#Yang taking the relic was her accepting Yang would die doing this | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

solardragun · 3 years

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Oz salt? Please spare Oz salt. 🥺

rubs hands. let's do this again because tumblr crashed.

first things first: I want everyone who has ever called him a liar to pay me $20 and then turn in a 40 page essay on how he's a liar, MLA format, sources cited.

now, onto that. everyone harps on ozpin for lying. keyword: lying. they call him a liar, they say they can't trust him, etc. let's talk about this. keeping secrets is not lying. lying is intentionally FALSE statements / information.

so, with that, let's count the number of times ozpin has GENUINELY LIED. that'll be a total of one (1) time. what lie was this? the relic having questions.

this ENTIRE time, everyone has been dragging this poor man by the ankles and punching at him while he's down when he's lied... once.

he's kept secrets, he's kept information to himself. that, by definition, is not lying. keeping secrets is not giving false statements. to keep calling him a liar is inaccurate.

now, let's move onto the way the narrative paints him.

"he forced pyrrha to be the maiden. he didn't give her a choice. he told her to pick or everyone would die. he guilt tripped her." — to that I say, no he didn't. he explained the gravity of the situation. if he didn't tell her the heavy parts, everyone would've ripped him to shreds because he "didn't warn her". he explained what he felt she needed to know: they needed someone to take the other half of amber's power. it's a big decision to make and it will change your life. there are people out there who want their hands on this power and we don't want the wrong person to have it, like cinder. you can take your time to choose. if you don't, we will consider another option.

he gave her the information she needed and he gave her time to think about it. when she accepted, he continuously asks her for consent and if she truly wants this. she said yes multiple times.

on that note, he is not responsible for her death. he told her to LEAVE when cinder attacked. he told her to go get qrow, james and glynda, and then get to safety with the rest of the students. SHE chose to come back and fight cinder all on her own. jaune even begged her not to do it before she shoved him in a locker and launched him away. ozpin is not responsible for her death.

"he's evil because he tried to leave salem and take their kids" — okay so clearly male abuse victims don't exist to you or the narrative. ozma was MANIPULATED by salem. jinn says as much: "the hearts of men are easily swayed." this is said over salem goading ozma into being a false god with her. he continuously questioned their choices, he was consumed with guilt, his host even asked him wtf was going on.

when their daughter came into her power, ozma decided to lay the truth out, and with it came the horror of salem wanting to USE their daughters to start a new generation of magic-users. she SAID it, right to his face. he BACKS AWAY IN DISGUST AND HORROR. his logical thought then was to LEAVE. wouldn't you if your spouse decided they wanted to use your children??

it astounds me because if the roles were reversed, ozma would be the villain and salem would be justified in leaving. interesting, isn't it?

next, we have the girls ripping his past away from him and then blasting him for hiding information. this... look, I don't care how "urgent" it was, there is NO excuse for doing this. if this had happened to blake when she was keeping secrets about being in the white fang or being with adam, the characters and audience would be livid, especially when the white fang were written as dangerous terrorists and adam was written as an abuser. they're dangerous, they posed threats. if this had happened to blake, if someone forced her trauma out into the open, they would be in the wrong. but because it's ozpin, it's fine.

moving on. "lying about lionheart." — this is just ridiculous. telling the world "hey, the headmaster of haven, who was a faunus by the way, was actually the one behind huntsmen dying and the attack on the school as well as contributing to the fall of beacon." it sends a BAD message and sets the human-faunus relationship back even further. ozpin chose not to tell the people about lionheart betraying them because not only would it cause issues, he also says that he would rather people believe in all the good leo had previously done. your mistakes don't define you, that kind of logic.

"oz lied about the lamp attracting grimm" — no he didn't. he didn't SAY that it did. that's not a lie. he kept it a secret so the students wouldn't worry and actually attract grimm. which, by the way, interesting how that "attraction" seemed to have disappeared by the time v7 and 8 dropped. never once saw grimm following them around because of the lamp. the only grimm that actively attacked were the ones coming through the hole in the wall. weird, huh? almost like the story NEEDED something for the characters to be mad at oz about.

anyway, I'm gonna move on. the fact that ozpin received ZERO apologies and / or sympathy, especially from those we'd expect it from (ruby, weiss, blake) is infuriating. EMERALD was forgiven in a heartbeat, and she actively helped cause the fall of beacon, she helped kill penny, she killed a faunus in vale to prove a point to cinder (who got mad at her for, btw), she helped frame yang into "attacking" mercury so she'd look violent, she worked for salem by proxy of cinder. emerald did way much worse than ozpin, and she was forgiven !! in that same episode, ozpin is given dirty looks and "hm, idk if we can still trust you." hell, HE apologized. he had NOTHING to apologize for. these kids were in the wrong, especially when they lied throughout all of volume seven and then were justified for it. "you're not like oz, you're trusting people to prove themselves first." uh. you mean like ozpin was doing???? these students actively lied to ironwood for most of v7 until it finally caught up to them, and then they were STILL in the right. yet they got on ozpin and still reprimand him.

idunno man, I'm so tired. this isn't even the half of it but I'm angry all over again.

in any case, ozpin isn't perfect, he has made some really stupid mistakes (CCT towers that cause global disconnection when one tower falls, etc.), but like, he's not the devil either.

#invincibleweasel #asks.#aphs.#rwde #rwby #anti rwby #rwby critical #pro ozpin #ozpin #ozma

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aspoonofsugar · 3 years

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The Maidens: The Cycle of Life and Death

This post is inspired by @hamliet’s alchemy metas... I know nothing about alchemy, but after discussing it with her, this idea came up and I am sharing it on her behalf too.

In short, in alchemical stories (which RWBY apparently is) there are 3/4 phases. Each phase is linked to a specific color:

1) Nigredo (black)

2) Albedo (white)

3) Citrinitas (yellow)

4) Rubedo (red)

That said, often the yellow phase ends up being fused with the red one, so in most alchemical stories there are only three phases. Now, for each phase there is a major death, so there are usually 3/4 key deaths, each one linked to a specific phase.

For example, in Harry Potter there is

a) Sirius BLACK dying

b) ALBUS Dumbledore dying

c) Harry dying and being carried by RUBEUS Hagrid

Let’s highlight that each one of these deaths is especially resonant and important for the story. Sirius dies when Harry discovers about the prophecy. Dumbledore’s death leads to Harry leaving Hogwarts to look for the Horcruxes and finally Harry’s own death leads to Voldemort’s defeat.

What I mean is that the deaths linked to each phase must be resonant and meaningful either in terms of plot or in terms of themes. They must have weight and be felt both by the audience and by the characters.

So far, in RWBY we have had two such deaths:

Pyrrha’s death is linked to Nigredo, while Penny’s to Albedo. Interestingly, both deaths happened to two (supposed to be) Maidens.

This is interesting on multiple levels.

First of all, I have been asked about the Maidens in RWBY here and here. However, Penny’s death helped me gain a new perspective of their overall meaning.

In the first meta I have written this:

In a sense, the story keeps repeating. Salem kills Ozpin, he is reborn and his daughters are victims of the conflict between them.

Because of this, the four Maidens have become one of the many symbols of this endless cycle, which is clealry breaking its protagonists more and more.

This is well conveyed by the Maidens having a season theme. Seasons are in fact linked to the repetition of time aka one of Ozpin’s motifs.

I still think it is a part of the truth, but as for now I think the framing of the series over the cycle is more nuanced. It is a cycle of death and rebirth:

Goodwitch: The Maidens have existed for thousands of years. But much like in nature, the seasons change. No two summers are alike. When a Maiden dies, her power leaves her body and seeks out a new host, ensuring that the seasons are never lost, and that no individual can hold on to that power forever.

Seasons live and die, but new ones are born. It is a death that leads to a new life and that protects life itself since the Seasons are supposed to be Guardians.

This fits with the actual cycle of seasons where “no two summers are alike”, but that also accompanies humans’ lives and makes many human activities possible.

Secondly, both Pyrrha and Penny’s deaths have to do with the theme of choice, which is central to the series:

Ozpin: Maidens choose themselves.

In particular, Pyrrha and Penny’s final choices are two different declination of this idea. At the same time, they are linked to the theme explored by their respective relic as well (in Pyrrha’s case it means that her link to choice is twofold).

1) As the (supposed to be) Maiden of Choice, Pyrrha is given a choice in the Vault of Choice:

Ozpin: You, Miss Nikos... have a choice to make.

(...)

Ozpin: Are you ready? I... I need to hear you say it.

Pyrrha: Yes.

Ozpin: Thank you, Miss Nikos.

She is given some time to think about it and in the end she chooses to accept her new duty. Still, the power is stolen from her and the choice she was given is negated to her:

Pyrrha: But I can help.

Ozpin: You'll only get in the way.

However, this does not stop her:

Red-Haired Woman: She understood that she had a responsibility... to try. I don't think she would regret her choice, because a Huntress would understand that there really wasn't a choice to make. And a Huntress is what she always wanted to be.

Pyrrha’s death is about doing the right thing even if it comes with a high personal cost. She is able to make the choice to keep fighting against an enemy impossible to defeat an arc before our protagonists are strong enough to make it.

This is why... even if she never receives the powers.. Pyrrha is the true Maiden of Choice of the Vale arc. She does not need the powers because deep down being a Maiden is something deeper than that.

Pyrrha embodies the idea that Maidens choose themselves because she chooses to be a Maiden at Heart and dies true to her choice:

Pyrrha: Do you believe in destiny?

2) As the Maiden of Creation, Penny is created anew in the Vault of Creation:

As I have stated in previous metas Creation as a concept is linked to free will. Creations are free to develop and to change independently from their “creators”. This fits Penny’s transformation, who ultimately gives her back the free will that the virus had stolen:

Penny: I...I must...open the Vault. I, I do not want...Ah!

And in the end she uses her free will to make a specific choice:

Penny: Let me choose this one thing.

I have actually a lot more to say about Penny’s death and final choice, but I will write a longer meta about it, so for now let’s just say it has to do with self-actualization.

Penny embodies the idea that Maidens choose themselves because she chooses who she wants to be and how she wants to live.

What is more, her choice has to do with Creation because she saves Winter’s life and also (symbolically) makes her a whole person as well:

Winter: No, Penny, you were always the real Maiden at heart. I was just a machine. Just... following orders.

Penny: You’re my friend.

Winter: Perhaps, but I’m choosing it now. I’ve made it my own. And I take great pride in it.

Winter: You chose nothing. This was a gift.

At the same time, Penny’s sacrifice also saves the people of Atlas and Mantle who are stranded in Vacuo. If Cinder had stolen the power, they would have all died.

As a final note, we are directly told the themes linked to both Pyrrha and Penny’s death back in volume 5:

Ruby: When Beacon fell, I lost two of my friends: Penny Polendina and Pyrrha Nikos. I didn't know them for very long, but that doesn't change the fact that they were two of the most kind-hearted people I have ever met. But that didn't save them. Pyrrha thought that if there was even the smallest chance of helping someone, then it was a chance worth taking. And because of that, she died fighting a battle she knew she couldn't win. And Penny... was killed... just to make a statement.

Pyrrha died to make the right thing.

Penny died the first time as a result of her being objectified, so the second time she herself chose how to end her life in a way she found meaningful.

In short, Pyrrha and Penny’s deaths can be read as the two deaths linked respectively to Nigredo and Albedo. What is sure is that they are meant to be compared and foiled.

All this leads to a question... will we have other two (or one) major death(s) that will be linked to (the yellow and) red phase(s)? Will they be other Maidens?

As for now, I think it is possible, even if not sure obviously.

First of all, I do not know if we are gonna have a death for Citrinitas since from what I understood usually the yellow phase gets conveyed as a part of the Rubedo one. Moreover, if we have it, it might not be linked to a Maiden. After all, another pattern one could find is that both Pyrrha and Penny died at Beacon and so did Ozpin, so maybe he will be the one to die (once and for all?) in the yellow/red phase. However, as for now, I don’t think so and I am gonna theorize that the yellow and red deaths, if they happen, will have to do with the Maidens and will be other declinations of the themes explored above.

As for now, we know nothing of the Maiden of Destruction, so I am not considering her.

Still, there is another Maiden whose arc was left unsolved and who needs to come back in the story:

3) As the Maiden of Knowledge, Raven is told the truth about herself in the Vault of Knowledge:

Yang: Oh, shut up!! You don't know the first thing about strength! You turn your back on people, you run away when things get too hard, you put others in harm's way instead of yourself!! You might be powerful, but that doesn't make you strong.

And it is possible that this self-knowledge will eventually lead her to make a choice, which is what she has failed to do up until now.

If she chooses to sacrifice herself, her death will be a redemptive one and it might come to embody that Maidens choose themselves because they can always change and become true Maidens.

Finally, there is the Rubedo phase, which is the last phase. If we are gonna have a red death, it should be a key one for the whole series and one which leads to its resolution. As for now, I think there is only one character who can pull it off:

4) Cinder is a key character for the whole story. Personally, I think this volume was a turning point for her, but she failed to learn the lessons she needed to learn. What she did was to take these lessons and to twist them in a hypocritical way:

Cinder: I suppose I have only you to thank for one last lesson… Sometimes, if you want to win…you simply can’t do it alone.

And this has made her even more similar to Salem:

Salem: Why....do...you...keep...coming...back?!

Yang: Why do you?!

Penny: Why did you come back?! Why couldn’t you just learn your lesson?!

I would also like to highlight that so far Cinder has failed to learn the lesson of each relic.

In the Vale Arc, it is implied her concept of Destiny and Choice is different from Pyrrha’s. She wants to be “worthy” and to be chosen. Moreover, her idea of agency is linked to stealing others’, just like she stole the Maiden’s power and Pyrrha’s destiny.

In the Mistral Arc, she receives a warning about her Shadow Hand:

Raven: Aura can't protect your arm, it's Grimm. You turned yourself into a monster just for power.

But she chooses to ignore it.

Finally, in the Atlas Arc she manages to make herself anew. She recreates herself, but fails to truly change.

I am expecting all these failures to come back at her with the Vacuo Arc, which is about Destruction and will probably lead to everything coming together to crush Cinder (the people she used, the Shadow Hand, Salem’s true plan).

