#I do also want some of Ren & Oscar given Ren's 'he's our friend. we care about him.' speech in v8

[theseerasures]

While you're doing reactions, if you're up for it, how are you feeling about all the finale predictions you made on March 23? By my count, you scored pretty well!

hooooooo boy (the alluded post, for those just catching up)

how i feel about my predictions is that...you’re right and i scored pretty well, but much like the characters doing right in the episode itself, it didn’t matter. part of the reason why the finale made me feel so much--why i loved it, despite still being emotionally hungover from ugly affect--is because i WAS right, but i was so often right but wrong on a smaller scale, or right but wrong because i completely misunderstood the overall thematic stakes, or in one case right but in such a phenomenally cruel and roundabout way that i’m still reeling from it.

more detailed breakdown under the cut (as in “let’s unpack this,” and as in “i have an emotional breakdown”):

WHERE I WAS MOSTLY RIGHT

Team Green, Yang, the non-Robyn Happy Huntresses, Klein and the non-combatant Schnees were gimmes from the beginning, even the ones of whom we didn’t have visual confirmation by the end of Worthy.

Pietro and Maria are still MIA so i’m putting them here, but...Winter’s gonna have to tell Pietro, when he shows up again.

Cinder and the Relics i was correct about, but even though i knew going in that she would win i didn’t imagine the scale of her victory. mostly because i thought she might have learned some self-discipline and just skedaddled with the Relics in an attempt to trap as many people as possible in superhell, but a) she didn’t, and b) she won without needing to.

Salem, Watts, and Ironwood are where i predicted, but i think part of me really bought into the fan theory that maybe Salem would want to keep Atlas around. both Watts and Ironwood lasted much longer through the episode than i expected because i was working from that assumption, but with the direction the episode actually took it makes perfect sense that they exited the stage as Atlas fell--they are, after all, twin architect-destroyers of Atlas. brains and brawn.

Nora ended up in Vacuo, but she’s...uh, not happy about it. not that i expected her to be happy, but this is much much worse. og JNPR is now JUST Renora, and much as i love freewheeling modular megazord JNPR, that’s gonna hit like a truck. last time they lost someone Renora were consciously trying to play supportive teammate to Jaune, who’d just lost his partner, and Nora especially also had to talk Ren off the edge with the Kuroyuri stuff. i expect they’ll swap the dynamic this time, especially since Nora was already planning to go all independent woman before this.

Qrow, Robyn, and the AceOps are stranded, but in transit and not in Mantle, because Mantle the place is no more. and Vine is dead. the reason i posited that the AceOps might be split up was so they could find their team dynamic after it’s been unsettled, and...well. having one of them do a heroic sacrifice should do a similar trick. because i didn’t think Atlas would fall on Mantle i thought Qrow and Robyn (particularly Robyn) would get more to do, but both of them are pretty much exactly in the same place they were in at the beginning of the season: trapped in a cramped environment, cut off from the people they love and uncertain what happened to them, and unable to contribute in a way that they would consider meaningful. i’m guessing we won’t check back in with this crew for a while, but if we do it’ll be interesting to see if the Qrow and Robyn dynamic changes--like, if he has to be the one to talk her down from cabin fever and despair. (before he finds out that he was the one who should have been despairing all along.)

WHERE I WAS MOSTLY WRONG

Neo is in superhell. i had put her in Atlas because i’d overestimated Cinder’s ability to play the long game, but what the show ultimately doubled down on was that Cinder remains at heart a petty and impatient opportunist, and that’s where she’s most effective. which i dig! i dig that she has not so much improved (in means or ends) so much as learned to hold the beneficial and detrimental parts of herself farther and farther apart, because in the end they’re all the same parts, and because presumably she’ll end up starfishing out so much (who knew the way she took care of Winter’s death pigeons was foreshadowing?) that she breaks in two. and i dig Neo in superhell without Cinder, because it’ll be our first chance to see Neo not working for anyone outside of that one time she fought Cinder. if superhell does end up being part afterlife, she might also get some closure with the Torchwick stuff.

Jaune being in superhell points to it being part afterlife, because the chance for HIM to get some closure is also right there. that was always the case, but the reason i made the prediction i did was because i assumed that Jaune would remain the person he has been this whole season--this stolid, clueless but incredibly effective supporting leader. having a Jaune who is at the top of his game meet up with Pyrrha again is obviously appealing, especially to me, a person who scribbles misshapen hearts labeled “Arkos = 5evr” on all my notebooks, but at the time i didn’t think it was necessary to his story...and then the story dramatically shifted his character and threw all my carefully hedged bets off (which is something we’ll also get to with...later).

having a Jaune who has just effectively EUTHANIZED someone meet up with Pyrrha again isn’t just appealing--it’s vital. and it’s vital because the exact parameters of how and why Jaune ended up having to kill Penny is a point-for-point echo and escalation of the way the Amber to Pyrrha transfer was supposed to go. last time Jaune Arc was party to a Maiden transfer process he had no idea what was going on, and he tried to intervene when he worked out that whatever Oz was doing was going to hurt Pyrrha, and that however minute thing contributed to Pyrrha’s death and the Fall of Beacon. this time it’s not just that he knows what’s going on and the stakes of it. it’s not even just that he is the Ozpin operating the Aura Transfer machine. it is that there is no machine--there is just him, holding the knife. he knows the Amber better than the Pyrrha this time, and this time the Amber is his friend, and still whole, and choosing. not just consenting, but asking him. trusting him. so he carries it out. the old Maiden dies, and like Ozpin he dies shortly after, but not before he watches the new Maiden fail.

but he does prevent history from repeating, because a new Maiden is created, and she gets to live. and Cinder Fall has made him a murderer on top of everything else, but she WILL remember him, now.

there are other people i was wrong about, but that’s...for later.

WHERE I WAS RIGHT AND IT DIDN’T MATTER

Ruby, Blake and Weiss are all in superhell, so on paper i was right, but...well. sing it if you know the words. the reason i’m putting them in their own section is because it’s not just that they fell and didn’t jump like i thought; it’s that they would not have jumped, and that changes everything. you know how i realized that we would lose everyone, and not by choice? it was Weiss. it was when Weiss said we have to do this for Yang. Jaune had reminded Nora of what was priority one minutes before, but the implications of that didn’t sink in for me until Weiss confirmed it. they PLANNED for this. not just the eventuality where they would have to die, but the one where they’d have to watch everyone else die and do nothing except keep going.

which...has implications. the best way to read this--and i think we’re all dying for some good news--is that even if it certainly does not feel that way, RWBY was able to snatch a partial victory from Salem’s claws. they lost the Relics, but they got the Maiden powers away, and most importantly: they saved Atlas and Mantle. by the time Jaune intervened Grand Central was empty. there was no one left to evacuate. they didn’t get everyone, but they got a lot. even before Cinder intervened so catastrophically they knew how many things could go wrong, so they made a plan, and largely stuck to it. on a purely material level they only lost one thing vital to the war effort--the Staff. but they got everyone else out, which was priority one. the show in general and this arc in particular has emphasized that our heroes don’t think they should be exceptionalized, that they’ll fight tooth and nail to make sure everyone is given the treatment and respect they deserve, and they’ve made good on that. they’re Huntresses, and Huntresses be thou for the people. they chose, and they won what mattered to THEM.

but on the flip side: they chose, and there’s no way to read this choice as anything but a compromise...and a very Atlesian one at that. when confronted with calculus similar to the one JYR faced after they lost Oscar in War, our heroes chose...the opposite. one, then three, then four, then five, then six for the many. what was that number compared to two entire cities’ worth of people, especially when they’re the ones who signed up for this? i’m not trying to take this down the slippery slope where our heroes are no better than the dictator they just dethroned, because when the time came for sacrifice they chose themselves first. but it remains a sacrifice, which means that when the time came to test the hard moral limit they set for themselves, they...moved. they decided ahead of time that some risks aren’t worth taking. that this is not a situation where everyone wins, so they had to go for the next best thing, then the next best thing after that, and so on. i’m honestly not sure where it points to yet, except my usual refrain that this show is a lot less didactic than it seems, but...yeah. this is going to lead to some invigorating discussions in-universe.

and maybe it’ll start with this: that Jaune and Weiss--the two who had to verbally advocate for leaving the fallen behind--fell last of all, which means they had to watch everyone else go first. and the last person they saw was the same person. Weiss, who executed the plan to brilliant perfection, saw the past--the first family she ever had--streaking after her in an endless void, forsaking the priorities they all agreed upon, for her. Jaune, who followed the plan to execution and broke a part of himself, saw the new Maiden he crowned, backlit and pulled away by the bright future that he ensured was possible, but can no longer access.

QUEENMAKER

i’m starting with Penny, because Penny came first. there has already been a ton of discussion on the ways that she’ll come back, and while i absolutely agree that she will, for now i am not so much interested in that as i am in eulogizing this Penny. the Penny we had just now, not identical but continuous with the Penny we had before that, in the same way that everyone is not identical but continuous with who they were in the past. the Penny who IS dead, her eventual resurrection notwithstanding.

because she DID die, and her death matters. that’s the thing about the deaths in this season, and it furthers my point re: RWBY’s presumed didacticism--the show’s treatment of death has changed as our heroes have changed. it is no longer (and never was) as simple as “death and sacrifice are always senseless waste,” and more something like...”death has to matter, and we will give it meaning.” Hazel and Vine sacrificed themselves, and the fact both resulted in a “positive” outcome (more lives saved) does not make the deaths any less tragic. but neither should the tragedy of it take away from the fact that they saved lives. what separates our heroes from a Salem or a James Ironwood even now is that they recognize the importance of grievable life even as they accept inevitable death, that what is worth it all about preserving life is not to make sure that lives go on forever, but that lives have meaning and are remembered, that when you’re gone the people who are still here respect you enough to carry that meaning with them. it���s a tenuous balance to walk, but all the more important for that reason.

Penny--though her death can and will be reversed--is much the same. in every arc there has been a Game of Three Maidens (which i guess would make shogi the better metaphor and not chess because--what AM i on about), and in every Game there has been sacrifice. and i thought that would encompass Winter, here. we’d get away with it not being literal death, since Fria already took care of that, but she would be trapped on the other side of the gate--in pretty much the exact same position James Ironwood ended up in the episode itself, actually. it just seemed obvious: she’s the decoy, the one who missed the call by inches, the last revealed defector when there still was an Atlas from which to defect. all of it pointed to Winter’s story ending with one last delay barring her from salvation, of her finally being too late...

and well. i WASN’T wrong in the broad strokes, but first there was Penny Polendina. Penny could have let Jaune try to save her and Weiss die for her, but she knew she had to make a different choice to save as many lives as possible. so she offered herself up as the sacrifice instead. last week i waxed prolonged poetic about how Winter defected so recently, how it has been just IronwoodandWinter for so long, how Winter doesn’t have a team and only the healing shreds of a family, how no one would think to look for her...and then Penny did. you were my friend. (given Winter’s rough age and the hazy creation dates for the PENNY Project, it’s possible that Winter is Penny’s OLDEST friend.) Penny thought of Winter as she was dying, thought about the good Winter could do if Winter had her powers, believed in Winter, and in doing so, saved Winter’s life before anyone else’s.

she ceded the spotlight to Winter in this last episode, but this season as a whole belongs to Penny Polendina--the myriad ways she creates herself, the ways she defends her self-creation, ultimately culminating in her new body, created by no one but herself. but for her final act the Maiden of Creation did something different and no less miraculous: i thought of you. a thought was all it took.

she created someone else.

KINGSLAYER | THE MAIDEN THAT WAS PROMISED

the thing about Winter is that she came first.

no, i’m serious. i checked the fairy tale and everything--Winter came first. as the Wizard’s first visitor she encouraged him to reflect and meditate, and when probed about why she was here at all, she answered: i am waiting for my sisters. Spring and Summer have to wait, too, of course, but. Winter was the first.

Jacques and Willow named their firstborn Winter. it is not the way this story begins, but it is certainly is one of them, because the story begins with Winter, and Winter begins the story--a new retelling, a new cycle of heroism. we’ve since been introduced to other characters in that indeterminate age group between RWBY and STRQ, but Winter--by virtue of being Weiss’ older sister--anchors herself to the new generation in a way those others (even Cinder, who comes closest) do not. she started things, in the mythical emblematic way that this show likes to move, and the way she started things--the way she MADE herself start things, thanks to the house she grew up in--was with love, and protection. she took care of Weiss and laid the groundwork for the person Weiss is today, and conversely: she took care of Weiss, and through Weiss, laid the groundwork for herself and how to take care of everyone. so eventually the steel thread she tied to Weiss she also linked to Whitley, to Penny, to Marrow, to all the people they love, and on and on it goes. Winter loved Weiss, so she made herself learn how to love Weiss, and so when i say she started things what i mean is she started family. a new home, for a new generation of the orphaned.

Winter came first. but as the show demonstrates time and again, especially with Winter: first does not mean best. because being first also means you’re the prototype, a volatile thing that must be tested and tempered and then discarded to make way for what comes after, what gets improved. and it is THIS part of being first that Winter has internalized most of all. Winter, the first Maiden, taught the Wizard peace and prepared the earth so that her sisters could grow and foster and harvest the life within it; Winter, the first Schnee, laid the groundwork in her siblings, but did not wait for them. and let herself fallow in the process. she left, and every time they tried to follow or stay with her she sent them away. (she keeps sending them away; even after defecting and taking down Ironwood, the first thing she says to JNPER is go.) Winter laid the first stone in the foundation, but she cannot take credit for the home her family turned it into, for all the ways it has flourished, because she willfully absented herself of that (birth)right.

and the reason she did this was very simple: she was afraid. she could not bear the thought that while she had to learn how to love she made mistakes, the idea that instead of preparing the earth she might have poisoned the well. so she ran. she turned her face away so she would not have to look, so they would not look to her. she left, and every time one of her siblings superseded her after that, every time she was made to be their Esau--passed over--it just seemed to confirm that she was right to leave. look how well they’ve all done without her.

in the stories, eldest siblings aren’t here to win. they’re here to be made an example of, and Winter...had resigned herself to that. she was prepared to be left behind for good by all the people who have outpaced her.

but then there was Penny Polendina. Penny didn’t follow her, or try to stay; Penny came back for her. Penny remembered Winter when all Winter wanted was to be forgotten, because she’d gotten it in her head that it was what she deserved for all the things she’d done or enabled or failed to do. why did Penny remember Winter? because you were my friend. there is no divine complexity to it, nothing for Winter to fall hopeless short of. there is only the fact that Winter gave Penny something, made something together with Penny, even as she was trying her hardest not to, for fear that she would create something terrible. and this does not take away from all the ways Winter did fall short, but it is still SOMETHING. and it is enough.

it was your power, after all. Penny means the Maiden powers, but she also means THIS Maiden’s power: the power to create. you made this home, Penny is saying to Winter, you should get to reap its fruit, even if you weren’t around for the labor. all you have to do is say yes.

this was a gift. she says yes. she accepts, because in the end Winter Schnee loves her family more than she hates herself.

but then--

(a gift for what? Winter will ask herself wretchedly later, after she has failed in the two tasks she thinks Penny set for her.)

the thing about Winter is that she came first. she taught Weiss everything she knows, and she was so busy doing that she never had the time to show Weiss everything she feels. so in the end what Weiss never predicted was that for all of her team’s painful planning, for all of her own pained enforcement of that plan...none of it was a match for her sister. that when the time came it was would be WINTER who defaults to the absolute ideal of “no one gets left behind,” of “every life” meaning every life, priority one be damned.

or that Winter, in trying to choose both, in finally and fiercely trying, with surely enough power to make a difference, would fail.

what are you doing? Winter heard as she watched Weiss fall into nothingness. my life doesn’t matter.

so here, then, is the story of Winter in The Final Word: a girl returns home after having left it, but in this version it is the home who has changed and the girl who has not. and from this both are unmade. but she gets to live, because she was invited back home. and she gets to go through the portal as its last passenger, into the Promised Land.

and she is still the Maiden of Creation. even after all this, THAT is still her task. to build a refuge for her people, to collect the broken strands of the family she began and her siblings continued and expanded and reinforced, and gather them up again into a new home. it will be impossible, but at the same time: she has done this before.

and this time, she will wait for her sisters.

(a gift for what? for nothing, would be the answer. gifts aren’t FOR anything. they’re gifts.)

#typeoneninja #rwby #helen writes meta #VERY LONG OBSCENELY LONG META CANNOT EMPHASIZE HOW LONG #at least it didn't take me a whole month this time

[tanakavox]

here guys. This reaction was done @bssaz97 again. And that's it for the author's note.

"I miss baby Zwei!" Weiss sulked.

"We know Weiss, you've been saying that for the past ten minutes," Blake's vein appeared on her head.

"Why can't we see more of him! He was so cute and innocent!" Weiss crosses her arms and huffs..

"He spent the entire time antagonizing me!" Jaune replied.

"He can never do wrong." Weiss cemented in her mind.

"Forget it VB, she's a lost cause." Yang told her fellow blonde.

"Well let's see what this next viewing has in store for us all." Ren calmly stated.

The screen shows Jaune on Planet Namek facepalming.

"Urgh, what was that idiot DOING bringing me here!" He mutters before turning to look around his eyes widening. "It's... Wait a minute, I can feel it... This is my home! I can finally see its beauty! The lush blue fields, the crystal clear waters, the wind brushing past my... GOD, THIS IS BORING!" He yelled out before groaning. "No wonder I feel at home."

"We're back to Namek!" Ruby shouted in excitement.

"And there's alien Jaune-Jaune!" Nora jumped in.

"Wait isn't this the world where Cinder is supposed to be really powerful?" Jaune asked.

"...oh crud/shit." Many of the original audience replied. Those who were new to the theater didn't exactly understand what they meant but supposed they would eventually see why.

The scene cuts to Cinder confronting Mercury, Oscar, Neptune, and Trifa

"Oh hell yeah! Emerald wake up, we're back in the world where I'm a badass prince!" Mercury says as he shakes her shoulder.

Emerald loudly snores.

"Hey! You said to wake you when 'the snooze fest' was over."

"Not… interested." Emerald conveniently snored.

"Emerald, you will watch this viewing." Cinder orders.

"Yes Cinder!" Emerald miraculously much more awake.

"Wooow." Mercury drawls, shaking his head in genuine disappointment.

"Shut it!" Emerald hissed.

Cinder smiles coldly at them. "Well, Mercury. You've finally pulled it off. You've managed to dash my hopes entirely. With some help, I see." she turns to look at the rest of the group.

"Quack!"

"Neptune, seriously, not helping!" Oscar said ebowing him.

"I can try."

"I'm very curious. Where exactly are you from?" Cinder asks calmly.

"Don't you snitch!" Nora shouted at the screen.

"We're from rem-" Neptune started before Oscar stopped him.

"Neptune, no!"

"Oh right... Thanks for stopping me, Oscar. 'Cause I can't shut-."

"They're from Remnant." Trifa deadpanned.

"Traitor!" Ruby glared at the girl on the screen. Her anger was shared by many in the audience. Whether good or bad.

Blake was feeling the same amount of betrayal twice after remembering how Trifa was one of Ada-his agents sent to kidnap her in the past.

" Little bow girl, why?!" Neptune shouted out in disbelief.

"Because my name is Trifa."

Nora huffed, "Well maybe your name should little bi-!"

"Nora please." Ren asked his oldest friend and companion to let it go.

"'Sigh.' Fine, but I'm still mad." Nora said.

"Oh good. I'll stop by there on the way home. Pick up some space eggs, some space milk, and BLOW IT THE F**K UP!" Cinder screamed at them before calming here. "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm usually far more composed. I'm just a little bit ABSOLUTELY LIVID." She said with barely contained rage.

"Oh, Cinder. Quit being such a bitch. I lost my chance at immortality too and you don't see me crying about it." Mercury said mocking with a smirk.

"Yep. Sucks to suck!" Yang stayed for both Cinder's in the audience and on screen.

"Care to say that to my face." Cinder stood up.

"Whoa now One Eye Cinder. We can't fight here, remember, so I can say whatever I like and there's nothing you can do to stop me." Yang explains with a toothy grin.

Cinder growls, but reluctantly sat back down as she began to curse this theater's damned rules.

"Yes, Mercury. But you see, the difference between us is I'll live long enough to regret it." Cinder charges at Mercury and engages him in battle with a battle cry.

Scene cuts to Jaune flying through the sky

"Hey we were getting to the good part!" Mercury shouted.

"And what part would that exactly be Mercury?" Cinder asked directly.

"The fight scene, what else." He said nonchalantly.

Cinder stared at him for a moment before looking back at the screen. Mercury was one of the few people that she could tolerate back talking to her so she paid it no mind.

"Everything looks the goddamn same on this goddamn planet!" He thinks and sighs before he sees something on the ground. "Wait a minute, a body! SOCIAL ACTIVITY!" Jaune yells as he yells flying down and landing next to a body, which was Hazel. "Please tell me you're not dead!"

Hazel begins to speaks in Namekian/Klingon

"What the hell is he saying?" Coco asked.

"It appears he is attempting to communicate with Mr. Arc's alternate in their native tongue." Ozpin rationalized.

"Do you know what he's saying Jaune?" Velvet asked.

"Velvet, I think Ozpin means-."

Velvet giggles before she starts laughing. Her team along with his shortly after.

Jaune was staring at them confusedly before his eyes widened in realization. He chuckled while rolling his eyes, "Oh haha, very funny Velvet."

Ruby just stared at the exchange expressionless, the joke was funny but for some reason she didn't want to laugh. Weird.

"Ah, crap. I find the only living thing for miles- and he's so broken he can't even talk right."

" I was speaking Namekian, you idiot. Don't you know anything about your own people?" Hazel gasps out, barely holding on to life.

"Well, we're demons, right?" Jaune asks hopefully.

"Eh, more like slug people."

"Ah, dammit! I liked it better when I was a demon."

"And I liked it better when I had proper bladder control. Nobody's perfect."

"Yeah, I've been meaning to ask about that. What happened?"

"Let's just say our world elder's kind of a giant green asshole."

Jaune and many of the other male audience members bowed their heads in silence for loss bestowed on the Namekian people.

"Yeesh! Port's a bit of a dick in this one… or lack thereof," Yang quipped.

"YANG!"

"Too soon?" Yang winced.

"Preachin' to the choir on that one." Jaune agreed, an image of Ozpin showing in his head. "Well, it's been fun, but I have to go DIE again…" He turns to leave.

Jaune mentally groaned as he remembered that in this world his life was the one entwined with Ozpin. Also he no more thrilled about the prospect of seeing his alternate die (again?) in a way that could've been easily avoided.

"Dang Arc, you're a bit sassy in this world, huh?" Coco asked.

"And green with antennas." Velvet whispered to Fox.

"Ahhh," Fox nodded, getting a clue of what the counterpart looked like.

"Wait. I might be able to help you." gasped out Hazel.

"Look, buddy. If you want to add me on MySpace, I switched to Spacebook a while ago." Jaune turns to left again.

"What's MySpace?" Oscar asked.

"Beats me, but it sounds mega old." Yang commented.

Ozpin, Glynda, Qrow and even Winter winced at Yang's unintentional jab at them. All of them who used to own MySpace accounts.

Salem just looked confused at the mention of these names. 'What's a MySpace and Spacebook? Is it a form of communication?' She thought to herself.

"No, no, no, no. Listen. I think I know something that might work out for both of us. I don't wanna die and you seem pretty lonely."

"DESPERA-, I mean, go on."Jaune said, getting yells before switching back to a normal tone.

"There's a special ability our people share. Forbidden, even amongst our most sacred clans."

"And we're just going to abuse it?" Jaune asked

"Oh, maliciously!" Hazel said with a grin.

"Bitchin'! How we do?"

"Well that didn't take much convincing at all." Emerald said, impressed by how quickly it took the dying Hazel to convince Arc to comment on what was probably the Namekians form of the Black Arts.

"Hey Jaune-Jaune needs all the power he can get if he wants to kick Cinder's butt!" Nora shot back. "Yeah!" Ruby echoed Nora's sentiment.

"Well, first you put your hand upon me."

" 'Kay" He places his hand on Hazel's elbow)

"Yes. Like that. Now lower."

"Uh-huh."

"Lower."

"Hmm…"

"Little lower."

"Hmm..".

"Ah! If we had junk, you'd be gay right now." Jaune groans as Hazel smirks at him. "Fusing!"

"Gods Dammit!" Jaune facepalmed. He couldn't believe how his alternate would fall for such an obvious trick…. though to be honest he probably would have fallen for it all the same.

Jaune fuses with Hazel, a bright light blinding the viewers. After it's disappears, Jaune only is there and he looks at his hands in wonder.

"Wow. Unreal. My gosh. This is amazing! I feel INCREDIBLE!" He then begins to chant Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! I can win! I feel great! I-can-do-this! HAAA…"

Hazel's voice from inside is heard inside Jaune's head. "What are you doing?" He asked.

"Nothing." Jaune replies after stammering a bit.

"Really? 'Cause it looked like you were chanting to yourself."

"Are you in my head?" Jaune ask changing the subject.

"Yup. Don't worry; supposedly I should fade away into your subconscious. Sooner or later."

"Is this what it was like for you?" Jaune asked Oscar.

"Pretty much." Oscar deadpanned

"...Wow, that's really weird." Jaune slumped in his chair.

"Yep. Well, you kinda get used to it after a while." Oscar replied.

"Does it?" Jaune asked him seriously.

"...No." Oscar slumped into his chair as well.

'If I could have carried this burden in my original body for all these millennia and spared you, I would have… no one deserves this burden.' Ozpin told himself in his mind. He determined it would fix nothing if he told them that, there was no changing the past.

"Okay. So, what now?"

"By my estimate, this fusion should have given you just enough power to wipe out the bitch who killed our people."

"And?"

"Well, let me put this in terms you'll understand: You can win! You feel great! You-can-do-this!" Hazel said, repeating Jaune's chant.

"Oh, ha-ha!"

"Yeah go Jaune/Fearless Leader!" Ruby and Nora both cheered.

Jaune's face turned beet red, but he did appreciate their show of support.

The scene cuts to Mercury and Cinder in a brawler lock

"Impudent... little…" Cinder hissed. Her scouter shows "F**K THIS I'M OUT" before exploding on her face, Cinder grunting in pain.

"Damn, Mercury must actually be pretty strong to make that device off itself," Yang stated.

"Why do you sound so surprised blondie? Still sore about our match up?" Mercury quipped.

"You are so lucky I can't mop the floor with your face." Yang shot back, her eyes flashing crimson.

Mercury and Cinder both back off, producing a small crater due to their power.

"I'm impressed, Mercury. When did you graduate from pull-ups?" Cinder said mocking.

"About the same time you got off the rag." Mercury fired back.

Cinder smirks a bit. "Cute. But bear no false hopes, Mercury. You're a mere paper tiger in front of a storm. You have no idea what true power I possess."

"It's that you can transform, right?"

"I can transform…" Cinder's face's falls. "Okay, when and how?"

"Guldo told me."

A flashback of a conversation between Mercury and Guldo appears

"So... Did you know that Cinder can transform?" Guldo said.

"Huh. That right?" Mercury said disinterested.

"Yeah. And Burter's gay."

"Really!?" Mercury asked, genuinely surprised

(back to present)

"And then I threw a dog treat at him. True story."

"That's so rude!" said the collective voices of Ruby, Weiss, Velvet, and Fiona.

"Oh cry me a river, I lost my conscience long ago." Mercury replied back.

"Right. But if you are so aware, why do you persist in goading me?" Cinder question raising an eyebrow.

Mercury grinned viciously."Because Cinder. You're not dealing with the average Saiyan warrior anymore. I am a Super Saiyan!"

….

"A what?" Oscar asked.

Cinder rolls her eyes at this apparently hearing this before. "Oh, here we go!"

"That's right, Cinder. I've arisen beyond the limits of a normal Saiyan, and into the realm of legend- the legend that you fear. The legend known throughout the entire universe as the most powerful warrior to ever exist!" Cinder starts speaking faintly at this point alongside him. "I, Prince Mercury, have become a..". Cinder cuts him off

"...Super Saiyan. Blah, blah, blah, blah, I get it. Then you slayed the Jabberwocky and went on to save Narnia." She clearly wasn't taking him seriously.

"Wow! This Super Saiyan sounds awesome!" Yang concluded. Her sister as well as Jaune, Nora, Oscar and Ren. What? He could like things.

"Thanks for the praise Blondie." Mercury said.

"Yeah something tells me your alternate is way too overestimating himself." Emerald stated.

"You're just jealous you're not a Super Saiyan." Mercury shot back, unfazed by her earlier remark. Causing Emerald to roll her eyes.

While the name seemed silly to the more mature members of the audience, they too were intrigued by the tale of this being.

"Go ahead and mock me, Cinder, but I'm not afraid of you. So why don't you doll yourself up and get ready for a night on the town, because I'm about to take you to a ballroom blitz."

"Fine. I'll indulge you, Mr. Super Saiyan. But before I do I have a funny little story I'd like to tell you."

"Funny how?"

"I like to call it, "I killed your dad"."

"...Was that supposed to shock me?" Mercury questioned.

Mercury stares at Cinder blankly. "So "ha-ha" funny."

"You see, thanks to a rogue lower-class warrior, your father caught wind of my plans…"

(flashback to planet Mercury)

A saiyan runs up to What seemed to be Marcus Black

"King Mercury, I have urgent news!"

"Speak, Butarega." King Marcus/Mercury said in a booming tone.

'Wait why does the old bastard have my name? Eh, guess it doesn't matter. Wait, does that make me a junior?!' Mercury thought.

"Well well, looks like I should call you Junior now. Huh?" Emerald comments, her smirk showing she greatly appreciated this new knowledge.

"I'm not a junior!" Mercury yelled.

"What's that? Couldn't hear you Junior!" Yang joins in on the teasing.

