#[ And on this episode of NEO BULLIES JAUNE ]

[sir-adamus]

I think that's what's been sort of bothering me about the future of Neo since yesterday. Before last episode I was still sort of on the maybe we can talk her down train (because we really hadn't seen a whole lot of her this volume), but then yesterday happened and I was like "nope. Definitely not talking this one out." And I'm not even sure if she's coming back to Remnant after this. I know none of our heroes would be okay with it after this (Which is completely valid because she literally bullied and tortured a 17 year old until she broke). So the complete ??? of Neo's future has kind of rattled me. Cuz it would really feel weird if she doesn't play a conscious part in the final two episodes, regardless of the outcome, you know? I'm not sure I'm articulating this correctly.

no worries anon, i have difficulties articulating almost everything i say so i get it

yeah with Neo it's interesting because like; they have invested a lot of time and writing into giving us her perspective, her backstory, making her a three-dimensional character that has sympathetic qualities and we can understand why she feels the way she does even when she's clearly in the wrong - we started volume 8 in her perspective as she realises she's in way over her head with Cinder, rankles at being treated like an errand girl and not an equal party in spite of their deal (which culminates in her threatening Cinder to force her to make good on her end of it because she'd been pussyfooting around on it - and Cinder responded in her usual, extremely petty way), and then we got Roman Holiday and saw the full extent of how she ended up where she did and the issues she faced with being refused autonomy. like, they clearly want us to be invested in her character and the struggles she faces even when she's being fucked up and horrible; there's layers to it, it's fiction, we can be invested in the dimensionality of a character and want to see that character in a better place while still acknowledging that they're making horrendous choices

and right after the self-destructive spiral that it's been clear she's been on since she reappeared in volume 6 reaches its culmination, forced to reckon with the fact that she's got nothing else now, which is an interesting turn for a character - "and then what?" is a trope for a reason - but before Neo can make a choice on what she's gonna be now, or strip back everything and realise what she wanted in the first place (before she settled in what was ultimately a very unhealthy dynamic with Torchwick - again, understandable why she did, because he was the only person in her life that treated her with any decency or respect for her autonomy - but she had nothing outside of that, which then led to this spiral she's in and her current actions because, like many of the characters she has a lot of parallels with, it was something to do other than grieve and process the losses), she has her autonomy ripped away from her, to be used as a puppet by the malevolent entity that is using her as a mouthpiece, forcing her to speak with a voice that isn't her own

it's "and i must scream" taken up to eleven if she's still conscious in there, and what the Cat did is horrific and violating and no one deserves it regardless, but it's worse with the context of Neo's history how she's once again being used for someone else's agenda

i could see them doing a fighting from the inside thing with her because of all that context with her, rediscovering that her original goal was to be free and fighting against the monster trying to use her (for example by summoning the Jabberwalker with her Semblance, because the Cat has her body but they don't have her mind and that's what her Semblance draws from), and that could go a lot of ways with it being enough to buy time for the heroes to defeat the Cat with her going down with them or the heroes manage to exorcise the Cat but save Neo (maybe they have to save Neo to defeat the Cat, Jaune's semblance has been used to bolster people fighting against mind control before and with the way Neo's Semblance interacts with the Ever After she could unleash some hell on the Cat as a result) - and there's a discussion there if she'd be returned to normal or if she'd be changed by the experience, furthering the analogue she's been having with Ruby's progression through this volume (the idea of Neo's body still being altered even with the Cat's influence gone, and possibly some semblance of its powers remaining could be interesting to explore)

in the event she does survive, she's still left with "and then what", and the opportunity is there for her to make better or at least different choices, because revenge wasn't satisfying and it left her empty; maybe it'll be a walking the earth thing now that she has to decompress and deal with the shit she's been repressing (and the Ever After's basically built for that), with a now begrudging respect for the heroes for saving her ass (because like, if they can defeat the Cat without killing her they probably would, they're not executioners and continuing a cycle of revenge doesn't help anybody, especially if she's in no position and has no desire to fight back anymore), maybe showing up later down the line as a sometimes ally once she finds a new reason for being. or hell maybe in the "we haven't forgiven you for what you've done and we probably won't but we'll have your back as long as you have ours" situation that Emerald is in now

like, Neo's a messy and complicated character - intentionally - and this has all been left with a messy and complicated resolution because of the Cat hijacking her before her character could really be resolved - and i guess i'm maybe being optimistic here but this show is optimistic, even though we're in the darkest hour right now the optimism is coming

but i like the idea that we're not operating on something that's rigidly black and white, all-or-nothing kinda thing. that in fighting an impossible war on the scale we're getting to, you'll find allies in those who have done unforgivable things and the point is not to forgive them (and honestly the fact that people are still conflating redemption with forgiveness when they are entirely separate things is another thing that bothers me, and i'm on record saying in the most positive version of events i don't think Neo would even be redeemed, so much as it just being a heel-face turn and leaving it at that) but to accept that they're making better choices now in the moment and that's something you can work with

anyway this got long and rambly and probably not terribly coherent, but yeah

[lilithfairen]

What the f[ixing RWBY continues to be bullshit]

So, to summarize the latest two episodes of this trainwreck (which has taken four episodes to get through what the original V6 did in one episode):

Cinder pulling herself out of the lake! Like canon! Except there's a vague bit of backstory where Tyrian punches Cinder in the back of the head.

Adam shows up on the train! Like canon! Except here he's murdering people.

The bit of drama between Blake and Yang on the train. Just like canon! Again!

Yang has a random PTSD episode.

Ruby, Weiss, and Jaune get their butts kicked by Roman at cards while Neo dotes over Roman. Even in the smallest moments, Celtic Phoenix cannot stop treating Roman as better than the actual titular heroines of the show.

Cardin and Russell barge into Blake's room to talk about how they're totally better people now and Cardin gives advice to Blake on how to talk to Yang FUCK YOU FUCK YOU TAKE YOUR FUCKING MALE CHARACTERS AND SHOVE THEM UP YOUR ASS INSTEAD OF SHOVING THEM INTO EVERY SINGLE FUCKING FEMALE CHARACTER'S STORYLINE YOU TALENTLESS HACK

Oh and Cardin has a rabbit keychain and blushes about it when Blake notices it. Fuck you, Celtic Phoenix, for your pathetic obsession with giving a racist bully the girl he victimizes as his love interest.

Qrow's getting drunk.

Then Weiss runs into Adam! Because why would there be any sort of story that doesn't revolve around the male characters these losers are obsessed with?

Qrow, Cardin, and Russell immediately rush to fight Adam while pushing the women away from danger, proving that Celtic Phoenix is a misogynistic jackass who has zero credibility writing anything RWBY-related.

A Grimm Manticore barges into the train car where Roman is!

More Grimm attack the train! It's the same train battle as in canon, except Celtic Phoenix had to throw Adam in for no. Fucking. Reason!

Oh but them Adam randomly stabs his way through the top of the train car. (Weren't Qrow, Cardin, and Russell fighting him?)

Roman and Neo fend off the Manticore until JNR show up. Ren kills the Manticore, and Roman clutches his chest and proclaims that he could kiss Ren. Reminder: the previous volume of Fixing RWBY had Roman make a shitty transphobic joke towards Ren.

Russell gets knocked off the train and Cardin gets his arm crushed. Yes, this is exactly the same thing that happened with Dee and Dudley in canon. What the hell is the point of a rewrite when you are going to copy 95% of the plot anyway, you uncreative hack?

Anyway, Adam causes an avalanche that ends up causing the train/group split. So again, Celtic Phoenix is having exactly the same stuff as canon happen, but having his pet characters be entirely responsible for the plot while the actual protagonists just do nothing but react.

