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supersaiyanjedi14 · 4 months

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RWBY COMBAT ANALYSIS: THE RUSTED KNIGHT

“I’m sorry, I… I know I’m not okay. I- I’m not right, but… How am I supposed to be…? I’ve been alone… for SO… LONG! Here… On that bridge… I was the only one that could do it! I was the ONLY ONE! And I… And now I have to live with that forever… In here or back home…”

PHYSICAL

After falling into the Ever After during the Atlas exodus, Jaune Arc stumbled across a Clockwork Orange, an item that forcibly sent him back in time. Unable to return to the present, Jaune was forced to spend the subsequent years braving the dangers of the Ever After as he awaited Team RWBY to finally join him, eventually taking up the alias of the Rusted Knight, a supposedly fantastical character of the fairy tale The Girl Who Fell Through the World. By the time he finally reunited with his friends, Jaune had spent anywhere from ten to twenty years in the Ever After, placing him in his early-to-late thirties during the events of Volume 9. While ostensibly still in his physical prime, Jaune’s aging was far from graceful, his blonde hair and beard streaked with gray and his weathered features betraying the trials of his tenure. His mental strain was even more pronounced, his failure to revive Penny Polendina driving him into an obsessive preoccupation with protecting those around him, latching on to keeping the Paper Pleasers intact despite their frequent attempts at Ascension.

Despite his premature aging, Jaune still retained his athletic viability as the Rusted Knight, continuing to demonstrate his exceptional strength and agility. His physical might was sufficient to overpower Jabberwalkers on a fairly regular basis and even stagger the Curious Cat with physical combat after the creature possessed the body of Neopolitan. While still disinclined to employ acrobatics, Rusted Jaune was quick on his feet, covering ground with running charges and employing balanced footwork and evasions to keep his target in his crosshairs. Furthermore, he grew into an exceptional equestrian and mounted warrior, expertly working alongside his jackalope mount Juniper on multiple occasions. Though he failed to catch the Curious Cat before it could possess Neo’s body and was later overpowered by the Furious Cat, this is no sign of weakness in either area given the Afteran’s overwhelming physical might. Where Jaune's athletic performance differed the most was in his dexterity and reflexes, something he was forced to develop in response to his damaged weapon and no doubt honed by his experience in the Ever After. With a much shorter blade than he was used to, Jaune was forced to rely more on technique and precision when fighting than brute force, targeting the weakest link and striking accurately.

Regarding Jaune's physical tolerances, he remained an extremely capable endurance fighter, focusing through hits and continuing to fight afterwards. During the battle with the Curious Cat, Jaune soaked up several major hits from the Cat and was later accidentally hurled from the arena by Weiss, yet he was only minorly disabled by this, regaining his feet and continuing to provide tactical support for Weiss, Blake and Yang. It was only after the Cat transformed into the Furious Cat, it’s exceptionally more powerful form, and struck Jaune square in the chest that his Aura broke and he was out of the fight. During his time as the Rusted Knight, he was noted for multiple harrowing adventures that tested his mettle, and he was even able to survive being poisoned by Alyx despite having little in the way of medical attention. However, Jaune's stamina was surprisingly cut short in his elder state. While he did not burn out immediately, he was still subdued at the Tree far quicker than his allies, his Aura breaking before any of theirs had even flickered. Far more detrimental was Jaune’s mental fortitude. While his will to persevere and fight remained indominable, his previous failures left him with an obsession with protecting his charges, leaving him anxious and prone to angered outbursts. However, despite his limited composure, the Rusted Knight retained his dogged determination even when under duress, and pushing him to the point of no return would be an uphill battle for anyone.

Despite the severe state of disrepair it had fallen into, Jaune’s armor remained strong and effective, and had in fact been further supplemented with additional plating. The cuirass was upgraded to provide greater coverage over his abdomen, while his pauldrons were replaced with a heavier set, though the gauntlets remained unchanged. He added to this with a full helmet, greaves, tassets, and a codpiece, under which he wore a gambeson and beige trousers.

RANKING: Tier 2, Peak Human Fitness

Despite his less than graceful aging and deteriorating mental health, the Rusted Knight has not actually underperformed significantly in the realm of physical ability, and he still solidly qualifies for Peak Human Fitness. He is a battle-hardened endurance fighter who leverages his strongest attributes for maximum effect, supplementing his grounded stalwart posture with solid mobility and top-notch equipment. In fact, I'd argue that Jaune’s upgraded armor serves as a solid compromise for his undercut stamina and discipline by bolstering his native durability. The Rusted Knight may be at greater risk of breaking than he once was, but the only way to put him down would be to shatter him completely.

MARTIAL

As the Rusted Knight, Jaune Arc continued to carry Crocea Mors as his primary weapon, but time and damage had taken a significant toll on it. The blade of the sword was snapped in half as a result of his confrontation with Cinder Fall, reducing its length to barely over a foot. Far more noticeable was the severe degree of rust and wear on the blade and shield, with numerous pits and scratches had made their way into the metal. However, despite this long-term damage, the weapon set retained its combative reliability, as the sword remained sharp enough to dispatch Jaune’s opponents, while the mechanisms allowing the shield to convert into Jaune’s scabbard remained unaffected. Overall, looks are deceiving, and Crocea Mors remains a lethal killing tool.

When analyzing the Rusted Knight’s capabilities as a martial artist, it is important to note both the substantial degree of development he attained and the significant trade off in his skill configuration. Due to being thrust back in time, Jaune was forced to spend anywhere from ten to twenty years contending with the dangers of the Ever After, a grinding trial by fire that went a long way towards compensating for his most significant weakness prior to Volume 9, his inexperience and lack of development. While the reliability and details of Lewis’s recounts of Jaune in The Girl Who Fell Through the World has not been established, even a conservative assessment would place the Rusted Knight as comparable to many of the most experienced and skilled Huntsmen on Remnant. However, between his damaged weapon and limited resources, Jaune was forced to heavily reconfigure his fighting style to compensate, resulting in a similar but very different combatant compared to what he was beforehand. Fortunately, the aforementioned decades of isolation gave Jaune plenty of time to refine his new style with his limitations in mind, and his developed skill upon reuniting with Team RWBY was, at bare minimum, comparable to theirs. Despite the handicaps imposed on him by his weapon, Jaune’s technique remained similar in its core ingredients; a grounded defense-and-counter oriented fighter who leverages physical ability through simple and direct swordplay. He retained a stalwart grounded posture in his footwork, eschewing acrobatics for sidesteps and evasions. Where the differences presented itself were in the defense/offense balance. Rusted Jaune displayed a much stronger offensive component in his style, alternating between shield blocks and sword strikes far more actively. To compensate for his shorter blade, Jaune adjusted his swordplay to perform swifter and tighter slashes and stabs, getting in close before laying into the target. The most significant additions to Jaune’s skill set were his expanded use of his weapons, his integration of hand-to-hand combat techniques, and his proficiency as a mounted warrior. He swapped techniques for his sword and shield, warding parries for the former and shield bashes with the latter, using the weapon set to mor effectively maintain offensive pressure while maintaining defensive coverage. Though still not a committed unarmed fighter, Jaune was more than willing to throw hands in battle, staggering the Curious Cat with sweeping kicks and headbutts. His strong bond with Juniper allowed him to coordinate and utilize her for multiple combative purposes, from tackling targets to serving as a cushion to safeguard her master.

