it just so weird that crwby has been shown to not be able to handle topics that are a little more nuanced and decided to sweep it under the rug, same with writing characters that could be interesting, but instead are just turned into cardboard cut outs. Yet there are people who claim that Rwby is better than any media *cough cough* the Twitter bastards *cough cough* which.. look i love Rwby to death, it's music is fuckin magnificent early volume versions of the characters can be.. minus jaune kinda (man does got a few bumps when it comes to being a fan) but Rwby is.. mediocre. But it's not it's fault, that's just what happens when writers aren't able to properly write a story, characters, a world for the story, literally almost every attempt at adding depth to rwby.

Ok.. I'm fuckin tired I'm expecting a lot of people to disagree (I'm praying the majority aren't just gonna throw insults and nothing else because honestly that just makes anyone look stupid.

Alright time to get off the soap box and return to the cave where I write shitty Rwby fanfics and equally shitty original story.

[moltensmusings]

I remember watching volume 1 of rwby and knowing something was going to happen to pyrrha. Either a villain arc, or she'd be killed. She had some kind of flag over her that was too big to ignore and everyone I'd met I'd tell my theory.

So when she died in volume 3 while I was happy to be right about something, it also meant that people who were unsatisfied with her handling also had merit to their feelings. Because Pyrrha was made too perfect. She wasn't allowed to have flaws until the episodes right before she dies and even then her only flaw was how ready she was to shoulder every burden. She was crafted to be loved and missed when she was gone and they didn't think of her outside that.

And this isn't to say she shouldn't die, her death is incredibly important, but her treatment throughout volumes 1-3 don't do the best job in showcasing that. We as the audience know she's a big deal. We've been told it since her first appearance. She's always winning fights and perfectly landing shots. She fumbles sometimes bit overall is clearly as skilled as she's intended to be. Her polarity makes her untouchable to most.

But they didn't push far enough with her and that's to their detriment. They wanted so bad for Jaune to be a 0-hero that they didn't actually think about a way to do it that would benefit both him and Pyrrha as characters.

Make her the leader of team JNPR if she's so incredibly talented, have the teachers and school itself laud her as someone for her peers to look up to and rivals to look out for. Put her on a pedestal that causes her to be so divisive in the student body that we are just as likely to find someone challenging her as we are to see those admiring her. Make it so we can't escape her. Have everyone buzzing during the tournament about watching her and her team fight because it's not every day you get to watch the rise of a living legend. Let her teach Jaune but still allow him to have his moments as a character outside of her.

Everyone we meet should know her name to some extent, and I beg that we let her be flawed beyond being sacrificial. Them constantly having her hover following her death is good, but she needs to hover more. If pyrrha's death is the one that changes everything, we needed her to be inescapable before we had the chance to miss her.

[thecryptidzenith]

I know a little about Locked Tomb, what’s your AU for that?

That title is a little misleading! It's not a full AU because honestly, it's just not that interesting but I did do a breakdown of which Fantasy High (and The Seven) characters would be which characters. I'm going to put the Dramatis Personae and some short explanation under the cut because it is Spoilers for all three books. Well, actually if you haven't read Nona you're probably good if you don't mind minor spoilers. The end of Harrow is critical knowledge though.

The Ninth House

Harrowhark Nonagesimus as Riz Gukgak

Ortus Nigenad as Penny Luckstone

Crux as Gilear Faeth

Gideon Nav as Fig Faeth

The Second House

Judith Deuteros as Antiope Jones

Marta Dyas as Danielle Barkstock

The Third House

Coronabeth Tridentarius as Aelwyn Abernant

Ianthe Tridentarius as Adaine Abernant

Naberius Tern as Percival Nevilleslime

The Fourth House

Issac Tettares as Ostentatia Wallace

Jennemary Chatur as Torek Railgrinder

The Fifth House

Abigail Pent as Garthy O'Brien

Magnus Quinn as Jawbone O'Shaughnessy

The Sixth House

Palamedes Sextus as Gorgug Thistlespring

Camilla Hect as Ragh Barkrock

The Seventh House

Dulcinea Septimus as Zelda Donovan

Protesilaus as Katja Cleaver

The Eighth House

Silas Octakiseron as Daybreak

Colum Asht as Kristen Applebees

The First House

John Gaius as Kalvaxus Goldenhoard

Augustine the First as Dayne Blade

Mercymorn the First as Penelope Everpetal

Cristabel Oct as Sam Nightingale

Gideon the First as Gorthalax

Pyrrha Dve as Sklonda Gukgak

Cytherea the First as Zayn Darkshadow

Anastasia the First as Pok Gukgak

The Blood of Eden

Awake Remembrance of These Valiant Dead Kia Hua Ko Te Pai Snap Back to Reality Oops There Goes Gravity as Sandra Lynn Faeth

We Suffer and We Suffer as Bill Seacaster

Our Lady of the Passion as Fabian Seacaster

Aim as Hallariel Seacaster

…And Alecto as Kalina Explanations:

Fig's parental situation is just as messy as Gideon's I cannot lie. Sandra Lynn Faeth would do that shit. Gorthalax is a devil and he's very lawful about it, and Pyhrra's a cop! So she's Sklonda. Kalvaxus being her bio dad isn't a perfect match, but his posse works much better for the First House than anything with the Nightmare King. As for Fig and Gideon... the Vibes speak for themselves.

(Note that this breakdown is from February, so it predates JY. And even with JY's new characters, all this would stay the same.)

Riz would stay up for 96 hours and put his bone marrow in a soup so he could try to kill someone. This is just a fact. Tragically, this makes Gideon/Harrow Straight, but you know what, the whole point of TLT is fucking with the boundaries of love so whatever. Putting Riz here also means he gets to be haunted by Kalina! Which works great. Pok as Anastasia the First follows natural from these roles. Riz's bio parents don't matter, they're not interesting.

