#she will be deputy next arc :))

[spiremassk]

ideal asc ending

[zoe-oneesama]

I also think the recent ep where Mari is scolded for not improving Chloe's behavior as a class rep, is not fair. A class rep is there to be the voice for the students and act as a form of communication, not mentor or educate another child. Mari also became class rep to stop Chloe's bullying, not reform her or give her therapy. I can't believe they (the class) actually gave the class rep position to Lila, even Marinette has done so much for them, and little Miss Liar is only full of hot air. Side eye

The Class Rep thing in "Revelation" was so dumb in all aspects, like, FIRST of all-

Lila cannot seriously be bringing up that it's "undiplomatic" that they held elections without her when she wasn't even going to Francois Dupont yet, are you trying to look me in the face and tell me "Volpina" happened before FREAKING "Darkblade"?! (And obviously no one brings up this fact when she's talking nonsense)

WHY is Bustier even entertaining this garbage when there's two weeks of school left?! Like, sorry Lila, try again in high school if you can even get in with your attendance record. The only things left for the Class Rep to even do is the Student -Teacher Career Course planning which sounds super important and like a really dumb thing to suddenly hand over to two people who haven't been preparing for it in the slightest!

Marinette is running on the "Actually this is pointless, I've done great as a class president because it's actually not my job to change Chloe for the better, especially when Bustier, her parents, and Ladybug herself couldn't get her to pull her head out of her ass, so I'm going to spend my time on things that actually matter and will have results" and legit why does anyone care about "improving Chloe" when in TWO WEEKS they will be at TOTALLY DIFFERENT SCHOOLS and hopefully NEVER have to see her in person again?! Though realistically she should be running on the "we have two weeks left why are we even here" campaign.

And Lila is running on the "Chloe can change if someone just worked with her instead of spending all their time on their own romance like a selfish jerk" platform and the class eats this up just because Chloe is "willing" to be Lila's deputy. Except Lila has been hanging out with and being friends with Chloe since freaking "Penalteam"! And guess who's still an asshole despite your "influence" Lila?! OH RIGHT, YOUR NEW DEPUTY! Hell, "Adoration" JUST happened 3 episodes ago where Chloe was framing Marinette for theft! Your "influence" isn't worth SHIT to anyone paying attention!

Now, Lila's only going for the President role so she can fuck everyone over in "Confrontation", so obviously this stupid campaign was going to happen and Lila was going to win just to set up the Big Bang where Lila exposes herself. Who cares that it stretches suspension of belief past it's limits, that's just the Gold Standard when it comes to Lila schemes.

Anyway, can't wait for her grand plans as The Villain of the next arc. -_-

[bonefall]

did you already start planning squirrelstar's leader ceremony and if so who's giving her the 9 lives?

I'm still a bit concerned that the writers will pull something with her 9 lives, but I've got so many good choices for BB!Squilf that it's not an issue to start considering who's gonna turn up for her.

Plus, honestly, NOT totally interested in abiding by canon if they commit the dumbshit we're suspecting they might. Pre-emptively biting and killing it.

Here's the list of candidates so far. Everyone with a * is a definite yes;

Goldenflower Her mentor in BB, replacing Dustpelt! After everything Squilf has gone through with Bramblestar, and after Golfy took her son's side after the big reveal, it feels good for her to show up with a life for Judgement. To decide when to listen to her heart, but also, when to realize when it is leading her astray.

Sandstorm Mother choice is a solid one, though I'm leaning towards giving this life to Ferncloud for variety. Squilf's got 5 immediate relatives here to give her a life.

Hollylark* Her grandkit, and Sparkpelt's mate who sacrificed xeir life to take her illness away. Xey'd give her a life for Interdependence, for all of the connections that bind a Clan together. Love, friendship, convenience, family. Squilf is familiar with sacrifice in service of it... but it's more than that. To love is to BE loved-- she must accept reciprocity. And... xey'd make some kind of loaded comment about Nightheart, knowing that neither one of them want to talk badly about him. I might end up changing xeir life to something like "letting go," as foreshadowing for how I'm absolutely planning for Nightheart to NOT return to ThunderClan after his road trip with Frostpaw. BUT I don't decide arcs until they're done so we'll have to seeeeee

Firestar* Basically required. Squirrelstar is his daughter, the successor of his ideology, and the follow-up to a leader that Firestar considers a mistake. His chats at these sorts of ceremonies often get wistful, so I feel like they'd talk about second chances, wanting people to be better than they are, how to fix things that are broken and when they aren't worth the effort. He says it explicitly, "You're just like me. A spark of my flames, burning bright, long after I've become starlight..." His life would be for Progress. To continue to evolve and grow, to never be so stuck in the past that she can't see the future, to know when things can be fixed and when they must be broken.

Rosepetal I want to save her on one hand, but on the other, having her go out in a blaze of glory at some point in ASC or TBC is a good reason why Squilf didn't make her deputy. Rose was her first apprentice and has always been a dedicated, passionate warrior who would deeply want that spot. If she's here for the 9 lives ceremony, she'd give Squilf a life for Ferocity. "Give them twice the Hell you always do, so that it's like I'm right there next to you."

Shrewface* (Shrewpaw in life.) Her guardian angel. He helped her hide the secret of Leafpool's pregnancy, and has always stood over her, providing help secretly. Now he can finally stand before her and give her a life. He would actually stumble and chuckle, because he's wanted to do it for so long he's blanking on the life he wants to give her. On one paw, Squilf is a little annoyed. It's a super serious leader ceremony, holy moment in her life, but on the other... Shrewface is so HAPPY! His joy is infectious. He's standing before her as the adult he would have been, but under that, she sees the funny teenage best friend that she lost so long ago. It feels almost like being a kid again. So she picks her own life by saying, "How about one for Joy?" And he says, "Hey that's a great idea!"

Rainwhisker A ThunderClan cat who died in the WindClan Civil War, and someone she remembers fondly. The life he gives is a life for Collateral. He has no shame in how he died, and he believes Firestar's call was the right one. But he needs to remind Squirrelflight that beliefs are backed with blood. Every time she brings her Clan into war, there is a chance that someone will die because of her choice. He restates that he believes his death was noble; but his life will remind her of the cost that someone else might pay.

Sootfur If it's not Rainwhisker, I'd like his brother Soot to be here. I think his death was haunting, with how Squilf couldn't save him, watching him tumble down a rockface because of his broken leg and being brutally murdered by what-is-now a boar. She's carried guilt from how she couldn't save him her whole life, so in contrast to Rainwhisker, his life is for Acceptance. To remember that not everything is her fault, and she could NEVER be so perfect as to avoid all of life's misfortunes. Even if others pin blame onto her for something she couldn't control; no leader is powerful enough to save everyone. Thinking about it though, I might really try to slot BOTH of these guys in. I think the contrast of the two back to back is powerful; that actions have consequences, but not every tragedy is a consequence.

Ferncloud She just died very recently, taking both Graystripe's super edition AND his sacrifice in the Dark Forest. Graystripe is still alive, living at the tribe with his son Stormfur. She confronted Ashfur for Squilf, so it feels right that she also comes to support her here. Ferncloud, for the first time in so many years, looks at peace. She isn't gray and grizzled anymore, but sleek and vibrant. Her family surrounds her, Dustpelt, Elderberry, Brindleface, her many lost kits. So, the life that she gives Squilf is for Faith. In StarClan that she will always have Clanmates in the skies to watch out for her, in her Clan that there will always be future angels fighting by her side.

