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aspoonofsugar · 3 years

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What is your opinion about the Maidens in RWBY and their importance?

Hello anon!

I like the Maidens and especially how they explore two main ideas:

1) The concept of cycles and generations.

2) The trope of the chosen one.

THE CYCLE OF SEASONS

I think it is clear Ozpin created the Maidens partly because he wanted guardians and partly as a way to grieve his four daughters. He has symbolically dragged them into the cycle with him and Salem.

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:

At the same time, the idea of an older woman passing the torch to a younger one can be easily read as a metaphor for a mother-daughter dynamic. This is not always the case, but so far this interpretation is important for two of our four Maidens:

Penny receiving the Maiden’s powers from Fria is important on multiple levels and it plays on Penny alluding to Pinocchio. Fria (The Blue Fairy) recognizes Penny as a real girl, something she has been struggling with since the beginning:

Penny: Ruby... I'm not a real girl.

And is still struggling with:

Cinder: I don’t serve anyone. And you wouldn’t either, if you were built that way.

That said, Penny is not only struggling with enemies that consider her a robot, but also with the (understandable) overprotectiveness of people who love her:

Pietro: I lost you before. Are you asking me to go through that again? No. No. I want the chance to watch you live your life.

Penny: But dad… I am trying to.

She is not only a robot, who wants to prove she is a real girl, but also a daughter, who wants to grow into her own person.

This idea is made even stronger by Penny having been “created” through Pietro’s aura. She is a part of Pietro becoming someone completely different and independent from him. Still, isn’t it what all children are?

Raven is instead Penny’s opposite since she is not a daughter, but a mother. Not only that, but she is a mother, who fails three times.

She fails her biological daughter Yang by abandoning her and putting her in danger.

She fails Vernal, who dies for her.

She fails the previous Spring Maiden, who clearly looked up to her and was betrayed:

Cinder: Vernal was a decoy the whole time. The last Spring Maiden must've trusted you a great deal before she died. I bet that was a mistake...

This is well conveyed by Raven’s case being the opposite of what should ideally happen. Normally an older Maiden should pass her power to a younger girl, so that the cycle keeps going and that a new generation can keep fighting for good. However, Raven steals the powers of the Maiden for herself, just like she uses her shape-shifting ability for selfish objectives:

Ozpin: Everyone has a choice. The Branwens chose to accept their powers and the responsibilities that came with them. And later, one of them chose to abandon her duties in favor of her own self-interest.

She presents herself as a mentor for young women, but in the end she is a failure because she is too self-centered.

In conclusion, Rwby is both a coming of age story and a story that deals with cycles. Let’s think about the many abusive cycles in the story or the damaging cycles present in society, for example. All these cycles need to be broken and I would not be surprised if this will be the case for the cycle of the Maidens as well.

THE CHOSEN ONES

Up until now, the person who should be a Maiden never becomes one.

a) Pyrrha was destined to be the Fall Maiden, but Cinder stole the power.

b) Vernal is foreshadowed to be the Spring Maiden, but Raven turns out to be the real one.

c) Winter has been preparing herself to inherit the Winter’s Maiden’s role, but Penny is the one chosen by Fria.

Why is that so?

The story is clearly playing with the idea of the “chosen one” and asking some questions.

Are people chosen by destiny:

Cinder: It’s unfortunate you were promised a power that was never truly yours.

Or do they choose it?

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.

What if the chosen person is the wrong one?

Lionheart: She was determined, at first, when she inherited her powers, but the weight of responsibility proved to be too much for the child. She... ran. Abandoned her training, everyone. That was over a decade ago. There's no telling where she could be now.

Finally, is it even right to choose a person?

Weiss: Doesn't it bother you? He practically groomed your entire military career.

Winter: It did at first, when the General first proposed it to me. But the more I thought about it, the more I saw it as a privilege, a chance to do some real good for Atlas. For Remnant.

Weiss: But your destiny was chosen for you, without your input.

So far each Maiden has explored this concept in a different way. Moreover, the story has highlighted many problems with the method used by Ozpin and his allies to select their guardians.

First of all there is the machine used to transmit aura:

Ironwood: We've made... significant strides. And we believe we've found a way to capture it.

Qrow: Capture it and cram it into something else. (gestures to Pyrrha as she takes a second to realize what that means) Or in your case ...

Pyrrha: (to Ironwood) That's...

Ironwood: Classified.

Pyrrha: ... wrong!

This method has been presented in-universe as sketchy and unethical both for the person who is having her aura taken and for the person receiving it.

It is also interesting that this machine is basically the technological equivalent of the Grimm used by Salem and Cinder to steal the powers in the first place:

One is the product of destruction (The Brother’s Grimms), while the other is the result of creation (in-universe technology is linked to creation). However, they both do essentially the same thing. They steal another person’s aura and change the one absorbing it:

Raven: You turned yourself into a monster just for power.

Secondly, there is the fact that so far several Maidens have died or have been targeted in horrible ways.

Some of them were specifically attacked because young and less experienced than others, like Amber. Some others made their choice without truly understanding it, like the Spring Maiden. And some of them. like Pyrrha, were not even given all the elements to make an informed choice.

In short:

Hazel: You send children to their deaths for a cause that you know has no victory, no end!

It is true that Hazel is a hypocrite that feels anger for Ozpin sending students to their deaths only to be the one killing them. It is also true that he does not respect his sister’s choice:

Oscar: Did she know the risk of being a Huntress?

Hazel: She was only a child! She wasn't ready!!

Oscar: She made a choice! A choice to put others before herself! So do I.

However, the narrative harshly criticizes Ozpin for not giving people all the information, “the knowledge”, they need to make that choice:

Yang: There was so much you hadn't told us! How could you think that was okay?!

Finally, we arrive at the current volumes where we see how Ironwood has tried to control Penny, Winter and Fria aka all the three people involved in the passage of the Maidens powers...only to fail miserably.

And in this failure probably lies the true mistake which has been made over and over again. The whole point is that probably the whole cycle (thematically) can’t and should not be controlled to this extent:

Goodwitch: At first, the only thing that was certain was that the powers were specifically passed on to young women. But as time went on, it was discovered that the selection process was much more... intimate.

Pyrrha: ... Intimate?

Goodwitch: As we understand it now, when a Maiden dies, the one who is in her final thoughts is the first candidate to inherit her power.

The powers are passed from a person to another through emotions. It is not by chance that the last person in a Maiden’s mind is the one who gets the power. It is because the power is linked to emotions and to ties and you should not try to weaponize them.

MAIDENS AND RELICS

Finally each Maiden is clearly linked to the theme represented by her respective relic.

Pyrrha and Cinder are both linked to the idea of destiny and choosing. I have shared some thoughts on them here.

I would say that Cinder wants to be chosen. She wants to be special and to be given value. This is probably why she is serving Salem. It is because Salem has chosen her for an important role:

Salem: When I chose you as my vessel for the Maidens, I put my trust in you.

This is not positive. It is dehumanizing:

Salem: This game is not yours to win, Cinder, it’s mine. Just because you’re more valuable to me than a pawn, does not make you a player.

But Cinder sees this as a chance.

Pyrrha is instead a person, who chooses her own destiny:

Pyrrha: When I think of destiny, I don’t think of a predetermined fate you can’t escape. But rather… some sort of final goal, something you work towards your entire life.

In other words, Pyrrha has an active role in her own destiny, while Cinder so far has accepted it passively.

This might seem ironic because all in all Cinder has been a pretty active character. She was born as nothing and fought to free herself and to become more powerful. However, she is still leaving her own life in the hands of another person, who is specifically coded as an abusive mother-figure. It is probable that her arc will be about taking back the agency Salem is clearly stealing from her.

This might very well be why she is the Maiden of choice. It is because in the end she’ll make an active choice to get her own freedom back.

At the same time, Pyrrha being active in her choices still leads to her demise. This is because she represents a choice without knowledge, as I have stated in the meta linked above:

She had been explained only a fragment of the truth, while the whole point is that one should learn, meet creation and destruction and then make a choice. This is why we have yet to meet the relic of choice.

As a matter of fact it is clear that knowledge and choice are complementary, just like destruction and creation.

This is highlighted also by their respective relics. On one hand the Lamp offers knowledge of the past. On the other hand the Crown gives its user a vision of a future choice.

This is because one has to know the past to change the future:

Bartholomew Oobleck : History is important, gentlemen! If you can't learn from it... you're destined to repeat it.

In a sense, knowledge is the passive condition of choice, while choice is the active goal of knowledge.

This is why one needs both to contribute to the world in the most effective way possible. If one acts without knowledge they might make the wrong choice. At the same time, knowledge without choice is just passiveness, as shown in The Indecisive King fairy tale.

Too much knowledge might lead to indeciveness or even cynism. This is why Raven is the Spring Maiden. It is because she is Pyrrha’s opposite aka knowledge without choice:

Yang: Which is it, mom? Are you merciful, or are you a survivor? Did you let me walk into that trap because you knew I could handle it, or because it meant you could get what you wanted?!

Raven keeps making decisions only to run away from them immediately after. Knowledge did not make her braver, but just a coward.

Finally we arrive to Penny and the idea of creation.

I have mentioned Penny in the meta linked above:

Penny is an artificial human, a creation who was given life because her father loved her so much that he sacrificed a part of his aura for her… twice. She is at the centre of the theme of creation and it represents the good sides of it. She is a creation with a soul, a child, the fruit of parental love. It is because of the love she received that she is willing to protect creation.

Penny is at the centre of the theme of creation in two ways.

a) She is a child, who wants independence.

b) She is a good declination of technology.

On one hand children are new lives that join the world. They are the embodyment of creation.

On the other hand technology is an expression of human creation and a way humans have to change and influence reality.

Penny is both. She is Pietro’s girl and a robot with a soul:

Pietro: When the General first challenged us to find the next breakthrough in defense technology, most of my colleagues pursued more obvious choices. I was one of the few who believed in looking inward for inspiration.

Ruby: You wanted a protector with a soul.

Pietro: I did. And when General Ironwood saw her, he did too. Much to my surprise, the Penny Project was chosen over all the other proposals.

Ironwood choosing Pietro’s project over others is very interesting and ambiguous. Did he choose this project because at the time he understood the importance of “a protector with a soul”?

Probably consciously yes, but the way he has treated Penny since volume 2 suggests also something different. It suggests a desire of domination. The idea that putting a soul into a metallic body would make it easier to control it.

After all:

Ironwood: For the past few years, Atlas has been studying Aura from a more scientific standpoint; how it works, what's it made of, how it can be used. We've made... significant strides. And we believe we've found a way to capture it.

Each one of humanity’s gift has another side of itself. Knowledge can lead to fear and choice is linked to passivity/agency. When it comes to creation, this gift brings with itself the temptation of control.

