#no salem did not ‘lash out’ because he lied to her

[bestworstcase]

i have transcended annoyance and become amused by the non-euclidean pretzel of fanon takes about why the ozlem shattering happened. it’s all so silly

[sir-adamus]

"if Ruby hadn't lied to Ironwood, he never would've become a villain"

wrong; Ironwood turning had nothing to do with being lied to and everything to do with him being a massive control freak

first off - Ruby omitting certain details from Ironwood because she had justifiable reasons not to trust him (thanks to both experience with Oz and Lionheart both being liars who almost got the whole group killed in different ways, and seeing the state he'd left Mantle in) is not the damning action some people like to characterise it as (it is, however, pretty damning on Ironwood's part that he's openly comfortable turning Mantle into a barely functional police state plagued by monsters and only competently protected by one person)

second - Ruby very much did tell him the truth. when the situation turned dire, she decided he'd proven himself trustworthy enough at that point and he was given the whole truth, which he took reasonably well at the time. so the lying wasn't the issue

nah, the issue was when his trauma button got pressed and he started jumping at shadows, he was more than willing to lash out at anything he perceived as a threat to his authority, namely, Blake and Yang telling Robyn about Amity. instead of arresting her, like he'd ordered them to, because he demands "loyalty" (read: subservience)

and like, Blake and Yang told Robyn because they didn't think arresting her for actions she was taking without full context for what was going on (and so were thoroughly justifiable - and honestly justifiable anyway, Ironwood had exactly zero actual grounds for taking away necessary supplies from Mantle, because the Amity project could wait, people's lives, surprisingly enough, are more important. this was early foreshadowing that Ironwood couldn't give a flying fuck about the people under his jurisdiction), and this was following Ironwood repeatedly refusing to even talk to Robyn at every request to do so

which was later proved to be the entirely correct decision because Robyn was then willing to work with him when the heat went out in Mantle

(oh also he actually had zero justifiable grounds on which to arrest Robyn, hence sending in two huntresses in some trojan horse bullshit to attempt to blackbag her off the streets with no official call for her arrest)

it only became a problem when Ironwood's precious feelings got hurt by Cinder leaving a calling card (which he immediately ascribed to Salem because the man's ego is as big as the moon and he sees every action from Salem's subordinates as her personally targeting him when she clearly doesn't give a shit about him), and he screamed at them for questioning and defying his orders and not falling in line as good little brainless robots like the rest of his subordinates

it was never about the lying, it was about a paranoid, scared little man thinking he's owed mindless obedience because he's In Charge

[swapauanon]

"Ozpin lied to Hazel about Salem's plans to trick him into sacrificing himself."

I find it amazing how people can say this and then get shocked when I ask them to tag their Ozpin bashing.

Besides, Hazel was murdering innocent people just to get back at Ozpin, over something his twin sister he constantly infantalizes chose to do.

Like, yes, Ozpin is a self-loathing wreck who blames himself for everything that's gone wrong, but in the end he didn't say ANYTHING about Salem he didn't believe was true.

Remember, what Salem said was: "Why redeem these humans when we can simply replace them with what they can never be?" meaning she was either plotting eugenics and genocide or had horrible grammar. Given that Salem's shown to be EXTREMELY careful and deliberate with her word choice, I'm going to assume it was the former, because it would be REALLY frustrating for the entire conflict of the show to be based on bad grammar.

But NO!!! We need Ozma to be an evil baby-stealing monster who tried to kidnap Salem's children because she wasn't religious enough! Even though, y'know, one of the first things Oz did after coming back to life was disobey Light by seeking out Salem.

But sure! It TOTALLY isn't bashing Ozpin to suggest he just tried to kidnap his daughter's from Salem, let's just ignore the ACTUAL grammatical structure behind Salem's words to make Oz look as evil as possible!

And besides, even if Ozpin DID lie to Hazel, SALEM WAS COMMITTING GENOCIDE IN ATLAS!!! She was siccing her Grimm on civilians at that point! And Hazel was complicit in it, and blaming Ozpin for his choices, claiming it was all in the honor of someone Salem had killed for trying to oppose the "Grimm eating children" party. But sure! Let's erase Hazel's misogyny in order to paint HIM as a poor, helpless victim of Ozpin's manipulations when he desecrated his sister's memory by helping the monster she died fighting destroy even more families!

"No more Gretchens, boy!" said the man who robbed a child of her mother JUST to "stick it to Ozpin", and has left countless Gretchens in his own wake.

Hazel even ADMITS that the only reason he's going after Ozpin is that he can't hurt Salem! So I don't think the show is going to be resolved by Team RWBY deciding "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em!" when it comes to the whole "How do we deal with Salem?" thing, because every character who's done that has been treated as being IN THE WRONG with no exceptions!

And let's not ignore the fact that, y'know, Oz had just gone through an entire character arc about being more open and honest. Him lying to Hazel to get him to dance to his whims would, from a narrative standpoint, be like if Ilia had joined forces with Salem to get back at Atlas. It would have rendered all of his prior development a waste of time!

So, rather than Salem plotting against the gods, i just think she's learned she CAN'T hurt them and so is doing what so many people (such as Hazel) have chosen to do when coming face-to-face with her, lash out at the people she CAN hurt because she thinks fighting the Brothers is a fruitless endeavor. The show isn't going to close out on vindicating Salem's methods, and she's not a fucking "anti-hero" as I've seen some people unironically call her: She's an unrepentant villain who lashes out at people she believes have no chance of fighting back, because she can't hurt the people who actually wronged her. That is what makes her Ruby's evil counterpart: She gave up while Ruby is still looking for a new solution!

But sure, let's just ignore the structure of the narrative and paint Ozma as a baby-stealing monster who abused his wife for religious reasons and drove her to villainy. Even though, y'know, his rhetoric is completely antithetical to Light's idea of a perfect world and he went out of his way to disobey him at the first opportunity he had.

The narrative has laid out who Oz and Salem are countless times now: Oz is a flawed-yet-well-intentioned man who blames himself for all of the world's ills (regardless of how responsible for them he actually is), and Salem an unrepentant monster who lashes out at the world around her due to being unable to harm those who actually wronged her.

Trying to paint Ozpin as being just as bad as, if not WORSE than Salem ever was is disingenuous at best.

[wickedslip]

nikolai. part v.

The downpour fractured the clouds, bringing down the descent of the heavens as it seized the area in heavy torrents of slashing rainfall. Her rage besting her, her mind contacted with the elements and the lighting that became more prominent as its electric current collided through the canopy of trees, gashing clean through one of the tree trunks and shaking the ruptured earth in its wake. The sound of splintering wood could be heard, and the permeating scent assaulted her nostrils, and yet she could not turn away from his face. What was that expression that she was seeing? Defeat? Agony? Guilt? Remorse?  It was all a mother fucking lie. And he was the predecessor of all lies.

��� You are not fucking here right now! ” she screeched at him. First it was but a breathless semblance of a whisper, and that was when she felt the force of the situation clench around her throat like a noose. The more she looked at him, the closer she got, the more out of constraint she was developing. Descending upon him, she gripped at his shirt, clutching him by the collar of it and pulled him up. She hadn’t realized it, but she had made contact, literally pulling him in parallel positioning where he had been of the opposite just before. Her limbs on one side of him, knees digging into pebbly river front, she began to shake him with ferocity, clawing into his shirt and grasping it with more vigor than ever before.

“ If you have done anything to my brother, I will destroy you. ” She whispered, voice still hoarse from being out in the frigidity of the perilous elements. “ I will kill you if you had anything to do with this! You and fucking Demetria! ” her sharp, prismatic gaze stared from him to the bright slicker in her hand. The slicker represented the good in the world, even when battling the dismal grey clouds above and the downpour of water that they were enshrouded in. But of course, he had everything to do with it. Why else would he have been out here, soaking wet? He was as good as branded with the scarlet letter of a different kind.

Striking at his chest, it was the first of many blows to him that would transpire. Once the force of her hand had contacted his body, followed by his face, she found that she could not deter lashing out at him. Her eyes filled to the brim as they streamed in rivulets and conjoined with the water from the rain that collapsed onto them. Her dark hair bedraggled, and the tresses were plastered in waves against her skull. Bright, iridescent orbs stared back at him in vehemence as this was the one thing that could never be undone. The one thing in her path that could not be altered. Her father had done something to her brother, and there was no salvaging the fact that he was dead, and he was here on the beach, not even ten feet from where she had stood in the river. The current vast and steep, steep enough to carry a small body out and to subdue him entirely. They might not ever find the body to give him the peace that he deserved to have. Finally standing over him, glowering down at him— a living abomination that was one hundred times worse than the devil could ever be.

And that was the first time she realized that’s exactly who Deucalion was. El diablo. The devil had come to New Salem, and it had been him all fucking along. And she was connected to him. And it was because of her that Nik was dead. Her fault.  

“ I will never forgive you for what you’ve done, you monster! Not ever! ” She caterwauled at him, sobs racking her entire visage, and her body lax with the emotions that she had wished would just cease to be. “ You did it. ” 

Putting two and two together, he had pulled him there. He had somehow coerced him and fooled him into thinking he was safe. How could you not trust the person that gave you life? And then it was just… all over. Dropping to her knees, her head falling parallel to her hands, she sobbed into them as never before. Not recognizing anything anymore, the witch fell in defeat, barely recognizing being lifted into a set of arms, carried off into the night.

Not everything is what you think. This isn’t to be wrapped with a pretty little bow, like your childhood innocence. What you think you’ve seen is your mind trying to cover a truth that you simply aren’t ready for. And when you do remember, and when you want to speak to me about it, I’ll be here. As I always have. As I always will be. You are more my fucking daughter than you want to admit.

His telepathy, the very thing she had inherited from him, was the last thing she remembered before succumbing to oblivion.

[iamafanofcartoons]

I found yet another hypocritical criticism on the critics sub. Somebody said that Salem's plans being vague hurts the show's story and tension. They must really hate Voldemort, Sosuke Aizen, and Obito/Tobi, then, since their plans were just as vague until near the end of their stories. To paraphrase Shrek: "r/RWBYcritics, can you not be massive hypocrites FOR FIVE MINUTES?!"

Salem's plan made more sense than Dracula from Netflix Castlevania.

His was basically kill as many men, women, and children as possible before he died, and drag his allies down with him. And what's more important, he wasn't even subtle about his death wise. Most of his allies were willing to betray him once they realized he wasn't about Vampire World Order, but suicidal lashing out.

He had power and charisma, but that was it.

Salem had charisma and intelligence, And she had an unlimited army, AND could not be killed.

So why not conquer humanity? Why not destroy humanity outright? Because like Dracula, she wanted to die and destroy humanity out of spite, but Salem HAS a plan, which Dracula did NOT!

Salem's Plan:

Divide humanity using humans and faunus against society.

Gather the 4 Relics and use them to summon the gods

Show the gods that they are as flawed as their creations.

Force the gods to wipe not only humanity out, but Salem at last.

Salem achieves death while spiting Ozpin, The Gods, and Humanity.

She dies with the satisfaction of knowing she was right, and everyone else wrong. She wins, everyone else loses.

We were able to infer Salem's motives as far back as Volume 6. Which of course critics hated the 2nd half of because it involved their favorite angry edgy white boi with a blade getting skewered by lesbians. God, I LOVED the salt from that one Adam fangirl on r/rwbycritics who was screaming that Yang and Blake should have just arrested Adam after all he did to kill them, or at least "knock him out so he couldn't follow" after him basically spending a volume doing just that.

Salem knew that if her allies learned of her true motives, they'd betray her, which is what Emerald Sustrai and Hazel Rainart did upon learning the truth...thanks to Oscar doing what Ozpin would not or could not do.