While Jaune’s deteriorating mental health made him an anxious wreck in the grand scheme of things, they did nothing to diminish his capabilities as a tactician and strategist. He continued to demonstrate his strong aptitude for tactical analysis and coordinating with his allies, adjusting his approach to suit the opponent and exploit circumstantial factors. When confronting the various Jabberwalkers summoned by Neopolitan, Jaune focused on repelling the creatures and warding off their advance before turning around to counter. Against the Curious Cat at the Tree, Jaune quickly deduced the hallucinogenic effects of its leaves and ordered Weiss, Blake and Yang to set fire to them, forcibly expelling the Cat from Neo’s body. In single combat, Jaune applied these same tactics to endure the opponent’s assault before retaliating, seizing the initiative rather than passively responding. However, where Jaune previously relied on the integration of his Dust gadgets to break the opponent’s advance, he now opted for abrupt alternation between offensive and defensive movements, pressuring the opponent while still maintaining coverage. He will break off to defend if need be, but he will not stop advancing. What Vomit Boy achieved through leaning on alternative equipment, the Rusted Knight achieved through tested and developed technique.

However, while Jaune’s new approach was more developed overall, it also came at the expense of the versatility he displayed in his youth. With his damaged weapon and limited-to-unapplicable alternative tools, Jaune’s style and tactics were ultimately centered around leveraging his core technique for maximum effect. Jaune’s style may have been flexible, but it was also very singular and direct; what you see is what you get. Additionally, Jaune’s emotional instability manifested itself most profoundly in a resurgence of his youthful recklessness. Disturbed by his failure to save Penny during the exodus, Jaune became obsessed with protecting his chosen charges from everything around them, including themselves. Aside from patronizing the Paper Pleasers, this mentality led to Jaune overexerting himself and biting off more than he could chew, his refusal to stop advancing stemming from a pathological unwillingness to give up. Where Jaune’s Beacon humbling motivated him to pace himself and fight smart, his Atlas failures compelled him to run himself ragged in a misguided effort to keep fighting. As seen in the Cat’s Penny and Pyrrha illusions, this failure to take a more measured approach fed into a weakness to more subversive tricks and distractions, ironically making him vulnerable to the very tactics he once employed himself.

RANKING: Tier 3: Standard Mastery

While Jaune’s failures as the Rusted Knight seem to point to a middling level of effectiveness, his improvements and experience still more than qualify him for a Tier 3 ranking. He is a gritty, battle-hardened warrior whose style had been developed and honed into a far more complete package than he once employed, and he remains a highly capable tactical thinker when he puts his mind to it. Jaune’s problem, like many Standard Masters, is that he has fallen into the trap of going through the motions, basically doing the same thing again and again in every battle when dropped in cold. To be fair to Jaune, this is more the result of a limited arsenal and lack of comparable enemies rather than damaging oversights. The baseline reliability of his style and approach cannot be denied; he simply hasn’t meshed it with the versatility he used to have. Regardless, the fact that he came closer to killing the Curious Cat than anyone else tells me that his fabled reputation is very well-earned.

SPECIAL

And now for the part of this analysis that I’ve been dreading, that being the assessment of the Rusted Knight’s special abilities and powers. This is the area where Jaune’s development is most unclear simply because, aside from a few uses of his gravity Dust, we never really saw him do anything in Volume 9. He never explicitly used Aura Amp on screen, and the times he used his Dust could be counted on the fingers of one hand. This is especially odd given Jaune’s ready use of his abilities prior to falling into the Ever After, especially in conjunction with his martial skills. However, I do believe that both discrepancies can be reasonably inferred given context. Firstly, it must be remembered that Jaune’s last recorded attempt to use his Semblance was on Penny Polendina, whose injuries he was utterly incapable of healing. Given his failure to save Penny was arguably the single strongest contributor to his psychological breakdown in his isolation, it follows that his confidence in his abilities was shattered, and he unconsciously avoided using his powers due to the weight of that failure. While I don’t believe Jaune’s proficiency with his Semblance truly atrophied, I also don’t believe he developed his powers beyond what he could do in the Atlas saga. As far as his Dust is concerned, I see his limited use being identical to the limitations of his sword, that being logistical shortages. There is no evidence that Dust exists in the Ever After, much less the incredibly rare synthetic hard-light variety that powered his shield panels. With nothing to replenish his stores should his shield get damaged, it’s plausible that Jaune refrained from using his Dust unless he absolutely had to, conserving a non-renewable resource and otherwise relying on physical combat.

However, this isn’t to say that Rusted Knight Jaune has no ethereal talents to speak of. He did in fact continue to utilize his gravity Dust repulsor in combat, and like his martial skills, his fluidity with it had clearly improved with practice. Previously, Jaune would simply use the pressure wave from a static position, allowing the shield to do most of the heavy lifting. Now, Jaune demonstrated a far more active defense, combining the gravity waves with sweeping shield bashes. Though never outright stated, I believe this technique allowed Jaune to slightly enhance the overall power of the repulsor’s push, getting more bang for his buck. Additionally, Jaune continued to demonstrate his talent for combining his powers and skills together with one another. Aside from the basic offensive applications, Jaune also showcased an ability to use his Dust to drive his other weapons, seen when he bounced his sword off the shield to turn it into a projectile against Neo’s clone Jabberwalkers. These new applications further showcased Jaune compensating for his limited arsenal with greater skill and refinement, sacrificing output in favor of control.

Now, normally I like to stay with concrete information rather than headcanons, but I do believe there may be evidence that Jaune did in fact use his Semblance at specific points in Volume 9, and both of my theoretical examples do speak to him still displaying great skill and power. Hear me out;

During his early travels with Alyx, Lewis and the Curious Cat, the Cat poisoned Jaune in order to get him off his back and sow distrust between him and the children. While Jaune’s physical fortitude certainly played a role in his survival, the Curious Cat is not a figure that comes across as leaving a job half-finished. Given that Aura Amp’s most obvious application was accelerating Aura’s healing properties, it is entirely possible that Jaune’s survival owed itself in part to using his Semblance to help purge the toxin from his body. Later, during the battle at the Tree, Jaune was confronted with a vision of Alyx after being blasted from the arena. While this episode was mostly a mental battle forcing Jaune to confront his demons, the flash of light that immediately preceded Jaune breaking out of the vision could have very well been Jaune using Aura Amp to dispel the effects of the smoke. Assuming I’m right, then this could arguably make Jaune’s use of his Semblance even more potent than before, as dispelling drugs and poisons is easily an incredibly useful talent to have that goes well beyond fixing broken bones.