"I'm gonna get back at you both. Just you wait." Mercury growled. Hating how the tables have turned on him.

"Bardock has gone absolutely mad, sire!"

Off-screen someone screamed out: "Cinderrrr!"

"What's all the commotion about?" King Marcus/Mercury asked.

"He's been telling everyone that Cinder plans to destroy Mercury!"

"Wait, my son, the planet, or me?"

BUTAREGA looks at the king for a few moments before answering " ...Yes."

King Marcus/Mercury blasts Butarega away.

"Oh my gods!" Ruby cried out.

She and many others in the audience were shocked that the Saiyan King just killed his subordinate so callously. However, both Salem and Cinder were impressed at the King's show of force.

"Freakin' smartass." King Marcus/Mercury mutters and goes look a the Counselor. "Counselor Obleck, what do you think?"

"Let me tell you what you need to do. You need to sit him down…" Oobleck began.

"Uh-huh." King Marcus/Mercury said nodding his head.

"...you look her dead in the eye…"

"Yes."

" ...and you say, "Don't blow up my planet.""

"What? He can't be serious." Winter remarked.

"It appears that this version of Bart is not as wise or tactful as he is in our world." Ozpin rationalized.

Teams RWBY and JNR pressed 'X' to doubt.

"And you think that will work?" King Marcus/Mercury asked.

"she'd have to be aaaaaaawfully evil if it didn't. And I'm not gonna lie, I like the cut of her jib." Oobleck said with a grin.

"All right, but I want you to take my son, the Prince, off-planet just in case things go south."

"Don't worry, sir. You'll do juuuuuust fine."

"Wait. Hold on a damn minute, the old bastard actually cares about someone other than himself? Yeah like that's legit." Mercury crosses his arms.

Some in the audience looked at the silver haired assassin and just for a moment, they felt sympathy for him.

shifts to King Mercury approaching Cinder,.

"Cinder, can I sit down and have a word with-" King Marcus/Mercury said before Cinder interpreted him.

"SHORYUKEN!" Cinder yelled out, uppercutting King Marcus/Mercury in the jaw, causing the latter to fall back while producing with an echoing scream.

"K.O.! YOU WIN!" A voice yelled out.

"Yatta." Cinder whisper out looking at the king's dead body with grin

"Seems negotiations didn't go as he was expecting." Cinder floated to herself. What she didn't notice was that Mercury had stared at her after that statement was said.

He wasn't sure why but hearing her gloat about killing his dad made him feel… odd. It's probably the popcorn he was eating. Nothing more.

(back to present)

"And then I blew the planet up. The end."

Mercury stares at Cinder confused. "How did you know about the parts you weren't there for?"

Cinder gives a blank stare at Mercury and then proceeds to transform.

"Wow, nice comeback Cinder. Really showed him." Jaune said.

Cinder chose to ignore the blonde fool, she didn't dare waste the energy to acknowledge him.

"Nep, do you feel that?" Oscar asked with a fearful look as Cinder's power grew as her body.

"I taste that!" Neptune screamed a look as fear on his face as well.

Cinder finishes transforming into his second form, a Bigger bulkier form.

"Whoa! She's huge! Like that Hazel guy from Haven!" Nora shouted.

"She sure is..." Emerald didn't know how to feel about this new form of Cinder's. It looked too bulky and tall.

"She kinda looks like a bull with those horns." Ruby noted.

"All done." Cinder smiles a bit looking at all of them satisfied. "And judging by the expression on your face, so are you."

"What...? How?" The usual cockiness in his voice was gone.

"Let's be practical and put a number to that feeling, shall we? Last time I clocked this form it was at... one million." Cinder's smile only grows widener.

The audience didn't know what she meant by that but they determined that it must've meant that she was terrifyingly strong.

Cinder loved it, if only she could feel what that power was like. She might even get drunk from it.

"You're lying!"

"Am I? Am I really?" Cinder sarcastically said, raises her hand and explodes the island that everyone is currently standing on, making an explosion so big that it can be seen from the planet. Cinder is shown standing on what's left of the island.

"Whoa!" Fiona and CVY cried out. This being their first time seeing a destructive force of this magnitude. Whitley also sweat dropped, while he had been pleased with how powerful he was in one of the previous worlds. This was an entirely different kind of power than he thought was ever possible.

"Not impressed!" Mercury yelled off screen. "I can do that, too!"

"Neptune, are you okay?" Oscar asks flying above the destroyed island.

"Yeah, and I've got a Little bow girl right here!" Neptune replied with a grin holding Trifa closely.

Cinder begans sings to. " Peaceful young races with fires on their houses

Millions of voices all silenced like mouses

Watching the cowards bow toward their new king

These are a few of my favorite things "

"Oh great she's singing now, as if this Cinder wasn't terrifying enough." Oscar said while clinging to his seat in fear.

"Is it just me, or is she singing to herself?" Neptune asks but is cut off by Cinder charging at him and impaling him with one of her horns, causing Neptune to drop Trifa.

(Neptune Owned Count: 15)

Neptune screams in pain.

"Oh no!" Ruby cried out. But immediately was off put by the showed counter on the screen.

Some in the audience giggled at the sight of the counter, even if they knew it was wrong.

"Neptune!" Oscar screamed out.

"Well, he's dead." Mercury deadpanned in his head.

"This is... the worst... pai-i-i-in!" Neptune said through gritted his teeth.

"Really? Sure it isn't this?" She looks up and starts shifting her head up and down." Or this? Or this? Or this? Or this? (Neptune Owned Count: 16-21, with two 1Ups coming up in the last two ones)

"Neptune, stop! You're making him stronger!" Oscar pleaded.

"I-can't-help-it!" Neptune screamed.

(Neptune Owned Count: 22-25)

At this point most of the audience were laughing. It was a horribly dark joke, but the presentation was spot on and too hilarious. The huntsmen and huntresses that knew the blue haired boy felt very guilty, but they couldn't stop laughing.

"One down!" Cinder throws Neptune off her horn and towards the lake. "Ah, I think impalement is my favorite way to kill a person."

Oscar begans to shake with rage. "You condescending... sadistic... callous... MOTHERF**KER!"

"Pardon?" Cinder ask with a raised eyebrow but then Oscar attacks Cinder by kicking and punching her in the face before knocking her upward with an uppercut and finally kicks her towards the ground. Oscar then starts charging up an energy blast.

"WHOO! Go Cute Boy Oscar! Woo-woo-woo!" Nora cheered on her newest teammate. His other friends joined in cheering for Oscar's alternate.

Oscar was deeply embarrassed but also very ecstatic that he was able to keep up with the frightening tyrant.

"Oscar SMASH EFFEMINATE ALIEN! Oscar STRONGEST THERE IS!" Oscar thought to himself.

Oscar launches a ki blast directly at Cinder, causing a massive explosion. Oscar is then seen in midair catching his breath. Cinder is seen lying face down on the ground, covered in sand from Oscar's assault.

"Ten points for team ALPN!" Nora cheered.

"Yeah, how's that feel, Cinder?" Mercury yelled out. "Now if you can, why don't you pick your sorry ass up and take on a REAL Saiyan…" Mercury's voice trails off as Cinder is seen getting up with a annoyed look.

"Huh. That happened." She muttered before turning to Mercury. "Mercury, mind sitting right there for just a moment, I need to go play babysitter."

"Oh crap, abort Oscar! Abort!" Jaune called out.

"Think! What would Dad do in this situation?" Oscar began to think to himself in a panic.

A flashback of Sun wearing a backpack showed up.

"Bye, son!" Sun said in the flashback in a big dopey smile.

"Damn it Sun." Blake facepalmed.

"Wow, my other self has some issues." Oscar realizes.

(back to present)

"I'm beginning to think I have issues…" Oscar thought to himself when he got punched by Cinder and hit the ground. He tries to get up, but gets crushed by Cinder's foot.

Cinder turns to grin at the Silver haired man. "So, Mercury. Does this get you angry?"

"It's getting ME angry!" Nora shouts at the screen. Her team, RWBY, Qrow, Ozpin and Winter show the same hostility towards the Cinder in the screen.

Mercury shrugs. "Not really. Kind of a smartass."

Cinder frowns "Well then, why am I even bothering?"

"Because you get off on it?" Mercury said hetaintly.

Cinder grins viciously. "Oh, unbelievably... Huh?" Cinder moves to dodges a disc but her tail gets cut off. She turns to glare at culprit.

"Alright, who has the balls?!" She screams out.

Camera zooms on to Neptune, who is the one responsible for cutting off Cinder's tail. Neptune then turns around and starts repeatedly spanking his butt.

"Kiss my ass, bitch! I'm immortal!"

Cinder growls angrily and flies after Neptune.

"Whoa! Neptune's back up already? I thought he was out for the count!" Yang confused. Happy that he lived but still confused as to how he was back in good shape.

Neptune imitates Curly's whooping sounds while flying away and screams: "Suuuck myy diiii…"

The shifts to Mercury thinking to himself. "How the hell did he get up? Oh, my God, I swear if he used that wish of immortality on himself, I am going to murd... " He stops himself and opens his mouth in shock. And speaks out loud after a short pause. "That... bastard."

"Hahaha-ha-ha! You can't kill an immortal!" Emerald laughed.

"Why are you laughing? Weren't you cheering for Cinder?" Mercury implies.

"I am but I'm also cheering against you." Emerald explains.

"You're despicable, you know that right?" Mercury deadpanned.

The scene shifts to Trifa healing Oscar "Come on... You can't leave me alone here; you're the only one I can talk to!" She mutters to herself.

Oscar eyes open, regaining consciousness."I... you... healed me."

"You are the only one I respect."

"Then why did you heal Neptune?"

"The better question is: why did I tell him he was immortal?"

"Ok where is this girl in real life, I'm starting to like her style." Emerald comments.

"I'm starting to not like this Bow Girl." Weiss concludes.

"Yeah that was kinda mean." Ruby adds.

"But it did give him a helluva confidence boost." Yang points out.

The audience reluctantly agrees with Yang.

Neptune flies back to the battlefield with a huge grin. "Holy crap! Thank God I'm immortal!"

"Actually, I healed you, you idiot!" Trifa said off-screen.

"Wait, so I could have died back there?" Neptune realized with his eyes widing.

"After all that you're just going to tear him down like that!" Weiss shouted.

"Yeah, and unlike the runt and I, you don't get a power boost from it." Mercury replied.

"Hax! I call hax!" Neptune whined.

The audience agreed with Screen Neptune.

"How did you escape?" Oscar asked.

"Oh, it was awesome!" See, She was gaining on me there for a minute, but then I managed to lose her in some crevices, but she kept cutting me off at every pass."

"She didn't just blow it up?" Mercury pointed out?"

"Thought the same thing, but no! So I thought fast and I used the Solar Flare on her!"

"And then you used your Kienzan to cut her in half?" Oscar asked gleefully

"Um…"

Cinder flies back to the battlefield, angrily and screams at them. "I WILL MOUNT YOUR HEAD WHERE MY TAIL USED TO BE!"

"To answer your question, Oscar. No, I did not do that." Neptune muttered.

"Damn seriously? He could have finished her off so easily, it was literally in his grasp." Coco shakes her head.

"Douse this bitch!" Mercury yelled.

Mercury, Oscar, and Neptune fire a barrage of energy blasts at Cinder, covering her in smoke.

"Did we get her?" Neptune asked

"Neptune, we can feel her energy. Why do you bother asking?" Oscar asked back annoyed.

"I'm an optimist."

"You're an idiot." Mercury said, glaring at him.

"You're both wrong. You're dead." Cinder said as the smoke cleared and is shown to be unfazed by the blasts.

"You know what? I'm sick of this." Oscar said, his face hardening. "If I'm gonna die, then I'm gonna go out the same way Jaune would!" He moves in to attack Cinder head-on.

"Oscar, no!" Neptune goes to fly after Oscar.

"No! What are you doing?! Don't go out like my other self!" Jaune shouted clutching his head.

RWBY, ALPN, and Ozpin were clouded in worry.

" No, goddamn it!" Mercury also flies after Oscar when a new figure surrounded by light appears in front of the trio. The light clears, and the figure is revealed to be Jaune.

"M... Mr. Jaune!" Oscar cried out.

"Yes! Fearless Leader is here for the rescue!" Nora cheered.

The Jaune in the audience let out a sigh of relief.

"Well, well, well! I'm legitimately surprised I missed one of you." Cinder smiles a bit. "But that's just fine because I've been working on some jokes. Now tell me if you've heard this one: How many Namekians does it take to-" She gets sent flying by a punch from Jaune.

"Just one." Jaune said stoically.

"GO JAUNE GO!" Ruby screamed.

Most of the audience looked towards her from her outburst, including Jaune who was staring wide eyed at her.

"Er, you know. Smash Tyrant Cinder's no good face." She attempts to save face, throwing out air punches to diffuse the situation.

"...Yeah!" Nora shouted.

#TFS abridged #dbz abridged #team rwby #team alpn #team cem #rwby ruby rose #rwby jaune arc #oscar pine #neptune vasilias #rwby mercury black #yang xiao long #trifa #cinder fall #salem #headmaster ozpin #rwby #rwby fanfiction #look into the multiverse

[itsclydebitches]

RWBY Recaps: Volume 8 “Witch”

Happy Saturday, everyone! Well, it's perhaps happier provided you didn't watch today’s episode lol. Getting through these 18 minutes felt like watching an extended version of a CinemaSins vid. I heard a little 'ding!' every time something nonsensical, contradictory, or just downright stupid happened. My mind became a pinball machine. 

Which, in the interest of being fair as opposed to just snarky, only matters if you're looking for something resembling emotional depth in this show. RWBY, for all its faults, is enjoyable as a mindless spectacle. It's when you expect — or simply hope — for anything more that this very fragile house of cards comes tumbling down.

If it’s not clear already, today’s recap contains copious amounts of salt. Fair warning. 

With that disclaimer out of the way, let’s dive in. Episode nine is titled "Witch," which is fitting since many members of our group go toe-to-toe against Salem herself. The narrative issues inherent in having your heroes fighting their final boss years before the series is meant to end might have been avoided if it weren't for Oscar's ridiculous, sacrificial attack... but we'll get to that.

We open with a sweeping shot of the Atlas battle, as hundreds of dead soldiers segue into endless grimm. Hold onto that image for a bit. At the end of this carnage is, of course, the mouth of the whale. We cut to Jaune, Ren, and Yang already safely inside.

"Well," says Yang, "that was harrowing."

I'm on the fence about this choice. On the one hand, yes, it's good that RWBY knows it can skip over extraneous scenes. We have NINE characters to keep track of and develop, fourteen if you count Ozpin, Maria, Winter, Ironwood, and now Whitley. Plus villains. There simply isn't time to show every insignificant moment... but was this insignificant? Obviously finding Oscar and escaping Salem's clutches is the true hurdle of this mission, but that doesn't mean getting through an entire army of grimm is in any way a cake walk. I'd be more willing to ignore this time skip if it weren't likewise presented as such a challenge for Winter's team. They have to "clear a path" to the whale, but our trio got there unscathed and unnoticed? The obvious implication here is that Ren just masked them the whole way — supported by his aura breaking later in the episode — but it still feels like we missed an important chunk of this task.

I'm nit-picking though. As said, I’m straddling the fence on this one and, given that, I'm inclined to settle on a, "Good job, RWBY. You're keeping the writing tight," if only because I don't have much else to praise about this episode. Throw the poor, struggling show a bone lol.

Now that they're inside, they realize they haven't the slightest idea how they'll find Oscar. “Like finding a needle in a giant…whale… why did we think this was a good idea?!” Because you and your friends are idiots who no longer bother to think about a situation before throwing yourself straight into it? This isn't me being mean to Yang, she literally says as much later on. Our heroes no longer get by on intellect, strategy, and skill, but rather plot armor and a staggering number of coincidences. For example, Ren.

Yang: Wow, it sure is lucky for us that on our way to this incredibly dangerous mission Ren inexplicably developed a new part of his semblance. Now he can not only mask peoples' emotions, see the true emotions that someone is feeling, pull thoughts out of their head about what they believe about a situation, but can also track someone across long distances through their emotions alone. Even that doesn't actually help us find Oscar, we just got lucky again when, in this maze of a whale, he ran right into us!

Me: So what were you going to do if this meta-world stopped giving you the most contrived solutions in Remnant history?

Yang: Die gloriously, I guess.

What Yang actually says is, "Okay. That's new!" and they enter the literal belly of the beast wielding a shield of convenience.

Jaune is also being awkward again because remember, RWBY doesn't know when to incorporate humor and when to treat a situation seriously. He reminds Ren not to "drain [himself]," he'll help him, and it's clear the scene is hinting at their earlier fight. There's a lot to unpack there, but I want to save it for the second conversation.

For now, we cut to Oscar, curled up in his cell, repeating stories to comfort himself. Yeah that's fine. I could use a broken heart right before Valentine's Day.

“She brushed off her bumps and bruises, for nothing hurt worse than the loneliness in her chest." It's a line from The Girl Who Fell Through the World, which Ozpin recognizes given that he's "lived through" a fair number of fairy tales. He immediately asks how Oscar is holding up — because he's a caring person! — and Oscar admits that he never understood why the girl of the tale was sad upon reaching home again. Now he does: she wasn't the same person anymore. I don't think the fact that Oscar has had both a metaphorical fall — leaving his farm to 'fall' into this war — and a literal one — falling through Atlas to unlock his magic — is lost on anyone. This is a nice allusion to our themes. Yang's speech to Salem later on? That’s something else entirely. 

Storytelling done, Ozpin says he thinks "this plan to divide might have run its course” and it's time to try and find a way to leave. I'm sorry, I love my farm boy, but what plan? He didn't do anything. At least nothing that could remotely be termed an intellectual plot. Oscar convinced Ozpin to try and turn Hazel by telling him the world would end under Salem's rule and the only reason that worked is because the story decided to chuck out Hazel's entire character. You know, the one that hates Ozpin above all others, wants the world remade into a non-Academy horror show, can't understand that people make their own choices, is terrified of Salem, and has no reason to trust a prisoner he's currently torturing. Oscar's "plan" hinged on his writers erasing a great deal of work to build a new story that fits said “plan.” He didn't even get Emerald involved, she just — again, conveniently — eavesdropped outside their door at just the right moment.

To be clear, I'm not against a story being written to work in the hero's favor. Of course things are going to be convenient in a happy-ending tale. Someone manages to hold out just as long as they need to, a sword is lying just within reach, you, yes, happen to run into the one person you're desperate to find. This kind of stuff is reassuring, telling its audiences that sometimes things do work out for the best. It's enjoyable... but only provided the hero's entire success doesn't hinge on fate being shockingly kind to them. That's what RWBY has become. A world where Salem doesn't attack Mantle, Amity Tower is suddenly finished, the group can charge into any deadly situation they want to and bank on destiny twisting around itself to ensure they come out of it safely. A hero finding a convenient weapon nearby to defeat their enemy with is only reassuring after we've seen them implement a brilliant attack, struggle, nearly win, but then suddenly be faced with failure, necessitating that little push from coincidence. They earned it. The hero doesn't get to run in blindly and find a Defeat Bad Guy plot point gift wrapped for them at the first sign of trouble. They just die.

RWBY used to be a better written show because that's precisely Pyrrha's story. She charged a Maiden unprepared, without a single plan or hope for success, and she died. That's what happens in a dangerous, internally consistent world, but RWBY has since lost the second half of that formula.

I'm harping on this because this entire episode is built on that foundation of coincidence, something that shouldn't be happening at all, but especially not when you're pitting the heroes against Salem herself.

So yeah, it just gets worse from here.

Back to Oscar. Without the cane magic is the only weapon they have at their disposal, but he's reluctant to use it because every time he does, they merge more quickly. 

They... do? 

Okay, there are three major problems with this announcement:

I'm pretty sure we've only seen Oscar use magic once: creating that barrier to survive the fall through Atlas. That was the point of his near death experience, to unlock something that had previously been unavailable to him. Yet if he's only used it once, why is he so sure that it hurries the merge along? What's this "every time" business? This confusion could have easily been avoided if the show had just let Oscar use his magic this volume, tackling some other questions and gaps in the process. Let him use it to fight off the grimm in Mantle, giving him the opportunity to admit to at least Jaune, Ren, and Yang that Ozpin is back. He could have used some magic against the Hound with Ozpin's encouragement, answering the question of why he was entirely silent while the two of them got their ass beat. Give us a moment where Oscar uses his magic against Hazel, nearly escaping in the process, but is captured again at the last moment. Basically, his line makes it sound like magic has been this ongoing resource with an established downside when... it hasn’t.

Coinciding with all of the above, how is it that Oscar can suddenly use magic at will? Yeah, yeah, he unlocked it during the fall, but really? You open up the magic gates and from then on out it's as natural as breathing? This is the same issue with Ruby's silver eyes. The story gives these characters incredible powers, but never has them talking about how they work, let alone training them. They just exist, perfect in execution, as soon as the plot needs them. (See: the final shot of this episode.) At least Weiss had to practice her summoning for multiple volumes.

Finally, the question of how Oscar instinctively knows how to use magic could easily be answered with, "Well, he's kind of Ozpin now," but that would require the story to actually explain what the merge is. "We merge faster," Oscar says, but what does that mean? The Ozpin and Oscar we see in this scene are fundamentally indistinguishable from the Ozpin and Oscar who existed at his aunt's house, four whole years ago. They're still separate people, with one controlling the body and the other existing as a consciousness he can talk to. Nothing has changed. The show keeps insisting that Oscar is going through this deep and painful arc of losing himself to Ozpin... despite the fact that he has yet to lose a single bit of Oscar-ness. Has he changed? Well of course, but anyone going through these experiences is going to change. Remove the "merge" aspect and Oscar's confidence or power up is likewise indistinguishable from any of the other characters' developments. Nora is becoming more of an individual this volume. Ren is becoming more powerful in his semblance. Neither have an Ozpin to force that change, it just happens on its own. So what separates Oscar from every other character going through a formative experience? When is “I’m not the same person anymore” due to unnatural magic vs. just growing up? 

Don't get me wrong, I'm happy our boy is getting more screen time — and that the cast is actually being kind to him now — but overall his arc is objectively terrible. He bought some clothes, told Ironwood he was as bad as Salem, told Hazel how to access the Relic, and then asked him not to be a villain anymore. Somehow these things are presented as significant moments of growth while the real questions surrounding his merge go unanswered.

“Honestly, I think you’re doing just fine on your own," Ozpin tells him, but he's not. God knows our boy is trying, but this is a moment where Ozpin's self-hatred (and the story's insistence that the younger generation is intrinsically better than the older) is blinding him to the situation. Oscar has made terrible decisions lately, in as much as he's been able to decide anything at all, and now he's rejecting escaping captivity because he's terrified of a concept he doesn't even understand yet. None of that is fine. Reassurance is one thing, but painting this situation as Oscar making better choices than he would with Ozpin's input is insane. He literally just decided to keep them in Salem's clutches indefinitely because something something magic is scary, I guess. Oscar doesn't need a, 'You're better than me' speech, he needs a reality check so they don't both die. Remember back in Volume 5 when Oscar, a brave but idiotic 14 year old, insisted on fighting someone entirely out of his league and Ozpin was like,

then saved him from getting his head crushed in like a cantaloupe? We need more of that. Our teenage heroes need guidance, but because RWBY keeps insisting that every adult they encounter is corrupt or incompetent, that hasn't happened in three volumes. They're just aloud to decide things like, “Let's tell our captor the Relic's password because UwU ~trust~” and then the story bends over backwards to make that work. Instead we could, you know, let characters learn that they can be wrong. 

The snow scene was the beginning, but RWBY really went off the rails the day it let Qrow warn the group against stealing from and attacking an allied city, only for them to call him an idiot for doubting them. Now, Ozpin doesn't even get to warn Oscar about stupid decisions, he just agrees with them, reassuring and passive. Never mind the complication of whether Ozpin is even emotionally capable of providing guidance after they labeled him the worst thing to ever happen to them. 

Why does RWBY keep ruining my faves 😔

Anyway, we’ve got to stay on track. Oscar has decided to just lie there but, luckily for him, Hazel's redemption — I use that term so loosely — has begun. He drags Oscar out of his cell before we cut to Winter. 

She's leading a portion of Ironwood's army, trying to get things ready for when the bomb arrives. Neon and Flynt are a part of her team, sharing scared glances and trying to remain optimistic. It's a legitimately hard-hitting moment, striking that balance between horror and hope. Funny though, I wonder that RWBYJNOR would think of their friends fighting for evil Ironwood...

Marrow, continuing the tradition of insisting that our heroes be both adults and kids simultaneously, looks sadly at the soldiers heading into battle and goes, "But... they're just kids." I would like to remind everyone reading that Ruby is younger than them. Anyone who thinks that these teenagers shouldn't be fighting grimm — the thing they have been training to do as their professional career, during an unprecedented attack on their home — should not simultaneously be looking to the girl who is two years younger as his savior. (Something that, while not overt yet, is very much where Marrow is heading as he continually doubts the Ace Ops and looks to RWBY's group as his new, moral leaders.) I'm glad that, for once, this perspective is firmly called out. Elm arrives to tell him point blank that he needs to figure out his personal ethics later. It doesn't matter because there's an army of grimm out there and monsters aren't going to spare anyone, adult or child. Quit philosophizing and kill some already.

Back to Hazel where we get the doorway shot from our trailer. He's taken Oscar to the Relic, because of course he has. Do I really need to list how convenient this is too? Apparently, "the moment we move that thing, this place goes on high alert," but there’s no alarm for when Oscar is taken from his cell, they enter the Relic's room, or when they use it. What does a movement alert matter if someone can just waltz in and waste the last question themselves? Put some of those endless grimm in the room to guard it, Salem!

Just assume that I am, at any given point in this episode, letting out the longest sigh my lungs are physically capable of.

Emerald shows up, demonstrating both the convenience of everyone arriving when they need to, and the very real danger that Salem herself could come in and discover what they're up to. Hazel has Oscar summon Jinn, only to immediately say that “Actually, I think all my questions are answered now.”

I'm sorry, how does this answer any of Hazel's questions? His driving question was not, "Is the Relic actually a magical object capable of doing magical things?" but rather "Are you telling me the truth about Salem's plans to summon the Gods and destroy all of Remnant in her quest to finally die, thereby changing who I'm going to support in this war?" Seeing a naked, blue djinn does not answer that question. 

Hazel's "redemption" is non-existent. He — we — learned about Salem's death wish despite how that contradicts previous lore, then he trusted Ozpin despite that contradicting his entire character, now he joins the heroes because, literally, he sees Jinn floating there. It’s bad enough that Hazel goes from clear villain to sacrificial hero in a matter of in-world hours, but we don’t even get a reason for why that change occurred. 

Oh, there's also this:

So Jinn doesn't come out of her lamp unless someone intends to ask a question, but does it for Ruby because she's special, yet still reiterates that this won't happen again. Then Oscar summons her without intending to ask a question, she comes out anyway, confirms that none of them seek knowledge from her, and happily pops back inside her lamp because eh, it’s whatever.

If RWBY had any courage the three of them would be cursed now for toying with a powerful, magical object. Remember the days when Jinn was a little terrifying because it felt like she was warping her answers and we had no idea what she might do to someone who used her carelessly? When she felt like a djinn? Good times.

Or better times, at least. 

So Good Guy Hazel and Good Gal Emerald promise to get Oscar out. Never mind all the horror they caused, the people they killed, and that for Hazel, at least, this defection is coming out of nowhere. 

Anyone remember that Emerald orchestrated Penny's death? No? Just me?

As they leave it turns out Neo was camouflaged against the wall, because she was also precisely where she needed to be. Does everyone just periodically pop into the Relic room to see what’s going on? At least this time it's not working in the heroes' favor. Remember when I said it's beyond idiotic for Oscar to just hand out the Relic information to known enemies currently holding him captive and torturing him?

Yeeeeaah.

So Neo's got the Lamp. Funny how all of this could have been avoided if Ruby had just put it in the vault like she came to Atlas to do ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

We return to our trio where Jaune and Ren need to rest because their aura is giving out. Good! These guys fought a battle, fought Neo, fought more grimm, fought the Hound, traipsed through the tundra, presumably fought through more grimm to get to the whale, and have been using both their semblances to look for Oscar. It's about time their reserves started to falter.

Jaune decides to scout ahead a bit, leaving Yang and Ren to talk about nothing of importance. I mean that seriously. Remember a few days ago when I spoke about how, if the snow conversation does come back up, Ren's points would be entirely ignored for a nonsensical “I’m glad we’re friends” speech? Remember how I also spoke about how every emotional beat now is entirely generic and you could replace any character with another and not a single thing would change? Yeah. This is both those arguments in one. Nothing is said about the points Ren made. His problems with how the group has been acting lately and the very real, very deadly consequences it has had are flat out ignored. We went from

"But these aren't the kinds of decisions we should be making because we have no idea what we're doing!"

to

"Forward, no matter what!"

in a matter of hours, with precisely zero insight into how Ren went from one perspective to the exact opposite. Kind of like Hazel. Because see, RWBY doesn't write arcs, it just writes one thing until it decides to switch it up for something else, with the opposite idea presented as a “resolution” or a “twist.” Our creators writes scenes they know the fandom is begging for without considering how to get a character to that place, let alone how to get them out of it. That's all Ren's speech was, the equivalent of moral fan service. Here's a glimpse of actual character depth and a morally gray situation... now forget it ever happened because we're back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Instead of working through the laundry list of issues Ren raised, Ren instead accepts Jaune's aura help — something they've been doing since Argus — and tells Yang it's okay to be scared. These moments are meaningless and, as said, could have been between anyone in our cast. Ren could have told Nora she doesn't have to use jokes to cover up that she's scared. Jaune could have reminded Ruby that she can depend on him. Yang could have tried to keep Blake and Weiss' hopes up. This scenes ignores the individuality of the characters, like the fact that they just fought over very different world views, to instead favor any dime-a-dozen moment of support. The number of times this volume has rejected the conflict and resolution the group needs for bland, generic reassurances staggering.

