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kingbennyboyyy · 3 years

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benny’s rwby rewrite: team RWBY redesigns

hello again! in honor of me actually getting some schoolwork done and subsequently having the time to rewatch the first volume of rwby for writing purposes, i thought i’d get out of the way some design notes that have been living in my head for the main girls. with how important colors and motif are in rwby as a whole, i thought that a little more care could be taken. i’ll go into the volume 1 designs most of all, and outline any consistent changes within the character’s notes. i’ll also go into why i’m changing what i’m changing.

with that, my thoughts as always will be under the cut!

ruby rose:

we’re starting strong with ruby’s design, and god do i have some strong opinions about this girl. let it be known that i actually like ruby’s clothing design: i think i’ve mentioned that i think the contrast of a fluffy petticoat and platform boots with a giant scythe and killing monsters is really interesting. that being said, there’s some fucked up geneology happening in the rose-xiao long family.

a big issue i have with ruby and her family members is the fact that despite the fact that yang and ruby are related through taiyang, neither of them have inherited his skintone. you’d think that with how literally their phenotypes are taken, that ruby wouldn’t be white as snow. with how low-contrast ruby’s design is as a whole, i think that her having darker skin would be welcome. adding the bonus of holy shit, a dark-skinned mixed girl is the protagonist makes me really biased toward this. complexion-wise, she should be somewhere between summer and taiyang, but still visibly darker than someone like weiss.

her hair being naturally black and red is perfectly okay for me. i think that it looks nice, and there’s a lot she can do with it. i can’t really complain about it being in her eyes after gushing over her combat cupcake skirt.

what i can complain about is her lack of pockets. like, she only has one little pouch to carry god knows what in. is she really expecting to be able to carry all of her ammunition in that one little pouch? god no. swap out the pouch for some kind of bag, or better yet, a bandolier of some kind to serve the same asymmetrical purpose that dingy little pocket does.

finally, her eyes. in my ideal world, i would have done something a bit more dramatic to set ruby’s white eyes apart from, say, neo’s grey eyes. maybe making her pupils lighter than black, grey, or even just white. the animators made blake’s pupils smaller to set her apart, why not give ruby’s eyes a little something-something? also, with the contrasting color of her design being either a silver or a white, having her silver eyes be one of the lightest elements of her design is really aesthetically pleasing to me.

weiss schnee:

i’m going to be completely real here, i like weiss’ original design a lot. they really leaned into the weiss part of her: the girl’s white. she’s white as fuck. her dress is white, her little bolero is white, her shoes are white, it’s all white, with just a touch of icy pastel blue to make her feel more cold than sterile. i love it. i’m also a big fan of the other, brighter colors in her design, but i think the introduction of red should have waited a bit longer.

in her introductory outfit, the inside of her bell-sleeved bolero is this blinding, fully-saturated red that is really distracting to the eye. i’d replace this with a blue, sort of like the color of her eyes, and do the same with that little doily piece at the dip in her neckline. i also think that she should have been kept much more symmetrical, the most symmetrical of any of the cast. move that side pony to the center back of her head, put one of those little pouches on each hip, and have her stow her weapon across her back.

also, this isn’t even necessarily a problem, but i think weiss would have benefited from a much more conservative shoe. knowing the schnee family, i don’t they would have found it appropriate for an heiress to be running around in platform heels. i think that pointe shoes, or something familiar, would be really interesting, especially in conjunction with her ballerina aesthetic. her scar can definitely stay as it is; i think it’s both subtle enough to break her symmetry nicely, but also symbolically strong.

also, of all of the characters to give a dramatic haircut, it should have been fucking weiss. i’m all for bi bob blake, but imagine the dramatic potential of weiss just chopping straight through that shit to declare herself independent from her shitdick father. also, i think her hair should be naturally brown, like jacques’ is. the narravite element of her having to tirelessly keep up appearances is really good to me.

blake belladonna:

blake lives in a weird space for me. on the one hand, i would love for her to have dark skin as well, to sort of even the scale in terms of complexion. however, having a dark-skinned woman with literal animal ears being kind of problematic isn’t lost on me. in my opinion, the issue lies in blake being uniquely dark-skinned: in conjunction with ruby and yang, i think that her being dark-skinned is a little less uncomfortable. i think it would also remedy the problem of most of the dark-skinned characters in rwby being either dead or evil, so we’ll make her a bit tan.

with that out of the way, i also really like blake’s design, but she could certainly use some work. she, like many of the other team members, are pretty low-contrast save for the white tube-top thing she had going on. i think the white in her design should be toned down, either to a grey or a purple color. i also think that her arm situation needs to either be long gloves or wrapped-up straps, not both. that motif isn’t anywhere else in her design, and most of the lines are clean and smooth, not all jaggedy like the straps are. keep those bracelets on her upper arms, and make those gloves of hers marksman’s gloves.

i also think that she should wear thigh-high boots. this isn’t just my bias showing; something about the way those boot cuffs cut off the line of her legs is just really irritating to me. have them attach to that swooping vest situation, this is anime, it doesn’t matter how she’d get into them logistically. also, that gradient situation on her is just terrible. having seen a lot of art of her without that gradient has converted me, her design is just so much more clean-looking without it, and blake really reads as someone who should have a much less complex design, opting for clean lines and nice shapes instead of the frills and textures someone like weiss has.

yang xiao long:

i’m gonna start with something i’ve already mentioned: yang should be brown. the fact that she not nary a fucking hair of melanin from her dad is a crime. ideal yang is brown, but so is her hair to start out. i had the idea of rather than her hair being naturally yellow, starting out brown and being bleached in streaks by the heat of her semblance, and as the show goes on, it gets more and more yellow, and eventually even platinum blonde.

with that out of the way, i do not like yang’s initial design. the puffed sleeves don’t make any sense with her as a character, that weird train situation she has on her belt is an affront to god, and why is she just wearing spats? i think that of all of the people to tear, or hell, burn the sleeves clean off of her jacket, it’d be yang. yang is a fuck sleeves kind of girl. she’s a “i flexed the sleeves clean off of my shit” kind of girl. also, she’s gonna wear a tube top and hot pants, but she’s gonna button up her jacket? fucking what? unbutton that shit. she’s a lesbian vest kinda girl. she can keep her little scarf, and her tube top is a look, so it can stay.

i actually really like yang’s boots. i think they compliment her really nicely, and she’s enough of a brute fighting style-wise to warrant those chunky monsters. the mismatched socks and little scarf are cute touches too, but i think the scarf should start out red. the purple can come in later. addressing the spats (bike shorts? spanx?) situation, there’s a very simple solution: give yang jorts. not even a fucking joke, give the woman jorts. look me in the eye and tell me that yang “t-shirt as a bandana” xiao long would not wear jorts. you can’t. it’s impossible. she would wear neon yellow jorts with that ungodly belt situation and i will not compromise this. the overalls she wears in atlas? also jorts. mistral? black, sure, but fucking jorts nonetheless. jort xiao long will outlive me, so help me god.

... i got a bit carried away there, but i hope you enjoyed my thoughts! i may at some point get around to actually drawing these redesigns, so keep an eye out for that in future!

#benny's rwby rewrite #team rwby #ruby rose #weiss schnee #blake belladonna #yang xiao long #characters

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itsclydebitches · 4 years

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I will personally never understand why the "bird conversation" happened. Qrow basically shut it down, by (I may be wrong, but I'm pretty sure he did) saying they agreed to taking the ability. It feels like we're being told to take Raven at face value, despite other, more trustworthy charecters speaking to the contrary.

He did. Basic rundown of the conversation: Yang enters it pissed off, they learn all the revelations that the rest of the group got a few episodes back, Ozpin asks if this was “more or less what your mother told you,” Yang straight up ignores him and Weiss has to answer for her with, “for the most part.” This finally makes Yang angry enough to respond with “You forgot to tell everyone what you did to Qrow and my mother,” there are gasps and horrified looks from the group, but we get a shot of Qrow smiling and going “oh great”---he knows this secret isn’t a big deal but that convincing the others of that won’t be easy.

Ozpin explains about the power while Yang pouts on the couch. Nora angrily accuses Ozpin of “messing with us” (even though you all took way stranger things at face value... like reincarnation...), Jaune crosses his arm and adds “What else is new?” Despite these explanations with no downsides mentioned, Yang is still furious: “Why would you do something like that? I mean, what is wrong with you?”

She gets antagonistic enough that Qrow shuts her down and then explicitly states, “We made a choice. We wanted this.”

Ozpin then looks to Qrow and asks permission---“May I?”---in order to explain further, detailing that he needed allies to search for Maidens and keep an eye on Salem’s movements. The question heavily implies what should already be obvious: this was Qrow’s secret to keep and tell. Why is everyone gunning for Ozpin when Qrow, the person with the actual ability, likewise made the choice to keep that from his family? These explanations segue into the reveal that Ozpin created the first four Maidens and he ends his speech by admitting that “it was never my intention to lie to you.” He and Qrow share a knowing look as he admits that he “plays things close to the chest” which honestly, to me, reads as two war-worn adults acknowledging that this shit is complicated. You keep secrets, you tell lies, you do what you need to in order to survive and keep others safe. Look at these youngsters who think that non-stop honesty is always the way to go. Or is in any way easy even when it should be done:

Yang still looks pissed as hell despite thoroughly being proven wrong

and then makes her announcement that she’ll stay if Ruby stays, but no more secrets or half-truths. Ozpin agrees with “Understood.”