The rest of the Ninth House follows from the placements of Fig and Riz as Harrow and Gideon, for the second house: Antiope is a military brat, and I like imaging a world where Yelle could set boundries (but their dynamic is solid and of course Antiope was going to be Judith so. Get another Seven girlie in there)

And of course our terrible twins here are Aelwyn and Adaine. Of course. I don't think I need to explain this one more, if you Know, you Know. Percival gets to be Babs cause no one gives a shit about Babs

Fourth House gets the dwarven clerics because I was trying to give the different houses different DnD races. Not much to say there, Torek is one of the few characters in FH younger than our protagonists so she gets to be one of the Babies.

I actually really like the Fifth House, with Sandra Lynn off being Commander Wake, that frees up Jawbone to have other relationships, and he definitely has that 'cool uncle' vibe that Magnus just exudes, terrible puns and all. And Garthy's an accomplished sorcerer! Also very kind, them being an Aasimar fits pretty damn well with doing soul magic.

Gorgug gets to be the smart one. The Sixth House was soooo tricky, but letting the orcs rep the house of librarians was fun to me. Gorgug is an incredible artificer, and Ragh is just so supportive. Suprisingly, it works!

Seventh House follows from Gorgug playing Palamedes' role, so we get Zelda as Dulcinea and Katja was a solid fit for Pro with Zelda in that spot

Eighth House is religious nuts, so: Daybreak and Kristen. Not much else to say there.

For the First House we've got Kalvaxus as Jod. Is he a villain? uhhhhh everyone else in the First House works well if they're in his posse! Penelope as Mercymorn works well, with Sam as Cristabel because their dynamic... yeah. Dayne as Augustine as well. Gorthalax never worked for Kalvaxus directly, but his warlock did so I'm counting it, and we've already talked about Fig and Gideon. Zayn is involved with Kalvaxus but he doesn't really want to be and kinda ends up on his own hence: Cyrethea, and we've already talked about Pok and Sklonda as Anastasia and Pyhrra.

And then the Blood of Eden! We've already talked about Sandra Lynn as Wake, but everyone else for the Blood of Eden is a Seacaster. They would be part of a paramilitary. Pash as Fabian is specifically because Nepo Babies.

And Alecto as Kalina! Is my Kalina bias playing a part in this? Yeah. What are you going to do about it? She haunts Riz, she worked with Kalvaxus but it did not work out, her home/self was Destroyed in a cataclysm caused by hubris and colonialism... what doesn't fit?

Yes, I did put way too much thought into this.

[citadelofmythoughts]

Who’re your top 5 fav RWBY characters?

Who’re your top 5 least liked RWBY characters?

The why’s are up to you whether or not you want to do it.

My 5 fav

1. Yang: every reason

2. Penny: she had such a big heart and despite being an android was relatable as hell.

3. Robyn: She’s so caring, strong, and uncompromising in her morals.

4. Pyrrha: still devastated by her death cause she was such a beautiful character inside and out.

5. Ironwood: yeah he was an asshole, but I found his character, development, and foreshadowing to be one of the best of the show. Plus it’s not hard to find authority figures in real life who are just like him and that’s terrifying.

Least 5

1. Cinder: she’s interesting, but I hate her with every fiber of my being for the things she’s done.

2. Neo: Just never found her interesting and her quick acceptance that Ruby was to blame for Roman bugged the shit out of me.

3. Lionheart: Somewhat interesting, but ultimately just a weak coward despite being a headmaster. Honestly don’t understand why Oz ever trusted him.

4. Tyrian: aside from being a crazy eccentric there’s nothing else to him (the interest he showed in Jaune is still unknown). Also hate him for killing Clover.

5. Sun: I appreciate him helping Blake, but he’s too simple compared to RWBY’s other characters and can be annoying.

Going to be some crossover between us, I can tell.

Yang - Always and forever Yang. My golden girl with the biggest, most loving heart. I've loved watching her grow and slowly realize her attraction and love for Blake.

Blake - she wasn't always one of my faves but her growth has been so amazing. I adore who she's become now that she has someone in her life that lifts her up instead of pushes her down.

Ruby - Oh Rubes....you've tried SO HARD to measure up to some arbitrary standard instead of seeing that people follow you because of who YOU are. I'm so happy that you've finally learned that you are enough.

Raven - Complicated deadbeat bird mom. Rarely has a character frustrated and angered me more. You can see the hints of goodness and caring in there but it's buried under layers of guilt, anger and cynicism.

Robyn - a true huntress. Defender of the people and an extremely kind person when you get to know her. I love her relationship with Qrow.

Least 5 - Ohhhh boy....here's where I make no friends lol EMERGENCY EDIT: What was I thinking? I forgot about fucking GOATMAN - ADAM TAURUS is the wooooorrrrrsssstttt - no other notes, just adjust the below list accordingly.

Neo - hate, hate, haaaatttteeee. I've thought she was overrated from day one and I neither like her as a character or a villain.

2. Cinder - On the other hand I hate Cinder because she is a good villain. She's certainly a complicated one.

3. Lionheart - Yawn.

4. Tyrian - I like him but he's very one note, like you said. You get past the crazy and the Salem worship and there's noting left.

5. Sun - I don't hate him but I don't like him either. He served his purpose well enough I suppose but that's it.

[adolin]

I'm curious that you think that the existing lyctoral necro-cav pairs shows that John can't choose at will who is a necromancer & who is not, because to me it's the opposite! The fact that both scientists & the lawyer (of intellectual occupations) all end up as necromancers and theis companions as cavaliers strongly suggests a guiding hand. Who do you think he would array differently if he had the power?

A few different reasons! All of them boil down to #vibes. My thoughts on this are all over, and I think it IS possible he chose them. I just think it’s slightly more likely he didn’t.

tldr: if he chose who got to be an adept, I think it was more intuitive / subconscious / accidental than a planned out choice with forethought behind it.

Assuming that he absolutely wanted to create matched pairs (why though? more thoughts below) I AM a bit puzzled over the criteria. It's not just intellectuals, they all were—“a cop and six different kinds of nerd.” Anyway, here are my thoughts, one by one.

Augustine, Mercy, and G1deon: these are obvious. They were his long-time friends, unflinchingly loyal, total enablers. If he did pick and choose, they were always going to be an automatic in.

Nigella: that’s easy also; she seems to be the member of the gang John was the least close to, brought into the gang by someone who was mildly critical of him. She IS a pass.

