#i genuinely believe that ruby loved penny in canon
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Listen as a RG shipper who has been burned by other shows with ships I don’t wanna put my tin hat on. But NEO??? Has been using Oscar A LOT to mess with Ruby. And assuming she turned into Ruby to trick Oscar to get the lamp back in V7 👀👀👀 also I just rewatched V5 and when they all have a sit down he just stares at her and Ruby giggles and I’m like “HE THINKS SHES PRETTY AWWWW” like I’m not calling it shipbait bc I have no idea if they will become Bee levels of canon and I’ll be fine if they don’t. But MAN do they care about each other A Lot in canon to the point where the Optical Illusion character uses them to hurt each other. Like Yang? Her big sister totally get it. Penny? Neo knew when she died with her first body that’s her best friend after or alongside Weiss but Weiss isn’t dead. But OSCAR!?? The guy she only met THREE volumes ago HES the one who shows up? Not her UNCLE or JAUNE but FARMBOY????
Neo ships it (evily) is all I’m saying
I don't wanna get peoples hopes up in case crwby somehow swerves off course or we just don't get to see the end of the show, but I genuinely don't think it's shipbait at this point.
First want to bring up the v5 thing. Yes he stares at and giggles at her, firmly believe that boy had a case of love crush at first sight... but Ruby ends up mirroring very similar tone, dialogue, and body language later on in the fumble scene.
Oscar: Ah, sorry!
Ruby: Heh, sorry-
Putting behind a read more cause i'm riled up with new rwby/whole loaf of rg bread zoomies and don't feel very coherent rn aha.
There is a post somewhere on this site that i can't find anymore which goes through all the BB/RG parallels (a shorter copy of it exists here on twitter) and that list since v9 just keeps getting longer.
Like... Sorry, Blake's biggest fear in v3 was that her past would come back and hurt those she loves. She is proven right to fear that when Adam shows up and attacks Yang and then because she can't handle that guilt, Blake runs away??
Vs.
Ruby, being terrified that if she carries on the path she's headed down, more of her friends will die. And Neo uses Oscar (and Little, who strongly parallels him) to prove Ruby's fears right which also leads her to 'running away'? Because the thought of hurting him, of losing him is just something Ruby can't bare????
Bro.
The ship parallels themselves are so specific and are absolutely worth mentioning, but RG itself stands so strongly even on it's own. The narrative orbits and constant, consistent emphasis on how much Ruby and Oscar care about each other is deafening at this point.
Just about everyone in the main cast has gone through huge portions of their character arcs in the previous eight volumes. Except for our protagonist... until now.
The scene we get in v9e8 where Neo uses Oscar as the last nail in Ruby's coffin ties him directly to her fatal flaw. They could have used anyone else. It could have been Yang. It could have been Qrow. It could have been her team partner Weiss. It could have been Blake, someone that's admitted to looking up to her. It could have been Penny a third time.
But. It. Wasn't.
It was Oscar.
Oscar, who was the first illusion Ruby saw when falling. Oscar, who is the only person she's close to that she didn't get to properly reunite with in v8. Oscar, who's absence in the Ever After has been SO STRONG to anyone that's paid attention to their dynamic up until now.
Ruby's fatal flaw is her grief, and by extension, loneliness and guilt. Ruby has shouldered all of this weight for so long alone and every volume up until now shows us that there is one person that made her feel like she was actually on equal footing for once. Maybe not completely alone. That she had someone looking out for her as much as she looked out for them. Oscar. And when Neo, the illusionist, uses Oscar's death against Ruby? That is her first of two breaking points.
I'm sorry - and i gotta emphasize this isn't directed at you so much as a general declaration - but at this point any anti, meaner, or non-believer that tries to tell me there is not very clear evidence in show pointing to RG needs to stop telling me to take off shipping glasses and has to just put like... normal reading glasses on lskd;jlfks
It is just... undeniable to me at this point. Despite still hearing people refer to them as siblings when it's like... if they wanted to emphasize the sibling bond, YANG WAS RIGHT FREAKING THERE!!
If Ruby is getting a love interest in show (cough cough she already has one) there is literally NO ONE else that fits the bill. They wouldn't introduce someone new this late in the game, and of the rest of the remaining cast, she has not been shown as close to any of them in the ways that tie to her character arc as strongly as this one does.
Ruby is the protagonist, Oscar is the deuteragonist. The core of this story orbits around both of them as the the chosen warrior destined to defeat Salem and barer of Oz's curse, respectively.
Their individual character arcs also tie to and parallel each other's consistently: Oscar, who is trying so hard to hold onto his identity despite the merge vs Ruby who has spent this entire volume trying to push hers away.
Yes, all other Ruby ships are valid, don't get me wrong. But from a canon, narrative perspective, Rosegarden is the only one that is being pushed this aggressively.
And I can't be convinced otherwise at this point 🤡
#asks#ask#anon#anono#rosegarden#hope this makes sense and wasn't too... aggressive??#like i said i have the zoomies#rwby
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Little’s True Purpose
What if…Little will be the one to be eaten by the Jabberwalker, never ever realizing its purpose?
Don’t get me wrong. This squiggle meister is quite fond of Little. Just call me a devote Little stan, if you will. I just think it's neat.
But as much as I’d love for this adorable baby mouse to survive V9 and become a permanent animal companion to Ruby and her friends back on Remnant, I feel like that would be too much wishful thinking.
I feel like we’re more likely to see the dormouse be put to rest permanently in some shape or form.
Remember how Little was explaining to Ruby at the beginning of the volume that it was still pretty young and needed to still find or figure out its purpose in the Ever After?
Imagine if…Little will end up “dying” prematurely at some point later in the story; never learning what its purpose was.
Or perhaps, more fittingly, Little will go out courageously with the realization that its purpose was to be the friend that Ruby needed in order to remember her purpose; doing everything in its power to help our little red rose return safely to her home in Remnant with her team; no matter the cost even at the expense of its own existence.
Not like Ruby needs yet another favourable friend of hers to die for her sake. Gods know she’s got enough of those already. Nevertheless, given what the Curious Cat mentioned in the recent episode about how those consumed by the Jabberwalker will never ascend, I feel like that little lore drop will come to fruition at some point in the narrative.
If not as a clear foreshadow to the Curious Cat’s death then perhaps Little’s. All in all, either one or both of these fateful animal companions from the Ever After are gonna get got by the time V9 concludes. But inspite of this, I also wish to believe that the deaths of the Curious Cat and Little will hold meaning.
I feel like we could potentially see a moment where the Jabberwalker goes to eat Ruby only for Little to sacrifice itself in her place. If not that then perhaps a wicked Neo will feed Little to one of her faux Jabberwalkers as a way of breaking Ruby by making her believe that Little had been murdered---just like Penny and her mother.
It will genuinely be freaking tragic if Little’s sole purpose for being in the story of V9 is to be yet another ally for Ruby to tragically lose in the battle of good vs evil.
Just as much as it would be tragic if Little’s death is what causes Ruby to finally reach her breaking point while in the Ever After.
Just another bad ending to a chapter of her life despite being in a literal fairy tale world as the Ever After. Different world. Same heartache.
That would simply suck if it became canon.
Again, I do not want Little to die. I just feel like there is more to this little mouse’s existence than the story is letting on. Up until this point, Little has done…well very little to help drive the story forward for RWBY. No pun intended. Despite being a tiny bundle of cuteness and helping RWBY out a handful of times, admittedly Little hasn’t done much to really cement its reason for joining RWBY on their journey, compared to a character like the Curious Cat.
Between the cat and the mouse, the Cat has done more for our four heroines compared to Little. Heck---one of the running gags is that Little, being the Dormouse character tends to be asleep most of the time which begs the question of why the showrunners felt they needed two animal companions for RWBY when it could’ve worked with just one. Mainly just the Curious Cat.
While it described itself as a guide to Ruby when questioned by the mysterious Blacksmith, the show has yet to answer the question of why Little?
Why does Little need to be there? What is Little’s purpose? It’s true purpose?
Is it just gonna be used as another likeable friend for our heroes to lose OR…perhaps Little will be revealed to be the key to Ruby and her friends getting to the tree and returning to Remnant?
Perhaps, unknowingly, Little is connected to the Tree our heroes are desperately searching for or is the very physical embodiment of the Tree itself?
Who knows?
I guess only time will tell.
As of now, we are halfway through the volume and with the recent revelation, things are only just getting started.
If Little’s purpose is truly significant, it’ll show itself in the remaining five episodes. So let’s see how things play out.
~LMS (2023)
#squiggles talks: rwby#rwby#rwby volume 9#rwby little#rwby volume 9 spoilers#rwby theories#rwby volume 9 theories#ruby rose
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Expansion to that earlier anon ask: how would Jaune/Cinder not being canon make me feel... well, I think the fallout of it would be, where did my analysis go wrong.
My analysis would go wrong in taking it too seriously. That would be my fatal error. Because Jaune/Cinder isn't merely a measure of divergent interpretation, it's a matter of degree of intent. You need to expect some measure of seriousness and intentionality about both of their characters and all of the romances in the story and take the foreshadowing seriously and take the thematic stakes seriously and take the ship paralleling seriously and take the allusions seriously and understand how said allusions are employed and overall just give an entire shit.
There's nothing about Jaune/Cinder that asks you to dismiss the inherent identity of R/WBY. It's actually the total reverse. I think the ship is an affirmation of it.
So if my takeaway is, 'Damn, I should've listened to everyone else with bad opinions who said V9 made Jaune/Weiss a foregone conclusion because she [checks notes] made a joke about him being mature and then there was that sidehug' then I literally do not fucking care. The only lesson will be that I should've had lower expectations. That's not an indictment on me, that's an indictment on the text and an embarrassment of their storytelling. I think the shipbaiting with Blake/Sun is stupid either way, even if Blake/Yang ended up canon, and even if Jaune/Weiss isn't canon I found that to be embarrassing character assassination of Weiss. I would've genuinely preferred platonic Jaune-Weiss developments whilst Ruby is suffering in the background, really leaning into the Winter Maiden and the Old Man element.
I think if it were an actual case of my misreading of the text, and there were complexity but I read it the wrong way, it'd be a very different scenario. I do like being surprised and I do like interrogating my own interpretive abilities.
But I think I understand some of R/WBY's fundamental identity and what makes it tick. I don't think I'm at a disadvantage in a position where my own projections absent the text come first.
I am also very hesitant in how I put forth the Jaune/Cinder thesis. I feel like I need to emphasise this considering people think I care about their opinion that Jaune/Cinder won't be canon, but I'm the first doubter and I really don't want to hear about someone's brave cynic position. It's incredibly boring to me. I think the refutation of Jaune/Cinder isn't, 'Jaune/Weiss would work better', or 'Jaune/Pyrrha is eternal true love' or God forbid any other embarrassing combination. It is genuinely just, okay do they care that much though and are they willing to go that far. Which is hard. Sometimes all you learn in defeat is that you have been defeated. That's it.
But on the other hand, I don't care if people call me crazy. This lunatic fandom has believed the most insane shit and the most countertextual bullshit, so it's kind of fucking rich coming from a pack of idiots that Jaune/Cinder is too hard when a sizeable contingent of the fandom doesn't understand their characters or basic storytelling in general. You might think it rude of me, but a little perspective is necessary. Please tell me more about how I/ronwood was the real hero all along and Penny is coming back and Jaune will be exiled in Ever After. I'm dying to hear it.
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Parhelion Headcanons (sir this is all for you) @greenbeany
Putting 'em under the cut because they got very long O.O
I- the gnome is Neon I take no criticism. They are often good-natured souls with a more mischievous side, and if that doesn’t describe Neon I’m not sure what does. Playful, funny, good intentions, that my good Bean is our lovable cat personified. Okay Parhelion dnd au with gnome Neon please /j.
I AM SMACKING THE GUN OUT OF YOUR HANDS [runs into a glass wall] dammit,, guess I gotta talk now
I- oh no,, time to fail the exam I guess (turns all your head canons upside down)
Okay they do sleep yes they do. Actually that’s a lie only Ciel sleeps, the other two are insomniacs. Ciel has all of her day to day life planned out to the minute, so she heads to bed at a certain time and wakes up at a certain time, the other two are more of a “we’ll sleep when we’re tired” kinda duo. Unfortunately due to Ilia’s night terrors and Neon’s ADHD they almost never rest. No they do not sleep in a SANE bed, ha why would they have a bed? They sleep in a hammock all tangled up with each other. It’s hard to tell what order they sleep in when they kinda curl into each other. They do not use a duvet, why have a duvet when Neon is a space heater? There are no pillows on the hammock X). OKAY THEIR ROOM, THIS I GOT, it’s a funky mess that is somehow organized thanks to Ciel. Ilia doesn’t own a lot in general but it was her life’s dream to paint her bedroom rainbow so guess what they have now. The other two are too soft and they supported her efforts and they love her despite her poor design sense XD.
