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theseerasures · 4 years ago

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While you're doing reactions, if you're up for it, how are you feeling about all the finale predictions you made on March 23? By my count, you scored pretty well!

hooooooo boy (the alluded post, for those just catching up)

how i feel about my predictions is that...you’re right and i scored pretty well, but much like the characters doing right in the episode itself, it didn’t matter. part of the reason why the finale made me feel so much--why i loved it, despite still being emotionally hungover from ugly affect--is because i WAS right, but i was so often right but wrong on a smaller scale, or right but wrong because i completely misunderstood the overall thematic stakes, or in one case right but in such a phenomenally cruel and roundabout way that i’m still reeling from it.

more detailed breakdown under the cut (as in “let’s unpack this,” and as in “i have an emotional breakdown”):

WHERE I WAS MOSTLY RIGHT

Team Green, Yang, the non-Robyn Happy Huntresses, Klein and the non-combatant Schnees were gimmes from the beginning, even the ones of whom we didn’t have visual confirmation by the end of Worthy.

Pietro and Maria are still MIA so i’m putting them here, but...Winter’s gonna have to tell Pietro, when he shows up again.

Cinder and the Relics i was correct about, but even though i knew going in that she would win i didn’t imagine the scale of her victory. mostly because i thought she might have learned some self-discipline and just skedaddled with the Relics in an attempt to trap as many people as possible in superhell, but a) she didn’t, and b) she won without needing to.

Salem, Watts, and Ironwood are where i predicted, but i think part of me really bought into the fan theory that maybe Salem would want to keep Atlas around. both Watts and Ironwood lasted much longer through the episode than i expected because i was working from that assumption, but with the direction the episode actually took it makes perfect sense that they exited the stage as Atlas fell--they are, after all, twin architect-destroyers of Atlas. brains and brawn.

Nora ended up in Vacuo, but she’s...uh, not happy about it. not that i expected her to be happy, but this is much much worse. og JNPR is now JUST Renora, and much as i love freewheeling modular megazord JNPR, that’s gonna hit like a truck. last time they lost someone Renora were consciously trying to play supportive teammate to Jaune, who’d just lost his partner, and Nora especially also had to talk Ren off the edge with the Kuroyuri stuff. i expect they’ll swap the dynamic this time, especially since Nora was already planning to go all independent woman before this.

Qrow, Robyn, and the AceOps are stranded, but in transit and not in Mantle, because Mantle the place is no more. and Vine is dead. the reason i posited that the AceOps might be split up was so they could find their team dynamic after it’s been unsettled, and...well. having one of them do a heroic sacrifice should do a similar trick. because i didn’t think Atlas would fall on Mantle i thought Qrow and Robyn (particularly Robyn) would get more to do, but both of them are pretty much exactly in the same place they were in at the beginning of the season: trapped in a cramped environment, cut off from the people they love and uncertain what happened to them, and unable to contribute in a way that they would consider meaningful. i’m guessing we won’t check back in with this crew for a while, but if we do it’ll be interesting to see if the Qrow and Robyn dynamic changes--like, if he has to be the one to talk her down from cabin fever and despair. (before he finds out that he was the one who should have been despairing all along.)

WHERE I WAS MOSTLY WRONG

Neo is in superhell. i had put her in Atlas because i’d overestimated Cinder’s ability to play the long game, but what the show ultimately doubled down on was that Cinder remains at heart a petty and impatient opportunist, and that’s where she’s most effective. which i dig! i dig that she has not so much improved (in means or ends) so much as learned to hold the beneficial and detrimental parts of herself farther and farther apart, because in the end they’re all the same parts, and because presumably she’ll end up starfishing out so much (who knew the way she took care of Winter’s death pigeons was foreshadowing?) that she breaks in two. and i dig Neo in superhell without Cinder, because it’ll be our first chance to see Neo not working for anyone outside of that one time she fought Cinder. if superhell does end up being part afterlife, she might also get some closure with the Torchwick stuff.

Jaune being in superhell points to it being part afterlife, because the chance for HIM to get some closure is also right there. that was always the case, but the reason i made the prediction i did was because i assumed that Jaune would remain the person he has been this whole season--this stolid, clueless but incredibly effective supporting leader. having a Jaune who is at the top of his game meet up with Pyrrha again is obviously appealing, especially to me, a person who scribbles misshapen hearts labeled “Arkos = 5evr” on all my notebooks, but at the time i didn’t think it was necessary to his story...and then the story dramatically shifted his character and threw all my carefully hedged bets off (which is something we’ll also get to with...later).

having a Jaune who has just effectively EUTHANIZED someone meet up with Pyrrha again isn’t just appealing--it’s vital. and it’s vital because the exact parameters of how and why Jaune ended up having to kill Penny is a point-for-point echo and escalation of the way the Amber to Pyrrha transfer was supposed to go. last time Jaune Arc was party to a Maiden transfer process he had no idea what was going on, and he tried to intervene when he worked out that whatever Oz was doing was going to hurt Pyrrha, and that however minute thing contributed to Pyrrha’s death and the Fall of Beacon. this time it’s not just that he knows what’s going on and the stakes of it. it’s not even just that he is the Ozpin operating the Aura Transfer machine. it is that there is no machine--there is just him, holding the knife. he knows the Amber better than the Pyrrha this time, and this time the Amber is his friend, and still whole, and choosing. not just consenting, but asking him. trusting him. so he carries it out. the old Maiden dies, and like Ozpin he dies shortly after, but not before he watches the new Maiden fail.

but he does prevent history from repeating, because a new Maiden is created, and she gets to live. and Cinder Fall has made him a murderer on top of everything else, but she WILL remember him, now.

there are other people i was wrong about, but that’s...for later.

WHERE I WAS RIGHT AND IT DIDN’T MATTER

Ruby, Blake and Weiss are all in superhell, so on paper i was right, but...well. sing it if you know the words. the reason i’m putting them in their own section is because it’s not just that they fell and didn’t jump like i thought; it’s that they would not have jumped, and that changes everything. you know how i realized that we would lose everyone, and not by choice? it was Weiss. it was when Weiss said we have to do this for Yang. Jaune had reminded Nora of what was priority one minutes before, but the implications of that didn’t sink in for me until Weiss confirmed it. they PLANNED for this. not just the eventuality where they would have to die, but the one where they’d have to watch everyone else die and do nothing except keep going.

which...has implications. the best way to read this--and i think we’re all dying for some good news--is that even if it certainly does not feel that way, RWBY was able to snatch a partial victory from Salem’s claws. they lost the Relics, but they got the Maiden powers away, and most importantly: they saved Atlas and Mantle. by the time Jaune intervened Grand Central was empty. there was no one left to evacuate. they didn’t get everyone, but they got a lot. even before Cinder intervened so catastrophically they knew how many things could go wrong, so they made a plan, and largely stuck to it. on a purely material level they only lost one thing vital to the war effort--the Staff. but they got everyone else out, which was priority one. the show in general and this arc in particular has emphasized that our heroes don’t think they should be exceptionalized, that they’ll fight tooth and nail to make sure everyone is given the treatment and respect they deserve, and they’ve made good on that. they’re Huntresses, and Huntresses be thou for the people. they chose, and they won what mattered to THEM.

but on the flip side: they chose, and there’s no way to read this choice as anything but a compromise...and a very Atlesian one at that. when confronted with calculus similar to the one JYR faced after they lost Oscar in War, our heroes chose...the opposite. one, then three, then four, then five, then six for the many. what was that number compared to two entire cities’ worth of people, especially when they’re the ones who signed up for this? i’m not trying to take this down the slippery slope where our heroes are no better than the dictator they just dethroned, because when the time came for sacrifice they chose themselves first. but it remains a sacrifice, which means that when the time came to test the hard moral limit they set for themselves, they...moved. they decided ahead of time that some risks aren’t worth taking. that this is not a situation where everyone wins, so they had to go for the next best thing, then the next best thing after that, and so on. i’m honestly not sure where it points to yet, except my usual refrain that this show is a lot less didactic than it seems, but...yeah. this is going to lead to some invigorating discussions in-universe.

and maybe it’ll start with this: that Jaune and Weiss--the two who had to verbally advocate for leaving the fallen behind--fell last of all, which means they had to watch everyone else go first. and the last person they saw was the same person. Weiss, who executed the plan to brilliant perfection, saw the past--the first family she ever had--streaking after her in an endless void, forsaking the priorities they all agreed upon, for her. Jaune, who followed the plan to execution and broke a part of himself, saw the new Maiden he crowned, backlit and pulled away by the bright future that he ensured was possible, but can no longer access.

QUEENMAKER

i’m starting with Penny, because Penny came first. there has already been a ton of discussion on the ways that she’ll come back, and while i absolutely agree that she will, for now i am not so much interested in that as i am in eulogizing this Penny. the Penny we had just now, not identical but continuous with the Penny we had before that, in the same way that everyone is not identical but continuous with who they were in the past. the Penny who IS dead, her eventual resurrection notwithstanding.

because she DID die, and her death matters. that’s the thing about the deaths in this season, and it furthers my point re: RWBY’s presumed didacticism--the show’s treatment of death has changed as our heroes have changed. it is no longer (and never was) as simple as “death and sacrifice are always senseless waste,” and more something like...”death has to matter, and we will give it meaning.” Hazel and Vine sacrificed themselves, and the fact both resulted in a “positive” outcome (more lives saved) does not make the deaths any less tragic. but neither should the tragedy of it take away from the fact that they saved lives. what separates our heroes from a Salem or a James Ironwood even now is that they recognize the importance of grievable life even as they accept inevitable death, that what is worth it all about preserving life is not to make sure that lives go on forever, but that lives have meaning and are remembered, that when you’re gone the people who are still here respect you enough to carry that meaning with them. it’s a tenuous balance to walk, but all the more important for that reason.

Penny--though her death can and will be reversed--is much the same. in every arc there has been a Game of Three Maidens (which i guess would make shogi the better metaphor and not chess because--what AM i on about), and in every Game there has been sacrifice. and i thought that would encompass Winter, here. we’d get away with it not being literal death, since Fria already took care of that, but she would be trapped on the other side of the gate--in pretty much the exact same position James Ironwood ended up in the episode itself, actually. it just seemed obvious: she’s the decoy, the one who missed the call by inches, the last revealed defector when there still was an Atlas from which to defect. all of it pointed to Winter’s story ending with one last delay barring her from salvation, of her finally being too late...

and well. i WASN’T wrong in the broad strokes, but first there was Penny Polendina. Penny could have let Jaune try to save her and Weiss die for her, but she knew she had to make a different choice to save as many lives as possible. so she offered herself up as the sacrifice instead. last week i waxed prolonged poetic about how Winter defected so recently, how it has been just IronwoodandWinter for so long, how Winter doesn’t have a team and only the healing shreds of a family, how no one would think to look for her...and then Penny did. you were my friend. (given Winter’s rough age and the hazy creation dates for the PENNY Project, it’s possible that Winter is Penny’s OLDEST friend.) Penny thought of Winter as she was dying, thought about the good Winter could do if Winter had her powers, believed in Winter, and in doing so, saved Winter’s life before anyone else’s.

she ceded the spotlight to Winter in this last episode, but this season as a whole belongs to Penny Polendina--the myriad ways she creates herself, the ways she defends her self-creation, ultimately culminating in her new body, created by no one but herself. but for her final act the Maiden of Creation did something different and no less miraculous: i thought of you. a thought was all it took.

she created someone else.

KINGSLAYER | THE MAIDEN THAT WAS PROMISED

the thing about Winter is that she came first.

no, i’m serious. i checked the fairy tale and everything--Winter came first. as the Wizard’s first visitor she encouraged him to reflect and meditate, and when probed about why she was here at all, she answered: i am waiting for my sisters. Spring and Summer have to wait, too, of course, but. Winter was the first.

Jacques and Willow named their firstborn Winter. it is not the way this story begins, but it is certainly is one of them, because the story begins with Winter, and Winter begins the story--a new retelling, a new cycle of heroism. we’ve since been introduced to other characters in that indeterminate age group between RWBY and STRQ, but Winter--by virtue of being Weiss’ older sister--anchors herself to the new generation in a way those others (even Cinder, who comes closest) do not. she started things, in the mythical emblematic way that this show likes to move, and the way she started things--the way she MADE herself start things, thanks to the house she grew up in--was with love, and protection. she took care of Weiss and laid the groundwork for the person Weiss is today, and conversely: she took care of Weiss, and through Weiss, laid the groundwork for herself and how to take care of everyone. so eventually the steel thread she tied to Weiss she also linked to Whitley, to Penny, to Marrow, to all the people they love, and on and on it goes. Winter loved Weiss, so she made herself learn how to love Weiss, and so when i say she started things what i mean is she started family. a new home, for a new generation of the orphaned.

Winter came first. but as the show demonstrates time and again, especially with Winter: first does not mean best. because being first also means you’re the prototype, a volatile thing that must be tested and tempered and then discarded to make way for what comes after, what gets improved. and it is THIS part of being first that Winter has internalized most of all. Winter, the first Maiden, taught the Wizard peace and prepared the earth so that her sisters could grow and foster and harvest the life within it; Winter, the first Schnee, laid the groundwork in her siblings, but did not wait for them. and let herself fallow in the process. she left, and every time they tried to follow or stay with her she sent them away. (she keeps sending them away; even after defecting and taking down Ironwood, the first thing she says to JNPER is go.) Winter laid the first stone in the foundation, but she cannot take credit for the home her family turned it into, for all the ways it has flourished, because she willfully absented herself of that (birth)right.

and the reason she did this was very simple: she was afraid. she could not bear the thought that while she had to learn how to love she made mistakes, the idea that instead of preparing the earth she might have poisoned the well. so she ran. she turned her face away so she would not have to look, so they would not look to her. she left, and every time one of her siblings superseded her after that, every time she was made to be their Esau--passed over--it just seemed to confirm that she was right to leave. look how well they’ve all done without her.

in the stories, eldest siblings aren’t here to win. they’re here to be made an example of, and Winter...had resigned herself to that. she was prepared to be left behind for good by all the people who have outpaced her.

but then there was Penny Polendina. Penny didn’t follow her, or try to stay; Penny came back for her. Penny remembered Winter when all Winter wanted was to be forgotten, because she’d gotten it in her head that it was what she deserved for all the things she’d done or enabled or failed to do. why did Penny remember Winter? because you were my friend. there is no divine complexity to it, nothing for Winter to fall hopeless short of. there is only the fact that Winter gave Penny something, made something together with Penny, even as she was trying her hardest not to, for fear that she would create something terrible. and this does not take away from all the ways Winter did fall short, but it is still SOMETHING. and it is enough.

it was your power, after all. Penny means the Maiden powers, but she also means THIS Maiden’s power: the power to create. you made this home, Penny is saying to Winter, you should get to reap its fruit, even if you weren’t around for the labor. all you have to do is say yes.

this was a gift. she says yes. she accepts, because in the end Winter Schnee loves her family more than she hates herself.

but then--

(a gift for what? Winter will ask herself wretchedly later, after she has failed in the two tasks she thinks Penny set for her.)

the thing about Winter is that she came first. she taught Weiss everything she knows, and she was so busy doing that she never had the time to show Weiss everything she feels. so in the end what Weiss never predicted was that for all of her team’s painful planning, for all of her own pained enforcement of that plan...none of it was a match for her sister. that when the time came it was would be WINTER who defaults to the absolute ideal of “no one gets left behind,” of “every life” meaning every life, priority one be damned.

or that Winter, in trying to choose both, in finally and fiercely trying, with surely enough power to make a difference, would fail.

what are you doing? Winter heard as she watched Weiss fall into nothingness. my life doesn’t matter.

so here, then, is the story of Winter in The Final Word: a girl returns home after having left it, but in this version it is the home who has changed and the girl who has not. and from this both are unmade. but she gets to live, because she was invited back home. and she gets to go through the portal as its last passenger, into the Promised Land.

and she is still the Maiden of Creation. even after all this, THAT is still her task. to build a refuge for her people, to collect the broken strands of the family she began and her siblings continued and expanded and reinforced, and gather them up again into a new home. it will be impossible, but at the same time: she has done this before.

and this time, she will wait for her sisters.

