#post Salem war

[goldenamaranthe-blog]

You May Now Catch the Bride

Soft music fills the crisp, autumn air outside of the Xiao Long - Rose (now added Branwen) residence in Patch. The trees are bursting with color as two families sit on opposite sides of an outdoor aisle of golden leaves leading to a Menagerian style altar. On the left, Taiyang, Qrow, Raven, and Team ORNJ are sitting misty eyed. On the right, Kali, Ghira, Ilia, and Team SSSN are whooping and hollering (except Kali and Ghira, who are crying messes)

Blake and Yang stand at the altar with a small archway of vines intertwined over them. Blake is wearing a traditional Menagerian wedding dress. Weiss stands behind her in a blue and white bridesmaid dress and fanning her face to keep the tears at bay. Yang is wearing black slacks, yellow dress shirt, and black vest. Ruby is standing behind her in a black and red combat skirt, tights, heeled boots, red blouse, and black vest.

Velvet is taking photos of the wedding at the perfect vantage points with a little help from one of Whitley's drones. Behind the alter, Ozpin (freed from his curse and allowed to have his own body back with one final life) stands with a book in hand.

Ozpin: Blake Belladonna, in the tapestry of your lives, do you promise to be Yang’s constant thread, weaving a story of love, resilience, and unwavering companionship. Today, tomorrow, and always?

Blake: (holding Yang’s hands and looking into misting lilac as she places a ring on Yang’s finger) I promise.

Ozpin: Yang Xiao Long, do you promise to be Blake’s steadfast support, her partner in both stillness and motion, and take each step forward towards a future filled with love, laughter, and endless warmth?

Yang: (clears her throat so it doesn't crack as she holds Blake’s hands, her prosthetic thumb rubbing over the ring on Blake’s finger) I promise.

Ozpin: Then I now pronounce you wife and wife. (Claps the book closed and stares pointedly at Yang) You may now catch the bride.

Yang: (blinks in confusion) Wait. What?

Blake: (mischief glints in her eye as she pecks Yang on the cheek and sprints down the aisle with a trail of laughter in her wake)

Yang: (shakes off the initial shock before giving chase with a bark of laughter) Hey! Get back here!

The guests all cheer and shout as Yang closes in on Blake. The two run around the "venue" playfully. Blake does a few flips and jumps over tables and chairs while Yang cuts her off. Finally, Blake slows down just enough to spin around on her heel and be caught by Yang. The two topple into the largest pile of leaves and kiss as gold, orange, and red leaves slowly settle around them.

[gaymakima]

I have so many thoughts about the 'Summer willingly joined Salem' theory and none of them are good. It's right up there with 'Qrow is Ruby's REAL father' as far as frustrating yet somehow popular theories go. Like, it's interesting, I'd at least give it that, but as far as canon goes it would just straight up be bad writing 😭

[rwac96]

Type: Prompt

AU: RWBY AU: Older AU/Dark Knight, Original Male Stud AU, Crossover AU: Star Wars AU: Sith AU

Fandom: RWBY x Star Wars (technically speaking)

Summary: The struggle to stay true and loyal to the Order of the Jedi Knight and the Light Side of the Force was a upcoming battle for the young Jedi padawan

Theme: Seduction, Age Difference: Older Woman/Younger Man, Morality Degradation

Image Inspiration: Link

"Why so tense, young one?" The white-skinned, black-veined woman inquires the blonde youth.

Salem had lived for a long time, and she had many lovers, despite her most memorable being Ozma. The Sith smiled, standing before the young Jedi Padawan at her mercy. She could slay him where he stood, but after seeing him in battle and his skill with the Force; she was considering turning him.

"Were you expecting a wrinkly, decrepit Sith Master?" Her crimson eyes glowed slightly, leering at the tense Jaune Arc as she approached him. "Caught off guard by me, Padawan~?"

"B-Beautiful," Jaune replies with a stutter, his blue eyes began to take on a yellow tinge as Salem caresses his chin. "V-Very beautiful."

"Do you wish to kiss me, young one?" The Sith Master sultry asked, pressing her breasts against the youth's chest.

[pawnshopsouls]

" i am what you might think as a .. centaur. centaur.."

Salem looked the "centaur" over, his blue eyes wide with fascination as his brother tried to figure out just what he was looking at. Golden fur, eye stalks, scorpion tail--it was like looking at some kind of well-put-together chimera!

"A centaur," Salem repeated, walking around to see as much of the newcomer as he could. "Ain't ever seen anythin' like yeh! I mean, we've got faunum 'n' mythaunum, 'n' you'd probably qualify as a mythaunum since yeh don't look like yeh fit inteh any specific fauna class."

While the taller of the brothers admired and examined the newcomer's Bonely stroked his chin, his blue eyes narrowed in thought.

"So," he asked, looking up at the new-comer, "where yeh from? You off-world 'nother planet? Or out-world, a, uh, a different plane? We ain't Naboo or anythin' so I'm just curious where-" he stopped and put a fist on his hips. "Salem would yeh give the fella some space! Jeez, it's like yeh've never seen an off worlder before!"

Salem felt his cheeks heat up as he took a step back and bobbed his head apologetically. "Sorry 'bout that," he said apologetically. "We don't get a lot a' folks from other worlds here on Bel'Terum. So it's either a real treat or a real scare fer some folks."

Bonely gave a shrug. "Happens when yer on the fringes a' the Unknown Regions," he said and moved to extend a hand to the six-limbed alien as he introduced himself. "Stan Bonachard, but you can call me Bonely. This here is my brother, Salem." He gestured toward Salem, who tipped his hat with a smile.

"So what brings yeh this far out, friend?" Salem asked, curiously. "Somethin' up with the nav?"

[therealpactcommander]

Hi! This is the account where I don't shut up about norn. Ever

My main blog is @generationlosers !

I like to talk. I like to talk a lot. I live yapping.

