#I thought of it on rwby fight but genuinely did not have ability to do it. I like its versatility - even upon poll loss it still fits. | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

rwbybutincorrect · 3 years

Text

I have some suggestions for your RWBY pokemon AU

I think Absol makes more sense as a pokemon either for Ruby, or, what I think is more fitting, for Qrow. Absol in the pokemon world is considered a harbinger of disaster because of its ability to sense oncoming calamities, and Qrow considers himself a bad luck charm and his weapon is called Harbinger, so I can imagine it being like, his signature pokemon, and maybe Ruby, wanting to emulate her Uncle, catches one for herself.

I also think Ruby and Yang's starters make more sense swapped around, Blaziken fits more with Yang (a hot headed fighting type) rather than Incineroar (a Dark type meant to emulate Heels in wrestling I.e the bad guys). Incineroar also fits better with Ruby's v1-v3 colours, though I also don't think a fire starter would fit Ruby, I think Sceptile fits more, as it's a fast pokemon that uses its leaves on its arms as blades, which I think fits Ruby better.

I'd also pick Rosarade over Florges but that's just my purrsonal preference.

Now for Weiss, my only suggestion would be changing Corvinkight with something else, and I'm thinking Glaceon. I love the idea that Weiss as a child finds an injured Eevee in the large family garden and secretly takes care of it, but her father finds out and forces her to take it back to the wilds, but while out there it saves Weiss from several Beowolves and in the artic climate evolves into a Glaceon which Weiss then adopts.

Blake, id replace Absol with Greninja for aesthetic, but otherwise I would change Gallade's past, Ralts' only show themselves to trainers with strong positive emotions, so I can't see Adam ever having one, but I like the idea of maybe Blake and Yang being helped during the forest exam at Beacon by two Ralts/Kirlia's who they then take (Yang saying its the sign of their new partnership), and otherwise I would change Gallade for Gardevoir for Blake and have Gallade be Yang's pokemon, since it's a pokemon with strong morals and I feel fit Yang better.

Now for Yang, and other than the previous suggestions of Blaziken and Gallade as hers, I would replace Tyrantrum with Hitmontop, storywise I'd say that, when she's recovering post Beacon and on her way back from visiting Summer's grave, she encounters a Tyrouge rushing headfirst into fighting a stronger pokemon and getting seriously hurt, so Yang saves it and takes it home to recover. Despite all its injuries it still insists on training, Tai seeing this starts encouraging Yang to train with it, hoping it'll help her out. As both Yang and the Tyrouge bond and train, learning not to rush headfirst into battles and to adopt a more balanced fighting style, it evolves into Hitmontop to symbolise Yang's recovering and training.

And thats just RWBY, I have plenty of suggestions for JNPR, Sun, Ilia, Adam, Salem's forces, STQR, the Ace-Ops, Happy Huntresses and Neo~

--------

submitted by @ladydevoir thank you :EYES:

[for reference, this is about this post]

treating this like an ask because i assume that's why you submitted it, because of the text limit but :EYESY:EYES:EYES

my choice of absol for blake is because i knew about the lore implications of absol and thought it would be a tragic detail if an absol appeared before her trying to protect her from the travesties she's repetitively had to face. i might give one to qrow anyway because I'm not afraid of duplicates!!! i didn't think about any supporting adult pokemon teams quite yet!

i will be honest, the blaziken choice for ruby was mostly self indulgent :3 i love chickens and blaziken's aesthetic. notable moments in the anime stuck with me, like during xy's series when there was a vigilante "blaziken man" protecting luminous city - that's a big reason why i chose it for her, that kind of over the top kind of heroism i thought worked. as opposed to incenroar who fights dirty. early in rwby, yang is a very backhanded and not exactly noble kind of hero. just look at the "yellow" trailer, fucking shit up for self motivated reasons (good for her.) i thought it fit her! --- but i can absolutely see what you're saying with sceptile, that is another favorite of mine and i'd love to see her with a sceptile that could mega evolve!

roserade, yeah i can see that fitting too! i forget it exists sometimes- my bad - and i like the grass type a little bit more to some extent than the fairy type because ruby has less of an association to the balance of nature~ that fairies do

i like the glaceon idea a lot too!!! the concepts of potential and direct reflection of her cold home - not to mention it's my second favorite eeveelution :D corviknight, yeah, it's my weakest link and i wanted to add it purely on the basis i'd like the snow queen to have her knight - but i think a glaceon would be much cuter, considering she already has plenty of stand ins for her glyphs!

I'm also interested about the greninja for the aesthetic! I'm not all that attached to the kalos starters so i tend to forget about them a lot more, i leaned on the "dark" type for blake but definitely didn't consider the. actual ninja pokemon. but i also tried to hold off on giving her a proper starter because in this little hc concept of mine, starters come specifically from pre-huntsmen schools (like signal in yang and ruby's case). i liked having the narrative of some students being "othered" by lacking starters - a visual tool when displaying their teams that they didn't have the opportunity to start where others did. not to say greninja couldn't have been a wild encounter or something else - fun to think about and really fits!

i DID not know about the kirlia lore though, i thought it was pretty weak when i was coming up with it and that is so interesting to know. i enjoy the idea of a pokemon switching allegiances from adam to protect blake but with this new information, I'll probably rewrite it in a way where the bee duo's ralts evos are more exclusive to them :3 i do like your idea of switching them, though, i tried to switch them to divert expectations, right (yang being a bit more masc than yang yet having a gardevoir, blake having the more showmanshy evo) but i might switch them. or i can just say the pokemon are practically shared and will switch up who they're paired with by their own choice. gf things <333

the hitmontop concept is really interesting for yang! it really does fit her - and i never paid attention to the line because, i will be honest, it never aesthetically pleased me, but narratively it works super well. i liked tyrantrum because i loved giving yang dragons and i also thought if she restored a tyrunt herself, it would be a nice indication of yang's genuine intelligence and wisdom. i don't like people boiling her down to a bimbo, haha funny stupid lesbian, but i feel like people also fail to recognize her genuine technical and social intelligence that she's portrayed throughout the series. then again, a hitmontop could show that emotional and protective instinct and intelligence she carries. it's sweet!! I'm torn!!!

AAAAANYWAY LONG STORY SHORT thank you so much for your opinions!!! i love the feedback and second opinion. i did a little bit of brainstorming with few friends in our discord server and its nice to hear an unrelated voice's takes!

feel free to send us more ideas if you'd like!!! :D as of right now I'm working on (the original) jnrp's post, and have penny, oscar, roman, neo, emerald, mercury, and cinder's teams planned! (I'm not sure how to section them off atm so their posts are coming later!) I'm curious to hear your ideas for when i get around to these other characters

#rwby pokemon teams #rwby #submission #jinn's answers #petal burst #im tagging these things for mysake <333 #thank you #talk to me about pokemon @ everyone #mod weiss doesn't understand my pokemonwords enough #and i get judged for team planning when i should be sleeping!!!!#long post

24 notes · View notes

itsclydebitches · 3 years

Note

Um one thing i wanna ask is why do you want penny to stay a robot? She would have been hacked again as it wouldn’t make sense for someone not to try it again... ignoring the pinnochio allusion thing cause of course RWBY shouldn’t follow fairytales like a script, but just thinking about practicality as the problem would just occur again.

Also, people complaining about how its a problem they cured her illness (having the virus)... why would you want her too keep the virus when its literally about to kill her and the cure is right there???? I dunno some of the complaints have me a bit confused and i need clarity on them.

Like, If they didn’t grab the relic for themselves, they would have been hunted by ironwood for penny, she would have been killed for the powers to open the vault etc... if they went to the vault with penny without their plan, she would have died... its all a lose lose for penny to me at least

Questions are genuine and I’m not trying to be rude or anything :)

Happy to explain, anon! :D

I’m going to break this up into three parts: The claim that people are upset about Penny’s virus going away, the idea that she’s in more danger as a robot, and the assumption that she had to be made human to fix this problem.

The first is the easiest to tackle simply because I haven’t seen any of this myself. I don’t know why someone would “want her to keep the virus when it’s literally about to kill her.” My guess would be that there’s been some miscommunication at play. I’m not saying just because I haven’t seen these takes doesn’t mean they don’t exist, but rather that I have seen a lot of critical takes since Saturday and they all boil down to the fans being upset that Penny’s android identity was removed, not that the virus was removed along with it. Of course we’re happy about that additional outcome, we just believe it would have been possible — even easy — to achieve that same outcome without taking a core part of Penny’s identity along with it (more on that below).

Secondly, if one of the main arguments for Penny getting a human body is “It’s less dangerous” then I personally don’t find that persuasive. Yes, it means no one can try to hack her again... but it also means Penny can die all the horrible, messy human deaths that she was previously immune from (within the boundary of how long Pietro can give her aura, anyway). We saw it happen on screen. Penny was able to go from this

to this

purely because she was an android. Penny, due to her synthetic body, was able to be torn apart and then — pretty casually it seems, based on Pietro’s comments — be put back together, given more aura, and booted up with absolutely no downsides. Penny shrugged off death with a smile! No human body can do that. So yes, she’s vulnerable to hacking as an android, but she’s vulnerable to everything else as a human, things like Nora’s scars and Yang’s lost arm, things that android!Penny would have shrugged off. Each body has its benefits and its downsides, with my personal belief being that, from a combat standpoint, a synthetic body has far fewer downsides and far greater benefits. But that opinion aside, objectively I don’t think a human body is intrinsically safer for Penny in the long run, especially not after her biggest moment in the series was coming back from the dead. She can’t do that anymore.

Which then touches on our third topic with the question: Why couldn’t the show have fixed android!Penny in a way that ensures she can never be hacked again? See, we have to remember that RWBY is a constructed, fictional story. Nothing “has” to happen. Or rather, nothing has to happen until the writers impose limitations on the text that the viewer expects them to adhere to. For example, if you impose the implied rules of 1. “Our four main characters will make it to the end of the series” and 2. “A character, without aura, will die from a spear through the gut,” then RWBY has to find a way for Weiss to survive Cinder’s attack (rule #1), but that solution can’t be, “Weiss is just randomly okay after a deadly injury, I guess” (rule #2). Hence, we get the solution of “Jaune unlocks his semblance and heals Weiss for her” and it works! It’s a solution that viewers like because it obeys all the rules, both overt and implied. Meanwhile, the problem with Penny’s solution is two-fold. The first is that it contradicts the entire journey she’s been on of “Android girl learns that she’s real and human just the way she is,” which I’ve already spoken about extensively (there are other posts on that), but the second problem is that the show ignores other possibilities and makes up new rules solely to reach this ending.

Why is Penny made human? Because of Ambrosius’ rules. Why do those rules exist? Because the writers said they do in this episode. It’s not that they introduced these rules episodes or even whole volumes ago, thereby requiring that they adhere to them once Penny’s life is suddenly caught up in them (like with the Jaune example). Rather, the viewer only learned these were limitations while Penny was being fixed. So the writers could have just... not included those. There’s no reason why, in developing Ambrosius’ abilities right then and there, the show couldn’t have made them into something a little different. Have Ruby go, “We want you to magic up an anti-virus program that will heal Penny completely, with no chance of the virus returning. Thus, when you create something new, it doesn’t matter if that program disappears. The virus is already gone!” If the response to that is, “But Clyde, Ambrosius can’t create something he doesn’t understand” that’s a rule that the writers just made up. No one forced them to suddenly impose that limitation. It was a choice. Or even if we have to have it for some reason, you’re telling that the group gets to have the schematics for their escape route — essentially inventing a teleportation system because Whitley looked at airship flight paths for a few minutes — but they can’t have Penny or Pietro draw up an anti-virus program? There’s no reason why these rules couldn’t have been tweaked to cure android!Penny.

There’s also no reason why Ambrosius needed to be involved at all. As just mentioned, Pietro exists and many fans (myself included) thought he would be the solution. Imagine for a moment we had a slightly different version of these events. Penny’s virus is briefly halted by Jaune and, finally given a moment to breathe, she asks where her father is. Last she saw, he was floating in a dead Amity after Cinder’s attack. This reminds Ruby that hey, Pietro made Penny! He’s just as smart as Watts and is far more knowledgeable of her systems. Maybe he can help? So the group heads to Amity and, due to the same techno mumbo jumbo that launched Amity in the first place, or had Klein heal Penny after her crash, Pietro says yes, he can get rid of the virus. Better yet, he can slightly redesign Penny so that she’s made un-hackable in the future, using (again, mumbo jumbo) parts from the now useless Amity. But it will take time. It’s then that the group receives Ironwood’s message and learns that they don’t have time. The reality that Penny will not be cured before the hour time limit necessitates that they come up with a creative way of dealing with Ironwood. Enter Emerald. Her semblance can make it seem like Penny is there, despite her being fixed by her dad miles away. We get an extended fight with Ironwood and, at episode’s end, the new and improved Penny catches up, ready to open the vault for them, this time of her own free will.

Now, obviously I just made this up off the top of my head — far from perfect — but a scenario like this:

Remembers that Pietro exists and lets him/Maria as an assistant do something for the plot

Re-uses Amity now that it’s just a floating pile of junk metal

Creates a scenario where we get to see Penny and Pietro confront the fact that she was created to be a tool (sorry I originally made you so easily hackable/put a self-destruct in your brain)

Maintains all the main story beats like Penny’s near escape, Ironwood’s message, and using Emerald’s semblance

Makes space to tackle other issues like the complaint that Ironwood was taken down too quickly

Achieves the desired result of healing Penny without taking away her android identity

Proves that, because we can easily come up with another solution, the idea that she “had” to become human is inaccurate. There were always other options

Hell, we can even ask why the story bothered with a self-destruct threat in the first place. Seriously, why did Watts do that? I have my own headcanons, but the show never says. This act is the entire BASIS for Penny’s conflict and the show didn’t bother to a) say why he’d do this or b) explain why he’d do this when Salem would presumably like having a Maiden to control. It’s counterintuitive and the show never grapples with that. We have no canonical answer here. More importantly, what else changes if Penny’s self-destruct order is taken out of the narrative? Absolutely nothing. She’s still hacked and struggles to keep Amity afloat, still flies to Ruby, still wakes up and needs to be calmed down by Nora, still tells Whitley her order, still fights the Hound, still tries to escape, still tells Ruby to kill her so she doesn’t open the vault, and Ruby still realizes that opening the vault might be the answer. They could have taken Penny to the door and nullified the virus by letting her do what the virus ordered. Penny is fine now, they snag the Relic, and the group proceeds to save all of Mantle and Atlas. The only thing this self-destruct sequence brings to the narrative is a reason to give Penny a human body. That plot-point was introduced solely as an excuse to give Penny a human body. That never had to happen. It’s not that the writers had a story where, by the rules already in place, they truly had to change Penny to ensure they didn’t lose her, it’s that the writers carefully crafted a story that existed to justify their desire to change Penny. That was always the end goal. They decided they wanted this to happen and that’s the problem here. That they took a character who has spent her entire, fictional existence learning to love herself as she is and crafted a bunch of unpersuasive, needless, and contradictory scenarios specifically to get Penny to a place where they could erase all that.

There’s no version of Penny that exists who truly had to get a human body to survive because Penny is a fictional character. Everything she does and experiences is thought up by our writers. Thus, at some point they thought up the idea to erase her android identity for a completely human one instead — the part a lot of people are upset by — and then made some messy attempts to write a story to justify getting that ending.

#rwby #rwby spoilers #rwby volume 8 #mymetas #Anonymous

47 notes · View notes

afoolforatook · 3 years

Text

Oh look... another rant about James Ironwood.....

I’ve gotten into this some before but I’ve been thinking about it a lot since Witch (I wrote most of this like that day, but then put off ever really finishing it, but in light of the preview for tomorrow’s ep…….I feel like I need to get this out, so…)

(still not 100% on how I said all of this but I’m making myself finish it even though I’m kinda foggy headed before the ep, so apologies if I missed some poor wording in anything)

So, Fear came on while I was in the shower and… Honestly, I’ve had a bit of a roller coaster with Fear over the past 12 months. I love the song, but something about it didn’t sit right with me at first to be honest, though I wasn’t quite sure what.

