#rwby: reconciliation

[st-whalefall]

When is the Long Memory going to explode into shrapnel and Oscar “God’s Spear” Pine going to make his own weapon hmmmm?

When is Oscar “Deer Kindred” Pine gonna start growing antlers huh?

[anthurak]

Why do I get the feeling that when Raven does her whole redemption arc/reconciliation with Yang, Ruby and her team/generally trying to be a good mom in Volume 10, we’re going to see essentially the inverse of the whole ‘Ironwood apologia/bootlicking’ we saw during and after Volume 8?

As in, a vocal minority loudly bitching and moaning and generally throwing a hissy fit over Raven NOT actually being the ‘irredeemable bad-bad mom of badness’ they judged her to be all the way back in volume 2.

And then we’ll probably see the same thing again when Cinderdemption happens.

[strqyr]

"mom took a risk the day she left, and i don’t think… i don’t think it went the way she wanted it to."

"it was rough, but..." -> "i think after everything that's happened here, we understand. trust is..." -> "trust is a risk."

"if i do this right, then there's nothing to worry about. trust me."

i know in the context of the scene yang is talking about summer, but... which mom yang. which mom took a risk which trust is one.

trust me.

[hanasaku-shijin]

BOOOYYY i cant wait for ruby to come crawling back to her teammates (after going through inevitable peril on her own no doubt) and sobbing and throwing her arms around them in a big apologetic hug and they all tell her it's okay and they're sorry for not considering her more

[bestworstcase]

[Same anon who was talking about when Salem will find out the truth abt Ozmas curse] yknow, thinking of the Ozma-Salem reconciliation, I'm curious about what will happen when everything is over. Specifically I'm curious on if they'll stay immortal or if they'll choose to become mortal again? Being honest, I could see Salem choosing to stay immortal, probably turning what was used to harm her into something she owns (if she hasn't already tbh). I'm... less sure about Oz? I could see him wanting to, but how he reincarnates is... definitely a problem considering it's identity issues if it were a form of immortality lmfao.

Of course, this depends on them getting that choice in the first place, but I feel like it wouldn't be satisfying if they didn't, though i have no idea how they would get it (i doubt Light would budge, Darkness is probably Ascended, and i theorize Light will ascend and become human, sooo...), unless the Tree has that ability? No idea. I do think Oz will Ascend so maybe that'll be addressed then if that happens (note: if he Ascends, I personally think it'd be fun if he came out a faunus/snake faunus. It's not really a theory, just smth I'd do if I were writing RWBY, and the chances of that happening are pretty slim, IF he ascends at all lol. So it's more a self indulgent thought than a real theory).

Do you have any thoughts on whether or not they'll stay immortal, or both become mortal? It's pure speculation, but that's what makes it fun :P

(BTW I wanted to see if you were doing okay, if you're willing to answer? You disappear sometimes and idk if that's normal or not. Hope you're doing good!)

-🌙 <- for if I decide to send more asks

(yeah i'm doing fine. just busy irl)

anyway—prior to v9 i would have said definitely they both wind up mortal again, but then v9 threw its curveball of overtly questioning the premise that everything must die. immortality for ozlem has hitherto been framed strictly as a curse, because ozma sees it that way; i think it remains to be seen whether salem feels the same, because:

a) "if she were to turn humanity against Light and Darkness, she could rid herself of their curse, or at the very least… she could make them suffer." <- even before her rebellion, salem had begun to accept the possibility that she might never be able to make herself mortal again if she defied the brothers, and she made a deliberate decision to fight back anyway.

b) it has been so long that i have to imagine it is hard for her to even conceive of dying as a real possibility anymore? so even if she theoretically would welcome the chance to die i'm skeptical that it's more than a "what if the world was made of pudding?" type of nonsense hypothetical in her mind. 

and c) everything points to "salem wants to change the world" being the correct view, with salem herself envisioning a "new world"—and in the event that is true, salem isn't suicidal full stop.

the thing that makes her immortality a curse has always been isolation and exile, neither of which are innately because she's immortal. indeed the very first thing salem used her immortality to do once she decided to live was connect with people and build a coalition. the reason for her exile in the present is not her immortality per se but the fairytale narrative construing her as the Great Evil. becoming mortal again won't materially change those circumstances. 

ozma is in a different boat because, as you note, his form of immortality is bad per se—fatal to his hosts and torturous for him. we have however seen that a living soul without a body will just manifest a new body, both on remnant (penny) and in the ever after (ruby isn't just magically healed in the tree—her whole self is remade, hence the burning rose returns to her in the end—she's disembodied and remakes herself). so the immediate concern with oscar and ozma is to divide their souls, and i think there are a few of possibilities as to how:

literal ascension via the tree

the sword of destruction

silver eyes as the mirror revealing what is true (two, not one)

salem

some combination of 2-4.

