#ozpin can transform into a bird

[bafflement]

Deaged Oz AU - Unfortunately, it translates...

Oz muttered to himself as he reached the quiet corner of the farm he'd been aiming for. Getting there had taken slightly longer than he'd anticipated, but his cane had been invaluable. He just hoped he'd have the time to fly, he'd felt so useless lately, a drain on Em and Oscar's resources. They said they were happy to host him, but... he couldn't really give much in return, like this. Flying would make him feel better, though.

Concentrating, he blurred into his avian form. Long ago, he'd chosen a Goshawk for the fact they were common, easy enough to overlook, but far from helpless. A smaller part of him had to admit he'd partially chosen it because they had been known to eat Ravens, too. She had rather annoyed him that day.

Stretching one wing, he froze. The wing itself felt wrong, the balance off in a way he'd never experienced before. Craning his head around to look, he was horrified to see a wing that was covered in a mottled brown down, pinfeathers sticking out at odd angles along the length.

This was just too much! Not only was his human form that of a child, but so was his avian one? All he'd wanted was to fly for a few minutes, be free in the air, but it looked like even that would be denied him. He let out a disgusted peeping sound at the thought and was suddenly very glad he couldn't blush like this. He even sounded like a baby bird! He heard, rather than saw, something overhead and blurred back into Oz, feeling vaguely terrified. Well, that was a failed experiment. Best to pretend it had never happened at all...

Several months later, Qrow, looking tired, cornered him.

"Hey, pocketsized? We could really have done with your eyes up there with me. I know you see better than I do as a bird, so what gives?"

Oz sighed, looking very small and very embarrassed. "How old am I, Qrow?" was all he said, sounding strangely defensive.

"Well, yeah, you're a kid, but... wait a sec... you mean?" Qrow started to laugh hysterically at the thought. "You're... a baby... bird? Show... me. Please, Oz. Show me?"

"No. I do not enjoy the feeling of being vulnerable, Qrow. It is already bad enough that I am trapped in the body of my ten year old self. I do not wish something to attempt to eat me. Besides, we're out in the open, nowhere near secure enough to attempt it again." Oz sounded very fed up, glaring up at Qrow who still hadn't stopped laughing.

Qrow kept pestering Oz every chance he got, until Oz finally, reluctantly gave in.

"When we are somewhere safe, and Qrow? You are not to take pictures of this, it's bad enough I have to experience the sensation twice, nobody else needs to know about this."

Qrow just shrugged and gestured towards the house they were staying in. "I'll make sure no big bad predators come and eat ya, pocketsized. But you promised, after all."

Going into one of the far bedrooms, Oz sat on the bed, looking very reluctant. He blurred into the hawk, just as small and just as vulnerable as he had been on the farm. Qrow seemed to melt at the sight, though he was laughing again. Thankfully, Oz could see no evidence of his scroll, so hopefully it wouldn't be recorded, at least? Qrow sighed and stopped laughing, blurring into his own bird form and flapping his way to the bed. Oz flinched slightly at this, but Qrow just tucked one wing protectively around him, drawing him partially underneath the bigger bird. Oz let out a plaintive peep as he was drawn underneath Qrow like an actual chick would be, but he was too small to fight the movement. The sound seemed to shake him out of whatever he'd been thinking, though and Qrow seemed to blink, before moving far enough away not to crush Oz and turning back into the huntsman.

"Sorry bout that, pocketsized. Was kinda instinct." Qrow was suddenly very red, looking stricken.

Oz turned back, too and sighed again, looking strangely conflicted. "I would appreciate you not doing that again, Qrow. Avian instincts aside, I never took you for the broody type." His words were light, but he was blushing just as red as Qrow was.

The incident was never recorded. Neither one spoke about it again.

Eventually, Ruby, too, cornered Oz. "Hey, professor? Quick question, you turned Qrow into a bird, does that mean you can transform into one, too?"

Oz sighed. "Miss Rose... I am currently ten years old. That age translates. Even if I could turn into a bird of some sort, and I'm not saying that I can, that animal would not be useful in any way. Also, no, I will not be feeding into your curiousity. Now please, drop this?"

Across the room, Qrow raised his flask in what was almost a salute, amusement dancing in his eyes. Ruby just pouted, but accepted that she wasn't going to find out any time soon.

[yuionyx]

Random thought I had for a while

Does Raven had/has a portal to Ozpin????

Because Oz trusted the twins a lot to give them the bird magic, I think they trusted him back

But enough for a portal??? Not sure...

Like Oz's lies felt personal, like a broken promise?

And she already left the inner circle so if she had one I'm sure she's not using it

But imagine when Ozpin dies in the fall of beacon, would Raven feel the portal disappear? Would she care? Does it change into a portal to Oscar?

Does she make a portal to the new host just to know Oz's new face?

[aspoonofsugar]

Ruby and the Splendor Solis

Here comes a quick alchemy meta! Alchemy is an ancient practice, whose goal is to create the philosopher stone. This stone gives immortality, transmutes lead into gold and creates new life (homunculus). From a philosophical point of view, alchemy's aim is to nurture the spirit and to make it perfect.

As @hamliet has explained in several metas, RWBY is an alchemical story, which metaphorically illustrates the procedure to create the stone (RWBY/Ruby).

Today's post will explore Ruby and Maria's interaction in volume 6 episode 8 (Dead End):

As a matter of fact the scene references the 6th plate of the Splendor Solis.

WHAT IS THE SPLENDOR SOLIS?

The Splendor Solis is an alchemical text, which describes how to make the philosophical stone through 22 illustrated plates:

4 introductory plates present the protagonists of the alchemical journey

7 parables illustrate the alchemical death and rebirth

7 flask plates explore the alchemical process from a practical point of view

4 final plates describe the alchemical process from a spiritual point of view

How does Ruby and Maria's scene reference plate 6?

PLATE 6 AND VOLUME 6

Let's begin with describing what plate 6 is like:

This plate has three philosophers under a tree with golden fruits. The tree is a metaphor for the alchemical process as whole. It is the philosophical tree and if you climb it you reach the golden fruit (perfection/the philosopher stone).

The three people embody the phases of alchemy:

The young man climbing the ladder is nigredo (black)

The man who wears white outside and red inside is albedo (white)

The man who wears red outside and white inside is rubedo (red)

Citrinitas (the yellow stage) is instead symbolized by the yellow flowers and by the golden bough the men are pursuing. The scene as a whole represents a transformation, which is why the birds that fly in the sky have some green shades. Green is, thus, the color of transformation.

How does all of this rely to Ruby and Maria?

First of all, the two silver eyed warriors speak under a tree:

With golden fruits:

Secondly, this scene frames Maria as the teacher and Ruby as the student. Maria is initiating Ruby to very important knowledge, so that our young alchemist can continue her journey.

Ruby: I don't know… I don't know anything… What do I tell Jaune and his team when we don't even have a plan? Qrow's out drinking, Ozpin hasn't come back and even if he did, I don't know if I could trust him. And there's always Jinn, but… we only have one more question we can ask her. I feel like I'm letting everyone down… Maria: If you're tired of not knowing anything, how about we discuss those eyes of yours?