(a gift for what? for nothing, would be the answer. gifts aren’t FOR anything. they’re gifts.)

#typeoneninja #rwby #helen writes meta #VERY LONG OBSCENELY LONG META CANNOT EMPHASIZE HOW LONG #at least it didn't take me a whole month this time

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the-hate-keeps-me-warm · 3 years ago

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More than a memory

Sorry if this is formatted really horriblly I finished this up on mobile I hope you like this there’s about 2 paragraphs I cut of ruby nerding out

Once they got to Vacuo oscar was sorta unofficially a huntsman now laws are a lot looser here so he’s been saving quite a bit of money from going on missions after team rwby and Jaune came back it was weird they were only gone a month but so much had changed the merge was almost finished he could feel it every day he felt less like himself he didn’t even object when Theodore called him oz anymore he and ruby weren’t as close anymore whatever happened wherever they were changed her he got bits and pieces from Jaune and yang but the others kept quiet he knew that he’d be gone soon so he wanted to leave something for her kinda like proof that they ever met in the first place so he was now standing in a vacuan market at 12 am alone with a lot of lien on him this was probably a bad idea but at one point he heard ruby ramble about this gun shop that they were the best at what they do so he called made an appointment it just so happens they prefer to see let’s just say unofficial clients at night he knocked at the door it read “bikal bullets” it opened and an old owl faunas man opens it his large yellow eyes are piercing “hello mister pine headmaster theodore told me to expect you” oscar rubs his hands together “yes mister bikal he said to come late” mr Bikal leads him inside on the walls hang dozens of expensive weapons “so mr pine what are you looking for” oscar took the blue prints out of his bag and set them down on the drawing table “um im looking for something custom built its for a friend” mr bikal takes the blue prints and examines them “these are pretty impressive mr pine did you draft these yourself theses yourself” oscar nods “mostly i had a little help with the math part of it but the mechanical stuff i did myself” mr bikal nods “something like this will cost a good amount even with the discount you get for being school staff” oscar nods “do you have an estimate on the price and how long it'll take to make” mr bikal snaps his teeth “around 12000 lien and 2 weeks” oscar nods he had 140000 saved up but he did want to buy some more things for the others “alright i can uh i can afford that” mr bikal goes over to what looks like a drawing table and pins them up “i will start work immediately mr pine you make your payment on completion if you desire the school has credit with me the price includes 3 magazines and a case so that will also be custom made shall you pick it up or would you prefer its delivered” oscar stands uncomfortably as mr bikal starts measuring out pieces of fine metal “ill pick it up dont worry” mr bikal nods and says “alright mister pine your can go now its not a good look for a young man to be out so late especially so close to the red light district” oscars face gets red “yes of course” oscar leaves and walks back to the academy sneaking back into his dorm room was easy tho nora did pester him about where hed been he had left a note saying when he would be back for the next 2 weeks he kept a poker face nora helped him set up his bank account so the sudden spending of 12000 lien did give her pause so she decided to ask him about it

He was sitting on his bed reading some Treatise about some long-forgotten subject she knocked on the bedpost and he looks up “hey Nora did you need something” she sat at the end of his bed “hey what did you spend 12 thousand lien on” he hides his face “please don’t tell anyone it was on something for ruby” she smiles “ah young love I was worried that you wouldn’t make your move so what kind of thing sets you back 12 thousand it’s something big right” he nods his head “its a gun i-i had it commissioned for and it’s not really cause I’m trying to make a move or anything it’s more like a going away gift” Nora frowns and shakes his leg “where you going taking a vacation or something” he feels tears bite the edge of his eyes “Nora the merge it’s soon I know it won’t be long until I’m gone and I want you all to remember me but her especially I don’t want to be just a memory” he struggles to keep the tears at bay but nora pulls him into a hug tighter but somehow softer than her usual ones “hey you will never ever be just a memory you will always be you and even if your not you'll always be one of us we all love you so much” and then the damn breaks and he sobs into her shoulder “i don't wanna go away nora i want to live i wanna go to school see my aunt again” she rubs his back and says “i know sweetie you'll get to do all that ok i promise” he sniffles “nora i need you to do something for me if i do disappear ok i need you to go back to my aunt and tell her everything ok it can't be oz ok don't tell her how to find him it won't make sense i'll just hurt worse i dont want that for her” she nods “i won't ever have to do that ok but i promise” she holds him until he stops crying and they take a a a nap they always helped him calm down

Finally, after a long 2 weeks, he goes to pick it up when he goes inside Mr. Baikal shows him the box it’s a beautiful dark red mahogany wood he opens the case and looks at the pistol inside its silvered handle and barrel were beautiful he’s almost afraid to touch it the engravings were perfect exactly as he had drawn them if not better the moon and rose he had designed look perfect he takes it gently in his hands he looks down the sights the night sights glow a brilliant carmine red he looks at the magazine even it was of an amazing quality everything down to the smallest detail was exactly as he pictured it he sets it back into the case “thank you, mister, Bikal it's absolutely perfect” Mr. Bikal smiles and nods “I’m glad everything is to your satisfaction Mr pine if you find there is anything wrong with it or you want something changed everything I make comes with a lifetime warranty the paperwork is in the case as well as a certificate stating that I am in fact its builder” they shake hands and oscar takes it home in his bag he excitedly gets back to his dorm he sets it down still in his bag on his bed now all he have to do is give it to her

He sits on it for a few days but finally decides to just give it to her oz has his reservations about this but decided that oscar deserves this to maybe say goodbye in his own way

Ruby was going on walks around shade it’s something he noticed so he waited for her to go on one of those walks it was cool in vacuo at night the air was nice compared to the oppressive heat of the day she was meandering along the walkways he followed behind her a bit the case hung heavy in his bag even tho it wasn’t heavy at all after a while she sits at an old wooden bench overlooking the gardens he approaches and she perks up “oh hey oscar are you going somewhere” she says pointing to his bag he shakes his head “do you mind if I sit” she shakes her head “no go-ahead did you need to talk, something about Theodore?” he sits down on the other side of the bench gently setting his bag between them “no uh no I just uh I wanted to give you something” he opens his bag and takes the case out holding it out to her she takes it “it’s not my birthday is it this looks really nice you didn't have to do this” ruby says smiling “well i've been wanting to do something nice for you” oscar says rubbing the back of his neck she lifts the top and gasp gently lifting it from its case “oscar this is this is amazing” she drops the magazine and pulls the slide back making sure its clear and runs her hand along the engraving her symbol etched into the left side of the grip “oh thanks i uh actually designed it myself oz helped me with the math” she looks at him her eyes wide “oscar it took me 8 attempts to successfully design a functioning crescent rose gun design is really hard how long did you spend on this” oscar blushes “the idea kinda started in atlas i was gonna ask you to help me make one so i wouldn't have to rely on my cane but everything happen and when you were gone i kept messing with the idea and i kept thinking about you so i kinda ended up designing it for you more than me eventually do you like it” ruby scoffs “oscar do i like it i love it its probably the single greatest gift anyones ever given me” he smiles wide “really that makes me really happy I was worried you wouldn’t like it” she sets it back gently into its case “really Oscar it’s amazing you have a knack for design your gonna have to show me the draft notes and everything cause this is this is amazing I can’t wait to shoot it this is wow” she chokes up and he leans down “ruby are you ok” she nods wiping her face of nonexistent tears “no worries this is just really cool and sweet and god your so amazing” he felt his heart flutter and his cheeks heat up “the guy who built it that bikal guy you talked about was just as great as you always said” she puts a hand on his shoulder “are you telling me Hephaestus bikal made this Oscar” she says seriously “uh yeah why is that bad” she kisses his cheek and squeals “oh my god your amazing this is now even better god I could die happy wait his rates are insane how did you afford this” still recoiling from the kiss he bites his lip “uh huntsmen work” she narrows her eyes “how much did this cost Oscar it had to be expensive” he shakes his head “not telling it’s a gift you don’t need to worry about it just enjoy it” she punches his arm “I will but I am going to repay you for this somehow ok” “you already did” he says quietly he says rubbing the back of his neck “ruby I don’t really know how long I have left and I would like to spend at least some of it with you I understand if you don’t I know it might make it harder when I’m gone bu-whoa” he’s pulled into a hug she pulls his head into her shoulder and holds him tight “I wanna spend more time with you too but you will always be Oscar ok oz is oz you are you” he sighs and smiles “see what I mean by paying me back”

#rwby #rose garden #rosegarden #ruby rose #guns #Oscar pine #angst #this is sadder than I wanted it to be #at first this was gonna be sorta related to my weed garden fic #but the idea of ruby pushing Oscar away after that was too sad #for my fluffy little ass #I wish ruby got to nerd out about weapons more #Oscar is still a simp even if he’s sad #do not ask me about the gun I will elaborate #that is a threat

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skye-huntress · 4 years ago

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RWBY V8 Finale “The Final Word” Reactions

Thus concludes the first Volume I get to watch as it airs week by week, and react to it

MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW! SERIOUSLY IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED THE EPISODE YET AND FOR WHATEVER REASON STILL SEE THIS EVEN WITH THE SPOILER TAG, CONSIDER THIS YOUR LAST WARNING

Sooo, I cannot not talk about this big one first because it gives me personal feelings. Penny is a character that is very precious to me, always has been. I binged the show up to Volume 7 last year so I didn’t have to go through years of new episodes knowing she was gone and then when she came back and throughout Volume 8, she cemented herself as one of my favourites, right up there with Ruby and Weiss. I even warmed up to Frosen Steel. I honestly did not think nor did I want to think that the show would kill her again, even knowing this was going to be a rough volume for her being the central figure in the whole conflict. The only consolation I have is that she died on her own terms.

While we’re on this note, my sympathies to Jaune for having to be the one to send her on her way. My sympathies to a lot of characters because whether or not Nuts and Dolts is platonic or romantic, she was particularly special to Ruby who once again was not there to save her.

Penny finally got her song, and it hurts

I could tell from the beginning that the Ace Ops were overrated. They seemed cool on the surface and as individual fighters they were probably up there, but I’m also sceptical of the ones that everyone (including themselves) called the “best” at anything. The reality is that they were a mess, they told to bury their feelings, and told to always accept their Jimmy’s judgment over even their own. Clover died a meaningless death because he ignored his own better judgment. That said, for Vine, the least expressive of the whole bunch to not only talk Harriet down but make a sacrifice for his team friends was not something I would have called. And yet I remember how he tried to comfort Elm, and how when Marrow was nearly killed how expressive he was in his shock and fear. Honestly, I should know better, as someone who isn’t able to express the full depth of my emotions very well, I should have known that Vine was probably the one who cared for his friends more than they ever realised.

Qrow was actually lucky for once. I have a theory. If Ren’s semblance can evolve from masking emotions to sensing them, maybe Qrow’s semblance could evolve so that he could change his or others’ fortunes for the better and not just for the worst. At the very least, rubbing the pin made him believe he could in fact be lucky, maybe that’s all he needed.

Harriet has a lot of issues to sort through, but maybe now without the toxicity of the military and Jimmy, she and her remaining friends can allow themselves to feel, grieve, heal and grow.

So we have Robyn, Qrow, Harriet, Elm and Marrow on a transport leaving Solitas through conventional travel. They probably can’t fly their transport straight to Vacuo so they may have to make some stops on the way, probably at Argus or Vale.

As for Ironwood, what a fitting end. He always saw himself as the hero of Remnant, the one with all the answers, the one who was always right, and who would save the day. But in the end, he wasn’t anyone even worth killing. To the villains, he was always a joke, someone to be used, and right when he is finally face to face with his greatest enemy, she never even looked at him once. In the end, neither he nor his precious Atlas proved to be very relevant or impressive.

Neo thought she was clever but she was a fool. That’s what happens when you let anger and vengeance consume you, it warps your judgment. Cinder was always using her, to get what she wanted, and as a means to get her own vengeance on Ruby.

Speaking of not letting not letting vengeance consume you, Blake. She saw how close she was to losing everyone else she cared about she switched tacts. I’m proud of her. And she risked the fall to save Ruby, unfortunately this risk was too great for her.

My WhiteRose heart cheered when Weiss went to back up Ruby. I assume Blake knew the partners could assist each other better than she could. It hurt that she had to watch the rest of her team family fall, to be the last one standing, using Gambol Shroud. And then she fell right in front of her sister.

Ruby really needs more practice with her eyes before she faces Cinder again. It was impressive though how she goaded Neo and knocked her over the edge. Unfortunately, there was more than one person there who really wanted her dead.

As for Ruby’s mental state, she never really had time to process anything that had happened, she was in survival mode the entire time. Falling into the same place as Yang did might give her hope that her sister is still alive and if she fell with Blake, all the better, then she won’t be alone. But like I said, Penny was very important to her, and this is the second time she has lost her. Just imagine though, if Penny’s body falls into the void with them and Ruby finds it, that’d be all the worse than just hearing about it from Weiss or Jaune.

Now, Winter, she is the MVP of this episode. Winter is now the Winter Maiden, not because Ironwood chose her to be or because she actually chose it herself but because Penny chose her. Penny believed in her friend. My love of Penny gives me a lot of conflicting feelings for this and the implications but it was satisfying to see Winter own Ironwood and hold her own against Cinder. And now she is the champion for Atlas’ refugees, but failing Weiss and Penny is going to have a significant impact on her. At least she’ll allow herself to feel and she still has some family left.