I draw sometimes

Tags

Characters

Thorne Vætkisson: My main norn ranger who is usually who I'm referring to when I say "The Commander." An au of an Owl House Grimwalker oc, but different characters with different personalities

Hunter Thornkin: Norn revanant that channels Wolf. Thorne’s little brother. Is an au of Hunter from the Owl House. (Note: in game he is a human, but that's because he's supposed to be abnormally small)

Bleepblorp Skrungle: Asura Engineer with a fascination with cats. Experiment went wrong. He's a cat now. Has a gun. Run

Salem Steelveil: Charr Revenant with ice magic. Absolutely insane. Blind, uses mist magic to navigate. Lesbian.

Ivory Darkwood: Charr Necromancer. Small and housecatlike. Hates confrontation. Lesbian. Makes out with Salem sloppy style

Garráncroí: Sylvari Mesmer. Wants to kiss Trahearne. A lot. Part of the Astral Ward and Thorne’s best friend during SotO

Basil Greenwhisper: Norn guardian. Thorne’s mate (norn word for spouse). Likes plants. Based on an Owl House oc, whose last name is Burrlow. (Not that he's only Thorne's mate in the side universe, theres an alternate universe to allow more leeway with ships)

Hazel Slayersdottir: way late in storyline. Basil and Thorne’s biological daughter. Norn thief. Worships Aurene as the dragon spirit and cleanses Jormag and Svanir corruption from the shiverpeaks with the little amount of prismatic magic she got from her father.

Alala Gunthild: An elonian human warrior. She is an au where the human Commander becomes the God of War after killing Balthazar like Kormir. Instead of her patron hounds being pitbulls (? i think Temar and Tegon are pitbulls?) she has Basenji and has a soft spot for Jackals. She has her Basenji companions that she can summon similar to Temar and Tegon, they are named Andromeda and Guinevere. She also has a Jackal Puppy- Artemis- and will stay a puppy companion as thats how Jackals work.

Others

Art: art.

my art: My art!

Any other character name: self explainitory

loser edits: my memes and other edits

[determinate-negation]

im making this post for @wafans-blog because she is trying to reach the goal of 80k by sunday august 18 in order to evacuate her sister and brothers families who are trapped in gaza. wafa went to egypt before the war for medical treatment and has been separated from her family since and is extremely worried about them.

throughout my life ive read so many historical stories about jewish refugees from nazi germany where peoples families were separated and never saw each other again despite searching for years after the war, people who were deported to their deaths a day before they were planning to escape, people who acquired the right papers just after it became useless for them anyways, people whos lives depended on the whims of strangers, border guards, officials, workers, passerbys- on whether they would choose to help someone or do nothing. the actual difference between life and death made into completely arbitrary decisions that are out of the control of those suffering, for the most part. this is the type of existential situation that is created when a people are targeted for destruction, like in the genocidal war israel is waging on gaza right now. i cant help but think about everything ive been told about history since i was young when i see what is happening in gaza today. i dont want that to happen to anyone else.

wafa told me earlier today that the situation now is gaza is getting worse and worse for her family members. the other day they were forced to evacuate at 1am and sleep on the street, leaving behind everything they had in their tents because of another idf bombing on areas previously deemed "safe." they have a young infant, salem, with them who was born during the war and has only been exposed to suffering and devastation. salem is sick right now and theres very little access to medicine or any of the resources that a newborn baby needs. its really urgent that they raise enough money to register them for evacuation so they can join wafa in egypt when the border opens soon, god willing.

out of so many arbitrary decisions that life is reduced to under the conditions of a genocide, one of the less arbitrary ones is that anyone on here, especially those in the west who likely have a higher income in a stronger currency than non-westerners, could help someone today escape death.

i really implore people to donate. especially if you have a degree of disposable income or economic security– consider your life circumstances and how much you can actually afford to give to help save something that really can not be monetarily quantified, which is human life. please donate to this campaign and help reach its goal. if you cant donate, share this with someone who can.

$65,035 raised of $80,000

[dykesbat]

masterpost of palestinian fundraisers i'm spotlighting on my blog + verifications

last updated: june 30, 2024

Doctor Moath Abu Samra & Family Evacuate Gaza - $20,135/$50,000 [SLOWED] ***this fundraiser has gained no donations in 4 days please help boost this one verified by Operation Olive Branch - row 85 individual reblog post here

Urgent Appeal: Save Little Yusuf and His Family Amidst Gaza - €40,928/€85,000 verified here by el-shab-hussein. follow the fundraising organizer here on tumblr @/ahmednabubake individual reblog post here

Mohamed Hamad and his family dream of reaching safety - £9,069/£50,000 verified by here by el-shab-hussein. follow mohamed on tumblr at @/mohamed-hamad individual reblog post here

Saving My Family from the Horrors of War in Gaza for Firas Salem - €32,902/€65,000 verified here by el-shab-hussein. follow firas on tumblr at @/firassalemgaza individual reblog post here

Help Sana’a and her family evacuate from Gaza - £52,211/£70,000 [SLOWED] verified here by el-shab-hussein follow sujood on tumblr at @/sujoododeh individual reblog post here

Help the Qanou Family - £2,174/£55,000 [LOW] [SLOWED] verified here by nabulsi. follow raghad here on tumblr at @/rhq274 individual reblog post here

Help Nahla and Amal Family to Rebuild their life - €2,953/€80,000 [LOW] [SLOWED] verified here by nabulsi. follow the fundraiser on tumblr at @/jrk85 individual reblog post here

Helping Ahmed's Family: Escaping War to a New Life - €22,334/€35,000 verified here by nabulsi. follow ahmed on tumblr at @/zinaeleenyamin. individual reblog post here

Help the Abu Shammalah Family Find Safety and Rebuild - €9,644/€100,000 [LOW] verified here by el-shab-hussein. follow ahmed (fundraiser's organizer) on tumblr at @/ahmed8311. individual reblog post here.

Help Ahmed family to travel to a save place - £2,961/£30,000 [LOW] verified here by nabulsi. follow ahmed on tumblr at @/ahmed-ziad. individual reblog post here.

Please help Shamaly family SURVIVE Gaza & start a new life! - $23,910 CAD/$90,000 verified here by fallahifag. follow the fundraiser on tumblr at @/familydeea. individual reblog post here.

Help Alaa family to travel to a safe place - £25,424/£56,000 [SLOWED] number 99 on el-shab-hussein and nabulsi's spreadsheet. follow alaa on tumblr at @/alaaalkhateeb. individual reblog post here.