I- why closet ASDFG I mean— No they do not share a closet they all have completely different fashion sense and if that was all in one place people would be genuinely terrified. But since they’re broke they had to make do with one walk in closet that they partitioned off into sections. YES THEY DO HAVE MATCHING OUTFITS THEY ARE SO CUTE LIKE THAT. They tend to be like those cute couple outfits with a few variations to match their own personal style. But their favorite matching outfit are these duck hoodies they own courtesy of once again Ilia living out her childhood dreams. No they don’t own many outfits because like I mentioned earlier they are broke x). Hmm thinking about each other’s styles… Ilia think both of her girlfriends have great taste, she loves the well, neon of Neon, and the prim and properness of Ciel. Neon just doesn’t care XD. And Ciel is just, she’s just standing there wishing she could help their fashion sense, but she holds back because “It does suit them in an odd way.” Ciel gets the most compliments on her style hands down, she looks organized and you can bet she saves money to buy outfits that actually accentuate her cuteness. They don’t wear makeup no time for that (in which you learn Z has little to no knowledge in how to apply makeup and doesn’t know how to answer that question)
OH OKAY I LOVE VIDDY GAMES. Ciel likes real-time strategy games because she’s insane and that’s literally all she knows in life thanks to being raised in an upper class family in Atlas. Neon likes open world games, something something she likes the chance for adventure and determining one’s fate for themself. Ilia has never once played a video game until after she defected from the White Fang but I can see her playing something light like Stardew Valley, low stakes kinda games. Hmm, they might play Animal Crossing together? Since it has aspects they all enjoy. They each have an individual switch (Ilia has a coral switch lite) and one shared PC. Okay game with most hours, maybe Minecraft? They still haven’t beat the enderdragon because Neon keeps getting distracted XD. Neon is the bomb at party games though, you can bet she has a perfect score on all the songs in Just Dance. Ciel is a sharpshooter, god knows who taught her how to shoot like that. The biggest splatoon fan is unfortunately not Neon it is Ilia, she loves all the colors in the game ^^. But she and Neon have wracked up quite a few hours in co-op.
Uhhh books!! Ilia likes fanfics :) it’s unfortunately one of the only ways for her to see positive representation of herself. Neon for some reason reads Epics?? Like her favorite is the Epic of Gilgamesh what is up with that?? Ciel reads webtoons :), she reads enough serious stuff for school work and such, she likes to just kick back and relax after all that. Yes they have schedules reading time courtesy of Ciel :). Uhh, they relax by baking together. None of them had many chances to indulge in sweets while growing up so they make full use of their time now. ?? SPOON?? Cuddle hours happen on a whim, the one thing that Ciel can never schedule because she never knows when it’ll occur. They relax the most in the kitchen x) because that’s where they bake, it’s not unusual to find Neon asleep on the counter while she waits for their sweets to rise. They read in the light, Neon is afraid that by reading in the dark that they’ll all ruin their eyesight. Ciel likes the sunrise because she’s up the earliest and is the only one to see it, the other two prefer sunset because that’s usually when their day is about to begin XD.
Favorite spot for dates! The park ^^, they like to go on picnic dates with all their baked goods. There is no plan, usually one of them will randomly pull the other two out of the house because they haven’t touched grass in a while XD. There are no ideas, they share one braincell and they spend too much time doting on each other to use it. Uhm favorite movie genre,,, they like comedy movies :). Their favorite place to eat is this tiny store on the corner of their street that makes mean gyros, they heccin’ love them. Coping with horror, Ilia is desensitized to horror because of the things she’s seen in life, Neon treats it like a game because she knows it’s not real, Ciel, is okay with it, but she gets shook more easily than the other two and they often have to reassure her. No they do not like theme parks, there are too many people around for Ilia and Ciel and Neon respects their boundaries so they tend to go to more quiet places. Uhm heights, Ciel is used to heights because she’s friends with Penny and woah can that girl toss her in the air like she’s a couple of grapes. Ilia doesn’t mind heights but she would prefer to have her feet on the ground. Neon loves the ground so damn much if it leaves her she will cry because man she can’t roller-skate in the air can she, what will she do if the ground is suddenly gone? They like evening dates because it’s normally the only time all three of them are awake enough for it XD. They end a night by sleeping I am not quite sure if there are other ways to end it lmao. They absolutely despise Neon’s roller skating dates but they love how excited she gets about them so they end up becoming as good as professional roller skaters because the smile on Neon’s face when they join her is dazzling.
I am slowly going insane. Yes each girl has a hobby I sure hope they do. Ilia knits, Ciel paints, and Neon writes. I would like to imagine that Ciel would try to schedule time for their hobbies she ends up giving up because all their sleep schedules are wack. Designated chef is Neon (probably made food for FNKI back in atlas), designated driver is Ilia (I mean I like to imagine she stole cars and stuff in the White Fang XD), designated decorator for stuff is normally Ciel though Neon does try to hijack a few of her plans occasionally, designated shopper is Ciel because the other two have no concept of Saving money, and they all work together to clean :). They don’t work together, they believe in keeping their work life and home life separate to prevent their feelings from getting in the way. They do not have pets, none of them have the energy or responsibility to do that, but Ilia did once bring a moose home one day for some reason.
I am nomming on your arm sir. Ilia and Neon get along with Penny surprisingly well, though I do think Ilia would get along with Weiss better? Ruby and Weiss look at Ciel and see a beacon arc Weiss and more or less adopt her despite Ciel being older than the two of them. They might like.. play board games together? Like some of those more team based board games I can’t think of anything off the top of my head, may the best polycule win. I cannot see them in a cuddle puddle to be honest ajcnjsanjs I am so sorry— hmm Ruby and Neon do not know the meaning of formal, as far as they are concerned these are their girlfriend’s friends and that means that by extension these are their friends. Weiss would like nothing to do with Neon after Neon insults Yang during the Vytal festival but she begrudgingly goes on outings with her and hey, now they’re make up buddies for some reason. The parhelion gals take the fs gals to the gyro place they like :). Parhelion gang Is a lot more vocal on their dates because their love language happens to be words of affirmation while the fs gang’s happen to be physical touch. Both polycules are very very affectionate though I will die on this hill.
DARN IT TUMBLR ONLY LETS ME HAVE 10 IMAGES PER POST THIS IS FINE IT WAS JUST ONE MORE PROMPT DARN IT
(Parhelion angst! How do Neon and Ciel react to the news about the dust mine? How do they find out about Ilia getting expelled? Do they find out about the white fang? Is there any faunus stigma afterwards? How does Ciel react to people bullying her Faunus GFS? Does Neon talk to Ciel much after? Do they ever reunite? Does Neon attempt to help Ciel while she grieves Penny? Where the fuck is Ciel now? Is Neon still alive? Does Ilia ever think about them? Does Blake know about them from Ilia?)
BUDDY I CAME TO THE LAST ASK AND NOW ONLY DID I REALIZE YOU MEANT PARHELION BACK WHEN THEY WHERE IN BEACON THIS WHOLE TIME I’M CRYING. (This ask is answered under the assumption that they are already dating back in Atlas Academy) Ciel is fiercely protective of her girlfriends, though people only know that Neon is a Faunus because Ilia masks her traits during her time at the academy. Neon and Ciel are horrified about the news about the dust mines. They know that Ilia is a Faunus and that her parents were working there so they rush to see her as soon as possible. But they’re too late,,, Ilia’s already been expelled for attacking her fellow students. They don’t hear from Ilia for a few years after that and the two slowly drift apart, each blaming the other for not getting to Ilia soon enough. They don’t find out about the White Fang until they reunite with Ilia unfortunately, but they feel sad that Ilia had felt that they only way for her to get revenge for her parents was by joining a militant group (I’m working under the assumption that Sienna only took control of the White Fang shortly before Ilia joined). When Neon learns that Penny didn’t make it after the Fall of Beacon she hesitantly reaches out to Ciel for the first time in a year, and she does try to help. But for Ciel it’s blow after heccin’ blow and she pushes Neon away in a rage. Ciel leaves the Academy after that and goes rogue, working as a huntsman without a license for the poorer parts of remnant. Ilia is unaware of all this drama during the Beacon arc. The next time she hears of any news is during the Fall of Atlas, and she’s scared, scared because she’s still recovering and she just heard Ruby announce to the world that Remnant is under attack, and oh my gosh her ex girlfriends live in Atlas. Neon makes it out alive, though not entirely in one piece, she now has a prosthetic leg. Ilia is the first person to see her, it’s a tearful reunion and they haven’t fully made up yet, but hey it’s a work in progress, now they just have to find out where Ciel is, but when they do they’ll BOTH be there to greet her. Blake has no idea who the fuck Ciel and Neon are lmao, Ilia never told her anything about her past romances when she was in the White Fang.
Oh gosh I think that's it-- And that is it thank you for listening to me ramble about Parhelion you get a juice box for making it this far. Sir I am sincerely sorry for turning your ship upside down please forgive me.
#parhelion#ilia amitola#ciel soleil#neon katt#I have been typing for an eternity n' a half...#I swear I have essays for school that are a fraction of this post#2172 words of pure headcanon you are welcome sir#I hope you'll enjoy it when ya wake up sjancjkack#[runs]#zenta writes
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lol im so glad someone else mentioned that canon rule of maiden power transferral because that has been driving me bonkers whenever ive seen the jaune justification meta for the finale. since we had that scene in the airship where ruby and weiss were cuddled up to penny, i was genuinely kind of shocked when, out of the remaining characters of weiss and jaune, jaune was the one who took penny out. i know the weiss and penny relationship was VERY thin but there still would have been more emotional resonance if weiss had been the one who “needed” to kill penny (especially since she would have been doing it to enable her sister to receive the powers). i mean of course ruby would have made the MOST sense but i feel like weiss was the most obvious second choice with the very limited penny related relationships we’ve seen. i honestly i was mostly fine with rwby until the most recent season because i was a very casual viewer but my desire to watch the ninth season has been totally wiped out
honestly yeah like if it wasn't ruby, winter or weiss — my preference would've been winter out of the two — would've been far better choices than jaune having yet another maiden's death to angst over like i'm sorry. they could twist the story a thousand ways to justify miles fauxtagonist getting put back in the spotlight again & it would still be marred by jaune's previous mistakes & the fact he co opted all the grief about pyrrha.
rwby fans are often so fond of telling critics to just wait it out but why should we when the writing is on the wall in mkek's previous writing? how are we supposed to believe that this time they'll do it better when miles has straight up said he doesn't take criticism because often times, it's voiced too mean. like?? i wish i could have the blind faith rwby stans do but mkek's writing & abysmal behaviour has burned that bridge lmao.
unfortunately you're not the first one to say to us that they don't have the desire to watch v9, & i would love to see the analytics on how many people have dropped watching the show / quit their first membership.
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RWBY Volume 8, Episode 14 - The Final Word
Thoughts on the final episode of RWBY Vol 8 under the cut.
Also, I will from now on reblog spoilers for Volume 8, which will be tagged with “RWBY v8 spoilers” if you want to blacklist them.
tw: Since the episode itself had the same content warning, I should mention that I will be discussing themes of suicide in this post.
Also, everything I’m about to say is *my* personal opinion. I’m not trying to tell anyone else that they’re supposed to feel the same way about anything in this episode. In turn, please don’t tell me how to feel about it either.
- I should start by bringing up what I said in my post about episode 13, because all of that is going to become relevant now:
So... that all aged... interestingly.
- Next, I should say that I actually did end up getting spoiled about Penny’s death. I was trying really hard and didn’t go into any tags, but literally one day before this episode was released to the public, Tumblr recommended me two blogs with the titles “Penny deserved better” and “Justice for Penny Polendina”… so I drew my conclusions from that. And while I think those blog titles are valid sentiments, I do wish people would wait a week before putting spoilers in a blog title. But then again, I was weirdly glad to get spoiled this time, because it meant I was more emotionally prepared.
- And now, on to my very controversial opinion about this finale: I… uhm… I actually liked it. There, I said it. I liked it. I’m seeing a lot of takes from people who hated it, and that’s totally fair, but personally, to my own surprise, I liked it. (It’s kind of interesting that last time I said it would be “awful writing” to kill Penny now, then it happened, now the whole fandom is complaining about it being awful writing… and I’m here going “actually… that wasn’t so bad”.) That’s not to say that I’m a fan of everything in this finale, especially re: Penny – but overall, the good outweighed the bad *for me*. (Stressing again that this is just how *I* feel.)
- I think the main reason I feel that way is because I honestly expected way worse. If you read that thing I wrote last week^, you see I expected multiple character deaths. I was incredibly nervous. And after I’d already spent a few minutes genuinely thinking Yang died (because of a badly worded episode 13 spoiler I accidently saw), I had to think about the kind of deaths that would be a dealbreaker for me and make me drop the show. (Let’s say it like this: If either of Bumbleby ever died for real, I would be done with this show immediately.) So, in short, I was terrified of the finale and expected it to be the kind of finale that ruins the show for me (which has happened in far too many fandoms so far) – and it wasn’t. I have mixed feelings about how they handled Penny’s story, too, but this finale didn’t ruin the show for me and I honestly felt way worse after the Volume 3 finale. Maybe that’s because I wasn’t prepared for it at the time, but this time I spent a whole week being super anxious, so when I’d actually finished the finale, I just felt overwhelming relief.
- Okay, so let’s talk Penny: Back in Episode 12, I already wasn’t a huge fan of the idea to make her human (if that even is what she was?), but I think I said I’d reserve judgment on it until we see where they go with it. Obviously, it feels unsatisfying to have the show just kill her off after everyone’s been trying to save her all volume. And of course, it’s never fun to see a favorite character of yours (and Penny is definitely a favorite of mine) get killed off. The way it happened (a character who’s been trying to sacrifice herself the whole volume finally doing so through assisted suicide, even though there could have been several potential ways to still save her) feels incredibly unsatisfying and depressing as well. The “heroic sacrifice” cliché isn’t new, but there’s still a difference between a sacrifice that feels necessary and like it really was the only way (Hazel, Vine) and one that feels more like a character being over-eager to sacrifice themselves even though there might have been alternatives (Penny). So really, I understand why people don’t like this, especially because the narrative, so far, seems to validate Penny’s choice by having her plan work. And that does send the opposite of the “fight for every life”, “no one is replaceable” message this volume had been going for until then.
- And this is why, I think Penny’s death is meant to be awful. Volume 9 might prove me wrong on this, but I think we haven’t seen the end of this storyline yet. For me personally, it’s too early to judge this plot-point by itself because it depends a lot on how they deal with it in the aftermath and how things go from here. (For instance: I hated Pyrrha’s death at first because going into a fight she knew she couldn’t win also felt like a needless heroic sacrifice to me. It was only how the aftermath of it was handled from there that made me be okay with it.) So basically, what I’m asking is: How will the other characters handle Penny’s death now? Will Ruby (or anyone else) get angry at Jaune for agreeing to kill her? How will Ruby grieve in general? And, most importantly: Will the narrative really treat Penny’s choice as the “right” one or will it challenge that view? (And was there maybe more going on that we know because I’ve been reading those “Penny is alive” theories and… oh boy.) So yeah – for me it depends on how it gets handled from here.
