#user: noscuarteto

[onewomancitadel]

yeah anime can be like that though I would recommend two recent ones that are like Belle which is like a retelling of "The Beauty and the Beast" and Pompo the Cinephile that is about B-movie creators making an A-movie with all the difficulties that come with it. Also about hand-drawn animation maybe you will like the Astro Boy series from 2003 which is pretty much the Last Hurrah of Cel Animation if you are interested.

Hi!! Thanks for your ask. (:

Yes, I've heard good things about Belle - word travels fast amongst monster romance and BatB enthusiasts. XD

Thanks for the other recs! I'll keep them in mind, but I think given another recommendation for Belle I definitely have to give it a go. It's hard to make me watch stuff lol, takes a bit of commitment. I'm always interested to see how BatB gets reinterpreted though.

Hope you have a good day!

#seraphina's asks #user: noscuarteto

[onewomancitadel]

Don't you think that if Knightfall happens in the show, the community and Reddit would explode? knowing how their opnions about Cinder and Jaune are(at least some part), though that depends if they do Knightfall right or they fuck up in the pacing or execution.

I don't think they care lol. They committed to killing Penny (which made sense) and that obviously made a lot of viewers unhappy. People who don't understand why Penny didn't die properly the first time, and why she had to die properly. All that sort of thing. It just depends what thematic thread you're interested in following. But I think one of the last asks you sent me, we had a little disagreement over whether the show is following through on its ideas, and I think I have a different approach.

I'm not going to say I'm totally right all the time lol, I'm very prepared to be wrong, and to be quite honest in the case of BB they pleasantly surprised me, for instance. I had thought it made sense, and Yang's longing for Blake was unusual, and all of the stuff with Yang and Raven plus Raven/Tai made sense for a Yang/Blake romance. Idk, I felt like it made sense but I was uncertain if they'd commit. The Raven/Tai was a big thing for me when I was considering the ship, and this was an early notion (for me) of legacy themes, of course Salem/Ozma became a realised thing in V6:E3 lol. There was all the Beauty/Beast stuff, but I was less sure exactly how much they were committing to it then. It seemed to be more internal Blake stuff.

So yeah, I always reserve caution. But on that front, there were a lot of vocal Blake/Sun shippers. It was a horrible shipwar. It was terrible. They paid little heed to it, if anything they stoked the flames lol. I do wonder to what end Cindemption being seeded for as long as it has been, and to the audience eyes' since the V7 finale (like, two separate instances, there's the Cinder vs. Winter and Penny fight, THEN Ozpin's voiceover asking if you'll forgive them/understand why they did the things they did) is supposed to be rehabilitating her fandom perception along with Cindemption.

As I've sort of said, not to be repeating myself, but I reckon they don't care about causing a ruckus. Look at the people upset about Ironwood.

I do think Knightfall is possible to do well, and good Knightfall is probably contingent on good Cindemption, and good Cindemption is contingent on continuing to write her in an interesting way. Obviously they're my two favourite characters and I currently love the direction with the two of them, so I'm not complaining. Jaune has some meaty development, and Cinder's at her highest.

Although I've got to be honest with you. I'm not a very good person. Sometimes I want to live out the smugness of being a Knightfall blog this early in the canon, see it canon, and just bask in the satisfaction. That would feel really good. But I must put away ego and not be a bad person. I'm prepared for it not to happen as much as I am, if you know what I mean. I am willing to go with the story they're telling, I would just be disappointed if they went about-turn on their themes. There are just a lot of mechanical working parts of the story pointing in favour of Knightfall that it's too hard to ignore.

When I sit down and feel sad and try to convince myself out of shipping it, like when I'm thinking about the likelihood of Jaune/Weiss, I'm still just like... but that ship makes no sense. That ship breaks everything... all of the ships so far work to the themes and patterns I'm looking at, even BB which I didn't expect to happen. BB I didn't expect to happen partly because I was unsure for obvious reasons and I wasn't sure if they'd commit to that especially with the main cast, and then also there was some genuine Blake/Sun kind of baiting going on, because that's the anime-trope romance. Weird how all the anime-trope romances have failed but the fairytale ones haven't.

