#stormmodblog

[aspoonofsugar]

Hey Spoon, as someone with highly detailed, well-thought-out metas about RWBY, I would like to ask for your thoughts about two recent trends I have seen about Volume 9. Specifically, about Ruby and her breakdown.

First, there seems to be discussion about Ruby being a huntress as a bad thing? That the hunter system is toxic because it put Ruby in this situation in the first place, with a burden and stress on her shoulders? I don't agree, especially when WBY all triumphantly stated they were Huntress' to their past selves.

Second of all, people seem to have it out for the pep talks that Ruby has been given over the series? That the support and encouragement that Ruby has received over the series has done nothing but make her want to hide her trauma and bottle up her emotions, because people gave her pep talks, instead of directly saying 'Yeah its fine to feel bad'? Like, some of the comments they make is intriguing. Such as Ozpin's statement to Ruby - and from her to Jaune - about how a leader must always be their best self and put their teammates first basically, leading to them eventually breaking down as they are...

But its a bit unfair to say that every attempt to support and encourage Ruby over the show up until this point was worthless and meaningless, isn't it?

Note: I wrote half of this answer before episode 8. I honestly think this still all applies, so I have not changed it. Still, consider I am not discussing that much what happens there. That will have its own meta.

Hi!

Personally, I agree with your thoughts. I understand these takes and tbh I think several people are expressing them in different ways, framings and degrees.

That said, in this answer I am gonna consider them in their most extreme and simplistic form :)

Before I address them, though, here comes a short introduction on character arcs. Skip it if you already know these ideas.

CHARACTER ARCS AND THEME

There are different ways to discuss characters and their arcs. Here I am looking at them specifically from a narrative lens by using theme to classify and analyze them.

Many of these ideas come from @septembercfawkes great posts. Here they are if you wanna read more on the topic:

In short, there are 2 types of character arcs:

The character makes a 180 degree change when it comes to the theme > change arc

The character doesn't change idea about the theme > steadfast arc

If the theme the character believes in by the end of the story is the narrative truth, then the arc is positive, while if it isn't then it's negative.

Some examples:

Ilia starts the story by believing violence is the only way for Faunus to gain freedom, but ends her personal arc by learning this isn't true. "Hate is not the answer". > This is the theme the story supports hence Ilia went through a positive change arc.

Adam starts the story by believing the violence done to him justifies his own violence on others. Blake keeps telling him this is wrong and gives him the chance to change. He refuses and keeps believing the false thematic statement. This is why he is defeated by Blake and Yang, who know trauma and violence do not define who you are (the true thematic statement). > Adam is a steadfast negative character.

Ironwood starts the Atlas Arc by wanting to trust (true thematic statement), but he ends it by giving in to control (false thematic statement). Similarly, he has a good heart and believes in humans, but by the end he refuses his own humanity. > He goes through a negative change arc

Pyrrha starts the story by believing destiny is one's final goal. She thinks hers is to become a hero. She ends her personal arc by dying a hero and choosing her own destiny. > The thematic statement she believes in is the one the story supports hence Pyrrha is a positive steadfast character.

This is the short version >

If you believe something false in the beginning, you have a positive arc only if you change.

If you believe something true in the beginning, you have a positive arc if you hold on to that truth.

This means the narrative is gonna challenge the change characters and steadfast characters in opposite ways:

If you need to change, the story is gonna test you to see if you can change and will punish you, if you don't

If you need to be steadfast, the story is gonna test you to see if you can keep believing into something even when everything goes wrong

Now, guess which kind of character Ruby is?

RUBY IS A STEADFAST CHARACTER

Ruby believes the true thematic statement since the beginning:

"The world can be dark, but there is beauty in it and people should fight to protect it and make it better"

I don't think there is any doubt about this being true in the show. After all, the other MCs grow positively by starting to embrace this viewpoint.

What about Ruby, then?

She is steadfast, so for her the challenge is to keep believing in it even when everything goes wrong. Like at Beacon. Like in Atlas.

But wait! Ruby's viewpoint is flawed and she is breaking because of her unhealthy coping mechanism!

Yes, but this doesn't mean she isn't steadfast. Steadfast characters actually do grow a lot. Sometimes even moreso than change arc characters.

Do you remember Simba from the Liong King? Well, he is a steadfast character.

The Lion King's main theme is the Circle of Life > everyone has a role to play in this cycle

Simba believes this in the beginning and can't wait to be king!

Simba believes Mufasa is dead because of him, so he runs away and gives up the theme. He starts living with Timon and Pumba, 2 outcasts and he even eats insects (aka goes against nature) > he stops believing in the Circle of Life

Nala, Rafiki and Mufasa's ghost remind Simba of his role, so Simba starts believing in the true theme again

Simba defeats Scar and becomes King taking his place in the Circle of Life

As you can see, Simba grows a lot, but he is still steadfast because he knows the true theme since the beginning. It is just that he loses sight of it and needs to re-learn it.

This isn't all, though. What Simba does is more than just remember the theme. By the end he acquires a stronger understanding of it. This is because of 2 reasons:

He adheres to it despite all the obstacles, which makes the theme stronger and deeper.

He has a change arc when it comes to a secondary theme > responsibility.

Simba is initially irresponsible, but by the end he becomes responsible. This secondary theme feeds the main one > Simba's role in the Circle of Life is to be King, but this doesn't mean he will be able to do whatever he wants. Quite the opposite, being King means you have responsibilities. Simba learns this and so he gets to understand the Circle and his role in it better.

Well, something similar is going to happen with our Little Red Riding Hood.