- Also, I just want to say that I really appreciate RT putting a suicide trigger warning in the beginning of the episode and I wish people wouldn’t twist that into a bad thing. (I’ve seen some takes along the lines of “If they had to put a warning, that means they were aware it’s a harmful message, so that makes it worse” and… please don’t do that. Content creators putting trigger warnings on things is a good thing. Also, this might be a controversial take, but I don’t think fiction always has to “send a good message and teach you a lesson.” The important thing is that RT were aware that this episode could be upsetting/distressing to people and that’s why they put a warning and the suicide hotline’s number in the description.)
- Anyway, I’ve been rambling for too long. My point is: I understand the criticisms and agree with some of them, but I hope the writers know what they’re doing here and I want to believe that they do. I also love all the theories about Penny coming back (in Winter’s mind, for example) and I think they’re not actually that unlikely. And if Penny doesn’t come back, then honestly, I’m okay with that, too. At the end of the day, she’s a fictional character. I can always go and read fanfictions where she’s alive and lives happily ever after with Ruby and nothing that happens in canon can ever take that away. Canon only has as much power as you want it to have. I can enjoy the canon show and the story they’re telling (even if Penny is dead for good this time), while still also enjoying my AUs where she’s fine. One doesn’t harm the other.
- (Also, let me take this moment to shamelessly promote my favorite cartoon show because I think this is relevant to the interests of anyone who hates the “person who’s been trying to sacrifice themselves the whole time ends up doing just that” story: The main character in She-Ra and the Princesses of Power is self-sacrificial to the point of it being unhealthy, but the show explicitly doesn’t treat this as a good thing. When she tries to sacrifice herself for the greater good in the final arc and says it’s better that way, this is treated as a problem, and the lesson she ends up learning in the end is her life has value, too, and that she deserves to be happy. (The show’s also very gay.)
- I don’t know if brought any of this across properly. Basically… I’m not happy about where they went with Penny either, but I am okay with it. I still enjoyed the finale and will continue to enjoy the show. And I want to focus on the things that make me happy about RWBY and made me happy about the finale, so I’ll talk about the rest of the episode now (while rewatching it because I’ll forget stuff otherwise):
- Have I mentioned I really love the Volume 8 opening? Because I really do.
- That shot of the destroyed whale is still awesome.
- I love how the episode opens with all the fights we left off with (Winter vs. Ironwood, Penny vs. Cinder, Harriet vs. Qrow, Ruby vs. Neo) and cuts between them. Also, the music is amazing!
- Elm admitting that Harriet is their friend and that being what finally gets through to her was a nice conclusion to their little arc, I guess. Vine’s sacrifice and his admittance that they’re his friends and he’s doing this for them were touching. Honestly, Harriet is right to blame herself for his death. That said, while this volume made me strongly dislike her, I do hope she now gets an arc about actually dealing with her grief and changing. I think that would be way more interesting to see than still having her be bitter, especially after what happened in this episode.
- Qrow causing good luck to stop the bomb was a nice little moment and honestly makes sense. Good luck and bad luck are just a matter of perspective, after all. What’s bad luck for yourself will be good luck for your enemies and vice versa. So, maybe Qrow technically caused “bad luck” for the bomb? Either way, I like the idea of him realizing that his semblance is more than what he thought.
- Cinder breathing fire during the fight was awesome. I need GIFs of that.
- Blake was amazing in this episode! I love that she didn’t let her grief over Yang consume her, but got up and kept fighting, kicked Cinder in the face and told Weiss to get up. Good stuff!
- I wonder if Cinder’s “You should have never been born” line to Ruby was just a generic “I hate you” line or meant something more.
- Do people honestly think that Cinder betraying Neo was unexpected or like… super unreasonable for a villain? Neo did threaten her – most typical villains don’t react well to their underlings threatening them, so I really don’t see why some people are so shocked or downright offended about this (is it just because they like Neo?).
- Weiss being the last one standing and using Blake’s weapon in the fight was absolutely amazing.
- The tragedy of Jaune sending Nora to bring the Huntsmen and Huntresses back through the portal while not knowing the portal is a one-way deal…
- Cinder knowing that Salem is back because her Grimm arm started hurting was a super interesting moment. And Weiss’ shocked face in that moment was quite interesting, too.
- I wonder if Penny really meant dying when she said “Let me choose this one thing”. To me, it sounded more like she meant choosing the next Winter Maiden. Also, her “trust me” to Jaune is an interesting line. Between that and us not seeing how that conversation goes on, I wonder if there’s something we don’t know here. (*puts on my “Penny is alive” tinfoil hat*)
- I’m glad they at least didn’t graphically show Penny’s death – which is an interesting choice again, because this show doesn’t usually shy away from making deaths graphic and portraying them in all their brutality. So, the fact that we don’t see the act itself and then just cut to Penny’s conversation with Winter was interesting. (But I am glad about it because I didn’t want to see that.) It might honestly just be because of the nature of Penny’s death that they didn’t want to show it too much (and that’s fair).
- “You were my friend.” Gosh, this rewatch is making me cry now 😭. (I also think it’s interesting that Winter calls herself a machine and Penny is now the one who corrects her. It’s a nice callback to Ruby telling Penny she’s their friend and “not just a machine”.)
- I was also just reminded that Penny died thinking Ruby was dead… ouch. This possibly hurts me more than Penny’s death itself.
- People have also pointed out that when Penny transfers the powers to Winter, her aura looks yellow (like Jaune’s) with only some green sparks (like Penny’s). Hmm… I really wonder if there’s more going on here.
- “I won’t be gone. I’ll be part of you.” Who’s cutting onions in here?
- Honestly, the main reason I kind of forgave them for killing Penny was because THAT MOMENT of Winter opening her eyes with the powers while that epic music plays was just amazing to witness. And her fight with Cinder? EPIC. BREATHTAKING. BEAUTIFUL. I’m not even that into the idea of Winter as the Winter Maiden (I honestly thought Penny, the robot girl, becoming the Winter Maiden was a much more interesting plot), but the way it was done in this episode was great. I’m glad we’re finally getting that rivalry between Winter and Cinder, because their arcs parallel each other in so many ways. And I love the symbolism of Winter only getting the powers that Ironwood chose for her after she betrayed Ironwood. I like the idea that she only became worthy of them after turning on Ironwood (which does work well with her Volume 7 arc).
- Oh, by the way, I really hate the “Team RWBY will become the four maidens eventually” theory. Even if it didn’t require characters to die, I just think it would be cheap and way too obvious, and I think it’s boring to throw all the magic powers at the main characters. So, if they only made Winter the Winter Maiden so she can eventually die and pass it on to Weiss, I’ll be very annoyed. (But I hope that’s not where this is going.)
- I’m also just realizing that Cinder asking “How am I supposed to take her power if she’s dead?” about Penny a few episodes ago was foreshadowing… damn.
- Jaune’s sword breaking was a really cool and symbolic moment, too.
- Winter trying to save Weiss from falling and not reaching her in time really got to me. I’m mostly not that affected by any of Team RWBY falling into the void because… come on, we know they’ll be fine. But Winter thinking her little sister just died is… oof. Maybe it’s because I have two younger sisters, but stuff like that really gets to me.
- Also, Winter going through that portal and seeing her family after she just (as far as she knows) lost Weiss… ouch. They never got to all reunite with each other (yet).
- I absolutely LOVED that final scene between Salem and Cinder. They’re both such fascinating characters and I just live for their interactions. Cinder talking herself down (even though she got the relics, so she knows she succeeded at the most important part) was amazing on her part. She did learn from Salem! It’s also interesting that even though she got what Salem wanted, Cinder didn’t get what she herself wanted (the Maiden Powers). I feel like that’s eventually going to become important.
- I wonder if Salem believed Cinder’s lies or not. I’ve seen some interesting opinions in both directions here. (Also, again, I don’t get why some people are so shocked and offended about Cinder lying? I’ve seen so many “I hope she pays for her lies” takes and… really? That’s her biggest crime in your eyes? Lying to another villain?? I don’t think any of you villain-haters feel bad for Salem here, so why… oh. Oh, nevermind, I just understood. They’re not mad that Cinder lied, they’re mad because they wanted Salem to kill her. Gosh, that’s so dumb. Face it, people: That’s not going to happen because Salem still needs the Fall Maiden’s powers. She’s not going to kill Cinder anytime before Cinder opens the last vault.)
- Cinder killing Watts with the staff was kinda funny, tbh. Also Salem’s proud little smirk in that scene kills me.
- “And that’s checkmate.” THAT. Okay, THAT was the best line in the entire episode, I don’t make the rules. What an epic moment!! Gosh, have I mentioned I love Cinder to death? What a queen! This volume really completely changed my opinion on her. I’ve already said that she’s my standout character of the volume, and I stand by that. It was her volume in so many ways and it’s so fitting that she gets to say the last line. It’s also such an interesting line in so many ways: 1) Because this episode is called “The Final Word”, is the only episode in this volume that doesn’t have a one-word title, and the actual final word of the episode is “checkmate”, it implies that “Checkmate” is the real, hidden title of the episode. And that fits so well! They could have easily just named the episode “Checkmate”, but revealing it like this works even better. 2) I also love the chess symbolism in this volume in general. There was a really great analysis about it on here somewhere, but basically: Salem is the king, Cinder is the queen (the king can’t die and barely moves, the queen is out there getting rid of opposing player pieces). And the interesting thing about that here is that the king can’t actually checkmate anyone else, only other chess pieces can. So, it’s very fitting that Cinder is the one who says “checkmate”. Also, in a game of chess, you often have to sacrifice your own pieces to win, which is what Cinder did. 3) I also LOVE the realization on Ironwood’s face when he realizes that he’s been so paranoid about Salem, but he’s actually been playing Cinder all along. (Someone else on here pointed out that there’s something super poetic about Cinder, someone who was very much a victim of Atlas’ systemic problems, being the one to defeat Ironwood and destroy his kingdom. Ironwood was ready to sacrifice all the poor people from Mantle for his own goal, and a poor person who was hurt by people in Atlas is the one who destroyed him. Yeah, yeah, Cinder’s evil and all, but I love it! 4) It’s also really interesting to me that Salem said “This game is not yours to win, it’s mine” to Cinder in the first episode of this Volume, but in the end, Salem ended up being gone for the entire last part of the volume and Cinder is the one who got to say “checkmate.” IT’S JUST SO GOOD.
- And ngl, I’m super happy for Cinder. She really got it all. Yeah okay, she didn’t get the Maiden Powers (and I hope she never does, because one person being two maidens at once is lame), but she got the relics, got rid of her enemies and co-workers (or so she thinks), destroyed the kingdom that she was a slave to, got back into Salem’s good graces… good for her! And apparently one of the buildings that you see being flooded was the Glass Unicorn? Amazing. Love that.
- (Yes, I’m team “redemption for Cinder please”, but come on… it was never going to happen this volume. And if it never happens, that’s okay, too – I’m loving her as a villain as well!)
- Also, I hope that all the people who were specifically criticizing Cinder for not being a competent enough villain are very happy now. Because there you have the competent villain you said you wanted! I mean, I’m saying this as someone who used to criticize Cinder’s character for not being interesting/deep enough. I used to say that I’d like a backstory or something that makes her more interesting/compelling to me. But as soon as we got that backstory, I happily switched sides to team “I like Cinder now”. So, I better not hear any complaining from the “I just want her to be a more competent villain” faction now!
- Yeah, I admit I’m getting annoyed with the Cinder hate. Everyone has a right to their opinions, but it gets frustrating when you’re going through the tag of a character you like and half of the tag are people talking about how badly they want that character to die. (Maybe use a seperate tag for it?)
- (I’m just realizing that I said “Well, at least it was only one character death” earlier, but people like Ironwood and Watts actually did die… I just didn’t count those because I don’t care. Sorry not sorry.)
- We decimated Salem’s faction quite a bit this volume, didn’t we? There’s only Cinder, Tyrian, and Mercury left. I wonder if Salem will get some new people on her side.
- Overall, while I did like this episode, I feel like Volume 8 got weaker towards the end. Most Volumes were at their best towards the end, but I feel like episodes 8-11 were the strongest parts of Volume 8, while episodes 12-14 were still good, but not as good.
- My prediction is that Volume 9 will (of course) be Tearm RWBY’s way out of the void (or whatever that place where they ended up is called) – And I quite like the theory that we won’t see the other characters at all and it’ll be focused only on what’s happening in the void.
#RWBY#RWBY Vol 8#RWBY v8 spoilers#RWBY Vol 8 spoilers#RWBY spoilers#RWBY The Final Word#suicide tw#Penny Polendina#long post#sorry this got so ramby - I don't even know if I expressed any of it properly#Winter Schnee#Cinder Fall#Salem#James Ironwood#Elm Ederne#Harriet Bree#Vine Zeki#Qrow Branwen#Blake Belladonna#Weiss Schnee#Neopolitan#Arthur Watts#Jaune Arc#Nora Valkyrie
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Talking about the Bees
Over the years bmblb has given me a mix of emotions that were difficult to explain but I’ve gotten a pretty good handle on them now and I’m kinda just putting them out into the air. Bmblb is a really cute ship; Blake and Yang are aesthetically pleasing together and fans come up with really interesting things for them. Outside of that however, it is a bit of a challenge to enjoy this ship and it comes down two things really.