So Salem appeals to her allies with the half-lie that gathering the four relics would change the face of the planet, allowing for Salem's New World Order. And she technically wasn't lying about that. It WOULD Summon the Gods back and they would affect the planet. And by New World Order....there would be nothing left...silence, quiet...order. Which is what Salem wanted for the world. For it to no longer turn, so she could no longer walk its face. Half-lies are easier to maintain than outright lies. And Salem's skill with manipulation is very potent.

Tyrian of course figured it out...but he's Tyrian.

Cinder however...SHE is the wild card...let's see how Cinder reacts to learning the eventual truth.

Every fix-it fanfic I've seen either fails to grasp it entirely, or pretends that Salem was not the Narrator of Episode 1, to where they retcon her.

Its hilarious how many critics ignore EVERYTHING.

Are we even watching the same show?

In any case, use these to block out the negative youtube channels.

These browser extensions will allow you to hide channels and videos from your youtube searches.

That was for Firefox, this is for Chrome

Best of luck to all of you!

[aspoonofsugar]

Ironwood and Cinder: The Final Word

Cinder: And that’s… checkmate.

The Final Word of the volume is Cinder’s and it is meaningful she says it to Ironwood.

As a matter of fact Ironwood and Cinder are two sides of the same coin on many levels. This is conveyed also structurally.

Volume 7 is mostly about Ironwood’s tragic spiral. We are shown him struggle with his flaw throughout the whole volume, but in the end he loses to it and becomes just as dangerous as Salem:

Oscar: Then you're as dangerous as she is, James.

Not only does volume 8 close with Cinder instead, but it also opens with her:

And it even gives us her backstory:

Why does it happen? And why is Cinder’s final line so important when it comes to her foiling with Ironwood?

GRAVITY

It is not by chance that Watts calls both Ironwood and Cinder out before the climax of respectively volume 7 (Ironwood) and volume 8 (Cinder). This is because, as stated above, volume 7 is Ironwood’s volume, while volume 8 is Cinder’s. So they both are confronted with a truth about themselves and their reaction to it influences their stories in the Atlas arc.

In a sense, even if Watts is the one dangerously hanging over an abyss... it is actually Ironwood and Cinder who are on the brink. They are deciding Watts’s survival, but they are also deciding their own destiny.

They are choosing if to fall because of gravity or if to fly in the sky victorious.

At the same time, the two scenes with Watts show how Cinder and Ironwood are both similar and opposites.

AS ABOVE, SO BELOW

Ironwood and Cinder are nothing, but two products of Atlas’s society.

Ironwood was born at the very top:

Watts: You just stood atop it and called yourself a giant!

Cinder existed at the very bottom:

Watts: You think you're entitled to everything just because you've suffered, but suffering isn't enough! You can't just be strong, you have to be smart! You can't just be deserving, you have to be worthy! But all you have ever been, is a BLOODY MIGRAINE!

Watts is in the middle and he represents the worst traits of both.

He wants everything, just like Cinder:

Ironwood: I gave you everything you could have wanted!

But differently from Cinder it was no true he had nothing. He was successful, had food, clothes and respect. Still, he was never satisfied and ended up disgracing himself in the search of something more.

He also disregards feelings in favor of rationality, just like Ironwood:

Watts: Our tin soldier’s heart has cost him his mind.

And he sees people under him as inherently inferior:

Watts: Yes, yes, please keep your posse in check.

This is why his death is fitting:

Cinder: I merely added more flames to the fires of Atlas.

He burns with Atlas aka the city he wants to destroy, but also a symbol of who he is deep down.

What is more, his death happens specifically because he blindly follows his wishes:

Watts: Oh, believe me, this is everything I've ever wanted.

And because he is outsmarted and manipulated by Cinder:

Cinder: You deserve this, Arthur. We'll be back.

He is proud of his genius and rationality, but in the end he dies because of his feelings of pettiness.

In short, Watts, Cinder and Ironwood represent three social classes of Atlas and how the system corrupts people at every level. In general, all three want to be at the very top, but disreguard and mistreat the ones below.

-This is why Ironwood seeks control even in situations where he is not in charge, like the Vytal Festival. He also challenges Ozpin’s authority and leadership because he is not used not to be the one deciding. At the same time, he is shown ready to discard Mantle in multiple occasions.

-This is why Watts can call out Ironwood’s arrogance without seeing he is exactly the same as him.

-Finally, this is why Cinder lashes out at people she sees as Atlas elites (the Schnees, Ironwood, Watts), but treats those below her just like she was treated:

Emerald: We don't need him! Everything was going fine! (a slap is heard, and she cries out in pain)

Cinder: Do not mistake your place.

Mercury: Oh yeah? Tell that to--

Cinder: Quiet.

THE ENEMIES OF TRUST

Both Ironwood and Cinder’s left arms are artificial. Ironwood’s is mechanical, while Cinder’s is Grimm.

Their respective arms convey opposite approaches to things.

On a more general level, they are respectively linked to Creation (Ironwood’s mechanical arm) and to Destruction (Cinder’s Grimm arm). As a matter of fact a robotic arm is a human creation, while Grimms are nothing, but the symbol of destruction.

On a personal level, their arms hint at the two characters’ opposite personalities.

Ironwood’s arm can’t feel pain.

Cinder’s is instead linked to pain and feelings in different ways:

Raven: Aura can't protect your arm, it's Grimm.

Salem: You chose to disobey my specific instructions just to fail again.

Cinder: She’s back…

Cinder feels great pain whenever her Shadow Hand is cut because she can’t protect it with aura. At the same time, it is used by Salem to torture her. Finally, it links her to Salem to the point that she knows when her Master is back.

In other words, Cinder’s arm lets her feel more, while Ironwood’s lets him feel less.

This difference is mirrored by both the ways Ironwood and Cinder respectively attack Watts and by their semblances:

Ironwood’s Mettle lets Ironwood suppress his own feelings, so that he can pursue any objective, no matter how cruel or immoral it is. It makes him “superhuman”, but in a very negative sense.

Cinder’s Scorching Caress represents Cinder’s explosive emotions. It is a form of self-expression, which is both destructive and self-destructive.

Ironwood’s semblance is about repression, while Cinder’s is about lashing out.

Similarly, Ironwood goes after Watts at the cost of his arm and he ignores the pain he feels:

Watts: I wouldn't do that if I were you. I mean, unless you're hoping to add more metal to that body of yours.

Cinder instead goes after Watts to vent her anger:

Cinder: What do you mean, she'll destroy herself? How am I supposed to take her power if she's dead?!

Both are extremes and both are wrong, as Winter explains:

Winter: But yes Penny, we must still acknowledge our personal feelings, wrestle with them. It ensures us that we’re on the right path. It’s what makes us human.

Ironwood and Cinder should aknowledge their own feelings not to be consumed by them.  It is also the only way for them to truly be humans, not machines or monsters, but simply people.

Both characters almost succeed just before the climax of their respective volumes.

Ironwood tries to open up to others:

And Cinder shows vulnerability:

However, none of them is able to capitalize on this chance for development. This is ironically because of each other:

Cinder messes with Ironwood’s insecurities, while Ironwood’s ultimatum gives Cinder the perfect chance to ignore hers.

The result is that Ironwood goes back to control, while Cinder goes back to manipulation. Both do so because they are unable to trust.

Interestingly, they take after their respective mentors in this.

Ironwood takes after Ozpin:

Ironwood: Did you really think you were the only one who got to work on a new plan after Beacon? WIth Ozpin gone, I needed my own team of people I could trust.

Oscar: General? Earlier, you asked for my advice.

Ironwood: I wanted Ozpin's advice.

Oscar: And his advice probably would've been to keep your secrets.

Cinder takes after Salem:

Salem: When I chose you as my vessel for the Maidens, I put my trust in you. So, I trust that you wouldn’t possibly return to me empty-handed.

Ironwood’s whole struggle in volume 7 is his search for a “new approach”. He wants to be like Ozpin, but better. This is why he founds his own group, but wants to trust the world with the truth about Salem. However, he confuses trust with control.

Cinder instead wants to become just like Salem and suffers when she sees she is not. This is why she collects assets, just like her master. This is also why she does not trust anyone, but manipulates others.

That said, what is the difference between Ironwood’s control and Cinder’s manipulation? It has once again to do with feelings.

Ironwood’s attempt to manipulate others is about suppressing feelings. He uses Atlas’s military hierarchy and social structures to ask for his subordinates’ blind loyalty.

Cinder’s method to control people lies instead in making use of others’ feelings. She uses both wishes and fears to her advantage.

In short, control and manipulation are nothing, but the same inability to trust declined in opposite ways. They are both “enemies of trust”.

This is why both Ironwood and Cinder find a strong enemy and a foil in the character, who embodies friendship in these volumes:

Deep down, Ironwood and Cinder not trusting others is because they fear betrayal:

Cinder: I won’t have to run now.

Rhodes: That’s all you’ll ever do.

Ironwood: I've chased a lot of shadows over the years, always expecting betrayal. But never once did I think it would ever come from you.

However, Penny too is betrayed and mistreated by others:

Penny: I do not like it when friends fight.

Ruby: I know. Yang and I may not agree on how best to save Mantle but-

Penny: No. I mean Winter. The general. They were our friends. But then the Ace Ops attacked you. And the general, he said people were going to die, because of me.

 However, she does not give up on the ideal of a genuine bond:

Attached but not By strings

Still, if Penny is a positive foil to both Ironwood and Cinder, why does she die?

RISK

Weiss: Trust is a risk.  

Yang: Ruby, they’re not called sure things, they’re called risks.

These two lines taken together are why at the end of volume 8 Penny dies, our heroes fall and the manipulative Cinder wins.

It happens to show the main theme of the two Atlas volumes. Trust is not a “sure thing”. It is a risk and it does not always work. Still, it is necessary to trust as it is necessary to take risks:

Yang: You were being optimistic. Look, blind optimism isn’t great, but no optimism means we already lost. We need hope. We need to take risks.

Giving up on trust and risks means giving up on hope. It means to give in to fear.

Still, this does not mean your trust will always be paid back. And it does not mean that the risks you take will always work, even if you come up with a wonderful plan:

Cinder: I knew your plan would be bold, but I never could have predicted all of this...

Sometimes people will betray you:

Sometimes your risk will end up in a fall:

However, it is still worth to trust, even when you have no guarantee it will work:

And sometimes It is even worth to risk the fall because it may lead to people being saved:

This same idea is conveyed also through Penny’s final choice:

Penny: Trust me.

Winter: Thank you for trusting me with this.

Penny dies tragically, but she still manages to pass the Maiden’s power to a person she trusts.

This is especially meaningful because the Winter Maiden power, just like Penny herself, has been subjected to both control and manipulation.

Ironwood does all he can to make sure the power ends up to Winter. At the same time, he is the one most responsible for Penny feeling as nothing, but a robot:

Ironwood: As the official report stated, that footage was doctored. Penny is completely under my control.

Cinder tries to steal the power three times. She also manipulates Penny’s feelings towards her friends:

Cinder: I was hoping your friends would be here. But it looks like they left you to do all the work. You’re just a tool to be used!

In the end, Ironwood treating Penny as a machine (control) and Cinder using Penny’s love for her friends against her (manipulation) are among the psychological factors that lead Penny to be mortally wounded by Cinder.

Still, while dying Penny negates both Ironwood and Cinder and frees the power and herself from both control and manipulation.

The fact she chooses Winter works well to illustrate this.

Winter is the person Ironwood wants as the next Maiden. However, Winter becomes a Maiden not because of Ironwood’s control, but because of Penny’s trust:

Ironwood: So… the destiny I chose for you has arrived.

Winter: You chose nothing. This...was a gift.

