#the herbalist

[syrva]

Woe Lydia and Remus be upon ye

[comradekatara]

THE HERBALIST starter pack

[devoidaffectu]

[chittychittyyangyang]

Now that Herb is properly returned he’ll be fixed up nice and made into the Herb he wanted to be when he was still Herb. Then he’ll come back and find his purpose.

[yinyangofnevermore]

Clearly this is significant

The question is just HOW significant?

[pilot-boi]

Could we see Jaune choosing not to be Jaune Arc anymore and just become the knight? Please, with extra suffering and angst on top?

((Okay, but remember you asked for this. Fair warning, this got WAY longer than I was intending, but that’s what happens when you write at AM))

Nothing here makes sense. Mice and raccoons can talk. A tiny prince has a castle full of card and chess people. And no matter how much he walks towards the tree, Jaune can’t seem to get any closer to it.

It’s like that story his mom used to read him and his sisters, The Girl Who Fell Through The World. He can’t remember all the details of it, but the ones he can are eerily similar to his current circumstances. Talking raccoon and all.

He remembers a Knight, and wanting to be just like them when he grew up. He remembers the main character being utterly alone. And he remembers that she got out of there through the tree.

So that’s where he’s going. As much as all the evidence has shown that Remnant is better off without Jaune Arc, he can’t do that to Ren and Nora. It just wouldn’t be right.

Although as of late he’s not the best judge of what’s the right thing to do.

His sword is heavy at his side. Multicolored maple leaves blow past him. Every where he looks there’s another reminder of his failures.

Pyrrha dead because he wasn’t strong enough, Penny dead because he wasn’t fast enough. Too weak to help, too weak to heal. The portal closed and he failed Ren and Nora again by not making it back to them.

And then he fell.

He couldn’t even die right.

Jaune wanders listlessly among blue shaded trees, passing neon glowing mushrooms and multicolored flowers. The plants tower over him, as tall as a building, but he doesn’t spare them a passing glance, pushing his exhausted limbs on relentlessly.

He can’t afford to stop. He’s not sure he’ll be able to get going again if he stops moving. Just another failure.

“What are you?”

Jaune blinks, reactions lethargic. It could be a threat, could be practically anything in this nonsense world, but he just can’t bring himself to care. It’s a…

He blinks again, a shock of awareness creeping back in. It’s a…caterpillar? Or a butterfly. Some combination of both, maybe. Jaune didn’t think he was capable of being surprised at this point, but the universe just delights in proving him wrong.

The caterpillar blinks at him, eyes wide and calculating. “I’m a Huntsman.” Is he though? What kind of Huntsman abandons his team? Kills his friend? “I need help,” he settles on at last.

Help with what, he can’t say. He doesn’t know.

The caterpillar’s eyes narrow. “If it’s help you need, then I can provide,” they say, voice raspy and gravely as the earth itself. “That is my purpose, as the Herbalist” They sling a bag of leaves over their shoulder. “At least, until I’m not anymore.”

Jaune follows as the self-proclaimed Herbalist leads him through a doorway into what must be the caterpillar’s home. They bustle around, weighing herbs and grumbling under their breath. “What did you say you are again?”

“I’m…” That question again, and he still has no answer. He can’t call himself a Huntsman, not after what he’s done. “I’m a hero.” That’s all he’s ever wanted to be, but even with that he falls short. Can’t very well call himself a hero after leading his friends and who knows how many civilians to their deaths.

“So are you a Huntsman or a Hero?” The caterpillar asks, and Jaune can almost hear the capitalization in their voice. “I can’t help you if you don’t know what you are.”

“I’m sorry Mr. uh… Herbalist?” Gods he’s never sounded more out of depth in his life. “I don’t think I understand the question.”

“I don’t understand how you don’t understand.” The caterpillar grumbles, rolling their three eyes in sync. “We all have our titles, our roles to play.”

Jaune follows them deeper into their home, through a bead curtain and into a room full of smoke. “And in order to help you fulfill your role-” The Herbalist drops a handful of maple leaves into the fire, and the smoke builds like a wave. “-you should really have a better understanding of what your purpose is now.”

His purpose? His role? Jaune’s head is spinning, and it’s only partially because of the smoke. Is there a single role he’s held that he hasn’t failed at spectacularly? Jaune feels like he’s falling down a long tunnel.

“So I ask you again.” The caterpillar rounds on him. Their eyes are flashing different colors in sync with the the pounding in Jaune’s head, a psychedelic swirling beating in time with his heart beat. Distantly he realizes his knees have hit the earthy floor.

“What are you?”

And his vision fills with smoke. It fills his lungs, choking him, and Jaune’s sure he coughs hard enough to lose a lung. A cloud of the stuff expels from his mouth, pooling on the smoky ground in front of him.

“So? Are you a Huntsman yet?”

Jaune looks up, heart full of dread. Because he knows that voice, knows it like he knows his own name.

A facsimile of himself smiles back, all false confidence and floppy blonde hair.