Longtail Her uncle, and Jayfeather's mentor who trained him into the full angel-punching cat he became. During the big trial she has in Squirrelflight's Horror, Longtail was one of her loudest supporters, and eventually nudged her backwards so her son could grab her ankle and drag her back down to the mortal plane. He's always been her wonderful uncle, so, he might end up taking that life for Faith from Ferncloud. Just depending.

Feathertail* I want her to show up in the ceremonies of every patrol cat who achieves power, as a given. If we get Crowstar, I also want her to be there. I just think it's nice that if Crow, Bramble, and Squilf ever did end up able to chat about this together, in spite of the TANGIBLE awkwardness of the three of them being in the same room, they'd be able to make a joke about Feathertail Gives You A Life and it would land a little TOO hard, be a little TOO funny, because they were hoping that SOMETHING would lighten the air and it did. But anyway, this incredibly specific desire aside, Feathertail Gives You A doobie life for Tranquility. That the once-impulsive Squirrelstar will be able to slow down and consider every action, to take a deep breath in stressful times and think about what she's about to do. That as leader she will be under immense pressure, yeah, but also immense power. She can always afford to take a moment before making a big decision.

Leafpool* MANDATORY. There's NO reality where I do not end off this ceremony with Leafpool. When she steps up, they can't look at each other without crying. It overwhelms them, to the point where Squilf can't even choke out her sister's name. Leafpool, meanwhile, has gotten used to controlling her body while her heart breaks into billions of little pieces. She'd done it for her whole life, and now, she does it again in death. "this life is for love," she touches her night-cold nose to Squirrelstar's, and the new leader's vision begins to fade into black, "you know why." From the darkness, memories burst forth. Of them as kits, their silly games and dreams, how they planned to one day be the cleric and leader of ThunderClan together. The terrible loneliness of being separated while Squirrelpaw was on the Sundrown Patrol. The ache in Leafpool's heart whenever she saw her sister mistreated; how she gave up on relationships with Crowfeather and, to some extent, with Mothwing as well so she could serve her Clan and stay with her family. The three kits, the anxiety as Squirrelflight took them, the way it felt like Leafpool was being flayed to give them up. Parenting, loyalty, betrayal as Hollyleaf snapped and revealed the secret Squirrelflight desperately didn't want to keep, the guilt that Leafpool felt watching her suffer for helping her. The way they always felt like, on some level, it was them against the world.

And then she wakes up, back on the shore of the Moonpool, with her Clerics beside her. Leafpool is gone. StarClan is, once again, very far away, and she's left with nothing but the cold feeling on her nose and the looming specter of war ahead of her.

12 candidates in total, but only 9 can take the spot. So I'll trim it down once we get there!

[autisticstarscream]

read the entire spoiler thread for star and lord. i have opinions.

im so genuinely confused on how the erins have genuinely degraded so bad in writing. 90% of riverclan being excused for their awful behavior bc "woah! splashtail was threatening kits!!!" GUYS. THERE IS ONE OF HIM.

Berryheart makes me so genuinely mad. her and curlfeather being reflections of one another but treated so differently is wild. what do you mean berryheart saved sunbeam before she killed so that gives her a "noble death" thus she could possibly go to starclan, meanwhile curlfeather did literally the EXACT SAME THING and was initially banished to dark forest before she gets her little limbo world.

the audacity to have characters respect berryheart after her blantant crimes and say she really was a good person only for the narrative to turn around and condemn curlfeather for the EXACT SAME ACTIONS is annoying. specifically also because genuinely? despite the execution curlfeather was right. mistystar sucked as leader in the end and her son being deputy meant we'd get a boring ass riverclan considering reedwhisker literally has no personality.

like. im fine with frostpaw not being leader and her name. im happy the leader is icewing bc i KNEW it was gonna be her. but god i really wish they would just stop writing these books. the keep bringing in so much good potential with plots and then immediately fuck it up in the first two books thus making the plot stagger through the remaining 4. i know people will just say "just stop reading" but my autism will not let me. i need to know whats happening in canon warriors but i just keep getting disappointed.

i have no hope for the next arc. considering squirrelstar openly wanting no more clan transfers (meaning. no more new bloodlines, considering the one (sunbeam) is immediately pairing up with firestars bloodline, meaning her addition is now useless in the way of adding new genetics to thunderclan), it makes me scared for what other fucked up pairings are gonna happen in thunderclans future.

god im just. so pissed. its so bad. nightheart doesnt even hate being compared to firestar anymore. the only arc in this that felt worthwhile is frostdawns and honestly. i think SHE shouldve been the one to care more for her mother after death rather than sunbeam and berryheart. it wouldve been more interesting to have a medicine cat be critical of starclan and have an active connection to a dark forest cat. but the erins hate making starclan look bad and are so obsessed with making the themes so devout towards starclan that it hurts.

[stagefoureddiediaz]

Costume Meta 7x02

We are short on the costumes to look at this week as we continue this multi episode arc, so this meta is going to be a pretty short one! I’ve had a pretty busy weekend, so things have worked out for me and its also the reason why I'm only posting this on a Tuesday evening!!!!

There are a few things to point out before I get to the main costumes - we have more bright pink in play here - on the Mom in the car that got hit by the drunk driver. I still have no idea what its trying to tell us a this point, but I have my eyes peeled for more bright pink to appear in the next couple of episodes and see if I can unravel its use.

On the non costume front, on the ship - its a yellow cable that leads to the bomb that ensures communication cannot be restored to the ship when nit explodes - the fact the communications engineer also dies, just re-emphaises the point. Communication is a key theme in this episode.

Back to costumes an in the same vein as the cable, we see Captain O’s deputy in his yellow rain coat when she gives the abandon ship order, and the yellow wire is prominent on the radio when she tells him to do so. He is now the one responsible for communicating her order to the rest of the ship and getting everyone onto the life boats. This is good and effective communication and we see the results of it as we are shown the ship being evacuated. 

Hen and Karen are the only ones we get in a new costume this week.

Lets start with Karen - its an interesting choice - we have her in this navy blue shirt and trousers combo with a brown belt. the top has blue and green Richelieu (cutwork) design on the sleeves and the trousers are also decorated with Richelieu. There are two things at play with this costume choice - the almost entirely navy outfit places her in the same category as Chim, Buck and Eddie. this is very very intentional - Karen mirroring/paralleling them places her in the same position they hold - Karen is meant to be there to show that Hens thought process is flawed and as an outsider to proceedings thats really important for the audience - we need to see that Hen isn't this flawless captain that we've been shown up to this point. The other thing it's designed to do is maintain Hen as separate from everyone else. This visual device helps the script re-enforce things so that when she is then spurred into trying to get hold of Bobby and Athena we are focused on her because of her 'otherness' visually she stands out and we obviously need her to to help drive the narrative forward.

The other thing with Karens costume is the green and blue Richelieu which creates this visual representation of storm clouds swirling and moving in - a subtle reference, not only to Hen's currently cloudy viewpoint on things, but also to the impending storm brewing out in the ocean around the cruise ship. I really love it when they can drop subtle hints like this in set and costuming!

THen we have Hen!

