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silassinclair · 1 month

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Hi!

Can I request Maddox with a darling who lives to read, maybe he catches her reading some old romance books in an abandoned house they shack up in or something like that

Btw I live your writing ♥️

As someone who loves to read I am obligated to write for this req 😤🫡 Thanks for the request tho!! Hope you like it :-)

Yandere Wild West Outlaw x Bookworm Reader

CW// Maddox is annoying, Reader being a little perv Masterlist Here!!

The new house Maddox found was lovely. It had decently okay furniture and a vast collection of old books on the shelf. It's small with only two bedrooms and one bathroom but it was charming. But what caught your interest was the big oak wood bookshelf. You couldn't even remember the last time you picked up a book. Being on the run with Maddox made time fly.

"Who would leave all these books behind? They're all in great condition." You mutter to yourself as you take a blue and purple book with gold trim off the shelf. Tracing your fingers down the spine of the hardcover novel you appreciate the craftsmanship. It was clearly expensive, something you could no longer afford. Your Dad bought you many books like these but now you were pretty much broke. You only had Maddox to rely on now.

Speaking of Maddox you had no clue where he was. Which you didn't really care, he always disturbed your peace. Cracking open the book you sit down on the loveseat and start reading. It was a romance book about a huntsman who fell in love with a duchess. The story was beautiful as it was exhilarating.

"Oh wow, you into that kinda stuff?"

You snap the book shut instantly, a mini cloud of dust poofs from the pages. Maddox chuckles huskily behind you, leaning down and resting his chin on the back of the loveseat.

"Oh don't be embarrassed princess, it was getting to the good part. What did it say again? Oh! Ahem-"

Maddox coughs into his hand and smirks. Deepening his voice he quotes the passage in a deep, British-like accent,

"He caresses the duchess' milky thighs, her womb felt of silk wrapped around his ma-"

"OH HUSH!" You whip around and smack the outlaw's head, his hat nearly flying off. But he only laughs at your flustered state.

"You're filthy." You groan and put the book back on the shelf where it was. But Maddox follows behind you and takes the book into his own hands and opens it up. Skimming through the pages he smirks.

"I'm filthy? Sweetheart you're the one readin' this junk." Maddox shuts the book and puts it back. Putting his hand up on the shelf he leans against it while looking down at your shorter self.

"Well it is a romance book." Rolling your eyes you choose a different book. This time you pick a title you're familiar with, Pride and Prejudice.

"Now leave me alone you brute. I'd like to relax for once." With that you walk away and go outside. Finding a nice tree you sit beneath it and read the book. Reading reminded you of home, the home that was ripped from you. In a way it was escapism which is unhealthy but a girl can dream right?

Hours pass and the sun begins to set, casting an orange glow across the cloudy sky. The words on the page become harder to read as the sun sinks lower and the moon rises. You didn't want it to end. You know you could read inside but that damn outlaw was inside. You just wanted to stay out here forever with the natural ambience of wind and birds.

Footsteps approach you and you already know who it is. Looking up you see him. Black denim jeans, a burgundy vest, twin revolvers around his waist, and a dark brown cowboy hat on his head. And of course that bandana covering the bottom half of his face. Anytime you asked him about his face he got ticked off so you avoided the subject. But you couldn't help but be curious.

"You're starin' sweetheart." His husky voice breaks the silence. There’s a hint of a Spanish accent mixed in with his Southern drawl. You can't help but think about what it would be like if you and him met under different circumstances. Would he save you from bandits? Offer to buy you a drink at the saloon?

Would you two have a storybook romance just like in the books you adore?

"Hey."

He's right in front of you now, crouched to your height. His gloved hand pets your hair and you're frozen. He has you in a trance that you make no effort to free yourself from. His dark amber eyes are crinkled in slight concern over your unusual silence.

"What..?" You say softly.

"It's gettin' dark. Unless you wanna be dinner for the coyotes then I suggest comin' back in. I'll cook up some beans so hurry your little bum up."

Well there goes the moment. You groan and get up off the grass, your back cracking as you stretch. Your eyes watch as Maddox walks back into the house. His hips sway as he walks, you never really payed attention to that before. His ass looks pretty round in those pants to-

"Ugh, what is wrong with me.." Groaning, you follow after him.

#yandere #yandere x reader #x reader #yandere imagines #yandere x you #yandere oc #yandere oc x reader #obsession #maddox graves #yandere cowboy #cowboy #western

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raven-at-the-writing-desk · 5 months

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Rook, Ortho: Princess Power

BRUH 💀 Go figure, giving the guy obsessed with beauty two of the least flattering screenshots in his background frames… But hey, his groovy is very different from everyone else’s so far! ^^ Very relaxed and peaceful.

Cbjssbjsjskendb new tidbits about pre-Pomefiore Rook?? He used to cut his own hair with a knife and focused on keeping his bangs out of his line of sight… and he wasn’t as confident about his style (mood). It’s also interesting to know that he started doing ballet on Vil’s recommendation, and that has helped a lot with his posture, working out muscles he doesn’t normally use, and appreciating the art of performances. We love Pomefiore out here breaking gender norms 👊

A Tale as Old as Time.

Rook drew out a longing sigh, gently easing into the quiet of the museum. The soft sound lingered, coiling around his fingers like thread from a spool. It, too, did not wish to part ways with the stunning beauty laid out bare before it.

A fair maiden was framed in shining platinum. Hair black as ebony, lips as red as the rose, and skin as white as snow... Truly, she was the fairest in all the land.

Her graceful frame was folded, kneeling on the forest floor to greet the woodland creatures that had gathered. The pale yellow skirt of her gown spilled out, blue bodice and puff sleeves fitted well by her figure. Her face round and gentle, in spite of the high collar encircling it, crowed by a petite red bow.

Here was pure innocence, a young girl reveling in nature.

“Beauté,” he marveled—to no one in particular, but such beauty warranted verbal acknowledgement.

“It seems that this painting has captured your interest, Rook Hunt-san!” a voice chirped. A neon blue light emanated from the darkness, accompanied by the silver flash of metal.

“Bonjour!” Rook greeted Ortho. "I must confess, I have been enchanted by this particular work of art! The brush strokes, masterful! The composition, immaculate!! The subject—oh, how it makes my heart quiver with nostalgia!! I am a man close to being moved to tears!!”

Ortho curiously glanced at the girl and her animal friends. No strong emotions arose within up from him. Perhaps he did not feel as much, or perhaps Rook felt too much. “Is there a sentimental experience or memory you have related to this painting…?”

“Oui! It is a tale as old as time.” Rook gestured to the snow white young lady. “They say that this maiden was a princess forced to flee from her home country, as a hostile presence threatened her life. She retreated into the woods and found comfort in a humble life there. Her tenacity is most admirable!!”

“Tenacity… That’s the value that Pomefiore was founded on!” Ortho, floating overhead, beamed at Rook. “I understand why you would like that story. It has a good moral that sticks with you.”

“That is the beauty of telling tales! They inspire those who hear of it, ensuring that the spirit of the story is never truly extinguished.” The huntsman’s eyes held a keep glint to them. “Tell me, Ortho-kun. What do you believe makes a princess?”

The boy blinked. A split second, and he had already input the term into an internal search engine, the formal definition loaded up to recite.

“Prin-cess, noun. The daughter of a monarch or wife to a prince. A woman having sovereign power.”

“An efficient, succinct answer!” Rook applauded, his cheer never faltering. “However, my desire is to know your interpretation. In Ortho-kun’s own words, what makes a princess?”

“My own…?” The words stretched, unsure, on his tongue. Ortho hesitated—seeking, processing, and analyzing. Rook’s heartbeat sounded where there was the space for the boy to think.

Then, finally, Ortho spoke.

“From what I’ve observed in movies and books, the princess is a pop culture icon. She’s usually presented as a role model for little girls. Someone who is beautiful, dainty, and composed, wearing a pretty dress and a glittering crown."

A pause. Ortho assessed Rook’s hard-to-read, bright expression.

“… Is that closer to the response you were looking for, Rook Hunt-san?” he asked.

To this, the third year’s lips quirked. “There is no correct or incorrect answer! I was curious to see your perspective. Everyone holds one that differs, lenses of all designs and colors with which to see the world through! You have my most heartfelt thanks for sharing your view with me.”

