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aspoonofsugar · 6 months

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Chemical Weddings: White Knight

Here it comes my second short meta on RWBY's chemical weddings. It is White Knight's turn! Feel free to skip the introduction, if you have already read it in my previous post (or if you already know what a chemical wedding is)

WHAT IS A CHEMICAL WEDDING?

A chemical wedding is a motif used in alchemical stories (aka stories, with symbols related to alchemy). It is a metaphorical union between characters and it represents two opposites coming together. Think of it as a motif that comments on a relationship and describes how it changes throughout a narrative. It shows how two characters' bond develops and how they integrate qualities of each other. Even if it is called "wedding", the union doesn't necessarily have to be romantic, but often it is. Like in RWBY's case.

RWBY uses chemical weddings to develop romantic relationships. How does the series do it? This meta by @hamliet explains it perfectly:

It uses some alchemical imagery (like plates from alchemical texts as reference)

It employs elemental motifs (water, fire, air and earth), which are keys to alchemy

It integrates other symbolism, like romantic subtext or fairy tale references

Both hamliet and I have already talked about RWBY ships and chemical weddings, so this short meta is just a quick review of White Knight’s ones, with some integrations.

Here are Whiteknight's posts, that I am going to reference:

Weiss and Jaune's foiling throughout the series

White Knight and Arkos (+ Whiterose)

White Knight's scenes in volume 9

White Knight's chemical wedding 2.0 by hamliet

Now, let's dig into White Knight's two (for now) weddings.

WHITE KNIGHT'S WEDDINGS

White Knight's weddings make use of this imagery:

There is a Mercurius (entity representative of change), who unites a man and a woman through impaling one of the two.

This is what happens to Weiss and Jaune twice:

In Mistral Cinder impales Weiss and in the Ever After the Curious Cat impales Jaune. Not only that, but both Cinder and the Cat make sure Weiss and Jaune indirectly hurt each other.

Cinder takes Jaune's heroic remarks and uses them as an excuse to mortally wound Weiss:

The Cat tricks Weiss into physically hitting Jaune:

These parallelisms lead us to two considerations:

The two weddings are inversions: this isn't any news because in RWBY the second wedding is always an inversion of the first. Still, when it comes to White Knight, this inversion is particularly through and it ties with an important motif of theirs. Weiss and Jaune are strong mirrors of each other.

Cinder and the Cat (our two antagonistic Mercurius) force Jaune and Weiss into specific gender roles. Both mock Jaune (the knight) and use Weiss (the damsel). This isn't by accident and it ties with the archetype explored by White Knight, aka that of the Anima/Animus.

MIRROR MIRROR = ANIMA + ANIMUS

Weiss and Jaune's weddings mirror each other in multiple ways. Let's see how.

Weiss and Jaune's first wedding starts with Cinder impaling Weiss and leaving her to die. Jaune rushes by her side and activates his semblance to save her. The whole scene ties in their respective fairy tale symbolism. As a matter of fact Jaune performs a miracle as Jeanne. Weiss instead gets resurrected by the Prince and crowns herself Queen Snowhite through the Queen Lancer.

Weiss and Jaune's second wedding starts at the end of volume 8, when Cinder defeats them both and reiterates their trauma. She forces Jaune to kill a maiden and targets Weiss to hurt Winter. She is also the reason why Weiss and Jaune end up together in the Ever After, where their wedding reaches its climax. In this magical world, Weiss guides Jaune towards self-realization and metaphorically has him fall, so that he can integrate Alyx and resurrect. Their interaction in volume 9 references another alchemical text, knowns as the Splendor Solis. Specifically, it alludes to this plate:

This plate has:

2 miners excavating a hill (a metaphor for making the stone from the prima materia). It is important that the two characters wear respectively a golden and a silver robe, which call back to the Sun and Moon

The Sun and Moon mirroring each other. The Sun is in the sky (air) and the Moon is in the river (water). They are opposites balancing each other

Eshter's story pictured in the frame of the pedestal. Eshter is a biblical character and the second wife of King Ahasuerus, who is determined to kill the Jews. Still, Eshter (a Jews herself) steps in, touches the King's staff and convinces him to let her people live

The plate's theme is the beginning (prima materia) of a union (sun and moon) through communication (Eshter's parable).

It is referenced here:

The Genial Gems create a giant white hill, which clearly alludes to the philosopher stone. Jaune and Weiss play the Solar King and the Lunar Queen:

Jaune is linked to the sun and masculine (gold), while Weiss to the moon and feminine (silver). They grow closer thanks to empathy.

In particular, their interaction is an inversion of King Ahasuerus and Eshter's. In the biblical episode, the King wants to kill the Jews and Eshter stops him. In RWBY, Jaune doesn't want to let the Paper Pleasers ascend and Weiss tries to get through to him (together with BY):

Weiss: Then why do you care so much about this village?! Jaune: Because I can actually PROTECT these people!!

Just like Esther touches the King's staff, Weiss grabs Jaune's sword:

Eshter's gesture is a symbol of intimacy and connection. Similarly, using another person's weapon in RWBY shows closeness.

In short, both weddings are rich of symbolism, but the first focuses on the fairy tale allusion, whereas the second explores alchemical imagery. This isn't the only difference, though, as the two situations are perfect parallels/inversions of each other:

In Mistral, Cinder kills Weiss to hurt Jaune, whereas in Atlas, she forces Jaune to kill Penny. Moreover, both times she negates Weiss's agency and uses her as a pawn to hurt someone else (Jaune and Winter).

In Mistral, Jaune and Weiss go through a crisis together, but they emerge victorious. In Atlas/Ever After, Jaune and Weiss lose, but grow closer as they come to terms with this defeat.

In Mistral, Jaune hurts Weiss because of his psychological issues, but saves her physically. In the Ever After, Weiss saves Jaune psychologically, but hurts him physically. Both are responsible for the death and resurrection of the other.

In Mistral Jaune unlocks his semblance (changes spiritually), whereas in the Ever After he becomes young again (changes physically). Both in Mistral and in the Ever After Weiss ends the wedding by unlocking a new summon. She conjures the Queen Lancer in Mistral and the Nevermore in the Ever After.

