#*salem & sandy

[onmyitouch]

hit and run

[boundtobreakk]

Final round of HSLOT for me was Harryween and I’m glad I ended my tour run with my favorite holiday running around the pit and dancing until my feet literally started hurting. Last night was one of the best nights 💚🖤

[quitealotofsodapop]

Ok, but eventually, one of them is gonna get caught. While Mr. Sunshine is the most likely, I like to think it was Moonlight instead. For one, Wukong has been disguising himself amongst humans for centuries and is a master at shape-shifting... Macaque? Dead the past several centuries, in fact. Over a thousand years dead if we consider the fact he canonically died during the journey, and that canonically was during the Tang dynasty, approximately 1300 years ago. And like any ancient warrior demon from China's most legendary era... he immediately outs Wukong like a child who got his hand caught in the cookie jar. If he is going down, Wukong is being dragged with him!

Referencing.

Absolutely its Macaque that gets found out first. Because while he's a good actor... he's not patient at all. If he spends too much time as Mr Moonlight, he gets antsy.

Wukong is able to keep the act up far longer than people expect. He has that sort of self-control. He doesn't get "stage fright" as it were if he's transformed into something/someone else. The only times he breaks character in JTTW is when he laughs too hard (Camel Ridge), or when PIF tried kissing him while he was glamoured as DBK.

First person to notice that the pets weren't normal was Sandy. He knows cats, and Mr Moonlight isn't a real cat. He probably sits the dang cat down a calmly explains that while he's not sure why he's chosen this form, that he would appriciate that he come clean to his owners. Mr Moonlight looks away guiltily enough to confirm the boatman's suspiscions.

Mei has been working a theory with Pigsy for years that Mr Moonlight is a person cursed to be a cat ala Salem from Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Pigsy's caught the cat watching tv far too many times to be normal.

Bai He is obsessed with witchy things and magical girl cartoons, so she thinks Mr Moonlight is her familiar and that his behaviors are normal for a "magic" cat.

It all comes to a head when MK gets the Staff... causing Mr Moonlight to exclaim in a man's voice; "THE HELL DID YOU GET THAT?!"

The restaurant goes silent.

Bai He stops brushing her cats fur in cofusion.

Macaque tries to salvage the situation; "Meow?"

But its far too late. Especially since MK has just discovered that the Demon Bull Family and the Monkey King's staff!!

Mr Moonlight then points a single paw at the bird on MK's shoulder;

cat!Macaque, pointing at Mr Sunshine: "He's not a bird either." bird!Wukong: "Mac wtf?!" MK: "Mr Sunshine can talk too!?" Bai He, in denial, holding Mr Moonlight: "No, he's just a bird. They repeat stuff." Tang, terrified: "But the fact that your cat talks is ok!?" Bai He, matter-of-factly: "He's a black cat, so he's a witch." Tang: "I... I dunno how to refute that... I'm doing an exorcism." cat!Macaque: "Oh for-!" *transforms into his regular monkey self* MK & Tang: *Loud gasp!!* "MONKEY KING!!" bird!Wukong, offended: "Heeey!" *bounces down and turns into his true form* MK & Tang: "TWO MONKEY KINGS!?" Bai He: "But... my kitty..." Macaque: "Only some of the time, bug."

Needless to say the chaos increases from here. Pigsy whacks both monkeys on the head for the deception ("And the vet bills!").

[citadelofmythoughts]

This is a very good week to be a RWBY fan and in that spirit and the spirit of the @smmrofrwby I'll put up my fics. I'm not prolific but there have been a few.

My current work is SREN which follows the adventures of Blake and Yang's teenage daughters Sandy and Rose along with their respective teams at a restored Beacon Academy.

My longish fic before this was Trust Love which is basically the start of my post-Salem "SREN-verse" (with some minor retcons since I hadn't planned on it being the start of anything lol) It's at it heart a love story between Blake and Yang and them starting their life together as a married couple.

There are an assortment of little fics as well, some one shots, some in continuity with the SREN-verse

[crowno-0]

Gathered in a room RWBYJ are reunited with friend's and family who had gathered to Vacuo to help in the fight against Salem in their memory and because it was the right thing to do.

Hugs and tears were given and shed all around, Yang and Ruby's father had yet to let them go since seeing them, Blake's parents had come with ships for Vacuo they similarly to Tai have yet to let go of their daughter, when the news of Blake and Yang's relationship was let loose the room was awash with congratulations.

Weiss's family had become more so of one in her absence the loss of Weiss bringing them together and her reappearance strengthening this closeness further.

Jaune's team had nearly broken his back and arms with the force of their hugs mainly from Nora but Ren was giving her a run for her money, the appearance of Saphron, Terra and Adrian was something he wasn't expecting, Terra being an CCT technician had come to Vacuo to help connect Amity to the world.

All around good feelings were had and shared, but for someone who had spent years alone this was becoming too much too fast and using a lul in the room Jaune left to breathe, not noticing someone watch him as he left.

Stepping into the sandy Vacuo air Jaune breathes a breath of air watching as the real human and Faunus beings below his went about their lives without any weird magical geese or insane nonsense going on, just people and to him it finally feels real.

Feeling a hand on his shoulder Jaune turns and sees Weiss looking at him with concern.

Weiss: Jaune, are you okay?

Jaune: Sorry, yeah...I, everything is just sinking in that I'm back and it's a little overwhelming.

Weiss: I know what you mean, with all the craziness of the Ever After being back is...weird, I can't begin to imagine what it's like for you.

Looking down at his hands Jaune regards himself: seeing everyone my family again I haven't felt like this or anything like this since...I saw you all on the lotus market, it doesn't feel real...and I'm afraid if I close my eyes I'll wake back up in I don't know a Punderstorm or something.

Weiss moves closer to Jaune taking one of his hands gently: It's real and so are we, nobody is leaving you again,you won't be alone anymore, okay.

Jaune with tears at the edges of his eyes, nods and squeezes Weiss's hand.

Jaune: Neither will you, I mean you won't be alone...like, you know what I mean.

Weiss laughs as Jaune scratches the back of his neck: I get it, and thank you Jaune.

Jaune: For what it's worth, if you were falling I'd catch you.

Weiss: What?

Jaune: You know, in the Punderstorm when that hole opened up I didn't help... I'd catch you,I don't know what I'm saying.

Weiss: No it's fine I get it and thank you, I'd catch you as well, if you ever fall.

Jaune: Thanks.

Weiss: You'll catch me if I fall...I might already be falling.

Jaune: Weiss?

Weiss: Well I'm going to get back to everyone, you make sure to join us when you're ready okay.

Jaune: Yeah, I will.

Weiss: Good, tomorrow we will go explore Vacuo together alright.

Jaune: Oh, Eh yeah, okay.

Weiss leaves Jaune to stare out into the Vacuo night but the Knight doesn't feel alone and everything feels real.