Death chases my family in Gaza; help me save them. fundraiser for Mahmoud Khalaf - €9,443/€30,000 verified by ibitsams here. follow mahmoud on tumblr at @/mahmoudkhalaff. individual reblog post here.

Help me and my little family to survive! fundraiser for Hamsa - €5,389/€30,000 [SLOWED] verified by nabulsi here. follow hamsa on tumblr at @/hamsamohammad. individual reblog post here.

Standing with a Family Escaping the Horrors of War in Gaza for Dr. Tamer Aldeeb - €16,829/€40,000 verified by ibitsams here. follow dr. tamer aldeeb on tumblr at @/tameraldeeb. individual reblog post here.

Help my Family To Evacuate Gaza for Mohammed Bardaweel - €6,099/€37,000 [SLOWED] verified by el-shab-hussein here. follow mohammed on tumblr at @/mohbardaweel. individual reblog post here.

Help Nada and Abdulrahman's family - $220 CAD/$31,000 [LOW] [SLOWED] verified by nabulsi here. follow abdulrahman on tumblr at @/abdulrahmanpixel. individual reblog post here.

Amira's Story: Between Hope and Resilience - A Call for Soli - €11,289/€20,000 verified by nabulsi here. follow amira on tumblr at @/amira-alanqar. individual reblog post here.

Help Mahmoud to evacuate from Gaza to continue education -$14,076 CAD/$50,000 verified according to fallahifag here. follow mahmoud on tumblr at @/ma7moudgaza2. individual reblog post here.

Help me and my family to evacuate from Gaza Strip for Iyad Sami - CHF4,671/CHF20,000 verified by 90-ghost here. follow iyad on tumblr at @/eyadsami. individual reblog post here.

My family battles death in Gaza; we need your HELP for Reham Al Jarrah - €2,395/€49,000 [LOW] [SLOWED] ***this fundraiser has only received €5 in the past 3 days verified by the @/strawberryseedcollective on instagram here. follow reham on tumblr at @/rehamjarrah. individual reblog post here.

Rebuilding Live: A Mother's Plea for Hope and Safety in Gaza for Nour Alanqar - €4,256/€40,000 [LOW] verified by 90-ghost here. follow nour on tumblr at @/noor-alanqar. individual reblog post here.

unverified

Fundraiser for safe passage from Gaza into Egypt for Mohammed Al Sayed - $30,438/$70,000 found on his twitter account Lawyer_Animal1 which has been active since 2021 and posting images since 2022 individual reblog post here

Help Muhammed and his family evacuate to safety ! - €12,749/€25,000 found on muhammed's twitter account mhmd_s11 which has been active since 2016 individual reblog post here

please donate/share if you can! fundraisers marked as slowed have had little to now donations.

[firas-salem]

We might be Forced to evacuate to for the 7th time!

We're leaving for the seventh time .. For the seventh time .. I'll have to convince a three year old and a one year old that we have to leave again, and what resembles a home we tried our best to provide to protect their childhood and make them toys and a swing in a tent they'll have to leave agian ! We spent almost all our savings and money on basic nessesities .. Now we worry about even transportation costs. Please help us survive this madness. PLEASE Donate and share Forever Indebted to All of you ! Verified by @el-shab-hussein Here

This has been Rokayah in eid and the other was her thank you letter she wrote you all 💖 We'll be leaving all of this behind

I am Firas Salem, a Software Engineer from Gaza and a father of two young children, almost 3 and 1. I would give my family the stars in the sky if they asked me to and I worked so hard so I can provide them with a happy life. I am the sole provider for my parents and younger siblings, making us a family of 11.

. We are living in extremely difficult conditions in Gaza, barely surviving in a cramped tent and mostly we'll be evacuating soon. . We urgently need to get out, and our only option is to reach Egypt, which costs $5,000 per person.

. Your donations can help us escape and cover essential life and medical expenses here in Gaza and in Egypt until we can start over. Please consider supporting us during this critical time. Thank you.

Please Please Help Share and Donate It's been a while ,I feel things changed here,please help me share this post . Thanks alot my friends I hope someday I can thank each one of you ! And I hope one day I can pay it forward !

Vetted or added to lists Here: #111 @el-shab-hussein list Here - #4 @fallahifag list Here @blackpearlblast list Here - @communistchilchuck list Here #1 @riding-with-the-wild-hunt list Here @palestinecharitycommissionsassoc list Here @kordeliiius list Here ___________________________________________ @ibtisams Here ,@fairuzfan Here , @palipu Here , @brutaliakhoa Here

[our-blood-is-our-ink]

Having Wagatha thoughts

[fairuzfan]

Assalamu Alalykom Med, Thank you so much for your sharing and support

My other account got banned .. Can you help us be more visible?

This is my new account My Mother and Brother are extremely sick (Hepatitis C) we have to get them out!! Money is tighter than ever !! We're all sick !

Can You Post it with the gfm link available? https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-us-escape-gazas-nightmare-a-fathers-plea-for-safety and Here is an update : https://www.tumblr.com/firassalemnewacccount/751403421056237568/how-to-calm-a-one-year-old-and-a-two-year-old-and?source=share (Verified fundraiser by @communistchilchuck and @el-shab-husseincan )

Sorry to keep bothering you but I am really desperate. Thank you so much Forever Grateful and Indebted 🙏

Of course, you're not bothering at all.

[newtlesbian]

urgent list part four

many messages are coming in. i apologize so deeply if they aren’t answered right away. i promise everyone will be given attention.

everyone who sees this please dont scroll away. the people in these lists are in horrible conditions and in desperate need of help. please give something to them it is very urgent.

food is very expensive and they are starving. it is becoming cold and they need warm clothes and blankets. these people need medical treatments. they need money to evacuate. i want everyone to really give something and not only reblog. please.