RANKING: Tier 3: Specialized Combat

Even if my supposition is 100% on the money, it does not significantly change the Rusted Knight’s standing as an ethereal fighter, given his hypothetical applications are so few, far between, and limited to utility. That said, Jaune’s use of his gravity Dust more than makes up for it. His applications are not only just as calculated and powerful as they used to be, they are also far more technically sophisticated and pair up much better with his fighting skills. His only real limitation, as in other areas, is that he lacks versatility, and his more skillful use of his power still mostly amounts to a directly offensive ability that can only do so much. Jaune may lack the variety he used to have, but the far greater skill he has with the powers he still has firmly establishes him as a force to be reckoned with.

OVERALL RANKING: TIER 3, ADVANCED HUNTSMAN

As in his youth, Rusted Knight Jaune Arc’s overall ranking is determined by his martial skills and special abilities, showcasing both his high improvement and the limitations he still suffers from. In all areas, Jaune is performing on a very high level, but his methodology is centered on direct application rather than the balanced versatility he used to showcase. In many ways, I consider Jaune’s most direct analogue in this state to be James Ironwood. Both are aging heavyweights who leverage their strength and fortitude for maximum effect, both are grounded heavy-handed fighters who focus on maintaining a heavy stalwart advance, and both leverage their special abilities and powers as direct supplements to their offensive advance. They are powerful battlefield operatives who make full use of all the tools in their arsenals, but their approach is based on the direct application of power, not tactical considerations. By operating as a one-man crusader in the Ever After, Jaune got so good at what he was doing that he simply couldn’t loose, leaving holes in his skill set and tactics unaddressed because they simply never came up.

Jaune’s greatest strength and weakness as the Rusted Knight is that his previously broad skill set has been significantly reduced, forcing him to throw all of his eggs into one basket to compensate. The result is a tradeoff. On the one hand, his fighting method is blessed with a substantially greater degree of developed skill by way of his combat experience, and he effectively blends them together into a singular, high-performance technique. But on the other hand, this also means that he no longer has the versatility he used to have, relying on a singular method rather than balancing out between his options. He is skilled and powerful enough to capably overcome the vast majority of challengers, but it also means he could get into trouble very quickly if confronted by someone his style is poorly suited to engage.

As with most things, this ties directly into Jaune’s mental state as the Rusted Knight. Between his traumatic experiences, forced isolation, and fixation on preventing the same failure all over again, Jaune simply fell into the motions and got into the habit of doing the same thing over and over again. This may have been an okay coping mechanism at first, but there is a stark difference between dedication and obsession. He never really diversified because, not only did he never really need to, but he couldn’t bring himself to do so since he was convinced that he was doing the only right thing he could. Fortunately, unlike Ironwood, Jaune’s self-destructive stubbornness was the result of improper healing rather than arrogance, and he was the first to admit that he wasn’t in the right headspace to be the hero he was trying to be. As with the rest of his life, Jaune’s friends were there to pick him up, setting him on the path to properly heal. Whatever Jaune’s status as a warrior may be upon his return to Remnant, he will at the very least be on the fast track to achieving a healthier self-actualization, and finally move on from his trauma. The Rusted Knight may not have been the hero, but Jaune Arc still may be.

* images taken from RWBY Wiki and @talia-pumpkinwand*

#rwby #rwby combat analysis #jaune arc #rwby jaune #rusted knight #ever after #team jnpr #peak human fitness #standard mastery #specialized combat

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blue-cheeseinmyoffwhites · 3 months

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Hello, saw your posts about RWBY Characters' Allusions. A question, does team rwby have another character allusion?

A lot of characters have more than one allusion, and team RWBY is no different. These allusions often have a character fill a complementary role of a significant figure in another fairy tale.

Let's start with Ruby Rose. She is of course Little Red, but there are also other characters she embodies. The Wolf in the story is known for his big & shiny eyes, a very notable feature of Ruby (that was pointed out by Ozpin in the first episode, just like the fairy tale). She is also her own huntsman, equip with an "axe" weapon of her own.

Weiss Schnee is Snow White, but also takes other roles of the story based on her summons. Her Boartusk represents the huntsman, who killed a boar to spare the princess. Her Knight represents the noble prince who saves her. Her Queen Lancer represents the Evil Queen who plagues her. Weiss seems to take after the Evil Queen the most, with her friends often referring to her as "Ice Queen".

After reading those first two, you can probably now understand why Blake is based on both Beauty & the Beast. She has Belle's beauty, part of her name, her love for books, her relationship to "Adam" and her tendency to run away. But like the Beast, she has animal traits that she hides, is haunted by a rose, prefers living in isolation, and eventually falls in love with a human girl. She is often seen in Forever Fall, a forest with wilting red flowers, representing the wilting rose that curses the Beast.

Yang is Goldilocks with her destructive nature & yellow hair, but can also be seen as Baby Bear, the child of the Papa (Taiyang, blue eyes) & Mama (Raven, red eyes), resulting in Yang being a mix of both (purple eyes). Each parent compares Yang to the other, and she learns to embrace the good and bad traits of both in order to become "just right".

The tale of Rose Red & Snow White, two young girls based on Little Red & Snow White, can be the inspiration for the partnership between Ruby & Weiss. The two were sisters, which is represented by the ever-growing bond between Ruby & Weiss. Weiss's fairy tale, Snow White, could also be the reason for Ruby's theme, Red Like Roses, which is how the Evil Queen described how red she wants her lips in the original tale (in some stories she compares it to blood in the snow, both line up perfectly with the Red Trailer & Players & Pieces).

Weiss also represents the story of the Snow Queen. She is called Ice Queen. She has a male companion (Kai/Whitley) who is cold, distant, & rude. She sets off to find the Snow Queen (Winter) in V5, during her trip she meets a talking corvid (Raven) & a robber maiden (Vernal). Weiss also gets pierced by evil glass like Gerda.

Gerda’s most cherished memories is being young playing in the rose gardens with her friend. They shared many happy memories here. This rose garden takes the embodiment of Ruby Rose, who befriends Weiss & takes her on adventures. Weiss reminisces about Ruby in V4 after the attack on Beacon, missing the days when they had fun together. A frozen rose garden is seen in Weiss Character Short, representing her longing for Ruby (innocence, fun, freedom).

Blake & Yang have so many allusions when it comes to their relationship. Start with Beauty and Beast. Blake already shows traits of both Belle & the Beast, but Yang does as well. Her affiliation with yellow, adventure, bright energy, & beauty is reminiscent of Belle. The Red Trailer even directly ties her with Blake, calling her the beauty to her beast. Yet Yang also displays signs of the Beast, most notably her behavior when she is angry. She sparks fire red eyes similar to the monstrous Grimm they fight, and is the most aggressive fighter of the group. She receives an injury on her arm identical to the Beast. Most importantly, she is abandoned by Beauty in V3. This theme of having similar & different traits within one another ties into another dynamic that will be explained later.