"Oh, I see! You're collecting data from a variety of sources to compare to a standard." The android (literally) lit up from within. "Let me ask the same back! Rook Hunt-san, what do you think makes a princess?"

"Mon dieu! You've set my own trap upon me," Rook teased.

The Beautiful Queen, the Fair Maiden, Vil, his peers... So many fragments of beauty in his collection. Plucked, collected, hoarded.

He ran a finger along his chin, contemplating. The thoughts assembled like a collage. Ideas taken, cut up, and pasted together into a new, glorious artwork.

"A princess can be many things," Rook declared with certainty. "They are a princess to their very core, even when their power is stripped from them or they are dressed in only ashes and rags. What defines them is not royal heritage or political influence, but the strength of their character, their values and virtues. They are not bound by a singular trait, but are aspirations to all in their own ways."

Ortho's eyes swelled. "Eh...? That's so broad! By your definition, anyone could be a princess—even you or I!”

The huntsman threw his head back and laughed. "Broad it may be, but I am of the opinion that we all have it in us to live up to the title~”

He indicated the woman in the platinum frame. Ortho’s gaze obediently followed. "Even without a kingdom to call her own, she remained kind-hearted rather than turn to cruelty. That is why she was, and always will be, a noble soul. A princess who puts out good into the world.”

“Rook Hunt-san…”

“Ortho-kun!” Rook dramatically extended an arm to him. He was practically sparkling in the dim room. “I, too, endeavor to put out as much beauty as what is gifted to me! That is my one true calling as the Hunter of Love: to not only seek out beauty, but to cultivate and to contribute to it!”

Ortho silently stared. Nii-san did warn me that Rook Hunt-san could be eccentric, but… maybe there’s some meaning to be found in it.

Cutting through the numbers and the formulas that governed him was a fuzzy warmth. Not the familiar jolt of electricity that powered his circuits. It was too wild, too unpredictable.

Something undeniably human.

Ortho let out a giggle. "Hehe. Then you must be a princess too!"

Rook's mouth formed a small "o". Unsubtle surprise—or perhaps purposefully exaggerated. "Me? Whatever makes you think that?"

"Strength of character!" Ortho parroted mischievously. "I've never met someone as uplifting as you are. Rook Hunt-san is the type of person that sees a princess in everyone."

The boy lowered himself to a few centimeters off of the ground, pretending to dip into a curtsey. "Your majesty!"

"Fufufu. You're quite charming yourself, Princess Ortho-kun!" Rook bent into a deep bow. "Most clever in all the land, computing complex problems in the blink of an eye!”

Upon straightening, the third year laid both hands over his heart. He lifted his head toward the painting of the fair maiden in the forest. A serene smile at his lips.

It was as if he was pledging his allegiance, making a vow. A worshipper at the altar to pray.

“May we all live happily ever after,” Rook whispered raptly, “like the princesses of old.”

Forever and ever.

#twst #twisted wonderland #disney twisted wonderland #disney twst #Rook Hunt #Rook birthday takeover #spoilers #something no one asked for #twst scenarios #twst imagines #twisted wonderland imagines #twisted wonderland scenarios #Ortho Shroud #I hope y'all notice but Rook was basically describing what makes a Disney 'princess'#since not all of them in the lineup are actually royalty

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chaikachi · 9 months

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Little Red Riding Hood, The Big Bad Wolf, & The Silver Bullet

Aka I did an Oscar as The Little Prince analysis and now I wanna do one for Ruby's allusion in honour of the 10th Anniversary.

I know most if not all of us are familiar, but I'm still going to start with a summary.

Little Red is a story about a young girl in a red cloak who is sent into the woods at her mother's behest to bring baked goods to her sick grandmother. There, she meets a malicious wolf that asks her many questions, to which she answers all truthfully and without hesitation. The wolf takes this information and uses it to beat the girl to her destination where he then swallows her grandma whole and disguises himself in the woman's clothes. There he waits for the child to arrive and come closer so he can swallow her up too.

There are actually two popular versions of this story with different endings that we often look back to.

In Perrault's story, there is no happy ending. They're both eaten up, the wolf is content. The end. But in the Grimm version, there is an additional character... the Huntsman (aka the woodsman). He hears the wolf snoring after its meal and ends up cutting the beast open & saving the victims. Then, with the help of Little Red Riding Hood, he kills the wolf before it can do anymore harm.

All in all, it's a story about childhood innocence being lost, learning not to trust strangers, and being mindful to always follow the correct path. For if you stray too far, you may lose track of time, invite unwanted danger, or find yourself lost.

In RWBY, we have some very clear allusions here since it's the basis for so much of the show as a whole:

Little Red - Ruby Rose

The Mother - Summer Rose

The Grandmother - Maria

The Hunstman/Woodsman - All Three of Them

The Wolf - Salem and her Grimm (but ESPECIALLY The Hound)

They're all pretty self explanatory.

Ruby has the red cloak, her og trailer is clearly inspired by the tale, she loves baked goods, she's referred to as "Red" and "Little Red" by Torchwick & Cinder. She's also a huntress. And, by and large, her entire arc is about losing that childhood innocence and the view that life "is like a fairytale" as well as struggling with what the "right path" to follow is.

Summer is the mother (baker of cookies) and also the huntsman (slayer of giant monsters). The battle axe being her weapon choice alludes well to the alternate name, Woodsman, as well.

While Maria as the grandmother makes the most sense. Another silver eyed huntress that becomes a mentor figure for Ruby.

And while Salem, her war, & the Grimm (that are all emblematic of that loss of innocence) can absolutely symbolize the wolf... There's a reason why I want to focus on The Hound.

All three previous characters are connected by a very specific common denominator: Silver Eyes.

And the hound is no different.

Just another huntsman... but one devoured by the malice of a canine. And, if Ruby's theory is right, that's the same fate that Summer met as well.

And if you think about Silver Eyes specifically... What is one of the most famous lines from the original fairytale?

"My, what big eyes you have grandmother." "The better to see you with, my dear."

Which, when applied to the grimmification of SEWs, is HAUNTING.

Terrifying when you remember "Woah... you have silver eyes". Also thanks to Behind The Scenes content, that Ruby's hair design was always meant to "be a bit wolf-y". And that since Volume 4, Salem has been interested in capturing Ruby alive... I am WORRIED ABOUT HER.

Some interesting things about silver though that ARE worth noting...

1. "In folklore, a bullet cast from silver is often one of the few weapons that are effective against a werewolf or witch."

2. "The term silver bullet is also a metaphor for a simple, seemingly magical, solution to a difficult problem."

3. "In the Brothers Grimm fairy-tale of The Two Brothers, a bullet-proof witch is shot down by silver buttons, fired from a gun."

The lyric "Yeah I'm a girl but I'm also a gun" from Triumph really tells us point blank (lol) why Ruby is so important to this war against Salem, huh.

I'm gonna end this meta on a fun little easter egg; a hidden fifth character allusion to the original Red Riding Hood fairytale: The Woods.

Now I know what you're thinking, the woods aren't a person, they're a location. But they're INCREDIBLY important to the story.

Overall, the woods are the world outside of the cabin that Little Red grows up in. Whenever she travels beyond it, she's liable to meet all sorts of horrible tragedies and monsters. But I want to talk again specifically about The Hound & just where Ruby first meets them: Atlas.

Or, more specifically, Ironwood's kingdom.

For those unfamiliar, while Jimmy's main allusion is the Tin Man from Oz, his last name gives us a hint to another subtle allusion: Járnviðr. Aka the Iron Wood of Midgard in Norse Mythology (a mythos that's been alluded to a lot in RWBY).

Whiiich if you look at a stanza (40) in the infamous Völuspá, a historic poem which is chalk full of Norse myths, you get the following passage:

In the east sat an old woman in Iron-wood and nurtured there offspring of Fenrir a certain one of them in monstrous form will be the snatcher of the moon

A poem that talks all about the Biggest Baddest Wolf of the Norse pantheon, Fenrir... who is the offspring of a powerful Witch...

and is destined to eat the moon...

All within the Iron Wood, a character Ruby spends an entire volume contemplating on whether or not she can trust...

And the moment she does finally tell Ironwood the truth? The secrets she was keeping? The woods become unsafe, the witch and the wolf appear, and everything else falls apart. Resulting her and her team lost and very far from home.

Say what you want about analyses like these but CRWBY knows what they're doing, okay?