CLICK FOR PART ONE

CLICK FOR PART TWO

CLICK FOR PART THREE

check back for part five

————————————————————

OLD LIST 1

OLD LIST 2

————————————————————

1. URGENT. please send help immediately to khawla’s family. she is supporting her husband and three young children. she reached out to me saying she has an appointment tomorrow and needs money asap. this is a very serious situation and i want everyone to send something asap.

kawla-gaza05.tumblr.com is her blog please reblog the posts.

please send something now

————————————————————

2. URGENT. abood and his wife maria reached out to me asking for help asap. they need 150 to buy flour as it has become overpriced. if everyone sends some help now they can reach this goal and this family will not have to go hungry.

abood-gaza21.tumblr.com is his blog. please reblog the posts

please send something now

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3. URGENT. fahed shehab is supporting a family of 8 people. this family needs your help as they are very close to reaching their goal. send something to them to help reach it now and end the wait.

fahedshehab-new.tumblr.com is his blog please reblog the posts

please send something now

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4. URGENT. majed is supporting a family including young children after losing the house they all lived in due to genocide terrors of the occupation. please send help with this link

@majedgerbawi on here. please reblog their posts

LOW. 8k out of 70k

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5. URGENT. mohammed salem is supporting his parents and 5 siblings while they all live in a refugee tent together. now his young son is in the hospital with a chest infection and they all need help

@s-sa-mo on here. please reblog their posts

CLOSE. 7k out of 10k

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6. URGENT. ahmed totah is supporting his family of 7 people including his parents, disabled grandfather, and sister. they have no blankets or shoes for the winter and are in dire need as the weather gets cold

@ahmedbm on here. please reblog their posts

LOW 85 out of 100k

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7. URGENT. muhammad is supporting his family with this link. He and his wife have 3 young children all under five years of age. they need your help to buy necessities like milk and food and to find safety.

@mohamed-resh9900 on here. please reblog their posts

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8. URGENT. abdul rahman hilles is the surviving husband of the martyred journalist ola al-dahdouh after they and their young child karam were targeted in another disgusting missile strike from the genocidal occupation paid for by a country you likely read this from. he and karam have been left damaged from the strike and the loss of their wife and mother. please help them recover and find safety together

@abedhilles on here. please reblog their links

LOW. 4k out of 35k

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9. URGENT. reem mohammad is supporting a family with young children while displaced and living in a tent. they are struggling with daily necessities and need financial help asap

@reemfamily on here. please reblog their posts

LOW only 30 out of 25,000!

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10. URGENT. Amany Ubeid is a 40 year old mother of 3 children ages 16, 14, and 9. they have lost their home and way of life. her husband has a skin disease and needs to pay for treatment. send help to this family asap

@amnyaburas on here. please reblog their posts

LOW. 2k out of 65k

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[bestworstcase]

no yeah for sure. i know if it were my show i’d be eyeing the state of the fanon like oh boy. – which tbh v9 does feel to me like it came from a place of “christ okay we need to be more clear” – not that v9 is directly about salem, but she’s the storm on the horizon and they’ve gone back to stating the themes out loud in plain language again. jsfkfj

what i always circle back to when i consider this is that the first thing we hear as the story begins is salem extolling human wisdom, passion, ingenuity, resourcefulness… her tone shifts to ominous threat when she turns to address ozma, but the first impression we get of this character – in soliloquy! – is unadulterated praise for humankind intermixed with some sly digs at ozma’s propagandistic control over the narrative.

and i think that’s going to be a load-bearing pillar in the gradual recontextualization of the lost fable. similar to how the lost fable is preceded by a the volume in which raven keeps saying things like "the truth is hard to come by" and "you need to question everything" and "don’t blindly believe everything you’re told."

at the top of the show, we hear straight from salem’s internal monologue – her thoughts – exactly what she thinks of mankind and what are the qualities she values; and then we get three volumes of occasional abstruse hints suggesting that there’s a Great Evil somewhere out there, and we don’t hear that voice again until the end of v3 when she’s gloating over her horrifying victory. and then we meet her and it’s “don’t pick on cinder fall.” and then we have a few volumes building her up as this enigmatic Great Evil who intends to “change” the world in some nebulous way (or see humanity “crumble at her feet,” raven suggests) before the lost fable hits.

and then in the very next episode there’s the villain-shoots-the-messenger bait-and-switch wherein everyone is palpably expecting salem to disembowel someone because the haven operation went poorly, and instead she does an intimidating little song-and-dance punctuated by an unambiguous moment of sadness when her back is turned and the mask slips, followed by bolting on a stoic mask and going anyway moving on, and when she actually gets mad the first thing she does is kick everyone out of the room so no one is endangered while she tries to calm herself down and no one gets hurt when she fails.

and then in the next volume ironwood is like “without humanity, does she still feel fear? does she ever hesitate? 🤔” blissfully oblivious to the audience having seen salem have, like, a literal panic attack when she heard ozpin reincarnated faster than anticipated. lol. there’s been this perpetual push-pull between what salem herself says and does contrasted against what is said about her by other characters, and in the case of the lost fable this happens literally in back-to-back episodes.

the fandom is pretty dedicated to the calcified fanon built off the statements about her (and supplemented by wildly off base readings of things salem does/says, like the nonsense “salem calls it a semblance because she disdains it as a PATHETIC IMITATION OF REAL MAGIC” genre of takes where insane double standards are invented out of whole cloth) – but i think this is probably less true of general audiences / casual fans. for every stroke the story makes to create this impression of salem as a complete monster, there’s something salem herself does or says that doesn’t fit, and while general audiences are by definition casuals just enjoying the ride, the fact that we have this constant back-and-forth means that pulling back the curtain is less “shocking twist!” and more of a tipping point that should, ideally, bring all these discrete bits and pieces of things salem’s done or said suddenly rushing to the surface like “ooh! i get it!”

<- in some ways i think fandom can be a lot harder of a sell. dedicated fans get very attached to their theories and headcanons in a way that casual enjoyers really don’t. and while the fandom martyr complex with regard to the hatedom would have everybody believe that rwby is the Most Bullied Show In The World, Maligned By Everybody Except Us, The True Fans, rwby is extremely popular and the numbers do not lie. there is a very large general audience of casual enjoyers who are just vibing along having a good time. and those people will be completely fine.

i think most of the fandom that isn’t dedicated salem haters will also be fine – there has been a very noticeable increase in the amount of ‘hey salem had a point’ and ‘hey maybe salem isn’t a complete monster with zero sympathetic qualities’ since i entered the fandom after v8, and especially as the fandom has spent a year now digesting v9. which suggests to me that while the entrenched fanon has an annoying amount of inertia, most folks in the fandom are very persuadable, and as the narrative transitions to putting more and more weight on the ‘things salem says/does’ end of the scale, more and more fans are going to start going “wait… this sounds crazy but hear me out… what if… salem actually isn’t one hundred percent bad???”