There are two roses that bring them together. They meet through Ruby, the good rose Yang gives to Blake. Adam is the bad rose that Blake tries to keep away from Yang, but he breaks them. Adam starts off as the Beast (Adam) to Blake’s Beauty. Once she leaves him (like the fairy tale) he then embodies the Rose that haunts her. Once he meets Blake’s new partner, he then becomes Gaston & adopts his jealousy. Once Blake & Yang defeat him, they free themselves from the curse and come back to the Good Rose.

Blake & Yang also represent the Yin & Yang dynamic. We have the darkness (Blake) and the light (Yang), with a little bit of each other in each (matching eyes). Many cultures depict Yin as a tiger (Blake's cat ears) and Yang as a dragon (Xiao Long). The themes of darkness and light has been associated with Blake & Yang since their trailers. Blake engulfs in darkness when she leaves, while Yang brings light when she enters (kind of like their semblances). Scenes with Blake & Yang play with lighting a lot (2x06, 6x01, 9x06), and fights involving them often have them circling around each other or moving across each other, just like the Yin Yang Symbol.

Team RWBY as a whole also has references. One commonly known reference is the Wizard of Oz crew, with Ruby acting as Dorothy (who had Ruby/Silver slippers). Weiss is the Tin Man who gains heart while the real one loses it (Ironwood), Blake is the Lion who gains courage while the real one loses it (Lionheart), and Yang is the Scarecrow who learns to fight smarter while the real one acts irrationally (Qrow). These four adventurers set off to Beacon (Land of Oz), meet the Wizard (Ozpin), and get their wishes (graduating). They are told to stay on the Yellow Road, but fail.

The team's respective Remnants also allude to their fairy tales. Ruby sheds roses, representing her red color scheme, her youthful innocence, and the flowers Little Red picks for her grandmother. Weiss sheds snow, representing her white color scheme, her cold attitude, and Snowhite's soft skin that gave her the name. Blake sheds shadows, representing her black color scheme, her dark personality and background, and the Beast condemned to the shadows. Yang sheds fire, representing her yellow color scheme, her bright but scorching personality, and the porridge Goldilocks claimed was "too hot".

Ruby represents multiple figures from others characters’ allusions. Penny is based on Pinocchio, who wishes on a Shooting Star to be a real human. Ruby, who is often characterized as a small flickering light (literally & figuratively) she represents the star that Penny wishes for & makes her feel human (literally & figuratively).

2x07 Dance Dance Infiltration is a retelling of the Cinderella story. The maiden is told she needs to return by midnight, puts on a disguise, & goes off. Ruby tracks her, Cinderella enters the stage, the two dance, and she leaves without a trace. Ruby in this case represents the Prince that wants to find the mysterious maiden he danced with the night before. His only clue was her missing glass slipper. Cinder fights with glass, a point Ruby reports to her professors as information to track her down.

There's a lot more micro references to other fairy tales but these are the most notable for Team RWBY. These references influence how a character is portrayed, how they interact with others, and the actions they take.

#rwby #ruby rose #weiss schnee #blake belladonna #yang xiao long #team rwby #whiterose #bumbleby #rwby allusions #rwby meta #rwby analysis #greenlight volume 10 #ask blue

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arc-misadventures · 22 hours

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Vtuber AU. Weiss collabing with her mom or sister?

The VTuber: The Empress of Ice

Today was an unusual stream for one, IHateMyDad2.0. Then again, among any streamers what would be considered normal?

Bot, no today, she could have a very special guest, one that could have disastrous, or highly beneficial implementations to her channel for years to come.

Only time would tell.

~~~

IHateMyDad2.0: Hello everyone, and welcome to the stream!

Her white haired avatar gave a dazzling smile as she addressed her chat. She loved streaming, within this space she could feel the mountain of worries she had built up over years of abuse by the hands of her despicable father slowly being chipped away. And, today was a special day.

For today she was listening to her family councillor, and had decided to take part in a family exercise they had recommended to help reunite her with her family members who had nearly been torn apart by their father’s actions.

IHateMyDad2.0: Okay, chat! We have a special guest with us today!

~~~Stream Chat~~~

Steveo: Whoo! Stream!

Ferbanjo: Hi Snowangel!

Monkittiy: A guest?

StarChild: Is it cookie?

~~~~~~

IHateNyDad2.0: No, no it’s not, Cookie. No today we’ll be joined by a family member, a never before seen family member at that! So, everyone please give a warm welcome to my mother, ‘The Ice Empress!’

Emerging from the corner of the screen was a 2D model of a lady that extruded an air of mature elegance, and a crown of nobility upon her. One could easily tell based upon the models that the duo were related.

Although one couldn’t help, but point out several, physical differences between the pair.

TheIceEmpress: The Ice Empress? That’s a terrible name. I thought we agreed upon the, Sovereign of Snow?

IHateMyDad2.0: What? The Ice Empress is a really catchy name.

TheIceEmpress: And, a derivative name that a preschooler would come up with. SovereignofSnow carry a much more palatable air or royalty to it. Royalty that must be feared, and respected.

IHateMyDad2.0: Mom?! It’s a cool name, right chat?

~~~~~~

Littledino: Sovereign of Snow sounds better

Monkitty: The ice empress is rather bland

Yenta: We can call her, Sovereign for short

Draven: A new queen has appeared!

Ferbanjo: All hail the Sovereign of Snow!

Heartbreaker: Sovereign!

4SakenGodde$$: ❤️Sovereign❤️

Adrastus97: Milf!

~~~~~~

IHateMyDad2.0: Eh…?

IHateMyDad2.0’s mouth hanged wide open as she stared in shock as her chat swiftly agreed with her mother, and the fact that they were already simping for her mother.

IHateMyDad2.0: Okay, fine! The Sovereign of Snow it is…

SovereignofSnow: Now that is far more appeasing to the senses~! Don’t you think so too dear?

IHateMyDad2.0: It is a little better…

SovereignofSnow: Now then my dear, what are we doing for your stream; Are we going to talk about your fellow streamers? I’ve often heard you talk about them, I’m quite curious to learn about them.

IHateMyDad2.0: I… I haven’t talked to you about my friends before.

SovereignofSnow: Well… no you haven’t. However, I do hear you scream something about cookies quite often.

IHateMyDad2.0: Eh…?

SovereignofSnow: She’s a fellow streamer isn’t she?

IHateMyDad2.0: Cookie? Yeah she is a fellow, VTuber I hang out with. Her full name is, CookieMonster. I call her, Cookie for short when we’re chatting, and playing games.

SovereignofSnow: Oh that was what was happening. I thought it was your safe word.

IHateMyDad2.0: MOM?!

IHateMyDad2.0’s model burst into a fierce blush as her mother roasted her so effortlessly. Her chat erupted into a fit of rampant laughter at her expense.

IHateMyDad2.0: I am in no way in such a relationship that with anyone that requires a… a safe word!

SovereignofSnow: That’s no surprise really, you have much left to be desired compared to your sisters.

IHateMyDad2.0: What is that supposed to mean?

SovereignofSnow: That compared to your sisters, and myself for that matter, you are quite lacking in certain physical aspects.

IHateMyDad2.0: What aspects…

~~~~~~

Yenta: Is the aspect that she is flat?

