#nougets essays

[dicknouget]

On Character Potential and Relevance: Adam Taurus' Character Wasn't Wasted

This essay will define what makes up character potential and character relevance, give three hypothetical situations, then use this to analyze and answer the question that resurfaces every blue moon: Was Adam Taurus truly wasted potential?

Special thanks to:

@pilot-boi - For helping with the definition, the situations and the analysis.

@hadesisqueer - For helping with the definition, and the analysis.

@rwby-sk -For helping with the definition

kukiweed / stalevodkamom on Twitter - For helping with the definition, and the analysis.

@cat-draws-stuff - For proofreading the essay

Introduction

There are few things that are certain in the RWBY Fandom. Every hiatus we’ll see a new iteration of Yorse, the ‘Turn down for What’ gif from 2013 will make its rounds on Tumblr, and some crackpot theories will spread like wildfire. Vol 9 wrapped up beautifully a few months ago, and its event’s have started to make their appearance in popular fandom culture. Unfortunately, one “tradition” that always resurfaces is someone claiming that Adam Taurus was wasted potential. This essay and analysis will explore how a character becomes relevant to a narrative. Another way to think of it is, how much potential does this character really have? If a character has a lot of potential, then they are more relevant to the story, as they have more connections and more purpose. However, if they only have one theme, then their potential, and by extension, their relevance is short. In order to properly analyze Adam Taurus and his relevance to the world of RWBY and its story, we will first need to look at the defining tenets of what determines a character's potential to create an analytical framework. Then we will need to get some examples to understand how potential could be wasted. Once we have established both of those, we can then analyze Adam Taurus and his relevance to the story of RWBY.

Definition

The first question we have to ask is: “How can a character have potential?”. We aren’t asking WHAT defines potential, but rather, HOW can a character have potential. The most obvious answer is that they must have flaws. If a character is a Gary Stu / Mary Sue, then they lack any interesting aspects. They lack the ability to grow and change as characters. They’re already ‘perfect’. However, it isn’t enough for the character to have flaws. If the character has flaws, but never learns from them, or changes, then they are just as interesting as if they had no flaws in the first place. Rather, they would be an annoyance to the story. We would associate that character with failure, and would dread anytime that character was on screen, let alone when they performed an action. So in order for a character to be able to have some sort of potential, they must be flawed and able to change. They must be able to not only MAKE mistakes, but also LEARN from those mistakes.

The second question we must ask is: “What is the purpose of this character?”. In the last paragraph, we established that in order for a character to be relevant or have potential, they must have flaws. However, if the character bumbles their way through the story and learns from their mistakes, but doesn’t have a sense of narrative direction, they aren’t relevant to the narrative. Therefore, in order for a character to have a purpose, they must have some form of motivation or goal. However, we must also look at how they relate to the plot. Do they move the plot, or does the plot move them? If a character’s action acts as a catalyst for a following event, or series of events within the plot, then that character moves the plot. If a character idles by, waiting for orders from another character or for a catalyst, then they are moved by the plot. It is important to note that it is ok for the plot to move the character, so long as, in turn, said character moves the plot as well. Finally, we must look at how the character relates to the meta narrative, the overarching story, as well as to the personal narratives, the stories between characters. If a character does not have a connection to the meta narrative, then they are already on borrowed time. Without a connection to the overarching story, characters can easily be written out of the narrative or become redundant as their original purpose becomes obsolete. If the character does not have a connection to a personal narrative, then we can expect them to be even less relevant. Being tied to another character's journey establishes connections with the audience and the other characters in the narrative. All developments tie into the larger story arc, but it's the smaller, more personal narratives that make characters, and by extension the audience, invested in what happens in each piece of media. In order for a character to have a purpose, they must have a goal/motivation, they must be able to move the plot, and they must have a connection to at least one personal narrative.

The third question we must ask is: “How was this character and their story designed?”. Last paragraph we briefly spoke on how a character should relate to a world's story. However, if they are a cheap imitation of another character, or don’t implement their purpose in an interesting way, they start to lose relevance. If character A has a motivation, and character B also has that motivation but was introduced later, then they don’t bring anything new to the story. However, if character B has the same motivation as character A, but has a personal connection to the similar goal, then they add an interesting twist to the story, and can slowly become more relevant. However, if this becomes their only goal, then they become repetitive and once they exhaust said goal, they are removed from the story. Character’s must also be multi dimensional. Additionally, the author’s purpose must be considered, or more specifically, the lessons of the character and their personal narrative. If a character's story arc influences themselves alone, then it isolates themself from the story, but if a character’s narrative influences others or helps others to grow, they stay relevant, even if they leave. A well designed character will have a new connection to the story, or at the very least an interesting twist on an already existing motivation, will stick around so long as they are multidimensional, and have moments in their story that other characters learn from.