There is this sheer unsubtlety to Fixing RWBY about the degree to which that Celtic Phoenix is not only a completely uncreative hack, but a deeply misogynistic and queerphobic hack as well. You have to wonder if Celtic Phoenix or a single member of his team (that he doesn't pay a single cent to) aren't aware of the criticism that his previous volume received over Roman's transphobic "jokes" towards Ren and Weiss, or if Roman again making shitty comments towards Ren is done out of spite towards the people who called out his rewrite's previous queerphobia.

Celtic Phoenix forcing Adam to the forefront for no reason also highlights how he, his partners, and his defenders have no understanding of good storytelling whatsoever. The original Volume 6 established that the attack on the train was due to the Relic attracting Grimm, setting up the consequences of Ozpin not telling the protagonists the full truth about their circumstances. Having Adam be the focus of the train attack not only takes away from the story establishing that plotline (because who needs plotlines that doesn't revolve around pet characters?) but completely eradicates the tension of the original Volume 6 where the audience knew that Adam was in pursuit of the protagonists, but had no idea when and where he would strike, with his eventual appearance and attempt on Blake's life having drastic consequences for the rest of the volume's storyline.

Here? Adam shows up because Celtic Phoenix wants his precious dudebro to get more screentime.

[twilightguardian]

Well well. Looks like Lil is still up to her incoherent screaming. Let's take a look, shall we?

I gotta wonder what she means by 'absolutely nothing'. Like by definition 'absolutely nothing' would mean that there has been nothing going on. At all. The equivalent of sitting at a desk, not even twiddling your pencil between your fingers because twiddling would be something.

Episode 2 continues on from episode 1 with what Ruby bought at the festival, revealing them to be friendship bracelets for WBY, establishing how happy she is that not only her team, but her friends are back.

Qrow is still drunk, and unlike in the show, it's becoming actually debilitating for those around him, with Jaune and Ruby having to carry him to the station.

Blake says goodbye to her parents, Sun and Ilia just like in canon. (But I guess since Lilith thinks that's absolutely nothing, we can count that as nothing of worth to canon, either.)

There's also brief mention about the White Fang going to help Vale's recovery.

First episode we saw Roman and Neo pickpocketing people at the festival, and that got paid off when they got into first class on the train.

Mercury and Emerald have a discussion about Cinder and their differing views on her and parenthood.

Cardin and Russell replace Dee and Dudley both as characters we care about and filling in some exposition about the status in Vale.

Brief comedic scene where Yang tells Neptune the truth about 'Jane', because why keep friends in the dark about such things.

That's 8 'nothings' that have happened in the episode. So if you want to break it down into the most important things, we can say establishing RWBY as rekindling their bond, Cardin and Russel's cameo, Emercury's discussion and Qrow's drunkenness as being the core elements.

Ooof. You've never actually read fanfiction, have you, Lilith? You should join the Tundra discord server and join us for bad fanfiction night. Because all this tells me is that you don't know what incompetence is.

Actually, I have no idea if you even read. That's not an insult, that's just a general statement of fact. I've never seen any mention of books on your blogs, and I don't know you as a person.

Why would Cardin's return make you want to watch Fixing RWBY unless you had the expectation that Cardin, who you think only abuses women for some reason, would abuse a woman. Is abusing women something you like to see? People generally avoid things they don't like, you know. That's pretty dang weird.

Emphasizing again that Cardin isn't an abuser of women, specifically. He was a general bully in canon and a rather toothless one at that. He more went after Jaune in canon. Raymond gave him some teeth and his ass was still humbled for it. Now he knows better. When was the last time we've seen Cardin 'abuse' a woman?

Casually insulting all fanfic writers while trying to shit on one guy you have a hateboner for. Nice. You know there's not a single thing you said here that also can't also apply to your average fanfic author. Authors that may like a male character for whatever reason and may want to focus on that male character. Fanfic authors in general create derivative works that aren't 'their own' and many take from each other based on common fanfic tropes, themes and scenarios. The point of Fixing RWBY is to keep as close to the original as possible while also not being afraid to cut unnecessary fat and rearrange things. There isn't a single thing done to Fixing RWBY that one could say impacts the story in any substantially detrimental way. Oscar not being around doesn't matter because Ozpin still has a host. Expanding Menagerie's arc still resulted in Blake meeting up with everyone at the school.

lol

And she wonders why I have no faith in her ability to write when she doesn't seem to understand the concept of foreshadowing and Chekhov's Gun. No, he didn't do the Apathy Arc in V4. It was establishing when the backstory that Maria read in that book took place.

Also prove that the Apathy Arc is going to be 'all about Roman Torchwick' because you're just pulling that out of your ass with no basis other than you want it to be that way. You know, criticism comes after something you disagree with happens, not before.

I don't mind if you think that the first two episodes are slow. That's perfectly fine as valid criticism as not everyone is going to feel the same. Doesn't make it bad, it just means that's your preference. But that doesn't mean you get to pull shit out of your ass like you're fucking Jillian Epperly.

I don't understand this criticism. Are you saying that because Adam has a bike that Yang doesn't have her bike? Or that Yang owning a bike gets diminished because Adam has one because only one person is allowed to own a bike at a time?

Hey @iamafanofcartoons, hello, we haven't formally met yet. I've actually been very interested in talking to you at some point, and I'm sure this might wreck that a bit. But permit me to ask you what this even means lol

When has Raymond ever said that CardinxVelvet is going to for sure be canon in FRWBY? Because like... there's a difference between shipping a ship and then making that ship canon in the story you're working on. And really, obsession? How is Raymond obsessed with men who harass women? Because so far the one who talks the most about Shiloh is you.

And I wouldn't even say that either Shiloh or Shay D. 'harassed' Yang. The dude was drunk and tried to flirt. She wasn't interested and while touching her could have been assault, she was the one that touched him first to hit him instead of moving out of the way and verbally telling him off. Harassment actually deals with continued intimidation and threats. Yang was never threatened by Shay/Shiloh in either version. Yang was not a victim of harassment. So I would appreciate it if you would not infantilize Yang by saying such an innocuous altercation was harassment as it really makes out real harassment out to be not that bad if that's the comparison.

Yeah. I can't wait to see him prove you wrong because you're saying this with no proof.

[thelastwarriorofsunflowers]

First Rwby post! Hope you all enjoy it!

SPOILERS AHEAD! You have been warned.

So, about the resent episode…

Jaune and Ruby had been but in the wringer lately.

Jaune’s trama has been with him since Volume 1, yes ever since the start off the show. So let’s go over his trama first. In Volume 1 he admits to cheating his way into Beacon, and is bullied by Cardin because of it. Then in Volume 2 it calms down for him, but Volume 3 really sparks up the flames even more. For in Volume 3 his teammate and possible lover dies. Then Volume 4 hits like a train with him learning how to cope with Pyrrha's death, talking care of his team, and the truth of the Two Brothers. Volume 5 slaps him around more, by showing Cinder almost killing one of his close friends and the professor of Haven being a traitor. Volume 6 just straight up disconnects him from Team RWBY for a while. Just to be reunited with bad news, it doesn't matter what they will do it will all just fall into the hand of Salem. Volume 7 is calmer, he gains confidence just for it to go badly with Ironwood at the end.

Then VOLUME 8 happens, you saw it. He is called out by Ren, spilt from the group for a while, fugitives by law, had to kill Penny, his weapon is broken, and all that just for Ruby's plan to fail.