Littledino: No booba

StarChild: Flat booba

Draven: She pads

~~~~~~

IHateMyDad2.0: I AM NOT FLAT?!!

She yelled in rage as she saw the comments her chat was making pouring in as the insulted her body’s shape, and size. A response, that if an expression could be displayed would have shown a teasing smirk from the bottom of her lips.

SovereignofSnow: No, you are not out right flat. But, when you are compared to your older sisters, or myself, a fair comparison would be apples to watermelons.

IHateMyDad2.0: You are not that big?!

SovereignofSnow: B to E, E to F, and F to G my dear~!

IHateMyDad2.0: Your my mother, of course you would be the biggest one among us!

SovereignofSnow: Actually, I am a F-Cup. Your sister, B…?! No, no names… Ahem. The… Black Sheep of the family is the biggest.

IHateMyDad2.0: She’s how big?! I thought she was only a cup size bigger than me?! Not that big??

SovereignofSnow: I thought you were aware of this? Her model certainly displays her sizeable cleavage quite well.

IHateMyDad2.0: Well considering what her streams are like, I thought she was doing it for the views.

SovereignofSnow: That wouldn’t be of any surprise to me. The Black Sheep of the family has always been the most flamboyant, and outgoing of the four of you.

IHateMyDad2.0: Resulting in her being the degenerate of the family…

IHateMyDad2.0 scouled as she remembered the nature of her older sister’s streams, and the rather depraved aspects of them.

IHateMyDad2.0: Why do you let her do those kind of streams? I thought you would be all against her streaming considering what she does.

SovereignofSnow: Oh, but I am against them. I don’t like the videos she does. But, she is a grown woman, and she is allowed to do as she pleases. And, as her mother I have to respect her choices. I don’t have to like them, but I will respect them nonetheless.

IHateMyDad2.0: Oh… That’s really nice of you, Mom.

SovereignofSnow: Thank you.

~~~~~~

Adrastus97: The Sovereign is really growing on me.

4SakenGodde$$: She is quite understanding of her daughters

bumblequeen: I like her

Stevo: Me too

Ferbanjo: I hope we see more of her in the future

Summertimeaadness: Same

~~~~~~

SovereignofSnow: But, there is one thing about my daughter, and her streaming that concerns me.

IHateMyDad2.0: What’s that?

SovereignofSnow: Who is this man she is… obsessed with? The one she refers to as, ‘Darling?’

IHateMyDad2.0: ‘Darling?’ Oh, she is talking about a fellow streamer; His name is, ErrantryPaladin.

SovereignofSnow: And who exactly is this, ErrantryPaladin?

IHateMyDad2.0: Well, he is… Actually, There is a short video that was uploaded of him that I was planning on watching, would you like to watch it with me, Mom?

SovereignofSnow: By all means.

IHateMyDad2.0: Awesome! Okay, here is the video… What?

SovereignofSnow: What is it?

IHateMyDad2.0: The name of the video it’s… It’s called, ‘The Broken Paladin.’

SovereignofSnow: Broken Paladin? Is something wrong?

IHateMyDad2.0: I… I don’t know. This was a bit taken from his stream, but the video was made by a person watching his stream, not, Errant himself. So, I have no idea what it is about.

SovereignofSnow: Then let’s find out what’s wrong with your sister’s darling paladin then.

IHateMyDad2.0: Okay, let’s start the video.

She hit the play button on the video, and watched a story play out that she did not expect to see.

~~~

IHateMyDad2.0’s stream cut away to an image of, ErrantryPaladin; He was in the midst of a simple game of HOI4, building up his chosen nation of, Brazil’s infrastructure for the upcoming war.

ErrantryPaladin: Okay, that should help my production. Hmm… I want to build some railways… What do you think chat, should I build a railway around my whole country, or should I…?

His words were suddenly cut off as a donation was made, followed by the robotic male voice, and the message it had to deliver.

StalwartDoggo: “Hello, Errant! I’ve been wondering something about you, and you fair maidens…”

ErrantryPaladin: This should be good.

Stalwart: “What is it like having all these woman fawn over you? What is it like to be the alpha with a throng of woman hanging over you?”

ErrantryPaladin: …

ErrantryPaladin: Pffft! What fucking bullshit is that?!

If it could have been seen one would see the collective viewers of, Errants jaws drop like an anvil. They had expected him to say many things, but what he had just said.

ErrantryPaladin: Alpha… Pff… what a fucking joke…There are no woman fawning over me, the real me, not this…

Errant’s hand waved in a circle around his face, looking tired at the screed.

ErrantryPaladin: This mask…

He looked to the side of the screen, and despite the fact tgis face couldn’t portray such emotions, one could only see a broken, and tired man as he stared far off into nothingness.

ErrantryPaladin: What I mean by that is, people only know the mask, this face I present to all of you.

ErrantryPaladin: The face of a huntsman, a lone warrior, who fights for the people against the hordes of Grimm monsters that attack the weak, and defenceless. The face of the wannabe hero…

ErrantryPaladin: But, the real me… I am no where near as amazing as him. I’m just me.

He sighed as he seemed to lean back in his chair, his mind deep in thought.

ErrantryPaladin: You see… people could be shown an image of a person, and they think that, that person is cute, and they’d be interested in meeting that person, and maybe go on a date with them. But, then they actually meet that person in the flesh, and totally be turned off by that person.

ErrantryPaladin: I mean, how many of you would still like me if I was five foot two, and a chubby. I will bet money that many of you would lose all interest in me.

Errant looked away as he heard another ping appear before him.

ErrantryPaladin: Ahh, no, QueensBane, I don’t look like that. Actually, I do look a lot like, Errant. 6’2”, blonde hair, and deep blue eyes. I just lack his confidence…

A deep sigh escaped his lips, as he watch his chat feed play by. Getting annoyed by the comments his chat was making.

ErrantryPaladin: “You’re a ten, ErrantryPaladin.” No, I’m a seven, eight at best chat… Listen, I am handsome enough guy to get the girl, and I have the money to support a family… If I was such a great catch… why have all of my relationships ended so horribly…

ErrantryPaladin: I mean… my first girlfriend, was only dating me to get close to my sister! She was just using me… bitch couldn’t ask my sister out herself, she had to use me as a proxy?!

ErrantryPaladin: Hmmm… Now that I think about it, the last time I saw her she was nursing a black eye, a bloody nose, and a broken lip… My sisters are really protective of their little bro.

The vindictive smile that spread across his face was a terrifying sight to many, but it faded as soon as it appeared as a bitter frown usurped his smile.

ErrantryPaladin: The next girl I was dating dumped me because I was boring. Still don’t understand what she meant by that.

ErrantryPaladin: I caught my next girlfriend cheating on me. She tried to play it off as a ‘mistake’ that will never happen again.

He scoffed in indignation as he shook his head.

ErrantryPaladin: Bitch had been banging this guy behind my back for about a month, so this wasn’t a quote, ‘mistake.’