Finally the last question we must ask is: "Are each of the aforementioned criteria used correctly? Does the build up pay off?". A better way of looking at this question is through the example of Chekov’s gun. Chekov’s gun is a narrative principle that states that if a pistol is shown in the first act it must be fired by the second, otherwise why bother showing it in the first place? If a certain quality of a character is never addressed, then why was it ever shown in the first place? And if that was a quality that made the character unique, then should that character have been added at all? A well used character will have all of their traits, qualities, flaws, actions, motivations, addressed before they are removed from a story.

Using the four questions above we’ve been able to devise a framework in which to accurately analyze a character’s potential, and by extension, relevance, to a story. The framework can be summarized as:

Flaws

Does the character make mistakes?

Are they capable of change?

Purpose

Do they move the plot or does the plot move them?

Do they have motivations / goals?

How do they relate to the meta narrative?

How do they relate to personal narratives?

Design

Does the character add something new to the story, or interact with the cast?

Do they add it in a new, interesting way?

Are they multi-dimensional?

Usage

How does the character use their potential?

Is there a concept or aspect of a character that is never addressed?

Have they fired every round in Chekhov’s gun?

Now we should look at hypotheticals, some of which have made their own circulations through the FNDM, to get a better idea of what wasted potential looks like.

Hypotheticals

As we will eventually analyze Adam Taurus, it makes sense to use RWBY as a basis for the hypotheticals. More specifically, we will be analyzing the following hypotheticals: “Pyrrha Surviving Vol 3”, “Killing off Jaune in Volume 5”, and “Sun Joining the cast in Atlas”. We’ll be looking at these, as they have made their rounds in the FNDM at one point or another, either in fan theories or in fan works.

Pyrrha

The first prompt is “Pyrrha Survives Vol 3”. This one has several variations: one where she survives and recovers, one where she is paralyzed, one where Jaune dies in her place, etc. However, having Pyrrha survive would be a disservice to her character and would waste her potential. The first proof is in her allusion, Achilles. In Greek Mythos, Achilles was a legendary Spartan who died young in battle, slain due to an arrow in his heel. In her final fight, we see Pyrrha live up to that allusion, fulfilling a dimension of her character design. However, her name also explains why her potential ends when it does. The name Pyrrha, is a reference to a Pyrrhic Victory, a victory where the losses and costs outweigh the victory itself. The dragon was slain and Cinder was defeated, but Beacon still fell and Pyrrha died in the process. This checks off another dimension in Pyrrha’s character. Finally, we have Pyrrha’s relationship to the meta-narrative and personal-narrative. Her personal goals were to train as a huntress, which she was in the process of, and in the Battle for Beacon, it was to protect her partner and to stop Cinder. She failed in the second because she was outmatched by Cinder, who was much more experienced and used weapons outside of Pyrrha’s semblance. In relation to the meta-narrative, her character arc wrapped up before Salem was properly introduced to the show. An argument can be made that if she survived, she would have the motivation to find who carried out the attack. However, her survival takes away from the personal connection that JNR has to the meta-narrative, in turn removing the relevancy and potential had by them as the show moved forward. JNR’s reason to stay with Ruby, and by extension stay in the narrative, is to avenge Pyrrha’s death. If JNR lost that personal connection, they wouldn’t have anything new to add to the show and may have made brief appearances throughout the rest of the show, if they appeared again at all, if RWBY was still successful with their plans. In short, Pyrrha’s survival past Vol 3 would waste her potential not only because it would subvert her character design via character allusion, but it would also remove JNR's reasoning to stay on screen. In a weird macabre way, Pyrrha’s passing makes the most sense for the story, as it doesn't ruin design, helps Jaune with his own understanding of being a huntsman, and gives JNR a personal connection to the meta-narrative.