Once this happens, I think Ruby will save her with her eyes and will offer her that pity she was never shown as a child. This will lead to Cinder’s final choice which might be a synthesis of all the choices made by the Maidens she killed.

It will be a selfless choice, like Pyrrha’s, in contrast to the selfishness she displayed throughout the series.

It will be a self-actualizing choice, like Penny’s, which will free her from Salem’s shadow and influence

It will also be a redemptive choice, where Cinder finally lives up to her name and becomes the true Fall Maiden.

I am also expecting this choice to somehow solve the conflict or to be a part of the reason why the conflict is solved.

It would also be interesting if the Maidens’ sacrifices become progressively more effective in solving the conflict.

Pyrrha’s death is the most pyrric (obviously). She did not manage to stop Cinder, but barely gained enough time for Ruby to arrive and wound the villain. Still, it is a choice who clearly inspired her friends and I think that in the end it will inspire Cinder as well:

Cinder: You know, Neo, someone once asked me if I believed in destiny. And I'm happy to say I still do.

Penny’s death is framed as a sad, but powerful conclusion to her arc and saved both Winter and the people of Atlas and Mantel. It still did not prevent Salem from taking the relics and did not save the Kingdom.

So, maybe Cinder’s death, if it happens, will be key in saving the world.

This would also fit with the idea that we are going through a journey where we are getting to know the four gifts the Gods gave humanity.

Pyrrha sacrificed herself even before our protagonists received Knowledge, Penny did so after both Knowledge and Creation, while Cinder perhaps will do so after the characters have aquired all the four gifts.

#rwby #rwby spoilers #rwby vol8 #rwby meta #rwby theory #pyrrha nikos #penny polendina #raven branwen #cinder fall #my meta

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itsclydebitches · 3 years

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Hey, this is old question but why do you think Raven left Yang? We never get an explicit answer but why would Raven accept the bird powers from Ozpin, decide to have a baby with Taiyang but leave soon after? Especially when this is before Summer died and Ruby was born. Personally I feel like we should have seen Raven in V7-8 because Yang's arc with her just feels so unresolved.

Yeah, it does feel pretty unresolved right now. However, based on what we have gotten and what we know about Raven, I personally headcanon:

She'd have accepted the powers no matter what, once they were offered. Raven, by her own admission, has a survival of the fittest mentality going on. The strong survive, the weak die, and therefore anything that has the potential to make her stronger is automatically something to grab hold of, no matter the cost (example: killing the Spring Maiden. Power equals worth taking a life). Whether Raven took the bird powers with an intention to use them for good, only to abandon that desire once she learned of Salem's immortality, or whether she always had one foot out the back door, ready to abandon Ozpin's cause at the slightest whiff of real danger, the result is still the same: hell yeah an ability that allows her to spy on others, escape bad situations easily, etc. She’ll take it. Personally, I lean towards the latter option. We learn that she and Qrow entered Beacon with the intention of killing huntsmen later and there's almost nothing, to my mind, to suggest that Raven turned away from those views as Qrow did. Not when she so passionately returned to the tribe and took up activities that, although indirectly via grimm, absolutely kill huntsmen. I think Raven played the part of a good little Beacon student, was a decent enough actor and fighter to become a member of Ozpin’s inner circle (benefited by Ozpin’s own tendency to trust/see the best in others, as well as being part of a team made up of Good Guys), happily accepted a HUGELY beneficial bit of magic, and then said, "So long, suckers" when things actually got tough. If Summer hadn't disappeared and Raven had never learned about Salem? Maybe she would have stayed long term, doing the work of a huntress with a few extra war missions on the side. But an immortal enemy who may have killed a teammate? Way too dangerous for Raven's liking. I think she cares about others to a certain extent - years of friendship, a relationship with Tai, and crying beside Yang all point to that - but I don't think that care has ever overridden her own self-interest. If it had, she wouldn't have allowed Vernal to take on the risk of being the Maiden instead of her. If it had, she wouldn't have allowed Yang to take on the risk of the Relic instead of her. If she had, she wouldn't have left not just Yang as her mother, but everyone once she realized how much danger they were all in. Raven puts herself first, always.

Which I think is the explanation for Yang too. We don't know that she decided to have a baby with Tai, we just know that she did have a baby. Accidental pregnancies happen, pregnancies where the father wants the child but the mother doesn't happen, pregnancies where the mother is chill with it at first but once the child is born decide this isn't for them happen... and in Remnant terms, pregnancies where the mother learns more about the war she’s in during those nine months and only then decides to bail could happen too. There are a lot of possibilities here. Personally, being pro-choice and all, I'm of the opinion that Raven is not a horrific person for leaving Yang, more-so due to... everything else she's done lol. Would it be great if life worked in a way where every mother was emotionally ready to parent a child and never ever had one unless they were? Of course! Is that realistic? Not by a longshot. Raven did the Remnant equivalent of giving her kid up for adoption, except actual adoption wasn't needed because the father was in the picture and quite obviously wanted to keep the kid. So Raven has Yang - carries the pregnancy to full term for whatever reason she and/or Tai may have had. Hell, we don’t even know if abortions exist in Remnant - and then wipes her hands of things. If I remember correctly (outside of the comics anyway) Raven really does keep completely out of Yang's life from then on. Summer is her mom. Raven was just the biological parent. For however horrible Raven is in other respects, she had the right to let Summer and Tai raise Yang instead. She stepped out of her life, seemingly unaware that Tai said little about her, resulting in a Yang who grew desperate to find out any scrap about her "real" mom, tracking Raven down despite Raven keeping her distance. But all of this is a long-winded way of saying that Raven never struck me as someone interested in motherhood. We don't know why she decided to have Yang, but once she did... what's a self-serving bandit going to do with a newborn? Unless Raven had decided to raise Yang as a totally loyal second or something, a baby is a danger. A liability. Children, until capable of defending themselves in Remnant, are grimm magnets who provide nothing except love which, as established, Raven doesn't prioritize. She cares about things that will keep her alive, not things that make that life emotionally rich. A child is a wonderful addition... provided you care about that bond more than you care about the effort and, in Remnant's case, the danger a child poses. Raven doesn't seem the type for me.

So I imagine our timeline is something like:

Raven joins Beacon with an intent to learn how to kill huntsmen

Over four years Qrow changes his views. Maybe she does too, though not as much

Ozpin offers magic (magic!!) to help in this war and Raven grabs the chance to become more powerful with both hands

She has a relationship with Tai

Has Yang, for whatever reasons of her own

Goes back to run her tribe, perhaps already pulling out of the war, or perhaps with one foot still in the door. Either way, she’s not about being a mother

At some point Summer disappears. This may have clued Raven even more into how dangerous this war is

Finds out about Salem, perhaps via the mysterious missing Jinn question (or others like the Spring Maiden and Lionheart found out from that and Raven learned second-hand)

Completely nopes out of the war from here on out, if she hadn’t 100% left already, because she's all about survival and you definitely don't survive by fighting an immortal enemy. This includes eliminating all contact with her team and family, outside of getting info from Qrow

Gets ahold of the Spring Maiden at some point, killing her to make herself even more powerful

Is approached by her daughter for a portal and tries to talk some "sense" into her, much like she occasionally does with Qrow

Joins up with the baddies in an effort to keep herself safe from Salem

Realizes the Relic is actually a danger, so let's Yang have it instead

Goes to Tai for either unknown reasons, or just escaping the vault via his portal, with no intention of stopping to say hi

But if she did, she no doubt had some reason that involved keeping herself safe

All of which is taken with a grain of salt given RWBY’s, uh... less than logical timeline lol

#rwby #mymetas #pregnancy tw #abortion tw

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wu-sisyphus-gang · 3 years

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Motion Sickness Chapter 57

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"Professor, can I ask you something?" I asked. Sort of ruining the point of the question but it still stood.

Oscar's eyes rolled slightly and he shuddered a little as Ozpin's spirit took him over while he sat in a desk chair. "Ms. Rose, of course you can. I hope to get that into you by now. Perhaps practice shall make perfect."

"Right."

I'd cornered him in his and Oscar's room in Atlas Academy. It was near ours. In the same wing, even. The ex-headmaster was the only person I'd seen with his own room, though.

"It's about Cinder Fall, the fact that she's two maidens."

"Yes?"

"Well now that she's both spring and fall and the power always goes to the last person on their mind when they die…"

"The last able candidate or someone random." The professor continued for me. He let me press on when I was ready.

"Right, doesn't that mean the spring and fall maidens are one now? Forever? The powers will be together now until…"

"Yes. Perhaps they will be. I have a bit of a plan in this regard. Won't you join me? Rather than sit out in the hall."

I walked in and closed the door behind me.

"Ms. Rose I intend to use my magic to split the powers of fall and spring once more."

"But I thought you'd exhausted your magic."

"For anything large, this is certainly true. I couldn't recreate the maidens nor any one of them. And perhaps gifting powers as I did your uncle and aunt would be too taxing as well. But for the purpose of splitting powers which already exist I believe I have strength enough."

He poured a glass of water in front of him on the desk from a pitcher. "Imagine this glass as the maiden vessel. In this case, Cinder Fall. Now imagine the water inside is the maiden powers."

He poured from the glass into another and slid it across the table to me. I giggled a little and took the glass. I sipped on it.

"Just as so, I believe I can separate the powers of the maidens easily without needing to recreate them. Then however, another question arises. What to do with those powers once Cinder no longer has them. Even the best case scenario has some issues that need to be ironed out."

"I'll do it," I told him. "I'll be fall or spring."

"Ah." He said. "And you think I'll ask you to? A touch arrogant don't you think?"

"Jaune brought it up. He said that you were grooming us, my team, for it."

"And perhaps I was," He conceded. "Jaune was fairly sharp, while he was with us."

"He was smarter than he ever gave himself credit for," I agreed.

"I would prefer to impress upon another of your teammates the powers, Ruby."

"Not me? Why? Is it because of Jaune?"

He raised a hand and I went silent. I took a drink from my glass of water.

"No, it isn't because of Jaune. It's because of your eyes."

"My powers?" I asked.

"Yes. Too many eggs in one basket, you see? If not two members of your team then perhaps Penny Polendina and one of team RWBY. That would play with Ironwood's plan to make Winter the winter maiden. She could work well with both the member of your team and Winter Schnee," he lectured.

"But not me."

"I would prefer not. No. While you are already a target of Salem, I would question adding to that by making you one of the maidens. It does not seem a sane plan."

"Speaking of plans, Professor, I've been meaning to ask. What is your plan to defeat Salem?"

"I intend to keep the relics from falling into her hands. And unite the world while I can."

"But that's not defeating her. That's you winning."

"Is there a difference?"

"I meant stopping her. She has to be stopped."

"Much like myself Salem is doomed to walk Remnant until the relics are united. There is no way to stop her as such."

"I don't understand."

"Much like me. She is immortal."

"So she would keep transferring, if we killed her."

"My girl," he paused and took a deep breath. "I promised not to lie to you. I also promised to tell you the whole truth."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that she is not immortal the way I am. She does not reincarnate. Instead, her body is nearly invincible. She’s capable of inhuman regeneration."

"What?" Oscar interrupted Ozpin before I could say something. "Why didn't you tell me?" He made them sound schizophrenic as he did.

"There has been much to go over. We've been preparing to split fall and spring once more," Ozpin said, voice almost pleading with Oscar. "You need to learn the magic required of you. Before Cinder Fall arrives once more."

"So you don't have a plan to win?" I asked. They turned back towards me.

"I have many plans to win. I have even more plans to not lose. But I have no plans of killing Salem. It is impossible, but that does not mean we have lost. That does not mean it is over for us."

"But she has the relic of knowledge," I protested.

"Does she? Then why were we assaulted by agents of her's looking for it? I think it's safe to say that wherever the relic is, Salem does not have it. At least not yet. And we are looking for Jaune Arc." Ozpin tapped his cane on the floor. "These are confusing times. I admit that they are dire, but we have not yet lost. Now, do you have any other questions for me?"

I shook my head.

"Very good. The plan is to keep the relics and maidens out of her hands until humanity is ready. That is my plan to win. We are not directionless. We move with purpose. And when Cinder Fall strikes again we will be ready to defeat her. As you have several times. All is not lost. Remember that."

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I found my teammates and I shared with them what I learned from Ozpin.

"Salem is… immortal?" Blake asked.

I nodded. I didn't know what to think.

"Then… it's hopeless," Yang murmured.

"Not per se," Weiss countered. "Ozpin's immortal too. And his plans get foiled all the time. Just look at Haven and Beacon."

"So what? She's foilable but unbeatable?" Yang asked.

"He said more. He said he was going to ask two of you to become the new spring and fall maidens," I told them.

"Jaune was right," Weiss breathed. "But not you? Ruby?"

"He said that because of my eyes that would be putting too many eggs in one basket. Those were his exact words," I replied. "He said he would ask me if the rest of you said no. He also brought up Penny as an option."

"And… what did you tell him, Ruby?" Blake asked.

"I told him I would do it, if he couldn't find another candidate."

"Ruby…" Blake growled.

"What? Fighting Salem is the right thing to do."

"You're hardly well, still getting over Jaune. You need to think this through," Weiss said.

Coming from her the words bit deep. She had the right to say that more than any of my other teammates. I looked away and wanted to pull my hood up. I sniffled once but I wasn't going to cry. I wasn't.

"But if she's immortal and she has the relic of knowledge doesn't that make us screwed?" Yang asked.

"That's what I said. He said we shouldn't be so sure that Salem knows where the relic is because of the girls that attacked us."

"Jaune's sisters. Maybe," Weiss said. "It's a good point. No one knows where Jaune is."

"Don't you two start that again." Yang looked between Weiss and I.

"Please," Blake agreed with Yang. "Jaune betrayed us. Just like Adam betrayed me. The sooner you accept that, the better off you'll be."

"It doesn't make any sense. By all accounts." Weiss's nostrils flared at my sister. "It's not our fault that things don't add up."

"Let's not devolve into Jaune-talk again." Yang held up both hands. "Which one of us is becoming a maiden."

"I'll do it," Weiss said. "The magic may be easiest to disguise as my semblance. At least more than the rest of you. Especially if my sister becomes the winter maiden. Both living huntress Schnees would have the same or similar powers."

"And Penny will take the other half?" Yang asked.

