Rose is love Rose is life

Hey RG squad - it's December 22.

The special day of the Oscar X Ruby Ship - aka Rosegarden!!!!

I wanted to contribute by giving a refresher/history of why and how this event came to be. That way, even if the event might be celebrated or if the community might not be as active anymore, newcomers and old-timers can still look back at this and see why it came about and the meaning behind it.

Storytime:

So it was back in 2017 during V5 when the Rosegarden community really started picking up given that it was the volume of Ruby and Oscar's first meeting.

I was searching for ideas for Rosegarden fanart to draw and, all of a sudden, I had an idea to create a piece that honored when the first, or at least the earliest, Rosegarden piece that was created. And, as this was still a relatively new and budding shipping community, I figured it would be easy to go back and do that.

That's when I found it on deviantart!

"A Rose Catches The Farmboy's Attention" by NizhoniNochez on December 22, 2016. (The original link is deactivated; Iirc NizhoniNochez comment for the fanart request was something along the lines of "If this ships starts don't come after me".)

This is a piece requested from Dragonboy1092 - the first RG shipper. (I wish I archived the actual original link to the fanart but luckily we have old proof - albeit secondhand - surrounding the details of the art)

Note that Dragonboy1092 made the request to the artist during the middle of RWBY Volume 4 EP 6-7! Lol, he knew what was up!

Anyway, that's when I brought it up to RG squad on the official RG discord - created by Darleenacanania and MiraculousCoraZone - and said we should do a Rosegarden Day Annual Event.

They were all on board with the idea, everyone pitched in and marketed it to everyone, and that's how the event started!!!

Rosegarden Day Banner by @Darleenacanania (acct deactivated)

There's more to tell about how the semi-annual Rosegarden week event started, but I don't want this text post to get too long.

That said, I'm also working on a sort of Rosegarden History/Fanbook "Book" on slides called "World of RWBY: The Official Companion Book 2 - Rosegarden".

It's where i'll be listing all the information I've said here and more. It will feature the Rosegarden hints/allusions and analyses that the RG community contributed to throughout the years.

I kinda want it to be a collaborative thing where others can edit and chip in to make it more creative and interesting for RG shippers to enjoy but, its still in a very rough draft phase among other things - so im not sure when I'll publish it. However, here's a vey small sneak peak:

Lol, well, Happy Rosegarden Day of 2024!!!

I'm not sure if Dragonboy1092 was "the first RG shipper". There were plenty of us before that. I was one of the few that started shipping them before we even knew Oscar's name, based purely on vibes "oh you're cute, you'll look well with Ruby".

I didn't have A03 back then so I never thought to check there(facepalm).

But now I have to go and see😍.

This means that while that fanart is the first fanart - he wasn't really the first shipper. I guess I'll just say he was one of the earliest shippers(I'll edit my original post to reflect it).

And we can also make an interesting note when the first writing piece for rosegarden was created!

I can’t believe it was kept in the wraps for 2 weeks… but I’m a bit flabbergasted and still processing that Kentaro Miura has passed away.

It’s pretty easy to understate how big his influence is in art. Without him, we wouldn’t get Dark Souls and Bloodborne, and the animators and artists of Castlevania explicitly said he was in an influence in their work.

Miura, in my opinion, had one of the greatest eyes for detail and some STRONG, STRONG, STRONG visual imagery almost untouched by… well a lot of people really.

He pushed the visual imagery of fantasy and horror in new and exciting ways, and it’s a test to his timeless writing that we’re still invested in Berserk for decades.

His work was an inspiration to so many others; you can hardly point a finger at a popular fantasy setting in many, many years that hasn’t taken at least some inspiration, big or small, from the vivid and incredibly detailed world that he painted with his words and his art.

Certainly, even if his own work remains unfinished, his legacy will still be remembered for countless years and decades as a triumph of its genre, and a true effort of passion by a man wholly dedicated to both his work and his play, and sharing that passion with others through it.

The sequel will start on January 27th 2021 and Season 4 will air on January 6th 2021