BEING A HUNTRESS

Ruby used to be the embodyment of a Huntress:

Yang: I'm not like Ruby, she's always wanted to be a Huntress. It's like she said, ever since she was a kid, she'd dreamt about being the heroes in the books. Helping people and saving the day, and never asking for anything else in return.

Still, she has right now forgotten what being a Huntress means:

Ruby: Fight… monsters, I guess? I’m sorry, I don’t understand why this matters.

Being a Huntress means to help others, but Ruby answers Herb confusely and mentions "killing monsters" instead. Now, it is not that Ruby doesn't know what being a true Huntress means, but rather it is she has forgotten it.

Why is that so?

It is because the Shadows have slowly been eating at her to the point she can't ignore them anymore. All the stress, the horrors and the grief Ruby has been repressing have engulfed her. She literally can't see anything else anymore. She is so focused on Salem, on how monstruous and scary she is, she can't really see the witch is just a person. Not only that, she is forgetting that the point isn't to destroy Salem, but rather to protect lives:

Blake: Huntresses are heroes. We protect those who can’t protect themselves.

If she stays in the shadows she is gonna turn like Ozpin, like Ironwood and like Salem herself (symbolically). Still, how can she come out?

I think that when it comes to Ruby, she has to learn a secondary theme:

Maria: Interesting… Perhaps there was something that you just weren't seeing?

SILVER EYES - IDEALISM AND EMPATHY

Ruby's main attribute is her Silver Eyes, which are metaphors for themes and inner attributes. So far, I think the Silver Eyes mean 2 things:

Idealism > Ever heard of Wide Eyed Idealists? Yep, those are the Silver Eyed Warriors in a nutshell. The way the eyes work is literally that they reflect the light of the world (like the Moon mirrors the Sun). The SEW can use them only if they believe life is beautiful and worth protecting. This is why the way things are now Ruby is gonna have a hard time using them again.

Empathy > Ever heard of looking at the world through shades of gray? Maybe shades of silver is more accurate here :P But yeah, the Silver Eyes are probably gonna reveal new power and strength once the theme of empathy is gonna be explored more. After all, what does it mean to see the light in the darkness, if not to look at the most monstruous people and realize they are well... people? Isn't it like seeing the person (light) behind the monster (darkness)?

Let's highlight idealism and empathy are 2 secondary themes linked to Atlas (Creation > the Shallow Sea) and Vacuo (Destruction > the Judgement of the Faunus).

Atlas explores trust, which is a declination of faith (Trust Love)

Vacuo is set up to explore empathy - Shade references the shadow, Coco needs to take off her shades to see others properly and Vacuan students throws shades at the Beacon/Haven newcomers

What does it mean for Ruby?

Ruby has been using her eyes by relying on her child-like optimism and hopeful self. Still, this mechanism can't keep on working forever. It is too psychological vexing and simplistic. I honestly think the way forward for her is to develop a new found idealism, which is more rooted into a more mature empathy.

You don't need to ignore the shadows to see the light. Rather, the light found in shadows is brighter than ever.

This is the secondary theme Ruby needs to learn in order to gain a deeper understanding on the main one she already knows, but has forgotten. This is where she needs to go if she wants to re-affirm the main theme.

OTHERS HELPING RUBY

Well, I think the topic is already addressed this last episode:

Weiss: Maybe she didn't feel like she could... Ruby has always been the one to get us through the hard times. We say things like "We believe in you!" "We can count on you!" I know we mean well, but..."

I don't think what Weiss says in the episode means all the encouragement they have offered Ruby was wrong to begin with tbh. It is just that the right words for a specific situation might be wrong for another.

Ruby has been helped and loved by her teammates. Weiss's encouragement helped her becoming a good leader. Yang's love supported her. Blake and Jaune's admiration and loyalty helped her push through in difficult times. It is just that the Ruby right now doesn't need it anymore.

Her own coping mechanism is not functional anymore, which means she needs to develop another one and others need to realize it.

Which leads us to some generic thoughts on coping mechanisms...

COPING MECHANISMS

Coping mechanisms are neither good nor bad really. They are simply mechanisms we come up with in order to survive and push through. They can be functional or dysfunctional. Even better... they can be functional for a while and then they can start not fitting anymore.

RWBY as a story makes full use of this to the point characters' main flaws turn out to be their major strengths and vice versa. This is pretty well conveyed through semblances:

Weiss's semblance initially represents her dependance on her family name. As she grows, though, it becomes symbolic of her own individuality:

And right now, she has discovered a new found strength in her family (team RWBY plus her siblings). The idea that Weiss's strength comes from her bonds with others was never wrong, but initially it is applied in a dysfunctional way. As she grows, she gains a deeper understanding of this part of herself and she gets to shine.

2 Blake's semblance represents her tendency to tun away. Still, as she grows, she realizes that it also represents her ability not to break despite the abuse and the violence:

Not only that, but even her own coping mechanism to run away from an abuser is re-framed. She did the right thing by running away from Adam... it is just she should not let this tendency of hers to control her life completely. Sometimes running is fine, while other times it is better to stand your ground and fight.

3 Yang's semblance represents her tendency to use her losses, her wounds and defeats to grow stronger. It also represents her recklessness and her self-sacrificial tendencies. This is why its use is toned down, as she grows. In exchange, she gains a better understanding of what growing up despite one's losses means:

Yang: No. My losses, my failures. Those more than anything are what have shaped me into who I am, showed me how I need to grow.