[roses-bah-garden]

Hi! Could we get a lvl 5 dani (hocus pocus?)-💤

here you go!

a new flower has blossomed! 🌹

dani (hocus pocus) ... [LVL 5 PACK]

══════════════════

name(s) ;; dani, danielle, deedee, thora, salem, jennifer

pronouns ;; she/her

age ;; 8

species ;; human (transCat)

gender(s) ;; cisfeminine, halloweenlexic

orientation(s) ;; unlabelled

role(s) ;; syskid, assistant

source ;; hocus pocus

sign-off(s) ;; D.D. ; – dani

══════════════════

hex code ;; #de350a (trinidad)

personality ;; brave and determined. she is headstrong and stands up for what she believes in, even if it may get her in trouble. incredibly loyal. she likes to tease those she's close with, and adores helping adults in the system with things, since it makes her feel grown up.

bonus info ;; often wearing silly makeup or face paint

══════════════════

likes ;; halloween, dressing up, helping others, anything chocolate

dislikes ;; bullies, leafy greens, school (if applicable), romances

possible front triggers ;; halloween, her source

══════════════════

cisid(s) ;; white, cisADHD, auburn hair, green eyes, younger sister

transid(s) ;; transSpecies (transCat), transWiccanUpbringing, transinfinichildhood, transHalloweenBirthday

kink/fetish/para(s) ;; AAM (non-sexual)

══════════════════

moodboard ;; found here

playlist ;; "kidnap the sandy claws" - the nightmare before christmas / "i put a spell on you" - nina simone / "grim grinning ghosts" - haunted mansion / "my girlfriend is a witch" - october country / "cruella de vil" - 101 dalmatiana

kinlist ;; thea stilton (thea sisters), sabrina spellman (sabrina the teenage witch), little red (into the woods), shock (the nightmare before christmas)

[stayingalivehqjs]

Moans and groans fill the night sky, blunt nails scratch along the smooth surface of a car caught amidst a horde of infected. Screams from inside barely carry, they can barely be heard in the distance. But what's that in the distance? Is that [CHRIS HEMSWORTH]? No way, that's [JOSHUA SIMS]. The [FORTY-TWO] year old [MALE ( +HE/HIM/HIS)] used to be a [NIGHTCLUB OWNER]. Since the outbreak, they've proven to be [HONEST] & [STRONG-WILLED], but rumor has it they're also [SELFISH] & [STUBBORN], which may pose a risk to the group. They appear to have taken the [LEADER/MANAGER] role within the group. Only time can tell if they succeed.

𝙱𝙰𝚂𝙸𝙲 𝙸𝙽𝙵𝙾

full name — Joshua Edward Sims age — forty-two gender — male orientation — bisexual occupation — Nightclub Owner role in group — Leader/Manager weapon(s) — Machete clothing style/armor — Oversized trench coat, white shirt and black trousers

𝙿𝙷𝚈𝚂𝙸𝙲𝙰𝙻 𝙸𝙽𝙵𝙾

face claim — chris hemsworth hair — sandy-blonde height — six foot three build — muscular and athletic scars — none tattoos — none piercings — none sexual preference — top leaning versatile

𝙿𝙴𝚁𝚂𝙾𝙽𝙰𝙻𝙸𝚃𝚈

positive traits — honest and strong-willed negative traits — selfish and stubborn hobbies — running, working out, fishing and bird watching

𝙼𝙴𝙳𝙸𝙲𝙰𝙻 𝙸𝙽𝙵𝙾

mental — depression and anxiety physical — excellent physical shape phobias — heights, spiders and insects in general eyesight — 20/20 dominant hand — right drug use — none alcohol use — none diet — anything that is available. He does love BBQ sauce on everything.

𝙱𝙰𝙲𝙺𝙶𝚁𝙾𝚄𝙽𝙳

birthplace — salem, massachusetts parents — unknown siblings — unknown education — college drop out notable skills — organisation skills are on point, good with numbers and a sociable person when his social batteries are active

𝙱𝙸𝙾 before the end —

Joshua was left as a baby outside of a church in Salem. His birth date could not be found, so his birth date was set as the day he was found. There was no information on who his parents were.

He grew up in the church, until he was 16 when he ranaway across country, hitching rides from strangers to get away from the church due to a situation with a priest at the church. The priest seduced Joshua and the two were sleeping together until someone at the church found out and blamed Joshua for it.

Joshua started working as a go-go dancer and stripper from a young age and fell into the wrong crowd.

It wasn't until his late twenties where he finally got his life together and stopped stripping and dancing and worked within a nightclub, which he would later become the manager and owner.

When he was thirty-three, he met Jack, who was a musician at the nightclub. It started as a regular hook up when Jack was in town but soon become more serious and when Joshua was thirty-eight the two got married.

after the end —

Jack was away for a gig when the outbreak happened and Joshua had no knowledge of whether Jack survived or not.

He was travelling to try and find Jack when he came across the group he's with now.

He still thinks of Jack but as time had passed, his thinking of meeting Jack again has faded.

He uses his skills from being a nightclub owner, to become one of the leaders of the group and help manage the stock of items the group finds for the survival of everyone there.

[bridgyrose]

Heres a fallen Petals prompt for you:

V9 but, only Ruby fell, taking Cinder with her, into the Ever After. And for added longevity, Cinder's maiden powers dont seem to work in Ever After.

Have fun~

Ruby coughed as she pulled herself out of the water and onto the sandy beach, still a bit disoriented from her fall. Last she had remembered was grabbing onto Cinder and pulling her down with her in hopes that her teammates and her friends would be able to survive and help get others to safety, and yet, she still felt like all she had done was fail. Failed to keep Atlas safe, failed to keep Salem away from the lamp. 

She finally rolled over to look up at the sky, taking a deep breath to try to relax. It wasnt the first, nor would it be the last, time that she had been separated from everyone, but it was certainly the first time that she had no idea where she was or even if her teammates were okay. She pulled out her scroll on instinct to check her teammates’ aura, only to groan when she saw the “No Signal” message. 

Without further delay, Ruby picked herself up and started to make her way deeper into the forest by the beach, almost dragging with each step. Nothing had gone to plan, but at least no one got hurt because of her. At least, not that she was aware of. Neo was still left up there with her teammates and while she knew they could handle her, it was still a worry in the back of her mind. 

“Stupid vines!” 

Ruby paused as she heard Cinder’s voice, looking around to find her. She heard her call out again and followed the sounds of her grunting as she tried to free herself from a mass of vines that seemed to curl around her. 

“Get off of me!” Cinder tried to cut through the vines using her grimm claws, only to watch the vines start to grow back and wrap around her wrists. “I’ll tear through you if I have to!” 

Ruby sighed and shook her head as she made her way to the vines. “You might as well quit struggling, you only seem to be making it worse.” 

Cinder glared, but stopped trying to move. “And what do you know? You’re the reason we’re here in the first place!” 

Ruby winced and took a breath to try to push that thought out of her mind. “And if we want to get back, we’ll have to work together to figure out where we are and how to get home.”

“And why should I trust you?” 

“Because you dont have a choice.” 

“I could kill you here and be done with you.” 

“And if you do that, then you’ll have to traverse this place on your own.” Ruby looked around for a sharp stick to help cut Cinder out of the vines. “And if you kill me now, then you’ll be alone. And you’ll never make it back to Remnant.” 

Cinder frowned. “And what makes you think I cant get to Remnant without you?” 

Ruby picked up a branch from the ground and snapped it to give it a point. “For one, you’re still struggling to get yourself out of those vines, which means you cant use your maiden powers to help. And two-” she stabbed at one of the vines and paused as it recoiled and then wrapped around the stick. “-I think this might be a trap.” 

“You think?” 

Ruby took a step back as the vines started to make their way to her and wrapped around her legs, pulling her into the tangled mess with Cinder. She struggled to free herself until she heard shouting coming closer. She tried to ready herself as best she could, only to pause when she saw a few mice come out from the brush. 

“Our trap worked!” one of the mice called out. “We can finally fight back against our predators!” 

“Your predators?” Cinder let out a growl as she asked. “So let me get this straight: we fell into a trap that was set up to protect mice?!” 