(<- already seen a handful of theories in this general vein being floated. for the writers it really is just about continuing to build the momentum until the narrative reaches its tipping point)

for what it’s worth i knew nothing about salem going in other than 1. what she looked like and 2. “you would love her” and for the first five volumes i was very game to believe the “salem is some sort of incredibly ancient and cunning grimm who wants to burn the world down and idk build a dark empire from the ashes, bog standard evil witch behavior” and then i reached 6.2 and sighed internally like “not another fucking woman scorned” and then i watched 6.3 and immediately went “holy shit. so she was right and the resolution is we team up with her to take down the nakedly genocidal gods who’ve been torturing her for eons. got it.” and then by 6.4 i was mentally throwing a party.

which. granted, rwby happens to cater very closely to my exact personal tastes and i think this does predispose me to pick up what it’s putting down with regard to salem – but i do think it speaks to the narrative finesse that the lost fable is meticulously crafted to deliver an impression of salem being the ontological evil and yet is also the episode that makes anyone who’s really tuned in to the story’s themes and/or already inclined to say sure when asked to sympathize with salem have that realization that she was right. it’s holographic – what you see depends on which layer of the story you’re paying attention to – and rwby has consistently been pretty good at turning the audience around like “hey, remember that? look again, here’s something you missed before” in a way that feels exciting and satisfying. (& to general audiences in particular i think that’s probably a big part of the draw – people like stories that surprise them! and rwby delivers that really well.)

i’ve also been pondering a bit in light of the viz acquisition and the much bigger reach rwby now potentially has – if the RT shutdown drama and triumphant return to this larger and more stable platform leads to a large influx of new viewers, which is absolutely within the realm of possibility!, i think the overall slant of the fandom conversation about salem might change very fast – simply because slamming down v1-9 all in one go makes these patterns so much easier to see than getting one new episode per week with long breaks between each volume for as long as a decade depending on how long you’ve stuck with the show. i still vividly remember blazing through v1-8 and then glancing at the fandom and going “hey hi what the fuck are you talking about” every single time i saw a post about salem. gbrdshxjk it’s just a phenomenally different experience!

so who knows. i’m sure there will be some people squalling and moaning because there always are but imo rwby has been setting itself up beautifully to stick the landing since the very beginning. zooming in on that one line it does feel very “holy fuck how do you sell that she meant anything else but what it sounds like” but taken into perspective with everything else… i think it’s more like a fulcrum than a needle to thread. everything else balances on that one point and you just slowly put a little more weight and then a little bit more onto the right side.

if i had to compare it directly to some other narrative arc it’d be ruby’s big breakdown – she’s the shining optimistic character who inspires everyone else and never gives up hope! and we add a tiny bit of weight here, a sliver of weight there, she keeps the mask screwed in place unflaggingly for six volumes before we start to see glimmers of uncertainty leaking through – and then salem brings her to her knees and makes her eyes go haywire with one sentence, and it’s like okay ruby’s feeling the pressure, but look she’s bouncing back! she almost gets cinder! she comes up with a brilliant plan to get amity up! the cracks start to show again and she figures out how to save penny. sure things are bad and she’s feeling the strain, but she’s ruby, she’s gonna pick herself up like always – and then v9 hits like a freight train. there were plenty of folks prior to v9 saying “ruby is going to fucking shatter, this is it” but there were just as many fans during v9 going “holy fuck ruby isn’t okay!?” followed by looking back and going “oh. she’s not been okay for a long time” – same narrative technique.

Your post re: Salem's attitudes towards magic got me thinking about "Why spend our lives trying to redeem these humans, when we can replace them with what they could never be?" from Lost Fable again. I'm finding it a little difficult to blame people for believing she thinks the current crop of humans are just inferior when the only subject on offer in that sentence is "these humans." Of course when you stop to think for two seconds why Salem says or does anything she does it makes total sense that her hangup is with the gods, but that just makes me wonder even more why write the script like that? How unreliable is the direct dialogue in Jinn's vision supposed to be taken vs. her narration? (The simplest read of that episode seems to be of course the narration is biased per the question asked, but otherwise it's a frame narrative for the flashbacks which may or may not be more objective portrayals of events. The fact that the characters are also physically witnessing these scenes means they can't be 100% objective I think, but still leaves open the question of what's skewed and by how much.)

Unreliable or not, it's just a surprisingly absolute statement to put in her mouth considering how often we're invited to question her motivations everywhere else.

i do take the dialogue in the lost fable to be accurate to what the characters said, perhaps with some smudginess if what we’re seeing is ozpin’s memories exactly – in which case the dialogue in scenes he wasn’t present for is suspect because it’s what he imagines was said based on what salem told him, and the rest is probably closely accurate paraphrase because no one could be expected to remember the exact wording of conversations from several thousand years ago! but even then i would expect the parts he was there for to be reliable enough. 

so much rides on the lost fable and specifically this one line that it would be beyond cheap for the resolution to be “she didn’t say that at all, actually.”

the first time i watched the lost fable, i did intuitively interpret that line as salem alluding to the gods – so i think there’s probably some degree of her statement reading as ambiguous or not ambiguous depending upon how one habitually uses the word “redeem.” specifically: how precise one is about the verb requiring an indirect object. 

to ‘redeem’ something means to take some action to settle a debt, or redress a wrongdoing, which—inherently—implies the presence of a creditor or wronged party. in some contexts, the implied creditor is only an abstraction (think “the city’s robust public transportation is its only redeeming quality”—redemption is used here in a figurative sense to mean that the one making the statement dislikes everything but the city’s transit system); and in casual speech it’s fairly common to leave off the indirect object if it isn’t necessary to identify the wronged party (think the common phrasing of “so-and-so redeems themself”).

but while it isn’t incorrect to drop the indirect object, necessarily, there always is an indirect object; it isn’t possible to redeem a debt or a wrong that doesn’t exist, nor to have a debt without a creditor or a wrong without someone wronged. (as an aside, this is why redemption arc discourse tends to always be arguments about forgiveness—redemption does, inherently, definitionally, necessitate forgiveness—and this is also why i’m pedantic about differentiating ‘redemption arc’ vs ‘atonement arc’ vs ‘villain-to-hero arc’ and dislike the popular usage of redemption arc as an umbrella term.)

anyway, in simpler terms: when salem says “redeem these humans,” the apparent meaning of the next clause depends on whether or not one is predisposed to hear that phrase as a clipping and mentally append the implied indirect object, which makes her complete statement “why spend our lives trying to redeem these humans [from my sin in the eyes of the gods] when we could replace them with what they could never be?”