#rwby #ruby rose #rwby meta #analysis #rwby analysis #chainalysis #little red riding hood #did I wanna tie this into warrior in the woods to make it about rg? yes #was i able to? no #that'll have to be its own thing #greenlightvolume10 #long post

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daze4all · 4 months

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Stelle/Reader x Honkai Star Rail + Witch! Kafka Otome Game Fairytale AU Idea. Inspired by this:

youtube

Why is it we wish on fallen stars?

The answer quite simply is when stars fall wishes come true of course~

So how shall you make this star fall so your wish can be granted?

High Fantasy Honkai Star Rail Fic Idea: Starfall: Wish upon a Star .

Based on the game Witch Heart, the movie Stardust, and a kinda otome game style

With many fairytale-themed routes Reader. such as Cinderella, Beauty & The Beast:

Witch Kafka! x Fallen Star! MC! Reader

Snow Queen! Kafka x Kai!Reader (Maybe Greta somone?)

Rapunzel! Reader x Prince! Gepard,

Little Mermaid! Reader x Prince! Dan Heng/Feng,

Little Red Red Riding hood Reader x Werewolf! Jing Yuan

Evil Queen! Kafka x Seven Dwarves (all Guys) x MC Huntsman Blade x Reader

More Detailed Ideas

Fallen Star! Stelle x Yandere!Witch!Kafka: Kafka saves fallen star! Stelle intends to take Stelle’s star heart to make a wish. Still, Stelle must fall in love for the wish to be granted so Witch!Kafka resets Elio's Script in different fairytale iterations but Stelle keeps falling for other Honkai Star Rail characters who also have their wishes to be granted....

She is the one constant of this curse she cast, the one familiarity as over and over again she resets Elio's script until you love her back and give her your heart.

“So, why not fall into my arms and into the spider's web and surrender yourself to me?” Witch! Kafka purrs enticingly

Or you could escape the spider web and find love yourself but are the options any better in this dark twisted fairytale version?

Rapunzel!Stelle X White Knight! Gepard- Classic guy saves girl with Tangled twist. Gepard falls in love and wishes to see her again and save Stelle who while sheltered & naive due to Yandere! Mommy! Kafka's misinformation is armed with a frying pan. Tangled! Stelle wants to find her family and Gepard takes her on this adventure...or gets caught by Witch! Kafka maybe white knight to dark Knight twist if it takes the traditional tale gone wrong Yandere route

Kafka resets the story takes Stelle and hides in the red riding hood cabin in the woods…

2. Yandere!Werewolf!Jing Yuan x Red Riding Hood! Reader: Werewolf jing yuan his pack was killed by hunters and Red Riding Hood Star Stelle may grant his wish to have his pack back...

7. Little Mermaid: Reader x Dan Heng/ Dan Feng Double personality

Ursula! Kafka x Mermaid Reader

Next, she is sea witch who seeing the pattern of your heart falling to everyone nut here decides to give you a taste of your own medicines.

Yes, love the prince but Witch Kafka be there to seduce and steal him away so when little mermaid you falls into the sea in tears falling apart into bubbles she’ll be there to catch you and put you back together.

Prince in this version may be Blade as only one see him swayed by Kafka Or Prince! Dan Heng/feng since water dragon palace by the sea theme but he’d refuse her.

Dan Feng./ Heng may be dealing with double personalities.

March as the 'Sebastion who tries to match make and get MC!Reader and Dan Heng together by singing Just Kiss the girl during the secluded lake boat scene~

Prince Dan! Heng saves you classic Prince Eric style aka drives boat into the sea witch.

Do you think I’d really die when I remake this world time and time again?- Witch! Kafka

8. Beauty & the Beast: Beast!Blade

This time be the beast that drives her into my arms~ Kafka tells Blde as she resets the story to beauty and the beast.

8. Snow White and the Seven Dwarves

“Hearts are fickle who shall you fall for next and give your wishing heart too? Much better to have it boxed up and delivered to me permanently so you can never leave~"

"Hunstman Blade bring me her heart in box" Evil Queen! Kafka orders

Huntsman! Blade x Stelle

Who from past romantic encounters may show mercy despite memory muddled or altered by Witch! Kafka

“ Run hide in the forest” Blade says when he catches Reader returning instead with another heart to trick Evil Queen! Kafka.

Prince Gepard- from tangled come back to find you> maybe white knight turned dark knight twisted as beej long time and hurt watch you get with other men past drabbles idk.

Afterword

“Finally, I found you do you remember me? Don’t worry I’ll make you remember our love”

Say if a star were to fall what would you do for a wish?

Don’t you know love can make wishes come true but so too can sacrifice.

The secret to granting your wish is to steal the heart of a fallen star.

I’ll turn the pages of story and rewrite the script as any time until I have the stars heart.

I wish freedom from the madness in my mind.

I wish to end this immortal existence.

I wish for my family to be back.

I wish to see you again.

I wish for this story to go on and never end.

#male yandere x reader #yandere imagines #honkai star rail x reader #hsr jing yuan #honkai star rail imagines #male yandere #kafka honkai star rail #yandere kafka #yandere blade #yandere dan heng #yandere gepard #yandere honkai star rail #dan heng #hsr blade #yandere jing yuan #Youtube

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peachdues · 7 months

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In the Netherwood is turning out to be so slutty and not just because Sanemi eats pussy like it’s his last meal.

As an aside, Part I might be pushed until tomorrow, I’m expected to socialize tonight lmao. We’ll see. If it is tonight, it will be very late.

Have a taste of Red Riding Hood!Reader being literally all of us:

——-

“How the devil a pretty little thing like you managed to make it to my door in one piece is the only thing that makes me consider there may be a higher power, given how foolishly reckless you act in the Woods where there’s no shortage of creatures that would want to devour you —“

The Huntsman continued his rant, but your ears only picked up on a single fragment of his ramblings.

“You think me pretty?” It was silly, yet the notion that the devilishly handsome Huntsman accompanying you found you worth looking at made something in your stomach flutter.

Sanemi shot you a withering glare. “You may think me a miserable recluse, girl, but even I have eyes.”

#kinktober 2023 #sanemi shinazugawa #demon slayer #kimetsu no yaiba #kny #kny x reader #kny fanfic #kny sanemi

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absenthearted · 1 year

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LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD || HACKEARNEY + ALTERNATE UNIVERSES [1/?]

A girl walks into the woods, and a wolf walks out.

The village has a tradition: a girl is chosen as a sacrifice to the Wolf. The Huntsman leads the Chosen into the woods and keeps vigil at the entrance.

The girl does not come back. The Wolf stays away.

This is how it has always been—until now.

#hackearney #travis hackett #laura kearney #the quarry #travis x laura #hackearney AU gifseries #a concept series for AUs i may never write lmao #idk how many i'll actually make since i'm fairly limited with what i can use for travis lol #but i have a very tentative idea for a historical one at least #at some point #anyway you can interpret the gifs and the caption however you wish but it was inspired partly by for the wolf by hannah whitten #and obviously diverges quite a bit from the original fairytale but i think you can spin it multiple ways #i've always loved the idea of red as both the girl and the wolf; and wanted to keep laura's wolf transformation in #(which she does! in that music video! but the makeup was a lil too cheesy lol but i actually loved that video lmao)#this started out as a ~no plot just vibes~ thing but then i went on a little mini worldbuilding spiral for this #maybe i'll make a post about it. maybe i'll write it at some point?? who knows #which. these tags are already too long so i won't get into it lmao but! sources!#1&2: mariah scary and the ghoulish cauldrons 'werewolf valentine' MV #4: red riding hood (2011)#sorry the quality is not great on these gifs i did my best #sometimes i make things #wait sorry 3: the trailer for red light bc i couldn’t think of another gif to use for him lol

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howlingday · 1 month

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That’s cool. Now, what will the how Beacon story goes if Jaune is born a Xiao-Long? Is Yang going to be either an overprotective sister or a fun and party-loving sister to him? How would the interaction with Jaune and Weiss go?

Okay, so let's cover up to and including the initiation, starting with going to Beacon. Jaune says good-bye to Summer with Ruby and Yang, then the three go off to Beacon. Jaune and Yang were supposed to go together, but having learned Ruby managed to bust up Roman Torchwick and his goons, they're not that surprised that Ruby gets in with them... Well, Yang isn't surprised. Jaune and Tai were worried sick (literally for Jaune) when they learned Ruby got into a fight with an actual gang. Jaune spends the trip to Beacon with his sisters, flipping between being airsick to worrying about Ruby. Yang tells him to stop babying her, which Ruby agrees.