So, in Volume 9 is the breaking point. He gets trapped in The Ever After, with RWBY and Neo. Here is the catch he accidentally time travels decades back in time there. So he has no one to confess to about anything from the trama to guilt til Alyx and Luis appear. Alyx and Luis were there helping Jaune cope a bit. Until Alyx betrays him, poisoning him and letting the cat guide her to the tree. Jaune then tries to cope by "saving" a village over and over because he does not know who he is. Then the village is destroyed.

In this moment, he feels sadness and anger. As soon as Ruby snaps had has a mental breakdown, he does too. But he lashes out on Ruby, by saying it is because of you, everything. He immediately says sorry and tells why he acts this way. Hence scene, so what's my point?

Well easy, Jaune is suffering so much to the point where it is braking him.

Now Ruby's trama will be discussed in a later post in full detail.

[aureumdraconeus]

“I dodge dealing with my feelings like Amazon dodges taxes.” // for yang ( or who ever you think is funniest )

‘Yo true though, that’s a mood.’ 

Neo just proceeded to slowly pat Jaune on the shoulder before immediately tripping him up, he can dodge his feelings but he can’t dodge this fuckin’ vibe, fuckin’ eediot

[razorblade180]

Actor AU 3

The previous one<-

Penny:*dancing on set*

Nora:Someone seems happy.

Penny:🎶First episode I don’t have to wear props! 🎶 This is so liberating!

Nora:You read the script right?

Penny:Just let me vibe!

xxxx

Neo:*hanging off ledge*

Cinder:.....Long live queen. *pushes her off*

Ruby:Yo! Let’s add a lion king character!

Director:No!

xxxx

Ironwood,Broadcasting:.....

Everyone:.....

Ironwood:*leans it closely* You have one hour...or I poison Gotham Harbor.

Yang:Pay up Weiss! I told you he’d say it!

Weiss:Damn it!

Ruby:*laughing hysterically.

xxxx

Adam:*sips tea* Now you’re probably wondering why I’m on set for V8 when I have not scene or relevance. The answer is simple.

Neo:*hits Yang of the edge*

Blake:Yaaaaang-

*faint laughing offset*

Blake.....*snickers* You asshole, I was in the zone!

Adam:I’m just adding to the tension!

Yang:*hanging from harness* You should’ve yelled “Lionized!!!!!”

Adam:Oh that would’ve been great!

Blake:You two are the worst!

xxxx

Right after Cinder stabs Penny

Jaune:Penny!!!! H-Hold on!

Penny:J-Jaune? I don’t...I don’t feel so g-good... hehe, this...*tearing up* this really hurts...

Jaune:*crying* Don’t speak! My semblance, I’ll...I

Penny:No...don’t. No time, but....there’s still something I need you t-to do. Cinder...can’t get the power and the relics. *reaches for blade*

Jaune:W-What?! No, I....I can’t-

Penny:It’s okay Jaune. *smiles* Everything is...gonna be okay.

Jaune:*raising bl-

Director:Cut!

Jaune:Huh?

Penny:Hmm? *sits up* Oh no, did I miss a line?

Director:*points to Cinder*

They turn to see Weiss comforting the the woman with a hug while trying not to laugh at the situation.

Penny:What happened!?

Weiss:She’s crying over the scene!

Penny:What!? *runs over*

Cinder:I am so sorry I ruined take! You were doing so well. Too well! Ugh, god damnit!

Penny:Awww you know I’m fine right? Come here! *hugs her*

Weiss:Cinder fall everyone, the biggest teddy bear around. *wipping eyes*

Jaune:You’re crying too!?

Weiss:I am the second biggest teddy bear around.

xxxx

Jaune:We have to go!!!

Winter:*points at Cinder*....Sleep with one eye open.

Director:Cut! Why!?

Cinder:Hahahaha!

Winter:I couldn’t help myself.

Director:Be angry!

Bloop!

Winter:*glares* The next time I see you I swear, I’ll have your head!

Director:Less angry!

Cinder:That one actually kinda scared me. Haha geez, Winter giving chills!

Bloop!

Winter:Can I curse?

Director:We’re already at the limit before we’d have change ratings.

Winter:Dang it! I just one F bomb!

Director:We’ll put it the gag reel.

Bloop!

Jaune:We need to go!

Winter: Tsk, *points sword* You are going to pay for everything you’ve done! So watch you fucking back...

Director:Happy?

Winter:*grinning* Yeah that felt great!

xxxxx

Bomb starts sliding slowly.

Qrow:*clenches Clover’s pin*

Bomb falls off plan set

.....

Vine and Elm:.....

Harriet:Well...boom! I guess!? For the love of- *face palms*

Qrow:....Uhhh I haha, I think hahaha- hahaha! Can we maybe tilt the plan a little less!? Oh boy! I guess someone should’ve grabbed that.

Harriet:You know what, can we keep this ending!?

Robyn: Rename the whole episode haha. “Adults watch bomb slowly fall”

Vine:Okay but I like how we’re all just waiting for it to stop, and then just tips right over! The moment it started moving I knew it was going way too fast!

Elm:Mission failed everyone. We’ll get em next time.

xxxxx

Interviewer:How do you think fans will react to this finale?

Penny:Well I can’t spoil anything for obvious reasons but I hope it resonates well. It’s fun having my character be around for a finale for once, and with so many other roles she doesn’t get interact with much. It’s been really fun.

Interviewer:Oh yeah? Who’s been best to work with?

Penny:Oooo that’s tough. My cousin, Nora, she’s been fun to interact with this volume. But uhhh I think I’ll give it to Jaune. We don’t have many scenes overall together but...it’s hard explain. I feel like between my character and his, there’s this kinda mutal headspace they have for their friends. If I had to pick a person I would say Jaune would have the ability to open up Penny in a way nobody else could.

Interviewing:Interesting, well I hope you both get more interactions and that this finale debuts well.

Penny:Thank you!

xxxxx

Winter:*dragging Ironwood off*

Emerald:....Wait, I know I do illusions, but how did the Ironwood not hear or feel the wind coming from an airship several feet away? I kicked up dirt and alerted Amber in volume 3.

Director:....Do we have time to rewri- no? Okay... just don’t think about it!

xxxxx

Nora:Someone cut the signal!

Watts: *playing Galaga* Hehehe all according to plan.

Neo:Change the tab! It’s- we see it in camera! Haha!

Watts:*strokes mustache* I know. That’s how genius I am. Cracking codes and high-scores! Muhahaha!

xxxx

Ruby:Fun fact, we have two Hound costumes. One where he’s mainly doglike and the other when he’s beating up people. But I you wonder who’s playing him under all that? *takes mask off*

Cardin:Sup.

Ruby:Forever a bully, even behind the set.

Cardin:Pfft am not.

Penny:You had a laugh tossing me!

Cardin:You don’t count, you’re family!

Penny:Ah!?

xxxxxx

Yang:*holding camera* Pssst!

Ren:*sipping coffee*???

Yang:Ready for our fight in the snow?

Ren:I can’t feel my toes! I’m gonna yell at you and then walk away.

Yang:I’ll mess up so we’ll stay here longer.

Ren:Yang! We can have a real fight in the snow right now!

Yang:Heheh, kidding. Mostly.

xxxxx

Ruby:Blake have you heard of Among Us?

Blake:Wh-what?

Ruby:Among Us. You gotta do tasks without an imposter killing you. I only bring it up because we’re rebooting the power. Someone always dies in electrical.

Blake:Ruby this is real life. Besides this way more Resident Evil, but with no- Tyrant!

Hound:*busts through window*

Ruby:Wny is it always electrical!!!?

xxxxx

Ironwood:*doing shirtless pull-ups*

Ozpin:He’s getting ready for his fight scenes. Trying to look winded but a little bulkier in the moment.