MARIA, THE TEACHER

Maria embodies the archetype of the old wise woman. She is a mature version of Ruby (an older silver-eyed warrior), who comes in our protagonist's life to offer guidance. She is the more expert alchemist:

Maria grabs the golden fruit. Symbolically, this shows that she is far ahead of Ruby in the alchemical quest.

This is made clear by her:

semblance

weapon

Preflexes lets Maria sense everything better than others. Metaphorically, it means she has a better understanding of reality than others. This ties with her having wisdom.

Life and Death is made by two kamas that can be combined in a staff:

They can be separated (solvet) and united (coagula). Solvet and coagula is the mantra of alchemy, as this process aims to create the philosophical stone by separating and uniting the elements. Over and over. Until perfection is obtained. Metaphorically, it means a soul is refined through creation and destruction. Life and Death.

RUBY, THE STUDENT

Ruby is young and ignorant. She doesn't know what to do and she doesn't know about her eyes. She is the alchemist apprentice, who is going through a transformation:

Differently from the Splendor Solis plate, there are no birds in the scene. However, the scenery is full of butterflies, which are another symbol of change. Of death and rebirth:

As far as the nature of Ruby's transformation is concerned, the setting gives us some hints, as Maria and Ruby are speaking in a garden full of white snow. That is because RWBY is approaching albedo (the white phase). In particular, volume 6 climax marks Ruby's passage from nigredo to albedo. This process if metaphorically foreshadowed in Ruby and Maria's conversation thanks to a specific visual cue:

Let's look at Maria's plate:

The grapes are purple/black = nigredo, the black phase

The plate is white = albedo, the white phase

The lemons/oranges are yellow = citrinitas, the yellow phase

The strawberries are red = rubedo, the red phase

The kiwis are green = transformation (plus prima materia, aka the beginning)

In short, the plate and fruits are a metaphor for the alchemical process as a whole. What's interesting is that a little butterfly flies on them:

It pauses for a little while on top of the grapes (nigredo) until Maria gently takes it and has it fly forward (towards albedo). The meaning is clear. Maria acts a mentor, who helps Ruby leave the black phase and enter the white one. She gives Ruby the knowledge she needs to face her "trial of fire":

Maria: The light will only work in the presence of Grimm. Meaning the only practice you'll get will be a trial by fire.

TRIALS BY FIRE

Ruby faces her trial by fire in the climax of volume 6, as she fights the Leviathan:

There she uses Maria's teaching and the relic of Knowledge to defeat her foe through her internal light. This moment is when Ruby and the group leave Mistral and the Black Phase once and for all. They are ready to face Atlas and the White Phase.

Still, this isn't the only trial by fire our Little Red Riding Hood has to go through. She struggles through a second one in volume 9, as she and the group leave the White Stage (Atlas) through the Yellow Stage (the Ever After), so that they can enter the Red Phase (Vacuo). Once again this passage is shown through the Splendor Solis.

There is a giant tree:

A wise woman:

Butterflies:

Once again, Ruby is given guided by an older and wiser woman under a tree. This time she has to make a choice to go through a transformation. A process of death and rebirth:

In volume 6 Ruby learns about her internal light, whereas in volume 9 she discovers her inner shadows. In volume 6 she is given knowledge, while in volume 9 she is offered a choice. At the same time, in volume 6 the Splendor Solis reference is focused on a single meaningful scene, while in volume 9 it is more pervasive and present throughout the entirety of the season. In volume 6 the Splendor Solis comments Ruby's journey (the microchosm). In volume 9 this alchemical texts conveys RWBY's adventure (the macrochosm).

However, this isn't the only difference between the two transformative trials.

IDEAL AND REAL

Volume 6 has Ruby become an ideal:

Volume 9 has Ruby grow into herself:

Similarly, in volume 6 she latches on an idealistic idea of Summer (the Huntress), whereas in volume 9 she accepts Summer as a person (the Mother):

This passage from ideal to real isn't something unique to our heroine's arc, but it ties to everyone's story. Here come two examples.

Jaune's arc

In volume 6 Jaune is inspired by Pyrhha to push forward no matter what:

He wants to become more like Pyrrha, his ideal self.

In volume 9 Jaune is taught by Weiss to stop and accept a loss:

He realizes he is good as he is, despite his flaws.

Chemical weddings

In volume 6, Bumbleby goes through their second chemical wedding, where they kill Adam. The focus of Yang and Blake's relationship is that both girls have to become "worthy" of the other:

And now I know I'm worthy of you (Oh can't you see, you could be with me) With every smile you told me, "I love you" (I am your dream, I love you)

They push each other to grow and to become their ideal selves. Yang has to overcome her anger and abandonement issues to stay with Blake. Blake has to stop running away to be by Yang's side. Their fight with Adam tests their progress on their respective flaws.

In volume 9, White Knight has their second chemical wedding, where Jaune dies and is reborn thanks to Weiss. Their bond is about letting go of childish fantasies (the charming prince and the beautiful princess) and to accept the other for who they are:

Weiss: I think you’re asking too much of yourself. We’ve been telling ourselves that failing means we’re no good. But I can guarantee even the best Huntsmen in history… they’ve all lost. But they were still incredibly brave… and good.

They let go of paragons and come to love their real selves with both strengths and flaws. Their conversation in front of the Genial Gems conveys exactly this.

Interestingly, Bumbleby and White Knight foil each other in another way, when it comes to alchemical symbolism.

Bumbleby focuses on death and separation. They represent the "solvet" part of the process.

White Knight is linked to rebirth and union. They explore the "coagula" part of the process.

To be clear, the solvet and coagula parts are present in both relationships. Yang and Blake go through destruction to come back stronger and more beautiful than ever. Similarly, Weiss and Jaune have to face death, so they can be reborn.

Still, the focus of BB's weddings is on death/destruction:

Adam cuts Yang's arm and impales Blake

Adam dies

Whereas WK's weddings climax in resurrection/creation:

Weiss is reborn

Jaune and Ruby are reborn

This is because the two relationships are complementary and illustrate different sides of the alchemical process. However, there is a third ship meant to embody both parts.

RUBY AND OSCAR = SOLVET AND COAGULA

Ruby and Oscar's wedding is kicked off by their first meeting, when Qrow (a bird) brings Oscar to Ruby and unites the Solar King and the Lunar Queen:

Ruby and Oscar's wedding references the imagery above.

It is a union of opposites. The scenery of their first scene together has Ruby marked as fire and air, whereas Oscar is associated with earth and water. Moreover, both the moon and sun are present.

In general, Ruby is moon, silver, red and air, while Oscar is sun, gold, green and earth. They complement each other and are perfectly balanced. So, they don't need a specific focus on neither death nor rebirth because theis arcs are gonna explore both the solvet and the coagula. They are the whole.

This complementarity shows also in Oscar paralleling Ruby during the trials of fire.