Now for the weapons. When Crescent Rose fell, it was like watching an entirely separate character fall as well. Gambol Shroud and Neo’s umbrella fell on their own, too. And Jaune’s weapon that was reforged with Pyrrha’s ruined weapon was destroyed by none other than Cinder. So basically the only ones still completely armed are Weiss and Yang, but of course the latter also has a concussion.

It wasn’t the complete victory she wanted but it was decisive. I figured a victory for Cinder would be getting both relics and she did. But I knew she wouldn’t get the Maiden powers, that’s always the part she fails at again and again. She tries to syphon a Maiden’s magic only to be interrupted. Every. Single. Time. Seriously, Cinder will just never learn from this mistake and its why she will likely never have more than one Maiden’s power at the rate she is going. But as decisive as this victory was, it will cost her in the long run. She needed help from Jinn, Neo and Watts in order to beat Team RWBY but they’ll come back stronger, smarter and more pissed off and Cinder won’t have all of that help next time. If anything, she might have put herself back on top of Neo’s shitlist.

Watts’ end is also rather fitting and also completely expected. Like Jimmy and Jaques, he represented a lot of what was wrong with Atlas, particularly the elite. How annoyed would Ambrosius be with Cinder though? “More fire, that’s it? This is my cosmic karma for being annoyed about being used by the same kids twice in a row.”

Atlas fell as I always knew it would, after all the relics exist to help humanity and a flying city did nothing but fuelled the egos of those who lived on that floating rock. Mantle was something to be proud of, but Atlas was a lie. Now Remnant’s “greatest kingdom in the world” reduced to ruin and it’s people refugees in a land their ancestors made a wasteland. This will have dire consequences.

So in the end, no help came for Atlas. Not surprising in retrospect. Atlesians didn’t have the best reputation to begin with, then Ironwood made a series of terrible decisions (that everyone around him strongly advised against), destroying Atlas’ relations with the other Kingdoms. Then came Ruby’s broadcast out of nowhere where she dropped some insane bombshells and then her message was cut off and global comms went down again. Few can vouch for Ruby’s character and even fewer can verify anything of what she said. I still believe it had an impact and we’ll see it as we visit other Kingdoms again, but the full pay off won’t be for quite some time. As I said before, the message was just the first of many, many small steps to uniting the world against Salem

So now for the detour, and that cursed image of Crescent Rose alone, slammed into the ground. It’s likely Volume 9 will focus mostly on our girls, Jaune and Neo, surviving in this strange environment and finding a way home.

Was that everything? Probably not. Now the mourning period begins as I try to process all of that.

#rwby #rwby8 #rwby8 spoilers

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moondrop04 · 4 years ago

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RWBY VOLUME 8 EPISODE 13 SPECULATION AFTERMATH!!!

SPOILERS!!!

Hmmmm......I’m gonna be honest......I really don’t know what to think about this episode 😥. I obviously have some thoughts about it, it’s just that I need to go by piece by piece with it to understand what the hell im feelin 🤨. So let’s go ahead and start with this AfterMath.....

-(Gateways To Paradise) So far I am okay with with this plan to create portals for the citizens of mantle and Atlas to use to get to Vacuo.

With Beacon, Haven and Atlas academies now in tatters and not heavily filled with huntsmen and huntresses anymore, Shade academy is the only viable option to take thousands of refugees since it is the only one left to provide proper protection from Grimm.

It’s just too bad that that Ambrosius really does listen to every word when being asked a request to create something, huh? With Weiss’s unfortunate wording when asking to create the portals, it looks like when you cross the exit portal to Vacuo there is no way to go back to the “central location” of the portal system. Now Oscar, Ren, Emerald and hundreds of refugees are now trapped inside a sandstorm filled with Bat-Grimm, that are sensing all of the newly arrived negativity. So yeah......that’s not good

-(Sad Day For Clip On Ties) Wow......I was really not expecting Jacque Schnee to die right now 😳. I was honestly expecting him to have at least one more arc as an antagonist with the Schnee family, then eventually die because of his hubris. Damn you James 😡 why did you have to go and ruin some perfect future moments of the Schnee siblings and mama Schnee kicking Mr. Clip On Tie to the curb!!!

-(Learning From Your Failures) Hmmm......I will say that using Jinn’s last question to find out what Ruby and everyone’s plan was a pretty good move on Cinder’s part. I’m a tad bit disappointed that the question was used for this purpose though, since I was kind of hoping it would be used to find out more about Salem’s plans or more about Summer 😓.

Using Watts to cut everyone’s communications to keep them disorganized in the middle of the evacuation was also a good strategic move they used. It’s also quick thinking on Watt’s part to lead Qrow and Robyn further away from the kids by making them chase after Harriet, who is currently flying with Ironwood’s bomb.

Now that I watched it a few times, I can see that Cinder really did take what Arther said to her, and implemented into her plan. She took his insult and literally became a bloody migraine for Team RWBY, just so she can become a big enough distraction for Neo to deal a fatal blow towards Ruby. If this is her way of showing that she knows she’s a pain in the ass, then I guess that’s one way of showing your growth as a character lol 🧐.

-(One Down, Three More To Go) Alright.....time for the most interesting part of the episode......Yang’s fall. Now just to clarify before starting this, I am mostly in agreement that Yang is not dead and is more likely now in some other realm of existence. Though I am too open to the idea that she actually died, which could lead the story plot to either using time travel or resurrecting her back from the dead. We’ll just have to wait till Saturday to confirm what happened.....

Now as gut wrenching this scene was, especially with seeing Blake’s reaction to Yang’s “death”, I do unfortunately have some small nitpicks on the scene. I kind of wished they had both Blake AND Ruby react the same way when seeing Yang fall.

Now I understand Ruby had absolutely no time to process what had just happened because of Neo constantly attacking her, but it just felt off to me that she wasn’t able to have the same reaction that Blake had 😥.

Just to be clear I am in no way saying this to take away the emotional moment from the Bumblebee shippers. Blake’s reaction was on point with her character and as well with her connection to Yang as her partner, so i don’t want any of that changed. As I said before it’s a small little nitpick and if there is the off chance we do see Ruby’s actual breakdown when all three of her teammates eventually fall down, then I’ll give this scene a pass. For now I’m gonna reserve judgment till after episode 14.

-(Neo is becoming Yang’s Kryptonite) One last small nitpick I have lastly about this scene will have to involve with Yang’s “aura break”, when she was struck by Neo. This is a bit of an add-on to a criticism I’ve been having about “some” of the aura breaks within this volume, so I’ll save most of what I felt about it when I do a review on Volume 8 later.

To make a short summary of it I feel that if we seen Yang taking some hits from Cinder before being struck by Neo, then I would give it a pass. Most of the aura breaks we had this volume have been really good, it’s just that some of them (including this one) didn’t feel right to me is all. Again I’m just being nit-picky about it but I just felt that this should be a small criticism that I wanted to give my thoughts about.

-(Why Does This Feel Split?) You know what......I think I know why I feel like that this episode is weird to me.....does anyone feel that episode 13 is just part 1 of an even bigger episode? Like episode 13 and episode 14 is actually one big episode but the writing team decided to split it apart so that the volume would have 14 episodes?

Lmao 😆 I don’t know, I’m just gonna have to watch the finale to see if my assumption bears any weight. Do any of you understand what I’m talking about?

So.........I’m gonna say that this episode was good overall, I just had a couple of a nitpicks here and there that I wanted to get off my chest lol.

I also want to address one thing before I finish up. Since this is the finale of Volume 8 I decided that I will not be doing a speculation post before the episode airs this time around. I do have several speculations that I really want to post for the finale, but I kind of want to enjoy the finale like a normal fan for once lol.

So yeah.....you won’t be hearing my annoying a** until I make an Aftermath post after the episode airs this time around. REJOICE EVERYONE!!! I’m Shutting My Damn Mouth!!!......sniff...sniff....😢

Till next time......BUH-BYE!!!

#rwby #rwby volume 8 #rwby volume 8 spoilers #rwby ruby rose #weiss schnee #blake bellodona #yang xiao long #oscar pine #jaune arc #nora valkyrie #lie ren #rwby salem #cinder fall #emerald sustrai #james ironwood

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coredrill · 4 years ago

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alright here are my rwby8 thoughts now that i’ve had a few days to sit on ‘em!! spoilers for the entire volume under the cut

so if anyone happens to open this and is like “wow this is more words than i’ve seen you use ever” lol yup! it’s probably the most words i’ve written since high school lmao. feel free to read through if ya really want but this is mostly just my own way of organizing my thoughts for this kind of stuff rather than making a million different posts on random parts of it. this way if i want to look back in the future and say “haha wow can’t believe i thought THAT” it’s all in one easy location! i don’t expect anyone else to be reading all this shite lol

thoughts on the volume as a whole:

honestly i loved it!! there’s very little that i would’ve changed and most of that is nit-picking stuff. i’m very impressed that this volume was made in quarantine lmao. the animation in and of itself was STUNNING (shout out to the finale’s water animation...the aura break particle effects...the cinnamon topography of the amity scenes...all of the facial & body expressions...the whale disintegrating...)

i’d honestly say that it’s probably my second favorite volume?? volume 4 is still my beloved but v8 was so good. i’ll probably need to watch it through a few more times but god. i LOVED IT.

honorable mention cause idk where else to put it: some of the scores were breathtaking!!! i tend not to notice background music on my first watch unless it really sticks out to me and there were quite a few scenes where that happened in a good way this volume. the ones where cinder breaks into the atlas control room and the one at the end when atlas is flooding are probably my favs!!! also there was this one part where it was just screeching over ironwood and it worked really really well.

okay so now for individual characters. let’s start with ruby:

i would like to fund her therapy

very surprised that she didn’t “break” this volume! i was sort of expecting it to happen--between ironwood, the amity plan only kind of working, the hound, the virus, and the fact that she was separated from her usual support system (qrow, yang, and jaune), i was definitely expecting her to. i’m glad she didn’t though cause it’s gonna be so much harder when she actually does (probably when she finds out that cinder has the relics and penny’s dead...)

massive shout out to lindsay jones for managing to make squeaky-voiced ruby still sound like ruby even while going through a whole host of emotions we’ve never seen ruby go through before!

god. that scene where crescent rose fell into the drink and ruby scrambled after it. my heart dropped lmao.

also. this is likely because i’ve got an engineering degree (which came with a free stick up my butt when it comes to technology in media) but the line where they say “mass no longer matters” wrt her semblance??? WHAT??? bro splitting mass up into smaller chunks doesn’t change the actual mass of the material itself what is going on here 😭😭😭 (this isn’t a real criticism of any kind i just yelled WHAT after they said that line lmao)

weiss:

i have one single weiss criticism and its that, in the scene where she’s leaving whitley to go fight the hound, she says “we still need to work on your attitude” and for whatever reason, the voice track doesn’t sound like it was quite mixed right? like it sounds like she’s just standing there rolling her eyes but my girl is BOOKING it out of the room lmao

other than that: weiss you are PERFECT. she really spent this entire volume saving and taking care of the people she loves!!! and i loved every second of it!!!

i would’ve liked to see more of her and klein/whitley/willow. i think there’s a lot of great stuff in that dynamic (not me crying when klein showed up at the manor...) and especially between weiss and her mother. i hope we get one big schneeuinon in vacuo once they + winter are all in the same location (but that’s gonna be a while i think lmao)

it’s been said a million times before but weiss?? shaking and crying but using gambol shroud anyway?? even though she thinks her teammates are all dead?? giving ruby the staff and pushing her out of the line of fire and pulling blake back to safety??? fighting cinder, a fucking wholeass maiden, with no aura because she needs to protect penny?? only unable to get up and keep fighting after she watches gambol shroud (the last physical piece she has of her teammates) go over the edge??? bro. BRO. i’m legit tearing up just TYPING THAT. god she’s gonna find her team at that island resort and never let them go. gonna be like v4 jaune all over again huh??

blake/yang:

not as much here since they didn’t get a whole lot of focus this volume, but i enjoyed all their scenes! yang just fuckin going at salem was 1000/10.

i will say...i think blake’s gonna kiss yang when they meet up in tropical paradise. and good for her!! (especially if this volume’s been planned since the beginning, it makes sense that this would be the writers’ idea for where they wanted their first kiss to be)

jaune:

going from ren saying “he has no fear. he believes that we can do this” about jaune to, five chapters later, forcing jaune to deliver a killing blow to penny was just CRUEL

the fucking dissonance of jaune haha!-awkward-renora-moment-exit vomit-boy-through-the-portals hit-in-the-head-with-a-rock arc being the one that penny asks..............bro. don’t hmu.

it’s going to be such a long time until we see him smile again.

also. the moment when crocea mors snaps in half...again, my stomach dropped.

but it’s okay! he’ll be fine without a weapon! he’s the ~strategist~! *breaks the fuck down*

it hurts so much too to think about, like oscar mentioned.....even if/when he does reunite with ren and nora, he’s not gonna be the same person he was when they last saw him. he’s not gonna be their goofy, wholesome, soft, snarky, healer team leader anymore. he just got his shit sorted out, he just stopped being actively suicidal, and tbh i think this might affect him worse than what happened with pyrrha. especially since they were compounding in his brain--what he did gave penny more of a choice than pyrrha ever got, but GEEZ.

pain. just. pain.

nora:

NORA MY BELOVED

okay. OKAY. so like she was passed out for half the volume but what we did get of her was fucking amazing

nora’s mom i am going to find you and have some words. i’ve mentioned this before but this woman has the same energy as the mom from grave of the fireflies who was like “i know we’re actively being bombed right now but i’m going to abandon my children and get myself to safety.” SQUARE UP BITCH. i hope we never see nora’s mom in the show because i will become filled with rage

but nora herself??? flawless. perfection.

i really did love her journey this volume. realizing that she wants to become her own person apart from ren, and then telling him that when he says that he loves her?? nora sweetie that was heartbreaking but i am SO SO PROUD OF YOU.

nora putting herself first for once and being told that people love her WE FREAKING LOVE TO SEE IT

except NOW that’s all gonna go haywire 😭😭😭

like...the moment in the finale where you can see she’s hesitant to leave jaune to to go vacuo but she goes anyway because he’s her leader and he doesn’t like splitting up either and she loves him and she trusts him only for her to get STUCK ON THE OTHER SIDE BANGING ON THE PORTAL. that scene fucking BROKE me. you just KNOW she’s gonna be hating herself for going through and leaving jaune (even though nobody knew it was one way!!!) and when the portal dissolves and he doesn’t come through........

she really thinks that she’s lost TWO teammates now. that’s TWO teammates that she wasn’t able to save. she saved ren from the nuckelavee but pyrrha’s dead and as far as she knows jaune’s dead too

and jaune’s her fucking family!!!!!!!

and like. when we see her on the vacuo side of the portal, we see that she’s got the happy huntresses behind her. she did her job and she gathered them but now she can’t get back through and AHHHHHH. FUCK. when she drops to her knees because she realizes.........that fucking killed me. i’m tearing up now just typing this sdmndbm

and like. the worst part is that she just realized that she wants some time away from ren. but everyone else is gone and just like when they were kids he’s all she’s got and they are gonna lean on each other harder than ever because this time they both lost EVERYTHING. not just jaune, but ruby, who was their teammate for a while too. weiss, who took such great care of nora while she was injured. penny, who nora helped with blake’s advice. yang, who ren had time to bond with this volume. FUCK

it’s gonna hurt so bad to watch but i cannot WAIT to see what nora does next and how she moves forward. god. this is gonna kill her. it’s killing ME and i’m just a viewer lmao

ren:

remember that one week where neath went on twitter and was like “i love renora and i’m gonna make that everyone else’s problem”??? yeah. that was a good week lmao

speaking of neath. MASSIVE PROPS TO HIM FOR HIS WORK. he managed to give ren every single emotion in the book this volume and none of it sounded ooc despite ren being such a repressed character before. he did incredible!!!!