Jaune

The second scenario is not as popular as the previous, but had a small peak following the volume 6 finale. It can also be seen as part of the ‘JNPR dies’ theory, in which each member of JNPR meets their demise in line with their character allusion. However, Jaune dying would ultimately waste his potential. Jaune’s character arc throughout Mistral was learning his purpose and recognizing his place in Ruby’s team. We see him slowly recognize this in Vol 4, starting in the first episode, as he strategizes against the Geist. It’s these moments where he starts to realize that he is a strategist and an internal mediator, looking to come up with plans that will give the group favourable outcomes, both in and out of conflict. The second part is when he unlocks his semblance in the Battle for Haven and it reinforces his previous assumption, that he is part of the support group, not the primary attack force. Furthermore, we see him overcome his belief that he is hardwired to self-destruct, when he talks to  ‘Pyrrha’s Mom’ and with Ren and Nora, who let them know how much he means to them. Killing him off would have removed his chance to implement his lesson of “Making the right choice, even if it’s a difficult action” like in Vol 8, when he suggests tackling both objectives, setting up the CCT tower and evacuating Mantle. It affirms his place as a conflict mediator and leader, as well as cementing his drive to support people, and demonstrates how far he's grown since he refused to split up with Ren and Nora in volume 4. It shows Jaune’s potential was used efficiently in the Mistral and Atlas arcs as it highlighted his growth as a huntsman, and killing him off would have only denied him that opportunity, alongside any future growth.

Sun

The last hypothetical that we will look at is Sun joining the gang in Atlas. This was a theory that made its rounds in the vol 5 hiatus. The premise is pretty straightforward: Sun would join teams RWBY and JNPOR on their journey to Atlas in Vol 6. Ignoring the fact that it would leave his own team, team SSSN, leader-less for another two volumes minimum, provided he didn’t fall alongside RWBYJ, there are other points that would have wasted potential in the Atlas arc. The first point is his relationship with both Blake and Yang. Part of what makes a character have potential is not only their meta-narrative relationship (the relationship with the overarching story), but also the interpersonal relationships and interpersonal narratives. Sun’s primary purpose in Mistral was to foil Yang, to be an example for Blake of someone whose affections were snubbed but didn’t lash out in anger. Not only that, but he also had to be a friend for Blake, someone to knock her head on straight when she was in her funk following the events of volume 3. His potential dictated that his purpose was to be a foil to Yang and to be the antithesis of Adam. He was Yang's foil by standing by Blake and being her companion when she needed him, and was the contradiction of Adam by not expecting anything in return, helping her because she needed it and they were friends. Once Blake meets back with her team, she has healed enough to stop blaming herself, and has other friends around her. Sun doesn’t need to be near her anymore, and he openly admits it in the first episode of Volume 6. Granted he still has potential, and still has narrative relevance, however, it would have been wasted in Atlas, given that he didn’t have any connections to Atlas, nor was his team studying there. If Sun had gone to Atlas, he would have just been another person, rather than Sun Wukong.

Adam Analysis

We’ve defined character potential and have created a framework that can help us gauge how relevant a character is to a story. We’ve gone through three hypotheticals, and have used the same framework to understand how to apply it. We will now tackle the objective announced at the start of this essay, the analysis of the relevance and potential of Adam Taurus. This section will analyze each aspect of Adam using each section of the framework, before answering the question, ‘Was Adam Taurus Wasted Potential?’.

Adam Taurus has made three major mistakes in the canon of RWBY. The first major mistake is his path of destruction. This first came to prominence in the ‘Adam’ trailer, in which Sienna encouraged his violent actions while she carried out missions with him. However, the major difference between Adam and Sienna is that Sienna didn’t wish total death to humanity, but rather used violence as a means to an end. The second mistake is his alignment with Cinder’s faction during the Fall of Beacon. He furthered this alignment by aiding in the Battle for Haven, in which he was thwarted by the re-united White Fang. His last mistake was his pursuit of Blake throughout the show, most notably in Vol 6. Had he left her alone, like she told him several times previously, as well as in their final battle, he would still be alive and could at least start offsetting the massive amount of damage he’s caused to the world of Remnant.

In the Adam character short, Adam showed the potential for change. He could have ignored Sienna and listened to Ghira about pacifism, or even found a middle ground between the two. Leading up to Vol 3, there was still a sliver of chance for change. He could have denounced his former actions and tried to start reconciliation with the previous leadership of the White Fang. However, when he aided Cinder with Beacon --and later Haven-- as well as disarmed Yang, he lost that chance for change, solidifying his position as an antagonist rather than a villainous anti-hero. The attack on Beacon was the start of his point of no return. Unlike Emerald, who showed regret after the attack launched, and since then started doubting and second guessing the actions of their group, Adam continued to double down on his actions, most notably attacking Haven, murdering his loyalists and stalking Blake. There are also two points in the Vol 6 fight that solidify Adam’s fate. The first is at the end of V6E10, ‘Stealing from the Elderly’, where Blake points out that she doesn’t want anything to do with him or his life. The only reason they’re fighting at this point is because he stalked her across Anima. She continues this by telling him to let go of the past, to do it for himself. He ignores her by saying: “I let you go once already, Blake. I'm never making that mistake again…”. In the following chapter, V6E11 ‘The Lady in the Shoe’, Yang gives him one final chance to walk away stating “Leave. Us. Alone. This is your last chance.” to which Adam only eggs her and Blake on, and destroys the last opportunity he had to change.