<- and then the question becomes, which “them” is she referring to? “these humans” or the gods who will judge whether redemption has been earned? her elision of the gods is entirely within the realm of common vernacular, and salem is a character who regularly circumlocutes (and earlier in the lost fable itself we have ozma’s quizzical “what are you saying?” signaling that salem’s speech is cryptic or confusing – because ozma doesn’t understand her; this is an intended trait versus the writers fumbling), and she says this in a moment of emotional distress (which she mostly bottles up, but while ozma is explaining all of this to her she’s leaning on the desk with her arms folded, listening intently – this is the same posture she has when she’s huddled in the shadows making herself miserable with conjurations of her children in 8.4).

so there’s quite a bit of weight here on the side of, “salem just discovered that her partner has been manipulating her into serving the gods she abhors throughout their entire relationship, she’s deeply shaken, she isn’t awesome at clearly articulating her thoughts in general; is it really surprising that she might misspeak to the tune of saying ‘them’ in reference to an (elided but necessarily implied) antecedent of ‘the gods’”

it (clearly) isn’t going to occur to most viewers as an obvious interpretation of the line, but i think it’s well within the bounds of what is reasonable for the narrative to later reveal that salem really meant this, particularly given how deliberate and how clear the storytelling themes are. definitely a risk, because some section of the audience is undoubtedly going to feel lied to and cry retcon, but rwby takes creative risks all the time.

and then there’s the ‘fairyales of remnant’ piece of it – the anthology is very much in dialogue with the lost fable across the board (on this see also ‘the two brothers’ presaging the thematic treatment of the brothers in v9, and ozpin’s paired commentaries on ‘the infinite man’ + ‘the girl in the tower’ being discussions of truth, propaganda, and forgiveness). so why does ‘the shallow sea’ begin like this:

Long ago, before the fish had scales, before the birds had feathers, and before the turtles had shells, when our god still walked and crawled and slithered the earth, there were only Humans and animals. (And Grimm. There have always been Grimm. There will always be Grimm. But those creatures don’t figure in this story, so just put them out of your mind, if you can.)

and end like this, after a story about the god of animals leading their chosen people to transform by submersion in magical waters, to the horror of those humans who refuse to change: 

From that moment on, there have been animals, Humans, and Faunus. And the descendants of the Humans who turned away from our god’s great gift have always carried envy in their hearts. To this day, they resent us for reminding them of what they are not and what they never can be.

humans and animals (and grimm) -> animals and humans and faunus, and the last line – the mythic explanation for human hatred of faunus – is a nearly direct repetition of the last thing salem says in the lost fable?

now obviously not everyone can be expected to read ancillary material like the fairytale anthology, and that’s why the shell game with the implied indirect object matters; but it is interesting that ‘the shallow sea’ is stated to be a very old oral tradition (one which “contains deep truths,” no less) and that it repeats that line in a context that is quite plainly not about genocide – but rather cultural pride in the face of intense, often violent, persecution. 

this story also 1. explicitly belongs to a closed tradition, and 2. is (obviously) one ozma knows despite there being no indication that he’s ever reincarnated as a faunus. which – together with the story’s age – adds up to at least the implication that it is possible he heard this story from salem, because the reasons she might be conversant in ancient faunus oral traditions are. well. obvious. 

…and if that’s so, then ‘the shallow sea’ as written in the fairytale anthology completely recontextualizes salem’s last statement in the lost fable as salem quoting from a faunus creation myth both she and ozma knew in order to express her rejection of the brothers’ mandate, which would 1. neatly explain why ozma seems to have understood exactly what she meant even though none of the lost fable witnesses picked up on it, and 2. provide an elegant and very simple opportunity to ease the general audience into this revelation by having a character in vacuo retell this myth, using that same closing line. you don’t even need to mention salem directly – the turn of phrase is memorable enough that a lot of viewers will go “…why does that sound eerily familiar” and that plants a seed for later. (or if you’re going for more of a sudden record scratch moment, salem is the one declaiming.)

from a character standpoint, it also makes a lot of sense for salem to respond to ozma in this way – his liking for stories is, one presumes, not a new thing that developed after the ozlem kingdom’s collapsed, and he also clearly isn’t just cynically using fairytales to deceive and manipulate – else he wouldn’t have apologized to the kids by referencing ‘the girl who fell through the world’ and comparing himself to alyx. stories are just important to him and part of how he communicates.

so if salem heard everything his god told him and then said “no, none of that matters, why spend our lives trying to redeem these humans when we could [paraphrases the conclusion of a story where the hateful envious people who refuse to change are simply sent home and not allowed to live in the harsh but free new world with the people who chose to embrace change]” – she made an effort to say what she meant in his language, and what she meant was either 1. figuratively associating the brothers with the envious humans who were sent home and “these humans” with the faunus who were now free to determine their own fates, or 2. “okay yeah these humans aren’t great, have you considered more faunus as a solution” (<- this would be extremely funny if it turns out the shallow sea is a more literal story than i think it is, but i think it’s much less likely).