I LOVED REN SO MUCH THIS VOLUME GOD. i mean i love him in every volume BUT HE HAD SO MANY GOOD MOMENTS AND SUCH A GOOD ARC

i’ve already talked about it at length but the scene where his semblance evolves is one of my favorites in the whole show. he’s so fucking full of love that it’s literally tearing him apart and when he finally accepts that fact his ENTIRE SOUL levels up!!! he looks at himself and there are pink petals falling off of him because he can’t contain the love in his body anymore!!! it’s there in a literal, physical manifestation and it’s so. fucking. GOOD. FUCK.

and also my obligatory remark about how he was thinking about oscar and pyrrha and his parents in that moment. people he loved platonically and familially. rwby goes so fucking hard for platonic love and i can’t ever thank them enough. to see ren have this realization because he was thinking about oscar.....god i’m gonna cry again LMAO

and then after that the way that he just. looks at jaune in every scene with the biggest fucking heart eyes. i’m gonna fucking combust he loves his leader SO MUCH. (which. as i mentioned in the nora section. pain now)

and the nora stuff........JUST AS GOOD

another thing i’ve talked about a lot but to see him apologize, be emotionally open, listen to what nora’s saying and what nora needs, TELL HER THAT HE LOVES HER FIRST, not holding a single thing against her, agreeing to wait for her to be ready.........literal perfection holy shit

romance is normally not one of my favorite aspects of any media but i will make an exception for whatever the fuck ren and nora got going on

basically as a ren stan / jnpr stan i was thriving this volume and then that finale hit me and i know i will be in pain until they reunite again

i have a handful of jnr gifs that i was planning to make during the hiatus but now they’re all PAIN aksjhdasjdh

oscar:

deeply worried about the quickly approaching merge. i’m really hoping that oscar and oz stay separate but i also love seeing all the animation/voice acting nuances that indicate that they’re getting closer to the merge.......AH

this volume really hammered home just how strong this kid is. he stands up to SALEM and does the right thing even despite the torture cause he’s so BRAVE and STRONG and when he trusted hazel with the password DESPITE IT ALL. ugh. so good.

i love oscar so much and i’ve loved seeing him grow!!!

penny:

serious stuff coming in the next bullet point but. GOD. her model’s head is so big and i don’t know WHY but this stuck out to me every time she was standing next to someone else. it might be because of the volume of her hair (but yang’s hair also has a lot of volume, and her head is normal sized)??? idk it just threw me off a lot. every time she was like, talking to ruby or something, all i could think about was how her head was bigger than ruby’s ENTIRE TORSO lmao. (also why didn’t they give her human body shoes skdjhaksjh)

that said.........oh, penny 😭😭😭😭😭

i’m surprised that she died but only because i thought her plot armor was pretty thick LMAO. narratively it makes a lot of sense and i’m glad her story ended the way it did.

i’ve seen a lot of people interpreting her actions in the finale as “choosing to die,” but i don’t think that’s the case?? penny’s friends all saved her every single time that she presented her own death as an option. that’s what makes this so tragic, is that they successfully saved her every time she offered that, and that in the end, she still died. she was gonna die anyway. she was impaled by cinder--jaune didn’t have enough time to heal her before cinder defeated weiss (who had no aura!!) and turned on them again. penny made her own choices when 1. she asked to die at the hands of a friend, rather than by cinder’s soul-sucking grimm arm and whatever horrible fate that includes and 2. to choose her successor. and i don’t blame her for making either of those choices! she wanted to die with as much dignity as peace as she could and to choose whose life she would be intertwined with. and while it’s very sad, i’m glad that penny finally got some sense of control over herself and her legacy.

and like...she was so happy when she met up with winter!! she was so happy to have full autonomy for once!!! that scene was both heartwarming and heartbreaking!!!

i also think that penny’s death reinforces the idea that remnant is gonna be very different by the time rwbyjnorqe is done with it. now not one but two kindhearted girls have gotten killed because they got tangled up in the maiden powers—which were originally meant to be a gift!! and i’m very interested to see what the resolution is gonna be!! (i know it’s gonna be in like. volume 52 or something alsjfndnx but still!!)

also, if nothing else, i am very glad that whole “pietro sacrifices the last of his aura to revive her” theory is gone. i hate that theory lmao

i will say, while i enjoyed penny’s role this volume, i do think that maybe some of her screentime could’ve gone elsewhere. i get that there needed to be a lot of focus on her, so that we would be attached when she died, but i think it would’ve been beneficial to spread that screentime elsewhere just a bit, especially since she wasn’t really developing at all. hitting the same point with her like seven times did start to feel a bit repetitive lol. my vote would be for extra time with the schnees, or the jn(o)r reunion at schnee manor, or maybe a scene checking in with pietro and maria!!

emerald:

EMERALD MY BELOVED

YOU DEFECTED!!!! GOOD FOR YOU GIRL!!!!

i hope we get a LOT more time with her in the future. she’s still gotta work out the cinder thing of course but i also think it’s gonna be super interesting to see how she acts now that she (alongside oscar, ren, nora, the hh, and winter) is one of the closest things their group has to a “leader”

also like........good for her for being one of the LEAST traumatized people this volume despite being THREATENED BY SALEM

somebody give emerald a nice long hug

i love her

that is all

winter:

WINTER OH MY GOD

seeing her struggle with her emotions all volume.....only to finally accept them and save marrow’s life.....and because of that choice she realizes how long overdue it was and goes all in on helping the heroes.....and is eventually chosen to become the next winter maiden by the girl who challenged her to accept her emotions in the first place......😭😭😭 chef’s kiss

“you chose nothing. this was a gift.” *demolishes ironwood but doesn’t stick around cause he’s not worth it* *fights cinder* POETIC CINEMA!!!!!

also i cannot wait to see her schneeunion with willow, whitley, and klein.......even if she does have to be the one to tell them what happened to weiss 😭

cinder:

CINDER I HATE YOU BUT ONLY BECAUSE YOU’RE SUCH A GOOD VILLAIN

her backstory was pretty self explanatory but i think this was a good time to spell it out especially while we were in atlas. the culmination of that, her consistent failures to achieve her goals after v3, and watts dragging her really all just came together to make her so much more intimidating and efficient and i loved watching it.

like i know there’s people who don’t like her as a character but she’s always so fun to watch and her va does AMAZING and she’s just. so INTERESTING

also. i cannot wait for her to find out that ruby and neo are both alive (and especially when salem finds out they’re both alive LMAO)

also also her line to ruby about never being born feels.......awfully specific??? i wonder if it’s a hint at some other part of salem/cinder/ruby/summer lore (like her “and i refuse to starve” line from last volume)

also also also CINDER.......lying to salem is gonna backfire on you at one point or another.......HM

salem:

gosh i love salem. she’s such a good villain and i loved all her scenes (especially the fight scene...SO COOL).

very interested in whatever she does next!! since the only remaining lackey she has is cinder (who is now starting to try to manipulate her) and tyrian and mercury, who are in vacuo, i’m curious about her next steps. is she gonna keep recruiting, now that people know who she is?? is she gonna come to vacuo herself?? she could definitely do a WHOLE LOT OF DAMAGE with the refugee situation there, so i’m super excited to see how her next moves play out!!

hazel/tyrian/watts/merc/neo:

rip hazel. glad we were able to get an INSANE fight scene out of him before his death BUT ALSO WHAT’S WITH YOU BEATING THE SNOT OUT OF A 14 YEAR OLD HUH

listen. listen. i know merc-rescues-oscar was never a possibility BUT i still love that idea. it lives in my mind rent free!!!

i feel like mercury’s gonna be so insane after the worst road trip ever in a confined space with tyrian that he’s gonna be immediately redeemed by team sssnn and the power of himbofication upon landing in vacuo LMAO

real talk though, i am VERY interested in what happens when mercury sees emerald again and learns she defected. like, this is his friend, who he’s tried to keep safe the only way he knows how (by keeping his head down and not angering their abuser) and she got out but he didn’t. GOD. AND in the first fight she was in after defecting, she used the move that she learned by watching him!!!! that’s gonna be SO GOOD and i can’t wait to see it!!!

neo is a wildcard and i love watching her fight and i think it’s SO INTERESTING that she went over the side with rwby and jaune and i CAN’T WAIT to see what she does next.

WATTS MY DUDE. what a GOOD volume for him. like the stuff where he yells at cinder was SO COOL to see and it was so funny that he thought that wasn’t gonna come back to bite him LMAO. i think this was super fitting for him and while i like him as a villain, i think this was a good place for his story to end. i had a lot of fun watching his scenes this volume.

qrow/robyn:

I LOVE THEIR SIBLING ENERGY. robyn talking qrow down and them bonding over their semblances together was so great.

i also loved qrow’s semblance...evolving?? changing?? idk what exactly happened yet, but i know that if i too hung out with robyn hill for 48 hours straight my outlook on life would improve dramatically.

i do hope robyn makes it to vacuo soon because she will be invaluable at handling the refugee crisis there.

on the other hand, if qrow gets to vacuo and finds out that ruby and yang (and three more of his adopted kids) never made it........PAIN. oh my god it’s gonna be like summer all over again 😭😭

aceops:

did not expect to get teary-eyed when vine died. and yet i did. that “themes of death” cw on the finale was CERTAINLY SOMETHING HUH

hell yeah marrow!!! what a good boi!!! i loved his defection ofc and him going off on ironwood...chefs kiss

i hope marrow sticks with the main cast. he’s my favorite and he deserves to see his friends again!!!

as for elm and harriet, i’m not sure?? i think harriet still has a lot of work to do before she’s redeemed in my eyes. maybe they can be dropped off at beacon to help glynda fight the grimm/rebuild so that they can be back for the show’s ending but the cast is somewhat trimmed for vacuo lmao

also. i know they’re not aceops. but WHERE ARE FLYNT AND NEON ARE THE MEME KIDS OKAY

happy huntresses:

may marigold is literally perfect in every way

loved them! would’ve loved to see more of them lmao. maybe even just cutting back to them in the crater reacting to some of the stuff going on.

i very much hope we get to see them in the future! i know the vacuans aren’t gonna be happy with the atlas/mantle people showing up unannounced but i feel like if there’s anyone who’s gonna be able to earn their respect, it’s the organized-and-saved-the-lives-of-those-downtrodden-by-atlas-happy-huntresses.

maria & pietro:

okay. SO. my thoughts are either that they made it to vacuo (penny did see where amity would touch down, so it’s possible that a portal was placed in that location and they made it through) or qrow picks them up.

either way, i hope we get to see them again. I LOVE THESE TWO GEEZERS!!!

oh, pietro......... *cries*

ironwood:

not much to say here except that i loved it. i loved how he got more and more paranoid, i loved that he vaporized jacques schnee, i loved that he only went cartoon-villain at the last moment, i loved that he died unceremoniously surrounded by the thing he thought would save them all. i love that cinder got in one final chess reference beforehand. 10/10

the hound:

it feels like a lifetime ago that this guy died but holy shit. holy SHIT.

i want whitley to summon the hound!! it was an enemy that pushed him to grow, i think it would be neat!!

ambrosius:

LOVED THIS DUDE. i LOVE how his powers work!!! like, even though it’s magic, it’s so realistic because that’s how creation works!!! you gotta design the EXACT thing you want or else its gonna be fucked up!!!

like. okay. so (back on my engineering bs again lmao) for example. let’s say i’m writing a program where the user enters a number from 1-10 and it’s displayed on the computer screen. so i write whatever code i need that says “take user input and put on screen.” that’s what ambrosius did when he created the portals and the pathways between them!

and then let’s say i also put a warning to the user that says “only enter numbers from 1-10.” that would be ambrosius saying “do not fall.”

but...the user can still enter whatever they want. what happens if they put in the number 100? what happens if they type a letter? this program only puts numbers from 1-10 on screen, so who knows what’s gonna happen. and that’s what happens when people fall off the railings!!!