When it comes to plot relevance, Adam Taurus is moved by the plot, more often than not, being the one to inspire action, although it is situational. There are times, like his influence on Blake, where he moved the plot, but there are also times, like when joining Cinder at Beacon, when the plot moved him.  However, this alone is not enough, what are his goals? He wants control, and more specifically, he wants to control Blake and the White Fang. His only long term goals were that of self empowerment, done through control of the Fang, and control of Blake.

In terms of narratives, Adam does not have a direct connection to the meta-narrative. All of his connections are through Blake first, and later Yang. His primary connection to the meta narrative is to act as a negative Blake, something that was covered briefly in Ice Queendom with the introduction of Nega-Blake. He is the representation of the ultra-chauvinistic extremism that controlled the White Fang for a portion of the canon. However outside of that he has no connection to the meta-narrative, with the exception of Cinder. From a personal narrative perspective, he had a few connections, the most notable being Sienna Khan, Blake and Yang. He killed Sienna in vol 5 to take control of the Fang, cutting that connection then and there. With Blake and Yang, he didn’t do anything except torment them and act as an antagonist to their own personal stories. With Blake, there was him stabbing her during the Fall of Beacon, gaslighting and stalking her across Anima. With Yang he dismembered her, and as a result was responsible for the PTSD she suffered from in volume 4 and onward. His overall purpose in the story was to be the boogeyman to Yang and Blake. His primary role in the RWBY narrative was to act as the devil of Blakes shoulder, a foil to her, showing her what she almost became if she had stayed with him.

In terms of character design, Adam doesn’t add anything interesting to the story. His primary goal, as established before, was self empowerment, by controlling the Fang and Blake, and the enslavement of humanity. And while both are new to the canon of RWBY, they fail to be anything more than a revenge dream. His interactions with the main cast are minimal, with Yang and Blake being the only two characters he had contact with. His semblance isn’t new or very interesting to the story either, and can be seen as a simplified and weaker version of Yang’s that requires his weapon in order to be used. Now, it can be argued that during the Beacon arc, and even in Vol 4 and 5, Adam had some dimension to him, with him juggling the operation of the White Fang and tormenting Blake. However, if you look at the root of both of these dimensions, it can be seen that they are the same axis. They both have their roots in his lust for power. It can confidently be stated that Adam is a fairly one dimensional character.

Now we come down to usage. How does Adam use the limited potential he has? Adam is a strong fighter, and he knows this. He sees that he’s capable of inspiring people and COULD be a leader, leading the Fang against Haven and even the more violent movements in other parts of the canon. However, he uses his opportunities to fuel his own ego and his own motivations. That decision, the decision to fuel his own ego and to further his own goals, is what squanders his very small potential. Rather than using it to lead the Fang to complete legal and social emancipation and advance equality for Faunus or even using it in an armed struggle against the SDC, he uses it for destruction. It is not a useful destruction either. It isn’t a destruction of a Monarchy, such as the real-life Romanovs, nor is it a destruction of a mega-corporation such as the SDC. Destruction can be useful and even good in some occurrences, however it is the motivation and the target that are the justification of said destruction.

Finally, we come down to character evolution. How does Adam Taurus evolve as a character? Let’s compare him to another example of “I could have been so much, but wasn’t”. Cinder Fall was originally approached by Rhodes to be trained as a huntress, but was also a victim of brutal abuse by her environment. After witnessing Cinder kill her step-family, Rhodes ends up turning on Cinder, rather than bailing her out of Atlas, forcing Cinder to kill him as well. This ultimately leads Cinder to joining Salem, and becoming the character we know in canon. Cinder is a tragic villain, a villain that tried to not become who she is, but did so anyway because of circumstance. Adam Taurus has a similar story, being subjugated into slavery and branded with the SDC logo. However, unlike Cinder, he had a support system with the White Fang. He had a group that he could have worked with for a better tomorrow. Unfortunately, he let his rage and desire for revenge blind him and in turn corrupt the people around him. This, in turn, caused him to waste his own potential. He had the potential to be so much more, akin to Remnants John Brown or Che Guevara, but he made his choices. And choices, whether it’s theirs or someone else’s, are what make people who they are.