While Ruby is talking with Maria and going through an internal transformation, Oscar goes through an external transformation (he changes clothes). Ruby connects with Summer (coagula), while Oscar is free from Ozpin (solvet). Both their transformations are tested in volume 6 climax, where Ruby grows into a leader (macrochosm), whereas Oscar grows into himself (microchosm).

While Ruby struggles with herself in the Ever After, Oscar struggles with Ozpin in Vacuo. Ruby separates her perception of the self from Summer (solvet), whereas Oscar is merging with Ozpin (coagula). Ruby is in a fantastical world symbolic of the inside (microchosm). Oscar is in the real world, which is going through big changes (macrochosm).

Right now, Ruby and Oscar are bound to meet again through Raven (another bird), which might kick off their second alchemical wedding. Not only that, but Raven herself might play the part of the Nevermore, as she wears a Nevermore mask and her name alludes to The Raven, Poe's famous poem and the inspiration for the Nevermore Grimm. If so, this meeting might be Rosegarden nevermore wedding, which for RWBY ships is about overcoming grief and death through love. Another declination of solvet and coagula.

[niqhtlord01]

ROOSTER TEETH CHAMPIONSHIP CROSSOVER!!!!

What’s this?

Are we still on the air?

What the hell do you mean we haven’t had a fight in several months?

Well we’re going to have to fix that right now!

Greetings all you crazy fighting fans to yet another Rooster Teeth Championship Matchup!!!!

We’ve gone pretty hard with the family tree of Rooster Teeth characters and in this special we decided to mix things up with a special crossover event by special request!

You know them, you hate them, and Michael Bay betrayed them! Give it up for the TRANSFORMERS!!!

Optimus: *Drives in as big rig and transformers. Ruby: *Drooling excitedly Optimus: Do not be alarmed, I mean you no harm. Ruby: *Twirls Scythe Ruby: I have so many questions!!!! -----------------

Yang: *Rides in on motorcycle and jumps off. Bumblebee: *Jumbled radio noises Bumblebee: I-Too-Love the FEEL-of-a-FLASHY-Entrance. Yang: You get any k-pop on that? Cause I’m ready to rumble! Bumblebee: *Arm cannon forms Bumblebee: Kids-these-days. -----------------

Salem: *Grim part ways as Salem walks through. Starscream: I will grant you the honor of being the first to kneel before Lord Starscream! Salem: I kneel before no lord; and least of all the lord of cowards. Starscream: *Primes arm cannons Starscream: You! You shall pay for your insolence! ----------------

Constructicons: *Roll in and transformer into Devastator Qrow: *takes sip of flask Qrow: So are you all just standing on top of each other or do you do the cheerleader pyramid in there? Devastator: A wise guy huh? Devastator: We’ll see how wise you are when you’re nothing but a smear on the pavement! Qrow: *Transforms scythe Qrow:  Guess I’ll just keep cutting until I find out or passout. ---------------

Soundwave: *Transforms from boombox and ejects laserbeak who proceeds to rest on his arm Cinder: Oh look, another one of Ironwood’s toy soldiers. Soundwave: (In Monotone) Oh look, another humanoid with parental issues. Cinder: *Roars in anger as she draws dust blades ------------------------

Penny: *Slowly descends into ring with rocket boots Shockwave: A most interesting construct to have come from a primitive species.  Penny: Well that’s certainly kind of you to say. Shockwave: (Charges cannon)I shall enjoy dissecting you on my operating table and revealing your secrets. ------------------------

Roman: *Walks in twirling cane Swindle: Interested in some wares of questionable origin? Roman: I don’t pay for things I’ll just steal later. Swindle: (Pulls out cannon from pocket dimension) Oh be still my beating spark. --------------------------

Ozpin: *Walks in sipping tea Megatron: You remind me of my own world’s leaders. Ozpin: I only do what I think is best for my people. Megatron: (Charges arm cannon) They said the same thing while my people wallowed in chains. ---------------------------

Tyrian: *Flips in laughing before licking wrist blades. Blitzwing: (Head spins) And they say I have a few screws loose. HAHAHA! Tyrian: Is it not madness for sheep to speak peace with wolves? Blitzwing: (Head spins again) Well hot spark! I need to write that one down! ---------------------------

Nora: *Smashes through wall, twirls hammer, then smiles as she holds the grenade launcher. Omega Supreme: Hostiles will be neutralized. Nora: Have you seen how cute I am? (Smiles) How could I be hostile? Omega Supreme: (Alarm blares) Priority target registered! Neutralizing with extreme prejudice! -----------------------------

Shockwave: *Walks in scraping cannon arm barrel against the floor Arthur: So you are what qualifies as a scientist? *Scoffs Shockwave: The sum of your knowledge is little more than a speck of dust compared to the vast knowledge I have obtained over my 10 million years of existence. Arthur: (Adjusts gloves)  10 million years and yet you remain subordinate to a petty tyrant. ----------------------------

Emerald: *Walks in flexing her scythe pistols Jetfire: I can see we are birds of a feather. Emerald: What could I possibly have in common with a 6 story talking robot? Jetfire: (Takes fighting stance) That loyalty and honor are not so easily wasted by those worthy of it. ----------------------

Cardin: *Walks in hefting large mace Hound: I hear you think ur self to be tough slag. Cardin: I’m the toughest fighter there is. Hound: (Laughs as he draws heavy pistol) Hound: Kid, I’ve  purged energon slags tougher than you. -------------------------

Optimus: *rolls in and transforms Ironwood: Stand aside, I won’t ask again. Optimus: I can see there is still good in you human; remember who you are fighting for. Ironwood: (Charges up arm, gets angry) I have never forgotten, who I am fighting for.

[bridgyrose]

Raven quietly watched Yang from the edge of the trees, making sure to keep out of sight as she normally did. A small smile crossed her lips as she realized how happy Yang would be, how safe she was. This was how it was all meant to be. For Yang to be happy and safe and for herself to be as far away as she could so she wouldnt hurt anyone. 

“You know you can talk to her.” 

Raven flinched as she heard Summer’s voice behind her. “You know I’m not good at this sort of thing. You’re better as her parent-” 

“And she is still your daughter even if you ran away from your family!” 

“You… you know why I left,” Raven squeaked out, moving behind a tree to stay out of sight of Yang. “Staying with them will only bring them pain and ruin, people will hunt them for me.” 

“After all these years, you really think you really think we’d let you handle your past alone?” Summer asked as she pinched the bridge of her nose. “You know we’ll be there to help no matter what. Doesnt matter if the tribe comes back, if its Ozpin, or if its anyone coming around to take those powers you inherited. We’re your team. You’re supposed to rely on us.” 

“Yes but…” Raven sighed and looked around the tree to watch Yang continue to play in the yard with Ruby and Qrow, her heart aching and fingers running down the bark of the tree she hid behind. “Tai wont accept me back.” 

Summer put a hand on Raven’s shoulder. “He was broken up when you left, but he’ll accept you when you come back. He wants nothing more than to have you back in his life.” 

“I’m sure he’s moved on by now.” 

“He hasnt. At least, not completely. The love he has for you, its never going to go away. I was there for him when you left, but that doesnt mean he stopped loving you. You can still come back to us.” 