from that point the crucial question is whether separating ozma and restoring him to his own body oncedoes or doesn't break his cursed reincarnation forever. if it doesn't (or if he isn't willing to take the risk that it doesn't) then… frankly the simplest and surest way to put an end to ozma reincarnating as a parasite forever is to make him immortal the way salem is immortal. if his soul can't die, he can't be bound to another by light's curse. it is death that empowers his curse. 

so to take away what gives light power over ozma, give ozma infinite life. right? 

which… i mean, the well of creation gave salem infinite life; she hoped that the pool of grimm would take it away; take from an infinite quantity, an infinite quantity remains; this force of pure destruction could not destroy, so it created… it's possible for two souls to be bound together as one and it's possible for one soul to be divided into two. the possibility of salem dividing her infinite life in order to share it with ozma isn't exactly a leap.

certainly i wouldn't rule out a straightforward ascension through the tree being the answer—it is kind of the obvious course—but i've been rolling dark's parting words to salem around in my mind a lot since v9. "still making demands of your creators?"

that rebellion ended in crushing defeat because they tried to fight back with the gifts the brothers gave them—power that did not in truth belong to humanity, because those gifts were not freely given. this is a lesson salem took to heart, hence her insinuation (in WOR) of aura/semblances being much greaterthan mere magic, cinder using grimm (a kind of power salem claimed for herself after the brothers abandoned it) to mediate her inheritance of the fall maiden (a mere remnant of god-given power bequeathed to modern humans by light's champion, which salem has repeatedly warned cinder to be cautious of), and her recent experiment with combining silver eyes with grimm. 

presuming salem is involved in the separation and breaking of ozma's curse at all, i think it's deeply unlikely she would be willing to trust the tree to just fix everything; i think there's a not-insignificant possibility that she has met the blacksmith herself before and may be factoring what she knows about the tree and/or the brothers' history into her plans, but if so it would be more on the level of knowing the brothers are finite and broken, not expecting the tree to save her. 

(sidebar: there's an expectation across a lot of the fandom now that the brothers can/will be 'defeated' by tagging in the blacksmith to scold them for being naughty, and that is just… not going to happen. lol. the blacksmith makes it crystal clear that neither she nor the tree can or will intervene, and while the brothers need to ascend and that's the obvious outcome the narrative is moving toward now, convincing light [and dark if he's still around] to do it is a problem remnant's people are going to need to figure out for themselves. also the fandom-wide treatment of the brothers as spoiled little boys who just need mom to scold them is both inane and, frankly, misogynistic—because "well, the brothers are petty assholes but salem is just a spoiled bitch throwing a tantrum because they didn't give her what she wanted, and actually all her problems are self-inflicted" is an outrageous position to hold about a woman hating the genocidal monsters who murdered an entire planet to spite her. and then the cherry on top is anticipating that the conflict will be solved by way of "mommy" swooping in to clean up the mess her silly boys made. come the fuck on.) 

anyway, i figure salem will be stridently in the camp of "no, we need to forge our own path." ozma, likewise, i can only imagine feeling extremely dubious of just putting his life into the hands of any god after what light did to him—let alone a god who is completely unknown to him. if he and salem think there is even the smallest chance that the two of them can break his curse by working together without divine intervention, i… think that will be Plan A for sure. after all, THIS is how ozpin closes out 'fairytales of remnant':

One interpretation of this story focuses on the fact that the people caused the problem in the first place. But in my view, it is only natural for us to want to bring more light into the world and “reach for the sun.” And on the brighter side, if you’ll excuse the pun, people were also part of the solution. They not only replaced the sun, a celestial gift from the all-powerful God of Light, but also improved upon it through their own ingenuity. Most importantly, they could not have accomplished this magnificent, godly feat without uniting for a common purpose in a way they never had before. The world once was divided between day and night, light and darkness, but by coming together, and overcoming their inherent jealousy and resentment, people made the darkness just a little bit brighter for all.

a parable about humanity claiming the powers of their creators to perfect their own design; a parable about the world coming together to replace their divine gifts, and in doing so create a better world in divinity's absence. like i'm always saying, ozma's zealotry is grounded in fear—in his terrified certainty that the brothers are all-powerful forces of nature who cannot be fought—but the world salem aspires to create is the one he dreams of too, in his heart of hearts. 

