#rwby volume 6 spoilers

[zexapher]

Dragonslayer kinda cute tho, ngl

Tbf, Yang does get a more questioning look when Jaune actually mentions stealing the airship, but I thought this was pretty good.

I’m usually more of a White Knight kind of guy, but the Dragonslayer ship is also really fun.

[anonymousduud]

RIP Sienna Khan, you would have loved to watch Adam die.

[zexapher]

The caterpillar comes while Weiss is trying to grow and evolve, even crawling up to the visual representation of progress in Weiss' little summoned sword. She's not there yet, but is on the path. To ultimately become the Snow Angel, as Jaune always knew she could be.

And hey, look at that, she grows wings in the Chess fight of vol 9. Just as a caterpillar goes through metamorphosis to gain its own wings. Jaune saw it in Weiss from the beginning, because he's awesome like that, ngl.

We can associate this growth to be with more points of Weiss' arc. The Faunus/class conflict with the Schnee legacy for instance.

On a microscale, it's the whiteknight story arc, and the prejudices she associated Jaune with. Believing he was just like the shallow suitors of Atlas' high society, after the perks of her name. That was a false belief she'd eventually overcome at the dance, realizing Jaune was actually genuine in the end. And with their tenuous friendship established in vol 3, it would grow into the deeper bond we see in vol 9.

On a macroscale, Weiss is overcoming her greater prejudices and ultimately fighting against her father, as he's the manifestation of this part of Weiss' arc. The Faunus prejudice and conflict with Blake in vol 1, the callousness of Atlas' high society in vol 4, the Mantle v Atlas arc in vol 7, and so on. Weiss' growth as a character is necessary to overcome these challenges.

The butterfly comes when Ruby is struggling with her own identity, before ultimately realizing she doesn't need to change, but instead accept herself. She's already beautiful, if you will.

The butterfly being a sort of metaphorical guide, associated with Ruby's arc of not giving herself enough credit (as Maria put it in vol 6), putting herself down, before she's brought to the realization of how she's already good in the end and more than enough.

We could say Ruby is in the end a static character. Not meant to change, instead overcoming the conflict and doubt suggesting she should.

Volume 6 really started to bring this arc out into the open, volume 9 more or less resolves it, but it's been there from the beginning. Recall the leadership advice she gives Jaune during Jaundice. Ruby suggesting the leader more or less put aside and ignore their own troubles, for the sake of carrying the burdens of leadership on their shoulders.

Ultimately, this incomplete, and even detrimental, advice comes to a head in vol 9. With Ruby erupting over the burdens leadership has weighed on her.

So I’d like to talk about one small part of Volume 9 that was never directly addressed or even noted by the characters, yet feels like it is EXTREMELY significant going forward:

This infuriatingly CURIOUS Blue Butterfly that for SOME reason keeps showing up around RUBY.

As we all know, this butterfly first showed up in Volume 6 during Ruby’s conversation with Maria about the nature of their Silver Eyes. At the time, it seemed like a pretty vague bit of symbolism that we probably didn’t understand the full context for yet.

THEN that Blue Butterfly showed up again in the Ever After. Multiple times, and seemingly CLOSELY associated with Ruby.

First it showed up during prior to Ruby’s game with the Red Prince.

Next, and far more interestingly, the Butterfly shows up flittering around Ruby herself after she runs away from her team and Little. Again clearly establishing some kind of connection with Ruby.

And the funny thing is, this Butterfly is not explained or even acknowledged by the characters this volumes. They’re just… THERE.

Then we get to this Butterfly’s final appearance in Volume 9, which also happens to be massively consequential when you start thinking about it:

They appear in the Blacksmith’s flashback as the first being shown to be ‘awakened’ by the Brothers.

Implying that this Butterfly is not just a denizen of the Ever After, but may well have been one of, if not THE first Afteran to have been created by the Tree after the Brothers.

A Butterfly which again, seems to have a close connection with RUBY and others with Silver Eyes.

At this point, I’m wondering if Maria was actually wrong about the Silver Eyes coming from the God of Light. But rather somehow through this Afteran. Like what if the Brothers weren’t the ONLY denizens of the Ever After to come to Remnant?

Either way, there is clearly SOMETHING important about this Butterfly and how it connects to Ruby and the other Silver Eyed Warriors.

And as a final note, I thought I’d point out that while Volume 6 was the first time we were introduced to a specific Blue Butterfly in relation to Ruby, it wasn’t the first time we had butterfly imagery associated with a character. But it wasn’t Ruby…

…It was WEISS back in Volume 3.

Connection?