"Is that okay?" I wondered.

"It's probably what she was built for, all things considered," Blake said.

"Ozpin only groomed us but Ironwood had her made for this purpose," Weiss agreed. "It's probably why her project got greenlit. The maidens."

"Kinda scary when you put it like that." Yang worried her lip. "Being born for it."

"I'll talk to her about it," I said. "I'll make sure she's okay with it."

"Wait but Cinder has both spring and fall. Won't they transfer to the same person?" Blake asked.

"That's what I went to talk to him about. He said he was going to split the power with his magic. He wasn't really specific on the details," I informed them.

"That's magic for you," Yang reclined, putting both hands behind her head as she rested back on her bedding. "It's obscure and makes no sense. Hey Weiss could you replicate the powers of a maiden with enough dust if you had it?"

"Probably. Maybe Professor Goodwitch could too. It would take quite a bit of dust, though, that's just going off of what we saw Cinder do with her air magic. We're also not sure what all she's doing with dust or with her semblance. We don't even know what her power really is."

"Good enough. I suppose that it makes sense for you to take it then. It'll just look like your semblance but with dust," Yang returned.

"I keep forgetting that Cinder has a semblance on top of being two maidens," Blake said. "How are we going to stop her?"

"We could keep using Ruby's eyes. That seems to be working," Yang muttered.

"How does the power with your eyes even work, Ruby?" Blake asked.

"I'm not really sure. It seems to be all instinctual. What I've done with it," I reached up like I was going to touch my eyes and my hands hesitated near my brow.

"Like what you did to the dragon?" Weiss asked.

"Just like that. I don't really know how I'm doing it."

"But it worked at Haven. It drove Cinder back when I thought she was going to burn us all to a crisp," Yang said. "Emerald had to carry her out of there."

"Speaking of, Emerald's semblance is also very dangerous. The illusions." Blake waved a hand in front of her eyes. "She could get any one of us."

"And we don't know what Mercury can do either. Yang you fought him at the tournament. Was there anything that felt like his semblance," I asked.

"Not really. He was just good."

"Who fought him at Haven?" Blake asked.

"Jaune," Weiss and I said together.

"Ugh," Blake managed.

"And me, for a bit again," Yang said.

"At least Tyrian is dead," Weiss muttered out of the corner of her mouth. She leaned her head on her palm.

"At the cost of a new, more dangerous Roman Torchwick. Cloud Strife sounds like an actual fighter," Blake murmured. "And Neapolitan is out there with him right now. That's how he's staying at large."

"Who else is there? Hazel and those girls who attacked us in Argus?" I asked.

"I think that's it." Yang said. "I mean, aside from, you know, Jaune."

Blake threw her pillow at Yang’s head. "You brought him up this time."

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"Not that I'm bored," I sounded exasperated even to my own ears, "but why can't we just use an airship to take these supplies out to Amity."

“The components for Amity’s construction are far too heavy. All that weight would require precious dust we should be saving for the launch itself. And the Grimm that will come after,” Penny said with her usual enthusiasm.

“It just makes for a long, very long supply run.”

“At least the tundra is scenic.”

“Totally.”

I started to doze off. The truck was rumbling along just right for it. A dull melody that was putting me right to sleep.

“Ruby!” I startled awake at Penny’s voice. “I just wanted to say how excited I am to be working with you in a professional capacity. As friends!” She giggled a little.

It was a touch infectious and I laughed too. “Me too, Penny.”

“Relationships are so interesting. And varied.”

“Speaking of friends. Have you been able to make any new ones? Since, you know…” I trailed off.

“Now that I’m the official protector of Mantle I don’t really have a team any more. General Ironwood says I don’t have time for friends.”

“Oh uh… how do you feel about that?”

“I feel like I wish I could do both the things I need to do, and the things I want to do. Is that normal?”

I laughed a little. “That’s about as normal as it gets Penny."

We were quiet for a while.

"Ruby…" she trailed at the same time I said "Penny."

"You first," she said.

"Uh, okay. I talked to Ozpin the other day. We talked about making you one of the maidens. My team and I discussed how you were probably built with that in mind. I just wanted to make sure it was okay with you, though."

"I understand your worry, Ruby. But I am more than up for the task. Either spring or fall, I don't really mind."

"Well, okay if you're sure. What was it you were going to ask about?"

"I was going to ask how you were with your relationships, Ruby. You asked after mine after all. It seems like something a friend would do."

"Well what did you mean?" With Penny it was hard to be sure.

"Well you have had a boyfriend now. What was that like?"

"It was uh good." I wasn't quite sure what she was looking for.

"I've never had a boyfriend of my own. I've never talked to the General about it, either. Or my father."

"I wasn't very good at talking to my family about it either. Romantic stuff that is. It took me forever to tell Yang and by the time I did… well I didn't so much as tell her so much as she caught us."

"Caught you?"

"We were just kissing." I sounded a touch defensive. "I mean, it was going places if I had my say in it but we were just kissing when she walked in on us. She found out that way."

"Going places? Had you and Jaune been places before then?" If not for the emphasis I wasn't sure Penny would have understood what I meant. Instead she seemed to hunch down a little and her eyes were bright and curious.

"A handful of times." I confessed to her. Looking away from her eyes. I smiled a little. Crimson riding on my cheeks.

It felt good to talk about it though. Girl to girl.

"Ruby! That was scandalous of you. What happened next?" What was scandalous was Penny's attempt to dig for information.

I laughed. It was a touch funny in retrospect. Plus her blatant attempt to live vicariously through me was endearing. "Yang pulled him off of me and slammed him into a wall."

"So… he was on top of you, then." Penny gasped. Putting both hands over her mouth. "And your sister just ripped you apart."

I nodded. "I'd been trying to wrap my legs around him but...And Jaune just sort of stood there looking dazed. It wasn't because of being slammed into the wall. He's fairly robust. He was just sort of out of it because we'd been kissing. I might be a good kisser. You could, like, see it." I laughed.

"Ruby!" She gasped again. "Do you mean… his…?"

I nodded, laughing a little more. "Through the hem of his pants."

"Was he… was he large?" Penny phrased awkwardly, blushing whisper.

"I think so. Not so much until he was inside. If that makes any kind of sense. Then it seemed like he was huge but in a good way. A really awesome feel good kind of way."

"Ruby!" She gasped a third time. She was smiling and blushing. Her father had really gone all in on making her blush anatomically correct.

I laughed some more.

"Is everything alright up there?" My uncle called from the back.

"We're fine!" We said at the same time through giggling voices and thick blushes.

"Penny are you… are you built, down there?" I asked in a whisper.

"I'm designed to one day have children. If I so choose. With the right upgrades as pregnancy goes on. My father thought it was important."

"He told you?"

"Oh yes. He gave me the talk. He thought it was important that I have the freedom of expression that having children is. The eggs are from donors which were engineered. And I don't quite have a monthly cycle. But other than that things are roughly the same."

"You don't have a cycle? Brag about it, you queen."

"Ruby!" She giggled again. I did too.

"How roughly the same are we talking about here?" I laughed.

"Ru -by !" She broke into hysterics. She wiped a tear from her eye. "The same enough."

We laughed for a long time in muted giggles as the truck rumbled along.

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-WG

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rwbyvein · 3 years

Text

Firen Lhain: Chapter 707: Briar Patch: Part II/III

Ruby then Petal Burst back to the ground. "It's Cinder!"

"Ren." Jaune groaned.

"Get him out of here!" Yang shouted.

"Em-er-ald..." Jaune groaned.

"Indeed." Ren stated, and turned back to the billowing smoke.

"But?.." Ruby asked, "Oh, Taj!" she shouted as she reached for her scroll.

"Negative!" Weiss shouted at her.

"No?" Ruby asked.

"No." Weiss said, shaking her head.

"I will harry Emerald," Ren stated, "to stop her from using her Semblance." He then ran off into the woods.

"Okay?.." Ruby nervously said, "Yang and Nora stop the fireballs."

"On it!" Yang shouted, slamming the crash plates of her gauntlets together, while Nora stood on her hammer to take off into the air.

"Um?," Ruby voiced, "Weiss and Blake tie up Mercury!"

Blake turned to wink at her, before turning black and vanishing. Weiss blew her a kiss before using her Semblance to launch herself, darting through the woods like a needle.

Ruby then looked about nervously, trying to figure out what to do.

"I will guard him." Ilia said to her.

"Are you sure, I mean?.."

"I will call for help if anyone shows up." Ilia said.

"You... sure?.." Jaune weakly groaned as he sat up.

"I'm sure." Ilia said with a weak smile. "With the amount of Aura you have, you'll be fine in no time."

"Broken..." Jaune weakly said.

"Not... really... sure what that means..." Ilia stated.

"How to explain?" Jaune weakly asked. He then looked at Ruby and nodded. She gave him one last questioning look before he pointed to Cinder, and Ruby took off as rose petals. Jaune then reached towards Ilia, who was unsure of what to do. Jaune was reaching for her chest, and she froze in place until he placed his hand on her sternum. Ilia flashed like a rainbow and momentarily lost control of her Semblance, shifting it seemed between all hues. Her colours quieted back down, but she wasn't sure how she felt. "Camouflage." Jaune stated. She tried to change, the colours of her skin, but they didn't change, or at least not alone. As she looked up and about they all seemed to change. "Camouflage." Jaune said weakly, and knelt back down.

"What did you do to me?" Ilia quietly, desperately asked.

"Semblance..." Jaune voiced.

"What did you do to my Semblance?" Ilia asked, but Jaune just nodded.

* * *

Ruby petal burst into the clearing. The rest of their teams were moving in on CME, with a bonfire behind them producing black smoke. She drew her scythe, and as she expanded it Cinder raised her hands.

"We surrender."

"The hell?!" Yang shouted, and stomped her foot, eyes and hair glowing, "You tried to fireball us!"

"And it didn't work." Cinder said, arms still in the air, "So, we surrender."

"That!.." Yang tried to say, but Weiss elegantly walked in front of her.

"You cannot be serious?" Weiss asked.

"You," Mercury said to them, "act like you've never had anyone surrender before?"

"Well, we haven't!" Nora shouted.

"Least of all a Maiden!" Blake added.

"She does raise a good point." Mercury said to Cinder and Emerald.

"And just what do you expect us to do?!" Emerald asked.

Mercury turned back to RWBY + NR, "We really didn't think this through. She does want to surrender, though."

"How do we know?!," Ruby asked, "that Emerald is not?.."

"Because Jaune was entrusted me with it." Ren simply stated.

Yang let out a horrifying groan, her legs causing the ground to rumble below her, "Enough of this!"

"I partially agree." Ren stated.

"Wait, what?" Ruby asked.

"Even if we were to apprehend her, as she is, she would be too dangerous."

"I don't know what's going on!," Yang shouted, "but it sounds like Ren wants me to punch them!"

"Weiss?" Ruby asked.

"I'm of two minds." Weiss replied.

"Meaning," Blake stated, "she wants to accept, but she doesn't trust them."

"Indeed." Weiss affirmed.

"I'm with Yang!" Nora shouted.

"None of this is helping!" Ruby shouted.

"Why the hell do you want to surrender?!" Yang angrily asked.

"I want a bit of a change in my life!" Cinder eagerly replied.

"Couldn't you have done that BEFORE THE FIREBALLS?!" Yang screamed.

"What I want out of you is not exactly easy." Cinder stated, "I wasn't sure which direction to go."

"You could have killed Jaune!" Yang shouted.

"Didn't she want him to heal her?" Weiss asked.

"Then why would she try to kill him?" Ruby asked.

"Perhaps?," Ren asked, "we should ask her."

"And maybe we should decide what we're going to do before Yang blows her top." Blake stated.

"Why did you try to kill Jaune?!" Ruby shouted.

"I didn't." Cinder replied.

Yang shouted, seeming to get even angrier.

"I did exactly as much damage as I wanted to." Cinder stated.

"And that makes it alright?!" Yang screamed.

"Yes." Cinder simply replied.

"She has made no movement since surrendering." Ren stated. "And she did want Jaune to heal her?"

"I still don't trust her." Weiss quipped.

"That is the conundrum." Ren added, and Cinder kneeled on the ground. Emerald quickly followed her. Mercury flung his hands in the air in protest before sitting down.

"We should take their weapons!" Nora shouted.

"Unfortunately," Ren stated, "two of the three cannot be disarmed."

"Oh, right."

"WHAT THE HELL DO WE DO?!" Yang shouted.

"Perhaps calm her down?" Ren asked.

Weiss appeared next to Yang and slipped inside her stance, kissing her on the cheek. Yang wrapped and arm around her and slowly seemed to calm down. She breathed in deep, and her eyes and hair stopped glowing.

They heard a loud groan coming from woods behind them, and everyone quickly turned to look at it. They initially didn't see anything. Ilia wasn't sure how she did it, but she dropped the field that was cloaking them. Jaune tiredly waved at them. One by one panic appeared on their faces as they looked back to CME, still on the ground. Jaune shambled up, Ilia nervously looking between him and those on the ground. He groaned as he shambled up to RWBY + NR. "She wants to be healed!" he shouted, "And she knows what that means?"

"And for?," Weiss asked, "the rest of us?.."

"Trust." Jaune groaned. "She needs to trust me. I need to trust her."

"And fireballing you was her way to earn your trust?" Yang asked.

"Okay," Jaune voiced, "maybe not the best way, but I think she wants to."

"She is WAY too dangerous." Blake added, and Jaune nodded his head.

"There is that." Jaune added.

"So?," Ruby asked, "what do we do?"

"She's probably trying to get us to take them back to our home." Blake added.

"If so, why doesn't she just kill us, here?" Weiss asked. "If they could just hide the Relics, I'm sure Ozpin would have done so some time ago."

"Wait, what?" Yang asked, "They know where the Relic is?", and Ruby nervously reached under her cape.

"Or perhaps could find it?" Weiss asked.

"What was the point of the castle, then?" Yang asked.

"A home." Jaune stated, "With lots of headroom."

"Oh, right." Yang replied.

"It does have a dungeon!" Nora exclaimed.

"And can that contain a Maiden?" Blake asked.

"Only one way to find out." Nora added, which caused Weiss a sharp intake of breath.

"How about this?!" Jaune called to Cinder, "What do you plan to do if I heal you?!"

