#I’m very excited to see what crwby has planned for these | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

orhelponefaintingrobin · 3 years

Text

I’ve been thinking a lot about Hazel Rainart

(RWBY spoilers, read at your own risk)

Yesterday’s episode was a pretty intense one for a lot of reasons, but strangely, despite the excitement at seeing Emerald finally making the jump (or at least starting to) into her redemption arc, it’s Hazel that I can’t stop thinking about. Specifically, just that one line.

“No more Gretchens, boy”

I find that line fascinating, and I’ve been spending most of the day trying to work out why. And the reason, or at least part of it, is the core tragedy of Hazel as a character. Which is to say, he’s kind of right?

Because, while the way he’s funnelled that into a drive for revenge (albeit no doubt pushed a little that way by Salem) is clearly off-base, I don’t think he’s entirely wrong to be angry at the Academies, or Ozpin. Like, this is a system where children, actual children, sign up to be trained to fight against foes that will very likely, someday, kill them. Even leaving Salem aside (I’ll get back to that), that is a very, very questionable thing to be doing. Most students are 17 when they start one of the Academies. Ruby was only 15. I don’t honestly think Hazel is wrong when he suggested back in V5 that children, even older teenagers, should never have been put in the position to make that decision.

And, like, there are fairly obvious comparisons to the real world to be made here; I’m English, and over here the minimum age for enlistment in the military is 16. Now, at the risk of sounding a little political, I think that’s despicable. No one that age should be allowed to make the decision to potentially die for their country (however false I feel that idea is to begin with). They’re children. And, while I’m obviously fine suspending that a bit to engage with a story, it’s clear now that the way that the Academies allow the trainee Huntsmen and Huntresses to put their lives on the line at such a young age is not really fair. Yes, Gretchen did make her choice, but that should never have been a choice she was able to make.

And, like, I think this volume especially, but honestly the show for a long time, hasn’t exactly disagreed with this. Like, CRWBY didn’t show us Neon and Flynt suited up in military uniforms getting ready to go over the top of the trenches to fight on the frontlines because they think that it’s totally reasonable that kids are being used as soldiers. And that’s ignoring Ren’s talk back at the start of the volume, that they weren’t ready to be put in that position. I think, ever since we’ve learned that Salem can’t be destroyed, and that Ozma kept training students even in that knowledge, we’ve been on a bit of a collision course with the idea that doing so wasn’t entirely right. Ozma, and everyone who’s ever run these Academies, has allowed children to sign up, society telling them they’re heroes, fighting for justice and to protect people, knowing that they’re more likely to end up as glorified mercenaries who’ll eventually get picked off by a monster they can’t handle, for decades.

And the thing is, we’ve already met Gretchen. The bright eyed, optimistic young woman, who signed up to be a hero, who wanted to keep people safe so hard that she didn’t care what happened to her, who ended up dead because she was put in the position of fighting a fight she couldn’t win.

Gretchen is Pyhrra.

That’s why Hazel is so tragic. In a way, we know how he feels. It’s the way Jaune feels, the way Ren and Nora feel; Pyhrra was part of their family. Think about how Jaune reacted to learning about everything, both from Ozpin at the beginning of V5 and when they learned the truth from Jinn. He isn’t someone who’s shown a lot of sympathy towards Ozpin’s fight. But, when he found his anger, he had his team, and RWBY, to lean on, and he’s let that ground him. He’s fighting, despite what Jinn said, because he wants to make sure no one else has to die. Jaune had his friends. Hazel had Salem.

So, his anger grew, became a desire for revenge, and blinded him to everything else, and the only person who listened to him was Salem, who likely encouraged that, promised that she’d give him that opportunity. Hazel’s motivation is basically an eye for an eye. He just wants to punish Ozpin for what he did. But, even if he did kill Oscar, what happens then? Nothing changes, the Academies will still run, and Ozma will just reincarnate again. This show is so often about breaking cycles, about the new generation making better decisions than the old. When we meet him, Hazel can’t see that. He can’t see a path to stop what happened happening again. He just wants to punish Oz. Salem doesn’t persuade people by convincing them what she wants to do is right, she convinces them that her plan is to do whatever they want to do. Cinder wants control (which she was deprived of), Watts wants to prove he’s superior (and stick it to Ironwood and the world that shunned him), and Hazel wants revenge.