It is also probable we will see this new-found wisdom reflected into her semblance eventually:

Ruby is the same... it is just we see her strengths rather than her flaws initially:

She is fast, so fast she even skips grades. She is smart and a quick-thinker.

She is flexible and resourceful and pushes through obstacles.

She is a leader able to carry everyone else...

And yet, she is also running away from her feelings...

And she is also spreading herself too thin for others...

Until she can't anymore...

Ruby, like everybody, is a mix of positive and negative traits. Not only that, but her most positive traits are her flaws and her weakness is her strengths.

She needs to do what the others have done with her help. She needs to gain a deeper understanding of herself and of who she wants to become. Only in this way she can re-affirm herself with a deeper awareness, so not to break down again.

#rwby #ruby rose #rwby spoilers #rwby volume 9 #asksfullofsugar #stormmodblog

[strqyr]

I seriously have to ask. Why on earth are you so determined to push the idea that somehow the ENTIRE HUNTER SYSTEM is toxic and painful and it needs to be thrown in the bin. When not only is Ruby's circumstances far more unique than those your typical hunter would typically face. But we have the vast majority of the main cast affirm that yes, they ARE Hunters, in an epic scene of awesome character development?

I get that Ruby is not in an okay place at the moment. She has trauma from Beacon and Altas that is not fully addressed. And her teammates have not reached out to support her in Volume 9 until her outburst (partly due to bad timing. Because holy shit did her backing away from Crescent Rose send alarms ringing in everyone's heads). But blaming the entire Hunter system as toxic and needing to be removed feels very, 'throwing out the baby with the bathwater', you know?

the system currently in place is a post-war concept. it is, at most, 80 years old. we know the world managed to do just fine without it, as before the war kingdoms were expanding and finding new grounds to settle. as a systemic group huntsmen and huntresses aren't needed: the main reason for the academies to exist is to defend the relics hidden in vaults within them, putting a huge target on them that the students meant to defend them don't even know about. same students who usually start training to kill monsters (and potentially other people as well, since that can be part of the job) at the age of 13. that's a child.

we're talking about a system that is basically churning out child soldiers. there's no reason why they need to graduate at the age of 21 instead of starting to train at that age.

we're talking about a system that has no way to actually keep track of all of huntsmen and huntresses to ensure that they aren't abusing their power. these are people who have trained in combat, who have unlocked their aura for extra protection, who can have special powers in form of semblances. these are people who have the power to arrest others. the power imbalance between a regular citizen and a huntsman is absurd. they are super-powered mercenaries who are also cops and if the one you've trusted your life with decides being a decent person doesn't pay enough or doesn't bring them enough joy anymore or whatever, there's not much a regular citizen can do against them alone.

and we have seen them abuse their power already. this is not a what if? this is a holy shit this is already happening. raven has been the bandit queen of anima for almost 20 years, people are terrified of her, and qrow only cared to amass a group to go deal with the tribe when he found out the spring maiden is there. how is this not a problem?

my point is nothing in the show is actually selling me the idea that the huntsmen system is necessary. just because there are few good eggs doesn't mean the rest isn't rotten, that there aren't issues that need to be fixed.

there will always be heroes, people willing to defend those who need help. but they don't need to have a title of a huntsman or a huntress to do so—clearly, since humanity was doing just fine before the war without the academies. and a town or a family should not be required to have enough money to pay for someone to protect them or else trust a goodwill of a stranger to care about them enough to help without a payment (especially when there's a lot of 'looking the other way, this doesn't concern me' going on).

the system isn't bad just because someone came out of it mental health problems—tho obviously that's bad too and should be reason enough to investigate what went wrong and how it can be prevented in the future—it's bad because from the viewpoint of a Regular Joe who needs a huntsman now, you either have enough money to hire a huntsman—and then hope the one you get not only arrives in time but is also actually a decent person—or you're fucked.

#rwby #rwby9 #rwby spoilers #stormmodblog #ask.strqyr #i mean i could go on and on #but that's the gist of it

[startistdoodles]

Wait, what's this about beating a god of time or a god of space with your bare hands?

The part where you fistfight Palkia and Dialga was my favorite part of legends.

#im just goofing around haha #im assuming this is about the post from earlier #the asker was just being silly ^^ #no hands were thrown during PLA...to my knowledge #ask #not art #stormmodblog

[mewtwoandme]

You know, personally, I don't think Mewtwo has any reason to be ashamed of his scars. If anything, he should be proud. They are a mark of love and sacrifice. A reflection on what he is willing to do to protect those he loves. He may not seek out injury or pain, but he is willing to accept it for those he loves. Is that not something to bare with pride?

He wouldn't really be ashamed of his scars, it'll just be something he has a hard time getting used to. It'll definitely play on his self-conscious and suppressed feelings about his appearance will probably pop back up. Other than that it isn't something he wouldn't bounce back from. Cause yeah, he'd see it exactly as you've said, and wear it as a badge of honor.

#answered ask #stormmodblog

[ask-october-fox]

Just thought I should let you know that I've been taking a break from tumblr for a while, and wasn't sure if I should come back or not. Then I remembered that it was October, which meant you were back, and I had to come back!

And thats ok! Sometimes its good to take a break from social sites, and you know.. sometimes we just move on from them. I am glad to know that you decided to return even if it was just for this month (the best month, after all!)

#quick reply #stormmodblog

[katiek101]

I'm afraid your stories and snippets are just making me ship Stormfur/Tawnypelt instead of the actual Stormfur/Hawkfrost couple.

Writing them makes me ship them too, so that's fine by me.