Winter:*watching Ironwood*

Ozpin:*snickering* Winter is trying to get into the mindset of having to a play a character who has to go against all that. The agony of fighting someone you looked at for so long.

Winter:You can call it like it is. I’m gawking a little.

Ozpin:She’s gawking a little.

xxxxx

Hazel:*grabs Salem*

Salem:*squeezing his biceps* Its like my entire torso. You eat a bear for breakfast?

Hazel:Oh my god.

Salem:You know this isn’t the worst way to go out. I had a good run. At least you hold me, unlike Ozma! Why didn’t you hold me like this!?

Hazel:You’re so ridiculous.

xxxxx

Set crew adjusting lighting in manor. All but one stays on.

Oscar and Penny:*waltzing underneath it*

Nora:...I like how on or off camera I personally lose the dating game while another redhead wins.

Ozpin:Which pair you talking about?

Nora:Huh?

Yang and Adam:*cracking jokes*

Nora:This is nonsense! Where’s Jaune!?

Weiss:Food run with Ruby.

Nora:Aaaaaggghhh!

[itsclydebitches]

Okay, I’m losing a bit of my faith in Ice Queendom. The first two episodes are just going to blow over V1-2, which means they’re going to blow over a bunch of character development and moments. Doesn’t help that V1-2 are the GOOD PARTS OF RWBY, so they’re limiting this series to fans only, because any new comers aren’t going to be attached to these characters because they’ll be given cliff notes of what they go through. Can RWBY be good again for once, please?

In an effort to remain positive about this anime, I can picture ways in which the show could do a really good job of a two episode recap, depending on how loosely we're defining the term "recap." Meaning, there's something to be said for cutting out the extraneous parts that many in the fandom never liked (Jaune's bullying arc being the most obvious example) and highlighting only what will be important for the new story they're telling in Episode 3 onwards. Penny, for example, is a large part of Volume 2, but does Penny exist in this version of the tale? If she doesn't, she'll be cut. Do they need to focus on Cinder or Roman, dust and White Fang attacks, if the conflict will be something entirely different from what we originally got? Are we going to bother with things like Ozpin's secret meetings and Ironwood's new robots if this is a version of RWBY unconcerned with an eight Volume plot leading to the consequences of their choices? There's really no reason to keep a lot of what happens in Volumes 1-2 if this story is focusing on a different plot.

Basically, "recap" definitely makes it sound like, you know, we're literally recapping all that happens in Volumes 1 and 2, but depending on what they intend to happen in Episode 3 (like AU shenanigans) much of that might be entirely unnecessary. We don't need to watch Jaune take on Cardin in the forest, or introduce Sun just to explain some faunus basics, or set the stage for Adam if the core story is going to be wildly different from the canon. If we really pair things down, I think meeting the characters, taking them through initiation, introducing Weiss' conflict with Ruby (which looks as if it may color the whole story), and giving them some initial fights like the Nevermore are the most important things, assuming the girls' troubles will be quite different. Actually, this recap might focus primarily on the character development moments because so much else is attached to a plot that, presumably, won't be the focus of this new story. Why show the train fight if Neo, Raven, and the Fall of Beacon aren't things we're heading towards? Why spend time with the grownups if there's no Volume 3 where Pyrrha is tasked to become the next Maiden? The recap might just give us things like the food fight, the dance, Blake revealing she's a faunus, and other moments that develop the characters without relying overly much on RWBY's original story.

Granted, I obviously have no idea if they'll do that or not and I admit freely that I have the same worries, anon. Even pairing things down, two episodes feels like a pretty short amount of time if they're only twenty minutes. But that aside, whether the crew wants to use the term or not, this is pretty clearly some kind of AU. Even if we skip over important moments in the first two episodes, that doesn't mean the characters will cease to develop moving forward because those moments were only important within the context of the original story. This is a new version of the story. So if we hit episode two and are like hold on, how can you possibly skip Weiss making up with Ruby and bringing her coffee? That might be because they're going to get totally new interactions to replace what we've lost. If I were rewriting RWBY and decided to, say, cut the bullying arc, that doesn't mean Jaune won't get any development, just that he'll get a different kind of development that serves the needs of this new version. If the anime is at all well written, these changes will be replacing what we had in the original, not leaving gaping holes in the narrative. It will only be cliff notes if we assume the characters can only develop along the same trajectory of the canon, but the whole point of an AU is to let them develop differently.

[toooldforfandom-liveblogs]

RWBY V8 Intro

New volume, new OP, new post trying to guess what's coming. I've only seen the first episode so chances are at least some of these guesses have already been proven wrong but that just probably adds to the fun of reading it, right?

Anyway, let's do this!

The only character present during the glitches is Ruby so I'm guessing she either has PTSD or gets mind screwed at some point this season. Or this is the season she finally breaks.

It doesn't help that she's already been shown losing it a little. I thought these flashbacks in V7 also had the glitch effect but it's only the audio.

This, however, I have no idea what it could be. Ruby is frequently shown opening her eyes in the first shots of the OP but I'm curious about the meaning of the light since it happens twice.

The obvious guess is that Harriet is going to try and get revenge for Clover. She got a bit more screen-time in the first episode, which was so short that makes me think she's going to get at least some development this season if she merited that couple of seconds of focus. The crazy guess is that it's all a misdirect and she's the one who ends up switching sides.

Penny gets hacked and/or loses control of her powers. I'm leaning towards hacked because of those shots of Watts (being "persuaded" by soldiers and then shown in the same lab as Pietro)

Why must you continue to make that poor girl suffer, CRWBY? Bullies, all of you. Probably won't help Ruby's issues if Penny ends up hacked and Oscar is kidnapped.

This is not really a guess but I like how Weiss avoids looking at Winter and then ends up looking towards her future while Winter can't avoid looking at her and then looks regretful. Shows how much Weiss has grown.

Everything else seems to be in the realm of "yup, seems about right": Nora and Ren keep being sad at each other (and both get comforted by their team), Oscar gets his identity angst amplified by Salem, Qrow gets over his depression thanks to Robyn, Jaune exists, Ironwood is alone in his paranoia, Neo looks angry, Emerald looks sad and then angry, ground falls and hope is lost, etc. Not a lot of surprises so this is ended up being a pretty short post.

About the OP itself, I have to admit I'm not a big fan of the song, it feels weirdly disconnected from the visuals. The visuals though are great and I love how dramatic it looks, even if the flashing words kinda make me feel I'm watching a linkin park AMV about how it doesn't even matter.

I think that's all for now, until next time!

[caithyra]

Why? Just Why?

So, I was most worried about trolling shippers by separating the bees in the next season. Turns out that they’ll be together with their entire team in the next season (and I would have cheered, but this series just can’t do something good with Team RWBY without ruining it by adding Jaune).

WARNING: Rant below. Is very hyperbolic but I’m also very annoyed... Stream of consciousness rant so I might have missed a word and whatnot...

And Jaune. (After he killed Penny so that poor little Uwuinter (who isn’t a grown, professional woman with agency, just a stupid, little girl IronDaddy manipulated, but who totes is mature and capable enough to hold the powers of a weather goddess! Just watch how next season, little, inexperienced, civilian boys like Oscar and Whitley will show her up, just like they did Team RWBY or something! This show is so feminist with all their female characters lacking agency and/or plot relevance!) could get the dia ex machina power now when Uwuinter has repented and converted to the RWBY Cult (so ordained by the Powers That Be and Protagonist Centered Morality). Because Team RWBY likes her so she gets second chances people they don’t like wont.

On a beach. After I’ve heard neckbeards bay for a beach episode for years while writing Jaune-harem fanfic. And after the series had RWBY show off their inner thighs and whatnot with their outfits specifically made for an arctic continent...