Raven turned to look at Summer, only to look away as she tried to find the right words. The thought of coming back had always been at the back of her mind, but having left five years ago… would she really be accepted? “I-I… I couldnt-” 

“You can. Yang’s still young enough that she wont remember that you were gone. But Tai and I, as much as we’ve had our own anger about you leaving, we still love you. Please, come home to us.” 

Raven gave a small nod and took Summer’s hand. “You’re sure he’d want me back?” 

“I’m sure,” Summer reassured. 

Raven took a breath and slowly started to follow Summer to the cabin, each step felt like her feet were encased in lead. Her heart raced as she moved from the forest to the small garden that Tai had set up. She took a quick glance to find the first way out at the first sign of trouble, stopping as she heard Tai before seeing him step out of the cabin. 

“Raven?” Taiyang asked. “Is… is that really you?” 

Raven gave a nervous smile, ready to transform into her bird form to leave. “Yes. I uh… I’m back.” 

Her body tensed up as she watched Taiyang walk over, her breath hitched as she felt Taiyang pull her into a hug. A tear ran down her cheek as she listened to him speak once more, her arms wrapping around him. 

“Welcome home,” Taiyang said quietly. “I’m glad you’re back.” 

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“You said you were going to come back,” Raven said quietly to the grave sitting in front of her. “Always told me that I wasnt allowed to run away, but why did you have to?” 

Taiyang pulled Raven close. “I know it hurts, but we’ll see her again one day.” 

Raven wiped away a few tears from her eyes. “Easy for you to say. You’re the one who believes in an afterlife.” 

“We should get back home before the kids wake up.” 

“I’ll… I’ll be there soon. I need a few more moments.” 

Taiyang nodded and kissed her. “Dont be too long.”

Raven nodded and waited until she couldnt hear Taiyang’s footsteps anymore to walk over to the gravestone and kneel down in front of it. Even knowing that the grave was empty didnt seem to make her heart hurt less. It was still a promise that was made, a promise that was broken, and a wound that would never heal. She stood back up and took hold of the hilt of her sword, drawing the dust blade she preferred to use. As she closed her eyes, she focused on her bond with Summer and sliced through the air. 

The sound of a portal opening from her semblance caused her blood to freeze. She opened her eyes and stared at the portal in front of her. Her fingers shook as she let go of her blade, listening to it clatter on the ground. She let the portal close and took a step back from the grave as her mind reeled with the simple truth she had found. 

Summer was still alive. 

[lovingdabeessss]

Au I thought about for like five seconds and then decided to draw

Bby Yang with a WAY worse off tai who shut down in a way that left them with nothing deciding to just leave with her little wagon and whatever a 5 to 8 year old thinks is important to find someone else to stay with finds Raven who saw her as a bird and said she’d work for any sort of place to stay to take care of her sister (haven’t really thought it out much im not a writer)

Yang can transform cause magic is genetic (ozpins kids) and she’s a dragon cause he turned them into their names and the joke continues generations later

For the purposes of this alternate universe ravens clan is like a SUPER BIG important bad guys thing in the world

Raven taught her how to transform and everything but it’s not exactly stealthy as a dragon is a mythical creature so she can’t actually transform that often

They’ve never told Ruby raven is yangs mom they literally just forgot because yang didn’t know how to explain that

Yang and Blake can be terrorists 💖together💖

Yangs still a nerd who likes tech and math and helps Ruby learn stuff even though they don’t really school

She’s still just a dork just a dork older sister but now she’s a criminal but mostly just for dork older sister reasons

Blake: I’m trying to get more rights for me and my people

Yang: damn that’s SO much better then my reason

Blake: what’s your reason

Yang: this was the only job that would take five year olds and I just don’t know how to do anything else now

This is so stupid I’m probably gonna do more stuff with it later because it’s just silly

[bestworstcase]

So you think the Crown is correlated to the Golden Cap. Are you leaning to that making everyone the Winged Monkeys or that Qrow and Raven are pulling double duty parallel wise? Because what's biting at me is that Raven never actually says what Ozpin did to her and Qrow. She shows the bird form - which would be a classic loophole around "Don't tell anyone" orders. There's an incongruity with the narrative siding with Raven thematically in Oz keeping secrets and especially missing details

Before asking for agreement See Pyrrha and being targeted to become the Fall Maiden - and how the Bird Transformation by itself is swept under the rug quickly by Qrow and Oz. And Raven has no reason to not say more if there is more to say if she can that I can think of. Especially with her trying to convince Yang to stay with her/not sign on with Oz

so, the golden cap. cliff notes backstory:

there’s this princess-sorceress named gayelette whom everybody loves, regarded as a good sorceress who uses her magic to help people and never “to hurt anyone who was good,” but she’s sad and lonely because all the men are too stupid and ugly to be worthy of her

she finds a boy named quelala who is handsome and “wise beyond his years”

like literally a child

she decides she’s going to marry him when he grows up and takes him… to her palace… to raise him… (😬)

once he is old enough she “hastens to make everything ready for the wedding” (😬)

the day before the wedding, quelala goes for a walk along the river, dressed in finery. the king of the winged monkeys thinks it will be funny to drop him in the water

they do that

quelala is fine, he laughs and swims to the riverbank

as he’s climbing out of the water, gayelette comes running out and sees that his fine clothes are sopping wet

she FLIES INTO A RAGE AND ORDERS THE WINGED MONKEYS TO BE BOUND AND THROWN INTO THE RIVER TO DROWN

the king and quelala plead with her to be merciful, so at last she agrees to spare the winged monkeys if they allow her to bind them to the golden cap, which is quelala’s wedding present, as slaves

they accept this bargain because… what else can they do?

she continues to fly off the handle whenever she sees or thinks about the winged monkeys, so quelala uses the golden cap to order them to keep away (instead of hanging around to serve him) which they’re happy to do because they’re all terrified of her

quelala never uses the cap for anything else. after him it falls into the wicked witch’s hands, and she uses them to conquer winkie country. then dorothy brings it to glinda, who breaks the curse by giving it to the king of the winged monkeys.

the oz books are, you know, written for children and very lighthearted so it’s Not That Deep. (😬)

but rwby brought a shovel. (see also, glinda laying siege to the emerald city) so.

gayelette was “known” to be a good sorceress who didn’t use her magic to hurt “anyone who was good.” but (unlike most good witches in oz, and also unlike glinda who is regarded as neither good nor bad but right), her actions DO NOT match her reputation. she adopts a literal child and raises him to be her perfect husband. she is fully going to murder all the winged monkeys over a harmless bit of fun and only relents when they agree to be slaves and then continues to be so mad about it that the Literal Child she groomed to be her husband feels obliged to exile them for their own safety. the lady was a wicked witch who knew how to perform benevolence in public.

and then the golden cap itself grants the wearer three chances to command the winged monkeys to do anything, which the winged monkey are bound to obey. so just in terms of mechanics, the way it might be translated into rwby’s crown of choice is obvious. like the lamp’s question, you get three wishes. or three times you can compel people to do as you say, or make another person’s choices for them. whatever.

