#ftors

[ismaelsubmarine]

Ramadan 2023

[cyanopicas]

today, i deliver: ultraowl au concept art for minos, gabriel, and sissypus (pre-deaths)

tomorrow? who knows...

on a side note owls are so fucking weird. They have tube eyes.

[gouinisme]

uhm. hungy

[sweetsweetloverlover]

[at nearly 2am after having said they were going to sleep] I Need To Find The First Drawings Of My Ocs Again

[stardust-swan]

Moroccan Girliness 🇲🇦

Kaftans and takchitas with gold embroidery and rhinestones, weekly Hammam trips, 100% pure argan oil on your hair and skin, burning bakhour, scented musk in your closet, aker fassi on your lips and cheeks, pastel and jewel toned djellabas to go to the qissaria, getting your henna done just because, intricate silver and filigreed gold jewellery, sweet almond oil on your body after every shower, rose attars, mint tea and mhencha with the girls, fresh bakery pastries, baghrir with honey and fruit with breakfast, carrying silver stelas full of soap, rosewater, ghassoul clay and fragrant oils to the bathroom, perfumes with rose, amber, oud, gardenia, sandalwood and jasmine, delicate embroidered babouches, the scent of roses, jasmine and orange blossoms in the air, intricate zellij tiles in your home, snacking on medjool dates, fresh figs and sugared almonds, handwoven Berber rugs, delicate tea glasses and vibrant tagine pots, misting your face with rosewater, jasmine balls around the house, honeyed desserts (like chebakia, mhencha, briwats), ghassoul clay masks, spiced coffee, musk Al Tahara, tabrima, hanging ornaments from your sabnia, finding treasures at the souks and qissarias, making lavish ftor meals, traditional dances, and multiple dress changes at your wedding ✨

[dansleftthigh]

SELLING (1) STANDARD Terrible Influence Tour ticket to the Atlanta Georgia show on November 14th!!

Section C-FTOR, Row L, Seat 122

$88 because that’s what I paid - excellent seat for this late of a purchase!

[rwbyrg]

What Inspired the Fairytale: Warrior in the Woods as a Rosegarden Allusion

I've broken down Ruby as Little Red Riding Hood, and Oscar as the Little Prince, now I want to analyze the two of them within a canon fable. The very first story within RWBY: Fairytales of Remnant: The Warrior in the Woods.

For those who are unfamiliar with it, I will summarize, or you can read it in the official free preview of the book here. One disclaimer before I get started: I'm not speaking about the animated adaptation here. Something Oz mentions in his fore/afterward of the book is that fairytales often shift and change depending on who it is that's telling the story. The book itself seems to aim to tell the most objective version as possible, whereas in the episode of FToR, it's very clear Tai's experiences and biases greatly influences the way he tells the story. With that out of the way...

The story is about a boy who lives in a village surrounded by a forest that is said to protect its residents from Grimm. One day, the boy ventures into the wood further than anyone would think to look for him. There he is attacked by a monster, the first he has ever seen... Only to be saved at the last minute by a cloaked warrior carrying a curved weapon. He thanks her and asks for her name, but she tells him to leave and not return. He doesn't listen. Every year since the day of their first meeting, he ventures further into the wood hoping he will meet his saviour again. And every time, he is proven right when she shows up and saves him at the last minute. Each year, the boy grows older and wiser, training himself how to fight, bringing the woman gifts as thanks for protecting the village alone and without appreciation all these years. Until one day, the village is attacked by Grimm for the first time in ages. On their next planned meeting, the boy - now a man - fights his entire way through the forest to the hut where she lives, and finds it torn apart and empty. He returns home and tells the villagers her story having taken up the mantle of protecting his people in her place. When asked if he kept going back to see her just because she saved him, he replies (paraphrased): "For that reason, and many more. But I believe she knew the deepest reason of all. I fell in love with her the moment I saw her silver eyes."