It’s a gorgeous song. And the message seems like such a staple, good moral. It’s the whole ‘the greatest thing to fear is fear itself’ idea; that we have to stand strong against fear; fear is the true evil and can cause even the best intentions to go wrong.

But, the thing that always bothers me about those messages, or at least how a lot of people tend to interpret them, is the idea that we should judge a person’s morals ultimately by their reaction to fear. And specifically by them not handling their fear well. The idea that how we act in the face of fear is who we truly are deep down, that being truly ‘good’ means never letting that fear win, and if you do, then you must be weak, or a villain, or selfish, or a coward.

And that has never sat right with me.

(got long so rest under read more)

In a tags rant a while back I got into how, to me, James Ironwood is Qrow’s foil. In the sense of ‘a character who chooses to be kind despite all their pain’.

Qrow is that character people tend to love, who is torn down over and over and still pushes himself to be good and kind, and —that we have seen— he usually wins that battle. He has backsliding moments of course (the entirety of V6 is a good example) but even then, he doesn’t really fall into the deep end as far as letting his pain and fear turn him mean or controlling. He might not be particularly pleasant, he might be listless and blunt or even grouchy, but he still cares and he tries to keep to himself and keep his mood from making him outright mean (aside from hitting Oscar, which I’m not gonna get into here cause that’s a whole thing on its own and this isn’t about Qrow)

But here is James as a foil comes in.

Qrow is the character who is pushed to his breaking point over and over, who hits rock bottom. But he has the support around him to be able to keep getting back up, to keep having the emotional ability to choose to be good, to do the right thing.

James? He doesn’t have that support. He has Winter and the Ops and an entire army under him, but he doesn’t have any real personal support. The closest we’ve ever really seen to him having peers or friends, is the hug with Qrow in V7, and Clover’s comment about trusting him with his life (and calling him James, which we’d just been told is only what his friends call him).

And I don’t mean support as in someone telling him what he’s doing is right, someone backing him up in his decisions, making him feel better.

Qrow’s support that got him back on track? It was Ruby standing her ground and telling him to stop treating them like kids he had to protect; to trust them to be able to do the right thing; to stop putting all the blame and responsibility on himself. It was calling him out on how he was letting his personal struggles affect how he treated and ultimately viewed the kids.

James needs this too. He needs someone he trusts to tell him that he’s wrong, but that he can still try to make it right. (RWBY doesn’t count because, at the time that they stood up to him, he had just found out that Blake and Yang had, in his eyes, betrayed his trust. And for a man who is in a sharp spiral of having all his worst fears and paranoia confirmed, that means they can’t be trusted at all.)

We love the character who pushes and continues to be good and kind through hardship. Who continues to do the right thing with the strength they have left.

But everyone has a true breaking point. A point where they have pushed for so long and tried so hard, but then one thing goes too far and they don’t have the support to lean on, to help them keep fighting. And, despite having tried so hard to do the right thing, even thinking this still is the right thing, they react out of fear and pain.

Ren called out Yang on her fear, and her masking it.

We love the character who stands in the face of their fear, who meets it head on and doesn’t let it rule them. We love the character who gets back up over and over and chooses to keep fighting, their enemies, and their own fear and pain.

But, what if one day, after years and years of fighting and pain and loss and paranoia and hard decisions, what if Yang gave into that fear, even just once? What if any of the kids did? What if they reached their limit and, even without realizing it, made the wrong choice because they were tired and afraid and hurting? And people got hurt because of it? Would that undo all the times they’d been ‘strong’ before? Would they be selfish, villains, cowards? Would they be weak?

This is the problem when we see ‘giving into/reacting out of fear’ as a definite moral indicator. When we say that who you really are deep down is shown by the choices that you make when you’re afraid.

Because it’s not.

And that idea doesn't take into account all the times you’ve fought through that fear before. It doesn’t allow for the inevitability of being pushed too far, or the ability to come back from that breaking point.

Yes fighting that fear, facing it head on, is brave.

But no one, no one, can do that indefinitely, especially when they are doing it alone (emotionally).

Fighting that fear takes a lot of strength, that’s why it’s admirable, why it’s brave. It’s not easy. But pushing yourself over and over, until that strength is completely spent, and then having to face that fear again when you genuinely have nothing left?

That doesn't make you evil or cruel or weak or a coward. It makes you human.

James Ironwood broke. Not because of the machinery that is half his body; not because he doesn't have a heart; not because he’s selfish and thinks he’s infallible; not because he’s obsessed with power and too proud to admit he’s wrong, but because he pushed himself over and over until he had nothing left, and had no one to stop him, no one to snap him out of it.

James Ironwood isn’t a coward. He isn’t just power hungry and unwilling to compromise. He isn’t incapable of compassion. He’s tired (I mean, look at all of V7), traumatized (his comment to Oscar in the vault about seeing things, and multiple other examples), a bit awkward (Penny telling him he was getting better at giving speeches), vulnerable (the hug with Qrow), understanding (telling the kids they didn’t have to stay at fight at the Fall), loyal (flipping his weapon around and refusing to attack when he thought Qrow was attacking him at Beacon). Not to mention still undoubtedly reeling from the pain and trauma of losing his other arm.

He has fought his fear.

Over and over. Until it wore him down completely.

And we’ve seen nothing to make us believe he’s even properly addressed that trauma, let alone had proper time to process it ( and the conversation with the Ops about Tortuga all but confirmed this)

And the thing that I hate? That just really bothers me?

Yes. James is making awful, callous, choices that are costing lives. And he needs to answer for those choices. And he’s doing them because he is absolutely terrified, and he’s let that fear overshadow all other options. That fear has made him paranoid to the point that he trusts no one but himself to do what must be done to try to save anyone he can, even if it means abandoning others he’s meant to protect.

But I hate the attitude I see from far too many people; that his fear, and this inevitable loss to that fear, makes him weak, makes him a villain, a coward. That his reaction to that fear proves that he is just a power hungry dictator. Seeing people wanting to see him be shamed him for it, to laugh at how weak he really is for letting fear control him.

We commend characters who push through trauma. We want representation for those who have fought trauma themselves.

But real life? Actual people struggling with PTSD and paranoia, and just everyday fear?

They’re going to break. They’re going to wake up one day and be too tired to fight it, and if they don’t have the kind of support to help them get back to a place where they can fight, and think clearly, again —they’ll make bad, even hurtful, callous, decisions. Not out of malice or selfishness, but simply because they are afraid and unable to see the full picture clearly.

And the way to help them isn’t to mock them for not being infinitely strong against their fear. It's not to tell them that, by submitting to their fear —no matter how many times they've beat it in the past— they have shown their true colors.

The way to help them is by showing them that, even after their missteps, even IN the deepest part of their fear, they can find that strength again. They can come back and try to make things right.

Fear is the enemy, maybe. But being afraid and not having the unending strength to fight that fear, does not make you an irredeemable villain.

James’ flaw is that he sees himself as the grand hero. Not in the sense that he is infallible or better, but that he thinks it's his responsibility, his duty, it’s something he’s ready to make sacrifices for. And, with Oz gone, and RWBYJNROQ apparently against him, he has to believe that he can do it —he can save people— because if not him, who else can he trust?

And that kind of paranoia, on top of trauma, and unacknowledged fear, is so hard to fight on a good day, let alone after physical trauma, and under extreme stress, and having paranoia be proven right multiple times, triggering past trauma.

People in power are still people, and will still have their own psychological reactions to trauma. Acknowledging that trauma and how it affects their decisions (and the reality of the nuance beyond ‘good’ and ‘evil’) and holding them accountable for their decisions are not mutually exclusive. (I’m not gonna get too into a whole thing about direct ties to real world politics and leaders, because I honestly don’t have the knowledge or energy, but let’s just settle that the fictional circumstances are completely different than real world, and that characters and actions have a narrative meaning and importance that is not how real world people and motivations work. Me saying that Ironwood’s trauma and how it affects his decisions is an important part of his narrative and the theme of trauma in RWBY is not saying that we have to take into account every trauma or psychological motivation behind the actions of real world leaders. )

The fact is that James shouldn't have had so much military power, or at the very least, not such seemingly unchecked control, since at least since the fall of Beacon (likely before as well, but we don’t know how much things changed). The fact that things were able to get so far without another military official of similar authority having input is a flaw in Atlas’ structure (not counting counsel members since it’s been made clear that IW is the military leader).

I don’t in any way say that in a ‘traumatized/mentally ill people can’t ever be trusted with power’ way, but rather, that this is a man who has shown obvious signs of PTSD for years, with no apparent attempts or even opportunities to address and process his trauma, or likely even acknowledge it at all.

Trauma and the lasting effects of it don’t automatically make someone unfit for leadership, but that is only as long as it is being addressed and managed properly, including having other people on the same level as you, so that your judgement alone does not control entire groups and their safety (that applies regardless of mental state but, my point here isn’t to get into complicated, real world accurate government debate)

My point is, I know how hard it is to, day after day, fight back that kind of looming fear and paranoia. How hard it is to tell yourself over and over that it is just that: paranoia. How hard it is to keep doing that, when even one or two things happen to seemingly reinforce that paranoia. Let alone when it’s huge things one after another after another.

I know how exhausting that is, and my circumstances are infinitely less dire and large scale than what James has been facing for the last few years at the very least, likely much longer.

The man broke under the pressure. And I don't fucking blame him. Of course he did.

But he happened to also be in a position of power, in a system that did not have an appropriate distribution of power in place (really not just ‘happened’, because a large part of the stress that fed into this was feeling, and actually being responsible for countless lives, maybe even the entire world.)

James sees himself as a hero. Not in a bragging, overly confident way. But as his duty, his purpose. In that he must be unbreakable, he must be able to protect whoever he can at whatever cost. He has to win, or everything will be lost. It’s not arrogant pride. It’s twisted, tunnel vision, dedication.

So, when everything depends on him, and giving into fear is unacceptable, even acknowledging his own breakdown would mean he failed.

He doesn’t just think he is a hero, he thinks he has to be. But really, he’s just a man. And, anyone who refuses to even admit to their fear, who sees their fear as something to be ashamed and afraid of itself, is eventually going to lose that battle.

And laughing at him for that weakness? Wanting to rub it in his face just how scared he really is?

Like I get it, It know its fandom and we can joke. And honestly I'm not really talking about the jokes and memes (though I personally don't like some of them, but I’m not going to just say their inherently awful altogether) or the excitement to see the drama and action of his confrontation with Qrow. I’m not meaning the cathartic tension and messy emotions. I’m meaning people actually wanting to see this all be completely shoved back in his face and watch him be brought down a peg, watch him be humiliated or killed or whatever as a way of him ‘getting what’s coming’. Or just wanting to see him beaten and made to pay for being some power hungry cruel dictator, genuinely reveling in his falling apart.

Like, y’all. It’s not going to be dropping him down a peg, or destroying some power grab. He is literally at rock bottom, backed into a corner.

It’s just honestly very disturbing seeing people so ready to revel in the complete breakdown and possible demise of a (disabled) character with obvious and intentional signs of PTSD, who had previously always been shown to be a good, if somewhat short-sighted or misguided, person.

And think about it, if you were dealing with that kind of overwhelming fear; if you were trying to keep fighting it off, and you saw someone having it shoved in their face just how scared they were, and how much damage that had caused, would you be willing to admit your fear?

Or would you become even more afraid of not being strong enough and giving in to it.

It's all cyclical. You’re afraid. You’re afraid of giving into that fear. You’re afraid of letting people down, of being hated, of being wrong, of hurting people, of becoming the villain in the end if you slip up even once and let that fear win.

In essence you're afraid of being afraid.

Yang has someone to acknowledge her fear in a safe way, she has the ability to admit how scared she is, and keep fighting anyway. Not denying her fear or feeling guilty for it, but accepting it and still moving on

It's not that bravery is just being afraid and fighting anyway. It’s also admitting how scared you really are. Letting yourself be afraid, be terrified. And admitting when you've reached a breaking point.

James isn't just not acknowledging his fear because he's too proud, or doesn't want to admit he is wrong, or give up his power.

He thinks he can't afford to be afraid. That just being afraid, just admitting it, means he is too weak to do what he sees as his biggest role: be the hero. Just admitting how scared he is would mean that he's failed.

Bravery isn't just being afraid and fighting anyway. Bravery is admitting that you are afraid and allowing that fear to be there as you keep fighting, without being ashamed of it.

People aren't either just ‘brave’ or ‘cowardly’. Being brave takes something extra, something intentional. So does being cowardly. Not being able to do the ‘brave’ or ‘right’ thing, not being able to even tell what that is, or even doing the ‘wrong’ thing because it seems like the only option, or even the ‘right’ option, doesn’t automatically make you a coward or evil.

Just because you aren't able to be brave, to be the hero, just because you make the wrong decision in the moment when you are terrified and alone, doesn't mean you are just a coward or the bad guy. That doesn't mean you've shown your true colors, and deep down you really are heartless or cruel.

I'm not the biggest fan of the entire ‘Fear is the enemy’ thing.

Because, if fear is the enemy, then how is the answer to then be afraid of fear? Fearing fear is still giving it power over you. If the worst thing you can do is give into fear, then the bravest thing you can do has to be allowing yourself to be afraid, working to keep that fear from making decisions for you, and forgiving yourself when you fail, and then just trying to do better.

Everyone is going to be afraid. Everyone is going to make the wrong decision at some point because they made it out of fear.

You aren't just allowed to be afraid. You are allowed to not be able to beat that fear 100% of the time. Hitting your limit, especially when you feel like you're doing it alone is okay. You can still come back. You can still try to do better next time, try to make amends for the mistakes you made.

That doesn't mean you don't have to face the consequences of your actions. That doesn't mean the people directly hurt by your actions are obliged to forgive you. It's not an all or nothing thing.

And none of this is to say that James is not at fault, that he isn't and shouldn't be responsible for his actions. That he shouldn’t face consequences.

But his fear, his trauma, matters. It’s at the core of his entire character.

At first, I was somewhat uncomfortable with Fear, because I thought it was saying that James was weak, wrong, the villain, for giving into his fear. That he was an example for RWBY about the dangers of letting your fear control you. That he was already lost because he had given in to his fear.

And maybe it is, I don't know.

But listening to it the other day, I noticed something hadn’t occurred to me before.

‘But our greatest fear will be realized/ when we fall and lose ourselves to fear/ we become what we’ve feared all our lives’

Now, yes, this is all about looking ahead, about being ready to make the right choice in that coming moment. About being prepared ahead of time, and thinking about how you will act when you’re afraid.

But this, and the chorus, also seem a bit reflective almost. It’s posed as future questions, but for James, he’s there already. He’s made the wrong choice. If you look at the lyrics from his perspective, it’s not about if it will happen. It’s about confronting yourself when it already has happened.

James’ greatest fear is to realize he took the wrong path, he lost sight of everything but the most basic goal, he got so caught up in trying to be the hero that he missed how much damage he was really causing. In trying to be the hero, he became a villain.

And, since the end of V7 he’s been having to face his worst fears (likely longer, but Gravity kicked it into high gear that pushed him over the edge).

He’s faced (or believed he has) betrayal, physical trauma and further ‘loss of humanity’ and is almost certainly still in shock and/or pain from the injury and the brand new (likely rushed) prosthetic, not having Oz there (or ‘on his side’), events of the Fall reoccurring with the chess piece and the school being infiltrated, seeing Salem in his office and the loss of anywhere feeling protected, losing a trusted soldier/friend, Salem attacking, the world finding out about Salem and the possible aftermath, Atlas’ defenses failing.

He’s shut down, reacting out of desperation and fear, trying to salvage whatever he can (not to mention his semblance just making it easier for him to ignore his feelings or doubts and put blinders on).

He’s alone, losing soldiers and control and protections and options.