The first thing is really easy to explain. It suffers from what most ships in shows have where there’s plenty of pairings; it’s gotten so big that it’s constantly louder than most ships. This problem really can’t be fixed all that much unfortunately. For those who don’t get what I’m saying I’ll explain. When I watch RWBY and Blake and Yang do anything together, I instantly know social media is gonna be flooded with it. The fans are all gonna post similar things regarding that clip that everything else about that episode practically gets drowned out. I remember in V5 where countless of people were talking about how Yang was gonna react to Blake in the final episode and not about how she was gonna confront her mother. What makes it seem louder is even during a hiatus there’s no real slow down. Someone can make a post saying “Bees killedAdam” today and it most likely trend higher than an extremely well drawn picture of Oscar. No other ship does this. When major things happen to big ships like White Rose and Renora people eat up for a couple of weeks then move on; they don’t even flood the hashtags really. It’s only Bmblb that has this constant high 24/7 because of the sheer size and energy of the shippers; that’s why it’s super easy to upset the hive; not to mention the Wasps.
The second thing is a bit more controversial but these are my opinions and obviously no one is obligated to agree with me. Bmblb to me does not seemed earned. Like I said, they look cute together but their relationship is really hollow and leaves a lot to be desired in my opinion. It’s like Rooster Teeth made all the plot points but never connected them; some have dashed lines but that’s it. Yang in vol5 was so touchy over the subject of Blake that she lashed out momentarily at Weiss and Ruby. Even after talking about it with Weiss, a lot of pent of emotions were still there and could only be resolved by confronting Blake with them. At the end of the volume I held out hope that her saying they were fine was just because it was the end of the volume. Then we got to V6
It starts of good with their being this awkwardness between them; things aren’t normal yet and that’s good. Next major thing is the barn scene and that’s where the ball drops. Yang getting upset at Blake for her comment about being protected should’ve been the flood gate for a well of deeper problems. Yang should’ve ripped into her about all the pain she’s caused her since V3. Blake didn’t believe Yang during the tournament incident, then she left without a word, now she’s back by coincidence and talking about standing by people when they need help. That aggression she showed Ruby and Weiss should’ve been in full force here while Blake tried defending herself and also getting a angry instead of Yang just leaving; then having her help only Blake a few scenes later. I mean Yang has a golden opportunity to talk about her abandonment issues here.
That argument could’ve caused the both of them to not speak to each other and only be hurt up until the airship mission. Instead of a cute scene of Blake telling Yang how bad stealth she is, replace it with Blake trying to apologize again and clear the air as Yang only listens because as much as she wants to forgive her, she’s genuinely hurt so Blake goes to do her part of the mission without an answer. Then Adam shows up and Yang rushes into action like in the show. Both of them are forced to get their shit together and face the vital reason they are in this emotional situation. The scene plays out as normal about them protecting each other and we have them both break down and crying after they beat him too. They’re both apologizing for everything that’s happened and Yang tells her how much Blake means to her. Now these awkward and cute scenes in V7 feel earned between them and not bait because they have a complete arc.
We know Rooster Teeth can pull this off because they’ve made a complete arc before. Blake met Sun and he started as a stranger she’s into and would help her with or without permission. She likes it until it becomes a problem in V4 where she actively tries shuts him out of her life and is upset that he’s around to the point she hits him. Sun however continues to push the boundaries. This comes to a head where she gets really upset after he could’ve died. Both of them end up having a serious conversation where they air out all of their emotional stress. Then we spend V5 with Blake actively including him and giving him information about her life willing to the point she tells him about Ilia’s past and let’s him know she’s going to meet her.
This payoff keeps happening from that point forward where they have each other’s back and supporting one other until the end of the volume. The two of them confident that they don’t even have to constantly be around each other and that they can handle things separately. Then the arc closes in the beginning of V6. Blake went from hitting Sun and not wanting him around to being sad that he’s leaving her and kisses him on the cheek. Sun isn’t worried about her and trying to stick with her. He knows Blake is where she needs to be and doesn’t pressure her to figure everything out so fast; he respects her boundaries. They had a complete arc.
This is why Bmblb and BlackSun are so aggressive. More fans love Bmblb and they are drowning in evidence that their ship will be canon, BlackSun feels more complete. Their relationship has matured more naturally; the dots connect. There’s just not as many dots at this point. I’m not picking sides or anything because at this point o think Blake should be single and focus on who she is as a person for awhile, which would do Yang’s character some good. Yang has not initiated any meaningful conversation or action with anyone except Blake and her mom. Weiss just happened to be kidnapped by Raven and she also made Yang open up after her lash out. Yang barely talks to Ruby and outside of V1 and their hug in V5 there hasn’t been a real heart to heart with them, but she’s talked with, or about Blake plenty with varying emotions. Jaune is consistent with his feelings. Pyrrha makes him sad and any serious conversation holds a wait of him struggling to press on and slowly getting better because almost everyone has talked to him to help progress his character. Yang is trapped in a bubble talking to Blake and Blake is only allowed to really talk to Weiss if it’s about racism.
I know it’s a bit of tangent but Rooster Teeth is kinda letting this problem bleed over into other characters; especially when it comes to making plot points with no lines. Perfect example we got this volume. Ruby has been in the mindset that she failed to save Penny for like a year and felt crushed about her friends death, yet did not sob uncontrollably learning that her friend was alive. But she cried when she saw her sister, a person she left at home who wasn’t talking to her. If Pyrrha came back you could bet everything that Jaune would be on the floor in tears because it would be weird of he didn’t do that for someone he mourned over. It’s almost like if it’s not shipping related then RT doesn’t care that much but they obviously love Bmblb, yet it’s skeleton of what it should be by now!
That kinda wraps up the basis of my feelings towards the Bees. I really do think this ship is nice but it’s just so lack luster for the amount of people who love it way more than me and for RT to try and sell people on it. I don’t like comparing shows but for anyone who’s heard of The Dragon Prince, season 3 is nine episodes yet the evolution of two characters relationships feels way more natural; also it wasn’t planned from the beginning of the show. If they can do it, Rooster Teeth can too. I say this because I care and want to see the show improve. Like besides Adam, what do Yang and Blake have to talk about? Yang never is in the above faunus oppression. Anytime Blake gets racism thrown her way it’s Weiss that deals with it. Blake and Yang killed the lifeblood their ship was riding on way too long.
#rwby#rwby talk#blake belladonna#yang xiao long#sun wukong#rwby ships#bmblb#rwby blacksun#jaune arc#ruby rose#weiss schnee#pyrrha nikos#penny polendina#arkos
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Ruby Rose for the character meme?
How I feel about this character: She's honestly the best protagonist for a show like RWBY, for reasons too myriad to explore here, but suffice it to say I love her a lot.
All the people I ship romantically with this character: Penny, mainly. Weiss as well, but Penny's the main one.
My non-romantic OTP for this character: I love her and Yang, but it's Ruby and Jaune's socially awkward bromance that gives me life.
My unpopular opinion about this character: I genuinely don't get the sense that Ruby's as close to a complete meltdown as people believe. Girl's got some issues, sure, but I honestly trust her to work through them rather quickly. This show has never been one to lengthen out a plot for cheap drama, and there's probably going to be so much other shit going on it'll be over soon.
One thing I wish would happen/had happened with this character in canon: I hope we see more of Ruby and Blake together, especially since Bumbleby has become undeniable to all but the most blind. Team RWBY has always felt more like a group of two partners, but Weiss and Yang had those scenes in Volume 5, and Ruby and Yang are sisters, so the only missing space is Ruby and Blake.
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RWBY Rewrite: Pyrrha Nikos
Hello again! And this time I get to use that for the right post. Today we are taking a look at one of the characters that got severely short changed when it came to character development Pyrrha Nikos.
Pyrrha is perhaps one of the more popular characters of RWBY and her background and fighting abilities gave her immense potential. Her personality was rather sweet too. Unfortunately, the first two volumes didn’t really give her much outside of Jaune and when we finally got something in the third volume, she got killed off. Here’s the thing....I don’t actually mind that she got killed off.
Now before you all crucify me, let me explain. Volume 3 was a mixed bag of storytelling, but I don’t have any problems with the deaths and losses. It was a good way of setting the tone going forward: People are going to die, characters we have grown close to aren’t safe, and even our main team is not untouchable. Pyrrha’s death, the death of the seemingly untouchable perfect hero that seemed fated for success, was honestly a good idea.....executed poorly.
To get what I’m going on about, I’m going to talk about one of the few things I think the original Fullmetal Alchemist anime did better Brotherhood; the buildup and death of Maes Hughes. We get introduced to him a couple of years prior to the story’s present and when we come back to the current time, we see Maes quite a bit whether it helping the other characters or just him being his loveable self. We know him and his family very well. We see him as a father, a husband, a soldier, and a friend. When he dies, its a genuine gut punch. Especially because we know he had a life prior to the plot.
That was never something I got from Pyrrha. For someone who hates her fame, we don’t really see her deal with it all that much outside of her first conversation with Weiss and the Pumpkin Pete’s advertising which one episode in early Volume 1. We only get her talking about one member of her family (her mother) and it’s never brought up again. No, that scene in Argus does not count. Show, don’t tell is a very much a problem with Pyrrha’s story arc.
Then of course there is the biggest problem of all this: her relationship with Jaune. Now, I’m going to get into this more when we get to the Rewrite for the Jaunedice Arc, but I’ll give you a brief overview of feelings on him. I like Jaune and I don’t think that he’s an inherently bad character. He does have some good qualities and potential. Unfortunately, even though I like Jaune, I recognize that he has gotten way too much screen time (to the detriment of many other characters including Ruby and Pyrrha) and he has gotten away with a lot of things with little blowback to himself. I guess I’m more inclined to blame the writers than Jaune because everyone is done in by the writing. So, it’s still going to be there, but majorly changed to make it a lot more balanced and believable. Basically, the relationship is important to her, but it doesn’t define who she is as a character.
I feel this writing is going to get a bit more in depth so prepare yourself accordingly. Also note that I dropped RWBY after Volume 6 so anything introduced or mentioned in Volume 7 and beyond will be disregarded. So let’s get into it!
Before Beacon: Prophecy and Fame
In this Rewrite, Pyrrha was born in a port city in Southern Anima that draws heavily from the Ancient Greco-Roman culture. She was the only child of very prosperous merchants, her family having gained great wealth following the Great War due to their ties to other kingdoms in trade. Much like Weiss’s family, they’re relatively noveau rich. Her parents doted on her and when she got older, they saw she was a natural in the art of combat. They took her to a seer in the city, an older woman by the name of Laurel Visione who as you might guess is a reference to the Oracle of Delphi. Laurel tells Pyrrha and her parents that she was blessed with great strength and talent. That her star is bright and she has the ability to become a great warrior with a great destiny.
Her parents are pleased by these words, but Pyrrha notices the woman seems to be holding something back. As her parents leave, she lingers behind and asks the woman about it. Laurel smiles and tells that those gifted with that much brightness, also tend to burn out young. She goes on and tells Pyrrha that if she chooses the path of a hero, she will save many lives and inspire many more, but it will also take her away from what she truly wants. It doesn’t mean that she will die, free will should always be taken into account, but if she chooses this path she will meet death sooner rather than later. She’s telling Pyrrha this because it’s her destiny, not her parents, and its up to her to choose how she’s going to face that destiny. As a parting piece of advice, she tells her that everything happens for a reason, even if we don’t see that reason until much later.
Pyrrha keeps this all in mind, as well as keeping it a secret from her parents. We’ll get back to Laurel later.
Her parents, unaware of this, go all out in supporting her in her training. With every new tournament and success, their pride grows even more. They do however realize, that the success is affecting her standing among her peers, her fame making it all but impossible for her to have friends. There is an also accident with Pyrrha’s semblance that almost permanently injured someone because Pyrrha lost control. As a result, Pyrrha only uses a fraction of her semblance’s power and that gives more context to when she got upset during Volume 3 when she used it on Jaune in the courtyard.
When she announces to her parents she’s applying for Beacon, they’re shocked. Not everyone who graduates from a combat school ends up at the Academies (such institutes are super competitive) and with Pyrrha’s semblance mainly geared towards fighting people, throwing away her tournament career when she’s at the top of her game seems rash. Tournament fighting isn’t easy and isn’t as prestigious as being a Huntress, but it’s also much safer with sanctioned rules and the paycheck being just as lucrative. Not to mention, she’d be doing her schooling on a completely different continent. As parents, they love their daughter and want what's best for her, but they honestly can’t understand why she’s doing this. Nevertheless, she’s made her decision and there’s nothing they can say to change her mind. All they can do is see her off with a smile and wish her well.
Beacon: Fame, Friendship, and Love
Now a somewhat constant thing that comes up with Pyrrha during her school days is that her fame is very much hanging over her. Students are constantly trying to get her autograph, people like Cardin try to rile her up, and during the tournament some Haven students openly disparage her for transferring to another kingdom. This will eventually allow her and Weiss to get closer, as Weiss has had to deal with fame and even higher expectations since she was younger than Pyrrha.
Her relationship with her teammates become the first genuine experiences she has with friendship; Nora is a great workout buddy who makes everyone laugh and Ren is someone she can talk a lot of things over with such as the differences between Central Anima and Southern Anima. However, she is new to working with a team and it takes her a little while to get used to it. This is part of the reason why she’s so trusting of Jaune’s leadership at the beginning until it is shaken by him revealing the truth about his transcripts.
Of course, being a rewrite she also gets a lot more interaction with Team RWBY. Her relationship with Ruby is very much highlighted with the younger girl being a tad more idealistic and naïve with Pyrrha being a bit more reserved and more knowledgeable about her future goals. These two are very much foils to each other, which I will get to later on.