Alfred: second to least fave, though he was the one who figured out the dirt of the FTL fleet by following the money. (He IS a nerd, and more STEM-adjacent than Cassy. Finance runs on probability theory) I can see why he’d have been left out, though; John doesn't think much of him.

Cristabel: this is harder to justify! John had a very high opinion of Cristabel. He called her ‘sister,’ he saw her as a guide, and near the end they worked closely together trying to find the soul. Maybe he resented her for the way she forced him to ascend, but I didn’t get that impression from the flashbacks + John loves having people around who have their own failings, so he can feel better about himself. If he could bestow necromancy, I don’t get why he wouldn’t have picked Cristabel.

Pyrrha and Cassiopeia: these are the ones that leave me the most perplexed. They’re both strong-willed women who weren’t afraid to stand up to John. But Pyrrha was the one who betrayed her cop friends to warn him, who stood by him even after he killed her former colleagues, who encouraged him to be a “bad wizard” — she absolutely enabled him every step of the way. Cassiopeia, by contrast, was by his side in the early stages and ditched her bosses for him, but she seems to have stuck around just as much for Nigella as for “the cause,” if not more. She drops under the radar a third into the flashback narration when things get weird, and only makes herself heard again near the end to call out John; the only one who did. I really don’t get why he’d have picked Cassiopeia. Likewise, I don’t see why he didn’t pick Pyrrha; it’s true that Gideon was always close to her and “never knew who to pick,” but when it counted Pyrrha never went against John, and also, you know. He did wipe their memory. I don't think he saw Pyrrha as a threat.

Ulysses and Titania: ????? They were science projects. He had no attachment to either of them. Why not make more of his original friends into necromancers and give them Ulysses or Titania as “companions” if he was that attached to that model? The only scenario I can see in which they were included would be if John brought them back before anyone else to serve as a test case, but I don’t get why he’d have kept them around. I can, however, see John keeping them around if they randomly came back as an adept/non-adept matched pair and he was like, oh how nostalgic, control group yet again.

More broadly—regardless of who was picked, I don't think he planned out matched adept/companion sets.

One: Lyctorhood wasn't John's initial plan. He didn't bring them back thinking “I’m going to make my besties my immortal warriors and they’ll need a loyal companion.” He brought them back planning to keep them near him, and possibly to make them immortal. He accomplished that, successfully, for hundreds of years—but their immortality was conditional on their physical proximity to him. (John being John, this would be a feature, not a bug!) and didn’t come with huge necromantic powers. They were still killable. That only became a drawback once they were “on the clock for the resurrection beasts,” when it was imperative that his friends should also be his trusted lieutenants, able to carry out missions all over the universe. “God should be able to touch all of creation,” but he can’t do that if his fingers have to stay by his side. That’s why everyone ascended at the same time and the cavaliers went to their death. Before that, though? There was no point. I doubt he knew of the RBs until after the resurrection was complete.

Two: why the necro/cav pairs? I just... don't see why he'd split his friends into matched couples. I think it’s way more likely that the concept of “death wizard and death wizard’s fighting sworn companion” as social roles and as a tradition, is something that evolved because the original disciples made it a custom, rather than because John designed it to be that way. And, if he could bestow necromancy at will, why not give it to everyone who’d stood by him? Why did it have to be an even number split in couples, everyone with their companion? Like, I don’t think it’s out of character for John to go on a godly power trip and decide who gets to have powers. But I also don’t see why he would create a divide within the group. (Later, after 200 years, I absolutely get why he’d want to be THE most important person in all his Lyctors’ lives. But I don’t get that same vibe from immediately post-apocalypse, based on the flashbacks)

Basically, it's both some of the choices in who ended up a necromancer, and just... the forethought that this decision implies. John isn't a great schemer IMO, and I doubt he was especially lucid in the time right before the resurrection; I don't think he sat down and started worldbuilding his new social order and space empire. (Yes, he very much did build the Houses like a DM worldbuilding for an RPG campaign, but that happened more gradually and his friends had a lot of influence. I don't think the beforehand had much planning involved.)

Also: a lot of what John does, power-wise, is vibes. His soul merging with Alecto was done totally on the fly. Figuring out you can bestow necromancy, figuring out how necromancy is bestowed, doing some trial and error until you know how it works, and only then resurrecting your buddies—IDK, that’s a lot of planning.

Anyway. This is why I think that if he MADE a choice, it was subconscious. That's why more in line with how John does things.

[lilithfairen]

RWDE and the Very Nonsensical, Half-Assed, Deeply-Telling "Poll"~

So something that's popped up in the RWDE crowd was a poll for the "Worst RWBY Choices". At first glance, you can tell this is a trainwreck because of how they've formatted the "tournament" itself:

As you see, you arbitrarily have certain entries that get a head-start without winning lower tiers, random numbers of match-ups...I feel like any rational person would say, "You can't do a tournament layout with 26 options" but RWDE are not rational people. (But as you'll see, the majority of these are RWDE scraping desperately for any excuse to hate anything from the show.)

Now, what are these "options" for what this RWDE blog sees as the worst writing choices in RWBY? To summarize in advance, they're very telling of the way RWDE looks at not only stories that do anything they don't like, but stories that dare to have women be heroes or have women love each other or anything like that.

A. Jaune. Just Jaune.

The RWDE hate for Jaune is almost confusing, given the way RWDE blogs desperately want white men to be the real heroes of the story. But then you recognize that the white/light-skinned men they stan for all possess toxic-masculinity qualities, whereas Jaune's character development is about him growing out of said qualities. In short, Jaune is a rejection of the kind of character they want RWBY to actually be about.

That, and he's voiced by one of the writers (at the request of the creator they claim to respect so much) so attacking the character lets them feel like they're being personally abusive to the writer himself.

B. The rushed nature of Weiss's racism redemption arc.

This is probably the closest I've ever seen RWDE get to proper "criticism", but even then, I can understand the writers wanting to get past the early "Weiss is a jerk" characterization that a lot of the early plot threads revolved around.

C. Demonization of the Faunus rights' movement. (This includes everything about the White Fang.)

Oh, here comes the "big" one.