Once they arrive at Beacon, Jaune and Yang get dragged off by Yang's friends, leaving Ruby alone. Ruby explodes, Jaune helps her, this time dusting her off and making sure she's okay. She bats him away, insisting that she's fine. The two walk and talk with Jaune explaining that he's just worried about her since she was always the smallest of the three. Ruby then unfurls Crescent Rose, noting that it is at least three times heavier than Jaune's weapon. They then head to the assembly and Jaune gets dragged off by some friends. Ruby and Yang meet up, "tall, blond, and scraggly" and Jaune catching up to Ruby and Yang expressing how excited he is to be noticed by such a cute girl already, which Ruby scowls and pouts at because Weiss is nowhere close to cute.

"Oh, come on, Ruby, where else am I gonna find a girl willing to talk about me that isn't you two?" Pyrrha pops her head up.

The night before initiation and initiation itself go about the same, and Jaune now regrets not working on his "landing strategy". He was never good at it, and even now, he's still flying through the air like a dog toy. Y'know, the long arm and leg ones? Anyway, Jaune meets Pyrrha and he explains that he's still not used to this whole "being a huntsman" thing.

"Then why apply at all?"

"Well... I kinda have to." He explains. "When I was younger, my sisters and I were walking in woods, alone, and we ran into some Grimm. One of my sisters got hit and none of us had aura yet. I covered my little sister to protect her, but..." He shakes his head. "Yang's always been so headstrong, so she needs somebody to pull her back. And I didn't expect Ruby to get accepted, so now I have to protect her, too!" He sighs. "Sorry for dumping this on you. You probably think I'm worrying too much."

"No, no, I... I never had siblings myself, but I think I understand why you're here." She smiles. "I guess I'm lucky to have someone so kind as my partner." The two share a chuckle.

Jaune still manages to make the Deathstalker mad, gets flung, flies into Ruby, and manages to catch Weiss as she's falling, too. Jaune stresses about the Nevermore but decides to let Ruby and Yang take care of themselves while he and his partner deal with the Deathstalker.

The teams defeat their respective Grimm in about the same way as they did in canon.

"That's your sister?" Pyrrha asked. "She's very skilled, isn't she? Did you teach her to do all of that?"

"No." Jaune looks up to Ruby. "She did that all by herself."

As for your other two questions, I will say that Yang will still be her usual self, trying to do her balancing act between rough and tumble party girl and caring older sister. When she sees Jaune with his team, she admires how much her dorky twin grew into his own. And as for Weiss, well... I think that'll have to wait until next time.

#rwby #jaune xiao long au #rwby au #my thoughts #jaune arc #ruby rose #yang xiao long #pyrrha nikos #weiss schnee

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mysunfreckle · 1 year

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Why Brennan would have the Evil Stepmother eat her daughters:

(Step)mothers engaging in cannibalism is actually a rather common fairy tale trope!

We have now learned that Pinnochio’s stepmother was also Cinderella’s stepmother, and since Mirror Mirror (On the Wall) asked him to be brought back to Her, it’s likely that she was also Snow White’s stepmother.

While Cinderella’s stepmother (Grimm’s version) ‘only’ has her daughters mutilate their feet, she is in company that will do much worse:

In a Russian version of Cinderella called The Wonderful Birch, from the Red Fairy Book, a witch turns the heroine’s mother into a sheep and takes her place while having the sheep slaughtered and served up to her husband.

The stepmother from Grimm’s Little Snow-White doesn’t just order the huntsman to kill Snow-White, but to bring back her lungs and liver so she can eat them.

Joseph Jacobs’ Gold-Tree and Silver-Tree is similar to Snow White, only here it is a biological mother (like it was in Snow White before the Grimms edited it) and she pretends to be ill, saying only eating the heart and liver of her daughter will cure her.

In Perrault’s The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods, Sleeping Beauty’s mother-in-law is said to be an “ogress” and she wants Sleeping Beauty and her two young children cooked for supper. (Watch out for that Prince, Rosamund...)

In Grimm’s The Juniper Tree, a stepmother kills her stepson, cooks him into soup and serves it to his father. (Joseph Jacobs’ The Rose Tree is very similar, only the stepchild is a girl.)

Especially the implication that the Snow White-type stepmothers might eat their children out of jealous madness or to gain power, could very well be the inspiration to whatever horrible thing is going on in the Neverafter with the nameless Stepmother.

#dimension 20 #d20 neverafter #neverafter #neverafter spoilers #dimension 20 spoilers #cw child death #cw cannibalism #I started writing a post like this ages ago for my folklore blog #but it was such a bummer I scrapped it #useful after all #d20 meta #freckle folklore fretting

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tzviaariella · 6 months

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She comes in the clothes of your mother, her arms full of welcome, her smile full of teeth. My child, she calls you, my sweet one, my darling, but the words are smoke, stinking as they waft from the cheerful crematorium of her mouth.

Welcome her, dear child, your father tells you. This is my wife.

My wife, he says and not your mother. Your mother is dead. This woman is a stranger. But you are a good girl, everyone says so, and you desperately want to be loved. You unbar the door of your home, and as she enters, you gift her your smile.

Welcome home, you say.

The first day, she feeds you milk and sweet honey cake, stroking your hair as you sit to eat it. Such beautiful hair you have, everyone says so, thick and long like your mother's. Her fingers tangle in it, pulling. What a beauty you are, she says, smiling, and only you hear the gluttonous hunger in her praise. She is a wolf in the clothes of your mother, and her claws are caught in your hair. Such a beautiful child.

The second day, she feeds you bread. Slower, child, she chides you, laughing. Eat slower, or you'll choke. The idea seems to amuse her, this unmother, with her hungry eyes and her dead woman's clothes. You wonder what she sees when she looks at you. You know that you don't want to know.

The third day, she feeds you crumbs.

Perhaps she is a witch. Perhaps she is not. Either way, she is hungry. She devours every scrap of love in your house, licking the juice from her fingers and looking to you for more. She will eat you too, you realize, in spirit if not in fact. You have too much of your mother’s appearance, too much of your father’s love, too much that isn’t hers. She strips it from you with cold words and harsh labor, cracking open the bones of your joy to make her soup. Then she shares the soup with your father, and he, too, eats.

What's wrong? your father asks you. Ungrateful child, see how hard she works for you, how happy she makes me. Why are you so difficult? Don't you want your father to be happy? And he is, he is happy, that's the worst of it. You were not enough for him, but she is. He kisses her cheek, and she beams at him, her hands sharpening a knife—for the vegetables, child, for the meat, nothing more—

No one believes you.

You were dear once, but now you are a burden. You were a beauty, but now you wear rags. She gives you impossible tasks, and you complete them. You give her your obedience, then your silence, then your fear. Whatever you give her, it isn't enough. Lazy girl, sullen, ungrateful, underfoot –with these words, she makes you the stranger, until even your father sees you with poisoned eyes. When at last she sends you into the woods, he makes no protest. Neither do you. You are a good girl, everyone once said so, and perhaps the beasts won't kill you. Perhaps if you achieve this, she will love.

She won't, of course. Even there, her hunger pursues you: a huntsman's knife, a poisoned pool, the slow slaughter of a mazelike path. If she is a witch, her power transforms you. If she is not, you are equally lost. The brambles snatch at your ragged clothing, and the cold bites at your tender skin. She doesn't want you to return, you realize, not to her cottage, her palace, her inn. She has burned your home to cook a feast on the embers, and when she serves it to your father, she will fill no plate for you.

You lose your way first, and your hope after. Sometimes, you lose your life. But you do not lose your beauty, and that is what saves you. A man comes, a prince, with a hunger of his own—a gentler hunger, that tastes but does not consume. You startle at his kiss, distrustful, and he looks at you with pity in his eyes.

Come with me, dear one, your savior tells you. Be my wife.

You are a good girl, not a strong one, but there is power in being my wife. She herself has taught you that. You embrace your savior and thank him, weeping like the child you should still be. Then you take his hand and his offer, and together, you leave the beasts behind.