Why shouldn’t a creator “own” theis creation? Why shouldn’t they be entitled to it? Why should they share it with the rest of the world?

If one looks at Ironwood, at Atlas and at the other protagonists of this volume this way, a lot of things resonate.

Atlas is the most technological advanced kingdom, but instead of sharing its resources it closes off. Ironwood’s embargo is just another declination of this same idea of losing control.

Similarly the Ace Ops and Winter are all repressing their emotions. They want perfect control over themselves. They are taught they should be like drones.

Technology itself is often misused by the characters. Technolofy should be like Penny. It should have humanity and a soul, but Ironwood likes it because he sees it as something logical that can be controlled (and of course he keeps losing control over it). Ironwood wants to become like he thinks Penny is aka a controllable soul. He fails to understand that Penny is special because she has her own free will.

Finally, this same desire of control is present also in familial relationship. It is not by chance that the Schnee Family is in Atlas. Weiss’s story has always been about exploring this specific idea of a family. A family, which is cold and controlling, just like ice. Weiss’s arc is about melting this ice, in herself first and now in others as well.

Technological control and the control of people. In short, the control over two aspects of creation. This is the the idea Atlas represents and this is why it is currently falling.

In short, the creation must be free and it is not by chance the world is in its current predicament because the Gods tried to control their creations with disastrous results.

CONCLUSION

These are my main thoughts on the Maidens so far. That said, they might chance since the story is far from over as the arcs of all the maidens we have met so far.

As a final note, I find interesting that so far none of our four protagonists is a Maiden. It is an interesting choice and I think that it lets the series make a good use of its ensemble cast.

That said, I wonder if our four protagonists will end up calling back the original Four Maidens instead.

The fairy tale is interesting on multiple levels.

In-universe, it is interesting because it tells us something about how Ozpin was probably inspired by the original Four Maidens to try to save the world again. Ozpin is inspired by four normal people, who are just trying their best to help others.

This is a recurring idea in Rwby and this might be why none of the four protagonists has been selected to be a Maiden yet.

If read as a stand-alone, the story is an interesting tale on how to overcome depression.

The story starts with the old man closed in his house and it shows how he progressively opens up until he himself is able to help others.

Winter is the one who teaches him how to work on his own interiority even when the world is cold.

Springs prepares the terrain for him to come out. It makes the garden more welcoming. It is like when a person has to find the right environment to open herself up.

Summer is the one who finally drags the man out and gives him energy.

Finally Fall is the one who makes the man realize he can now share his new found energy with others.

Theirs is a virtuous cycle and I would say it is very different of the tragic cycle that sees the current Maidens as protagonists. Who knows? Maybe it is about going back to that virtuosity.

Thank you for the ask!

#rwby #rwby meta #maidens #cinder fall #raven branwen #penny polendina #pyrrha nikos #asksfullofsugar #anonymous

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kitkatopinions · 3 years

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This is a vent post, but...

Sometimes with RWBY simps I just wanna shake ‘em by the shoulders and say “your interpretations and headcanons are not universal and you can’t yell at or scold people for not having the same headcanon as you! Congrats that you decided stuff about RWBY that isn’t canon and might be directly contradicted like ‘Qrow never cared about or trusted Ironwood at all’ or ‘Yang did tell everyone Raven was the spring maiden’ or ‘Ironwood only ever did anything ‘good’ when he was being evil and manipulative,’ or ‘he invaded Vale!’ So awesome that you came up with headcanons that help you enjoy the show better.”

But the amount of people who present their headcanons as pure fact and act like they’ve unearthed truths that RWDE posters (and IW fans especially) or too blinded to see... Blegh. No, it isn’t our job to see somebody’s wild and badly portrayed or canon inaccurate ramblings about why they think RWBY is perfect and decide “Oopsie whoopsie, silly us, it looks like rwbyfnoscar99 decided that Ironwood is a narcissistic jerk who never did a single unselfish thing and had no battle experience, guess we’d better delete our posts pointing out anything good about Ironwood.”

Also what’s even worse is people just posting random feel good or happy James Ironwood content and other people coming in like “Remember James Ironwood turned into a bad guy?” Or even worse “Wow, your random pro IW post about him having a family or something is so stupid let me tell you about my headcanons about how he’s never done anything good in his life.” Like ???

“The Author is Dead” and “Canon is Dead” is great, I love it, totally stan that to high heaven! Lord knows I’m choosing to ignore plenty that I just don’t like in RWBY and tbh every fandom I’m in and live on headcanons (which you kind of have to flesh things out via headcanons in RWBY especially.) But you won’t catch me invading other peoples posts to try and lecture them about how my non-canon interpretations and headcanons I imagined up are now Required Reading that everyone is stupid for not believing themselves.

Like, just imagine if I did that. XD Someone posts about Nora and where she might’ve come from and I just come in like “EXCUSE ME, but are we ignoring that she’s Torchwick’s daughter? People suspect that Torchwick was from Brunswick farms, and where’s Brunswick farms? That’s right, Anima. And where is Nora from? Mmhmm, Anima. Case closed, if you don’t believe it, you’re just ignorant.”

People post about Tai having neglected Yang and Ruby and I cut in like “omg this is such a bad faith argument because he only shut down for around a year or two and Qrow stepped in to be a disaster parent and therefore Yang and Ruby were not neglected and Yang - while taking on parental duties she shouldn’t have had to when Tai recovered - is being over-dramatic when she says she ‘raised Ruby?”

Of course it’d be dumb to do that! Because those are my headcanons! I invented one of them because it was fun and suited the purposes of a fic I was writing, and I came up with the second one to justify the rough-but-trying image of Tai to myself with the idea that he shut down and neglected the girls. I filled in that blank the way I wanted to in a way that made sense to myself, but I would be therefore completely ridiculous to insist that anyone else do the same. I seriously just...

#rwde #rwby hate #rwby bashing #anti rwby #vent post #This is a venting post #pro IW #pro Ironwood #pro james ironwood #Dadmiral Ironwood #also if there is a rwbyfnoscar99 I'm sorry I just picked a random name #this isn't about anyone by that name I'm sure if they exist they're lovely

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itsclydebitches · 3 years

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Another thing that sucks about the whole "what the audience knows vs the characters" debacle is at this point, the issue is so exasperated across the entire cast that it's hard to keep up with who knows what and when they learned this. In a few years time, are any of us even going to remember that Yang never told anyone Raven was the spring maiden when in V14 everyone just acts like it's common knowledge? Small example of the many just like it.

Right? A confusion that is severely exacerbated by an inability to tell what has and has not occurred off screen. To use your example, Yang might have told the group an age back and it just hasn't come up yet. We have no idea. To use a more recent and (to my mind) damaging example, what happened with Ruby's speech? We move from

The White Fang, Atlesian drones, even the Grimm themselves have all been controlled and manipulated by her, in order to tear down the Huntsman Academies.

directly into

I know the idea of the Maidens and Relics seems, well, crazy, but I promise Professor Goodwitch of Beacon and Headmaster Theodore of Shade can verify all of this.

So did Ruby explain Relics and Maidens off screen, or did she literally bring them up out of the blue? The audience is given no way to distinguish between shots taking place sequentially - implying that time passes in which Ruby says things we don't get to hear (which, for the record, would still be a big problem. We absolutely should have seen how she explained magical people and objects to the world) - or concurrently - multiple things happening across the world (Sun, Ilia, Penny, etc.) but taking up the same amount of time. Fans tend to assume that these explanations took place off screen because what protagonist would bring them up without that explanation and what writers would start with "I know the idea of..." without there actually being that previous explanation to reference? But the fact is we don't know. And we've got a ton of other examples - like Raven as a Maiden - where, yes, the story failed to explain what the cast does or does not know. We likewise don't know whether Ruby actually explained Salem's immortality. "Just because she can't be destroyed" - the line we get - is a confusing non-explanation. The knee-jerk response of, "But of course Ruby explained it better than that! We just didn't see it because that's boring" isn't a given when just last volume she allowed Ironwood to tell Mantle about Salem without the immortality info. These moments aren't just confusing on their own - we need to know what characters know and how that information was delivered - but we've also got proof across the course of the story that the group does, in fact, lie, keep secrets, and twist facts. It's baseless to assume that everyone voiced their secrets off screen and did so in a completely truthful manner when Ruby is out there lying to Ironwood, or Oscar has a cane nuke he never mentioned, or Qrow is misinterpreting his fight with Clover. If the group has continually failed to explain things/explain them completely in the past, why would we believe they've done so off screen in these other instances? If anything, their recent behavior suggests that they really are that disjointed and secretive. The Ruby who lied to Ironwood, knowingly let him lie to Mantle, and had Oscar try to explain things in her stead would absolutely consider, "She can't be destroyed" and "I know Relics and Maidens sounds crazy" to be sufficient explanations in and of themselves. This is the girl who thought letting her team complete two simultaneous tasks was the division Salem was after! That's canonical this volume. Ruby is, right now, absolutely written to be stupid and foolish enough to give that speech 100% as we saw it, with no headcannoned explanations off screen to make it all better.

This is now a story built on knowledge, but the writing is rarely clear about who knows what, with, yeah, such a muddied narrative leading to even more confusion on the part of the audience. We not only need to keep track of all these bits of info, the possibility of things happening off screen, and the random changes that occur to what was originally information we were sure of (Amity is suddenly ready!), but have to do so across multiple years. As you say, who is going to remember that Yang never brought Raven up again? Only those of us interested in analyzing the show, keeping track of these details as a byproduct. For the average viewer, they're more likely to assume that Yang did bring it up and they just forgot, because what author writes the group knowing this big secret without showing when and how they found it out? It must have happened! It's another example of the audience writing the show for RT, though unintentionally. RT never did that work, but viewers believe they must have because they understand how stories should work.

#rwby #mymetas #long post

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itstimetotheorize · 3 years

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Ravens greatest regret, The mysterious final days of Summer Rose

Ever since volume 2, Raven presented herself as someone that is shrouded in mystery, whatever we knew about raven was always mirrored by how much yang knew as the story progressed. According to Tai and Qrow, Raven is a complicated woman, she has a funny way of looking at the world that many would disagree on, but despite this she remained a strong, clever, independent woman who is devoted to whatever cause she believed in.

However, over the course of volume 5, many of us have now begun to realize that raven may not be the person she once was. Throughout volume 5, Raven has been shown to be manipulative, untrustworthy, and more than willing to sacrifice anyone around her. But most importantly, it was through ravens confrontation between Yang that we realize juts what kind of person raven is, so, who is she? well....shes a coward.