RWBY's stance is that fighting for equality is a good thing, with that fight for equality being supported by its protagonists and continued by many members of what was once the White Fang. Its only objection is the use of extremist and terrorist tactics that the White Fang adopted—and even then, those who genuinely believe in the cause are portrayed as sympathetic and respected by other characters.

The only character "demonized" are those who do not believe in the White Fang's cause, most prominently Adam Taurus—a man who murdered senselessly, happily threw away his soldiers' lives, took part in a terrorist attack at the behest of human villains, attempted to murder respected Faunus leaders, and attempted to murder dozens of Faunus out of spite for his plans at Haven being foiled.

The reason why RWDE is unable to dissociate the story's portrayal of Adam with that of the White Fang is because they wanted Adam, a white man, to be the real hero of the storyline. Because he is a white man. To the point that they erase, minimize, or lie about the women of colour whom he takes advantage of or even murders.

So tl;dr, the Faunus rights' movement is always treated as a good thing, the White Fang are questioned for their extremism but acknowledged as fighting for a good cause, and Adam Taurus is the only fucko the story "demonizes". Which RWDE fuckos demonize, because they wanted a white guy to be the hero of a story about racism.

D. Killing Pyrrha.

This is the first of what I'll call "zero-argument complaints", in that the poll gives zero rationale as to why the writing choice it's complaining about was a bad writing choice.

The reason, of course, being that RWDE cannot make that argument. It is entirely about complaining about the story being anything except what these people wanted it to be. So let's start a count for that:

Zero-Argument Complaints: 1

E. Only mentioning Pyrrha's death in regard to Jaune's grief.

This is completely false, as Ruby is shown to have been affected by Pyrrha's death, and in fact has the first reaction to Pyrrha's death, that being the awakening of her Silver Eyes.

In fact, the image the poll uses is that of Jaune training to Pyrrha's video, a scene that is preceded by Ruby being woken up by nightmares about Pyrrha...thus literally invalidating their own "complaint" in an instant.

F. Lack of Ilia after Vol. 5.

RWDE often complains about "cast bloat", which in reality is about how minor characters exist in the story and the story doesn't bring back the same handful of characters in every setting.

Even ignoring their idiocy on minor characters, this isn't even true. Ilia appears at the start of Volume 6, and during the transmission in Volume 8—in fact, her scene shows her receiving a call from Ghira, implying future significance for her.

G. Cinder/Neo villain pair.

Zero-Argument Complaints: 2

H. Salem's backstory.

Zero-Argument Complaints: 3

I. Using Oscar punching bag.

RWDE is bizarrely indignant about Oscar suffering physical harm in an action show, despite the fact that a major theme of his character is how he's dragged into this conflict without a choice, in contrast to the protagonists and their allies.

But really, it's about treating it as so terrible and unfair to have a male character harmed in any way.

J. Making jokes about Yang's disability/prosthetic.

Humour is a coping mechanism for many, and when humour is made regarding Yang's prosthesis, she is almost always the initiator of that humour, the one making the jokes—and the jokes are never at her expense. It's her way of lightening a situation—and coming to acceptance with what happened to her.

This "complaint" belies both a lack of empathy for people with disabilities who partake in similar humour...and let's be frank, RWDE solely wants Yang to angst about her disability, for the edgy.

K. Not addressing Adam's "SDC" scar.

The show very much addressed it, in a way that perfectly summarized Adam's character. He was someone who had been victimized, and could have fought against those who hurt him and his people...but instead, he used his scar in an attempt to gaslight Blake. He cared more about hurting those who had hurt him than Faunus rights.

L. RWBY & Co.'s fight with Cordovin.

Zero-Argument Complaint: 4

M. Weiss's lack of relevancy after Vol.5(ish).

Weiss plays a significant part in the Atlas arc, reconnecting with her family and exposing her father's criminality. She also understands Ruby's grief more in Volume 9, due to her own sorrow over the fall of Atlas. So Weiss maintains clear relevancy.

N. Blake losing personality, autonomy, & motivation after Vol.6.

Yeah, let's not mince words on what this is really about. It's about RWDE being pissed off over her relationship with Yang following the end of Volume 6 that they don't see anything to her character except for that, and thus claim that's all that exists to her character.

O. Decline of Ruby and Yang's sister relationship.

Ruby and Yang continue to show their sisterly relationship in various ways, whether it be Ruby encouraging Yang when Yang believed she was dead or Yang stepping in to be big-sister during Ruby's outburst. This is purely about trying to vilify Yang for, again, having a relationship with Blake—not to mention the idea of treating a woman as obligated to be her little sister's caretaker, a misogynistic attitude towards both Ruby and Yang.

P. Forgetting about the Faunus rights' movement after Vol. 6.

Largely yes, because the White Fang storyline was concluded with the end of Volume 5. Faunus rights are still touched upon during the Atlas arc, due to discrimination from the Atlas elite. So no, it isn't forgotten about at all.

Q. Lack of Sun after Vol. 5 & erasing his relationship development with Blake.

And to no one's surprise, "woman not belonging to man" and "man not being main character" show up on the list.

And needless to say, their relationship received development—it just wasn't "Blake gives herself to a man who doesn't respect her wishes", so RWDE thinks she's a bitch for that.

R. Ironwood's villain turn. (And all the ableism along the way!)

Ah yes, the time RWDE decided a military authoritarian was entitled to leave all of the poor and disadvantaged people of his kingdom to die and that four women were horrible people for not enabling him or obeying his every action, and trying to use disability as a shield for his actions (thus blatantly dehumanizing disabled people themselves).

Also, for all their insistence of "ableism", many RWDE blogs genuinely believe that a disabled woman should have had her disability aids taken away or shut off to punish her for disobeying a man. Really.

S. Queercoding Qrow & Clover's relationship before killing Clover.

Qrow and Clover were never implied or stated to have romantic feelings in any way. None of their interactions were romantic in any way. Yet RWDE insists there was totes queerbait going on, despite insisting Blake and Yang openly flirting and embracing meant nothing. (And yes, Bumbleby is claimed as "queerbait" on this list later on.)