Even the summary alone paints a picture very reminiscent of Ruby and Oscar's paired arc throughout the show thus far, but I want to break it down even further. First things first:

The Warrior

She is described as "a fair woman in a flowing (threadbare and tattered) black cape" with a "curved blade" she can spin so quickly it "blurs". Her hair is "almost as dark as the Grimm's, white (ones) standing out as brightly as bone", and in the boy's eyes the first time he sees her, remarks that she is "beautiful and fierce". We know by the end of the story, as well as one of the Grimm fights, that she has silver eyes as well and she tells the boy at one point that she fights alone because she is alone, since all the people like her were killed by other humans. This lines up well with how Silver Eyed Warriors have been hunted by Salem and her forces for generations.

When we compare this to Ruby when Oscar first meets her, it hits all the same marks. He is captivated by her silver eyes the moment he first meets her:

She is fair skinned with black hair (if you include the books illustrations, with a reddish tint), has silver eyes, and a torn and tattered cloak.

There is a point at which the woman also ties a red ribbon around her weapon's handle to hold it in place, which immediately acts as a tie in to Ruby's colour scheme.

Lastly, the boy meets the warrior for the first time in a "moonlit clearing". And we all know how much moon imagery Ruby has associated with her by now, that I really don't have to go over it again.

The Village Boy

There are no photos or descriptions of him within the text, just that he is a boy when we first meet him and is a man by the end of the story after visiting the woman annually 4-5 times. So he is roughly 14, aka the same age as Oscar, for both their first appearances.

What we do know about the boy, is shown in the objects he carries for himself and the gifts he imparts onto the woman in the woods.

The first is a parcel of clothing. It includes some blouses, leggings, a black skirt, some boots... and a new hooded green cloak. Ruby's cloak is red, but as we know both in show with ships like Bumbleby, and thanks to Eddy's bit of trivia in that Reddit AMA a while ago, that wearing the colours of people you care for is a common sign of affection within Remnant. Within this story, the woman dons a cloak in a green colour (something heavily associated with Oscar Pine), whereas within RWBY in V6, it is Oscar who dons Ruby's colour on his shoulders in his outfit upgrade.

The second is the sword the boy forges for himself before their third meeting. It is described as long and thin which immediately calls to mind The Long Memory.

From there, the next gift: a bag full of food.

"She opened the bag and pulled out parcel after parcel. There was honey cake, a strawberry tart, and sweet biscuits. When she unwrapped a stack of fresh-baked cookies, her expression lightened, and her happiness made him happy."

The first bolded example: strawberries are cited by Monty as Ruby's favourite food, and as we know by Ruby's first meeting with Ozpin (which is important given his connection to Oscar), she's a big fan of cookies too.

Now that all the aesthetics and symbolism are out of the way, I want to compare the structure of the two stories.

Separation and Reunions

The Warrior in the Woods, as well as Ruby and Oscar's arc throughout the show (as well as The Little Prince) are stories of absences.

The boy starts his tale without the woman in his live for many years before he meets her. When they do meet, it is for only a moment within a day until they must wait another full year before seeing each other again. When they do meet, at least the first 3 times, the warrior saves him from Grimm attacks. Then, at the 4th time, he runs into no obstacles and is able to sit and talk with her without incident, only for her to disappear shortly before their 5th visit, leaving him to take up her job of protecting the village.

Ruby spends the first 4 volumes of the show not knowing Oscar, but when they meet he, just like the village boy, is in awe of her silver eyes. From there, she saves him from Grimm twice (I imagine we are holding out on the third where she saves him with her silver eyes for a volume we haven't received yet)...

...and they are faced with constant separations and reunions thereafter.

Oscar goes missing in V6E8 only to be reunited with everyone in V6E9...

2. They are separated for much of V7 due to disagreements and other external circumstance, only to reunite and make up in V7E9...