In Mistral, Jaune is led by Pyrrha towards his ideal-self, whereas in the Ever After, he is led by Weiss towards his real-self. Symbolically, he goes through two stages of the anima integration. From Pyrrha/Mary (devotion and idealism) to Weiss/Sophia (understanding and reality).

In Mistral, the resurrected Weiss unlocks her Queen Lancer, which is key to fighting Hazel. In the Ever After, Jaune integrates Alyx and is reborn after a trial of fire. Once he comes back, he is key in defeating Neo and the Cat with his plan to separate them. Both do not "win" the conflict, but are instrumental to its solution (Weiss through heart and Jaune through mind).

In general, both times Jaune and Weiss make important steps to integrate their anima/animus, which their bond represents. The anima/animus is the feminine (anima) and the masculine (animus).

In Mistral:

Weiss integrates her animus and summons a Queen Lancer, an entity which is both queen (feminine) and knight (masculine)

Jaune integrates his anima (feminine) by discovering himself a healer (traditionally feminine quality)

In the Ever After:

Weiss integrates her animus by acting as Jaune's Knight. She summons her Knight while fighting side by side with him. Moreover, throughout the whole volume Weiss looks for someone who can guide her home. It turns out in the climax she herself is the guide, the knight, who leads Jaune and the others to the tree. As a matter of fact she is the one who teaches the others the theme of "acceptance".

Jaune integrates his anima by accepting he is no hero (no Knight) and by realizing Alyx is a part of himself. He faces her and integrates her spiritually (her vision in the smoke) and physically (her knife):

In volume 9, both Weiss and Jaune regress and go back to their stereotypical selves. Weiss is stuck as the damsel and Jaune rusts as the knight. However, they move on thanks to each other. They are reborn.

WHITE KNIGHT= REBIRTH

The focus of White Knight is rebirth (coagula). In Mistral they get a victory and in Atlas they get a loss. Still, both weddings climaxes in resurrections. Weiss is reborn in volume 5 and Jaune is reborn in volume 9. Not only that, but after White Knight's Ever After wedding Ruby herself is reborn:

This renewal of the self is celebrated by a full Nevermore:

This marks White Knight's second wedding as their nevermore wedding, which has them overcome grief through love.

NEVERMORE

Weiss summons her full Nevermore in the finale. This Grimm is tied to both Ruby and Jaune.

It is symbolic of Ruby's rebirth, as it is the first Grimm team RWBY killed together and Ruby landed the final blow. Weiss is able to manifest it because by the end her team is whole again and Ruby is back.

It celebrates Jaune and Weiss's wedding, as our Lunar Queen conjures it after her interaction with Jaune. Their exchange is the pivotal moment for Weiss in volume 9, as she helps herself by helping Jaune. She teaches Jaune to forgive himself and learns to forgive herself at the same time. As a result, she unlocks this summoning, which is symbolic of the self:

Its glyph is in fact a mix of all the other ones, as Weiss is a sum of all her avatars.

Jaune too makes a decisive step towards the self:

Alyx: Maybe it’s time for a change, to be the kind of man you always wanted to be.

He accepts Alyx and gets a second chance to grow up as a result:

His new self has a white streak of hair to show he has successfully integrated with Weiss (white) and has obtained wisdom.

FROM UNCONSCIOUS TO CONSCIOUS

There is one final difference between White Knight's two weddings. The first has Weiss and Jaune's metaphorical union happen unconsciously. The second instead has this process become conscious. Let's consider this:

In Mistral Jaune instinctively activates his semblance and Weiss unconsciously unlocks her summon. Their actions happen because of internal and unconscious changes that are not elaborated on. They are quick transformations and the wedding itself is quick.

In the Ever After Weiss consciously encourages Jaune. By doing so both characters find a catharsis for their unconscious feelings. They make them conscious. Similarly, Jaune can consciously face Alyx and integrate with her. Weiss's own summoning is not quick and raw, but it is the result of a process that starts in volume 8 (when she fails to materialize the Grimm), goes on in the chess fight (she has the wings appear) and is finally complete at the end of volume 9 (the full Nevermore manifests itself). The wedding is also very slow and distributed throughout two volumes.

This choice makes sense, as Weiss and Jaune's dynamic is about them slowly realize who they are and who the other is. They have been each other's mirrors since the beginning and as they better understand themselves, they can better relate to the other and accept them.

#rwby #rwby chemical weddings #chemical weddings #white knight #weiss schnee #jaune arc #rwby meta #rwby alchemy

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omgmejoghene9 · 1 year

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The most recent RWBY VTuber short had Ruby talking about she wanted to use Velvet in a magic trick by pulling her out of a hat, like she was an actual rabbit, which, by Faunus standards, surely would be considered a microaggression. She even mentioned how uncomfortable Velvet was by the proposal by saying it made her walk away awkwardly. Not exactly a good look for your main character, who's friends with a Faunus, to be rather insensitive towards one.

The show's had this problem for a while now, where they establish that Faunus hate being treated like less than human, yet will still have their animal features be used for a joke, such as Blake being drawn by a laser pointer or all those times they joked about her loving tuna. Just goes to show how little they cared about their own racism allegory.

#rwde #ruby rose #velvet scarlatina

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its-to-the-death · 4 months

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Glasses Swag Sequel Round 1

Time to start the tournament! Here is our bracket:

I can tell some of these are going to be crazy already. The matchups are randomized so blame the computer if you don't like them. The pictures are always a little small first round, but the matchups will also be listed below the cut of this post. Once the polls are out, they'll link to their designated poll.

Just for the first round, I'm going to split the polls across two days. The first batch will be out on Wednesday, June 5 and the second batch will be out Thursday, June 6. All polls run for a week.

Propaganda is always welcome and I will reblog anything that has at least a little explanation as to why your glasses character is superior.

Be nice and have fun!