Then of course there is her relationship with Jaune. In the show, she says that Jaune was the first person to treat her as a regular girl and this rewrite will be showing that. While others will be interested in her accolades and fame, Jaune will show interest in Pyrrha as a person like the things she enjoys and what growing up for her was like. They start on a strong friendship with Pyrrha’s feelings developing into something more and Jaune a tad more oblivious to it. This will definitely change their relationship from Volumes 1 and 2, but not 3. Though I would probably cut out one of the Arkos songs because there are two more than it needs to be. It gives off the impression that Pyrrha defined herself solely by her relationship with Jaune and you never want to make a character come off as just a love interest to another character. And there are so many other people who would probably benefit with a song POV.
Death: Aftermath and Distrust
The main difference about Pyrrha’s death in canon and this rewrite is that her death affects everyone in the main group, especially her teammates and Ruby. Jaune is still very affected as he was her partner and friend and still has very conflicted thoughts over her romantic feelings towards him, but Ren and Nora are also noticeably grieving her in their own ways. Ruby tries to bottle it up most of the time, much like how she treats a lot of her negative emotions and that comes back to bite her much later on when she is at her lowest and reaches her emotional breaking point. For most of the story, she gets very haunting dreams about Pyrrha (occasionally accompanied by Penny) saying that she has accepted her destiny and questions what Ruby is going to do. This will be foreshadowing for what I’ll talk about in the next section.
The biggest effect that Pyrrha’s death has is that JNR is much more distrusting of Ozpin than RWBY. While they will recognize that Pyrrha made her own decision and they blame Cinder and the others for her death, they still see the whole choice presented to Pyrrha as extremely sketchy and questionable. Pyrrha was the type of person who would not have said no if it meant saving people. And more than just what could have been the result of the transfer, its the fact that they chose a first year student for the job when there should have been better candidates with more experience and a better understanding of what they were getting into (especially as we know the cut off date for Maiden powers is 30).
Jaune, Ren, and Nora still see Salem and her group as the biggest threat to humanity, but that doesn’t mean they like or trust Ozpin (this is not the same for Oscar, but that’s another post). And given that this rewrite will make Oz a much more morally gray character who HAS done some pretty reprehensible things in his conflict with Salem, this distrust will turn out to be very much justified.
Another change to the story is that after Mistral Arc, JNR would actually split off from the main group. Getting the Relic to Atlas is definitely a priority, but this also leaves Shade Academy in a bit of the dark with how things are going. So RWBY, Qrow, and Ozcar would head to Atlas with the Relic while JNR accompanied by Team SSSN would head to Vacuo (which doesn’t have closed borders and therefore would be easier to travel to) after a taking a short detour to Pyrrha’s hometown to give the news to her parents in person. This would make writing the Atlas Arc easier by trimming down the size of the group.
The meeting with Pyrrha’s parents....does not go well. The actual confirmation of their daughter’s death is heartbreaking and their grief and anger is focused on the immediate targets: her teammates. They angrily ask why they didn’t try to stop her or get professional help. They especially treat Jaune harshly when he tells them she sent him away before going to confront Cinder. The three very much realize that they’re not welcome and present what’s left of Pyrrha’s personal things (including her circlet). The two calm down a bit as they see these things and accept them with thanks, but politely tell the group to leave and allow them to grieve alone. They disapproved of her choice and this result makes them feel justified in their opinion. They feel cheated of their only child, who could have done so much...had she not chosen to become a Huntress.
As JNR leaves the house, they’re greeted by Laurel Visione. After a brief conversation about her past with Pyrrha in Laurel’s home, they question why she would tell Pyrrha about her destiny if that destiny would lead to her death. Laurel would tell them that she wanted to Pyrrha to understand the full risks of the path she was walking towards. If she wanted to turn back from that, she could have, she’d have more than enough time to come to the decision, but she choose not to. She accepted her destiny and had viewed it with a measure of peace. Laurel states that she probably died with some regrets, very few people don’t, but she made her own decision to that end and she wouldn’t have blamed anyone for it.
Before the group leave to meet up with Team SSSN to head to Shade, Laurel tells them one last thing: That the choice that Pyrrha had in front of her is the same one that Ruby is also going to deal with.
Destiny: Ruby
Perhaps the best way to summarize the foil relationship between Pyrrha and Ruby is a quote from one of my favorite animes of all time Princess Tutu: “Those who accept their fate find happiness; those who defy it, glory.”
Pyrrha knew from practically the beginning that her destiny as a hero would lead to an early end. And she accepted it. If it meant saving others and doing what was right, she would gladly give her life to do so. During Volume 3 with the Maiden choice hanging over is when she actually considers walking away from everything and staying with her friends, realizing what Laurel meant all those years ago. But in the end, she still chose her path even if she didn’t know everything about what was going on.
As for Ruby, I mentioned Raven giving a warning to Ruby about using her eyes would lead to an early grave like her mother and grandfather (who are posthumous characters who will play a role in the greater story). I’m not going into specifics right now, but the Silver Eyes bear a great cost in this Rewrite and almost all Silver Eyed Warriors die extremely young. The path of a Silver Eye, of a great hero that Ruby had wanted to emulate, will turn out to have a dark price to it.
The difference between Ruby and Pyrrha is that Ruby does not accept this fate. She will not walk away from the fight, but she is not going to readily sacrifice herself either. She is going to take a look at her fate, her people’s history, Ozpin and Salem’s conflict, and tell them to screw destiny. Screw people making assumptions and choices for her. The only person who gets decide who she is and what she stands for is her. And everyone has the right to make that same decision.
OKAY, that post took longer than I thought it was going to. At least I got it out before I went with my family on our Christmas vacation. The next post will probably get out in 2020. As for the topic, let’s just say it’s not about a person....
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🔥 whiterose
[DO NOT REBLOG]
Believe it or not I actually like WR a lot! It’s just complicated due to the mild age gap but that’s a can of worms I don’t know if I wanna get in to, so I’ll try to make this as simple as possible:
I think the dynamic is really good especially after this volume- a lot of maturity from the both of them that shows me they’re more equal than previously shown as far as maturity emotionally.
I want them to be canon for sure, but they aren’t in the current volume. I think it’s REALLY CLOSE MINDED to say NEVER, since unlike like... BS/ (sadly) catmeleon the ship hasn’t been fully shot down.
Also I have a weird hang up with shipping dead RWBY characters which sucks since I think rosebird is a cute dynamic to explore. I like NnD but the fact Penny is dead is a huge problem. “BUT SHE CAN BE REMADE-” See, this is where I wanna get a little weird: (also this is a big “why WR won’t be canon” argument I wanna address sorry this is so long)
Having Penny be alive (our Penny) is really counterproductive to Ruby’s growth. It’s like having Summer be alive, which in a “NOTHING IS WRONG AU” is 100% fine and I hope people write those types of AUs more since they’re sweet genuinely. Penny dying and remaining dead is the point of death.
Plus I think Ruby recognizing a potential NEW PENNY would actually be a good sign of character growth. It’s not our Penny and she’ll never be- that data is gone probably but her memory will live on. Just like Pyrrha.
BACK TO WR- I think in SEVERAL volumes their dynamic will be left up to interpretation for the viewer. It’s one of those ‘maybe it happened’ ships, while the big gay ship is canonized. I can see them doing a future arc book (like the CVFY one) showing WR as canon when they’re adults but in the CURRENT show it’s just a wish at this point.
Also a little very serious ash statement:
As a community the LGBT+ RWBY fandom shouldn’t be against each other in the fight. It should NEVER be wlw ships against wlw ships, it’s us (the cool lgbt+ fans) VS the homophobic women hating tools who love to rail BB.
It WR gets more canon implications, you guys will be in the position BB has been at for a while now with all the hate/homophobia. Why not unite before that happens and have a stronger base. Just sayin’ yo.
#i dont draw it or talk about it as much bc the age gap if im honnest#also im like all for bees schnees even if i know in my heart it wont ever be canon#a lesbo can dreamo#Anonymous
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RWBY V6 CH13 (Season Finale) Review: Our Way
Well... we made it guys. RWBY Volume 6 Chapter 13. The grand finale. It feels like we just began, but still like it was so long ago. It's been one Hell of a ride. Train crashes, traumatic flashbacks via blue genie ladies, Zombie Grimm, confirmed lesbians, mechas, a VERY satisfying villain death, and now a kaiju. It's been quite a journey, and now it's time to bring it to a close. Can our heroes save the day? Can they catch their dreams together and keep rising like the moon? For the final time this volume, lets find out.
Overview
We begin... not in Argus. No, we're in some kind of forest area where we see a Mistral airship arrive. Turns out it got snatched by Neo, who they FINALLY gave a new outfit. It looks really good! She's not the only one as Cinder makes her appearance... and not gonna lie, she's pretty damn hot. She's very pleased with how things are going, especially when Neo uses her power to mask the ship as an Atlas ship. Which will make their infiltration of Atlas all the easier. As she climbs aboard, Cinder comments on how sometime ago, someone asked her if she believed in destiny. If you all recall, she replied yes... and she's happy to say that she still does. Haha... I can't wait for this to be the equivalent of Adam's “It's time I get what I deserved” line for when Ruby kicks your sorry ass! Seriously, I gave the middle finger to this scene. Screw you Cinder.
Okay, back to Argus! Cordovan is furious, repeatedly putting the blame on Ruby and the team for causing all of this. Blake and Yang rejoin the group as Weiss points out that they just took out the one thing that can stand a chance against the Leviathan. Everyone boards the ship as the Atlas Military fight the Grimm off, even activating a hard light shield around the city. Cordovan continues her rantings as her men call for her help. Blake tearfully apologizes to everyone as the ship takes flight, blaming herself as if Adam hadn't interfered, they'd have gotten out with no issues. Yang tells her to not blame herself and Ruby telling her that all that matters is that she's safe. The two even have a cute little hug! Aww!
Maria points out that with the military occupied, this is THE perfect chance to get by and continue to Atlas. But of course by doing so, they leave the chance of the Grimm killing everyone in Argus. Ruby opens her mouth, clearly about to refuse... but her teammates reply first. All three refuse to run. They are Huntresses, and they will fight until the bitter end to protect everyone. Maria seems pleased by this, but things are still not good as the Leviathan's fire breath tears straight through the shields. If it breaks through all of them, then Argus is as good as destroyed. Therefore, Ruby knows what she has to do. She calls out to Atlas' forces, telling them that she is a Huntress and that she can weaken it. How? Well... remember Maria's comments about Ruby needing a trial by fire to train her Silver Eyes? Well my friends, the trial has come.
Maria starts to comment on how she didn't mean like this, but Ruby isn't hearing it. She was able to use the Eyes at Beacon and at Brunswick, so she believes that she can do this. The Argus base, due to the ship being deemed hostile, refuse to aid them. So what does Ruby do? Decide that they'll do ti themselves. With Ren and Jaune keeping the ship masked, the plan is to get before the Leviathan and for Ruby to Silver Eyes blast it. It' a good plan... but by the time they get there, the Leviathan has charged up another attack. They're forced to pull back and both Jaune and Ren's already weakened Auras break. With no one sure of what to do now, Ruby looks to Weiss, a new plan formed.
As Yang and Nora shoot at the Leviathan to keep ti distracted, Weiss summons the Queen Lancer. Ruby hops on, telling herself that she can do this as she flies before the Leviathan. She closes her eyes, even throwing out her earpiece when Yang tries to reach out to her, and begins to think back through her memories. She thinks of the ones she loves like her father, her teammates, her friends, Penny... all the memories that make her feel happy and the urge to protect. But as she does, the darker memories begin to fill her mind. Seeing Jaune's broken state in V4, Yang's broken state at the end of V3, the sight of Yang in the V3 finale. And of course the deaths of both Pyrrha and Penny. All of these BTW use these 2D manga-style images. I honestly would have preferred they just use clips or stills of these moments... but they still look nice. But with the reminder of those dark moments, Ruby's concentration breaks. The Leviathan takes notice of her, and it prepares to attack.
Realizing that she is in trouble, Ruby takes notice of the Lamp. In panic, she calls out Jinn's name. Time freezes aside from herself, and she apologizes for she does not have a question to ask. She needed the time freezing power of Jinn's summoning to buy herself time. Jinn knows this, and decides to grant a pass on her summoning, but she will not allow so again. She DOES however compliment Ruby on her cleverness. With extra time now bought, Ruby again closes her eyes and remembers. This time, she is smiling in confidence as she remembers all the happy moments from the past volumes. Time begins to move again as she remembers those she loves, her team, JNPR, Qrow, Oscar, even Maria. It all culminates to a vision of one person in particular in the only Maya-animated shot of this flashback. We sees a white-cloaked woman standing at a familiar cliff-side, red and white rose petals flying around her as she turns around. Yes everyone, we have finally gotten our first glimpse of Ruby's mother, Summer Rose. With that and all of these thoughts in her mind and a new song titled Indomitable playing, Ruby unleashes the power of her Silver Eyes. With one massive blast,t he Leviathan is turned to stone. The Argus citizens cheer as Ruby can take in a sigh of relief... well, almost.
The Leviathan begins to break free of the stone, bringing Ruby back to panic. But not for long as Cordovan takes over, having dis-attached the broken arm and uses the other one to create a drill and truly destroy the Leviathan. She opens the cockpit to face Ruby personally, who thanks her and apologizes for her and her friend's actions. But, to my shock, Cordovan says that her forces can handle the remaining Grimm and that it's unlikely that anyone will take notice of one ship leaving in her report. Yes everyone, Cordovan is finally allowing Ruby and the gang to take the ship and go on to Atlas. Ruby smiles and rejoins the others as they head off.