Putting her into her white tee, jeans, green sneakers and this printed silk jacket, and not showing her changing out of her uniform into said outfit while the rest of the firearm are still in uniform helps to separate her from the ‘three Judases’ its a really loud and obvious visual way of separating her from the not only the three boys, but also from the firehouse as a whole. The way the scene is set up helps with this as well -she is on the same side of the bench and room as Chim, Buck and Eddie, until they question her version of events (Eddie is the one to actually ask the question and he is the one dressed differently to Chim and Buck - this isn't about putting him in opposition to them, more just visually signalling that he's the one to ask the important question that we as viewers should be ready for) and then she moves away from them and becomes visually in opposition to them. Its the perfect example of costume, set and direction working in perfect harmony to tell the story visually - we don't actually need to hear whats been said, we can tell it all from the way its shown to us visually.

Hens jacket is a fascinating choice - it plays into a couple of themes we’ve seen in action over the two episodes we’ve had thus far. I did write a little bit about it when we got the first stills of it (which I now cannot find - stupid tumblr search!) but essentially it is a jacket that has various places around California - the golden gate bridge, the redwood trees in Yosemite, Lake Tahoe, etc. as well as the victorian style rose pattern running along the cuffs and edges of the jacket.

The pink roses are a really lovely touch - and one I picked up on specifically because Hen is not a flowery kind of person, so seeing them on her means they are important. Pink roses are generally considered to signify a strong friendship or family bond - something that is ultimately at the heart of matters - the fire family are just that - a family and they might have argument's etc, but they still love each other as a family and will go all out to be there for each other. Its a low key piece of

then we have all that water - do we even need to talk about its meaning?!! Its a literal visual play on the entire them of this arc - water! We all know that water is a really key theme that 911 uses a lot in its storytelling, whether thats big water based events such at the Tsunami or this cruise ship disaster, or smaller low key water theming such as the rain being present at so many of the disasters we see. I'm interested that we now have it appearing on Hen - because it hasn't really been connected to her in many of her personal story arcs (by this I mean arcs such as her deciding and training to be a doctor, Henren's journey through parenthood, the ambulance crash or even Karens lab blowing up last season) so its interesting that we're now seeing her pulled into the water theming in a visual way like this. It is also a play on the two aspects of this episode - there is the loud water theming of the Cruise ship, but there is also the fact Hen has landed in hot water/ deep water.

Hen is also wearing her 'H' necklace, not her 'K' one. This is important because her necklaces tend to be a visual indicator of what her arc is about - the 'H' is worn when it's about her specifically and not her marriage/ family, which is when we tend to see the 'K' heart pendant being worn.

Thats all from me this week! Thank you as always for reading and I hope you enjoyed the shortness of this post - I doubt many of the others will be this short 😂

Tagged peeps below!

@theladyyavilee @mistmarauder @xxfiction-is-my-realityxx @mandzuking17 @spotsandsocks @loveyou2thecore @rogerzsteven @wanderingwomanwondering @oneawkwardcookie @leothil @copyninjabuckley @shammers86 @crazyfangirlallert @missmagooglie @katyobsesses @radiation-run @gayandbifiremenofmine @bi-moonlight @crazyaboutotps @princesschez75 @alliaskisthepossibilityoflove @sherlocking-out-loud @evanbuckleysarms @satashiiwrites

[wc-confessions]

Since it's disability pride month I am dedicating this confession to lesser known/underrated disabled WC characters!

Everyone knows and loves cats like Briarlight and Brightheart, but there's quite a few others that aren't talked about as much

First off, One-Eye and Halftail, the two first arc elders. They don't show up much due to being in the Elder's Den, but when they do, they're a delight to see. I love One-Eye's bickering with Smallear and how she helps Brightheart a bit in A Dangerous Path! They're also the parents of Mousefur and Runningwind! One of whom dies fighting Tigerclaw in the same book Halftail dies of smoke inhalation after the fire. I like to think Runningwind rushed into battle against Tigerclaw impulsively since his father had died not long ago. Mousefur, on the other hand, takes after her mom in the new prophecy and onwards as a grumpy old lady lol. Very great characters, I love them a lot!

Speaking of the 1st arc, Brokenstar. He's honestly a really entertaining and threatening villain, and people don't talk about him much or his disability. Him and other cats with damaged tails like Berrynose and Finleap aren't really talked about in conversations about disabled characters. I find Brokenstar very interesting, not because of his motivation (or lack there of lol) which is pretty generic, but because of his lasting effects on the clans. His reign directly or indirectly led to several key events in the first arc or beyond. Tigerclaw becoming the deputy of ThunderClan was caused by Brokenstar killing Lionheart (canonically, we don't know who killed Lion, but I think it was Brokenstar), him being still alive led to Nightstar not getting nine lives and dying in Rising Storm. Which led directly to Tigerstar taking power. He directly killed several cats, but his orders and actions led to many more that wouldn't have happened had he not been leader, which I will not list out because this confession would be way too long. Another thing I like about him is that he is a fantastic villain in OOTS. People often depict the main leader of the Dark Forest being Tigerstar or Mapleshade, but in reality, it's actually Brokenstar. Tigerstar is more of a secondary leader to him. Brokenstar was the first Dark Forest cat to cross into the living world, and he later seemingly detects StarClan cats at the border to the Dark Forest somehow and confronts them, so Jayfeather and Spottedleaf have to sneak in, and he leads Flametail into the Dark Forest so Ivypool can ghost kill him (but this plan was foiled by Tigerheart), and in The Darkest Hour, Ivypool refers to the plans as "What Brokenstar is plotting". So yeah, he's the leader of the DF, not Tigerstar, and Tiger wouldn't have gotten very far without him lol. Crazy how we got multiple disabled leaders and deputies in the first arc and then not ever again, unless you count Berrynose lol

Next is Volewhisper! Who has quite a few parallels with Cinderpelt! One of their back legs were both injured by a villain's scheming (Tigerclaw's trap for Bluestar and Brokenstar making kits fight rats), they were both then inspired by a senior clanmate (Yellowfang and Nightpelt), and Cinderpelt chooses to become a medicine cat while Volewhisper chooses to be a warrior instead. I find him very fun and he's one of my favourite characters in Exile From ShadowClan!

The next cat I wanna talk about is a bit controversial due to some pretty bad writing choices by the team. Finleap. I really really loved him in Darkest Night and River of Fire. He and Twigbranch had a really sweet relationship, and I love how he follows her to ThunderClan. I also hate Sandynose, but that's besides the point. They were really cute and I liked them a lot... but then The Raging Storm happened. Where instead of focusing on the actually interesting plot of Twigbranch struggling to be a mentor, they decide to make her nice, sweet, and sort of goofy boyfriend... a jerk. He's rude he gives her the cold shoulder, it's awful, and so out of character. At least he actually does apologize for it and improve his behaviour, which I admit was a sweet moment in an otherwise pretty bad plotline. Then, after that, he's sort of a background cat. He briefly stands up to The Impostor after Twiggy is punished. In Sky he has a sort of friendship with Nightheart. He and Lionblaze laugh at Nightheart after he gets bit by a Squirrel, but later in the book Nightheart thinks of him in a positive light and he's one of the first cats that Night thinks of telling about Sunbeam. Overall fun guy, nice character despite one really bad book (which is basically every warriors character lol)

Some other underrated disabled cats who I don't really have as much to say about:

Fallowfern (deaf)

Shrewtooth (PTSD)

.