Winter is a Schnee, so she represents both what Cinder hates and what she herself wants to be:

Cinder to Winter: You Atlas elites are all the same! You think hoarding power means you’ll have it forever, but it just makes the rest of us hungrier.

Winter is a symbol of Atlas and so she is a reminder to Cinder that Atlas is not really destroyed:

Robyn: What do you think a kingdom is? The people, or just the chunk of land they live on?

Just like Cinder’s past isn’t.

WORTHY

Cinder wants to be worthy. Ironwood wants to be a hero.

Deep down, Ironwood and Cinder want the same thing. They want to be above others. They want to be more than humans.

However, they go at it in opposite ways:

Ironwood: I have sacrificed everything!

Cinder: I want it all...

Ironwood thinks that victory lies in sacrificing everything, while Cinder sees it as taking it all.

These opposite viewpoints mirror their respective social stances.

Ironwood can say he wants to sacrifice everything because he has everything.

Cinder thinks happiness lies in everything because she has nothing:

Cinder: You’re right. Without you I am nothing. But because of you, I am everything.

In the end, Ironwood and Cinder are each other’s true enemies, but they fail to see it and lash out against the wrong people:

Ironwood and Cinder’s respective fight against Winter and Weiss is exactly this.

Ironwood fights a Maiden he sees as an enemy of Atlas, while another Maiden is attacking the people he swore to protect.

Cinder lashes out at Weiss because of her origins, while Weiss has decided to leave her status and money behind to make the right thing.

Still, Ironwood and Cinder are too hypocritical to see the truth. This is why they attack people, who could have helped them, if they were given the chance.

This is also why they receive a warning:

Winter: No, you have sacrificed everyone else!

Winter: You… are going to pay… for everything you’ve done!

Ironwood claims he is ready to sacrifice everything. However, he never sacrifices himself:

In the end, he is unable to sacrifice his life to fight Salem.

Let’s highlight he has nothing to lose by this point. He is falling with Atlas anyway. In his final moments, he is given the chance to prove true to his words:

I would die Without regret, I’d offer up my life With zero reservations I would fly Into the sun If that would keep our dream alive

Instead, he gives up. He has been shooting his allies until the very end, but freezes in front of his enemy.

Cinder thinks she is closer to her final victory, but in the end she has accomplished nothing of what she truly wants.

She wants to kill RWBY, but they are alive. She wants the Maiden powers, but she fails.

At the same time, Cinder is still far away from what she truly needs:

Cinder: You have everything you need?

Watts: Oh, believe me, this is everything I've ever wanted.

She is given a perfect mirror of herself in Watts. Still, instead of seeing it, Cinder uses his flaw, which is her same flaw, to kill him. Watts’ wants lead to his death and the same thing might happen to Cinder if she does not stop herself in time.

Finally, there is this:

Salem: This game is not yours to win, Cinder, it’s mine. Just because you’re more valuable to me than a pawn, does not make you a player. Everything is already in motion. All you need concern yourself with is your ability to act when I tell you to.

Ironwood and Cinder share a chess motif.

Ironwood thinks of himself as a player and specifically as Salem’s opponent.

Cinder is instead told she is no player.

However, in the end, Ironwood becomes a mere pawn to the point that all Watts has to do is to open his cell to be sure he is going to unwillingly aid in Cinder’s plan.

What is more, he is so fixated on Salem that he fails to aknowledge the people below him. This is why his true opponent is a slave that Atlas exploited.

Cinder frames herself as a player instead. She is the one who truly makes the first move against Ironwood and ultimately she is the one who defeats both him and our protagonists. Finally, she is the one who calls checkmate.

Still, is she really playing her own game?

In the end, the one who gets what she wants is not Cinder, but Salem:

And all she has to do to obtain it is one small move:

Salem: And I’ve realized, it’s all my fault. You’ve fought your whole life unwaveringly for what you want and here I am holding you back instead of lifting you up.

While Cinder is once again letting her talent be exploited by those above her. She is choosing to be Salem’s Queen instead than a player of her own life.

She is the Black Queen defeating the White King, but nothing more.

[theshopkeepofremnant]

I want to talk about a scene...

Okay, I guess this is actually going to be a few scenes, but they’re all related, I promise!

Disclaimer: Yang is my favorite character. In RWBY, obviously. In all media? Honestly, maybe. I love her. To wit, over the course of a single year I vomited up nearly half a million words of fanfiction centered almost entirely around her. Still, I think my take on this isn’t so biased as to be useless.

Let’s start with the scenes that inspired me on this. First, from volume six, chapter 4:

“That bastard!”

Now, leaving aside the fact that every one of these child soldiers have a right to be mad at the body-hopping deity who lied to them in the process of roping them into a suicide mission that won’t even win or truly advance the cause of his impossible war, why is Yang especially mad?

Or in volume six, chapter 13:

“Does that mean he’s been watching us this whole time?”

Again, any of them could be upset here, but Yang seems especially peeved.

Why am I talking about this? Well, I’ve been watching RWBY reactors who are just now catching up, and in most cases I’ve seen the same misinterpretation of what’s going on here. This was somewhat surprising to me, as I avoid reactors that hate Yang (or any of the main cast) and tend to prefer those who have a generally positive outlook on the show. Still, in every case both of these scenes garnered some version of “chill out, Yang.” It was as though everyone saw these scenes and just thought Yang was being a brat, or hotheaded, and they could not be more wrong.

But why this misconception?

My current guess is that they either have forgotten, or never fully understood the end volume 5.

I loved it as much as anyone when Yang told Raven off. I cheered when Raven broke down, because she deserved every bit of that tongue lashing and more. Yang standing up to her train wreck of a mother and showing her what true strength was? *Chef’s kiss* Love it, it was perfect. But if this is all you remember, you didn’t understand the full arc of this character moment. The next minute was one of the most complex moments in the show in terms of development, and there was not a word of dialogue.

Now yes, this shot was visually stunning. That’s enough to distract anyone. And yes, maybe Yang is simply wrung out from a hell of a day, and her mom is the worst, and she was overwhelmed with the weight of volunteering to be a target for an all-powerful, monster-controlling witch. I mean, those things are all true, and valid, but none of them explain why she, specifically, was so angry with Ozpin in the later scenes.

What else is going on here?

We are witnessing a complete loss of innocence.

Yes, Yang insisted she was an adult back in volume 4. And you know, losing an arm in combat while defending the one she had only fully realized she loved was probably quite a move in that direction, but she was still holding on to one childish dream: the fantasy that her mother wasn’t absolute trash. The belief that maybe, just maybe, she had a good reason for leaving.

Look, was it still strategic to hunt down Raven as a shortcut to Ruby? Sure, but that wasn’t why she went there. She went there because the last shred of her inner child demanded it. She needed to know if there was any place in the world for that girl, and at the bandit’s camp she almost put that to rest.

When she confronted Raven at the camp, she was not terribly impressed, and she certainly didn’t like her mother, but there was still a modicum of respect. This was a woman who knew things, important things, who commanded respect from her followers. Her mother wasn’t a good person, but there was still something about her, a mystique. She still saw Raven as out of reach, larger than life, and the childish dream persisted.

Then came the vault.

When Yang realized that her mother had murdered a child for power, everything fell into place. Yes, her mother wielded incredible magic. In a fight, she would steamroll Yang. But as Yang pointed out, being powerful and being strong are not the same thing. In that moment, she saw her mother as no more than a coward, a woman so afraid that she would kill a scared child to protect herself. That realization spurred her on to demand the relic, because she knew that her mother would willingly sacrifice her to protect her own sorry hide. And the worst part? She was right.

Can you imagine what that felt like?

Every child eventually sees that their parents are human. But for many of us, that’s a chance to forgive them their faults and vices. To see that they did their best despite their flaws, and that’s all you can ask. Right? For Yang, it was the realization that her mother was more than willing to throw her own daughter to the wolves if it meant keeping them at bay. She knew it without a doubt, down to her core, and it shattered that last fragment of innocence she had, in the worst way possible.

A loss of innocence is always painful to one degree or another, but this must have been excruciating. Her walk into the vault, her breakdown at the lamp, it spoke volumes. CRWBY deserves all of the awards for that beautiful understatement of a scene.

Then Yang went upstairs and...didn’t tell Qrow about Raven.

Why?

Because once she’d mourned the loss of her inner child, she stopped clinging to the dream she’d held onto and began...well, not forgiving Raven, but understanding. Raven was weak, the knowledge of Salem had broken her. Yang wouldn’t let it break her, and now that she knew what was ahead of her, she would face it in the way her mother could not.

Then Jinn showed her the lie. There was Yang, only just beginning to face years of trauma, slapped in the face with a truth she wasn’t ready for. Yeah, maybe her mom was still a shitty person, but maybe she wasn’t so wrong to run. That maybe, just maybe, if Ozpin had left her alone, she wouldn’t have done the things she did, become the person she was.

And years of barely acknowledged, let alone processed, anger boiled out at the only target available. At the man, the demigod who played with the lives around him and was at least partially responsible for breaking the will of a fragile woman who didn’t ask for any of that madness. At the immortal wizard who played chess with the mortals around him with seemingly little regard for the fact that they were sentient beings with their own hopes and dreams and foibles. To him, they were just cannon fodder, pawns in a game that he was destined to lose.

Is that what I think? Not exactly. I empathize with Ozma, really. He is in an impossible place. But everyone telling Yang to chill for being angry at him, for transferring some of her anger to him, rightfully or not, needs to take several seats. He’s thousands of years old, she’s a teenager who just wanted her mom around. If you can feel bad for him and a not for her you need to reevaluate who gets your sympathy.

[secret-engima]

hamelin-born

@secret-engima

It is. A very grim comfort to take (no pun intended), but Oscar’s sole almost-solace during that terrible time of blood and pain and (literal) soul-wrenching agony was that Salem hadn’t lied when she called his ‘Ozma’s son’. It was a truth that cut into him like barbed wire, a truth that lashed him with pain and grief and sorrow - but a truth that, as you said, he clung to.

He was son to a murdered father, he was a child of the Infinite Man, and it was - it didn’t bring him comfort, it brought him pain, but it kept him from shattering, it gave him the resolve he needed to hang on.

(And oh, but Salem would have laughed as she shifted the aim of her experiments, her torture - because Oscar was Ozma’s son, so Ozma’s son he would be in every way she could devise, ever similarity she could wrench into his body, down to his scars and to his limp - scars that, one day, Ozpin would take one look at and blanch because he recognized those scars from his own past.)

And Salem would. Salem would have poured her own magic into Oscar, not only to see what happened, not only to triumph over the memory of Ozpin one last time, giddy with the victory of finally killing her one-time husband for good. No. Salem would have set out to make Oscar her son as much as Ozpin’s as well, because she would take everything Ozma had, taint even the memory of him that lingered in the world - Ozma’s child would be her child as well, and best of all, to her? It would hurt Oscar so to know it. To be forced to acknowledge it. To have to call her ‘mother’.

Forget thunderstorms. Oscar might, in a panic, summon a full-on cyclone in an attempt to launch whoever’s pressing the issue as far away from him as possible.

...in a slightly fluffier vein (how did this get so dark?!) just. During their first meeting, or maybe a little later. Imagine Oscar hesitantly asking Ozpin if he’s his dad, because She said he was, but - there’s a difference between being a father and being a Dad.

And Ozpin, not hesitating for a single moment as he says ‘yes’. Yes, he’s Oscar’s dad.

(And that - that might just make Oscar break, for more reasons than one. Break, and *hug* Ozpin like there’s no tomorrow. Because he has healed, he’s worked hard at it, he has his family, he has his Torchdad and his friends/siblings and his magic, but this - this is something old and precious, the most tender of old scars, and now - now it’s split open so it can finally, finally heal clean.)

(He breaks, and goes in for a hug).