This is even worse than I imagined.

Like, best case scenario, Jaune is now with the civilians who fell off and takes care of them. But even that can go wrong with these writers...

But knowing how Jaune has been used and developed by the writers and RWBY, well, hasn’t, he was likely dropped with them because the writers likes writing him in a way that inspired the “kill your darlings”-advice for writers.

Like seriously? Team RWBY needs a volume to themselves without the faff-characters eating screen time! Jaune already got more than enough attention! He should have gone through with Ren to boost his powers while literally anyone else stayed behind and did his thing!

Heck, Nora even had a moment earlier with Penny about how they’re struggling to be themselves outside their roles or something (*insert Sokka “it was really unclear”*). And Nora is a genderbent, Nordic god (also, her name literally means “north”), which fits well with wintery powers, should Penny hand the powers to her and not Winter.

But really, it should have been either Winter, Ruby or Nora who did it, if Penny absolutely had to die (what a waste of time...).

So of course it’s Jaune who does it.

Just like how he was the bullied kid at school, when it was established Ruby has trouble making friends to the point that she runs away from home to follow her sister two years early to Beacon and now is the youngest, most awkward student at school yet powerful enough to show up 90% of the student body (nooo reason whatsoever why she would be bullied, right?). Just like how Weiss needed to learn how nice nice guy Jaune was while beautiful, international celebrity Pyrrha drooled over him. Just like how he got to know secrets 99.99% of the world don’t even though it’s their lives on the line because his cheerleader was slated to (maybe) be fridged. Just like how his manpain over his dead cheerleader takes precedence over Ruby’s even though Ruby actually watched Pyrrha die. Just like how Tyrian thought him interesting when he was there to kill Ruby. Just like how Cinder focused on him when she was there to kill Ruby. Just like how Neo attacked his team when she only wants to get close enough to kill Ruby (in the same volume multiple mothers drool over him). Just like...

Actually, I’ll stop there, but hopefully you get that with the abysmal development and revelations of the main characters, a side-piece shouldn’t be getting all the affections meant for the waifus of the story...

Also, I’m going to laugh if somehow Maria and Pietro are there as well (complete with a flashback how they jumped into a portal just as the paths vaporized). Because it’s awfully strange their deaths haven’t been acknowledged, if they are, indeed, dead. And then we get time eaten up by Pietro being angry at angsty Jaune before forgiving him completely because the poor uwu boy couldn’t help it (not like he had a healing and power-boosting semblance or anything *mumblegrumble*)...

Okay, I’ll stop now!

[swapauanon]

My Opinions on RWBY: Volume 3: Chapter 11: “Heroes and Monsters”

I just want to point out that Roman’s death is entirely his own fault, while Ruby’s refusal to give up ultimately saved her life.

And Ozpin’s secrecy wound up backfiring when Jaune had no idea what was going on. I understand the reason for his secrecy, but someone could’ve at least debriefed Jaune on the way to the vault instead of keeping him in the dark.

And Yang’s temper and fighting style wind up costing her her arm when she goes up against Adam.

Speaking of which, Adam establishes himself as a sadistic, possessive bully who would rather get revenge on his ex than make the world a better place.

I also like that Roman showed concern for Neo’s welbeing, not really going berserk until she’s sent flying. it gives some depth to our card carrying criminal right before he’s hoist by his own petard.

That said, the highlight of the episode was definitely that fight with the Paladin, set to “I May Fall”. I feel like the song was written for that scene, and only used in Volume 1 as a preview. Even if I’m not sure if Velvet was originally part of said scene.

And how dare they have the last weapon Velvet uses be Penny’s.

Speaking of which, a part of me is actually hoping that Crescent Rose will get damaged in the next episode, just so Ruby can incorporate one of Penny’s blades into it as part of the repairs.

And I’m not just saying that because I ship Nuts and Dolts!

Next up, World of Remnant, so I can finish Volume 3 tomorrow night.

[sir-adamus]

RWBY timeline

The show doesn’t give us too much reference for how much time has passed in-show, but we do get some indications throughout the show so i’m gonna try and lay them out (and line up some things roughly that were happening around the same time). i’m gonna break things up into seasons as we’re never given specific dates and one of our key frames of reference is gonna be Ruby’s age, as she’s introduced to us in the Red trailer at age 15, and we now know through Chibi that her birthday is the 31st of October, and from there we can roughly map out when everything takes place

everything else under the cut because obviously this got looong

~80AGW

okay so we know the Vytal Festival is held once every two years and has done since the end of the Great War, with the year the series starts being one of those years, and we’re told it’s the 40th Festival since it’s inception, so lets call this year 80AGW (After the Great War)

Winter

so we’ll start at the start - the winter of this year

only a few things happen here, namely the Red trailer/its manga adaptation by Miwa and presumably Weiss’s training with Winter in the flashback segments of the Weiss Character Short (but it’s Atlas so it could be later). the White trailer/its manga adaptation by Miwa could also potentially happen here

Spring

quite a lot happens here - so its best to bullet point from here out

White trailer/Miwa manga chapters 3 & 4 - time of year unclear, may be set not long before the start of school year as the purpose of the fight is Jacques (or rather his secretary) ‘testing’ Weiss, intending that she lose so she’ll go to Atlas Academy where Jacques can still have control over her, instead of Beacon, where she wants to go

Black trailer/Miwa manga chapters 5 & 6 - set at the same time as the flashback in 3x07 and the flashback of Blake’s V5 Character Short (that it’s set in Forever Fall doesn’t help, though 3x07 helps suggests it’s not winter and could be early spring)

Yang V5 Character Short - Yang mentions she’ll be starting at Beacon 'soon’ but evidently the two are still under the impression that Ruby will be staying at Signal this year. seems to be set around spring time

Yellow trailer/Miwa manga chapters 7, 8 & 9 - not long prior to 1x01 (as we see Roman hiring Junior’s thugs)

1x01 - not long after Yellow trailer, implied to not be very long before beginning of the semester

the assumption that these all take place in Spring is based on that during the school year we see, several months do pass and it ends in Autumn/Fall (though still before the end of October, we’ll get to that), so Spring is what makes the most sense here. now we get into the Semesters - the first semester seems to span Spring-Summer given the very temperate weather we see in Vale during this time

- Semester 1 (spring - summer)

Volume 1 - starts not long after the main events of 1x01. takes place over most of the course of this semester (episodes 2-10 being the first three days, then skipping some time further). within this, the non-Red trailer parts of manga chapters 1/2 occur, happening sometime not long after 1x10, detailing an event of Jaune getting bullied by Cardin, and Ruby fighting in the training arena for the first time (there’s a slight retcon with Ruby only deciding to wear her hood over her uniform after this event)

Summer

this semester takes place over a few months - this is when the preparations for the Vytal festival begin, and exchange students begin arriving, Ruby comments that it’s been “a few months” since she ran into Torchwick in 1x15

this episode also gives us a sense that the semesters at the other academies must occur in parallel with each other, as Cinder makes her reappearance, along with Emerald and Mercury, at the end of volume 1. we learn in volume 5 that they used Lionheart to get entrance into the tournament, and as the Haven students would notice a team they’d never met before representing them, the implication is that the posing as students was happening at Haven itself before they arrived back in Vale - this also serves as an explanation for why Cinder wasn’t directly involved in volume 1 and an in-universe explanation for why Neo wasn’t around to help Roman out, because she was the fourth teammate (and being used as blackmail against Roman no doubt) - this will be important later

a short time after 1x16, we get the flashforward at the end of chapter 6 of the Miwa manga, with Blake waking up having dreamed the events of the Black trailer and Yang getting extreme cuteness proximity over Blake’s ears

at some point following this, chapters 10-15 of the Miwa manga occur, depicting a training mission set after 1x16 (evidenced by Penny’s appearance, mention of her having been 'influenced’ by something - implied to be Ruby - and Roman scouting out the tunnels he will eventually be moving his operation into under Cinder’s orders); RWBY and JNPR fight a Grimm that fuses together 4 King Taijitu into a hydra-esque monster; said Grimm was originally living in the tunnels leading to Mountain Glenn’s undercity, and was accidentally released by Roman