In all seriousness, Stormfur can have crushes outside of Hawkfrost, especially when they're miles and miles apart, but I do think it's funny that if Stormfur is developing feelings for anyone on this quest it's Tawnypelt rather than Brambleclaw, who is clearly crushing hard on Stormfur.

#stormmodblog #Stormfur #Tawnypelt

[bunjywunjy]

So wait, WOULD the magnetic poles switching, which is a thing that does actually happen, if at a rate of millions of years, be a potentially lethal event, as it might weaken the earth's magnetic shield? Or is that all writer BS?

fun fact: it’s not just GOING to happen, the earth’s magnetic polarity flip is already underway! 

better fun fact: this is business as usual and probably won’t kill anyone. worst that could happen is we need to replace a WHOLE bunch of communications satellites. 

(whatever, it’s not like the cable companies can’t afford it.)

so the thing is that earth’s magnetic field isn’t fully stable, due to the core that generates it being partially liquid! every few hundred thousand years or so, enough liquid iron sloshes around in the core to flip the field and swap magnetic north with magnetic south, like turning a fridge magnet upside down. 

but the OTHER thing is, this flip doesn’t happen all at once, or even in a single human lifetime! the flip can take 1,000 to 10,000 years to fully complete, so it’s not like you’ll wake up one day with all your electronic devices shorted out.

the part that scientists are actually concerned about is, as you say, that earth’s magnetic field weakens significantly during the flip, meaning the cosmic radiation gets closer to the earth’s surface than it should! this in turn means that anything in high-to-medium earth orbit gets a greatly increased dose of cosmic radiation, meaning that satellite burnout is a real concern, but nothing is going to spontaneously combust!

skin cancer rates will probably skyrocket, though.

WHEN IN DOUBT, GET IT CHECKED OUT!

so yeah, it’s happening! but it’s happening very slowly, and probably the worst that happens is that humans have to adjust their GPS calculations to account for a fucked-up magnetic pole at some point and satellites will need to be replaced more often or made impervious to radiation somehow. 

oh, and your children and their children and their children’s-children’s children might have to use more sunscreen and stay out of the sun more for the next 10,000 years or so. so no biggie!

#cursed biology #space #stormmodblog

[mallowstep]

Why do you say Warriors is a Soap Opera?

a soap opera is a long running serial where the loose ends are never all tied up, characters rotate in importance (but are typically all tied in a complicated web), generally produce staggering amounts of content (such as a new episode every day/weekday), and is full of melodrama.

or, warriors.

#mine #stormmodblog #ask #i've watched a lot of soaps #warriors fits right in

[gffa]

Where does the 'Hero with No Fear', 'The Negotiator' and 'The Team' actually come from by the way? A lot of people in the fandom use them, but I don't know where they came from?

They come from the Revenge of the Sith novelization! The Hero With No Fear:

     This is Anakin Skywalker:      The most powerful Jedi of his generation. Perhaps of any generation. The fastest. The strongest. An unbeatable pilot. An unstoppable warrior. On the ground, in the air or sea or space, there is no one even close. He has not just power, not just skill, but dash: that rare, invaluable combination of boldness and grace.      He is the best there is at what he does. The best there has ever been. And he knows it.      HoloNet features call him the Hero With No Fear. And why not? What should he be afraid of?      Except-Fear lives inside him anyway, chewing away the firewalls around his heart. (ROTS Novelization by Matthew Stover)

The Negotiator:

     "Masters, Masters, please," Obi-Wan said. He looked from one to the other and inclined his head respectfully. "Perhaps there is a middle way."      "Ah, of course: Kenobi the Negotiator." Mace Windu settled back into his seating pod. "I should have guessed. That is why you asked for this meeting, isn't it? To mediate our differences. If you can." (ROTS Novelization by Matthew Stover)

And, of course, Grievous says it to Obi-Wan in the original script as well, 

“Ah yes, the Negotiator.” 

Also, it’s in the junior novelization of ROTS as well:

     But when he looked back, Anakin was standing on a worker droid, coming up fast. “Your combat skills have always been poor,” he taunted. “You’re called the Negotiator because you can’t fight!” (ROTS Junior Novelization by Patricia Wrede)

I believe it also made its way into Ultimate Star Wars and probably some other books along the way.

The Team:

     Whether Obi-Wan's legendary cleverness might beat Anakin's raw power, straight up, no rules, is the subject of schoolyard fist-fights, creche-pool wriggle-matches, and pod-chamber stinkwars across the Republic. These struggles always end, somehow, with the combatants on both sides admitting that it doesn't matter.      Anakin and Obi-Wan would never fight each other.      They couldn't.      They're a team. They're the team.      And both of them are sure they always will be. (ROTS Novelization by Matthew Stover)

So, they’re no longer canon (except for The Negotiator via Ultimate Star Wars), but people love them a lot, so they still use them!

#obi wan kenobi #anakin skywalker #meta #stormmodblog

[aspoonofsugar]

Say question, do you have a post talking about Wizard of Od allusions in RWBY? Some are pretty obvious, such as the Tinman, Ironheart, rejecting his hummanity/heart, and Leo Lionheart being the cowardly lion. But do you have a detailed breakdown about Gylinda, Qrow and Ozpin in regards to their allusions?

And is Ruby Dorothy as well as Little Red Ridding Hood? Or is there no Dorothy?

Hi!

I have never written a whole meta dedicated to The Wizard of Oz in RWBY, but I think there are some pieces here and there.

Anyway, I don't know the story super well, so I am rather sure I am missing several details. That said, here are some thoughts on the Wizard of Oz Allusion in RWBY.