"Rob a bunch of drug dealers and build a mansion somewhere!" Cinder replied.

"That was," Yang voiced, "pretty straight forward."

"How can you so confidantly tell us this?!" Weiss called.

"Because we doubt you goody-goodies care about drug dealers!" Mercury shouted.

"Okay," Yang said, "he has a point."

"It would," Blake voiced, "take a piece out of the game."

"One less Maiden for Salem," Weiss quickly added, "would make things considerably easier."

"Does she have more Maidens?!" Nora asked RWBY + JR, who either shrugged or were non-committal. Nora then looked at CME, "Does she have more Maidens?!"

"No!" Emerald shouted.

"Sweet!" Nora replied.

"Are we trusting them, now?" Weiss asked.

"It does seem so." Ren stated.

"Okay!" Ruby sighed, "But if I we die, I'm blaming Nora."

"Perhaps?," Ren asked, "that when guarding a Maiden, we bring in another Maiden?"

"Oh no." Yang stated.

#rwby #firen lhain #faunus au #pollinated knight

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starlightshadowsworld · 4 years

Text

Give me.... (Ozpin Edition)

Give me Ozpin who wakes up not knowing exactly who he is. He's lived countless lives for who knows his long, it's hard to know exactly what's going on... The worst is when he wakes up thinking he's Ozma with a loving wife... And finding out the opposite.

Give me Ozpin, who deeply cares for all his incarnations and nothing wrecks or guilt him more than when he ends up with Oscar... This youngest of them all.

Give me Ozpin who despite being betrayed countless times has so much faith and love for humanity and his inner circle. Its only with tears of experience and fear that the truth can stay hidden.

Give me Ozpin who's died countless times, in countless different ways. Who wakes up in a cold sweat at night reliving burning alive, being buried alive, poisoned the list is endless. And it's all in vivid detail because the gods would never grant him such a mercy as forgetting his failures.

Give me Ozpin who while trying to be professional and a mentor ends up caring deeply for RWBY, STRQ And JNPR. Who mentored them, taught them and wanted nothing more for them to live their lives in ignorant bliss.

Give me Ozpin who forces himself to look Pyrrah in the eye and ask her multiple times. Away from the rest he explains the whole truth, they already know of course... He couldn't bring himself to keep them in the dark. And yet he's surprised when she is the one offering him comfort. He smiles but it doesn't reach his eyes, promising himself he will watch over her.

Give me Ozpin who died burning alive by Cinder, who's last thoughts were Jaune and Pyrrah were safe. And for the first in a long time he's at peace... But it doesn't last, it never has.

Give me Ozpin who guides Oscar, who beats himself up for reincarnating into a child and having said child leave home. He's kind, caring and more open than he is with anyone else...because he's forced him into a fate like this the least he can do is show him the way (he never stops to think he 2 was forced into this in a way)

Give me Ozpin who sits on the train and answers Oscar's questions, how much he laughs and rolls his eyes fondly to see Qrow again. The long memory feels light in his hands as it always has.

Give me Ozpin when the group reunite, he sits down and explains what happened. The anger aimed at him from Jaune confuses him and he asks.... His head bows and a mix of a scream and a whimper leaves his lips. They find him kneeling in prayer, because if those beings still exist, than surely they'll grant he everlasting peace... To her and to all his fallen students.

Give me Ozpin who mentors the group yet again, he points out their weaknesses with kind words and teaches them how to grow. Everyone laughs when Ozpin turns his cane at a laughing Qrow and goes through his rap sheet like he's a student all over again. The laughter only gets louder when Qrow sheepishly runs off saying "yes sir"

Give me Ozpin who never sees Yang as her mother. He accepts her criticisms of him and does his best to honour his promise, besides with the lamp they'll find out either way... He tells them she's immortal, it's what Qrow and the rest of his group knew but it instills them with hope. Hope that there is a way, and that they have done so much for the world by fighting grimm.

Give me Ozpin who is baffled how no one knew Qrow and Raven could turn into birds, he'd said to not make it public of course but... Seeing everyone's surprised looks and a sheepish Qrow wasn't what he expected. What was expected is Nora being asked to turn into a Ursa.

Give me Ozpin when he realises Leo betrayed him, how he shuts down because much like his deaths it never stops hurting. He makes sure Leo is remembered as wise man... A friend... A Faunus that the public can't use as another excuse for war. Tears run down his cheeks, he'd lost one more. Blake sits by his side, they domt say much but at the end she thanks him for it.

Give me Ozpin who's been a Faunus in the past, who uses that experience to teach understanding. It gives Blake someone to confide in, "how can they not understand why what Professor Lion heart did needs to stay hidden..." He explains best he can, drawing on his own experiences until understanding is met.

Give me Ozpin who keeps his past hidden out of shame and fear especially when he wakes up screaming in the night. He never wants to seem weak especially infront of his students but somehow they've worm their way into his heart... And it both terrifies and warms his soul.

Give me Ozpin who keeps the relic on hand, out of fear. He can't let it get away not when there's 2 wishes left....and when it's used against him because curiousity killed the cat... He doesn't move. He sinks to his knees infront of them all as his sins crawl on his back, tears roll down from his cheeks and he's silent... Until he sees his children die as well as he, than a scream with such heartbreak echoes through the forest.

Give me Ozpin who's afraid, who doesn't wait for a reaction he locks himself in Oscar's mind without even thinking it through. Pain coils through him and he's heavy with guilt and shame. "when you seek comfort you will only find pain"

Give me Ozpin who despite this is always there when Oscar needs to him, though he's jumpy and scared. There's a rift in the group, because Ozpin had tried his best and many knew that and displaying his pain like a show was a step to far. Not that Ozpin knows, he thinks it's deserved.

Give me Ozpin who's coaxed out by Yang of all people, because she wants to make amends... They all do. And their all lost and confused heading to Atlas and they need guidance more than ever... And Ozpin was always a teacher first and foremost. So he returns, shaky and jumpy but with a confidence he doesn't possess....

Give me Ozpin who's met with comfort with comfort... With guilt and shame not directed at him. And it breaks him, he sobs openly and unapologetically all the while comforting those that wronged him. There's hot chocolate pressed in their hands, somehow even being a apart of Oscar doesn't destroy his "teacher look" because no Mr Arc we are not resorting to theft.

Give me Ozpin who sets up their plan for Atlas with Jaune's aide, slowly realising he doesn't have to do everything alone. Who apologises to Ruby while she talks to Maria because he wasn't sure how to approach her about her eyes. Admitting that makes him feel foolish and yet ever so human.

Give me Ozpin who enters Atlas and knows something is wrong. Who takes Oscar's council and words to heart while Ironwood does not. There both afraid but it is Ozpin who learns he's not alone, that won't let fear consume him while openly admitting he's afraid.

Give me Ozpin who is calm until Ironwood insinuates that Oscar is just another reincarnation... And it takes a lot of people to hold Ozpin back. Its the first in a long time ever seen him mad... And that's when he knows James is truly gone... Because Ozpin cherished each life that he was bought into while James saw them as something indisposable...and that cuts him to his core.

Give me Ozpin who isn't fast enough to stop the bullet but braces them for the fall, who cries tears of pain at his friends betrayal but also pride in seeing Oscar use magic. He sees Salem's fleet and yet there's hope in his heart.

Give me Ozpin who made mistakes and tries to fix them. Who cares for the group, for Oscar as much as he did his own children. Who's fears of the past won't cloud his future.

This is our Ozpin.

#Give me.. Ozpin Edition #Ozpin #Oscar Pine #Rwby

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honeyby · 4 years

Text

Blake’s Words and Character Arcs

Blake describing her friends as the embodiment of certain words is one of my favorite moments in the series. We get to see how she views them, even after everything that happened. Ruby is purity, Weiss is defiance, and Yang is strength. They are the perfect words for these three characters, and part of that is because those traits are such a big part of their personal arcs. And all three of them are challenged on those traits throughout the show (particularly in volume 4).

Ruby’s word is purity and it fits her right away. She’s the youngest and least experienced in how the world works. Her mother is dead, but she was still very young when that happened. There’s an innocence about her in the first three volumes that everything will be okay as long as she has her friends. She knows there’s darkness in the world but she believes light will prevail!

Then comes the end of volume 3, where she sees first hand the brutality of Salem’s forces. She watches two of her closest friends die, sees Beacon falling from the attack and wakes up to find her sister depressed and angry and her other teammates scattered to the wind. The good guys...lost. How can anyone come out of that and still embody purity? She’s seen the worst the world has to offer. But she keeps going. She decides to do what she can to stop the people responsible for Beacon. Ruby watches her friends grieve and pushes down her own grief so she can fulfill her mission.

She doesn’t let what happen make her jaded. Ruby continues to place her faith in her friends and believe that there is good in the world and that that good is worth protecting! She’s willing to give people the chance to help them even when they no one else will (we see this with Raven and Cordovin). Ruby isn’t purity because she’s never been exposed to the darkness of the world. She’s purity because she has but still chooses to believe in the good in people.

As she learns more about her silver eyes it only becomes more apparent. Maria tells her that her eyes exist to protect life, which mirrors Ruby’s general attitude. There’s a beautiful moment in volume 4 where she decides not to focus on the people they’ve lost but instead on the people that they haven’t lost yet as her motivation. She may have lost some friends but she’s going to do everything in her power to make sure they don’t lose anyone else. It all culminates in the moment where she uses her eyes on the Leviathan, failing when she focused what they’d lost and only succeeding when she focused on the good memories that she wanted to protect. She’s able to think about the good times with Pyrrha and Penny and Yang instead of what they lost, to think about her mother and the joy that brings her even though she’s gone. Ruby can find that silver lining no matter how bleak things seem and that ability is her greatest strength.

For Weiss and Yang (and Blake when we get to her) we can actually start at their trailers. Weiss’s fight is a direct result of her defying her father’s wishes. She’s at Beacon because she chose to be, not because she was told to. And yet, defiance is also something Weiss struggles with early on. She’s the most by the book member of team RWBY and by far the least likely to break the rules. Her early non-trailer defiance comes more in her rejection of being who her father wanted her to be.

Weiss makes more progress in volume 3 when she decides to forge her own path and ignore her father. She sacrifices herself to take out Flynt, refusing to let him attack Yang. When Velvet is in danger from the Paladin it’s her sheer determination to stop it that allows her do what she hadn’t been able to do before. She knows it would be safer to stay at the docks but finding Pyrrha is more important. There’s not just one singular thing she’s defying in volume 3; she just continually refuses to back down.

Like the others however, volume 4 challenges her growing defiance. She finds herself going right back to Atlas and the place she fought so hard to escape. Suddenly she’s faced with all these expectations and not-quite demands again and doesn’t feel like she can say no. Much of the defiance she’d gained disappears, and we don’t see it again until she snaps at the party. When Jacques puts her under house arrest she has two options: slip back into the obedient little girl in an attempt to regain her status or reject him and his orders so that she can escape. she chooses the latter, and in her defiance she finally manages to summon on purpose. She could’ve just as easily given up and been obedient but she chooses defiance.

And after she leaves it’s there in full force. She refuses to cower before Vernal and Raven and doesn’t hesitate to talk back to them. When facing Vernal she rejects being labeled by just her name. Come Atlas she’s openly defying her father at every opportunity and questioning Winter’s acceptance of the fate Ironwood has thrust upon her. When she’s face to face with Winter after Ironwood has deemed her and her team traitors she doesn’t hesitate to side with her team. Weiss knows who she is and that person is someone who won’t stand by when Ironwood wants to leave Mantle to die, even if it puts her at odds with Winter who she still deeply cares about. She’s done filling the role others expect her to play.

Yang’s word, strength, is evident from the moment we meet her. She walks right into a club full of armed goons and goes straight up to the guy in charge, knowing she can take them all if she needs to. And she can! Physically she’s the strongest on the team, but when Blake calls her strength she’s not talking about just physical strength. She was old enough to really remember Summer, found out shortly after that her birth mother had given her up, and dealt with a lot of feelings of loneliness as a child. Someone else who went through what she did might’ve turned out cold and distant but Yang is full of warmth and love, and able to use her own experiences to relate to others.

Her emotional strength is also very clear when Blake hesitates to believe her after the Mercury incident. She’s hurt of course, but she’s able to see that Blake has a very good reason for her reluctance and is able to give her that reassurance. It’s one of the biggest ways she and Adam are different. Adam seeks power, but Yang has a strength of character he never demonstrates. Adam relies on control and manipulation for his power where Yang is open and honest and gets her strength from her desire to protect those close to her.

Like the others, Yang’s strength faces a massive challenge in volume 4. Physically she’s dealing with the loss of her arm, but it’s her mental struggle dealing with her PTSD/general fear of getting back out there and dealing with Blake leaving that’s her biggest obstacle. She’s made good progress on the former by the time we see her in volume 4. Like with Weiss, she finds herself at a crossroads early on: does she stay home and keep recovering or does she try to find Ruby? She knows Ruby isn’t alone and she knows that Qrow is with her or at least near her. She doesn’t have to go find her. Ruby understands that Yang needs time to take care of herself. But having that goal, having someone out there she could find gives her a reason to try.

So she takes that first step and decides to work on getting back out there. It’s a step even a famed huntress like Maria wasn’t able to do. Yang’s not completely better at the end of volume 4 or even several volumes later, but by finding the strength to start fighting again she starts really healing. She’s able to find and face Raven and is able to get the relic from her by being not physically but mentally stronger. When Blake comes back she has the strength to forgive her even if things are awkward for a while (especially noteworthy after Ghira’s comment that there is strength in forgiveness). She’s able to open up about her fears about Adam and eventually face him even though it terrifies her. Her strength, particularly mentally, is even more apparent now than it was when we first met her.

Blake may not have given herself a word but I believe there’s only one word that suits her: bravery. It’s a huge contrast to how she sees herself for a lot of the show which in turn makes it a powerful choice for her. In volume 2 she expresses that she feels she runs away too much between leaving Adam in the black trailer, running away after she outed herself as a faunus, and just the very nature of her semblance. It’s only compounded when she runs after the fall of Beacon. Her tendency to run away and struggle with bravery is something she spends the next two volumes working on, much like how Ruby, Weiss, and Yang also deal with having to navigate their purity, defiance, and strength in the context of a post fall of Beacon world.