So, him truly realizing his mistakes, and having to face the reality of what he’s done, and try to fix things?

That is the fear he has yet to face. He’s already met his first breaking point. Maybe this realization is the next, but maybe this time he’ll have someone support him enough to hold him accountable and help him come back. Give him the choice: prove he’s still capable of doing the right thing, and accepting his own weakness and need for help, or refuse to admit to his fear and truly become a ‘villain’.

--------------------

Also, at the end here I’ll tack on this total stretch of a theory that I couldn’t stop thinking about after Witch.

Oz, Leo, James, Theodore (I don’t know how Qrow or Glynda would fit into this theory, just the headmasters.)

We say Leo fell to his allusion: he was cowardly and chose to protect himself despite the cost to others.

So people think that James will fall to his allusion: He’ll be heartless.

But it still to me just feels too straight forward for the Oz characters to just all fall to their original vices.

But, in a way, Leo’s end (not his death, but his choices) was reminiscent of the wizard. He was being puppeted, hiding himself and the person really running things for his own preservation.

So, if Leo fell to Oz’s flaw?

Oz. Well, Oz was standing to protect his home, was caught up in sudden chaos and wounded (in his case killed) and flung into a new life.

So.. if it’s a cycle… Oz got a ‘second’ chance, an awakening like Dorothy. Leo got the reveal of the wizard’s lie.

What if James got the lion’s confrontation of his fears (not necessarily, and hopefully not, by dying. Also, James not dying could feed into a different progression than just the ‘headmasters dying’ pattern; Oz handed the reins over to Oscar, Leo acted to protect himself and died, maybe James is the one to have to directly face the consequences of his actions, including giving up his position). And then Theodore somehow getting a decision of heart.

The other thing with Oz being ‘Dorothy’ in this pattern, is Oscar bringing up the ‘girl who fell through the world’ myth. Which feels very much like Alice in Wonderland. And L Frank Baum was influenced by Alice when creating Dorothy. So, what if Oscar’s allusion, at least in part, is Alice.

It’s all a stretch and I don’t know what it could eventually mean but, it’s just something I couldn’t stop thinking about last week.

#my writing #RWBY V8 spoilers #James Ironwood #I still am not really happy with how I said a bunch of this #but with the ep tomorrow....#felt like I should make this post before that #imjustalittleterrified #also Ironwood hate or just general hatefulness on this will get you blocked #dont have energy for it #im not saying you gotta like him #just #some takes i see are so....#oof they just dont sit right

25 notes · View notes

silverswanqueen · 3 years

Text

Really weird to watch RWBY again just so I can sympathize with a friend of mine that brought this issue to my attention, but here I am.

Volume 7 and 8 are… a mess. I genuinely don’t recognize the characters (ANY of them, save Oscar, who didn’t have much of a character in the first place), it’s like their personalities morphed off screen or something. And good God give Qrow his alcohol back because I genuinely think he GAINS BRAINCELLS when he’s drunk because sober Qrow is dumb as hell and not the Qrow I remember.

Anyway, Penny’s return was screwed from the start.

Penny shows up, and Ruby’s like. Huh? Nothing else. No other reaction. Nope, nothing else from the girl who fell to her knees and burst into sobs when she KNEW Mercury was right behind her and could murder her if he caught up, she doesn’t react. The rest of RWBY are just like “lol so wholesome” when at the end of V3 Yang told Ruby Penny was dead in NEAR TEARS. Why do they not have a reaction? This girl was torn apart right in front of you. Eh??

“It’ll be just like Beacon again!” …that’s not a good thing? And that’s some really blatant foreshadowing in retrospect. Doesn’t make her death any better than the horrid decision it was, but whatever.

Then she goes through this whole arc about her agency and not being a “real girl” and I’m like… eh? Didn’t- Didn’t this happen? In V2? And didn’t Ruby affirm that Penny is real despite her differences to the “squishy guts” humanity and Faunus have? Why is this being rehashed? It’s boring and it’s already been done. I will say Penny getting the Maiden powers was cool and a good conclusion to that arc even though I found the arc pointless in the first place, but whatever.

Then V8 happens and Penny defects because… reasons? I don’t know. Why did she leave? Why is she letting Ruby speak for her? Why is Ironwood being depicted as a manipulator? He’s kinda spitting facts right now, but okay. Ruby, shut it, Penny’s agency was part of the problem in V7! Also if Penny has such an issue with her inability to choose it’s a weird choice to give Pietro the ability to literally take control of her entire body so he can do something on his end. Mixed signals much?

And then she gets HACKED? Okay, so the agency is still a problem… but why? She’s a real girl? Why are we still using Penny’s agency as a plot point? And then she falls, oh no so scary, and then she just happens to land in front of the Manor despite being near the MINES when she fell (how convenient), and okay cool Penny can fight the hack but now she’s knocked out and oh hey Emerald’s here and now…

Jaune just. Amplified her. Done! She’s fixed. Kind of. And now all the sudden people are saying she’s “not a machine” but SHE IS. That’s what makes Penny Penny, that’s what makes her special, and her origin shouldn’t be framed as something that she has to separate herself from to be Penny but apparently it is now. Even though in V2 Ruby explicitly stated that being a machine didn’t stop Penny from being any different from anyone else, and Penny seemed pretty happy with that conclusion. If Penny actually showed signs of something akin to maybe body dysmorphia I would have bought it, but nope. What is this? Is this another dumbass retcon?

Annnnd she’s human. Wow. What was RoosterTeeth smoking because Jesus Christ. So you validate her with her machine origin, then you erase that and validate her with the Maiden power, then you erase that and validate her with the power of her soul to fight back the hack, and then you erase that and let a naked blue man validate her by having her conform to the fleshy body that she was previously told she didn’t need to be a person and, in turn, make her pitifully easy to kill. Wow. WOW.

It’s like they thought of all these different ways to validate Penny and then said yes to all of them, and that’s just… over correcting if I’ve ever seen it. And at the same time the overcorrection leads to an easy way for Cinder to pierce Penny with those claws of hers, because I doubt the shadow hand could have punched through a metal frame.

#rwde #anti rwby

18 notes · View notes

rwby-grimm-guardians · 3 years

Text

RWBY Grimm Guardians Arc 4: Re-Bonding In Mistral Ch 6 (Part II)

Here’s Part 2 of Chapter 6.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(The next morning…)

As everyone was having breakfast, still absorbing the conversation from last night, the youngest of the team leaders went to the living room.

“Yang…” Ruby called out. Her big sister hummed from the couch, turning to face the younger of the two with a raised eyebrow. The red cloaked teenager bit her lip. She knew she shouldn’t ask this... But she wanted to try and help. “Do you...want to talk about Blake and...our other mom…?” She asked with hesitation. As expected, the blonde sighed, “Blake, yes. Mom...I’d like to wait for now.”

“She didn’t come back with Mom...did she?” Ruby asked, sitting next to her big sister on the couch. Yang shook her head, “No, but I get why. Stepmom gave Mom a choice and Mom alone has to decide if she’s ready to return.” “She’d do the same with us, if we were in that position.” She explained. “It’s just…” The blonde sighed, racking her fingers through her hair.

“I just...wished this was an easy choice for her.” She said. “I get it. She wants to protect us and proud of her for that.” Ruby nodded in agreement, before asking, “But you want her to do it where you can spend time with her. Right?” “I know it’s a bit hypocritical…” Yang said. “But, unlike Blake, I’ve been without Mom my whole life…”

“I can’t talk to her the same way I can speak to Blake.” The blonde said. “I…still don’t know Mom well enough for that.” Her younger sister nodded, “I get that. Also, unlike our other mom, you and Blake have a more effective means of staying in contact.”

Yang nodded in agreement as she rested her head on Ruby’s shoulder. “I know you’re questioning your thoughts. I am too…” The younger of the two said. “So, trust me. We’ll both get answers soon enough. I’m sure...”

“She might be anxious over Dad’s possible reaction too.” She explained. Yang nodded, before shivering, “I don’t want to know how bad THAT might end up.” Ruby nodded in agreement, “We’ll see how it goes... and support them in the best way we can.”

The blonde nodded, before the two rested on the couch. As the morning went on, they watched Jaune spending time with Pyrrha, while Ren spent time with Nora. “Those two pairs are cute together.” Yang chuckled. Ruby grinned, “Aren’t they?”

Weiss then sat down next to them, with Ruby saying, “Your mom looks WAY different now.” The heiress gave a soft chuckle, “Yeah. It’s almost unbelievable.” “But it’s nice. I’m happy with it.” Weiss smiled. “She...finally feels better about herself.”

The tallest of the three sighed, “Speaking of parents, will Blake and Gambol’s like us?”

Weiss sighed, “I hope so. I don’t want to be judged based on my father’s actions.” “From what Mom said since our virtual meeting, they seem really nice and understanding.” Ruby said. “We might be good in their eyes, if they believe Blake.”

“Speaking of Blake, she texted me earlier.” Yang said. Her sister and Weiss turned to look at the blonde, to which she said, “We’ll need to be careful. White Fang’s gonna attack Haven soon.” “Shit…” Ruby whispered, to which Yang nodded. “Yeah.” The blonde replied. “How long do we have?” The heiress asked. The blonde sighed, “Approximately two weeks. They could attack earlier. We’ll need to hurry and be cautious.” “Blake and her family will be coming to help us out.” She explained.

Ruby and Weiss nodded. That was, at least, one good sign.

The three noticed Evergreen comforting Oscar in the kitchen. “Seems like last night made him feel worse about himself.” The youngest of the three said. Yang nodded, “It was Ozma, not him.” The heiress nodded, “Though it seems he’s struggling to see the difference.”

The sister pair nodded in agreement. Qrow entered the living room with a mug of coffee, before looking at his nieces. The two just each gave him a reassuring nod, before he gently combed their bangs out of their eyes with a chuckle.

“Guys…?”

Everyone turned to face Summer as she entered the room, before Ruby, Yang, Qrow, and Evergreen’s eyes widened. As the former STRQ leader stood before them, she was in the EXACT appearance she had prior to her death. She was shorter, had no scars, had longer hair, and had her black dress again.

Yang immediately sat up, before she and Ruby began standing.

“Sum…?” The former bandit called out, covering his lips in shock as he almost dropped the mug. His former leader nodded, shaking, “Please...tell me I’m not DREAMING. Please tell me...that I’m still here.”

Immediately, the former bandit realized that his former leader had triggered her strongest ability. Her unique semblance: Transformation.

Putting the mug on the table, Qrow walked up to her and racked his fingers through the woman’s hair, before holding her. “I’m SO proud of you…” He said, a smile forming on his face. “You remembered your greatest strength.” Something in the former STRQ leader cracked as she broke into tears, burying her face into the now taller man’s shoulder and holding him tightly. “It’s okay, Sum. It’s okay.” The former bandit whispered. “This is real. You’re not dreaming. You’re still here.”

Yang and Ruby, without hesitation, immediately rushed up to them and hugged their mom. Qrow gave a weak, yet genuine chuckle as he said, “I’m so proud of you…” Summer finally pulled back a bit, wiping her face dry and sniffing. “Sorry…” She mumbled, referring to the stain on Qrow’s shoulder. The former bandit smiled, “Don’t be. You know I’d sacrifice a dry shoulder for you, Rae, Tai, and the kids any day.”

The now shorter woman nodded, before holding her daughters...or at least attempting to, given that the two had wrapped their arms around her waist and abdomen from behind her.

As the two teenagers released their hold on the former STRQ leader, she let out a sigh. “I’ve missed this…” She mumbled with a tired smile, before pointing at the stubbled man in front of her. “Doesn’t mean you get to use the height jokes, Qrow.” The former bandit gave a fake pout, “You’re no fun.” Summer gave a genuine chuckle, “And even though I’m shorter, I’m still a can of ass-kicking. I told you that ages ago.” Qrow smiled, raising his hands with a nod, “Yes, yes. You did.”

The two stood like that for a few moments, before Summer once again tightly hugged the taller man. “Easy, Sum…” The former bandit said with a smile. “I got you.” He felt his former leader nod, tightening her hold on him.

Summer began to wonder if this was what it was like. To love yourself.

…

She believed that this was probably ONE way to love yourself. If so, she’d take it with every bit of joy in her. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Some time later…at Haven Academy…)

Finally the group had arrived at the academy. And as they entered, the headmaster, Leonardo Lionheart welcomed them. “Why hello. Thank you for...coming.” He said with a nervous chuckle. “There seems to be...more of you than last time.” Everyone raised an eyebrow, before Qrow said, “Well, the more the merrier, as they say. What’s going on with the council?” “Why did you...bring your weapons?” Lionheart asked.

Once again, the group was confused by the headmaster’s nervous tone…

As well as getting suspicious…

“We’re huntsmen, Lionheart.” Evergreen said, before giving his fellow headmaster a concerned expression. “Is everything alright?” The bearded faunus nodded, “Yes, of course! I apologize.” “Haven’t had my evening coffee yet.” He explained.

Summer and Evergreen knew THAT was a lie and a half.

Suddenly, Summer felt Yang gently tugging on her sleeve as she whispered, “Mom’s here.” The former STRQ leader knew Ember heard that...and probably Ruby and Qrow too. The tallest of the group turned towards the balcony Yang was now pointing to, revealing a black bird on it. Nodding, she then said, “Raven… If you could be polite and come down here, please.”

The group watched as the bird flew from the balcony and landed in front of Summer, before transforming and revealing Raven, removing her mask...and still wearing Summer’s cloak. “You are too observant for your own good.” She said...with a noticeably somber tone.

That alone made Yang realize that her mother didn’t want to be at Haven. Qrow went up to the two, asking, “The hell are you doing here…?” Summer continued to look at her former partner in the eye, before whispering, “You’re not here by choice… Are you?”

The tribe leader sighed, whispering, “Bribed. Salem’s brats want the Relic.” The twins could hear the uncanny wolf growl from their former leader. “And Vampier?” The taller woman asked. Raven closed her eyes, “She’ll be here too.”

Summer sighed, “Very well then. I can make her beg for mercy again.” “I know you will.” The elder Branwen whispered with a small smirk. “Plan is to trick them into fucking up.” The taller woman chuckled, “I’m glad you still got that clever side of you.” The twins smiled, before noticing their former leader grinning as she said to them, “Better make this convincing. Got it?”

“Yes, ma’am.” The Branwens whispered, obviously a little anxious by how willing Summer seemed to go along with this plan. The three then backed up from each other, before Summer whispered in each of her daughters’ ears. As she did that, Qrow successfully managed to distract Lionheart by asking Raven in a convincing angry tone, “There’s only one reason you’d be here. You got the Spring Maiden, right?”

Unexpectedly, the elder twin gave Qrow a noticeable flinch. His jaw nearly dropped in shock. ‘Oh fuck, do NOT tell me…’ He thought to himself in worry. Summer paled, realizing that Qrow didn’t know that Raven was a Maiden...and she was certain the tribe leader was internally panicking. ‘Those two need to play their cards VERY carefully right now.’ She thought. ‘Or we’re so fucked…’

“I do.” Raven said...and as expected, Qrow was even more shocked. ‘Fuck…’ He thought, before saying, “Okay… Then help us by letting her join us…” “Not that simple, little brother.” The tribe leader said. “You know as well as I do that fighting Salem is just a LOSING battle.” Her little brother sighed, “Rae, we’ve been over this. We can stop her. She’s not invincible.”

“She’s right, Qrow.” Summer suddenly said in a monotone voice, drawing a lot of shocked reactions towards her. “Nearly...died ONCE...against Salem.”

The twins and Evergreen looked the most horrified out of everyone present. Against her better judgement, the elder Branwen asked, “Then why are you still fighting?” “Not. Just...protecting you all…” Her former leader said, once again in a monotone voice. The twins felt like their hearts SHATTERED when they heard that. Raven could tell that Evergreen seemed very guiltful over this. Summer’s fingers twitched, before she said, “Can’t kill HER. But her TOOLS, on the other hand…”

“Kill off...or defeat her support? She’s alone.” The former STRQ leader said. “We can, at least...make her fail.” She then perked up, looking around her, as if she had forgotten where she was. Summer then cleared her throat, before saying, “Sorry… That was...something I needed to get off my chest...for quite some time.” “I think…” She mumbled. The group and Raven assumed that the taller woman just had a flashback and whatever thoughts that were still buried decided to show up.