This Jaune’s eyes aren’t shadowed with everything he’s lost, everything he’s done wrong. His smile is wide and innocent, untainted by horrors he hasn’t seen yet.

The armor on his shoulders is too big, awkwardly tightened and perfect for a young hero ready to grow into his strength. Head full of dreams of a legacy to uphold, of people to protect.

It’s still lined with iron. Pyrrha’s gilding has never felt heavier.

“What?”

“Are you a Huntsman yet. Did you graduate from Beacon?”

Jaune’s heart clenches. “Beacon fell,” he says woodenly.

“And it’s your fault your partner died,” Not-Jaune says brightly. “Let’s face the facts, if Pyrrha had a stronger and braver partner instead of you, then she would have lived.”

Jaune winces at hearing it said in so matter-of-fact a tone. He’s right, he’s no Huntsman. A Huntsman would’ve been able to help Pyrrha instead of dragging her down.

“So you’re not much of a Huntsman, but you still have this whole legacy thing to uphold. So are you a hero then?”

“I help my friends,” Jaune says. His protests sound weak and desperate even to his ears“I protect people in danger and heal them when they’re hurt.”

“But you’re also the one to do the hurting.” Fake-Jaune’s voice is cocky, in that tone he’d always put on to project the air of confidence his father always said he’d need.

“Weiss was stabbed because you were too blinded by anger. Your brilliant strategy in Argus led Blake to fight her abusive terrorist ex-boyfriend. Splitting up in Atlas got Oscar kidnapped and Nora maimed.”

Not-Jaune ticks off his failures like they’re items on a grocery list. It’s like he can’t tell that every word twists the sword in Jaune’s chest a little deeper. “Oh!” His eyes light up, and his grin widens. “And we can’t forget about Penny!”

Jaune actually chokes.

Gods how many people are dead because of him? Penny certainly, her blood still stains what’s left of his sword, as red as the sash around his waist. Weiss as well, blasted off the side of a platform because he was too weak to hold on.

He’s no Huntsman. He’s certainly no hero.

“So, what are you?”

“I…” For the third time in how many minutes, Jaune doesn’t have an answer. He’s not a Huntsman, he’s not a hero. He’s staring at his hands and they’re shaking. What even is he except a failure? “I’m Jaune Arc.”

“And it sucks, doesn’t it?” The smile on his own face looks forced, cruel and and triumphant pitying all rolled into one. “Always just barely too slow to help, too weak to protect. Always the idiot stuck in the tree while his friends fight for their lives.”

Jaune doesn’t realize he’s crying until the tears drop onto his palms.

“You don’t have to keep trying, ya know.” And for the first time since arriving here, Not-Jaune’s voice sounds gentle. Understanding. “They don’t need you, they never have. So why not give up?”

“You’re not a Huntsman, you’re not a hero. You could give up on being Jaune Arc.” He looks up. His younger self towers over him, eyes not shadowed and armor not gilded. His hands are on his hips, one resting on the hilt of Crocea Mors.

A better person than he’ll ever be.

“After all, what’s one more failure? It seems to be all you’re good at.”

[violetren]

The Herbalist was really like "You will get thrown DIRECTLY into the deep end of therapy with no proper structure or preparation or safety nets."

The fact that Ruby was the only one to almost break is kind of a miracle, but then again while Weiss Blake and Yang did get given doubles that brought up issues incredibly important to their characters they were all things that had pretty well sorted out prior to or by the end of last season. They literally would not be here if they had not come to terms with that stuff already.

For them this was more of a crash course in what the fuck people in this world mean when asking who are you.

After Ruby Weiss was probably in the most danger of getting a bit more fucked up here because of her kingdom falling and the "one way ticket" comment she made to the genie in the relic, but that wasn't what got targeted.

They all experienced the crushing loss of Atlas and if it had been thrown in their faces maybe it would have tripped them too.

But of course the "who are you, who do you want to be" combo hit Ruby hardest. She already got primed for pain when Blake described being a huntress and being a hero and The Herbalist turned around and asked if they were good huntresses instantly making her think of everything she has lost ie. Was unable to protect.

And then for her double to point out how she's really not like she thought huntresses were supposed to be and that "mom was the best but even she failed" hooooly shit.

The whispering voice of depression in Ruby's head got personified and I am taking that fucking personally.

Really hammered home the fact that Ruby was a fucking child, who still had a child's belief that the world works in the way we are told it should, when this show started.

[lesbianneopolitan]

So, I ended up making the whole gang, anyway (the important characters)

Mafia AU | Ever After Gang

[loll3]

✷ the Herbalist ~ ©Lolle (2024) 🌿 a brand new botanical themed illustration to get into the spring mood! 🪴🗝️🌙✨

✧ you can already find it available on: REDBUBBLE || TEEPUBLIC || THREADLESS

✧ media : Procreate | apple pen on iPad pro + photoshop editing || ©please, don’t use/modify without permission • don’t repost without credits ♡

[captain-crackship]

I feel like the new episode was specifically a middle finger to HTDM.