Which, obviously, the fandom has used as the go-to moment to damn Ozpin. You promised not to lie and then you did! Which yeah, that isn’t great. He should have been honest here in his inability to promise such a thing. However, that’s not the only factor in all this. We also have the fact that “no more lies or half truths” does not equal “tell us every single detail about this war right now that includes your very personal and traumatic history.” We have the issue that Yang and many of the others (notably Jaune) were unwilling to judge Ozpin fairly from the get-go. They decided that he was guilty before the trail even began and, when faced with evidence that proved all their assumptions wrong, decided to ignore it rather than admitting they were wrong. You’re going to trust a group like that with world-altering secrets? And we finally have the issue that Yang herself clearly doesn’t believe in her own ultimatums. Or doesn’t think they should apply to her. Keeping Raven’s Maiden power a secret? Turning on Ironwood to spill the beans to Robyn and letting her escape? I don’t put must stock in a character’s outraged, “You kept secrets and lied?” when they’re keeping secrets and lying too. The group’s inability to make the jump from “Wow. Sometimes we do need to keep information close to the chest” to “Oh. I guess it makes sense then that Ozpin would do the same thing” is one of the things that still characterizes them as naive, hypocritical, and downright dangerous given the stakes.

From a fandom perspective though, I’m not at all surprised that a completely unambiguous admission from Qrow---“We made a choice. We wanted this”---holds no weight. 1. Because he’s another adult that can’t be trusted (see: the group turning on him with their weapons in the snow) and 2. Because the concept of a “choice” apparently disappears whenever Ozpin is thrown into the mix. This is the same thing we’ve seen regarding Pyrrha, the claim that she couldn’t really make a choice. It was never a choice at all. She was manipulated/pressured/steered into being a Maiden so the choice is only a “choice.” Ozpin is still at fault. Now here’s Qrow, saying he made a choice, and fans tend to talk over that with, “No. You only thought you had a choice but I’m sure Ozpin did something off screen that puts him at fault” (see: Qrow saying straight out that Ozpin doesn’t know what happened to Summer and everyone jumping to, “No he definitely does and just lied to Qrow.” Ozpin’s off screen villainy is brought up with a shocking amount of frequency) The fandom takes headcanons and assumptions as fact, leading to an inability to attribute agency to anyone if Ozpin was at all involved in their choice. Ruby entering Beacon, Pyrrha deciding to take on the power, Qrow choosing to be a bird... all of it has been re-framed as Ozpin “forcing” them in one manner or another, which is not only untrue but a real disservice to all their characters. The only time Ozpin “forced” someone to do anything is when he forced Oscar to get involved in this fight, and that’s only “forcing” via unavoidable circumstances. Yeah, technically you could let the farm boy live out his life and just screw the rest of the world... but that would make you a villain via inaction. As someone who was given an actual uninformed choice via the God of Light, Ozpin does a great deal to make sure people know what they’re getting into. Checking at the very last second if Pyrrha is still willing to go through with this. Telling the group to leave now if they’re not wiling to help secure the relic. It’s just that he has to balance that transparency with the never ending risk of information falling into the wrong hands/someone else betraying him... which is no easy task. Do you look at the angry teenager who took her bandit mother’s words at face value and go, “Yes, now is a great time to tell them information that as of yet in no way affects them and would absolutely decimate their mental health at best and lead to them screwing me over at worst”? No. That’s stupid and dangerous and, based on how the group has reacted thus far, just going to make the whole situation that much worse.

#rwby #mymetas #oddnub

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mryddinwilt · 4 years

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stop reeling me in (and letting me go)- Part 9

Summary: S3 canon divergence. No time portal and Emma and Henry went back to New York. Hook ferries Henry to Storybrooke every other weekend so he can be with Regina. Mutual pining ensues.

Formerly called CS+Mutual Pining and written as answers to asks. I figured since it was at 6k I should give it a name and post it on an archive.

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Killian watched as Emma walked down the dock and climbed into Regina’s car. He blew out his breath and cursed. Perhaps he should have expected that his trip with Emma would turn into a disaster. Ever since he had restored her memories their interactions had been strained why should it change now?

When Emma left for New York City she had made it clear, she didn’t need or want him in her life. But then she had called him for help and so he had allowed himself to hope and the pain of reality had hit hard.

He ran a hand through his hair thinking of their last moments together. He must be mad. He was certainly a glutton for punishment. It was exquisite torture to touch her hand, to watch her eyes ignite with passion only to have her pull away as if burned. Killian loved Emma for her walls but it still hurt when he banged against them.

Killian knew that the spark they had could be nurtured into a fire if she would only let him in. But she was determined to keep him at a distance, her walls firmly in place and he could do nothing but accept it. He certainly was crazy. Because despite the inevitable rejection he had offered his help, he would offer her anything she asked. But she hadn’t asked.

Just as he hadn’t asked why she had come to Storybrooke. He had been turning over their argument as they docked. Thinking back to her quick temper when he picked her up, the way she had been searching his cabin, and the defensive way she denied her actions. Add to that the arrival of Regina and Emma’s steadfast refusal of his help and it was easy to see something was up and Killian knew the only person who could shed some light on the situation was Snow White.

He glanced at the sun high in the sky and decided to check first at Granny’s. Snow wasn’t there but Ruby was.

“And what are you doing here?” She asked.

“It may have escaped your notice but I do live in this fine establishment.” He gave her a sarcastic smile.

Ruby rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean. Where’s Emma?”

He fluttered his hand. “Off with Regina.”

“And why aren’t you with her?”

“Quite simply because the dear lady didn’t want me.”

She scoffed. “I doubt it.”

Killian gave a small smile. Ruby’s confidence in Emma’s affections was strangely comforting.

“Emma’s back?” Killian turned to see one of the dwarves standing behind him and looking eager. Killian thought his name was Grumpy but was fairly certain it should be Gossipy.

“Yeah she called Hook and he picked her up in his ship,” Ruby answered.

Gossipy’s eyes gleamed and he abruptly turned. “Hey everyone Emma’s back!” He announced loudly.

Killian sighed. Emma wouldn’t thank him for announcing her presence to the town.

“Now you’ve done it,” he said as Gossipy left to spread his news.

Ruby shrugged. “Listen, she snuck away without letting anyone say a real goodbye to her. Seems fair to let them know she’s back.” The bitterness in Ruby’s voice made Killian raise his eyebrow but he didn’t push her. A few weeks ago, over a bottle of rum, they had discussed Ruby’s feelings of frustration and abandonment over Emma’s abrupt departure. Killian wasn’t the only one hurt by Emma’s choices.

“In any case, I am looking for Snow. Have you seen her?”

“She just came by and grabbed David’s lunch. Why?”

“I have some questions for her.”

“Why are you looking for the mother when we both know it’s the daughter that--” Ruby was interrupted by Carl demanding coffee.

“I’ll let you see to your customers, love.”

Ruby gave him a look before turning away and Killian felt as if he had escaped a tongue lashing. That was the problem with becoming friendly with people, they started to give you all kinds of well-intentioned advice.

When Killian walked into the police station the royal couple was halfway through their lunch.

“Hook what brings you here?” David asked.

“Is she here?” Snow said at the same time.

David looked at his wife. “Is who here?”

“Emma.” Killian and Snow answered together.

“What?” The Prince stood up.

“David calm down.” Snow grabbed at his sleeve but he wouldn’t sit.

“How? Why?” He looked at Killian for answers.

Killian shrugged. “Don’t look at me, mate. This is all your wife’s scheme.”

“I wouldn’t call it a scheme,” Snow said.

“Will someone please just tell me what is going on?” David broke in.

“There isn’t much to tell. I talked with Killian and he said that Emma wasn’t happy in New York.”

“I said she was content.” Killian put in, regretting his free tongue.

“Same thing.” Snow brushed aside his interjection. “So I called her and gave her a little nudge.”

“A nudge?” David frowned. “Snow we talked about this. Emma made her decision and we promised to respect it.”

“I only promised because I thought she wouldn’t stay away for very long.” Killian snorted as David put his face in his palm. “But it’s been almost two months and she is too stubborn to admit that she is wrong.”

“I wonder where she got that from,” Killian said under his breath, earning looks from both David and Snow.

“Emma belongs in Storybrooke,” Snow said firmly. “This wouldn’t be the first time that I had to remind her of that fact. And I am sure once all the dust settles she will thank me for whatever little lies I had to tell.”

“Tell me, love. What exactly did you say to get her to return?” Killian leaned against the doorframe, trying to affect a nonchalance he didn’t feel.

Snow shrugged. “Nothing much. I just mentioned that Zelena had tried to escape.”

“That’s all?” David asked.

“And maybe implied that we thought Hook was involved.”

“What?” Killian sat up straight. Everything fell into place. Emma thought he had betrayed the town. She didn’t want his help because she thought he was the enemy. His gut twisted. He thought that Emma had seen beyond the pirate to the man of honor he was trying to be. But all it took was some insinuations from her mother and she lost faith in him.

“Snow why would you do that?” David turned to Killian. “I’m sorry. We trust you. We don’t think you had anything to do with Zelena’s escape attempt.” Killian couldn’t help the little ball of warmth in his chest at David’s words. To be trusted, to be apologized to, and defended, was rather a novel experience for him. Although he wished it was the daughter and not the father making a declaration it felt good all the same.

David turned back to Snow “You know it was Gold.”

Snow sighed. “Yes but Emma doesn’t know that and I thought clearing Hook’s name would be an incentive for her to come home.”

“Yes, well, I rather think you overestimate your daughter’s faith in me.”

“Oh I don’t think so,” Snow said. David chuckled but Killian failed to see the humor in the situation.