Wednesday, June 5 polls

Adrian Andrews (Ace Attorney) vs Sniper/Mick Mundy (Team Fortress 2)

Kristopher Gavin (Ace Attorney) vs Doppo Kunikida (Bungou Stray Dogs)

Peter Spankoffski (Nerdy Prudes Must Die) vs Stanley Pines (Gravity Falls)

Dr. Bunsen Honeydew (The Muppets) vs Maria Calavera (RWBY)

Stanford Pines (Gravity Falls) vs Waldo (Where's Waldo)

Medic/Ludwig (Team Fortress 2) vs Seymour Krelborn (Little Shop of Horrors)

Specs/Glasses (Splatoon manga/Coroika) vs Odile (In Stars and Time)

Tech (Star Wars: The Bad Batch) vs Garnet (Steven Universe)

Klaus Baudelaire (A Series of Unfortunate Events) vs Dr. Newton Geiszler (Pacific Rim)

Ibara Saegusa (Ensemble Stars!!) vs Dirk Strider (Homestuck)

Lilith Clawthorne (The Owl House) vs Kei Tsukishima (Haikyuu)

Tedd Verres (El Goonish Shive) vs Liu Sang (Daomu Biji)

Trisana Chandler (Circle of Magic by Tamora Pierce) vs Jackson Jekyll (Monster High)

Yakou Furio (Master Detective Archives: Raincode) vs Baizhu (Genshin Impact)

Tsumugi Aoba (Ensemble Stars!!) vs Simon Petrikov (Adventure Time)

Edward Nygma/The Riddler (DC) vs Chuckie Finster (Rugrats)

Thursday, June 6 polls

Lawrence Fletcher (Phineas and Fern) vs Sissel (Ghost Trick)

Dave Strider (Homestuck) vs Tenya Iida (My Hero Academia)

Sadness (Inside Out) vs Coco Adel (RWBY)

Kim Kitsuragi (Disco Elysium) vs Austin Powers (Austin Powers)

Miles Edgeworth (Ace Attorney) vs Tomi Kisaragi (13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim)

Shen Wei (Guardian) vs Geordi La Forge (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

Johnny Bravo (Johnny Bravo) vs The Tenth Doctor (Doctor Who)

Mizu (Blue Eye Samurai) vs Lil Hal/Autoresponder (Homestuck)

Gendo Ikari (Neon Genesis Evangelion) vs Taylor Hebert/Skitter (Worm/Parahumans)

Colress (Pokemon) vs Sci-Twi (My Little Pony: Equestria Girls)

Halara Nightmare (Master Detective Archives: Raincode) vs Bedman/Romeo (Guilty Gear)

Riz Gukgak (Dimension 20: Fantasy High) vs Newton Pulsifer (Good Omens)

Jason Grace (Heroes of Olympus) vs Xianyun (Genshin Impact)

Qifrey (Witch Hat Atelier) vs Palamedes Sextus (The Locked Tomb)

Gideon Nav (The Locked Tomb) vs Calvin's dad (Calvin and Hobbes)

Cricket (Wings of Fire) vs Agatha Heterodyne (Girl Genius)

#glasses swag sequel #glasses swag sequel round 1 #brackets

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elmothedictator · 1 year

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Jaune: Wanna see a magic trick?

Pyrrha, in team RWBY's room: *Confused* What?

Yang: Let him do it Pyrrha, i kinda want to see it.

Jaune: Good *Put something in Pyrrha's hand*

Pyrrha: *Opening her hand* OH MY GOD

Jaune: Abracadabra

-500 metres away-

#jaune arc #rwby shitpost #rwby #yang xiao long #pyrrha nikos #Crazy ass demolition Arc

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iamafanofcartoons · 11 months

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r/RWBYcritics/comments/17ol6je/at_this_point_is_there_a_universe_rwby_can_even/

I honestly hate when people try to power scale Team RWBY to other character from other series. All they do is downplay their strength and call them weak. I bet if Team RWBY was all men, they would be calling them strong.

Well, that's not it, actually.

These people, when they "criticize" RWBY, they may watch the show, but they completely ignore what the show is about, its themes, what the writers are trying to do.

Here, I'll give examples. Star Trek vs Warhammer 40K Sailor Moon vs Dragonball Z/Naruto The former: women as protagonists or at least equal to men both physically and mentally, LGBT Themes, skill over strength, exploration of psychological and societal concepts, the women in the show can do amazing things that the guys cannot, you have to turn your brain ON to enjoy the show or at least think.

The latter: Women are lesser than men physically/mentally, fanservice, retcons, strength over skill, power solves everything, talking down women and telling them they suck, you turn your brain off to enjoy the show, and of course plot armor.

RWBY at the end of the day is not a shonen show....and many people hate on it because they want it to be. They WANT the men to be greater than the women. They want there to be power levels. They want women to be talked down to and made lesser. They want the show to "not be woke" Ironwood is only powerful because of his guns. Adam is a one-trick pony whose only a threat because of his semblance. Both are defeated using approaches that don't rely on screaming and power levels. The women win using skill, not strength or power levels. The theme of the show is about optimism not mary/gary stu stuff. The RWBY characters don't get plot armor, unlike shonen mcs. They suffer loss. People will scrape from the bottom of the barrel to find a reason to hate on RWBY, including somebody making a video claiming that Jaune wearing the dress was apparently offensive and bad writing.

RWBY still has cool fight scenes, but those fight scenes also mean something. Watts was nearly able to defeat Ironwood using brains, and Ironwood only won by powering through something, permanently losing an arm that he immediately replaced with a prosthetic. adam was nearly able to defeat yang and blake, who had to use brains and teamwork to win. Let me quote Vegeta from Dragon Ball Abridged "Power levels are bullshit"

You should watch Dragon Ball Abridged by Team Four Star, they recently wrapped up the Buu Saga.

They do a lot of trope inversion and deconstruction in their parody. And of course they're very respectful to the original show. But yeah, RWBY ain't a shonen show...it HAS shonen elements, but its more like a magical girl show with shonen elements mixed into it. Honestly the thing about RWBY is that its unique, you can't find anything like it anywhere...and that's part of the sad thing.

#rwby #star trek #sailor moon #shonen anime #magical girl anime #mahou shoujo

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ficretus · 3 months

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So... Oscar still doesn't have a Semblance. Yeah, he has whole bag of tricks like taping into Ozma's physical and magical abilities, but every time he does that he loses bit of himself. Therefore, having Semblance would be important development for him since he'd be able to contribute without using Ozma's abilities.