3. They are then immediately split up again, one going down to Mantle and the other staying in Atlas, only to reunited at the beginning of V8E1 (suspiciously after Oscar stares into a fire much like the boy at the end of the story).

4. It is short lived before they split up on different teams AGAIN, which leads to another reunion in V8E10...

5. Only to - you guess it - be separated one more time when Ruby falls into a void, leaving Oscar to think that she died and take charge as the new leader carrying her responsibilities in her place.

Which follows the structure of the original fairytale - at least in numbers - down to the letter.

Beyond that structure, there is also the matter of what both relationships are built upon: the act of taking care of one another.

In the book, the woman explains that she protects the villagers "because she can, because no one else will, and because some people are good, like the village boy, and that gives her hope".

This heavy responsibility the warrior carries is very reminiscent of Ruby's character arc. A leader who feels she can't be a failure, who can't rely on her friends and teammates to share how much this all weighs on her, someone that lost all her silver eyed family and fears for her own fate because of a trait she had no control over. Even going so far as to try and push people away for fear they will end up hurt because of her. Someone that "remembers all the people she saved, and all the ones she didn't".

This is juxtaposed by a boy who was sheltered and safe, far from the dangers of the world, but set out and joined hers anyway. And when he did, he brought her new clothes, a new weapon, some food, and an ear she could tell her stories to. When he explains his motives, he says:

"You've spent all these years looking after us. I thought maybe it would be nice if someone looked after you for a change. Because that's what I can do. Because no one else will."

Which ties into Oscar's character exactly as well. After his conversation with Ruby in V5 about how scary all of this is, his first thought after saying she's amazing, is to acknowledge how hard this must be on her. And from then on out we see him looking after her to the best of his ability, despite his inexperience, time and time again. Protecting her when she's hurt, standing up for her when their friends fight, and baking her a casserole after she's had a tough day.

All of these things tie into what Ozpin cites as the main message of the fairytale in his notes at the end of its chapter:

It is often used as a cautionary tale, intended to discourage children from wandering too far from home on their own, or from relying too much on others to save them. But the most enduring, and I think the most inspiring, aspect of this story is one which many have taken to heart: If you can help others, it is your responsibility to do so. Whether that means fighting evil singlehandedly, or baking cookies (for kindness can be as rare as silver eyes) is up to the reader to decide for themselves. From each according to their own abilities.

Ruby and Oscar are two characters driven by their responsibilities to do something about all the bad in the world, in whatever ways they are able, before they run out of time. While Ruby's main allusion is Little Red and Oscar's is the Little Prince, I think it's really inspiring to see a canon fairytale within RWBY's own universe that relates to their story so well as this one.

[bestworstcase]

1) blacksmith says destruction comes first, before creation, but lost fable positions light as the elder brother. 2) like you said, 180° ideological turnaround for dark. 3) FToR claims that both think they created the other (which doesn't fit with blacksmith's story). Conclusion: the dark from lost fable is an imitation created by light? and the original dark wasn't in lost fable at all? (tbh this doesn't sound right even to me. but i feel like these 3 facts have SOMETHING to do with each other)

well keep in mind, the myth is—a myth. one composed by the loyal servant of the god of light, presumably based on the myths light cultivated about himself and his brother before they left remnant and mixed with ozma’s own propaganda. its relation to truth is extremely lossy to the point that it’s nearly worthless as a source of information (and the ‘nearly’ is that the only reason for dark to be credited with all the VITALLY IMPORTANT things he makes, while those things are narratively framed as pathetic imitations of light’s creations, is if he really did make those things and light really did pass that attitude down, bc it beggars belief that light wouldn’t be claiming those, again VITALLY IMPORTANT things as his own handiwork if he understood their value).

this is, i think, basically a salem situation where the scary-looking one who made these monstrous creatures is cast as the Evil One by the one who knows how to craft a narrative. and you can only force someone into the role of Evil Monster for so long before they actually do become a monster, if only because you’ve cut them off from any other choice.