T. Penny "becoming a real girl" at the end of Vol. 8.

Zero-Argument Complaint: 5

U. Penny's second death in the Vol. 8 finale.

Zero-Argument Complaint: 6

V. Jaune coming to the Ever After alongside RWBY & Neo.

Zero-Argument Complaint: 7

W. The existence & execution Ever After

Zero-Argument Complaint: 8 (and yes, it is really worded like that in the initial list)

X. Queerbaiting Bumbleby from Volumes 6 to 9 only to make it canon in a very awkward part of the story.

So...it wasn't queerbait, then?

And of course, this is about indignance at two women being allowed to have a canon romance between themselves. Not to mention, the Bumbleby kiss served as significant plot levity, during a time when Ruby's arc continued to darken. We all knew the light at the end of the tunnel was there; the kiss served as a shining beacon midway-through.

Y. Ruby's suicide attempt being framed as a necessary step in her growth in Vol. 9.

Not whatsoever; in fact, the story makes clear that having attempted suicide did not help Ruby whatsoever. She's still hurting and burdened during her time with the Blacksmith, and it is the Blacksmith's support and encouragement—akin to therapy—that serves as the actual catalyst to Ruby's recovery.

Z. Ruby, instead of properly acknowledging her mistakes and changing, learning to “be herself” post-ascension.

And of course, we conclude with a RWDE blog being pissed off that our heroines aren't being vilified for abandoning thousands of people to die because a man wanted to, and blaming everything that happens on them and them alone.

And that's all of the entries on the RWDE poll-tournament. Most are just bitching about anything they can, others are just blatantly being pissed off at women and queer people, and others are indignation at men not being the only people who matter. Y'know, like your average RWDE post anyway.

[dragynkeep]

For the ship game: Yang/ Weiss. Yang/ Blake. Yang/Pyrrha. Yang/Ren. 👀🙂

FREEZERBURN / SHIP.

what made you ship it : really though my love for it blossomed in v5 when they reunite & yang, who is so closed off about her own past, just spills everything to weiss. weiss & yang are canonically still the two team members who know the most about each other & have opened up the most to each other.

what are your favorite things about the ship : literally everything about them. the hot / cold dichotomy, gold / silver, blue / yellow, the back & forth of their earlier scenes & that it never felt like they were on unequal or uneven ground with each other.

is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship : anything to do with the divorce joke :)))

BUMBLBY / DON'T SHIP.

why don't you ship it : the way the show has handled them was what started off my dislike for the ship, but the shippers & the attitude from those in the show, as well as the constant lying & gaslighting of people to pretend this was ever a thing they meant to do cemented it. there's nothing wrong with bees coming into play later, just don't insult my intelligence that this was what they meant from the beginning lol.

what would have made you like it : actually digging into the meat of the relationship. there's literally so much unspoken about blake & yang's relationship that they never get to touch on, like yang's early racism or blake leaving her or adam's death or yang's worsening anger issues or their disagreements & the fact they seem afraid to have them. the show never tackles these because the show also seems afraid to do so, like even looking at bees critically for one moment will cause it to fizzle apart which? does not go in favour for this ship being "the best rwby ship" as they've recently championed lmao.

despite not shipping it, do you have anything positive to say about it : i've seen a lot of gorgeous fanworks from fans very devoted to the ship who put the work into them & it's blatant to see.

GREEKFIRE / SHIP.

what made you ship it : i saw a really cool fanart & went them, they're the gays i want lol.

what are your favorite things about the ship : that they just kind of fit together & you wouldn't really expect that, you would expect that yang might be too bright, too loud for pyrrha & that pyrrha might be too pyrrha for yang, but there's something between them that just snugly fits right.

is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship : it should be spelt greekfyre for yang's initial wheeze.

SUNFLOWYR / SHIP.

what made you ship it : the hug!! it was completely unexpected but the fact that yang goes to ren in the v6 reunion & hugs him & lets him touch her hair, something she's canonically so touchy about, just set off that spark lol.

what are your favorite things about the ship : like with greekfire, that these two are a pairing you wouldn't expect to fit but they just do. you can see the similarities in this ship to their "canon" ships, yang is bright like nora, ren is reserved like blake but i think it goes far beyond that. ren has shown he isn't afraid to challenge yang on her beliefs & stand up for himself, going toe to toe with her: whereas yang has shown that she does have a deeper side to her beyond the sunny exterior she puts upon. they're more similar than they think with the loss of a parent for "doing the right thing" & how that instilled values in them that they hold to steadfastly. plus their colours just gel together so well.

is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship : i don't think ren was in the wrong in their v8 argument & yang should've apologised because she absolutely was in the wrong lol.

[novankenn]

"Jaune Gets A Gun AU - Day 2" Another Rival - Tiny Tina

Inspired by @howlingday's weapon posts.

Jaune: It looks like they have a pretty good selection over there. Maybe we can...

????: J-Baby?

Pyrrha/Ruby: J-Baby?

Jaune: (Turning slowly) I KNOW that voice.

Jaune: TINA?!? Is that really you?

Tiny Tina: In the flesh, babe. Who are these... ladies?

Jaune: They're friends of mine from Beacon.

Tiny Tina: They look a little more than friends, and I don't think I like it. Nope, nope, nope, don't like it one bit.

Jaune: Stop kidding around, Tina. What brings you to the gun show? Last I heard, you were going after another vault.

Pyrrha: Jaune, who is this?

Jaune: (Rubs the back of his neck) Sorry, introductions. Pyrrha, Ruby this is Tiny Tina. She's a...

Tiny Tina: The most energetic, kick ass, explosive woman in his life!

Nora: (From out of thin air) Blasphemy! I'm Queen of that Castle, Girl!

The quartet looked about themselves in confusion. Jaune, Ruby and Pyrrha actually expecting Nora to appear from nowhere...

Tiny Tina: (Cackling in a slightly unhinged way) Oh, bring it, sister!

Nora: (Again from thin air) Oh, it's been brought, and then some!

Ruby: (Moving to stand slightly behind Jaune)Jaune she scares me.

Pyrrha: (Watching Tina argue with empty air) How do you know her?

Jaune: Well, we were best friends since kindergarten, and then she kind of just left when she was thirteen.