Also, apparently Jaune isn't scared at all? I don't think that's as good a thing as Ren seems to think... 

Then Jaune immediately rounds the corner, terrified lol.

One of the seer grimm is on its way and he tells Ren to mask them. Apparently he had been masking them before — one of the reasons he's so tired now, trying to do two things at once — but it's only here that they go black and white again. Ren manages to keep it up for a little while, but his aura breaks before the seer passes and they're spotted.

Hark! A consequence!

That was well done. It makes sense and it adds to the stakes. We've seen the insane amount of fighting the group has done since Volume 7, we just established that they're at their breaking point, and then Ren's aura fails him right when he needs it the most. Add this to the miniscule pile of things that were well done this episode. 

Salem runs into Emerald and Hazel, the former of which is acting very suspicious when asked if he's made any headway with Oscar. The seer's alarm interrupts them though and... okay. Was I the only one who cackled during this moment? Between Salem's voice acting and the fact that she just yeets herself down the hallway, it came across as really funny to me. 

Either way, it is a bad situation. Our trio is trying to figure out what to do, to which Yang responds, "Do what we do best… charge blindly into danger!!”

Ren's aura is broken. Jaune barely has any left and it’s unlikely he could heal right now even if Ren had any aura to amplify. If Ren takes a single hit anywhere important he is dead.

Me, on my knees, surrounded by the ashes of the Hound, the last bit of serious storytelling we had: "For the love of God, the kingdom is on fire and simultaneously dying of cold. There's a grimm army decimating hundreds outside. Half their group is missing and they're wandering lost inside a devil whale, about to have the most powerful being Remnant has ever known personally try to kill them — can we please have their attitudes reflect that?"

The answer, in case you were wondering, is no.

Back to the bomb. Whatever scientists were given this task have completed it and Marrow watches as it's flown out towards the whale. "Come on, Juan" he whispers and I'm all, "Juan?" Apparently it's a callback to last volume when Marrow couldn't remember Jaune's actual name, but it took me hopping onto the RWBY wiki to remember that. 

As death via explosion inches closer, the trio runs into Hazel and Emerald. Turns out though that Hazel is really Oscar, disguised through Emerald's semblance. Nice trick! Jaune immediately drops both weapons to hug Oscar and, while that's nice and all, it's also the stupidest thing he could possible do in enemy territory. Also, Oscar has been beaten up by the Hound, tortured with magic, and likewise beaten bloody by Hazel. I was hoping for a tender hug like the one Nora gave him, not a giant squeeze for more comedy purposes. It just feels like RWBY has no idea how to manage the tone of this volume, let alone the torture of a child...

There's the obligatory, "Why should we trust you?" from Yang regarding Emerald joining the team, to which Ren responds, "Because she's scared, just like us."

That doesn't prove anything. Literally everyone is scared right now. There is a war going on. I really cannot emphasize enough how RWBY throws out Deep™ sounding lines that are, upon inspection, absolutely nonsensical. Nora reminding Penny that there are different parts to her personhood, Hazel saying that all his questions have been answered, Ren announcing that Emerald is scared... it's all worthless chatter that has no bearing on their problems: How do I keep from being hacked? How do I know you're telling the truth? How do we know you're trustworthy after you spent years trying to kill us? But of course, because it's RWBY, Ren's announcement is treated as some sort of secret truth that everyone accepts. Emerald joins up.

As they head for an exit we return to Marrow who, frankly, is getting on my last nerve. I know the fandom loves him because he's clearly leaning towards Team RWBY, but does anyone actually listen to what he says? He starts yelling at Winter for sending in the bomb because the trio might still be alive in there, despite:

Seeing for himself the hundreds of soldiers that have fallen trying to keep Atlas safe

Knowing and hearing again from Winter that the only way to stop this carnage is to take out the whale. Given more time, the whole city falls

Sadly announcing to the world that children shouldn't have to fight in a battle, rather than just joining the fray and helping to keep those kids safe

How does Marrow think those kids are going to be able to stop fighting? How does he think he'll get a city to return to? It's no wonder that he's drawn to Ruby because both characters stand around twiddling their thumbs, mourning that things are bad, and blaming others for imperfect solutions rather than doing something to make the situation better. Marrow's disgust at Winter over the bomb is precisely the same as Ruby's disgust at Ironwood over Mantle: how dare you not have a plan that results in both victory for us and zero sacrifices? They want perfection which, yes, is an admirable trait, but their problem is they refuse to do anything until that perfection appears. They’re paralyzed, a trait that’s particularly dangerous when your story insists that perfection will never appear: it’s not a fairy tale. So they just continue to get mad at others for the fact that they live in an unfair world. You want that perfect solution? Think it up yourself. Otherwise, stand aside and let those coming up with something do what they can to make things better. 

Marrow goes so far as to drag Weiss into things, trying to guilt Winter with the knowledge that she'll have to relate the death of her sister's friends back to her. Winter, because she's a badass who isn't in denial over the situation, tells him that yes, she will shoulder that responsibility. To Marrow's credit he backs off then, but man. RWBY has legitimate moral questions here — when is holding out for a few worth risking the many? — but they go about exploring it in the most frustrating way possible. I personally have no respect for the guy who wants to announce that Children In War Is Bad instead of, you know, using the power he currently has to protect those kids already neck deep in a battle. 

Because John Mulaney remains relevant:

"There shouldn't be a horse in the hospital :( "

"We're WELL PAST THAT."

Marrow is the one going, "There shouldn't be kids in a war :( We shouldn't have to kill a few to save the whole kingdom :( " and everyone around him is like, "No shit, dude! But this is the hand we were dealt! You going to help us, or what?"

Literally all of these characters could have been so much more than what they currently are.

Except Winter. She's doing great.

Now for the final scene. Our group nearly manages to escape the whale, but is incapacitated by some sort of screechy power that Salem employs. 

She contorts her body, stretching out her arms to snag Emerald, and the others have a brief, but intense skirmish. Jaune manages to block a blast of magic aimed at Ren with his shield — nice — and Yang dots Salem's face with a bunch of bombs before blowing her sky-high — double nice. Oscar shoots out some magic of his own because, yeah, I guess he can just do that now? It really feels like it came out of nowhere after eight episodes of being the punching bag. 

Of course, Salem immediately reforms. She traps the group with grimm arms that come out of the whale, interrogating Ozpin about why he bothers to keep coming back. There's a very sad answer there of, "I don't," referring to his lack of choice in reincarnating to fight her.

Yang interrupts their little tet-a-tet to throw the question back in Salem's face, calling her out on her choices. A great idea but, as always, execution: "because something bad happened to you once upon a time? No one gets a fairy tale ending."

I’m sorry, but that dialogue had me cringing. Like I said before, way too on the nose. There's keeping with the fairy tale theme, and then there's shoving the viewer's face in it. More of Oscar's musings on how he relates to the protagonists of fairy tales, blurring the lines between storytelling and reality, which in turn encourages the viewer to consider how they see themselves in the RWBY cast. Less... whatever this is.

Yang goes on to talk about how many people Salem has taken from her, which upon reflection makes a certain amount of sense if you toss in all the people who are here, but changed somehow due to Salem's influence, as well as acquaintances who died as a result of her meddling: Raven is scared off, Tai suffers as a result, Pyrrha dies, Penny dies, Yang loses her arm and her school. I think the dialogue could have been revised to reflect that better though because what Yang implies is that Salem has killed countless of her loved ones, yet what she says is, "Summer Rose. My mom." Honestly, for the few seconds this exchange was happening my thoughts weren't even on Summer. Yang calls Salem out for killing loved ones and my brain went, "Pyrrha??"

That's how little they've done with Yang and Summer. I know in the past I've argued that RWBY has a "better late than never" situation going on, that I would praise them for making the right writing choices even if they arrive years too late... but now that we're here, I find that it's a hard problem to overlook. Summer is Yang's mom? When's the last time we heard that? Volume 2? Whenever the conversation with Blake was. Since then Yang has called Raven "Mom," focused on that emotional connection (or lack thereof), was excluded from the conversation with Qrow, comforted Ruby after she was blindsided by Salem's taunt, and otherwise hasn't mentioned Summer at all. There is no foundation for this accusation except a few lines about getting cookies as a child and the fact that we're tossing references in now makes me worried that we'll indeed get a grimm!Summer reveal. Better remind the audience that she exists before the twist arrives! Honestly, as much as a part of me wants to praise RWBY for trying to get things back on track, moments like this just ring hollow now. They waited years and now it’s too late. It doesn't help that this is the episode where we shrug off Ren's speech. What will Yang's cutting admission amount to based on this trend? Probably nothing. Summer will become Yang’s mom again in another six seasons. 

Salem, obviously, doesn't care. The real Hazel arrives and she orders him to take Oscar back to his cell. Instead, he gives him his cane with a whispered, "No more Gretchens, boy."

Behold, another meaningless line. Hazel hates Ozpin for "forcing" Gretchen on a mission and "getting" her killed. The whole point of his villainy is that he doesn't understand the concept of choice and that bad things can happen to good people with no one able to prevent it. Not every loss has a responsible party attached (outside of, you know, Salem/the grimm). So what is he even demanding here? No more huntsmen schools? That's what you wanted Salem for. No more "forcing" people to fight for you? Ozpin never did that in the first place. Or is it just a strange promise that no one else will die here? RWBY seems to be under the impression that they can just name drop dead family members — Summer, Gretchen — and that's that. Emotional depth created, never mind a lack of buildup or clarity. 

Then Hazel punches Salem across the room and she releases every single hero from their bonds. See the theme of this episode: convenience. Hazel shoves a whole bunch of dust crystals into his shoulders and yells that he's doing what Gretchen would have wanted, clearly sacrificing himself so that the others can escape. The battle between him and Salem is pretty decent. I enjoyed the dust vs. magic creativity and the sheer damage Salem can take before reforming. This fight really showcases how not human she is.

It does, however, bring into question Hazel's reveal about her needing an hour to heal at the longest. I mentioned how unlikely it would be that our heroes would get the chance to "kill" her multiple times, yet here we are, just a few episodes later. They got that opportunity and... does it matter? Salem's reforming doesn't appear to slow down at all, despite her head getting obliterated at least three times, so at what point does she need longer than a few seconds to heal? If this was meant to be a potential weakness the group would eventually exploit, we needed to see it here, both for that setup and to keep it consistent with Hazel's story.

Regardless, they fight and at first it looks like a pretty straight-forward sacrifice on Hazel's part, giving the group their chance to escape. Except... Oscar.

"She'll just come after us," he tells Jaune, turning away from him to fight.

I need a list for this: 

Of course she's going to come after you. This is not some shocking revelation. At no point has anyone thought that escaping the whale is the answer to all their problems, it just creates one less problem to deal with. Namely, the problem of "Our ally is captured, being tortured, and may give up important intel to the enemy. Oh, also he's about to be blown up with a bomb." Salem coming after them doesn’t matter. What matters is making her plans as difficult as possible as you work to come up with more solutions of your own. This is just a smaller version of the Ironwood conflict: “Well, Salem will just follow Atlas into the sky so it’s useless to attempt escape, or to buy ourselves time.” It’s really not. I know I’ve used this ridiculous comparison before, but if you’re ever chased by a horror movie serial killer hell-bent on your destruction and your reaction to this problem is, “Why run? He’ll just chase us. The only possible choice is to fight him with a 99% chance of our death,” then I beg you to re-evaluate things. 

What was the point of coming to rescue Oscar if he was just going to stay behind? The whale is about to be blown up by a bomb and the trio risked their lives ten times over to get to him. If I were them I would be pissed. We went through all that to get you out and now you’re refusing to leave when we have a chance? Thanks for that. 

Same with Hazel. Not that I care about the guy, but if I was sacrificing myself for others to escape I'd be pretty annoyed at them randomly deciding not to do that.

What does Oscar even think he's going to do? Kill the immortal witch? The entire point of our series is that they can’t do that (yet). 

However, if he is able to do something significant via Ozpin's magic, why didn't Ozpin do that generations ago? Somehow I don't think a younger Ozma closer to the height of his power was in a worse position to attack Salem than a tortured, aura-less kid who unlocked his magic yesterday. The more RWBY reveals about Salem, the more I go, “Okay, but why didn’t his happen [insert any number of years] ago?” 

Did Jaune actually leave? I assume he's just grabbing an airship or something before coming back to drag Oscar away, but seriously where did he go?

There's no way I can approach this scene without throwing up my hands and going, "What? WHY?" Which is a real shame because we finally get to see a bit of what the cane does and it’s... precisely what Ozpin's magic has always done? I mean, we saw that green shield five years ago and now there's a giant white beam. Okay.

If the beam just hits Salem with Generic Magic Power then there was never anything secret about the cane, it’s just, you know, Ozpin’s weapon. If the cane does something significant to hurt her we're left with the question of why it took literal generations to use it. Nothing is making sense to me and the only way I can think to salvage this scene is if Jaune runs back in, snags Oscar like a sack of potatoes, and runs out yelling about how he's clearly suffering from a concussion because what are you trying to accomplish here?

It doesn't help that this moment feels... final. Hazel has managed to hold Salem in place. Oscar has unlocked his cane and lands some mega hit right before Hazel passes out and looses his hold. Not only does this feel like a scene that should be at the end of the volume (we've still got five episodes), but also the end of the series. RWBY is building Salem into an unbeatable enemy by giving her more and more powers, and simultaneously eliminating the stakes by having our currently weakest character (in terms of exhaustion/injuries/aura/training) landing a shot like that. Why would you nerf Salem's threat level like that in the middle of a volume? Especially with a tool our group has had available from the start? If the cane does damage, maybe lead with that in the, “Here’s why we should stay and fight” office conversation. 

I assume that Oscar's hit will obliterate Salem to the point where both he and Hazel have time to escape, or he obliterates both of them (“Do it”) and that's somehow presented as a better choice than just running while Salem is captured, or the bomb will interrupt things somehow... but it's just so shoddily done. At the very least, if they were going to have Oscar refuse to let someone fight alone, have it be an actual friend he's staying to assist. Having Oscar refuse his own rescue to help Hazel has more than one problem attached to it. We can say what we want about RWBY's themes of forgiveness, but this guy was torturing him just a few hours ago while serving Remnant's version of the devil. Just let him sacrifice himself and move on.

And that's where we end. Oscar powering up, the cane getting all magic-y, and him shooting a crazy big blast that engulfs both Salem and Hazel. I can't believe how not excited I am about my farm boy doing something badass, but here we are.

Overall I think this episode was way worse than last week's. We absolutely had problems in "Dark," particularly when it came to the Hound and the group's blind devotion to Ruby, but at least those moments were cushioned by an otherwise decent episode. "Witch" felt like I was watching something closer to a parody of RWBY, one deliberately poking fun at the fandom's desires: erase all conflict for awkward silly times, your favorite villains are instantly good now, the heroes go toe-to-toe with the main antagonist because why not, throw a bunch of magic in there for good measure, and wrap it all up in some over the top "this isn't a fairy tale" lines. I can see the pieces of a much better episode here — Emerald sneaking Oscar out with her semblance, Neo snagging the relic, Flint and Neon, Hazel attacking Salem — but it simply didn't come together.

I know I said this last time, but I have no idea what we're going to do for another five episodes. Salem slowly reforming from bomb damage as the group tries to keep Penny from opening the vault? The grimm attack halted with the whale gone so Qrow can go after Ironwood? The longer this volume runs, the more I think it was a mistake for them to introduce Salem as a fightable antagonist now. RWBY doesn't know what to do with her besides have her inevitably fall in the final season, so until then she's left being stupid (Relic), passive (Mantle), or, likely, written out of the story temporarily so the heroes can turn their attention towards smaller conflicts and weaker foes. They literally can’t beat Salem yet, but they can’t focus on other problems when she’s around without coming across as negligent, so if you have to find ways to erase her to make room for that... what was the point of bringing her here in the first place? We could have established that Salem is bound to her realm and had her send the Hound and whale to attack Atlas. There, all the fun parts of the volume without her complicated presence. 

Well, the next five weeks will certainly be interesting, at the very least... 

Until next time 💜

[Ko-Fi]

#rwby #rwby spoilers #rwby volume 8 #rwby witch #mymetas #rwby recaps

[rwbyconversations]

RWBY Volume 7 Review

Two weeks out from Volume 8 and I finally cared enough to write this. Go team I guess. 

Part of it came down to my feelings on Volume 7. It’s a complicated season that’s made me realize a lot of my overall feelings on RWBY as a series, particularly a lot of the less flattering feelings. Volume 7 is just... frustrating in general, as for all the good that it does have, and it does have a lot of great elements to it, it’s let down by a frustrating script and writing choices that feel distinctly amateurish, especially as the series moves on and gets better and better looking each year. There’s elements and kernals here of great character writing, season-wide arcs that land in a really good way and get me emotionally invested in the characters. But on the other... Ren only has two hundred words the entire season and you can tell! 

Volume 7 is a season of dizzying highs, some of the best moments of the entire franchise... and some of the series lows. It’s a season where there’s no production reason for its shortcomings... it just comes down to an awkward script that focuses on the wrong elements far too often. Let’s talk about that. In a very long and drawn out manner.

Thanks to @jamesbranwen​, @h-e-m-o-goblin​ and @retro-riffraff​ for help with GIFs and consultation on this review.

1) The Good Stuff!

A) Atlas is very pretty!

I cannot stress enough how on a set level, Volume 7 is leaps and bounds above the other seasons in sheer environmental detail and setting dressing. Mantle has a great atmosphere with its New York influences, the smog covered backgrounds and oppressive streets and alleys. Ironwood’s office which is deliberately designed to evoke astronomy themes to represent James’ love for the stars. The cold oppressive atmosphere of the Schnee Manor and how Jacques has begun warping it to glorify him with only lip service paid to Nicholas in public. Penguins! 

There’s a lot of great set design work that went into this season and the crew deserve props for it. Genuinely. 

B) Ironwood’s arc is the best character arc in the entire franchise

Yeah just wearing my heart on my sleeve there, I fucking love Ironwood and his character arc here in Volume 7 is the best written arc of the show. I simp for the tin man who just wants to do the right thing. This one season of content is better than a lot of the series-wide material being honest. I went back to James’s big volumes in the last month to rewatch the show and it’s interesting to see the early seeds in retrospect for where his arc goes. His need to protect everyone he can and the brutish measures he considers necessary for such an act, his conflicting loyalties towards Ozpin that manifest in both frustration at Oz’s seeming apathy to the growing conflict, but also desperate desire for validation from Ozpin that what’s he doing is the right call. After the Mistral seasons set up James as going off the deep end following Volume 3, having him open the season with an earnest smile, an immediate apology for the team’s arrest and trusting them with his plans for Amity and Salem is a jarring but pleasant surprise. He’s not been slacking off, he’s been trying to keep the world together in the way he thinks is best. He lets his guard down around the heroes and we see the good man underneath, which makes the moments where he raises his walls hurt all the more. While Em and Merc are still probably my favorite characters period, James is absolutely my favorite character in Volume 7 and Top 5 favorite characters series-wide. I’m very eager to see where he goes from here. He also rocks the beard and fixed his T-Rex arms so James came out of the washing machine that is Volume 7′s costume design. He truly is the Best Boi, and I cannot give Jason Rose enough credit for his performance this year. He hit every note of Ironwood’s character perfectly and I wish the fandom would give him more credit for giving James as much life as he does.

Oh, and as the obligatory comment on mlm rep that I am known for getting obsessively weird anon hate over: IronQrow hug nearly had me crying on a convention floor from how goddamn soft it was. Remember conventions? Ah good times.

This just... hits me... ya know? Seeing him lower his guard so much to come in for a hug just shows how isolated he’s let himself become to let himself have this moment of contact... Godamnit James. Also this is the second time after Martial Arcs that two guys hug and I really liked their ship for the following hiatus. 

C) Soft Qrow hours are nice

Qrow’s a good guy, he went through a lot of bad stuff in Volume 6 but now he’s on the other side and purged his voice of the demon within. I think Volume 7 was a very good year for Qrow overall. It was great to see him interacting with more characters his age and lowering his own guard. His moments of letting the facade drop around James and Clover especially are great expansion for his character. Jason Liebritch hit the ground running as Qrow and gave him a far more dynamic range than I think Vic could. While I wish Qrow going off alcohol had been given more of a focus as it’s kind of done off-handedly that he’s gone cold turkey and otherwise doesn’t get brought up barring his revulsion at the wine in the Schnee Manor, he overall had a great year. And trust me I’ll get to the fights later, I have a lot more I can say about the bird boi there. 

D) I liked the Ace Ops! 

I was ambivilent towards the Ace Ops on first watching. They’re kinda underdeveloped in the context of the season at large and most people immediately pegged them as a miniboss squad/fodder for Salem to kill. But in rewatch they do still get to shine, if not as brightly. They’re very enjoyable. Clover especially is just really fun in retrospect, I love cocky fighters in general, and he was infectiously enjoyable (I’ve already covered the FG stuff in the past, not doing it again). Marrow came a close second because... well it’s Marrow, he is The Best Boi. Harriet got points for being a punchgirl which is always cool, I liked how her Semblance was shown and being cocky while being able to back it up is always a win. Elm and Vine are tied for dead last, I like the body diversity Elm introduces with her muscles and Vine... existed... but overall I think with the time they had, they did get to establish themselves well. I wish I could say that about their relationship with Team RWBYORNJ but this is the Nice Section so we’ll leave it there for now.

This is one of the best shots of the entire season. I adore it. God I like the Teryx design.

E) God the villains rocked this year! 

I am a villain whore. I own that. I will embrace that monkier. But when they’re as cool as this, I feel validated in this Chilli’s tonight. Watts and Tyrian really make the season shine and don’t have a dud scene all season. They have great chemistry together, shining bright in even the weakest or most mediocre episodes. Watts went from “Oh yeah you exist” tier to “Oh yeah you rule” tier. His vendetta against Ironwood feels so real and pre-established, even though this season is the first time it’s ever come up. Watts just ozzes style in everything he does. The animators bring him to life and make every step, every flick of his twist and even just how he moves his eyes all bleed contempt. He’s such a rat and I love him! Chris Sabat finally gets to stretch his wings after a few years playing Watts as just Evil Scientist Guy, and he makes the most of it. 

And Tyrian remains an absolute treat. He didn’t get much in V6 but here he takes center stage with Watts and also gets so much impact because of it. All the little twitches, and tilting of his heads, and dramatic gestures, he’s still just so goddamn cool to watch and we even get a little backstory of him. I know he’s irredeemable. But I just want to watch Tyrian kill people and scream. Like hot damn his line “THE GRIMM SHOULD HAVE DESTROYED OUR ENEMIES, NOT MADE THEM FRIENDS!” is so fucking raw. He’s having fun destablizing a nation with his boyfriend! 

“You want more chaos than a Grimm invasion?” “If anyone on Remannt can do it, wouldn’t it be you?” There is no heterosexual explanation for how these two look at each other and yes this is me outing myself as a Nuts and Volts fan.

Watts and Tyrian really do become the absolute highlights of the season alongside James. They have a great dynamic and even during their more slower moments there’s so much care and thought put into their every mannerism. Animators, seriously, great job, I love what you did. And their fights... we’ll get there. But they’re so goddamn good. 

Look they even run the same! They’re soulmates! 

Honorary mention to Salem by the way. She’s only in two scenes but her presence is felt throughout Ironwood’s arc and his growing fear of her and she damn well delivers when she shows up. That shot of her arriving in person is a killer shot to end on as well.

Oh and I guess Cinder and Neo exist don’t they? Eh, we’ll come back to them. 

F) Oscar got a character arc!

Finally! He did it! He got an arc that began, continued and ended all onscreen! It only took four tries! 

But yeah Oscar had a really good set of scenes in Volume 7. I like him being the first to confront Ruby on the Ironwood lie, bringing up the hypocrisy after their condemning of Ozpin just last season. I like him having a more forward role (outside of not getting to be part of the celebration in episode 4 what the hell guys), and that he’s the big link between RWBY and Ironwood was a great call. Having Ozpin shelved for one more season so Oscar can take center-stage was an inspired choice. I love his dynamic with Ironwood, and how James closing himself off emotionally gets reflected in how he begins slipping in how he refers to Oscar, starting off as treating him and Oz as separate, ending with him gunning Oscar down as he doesn’t care anymore to differentiate the two.

My big issues with Oscar’s arc are that I’m first of all annoyed at the lack of followup on the Oscar stuff from V6, I’m still waiting for Qrow to apologize for punching Oscar guys! I also really wish Neo’s first attack wasn’t offscreen. CRWBY’s cliffhanger fetish meant I got to break out the Offscreen Pine jokes again. And of course, the Neo hallway punch was a bit bullshit.

G) (Most of) The fights are amazing

There’s no punchline. These fights are great, two of them are in my Top 10 Series Wide fights list and at least the duds aren’t Volume 5 bad.

If you’d told me before Volume 7 that Watts would get an extended firefight with James, I’d have felt that a bit cheap as Watts to me doesn’t feel like a fighter, more a planner who hides behind armies of mechanical soldiers. But damn if they didn’t sell me on Watts “You’ve yeed your last haw” Watts whipping out a Glock just to spite James. 

This is another one of my favorite shots in the entire series.

Ironwood vs Watts is potentially my favorite fight in the entire series, and if it’s not, it’s easy Top 3 alongside Yang vs Mercury and Pyrrha vs CRDL/Mercury. It makes great use of Amity in the abandoned gravity biome meant for SSSN vs JNPR, with Ironwood and Watts deftly moving around in a manner that very easily could have been difficult to track with the constantly shifting gravity, but the crew do their best to keep it coherent as to who’s where. The credits showed their dedication also stretched into visual continuity, as James and Arthur’s route throughout the Arena was carefully considered so they’d loop around organically. 

This is what I mean when I say the crew went above and beyond to keep things clean.

Ironwood vs Watts could have easily failed to impress, given its lack of choreography on the level the series usually does, but the team’s efforts went instead into showing a situation that lets Watts get a dragged out battle: James wins whenever he closes the distance here, so Arthur’s constantly on the run and being forced to tamper with the arena. Great camerawork, a GOD TIER song from Caleb Hyles that I’m still listening to today, and two characters with a fantastic history coming to blows makes for easily the best fight of the season and a series-wide highlight. Watching it develop from storyboards, to mocap, to animations and the full version is a delight to see. This is what CRWBY can do when everything comes togehter. The orchestra’s all tuned. It’s a goddamn symphony.

THIS is my favorite shot of the season.

Tyrian also gets to shine with his two battles this year. His alley fight with Qrow, Robyn and Clover is short but sweet, the corvid and the scorpion especially trading brutal blows in the cramped space. Qrow goes full Devil May Cry with his style-switching here, Harbinger being swapped between sword, tonfa and gun forms freely alongside Qrow applying The Power of Punching. His 1v1v1 with Clover and Qrow though is the true highlight of the season in terms of choreography. It’s lighting-fast, and has some impeccable shot work. Qrow gets to use his scythe with deliberate nods to the Red Trailer, Clover gets to shut up everyone who doubted his weapon, and Tyrian is just along for the ride and he makes the most of it. It’s frentic, it’s heart-pounding, it’s everything a fight should be. 

Honorary mentions as well go to Ace Ops vs the Geist, which is just really fun and has a great backing music choice, the opening battle with Sabre having Ruby’s obligatory ten seconds of fighting that come at the start of every new era of the series, and the Ace Ops vs RWBY fight which has some good choreo in places.

H) Winter and Penny have good chemistry

I don’t have a ton to add here, I just like their dynamic and how they advance each other’s arcs. It’s nice writing. I also like Winter apologizing to Penny when she’s angry at Jacques and takes it out on Penny by accident with the “You wouldn’t understand” line.

Penny as a Maiden is a nice idea, I think her new design is cute. Penny says trans rights.

Those are a lot of my favorite things about Volume 7. It’s a killer season when it’s firing on all cylinders but unfortunately... it often misfires in frustrating ways, many of which are unfortunately due to core emblematic problems with the series that won’t go away.

2) The Bad Stuff

A) The costumes

It’s been a over year. It’s low hanging fruit. I don’t care. Most of them are still not good and they’re ludicrously over-designed.

Blake’s in a fetish suit and I wonder how she even goes to the bathroom. Weiss just looks like an abino Sabre alt, Yang is what a Halloween costume site would describe as “Sexy UPS Driver,” (why does she have a thigh window) Ruby... looks fine, it’s one of her better costumes. Jaune’s hair is silly, Ren’s model has lost some muscle definition and he looks like an e-boy, Nora’s costume really doesn’t fit the Atlas visual design and looks like a rejected Kingdom Hearts costume. Cinder’s is too black and I actually can’t track her in darker scenes because of it (which is kinda bad during... a fight scene... where I need to know where she is...), Neo looks like a Ren Fair cosplayer doing a bit for her OnlyFans, Winter’s is anatomically weird with super skinny arms and legs, and Blake’s hair is a fucking hate crime. 

Qrow’s is one I liked at first but in retrospect it does feel like a downgrade. To quote @h-e-m-o-goblin​ from a Discord chat:

in a show like rwby, where color is such a vital defining aspect of every character, a cohesive colorscheme goes a long way. qrow's original outfit works great in this regard. neutral tones. greys, whites, and blacks, with red accents that pop against the otherwise sparse color. it's good! it's distinctive! it doesn't feel cluttered and it doesn't look like a clown vomited on him! the subdued colors really lend themselves to the grey, cynical energy qrow seems to carry with him. a literal lack of color in his life. the outfit itself feels like something he would wear; a combination of "clearly trying to look cool" and "a little disheveled and laid back." the design breathes, it isn't cluttered. let's contrast this with his vol 7 outfit. a lot of outfits in vol 7 suffer from this problem, but first and foremost it doesn't look like something he would wear. where his old outfit had a casual feel to it, his new look feels like someone dressed him up for a family christmas dinner. it's too... tidy. now of course you could argue this is him "cleaning up his life," but i dont feel like you have to sacrifice his own personal style in order to convey that. if that's really what they were going for, they easily could have just, oh i dont know, given him a cape that isn't tattered???

remember how i said qrow's original outfit really made his colors pop? how less is more when it comes to having a character with a specific color theme? vol 7 butchered that. we suddenly have articles of clothes that are tinted with greenish blue tones, browns, and with gold trim? on TOP of the old colors he already had in his design. it's muddy. it's ugly. the burgundy vest is fine, if they wanted to work more color into his outfit they should have done it that way throughout, shades of grey and different tones of RED. his COLOR. it just feels like they tacked so much on there without a second thought and i really think he deserves better. its just. such a mess.