do note though that the blacksmith doesn’t say dark is the elder. she strongly implies that they’re twins, born in the same instant. what she actually says is that they—both of them—were given destruction first, then creation, then developed curiosity on their own and chose to experiment. if one of them is older it’s likely only by minutes, but creation—the attribute light has enshrined as the only true value—without destruction, is merely stagnation and suffocation. (which has been the theme all along, very very visibly.)

so dark got both pigeonholed as the Bad Destructive One and prevented from fulfilling the actual purpose of destruction, which is really about change. in that sense he’s a construction of light’s, because he’s been cornered and corrupted for the sake of his brother’s design.

[spraydaily]

Aiming For The Sky

Postcard sent from Shorcaught of his good friends. We can see Sluk and the TENS crew hit the skytrain in Vancouver, featuring FTOR on a few actions. RIP BROTHER

[astraskylark]

NEW RWBY SERIES ALERT

[thuskindlyshescatters]

I’m going to watch Fairy Tales of Remnant solely for Shannon McCormick’s voice, aren’t I.

[luimnigh]

Also, ever wondered why warriors were coming to the Tower to free Salem?

Salem wrote down her own story, hundreds of time, and tossed the papers out of the Tower's window and into the wind.

Ozpin outright calls the fairytale "metafiction", and "It is steeped in an awareness of the nature of fairy tales and, in a sense, it's own status as one."

Like... I have to transcribe the whole "Ozpin's Notes" section:

"The Girl In The Tower" is unique among fairy tales in that it is the only one in which the protagonist is credited with penning their own story; the girl essentially writes herself out of danger. It is steeped in an awareness of the nature of fairy tales and, in a sense, its own status as one of them. As a metafiction, this tale more than any other in this collection demonstrates the power of stories to create reality and shape our destinies, and the subtle influence storytellers have over their audiences.

This is how propaganda works, of course. Arguably, every fable was originally told for a purpose, either overt or hidden. Some were design to communicate a moral lesson or instruct children on how to behave, while others were meant as warnings or to persuade people into believing a certain thing. The girl in the tower shared a version ofnher story intended to elicit sympathy and motivate people to come to her aid - but in the process she also doomed many warriors to die in the attempt. Her story did not include the whole truth, and how much of it might be false? One must always be prepared to think about and question everything they read ir hear, especially if they are told that it is absolute truth.

To me, this tale is also a reminder that the familiar stories we know are just small parts of a larger one - other moments came before "once upon a time" and still more follow "happily ever after." it is the storyteller who decides where a tale begins and when it ends, and if you look far enough ahead, even a story with a happy ending may reveal itself as a tragedy, and heroes may turn out to be villains.

Hopefully the reverse is also true.

This is... basically a thesis statement on RWBY itself, stated from within the show.

Like... wow.

[gouinisme]

I FORGOT ABOUT THE FUKCING MOZART LOPERA ROCK STREAM IM GONNA KILL MYSELF

[aspiringwarriorlibrarian]

What I love about the Faunus origin myths is how deeply different the perspectives are. "The Judgment of Faunus” is, at its core, a tale about bigotry and hatred, and is heavily implied to be a Human centered tale, because that is all Faunus are to them. For better or for worse, they only exist in that context of conflict and oppression and perpetually searching for a place to be free. But “The Shallow Sea” is about being a Faunus in and of itself, about the power of choice and liberation, with anti-Faunus bigotry being an afterword. Here the Faunus are not tricked, but choose. They decide to accept their transformation and their true selves. And while they admit that life might be difficult on their new island, the important thing is that they’ve taken that step.

Because in the end, it’s so much better and healthier to define yourself by what you are than by what you are not.

[notagainpleasenotagain]

This is so fucking funny. Ozpin, sir? Are you still upset about it?

I mean he's right but this is so funny

[haltraveler]

So, Fairy Tales of Remnant seems to imply that rocs and wyverns exist as natural animals on Remnant, which is interesting.