But then he meets Oscar, and (in my reading), as we’ve seen them interact this volume, he’s realised that Oscar isn’t Ozpin. He knows Ozpin is in there somewhere, but he’s never thought they were one and the same. And, I think, as this has happened, Hazel has realised that, in line with this theme of breaking cycles, in Oscar there’s a chance for change, that I think he’s realised Salem will never give.

So, we come to ‘Witch’, and Hazel makes his choice. And what is his demand to Oscar?

“No more Gretchens, boy.”

However Oscar interpreted that (which seems to have been ‘sacrifice yourself’ because Oscar is, to be fair, also a child and also doesn’t deserve to be forced to make those choices), I think Hazel’s meaning is fairly clear; he’s giving Oscar a chance to escape, to survive, and in return, as he takes his role as Ozpin’s replacement, he’ll expect Oscar to change things, presumably by scrapping the Academies, at least as they are now. To make sure no one else’s sister dies for Ozma’s war.

The tragedy of Hazel Rainart is that he’s right to be angry at the Academies, even at Ozpin, but that the only outlet for that he could find is revenge, through Salem. But now he’s realised that there’s another option, that the right thing isn’t just retribution, but to make sure no one else has to make the sacrifice Gretchen did. And, whether Hazel survives this fight or not (I’m leaning towards no), I think this line is going to have a big impact on Oscar’s arc going forward.

#RWBY Meta #RWBY spoilers #RWBY Vol8 spoilers #Hazel Rainart #RWBY

37 notes · View notes

laulink · 3 years

Text

Ok, so, I wasn’t able to watch the episode yesterday, but now I did and BOOOOOOOOYYYYYYYYY

I knew it’d be a lot, but that was everything I could have expected and more.

Let’s break this down :

First, the most obvious : Yang falling. The scene was soooo emotional, because the slow-motion really showed every character’s reaction in detail and it was heartbreaking, really. I’m confident Yang’s fall won’t harm her, especially not kill her, since she’s one of the main characters, but RWB & co don’t know that, and they can’t ask Jinn anymore, nor Oscar/Ozpin, not until they leave the central location, meaning they wouldn’t be able to access it anymore, and Ambrosius himself might not know what exactly happens when someone falls in the void, just like he didn’t know what would happen to Penny if he did as told. So I’m very excited to see what exactly happens when someone falls into that void and what CRWBY will do with the rest of the team. A theory I’ve seen going around is that Yang will reenact the tale Oscar and Ozpin talked about, which is apparently the Remnant version of Alice in Wonderland, and that would be pretty great I think ! The question now is : will Yang go through that journey alone while her team has to try and move forward, thinking she’s dead, or will the three other also fall down into the void ? I’m kinda split on that, because, on one hand, I find it hard to believe that Ruby, Weiss and Blake will fall too, all while Penny is there to help and probably the Happy Huntresses too, but on the other hand, it would certainly be different to make one of the characters only go through such a journey while the others don’t. Like Oz and Oscar said, the girl in the fairy tale came home changed, and it would be weird if Yang was the only one to be changed by such a journey while the others did not experience anything even remotely similar.

Next thing on the list : Ironwood. Two points with him : killing Jacques and fighting Winter. All about the Schnees, huh ? I know it may seem... unnecessary, and anti-climactic, at this point, to kill Jacques off, especially by Ironwood’s hand, but I think it might pay off in the future. Like Winter said, Weiss had opted to save her father : she didn’t forget about him, or decide to let him fare for himself while Atlas was falling, she decided to actively take steps to save his life. And now he’s dead. I don’t expect anyone in the family to mourn him, but I also don’t think anyone will really rejoice in his death. A shitty person is still a person, and normal people don’t actually enjoy learning of the death of someone they knew well, even if they didn’t like them. They might feel relief, but there’s always a hollowness coming with it too. Because that person occupied a piece of their lives and that’s something they are taking with them in death and that will never come back. I don’t know what, exactly, CRWBY intends to do with that, but I expect the news of Jacques’s death to have on impact on the Schnee family members, whatever it is. As for the fight, I found it to be a nice touch to see James cry as he got ready to fight Winter. He still truly believes his course of action is the right one, he can’t see all the harm he’s doing, and it genuinely pains him to fight Winter, because he loves her but he thinks what he wants to do will bring more good and is therefore needed. It’s truly tragic. I fully expect Winter to win this fight, but I don’t know in what state she’ll be left after this, nor what exactly will happen to Ironwood after she beats him. Does Atlas tip and make him or both of them fall off the edge of the path and down to Mantle ? Does Winter try to catch James and fail ? Does she lose a limb in the fight and later has to get a prosthetic and always be reminded of the man she knew who had over half his body replaced by prosthetics ? I’m curious to see what exactly will happen. But I doubt James Ironwood will make it out of the Atlas arc alive.