[harriertail]

Au idea where Ashfur is the cat chosen for the sundrown patrol, and that changes his entire arc, to where he never goes evil. (He and Squirrel never get together either, but he never goes incel either.) Thoughts? How do you think this would affect Bramble?

So no Bramble POV? Hey, remember how bramblestars arc was about his connection to tigerstar? Remember how both ashfurs parents were killed by tigerstar? I don’t think you can stop Ashfur turning.

So Ashfur gets the dream from Bluestar to travel to the sun-drown-place, why? Because. He meets with the other cats who helped to kill Bone Tawnypelt, Stormfur, and Feathertail, so they already know each other, with Crowpaw, and Squirrel, who tags along becoz she’s Firestar’s daughter and is bored! Midnight and Moonrise go as normal, with Ashfur determined to prove himself as a warrior and help his Clan- thinking of himself as aligned with Firestar and the Good of ThunderClan. We get to the lake, and there’s no Greystripe. Well. We need a deputy. Ashfur is friendly, and crushing on Squirrelflight, who likes him back but isn’t ready to commit just yet, that’s fine- she’ll come around when she realises how Good and True Ashfur is. Ashfur’s a good warrior- trying his hardest to prove himself to Firestar. He starts to want deputyship. He’s got an apprentice already. He’s chosen by StarClan. Brambleclaw, who’s the grouchy type we know him as in TNP, is also rumoured to be chasing deputyship as well. But how is that fair if he gets it? Tigerstar ruined ThunderClan- Tigerstar killed Ashfur’s parents- and Tigerstar’s kin is going to be deputy? That’s not fair. He’s evil. The whole of ThunderClan knows he’s evil, it’s in his blood. Ashfur and Brambleclaw find themselves in direct competition for deputyship, and Squirrelflight. So Ashfur steps up. He does every patrol, every hunting mission, neglects his friends, neglects his future mate, to prove himself to his leader.

Firestar bleeds out on the lakeshore. A RiverClan cat is dead. Brambleclaw is made deputy while his pelt is still drying. Squirrelflight goes to him. How, how?, did the cat chosen by StarClan, blessed by Bluestar, aligned with Firestar, lose? It’s not fair. It’s never fair. He did all that work, all those miles to the sea front, all the trekking and bleeding and hurting, and you didn’t win. Evil wins. Better luck next time kid, have you learnt you lesson yet?

[barrenclan]

OH WOW that was the last cat I was expecting to get ya yoinkyed then again it's been foreshadowed time and time again And honestly? Bit of a hot-take but...I adore how much of a coward Rainhaze is, I looove how he tries to find an explanation or resolve in every single thing because of just how fucked up he is So often in stories like these the one who gets taken advantage of suddenly gets the courage to bare their fangs at the one who feeds, willing to fight for "What's right", so rarely we get someone who's just so fearful of themselves and those around them that they continue to fight for what's wrong like a mindless dog doing their master's bidding Reminds me of Bluestar in some weird way, how she deliberately went with something that was considered "wrong" yet continued to do worse only to get completely scot-free from it in the end (Her getting into a half-clan relationship, have kits, and then proceed to take kits out in winter all alone) And how it was all essentially for nothing and her so-called "sacrifice" was her being so self-absorbed and selfish, believing that she HAD to get rid of her kits so that she can become ThunderClan's next deputy/later leader just so that Thistleclaw couldn't (Outright ignoring ALL the other warriors at the time mind you) This is Rainhaze, he believes what he's doing is right not in an egotistical manner mind you but he's doing it because he's so cowardly of himself and has convinced himself that what he's doing is right, because he is the definition of a coward, he is someone that will do anything hook, line and sinker (Though that's what cults do right, take advantage of mentally-ill people to the point they've forgotten who they are) NEEDLESS TO SAY, I am going to be excited for his death, he's sad and awful and he deserves everything that's gonna be thrown at him, though I suppose I wouldn't mind some form of a redemption arc if he does get one (A proper redemption that isn't him throwing himself off a cliff because "Let me get myself killed for no reason other than to protect you XYZ so you can live with that fact") Wonderful chapter overall and I can't wait for Pinepaw to get further depressed of the fact that his family that WAS just starting to come back together is going to get torn apart as it was once before, WE LOVE MENTAL ILLNESS WOOOOOO

Another excellent Rainhaze analysis!

[novankenn]

Son of the Serpent (9)

/==/ Table of Contents /==/

Jaune sat on his bed, still in his nightclothes, actually laughing as he played with the Vacuo Death Viper without a care in the world. Which of course made his team very apprehensive. Each one waiting for the moment when the vile creature would attack their team leader.

"Guts, there is nothing to worry about."

"Says you." Nora responded, a desk chair clasped in her hands, ready to be used as a makeshift hammer.

"Jaune could you please?" Pyrrha whimpered. The invincible girl not being a fan of snakes, or for that matter spiders, rats or mice.

"You want to hold her?" Jaune asked, a warm smile on his lips as he held the deadly creature out towards his friends.

"I'll pass." Ren replied, "You said your mother is here? I take it because of the... snake?"

"Yes. This one is usually perched about her neck. It was her first tattoo, much like how the Valean Pit-Viper tattoo about my neck and shoulders was mine."

To accentuate the point, Jaune smiled and suddenly from around the collar of his t-shirt the scaled head of another serpent appeared. It slithered out from under his shirt and coiled about his shoulders, even going so far as to affectionately nuzzle Jaune's cheek.

The Death Viper, not to be out done, scaled Jaune's extended arms, and faced off against the Pit-Viper. The pair of serpents rose, their eyes starting at each other. Their forked tongues flicking in and out of their mouths, tasting the air.

Ren, Nora, and Pyrrha gasped and froze as the pair of venomous snakes both opened their mouths, exposing gleaming fangs.

"Are you guys tired?" Jaune asked as the pair of snakes, "That was a couple of big yawns there."

"Yawns?" his trio of teammates asked, utterly stunned, as Jaune lifted both serpents casually from around his neck and laid them on the bed.

The Pit-Viper coiled tightly upon itself, with the slightly larger Death Viper coiling around it, ending by laying its head over the neck of the smaller... if his friends didn't know better... it looked almost as if the pair of vile beasts were cuddling.

But before anyone could make a comment, there was a series of knocks upon the door. The slightly unnerved trio of Jaune's teammates stepped away from the door, just enough for Pyrrha to answer it.

“Oh, Professor Goodwitch, and?” Pyrrha eyed the woman standing next to the Deputy Headmistress. She had an air of authority much like Goodwitch had, but unlike the Professor’s aura... this woman’s was more sinister.

“Mom.” Jaune greeted the woman, who eyed up Pyrrha for a moment before stepping past and into the room… uninvited.

“Jaune.”

“Mom?” Nora asked, looking at Ren, “I thought she’d be blond?”

“So did I.” Pyrrha added.

“Well, Mrs Arc I have escorted you to your son, I shall take my…”

“I require access to a room with a sparing circle.” Benisato commented out loud. “Is there such a place available?”

“Mom?”

“Jaune, you ran from home. Your sisters were in tears. Your father was a nervous wreck…”

“You don’t und…”

SMACK!

“Do NOT tell me I don’t understand! Your father and I did not suffer all that horror in the frontier so you could be a stupid little shit and go and get yourself killed because you wanted to be a HERO!” Benisato screamed at the top of her lungs, tears forming in her eyes. “We thought we lost you! No calls, no messages! We thought you died!”