“In any case, Emma will know very soon that it was the Crocodile. Regina met her at the dock.

“Oh, Regina knows the plan.”

“You told Regina but not me?” This time David sounded a little hurt.

“I knew you wouldn’t like the idea. And Regina agrees with me about Emma. She even came up with some of the plan.”

“Besides besmirching my good name. What exactly is this plan?” Killian asked.

“To show Emma that we don’t need her.” At the blank looks from Killian and David Snow explained further. “Why did Emma leave? I know she talked about how it was too dangerous and how her life was in New York but I don’t think that was the truth. I think it was because she didn’t want the stress and responsibility of being the Savior.”

“The price of being the Savior is that she doesn’t get a day off,” David said as if he was quoting a previous conversation.

“Exactly.” Snow nodded. “Being here, having everyone’s happiness and survival depending on her, was too much pressure. But if we can get Emma to realize that Storybrooke doesn’t need a savior anymore. If she can see that we are all happy and getting along fine without her. Then there won’t be any pressure and she can just be Emma again.”

“That just might work,” David said with a proud smile.

Killian wasn’t so sure. When he had sat with Emma on the park bench and asked her why she wanted to leave she hadn’t spoken of responsibility or being the savior. She had talked about belonging and home. She had claimed that she could make her false memories real, that she could make New York her real home.

But perhaps Snow was right and part of the appeal of New York City was that Emma had no life or death responsibilities there. Killian remembered the smile on her face in the hospital hallway when she confessed her magic hadn’t returned.

“I won’t need it in New York.”

She had said before turning away from him to greet her new brother. In that moment Killian had known Emma was leaving and he could do nothing to stop her. He could still feel the pain of that realization.

“Hook.” Snow brought him out of his thoughts. David and her stared at him. “Do you think it will work?”

He shrugged. “I don’t have a clue. When it comes to your daughter...” He shook his head not knowing how to finish the sentence.

“Well I think it’s worth a try,” David said.

Killian gave a half-smile. “Yes, of course. If you will excuse me I have a report to give to Regina.” He had no intention of going to Regina. He needed to escape and think everything through. He was almost to the door when Snow spoke.

“You should come to dinner tonight.”

Killian turned. “Dinner? I don’t think--”

“You should come. I’m making shepherds pie.” David said.

Killian had attended dinner parties at the Charmings a few times and always found it pleasant. Snow, in particular, was quite the spectacle when she was three sheets to the wind. But Emma would be there and he didn’t know how to face her knowing that she no longer trusted him.

“I fear I have a previous engagement,” he lied.

“Who is getting engaged?” Killian spun to see Emma standing in the doorway looking confused.

“Emma!” Her parents jumped up and rushed past Killian. They wrapped her in a group hug. Emma closed her eyes and seemed to melt into them. The smile on her face was so contented that Killian felt he was witnessing something far too personal. He was about to look away when Emma’s face shifted to a more neutral smile and she started disentangling herself.

“Okay calm down. I’ve only been gone a month.” Emma said.

“It’s been almost two months.” Snow corrected with a fond smile.

“We are allowed to miss our daughter,” David added. “And it’s okay to admit you missed us too.”

Instead of replying Emma fixed her too green eyes on Killian. “Whatcha doing here Hook?” She took a step toward him, leaving her parents behind. Her tone reminded him that, thanks to Snow, Emma thought he was a traitor. He frowned, trying not to let the hurt show.

“He just dropped by to see if he was on the patrol schedule,” David answered smoothly.

Emma’s eyebrows shot up. “Patrol schedule? Are you a deputy now?”

“Don’t sound so surprised, love. Weren’t you the one who said I should try being a part of something?” Killian congratulated himself on sounding surly instead of sad.

Emma frowned at him but he couldn’t tell if she was upset that he had taken her advice or that she suspected him of foul play.

“He isn’t a deputy,” David broke in. “He just helps from time to time. I wanted someone I could trust.”

Killian gave David a grateful smile.

“Okay.” Emma drew out the syllable as she looked between her father and Killian. “Well, that’s new.”

“People trusting me?” Killian tried to veil his hurt in nonchalance.

“No. That’s not what I meant.” Emma met his eyes and he saw confusion there. He pasted on a smirk and resisted the urge to ask her what did she mean. Did she think he was in league with Zelena? Did she think her parents foolish for trusting him? He tore his eyes from hers and found David and Snow watching them closely. He didn’t want to do this now, with an audience.

“I should be going,” Killian said. He made a slight bow. “Your Majesties, Swan.” He eased past them, careful not to make eye contact. Once in the hall, he lengthened his steps, eager to escape.

When he entered the sunshine of the street it did nothing to disperse the raging tide of darkness inside him. He wished he hadn’t been so curious about Snow’s plan. If he had remained in ignorance he could have celebrated Emma’s return to Storybrooke. He could have renewed his attentions to her and they could have--. He cut off the thought.

He did know why she was back and he could see it for the Dark One deal it was. The price of Emma’s return was knowing that she could never really trust him. And what future could they have if there was no trust between them?

#cs ff #cs au ff #captain swan ff #mryddinwilt wrote something #stop reeling me in and letting me go #mutual pining canon divergence #sorry not sorry #these two idiots being dumb for 2k words #sigh i love it #remember when this was just a fun distraction from other WIP #i'll get to those too

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trueloveseyeroll · 5 years

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The Dancing Thief (8/13)

Summary: Pretending to be a noblewoman might be the dumbest thing Emma has ever agreed to do. And she’s not sure if meeting Lord Killian Jones made the whole thing better or worse. (Better. Definitely better.)

Rating: T (language and mild violence)

Beta: The wonderful @forget-me-not-s

Artist: The lovely @captxinswans - check out her amazing artwork for chapter 1 and chapter 2!!

Word count: 4598 (62k words in total)

Chapter 1

AO3

It was a strange experience, liking someone. At times Emma would feel like she could scarcely contain the happiness within her. And a second later, she would find herself doubting everything about her and Killian, wishing the feeling inside her would just disappear.

She didn’t see him much in the following weeks. Dancing and gossip, young lords and ladies took up most of her time. He seemed to be busy as well, with who knows what. She never even properly thanked him for the paints, a part of her too scared to acknowledge the gift, scared he regretted sending them. And somehow, she felt that he was avoiding her as much as she was avoiding him.

It was a strange experience, indeed.

Trying to riddle out the secret thoughts in the minds of the nobility didn’t make it easier either. But as the knowledge of the king’s illness became more common, the game began to change.

At first, the nobles mentioned their hopes for the return of the king’s health. Some seemed honest in their politeness, others were far from. And Emma found two kinds of dishonest well-wishers: the ones she hoped to find (the ones like her), and then there were the dangerous ones, clearly seeking opportunity in George’s death.

She still didn’t know which side Killian was on. The weeks had allowed for far too little time between them for her to figure him out. (She liked to think he’d be on her side though - David’s side - because how could he not be?)

“I think House Rose is very likely to support you,” Emma said, happy to be able to share good news with David, Snow and the rest of them.

They had meetings every day now, in the lounge room around the circular coffee table. Snow had intel gathered from informants, Robin and Will from the servants, and interestingly enough, Will had made friends with a merchant who knew plenty about the nobles - plenty about everything, really. Emma wondered if this merchant might work at the bookstore she’d seen him leave all those weeks ago - Maurice’s. But from Will’s uncharacteristic bashfulness, Emma supposed the merchant in question was a woman. As long as she was trustworthy though, Emma wouldn’t tease him. At least not too much.

“Has Lady Aurora mentioned anything?” Snow asked.

“Actually, Grace was the one to say something first. Her father is apparently very torn about George’s illness, saying it could either do the kingdom a great favour or seal its doom. All depending on if the one to take George’s place is an even worse ruler.”

From what Emma had garnered, Lord Jefferson had witnessed some of the more disturbing consequences of King George’s ruling. For while slavery was said to be illegal in the Enchanted Forest, everyone knew it was a thin line separating indentured servitude and slavery from each other. Worst of all, when orphaned children weren’t ignored by George’s guards, they were captured and forced to work on plantations or in factories. Emma had lived in fear of that fate for many years. And Lord Jefferson had once seen a kid being taken – a young girl, resembling Grace.

“And you think the rest of House Rose agrees with Lord Jefferson?” David asked.

“Aurora said her mother had said the very same thing,” Emma nodded. “And while Ella kept quiet, I could tell there was something on her mind. As if House Boyd may be having the same concerns.”

“But no one’s right-out said they can’t wait to see George gone, have they?” Will asked.

“Nobles tend to have a bit more tact,” David said, dryly.

Unfortunately, Emma thought. Oh, her job would be so much easier if everyone just said what they meant. At least her natural talent at spotting lies had given her an advantage when learning the language of the nobility.

“So far though, from what I’ve gathered,” Robin said, “most people believe the king will recover.”

“The common people desperately hope he won’t,” Ruby supplied. The news of George’s illness had spread through Misthaven within a couple of days. Since then, Ruby had heard plenty of patrons toasting for the good fortune that had finally shown its face in the king’s malady.

“They don’t realize that George’s death may lead to something far worse, do they?” David said. “It could lead to a war.”

“It could,” Snow agreed. “But right now, all they see is hope. Hope for a better future. And...” Her eyes suddenly lit up as she sat up straight. “Maybe that’s exactly what we need!”

“Hope? I don’t reckon we’d have agreed to all of this if we didn’t have hope already,” Will said.

“No, we need the people to have hope,” Snow said, a smile spreading across her face. “They need to know that without George, things will be better. They’ll have a fair ruler, a ruler who listens and works hard for his people.”