contextually, if the crown of choice is the golden cap, then the god of light slots into the role of gayelette and ozma is (loosely) quelala, the manipulated pawn to whom the enslaved winged monkeys are given. and the literal winged monkeys would be the spirits in the relics, although symbolically the winged monkeys here are all of humanity—gayelette’s ultimatum is “become slaves or die,” the god of light’s ultimatum is “obey me or die,” and like quelala, ozma is desperately interceding on mankind’s behalf via guiding them toward redemption, whereas salem like glinda thinks remnant ought to be freed.

it all tracks very neatly.

the wicked witch first uses the golden cap to conquer winkie country, and second to drive the wizard out of the west.

ozma wore the crown during the final battle of the great war, whereupon even his allies bent the knee in surrender. and when he and qrow explain the bird thing: qrow says “we made a choice, we wanted this,” and ozpin, “everyone has a choice. the branwens chose to accept their powers and the responsibilities that came with them, and later, one of them chose to abandon her duties in favor of her own self-interest. now, all of you have a choice.”

the wicked witch used her second wish to drive the wizard out of the west. ozpin gave the branwens the ability to turn into birds so they could act as scouts, spies, in service of his war against salem.

(for the sake of completeness i will note, also, that in the musical adaptation of wicked, the wizard tricks the witch into giving the monkeys wings so that he can use them as scouts and spies. this is the one [1] thing in rwby i think might be a nod to wicked.)

on the plain strength of the allusion argument and how many times ozpin reiterates “choice” once confronted on the bird thing i am convinced that the branwen shapeshifting actually derived from the crown, not ozpin, and that he used the second of his three wishes to grant it to them and just straight up lied about how. (if there is a hard “three wishes per person” limit on the crown and it doesn’t reset like the lamp, would explain why the claim of finite and dwindling magical power, which i Don’t Believe. he’s not running out of magic, but he only has one wish left.)

of course, if he pulled off secret use of a relic to do this that puts a practical limit on what he could do to compel them to silence (because if he did he’d have to come up with an explanation or else not tell them and hope they never noticed the magical binding on what they were allowed to say, because THAT would not go well for him). the danger inherent to becoming known as shapeshifters and that getting back to salem was probably enough on its own to keep them quiet. i think raven’s show-don’t-tell approach was motivated by knowing they weren’t going to believe her unless they saw it with their own eyes, sprinkled with a bit of hoping to get them interested enough to stay and hear her explanation rather than go to qrow.

what i think is most likely—given how ozpin frames it as the twins “chose to accept their powers and the responsibilities that came with them”—is that the birds were a “we can fill you in on the details once we know you’re with us” deal in the same vein as pyrrha. ozpin laid out that he could make them shapeshifters and needed a pair of scouts to gather information in preparation for a vague looming threat and only after they agreed and received this power did he explain the actual situation.

once they could turn into birds it would have been much harder to back out and his “finite, dwindling magic” is one hell of a manipulative trump card: he entrusted them with some of what precious little magic he has left because they promised him they could handle it, how can they even think about backing out now? the time to leave was before he gave them magic. never mind that they didn’t know what they were getting into because he didn’t tell them. they still made their choice.

[rwby-encrusted-blog]

MK Intros!

Parents (And Parental Figures) edition!

Tai: *Walks onstage with Zwei*Just like the old days, aye Qrow?

Qrow: *Flies in and transforms* Yeah, You're gonna lose again.

Tai: I seem to remember things going the other way!

~~~~~

Qrow: *Pulls Harbinger From behind his back* Alright Blondie, let's see if you burn just as bright as the old days!

Tai: *Catching Zwei from offscreen* looks like We're having Roast bird for dinner Buddy!

Qrow: Heh. That confidence can only carry you so far.

~~~~~

Tai: *Catching Zwei From off screen* Despite everything, It's good to see you Rae.

Raven: *Portaling in* Please, just fight me.

Tai: Okay. Just know I never stopped loving you, no matter how much I hated you.

~~~~~

Raven: *Removes Mask* Why have you come for me?

Tai: *Walks onstage with Zwei* First and foremost to get to my girls. Best case scenario to Bring you home.

Raven: I've made my choice ...

Tai: You can always make another.

~~~~~

Tai: *Walks onstage with Zwei* I never took you for a fighter.

Willow: *Rides in on summon* I was once. I'm trying to be again.

Tai: I get that. It's all we can do, Isn't it?

~~~~~

Willow: *Takes a shaky Fighting Stance* I heard what you did to my Dearest Weiss.

Raven: *Removes Mask* What do you plan to do about it?

Willow: Make you Pay.

~~~~~

Prismeya (Mama Arc): *Lands Like a super hero, Pulling out Pole-axe* Willow! Long time no see! How've you been?

Willow: *Rides in on summon* I've not been well until recently, but things are improving. How've you been?

Prismeya: Other than my son Running off to get himself klled, pretty good.

~~~~~

Prismeya: *Fixing prosthetic* You know, I forget you were a dad at one point.

Ozpin: *Clicks Cane against Ground* Often Times I wish I could forget that.

Prismeya: ... Warn a girl before you get depressing next time.

~~~~~

Ozpin: Tai ... It's good to see you well, old friend.

Tai: You- Please don't call me a friend. I've got some complaints.