A blink-and-you’ll-miss-it scene that I found quite interesting too : Cinder telling Watts, in her softest voice, that he, “Arthur”, deserves this. To end Atlas as he always wished he could. This, coupled with the title of the ep, throw us back to their argument a couple of episodes ago, where Cinder broke down and started crying. I already thought that Watts’s words had gotten to Cinder because of her tears, but her words now make me even more sure of it. Which means that I fully expect her to try and fix the flaws that Watts pointed out, aka the fact that she tends to use brute force to get what she wants instead of using her brain. She already started being smart about things again : she asked Jinn to know what RWBY & co had planned, she gathered intel to determine the best way to make their plan fail. I expect her to have one more trick up her sleeve in her fight against team RWBY. Maybe, oh, I don’t know : stealing the Staff and using it to create something and make the central location disappear while people are still in it. Wouldn’t that be funny now. (also, don’t ask me why, but I have a feeling that Watts will not even try to escape while Atlas falls down. As he told Cinder, he’s got everything he ever wanted, and his life goal was, apparently, to bring Ironwood and his kingdom down for casting him aside, so I can see him being happy going out doing what he always wanted to : tear apart everything Ironwood ever cared about)

Last note of this already long post : the bits with the Ace Ops were great, especially Harriet and Vine. It was good to see two soldiers argue about the values they hold most important as well as their feelings : loyalty (to the General or to the people) and grief (over Clover). Harriet’s semblance doesn’t give her tunnel vision, yet she still doesn’t take a single step to the side of the path Ironwood laid out for her. I’m curious to see how things will go for her. I wouldn’t be surprised if she ended up being the only one being blown up by that bomb, killed by her own stubbornness, just like Clover was killed by his decision to follow orders without question.

#rwby #rwby8 #rwby spoilers #thoughts #theory #theories #yang xiao long #cinder branwen #arthur watts #harriet bree #vine zeki

23 notes · View notes

horrorhare · 4 years

Text

I think it’s about time I collect myself and put in my own 2 cents on the RWBY V7 E12 situation.

I started watching RWBY when I was in like, 7th grade. I’ve been here since the Red Trailer. I’ve gone through this show and watched it evolve and devolve, take turns and twists and upset people over and over again. It is not the perfect show and it never was.

But there’s a huge difference between that and what happened today. This wasn’t just a little flaw, but a colossal mistake on CRWBY’s part. Very rarely do I come across media that have solid MLM rep. Sometimes it’s just “subtle”, never worked upon even if there’s obvious romance within the show. Other times it’s fetishy, stereotypical, and unrealistic. So much media treats being a gay man like it’s a problem, a sin, a mistake, a secret. I thought finally, FINALLY, a show that I really enjoy that I’ve been following since the very beginning of my own journey towards figuring out who I am, would have that representation.

I’d also like to mention that I am a storyteller, I’m majoring in Animation so I’m able to tell stories, write and design characters, develop a world and it’s people. As someone who’s studying film and media and cartoons, picking things apart to figure out what’s right and what doesn’t work, it’s incredibly frustrating to see something with so much potential be put to waste.

Why go through the trouble to design a character who’s obvious purpose was to compliment, bring up, and develop another character and then throw that all away for something “dramatic”? Stuff like in E12 isn’t “showing your true colors”, it’s blatantly written out of character. To make something like that work, you have to signal and clarify that not all is as it seems. Working up towards that “big moment” felt wasted because it never had buildup in the first place. So many people today have said it felt wrong, it felt out of place, like it wasn’t real. Well? It’s because it didn’t work.