Perhaps she is punished. Perhaps she is not. Either way, she never leaves you. Her shadow is a cloak upon your back, a drape above your children’s cradles. As she gave you nothing, you give them too much. As she drove you out, you do not let them leave. Your teeth are not for tearing, but neither were your mother’s, and a wolf came for you all the same. You burn yourself beside their beds like a candle, but her shadow only grows. In every illness, every mishap, you feel claws in your hair, someone waiting to take what is yours.

What's wrong? your husband asks you. Silly woman, see how hard I work for you, how happy you make me. Why are you so difficult? Don't you want to be happy? And you do, you do want it, more than anything. You build a new family. You count your blessings. Like Orpheus, you try not to look back.

But in your dreams, a woman comes hungry—her arms full of welcome, her smile full of teeth:

My child, my sweet one, my darling.

Welcome home.

#my writing #folktales #fairy tales #poison apple zine #the wicked stepmother

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bestworstcase · 6 months

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hi it's me again this might be too much of an ask but do you think it would be possible to do a list of all the allusions that Salem is/has? not her own personal ones (rapunzel etc.) but the role she has in other people's stories (I ask because I made a joke to someone about hansel and gretel and went "hazel and gretchen" -> "salem is the witch to hazel's hansel in a world where neither hansel nor gretel survives" which also factors into the "gretchen is the spring maiden and died during Summer's Mission" theory in which case raven would be her witch) not just all the ones where she's The Witch (archetype) but also other antagonists or roles like the wolf to ruby and summer (wherein summer is both the grandmother and the woodcutter) or the fairy godmother to cinder if that's too much to ask of you I understand in which case I'll have to make a chart with my own red string and thumbtacks

um so basically:

<- this is how the story goes.

to break it down:

CORE ALLUSIONS.

in approximate order of importance, these are: maiden-in-the-tower tales, the marvelous land of oz, cinderella, and the little prince. structurally it isn't as complex as the above diagram makes it appear because the petrosinella -> persinette -> rapunzel -> petrosinella circle and the ozian narrative are the same narrative through different eyes. cinder and oscar are the proverbial twins and summer rose is important connective tissue gluing everything together.

maiden-in-the-tower: - salem is always the maiden - ozma is always the prince - the god of light is always the captor

petrosinella: - the og divine rebellion - failed bc dark sided with light

persinette: - the ozlem kingdom - ozma Left Her to escape the curse

rapunzel: - war for the relics - ozma is the blinded prince + the pilot - both are stranded in the desert - truth will rise etc etc leading to:

petrosinella, again: - the broken fairytale to be mended - the hound is the dog - cinder is the lion - summer is the wolf - "you saved yourself" <- the girl in the tower comes due

the marvelous land of oz: - ozma is ozma - ozpin is the wizard + tippetarius --> meaning he "chose" his curse - the god of light is mombi (cursed ozma) - salem is glinda (searching for ozma) - oscar is jack pumpkinhead (tip's "son" + existential dread) - summer rose is general jinjur (holding the emerald city) - qrow is the scarecrow (ruling in the wizard's absence) --> the scarecrow and jinjur fight over the crown - ironwood is nick chopper (emperor of winkie country) - lionheart is the soldier with green whiskers (coward, traitor) - raven is the woggle bug (=maiden of knowledge) --> mutters in silver wishing pill only the bug can use - mutters about silver eyes and mombi's rose - glinda forces mombi to tell the truth, free ozma, and then relinquish her magical power. hello

cinderella: - salem is the grave of her mother / the fairy godmother - summer is the stepmother (probably) - ruby and yang are the stepsisters - the crown...?

the little prince: - ozma is the pilot, see prev re: blind in the desert - oscar is the little prince - (ruby in V9 is also the little prince) - (summer is her rose; salem is the sheep)

MINOR / CHARACTER ALLUSIONS

hansel and gretel: - hazel is hansel, gretchen is gretel - salem is the witch - ozpin is the evil mother - gretchen dies in the woods under mysterious circumstances - hansel pushes the witch into the oven because it's what gretel would have done. laugh!

sherlock holmes: - watts is dr. watson (but evil) - salem is holmes (but evil) - mumbles. cinder is adler (outmaneuvers them both)

the scorpion and the...: - tyrian is the scorpion - "f. pickerel" is a frog - qrow is also a frog - salem is the turtle

little red riding hood: - ruby is little red - the Idea Of Summer Rose is the mother - the Real Summer is the big bad wolf + the huntsman - salem is the grandmother - witches can be right giants can be good etc - the key here is that the grandmother is the goal; ruby is trying to beat salem. the wolf is the obstacle; summer joined salem. the huntsman is the resolution; summer joined salem for a good reason.

book of job conspiracy theory: - salem is job - ozma + rwbyjnor is eliphaz et al - the god of light is the satan - the god of darkness is the deity

yeah

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sannes-reincarnation-saga · 17 days

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Chapter two: Ivar.

CW: Slaves in a medieval society, abuse,

The only thing keeping Ivar alive in this hellhole was his desperate desire to kill Katherine Blackthorne.

It was a freezing November night and Ivar knew he was supposed to die here, trapped in this narrow kennel in the middle of the castle's courtyard.

During the day, he was on perfect display, stripped of his clothes and dignity for the English to gawk at. But now, the night engulfed him in darkness as thick as the northern sea during a night dive.

Pain pulsed through Ivar’s legs. They twitched, unable to straighten in the cramped space.

The kennel's icy bars warmed as they pressed into his shins and he leaned his clammy forehead against them. They felt almost good against the burn of his fever.

His back must have gotten infected after the last whipping. The soiled hay in his kennel stuck to the dried blood on his back, irritating the crisscross of partly crusted wounds. Every twitch pulled his skin painfully, and he trembled violently in the frigid air.

Somewhere to his right, a heavy metal door slammed shut. The servants’'s entrance? It was too loud for a wooden door and not loud enough for a castle gate. But this late at night?

A pair of heavy steps rushed towards the courtyard, joined by a couple lighter ones. Nervous whispers echoed through the cloister walk as they drew near.

“Does Lady Blackthorne know of this?” asked an older maid. Ivar strained to listen. Nothing ever happened in Blackthorn castle without the bitch’tes knowledge. And explicit permission.

“Not yet,” came the gruff reply.

“But- you can’t bring a stranger inside! Who even is this girl? Oh gods, what if she's a witch?”

“Doubtful. Found her out in the woods, totally out of it.”

“But- The woods? At this time? A girl shouldn’t be in the woods at night. And why- why is she naked?” The woman's voice pitched high within discomfort on the last question.

“Dunno. Should I have left her to freeze to death?”

“No! But- but I have nothing to do with this, you hear. Nothing.”

A lone lantern flame cast their long shadows onto the courtyard as they rounded a corner. Hissing, Ivar shifted onto his side to see them set foot on the wet cobblestones. They glittered in the light.

The head of housemaids hurried ahead, head turning hectic on her long neck to spot any possible witnesses lurking in the dark. Her bonnet sat askew on graying brown hair, thrown on in a rush no doubt, but her black servants dress fell straight down to her ankles, the dark linen pristine and bar any wrinkles. In stark contrast to the bulky, mud smeared appearance of the huntsman following her.

His boots and leather trousers were crusted in late autumn slush. A thick scarf and hat obscured half his face. Only his frostbitten red nose and grim eyes were visible, looking down at the person he carried bundled in his coat.

“By the gods, did you hear that?” Ivar could see the woman's face now, her sharp features drawn tight in displeasure. Her thin lips pursed as she spat out: “I think that Norse pig is awake.”

The huntsman didn’t answer. Instead he wrapped his brown leather coat tighter around the unconscious girl in his arms. Pale, dangling legs and a shock of blond hair stuck out of it.

“How can you be this calm?” The woman spat, black skirt swishing as she faced him. “What if he rats us out for some extra food?”

The huntsman's bushy brows furrowed. “The Norse are too proud to bargain for food scraps.”

Ivars dry lips cracked in a smile, when a sudden burst of wind whipped across the courtyard, its howl drowning out the servants' protests and extinguishing the lantern flame. When it hit him, his black salt-sweaty hair blew into his gray eyes, hay flying everywhere.

“A bad omen,” hissed the maid. Cloth rustled and a match scraped against a matchbox’s striking strip. Once. Twice. “I tell you all this is a bad omen.” It lit with a crackling sizzle.

The wind carried a smell that sent goosebumps down Ivar’s back.

The stench of angels.