“oh, but you told them what numbers to enter” yeah but humans are unpredictable and ya gotta account for the human element when doing stuff like this!! team rwby didn’t account for people falling off--because why would people fall off if they were told not to? but the human element messed that up anyway!!!

anyways i’m a fucking nerd apparently but it was super cool to see that reflected in ambrosius!!! i’m a big fan!!!

like whenever people call him tricky or sneaky...no!!! he was just doing exactly what he was told to do!!!! so good!!!

also i wanna see him hang out with his sister jinn lmao

alright and here’s my thoughts/predictions for v9:

first off i just wanna say that this entire section (this entire post really, but especically this section) is just me spitballing lmao. we literally have ZERO clue what’s happening next or where they are, i’m just throwing out some stuff that’s crossed my mind! whatever crwby gives us is gonna be infinitely better than whatever i come up with lmao

that said, i have two ideas for what could be happening in madagascar.

option one is the one i’ve seen other people toss around, which is the whole wonderland-land-of-the-dead thing. i’m kinda torn on this because i think it could be good for penny’s storyline, but not really anyone else’s?? sure, yang and ruby could see summer, but weiss would see...jacques?? and blake would see...adam?? i’m not sure what weiss and blake would have to say to them/learn from them the same way ruby and yang would.

on that same idea, jaune could definitely see pyrrha, but again, i’m wondering what purpose that would serve? obviously jaune’s actions in the finale were guided by pyrrha (or specifically her mom, and realizing that pyrrha never had a choice either), but it’s clear that that’s the case for all of team jnpr, and it will be probably forever. their scene together at pyrrha’s memorial felt like they were closing the door--specifically--on their grief. on the other hand, those actions are super relevant right now and i will never turn down the chance to see pyrrha!!! it’s just free waterworks babey!!!

neo also has roman, but i can’t really see roman admitting to anyone that he got swallowed by a grimm 😭😭 just seems too embarrassing for him LMAO

for penny, i think this could work nicely. all she ever wanted was to not have her life controlled by others--kind of like alice in wonderland (the disney movie version because i am fairy tale illiterate lmao). if penny gets to exist after death in a land where she gets to choose everything for herself i think she would be very happy!

again, if this ends up being the case, crwby could 100% make it work! (and i am 0% opposed to maya model pyrrha.) i just personally am not as sold on this being the case as some others are.

option two imo is vacuo but in the past. which i know seems kind of weird BUT i have reasons!

so we know a few things about vacuo. one, it used to be an oasis and was considered a paradise until atlas and mistral destroyed it for the dust. two, it has giant motherfucking crabs that people like to eat. yes this is all i have to go off of BUT both of those things are in the end credits scene we got!

also, them landing in past-vacuo makes sense on ambrosius’ level. their “one way ticket” probably didn’t include all four dimensions of coordinates--so i could see them landing in the same x, y, and z as the official doorway, but at a different time. the creation would still do exactly what it was asked to do--drop them in vacuo.

there’s also a couple other things. “vacuo” means “in a vacuum” which i’ve heard v9 is supposed to be. also in before the dawn, sun saw some bigass magic tree that awakened his semblance which this one definitely could qualify as

(okay. side note. when i first saw the tree i thought of the glowy tree from james cameron blue people avatar. IDK WHY, i haven’t seen that movie in years??? i also had to google it to make sure i wasn’t making it up and apparently it’s called the “tree of souls.” which would also make sense if it helped sun awakened his semblance. i don’t think rwby based something off of blue people avatar, it’s probably more likely that blue people avatar is based off of some fairytale/mythology that i don’t know anything about LMAO)

i don’t actually think option two is gonna happen, but it was fun to think about!!

also either option opens the opportunity to time not passing 1:1 in current vacuo & rwby’s island getaway which???????? AHHHHH

alright so now to the actual characters lmao. i mentioned wby earlier. i honestly have no clue what neo’s gonna be up to, she’s such a wild card and i LOVE IT.

ruby and jaune is gonna be...........PAIN. NO MATTER WHAT. i have no idea how ruby is gonna react--she might just be so overwhelmed by everything that she snaps/yells at jaune which. PAIN. but she also might not?? which. ALSO PAIN. i feel like no matter what ruby does, jaune’s gonna blame himself anyway. god. i love their friendship SO MUCH and this is gonna HURTTTT

and on that, he doesn’t have ren and nora this time to pull him back from the ledge. this dude’s guilt complex is gonna go crazy especially since he doesn’t have his team and double especially if ruby/rwby blames him for what happened. god it’s gonna HURT TO WATCH.

on a wildly different note, i hope we do get to see vacuo/qrow throughout volume 9. if i go a whole volume without ren and nora i WILL cry lmao.

also it’s gonna be super interesting to see how their group fares!!! vacuo’s fuckin nuts and i’d love to see winter just destroying the grimm there (3 headed giraffe my beloved) and see how the atlas/mantle refugees handle the climate--and how the vacuans react to all of them LMAO

ALSO!!!! THE SULFER FISH WERE THERE!!! very glad to see that they’re in vacuo too because from the concept art it seems like they have super unique abilities and i’m excited that we may get to properly see them, instead of just cameos!!!

team cfvy pspspspspspsps theodore and rumpole pspspspspsps team sssnn pspspspspsps

and, of course, i gotta mention that any possible jnr reunion WILL tear my heart out and i will probably cry for days. i gotta start emotionally preparing now LMAO

alright and that wraps it up!! if anyone makes it down to the bottom props to you!! i don’t expect anyone to actually read this mess lmao. tldr: INCREDIBLE volume and i’m so hype for v9 already!!!

#f: rwby #t.txt #this took me two whole days to type lmao

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immortalbeigewizard · 4 years ago

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The Big RWBY explainer:

OK So I’m going to try to take the lore and worldbuilding in RWBY and make it more clear because the writers in the beginning weren’t great at explaining the technical fantasy stuff in RWBY and I’m going to try to make a concise post that doesn’t spoil much. Although I’ll say right now spoiler warning for World of Remnant and some things in RWBY volumes 1&2.

Table of Contents:

1Geography, Kingdoms, the world, and political climate

2 history, faunus, and the mundane magic-y bits

3 grimm and huntsmen

4 meta stuff

1 The world:

So the land of RWBY is called the World of Remnant, that the “earth” that RWBY is in.

It contains 4 “kingdoms” along with settlements outside of those kingdoms. I use kingdom in quotes bc kingdom is a bit of a misnomer because they’re more like city-states and don’t occupy too much land on their respective continents. Each kingdom is on a different continent.

One more thing: yes the moon is shattered (It wasn’t in the Red trailer because I think they added it later, but it is shattered) (they explain why later, but I’m not going to)

The Kingdom of Vale:

This kingdom contains the huntsman schools

Signal: which is like a school for younger kids, we know that Yang graduated from Signal to go to Beacon

Beacon: the main school where the show takes place, the first year students start (usually) at age 17 (however they haven’t said how many years of school a huntsman has to go through until they graduate). It is located decently close to the city of Vale ( the only surviving city of the kingdom).

The city of Vale has a kind of contemporary/fantasy America feel to it (more in that it doesn’t scream any other culture than that it is trying to be American).

The Kingdom of Mistral:

This kingdom has the huntsman school Haven which is a school that functions like Beacon and Sanctum which functions like Signal.

Mistral is on the largest continent and is said to frequently have bandit problems. They have a very east Asian feel to the kingdom in its architecture, clothes, and food.

This kingdom has 2 cities Mistral and Argus. Haven is in Mistral (the city) and Sanctum is in Argus.

Mistral has a bit of a tense relationship with the next kingdom, Atlas because of the complicated agreement with Argus. (If i say anymore it's a vol 6 spoiler so I’ll stop here).

The Kingdom of Atlas:

The kingdom of Atlas has 2 cities, Atlas and Mantle. This is the only kingdom that has a military ( the other 3 don’t) and it also has its huntsman academies function as military academies. It’s very European in design, imperial European . This kingdom is on the tipping point of starting a war, and has peace on a razor’s edge. They have 1 known huntsman academy in Atlas.

Atlas used to be called the kingdom of Mantle, because Mantle used to be its capital ( look in the history section for an explanation).

The Kingdom of Vacuo:

This is the only kingdom that hasn’t shown up in the show yet, but it’s in the books. It’s a desert that has mostly migrating settlements. It’s government is a bit of a sham and the huntsman academy, Shade, is really in charge of keeping the peace. Atlas extracted many resources from Vacuo in the past in order to build its own kingdom, turning a lush jungle into a desert. More of a dangerous and unsafe place than Vale.

Other non kingdom places of note:

Vytal: An island off the coast of Vale, the treaty to end the Great War (see below) was signed here, and every 2 years the Vytal Festival takes place, a festival where cultures come together. Also students from the 4 elite huntsman schools (Beacon, Haven, Atlas,Shade) come together for a fun tournament.

Menagerie: The island was given to the faunus (see below) as a sort of homeland for their contributions during The Great War, however many faunus see this as a slap in the face because the land is 2/3rds desert, leading to overcrowding in the inhabitable areas.

Patch: A small island off the coast of Vale that Ruby and Yang live on. It is also where Signal is.

2 The History:

So this is going to talk about the history that the average citizen of Remnant would know and not the cool protagonist knowledge that team RWBY gets later.

The Great War:

About 80 years before the start of the show the most memorable war apparently in the history of Remnant took place. The war starts like this: Political tensions were high, Vale and Vacuo were getting uncomfortable about Mantle and Mistral’s closeness, until one day Mantle decided to ban artistic expression and self expression. Mistral followed along as to not lose this alliance. Vale already wasn’t happy about how Mantle and Mistral treated their citizens, slavery included in that. But it wasn't until settlers from Mistral started fighting settlers from Vale on an unoccupied island that an actual war began. The TL;DR is that Mantle's ago was wounded so they still had a military, the other 3 kingdoms disbanded their militaries and set up huntsman academies, the in- canon reason everyone has a color name is because of the war (more on that in the meta section), this is the reason the Vytal festival exists, there is peace, they banned slavery, and the faunus rights movement starts soon after the war.

The Faunus:

The faunus are a fantasy race of people that have an animal characteristic, like ears, tails, teeth, antlers, w/e

So the faunus are discriminated heavily (At least in the past, the only place in show present where there is still blatant discrimination would be Atlas/Mantle). The most common type of faunus would be mammal faunus (ex. cats, dogs, deer,) Some faunus are able to hide themselves in order to blend in with humans. The only faunus rights group mentioned in the show is the White Fang. They started off doing non violent actions like boycotts, but when their leader stepped down they became increasingly more violent. (This is actually explained decently well in the show so I’m going to leave it here because I’m trying to give the least amount of spoilers)

Aura:

Aura is a projection of one's soul. It sort of acts like a protective bubble, and functions like HP in a video game, you can’t get permanently injured (cuts, dismemberment ,die) if you have your aura up (the exception is in the white trailer because I don’t think they solidified this rule yet for the trailer). Your aura color is unique to the individual (or at least our main cast) and that is, essentially, your soul’s color. Not everyone has activated their aura (civilians and background characters) but if you have you may be able to access your Semblance.

Semblance:

It’s like your own personal superpower. Think like the X-men. Anyone can have any type of Semblance, but there are a few common varieties. Such as augmenters, cloners, and emitters, or absorbers. (these are all names I’ve come up with, but they kinda help make sense because RWBY has a lot of characters so you can’t remember everyones’ Semblances). Augmenters would be Semblances that change how much your body can do, like a speed enhancing Semblance. Cloners would be a Semblance that allows you to make copies of yourself ( or others). Emitters would be a Semblance that allows you to change the physical space, or someone's perception of physical space (ex. An illusion Semblance or a Magneto-style Semblance). And an absorber would be a Semblance that allowed you to absorb some kind of energy and redirect or use it in some way (like if there was a Semblance that allowed you to absorb damage and shoot it back at the person who fired). Again these are labels that I use and aren’t official, they just make it easier for me to remember because these are the most common types. (a quick clarification because I wasn’t sure if I said this already, but faunus have souls, they are able to produce an aura, and they can have a semblance, they are people. Aura = soul = people)

Dust:

So Aura and Semblances aren’t the only magic-y thing common in Remnant. The last thing on our list is Dust. Dust are magic crystals that contain elemental abilities( like how in the White trailer Weiss is able to strike the ground and summon ice). In RWBY these are most commonly seen as bright crystals and powder, but also are incorporated into the bullets the characters use (Any time a character shoots not a grenade or rocket launcher and there’s an explosion they were likely using combustion dust). This is most easily seen with Weiss because of how she uses dust. Dust can also be manipulated to make forms not found in nature (like fire or ice) into something like hard light dust (or it can make a force field). Dust can also be used in tandem with semblances (for example if there’s a cloner they may be able to make an exploding clone). It is also used for non combative reasons, such as running cars, trains, planes. Dust functions as the main source of power on Remnant everything from homes being heated with fire dust to machines being powered by electricity Dust. (The reason I refer to Aura, Semblances, and Dust as “magic-y” is because RWBY is very specific in saything they aren’t magic).

4 Grimm and Huntsman:

Grimm:

So, grimm are monsters made of darkness and shadow. They are basically just mindless hordes. They don’t eat, they aren’t animals, and they don’t really do much beyond wander around looking for humans (and faunus) to kill. They are drawn to negative human emotions, like fear, anger , and sadness. (that’s why Mistral and Mantle wanted to take away people’s expression, so they wouldn’t accidentally attract grimm(still not right tho)). Grimm are hunted and killed by Huntsman and Huntresses, people trained and taught how to fight and that’s their job. But the people of Remnant don’t know much about the origins or biology of grimm (I honestly think it's kinda like a virus thing where they aren’t alive but really look it and all they do is kill living things) Because they disappear after “death”.

Huntsman and huntresses:

So, as I’ve kinda halfway explained throughout this thing; Huntsman and Huntresses are people who chose to (it's a trained profession) go out there and fight grimm, along with bandits and murderers or whatever (basically Remnant’s superheroes). They are trained at Huntsman academies, (listed above; Beacon, Haven, Atlas’, and Shade). They use their Aura and (usually) have access to a Semblance. Use Dust (usually) and are all around good people fighting for what's right (generally).

5 Meta Stuff:

Alright this is where I put all of the stuff that isn’t canon to the world of Remnant, but is important to understand the story.

So, there are a few fairy tales that exist in Remnant that will come up in the story (You can easily find these online, RT published a book of them) One of them is a story about the gods of Remnant (the story itself doesn’t matter for my point) there are 2 of them and they are called The Brothers’ Grimm (Like the fairy tale writers) this is because every (important) character is an allusion to a fairy tale, mythological, or legendary figure.

For example, Ruby is Little Red Riding Hood. Some of them are obvious (ex Ruby) and some are not.

(I’ve noticed that there’s kind of a pattern; There’s characters who are just aesthetic allusions (ex Ruby) characters who are story allusions (spoiler Penny is Pinnochio), or characters who are both (Weiss and Blake), characters who have their own allusion, but pick up another due to their relationship with another character (Qrow and Raven), and characters who don’t look like they have an allusion, but theirs is revealed as a plot twist (I’m not giving an example here).

There’s stuff I’ve leaving out here that CRWBY doesn’t explain well right out of the gate, but this stuff is necessary in order to clearly understand at least volumes 1-2.

#rwby #rwby spoiler #rwby meta #rwby guide #rwby thoughts #fuck y'all this was 6 pages long in google docs #and i wrote this at 3 AM

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todeleterwby · 4 years ago

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RWBY tweaked au character design notes

Yang and Ruby [link]

Ruby

I took away her Cape because it's super impractical and the only reason she has is is because of her inspiration. I left her a hood

Her hoodie has pockets that zip closed. Convenient because pockets, and also they won't spill or anything during fights

Generally just made her outfit look like something a teenager would wear

I made her some straps so crescent rose has something to attach to

Yang

Yang has a necklace that is actually a headband that she pulls back before fights. I thought it would be good given how much hair she has

More casual outfit rather than something you'd wear on a, like, self care day where you want to feel confident. She is confident. She doesn't need the outfit constantly to prove it. Her original outfit is pretty casual already so I just made a few changes

I gave her a purse sort of thing that has extra straps so that it won't fall off during fights. I thought it suited her better than the fanny pack she has in the original

Weiss and Blake [link]

Weiss

I made weiss more casual formal than formal formal as she was before

Her top half looked like she was going to a classical concert, so that was the biggest change I made.