Ozpin: Fair enough, fair enough.

~~~~~

Tai: So you're the infamous Prismeya, aren't you?

Prismeya: Maybe, maybe not, Mr. 'Entire Team'

Tai: En-TAI-re team, actually.

[invested-in-your-future]

So are you making Ozpin evil?

IF this is about the rewrite, then what I am doing is writing Raven as someone convinced Ozpin is.

But that's a character thinking that.

Qrow, having the same amount of information as his sister, views Ozpin as, at worst, a neutral necessity.

In the former case, every single event she experiences and every single mistake Ozpin makes ends up reaffirming her beliefs, but it doesn't affect Qrow the same way (even if he has his doubts).

Because the way they parse information available to them is different. They both are different individuals who took different messages from their shared childhoods. Which in turn affects how they view things.

One of the weirder parts of RWBY-proper is how the show uses character statements as factual truth.

In the show, when Ozpin tells about the Maidens, it's not Ozpin telling the story through the lens of his worldview - it's the writers telling the audience about the Maidens. When Raven and Qrow are walking around angry about the whole bird thing, it's not just the characters doing that but the writers telling the audience that the audience should be mad that Ozpin did this (even if it makes no sense). When Blake is horrified at Ilia having beaten up some racists who made fun of literal people dying to slavery - it's not just Blake, but the audience too that writers are indicating should be mad about that. When Hazel rants about how Ozpin is totally shady because somethingsomethingweirdbackstory, it's the writer's cue for the audience to view it that way. And, likewise, if a lead character proclaims Character A is evil, then it's the writer telling the audience that Character A is now evil.

So when the twin gods do the whole "Oh humanity is not worthy of it and you are evil for doing this", it's also the writers telling that to the audience.

There are attempts to not do that, like how Qrow's original relics nonsense barely resembles the truth, but, honestly, I am convinced that is more of the case of the writers not having figured out what the actual backstory of the relics is (they still haven't as they keep flip flopping on Gods too) rather than Qrow having a limited and biased point of view. In fact, in one of the cases where the show does do an unreliable worldbuilding (The Faunus god), the narrative straight up winks at the audience telling them not to believe that story.

That's another issue with character agency - Characters are right because the writers made them say they are.

Does Ruby need to parse her mistakes and change and accept her flaws? No, she doesn't - because her teammates said so to you, the audience. Whether the character's views are flawed or incomplete doesn't even play into that.

This is such a weird way to handle a story built around the idea of fairytales and myths when one of the most fascinating aspects of them in real life is how transformative and interpretative they are, as fiction. People, influenced by experiences(or rumors) of something having happened, pass that information on via either subtext or text. But a story's message can change when passing from one person to another. Different people can interpret things in different ways, picking and choosing what they want - that's literally how religions work after all.

So yeah, characters can have their own biased interpretations of the knowledge available to them. For example, in my version, Yang has built up this whole illusion of Ruby never wavering and always knowing what she wants. For Yang that's the reason/justification why Ruby just up and left her sister in Patch when her life was at her worst - all the while Ruby, at the same time, is on another continent legitimately not knowing what to do with her life and desperately clinging to any semblance of meaning she can find for her journey.

Does Ruby's impression of Summer differ from Yang's or Raven's? Likely, yeah. Does Ruby's perception of Ruby differ from Yang or even Nora's? Yeah.

Same with Ozpin. Knowing the truth different characters are bound to view him in different ways. An existence spanning thousands of years is simply too complicated to boil down to the concept of good and bad. It's just boring to try that. Likewise with Salem, actually.

[supersaiyanjedi14]

@texasthegreatdestroyer I decided to put this in a separate post since I didn't want to bog down the original with comment blocks though I still want to discuss;

-I certainly agree that Qrow would know a thing or two about engaging Maidens, especially since he knows how fallible people are. However, as we have no examples of Qrow fighting a Maiden or someone with similar powers, judging his effectiveness that way falls too much into supposition for my liking.

-Raven's status as a Maiden meant that she could match Cinder's power with her own, thus turning the fight into a battle of wit and endurance. Raven may have been smarter than Cinder, but it's not by much as Raven herself is a pretty blunt ethereal combatant herself. Her outsmarting of Cinder was in the sense of taking advantage of a frustrated opponent, not actually subverting or trapping her (had Vernal not been there, they would have been slugging it out indefinetly)

-Yes, Qrow's bird form can and has been used to great effect in battle before, but again, this is only in the sense of tactical support. Qrow can either fly or fight, he can't do both at the same time. The feats with the Colossus and Hariet's airship aren't as applicable here as this is a contest of single combat on neutral ground, and flying around Cinder like that would be difficult to do due to her domineering nature. Furthermore, Qrow may be quick on the draw with his transformation, but he rarely uses it in single combat, and the evasions you described would be far more practical in his normal state seeing as he can still fight while in that state.

-As for Cinder not being powerful enough to nuke the arena? Well...

-Killing Ozpin is still a really big deal. She didn't just roast him, she burned through his shield. And again, this is a mgical defensive power that Qrow has no answer to. As for the environment, the vault is pretty spacious and Oz and Cinder's movement was not restricted in any meaningful way. Oz could have evaded the attack, but choose to try and endure it with his barrier.

Qrow is the more experieced, smarter, and more skilled overall combatant between the two, but he has no real answer to Cinder's destructive might. If we had examples of Qrow engaging other Maidens or even people like Glynda or Ozpin, or even if he had some combative Dust applications, even simple ones like Ironwood's gravity bullets, then I would accept the notion that Qrow can defeat people more powerful than him. As it stands, however, I can't see Qrow as being able to do more than contend here. He can certainly outfight Cinder in physical combat, but Cinder's own skill is more than enough to contend with him and she simply doesn't have the patience to keep holding to a sword fight when she can just cut loose with the fireballs.

As a final point, Qrow's greatest hurdles have been when he's confronted by overwhelming force, namely against Hazel and Tyrian. I don't consider the skill gap between Cinder and Tyrian to be that severe, and she is clearly fast and savage enough to put Qrow under similar pressure. Combine that ferocity with her elemental fury, and Qrow is going to have his work cut out for him.

[shadydirt]

I think this is the best scene of Qrow’s transformation, because for once he isn’t transforming completely behind something, we can see part of the transformation,, but what we can see is... well, exaggerated proportions aside, very interesting.

Remember this scene from RWBY Chibi?

Where Qrow gets himself stuck mid-transformation with the head of a human and body of a Qrow, he comes to Ozpin to get help, to which Ozpin switches the way his body was stuck instead of simply making him human.

Well, once again RWBY Chibi is foreshadowing things that’ll happen in the show just slightly different.

We’ve never actually seen a transformation before, both Raven and Qrow have a tendency to transform behind things, obstructed from view. Every time they do so, one frame they're a bird the next their human, this.. always felt like a weird animation cop out to me, like why not give us a visual of the transformation unless A) You haven’t thought of one or B) The way you want to do it is gonna be a lot of work and there's more priority on other animations.

Whatever they intended with it, we have a GREAT base to work with with his episode because of the way it’s framed. Yes, once again Qrow is obstructed by something, but this time it’s something small and we have a fixed area of space because Qrow is close to the floor when he transforms, not high up in the air.