First of all, this allusion works on two different levels:

It interests the World of Remnant

It interests individual characters

WORLD ALLUSION

The world of Remnant has become the Kingdom of Oz, not because it is based uniquely on this narrative world, but rather because it is the fruit of an endless conflict between The Wizard of Oz and the Evil Witch of the West.

Ozpin and Salem's feud has been defining the world for centuries, so their allusion has ended up permeating all of Remnant.

By this, I mean that the entirety of Remnant is ruled by "Wizard of Oz"'s characters:

Ozpin is the Wizard of Oz > Beacon

Leo is the Cowardly Lion > Mistral

Ironwood is the Tin Man > Atlas

Theodore is Dorothy > Vacuo

Moreover, we have Qrow (the Scarecrow) and Glynda (The Good Witch of the North) as Oz's henchmen. Do you see the pattern? The most influencial people in Remnant are all linked to Oz and all reference characters of his fairy tale. All together they are the crew chosen by the Wizard to defeat the Evil Witch of the West.

In short, Oz allusion has "conquered the world" because Ozpin and Salem are too intertwined with the history of Remnant (they basically made it).

However, this doesn't meant RWBY is a re-telling of the Oz's books. It references them, sure, but RWBY's narrative universe is wider, as we saw this volume.

In volume 8, the characters step away from the yellow brick road and enter a brand new world:

The Ever After, aka Wonderland. A completely different setting for a completely different story. A story, which is really not defined by Salem and Ozma, but rather by Alyx and Lewis.

Meta-narratively, the characters leave Ozma and Ozpin's story for a while and enter into Alyx's adventure. This is also why the main plot is on break this season.

OZ CHARACTERS: OLD GENERATION VS NEW GENERATION

As mentioned above, Ozpin's crew all allude to Oz's characters. Still, they are actually inversions of their literary counterparts. To be specific, they fail, where their characters succeed:

The Cowardly Lion wants courage, but Lionheart betrays Ozpin and sides with Salem out of fear. He gives up his bravery.

The Scarecrow wants a brain, but Qrow decides to blindly follow Oz without asking himself any question about him. He gives thinking for himself.

The Tin-Man wants a heart, but Ironwood chooses to lose his hunamity to become a machine. He gives up his feelings.

It is too soon to comment on Theodore's allusion on Dorothy, but he will probably be an inversion too.

What is sure is that Ozpin's crew is made of adults that have been traumatized and corrupted by the long war they have been fighting. This is where the new generation comes in.

Blake, Yang and Weiss allude to Dorothy's three friends:

Blake is the Cowardly Lion - she starts the story as a "scaredy-cat", but learns to conquer her fears and stops running away

Yang is the Scarecrow - she starts the story as a "himbo", but she grows smarter and wiser

Weiss is the Tin-Man - she starts the story as an "ice-queen", but she grows warmer and kinder

Notice that "bravery", "heart" and "brain" fit the body, heart and mind archetypes, which are very easily found in stories. This is why the fandom is able to apply these three allusions rather easily in the series. Basically, any character is either mind or heart :P (see, you can also see Blake as the mind to Yang's heart).

So, why do I say BYW allude to these specific characters? They do because of 2 reasons:

Some motifs they have confirm this

They all foil their respective older counterpart when it comes to their overal story-line and flaw

Blake and Lionheart

Blake is a scaredy-cat, while Lionheart is supposedly the Cowardly Lion. Both are Faunus in a position of power. Blake is the daughter of the Chief of Managerie, while Leo is the Headmaster of Haven. So, both are in a position where they can change things for the Faunus. Still, they both are afraid.

Blake is scared of Adam and this is why she leaves her group of friends and goes back home, where she thinks she will be safe. She temporally runs away from the main battle, seeking refuge in an island, which is peaceful, but also a prison.

Lionheart is scared of Salem, so he chooses to switch sides in an attempt to survive. He runs away from the battle metaphorically and later on he does so even physically, as his last action is to escape leaving EM and Hazel on their own.

In the end, though, Blake comes back and decides to fight for what is right. Lionheart instead doesn't and is punished with death. Blake is a scaredy cat, but she is also braver than everyone else. Lionheart is a lion, but he is a coward.

Blake and Lionheart's foiling is ultimately about what they do and don't do for the Faunus, especially. After all, Lionheart was supposedly put in charge of Mistral because a Faunus as an authority figure seemed like the best option to overcome racism in the Kingdom. And yet, Blake's actions in Mistral do more good for that than anything Lioheart has ever done.

Yang and Qrow

Yang and Qrow's foiling is about their relationship with Raven and Oz, really.

Qrow trusts Ozpin blindly and doesn't mind Raven's doubts or reservations. He refuses Raven's philosophy of asking the right questions:

Raven: Now you're catching on. So far you've done nothing but accept what others tell you, (puts her cup down) but you need to question everything.

Yang instead does integrate this part in her and starts asking questions of both Raven and Ozpin, aka her two main authority figures. This leads her to become wiser:

Yang: No, I'm starting to ask questions like you said. So tell me… what happened to the last Spring Maiden? Did she die in battle? Was it sickness?

When the truth about Ozpin comes out, Qrow and Yang are among the most disturbed by it because they are both triggered. Qrow dedicated his whole life to a man, who was never honest with him. Yang instead gets angry at another authority figure "running away". However, Yang has grown enough to withstand the setback, while Qrow is undone.

In short, Yang and Qrow's foiling is really about demanding the truth from the people they are following and learning to think with their own heads. It is about accepting the complexity of the world and to carve their own paths. Without letting others lead them around.