I gave her shorts for modesty, because I don't think she'd be comfortable otherwise

Blake

The biggest change with Blake is obviously her race. I'm planning on introducing more diversity into rwby. I try to impliment diversity into my own works, but with aus I usually wouldn't bother. Characters already exist, whatever. However RWBY has an overt message regarding racism so there really SHOULD have been more diversity. And this au is all about improving where I can. I plan on making the races correspond with areas. Vacuo is a dessert area so the characters from their will be black, whereas atlas is very north so weiss is white. Plus, obviously weiss is white. Blake is from Menagerie and I imagine that fauna are put there from all over remnant, so I imagine Blake's from vacuo which would make her black which is the obvious choice for her

Her original outfit makes no sense and all over her outfits are super restricting. I gave her, like, sweat pants and a jacket. She has pockets and I added straps for her weapon to hold onto

Pyrrha and Nora [link]

Pyrrha

For some reason I was under the impression that Pyrrha was from Vacuo. I don't know why. But I've already designed the character and posted it so I'm just going to say her family moved some generations ago

Pyrrha is particularly egregious when it comes to impractical anime outfits. I tried to make her outfit allude to the original as much as possible while making it pretty casual.

Her sash is now a jacket that's wrapped around her waist and her armor now makes sense and is practical. You might have been under the impression that I would be against armor because of anime outfit impracticality syndrome, but it's not that out of the way. These characters are going to school for fighting and in the real world athletes wear padding. Her armor does suck in the original though, that's why I changed it.

When I make scenes where they're just relaxing in their dorm, she will be out of the armor and may be wearing the jacket.

Nora

Nora's outfit is mostly pretty normal looking until you look too hard, so there aren't many changes. Her shirt is now just a tshirt with a heart on it, and I left the grey parts which I've always interpreted as metal. They look metal but I'm not sure what they're for. I used them to be a way to hold her giant weapon. She has a small vest to make up for the details on her shirt that I had to take out.

I added a bag thing that is also held up by the brace, which I imagine she uses for amo. Where does she get amo in the original? Seriously!

Jaune and Ren

I don't have enough changes for either of them to warrant making a show of their designs. Ren looks less casual than I'm making the rest but he has a very strong connection with his culture due to his past and it is a very cultural attire. Jaune looks like someone I might even see in real life, minus the armor. The only change I'm making with jaune is darkening his skin, which I did for all characters but Weiss, and debatably Ren. No one is going to argue that Ren ISN'T Asian right? I mean come on

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izaswritings · 5 years ago

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Title: cinema blues

Fandom: RWBY

Synopsis: The night of the election, Oscar, Weiss, and Jaune go to the movies. ...Try to go to the movies, anyway.

(Or: in which Oscar is homesick, Weiss worries about election things, and Jaune frets about everything else. Problems aren't so easily avoided.)

AO3 Link is here.

“You didn’t have to come if you didn’t want to, Weiss.”

It is already evening in the city of Atlas, the sun setting far off behind the distant skyscrapers, all the buildings cast in dark silhouetted shadow. The theater is a hub of light and sound in contrast to the slowly dimming streets— a glowing sign flashes high above, the glass doors shining golden from the sheer wealth of light and noise and fanfare inside. Still, it’s far less crowded than Oscar had expected. In the eve of election day, the great cinema house has been left practically abandoned in favor of political celebrations and late-night distractions.

Of course, that doesn’t mean the theater is empty. The shortened lines wrap around the building, the air heavy with the smell of hot food, the distant conversations like a constant murmur in his ears. The three of them—Weiss, Jaune, and Oscar—are standing under a bright flashing sign, looking at a list of movie names that mean absolutely nothing, watching the lines move in.

“I know,” Weiss says, to Jaune. “Which is why I came, because I did want to.” Her arms are crossed, her eyes fixed on the movie board; she’s frowning, slightly, her foot tapping as she reads. Beside her, Jaune looks torn between fond and overwhelmed, and Oscar, a bit ahead of them both, watches the ticket-goers enter the theater, occasionally glancing back at them from the corner of his eye. “If you didn’t want me here, Jaune, you shouldn’t have invited me.”

“Oh, no, it’s not that!” Jaune waves his hands, rapid, laughing almost awkwardly. “Sorry, sorry, that’s not what I meant. You just, uh…” He trails off and cringes. “Look… very… upset?”

Oscar bites his lip at that. He’s noticed that too— Weiss had been almost cheerful on the walk over, news of the on-going election aside, but once they’d arrived her mood had taken a rather sharp nosedive.

Even now, something furrows at her brow; Weiss glares at the movie board and then squeezes her eyes shut. Oscar regards her with worry. “I’m just—” she says, and then sighs. She brings a hand to her temple, her braid swinging when she shakes her head. “I… don’t have a single clue on what any of these are about.”

Oscar follows her gaze to the movie board, the screens full of new titles and unfamiliar listings. Jaune looks too—and winces. “…Oh.”

“It makes sense,” Oscar offers, drifting back towards their side. He keeps his eyes on the lines, the bright lights of the screen making him dizzy. “I mean, um, we haven’t exactly been… I mean, we haven’t really had time recently, have we?”

Weiss frowns, still looking annoyed; Jaune is quiet for a moment, considering. “You know,” he starts, thoughtful, “I never really thought about it, but you’re right. We’ve been kind of… really busy this past year, huh. Two years.” He pauses. “Ugh.”

The three of them stand in contemplative silence. Weiss breaks first, sighing heavily, and turns around to walk over and sit down on a nearby bench, her annoyance replaced with exhaustion. Behind them, the election, still on-going, flashes the current poll numbers—60 to Robyn, 40 to Jacques. Weiss looks at the screen for a long moment, and doesn’t seem the slightest bit comforted.

“I didn’t even pay attention,” she admits, at last, eyes still on the election counter. “Even when I was home…”

“Always felt like there were more important things to do,” Jaune agrees, voice a little soft. He and Oscar share a brief look. Jaune nods first, silent agreement, and settles down next to Weiss. He watches the election news too, for a moment—lips tight and brow furrowed, eyes dropping down as if he could peer through the city floors and see straight down to Mantle. Oscar drifts beside them, unsure of what to say, hating the looks on their faces. He bites his lip and shuffles on his feet, and goes back to watching the theater.

The silence stretches—and then Jaune huffs and crosses his arms. “Yeah, okay. I have no idea what any of these movies are about either.” He rubs his chin. “Okay. Deciding factor. Oscar?”

“Hm?” Oscar is still watching the lines.

“What movie do you wanna see?”

Oscar shrugs. “What movies do people usually see at a theater?”

“What do you mean, what…” Jaune squints at him. “Oscar.”

“Yeah?”

“What movies have you seen at the theater?”

“Oh,” Oscar says, easily. He tucks his hands under his legs to keep warm and sits down on the bench railing, kicking his feet above the pristine street. Atlas really is far too shiny. It makes something in him ache for the dirt roads and overgrown wildlife of his home. “I’ve never been.”

“You’ve never… what?”

“Been,” Oscar says.

“To the theater?”

“Yes.”

“You’ve never seen a movie?”

“No, I’ve seen movies. Just not—”

“At the theater.”

Oscar almost laughs at him. “Yep.”

There’s a long pause. Both Weiss and Jaune are staring. Oscar looks back at them, something like bemused. “I was a farmhand,” he reminds them, honestly befuddled. “Middle of no-where, Mistral? And my Aunt and I, she had some helpers in the busy months but it was really just us, y’know?” Something in him aches at the memory—he hopes she’s doing okay—but Oscar pushes it back as he’s always done, and tilts his head. “The only theater around was two hours away, and it just wasn't worth the Lein, honestly. So, um. Yeah, I have no idea. I only saw movies released for scrolls… and my Aunt liked old-style cinema, anyway.”

“Meaning?”

“Lots of black-and-white Vacuo Westerns.”

Weiss puts her head in her hands. Jaune sighs. “Maybe this was a bad idea…”

Oscar winces. “It was a good idea!” he protests, kicking his feet. Gah, it’s cold. “Um, maybe we can just pick a random one?”

“I guess…” Jaune trails off, scratching at his head and leaning back against the bench. “I dunno. Weiss?”

“I mostly just came to get out of the Academy.”

“Yeah…”

They sit there, the three of them together, watching people mill about. The election booms on behind them, the numbers ticking down and up, constant change. Weiss looks at her hands; Jaune watches the poll numbers, lips pressed.

Oscar’s eyes linger on the theater, on the faces of the movie-goers. The fancy clothes, the unguarded smiles, soft laughter. It’s fancy in a way that makes his palms itch; he feels out of place here, too small and too—he’s not sure what. Rural? The streets are so clean he feels bad for walking there.

The more he sees of it, the less he likes Atlas. Haven had been big, but at least Oscar had felt like he fit there, just one of a thousand others. Even Mantle has felt—not welcoming, maybe, but solid. There is something about Atlas—maybe the troops, or the silver shine, or just the wealth of it all—that makes him feel the exact opposite. Like the city itself is rejecting him. Oscar can’t imagine living here. It feels more like a prop than a city; a shiny toy instead of a community.

He misses the farm suddenly and surely, a solid ache in his chest. He misses his Aunt. He misses—Mistral, maybe. Home. He’d never wanted to be a farmhand forever, but at least there he’d always known he’d belonged. Oscar has his team, now, has RWBY and Qrow and Maria and the others—but he knows the others feel it too. Atlas and the Academy are beautiful… but it is only barely a home.

He thinks it must cut Weiss deepest of all.

And it is Weiss, then, who decides for them. She tilts her head to Atlas’s clear sky, turned pitch dark and starless from the light pollution, and says, almost a sigh: “Let’s just… not.”

The idea of sitting still in a fancy theater, watching a movie he doesn’t care about and doesn’t know, surrounded by strangers… yeah, no. Oscar shrugs. “Sounds good to me.”

Jaune groans. “Movie night’s a bust, then. Man, and I’ll bet everyone else is having a great time, too.”

“We can never tell them about this.”

“Agreed.”

Oscar rolls his eyes, and hops to his feet. “I’m gonna buy popcorn,” he decides.

“For what?”

“I dunno. People-watching? I’ve never tried theater popcorn, I just want to know.”

“You’ve never had— !? No, no, no, right, I remember now, stop giving me that look— I’m sorry!”

Weiss rolls her eyes and pushes up off the wall. “Come on,” she says to Oscar. “I’ll pay. It’s all going to be stupidly expensive, anyway…”

They’re standing in line and buying food when the channel changes back to the election, the final ten minutes ticking off. Oscar glances at the polls—closer than he thought they would be, honestly—and bites his lip when he glances over at Weiss. Her stare at the monitors is grim.

“…You okay?”

She glances down at him. “I’m fine.” But her eyes draw back to the monitors. Jaune places a hand at her back. She gives him a look. He smiles at her, sympathetic. Weiss closes her eyes and sighs— and leans, just a little, into the touch. “Just… 47%. They must know he’s never going to do any good, don’t they?”

“Polls will close in a few minutes,” Jaune says, and squeezes her shoulder, a one-armed hug. “It’ll be fine.”

“Mm…”

But Weiss does not seem convinced.

They walk back outside, sitting on their bench, and Weiss watches the outside screens the whole time, as if reluctant to look away. Oscar munches on popcorn—dry, salty, and not nearly as good as Jaune told him it was, bleh, who would do that to perfectly good corn?—and puts it to the side, pushing it away slowly with the tip of his finger.

Jaune is still watching Weiss. “Do you wanna head back?”

Weiss shakes her head. “In a bit. Polls close in three minutes, right?” She draws her arms close. “I just…” Together, they watch the numbers tick up. 48%. “I need to be sure.”

Jaune is watching too, now. “You don’t think he’ll really…?”

Oscar watches the numbers tick. 49%. A knot of anxiety has formed in his chest, and he has to force himself to swallow. “Um… what happens if…?”

He can’t finish the question, and none of them can voice an answer. The dread grows. The numbers tick. Weiss closes her eyes, and her breath shudders. “How many more…?”

“…Thirty seconds.”

Her eyes are closed. Her lips twist. The polls shut. The results are read out. Someone in Atlas’s streets stands and cheers. High and hollow laughter in the air.

Oscar stares at the screen for a very long moment.

At long last, Weiss shakes her head, wordless. She lifts her head with a clenched jaw—eyes bright, her teeth grit, pain in her face and fury in the curl of her hands. Beside her, Jaune looks hollowed, eyes on his feet once again, as if to peer through the Atlas streets to Mantle sitting far below. His whole face twists, anger rising— and then it fades, driven back, resigned. He reaches slowly to his side, and grips the hilt of his sword. “…We should head for Mantle,” he says, subdued.

The Grimm. There is no doubt. Oscar stands too, his heart heavy. For a moment, oddly, he feels strangely distant—not as alone in his head as usual. A grief for Mantle that is more than just his—despair turned two-fold. He reaches out, almost terrified to know.

Oz?

The feeling fades. There is only him. Oscar closes his eyes, lips twisting on a grimace, and unhooks the Long Memory from his back. It’s nothing, probably. Always nothing. He’d just hoped…

But there’s no time for disappointment, or bitterness, or whatever this feeling is. Already he can hear the sirens.

“Somehow I knew it would end up like this,” Weiss says, soft, and lifts her sword. Her expression goes cold, lips thin with determination. The theater, behind them, lies forgotten, flashing lights and laughter like something from a different world— or maybe a dream. “Well. It was nice while it lasted.”

“To Mantle, then,” Jaune says.

“To Mantle,” Oscar echoes, and together they head for the ships.

#rwby #rwby7 spoilers #oscar pine #weiss schnee #jaune arc #ozpin #rwby fic #iza fanfic #please reblog if u liked!!!!#💖💖💖

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littlemisssquiggles · 4 years ago

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Hello! Long time no see! I read your Cinder the Red Queen theory, and it's really cool! Cinder is one of my favorite characters (even if I don't watch RWBY anymore) and it would be really awesome to see Cinder play a really big role, besides "revenge on Ruby". Although, I am personally more of a Cinder Redemption Arc fan. So, hypothetically, if Cinder were to get one such redemption arc, how do you think it would play out?