...also, Ozpin+Team Gremlin are willing accomplices in unceremoniously ejecting  anyone from the room who thinks to ask Oscar about his ‘mom’ or guilt-trip/interrogate him for being ‘Salem’s child’. They will eject the individual at high velocity, preferably from the nearest window - hey, Ozpin is known for dropping people off of cliffs.

Me: Once again plopping this here because the reblog chain was getting super long XD-

It is a very dark comfort indeed, but it was what got him through to the other side in enough coherent pieces to help destroy her once and for all.

(But yessss, oh how she laughed as she shifted her efforts to remaking this child, this remnant, into being the most perfect child copy of Ozma she could make. The perfect *son* in her mind and all that entailed)

Salem wove her magic into Oscar’s and it save his life, but oh what an agonizing price. She took glee in *claiming* one of the few things that could have been once considered solely his and gloried in tainting the last pieces of his legacy (and in the end, isn’t it ironic that her own torments are what undid her, both in the future and in the time rewritten that would come later)

FLUFFY VEIN YES PLEASE. Your comment finally spurred me to actually write that scene btw. And it came out ... angstier than intended but I’m so pleased and I won’t post the whole thing yet but HERE HAVE A SNIP:

...

     “Hey, Sondor,” murmured a voice through the tent fabric and Ozpin’s world crystalized, “Everything alright? You left in a bit of a hurry.” A deep rumble, inhuman and bass and … oddly content sounding. The voice —a child’s voice, a gentle voice, a voice he’d just heard laughing and waxing dramatic for a show of fake magic and real mysteries— laughed faintly, “Checking on someone then? You know everyone has to stay up late on performance nights.”

     If he held on any tighter to his cane, he thought it might shatter, but the feel of it grounded him like it always had, and with the last bit of courage he possessed in this lifetime, he pushed the tent flap open and slipped inside as the voice —his son— finished saying, “We’ll be sure to take long naps in the morning.”

     Ozpin was here. He was standing in the same space as his child, without a crowd to be wary of or a performance to keep them apart. He was standing in some kind of makeshift workshop, with a cot on the floor on the far side and the vast majority of space taken up by a battered, foldable metal table that seemed to be a desk and all the tools of a magician’s trade. Cards and wands and hats, gloves and fanciful outfits and a hundred thousand other things that didn’t matter, because amid all the mess, with his back mostly to the entrance and a massive Grimm lying contentedly next to his feet, was the Ringmaster.

     His child.

     The Grimm raised its head again to stare at him, a low noise he’d never heard the monsters make before rumbling from its chest, and the boy tilted his head toward the tent entrance absently, still not looking away from the Dust gem he was setting in his elaborate cane, “Hey Neo, you’re back early. I thought you were still scoping … out…” he finished setting the Dust in his cane, looked up and saw Ozpin standing there. Neither of them moved. Green-gold eyes in a young face —he looked ten had Qrow really been correct on estimating his age closer to twelve or thirteen?— went wide, and the magic passively swirling through the tent shrunk in on itself until he couldn’t feel it.

     It occurred belatedly to Ozpin that while he had essentially been stalking his son for the last few years in an attempt to meet him and make sure he was okay, the boy wouldn’t know him at all. Or worse, had only heard of him from people who hated him —from Salem herself even—. And now Ozpin had just shown up in the boy’s living space without warning or invitation.

     Terror and nerves tangled up all the words he wanted to say, all the ones he’d longed to say, and instead he found himself folding both of his shaking hands on the pommel of his cane and bleating out the first, most habitual line currently living in his brain, “Hello, I’m Professor Ozpin-.”

     A shout, loud and gutted, and all his words died in his throat again as the boy threw himself off his little camp chair and at Ozpin. Long Memory clattered to the ground unnoticed as Ozpin instinctively raised his hands to wrap around the little body that collided with his waist, slender arms tightening like a vise around him and Ozpin couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe-.

     Had he really said-?

     A hiccuping sob from the child in his arms, a fully body thing that shook him from his tousled black hair to his shoes while that word spun endlessly in Ozpin’s mind, haunting him and confusing him because he couldn’t have heard that right. He couldn’t have heard…

     “Dad.”

     The word echoed between them again, muffled by a young face buried in his suit jacket, and Ozpin felt his own breath start to stammer as he clung tighter to the boy in his arms, sinking down to his knees despite the screaming in his leg and burying his face in flyaway black hair, “I’m here.” He choked out, “I’m right here. I’ve got you. You’re alright. I’m right … I’m right here.”

[good-rwbyaus]

Uncle Crow AU  [first] [prev]

Description: A month after Summer’s death, Yang is determined to look for her mother and takes a curious Ruby with her through the reputably safe forests of Patch. Meanwhile, Qrow chooses to check in first with Ozpin instead of visiting the girls first. As a result, a near miss turns into a true disaster.

But he can make this right.

He failed to save his teammate. He won’t fail her family.

Characters: Qrow, Ruby Rose, Yang Xiao Long, Ozpin, Taiyang

//A/N: Not sure what direction to give this now. Should I put Qrow in Vale - though Atlas would be interesting too. Hrmmmm. 

Intermezzo:

A harsh winter blankets the city in frost. Not a single person could be seen outside. A young crow collapses onto the ground having found nothing to eat and closes its eyes, finally succumbing to the harsh cold and hunger.

-----

“For there was no man more loyal to his friends and family than Qrow Branwen, “ Ozpin spoke solemnly, lips chapped from the cold. He stared quietly at his small audience. Taiyang. Glynda. James. The girls he sacrificed his life for weren’t present - didn’t even know their savior those six months ago. Still didn’t even know they had an uncle.

His eyes caught a flicker of motion from the treeline.

A black raven sat quietly, watching the proceedings.

----

Something’s wrong.

Ozpin felt a tug against his being like the draw of one magnet attracting another. It was all the warning he received before his vision filled with red and black, the glint of metal heading straight for his head.

Clang! 

His cane parried the deadly blow from above, the deflected blade landing squarely into his desk and smoldering everything that was on it. Amid the smoke and flying paperwork, he struck back with an elbow, forcing his airborne assailant back. Even without seeing her face, he already knew who it was, for who else used Dust-laden katanas. 

“Miss Branwen,” he said quietly. He kept his voice level, though a tinge of annoyance - anger - crept into it. He couldn’t help it; he might’ve been a major component of Qrow’s death, but - this person - the person in front of him was the root cause.  

“You’re a piece of shit, Ozpin,” the dark-haired woman growled, as though affronted that he was angry with her. She charged and sliced once more, “How did my brother die?!”

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Despite the Huntress’s speed, he was faster. His cane was but a blur as he deflected each slash away from him. Still, he couldn’t help the pained grimace as guilt assailed him.

Qrow’s peaceful smile as he held the shotgun underneath his own chin. How he apologized about leaving another mess for him. How the man bet on a longshot just for the chance to save his niece and teammate’s family. 

If he didn’t say anything that day.... if he just kept his mouth shut about the magic...

“I can see a coverup when I see one, Ozpin! Qrow didn’t die in that bullshit story of yours at the hands of Grimm,” she struck with an overhead slash, “he died in the hospital with you in the same room. You think I wouldn’t find the hallway videos?!”

Perhaps he could’ve told the truth...but if Taiyang knew that Qrow sacrificed himself to save his daughter...

He covered everything up. Made up a story about how another Hunter went crazy in the hospital. Bribed and threatened the security detail that arrived to the commotion to secrecy. Donated a fortune to the hospital so they’d keep everything hush-hush. Told Taiyang that Qrow left the hospital to maximize Ruby’s chances...

The tip of his cane went straight through Raven’s guard, nailing her straight in the gut. The momentary stun allowed him to follow it up with a strike across her face that repelled her back. 

Before he received Qrow’s portion of magic back, he would’ve still been able to beat her. Maybe only after a decade or so, she would have a chance. As he was now...

Even Salem would not face him or his reincarnations while they were still at their prime. Not without good reason.

“Urgh,” the woman spat blood, the battle momentarily paused. 

“You’re right. There’s a cover-up,” Ozpin admitted coolly. 

“Did Qrow finally realize you’re a liar, Ozpin? And you couldn’t handle it?” Raven ranted as she charged forward, slicing at his neck. “You think I’ll let no one find out about what you did?!”

He gave the attack the consideration it deserved, which is to say none. He simply allowed that strike to hit its mark, green and yellow sparks flying as the magic underneath his skin met steel. Meanwhile, his arms grabbed onto her sword arm, and with an act of brute strength, he swung her straight into his broken desk resulting in a loud crash. 

Ozpin leveled his cane right at her throat as he stood above her. 

“Do you hate Taiyang that much?” Ozpin scathingly replied, “You first abandoned him without a word. Now you’re going to tell him that his best friend died to save his daughter. Do you have no shame?”

Raven paused before angrily lashing back verbally.

“What are you-” 

He pressed the cane right against her throat, choking off her next words.

“No. I am going to talk. And you are going to listen.”

“Do you want to know why Qrow died? Because he chose to save what remained of your broken family, a family that was put into that position because of your selfishness - because your daughter wanted to find you to help her daddy heal,” Ozpin steadily spoke.

“That magic that now runs through your veins. That magic that you just used to ambush me? Qrow chose to kill himself because I made the mistake of suggesting the possibility that if I had just a little more magic, I could save his niece.” 

“And he took it,” Ozpin trembled as he recalled Qrow’s smile and apology, “Didn’t even know if it would work, and he still took it. And at the very end, all he asked in return was to not tell your husband.”

“So you’re right. I am a liar. I’ve made more mistakes than every man, woman, and child combined,” he continued, unable to help the self-loathing in his tone, “I’ve walked on a road paved with my good intentions, and I have to live with those decisions every day.” 

“But at least I accept the consequences of my decisions. When will you stop running away Raven?”

“That-” 

He pressed his cane against her throat once again.

“Where were you when Summer died? When your daughters were in danger? When Taiyang spoke about ending his own life just for the chance to find a good family for his children? When your brother sacrificed himself?”

He gritted his teeth as he shot a gaze at the floor beneath him. He could hear the approaching footsteps and chatter. Seems like the commotion they caused finally alerted security. 

Ozpin sent a kick into the woman’s side, sending her away like a piece of trash. The woman landed on her feet, a multitude of emotions showing in her face but most of all fear and guilt.

“You, most of all, have no right to speak about Qrow. Or Taiyang. Or your daughters,” he continued coolly.

“I’m done. This is the last lesson you’ll get from me. I can’t stop you from telling the truth - denying your brother’s last wishes and breaking your husband’s heart...” Ozpin quietly said. 

He placed his cane down, the space around him distorting as he released the grip on his newly-acquired magic. Rainbow-colored light crackled around him. 

“But once you do, I’ll Hunt you. There will be nowhere on Remnant where you can hide. And you’ll learn why I was once known as the King of Vale,” he continued with an icy glare.

“Now get out of my office.”

------

Ozpin ignored the unwanted visitor and continued on his speech as snow gently fell around them. 

He watched as Taiyang lowered his head trembling, muttering something inaudibly. How Glynda and James had their heads down in sorrow - despite their differences, they were still friends and comrades-in-arms.

The lies that keep us safe. The lies that keep us going.

He’ll bear it all.

So don’t worry, Qrow. He’ll keep an eye out on Taiyang and his family. 

Rest easy.

------

As a funeral finishes, a once dead crow opens its eyes. 

[kitkatopinions]

You know what always bugged me about Jaune attacking Oscar (aside from the obvious)? It felt like he took advantage of the fact that Oscar was a defenseless child. I doubt he'd have the gall to attack Ozpin in his previous body. Now with Qrow on the other hand, I'm not too sure. One of his more consistent traits is picking fights when he shouldn't.