As an additional note, Yang fits the Scarecrow symbolism for a very heartbreaking reason. Scarecrows are meant to scare ravens and crows and the Oz character initially can't fulfill this purpose. The birds tell him he is too stupid to really scare them. So, the Scarecrow wants to become smarter.

Well, Yang does become smarter, but her wisdom is so keen it drives a cowardly bird away:

Weiss and Ironwood

Weiss and Ironwood are both Atlas elite, who learnt to suppress their feelings in order to meet the impossible expectations of their society.

They have the same problem: mind and heart contradict each other. It is just that Weiss chooses to follow her heart and becomes one:

I'm shattering the mirror that kept me split in pieces That stood between my mind and my heart This is where I'll start

Ironwood instead chooses to negate his hear and becomes no-one:

What if it’s true as they say That I don’t have a heart That I'm more a machine than a man? What would that change? Would it matter at all? I've made my plan Hearts and minds may not agree Emotions topple strategy

This juxtaposition is well conveyed through their shared Tin-Man motif...

Weiss's Tin Man is a proud Knight:

Ironwood's Tin Man is a mindless robot:

Let's highlight the first time Weiss summons her Knight is after all in juxtaposition to a hacked Paladin, which is used to attack people, rather than to protect them. So, we have our Brave Knight vs a Mindles Robot.

Other than them, there is another old vd new generation foiling going on (obviously):

Ozpin/Oscar where Ozpin is the old generation wizard, who gave up on trust, while Oscar is the new generation wizard who keeps having faith no matter what.

Their foiling is explored also through their allusions:

Ozpin alludes to the wizard of Oz > an impostor who acts as an almightly being

Oscar alludes to princess Ozma/Top > the true Queen of Oz

Ironically, Ozpin's real name is Ozma, while Oscar's name is the one of the Wizard. So, they are like... criss-crossed.

Oscar's introduction happening after Beacon also makes sense because... in the books the first novel focuses on the Wizard of Oz and Dorothy, while Ozma is introduced only in a later book. So, the moment our wizard (Ozpin) is death, our Princess Ozma (Oscar) is introduced. Other then this, Oscar's developing bond with Emerald may allude to the Emerald City aka the Town ruled by the Wizard where everyone wears green-glasses, which make everything appears as green.

Now then, what about Dorothy?

TWO DOROTHIES

Apart from Theodore (the titular Dorothy), I think there are 2 other characters that fit the description:

Both Ruby and Oscar allude to Dorothy in different ways:

Oscar lives in a farm with his aunt before going on an adventure and during his journey, he gains a pair of red boots. If you follow this reasoning, then you can headcanon JNR as another trio that loosely fits the Cowardly Lion (Jaune maybe), the Scarecrow (Nora) and the Tin Man (Ren). Still, I think they fit less.

Ruby is noticed by the titular Wizard of Oz because of her silver eyes, whereas Dorothy's slippers are silver in the books. She leaves for a journey in order to fix a world the Wizard is unable to fix

Not only that, but RWBY's main-plot loosely follows that of the classical Oz story. Ruby meets the Wizard and is given the mission to defeat the Evil Witch of the West with 3 friends (each lacking something). During her journeys she meets Oscar (Ozma). Moreover, the reason why the Evil Witch of the West is interested in her is her silver eyes. An ability that emerges when Ruby uses it against Cinder aka a younger version of the Witch herself. In the classical Oz story, Dorothy's arrival in Oz kills another less powerful evil witch and she takes the slippers as a result. Here, Ruby uses her eyes on Cinder and then she is targeted by Salem.

Notice also that Ruby's volume 4 short has her fighting this:

Specifically she goes from Bewolves (LRRH's story) to this very intelligent Monkey Grimm (Oz's allusion). It is as if Ruby's personal arc is LRRH, but her journey when it comes to the bigger picture is similar to Dorothy's.

Thank you for the ask!

#rwby #stormmodblog #asksfullofsugar #once upon an allusion #rwby meta

[strqyr]

To be entirely fair, I am like 90% certain that when Yang says 'you don't mean that', it is NOT meant to mean 'you don't mean the fact that you are being negative and upset and angry shut up and go back to the positive person you are'. Its Yang sliding into mum mode and going 'you don't mean to be that hurtful and antagonistic.' Yang isn't denying that Ruby is upset, she's saying that Ruby isn't planning on being hurtful.

It's like how Jaune snapped at Ruby in his anger and pain and was able to realise his error and apologize to Ruby. Jaune didn't mean what he said, it was his tramua and negativity speaking. It still hurts though, which is why he apologized for it. Even if Ruby wasn't in a place to listen or accept it at the moment. Yang knows Ruby, Yang basically raised her as a kid. Yang knows that Ruby doesn't truly mean the harsh, hurtful words she's currently saying. That's why she says she doesn't mean it, because Ruby doesn't.