as for oz becoming a faunus—i honestly would not be surprised if he did? both thematically (the faunus in the myth are liberated through transformation into their true inner selves -> ozma must be liberated from oscar through transformation into his true self; the faunus mythically participate in their own creation and in doing so free themselves to choose their own destinies, making faunus the symbolic if not literal triumph of salem's rebellion) and, if i'm correct about faunus having been created by salem's transformation in the pool of grimm, also mechanically (in that event she would be the literal god of animals and manifestation of animal-like features representing the inner self follows the metamorphic pattern she created, so if it's predominately her magic mediating ozma's transformation/restoration then it would follow for him to become a faunus.)

but if he does, i think what he'll end up with is an avian trait—like trust love ("if you could only open up a door/spread your wings and fly away from here/write yourself into a fairytale/all your problems would just disappear") and sacrifice ("born an angel, heaven-sent/falls from grace are never elegant") both pretty explicitly, in opposite ways, equate wings with ozma's freedom. (hi @st-whalefall i see you.) and then there's the way ozma describes the branwens' bird forms: "Using this power, I was able to gift the Branwen twins the ability to "see" more, to move freely and be unburdened by their natural bodies. I... well... gave them the ability to turn into birds." <- freedom, unburdening, and clearer sight. IF ozma becoming a faunus through breaking his curse is in the cards, i would think this is pretty blunt foreshadowing. 

and if it isn't—well, it's symbolic and might well remain symbolic but another thought i've been rolling around for a while is ozma finding some way of separating himself from oscar as a bird. they're fighting this curse together now; the curse is fighting back, and with the kids returned from the ever after, oscar and oz are going to be hearing about ascension and afteran magic and—maybe, depending on how detailed team rwby is in their account—about "you could just be human, or just a cat, if you wanted." 

in one myth, faunus are created by the combination of sapient animals and human beings—through, it might be said, the merger of two souls into a singular new being. blake, in v1, is reading a novel about a man with two souls, fighting for control over his body. ozma loves stories, myths, fairytales—relies onstories to make sense of himself and his life. his curse is a false, corrupted form of ascension, and when blake looked at herself in the tree's mirror, it asked "are you complete? do you wish to return human-and-animal, separated?"

for blake, that was the tree's gentle way of confronting her with her past self-hatred, to help her see and crystallize how much she's grown from being that terrified girl who secretly wished she could just be human. but think about how oz and oscar might take that story. 

oscar doesn't like using magic because it makes the merge faster. long ago, ozma carved out his divinely-given magic and created the maidens in hope of sparing his hosts, but the magic of his curse remains. he can't sever himself from his hosts, and fighting the curse outright causes it to lash out and hurt them both. but ozma also did *something* to grant the branwens shapeshifting; either he really did draw on his own curse to do that, or else he used the crown of choice to make it so. either way… the curse keeps trying to force him forward. force him to come out. 

in the lost fable, the final outcome of his curse is at least represented by something like a haunting—ozma sees his other-self watching him from outside of himself. this may or may not be literal in the sense of what ozma experiences, but the idea of 'one soul in the body, one soul outside' is narratively in play. and ozma was able to seal himself off from oscar in a way that does seem to have altered the nature of their connection, or at least created room for oscar to reclaim his individuality. 

so what happens if ozma gathers all the magic and throws his will behind the curse's attempts to shove him forward, instead of against, with the specific purpose of manifesting himself in some physical form outside of oscar's head, drawing on old myths about faunus being similarly two-in-one that blake's account of the ever after seems to corroborate as having a kernel of truth? 

like—why not try something weird and out of the box? what have they got to lose? if it doesn't work then they're back to square one of grappling with the curse, and if it does then not only have they figured out a new way to give oscar some room to breathe but ozma emerging as a bird with a psychic connection to oscar would be real fucking helpful for the coalition as a spy/scout. 

[citadelofmythoughts]

Any ideas on how you’d want to see Yang get closure? Like with her destructive tendencies, lack of self worth, being left, family issues, etc. Basically how her Vacuo arc major character growth would happen since she’s the only one of team RWBY left who hasn’t gone through a big shift.

I think the family issues thing is going to be happening alongside her sister. The stage is set for them to finally get some answers about Summer AND Raven. I know reconciliation is a longshot but depending on Raven's story, it might be a start.

Now, I would argue that Yang HAS gone through a major shift regarding "being left" - Blake came back into her life, wholly and completely. I mean a big hunk of V6 was Yang coming to terms with that and believing Blake when she said she wasn't going to break her promise to stay.

If the Ruby we get in V10 is anything like the version from JL X RWBY Pt.2 then Yang just might be able to work through her self-sacrificial tendencies by helping Ruby work through hers.

[princess-of-the-corner]

ML Plot Points: Fu and S3 Finale

After the Ladybug Replacement arc, Hawkmoth is recovering while Viceroy takes over the akuma business. They quickly realise that quantity over quality is no longer a viable strategy since they have to deal with 4 to 7 heroes in any given attack. As such, they take a break for a couple of days while waiting for an emotion they can get something useful out of.