“But…”

“There is no BUT Jaune!” she continued to scream at her son, all the frustration, fear, and anger of the last several months bursting forth. “Your stupidity nearly tore your family apart!”

“I’m sorry…” Jaune responded, still holding the cheek his mother had struck with the palm of her hand. 

“Don’t…” Benisato grabbed out and hauled her taller son into a tight, almost crushing embrace. “Don't ever scare me like that again… you’re too precious to me.”

[howi99]

A saint in Beacon chapter 1

Jeanne loves flying. It's one of the sensations she loved the most. But...

Yang: Hey chill out girl, we ain't gonna crash. It's like a 5 minutes flight.

Jeanne: *Almost crying* Why can't i just use my semblance to get to Beacon? IT'S NOT FAIR! Aunty Glynda is a meany!

Red, raising a brow at that name: Glynda? As in-

Yang, staring at the screens as the Beacon Welcome message begins playing with a blonde woman on screen: Who’s that?

Glynda, as the video begins playing: My name is Glynda Goodwitch.

Red, turning to the worried blonde next to them with wide eyes: YOUR AUNT IS THE DEPUTY HEADMISTRESS?!?

Jeanne, startled by Red yelling: Y-yes! W-well, she is my cousin but I have called her aunty since i was a kid.

Red: Woah, that's cool! Hey, what's your-

Jeanne, yelping as the bullhead shakes a bit from turbulence and quickly grabs Red and hugs him: I DON’T LIKE BEING SO HIGH WHEN I’M NOT THE ONE IN CONTROL!!!

Red, patting the terrified girl on the head as she cries into his chest: It’s okay, we’re almost there… what's your name?

Jeanne: J-jeanne arc, i know i don't have a color in my name, i was supposed to be called Jaune since my parents were expecting another boy but...

Red: Eh, Jeanne, jaune, it's close enough!

Random bystander, smirking as they see the blond hugging the red head boy: Nice kid! Way to get the girl!

Red, deadpanning at the random bystander: I’m asexual and she’s clearly distressed. It's basic empathy to help her out!

Jeanne: I-it's okay, but thanks for the help... Uh...

Red: Red Rose, (point at Yang) and that's my big sis Yang Xiao Long.

Yang: *smirking* Sup! So, the headmistress, did she trained you a bit or?

Jeanne, calming down with the rhythmic pat on the back from Red: Since last year! I unlocked my semblance and when she saw it, she told me she would train me and show me how to become a huntress! She is so cool!

The bullhead stop, they are finally on fair ground.

Jeanne: Oh i should go now, but thanks you two for helping me! I'm not that afraid... Most of the time.

Red: Hey, it's nothing.

Jeanne: *smiling like an angel* I hope we will be friends here! But i really need to get out, now!

She ran from the bullhead as soon as the door was open

Yang: Nice friend you get there Big Red, she seems kind.

Red: She sure does, i wonder if we will be on the same team.

_________________________________

[notwarriorswiki]

I liked your perspective on Leafpool's life. I was wondering in your rewrite, are Squirrelflight and Leapool's lives different before they die/become deputy?

Updating designs for them while I'm at it. I like my short and stubby Squirrel and long and lanky Leaf.

Their lives are mostly the same, though there are a few notable changes.

Leafpool, encouraged by StarClan and also fearing for her future, lies to Squirrelflight and claims StarClan has told her she is barren and will never be able to conceive. It's ultimately the thing that really breaks Squirrelflight and has her accept the kits, believing it to be a gift from StarClan so her and Brambleclaw can have a family AND help save her sister. This lie comes back to haunt Leafpool.

Squirrelflight learns she is actually pregnant during the Po12 arc, a major shock for her as, well, she thought she couldn't conceive. Brambleclaw is ecstatic to have another litter and Lionblaze, Hollyleaf, and Jayfeather are excited to be older siblings.

Squirrelflight confronts Leafpool about her pregnancy in private, Leafpool admitting she lied about Squirrelflight's fertility so she'd take the kits. They fight and argue, Leafpool losing yet another person she loves and is close with because of what StarClan told her to do.

Secretly Hollyleaf and Jayfeather overhear their conversation, learning the secret of their parentage. They tell Lionblaze, who is incredibly angry but is forced to bottle it up by Jayfeather as to not throw anything off with the prophecy.

Bottling it up isn't good though. Jay, Lion, and Holly are all bitter and awkward around Leafpool, which hurts Leaf more.

Lionblaze, in his anger, spills the secret of their parentage at the gathering and absolutely blows up things. Brambleclaw breaks up with Squirrelflight. Squirrelflight, despite her anger still with her sister, stands at her side and reaffirms it. This is where they reconcile, and they continue to be close as ever.

Squirrelflight gives birth before The Great Battle. Despite no longer being a medicine cat, Leafpool demands to help her sister in her birth, and Jayfeather doesn't have the strength to turn her away when he feels her raw emotions practically smothering him. This time Leafpool is helping Squirrelflight kit, the opposite of that fateful snowy day.

Brambleclaw is killed by Hawkfrost in the battle.

Leafpool dies in The Great Battle due to her injuries, collapsing after finally guiding her sister and her young kits to safety away from the battle. Leafpool's life was a tragedy. However, in her dying breath, she helps protect the cat and her kits who protected her and her kits. Squirrelflight is distraught and grieves her sister.

Squirrelflight is made deputy post Great Battle by the newly named Hollystar, who wishes to have the cat she loved and admired so much at her side. Mother/Daughter deputy/leader combo!

Small side effect of Squirrelflight's promotion to deputy is that because she lost her mate, is now in a leader position at a stressful time, and is trying to be there for Jay, Lion, and Holly still - all while juggling her own grief of losing both her sister and mate so suddenly, she really struggles sitting still in the nursery and just being with Alderkit and Sparkkit as it makes her antsy. Spark holds this against her later.

So yeah not much completely different. Leafpool dies much earlier, and Squirrelflight continues to live while navigating life without the two cats she relied upon most. It hurts, but she has her kits and the rest of her clan, who she loves dearly.

Leafpool's main difference is never actually getting her medicine cat title back before getting killed. Technically her title is Warrior when she dies just to add salt to the wound. She doesn't have a mate waiting for her in StarClan ever. Leafpool's true happiness lies with her sister, kits, and family, not in romance, nor the stars she dedicated her life to. It was always with the people who were right next to her since the beginning. Sure she resides in StarClan, but Leafpool is a rather active wanderer who still shares much disdain for the cats who play God in StarClan, knowing truly that they are all one in the same, no cat greater than the other, not even in The Dark Forest.

[the-owl-tree]

Actually sorry *pulls over chalkboard* I think warriors should've leaned into the idea of how in a, for a lack of a better word, warrior culture where strength is valued and being a leader of your culture is considered the most honorable thing you can do how living up to your parents legacy is a pressure to conform to that culture.

Arc one sets it up. Fire is new to the clan, he questions the culture, he manages to break some standards, but in the end he is assimilated. This is paralleled by Tiger, who was raised in the clans culture and is the most extreme of "I must be strong I must be a leader like my father and forefather before me".