I don’t know, Jaune didn’t have any trouble charging at Cinder, or lashing out at Qrow around the campfire (though he didn’t attack him physically.) It seems like Jaune was willing to lash out at anyone who might have possibly sort of contributed to Pyrrha’s choice and he seemed more controlled by his grief more than logic or power complex. Idk, thinking he’d be just as physical with adult Professor Ozpin doesn’t seem too far off base. He was pretty illogical. Like, not trying to throw shade. And he did get it right to blame Cinder, obviously, although I feel like Jaune of all people charging at Cinder should’ve resulted in more injury to him than it did.  His actions were frustrating, but were at least understandable for someone (especially a teenager) dealing with grief. But Oscar deserved a sincere apology from him and I’m so glad we started moving on from that.

...If Penny’s death triggers an ‘aggressive Jaune trying to find someone to blame and lashing out at everyone 2.0′ I’ll be very annoyed.

As for Qrow, I didn’t think he’d punch Oz at all before it happened and it confused the living daylights out of me. His fight with Winter was when he was seemingly in a pretty good mood and it seemed like a mutual grudge match he was more or less enjoying. And even though Winter seemed to take it much more seriously, there were moments where she was acting like it wasn’t all that serious too.

Qrow Vs Winter really read like an anime fight where you knew the stakes were low and they weren’t really out to hurt each other - and the person that actually got the closest to breaking that feeling was Winter. Qrow’s other conflicts like his spat with James and his arguing with Raven, those were all verbal fights. Qrow and Winter was (if I recall correctly) the only time we saw him actively get physical with an ally or even a former ally who hadn’t revealed themselves to be working with Salem yet, and again, Winter was the one who first started trying to deal blows and she’s the one who seemed more violent.

I mean, this is Qrow with Raven pre-her working with Salem.

And this is Qrow when she showed up at Haven with Cinder to help her steal the Relic.

So the understanding I at least was working with was that Qrow - while prone to arguments and being rude and disrespectful - wasn’t just a violent person. He fought with Winter because they had some messed up understanding linked to their school-rival-like relationship, and she was the exception, rather than the rule. Outside of her, he only seemed to get physical when the situation demanded a fight.

So Qrow just punching an ally - and longtime friend - because it’d been revealed that he’d lied to Qrow - albeit, about an important detail - seemed really out of left field for me considering the prior established thresh-hold of who he’s willing to attack. Qrow didn’t even reach for a weapon with Raven in the bar while she was getting in the way of Oz’s life saving plans out of selfishness and cowardice and being dismissive of Yang’s pain to his face plus acting kind of aggressively herself. But he was ready to shoot her the minute he thought she had gone to Salem. But Oz wasn’t revealed as having done some horrible, evil, non-understandable thing. He was revealed to have lied out of desperation about something admittedly important in his effort to do what he could to save people. Although I  would’ve liked Qrow to take his side from the beginning, it makes sense for his character to have been mad, upset, and to have lashed out. Like I said before, what Qrow is known to get into is serious verbal fights. But punching Oz? When Oz clearly wouldn’t defend himself? When he’s in a body of a child? When his abuse at the hands of Salem was just revealed? That so didn’t even feel like Qrow!

In my opinion, the punch wasn’t a trackable, Qrow-like reaction that made sense. The punch was what started the whole ‘Qrow is violent’ spiral. It was so out there that I had tried to come up with an explanation (like 'maybe there was an Apathy near by they just didn't know about?') And then I started trying to reason that Qrow seeming to slide into deeper depression and drinking heavier was because he felt super bad about it and he was going to give a big heartfelt apology in Volume 7 when Oz came back, which obviously didn't happen. And then the writers randomly had Qrow fight Clover with Tyrian and decide James was at fault for it and get determined to kill him for most of a season without even having gotten the whole story, plus picking fights with Harriet, only to try and talk her down in the next scene he's in?

Qrow punching Oscar felt like an isolated incident that I was willing to consider a really weird and bad mistake on the part of the creators without throwing out the character, but then in seasons seven and eight, he got more violent and less loveable. But confusingly, sometimes Qrow acts like he used to. He waffles between Good Qrow and Bad Qrow sometimes, and sometimes on a scene by scene basis. Good Qrow would totally try and talk Harriet down, whereas Bad Qrow would totally knock her to the ground and taunt her about getting that fight she wanted. It's so weird to see such disjointed writing that makes characters feel so back and forth. It’s not just Qrow, the CRWBY writers have a tendency to just write whatever they think feels valid in the moment without considering the larger character journeys, I think. And once they start hearing complaints, sometimes they double down, but sometimes they start trying to write their characters to act differently without addressing the flaw itself. Like having Yang act like Summer is her mom again, or having Blake suddenly acting like she's really close friends with Ruby, or having Winter suddenly act like she was against the things she’d been totally fine with last season. So there's every chance they're just gonna pretend Qrow never did the violent things he did, and never address the punch or how he helped fight Clover or how he wanted to kill Ironwood. It's possible season nine or ten will feature Qrow acting like his Volume 3 - 5 self again and the writers just expecting everyone to roll with it.

... I spent way too long talking about Qrow. XD Oh well.

[mcheang]

Caline Dolores Bustier

If Ms Bustier were a Hogwarts teacher, I am reminded of Umbridge. Both seem nice but give lousy advice! So it got me interested in writing Bustier salt. The only question was how? Dolores was hated by all students except her house. Caline is actually liked. Then I thought...kwamis!

This is a Post Miracle Queen rough draft.

Marinette has given thought to Ms Bustier’s advice and decided it is BS. Letting Chloe get away with her crimes isn’t going to make her learn anything. And Marinette does not want a repeat of Miracle Queen.

Therefore, using her lucky charm, she easily finds evidence that proves of Chloe’s alliance with Hawkmoth.

Chloe is arrested. Even if the mayor wanted to do something, he quickly gives in as soon as the people begin to demand a re-election.

Meanwhile, the kwamis learn of their master’s situation in class. Marinette looks so stressed because of Lila’s lies and Ms Bustier’s inaction. They decide to get back at the 2 so their master won’t be so stressed she attracts an akuma.

When Lila starts badmouthing Chloe, both Adrien and Marinette stop her. Angered, Lila spreads a rumour that Ladybug suspects Marinette is also an accomplice of Hawkmoth. Alya is cautious about this, choosing to believe in Marinette. Adrien knows its nonsense. Trixx decides to be the first to take action. She gives Lila hallucinations that make her keep spreading believable rumors day by day.

Examples include: Kim still has a crush on Chloe, Rose upsetting Juleka and causing her to attract an akuma, Max hacking the school system....

Taken all together, the class realizes that Lila is just spreading gossip about the class and apologize to Marinette for ever doubting her.

Caline steps in and informs the class that Lila has an uncontrollable condition that has her constantly lying.

The class realizes that Lila’s associations with celebrities are also probably false.

Alya decides to ask Ladybug herself. She is disappointed but not surprised to hear Ladybug confirm she is not Lila’s Friend. She apologizes to her viewers for not checking her sources, and to Marinette for not listening to her.

Lila is akumatized and defeated yet again with the help of Rena. Lila finally shows her true colours to Rena when the former lashes out at Ladybug for spoiling her lie again.

When Marinette finally confides to Alya that Lila had threatened her. Alya chooses to finally listen to her BFF and confronts Lila over this.

When Adrien hears that Marinette had been threatened, he also backs the girls.

Caline interrupts them and asks Marinette to come outside. She pleads for Marinette not to raise such a ruckus and she must not tell lies. Lila is already having a hard time.

Marinette protests she is telling the truth. But Caline dismisses her because she thinks Marinette is out for revenge since Lila had gotten her expelled. She reminds Marinette that Lila had admitted her fault.

Marinette returns home for lunch fuming.

Xuupu leaps at the chance to have some fun.

After lunch, Xuupu definitely causes a class uproar. He affects Ms Bustier’s ability to keep control of the class with a prank pen. Soon the class is ignoring their teacher as they talk, play and just do their own thing. Soon Alya’s accusation returns and the class becomes a mob around Lila.

Xuupu may have gone overboard because the class has literally carried Lila out to form a Salem-like witch trial with Lila tied to the school flagpole - or some pillar.

(I admit this bit may have been inspired by @nobodyfamousposts witch hunter post, but it was mostly by Girl Meets Science where Maya leads the class to become savages and tried to sacrifice a classmate to a cheese volcano.)

The whole school learns that Lila had lied to them, and are not happy. Some even record this moment.

Marinette and Adrien finally try to stop their class but not before Marinette carelessly admits that their teacher and principal are incompetent. (Normally, she wouldn’t dare say this in public, but under Xuupu’s influence, chaotic Marinette doesn’t listen to order and authority. She is just stopping them because it is her job.)

Needless to say, Xuupu’s influence spreads like wildfire. Mr Damocles and Ms Bustier join Lila. Instead of burning them, the class decides to throw food at them.

Food fight breaks out everywhere.

Desperate, Adrien wonders if using the sprinkler system will stop the school from going wild, like in Mean Girls.

It doesn’t. The class just starts dancing in the substitute rain.

(I don’t know about you, but I’ve always wondered what it would be like to go jumping in puddles while it is raining.)

Realising that her own authority is not enough, Marinette transforms into Ladybug and summons her lucky charm: a megaphone.

Ladybug gets the school’s attention and she asks them to stop because honestly she believes they are better than this. Is a bully worth what they are becoming?

The school don’t stop because of her authority but because of her popularity. They want Ladybug to like them, so they stop.

Ladybug casts her miraculous cure and cleans up the school and erases Xuupu’s influence.

Xuupu, munching on a pear, complains, “oh, come on! The show was just getting good!”

After school, Marinette privately admits she wished she could have joined the fun.

From that day forth though, students who had suffered the injustice Ms Bustier did to them, by excusing Chloe’s actions or never investigating further, start pranking her. Examples include, putting glue on her chair and desk (she couldn’t get up and her hands were stuck), hiding a frog in her office, misplacing her documents.

And instead of taking her own advice, Ms Bustier scolds her class for these foolish pranks.

Marinette and Alya defend their class. (Actually, Ivan did pull a prank. Remember her involvement in the Stoneheart incident?)

The truth is, Ms Bustier teaches more than their class and it’s not fair of her to blame them just because she is their main teacher.

A salty Ivan actually inserts, “You’re supposed to be a role model for us.”

Hearing his words, Ms Bustier instead focuses her accusation on Marinette. She thinks Marinette was upset with her advice and is lashing out.

Tikki, having heard enough and not wanting a repeat of the expulsion incident, tries to boost her owner’s luck.

While Ms Bustier and Marinette argue, the former is called to the principal’s office. Ms Bustier leaves rigidly, trying to gather her composure, and leaves Alya in charge.

It turns out that ever since the school went wild, those with grudges against the faculty sent the video to the school board.

The board sends inspectors over. They learn of the rampant bullying and confront the principal over it. He tries to defend himself but they scold him for prioritising his Owl cosplay over doing his actual job.

They aren’t sure why, but for some reason, they decide to call in Ms Bustier, the teacher of the akuma class immediately. Normally they would have waited until lunch or after school, but they had a sudden thought that it was better to end her teaching immediately.

Ms Bustier arrives and is surprised by the reception she receives. She defends her teaching methods and is corrected.

Ms Bustier tries to get a chance to defend herself by saying that not all her class had been akumatized because of Chloe.

The inspectors agree and ask for Adrien and Marinette to meet them at the front office. Ms Bustier and Mr Damocles remain in the principal’s office.

Adrien admits that while he is happy Ms Bustier is so nice, he himself realizes the high road isn’t always right.

Marinette confesses that she herself realizes this after Miracle Queen. Perhaps if Chloe had gotten some discipline for her actions, she would have learned to grow up.