The sweet decay of death hit him like a battering ram, catapulting his thoughts to abandoned battlefields full of angels sprouting from the ground, decomposing the corpses of his comrades.

Why would the huntsman haul an angel touched corpse from the woods? Ivar wondered, swallowing down bile.

After some fumbling the maid’s lantern flickered back to life and Ivar noticed the small puffs of warm breath escaping from the unconscious girl. So she wasn’t dead?

A draugr perhaps? No, Ivar doubted it. Never would the huntsman make such a mistake.

But angels only took the living. And never let go of the dead.

Whatever this girl was, a living corpse or a human, Ivar knew at least one thing for sure:

She was an unplanned disturbance in Katherine’s meticulously run machinery of a castle.

And during war, disturbances meant chances.

Ivar curled up in his frigid kennel, back burning at the stretch. For the first time since his capture, he smiled.

Taglist:

@ashintheairlikesnow @vickytokio @newbornwhumperfly @kira-the-whump-enthusiast @whump-for-all-and-all-for-whump @studyofwhump @dragyouthroughthewhump @studyofwhump @secretwhumplair @whump-queen @whump-captain

#isekai #dark fantasy #fantasy #isekai manga #light novel #manga #manga art #whump #viking whumpee #medival fantasy

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grandmother-goblin · 3 months

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Granny's BG3 Tavs!

I wanted to make a post showing off my Tavs because I have a couple that I love!

Name: Casynia "Cas" Lichenwind Race: Wood Elf Class: Ranger (Hunter) Romance: Astarion Core Personality: Pragmatic, protective, caring, quick-tempered, empathetic, aloof. Mini-Backstory: Cas is the little sister of a very famous monster hunter known as the Huntsman of Neverwinter. When she's not assisting her older bother with his work, she works as an illustrator and researcher for manuals and scientific journals.

Name: Zilvira Race: Seldarine Drow Class: Monk (Way of the Open Hand) Romance: Halsin Core Personality: Kind, open-minded, innocent, naive, friendly, outgoing. Mini-Backstory: Zilvira lived in sheltered life in a monastery dedicated to Eldath, goddess of peace and calm waters. She knows she was born in Menzoberranzan, but she has no idea who her parents are or why she was given to the monks. She doesn't really care either, she just wants to live a life she's proud of and make friends.

Name: Sarana Copperhill (affectionately known as "the Githyanki Bimbo") Race: Githyanki Class: Paladin (Oath of the Ancients) Romance: Gale Core Personality: Optimistic, clueless, kind-hearted, loyal, forgetful, honest. Mini-Backstory: Sarana wandered away from her creche as a toddler and was found on a country road by a wealthy halfling couple, who adopted her when they couldn't find the creche. She is very close to her family, went to fancy schools (and didn't pay attention), and is generally a spoiled rich girl.

#bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #grandmother goblin grumbles #bg3 tav #cas the ranger #zilvira the drow #the githyanki bimbo

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aspoonofsugar · 1 year

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Yang's Goldilocks is Beautiful

Scathing eyes ask that we be symmetrical, one sided and easily processed. Yet every misshapen spark's unseen beauty is greater than its would be judgement.

The Yellow Trailer - like all trailers - foreshadows Yang's arc on multiple levels and it gives some hints on how our Sunny Little Dragon's allusion is used in her story.

To be more specific, Yang's trailer can be read in 2 ways:

The Yellow Trailer is Goldilocks and the Three Bears in a nutshell: Yang enters the Bears' turf (their house), asks about Raven and then trashes the place. She fights 3 opponents: the Malachite twins (red and blue, so too hot and too cold) and Junior (The Baby Bear). After all the ruckus, Yang simply jumps from a window and disappears, like her literary counterpart.

The Yellow Trailer also contains a super condensed version of Snowhite and Red Rose: The Malachite Twins play Snowhite and Red Rose, a pair of sisters that befriend a Bear. The Malachites use discarded designs of Weiss and Ruby and fight side by side with Junior, whose name means Black Bear. Their fairy tale should end with the Bear becoming a Prince with a Golden Armor. However, here comes Yang to take central stage. She plays the part of the Golden Prince herself and defeats the bear-curse (Junior). In other words, she enters the Malachites' story and makes it hers.

These 2 readings are complementary and offer 2 interpretative keys to Yang's allusion. The first is rooted in Goldilocks' plot and gives us the recurring motifs of Yang's arc. It helps us understand where we currently are in Yang's fairy tale and how much we still have to cover. The second instead adds a meta-element that gives Yang's Goldilocks an even deeper meaning.

Here comes the 2 reading clues:

Yang's Goldilocks motifs are the too hot/too cold (the Malachites Twins) and the Baby Bear/Just Right (Junior). To be clear: to reach her just right Yang has to go through her hot/cold sides and face her inner beast (the Baby Bear), so that she can emerge as a Golden Prince.

Goldilocks enters a strangers' house and tries to fit in. Well, Yang does the same, but with others' fairy tales instead. This is why her trailer is the only one with 2 fairy tales instead than 1.

You aren't convinced by this last point, are you? And yet, it is a very easy point to prove. Let's consider, for example, Yang's flashback in Burning the Candle:

Yang: I waited for Dad to leave the house, put Ruby in a wagon, and headed out. I must’ve walked for hours. I had cuts and bruises, I was totally exhausted, but I wasn’t gonna let anything stop me. When we finally got there, I could barely stand, but I didn’t care; I had made it. And then I saw them. Those burning red eyes…

This memory is clearly key to Yang's character to the point it can be considered the beginning of her story. So, it is no surprise it has some similarities with her fairy tale. A rebellious little girl wanders in the woods and finds a mysterious wooden house. The child hopes she will find a place for her there, but she discovers soon it is home to 3 scary beasts.

However, something feels odd. For starters, the 3 Grimms Yang meets are not Ursai, as one would expect, but Beowolves. Secondly, Yang does not run away, like in Goldilocks, but is saved by her Uncle Qrow, a model Huntsman. So, Yang disobeys Tai and goes alone into the woods, she is almost eaten by Beowolves and is saved by a Huntsman. This isn't Goldilocks and The Three Bears. This is Little Red Riding Hood.

Wait, what? What does this all mean? Let's start from the very beginning...

ONCE UPON A TIME THERE WAS LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD...

Once upon a time, there was Summer Rose's daughter. She lived happily with her little sister and was protected from evil beasts, be them wolves or bears alike. Then, something bad happened:

Yang: Her name was Summer Rose, and she was, like… Super-Mom: Baker of cookies and slayer of giant monsters. And then… one day she left for a mission and never came back.

Summer disappears and is revealed not to be Yang's biological mother. This is a double-layered trauma. On the one hand Summer not coming home triggers Yang's abandonement issues. On the other hand the discovery of Raven's existence just make them worse. Not 1, but 2 moms left Yang. Then, it must be Yang's fault. By the time of her expedition into the woods, Yang is clearly facing these very complex and painful emotions, that get metaphorically explored through a short version of Little Red Riding Hood. Let's analyze it, by considering these 3 elements:

The Mother Yang is looking for

Ruby - the real LRRH - being with Yang

The Big Bad Wolves Yang meets

1 - Who is Yang really looking for? She is searching for Raven, but unconsciously she wants to know why Summer left. This is why the scenario resembles LRRH more than Goldilocks. Yang is a child that has just lost her mother twice - both physically and psychologically.

In her mind, this double loss materializes in the form of 2 distinctive mothers: Summer who is missing and Raven who is tormenting Yang's mind. Yang's reaction is to go hunting for both.

2 - Yang puts a sleeping Ruby on a wagon and starts her journey. The scene describes how Summer's grief was handled in Yang's family:

Yang: Ruby was really torn up, but… I think she was still too young to really get what was going on, y'know? And my dad just kind of… shut down.

Tai is absent because he shut down, Ruby is unconscious because too little to understand what's happening (or so Yang thinks) and Yang starts her lonely pursue while trying to take care of her sister.

3 - Yang meets 3 Bewolves with burning red eyes. Here is where Little Red Riding Hood starts blending with Goldilocks and The Three Bears. Hood meets only 1 wolf (2 at most in some versions), while Yang meets 3 at the same time. 3 like the bears of her fairy tale.

At the same time, the motif of the eyes is very dear to LRRH:

"Oh, grandmother, what big eyes you have!"