The akuma in question is Sandboy. Which would be used to flesh out all the heroes and give Fu a more serious nightmare about his failures.

After that comes Feast. Starts the same, but Fu goes with Ladybug and Chat Noir into Feast and is the one to break the amokised object. Also, This ep is the one when Hawkmoth and MAyura figure out where Fu lives.

I’m not sure If I’d add any more akuma attacks in the time period between the Ladybug Replacement and Feast. Those two are the only really necessary ones, with Feast happening directly before the finale.

And thus, Love Eater happens. (Sidenote, instead of the floating head ballon, I’d have them be a gold and blue two headed snake with the get along shirt wrapped around them. Think a King Taijitu from RWBY). Hawkmoth tries to convince Chloe to get akumatised and it doesn’t work, she just tells him off and sneaks off to fight the akuma. Instead of that, Hawkmoth just gives Lila a butterfly and tells her to stay on standby until he says the word. Hawkmoth has purposefully has Love Eater be more difficult so that all seven heroes will have to be involved. Once all of them are there, he de-akumatises the Bourgeois coupled and akumatises Lila into Hoaxer with the goal of having her distract them for as long as possible.

As soon as Lila is akumatised, Mayura makes a tiny butterfly Sentimonster, has it go into the massage parlour and she changes it so it’s the size of the building. Horse!Fu makes it out with the miracle box, but barely and is immediately confronted by Hawkmoth, Mayura and the Sentimonster.

Fu has had it rough these past few episodes. The Ladybug replacement arc forced him to admit that he’s still making mistakes and that he’s clearly making things worse for the girl who he saw as a granddaughter. Sandboy forced him to accept that the Order was messed up from the beginning and that even if what happened was his fault, he can’t afford to keep punishing himself and everyone he chooses to isolation. Lastly, Feast forced him to face the literal embodiment of his mistake and the Order’s sins.

He can’t keep going the way he’s been going. Even if it’s what the Order would have had him do, it’s wrong.

So Fu just looks at them and apologises. He tells them that, truthfully, he doesn’t know how to help their loved one and that it was wrong of him to lead them on just to get their miraculi. They deserved better. Since Hawkmoth has literal telepathic powers, so they know he’s not lying. It’s a nice moment between a traumatised old man who is finally trying to do better and the two people he screwed over.

Alas, it’s too late for reconciliation. Fu waited too long and the two of them have done too much. Letting them have the miraculi is simply not an option, so Fu does the only thing he can:

He breaks the miracle box and makes portals beneath every miraculous, sending them to a location where he thinks the heroes will find them.

Thus begins the second most interesting fight I’ve foreshadowed in the posts about world building and powers.

-Hawkmoth has telepathy powers and can communicate his intentions to Mayura. This means he can predict what Fu will do and that his teamwork with Mayura and the Sentimonster near perfect.

-Mayura, since she has both the Amok and the peacock miraculous, can control and change the Sentimonster at will. Want to give it a snake head from it’s back that lunges at Fu? A bunch of insect limbs as sharp as swords? Wings? A fuckton of limbs/tentacles? Make it bigger or smaller depending on the situation? She can do so.

-Lastly, Fu with the horse can make portals. Since he had the miraculi since he was 8 and is now almost 200 he is the strongest current holder and he has absolutely no limits. He’ll feel awful afterwards, but it’s for the best. Favourite ideas include:

Launching himself through moving portals to pick up speed and lunge at them them from weird angles,

Throwing the horseshoe and when they parry it, sending it through a portal so it still hits them.

Portal-Cutting a building, making it go through a set of vertical portals so it builds up speed and sending it through a third portal to launch it right at them.

Portal-cutting the Eiffel Tower in specific parts so it collapses on top of them.

Canon had Fu go out like a bitch. HC had Fu go out like a bitch offscreen. I may not like the character, but I can let him go feral in his last moments. The man should have one cool fight scene.

Eventually, the heroes manage to beat Hoaxer and join the fight, at which point, Mayura just makes the Sentimonster really big and violent so they can flee. They at least got the grimoire, that’s. more than they had before.

Fu gives up guardianship and tells Ladybug where he sent the miraculi, since he can’t be sure they’ll find them. His last words to her are: “Don’t repeat my mistakes. Don’t be a Guardian, be a leader.”

-

OOF BUT THIS IS DOPE

[herwrittenuniverse]

Happy 1 Year AO3 Anniversary to me!

Yes, I'm that weirdo that remembers the one year anniversary of joining AO3. 23, however, is my favorite number, and it was also the beginning of the school year - I think that's why it's so distinct!