Why did Penny’s death work? Because Metal vs Polarity was an obvious set up, Cinder could be seen insinuating she was planning something with Penny, there was obvious build up.

Why did Pyrrha’s death work? Simple, Achilles heel. Who she was based upon made it clear something was up, such a strong chadacyer had to have a weakness. From the start with the crushes and romance, team building, to the maidens and destiny to her final moments, it all made sense. Yes, it hurt, it hurt a lot to watch Pyrrha die, but it didn’t make me want to stop watching the show because it worked.

So what exactly made Clover’s death not work? Well, for one, you shoe horned him into one damn volume. Yes, Lionheart was in one volume, but he was set up to be weak and hated, he was a traitor who was hurting the cast rather than helping. Clover was set up as a perfect foil to Qrow, expected to have great character interactions with him since it was constantly teased at.

As someone who writes, who develops characters, and knows their way around animation, I saw things that I expected were going to be built upon. A professor of mine taught us to have every frame, every composition, every set up to mean something. From the way they smile, to the way they look at a character, to the dialogue, down to even the smallest bit of body language. CRWBY seemingly wrote Qrow, a broken character who was recovering, to have an intentionally complimentary queer-coded foil, only to lose all that great development and buildup to one poorly written episode.

There’s one crucial thing I’ve been taught by multiple professors, and that is the writing technique of establish and resolve.

What CRWBY established was a clearly deep connection between Qrow and Clover, a connection built upon flirtatious gestures and phrases, along with clear and exciting growth.

What CRWBY didn’t do was resolve. They did the flip opposite of resolve. Instead of taking the time to develop on an interesting conflict between characters, they took the cop out route and killed off one of them swift in order to give it “angst”. I mean, for real, it played out like I was reading something fan made, like the people who wrote it didn’t know the characters.

Why would Qrow team up with Tyrian, a serial killer whom he does not trust who has fought him, attempted to kill him, and attempted to kidnap his niece? Why would Clover, a man “loyal to his kingdom”, suddenly blindly follow Ironwood’s actions to abandon his kingdom, after being paired up with a character clearly close linked with rebellion? I’m not blind, people. The utter potential to write interesting scenes between these two is near limitless and instead they go for something completely out of no where.

Specifically, like I mentioned before, Pyrrha’s death hurt me. But I continued to watch. I wanted to keep watching because after lying down her life to protect Beacon, her friends moved forward in order to continue spreading peace to Remnant. They kept moving forward.

Why is Clover’s death so upsetting? Because after moving so far forward for so long, Qrow is going to start moving back. This show, since day one, no matter the conflict, was about pushing through and moving forward. And from what I’m seeing, Qrow has been set up to relapse. Something incredibly horrid to see after a character has made such progress.

It’s not enjoyable to watch, it’s not exciting, it’s not alluring. It’s agonizing and hurtful.

And yes, the big red cherry on top is the fact that out of all I just said, they took away the chance to have an amazing badass MLM couple that wasn’t just “a secret”, that wasn’t just “a fetish”, but something that had weight. Something that had meaning. Something that made people feel happy and represented.

This was never about our ship not becoming canon, this was about poor writing, poor development, and yet another queerbaiting scenario after decades of other shows doing the same exact thing.

All I have to say at this point, after taking a whole Saturday to grieve over this damn episode, is that I’m extremely disappointed. Volume 7 from episodes 1 to 11 have been my favorite, but it hurts to watch all that progress be completely done in by one poorly written episode.

#lu yells #fair game #rwby7 #sorry fellas but i jusf had to get it all out #this shit is still so frustrating i dont undersfand how they could fuck it up so badly

651 notes · View notes

moondrop04 · 3 years

Text

RWBY VOLUME 8 EPISODE 12 SPECULATION AFTERMATH!!!

SPOILERS!!!