Night falls and they have enough fuel to make it to Atlas. Qrow compliments Ruby as he gets his flask... before lowering his arm and telling her to not scare him like that again. He earns a hug from Ruby for that! As she walks off, Maria compliments Qrow on his efforts. While Qrow feels guilty for essentially causing so many issues, Maria points out that he still helped when the time came, and that was good. Qrow seems to be genuinely happy hearing this, complimenting Maria and how it was great to see the Grimm Reaper in action. With the others, Weiss apologizes to Blake for what she had to endure, but is glad that Yang was there to help her. Yang takes Blake's hand, saying that they were there for each other. It seems that the Bumblebee pair's relationship is restored... and may now be canon if Renora is anything to go by XD
Everyone turns to Ruby, Ren pointing out all the crazy but awesome stuff she did. Embarrassed, Ruby points out how Oscar managed to make a successful crash landing. Except... eh didn't. Oscar reveals that during the crash, eh got help... from Ozpin. While he didn't take control, he DID calm Oscar down and guide him on landing before vanishing again. Yang asks if he had been watching them this whole time, but Oscar isn't for sure. Guess we'll leave that open ended for now as Qrow tells them to come over and check out the view of Atlas. We get our first look, and... damn it looks AMAZING. You guys ever seen the Hayao Miyazaki film Castle in the Sky? Think that! There's only... one issue. There's an entire air armada guarding the city, as though awaiting an attack. Control welcomes the ship home, and cue the credits!
But of course, there's one more scene to talk about. First, the credit song Nevermore is AMAZING! It is very much a “Fuck you Adam: song and both Casey and a guest singer named Adrienne Cowan absolutely KILLED it. After hat though, we have of course the stinger. We see Emerald enter the meeting room, the windows still broken and the table still turned over. She sees Mercury and gets ready to apologize for Chapter 9... but sees that he is looking horrified. In a mirror to how the Mistral storyline began in Volume 4, Emerald looks out and is also horrified. Why? Salem is summoning an army of... those gorilla Grimm I can't remember the name of. But that's not all. With her powers, she gives them all wings. You know... kinda like those flying monkeys from that movie that also has a witch and a wizard named Oz. Hazel walks in, referring to an old saying “If you want something done right, do it yourself”. Salem continues to summon her Grimm as Volume 6 truly comes to an end.
Review
So... what did I think of the finale? Well.. give me a second. Taking in a deep breath... okay, here it goes: AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!
I LOVED IT!!!
Okay, we have a lot to go through, so lets get through the small stuff first. First, the stinger scares me. It's a great bookend, calling back to when the Mistral arc began so it's only appropriate that it end with Emerald and Mercury one more looking on in horror at the Grimm pools. Salem is clearly no longer fooling around and is taking matters into her own hands. It's great Wizard of Oz reference... that makes me very concerned about both Ruby and Oscar since IDK which one is meant to be Dorothy in this case, but still I AM CONCERNED. It's a very good way to end things and to leave us in anticipation for the next volume. Same for the beginning with Neo and Cinder, which again Cinder can go to Hell. But it was a nice scene and they look great in their new outfits. Hopefully this signals that RWBY will also get some new ones! Come on RT, GIVE THEM COATS AT LEAST!
Okay, let us talk about Ruby now. Dear God, RUBY. I've said this several times now, but she has been SO GOOD in this volume. Clearly CRWBY listened to the critiques about the last volume because they've just been killing it with her. This was, of course, the biggest moment for her. Ruby has truly grown and stepped up. She lead when everyone else gave up, she remained committed to the task despite all the doubt and uncertainty, and she did everything in her power to fight back and accomplish her goal. This is, by far, her greatest moment since beheading the Nevermore in V1. She chooses to fight, even when Argus refuses to aide her. She faces the Leviathan head on. She actually remembers about the Silver Eyes and uses what Maria has told her to turn the Grimm to stone. Yeah it didn't work fully, showing that she still has a long way to go to mastering her power, but she still pulled it off and the clever use of Jinn to buy herself time to regain herself was an AWESOME move. And Jinn let her get away with it! Nice!
The entire scene was just great. The flashbacks, while I again would have preferred actual footage or stills, still looked really nice. You could feel how Ruby felt, trying and at first uncertain before the dark memories come back. Then she tries again, much more confident, and uses the memory of her loved ones to unleash her power all on her own, Not out of trauma or fear. Not form Maria needing to guide her. No, she did it all on her own volition. Ruby is no longer that same naive girl form Volume 1 who asked Glynda for an autograph cause she was a Huntress. No, now SHE is the Huntress. She recognizes her responsibility. No longer is it a young girl's naive fantasy, but her sacred duty, and she WILL carry it out. And it wasn't only Ruby. Her teammates, who went to Beacon for personal reasons over the duty and were having serious doubts to their commitment, immideatly refuse to run and to fight on with zero hesitation. These kids have grown so much, and I couldn't be prouder.
I think my only issue is... well, Cordovan. While there is truth in her blaming the kids, she escalated it to unnecessary lengths with the mecha and refused to listen. And she gets away with it. She also takes a 180 on her attitude, which just feels unsatisfying. I mean I'm glad that she let them through, but she receives zero comeuppance for her actions and attitude. It wasn't enough to deter form the finale, but it DID leave me annoyed.
So guys, after one Hell of a journey, the team have made it to Atlas. Which as I said, it looks stunning. There is of course reason to worry since Ironwood's paranoia seems to have gotten worst, but at least they're being allowed in. So... what happens now? Hard to say. There's a ton of possibilities. Hopefully some new outfits, as I said. There's the Winter Maiden, Ironwood's state, potential STRQ stuff, and probably some consequences to this volume since they don't have Ozpin to talk Ironwood down now. With Cinder and Neo on their way, as well as Watts and Tyrian, we've got plenty of worry for our heroes. And of course, there's Penny's father and the Schnee family. A lot of things are coming up I imagine. But all for another time. For now, everyone made it safe and sound. And as a familiar song once stated “that's all that matters somehow.”
Final Thoughts
I don't think I need to emphasize how much I loved this chapter. Think I did that plenty. It was a great wrap-up to what I can now call my favorite volume of the series. I have one more review to do, a full RWBY Volume 6 review. After that, aside form any Character Shorts or stuff that comes out, I'll be done with RWBY until the Fall. So I will see you all in the season review, and thank you all for reading!
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Done dirty: Ruby
“Main Protagonist” my ass!
Ruby is supposed to be the main protagonist. She’s supposed to have this grand destiny she’s supposed to fulfill, and be the hero.
So why does it feel like she’s taking a back seat to everything important?
Take the Red trailer. We don’t get a whole lot for her, she’s jut there kicking ass. She’s tearing through those Beowolves like they’re nothing, and it’s some great choreography.
Then in Volume 1, we run into the first problem: She kicks the ass of Roman’s men without her weapon.
See, the writers have repeatedly said that Ruby is trash without Crescent Rose, and Volume 5 reinforced that. Not only is it something that is told, it’s something that contradicts what we are shown. Ruby goes gaga in a later episode over weapons, and that’s never brought up again. It would have been a great running gag, and a means to introduce the weapons that the main cast has to the audience in a natural way. Here’s a scenario: After Ruby cuts up those grimm while saving Weiss, she starts examining the weapon. To which Weiss begrudgingly answers the questions in a failed attempt to get Ruby to shut up.
“Ohh! Is this a Rapier mixed with a milti-chamber dust revolver so that you can use them for different effects?”
“Yes.” Weiss ground out.
“And it it made up of a steel-titanium alloy that makes it really durable?” (This part isn’t actually canon, but I think it would be neat if we knew what kind of materials these weapons are traditionally made out of).
“Yes.”
“Can I touch her?”
“What?- No! You can’t touch Myrtenaster!“
“Oh. So the weapon’s name is Myrtenaster?- That’s cool. You should see my sister’s weapons. She called them Ember Celica, and she made it so that they can look like ordinary bracelets when they’re not in use. They mix long-range shotguns with gauntlets, and they’re really cool!”
See that?- All of that could have been a conversation that Ruby could have had with Weiss. Not only would it have been natural, given Ruby’s love for weapons, but it also would have been a great way to introduce the weapons that the cast uses. We could have gotten a similar conversation (using different attitudes depending on the person) with other characters. It could have been a cool bonding moment. Ruby also apparently doesn’t have to prove that she can be a capable leader to Weiss. In this scenario, most would expect that the main leader would have to do something to prove themselves, and prove the person who doubts them wrong. But we don’t get that. All it takes to reinvigorate Ruby’s confidence is a talk from a teacher, and Weiss gets lectured by Ozpin. This could have also led into an interesting bonding moment, and show the differences between how Ruby and Weiss function, and how Blake and Yang function. But we don’t get that character interaction. Ruby gets further robbed of character interaction/development when jaune hijacks the plot to reveal that he’s putting his team in danger due to his lack of experience and reluctance to be trained because ego™. Ruby doesn’t even rush out to find Blake with her semblance, she just… stands there. Doing nothing. Some team leader. She also sides with Weiss on this, and since we never saw any bonding moments between the two, there’s no evidence to believe that the reason she’s siding with Weiss is because of a bond that they have.
Volume 2 also does Ruby an injustice. While the Food Fight has some moments for her (Like quoting Nixon for some reason), she doesn’t do much else. Because she’s not questioned while the team is visiting Mount Glenn, her motives are never questioned. She isn’t questioned on how she plans to accomplish her goal, or on how she would handle tough decisions. Ruby lacks focus in this volume, and the most she gets in terms of bonding with her team and character development is…
This scene… Which, while humorous, doesn’t really add much else. Ruby then uses her speed to defeat JNPR (And here’s a kicker: Assuming that the mess hall is the length of an average school, Ruby is actually only moving 10 Meters per second. She’s slower that freaking Hercule Satan!), and… That’s about it. Apparently she also confronts Cinder during the dance, but she hardly provides anything else. The Ozluminati don’t take any precautions because of this ‘masked intruder,’ none of them bother to check to see if their systems have any malicious hardware on it, they just sit around… With Ozpin probably literally dicking around in his dick chair.
(Why does it look like a dick?)
Volume 3 doesn’t add much. Outside of referring to Weiss as her ‘BFF,’ Ruby doesn’t actually do anything in this volume. And get used to that, because this is just the start of that trend. Ruby ends up taking a back seat to a lot of things, like Pyrrha’s first and final character arc, Yang’s framing, and some backstory for the villains. Ruby acknowledges Penny, and… Yeah. That’s kinda it. After that, she has a small breakdown on Pyrrha committing manslaughter (bot slaughter? mechaslaughter? droidslaughter?- Whatever), but that’s undermined by jaune taking Pyrrha aside to repeat the sentiment. Ruby’s words fall on deaf ears because she’s taking a backseat to Pyrrha’s arc. Normally, this wouldn’t be a problem, but in normal situations, Ruby’s motives, personality, and other aspects would have made her a character in her own right. And had this not been a rushed attempt to give Pyrrha some non-jaune related characterization before her death, Ruby taking a supporting role would have been normal. After everything, she ultimately defeats Neo (by using a weakness on Ice Cream Girl’s weapon), and watches Roman die. She feels no remorse, nor does she seem to have any real reaction. I mean… This is a young girl! And she just saw two people die right in front of her!- Yeah, Roman’s a villain, but his speech about surviving should have shaken Ruby up a bit. Maybe even force her to realize that some people aren’t bad for the lulz (that’s Cinder’s role), but that they do bad things because they’re in bad situations. Pyrrha’s death ultimately sets off her Silver Eyes, and then Qrow gives her the rundown on her newfound powers. This is where a lot of things start going wrong in a narrative sense for Ruby. She doesn’t question this. She doesn’t ask how they work. And she doesn’t ask how her mother could have been killed if she had this power. Then she sets off, knowing that Yang’s emotionally vulnerable, and that a lot of things went down the drain for her. Sure, Ruby has this grand destiny, but she doesn’t seem to leave a letter specifically for Yang. She leave a generic one for both Yang and Tai.
Volume 4 is where it gets obvious that the writers have likely forgotten about Ruby being, y’know… The first letter in the title. She takes a backseat to jaune’s angst, as well as the Renora duo’s conclusion to their backstory (Let’s face it; Ren and Nora have so little character to them, that they’re basically the same character). Ruby doesn’t comment on Penny’s death, she only acknowledges Pyrrha once, and her mentioning the family that she left behind to go on this quest that her uncle all but explicitly gave to her isn’t even mentioned. And when Ruby is about to finally acknowledge what happened, jaune steps in and is all “Nah, don’t worry about what you’ve done. You’re doing fine.” effectively robbing Ruby of any kind of development that she’d get by questioning herself and her decisions. She sends a letter home, and that’s it. She gives this monologue that genuinely feels that the writers only gave her because they realized, at the last minute “Oh crap! Ruby didn’t have a lot to do this volume!”- So they gave her that speech to make it seem that she grew, but it doesn’t actually feel like she grew.
Volume 5 rolls along, and by this point, we’re almost used to Ruby not getting any development. She isn’t questioning anything that Ozpin tells her. Nobody does. And she then learns hand-to-hand. Now, it feels as if the writers did this, as a means to try to say that they gave Ruby development, but they’re not exactly doing it right.
Yes, Ruby needs development. They acknowledge as much. But they don’t understand how she needs development. If they really wanted to teach her hand-to-hand, have Ruby be the one who suggests it. There’s a video that suggests that Ruby is afraid of her silver eyes, and it’s an interesting idea, albeit, not well-communicated. Here’s an idea as to how it could go down
Ozpin: Now, miss Rose, we will be needing to work on your control over your silver eyes.
Ruby (Frightened): My… My silver eyes?
Ozpin: Yes. Is there a problem?
Ruby: No! I mean, uh… How about I help Oscar train in hand-to-hand? I could use a bit of training without my weapon anyways. Heh heh…
And there you have it. Ruby trains in hand-to-hand because she’s afraid of her Silver Eyes. The last time she used them, a grimm dragon got petrified on top of Beacon Tower, and she fell unconscious for a long time. It would make sense had it been better-communicated to the audience if this were truly the reason why Ruby never once asked about them.