The ones I did like were Watts’ new coat (I like the puffy hood), Penny’s is fine, the Ace Ops look great, Ironwood’s new outfit is stellar (those last six are great examples of how to do a lot with just primary colors of white and red), Neon’s Jolyne cosplay is cute and Flynt is slick. Otherwise, Volume 7 feels like it’s taken a lot of the wrong lessons from the costume design of the earlier seasons. Less is often more but now it feels like they have a pathological aversion to empty space on the costumes, leading them to feel like... costume vomit for lack of a better word. I didn’t love the Mistral outfits, but their modifications at least were carried by how many of them called back to the Fall of Beacon and emphasized the themes of loss in Volume 4. The new Atlas outfits... don’t have that shared theme. It feels like a hodgepodge of different design influences without trying to find a way to unify them. It’s like putting Baki the Grappler beside My Little Pony, they just fail to mesh.

Also for fuck’s sake already CRWBY just give the girls muscles already.

2) JNR suck and Ren’s arc is glorified character assassination

I don’t love JNR. They’re fine, but the show has arguably not needed them for a while and while I’ve liked them all at different points, it’s never been adoration outside of Ren in Volume 4. I was cool with the idea of them staying in Argus to help cover Mistral after its Huntsmen were wiped out, and Volume 7 has... made me wish they did that.

Jaune is just comic relief, and it kinda blows for later reasons but the big one is that he’s just not very funny. His big role in Volume 7 is basically to crosswalk some kids so we can have a joke scene during the Mantle Battle where Jaune uses his tactical genius to teach people to walk in single file. I feel like at this point Miles is just actively trying to kill Jaune’s fandom out of spite for how badly Jaundice was received. He’s never allowed to be cool or try and redeem himself. His hatedom aren’t going to stop hating Jaune because he gets more comedy guys. They’re going to stop when you write Jaune well. It’s a bummer he got some genuinely great upgrades for his sword and shield and never gets to use them outside of the opening. 

Nora exists. She got a surprising amount of focus this season in that she got focus of any kind. I liked her confronting Ironwood over his choking of Mantle because we know she was once the kind of person Ironwood would have been stifling. I like her being the one to realize the loophole in Jinn’s “You can’t” line. I don’t like much else about Nora this year, or at least the Nora the writing team are pushing. She’s not funny like Jaune but Nora just absorbs so much screentime in the first half with her constant shrieking. Sam Ireland has good range but making Nora into Discount Harley Quinn is pushing her out of it. She sounds shrill, making Nora sound like she has no heart outside of the election rally. A shrill voice is one thing. A shrill voice that never lands a single joke? Yeah that character is tainted by association. 

And Ren... oh God Ren what happened to you.

The Volume 7 commentary confirmed a suspicion of mine that Ren’s arc was heavily cut down from what was planned. Even watching V7 I could tell his arc was bare-bones at best, and it’s downright character assassination in places. Why is he suddenly so cold to Nora? Why is he now so obsessed with training? Why does he side with Ironwood for all of... one line which is this last between episodes 7 and 11. Ren only has two hundred words of dialoge in Volume 7 and they feel so weird in places. Ren goes from seemingly disliking Nora, to kissing her, to never referencing the kiss, to partaking in the Worst Scene Of The Season, all with no consistency. It’s not even threadbare. Ren’s arc just has no connecting tissue for so much of it! It’s insane how badly Ren was hurt by this, and I shudder to wonder how bad his Volume 8 arc will be because you know that was one of the first plotlines they cut down on when they inevitably overreached again. 

I don’t know how they made Renora kissing feel unearned? But by God they found a way with how much of a trainwreck Ren’s writing is in regards to tainting this. 

If Ironwood is an example of RWBY doing character writing well, Ren is the mirror image of how badly they can do. JNR really suffered from Volume 7 (also fun fact, Ren has about 200 words of dialogue? Ironwood has 4400). Maybe not to the level of irredeemable dislike? But very close to being on the same tier as Cinder of “Just go away already.”  I’m not looking forward to their content in Volume 8. 

3) RWBY themselves are poorly handled in Volume 7

It’s unfortunate that the actual title characters of the series are also some of this season’s weaker links. RWBY feel... superfluous to this season in a way they’ve never felt before. It’s baffling how much of the season doesn’t change if you just don’t include them, and apparently Volume 7′s first draft? Was even worse.

The commentary says that many of the RWBY moments were added later in production. Stuff like Ruby and Renora at the rally, Blake and Yang’s talk with Robyn and Ruby and Qrow’s chat were all either added in near the end of the writing or were “low priority” enough that they could have been cut which is... veyr alarming that’s stuff even the main protags have to worry about! 

Ruby feels half-baked. I was looking forward to her in V7 after how V6 gave her a more dynamic personality and the focus she got in Brunswick, and having Penny’s return had me interested in seeing Ruby grapple with her emotions about it. She watched Penny die, how would it influence her to see Penny back and OK? Good question, we never get to see it. Ruby’s just OK with Penny’s return, the one time they touch on it Penny immediately glosses over it. Ruby just goes back to her old happy go lucky persona where any and all negative emotions are immediately forced down instead of confronting them and growing from them. I’m getting a little tired of Ruby bottling her grief and being teased about finally getting her snapping like a Twix Bar. We finally got her crying and it lasted all of ten seconds. And it doesn’t help that Ruby’s still getting shafted for fights. Her scythe choreography has no excuse being as flacid as it is now after Qrow vs Clover showed they can do scythe fighting! Why is Ruby being upstaged by (let’s be real) a supporting character! Why is she being limited to ten seconds of good combat then nothing for the rest of the season outside of flimsily swinging it or shooting. It’s disappointing, especially after how good V6 Ruby was.

I swear, Gravity’s not just my favorite episode of the season just because Ruby finally cries in it.

Weiss was kinda just done dirty though. At least Ruby has a good outfit. Weiss confronting her father has been a long standing plot thread for the series, it’s been Weiss’s Big Thing since the White Trailer. And when Jacques finally appears, he’s very... bland. He’s just evil corporate dude who exists less as an obstacle for Weiss and more just a roadblock for the plot through the election. Weiss finally gets a chance to take her father down and work to redeem her family name... but instead of earning said victory and it being treated with the same gravitas and emotional weight as Blake defeating Adam... Weiss has her victory handed to her. And it’s played for comedy by her abusrdly attractive mother. 

Listen, I like I Willow Schnee. I think she’s a fascinating character and I like the idea of a person who is aware of the harm they’ve done by accident but is too broken to fix the issues she accidentally left. I love her calling Weiss out on her treatment of Whitley. But she is absolutely a Deus Ex Machina that exists to get Jacques out of the plot as fast as possible. You mean to tell me Hackerman Watts never once made sure Jacques had hidden cameras? Or that none of the staff found Willow’s cameras and reported them under the assumption they were White Fang spies? It’s so... convenient. It’s handing Weiss her victory on an unearned platter. Which sucks. I was really looking forward to Weiss beating Jacques. Instead she just gets given the plot device while JNR engage in the Worst Scene of The Season in that Whitley food stunt.

Me whenever I’m asked to rewatch Cordially Invited

Blake and Yang have much the same problems, in they never separate. I know they’re going to be together. I know CRWBY are making it canon (get it over with already). I still would like Yang and Blake to have individual character scenes. I’d like Blake and Marrow to talk about being a Faunus Huntsman in Atlas (another thing that got cut thanks to Robyn Hill). I want Yang and Ironwood to discuss their PTSD and have Yang thank Ironwood for his trust in her that he commissioned the arm despite Yang attacking Mercury. I want Blake to be well animated in fight scenes so she’s doing more than just jobbing so Yang looks better. I want Yang to stop hogging all the good Team RWBY choeography. I want them to interact with other characters and continue to grow instead of feeling like two halves of one character. And no, making a meta joke of how Blake and Yang don’t talk to other people doesn’t make it OK. It just means you’re self aware about your own faults. 

(Also give Yang better merch or quit the favoritism. If you’re gonna milk her, put effort into it beyond crapply overpriced flannel. RT’s merch store is actively making me hate Yang.)

Team RWBY’s biggest contribution to the season is the Ironwood Lie which is... a can of worms. They certainly had a point in withholding some of the bigger truths from James but I feel by Pomp and Cirumstance he’d proven himself truthwrothy enough to warrant being told the truth about Salem. But then when he’s finally told the truth, it’s offscreen’d and the consequence isn’t “Why didn’t you tell me earlier” but “Fucking Ozpin man.” Gravity has it bite them in the ass, but it’s more an accessory to Yang and Blake telling Robyn about the Amity tower. I wish more had been done with the team disagreeing on whether the lie was a good choice or not, maybe have Yang be hardline against it due to her own “No more lies and half truths” policy instead of... having Yang tell more lies and half truths (Commentary confirms she never told Ruby and Weiss about the Robyn stuff BTW). But that’s a wider problem where RWBY aren’t allowed to disagree beyond surface level “I don’t know if this is the right call” dialogue. There’s never a threat of one of them cracking and just spilling the beans to James, everyone just blindly trusts Ruby and Qrow tells the audience “No this is different from when Ozpin lied. Trust us.” 

This is the most RWBY get for content in the season finale: Ruby just nuking Cinder with no difficulty after having trouble with the eyes three episodes ago. Kinda lame tbh.

Team RWBY are just disappointing in Volume 7. They’re not given good animation, their story roles are largely insignificant, the impact of their roles on the story is threadbare and... well most of their costumes suck don’t @ me even CRWBY have admitted Blake and Weiss’s haircuts looked bad. It’s a whole barrage of a letdown for the main girls. And it’s really sad that the best scenes of the season... are usually the ones where RWBY are nowhere in sight.

Why the hell didn’t Yang get to keep the sunglasses come on guys. One job.

4) Robyn, the election plot, and the Happy Huntresses

Oh God, Robyn Hill is... not great. I could and likely will write a full meta on her character and how they bungled it but I’ll just be blunt here: I don’t like her design, the colors don’t mesh well, he head’s too small, Christina Vee is sleeping through the role and her weapon’s lame. Introducing her in a scene where she threatens to attack our heroes, and her agents are actively sneaking up on them to do it, is not a great first impression for a hometown hero. And that the commentary thinks she’s meant to be the hero in that scene is... staggering. 

RWBY’s greatest threat yet is a wine mom Karen and her Home Owners Association army. 

The election plot is less a misfire and more the engine just exploding. There’s so little good content between when it’s introduced and concluded, with it usually being individual scenes that are more good in spite of their connection to the plot (such as Tyrian’s massacre). It drags in pacing, going on for nearly half the season between episodes 5 and 10, and it purely exists as a roadblock to keep RWBY spinning their wheels while Watts and Tyrian keep going with the main plot. I don’t know why CRWBY went for this plot. They could have easily had something else fill the gap that also allowed for a lot of the character beats (such as Marrow and Blake’s talk and Ren’s entire arc) to shine, or at least condensed it to the important elements instead of letting it become bloated. It ends in such an unsatisfying way where Willow just shows up and goes “We have four episode left, here’s the plot device to beat Jacques, get back ot the main plot.” If they wanted to do the election plot, the best route would have been to give Volume 7 more episodes or stretch out its events to two seasons, but neither is realistically possible while RWBY lives off the teat of AT&T. 

Jacques and Robyn are just boring. Evil corporate man and a lame adaptation of Robyn Hood who only has fans because of thirst who also like downplaying Robyn making a racist remark at Marrow (to say nothing of that weird subsection of Robyn fans who make her a Fox Faunus who cut her tail off to join Atlas Academy which is... certainly a creative choice especially when Marrow and Neon are punching holes in that angsty BS backstory). They can’t carry this plot and the artifical attempts to make it seem more exciting with the two cliffhaners ending on Mantle under riot or Grimm attack are laughably cut short by the next episode in each case opening the morning after. On binge watch it becomes weirdly funny more than anything and that’s not a good reaction. The dual cliffhangers being cheaply resolved is a short but succint example of V7′s pacing issues, and they almost always loop around to the election plot being too bloated, slow and just boring.

Also the Happy Huntresses are just... lame. I like their Semblances but that’s it. Fiona’s OK because she gets some screentime but May’s just “the surly one” and Joanna doesn’t even get her Semblance or much dialogue (oh wow she really is just a female Sage Ayana isn’t she). Robyn should not have been leading the HH and running for Council. That’s really stupid. And kind of wrong. Having May or Fiona be running instead while Robyn leads the team in relief efforts would have been better and could have split the focus more effeciently instead of leaving May and especially Joanna feelng like roster padding. There’s also some delicious irony in the show trying to frame the HH as the resistance fighting for the people and representing individuality, only for them all to have the same boring outfit and weapons (I think even the exact same model just with different sizes) while the Ace Ops are meant to be the military drones who are “Just following orders,” only for them to be more racially diverse, more diverse body-type-wise, and have more unique weapons. It’s another one of those odd creative dissconnects between what the writers wanted and what the artists/animation teams chose to do. 

The election plot is overall toxin for Volume 7, and Robyn in my opinion, has one of the worst introductory scenes of any character in the franchise (and CRWBY have tacitly admitted that V7 had a character they were surprised at how controversial they were, which has to be Robyn). In a year where they were already juggling so much content and characters, adding in this bloated subplot was something I don’t think anyone wanted, especially now that we know we lost so much content on the sacrificial altar for this. It’s a black mark on the season and I don’t really care for the return of the Happy Huntresses or Robyn in Volume 8. None of them are interesting enough to care for outside of meta reasons like “cute.” 

Also fuck you Fiona, can’t believe you got a shirt before Ironwood. 

5) Cinder and Neo sure exist

To be fair, this is one of Cinder’s best years, easily her best since Volume 3 but that’s more because Cinder in the Mistral era was crap. (And if I wanna be cruel, because Cinder wasn’t in two thirds of the season)Her fans were finally vindicated after years of telling anyone who dunked on Cinder that “nooooo she has a super covert backstory that’s gonna be amazing when it’s revealed! You’ll see!” And well they finally got it. All of one line during a fight about how Cinder “refuses to starve.” 

It’s still something so I guess we have to take it. Seriously... how do we still not have Cinder’s backstory. 

There’s just not a ton to say about Cinder and Neo in V7 barring I that don’t think they needed to be here. They feel very superfluous and just here to have a big boss fight in Cinder’s case alongside continuing her streak of ending the odd numbered seasons fighting a female side character... which for me became an exercise in tyring to find during Cinder during the damn fight.

And this is why when most people saw Cinder’s V6 outfit they went “It’s gonna be hard to see her in darker environments,” then were vindicated when it became legit difficult to see Cinder in this scene. God if they at least just made the inside of the cape red it’d be easier.

Neo is Neo, which means she makes funny faces and mocks Cinder (I like that), but she doesn’t get a super good fight which uh... we’ll get to. I’m interested to see her finally exploding at Cinder and going for a backstab, but really Neo in V7 was kinda hit hard by the double whammy of the Oscar Hallway Punch and how humiliating ORNJ vs Neo was for ORNJ. Cinder’s definitely had far worse years and after how aimless she was in Mistral this feels like a sep in the right direction, but at this point CRWBY just need to shut up and tell us her deal. It’s been seven years guys. Come on. At least make her interesting if she’s gonna say around. They’ve had worse years, but unfortunately Cinder and Neo’s role in the finale leads into...

6) Some of the fights weren’t good

I wanna be clear, I like most of Volume 7′s fights. It’s just a bummer the worst ones are back and back and make up a chunk of the finale. ORNJ vs Neo is just crap. It’s the worst fight since the Battle of Haven. There’s nothing else I can say, it’s poorly animated, paced, choreographed and written. JNR especially are made to look like complete jokes after they spent all season training, to the point where it looks like V2 Yang could solo V7 JNR after this. Oscar I expect this from because he’s not allowed to have fun stuff onscreen after accidentally stealing the Haven budget for his fight with Hazel, but JNR were just done dirty. There were ways to make the fight work in a way where Neo still won but JNR looked good. They went for the worst possible outcome that just leaves Neo looking like she got fan-wanked and JNR looking like they’re just not allowed to be cool due to Miles’ spite at the Jaune-Self Insert stuff (and that’s not even getting into JNR being forced to run from lame rent a cops who can’t even handle a single Grimm). Cinder vs Winter and Penny isn’t much better, with her dark outfit making it very hard to track the fight because she blends into the background too well. It’s not a great showing for Winter or Penny given their earlier feats but, hey, some random female character had to fight Cinder in this odd numbered volume, carrying on Glynda, Pyrrha and Raven’s tradition. It’s at least better than ORNJ vs Neo, but that’s really not saying anything. At least Cinder’s VA work isn’t too bad this time but this fight commits the cardinal sin of a finale fight: It’s just not super interesting because we know Cinder can’t kill both Winter and Penny and she’s not becoming a Maiden, while Winter’s been too blatantly set up so it has to be Penny.

RWBY vs the Ace Ops also gets a dishonorable mention due to the choreography on display here... and the lack of it for Weiss, Blake and Ruby. Ruby never once swings Crescent Rose the entire fight and is just reduced to getting the tar kicked out of her by Harriet. Weiss barely gets to use her sword and largely just sticks to her summoning and glyphs which makes for a very visually uninteresting fighting style at the best of times. Blake just swings around and gets caught by the bad guys so Yang is motivated to fight stronger. She never dual wields (again) and her best moves are just setting up Yang to do all the hard work while Yang gets to personally KO two of the Ace Ops. There’s a lot that can be said about whether or nor RWBY earn the win, but while the animation team try to sell the Ace Ops landing heavy hits, having only Blake’s Aura even flicker really undercuts the idea from the commentary that this wasn’t meant to be a stomp for RWBY and they had to work together and be in synch to win.

Which is why Yang solos two of the Ace Ops whle Blake plays support, Weiss beats Marrow alone and then kill steals Harriet from Ruby, all while the song playing is an extended diss track from RWBY to the Ace Ops about how badass they are now, and the commentary itself says the Ace Ops are hard carried by Clover’s Semblance (because you gotta love basically saying four POC were only competent because a white guy led them, and then have them lose because said white guy wasn’t around to carry them!). Great job guys, you really sold it.

And talking of Clover, I feel it worth mentioning Qrow vs Clover vs Tyrian. It’s animation wise near perfect, but unfortunately I do feel it would be remiss to not mention that I feel the writing really has to bend over backwards to justify this fight. A lot of it is stuff I would say in that hypothetical Robyn essay, but I feel Robyn, Qrow and Clover all have to become massive idiots for this specific sequence of events to occur, and for Clover especially every retroactive attempt to explain why he prioritized Qrow over Tyrian just sounds more and more desperate. Between the references to MCU Captain America (a person whose entire arc is about learning when it’s OK to defy bad orders) or the attempt in the commentary to say “Oh Clover thought it would be easier to take out Tyrian alone instead of Qrow,” none of them land and just further drive home how much the plot had to stretch and reach to get that moment of Tyrian killing Clover. I like the fight. But I hate the road the show took to get there.

Some of the misc fights are also weak like ORNJ vs FNKI and elements of the Mantle Grimm battle, but those are the big offenders. Otherwise, again, the fights are largely good. 

7) The soundtrack wasn’t... great

I mean the vocal songs only, don’t crucify me. Trust Love is just lamer Let’s Just Live/Triumph, Celebrate and Let’s Get Real are so boring I thought they were the same song until the OST dropped, Brand New Day is boringly peppy and Jeff’s vocals are dreadful. I completely forgot Touch the Sky until I was checking the tracklist to make sure I didn’t forget any songs. War has good singers but tries to sell the RWBY-Ace Ops bond as way deeper than it was. The lack of a villain song did really sting though, those are always the highlights.

There are good songs. I really like Fear, I feel it encapsulates the themes of the volume well and serves as a good condemnation of Ironwod’s mentality. Until The End is finally the Ruby song I’ve waited for since Red Like Roses 2 and I enjoy that she got a melancholic song, and Hero is easily, hands down, best track of the record and probably best RWBY track, full stop. Caleb killed it, I loved the second verse, opening opera was strong, guitar riffs were a plenty. Stellar work all around for that one.

The OST has great work from Jeff and Alex as usual, but the Jeff and Casey songs are really starting to lose their appeal. Going for a peppy feel this year didn’t help cover the cracks that are beginning to show with RWBY’s vocal songs (especially Jeff’s vocal range), and while a few standouts remain such as Fear and Hero, they are the slim minority in an otherwise very boring vocal tracklist that barely scrapes above Volume 5 for weakest set yet.

8) It wasn’t as funny as it thought it was

Comedy is subjective but man a lot of these jokes didn’t land. RWBY really needs to realize that does work in traditional 2D does not translate into 3D and just comes off as making official reaction GIFs for your Twitter account. Making characters SUDDENY SCREAM LOUDLY is not good banter. Please stop making Nora into Harley Quinn. Marrow was probably the most consistently funny character but that was it. Also I dunno why CRWBY thought Forrest was funny or what the deal was with that FRWBY crap. 

“Honorary” mention to the JNR food scene in Cordially Invited which is genuinely one of the worst scenes in the entire show and I hope whoever animated it has their save files deleted for a game where they were about to beat the final boss. Nothing sums up JNR’s pointlessness in the series more perfectly than this.

C) Conclusion

See what I mean about Volume 7 being frustrating? 

It’s weird that I overal think of Volume 7 as a mid-tier volume. There’s so much here I genuinely adore, with some of the best stuff to do with the show coming out of this season (barring lame, overpriced merch that feels like clothing gacha), but simultaneously the whole thing is let down by outside circumstances that unfortunately are ones the show can’t ever really recover from. Put bluntly, Volume 7 is the most technically proficient season of the show with the best lighting, backdrops, (some of the) character models, etc. CRWBY definitely didn’t slack off this year, but the problem isn't with them. It’s with the writing. A wider reaching problem is just that Miles and Kerry can’t really improve to the level that the series now requires. Eddy and Kiersei’s first season could have gone far worse, but it definitely was notable whenever they took over. Volume 7’s core problems are fourfold: The comedy is terrible and none of the jokes really land, the season focuses on the wrong plots and gives them too much effort, too many episodes are spent building up to new plots only for them to be weakly resolved (especially the Mantle Riot/Grimm attacks that are shoved off-screen), and the character bloat strikes hard here and leaves a lot of the cast feeling like dead weight. CRWBY don’t need more writers. They need more editors willing to tell the team what has to go instead of them hemming and hawing themselves on if they if they can include a plotline. The election never should have gotten past its first draft, there was too much already in this season before adding that.

When this is an unironic shot in your series... you’ve got character bloat issues.

At this point, I think JNR need to go. The show had no idea what to do with them throughout the season, leading to Jaune just being comic relief while Ren and Nora became characters I actively dislike. Renora was the easiest ship in the show to land, and they still managed to blow the engines and ram at least three icebergs just to prove that RWBY can’t romance to save its life. Team RWBY themselves are little better, with Ruby’s feelings about Penny’s return being shelved, Weiss’s victory against Jacques feeling un-earned and undercut by comedy, while Yang and Blake are benched for the volume and become a singular entity with how tied at the hip they are. Maria basically yeeted herself out of the show and I didn’t notice, Pietro is just a death flag, and while the Ace Ops had a good intro, it was undercooked by how they had to play the villain role to give RWBY something to do in the final hours. Cinder and Neo didn’t need to be here. Robyn had one of the worst introductions for a character I’ve ever seen, I never enjoyed her moments and it genuinely feels like she only has a fandom because RWBY’s community are in fact that desperate. 

On the brighter side, Ironwood’s arc is fucking perfect and Jason Rose deserves all the love. Great fight, great song, great design, love the beard, it was a perfect downfall for Volume 7’s true protagonist. Qrow had a fun volume and I loved his dynamic with Clover (I don’t see the ship stuff but that’s more because I’m an IronQrow main so my blinders were on). Clover was also way cooler than I remembered. His fights stood out but the guy’s just really cool at the end of the day, with Chris doing great work as a VA. Oscar even managed to do stuff this year which was a shock and a half, but a welcome shock and a half. I didn’t mention it, but the Ozpin fear monologue is one of my favorite scenes in the entire show and it and the Ironwood/Oscar confrontation in the vault save the finale. And of course, Watts and Tyrian were the MVPs. I don’t have a bad word about either of them, they fucking nailed their roles and I can’t wait to see them again. 

And that’s kind of what I mean when I say Volume 7 flummoxes me. It’s frustrating at times with how it handles seemingly easy tasks and drops the ball. Renora went from “everyone liked that” to wondering how badly Ren’s stuff got butchered for him to be the way he is. RWBY themselves could be almost entirely cut and so little would change, and the fact that the finale basically hinges its entire emotional stakes on Winter, Penny and Oscar is a staggering call. And it really feels like the season was compressed beyond necessity because they decided going in that Volume 7 had to end on Salem’s arrival. There’s two volumes worth of material here, and maybe it would have been best to have broken up these events. Volume 7 does too much in too little time, and RWBY especially suffered from it. But when it works… it’s good. Never close to the highs of Volumes 6 or 3, but there’s genuinely good material here. The fights are mostly getting better with far less missteps than previously, the acting (mostly) continues to improve and it’s obvious that RWBY is a very good looking show at this point. Ironwood’s arc is franchise-wide highs, I loved Clover, and Marrow remains the best boi. But it’s frustrating that despite all the tech advances Volume 7 has made, it still makes such threadbare, rookie writing mistakes in cast management, comedy and character arcs. I’m glad Miles and Kerry finally realized that they needed more writers, but it won’t mean anything if the show just continues to circle the drain on the core mistakes it’s been making since 2013. Volume 7 has good in it. But I can see where it could have been great.

Thanks for reading, stan IronQrow and please get Whitley a therapist.

And for the love of God already make an Ironwood vs Watts shirt! 

#rwby #rwby analysis #rwde #james ironwood #Arthur Watts #qrow branwen #Tyrian Callows #ruby rose #weiss schnee #Blake Belladonna #yang xiao long #Jaune Arc #lie ren #nora valkyrie #Renora #clover ebi #marrow amin #ace ops #robyn hill #happy huntresses #cinder fall #neopolitan #penny polendina #winter schnee #willow schnee #Whitley schnee #Jacques schnee #Salem #harriet bree #vine zeki

[theonceoverthinker]

Alternate Staff Theory Idea #2

It’s weird. The more time I spend with the Staff Theory, the more I grow to like it and think it’s got a fighting chance of actually happening, but also the more I like remixing the ideas of how it might happen.

So here I am again!

I was recently doing more Staff Theory musing, I got to thinking about the common counterpoints to the theory, namely (1) Why bring back Clover of all people, and (2) How are they going to use the staff while it’s supporting Atlas. And while I think everyone in the CDB/FG movement has done a wonderful job explaining how this would work, I also think I’d like to see something on the more streamlined side of things.

And oddly enough, it was the strangest of movies that gave me an idea of what could happen: “South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut.” In this film, the US and Canada go to war in the movie’s climax and only settle down after a large amount of people have already died. But Satan is willing to grant Kenny -- the kid who helped him stand up to his abusive boyfriend Saddam Hussein (Yeah, this was a WERID movie) -- a wish, and so Kenny (giving up his own chance of coming back to life) wishes that everyone killed during this war was revived.

Now let’s put that in RWBY terms and elaborate on what I think might happen, so join me under the cut.

 In order to get the staff into a usable form, Atlas is going to have to literally fall. Obviously, if that happens, a LOT of people are going to die (I mean, they already have because of the Grimm attack, but you know what I mean), both in Atlas and Mantle, and while I’m currently really pissed with the CRWBY, I don’t think they have it in them to kill two major cities that basically make up the entire population of a continent.

How are they going to get the Staff, you may ask?

I’ve been playing around with the idea that Ironwood’s line last volume about having Penny completely under control has been more literal than we were initially led to believe. Considering that Ironwood very clearly played a role in getting her created in the first place and how easily he turned off everyone’s scrolls in 7X11, I think that there’s a case to be made for Ironwood having something of a remote control for Penny. And once Ironwood finds out that Penny is the new Winter Maiden, that’s a remote he will be all too willing to use.

BUT others know Penny is the Winter Maiden as well or can figure it out easily enough under the right circumstances. So in the vault, a battle plays out, and this time, the villains grab the staff from its resting spot (I’m thinking this should be Cinder because she’s already been established as having the ability to fly), and the moment it’s gone, Atlas propels down. This accomplishes the task of both letting the staff be used for other purposes and having it act on the Chekov’s gun of its purpose in holding up Atlas.

Most of our main players get out of this okay, but notably not all. Ironwood, Penny, Cinder, Ruby, Weiss, Yang, Oscar, Qrow, and some others are alive, but I would have either Ren or Nora at least not make it out (I’m thinking Nora so that Ren’s treatment of Nora in the last volume can especially gut him and give that whole subplot some actual weight), and maybe Blake if you REALLY want to sell that this isn’t permanent (And give way to an AMAZING Bumbleby scene once she’s revived).

By this point, Salem (Who definitely already wrecked some havoc while she was there with her Grimm Whale) has gone home. I don’t have this part planned out, but it’s not really relevant to what’s going on in this theory, so use your imagination. 