Despite Ravens best efforts to be the only victor in the fight of volume 5 and make others believe that everything she has done till now was the smart decision, we begin to realize that raven is simply letting herself live in denial rather than accept the fact that it was her fears that prompted her to make bad decision, decisions that she claims are for her and her tribes benefit. Some of those decisions included, siding with Cinder to help Salem obtain the relic in exchange for Qrows death,

stealing the spring maiden powers by killing the previous maiden

and even attempting to steal the relic from the vault.

And for what exactly?, HOPE!, hope that the maiden powers and the relic of knowledge would be more than enough power to help keep her safe from Salem!

As I watched Raven realize the reality of her situation and just how much she had screwed up by making such decisions, I began to wonder....... what exactly happened to Raven that lead her to lose track of herself and fall down such a path?. Something must have happened to her, but what? well, lets take a step back and look at what we know of Ravens past.

In the past, when raven was still part of team STRQ, and shortly after giving birth to yang, raven found out that Salem could not be defeated ..… but.... did this mean she found out that Salem couldn't be killed?. Ruby and the others only found out about Salems immortality when they questioned Jinn,

So, did Raven somehow uncover the same truth?. Some have theorized that perhaps Raven used one of Jinns wishes to learn about the truth herself, but this would not make sense because Raven had never seen the relic of knowledge, let alone know where the vault containing it was hidden, so, how did she find out that Salem could not be defeated? well, let me start off by saying that maybe Raven never knew Salem couldn't be killed, only that she could not be stopped.

Now, the main problem with fighting in Salems war, is that it was already well known to have lasted generations!, Iron Wood knew this, Glinda knew this, Qrow knew this, pretty much everyone that was on either Ozpin or Salems circle knew this, and yet none of theme ever questioned why she hadn't at least died of old age. Perhaps due to Ozpins ability to reincarnate and Salems ability to use magic and control grimm, they may not have questioned it much, they simply accepted the fact that Salem was capable of terrible things, including keeping herself alive. So, what if it was this one major factor in the war against Salem that lead Raven to realize one very important thing about herself ..... she, had been fighting in the war against Salem, for far to long now!

with all the fighting and no real progress to show them where Salem was and how to defeat her, could have lead raven to grow tired of it all. Soon after, raven may have come to the realization that all this fighting was pointless and as a result, Raven left.

but this still doesn't explain why she was so afraid of Salem and why she was so desperate to avoid her, after all, no one (not including Ozpin), not even Qrow or Tai, had ever seen Salem!. The only ones team STRQ had ever faced in relation to salem were her henchmen, and they appear to have no problem defending themselves against them, I mean, just look at when Qrow fought against Tyrian in V4C7

everyone of Ozpins followers that knew of Salem only ever had fears of what she would do to the world if she managed to get her hands on the relics, but only those that truly came face to face with her and realized just how horrifying she truly was, would end up developing an overwhelming fear for her.

Cinder, Tyrian, Watts, Hazel, Emerald and Mercury, are all terrified of Salem and what she might do to them If they don’t do as she says.

Even Leo, a man who had devoted himself to Ozpin, who told Ozpin face to face that he would never betray him no matter the danger, did in fact betray him once he met and saw first hand just what kind of threat Salem really is.

So, does this mean that Raven met Salem in her years away from Ozpin?..... maybe, but how?, when?, where? and why?

For starters, when raven left Ozpins side, she would have needed to gather her thoughts and come up with a plan for herself: Where would she go now?, and what would she do next?. If you think about it, these questions are obvious, Raven went back to her old tribe and became the new leader, as for what she would do next ,well, there was only one thing she could do, survive. If Raven had any chance of surviving the crazy war between Ozpin and Salem, she would have needed to keep herself hidden and as far away from Salem, for as long as possible. To do this, raven would have needed intel on what areas in remnant Salem was targeting

keep in mind that when raven left Ozpins side, she left with the bird transformation ability. Raven, being as clever as she is, might have harnessed this ability and used it to her advantage in order to gather information on how she could better defend herself against Salem. Better yet, she could do all of this undetected by anyone, if anyone did see her, they would simply see an ordinary bird!

But gathering intel on Salems targeted areas was one thing, figuring out who Salems pawns were was a completely different situation. Just as Qrow said back in V4C8 , Salem likes to work in the shadows, she likes using others to carry out her work. So, if raven did want to keep herself away from Salem, she would have also needed a good idea as to what kind of people were following her. Seeing as just how good raven is at judging others by their character, such as when she was able to accurately describe cinder, watts, mercury and emerald in V5C9

It doesn't seem like Raven needed to hunt down the people that could be following Salem, she only needed to know what kind of people had the potential to be a pawn in Salems plans. Back in V2C11, when raven saved yang from being killed by neo,

its possible that raven was there, not to keep an eye on Yang and save her the one time, but to confirm her suspicions of Roman Torchwick being one of the pawn in Salems plans! Roman was all over the news after all, so his suspicious actions in the city of Vale most likely caught her attention.

Unfortunately, keeping track of your enemies is certainly not an easy job to do, but if raven really did want to stay away from salem, she would have no other choice but to keep track of everyone elses plans and make sure that she was not going to be involved. But, what if, just maybe, something did get her involved, or...someone!

what if in the midst of her investigating, someone discovered what raven was doing and asked her to include them in order to better figure out who else was involved with Salem. But wait, Raven would never agree to working with someone, if anyone did discover what she was doing, raven would simply kill them without a second thought, its been made clear to us that Raven is perfectly willing to kill innocent people such as villagers, the previous spring maiden, and even her own brother Qrow

if someone really was with Raven in her search for answers, it would have been someone that kept her from killing them on sight, someone that not only made her listen to their reasons for wanting to join her, but also be someone that was able to prove to her that they had the skills to carry out dangerous mission along side her, without being a burden.

Problem is, the only people who have these qualifications, are the members of her former team, team STRQ! but wait, she left them remember, why would any of them search for Raven and ask her to team up?

Qrow only ever saw Raven when she felt it was necessary, so that leaves him out. Tai was busy enough as it is, taking care of yang and ruby when he became a father as well as a teacher at signal academy, so we can cross him off the list. The only one left to take into account is...Summer rose!... but wait... no one knows what happened to her....

in V2C6, when yang tells Blake about what had happened to Summer, yang says that she went on a mission one day and never came back.

In V7C4 when Ruby talks to Qrow about summer, Qrow finally reveals to us and Ruby that of all the missions that summer went on, the one mission that she never came back from, was a mission that she never told anyone about!... but what if summer only kept her mission a secret from her friends and Ozpin, what if, someone else knew about her mission! but who? who would summer talk to about her mission besides Qrow, Tai and Ozpin?...perhaps, a former friend...like Raven!?

but why would Raven get involved with summer, years after she left team STRQ? and why would Summer want to include Raven in her mission, years after Raven abandoned Yang and her team? and if Raven really did get involved with summer, then what the heck kind of mission did summer set up for herself !?

from what we know, after Raven left, Summer married Tai, became the adopted mother of Yang, and gave birth to Ruby. According to Yang, summer was “supermom”, going out on monster fighting missions and making cookies for her and ruby when she came back home. Judging by Yangs description of Summer, Summer was clearly every bit the loving mother that Raven was not. When Qrow talks about Summer, he talks about her the same way Yang does, that she was a kind person that was always the first to stand up and fight for what was right.

But then again, maybe it was her identity as a kind, strong willed person, a protective and loving mother, that could have made summer realize something horrible and later come to an even more terrifying decision.

where am I going with this? well, what if in the time that Summer became a mother, Summer began to have the same realizations raven had about fighting Salem, that realization being of course that the war on Salem was lasting to long!. And that despite her, her team, and Ozpins efforts, summer might have realized that there was a chance that the war would not end in her time. When summer became a mother, it might have occurred to her that she did not want the war on Salem to be passed onto Ruby and Yangs generation. Perhaps it was through her own worry of what might have happened to her daughters, should they one day choose to fight against Salems war themselves, that finally made summer come to a very important decision.... this war... needed to end!

but what would Summer even do to end a war that has lasted generations?!. Keep in mind that Summer was a huntress born with silver eyes, meaning that she was a major threat to the creatures of grim, and by extension a major threat to Salem. When the fans discovered just what kind of effect the silver eyed warriors had on the grim, such as when ruby used her eyes in V6C6

and when Maria used her eyes in V6C7, back in her youth as “the grim reaper”

many of us had soon theorized that if a silver eyed warrior managed to find Salem and actually got the chance to use their powers on her, then maybe, just maybe, they could beat her immortality by turning her into a living statue, rather than killing her! Well, odds are, Summer might’ve had a similar idea, the only thing she needed to do now, was find Salem! but how !?

Summer already knew that Ozpin had no idea where Salem was located and any leads they had on her location were a bust. The only people that knew where Salem was were the same people that had to report directly to her from time to time, her henchmen!. But finding them was a challenge of its own. Regardless, If summer had any hope of finding Salem, she would first need to track down her pawns, but her pawns hide in the shadows, away from the public eyes, moving only when Salem tells them to.

In order to find them, Summer would have needed help from someone who was not only familiar with the dark side of the information network, but also be willing enough to help her locate Salems pawns. She couldn't rely on Qrow since he already had a tough enough time collecting whatever info he could without being noticed in his human form, that and seeing as Qrow and the others still have no idea what had happened to her, clearly tells us that summer really didn't want anymore of her friends and family involved. .

In order to accomplish her mission, Summer needed someone who not only had experience in the dark underbelly of the world of remnant, without drawing suspicion, but also be someone she could trust in helping her accomplish her goal, that someone...could have been Raven!

What if, Summer tracked Raven down and convinced her to help. Growing up along side raven at Beacon academy, summer must have already known that Raven would not agree to helping her without a good enough reason, well, what if Summer gave her a reason, a means to an end, a chance to end the war and be free from Salems threat!. Raven might be hard to talk to but she is clearly someone who is willing to negotiate a deal, IF its in her favor. If raven really did put up a search in trying to keep track of some of Salems followers then Raven would have been the key to completing summers mission.

But why would raven help fight Salem? she wanted nothing to do with her. If summer really did try to recruit raven, she would have sealed the deal in their negotiation by telling raven that she would have no part to play in the fight, just lead up to it. If anyone had a chance of defeating Salem, it was summer, and if they did manage to locate Salem, then the inevitable fight was for Summer to handle alone!. The only question now is, If Raven and Summer really did manage to track Salem down through her pawns, then what would’ve happened after that?

In V7C11, when ruby and the others finally confront Salem (as an apparition), Ruby shows no fear to her as she valiantly proclaims that they do not need to kill her to defeat her and that no matter the challenge, they will stop her.

When Salem hears Rubys words, she is unfazed, why? because, seconds after Rubys courageous speech, Salem drops a bomb of information and explains to Ruby that her words, were words she had heard before, from summer!!.