“You were quite popular amongst the people before, weren’t you?” Robin asked.

David nodded, but the accompanying sigh sounded much too defeated. “Yes. But unfortunately, George managed to tarnish that popularity when he exiled me, likely with the help of Lady Mills and Lord Gold - they’ve got plenty of power over the town criers and papers. And the people took their word for it when they heard any son borne of an adulteress was the worst kind of bastard to exist.”

“Typical,” Emma said, wryly. “A man can have as many bastards as he wants, but when it’s a woman...”

“It’s a shitty world we live in,” Ruby agreed. “Hopefully, we’ll get to change it someday. Starting with the fact that I don’t think the people hate you, David. Not when George is near death, or so they think. They’re less afraid of him now - less afraid of all the nobles, really. And they’d love a king like you, who’s lived like a commoner for seven years.”

“Exactly,” Snow said. “We’ve been going about this all wrong - well, not entirely wrong, we just forgot a key player in the game. The people. No candidate for the throne will want to go up against someone with the people on their side - it would be too much work. Especially if we do get Great Houses like Rose behind us as well.”

“So, you want to tell the people I’ve returned to Misthaven to take the throne?” David asked.

“We’ll need to make a good story of it,” Robin said. “One people will remember, and share with everyone they know. But not one that will cause George to send his guards out looking for you.”

“Like a ghost story,” Snow supplied.

“Oh, you just leave that to the barkeep,” Ruby said, smirking into her cup of spiked chocolate. “I know exactly what to do.”

---------

Two weeks passed; two weeks of colourful ballgowns and lunches and talking. Two weeks without seeing much of Killian. Oh, their eyes would meet every now and then at balls, and they would find themselves amongst the same group of people, but they were never alone together. Not like they had been.

And the constant presence of others stopped her from getting to ask him what the hell was going on with him. With them. Not that there was any them, of course, but... Emma found herself missing him. That alone was probably a good reason to be happy that a distance had formed between them. She couldn’t afford to get too close to him and missing him.

(She’d opened the paints one evening, tried her hand at being artistic with a brush and some parchment she had found in the townhouse. She had meant to draw a swan, but the picture (now hidden in her dresser) didn’t resemble anything but a mess.)

The king’s health hadn’t returned, and everyone was starting to realize it might never return at all. Still, the date for the all-important council meeting, the one that could determine who would sit on the throne next, hadn’t been given a date. It seemed George still had hope. And he refused to have the nobles squabbling over his position while he was still alive.

The situation made for tense evenings. The nobles did their best to hide it, but they were getting anxious. So was Emma.

But two weeks after Ruby started spreading rumours - ghost stories - about the exiled prince’s return, Emma found herself smiling behind her wine glass; the story had reached the nobility. Zelena to be precise.

Observing the nobles’ reactions to the story nearly, nearly, made her forget all about Killian. Most people refused to believe it, some saying ‘the bastard’ wouldn’t be stupid enough to return. Others had clearly known David before he was exiled, known the kindness that Emma now knew. They didn’t cheer or anything, but Emma could see it in their eyes. They were hopeful.

If only Snow could see this, Emma thought, eagerly awaiting the moment she got home, so she could spread the good news.

“An extraordinary coincidence that he’d return right after news of the king’s illness, isn’t it?” Lady Regina said, just as Emma passed her table. Of course, Regina couldn’t possibly know of Emma’s connection to David, still, it felt like she had raised her voice just to be sure Emma heard what she said.

The smile faded from Emma’s lips. Regina, Cora and Gold - or anyone who really wanted to - could easily sway people into thinking David had a hand in George’s death. And who knew what would happen to him then, if he ever showed his face in public.

Emma found even fewer reasons to be happy during the following ball. Once, she had been asked to dance by several young lords each evening. She’d mingled with numerous groups of nobles, her youth and inexperience making her seem like one of the least threatening persons in the room.

But now, conversation died out as soon as she joined. Very few lords asked her to dance, and they never lingered to speak with her after. Aurora and Ella weren’t present, so she had no one to turn to. And Killian kept close to his friends, of which Eric especially hadn’t seemed very happy about Emma’s presence lately.

What had she done wrong? Had she somehow revealed herself? Did everyone know who she really was?

“Lady Emma.” She turned to find Robin looking at her with concern. “I think it’s best we retire for the night.”

“What’s going on?” Emma asked, determined that Robin answer her truthfully.

“Exactly what David feared.”

At Emma’s scrunched brows, Robin elaborated, “the King’s illness has grown much worse. The nobles are starting to form alliances, making plans to ensure or better their stations, and -”

“And I have nothing to offer,” Emma finished for him, her voice not giving away any emotion. Truthfully, she wasn’t sure what to feel. If the nobles wouldn’t talk to her, she wouldn’t need to talk to them anymore. She wouldn’t need to dance or lie, fear exposure or face her feelings for Killian... but she’d be useless. David and Snow wouldn’t need her anymore.

“Don’t worry, Emma,” Robin said, as if he could read her mind. His genuine friendliness warmed her, still, it didn’t stop her from worrying. “We’ll see what happens.”

Snow and David told her much the same when she and Robin returned home. Before she went to bed, Snow pulled her aside to give her a hug, which wasn’t at all uncommon. Emma still wasn’t used to it though. And now she couldn’t help but feel it was a hug goodbye.

“The nobles may not think you have much to offer, but Emma, we know you do. You’re a part of this,” Snow smiled, reaching up to curl a stray lock of hair behind Emma’s ear. “We’d never have made it this far without you. And we won’t make it to the end without you.”

Emma wanted to argue and say that she hadn’t really done anything at all. The look in Snow’s eyes stopped her though. And well, if Snow really believed Emma was of value and that she wanted her to stay, Emma didn’t want to argue. Although as she closed her bedroom door behind her, she knew she’d only be waiting for the other shoe to drop.

---------

Days later, Emma looked at herself in the mirror, knowing the beautiful red dress may be the last ball gown she’d ever have to wear. Snow and David wanted her to try attending one more ball, just to be sure that mingling with the nobility was a lost cause. It seemed fitting that that ball would be hosted by House Jones.

Emma tore her eyes away from the dress, meeting her own stare in the looking glass. She should be happy; this was her last ball. She’d fooled them all for months, made the nobility believe she was one of them, and now she could go back to being just Emma. No more lordships and ladies. No more nonsense.

As soon as the carriage rolled to a stop outside of Keep Jones, Emma could tell things were off. Compared to her first ball, the entrance was nearly empty, and inside the main hall, people favoured talking in small groups rather than dancing.

Fortunately, Aurora and Ella were in attendance. However, it didn’t seem like they intended to stay for long.

“My father and step-mother didn’t want me to come at all,” Ella said. “They think it’s better for us to stay out of everything going on.”

“Much like my family then,” Emma lied. “I received a letter just this morning. They’re asking me to come home.”

It was the perfect lie, really. A believable reason for Lady Emma Swan to leave Misthaven; her parents didn’t want her to get caught up in a potential house war. A war that was becoming more and more likely with each day that King George’s illness got worse, and each day he refused to let the council meet. The tension and uncertainty was weighing on everyone. Soon enough, someone was bound to snap.

“What?” Aurora exclaimed, genuinely surprising Emma. “But Emma, you belong here, I know you do!”

Again, quite the surprise.

“Hopefully I’ll come back when things have settled - and for your wedding, of course.”

“Oh, you must certainly come back for the wedding!” Aurora said, grabbing Emma’s hand and giving it a short squeeze. “But I understand your parents’ concern. Things aren’t what they’re supposed to be here in Misthaven - far from.”

She was right about that, Emma supposed. Although, in her opinion, things hadn’t been what they were supposed to be for years. That’s why she chose to help David after all.

Ella left soon after, and Aurora got caught up in conversation with her parents and their close friends. Emma meant to go looking for Robin, but her resolve quickly broke.

She went to the balcony instead.

Killian hadn’t been up there yet as far as she knew. And she didn’t know what she was doing, going up there and hoping he’d see her. Hoping he’d join her. Every step she took, she knew she was making a terrible decision but... she just had to see him one last time. Had to figure out if she’d truly made a horrible mistake, allowing herself to develop feelings for him.

Ten minutes passed as she lingered at the edge of the balcony. She tried not to look down at the people, instead training her gaze on the glass windows. This was her last chance to see them from the inside anyway.

“Swan!”

Emma turned her head to see Killian walking towards her. He wore a smile, but as soon as Emma smiled back, his faded away. He stopped a few short paces away from her, almost mid-step.

Something wasn’t right.

“Swan, I... I wanted to talk to you actually,” Killian said, and Emma didn’t like the way his tone dropped, the words heavy and grave on his tongue. Her feet ached to step closer, but she kept still, feeling unsure of herself in a way she never had before in Killian’s presence. Something was wrong for sure.

“Yeah?”

“Well, um,” he paused, looking around as if afraid anyone would overhear him. “We haven’t talked much these past few weeks, and I merely wished to offer an explanation. You see, with everything that has been happening, the King’s illness and the uncertain future ahead of us, I’ve been quite busy, and I realised that perhaps... perhaps it would be for the best if we ended this dalliance of ours.”

“Oh.” The simple word and the, hopefully, blank look on her face did not at all convey the way she felt.

He may as well have punched her in the stomach.

“Of course, we were never that close,” he continued, “but I do feel like something was about to happen, however it probably wouldn’t have lasted for long either way. Better we end things now before risking either of us getting hurt.”

Emma had no clue what he expected her to say to that. She had no clue what she could say. A punch in the face would surely draw too much attention, but it might be worth it, knowing that he’d feel some semblance of pain, because his words were absolute bullshit.