Last year, I was looking to do more things that I love, so I said "fuck it" and decided to post a chapter to a fic I hadn't updated in years and years on a different fanfiction website. A longtime reader/ fanfic author @butterflydreaming-writes-fic contacted me and basically said, "Girl, you gotta get on AO3. It's where it's at!" And one year later, here we are!

Here are some totals for you...

Of course, I know some other authors have higher stats then me, and that's okay. I'm proud that in just a year, I've accumulated over 1000 kudos, over 200 bookmarks, and over 21,000 hits. It's very gratifying.

I have 23 stories in total, but not all of them of new. Some are old ones that I reposted from a different website. Out of those 23, 9 are Cardcaptor Sakura, 2 are Final Fantasy VII, and a whopping 12 are of The Dragon Prince (with more to come on the way! I'm in the groove now.)

My most popular story based on hits is Lunation, my interpretation of the reconciliation between Rayla and Callum. I worked the hardest on this fic and am happy to see it still remains at my most popular piece. (Although, some of the shorter, sillier ones from S5 are quickly approaching its numbers, and I admit I will be kind of sad if it's no longer at the top! 😂) On the other end, my least popular is Red Lite, Green Lite, which is a silly little fic about Vincent Valentine going about Midgar trying to get a cigarette. It's quite funny.

The first not-reposted original story was Promises, Promises - a take on Callum's fatal promise to Rayla. ("You have to kill me.") I've never written such an action-packed piece and I am pretty proud of it. Even when rereading it, I still feel the urgent tone that carries itself throughout the story.

My most underrated fic is definitely To Those Who Crossed Over, a weirdly experimental story about how Touya from CCS - a naturally gifted clairvoyant - comes face-to-face with another medium, causing some interesting in-depth insight about Yue. While it's not the norm, it definitely is an interesting read.

In the next year, I would love to post some other fandoms (like RWBY, for example) and perhaps continue/expand on the CCS fic To Love Another. It's a story about Touya coming to terms with who Yukito/Yue are as a person. It is definitely the most quietly popular fic, with no comments but 96 kudos and 18 bookmarks.

Also, I want to simply continue to write. I put a lot of pressure on myself when it comes to fanfiction. Character and canon accuracy are important to me, but I am slowly realizing that fanfiction can be whatever you want it to be. And that's the beauty of it.

Remember, fanfiction writers do it for nothing except the love of our fandom. We take time out of our days to pour our hearts into stories for you to read. I'm so grateful to AO3, as the website allows us a safe space to do that. (I always donate when the time comes, and if you read or write on AO3, you should too!)

In the past year, I rebranded and created my online personal as HerWrittenUniverse because I felt like I was entering another era of fandom. In addition, fanfiction has personally opened up so many door for me. It's giving me a healthy way to express my love for a fandom, challenged me to increase my writing skills, and opened up doors to friendships that I never though possible. So thank you to Cris for kicking my butt and getting me on AO3, thank you to my fellow fandom friends for supporting me (and everyone else!), and thank you to the readers. Fanfiction writers create for themselves - but the support is always nice, too!

Cheers to another year on AO3!

[nerdlydelicious]

Hello!

I’ve been enjoying your ship takes and the lengthy responses to em! Been a fun read. Here’s another for your list if you’d like. I can’t pick between the two so feel free to choose: crosshares or blackvelvet

No reason I can’t do both!

Crosshares has that classic ‘extroverted person and introverted person’ vibe going for it, and while some people might call that cliche, I call it tried and true.

Now to be fair I would not really classify Velvet as being an actual introvert as we have seen her be plenty outgoing in both the show and the two books focusing on team CFVY, so it’s more that they give off that vibe than it definitely being the case. Regardless, they are definitely cute together. While I personally prefer YatsuxVelvet (though I don’t know their ship name), crosshares is still plenty cute.

That being said, I do feel I have to knock a couple points off because I’m not the biggest fan of some of Coco’s attitude and behavior in the CFVY books, mainly that it is specifically stated that she wears sunglasses so that she can check women out without being caught. Which is kinda creepy, honestly. If Coco were a guy and doing that to women I think we would all rightfully consider him a creep. Being a woman doesn’t make it better.

But in all fairness I would hope that once she was in a relationship with Velvet she would stop checking out other women, so I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt and restore a knocked point.

I give it a 6/10, all things being even.

Now, as for Black Velvet:

Blake and Velvet starting a relationship would be really interesting, especially if it’s back at Beacon before Blake really came out of her shell. If I remember correctly, Blake either told Velvet that she was a faunus, or Velvet figured it out on her own. Either way, I can imagine that Velvet would try to encourage Blake to uncover her ears and not hide who she is. Blake, on the other hand, would want to keep her involvement in the White Fang a secret from Velvet, just like she did her team. She is trying to leave that life behind, after all.