Adam Taurus isn’t the most complex character in RWBY, far from it, however, to say that his story doesn’t have some nuance to it would be ignorant of the characters history. Using the framework that we built in the beginning, we were able to determine Adams flaws, purpose, design and usage throughout the story of RWBY. While Adam certainly had potential, especially at the beginning of his own story, it’s clear that he lacked the clear head to realize that his enemy was a select group of people, rather than the entire human race. Because of this failure, he squandered his own potential and limited himself to what he could be. He lost his personal narrative connection with Blake as she grew past the fear he represented, and he lost his meta-narrative connection when the White Fang was not only defeated at Haven, but was also reformed under Ghira. By his own actions, Adam isolated himself from the narrative and in turn cut his potential short.

#rwby #adam taurus #nougets rants #nougets essays

[dicknouget]

On Art, Requests, Commissions and Tips

I can't believe this needs to be said, but unless an artist openly says that they are request based, like @sevi-fuk/@sevi-clown,

DON'T FUCKING ASSUME THAT THEY'LL DRAW YOUR REQUESTS!

Even with someone like @pilot-boi who does occasionally draw requests, it's common fucking courtesy to at least ask if they draw it.

And if they do draw a request, more often than not you shouldn't be expecting more than a doodle or a rough sketch at best.

If you want something like a comic, or a proper drawing, save up and pay for a commission, ask for the artists rate, see if they have a ko-fi. If they do and they draw your request, be a decent person and give them a tip, because they didn't have to draw your ask.

#rwby #pilot boi #pilots art #jaune arc #nougets essays #nougets rants

[dicknouget]

A Response to Reviews and Certain Objections on Adam's Character Relevance Essay

Normally I like to keep this in PM's, but I'd rather use this as an addendum. I'm collecting responses from both FFNet and Tumblr into one document so I'm not running everywhere. On FFNet it will be added as a sixth chapter to the essay, on Tumblr as a separate post. My username is the same on both websites.

There is a point in one of the objections where it may come across as pro-Russian, I need to clarify I'm a staunch anti-imperialist, and reject all forms of imperialism. Every nation has its right to self determination.

I'm going to put the responses to the objections under a cut.

I want to thank everyone for the kind responses to this essay. This is something that I've worked on since April/May, and I am rather proud of it.

Tumblr Responses:

@fallentitan98:

I already responded to you in the notes of the original essay but I wanted to answer it here so I can centralize my responses.

He's was already enraged because Blake was with Yang. Who he saw her with fundamentally would not have changed the outcome of his fate. I mention this in one of the objections later on, but Adam doesn't add anything new to Weiss' story outside of reminding her what her families done to the faunus. I guess this is more of a subjective criticism, and kudos for acknowledging personal bias. A lot of critics fail to do so.

FF Net Responses:

Cryogony:

Hope you enjoy it! I'm working on my media analytical skills and I wanted to practice on one of my favourite shows

Oldest Guest on Chapter 5 review:

Adam did have potential early on, but he misplaced his anger at the wrong group. I agree with you this makes him a tragic character, and part of why I enjoy his character.

Second oldest guest on Chapter 5 review:

No comments. I agree with you on this. I think a lot of his fans misinterpret him as RWBY's version of Vergil. And while there are similarities, the biggest difference is battle wisdom, and it's painfully obvious that Adam lost a lot of it in Vol 6.

Essiter1987:

I am planning on writing more analytical essays, I have a couple pinned on my tumblr. The next big essay I have in progress is on character relationship growth using WhiteKnight as an example. I will admit that there is a bit of a personal bias to that one, but I try to stay objective to it.

I enjoy Adam's character, but I don't enjoy him as a person. I totally agree with you in terms of the writing and the power scaling issues. Monty was one hell of an animator, but I do agree that Adam's initial impression has led to misinterpretation of his character.

In terms of the Vol 6 fight, I'm also drafting an essay on why it made sense that Adam lost. It wasn't a moment where the story needed him to die, but one that if you pay attention to Blake and Yang's stories in the Mistral Arc, it starts to make sense. Again very early in the works, will probably have that one done before the WK analysis.

Keep reading for a response to Objections found on FFNet reviews.

Objections:

First Objection:

"If Jaune died, they could have avenged Jaune. Jaune dying works in the exact same manner as Pyrrha's death. The part with Pyrrha and Jaune here, comes across as you looking at their characters in a one dimensional view. Story point of view Jaune dying and Pyrrha living makes for a more interesting story."

There are several points within this objection and I’m going to attempt to address all of them.

First is the assertion that Pyrrha living makes for a more interesting story. Does it? Pyrrha was already at the peak of her physical prowess and was a living safety net for RWBY and JNR. 

Even if she did manage to survive and continue on in the story, her heel is permanently damaged and would have to adapt to a new cybernetic limb, which already exists as Yang’s story.

The battle at Haven still would have taken place, the two biggest differences being the fight being ignited by another character and Weiss or another character kicking the bucket, due to the lack of a healing semblance from Jaune.