“Hunter mice!”

“Hunter mice…” 

Ruby sighed and started to struggle a bit. “Can you let us out? We didnt realize this was your trap and we uh… we’re not actually here to hurt you.”

The hunter mice looked the two over before finally relenting to cut the girls out of the vines. 

Cinder rubbed her wrists and glared at Ruby, then started to walk off. “I’ll find my way back.” 

“We dont even know where we are!” Ruby looked between the hunter mice and Cinder before finally groaning and following after Cinder. “Where are you going?” 

“To the tree,” Cinder said as she pointed to the tree that seemed to loom over everything. “Its at least tall enough to give me an idea on how to get out of here.” 

“And you’re planning on going alone? What if there’s something out there that tries to kill you?”

“Why do you care?” 

“I…” Ruby paused as she tried to find an answer, but couldnt. Why did she care if Cinder ended up killed wherever this place was? Without Cinder, she and her team could finally stand a chance to stop Salem since she’d never be able to get the Beacon relic without her. Though, that did mean if she died… She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Because… of the maiden powers.” 

Cinder frowned. “That’s why you care?” 

“Yes… no…” Ruby lightly punched a nearby tree. “Why does this have to be so complicated?” 

“The only thing that’s going to be complicated is getting back home-” Cinder paused and sighed when she pushed away a bit of grass and found herself overlooking what she could only describe as a child’s imagination. “-because we’re dead, arent we?” 

Ruby walked over next to her and looked over what she could find. Nothing seemed to make sense anymore as she started to recount everything. “The hunter mice, the tree…” she paused and started to look for anything else familiar. “We’re in the Ever After.” 

“The Ever After?” 

“Yeah. This is all like the story from the *Girl Who Fell Through the World*. All we have to do is follow the story-” 

“Follow the story?” Cinder scoffed. “And how do you know that’ll work?” 

“I dont, but Alyx made it out through the tree and its our best shot on getting out of here together. I… I dont have Crescent Rose, and you dont seem to have your maiden powers. So either we work together and get out of here, or we run into the Jabberwalker and run into further trouble because neither of us can fight it.” 

“I’ll take my chances.” 

Ruby hesitated. “And where are you going?” 

“To find my way to the tree. Alone.” 

Ruby sighed and dropped to the ground, starting to feel lost. She still had no idea how to get to the tree and even if she could, she still didnt even know how to get home from it. She wiped a tear from her eyes and paused as rain started to fall around her. 

“Dont cry,” a small voice called out to her. “I can help you get to the tree.” 

“You… can?” Ruby asked as she watched a small mouse make its way to her. “What’s your name?” 

“Name?” The mouse paused and sat down. “I… dont actually have a name. I’m still looking for my purpose.” 

“Then would it be alright if I give you one?” 

The mouse nodded. 

“What about… Little?” Ruby asked as she held her palm out. “Do you like that?” 

“I do,” Little said as they made their way onto Ruby’s hand. “And what do I call you?” 

“Ruby.” Ruby sighed and put Little on her shoulder. “And you’re sure you’re okay with taking me to the tree? It looks like its a long way.” 

“I dont mind at all. And maybe I’ll be able to find my purpose along the way.”

[berylcluster]

Eddie and Salem’s kid. 🙌🏼

⊰ SEND ME 'IF THEY HAD A KID' AND I'LL CREATE ONE ⊱

EDDIE & SALEM 

Name: Ollie Kiera “Key” Munson 

Gender: Non-Binary (They/Them) 

General appearance: Their hair is a dark sandy brown like their mother with some natural body to it from their father, however, in their youth, they damaged it to hell which they are slowly repairing it back. Key isn’t the tallest person in the world, pretty average height, and they like to keep a healthy lifestyle. Mostly seen in black, they take after their parents styles having lived with the goth punk couple and on the road when Eddie was touring. 

Personality: They are the sweetest to those that are good to them, and they are kind, often times they have a streak of snark but it’s short lived and usually followed up with a compliment or joke. Key was known as the Class Clown throughout high school.  

Special talents: They play base like Key was born to play and one of their special interests is playing with their father and his band or solo if the band is on hiatus. Unlike both of their parents, Key can actually cook fairly well and enjoys the activity.  

Who they like better: Salem 

Who they take after more: Eddie 

Personal headcanon: Named after their maternal grandmother, they never really liked the name ‘Kiera’ so they shortened it to ‘Key’ in order to honor the namesake anyway. ‘Ollie’ was completely Eddie’s idea because Salem said no to naming their child Ozzy or Oswald.  

Face Claim: Emma d’Arcy 

[spilledreality]

Tinsley Mortimer, Allison Sarofim, Annelise Peterson, Zani Gugelmann, Genevieve Jones, Ali Wise, Lauren Santo Domingo, Lily Kwong, Barbara Bush, Maggie Betts, Rachel Chandler, Hope Atherton, Vanessa Traina, Lydia Hearst, Arden Wohl, Amanda Hearst, Shala Monroque, Leigh Lezark, Agyness Deyn, Chelsea Leyland, Cassie Coane, Harley Viera-Newton, Mei Kwok, Caitlin Moe, Mia Moretti, Hannah Bronfman, Sarah Lewitinn, Theodora Richards, Alexandra Richards, Vashtie Kola, Olympia Scarry, Cat Marnell, Eleonore Hendricks, Annabelle Dexter-Jones, Kate Lanphear, Melissa Bent, Mirabelle Marden, Ashley Smith, Michelle Harper, Jeanette Hayes, Brandee Brown, Leandra Medine Cohen, Emily Weiss, Audrey Gelman, Tavi Gevinson, Petra Collins, Jemima Kirke, Barbie Ferreira, Sahara Lin, Alexandra Marzella, Cleo Wade, Hailey Gates, Karley Sciortino, Sandy Kim, Paloma Elsesser, Chloe Wise, Lexie Smith, Seashell Coker, Oyinda, Kyle Luu, Dese Escobar, Fiffany Luu, Jo Rosenthal, Lindsay Vrckovnik, Emily Ratajkowski, Kaitlin Phillips, Hari Nef, Dara Allen, Emilia Musacchia, Michelle Li, Miyako Bellizzi, Yohana Lebasi, Tommy Dorfman, Eileen Kelly, Laila Gohar, Ruby Redstone, Ivy Getty, Noor Eklhaldi, Savannah Hudson, Jazzelle Zanaughtti, Salem Mitchell, Anna Weyan, Imani Randolph, Bella Newman, Lumia Nocito, Caroline Calloway, Maria Al-Sadek, Pierrah Hilaire, Clara Perlmutter, Anaa Saber, Gabriella Karefa-Johnson, Devin Halbal, Dasha Nekrasova, Ella Emhoff, Richie Shazam, Julia Fox, Eve Jobs

[onmyitouch]

I’m cursed

[endlessly-cursed]

A Living Legacy, Chapter Two: The Beginning of All

A/N: After a few months of not updating, I have finally completed the second chapter! With this chapter, I officially say goodbye to August and my summer. Enjoy!!

Summary: Henriette learns of a new world ... and a few things about herself

OCs featured: Changeling Betwixt @hphmmatthewluther

Warnings: There is a scene where a poor girl is burned at the stake and mature themes are explored, reader's discretion is advised

Word Count: 1.8k

Tagging: @hphmmatthewluther @camillejeaneshphm @gaygryffindorgal @that-scouse-wizard

I shook my head. Could it be possible? “Me?!” I cried “A—A witch?!”

Helga nodded, a wide smile on her face “Why, yes!”