Its during this scene that we finally receive confirmation to the one thing Ruby and her family had been questioning for years, Summers whereabouts the day she went missing!.... summer.....was with Salem the day she disappeared !!!

up to now, no one was ever able to find and confront salem, but if our theory is correct then, this moment in V7C11 ,confirms to us that summer was successful in her goal. Summer found Salem, she fought against her, and she failed!!

However !, Salem never talks about confronting Raven, but maybe, that's just because raven stuck true to her word with Summer and didn't fight! so then, what did she do?. If raven really did help Summer find salem, then perhaps rather than leave Summer and go back to her tribe using her portal semblance, Raven may have decided that she wanted to see the outcome of the fight and answer the one question she had been thinking of the day she agreed to help summer, ....could summers plan.... really work?...this... was something that Raven had to see. But if Raven really was there, watching Summer fight, then how was it that Raven remained unnoticed by Salem....unless... she was in a form that made her practically invisible. What if the reason salem and her pawns didn't take notice of Raven during their fight with Summer, is because she was hiding in the sidelines, in her bird form!

when summer began her fight, Ravens mind must have begun to flood with thoughts about everything she had heard about Salem; was she powerful!?, was she truly as terrifying as ozpin said she would be!?, could Salem finally be beat!? could this war finally end!? and could the world of remnant finally be freed!?

I can imagine that Raven only ever heard stories about how terrifying Salem was, she had only ever seen just what kind of damage she could do. But if she really was present the day Summer fought Salem, then maybe it was that very day, the day that summer died, that finally made Raven understand just how horrifying going against Salem was, just how terrifying Salem is, and just how hopeless it was to win against her!

The day that she watched her beloved friend summer die, could’ve finally caused Raven to lose her courage and become truly afraid for her life, making her the Raven she is today.

In the RWBY comics issue #2, when Summers disappearance had already become known, we see a young Ruby searching through a memory box filled with things that reminded Ruby of Summer.

Unfortunately, due to Rubys young age at the time of summers disappearance, Ruby has had a hard time remembering what little she could of summer, eventually, Ruby becomes desperate for any information on what kind of person her mother Summer was. Sadly, no one, not even her father Tai, is willing to tell her about summer.

Yang however, is able to to ease rubys curiosity by telling her stories about Summer,

These stories however, are sadly made up by Yangs childish mind, due to her missing Summer just as much as Ruby. Ruby never the less takes the stories seriously and is over joyed by just how much of a hero Summer was. Moment later, however, Ruby tries to share her moment with a black bird in a tree next to her, this black bird is of course revealed to be Raven the moment it talks back to Ruby.

When Raven talks to Ruby, she tells ruby in anger that summer was weak, she was no hero, and she was never as good of a wife, mother or huntress as she was told she was. As Raven continues her cruel words towards Ruby, Raven finishes up by saying that ruby is the same as summer, but not yang, yang is different because she was never truly summers daughter.

These are indeed some heavy words for Raven to blast at a little girl. Originally, some of us believed that Raven said this when she felt insulted for having watched her own daughter Yang favor Summer as a mother rather than her. However, when Raven yells at ruby, she says it in a way that almost makes it seem like she is not talking to a child, but an adult, if so, then who might Raven be talking to as she stares at ruby? Qrow always said that Ruby was a lot like summer, so perhaps when raven saw ruby, all she could see was summer looking back at her. If Raven really was with summer, then perhaps her death caused Raven to spiral into a pit of twisted emotions, resulting in her doing things that could cause others to question her emotional state, such as yelling at a child.

Raven has always been presented as someone who is unable to properly express her emotions, so perhaps at some point or another, summers death might’ve caused Raven to develop a sense of hatred for her in the midst of her grief, why? because, up until the day summer fought salem, Raven still had hope that she could survive the war, but ever since ��that” day, that hope Raven had disappeared along with her bravery and willingness to keep fighting.

Then again, this hatred towards summer, could also be a cover for Ravens true feelings. Like I said before, Raven has been presented as the type of person who can’t properly express her emotions towards others, including herself! if so, then how does raven really feel about summer and about herself?

in V5 C14, when yang tells raven that despite her reasoning for everything she had done up to that point, raven has shown yang that she is nothing but a coward who will do anything to run away.

When raven hears this she is greatly angered and tries to put herself in the right by telling yang that she can make choices that others cant and that it was her willingness to make those decisions that has allowed her to face death and come back out alive every time.

This however, does not convince Yang and instead only confirms to her that raven is no longer the strong woman she once was and is instead now someone that makes decisions based solely on her fear of salem.

Yang does not hesitate to tell Raven this and in their final moments, yang tells raven that she is not like her and is willing to face the threat and consequence of salems wrath once she takes the relic of knowledge. When Raven hears this, we see her, for the first time, not defend herself. What's so interesting about raven and yangs final moments is that as yang proclaims her willingness to face danger, Raven physically and emotionally begins to weaken in front of us all!

Of all the things that raven could have done in her final moments with yang, be it fight against yang for the relic, yell at yang once more for not understanding how hopeless the fight against salem really is or even choosing to redeem herself by setting her fears aside and instead choose to side with her daughter to once again fight against salem, we instead watch as Raven cries and utter to yang in a sad voice, ”I'm sorry”, before escaping through one of her portals.

as I re-watched this scene over and over again, I began to realize something, ravens apology... may not have just been towards yang. When yang tells raven the harsh truth about herself its almost as if there was something else eating at her, making Yangs words sting and hurt even more than what we saw. Tai always said that Yang was a lot like Raven, and in those final moments, perhaps Raven saw through yang the version of herself that was still courageous and strong willed, the version of herself that was still devoted to fighting salem and the version of herself that was still part of a team.

As raven watched yang walk towards the relic door, raven may not have just been thinking back to the days that she was still as strong as yang, but the day that she witnessed summer be just as strong as yang and ruby as they all choose to fight salem head on no matter the risk. If raven was thinking about all this and the choices she made up until now, then maybe, just maybe, raven cried for not having tried hard enough to hold onto that same courage, she cried for having given up so quickly and for not having the strength and willingness to set her fears aside and stand alongside summer the day she fought salem. These, I imagine, were Ravens greatest mistakes, this was her greatest regret, but hey, that's just a theory, a RWBY theory.

#rwby #rwby vol 5 #rwby vol 6 #rwby vol 7 #rwby volume 8 #raven branwen #yang xiao long #tai yang xiao long #qrow branwen #summer rose #ruby rose #rwby theory #rwby theories

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rwby-grimm-guardians · 3 years

Text

RWBY Grimm Guardians Arc 4: Re-Bonding In Mistral Ch 8

Welcome back to Re-Bonding In Mistral! Here, Blake and co arrive and we start the duel between Cinder and Raven.

As usual, please give constructive criticism and enjoy!

Also I apologize for this being short. I was VERY busy and it fucking killed a lot inspiration….

Disclaimer: Still own nothing.

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(Outside of Haven...)

To say that Blake was on edge was an understatement.

Even though she had managed to stare her abuser down and make his own followers begin to realize he was absolutely crazed, she felt like her heart was going burst. “Are you alright, kitten?” Ghira asked, rubbing his daughter’s shoulder. The cat faunus sighed with a shaky nod, “For now…” Kali looked towards the academy, before smiling, “Seems like Sum has remembered her semblance.”

Blake raised an eyebrow, before she pointed at a giant wolf. The cat faunus wanted to panic. “Ms. Summer….is able to transform...into a giant wolf…?” She asked, her voice quiet and disbelief. Ghira and Kali nodded, with the elder woman grinning, “Think of her as a giant version of that adorable corgi.” “That’s not even remotely close to what she is….” The former chieftain clarified with a face of shock.

Blake KNEW she was going to regret this. “I’ll….try to tell her that you’re here….” She said, before walking towards the academy. Seeing Summer as a giant wolf was probably one of the SCARIEST THINGS she had ever seen. The cat faunus could begin to imagine how dangerous the former STRQ leader was in her prime.

“You know she’ll recognize us, right?” Gambol whispered telepathically. “She’s not gonna harm us.” Blake sighed, “I know…. It’s just…..unexpected….” “That’s an understatement….and a valid one.” The panther faunus agreed.

As Blake entered Haven, she watched as Weiss dragged a tanned and burly man into the hall. The cat faunus quickly grew concerned when she spotted the blood stains on the heiress’s dress.

However, given that the heiress was moving as if she received no injury, the younger Belladonna attempted to relax….

“Blake?”

Or she would have if she hadn’t been spotted by Yang. The cat faunus and blonde looked at each other, with the former feeling her heart beat with adrenaline and potential worry.

Blake barely had time to say anything as Yang immediately walked over and hugged her tightly, causing the cat faunus to relax completely. As Ember and Gambol materialized and began hugging each other, Ruby quickly noticed the two Belladonnas and headed up to the two couples. “I apologize for the forced relocation of our reunion.” Blake said as her leader hugged her. “Blame the assholes who planned to attack this place.” The red cloaked teenager said tiredly. “This is already a long day.”

Weiss hummed in agreement, walking up to her teammates, briefly hugging Blake. “I assume those are your parents?” Yang asked, pointed at Ghira and Kali. Gambol chuckled, “That’s correct, kiddo. Introductions can wait for now though.” Willow walked up to the group and gave Blake and Gambol a warm smile, “Good to see you two are safe.” “Thank you, Ms. Willow.” Blake said.

“Why haven’t the bombs gone off yet?” Ruby asked. The panther faunus sighed with a growl, “I have a feeling Blake and I might know….” “It was most likely disarmed by someone who….we’re not too happy with.” The younger Belladonna explained, trying to keep herself calm.

The group jumped as Vampier crashed into a couple pillars, before reverting back to her human form. Qrow immediately rushed up to her, planning to behead her, only for the Bat Queen to kick him out of the way. Summer stepped in front of the group, reverting back to human form and helping Qrow up to his feet. “I see the bitch is back from Hell.” Gambol snarled, glaring at Vampier.

The former STRQ leader nodded, “Unfortunately. As much as I want to catch up with you two, it’ll have to wait, sadly.” “I assume you’re with your parents?” She asked. Blake nodded, “Right outside with Sun dealing with the White Fang…”

Summer nodded, making a mental note to speak with them after this was done...

Vampier looked around, before smirking. “Thank you for clearing my way.” She sneered, before running off. “Where is she going…?” Ruby asked. Summer’s eyes widened, “Fuck, she’s going to the Vault.”

“We split up for now.” She said. “Qrow, help Kali and Ghira.” The former bandit nodded, before rushing outside. “Gambol, Ruby, and I will handle the rest of the White Fang in here.” Blake said, before said individuals nodded in agreement. Willow and Ember looked at each other, before nodding as Willow said, “The rest of us will handle Mercury, Emerald, and anyone else.”