Cinder is fought off and the staff is saved. But this is ANYTHING but a victory. THOUSANDS of people are dead, and EVERYONE is pissed at Ironwood. At this point, now looking at the literal cost of his control over Atlas, Ironwood finally snaps out of his insanity. Perhaps he cries. Everyone does. Many of their teammates and friends are dead, alongside countless innocents. They may have defeated the bad guys, but this was anything but a win.

And then Oz/Oscar speaks. There’s a way to bring everyone back. He takes the staff out of whoever’s hand who was last holding it. Much of the Staff’s power has been used supporting Atlas for so long, but it still has a woosh of power in it. With a sacrifice, it could restore everyone’s lives taken during the last 24 hours (This is INCREDIBLY important).

Ironwood volunteers, and after a speech is given by Ironwood and goodbyes are exchanged, a piano rendition of “Hero” (Or even an acoustic reprise) plays as he takes the staff and allows it to end his life. 

As Ironwood falls down dead, and the staff loses its illumination, corpses glow and start to rise to the surface of the rubble. And then those corpses come alive, just as they were before. 

Reunions happen (BIG Renora and Bumbleby scenes), and then we turn to Qrow. There’s this subtle but undeniable spark of hope in his eyes, and he bites his lip as he looks at all the emerging bodies. ...Perhaps he made it out, too... Oz DID say 24 hours, right? ...But it looks like who he’s searching for isn’t here...

...Guess he was just a bit too late...just his luck...

Then, an impossible voice speaks from behind him.

“You see my pin?”

Qrow turns around and Clover Ebi is there, right as rain, just as he was before. Qrow’s speechless, and Clover knowingly smirks at him.

“Is something on my face?” he asks.

Qrow forgets any bit of pride he has and runs over to Clover, grabbing him in a hug. Tears swell in his eyes as the embrace is exchanged. There’s an implicit implication that they do need to talk about the things that went down right before his death (Maybe some “I’m sorry’s” are exchanged too during the hug), but for the moment, they are just so happy Clover’s okay that they don’t care.

In addition to bringing Clover back and giving Ironwood a fitting end, what I like about this theory is that it literally pushes Atlas and Mantle to rebuild their kingdom together. They don’t have a choice, and through that rebuilding, there’s a real chance for the kingdoms to once more unify not just geographically, but emotionally, and that is what’s important for the themes of this series.

Cue end of volume stuff. I and I know my other Clover/FG/CDB fans would love to see Clover join the main group, but it makes sense if he doesn’t or can’t -- then again, Winter, Robyn, and the other Ace Ops can take control of things, so it’s not impossible by any stretch and would be infinitely better if Clover joined them for character work for both himself and Qrow (Not to mention, allow them to touch upon all of that discussing I previously mentioned they had to do).

#staff theory #clover ebi #rwby theory #rwby v8 #clover deserved better

[ghostvoi]

*incoherently screaming* did you see the volume 8 trailer 😱😱 what are your thoughts?

Honestly, I’m so glad I’m a part of this fandom. People rushing to tell me stuff when new RWBY stuff happens is so wonderful. I don’t actually keep conscious track of stuff other than things like, you know, release date. So I’m so happy to be here where I can be excited with other people.

As for your question, oh man am I excited. Mantle is in danger, but the rest of Remnant still needs to be warned, so Amnity must be completed. It makes sense for the team to split up which is what it seems Jaune and Ruby were discussing. I’m so IN to the scene where Ruby’s creeping around with her hood up, careful not to be seen. I’m just SO into Ruby learning and trying new things and being a little more crafty. Honestly, it’s also really nice to see Ruby settle more and more into her role as a leader. The way she says, “Atlas is just Salem’s current target; once she’s done here she’ll move onto the rest of Remnant” has just the right amount of tension, determination, and decisive strength to it.

Ironwood’s completely abandoned Mantle and states that if Salem destroys Atlas then it destroys any hope the world has left.I don’t agree with that necessarily, though I think protecting Atlas is a big step in foiling Salem. The team would have a huge setback otherwise. Regardless, it’s obvious Ironwood’s focus is Atlas. Hopefully, in the culmination of the volume, he and Ruby and everyone else can work together again to complete all their objectives.

Anyway, originally I was worried the team split because of ideals over what to do, but I’m glad it was more or less a group decision. Yang, Jaune, and Ren presumably run into Oscar in Mantle and he’s absorbed into the group. It’s unknown whether the two teams have contact with each other, however. They’re spreading themselves a little thin, but if they don’t do something about Mantle and Amity, who will?

I’m kinda hoping Oscar stays on his own for a little bit during this volume and that we get to spend some time alone with him and Oz. They’re long overdue for some time to talk. I also hope this’ll increase the drama when everyone does finally reunite. (I mean obviously I want Ruby and Oscar to have some kind of emotional reunion, bc I’m on team rosegarden but Oscar’s friends with everyone else too, and JNR already has trauma with losing a teammate.)

It’s unclear to me at the moment what’s going to happen with Cinder’s character. Will she stay loyal, will she go against Salem? In the trailer she says she’s nothing without her, but I’m not so sure those are her true feelings. The way that Salem is (presumably, we all know trailers don’t necessarily show the moments where they actually say things) talking to her in that moment is cold and belittling. I’m not saying Cinder and Salem’s relationship before was warm and kind, but Salem did treat Cinder a little more warmly--shooting down Watt’s contempt for her during their conference, etc. Whether she did that to feed into and manipulate Cinder’s feelings I’m not sure, but I wonder how this changes things between them.

We don’t see Neo, again. I wonder where she is... maybe she’s abandoned Cinder? Deciding she doesn’t like being treated the way Cinder’s being treated now by Salem? I honestly hope Neo joins our protagonists, and if not, then fucks shit up with Salem on her own time.

Lastly, I think it’s confirmed that Salem’s gonna nab Oscar given she said, “Bring him to me.” She could have chosen Ruby since she clearly used the lamp, but she probably thinks Ruby’s not much of a threat given how she talked about her mother and Ruby’s consequential breakdown and is focused on Oz.

Aaaaaa man, I’m so excited. I just love watching these characters grow.

#asks #rwby #allthingsasian123

[its-a-branwen-thing]

The Right Thing

Doing the right thing has been something repeated a lot by our characters this season. Ironwood. Qrow. Oscar. The Ace Ops. Team RWBY. It’s just as much the centerpiece to this volume as trust. Because they all think that their way is the correct way. I definitely think this volume is laying down the narrative groundwork for what really constitutes the idea of the “right thing.” And I’m gonna break it down.

“It’s important not to lose sight of what drives us, love, justice, reverence, but the moment you put your desires before my own, they will be lost to you.”

In E4 of V6, Salem lays into her subordinates after their failure at Haven. It’s all because Cinder acted to put her own needs--her revenge against Ruby, her proclivity for hubris--first. Salem is an absolute ruler and she makes this very clear. She does not have a council. She does not trust those beneath her. She uses fear to control them. And when they fail her she does not forgive them easily. Salem is her own judge, jury, and witness. And when those in her circle do no succeed, she takes matters into her own hands regardless of what it might cost.

Sound familiar?

I made a long post about Ironwood and his character arc and why I think he makes such an amazing fallen hero or, let’s just say it, an anti-villain. This isn’t about Ironwood’s right or wrongness, but I understand the interpretative nature of his decisions and why people feel one way or the other. But this is, in the framework of this show, a definite deterioration of his good standing with our main cast.

Ironwood has always kept his power insular. He has loyal supporters that he earned, I don’t doubt, not by using fear but by being a good leader. Salem’s team is ruled mostly by blind devotion (Tyrian), hunger for power (Cinder), need for revenge (Watts and...Hazel?), and then, like, Stockholm’s Syndrome at this point (Mercury, Emerald--although also because she stans a queen Cinder).

Ironwood’s circle is composed of people who have the same goals in mind as him and who believe in his methods. Even when they become unethical. Winter and the Ace Ops still side with him even knowing it will cost them Mantle. Clover doesn’t question why Qrow needs to be detained he just does it. Because what Ironwood says is the right thing is, to them, the right thing. But it isn’t given to them as a choice, it’s done as a command.

“Someone is about to make a play and I do not trust Leo to stop them.”

“You’ve never trusted anyone but yourself.”

“And for good reason! If Oz had just listened to me from the start.”

I wish I’d included this in my last Ironwood post because it proves he has always been divested of trust.

Watching this scene in V4 again helped me realize that Ironwood has always been a man about power. He hoards his armies and those loyal to him and isolates Atlas to prepare for, what we now know, his plan to launch Amity Tower and reconnect the world. But he fails at that. And what is his immediate reaction? Not to try and work out an alternative with those around him. But to shut them down. And detain them.

“But we have an opportunity to reunite the world, if we launch the tower we can all work together again, we could even call for help. If we can hold out long enough...”

“Sometimes doing the right thing means making tough decisions.”

“You’re right. And I think the right thing to do would be to stand our ground.”

I think this exchange is missed too often. Ruby and Blake both advise Ironwood to take a stand, to “hold out” against Salem’s armies until the tower can be launched. They aren’t asking him for anything more than what he made clear to them in the beginning was what he wanted. And he chooses not to listen to them because it isn’t what he’s judged as a viable plan. Even the Ace Ops, who are witnessing this too, immediately blame RWBY for not being more up front with Ironwood. And it’s sad, because I see exactly why they’re angry. But as Weiss said, “none of this matter right now!” because it doesn’t. Because Salem is here. And the right thing is being pulled in too many directions for it to mean much of anything.

---

“Why couldn’t you just do the right thing? Instead of the thing you were told?”

“Sometimes the right decision’s the hardest to make.”

I have some feelings about this line that I can’t quite articulate without sounding, well, positively bonkers. Because paired with his “someone had to take the fall” it sounds a little too...off? Like it happened already? (Also why did he jump out of the plane first?? I just...so they wouldn’t have his luck and would hopefully be injured in the crash?)

But the point I’m trying to make is that this is where we see what the cost of blind loyalty is. There have been plenty of posts discussing Clover and Qrow and Robyn’s actions and why they did the things they did. But I think, paired with Clover’s manipulation of Robyn, this was a betrayal not only to Qrow but to us, the audience. Because we liked Clover (well, I mean, your mileage may vary). And yet he still did Ironwood’s bidding until the end, even to the point of it costing him his life (again, I know there’s heavy debate around this) because nothing mattered more than his orders, not even his heart reason.

The Ace Ops are inflexible in their loyalty to Ironwood. It’s unconditional. And they believe what they’re doing is right. But our team, RWBY and JNR and Oscar and Qrow, believe in something different. They believe in doing what’s right intuitively. They’re not viewing this war like a chessboard with pieces to be moved at will. Ironwood is doing that, which is why I think Cinder’s “gotcha” at the end is so ironic. Because Salem isn’t the only one playing chess. Ironwood is too.

But our other heroes are not.

Why is Qrow in the drop ship on his way to prison with Robyn at the end of E13? Because he went back instead of escaping or pursuing Tyrian.


He went back to the scene of a crime that will be pinned on him to be at the side of a dying friend. This directly juxtaposes Clover’s whole character as he was presented in his final moments. There are no rules in Qrow’s world anymore, really, and he isn’t a solider like Clover. Their orders were to apprehend Tyrian. And Qrow let him go. Because something mattered more than that, and that small ownership of self is what’s been shown this season as what separates our heroes from our fallen heroes and their enemies.

---

“My life doesn’t matter!”

“I disagree.”

Penny, a robot designed by the Atlesian military, who has been in Ironwood’s circle this whole time, chooses without hesitation to save Winter instead of go after Cinder. Because Winter’s life mattered more to her than getting Cinder. And in the end, she chooses to go with RWBYJRN and MP and leave behind her position at Atlas. Because it was, to her, the right choice. It is a discussion she has with Winter in various scenes. She doesn’t believe in what Ironwood is doing because he’s ignoring the most important part of what makes people human:

Personal feelings.

Please don’t hurt me.

----

“I am done letting others’ inability to see the big picture get in the way of doing what’s right. Robyn, the Council, this Kingdom...even you.”

Ironwood’s inability to see the smaller side of humanity is what makes him ultimately fall right into Salem’s palm. Because he’s functioning just like she is. Rule absolute. His declaration of martial law speaks to that. While our heroes have always put other things first. Each other, the people of Mantle, the idea of saving someone or staying with someone rather than pursuing a goal that might, in the long run, help “the big picture”. This is precisely what Salem always threatens to snuff out. Those small sparks of hope or justice or love. It’s why Ren’s hesitation is also so important. Because it showed our heroes care more about each other than the “big picture.” And, fantasy or not, humanity in those small moments has always been the right thing here. And some of our cast are missing that piece.

Salem has a relic and a maiden. So do our heroes. But divided, they have a maiden while their enemies have a relic. Salem divided them exactly as she said she would, because Ozpin wasn’t there to talk sense into Ironwood and Oscar wasn’t good enough I guess the trust that was built between him and team RWBY was broken (can’t deny that, Ironwood was pissed they went behind his back and I get it). Doing what’s right isn’t about what makes sense from a standpoint of strategy. It’s about what, inside, our heroes feel is right. We can call it idealistic or naive but remember that’s exactly what Salem fears. And it’s exactly what our heroes need in order to unite themselves again. They need--and I say this with a heavy, heavy sigh--to trust love.

---

“A smaller, more honest soul. It's true that a simple spark can ignite hope, breathe fire into the hearts of the weary. The ability to derive strength from hope is undoubtedly mankind's greatest attribute...which is why I will focus all of my power to snuff it out.”

And that, friends, is why I believe that the right thing is always based on our emotions. Because not relying on them is what cost our tin man his heart. They are what Salem prevents her people from having. And yet having them is what lead Penny to coming into her own as the winter maiden. It’s what fuels Ruby’s silver eyes. It’s what made Pyrrha go back into Beacon Tower even knowing she’d lose. Because it was the right thing to do.

There’s always a case for kindness and love and hope. And I’d like to make it here.

#plants flag on this hill and wriggles it a little #rwby #rwby spoilers #rwby meta #salem #ironwood #i could just tag the whole cast but i wont #long

[crowno-0]

*Ruby who had come up with a plan to fight a large group of Grimm, she now has been nominated by the teams to speak Infront of multiple huntsman to explain said plan*

Ruby: And if group two can successfully lead the Grimm to this point, group one can cover their retreat and then both groups can take out any that are left. Any questions?

Random hunter: Yeah, who brought their kid And why is she trying to give us orders? *There were a few people who spoke out in agreement*

Ruby: Uh... Well, I am apart of the group that found the..uh initial group of Grimm and-

Different random huntress: Ah, I see she's kinda like a mascot. Come on now honey we are hunters can you get who came up with the plan and organised this, we aren't playing around.

~

Blake: oh no, we should have expected this. Someone hold Yang back before she kills our someone.

Nora: on it!

Blake: Ren, can you come with me and try to he-... Where are Jaune and Weiss.

~

Another random hunter: You look too young to even be in one of the academy's.

Ruby: I actually was allowed into Beacon early.

Another huntress: So you are like what 17? Who's idea was it to allow a little ki-

Jaune: Okay, hands up who have heard what happened at Beacon, Haven and Atlas. Now put down your hand if you heard of the name Ruby Rose.

Weiss: Hmm, so those with their hands still up had their heads under a rock.

Jaune: It seems that way Weiss, a few questions to those with their hands up.

Weiss: Can you singlehandedly take out a Grimm Wyvern large enough to encompass a mountain?

Ruby: Uh, Weiss.

Jaune: Because if you had heard about Beacon you would have know that Ruby rose had done just that.

Ruby: Jaune, please.

Weiss: I can see some of you trying to put your hands down. What was the main complaint? That she was too young?

Jaune: And to all of you, yes she is young, she is sixteen in fact. I wonder what all of you were doing when you were sixteen?

Ruby: Guys, come on, please.

Weiss: I was studying and training, how about you?

Jaune: Hmm, I think I was going to dance lessons with my sister's. I wonder what all of your were doing when you were sixteen.

Weiss: Imagine, getting so out of sorts because someone, maybe two or three decades younger than you is not only much more skilled.

Jaune: but has beaten Grimm in multiple city's whilst they were hiding away forcing a , in their words, child to do the job.

Ruby: Oh, gods.

Weiss: Hey Jaune, have you right after beating a leviathan Grimm, been welcomed into Atlas by their General and given your huntsman license all at the age of sixteen?

Jaune: Nope, mainly because if I was sixteen I like the rest of these people would have died at the leviathan part.

Weiss: that's weird because she not only did so, but also took down solo one of Atlas's elite Ace Ops.

Jaune: Wow, that's crazy... Now let us tell all of you, that this is Ruby Rose and it was her idea to call in you guy's for help, because the villages you are protecting would be on danger.

Weiss: A lesser danger because after leading a two standard teams against a group of Grimm maybe half the size of the one we are about to face. With no casualties.

Jaune: So, not only is she more than qualified to lead us, she is the only one we will allow.

Random hunter: that's alot of lip and not enough substance kid's, leave this to the adults.

*Jaune and Weiss look at each other*

Jaune: Look at this guy...he doesn't even know.

*Jaune lays a hand on Weiss's shoulder*

Hunter: Know what?

*Weiss crosses her arms and leans slightly into Jaune*

Weiss: Know who the real children are.

*A colossal Arma Gigas large enough that a single swing could hit most of the gathers hunters, made entirely out of ice appears behind Weiss, Jaune and Ruby*

Jaune: Any more question on who gets to lead...no? Good.

Weiss: You may continue Ruby.

*Red in the face Ruby once again speaks up*

Ruby: ...Okay as I was saying.

~

Oscar: So I guess that's that taken care of.

Qrow: Awesome, maybe now we can get things done.

Nora: Blake, help she biting!

Blake: Yang, no bad, don't bite you friends.

Yang: I'm going to kill those bastards.

Ren: I'm going to make some tea, anyone want some?

B,Y,N,Q,O: Yes please/I'll have a cup/Thanks Renny/Nah, I'm good/If it isn't too much trouble.

Ren: even if what they said is true, it's still unbelievable to most...I think all they wanted to do was show off.

B,Y,N,Q,O: Most definitely/Ha, Yeah/You think they are compensating for something?/Don't care/Ozpin does say it's all about presentation.

#rwby #weiss schnee #jaune arc #team SchnArc #ruby rose #blake bellodona #yang xiao long #nora valkyrie #lie ren #qrow branwen #oscar pine

[homogrimoire]

Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?

Fair Game Week 2020: Day 5 - Hurt / Comfort

Read it on AO3 here.

Atlas had successfully defended against Salem’s attack, so naturally, a victory celebration scheduled for the next week. In the face of such an evil, people needed to be reminded of all the good things in the world that they were protecting. It was just a day for everyone to let loose and live life before having to go back to Atlesian monotony, which meant everyone was really going to let loose. And thankfully, the next day was also given off so that people could recuperate from the reverie of the previous day. Most citizens were free to spend the two days as they pleased, leaving For the students, a makeshift school dance was in preparation.

A little birdy told Clover that the kids were going, and Qrow would be there as a chaperone. The little birdy also told Clover that Ironwood had to beg Qrow to be a chaperone. Qrow was going to go anyways, but he liked messing around with Ironwood. To Clover, it was a very funny thing to imagine. The only other chaperones were Winter, Robyn, who lost a bet with her sister, and Ironwood himself. Of course, with nothing better to do, Clover volunteered to join the other brave adults who dared to attempt to control a group of teenagers. While many students opted to spend time with their families, some chose to party at their academy. Despite this, the dance would still be a decent size, so Clover’s “sacrifice,” as his team called it, was greatly appreciated by the other adults at the party. Clover didn’t really think of it as such. The way he saw it, it was a way to spend more time with Qrow. Over the months they spent together, Clover had developed a serious crush. It didn’t start out as such, though. Clover remembers the exact moment he realized he had fallen in love with Qrow. It began during their trip back from a supply run where he and Qrow were joined by Jaune and Ren. 

-

“And so, our boy’s night out comes to its end.” Jaune exhaled dejectedly. 

“No one said it has to end.” Qrow said with a grin. Jaune’s face immediately lit up.

“You mean ─!” He beamed.

“Well, it is the last mission of the day for all of us, and the sun’s barely setting. If you two,” Qrow said as he  referred to Ren and Clover, “don’t have plans, we could have some fun and see where the night takes us.”

“I don't have any important plans, so count me in.” Clover did have a reservation for a training room, but that hardly counted as important compared to living his life and spending time with Qrow and his kids. 

“And how about you, Ren? Are you gonna come, or do you have a hot date waiting for you?” Jaune asked as he nudged Ren, alluding to Ren and Nora’s new development in their relationship. 

“Actually, kinda. Me and Nora are going to spar later to develop our synergy more.” 

“Aww...” Poor Jaune deflated like a balloon.

“Don’t get too sad about it. It’s not like I’d know what to do anyways.” Immediately, the three of them looked at Ren, shock and concern in their eyes.

“Jaune.” Qrow ordered.

“On it.” He said as he pulled out his scroll. A mere moment later, Ren’s scroll rang. Before answering the call, he made sure to keep it a reasonable distance from his ears. 

“RENNNN!” Nora’s thunderous voice wailed. In the background, sounds of violence could be heard.

“Yes, Nora?” Ren moved the phone closer to his ear.

“Why didn’t you tell me you guys were planning a boys night out?!” The sounds of Yang screaming and grimm dying could be heard as Nora herself grunted in between words.

“It kind of came up just right now.”

“Well ─ Hold on a moment, would you?” From the other side of the line, her warrior’s cry could be heard, followed by the sound of multiple grimm having their armor and bones shattered. “Sorry about that,” she laughed, “but Ren, you should go and have some fun. Besides, we need a break from training. Oh! This gives me an idea! HEY!!! YANG!!!” A distant “what” could be heard. “WANNA HAVE A GIRLS NIGHT!!!” After the sound of a yell and a whimpering grimm, a “sure” was heard. “Nice! Alright, well bye! Love you!!!” Just before the call disconnected, the sound of a structure falling and roaring grimm through were heard.

“Are they ─” Clover looked concerned.

“They’ll be fine.” Ren assured without a drop of worry as he nodded his head. “Well, I guess we should pick up Oscar then.” Picking up Oscar proved to be a wise move. It gave them some time to think about where they could start their night. They were mostly drawing blanks, knowing so little about the area. Qrow mostly just knew about the location of some bars, but those obviously weren’t even going to be considered. So, Qrow asked the local “Lucky Charm” if he knew any good places to begin their night. Lucky for Qrow, he did. However, much to their dismay, Clover decided to keep where they were going a secret, except to Qrow. It made Clover’s heart skip a beat when he saw Qrow’s face lit up. And, needless to say, they all had a fun night. It was the break they needed from all their time working. By the time they got back, they were tired, and the girls were still out, likely having their fun. They said their goodbyes as they parted ways to their respective dorms, Qrow walking with the kids to theirs first. About part of the way to his residence, Clover turned around, deciding that he’d rather spend a bit more time with Qrow rather than just shower and go to sleep. Just before he rounded a corner, he heard Qrow and the kids talking, and stopped. He didn’t want to interrupt. However, despite knowing that he should give them their privacy, he stayed just around the corner, out of sight.

“I guess, what we’re trying to say is, thanks Qrow. We really do appreciate all the stuff you’ve done for us, and we’re proud of you too.” said Ren. Qrow really does have some good kids Clover thought.

“Well, I should thank you kids too. You all helped me a lot too.” To Clover, it sounded like Qrow was on the verge of shedding a tear. 

“Group hug?” asked Oscar, opening his arms.

“Group hug.” Qrow replied, opening his arms As they hugged, Clover could hear Jaune sniffling. Clover was undoubtedly happy for Qrow, but in the moment, he could also not help but feel his own loneliness wash over him. 

“Alright, that's enough.” Qrow laughed after the hug broke off. “I don’t want you kids making me go soft. I’ve got an image to maintain.” The boys laughed a little. “Welp, we should all go and get some sleep now. Good night kids.” Clover could hear his footsteps as he walked away as he walked away.

“Night Uncle Qrow.” the kids said in unison as they chuckled. Uncle Qrow? That's new. Of course Clover was happy that Qrow had people that cared about him so much, yet, he could also feel his loneliness consuming him even more. Normally, he didn’t mind the loneliness, but knowing that he was missing out on stuff like that always seemed to get him, showing no mercy and going straight for his heart. 

“You two can go on without me. I’m gonna go check on Nora. Apparently, their idea of a fun night is a free for all in the training room. They even got Winter and some other students to join. I can only imagine the carnage.” Crap! The way to the large training room they were in involved some backtracking from where they were, which meant Ren was going down the hall and around the corner where Clover was. He had to act natural. He didn’t want it to seem like he was purposely eavesdropping. He heard Jaune and Oscar’s footsteps as they faded away, and Ren’s as they got closer and closer. Just as he was about to make his move, heard Ren speak up. 

“I know you’re there.” Bested, he walked out from behind the corner.

“You’re pretty perceptive. I’m impressed.”

“Why were you there?” Ren asked, the question free of any malice. Clover sighed.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop or anything. I just decided that I’d rather spend some more time with Qrow, so I came this way to find him, but then I accidentally walked in on your guys’ conversation. Uh, sorry, again.” Clover felt rather embarrassed.

“You didn’t mean any harm. It’s alright. But, can I ask you something?”

“Sure.” Oh boy…

“Do you… like Qrow?” Oh, that’s not so bad.

“Of course I like him. He’s my friend.”

“I mean, do you like like him?” Oh fuck. Clover could feel his face getting hotter as he tried to get out an answer, but ended up stammering. “I’m sorry if I’m just being too straight forward. I know I’m not the best with emotions, so I just want to know if Qrow will be in good hands.” Heh. Qrow doesn’t know how lucky he really is. Well, it’s not luck, its just what he deserves. 

“I think...” Clover thinks back on his time with Qrow, from their shared jokes, to seeing him grow to accept himself little by little, and to seeing him adore the kids, and the kids look up to him. “I think I do love him.” He leaned against the wall, coming to terms with the realization.

“Good.” With that, Ren left him to think about his newfound love for Qrow.

-

Clover knew his days with Qrow were numbered, so he wanted to share as much time with him as possible. Eventually, Qrow and his kids would leave for Vacuo, and he would stay in Atlas, alone once more. So, he looked forward to the day of the dance. He decided that it would be the day he would tell Qrow how he felt. If all went as he hoped, they would share the last dance. Clover was an optimistic, that that didn’t mean he couldn’t be realistic. He still considered the possibility that Qrow could turn him down, for either not feeling that he was ready for a serious relationship, or not reciprocating the feelings. The former, he could live with. It meant he still had a chance and that Qrow probably did like him too. That latter, he feared. If it came to that outcome, he just hoped they could still be friends.

-

As the days leading up to the dance had come and gone, he began to feel more and more confident. After all, the man flirted back with him all the time, at least, he was very sure it was flirting. Then there was his brief talk with Ren. From what Clover had heard, he didn’t even realize at all that his lifelong friend had a crush on him until she kissed him. Since, he was slowly getting better at understanding emotions. So, if even Ren noticed that Clover had feelings for Qrow, then everyone else definitely knew, which was a bit mortifying to Clover. He didn’t want the cat out of the bag too early. And then there was his response when Clover told him he loved Qrow. Good.  Not a You’re wasting your time, or a Qrow deserves better than you, but a simple Good.  Ren was an honest and good kid. If he knew either of those things were true, he would have told Clover. He didn’t, and, in a sense, basically told Clover that Qrow liked, even loved, him back. It was also kind of like Ren told him that he approved of him, which made Clover very happy. If he had Ren’s approval, he probably had the approval of the other kids too. The quickest way to know you can have a man’s heart is if his kids approve of you. his father would tell him. If he doesn’t have any kids, then have some kids with him and see if they approve of you. That worked out fine for me. His pa was funny, but Clover knew he had his dad’s sense of humor. 

The night of the dance Clover made sure not even a hair was out of place. He also mentally prepared himself for what would transpire. He had no doubt that Qrow would accept his love and the dance now, he just needed to prepare himself. It was a major thing he was doing. After checking his hair one last time, he made his way to the ballroom. Clover was guarding the punch bowl as Qrow arrived with the kids, Ruby eagerly dragging him along. Clover admired the man as he walked in. He was standing tall now, as opposed to the hunched over posture he would hold when he first arrived. And of course, he looked as stunning as ever. Hot, great with kids, amazing personality, and literally one of the best huntsmen to have ever lived. He was the whole package. How could Clover not fall in love with him? Qrow then split from the kids as they went do their own things, and made his way over to Clover.

“Hey there hot stuff.” Clover winked. He poured himself another cup of the punch and took a drink. It tasted all right, but as to be expected of a school dance planned on such short notice.

“You’re pretty easy on the eyes yourself Lucky Charm.”

“Mmm, approval from Remnant’s finest. Lucky me.” Clover smiled as Qrow laughed at his joke. It made him excited for what was to come. As the night progressed, they continued chatting and joking as usual. If anyone asked Clover if he was being more flirty than usual, he would have said yes. Qrow was laughing as he told Clover about what went down in the Girl’s Free For All Night. As Ruby told him, Winter was suspected of helping Weiss, so Yang called her out and they began fighting. Ruby had called out “Big Sister Fight!,” which caught everyone’s attention. Everyone picked a side and began chanting “Big Sister Fight! Big sister Fight!” Upon hearing those words, one of the girls literally threw her own big sister into the mix, who Yang caught and threw at Winter. It was determined a tie, but Qrow was proud nonetheless.

“They grow up so fast.” Qrow said as he wiped away an imaginary tear, making Clover chuckle. “I remember my first fight with Atlas personnel like it was yesterday. It was back when Jimmy first joined Ozpin’s circle. This might come as a surprise to you, but we disagreed on a lot of things.” Qrow joked. “We butted heads a lot more then, so one day, we were both at each other’s necks, and Oz told us to take our problem out to the arena. We did, and I won.” Qrow said proudly.