However, more the reveal is held off, more the expectations increase. So something like "he has increased fluidity of movement" or "he can create a shield" likely won't suffice if it gets revealed in Volume 10 or volumes after that. And if it becomes end game development, I wouldn't be shocked if he gets given something ridiculous like some form of time or soul manipulation.

What I'm saying is... Oscar is Patamon of RWBY.

#rwby #rwby oscar #oscar pine

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arc-misadventures · 1 year

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Bunnies Vs Hares

Velvet: …

Jaune: …

Velvet: …

Jaune: Velvet, are you okay?

Velvet: I’m not angry.

Jaune: About what?

Velvet: I’m not angry.

Jaune: People say that when they’re angry.

Velvet: Well… I’m not angry.

Jaune: But, say if you were angry?

Velvet: But, I’m not angry!

Jaune: But, if you were! If you were angry. Why would you be angry?

Velvet: …

Velvet: You have a hicky…

Jaune: Do I?

Velvet: You have a hicky on your neck.

Jaune: So you gave me a kichy, so what?

Velvet: I didn’t give you that hicky.

Jaune: …

Jaune: Oh…

Velvet: That hussie put a hicky, markings you as hers. On what that skank knows is already MINE!

Jaune: Oh…

Velvet: Oh… Oh?! OH?! That’s all you can say?!

Jaune: Well, to be fair…

Velvet: FAIR?!! You’ve been here for a week! And, you’ve slept with my mother, my sisters, and my aunt! You slept with all of them in a week, but not me?!

Jaune: YOU TOLD ME TO?! You were so happy that I was giving them a wide berth, that I was denying all of their various, well thought of, encouraging, and highly enticing… sexual advances… You were happy that I was denying all of them! But, you then told me you were upset, because you wanted me to?! And, now you’re angry with me because we’re fucking?! What the hell, Velvet?!

Velvet: Mmmmmm…!

Velvet: Because I can’t compete with them!

Jaune: Uhh… Beg pardon?

Velvet: Look at me?! I have long slender legs, a thin waist, a cute little butt, and I have long fluffy ears. I’m the cute, bubbly, and adorable; you’re typical, ‘wittle bunny wabbit~!’

Jaune: And, I love that about you!

Velvet: Thank you. But, I’m the only bunny here, and I’m competing with the hares! I trying to seduce you with cute, and cuddly, when they’re using raw sexual appeal! I mean, look at me, and compare me to my aunt, Rumi!

Jaune: Okay…? I’ll go do… that…

Jaune: Talk about being tight in all the right places…

Velvet: Oh no… I shouldn’t have told you to do that!

Rumi: Hey, Jaune~! Wanna help me do some stretches~?

Jaune: S-S-Sure! I-I-I’ll talk to you later, Velvet!

Rumi: Have fun, Velvy, I know I will~!

Velvet: …

Velvet: Fuck!

Velvet: Okay… Don’t worry, Velvet, you’re still in the game. Time to break out the good’ol bunny suit! That will get him hot under the collar~!

Ilaria: Better make it the reverse bunny suit. I already did that.

Velvet: Godsdammit, Mom!

#rwby #jaune arc #velvet scarlatina #rumi usagiyama #jaune x velvet #velvet x jaune #rwby magic tricks

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itsclydebitches · 2 years

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It occurs to me that all the fun of an Alice in Wonderland story kind of gets sucked out when your characters can just beat up everyone there instead of being forced to engage with the nonsensical and unfair rules of the setting. Where's the fun in tricking the Queen of Hearts and playing a bizarre game of hedgehog croquet? Just knock her block off.

I might have argued that RWBY backed itself into an inevitable corner by being a combat show - you have to forsake the bizarre rules and trickery of the Ever After for choreographed fights because that's just what RWBY is and what the viewer expects - IF we hadn't been introduced to the Jabberwock first thing. Plus, you know, Neo is there. We have the perfect setup for classic battles via old enemies/fantasy beasts and new, fun, interesting conflicts that require the girls to navigate a situation with skills other than brute strength... but no. I mean, maybe we'll get something moving forward, but the Prince's game isn't very reassuring in that regard.

You know what I was thinking about throughout that part of the episode? The Magicians. Specifically the scene where Quintin plays Push. Basically, he's a magic user playing a game of War, but in this version the whole point is to cheat. The player who's better at putting the right card in their own hand, the wrong card in their opponent's, or generally just fucking with the deck is the winner; a game of skill, power, and creativity. For all the show's many other problems (oh boy did it crash and burn lol) I love that scene and it kept popping into my head as the Prince yelled about humans cheating while, of course, cheating himself. That cheating could have been interesting, especially with a supposed strategist leading the charge, but as you say, instead we just get another beat 'em up fight. (You know, how Yang also wanted to solve her arm problem.)

Which I'm admittedly ambivalent about because we dodged three potential battles in the first two episodes (vines, Jabberwock, guards) and I was absolutely going, "When is RWBY going to give us some combat?" but it's one of those details that make me wonder why we're in the Ever After in the first place. If the show wanted Ruby to grapple with her depression while engaging in straightforward battle sequences, rather than grappling with her depression via the twisty, metaphorical rules of an alternate reality... she could have just done that in Vacuo. Thus far, three episodes in out of ten, all the Ever After has provided is a weather cue for when Ruby is feeling really sad. Otherwise every important character moment is easily removed from our setting. Some opportunistic Vacuo thief could have stolen Yang's arm. Ruby could have found something that reminds her of Penny among the Atlas civilians (which probably would have made more sense). Hell, people can even ask probing, thematically relevant questions like, 'Who are you?' given that they're unwelcome refugees. I'm slightly interested in the trio remaining small for a time, but beyond that everything we've gotten - Ruby is separated from her weapon, Neo's semblance evolves, Yang and Blake are still flirting, etc. - is not a result of the setting, it just happens to be happening in that setting, which begs the question of why we're taking this Ever After detour in the first place.

