Apt emote is apt OOOOOKAY THEN.

This is fine. Everything is fine.

Was not expecting MOUNTAIN GLENN callbacks but then again I probably should have.

Curious Cat plush merch when.

No really, the Cat's great, I love them.

Ruby what have you done, you've introduced lolcats to Ever After nooo

Bringing up Ciel Soleil was a deep cut and I so hope Yssa was behind that one because what a troll.

I love the cat

He looks adorable

"So many colorful characters" Hi, yes, welcome to RWBY where there's a blorbo for everybody.

sasageyo The Cat is super adorable*.

I am also becoming Vaguely Concerned about them but more in the, "If anything happens to them, I'm killing everybody in this room and then myself" way than the sussy way.

Definitely appreciate the objective dunking on the Brother Gods, I really hope this means they're gonna get called out as the assholes they are because seriously. Seriously.

"I sense a but(t) approaching" is still some top-tier pun-age, not at all shocked this episode was Miles Luna's work.

Also because of the IMMEDIATE SWING INTO ANGST TOWN GEEZES.

Damn them RWBY fanartists work quick tho. Source

Ruby's doing Swell, guys.

But OKAY so we're getting a slightly clearer picture of what's going on in Ever After. Er...sort of.

Something is...not "Corrupting" persay? But like..."tainting" the denizens there. It's not just that they're older or that time has passed, it's more like they're sorta seem to be forgetting themselves?

Or maybe "regressing" is the word for it. Which, if the Herbalist's line was anything to go by, is apparently what happened to the Red King.

"This is how a King becomes a Prince".

Definitely some twisty things going on.

Concern level for what the heckle happened to Jaune is also rising.

Not sure what would have happened to Ruby if she'd just said, "Yeah sure, Imma just drop my whole identity" right then and there but obviously it was not going to be Good.

Which, incidentally, kudos for the dialogue in that scene. Way to make the Hero's Perspective sound like an Actual Nightmare.

The trick is though, that we know Ruby is Definitely Wrong on some of her fears.

It's definitely not explicitly up to her and her alone to Save the Day (that was Ironwood's folly, thinking only he could be the hero and Oz's to an extent as well) and while her friends do depend on her, there shouldn't be any doubt that she can depend on them back.

But depression and feeling overwhelmed will do that to you.

In any case though, I love WBY re-affirming their own choices and their own growth. We got a taste of Yang and Weiss's in V5/V6 and Blake's growth has been very visually obvious in those volumes especially, but it's extremely emotionally satisfying for them all to go, "Go back to the way I was before? Have you met me? Lol no."

Of all of them (besides Ruby anyway) I was least sure about Weiss because she seemed to be really hurting about Atlas (completely understandable) and her name definitely always has been a burden but GODDAMN.

"I will not be defined by my name because I will be the one to define it." WEISS SCHNEE IS QUEEN.

On the other hand.

Weiss "Still can't completely parse sarcasm" Schnee is still queen though.

"Blaaaaake, the kids are awaaake."

Also important.

New "Draw the Squad" just dropped.

Anyway now I gotta just Think about all this stuff because BOY OH.

THINGS ARE HAPPENING.

Okay no wait, I lied, one more thing.

I love this asshole, no really I do.

THAT WEISS SPEECH THO

"i am the granddaughter of a hero, and the daughter of a villain. I am the citizen of a fallen kingdom and an heir to nothing. I will not be defined by my name because I will define it myself" like holy shit girl go OFF

ugh and the differences in their voices when they confront their past selves!! how much lighter yang's voice is, and how flat blake's affect is, damn the va's did such a good job

Also love once again Weiss "Shut up don't touch me" Schnee is the one hugging someone

cosmonautdelta Weiss's speech was so amazing just dayum.

And yeah! Their VAs did such a great job putting their voices back into a pre-Beacon mindset. Like just, way to emphasize how far they've come ugh.

malkuthsoldier Weiss is going to be the one devastated about leaving Little at the end of the volume, I can feel it in my bones. XD

And okay, just another random thought I just had about the Herbalist specifically, and what he's meant to do rather than what he was currently doing which was why the Cat had to be like "Stop".

So I think, given the Cat says that the Herbalist is supposed to explicitly help people on their journeys, is that, assuming the same methods are used (the smoke and herbs and whatnot), that the helpful version is summoning either an idealized version of who the "Hero" wants to become, thereby encouraging and inspiring them to continue on their journey

OR it does always produce a Past version of the "Hero" but the Past version is more of a "Look how far you've come".

Basically it'd be a more trippy visual version of Ren's talk in V5. A sort of, "Have you ever looked at your past self and been totally embarrassed? Well, that's okay. Because it means you've grown and you'll continue to grow." That sort of thing.

BUT, because the Herbalist's purpose/methods have become, for lack of a better word, corrupted, his powers instead summon a past version that's actively discouraging from any kind of growth, already made or otherwise.

"Things were simpler back then." "Weren't you happier back then?" "Wouldn't you like to ditch any kind of responsibility or cares you have?" "Wouldn't you like to just outright stop being You?"

All of these kinds of thoughts either outright discourage growth as a person or imply that there's something inherently Wrong with them. And that's obviously like...Bad.

But it's super easy to imagine a scenario where, with the Herbalist's powers aren't corrupted/acting as intended where RWBY confronting their past selves could have been less a "Test a Character" and more of a well-needed pat on the back.

"You've overcome so much, you can do this." "Things are tough now, but they can be made better." "We're all going to make mistakes, but that's how you learn." "YOUR FRIENDS LOVE AND CARE ABOUT YOU PLEASE LET THEM KNOW YOU'RE HURTING."

Stuff like that.

To belabor the herbal metaphor, it's the difference between an exfoliant and a salve. One can help but it has to be used carefully and it can also cause more damage if not. The other is explicitly intended to soothe and heal. Herbie here gave them the exfoliant instead of the salve, and while WBY were in a good enough place to handle it, Ruby was...not.

ANYWAY those are my Deep RWBY thoughts for today. XD

oof yes I love that, that makes a ton of sense, and totally aligns with the whole "this place has been changing and getting corrupted" theme

cosmonautdelta Yeah! What's going on in Ever After is super fascinating to me and I have no idea if any of my theorizing is correct but I'm really excited to see where this goes.

It really feels telling that they're contrasting Ruby's own arc of disenchantment with herself/depression against a childhood storybook land becoming unfriendly/corrupted/hostile.

Oh. Rofl. I just realized why the Herbalist like...disappeared into the ground.

He's a freaking caterpillar. The Cat told him he needed rest.

Some species of caterpillars pupate underground.

And we saw his house can kinda just...open and close doors on its own. He literally just dropped himself into an underground bed to sleep/pupate.

That's hilarious. What an exit.