Hiya Yellow! Yeah it has been a while. Sorry I took so long to get back to you. Slowly working through my backlog of posts inside my inbox. Anyways, how have you been fam? And in the literal immortal words of one Oscar Pine, wait…WHAT! When did you stop watching RWBY? ! D8

What happened? If you don’t mind me asking, how come you’re not watching anymore? Is it because you just fell out of love with the series as a whole after being disappointed with its current direction or did all the discourse surrounding the show (and by extension RT as well) drive you to stop?

Sad to hear you’re no longer in the FNDM man. But on a different note, allow me to say thank you! Knowing that you’re a Cinder fan, I’m happy to hear that you liked my Red Queen headcanon for her. Much appreciated.

And yes, I do remember you being an advocate for Cinder’s redemption as well. In response to writing a Cinder redemption arc, I’m gonna be frank.

Given the way the canon has portrayed Cinder’s character, both in previous seasons and currently, redemption is still the last thing I can envision for your favourite Fall Maiden m’dude. I’ve never seen Cinder getting redeemed as a possibility since to me, the show hasn’t shown enough evidence of her being empathetic to anyone else other than herself to make me believe there’s a chance for her to change for the greater good.

The only way I can picture Cinder going is either she is given the Adam Taurus treatment---unceremoniously killed off despite the series keeping her relevant to the story for so long or…Cinder survives long enough to rise up and see herself becoming the all-powerful entity she desires to be---ultimately walking out of Salem’s shadow to overthrow her and replace her as the Red Queen and succeeding within a short time what Salem has failed to do for centuries---thrusting Remnant into utter anarchy in the form of a second Great War sparked by one of the kingdoms (possibly Mistral) declaring war against the remaining three kingdoms hoping to conquer them all after learning that the great Atlas Kingdom has fallen along with the former Mantle.

One kingdom to rule them all and this was all done through Cinder puppeteering her pawns in the Mistral Council through her newly awakened abilities after finally succumbing to the Geist Grimm and becoming something more than human--- a Grimm with a soul and a conscience. A Grimm-human hybrid or Grimmoire as I’d like to say.

Instead of being redeemed, I more favour the idea Cinder becoming a bigger threat to Remnant than Salem who I peg would be defeated, purified of her darkness (courtesy of Ruby’s silver eyes) and stripped of any magic that she had, courtesy of Cinder betraying her.

Cinder’s whole “…Without you, I am nothing” statement from the trailer is just giving me huge red flags for her to eventually realize that she can probably do better than Salem without her holding her back. The student does eventually become the master, right? So why not expect Cinder to replace Salem as the main big antagonist of RWBY with her reign being the true threat of Remnant in a time of war?

I really, really like the idea of the main conflict of RWBY not being the war with Salem but the rise of Cinder Fall and the second Great War of Remnant. I think such a plotline would be cool especially looking back on the fact that Oz had told General Ironwood that he prayed that his students---the children whose futures and development were entrusted to him---would never have to face the pains and strife of war like his predecessor: King Phadrig of Vale, once did long ago.

It would actually be very compelling to watch our heroes attempting to survive a dire time when the world was divided with two of its founding kingdoms in shambles while one tried to conquer them all (Mistral) and another daring to defend them all (Vacuo). The first Great War lasted ten years. Imagine if…it were the same for the second with time fast-forwarding to another period ten years later when all of our young heroes were now grown adults. No longer naïve children enamoured by the huntsmen lifestyle but seasoned warriors doing what they could to help the people in a dark world where war raged, humanity pleaded for their salivation and the Grimm feasted.

That could’ve been nice. But…I’m getting ahead of myself here. I’m not sure if anything like that will actually happen in the show. Still it’s good to share the idea around.

Going back to Cinder, like I said---right now I can’t see a redemption arc for Cinder.

As I said, the core reason why I’ve never been for Cinder being a redeemable character is due to the fact that up until this point, the series has done very little to establish her having any positive qualities. Cinder has sadly been selfish through and through making it very clear multiple occasions that she’s only out for herself. For me to have pictured Cinder to be a redeemable character, the series would’ve need to introduce a sort of “buffer character”---for lack of a better term. Basically when I say a buffer character, I mean in terms of a character who could’ve acted as a sort of foil to Cinder---seeing through her power-hungry nature and faults and thus revealing to the audience a much more relatable, sympathetic and emotionally vulnerable side to her through her relationship with said buffer.

The best example of this type of dynamic for me in an animated media is the relationship between Prince Zuko and his Uncle Iroh from Avatar the Last Airbender. In that series, Iroh was Zuko’s buffer character---the one person who saw through Zuko’s acts of aggression and appealed to the side of him that was just a insecure young man lacking any real support in his life and wanting nothing more than to do his best to appease an abusive father just so that he can feel a sense of belonging in the world.

It was through his bond with his uncle that I, as a viewer, was able to believe in Zuko’s redemption arc since it was only with Iroh did we see a more open side to Zuko---the side that reminded us that outside of his status as Prince of the Fire Nation leading the charge to capture the Avatar---outside of that, Zuko was only a boy in need of guidance. Guidance that Iroh attempted to provide him on multiple occasions.

Going back to Cinder, this is what I would have needed to make her redeemable. Give her a character who is the only one to see her more vulnerable side. Using what we know about the series, I’d say Emerald Sustrai could’ve easily been Cinder’s buffer. In the show, RWBY already established Cinder as a sort of motherly/sister figure based on Emerald’s perception of her.

Through Emerald, the show could’ve used her close ties with Cinder to show a side to her that we often don’t see. A side that actually cares for Emerald or at least better fools Emerald (and by extension us as the audience) into thinking that she cares. Ironically enough, the show could’ve had Cinder mirror Salem in this regard.

The reason why I’m more of an advocate for Salem’s redemption over Cinder is because UNLIKE Cinder, the show has given me moments of Salem being genuinely kind and caring to others. We saw this with the way she loved Ozma and would’ve done anything to get him back before her self-interest and hatred toward the Brother Gods consumed her.

We saw this in the Lost Fable and to some degree, even though she is another pawn to her, I’d like to think that the way Salem treats Cinder is akin to a mother. My issue with Salem isn’t that she is incapable of caring about others, it’s that no matter what, she will never put them before herself. It will always be her first and others second. At least that’s what I interpreted and it for this reason while her curse will remain.

However at least the show has shown examples of Salem showing compassion towards other. This is something I have yet to see from Cinder Fall. To me, Cinder is lacking that side of her.

Salem is selfish but as strange as this for me to say, I don’t think she’s entirely heartless. It’s kind of complicated when it comes to Salem but this just adds onto why I find her character fascinating. This is what makes the difference for me between her and Cinder and separates the two.

Salem is selfish but is capable of empathy and a surprising amount of mercy in unexpected moments (like in the way she treats Cinder for example. Salem could’ve easily offed Cinder for her failures like how she ended Lionheart but instead she left her be. And judging from the V8 trailer, even as Cinder came grovelling back to her, Salem still seemed to mostly react to Cinder’s return with an air of a strict parent who isn’t angry at their child but more disappointed. And oddly enough she did the same thing with Tyrian back in V4)

Cinder, on the other hand, shares in Salem’s self-centred nature but lacks any kind of compassion. Cinder is heartless.

Sorry Yellow, picturing a redemption arc for Cinder Fall is tough for me, even hypothetically speaking. I mean, if the show had done something with Cinder akin to Zuko---having her gain the power and status she’s always wanted only to have it result in her losing the only good relationship she had in Emerald thus leading to her falling from grace again after realizing her mistakes---then I could see it.

Or…perhaps the show could’ve pulled an Azula type of redemption for Cinder. Have her gain the power she desired at the cost of her own humanity and she loses herself in the process, becoming a monster and realizing her mistakes too late. And in the end, despite everything she’s been through and in spite of all that she put her through, the only person to appear before Cinder in her time of death after falling from her mistakes is Emerald.

I like the irony of Emerald cradling a dying Cinder Fall, choosing even then not to hate her and remain with her until her last dying breathe as her way of finally paying her back for saving her from her former life of poverty; giving her a new sense purpose in life outside of being a street rat.

That could’ve worked, at least me. But again, this is only if the show had further developed Emerald and Cinder’s bond. I genuinely wished the show had explored more of Cinder’s ties to Emerald. This is why I wanted Emerald to be Cinder’s accomplice for Atlas instead of Neopolitan. We could’ve watched Emerald’s character grow further through her separating herself from Salem’s legion and devoting herself entirely to Cinder. We could’ve watched Cinder even entice Emerald with the prospect of her ruling beside Cinder in the new world she would’ve aided her to build for Salem.

At the end of the day, as Emerald implied back in V5, she doesn’t care that much for Salem. The only person of interest to Emerald Sustrai is Cinder so this makes me curious to see what their reunion would be like for V8. I highly doubt Salem just ups and left Emerald, Mercury and Hazel back in the Dark Domain. Unless they were sent off to Vacuo to retrieve the Sword of Destruction, they’re bound to be there with Salem inside of Grimm Monstro so I’m looking forward to seeing the look on Emerald’s face when she realizes to her dismay that in her absence, she had been replaced with Neo.

It would be interesting watching how Emerald deals with this development in addition to seeing where her story goes from here now that her beloved Cinder Fall is back with her but not really with HER, y’know what I’m saying? Perhaps this could lead to Emerald going out of her way to get back onto Cinder’s good side mirroring Cinder attempting to return to Salem’s.

“…Without you, I am NOTHING!” “…I don’t care about Salem but I owe Cinder for EVERYTHING!”

It’ll be a game of watching apprentices regain the faith of their masters as Emerald is Cinder’s apprentice while Cinder is Salem’s. This should be a fun development to observe for next season

…Sorry if I haven’t exactly answered your question Yellow. Truth be told, I don’t have much ideas for how Cinder could be redeemed. However I do stand by my points about Emerald being used to show a different side to Cinder. It’s a shame this wasn’t done much in the canon. But who knows? Maybe something might be done to change that for V8.

~LittleMissSquiggles (2020)

#squiggles anwers: rwby #cinder fall #emerald sustrai #rwby salem #rwby theories #rwby volume 8 theories #yellow-eyed-green-crocodile #squiggles answers

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daggerpawstudios · 4 years ago

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The next Great and Powerful Wizard of Oz: Oscar Pine (Part 1.)

So this one is for my boy!!

Oscar Pine.

I have always loved Oscar's character since he was introduced. Oscar slightly like Dorothy Gale from the Wizard of Oz. In the sense where he is living on a farm in the middle of nowhere( Kansas) and gets wisp away to save Haven Academy to help the Wizard (wisp away to land of Oz.)

Oscar Pine character comes at time in the story where the narration has changed. The Beacon Huntsmen Academy no longer exists. The Headmaster of that school is dead and the world is unsure of the future of Remnant. The world is also on the verge of war and people do not know where their allegiances lie.

Our heroes are separated and no longer feel heroic.

They are depressed, unhopefully, confused and scared. While one honest soul is still trying because she knows if stops who else will continue this fight.

The world is in chaos...

Volume 4, Chapter 1: The Next Step.

This where we met the Farmhand named Oscar Pine.

Oscar is a farmhand. At this moment in time we do not understand his importance nor do we truly understand why he is even being shown to us.

We learn he lives with his aunt on the outskirts of Mistral. His daily routine is mundane, it is the usual farm work. Oscad gets up before dawn and finishes at dusk.

It is not until Chapter 7: Punished that we learn of Oscar's importance in the story. Ozpin at this time has been killed at the fall of Beacon and has been trying to convince Oscar to go to Haven. We also learn that Ozpin's and Oscar's souls and aura are combined into one.

Oscar must go on this Hero's journey to help the Wizard. But he refuses.

Ozpin reads his thoughts about desiring to be more than just a farmhand.

" I never agreed to anything..."

" No, you didn't and neither did I at First. But you do have an opportunity..."

" For what..?"

" Greatness...Hopefully. Greatness in knowing when the world needed help, you were the one who reached out your hand. It won't come without hardship, without sacrifice. But i know you don't want to live the rest of your life working as a farmhand in Mistral."

What I find interesting about Oscar and Ozpin conversation is at this point in time. Oscar has been living a pretty boring life. He is an avid reader of his aunt books and works on a farm day in and day out. The farm also seems to be in the middle of nowhere with no small town or neighbors present. These small visuals also drives the point home that Oscar's life is repetitive.

However, despite his home's life, he still manages to have snarky banter with his aunt when she requests him to have dinner.

Eventually, Oscar does decide to leave the farm and travel to mistral to go to Haven Academy. He tells Ozpin that he feels like leaving is the right thing to do. Now, Oscar has been flung into the story along with our heroes and is now making his way to Haven to change the course of events.

Now at this point the RNJR_Q have made their way to Haven and Qrow is sitting in bar. Qrow at this moment is trying to damage control the situation without the Wizard's guidance. I can assume that it has been a year since Ozpin has disappeared leaving his allies to keep control of the situation till he returns. There is only so much he can do. Salem is now active and without her adversary to keep her check. Salem can practically do what she wants. Surprisingly the next wizard finds Qrow.

This is where the turning point of the story become apparent with the Wizard's return. But Oscar is not the Wizard or at least.... Not just yet..

Going into Volume 5: Welcome to Haven. We learn from the pervious Wizard, Ozpin. That the Wizards are force to reincarnate and have been in a eternal battle with Salem for centuries. ( but we also learn that is not entirely true lol. He was not entirely forced to do this job. )

Team RNJR are completely interested in him since he they think he is Ozpin's reincarnated. Which makes Oscar uncomfortable. Since he just a small boy and has never met huntresses and huntsmen before in his life.

But this is also where Oscar begins to take a semi-passive role in the story. Ozpin is the Wizard that everyone wants and has all of the answers. But that is mostly because Ozpin has the memories of all of their countless lives, their magic, and their knowledge. Plus, Team RNJR_QWY knew him longer and see him as a teaching figure. While Oscar had just acquired these powers.

So Oscar his semi backseated during this Volume. But he does begin training his body to better exercise his aura to gain Ozpin's abilities and memories.

This is the middle of Volume 5 and this where the Team RNJR begin to understand that Oscar and Ozpin are different people. Ruby, Jaune, Nora and Ren all take a liking to Oscar. They give him advice on how to train better and advocate that they should all train together.

Ozpin is someone who is heavily skilled and had years of training. While Oscar is someone who fumbles a lot. Even the way Oscar and Ozpin use Long Memory ( The cane.) Is different. Ozpin's attack are more precise, while Oscar are rapid swings to try to overpower his opponent.

During the battle of Haven is where the Heroes learn that Lionheart has betrayed Ozpin and and is working with Salem. This trap is set up at the school's main hall. During this battle, the Team Ace Card is revealed and that is The Wizard.