After Qrow was found under a piece of ruble, he flies up towards the face of the soldier who found him. The camera then pans father out, moving Qrow and the soldier to the background (conveniently obstructing Qrow's transformation with more rubble.).

In this frame we can see Qrow’s head, landing just at knee hight of the soldier, there is no way his entire body is obstructed, he’s too close to the floor and the next frame shows he still has the momentum he’s built up with his wings as he starts to jump out.

As we can see more of Qrow, we see his arms are pushed behind him, lining up with the way his wings were when he was in bird form, and feathers appear around the newly exposed parts of his body.

Next frame we have him pushing his arms forward to take the guard down, we see all of his torso and the start of his legs (Again, we’re ignoring the exaggerated proportions because that’s just the animation style) once more feathers clustered around the newly exposed parts.

And lastly, Qrow’s legs and feet are exposed as he pushes the guard back, and it’s hard to see against the dark background but if I increase the exposure like so,, we see the last cluster of feathers in the air behind him.

Conclusion? Qrow’s transformation isn’t as clean as it seems, he doesn't just turn into a bird instantaneously, his body morphs to be part bird-part human as he transforms. 

This... doesn't really hold any significance or anything, I just wanted to point out we do know how he transforms now. And who knows? Maybe he can choose certain parts of his body to be human versus crow, he just doesn't because there’s no actual use for it. 

[bafflement]

Deaged Oz AU - You Can't Just Not Sleep, Oz...

Once again, for @maskyartist, because. This might be the last bird one for awhile, though.

Oz's eyes were slightly unfocused as he tried to keep up with the conversation around him. It was important, he knew that, but this meeting had lasted for four days, now. There'd been no breaks except for food and he was just so very tired... this body wasn't designed to pull these sorts of things off. His adult one hadn't technically been, either, of course, but it just seemed to affect him more as an eleven year old. He ducked his head, unable to fully hide a yawn as several of the others stopped talking to glare at him.

Theodore blinked, seeming suddenly to realise just how long they had been there, and Glynda stiffened slightly at just how exhausted their technically youngest member seemed. It didn't dull the glaring from the councilmembers, but when Theodore stood and gestured for Oz to leave, they seemed to think better of it.

"My apologies, my young friend. I believe we've been at this too long. While the big one is undoubtably a grave threat, you need to take better care of yourself! Go, go get some sleep!" Theodore sounded slightly chagrined at the oversight as Glynda moved to escort Oz out, a look of worry on her face. She'd forgiven him awhile ago. Mostly, that is, but not enough to stop Theodore from calling him young at every possible opportunity. It was, after all, nothing less than the truth.

Qrow met them outside, from the marks on the floor he'd obviously been pacing around for some time and the look he shot Oz was just as worried as Glynda's. Glynda glared at him, but he just raised his hands in defeat, looking towards Oz.

"C'mon, pocketsized. You need food and a good long sleep. Glynda? I know you're still angry with me, but make sure those idiots don't try to call him back in anytime soon?"

"I will certainly endeavor to try." She sighed, her own tiredness starting to show now. "And Oz? Seriously, get some rest before one of us drugs you?"

Oz flushed slightly at that, but obediently followed Qrow down the corridor towards his room. Food sounded really good right now, even if he was almost certain there was no way he was going to be able to sleep any time soon. Despite Glynda's assurance, he held no illusions that the council would stop trying to control things, any more than he had that they would stop trying to control him.

He blinked, as he entered the room. His bedding was in a disarrayed heap with a hollow in the center that was far too small even for his diminutive frame. There was the promised food on platters, but why exactly had his bedding been... he turned to stare up at Qrow who just shrugged awkwardly.

"Eat first, pocketsized, then we need to talk."

Oz needed no second invitation, starting to eat so fast you'd think they'd been starving him. Qrow's brow creased in worry, since Oz normally had far better manners than that, had they stopped to eat at all during that meeting?

Finally, once Oz was full, he turned inquisitive eyes to Qrow, looking very confused.

"Why the nest, Qrow?" He looked slightly worried, actually.

"Because you need sleep, pocketsized. This way, nobody can reach you even if they do try to restart that damn meeting. Besides, my instincts in my bird form have been screaming at me that there's a nestling in need of brooding and I'm rather fed up of it."

"But... I'm not a nestling, Qrow..."

"Yeah, Oz, you kinda are. And with the way I feel about ya, my crow seems to have imprinted. It was okay until that meeting happened, but ya just didn't sleep and all my instincts went haywire. So, please? For me? Just this once?"

Oz looked so lost, though. "What precisely do you need me to do? Transform into my Hawk for awhile and just let you, what, sit on me?"

"That would be the idea, yeah. Don't call it 'sit on you' again, though, that's just..." He pulled a face and Oz, blushing, echoed it. The expressions of disgust on their faces were almost identical.

"If I do this, it will quiet your instincts?"

Qrow shrugged helplessly. "I mean, probably? Not like this has happened before, Oz... kinda new territory, here." He moved to the door and locked it securely, turning to look at the boy.

With a resigned look on his face, Oz did as he was told, sitting on the bed and blurring into the hawk chick. He perched there a second before reluctantly hopping up to the side of the 'nest' then bedding down in the center. The feeling of being babied wasn't a particularly fun one, he mused as Qrow's big black bird settled over him, blocking out all the light and enclosing him in warm dark feathers. Without even really thinking about it, he snuggled closer to the heat source that was Qrow and, lulled by the familiar beating of his heart, drifted off to sleep. He was safe, he was warm and... best of all, the council couldn't reach him. Anything else, he'd deal with tomorrow.

[aspiringwarriorlibrarian]

Another thing people seem to neglect even talking about Semblances compared to magic is that Semblances are pretty universally low level powers. It's all just limited mobility and strength boosts (i.e. nowhere near what a character from a comic book or most Shonen could do), low level energy projection, telepathic powers that can affect a handful of people in a short vicinity max, etc. All on a very limited Aura battery. Meanwhile magic can create and dispel storms, the physics breaking matter shifting of the bird transformations, blowing up giant Whale monsters, etc, with no limits other than a cap on maximum output. It's two completely different levels of power.

Honestly there's a reason Salem (or possibly Ozpin) labeled it as Semblance. That's literally what it means to them, a cheap sliver of magic that isn't even worth the name.

Of course that denies the biggest difference between a Semblance and magic: one of them is a "gift" from the gods that can be taken back at any time, and the other is a natural expression of the soul.

[chiefbasementcreator]

Here’s what i know of RWBY from stuff i see on my dash:

Probably soem spoiler, i guess? My knowledge is very spread out/unfocused.

Setting:  

part of the serie takes part in a weird monster hunter/wizard school, part of it takes place outside as the group goes on a road trip or something? Also, there’s huge black monsters that roam everywhere and fuck any unsuspecting girls they find.

This is a world where some people have mutant powers /quirk /aura /semblance /whatever and the ones that do are sent to be trained as monster hunters at that high school?

Also, have the cast has stupidly on-the-nose names.

Also, there are catgirls, catboys, monkey-boys, animal people running around for some reason?

And most weapons are also guns, like a sword that’s also a gun, or a scythe that’s also a gun, a gun that’s also a gun i bet

Characters:

Ozpin: Old man headmaster of the school, some kind of magician big wise good guy (because of course) who at some point dies and get reincarnated/his consciousness transferred to...

Oscar: farm boy who got Ozpin’s mind perfect for shota stuff and who is gonna get his consciousness transferred to an ostrich when he dies to keep the theme going.i bet

Jaune: The 2010′s-2020′s equivalent of Naruto/Harry Potter/Deku/whatever, a nice blonde guy that writers/readers can self-insert into for smut/harem stories, also a knight of sorts? And has the groan-inducing name of Jaune Arc. urgh   