At least, that's how I'm taking the scene, inspired by the metas of others on the exact same subject.

yang's "you don't mean that" is from the previous episode when they're talking about salem and the relics and saving people in atlas; ruby is frustrated bc what does it matter if they saved everyone in atlas (which, ya know, i think the people cinder blew up off the bridge beg to differ) when salem is closer to getting all the relics and will destroy the world once she gets them all, and she airs that frustration out only to be met with "that's what ironwood thought. you don't mean that."

and like. that's a valid concern to have; ruby doesn't think that saving people doesn't matter but if they keep losing the relics to salem while doing so, which they believe will end in the destruction of the world, what's the point? they're just running in circles, not going anywhere. the people they just saved will die in few months anyway if they can't find a way to stop salem or get the relics back. why can't ruby say things and actually mean them, to think their current methods aren't working and it's all pointless, but yang gets to not only think but to say it out loud that ruby's amity plan couldn't be done and that it was pointless bc there was no guarantee anyone would come to help?

more importantly, why does yang get to decide what ruby actually means? jaune lashed out and apologized on his own. ruby didn't. maybe she did mean every word she said while lashing out. maybe she didn't. point is ruby is the only one who gets to say what she meant and didn't mean. not yang.

and like. nothing is worse than finally getting your words out—even if it happens in an ugly manner like it did with ruby—only to have people minimize it and invalidate what you just said bc they "know" you better than you know yourself. all you can think is that if they really knew you, they would have noticed much, much earlier that something was wrong.

#rwby #rwby9 #rwby spoilers #yang xiao long #ruby rose #stormmodblog #ask.strqyr #i hope this doesn't come off as aggressive #i'm just. ruby's current arc hits home #and to see people make it about yang and how she knows who ruby really is #and what she would and wouldn't say / think / mean #is frustrating

[birdsong-warriors]

'#also i totally ship jay x briar sshhhh#but in a different way'. Please explain?

Okay, this might be complicated, I really hope I can explain it right!

Basically, I'm very much a fan of romance that is platonic first and foremost. I find the best romance to be between best friends. So very often, my ships are kind of like "they don't really have to be romantic, they're cute enough as friends, but it might be nice".

Briarlight and Jayfeather are friends. I imagine since she spent so much time in the medicine den, they talked a lot, and Jayfeather appreciated having someone besides his family to talk to. And they treated each other as equals, not looking at each other with pity like many cats look at them.

Over time, they just got more and more comfortable with each other. Jayfeather is asexual but unlike Swift, he's open to non-sexual romance, and since Briarlight can't have kits anyway, that whole aspect doesn't even factor in. They're just best friends who cuddle a lot and enjoy each other's company. ;u;

#asks #stormmodblog #jay x briar #platonic ships ftw!!

[pop-goes-the-sneasel]

Request Spyro, the best dragon around (maybe look at both Reignted and Legend's design? Not Skylanders though, it sucks!)

This is probably gonna be my most difficult review yet, but here we go!

Spyro!!!!! The dragon!!!

So, Spyro started out way back in 1998, which is an important fact to understand with regard to a lot of Spyro’s general vibes. The 90s introduced Sonic the Hedgehog, who was wildly popular and completely changed the character design landscape for the decade – with numerous animals-with-attitude following on his heels due to his immense popularity. 90s gaming was heavily defined by platformers starring these characters, though most of them died out soon after their introduction, failing to achieve the recognition and success of their predecessor. Spyro, however, achieved an immense degree of success and became the functional mascot of Sony’s Playstation, a mantle he shared with Crash Bandicoot.

As a product of the 90s, Spyro carries many of its hallmarks. Young and rebellious, he has that playful bit of edge that defined so many of his contemporaries. As a design, he’s pretty straightforward: a small purple dragon. But his personality shines through with his expressive face, and there really aren’t actually a lot of dragons I can think of that look like him! It’s worth noting he was apparently going to be green early in development, but purple was chosen instead so he would stand out against grass. This was an integral decision, as Spyro’s colour is probably what makes him most iconic. Gameplay-wise, his most distinctive ability was using his wings to glide, in addition to the unsurprising ability to breathe fire.

Spyro’s design stayed pretty consistent for awhile, with just subtle differences like the addition of purple irises in A Hero’s Tail. But unfortunately, even Spyro couldn’t withstand the inevitable fate of the 90s animal mascot in the long term. After the original trilogy, his games fell in popularity and perceived quality, and 2006 saw an attempt at a modern reimagining of the character in the form of a reboot series known as The Legend of Spyro. This iteration featured a more realistic design, with his 90s attitude toned down a bit, but like many reboots of 90s franchises he couldn’t help but feel out of place in the gaming landscape. Simultaneously trying to balance his original concept with a desire to appear more tonally mature, The Legend of Spyro just felt….odd. But as a design, Spyro looked decent here. The added details maybe a little unnecessary, and the Dreamworks face a bit cheesy, but overall solid.

The third game in the series actually skipped forward a couple years, giving us the older-looking Spyro seen here! It’s a competent design for an older Spyro, but making Spyro older is something of a questionable decision in itself. It just feels kind of uncanny, and seemingly misses the original spirit of the character. It’s just taking itself a bit too seriously, y’know? But I guess that’s all appropriate for an awkward teen. Also worth noting is that multiple breath weapons besides fire became standard in this series, with Spyro being able to breathe all of them due to his status as a rare purple dragon. Spyro could breathe other things in prior games as well, but it didn’t really have the narrative importance that it does here.

After a period of silence until 2011, the Skylanders franchise surfaced. The first game started development as yet another reboot of the Spyro universe, initially even grimmer in tone than The Legend of Spyro, before reeling itself in and opting for the much friendlier Skylanders franchise we know. It also adopted a toys-to-life concept, with figures you could buy of characters to play as in the game, and it was a breakout success. In the end, though, Spyro was more or less just used as a recogniseable name to help the new franchise get a foothold in gaming consciousness. As the series went on, Spyro was ultimately sidelined and not much more important than any other Skylanders character.