We can infer that after the fall of Beacon. Lionheart's heart had begun to grow frighten of the events at hand. The world had witness Beacon fall into madness. The silence without the amity communication had not helped and had help grow suspicion. There had not been any word of Ozpin and his followers were frighten of the events at hand and had decided to do their own thing. Ironwood, traumatized by the mishap at Beacon, had change course to defend Atlas. While Qrow I firmly believe was the only one actually following what Ozpin told them to do. Besides, Theodore, who is the Headmaster of Vacuo.

Oscar presence as the Next Wizard had turned the tide of the story. His mere presence was enough to scary his enemies and make it known that Wizard was not going down without a fight.

In time Oscar's courage would grow and he would soon be worthy to be a real Wizard of Oz.

This point in Volume 5 was also important for Oscar because this was the point where he was finally accepting the call to action.

He was finally accepting the fact that he was indeed the next Wizard. He was making a choice.

During his battle with Hazel. Hazel brings up how his twin sister was killed due to fact of becoming a huntress and following Ozpin with rose-tinted glasses.

During this fight is also where Oscar is now trying to no longer take the backseat but prove himself as a worthy Wizard. Ozpin at this time would much rather take control of Oscar's body and beat up Hazel. But Oscar instead tries to talk to him

" Did she know the risk of being a Huntress? "

The concept of choice is a huge theme in the story of RWBY.

" She made a choice! A choice to put others above herself! And I do too!"

Oscar was finally making a choice. He was choosing the call to action. Which was different from Volume 4 and the earlier episodes because last season he did not chose the call.

The call chose him.

But where did this shift come from?

The shift came from Ruby's and Oscar's conversation in Chapter 5. When Oscar asks Ruby how does she handle all of this considering for the fact that he has been flung into dire situation that does not allow enough time for him to process the information.

Ruby tells him how she feels

" I am scared...but not just for me... "

"What happened at Beacon shows that Salem doesn't care if you're standing against her or not. She'll kill anybody. And that scares me most of all."

Ruby confesses she scared of Salem. But she has to press on for the sake of Penny and Pyrrha who if Ruby had died at Beacon. Is convinced that would keep fighting for Ruby's sake.

This conversation inspires Oscar to no longer be unsure of himself and accept the call. Even despite his fears of dying and being afraid of going into war. Ruby even tells him that since he bold enough to try that he is already brave.

This is what helps gives Oscar the strength to accept the call of being the next Wizard of Oz.

#oscar pine #ruby x oscar #snowpines #ozpin defense squad #ozcarpin #rosegarden #rosepine

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skyechaser · 5 years ago

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Silence in Atlas (30/30)

I did it. After so long I did it. I really hope you like this. SIA has been one hell of a ride and it is, as I post this final chapter, the first fanfiction I have every finished. I hope it made the hiatus more bearable to you as it did for me. I want to finish it before V7 aired but that clearly didn't happen jajaja. Yet here we are. Thank you so much for reading. I'd love to read what you think of this finale or if there is something I missed.

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

Blake woke up before Yang did. She wasn’t sweating cold and she wasn’t shivering. For the first time since she had been taken she hadn’t had one of those vivid nightmares. Deep breath. The blonde was facing her way, her left arm wrapped around her waist. They were both naked and the realization made her blush. She recalled the night before and couldn’t believe how bold she had been. She had hoped that intimacy wouldn’t trigger her if she was the one on the giving end. It worked. The sound of Yang moaning her name in ecstasy was so clear in her head that it turned her on.

She tried to sit up but found her legs tangled with Yang’s in a way that would definitely wake her girlfriend up if she moved. The blonde’s face looked so peaceful. Blake closed her eyes and leaned in, resting her head on the crook of the other girl’s neck. She could get used to this. It was the closest she had ever felt to paradise.

“You awake?” Yang’s voice caught her by surprise and her eyes shot open as she looked up. Amber met lilac once more. She moved up and kissed her girlfriend on the lips. “I’ve been awake for a while” the blonde admitted. “But I really like being like this”. Blake smiled and kissed her girlfriend once more. She couldn’t tell what time it was and she didn’t care. They could stay like that forever for what she cared. Several minutes went by and they both started to drift back to sleep when they were interrupted by a familiar sound. Yang’s scroll lit up, Ruby’s face on the screen. They exchanged a concerned look as the blonde moved to answer the call.

“Ruby?” she said as soon as the scroll was pressed against her ear.

“Hey, sis” the younger sibling said, her tone cheerful as always. Still, Yang could feel something was wrong.

“How are things in Vacuo?” the blonde asked.

“Well… A little intense. We fought off a pretty impressive amount of Grimm yesterday and today their numbers were still...” her tone suddenly changed. “We need you and Blake”

“Ruby… We are…”

“I know she’s healing. I know you are too. I know you need time but you deserve to know what is happening. I… I need you with me too, Yang”

“I know, little sis” she replied. Blake stared at her, confused about the interaction her girlfriend was having with the silver eyed girl. “I’ll talk to her about it. We’ll try to be ready as soon as possible”. The truth was she didn’t know if Blake was ready to go back to their mission. She didn’t even know if that was possible at all after everything she had been through. She made no promises but she knew her little sister needed her as well.

“Thanks… I love you” Ruby said.

“I love you too” Yang replied before ending the call. Amber eyes looked at her with a question in them. “She says things are pretty rough and…” Yang considered lying. She knew Blake would want to leave for Vacuo as soon as she heard the truth. A part of her wanted to remain in the beautiful bubble they were living in, simply enjoying each other. Still, something hurt inside her. She knew they had to go back an finish the mission. They needed them. Her sister needed them. “She asked me if we could go with them”.

Blake’s eyes opened wide and a shiver ran down her spine. She was afraid she wasn’t ready to get back in action. She didn’t feel like it: she’d have nightmares almost every night and clicking sounds would still feel like electricity ran through her body. However, she knew it was their duty to stop Salem. They had taken the mission and they had to go through with. She wanted to. She wanted to help. But, could she? The faunus pointed at herself, then she the bent her index finger and pointed down. Finally she touched her wrist with the tip of her finger.

“Ok” Yang said almost in a whisper. “We’ll wait a bit more”.

Two days passed and things were simply beautiful. They’d get up late in the morning, have breakfast, make love and tour Atlas. Some people would make disgusting comments about them. A waiter in a small restaurant refused to serve them and called Yang a zoophiliac. However, this time, Yang didn’t lose her temper.

“You are a sad little lonely man” the blonde had told the waiter as she and Blake left to look for a better place to have lunch. It was hard not to get angry but she had learnt making a scene wasn’t something her girlfriend liked. So she took a couple a deep breaths and calmed herself. Still, as they exited through the establishment’s door, she waited for the faunus to turn her back so she could give the waiter the finger.

When the third day arrived Blake woke up after having a beautiful dream about her and her girlfriend and something in her told her it was time. She was still not back to her old self but she was good enough. When Yang woke up the faunus stared at her with words in her eyes. The blonde sighted and smiled sadly.

“It’s time isn’t it?” Yang asked as she held Blakes hand tightly in hers. The black haired girl nodded. “Let’s go tell Ironwood. He’ll know how to get us to Vacuo”.

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

“It’s so good to see you!” Weiss said as she embraced Blake. The faunus hugged her back. It was really good to be with the rest of their team again. They were staying at Shade Academy’s dorms and it gave her some sense of calm. It reminded her of beacon. It was around two in the morning and there were no stars in the sky.

“I’m so happy you could get here so fast” Ruby added, giving Yang a knowing look.

“It was becoming pretty clear that you simply can’t do without us” the blonde joked. The group laughed. She looked calm but it was just a facade. Deep down she was scared shitless. There was no way of knowing what their mission was going to throw at them. She was terrified it would be something Blake wouldn’t be able to handle.

“We’ll brief you on everything in the morning. Now let’s get you both to your room” Qrow said, placing a hand on Yang’s shoulder.

“Yeah, it's pretty late and you must be tired” Nora’s voice made its way into the hall. Jaune and Ren were behind her.

There were many hugs and many smiles before all of them headed towards their respective bedrooms. In the end it was only Ruby and Weiss that accompanied Blake and Yang to their room. The first thing they noticed once they were insided was that there was a single full sized bed. They both smiled and blushed at each other. They would sleep together just like they had for the last weeks in Atlas. Maybe they could be all right.

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

Living in Patch once more gave Yang a feeling of peace she had not felt in a while. Waking up with Blake at her side everyday was the greatest joy she could feel. After battling Salem and saving Remnant they deserved to be happy. They deserved peace and quiet. Her girlfriend was still mute but she knew Doctor Yu and other experts were looking for a solution. Meanwhile they had mastered sign language, something that actually became handy during their mission, mostly when they need to be quiet and discrete.

It was a regular morning and the blonde had gotten up early to make breakfast. Blake wasn’t really good in the kitchen and Yang loved to cook. It was the perfect arrangement. She was making pancakes when her scroll lit up. Weiss’s face appeared on the screen. She picked up.

“Hi Weiss, what’s up?” she said. Almost as soon as she did the white haired girl answered with a surprisingly upbeat tone.

“Go get Blake and put us on speaker right now”

“Us?” the blonde asked.

“Hi, sis!” Ruby’s voice was full of excitement. “Go get her right now”

She did as she was told, entering their room with the scroll on her hand. The faunus was sitting on the bed, a book in her hands. Her hair was still a mess.

“It’s Weiss and Ruby” she said, pointing at her phone. The faunus nodded and left her book on the bed, inching towards the edge to sit down next to her girlfriend. “Okay, guys, we are both listening”

“He did it” the former heiress said. “Doctor Yu and his team are ready to act. They found a way to get Blake’s voice back”

Silence. Three seconds of absolute silence. The concept took a while to land in both of their heads. For the longest time they had forgotten, or perhaps ignored, the fact that Blake could someday get her voice back. Neither of them wanted to have high hopes only to be met with disappointment. They had had enough of that already. Their normal wasn’t so bad at all. Still, there was a part of Yang that prayed every night that the medical team would finally be able to help Blake. She wanted to be able to hear her voice again. Some days she would listen to voice notes in her scroll that Blake had sent so she wouldn’t forget how she sounded. Whenever the faunus told her something in sign language she tried to recreate her voice in her mind. She’d give anything to help her. Now, if Weiss was to be believed, there was an actual chance to heal Blake.

“What?” was the only word that left Yang’s mouth “Are you serious?”

“Yes, yes, yes” Ruby replied. “Get your butts to Atlas as soon as you can”

“We’ll get there tomorrow” the blonde answered, tears forming at the edges of her eyes. They said their goodbyes and she hanged up. Was this real? Had that call actually happened? Yang turned to see her girlfriend and her heart stopped at the sight she was met with.

Blake didn’t look happy at all. Her mouth was open and her eyes wide in shock. She was breathing heavily. Her mind was suddenly filled with memories she would rather not revisit. The Traders. Aleph. Yudok. Names that she tried to forget with everything she had. Blake did her best to ignore that fact that she was mute. She and Yang could communicate perfectly with signs and that was enough. Things worked. Now she could be cured of that horrible thing they had done to her. Now she could be fixed and not be broken. All those thoughts had sent her back in time.

“Baby are you okay?” Yang said as she gently placed her hand on her girlfriend’s knee. Blake was shivering. With her other hand she moved the other girl’s head so they were looking into each other’s eyes. Deep breath. “It’s okay” the blonde said almost in a whisper and the echo of Agape’s voice appeared in the faunus’ mind. It would be over soon. Not being able to speak was always a reminder of that happened to her with the traders. She had gotten used to it and sign language made it easier to deal with the situation and ignore her condition. Still, she dreamt of getting her voice back. She wanted to tell her girlfriend how much she loved her. She wanted to have a chance at normal once again.

“Blake?”

Yang almost fell backwards when her girlfriend launched at her and hugged her, placing her face in the crook of her neck. She was crying, a raspy noise coming out of her mouth. They held each other for a while until Blake was able to calm down. Once she did the blonde moved back and kissed her. Her stomach filled with butterflies. They stared at each other, having mastered wordless communication a long time ago.

“Let’s do this” the blonde said as she kissed her girlfriend on the lips.

-----------

The procedure was really simple. They would replace Blake’s broken vocal chords with artificial ones. They were custom made, specially designed for the specific kind of damage that was done to her. It was actually nice to see doctor Yu again. She would always be thankful to him for taking care of Blake. However, waiting at the very same room where she waited so many times a year and a half ago wasn’t really nice.

After a couple of hours Doctor Yu opened the door into the waiting room, his face looked so very tired. For a moment Yang feared the operation wasn’t successful. She feared all of this was pointless. If this failed was there any chance Blake would talk again? What if something severe had happened during the surgery? All the negative thoughts echoed in her mind as she stood up to meet the doctor.

“Could you do it? Did it work?” was all she could say as she walked towards the man.

“We think it did. We’ll have to wait for her to come out of the anesthesia. But I am pretty sure we did it” he said with a smile. The blonde couldn’t control herself and inched closer to give Yu a hug.

“Thank you so much”

“You are very welcome”.

Blake was asleep on her room when she walked in. Just like she had done back then she placed a chair next to the bed and sat down. After a while she fell asleep, half her body sprawled over the mattress.

Blake woke up with a sore throat. She looked around the hospital room, memories rushing in. Deep breath. She looked to her side and saw a certain blonde totally asleep at her side. She smiled.

“Yang” she said and the sound of her own voice surprised her. It wasn’t loud, more like a whisper, a little bit raspy, but she had actually said a word. “Yang!” she repeated a little bit louder, moving the alluded one lightly with one hand. The blonde raised her head from the bed, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hands.

“You awake, babe?” she said.

“Yes” Blake replied. It took her girlfriend about three seconds to fully comprehend what was going on, sleep still present in her eyes. Then the realization hit her.

“IT WORKED!” she exclaimed as she stood up “You can talk!”

“Yes” the faunus replied “It feels a little bit weird but… I can” there were tears at the corners of her eyes that started running through her cheeks incessantly. It had been so long since she had heard her own voice.

“BLESS DOCTOR YU!” the blonde said, half joking half serious. She sat once again, looking Blake in the eyes.

“I love you” she smiled into the words. She could finally say it. She could finally tell her girlfriend how she felt. She had waited a year and a half to say those words for the first time. They sounded so good.

“I love you too” the blonde replied.

When their lips collided together it was like this was their very first kiss. Yang placed her mechanical hand on Blake’s cheek. The faunus grasped it with hers as she deepened the gesture. When it ended they both leaned in, their foreheads touching. In that moment their love was the strongest force in the world and they felt in their hearts that nothing could ever break them apart.

#Silence in Atlas #sia #skyechaser #bumbleby #fanfiction #bumblebee #yang #blake #yang and blake #finale

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