Arc 2 sets up the consequences of this culture. Bramble feels ostracized from his clan because no matter how hard he tries to be the strong, noble warrior, he always has that shadow of his father looming over him. Meanwhile Hawkfrost shows up put of seemingly nowhere in RiverClan and is the paragon of clan culture virtues: he's a strong, driven warrior who strives to lead his clan. (Not to mention Tawny and Moth, who have both rejected the Tiger legacy and made a bame for themselves). I think for the next part of this what is now an au to work, Bramble also has to reject the Tiger legacy and the trappings of clan culture in general post-fox trap, ultimately stepping down from his deputy position and most warrior duties. In a way, he ends up a kitsitter, healer assistant, and at times advisor.

Arc 3 illustrates how clan culture treats those who reject it, such as Bramble. The 3 are still considered Bramble and Squilfs kits, but Bramble is their primary caretaker and Squilf is more their mother in name. They might also be each others beards. The 3 love Bramble, but see the way the clans treat him for breaking out of clan culture and strive to prove themselves more "worthy" than him. Lion attempts this by being the most battle ready and vicious warrior he can. Jay strives to prove to the clans that a blind cat can be a warrior (and ultimately, realizes that he can find joy in being a healer). Poor Holly, however, falls for the same pitfall that once tempted her father and uncle. She craves power, desires to prove that she can be the perfect warrior, deputy, and leader. When she discovers the truth of her parentage, it breaks her. She's no longer just the daughter of a craven, weak warrior (in her eyes), but now she's the daughter of a half clan, healer love affair. It breaks her, so she reveals the horrid truth and winds up in the tunnels, presumed dead. Her family, (and a pregnant Cinderheart), retreat into themselves and find solace in each other.

Arc 4 finishes up the idea of having to live up to your parents legacy (somehow). Ivy and Dove are born to Cinder and a presumed dead Holly. At this point ThunderClan is daddy issues central. Lion and Jay have a better relationship with Bramble (who did know), but there's still some tension. Following Holly's "death", the Firekin kinda... lost faith. Firestar still needs to hold up the thunderclan ideal, but Sand, their kids, and Bramble Lion and Jay are less inspired to hold up the clan culture ideal and more interested in the softer aspects: caring for their Clan, teaching the youngins, so on and so forth. Dove is more willing to follow this new ideal. Yes, she can be vicious and rude and is still dangerous, but she spent a lot of time with Grandpa Bramble and Uncle Lion and they've rubbed off on her. Ivy was raised as such too and they had the save effect, but apprenticeship changed that. Firestar wanted Bramble to mentor one of them, but he refused, suggesting Lion instead. Lion did mentor Dove, but Ivy ended up with the more traditionalist Thornclaw. This only worsened the influence of Hawk in the dark forest. I'm not entirely sure how this ends, but I know there needs to be some kind of reckoning with holly and her kids, and I think a thunderclan new wave culture exodus ft Moth, Breeze and Nightcloud. I started this ask at like 9:50 and it's 1:15

this RULES!!!!!!!! i'm absolutely eating up cinderholly! dove & ivy

this makes me crave more sort of emphasis on lineage, like lords underneath the king. the books already put emphasis on it but it would be cool if these lineages had power or at least social clout attached to them. they try to make it seem like they do but they never really...actually do it lol very NEAT au i am very interested :3

[bonefall]

“I like watching him get tangled up in his own web of self-pity, raising a superiority complex AND an inferiority complex at the same time.”

THAT NIGGA HAS BPD!!,! 🫵

ohSHIT... I didn't REALIZE

Oh noooo is that why I like him so much? Did I read BPD into Nightheart and attach myself like a limpet?? Oh god it makes sense now OTL

I was even planning for him to eventually find out he has a LOT in common with Squilf who I already decided has BPD in BB because I love her so much, is that what I was picking up on subconsciously?

AND BRAMBLESTAR IS A MUTUAL ABUSER OUGHHH... she probably recognizes him using the same tactics on Nightheart that used to work on her! Oh god oh fuck!

LISTEN; I don't rewrite arcs until they're done, so, don't take any of this as canon to BB yet, but... maybe a change I should really anticipate is changing HOW Bramblestar steps down.

I think it would work well with the themes of BB for it to not be his choice, but a... "gentle rebellion." Squirrelflight, Sparkpelt, all of the Firekin, Twigbranch, everyone who has been harmed by Bramblestar confronting him as a group and telling him what's going to happen next.

"You're going to step down. You won't be talking to Nightheart anymore. Enough is enough, Bramblestar."

"So this is how it ends?? This is how you treat me? ...this is what you've felt, all along? I've given EVERYTHING to this Clan, since--"

Just starts ranting, his voice rising in volume, lurches up out of his nest and tries to tower over everyone to make them cower.

They don't budge.

Sparkpelt is eye-level with him, just as big as her father. When he catches her gaze, he doesn't see his daughter's eyes. He sees Jessy, just before she left.

And she sees a child throwing a tantrum.

"Enough is enough."

He does not take the lesson she meant from this. He just hears his traitor of a deputy, his witch of an ex-mate, with her words in his daughter's mouth. He doesn't regret the real reasons; he regrets allowing Squirrelflight to mentor his kit.

And he claps that anger onto Squilf; "StarClan will be the judge of you."

A year ago, she would have been terrified of that. But God is hard to fear when you've been plucked from the heavens and seen his angels die.

"Ok. Anyway,"

then she delves into some boring legal stuff like how he won't sleep with the other elders, the logistics of making this official, going to the Moonpool with a witness, etc etc etc

[everybody-loves-purdy]

I am hoping Frostpaw becomes leader because I don’t see any other viable options besides Icewing and she’s “already been in the position”. I just have no idea who she’d pick for deputy,,, maybe someone old and experienced like a firestar and Whitestorm type deal.

If Frostpaw becomes leader directly from her apprentice name, then I feel like there has to be a time jump between this arc and the next, where in arc 10 froststar will be an established leader who’s maybe lost her first life or something. A girl can dream.

I also just HATE the first cousin route they took with Moonpaw… they had so many options (one of which being stormcloud and Cherryfall. Do you think there’s any possibility of them changing who Moonpaw’s parents are after hearing all the backlash? I hope to god they do.

That’s my thinking for Frostpaw too! Now Harelight is dead there is honestly only Icewing and she’s already proven to not be respected by her clanmates at this time due to her ShadowClan connection, not has she shown a desire to actually take over for good. I do definitely feel that she is the second most likely cat to become leader, but she would need primarily win the faith of her clanmates back first in Star.

And I do definitely want to see an older Froststar if she is the next leader. I think arc 9 would be a good window to see how she gets on in the early days once we leave her pov. And then have a timeskip to show us her as an established leader. I think that would be very cool.

I really hope they change Moonpaw’s parents too. I don’t see a particular reason why either parent would be plot relevant unless they actually address the inbreeding problem lol. Hypothetically they could just switch names if her parentage isn’t particularly important. There is time to do that before publication if needs be. Although the PR around it would be a different matter because they wouldn’t want to admit they messed up, so I feel like they would just stick to their guns for that alone (if the parentage is indeed not plot relevant that is).