Knightfall is very fairytale lol.

With that being said though... don't you think Knightfall is actually a great way to legitimise both Jaune and Cinder in the eyes of fandom? Like, think about it: it gives something really important for Jaune to do, the thing I think is probably the most important thing he could do in the story and makes perfect sense for his character, and genuine interactions with her from someone who cares and isn't getting anything out of it would humanise her? Like, in a way it almost makes sense because it seems so unlikely, because they're characters with such particular... fandom reception, which I've talked about before, on many sides. It's almost like the perfect solution to showing the audience exactly why these two are the way they are lol.

To summarise: I'm not worried about fandom opinion and I want to be right always, all the time. I hope they do it well if they do it at all. To be honest with you I always thought Knightfall would be late, and Cindemption is being set up very early and as one of the most important redemption arcs in the show. But who nose. It could be even sooner than I thought lol.

Great ask though, I had a lot of fun replying. Thank you! <3 Hope you're having a good day.

#seraphina's asks #user: noscuarteto #stirring the pot

[onewomancitadel]

what would have happened if ozpin took jaune's body instead of oscar for you? and how do you think it would affect his bonds(Ruby, Ren or even Cinder)?

Well, the person who receives Ozma must have a similarly resonant soul... they have to have the same fundamental sense of virtue.

I would distinguish the Four Protagonists this way: Cinder and Jaune are the 'acquired' type of protagonists, and Ruby and Oscar are the 'innate' protagonists. Cinder/Jaune must acquire skill/ethical goodness/cheat their way into institutions, on the Cinder front she must acquire her own freedom for herself as well; Ruby/Oscar have their respective innate matrilineal characteristics and most of all their fundamentally good, simple souls. I know people might be like 'but team RWBY are the four protagonists!' but that's not what I'm referring to, and yes they are the main four, but I'm talking about how Jaune is the stereotypical shounen protag (subverted), Cinder is a villain protagonist/evil!Ruby, Oscar is the Chosen One against his will, and Ruby is the one who actively chooses it, obviously.

So even if I do read Jaune as Ozma-coded in the story for Reverse Salem/Ozma, I fundamentally cannot see Ozma binding with his soul. Ruby/Oscar are Salem/Ozma with a fresh start, young and hale again, with all of their perfect pure characteristics reserved but they also embody elements of each other - Ruby is alike with Ozma, Oscar alike with Salem (I mean, Salem even re-enacts her own imprisonment with Oscar).

Meanwhile Cinder/Jaune is like... much much more straight up literally Salem/Ozma. They're in the same messy position as things ended, and now they have to work back from that. They don't get to start over or get things given directly to them. But if they do work back from it, then it heals the symbolic wound in the story, and is also structural proof Salem and Ozma could work back from it if they tried.

In some sense then yes, Jaune/Cinder is sort of a refresher, because there's not the thousands of years of enmity and immortality. But they are human, and it's proof divine intervention really did fuck things up.

So I'm not sure that Ozma could have ever reincarnated with Jaune because of all of this. If he did, he would have been very angry at Oz, lol. To the point that if I were the one writing it I think I'd just make him be spiteful and go ask Cinder if she wants to burn anything, you know? (Not really but like, it would probably be disastrous. It would not be like Oscar). I don't think Jaune is fundamentally EVIL, not at all, before anybody misreads my intentions... I think he does struggle a little with darkness, which is why I do read him in respect to Cinder (who probably to some degree struggles with goodness).

But yeah very interesting ask thank you.