more broadly, to the question of why the line is written that way – i can only speculate based on what i would be thinking in the writer’s shoes, and the overall structure of the narrative around salem – but i imagine the absoluteness is sort of the point. it’s meant to be a really shocking and frightening thing to hear coming out of her mouth, while also being, if you pause to think very precisely about what she said, quite plausible as a verbal stumble – the alternative antecedent of “the gods” for “them” is implied and eliding the indirect object of “redeem” is common vernacular – and then there’s this other possibility hinted in an ancillary text that she might have actually been quoting a story as a verbal shorthand both she and ozma understood. 

there’s a narrative expectation that the viewer will be right there with the kids making the same snap judgment about what salem meant – because i think the kids all absolutely did take this at face value as a statement of genocidal intent. the story itself is structured like a nesting doll such that each new revelation appears at a glance to be the whole story, but isn’t and in fact has large gaps and details that don’t add up which become glaringly obvious as soon as you reach the next layer and look back, but if you’re paying careful attention as you go it’s also quite possible to piece together the missing pieces. 

delivering information this way trains the audience (…mostly) to expect that the information we’re given is incomplete and maybe not wholly accurate. the advantage here is that even if the vast majority of the audience is completely blindsided by a specific reveal, for most viewers that’s going to feel really exciting – this happened in v9 with the lore reveals about the brothers, massive overnight reversal in the mainstream fandom views of darkness with the general mood being that it was cool – as opposed to feeling tricked or lied to by a “retcon.”

and that builds up a certain kind of trust, that the story is a puzzle but it isn’t going to cheat. it’s also a bit of a challenge or an invitation for the audience to try to figure out what’s coming, like a mystery.

with salem, i’d bet that one line in the lost fable is supposed to seem weirder and weirder the more you think about it, because… why doesn’t it track with anything she says before that point in the lost fable? why does the story begin with salem waxing poetic about humanity’s virtues? why does the narrative make such a big deal out of nobody knowing what salem wants AFTER the main characters witnessed a seemingly open-and-shut declaration of her “true” intention?

at the same time, the amount of explanation required to argue for an alternate interpretation – even if it’s really not complex or a reach – compared to the ease of just taking the statement exactly at face value, in and of itself is both a misdirection (most of the audience will take the path of least resistance, and hopefully enjoy the journey the story takes them on while leading them to the eventual right answer) and sort of the thesis with respect to the storytelling themes. salem thinks coolsville sucks!

but i am also very willing to consider (because of my own intuitive reaction to the line) that the writers perhaps did not mean for it to seem quite as unambiguous as the general audience and most of the fandom ended up taking it, because if you’re spending a lot of time immersed in a specifically theological context regarding redemption (which the writers probably would’ve been, given the importance of the religious narrative in the lost fable and in relation to this line in particular) – and if you’re also in the habit of being very precise and careful about how you phrase things (which is true of how rwby is written in general) – and if you’re writing what might be the most critical episode in a complicated puzzle box story, whose fulcrum is a red herring that is also meant to provide a clue to anyone who thinks to look at it more closely and with an open mind — then yeah i can see a scenario where the writers may have felt that the specific wording of salem’s statement was more ambiguous than it actually is. in which case the echo in ‘the shallow sea’ might have been a bit of an effort to correct course by giving the subset of fans invested enough to read the fairytales (<- the cohort most likely to be keen to unravel the puzzle) an additional hint. who knows.

[sillyguy-supreme]

Thank you for always sharing and boosting our campaigns Can you help me share? I am a 27 year old Father from Gaza The donations sadly dropped , Can you help us be more visible? My other account got banned Please share to help my family and my kids (11 month boy,2 year old girl ) and my (Parents and Siblings) escape from constant fear of bombing ,hunger and diseases from Gaza to Egypt. We’re all sick almost all the time (especially my mother and my brother,they can’t seem to recover) , with no healthcare and little money and resources. Can You Post it with the gfm link available? https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-us-escape-gazas-nightmare-a-fathers-plea-for-safety(Verified fundraiser by @communistchilchuck and @el-shab-husseincan ) Thank you so much .. Forever Grateful wallah!

alongside @el-shab-hussein and @communistchilchuck, firas’s fundraiser has been verified by @fallahifag and @ibtisams. as of may 18, firas and his family are currently in khan younis, but require money to cover travel expenses and to survive. they hope to escape to egypt so that the children, who are 11 months and 2 years old, may be safe from the horrors of war. please donate and share!!

PROGRESS (as of 5/27/24): €19,976/€65,000

[lynxwings]

not sure how much more likely this'll be seen here, but

i'd like to compile some verified fundraisers for palestinians asking for help through this site, many of whom who have reached out to me directly on my main. please consider helping if you can! (all d0nation progress is recorded as it was at the time of posting)

support aseel's fight for her life and family in gaza ($9,673USD raised of $20,000 target)

help mohammed salem and his family (€3,270 raised of €50,000 target)

evacuate yousef and his family from gaza (£9,630 raised of £20,000 raised)

help doaa's family escape to safety ($5,464USD raised of $65,000 target)

help asma ayyad and her family escape the war in gaza (€7,536 raised of €45,000 target)

support mohi's fight for survival in gaza ($13,830USD raised of $31,000 target)

help mohammed alanqer and his family survive (€55,770 raised of €58,000 target)

donate to ahmed's journey to safety and education ($5,265USD raised of $10,000 target)

help ahmed baalousha and his family (€20,173 raised of €52,000 target)

help mohammed matar and his family (€1,199 raised of €20,000 target)

help jody and her family evacuate from gaza (£2,601 raised of £20,000 target)

help the iwais family to rebuild their lives (kr175,716SEK raised of kr500,000 target)

help jehad's relatives evacuate to safety ($14,259USD raised of $50,000 target)

trapped family in gaza appeals for help to survive (kr116,481SEK raised of kr450,000 target)

help imtsal and her family have a better future (€1,995 raised of €50,000 target)

even more can be found through @/el-shab-hussein's vetted fundraiser masterpost-masterpost, as well as the vetted fundraiser spreadsheet made by @/el-shab-hussein and @/nabulsi - please consider donating even a tiny amount to any of these!

[groose]

RECENT FUNDRAISERS

I've put together a masterlist of recent fundraiser asks I've received in the last week and fundraisers I've been made aware of that are low on donations.