When the school board finally decree Ms Bustier and Mr Damocles unfit for their positions, Ms Bustier pleads to Marinette and Adrien to vouch for her.

Marinette raises her eyebrow. “I’m sorry Ms Bustier, but I have to set a better example for others. I must not tell lies about such a serious matter.”

The two fired staff are escorted out of the premises

Marinette remembers her own expulsion parade and mutters, “oh, karma.”

One of the inspectors stays behind to manage their replacements.

Of course these leads to akumatizations.

Dark Owl and Zombizou return. They are defeated. Ladybug advises them to listen to what others are saying and admit there might be truth.

The pair consider this and send an apology gift soon after. The Owl soon joins a community service center staff. Ms Bustier decides to retake teaching college.

The new principal actually looks into the Lila incident and contacts Mrs Rossi to see if Lila’s Achu and disability claims are true. They aren’t. Lila is grounded and told she will have to repeat a year. She should have gotten grounded as well, but has probably been through enough at the food fight.

With new Teachers, there are actually courses on how to handle bullying, how to identify sexual harassment, how to make friends (this was for Lila, who was struggling.)

I honestly thought about having Kaalki opening a portal under Ms Bustier’s feet and sending her to a forest, but couldn’t find a context for it. Besides, while I am upset with her, she isn’t Umbridge-level to deserve that.

[bestworstcase]

Wait, hold on, does Salem not know about Oz's whole like. Security measures Light put in. I feel like if she did she'd be more forgiving bc Oz is literally constantly being subjected to psychological and even physical torture (if he fights the merge). He's on The Tightest Leash Ever and basically has very little to no control on what he does. Like it's pretty clear he secretly agrees with Salem, but he can hardly think about it (seemingly has to communicate that vaguely via fairytales in a book) let alone actually act on it.

I feel like she likely doesn't know. I think if Salem knew about the metaphorical shock collar she'd be pissed on his behalf and probably be more forgiving. Granted it doesn't undo the hurt she's experienced but I think it'd make a lot of things make more sense to her. Can only imagine how that revelation would go down

yeah exactly literally all she knows is that

he was given a choice to come back

to unite humanity on light’s behalf

he said yes

he intends to see it through

he reincarnates by taking over somebody else, almost instantaneously*

because that is everything ozma knew when he told her the truth.

(*this changed after he divided his magic to create the maidens—using what magic he has left accelerates the merger; getting rid of most of his magic was likely ozma’s best effort to stop killing his hosts, even if it didn’t quite work)

hence "why do you keep. coming. back." to salem this looks like oz has been choosing to come back, over and over and over again, killing someone each time, solely for the purpose of enacting his god’s genocidal design—and she’s laying that next to her memories of the person who rescued her from her abusive, tyrannical father, and her memories of the person who lied to her for more than a decade to manipulate her into unwittingly serving her own tormentor, and going WHY while also, i’d imagine, questioning whether that person she remembers from millions and millions of years ago was ever even real, or if she was just too naive and too blinded by infatuation to see his true self.

after all… she only knew him a few years, before he died, and then she was alone for all that time, and then he came back and deceived her, tricked her—she absolutely does not believe anymore that he truly loved her at all, the second time—and he has to all appearances spent thousands of years since then DETERMINED to rid the world of her at any cost. what’s more likely? that he really was this wonderful person she remembers, or that a girl who’d never left her cell before and never known anything but cruelty and abuse saw her rescuer through the rosiest of rose-colored glasses?

with the history and the scant information she has it is so much easier for salem to believe that ozma is just…awful, and she was a naive love-blinded fool not to see it before he stabbed her in the back, than to hold onto “no, the good person i knew for a tiny fraction of our lives millions of years ago is the one who’s real, something is wrong.”

but yeah like. the instant she learns what’s really going on here, that ozma agreed to something he didn’t understand once and he’s been shackled to it ever since by a curse designed to destroy his sense of self and Force Him to obey… like at that point it isn’t even really a matter of forgiving him, it’s all of the hatred and anger and hurt and confusion she feels toward ozma now wrenching away from him onto the god of light. i think she’s going to snap to HOW DARE HE DO THIS TO YOU so fast it’ll even make her head spin.

esp bc like, waves at 6.4, salem is already boiling alive in guilt over her part in their daughters dying. as soon as she has the information to put together that ozma has essentially been psychologically tortured into becoming light’s weapon i think she is going to immediately realize that light set her and ozma up to fail on purpose, counting on her to lash out when ozma betrayed her so as to seal off the only possible escape he might have, meaning she has been manipulated into becoming an instrument of ozma’s torture just as he has hers. which 1. will obviously inflame her self-hatred to horrific new extremes but also 2. this woman is going to be out for BLOOD.

this is the why and the how of the ozlem reconciliation; ozma is cursed and salem doesn’t know that yet, so she’s furious and vengeful because she doesn’t understand why he’s doing this but she’s also just one revelation away from snapping back emotionally to the time she tried to Bodily Shield Ozma From Divine Fire.

[scenecipriano]

Curse of The Fold (3)

Chapter Three: Fate’s Hand 

Description: The year was 1692, a time where women, children, and men feared for their lives of possibly being accused of witchcraft. Two men though, don’t allow this mass hysteria to come between them. Even though the madness Janus and Roman manage to keep their relationship a secret…That is until the summer of 1692.“The only thing that could hurt us. Is the curse of the fold.”

Characters: Patton Sanders, Roman Sanders, Remus Sanders, Janus Sanders, Logan Sanders, Virgil Sanders, and Thomas Sanders

Relationships: Roman/Janus

TW: Unsympathetic Patton, Unsympathetic Remus, major character death, death by hanging, death by fire, executions, witch trials.

Other(s): Based on Salem Witch Trials and not fully historically accurate.

Chapter TW: mentions of hanging, mentioned anxiety attacks/panic attacks. 

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

February 20th, 1692 Salem Massachusetts

It was another warm day, Roman wanted to go on another stroll like he had four days prior, (He wanted to see if Janus would be by the stream again) but his father said he needed him to stay behind. Roman forces a smile as he passes out bread and wine to his father’s churchgoers, he would rather be doing anything else than this, his father never made Remus do this tedious task.

“Are this bread and a small bit of wine for me or are you going to crush it some more in those strong hands of yours?”

Roman felt his heart leap into his throat, he looked up from the ground and felt his face heat up. Standing in front of him was Janus, that same smirk plastered on his scarred and freckled face.

Instead of the white dirty looking long-sleeved shirt and ill-fitting brown pants, he had on the day before, Janus sported a nice button-up short-sleeve white shirt and black slacks. His shoes were polished and the buckles were done up nicely, a black hood attached to a cloak was over Janus’ head, partially hiding his strawberry blonde locks.

“Hello, earth to Roman Harford?” Janus teases.

Roman shakes his head and hands the smaller man the small piece of bread and the small cup of wine. He watches as Janus eats the bread and takes a tentative sip of the wine, Roman forces himself to hold still when a drop of wine is left on Janus’ bottom lip.

Roman looks away when Janus darts his tongue out to lick the last bit of wine away.

“I-I didn’t know that you attended my father’s church services, how have I not noticed you before?”

Janus smiles and lowers his hood, Roman still feels as if his breath has been knocked out of him from the shorter man’s beauty.

“I only attend on Wednesdays, I don’t have the time on Sundays because I travel to the next town over to sell the remedies I’ve made for all kinds of ailments. I know you’re not supposed to work on the lord's day, but it’s the only time I’m not busy,” Janus explains, he steps to stand next to Roman allowing the next person to take their bread and wine.

“That would explain it… Normally I’m not here on Wednesday, but my father’s hand-picked choir boy was… accused.”

Roman whispers the last part, not wanting to start an uproar for mentioning ‘witches’ during church time. He shudders at the memory of Virgil being dragged away last night by the Marshall, Roman hopes his father can save Virgil from the rope.

“Such a shame, is it not? These poor people… do you believe this choir boy should have been…” Janus takes a conspiratorial look around before whispering, “accused.”

Roman couldn’t help the small smile that broke out across his face, something was amusing about Janus making fun of the way he treats the trials and how he chooses to speak of them.

“No… He’s just… A little unusual. He has these attacks, you see. Virgil… that’s his name by the way… but… Virgil has these moments of not being able to breathe and sobbing uncontrollably while screaming. Before he was… taken away, he had an attack and lashed out hatefully against the stand-in priest for my father,” Roman pauses to offer a woman a small piece of bread along with her own cup of wine.

“The… The priest accused Virgil of allowing Satan in his body… came up with this whole tale of how Virgil made a deal… I visited him this morning and he was fine, still shaky due to the circumstances but he was fine…”

Janus nods as he downs the rest of his wine, he grimaces at the taste, ‘ Surely the blood of Christ would taste better than this,’ he thinks as he stuffs the rest of the bread in his mouth, chewing quickly before swallowing.

“I don’t believe this… Virgil was inflicted by Lucifer himself. A girl around our age is prone to those same fits, I was able to help her overcome them by giving her a remedy that had poppy’s and valerian mixed with some boiled water and sugar to add for taste. I still have some left if you would like a bottle to take to your friend.”

Roman blinks and stares at Janus for a moment, he couldn’t tell if the smaller man was being serious or not, but he decides to humor him.

“Okay… We’ll wait, you can give it to me and I’ll hold onto it. When he has another fit I’ll give it to him and see if it helps him.”

Janus smiles and bows his head, Roman fights the urge to tilt his head back up so he can stare into those beautiful mismatched eyes.

“Very well… Meet me tonight, by the stream where you first saw me. I’ll be waiting there with the mixture,” Janus hands Roman his empty cup and turns to leave.

He stops and glances over his shoulder, his pink lips tilted up into a small smirk, “Don’t keep me waiting, Roman Harford, I’m not known for my patience,” he says as he turns away pulling his hood back over his head.

Roman watches as Janus walks away, the smaller man doesn’t have to fight through the citizens to make a path for him, not wishing to be in Janus’ way as he makes his trek back into the woods from where he came.

“Roman? What’re you staring at, kiddo?”

Roman turns back, his father standing in front of him. The long line of parishioners now disbursed after receiving their bread and wine.

“Oh… Nothing, there were just some birds around is all,” Roman lies.

He wasn’t sure why he chose to lie to his father, but something told him that lying about Janus’ presence was the best way to go right now.

-----------

That night, Roman waits for his brother and father to fall asleep before setting out to meet Janus at the stream. Shockingly the night was warm, albeit not that warm but it was warm enough for Roman to not need all kinds of layers as he needed the days before and after he met Janus within the woods.

Roman slowly makes his way through the woods, judging only by his sense of hearing to make his way through safely. He thought about bringing a lantern with him but was scared the light would awaken someone.

“Some used to say that I’d never scale this mountain, now that I’m close they shut their eyes and draw their curtains~.”

Roman stops when he hears that angelic voice, he couldn’t help the smile that tugged on his face, ‘ Like a siren luring a sailor into a deadly trap…’

He trudges ahead as Janus’ singing fills the once quiet woods, “Those who don’t believe, will always encourage defeat~.”

The singing grows closer as does the sound of the trickling stream that Roman caught Janus at all those days ago.

Once the sound of the stream is practically roaring through his ears, Roman can’t help but take refuge behind the same tree he had four days prior.

“They’ll scream and shout and scold, for the curse of the fold~.”

Roman peeks out and inhales sharply, there stood Janus, in the same clothes from earlier next to the stream of water. Moonlight bathed him in its pale light, making him look even more breathtaking within the darkness of the night.

“I know you’re there, Roman. What did I tell you about keeping me waiting?”

Roman feels his face heat up as he steps out from behind the tree, he offers Janus a sheepish smile as he steps forward.

‘ Lord help me in the presence of this gorgeous man.’