Then there’s the Vol 6 trip to Argus, which would have likely skipped Brunswick Farms and having a much more difficult time establishing a plan to Atlas once arriving at Argus.

Vol 7 likely would have panned out similarly, as Jaune was more background in that volume.

Vol 8 would have seen the team split on which objective to focus on as it was Jaune who decided the split.

When viewing Pyrrha from a design perspective it made sense that she died. Again referencing her allusion, and more specifically her name.

I am aware of the “JNPR dies theory”, but Pyrrha’s the only one who reached her full potential before the main plot began and her presence so far has been more effective with haunting the narrative.

Second Objection:

"Jaune's chance for growth came all the way back in Season 1 he wasn't interested in changing for the better, in all reality."

Throughout the Beacon Arc we see him move past his crush on Weiss to help her as a friend rather than as a love interest. He trains throughout Beacon alongside Pyrrha and is shown on screen to be training to videos that she recorded for him.

We see him grow into a greater tactician and strategist, first seen in V4 with the Geist and again with the Knucklevee, in vol 6 with the heist and in vol 8 with the 'divide and conquer' plan.

To ignore his growth is to ignore the reality of the show.

Third Objection:

"Adam Rwby's villain. Adam is the only character who can claim to be a villain to all of RWBY as a team."

Cinder Fall, Salem, and Neo apparently don't exist...

Adam has no narrative connection to Ruby outside of 'the guy who sliced off his sisters arm'. While, it you could argue it's a connection, it's not the same intensity as Yang and Adam's, and doesn't add anything new to Ruby's story. Ruby would likely see him as 'another enemy' rather than a personal threat, like she does Cinder.

Adam doesn't add anything new to Weiss' story outside of reminding her what her family has done to the faunus. Something she's already been aware of since meeting Blake back in volume 1, and reminded of when RWBYJNR went on the mission with the Ace Ops in V7.

Out of the main cast, Adam is the antagonist to Blake and Yang alone.

Fourth Objection:

"Adam's actual goal was actually 'change'. He also wanted to be in charge and hold the power but that came from all the abuse he suffered and witnessed."

The change he wanted was an oppressive change not a liberating change, one that required him to be self empowering. His end goal for 'change' required the deaths of civilians, as demonstrated in the Black trailer, the Fall of Beacon, and the Battle for Haven.

There is a quote by Paulo Freire that can summarize Adam's goal of change perfectly:

"The oppressed, instead of striving for liberation, tend themselves to become oppressors."

Rather than striving for liberation and emancipation through armed struggle (i.e. the American Revolution against the British (a historically progressive moment), the Russian Revolutions in 1917, the August revolution in Vietnam, the Haitian revolution and both coup's in Burkina Faso), he chose an oppressive change akin to how several of modern day far right groups in Eastern Europe want to treat Russians living in their country.

Fifth Objection:

"The fact you think Adam is a one dimensional character"

I don't. In the conclusion I literally say he had potential. He isn't a complex character, but there is nuance to him, much like Cinder. He had dimension to his character, but he wastes it by going down his destructive path. If he didn't continue down his path of chauvinism, he likely could have become an anti-hero or anti-villain.

Sixth Objection:

“Adam is just a wasted potential of a character. Conclusion you forgot about Ruby and Weiss.”

Again, Adam was largely irrelevant to Ruby’s story and didn’t add anything new to Weiss’. There was no reason to add them.

#rwby #adam taurus #nougets rants #nougets essays

[dicknouget]

Don't you think its a bit hypocritical that you tell others to buy commissions and tips when Pilot not only has a tag for you, but has done more sketches for you than anyone else?

No, I don’t think it’s hypocritical, here’s why:

Pilot has a tag for every ask, both anon and not.

While I do have a large amount of requests from Pilot, they are the exact quality that I was talking about in “On Art, Requests, Commissions and Tips”. Rough doodles, some light colouring, and two of them are literally traced over both Pilot and Myself for a stupid joke I made when I was drunk.

There are several of those that were gifts because of situational bets

There are several of them which were done during Pilots Art Palette challenges, challenges that were explicitly request based.

I actually commission have commissioned Pilot several times:

Stardew Nora’s Boys

Frog Envy Zinnia

Twitch Streamer Blake

WIMDY

Baby WhiteKnight

Pilot and I have a strong friendship. If you’re reading this on Tumblr Desktop, I want you to go to Pilot’s blog page, click on the three dots to the right of the Ask Me Anything, and then select archive. Select the tag to filter by and look for dicknouget. There are 87 posts of the two of us literally fucking around over the blonde idiot from RWBY, dating back to 2019. We started to really hang out on the Jaune Arc Stan Server on discord that dustypotions1 made and then closed, and we’re still hanging out on other servers like the JNPR Squad and Bismuth Brainrot. Part of the reason I get these sketches and doodles is because Pilot and I are close friends.