#rwde #rwby #mymetas

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bestworstcase · 6 months

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i am revising my estimation on what rwby beyond will entail perhaps out of wishful thinking but: since they let the cat out of the bag on salem razed vale with the animatic that means salem razing vale is conceivably something that beyond might touch on. maybe not if her motives for doing so constitute a major spoiler (which is possible but seems unlikely), but that is a big “holy fuck” moment to drop in the Forbidden Eleventh Hour Episode Animatic and. hm. hmmm

i would really like to get a glimpse of the context. salem left atlas with herself and cinder; she can spawn hundreds of grimm per second but came to atlas with a giant whale and millions of grimm, which seems to have taken her several weeks if not a few months to put together. if the civilian retreat traveled very quickly southward to vacuo it’s conceivable that they arrive within hours of the destruction, which does leave salem time to have whipped up another storm.

but retreating so hastily would have necessarily meant leaving a lot of people to die (or be captured—depends what “there’s nothing left” means, really) and the longer it took the civilian retreat to get to vale, the less likely it is that salem stormed vale with a massive fleet of grimm a la atlas.

the other possibilities i can think of are:

salem and cinder flattened an entire city, which has horrifying implications as to how much salem has been holding back up to this point;

she cracked the wyvern out of gay baby jail and let it do the heavy lifting;

“there’s nothing left” means that salem encored her trick of ripping open the continental crust to make a grimm river, but under vale this time, cratering the entire city into a lake of grimm (which also has horrifying implications as to how much she’s been holding back before);

salem didn’t attack vale so much as she was seen approaching beacon tower and mass hysteria ensued, leading to the city being swamped by the local grimm again.

ponders.

or vale was a casualty of an extremely destructive attempt to brute force break through the extra protections ozpin arranged for the beacon vault. what that might look like practically is an open question, but… i mean, i’ve been thinking for a while on the possibility of ozpin weaving traps into those protections.

there is also the more interesting question of why. beacon fell -> grimm pulled out of vale within days -> surgical strike on haven -> held her forces back from attacking mantle -> no grimm in atlesian subway tunnels -> (ironwood forced the fall of atlas while salem was taking a dirt nap) -> razing vale to the ground apparently. what changed?

“people saw salem and panicked” seems like both a copout and also the explanation that tracks with what we’ve seen from her before and what we know of the situation. “something happened that made salem decide it was necessary to delete vale” is the more narratively punchy option and the one i hope they’re going for. in pursuit of a new world, no cost is too great, and all.

sighs. when glinda lays siege to the emerald city, the witch mombi magically disguises herself in the form of a rose, and general jinjur aligns herself with mombi in a bid to remain in power. salem has put a lot of trust in summer to hold beacon for her, never doubting her loyalty after a year or more without progress. if that trust were betrayed…

(<- NERVOUS.)

the other obvious possibilities is brutal overreaction to a perceived threat to cinder (“if anyone even looks at cinder wrong i will break this wyvern out of its shell” WAS A JOKE I WAS JOKING–). or she’s removing vale from the equation specifically to broaden the search radius for the crown, and/or now suspects that the vault is in vale. that glynda “emblem is a crown” goodwitch is being kept offscreen still is interesting in that regard, obviously.

i don’t think it’s a matter of salem feeling emboldened by possession of two relics, if only because she wasn’t emboldened by having the lamp in atlas, and also her character arc in v8 was firmly oriented around cinder and the beacon relic, in that order. that was the basis for my thinking that she would make a beeline for vale next, which is exactly what she did. my assumption was that she planned to dig in and wait for a counteroffensive to become necessary to hold the vacuo coalition together, which i did not guess would include razing vale—because i thought she might take a gamble on pitching her side to vale, to remove a pillar of support from the vacuo coalition; razing vale is a different tactical approach to the same end.

so it’s possible that salem simply made the calculation that razing vale was the most effective way to achieve her longer term strategic goal (eliminate vale as an ally to the vacuo coalition and prohibit a siege while she digs in at beacon). it comes at the cost of hardening the vacuan coalition by demonstrating that she’s capable of flattening two kingdoms in a span of weeks and giving mistral more reason to be nervous, but it also tells the world in no uncertain terms exactly where she is, which removes an obstacle to the counteroffensive she is probably counting on to deliver the sword to her.

narratively i think it’s a really exciting choice. the pressure it puts on the salem-summer-cinder dynamic stands to be very interesting and i would like to see it.

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howlingday · 1 year

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Mercury: I've got the fat bastard right here! I'm gonna chop off his legs and feed him to the dogs!

Ruby: (Kicks down the door) STOP RIGHT THERE, MERCURY BLACK!

Mercury: (Standing next to a cooked turkey) Haha! Tricked you!

Ruby: Haha! Yeah, you got me!

Mercury: I'd offer you girls a turkey sandwich, but fuck you!

---------------------------------------------------

Roman: Roman, the queen asks you to pick up the magic potion from the merchant's square and deliver it to the exiled. Got it?

Mercury: Got it!

Roman: ...

Mercury: ...By magic potion, you mean the ten tons of stolen dust in the harbor for the White Fang, right?

RWBY: (Crash through the windows)

Roman: (Slaps Mercury)

#rwby #mercury black #roman torchwick #ruby rose #weiss schnee #blake belladonna #yang xiao long #fugget about it

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aspoonofsugar · 2 years

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Emerald's Aladdin: Wants Versus Needs

Emerald's Aladdin allusion is a difficult one to understand (or at least it was so for me) and I even doubted it for a while. Still, it is actually there and it is a pretty good one, as well. So, let's explore Emerald's fairy tale and see how its story is intertwined with our hidden gem's.

A QUICK SUMMARY AND KEY ELEMENTS

First of all, a quick summary of Aladdin's original fairy tale. Feel free to skip it if you already know the story:

Aladdin is a boy who lives in poverty until a wizard arrives and introduces himself as Aladdin's uncle. He promises the boy a huge fortune if he retrieves something for him. The boy accepts and travels with his fake uncle to a mysterious cave. The fake uncle instructs Aladdin to enter the cave and to take an old oil lamp. He also gives the boy a magic ring that should help him in his mission. Aladdin enters and retrieves the lamp, but the wizard tries to double cross him and as a result Aladdin finds himself trapped with the lamp and the ring.

Aladdin discovers the ring contains a geenie that teleports him home. Once there, he finds out the lamp too has a geenie, who is even more powerful. So, he uses the geenies' magic to marry princess Badroulbadour (Full Moon of Full Moons) and to live with her in a fancy palace. However, the evil wizard hears of Aladdin's fortune and steals the lamp teleporting the princess and the castle away from him. Aladdin uses the ring to find Badroulbadour and together they defeat the wizard. In some versions at this point the wizard's more powerful brother appears and Aladdin and the Princess have to defeat him too.