The Herbalist was HTDM personified and WBY confronting themselves showed how much they’ve grown since Beacon-- a common criticism of HTDM’s is that they haven’t. Meanwhile Ruby was broken. Another criticism of HTDM’s is that Ruby is always too cheerful and is never affected by anything. But this episode, and really this season, shows that the opposite is true. Ruby is broken. She’s been broken since Beacon and hasn’t let it show. She had to be the strong leader her team needed.

But her team has moved on from their trauma. Their crucibles forged them into stronger warriors. They’re made of sterner stuff. Ruby hasn’t moved on. Ruby kept everything inside. And as a result, it seems that her team has moved on without her. Do they really need her now? Do they really need such a weak leader? No. They’ve left her behind.

Pyrrha and Penny are dead. Beacon has fallen. Atlas is no more. Salem, a seemingly unstoppable force, has two of the four relics and is halfway to destroying Remnant.

That is the pressure Ruby is under and since landing in Ever After, her facade has started to crack. Her psychological wounds are wide open. Her pain is there for everyone to see. HTDM jokes about wanting Ruby to snap this volume and they very well might get their wish.

But in the face of all of that, I’m hopeful for Ruby. This is a healing volume, after all. And when she does eventually snap and her trauma is laid bare for all to witness... Her team will be there. For her.

This whole time Ruby has tried to be the strong leader her team needed when they were at their lowest points. Now that Ruby is at her lowest point, the roles are going to switch and her team will be the ones to help her heal, to grow and move on. They’ve never left her behind and they’re not going to when she needs them most. Ruby has had the weight of Remnant on her shoulders and now that she’s buckling under the pressure her team are going to be there to help support her.

Her team came out of their crucibles stronger because of Ruby. Ruby is in her own crucible now. And she will come out stronger because of her team.

[13thalcoragent]

4KIDS: RUBY GIRLS! - Part 7

[comradekatara]

[salty-medley]

Two icons.

And forget Kyoshi & Yangchen, I want novels about how and why Miyuki get in trouble with the Fire Nation.

[caterpillarinacave]

One thing I noticed when Jaune was telling the story about his trip with Alyx, was how we seemed to get upset when she strayed from the story he knew. At the beginning, he realizes he is the Rusted Knight, and he’s largely ok with it. He knows his role in the story, and is prepared to play it, get Alyx home, and move on with life.

But it’s not going like the story! Two people fall, and Alyx is mean as a wet panther. But that’s ok, the story still works with two people, still holds up with an unpleasant main character, he can still play his role. However, Alyx meets the Herbalist she doesnt trust Jaune anymore.

Now, everything is flipped upside down. How can he play the rusted knight, when Alyx doesn’t trust him, won’t follow him, and isn’t doing anything she’s supposed to be doing in the story? What is he supposed to do??? Why is she doing this??? What had he done wrong??? How could this happen???

He’s desperately upset, trying everything he can to get Alyx to follow the story, because that’s what he’s supposed to do! He knows knows fix everything, if she would just play her part! But she doesn’t. She’s an outside source, blocking him from the fundamental purpose of his role, not unlike Team RWBY beating the Red Prince, and thus ruining his role.

When the Red King was beaten, and when the Prince was beaten, it shook the very grounds of their reality. They don’t know what to do, because they have a role to follow!!! What are they supposed to do??? Why is this player cheating??? What had they done wrong??? How could this have happened??? They know what to do, if she would just play her part!!!

The creatures of the Ever After need a role in the story in order to function.

But Team RWBY doesn’t have this problem. They do have a role, but not one in this story, so when it’s interrupted they don’t physically break down the way the Ever After citizens do. The people of Remnant don’t have a set path, a role that never changes, a story that must be followed.

But Jaune does. Just like every other citizen of the ever after, Jaune has a role, and he must play it.

[bobauthorman]

You're Rusted

I've been thinking...about why Alyx poisoned Jaune in the Ever After...

According to Jaune's story in RWBY Beyond, he and the lost siblings were good friends at one point. But after visiting the Herbalist, Alyx became untrusting, and accusing Lewis and Jaune of things. So what exactly happened there to provoke such a change?

There is a chance that while at the Herbalist, Alyx breathed in the smoke from burnt Tree leaves, just as Team RWBY did. And as Team RWBY demonstrated, the effects of the smoke causes latent parts of your personality, pent up memories, suppressed feelings, to bubble back up. What would kind of feelings and memories Alyx had that would lead her turning on Jaune?

According to Jaune, Alyx and Lewis were from Vacuo, before the Great War. And what was happening in Vacuo before the Great War?

The kingdom was being occupied by the other kingdoms. Especially Mantle/Atlas, whose dust industry left a significant wound on the land and people. And guess what kind of uniform did Mantle warriors have back then?

Could the Tree-smoke have caused Alyx to connect Jaune to Vacuo's oppressors?

[elfantasmadejanis]

Firelord zuko's wildest fantasy is running away into the woods and becoming exactly like the herbalist from the blue spirit episode