Raven seemed to know very well as to what Summer was talking about earlier.

“As much as I’d like to continue this discussion...and be proven wrong....” The tribe leader started. “This group won’t let me waste anymore time.” She then half-heartedly swung Omen down, opening a portal. A fireball and an energy blast launched out, both hitting Summer to little effect. She had dashed in front of Ruby...and as the smoke cleared, the former STRQ leader glared into the portal. “I see you got a new toy to play with.” She said as Vampier stepped out.

The Bat Queen grinned smugly, “Yeah. Do you like it?” “A...friend of mine has a new toy as well.” She said pointing at the portal as Cinder stepped into the room. The teenagers paled as their eyes widened in shock.

“Thought you saw the last of me, brats?” The red-dressed woman grinned. She and Vampier then looked at a now-furious Pyrrha. The Bat Queen raised an eyebrow, “Aren’t you supposed to be dead?”

It was taking a lot of strength from Jaune, Ren, and Nora to make sure the armored redhead didn’t rush in and get fatally injured again. Cinder looked at Ruby, who looked like she saw a ghost. “Did you like my gift?” The Fall Maiden asked with a grin.

“How…?” The red cloaked teenager asked, shocked that CInder was standing RIGHT IN FRONT OF HER. Her mind almost flashed back to her nightmare as the red-dressed woman sighed, “Salem’s QUITE generous. Gave me a new arm, new ability…”

“And freed me from my FEAR of you damn brats.” She emphasized with a grin. She then snapped her fingers and soon, Mercury, Emerald, and Vernal had entered the room. “Ah, if it isn’t the assholes who tried to make us look bad.” Yang smirked. “Now we can kick your asses without feeling guilty.” Ruby managed to ignore Cinder as she looked at her sister and Ember, “You two want my scythe?”

The taller blonde ruffled the younger Rose’s hair, “Thanks, kid. But we’d rather punch their teeth out.”, before going into Yang’s gauntlet. The blonde teenager looked at Ruby, obviously concerned as she whispered, “Are you going to be okay?” The younger of the two shook her head, “I...really don’t know…” Weiss put a hand on her leader’s shoulder, “You understand that you have us to help you. Right?”

Ruby gave a small smile and nodded, before jumping as Willow shielded them from another fireball. “What’s the game plan?” She asked Summer. The former STRQ leader narrowed her eyes, before saying, “Vampier’s mine.” She then looked at the teenagers, “Can you take on Cinder and her brainwashed children?” After a few moments of silence of looking at each other, both teams nodded. Summer smiled, giving them a reassuring nod.

She then looked at Qrow and Evergreen, “You two and Willow try to take on Raven and Vernal.” “At least to make this somewhat believable to Cinder…” She whispered. The three adults nodded, before Qrow and Summer noticed a brief, but thankful smile on the tribe leader’s face. “Do me a favor and don’t hold back, brawd.” Raven said. Reluctantly, Qrow nodded, “If that’s what you want, chwaer.”

Cinder formed a flame in her hand with a grin, while Vampier charged her new pistols. “If we’re all done with this chit-chat…” The Fall Maiden started. “Time. For. Some. FUN!” Summer immediately pulled out her sabers, before everyone began charging at each other. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- God, this was hard, but I hope it was good enough.

College is a pain in the fucking ass and some personal shit with anxiety had also prolonged this.

Now, Transformation works like this: Summer can transform into things that represent her or her bloodline (for example: A giant gray wolf, a legit giant, a Beowolf Grimm, herself prior to her death or during Beacon, and...something else that will be revealed in the future, hopefully). She can partially transform into other creatures, but it’s difficult to do so. Also, she prefers not doing it with other things.

Of course, these forms (excluding the mysterious one (for reasons not yet set in stone) and her appearances prior to her initial death (because it's just a cosmetic change)) all have their own benefits and flaws.

Naturally, her wolf forms can allow her to communicate with canines, like Zwei for example. As her Beowolf Grimm form was granted by the Grimm blood now inside her, she’s able to communicate with Grimm.

The next three chapters will ALL be about Haven’s fall. With a LOT of differences.

7 notes · View notes

misstrashchan · 4 years

Text

The Man With Two Souls, Pt. 2

Okay, so this ended up being a fucking long part 2 to my previous meta post. There was a lot I wanted to get down, and if it doesn't make sense or you don't agree with it, that's fine, I'd just be happy if you read it. Now I can rest until the finale comes and beats me up.

So, there's a few more Salem and Adam parallels to start off with like

(8) Having the same reaction to hearing someone mention Blake and Oz and the possibility of them getting the upper hand against them

(9) Chronologically after this happens (we see Adam destroy the throne room in Volume 6 episode 2, but we see him lose his mask at the end of the Adam trailer) deciding to go after Blake on his own while Salem creates the winged Beringel grimm and plans to go to Atlas herself, presumably to go after Oscar/Ozpin so he doesn't get in the way of her plans (as well as Ruby since she clearly needs her as well)

"If you want something done right, you do it yourself" - Volume 6 Chapter 13

(10) Adam and Salem telling Blake and Oz about how they're going to destroy them and those around them

"The ability to derive strength from hope is undoubtedly mankind's greatest attribute. Which is why I will focus all of my effort to snuff it out. How does it feel? Knowing that all your time and effort has been for nothing. That your guardians have failed you. That everything you've built will be torn down before your very eyes."

"So you send your guardians, your huntsman and huntresses. And when they fail and you turn to your smaller soul, know that you send her to the same pitiful demise. This is the beginning of the end, Ozpin. And I can't wait to watch you burn." - Salem, Volume 3 Chapter 12

"What you want is impossible! But I understand. Because all I want is you, Blake. And as I set out and deliver the justice mankind so greatly deserves, I will make it my mission to destroy everything you love. Starting with her." - Adam, Volume 3 Chapter 11

(11) Salem and Adam's perception of Oz and Blake affecting their perspective of themselves... and the audience.

Okay, this one's honestly kind of weird. For so, so long there were a lot of people who bought into the idea that Ozpin was secretly evil or somehow worse than Salem, or that he'd done something terrible and unforgivable to Salem. I fully admit, I was one of those people. I mean, I didn't think he was evil, but the way Salem talked to him at the end of volume 3, listening to the song Divide, I thought, he must have done something bad to Salem, right? How could she hate him so much otherwise?

And the worst thing he did... was leave her. When he couldn't go along with being a genocidal dictator of the whole world alongside Salem, and didn't want their children to be a part of that either.

And as for Adam, he tells Blake that she hurt him more than anybody because she left him.

"All sorts of people hurt me in all sorts of different ways. But no one hurt me quite like you, Blake. You didn't leave scars. You just left me alone." - Adam, Volume 6 Chapter 12

And Salem would also have been hurt from Ozma trying to leave her. Especially when you think about her backstory, how she was kept isolated in a tower, and instead of finding freedom in the outside world, found it in Ozma. And then he died, and she was alone again. And then the Gods destroyed humanity, and Salem is left alone one again for god knows how long.

"Once again, Salem was alone." - Volume 6 Chapter 3

And weirdly, similar to Ozpin there were people who bought into Adam's false perception of Blake too. That Blake is somehow the one who hurt Adam more than he hurt her (which is, completely insane).

And Salem and Adam want Oz and Blake to feel that way. To be paralyzed with self hatred and doubt, to be stuck in the past, and feel as if everything is their fault. That Salem and Adam are their responsibility, at first to save them, and then to stop them.

You see it with Adam's gaslighting, trying to paint her as an unfaithful coward. And I mean, just listen to the song Divide. The whole song is Salem trying to make out Ozpin to be the villain, that she's killing people but the real murderer is him for trying to give people hope, even if it was hope based on a desperate lie.

"It was you who ended their lives! Made them to dig their own graves! With your dark, sick, cruel design, convinced them their world could be saved." - Divide

And there were a lot of people convinced by Salem's song Divide that Ozpin was far worse than he really was, to the point it was surprising that he hadn't wronged Salem in some way like most people were expecting.

And Adam tries to make Blake believe that she's a coward, that she's selfish and weak, that running away from her problems is all she knows how to do.

And for a long while, Blake believed he was right. That she was toxic to the people around her, that she made things worse for them. And there were some people in the fandom who thought that she really was this toxic person.

It's actually kind of scary, but Salem and Adam managed to manipulate not only Blake and Oz's perception of themselves, but also the audience as well in how they saw them.

I don't doubt for a moment this is going to extend to Oscar as well if she meets him, that she'll likely try to convince him that he's just Ozpin and that he, Oscar, doesn't matter, and he'll fail and make the same mistakes as their past lives. Which undoubtedly parts of the fandom are going to take Salem's false perception of Oscar to heart as well and believe her.

Which brings me to move on from Blake's parallels with her first "soul" and Ozpin, to her second "soul" and Oscar.

Now Blake alluding to the Man with Two Souls is metaphorical, while in Oscar's case it's very literal, and it's no coincidence she's the one who first introduces us to the concept to us with the book she's reading during the Shining Beacon.

"...It's about a man with two souls. Each fighting for control over his body"

(It's important to note that the conflict between the two souls is not one of Good vs Evil)

Blake's conflict of her two metaphorical souls fighting for control, is the false perception Adam had of Blake and who she used to be with him, her past that she can't escape, and the struggle for her smaller, more honest soul, trying to define herself and decide who she wants to be. And for Oscar, he's struggling to define himself and decide who he wants to be, because of the merge with Ozpin, and that his past will become Oscar's too.

Both of them want to do the right thing and rise to their challenges, but it seems like such an impossible task to them that they're afraid to meet it.

"I'm... scared. I'm more scared than I've ever been. Than I ever thought was possible. I always knew I wanted to be more than a farmhand. But this? Who would ask for this?" - Oscar, Volume 5 Chapter 5

"I joined the Academy because I knew that Huntsman and Huntresses were regarded as the most noble warriors in the world. Always fighting for good. But I never really thought past that. When I leave the Academy what will I... How can I undo so many years of hate?" - Blake, Volume 2, Chapter 10

But the person who sees Blake's "other soul" the person she's truly capable of being, who she really is, even when she can't herself, is Yang.

"I'm sure you'll figure something out. You're not one to back down from a challenge Blake." - Yang, Volume 2 Chapter 10

And the one who sees Oscar and who he's capable of being even when he can't himself, is Ruby.

"Hey Oscar? I know this isn't going to be easy. But the fact that you're trying says a lot about you. You're braver than you think." - Ruby, Volume 5 Chapter 5

Blake and Oscar are also the first people we see Yang and Ruby open up to about their past trauma. The difference between the two being that in the Burning the Candle scene Yang is more willing to be vulnerable around Blake, to let her guard down and open up to her about her abandonment issues and how they've affected her.

Because as a more emotionally mature character she understands she needs to do that in order to properly relate to Blake so she can offer her support. She gets frustrated however when Blake still refuses her support, and so she has to give her a push to accept it.

Ruby, however, isn't as emotionally mature as Yang, and doesn't find it easy to let down her guard and talk about her emotions. Her mentality being described as "I don't have time for my emotions, I've got to make sure everybody else is okay" - RWBY Rewind: Ruby Rose Rewinds With Us

She feels like she constantly needs to be a pillar of strength and support for everyone around her as a leader. She has a hard time opening up about her own feelings and being vulnerable around others. For her, it seems much more natural to internalize those feelings rather than face them head on. As a leader, she feels she isn't supposed to show fear or doubt. If she admits how she's hurting or how scared she is, she'd be afraid of those around her losing faith.

Ironically, it's Ozpin's words of advice to her that enforce this mentality

"But if you aren't constantly performing at your best, what reason do you give others to follow you?"

So even though only a minute ago Oscar saw that Ruby was clearly upset over something (being reminded of Penny's death)

Ruby then goes on to act like nothing's wrong when she then attempts to reassure Oscar. And it feels like a performance, and though Ruby genuinely does want to reassure him, it comes across as insincere to him. He's frustrated because Ruby isn't being honest about how she's feeling, and is only concerned with his feelings.

So in the Dojo scene we have Oscar start to push Ruby past that flawed mentality that Ozpin enforced, to be more honest about how she's feeling, to talk about how the Fall of Beacon and the loss of Phyrra and Penny affected her, how she's afraid of Salem killing people she cares about, and that she'd kill anyone regardless.

And with both Ruby and Yang opening up about their past experiences they can relate to Blake and Oscar's own fears, doubts and insecurities. Blake's need for answers and Oscar's fear of the fight with Salem, and Yang's need for answers and Ruby's fear of the fight with Salem.

"I told you! I'm not telling you to stop! I haven't. To this day I still want to know what happened to my mother and why she left me. But I will never let that search control me. We're going to find the answers we're looking for Blake. But if we destroy ourselves in the process what good are we?" - Yang, Volume 2 Chapter 6

"I am scared! But not just for me. What happened at Beacon shows that Salem doesn't care if you're standing against her or not. She'll kill anybody. And that, scares me most of all. Phyrra... Penny... I'd be lying if I said it didn't hurt. That I didn't think about them every day since I lost them. That I didn't wish I had spent more time with them. If it had been me instead, I know they would have kept fighting too. No matter how dangerous it was. So that's what I choose to do. To keep moving forward." - Ruby, Volume 5 Chapter 5

And by demonstrating their own resolve, as well as their belief in the kind of people Blake and Oscar are capable of being that inspires them to be that person.

"I'm. Not. Running."

"You. Will." - Blake and Adam, Volume 3 Chapter 11

"She made a choice. To put others before herself. And so do I."

"Then you've chosen death." - Oscar and Hazel, Volume 5 Chapter 12

There's also Blake expressing her doubt in Yang during volume 3 after she attacked Mecury, causing Yang to question her own judgement.

She compares it to how Adam used to attack people, and of course she knows Yang wouldn't do something like that without good reason, but she can't but feel like the situation is very familiar. And Blake knows Yang isn't Adam, and makes it clear that she's decided to trust Yang.

"I want to trust you. I will trust you." - Volume 3 Chapter 8

But despite that, Blake's words do still weigh on her mind even when she's alone, where Qrow comes to talk to her about what happened and reassure her, and then they end up talking about her mum.

And then with Ruby in volume 7, Oscar expresses his doubt in Ruby in her decision to lie and hide the truth from Ironwood, comparing it to how Ozpin did the same to them, which, similar to Yang, causes Ruby to question her own judgement. And obviously he knows Ruby isn't Ozpin, that she probably had a good reason for lying. But again, the situation just feels so familiar.

But ultimately he decides to put his trust in Ruby, even before Ironwood.

"I do believe in you. But not only you." - Volume 7 Chapter 7

And by episode 9 they're both on the same page in deciding to choose the truth over fear. (if only James could have stayed on that page too)

Similarly to Yang, we see Ruby alone in episode 4 of volume 7, and you can tell Oscar's words are still weighing on her mind, as Qrow comes over to talk to her and she asks him if she is like Ozpin, and he reassures her that she's not, and then they end up talking about her mother.

Okay, so I'm going to go out on a limb here, and you can call me out on my bullshit if you like, but I'm making a prediction (like, 12 hours from the finale, but hey, it might happen later in the series for all I know)

If we're going full in on the parallels here, remember how Yang lost an arm trying to protect Blake from Adam, and afterwards Blake ends up leaving Yang like Raven, believing she'd be better off without her?

And how Salem is on her way to Atlas after hearing Ozpin had reincarnated, the foreshadowing for Ruby losing an eye and them bringing up her trauma around Summer in Chapter 11?

On top of her wanting Ruby alive?