As per usual, RWBY takes some elements from the fairy tale and turns them into recurring motifs in its characters' arcs. For Emerald, these are the key ideas we must look out for:

The 2 evil wizards

The 2 geenies

The Ring and the Lamp

The Princess

In particular, Emerald's allusion takes the 2 malevolent wizards and fuses them with the 2 geenies. The result is 2 evil abusers, who trick Emerald with the promise of granting all her wishes:

Cinder: "Follow me, and you'll never be hungry again."

Salem: "The path to your desires is only found… through me."

GEENIES AND WIZARDS

How can we be sure Cinder and Salem are Emerald's 2 geenies? The answer lies in these 2 parallel scenes:

Cinder: I know my fair share of liars and thieves. Stealing is an art of patience, coordination, and in a pinch, sleight of hand. But you didn't steal the ring in your pocket. You took it right before the jeweller's eyes. And he smiled.

Salem: You really have been honing that Semblance of yours. What did you do with the Lamp?

These 2 moments are meant to be foiled and juxtaposed. They are when Emerald enters and leaves the cycle of abuse, which overlap with the beginning and the end of her villanious career. Moreover, her powerful semblance and her thief motif are on focus both times (we'll see later why).

The fact that in such key scenes the ring and the lamp - so fairy tale's symbols - are mentioned by Cinder and Salem marks these 2 characters as respectively the geenie of the ring and the geenie of the lamp. This makes sense considering the role of the 2 geenies in Aladdin's story:

The geenie of the ring is less powerful, but he never leaves Aladdin. He is the one that frees Aladdin from the cave and the one that reunites him with the princess, even if he can't defeat the geenie of the lamp. In short, he is a less powerful spirit, but clearly symbolic of Aladdin's own inner strength.

The geenie of the lamp is more powerful, but he is stolen later on and used against Aladdin. So, he is really a 2 edged sword and less linked to Aladdin as a character. For example, it is not Aladdin himself that discovers him, but rather his mother.

What does it have to do with Cinder and Salem? Well, if you combine the 2 geenies with the 2 wizards trying to trick Aladdin, then you get Emerald's 2 abusers:

Cinder, who is way less powerful than Salem, but whose relationship with Em is way more personal

Salem, who is a force to be reckoned with, but ultimately not central to Em's arc.

In short, the wizard of the ring (Cinder) is less powerful physically, but has more psychological power over Em, while the wizard of the lamp (Salem) is more dangerous, but ultimately her grip on Em's mind is weaker.

Let's now see if this interpretative key works for Emerald's overall arc and if our gem's story fits Aladdin's fairy tale.

THE CAVE OF WONDERS AS A METAPHOR FOR THE CYCLE OF ABUSE

Emerald is introduced as a street rat living in poverty until Cinder promises her a better life. This is how Aladdin's story begins. To be more specific, Emerald and Cinder's relationship is very similar to the one between Aladdin and the Wizard.

The Wizard enters Aladdin's life and becomes a father figure. In particular, he gives Aladdin gifts and grooms him with the excuse of being his teacher. This is exactly what Cinder does with Emerald:

Emerald: I just… Cinder was the only family I ever had. She cared about me, taught me things…

Moreover, one of the first signs of the Wizard's evil nature is him slapping Aladdin so violently that the boy spits blood. Well, Cinder acts in the same way:

Emerald: We don't need him! Everything was going fine! (a slap is heard, and she cries out in pain) Cinder: Do not mistake your place.

So Cinder, just like the Wizard, tricks Emerald into following her and traps the younger girl into an abusive relationship. The lie works out until Cinder and Emerald go to retrieve a certain Lamp:

Just like with Aladdin and the Wizard, the appearence of the Lamp marks Emerald's separation from Cinder:

Emerald: It's not over! Cinder will come back, she'll have the Relic, and she'll stop all of you! She won't let us down.

Emerald keeps believing in Cinder even when everything seems lost, but in the end she is let down. Symbolically, she is left behind, trapped in the cycle of abuse (the cave of wonders) with an even stronger and more dangerous abuser (the geenie of the lamp):

It is telling that while Cinder is away, Salem immediately acts to bring Emerald under her control and to weaken her bond with the previous "geenie":

Salem: Emerald… I want you to tell me whose fault this was. Now. Emerald: Cinder! We failed because of Cinder…

Salem does so by using desire-rooted rhetoric:

Salem: It's important not to lose sight of what drives us: Love, justice, reverence… (she meets Emerald's eyes briefly) …But, the moment you put your desires before my own… they will be lost to you.

She frames herself as the only one who can grant Emerald's wishes. She and not Cinder is Emerald's true geenie. Hers is an attempt to replace Cinder as Emerald's authority figure. She tries to become Emerald's new "master". However, her attempt has actually the opposite result because it stimulates Emerald to self-reflect and new ideas start coming to her. Like, that she is not in the right place and may not even need a geenie to fulfill her dreams:

Tyrian: Shh, shh, shh, shh, shh. I want to tell you both a little secret. Your question is all wrong. "What do you want from this?" Children, please, if you're not loving what you're doing, then you're in the wrong field.

Especially, if her geenie doesn't really care:

Mercury: Wake up, already… Cinder doesn't care about you! She doesn't care about either of us!

Emerald initially refuses these hard truths, but they start to slowly erode her idealized idea of Cinder. In the end, she is able to see her precious geenie of the ring for who she is:

In Cinder and Salem's relationship Emerald sees a mirror of her own with Cinder. She finally realizes Cinder has been treating her, just like Salem treats Cinder. All Cinder's promises and even her kindness were tools to trap Emerald and enslave her. Cinder isn't a geenie at her service, but Emerald herself has become Cinder's servant. This revelation leads Emerald to leave Salem and Cinder. She leaves the fascinating, but dangerous cave full of fake treasures and illusions. She leaves the cycle of abuse once and for all.

THE LAMP AND THE RING

Emerald's escape from the "cave of wonders" is meant to show she is slowly developing. When she joins Cinder, Emerald steals a ring and is tricked, while when she leaves, she doesn't steal the Lamp and tricks Salem.