However, the idea of 3 beasts seizing you up as different and unwelcomed is really Goldilocks-like. In the original story, the 3 bears find Goldilocks in their house and immediately condemn her behavior and attack her. She is a stranger, an outsider. She shouldn't be there. She brings chaos in their symmetrical world:

Scathing eyes (scathing eyes) That see things from only one side

So, the wolves' scary eyes become the bears' judgemental ones and Little Red Riding Hood is degraded into Goldilocks.

Wait, why degraded? I have nothing against Goldilocks, but it is often considered an imperfect fairy tale with no beginning nor conclusion. Where does Goldilocks come from and where does she go after the 3 Bears? There is no answer.

Goldilocks lacks an objective and a drive:

Yang: At least you two have something that drives you. I've just kinda of always, gone with the flow, y'know? And that's fine, I mean, that's who I am. I wanna be a Huntress, not really because I want to be a hero, but because I want the adventure. I want a life where I won't know what tomorrow will bring. And that'll be a good thing. Being a Huntress just happens to line up with that.

She is not like Little Red Riding Hood:

Yang: I'm not like Ruby, she's always wanted to be a Huntress. It's like she said, ever since she was a kid, she'd dreamt about being the heroes in the books. Helping people and saving the day, and never asking for anything else in return. Even when she couldn't fight, she knew that's what she wanted to do. That's why she trained so hard to get where she is today.

Yang's transformation into Goldilocks, then perfectly describes our girl's interiority and self-perception. She feels wrong, incomplete and asymmetrical. She isn't Summer's daughter, but Raven's. She isn't Little Red Riding Hood, but Goldilocks. The flashback in Burning the Candle simply gives an origin and an explanation to this unconscious feeling of inadequacy:

Yang: There we were: A toddler sleeping in the back of a wagon and a stupid girl too exhausted to even cry for help. We might as well have been served on a silver platter.

Yang is almost responsible for Ruby's death. This is why the red eyes imagery appears and sticks with Yang from here on out. After all, nobody thinks of Yang as unfitting or different, but Yang herself:

She is at the same time Goldilocks and the Bears judging her.

HERE COMES GOLDILOCKS!

Goldilocks and the Three Bears makes up the meat of Yang's story. Once again, the Yellow Trailer tells us how to interpret this fairy tale. There Yang is looking for Raven, but finds 3 downgraded versions of her teammates. The Malachites are Ruby and Weiss (Red Rose and Snowhite), while Junior is a Black Beast, just like Blake. This brings 2 considerations:

Whenever Yang fails to find Raven, she discovers one of her teammates instead. In the Yellow Trailer, Yang finds Ruby. At the Branwen Camp, she meets Weiss. When Raven runs away at the end of the Haven Battle, there is Blake waiting for Yang.

Ruby, Weiss and Blake are respectively the too hot (red), too cold (blue) and just right (red + blue = purple) of Yang's fairy tale.

Let's explore these patterns up until now, with a special focus on the Mistral Arc.

YANG AND RAVEN: TOO COLD, TOO HOT AND NEVER RIGHT

So far, Yang has tried to find Raven 3 times, which can be seen as a set of too cold, too hot and just right.

Too cold - As a child, Yang goes alone into the woods, but she is too weak to fight the Grimms waiting for her. She can only stare back frozen in fear.

Too hot - In the Yellow Trailer, Yang has grown strong enough. A douchebag flirts with her? She catches fire and punches him in the face. However, she still lacks knowledge of Raven's whereabouts.

Strength and Knowledge are the 2 ideas Raven has built her whole persona around:

Cinder: You know, I've heard so many stories about you, Raven. They say you're a cunning leader, that you're strong, that you're clever.

This is why Yang too has to prove she is strong and clever enough to find her mom. Third time is the charm and, as the gas station called Just Rite lets us know, things are finally just right for Yang and Raven to meet.

Just right:

Shay: Seriously. Not too bulky. Not too lean. You're… Yang: Just right. Yup. Like I said, I'm good.

Everything looks perfect, doesn't it? After being told twice she is too young:

Junior: Aren't you a little young to be in this club, Blondie?

Just Rite Bartender: Aren't you a little young to be drinking?

Yang is welcomed by her mom, who is ready to tell her all the truths adults have been hiding:

Raven: But I must admit that you've proven yourself. So any questions you have I'll be happy to answer.

After the Strawberry Sunrise of the trailer (too fancy) and the water bottle of the gas station (too plain), Raven offers her tea (just right), adding she likes it hot (just like Yang herself). And yet:

Yang refuses Raven's cup and chooses to leave her mom just after finding her.

Why is that so?

There are 2 thematic reasons. The 1st is about Yang and Raven's foiling, while the 2nd ties with Goldilocks and the Three Bears in general.

1 - Yang is too selfless, while Raven is too selfish

Let's compare these 2 scenes:

Raven: I'm giving you a choice. Stay here, with me, and I'll answer all your questions and more. We can have a fresh start. Or…you can go back to Qrow and join Ozpin's impossible war against Salem, and meet the same fate as so many others.

Yang: Because you're afraid of Salem!!! And if you thought having Maiden powers put a target on your back, imagine what she'll do when she finds out you have a Relic. She'll come after you with everything she has. Or she can come after me.

Yang and Raven are offered a choice. Yang must choose between Raven and Ruby. Raven between herself and Yang. Yang chooses her little sister and puts Ruby's safety before her own wishes. Raven instead chooses to survive even if it means Yang may die.

The end result is apparently the same. Both Yang and Raven leave through a window (a portal), like Goldilocks. However, their choices reveal 2 very different takes on the character. To be more specific, Raven plays the Little Old Woman to Yang's Goldilocks.

Goldilocks and the Three Bears is, in fact, a recent rewriting of an old fable, where a Little Old Woman enters the Bears's house to steal their food. In this version, the intruder isn't painted as a charming beautiful child, but as a greedy burglar only interested in stealing from the Bears. This fits Raven, a bandit who attacks towns and leaves them an easy prey for Grimms.

At the same time, Goldilocks' fairy tale may be the evolution of the Little Old Woman's fable, but it is not the same story. Similarly, Yang is Raven's daughter, but she isn't like her mother:

Yang: I'm not like you. I won't run.

Yang decides to write a brand new version of the story, which doesn't follow Raven's narrative. She chooses to become a Goldilocks that doesn't run. Not a Goldilocks who steals out of selfishness, but one who steps in out of selflessness.

2- Goldilocks and the Three Bears has no fairy-tale ending:

Yang: All of this endless death, because something bad happened to you once upon a time?! Nobody gets a fairy-tale ending!

Goldilocks runs away in the woods and doesn't have to face consequences for her behaviour. Similarly, the Bears do not really have to solve the mystery of this strange intruder. Who is the child? Where does she come from? They don't know and they don't care.

Goldilocks is ultimately a story of characters that run away from difficult things. In this way, though, they do not evolve and there is no proper closure. The central problem of Goldilocks's identity and of where she fits is left unsolved. Ironically, the famous "just right" is never found:

This time it was neither too hot nor too cold. It was just right and so delicious that she ate it all up. But she was too heavy for the little chair and it broke in pieces under her weight.

Even when the porridge tastes good, the chair breaks and Goldilocks falls.

The same goes for Yang and Raven in volume 5. Yang initially struggles to see Raven in her complexity (like the Bears), while Raven eventually runs away (like Goldilocks).

Most importantly, though, they both get a chance to choose the other, but don't. So, even if both heartbroken, they never find their "just right".

TEAM RWBY: HOT, COLD, JUST RIGHT

Ruby, Weiss and Blake are Yang's hot, cold and just right. This doesn't mean Ruby and Weiss are "wrong" for Yang, though. In reality, all 3 girls are necessary for Yang's arc, starting with her recovery after the Fall of Beacon.

Ruby is too hot: in volume 4 Yang is defeated and depressed. Her inner fire is out, which is why her hair (her flames) is in a pony-tail, restricted. For better or worse, Ruby is the reason why Yang pulls herself back together. The determination to find and protect her little sister is enough to fire Yang up and to start her recovery. This is also why the song Ignite focuses specifically on Yang jumping in the fray to protect Ruby (her family):

Usually I devastate This time, might annihilate Any minute now You're gonna rue our meeting Messing with my family Means that soon you're history The moments of your life are fleeting

Weiss is too cold: in volume 5 Yang deals with a lot of inner turmoil and is very easy to trigger. Be it Raven or Blake, her eyes are quick to turn red with anger. The one who manages to cool Yang down is Weiss. She is at Yang's side at the camp and checks on her well being several times. Later on, she is the one that helps Yang see things from a different perspective when it comes to Blake:

Weiss: You're right though. I don't know loneliness like you do. I have my own version. And, I'll bet Blake has her own version too.