Alright!!! Finally time to get this AFTERMATH post on the way!!! As usual my job has been making it a bit hard for me to write these posts right after an episode appears, but it does not mean I haven’t been able to keep up with everyone else’s reactions and reviews of the latest episode......and there is a lot. I will admit this episode in particular has made myself confused at certain points, but after rewatching the it multiple times and watching other people’s reviews on certain subjects I now have a much better understanding and clarity to let myself express my thoughts on this episode. So as always let’s get dive right in and get straight into the AfterMath 😁

-(Phase 1) Ok from what I wrote from my speculation post it wasn’t all that hard to guess that Emerald would be a key part in handling Ironwood. What I was not expecting that the plan would involve her taking his weapons, as he is followed by an attack from Jaune, Nora, Ren, Oscar and Winter. Now admittedly I was a bit disappointed by how this scene was played out 😔.

After rewatching it multiple times I have a clear understanding of what the writers were going for when having to deal with Ironwood personally. A fully outfitted Ironwood and the Ace-Ops to back him up would make for a tough fight and would likely take too much time to deal with. If our heroes would take away some of his advantages (his weapons and the Ace-Ops), then surrounding the general in a surprise attack would make for the ideal strategy, given their short time constraint to finish their plan before Salem returns.

Now as much as this phase 1 of the plan works on paper, I would have to say my biggest issue with this scene solely revolves around the animation and choregraphy of the fight. While it is cathartic to watch Ironwood get hit after hit by everyone, each attack from each character felt a bit stale compared to earlier fights. If I had to compare it to another fight it more or less felt the same as the JN_R Vs Neo fight was animated, to me at least. Now I may have some had some nit-picks about the scene but that doesn’t mean I’m gonna blame CRWBY’s animators for not doing a better job. With everything that had happened this past year, especially with COVID, I understand if the animation team weren’t able to produce the kind of quality they would want to put into their fight sequences. In fact they have produced much better quality content on other fronts, such as lighting, special effects, facial expressions and movements so far within volume 8 that completely makes up for the of quality of Vol.8 fights. So while I would have liked to have seen this fight done a bit better, I understand and accept with what we were given and anticipate what the animation team will give us in the future. 😊

-(Spirit of Creation) Wow! I was really not expecting there to be more spirits within the other relics after Jinn, but after seeing the introduction of Ambrosius I am now kind of excited what the other two will be.

You know....If the spirits of knowledge and creation are “blue”.....then maybe the spirits of destruction and choice could be “red”? Because you know.....Red and Blue......”Red Vs Blue”......shut up I think it will be cool 😡

-(To Bring The “Real” You To The Surface) Alright it took me several rewatches to understand Penny’s “recreation” and I can confidently say I am 90% sure how it happened 😤. With that being said I want to say that I am really glad that the writers went this route with Penny’s character. I had believed that there would come a time eventually that Penny would gain a more “humanoid” body and I am so happy it’s happening now.

The reason why I like this is because I had imagined if Penny were to lose her robotic abilities and become more human, then maybe she could follow a different path, other then a huntress, to helping her friends in the future. Maybe she could follow in pietro’s footsteps and become an inventor and craftsmen for team RWBY and JN_R if they ever require her assistance?

It would be disappointing to not see Penny using her robotic abilities anymore, but I think if she can find a path to helping her friends and other people without being a huntress, then I would be very pleased to see what she could come up with 😊.

-(MoonDrop Real Talk) Now with all that being said there’s something I would like to talk about regarding the apparent backlash about this direction in Penny’s story. For the past few days I have noticed numerous fans criticize harshly about how the writers wrote team RWBY’s request for Penny’s new body and how they have showcased the abilities of the staff of creation......and it has given me a bit of clarity to tell you guys why I treat RWBY and the fandom with so much positivity.

For myself I have liked RWBY so far because I have seen and read so many different stories, from so many different forms of media, that I’m not incredibly picky to what direction I want the show to take. If there is a point in the story that doesn’t go the way I thought and I become disappointed about it, then instead of being mad I just take a step back from my own thought process and try to see what direction the writers are taking their story in.

When I do this it brings about one of the great joys I have with this show and that is creating new and interesting ways on how the show could go forward, which I love to do when I write my speculation posts.

Do I think there should be different choices in how the characters should be? Absolutely!

Do I think fights could be better and a lot more epic? Hell yeah!

But I don’t want to be the type of person to express their dislikes of a show so negatively that my words and feelings could hurt, or make someone feel much worse. To me I have always been self-conscious of how others are feeling when they express their thoughts on a subject. So when I see others express their dislike on how the story is going so far, I become worried of what is actually going on in their own lives to make them express their dislikes to the world in such a negative way, that I don’t attack them back and tell them that they are wrong in how they are feeling.