This was surreal, I thought. I must be dreaming, right? I told myself. But I was not dreaming “You do not remember anything, do you?” Helga inquired.

I searched in my head any plausible explanation, and while drinking more water, a sudden image came into my mind.

I was back in that alley, and the best men were surrounding me. I closed my eyes and screamed. They all fell backwards. Everything shook. And then someone took me. Could I truly could’ve done something so incredible without barely even trying?

“But,” I rebutted “magic’s not real. It is a tale to scare misbehaving children.”

Helga smiled bemused while she shook that stick again “Then what is this, my lady?” Sparks of pure golden flew and I gasped. I shook my head. Was she playing tricks with me? Was this a prank by my betrothed? “Magic is real, my love. You may not see it, but it is there. Among us. In your blood. You may be lost now, but once you get the hang of it, trust me, no one will do that again.”

“I—I cannot be a witch. I shall be burnt alive!” I cried.

“Not if you’re smart about it.” Helga said, with that amiable smile that must win many, many hearts.

1897

“Wait,” Primrose blurted, notebook in hand “I thought the witch-hunts started in Salem in the 17th century.”

Henriette chuckled “Those are the most famous, yes. But there have always been witch hunts. It definitely increased over those times. Some were not recorded, but there were. I, Helga, Rowena, and their female allies were always at risk, because witchcraft in women was viewed as a threat.”

“Because witchcraft means freedom, independence, knowledge, and the men do not want that in us.”

Henriette smiled “What a delightfully insightful young girl. You shall go far in life, my dear.”

“And did you ever? Almost got burned at the stake, I mean.”

The blonde woman shook her head “No. But I got to witness them. Such ghastly thing. I am glad that your people are beyond that and just spurn them socially.”

“When did you witness such a thing?” Primrose asked.

“That same day. My first day in an unseen England.”

Helga and I walked through the murky and sandy streets, not yet paved, observing everything. Some people talked and traded goods and food, and others duelled with said sticks, which Helga told me were wands.

“If magic is real,” I hesitated “does Merlin, Arthur, Camelot and those fantastic tales exist?”

“They did. It has been a century since the happenings, but we have him very present in our lives. Many try to match him, but it is quite impossible, you see. Not even I compared with my dearest friends can stand a chance together against him. Consider him our Charlemagne.”

“Papa told me we descend from him and one of his mistresses.”

Helga smiled “Lucky girl. You must be veneered back home.”

I bit my lip “Many of my kind descend from him. He had quite the impact in our livelihood.”

It was true. Many could trace their lineage back to Charlemagne or Roman emperors, it was almost a question of blood supremacy and who got the better lineage. My family was only a minor Saxon noble family who got lucky after a mistress of Charlemagne, after having her firstborn son with him, married with his permission and settled in east Wessex. Many others descended from the Romans and even the very first kings of our country. Compared to them, we were just average nobility.

“Oh, Lord,” Helga breathed as I, too, heard the cries for help. From a woman, as many others cheered.

“We ought to go. Now!” Helga whispered, but I was not sure.

“We must aid her! Do I smell smoke?” I followed the scent, until it took me to a crowd of people. Many roared as a woman walked on her chemise, crying that she was not guilty and the horror on my heart when I saw that she was younger than I.

“Burn the witch!” One man cried.

“Kill that bitch!” Another cried.

“We don’t want abominations in our land!” One woman with a child cried as well.

My blood ran cold as I realised, they were burning her under the accusations of witchcraft.

“Please!” The girl cried “I am innocent! I am but a poor healer! Mama! Papa!”

I looked in her directions as their parents cried, helplessness in their eyes as a bishop blessed her before he lit the bonfire. I couldn’t help but look in pure horror. I was paralysed. All I could see and hear were that poor girl’s screams, piercing through my ears and heart, wrenching it in a thousand pieces.

Before I could do anything, a soft but firm hand took me out of there and into a small pub—it was Helga, saving me from the terrors yet again. She had a knowing and sad face in her eyes “Now you see why you must be careful, dear. Especially being a woman of range. They will eat you alive, no hesitation.”

I nodded. I knew what she meant, deep down. Wiping my tears, I sighed and Helga asked for some water, and I nearly swallowed whole the pint. Not my most ladylike moment, if you ask me.

After that, Helga and I decided to talk more about what we’d do.

“But, wait,” Primrose asked, seeming confused “what did you exactly knew? That they’d burn you as a witch?”

The portrait sighed “So much more, my love. You see, wizards like Merlin are revered and worshipped by muggles and wizards alike, but when it comes to Hecate, Morgana, Nimue and many other famous witches and even women accused of witches, the situation changes. They are evil, petty, ugly, and a menace to mankind. Magic is always seen as this enormous responsibility, burden and responsibility. And men can’t conceive a woman being able to harness such power within them. To them, we are still unreasonable, meek and with a childish mindset, unable to undertake such responsibility. To them, we are not worthy of it. And thus, punish us by injuring our pride and personalities, twisting the story to give future generations of women the same message.”

“Know your place.” Primrose ended. A shadow had crossed the young woman, now fully aware of what Henriette was saying “I can’t tell how many times I’ve been told that I ought to marry a man of rank for me to be taken seriously as a future heiress. It is the only way to be heard: to have a man backing you, or to give up such privileges in order to not insult his ego, regardless of our pride and rights. We may have advanced, but,”

“The customs and those in power have not.” Henriette chuckled bitterly “This is the problem with the wizarding community. We never learn the lesson. We never advance. No matter what hero comes to save us and open our eyes, they will be immediately shut down and forced to take your position in this unmoving and unfair society. The history book on our shelves keeps repeating itself, no matter what we try to do. If those capable of changing the ways don’t enhance their campaign, then we will never advance nor learn the lesson, no matter how many of us we bury.”

“When did you find out all of this?”

Henriette lighted up again “Pretty quickly.”

“How so?”

She smiled “…Someone from the outside helped me see their way.”

Helga and I walked away from the commotion, hidden in our cloaks and looking like lost tourists from the highlands. By then, the House of Alpin reigned in rather turbulent times. As many knows, my eldest daughter Denegifu would marry on that country, but that is a tale for another time.

After making sure we’d lost them, I realised we had exited the capital and would be walking towards a cove. Not used to walking much, and still with my wedding shoes, I panted heavily, my feet hurting.

“Do not fret, sweetling, we shall soon arrive to somewhere comfortable.”

I nodded. I had no option but to trust that she wasn’t exaggerating to comfort me. After reaching its darkest part, she waited a bit, and finally, a strange voice called out “Why, Lady Hufflepuff, how kind of you to honour me with your venerable presence,” the tone had some irony to it.

She curtsied respectfully, and I did the same easily, thanks to the hours of training with Mama.

“Your Highness. I am aware that you are busy, but we must make use of your Portkey.”

Finally, the hooded figure stepped into the light, and I couldn’t help but gasp and back away: it had black eyes and their hair was white, as well as their skin, and had an amused look “What mess have you dragged yourself with your kindness, Helga?”

“My new apprentice, Lady Henriette of Wessex.”

I quickly curtsied again “Forgive me if we have disturbed your peace, Your Highness. We shall be on our way soon.”

Their eyes loomed over me, as if they were analysing me, then looked at Helga “Another Muggle, I take?”

“Excuse me?” I blurted out before I could process it.

“It is a term to reference those who had grown up outside the magical world.” Helga quickly explained.

“Besides,” Betwixt added “I am not the one to insult beautiful ladies I’ve just met. If so, I should be offended.” He was surely teasing me.