Save Gaza: A Brighter Future for Aya and Her Family @ayaalanqarsblog | organised by Aya Alanqar | vetted by 90-ghost | €7,656/€15,000

Help us for the sake of God @abdelmutei | organised by Abdel Mutei Al-Habil | vetted by 90-ghost | €7,895/€50,000

Save Dr. Farhat's family from genocide in Gaza @husamfarht | organised by Farhat's family | vetted by el-shab-hussein | $2,759/$29,500

Get my relatives out of Gaza @ghaziyounes1967 | organised by Mohammed Darabaih | vetted by 90-ghost | $2,902/$50,000

Save My Family from the War Nightmare in Gaza @salem-baker | organised by Salem Alanqar | vetted by 90-ghost | €4,363/€38,000

Urgent Appeal: Save Ola' family evacuate Gaza war | organised by Ola Ferwana | not currently vetted but reverse image search suggests this is legit | €880/€35,000

Urgent Help Needed to Evacuate My Family from Gaza @ahmed-mohammed1 | organised by Ahmed Alanqar | vetted by 90-ghost | €3,083/€30,000

Save Mohammad's family and children escape Gaza Genocide @save-mohamed-family| organised by Mohammed Al Manasra | vetted by northgazaupdates | $8,112/$50,000

Support my uncle's family to survive the war @amjadshiltawu | organised by Hasan Alshetawi | vetted by el-shab-hussein | €3,848/€97,000

Help save my son Yousef @dima96yousef | organised by Kamel Shahwan | vetted by 90-ghost | €13,610/€25,000

Help Maysaa Evacuate and Secure Medical Treatment @tamer200333 | organised by Marcus Miller | vetted by apollos-olives | $9,616/$60,000

Help the Abu Shammalah Family Find Safety and Rebuild | organised by Ahmed Abushammalah| vetted by el-shab-hussein | €12,021/€100,000

Restoring our dreams, life and future @saratahrawi | organised by Matthew Clarke | vetted by 90-ghost | £1,854/£15,000

Help Mohamed's children escape from the Gaza war to Safety @save-salam-family | organised by Ahmed Awad | vetted by 90-ghost | €20,660/€40,000

Help me save my children from death in the Gaza war @dinamahammed99 | organised by Isabella Perez-Bonet | vetted by 90-ghost | $2,302 USD/$6,000

Help Mohammad & Shaima in Gaza! @wafans-blog | organised by Said As | vetted by el-shab-hussein | $52,340/$80,000

Support Hatem family in Gaza | organised by Wael Salem | vetted by el-shab-hussein | €315/€3,000

Please consider reblogging this post and donating if you are able to. If you are one of the fundraisers on this post and you want me to remove your tag, please message me. There are several more credible verifications for donation links by @/northgazaupdates , @/90-ghost, and @/el-shab-hussein, this list is just ones that have made their way to me this week. Please let me know if I have used any misdirecting links/names by human error.

If you receive asks for donations, you can use the archive and ctrl+F features to search their blogs for names/keywords. You can also access the VETTED FUNDRAISER SPREADSHEET painstakingly produced by @/el-shab-hussein and @/nabulsi and ctrl+F the same way. It's ridiculous to see so many tech-savvy, well-connected adults try and excuse themselves when you know well and good that these resources have been passed around for weeks. There is no excuse.

Free Palestine.

[dykesbat]

1st masterpost of palestinian fundraisers i'm spotlighting on my blog + verifications

last updated: july 22, 2024 second masterpost

1. Doctor Moath Abu Samra & Family Evacuate Gaza - $20,880/$50,000 [SLOWED] verified by Operation Olive Branch - row 85 individual reblog post here

2. Urgent Appeal: Save Little Yusuf and His Family Amidst Gaza - €41,596/€85,000 [SLOWED] ***has only received €25 in the past 24 hours verified here by el-shab-hussein. follow the fundraising organizer here on tumblr @/ahmednabubak individual reblog post here

3. Mohamed Hamad and his family dream of reaching safety - £10,301/£50,000 [LOW] [SLOWED] verified by here by el-shab-hussein. follow mohamed on tumblr at @/mohamed-hamad individual reblog post here

4. Saving My Family from the Horrors of War in Gaza for Firas Salem - €34,065/€65,000 [SLOWED] ***has only received three donations in the past 7 days verified here by el-shab-hussein. follow firas on tumblr at @/firassalemgaza individual reblog post here

5. Help Sana’a and her family evacuate from Gaza - £55,246/£70,000 [SLOWED] verified here by el-shab-hussein follow sujood on tumblr at @/sujoododeh individual reblog post here

6. Help the Qanou Family - £4,336/£55,000 [LOW] verified here by nabulsi. follow raghad here on tumblr at @/rhq274 individual reblog post here

7. Help Nahla and Amal Family to Rebuild their life - €3,671/€80,000 [LOW] [SLOWED] ***has only received one donation today verified here by nabulsi. follow the fundraiser on tumblr at @/jrk85 individual reblog post here

8. Helping Ahmed's Family: Escaping War to a New Life - €34,928/€39,500 verified here by nabulsi. follow ahmed on tumblr at @/ahmedabuyamin. individual reblog post here

9. Help the Abu Shammalah Family Find Safety and Rebuild - €10,798/€100,000 [LOW] ***has only received 3 donations in the past two days verified here by el-shab-hussein. follow ahmed (fundraiser's organizer) on tumblr at @/ahmed8311. individual reblog post here.

10. Help Ahmed family to travel to a save place - £6,765/£30,000 [LOW] verified here by nabulsi. follow ahmed on tumblr at @/ahmed-ziad. individual reblog post here.

11. Please help Shamaly family SURVIVE Gaza & start a new life! - $24,135 CAD/$90,000 [SLOWED] ***this fundraiser has only received 4 donations in the past 7 days verified here by fallahifag. follow the fundraiser on tumblr at @/familydeea. individual reblog post here.

12. Help Alaa family to travel to a safe place - £25,622/£56,000 [SLOWED] ***has only received 2 donations today number 99 on el-shab-hussein and nabulsi's spreadsheet. follow alaa on tumblr at @/alaaalkhateeb. individual reblog post here.

please donate/share if you can! fundraisers marked as slowed have had little to none donations.