And of course there’d be the interesting situation with their families. Velvet’s father works for Atlas after all, while Blake was in conflict with Atlas and the SDC for years. And of course there’s the fact that Blake’s father founded the White Fang.

Additionally I can’t imagine Blake would be nearly as passive about Cardin bullying velvet if they were in a relationship. She’d definitely be throwing hands with all of team CRDL, which would inevitably draw the rest of team RWBY, JNPR, and CFVY into beating down team CRDL.

Glorious.

Then of course there would be the strain in their relationship that would come from Blake still trying to figure out what the WF is up to in Vale, and ignoring her own needs because of it. Which would lead to a reconciliation at the dance, then the drama of the Vytal festival attack and everything following that…

I did not expect to have this many thoughts about Black Velvet. There’s a lot to unpack with these two, and so much you could do with them. Grade A fic material right here.

I give it a 9/10. Probably the best crack ship I’ve received an ask for so far.

(Also I couldn’t get a good image of them on screen together, so I used fan art. Credit goes to DashingIceCream, if I remember correctly.)

[dragynkeep]

I genuinely thought the writers would treat Weiss' family predicament with care and empathy and naively expected that the reconciliation (arc) between the Schneeblings would be about them understanding how toxic of a mess their life has been, learning the truth about how horrible their legacy really was despite being taught otherwise, how their parents failed them, their father pitted them against each other and how it molded them and made it difficult for them to have a healthy relationship, understanding each other's pov and not hating each other for their parents faults, and promising to not ever be like them and end the cycle of abuse the family name has caused. Instead, their "reconciliation" lasted like 30 seconds and it basically went like: "Oh hey Whitley I suddenly remember you exist, thx for calling the doctor for my friend, and here I thought all my life you were a selfish little shit huh. Ig I care about what happens to you now, cmere let's hug don't make it awkward". Happy End :)

Yknow I see people label Hazel, Winter & Yang as the worst sibling in rwby but they better watch out cuz they have a competition with someone else.

The fact that these writers can't even do proper conclusions or even keep track of their story arcs is both hilarious and annoying.

[hamliet]

Neo really did get her kick the puppy moment there :( May I ask if you could elaborate further on why you think she might not return from Ever After? If someone has to stay behind for team RWBY+J to be able to leave, I can see it happening. But if they can all leave I would love for Neo to join the cast after she's saved. It just feels sad to me if she ends up living forever alone in a fantasy world.

I actually don't think she'd stay there forever, but I also do not ever see Neo joining the squad exactly. Popping back up to help in the final battle, absolutely (I would bet on this actually), but joining them just kinda doesn't fit Neo and feels like it would ask too much, too soon, in terms of believability.

I'm all for redemption and reconciliation, especially in a fairy tale!, but it's a lot to ask of someone who legit just bullied someone into attempting suicide. With Emerald the squad had a foundation, and it's not a coincidence that she joins them before Mercury because of this foundation.

I do think they--particularly Ruby, actually--will save Neo from the Cat, but not necessarily for Neo's sake but their own. Neo's a person, and she doesn't deserve this. It's a principle that I suspect Ruby will cling to as she finds her way back through this, and I think she will save Neo in the end as a way of affirming that she is a Huntress. What that looks like may not be all triumph. But she is a Huntress, and that's what Huntress's do. (It's also a set-up for saving Cinder tbh.)

I can see Neo lingering in the Ever After for a bit, honestly, working through her own issues (it would also be a nice novel... lol). But it's possible she comes with them and does that in Vacuo. If she does, I still don't see her joining RWBYJNORE as a friend or equal, though.

See, Neo's role is fundamentally the trickster archetype. She's not really on anyone's side but her own. I also don't see that really changing, or anything set up to make Neo question that that should change. I don't actually think Neo is morally wrong for this or framed as morally wrong for it, in other words. Not everyone is cut out to be a Huntress or to want to fight for principles.

However, tricksters do usually have loyalty to people who value them, because if it affects their own interests, they'll care. See, Neo and Roman. If Ruby saves her, as I suspect she will, especially after Neo's own emptiness upon seeing Ruby attempt suicide, Neo will probably flounce off on her own to do whatever she wants... but if Ruby needs her, like at a final battle? Neo will show up and take names.

But who knows? I was somewhat wrong about the Cat's role and I'm not even a little mad about it because I loved the episode (it strangely comforted me, as someone who's dealt with PTSD and suicidal thoughts, plus the cat moment was truly horrifying in the best way). We'll see.