[bestworstcase]

Heya, so your meta on RWBY alluding to "The Marvelous Land of Oz" has been rotating in my head like a baked potato for the past few days and I'm all about it. One question that I've come away with though is where exactly does Theodore fit into all this? Everyone assumes he's Dorothy but obviously that wouldn't quite work given the parameters. I was wondering if you could maybe share your thoughts on Theodore and his role in the story to come. Thank you and have a pleasant day :)

there's this thing rwby does with the classic lit allusions—they did this with alice in wonderland too—where the true reference is to the original text and that is layered under an allusion to the better-known pop culture. i think the pop culture layer serves a few key purposes:

it flags the correct allusion for viewers who may not be familiar enough with the original text to recognize the allusion otherwise,

it creates opportunities for narrative sleight-of-hand, both setting up red herrings and rewarding viewers who are familiar with the original texts (<- this was part of what made V9 SO much fun for me as a Wonderland Person), and

it enriches the wider narrative themes about the power of storytelling to shape perception and the idea that truth is hard to find and things are not always what they seem by actually doing that with the key allusions.

for example: in V9, jaune presents as the white rabbit... but his white "rabbit" steed is actually a jackrabbit—i.e., a hare—and after falling backwards in time he became stuck in a metaphorical "time loop," going in circles doing the same things every day without reprieve or any real chance for escape. he lost a quarrel with time and in a sense he is being "punished" for a crime he hasn't yet committed but remembers having committed in the future—that's the hatter / hatta, not the white rabbit. (the alice in wonderland allusion also has a third layer of reference to the frank wildhorn musical, and that layer does some really neat stuff that deserves its own post.)

<- i first noticed this in V9, in part because the wonderland allusion is contained within the arc of a single volume and thus the layering is easier to spot, and in part because i'm better versed in wonderland than i am in the land of oz; but there are also—now that i know what to look for—some obvious signs that the ozian allusion is layered in the same way.

the clearest of those being glynda goodwitch. as i've mentioned before, the classic film adaptation combines glinda and the good witch of the north into a single character and thus creates the problem of why glinda didn't simply tell dorothy from the beginning that those ruby slippers could carry her home. in the book, the good witch of the north directs dorothy to travel to the emerald city to seek the wizard's help because she believes that he's a powerful wizard who will know of a way to send dorothy home. glinda—who is the witch of the south—knows that the wizard is a fraud and does not come into the story at all until dorothy seeks her out after the wizard has been revealed as a fraud and left her behind in oz.

oz is divided into four color-coded provinces: in the north, everything is purple; in the west, yellow; in the east, blue; and in the south, red. the emerald city, in the center, is made to appear entirely green because the wizard "put green spectacles on all the people" to "make the name fit better."

so, in the first episode, rwby introduces:

glynda goodwitch—whose clothing and magic are purple, and who is established in opposition to a mysterious adversary clad in red.

ozpin, the headmaster of beacon academy—note the wizard's initials are OZPINHEAD; his full name is oscar zoroaster phadrig isaac norman henkle emmanuel ambroise diggs.

glynda brings ruby to ozpin and over the course of the next few volumes it's established that she is not only ozpin's deputy but also part of his inner circle and unwavering in her faith in ozpin himself. her narrative role is that of the good witch of the north—not glinda—but her name references the pop culture composite character invented by the classic film.

'the marvelous land of oz' begins after the wizard's departure from oz. insofar as the beacon arc culminates with ozpin's death, this part of the story correlates to 'the wizard of oz'—although it is not 1-to-1 and i would argue that the role of dorothy is diffused between all of team RWBY and JNPR because the only part that matters is how the story utilizes the end of 'the wizard of oz' to subtly insinuate salem into the role of glinda.

see, the wizard intends to bring dorothy with him in his balloon when he leaves oz, but she's delayed—searching for toto—and the ropes anchoring the balloon snap before she can come aboard, leaving dorothy stranded in oz. eventually someone suggests that she ask glinda—the witch of the south—for help. glinda is said to be "the most powerful of all witches" and there is a bit of ambiguity as to whether she is a good witch or not:

"Glinda is a Good Witch, isn't she?" asked the child. "The Quadlings think she is good," said the soldier, "and she is kind to everyone. I have heard that Glinda is a beautiful woman, who knows how to keep young in spite of the many years she has lived." "How can I get to her castle?" asked Dorothy. "The road is straight to the South," he answered, "but it is said to be full of dangers to travelers. There are wild beasts in the woods, and a race of queer men who do not like strangers to cross their country. For this reasons none of the Quadlings ever come to the Emerald City."

(note how she's "the witch of the south"—unlike "the good witch of the north" and the wicked witches of the east and west.)

dorothy and her friends set out on the dangerous journey south to find glinda. the beacon arc ends by setting RWBY and JNR on a course to discover salem, whose existence is revealed to the audience in the last moments of V3. the kids, collectively, are in dorothy's shoes and like glinda, salem is the one person on remnant who understands what the shoes are and how to use them properly—figuratively speaking.

<- so the purpose of glynda goodwitch is to articulate an important thematic conceit: she's glinda the good witch of the north, a character who does not exist in the original book yet dominates the pop culture frame of reference for the land of oz, a character who is also embodies a narrative problem introduced by the conflation of two different characters who fulfill contradictory roles (one believes in the wizard and cannot help dorothy; the other knows he's a fraud and can help dorothy). glynda goodwitch is not just a red herring; her character allusion also comments thematically on ozpin's use of fairytale to distort and control the narrative regarding salem.

anyway.

the salient point with regard to theodore is that while rwby is retelling 'the marvelous land of oz,' it also alludes to the classic film in service of both the retelling and its own deeper themes.

i bring that up because theodore—on top of literally being named dorothy-but-backwards—is described like this:

Finally the double doors to the headmaster's office opened and Theodore strode out, his glittering red-gloved fists raised above his head like he had just one a fight. [...] A flowing gray-blue cape, the color of a stormy sky, was clasped around his shoulders with a silver chain. He had a silver belt with a round buckle, matching boots, and bright white slacks with deep side pockets, all carefully orchestrated to draw even more attention to himself.

his appearance is clearly intended to call the pop culture image of dorothy to mind. the glittering red gloves evoke the classic film's ruby slippers, and dorothy is of course transported to oz by a storm.

but mind the details.

theodore fastens his cloak with a silver chain. his belt is silver. his boots are silver (and that is stated obliquely, easy to miss if you skim over this description). silver silver silver. in the original book, the magic slippers are silver, not red. and his wardrobe is "carefully orchestrated" to attract attention.

the land of oz is surrounded on all sides by desert, impassible except by magical means. when dorothy uses the silver slippers to travel back to kansas, they fall off her feet en route and are lost in the desert forever. theodore is the headmaster of shade and de facto king of vacuo—which is a inhospitable wasteland surrounded on all sides by harsh desert. he wears ruby gloves... and silver boots. like glynda goodwitch, his attention-grabbing outward appearance locates itself in a contradiction between the book and the film.

which dorothy is he?

trick question. he represents the silver slippers, fallen to rest somewhere in the desert separating oz from the rest of the world. this serves two important, and interlocking, purposes:

it tells us not to look for a dorothy—because dorothy isn't here. she went home. she's in kansas. dorothy doesn't figure at all in 'the marvelous land of oz' except insofar as the scarecrow and the tin man remember her fondly. (the god of darkness is the real dorothy—because he's gone.)

it marks vacuo as the desert outside of oz—not part of oz.