I'm gonna guess Ruby loses an eye trying to protect Oscar, and then afterwards either Oscar or Ruby tries to sacrifice and give themselves up to Salem, except it ends up being a hollow sacrifice like Summer's

"I didn't have a choice I did what I had to do I made a sacrifice but forced a bigger sacrifice on you!" - Red like Roses Part 2

Because Salem would end up taking both of them either way. I actually can't imagine a scenario where she doesn't, because she needs both of them. But one of them has a worse fate, a "bigger sacrifice" in store for them when they reach Evernight (which I'm still thinking is Ruby)

#rwby #ozpin #oscar pine #yang xiao long #ruby rose #salem #blake belladona #adam taurus #trash meta #thank FUCK I can finally sleep #thanks to anyone who read this to the end #I don't think I'm any good at this but it feels good to just waffle sometimes

31 notes · View notes

valkyrieelysia18 · 4 years

Text

RWBY Rewrite: Pyrrha Nikos

Hello again! And this time I get to use that for the right post. Today we are taking a look at one of the characters that got severely short changed when it came to character development Pyrrha Nikos.

Pyrrha is perhaps one of the more popular characters of RWBY and her background and fighting abilities gave her immense potential. Her personality was rather sweet too. Unfortunately, the first two volumes didn’t really give her much outside of Jaune and when we finally got something in the third volume, she got killed off. Here’s the thing....I don’t actually mind that she got killed off.

Now before you all crucify me, let me explain. Volume 3 was a mixed bag of storytelling, but I don’t have any problems with the deaths and losses. It was a good way of setting the tone going forward: People are going to die, characters we have grown close to aren’t safe, and even our main team is not untouchable. Pyrrha’s death, the death of the seemingly untouchable perfect hero that seemed fated for success, was honestly a good idea.....executed poorly.

To get what I’m going on about, I’m going to talk about one of the few things I think the original Fullmetal Alchemist anime did better Brotherhood; the buildup and death of Maes Hughes. We get introduced to him a couple of years prior to the story’s present and when we come back to the current time, we see Maes quite a bit whether it helping the other characters or just him being his loveable self. We know him and his family very well. We see him as a father, a husband, a soldier, and a friend. When he dies, its a genuine gut punch. Especially because we know he had a life prior to the plot.

That was never something I got from Pyrrha. For someone who hates her fame, we don’t really see her deal with it all that much outside of her first conversation with Weiss and the Pumpkin Pete’s advertising which one episode in early Volume 1. We only get her talking about one member of her family (her mother) and it’s never brought up again. No, that scene in Argus does not count. Show, don’t tell is a very much a problem with Pyrrha’s story arc.

Then of course there is the biggest problem of all this: her relationship with Jaune. Now, I’m going to get into this more when we get to the Rewrite for the Jaunedice Arc, but I’ll give you a brief overview of feelings on him. I like Jaune and I don’t think that he’s an inherently bad character. He does have some good qualities and potential. Unfortunately, even though I like Jaune, I recognize that he has gotten way too much screen time (to the detriment of many other characters including Ruby and Pyrrha) and he has gotten away with a lot of things with little blowback to himself. I guess I’m more inclined to blame the writers than Jaune because everyone is done in by the writing. So, it’s still going to be there, but majorly changed to make it a lot more balanced and believable. Basically, the relationship is important to her, but it doesn’t define who she is as a character.

I feel this writing is going to get a bit more in depth so prepare yourself accordingly. Also note that I dropped RWBY after Volume 6 so anything introduced or mentioned in Volume 7 and beyond will be disregarded. So let’s get into it!

Before Beacon: Prophecy and Fame

In this Rewrite, Pyrrha was born in a port city in Southern Anima that draws heavily from the Ancient Greco-Roman culture. She was the only child of very prosperous merchants, her family having gained great wealth following the Great War due to their ties to other kingdoms in trade. Much like Weiss’s family, they’re relatively noveau rich. Her parents doted on her and when she got older, they saw she was a natural in the art of combat. They took her to a seer in the city, an older woman by the name of Laurel Visione who as you might guess is a reference to the Oracle of Delphi. Laurel tells Pyrrha and her parents that she was blessed with great strength and talent. That her star is bright and she has the ability to become a great warrior with a great destiny.

Her parents are pleased by these words, but Pyrrha notices the woman seems to be holding something back. As her parents leave, she lingers behind and asks the woman about it. Laurel smiles and tells that those gifted with that much brightness, also tend to burn out young. She goes on and tells Pyrrha that if she chooses the path of a hero, she will save many lives and inspire many more, but it will also take her away from what she truly wants. It doesn’t mean that she will die, free will should always be taken into account, but if she chooses this path she will meet death sooner rather than later. She’s telling Pyrrha this because it’s her destiny, not her parents, and its up to her to choose how she’s going to face that destiny. As a parting piece of advice, she tells her that everything happens for a reason, even if we don’t see that reason until much later.

Pyrrha keeps this all in mind, as well as keeping it a secret from her parents. We’ll get back to Laurel later.

Her parents, unaware of this, go all out in supporting her in her training. With every new tournament and success, their pride grows even more. They do however realize, that the success is affecting her standing among her peers, her fame making it all but impossible for her to have friends. There is an also accident with Pyrrha’s semblance that almost permanently injured someone because Pyrrha lost control. As a result, Pyrrha only uses a fraction of her semblance’s power and that gives more context to when she got upset during Volume 3 when she used it on Jaune in the courtyard.

When she announces to her parents she’s applying for Beacon, they’re shocked. Not everyone who graduates from a combat school ends up at the Academies (such institutes are super competitive) and with Pyrrha’s semblance mainly geared towards fighting people, throwing away her tournament career when she’s at the top of her game seems rash. Tournament fighting isn’t easy and isn’t as prestigious as being a Huntress, but it’s also much safer with sanctioned rules and the paycheck being just as lucrative. Not to mention, she’d be doing her schooling on a completely different continent. As parents, they love their daughter and want what's best for her, but they honestly can’t understand why she’s doing this. Nevertheless, she’s made her decision and there’s nothing they can say to change her mind. All they can do is see her off with a smile and wish her well.

Beacon: Fame, Friendship, and Love

Now a somewhat constant thing that comes up with Pyrrha during her school days is that her fame is very much hanging over her. Students are constantly trying to get her autograph, people like Cardin try to rile her up, and during the tournament some Haven students openly disparage her for transferring to another kingdom. This will eventually allow her and Weiss to get closer, as Weiss has had to deal with fame and even higher expectations since she was younger than Pyrrha.

Her relationship with her teammates become the first genuine experiences she has with friendship; Nora is a great workout buddy who makes everyone laugh and Ren is someone she can talk a lot of things over with such as the differences between Central Anima and Southern Anima. However, she is new to working with a team and it takes her a little while to get used to it. This is part of the reason why she’s so trusting of Jaune’s leadership at the beginning until it is shaken by him revealing the truth about his transcripts.

Of course, being a rewrite she also gets a lot more interaction with Team RWBY. Her relationship with Ruby is very much highlighted with the younger girl being a tad more idealistic and naïve with Pyrrha being a bit more reserved and more knowledgeable about her future goals. These two are very much foils to each other, which I will get to later on.

Then of course there is her relationship with Jaune. In the show, she says that Jaune was the first person to treat her as a regular girl and this rewrite will be showing that. While others will be interested in her accolades and fame, Jaune will show interest in Pyrrha as a person like the things she enjoys and what growing up for her was like. They start on a strong friendship with Pyrrha’s feelings developing into something more and Jaune a tad more oblivious to it. This will definitely change their relationship from Volumes 1 and 2, but not 3. Though I would probably cut out one of the Arkos songs because there are two more than it needs to be. It gives off the impression that Pyrrha defined herself solely by her relationship with Jaune and you never want to make a character come off as just a love interest to another character. And there are so many other people who would probably benefit with a song POV.

Death: Aftermath and Distrust

The main difference about Pyrrha’s death in canon and this rewrite is that her death affects everyone in the main group, especially her teammates and Ruby. Jaune is still very affected as he was her partner and friend and still has very conflicted thoughts over her romantic feelings towards him, but Ren and Nora are also noticeably grieving her in their own ways. Ruby tries to bottle it up most of the time, much like how she treats a lot of her negative emotions and that comes back to bite her much later on when she is at her lowest and reaches her emotional breaking point. For most of the story, she gets very haunting dreams about Pyrrha (occasionally accompanied by Penny) saying that she has accepted her destiny and questions what Ruby is going to do. This will be foreshadowing for what I’ll talk about in the next section.

The biggest effect that Pyrrha’s death has is that JNR is much more distrusting of Ozpin than RWBY. While they will recognize that Pyrrha made her own decision and they blame Cinder and the others for her death, they still see the whole choice presented to Pyrrha as extremely sketchy and questionable. Pyrrha was the type of person who would not have said no if it meant saving people. And more than just what could have been the result of the transfer, its the fact that they chose a first year student for the job when there should have been better candidates with more experience and a better understanding of what they were getting into (especially as we know the cut off date for Maiden powers is 30).

Jaune, Ren, and Nora still see Salem and her group as the biggest threat to humanity, but that doesn’t mean they like or trust Ozpin (this is not the same for Oscar, but that’s another post). And given that this rewrite will make Oz a much more morally gray character who HAS done some pretty reprehensible things in his conflict with Salem, this distrust will turn out to be very much justified.

Another change to the story is that after Mistral Arc, JNR would actually split off from the main group. Getting the Relic to Atlas is definitely a priority, but this also leaves Shade Academy in a bit of the dark with how things are going. So RWBY, Qrow, and Ozcar would head to Atlas with the Relic while JNR accompanied by Team SSSN would head to Vacuo (which doesn’t have closed borders and therefore would be easier to travel to) after a taking a short detour to Pyrrha’s hometown to give the news to her parents in person. This would make writing the Atlas Arc easier by trimming down the size of the group.

The meeting with Pyrrha’s parents....does not go well. The actual confirmation of their daughter’s death is heartbreaking and their grief and anger is focused on the immediate targets: her teammates. They angrily ask why they didn’t try to stop her or get professional help. They especially treat Jaune harshly when he tells them she sent him away before going to confront Cinder. The three very much realize that they’re not welcome and present what’s left of Pyrrha’s personal things (including her circlet). The two calm down a bit as they see these things and accept them with thanks, but politely tell the group to leave and allow them to grieve alone. They disapproved of her choice and this result makes them feel justified in their opinion. They feel cheated of their only child, who could have done so much...had she not chosen to become a Huntress.

As JNR leaves the house, they’re greeted by Laurel Visione. After a brief conversation about her past with Pyrrha in Laurel’s home, they question why she would tell Pyrrha about her destiny if that destiny would lead to her death. Laurel would tell them that she wanted to Pyrrha to understand the full risks of the path she was walking towards. If she wanted to turn back from that, she could have, she’d have more than enough time to come to the decision, but she choose not to. She accepted her destiny and had viewed it with a measure of peace. Laurel states that she probably died with some regrets, very few people don’t, but she made her own decision to that end and she wouldn’t have blamed anyone for it.

Before the group leave to meet up with Team SSSN to head to Shade, Laurel tells them one last thing: That the choice that Pyrrha had in front of her is the same one that Ruby is also going to deal with.

Destiny: Ruby

Perhaps the best way to summarize the foil relationship between Pyrrha and Ruby is a quote from one of my favorite animes of all time Princess Tutu: “Those who accept their fate find happiness; those who defy it, glory.”

Pyrrha knew from practically the beginning that her destiny as a hero would lead to an early end. And she accepted it. If it meant saving others and doing what was right, she would gladly give her life to do so. During Volume 3 with the Maiden choice hanging over is when she actually considers walking away from everything and staying with her friends, realizing what Laurel meant all those years ago. But in the end, she still chose her path even if she didn’t know everything about what was going on.

As for Ruby, I mentioned Raven giving a warning to Ruby about using her eyes would lead to an early grave like her mother and grandfather (who are posthumous characters who will play a role in the greater story). I’m not going into specifics right now, but the Silver Eyes bear a great cost in this Rewrite and almost all Silver Eyed Warriors die extremely young. The path of a Silver Eye, of a great hero that Ruby had wanted to emulate, will turn out to have a dark price to it.

The difference between Ruby and Pyrrha is that Ruby does not accept this fate. She will not walk away from the fight, but she is not going to readily sacrifice herself either. She is going to take a look at her fate, her people’s history, Ozpin and Salem’s conflict, and tell them to screw destiny. Screw people making assumptions and choices for her. The only person who gets decide who she is and what she stands for is her. And everyone has the right to make that same decision.

OKAY, that post took longer than I thought it was going to. At least I got it out before I went with my family on our Christmas vacation. The next post will probably get out in 2020. As for the topic, let’s just say it’s not about a person....

#rwde #pyrrha nikos #Jaune Arc #ruby rose #rwby rewrite #lie ren #nora valkyrie #arkos

43 notes · View notes

missfinefeather · 4 years

Video

youtube

Link: https://youtu.be/89P6uir40ZI

Ah! Yang! a Character who really couldn’t get a break this volume!

Her power moments keep getting upstaged!

0:00 - Did you really begin your song by announcing it’s starting?

0:04 - Is she, talking about her mother? How she spiraled downward after learning her dad didn’t give a flying crap about them?

0:43 - Okay 0.0; Not sure how this is attached to Weiss this volume. I mean, she got out of a crappy place because it was crappy, then got out of another crappy place. I guess she lost the comfort of her kind butler, but outside that she only really lost bad things.

Reuniting with team RWBY was the best thing that could have happened to her.

So, i’m not sure what this song is referring to...

Oh, okay :O

Forgot about the shorts.

0:58 - I mean, that’s true. I can relate to that.

1:09 - WOO! DRUMS HERE TO LIVEN THINGS UP! :D

Guessing this is when Winter’s grimm start showing up and the fighting begins!

1:34 - True. It’s genuinely difficult to figure yourself out when you’re trying to live up to other people’s expectations.

Not finding much to talk about so far. I mean, I could go on about my personal experiences again, but I’m not really in the mood to cry right now.

1:40 - Oooh, this is a good line!

Yeah, they guys in the Schnee family were so two faced...

2:00 - I can relate to this too, but not for the same reason.

Gender Dysphoria and all.

I wish the guyness in my appearance will just go away! x.x; I mean, I know it’s mostly in my head but still!!

2:50 - Pretty sure your heart draining is a bad thing. I think that’s caused by bleeding a lot...

2:56 - Oh... I can’t say I’ve self-harmed physically

Then again, I’ve never see Weiss do that, so maybe she means emotionally? Because I’ve definitely done that in a emotional way.

Just, stay in bed for hours, practically meditating on how much I suck and how I’m going to die alone.

I don’t do that as much anymore thought I slip into those moods from time to time.

3:01 - Oof, aint that the truth when you slip into those mindsets.

3:26 - Ooh! And it just transitions to Mirror Mirror! Nice! :D

The melody I mean. I don’t know if the lyrics are doing that.

3:46 - It’s, interesting considering my gender dysporia, but conflicts of identity hasn’t been... well... I mean, as soon as I realized what I wanted in life, I’ve always been resolute in that’s what I wanted. I’ve been thinking of stories since I was really young, and I always knew that’s what I wanted to do with my life. As soon I came out of denial about being transgender, I knew that getting a sex change is what I wanted. I didn’t have to ponder it much, I always know what I want.

The problem is that I usually don’t have the skills or knowledge to bring those things to action. Took me years to get my transition started because I didn’t know how and no one around me knew how either. I still doubt I have what it takes to get this webcomic off the ground. My ambitions are way too high for what my abilities can provide, and I have a hard time compromising on that.

And I know that I need to take things slow, that practice makes perfect, or that I need to wait, but I’m so impatient and it drives me nuts!

Well, pretty good song! I just didn’t really want to get into it atm. Just didn’t want to succumb to depression again, ya know? I mean, got kinda close at the end there but, I’m holding strong for now.

Damn, we’re going to have to spread this into after dinner, huh? Or at least to before the session tomorrow.