I understand you don’t like how RWBY is going the way you want it to, so I just want to ask if you don’t like it then just walk away from it. It would definitely make your life much better to walk away from such dark thoughts and it is a consideration worth wondering about 😥.

-(DO NOT FALL) Ok with all that personal talk out of the way, let’s speak about the last portion of the episode. After the creation of the doorways to Vacuo for the civilians of Mantle and Atlas to escape through, it was very interesting to hear from Ambrosius to warn team RWBY not to fall off the walkways in the dimension he created.

If the opening of Volume 8 is any indicator of what’s about to happen, then the girls are potentially gonna fall. Could this possibly be a hint on what the story could be in volume 9, and on how the girls will escape from this dimension before continuing their journey in Vacuo? We will just have to wait and see at the finale of Volume 8 🤔....

So with that I will say with some minor criticisms that I did enjoy episode 12 and I cannot wait to see the last 2 episodes of the volume. Till then I will see you guys in the next speculation post.......

BUH-BYE!!!!

#rwby #rwby volume 8 #rwby volume 8 spoilers #rwby ruby rose #weiss schnee #blake bellodona #yang xiao long #oscar pine #jaune arc #nora valkyrie #lie ren #james ironwood #rwby salem #winter schnee #emerald sustrai #cinder fall

11 notes · View notes

itsclydebitches · 3 years

Note

I recently got into TMA because so many mutuals are into it, and I've noticed a major difference in how the writers for that series handle their timeline in comparison to CRWBY. Rusty Quill keep things tight, and even relied on the FAN RUN WIKI to help them keep certain details straight as they were writing so they came up with as few plotholes/inconsistencies as possible. CRWBY actively decided not to have a timeline at all. Deliberately keep time vague. And it really came back to bite them.

As someone who just finished the third season of TMA and is enjoying it immensely: all of this. One of the (many) great joys of this series is looking back on the first season and realizing the staggering amount of setup there was. How many important characters were introduced, the beginnings of driving concepts, details that were merely creepy at the time but we now know hold deeper meaning... “keeps things tight” is right. Previous parts of the story fit neatly into new parts because it was planned from the get-go. Or rather, given stories’ tendencies to take on lives of their own, it’s likely a combination of planning and Sims’ skill (plus the happy benefit of the story already being made up of characters with limited information, at times unreliable statements, and protagonists who are likewise often unreliable narrators). But the point is that Sims has very clearly put in the effort, the results are excellent, and thus any remaining, inevitable mistakes are happily overlooked.

We can certainly discuss issues like cancel culture, but generally speaking people don’t look for reasons to criticize media. We want to love and celebrate the stories we’re given. Thus, there’s a reason TMA has garnered so much praise and RWBY so much criticism. RWBY has failed in many of the ways TMA has succeeded, which includes giving us a timeline that benefits the story and a story that’s consistent enough for us to easily fall into. When something notable comes up in TMA I am so eager to see what becomes of it. When will this character return? What’s the significance of that statement? When will this question be answered? What detail that has entirely escaped my notice suddenly turn the story on its head? That eagerness — that enjoyment — is a result of trust in Sims because he’s proven episode after episode that he knows how to manage these expectations. RWBY? RWBY keeps breaking that trust. There are lots of notable things in RWBY, certainly — our “rule of cool” — but at the end of the day it’s rare if they go anywhere. Instead they’re ignored, forgotten, contradicted, or just treated shoddily, to the point where when the next cool thing crops up I’m not excited, just wary of how RWBY will drop the ball this time. That’s become the norm, particularly post-Volume 6. TMA? The norm is quality, making any deviation from that something I’m happy to shrug off as simple human error on Sims’ part, not evidence of a lack of effort or skill. He’s more than earned that.

#rwby #TMA #mymetas #Anonymous

15 notes · View notes

nights-lament · 3 years

Text

RWBY Volume 8, Chapter 1 Thoughts and Opinions

HELLO, INTERWEBS!!! At long last, we are back with more RWBY, and with it, more RWBY Thoughts and Opinions! After the absolute roller coaster that was Volume 7's cliffhanger finale, I can not imagine the insanity that awaits us this Volume. So, without further ado, here are my various thoughts and opinions on Chapter 1 of RWBY Volume 8, "Divide"

SPOILERS BELOW:

Hmm, starting off with a mysterious woman scrubbing floors, and...wait, is that...no...