“Forgive me for my ignorance.”

They waved a hand “It’s alright, love. You couldn’t have known. By your looks, it’s been less than three days in this world. But something tells me that you shall learn.”

“I shall make Lady Hufflepuff proud.”

The Portkey opened and Helga gave the creature a bag of silver coins “I shall not forget this favour, Your Highness.”

We both passed through the Portkey and, when the journey was over, we found ourselves in a tower. If I looked hard enough, I could see other three towers a few days away. Helga turned around and smiled “Welcome to my home! And your home until your parents finds you, which should take a while.”

It was a tower of gold and orange, in which many animals and many other servants and magicians practising. It was full of life, of laughter and joy. But for a moment, my gut told me that it was too good to be true, and keep my guard for a little longer.

Tragically, I was right, for I’d find out that a war was brewing.

[citadelofmythoughts]

Watching the V8 finale again made me wonder.

How do you think RWB would’ve coped in Vacuo if none of them had fallen after Yang?

Add-on: How do you think a married Blake or Yang would deal if their partner passed prematurely? Would they live the rest of their lives fulfilled with the happy memories or Try to move on after a period of time (date, re-marry, etc)?

Biggest add-on: How would your SREN family deal with losing Blake or Yang?

(I think this might be the most EVIL RWBY ask I've ever gotten)

Not well. I know I've said it before but Yang is the heart of Team RWBY. She's Ruby's big sister/surrogate mother figure, Weiss' best friend and Blake's true love.

Losing her would be devastating. I mean, RWB being who they are, they would rally and do what they need to do to protect Remnant and fight Salem but the light would be gone, the joy.

Blake of course, would likely never recover, not fully and if Neo dared show her face, it'd be over for her.

For the second part: I am convinced that Blake and Yang are each other's "the one" - after everything they went through, finding each other, losing each other, multiple times. I can't see anyone else filling that void.

And for the third:

Sandy and Rose would not take losing either of their parents well. Unlike many characters in RWBY, they've had a happy and secure home life with their mothers. It's been a home full of love, laughter and happiness. So to lose that would wreck the girls. They've got so many friends and family, their aunts (Ruby, Laffy, Weiss, Penny) would do their best to help and so would their grandparents (Ghira, Kali, Raven and even Tai) and their girlfriends would help too but it would hurt for a long time.

Sandy in particular doesn't deal with grief well. The rest of Team SREN would have a big job ahead of them trying to support their leader.

[sapphiccharacterstournament]

Masterpost of every character who has already competed

We do take requests for future brackets! Before you request a character be included in a future bracket, check this list first to make sure they haven't already competed.

Lena Adams Foster (The Fosters) Elida Al-Feyr (Vagrant Queen) Nyssa Al Ghul (Arrow) Cassie Ainsworth (Skins) Luisa Alver (Jane the Virgin) Winter Anderson (American Horror Story: Cult) Miss Audrey (Snowpiercer) Babs (A Series of Unfortunate Events) Saanvi Bahl (Manifest) Bambi (Minx) Josephine Barry (Anne with an E) Sister Beatrice (Warrior Nun) Bilquis (American Gods) Maya Bishop (Station 19) Sarah Bishop (A Discovery of Witches) Alana Bloom (Hannibal) Cheryl Blossom (Riverdale) Anne Bonny (Black Sails) Kelly Booth (Black Mirror) Nova Bordelon (Queen Sugar) Nancy Botwin (Weeds) Dana Bryant (Mythic Quest) Robin Buckley (Stranger Things) Lena Burnham (Ray Donovan) Calliope Burns (First Kill) Delia Busby (Call the Midwife) Amanita Caplan (Sense8) Wendy Carr (Mindhunter) Chanel #3 (Scream Queens) Max Chapman (A League of their Own) Piper Chapman (Orange is the New Black) Denise Christopher (Timeless) Grace Choi (Black Lightning) Cassandra Cillian (The Librarians) Jade Claymore (Willow) Dani Clayton (The Haunting of Bly Manor) Raelle Collar (Motherland: Fort Salem) Dulcie Collins (Deadloch) Delphine Cormier (Orphan Black) Theo Crain (The Haunting of Hill House) Frannie Crowne (Brave New World) Moiraine Damodred (The Wheel of Time)

Alex Danvers (Supergirl) Ashley Davies (South of Nowhere) Carina DeLuca (Station 19) Jo Deluca (A League of Their own) Bo Dennis (Lost Girl) Clare Devlin (Derry Girls) Rosa Diaz (Brooklyn Nine-Nine) Franky Doyle (Wentworth) Camina Drummer (The Expanse) Waverly Earp (Wynona Earp) Kat Edison (The Bold Type) Philippa Eilhart (The Witcher) Mabel Elmsworth (The Buccaneers) Camile Engelson (Stitchers) Eretria (The Shannara Chronicals) Isobel Evans (Roswell New Mexico) Dana Fairbanks (The L Word) Juliette Fairmont (First Kill) Emily Fields (Pretty Little Liars) Veronica Fisher (Shameless) Fleabag (Fleabag) Flower (Ghosts) Gabrielle (Xena: Warrior Princess) Lupe Garcia (A League of Their Own) Bibi Garvey (Bad Sisters) Mirror Philippa Georgiou (Star Trek: Discovery) Gigi Ghorbani (The L Word: Gen Q) Stella Gibson (The Fall) Sue Gilbert (Dickinson) Emily Grace (Murdoch Mysteries) Yara Greyjoy (Game of Thrones) Monet de Haan (Gossip Girl) Judy Hale (Dead to Me) Yuri Han (XO, Kitty) Millie Harcourt (The Bletchley Circle) Nicole Haught (Wynonna Earp) Lauren Heller (Younger) Emma Hernandez (Vida) Pamela Isley (Batwoman) Susan Ivanova (Babylon 5) Bradley Jackson (The Morning Show) Alice Jones (Once Upon a Time) Tara Jones (Heartstopper) Quinn Joseph (Harlem) Kate (One Mississippi) Annalise Keating (How to Get Away with Murder) Tina Kennard (The L Word) Kennedy (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) Yasmin Khan (Doctor Who)

Aneela Kin Rit (Killjoys) Camille L'Espanaye (The Fall of the House of Usher) Victorine LaFourcade (The Fall of the House of Usher) Lagertha (Vikings) Shelly Lambert (Minx) Sara Lance (Arrowverse) Lauren Lewis (Lost Girl) Lexa (The 100) Maggie Lin (Saving Hope) Anne Lister (Gentleman Jack) Veronica Lodge (Riverdale) Santana Lopez (Glee) Lucretia (Spartacus) Lyria (The Shannara Chronicals) Tara Maclay (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) Elizabeth Macmillan (Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries) Queen Maeve (The Boys) Maggie (Good Omens) Sofia Marchetti (Sex Education) Margot (Once Upon a Time) Bess Marvin (Nancy Drew) Cara Mason (Legend of the Seeker) Max (Black Sails) Katherine Mayfair (Desperate Housewives) Ally Mayfair-Richards (American Horror Story) Mazikeen (Lucifer) Shane McCutcheon (The L Word) Betty McRae (Bomb Girls) Lake Meriwether (Love, Victor) Freya Mikaelson (The Originals) Sandy Milkovich (Shameless) Mabel Mora (Only Murders in the Building) Ellen Morgan (Ellen) Rory Morningstar (Lucifer) Aleesha Morrison (Upload) Hayes Morrison (Conviction) Blanche Mottershead (Upstairs Downstairs)