My previous point partially proved your argument. However, and Pilot can back me up here, when you’re starting out in art, you do have to fill requests to help build an audience. I remember, back in 2018, a lot of my original content was based on prompts coming from asks. I never monetized, mainly because I didn’t feel like going down the path, but that was my choice. Given that I have some more free time, and that I’m writing RWBY essay’s, I might actually revisit some old WIP’s and even rework an old fic.

The point I’m trying to make is, if I never commissioned anything from Pilot, if I never sent in a tip to their Ko-Fi every now and then for requests/sketches, if Pilot and I didn’t already have an established friendship, if Pilot and I didn’t even have the same opinions on RWBY, and I demanded that they draw something for me, then turn around and post “On Art, Commissions and Tips”, then yes, I would be hypocritical.

#nougets rants #nougets essays

[dicknouget]

On Arkos Revival

Before going any further I want to thank @pilot-boi for helping me with the arguments as well as @pottermusprime and @rwby-sk for reviewing the actual essay.

I cover the possible out comes of Pyrrha's revival and how an event like it would affect the show and the cast.

A couple days ago, I mentioned in an ask to Pilot that we never received a name for the red haired lady that Jaune converses with in V6C9 “Lost”. I also then brought up the dialogue where Jaune thought Pyrrha should be standing there, to which the woman replied she is. I’m not going to debate whether or not Arkos will be unsunk or even if Pyrrha will be revived. What I am going to share my thoughts on is how Pyrrha’s revival would affect RJNR’s character arcs, the relationships between Pyrrha and RUBY JNR and would Arkos still happen if, and this is a big IF, Pyrrha was revived. For the sake of the essay format I will be arguing as if Pyrrha’s revival has happened. This is a disclaimer: I recognize that Pyrrha has NOT been revived, and probably won’t be.

The first argument is in regards to Pyrrha and RNJR. RNJR, more specifically JNR, were hit the hardest with Pyrrha’s death. Ruby witnessing it, and JNR being her teammate. Since then we’ve seen the four of them develop and grow as characters, accepting Pyrrha’s sacrifice and recognizing what it means to be a huntsman/huntress. The initial reaction of a Pyrrha revival would be along the lines of “It completely undermines, and undoes the character growth of RNJR!”. However, if you stop and look at how people interpret experiences and events, you realize that it doesn’t undermine the character development and growth of RNJR. RNJR still lost a friend. They still learned to keep moving forward. They still learned the meaning of sacrifice, and what it means to be a huntsman/huntress. Pyrrha’s revival would simply be another event, another experience for RWBYJNR to understand. If she is revived, how did it happen? Is she the same Pyrrha that they loved? Is she older, does she still have her combat prowess? Just because she is revived, doesn’t mean she’ll be the same “Invincible Girl” from before. There’s also the topic of whether or not she would be willing to continue the mission if she turned out the same way, although given the information presented to us, she would likely join the heroes. Pyrrha’s revival is another event and experience that our heroes will have to work through and understand.

As a final support to the first argument, the audience has already seen a character revival. At the start of Vol 7 Penny was shown to be revived by Pietro as the protector of Mantle. Her revival didn’t magically undo everything that RWBYJNR had learned about loss, or even sacrifice. If anything her character arc helped remind them of sacrifices, and that a huntsman/huntress MUST be able to make the toughest decisions, even if that means losing a life.

The second argument is in regards to Pyrrha and RWBYJNR. This is much more uncertain, as it depends on HOW Pyrrha is revived. I will be arguing with a neutral approach given that condition. Let’s start off with Pyrrha and WBY. For the most part, they would be happy she’s back. Yang might tease Weiss about having a crush on Pyrrha. Ruby would give her some space, but would eventually hug her and might ask a couple questions about the afterlife. Blake and Weiss for the most part would be glad to have her back. Onto JNR. Nora and Ren would likely be more emotional, with Nora tackling her and Ren crying while hugging her. And now we have Jaune. Jaune would be emotional, the most of the group. His emotions would be very conflicting, likely a mixture of joy, relief, sadness and anger. One way I’ve always imagined it is similar to how Astrid repays Hiccup at the end of How to Train Your Dragon. A punch on the shoulder for scaring her and a kiss for everything else. While I will admit that Jaune punching Pyrrha would be a little OOC for him, it would be somewhat believable, given that he is a physical character, and in this situation would be overwhelmed by his emotions. Again it would be hard to judge how the characters react to such an event, because there are so many ways for it to occur, whether it be in the ever after, or a small reveal in a quiet part of the show.