“So the King falls ill and you don’t want to be seen with me anymore,” Emma summed up, anything but impressed by his excuse. “Sure it’s not because I’m just a country girl to you?”

The pain Emma was hoping to see before flashed across his face. “Do you really think that little of me?”

“Clearly, it’s the only reason that makes sense; the King’s ill and my rank will do nothing to help yours when he finally dies.”

“Emma, I’m not even sure what your rank is,” Killian snapped.

“What?” Emma scrunched her brow, but Killian didn’t leave her waiting.

“You’re a spy! Aren’t you?”

The question hung in the air, but just as Emma was about to deny it, Killian barrelled on. “Hired by House Mills or Gold, I presume, or even my own bloody father. And I reckon you’ve been lying to me ever since you came here, though I like to think you weren’t. I like to think you were just playing the game, because that’s what we’ve all been forced to do, ever since we learned how to talk -”

“Why the hell would you think I’m a spy?” Emma asked, interrupting him. Anger boiled inside her, not because he’d guessed correctly, but because he’d gotten the details wrong in the worst way imaginable. That he could actually think she worked for Cora or Gold....

“I’ve got a list of reasons, but Emma, it doesn’t matter why! All that matters is I’m not letting myself be fooled by you anymore.” He swallowed, looking like he was trying to hold back words he’d regret. Emma didn’t want to risk finding out what those words could be.

“No, nothing you’ve said matters one bit,” she all but spat. “My parents have asked me to come home, and I came up here to say goodbye to you, but you know what, Killian? Screw you.”

Finally, she let her feet walk forward; right past Killian, leaving him behind without a second glance.

---------

He watched her leave, feeling much worse than he thought he would. Obviously, he thought of their time together as more than a simple dalliance. He’d fallen for her, head over heels.

Unfortunately, he’d also fallen for her lies.

His friends had to be right. Killian had looked through the records at the Royal Library, and no House Swan had ever existed. Then there was the fact that she’d been the one to take his spot on the balcony when they met - a spot most nobles knew to be his favourite. Their meeting was inevitable that way. He’d even left her alone with his books at one ball, and had come back to find her reading one of them! No doubt, she’d taken the chance to look through them all. And finally, she was friends with the barkeep at The Red Wolf, and must have heard about his conversation with his friends during their lunch at the establishment. She’d wormed her way into his head, perhaps even into his heart...

He’d genuinely thought there was something between them. He wished there was something between them. Not something short or doomed to fail, but...

He should just let it go. Let her go. Even if he was wrong about her being a spy, he’d just insulted her in a most terrible way, and she was going home. Whatever it was between them, it wasn’t there anymore.

---------

Of course, Robin would be impossible to find. Of course he was, right when she wanted to go home more than anything else, wanted to scream and to get out of her wretched corset. Instead, she was left to roaming the hall with invisible steam trailing after her.

“My, you look quite upset, Lady Emma.”

That managed to stop her in her tracks, looking to the side to see Lady Zelena with a glass of white wine in her hand.

“Oh, it’s nothing,” she lied, hoping to get away from the younger Mills sister as soon as possible. She’d rather not end up as the newest gossip story.

Then again, it didn’t really matter if she did.

“I’m sure it’s a good bit more than nothing,” Zelena said. The comment should have been kind, but it only sounded like she couldn’t wait for a look into Emma’s mind, so she could pass it on as soon as possible. “It wouldn’t have anything to do with your upcoming departure, would it?”

A few months ago, Emma would’ve been surprised and slightly alarmed that Zelena had already come across that piece of information. But now she knew how fast news reached Zelena’s ears. Even when Emma hadn’t told more than a handful of people about her departure, including Killian.

“Well, yes, I am quite sad to be leaving,” Emma replied, hoping a quick agreement with Zelena would allow her to be on her way.

“It really is a shame. But then again, it seems the knives are about to come out from under the tables, so perhaps leaving is for the best.”

Well, that sounds like an ominous threat more than anything, Emma thought.

“You think someone will end up hurt because of the King’s illness?”

“Oh, darling, we all know it will,” Zelena said, sounding a bit too amused. “So I hope you’re pleased with the goodbyes you and Lord Killian exchanged up there on the balcony.”

“What do you mean?” Emma blurted, though she knew full well what Zelena meant. “Someone’s going to hurt Killian?”

The familiarity of the way she said Killian’s name gave a curl to Zelena’s lips, one she hid behind the wine glass in her hand. “I have no idea, darling.” She sipped at her wine. “But were they pleasant goodbyes? Or is Lord Killian the true reason you look so upset?”

The rules were clear; Zelena wasn’t going to give Emma any more information unless she divulged some of her own. And if Zelena wanted to know about the relationship between Emma and Killian, well, Emma had nothing to lose from letting her have what she wanted.

“They weren’t pleasant, no. Before I even told him I was leaving, he said he wanted to end things - that it didn’t make sense to go any further when the King’s illness is so serious. Likely because I won’t be of any use to him, power-wise.” Emma let it all roll off her tongue. Except for the part of him believing her to be a spy. Zelena didn’t have to know that.

“And what precisely were these things he wanted to end?”

“We only ever talked together. Often alone, and we did nearly kiss once, but we were interrupted,” Emma said, hoping that would be enough for Zelena. Truly, there wasn’t much more to say.

Zelena hummed, as if evaluating Emma’s information. Finally, she spoke, “you’ve missed your last chance for that kiss then. I heard someone’s going to pay his room a visit after midnight. And they’re bringing the sharpest knives they own.” With a final sip of her wine, Zelena smiled. “Have a wonderful journey home, Lady Emma.”

Thanks, Emma thought, letting Zelena leave without another word. The information she’d given was spinning around in her head, threatening to make her nauseous. She may be angry with Killian, but the thought of anyone putting a knife to his throat was like swallowing lead.

Maybe Zelena was wrong. Maybe she was lying. Why would she tell Emma something so significant anyways? Everyone knew Zelena as the court gossip, but Emma knew she was smarter than she let on. She wouldn’t share plans for an assassination without an ulterior motive.

David and Snow were of quite the same mind.

“You can’t trust Lady Zelena,” David said. “She could have hundreds of dark reasons to have told you that, Emma, and it would be best to just forget it.”

What was it with people telling her what was for the best? Killian, Zelena, now David. Emma was getting sick and tired of it.

“But what if she’s right, David? What if someone really is going to try to murder Killian?”

“I... I don’t know.” It pained him to say it, Emma knew. But she also knew he wasn’t telling the entire truth.

“Meaning you’re okay if he dies.”

“No, Emma, of course not!” David exclaimed, hurt that she could even suggest it.

“We don’t want anyone to die in order to achieve our goal, not even King George,” Snow said.

“So why aren’t we making plans to save Killian?”

David sighed. “Because it’s likely a trap, Emma. What other reason would Zelena have to tell you about it?”

“What reason would she have to set a trap for me?” Emma countered.

“Maybe she’s discovered something about you - about us,” David said. “And trying to save Killian will be the proof she needs.”

It was logical, Emma knew that, but still... Killian’s life was worth that risk. She didn’t need to convince David and Snow about that. She probably could have. They were good people, and when they said they didn’t want anyone to die, Emma believed them. But they were likely to be more accepting about Killian’s death than anything bad happening to Emma.

So in the end, when Snow said she’d try to make a deal with one of her contacts, Emma pretended to be satisfied. She bid her and David goodnight, went to her room and closed the door behind her. But she didn’t put on her nightgown, and she didn’t get under the covers of her bed. Instead, she pulled out the clothes she’d hidden at the bottom of the wardrobe when she first arrived. Clothes she could use if she ever needed to escape without being seen. Clothes she usually wore for heists.

The dagger on the nightstand was finally taken from its spot, as were the daggers in the dresser. Emma pulled her hair back in a tight ponytail, and looked in the mirror. She had no problem recognizing herself this time. And as certain as ever, Emma opened the window, knowing this was a job that couldn’t afford any mistakes.

#csbb #cs fanfic #cs ff #my writings #the dancing thief #chapter 8 #time for some more angst!#(sorry)

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mbtizone · 7 years

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Leroy/Grumpy (Once Upon a Time): ISTP

Dominant Introverted Thinking [Ti]: Grumpy has an understanding of how things work. He often makes brutally honest assessments of situations and isn’t exactly mindful of the feelings of the people around him. He brusquely tells Snow White that nobody is going to want to help her sell candles for Miner’s Day because the only person people in the town hate more than him is her. Leroy is an adept problem-solver. When he eventually comes around in order to impress Nova, they have a difficult time getting the townsfolk to make a purchase. He first comes up with a plan to sell candles door-to-door. He then attempts to persuade Mr. Gold to let the rent go for one month. When that fails, he cuts the power, creating a demand for candles. Leroy is argumentative and points out other people’s logical flaws. When Mary Margaret chastises him for pursuing a nun, he tells her she is no better than he is because she had been sneaking around with a married man. When Granny refuses to allow Ariel entry into the diner because of her lack of clothing, Leroy defends her by pointing out all of the times Ruby has been in there, dressed in practically nothing. Leroy is detached in his decision-making and doesn’t typically let emotions influence his thought process. Elsa needs to be stopped. All evidence indicates that she was the one who froze the town.