“Understood. Leave Vampier to me.” Summer said, before the group began proceeding with their objectives. The Silver-Eyed warrior managed to catch up with Vampier in no time, before witnessing her jump down the elevator to the Vault.

Without hesitation, Summer followed suit, hoping that Raven was still safe. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Meanwhile, in the Vault of Haven…)

As Raven, Vernal, and Cinder entered the Vault from the elevator, the tribe leader was on guard. She knew that the Fall Maiden was going to attempt to backstab them and take the Relic, so the fact that she HADN’T yet was enough to make Raven anxious.

But now they were at Haven’s Vault, where rested the Relic of Knowledge.

Raven watched as Vernal began reaching for the chamber containing the Relic, before her eyes widened. “Move!” She shouted, attempting to shove the young woman out of the way, only to be frozen in place by Cinder. Sighing, the Fall Maiden walked up to Vernal, saying to Raven, “I must say, your skills in observation are impressive. To think you actually saw this coming.”

With that, she ruthlessly stabbed a shocked Vernal in the abdomen with her Grimm arm. Cinder grinned as she watched the tribe leader’s face twist in shock and horror, while Vernal’s was frozen in fear and pain.

A second went by. Two seconds. Three. And after a full five seconds, the Fall Maiden glared at the bleeding Vernal in confusion.

“Why? Why the fuck do you not have any of the Spring Maiden’s power in you?” She asked, beginning to grow furious. “Unless….” Unless she was manipulated into thinking that the brunette was the Spring Maiden.

Cinder then jumped at a sudden tearing noise, turning to face Raven as the tribe leader freed herself out of pure anger and rage.

“YOU….” Raven growled, red energy erupting from her eyes. “Will regret EVER harming the people I care for.” Cinder felt her jaw going slack as she stared at the tribe leader. ‘This old hag….’ She thought in shock. ‘IS THE SPRING MAIDEN!?’

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Yeah, didn’t expect Raven to be that selfless for her fellow tribeswoman, did ya?

Next chapter is the duel between Cinder and Raven, as well as the aftermath.

Afterwards, you’ll be getting a couple special chapters that will reveal some things and resolve others.

#rwby #rwby au #grimm guardians au #rwby ocs #rwby fanfiction #ruby rose #weiss schnee #Blake Belladonna #yang xiao long #Summer Rose #qrow branwen #raven branwen #ghira belladonna #kali belladonna #willow schnee #Gambol Shroud #ember celica #cinder fall #Vernal

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laserdog10 · 4 years

Text

Loneliness

”It’s not so bad not being in a league that suits me.”

It was a personal mantra that she told herself every day, even if it did kind of hurt. Citrus was born as both a Rose and an Arc, two powerful family bloodlines that were well renowned on Remnant by now, thanks to the defeat of Salem. However, Citrus’ elder siblings Garnet and Blossom, have been shown to be marginally stronger and almost gifted...or actually gifted. Garnet had inherited a portion of Ruby’s Spring Maiden magic on top of Jaune’s hefty Aura with the addition of a strong Semblance, while Blossom was a Silver Eyed Warrior, the greatest of all destined to slay Grimm and be the heroes of humanity. While Citrus was...just normal.

Yep, no insane powers, no off-the-wall weapon that has multiple transformations, no fancy Semblance (other than the ability to talk to animals), she was a normal girl who wanted to be a Huntress, like everyone her generation. However she felt an odd lonesome feeling inside her, when her brother and sister went off to Signal for the first time, Citrus was alone at home with her aunt Yang, grandpa Qrow, uncle Tai, and aunt Raven. If that wasn’t enough her Semblance let her speak to the family dog Zwei and the five wolves Ruby adopted, Drei, Vier, Funf, Sechs, and Null. And yet...she still had this emptiness in her heart. Well unlucky for her it was about to intensify that feeling tenfold as she was about to head to Signal tomorrow, the day after her siblings and cousin graduate. Right now it was well into the evening, the sun setting on the horizon, rays of light beaming down on the Rose-Arc & Xiao Long-Branwen residence, Citrus leaning against the railing, teetering her weighted collapsible scythe, Soulful Reave, back and forth, her emerald green eyes staring off into space, tangerine curled hair catching the wind.

Jaune: Someone’s a little broody.

Citrus: Hmm?! Oh, hi dad!

Jaune: Is Qrow’s mysterious edginess rubbing off on you or am I just reading too much into this?

Citrus: Pffft, nooo dad, I’m fine, thank you. Just...thinking, deep contemplation about the future.....

Jaune: Excited you’re going to Signal tomorrow?

Citrus: Heheheee, not really...?

Jaune: Why not?

Citrus: *stops teetering her scythe* Dad, do you think I’m...special?

Jaune: The “daddy loves his special girl” kind of special or...

Citrus: The special that’s meant for amazing things, I don’t feel like I am.

Jaune: Woah woah woah, what brought this on?!

Citrus: Nothing, I’m...*sigh* Dad, compared to Garnet and Blossom, I’m so bland! I have nothing truly remarkable about m-* her shoulders are held as she faces her father*

Jaune: Citrus, tell me what’s going on, is everything okay?

Citrus: I don’t think so...have you ever had the feeling of overwhelming loneliness and that you’re far behind people close to you?

Jaune: More than you could fathom, sweetheart. But that was a long time ago, and with a little bit of time, and the love from those people around me, it eventually went away. Why, is it the fact that your brother and sister are way ahead of you getting to you?

Citrus: *tears form in her eyes* Y-yeah, a lot...

Jaune: Oh, sweety. *he brings his small daughter into a huge hug* Believe me when I say that feeling is completely normal, your mother and I had this lonely, by-our-selves spell when we first went to Beacon.

Citrus: I just feel so out of place. I hear about all these kids who were raised by amazing Huntsmen, their amazing transforming weapons, and their powerful Semblances, then there’s me. Swinging around a simple scythe and talking to animals, no Maiden or S.E.W. powers...

Jaune: Citrus, look at me. *his gaze is met by the distraught, teary-eyed face of his daughter* All these feelings, all these issues you’re feeling right now are completely normal for a thirteen year old to experience! Think it like, you’re still going through your “character arc,” which always starts just as you turn thirteen. You’ll get to that important “climax” of your story some day.

Citrus: *sniff* R-really...?

Jaune: I know so. Now let’s go inside, dinner’s almost ready!

Citrus: I’ll head in a second, gotta go put Soulful Reave back in in the shed.

Such an action to her weapon would make her brother, proverbially, lose his mind, but she took good care of her scythe, occasionally but primarily leaving it in the room she shared with her siblings, like they do with their weapons. Tomorrow would be the first step into this “character arc” of hers, and she would tackle it however she could!

-The next day-

Strolling down the halls of Signal wasn’t so bad, she was old enough to be by herself while her parents weren’t too far off. Ruby had gone with the many other parents of new students to a little meeting, confirming their classes and whatnot, meanwhile Citrus wandered around Signal, her orange cloak flowing as she strolled along, seeing big metal lockers to hold plenty of supplies, classrooms, a library, and the cafeteria. What she didn’t expect to come across was a large crowd of kids clamoring around a board with a myriad of papers on it. Among this crowd the youngest Rose-Arc saw the red-patched blonde hair of her sister.

Citrus: Blossom? *she called over the talkative graduates*

Blossom: Hey baby sis! You here on your intro tour? *the blonde side-stepped through the moderate sea of teens, a few of which turned heads to the younger teen*

Citrus: Yep, mom just went with the other parents to that meeting! What are you doing over here with everyone?

Blossom: Seeing who got their academic success title.

Citrus: You’re what?

“An awesome title for how well you did in your classes!” chimed a female student.

Citrus: Oh, cool!

Blossom: Wanna guess what I got?

Citrus: I...don’t know what they are.

Blossom: Oh, well come look.

Taking a closer look at the board, Citrus saw this hefty list of names that made her head spin. So many names, numbers, scores, classes.

Citrus: This makes my brain hurt...

Blossom: Same here, and could you help me find my name, I’ve been helping everyone here find their’s for a while n-

Citrus: You got Salutatorian, Garnet got Valedictorian, and Lea’s below both of you!

Blossom: I’M WHAT?!

The students: THEY’RE WHAT!?

“I’m what now???” came a familiar voice behind the girls and the crowd. They turned to find Garnet himself, in the midst of eating a roll of cookie dough from the cafeteria. Without thinking the students swarmed him, barging questions left and right; “How are you so smart,” or “Please teach me your ways,” and “You’re amazing Garnet!”

Garnet: Woah, slow down guys, I’m not that great honest! I just studied and practiced like anyone else would.

“But you got Valedictorian, dude!!!” exclaimed a male student with very punk-rock hair.

“That’s an achievement in and off itself!” cheered a preppy looking girl.

“You’re a freaking prodigy, bro!!!!” cried a sporty, muscular lad.

Garnet: Alright, listen up everyone, I’m gonna give you some life advice you all need to hear. Trying to be like me is impossible, and I wouldn’t go as far as to say I’m a prodigy. Yes I have powers of a Maiden inherited from my mother, yes I have a massive amount of Aura and strong Semblance to boot, yes I also have multiple weapons and am highly skilled in using all of them. However that doesn’t place me above the rest of you, nor should it make you all downplay yourselves! You all have your strengths and weaknesses, but you shouldn’t strive to become like me, because I’m not perfect. Imitation is the cheapest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay in greatness. Don’t strive to be me, strive be a better you, because their can only be one of us in the world! And if you do find someone like you later in life...*claps hands* Then I got nothing. *awkwardly smiles*

His audience applauded, but mostly laughed at the perplexing finish to his speech. His sisters had their own reactions, Blossom shaking her head and smiling in a way that conveyed a “The fact I’m related to you is astonishing” feel, Citrus on the other hand was captivated. “Strive to be a better you,” this phrase alone struck many chords in her, to the point that the lonely feeling of hers dissipated somewhat...

“Ohhh yawn-a-fuckin’-rama! That was the cheesiest shit I’ve ever heard, One Armed Arc!”

The students instinctively winced at the sound of the boastful and snarky voice. Collectively looking to the source, a tall girl with long burnt-orange hair and indigo eyes, clad in gray armor with a gold trim, a jet black waist cloth on the tool belt around her. Strapped to her back in a sheath was a morning star mace, the signature and feared weapon wielded by Signal Academy’s tyrant.

Blossom: Carly Winchester...

Citrus: ...

Garnet: And why are you here?

Carly: No reason, except I just heard a one-armed loser spouting some bullshit and being humble. Face it, you could be running this school! And yet you choose to be weak, lumping yourselves with these peons who could get their asses reamed by you.

Blossom: Garnet isn’t weak!

Carly: Aww look, little Ms. Self-loathing wants to act all big and tough! Why don’t you can it and go cry on the roof like you always do.