The final argument is would Arkos happen. We’ve seen the primary cast grow from their naive, and in some cases ignorant selves, into fleshed out characters with strong backstories and their places in the world of RWBY. Jaune is an interesting character as we have seen him lash out on two occasions, both of which were in relation to Pyrrha. The first time we see him lash out in anger is in Vol 5 when he assaults Cinder, both verbally and physically. The second is when he yells at Ozpin, and unfortunately catches Oscar in the crossfire. However, since then we’ve seen him grow into a much more collected huntsman, even if he is still emotionally charged, the evacuation of Mantle and the battle of the bridges are good examples of this. Continuing, he’s also a much more forgiving person than we would have assumed in Vol 4/5. When JORY exits the Whale in Vol 8, he deliberately holds his ground to ensure that Emerald escapes as well. One of the people that helped orchestrate the fall of Beacon, and a lackey of Cinder, he ensures escape. Why? It’s because he recognizes that she also helped Oscar, and the rest of them escape. This doesn’t mean that he fully trusts her, but it shows that he’s willing to give her an inch of his trust, and work towards forgiveness.

Given this information and analysis of Jaune it would be safe to assume that if he is able to forgive a former enemy, he would be able to do the same to Pyrrha. There would be A LOT of pain, and A LOT of anger, and yelling. But at the end of the day, Jaune would forgive Pyrrha, and they would slowly start to form a relationship again. It would likely start platonically, as a way of building trust back up, but I am confident that Arkos would eventually become romantic. It would be an extremely slow burn, likely one that makes Bumbleby look like a speedrun, but that’s due to Jaune needing to rebuild his trust in his partner, and Pyrrha needing to recover. If Arkos were to become Canon, it would likely not be shown in the main series, likely in an epilogue.

Arkos is one of the more popular ships in RWBY, and evidently, one of my favourites. Jaune’s my favourite character, and I’ve always enjoyed Pyrrha. Part of being an Arkos fan is understanding that it likely will stay sunk, but it’s interesting to think about how it could happen, given the current character’s and their experiences. It’s also compelling to explore how an event such as Pyrrha’s revival would affect RWBY/JNR as well as how said group would react. I don’t claim to know more than what’s been presented onscreen and in extra lore, but I will explore the information presented to the audience on screen.

I hope you enjoyed reading this theory and essay

- Nouget

#rwby #jaune arc #pyrrha nikos #arkos #nougets essays

[dicknouget]

I think you're wasting your time, that guy clearly has no media literacy. Also hilarious that he calls people fascist for liking a character that happens to have physical characteristics that many actual human beings have that don't make them inherently evil while. trying to defend the guy that wanted to commit genocide while saying he is wasted potential. Okay dude, lmao.

Probably was wasting my time. I find it more funny that he called me a fascist despite the fact I've openly supported Lenin here.

Doomalade has no nuance, he doesn't understand media criticism, or the fact that some characters are just meant to be bad.

Alot of his arguments stem from his hatred of RT, which is understandable. Roosterteeth should be criticized extensively due to their history. But unfortunately he let that bias affect how he creates his arguments.

One thing I noticed is that he always ignored the Sienna Khan example of armed struggle, the fact that I openly support it, or the deserved nuance that I gave Adam. He likely didn't want a changed opinion or an open honest debate (although given that I was ragging on him it doesn't surprise me he was hostile from the get go).

If he wants to give honest good criticism, he needs to learn how to be objective, and to stop relying on identity politics. IdPol is something to take into consideration, especially if you're of a progressive political stance, such as Marxism and Marxism-Leninism, but it should not be your entire foundation, as it can alienate people you claim to help, weaken your reasoning and in turn your arguments.

How many times did he claim or imply that Jaune stans were fascists?

That reasoning alone is enough to weaken any argument, especially when you're defending a chauvinistic character like Adam.

I don't hate Doomalade, and I hope that they grow past their tunnel vision, and leave the RWDE echo chamber / circle jerk

#rwby #nougets rants #nougets essays

[dicknouget]

Collection of My Essays and Rants

RWBY Specific:

On Arkos Revival

A reply to a post On Cindemption and What we are "Owed" as a FNDM

On Character Potential and Relevance: Adam Taurus' Character Wasn't Wasted

A Response to Reviews and Certain Objections on Adam's Character Relevance Essay

Misc:

On Art, Requests, Commissions and Tips

A Reply to an Anon about Art, Requests, Commission and Tips

#nougets rants #nougets essays #masterpost