- Semester 2 (summer-autumn/fall)

when the show resumed in volume 2, we’re told there’s been a minimum of a two week break since the last semester ended (Ruby mentions that “the last two weeks have been great” but that might not necessarily have been their entire holiday, for all we know Ruby and Yang went home to visit their dad)

2x01 starts the day before semester 2 starts, Ruby mentions that the tournament marking the end of the Vytal festival is at “the end of the year” as preface for how “our second semester is going to be great!”. this establishes that volumes 2 and 3 occur within the same semester (and this is going to be important later), and while yeah, there’s a season change, we know from volume 1 that semesters span ‘months’ (which does make it seem like there’s a two long semester school year and then they have winter off)

Volume 2 has a much more contained timeframe compared to volume 1, taking place over the course of a couple of weeks and Vytal festivities beginning, starting with the dance prior to first year students beginning to take on real missions around the Kingdom - it’s unclear if classes are still in session after this point for First Years (as higher year groups like CFVY are already on missions before this point)

Grimm Eclipse takes place somewhere between volumes 2 and 3, and lasts a couple of days, detailing another mission team RWBY took on (JNPR are DLC for the game, so their presence isn’t canon) against the mutant Grimm created by Dr Merlot, who also had a big hand in the destruction of Mountain Glenn (i’m just adding flavour text at this point)

Autumn/’Fall’

volume 3 wastes no time in establishing that we’re now in the tail end of the year - the leaves have turned, they’re falling, we get mention that the weather has gotten colder right before Ruby establishes that it is fall at this point

we also know that it’s happening before the end of October, as Ciel gives Ruby’s age in her profile of her and mentions that she’s 15 (and Ruby doesn’t move to correct her on that)

the volume itself is very tightly contained, with most of it taking place over the course of about 5 days (i’m gonna be using episodes as reference points but there’s some overlap)

- Day 1, 3x01 - 3x03: RWBY vs ABRN, JNPR vs BRNZ and SSSN vs NDGO and Winter arriving and Qrow causing a ruckus all happening on the same day (this also establishes that Qrow’s been on mission since at least before the volume 1 finale, as we got his message about Salem having pawns way back in 1x16)

- Day 2, 3x04: Takes place the next day, depicting the first of the doubles rounds EM vs CY, Qrow’s talk with Yang and Ruby and Winter’s talk with Weiss, and ending as Winter leaves

- Day 3, 3x05: next day, PC vs CD, WY vs FN, Cinder finds out about Penny (it’s dark outside the window in this scene compared to the next scene which is still late afternoon)

- Day 4, 3x06 - 3x07: Pyrrha gets her entire reality shattered, Yang vs Mercury later in the evening and how that all ended up

- Day 5, 3x08 - 3x12 (pre-timeskip): literally everything else happens in the same day

Ruby wakes up from her silver-eyes induced coma, implied to be a few days later

Winter

there’s a time skip in 3x12 that jumps to wintertime, when Ruby leaves with JNR to go to Haven, following Qrow’s tipoff. this means that Ruby is 16 from this point on - and she visits Summer’s grave, creating a bookend with the Red trailer. it’s unclear when exactly she left, it could’ve been December, it could’ve been as late as February, we don’t know

~81AGW

Spring

Ruby’s volume 4 character short, which features a village on the outskirts of the Kingdom of Vale (confirmed by Kerry) being attacked by Grimm, Ruby notices and goes in to clear the place - this is the earliest confirmed point in the second year of the show (as the winter sections of the volume 3 finale could still be happening in the first year, we got no clarification) but probably not too long after the volume 3 finale (although long enough for the snow to have melted) given how RNJR are still in Vale at this point, they hadn’t even left the Kingdom let alone the continent

now before we get to Summer, i just wanna point out a few things about the synchronicity of the arcs for each character in volumes 4 and 5:

the events of volume 4  for each character are actually all pretty self-contained to a few weeks (because they don’t make sense if they spanned any longer), they’re just not in sync with each other (though Yang’s and Weiss’s are close), and all appear to end not long before each character’s start in volume 5

Blake starts volume 4 having only just recently gotten on to the ship to Menagerie - it seems to be spring/summer time, given that she’s already dressed for warmer weather (and this arc ends not long before the 'present’ sections of her character short and the beginning of her section in volume 5, which is two months before the start of the Fall Semester at Haven, which further suggests summer time) and her abilities have evidently taken a leap - it’s possible the reason it’s taken so long for her to leave the continent is she’d been traveling to the eastern side of the continent on foot and then got on a ship there, which’d explain the advancement in her abilities and the necessity for the new outfit. Blake’s arc is, however, a few weeks ahead of everyone elses, with things wrapping up in Menagerie two weeks before the events at Haven which the other protags were only a few days away from

Summer

Ruby and JNR’s story starts with 4x01, where they’re helping out another village (so likely summer time, as this arc ends with them getting a lift to Mistral and Qrow recovering, with volume 5 starting not long after that, and that’s a month before the beginning of the Fall Semester)

Yang’s arc also seems to be summer time, again over the space of a few weeks (weeks are noted to have passed), and ends with a skip to her arriving in Anima, which can’t be too long before her appearance in volume 5 (which is a few weeks after 5x01 for Ruby and JNR, as Oscar notes having had the cane for 'a few weeks’ before Yang and Weiss arrive) 

as mentioned Weiss’s arc was more or less parallel to Yang’s, seeming to take place over a few weeks and ending not long before where she was at the beginning of volume 5 (and she can’t have been with the bandits too long before Yang showed up - they were planning on ransoming her and she was planning on breaking out with her summon) 

In 5x01, Haven is noted to not be in session a month prior to the Fall semester starting. The commentary for this volume notes that they are between semesters at this point, not school-years, thus suggesting a month-long gap (at least) between semesters

While a month passes in Ruby’s timeline by the end of this volume, two days before the Fall semester, it still appears to be Summer time, as the leaves haven’t begun to turn (Mistral is in a similar east-west lateral line as Vale and a fairly temperate climate on a mountain, the effects of Autumn should have set in by this time) - this makes sense when you remember that the semesters of the Academy school years more or less line up with each other; so the Fall semester has to line up with Beacon’s second semester, which means the battle for Haven is taking place roughly a year after volume 2′s Best Day Ever

now we move on to our latest volume, volume 6

now despite the snowy setting, only two weeks have passed in-universe, as confirmed in 6x01. the reason for the sudden climate difference is that the heroes are going from the more temperate regions of Mistral to the colder, snowier parts of the continent in the north

this also places most of the events of the volume about a year after the dance arc - just for reference, we’re still a couple months out from Ruby’s 17th birthday at least (i know Lindsay’s said on two occasions that Ruby is now seventeen, but a couple of points against that; the timeline the show gives us doesn’t support it, it’s not direct word of god and both times Lindsay was answering a question quickly, which means it’s not great confirmation as it’s hard to answer accurately when you’re on a time limit or distracted and without reference materials to confirm it)

and it’s actually pretty easy to determine this, because here’s what Patch looked like in volume 3 Fall, prior to Ruby’s birthday

and here’s how Patch looks at the beginning of the Fall semester

these are very clearly not the same time of year

volume 6 itself has a case of the main plot taking place over about 4 days (day 1, everything from the Argus Limited to finding Brunswick farms, episodes 1-5. day 2, escaping Brunswick and arriving in Argus, episodes 6-7. day 3, trying to reason with Cordovin, JNR getting caught up with the plot and Oscar disappearing and getting a new outfit, episodes 8-10. day 4 - which could be a few days later, but not necessary - pretty much the rest of the volume and ending with arriving in Atlas that night) and then other plots going on at different times