The biggest thing is that Blake’s view of herself isn’t accurate. A lot of it is a result of the way Adam treats her. He frames her parents as cowards for leaving the White Fang, makes her believe she’ll always run when she finds him at Beacon, and refers to her as a coward multiple times just in what we see. But the people that love her know that none of it’s true. Ghira sees how brave it was for her to face the White Fang time and time again. Yang sees her as someone who won’t back down from a fight. Ruby and Weiss know she had a good reason to leave, and Yang does as well when she’s able to distance herself from how hurt she was. And they’re the ones that are right, not Adam.

Blake cites running from Adam as one of the things that makes her a coward, but leaving is one of the bravest things she’s ever done. She pulled herself out an organization that turned into a cult-like terrorist group and managed to escape someone that abused her for years. She doesn’t hesitate to confront the White Fang any time she can and infiltrates a meeting like it’s nothing. When she first runs into Adam at Beacon she, despite the absolute fear she must be feeling at seeing him so unexpectedly, stands her ground. Even right before she runs she stares him down all in the name of protecting Yang and drags her through the Grimm infested Beacon to get her to safety.

And even when she runs and heads home, she’s still far braver than she gives herself credit for. It’s been years since she’s seen her parents and she’s so scared they’ll reject her but she still decides to face them. And they accept her back because they love her and know that she’s so much better than she thinks she is. While she’s not initially ready to fight the White Fang in Menagerie because she still needs to deal with her trauma, she makes it very clear that she’s not done fighting. Even after everything she’s been through she never lacks the courage to do what she thinks is right. And when the time comes she’s able to convince the faunus of Menagerie to come to Haven with her courage. She understands their fear, how it’s easier to stay home and say nothing than it is to stick yourself out there and put yourself at risk for complete strangers. It’s not the exact fear she struggles with, but she still gets it. Blake doesn’t know if her speech will work, but she’s willing to face Adam and the White Fang alone if she must.

And in Haven she does face him. She sees him for the first time since Beacon and she’s able to triumph. Blake is done with running away, done with letting Adam manipulate her and make her feel small. She’s able to face her team, knowing they had every reason to reject her but that wasn’t going to stop her from trying. And they welcome her back with open arms. When she faces Adam for the final time she’s able to stand side by side Yang and triumph, even if she’s so afraid that Yang will believe what Adam says about her. She’s worked so hard to undo what he did to her and makes it clear that she’s done with running and Yang understands that.

Blake’s struggle with bravery and viewing herself as a coward is just such a big part of her character arc, the same way maintaining purity despite the darkness in the world is for Ruby, the way fighting to stay defiant and to be herself despite familial expectations is for Weiss, and the way regaining the strength she never really lost is for Yang. She faces more challenges with it thanks to her history with Adam, but she also expresses her bravery constantly even in the smallest of ways. Blake lets people in despite her fears of hurting them, is able to express how Adam made her feel and face him multiple times, and never backs down from a challenge. If there were a living embodiment of the word bravery in RWBY it would be Blake.

#rwby #blake belladonna #ruby rose #weiss schnee #yang xiao long #i don't know where this came from #i just got an itch to talk about it and all these words appeared #i have a lot of feelings okay #i just love blake okay #she deserves the world #all of the girls' character growth makes me emotional #conciseness? i don't know her

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meetmrgrimlock · 3 years

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The Fundamental Problem of RWBY

RWBY is a show that I loved the first three seasons of, and enjoyed parts of later seasons. I haven’t gotten the chance to watch any of season 8 yet, so some of what I state here might be corrected, dear god I hope any of what I say here is corrected, but I’ve figured out what I believe to be the core of why RWBY has gone downhill in terms of story.

RWBY, embodies the sentence: “I fight because I refuse to die.” It sounds really cool and interesting, and is so on the surface, but once you think about it, once you peer past that surface, you begin to understand the faults in it. In addition, that sentence also describes the plot quite well, and the problem with the plot. The plot of RWBY, as it is eventually explained, is that Salem wishes to collect the four relics given to humanity by the gods. The cast of RWBY, wish to keep Salem from doing that, and somehow stop Salem. Sounds great, right? Interesting? But then you realize why Salem collecting the relics is a problem. It’s not that Salem will obtain incredible power from them, she already is one of the only characters in their world able to use magic. It’s not that she will become unstoppable, she’s already immortal. And it’s not that she will take over the world or anything, her Grimm are keeping humanity stuck in four tiny, fractured kingdoms barely keeping themselves afloat and she has influence everywhere. When she collects all the relics, it summons the gods who abandoned their world to judge humanity. And, whether the protagonists consciously are aware of this or not, they all recognize that when the gods come to judge them, they will deem humanity unworthy of living any longer.

The theme of RWBY is hopelessness, and it’s supposed to be that the protagonists are trying to maintain hope. But, none of them are trying to be more than they are, except for one, but she gave up on that dream.

Yang was the only one with any real goal that they wished to achieve, being meeting her mom, but even that was from sheer spite and anger. She has underground connections, so she probably has a good understanding of how bad the world can be, yet doesn’t make any attempt whatsoever to make it better. She’s had the most obvious example of hopelessness, being the period after she lost her arm where she perceived herself as useless and a burden. Even when she had the rematch against Adam, it wasn’t her seeking out Adam to prove she had grown, hell it wasn’t even really her fight. She realized something was up with Blake and saw the fight when she came to check on her. They defeated Adam, together, purely because he was hunting them down and not because they desired to stop him. Overall, outside of keeping her sister and the other characters she perceives as family safe, Yang isn’t fighting because there is something worth protecting, but because she doesn’t want her tiny little group of friends to be killed.

Weiss comes from a family where her mother is drowning herself in alcohol, her father is a corrupt businessman-slash-politician, her older sister has abandoned the family for the army, and her younger brother is following in their father’s footsteps. Her only desire was to go down her own path, away from her family, which also implies that she has neither any hope that her family can become better nor any hope that the business or political parts of their world can be made pure. As a huntress, her explicit goal is to be difference from her family, which also implies she is one of a great many in their world who believe that there is no real way to stop the Grimm. Weiss is shown to have no desire to stop Salem outside of keeping the world from ending. AKA, Weiss is fighting because she doesn’t want to let their world die, and not because she believes it deserves to live.

Blake was part of the White Fang, a group whose original goal was to abolish Faunus persecution and racism, which is a good start, but that was a pre-existing group that she joined rather than started, and she continued to follow as it steadily lost sight of its original goal in favor of Faunus supremacy until she realized that wasn’t why she joined and she ran away. Another point to hopelessness: she didn’t believe she could return the White Fang to how it once was. Being Faunus herself, she has firsthand experience and the best understanding of the persecution Faunus receive and the true depravity of humans. As a huntress, at first, it was just a believable cover so that she could lay low whilst still keeping tabs on the White Fang in case they caught onto her trail. So far, 3-3 for characters fighting because they don’t want to die, instead of believing their world is worth fighting for.

And then we have Ruby. Poor, poor Ruby. The one who was clearly meant to be the hope that fueled the theme of the story and the reason the other characters kept going. The one who was the most hopeful, the only one who had the desire to make the world better, who saw the good that was buried in everything no matter how deep, who believed there was a way to stop the Grimm, that there would indeed be a happy ending. The one that was told to grow up and gave up on that dream. Out of the four explanations we were given over the course of season one for why each member of team RWBY was training to be a huntress, Ruby’s stood out. So much so that even the other characters stopped for a moment to take it in. Blake wanted to escape from her past, Weiss wanted to walk her own path, and Yang was just in it for the thrill, but Ruby wanted to be like the heroes she heard of in fairytales that saved the world from evil. She was fantastic as a leader, not just because she was intelligent and came up with good plans, but because she was so supportive. It was something that extended past her team, she was practically Beacon’s personal sun with how she clearly cheered up the other characters. With Penny, and her instantaneous acceptance of the ginger being a robot. With Faunus, and her seeming lack of care whether or not someone has animal features. With Jayne, despite his lack of skill and self-depreciating beginning. She was uniting people, making the world around her better. But then came The Fall. Penny and Pyrrha died in front of her, Beacon fell, her sister lost an arm, her entire team split apart, and for all intents and purposes she lost hope. Something she never really regained, as evidenced by her difficulty in calling upon The Silver Eyes. The Silver Eyes, as explained by Maria, activate when the person desires to protect life. The Ruby at the start of the show would have had no problem at all calling upon the power, but the one after season 3 can’t truly get herself to believe that she can protect anyone. Thus why it was so difficult for her to call upon it, why she both needed so much help when she did call upon it and failed anyway after activating it against Grimm Godzilla. The only character in the show who had any desire to make the world a better place, who had any belief that the world could be a better place, and she lost it. While she is essentially the head of the charge, Ruby is fighting because the world needs to be saved, and not because she believes she can save it.

There are many more examples throughout, of course, like James not only believing that the only way to combat Salem is to go somewhere she can’t follow, but never directing any of his massive army towards actually leading an assault on the Grimm. Or Ozpin, who gave up entirely on the idea of stopping Salem, barely attempted to better the world in the first place, and believes the only route to take is stalling as long as possible. Or Raven, the epitome of ‘there’s no way to win, so don’t bother trying.’

In the end, RWBY’s main fault is that it establishes a sense of hopelessness and stomps out the hope that was supposed to combat it. An easy solution would be if any of the major characters actually believed that there is something worth fighting for or attempt in some way to make the world worth fighting for. The preferable solution is to return Ruby to what she originally was supposed to be, an icon of hope that things can get better. ‘Hopefully’, any of that happens in season 8 when I get the time to watch it instead of typing shit like this out as I’m walking home from work, but I doubt it. That’s all I really gotta say, so see ya.

#rwby musings #RWBY #rwby #rwby spoilers

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real-jaune-isms · 3 years

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RWBY Volume 8 Chapter 7 Review/Remix

Last episode before the holiday break. The long long long holiday break. And here I am only posting my review the night before we come back... I was having a lot of fun playing my new video games, okay? Let’s just get right into this with the joke everyone has already made. War: What is it good for? Actually a lot, if you can believe it. Only in this specific context though, because the warfare in the American streets these last few days is disgusting and emblematic of what has been wrong with the country for a while. A government leader sending his followers into the nation’s capital on a mission of rage and personal catharsis? Ick. At least in RWBY the tyrant isn’t attacking members of his own population... Oh wait, Mantle. :P

For a moment you might be fooled into thinking we’re starting back in the farmlands of Mistral, maybe getting another look at Oscar’s earlier life or seeing a little more of Nora’s mysteriously tragic past before she and Ren met. But no, these are the wheat farms on the outskirts of Atlas and Sabyrs are charging through like raptors through the tall grass in Lost World. A battalion of Atlesian soldiers, human soldiers I might add, stand armed to meet them. But even if they’re armed they are by no means ready. Monstra keeps coughing up a new wave of Grimm, and I do mean a wave, every minute or two and Atlas is pretty damn whelmed in the face of it. There are some big bots with guns standing in straight lines, but the majority of the defense put up by Remnant’s supreme authority on military power and strength is mortal men with fear in their hearts rather than expendable robot soldiers. And the big bots seem to be lined up in a way that the ones in the front block the ones in the back, so that’s just poor planning too. It’s just a concerning sight all together, and they are not efficiently handling the coming enemy. We cut up to Ironwood in his office, and it seems he is not dealing with this situation well at all. We know he’s under a lot of stress from all the recent events, but they are in fact mostly his own fault due to his poor decision making skills in times of crisis, and his single minded drive he calls a Semblance. Speaking of the eternally expanding list of Ironwood’s bad ideas, he decides to evacuate all the civilians into Atlas’ below ground subway tunnels. Fun fact: There were Apathy among the Grimm Monstra has been spitting out. Second Fun Fact: Apathy were last seen thriving and murdering in an abandoned underground tunnel system beneath a well. If one is familiar with fantasy television pop culture of the last decade, the Crypts of Winterfell might pop into your mind as a similarly poor place to hide all your unarmed women and children. Y’know, cuz in Game of Thrones they were facing a guy who could raise the dead as his minions and crypts are just tunnels full of corpses. Just saying, this could end up being a non-birthday massacre. Whatever captain of lieutenant Ironwood was talking to is hesitant to go along with this idea, but Ironwood puts his foot down by putting his fist down. And so his voice comes on over the city-wide PA system to tell everyone they need to get down into the subway for their own safety. Compared to the organized marching and relative calm of the poor folks down in Mantle, these rich fat cats practically trample each other to run and scream down the stairs. A father is concerned his daughter is going to get snatched up by a swarm of Lancers, but seems even more upset by the squad of airships swooping in to combat them.

Speaking of airships, we cut to the one Marrow and Harriet are flying. The Ace Ops have arrested YRJ, because of course they did, and they all hear radio chatter as pilots are reporting in about how Monstra is too tough for them to pierce from the outside with any of the weapons available to them. Winter checks in over comms to report her team’s limited successes, and Ironwood tells her to stay on jailor duty for a bit. Yang snarks at Winter for continuing to follow orders despite the circumstances, but conversation is stifled by Monstra coming into view for the group. Jaune laments that the beast now serving as Oscar’s confinement is larger than they had imagined from a distance, and Vine continues to be rigid in his assertions as to just what Grimm can and cannot do. “Grimm don’t take prisoners” he says, as if that’s an irrefutable fact. It’s not like any Grimm have done anything new or unheard of recently, like talk or grow wings or exist within a river of evil sludge or shoot up miles into the air as a geyser or have gravity Dust crystals in their underbelly to fly, or as you are witnessing right now belch out ponds worth of sludge from with waves of Grimm are emerging to fight your ground troops. Yep, we definitely know every single thing a Grimm does, especially one brought here by the mistress of the entire Grimm collective who is commanding most of them here. You sure are smart, Vine... Yang continues to be riled up and ask they be let go to help, but Elm and Vine hold her in her seat. Ironwood is heard giving the Manta jets new orders and reveals Command is working on a solution for Monstra. Winter, naturally wanting to be kept in the loop, asks what that might be. He reveals the science team is putting together a bomb that might be able to take the whale out if detonated inside it. That means Winter and the Ace Ops will be delivering it into the literal belly of the beast. I don’t know if he intends for it to be a suicide mission with the bomb going off as soon as they’ve got it inside, or if it’s just incredibly risky to try and get inside Monstra at all, but Winter pales at this news and her eyes go wide before sadly drooping closed again. She composes herself and grows determined again as she accepts the new marching orders. Jaune and Yang are again audibly against these plans due to the risk to Oscar’s safety, but they are subdued as needed, though we see Winter’s act isn’t absolute and her hands are shaking.