Mulan (Once Upon a Time) Leighton Murray (Sex Lives of College Girls) Raffi Musiker (Star Trek: Picard) Susie Myerson (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) Nadja (What We Do in the Shadows) Nicky Nichols (Orange is the New Black) Nico (Vida) Nina (Good Omens) Allie Novak (Wentworth) Dani Núñez (The L Word: Gen Q) Ola Nyman (Sex Education) Shona O'Keefe (This Way Up) Kelly Olsen (Supergirl) Van Palmer (Yellowjackets) Marjorie Palmiotti (Veep) Gail Peck (Rookie Blue) Aline Penhallow (Shadowhunters) Valencia Perez (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) Laura Peterson (The Morning Show) Lindsay Peterson (Queer as Folk) Anissa Pierce (Black Lightning) Brittany S. Pierce (Glee) Naomi Pierce (Succession) Alice Pieszecki (The L Word) Eve Polastri (Killing Eve) Bette Porter (The L Word) Bill Potts (Doctor Who) Arthie Premkumar (GLOW) Amae Rali (Vagrant Queen)

Scylla Ramshorn (Motherland: Fort Salem) Amy Raudenfeld (Faking It) Logan Rawlings (Young & Hungry) Maia Rindell (The Good Fight) Arizona Robins (Grey's Anatomy) Eve Rothlo (How to Get Away with Murder) Root (Person of Interest) Willow Rosenberg (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) Kenya Rosewater (Defiance) Susan Ross (Seinfeld) Siuan Sanche (WoT) Ellaria Sand (Game of Thrones) Jenny Schecter (The L Word) Jinju Seong (Snowpiercer) Seven of Nine (Star Trek: Voyager & Star Trek: Picard) Toni Shalifoe (The Wilds) Kalinda Sharma (The Good Wife) Carson Shaw (A League of Their Own) Sameen Shaw (Person of Interest) Leslie Shay (Chicago Fire) Amy Silva (Vigil) Bea Smith (Wentworth) Petra Solano (Jane the Virgin) Rose Solano (Jane the Virgin) River Song (Doctor Who) Kitty Song Covey (XO, Kitty) Serena Southerlyn (Law & Order) Zelda Spellman (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina) Maya St. Germain (Pretty Little Liars) Moira Strand (The Handmaid’s Tale) Della Street (Perry Mason) Tamsin (Lost Girl) Kit Tanthalos (Willow) Stahma Tarr (Defiance) Jamie Taylor (The Haunting of Bly Manor) Thirteen (House, MD) Thirteenth Doctor (Doctor Who) Tara Thornton (True Blood) Bess Till (Snowpiercer)

Tituba (Salem) Toni Topaz (Riverdale) Callie Torres (Grey’s Anatomy) Fabiola Torres (Never Have I Ever) Taissa Turner (Yellowjackets) Two / Portia Lin (Dark Matter) Alex Vause (OITNB) Mel Vera (Charmed) Villanelle (Killing Eve) Karen Walker (Will & Grace) Martha Walker (Silo) Poussey Washington (Orange is the New Black) Ellen Waverly (For All Mankind) Kerry Weaver (ER) HG Wells (Warehouse 13) Sterling Wesley (Teenage Bounty Hunters) Nora West-Allen (The Flash) Jayne Wetherby (Dracula) Lucy Westenra (Dracula) Ilana Wexler (Broad City) Ryan Wilder (Batwoman) Carol Willick (Friends) Lana Winters (American Horror Story) Bernie Wolfe (Holby City) Camile Wray (Stargate Universe) Xena (Xena: Warrior Princess) Meh Yewll (Defiance) Yorkie (Black Mirror - San Junipero)

[bestworstcase]

& since i’m on the subject of allusions tonight:

let’s talk about rwby’s actual oz allusions

so, generally speaking, the fandom—understandably perplexed by how tangential or even superficial rwby’s reference to the wizard of oz appears to be—takes the oz allusions in one of two ways: either, 1. the core ozian characters are deconstructions of the correlating oz character [the scarecrow drinks, the tin man throws his heart away, etc.] or 2. the oz allusions are a deliberate red herring intended to misdirect attention from the deeper or truer allusion to whatever, whence the g.u.n. theory or the bastardized norse myth madlibbing and so forth; or on occasion both at once.

the first camp has a lot of interesting things to say that i would probably find persuasive were it not for the fact that they also keep wrestling unsatisfyingly with the persistent questions of:

1. who is dorothy?

2. what about raven and summer and tai? (oh my)

3. how do the ozma/wizard/tip and ozma/ozpin/oscar trifectas fit together?

and the answers to all of these questions are in fact pretty straightforward...

...the trick is just that rwby isn’t alluding to the wizard of oz.

for the uninitiated there are a lot of oz books. there are-- there are so many oz books. fortunately for my sanity however rwby appears to be focusing primarily on one, the marvelous land of oz, which occurs not too very long after the wizard’s departure from oz at the end of the wonderful wizard of oz.

now, i will say up front that you are going to look at this list and immediately go “wait. what?” but just... trust me, ok? here we go.

WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE? god of light → mombi* ozma → ozma/tippetarius ozpin → the wizard oscar → jack pumpkinhead glynda → good witch of the ✨north✨ [NOT GLINDA] theodore  → dorothy gale lionheart → the soldier with the green whiskers ironwood → nick chopper [the tin woodman] qrow  → the scarecrow raven  → the woggle-bug taiyang → the cowardly lion [provisionally**] maria → the sawhorse summer rose → general jinjur and, last but not least, salem → glinda the good [TRUST. ME.]

*the god of darkness is sir not appearing in this book, but if rwby does what i think it will re: theodore, i’d place my bets on the nome king.

**taiyang is an unknown quantity in that i don’t think his primary role in the narrative has revealed itself yet; he might alternatively turn out to be the gump or the queen of the field mice. my money is on the lion, though, because the lion is also sir not appearing in this book but, like dorothy, appears in the next as a member of ozma’s retinue.

MARVELOUS LAND OF OZ ANY% NO GLITCH—

long story short, in the before times the land of oz was ruled by a king named pastoria who took up with the fairy-queen lurline and had a baby, ozma, rightful heir to the ozian throne; shortly thereafter, oscar diggs crash landed in oz, deposed pastoria, disappeared the infant princess by giving her to mombi, sorceress of the north, and became ✨the wizard✨. ...some... amount of time later, dorothy crash lands in oz, yellow brick road, silver slippers, smashes one witch and melts another, yada yada, the wizard sails off back to omaha in his hot air balloon, CUE MARVELOUS LAND; the starting positions are thus:

the scarecrow sits on the throne of oz in the emerald city, having been appointed to rule in the wizard’s stead on account of being Very Wise.

winkie country, liberated from the tyranny of the wicked witch of the west, is now the domain of the tin woodman.

dorothy is back in kansas where everything is grey and sandy and horrible.

the lion is...somewhere, presumably doing king-of-the-forest things.

glinda the good is occupied with research [trying to find out what the wizard did with ozma] in her home in quadling country, to the south.

