#vacuo arc

[montycheck]

Who named you bro

[hyperfixation-hideout]

For context:

In The Little Prince (which it’s safe to say is one of Oscar’s main allusions along with Dorothy and Princess Ozma/Tip), he finds himself trapped in a desert with no way to get back to his rose, and meets a snake. The snake tempts him, promising one venomous bite from him would send him to the heavens and he wouldn’t have to be in this world. This is a trick of course, as he phrases it to imply not death, but more like teleportation back to his home planet. The snake decides the boy is too pure and innocent to kill, however. The Prince ignores him at first, but his loneliness and heartache drives him to plot with the snake to return to his rose, and he allows the snake to bite him. He falls to the sand, unconscious. The narrator never finds his body, and is happy, assuming he made it back home. RWBY loves to pull twists, and hmmm what sort of POISONOUS desert creature could be in VACUO right now? Who might have a reason/orders to target Oscar specifically?

Looking at the night sky, the thing that keeps the prince hopeful in the desert is knowing that somewhere out there amongst the stars is the rose he loves, and that they will one day reunite. The stars are beautiful because his rose is somewhere within them. He soon is told that flowers are “ephemeral” and as such can be gone at any moment, killed in one bite by any passing sheep, and he has a breakdown realizing his rose could die despite all her thorns, could already be dead, and therefore the stars, to him, were dead also. He breaks down crying and yelling at the old man (narrator) for considering the mortality of flowers to be unimportant. The man tries to console him, but cannot find the words, not knowing “how I could reach him, how I could overtake him and go on hand in hand with him once more.” So he simply holds him as he sobs. “It is such a secret place, the land of tears.”

Soon after, the prince comes across a rose garden with thousands of roses just like his, and he is hurt that his rose lied to him about being the only flower of her kind in the universe. But his friend, the wise Fox he met along the way, tells him that it is the time and care he has given his rose that makes her so special. That when you “tame,” aka establish ties with someone, like the prince had with the Fox, you become for one another unique in all the world. But it also leads to longing and weeping when apart. It’s a lesson about friendship and bonds that once the prince understands, says, “There is a rose... I think that she has tamed me.” He then tells the narrator that what some try to find by planting a garden with a thousand roses can be found in a single rose and a handful of water.

OH I JUST REALIZED: the Fox is the one who says the famous quote, “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.” Hm, a wise Fox who speaks of the blindness of eyes? In the desert? 

There’s a line said by the prince, “What makes the desert beautiful is that somewhere, there is a well.” so maybe they’ll find a well or the Vacuo oasis or something of the sort.

He also calls out to a barren landscape, hoping to hear a voice call back, and upon hearing his echo, assumes he is talking with another person who isn’t himself, but can only repeat what he hears. But the voice he hears is only his own. Is it lonely, after the merge? To call out to a barren landscape and find it is only you who remains? Only the echo of yourself you mistake for company?

So uh Oscar having a mental breakdown in Vacuo, anyone? (We are ignoring that the Prince basically chose to die in the desert out of loneliness)

[greenteaandtattoos]

I'm surprised that Oscar hasn't picked up Oz's habit of drinking copious amounts of hot cocoa yet. But when he does:

Oscar: "I'm feeling really depressed that I couldn't save the people who fell. I... wish Ruby was here. Things would be easier."

Ozpin: "Hot cocoa."

Oscar: "What? No! We're in the middle of a scorching desert. I'm not drinking a hot beverage. That is a horrible idea."

Ozpin: "Hot cocoa."

[lyteupthelyfe]

holy shit i might’ve had either the worst take or an incredible big brain theory moment: (long post)

The Summer Maiden is going to be a child.

tbf, this does make one assumption about v9, but that’s ok.

So, “Wait”, you say, “Lyte, isn’t it impossible for a child to be a maiden?” and I say yes, so far, but;

We’re finding out something big, something new, some plot-changing development in V9–why would they have ended up on the island in the first place? I think a part of that may be discovering a truth about aura, semblances and souls.

And maybe, we’ll find out how souls are made and born—and if “old souls” could exist in young bodies. If this is the case, then, perhaps, an “old soul” could have found its way into a child, and the child was in the Final Thoughts, and to everyone around them, inexplicably gained the Maiden powers. By being an old soul, wise beyond her years (think perhaps Aanya from tdp), she’s eligible—maybe even snarky and childlike and innocent. And, with Raven being a mother, Fria the crone and Cinder the maiden (all with their own little juxtapositions and subversions, but I won’t go into that here), a child wiser yet snarkier than the bunch is a perfect fit. Even better if the change to Child!SummerMaiden happened after Ozpin died—this would be a complete shock to him.

And this is what makes me think it could happen: narratively, Summer being a child contrasts and stands in defiance to many things. First, a precious, young child, being the key to the Sword of Destruction? I think that’d be the most painfully dissonant things in remnant. Second, and more importantly, Salem’s goal is to unite the relics and destroy the world, RWBY + co.’s is to prevent that. Either way this would require the securing and reducing of a child to a geopolitical pawn—a scenario likely quite morally confronting to RWBY + co. Beyond that, if Summer doesn’t trust Salem or Cinder, and isn’t cooperative, the only way for Cinder to secure the powers is you-know-what.

Except this is a child—a young girl—with magic. As @greenteaandtattoos and I’m sure many others have pointed out before, the evidence is there for Salem to still deeply and profoundly care and mourn for her own daughters. This could be a very knife’s-edge situation—Salem knows she won’t win without the relics, but standing between her and victory is a child not unlike her own. In terms of how villainous Cinder and Salem truly are or aren’t—how manipulative and abusive and lying they are or aren’t—this scenario would prove exactly that while plunging into the depths of their psyches and what they think is worth their world.