#rwbyost5 #RWBY #Missfinefeather Liveblogs #Missfinefeather watches RWBY #Liveblog #RWBY liveblog #RWBY Volume 5 #Rooster Teeth #blacklist Missfinefeather

6 notes · View notes

toooldforfandom-liveblogs · 4 years

Text

RWBY V07E06 - A Night Out

Is Ruby finally going to be able to rest and talk to her friends? I mean, everyone is tired but Ruby has been vocally wanting a distraction from everything since episode 4. I'm sure her enthusiasm for her huntress missions is at least partially genuine but there's probably some effort behind maintaining that enthusiasm up as much as she can.

Other than that... I don't know what to expect. This season has so many balls in the air that it could be about any of them, or all of them if it includes election stuff. So, let's do this!

I just can't with this subplot. Not because it's bad, but because it hits way too close to home. I wonder if Robyn is going to lose, even without Watts's hacking. The division that rioting can generate can probably sink any candidate, especially someone like her who's for "the people," leaving boomers Atlassians and even Mantle's petit bourgeois (the ones that _didn't_ riot and think everyone who did are criminals) against her.

Since Weiss's abilities have been so over the top since day one, there's always the question in the back of my mind of how can she get better other than by getting bigger and more powerful summons.

This answers my question.

that tiny sneaky knight is so proud

Ooh, I love this training exercise. It's very sports-like, targeting specific skills.

"Only since an artist got too high on Maya dust"

More Ren mysteries.

Calm down, Roboren.

I like Nora being the one to continuously try and get Ironwood to see how bad the situation is in Mantle. Even if she ends up not being from there, she _has_ lived through bad situations, worse than probably everyone else in their teams, so she _knows_ what the people in Mantle is going through better than anyone.

Whoa, so soon!

The results being so overwhelming positive for Robyn so early in the episode makes me think even more that she's going to lose.

...She's right.

Please stop the plot and just make the entire episode about cute dance offs.

No one wants to spend time with the flirting Bees. First Marrow and now Weiss.

Nora is half the fandom

Oh, I thought Ruby was going to take a harder line about the meaning.

Welp, Ruby escaped the bees just to fall into a lovers' spat.

I know the drones represent everything bad about Ironwood's approach to Mantle but that bow is killing me.

I get you Nora. It's very annoying to see a couple (or even people on the way to being a couple) work _too_ well when you're having issues.

Wow. Sorry Ruby, but please give me all the renora drama and give it to me right now.

Nora and Ren's conflict feels way too real. Surprisingly real considering the tone of the show so far, but it fits really well the idea of having to face reality, that there are no fairy tales. If they get through this it’s not because their relationship is fated to be, but because they had to work at it. I wonder if there's going to be a parallel with the bees, maybe a positive one (they talk instead of shut down/explode like Ren and Nora)?

Damn, they _nailed_ the "every bone in my hand is broken but I need to be _cool_ about it" expression.

cute

Welp, Robyn's results are going down. Which, now that I think about it, falls right into Watts's plans since there's no way everyone who voted for her is going to take it lying down if she loses, causing even more unrest.

And they keep going down.

They are actually exploring the bad side of "the quiet one"?

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA A KISS

SCREEN

I'm _very_ worried about those gloves. Is he going to hack Penny and kill everyone to make everyone believe it was ordered by Ironwood?

Oh no. I'm not ready. Please don't do this to me.

And with the lights off Tyrian can kill everyone while blaming it on Penny after it's all over. Fuck.

Wait, wait, wait, Tyrian can cut through aura?

oh no. It almost feels like the episode is going to end here but there's two minutes left. I'm pretty sure I don't want to watch those two minutes.

Wow, Marrow's semblance is even more powerful than I thought. Really explains why he's in the Ace Ops even though everyone kinda makes fun of him.

I keep saying it but... oh no.

Same strategy as Yang's fight in the tournament. Ironwood's reputation just died, the discontent and rioting is going to be stronger than ever. The Amity Tower launch and revealing Salem to the kingdom was already going to cause panic, what is he going to do now? Is he going to use the military to try and repress Mantle into submission?

Damn. What a tone change. From the Renora kiss to Penny (and Ironwood) being framed, Mantle getting attacked by Grimm and the villains getting everything they wanted (even though we still don't know why they are doing all this.)

The writers really like hurting cute women to get the point across that things are getting serious, huh? First Penny in V3, now the sheep Faunus. "Just like Beacon" indeed. They even amped up her cuteness this episode. Ugh.

That annoyance aside, I think it won't end like Beacon, mostly because the manipulation only works if Robyn doesn't realize everything is a frame job. Considering the theme of the season is trust, she's probably going to end up taking a leap of faith in trusting either Ruby or Ironwood directly. Or she's going to die and everything is going to go to hell. Even more. I'm crossing every finger I have hoping that Penny won't have to sacrifice herself to prove some stupid point.

Anyway, it was a good episode. Surprising in a way that it wasn't a surprise. Which sounds weird, but I doubt anyone is going to be surprised at everything going to pot, but the way it got there so fast definitely surprised me. I hope Ren and Nora actually talk about their issues, a kiss doesn't solve everything! Even though it was cute. And Ruby never got the chance to decompress. Welp.

Until next time!

#rwby #rwby liveblog #rwby v07e06

29 notes · View notes

remnantoforario · 4 years

Text

RWBY V7 Episode 6 Notes

Well that had to be the shortest riot ever.

“I don’t condone rioting, but I am totally for ambushing people in the middle of the tundra with weapons.” Nice to know your priorities, Robyn.

Robyn’s about to “Hillary Clinton” this election, isn’t she?

On the election, this happened so quick. I feel they could have stretched it out a bit more. That’s what I get for getting excited about a subplot/

Jaune is just a walking Deus ex Machina with that Semblance.

Ruby, how do you not know you can split into three when using your semblance? You’ve been doing it since V4. Also why is Oscar of all people the first person to point this out?

Look, I get the intrigue of Harriet telling Ruby her Semblance isn’t speed based but can we focus on the silver eyes BEFORE we give her more OP abilities to exploit?

Well that was weird.

Ironwood playing nice with Robyn is like number ten on the to do list right now, right above “wondering why Jaune and Blake’s hair look a mess” and just below “DOING SOMETHING ABOUT SALEM!”

Speaking of Ironwood, why has he not sent someone to investigate the murders like oh I don’t know...THE ACE OPS! They had time to snatch up our misguided heroes but couldn’t be bothered to check out their boss being framed?

Yes, Blake. A “night off” it’s not like you guys are employees. Honestly, I don’t even know why you’re doing these missions in the first place. Seems like a waste of time with the literal end of all things coming with her flying gorrila grimm.

Nice to see Blake has taken so well to life in Atlas. Not like this country has done unspeakable things to her people or anything like that.

Ah, Yang and Blake are assholes...nice to know.

Dammit, Nora. Every time I try to write you off you do something that keeps you in that A-Tier

Well, Ren, how about this? The first step to beating Salem...IS TELLING IRONWOOD SHE’S IMMORTAL! The man has entire army, let them figure out that part.

While I’m glad Ruby is interacting with someone OTHER than just Weiss...I just wish it was her damn sister.

What is this random Renora drama? They were idle for like three volumes and NOW they are having problems? I’d say it was forced, but I can barely close this luggage bag of problems as it is.

It’s like CRWBY found out Renora is pretty much the only ship the entire fandom agreed was good and went “You know what would make it better? Unnecessary tension and fighting!”

Can we cut to Weiss, Jaune, and Oscar actually? I feel whatever they are doing is way more interesting than what’s going on here.

So Nora’s problem is that Ren hasn’t put a label on their relationship. That is terrible. Also Ren doesn’t ship Bumblebee. That is less terrible.

Ruby ditches her friends in a building full of strangers. A+

Did you just appear? How did no one notice you? Also Ruby doesn’t like being called short now...for some reason.

Legal save for that time you tried to ambush a cargo truck you mean.

Jesus Christ, they are still fighting.

Oh, sheep girl, never change.

Oh she gonna lose.

This Renora stuff should have happened way back in V4.

I’m serious about that movie group btw. I’m genuinely interested in that. What would they even talk about? What movie did they see?

Never thought I would be happy to see Tyrian cutting people to ribbons.

No! Sheep girl! I take it back! I take it back! Kill Tyrian now!

How is visual more gruesome than what we saw at the Fall? Not complaining though. Kudos.

Penny! Put your swords away, stupid!

I guess you two were too busy making out and missed the literal massacre happening not two feet in front of you.

Marrow has the best Semblance. I mean its OP as hell, but it’s still the best.

Whew! Sheep girl’s still alive!

Oh hey! Riot’s back on.

I like that ending.

All in all, minus a few eye rolling moments. This episode wasn’t that bad. I wonder how things will escalate next week.

#RWBY #RWBY Volume 7 #V7 Spoilers

8 notes · View notes

blackcatmanor · 4 years

Text

RWBY V7 Ep 10 Photo Review

Not great at best, cringey at worst. More below

This episode was so, so bad! So I’ll soften the blow with the good:

Story stuff that was good:

Uhm----it seems like next episode is set up for the Robyn/Qrow (and apparently Clover) vs Tyrian fight so…that’s good? Although Clover and Qrow literally did NOTHING this episode and just jumped into place for their final showdown.

Character stuff that was good:

Tyrian’s voice actor is MVP of the episode. His quick rage and quick recovery to cool and calm was truly unnerving and is the actual real-world traits of a psychopath. Whether or not that was intentional on the writers part is unknown, but it was good nonetheless.

Silver eye problems

Ruby’s issues activating her silver eyes was interesting. I think it would be a good thing obstacle for her to overcome over time (unlike the contrived “need to learn hand to hand combat obstacle). Plus it could bring Maria back into the story in a way that would be interesting. Although they should address why suddenly she can’t do it, when she did it TWICE a few months prior.

Good/Bad: Cinder?

Cinder’s acting was good for a solid half minute. Her annoyance that they were beat to Atlas felt genuine, along with her yelling at Neo to kidnap Oscar. It shows that Jessica Nigri is capable of delivering good dialogue that is not over the top aloof and airy.

Unfortunately, as fast as it appeared, it was gone. The second she slips back into sultry, haughty Cinder with her cringey line of “Ironwood is as predictable as his androids” I basically felt like I wanted the sweet release of death.

Story stuff that was bad.

Where for art thou, Action?

Once again we are teased a lot of action and given a fairly small amount. However, the reason why the action was cut short was stone-cold baffling. In the first half, all of the action literally stopped dead in its tracks for a speech between Robyn and Ironwood that was so contrived and out of place narratively it was actually cringey. Was there no better time to deliver this speech? Apparently when Ironwood decided to be honest last episode, he became Ironwood’s Pizza and Plot Development: Piping Hot truth delivered in 45 minutes or less! At least the grimm were super considerate and stopped attacking half of the people to listen to their speech. Literally. In the shot below no grimm attack despite the proximity alarms, and the grimm Ruby were fighting apparently all de-spawned after she killed one saber so Ruby can stare at a monitor and smile.

For the other batch of people still running and screaming, so I doubt they heard their message on the first go-around. They’ll probably have to be filled in by the others on the evacuation transports- WHERE THIS SPEECH SHOULD HAVE HAPPENED!

This narrative weirdness could have been fixed very easily by just adding a scene after the people are loaded onto the evacuation transports. The ships would be full of people, seemingly bent-for-sound that their homes are being destroyed by grimm, and the implication is that they are going to continue rioting in Atlas. However, their rage is quelled by a holo-screen speech on the transports where Ironwood and Robyn tell the citizens the truth, and vow together to launch Amity communications tower and rebuild Mantle better than ever. (Admittedly it would still be weird timing but not as egregious and weird as telling them literally during an invasion).

Character stuff that was bad

Low Wattage

Watts’ story for me had a lot of issues this episode.

First, in addition to hacking abilities Watts basically seems to have super stealth and/or teleportation powers as well. He was in Mantle one minute and the next he was out in the tundra at Amity. Despite stating in previous episodes that Amity was hours away from Atlas academy (so who knows how long from Mantle), in three minutes it was implied that Watts somehow acquired an Atlas airship with no resistance, flew to Amity without being detected by any sort of central command and shot out of the sky, and walked into the totally unprotected site. Ironwood didn’t even leave droids to defend it? Like, he directed 100% of all forces including all androids to be put in mantle, no exceptions?!

There doesn’t even seem like there is any indication that a passage of time occurred before Watts ended up in Amity to face Ironwood. The fact that Watts appeared there with no hassle is lazy, and shows that the directors and writers just wanted to jam Watts into his final position for the concluding episodes in order to have the showdown between Ironwood and Watts.

Also- it turns out that Watts is a fighter and a scientist? Did he attend a huntsman academy as well as regular schooling? Are there a lot of people who are both? Did he learn fighting after his exile from Atlas, once he joined Salem’s faction? The last scenario is most likely, but Watts never seemed like someone who would be a fighter, which led him to always have to team up with others like Cinder/Elm/Mercury in V5 and Tyrian this volume. If he always was a capable fighter as well as an evil genius, why does he need a companion if it’s not for protection and muscle?

So now we are going to have a fight between Watts and Ironwood: A scientist vs a military general. Does this sound totally out of left field? Yes. But, per the formula, we need a few different fights to cut back and forth to for a season finale.

Could they maybe just continue the Mantle invasion and fight all of the new grimm like the dragons and the tundra beowolves? Well, no because grimm are no longer an actual threat in the show (which is a totally different tangent-see below). With grimm fights being so low-stakes, the only fights the writers can use for narrative tension has to be people vs people, even if it’s as contrived as a scientist fighting a freaking military general.

The only way this fight would ever make sense is to have Watts’ hacking glove thing manipulate Ironwood’s mechanical body parts. It would show a good balance between Ironwood’s general combat superiority versus Watts’ technological superiority. They should establish that Watts is clearly an inferior fighter, but the ability to hack Ironwood’s cybernetic body parts could even the playing field and present dynamic and interesting strategies that would be unique to each fighter.

If it just ends up being a punch-punch, shoot-shoot fight I’m going to be annoyed.

Speaking of the Grimm-

They are bad. There is literally a whole bigger tangent I have for another day but the grimm have been nerfed to the point that they add nothing to the tension and combat. I barely even consider them “fights” anymore because we just get small snippets of tussles before they just die after one hit. I appreciated that they added a small element of increased difficulty with the larger Mammoth-type that Penny and Ruby fought, but it simply required a tiny bit more effort, ultimately being barely an inconvenience. It makes you wonder how any villages fall to these monsters....

Overall: 4/10 It wasn’t good. The small amounts of action we did get was nice, but literally having action grind to a halt as people gawk at someone talking is reminiscent of Volume 5. Characters are jammed into place for final confrontations and the Grimm continue to be a non-issue in a series where 4 Academies were created with the explicit purpose of training people to fight these non-threatening creatures. Also: What random storage room are Cinder and Neo occupying? At the end of episode 9 it seemed like they were in some empty wing of the Schnee mansion but they’re still there? There was no thought behind just cramming them into a room in Atlas.

Not even Weiss could save this one

#rwby #rwby spoilers #rwby ironwood #rwby weiss #weiss schnee #rwby v7 #rwby vol7 #rwby grimm #cinder fall #tyrian callows #arthur watts #Robyn Hill #qrow branwen #clover ebi #marrow amin

5 notes · View notes

anansislibrary · 4 years

Text

All of my thoughts on RWBY: taken from one of my videos here

If you haven’t watched RWBY yet... I honestly don’t know what to tell you. The show is genuinely one of my favorite anime of all time. It’s got an amazing cast of interesting characters, great writing, an amazing world to get immersed in. Every character you meet sticks with you, many of the fights are fast paced and memorable, and being a lore buff like me pays off in this world.

But RWBY isn’t... perfect, and having finished the newest season and rewatched the show from the beginning... I have some issues.

Don’t get me wrong, the new season had some excellent parts. The fight between Blake and Adam was literally perfect, and side note, idk why fans are saying Adam got nerfed for this fight or made weaker, when some of his only notable feats happen during this fight. The man lands hits like mortal kombat combos.