Citrus: *grits teeth and clenches her fists*

Garnet: What I do doesn’t make me weak Carly, I-

Carly: OH FUCKING SPARE ME! Hearing your high and mighty “holier-than-thou” bullshit makes me sick, you have the powers of a damn GOD and look where you are!

Citrus: ...hat’s it to y... *mumbles*

Carly: Hmm what’s that Shorty, got some shit to say? If you don’t then butt the fuck out, the adults are tal-

Citrus: WHAT’S IT TO YOU!? All you ever do is hurt and scare people, that’s not power, that’s being a jerk!

Carly: You-!

Citrus, standing in front of Carly now: My big brother is more of a Hunter and leader than you could ever hope to be! All you are is a bully, a coward, and an absolute BITCH!!!

Everyone present gasped, Garnet and Blossom were shocked into silence. Calling Carly a bitch was something else entirely, but hearing it from Citrus, someone who had never sworn in her life?! Surely they must’ve been dreaming, right??? Obviously they weren’t, for Carly had looked around incredulous, thinking she had heard the orangenette right.

Carly: The fuck did you just say to me you little shit...?!

Citrus: You heard me, you’re nothing but a BI-!

Carly: SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!!!

The warrior girl screamed in tandem with swinging her mace directly down onto the smaller girl. The motion happened at such a speed, all that was seen was a shiny, gray blur kicking up dust and debris when it landed.

Garnet/Blossom: CITRUS!!!

The youngest Rose-Arc braced for the impact beforehand...but it never came. Instead when she opened her eyes, she was in a dust cloud, embraced by her cousin, Lea Xiao Long-Schnee, her giant gauntlets blocking the crushing blow.

Lea: Might I ask why the hell you are attacking my cousin, Carly? *she said in a low tone, pushing the warrior girl back a good few feet*

Carly: Mind telling me why your brat isn’t on her child leash?!

Lea: *eyes turning lilac, blue fire adorning her hair* I think Citrus is going to be the least of your worries right now...

Citrus stepped back, knowing full well what was coming next. Garnet walked past her but not before looking at his baby sister.

Garnet: Might wanna go get mom and the principal, this courtyards about to become a war zone. *he winked*

Carly targeted him first, her mace colliding with the boy’s head and sending him staggering. He regained his footing, readying his own gauntlets as Lea pounced on Carly, throwing her into one of the support columns in the courtyard, Garnet running up and landing jab after jab upon Carly. Blossom held Citrus’ hand as they ran off to find their mother before the situation got worse, as they ran they heard the unmistakable sound of the Maiden powers flaring from their brother and cousin.

Blossom: We’ll leave it to them to kick Carly’s butt.

Citrus: ...

Blossom: You okay?

Citrus: Yeah yeah, just thinking.

Blossom: You narrowly avoiding getting brained by an amazon brute???

Citrus: Well...besides that, but what Garnet said earlier.

Blossom: Oh that.

Citrus: It stuck with me, and...and I think it should solve all my problems.

Blossom: ...if you say so!

Seems her father was right, today was when her character arc would begin, and now she would walk through it with her head held high!

#rwby #ruby rose #jaune arc #rwby lancaster #garnet rose-arc #blossom rose-arc #citrus rose-arc #voila! my final lancaster kid has received her story!#hope you guys enjoy the absolute jerk that is carly winchester #don't know if I'll make her a recurring oc since I don't have anyone I ship with cardin lol

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freezerbums · 4 years

Text

pov bees get alone time and yang tells her there’s something she’s been meaning to tell her, and Blake’s like me too and they both blurt out at the same time:

blake: I really like you

yang: raven is the spring maiden

and then it’s awkward and goofy because yang is like omg wait NOT that talk I meant but she’s happy to verbally hear blake feels the same and blake is embarrassed but then the scene is also shocking and intense because blake is shocked raven is maiden and yang hasn’t told anyone

pov ends with us all being DEAD

#bumbleby #yang xiao long #blake belladonna #rwby7

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bloodraven55 · 5 years

Text

Something I want to see at some point, but which would also break my heart, is Yang breaking down again--the same way she did in the V5 finale--only this time instead of her crying alone Blake is there, to hold her and listen to her and just be there for her.

Maybe it’s after Raven dies and Yang inherits the powers of the Spring Maiden, to add another level to the parallel with that scene, or maybe it’s something else, but there are a number of reasons I would immensely appreciate a moment like that.

One, honestly, Yang really needs a hug. And some support from someone else. She’s been carrying other people’s burdens pretty much her whole life but she’s never truly had anyone to carry hers in return, and that’s a role that only Blake can fill, at least at the moment.

Ruby is too much Yang’s little sister for Yang to accept that type of comfort from her, Weiss and Yang aren’t as close as Weiss herself admits, Tai wasn’t there enough in the past and so Yang doesn’t feel she can rely on him for that kind of help now, Qrow has his own problems he’s dealing with--

The list goes on. Point is, Yang needs someone she can talk to without holding anything back, and right now Blake is the only person who can do that for her. Which leads me to...

Two, it would be an excellent beat in Yang and Blake’s relationship. Blake has always been the only person we see Yang trust enough to be completely open with--in V2C6 she tells Blake about Raven, who we’ve never seen her talk about in that much depth even to Ruby before, and in V6C5 she admits to Blake that she doesn’t know if she’s okay as opposed to insisting she’s fine like she does with everyone else--and this would be another example of that to highlight the strength of their connection.

Not to mention that after Yang sobbing that she needed Blake there for her in V5C8 it would also serve as a fantastic resolution to that scene, with Yang finally receiving exactly what she wanted from Blake back then. And it would also reinforce the idea of them being there for each other after the emphasis on how equal their partnership is in V6.

And three, last but definitely not least, it would be an incredibly significant step in Yang’s character development. For the same person who didn’t feel comfortable enough to confess that she missed someone to her sister and her friend--who only cried over the woman who gave birth to her abandoning her a second time when she was completely alone--to let someone else in?

For the same person who has always taken care of everyone else before herself and kept her vulnerabilities hidden, likely because after being left behind so many times she’s scared that if she doesn’t give enough of herself to the people around her then everyone she cares about will eventually leave, to seek out comfort from someone else and bare everything to them, including her deepest insecurities, because she trusts that they’ll see all of her and still choose to stay?

Yeah, that would destroy me in the very best way. And it would be such amazing progress for her. So while I don’t think it’s a necessary addition to the story, I do think it would be a wonderfully satisfying moment for Yang’s character.

#rwby #yang xiao long #bumbleby #otp: bizzy buzzy friends #please rt just give me this #yang had her big moment comforting blake after adam's death #now let blake have her big moment comforting yang #preferably within the context of something raven related #because blake and raven are foils and i love me some multilayered emotional narrative payoff

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kob131 · 4 years

Text

Hey remember when Soku said he was gonna stop talking about RWBY?

Guess who got caught lying?

https://sokumotanaka.tumblr.com/post/184748210112/phazonfire-the-rwde-tag-is-so-fucking

I don’t know what tag you’re looking through about the homophobia thing considering the majority of the people seem to be gay and would probably call you out if they saw this.

I don’t remember you guys ever calling anyone out for calling Illa a ‘psycho lesbian’ because villain + gay = psycho lesbian apparently.

Oh wait, which tag is it that says that? hm...

Look people doing rewrites on the series is a non problem, and the dumbest gripe.

so is 99% of what you fuckers pull. Like bitching that a catgirl was put into a catsuit.

But rwby isn’t well written some is allowed to watch it to fix it to reconstruct or deconstruct it there is no harm to this and the series could benefit from a rewrite.

Too bad you assholes break the show EVEN FURTHER when you do rewrite shit *cough* RE:RWBY *cough*.

If you don’t like it don’t go through the constructive criticism tag just to cry cause someone doesn’t wanna kiss rwby’s butt like you do.

Last time constructive criticism existed in the RWDE tag: 900 BC.

Yeah sure.

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https://sokumotanaka.tumblr.com/post/612590859661295616/your-idea-of-nit-picking-is-not-the-correct-use-of

I don't know how to tell some of ya'll that just because you constantly argue against criticism and the other person gets tried to talking to a brick wall doesn't mean you win.

This ain't your preschool, this requires critical thinking skills which some of ya'll clearly lack.

And just because you reject facts and demand that your delusions are true doesn’t make the other person a brick wall. You just don’t understand how to debate.

Your idea of nit picking is not the correct use of the term. Nor do whoever you are know what is and isn’t criticism on a subject.

Nit picking. Noun. “looking for small or unimportant errors or faults, especially in order to criticize unnecessarily.“

Literally all you do.

Also I’m only an asshole to people who are assholes back. So don’t pretend like you know me and mind your own? Deal? Deal.

Sorry Soku, that makes you a sexist, racist, transphobic Nazi. You know, since that’s MY Modius Operandi.

Also your blog is FILLED with bad political takes so you’re the LAST person I wanna hear tall about “not picking”

“Can white people approiate basic human decency?”

Remember that take on your old blog?

Now what were you saying about politics...

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https://sokumotanaka.tumblr.com/post/611875463897497600/i-didnt-watch-vol-7-thank-god-but-a-friend-of

I didn’t watch vol 7 thank god,-

So you have no idea what you’re about to say? Got it.

but a friend of mine on my discord mentioned flynt and neon returning (with Ik finally) and boy they really gave the catgirl a hoodie with cat ears on it? And Blake has a catsuit? Miles, Kerry, Shane and Monty always talked about how “subtle” they are with things like scenes and designs and they put both the catgirls in outfits that are so on the nose it might as well be a part of your skin.

Where was that said again?

Also that;s not were the term catsuits come from. It comes from cat burglars using them.

Isn’t that like going “Hey black guy put these big lips on over your other lips? Or the black guy having a fucking basketball printed on their jacket?” Good lord, in a world where people can be born with cat ears, and tails don’t you think it’s kinda freaking disgusting that these exist where humans can wear them?

And before you say that’s the point, in a world where none of the faunus get to say how they feel about these things and don’t have real life minority reactions to things like white dudes walking around with grills and fros and crap it kinda isn’t when the faunus girl wears a hoodie depicting one of the features of her own race that they were hunted down and slaughtered for.

Considering that it’d be no different than a white person getting cornrows-

Also it kind of is since black people walk around emphasizing their DARK SKIN, which is the basis of their discrimination.

You’re just race obsessed.

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https://sokumotanaka.tumblr.com/post/611637391064694784/hmm-funny-that-the-rich-white-girl-who-was-racist

Hmm funny that the rich white girl who was racist gets an overpowered semblance that shares alot of feats like her team like being able to make runes that increase speed, Platforms, Remove gravity, shoot projectiles, Make people stick to them etc etc. Oh and she has the ability to summon monsters that show feats of strength that rivals one of her partners.