Ruby: Why did she leave?

Jaune: Something about locating a great treasure that would prove her worth to me and my mom?

Ruby/Pyrrha : *Thinking* Another Rival!

Tiny Tina: So J-Baby, what are you doing here? Aside from looking for my badass booty?

Jaune: Take off the mask. It's creepy and cute... but more creepy.

Tiny Tina: Fine.

Tiny Tina: Better?

Jaune: Better, and to answer your question, I'm here to find a gun.

Pyrrha and Ruby take a step back as Tina just starts laughing maniacally. In fact, she's laughing so hard that tears start rolling down her cheeks. Jaune just shakes his head and then gives her a light, almost gentle karate chop to the top of her head...

Tiny Tina: (Rubbing her head and pouting) Hey, what was that for?

Jaune: You were doing it again.

Tiny Tina: Oh, sorry about that.

Jaune: No worries.

Tiny Tina: So what is this about you wanting a gun? Cause, I distinctly remember when I WAS trying to teach you to shoot, you were saying, and I quote... Knightly Heroes Don't use guns...end quote.

Ruby: That was a pretty good impression of his voice.

Pyrrha: And it is totally something he would say.

Jaune: (Rubbing the back of his neck) Well, I've been shown the error of my ways. So why are you here?

Tiny Tina: Just wasting time waiting for my flight back to Ansel... which I don't have to take now.

Jaune: How come?

Tiny Tina: (Leering Grin) Because you're here, J-Baby... and you are even more fine than I thought you'd be. So what do you think?

Jaune: About?

Tiny Tina: Getting groovy and giving this Queen some sugar baby.

Ruby/Pyrrha: *GASP* No... No... NO...

Jaune: (Laughing) Stop kidding around, Tina.

Tiny Tina: (Moves dangerously close to Jaune) Whose kidding... Hail to the Queen, Baby.

Jaune: (Swallowing) Hey, um, getting a little close...

Tiny Tina: I have to if I want to... umph!

Jaune watches confused as Pyrrha and Ruby grab Tina from each side and physically drag her away from him.

Ruby/Pyrrha: Enough of that bitc...

Jaune: Swear Jar! Both of you!

Tiny Tina: (Sputtering) What the f...

Jaune: Swear Jar for you too, Tina!

Tiny Tina: (Looks at Ruby and Pyrrha) Is he serious about that?

Pyrrha: Unfortunately yes... now IF you would be so kind as to take a long walk off a short...

Jaune: Hey, seeing as I'm looking for a gun, and you are like Ruby and really know your guns, want to help?

Ruby: But she was just...

Tiny Tina: (Pulling herself free of Pyrrha and Ruby) Would love to J-Baby. So where to first?

Jaune: (Rubs the back of his neck) You have any suggestions, oh and Tina.

Tiny Tina: Yes?

Jaune: It's nice you kept the ears...

Tiny Tina: (Blushing) Why than...

Ruby: Alright, let's try out the booths over there! That group looks promising, right, Pyrrha?

Pyrrha: Yes, right. It looks... promising.

Jaune: Hey, I thought you guys said it looked unpro...

Tiny Tina: Shut-up, your face, and let's get shooting!

Jaune stumbles as Tina yanks him towards the booth in question, while Ruby and Pyrrha have a quick and silent conversation, with an instantly agreed upon outcome.

Ruby/Pyrrha: *Thinking* - Tina must go

Around a corner, barely suppressing her rage, Emerald watched it all, and came to a very similar conclusion...

Emerald: *Thinking* - He... SHE will be mine... after I remove you three.

(Will Jaune survive this twist of fate? Can the Ruby and Pyrrha handle even more competition for their Blond Knight? Is Tiny Tina the prophesized challenger to Queen Nora's reign? Will this author EVER get back to making gun jokes?)

[rontra]

So, I loved your Salem & Summer post but it does leave me questioning Hazel's narrative role, as how things went with him seem to go against the grain for much of it thematically.

okay okay okay before that, i'm panicking like a small rodent so i have to say first up that my post wasn't really made in the intent of like opening a wider discussion or anything (hence the several frantic disclaimers haha). as much as i love rwby analysis i'm also really insecure in sharing my thoughts publicly and i prefer to filter it through my art instead, to kinda Show you what im thinking instead, i guess?? and this is in the end an artblog so i don't want to put too many text posts in a row … so i was kind of like If someone tweets at me im just gonna ignore it.

but this ask intrigues me so much i can't help but come out and investigate, so consider it a cheat day i guess 😩

about hazel, i don't really...see anything about him that overtly contradicts my strange rambling notes. of course, this might be because he's not my primary field of study (lol) so ive been in bed just distilling him into another List Of Things to try and understand what you mean. to me, hazel is a guy who

Identified one of the core brutalities of the huntsman system, and

Had that realization corroborated by Salem, who did not lie to him (although she didn't divulge the entire truth either) before

The Oz Train derails him from this by pulling him back into the good brotherly remnant (4. and also death)

to me he's a bit similar to the summer rose concept, i think: he's not in this for the thrill of the kill or because he finds it pleasant to do salem's wetwork, he's here because he thinks it would be wrong to do anything else. that remnant as it is cannot stand. he doesn't typically indulge in needless violence, and he tries to go out of his way to protect the "little guy" when and if he can. he's the most restrained of salem's onscreen lieutenants, but just like her, he's willing to sacrifice whatever people need to go in order for the plan to move forward. he just hates seeing a kid get hurt most of all, because his teenage sister was killed in action before having the chance to even graduate.