#seraphina's asks #user: noscuarteto #I can't use the 'canon' character tags #jaune arc sadsack tag

[onewomancitadel]

Have you seen the new RWBY project that apparently is produced in Japan? Some people say it will be an anime, manga or even a visual novel :v If it's the latter It would be bizarre because VN market in the west is not too big unless you are Type-Moon(Fate, Mahoyo) and that's the special case

I keep my head buried in the sand and I don't really like extra-canon materials.

The fact I deigned to look at the JNPR manga anthology was because an anon prodded me and told me to go look and see, lol.

I hope it's enjoyable for people who like that stuff outside of the show. I can only imagine it will probably cater to people really attached to the Beacon era.

Also, thanks for the ask and hope you have a good day. (:

#seraphina's asks #user: noscuarteto

[onewomancitadel]

Have you tried visual novels like Katawa Shoujo, VA-11 HALLA, Fate/Stay Night or Dies Irae, or you don't have time?

Okay, yous are killing me with these blank icons/headers and empty blogs, there are so many I'm not sure if I'm just getting bot messages/likes.

Anyway, no, I'm not big on visual novels, I have played some before but they scratch neither that literary nor romance itch, though I do think the gameplay/roleplaying element is always interesting for constructing narrative and consequence. There IS one exception to this and I think she's still potentially (I'm not sure because I don't use Twitter anymore) working on turning Wizard Story into a visual novel type of thing which works very well with the format the story took on Twitter. I would play that, but I'm very invested in Enchanter and Wizard's romance.

To expand on 'romance itch', I'm not big on self-inserts or playing out a romance AS MYSELF, I prefer stories as doorways as opposed to mirrors. That's why the only Dragon Age romance I'm invested in is Solavellan, because that story is much more set in stone my mind and it's not a character I'm roleplaying, like in terms of player choice (and trickster gods always have some sense of inevitability to them which again is why gameplay medium do interesting thing hee hee and why I think certain things do/must happen with the romance). Not sure if I totally expanded on my thoughts here to the fullest but this would be the point where visual novels MIGHT be interesting (romance) to me but generally the way it's constructed I'm put off.

I'm curious where this question came from XD it's interesting being asked things like this!

And I know sometimes people get mildly upset if you don’t like a thing they also like, if you (dear reader) like them then all the better for it, there's stuff I like that a lot of other people don't. Like my enduring and ongoing obsession with bridal carries that apparently seems to be sort of weird.

Edited to add: sorry, I assume bots because historically Tumblr has had issues with bots and they continue to evolve, I understand if you’re a new user or something you might not be aware.

#seraphina's asks #user: noscuarteto #miscellanea

[onewomancitadel]

Don't you fear that Miles & Kerry would do something completely different for V9? What I mean is that they have the habit to drop plot points sometimes, like the important role Penny would have in the future, foreshadowed in V1 and V2, or the supposedly Pyrrha character development when she mentions that she's lonely in V2, and then kill her in V3. Because maybe they will do something very different that will not be Cimdeption or anything that the fans want, for better or for worse.

That's a fair enough question to entertain, but Penny did have an important role... a very important role. I'm not sure exactly where the Salem/Ozma conflict worked in there so early on, but they did make it work.

I'm not necessarily sure why Pyrrha being lonely is a reason for her not to die. Her circumstances are very tragic, and ultimately her loneliness (which is a product of Huntsmandom/the schools), and situating her as a central figure to be the Fall Maiden candidate, is what kills her. She does make a sacrifice and her death is meaningful (it's the death of childhood), and she's the first 'good' death. Ozma's death is unintellgible.

On the note of Pyrrha vs. Cinder, I think the implication here is that Pyrrha deserved to not be lonely like Cinder also does: well, there is some inherent unfairness to the situation, in the sense that Pyrrha's life is very good and ends in ruin. Cinder's life begins in ruin. To me it is poetic/symmetrical that Cinder's situation improves.

The examples you gave of dropped plot points are not dropped plot points in my opinion.