Ruby’s lack of development hardly stops there. She doesn’t get the fight with Cinder (You know… The fight that’s been foreshadowed by practically everything, from the opening themes, to Cinder’s grudge, to freaking episode one where Ruby foils Cinder’s dust heist), she ends up fighting Emerald while jaune’s revenge boner leads him to take on Cinder. That’s like Sokka fighting Ozai while Aang fights the random Fire Nation Soldiers. Jaune should have fought Emerald (While Emerald uses an illusion to make him see Cinder, or even Pyrrha as a means to taunt him), and Ruby gets to be the one to take on Cinder. Her Silver Eyes should have activated when she saw Vernal deplete Weiss’ aura. Because as far as Ruby knows, Vernal is the maiden, and seeing another maiden towering above a friend of hers that doesn’t have any aura should have triggered the Silver Eyes instead. The most she does is tell a speech to Raven that… didn’t really feel like a real thing. Most of the victories we saw on-screen rarely took teamwork, and mostly revolved around one moment of awesome that just undermined the threat of the grimm or big bad guys. She’s about as effective as a level five Bulbasaur in Inferno Cave.
Ruby is constantly taking a backseat to most moments that develop the much more interesting cast and jaune.
And once the story is all said and done?- What is she going to do? What is she going to do once the heroes defeat Salem, and the world is safe from the threat of the grimm?
Yang has some world exploring to do. Blake has equality to keep alive. Weiss has a company to run. Ren and Nora have each other……… What’s left for Ruby? What are her goals for after the adventure is over?
Nothing.
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What do you think of the idea of Emerald/Oscar? They have some soft moments together.
Hello Sweet o/ Well this squiggle meister is definitely on-board with the Green Team/Emerald City pair as a FRIEND-ship with Emerald being yet another proxy big sister figure to “adopt” Oscar as their close companion whereas the little prince in turn could finally provide Emerald with the strong and devoted family type of bond that Emerald truly wants and failed to garner from the villain side especially with Cinder Fall who she saw as a “mother” or close guardian figure who saved her from her former life of poverty.
Another reason why I like the Emerald City duo is because I’d like to think that part of Oscar’s willingness to believe in Emerald and desire to look out for her stems from him and Oz essentially fulfilling Hazel’s role of continuing to watch over her in his absence.
After all, it wasn’t just Oscar to be saved from Monstra. Emerald was too. Hazel Rainart gave his life to ensure that both Oscar and Emerald were finally free of Salem and since Hazel is gone, Oscar probably sees it as his right to stand by Em in his place; especially since he also owes her for his salivation.
Plus, a second reason why I think the showrunners may be pushing the Emerald City bond is because, ultimately, Emerald will become the next Fall Maiden; replacing Cinder Fall.
Think about it. Professor Ozpin was the Headmaster of Beacon Academy. Beacon Academy is the fortress secretly housing the Vault of the Fall Maiden which contains the Crown of Choice---the only relic that Salem couldn’t acquire on her own since the true path to claiming it still rests in Ozma’s memories. Memories that will soon be passed onto Oscar Pine who is Ozma’s current incarnate officially succeeding Professor Ozpin.
Even if Oscar gains the knowledge to locate the Relic of Choice; he and the heroes would still need the hand of the Fall Maiden to open the vault. And as it stands, the Fall Maiden powers still rest with Cinder Fall who Emerald Sustrai was a former affiliate of and whom she shares a bond with; whether Cinder dares to admit it or not.
You see where I’m going with this?
Emerald becoming the Fall Maiden after Cinder has been a headcanon for her that I’ve been rooting for since the conclusion of V5. Based on how things are shaping up and what is required to move forward, I think Cinder’s final curtain call may be drawing near and what would actually be most fitting is if Emerald is the one to deal the killing blow to Cinder.
As a matter of fact, it would almost be symbolic if Emerald is the one of all characters to be the one to put a stop to Cinder---not only saving the others from her but also ironically saving Cinder from herself. Emerald killing Cinder would be an act of mercy from someone who genuinely loved Cinder and wanted nothing but the best for her. And why I love this idea is because it would be a fantastic parallel to the end of Cinder’s backstory in the Midnight episode.
In RWBY V8CH6, Cinder’s path and descent in her megalomaniac madness was forged the instant she killed Rhodes. Say what you will about him as a character; Rhodes cared deeply for Cinder…even up until the moment she cut him down with the very same weapon he gifted her.
So with that in mind, imagine how fitting of an ending it would be if Cinder died the very same way she was ‘born’, essentially.
You can pretty much say that the person we know Cinder Fall to be was born when she killed her former mentor and the one person in her life that actually genuinely cared about her at the time.
So…imagine the poetic irony that would be for Cinder Fall to now die---killed by the hands of her own former apprentice and the one person in her life who genuinely cared about her at the time---Emerald Sustrai.
Imagine if…Emerald kills Cinder and Cinder gets a strange sense of déjà vu because not only did her surprised expression at being killed by Emerald reflect the one Rhodes made to her the night he died but through Emerald, Cinder sees her former young self---the side of her she discarded when she chose her path that night.
Cinder began her path with the bloody end of a blade through the chest of someone close to her. So for Emerald to kill Cinder the same way---even better if it’s done with her very own weapon---then that would be…downright perfect as ending to Cinder’s arc.
Apologies to all the Cinder Fall fans reading this post. The CRWBY showrunners have had Cinder dance with death one too many times. I myself have honestly been curious about how Cinder’s story was going to end in the canon. While I still like my Red Queen headcanon for her, I would be okay with Cinder dying if Emerald was the one to kill her.
NOT Ruby. NOT Jaune. But Emerald. If there is one character who would be most fitting to be the one to put an end to Cinder Fall, it would be Emerald.
Killing Cinder, especially if it was done in protection and/or aid of the heroes, would be the final nail in Emerald’s own arc of “switching sides”.
As stated back between V6 and V8, Cinder was technically the one thing still tying Em to the side of evil as she once remarked that she was only on Salem’s side out of her loyalty to Cinder. Emerald already left Salem but Cinder still lives as an anchor to possibly tempt Em back to the side of evil. But if Em were to be the one to stop Cinder, then that cord would finally be cut thus cementing Emerald as being on the side of good---officially in respect to her story.
Emerald helping to save Oscar and return him to his allies on Monstra doesn’t make her a “good guy”. Emerald helping our heroes take down Ironwood, help Penny and save the refugees of Atlas and Mantle doesn’t even make her a “good guy” either.
But stopping Cinder Fall for good---to be the one to put her down and essentially save everyone from the monster she knew Cinder would ultimately become if not stopped--- that, to me, would be the move to officiate Emerald Sustrai as a “good guy”.
Even better if Cinder were to plant the tough choice right in Em’s face. Imagine if…Cinder puts Oscar’s life in danger and orders Em to be the one to kill Oscar for her; like the devoted pawn she always treats her as. Imagine if…Em is placed in a position where she is made to choose between her old loyalty to Cinder as a villain or her newfound loyalty to Oscar as a hero.
Just as how Cinder was Emerald’s anchor to the villains on Salem’s side, Oscar is technically now Emerald’s anchor to the heroes on Ozpin’s side. So if Cinder forces Em to kill Oscar but Em ends up killing Cinder instead to save Oscar for a second time----this would be it. This would be the deed that cements Emerald as formally giving up on Cinder and fighting for the side of good; at least in my humble opinion.
And the cherry on top would be that killing Cinder causes the Fall Maiden powers to go directly to Emerald and if Emerald becomes the Fall Maiden---the maiden tied to the vault and relic housed in the school that is tied to Professor Ozpin whose very successor is her closest ally on the hero team---I’d like to think this would be a perfect conclusion to Emerald’s “arc”. I think that could work epically.
This is why I’m rooting for Em to become the next Fall Maiden. This happening would definitely further cement the Emerald City dynamic since Oscar’s new “big sister” or rather “cousin” would be the maiden tied to “his” relic needed to open “his” vault hidden in “his” school.
(I think I’d rather refer to Emerald as Oscar’s adopted cousin since I low-key like the concept of Oscar taking Emerald back home with him to Mistral only for her to be adopted immediately by his family since Emerald was an orphan who grew up on the streets and never truly had a family of her own but ultimately finds one with the Pines who willingly take her in. It FITS; dagnabbit.)
My one gripe with Emerald City duo though is that I wished it had better build-up throughout the series run. I’d be lying if the fact that Emerald and Oscar barely had any interactions prior to V8 definitely hurts the believability of them suddenly being close now with Oscar willing to vouch for the good in Emerald…even though he literally just met her like yesterday according to the timeline.
I know it helps the meme of Emerald “only knowing Oscar for 24 hours and would be willing to kill anyone who dares to hurt him” but from a storytelling perspective, I really wish the development of this dynamic had been delivered better. I mean I’m happy that we finally got the payoff of Emerald and Oscar becoming friends and seeing Em joining the heroes thanks to her friendship with Oscar…but it’s like eating a delicious cheese burger without the cheese.
You get to see the beginning of it and the joyful payoff of the end but the middle part that was needed to make it fully work is non-existent and ends up hurting it in respect to consistency.
While I understand that Emerald helped to save Oscar’s life---that’s not really enough to sell his sudden faith in her. At least for me. Can’t speak for everyone else. Since, like I said, we barely got any scenes of Oscar and Em interacting before she showed up to help get him out of Monstra.
The ONLY thing that’s canonically helping sell Emerald City to me is the fact that Hazel was shown to care for and look out for Emerald’s wellbeing in the past and since Oscar spent more time with Hazel; by extension; custody of Em was transferred to Oscar/Oz the minute Hazel died…especially since, he was technically the one forced to kill him when he sacrificed himself to stop Salem.
I guess I just personally would’ve liked to have seen these two interact more over the seasons, particularly for V8 while Oscar was imprisoned.
Perhaps that chance will come now that Em is on the team working with ALPN. And it would probably work even better if Em becomes the Fall Maiden. But for now that’s mostly just speculation.
All in all, bottom line---as I’ll say again, this squiggle meister really likes Emerald City as another close friendship dynamic for Oscar and Em respectively and I’m looking forward to seeing how this dynamic develops over the next season.
I’m curious to see how much more Em and Oscar can help each other as friends especially since Oscar still has own inner demons with the Merge to deal with emotionally and I’m especially curious to see how Em would react to reuniting with Mercury in Vacuo now that she’s joined the heroes---even better if she’s now the Fall Maiden after killing Cinder.
That should be a fun development but we’ll see how that goes. In the meantime, hope this lengthy response answers your question, Sweet XD
~ LittleMissSquiggles (2021)
#squiggles answers: rwby#oscar pine#emerald sustrai#cinder fall#rwby volume 8 spoilers#rwby emerald city#rwby volume 8 theories#sweetgm2
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An Ozpin Rant
Hey guys, so lately I’ve seen a lot of posts that subscribe to a realm of thought that Ozpin is untrustworthy/ evil/ immoral/ secretive, anything along those lines and I feel that it just doesn’t do him justice so here I am. Now, the focus of this rant is going to be around this quote:
because I feel that this quote encompasses more about Ozpin’s character than anything else.
Lets start from the beginning.
Now, there’s a bunch of fan theories about Ozpin’s original self being the old King of Remnant and while they’re pretty cool and have their merits, I’m going to try and stick to what we know as stated in the canon, just for brevity’s sake. What we do know is, When Salem and her forces rose, and Ozpin went against her, he failed and was then cursed to a life of conscious reincarnation via parasitic relations with ‘like-minded’ souls.
Here alone I could make the point that purely judging from the fact that from what we’ve seen Ozpin is ‘like-minded’’ to the fluffiest people on the planet (the floofiest farm boy and the fluffiest kitten of a man ever) coupled with the fact that the series ‘root of all evil’ by name swore him as her nemesis, we can probably assume that he’s not inherently evil, but that’s not good enough for me. I don’t just want to prove that he’s not evil, I want to prove that he’s both a relatable character and an incredibly good one at that. Thus we continue.
Let’s talk about the story of the seasons, wherein we learn about how Ozpin (who has been confirmed to be the old man) was at some point left in such a state of depression that he holed himself away from the world and seemed to have just given up completely on succeeding in his task. This makes sense, I mean according to Ozpin he’s been stuck like this for thousands of years, it’d be pretty silly to think that at no point he may have lost faith in his ability to actually succeed in anything especially when he’d been going in at it alone.
The maidens, however much of the original story was true, gave him hope. They restored his faith that all was not yet lost and there were still reasons for him to fight, to get back up and rejoin the world he felt he’d failed. They effected him so deeply, so profoundly in fact that he wanted nothing more than for them to be able to bring this hope to the entire world, to the point that he gave up a massive amount of his finite magic in order for them to be able to.
Now, its impossible for us to know if Ozpin knew what would happen from this: maybe he’d assumed that the original maiden’s would have become immortal, maybe he knew that the power would be similar to him in nature as it had come from him, we don’t know. What we can guess, is that he may have not been in the most reasonable state of mind at the time (having just come out from a massive depressive episode) and while his intentions were undoubtedly good, the creations of the maidens themselves was probably a mistake, though a well-meaning and understandable one.
Fast forward to the birbs.
I’d like to preface this with the fact that I’m hoping we do get more information on what exactly went down for this to be a thing, but gauging from what we know, I don’t see where people can call Oz a bad person for it. To start off, the ability itself doesn’t seem to have any drawbacks that we’ve heard of. Raven didn’t actually have anything negative to say about it other than the fact that Ozpin did it, and seeing as she has a track record of shirking responsibilities in the favor of selfish gain (hi Yang) the simple fact that she ditched on Oz and Qrow can’t be construed as evidence for much of anything at this point. Also, according to Qrow, this was a consensual, undertaking. If anything, I’d say the biggest mistake that Oz made here was in trusting Raven to begin with when, at least from what we’ve seen, there were probably some warning signs he should have taken into consideration before essentially wasting his finite magic once again on someone that doesn’t ultimately want to help his cause (that being defeating the source of all evil).
The Fall of Beacon.
Hoo boy, there is a lot to unpack here.