ErrantryPaladin: And as for my last girlfriend… Chat, have you ever seen those videos where a guy comes up to a couple, and ask if they will cheat on your partner for a thousand bucks?

His eyes scanned his chat feed as he saw several dozen variations of the word ‘yes’ scroll by. As well as people asking if that was what happened to him.

ErrantryPaladin: It was for a hundred.

Errant just sighed in defeat as he looked down at his desk.

ErrantryPaladin: We had been dating for three months, and she was willing to throw it all away for a measly hundred bucks… I told her to take the hundred, she could use it to pay for her uber. I dumped her at the pier with that steamer, and cut her from my life. That was about… two, and a half years ago, give, or take a month, or two. I haven’t been in the dating scene since.

ErrantryPaladin: So no, StalwartDoggo… I don’t have any bitches. No one sees me as a catch since they just throw me away in the end for the dumbest of reasons. I don’t have anyone! Hell I don’t have any friends either!

ErrantryPaladin: I’m all on my own… just like always…

Errant stared into the void for a while, his mind not paying attention to his stream before he took a deep breath, and turned to face his chat.

ErrantryPaladin: Now, where were we?

ErrantryPaladin: …

ErrantryPaladin: Ahh yes… Trains~!

~~~

The mother daughter duo stared at the screen as the video ended they did not expect the video to end in such a way. Especially, IHateMyDad2.0, she had always seen, Errant as an indomitable mountain, that always seemed to have everything under his control, and yet he seemed so broken on the inside that she had joined idea how to respond to that.

Her mother however…

SovereignofSnow: Hmm… You don’t suppose he’s into older woman now do you?

IHateMyDad2.0: …

IHateMyDad2.0: Eh?

Her face broke into an expression of wild confusion, and shock as she heard those words leave her mother’s mouth.

IHateMyDad2.0: Y-Y-You can’t be series, Mother?! You’re at least twice his age! Do you seriously think he would be interested in dating someone your age?!

SovereignofSnow: I don’t see why not; Aren’t all men into well endowed, and full bodied woman? He has had many loveless relationships, I have had a loveless marriage, we have so much to connect over about that alone. I think we would make a lovely pair. Don’t you think so dear?

IHateMyDad2.0: I-I…? W-What?!

SovereignofSnow: Oh! I’m also a bonafide, Milf. What young viral man doesn’t want to bed a milf?

The last few minutes had been the most unbelievable minutes of her life, she had expected many things to happen, but to hear her mother say those few words broker her in a way she never expected, and left her with but on response.

IHateMyDad2.0: WHAT THE FUCK MOM?!!

~~~

Meanwhile on, ErrantryPaladin’s stream he was informed that, IHateMyDad2.0’s mother had made certain comments about him. Now he didn’t have the time to watch the full video, so he was stuck with looking at, IHateMyDad2.0’s mothers, SovereignofSnow’s model where he came to a simple conclusion.

ErrantryPaladin: …

ErrantryPaladin: Smash.

#rwby #jaune arc #weiss schnee #willow schnee

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aspoonofsugar · 5 months

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Weiss's Design

Here comes an appreciation post of our Snowhite's beautiful design! This is also the third installment of my RWBY design series, after Yang and Blake's analyses. As per usual, it uses ideas shared in other Weiss's metas. Enjoy!

A SPECIAL SNOWFLAKE

Monty Oum's early sketch depicts Weiss as a living snowflake:

This is because Weiss's design plays with the idea of "a special snowflake" in two different ways:

"snowflake" is a derogatory term for a person, who is entitled, oversensitive and easily offended; it also holds some political implications linked to white privilege

snowflakes are famous for having unique structures, so each one is different from the others

Weiss is initially a stubborn and pampered heiress, who feels superior because of her name. Still, she is deep down frail and needs to build her own distinctive identity.

These two sides of our Snowhite are conveyed by the Schnees' semblance:

Glyhps are snowflake-shaped and they represent:

the family privilege, as they are inherited by all the Schnees - they are a magical projection of the family crest

the potential of each Schnee to grow into their own person - they gain more complex and individual designs with time

In short, Weiss is a special snowflake, for better or worse. She can give in to her father's mentality and be defined by her name. Or she can step into the world and discover who she is outside her family:

Winter: It sounds to me like you have two choices in front of you. You can either call Father, beg for his money back, and explain once more why you would want to study at Beacon over Atlas, or you could continue to explore Remnant, discovering more about the world and honestly, more about yourself.

Let's see what Weiss's design says about her choice.

SNOW PRINCESS

Let's consider Weiss's concept art:

And let's compare it to Winter's:

The two sisters appear similar:

their color schemes are the same

they look like royalty

they share glyphs as their semblance

they fight with swords

They are designed this way to show that Weiss looks up to Winter and tries to emulate her. This is clear if one considers Weiss and Winter's allusions: Weiss alludes to Snowhite, while Winter alludes to the Snow Queen. And yet, when one looks at Weiss's concept art, it is easier to see the Snow Queen's inspiration, rather than Snowhite's:

She looks like a snowflake

She is the color of ice and snow

She wears a crown, like a queen

Glyphs resemble the Snow Queen's power to turn snowflakes into animals

It is as if Weiss's true self (Snowhite) is hidden behind a mask (the Snow Queen). This conveys Weiss's insecurity, as she is caught between the weight of the family crest (a snowflake) and her idolisation of Winter (the Snow Queen). She is a Snow Princess, who needs to decide which kind of Queen she'll be. Either an Evil Queen like Jacques or an Ice Queen like Winter.

Still, Weiss is her own person and this comes to the surface in her final design:

The main differences with the first version are:

Her bangs and pony-tail do not part in two sides

She has a scar on her left eye instead than a beauty mark

Her necklace is an apple instead of a tear-drop

She has no tear-drops dangling from her sleeves

The golden circles on her bolero become silver and she gains silver decorations on her boots

Weiss loses her tear-drop motif and her color-scheme gets simplified. This gives her more Snowhite-like details:

The apple on the necklace alludes to the poisoned apple

The scar on the eye alludes to the magical mirror cracking

The final design only has black, white (silver) and red, which are Snowhite's defining colors

Moreover, Weiss's appearence grows more asymmetric. Her hair is not perfectly parted, but worn in a side pony-tail. This symbolizes Weiss's struggle against Jacques's expectations. Similarly, the elegant beauty mark is changed with a scar. This gives Weiss more personality and shows that behind the princess there is a fighter.

In short, Weiss's Vale design shows glimpses of our girl's true self. However, they are hidden by the cold ice covering Weiss's soul. Luckily, the Spring Arc comes and the ice melts.

MELTING ICE

In Mistral, Weiss leaves her white dress behind and wears a blue outfit:

This happens because our snowflake is slowly melting into water (white > blue), so that she can become herself. In order to do so, though, she has to first lose all the superficial things that define her identity:

Jacques: You are no longer the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company.

Weiss sees herself as the SDC heiress, so the story takes away her title.