I don't even think Cindemption is something the fans largely want, though. I don't mean to be rude to other Cinder fans, but as a Cinder fan since V1, Cinder has been dismissed for either being a shit character, a shit female character, a failure who keeps losing, an unimportant villain, so on and so forth. It was impossible to be a fan of her on the subreddit, and on Tumblr there are definitely some great Cinder blogs around (so a lot kinder), but a lot of people still dismiss her importance or take her death for granted.

Like, there are blogs I would otherwise check more frequently but they take her death so much for granted I don't even bother. I'm not interested in that. I'm not about to be a passive aggressive bitch about it but this is why I post in my corner.

So if anything her redemption arc is the less trodden path that would upset people. I just think it's thematically consistent.

Ironwood's fall was flagged and people don't like to admit that, especially because early on Qrow's criticism of him was dismissed as the comic drunkard's observations. Qrow is actually a very principled character lol. There's a lot more to it but it's very clear when you watch the beginning of Ironwood's character arc to his realised one.

I think the thing overall with R/WBY is that you need the narrative/symbolic key, and I think the thesis of the show was really introduced into the story around V5/V6 (V6:E3 in particular). I also think it's just suspicious to have Jaune learn not to kill Cinder if that's not going to be relevant later for her character arc.

On that note of the show's storytelling: I think it's probably taken fandom some time to acclimate to it, and there's also the element that yes, I do think Salem/Ozma was a little late to introduce in V6, and there are certain things I wish they had done sooner, which I think was complicated by early production. It's very easy to see what they intended to do (for me personally).

I also had no idea V8 was controversial. I thought it was awesome and the best it had been so far and it felt very sensible. I also think Cinder's rise was paralleled alongside Ironwood's fall for a reason.

But yeah, I mean. Sure they could turn around and change the story, but why? What would be the motivation? I've experienced that before with a major media, so you'd expect me to be suspicious (and I honestly am so my heart doesn't get hurt), but in that case there was a handover of the creators, and it was also corporate storytelling. I don't get the sense that R/WBY is corporate, it's an independent production. Say what you will about the show, I don't get the sense it's a cash-in at all.

I also don't think they intend to be spiteful towards Cinder fans in this instance. She doesn't have a major fanbase, and they're going to tell the story they're going to tell with her. With that being said, I do wonder if they introduced her backstory in V7/V8 to begin seeding the change in fandom opinion (which I have begun to see), so if anything that's a point in favour of it lol.

To me RWBY is a show legible on its own terms and I think they do interesting things. I've been a fan of the show since the start but never expected anything special, so I've been pleasantly surprised, and when the story really picked up thematic momentum I was quite excited. I also think people underestimate the fairytale theming because they have their anime lens on.

#seraphina's asks #user: noscuarteto #stirring the pot

[onewomancitadel]

Have you read any Knightfall fanfics? and if so, do they affect maybe the you write Cinder or give you a different point of view?

Well, I started shipping Knightfall after V7. I didn't know there was a fandom for it at all, I assumed there was none, and like now, I was making posts in my silly little corner. (I have already talked today about the subreddit and to a degree Tumblr exposure I had in RWBY fandom. RWBY was not ever the show I expected to meet my romance expectations either. Most of RWBY fandom is also very geared in the direction of friends-to-lovers, wearing flower crowns friendly, and coming from Reylo... there are Cinder fans on Tumblr who do not like Ben Solo, so I don't even fit in there).

So I came back to my plot bunny that I mused over in February 2020 and revisited it March this year and mapped out my fic in its near-entirety back in June, then of course posted the prologue in August. (Sorry I'm just tracing my personal timeline because I didn't know it had been that long). I came into awareness of Knightfall fanfic after I had already posted it. It seems like most of the plot-substantial Knightfall is actually on FFN, not AO3, and the last fanfic I seriously searched for on FFN was Twilight smut.

Oh yeah.