Meanwhile, Salem is having the time of her life doing her best Mickey Mouse impression. Classical music plays as she conducts the waves of Grimm sludge out of Monstra’s mouth like the Sorcerer’s Apprentice playing conductor to the stars themselves. Emerald watched from a distance, and seems less than thrilled about the whole thing. She heads down the halls and has to use her Semblance to keep a Seer from noticing her and potentially reporting her going where she doesn’t need to be to Salem. And where she’s going is the door outside Oscar’s torture room. He’s coughing up blood, and Hazel is still insisting he start telling the truth before Salem loses her patience and just kills him despite how futile it’d be. Instead Oz starts asking some questions of his own: Does Hazel know why Salem sought to recruit him in particular? It turns out she approached him with the promise of making a new world order where there won’t be any kingdoms or Huntsman Academies. Oz just has to laugh at that naiveté. When Salem gets the 4 Relics, there won’t be a world at all. She’s been around for so goddamn long, all she wants is for it to end, and she thinks taking the whole world down is the only way to get it anymore. This just frustrates Hazel, and we learn why. He’s pretty damn sure Salem can’t die at all, because when she first approached him about working together he spent the better part of a day killing her over and over and over again. This man, whom we know from the Battle of Haven to have massive reserves of Aura and strength to endure and keep fighting, kept fighting until he was too worn down and exhausted to lift his fists again. And in that time of weakness and awe at her power, Salem made her sales pitch that even if he couldn’t kill the one leading the Grimm he could at least have vengeance on the establishment sending young people to their deaths against her. Oz points out that that’s exactly why she went to him, because she could make him believe this was the right way, that it would bring him closure. It’s what Ozpin deserves, Hazel argues, and Oz does not disagree. But does Oscar deserve it? Do the innocent people who haven’t been affected by Salem or Ozpin yet? No, this isn’t for justice, this is personal. Because Salem said it would help Hazel. Has it?

We don’t get an answer to that, instead going back up to Weiss’ room in Schnee Manor where she’s reapplying Nora’s bandages. Still mostly unconscious, Nora mutters “Now what... am I good for?” I can think of a great many things Nora is useful for outside of her great strength and straightforward approach to combat, but its a damn shame no one has actually bothered to tell her that before now. Before Weiss has a chance to offer any, Blake and Ruby enter the room with cups of tea. I’m not ashamed to admit I initially thought they were hot chocolate cuz I’m not used to tea being that sort of amber color. Weiss admits that she’s done the most her limited medical knowledge can offer, and Nora needs more than that. Blake expresses her concern for the other half of their group, but almost slips up and says... well we’re just not sure, but we like to assume she was gonna say she’s especially worried for someone in particular. The shippers can fill that in how they like. Their moping is interrupted by May entering the room with some less than stellar news from Fiona and the others down in Mantle. They haven’t seen Yang’s team in a while, and with everything going to hell like this a search party is at the bottom of the priority list. She’s about ready to get back on the airship and head back down to Mantle, but Weiss protests and this sparks a debate. May points out that Mantle doesn’t have the luxury of the Atlas military protecting them so Ruby’s group and the Happy Huntresses are the only thing keeping the people safe from the chaos of the invasion, but Weiss argues that there are still people suffering up her and I have to agree. Just because a police force is around doesn’t automatically mean they’re doing the best job of keeping everyone safe. But Weiss pushes the wrong button by asking about May’s family. The Marigold’s were ashamed of the way their “son” acted, wanting to help the suffering down in Mantle. And so May would no longer let herself be called that, she became a woman proudly working as part of the Happy Huntresses for the service of the people. She kicked her Marigold name and reputation to the curb and her cousin Henry stepped up as the socialite snob instead.

This cannot have been an easy scene for Kdin to record, but we all need to give a standing ovation for her performance in it. Powerful words that likely hit very close to home. What a queen.

May is sure Weiss gets where she’s coming from with their families casting them aside in favor of a more obedient heir, her being replaced by Whitley after her outburst at the charity concert. Weiss wants to voice her disagreement, but May questions whose side she’s on in all this. Blake doesn’t like that, they’ve heard this talk about taking sides before and judging by her tone she’s none too happy to be hearing it now. May is about to give her a strongly worded piece of her mind too but Ruby stands between them to remind everyone there are no sides. All of humanity needs to be united, and Salem is the one creating the tension that’s dividing them so their real enemy is her. The only question now is how do they get out of this problem? The solution might be hiding just around the corner, literally. Whitley has been listening from behind the door, and he seems a little inspired.

Meanwhile Oz seems to have just finished telling Salem’s dark cursed backstory to Hazel, and it seems her final plan really is to have the world so divided and ruined that when the gods are brought back to judge it they will deem Remnant a failure and destroy it and hopefully her with it. Hazel seems less than inclined to believe this story though, he still holds a damn hard grudge over his sister. Oz is getting nowhere so Oscar asks to be put back in the lead, and so he is just as Hazel is about to wallop them again. Oz is willing to trust him so he can earn Hazel’s trust in return. So he goes right ahead and tells the big guy Jinn’s name and that it’s how you summon her for one last question. Hazel seems mad that Oscar gave up the info so effortlessly after all that, but Oscar asserts that he’s not telling Salem. He’s telling Hazel, and letting him decide what to do with the knowledge and the chance to gain deeper knowledge still. Pretty rad strategy. Wouldn’t you know it though, Emerald is still listening outside the door and heard everything. She goes to tell Mercury, but he’s busy packing a duffel bag for a trip to Vacuo. Guess Salem doesn’t need him here right now so we’ll get to see him again in Volume 9 or 10. He’s less than convinced that they should try and use this behind the scenes knowledge to go against Salem, cuz if Hazel couldn’t do it then why would he change his tune now? And why would they risk their necks too? It’s not like Oz was telling the truth, right? Salem isn’t really gonna destroy the world! But the teens get another surprise lecture from Uncle Tyrian: Of course Salem plans to destroy Remnant!! You couldn’t tell from the start? Everything about her screams end of the world, and it is beautiful! And if you thought she’d do anything different then you must really be crazy... Bold worlds from a psychotic serial killer, but we already know he’s unhinged. Mercury doesn’t much like getting this rude awakening though, especially since Tyrian will be the one going with him to Vacuo. Merc and Em share one last sad look, but he’s made his bed and now he’s resigned to lie in it. Bye bye Mercury, see you after Emerald has probably switched sides and will have to face you as an enemy...

Speaking of ships soaring through the air, we go back to the Ace Ops and YJR heading for Monstra. Yang is protesting the bombing plan since Oscar is still inside, but Vine insists they can’t afford to wait and risk further death and destruction. Jaune offers a side plan, send the three inside Monstra ahead of the bombing squad to scope things out for them and try to rescue Oscar while they’re doing recon. Marrow is shocked that they’d be willing to go into the literal belly of the beast alone, but Yang asserts he’d do the same for one of his teammates if they were in this position, right? He doesn’t have an answer for that. Elm argues that trading their lives just for one other person is stupid, but amazingly it is Ren who objects. Oscar is their friend, and they will do whatever it takes for someone they care about like that. A real turnaround from his attitude of closing himself off emotionally, but I guess he’s realizing how ridiculous it sounds coming from other people? Harriet gets out of her seat to do what she does best and start talking down to someone as naïve and wrong. Feelings are stupid, the job is what matters. When you lose someone you just replace them and forget about them. We find out that Winter is indeed meant to be the new leader instead of Clover, and before Marrow there was apparently a member of the team named Tortuga, but Ren is not about to let anyone tell him that someone is replaceable. You don’t say that to Team JNPR, and we definitely don’t say that about Ren... Not now. In his outrage, Ren suddenly finds... clarity. He starts seeing the world a little differently. In less cryptic terms, his Semblance seems to have evolved and he now sees people’s emotions swirling around them as colorful bursts of flower petals. Harriet is actually furious about losing Clover, she’s lying to herself and trying to suppress her feelings. She does not like being called out like that, but the rest of the squad needs to be put on blast. As opposed to Hare’s red petals Marrow is surrounded by blue that I guess would mean sadness or depression, Elm has orange and some red, and Vine is clouded with green. The meanings of the last two are a little less clear, but they’re all definitely feeling some strong things that they’re trying to hide under a calm façade. This is the reason the Ace Ops lost to RWBY, they’re all held back by trying not to connect with each other so unity and team bonds never formed. Elm does not like being told she’s a loser because she won’t make friends, but at least it’s a a reaction, which means he’s absolutely right. She’s about to deck Ren in the face but Winter steps in to get everyone calmed down. She looks these three “fugitives” over, and makes a decision. She’s going to trust her sister’s friends. They will get the teens in close and give them a small window of time to try and get in and out before the Ace Ops need to bring in the payload and blow it all away. Harriet is pissed Winter is giving these “traitors” a chance, and questions her decision thusly. But you’re outranked, you boob, and you can’t do a damn thing to stop her from showing human decency. They have a very tight schedule to attempt this rescue, and Jaune accepts that fully. The three get uncuffed and are given their weapons back as the ship lands at the front lines. Ren tries to appeal to the doubt and regret he can see in Marrow to get him to switch sides while the getting’s good. Marrow wants to, but he sticks to the job for now. Yang and Jaune head out first, while Ren lingers to tell Winter he knows she doesn’t want to be a part of all this anymore either, and we see a rainbow of many emotional petals around her head. Either she has a balance of many emotions in check and is the most levelheaded of the Ace Ops, or she has the most emotions repressed and her mind is a tempest of feelings that aren’t being addressed and may spell her end... take your pick.

As this militant Schnee considers her options, we go homeward to see Weiss and the others heading for the front door. May isn’t keen to stay her any longer than needed, and the kids need to make a choice about where she’s dropping them off. Either they go to the front lines here in Atlas or back down to Mantle to help with the chaos there. No other options, and especially no breaking their jailbirds out for an assist. May doesn’t have the optimism and heroic hope that Ruby still holds dear, she won’t entertain the idea that this can become a complete victory all around. This isn’t that kind of world. Either they help one place, or they help another. And even then, that’s no guarantee wherever they go will be successful at stopping the invasion. It’s very depressing, and it’s on these kids to accept the facts and make the hard decisions. If you take a look at the last few Volumes, Ruby does seem to have a bit of a habit of ignoring the dreadful possibilities/facts in favor of pursuing a hopeful and bold plan that could fix everything immediately so she doesn’t have to cope with reality and actually grieve her mistakes and losses... I’m not saying it makes her a bad character or that she’s wholly wrong for trying to see a bright side whenever possible, just that this is an unhealthy strategy for a leader with so much on her shoulders. But before anyone has time to make a decision right now, there’s a hard knock on the front door. Everyone draws their weapons and approaches slowly, before Weiss cautiously opens the door. In a most definitely welcome surprise, she is greeted by Klein!!! She missed him dearly, and apologizes for whatever fault she had in his being fired, but while cycling through personalities he assures her she has nothing to be sorry for since it’s all Jacques’ fault, the bastard. Turns out, Klein is here to use his medical knowledge to treat Nora. What, didn’t you know all butlers to heroic millionaires have field medic training? Alfred Pennyworth set the gold standard, I dare say~ But of course, Weiss didn’t call him and none of her friends know his number so who told him to come?... Would you believe it, Whitley is responsible and we could not be more proud of him! Weiss certainly is, and she gives him what might be his first genuinely loving hug in years. Klein heads upstairs to begin treatment, while the rest of the group share a hopeful moment. But this silence too comes to a crashing halt as there is further ruckus outside. This time Ruby answers the door, to see a smoking crater in the front driveway. RWB rush outside and kneel at the edge of the crater as the smoke clears. Penny has crash landed, and lies there in a pool of what we can only presume to be her green synthetic blood. All she has the strength left to do is apologize before she passes out and the screen darkens with her. There lies the end for the next 6 weeks, and we were left to panic and speculate all the while. Too bad I’m a lazy bugger who only got this review out now and there’s no tension left before the thrilling continuation comes tomorrow morning. So lets all get one last panicked sleep in before the living nightmares come for our girls! Penny is totally gonna be under Watt’s control, the Hound is coming, it’s all gonna be a huge damn mess... Can’t wait, can you?~

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kob131 · 4 years

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Okay I have to say this, dude you points about Vexed were fine for the first half, but the second part is where your argument falls apart. You either pull points he didn't say out of your ass or you fail to pay attention to what he is saying. He came up with counterpoints against Ren's argument, and despite this Ren is the only one who has a point, Yang fails to make any at all and getting mad at him when she poked that bear, morphing into Blake's Cocksleeve aside. (1/2)

I would say this isn't about his ego and more about RT's ego (which sorely needs to be brought down to earth). I'm willing to admit I'm frustrated over this, because I fail to see how Yang even has a point, when she was part of why this whole thing fucked up. My concern for the future is that they're going to treat RWBY (and friends) like they did nothing wrong in Volume 8, despite the fact Weiss treated Whitley like shit when he just stood there and was told that was a bad idea by her mom (2/2)

‘He came up with counterpoints against Ren’s argument-’

...

“Basically Vexed proceeds to list EVERY SINGLE COUNTERPOINT I HAVE GIVEN...then proceeds to act as though this is all somehow a debunking of this point that Ren supposedly had.”

What did you think this was referring to? The points about the Huntsmen are all things I brought up except applied as a whole instead of to just the relevant adults. ‘

You either pull points he didn't say out of your ass or you fail to pay attention to what he is saying.

And what points or attention are you referring to? Because the Ren one doesn’t work because I DIRECTLY pointed it out and that’s the ONLY example you have here. In fact, listen to what Vexed says and what I typed- I often used his EXACT words and phrasing. ANd the places I’d see as not taking what he said directly are located in the first half of the piece so I have no idea what you are referring to.

Yang fails to make any at all and getting mad at him when she poked that bear, morphing into Blake's Cocksleeve aside.