Blake is the just right: Yang's journey in Mistral leads her to Blake. She has to face her demons, overcome Raven and reach her inner "just right" (balance) to find Blake once again. At the same time, Blake herself spells out what the "just right" is in volume 6.

Not too hot:

Blake: Hey, I'm not leaving. And if we ever see him again, I promise I'll be there. And I'll protect you. Yang: What? Blake: What? Yang: Forget it. Let's just head back.

Not too cold:

Adam: Heh, do you really believe that? Or are you just trying to scare me away so you won't have to die trying to protect her?

Just right:

Blake: She's not protecting me, Adam. And I'm not protecting her. We're protecting each other.

Ruby gives Yang love, warmth and inspiration, even after Summer's disappearance. Weiss cools Yang off and teaches her empathy better than Raven. Blake is ready to accept Yang in all her vulnerability and strength. Her teammates are the place Yang belongs to. Three people that have welcomed Yang. Three kind bears.

IS THE MISTRAL ARC'S "JUST RIGHT"... JUST RIGHT?

Yang's arc up until now has been the search for the "just right" both inside and outside.

Inside: Yang has learnt not to rely on her Semblance too much. After all, Burn is nothing, but a metaphorical representation of the "too hot" of her fairy tale. This is why Yang has had to reduce its use in order to find her just right. On a deeper level, she has had to face her anger towards Raven and Blake to see her 2 loved ones clearly, in all their contradictions. She has had to tone her emotions down, so that she could let go of her interiorized "scathing eyes".

Outside: she has restored her bonds with her teammates that right now are stronger than ever. In particular, her relationship with Blake has been progressing and, after Adam, they have grown even closer.

So, is everything done? Can Yang reach her happy ending provided that Salem doesn't destroy the world? Obviously, the answer is "not yet".

On the one hand it is clear Raven is bound to come back into the story, so that she and Yang can have some kind of closure. On the other hand Blake's resolution to stand beside Yang no matter what is beautiful, but has not really been tested, so far.

By this, I mean that Bumbleby's focus in the Mistral Arc has mostly seen Yang be there for Blake and help her complete her arc through defeating Adam. Sure, this has been an important development for Yang as well, but Blake has been interestingly absent from Yang's personal subplots, that have instead seen a major involvement by Ruby and Weiss. I wouldn't be surprised if this tendency were to be changed towards the end.

Let's briefly consider the 2 instances where Yang's Goldilocks has been alluded to directly: the Yellow Trailer and the Just Rite scene. The 2 situations are clear paralles. Yang is looking for Raven and she wants something to drink. However, there is a difference:

Yang: Strawberry Sunrise. No ice. Oh, and one of those little umbrellas.

Yang: A water. It's hot out.

The meaning is clear. In both situations Yang wants to find Raven, but the first one is the "too hot" (no ice) and it ends with Yang meeting Ruby, while the second is the "too cold" (water to cool down) and it ends with Yang meeting Weiss.

So, there might still be a "just right" scene in the future that involves Raven and Blake. If this is the case, it may offer proper closure to Yang and Raven's mother-daughter's relationship.

Blake may play a part in this by assisting Yang. Alternatively, she might support Yang when she faces the true issue at the root of her struggle: Summer Rose, LRRH's mother.

After all, Yang's story starts with Summer's disappearance, so it only makes sense that it ends with her return. She left as LRRH's mother and is probably going to come back as the Big Bad Wolf in some form, at least in Ruby's story. What about Yang, though? She isn't Little Red Riding Hood, so which form is Summer gonna take in her story? Well, she may very well be the Cursed Rose that brings out Yang's inner Beast.

... AND THEN THE BEAUTY AND THE BEAST LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER

Blake and Yang are each others' Beauty and the Beast. Blake's name can mean both black and white, so she is both shadow (beast) and light (beauty). She is the Beast that looks for redemption and the Beauty that temporary leaves the Beast.

What about Yang?

She too is Beauty and Beast, with her duality easily found in her fairy tale. She is a beauty that burns (Goldilocks) and a wounded beast (the Baby Bear). In this way, RWBY solves the mystery behind the character of Goldilocks. Who is Goldilocks? Just another story's Baby Bear, a child whose place in the world has been threatened. A child who has been looking where to fit since then.

Luckily for Yang, Blake is ready to take her in. When her inner beast, which is nothing, but her vulnerability, comes out, Blake will accept it and welcome her in their shared "happy ending". After all, Blake's fairy tale is the opposite of Yang's. Goldilocks has no resolution, while Beauty & Beast has a "happily ever after" that needs 2 people to be meaningful. This is why meta-narratively, Yang looks for a fairy-tale that can fit her, while Blake wants someone that can complete her story. This is why they are perfect for each other. Together, they make a tale as old as time. As old as the very beginning of our story:

Black the beast descends from shadows. Yellow beauty burns gold.

YELLOW BEAUTY BURNS GOLD

Yang's presentation line in Red Like Roses foreshadows her happy ending with Blake. Still, there is another deeper meaning to it, which is probably going to be the main theme of Yang's arc.

First of all, Yang is built on the idea of "hot". Our pun-loving girl is herself a pun on "hotness":

You're standing too close to a flame that's burning Hotter than the sun in the middle of July

She is introduced as an eye-candy hot girl. Then she is revealed as a ruthless and hot-blooded fighter. This is the dualism Ember Celica is built on: they appear as a pair of bracelets that transform into explosive gauntlets. Is that the root of Yang's character? There is more, which becomes clear the moment Yang loses an arm and becomes "asymmetrical".

What does Yang's "asymmetry" stands for? Once you think at her fairy tale and semblance, it becomes clear: Yang is "too hot". This is why she loses her arm, as well. She explodes in flames when she should have stayed cool, and loses a part of herself as a result. This is why her development is essentially... "her cooling down".

This process is shown also through her Semblance. When Yang uses Burn, her hair catches fire and her eyes go from purple to red. The symbolism is clear: she is usually the "just right" (purple), but her semblance makes her "too hot" (red). Her own semblance is a metaphor for Yang's inner asymmetry and unbalance. This is why she is the only one among her friends that has had to reduce the use of her semblance, instead of developing it.

Still, Semblances represent who people are, for better or worse. This is why a development that ends with a character simply repressing their Semblance is not gonna work. Burn will most likely evolve and affirm itself again in all its "hotness", in all its beauty:

Neon Katt: Ooh! Flashy eyes! Y'know, you're actually kinda pretty when you're angry.

When Yang uses her semblance she is beautiful. That is not just a physical attribute, but a thematic statement. There is beauty in Yang taking in the trauma and using it to grow stronger and protect her loved ones. There is beauty in her showing her emotions instead of keeping them hidden. Sure, she must pay attention not to "burn out" nor to let anger blind her. Still, there is value in her asymmetrical "too hot".

And here comes the final twist on Yang's fairy tale. Goldilocks and The Three Bears is a story that celebrates the "just right", but never finds it. Yang's story has her discover the "just right" does not really exist and that in itself is good. Because there are not "just right" people and then the rest. Everyone is asymmetrical and complex. Weiss seems cold, but has a lot of warmth inside. Ruby is Yang's little sister, but also her competent leader. Blake runs away, but she is also braver than anyone else. Raven and Tai's relationship may be hot/cold, but it still generated Yang, who is the "just right" (her purple eyes mix Raven's red and Tai's blue).

As a child (Goldilocks), Yang feels she doesn't fit, but as an adult (Blake's Burning Beauty) she realizes it is okay not to fit. After all, she is beautiful (hot) precisely because she burns gold:

Crash and burn (crash and burn) Some lessons are just hard to learn Scathing eyes (scathing eyes) That see things from only one side Yet every misshapen spark Suffers the judgment and pain But just as light conquers dark There's a beauty that's greater Than pure symmetry can contain So let's start the game!

Yang is the "too hot" of her fairy-tale and that in itself is "just right".

#rwby #yang xiao long #raven branwen #blake belladonna #bumbleby #rwby meta #rwby theory #my meta #once upon an allusion

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