[clementinecloudz]

Long live pyrrha (she died 7 seasons ago but it's okay nothing bad ever happened)

[bonnibelleangelica]

My RWBY HeadCannons

(My fanfiction cinematic universe)

-Jaune can feel how strong peoples auras are when he touches them and can also tell if it’s activated at all

-Auras are visible (to the characters) when they get hit or at about to break (like in the show)

-Jaune’s semblance feels good and if he heals sexual masochistic pain (spanking), it’s extra good

-Ruby and Jaune will get married. They just will. It won’t be a plot line or a reveal, they’ll just end up together

[gallopinggallifreyans]

The more I think about it, the more I'm sure Pyrrha's headpiece is the Relic of Choice.

(Buckle in, folks. This is a long one. Spoilers for all of RWBY under the readmore. You can find this crossposted to ao3 here.)

Pyrrha's entire character has always revolved around choice.

From the minute we meet her, we know that she's the top student, probably invited to Beacon by Ozpin (this is likely; Ruby showed similar skill). In volume 6, we find out that she wanted to go to Beacon and accepted the offer, whether by invitation or passing an exam, and left by her own choice.

We also learn in volume 2 that Pyrrha never had much of a choice in mundane events, like getting a date to the dance, which is something she laments. Her initial appearance where we learn of her skill and nobody asking her to the dance are two significant instances where Pyrrha's lack of choice is made obvious. This sets her apart from her peers and development-wise puts her in a position where she can never choose to have a mundane life — she is literally destined for greatness.

And then we get to volume 3, where the Maidens come into play. The Maiden plot was a late addition to the series, but it gave Pyrrha an additional role to play that further demonstrated the importance of choice. Qrow and Ozpin make it very clear that she was being given the choice to take on the rest of the Fall Maiden's powers, which, significantly, were taken by force from the previous Maiden, by Cinder. Qrow reminds Jaune of this in volume 4.

Volume 6 gives us that heartbreaking scene of Jaune and Pyrrha's mother standing before the honourary statue in Argus, and Pyrrha's mother says this:

"She understood that she had a responsibility to try. I don't think she would regret her choice, because a Huntress would understand that there really wasn't a choice to make."

And that all but proves that Pyrrha was determined to take her life into her own hands when it mattered most. She was given the choice to accept the Fall Maiden's powers, and she knew that she was the only one who could do it, so she did. It was an impossible decision and she knew it; there really wasn't a choice to make.

I won’t lie and say Oz hadn’t already chosen Pyrrha very early on. Qrow certainly wouldn’t have made Pyrrha become the Fall Maiden if she didn’t want to, but we know from later volumes that Oz can and will use underhanded methods to play his own game, just like Salem. The Maiden plot was developed late, but fortunately the lore is kinda fuzzy early on so we can draw conclusions, and we can glean from Oz’s later behaviour (volume 6) that he can be very manipulative.

We also know that Qrow and the rest of team STRQ, Glynda, and Ironwood have all been used as pawns by Oz to some extent, and Qrow is vocal about this several times. Not to say that he’s without fault, but he wouldn’t push Pyrrha into a role she wasn’t ready to take, and he wouldn’t have been confident and comfortable saying she was ready if he wasn’t sure. We see this behaviour in volume 4, and then consistently when he thinks the kids can't handle something.

The Relic of Choice is a tricky one, because it was supposedly hidden in the Beacon vault, which could only be opened by the Fall Maiden. However, nobody knows what happened to it after the fall of Beacon, and Salem concludes that Oz must have hidden the crown differently than the other Relics. In addition, according to the wiki, the appearance of the Relic is unconfirmed, though whether this was due to choices made in adaptation or made intentionally, is unknown.

Based on the two Relics we've seen on screen (Knowledge and Creation), we can guess that the crown would be visually similar — gold with turquoise accents. But, again, the physical appearance is weird and inconsistent. Fairy Tales of Remnant was released just after volume 6, when we first see Jinn, so the design choice is a little bit iffy considering they were probably in tandem development. Because of this, I think the Relic of Choice appears differently to each holder, and most importantly chooses its own appearance. We don't know when Pyrrha got her headpiece, but it was before Beacon. The colour scheme matches her overall appearance, but as I've already established, the design choice is probably not constant for thematic and plot reasons.

The design choices for each of the Relics and their respective Maidens are also connected to the kingdom crests. The four kingdoms each have crests representing the Relics they hold in their respective academy vaults.

Vale's crest incorporates the Relic of Choice as a laurel wreath, typically meant to represent victory in the Pythian games, and became a universal symbol of triumph by the Roman period (I believe — don't quote me on that, I'm not a Romanist). Point is, it's a symbol originating in ancient Greece. Pyrrha is based on Achilles. Symbolic association of Vale's crest with Pyrrha's character inspiration kind of identifies her with the Relic of Choice, and her status as would-be successor to the Fall Maiden combined with what we learn about the Relics later solidifies the association. The Relic is represented by a laurel wreath, Pyrrha is based on a Greek character, you get it.

