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The Merge But Every Time Oscar Uses Magic it Speeds Up

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my only takeaway from the V9 trailer is that Neo ships Rosegarden

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Chemical Weddings in RWBY

So once upon a time Hamliet said she’d write a meta about ships in RWBY, and then arrived months later without Starbucks. 

The central tenet of alchemy is solve et coagula: dissolve, and then coagulate. The process (RWBY appears to be following Ripley’s 12 Gates) repeats, rinses, and repeats again and again throughout the steps, “each time at a more refined level.” The point of a chemical wedding is to reconcile opposites, which is something I touched on in my pseudo-quick meta here. Lyndy Abraham, the author of A Dictionary of Alchemical Imagery, describes the chemical wedding as: 

a crucial operation in the creation of the philosopher’s stone. The alchemists were ultimately concerned with the union of substances, the reconciliation of opposites.

Basically, it unites opposites (fire and water, air and earth, sun and moon, passive and active,  etc., etc., etc.) and then the opposites start to take on each other’s qualities, creating the “Rebis,” or a person both male and female. 

The first chemical wedding is usually somewhat violent, primitive even, whereas the second one signifies the creation of the stone. However, characters can have more than two weddings, and chemical weddings do not inherently have to be romantic–Sam and Frodo aren’t, for example–but most often are, because it’s the most obvious way to show a union between separate people (the old adage “two become one” in marriage, for example). 

If we look at George Ripley’s 12 Gates, chemical weddings tend to be focused on in the fourth stage of conjunction (which I wrote about here) and in the ninth, fermentation (which is probably going to be in volume 10–maybe a little in volume 9, but traveling between worlds seems to be a hallmark of sublimation in fiction so I’m guessing we’re stuck there for the time being). But in a lengthy series spanning eight years and counting, there is going to be overlap. 

So let’s talk about chemical wedding imagery historically. It tends to involve dissolution (via water or fire–keep in mind metal was associated with fire in olden days, so stabbing with metal was considered liquid fire, or so it was believed to be by alchemists) and then coagulation (healing/coming together). 

Four of the five ships–two of whom are definitely happening, one of which I think is happening and one of which I think has a good chance–reference historical alchemical artwork and symbolism in key moments. (RWBY does reference alchemical artwork; see here and here.) So let’s dive in and examine potential chemical wedding allusions in RWBY:

Continuar lendo

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Fav weapon in RWBY?

Thank you for your ask!

I can't choose between The Long Memory and Crocea Mors, so I have to say those both are my favorites. It's not even because they can be useful in a battle, it's because they have a long story and for me it makes them special.

Crocea Mors have its past participating in The Great War, and for sure it is really valuable to Jaune and his family. Now that Crocea Mors has been broke in Volume 8 I really want to see how's Jaune gonna react now that he's in that Island and have time to think about everything that happened. How's he gonna deal with Penny's death and such a precious weapon to his family broken?

Jaune: My great-great-grandfather used it to fight in the war.

The Long Memory have my heart. It passed through lifes, it was there with every Oz no matter what happened. It has a emotional baggage to its owner due to every life they lived with it. The Long Memory gives a feeling of comfort and connection with past lifes lived even if it's new owner don't remember the past lifes yet.

Oscar: It's strange. I only had this cane for a few weeks but I feel like I had it for a lifetime, longer even.

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The Rosegarden Conflict in Volume 7: An Example of Healthy Communication and Teamwork

I've been thinking a lot recently on the conflict between Ruby and Oscar in Volume 7, so I decided to write down some of my thoughts and throw them out there to see what people think.

My interpretation is that this conflict is less of a rough spot in their relationship like most people think, but rather that it actually shows how healthy the communication between them is.

Chapter 2: "A New Approach"

This is where the conflict first starts. After seeing Ironwood's extreme actions in Mantle, Ruby is unsure about whether or not they should tell him (at least, not yet) about what the lamp showed them and the subsequent true cause of Ozpin's disappearance. So she lies.

Oscar is visibly upset by this.

However, about two scenes later he's still looking at her like this:

So... like... maybe not that upset?

Personally, I don't think he's that upset with Ruby per say, I think he's just... concerned.

And he voices those concerns in the very next episode.

Chapter 3: "Ace Operatives"

Oscar: Ruby, hiding things from Ironwood, doesn't that feel like what Ozpin did to us?

Oscar saw last volume how badly Ozpin's secrets affected the team, in no small part because he often had to suffer the consequences of Ozpin's actions. As such, he is worried that by lying to Ironwood they are making the same mistakes Ozpin did.

But it should be noted how he goes about this. He doesn't tell Ruby what she did was wrong. He doesn't even openly disagree. He simply voices his concerns, asking "Are you sure this is the right thing to do?"

And this displays one of the key differences between Ruby and Ozpin in previous volumes. Ozpin's lieutenants were expected to do what he said without question, but Ruby's teammates are free to have doubts and voice those doubts to her. Being a good leader isn't just about telling others what to do, it's about listening to those around you. And Ruby does take Oscar's concerns into consideration.

Ruby: I'm trying to do what I think is best, but I really can't tell if what's best is what's right, or if I'm no different from Oz.

And it's good that Oscar talked to her about it. Keeping stuff like this bottled up is never a good idea. It's clearly not easy for him as he has to visually build up courage beforehand (his trademark "clenching his fists before meeting a problem head on"), but he does feel safe enough to be honest with Ruby about his feelings on her decision. The fact that Oscar feels comfortable enough to openly question Ruby shows how much he trusts her, and that he trusts he'll be listened to.