... You do know when people say stuff like this to me, it’s more a demonstration of bias to me than anything.

I'm willing to admit I'm frustrated over this, because I fail to see how Yang even has a point, when she was part of why this whole thing fucked up

I never argued a case for Yang being right, just that Vexed’s biased bullshit wasn’t functional. I dunno why this is here or the other Yang comment.

For the sake of conversation, I’ll bring up a point I cut out of the post-

If they did nothing (from Volume 4+), Haven gets fucked since that would also include Blake (and even if she fought, she’d get overwhlemed by Salem’s forces), Raven scampers off with the Relic since no one is around to call her out (even assuming Qrow and Oscar are there- Hazel can make them both into literal meatbags. He was doing it before Nora tossed him through a wall) the conflict with Robyn in Atlas would just get worse since no one is around to give her any info thus any reason to trust Ironwood, a civil war likely breaks out due to the conflict, a FUCKTON more people die due to the cold, less resources, Robyn and the Happy Huntresses likely NOT helping out and more chances for the Grimm to gore people. Among other things.

Not doing something is literally the worst option in any given step of the journey. From Volume 2 with searching for Torchwick to Volume 3 helping people survive to Volume 4 traveling to Haven to Volume 5 preventing Haven from gettung fucked to Volume 6 preventing the Relic from getting scooped up to Volume 7 preventing Ironwood from causing a civil war and helping him out- At no point in this journey would not doing anything be a good, acceptable or even tolerable idea.

This combined with the fact that She along with everyone aside from JNR already went through this ‘give up, we’re in over our heads’ deal with the Apathy (and that would have just gotten them killed and rendered all their efforts pointless if not for Ruby, the one person who DIDN’T give up) makes it clear why Yang would feel this way. Again, something I pointed out in the post.

My concern for the future is that they're going to treat RWBY (and friends) like they did nothing wrong in Volume 8, despite the fact Weiss treated Whitley like shit when he just stood there and was told that was a bad idea by her mom

You just gotta wait and see. That’s all I can give.

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silveranjyil · 4 years

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It’s not about Right or Wrong

The biggest raging debate in the RWBY community is: who is right? The lines are clearly split between team RWBY and co, and Ironwood, with many feeling that RWBY is being wrong and hypocritical. It is amazing to see that people are missing the point.

Neither are wrong or right. They are both being human—and actually, team RWBY is being more human that Ironwood right now. This is on par with Magneto and Professor X from X-men. Their goals are the same, but they are following vastly different paths towards that goal and their ideals are completely different based on their own experiences.

I have done a whole expo on Ironwood and I don’t think I need to add to that. But I do want to look at RWBY’s perspective in this.

One thing that has been established is that team RWBY and the others are in the same boat as Ozpin: they want to protect the PEOPLE, and not just a few. They have come to view life as precious and are not willing to throw it aside as the only way. A lot of people cite the Apathy messing with their reaction to Jinn’s reveal of the truth, but they were too far from the farm town for that to happen just yet. Their reactions were genuine—and human, but they did not let their emotions completely destroy their belief in saving people. That was why they all signed up to be hunters and huntress: to make the world better.

All of them have had their trust shattered and faced betrayal by people very dear to them, or by people whom they never would have expected. Ruby saw a supposed huntress-in-training destroy her home, unleash Grimm all over Beacon, and kill one of her friends in cold blood. Yang’s mother abandoned her, and later sided with the bad guys to get the relic, and Blake did abandon her at one point (seems like they are still working through that). Poor Blake has been betrayed by her lover and her best friend. Qrow’s experiences are probably uncountable, but his sister was probably a big one. The biggest one we have for team JNPR is Pyrrha’s death, caused by same reasons and Ozpin. So to call them children, or naïve, is a disservice to what they have already endured up to this point. They are still learning, bu they are no longer children, nor are they naïve.

The headmaster at Haven was the final straw to break any illusions in that. They trusted him, as did Qrow, up until things started falling into place. By the time they get to Atlas, face off with a pompous official, and nearly die a few times, they get it. The world is not perfect, it isn’t a fairy tail, and they can not trust everyone. But they want to. They really want to trust Ironwood, to have someone with experience in being an authority take the reigns and let them have a break.

When the team arrive in Atlas, they discover that there is a military-enforced curfew. People are afraid, hungry, miserable, and restless. That would be my FIRST red flag that something is not right with the person in charge. If you want to know what kind of person you are dealing with, look at the people around them and the consequence of their actions. Ironwood said he wanted to help protect the people, but how was he SHOWING that?

What makes things even more conflicting is that Ruby and Yang remember the General as someone who supported them and encouraged them: he praised Ruby during Dance Dance, somewhat tried to listen to Yang after her encounter in V3 and even sent her a new arm. But the town was not how it should be, even Weiss commented on how this “wasn’t right.” In other words, it had never been like this before. The people had freedom to move around and no curfew, no binge drinking in the streets, etc. How is this protecting the people?

Ironwood greets them as a host—but it seems off. Him hugging Qrow, for one. Qrow and he were always at each other’s throats for differences of opinions. I admit, he probably was glad to see a familiar face, but…

In any case, Ironwood gave them a LOT of things. Made them official hunters and huntresses, top of the line training grounds, returning the lamp to them. He assigns them to his Right-hand Yes-men, not to earn trust, but to sway them. The Ace-Corps is always talking about how they need to follow orders, that emotional connections and such are unnecessary, etc. Did you see the reaction from RWBY and team? Winter is also in on this as well, but we see this mostly with Penny. Weiss has already heard all this before during her training to control her semblance, after all. Ironwood was a wonderful host who was trying to lure them into his side with “gifts of gold and jewels”. But he would never listen to them. He would not consider their ideas, opinions or fears, and the people were still suffering. And THEN they meet Robin, who gives them a little bit more of the picture. Why isn’t the wall being repaired to protect the people? Why all the secrecy? They kind of understand, but things are not adding up.

You see, a long time ago, in Volume 3, Ironwood gave them a choice. Fight to protect your school, or protect yourselves. The teams are starting to see that Ironwood is leaning more to the latter, and it bothers them. We are seeing a dynamic clash of perspectives here, and Ren acts as the gateway to show how both sides could be right.

But here is the thing. Here is where we talk about why it isn’t about right or wrong, but about being human. In Volume 3, Ozpin shows both remorse and apprehension about utilizing Pyrrha as a guinea pig to possibly save the powers of the Maiden from the corrupt hands of Cinder. He weighs everything meticulously, admits to his faults, and you can see the burden of time on him.

Ruby and her teammates also show this same heavy burden. They are conflicted about the hard choices they have to make, talking to each other and trying to figure it out. They don’t try to justify it, either. They WANT to trust and tell him, but experience has been a cruel teacher to them. Weiss and Penny show true human feelings about what the plan is for the Winter Maiden, especially Penny. They have always recognized and felt that just because it was logical did not make it the best path, or even the right path. They questioned it, but they were always shut down.

Ironwood has no qualms about this. He does not show remorse, he does not show apprehension. He had walled up his heart a long time ago. He says do it and he expects his soldiers to comply. And none of them can speak up against him, despite their feelings. They try to crush their own emotions as well. 1 death? 1000 deaths? The general ordered it, so be it. They have fallen to the mantra of “the greater good”. What is really interesting is, in a real world sense, there have been some studies that suggest that emotions are CRITICAL in making logical decisions. Too much logic and reason without the support of emotion tends to make things worse, actually. Spock was proven wrong many times in Star Trek, despite his “logic”, and this was also explored in that movie “I Robot” where the Robot logically chose Smith over the little girl, even though emotionally and species-wise, the little girl would have been the more appropriate choice to save. I love how in this volume, they really outline how useless logic is without emotion, and they use Penny as a pillar for that exploration. Anyway...

People will say that Ruby should have told him earlier, before things got out of hand. Based on previous evidence in an earlier post, I can guarantee the result would not have been any different. He had already written off half the world. And the funny thing is, the only result would have been a brief window of safety for himself and maybe those closest to him. None of his actions would have saved the world or many people, only a select few.

As team RWBY began to understand this, see it play out, it was too late. He had already cut off most of Mantle and was preparing to sacrifice them. For the “greater good” of course. The fact that Ironwood had NO intention of talking to Robin in any way showed more of how untrustworthy he was. Robin was fighting for the people with the knowledge she had. She would have been an invaluable ally to them and would have been able to help in managing the people and the resources. But Ironwood knew that he would never be able to control her. She would question his authority. He can not have that. That is why Yang and Blake disobeyed him. They had presented this possibility, and he had shot them down like a bullet train. He was keeping his secrets until HE was ready to release them. Any loss of control was unacceptable to him.

If it hadn’t been for Penny, Winter or Cinder would have gotten the powers. Winter would have been nothing but a puppet for Ironwood and would eventually be responsible for more deaths under his watch. We already know what Cinder would do.

I will be honest. Had I been in Team RWBY’s shoes, I would have done the same thing. I wouldn’t have told him until he proved that he was trustworthy. Kicking the people down like he had been doing since before we came would make me less likely to trust him. The fact that he could have had a very good ally, but he wouldn’t accept it at all would also make me hesitate. Anyone giving me all this good stuff--upgrades, licenses, etc—for almost no reason would make me question their motives.

But RWBY not telling Ironwood is no worse than him not telling him many things. He did not share all of his plans, only the highlights. Enough to keep them content. We all have to be mindful of the words we say and to whom we tell them to. And RWBY technically did not lie to Ironwood. It was a small scene, but the point where Nora and Ruby were discussing the possibility that she might be killable in another sense from Ozpin’s question means that they haven’t lost hope yet. They believe that they will find a way, somehow, but they do not know where to start. There is also the fact that they know Ozpin has been fighting this for a long time, and somewhere in his past he might have tried some of these things. If he isn’t doing that now, it was probably for a reason. Team RWBY are not as dumb as people would like them to be, and they are being cautious, which is a necessity in these situations.

If they had come out and said that they would do everything they could to kill Salem, etc—THAT might be lying, but they didn’t. They just asked how they could help him.

Fear is a cruel master. Team RWBY have worked through some of their fears, and part of that was probably thanks to the Apathy that magnified their emotions and doubts. Ironwood has allowed his fears to consume him.

And by the way, Ironwood did mention how sometimes certain things still held you from long ago during his pep-talk with Yang after she was framed for busting Mercury’s legs. Something tells me that was a precursor for this as well.

Anyway, those are my thoughts on that.

#rwby #volume7 #rightorwrong #ironwood #finale #secrets #human

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toooldforfandom-liveblogs · 4 years

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RWBY V07E13 - The Enemy of Trust

I can't remember the last time I've felt so reluctant to watch an episode of RWBY. There's no way they'll turn _everything_ around in 20 minutes so no happy ending this season. Who knows who's going to die this episode to satiate RT's thirst for blood and drama.

The other reason I'm not sure I want to watch this episode is that the big moment of last episode fell so flat for me that I fear it'll manage to disappoint me again and this time there'll be no next episode to give me hope for a good ending.

But, the liveblog must go on, and there's still hope in me that even if it's not a happy season ending it's going be a good one.

Last episode ended with:

Clover dead and Qrow and Robyn either about to escape or about to get arrested.

Ruby and Weiss about to go find Winter and Penny

Blake and Yang about to go find JNPR

JNPR about to fight Neo

Cinder about to fight Winter and Penny, with the Winter Maiden in a pod.

Is the Winter Maiden going to die? Who's going to get her powers? Winter? How many minutes into the episode before Pietro dies? Yang vs Neo rematch? How is Ironwood going to be stopped if he's stopped at all? Is Salem going to appear at the last possible second with her flying monkeys?

I don't know so let's do this!

Ooh, there's the aura projection he was supposed to learn this volume. Not as spectacular as I hoped but still works.

This makes me have a ton of questions about how her semblance works. How did she escape Oscar's grasp to make that illusion? Was Neo an illusion the entire time? How resilient they are in that case? She very noticeably didn't get hit at all until now.

Poor Oscar, it's been a long day for him.

I'm trying to figure out if Neo could have disguised herself as someone else in JNPR but the moments they leave the screen don't match with Neo's dissapeareance. I guess she could have been the guard but still, weird.

high poly birds, the true advantage of the new cg engine

Hints to Cinder's backstory?

It's fun to see Penny finally have a match considering she's been a powerhouse the entire season. She _has_ to be disabled in some way though if Pietro's death flags are going to get triggered this season at all and I'm not looking forward to that.

I have no idea when this fight turned into Matrix Revolutions but I'm not complaining.

I'd be more worried about Winter but I'm sure she can summon _something_ to survive.

That's even cooler than whatever I had imagined.

_this_ is what I expected from V5's fight between maidens, and Winter is not even a maiden yet.

Welp, now I'm worried.

Cinder's becoming an expert in that move. Hurt someone, run while they are worried about their "friends"

"but it does to me"

That's even better. Penny has grown so much

Maybe carry the child WITH THE RELIC instead of leaving him off ready to be picked off by either Neo or the soldiers.

Yeah, that's Neo. That expression is too sassy to be Nora.

This must have been so much fun to animate.

Of _course_ she'd use her powers in this way. I hoped she'd turn into Pyrrha at some point but this works just as well.

Ren seems to have realized something. I hope it's more "I care more about Nora than I realized" and less "feelings are a weakness"

I'm loving Neo this episode, she's mute and tiny but that doesn't mean anything when she's smart enough to manipulate everyone around her.

Huh. Interesting. It still could be the "feelings are a weakness" thing and he's crying because he knows what he needs to give up but I'm still holding hope for the other choice and he just feels bad about not being able to recognize the real Nora and everything he's been doing this season.

Her movements are so delicate.

Holy shit. This is the first maiden with a lifetime of experience, Cinder has no chance unless her old age becomes an impediment.

oh no no no

LOL at Winter apparently floating, bad layering there.

Is she blaming herself for not completing the job or worried about Penny? After the whole "I don't matter" thing I'm not sure.

Sure, yell at the one person who's never going to yell back.

I feel this siege is going to be Ren's last chance to decide what he's doing with his life and his friends.

...he's going to go find Ironwood. There's no way _that_ ends well so rip.