[short-wooloo]

I think I can reasonably predict the basic plot structure of the final 3 Chapters of V9

Chapter 8: probably near-totally Ruby-centric, WBY+J might have small appearances in the beginning and/or end, but we're really going to dive into Ruby's feelings here, with some help from Little, the Curious Cat will most likely return, we'll get more on Summer, a fight with Neo and the Jabberclones, and of course the "Ruby gets her groove back" moment

Chapter 9: reconciliation between Ruby and WBY+J, and the beginnings of the escape from the Ever After

Chapter 10: final battle between RWBY+J (and maybe CC) and Neo + Jabberclones, we'll learn more about Luis and Alyx, and I suspect there will be a meeting with the friendly carpenter (because where else would you meet a woodworker but at a tree?)

And somewhere in these three we will find out what happened to the original Jabberwalker after Neo copied it and where it comes from

[thecapturedafrique]

I think it’s also important to remember the root of these fuck ups, because intention does matter when it comes to analyzing characters as it explains character motivation, and it also affects Ruby and Yang’s perception/opinion of said characters.

Tai was battling depression from the loss of his romantic partner.

Qrow had already been a drunk and hated himself, which means the expectation of any parental responsibility from him as an uncle also started off way differently.

Summer died.

Raven left because she was too scared/weak to be a parent.

Maybe I’m just in better fandom spaces, but when I see Raven as being painted as the worst parental figure of Team STRQ, it’s because her motive is the worst of the group. It’s easier to feel empathetic towards the other 3, and the girls themselves express more empathy towards them than Raven. So it’s not like we as the audience are reaching a conclusion that the narrative is not directly leading us to.

Also, perhaps even more importantly, Tai and Qrow both improved. They demonstrated growth and change which involves recognizing that they are the problem and thus fixing their behavior is the only solution. While Raven when challenged immediately goes on the defensive and lashes out, determined not to accept any guilt or judgment or take responsibility.

Yeah, I agree they were all fucks up one way or another that were still extremely damaging to Ruby and Yang, but one definitely stands apart from the others.

I think it’s time I address what is by far the BIGGEST assumption much of the fandom has made about Ruby’s and Yang’s parents:

That Raven was just the shitty parent who abandoned her daughters, and that Summer and Tai were the uncomplicated GOOD parents who made the good choices. And Qrow was the well-meaning fuckup who’s been able to improve.

When the reality is that ALL of Team STRQ were in fact well-meaning but  MASSIVE fuckups in each their own way.

Like if nothing else, they all bailed on Ruby and Yang in one way or another (Raven and Summer physically, Tai emotionally/psychologically for several years, Qrow a bit of both)

And I have a good feeling that the Vacuo arc will be when Ruby and Yang will finally have to address that shit.

[strqyr]

Tbh I can't help but laugh a little when people treat Salem as trustworthy with what she thinks or says, when RWBY is FULL of unreliable narrators. If Oz doesn't understand Salems true goals, why would Salem know Oz's? Plus, Salem is THE narrator in the 'unreliable narrators' show that is RWBY. I don't think she's *lying,* but I do think she completely misunderstands Oz lol.

I think it makes her a bit more interesting. I honestly think Salem will be talked to and eventually she and Oz might reconcile (I highly doubt they'll get back together, even if Oz n Oscar split). I think it'd be fun for it to come to light that Oz isn't working towards his task, Salems reaction to that would be fun. Plus it'd clear up his goals lol since everyone in the FNDM seems to argue over what he really wants. I'm excited for whenever that happens. I'm sure someone will question him about the task and he'll clarify that it's not his goal anymore. Maybe Raven? I just know she'd HATE the idea of the task, but I'm not sure when or how she'd come to know about it. Alternatively, maybe Yang will question him.

Maybe I could write that at some point lol

honestly i think the problem is that people often take "unreliable narrator" to mean "this character is intentionally lying" instead of, ya know...

they just don't have all the information? or even that their memories might not be accurate due to xyz reasons? like shoot, if i had lived thousands of years, something is bound to get muddled in-between lmao

but yeah, i def think that both oz and salem don't know what the other's goal actually is, and that is the point, has been the point in their relationship for gods know who longs, the complete break down of any communication and fixing that issue is going to go a long way in finding a resolution for this conflict; and with understanding comes potential for reconciliation, if that's the route they (the writers, whoever they might be in the future) wish to take.

if they're going to have someone question oz about his task, i honestly do think raven is the likeliest option. i'm fairly certain she's met salem and heard her side of the story & what she thinks of oz, and that's what led to her leaving in the first place -> perfect set-up for clarification. other than her, emerald could also ask about it; she has just switched sides, would also know what salem thinks about oz and his goal... plus out of everyone, as a newbie to the group, she hangs around oscar a lot lol

basically if anyone is going to question oz, they would need to know what salem is saying about him, what it is that is turning people against him, etc. to have that 'spark' to even think about asking him.