the second point matters because marvelous land's climactic sequence begins with glinda chasing mombi all the way from the emerald city to the desert past the edge of oz, where mombi collapses from sheer exhaustion and glinda binds her and hauls her bodily back to the emerald city to account for her wrongdoing. this weaves the ozian narrative together with the maiden-in-tower allusions and the little prince like this:

glinda must subdue mombi in the desert before ozma can be released from her curse;

rapunzel's prince is blinded and wanders alone in a wasteland until her voice leads him back to her and her tears restore his sight;

the pilot is stranded in a desert and must learn to see with his heart instead of his eyes in order to find water.

if we examine these together, understanding salem as glinda and rapunzel, mombi as the god of light, and ozma as both the prince and the pilot, that is very strongly suggestive of what is going to happen in vacuo. should rwby continues to follow the plot structure of 'the marvelous land of oz' as closely as it has been, i predict that:

salem will take cinder and return to vale, where her villain -> hero arc will begin facilitated by character development in relation to cinder and summer rose;

they will identify what sort of "deception" ozpin used to hide the relic's location, realize that the extra layer of defense cannot be circumvented, and go to vacuo. (specifically, i suspect ozpin incorporated the branwen twins into the crown's protections);

in vacuo, salem will put all her cards on the table, tell everyone what she is trying to accomplish and why. negotiations ensue. the possibility of freeing ozma from oscar is introduced and possibly carried out. the god of light is symbolically defeated—everyone rejects the divine mandate.

everyone returns to beacon to bring the crown of choice out of its vault and initiate the final confrontation with the god of light.

with most of the curve balls coming from what the vacuo coalition faces while salem is preoccupied with the beacon relic and how everyone reacts to the olive branch of summer rose being... alive.

insofar as theodore figures into this, given the prominence of silver in his character design i wonder if he won't turn out to represent not just the silver slippers that were lost but also the silver wishing pills.

in marvelous land, tip comes into possession of a set of wish-granting silver pills that can grant any wish after being swallowed. when he and his friends escape the conquered emerald city, they accidentally overshoot glinda's home and fly all the way to the far side of the desert before crash landing in a nest of antagonistic jackdaws. tip tries to use one of the pills to get them home, but when he swallows it, it hurts him so badly that he cries out in pain and wishes that he'd never taken it in the first place—which comes true at once. the pill is uneaten. then the woggle-bug uses the same pill to repair their flying contraption* so they can escape from the jackdaws and return to oz.

(*it's called the gump and it's two couches lashed together with leaves for wings, a broom for a tail, and a stuffed elk-like head for a head, brought to life by magical powder. it defies easy description)

so there is some obvious overlap in role between the silver shoes and the silver wishing pills in that both are magical silver items the main characters use to get home—and like the slippers, the pills are lost during the journey home. (the characters conclude that tip must have left them behind in the jackdaws' nest by mistake.)

but the interesting part, as it pertains to theodore, is that when tippetarius tries to use one of the pills, it poisons him. there is nothing actually wrong with the pill itself—the woggle-bug uses it without coming to any harm. the incident is not really explained, but of course tippetarius is under a curse that hides his true identity as the princess ozma and later in the book glinda implies that certain kinds of magic simply do not mix well together; for all her great power, she cannot undo mombi's curse herself because her own magic abhors deception and illusion. so perhaps the silver pill poisons tippetarius because he is not himself. the curse mombi placed upon him blinds him to his true self.

now in rwby, theodore is the last headmaster standing and the effective ruler of vacuo, and the sword of destruction that ozma last used to end the great war is locked in a vault underneath shade academy. if salem does not arrive to lay siege to vacuo as the coalition expects her to, the coalition will face pressure to do something in order to counteract the fraught social and political divisions threatening to tear vacuo apart—remember, this is a country on the brink of civil war that weathered a failed popular coup during the events of V7.

that creates strong incentives for a counter-offensive. to find out where salem is "hiding" after her (as the coalition will see it) pyrrhic victory in atlas and take the fight to her—which sounds great on paper but becomes a rather fraught proposition once salem is discovered to be at beacon. if the vacuo coalition attacks her forces at beacon, vale gets caught in the crossfires—and attacking beacon of all places will not be good for the morale of the coalition's fighters either. but doing nothing may still be the worse option, because that risks the coalition breaking apart without an immediate common enemy to confront. and theodore—as characterized in 'before the dawn'—very much seems like the type of character to favor a counter-offensive under these circumstances.

and that's tip's poison pill—ozma's submission to the divine mandate and the distorted narrative he's constructed around salem prevent anyone on his side of this conflict from seeing another option besides "defend" and "counterattack," when the true solution is "negotiate." the woggle-bug—raven—is able to find the true solution because she holds knowledge about salem (and summer) that the other characters do not. if theodore and his silver trappings represent the pill tippetarius cannot use, then summer and her silver eyes represent the pill the woggle-bug can.

[wc-confessions]

Responding to the “you are a fake squirrelflight fan if you want her to retire from leadership” discussion. Here are my two cents as a Squirrelflight fan myself.

First, I thought we left behind the behavior of what makes a “real” and “fake” fan? It’s outdated and alienates people within the fandom especially with the egregious expectations people have for someone to be called a “real fan.” Second, this is why some of us Squirrelflight fans want her to retire.

To put it blunt, we are sick of the Erins’ crappy writing that keeps enforcing that Squirrelflight gets constantly framed as in the wrong and also abused. Even an Erin who admitted she hated Squirrelflight was allowed to write I believe it was Bramblestar’s Storm(?) and basically beat on her. Squirrelflight is put through time and time again so much pressure and heartbreak that I’m surprised she is still standing, but I am grateful she is.

Allowing her to retire could give her a chance at a calmer lifestyle. After everything she has gone through; she and Bramblestar’s mateship, Ashfur, the whole story with her sister and her sister’s kits, and now even StarClan giving her a trial to even be allowed into StarClan, she deserves a break. I can’t imagine that leadership would be kind to her in the long run as cats will continue to wrongly judge her thanks to the Erins’ writing. Even during the broken code arc, cats didn’t listen to her temporary leadership. Yes, leadership is something she had dreamed of since kithood. But the cost of the mental, physical, and emotional labor that it comes with coupled with whatever the Erins could plot next for her is terrifying. I don’t want Squirrelflight to be a punching bag for the Erins’ weird writing that excuses toms and punishes she-cats. I want them to stop beating on her and let her actually live her life and enjoy it. Even in the current arc, I have seen both Squirrelflight fans and haters rag on her for how she is handling leadership right now and dealing with the Splashtail (1)

plotline. Squirrelflight is a character that means something to most people. I wouldn’t doubt that it is worrisome with how the Erins continue to write her and mischaracterize her how they see fit in order to make another narrative “correct”, even villainizing her in some aspects. In conclusion, the fans who want her to retire are the fans who love Squirrelflight enough that we don’t want her to be another cat’s victim. We want her to be happy, find peace, and finally feel like she can just breathe. Retirement or at least allowing her to have a choice in stepping down from deputy/leadership positions grants her more autonomy than the Erins and arguably Bramblestar have ever done. I feel like if Ivypool steps up to be Ivystar, she can be more at peace as I feel like she remained deputy even putting up with Bramblestar’s shit in order to ensure her Clan would be in safe claws. It isn’t out of character for her to care about her Clan and loved ones that deeply. Sorry for the long rant, but that’s my view on it.

Sorry want to also add to my Squirrelflight essay basically if she is “out of the spotlight” from the Erins grasp, she can be considered safer. They won’t be able to paint her as a villain or mischaracterize her as much, and thus we can feel better about our poor girl.