Auxiliary Extroverted Sensing [Se]: When there is a problem, Grumpy has no problem diving right in and doing something. When Nova is filling up a bag of fairy dust in the mines, Grumpy (“Dreamy”) sees that she is having trouble turning off the machine and immediately rushes over and pulls the lever for her. Then, the bag nearly ends up being incinerated, but Grumpy leaps up to where the bag is and stops it from entering the fire by hooking it with his ax just in time to save it. When he is trying to sell candles with Mary Margaret, he decides that if customers won’t come to them, they would have to go to the customers, and takes action by going door-to-door and eventually cuts the power. Leroy enjoys sensory pleasures. He’s the town alcoholic and the first time we see him in Storybrooke, he is in jail for disorderly conduct. Back when he was Dreamy, he wanted to run away and see the world outside of the mines. Dreamy wasn’t satisfied working in the mines like the other dwarves and planned to abandon his responsibilities. He tends to express his feelings through physical displays. After telling Nova he can’t be with her, Dreamy returns to the mines and violently begins beating a rock with his ax, breaking it. When Sneezy draws the short straw when the townspeople are trying to test the town border, he refuses to step over the line, and Leroy pushes him over it, stripping him of his Enchanted Forest memories. He decides he would rather leave Storybrooke and lose his memories than stay there with Regina, and is set to drive out of down until David stops him. When Regina shows up at the celebration at Granny’s, Leroy immediately grabs a knife, wanting to know what she’s doing there.

Tertiary Introverted Intuition [Ni]: Leroy doesn’t exactly have a positive outlook on the future. His insights are usually of a pessimistic nature. However, when he has a goal in mind, he stops at nothing to achieve it. He is determined to raise five-thousand dollars for Sister Astrid so the nuns will be able to remain in Storybrooke and he becomes singularly focused on accomplishing his task, no matter what he has to do to get the job done. When the curse is lifted, Leroy quickly becomes concerned about the possibility of outsiders wandering into Storybrooke, and he wholeheartedly believes that trouble will be coming their way, and this hunch is eventually proven to be correct.

Inferior Extroverted Feeling [Fe]: Emotional expression isn’t exactly Grumpy’s forte. He’s a loner and isn’t as community-minded as some of his fellow Storybrooke residents. He isn’t particularly compassionate. Once everybody regains their memories of who they truly are and Leroy hears that an angry mob is headed to Regina’s house, Leroy believes that she deserves it. He’s somewhat oblivious to what other people are feeling. Even when he was still Dreamy, he was clueless when Nova hinted that she wanted to see the fireflies with him. When he goes to tell Sister Astrid that he and Mary Margaret were unable to sell the candles, he can’t bring himself to disappoint her and instead lies, saying they sold them all. He allows other people to influence his emotions, and lets the Blue Fairy and Bossy convince him that he can’t love and that Nova will be better off if he refuses to run away with her, and he listens to them. Leroy is afraid that saving Greg’s life will lead to unwanted attention for Storybrooke and is leery about saving him for the sake of the town.

Note: For some reason, I’ve only ever seen Leroy typed as an INFP, but I just don’t see enough evidence to support that.

Enneagram: 6w5 8w9 4w5 Sp/Sx

Quotes:

Dreamy: All she talked about was going to see some fireflies, not loving me Belle: What did she tell you about these fireflies? Dreamy: That she was gonna go see them on the hilltop tonight. That she heard they were the most beautiful sight in all the land. Belle: She wasn’t telling you about fireflies. She was inviting you to go be with her. Dreamy: You think so? Belle: I’ve had my heart broken enough to know when someone is reaching out. Now go, find your love. Find your hope. Find your dreams.

Mary Margaret: Oh my God. You like her. She is a nun, Leroy. Could you possibly pick anyone any less available? Leroy: Says the girl who went after a married guy. At the end of the day, you’re no better than I am. You got your reasons for being here, I got mine. Now when I say I’m gonna get that five-thousand dollars, I’m gonna get that five-thousand dollars.

Bossy: You can’t do this, Dreamy. You can’t go to her. Dreamy: Why not? Bossy: You have a responsibility – to mine the diamonds we make into fairy dust. Dreamy: But I love her. Bossy: You’re a dwarf, Dreamy. You’re not capable of love. It’s not how we’re made. Dreamy: What if I’m different? What if you’re wrong? Blue Fairy: Bossy’s not wrong, young one. What you feel – it’s just a dream. Dreamy: Who are you? Blue Fairy: I’m Nova’s teacher. And if the two of you run away together, it will not end well. Nova will lose her wings. But if you return to the mines, and you allow Nova to become the fairy that she was meant to be, the two of you will bring untold joy to the world. Nova can be a great fairy… if you let her. The choice is yours.

Mary Margaret: Leroy, you know that a relationship between you and Sister Astrid can never happen. Leroy: My whole life people made it their business to tell me what I can’t do. She was the first person that said I could do anything. Who believed in me. I didn’t want to disappoint her. But there are consequences to following through when the world tells you not to. I mean, look at me. I am a pariah in this town.

Dreamy: What matters is I can’t stand in the way of your happiness. Nova: You are my happiness! I love you. Don’t you love me? Dreamy: I’m a dwarf. I can’t love.

Grumpy: I don’t want my pain erased. As wretched as it is, I need my pain. It makes me who I am. It makes me Grumpy.

[Mary Margaret and Leroy are trying unsuccessfully to sell their candles on the miner’s day fair] Mary Margaret: This isn’t working. Leroy: You’re right. We should pack it up. Mary Margaret: Now you’re quitting. Leroy: If the customers won’t come to us, we gotta go to them – door to door. Mary Margaret: If they hate us here, what makes you think they’ll like us in their homes? Leroy: Exactly. They’ll pay us just to leave.

Leroy: So let me get this straight. You got a twin brother? David: Yeah. Leroy: Whose name is James? David: Right. Leroy: But *your* name is James. David: No, actually it’s not. Leroy: Charming, then? Mary Margaret: No, that’s the nickname I gave him. Leroy: Hey, hold on, what the hell *is* your name? David: David. Leroy: Your cursed name? David: My real name. Leroy: What, you’re David, James and Charming, and David’s like a middle name? David: No, it’s my name name! Leroy: You know, whatever, I’ll call you whatever I damn well please! That OK? David: Sure, Leroy.

Granny: Uh, maybe you didn’t notice the sign? No shirt, no shoes, no service. Leroy: Now you got a dress code? I seem to recall some Ruby outfits that are seared into my brain.

[David is trying to unlock the stranger’s phone] David: Leroy, can you get it open or something? Hack it? Leroy: Well, you do understand that computer hacking and pickax hacking are different.

Archie: Dr. Whale’s whipped everyone to a frenzy. They’re going to Regina’s house. They’re gonna kill her! Leroy: Great. Let’s watch.

Leroy: [handing Gold another vial with the elixir] This is for you. Mr. Gold: And what am I supposed to do with that? Leroy: Belle once helped remind me who I was. I’ve never forgotten. I want to return the favor. Don’t let her die as Lacey.

Henry Mills: [to David] You’ll find another way. In the book, things always look worse right before there’s good news. Leroy: [running towards them with the other six dwarves] Terrible news! Terrible news! We were out at the town limits. Tell ’em who you think you are, Sneezy! Sneezy: Will you stop calling me that? You know who I am. I’m Tom Clark, I own the Dark Star Pharmacy. What’s going on here? Leroy: [to the others] If you cross the border, you lose your memory all over again. Archie: And coming back doesn’t fix it? Leroy: If it did, would I have come running in yelling, “Terrible news”? If we leave, our cursed selves become our only selves.

Leroy/Grumpy (Once Upon a Time): ISTP was originally published on MBTI Zone

#6w5 8w9 4w5 #Dreamy #Grumpy #Leroy #Once Upon a Time #OUAT #Sp/Sx

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itsclydebitches · 5 years

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RWBY Recaps: Vol. 6 “Uncovered”

This is a re-posting from Nov. 4th, 2018 in an effort to get all my recaps fully on tumblr. Thanks!

So much for Thursday/Friday postings. This episode ripped my heart out through my teeth, so you know I've gotta get thoughts down on paper. What’s today’s theme? The folly and inexperience of youth, but as much as I want to dive straight into my impassioned defense of Ozpin, we need to make sure that we unpack the new intro first. And, you know, the rest of the episode...

The highlights have already been circulating for the last week, most notably the animation of Ozpin’s (presumed) past reincarnations… and the fact that the one right before the guy we think of as Oz looks like a dad. He looks like Tai’s brother. One of these Ozpins is not like the others and honestly I kind of love it. Seriously though, in the realm of actual analysis there are a number of details I want to make sure we put a pin in before moving forward. Let’s make use of our good friend the list:

The beginning is super fluffy with the gang hanging out while waiting for the train, Ruby chasing after Weiss, and Blake watching them fondly. Out of the whole group Yang is the only one who appears upset, staring morosely out the window where we get a flash of Adam. I think this is significant given that she seems to be the most volatile of the group right now. As we’ll see, though most of them have beef with Ozpin, Yang is the one instigating the fights.

We have a moment where the camera moves through Maria’s eyes and then immediately does the same with Ruby’s. Are Maria’s eyes also important? Perhaps her semblance is connected to her blindness somehow.

We see (I think??) Roman’s hat blow by right before the hooded person (Cinder) is broken up by red slashes across the screen. Omg could he actually come back? I mean yeah, he literally got swallowed whole by a grimm, but he also might have cut himself out a la Hannibal Chau style. Please bring back my flamboyant fave and have him get revenge on Cinder. That would be so very excellent.

There’s a young woman (Salem) staring up at a statue of Oz. Last week it seemed weird that this statue looked so very much like his Vol. 1-3 reincarnation, but considering we’re in Jinn’s story world she might be borrowing imagery that the gang is familiar with. Either that or the reincarnations tend to look like each other in time? Idk. To be decided.