You send children to their deaths for a cause that you know has no victory, no end. (8.6)

in no uncertain terms, he's identified a major issue with remnant in the huntsman system itself. he hates huntsmen and their academies. he knows remnant runs on hero blood and that ozpin has four factories spitting out cannon fodder. he knows the war can't be won, and he knows ozpin is sending people to die in it anyway. he knows this because salem, when she got to him, knew exactly what to tell him (she's unfortunately good at that); she filled him in on the important bits, demonstrated that she can't be killed and divulged that oz knows it too, and offered him the path to take revenge on the academy that murdered his sister. it's interesting that hazel has this to say about salem's motives:

We share a vision. She’s gonna create a new world order: no Kingdoms, and no Huntsmen Academies.

the destruction of ozma's remnant and construction of a new society is their "shared vision". i don't think salem painted the full picture for him (like, the stuff about the gods, and such), because she really didnt need to in order to convince him. this guy was ready right out of the gate to tear remnant apart for the thought of no one being dealt the same hand as gretchen ever again

(here's a funny aside—about gretchen, oscar posits that she "knew the risks" and made her own choice. oscar obviously has his own insane ozpin baggage given he is slated to "die" for him in a very different way as their personalities literally merge and the new combined oz overwrites him. extremely intriguing of him to say this. ozpin does this maneuver to get out of addressing my new band Raven And The Branwens, and also with Pyrrha, insisting that she must "choose" and he has to hear her decision out loud before he can bring himself to start the Soul Suckatron 4000 (machine that murders (literal), contained below machine that murders (figurative)). obviously those cases can Not be neatly chalked up to "she made a choice" either, and i don't think merely saying that and dusting his hands is the Move he thinks it is—although it certainly soothes his conscience)

(whether oscar suggesting nobody but gretchen made a choice here is just him being naive and 14 and raised by remnant, or if it's plain old ozpin bleedthrough, is up to interpretation imo. but it is. Interesting.)

(how do you make a choice like that when the people asking it of you are not divulging all the information? when you do not, in fact, know the stakes—because they are withheld from you on purpose?)

(...) Hazel denies that his twin sister's choice was ever hers to make. That the honeyed words of Ozpin, an immortal being long removed of the burdens of mere humanity, coaxed her to give up her life. (...)

How could an innocent and talented youth resist those seductive words? Talk of duty, untold glory, legendary exploits, and heroes of old? How was she to know that she was merely one little girl caught in a war between behemoths, immortals, GODS? (...) In the end, what did her sacrifice change in this wretched world? What difference did any Huntsman make in Remnant? What were a few drops of light in this ocean of black? (Amity Arena)

hazel saw the still-bloody bones remnant is built on on his own and said Hey what the fuck! and salem targeted him for her collection because he was Based. i have no idea what she told him and how much of it was true, but hazel was . right. about this stuff

like i said in my previous post (at least in the post nested inside it), characters tend to ascribe to salem whatever motivation fits their personal narrative and biases. but i have to say that compared to "salem wants to destroy the planet", this one is a lot more convincing; i don't think it's complete but it's closer, i guess, to my personal read on her actual feelings about remnant (as discussed in the other nerd posts). so maybe it's my own confirmation bias, hehe. whether it's the complete truth of her end-goal is unclear (since it seems doubtful that what she told him included things like "i am god's mistake") but i can at least very much believe they had a conversation about it where she was like Look Buddy , Shit Sucks ,

when confronted with this by hazel, ozpin does an immense ozpin maneuver: he says Actually have you heard the good word? and starts selling his own thing again—

"New world order". No. When Salem gets all four Relics, there will be no world left at all.

i touched on this in my previous post too but i do not believe ozpin when he says this. it does not feel true to me. this is Light's Guy doing Light's Guy Things and casting the Sole Evil out; she has to be unreasonable and driven only by death and destruction, and the people who know about her have to believe this, or else things begin to fall apart for him. if the redeemable remnant is destroyed, there is nothing else left for him or for humanity; there are no possible alternatives to him. the man is completely tangled up in his agonies and wearing horse blinders some deer guy put on him. it's my way or the highway, baby!

anyway, hazel doesn't believe him about this either, until an unrelated statement proves to be true, which convinces hazel to believe ozpin and oscar in general. but i HAVE to stress that nowhere was it said that THIS was actually true; hazel just is convinced to trust ozpin and oscar's word by an unrelated thing they said turning out to be true. he's being pulled back into ozma's remnant, and his ensuing mode of operation is explicitly described as

"WHAT GRETCHEN WOULD HAVE DONE."

he hasn't forgiven oz for what happened, but he's been convinced that salem's goals are too destructive, that she's going to end the world entirely. he commands oscar to ensure there be "no more Gretchens", but it's not like you can achieve that without taking down what oz built. none of this really changes the fact that she isn't One Girl who had an Unfortunate Tragic Accident: she was intended to be coke for the furnace just like every other huntsman, she just happened to die before getting in.

and now hazel is doing what she would have done: burning himself alive along with the witch.

(holy SHIT Witch is a good episode.)

one bonkers thing about hazel's self-sacrifice is that it would have done absolutely nothing. when oscar hangs back and jaune tries to prompt him to go, oscar refuses because

She'll just come after us.

to be clear: if oscar had not intervened by pulling the trigger on ozpin's stored-up Cane Energy, killing Monstra and Salem and Hazel (to shreds, you say??), this would have accomplished nothing. if a now-15-yo hadn't killed them both first, salem most likely would have dispatched hazel and resumed doing what she was doing before he cut in. hazel is pouring his blood into a futile fight against salem for no real gain just like every huntsman in history, and what oscar wrests from it is temporary relief; everybody knows salem will only be gone for a few hours at most, but at least they got away to lick their wounds and regroup. at least it's better than nothing.

but without that, it would have achieved nothing.

it's...what gretchen would have done.

i don't feel as though the story is exactly celebratory about this. it was a Big Damn Hero moment, but is that a good thing in rwby's eyes? his story is a tragedy and ends a tragedy.

i won't deny that the hours of respite it bought our heroes was invaluable, but again, hazel did not accomplish that alone (and does not have the Audience Perspective we do to gauge the full benefit). he just...didn't. if the little guys had just run as hazel intended, his death would have changed nothing at all.

those precious hours were important and mattered a lot to the overall plot, but were bought with blood. v8 didn't exactly end in a stunning victory either. we're still barely hanging in there, still on the brink, still feeding coke into the furnace to keep the lights on a little longer...

hmm...

well, anyway, summer and salem should kiss on the mou

[rwbyazre]

Do you also want to talk about the other ships in AZRE that you like but won’t really appear?