“I’d LOVE to hear that story.” Clover shouted as he slung his arm around Qrow, his drink sloshing around. His volume caught Qrow a bit off guard, but he didn’t notice. Before he could respond, Yang called for her uncle to join them on the dance floor, wanting to see his “legendary” dance moves. Unsurprisingly, he agreed.

“Wanna show them how it’s done, Boy Scout?” Qrow asked.

“No thanks. *hic* I’m good. We need our forces to be spread out anyways! Can’t let these kids have too much fun, now can we?” 

“If you say so.” Qrow shrugged, and went off to put the kids in their place. Clover watched Qrow as he put everyone else to shame with his moves. Every now and then, he would partner up with one of the kids for a real show stopper, leaving them giddy. That went on for about an hour. The man certainly had excellent stamina. At the end of a combo with Nora, she loudly proclaimed him her Uncle Qrow and gave him a tight hug, lifting him off the round, which caused him to beam proudly. Meanwhile, Clover was still standing back, keeping his eyes on Qrow as he drank more of the punch. They all look so happy. Clover smiled. He thought that if, just if, Qrow turned him down later, he wouldn’t mind too much. As long as I can see him happy. It won’t be so bad anyways. I’ve been alone all along anyways. It won’t be so different. 

“What’s with the long face?” Clover heard, breaking him free of his thoughts.

“Hmm? Oh, nothing.” He didn’t notice that Qrow looked a bit sweaty.

“Are you sure? You don’t seem alright Cloves.”

“I can assure, you, cutie. I am a- *hic* okay.” He stammered out. He moved to lean on the table, but missed it. Fortunately for him, Qrow caught him before he could hit the ground. “Heh, lucky me huh?” Qrow grunted as he picked him up, slinging Clover’s arm over his shoulder. 

“Come on Boy Scout, let’s get you back to your place.” 

“Shouldn’t you take me out on a date first? Not that I’m gonna complain though.” He winked, but it lacked its usual charm

Weiss!” Qrow shouted. “Get your sister to take care of this punch! Someone spiked it! I’ve got Clover to take care of!” Clover felt his heart drop. 

“Will do!”

“Wuh? It’s not spiked! I’ve been watching it like a hawk alll nighT.”

“Someone must have been waiting until you got distracted and did it then.” Qrow wasn’t too surprised. It may have been Atlas, but teens will be teens regardless.

“Well, at least you drank most of it rather than the kids.” Qrow noticed that Clover was still holding onto the cup, which still had some of the alcoholic punch in it. The thought to steal some did not cross his mind. “Here, let me see.” he said, referring to the cup. Clover handed it to him, and he took a sniff. He let out a low whistle. He almost pitied the parent who lost whatever it was the kid dumped in the punch.

“That’s some strong stuff.” he said as he tossed it into a trash can. However a sniffling Clover quickly caught his attention.

“Hey, hey, no need to cry. You're fine.” He cooed softly as he wiped away a tear.

“*sniff* I know, I only *hic* only wanted yOu to have a good night. And now? *sniff*You─ you’ve got to take care of me. Some, sad and lonely guy, who got drunk around the─  the amazing guY, who gave up alcohol *sniff* cold turkey! for his kids! *hic*” 

“Hey! Don't blame yourself. It was an accident. I know you wouldn’t do that to me.” Mentally, Qrow noted to really thank Tai for dealing with his drunkenness for so long. “And if it helps you, I’m grateful that I can at least use my experience being drunk to help you out. It’s nice to know I can use it for something good.” Clover looked up at Qrow. Only he could look divine in the unflattering cold lights of Atlas.

“Thankss Qrow. Means a lot to me.” Clover began to lean on him more, drowsiness evidently kicking in. 

“Well, what are friends for?”

“Yeah… Friends...” Qrow found the sad face he made perplexing. He just chalked it up to the drunkenness. He didn’t want to get his hopes up. They continued the rest of their walk in silence until they reached Clover’s room. By then, he was carrying Clover bridal style as he was too drowsy to walk, even with Qrow’s support. He was obviously trying to keep himself awake. 

“Here we are Cloves.” He got out Clover’s keys, which asked for earlier, and opened the door and walked over to his bed. Clover weakly resisted and murmured, wanting to stay in Qrow’s arms, as he set him down onto his side. After making sure he wouldn’t roll over, he gathered a glass of water and the small trash can that was in the restroom. A side effect of the magic enacted upon him was slightly enhanced night vision, which allowed him to see well enough in the darkness of the room. He could have turned on the lights, but he wanted Clover to be comfortable as much as possible. Placing the trash can by the bed, he gently shook Clover. “Hey, Clover.” It took a moment, but he soon opened his eyes. 

“Yes?”

“Here.” he said, turning on the desk lamp so he could see the water being handed to him. “So you don’t get dehydrated.”

“Thanks.” Clover sat up and downed half of the glass before setting it down on the nightstand. He went back to laying down on his bed. With that, Qrow turned the light off and sat next to the bed on the floor so he could keep Clover in his view. Qrow was beginning to feel a bit tired as well.

“Get some rest now Lucky Charm. I’ll be here if you need me. Good night.”

“Good night. I love you.” 

“Love you too Cloves.” Let’s see if you’ll still love me tomorrow. Clover thought, just before drifting into sleep. Mid-yawn, he realized what they had just said to each other. He looked at Clover to see his reaction, but he was out cold. Qrow wasn’t exactly sure why he said it. It just felt like the natural thing to say. And there goes my sleep. Qrow thought. Sitting there, he wondered if Clover truly meant it. He had been harboring a crush on him for sometime now. He just hadn’t acted upon it. He wasn’t sure how to. His formative years left little room for a serious relationship, and definitely hadn’t taught him to think he was even worthy of love. As a result, his adult years were mostly spent drunk, leaving him still unable to love in such a way, and think he was worthy of such love. Only recently did that change. However, that didn’t mean he would know how to convey those feelings as he would have liked to. Against the odds, he fell asleep in about an hour, still thinking about those few words, and daring to hope they would ring true in the morning. Clover only woke up once, just to drink more water and to go to the restroom. With the alcohol still in his system, Qrow helped him move around. Clover didn’t say anything. Qrow only kept thinking about those words, kept daring to hope. 

-

Come the morning sun, Qrow found himself to be the first to wake. Knowing firsthand what it was like to wake up with a nasty hangover, Qrow went into the small kitchen to see what he could find some eggs and orange juice. He found some eggs, but no juice. He went to check on Clover before texting Ruby to see if she could bring some orange juice from the cafeteria, telling her to take her time since he was still asleep. He was still sound asleep. He got out a frying pan and made some eggs, periodically checking in on Clover. The time tested hangover cure usually involved raw eggs and orange juice, but he didn’t want to risk salmonella, and had the time to cook the eggs anyways. As he was searching the cupboards for pain relief / fever medicine, he heard a groaning, hungover Clover with messy hair walk into the kitchen. 

“Ughhh, what happened last night?” he asked as he rubbed his temples.

“You accidentally got drunk off of some spike punch.”

“I what?” Clover asked quickly, eyes wide from shock. 

“If it’s any consolation, it was some strong stuff they snuck in.” He looks adorable when he’s surprised.

“Oh my gods, Qrow, I am so sorry. I─”

“Calm down Lucky Charm, it’s no big deal. You didn’t mean to get drunk or anything. I will say that you’re pretty lucky that I know a lot about being drunk.” Qrow teased with a smirk. The familiarity of their joking nature with each other helped calm Clover down. “Here. You’ll want this stuff.” He set down a plate of scrambled eggs and a glass of water, along with a pain relief pill to help with the headache. If anyone were to just walk in on Qrow setting down the food with a soft smile and Clover returning the smile, they would have thought it domestic. This did not evade Qrow and Clover’s minds.

It’s like we’re actually dating.

“Thank’s Qrow. Let me just brush my teeth first.”

“No problem. You’d do the same for me, and smart move.” Meanwhile, Qrow thought about last night. “Say, do you... remember anything from last night?” Qrow asked once Clover returned, as  he made some food for himself. For a moment, he tried to remember as far back into the night as he could.

“Last thing I can recall is when you went to dance with kids.” he replied before taking another bite of the food. Except for a dream where I told you I loved you, and you told me that you loved me back. 

“I imagined as much. At least you didn’t throw up. You should consider yourself lucky.”

“It’s probably because of the pretty good luck charm in front of me.” 

“Careful Boy Scout. Keep talking like that, and I just might have to stay the night.” With a single wink, Qrow made Clover’s heart skip a beat. “You know, to make sure the alcohol is out of your system.” 

“Yeah, of course...” Clover hid his sadness well. Figures. However, he couldn’t see the blush that was spreading across Qrow’s face. A knock on the door knocked Clover out of his sad state. “I got it.”

“It should be Ruby.” Qrow told him. “I asked her to bring some orange juice. It’ll help with your hangover.” 

“Uncle Qrow!” Ruby exclaimed as she zoomed into the room, latching onto the person who opened the door. She quickly noticed that the man she tackled was, in fact, not her Uncle Qrow.

“Whoops, eh he. Not Uncle Qrow. Sorry about that.” 

“It’s alright Ruby. I’d have to be pretty used to being knocked around by now anyways.” He chuckled. 

“You really should be more careful Ruby. He might have a headache.” Weiss said as she peaked around the corner, trying to keep her voice low. He didn’t expect her to be here, or the rest of her team.

“Lucky for me, I don’t. Your Uncle here’s been taking good care of me.” He said as Ruby helped him up

“Oh, good. I hope you don’t mind if the rest of us then.” Nora said as she peaked through the door. Clover laughed at the small surprise. 

“Nope. The more the merrier, they say. But, uh, sorry it's a bit cramped. This place wasn’t made with so many people in mind.” Clover rubbed the back of his neck, a bit embarrassed. His place wasn’t messy or anything, he was just surprised that all the kids came along. 

“It’s nice to hear that you’re holding up well.” Ren said as he walked in, hiving Clover a quick but knowing glance. 

“Had a real doozy, huh?” Oscar asked. 

“And you should have seen Yang. She went around with Winter to interrogate everyone, trying to find out who spiked the punch.” Blake told him.

“We’ll find ‘em soon enough.” Yang said as she pounded a fist into her palm, causing Blake to laugh.

“I’m sure you and Ice Queen will bring our Boy Scout’s perpetrator to justice, Firecracker. Just don’t go too hard on them though, we need ‘em alive.”

“No promises.” They all laughed. Clover didn’t doubt that she would be merciful, or that Winter would either. 

“You kids ate, right?” Qrow asked.

“Yes Uncle Qrow, we ate. We’re not little kids. We can feed ourselves, you know.” Ruby told him.

“Looks like your Uncle Qrow might actually be a Mother Hen.” The kids laughed.

“Clover! You’re supposed to be on my side!” Qrow said as he tried to hold back his laugh, but he could not hide his smile.

“Which reminds me, here’s the juice Qrow requested for you.” Ren placed the bottle on the table beside his plate. 

“Thanks Ren.”

“You’re welcome.” He replied with a smile. 

“Even if you think you feel better, you should still drink some.”

“I will, my knight in shining armor.” After taking a drink, he did feel better than before. A he put the bottle down. The kids were chatting in the background as Qrow sat across from him, his back towards the kids. He could see Ren, towards the back, motioning him to look at the bottle of orange juice. After briefly scanning it, he noticed the phrase “Tell him!” written discreetly on it. He could feel the temperature rising in his face. Qrow was quick to notice. 

“You good Lucky Charm? Looks like your fever might be stronger than I thought.” Qrow moved his hand to feel Clover’s forehead, which only made him feel even warmer. “Here.” He said, offering a cold glass of water and some more medicine. 

“It’s─ it’s not that.” His heart told him to stop, that he would be fine if he didn’t tell Qrow, that it wouldn’t be able to take it if Qrow rejected him. His mind told him to tell Qrow, that the kids cared for him, that Qrow cared for him, and that his heart would thank him later. 

“”Everyone. I have something to say.” He said as he stood up from his chair. All eyes were on him. He took in a deep breath to calm himself. “Qrow, I...” All the way in the back, Ren was giving him a thumbs up. “I love you.”

“I had a feeling you did.”

“Huh?”

“You told me last night.” Okay, so that wasn’t a dream. That means... Qrow got up from his seat and moved closer to Clover. “I could tell you what I told you” Qrow teased, a blush spreading across his face, “but I’ll do you one better.”  Slowly, he closed the distance between them, bringing their lips closer and closer. Once their lips touched, nothing else seemed to matter in the world at that moment, not Atlas, not the grimm, and not Salem. As they parted, Clover wished they could continue. “I love you too Clover.” Qrow pulled him in for a soft embrace. Somehow, it meant more than the kiss. He felt even more people joining in on the hug. He opened his eyes to see that all the kids had joined in. He noticed that he was crying. However, it was not from sadness. Clover just knew that it felt right, knew that he wouldn’t be alone anymore, and knew that he was loved.

#Fair Game #fairgameweek2020 #qrow branwen #Clover Ebi

[littlemisssquiggles]

RWBY Musings #83: No Longer Together-Together. A Squiggle Meister’s Views on the Potential of a Renora Breakup in V7CH8.

In light of Ren’s recent behaviour, this squiggle meister has a hunch. Since Ren has been shown to forget everything around him whenever he’s with Nora, I have a feeling that the one sure-fire way to snap Ren out of his ‘boot-licker’ attitude (as some folks are describing it) is Nora, herself, suggesting that the two should break up. 

One of the commonly highlighted aspects of Ren and Nora's relationship is how they’ve succeeded in sticking together for so many years while remaining close and supportive of each other since they were kids left to survive on their own with nothing but each other to depend on.

I think Nora of all people suggesting the split would be what finally shakes Ren out of his rut. Because in spite of everything that’s happened with our beloved Flower Power pair for this season, my hunch still remains that Ren is behaving this way out of fear of losing all that he loved to Salem and her forces for a second time.

Ren already lost his parents and his home to the Creatures of Grimm---at least the ones that we could say were Salem's own creations. For him to lose his current loved ones ---especially Nora--- to her forces again, that is the last thing I believe Ren wants. Hence his current demeanour.

I think Ren wishes to better himself as a warrior for the greater good of becoming strong enough to at least protect the people he cares about the most. There may not be any solution to stopping Salem at the moment but at the present; Ironwood is only one with a legit plan---even if it was concocted without all the pieces taken into full consideration.

Ren's actions may be questionable but I'd like to think that his motives are what's just. Hmm…starting to sound like someone familiar there but I can’t quite put my finger on whom exactly. Quite the enigma, right?

In regards to his relationship with her, I’d like to believe that Ren is doing all of this because he wants to protect Nora and not lose her to Salem and her forces...even if his pursuit of that has made him increasingly more distant with her.

Hence why I think Nora asking Ren to "break up" will be what makes him come to his senses in a way. Call this weird but...I think part of the reason why Ren is distancing himself from Nora is because...maybe he perceives her as a distraction. 

The one person that could make him put aside his duties. Nora, as odd as this might sound, has somewhat become the embodiment of Ren’s humanity. He’s most relaxed when he’s around her. Or at least she’s his constant reminder that there are things that should matter more to him than just dedication to the line of duty. There are people who matter. And that kind of also creates an emotional tug-o-war for Ren between his dedication to his duties to stopping Salem and the people around him that are being affected by the choices he’s made to ensure the success of said duties; if that makes sense.

I think the next episode might lead to Renora breaking up as instigated by Nora. Harsh but I think it’s what the Writers have been building up to with them as part of their story for this season; among other things. I feel like at some point during or perhaps, before the Schnee Dinner party, Nora will grow fed up of Ren's behavior and say that they should split up and no be together-together anymore since that’s the impression she’s been getting from Ren this whole time.

Since Ren's thing is that he's never been good at talking then...call me weird but I kind of do want a Renora break up to happen at this point just for the sake of having Ren talk his way back into making up with Nora.

I'm feeling like there's going to be a Mr. and Mrs. Incredible from the first Incredibles movie moment between Ren and Nora with Ren yelling that he doesn’t want to lose Nora to Salem. 

He doesn’t want to lose anyone he loves every again. 

As I said, Ren’s already lost his parents to Salem. He lost his home to Salem. Heck he even lost one of his teammates and closest friends (Pyrhha) to Salem. Salem has costed Ren so much loss in his life and he wasn’t about to let her take anyone else he loved from him again basically...maybe?

I think that’s the reason. But then again, these are only my views on the matter. Either way, Ren needs to talk to Nora and someone definitely needs to ask Nora what’s going on with her too. 

The PLOT has been tiptoeing around some untold backstory for Nora, possibly in Mantle and for Pete’s sake; I just want someone to finally ask her what’s up with that. And what would awesome is if Ren is the one to ask her. These two kids need to talk. I’m not sure if the Schnee Dinner will be the appropriate setting for that but, it wouldn’t surprise me if it’s used as another catalyst to spark more development in the Renora love story for this season.

Since Nora initiated their first kiss, I'm still banking on Ren being the first to confess his love for Nora.

A part of me also feels as if Nora and Ren are going to attend the dinner party and the entire time Ren just ignores Nora. Even when she shows up looking all beautiful, like the goddess that she is in her dinner dress---I have a feeling that Ren still isn’t going to react much. He’ll probably give the same indifferent response as he did on the mission with the Ace Ops. If anything, what I’m hoping to see is a sort of Yule Ball Hermione moment for Nora. Like she shows up at the dinner looking so breathtakingly gorgeous that not even duties could stop Ren from just ogling at her.

However this only lasts a minute and Ren looks away instead of complimenting his girlfriend since, in his mind, he's trying to remain vigilant just in case something bad happened at the dinner. Similar to the Watch Party, I bet Ren is going to be on very high maintenance at the Schnee Dinner.

So much so that he’ll probably desire to spend less time in Nora’s company and more stick closely to Ironwood (perhaps even keep Oscar company since I’m assuming that Ironwood will wish for Oscar to remain close to him as well; at least until they’ve met Jacques since I’d also like to think that Oscar would stick close to James to lend him some morale support).

As a matter of fact, I actually like this idea. Ren is the one member of JNR I haven’t seen Oscar bond with yet. 

So I think it’d be cool if Ren and Oscar got a chance to chat at the dinner leading to Oscar probably suggesting that Ren talk to Nora. Y’know, hit him with the ole “talk to the person you’re most afraid to” advice that he gave James.

Going to Nora: Heartbroken at Ren ignoring her at the party, let’s say… Nora starts chatting it up with some snooty Atlesian rich boys who start flirting with her.

This unfortunately ends up being a huge distraction for Ren. More than he anticipated. After all, who wouldn't be peeved by his girlfriend laughing it up with some random boys she just met who all stand around her, ogling her like a pack of wolves to a slab of meat. I'm actually very curious as to how a jealous Lie Ren would react. 

Somehow I’m picturing Ren being the type to be annoyed at other guys hitting on Nora but still humble enough to not let his annoyance get the better of him to cause a scene. I can more picture Ren taking Nora’s hand and pull her away to talk to her privately.

I actually really want to see this happen now.

Picture it. Ren and Nora show up to the dinner but separately. Ren accompanied Ironwood, Oscar and Winter while Nora remained with the rest of the team. Despite showing up looking the most stunning we’ve ever seen Nora (bonus if we got a scene with Nora being given a makeover by Blake and Yang), Ren barely even reacts to seeing her. Instead he turns the other cheek (to hide the deep blush creeping up on his face) and resumes his post at Ironwood’s side (like the bootlicker he has come to be apparently).

So Ren spends his time around the General instead of Nora. Fortunately he isn’t alone. Oscar is there with him for the most part until the two are excused to go join their friends at the party while Jacques and Ironwood discussed more private matters. However in spite of this, Oscar takes notice that Ren still doesn’t wish to go enjoy the party with Nora as he would expect him to. This leads to the two sharing a chat.

Perhaps Oscar confides in Ren that he’s been avoiding someone at the dinner too---Ruby. Let’s say…Oscar confesses to Ren that he wishes to resume his conversation with Ruby about disclosing the truth about Salem to Ironwood; highlighting his nervousness of how she might react to his words. Oscar even asked Ren for his advice since he’s usually the calm and collected one within their team.

However Ren doesn’t even answer Oscar since he was more focused on watching Nora laughing it up with a pair of Atlesian rich boys she had met at the party. Nonetheless, Ren still provides Oscar the answer he needed. Oscar tells Ren that he was going to talk to Ruby but not before advising Ren that he needs to talk to Nora about whatever was going on with them.

So Ren ends up approaching Nora. Let’s say…he confronts her just as she was starting to get annoyed with the rich boys after the topic of Mantle was brought up and similar to V4, these Atlesian rich boys show no remorse for the plight of the People of Mantle. Calmly Ren tries to speak to Nora. However…let’s say, unhappy with the way Ren has been treating her lately (and rightfully so) Nora decides to give Ren a taste of his own medicine and ignores him this time.

Still, Ren tries to still talk to Nora. He even takes her hand and tries to lead her away for them to talk. However…this ends up causing a scene where the rich boys try to take Nora back from Ren. One of them even insults Ren (or gets violent with him) and this leads into Nora scaring them off.

As the Atlesian Rich boys bolt away before Nora could lay the smack down on them with all the might in her thunder thighs, Ren tries to speak to Nora again but she sadly snaps at him. 

Let’s say, Nora was so upset with Ren at the moment that she didn’t even want to talk, much less look at him at him. 

Maybe Nora even mentions that she and Ren should break up for good. But before Ren could recover from the shock of that; perhaps a bell is rung signifying that pre-dinner mingling portion of the party was finished and now it was time for the main part of the night: the dinner.

So all the guests pool out of the main hall and into the dining area. Ren tries to speak to Nora again but for another time, she ignores him, still very much upset. She even goes to sit next to someone else at the table, maybe next to Jaune on the opposite side of the table or one of the RWBY girls. 

That’s my hunch for now. As per usual, these are only thoughts and ideas. Nonetheless, I do think it would be pretty cool if we got something like this done for Ren and Nora’s side of thing for the next episode.. But who knows? I could be all wrong my theories. I guess we’ll only know once the new episode drops on us this Saturday.

More Squiggles’ RWBY Musings

~LittleMissSquiggles (2019)

#rwby #lie ren #nora valkyrie #oscar pine #rwby volume 7 theories #rwby theories #rwby volume 7 spoilers #rwby musings #rwby renora #ren and nora

[blackhakumen]

Fanfic #7: A Halo Friendship (Bonus Chapter 1) JNR's Nightly Conversation

After a somewhat inspiring speech from their closet friend, Ruby Rose, and a pretty well done meal prepared by their new friend, Oscar Pine, the gang decided now it would be a good time to call it a day and get some good night sleep before tomorrow.

The Arcs' household has only three separate guest rooms for the gang to sleep at. One's for Team RWBY, Another one's for JNR Trio, and the last one's for Oscar. Qrow, on the other hand, decided it would be best to crash on the couch, while Maria decided to walk out to the backyard to get some fresh air....for some reason.

While Ren and Nora were sitting on two sides of the bed, having their usual conversation, their 'fearless' leader was looking up in the ceiling, already lost in his thoughts. There was only two things that were on Jaune's mind right now. The first one was hoping and praying that his plan to get to Altas would actually work and the other being Oscar himself. Out of the two, he would say that Oscar is the one he worries about the most. While he's really glad that the farm boy had accepted his apology, part of him still wondering if the leader actually deserve that apology or not. Jaune still remembered how he'd pinned the poor kid to the wall and even went as far as to question his worth to the team. He also remembered Oscar's words towards him and everyone in the room. About how they treated him like a liability, a monster, and how he is just a victim as everyone else in the group. It's no secret that everyone (Jaune especially) pretty much deserved every single word the farm boy gave to them after their poor treatment to him earlier. And while Jaune is still upset at Ozpin for multiple reasons, that still didn't gave him the right to treat Oscar that way.

His thoughts, however, were immediately vanished when two of his best friends and teammates worryingly took notice of their leader's dilemma.

Nora: Is everything okay there, Jaune?

Jaune: Oh um...yeah. Sorry about that. I was just thinking is all...

Ren: Are you still thinking about the plan for tomorrow?

Jaune: Well there's that...but there's also.... something else...

Nora: Not really sure if I would be right on this or not, but...is the other thing your thinking about was Oscar?

Jaune: (Slowly Nodded) 'sigh' I know that he already forgave us and all....but... I don't know if I even deserved to forgiven or not? Not after everything I did...

Nora: Jaune...we talked about this....

Jaune: I know I know. I shouldn't put this much pressure on myself and all...but I still feel terrible about what I did back there. I punched my sister's wall, then I pinned that poor kid to that wall, and to top it all of, I even had the nerve to questioned him like that even after everything he done for us so far....'sigh heavily' I'm honestly starting to wonder if we even deserve someone like him or not....

Ren: 'takes some deep breaths' Listen, Jaune, I know I already told you this before, but I meant it when I said that you need to stop blaming yourself like this. It's not healthy for your physical or even your mental state. Now while I do understand that you were completely out of hand back there, you need to realize that even after everything you did and every word you said to him, Oscar still forgave you...he forgave all of us as well...

Nora: Renny's right, Jaune. Even after standing up against us, he still gave us another chance in our friendship. SO instead of just feeling sorry for ourselves, we need to do whatever we can to be the best friends that boy ever have and make sure that we'll never treat him that poorly ever again! Don't you agree, our 'Fearless' Leader?

Jaune: Yeah......y-you guys are right! We shouldn't feel sorry for ourselves like this! Especially not when we're all given a another chance to make things right!

Nora: (Smiles Brightly) Exactly!! That's the leader we know and love!!!~ So are you done feeling sorry for yourself?

Jaune: Well (laughs lightly) not entirely...but I'm going to do whatever it take keep moving forward. It's what Pyrrha would've wanted for us after all.

Ren: That's right. And we here for you every step of the way.

Nora: Amen to that, Renny!~ And don't worry, Jaune, we're not gonna leave you anytime soon.

Jaune: Ren...Nora...I....(Pulls both Ren and Nora in for a group hug) Thank you. Thank you guys so much...

Ren: There there, Jaune. It's okay.

Nora: Yeah. It's gonna be okay, Jaune-Jaune~ And while we on the topic of Oscar....(comically in fake tears) I am so glad that our precious baby boy has came back to us, safe and sound!!~

Ren: (Groans) Nora, we've been over this. Oscar is not our son.......(smiles softly) but regardless, I'm really glad he's came back too. I honestly don't know what I do if anything happened to him.

Jaune: Yeah me too......(Thought up an idea) Okay, you guys, once we actually get to Atlas, let's make sure that we give that farm boy the love, the appreciation, and care he needs! (Cause, lord knows he needs one now...)

Nora: Aye aye, captain!!~

Ren: I like that the sound of that.

And with that, the JNR trio finally have a good night's rest. Deep down, Jaune was really glad that him and his team had this talk. Now he has to hope and pray that his plan would actually go well tomorrow morning.

#rwby #rwby volume 6 #jaune arc #nora valkyrie #lie ren #oscar pine (mentioned) #pyrrha nikos (mentioned) #team rwby (mentioned) #qrow branwen (mentioned) #a halo friendship #bonus chapter #takes place during the third chapter #fluff #a little bit of angst #have to edited it again to make it perfect. sorry about that #nora is lowkey best mom #fanfic

[kob131]

https://queenypie.tumblr.com/post/180408886658/rwby-and-how-it-treats-its-women#notes

Oh goody, trying to point out ‘problematic’ material.

I’ll get this out right now: older women are treated the absolute worst by this show; they’re treated worse than black people, worse than LGB characters, and worse than the younger women.

The ways in which women are treated can be divided into three categories: dead, evil/terrible person, or brushed aside. Dead obviously describes Summer, the one potentially kind mother in this show. The second group is what Willow and Raven fall into. The last category is for Glynda, and Kali.

A. Willow is not shown to be a terrible person. Fuck, she’s played more as a victim than anyone else. meanwhile her male counterpart Jacques is treated as WORSE than the Hitler-esque character.

B. Raven is a terrible person but her gender has nothing to do with who she is as a person. 

C. Kali is most certainly NOT brushed off since she’s constantly acting as a second Sun.

D. Glynda’s is the result OF problematic shit with her VA.

And E:

Dead: Ozpin

Evil/Terrible person: Jacques, Adam, Tyrian, Watts, Fennec, Corsac

Brushed off: Taiyang, Klein

Looks like the women are doing better than the men here.

In Glynda’s case, she is given one major action scene in the very first episode of the show before being relegated to Ozpin’s maid. Either she fixes the streets, she fixes the school, or she fixes Qrow’s or someone else’s mess. 

Because Kathleen said some super sexist shit but nope, not gonna mention that.

Then there’s Kali Belladona, who gets to lucky shot someone with one of her guard’s guns before dropping furniture on another guy; meanwhile, her husband gets to knock people around.

Kali Win Record: 3-0

Ghira Win record: 0-0

So when’s the post about Ghira getting shafted.

Then we have Willow Schnee, who isn’t so much a character as she is still just an abstract concept. We know more about her from lore and exposition than actually seeing her in action. We also have the other horrible mother Raven, who is the only woman -besides Glynda- who gets to do anything action oriented.

A. We also only know that about her father, Nicolas. So...

And B. Again, Raven’s gender has nothing to do with who she is as a person. She’s also treated with more sympathy and more attention than Jacques so it STILL doesn’t work. Fuck at least Raven has an impact on the plot, UNLIKE Taiyang.

Being a bad parent or being passive isn’t objectively a bad thing, however I just listed every major older woman in this series to date. I could talk about Salem, but she would just fit into the evil category. 

Except, you know, not by anything but circumstances she couldn’t have seen coming.

By contrast, older men can be good (Ozpin?, Port, Oobleck, Qrow, Tai, etc.), fatherly (Tai, Klein), complicated (Ozpin, Qrow), Evil (Watts, Hazel), Assholes (Jacques); While women can be categorized in 3 groups, men run the gambit, and that’s not okay.