Vernal: Your sister isn't in Mistral anymore. No one is coming to rescue you.

Weiss sees herself as Winter's little sister, so the story has her separated from Winter.

Thanks to this, Weiss faces herself and discovers who "just Weiss" is:

Vernal: Let's see what the Schnee name really means. Weiss: I'm more than a name.

This transformation is mirrored by Weiss's design. She loses all the superficial references to Snowhite:

she wears no apple anymore

she has no black-white-red color pattern

Still, her fairy tale emerges strongly in her glyphs, as she learns to summon:

Weiss's avatars are Snowhite's characters:

The Boarbatusk is the Hunter, who is famous for killing a boar

The Knight is the Prince, who saves Snowhite from the glass coffin

The Queen Lancer is both the Evil Queen and the New Queen Snowhite becomes at the end

Weiss loses all she has to be reborn anew. Similarly, her design is stripped of all the Snowhite's allusions, only for them to be expressed more clealry and in a deeper way by the evolution of her semblance. Weiss's magical snowflakes aquire unique patterns that refer to her personal story.

This process of refinement climaxes in volume 5. Here, Weiss dies, is resurrected and crowns herself queen by summoning the Queen Lancer. This Grimm represents who Weiss truly is. She is neither the Evil Queen, nor the Snow Queen, but a Royal (a queen), who is also a Knight (a lancer). She is a Queen Knight.

After this metaphorical coronation, Weiss starts showing her interiority outside. This is why she gains back her two missing colors in her journey to Atlas:

she wears a red scarf

she wears black thights

She is back to look like Snowhite (black + white + red)!

Interestingly, both the scarf and the thights are items worn to stay warm. In short, the closer Weiss gets to her Icy Kingdom (Atlas), the more she shows her true warm self (Snowhite).

QUEEN SNOWHITE

Weiss's Atlas design has three layers to it:

it is queen-like

it is Snowhite-like

it has all the colors of the previous outfits

1- Weiss gains a silver tiara with red gems. It is bigger and more refined than the old one because Weiss has grown. She isn't a princess anymore. She is a queen.

2- Weiss wears Snowhite's three colors: a white dress, black gloves and red jewels. interestingly, black and red are not covered by white. The ice is melted and Weiss's different shades are now out in the open. What is more, Weiss's outfit is similar to her Disney's counterpart:

Disney-Snowhite wears a dress with blue puffed sleeves, which are present in Weiss's Atlas design. There is no risk to confuse our girl with the Snow Queen anymore:

Weiss is not Winter's imitation, but her own person. She is 100% Snowhite.

3 - Weiss's clothes are white, black, red and light blue. These are all the colors worn by her throughout the story. In addition, there is a warmer shade of blue, which shows the cold is gone once and for all. These palette symbolizes Weiss's different parts coming together into a more beautiful and stronger person.

This fits Weiss's new summon:

The Nevermore combines all the other glyphs. It is the final form of Weiss's inner snowflake and the culmination of her growth. Aesthetically, it gives Weiss an angelic look, which brings to mind the final inspiration of her design.

MAGICAL SNOW ANGEL

Oh look! Weiss looks like Sailor Moon! This isn't by chance, as Weiss is inspired by the magical girl genre. Magical girls are heroines, who:

transform into ideal versons of themselves

fight metaphors of human emotions in the form of monsters

purify people's hearts

Weiss is the same, but the first heart she needs to cleanse is her own:

Mirror, tell me something, Tell me who's the loneliest of all? Fear of what's inside of me; Tell me can a heart be turned to stone?

Yes, it can:

Pure Heart Crystal (Sailor Moon)

Soul Gem (Puella Magi Madoka Magica)

A gem standing for one's heart is a pretty common trope in magical girls' stories. Not only that, but the corruption and healing of these stones come up often. Well, Weiss's heart is a snow-crystal, which needs to be melted and rebuilt into a unique structure.

Weiss purifies it by fighting her inner demons in the form of Grimms. As a matter of fact these monsters symbolize humanity's darkness, so they are the perfect enemy for a magical girl. Weiss defeats them and makes them white like snow. She integrates them and the struggles they represent into herself. Through this process, she slowly changes into her ideal self. She doesn't need a spectacular transformation sequence because her evolution happens inside. It is slow, but deep and here to last. After all, the heart is irreplaceable:

Everyone is entitled to their own sorrow, for the heart has no metrics or forms of measure. And all of it… irreplaceable.

Hearts are like snowflakes because there are no two, which are the same. Weiss learns this lesson and starts teaching it to others. This is how she heals hearts. Empathy is her superpower. Thanks to it, she is ready to save her family legacy:

Weiss: I will not be defined by my name because I will be the one to define it.

Weiss's first step is to define herself outside the Schnee name. Her second step is to give the Schnee name a new meaning. She first refines her heart. Then she cleanses her surname. From her inner snowflake to the family crest. That is the kind of magical girl she is.

In a sense, she is stepping into Nicholas's footsteps. He purifies minerals into Dust. She purifies stones into souls. From Saint Nicholas to Snow Angel.

MAGICAL QUEEN SNOWHITE

In conclusion, Weiss's design describes her evolution in three ways:

She goes from being a snowflake (derogatory) to being a snowflake (unique)

She grows from a princess into a queen

She leaves the Snow Queen behind and becomes Snowhite

This refinement process is nothing, but her magical girl transformation.

#rwby #weiss schnee #rwby meta #my meta #winter schnee #character design #once upon an allusion #semblance of the soul #santa's granddaughter #it is her season!#greenlight volume 10 #greenlightvolume10

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rwac96 · 7 months

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Height Difference (WhiteRose)

*Ruby Rose & Weiss Schnee were at a rock concert, a first for the latter while she attempts to see the performing band*

Ruby: "Ya know, Weiss, I could give you a boost to see the concert stage better."

Weiss: *groans* "I'm not that short, Ruby! I'll manage."

Ruby: *sighs, folding her arms* "Suit yourself." *smirks*

*The White-Haired Huntress hops up & down...repeatedly, then groans in defeat*

Weiss: "Okay, maybe just a tiny boost."

*The Reaper scoops Weiss up bridal style, making the porcelain-skinned girl blush*

Weiss: *flustered* "D-Dolt!"

Ruby: *snickers* "You're welcome."

#text post #text prompt #shipping #shipping post #shipping prompt #writing prompt #rwby #rwby shitpost #ruby rose #weiss schnee #whiterose #white rose #f/f romance #yuri #imagine your ship #imagine your otp #ship prompts #otp prompts

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dokidokitsuna · 4 months

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RWBY: Next Steps

This is just a design collection (remember when I used to do those? 'Winter Mission', 'Summer Tour'?? Fun times~)...and it may be my last. Its only real purpose is to give me something fun to draw for the NeverFell Projects wrap-up series. The recent Adam and Cinder designs are technically part of this collection, too. ^^

These were much harder to do than those two, though...I've spent ~2 months chipping away at this set, trying and retrying to address several different RWBY design criticisms while still making the girls look good. ಥ_ಥ I've finally begun approaching success, though, so I wanted to talk a bit about these ideas.