Okay, this alleviates my "this is murder" concerns from last episode. She was fully aware of what she needed to do and the sacrifice that it entailed. This line however makes me wonder if she remembers Winter at all.

This _reaaally_ feels like she's going to give Penny her powers, but Cinder is probably just close enough to avoid that. What happens if Penny gets her powers and then someone destroys her? Would she keep her powers if Pietro revives her?

The ultimate "things I want to do vs things I need to do" question for Penny.

WHAT THE FUCK

I was joking when I said RIP a couple of screenshots ago, why would you take me seriously!

I'm just slightly disappointed by Ironwood. So far, even in the throes of his paranoia, he had mostly held back, using "legal" means to do what he needed to do. But there's no way to justify shooting Oscar, an _unarmed_ child. This moves him firmly from well-intentioned idiot to a minor evil just below Salem, just like Oscar said. In fact he's more dangerous than Salem right now because he's already there.

Who gave Cinder's VA voice acting lessons? Whoever it was, they deserve a trophy. That break while screaming, just perfect

I didn't want Penny to absorb her powers because that'd mean she's going to be irrevocably tied down, she's never going to be free. _But_, I didn't want Winter to become a maiden because Ironwood has completely lost his mind and unless she suddenly changes her mind about not following him to the ends of the earth that'd mean that Ironwood would have a relic _and_ a maiden.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

His semblance? Or is it _something_ powered by aura inside the cane?

And that's the end of "Ruby won't be able to use her silver eyes after what Salem said" theory.

...she looks much better with her hair down. And welp, first thing she does is think Weiss did something to deserve being on the run.

I didn't realize Cinder had hit Winter so hard she started to hallucinate. Sure, tell two healthy huntresses to surrender while being half dead.

This is going to _suck_ next season, she's probably going to fall into Ironwood's plans even more since she just lost everyone she cared about in Atlas.

My heart.

So, does Cinder think offering the relic up is going to be enough to get into Salem's good graces? How long before Neo tries to put a knife into her back?

IT'S A FLYING WHALE

IT CAN'T END LIKE THIS

---

That was a lot. First things first: I've never been so happy about being wrong, that was a _great_ finale. I'm not incredibly happy about it being such a cliffhanger but it works.

For full disclosure, I'm writing this review a couple of days after watching the episode since I was too tired to continue due to insomnia.

V7 is probably RWBY’s best executed most coherent volume so far. It’s also probably in the bottom half of the list of my “favorite” volumes.

When I say coherent I mean how every single character and action has been laser focused in justifying Ozpin’s monologue at the end. Everything important everyone did has been because of Fear. Overcoming fear, falling to it or causing it. Ren’s try at being a fash, Yang and Blake’s “betrayal,” Ironwood’s (and the council’s) whole thing, Penny’s acceptance of the Winter Maiden’s powers, Watts and Tyrian’s objective, Salem’s appearance and its effects in both Ironwood and Ruby, and a lot of other things I’m probably forgetting.

I don’t remember any other volume so focused in a single theme. Sure, they _have_ themes but V7 is relentless in making everything fit.

It has a great plot throughout that explores themes that have been teased but not fully explored in the past, with some interesting less than black and white issues and a ton of threads that converge mostly gracefully by the end. It’s not RWBY’s most ambitious season, I think V4 still has that distinction, but it’s probably second place _and_ it accomplishes what it wants and almost everything it does better than any other season before.

And for as much as I don’t find the fights interesting, they are _really good_, I think there’s not a single one this volume where I’d be able to complain about the issues that bothered me in past seasons. They are interesting to watch, with creative uses of everyone’s abilities and great choreography and cinematography.

So, on paper I should love it. It’s a _great_ season. But I don’t.

I think that my main issue with V7 is that it’s too real. I distinctly remember feeling weird watching it after everything that happened in my country, the social unrest due to the inequality that reigns supreme.

It was weird living through that, with the military on the streets trying to repress and contain what had been festering for years, _and_ watching a show where something similar was going on but with what felt like sympathetic authority figures. It probably did a good job at that but by the end I wasn’t interested in giving them sympathy, killing most of the emotional weight of the climax.

It doesn’t help that there are very few moments where Mantle’s problems are shown directly on screen. They talk, rant and cry about it but it’s always people unaffected by what’s going on discussing what to do. Even Robyn, who’s supposed to be the voice of the people, feels detached from the people she’s supposed to represent since she has no personal motivations. And when the people of Mantle are shown, it’s mostly after Tyrian’s attacks so it feels like the early episodes are trying to make us feel bad about Mantle but not _too_ bad because it’d cast Ironwood into too much of a bad light.

Brooklyn 99’s quote of “cool motive, still murder” describes Ironwood’s (and Atlas’s) entire plot line for me, and since _everything_ is tied to that it leaves me without much to like.

That’s not to say I hated it, I enjoyed it moment to moment as my liveblogs can attest but the end result is not something I’d like to rewatch unlike other volumes.

The cliffhanger worries me. Or more specifically, _when_ they decided to finish the season worries me. If the cliffhanger had been after Ironwood had raised Atlas his fall would have been definite but since he hasn’t done that yet there’s still a chance he won’t do it. It feels like the writers weren’t sure how far they wanted to take him and decided to postpone making that decision as long as possible (even if him getting redeemed would be incredibly weird after trying to kill Oscar, Ozpin’s speech aside).

Worries aside, I have high hopes for V8 if only because this season was so good besides its particular topic that if they keep that level of quality I'm bound to like it, especially if it doesn't try to redeem the Atlesian military.

I think that's all for now, until next time!

#rwby #rwby liveblog #rwby v07e13

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willofhounds · 5 years

Text

Storm that shakes the pine ch1

A/N yes I know I have a lot of fics to finish but I couldn't help myself. If you dont like m/m go elsewhere. If you dont like soulmates go away. For the rest of you enjoy the story.

Once the reincarnation happens they will be called by their new names. Not by their old.

:thoughts:

"Speaking"

Ozpin's POV

Oscar's body was barely holding itself together. Around them lay their comrades and Salem who was finally dead. Three years in the new reincarnation and they had finally done it.

A tinge of guilt and sadness went through him. This was his fault. If he never returned to the world he this wouldn't have happened. Salem would have stayed a lone witch in the forest.

As his green brown eyes swept over the field he saw Ruby Rose. His brave silver eyed warrior had been the one to defeat Salem.

With the help of Maria Calavera she mastered the powers of her eyes. In the end Jinn had been right. Ozpin and Oscar fighting together in harmony were unable to kill Salem. Their shared body sustained mortal injuries. It was a testament to their sheer willpower that they stayed standing.

All of his friends and colleagues lay dying now. Just when they had saved the world from Salem they weren't going to see it rebuild itself.

Oscar he could tell was tired of war. The war had burdened them all. Oscar being as young as he was got hit the hardest. He was just a boy who was pulled from everything he knew into a war he never wanted to fight.

Ozpin guided Oscar. Trained him mentally and physically. There was only so much one could prepare. Watching ones friends die wasn't something he could prepare Oscar for.

:Oz... it's not your fault. We did all we could was fight our hardest. We won...: came Oscar's tired voice.

Ozpin answered as his own exhaustion coming out, :I only wish I could have done more. We've lost our friends.:

:Oz...:

There wasn't a chance to respond to Oscar. The four relics began to shine their power enveloped them. All of his aches and pains receded.

Ozpin blinked. The world around them whited out. A familiar setting was before him. A golden dragon floated above him.

It took Ozpin several seconds to realize he looked like Ozpin before he was Oscar. Looking around he saw Oscsr. For the first time in thousands of years he was alone in his head.

Ruby and the others also stood around the dragon. As the God of Light he would be able to bring their souls to him. Just as he had done with Ozma.

Ruby asked carefully, "Are you the God of Light? Why are we here?"

The God rumbled as it looked at each of them, "Each of you have played a pivotal role in bringing down Salem. You have overcome your shortcomings and put aside your differences. Some of you even learned from mistakes of the past to get where you are now."

Ozpin flinched. That last part was meant for him. It was his actions that led Salem here.

God of Light continued, "Each of you have earned the right to either go on to the after life. Or to go onto another world where you will be reborn. Things will be different in this world than what you know. No creatures of Grim as you call them. Magic is born into some souls but not others. As a gift those that choose to go to this world will be given magic."

Oscar questioned softly, "What about me? My soul is intertwined is intertwined with Ozpin's."

"That is up to you. Should you both go on to the new world you will not be the same person."

Relief flooded them both. The last thing they wanted was to forever be connected to each other again. Ozpin knew what a burden it was. He didnt want to be such a burden upon the boy again. Let him live his own life without the threats of war and death.

This was a second chance for him to do good. Good without having causing the evil.

Ozpin declared, "I will go on to this new world."

"As will I," came from Qrow.

"You're not getting rid of me that easy, Ozpin," from James.

"I want to see this new world," Ruby.

The God of Light rumbled once more, "Despite you all leaving this world at the same time; not all of you will not enter the next at the same time. Ages and lives will vary but you will all find your own path. Never forget the bonds you have forged. They will serve you well.

White lights surrounded them accepting their choices. Yang was the next to speak, "I'm sorry Ruby but I will not be going with you. I'm tired of the war and fighting. All I want is peace."

They didnt get to hear what anyone else said. The God of Light sent them on.

In the end Ozpin was reborn as Newton Fido Artemis Scammander. He was the second son of the Scammander family.

The Scammander family was a Dark family. His magic was naturally dark as it came from blood first then what was practiced second. Even if Newt was to practice light magic his magic would never be any lighter than dark neutral.

His parents were not what he had grown to expect of the dark. They were gentle with him. There wasn't an ounce of hatred in their eyes.

Newt's biggest struggle though was accepting help. It had been thousands of years since he was so vulnerable. In his previous reincarnations they were all at least 12 or older. They were able to take care of themselves.

Along with accepting his parents help he had a brother five years older than himself. Theseus Scammander was an intelligent boy if his parents were to be believed. They treated him like he was a genius.

When they first came face to f eyes were familiar. Three years of seeing that when he looked in the mirror made them hard to forget.

They were Oscar's eyes. His own eyes were green with a hint of an amber swirl. Both of them groaned internally. The God of Light had a sick sense of humor.

When Theseus turned seven he did something unexpected. Newt was watching from one of the chairs as he unlocked his aura.

Theseus's aura was a dark green. No longer the light green that they had grown used to. The look on his brother's face was comical. It was the final proof that their souls were no longer fully connected. That their destinies intertwined but not overlapping.

Not two months after that Theseus got his soulmate mark. It was that of a raven taking flight. His brother was excited and so were their parents.

Powerful families had the crest of the raven. His parents offered to help Theseus with the search but his brother only shook his head. He would find his soulmate on his own.

The years passed until Newt was five. One day he was out in the gardens and a small green twig like creature moved down the tree he was laying against. From the children books he was allowed to read he knew it was a bowtruckle.

Normally a shy creature it came to rest on his shoulder. With a fascination that he had not felt in a long he began to play with the bowtruckle. Through trial and error he found out that they had their own language. It was through clicks.

With its helps he was able to meet the other bowtruckles in tree. Unlike the one on his shoulder they were more suspicious of him. Earning their trust took weeks but eventually they accepted him.

On Theseus's eleventh birthday they went to Diagon Alley. He got his Hogwarts letter. As Newt would find out every magical child in Britain got this letter. One day Newt would too.

It was in one of the lesser shops that Newt found his cane. It seemed that even in a new world he would never escape the past fully. At first his parents didnt want to buy it since it was Theseus's birthday.

At Theseus's insistence however they got it. As with all his previous lives it felt right in his hands; though to small to wield it properly. Theseus watched over him as he began to practice movements that were second nature once.

By the time he was seven Theseus was a second year in Hogwarts. His own soulmate mark had appeared. It was a circle in a triangle with a line through the middle. The symbol he recognized through his books. It was that of the Deathly Hallows.

Who his soulmate was he didn't know. What he did know was that they would be searching for the Hallows. Most believed it was just a fairy tale. Newt knew that every had some truth to it. Wherever the Hallows were he would avoid them. He had no interest in soulmates.

So he hid his mark with long sleeved shirts or a bracelet. If no one saw it then there was a lesser chance that he would find whoever his soulmate was.

He had learned that dark, light, and neutral magic weren't evil or good. It wasn't like Remnant were dark magic was evil. A lot of it depended on the wizard's intentions.

This made accepting his heritage easier. Having seen what the darkness had done to Salem he at first was wary of it. Now he knew as long as his intentions were true then he would not be consumed by the dark. That was what would push him forward.

The main event in his seventh year of life was unlocking his aura. He remembered the power and sense of duty it gave him every time he had unlocked it. The oath every huntsman had made. This would be his final time making it.

Inside the library away from prying eyes he said, "For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all, infinite in distance and unbound by death," his heart pounded in his chest. Something in him gave away at the words and a new feeling of duty filled him, "I release your soul, and by my shoulder protect thee."

A familiar light green light erupted from his chest. It flashed over his body exhausting his energy. His energy was the same level of a seven year old so he couldn't hold it for long.

This encouraged Newt to train every day. On the holidays when Theseus came back he was surprised when his brother offered to train with him. Theseus had decided to be an auror the police of the magical world. He wanted to train both his body and magic for whatever was to come. Newt obliged.

Spars were immensely difficult for the younger Scammander. He was smaller and lighter than his brother. His reflexes slower than he would have liked. Giving up wasnt in him and he pushed through working the old memories into muscle memory. His aura growing stronger with each passing day.

Along with reading and retraining his magic there was little time for idleness. What little time he did find was spent with the creatures. The creatures watched him as he worked through his training. Slowly but surely warming up to him.

From Hippogryffs to bowtruckles all creatures of his home accepted him. In turn he accepted them. They were beings to be cherished.

Finally his eleventh birthday came and he like his brother. Theseus was entering his sixth year and still had not found his soulmate. Not unusual by any means but it discouraged him.

Newt knew that Theseus would find the one meant for him. As long as they lived he would search. Newt would look for the mark that matched it.

September 1st rolled around and Newt felt excitement. He was curious to see what was learned in the schools here.

#rwby #reincarnation fic #grindelnewt #gellert grindelwald #fbwtft #fbtcog #newt scamander #ozpin #qrow branwen #raven branwen #ruby rose #blake bellodona #fanfiction

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