I really like the way they juxtapose Cinder scrubbing with her scratching the chair. Very symbolic.

Yick, something about organic architecture just gives me the willies. I mean, is the whale aware that they double as a building complex? Can they feel the diabolical ongoings of it's rib cage? Creepy stuff.

Oof, outright taking credit for grabbing the relic, Cinder? Yeah, no way that's going to bite you in the ass.

Oh my. Mercury, Emerald, AND Hazel have new looks this season. I'm sure I'll warm up to them eventually, but right now Emerald's and Hazel's aren't really doing this. For Hazel, the outfit is all right, but the hair is a bit boring compared to his originals. Mercury's is ok, but is it just me, or is he basically wearing Yang's V4-6 outfit? I mean, it works, but still.

"Without you, I am nothing." That...didn't sound like the first time she's said that. It almost sounds like something Salem's drilled into her head for years. Cinder may be irredeemable in my opinion, but I do love a good tragic backstory.

You know, I guess would make sense for the crater to be the slums area. Can't imagine living directly under a floating landmass would be considered prime real estate.

Ooh, this old man has badger paws. I don't think we've seen that kind of Faunus trait yet.

D'aaww, Nora gave Oscar a soft hug rather than her usual glomp. So cute ^-^

I'm interested in how Oscar not telling them about Oz is going to play out.

Ok, their is a lot going on in this bar-base worth talking about, but for some reason I am fascinated by the picture of (i'm assuming) the founders in the background. What interesting designs they have. I feel like they have a story, and I would like to hear it.

Penny's dejected demeanor is giving me all of the feels Q_Q

Not sure how I feel about the rift forming between RWBYJNRO, though I guess we'll have to see where it goes. At least we have people like Jaune playing mediator.

I will say, though, I look forward to seeing Ren and Nora apart. As much as I love them as a couple, I'd very much like to see them operate as individuals.

God, Ironwood trying to manipulate Penny like that.

And there it is. Ironwood has truly revealed his true feelings, and his motivation for his attempt to launch Atlas. He isn't making a tactical retreat in order to form a new plan altogether. He's abandoning the fight altogether, leaving Remnant to die so that he and Atlas can live. It's funny, he wanted to avoid becoming Lionheart, but he was a coward too.

"Everything that follows will be on your hands". That motherf-

You know, we don't see a lot of corpses on this show, do we? Penny got better, Amber's screentime ended as she died, Roman got eaten, Pyrrha got an express viking funeral, etc, and a lot of others were only corpses for seconds before we never saw them again. They did a good job selling how proper dead Clover is here.

Ok, I don't know squat about Hospital layouts. Is it normal to have the morgue right outside of an emergency room? I mean, I guess it saves some travel time should things go wrong, but still, seems like a great anxiety generator for the patient, especially with both rooms having windows. "That's where I'll be going next."

I like the new metal arm. The fact that you can see all of the internal stuff makes it feel like it was quickly put together for the sake of urgency, while still looking cool.

Man, that rendition of "Hero" in the background. Chilling.

Is Winter getting a new look already? I must say. I like the look of the braces, and the ponytail is a vast improvement over the bun.

JESUS H CHRIST IRONWOOD!!! I THOUGHT HE WAS GOING OUT THERE TO ARREST THEM!!! THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN A PRETTY BIG FASCIST MOVE, RIGHT!? HE JUST SHOT CHAD JAMES IN THE FACE!!!

What really interests me is everyone's reactions. Elm and Marrow are incredibly shocked, Harriet and Winter share their little look of doubt, and then there's Vine who just...doesn't react at all. Either that or it's all in his eyes, which we can't really see from here. Either way, not a huge reaction from him. Methinks the Ace-Ops and Winter might be starting to doubt the horse they bet on.

I find it interesting that Salem doesn't know how the Relic works, but then I suppose it makes sense, seeing as Oz probably placed them into the vaults almost immediately after finding them, so this is probably the first time she's even seen one in person..