First of all, lets talk about team RWBY’s search and destroy mission, mainly just because I love the little interaction of it. I loved that, in the face of the old trope of the main character having information that the authority figures would like, Ruby decides to place her trust in Ozpin and tell him about the secret base because in 98% of all shows, she wouldn’t have and good on Rooster Teeth for it. I loved that, in turn, Ozpin decides to trust her and her team and allow them to go on that very mission, even knowing that it may have been the smarter choice to send higher level huntsmen, he puts his trust in their abilities. While this may or may not have been a mistake (depending on who you look at how it went/ how it might have went otherwise) the fact of the matter is that Oz put faith in his students where they had placed faith in him and I am 100% in love with that interaction and never see it mentioned.
Next up: Ironwood. Trust was a huge theme in the Ironwood-Ozpin relationship in this volume. What it came down to was: James wanted Ozpin to trust him, and pretty much forced him to do so (via the council stuff, bringing his own little army ect.) while at the same time not placing that same amount of trust in him (as we can tell seeing as it was revealed Oz didn’t know about Penny). As we all know, this backfired majorly. James’ robotic army turned against them all, and due to Ozpin not knowing there was anything to be worried about with the Pyrrha / Penny fight it went on and we all know how that went.
Alright, its time, we’ve finally come to the Pyrrha in the room. First off, the maiden business. While I will definitely admit that their bandage-ripping tactic of explaining the situation wasn’t the best way to go about it, I think that given the circumstances Oz’s choice of nominating Pyrrha to be the fall maiden was probably the best he could have made. Pyrrha was intelligent, incredibly strong and mature for her age, and seeing as they were under a massive time constraint with Amber’s uncertain health and the looming threat at Beacon, I think its understandable that they felt the need to impress upon her the importance of the decision at hand. I would also like to remind everyone that this was a decision for her to make, and the details of it were given to her to the full extent of their knowledge on it, including how uncomfortable it made them feel as well. They didn’t sugar-coat this, they didn’t lie, they gave her the facts: that they were all in a shitty situation and yes, she could make a difference on it. While I do agree that this would undoubtedly put pressures on Pyrrha to say yes considering it was the obvious moral answer when they hadn’t given her many options, they also didn’t have many options here. It was just an overall shitty situation and when it came down to it, Ozpin was repeatedly asking her if she was sure about this decision, Ozpin hated having to put this on her.
There’s another part of this that I wanted to bring up though, because I never see it mentioned, ever. This is the fact that Jaune indirectly caused the deaths of Pyrrha, Ozpin and Amber.
Yup. We’re going there.
While Ozpin and Pyrrha were having their little moral dilemma over the soul conversion, Jaune was set the task of acting as look out and protector. Now, lets imagine what might have happened if Jaune had actually done this job. He would have spotted Cinder as she came into the vault and been able to provide a warning. Ozpin, who was shown to nearly hold his own against Cinder at full maiden status more than likely would have been able to engage on her and protect Amber. Pyrrha could have also joined this fight and the two (three if you count Jaune) of them could have more than likely beaten her sparky ass and prevented literally everything that was to follow. Instead, Jaune is too busy focusing on Pyrrha, which is understandable, but it doesn’t take away the fact that Ozpin trusted him to do a job, a simple one at that, and he not only failed him, but lead to his eventual death. And you know what? Even with that, even while Ozpin is the only person besides Jaune who knows this, he still expressed nothing but positivity to Jaune’s presence the next time he sees him, while in Oscar.
What I’m trying to say is, Ozpin makes mistakes. Ozpin makes a shit ton of mistakes, but they’re human mistakes. They’re well-meaning mistakes, and even while a large amount of the fandom and the characters in the show seem to think that he’s overly secretive and all that, I’d actually make the claim that the opposite is true, that he’s almost too trusting considering all that its done to him. At the end of the day, Oz is just so genuinely hopeful, so willing to believe in the best of people, and while he may make bad decisions, that doesn’t make him a bad person, it just makes him human.
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Why I Think Mercury Doesn’t Deserve a Redemption Arc.
Okay so I’m just going to cut right to the chase with this one. This has something that has been on my mind for the past few weeks and I feel like I need to share my thoughts on a certain idea. To put it simply, I don’t think that Mercury deserves a redemption arc… At least not right now.
Before I start, I just want to clear up a few things. Firstly, I’m not doing this because I, “hate Mercury.” On the contrary, I actually love Mercury as a character and as a villain. I just don’t think that he is deserving of a redemption arc, unlike a few other characters. Secondly, I am aware that maybe this could change in the future and maybe he could be set up for a redemption arc. If this did get properly set up, I’d be okay with it. As of right now though, I’m not a big fan of this idea. Thirdly, I’m going to split this up into three parts to explain why Mercury doesn’t deserve to be redeemed. If there are any errors in the post, I’ll go back and fix them later.
Now that that’s been cleared up, let’s dive right in.
Part 1: Redemption Arc Criteria.
Before we continue, I think that it’s important to look at the criteria that needs to be met in order to see whether or not a character deserves to be redeemed. For simplicity’s sake, I’ve narrowed this down to four points of criteria. Which includes:
The person acknowledges what they’ve done is wrong.
The person has shown some remorse for what they’ve done.
The person must show a willingness to change.
The person must be accepted as an ally by the protagonists.
Now that we have criteria established, let’s moved onto the next part of discussion...
Part 2: Does Mercury Fit The Criteria Above?
Next, let’s focus on whether or not Mercury does fit the criteria above in order to qualify for a redemption arc. Honestly, as of right now he doesn’t. Let’s take a look and see why that is by going over the first three points of criteria. The last one I’m saving for later.
Point 1: Has he acknowledged what he’s doing is wrong?
From what we’ve seen in canon so far, Mercury hasn’t really questioned his actions or acknowledged what he’s done is wrong. He seems to take some form of enjoyment in what he does.
Point 2: Has he shown remorse for what he’s done?
Mercury hasn’t shown any remorse for what he’s done so far. Just like how he enjoys what he does, he’s been shown that he takes pleasure in watching others suffer. It shows that he’s quite an apathetic person. A few examples include:
He’s clearly smiling at the fact that Ruby is crying over the loss of Penny, someone who was arguably a close friend of hers.
Alongside Cinder, he’s seen taking in the chaos of the Fall of Beacon with a smile on his face, while also filming it.
When looking out at the Grimm being born, Emerald goes from looking shocked to horrified. Meanwhile, Mercury goes from looking disgusted to slightly angry. I can see that Emerald might be questioning what she’s done at that point, but Mercury? Not so much. His facial expressions don’t do much to show that.
Point 3: Has he shown a willingness to change?
- As of right now, Mercury hasn’t shown a willingness to change his behavior or change as a person. It’s also worth noting that Mercury did have a choice. He didn’t have to follow Cinder and it’s not like she forced him to come with her either. He showed genuine interest in what Cinder had to offer. In RWBY volume 3 episode 7, he asked Cinder, “So what’s in it for me?” If he supposedly didn’t have a choice, then why would he ask that? Also while nothing is really keeping him there working for Cinder and Salem by extension, nothing is really keeping him from leaving either. He still seems perfectly content working as a henchmen for Cinder and Salem’s court respectively. There’s no willingness to change.
So from what I’ve shared up above, Mercury doesn’t really fit the criteria listed. There’s nothing being set up that hints that he wants to change or be redeemed.
Finally, we move onto...
Part 3: Let’s Entertain a Hypothetical Situation For a Moment.
This is where the last piece of redemption arc criteria will come into play. Let’s say for example, if Mercury is redeemed, therefore something must’ve happened to make him meet the first three criteria. Which leaves the last point, “The person must be accepted as an ally by the protagonists.” Let’s break this idea down.
He would have to meet with Team RWBY face to face at some point. I’m focusing on Team RWBY because I want to keep things simple.
Then there’s addressing that he would have to convince them that he’s not a double agent, that they can trust him and that he wants to help them.
But when you take what I’ve said so far and apply it to canon, this just isn’t feasible. When looking at Team RWBY, it would take a lot of convincing just for them to entertain the idea of Mercury working alongside them.
How each member of Team RWBY would react differs from person to person. For Ruby, he prevented her from getting to Penny in time before her tragic demise took place. For Weiss, her team is like family to her and she would do anything to protect them. She’d be pretty uneasy about allowing someone to work alongside them, knowing full well that they’re responsible for helping being the cause of pain for her teammates aka her family. For Blake, she’s been known to show signs of paranoia and would probably be in the same boat as Weiss. However, Mercury helped set up the Fall of Beacon which Adam was involved in and it brought back not only trauma, but also bringing back Adam as a present figure in her life again. Finally, for Yang, he took part in tarnishing her reputation. Like with what I said about Blake, about how he helped set up what happened at the Fall of Beacon, this also lead to Yang losing an arm and feeling hurt that someone she cared about so much ran away.
So, taking this all into account, how is Mercury going to go about this if he hasn’t shown examples of the criteria above?
Part 4: Conclusion.
What I’ve been trying to get at here, is that a redemption arc for Mercury just can’t happen with the way that he is right now. If a redemption arc was like building a house, Mercury’s would be one that lacks a foundation. Without a proper foundation or in this case a lack of proper buildup or hints, this house of redemption would be doomed to fall apart quickly.
How can people expect Mercury to be redeemed when he hasn’t acknowledged what he’s doing is wrong, shown any sort of remorse or a willingness to change? How can Team RWBY and their allies trust that Mercury wouldn’t betray them and believe what he’s saying? Why would they risk something like that? It just doesn’t make any sense in the grand scheme of things.
This is ultimately why as of right now, I believe that Mercury doesn’t deserve a redemption arc.
I’d like to just end this off by thanking those that took the time to read my analysis and what I had to say. It means a lot to me! I’d also like to thank those that helped me work on this post, I really appreciated the help! If you have any comments or questions, my ask box is always open!
#meg rambles#megnalysis#rwde#rwby#tagging rwde just in case#hopefully I got my point across well#this has been on my mind for a bit#and I just had to say something#again I do love mercury black as a character#I just don't believe that he deserves to be redeemed rn
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if you wanted to have ruby and weiss get together in the RWBY proper, how would you rewrite seasons 1-3?
This is a pretty big question, so I’ll try to answer as succinctly as possible.
In Volume I, we see Ruby and Weiss butting heads, the primary result of the age gap between the two. Despite their victory in the Emerald Forest, Weiss’ scathing attitude towards Ruby continues as the latter is unexpectedly named team leader. This is great conflict. On one hand, we see Weiss Schnee, a classically trained huntress who is perfect on paper. On the other hand however, we see the wildcard that is Ruby Rose, a girl who jumped two whole years from Signal to Beacon—all because of her uncle’s training. In a nut shell, it’s Weiss’ skill vs. Ruby’s talent.
Practically a gold mine of possible character development for both characters, especially with the show’s overall emphasis on the importance of Ruby’s “soul,” any significant conflict between Ruby and Weiss are then dropped after a simple pep-talk with Professor Port…after one day of class. To have better developed these characters’ initial reluctance to work with each other into genuine camaraderie, opening the pathway to a possible romance, I would have rewritten Weiss’ acceptance of Ruby to be gradual and not instant. They would continue to interact throughout the rest of the volume, occasionally encountering more bumps such as the reveal of Weiss’ blatant racism towards Faunus and her distrust in Blake. To make room for this, plenty of Jaune’s arc would be trimmed, or scrapped entirely.
In Volume II, an entire semester has passed, and team RWBY is enjoying the last few days of their break before classes return. Weiss has grown to tolerate Ruby, not in a negative way, but in a sort of endearing way. This is nice, but we the viewers saw next to nothing to accommodate that change in behavior. As the story now begins to take a darker turn, as shown by Tuckson’s murder at the beginning of the first episode, Ruby and Weiss need to rely on each other as partners and friends more than ever.
I would have held off on introducing Neptune entirely until Volume III where the rest of team SSSN arrives at Beacon. Sun would still be around, but not actively participating in Team RWBY’s hunt for Roman. Once again, I would also heavily trim down on the unimportant love triangle between Jaune, Weiss, and Pyrrha. By doing so, this would hopefully free some time to move Ruby’s interaction with Penny later in the story, but not before she ventures out with her team for their first official assignment. This is because her dialogue with Penny shows great character development on her side, and shouldn’t be scrapped. But by doing this, Ruby would have nothing to interrupt her, so she could go along with Weiss to the CCT tower as originally planned. Ruby would then get a closer glimpse of Weiss’ family life, which the heiress rarely spoke of, and offer words of reassurance—subsequently strengthening their bond and respect for each other.
In Volume III, it’s very clear to Ruby and Weiss that their time at Beacon Academy is becoming something very different than what they had first imagined. It’s no longer about going to class, but finding themselves caught in a conspiracy that has threads to and from Beacon/Vale. By now, their interactions should reflect how far their relationship has deepened.
Now this volume is pretty solid in my personal opinion. I wouldn’t change much, but for the sake of further crafting the budding romance between Ruby and Weiss, I believe some of their dialogue could be tweaked. For example, when team RWBY advances to the second round of the Vytal Festival Tournament and must pick two members to represent them, I felt like there should have been a short but important scene of the team discussing who should advance and who should not. Perhaps Weiss finds herself wanting to advance, but becomes complacent with the idea of Ruby and Yang advancing instead. But to her surprise, Ruby is active in her decision to nominate Weiss and Yang, as opposed to the canon scene where it was Weiss who led the conversation with Emerald in revealing which two members would advance. Also after Weiss/Yang’s victory over Flynt/Neon, Ruby could have been more jubilant in her excitement, especially praising Weiss for her gutsy and ‘unlady-like’ attempt to knock out Flynt. This could have made Weiss feel extremely validated and proud to have received such high praise from her partner and leader.
All in all, I believe a lot could have been changed in order to bring Ruby and Weiss’ developing relationship to the forefront of the show, but unfortunately, that’s just not the case. I hope that this was a little insightful!
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