[icarianiscariot]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love❤

OH BOY OH BOY OH BOY. omg okay. HI NEHA THANK U <3

none of these are my most popular fics on ao3 by any means but they are the ones that i have reread myself SEVERAL times. these are the fics that i absolutely wrote for myself (all my fics are for me, but these ones... top of that tier)

1) hurricane drill - blue lock - T - 3k

listen it might be recency bias but. hurricane drill is absolutely one of my darlings, and i knew going into it that it wouldn't be super popular due to the major character death tag, but it's still so very dear to me. i'm really excited to get around to the rest of the series.

2) all the ghosts (that are never gonna catch me) - rwby - G - 1k

running on the grief train, all the ghosts is also one of my favs!! it's a rwby fic centered around taiyang dealing w grief/depression, i think originally out of spite because i was seeing so much hate on my dash abt how he didn't "take care of"/properly "raise" yang and ruby as kids?? or something???? just. like. Bad Dad Taiyang takes. and i just wanted to idk, put some empathy into the world i guess. i think this is also one of my only all-lowercase fics, for the sake of stylistically encapsulating that grief.

3) growing pains duology - star wars - G - 2k

...i swear i write more than depression fics but they're my FAVORITES i guess!!! the modern domestic au is one i still reread myself pretty regularly. i miss the star wars days!!

4) to analyze your eyes - danganronpa - G - 5k

to analyze your eyes was probably the first fic i ever wrote that hit 5k and that came to me easily and immediately. i wrote this fic in a FRENZY. i had such a blast with it!! and i had a great many plans for this fic universe that i just never ended up getting around to, but it rotted in my brain for months providing serotonin, so. i love it <3

5) where the tear stain dries to keep you safe tonight - blue lock - T - 2k

i fucking love the itoshi brothers and where the tear stain dries was a culmination of all my brainrotting over them and desire to give them a reconciliation. i loved getting to play in sae's head and this fic rlly set me up for all my future sae-centric fics i think. and i also always love getting to write familial/platonic dynamics and tension!!

(secret 6th recommendation: the impending kaisae fake dating fic. chapter 1 will be dropping this weekend. keep an eye out.)

thanks for the ask, neha :D this was fun!!

[bestworstcase]

*Sighs and puts head down* Additional thing to put on the fire of Cinder and Winter round 3 communication edition. I recall you made a point about Cinder being rightfully angry as being represented by the glass Grimm in the hotel. And in general her relating/sympathizing with Grimm.

With Winter and Weiss' conversation in Volume 3 - Winter summons a Beowulf and the posture is frankly affectionate. Of the two Weiss favors Glyphs over Summons though she does use the Atlesian Knight as her go to double partner. Winter however leans towards Summons first. Platonic or not, of course the Grimm Cinderella would be going to the ball (to fight) and meet someone who has a parallel to the glass Grimm statutes. Also I must ask - with the possible Romantic connotations what is the Ozlem refraction?

yeah th. the cinwin curse is that it keeps making more sense the longer you look. the allusions add up for an enemies-to-lovers reflection of ozlem – the maiden’s tears heal her lover’s blindness, gerda thaws kai by thawing his heart so he can cry. dancing and fighting aren’t so different, cinderella attends the ball two nights before the prince smears pitch on the stairs, v7 and 8 end with showcase duels between winter and cinder and winter vowing to make cinder pay.

on the thematic fractal side, cinder is a representation of everything salem is supposed to be (selfish, arrogant, cruel, wants to watch the world burn) wrapped up in the question of “and does this justify the suffering that made her?” – and winter embodies ozma’s supposed fatal flaw, the heart that is easily swayed, but reveals the truth that this is his saving grace because it’s her heart that saves her. they are also both quite plainly narrative complements – winter doesn’t have a clear-cut salem other than cinder and cinder likewise doesn’t have a clear-cut ozma other than winter, unless one wanted to argue that jaune ought to be read as an ozma.

so the question is whether this is a specifically romantic fractal or not, and because a) heralding the ozlem reconciliation by refracting it through another notionally impossible enemies-to-lovers romantic arc makes quite a bit of narrative sense, and b) there’s all this other stuff, and c) the actual narrative route to get them there is straightforward because both of them seem to be heading toward some kind of major upheaval, cinder with the increasing tempo of her power struggle with salem and winter with the weight of ‘don’t come back’ and everything on her shoulders colliding with the shock of her sister coming back, and “they take off at the same time from vale/vacuo and meet in the middle only to ricochet in an unexpected direction” is really plausible.

oh yeah and rwby chibi did a skit overtly indicating that cinder’s sapphic. nothing to see here, i’m sure.