V8 explored Ironwood’s decision-making or lack thereof in him attempting increasingly immoral things for what he saw as his goal, as the right thing to do.

But this time, with Child!SummerMaiden, these absolute decisions lie with RWBYJN, OLVE, Cinder, Salem, Theodore, perhaps even CFVY and SSSNN too. What can, should, ought be done when they’re faced with a child as the Summer Maiden?

So in the summer maiden being a child, both sides of this conflict would be forced to consider just what, exactly, they’re fighting for, and for them to quantify the lengths and measures and costs they’re willing to take and pay for success. It’s something that RWBY’s group has struggled to do—a point that came to a head in even the V8 OP; “sometimes it’s worth it all to risk the fall and fight for every life”—and something Salem has arguably done too much, too recklessly, even.

Summer being a child forces this to be observed—is Schrödinger’s cat dead or alive?—and almost immediate action to be taken. It in and of itself drives conflict, drives emotion, drives character and drives choices, and could very well tear RWBY and co and Cinder and Salem apart. Think of that—the child Maiden of Destruction destroying both sides of this war by simply existing.

So if this is indeed the case, then I firmly believe that this child could make of break the world and future of remnant.

And I believe that would be painfully and achingly poetic, scarringly beautiful, and horrifyingly tragic.

- ignore tags -

[catsvrsdogscatswin]

Its been a while and a half since I read the RWBY light novels, but since we’re creeping up on the Vacuo arc I’d like to talk about the Headmasters and how they fucked up, in anticipation of Headmaster Theodore (hopefully!) coming on screen for the very first time.

First off, Theodore is pretty much confirmed to be a reference to Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. Which is fine, carries the thematic idea that all the members of Ozpin’s inner circle are Oz references. Its cool. Its fine. 

But the thing is, all the headmasters so far have succumbed to the hamartia of their character allusion. Hamartia is a Greek theater word, and basically means “the character flaw that will turn this whole thing into a fatal tragedy.” For Ozpin, it was him hiding the truth behind a curtain and manipulating people like a stage magician that A) arguably got him killed in the first place and B) made the gang lose trust in him during a critical period. For Lionheart, it was fear --he wasn’t the Cowardly Lion who realized he was brave all along with a little placebo-nudging from the Wizard, he was a real coward whose fearful actions and submission to Salem led to his death. For Ironwood, he wasn’t the Tin Woodsman who treated all creatures and all life with extra care to make up for the fact he didn’t have a real heart anymore, he built walls and strangled his heart because he thought it would be like armor, that not-feeling would keep him safe and strong, and that led to him making fatal errors that led to his death.

So Theodore. Dorothy. What would his fatal flaw be? What’s the hamartia of a happy-go-lucky heroine trotting her way across the magical land of Oz?

I think it might be another reversal of the allusion’s character traits. Vacuo is isolationist, and with arguably good reason, since it was exploited, stripped of its resources, and then left by the wayside by the rest of the kingdoms. People in Vacuo are touchy about their home or their background being considered inferior, especially by comparison with the other kingdoms. Theodore calls the other headmasters reckless, and his actions in the books are very cautious, almost refusing point-blank to engage with the Crown in case it was a trap or misdirection of Salem’s. 

So what if Theodore’s fatal flaw is that he isn’t into traveling, seeing the rest of the world? What if instead of open and ready to learn, he’s closed-off, focused entirely on protecting what he considers his and ignoring the bigger picture?

I guess we’ll find out in V9!

[lesbiancinderfall]

did a couple Vacuo designs for Ruby and Yang :) I’m planning on doing some for Weiss and Blake too at some point but I haven’t posted in a while so here they are!

[andyann1399]

So technically it should be close to a new school semester/year in Shade Academy...

And the heroes are bringing Atlesians in Vacuo... including students who might want to continue their studies.

Theodore and Rumpole when they see all the papers of enrollment, people to put in an already overflowed academy PLUS preparation of new Initiation

[help-i-need-a-cool-username]

Me: i honestly really think that either Tai or Raven will be joining the gang during the Vacuo Arc and begin the reformation of Team STRQ/Raven's redemption

Some fic: *Clover runs away with the gang to Vacuo after he gets out of the hospital*

Me: okay but this is a really good deal because we can see Qrow with another adult which he obviously needs (as started in the Atlas Arc)

Me finally paying attention to Marrow Defects Theories: oh wow i know these all have to do with the Happy Huntresses but imagine if he joined the team like hes right in the middle of the age gap like hes young enough to be friends with RWBYJNRO but old enough to talk adult things with Qrow like i can imagine them talking about dark stuff after everyone goes to sleep and bonding with another adult BUT ALSO bonding with Blake over faunus stuff after getting over a cat vs dog rivalry AND he could bond with Weiss over things like warm weather and greenery the farther south they get AND-

Some post: so you know when Winter leaves with RWBY to Vacuo i can see her getting into fights with Qrow but also leaning on him because he has also left everything he's ever known at one point to follow a better path

Me: yes! Qrow needs another adult and Weiss needs her sister and the dynamics we could get and seeing Winter trying to open up and be kinder like weve seen happen with Weiss would be great!

A post i saw last night: i dont know guys i really want Penny to come to Vacuo but i think she'll stay in Mantle

Me: ok but this would be so great if she came along and-

Me: this many people cannot join the Journey to Vacuo we already have to many ppl with RWBY+JNR+Q+O

My brain: how bout we imagine it anyways