Meanwhile the minority character is shown to fuck up alot, gets treated like shit and never gets an apology from said racist, get nerfed constantly, have her weapon poorly sautared back together while the rest of her team gets upgrades and has the weakest semblance of the three.

Seems alittle off white writers.

And who has the better fight record than the other?

... The minority?

Hm, seems off black complainer.

Oh did that sound racist? Hm, dunno why it sound considering you said the SAME THING

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https://sokumotanaka.tumblr.com/post/611636922643857408/so-let-me-get-this-straight-vol-7-has-ended-and

So Let me get this straight, vol 7 has ended and apparently they lost the one relic they had, still haven’t found the newer one or did but still have to deal with Ironwood and several others. Cinder is still alive, Neo is siding with her out of fear? When she wanted vengeance and could team up with rwby.

this is volume 7 of supposedly 10 so three more seasons and they still haven’t sat down and talked about what they’re supposed to to against the immortal grimm lady, they don’t know where the relic at beacon is and ozpin’s still ghosting them, and they’re foolishly gathering them all in one spot instead of taking the maiden and the relic and putting both of them on the farest corners of the planet? I thought they were going to atlas to meet with someone Weiss knew as the Anton Sokolov Play dishonored! of their world to build a rocket and send at least one rocket into a black hole and never have an issue with Salem again.

three more seasons and a plan hasn’t even been formed to deal with her or the relics, Emerald and Mercury are doing nothing, Cinder has no goal except to be the new adam and chase the heros and get her ass kicked, Hazel’s doing nothing, The comms are down and we haven’t heard a peep from whoever runs Vacuo, Blake and Ruby have still had barely any interaction, Weiss hasn’t apologized for her racism, We never addressed how and why did Raven appear in Yang’s dreams, Why did ren from shields over his hands and show off feats of strength that rival yangs or his weird ability to sense tyrian? Neo’s eyes changed color when she saw Raven and her teleport ability. Lore Like how semblance, Lien (the money that looks like credit cards but has zero numbers on it work) The examples of agriculture, Flora and Fauna, dust and so on.

A. Haven’t they said it’s more like twelve?

B. Nope, Ozpin’s back. But hey, who needs to actually KNOW what you’re talking about?

C. Can’t do that, don’t know where the Spring Maiden is. Would have known this if you watched Volume 6.

D. They never said that and expressly said they were meeting with Ironwood to get the relic somewhere secure. Gee, that’s the THIRD thing you’ve gotten wrong. Hm...

E.So Soku, how does Quirks affect agiculture? What were the original Quirks like? Who had the first Quirk? What was life like for people when Quirks were uncommon? Hm? Nothing is said?

MHA is shit, SOku said so.

But sure, three more seasons to cram that all in AND a plan and character interaction/Growth and so on, this is a lovely mess of a show.

And as you have shown, you paid attention to 0% of it so how would you know?

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So how’s that tar and feather treatment treating you Soku? Because I have so many more ways of humiliating you, happy showcase them as long as you open that bitchy little mouth of yours.

So go ahead and keep posting. It just lets me indulge my sadism without remorse.

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strqyr · 6 months

Note

Have we heard one way or another about whether Yang kept Raven being the Spring Maiden to herself or informing her team? On one hand - communication is a theme with RWBY. On the other some secrets are kinda important or necessary to keep. And if Yang hasn't told the team that secret is suddenly relevant to bring up right when Ruby would probably be just tired of her family keeping secrets.

at the moment there's no indication yang told anyone. is it plausible it happened off-screen? sure, i guess, but personally i would find yang informing others to go against the entire point of her taking the lamp; not only to take the lamp off of raven's hands ( which, locking it back in the vault would not have achieved ), but to take the target off of raven, who clearly doesn't want it. telling everyone when qrow makes it clear locking the lamp back in its vault would be their first option kiiiiiinda goes against that.

i also see no reason for them to not mention it if yang did tell them, like... qrow simply says "without the spring maiden here"; if he knew the spring maiden was raven thanks to yang informing everyone, why not just say her name? it's not a curse word lmao.

also, like. ruby didn't tell everyone what she saw in the tree immediately either—not even a "hey i saw something pretty important and i want to talk to you once we get back to remnant" to yang or anything—and that's not the kind of time sensitive, who gets to have a target on their back thing.. i mean it is, rip raven the target went full circle, but my point is: blabbing one's mouth does not run in this family, so yang keeping it a secret ( for now ) fits the bill.

story-wise, too, i think it makes more sense for ruby to tell yang what she saw, and then the gears start moving in yang's head like waitaminute, when did the spring maiden run away exactly, does that line up with summer's mission, etc., and at that point spill the beans. let them compare notes and put pieces together before they even get a chance to talk to raven and then go to her with their case ready to be made.

#grundpfeiler #ask.strqyr

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robiness · 4 years

Text

Raven Branwen could teach us to trust love (theory, V7CH12 spoilers)

Yeah, that’s what I said.

In my theory about Qrow’s arc, I mentioned that the worst possibility is that Raven gets to Qrow, because obviously they’re hostile to each other and have different worldviews. He’s fragile and can be easily manipulated to returning to the Branwen ways.

It was a Qrow theory, so I focused on him. All I said about Raven was that she’s clever and brutal, and she wants her family to concede that she’s right in her philosophy.

I’ve seen a few ideas about Raven saving everything, but I dismissed them because of my own perception of her character. But after seeing them a couple more times today, I considered a new possibility.

(this is a theory for a RWBY7 hopeful ending, if you don’t want to get your hopes up, i’ll understand)

Yes, Raven is clever, brutal, ruthless. I still firmly believe that she’ll do anything for what she considers worth fighting for. In my perspective, these are (1) protecting her tribe, and (2) making her family realize that she was right all along.

(2) is something she constantly keeps doing even in hostile situations. She tries and tries, and is extremely frustrated at the stupidity she sees. She feels betrayed by Qrow, too, since he used to subscribe to their ways, but she still tries.

She HAS expressed outright care before. Most obvious is the Yang vs Neo fight yes, but there’s another one I forgot and now made me consider her influence as a positive thing.

This conversation between her and Yang in Volume 5.

Most of V5, Raven is rigid in her beliefs. She’s very firm with trying to convince Yang she was right when they met in the tribe, and even in Haven Academy, she left without caring if Qrow or anyone died, but she still tried to get through to her brother.

Later, when Yang confronts her after the Maiden fight, her reaction is angry. She thinks, again, that Yang is getting it all wrong like everything else. Ozpin’s war is hopeless, and Raven is the only one not brainwashed into his ideals. This was probably exacerbated by the fact she just defeated Cinder, again proving that she’s on top.

“It's not that simple. You don't know me, you don't know what I've been through, the choices I've had to make!”

“I've stared death in the face over and over again! And every time I've spat in that face and survived because I'm strong enough to do what others won't!”

“Who do you think you are lecturing me?! Standing there, shaking like a scared little girl?!”

She feels superior, and righteous in her rage.

But then Yang calls her bluff. Raven might think she was making the right decisions, but Yang saw very clearly that she was too weak to do anything else but kill and run.

Yang proved to her that she did know Raven, because she was right in thinking that Raven would bail yet again if Yang offered to take the Relic that was a magnet for danger.

Then, Raven makes this expression for the first time:

She is guilty, ashamed, upset, and at the time, I thought that this was only because she was putting her daughter in danger.

But if you think about it, she’s never completely cared about her family’s lives before, not if they interfere with her highest priorities. I’ll repeat: (1) protecting her tribe, and (2) making her family realize that she was right all along.

However, Yang just proved to her that... she wasn’t right. At least, not in the image she was trying to project - a righteous, fearless woman who was making difficult decisions.

I... I'm sorry...

I can bet that she’s never said these words before. Not to Tai, not to Qrow, not to Summer. But now she says this to her daughter who just proved to be much braver than she is. Who wrecked her worldview.

So what? She left anyway. Why would she come now? Why would she change?

I think the fact that she left is the answer. She made a quick, automatic decision to run away, despite her claims of righteousness and bravery. But she was crying and emotional as she did.

Once she was gone, she was gone. There was no mention of her in the next two volumes, other than a teased visit to Tai, and who knows what that was about?

Also, a LOT of people had asked why tf did Yang never tell anybody about her mom being the Spring Maiden.

I don’t really know why Yang as a character made that decision. But maybe the narrative kept her out on purpose, to make viewers forget about her.

Because, you know, I never understood why Raven Branwen was the Spring Maiden, when all other potential Maidens had some sort of connection to the seasons they were assigned (Pyrrha, then Cinder to Fall, Winter/Penny to Winter).

Raven was, if anything, the entire opposite of the concept of spring - rebirth, life, change for the better.

I think she’s about to prove me wrong.

Volume 7: Qrow and Clover

Clover and Qrow had a healthy developing relationship that was cut off prematurely. This broke Qrow and stopped his recovery for seemingly no reason other than to hurt him, and us.

Clover and Qrow had quick but utterly significant scenes that seemed to be wasted just like that. Why?

I think it still stands that this was meant to really, really hurt.

But.

As said in my Qrow theory, and those of many others, only Raven can get to Qrow now in his fragile state, with their connection through her Semblance.

Clover and Qrow are in the tundra, out in the snow. If Raven gets there, how could she save them? By opening another portal to Yang, who is in Atlas, a city with the greatest technology and Pietro Polendina, either or both of which should be enough to save Clover.

Ironwood survived half of his body getting so mangled that they had to replace it with metal. If Clover was left in the tundra, then yeah he has no chance. But if Raven gets them to Atlas, where all the resources are...

Let’s talk about this color scheme.

I, like many others, immediately recognized this as the bi flag colours. It was insulting, demeaning, and cruel for a volume that puts heavy emphasis on “trust love”.

But what if it was put there to indicate that we still should trust despite what just happened? It would still be a traumatizing creative decision, but it would make sense to a predominantly cishet main crew. And any other staff who may have considered that it may hurt would be distracted by the (potential) utter brilliance of it.

The setting was a dark, isolated tundra when Clover died. But the sun rose.

When is a sunrise significant in that kind of setting? That’s right, spring. Hope, love.

Qrow and Clover’s connection was wonderful, but underdeveloped. We assumed the theme Trust Love applied to them, but it was twisted cruelly, making the audience feel like it was just for shock value.

But what if it’s not their love that should be trusted right now? It is in its early stages, which is why we were so angry at the loss of potential. So maybe it’s not the focus.

What if it’s the unexpected love of Raven (spring, hope, sunrise) coming to aid her brother?

Qrow’s recovery: Raven

I’ve extensively talked about the twins’ relationship from Qrow’s perspective. It’s fractured and opposing. That’s a given.

But imagine. Imagine if at this darkest hour, Qrow’s big sister, who he’s given up on, saves him and makes things better.