This seems like a bit of a stretch until we consider the other known Maidens. Raven's emblem and the Mistral crest have similar visual and thematic elements: the flared "wings" and central circle with the diamond-shaped arrow design. Winter and Penny both share elements of their emblems with the Atlas crest — Winter and Atlas both have the double ringed concentric design, while Penny's emblem is more akin to the staff in the Atlas emblem. The gear/mechanical design of the Atlas crest represents both Winter and Penny's roles as cogs in the Atlesian machine. We don't know what Amber's (previous Fall Maiden) emblem was, but her character design has similar elements to Pyrrha, connecting them visually rather than thematically.

Notably, Cinder is the only Maiden whose emblem does not resemble her respective kingdom, because the Maiden power was not rightfully hers. She stole it while the previous Fall Maiden was still alive. Cinder may believe in destiny, but she is trying to work towards a destiny that is not for her, and quite literally, the shoe does not fit.

In the screenshot below, we see Cinder disintegrate Pyrrha, except her headpiece. This could mean that Cinder has great control over her Maiden powers and can precisely burn away the entirety of Pyrrha and her armour, but she doesn't keep the headpiece as a trophy. Or, it could mean the headpiece was made of something else, like the other Relics, which are not easily destroyed.

Pyrrha's final question to Cinder was, "Do you believe in destiny?" And it's clear that Pyrrha does to some degree, and understood her role and responsibility, her choice to play the bigger game even if she had no idea what it entailed.

What makes this even more interesting is that Cinder says she does believe in destiny, immediately before killing Pyrrha, and she drops the headpiece. Later in volume 8, Cinder returns the two Relics to Salem, and Salem explicitly praises her despite Cinder not able to stop Winter or the evacuation of Mantle. How delicious would it be if Pyrrha’s headpiece was the Relic of Choice, and Cinder had no idea, losing it in the ruins of Vale?

[squaric-acid]

Do you all ever think about how Maria told Ruby “you don’t give yourself enough credit”

and

the Blacksmith told Ruby “then maybe that girl is enough”?

Because I do

[rwby-confess]

Confession #8

[powertaco]

Anti predictions for tomorrow aka things I hope don’t happen...

Just don’t give me any of these and I think the finale will be great!

[bobauthorman]

There and Back Again?

RWBY Volume 9 brought up a very interesting subject. Namely, the concept of Ascension. This is a form of resurrection where the subject dies, but comes back in a form different from the one they had before, with their conscious memories gone. However, this does not mean they are wiped clean of all traces from their previous life. They still possess unconscious memories, emotional responses to reminders of what they knew before, even if they no longer recognize the subject.

The reason I’m bringing this up is because of a mystery that to this day has not been solved. In short, I believe the concept of Ascension is a clue that will tell us the identity of the mysterious figure who appeared in Volume 6;

Her.

When she first appeared, a plethora of fans concluded that she was someone related to Pyrrha Nikos, given her appearance, knowledge of Pyrrha’s background, and being voiced by Jen Brown, Pyrrha’s voice actress. However, I’m starting to wonder if this woman is none other than Pyrrha’s Ascended form,  the lost P of Team JNPR reborn in a different life. Look, here’s my thoughts:

Ascension is when you die, and come back in a form of your choosing, minus the memories of your previous life. In her life, Pyrrha was unhappy with how her celebrity status isolated her from people. Rather than coming back with Moar Power, what if Pyrrha chose a form that would let her blend in with the normies and stand out less? That would explain why she was so happy when Jaune said Pyrrha was a True Huntress.

Now, I know a lot of, well, all of you will ask, “Pyrrha died on Remnant, how could her spirit get to the Tree in the Ever After?” Good question. For that matter, how did Summer Rose’s weapon Sundered Rose end up in the Tree? Is Remnant and the Ever After as separate as we think?

I don’t know. But it’s worth thinking about. And while we’re at it, we still don’t know how mankind came back after the Two Brothers wiped them out in the first era.

[lightanddarklove]

you're laughing but this is Salem's backstory in rwby. The world is decaying because the gods told her "no! you can't have your bf back. life goes one way, learn to accept it." And she wanted vengeance when they took her lover away a second time. Thus all of the shit that happens in the rwby universe is because of her need to get him back and everything that unfolded from that point on.

Ok listen we NEED to talk about your girlfriend. I know you’re doomed by the narrative and all, but she keeps defying the will of fate with her vain and ever more desperate attempts to save you. It’s SERIOUSLY going to rend the fabric of space-time if she keeps this up. I’m not even joking. We’re all going to end up in a closed loop of decaying reality if—it’s not cute, stop laughing!!