- Adam’s slaughter of the remaining White Fang is some point in the two week time skip, as we see him with his new blindfold - it’s hard to see under the hood but you can see it - during the Argus Limited attack, presumably he just waited in Argus for Blake to show up again, as his appearance in 6x07 was a hallucination, as evidenced by his vol 1-3 outfit and mask

- Cinder arrives in Little Miss Malachite’s territory a month after the Battle of Haven, already a few weeks behind the team, and she’s attacked by and forms an alliance with Neo a week later. their progress involves trekking back to Haven and then stealing an airship, so it’s difficult to pinpoint where they are timelinewise right now

- everything with Salem and the other villains happens at some point in between these two events, as by process of elimination, Hazel was ‘the big guy’ asking after RWBY that Little Miss’s bodyguard mentioned having arrived a week prior - as this is pretty much the only way he’d know that Ozpin’s taking the lamp to Atlas

[undeadwicchan]

Rewatching RWBY: Volume 2, Episodes 9-12 [ Live Blog]

What a calm before the storm kind of ending, just as I remember it.

[Episode 9]

I had to pause to understand what Oobleck was saying so fast…

Girls, c’mon. Oobleck isn’t that bad.

Omg Jaune’s fanboying.

That was… really awkward and tense.

Blake’s eyes lingered on Sun for a moment as they were leaving… hm…

Seeing what remains of the attempted expansion of Vale is very depressing…

LMAO, Nice loophole Ruby.

Oobleck is a very enjoyable character asfktajk

I’m gonna love the camera for this episode aren’t I?

Yang’s motivation to be huntress is that she likes thrills, but… I wonder if her motives have changed when being a huntress after everything that has happened thus far…

Weiss’s motivation as a huntress is definitely going to be further explored in Volume 7.

Blake just wants her talents to be used to better the world, but I wonder if she’ll eventually take control over the newly reformed White Fang in the future after doing what she has to do with the others.

Those Grimm are HUGE

That’s deep Oobleck.

A certain chunk of fans didn’t really like this part, but I fucking LOVE seeing Yang, Blake, and Weiss question themselves on their motives when it comes to training to become huntresses. It adds layers to their characters.

Ominous.

[Episode 10]

Glynda says the truth, and she should say it louder.

Man they both look depressed…

“Our businesses operated in ...a morally gray area” “That’s putting it lightly” Y..Yeah no kidding, just ask Adam.

Subtle hints about Adam from Blake, and I can see not just his symbol on there, but the other flowers too…

Again, I LOVE THIS. I LOVE THIS CONVERSATION.

Oobleck heard that, Weiss. ;)

Ruby’s sneaking lmao.

Taking crater face to a whole new level.

“The boss is gonna want to see this one” Again… WHERE THE FUCK WAS ADAM THIS WHOLE TIME?!

Hello again, Roman.

Thank you for the history lesson, Oobleck.

And here’s a reminder as to why Oz was so mad at Merlot in Grimm Eclipse.

[Episode 11]

There’s just something humorous about Roman’s way of bullying Ruby.

Ruby is so lucky not of those bullets hit her.

How many of Adam’s men did Adam had to give Roman control over!? Those look like hundreds!

Omg Oobleck and Ruby.

You know.. I actually feel bad for the White Fang here… They’re being forced to do Cinder’s and Roman’s bidding, dying for Cinder’s cause and not their own…  And their god damn actual leader isn’t even here!

Oh hi there Neo.

Something tells me if we were to get rematch between Neo and Yang. Neo would still kick her ass.

Like for real, that’s Adam’s right-hand man and lieutenant and he’s here, under Roman’s orders too?!

Blake’s look of concern kinda tells me, she knows how strong Banesaw actually is.

Like Mentor like Student.

And so begins… The Weiss never winning a 1v1 against a human curse….

“You think a little bow on top is gonna make people forget who you were? What you've done...?” WHAT DID BLAKE DO, RT WHY HAVEN’T YOU EXPANDED ON THIS.

Thank god for aura protecting Weiss, but oof…

Hello Raven!!

You know seeing her V2 model… I can see why people thought Raven and Adam have a connection of sorts. Especially with their appearances and weapons.

Oobleck and Zwei is probably one of the most iconic duos in the show.

That was spine-chilling to see that happen…

Once again, ominous.

[Episode 12]

MFW LAST EPISODE WE’LL HEAR MONTY AS REN, *CRIES*

Jfc, those sirens are ominous sounding.

That’s a lot of Grimm…

Reinforcements are here!

LMAO Jaune.

You can do it Jaune!

Ah man, it would have been awesome to see Sun and Neptune in action here.

Now we see Atlas in action.

Go Emerald!

CAFFEINE IS MY JAM!

LET’S GO TEAM CFVY!

YATSUHASHI!

VELVET!

FOX!!

Coco is such a badass lesbian. A true role model for all lesbians.

Glynda had enough of everyone’s shit at this point.

Alright they got rid of all of the Grimm in Vale.

I know people didn’t like how it kinda ended, but it’s nice.

Literally calm before the storm kind of Season finale. I like it.

Also Yang and Blake kinda looked like they were holding hands, but not sure.

Ozpin is not having any of the council’s bullshit.

“I will keep our people safe, you have to trust me.” Like Oz hasn’t heard that one a billion times.

“You brought this on yourself” BITCH.

Ironwood is smug about his title and towards Torchwick.

Y’know, I feel if Roman had told the truth, most of V3 would never happen…..

Oh god, that laugh, that crazed look on his face. I remember a theory or something like that where it they theorized that Roman is like unbound/unhinged without his hat.

Yeah, I don’t think Adam is too happy about that. Especially the possibility his lieutenant is dead.

AND SPEAK OF THE DEVIL WHERE THE FUCK HAVE YOU BEEN GOOD SIR?!

I DEMAND ANSWERS RT. WHAT DID CINDER HAVE ADAM DO THIS WHOLE TIME!?

Also it sucks that this scene between Yang and Raven was retconned out of the show. It would have been interesting.

Once again, it’s still my second favorite volume for all of it build ups and everything. I’m gonna take a food break and make sure… I’m emotionally ready for Volume 3…My favorite volume...

[littlemisssquiggles]

mojo72400 asked

“Combat goggles is yang x neptune and gelato is neo x roman”

yellow-eyed-green-crocodile replied to your post “What's your favorite rwby ships? Mine are rosegarden, white knight,...”

Gelato is the ship between Neo and Roman, but I don't know about Combat Goggles. I think it's Yang x Neptune. Which I ship myself, because of the cool girl/uncool guy dynamic.

lookyeekiti replied to your post

“What's your favorite rwby ships? Mine are rosegarden, white knight,...”

I agree with Rosegarden and the between of Blacksun and bumblebee wholeheartedly!

niteangel496 asked 

“On the subject of RWBY Ships, I ship Rosegarden (they're just so precious), Renora (been shipping them together since v1), Jaded (their back & forth banter is amusing to watch), & Gelato (Torchwick showing worry for Neo in v3, then fighting Ruby even more ferociously afterward basically made me like the ship even more). I also kinda have a softpot for Illia x Blake (I love how Illia didn't resent Blake for loving someone else & how she was so focused on helping her people no matter what)” 

Squiggles Answers: 

Thanks for clarifying the ships for me Mojo, Yellow and Nite. Appreciate it. Funnily enough, I thought Roman and Neo’s ship was called Froyo for some reason. Blame it on RWBY Chibi.