“I apologize… I just wanted to hear the beautiful singing that I’ve missed for the past four days,” says Roman, trying his best to put on a smooth tone in hopes of flustering Janus for once.

Janus fights off a blush as he plasters on a smirk, “Well… Maybe if you come to visit me more often you’ll be blessed to hear my singing. Until then, I believe I owe you something for your friend's ailment, yes?”

Roman nods, if he were being completely honest, he had forgotten that the intentional reason for this meeting was for Virgil.

Janus pulls a small bottle from the pocket of his cloak, the liquid on the inside was pale pink, it was sealed with a normal brown cork.

“When you give this to him, make sure you only give about a tablespoon and that’s it. Too much could make him sick if it helps him and you need more than just let me know.”

Roman takes the bottle and stuffs it into the pocket of his pants, he hesitates for a moment before speaking again.

“How will I find you, if he needs more? You’re not always going to be at this stream… and you won’t know when I’ll need some more.”

Janus smirks and turns away from the taller man, “You’ll find me… All you’ll have to do is let fate guide you. I hope your friend comes out of this alive, Roman, have a safe walk back.”

Roman watches as Janus heads off into the woods, the red-head couldn’t help but bite his lip. Janus was a strange one, Roman couldn’t help but feel himself being pulled to him, wanting to find out more about this mysterious man who lives in the woods.

He takes a breath and turns his back, Roman looks behind him once more before making the quiet trek back home.

The one thing they both missed was the pair of green eyes that were watching them behind the bushes close by.

They both missed the manic smile that spread across a mustached face.

“Well, Ro-Ro seems to have a new friend… I wonder how this is going to play out.”

---------

A/N: Early update boop! 

~TAGLIST~ @imma-potatoo

[dustypotion]

i just realised something

throughout the events of salem bringing back ozma, she was never once lied to by the gods, and no information was withheld from her. she decided of her own volition to deceive the dark god, knew the full ramifications of her curse and was told exactly why she was being punished, even if all that wasn’t really fair, since the whole thing was caused by the light god’s lack of empathy for salem. 

but ozpin is lied to by the light god, at least by omission. he’s never told what his wife actually did, what she became, the ramifications of his curse, and how he alone couldn’t kill salem. half of what ozpin’s done is directly caused due to the light god withholding information.

and that’s why, when both of them lie to the people helping them, there’s a clear difference, caused by their intent. salem doesn’t care about humanity and her actions are inherently selfish and vindictive. when she lies, she does it without remorse, because it was just another thing the light god punished her unfairly for. the entire event is stripped of it’s nuance and all salem gets from it is bitterness. her manipulation has a flavour of intimidation, and none of the villains have been able to see through it yet, despite many of them being incredibly intelligent and insightful. she does it well, and none of it ever plays on her mind. 

ozpin, however, you can see in several times throughout volume 5 and 6 he’s dripping with guilt, and he obviously hates what he’s doing and hates himself for lying to them. he’s always been driven to do the right thing, and it’s tragic that this is where it led him. his lying doesn’t come easy, and his hesitation and guilt is really what leads to the whole charade crashing down on him. his manipulation isn’t cold, calculated - it’s almost kind of sad. a desperate old man, forced to do these things to the people he trusts because he genuinely sees no alternative. he doesn’t trust people enough to show him an alternative, so he keeps doing horrible things hoping one day, it’ll all be justified and he’ll be able to finally find peace. 

im not going to insult salem’s intelligence or give her a viable excuse and say she doesn’t understand right from wrong, and the both of them have lived so long morality’s a bit twisted for the both of them, but there’s a clear lack of understanding about responsibility on salem’s part that, on the other hand, completely consumes ozpin. ozpin constantly thinks about his responsibility to humanity and it’s a weight he carries on his shoulders, while salem feels none of it; only a fuel for lashing out on ozpin and humanity.

poetic cinema. 

[kali-tmblr]

I have to point out that team wby and qrow didnt take salem being immortal well if they told ironwood at the start he would have had more time to deal/ come to terms with the fact that salem was immortal and try to come up with other ideas. and on robyn he was right they couldnt have known she was on their side for sure what if robyn or one of the people with her were working for salem ( or one of salems people spied on them etc) I wouldnt say thats the same as what ironwood did in v2

No, they didn't take it well. I posted about that subject on November 17, 2019 in "Why Ruby Lied". To quote,

Ruby has seen Ozma's story told twice. The first time an emotionally unstable man attacked Oscar. Ruby had known the man all her life, and thought him incapable of harming a child. This time it was a fluke, a bizarre aberration.

The second time Ozma's story was told an emotionally unstable young man attacked Oscar. Ruby had known the man for years, and thought him incapable of harming a child. But this time it couldn't be dismissed as a fluke, because there was a precedent. This time it was a pattern.

A third time came up to tell Ozma's story, and who was it to be told to? An emotionally unstable man standing right in front of Oscar. Only this was a man who was already by his actions harming thousands of innocent people, including children, and who felt it was justified. What would such a man feel justified to do to Oscar?

Ironwood's a freaking general, and de facto military dictator who is already not thinking clearly. If he lashes out as the others had done, he could do a lot more damage than just punching Oscar. His temper tantrum could be catastrophic. So they needed to see some sign of clear thinking and stability in his behavior first.

[aspoonofsugar]

The “One” Divided Into “Two”

Hello anons, hello friend,

these asks can be answered together!

First of all:

Hello! I just want to say that I love your RWBY metas! So I'm wondering, have you ever done metas about Emerald and Mercury?

Thank you! And yes, I have written a little bit about Mercury and Emerald here. I would also recommend this wonderful meta by @hamliet because it has an interesting Mercury theory in it.

Now. this answer is gonna mix some analysis with speculation because Emerald and Mercury’s story must still enter its climax. Once it does and we are given a specific interpretative key I will be happy to write more metas on them!

I’ll start with this:

Those two are so out of place in Salem's faction and the last look they share made me doubt that Mercury is rotten to the core and more of a kid who didnt know what he's in for. Since Em has switched sides, is it possible that Merc might follow? I really like him, so I'm hoping that he won't go down like Watts.

In my opinion, yes and here is why.

CHILDREN LOST IN A NARRATIVE

1) Emerald and Mercury have been child-coded since their first appearance:

Roman: Oh, look! She sent the kids again! This is turning out just like the divorce!

2) Both have received a save the cat moment early on:

Emerald: It's almost sad.

Mercury: Emerald, get up, we need to go. (...) Emerald!

Both child-coding and save the cat moments are often used to make characters more sympathetic and this applies to both Emerald and Mercury, even more so than Cinder.

This is why, for example, the major death they are directly involved in:

turns out to be a temporary one.

As a side note, I like thinking of Emerald and Mercury as the Cat and the Fox in Penny’s story since they act as false friends to the main cast, betray them and cause Penny’s first death. Moreover, in the novel, both characters end up suffering consequences for their life-styles. The two murder kids are the same:

At the same time, details about Emerald and Mercury’s backgrounds and motivations are given to the viewers pretty early on:

We are shown Cinder recruiting both and these scenes clearly paint them as two vulnerable kids that get manipulated and groomed:

Raven: Two children you’ve tricked into following you.

Emerald is presented as a scaredy cat and Cinder wins her over by promising the bare minumum aka some security and basic care.

Mercury is given even less aka a narrative to keep himself together:

Cinder: And you're his son. We saw your fight from the treeline. He's taught you well.

Mercury: Guess so.

Cinder: What's your name?

Mercury: Mercury.

Cinder: Mercury... Tell me, are you anything like your father?

Mercury: All my life, my father trained me to be a killer, an assassin like him. And then moments after I killed him, you two showed up looking for someone with my exact skills. Just felt like it was meant to be.

Cinder praises his abilities and frames his trauma as something that makes him strong, not broken. And Mercury has completely embraced this narrative since then.

In short, Emerald and Mercury are framed as two kids lost in an illusory narrative Cinder has crafted. That said, they are also characters in a proper narrative and they are given sympathetic backgrounds and positive qualities that hint they can be better than they currently are.

In particular, Emerald should overcome her emotional dependence on others to make the right thing:

In both volume 3 and volume 8 she is shown the destruction of a city. However, the first time she puts distance between herself and others’ pain, as symbolically conveyed by her looking from above. In volume 8, though, she is shown the same pain up close and she can’t ignore it anymore. This is why the others drag Emerald towards the people crying and light invades the screen when she finally meets the sheltered crew. She is forced to face an uncomfortable truth she wants to ignore.

Mercury should instead let himself depend on others more. He should open up to others and fight for his one positive bond:

Mercury: Back off, freak.

Which leads us to:

What do you like most about Emerald and Mercury's relationship and bond as it is explored in RWBY?

EMERCURY: COMPLEMENTARITY

Emerald and Mercury’s bond being a key one is conveyed both symbolically and in terms of their respective abilities.

When it comes to their abilities, I have written about it in the meta linked above:

In short, Emerald mostly relies on her semblance, while Mercury mostly relies on his legs and fighting prowess.

This detail adds to the idea that Emerald and Mercury have been acting as a unit and have been complementing each other. Emerald acts as the “soul” and Mercury as the “body”.

The soul is one’s personal essence (like the semblance). It is where (once again) wishes reside. The body is what protects the soul and is animated by instincts and self-survival.

They complement each other. This complementarity is shown in Emerald and Mercury’s fights.

In the Vytal festival, Mercury takes on both Coco and Yatsuhashi for a short while, so that Emerald can size her chance to fight Coco at her own terms (and she wins by using her semblance).

In the Battle of Heaven, Emerald uses her semblance to help Mercury fight and, in a sense, she compensates for his lack of one:

The human soul is about wishes, but also duties:

Penny: I feel like I wish I could do both the things I need to do and the things I want to do. Is that normal?

One must accept their feelings, but also struggle with them:

Winter: But yes Penny, we must still acknowledge our personal feelings, wrestle with them. It ensures us that we’re on the right path. It’s what makes us human.

And must do the right thing out of their own free will:

Winter: Penny. The general is making hard choices so we don’t have to.

This is Emerald’s personal struggle. She must let go of her feelings for Cinder and fight her own fear in order to do the right thing.

The human body lets people feel both others’ warmth:

And others’ cruelty:

However, Mercury refuses to feel both. He refuses to truly process his own trauma and pushes his feelings of care for Emerald away:

As far as their symbolism goes, they are linked in at least three different ways.

1) One of the attributes of the Roman god Mercury is that he is the protector of thieves and Emerald’s surname capitalized means thief. What is more:

Mercury: Ooh, Emerald! Master thief! Please don't take my money! I barely have enough to get by!

2) Mercury/Hermes is also the god of alchemy and the one who wrote the Emerald Tablet aka a tablet with the truth of alchemy on it. You, @hamliet​, have written a meta on it, so I won’t add more.

3) According to at least some traditions, emerald is the gemstone associated with the planet Mercury.

So, it is clear the two characters are meant to be important in each other’s arcs.

Let’s now look at Emerald and Mercury’s bond, as it is explored through their interactions.

Mercury clearly cares about Emerald and gets along well with her. She is the only person he shows vulnerability to.

This is what their scene in Lost is about:

Emerald: Why did you come with us, the night Cinder and I found you?

Mercury: Why are you asking--

Emerald: Just answer the question.

Emerald is trying to open herself up and wants Mercury to open up too. This is why she gets annoyed when Mercury gives her a superficial answer. Still, in that conversation, Mercury is genuinelly trying to answer Emerald’s feelings:

Mercury: I'm sorry you didn't have a mommy that loved you, but I had a father who hated me! He never went easy on me! Every day of training was a beating. And when I unlocked my Semblance, he stole it with his! "This is a crutch!" "This makes you weak!" He told me I could have it back when I was strong. So I got strong, but I never got it back! I've had to work harder than anyone to get where I am. You may not like it here without Cinder, but I think I'm right where I'm supposed to be!