[zexapher]

The Crew Meets Saphron for the First Time

I was leafing through some character stills yesterday for a whole other meme I was making when I saw this one of Blake with an absolutely maniacal look upon her face seeing Saphron for the first time, and I just knew I had to throw something together. It just looked too funny to pass up.

The show has this sort of off-screen friendship between Jaune and Blake going on. Do they do bookclub together? I don't know, but little bits like this really sneak it in. She is so ready to bang meet Jaune's sister. Blake wants the blonde harem to go through the childhood stories and pics, gather some blackmail material.

That scene in general is too good, so much going on. The sibling energy with Jaune, who totally knows his sister will embarrass him. It comes with Oscar, with that vacant look on his face and his hands tucked into his pockets and everything! Qrow in the background having none of it. Yang and Nora! Ren lookin’ too cool. Weiss with that wholesome smirk.

Then Ruby absolutely pops off, living her best life! It’s inspirational.

[anerdliveshere]

Some plots I want in Volume 10 of RWBY. Spoilers of what has already happened. 1: Nora finds herself reconnects with Ren

2: Ruby and the team handling how she basically died

3: The team coming to terms with Neo's end

4: The Vacuo evacuation for the time RWBY and Jaune were gone

5: Salem's plans for the other two kingdoms

6: Cinder fighting Emerald for switching teams

7: Salem learns Cinder used the lamp

8: Ace Ops and Ironwood

[zerm2v0hg]

Honestly if Robyn hill was Salem spy a change I would have done is reveal the crimes team RWBY and team jnr before I die (like spider far from home) to cause distrust to the world.

Crimes listed:

-Yang and Blake revealingly government information (who will ever trust them after that?)

-Argus incident (how they allow a city to be defenseless against the Grimm.

Bonus: a discord member gave a scenario where Jaune finds out that his sister family died because of that plan in volume 6. Grimm swarm and wiped it out)

-Weiss pointing his sword at his brother. To really messed with the public have Robyn tampered with Weiss’s weapon tricking the world that she is a psychopath)

-highway battle in the beginning volumes to show how destructive team RWBY can be etc

When it is all over, even if the kingdom survives, no one will ever trust this team, especially Yang and Blake. (considering how awful their personality is in the newer volumes it’s all but guaranteed Yang will make things worse.)

Ooh, interesting. :)

Assuming that RWBY/JNR’s constant “evading the consequences of their actions, lucking out and being hero-worshipped for things they didn’t do or relied massively on others for” aura on Remnant gets turned off or runs out here, this could get RWBY/JNR permanently distrusted, turned into global fugitives or thrown in jail.

And even if their aforementioned "we're the protagonists" luck-charm is still on, this could still cause them setbacks - particularly framing Weiss for blasting Whitley, with released footage.

(Also, Whitley if I remember correctly is a civilian who doesn’t have his aura unlocked – so an explosion like that could seriously hospitalise him or even kill him.)

Ooh, I like that idea of Jaune’s family in Argus dying to the Grimm due to it being left defenceless after the events of Volume 6 – that could drive Jaune away from Team RWBY altogether if he blames them more than himself for leaving Argus defenceless. It kinda reminds me of the spoiler-y state of Mistral-era Team JNR in Calxiyn's Can One Change Fix All of RWBY? scenario on Youtube.

And yeah, Atlas-era Yang definitely won't do anything to help mend burned bridges, even if some of the others do try.

[bonnibelleangelica]

My first one shot in over a year... A scandal!

[sailorplutoirl]

I feel like Cinder Fall is the most fucked up villain in Rwby but not for the reasons we normally talk about.

As much as I like Unicorn of War's videos, I don't really agree that Cinder is an ally to ANY marginalized group, inside or outside the context of the show. (I know he said it as a joke.)

*Spoilers for Rwby below

She picks specifically vulnerable people to hurt and to use.

Emerald is this Black girl in poverty and likely was not cared for who stole things because she was running out of options and Cinder knew that. She used Emerald's infatuation with her against her and to make her loyal to her.

Amber was a girl of color that Cinder first hurt, and then killed not too long after because she had powers Cinder wanted

Mercury is an abuse victim and Cinder likely knew that too.

When she got a taste of Fall Maiden powers, the first thing she does is injure and likely kill White Fang members, who are Faunus and Faunus in the world of ray are an oppressed group when they didn't help her the first time. She used the Faunus when it was convenient for her.

She has no problem with keeping Roman Torchwick who called the Faunus derogatory names in her circle.

She is most DEFINITELY not a girl's girl. She killed Penny and Pyrrha, and she killed a woman when that woman thought she was hurt in volume 6. She also used Neo's grief to direct it at rwby and then dropped her when she wasn't useful.

I wish the show or other people talked about this aspect if her character more because it would have closed really well with characters like Blake who is marginalized.

Cinder may be an opportunist but she is high-key a predator that will drop you if you are no longer useful and I hope she dies for it