Dead, brushed off, brushed off, relevant, brushed off, brused off, evil evil and evil.

Also, you rejected Kali but accept Taiyang and Klein, both of whom have contributed LESS to the show than Kali. So nice try,

Looks like the guys actually have the shaft.

Also, wanna know what this also sounds like? Sailor Moon, better go call THAT Author problematic!

Then we turn our attention to the main generation, rwby, nora, Pyrrha, and many others. Pyrrha has the obvious problem of her entire character revolving around Jaune, while Nora only -but still glaringly- has the problem of her backstory being 90% focused on Ren. Weiss has the whole dance arc in volume 2, which relegates her to a trophy for Jaune to fight Neptune over.

Okay, let’s go through this shall we?

A. Ruby has shown more mourning and development over Pyrrha than Jaune.

B. Nora is an active character while Ren does nothing 90% of the time and is often times needed to be bailed out by Nora *cough* Nucklevee Hazel *cough*’

C. She also had most of Volume 4 to herself. So....

D. Weiss also got to demand Neptune be beaten up for flirting with another team but god forbid Jaune ask her out 3 times.

And then volume 4 hits: Ruby gets her character develop stolen by Jaune,

Right up until Episode 10 where Ruby takes Jaune’s character and keeps it under lock until an ENTIRE VOLUME LATER and even then the guy’s actions amount to jack and shit.

Weiss has to be rescued by her butler from her evil dad

Said butler’s entire character revolves around Weiss.

Blake runs to see her father and Sun

Both of whom are treated as inept and useless while her mother is the only one shown to know what to do.

and Yang has to be talked down to by her dad

Where she insults him and no one bats an eye at him. Also: HIS entire character revolves around Yang.

So 0-4, you failed.

When one or two of these things occur, it’s not a problem (minus the Jaune bit); when it becomes a pattern, you messed up.

And yet when it becomes a COMPLETE pattern with men, no one cares.

Where are the adult female role models? 

Dunno, where are they in Sailor Moon?

Oh right, the only one who isn’t evil/a bitch (Kali) gets to talk to Blake personally for one minute and it’s only to say that her father wants her.

All while giving an air of ‘I know what is best for both of you’ while Ghira is portrayed as a completely awkward idiot who can’t talk to his own daughter.

Volume 5 at least has the decency to give the female leads agency again, but Raven is suddenly treated like an obstacle instead of Yang’s goal, while Weiss is nearly killed so that Jaune can unlock his semblance.

A. An obstacle that takes up the majority of the screentime sure.

B. Jaune then proceeds to heal her and do nothing after removing the one impact he had on the battle.

And C. Ren is thrown against a wall and needs bailing out by Nora, Adam gets one shotted by Blake, Mercury is treated as a prop while Emerald gets some actual characterization, Jaune does NOTHING, Sun accomplishes nothing, Leonardo is treated as a joke unlike Raven, Qrow gets tossed around like a ragdoll and Ozpin/Oscar do basically nothing.

And yet no talk about this.

Volume 6 has, to date, given us a topless genie for no real reason other than sex appeal, and Salem’s backstory, where she only became active when a man entered her life and became evil because that man died.

A. So...Salem is Jaune and Ozma is Pyrrha then?

B. Salem is also the only proactive one between the two, she manipulated multiple world leaders BEFORE becoming immortal, she cheated the MALE gods, she’s the one portrayed as in control of the relationship with Ozma and she is the one who actually has agency.

And C. And yet examples of male fanservice (like Ironwood losing his shirt)go unnoticed.

And finally, the bit that has been said many times: when a female in this show acts out, does something compulsive and rash, they’re punished for it. Yang flying at Adam to protect Blake and Winter attacking Qrow for egging her on; both are reprimanded after. Jaune losing his temper and attacking Cinder? Obviously a hero, because despite Weiss nearly dying, he healed her and unlocked his semblance, so that makes it okay in the writer’s eyes.

A. Qrow is also reprimanded (in fact, MORE SO than Winter)

B. Jaune proceeds to remove HIS OWN AGENCY and do nothing the whole fight.

C. He utterly fails to do anything to Cinder, gets saved by Ruby and gets insulted for his actions while being portrayed as helpless. Yeah, real great hero.

For a show that wants to focus on four young women, it has an awfully tough time treating women as equally unique as the men. Older women in this show are either good because they’re passive and obedient (Glynda/Kali/Winter) or active and evil/rebellious (Raven/Salem/Cinder/etc.). Younger women must be taught by fathers or male friends on how to act. While that’s not what the writers intended, it’s what the show comes across as saying.

Except Winter rebelled against her father

Kali messes around with everyone and is treated as the more level headed of the two.

And Glynda’s temper is glossed over while Ironwoods paranoia and Qrow’s alcoholism is over looked.

Raven gets sympathetic moments.

Salem is THE most proactive person in the show 

And Cinder is the longest running antagonist.

Now let’s go through the male characters shall we?

Torchwick: Repeatedly humiliated and defeated by four students constantly with only his FEMALE minion making him threatening: Gets killed off with no fanfare.

Port+Oobleck: Irrelevant

Ozpin: Is used for the development of Salem, is the toy of the gods and cannot do anything to stop Salem.

Jaune: Loses all agency and becomes a background character to the point his only development in Volume 5 is basically the writers (mostly Miles) telling him to shut up and look pretty.

Ren: Hasn’t won a fight since Volume 1, needed to be bailed out by Nora from both the Nucklevee and Hazel, barely says a damn thing and is overlooked for Nora most of the time.

Cardin: Asshole bully with no redeemable features (unlike Weiss)

Mercury: Is ignored by the narrative for Emerald all the time and said about two lines in Volume 5. Is also shown to be less moral and more evil than Emerald

Taiyang, Klein and Ghira: have no characters outside of being father figures to their respective daughters. Unlike Raven and Kali.

Jacques: Is treated as Snowy Satan to make Weiss, Winter and Willow look good.

Nicolas: Is only shown in a WOR to set up Willow, Winter and Weiss’ conflict.

Whitely: Is treated with contempt and derision by the narrative despite being in the same situation as Weiss.

Adam: Is no more than an abusive ex and evil racist to make Blake look better. Unlike Illa and Sienna.

Tyrian: Utterly insane, gets humiliated by Ruby.

Watts: gets pushed aside by Cinder

Hazel: Entire character revolves around dead sister.

Need I go on?

From where I stand: Male characters either have no personality outside of female characters (Taiyang, Klein, Ghira, Whitely, Nicolas), treated with far less care than their female counterparts (Torchwick, Adam, Whitely, Jacques, Mercury), have no character (Cardin), are just evil with far less sympathy than their female counterparts (Tyrian, Watts, Adam and Mercury), have their agency taken from them (Ren and Jaune), aren’t proactive (Ozpin, Port, Oobleck) and more.

But hey, can’t stab the creators over problematic shit with guys. Or showcase the guys issues since it would destroy your argument.

#queenypie

[kalico-to-the-letter]

REVIEW: RWBY – Vol. 5, Ch. 6: “KNOWN BY ITS SONG”

Say it with me now:

Welcome to my review of the 6th Chapter of the 5th Volume, entitled, “Known by its Song”. This week gave us: Clearing names, the worst-kept secrets, and cooking for a bunch of people.

You already know at this point – I be hitting you with spoilers, being like:

In “Known by its Song”, RWBY shows us that it knows what it’s doing with these big moments. And that’s it’s not too bad at the other stuff either.

I’m being facetious; this episode really is an example of RWBY‘s storytelling abilities working at their optimum, and in my opinion, this is the best episode of the season so far. 

It is efficient and effective; all the storylines featured were advanced significantly. It is revelatory and moving.

Some of you may think differently – that a RWBY episode without a fight scene cannot be the best. I would argue that RWBY hasn’t been big on fight scenes ever since the end of Volume 3. Nowadays, it saves them for when they can make a point, rather than just having them at every given opportunity. Therefore, as the show has leant far heavier on its writing, I feel that it should be judged foremost on the strength of said writing. It just so happens that the writing in this episode is pretty damn great from top to bottom.

A poignant opening sequence with Qrow sets the tone. He’s looking for Hunters to help his team, to no avail. There is a really subtle tone switch that happens early in this sequence, that I found nice. It starts off kinda humorous, with Qrow in a bar, asking about a guy we haven’t heard of. When he says that he’s friends with the guy, the barkeep harangues him for the guy’s substantial debts. Qrow backs out and goes looking for more names, groaning in despair when nothing can be done. Initially, it feels like because we still don’t really know what’s going on, it’s easy to watch him and read the sequence as a bit of humour. But it keeps going, and that feeling goes away. When he inquires about the services of one woman, it becomes quickly apparent that the woman is missing, and that’s when the scene clicks and it becomes something different. Something sobering.

Because it’s not at the forefront of every episode, the overarching and constant turmoil of the kingdoms is something that we can be excused for forgetting. But here, as Qrow is crossing off the names of Hunters who have gone missing in action, we are reminded of the cost, and just how Salem is currently winning the war. Qrow is stuck in a situation where he has the time (that he didn’t want) to find reinforcements, but those reinforcements don’t exist. It feels desperate for him and the RNJR mission in general. To see Weiss and Yang come through that portal must have felt like an absolute godsend for him – its also a very worthy payoff going from one end of the episode to the other, like a mini-story of despair to hope.

It further underpins the strong logic of the episode’s progression. When Raven offers Yang the choice – stay with her, start fresh and learn what Raven knows, or go and seek the answers from Qrow – I was compelled. I’ve said before that I would have been happy with Yang’s decision, whether she stayed with Raven or left, and I had that in mind when watching the scene. And my heart soared when Yang gave the perfect comeback: “All I care about is making sure my sister is safe.”

Bruh. I cannot understate the brilliance of that. Here is Raven, presenting Yang with all manner of concerns, trying to plant doubt in her mind about Qrow and Ozpin, and of course Yang is bugged about it. Weiss is too. But in her mind, it’s “Forget Qrow, forget Salem, forget Ozpin. Don’t worry about all that – get me to Ruby.”

It’s just sticking true to the character. And I’m not just giving the show props for something that any storyteller should do, because let’s be honest, I could have made a similar argument if Yang had stayed – her mother has been a fixture in her consciousness for some time now, and it would have made just as much sense to keep her in the camp and go off on a new subplot. But we’ve also learned that when it comes to down to it, Ruby means everything to Yang. She may come to regret turning Raven down, but that’s why we make these decisions as writers, because of the possibilities that can grow out of them.

I’ll say comfortably that this reunion didn’t carry the same weight as the one between Weiss and Yang. It wasn’t better or worse, just something different. Weiss and Yang’s reunion felt like long-lost lovers (excuse me for that language), something rendered almost magical in quality by the technical direction and writing. 

It would have been a mistake to try and replicate that, and they didn’t. They had this one in the living room of RJNR’s pad, with Qrow, Oscar/Ozpin, Jaune, Nora, and Ren all in the background. The final shot was of Weiss, Ruby, and Yang sharing an embrace, with everyone else looking on. This was more like family – and it helps that Yang and Ruby are actual family. It’s touching in its own way; Ruby is immediately sorrowful that she left Yang at home, that she should have stayed and been with her during Yang’s rehab. And of course Yang just rubbishes that; tearful hug ensues.

And cue Weiss standing off to the side, looking somewhat sad and awkward. It’s like she’s nervous to be around Ruby again. Just watch her reaction when Ruby invites her into the embrace. Lord. She didn’t even have to say anything in the reunion scene, and she was still amazing.

Once again, this is a show which has become so proficient at tapping into its fabric to make these moments feel so special. The fact that it can deliver the two reunions it has in such different ways – while still delivering on the emotion that they demand – stands as an example of that.

I imagine there will be questions about Blake. I have my own, because there has to be a reason why it’s taking so long for her to get out of Menagerie, when the rest of her friends are already reunited. What would that reunion even look like? Keeping in mind that her family is in danger, what context would a reunion even take place under?

Not to mention that there now has to be a conversation about just what Yang and Weiss were doing coming through one of Raven’s portals and by extension from Raven herself. Qrow has to reconcile that Yang and Weiss have already come from the place that RJNR is aiming to go. 

I don’t like to speculate, but it’s easy to see RJNR arriving too late and coming across a camp destroyed by Cinder and abandoned. I’ll just let you mull on those implications.

Additional observations:

- Before you say that the reunions would have been good no matter how they were delivered, let me say that nothing is foolproof, and just as there were so many ways to make them great, it also would have been very easy to botch them as well.

- Much of what makes this the best of the current six episodes is contextual. Two others have A- grades in my reviews – the second and the fourth. The fourth was hurt by its proximity to a Menagerie angle, which, at the time, was bad. The second is close, but this one here edges it by being a cleaner package overall, and the connection that we have to Ruby, Weiss, and Yang is a stronger one than our connection to the antagonists.

- What keeps this episode from being perfect is that we’ve been due for more antagonist focused-scenes. I would prefer to see Salem and Cinder’s movements coming, because I would rather have suspense and foreshadowing over surprise and shock. And of course because we need Menagerie to keep moving, rather than being on this biweekly thing that almost every storyline is on. The show needs Blake to get out of there, which means that the storyline needs to hit its climaxes soon.

- Always look for the little things. The way the barkeep realises what Qrow is saying when he offers to pay off the missing Hunter’s debt is sad. You can see his frustration, his angry lament that even though this guy who owed him a bunch of money won’t be coming back to pay it off, he also won’t be coming back at all.

- Weiss was appropriately quiet in the Raven scenes. But that eyeroll she tosses at Raven just before she rides off with Yang is priceless.

- Think about this. Weiss jumped all over Yang in their reunion. With Ruby, she felt anxious, almost like she wasn’t sure how to act in front of her. She just looked so grateful when Ruby called out to her. This is another reason why all the reunions can’t be the same, because of the relationships in play. Now I want to see how Weiss reacts to seeing Blake, although I imagine Yang will be the focus of that particular reunion. It doesn’t take away from the fact that Weiss has been the absolute gem of this season.

Grade: A

Final thoughts: “Known by its Song” is an example of RWBY at its best. All the featured storylines are advanced in an episode which is somehow concise yet full of emotion – both underlying and explicit. The writing is fantastic, with performances to match. If only we could get more of the antagonists or of Blake’s storyline for variation’s sake, but I suppose that’s neither here nor there. The reunion is as great as you would have predicted – it’s just part of an episode where, simply, everything shines. – Kallie

#rwby spoilers #rwby reviews #rwby5 #rwby volume 5 #rwby

[itsclydebitches]

RWBY Recaps: Volume 8 “Amity”

Welcome back, everyone! I hated this episode.

As in, I’m nominating “Amity” for the Most Stupid Episode of RWBY award. Was there some cool action? Yes. Good Penny development? Mm hmm. Some surprise cameos in the Maya Engine? You know it. Was all of it almost entirely undermined by the sheer number of times I went, “Wait, what?” over the course of twenty minutes?

Sadly, yes.

But let’s start at the beginning.

We get a gorgeous opening shot of Amity Tower and, aesthetics aside, my first thought was, “There’s no one around to protect it?” I mean, this was Ironwood’s super secret project. Watts just tried to sabotage it a few hours ago. Prior to the reveal that Amity wasn’t finished (cough), Team RWBY was trying to convince Ironwood to give calling others a chance, but you’re telling me after all that there’s not a single guard there? Pietro, Maria, and Penny just waltzed up without any problems? The only reason it might be abandoned—yes, even with a grimm attack looming—is if it was useless. Because remember, it was supposed to be useless. Unfinished. Not worth protecting in its current state because its current state is non-operational. That would have explained why Ironwood would leave it undefended, yet as we’ve known since the premiere, Amity was apparently finished by magic at some point, leaving the question of why it’s unguarded (or why Ironwood wouldn’t want to use it himself for something) up in the air. Pun not intended. 

So these three have free rein to do whatever they want and what they want to do is, apparently, blow up the dust mine. Love that we spent an entire volume worrying about dwindling resources! I’d find the sacrifice justifiable under the circumstances if this Amity plan weren’t so foolish. Also, I’m not going to pretend that I know anything about explosives and whether providing that kind of “thrust” would actually work, but in this case I think RWBY’s sci-fi/fantasy status gives it a pass.

Penny, however, isn’t so sure. “Dad? This… does not seem like a very good idea.” Yeah. Pietro gives a short speech about good ideas not necessarily being best ideas, which would have been a great perspective to adopt for the series’ massive Ironwood arc, not a three minute solution to a problem I didn’t even know existed until now.

Pietro also weirdly teleports during this scene? He’s talking to Penny outside of the tower, tinkering with things, and then the next sentence he’s suddenly deep inside it. I mean, based on the dialogue this sentence could have come later, but it doesn’t read that way given that they were just chatting. It feels like a continuous conversation. He was outside one second, now he’s not. 

During all this Maria is doing… something with a mech. That she got from who knows where. I really don’t know what the point of this was besides a very brief airship fight, but I’m just happy Maria is doing something. In fact, she’ll do far more later in the episode—we’ll get to that—so congratulations, RWBY, we can officially ignore half of your Maria square on the bingo card. Keep her alive for the next nine episodes and you’re golden. 

Our trio has the message ready to go which they recorded… when? Sometime before everyone split based on the fact that Ruby is standing in the Happy Huntress’ hideout. This episode throws out a LOT of information that seems to come out of nowhere and doesn’t hold up well in terms of timing. Or, you know, general sense. Take, for example, the next exchange between Penny and Pietro. She wants to stay here in case no one is able to come help Atlas and Pietro panics about her staying with them, heavily implying that they’re leaving leaving. Once they go up they can’t come back down because otherwise… why not just send out the message, land, and then Penny goes off again to help? Later in the episode landing seems inevitable and then it seems planned for—what, are Pietro and Maria just going to hang up there forever? So what’s the conflict here?

Specifically, what’s the conflict for Penny? Amity should just be a quick side mission she completes before heading back into battle. Why does she care about doing what’s essentially an errand while Ruby nurses Nora back to health? She’s not missing anything. I’m having a hard time understanding why she’s acting like getting the message out means she’s removed from the fight indefinitely. Pietro, however, makes a little more sense if we read it simply as him not wanting Penny to be involved in the fight, period. As we see later, he fears for her safety and will do everything he can to keep her here with him, safe: “I’m your father. I’m telling you, you belong on Amity.”

Penny gives a sad “Yes, sir” and Maria chides Pietro with, “Don’t you think Penny has had enough people telling her what to do?”

Oh boy. There’s so much wrong with this line. The general demonization of ever following orders, even when those orders are sound. The comparison between Ironwood’s new villainy/his “bootlickers” (“Yes, sir”) and a father’s justifiable fear. Ignoring that Ruby has also been giving orders and no one is reminding her that Penny is an autonomous person capable of deciding things for herself. Where was this sort of chiding when she took away Penny’s scroll and spoke for her to Ironwood?

So Penny, of course, flies up and I guess provides them with the launch sequence or something? She sort of perks up and makes tech noises, then the tower is ready to go. Just like that. 

Pietro makes a joke about not having time to install seatbelts.

Funny, shouldn’t there be safety measures for the people operating the tower? If the tower was finished and ready to go? 🙃

Everything is going to plan until Cinder shows up, melting a giant hole while Neo pilots the airship through it. So she came! Too bad she’s not going to achieve anything. Despite the stowaways, the bomb Penny left goes off and the dust mine explodes in a massive cloud of color, sending Amity up into the sky. This pops up on Ironwood’s feed and he gives an ominous “It’s time.”

For the first minute or so no one can move due to the pressure and Cinder takes the time to taunt Penny some, saying she expected her friends to be here and, since they’re not, she’s just “a tool to be used.” While she lashes verbally she also summons a massive number of swords. When they’re able to fight Penny is briefly overwhelmed…

…Until Maria comes to her aid!

“Get away from her, you bitch!”

That was great. If anyone other than Tyrian was going to curse, you know it had to be our snarky grandma. So I’m cheering, watching Maria make use of her (acquired off screen) tech to help, despite the fact that she’s too old to fight anymore and—

Wait.

Okay, here’s my problem with this battle. First of all, Cinder’s group should have decimated them. This is an experienced Maiden (see: Raven fight) with a grimm arm vs. a girl who only got the powers a few hours ago. I know a few weeks back I mentioned how insanely powerful Penny is in theory, but that was before she was nearly taken out by the Ace Ops. You know, the group who was all knocked unconscious by a bunch of half-trained, exhausted teenagers. So the comparisons here don’t make Penny look too good. More importantly—because Cinder doesn’t have a great track record anymore either—she’s backed by ‘I was kicking a Maiden’s ass before she whipped out her magic’ Neo and ‘I can make anyone see anything and I just mentioned last episode that I’ve been working on this semblance’ Emerald. They are a power team. Who is Penny backed by? A non-combat scientist and a woman who stopped fighting years ago.

Right?

I have no problem with Maria being powerful. In fact, after her Grimm Reaper reveal I had hoped we’d see her fight, both to give the group a power to aspire to—here’s what a fully trained huntress with experience looks like. This is what our personal inspiration and a huntress beloved by the world looks like—and to have an older fighter providing diversity. Sure, there’s Ozpin, but he reincarnates into young bodies. Maria is a Mexican coded, disabled, old as balls fighter and that’s AWESOME. Problem is… she never fought. She hobbles around with her cane, using it in a way Ozpin never used his, implying that she really needs it. She’s not spry anymore. Every time there’s a battle she’s in an airship or other tech, providing help through the use of an assistive device. She never offers to train anyone. We never see her accompanying a group—like JNOR—to provide extra protection. During the grimm attack Maria exchanges a fearful look with Pietro and then presumably hides in his shop off screen. Why has the story been ignoring Maria when she can fight like this? How can she fight like this when we haven’t seen her throw so much as a punch since we met her? 

I mean, this is Neo! Neo. One of the most powerful, non-Maiden fighters we’ve seen to date. She took out Jaune, Nora, Ren, and Oscar without breaking a sweat, but a few minutes with Maria has her collapsed on the ground?

Something is very wrong with this fight. Either the writing nerfed Neo to allow Maria to win, or the writing has been pushing one of the most powerful characters off screen, relegating her to comic relief. Maria should be insanely powerful given her Grimm Reaper status. I had come to accept that she was powerful and, like people in real life, simply lost that with age. Now, the story suddenly reveals that this was never the case.

During all this Emerald helps Neo one (1) time, despite presumably standing there watching the entire fight. Before it begins Neo randomly decides to turn into Ruby, but then has dropped the illusion by the time we return. Maria is laughing like a loon for the first half of the battle. The only reason she (briefly) looses is because she gets distracted. Then Penny K.O.’s Neo’s aura with a single blast.

See, this is why I rarely enjoy the fights anymore. Beyond that fact that I thought some of it was rather lackluster compared to our Penny vs. Ace Ops fight, it just doesn’t make sense. There’s moment after moment that has me scratching my head and if you’re going, “Huh?” at the screen the whole time, it’s pretty hard to get immersed in the story.

During all this they reach the necessary altitude to broadcast, but it won’t go through because of a “stabilizer fail.” You mean the giant hole that Cinder blew in the side of the tower? 

Never mind that everyone except Penny should be dead by now. How are they breathing up there? It’s like if someone blew a hole in your airplane and everyone just went about their tasks as usual. 

You’ve gotta input the code, Penny.

I joke, but Pietro does start desperately typing. I guess because stabilizers might be fixed with a code or something? Anything is possible in this show.

It’s the Penny vs. Cinder fight that I’m bored with though. At least before Cinder manages to nearly the powers. I think part of it is because we already got this fight last volume, partly because they don’t do much that we haven’t seen from them both before: Penny flies around a lot, Cinder tosses variously summoned weapons, etc. Details I did appreciate though were the return of Cinder’s arrows and the fact that she didn’t let Penny lead her from Amity for long. Look at our villain making a smart decision!! Love that.

Cinder starts destroying the tower instead and Penny asks why she’d want to serve Salem. “I don’t serve anyone and you wouldn’t either if you weren’t built that way!” Penny looks sadly down at Pietro and for one horrible moment I thought the story would actually have her buy into that nonsense, but then Penny rallies and announces that she chooses when to fight because she wants to protect those she loves.

Penny has some really great moments here. What’s less great is the setup for them. I mean… why is Pietro in danger? Penny is clearly trying to keep the top portion of the tower from collapsing after Cinder’s attack, but you’re telling me the tech-obsessed scientist hasn’t put flight capabilities into his chair? That’s not how he got way up high on the outside of the tower, it was just a random hatch or something? When every piece of tech in RWBY serves triple-duty, the Atlas tech mastermind hasn’t included the one thing in his massive chair that would save him here? It’s all very… “Really?” Especially when Cinder is smart enough to realize that Penny cares about the tower, but not realize she cares more about her dad. Just grab Pietro and threaten him, demanding that Penny stand down so Cinder can grab the powers. Penny, horrified by her father’s potential death (and ambivalent about having this responsibility in the first place) lets her. Something other than this weird setup of destroying the platform itself. 

Penny’s scream though is fantastic. Kudos to Taylor for that moment. So yeah, Cinder starts taking the power—did she get a bit then, like with Amber?—before Penny rallies and knocks her off. From then on Cinder doesn’t stand a chance. Emerald reappears to provide assistance in the form of an illusion, except that Penny’s tech allows her to see through it with ease. The real Cinder is marked with ‘Danger’ and Penny takes her out easily once Cinder doesn’t think she needs to dodge anymore.

I should be feeling something considering that Penny just won a battle against the woman who orchestrated her murder volumes back, in the exact same place where she died… but I’m not. Penny’s resurrection was shrugged off. Amity was used for joke license parties. I’m endlessly confused about what message RT is aiming for in regards to Penny’s autonomy (a real girl, but hackable) and this fight has been a collection of power ups, power downs, or skills just conveniently not working. What improvements has Emerald made to her semblance? This is everything we’ve seen from her before. When did we establish that Penny’s android nature makes her immune to techniques of this nature? I don’t mind that she is immune—in fact, it’s a cool skill to give her—I just wish this sort of stuff didn’t suddenly appear in the story only when the plot most needs it to. Or, to be more charitable, it would be a cool reveal if the rest of the fight held up better. I don’t mind a, “Hell yeah, Penny had the trump card she needed to win!” if the whole scene wasn’t Team Cinder being oddly weak the whole time. The most they manage to do is escape via Emerald threatening to fill the tower with holes from her gun… after the tower has had a hole blown through it, shot with flaming arrows, and had two of the beams keeping it in place melted. The most Cinder accomplishes here is unintentionally putting Penny in a position where she falls when she’s hacked. That’s it.

The villains should have won. Not just because of the team dynamics making victory a very likely outcome, but because allowing the group to successfully get their message out was one of the worst things RWBY has done to date. 

Gimme just a moment to get there. 

Amity is drifting back down, out of the range they need to send the broadcast, so Penny offers to “hold Amity in place” until the message is done. Pietro freaks out… why? He starts to say “Even just the temperature out there—” implying that the cold and altitude can kill Penny, except she fought Cinder outside no problem. Literally minutes ago. Hell, Cinder was fine outside and she’s not an android. 

There’s that massive hole letting the atmosphere in too. I’m so confused by these conflicts that randomly appear and, as such, I can’t take the emotion attached to them seriously. How can I be invested in Pietro’s worry about this killing Penny and Penny offering to sacrifice herself when I don’t understand why it’s dangerous to begin with? 

And it is treated like a sacrifice. Penny tells him that she’s trying to “live her life,” kisses Pietro as a sort of goodbye, and spends a few moments enjoying the beauty of the night sky. 

She’s acting like she’s about to die and yet none of this comes across as particularly dangerous. Indeed, Penny pushes Amity for as long as Ruby’s message needs her to and then, presumably, would have come back inside, a-okay, if she hadn’t been hacked. This is like that Parks and Rec moment:

Except it’s treated seriously. Penny is doing something mundane based on what we’ve seen her do before and the fact that this cold/pressure isn’t negatively impacting anyone else who experiences it, let alone the android. So why is the story trying to convince me that this is a death sentence?

Combine this with Penny’s origins: she was built to “save the world.” That’s why Pietro created her, to fight these exact sort of battles. So why is he so resistant to her doing just that? I’m not saying he can’t change his mind and grow to love her as more than a tool—in fact, their relationship is one of the few things I’m enjoying about this volume—I just wish we’d seen how that came about. When did Pietro move from building Ironwood a weapon to having a daughter? Back in Volume 3 he was on Ironwood’s side about Penny not having friends or going out because it was too dangerous for someone like her. She has secrets to maintain and responsibilities to prep for because she was, first and foremost, created for a specific task. We get an inkling through is admission that he can’t bear to see her die again that Penny’s first destruction really changed his view of her, but all of that happened off screen. We had a whole volume with Pietro prior to this where we might have watched him struggle with his new understanding of Penny as his child, rather than dumping this on us literal seconds before she engages in this non-sacrifice. We know almost nothing about Pietro except what tiny scraps we’ve been told, so dramatic lines like, “I don’t care about the big picture, I care about my daughter!”—while wonderful—appear to come out of nowhere in regards to his development. It’s jarring. Early RWBY presented Pietro as a morally ambiguous scientist aligned with Ironwood, then he suddenly became a scientist who loved his creation in Volume 7, the scientist who betrayed Ironwood, then Volume 8 has Penny dropping “Dad” left and right and Pietro willing to throw away helping a kingdom for her sake. When did all these changes happen? Where’s the progression?

Also, I hope people understand that this is why the world needs someone like Ironwood. Is it heartwarming that Pietro wants to ditch their plan at the last second for the sake of his daughter? Hell yeah. Is that good for the millions of other people who would like their own family members to survive this war too? Nope. “I don’t care about the big picture,” while human and great characterization, is dangerous when the rest of the world depends on you. Whoever runs this show doesn’t have the luxury of saving their preferred, individual life at the expense of everyone else.

So Penny goes out and gets Amity high enough for Ruby’s recording to start, complete with her acting funny-awkward for the first few seconds.