Ok, OP time, and buckle up, guys, gals, and nonbinary pals, because this one is going to be a doozy.

-First off, the song sounds pretty good, but it seems like it's going to go through the same cycle as the rest where it doesn't do too much for me at first, but has me headbanging like a metalhead by the end of the volume

- Mantle glitching out between peaceful and wartorn is a wonderful effect. Definitely fills you with a sense of dread.

-The individual shots of Team RWBY are absolutely gorgeous. Conceptually, it's the standard "where we started and where we're at", but the composition is worthy of a chef's kiss. I think I've found my new wallpaper.

-The Ace-Ops appearing on Clover's pin is nice, but what I find interesting is Harriet and Qrow appearing back to back, especially with Harriet looking so angry. Is Harriet going to double down on her loyalty to Ironwood and go after Qrow?

- It seems Robyn is going to be Qrow's main source of support this season, though the bars seem to suggest they might be in custody for a while.

-Oscar seems to be in Salem's stronghold, which doesn't bode well for our farmboy, also, WHY DOES SALEM HAVE DEMON WINGS!? Emerald's Volume 5 illusion wasn't this scary looking!

-I feel like their's symbolism showing Team RWBY's weapons paired together like that, but I feel like it's too early to say what of. Looks pretty, though

-Ren and Nora standing so far apart. It hurts my soul! Interesting how, while Ren looks away, Nora actually turns towards him.

-I didn't notice Winter's change of expression/outfit before passing by Weiss. She went from looking confident and slightly condescending to full with doubt.

-Not a lot to say about the quick shots of Whitley and Willow other then the fact that they both look worried. The image of the Schnee Snowflake shattering, however, is VERY interesting.

-I'm always a sucker for some good ol' chess symbolism. I find it interesting that while Salem's pieces dissolve into creatures of Grimm, Ironwood's simply dissolve, leaving him alone. Perhaps shooting a fellow councilman in the face right in front of his inner circle doesn't play out as well for him as well as he thought it would.

- Speaking of the classics, also gotta love me some reflection artwork. Watts seems to be working behind Pietro's back while Pietro (presumably) works to get Amity running, while secretly worrying about Penny, whose reflection cracks, possibly symbolizing her resolve. I worry for her.

- The snowflake turning into a flower petal in Ren's hand, while a similar petal passes Nora by. I don't know what this means, but I'm intrigued.

- It seems Ruby and Yang won't be completely be at odds, judging by the look they give each other before going into the action shot.

- Hmm, while Cinder pulls a Za Warudo on the fight scene, you can see a dejected Emerald and a pissed off Neo, still moving, among the heroes. Interesting...

-Almost as interesting as Cinder grasping her Grimm arm before being engulfed in flames. Perhaps Salem pulled a Wormtail's Silver Hand with that arm.

-Is this the first time we've seen the Staff of Creation in it's entirety? I remember wanting to include it and the Lamp in my RWBY Vol 7 spritesheet, but couldn't find any images of it's bottom half. I like the little jewel on the bottom.

-Wow, CRWBY went full Kingdom Hearts with the heroes falling through the ice, and I absolutely LOVE IT! This op has some of the most gorgeous visuals the series has ever seen.

-HAPPY EVER AFTER HAPPY? NEVER AGAIN Daaaaaaamn, that's awesome. It kind of reminds me of a line from Red Like Roses Part II, "This bedtime story ends with Misery Ever After". It's incredibly haunting.

-Almost as haunting as the sketchy art style that flashes in between the words, particularly the part that shows Penny's eyes going red before the rest of her does. Did we predict Watts hacking Penny a volume too early?

-The final shot of Crescent Rose alone stuck in the snow. Damn. The theme of this op seems to be "foreboding as all hell"

Damn. Damn! DAMN! This was, without question, the best OP RWBY has ever had. By, like, a lot. The visuals were some of the best the show has ever had to offer, the foreboding is through the roof, and the symbolism is incredibly clever. I don't envy them when it comes time to make Volume 9's, because this will be a very tough act to beat. I am so happy to have RWBY back, and I am both excited and terrified to see what this show is going to do next.

#rwby #rwby volume 8 #rwby spoilers #rwby thoughts and opinions #rooster teeth animation

6 notes · View notes

shadows-twilight · 3 years