QUOTE, the winged monkeys are now the slaves of glinda the good, who owns the golden cap that commands their services, END QUOTE.

mombi transformed the infant ozma into a boy named tippetarius because, why not, and raised him as her ward on a farm in gillikin country, to the north.

tip is a teenager and he does teenager things like making a life-sized puppet with a jack-o-lantern head to scare mombi with, as one does, and mombi has about had enough of this so she brews up a potion to turn him into a marble statue, as one does, and tip who does not especially want to be turned into a marble statue instead steals a pepper-box full of magic powder that makes things come to life, and runs away with his newly animate bestie/son jack pumpkinhead, AS ONE DOES. subsequently uses the magic powder to make a wooden sawhorse come to life so they don’t have to hoof it all the way to the emerald city.

the sawhorse is born with a limp and the personality of an octogenarian with no fucks left to give and also he periodically goes deaf on account of his ears breaking off, so when i say maria calavera is the sawhorse—

ANYWAY, minor hijinks ensue. jack blithely accepts everything his dear father says without question because his head is a pumpkin and he has been sapient for approximately eight hours, the terrible trio splits up for a bit on account of tippetarius falling off the sawhorse who likes to go real fast, consequently while jack and the sawhorse make it to the emerald city and meet the scarecrow, tip falls behind and crosses paths with general jinjur and her army of revolt.

jinjur is sick of the way things are and the powers that be and is therefore en route, armed with a pair of very glittery very pointy knitting needles and a lot of other girls outfitted in the same, to conquer the emerald city. tip is not about this revolution thing but tags along because he wanted to appeal to the scarecrow for help with the marble statue nonsense anyway; upon arrival jinjur and her army conquer the emerald city in approximately 0.2 seconds on account of the entire royal army being composed of one (1) man, the soldier with the green whiskers who guards the gates but squeals and books it at the first hint of a brandished needle.

tip races to the palace well ahead of the girls, who are busily sacking the city, to warn the scarecrow of the situation and reconvene with the rest of terrible trio, whereafter they and the scarecrow leave the cowardly soldier to his fate and gallop like the dickens to escape the city, heading west to regroup with the tin woodman. jack is now wracked by existential dread on account of the scarecrow having told him that pumpkins rot, meaning he spends the rest of the book worrying about his imminent decay and rapidly dwindling lifespan, this is fine dot jpg.

one unfortunate incident with a river and some drying-out and a nap later, they reach winkie country and rendezvous with *ahem* the magnificent! nickel-plated tin woodman, celebrated! emperor [it wounds his pride to be called only a king] of the winkies, nick chopper. who sweeps the scarecrow up in a hug because of how delighted! he is to see him again, tells jack not to be such a downer about the my-head-is-slowly-inevitably-rotting thing, and whose immediate response upon learning that the emerald city has been conquered is to declare, quote, we do not need an army; we four, with the aid of my gleaming axe, are enough to strike terror into the hearts of the rebels, end quote, also everybody gets tidied up and repaired and the scarecrow’s strutting by the time they disembark again.

somewhat less minor hijinks ensue on account of mombi not being pleased about tip skipping town and attempting to waylay them by means of dazzling, blinding illusions and, when that fails, dramatically altering landscape in hopes of getting them lost. the sawhorse breaks his leg and the group encounters the woggle-bug, who is very large and very keen to impress upon them that he is, having snuck into a schoolroom long ago and listened in on classes for months, thoroughly educated; eventually he was caught by the professor, transformed via magnifying glass into his present size, and subsequently ran away to do woggle-bug things. on his suggestion they fix the sawhorse’s leg by amputating jack’s, because jack is riding anyway owing to his poorly-fitted knees, and using that as a prosthetic for the sawhorse [LAUGHS NERVOUSLY]. from there the woggle-bug swiftly proceeds to earn the whole group’s ire by making an offensive number of puns at their expense. they navigate through four more illusory obstacles [a raging river; a granite cliff; a writhing maze of dancing roads; a wall of fire] with the aid of the queen of the field mice.

on making it to the emerald city they are promptly captured by jinjur, who plans to dismantle everyone except tippetarius on the grounds of their not being human, but is interrupted by the timely arrival of some mice who frighten her out of the room long enough for the gang to escape by constructing a... thing, called the gump, out of a pair of sofas and a stuffed elk-like creature’s head and various other bits and bobs and animated with the final pinch of magic powder. it flies them out of the emerald city and overshoots quadling country by a wide enough margin to crash them into a nest of nasty jackdaws somewhere not in oz, a misadventure which mainly serves to facilitate the discovery of a secret compartment within the now-emptied pepper-box and, inside that, three silver pills that grant a wish when swallowed.

tip tries one to wish the gump repaired, which doesn’t work because it pains him so badly that he instead wishes he’d never taken it; the woggle-bug does the same and succeeds, they fly back home, the pills are lost, and they reach quadling country at last.

the squad attempts to fill glinda in. she already knows everything.

she fills them in on what she’s been up to, presents evidence mombi aided the wizard in his scheme to disappear ozma, and marches with them to reclaim the emerald city, intending to capture mombi and force her to reveal the truth. further illusion-based hijinks ensue of which the most potentially interesting as it pertains to rwby is that mombi transforms herself into a red rose in an effort to escape detection.

glinda sees through the ruse. mombi transforms herself into a griffin and flees, pursued relentlessly by glinda until she collapses from exhaustion in the desert waste beyond the border of oz—whereupon glinda lassos her with a golden thread that stifles her magic, drags her bodily back to the emerald city, and demands that she tell the truth or else die by glinda’s hand. mombi tries to lie, glinda is furious and having none of it, and mombi begrudgingly reveals tip’s true identity, whereupon glinda forces her to undo the curse and then strips her of her magical power forever; tip is restored to her true self, jinjur is swiftly deposed, and peace restored, hooray!, the end.

QUESTIONS!

WHY ARE YOU SO SURE SUMMER IS JINJUR? frankly a decent case could be made for interpreting cinder as the allusion to jinjur instead: jinjur is a wrathful but cunning scullery maid raging against the powers that be, and after all it is cinder who sacks beacon academy—i.e., the emerald city stand-in.

but here’s the thing: after routing the royal army, jinjur installs herself as the queen of oz and rules without interruption for most of the story. she is not ousted from this position until the final chapter. cinder is grievously injured before the battle is even properly ended, returns immediately to salem’s side, and has been a thorn in her side and also the sides of the heroes ever since—meanwhile, all this time, salem has had an unknown lieutenant stationed at beacon, searching for the crown. somebody has been holding that throne, as it were, and we have a certain silver-eyed warrior still unaccounted for.

further, jinjur’s army of revolt makes quite a conspicuous show of being united from every province, and she herself wears the colors of all four; in the event summer turns out to be working for salem of her own accord, which i think likely, her presumable reason is something along the lines of having burnt out and shattered under the pressure of being the ideal huntress, the lone guardian, the blessed warrior—precisely in the same way that we have seen ruby begin to crack under the same—and this, i think, dovetails tidily with the imagery of jinjur’s revolt. a turncoat summer rose who still holds to ozpin’s ideal of strength and peace through unity, who is perhaps reinforcing salem’s numbers at beacon by recruiting the people of vale, is what ozpin asked her to become, turned against him for how she suffered in becoming.

also, look at this flower. common name, malay rose:

it’s not a true rose; it’s etlingera venusta, and it belongs to the ginger family.

sidebar, i don’t think cinder has an ozian allusion except insofar as i suppose she performs the functional role of glinda’s army through her relation to salem. she’s, well, cinderella, and in being cinderella also a symbolic repetition of salem through her rapunzel aspect—cinder echoes the desperately furious girl in the tower, the fairytale heroine trapped by forces beyond her control, not the formidable sorceress who would lay waste to the gods.