Stealing and illusions are 2 key motifs for Emerald's story:

Delusion I'll steal til your blind and defeat you from inside your mind Illusions Will conquer your mind and will make you fulfill my design

Emerald is introduced as having nothing, so she steals and conjures up illusions not to feel empty. However, no matter how much she takes from others or how wonderful her dreams are, she is still hungry. After all, she steals things she doesn't truly want and lies to herself.

Because of this, Emerald escaping Salem without stealing means she is growing. She is starting to better understand what her true wishes are and how to turn them into reality. Similarly, when Cinder finds Emerald, she sees through the girl's illusions and realize that behind the street criminal there is a scared child she can use. However, when Emerald leaves Cinder, she fully recognizes Cinder's abuse towards her, as well as Salem's mistreatment of Cinder. She has outgrown Cinder and can now see better than her. As a result, her illusions grow strong enough to trick even the almighty geenie of the Lamp.

In other words, on Monstra Emerald starts a path to reach what she truly wants and, like her literary counterpart, she finds some tools that help her in this journey. The difference is that Aladdin finds a physical Ring and a physical Lamp, while Emerald's Ring and Lamp are symbols of her inner growth. She doesn't have to look outside to turn her dreams into reality, but must develop as a person and pursue her wishes herself. So, her Ring and her Lamp represent parts of her. The Ring is something she has always had, while the Lamp is something she acquires in Monstra (in the cave of wonders).

1- The Ring symbolizes Emerald's true worth, which is why she steals this jewel when she meets Cinder. It metaphorically suggests Emerald herself is the real precious ring. Or to better say she is an "emerald in the rough":

youtube

"Only one may enter here, one whose worth lies far within... the Diamond in the Rough" (Aladdin, 1992)

She is a gem covered in filth, whose potential needs to be recognized and brought to the surface:

I'm the one Who rose out of filth and was loved by no-one

This is probably the idea that inspired Emerald's design as well:

She always wears brown outfits with some green in the center because she is meant to look like an emerald that struggles to emerge from mud.

In story, Emerald's potential is metaphorically represented by her semblance, which is commented on by several characters and considered pretty powerful. After all, her ability is why she can be such a game changer in Atlas despite doing pretty little. Just a small illusion on her part is sufficient to trick God and to free a Kingdom.

More importantly, her semblance is why 2 key characters take an interest in Emerald.

The first one is obviously Cinder (the evil Wizard), who sees Em using her illusions to steal the ring, recognizes her talent and decides to corrupt her. She isn't really interested in Emerald as a person and traps her in a delusion, where she can't really grow:

The second one is Oscar (the good Wizard), who is freed thanks to Emerald's semblance and sees her as a precious ally:

Oscar: I've seen what you can do, Emerald. However this fight ends, we could really use someone like you.

He is also trying to help Emerald personally and to inspire her to be better. He is mentoring her toward becoming a happier version of herself:

2-The Lamp represents Knowledge (obviously). Emerald's development in volume 8 is strictly intertwined with this idea, as it is one huge realization on multiple levels.

On the one hand she discovers the truth about Salem and the bigger conflict:

Ozpin: "So long as this world turns, you shall walk its face". That was the curse cast upon her. But if Salem can divide Humanity beyond repair, and bring all four Relics together, she believes that maybe her curse will be broken. The Gods will rule against us and destroy Remnant, once and for all.

On the other hand she discovers the truth about Cinder and herself:

Mercury: Would you stop trying to protect her already? She doesn’t care about you.

It is thanks to this clarity that she manages to leave. After all, her defection follows the scene where Emerald and Hazel see Jinn. It couldn't be clearer symbolically. They both receive knowledge and so are able to overcome their internalized illusions and to oppose Salem.

So, Emerald leaves the cycle of abuse (the cave of wonders) by using her semblance (the ring) and with a new found knowledge (the lamp). Her whole scene with Salem even calls back to her fairy tale, where the evil Wizard insists that Aladdin gives him the Lamp, only for the boy to refuse:

Salem: (The Lamp) is missing. Where is it? Emerald: I didn't do anything with it.

Still, there is a key difference between Aladdin's story and Em's. Aladdin has the Lamp the Wizard desires, while Emerald is really ignorant about its whereabouts. Why is that so?

It is true that Emerald not stealing can be seen as her starting to leave her flawed coping mechanism behind. However, Emerald refusing to take the Lamp when leaving with Oscar leads to bad consequences. So, why does this happen? The answer is that even if Emerald is now wiser, she still has to learn things.

As I have explained in this post, Emerald goes from one extreme to the other. She goes from being obsessed with Cinder to ignore her altogether, even when she clearly shouldn't. To be more clear:

After Emerald's quiet moment of realization on the bridge, she just stops considering Cinder in a way that is almost odd. It is a very huge shift of her focus, which is really not explored nor verbalized. Emerald simply starts to act on other things and relationships. She tries to convince Mercury to leave with her, joins Hazel, bonds with Oscar and so on. In all of this, she never tries to communicate with Cinder. Actually, it is implied she is ignoring her:

Watts: Did… Did anyone respond? Cinder: No.

Sure, initially RWBY and co might have taken her scroll away, but in Vacuo she is shown to have it. This means she saw the call and ignored it. Let’s highlight that Emerald believing Oz and Oscar does not explain her behaviour towards Cinder. She tries to convince Mercury of the truth and could have made an attempt with Cinder as well. However, she does not and simply leaves her.

The easiest explanation is that the clock striking midnight has finally dispelled the idealized illusion she had of Cinder. Still, the end result is not really Em being able to unpack her relationship with Cinder or to face it. Rather it is her repressing it altogether. Cinder who?

Basically she has turned Cinder from everything into nothing. She has made her disappear. However, she can’t really ignore Cinder and the consequence of this negation is on a meta level Cinder attacking her new group and making victims.

Emerald has gained self-awareness, but has still to fully unpack Cinder's abuse and their relationship. She still lacks Knowledge, so she fails to take the Lamp with her. This ends up with the Lamp being stolen and used against Emerald's new found family.