Neptune: blue-haired guy also used for self-inserts, MUCH less popular than Jaune.   

Sun: monkey-boy (because of course), same as the above two, also much less popular than the blonde guy.

Glynda Goodwitch (urgh the names): hot teacher magician milf

Pyrrha: red-head warrior girl with a javelin, in love with jaune, who dies at some point

Ruby: Red riding hood but with a scythe shotgun, young and cute, sister of...

Yang: Blonde girl with huge tits, punching gloves that are also sotguns. Tomboy.   

Weiss: white-haired (because OF COURSE) rich bitch with ice powers that mellows out as the show goes on.

Blake: black-haired (uuurgh) catgirl who has/had an jerk ex-boyfriend?

Kali:; mother of Blake, an absolutely STACKED catgirl milf, also a cougar for Jaune/Oscar, depending on the writer (sometimes both?)   

Nora: hyperactive girl, in love with a dude?   

Winter: big sister of the above mentionned Weiss (BECAUSE OF COURSE SHE IS, URGH THOSE NAMES I SWEAR)

Whitley: brother (little? Big?) of Winter/Weiss, a bit of a daddy’s boy? sometimes used for incest stuff by writers, not often

Juniper: mom of Jaune (uh? A normal name?), also a milf, but on the sweet side

Qrow: uncle of rwby, has the “superpower” of being an unlucky guy, can also transform into a bird because of course with his name he can!

Raven: mom of yang, can transform into a bird too (ofcourseshecanjesusthesenames), was missing for a while? A badass milf.

Summer: mom of ruby. Not much written about her.

Cinder: evil lady voiced by jessican nigri, also hot and has fire powers (God,these names more on-the-nose than Kojima in death stranding)

Neo: some mute assassin girl that can shapeshift? on the side of evil and has her hair the color of an italian sweet BECAUSE OBVIOUSLY 

Salem: spooky witch (URRRGHHHH) who’s actually the one controlling all the monsters on the planet, also immortal.

Ironwood: hard-ass military leader and dilf for the girls who are into that.

I want to credit @carny-writings,  @n6918 for giving me nearly all the rwby knowledge i know have, as well as some other blogs i’m forgetting the handles of now.

[hamliet]

Hello, this is a long ask about RWBY. I asked someone else about this too but I wanted to gain more insights.

Do you think that Yang's and the Branwen Twins writing is lacking in some parts?

Magic is considered to be a heritable trait in Remnant, so why does Yang show no signs of shapeshifting? (Unless it's a mistake done by the creators since Yang and Raven were supposed to be in some scenes back in Volume 2 and 3)

Raven and Qrow both shed feathers after transforming into a bird/back into human, would it a stretch for people to think that they are faunuses since they don't know about magic?

Raven is a possibly well known bandit considering that she used to be in Team STRQ who were given media coverage during the time they participated in the Vytal Tournaments and Raven is wearing a grimm mask which the general public associates with the White Fang. Shouldn't the residents of Patch/Mistral be more wary about Yang considering her heritage and her action's in the tournament?

What about Yang's writing in Volume 4? CRWBY didn't show us the ugly sides of it since they didn't want to show the audience about Yang "moping" around and when they showed us Taiyang being a "good" father, the message didn't come across as good (especially with the not every semblance is basically a temper tantrum, and the lost some braincells with her arm). Also shouldn't Yang also have some PTSD about her incident when she almost got herself and Ruby killed?

Yang and the Twins story are very interesting to me, but I don't think that Roosterteeth is using their full potential like Adam Taurus. It would actually be interesting if Yang played both sides to found out what happened to Summer Rose, it would be interesting if we are shown the effects of what happened after Yang almost got herself and Ruby killed.

I'm sorry that I rambled a lot to you, I could have said more but I can't articulate my thoughts properly. I just want every character in the series to get the same treatment as Oscar, Ruby, Jaune, Weiss, Salem, Cinder, and Ironwood since their writing/characterization is well done (even though it also has some mistakes, but nothing is perfect) compared to the others.

Thank you for seeing my long ask, and I hope that I don't overwhelm you or annoy you by this. Good day.

Hi!! Don't worry, I'm not annoyed! I 'll answer each of your points, but my answer is honestly for the large part that I don't think they're lacking.

The turn-into-birds thing isn't entirely explained, but it's clearly not a faunus thing. It's also definitely not a hereditary thing, and this is directly stated in the show. Why people don't think this I'll get into in a bit, but first:

Volume 5 has Raven, Ozpin, and Qrow all state that Ozpin gave them that power through magic, and that it was wrong to do so. Raven clearly views it as a violation, and when she proves it to Weiss and Yang and they in turn tell the rest of the crew, everyone is disturbed and upset. Why it is so disturbing and upset I don't quite understand honestly (seems a little disproportionate?), but the implication is that Ozpin misused magic to do that to them. It may be further elaborated on.

Why everyone instantly knows it's not a faunus or hereditary thing is because faunus are people with animal characteristics. That is clearly very, very different from literally transforming from a person into an animal. I don't think it's strange that people don't notice--plus, a lot of people don't know that Raven and Qrow can do this, nor really do Raven and Qrow want them to know.

I don't think many people know Yang's heritage (I don't think Team STRQ is known very well outside of certain communities of hunters--think about how the kids don't know Jaune's heritage even though it's also pretty substantial usually). I think the implication on the show is actually pretty consistent and normal--yeah, people in cities and places that pay attention are very in tune to what happened in Beacon, but the majority of people especially in rural areas don't give a damn or don't pay that much attention. Yang probably had notoriety among other academies for a bit (but that also probably changed when it was revealed her opponent was one of the enemies). But that doesn't equate to the general public being intimately aware. This is actaully highly realistic, imo.

I cannot disagree more with the portrayal of Yang in Volume 4, though I do agree that Tai wasn't always framed well. I wrote a whole meta on Yang and PTSD actually!

I also do think that Yang shows trauma from the time she almost got herself and Ruby killed. (That also said, not everyone responds to each trauma in the exact same way!) Yang's entire arc is about finding balance. She's been kind of a maternal figure to Ruby her whole life, and struggles with that. When she refuses to accompany Ruby to Mistral at first, Yang feels incredibly guilty (even disproportionally so) because she's seeing it as Raven abandoning her (hence, the symbolism of Yang going to Raven to get to Ruby). I do think this has been fully explored as it should be up until this point, honestly, though I also expect Raven to come back at some point (likely to die saving Yang--which may give final closure for that incident).

Thank you for the ask!

[bridgyrose]

au where instead of dying summer like raven abandoned ruby and tai but instead of becoming a bandit she became ozpin’s eyes and ears qrow quits to help tai take care of ruby and yang

Summer watched her daughters from the forest just outside their home, keeping to the shadows. She had quietly watched the two as they grew and trained, her heart quietly breaking at all the years she had missed with them. 

“You know you could come back, right?” 

“And you know why I cant, Qrow.” Summer let out a heavy sigh and sat down on the branch that was supporting her. Silver eyes looked down at Qrow, though she still couldnt seem to look him in the eye. “If I get close to them, I’ll put them in danger.” 

Qrow climbed up the tree and sat down next to Summer. “They miss you. And I know you miss them.” 

“I do, but if Salem finds out that I still have a family, that I’m still in touch with Ozpin…” Summer’s eyes started to glow with a silver fire as a tear rolled down her cheek. “This is as close as I can ever be to them.” 

“Sum, you know we’ll keep you safe-” 

“Its not about me, its about my daughters!” The wind started to kick up around Summer as the sky darkened. With a deep breath, Summer slowly started to calm and let the wind die down. “I think I need to go. I’ve been here for too long.” 

Qrow watched as she jumped from the branch and transformed into a bird with a fiery transformation, brilliant red feathers glinting against the sun until they seemed to disappear in the shadows. He shook his head and slowly started to climb down the tree. “They’ll be huntresses like you, Sum. I just hope they dont turn out to be just like you.”