The cameos we get throughout this? Excellent. The speech itself? Rather horrifying. So the good: we get glimpses of everyone else in this show that the story has essentially left behind. Saphron, Terra, and Whitley start things off. 

(Interesting that Whitely went to his father’s office rather than his room...) 

Sun and Neptune (even though that “Dude” again messes with tone).

Ilia getting a call from Ghira.

The group sitting with a recovering Nora while Ruby watches her own words with the most ridiculous expression.

Tai, desperate not to lose the one link to his daughters he’s seen in years. (Side note: I’m not interested in any of the Tai hate. He’s still at home because the writers don’t know what to do with him and because Ruby literally ran away. Are people made at Ghira and Kali for not running after their daughter too? No, because they’re minor characters that the story needed to sideline.)

Tyrian, sitting beside a very pleased looking Salem... 

(Love that she’s petting him.)

Even the shop dude!

Oh yeah, and MOTHERFUCKING GLYNDA.

I’m thrilled to see her. In the sense that I love getting her in the new engine, but I’m salty that she’s unlikely to become an important part of the story again. In fact, there are so many characters at this point that she shouldn’t be re-incorporated, just because that would bloat the cast even more. That… and did they really have to give her massive cleavage? The darker glasses are fine—even if I personally found them a bit distracting compared to her original lenses—but seriously, why does a woman always reappear with even bigger breasts?

At this point everything in RWBY has a sour taste attached to it because it’s been handled so badly for so many years. It’s only now, watching them do many of the things I wanted them to do volumes ago, that I realize how badly they’ve played themselves. RT messed up so many core aspects that when they re-appear they can’t hope to provide the same sort of enjoyment we would have gotten if they’d never been dropped and/or messed up to begin with.

Case in point: Ruby’s speech. I’m not going to cover the stupidity of telling the world about Salem because I’ve already talked about that to death on my blog, but I do want to add that Ruby managed to accomplish that dubious task in the absolute worst way possible. I need a list for this one.

So, about RWBY ruining core parts of its story? We had a whole volume about how horrifying learning about Salem’s immortality was, something we never resolved because the cast randomly went from thinking they’d entered a doomed war to being #confident about how they’ll win. But at the very least they’ll be careful and considerate when they tell others that very demoralizing info, right? Ha. Ruby never even uses the term “immortal.” She mentions Salem being around for “centuries”—which, remember, was info the group also had but never put two and two together—and then says that “Just because she can’t be destroyed doesn’t mean she can’t be beaten.” What does that mean to people who have never heard of Salem before now? Ruby doesn’t even explain who she is! What’s a “force” in this context? A person? An entity? Endless grimm? She gives the people nothing here.

Alongside just casually dropping that Salem has been around for “centuries,” Ruby says that she is “a force we’ve faced before,” as if the world has ever had to deal with an outright attack from her. No, Ruby. They haven’t faced this before. That’s the point.

“I know the idea of Maidens and Relics seems crazy”—does she even mention them before this?? I don’t think she does. Ruby just name dropped two things and never bothered to explain wtf they were.

Also, great job telling the whole world, filled with bad guys not already aligned with Salem, that there are two powerful, mystery things out there that they can now start hunting down. That’s why Ozpin decided to keep the Maidens quiet in the first place. He says in Volume 3 that people were killing them when they knew they existed.

She tells everyone that Glynda and Theodore can vouch for all this information, just casually dropping that responsibility into their lap. I mean, can you even IMAGINE being Glynda right now? This kid you taught for one year heads back home after your school falls, you lose touch with the inner circle after Ozpin dies, and then said kid suddenly appears on every scroll and TV in Remnant, telling the entire world that YOU, personally, can explain to them the things you’ve helped keep hidden for a good portion of your adult life. You are one of two people they can now turn to for answers. If I were Glynda I would be furious.

She also says that Theodore and Glynda “might even be able to organize a way to fight back” RUBY. WHAT DO YOU THINK THE INNER CIRCLE WAS? A KNITTING CLUB? WHAT ELSE HAS OZPIN BEEN DOING FOR A THOUSAND YEARS EXCEPT “ORGANIZING A WAY TO FIGHT BACK”? 

“But, sadly, General Ironwood can no longer be trusted.” Wow. That’s one hell of a simplified take to give to a world already working under the incorrect assumption that Atlas caused the Fall of Beacon, an assumption Ruby admitted was wrong to Cordovin. So let’s unite the world except for this one leader, right? So much for practicing what you preach. 

“If she was really unstoppable she wouldn’t have acted with such caution before now.” Oh boy, that’s risking a lot on Ruby’s interpretation of Salem’s motives. After eight years even we, the audience, don’t know why Salem didn’t attack until now, so where did Ruby get the idea that it must be because she fears them? That’s not the real explanation based on how happy Salem looks while hearing the message. When did Ruby even think about this? Outside of Nora’s realization that maybe someone other than Ozpin could beat her, we haven’t seen the group discuss Salem at all, but now Ruby thinks she has everything figured out? I honestly want her to explain her thought process here. Does she think Ozpin was mistaken about the immortality business and if he’d just had the guts to unite everyone and attack her, Salem would have been defeated lifetimes ago? 

(Funny how that was Ironwood’s plan...) 

Ruby ends with another call to band together because “That’s how we’ll win!” complete with smiling energy.

With the exception of the cameos I hated every moment of this. The unclear reason why Ruby thinks bringing the world together is the answer in the face of how badly that’s gone each and every time others have done it, Amity magically becoming available for them to use, her dropping in random beliefs we’ve never seen her express before, turning the whole world against Ironwood, failing to actually explain any of this… I mean, imagine you’re in Remnant’s place for a second:

This child (looking entirely unprepared) suddenly hacks every device and tells you that the most powerful kingdom in the world is under attack. Who is attacking it? It’s someone you’re familiar with! But not really. It’s Salem. Who’s Salem? I won’t say, but she’s responsible for every bad thing from the White Fang to the grimm themselves. Those Relics and Maidens, those are real crazy sounding, huh? Oh, I forgot to say what they are? Nm that’s not important. Talk to my old teacher and someone I’ve never met if you’re confused. What is important is that we all come together. Except Ironwood. I don’t trust him. But I expect you all to trust everyone else, including me! Because we can totally win against this “force” I haven’t defined. You should help us. In whatever non-specific way you choose. Should you come to Atlas and save us all from the confusingly explained attack we’re under? Fight an immortal enemy somehow, with the forces you don’t have, cross who knows how many miles in under a day? I don’t know. You all can figure the preparations part out :) 

If I were watching I would, at best, think this was a prank. At worst I’d be panicking over a whole lot of scary information, none of which I understand. Which in this world brings grimm.

Ruby should, in an internally consistent story, have just caused a massive number of attacks across the globe. She should be responsible for the biggest mass grimm death Remnant has ever seen. In fact, that’s my final hope for the series. I want the world to lose its mind at this confusing, terrifying announcement, from rioting in the streets to grimm swarming major cities. Ruby is left dumbfounded at the destruction she’s caused. No one can—or will—come to assist Atlas. The Kingdom falls, taking plenty of civilians with it. Ozpin escapes and is finally allowed his anger, wanting to know how the safety measures he spent lifetimes building were undone by her in one profoundly stupid move. Ironwood (if he’s still alive) coldly tells them that they could have left and saved who and what they had at the time. Ren is proven right.

I need this story to decimate our heroes, humble them, and then let them rebuild. Teach Ruby something and let her grow from it, making up for her mistakes as she goes. Because for two and a half seasons now we’ve watched this girl commit one horrible act after another—whether it’s attacking allies or unintentionally giving the world the most damaging message possible—and something needs to come out of all that.

Can’t say I’m too hopeful of seeing that though :/ 

The rest of the episode isn’t any better. Ironwood continues his stupidity streak by trusting Watts to do the hack himself. I really can’t believe this is what his character has been reduced to. Granted, it appears as if Watts really did do what he was asked, it’s just that none of them could have known Penny would be outside of Amity and at the height of an airplane when her systems went offline. That trust does, however, allow Watts to nab Ironwood’s crushed scroll before he’s taken back to his cell. Because, you know, at this point Ironwood is so stupid he just chucks personal tech at a villain and thinks nothing of it. 

Also... all this happens before the jail scene last episode when Watts was returned, but after Ruby’s group gets to the Schnee manor. The bingo board is getting another check.

Ironwood says that “It seems Polendina’s proxy trick worked.” So Pietro deliberately built Penny with this kill switch (for lack of a better word) embedded? In this villain!Ironwood world, is the story ever going to acknowledge that Pietro is far from innocent, having helped to create and support all the things people hate about how Ironwood (supposedly) interacts with Penny? 

Penny’s hack doesn’t take until Ruby’s message is complete, because of course it doesn’t. 

Yang’s group is all excited—“That was the broadcast!”—despite not having a signal last episode. If they can use their scrolls at the outpost, why didn’t they call for help?

Penny then says “I love you” to Pietro before she—maybe?—falls to her second death. I don’t know. This absolutely deserves a longer rant because either Penny was resurrected for a brief, narratively meaningless existence before dying again, or we’re expected to believe that she’s falling far and fast enough to become a meteor, but will turn out just fine. Perhaps the show will forget that Pietro said he couldn’t rebuild her again. I pretty much expect it at this point. 

(Either that, or Pietro will sacrifice himself for Penny. Coming at it from a father-daughter relationship, I like the idea. As a black man dying for his white daughter in a show notorious for how it has handled its race allegory... ehhhh.) 

Then, we end this episode with “a river of grimm.”

????????????????????

What?

Seriously, am I the only one who laughed during that moment? It sounds ridiculous. What does that even mean, “a river of grimm”? Did Salem expand her territory somehow? Is this the same grimm soup she makes them out of? What, can she just cover the whole world with grimm making goo now? Out of everything that could have been coming out of the ice, THAT’S what we end on? 

I think this episode may have broken me lol. There was so much that I knew I was meant to be invested in, so many moments trying their hardest to be emotionally compelling… and only the tinniest slivers of it worked. I want to care about Penny falling. I want to care (more) about an unexpected Glynda appearance. I want to be cheering for Ruby’s message getting out, but it’s all just so badly done. I ended this episode feeling like I had watched a RWBY parody rather than an episode. Like for funsies someone had pulled together the most ridiculous ideas they could think of, like:

The villains come and then immediately leave again, like in Fury Road except in this case that’s not the point of the story.

Super powerful fighter gets her ass kicked by laughing grandma.

Nonsensical sacrifice going on but give it just a hint of ~real~ emotion.

Huge reveal for the rest of the world but the message with be near incomprehensible.

Toss in random characters we haven’t seen in years, people love that.

End the episode with grimm soup flowing towards the kingdom.

It honestly feels like someone set out to write an absurd episode, but then gave it just enough artistry that the viewer finishing the vid goes, “Why am I actually invested in this omg lol.” Except when that’s your canon we’ve got a problem.

I don’t know. At this point RWBY is so broken I can’t even articulate everything that’s continually going wrong when we get an episode like this one. For anyone who may have missed it, we’ve got two more episodes before a six week hiatus and frankly I’m glad. Mostly because I obviously want our crew to have the time they need to keep their sanity intact during the hell that is 2020 and the likely hell that will be 2021, also because that will give them time to spruce up the second half of the volume… but there’s also a part of me that’s just glad for a break. There are still pieces in RWBY I enjoy (like the Hound, or dad!Pietro, always Ozpin) and I love writing these recaps, but it says a lot about the writing that I hear we won’t get RWBY for two solid months and I am, at best, indifferent. Can’t mess up what you don’t air, right? 😂

Man, this bingo card… it’s getting three marks today. “Two day timeline wreaks havoc on continuity,” “Needless episode cliffhanger” (grimm river??), and “The team gets Amity up and running.” Yet we somehow STILL don’t have a bingo. Amazing.

Alright, I’m done. If you enjoyed this episode, bless you. I’m really glad. Please enjoy it for the both of us. And pray for us all over the next two weeks 💜

[Ko-Fi]

#rwby #rwby spoilers #rwby volume 8 #mymetas #rwby recaps

[tinybit92]

RWBY 5:11 thoughts under the cut.

In order of events:

I like the noticeable difference in Qrow’s posture before and after he enters the building. When he’s with the kids he’s slouching, hands in his pockets, hunched forward, looking grumpy and irritable. Then he gets in the school and he’s all business. Straightens out his back, shoulders squared, hands at his sides, and a focused gaze. Good show-don’t-tell moment of character development.

Ha, bet Raven’s regretting letting Yang in on her secret for a second there. Qrow was so focused on Lionheart he probably wouldn’t have noticed her for a while.

I like how intense Ruby is about Raven, little bit of subtle character insight on our poor, underdeveloped protagonist.

Nora legit didn’t believe the magic shit until right then.

Raven mocking her brother’s half-assed shot. Love them sibling dynamics.

Little brother? Guess we know which twin was born first.

Yang’s posture: Fucking fight me, mom!

Ruby Rose, precious innocent puppy talking about the power of friendship.

Yang’s dirty look at Raven when Ruby offers her hand, nonverbal warning that she better not fuck with her sister.

“You sound just like your mother.” YES HELLO, FAVORITE LINE OF THE EPISODE. MORE CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT FOR RUBY BY TALKING ABOUT SUMMER PLEASE.

Cinder doesn’t even wait to get there before blasting Ruby’s ass. Girl’s got some issues to settle.

Interested to see more of Hazel in these upcoming episodes. Oscar is exceptionally concerned by his presence.

No, bad kitty, no setting bombs! Where is my spray bottle?

Little bird, Cinder could not be more condescending today.

Qrow looks like an angry parent talking to Leo. “I am disappoint, son.”

Jaune is a poor, sad noodle.

Sick burn, Cinder.

Angry noodle is angry.

I almost feel like Emerald pulling Ruby away from Cinder is less about letting Cinder fuck with Jaune, and more about protecting Ruby from Cinder, because that is not a fight she’s ready for yet.

Merc still letting Yang think she broke his leg. What a prick.

Excuse you Raven? Weiss is worth the world, thank you very much.

Damn, that whole Qrow and Raven exchange. I still want to believe that Raven can be good and this is just a way to ramp up the tension, but it’s pretty clear this shit with the twins has been building for years. Probably about 17 years, to be exact. *side eyes Yang*

You tell that bitch, baby girl. You might not be able to beat her, but at least make it clear that this isn’t about being a Schnee.

Ren and Nora, the only kids from Beacon who actually learned the lesson Ozpin was trying to teach them about teamwork.

Oscar’s already a fucking beast at like five foot nothing.

Hey, proper shot of that lion tail. Good to see a faunus in a position of power. Also explains why he was so vulnerable to Salem’s manipulations with the way we know the faunus are generally treated.

“Fight.” Ozpin’s like, why you even need to ask, kid?

Even though she’s mastered summoning now, it still takes time. Good to show those limitations. Also emphasizes once again the importance of teamwork in this show. Weiss is a support unit, and she needs her teammates to distract her opponents in order to best use her moves.

“You’re the little bitch who was supposed to be guarding the door.”...sorry, couldn’t resist.

More fuel for the Emerald is possibly redeemable fire.

Weiss has no trouble avoiding that stray bullet. She knows what Ruby’s gun sounds like.

Damn, those ballet moves on the glyphs.

Oh shit, aura break!

Wow, fuck you, Cinder. That one was low.

I have deep concerns any time Jaune is around fire. Fire was not a friend to Joan of Arc.

Ruby having legit war flashbacks. Poor baby. :(

Good job showing those limitations again. These kids have some crazy moves, but even silver eyes ain’t worth shit if you turn your back on your opponent and get your ass knocked unconscious.

Good job taking that opening Jaune.

Not so good on the landing there, you little wet noodle. Tripping over his own feet is not very huntsman-like.

Cinder’s like, bitch you dare?

Oh my god, Jaune, stop being so self loathing. Your life mattered to Pyrrha, so don’t you go throwing it away.

Bitch, do not.

BITCH NO.

(Making it look suspiciously like Pyrrha’s spear to rub salt in the wound.)

Jesus, can we please stop stabbing women for Jaune’s character development? WEISS HAS BEEN THROUGH ENOUGH, THANK YOU.

That wound is very deliberately off to one side in a non-vital area. Roughly parallel to where Blake got stabbed, actually. She’ll be fine.

Wonder if that self-cauterizing weapon is better or worse for the injury?

I can’t believe they stabbed Ruby’s best friend while she was unconscious. I know why narratively, silver eyes would have ended the fight right there, but way to rob Ruby of development opportunities yet again.

Also, I have some problems with it being Weiss who got hurt. Her only real connection to Jaune is his unrequited crush on her, so it doesn’t serve much purpose for him other than to parallel Pyrrha. It would have been far more effective to have it be Ren who got hurt. That’s his best friend and an important member of his ragtag family. Not to mention Nora would be flipping the fuck out, which would further spur on the inevitable conclusion to this, which is Jaune discovering his semblance is healing.

Like, legit we’ve known this since season one. The only reason they’ve been drawing out his semblance reveal is so they could have him dramatically use it to save someone. Like right now.

Okay, so that’s it for play by play, here’s a few more stray thoughts:

Like I said, Weiss will be fine. Not even a little bit worried she’s gonna die. This is so obviously about Jaune’s semblance. That’s why they brought it up again a few episodes ago. Still wish it was one of Jaune’s actual teammates though instead of Weiss. Please just let the poor girl be.

If they use this as a reason to have Weiss start falling for Jaune I will fucking riot. They’ve spent too much time making him obnoxiously ignore the fact that no means no. I love Jaune, but if you let him “get the girl” after setting such a poor example, you are sending a bad message. Please let him have a more natural romance down the line. They both deserve better than this potential plot line.

Ruby is gonna be so upset when she wakes up. Even if Weiss has been healed already by then, she’s gonna be on a freaking vendetta. That is her BFF, and Cinder just did it for funsies to fuck with Jaune.

On a related note, Yang’s been really good about reigning in her temper up until now, but given the way she exploded last time Weiss got hurt, this is not going to end well for any of the bad guys in that room. I hope she goes after Raven while in a full on rage and Raven doesn’t even know what to do about it.

Seriously though, can we maybe capture Raven or something and have her talk about Summer and the ways Ruby is similar to her? Pretty please? Or have Ruby talk to Qrow later and ask him to tell her more about what her mom was like as a leader?Just give me character development for Ruby and Summer, please, I beg of you.

Blake and her crew need to hurry their asses up. Given that they’re not there yet, I’m guess they’ll get a Big Damn Heroes moment in the next couple episodes.

I appreciate Adam’s minimal screentime. Don’t let me see him unless Yang and Blake are knocking his teeth in.

As awful as the outcome of this fight was in universe, I really love the way the limitations were presented. They are all still kids, and no matter how powerful they get, they still don’t know how to properly utilize their abilities. Weiss may be able to summon now, but she does’t know how to set up a situation where she’s got the time to do it. Ruby has her silver eyes, but nobody has taught her how to use them, and they’re so reliant on her emotions right now that she can’t keep a straight head to use them without making herself vulnerable.

I fully understand where Jaune is coming from emotionally, but he is being so reckless right now. Pyrrha did not send him away in that locker just so he could get himself killed doing something stupid. If nothing else, I hope this situation teaches him to value her sacrifice and take care of himself as well as his friends.

Blake and Weiss are gonna have matching abdominal scars.

Cinder is gonna need to do something really fucked up in order for Emerald to to turn on her, but she already looks so uncomfortable all the time, and Cinder is cracking so hard, I don’t think it’s that far off honestly.

Really glad this season has been extended to 14 episodes, or that would have been the second to last one. We’ve still got three more episodes for this battle to go down.

#rwby5 #rwby spoilers

[holyqrow]

The Greatest Kingdom - Review and analysis

I said I was going to review the new episodes- so what better way to start then on episode one? Let’s get straight into it and talk about the highs and lows of Volume 7, episode 1, The Greatest Kingdom.

The first thing I noticed off the bat in this episode was the fact that in the very first shot, the entirety of JNR + Oscar is just not there. I feel that this is because RT is beginning to be aware that their group of main characters who do nothing to drive the plot forward has become extremely large, because let’s be real, unless you’re Team RWBY, Oscar, or Qrow, you literally have no reason to be on this stolen Atlas ship right now. You could argue that because JNR knows about Salem they have the right to be there, and you’d be right, they do, but they aren’t working well as being main characters. They’re taking up time in the show that could be dedicated to the main four or to Oscar- who is severely lacking in character development at the moment.

A positive about this scene though, would be that Blake is the first to say something when Weiss mentions being sent back to her father. It’s nice to see that RT has clearly made the two girls supportive of each other since they both have suffered similar abuses and Blake is now seemingly helping Weiss pull away from her abuse much like how she did with Adam.

The broadcasts bring up a lot of problems, on one hand, they make sense, but on the other they give me the feeling that later in this arc the team is going to have a moment where they ‘need to help all the kingdoms’ and I believe that Ironwood will get aggressive and remind them that Atlas is strong and he needs to only worry about Atlas. After seeing Ironwood, two kids that have known him for about a total of ten minutes a year ago make a comment about how tired he looks. Literally... what is behind this scene? What is it’s purpose? They have Qrow say the exact same thing when Pietro is around later in the episode. It wasn’t even necessary for him to absentmindedly talk about Ironwood after the kids made their comment about him being tired- it just felt out of place.

Speaking of Qrow, I’m personally painfully aware that the voice coming from him is not the Qrow voice I’ve grown used to after five volumes now. However, as someone who also enjoys voice acting I recognize the difficulty of voicing a character who has already been given an iconic voice that you can’t really stray from. Not to bring up the rat himself, but imagine if someone suddenly came up with a new voice for Sonic, it’d be out of place, everyone’s used to his rad ash Ketchum voice. It’d be the same for Qrow. We’re all so used to the gruff uncle that it wouldn’t make sense for him to start sounding like Aaravos from the Dragon Prince, his new voice actor HAD to work with what was previously created, and he’s definitely doing the best he can. However, that doesn’t mean I can’t mourn my baby boy’s old voice- amen.

Anyways, back to the broadcasts, Weiss is for some reason very thrown back by her sisters demeanor but quite frankly, there isn’t anything inherently ‘evil’ or ‘agressive’ about these messages. Weiss acts like her sister is acting unlike anything she’s ever seen before, when in fact Winter is talking with the exact same tone of voice she usually talks. I don’t understand why they all view these broadcasts that are clearly meant to calm people down as agressive messages, only to forget how they believed these broadcasts to be agressive later when they meet with Ironwood and Winter.

Hey, where’d the ship go? Literally where on a crowded city street and or in an alley did that giant ship land??? Just questioning the important things.

The group is never given any repercussions for the damages they caused while in Mantle? I mean trashing a drone and throwing a man in a dumpster seems like it would warrant some sort of telling off by Ironwood or Winter. Even a joking acknowledgment of it would’ve been better than the nothing. Like a ‘oh I gave your your licenses but the lord will taketh away if you trash anymore of my expensive to make tech!’

The shot of the Faunus miners in the back of the truck is really good, and I really really really want them to go into detail about the discrimination of Faunus in Mantle and Atlas. Like please give me a moment where Weiss realizes that the SDC is not all roses and flowers, give me a moment where Blake starts a Mantle branch of the white fang (cough led by Marrow cough)

When the group first walks in to Pietro’s... home... workshop? Team RWBY is just not there. Once again, probably due to the fact that there is far too many main characters all together in one place right now. For the love of god RT please split them up before they leave for Vacuo I’m begging. Send JNR back to Vale to get a read on how things are there or something, you can give more than one groups point of view please split them up. This also marks the beginning of it taking a ridiculously long time for Pietro to recognize team RWBY because plot convenience!!!

Maria then goes on to give our cast Pietro’s life story even though Pietro is actually sitting right there and they clearly don’t actually know each other that well due to the fact that it actually takes Maria giving him hints for him to even remember who she is.

Concerning the ‘days since last nonsense’ sign in the back, I like to think that it’s there because Penny doesn’t have a lot of human nuances and just kind of does whatever dumb shit she wants and Pietro has to constantly explain to her why she can’t just do the things she does.

Overall the Pietro’s workshop scene is pretty boring because they immediately go back outside anyways so why not just stay outside nerds no one cares about Maria’s exposition.

THIS FIGHT SCENE SLAPS!!!!! IT GOES REALLY HARD!!!! RWBY’s fight scenes have not been the best as of late but this one really showcased skills well and actually showed improvement in characters and I love it!!! The music backing it was also amazing and went with the fight very well.

Before I get into all the good things about this scene, I will first point out that this is the scene that starts the trend of Ren ignoring Nora for no forseeable reason. I’ll get into why I personally believe this is bad writing next time.

This fight scene shows us that Jaune has improved and boy am I proud of him!!! He’s really out here doing it and Pyrrha would be proud! I love that he’s more confident in his fighting ability now.

Qrow in this scene is so good. Like literally so fucking good and he only fights for like five seconds. In volumes after the Qrow vs Winter fight I feel that his fighting style has been slightly janky in the fact that RT wasn’t sure how to create another style for a sycthe wielder that wasn’t Ruby. I find that he’s always been a bit more of an elegant fighter, whereas Ruby is far more agressive and offensive. In the Tyrian fight we really see Qrow almost fighting back and forth with his own fighting style and Ruby’s fighting style (which is probably where that ridiculous ballerina move came from) and the same thing happens on the fight on top of the train, where he ends up looking absolutely ridiculous mirroring Ruby’s spinning move in order to slice the manticore in half. Here, however, we get to see Qrow being far less offensive than Ruby and significantly more calm about his fighting tactics- which is what he should’ve always been acting like, being that he’s a seasoned huntsman. Qrow lets the Grimm come to him instead of going for them, and when they do come to him he transitions flawlessly from broadsword to sycthe all the way to punching!!! Which is literally so cool, I’m glad that he’s also a hands on fighter, it’s nice to see a huntsman that doesn’t rely solely on their weapon and also I just like watching him punch things.

Now that I’m done gushing about Qrow, I will mention that it’s nice that Ruby’s own fighting style doesn’t directly mirror her teachers. And though this is probably more of what I had mentioned in Qrow’s paragraph than it is intentional, I’ve decided to call it intentional because it’d be a nice touch if it was. She’s also improved, much like Jaune we see her being more confident in her abilities as well as utilizing her semblance effectively and efficiently in a fight.

Anyways I cannot sing enough praise for that fight scene, it would definitely be in my top ten fight scenes list.

Ah... Penny. Now, what I’m going to say next will make people hate me, I swear on it. But I don’t think Penny should have come back. I love penny as much as the next person, I mean Penny 2.0 is on my star RWBY amity arena team, but her return doesn’t do much good to me. It reverses a lot of the effect of grim, dark times that season three had. By reviving Penny, you open the concept of everything that happened in that season being reversible, and this is only reinforced by Ruby’s lack luster reaction to Penny returning. Instead of crying, or even being confused, Ruby was surprised for five seconds and then went back to living life normally. I get it, she’s a robot, but hers and Ruby’s bond was supposed to be one of Ruby’s motivators to defeat Salem because Salem and been behind the death of her friends and the damage of her sister. When one of those motivations is just reversed it feels less real, with a proper reaction to Penny returning, this effect could have maybe not happened, but because of Ruby’s lacking response, viewers are now left thinking, ‘well... I mean that means phyrra can come back right?’ Or ‘well I mean I guess the fall of beacon wasn’t that big of a deal anyways’. Also, this is more of a pet peeve, but I don’t like her new outfit. Like what happened to her old outfit and why does she look like she’s a frilly little dress up doll now? I’ll probably make a separate post complaining about all my least favorite outfits and favorite outfits at a later junction.

Mmm the Ace Ops. As characters they’re interesting, though I’ll talk about that more when I get to episode two and three, but in this first episode it’s more their actions that annoy me. The fact that they just ignore the mention of one of the people they brought down being lisenced is really obnoxious to me. Like, atleast have Lucy Luciano or whatever his name is acknowledge Qrow’s comment instead of just ignoring it? Any response would’ve been fine, even a cheesy ‘anything you say will and can be used against you’. (I have later remembered that his name is Clover and I just keep forgetting his name it was just too funny to take the Lucky Luciano part out)

Ruby also struggles to speak throughout this entire interaction for some reason? She’s not gagged, so I’m not entirely sure why she stutters and struggles to talk the entire time, it’s slightly strange.

Last but not least- the thing that makes me the angriest about this episode! Maria just... leaves. No snarky comment, nothing. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not Maria’s #1 fan and I always felt there was a better way to teach Ruby about her silver eyes, but this has got to be the laziest removal of a character I’ve ever laid my eyes on. Let me show you an example of how this interaction could’ve gone:

Clover: Ma’am, you can return to your home, you’re safe now.

Maria: Yep. That’s what I’ll do.

We get to see Clover’s pretentious personality even more, and Maria gets to keep her only personality trait of being an annoying old bitch by completely ignoring the team and just going about her life. Which is fine! I don’t for the life of me understand why they did things this way, it’s so confusing to me. The kids don’t even mention Maria’s absence in later episodes, it’s almost like she wasn’t there in the first place. Which stands to show that she probably never should’ve been there. If they were going to do anything with her character, it quite frankly should’ve just been Qrow recounting a tale he heard of about the Grimm Reaper since he supposedly looked up to her so much.

And there we have it, with the doors closing and leaving our hero’s trapped in a transport for prisoners, we’ve completed our review of RWBY volume 7, episode 1, the Greatest Kingdom. Overall, a strong first episode with a great first episode fight, but not the best first episode we’ve ever seen. From this episode we’ve gathered that:

•It’s very possible Ironwood will betray the team at some point

•There will likely be a moment with either Weiss or Blake (or both) where they confront abuse with themselves or Faunus (or, once again, both)

Thank you for reading!

#rwby #long post #rwby volume seven #rwby review #ruby rose #weiss schnee #blake belladonna #yang xiao long #qrow branwen #jaune arc #nora valkyrie