Jaune slams Ozpin up against a freaking wall. Given how this Volume is going so far, I’m pretty confident that it’s Ozpin and not Oscar. Wonder if Jaune is finally going to confront him about his part in Pyrrha’s death…

Plenty of potential WhiteRose (as mentioned in the first recap). Seriously, I try to keep shipping out of these (a few Ozqrow jokes aside…) but I’ve also gotta call any potential setup as I see it, and given the happily chasing after her, using her glyphs at the end, the final shot of Weiss helping Ruby to her feet, Ruby collecting dust cartridges later in the episode, her calling Weiss's name in Jinn's world, Weiss doing the same for her… all of this could just be them re-developing their relationship after the separation. Could also be something more.

Also in terms of that final shot: having the whole group—Ozpin included—standing together and facing down some threat is very reassuring after this week’s episode. Ngl lol.

Finally, we have those grimm arms reaching out to drag Qrow into darkness, notably while he’s drinking. “Wow,” I say to myself. “Those arms sure do look a lot like Cinder’s!”

Oh look. We open on Cinder.

Classic rule of television: if you don’t see a body they’re not dead yet. (Unless, apparently, you’re Ozpin.)

(…but maybe not Roman.)

She’s clearly terrified, waking up in water with her eyes darting every which way, groaning when she finally pulls herself to shore. It’s always good to throw your villains into moments like this where their basic—human—instincts take hold. It makes them a little more sympathetic (if not more justifiable) and therefore more compelling. At this point I really have no desire to see an attempt at a Cinder redemption arc, but even I’m wincing at that panicked look on her face.

She’s having trouble summoning up her power, presumably because she just got her ass beat by another Maiden. It comes back pretty fast though, which really helps put into context how powerful these women are. Even freezing them from the inside out is only going to knock them out of commission for a little while.

Cinder takes a look way up to where the tree stands and pounds her grimm hand against the rocks in frustration. Apparently these things are ridiculously strong because it opens up a crack in the mountain, letting a sliver of light shine through to her face. (A trope normally reserved for the heroes.) Cinder then uses her One Punch Man powers to break out, considering that her flames are still sputtering.

Outside she meets a sweet, no-name woman who makes the mistake of stopping to help. Cinder steals her clothes, her money, and presumably kills her. RIP nice lady just trying to do her grocery shopping.

We realize that Cinder woke up weeks ago as we move into another flashback at the house. There the team has their first conversation about the relic.

Ruby: “We need to take the relic to Atlas?”

Qrow: “That’s what Oz said.”

For all his banter and bluster, Qrow is a very passive character. He has so little faith in himself that he needs to put it in others—so he fosters pretty much all of that onto Oz. Ruby is the one who subtly questions why they’re taking the relic all the way to Atlas. Qrow is the one who just reiterates that these are Oz’s orders, so that’s what they’re gonna do. Right now he’s not questioning his general and I’ll be interested to see if and how that changes after the events of this episode. One of the reasons for Qrow’s dark descent in the intro?

We have a funny exchange where Ren points out that the borders of Atlas are closed, but no worries. They have a missing Schnee heiress to get them through! What’s less funny is when Qrow mentions that they actually wanted to seal the relic back up in the vault but can’t because they don’t have access to the Spring Maiden. Cut to a guilty looking Yang. Not that they’d have much chance convincing Raven to help them (what is she up to with Tai??), but again: Oz isn’t the only one keeping secrets.

Ozpin comes out leaning heavily on his cane and wincing with each step. Hmm. Another indication that, despite his power, he’s surprisingly fragile? I’m still wondering how Cinder won that fight and it looks like he isn’t recovering as quickly as the rest of the group, despite the fact that everyone took a beating in Haven. Something to chew on.

Still talking about the relic, Jaune mentions that they don’t know what the thing actually does and we get to see Ozpin’s conflicted expression before he whirls around with a smile. He’s clearly weighing what he should and shouldn’t tell them, secrets later revealed in the episode. He says that the relic has a “wonderful and incredibly dangerous ability”—important wording! We’ll come back to that. It can answer any three questions every 100 years, provided they’re not about future events. Ozpin claims that the questions were asked before the relic was sealed away so, sorry, no knowledge to gain right now.

Jumping a little farther into the episode, we also continue the plot-line with Cinder sneaking around in the dead woman’s clothes, realizing that she’s very much a wanted criminal now. She heads into this super sketchy spider gang and asks for information on Team RWBY and the others—not going back to Salem then—throwing down the woman’s lien as payment. The leader assures her that she’ll have their locations within a week… despite the fact that she already knows where they are. The “big guy,” Hazel, was asking first.

Back with the group. Ruby finds the relic lying nearby while Yang tries desperately to get her bike out of the snow. Despite having agreed to this plan of separating and stranding themselves, Yang is expressing her frustration by treating it like a cruel trick of fate, complaining about that as well as the fact that they’ve “gained a defenseless old woman.” After Maria introduces herself and comments a little about being hard of hearing, blind, and how her glasses need a tuneup, we slam hard into the heart of the episode. Good. I’ve got things to say about how these kids are acting like… well, kids. Yang has basically just had a temper tantrum in the snow and Qrow rightly points out that they need to try to keep calm so as not to attract more grimm. Yang—as we expect—uses this opportunity to segue back to the relic. She wants to know why Ozpin lied to them. Oscar thinks they deserve to know too and forces (maybe?) the switch.

“I didn’t lie,” Ozpin says. He just didn’t provide them with all the information. This immediately sets Yang off because that’s just a technicality. An excuse. Right? Well, yes and no. Do people sometimes manipulate others by doling out pieces of information and then claiming, “I didn’t really lie”? Yes, absolutely. But there’s also something to be said for adults withholding information in an effort to protect their charges. Like… if a kid asked you how someone died there’s a BIG difference between saying, “They were murdered” vs. “Oh, well the murderer tortured them for days and then sent pictures of it to their family and then gutted them very slowly….” Yeah. Sometimes you don’t need that kind of shit weighing you down and in this case Ozpin has an additional, practical reason for not telling them that the relic attracts grimm: their worry would just bring more. Which is exactly what I said last time. Telling them wouldn’t change the situation—there’s a very good chance it would actually make things worse—so he tried to give them what little peace he could.

Weiss: “You know, I’m getting real tired of people choosing what’s best for me”

An understandable statement? Sure, but Weiss is still a kid. Yes, 14, 15, 16, and even 17yos are still kids, whether we want to give them the label of “teenager” or not. It’s sometimes hard to remember given their responsibilities, but Team RWBY is still a collection of developing brains challenging thousands of years of experience. Kids never like it, but sometimes adults do know what’s best for them. All of this is complicated by the abuse in their lives—notice that Yang (Raven), Weiss (parents), and Blake (Adam) are far less trusting of Ozpin than Ruby is—but that doesn’t change the fact that a teenager is not equipped to make these world-altering decisions in the same way an adult is. Combine this with the fact that they have implicitly acknowledged Ozpin as their leader and them thinking they can challenge his well thought-out choices in this manner is a big problem.

Ironically, Ozpin and James have a lot more in common than they think they do when it comes to leading: they both understand the importance of compartmentalization, it’s just that James is more obvious about treating subordinates as subordinates. Ozpin cozies up to people and then they’re surprised when they don’t have his ear. As I said before, you can trust your army without giving them every single secret. That’s dangerous, and the girls aren’t entitled to dangerous information just because they want it.

Ozpin says he’s not entirely sure why grimm are attracted to the relic (another lie?) and we learn that he was the one who spun the story of Lionheart’s heroic death. Again, Yang sees things in a very black and white manner—that’s another lie and lies are bad—and Ozpin angrily argues that Lionheart doesn’t deserve to have all the good he did erased by his final mistakes. That's a pretty loaded conundrum and I’m definitely not equipped to untangle it. Rather, I’m more interested in how the girls are completely unable to consider that viewpoint. Because (common theme here) they lack the experience that Ozpin does. To them Lionheart was just a Bad Guy and should be treated accordingly because they’re teenagers who have never faced a betrayal like that. They might have a very different reaction if, years down the road, one of Team RWBY succumbed to Salem and betrayed them in the end. Would Blake want Yang’s name forever tarnished if she gave in and joined Raven? Would Ruby be okay with the whole world thinking nothing but awful things about Weiss if she went dark? No, it’s more complex when you love someone… but they’re too young to understand that yet.

Age matters here. Experience matters.

Just as important, Ozpin is an emotional, flawed human being who is being cut very deeply right now. That is, the girls have 100% condemned Lionheart despite the good he did in the past… and Ozpin has no doubt done things just as bad, if not worse. Though unintentional, their rejection of Lionheart’s worth is a rejection of Ozpin’s as well. If they can’t consider forgiving Lionheart for his mistakes, how could they possibly forgive him? “Does one lapse in judgement truly negate all of his good?” he asks, a question he no doubt poses to himself all the time. As Ozpin defends his friend he’s also trying desperately to defend himself and what he’s hearing from Yang is, “No. You’re irredeemable.”

Whether we consider Ozpin’s past to actually be irredeemable or not, that’s a pretty hard blow. Remember last recap I pointed out how shocked he looked at Ruby’s support? It’s because this is what he’s used to hearing. Everyone (like Qrow) looks to him to be their leader and then reacts with fury when he makes decisions they don’t like; people insist they care for him and then condemn those who have made far fewer mistakes. And he’s been dealing with this for thousands of years. Honestly, I’m surprised the guy can even get out of bed anymore.