Anyway, I don’t want to just crap on the show so before I go into what I didn’t like, I’ll get into what I did. But before then, I’ll have to give you a brief rundown of the show. But before THEN I gotta give my obligatory plug

So make sure you like and subscribe if you enjoy this video and want to see more like it, and consider donating to my Ko-fi if you’re able to to help support my channel and help me make better content.

Without further ado

Here’s RWBY

Quick basic spoiler full rundown of the show.

Rwby takes place in a world callled remnant, with a shattered moon. Why is the moon shattered you ask? Satan threw a temper tantrum

Anyway

There’s monsters

Schools for people to fight monsters

Except no Because the main character’s school gets blown up by this BITCH NAMED CINDER, SCREW YOU CINDER.

Prompting Ruby and her Gucci gang to go on an adventure.

Got it? Good.

So here’s everything I love about the series.

I really like the character designs. Every single character has an excellent design and I could really do a video on how character design helps develop character and tell a story just using this show. Every person in the show has an interesting and cool design that helps you to remember and understand them.

An easy example is Weiss. She dresses like an actual princess, her color scheme and weapons are all very elegant looking and it hints at her high class status without even having to spell it out for you.

Plus I love how characters names are based off of fairy tales or mythology. For example, Sun, Sage, and the ironically named Neptune. The motif of fairy tales is fun too, for example Ruby being Little Red Riding hood, Ozpin and Glenda Goodwich being wizard of oz references, ironwood being the tin man and Leo being the lion, Qrow and scarecrows and all of that. Weiss and Winter both have names very directly based on snow.

Every name in this show was very clearly thought out, and even abilities too.

Sun can make clones of himself just like in the myth, Blake has issues with running from her problems, so she can make clones, yang has anger issues and can go super saiyan, almost everyone’s power has something to do with their personality.

Salem is such a fun villain. I wish she could do more because she’s really sinister and scary. She’s such a fun villain to watch but she doesn’t do shit.

I also love the fight scenes, I love how bombastic and fast paced they are, and it’s really cool how every character has their own unique style of movement and fighting that vary between them. The fights in this show are quick and stick in your mind, and there’s an emphasis put often on how much a character can move in a short amount of time.

Cinder as much as I hate her is also a great villain, and that’s why I hate her.

Roman Torchwick is also a GREAT villain and The way he dies is satisfying as hell, and seeing Neo again made me scream.

The worldbuilding is my favorite aspect of the show. Now I’m weird and I like info dumps and that’s why I enjoy those World Of Remnant videos that expand on the worldbuilding so as not to bog down story with info dumps. The world is really fun to learn about, how humanity has evolved in terms of technology is fun to speculate on, for example since Grimm attacks are common and destructive, towns outside of major cities are less technologically advance because they often don’t have time to explore that and have to move from town to town quickly in an emergency.

The Grimm are excellent monsters with varying abilities that make them scary. I love the Apathy from the most recent season, and how it doesn’t just attack you like a Beowulf, Ursa, or Nevermore, but it drains away your will to fight back at all.

This show also has my favorite trope of all time MIXED TIMELINES

YOU GOT TRADITIONAL CHINESE CLOTHING AND DRESS AND ASIAN ARCHITECTURE ON TOP OF CELL PHONES TOWERS AND ALL OF THAT

this trope is so fun because it really makes a world feel unique.

The world of Naruto has all kinds of modern stuff, but until Boruto it was mixed with older tech and tradition, really selling how this is not our world.

Another thing I love: every weapon is a gun. That is SO fun.

Now as good as the show is, it does have problems. That’s inevitable though, all shows, movies, and books have problems, nothing is perfect.

Except Avatar. Avatar is flawless.

Me pointing out the issues I have with this show is by no means to say it’s bad, just to point them out.

I truly do have love for this series and I still cry about Phyrra and her death.

I love you baby.

But that being said, pointing out the issues a show has can be important for both understanding the pitfalls to avoid in our own writing, and helping creators fix issues later on.

A lot of hard work goes into making this show and I would just be an asshole if I did nothing but shit on the show.

No matter how many issues it has, I can tell the people making it love what they’re doing, and that always shines through a series no matter how many issues it has, just like a show or movie can do everything conventionally right and still be a soulless shit show.

Looking at you call of duty black ops 3.

So here’s the issues

Fight scenes

I love the fight scenes. I’ve said that, they really can be so fun to view and I find myself coming back to them a lot.

But I have issues.

Lemme just say first that I don’t like complaining against animation. Animators go through enough crap already and it feels mean to criticize them at times, but this needs to be said.

One, I hate how people throw punches in this show.

They swing so wide it’s annoying.

Okay listen. If you swing at someone with a punch this wide, and they know how to fight, it will not land. They will block or dodge. I know this because as my subscribers know, I am a martial artist. I know jujitsu and boxing, and I took taeqwondo.

This is a bad punch.

My theory is that they do it to emphasize the impact of a bit, but that’s not necessary. There are other ways to do that.

You could say “they’re animators they don’t know how fighting works.”

But Naruto exists and those animators get martial arts stuff down PAT.

Hell, avatar the last airbender depends on its animators being able to animate fights with consistent accuracy, and those characters use styles most people have never heard of like Baguazhang.

And I know this doesn’t seem like a big deal, but it is. It’s hard to really get behind fight scenes at times when the characters can’t throw a simple punch right.

And again it’s not like it’s impossible for animation to animate a fight.

There’s a scene during a fight in Naruto where Obito Uchiha kicks Kakashi, and Kakashi uses his foot to redirect the kick and pull obito off balance.

This is a real move, that people do, and it’s done accurately, but RWBY seems to struggle with accuracy in their fights. Which is fine when a character’s weapon looks like this, but not in hand to hand.

This issue comes up in sword fights too. The way Weiss fights annoys me because her sword is a rapier, and the most important characteristic of a rapier is that often times they don’t have blades, they have points, and when they do have blades, they aren’t meant for slashing. Rapiers were made to exploit the gaps in someone’s armor by stabbing them, and thus it is a thrusting sword, not a slashing one. A sword like a Katana or Khopesh would be good for slashing. Roman gladius can kind of do both, but not as good as either one.

The point is that if they’re gonna give Wiess a rapier, they need to stop animating her slashing with it. Especially when her rapier doesn’t appear to have a sharp edge.

My next complaint is wasted characters.

It’s very frustrating when RWBY takes times to show us a character, but then never uses them.

I didn’t even know sun had a full team sometimes because you never see them.

And furthermore it’s annoying when a fight scene will just stop so that a character can do a cool thing.

Oh no this robot is so hard to beat, how will we beat this dangerous and powerful robot

Oh wait, this character can solo it because the plot needs to pause so she can be cool then promptly never be seen again.

It is so frustrating and it makes it hard to actually know when a character is in danger.

It takes 20 hits to kill a Grimm in one scene, then like two in another.

And the reason for that is because the plot is being pushed aside for the sake of spectacle.

A character’s abilities will be made inconsistent for a chance to make them seem cool.

Like this scene where Tyrion is fighting qrow, he uses his tail to block bullets.

But why?

He has his Aura up, the bullets wouldn’t hurt him anyway! Then when he gets shot later after he looses his aura his tail comes off.

If he was fast enough to use his tail to block bullets he wasn’t even paying attention to, why can’t he do it now!

There is no internal consistency.

Like why are Grimm so strong if they don’t have auras? That’s not explained because they Grimm rarely serve the plot, they spectacle. Adam putting 20 kombo hits into yang to beat her makes sense. He has to wear down her aura to actually hurt her.

But 20 hits to kill a grim that then gets solo’d by a character later on?

No.

Then there’s hazel.

He annoys me.

His villainous motivation is that his sister joined a school for trained soldiers, then died because it was dangerous and now he hates Ozpin.

Dude what?

Like I get why he’s mad, but she knew the risk and someone had to sign off on her getting in for her to be able to go to beacon at all. A child can’t just register for a school especially one where it’s a known risk you could die.

Also another thing I hate is how characters will overreact to stuff in annoying ways.

This is mostly in the most recent season.

Spoiler alert here

But everyone finds out the history of Ozpin and Salem’s relationship from Djinn

And then they just all hate and distrust Ozpin.

Here’s my reaction to finding out about ozpins relationship

It’s just... not that big a deal.

Okay so he was pipping the villain at one point

Nigga so was dumbldore!

It’s just annoying how Ozpin didn’t really do anything but he still was treated like he was just a bad person when he wasn’t.

That whole plot point feels empty, and I found myself more annoyed with the characters for being mad at him and wasting time, than mad at Ozpin for wanting to get laid.

My next complaint on this nitpick fest is

Shit what was I gonna say again?

Oh yea, that annoying ass military lady and her whole reason for not letting the heroes into atlas.

That was so annoying and pointless. She really had no reason not to let them through, and her getting into a giant mecha to fight them pulled me so far away from the story because it was just too ridiculous.

The mecha is for fighting Kaiju grim but it’s taken down by like five kids and their drunk grandpa.

Which like... fine but I hate it.

I hate that whole sequence.

It didn’t have to happen like that, it was another fight purely for spectacle.

It made me mad.

Plus I really really hate mecha anime and mecha fights in general.

God I hate them.

I skipped almost every mecha fight in Voltron because I hate them.

Look the point is that rwby is definitely a good show and I love almost every part of it, but these issues really pull me away from the story at times and you can really sense how much of the story is less about progression and more about increasing drama like the Ozpin thing, or looking cool.

Please watch rwby it really is worth your time, just be aware of the issues it has.

#rwby #ruby rose #yang xiao long #rwby season 7 #rwby spoilers

2 notes · View notes

megashadowdragon · 4 years

Link

@spoonoftar @thehtg-therealone

Someone made a thread about 1 on 1 fights recently. So I decided to post this.

Understand something though: This is purely about story. A lot of people tend to jump to conclusions and will have knee jerk reactions without even reading but I want to make it clear this is just about what would make for good storytelling. This is me explaining why I believe this particular rivalry has a lot of story potential.

I'm aware that no one is going to enjoy this but I do this because a lot people are under the impression that RWBY needs less 1 on 1 fights and that couldn't further from the truth. One thing that most people don't seem to understand is why this form of storytelling is so effective. Over-the-top spectacle can be visually appealing but unfortunately by itself thats all it will ever amount to. A battle that is all flash and no substance. One such example is Raven vs Cinder. While the fight makes for decent eye candy it is by far lacking in terms of story. There is a reason why fights like Gaara vs Rock Lee, Ichigo vs Byakuya, Deku vs Todaroki, Gon vs Pitou, Luffy vs Rob Lucci etc have and will be engraved in the minds of viewers for years to come. It is because people are attracted to great drama. Not simply the flashy abilities. While that can get people interested in a series it's appeal is only surface level. Thats not whats going to stay with people. What makes a fight great is the character drama between the two individuals. It's the story told through that conflict.

I get that RWBY is a show that tries to push Teamwork & Unity as a theme....but so does literally every other shounen battle series. Yet they all still have very memorable and compelling 1 on 1 fights. You don't have to have one or the other. Both are necessary. Wanting to emphasize Teamwork is great but the fact is that in Battle focused stories 1 on 1 fights is actually what builds character. Something that many would argue is utterly lacking in RWBY.

Which is why I argue that there is far more story to pull out of the Jaune vs Cinder conflict than there is the Ruby vs Cinder conflict. And that this is the better narrative to spin based on what we already have.

Keep in mind I'm not saying that Jaune & Cinder are the only characters you can(and should) do this with.

Ruby & Salem

Weiss & Watts

Yang & Hazel

Blake & Tyrian

Are all Hero/Villain relationships that you can build great character drama with by setting up a proper clash of ideologies. I'm only using Jaune vs Cinder as one example because pretty much everyone hates Jaune and would be glad to see either him or Cinder killed off never to be seen again and I feel that is an utter waste of story potential.

But first I'd like to explain why Ruby & Cinder fails as an effective Hero & Opponent dynamic as RT is currently trying to present it as.

Why Ruby vs Cinder Fails

“If your characters don’t have a response—in speech, in thought, or in action—to the events happening to them, they haven’t been touched by those events, and the reader will likewise remain untouched and uninvolved.” —Beth Hill

It's very clear that Cinder & Ruby are being set up as rivals. Silver & Gold. Naive cute youth, vs Cunning mature beauty etc. Not to mention Cinder's very typical "Villain obsessed with the Hero" shtick. Though I'd like to argue(and I'm sure I'm not the first) that their conflict doesn't really work. The narrative tries to set up some sort of a beef between them, but ultimately it just falls flat. We know that Cinder really really hates Ruby.....But why? Because she scarred her face? This comes off as really shallow and isn't something that the audience can really invest in. Now you could argue that this is done in an attempt to make Cinder seem vain or petty, but without any backstory the audience isn't able to be invested in her reasons. Because again, it's superficial. On the flip side, what is Ruby's reason for despising Cinder? Because she's evil? Because she hurt her friend? Again, these are incredibly superficial reasons. It comes off as "I'm good and you're evil therefore I hate you". It can be seen as nothing more than a good guy who hates a bad guy for being bad, and a bad guy who hates a good guy for being good. Not to mention, Ruby hating Cinder for killing Pyrrha is hardly believable in the first place due to the fact that she has hardly spent any time with Pyrrha whatsoever. Without any deep seated emotion behind them or layers to this conflict it will always come off as empty. A vapid and contrived good guy vs bad guy beef loosely concocted to make Cinder hate our main Hero and nothing more.

However the conflict between Juane and Cinder has again far more story potential. From an emotional standpoint it just works. Jaune had strong feelings for Pyrrha be they romantic or otherwise and thus unlike Ruby it gives him ample reason to truly despise Cinder. This alone is already enough reason to be emotionally invested in the conflict as we have watched Jaune and Pyrrha grow closer over the course of Season 1 only to have her be brutally murdered by Cinder. Jaune's feelings of weakness, self-doubt, guilt, and anger are all heavy emotions brought about by Cinder's actions and we perfectly understand why he feels the way he feels. His animosity towards Cinder is only stoked knowing she feels no remorse over her actions and in fact practically forgot about it. As such we genuinely want to see Jaune get revenge for Pyrrha and make up for his failure at the end of Volume 3. So already when looking at just Jaune's side of things we find that his motivations for hating Cinder make perfect sense due to the emotional weight behind them. But what could make Cinder care enough about Jaune to hate him like she does Ruby?

Values in Conflict

"Great drama is not the product of two individuals butting heads; it is the product of the values and ideas of the individuals going into battle. It's conflict between characters and their values. A good opponent has a set of beliefs that come under assault as well. The beliefs of the hero have no meaning, and do not get expressed in the story, unless they come into conflict with the beliefs of at least one other character, preferably the opponent. The actions of the hero and the opponent are based on a set of beliefs, or values. These values represent each character's view of what makes life good. In the best stories, the values of the opponent come into conflict with the values of the hero. Through that conflict, the audience sees which way of life is superior. Much of the power of the story rests on the quality of this opposition."

-John Truby, The Anatomy of Story

Parallels: First when looking at their characters they're both very similar in some respects. Especially in terms of their goals. In Volume 3 Episode 7 opens with Cinder stating that she wants to be Strong, Feared, and Powerful. From this it can be inferred that there was indeed a time where she was not those things. Why else would she desire them? It was because she did not have them. Therefore, once upon a time Cinder was weak, pathetic, and powerless. Her semblance also hints at this as it really seems rather pathetic compared to most. It's barely anything that could provide an advantage in combat. I wouldn't be surprised if her power was once considered worthless or even outright unfit for combat. Basically from this we can conclude she was an individual who was in a situation where she constantly felt weak and helpless and because of that weakness she desired power so strongly that she would do anything for it. Even her name which has been implied to be fake and something she invented on her own hints at the idea that she hated the person she was and wanted to become someone else entirely. Now, similarly Jaune has also always been considered a weakling. A joke. A goofball nobody, that no one ever takes seriously. As we know from Volume 1 this is something Jaune is fully aware of and he despises it. He hates being pathetic. Weak. Thus, he desires to be a Hero. Someone he can respect. So much so that he'd forge his transcripts and infiltrate the most prestigious Huntsmen School in the world. He'd go to such drastic measures as to commit a crime of this caliber if it meant taking a step towards his dream. As such if we were to give them a conflict: Cinder's reason for hating Jaune could be that he is a reminder of what she used to be. A living breathing remnant of that pathetic weakling she once was. Thus looking at him disgusts her as he symbolizes her past self, the identity she tried to forget that keeps coming back to haunt her. So having Jaune serve as a reminder of her own weakness will be the start of her wanting to see him dead just as much as, if not more than Ruby.