A DIVIDED FAMILY AND A LOST PRINCESS

At one point in Aladdin's story, the Wizard steals the Lamp and uses it to teleport Aladdin's castle and the Princess away. This endangers Aladdin's life and breaks his heart. This is the point we currently are in Emerald's rewriting of Aladdin. This moment is declined in 2 different ways.

1- Cinder uses the Lamp in Atlas

Cinder, as the Evil Wizard, manages to take the Relic of Knowledge, to learn the password and to use it to her advantage. The Lamp gives her all the information she needs to win in Atlas, kill Penny and send team RWBY + Jaune into the void. All of this happens just after Emerald defects and finds a new place for herself. Her home is immediately threatened by Cinder, that Emerald understimates and tries not to think about.

Right now, a part of Emerald's possible family is separated from her and she is through a self-defining journey to find where she truly belongs.

2- Salem sends Mercury to Vacuo

Salem, as the Geenie of the Lamp, sends Emerald's partner away from her. Mercury, just like Princess Badroulbadour (Full Moon of Full Moons), is linked to the moon (silver = moon). Not only that, but he too finds himself trapped and isolated, similarly to the Princess when her castle is teleported away from Aladdin. However, in the end Aladdin finds the Princess again and together they trick and kill the Wizard.

This is probably what is going to happen with Emerald and Mercury, as well. Emerald is currently headed to where Mercury is, so that they can find each other again, fight Salem (the Wizard of the Lamp) and face Cinder (the Wizard of the Ring) together.

SO MANY GEENIES!

Emerald's story is not over, so it is possible her fairy tale will resonate more when her arc climaxes. As for now, let's just have some fun with her geenie motif and see how it can fit her plotline in many different ways!

This is just a meta-headcanon, but I like it. If Mercury indeed references The Spirit in the Glass Bottle he may be Emerald's third and final geenie. He is the spirit Emerald needs to free from his prison (like in the Disney movie), so that they both can have their wish granted. This would also work as a call back to the vastly popular idea of 3 wishes. Cinder is Emerald's first geenie/wish, Salem is her second one and Mercury the third and true one.

Emerald has actually 4 geenies. 2 are malicious, while 2 are more well-natured. To be more specific, Salem (Lamp) and Cinder (Ring) are the negative geenies to Hazel (Lamp) and Mercury (Ring)'s positive ones. After all, Hazel is freed thanks to the Lamp and he fights Salem to save Emerald. In a sense, he is the geenie that frees both himself and Aladdin from the cave of wonders. A similar thing may happen with Mercury, as well. He is currently stuck in abuse, but it is no mystery his feelings for Emerald may free him, so that he can support Em during her eventual face-off with Cinder.

Cinder is initially a combination between Emerald's Wizard and her Geenie/Wish. This is in line with how RWBY depicts abusive relationships. The abuser ends up becoming her victim's world. For example, Adam is both Beast and Rose to Blake and Salem is both Stepmother and Fairy to Cinder. Here, Cinder is both Wizard and Geenie. However, as Emerald breaks free from her she is bound to find new wizards and geenies. For her arc, we can already see 2 key characters replacing Cinder. Oscar is Emerald's new Wizard. He becomes Emerald's new mentor and inspiration and they are bound to develop a sibling dynamic with no strings attached. Mercury is set up to become Emerald's new geenie, in the sense of a new wish and objective Emerald might have to fulfill. After all, Emerald is already a part of Oscar and Mercury's respective allusions (she is the Emerald Forest and the Emerald Tablet), so it makes sense they are gonna be a part of hers, as well.

Now, these are just theories and it is also possible new elements will come into Emerald's allusion that may change things. However, the meaning behind Emerald's geenie symbolism is clear. She herself has to become her own geenie. She can't depend on others to realize her dreams, but must work hard to fulfill them with no short-cuts. In this way she may find happiness and maybe even transform into someone else's Geenie:

Emerald: Can I ask you something? Why did you come with us, the night Cinder and I found you? Mercury: Why are you asking-- Emerald: Just answer the question. Mercury: Just made sense. Emerald: That's it? Mercury: Hey, what's your problem? Emerald: I mean, there has to be something you want from this, right?

Emerald is the one that challenges Mercury to think about what he truly wants. This is not by chance and ties with Emerald's thematic role in the story, especially when it comes to CEM, my favourite trio of misfits.

BECOME YOUR OWN GEENIE - WANTS VS NEEDS

This is Aladdin's teaching, according to One Thousand and One Nights:

"Sire," said Scheherazade, ending the story of the adventures of the marvelous lamp, "your majesty will no doubt have noticed in the person of the African magician a man with the passion of possessing treasures. He discovered many of them, but he couldn't enjoy them because he became unworthy. On the contrary, your majesty can see in Aladdin a man of low birth, who rose to King, by using those same treasures only to the extent he needs them to reach his goal.

This is just another way to say Aladdin as a story explores the idea of wants vs needs. This is a very common trope in writing that can be used in multiple ways.

The basic idea is that there is a difference between a superficial wish and a deep need. Sometimes people would ignore what they need in favour of what they want. However, only by realizing and fulfilling the need they can be happy and sometimes even get the want.

Well, CEM's arcs are all different takes on this theme:

Emerald's want and need overlap. She wants/needs love and a family. However, she gets at it wrong. She wants her family to be Cinder, but she needs Mercury + the protagonists.

Cinder's want is power, but her need is freedom. Notice that as a child she correctly identifies her need/want. However, her traumatic past forces her to give up on it.

Mercury is an inversion. He is currently trying to fulfill his basic need aka survival. However, he must realize what he really wants (Emerald's safety) and act on it. Only in this way he can get to his existential need > to become himself, instead than Marcus's copy.

All 3 members of CEM must struggle with this psychological conundrum and Emerald is the one who will figure it out first, so that she can lead the way. Our Emerald in the Rough is bound to become her team's Geenie:

She starts as an abused child, who is turned into a slave through trickery. However, she manages to free herself and will soon reveal her true power and potential. In this way, she will succeed at helping her loved ones by showing them what they truly want/need. She will force them to see the truth about themselves, so that they can overcome their illusions and pursue their real wishes.

#rwby #emerald sustrai #cinder fall #salem rwby #oscar pine #mercury black #rwby meta #once upon an allusion #my meta #aladdin #emercury #hazel rainart

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