I didn't have that cross-platform exposure. Most of what I could see in the Tumblr tag was not serious, balls to the wall Knightfall, and most Knightfall I've seen on FFN doesn't fit my ship interpretation. I'm really glad that other people have found things to enjoy about the ship according to their tastes, but I'm not invested in V1-3 Knightfall, or for that matter, any sort of fanon interpretation that doesn't consider them more deeply. I'm not going to name names, but there are Knightfall fanfics which were impossible for me to get through at all because they were frankly misogynistic in their rendering of Cinder, so that put me off. I'm not talking about quality of the fic, but something I think that is... substantially bad, and I'm not sure the fic author would even really care for such a commentary from me (it’s not anybody who would be reading my blog anyway, for the record). But I do want to stress I prefer reading Cinder and Jaune, respectively, holistically.

I've also noticed that there are iterations of Jaune (true in the AO3 fics I've seen) that are little more than masculine, macho self-inserts, and all the power to you, but that's not why I ship it. If anything, his character interests me because his softness/hardness mirrors Cinder's. He is kind, and gentle, and then sometimes there's something inside there which is a little dark (and that's hot). But he's not perverse.

Again, I want to say... I'm glad other people find things to enjoy about it, but that's not where I come from. For me, my approach is also deeply rooted in:

monsters and maidens, enemies-to-lovers, lady villainesses up to no good, redemption arcs, and stories like poetry, they rhyme

and so I love the magical elements of the ship, I love the complexity, I love the persistence of compassion, I love the Wound of Love, I love Jaune's softness/hardness and Cinder's hardness/softness, and the way those elements interplay with each other... I hardcore ship post-V4 Knightfall. Hardcore. That's it, that's the catnip to me. Most of what I've seen is V1-3, and that's almost like a different ship entirely honestly.

It's interesting to see what other people choose to do with it, but I think we come from completely different angles. I would cast the assumption that I love RWBY for the fairytales (I got into the show through RVB, not anime-adjacent fandom) and the fandom that exists for Knightfall on FFN loves RWBY for the anime, which translates into the approach to the ship.

I love analysing this kind of thing, it fascinates me, especially because we're sort of the same... and completely different!

I hope it's clear that I support all fandom enthusiasm. I think it is clear though that my approach is quite different. I would not want to speak ill of other fic authors either, and they're committed to their own vision (as am I, and I understand that's potentially divisive).

Also, if you want to avoid multiship pairings on AO3, in the search bar in the bottom right-hand box, type in 'otp: true'. That will sort only fics tagged with the pairing you want. Thought that might be generally helpful advice, if we take anything away from this post.

#seraphina's asks #user: noscuarteto #stirring the pot #whoops

[onewomancitadel]

"I really wouldn’t worry. Actually, what I’d suggest to you to do instead is focus on positive things in fandom" Wouldn't that be positive toxicity?

No, I thought I had already covered that in my post, hopefully I can clarify again.

I'm content to criticise the show, I'm talking about what you choose to do in your constructive past time. Making things and writing things as opposed to worrying about negative reactions which don't come from a place of genuine textual consideration - the point I was emphasising was substantial contribution.

Again, if you want me to assuage concerns I'm happy to do so, but I'm just saying. I very much doubt, for instance, I'm going to change the average Redditor's mind with my posts, but I would like to find other people to discuss what I talk about, even if we disagree. I did have a few recently.

... and yeah 'toxic positivity' is silly, if only because if I have to ever read the word 'toxic' again it will be too soon. I thought if I deleted Twitter I'd never have to see it again. Alas!

Tumblr is the only social media/microblogging platform I use, lol.