But how will their conflict be structured? Since RWBY is an anime, or more specifically an honorary shounen considering it's place in Jump. Lets use a bit of shounen storytelling. Shounen's most prominent writing technique is one where the fights act as Character Arcs in and of themselves. Now, matching one's internal struggle with the external one is nothing new or revolutionary but shounen battle manga have unquestionably mastered the technique. Every fight tells a story and can even sometimes be considered the "Hero's Journey" in miniature. Often acting as clashes of not just personality, but ideologies, and are used to explore the themes of the narrative. The main thing I'm pointing out with this analysis is how fights can and should be written. Fights can be far more than a mere spectacle of flashy movements and abilities. With this in mind lets just imagine that each of their fights/clashes/encounters spurs on development in the two culminating in a final fight towards the end of the series, that concludes the story arcs of both characters.

~Themes~

Ambition: Both characters clearly posses great aspirations and ambition. Now I know Ambition is a word people like to tie to Villains. Deeming them selfish because of it, whereas the Heroes are portrayed as "selfless" doing things for the sake of others rather than themselves. However theres nothing wrong with having an Ambition. It's not an evil thing in it itself. Nor is it synonymous with greed. It's perfectly normal to have goals and to work hard towards achieving them. Thats all Ambition is. However the difference is in how you go about achieving those goals. Sometimes the hero and the villain are basically the same except for the fact that each took a single step in a different direction. Thus, one layer of this potential conflict between Jaune and Cinder can be about Ambition and how each character represents the flip side of what it means to pursue a goal. Now their goal in itself is somewhat similar. They both seek power and strength but for different reasons. While for both of them it is on some level a quest for self-worth, Cinder desires power largely for the sake of having it. So that she can inspire fear. Jaune desires strength so that he can protect those close to him and to have the ability to help those who need it. Where Cinder is ruthless. Jaune is Kind and Compassionate. Where Cinder uses the people around her like tools for her success. With Jaune we see that his support system on the ladder to success is built on friendship and mutual respect. Cinder tears down those around her using them as stepping stones to achieve her goals whereas Jaune holds up those around him and they eagerly do so for him in turn. Cinder may have worked hard but she gains strength by stealing from others whereas Jaune simply works hard and his power is one that literally allows him to give power to others instead of taking it. And Lastly, where Cinder's actions are clearly rooted in some deep seated hatred. Jaune is motivated by love. Or at least the memory of the woman who once loved him.

Destiny: Another layer to the fight could involve Cinder's belief in Destiny. Putting that empty one-liner of hers to good use we can pit Cinder's Destiny against Jaune's Hard Work in a clash of ideals. When creating a clash of ideals it's important to look for the positive and negative versions of the same value. A thematic clash of a Self-Made form of Destiny vs Predetermined Fate form of Destiny. Jaune's position in this thematic conflict being that the person you turn yourself into is entirely up to your own actions. Not Fate. This was also Pyrrhas version of Destiny. Jaune is essentially carrying on Pyrrha's will by representing her ideals in his final rematch with Cinder. It's the idea that regardless or who they are or where they came from it is their actions that brought them here. This should involve Jaune showcasing the techniques he's trained his ass off for pitted against the powers Cinder has ruthlessly stolen while under the belief that this is her Destiny. One that Fate owes her. During their final fight thanks to his training with Ozpin, Jaune has reached his true potential and with a combination of his newfound strength, some strategy & tactics forces her to concede that the previously untalented nobody is now not only the "stronger" fighter but also the stronger person. With Cinder ultimately coming to the conclusion that she could have been anyone she wanted to but has willingly turned herself into nothing more than a monster. A beast to be put down. And she had no one to blame but herself. Hers was a path of self-destruction where Jaune's path was one of self-overcoming. Having triumphed over his own weaknesses and short-comings whereas Cinder merely succumbed to them. Jaune's victory shouldn't simply be in defeating her or watching her die. He should utterly destroy everything that she believes in. Proving that everything she did to achieve her goals was worthless. That everything she did uptil now meant absolutely nothing.

Ozpin & Salem: Whats more, another layer to this fight could be to depict the difference in ideals between Ozpin and Salem. I've always been curious as to who would train Jaune. After all he is the weakest but the one with the most potential and storywise it just makes sense to bring him up to the level of everyone else so that he's not a hindrance on the battlefield. But in regards to training I've always had in mind that either Ozpin or his own Father would be the one to assist him. While I may prefer the latter, despite my preferences I will admit that Ozpin makes the most sense. It's far more appropriate that both Ozpin and Jaune; the two people who experienced the biggest failings during the Fall of Beacon come together to correct the mistakes they made. Both of their failures being tied directly to Cinder it makes sense that their combined effort should be eventually what put her down. With Ozpin seeing Jaune's immense desire to overcome Cinder he finally decides to train him personally to aid in his success as well as make up for his own mistakes. Seen from this perspective it's hard to imagine how Ruby even has a stake in this conflict at all. Cinder's defeat should mean something for characters involved and seeing Cinder defeated should mean the most to the man who failed to protect his school and the boy who failed to protect his partner. That way the victory is actually emotionally impactful because of how personal the victory is to those who had a hand in it. You can also think of this as being similar to Deku & All Might's situation. Remember Ozma is basically the Original Hero. So we have a young boy whose always wanted to be a Great Hero being trained by the former Greatest Hero there ever was. Thus, adding a new twist to the fight so that now it's a battle between the boy trained by Ozpin and the girl trained by Salem. Both Salem and Ozpin have raised up two youths who represent their ideals and the winning side will essentially be the ones to inherit the world. Not only would this conflict be about leaving the world to the next generation but also through these two individuals be a battle that asks the question of what ideology will decide the future. In addition to this, Jaune and Cinder could be used to mirror the conflict between Ozpin and Salem. Acting as a microcosm of their grander conflict. We have this generation's new Hero a White Knight attempting to save a beautiful Princess(Cinderella) from destroying herself on the path of Evil. Just as Ozpin tried to do years ago with Salem but failed. Here we can have Jaune succeed where his Master had failed.

Summary

So heres a quick and shortened Summary of how their conflict can play out: Jaune, no longer grieving over Pyrrha is now using her death as inspiration to become the Hero he dreamed about. He will no longer be treating his life as if it had no value. Pyrrha did not sacrifice hers so that he could die pointlessly. That would make her a fool who died for nothing. If he died then Pyrrha will have wasted her time on him. Death is not an apology. He makes an oath that he is going to live. That he would repay her sacrifice with success. With victory. By becoming the greatest Huntsmen he could possibly be. And save as many lives as possible in the process. He would do it too. Remember an Arc never goes back on their word. But the first step to that, would be defeating her killer. He would seek to surpass and overcome Cinder. Rectifying his first and greatest failure. He attacks her everytime he sees her. He loses every time but each fight he comes back just a little better than before. He won't stop coming back either. No matter how many times she seemingly gets rid of him Jaune Arc always comes back. Whenever he is not on screen he is busy training. With a new move or a new trick here or there and gradually he begins to become a real nuisance to Cinder. Now, remember from Her perspective Jaune represents her past self. Or rather a better version of her that was weak and powerless yet still striving to be strong and through effort is slowly beginning to achieve it. Though not through the methods she currently uses. This is important because Jaune's consistent interactions with Cinder will start to affect her development. Causing her to reflect on her actions and question if the path she's on is the right one(note: we did see a brief glimpse of this when Cinder was watching Tyrian attack that Ursa like a madman). After all if the man she once deemed a weak failure can continue to grow like this what had been stopping her from simply doing the same? He had not sacrificed his limbs and turned himself into a monster. Did she really need to be ruthless? or even join up with Salem to achieve her goals? Thoughts like this combined with Cinder having flashbacks to her past whenever she sees Jaune suddenly makes him someone she must kill at all costs due to him drudging up old memories, making her question everything she's done up until this point. Then it becomes about proving herself correct. About putting the past behind her. That, if she didn't kill this fool and prove that his way was wrong then she'll have lost any justification for her existence and acquisition of power. She had to join up with Salem. It was the only way to become powerful, strong and respected. She had no other choice. But in addition to these thoughts there was also a new emotion bubbling to the surface whenever she interacted with Jaune. Respect. Admiration. For the person who was just like her. Showing stout determination in the face of those who deemed him weak. Driven to prove them wrong. Absolutely dedicated towards achieving his ambition. These such traits would lead to her sparing his life on occasion and additionally, she finds herself slowly yet surely looking forward to their encounters. She remembers his name now. How could she forget? Jaune Arc? The name practically rolled off the tongue. Now whenever he appears before her stronger than he was before she can't help but grin. Eager to attack him. See how far he's come. At this point she's nearly forgotten her hatred towards Ruby. She was enjoying watching Jaune improve himself simultaneously proving wrong all those who doubted him. Even her.

Similarly, we see that Jaune slowly starts to understand Cinder over the course of their encounters, whereas in their first official meeting he couldn't comprehend her actions at all. He starts to relate to her intense drive to be something greater. Bits of information lead to him coming to the conclusion that at one point she was someone like him, weak and helpless. However she'd actually achieved her goal. Coming from absolutely nothing to someone so powerful. Which gave him hope of him doing the same. But her path has made it clear she didn't have any of the heartfelt support that he did. Her having only the monstrous Salem to turn to. Jaune against his better judgment begins to feel sorry for the one known as Cinder Fall. Yet the same time he'd also begrudgingly come to respect her and all that she'd overcome. But he was confused. Why did she desire further power? Did she not see how strong she already was? Then it dawns on him. She had already overcome so much yet she hasn't overcome herself. She was still so lost in her own anger that it has blinded her to the realization that she had already achieved her goal. So Seeing her as the monster he could have become, Jaune makes the decision to let go of his hate for Cinder. Lest it turn him into a monster as well. Thus no longer feeling hatred for the woman he so consistently opposes he begins seeking answers. To understand her. To learn why she is the way she is. After, learning of her past her understands what he must do. Spending all his time with Ruby had taught him that being a Hero was about more that just rushing in and slaying some monster, it was also about lending a hand to those in need. Even if they didn't deserve it(Edit: While I think it'd be interesting if Jaune comes to this realization because of Ruby, we do in fact already see this in Jaune's character when saves Cardin despite all the horrible things he'd done to him).

(Note: This fight can occur just before the final battle. You can have Jaune & Oscar show up fresh out the metaphporic hyperbolic time chamber (or whatever kind of literary device you wanna use) in time to help Team RWBY deal with Salem. However Jaune doesn't have to literally surpass Cinder for this to work. You can have him surpass her metaphorically. In fact it might be more thematically potent to have Jaune still be weaker than her in terms of overall power but still manage to win. Showing that for all her great power she's still worthless without the strength of character that Jaune has and thats what makes her weak.)

Long story short, their fight concludes with Jaune completely besting Cinder. Jaune's final blow kills the parasite Grimm within her. Cinder dies, but only for a moment before Jaune's powers restores her again, but in that brief moment she remembers Ruby and how pointless her hatred towards her was. How petty she was back then. This brief moment of repentance causes the maiden powers to be sent to Ruby. With this victory, Jaune crushes her ideals and sets her back to Zero. Destroying her Grimm parts and using his semblance to completely restore her human limbs and heal her scars. She is completely human once more. Giving her a chance to start over.

The point being: these two characters, whether it's their personalities, characterization or themes simply make for the better conflict. It works because Jaune's existence attacks her beliefs about herself and her motivations for being on the path she's on. Cinder's existence provides Jaune with motivation while attacking his weaknesses as a character and pushing him to be better. Thats what a proper Hero/Opponent dynamic should look like. Yes, I understand that some people prefer Team fights because they find it interesting to have other characters cover their weaknesses in battle and while that may be "useful" it's not as compelling storytelling as having characters overcome their weaknesses. Having someone to protect you is fine but if relied on it can reduce the characters to feeling stagnant. You cannot grow if you're always being protected. A 1 on 1 forces a character to face their weaknesses and find a way around it or overcome it. This is what builds character and leads to character growth. Hence why 1 v 1s are significant in stories like this. It allows the characters to stand on their own two feet when they have to. More importantly, this specific encounter can actually tell a proper story. One of two people with opposing world views, and personalities that come into conflict who are ultimately challenged and changed by said conflict. Jaune helps to rid Cinder of her hatred and desire for destruction, even giving her the option to choose her own path from here on out, while Cinder inadvertently helps Jaune to become the Hero he initially set out to be. Theres arguably room to take this a step further by going in a romantic direction, what with Jaune being a "White Knight" and a wannabe Prince Charming and Cinder being "Cinderella" and a wannabe Princess but ultimately the point is the fight itself gets a story across.

Final thoughts

-Some would argue that they just want to see her get unceremoniously killed off, and while that might be emotionally satisfying in the moment but Jaune saving/not killing her is the better conclusion because it better expresses an answer to a thematic argument. It's essentially one big middle finger to her entire way of life. Crushing everything she believes in the process.

-I know some people might take issue with Jaune being able to restore limbs but this is purely theoretically and I only included it because of the symbolic meaning it provides of the "monster" of Cinder's rage being destroyed and her humanity shining through. However, it should be noted that Semblances grow over time. They evolve. If we look at it in rpg terms Jaune's Semblance is basically at level 1. So for all we know it might not be outside the realm of possibility if it grows even further.

-Others might take issue Jaune beating her at all because she's a maiden but it's entirely appropriate imo. You don't really need to be as powerful as someone else to actually beat them in a fight. "Power levels" don't always decide the outcome of fights.

-If this is to work then theres one thing he should be doing and it's constantly training. That kind of all day, every day, work all day/sleep all night, Roronoa Zoro/Rock Lee style training routine. Only to emphasize the theme of his Hard Work vs Cinder taking the Easy Route of just stealing power instead of becoming strong through her own merit. Basically, Jaune takes the hard road to growth while Cinder cuts corners.

-One more thing that I neglected to mention earlier that leans into the idea of Jaune & Cinder being used to represent the greater conflict between Ozpin & Salem(and I mean strictly thematically not romantically) is that one of Jaune's themes is that he represents The Sun. Jaune's first name meaning yellow in French and the etymology of the name "Arc" not only has "Holy" connotations but is also a reference to the Sun. Jaune Arc essentially means Yellow Sun. The reason this is significant is because the Sun in ancient times was worshiped as the "Life Giver". Which is literally Jaune's Semblance. So Jaune is the Yellow Sun that Gives Life and Cinder is the burning flame that reduces all things to Ash. One representing Life and the other representing Death and Destruction. Much like the God of Light & Darkness but more importantly like Ozpin & Salem as it makes for a great way to symbolize the Cycle of Life, Death & Rebirth. With this in mind if my scenario plays out, the scene where Jaune saves Cinder can be read as: "a wild flame reduces all life around it to Cinders but through the light of the Sun that life is reborn from the ashes anew". If such a thing happened I'd be curious about whether or not this could lead to Cinder gaining a new Semblance, one representing her growth as a character. Something Phoenix related? I dunno, thats just a random thought.

#rwby #rwby theory #rwby theories #rwby meta #rwby theorys #cinder fall #rwby cinder fall #rwby cinder #cinder rwby #jaune arc #rwby jaune #jaune rwby #rwby jaune arc #jaune arc rwby

3 notes · View notes