BUT SALEM AS GLINDA, THOUGH? REALLY?

while it is clear that rwby’s primary reference is to marvelous land, there are a handful of overt nods to the film adaptation of wizard of oz specifically, in theodore’s ruby gloves and the black-and-white photo of the girl in gingham with the little black dog. naming the good witch of the north glynda as a nod to the film (and pop culture generally) conflating the two is hardly out of the question, and a tidy bit of narrative sleight-of-hand besides.

and, listen. it’s not just enslaving the flying monkeys and it isn’t just serenely running mombi into the ground and forcing her to reveal the truth and undo the harm she did to ozma; it’s also not just that glinda the good plays a critical narrative role following the wizard’s departure and the good witch of the north does not. it’s also that of the pair glinda is the more powerful and more formidable by an order of magnitude, and indeed glinda is said to be ageless, ancient, and perhaps the most powerful sorceress in the land of oz; it’s also that the ozian color-coding checks out in both directions (in glinda’s quadling country, everything is red; and gillikin country is purple); it’s also that glynda goodwitch was faultlessly loyal to a secretive cabal and believed in ozpin, as the good witch of the north believed in the wizard, whereas salem, like glinda the good, knows ozpin for a fraud, despises emerald for her deceptive semblance, and has a keen intuition and a short temper for being lied to.

the only respect in which salem and glinda do not, within the context of rwby’s ozian narrative, almost perfectly align is that salem is an antagonist and glinda is not—but here let me remind you that rwby’s mombi is the god of light, with her deceptive shape-changing and illusions reimagined as defter subterfuge and symbolically intertwined with the blinding of rapunzel’s prince. the god of light poisoned ozma’s ear against salem so well that he persuaded ozma to drink the potion and become the wizard of his own volition, cursed and blind to the true nature of the gods, his mandate, and his lost love.

but tippetarius learns the truth and finds ozma again; rapunzel’s tears heal the ruined eyes of her prince.

where do you think rwby is going with this?

AND LEO LIONHEART, THE LION FAUNUS, ISN’T THE COWARDLY LION?!

he’s the easily-cowed and fully-bearded guardian of the closest thing rwby’s scarecrow has to an emerald city to administer on the wizard’s behalf, and he is in this capacity an army of one because he’s sent every other warrior in the faculty away and sold half the huntsmen in mistral out to salem. salem sends her needling bastard of a henchperson to menace him and lionheart folds like wet cardboard, handing over the keys to the vault without a whisper of resistance. and once the battle for haven is ended, the former allies he stabbed in the back shrug and leave him to his fate at salem’s hands.

leonine faunus or not, the role lionheart plays is precisely that of the soldier with the green whiskers, the solitary and pathetically inept guardian who betrays the scarecrow and his allies out of panicked cowardice.

meanwhile the cowardly lion does not appear in marvelous land at all, but he does figure in ozma of oz—the third book—wherein he professes himself a coward still but acts no less bravely than he ever did, now a loyal member of ozma’s retinue and accompanied by his new friend, the hungry tiger. taiyang, who has either been doing big important secret cult things or else trying to psych himself up to leave his empty nest depression cabin ever since beacon fell and ozpin died, is a much likelier candidate for being the cowardly lion’s true analogue by far.

IS RAVEN JUST THE WOGGLE-BUG BECAUSE SHE’S KNOWLEDGE?

that’s part of it but not the entirety; note that the woggle-bug is not merely intelligent but gleaned all of his knowledge by spying, for no other reason than burning curiosity; note the professor who caught him and irrevocably changed him, for better or for worse, and his hasty escape for fear of being exploited thereafter; note that he is pompous and anxious and performs intelligence far more than he shows it, and note that his often-callous and sometimes-snide commentary is met with such sharp hostility by the others that at one point nick chopper implies a threat to murder him if he makes another pun at a companion’s expense.

and note, finally, that the woggle-bug does not properly enter the narrative until after the protagonists leave winkie country, the province for which atlas is very obviously an analogue. raven played a major role in volume five, of course, one which thoroughly alienated her from the rest of the ozian characters on both sides of the conflict... but then she vanished into the ether without a shred of resolution for anything but the question of whether the relic of knowledge would be retrieved and by whom, and if that isn’t a mere prelude in her character arc i’ll eat somebody’s hat.

and as for what her future role in the story might entail. well. three silver pills that grant you wishes—and one that poisons tip when he tries,  the same one the woggle-bug uses to mend their way home. three silver-eyed warriors ostensibly blessed by the god of light—and one a turncoat poisoned by the unbearable weight of ozpin’s ideals.

we still don’t know what raven knows, or who she learnt it from.

IF THE SILVER WISH PILLS ARE SILVER-EYED WARRIORS THEN, MARIA?

to activate the pills you need to swallow them and then count up to seventeen by two. the sawhorse is the one who solves the riddle, which is to start with half one, double it, and then count up by two from one to seventeen.

...WHAT WAS THAT YOU SAID ABOUT FOUR ILLUSIONS AND A MOUSE?

the ever after may be bleeding wonderland out of every frame—and oh boy is it!—but, look, what is rwby if not a gleeful mishmash of inspirations and in the trailer and preview clip alone we’ve got a helpful mouse and three of the four [twisting, impossible paths? check. impassible cliff? check. walls of fire? check, twice over]. as obstacles go a torrential river crossing is not exactly out of left field in any setting—and then there’s the girl on the beach who’s wearing ozma’s original colors.

to say nothing of how well those four obstacles align so very nicely, symbolically, with ruby (paths), weiss (flood), blake (cliff), and yang (fire).

it’s a little eyebrow-raising if nothing else. something to watch.

[astaraels]

Tag game Wednesday (it's Friday as I do this)

i was tagged by @redwiccanrobin

If you could switch bodies with anybody for only one hour who would it be and what would you do? the elongated muskrat so i could redistribute his wealth and buy out all medical and student debt for everyone in the country

What's your most trivial/dumbest hot take? i don't know if i even have one tbh??

If you had to teach a college course what would it be? medieval history or wwii

Season 12 of shameless is suddenly happening and you’ve been put in charge! What plot points are you going to make happen? get debs and sandy back together, bring back svet and yev for at least, and let gallavich have more tender moments on screen that don't end up on the cutting room floor.

Who would be your godly parent? (Can be any mythology) probably Athena because i'm a bookworm and i'm really fascinated by military history (don't judge meeee)

What’s something you love about yourself? physically i love my eyes, they're all blue-gray and stormy looking. personality wise i like that i can make people laugh.

Describe your day in 5 emojis: 😴🫤🥶😥✍🏻

What shameless character do you think you could beat in a fight? i think i could take lipstopher in a fight ngl that boy has never won fisticuffs in his life

Tell us 2 truths and a lie, we’ll try to guess the lie! i have eight nieces and nephews; i graduated college at 20; i have seven tattoos.

Do you have a pet(s), if so, how did they get their names? four cats and two dogs! cats: phoebe is for the greek goddess, mogget is from the old kingdom book series, salem because it was almost halloween and we wanted something spooky, and church because he's a maine coon and my wife wanted to be funny (from pet sematary). dogs: ellie because i'd been watching jurassic park the day we got her so we named her after dr ellie sattler, and juno because of the roman goddess and my wife and i had an OC in one of our RPs at the time with a dog by that name.

Show us a meme (or picture) that captures your essence

12. What’s your typical coffee/tea/beverage order? large coke fountain drink. i don't drink coffee (it puts me to sleep) and i drink tea only on occasion.

13. Use a song to describe the last 5 years of your life?

Tagging: @m4ndysk4nkovich @diemarysues @lovekenney @holymurdock @svetlanayevgenivna if y'all want to! no pressure either way