hi lorekeeper ais here to steal this ask to talk about the ships in azre i love that won’t show up because luke hates me

tarnished silver [adam/eirian]: i love these two & have been vying for them from day one, even though i do still love manticores & golden fleece. really what draws me to adam & eirian is that they are two sides of a coin, not only in their mentality on the world & their oppression, but in the way their stories play out. both come from sources of pain & struggle in different ways to keep on their paths & change what they can even when the world is trying to push them in the opposite direction. some of my favourite scenes in the story so far have been on these two because they’re so rich in character development & tension. chefs kiss.

school tests [eliana/ozpin]: the OG ride or dies tbh. eliana loves ozpin, her trust in him is as constant as water, which is why she also consistently butts heads with james who doesn't trust ozpin. now this isn't blind trust, but one that was hard earned through their relationship & it's something i just love about them. eliana wants a safe world for her children & with a heart as guarded as her, having that belief in ozpin is earth shattering to the pair of them.

cats eye [ruri/blake]: see now this is a ship i love because it won't work out in the end. ruri & blake are so similar, that's not the issue here, but the way they handle situations is fundamentally juxtaposed. blake has her mind set & struggles to move away from that, combined with her innate instinct to run when things get tough — which isn't a bad thing when it's kept her safe all these years — & it's just paradoxically too fixed for ruri. i don't think ruri would ever get over being left behind, especially with her own trauma of what happened with seigyoku & kogyoku.

nikong [sun/pyrrha]: they are the best of friends, doo doo do doo! which is kind of the issue cause pyrrha lets sun get away with so much until she has to put her foot down but there's also a comforting familiarity between them. sun has that mischievious nature that pyrrha can't help but be drawn to because she wants that, she's spent so much of her life straight laced for the good of everyone else that seeing sun like this is exhilarating. sun i think also finds himself gravitating to pyrrha because she's, in a non oedipus way, like eliana. they're both strong minded, strong willed: they do what needs to be done & keep a smile on their face throughout it for the betterment of everyone else & sun wants to help her shake that off a little, just so she can be a teenager for a while too.

black bengals [sienna/hajimu]: this one is like, semi canon in an au because if we could've done azre again, we would've just gotten rid of ghira & made these two the former power couple of the white fang & menagerie. which is precisely why i love them, i'm a sucker for tragic sapphics.

[paradoxcase]

Chapter 9 of Nona the Ninth

I'm not sure what Hot Sauce expected to happen here, or why she thinks the contents of Nona's fake conversation could have had an effect, since if I understand right, she wanted Nona to hide her mouth so that whoever was watching could read her lips? if they were reading her lips, I guess they would have seen her say "hello, hello, I am having a conversation with Crown" which may mean something to someone, but I'm not sure how Hot Sauce would know about that or what she thinks the watcher leaving means. It seems like she would have been expecting the watcher to leave regardless, since I don't think there's much else that she would have noticed happening? But possibly that caused something to happen, due to all the shooting that transpired

It is interesting that Nona loves swimming so much, and salt water in particular. It can't all be because of the pool scene memories, can it? She also doesn't seem to like eating any food, unless it's like the mush and doesn't register to her texturally as food

I'm not sure what this means. "Water cure" is apparently a kind of torture?

I'm so relieved to learn that "jandals" is a genericized trademark that originates from "Japanese sandals" and was not, as I feared, "jean sandals"

More burning bodies. Do they think necromancy can only be done on dead bodies, or do they just really not want any chance of the dead bodies walking around? It sounds like people are dying all over the place right now also, so they must be burning a lot of bodies just to keep up with the new ones

I know this is a fantasy novel and an exoplanet and all that jazz, but I actually checked and there is in fact at least one IRL species of jellyfish that can kill you within five minutes, which is a kind of not-fun fact. I have to wonder, though, how Nona's Lyctor healing abilities deal with the jellyfish toxin exactly? Like Harrow and Ianthe and the other Lyctors were in fact able to get drunk, they were also able to undrunk themselves immediately, but it was a conscious action that required necromancy and not something that happened automatically. And Pyrrha gets drunk sometimes, I don't think she would do that if she didn't get an effect. But Pyrrha did survive drinking bleach, and she isn't any kind of necromancer. I'm not sure if there's rules about which toxins are automatically purged without a conscious act of necromancy to do that, or if it's just the immediately fatal ones only for narrative convenience

What intel do they want? Do they think that Camilla has information about the Wake-aligned BOE and it would be easier to get it out of her than to get it out of the actual BOE? It doesn't seem like they're interested in Nona, since they shot her

So my understanding is that Palamedes and Camilla merged temporarily by both being in control at the same time and this gave Palamedes temporary access to some kind of Lyctor abilities or Lyctor-like abilities that he then used to kill the Merv Wing guys. But because it's in Camilla's body, which is not used to exposure to this much thanergy, she has more serious side effects from this than a regular necromancer would have, with this extreme blood sweat and the "thanergy shock" that Pyrrha mentions later. Or possibly it's also because it's a kind of necromancy that ordinary necromancers wouldn't even be able to use, but the actual Lyctors never seemed to get blood sweats or anything like that, so it's probably either because of Camilla's body's lower tolerance or because they're not exactly a Lyctor?

But it wasn't really a one-way ticket for her, was it? Unless there's something we don't know

A couple things here:

Why is it killing Palamedes too? I don't think we've ever seen Lyctorhood also kill the necromancer

Isn't Palamedes like, already dead?

And also, like... I was kind of hoping that Camilla and Palamedes would have some kind of sane implementation of a necromancer/cavalier relationship, or even a Lyctorhood, if that's possible, and they wouldn't be an absolute disaster relationship like Gideon/Harrow or Ianthe and Corona, but they totally are. Like, this is a horror story, and yeah, there are some monsters that occasionally show up, but I don't think the horror is about the monsters? The horror of this story is what if you were in a relationship that was so codependent that the other person literally devoured your soul and you were like yes please, do that some more. It's about what if you were the soul-devourer half of the relationship and didn't realize it until it was too late. And like, I've shipping unhealthy relationships before, I get why people do that and everything, but I can't really vibe with this, it's too much for every time one of these characters talks like this the bottom drops out of my stomach