Clover was good for Qrow, but he doesn’t have to be the only one that is. Raven being open to compromise AND saving Clover? That would be such relief for my poor bird.

A real partner, and estranged sister back in his life? That will skyrocket his recovery so much that I’m literally crying right now at the thought.

Supporting Literary Parallels:

1. The first part of this post brings up the Aesop’s Fable that Clover is based on. To summarize, the Fisherman is down on his luck, but something unexpected happens, he gets his fish that makes his days better.

2. Qrow is the scarecrow of the Wizard of Oz. This is why many of us are terrified of what’s going to happen next, because the other two companions of Dorothy, Leo (Lion) and Ironwood (Tin Man) have lost the gifts they seek.

However, we have forgotten that the scarecrow is Qrow’s basis on a lesser degree. Even his position is lower - he’s not a Headmaster, he’s a simple Huntsman. He “serves” Oz, yes, but that part is nulled when his loyalty was betrayed by Ozpin’s secrets.

Even when he was helping Ozpin, he wasn’t a major player, he didn’t guard any relics, he was primarily a spy, which connects more to his forefront literary basis:

3. Hugin and Munin (sources: 1, 2)

Hugin (thought) is Raven. Munin (memory, mind) is Qrow. In Norse mythology, these are Odin’s two ravens that he sends out to spy for information around the worlds.

Hugin and Munin Fly every day Over all the world; I worry for Hugin That he might not return, But I worry more for Munin.

Raven (thinks herself objective and sensible) definitely matches “might not return”, and Qrow (mental health poster boy held down by memories) is definitely someone who’s always on the brink of tragedy.

But the thing about the original ravens is that they’re always together. Qrow and Raven have never worked together in-show. That’s the difference between the originals and our characters.

My theory is that they’ll come together, because Raven and Qrow have already shown signs of change from what their originals represent.

But it’s two ravens, no crows! At first, this bummed me out, I thought that this fact would be more supportive of my first tragic Qrow theory. But then...

Crows travel in groups, they’re more sociable (Qrow and his kids). Ravens often travel in pairs (her apparent closeness with Vernal). (bird facts source)

While Qrow would enjoy being with a lot of people, Raven would probably be more picky with her companions, and Vernal, her second, is now dead.

Therefore, even if Qrow needs Raven at this very moment, Raven needs her brother, too. It’s not only Qrow who will benefit from the reunion.

The Branwen twins will both be better if they work together. In human minds, plans (Raven) and passion (Qrow) need to coincide for survival.

And if this theory comes through, there will be two ravens to satisfy Raven, and Qrow will always be himself, surrounded by family, at the same time. (hint hint side note crows mate for life the two would still have a lot of development to do)

Last thoughts:

This could be wrong. The Qrow tragedy might still happen. Something completely different could. Raven could be a total bitch the whole series.

IDK OKAY. bUT YEAH IM HOPING fuuuuck

Yeah, maybe we shouldn’t trust anything anymore. After all, so many people were truly hurt by last episode, it was still damaging. Turning this around won’t erase that fact.

But... I really want my Qrow happy. He’s been the most relatable character for me, with the things he goes through, and I’d love it so much if he will come out stronger, with a large support system and some goddamn happiness. And I think... my version makes sense, too?

So maybe everything has a reason. Maybe this is setting up for something really great. We’re very hurt now, but... the sun is rising.

To prepare us for spring?

#rwby #rwby7 #rwby theory #rwby analysis #qrow branwen #raven branwen #clover ebi #yang xiao long #rwby meta #fair game #let qrow branwen be happy #clover ebi defense squad #lucky charms #FUCK #sigh #meta

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catgirlalchemist · 5 years

Text

Known by Her Words

A bird is known by its song, a woman by her words.

Team RWBY and their allies have finally arrived in Atlas—or Mantle, at least—but Yang has been keeping a secret since Haven. Hiding Raven's identity as the Spring Maiden is burning her up inside, and Blake doesn't even know she finally found Raven after her years of searching. Might as well tell two stories about one bird, right?

On AO3 here.

Rating: General Audiences

Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long, Raven Branwen & Yang Xiao Long

Words: 1461

It was the first moment Blake and Yang had had to themselves since the hectic arrival in Atlas. Qrow had gone to try and get through to General Ironwood again, Weiss was trying to track down her sister Winter and Ruby had gone with her, Oscar said he was going to rest in one of the other rooms of the apartment they were renting, and Jaune, Nora, and Ren had volunteered to go grocery shopping. Yang had briefly thought of asking Blake if she wanted to go explore more of Mantle, the apartment was much smaller than the house they'd been staying in in Mistral and they'd barely gotten off the cramped Manta. But Blake had tensed up as soon as they disembarked, and the soldiers who finally cleared them to enter the under-city had been not at all subtle about what they thought of Faunus. So instead, Yang had grabbed Blake's hand and said she wanted to tell her something important.

Now they were sitting next to each other on one of the beds in the room Ruby had claimed for their team. Best to just rip the bandage off, so Yang started talking with no preamble. "Back at Beacon, I told you about my mother, and how I was still looking for her. Well… I found her. It wasn't exactly a heartwarming reunion. But now I know why she left me, at least."

Blake put her hand on Yang's shoulder. "Yang, I'm sorry."

Yang shook her head firmly, but reached across her body with her left hand to place it on top of Blake's, then dropped their joined hands into her lap. "Not your fault. But there's more. It turns out she's been watching me for a long time. Maybe all my life? She didn't reveal herself until Mountain Glenn, though. I lost that fight against Torchwick's lackey. Really badly, actually. But I regained consciousness just in time to see her. Leaving again. Her Semblance is that she can make portals to people she's bonded with. I don't know how she knew I was in danger, but she told Qrow that it was her one kindness, and I shouldn't expect her to save me again."

"That's… not very kind."

"Yeah, she's got some unusual ideas on the subject. Anyway, when I was back home in Patch, and… recovering…" Blake's eyes flicked down to Yang's prosthetic, and Yang squeezed her hand in a way she hoped conveyed blamelessness before continuing, "my dad explained how her Semblance worked, and Qrow had given me some tips on how to track her down in Anima. So I figured that if I found her, I could get her to open a portal to Qrow, and that would lead me to Ruby. Finding her, uh, didn't go well. She'd kidnapped Weiss, she leads a tribe of murderous bandits, and she tried to get me to stay with the tribe. By the way? Qrow definitely never told me and Ruby that he originally went to Beacon to learn how to kill Hunters. Would have been nice to learn that before my asshole mom dropped it on me! Anyway, she also told me and Weiss about Salem and magic and how she and Qrow were turned into birds by Oz. I do trust Qrow's version, that they chose that, over hers, but it's another thing I wish I'd learned from him first. It sounds like he didn't even tell Ruby until he had to, and she's always been closer to him than me." Yang frowned. Qrow taking after Ozpin was a whole other issue, and she really couldn't deal with that and Raven all at once. But Blake was listening intently to her for this, so maybe she could talk about Qrow with her later. She shook her head slightly and continued. "Finally she gave up on trying to convince me to stay and opened a portal to Qrow and Ruby. The only things I got out of the conversation was her advice to question everything, and the reason why she left me: she's scared. She's terrified of Salem, and she's selfish. She'd rather keep herself safe and tell herself it's about survival and strength, no matter how many other people she harms in the process. I don't trust Ozpin very much anymore, especially after what Jinn showed us. But I trust Ruby, so I'm in this until the end. And I finally got my answers." Yang's prosthetic arm was shaking again, but with Blake she didn't feel like she had to hide it.

"I'm so sorry Yang. That sounds like it was awful."

"Oh, I haven't even gotten to the good part yet." Yang hesitated. But this was what she'd wanted to tell Blake this whole conversation, and carrying the truth alone was eating her up inside. "I haven't told anyone about this. I'm not even sure exactly why. But I don't want to tell Uncle Qrow, and Ruby won't get it and she'll tell him. But I can't hold this on my own anymore, and I want you to know." Her hand was shaking harder now.

Blake reached over with her free hand to grab both of Yang's, and Yang felt the shaking begin to cease.

Yang took a deep breath, and finally began. "Okay. When I came back from the vault under Haven, with the relic, Qrow asked me what happened. And I said that Cinder was gone, Vernal— Raven's protégé, I think? Second-in-command? Daughter more than me? Anyway, she was dead. And that was true. But then when he asked about Raven, I said she was gone. I think he and Oz and everyone assumed that Vernal was the Spring Maiden, and so now the powers have moved on. I let them think that. But Vernal wasn't the Spring Maiden. Raven was."

Blake gasped, but Yang hurried on with her story. If she didn't say this now she'd never be able to. "I couldn't have fought her. I didn't even have my prosthetic, I had to leave it upstairs. She let me take the relic, because I told her that if she had it, Salem would never stop hunting her. But she could let Salem hunt me instead. I calculated that she was cowardly enough to let me put myself in danger rather than risk herself, and I was right. And I figured out how she became the Spring Maiden, too. Vernal was never Spring, but another girl was, and she ran away to the Branwen tribe overwhelmed and terrified, and my mother murdered her. She must have loved and trusted Raven a lot, I think. And Raven tried to kill the person she used to be, too. It would almost be easier if she'd succeeded, if she was just… unrepentantly evil. But she's not! I could see it all over her face! She knows she's wrong and she keeps doing this anyway and I don't understand why! And I made my mom cry and apologize but that doesn't fix anything. And then she left, and I was alone in the vault." Yang flung herself back on the bed, pulling her left arm free to cover her eyes. "She just keeps leaving me."

Blake carefully lay back on the bed with her, gently guiding Yang into turning around so that their heads were next to each other on the pillow instead of almost dangling off the side of the bed, and she didn't let go of Yang's right hand for a second. And for a moment Yang was overwhelmed with the thought that she'd never love anyone else the way she did Blake. She'd been feeling like that a lot lately.

"Raven doesn't deserve to have you as her daughter. You don’t have to call her your mom if you don’t want to. You had a mom already. I'm sorry that Summer isn't still here for you, and I wish I could have met her, but I'm glad she was your mom. But... I also know how important your search for Raven has been to you for most of your life, and I can tell how important she still is, and if you want to keep trying with her despite everything I promise I'll be there for you.” Blake was staring into Yang's eyes, and Yang could feel the sincerity and… love? that Blake was clearly intentionally projecting.

That was the final straw. Yang could feel her face heating up and her eyes getting wet, and she didn't even try to hold it back, instead curling up to bury her face in Blake's side and let herself cry. Finally being able to talk about this had been exhausting, and the last thing she felt before falling asleep was Blake gently stroking her hair.

#rwby #bumbleby #yang xiao long #blake belladonna #bumbleby fanfic #raven branwen #kepler's log #my writing

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