The real elephant in the room here though is how utterly atrocious Spyro’s Skylanders design is. This here was the first screenshot publicly shown, and to say people were livid would be a severe understatement. He looks like he’s been selectively bred for several decades to create the draconic equivalent to a pug. His scales are also way too defined, and his eyes are distressingly bulbous. People hated this design, and they still do. There’s really no defending it! The Skylanders Academy animated series helps to sand it down a bit into something less revolting, but how the base design got approved is beyond my comprehension.

Anyways, come 2018, and we’d get the Spyro Reignited Trilogy. A remaster of the first three games, this brought back Spyro’s original design, and it looks fantastic. It perfectly captures Spyro’s original personality without overdoing it, and streamlines the details to look good in HD without being too texture-heavy. Although heavy pseudo-eyebrows can be very hit-or-miss with designs, they actually work marvellously here and do a lot to help frame Spyro’s face and expressions.

The Reignited Trilogy is probably the most-respected Spyro’s been since his inception, and the design is easily my favourite of the bunch. As a whole, though, Spyro’s been through a lot. It’s interesting to see all the ups and downs a single character can go through, whilst still retaining the same basic premise: purple dragon with an attitude. But yeah. Spyro’s a good boy and I like him quite a lot.

14,000 gems/10.

#spyro #spyro the dragon #the legend of spyro #skylanders #spyro reignited trilogy #stormmodblog

[curiositys-cat]

How about a 12 for you?

12. Is Brambleclaw a good main character?

As always, I think a lot of what goes wrong with him stems from bad execution, but some really fun ideas. So yes, potentially-- often less so in practice.

Things that I enjoy with Brambleclaw:

Warriors often uses a sort of ancestral determinism-- blood matters, not just to how the other cats in the clan perceive their clanmates, but often to how the authors themselves characterize those cats. Brambleclaw represented a break from that in a major way, someone who wanted to make up for his father’s actions and make himself as different as possible, someone whose story was based around choosing a family for himself in Thunderclan.

Brambleclaw has a cross clan relationship that isn’t romantic! Tawnypelt I think was the first of these, bar a little Graystripe excursion to Riverclan, that I can remember, and this was super interesting. Their stories wrap together really nicely as they both become comfortable with the lives they’ve chosen, even if there’s always this lingering sadness that they can’t be on the same side all the time, especially after the sundrown quest.

Brambleclaw is very obviously Firestar’s protege from a pretty early stage, and I don’t think it was necessarily the wrong choice for him to be made deputy-- it makes sense from a story perspective, even if I had cats I would’ve liked to see in his place.

He represents a different kind of protagonist from Firestar; while he has the same ‘gotta prove myself’ thing in his youth, he’s so much less sure of himself as a protagonist-- Firestar is guided, as a lot of heroes are, by an arrow in his heart towards What He Feels is right. Brambleclaw isn’t so sure of what that is, and I think he could’ve been an interesting character for exploring an increasingly complex world, where clan barriers are lower than ever and the dead can’t seem to stay that way. He could’ve been an interesting member of the more morally gray generation that’s gotten willing to experiment with the format of the books. Is the warrior code really absolute? what if clan borders hurt more than help? what would it be like, if, say, I don’t know, medicine cats could have kits? not like that would be relevant to his experiences or anything.

But!

Brambleclaw is characterized, as many are in wc, pretty inconsistently. While I can very much imagine a world in which he sees the flaws in the clan system due to his ties and his time on the quest, and becomes closer to Tigerstar as a result, that’s not actually what happens.

His relationship with Squirrelflight is repetitively unhealthy and while I’m not sure about what’s going on for the last 6ish books, just not that fun to read about? So the fact that his POV gets eaten up by this makes him less interesting-- I actually love to explore an unhealthy relationship, but the authors seem to have no idea that it is. 

The idea that Brambleclaw is wedded to the idea of his kits having his blood? is weird given his own history there. If they had made this a Thing-- that maybe from an outside perspective blood has defined his whole life and he’s had to so consciously tear Tigerstar’s legacy down, and gone through some on screen growth over what makes family? that could’ve been good. as is, just doesn’t sell it.

And I think the authors made a huge mistake that now really turns me off his storyline-- Brambleclaw should never have been made leader. Yes he’s the protege, but by the time he steps up, it’s the wrong conclusion for his arc. Brambleclaw’s storyline has always been, fundamentally, about rejecting his father’s legacy-- his father, who is defined by his broad shoulders ambition. Brambleclaw becoming leader could be taken as a way to rewrite that legacy into something positive, but I don’t think inversion is enough, because any plot where Tigerstar would be proud of Brambleclaw is a flawed one; Tigerstar should absolutely loathe everything he’s become-- a loving father, a loyal warrior, and someone who is happy to step out of the spotlight for someone who could become a better leader than he. I don’t know who I’d have picked for that, but I think the fact that he became leader goes against the entire arc they set up literally for dozens of books!

#stormmodblog

[ask-october-fox]

Im sorry, spirits, I do not have an answer for you..

#october #ask #lordlucario #stormmodblog #anonymous #but it is what it is #perhaps next year #sad tober is sad #its just not the same

[katiek101]

Geeze, looking over these 5 truths makes me wonder just how many cats took their own apprentices as mates in canon? People went crazy over Onewhisker doing it, yet apparently, it's not exactly uncommon?

Especially with SkyClan!

It's not as uncommon in canon as people think, but so much has been contradicted in canon that who can blame anyone for forgetting details?

I'm a little more forgiving in SkyClan's case, at least early on, since there were so few cats in the Clan. Doesn't make it any less icky but it is what it is.

#SkyClan #stormmodblog