#seraphina's asks #user: noscuarteto

[onewomancitadel]

Hi again. About my previous question you brought up some interesting points like legitimizing Jaune and Cinder in the eyes of the fandom. However, the reaction of Jaune killing Penny was mostly negative, saying that it would be better if Ruby killed Penny, though I saw some Jaune haters defending his actions and also about his sword: "Wouldn't be surprised if that was exactly what they were going for, specifically to make their cult go"oh the SYMBOLISM ahh GOOD WRITING ahh",like they know that"

Yeah, I'm going to be real with you: I don't care about this side of fandom, I mean, Ruby as the Winter Maiden? It makes absolutely no sense thematically. They don't know how to read a text, let alone metaphor or symbolism. Narrative is dead and we killed it etc.

What do they mean cult...? I just like R/WBY. I like its storytelling. Yes, his sword breaking is meaningful, what else do they think is the point of it? None of their weapons are meant to be 'realistic', the weapons are sort of like... doing character work, the same way Semblances are.

If you need me to assauge your worries, this is me formally assauging your worries.

However, the reaction of Jaune killing Penny was mostly negative

Although based on what I saw on Tumblr, this wasn't the case. People were upset Penny died, yes, but not that Jaune did it.

If you're reading fandom response on places like Reddit or Discord (I refuse to use Discord for fandom activity, it's too insular) just remember that the most emotional people are going to be there, and people really really love to hate to love a show like R/WBY. I stopped using the subreddit partly because there were so many people obsessed with the show who still refused to stop watching it. There are still people who want the show to go back to what it was like in V2. That's never going to happen. They still keep watching. The show is clearly not catering to them lol.

I really wouldn't worry. Actually, what I'd suggest to you to do instead is focus on positive things in fandom. Yes, I love being a bitch and whining about other people, and I love being a bitch about people who lack the most basic media literacy (like it's not complicated), but at the end of the day I do find being constructive is better than spending time worrying about that side of fandom. So yes, I am very happy to assuage concerns you have, and I'm happy to receive questions on this topic, and I'm not trying to tell you what to do, but I am trying to intimate that part of the reason I am really focussed so much on posting what I feel are constructive posts (and even ones that contain criticism!) is that it's more of a net positive. I don't really win anything arguing with people who lack basic media literacy.

I'm not exaggerating. It's actually a really serious problem in a lot of fandom discourse right now. There's far too much to get into on the topic, and in some ways it's not even a lot of peoples' fault, and it's also complicated by politics having a long and messy relationship with the purpose of fiction. But yeah.

And when I'm talking specifically about legitimising Cinder/Jaune: I'm talking about later in the story, and their interactions being... very unique and humanising. If we're talking non-general audience though, as in fandom enthusiasts, yes the task might be harder. But when I also say 'legitimising', consider also it's Jaune and Cinder's respective ultimate narrative tasks. So also 'legitimised inside the narrative', I suppose.

Yeah I like R/WBY, what about it lol. I'm not apologetic. I've been here since V1 too.

Hope you are having a good timezone-appropriate time. (:

I came back to edit to add the following caveat: I’m prepared to be wrong, I’m prepared to be told a different story, and that’s probably a whole separate post... and on a more positive note there are a lot of people on Tumblr that I know I agree with in many major ways, even if we do deviate on some things such as Cinder or the importance of Salem/Ozma, or most recently, the role of Penny in the story. There are actually people I think are very cool! I don’t hold resentment for the entirety of R/WBY fandom.

So nobody worries that I’m vagueing them: my positive sentiment also extends to anybody who follows me or interacts with my posts etc., just so that’s immediately clear.

#seraphina's asks #user: noscuarteto #stirring the pot #and if you want to know the dumbest decision I think the show has recently made #it was whatever they did to jaune's hair #I can only HOPE it had something thematically to do with the Atlas versions of themselves being curated by an Atlesian hand #I'm not entirely sure if it does #but if they don't fix that travesty I'm going to stew over it forever #I think that was like half the reason I wrote Skimming Eye #and there is absolutely zero way Cinder didn't see him in V8 and be like 'where is the pretty boy gone what have you done with him' #'give him back'