Ruby The only one I managed to design in one try. ^^; This was my answer to the question I felt was posed by Ruby's Vol. 7 design: i.e. "how do we do a new Ruby design that feels more 'mature'??" Because I never liked how the V7 design attempted to do that. :/

Between the new hairstyle and the new 'generic adventurer' clothes, it felt less like they were trying to evolve Ruby Rose and more like they didn't like her original design and wanted to get as far away from it as possible. V1-Ruby was such an iconic look (and STILL IS), and yet there's no trace of it in V7-Ruby. None of the goth-lolita style or playful edge that even V4-Ruby managed to preserve...instead they just scrubbed everything out to start from scratch, with a new design that's honestly 'meh' at best.

So what I did was stick closely to V1-Ruby, while adding just a few big changes to make the look distinct. You say a 'combat skirt' is too childish for an older Ruby? Well then we'll make it shorts...but shorts that are just as frilly and cute as the original skirt, with a similar overall shape. You say her original hairstyle is too boring and 'safe'? Well, then we'll change it...by simply shaving half of it off. It's a much edgier look that simultaneously preserves the original shape of her hair: from every angle except front and back, her silhouette will remain the same.

You say you want to give her new shoes, but don't want the fandom to make fun of you for covering them in dozens of belts again? Here's a wild idea: cowboy boots. ^^ A totally unexpected, unique item that still fits in with the antique-ish vibe of her goth clothes.

Basically, I just wanted to prove that you can do something dramatically different with Ruby without completely abandoning her fashion sense.

Criticisms: The details are still lacking; I think I should work some red accents into her corset and boots. Also, I originally designed this outfit with a white shirt, and I kinda want it back (she had the team colors! R, W, B, and Y! ;_;)...the problem is that it clashes with the sheer thigh-highs. One must go...I'm sure I'll figure it out

Weiss The toughest of the bunch: I did three different Weiss designs before landing on this one. ^^;;; The big epiphany came when I realized that Weiss looks her best when she mirrors Ruby. The girls' original design concepts share a lot of features; I feel like the characters were designed to look like they belong together, and figured I might as well honor that.

ALSO-- and this was the biggest priority for Weiss' design-- I firmly believe that she should not look like a princess anymore. From a character designers' perspective, it is ludicrous that they gave her the giant Disney ballgown in the same volume where they put classism at the center of the plot and have her send her bourgeoisie father to jail. That right there is the definition of mixed messages...

I thought the whole point of Weiss' character arc was to distance herself from the uber-rich parasites of her family and fellow 'Atlas elites'. I thought we cemented that when she officially lost her "heiress" title in V4. o_O I expected her next look to ditch the crown and visually show that she's past the point of 'rebelling'-- there's no more authority in her life for her to rebel against; she's free now! But alas...

So as usual, I had to do it myself. This Weiss outfit is definitely still fancy, with the coattailed vest and ruffled sleeves, but there's a lot less 'decoration'; fewer jewels, fewer details. The construction is straightforward and simple. And of course, no more tiara. Instead I decided to give her a li'l snow pea flower and ribbon, which ended up inspiring her new periwinkle purple-y color scheme. Like her original design, it's actually fairly colorful, but does its job and puts the emphasis on the white elements.

Criticisms: ...Not many, this came out pretty good. ^^ I might reconsider the black coattails, but if I do I'll probably just switch it out with the indigo inner vest. I like the idea of her outfit construction mirroring Ruby's, but her color scheme mirroring Blake's, since they have a closer bond in NeverFell.

Blake Blake designs are notoriously difficult; if you wanna hear some great reasons why, I suggest you check out this old Twiins iink RWBY design ranking video, which always helps guide me when I do redesigns for the main 4. Anyway, this phenomenon makes it hard to describe what I did...I guess you could say I tried to combine all the best elements of all her outfits, while clinging to the 'fancy action girl' vibe of her original design.

I'm most proud of her new hairstyle-- I dunno why, I just enjoyed working on it and making those decisions. ^^ It's hard to tell, but it IS shorter; now shoulder-length instead of back-length. We make up for this with additional volume, emphasizing the waves in her hair texture by pushing them outward. And most notably: she keeps the ribbon. She just wears it differently, using it to accentuate her ears instead of hiding them. This way, we keep the point of interest on her head while still showing her character growth.

Criticisms: Infinite, countless. This is a good look, but something is definitely still off. ^^;;; I think some additional detail in certain places (not sure where yet...) might help 'finish' it, so to speak. Maybe some extra yellow accents...? Also, the bow obviously gets lost in her hair this way. I've tried several color changes and don't like any of them; I think I may just have to texture it differently in the final product. Fingers crossed...

Yang Another tough one...I only made 2 design drawings, but the colors took several rounds of trial and error. I think my excitement over finally arriving at a good color scheme TODAY was what spurred me to make this post. ^^;

Anyway...there is a specific piece of Yang design criticism I hear fairly often that drives me up the wall: people commonly complain that she doesn't wear enough yellow; that she doesn't represent her character color well because all she wears is a yellow shirt. And the character designer in me wants to rip my teeth out whenever I hear this, because it blindly ignores the giant fairy-tale-inspired mass of yellow that is her hair, and the purposely attention-grabbing pops of yellow that make up Ember Celica. They're not "clothes", technically, but they're still part of the design! It's like saying a character with green skin can't represent the color green if all their clothes are black...without realizing that maybe their clothes are black BECAUSE they have green skin, in order to draw your attention to it...!! (╬▔皿▔)╯I just jifjkdsnfksahujknsjnfufh

...Anyway, anyway...the point is, it's difficult to take a character design with so much natural yellow in it and add yellow clothes and still have it read well. But because I like a challenge, I decided to take it on. I think the difference between the mustard leather and neon yellow hair is large enough to make it work, while still feeling casual enough for everyday wear. The champagne off-white she wears in her 'Hunter' outfit (which heavily inspired this) looks great, but it feels too 'classy' to me; like something specifically meant to dazzle the audience with her beauty for one special adventure, not for her to wear often.

On that note, my secondary mission with this design was just to make Yang look cute again, by following the structure of her V1 look, and even adding a little skirt on top of her battle shorts, which looks surprisingly natural considering she almost never wears one.

I don't know what happened in the canon to make the character designer forget the 'Yellow Beauty' part of her character concept; tbh even if her gender presentation gets more masculine she can still look pretty. Designs like Ozma, V7 Qrow and V4 Ren show that they understand this, but choose to cover Yang up in flavorless sheets of beige anyway. :T Making sure she always has a boob window isn't enough; the clothes themselves need to say something too.

Criticisms: ...Honestly, none? I think this might be solid. :> We'll see what happens when I draw it properly. I hope the white socks work out, because then she'll successfully be wearing the RWBY color scheme, which fits her (former, implied...) role as the glue holding the team together.

#rwby #yang xiao long #ruby rose #weiss schnee #blake belladonna #character design

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