Here, Mercury is telling Emerald details of his past he would not be sharing if he did not trust her. He can’t let himself be completely vulnerable, though, so he discloses them by lashing out at Emerald. He mixes violence with authentic vulnerability and also with care:

Mercury: Cinder doesn't care about you! She doesn't care about either of us!

He has seen how self-destructive Emerald can get when it comes to Cinder:

And he is trying to have Emerald move on from her obsession.

However, Mercury’s small steps towards opening up and caring for another person are constantly challenged:

Tyrian: Oh yes, the world is mean, and I'm a big, bad man now just like the others.

Mercury: How long have you been standing there?!

The moment he opens up to Emerald, Tyrian appears to threathen and mock him.

Mercury’s positive development lies in accepting his own feelings of pain and in sharing them with others, so that he can be helped. However, the environment he is in goes in the way of it:

Emerald: Mercury, I wanted to...

Here, Emerald is trying to either apologize to Mercury for their fight or to at least check out on him. Still, Mercury is not listening to her because he is too frightened by what Salem is doing.

Mercury’s current struggle is conveyed in a nutshell by the glance he gives to his left in Midnight:

Is he looking at Emerald out of concern?

Or at Salem out of caution?

It is not clear. Still, what is sure is that Mercury should focus on Emerald, but Salem goes in the way. He deep down wants to care about others, but he is too scared to do so:

Tyrian: All you ever learned was pain and violence, and now you're too afraid to leave it. Such a tragedy.

At the same time, Mercury is for Emerald what she has been looking for in Cinder:

Emerald: We don't need him! Everything was going fine!

She initially refuses him, but it is clear that with time Mercury becomes the thing most similar to a family Emerald has:

She has been so fixated on Cinder and on how she can be worthy of Cinder’s love that she has missed how much Mercury has tried to protect her all along.

This is why Hazel is important for Emerald’s development:

Hazel: No more Gretchens, boy.

His sacrifice is about breaking his personal cycle of pain. His story starts with Gretchen dying when she was only a girl and it ends with him preventing another girl’s death. At the same time, he also helps breaking the cyle of abuse between Emerald and Cinder.

Emerald is told the truth about her relationship with Cinder by Mercury. Moreover, it seems something finally clicks for her here:

She observes Salem’s manipulation of Cinder and understands Cinder has been manipulating her in the same way.

However, it is thanks to Hazel’s sacrifice that Emerald sees what a genuine parental bond should be like. It should be about the parent protecting the child:

Hazel: What Gretchen would have done. And that starts with getting you away from here. Both of you.

And not the child protecting the parent:

Emerald: I know I can’t beat you. But I can fill that thing full of holes before you take me down.

It should be about the parent caring for the child unconditionally:

Hazel: Go.

And not about the child working hard to gain a parent’s love:

Cinder: You… You brought me back here. We failed.

Emerald: Cinder, you were hurt. I was just trying to help.

At the same time, Hazel’s death has taught Emerald the pain of losing a loved one:

And has forced Emerald to stand on her own two legs:

Oscar: I've seen what you can do, Emerald. However this fight ends, we could really use someone like you.

She can’t be protected forever, but she should start protecting others. She is powerful enough to do so and she must accept this responsibility.

So

I think Emerald could be key to Mercury's redemption

I think so too. Emerald saving Mercury is the perfect objective for her personal arc. It forces her to act as the savior instead of the one being saved.

Moreover, Mercury told her the truth about herself:

Mercury: You're in denial.

So Emerald might do the same for Mercury. This would also fit with her being the Emerald Tablet. The Tablet is written by Mercury to convey the truth to the world. Here, it might very well be the inverse: the Emerald Tablet might convey the truth to Mercury.

In general, Mercury and Tyrian’s foiling has to pay off, just like Emerald and Hazel’s:

The set-up is there for Tyrian and Mercury’s subplot to be about breaking cycles as well. Mercury’s story is about a child left alone with his abuser. Nobody comes to save him, so Mercury is forced to save himself by killing Marcus. Still, this only leads to him being stuck in the idea he is nothing, but an extension of his father. Right now, the cycle is repeating, but it is possible this time things will go differently because there is at least one person who cares about him.

Not only that, but (and this is nothing, but a baseless theory) even Qrow (aka a character who has unfinished business with Tyrian) might be a thematic fit to help Mercury:

Mercury: Bad hair, used a scythe, and smelled like my dad after a long day. It was him.

After all, Mercury himself draws a comparison between Qrow and his father since they are both alcoholic. However, Qrow has started a journey of rehabilitation for the sake of his nieces and their friends.

Qrow sees himself as bad for others and fundamentally unlucky because of his background and his semblance. So, his third fight with Tyrian being about saving a kid, who, in a sense, is even less lucky than him and has no semblance might be thematically fitting.

Despite it all, Qrow found a family and a place to belong and he might help Mercury find his (Emerald) as well.

SEMBLANCE OF THE SELF

Got no gun But I gleam like a blade and I'm harder than iron

Delusion I'll steal til your blind and defeat you from inside your mind

Emerald’s best weapon is her semblance, while Mercury’s semblance was stolen, so he could become a weapon.

This difference symbolizes their respective reactions to abuse.

Emerald uses her illusions as a coping mechanism.

This mechanism is well conveyed in CEM’s fight against Amber:

On one hand, Emerald creates a child version of herself who is well dressed and owns a bike. It is a rich version of Emerald because she must think that is the kind of child others would stop by to help. She does not believe she is likable or lovable. This is why she makes an illusory alter-ego, which is both true (she deep down is a crying child) and false (she is a street rat with nothing).

In general, this is Emerald’s way to approach others:

Emerald: Just left the stadium after your amazing fight! You guys were awesome!

Ren: Because she's scared. Just like us..

Emerald: Or maybe because I know how to get out of here. Anybody coming?

She either fakes an overly friendly demeanor or acts tougher than she is. In any case, she hides her true self.

On the other hand, Emerald is symbolically trapping herself in an illusion together with Amber. Amber can’t see the dangerous thief in front of her, but Emerald too can’t see the generous woman who is offering food to a crying child:

Cinder: Follow me, and you’ll never be hungry again.

Cinder promises Emerald food and love and this lie makes the girl unable  to see the genuine article when it is right there.

So Emerald tricks both others and herself. This is how she survives abuse.

This is why she keeps believing in Cinder while she is gone:

Emerald: You’re here! I knew you’d co--

And this is why symbolically her semblance grows stronger in an abusive environment:

Emerald: I’ve been working on my Semblance. I can help. I won’t tell anybody.

Salem: You really have been honing that Semblance of yours.

After all, this is when Emerald gets a “power-up”:

She has just lost Cinder and finds herself stuck with Salem. Her reaction is to have a breakdown and to project an illusion in the minds of nine people, when she had previously stated she could only do one/two minds at most.

Mercury weaponizes his trauma.

This is why his legs are Mercury’s true weapon, while Talaria is there just to cover and embellish the pain and ugliness under it.

Mercury fights Amber with only its bare legs because symbolically his trauma is still fresh and he has yet to work out a structured coping mechanism to it. His meeting with Cinder is the first step in this construction that evolves in the following months and is still evolving:

In CEM’s fight against Amber, Mercury uses his unfeeling legs to whitstand the violence of the elements:

Fire

Earth and Water

Air

He goes through the whole cycle without feeling any pain simply because his trauma has made him unfeeling:

I'm the one That was ripped from the earth and exposed to the sun

Marcus has literally turned Mercury into Iron:

But I gleam like a blade and I'm harder than iron

Still, the point is that mercury as a metal is not as hard as iron, but (in the alchemical scale of metals) is way more refined and closer to gold. Mercury can be better than his father, but his way to survive abuse is to repress himself.

This is why his semblance was stolen by his abuser. It is because abuse has taken away Mercury’s personhood.

So, both Emerald and Mercury face abuse by masking or repressing themselves. The difference is a matter of degree. Mercury can suppress his emotions and needs more, while Emerald can’t.

Theirs is a foiling about feeling too much to the point of self-harm and of feeling too little to the point of negation.

So, Emerald must struggle with her feelings not to be controlled by them, while Mercury must aknowledge them.

Emerald’s Hallucinations is a Semblance of The Self because it hides both Emerald herself and the truth.

This is interesting because, as stated above, the Emerald Tablet should convey the truth about alchemy. However, Emerald’s environment has turned her into an inversion of herself:

I'm the one Who rose out of filth and was loved by no-one

She is a gemstone, but is currently covered in dirt. She needs to polish herself, so she can shine and fit better in her allusion.

Mercury’s stolen semblance is a Semblance of The Self because it is linked to Mercury’s self-expression, which he must claim back.

Until then, he is bound to be stuck in an abusive cycle as nothing, but a weapon.

In general, there is some symbolism around Mercury which needs unpacking:

Mercury quoting Marcus:"This is a crutch!" "This makes you weak!"

Firstly, he has clearly interiorized what his father told him here. He refuses the idea of weakness and crutches to the point that his prosthetics, which are literal crutches get turned into weapons and even covered by other weapons. However, this refusal of crutches means Mercury can’t heal. After all, crutches, bandages and treatment are necessary to become healthy once again.

Secondly, there is this: 

I'll run circles round ya, I can touch the sky

The God Mercury’s main attribute is that he can overcome any boundary. He can go wherever he wants in no time. However, Mercury is the opposite because no matter what, he can’t leave his abusive environment. This has to do once again with his father’s abuse which culminated with Marcus taking Mercury’s legs. This is symbolically why Mercury is trapped.

Like for Emerald, Mercury’s arc should be about growing into his allusion, so that he can finally be free.

Still, how to turn Emerald and Mercury in the positive versions of their allusions? The answer has to do with this question:

(I think Emerald could be key to) maybe Cinder's (redemption) too

I’M THE ONE

Emerald and Mercury are two parts of the individual (body and soul) and two parts of a Huntsman (semblance and weapon):

Ren: A common philosophy is that a warrior's Semblance is a part of who they are.

Ruby: Just weapons? They're an extension of ourselves! They're a part of us! Oh, they're so cool.

Together they make a unit. Together they make Cinder. They are two sides of her trauma, her two sins:

Emerald: Actually, I was wondering, do you have any copies of "The Thief and The Butcher"?

And the wounds behind those sins.

This is why Cinder takes them in, but also why she abuses them.

She uses them as weapons:

In CEM’s fight against Amber she lets them go in first and has them take the majority of Amber’s hits.

Not only that, but she uses them as “red herrings” she hides behind.

She acts as if Amber’s blow takes her out of the fight, while Amber focuses on Mercury who resists her attack:

She has Emerald display her semblance at full force, so that the girl becomes Amber’s first target:

She makes her own illusion where Emerald and Mercury are her smokescreen.

However, her two disciples are not just things she can use as she pleases. They are two people who depend on her:

Mercury: You mean--

Emerald: She's alive?

They are literally two kids she takes in framing their relationship as parental/hierarchical hence she is responsible for them.

However, she fails them and leaves them in a dangerous environment. This is why they both leave her out of self-survival.

Narratively, Emerald and Mercury are two kids that must grow up. Right now, they are in some kind of adolescent phase. They have started their emancipation from their “parent”, but they have still to grow until they’ll be able to truly face Cinder.

It will probably be in this confrontation that they will affirm their growth. Right now, Cinder does not need to be coddled, but to be called out. Both Neo and Watts try to, but Cinder ignores them and retaliates against them. She needs a call out she can’t ignore and Emerald and Mercury are too rooted in who she deep down is for her to be unaffected by them.

At the same time, it would mark Mercury and Emerald’s first step into adulthood. Only then they can stop being a “half” and can truly become “one”, so a whole person.