“Do you really think Leo was the first?” he growls when Yang insists that he can trust them. Of course Leo wasn’t the first to betray him and, as Ozpin points out, he said those exact same words. You can trust me. Ultimately, why are these kids any different? Because they’re the heroes? No, that’s the perspective of the audience. From behind our fourth wall we know that Team RWBY is trustworthy, but Ozpin has no such reassurances. If a friend he had for years could suddenly betray him like that, what the hell is stopping a bunch of former students who are already frustrated with him?

Also… just pointing out… Yang insists he can trust her and then two seconds later she, along with Blake and Weiss, have their weapons pulled on both Ozpin and Qrow. So he can trust them… but only if he does what they want and tells them what they want to hear. And people question why Ozpin has trust issues.

I do want Ozpin to trust more—both for himself and for others—but my god does he have good reasons for holding back.

Sadly, we don’t get to see Yang try to grapple with the revelation that she’s parroting Lionheart’s words (because, as I’ll discuss a bit below, RWBY ultimately dodges any real sticky moral questions and segues back into simple story logic). Instead the conversation is derailed as Ozpin realizes that the relic is missing.

Ruby has it, but she’s not willing to hand it over. So much for my theory of her sticking by him this Volume. At least right now, she’s acting as much like a kid as any of the others. In what I think is a reckless move, Oscar realizes that Ozpin is hiding something from them and briefly takes control, telling Ruby to say the name Jinn.

She does and all the snow stops.

A sort of genie appears and says that she was created by the God of Light to “aid humanity in its pursuit of knowledge.” Jinn then reveals that Ozpin did lie outright. There are still two questions left.

And with this revelation we come to the crux of the matter. His own very personal history aside, compartmentalization aside, why doesn’t Ozpin just give the gang all the information they want? Why all the lies? Because they’re children and right now they’re acting like it. Yang isn’t interested in making sure everyone gets to a safe place after Qrow mentions that they’re probably attracting grimm, she wants answers right now and she won’t move until she gets them. They’re not considering the hypocrisy of demanding Ozpin’s secrets when they’ve all had (and for some still have) secrets of their own. The girls aren’t responding logically to Qrow’s innocuous “Hey” later—why does he deserve their wrath?—they’re reacting with pure emotion, pulling their weapons on him for daring to just try and voice an opinion. That is an incredibly extreme reaction and in my opinion shows how little they’re thinking through their actions right now. They are, to put it bluntly, acting like a bunch of bratty teenagers. They want something and the adults in charge won’t let them have it, despite having numerous good reasons for withholding it (both practical and personal). So they throw a fit. The only difference is that instead of stomping their feet these girls have crazy powerful weaponry and a relic at their disposal.

All of this culminates in the release of Jinn. Let’s think back to that moment in the house: Ozpin tells them that the relic has a “wonderful and incredibly dangerous ability”—emphasis mine. Do the kids stop to wonder why the ability to answer questions is called incredibly dangerous? No! They’re just fascinated by the shiny new toy. Ren thinks it’s cool, Blake is amazed, Yang notes that picking the right questions would be a big responsibility but doesn’t back down from the challenge, and Nora immediately leads them in a charge to determine what they’re going to ask. Not one of them says, “Hey. What’s the catch here?” They’re all ready to jump into asking three questions without thinking through any of the potential repercussions of messing with an ancient object they know absolutely nothing about.

This no doubt tells Ozpin, as it told me, that they’re still kids and as such are in many ways still thinking like kids too. They don’t have the experience and the maturity yet to consider the consequences of their actions. What? Do we think someone as controlling as Ozpin just let two questions remain without a very good reason? That it’s a coincidence that immediately after he—or someone else—used the first question the relic was sealed away? No, there’s some downside here… but the gang never considered that possibility. So rather than explain all that and risk them insisting that they use the questions anyway—as kids are wont to do—Ozpin says the questions are used up for now. That way there’s no risk to them.

I’m thinking that when Ozpin charges Ruby he’s trying to reach her to protect her somehow. It's not just about him keeping his secrets. Jinn’s smoke is reaching for her too and he’s trying to get there first. He’s flawed, yes, but he’s not going to attack her. When has Ozpin ever been violent towards them? When has Ruby ever hesitated to defend herself? This isn't an experienced Huntsmen going on the offensive, nor a talented Huntress scared for her life---it's a desperate man and a young girl panicking at this mess of a situation. Because let's be real, if Ozpin had wanted to take the relic by force he easily could have. But he wouldn't do that. He’s not the one who drew his weapon here. No, if there’s a catch attached to these questions he wouldn’t want Ruby to pay it. He literally begs her on his knees not to use the relic… and when that fails he gets desperate and uses incredible speed to try and reach her before the magic does.

Remember, he wanted to immediately seal the relic back up in the vault and would have it they’d had access to the Spring Maiden. It might not just be because they’re worried about the relic falling into Salem’s hands. It sounds like there’s danger attached to using it too…. and people would absolutely be tempted to use it.

As we see here.

Ruby says, “What is Ozpin hiding from us?” WHICH IS ABOUT THE WORST QUESTION YOU COULD POSSIBLY ASK.

That’s not a targeted question to help you understand what Oscar was hinting at before. That’s an entirely open ended question that, depending on how Jinn works, will show you every secret Ozpin has ever had. What kind of fucked up invasion of privacy? Granted, we don’t have time in RWBY for something like that to actually happen—looks like Jinn is going to show us Ozpin’s greatest mistake/regret, something he thinks they’ll abandon him because of—but that doesn’t change how horrible that question was. I don’t care if the girls are right that Ozpin needs to work on trusting people more. You know how you don’t help people do that? By forcibly pulling all their secrets out into the open without their consent. Ruby’s question wasn’t just horribly invasive, it wasn’t thought out at all because no matter how frustrated she might be I don’t think she’d ever want to do that to a person. She, like the rest of her team, isn't thinking clearly.

Finally, you know what the real kicker is? All of this—everything I’ve mentioned throughout this scene—is done in front of Maria. What’s the latest definition of oblivious immaturity? Demanding that your leader reveal his secrets in front of a complete stranger.

Honestly I wanted to rip out my hair through this whole part of the episode. It’s easy to identify with Ruby and the gang because they’re our protagonists. The show wants us to empathize with them, but in this case it doesn’t change the fact that they’re acting their age and making really uninformed decisions. Despite the huge range of ages in this fandom, sometimes I feel like I’m watching RWBY very firmly from an adult’s perspective while the vast majority of the fandom is watching from the perspective of our heroes. They see the mean adult keeping secrets—and in a black and white universe secrets are bad!—while I’m seated firmly in Camp Context. It’s like that post about watching The Little Mermaid at different stages of your life:

As a child: She loves him! How romantic…

As an adult: You love him? You’re sixteen and you met him yesterday!

The thing is, I know RWBY isn’t going to take that adult perspective. That’s not how most stories go. Ozpin’s secrets will be revealed, he’ll probably be forgiven, and he’ll learn the lesson that it’s Bad to keep things from your friends. The intricacies of the situation and his very justifiable reasons will be brushed aside because he’s not our primary hero. Ruby is and her view of the world is that nearly blind faith in humanity. She doesn’t understand that after thousands of years Ozpin’s fractured faith doesn’t mean he can’t encourage others to be better than he is, she just pouts and says he should trust them specifically because he preaches trust as a general principal. At its core RWBY follows the simplistically moral logic of a fairy tale and though that’s great in many ways, I’m still at times frustrated by how the show introduces adult viewpoints without ever having the narrative justify them. Ozpin tells the group that he has more experience than them and has carefully considered his choices, but we’re encouraged to frown at him like the rest of the cast. Except Ozpin is right! He’s right!! He’s right and he should say it!

But most people don’t seem to agree with me. Oh well. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

We end the episode with Jinn’s magic reaching the group before Ozpin can reach Ruby. They’re all seeing the same vision of a castle and a beautiful woman, Jinn’s voice telling them a fairy tale:

“Once upon a time there stood a lonely tower that sheltered a lonely girl named Salem…”

So Salem’s backstory coincides with whatever Ozpin is so terrified of them figuring out about him. Full disclosure: if he starts crying next episode I will also be an emotional wreck. Here’s hoping that whatever the girls see, they’ll start mending their trust in one another once it’s over. I’m not sure I can take a whole Volume of everyone eviscerating Ozpin for trying to protect them, himself, and the rest of Remnant.

What’s he doing? His best. It’s far from perfect, but give the poor immortal a break.

Here’s hoping for one in episode three!

Other Details of Note

Of course it’s raining when Cinder leaves the vault. We need appropriate atmosphere for her dramatic collapse and rejuvenating murder lol

Except can we please have women remove their heels when everything goes sideways? I’m sorry, but if I were that exhausted and injured getting the spikes off my feet would be the very first thing I did.

Love that they essentially gave Maria’s glasses eyelids. Makes it very easy for her to express herself.

Okay so we pretty much know for a fact now that Ozpin and Oscar are starting to share thoughts both ways. I can’t imagine that Ozpin went, “Yeah so I’m still hiding something and you can figure it out by saying ‘Jinn’ to the shiny relic over there, but don't tell anyone else, okay?” Oscar is starting pick up on things as they (presumably) merge.

The relics are entities! And now we know why the the statue in Haven was of a woman bound in chains—she’s Jinn. Look at Ozpin’s dramatic ass designing lairs that reveal secrets no one realizes are there.

“It’s a pleasure to see you again, old man”—evidence that Ozpin either used that first question himself, was there when it was used, or has used the relic at another time in the past.

#rwby #rwby spoilers #mymetas #RWBY Recaps

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