Overall, I don't think this disagreement harmed their relationship at all (I wouldn't even say he disagrees just that he doesn't completely agree). In fact, I would argue it shows one of the reasons why we love these two's dynamic in the first place. It highlights their trust and respect for one another.

Ruby trusts Oscar to be honest with her, and she respects what he has to say even if she ultimately chooses otherwise.

Oscar trusts Ruby to listen to him, and he respects her final decision even if he doesn't completely agree.

It's also important to note that this difference in opinion does not openly harm their friendship.

Chapter 6: "A Night Off"

Their next major interaction is when Oscar is hanging out with the gang while they are practicing their semblances. Ruby proceeds to use petal burst to split into 3 and go around a column.

Oscar: Have you always been able to do that?

Ruby (panting): I don't know. I don't normally think it through that much.

Oscar: You guys are evolving and I still don't have my Semblance.

Ruby: Well, I bet we'll all be jealous when you do.

It's a really sweet interaction that I think often gets overlooked, but I think it shows that despite their difference in opinion, their friendship is as strong as ever.

You can openly question the decisions of someone you care about and still get along fine. This fact is shown pretty clearly in the next episode.

Chapter 7: "Worst Case Scenario"

This isn't strictly about Ruby and Oscar, but people have brought up the parallels between them and bumbleby before.

In this episode, Blake and Yang have a similar disagreement over the same issue.

Yang: Do you… Do you think we should've told Ironwood about Salem, before he put so much on the line for Amity?

Blake: Sounds like you do.

Yang: (sighs) I trust Ruby, but I think he deserves to know what he's stepping into. We all did.

Blake: ...

Yang: You don't agree.

Blake: Look around. The embargo, the military presence, the restrictions on assembly. He's a bit prone to overreacting.

Yang: Yeah, hard to argue with that. Still, he didn't have a lot of good options.

I don't really have much to say to this, other than it's an interesting parallel and supports my previous point.

In the very same episode, we see Oscar interacting with Ironwood.

Once again, I think it's important to point out how Oscar confronted Ruby. He wasn't trying to convince Ruby to change her mind, he was only voicing his feelings on the matter as a concerned teammate and friend, and letting her decide for herself. Ultimately, she decides to still withhold the truth from Ironwood, and while he doesn't necessarily agree with that decision, he goes through with it because he trusts her. That being said, Oscar isn't one to sit idly by.

Oscar: Well, I can tell you what I think. The path you're heading down where you're the only one with the answers, where you do the thing you think is right no matter the cost, it's not going to take you anywhere good.

Oscar isn't going to try to convince Ruby to trust Ironwood, because he knows her fears are valid. Instead, he tries to convince Ironwood to be trustworthy.

And I think it's important to remember that until Cinder ruined everything, it actually worked.

Chapter 9: "As Above, So Below"

Oscar: The panic you were worried about? It's already happening. The secrets you're keeping? They're about to be in the open anyway. It's time. Tell the truth.

Ruby: You're not alone. We can do this together.

You can make the case that Ruby and Oscar disagreed on how to handle the Ironwood situation. I would argue that he was simply questioning her decision, but that his faith in her was ultimately stronger than his doubt.

Either way, they eventually came to the same conclusion.

Ruby: Well, uh… (awkward laugh) I guess we're on the same page, huh?

Oscar: Guess so. He's finally choosing the truth over fear. We should do the same.

Notice how he words that. We should do the same. Not you. We. Because in the end, they made this decision together, and they chose to see it through together.

In Conclusion:

Blind faith is never a good thing to have. Everyone is human and makes mistakes. You can have doubts in someone and still trust them. And isn't that one of the main themes of the volume? It's okay to be afraid as long as you don't let that fear control you?

Oscar is afraid of being like Ozpin, but he trusts Ruby enough to still go through with her plan even if he has these doubts.

He trusts Ruby to make the right choice, even if he doesn't fully agree with that choice. But being honest about his feelings on the decision was the healthy and practical thing to do, and it is a testament to how much they trust and respect each other that this difference in opinion had no bearing on their actual relationship.

No two people are going to agree 100% of the time. Being honest about those disagreements and still trusting each other is part of what makes Ruby and Oscar's bond so strong.

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What made you start shipping rosegarden & Fav moment so far?

It's not a good story but I'll tell you

Well, I'm not much a "shipper person". I can't easily see two or more characters and ship 'em, I need canon evidence + I need someone to throw these evidence in my face, so it took me a while to ship RG. And that's why I started shipping them just when I saw people talking about Oscar's blush in v8ch1 + parallels with other ships, then I thought something like "Oscar seems to like Ruby. I think it would be interesting if Oscar and Ruby liked each other" and now it's my OTP

My favorite RG moment is the Dojo scene

The Dojo scene is my favorite because it's a moment of those two letting be vulnerable toward each other. Everything there was a demonstration of trust, a really important step to their relationship. There's not that much to say hahaha 😅

Thank you for your question and I'm sorry for late response

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YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW LOUD I STARTED YELLING: ROSEGARDEN REUNION!

BUT I WAITED 8 EPISODES! I WAITED SINCE THE FIRST TRAILER - AND I DIDN'T GET IT! I mean, I sorta did... Have some screenshots:

HE JUST KNEW SHE'S GONNA HUG HIM

HE WENT STRAIGHT FOR IT

BUT NO BECAUSE WHY

WHY WOULD WE GET SOMETHING CUTE AND WHOLESOME ANDJXNJAJSJ

AND NOW HE'S SAD GOD NOOOOOO

But you know what? I'm happy! This is good! This is very good AND I LOVE IT