RWBY Chibi made me appreciate the Gelato ship. Their relationship dynamic in the Chibi-verse is too cute especially with how eagerly devoted Neo is to Roman. I loved the episode with the red button where Roman ends up falling into a black hole and Neo’s all like “He’s a dum-dum but he’s my dum-dum” before jumping in to join him. 

I thought that was adorable. Gelato in the Chibi-verse is win-win in my books. 

Ooooh yeah, I forgot that Yang and Neptune had a ship too. If that’s the case then I used to like Combat Goggles as well. Back when Neptune was introduced in V2, ever since the ‘Paint the Town’ episode where Neptune was paired with Yang, I liked how Yang and Neptune looked together. 

While they lacked any kind of romantic chemistry, still thought they looked cool. I even did a little fanart of them together once because I thought they looked so cool side by side. Aaah good times.

Combat Goggles was part of Past Squiggles along with the time I considered shipping Lancaster and…begrudgingly Team RWBY with Team CRDL. Now before you thwack me, let me explain.

Back in Volume 1, when I first got into RWBY and was still getting used to the characters, I considered Jaune and Ruby because Jaune was technically the first person to reach out to Ruby and from there, I always liked their rapport as the two leaders of our two main teams.

I wasn’t sure if I wanted to ship them. I was more like, “Well, if things don’t work out for Jaune with Weiss or Pyrhha then Ruby would be my third option.”

At the time, I wasn’t sure if romance was in the cards for these two but for the first volume, I saw Ruby as Jaune’s backup love interest in a sense. But that was since RWBY V1 days. I don’t think about Ruby and Jaune’s relationship like that anymore and you can tell that the main canon series is more or less setting up Jaune and Ruby caring about each other like family. Jaune is the big brother figure in Ruby’s life and was the proxy replacement for Yang during V4 and V5. And Ruby is like a little sister to Jaune. He obviously cares a lot about her but not in way that screams anything beyond platonic and mutual respect. This is only my opinion though. No disrespect for the proud Lancaster shippers.

As for CRDL and RWBY---Again, wayyyy back in V1 when we got our first glimpse of Team CRDL during the ceremony when the teams were being formed by Ozpin, I actually thought CRDL, as the main all boys team would be paired with RWBY.

I thought the series might pull a Winx Club---y’know where the main all girls team would be paired off with the members of the main all male team like how it was with the Fairies of the Winx Club and the Specialists team.

BOY WAS I WRONG! I thought that was going to be the case…up until the episode afterwards where CRDL were revealed to all be a bunch of irredeemable jerks that would bully Jaune and harass poor Velvet for being a Faunus. It’s a stain on my past as a RWBY shipper. One that I can shamelessly admit now. But hey, I was young and still getting into RWBY back when all it had was the one first season. Mistakes were made.

@lookyeekiti and @niteangel496 Damn skippy RoseGarden = love! Joooooooin me brothers and sisters! I honestly have high hopes for Ruby and Oscar’s friendship. Though I’m still unclear if the CRWBY Writers plan on getting romantic with these two younglings, it’s a concept I welcome because, for me, it’s refreshing to see Ruby getting attention from a young boy closer to her age that isn’t just purely companionable; if y’know what I mean.

Oscar was hinted at having a crush on Ruby last volume so I’m really hoping that, even with all the madness to come from this new volume with the journey to Argus, the show still takes the opportunity to highlight this aspect of Oscar’s feelings towards Ruby. If RWBY is an anime then in true anime fashion, I want some deep blushing moments where Ruby smiles or just breathes in Oscar’s direction and his whole face turns into a spotted tomato.

Bonus points if Maria Calavera picks up on Oscar’s crush on Ruby and boldly designates herself as his wing women; playing matchmaker by constantly creating opportunities where Oscar and Ruby can be alone or at least closer to each other. It doesn’t need to be on-the nose since, as I said, there’s a lot to come this season for both Ruby and Oscar’s development. But little hints and nods and gabs would be greatly appreciated.

@niteangel496 Ilia and Blake are cool. Speaking of Illia, I hope she and the Belladonnas keep safe this volume. While I’m still unclear on what the CRWBY Writers’ intentions for Adam’s story are this season---hunt down Blake for revenge or…personally target cutting down the New Faunus Brotherhood since the Belladonnas are a part of it along with Ilia in order to hit Blake where it hurts and draw her out to face him. Whatever they decide to do with Adam, I’m concerned for what it will mean for Ilia’s fate.

But for now, let’s only think of the cute moments with Ilia. Speaking of which, can I just say that I really adore Ilia’s new look. I like how it shows off her freckled tum-tum which I find so cute as its covered in spots. I want somebody to poke the freckled tummy, mainly Sun because he totally would.

~LittleMissSquiggles (2018)

[helihi]

RWBY’s writing and pacing

It’s not weird to be on Tumblr and notice how people’s opinions tend to be polarizing. It doesn’t matter if we’re talking about politics or a simple tv show, the larger the fandom, the louder people tend to scream.

Last week, the FNDM went from “Does Illia is gay?” to Illia fits into the predatory evil gay trope and she might as well end up dead to fill the Bury your gays quota. Although we were able to see people in the grey area, the extremes were the loudest.

This week the discourse is as follows: RWBY’s writing is bad vs. “Oh my god, why do people always want action packed stories, you need some breathing in between and some exposition to set things up!”.

I’d like to bring an objective view on regards to this subject because I consider it to be extremely important when it comes to the show.

If you don’t ask for better writing, you’re not going to get any.

If you applaud mediocrity, you’re gonna get mediocrity.

RWBY’s writing has never been great. It has had fantastic set ups and scenes, but it has never been great. Yes, that also includes the time when Monty was still alive (Rest in Peace). I’m sorry, but the flaws have always been there.

I’d like to point the following things out for you guys to understand what I’m trying to say:

Volume 1

RWBY was barely starting, they didn’t have a big budget, so the episodes were short. This caused the plot to be very simple and every problem being solved quite rapidly.

The characters at first seem like tropes.

A shit ton of clichés.

Because of plot convenience, some characters act OOC to what we later know about them. (Since Jaune had to stand up to Cardin, no one of team RWBY or JNPR stood up to him when he was bullying Velvet and being a racist prick).

Blake being a faunus ended up leading to the volume finale and didn’t build up Team RWBY relationships and dynamics. We could have had a serious moment of self reflexion, not only Weiss realizing that she was putting every faunus in the same bag, but Yang and Ruby dealing with the fact that Blake hid who she was because of racism (also prompting a realization that maybe, until that point, they contributed to said racism by being bystanders).

However, vol 1 had great things on its side that allowed the show to continue.

Variety of characters.

Rich lore

Cool character concepts and weapons.

The show was funny.

I can accept that the start of the show was not the best, it was understandable giving how little budget they had.

Volume 2

The tone of the series becomes slightly more serious. We have new characters and new villains being introduced into the show. Something big is cooking and this is the first glance we get at it. The good include:

The humor is back.

That food fight scene eveyone loves.

The dance.

Papa Shcnee may not be a good person being foreshadowed.

Yang convincing Blake to go to the dance while also giving her space.

Dr. Oobleck being a great teacher and giving the girls an insight on themselves.

Neo and Raven making an appearance.

However, for some reason this volume seems really blurry in my head. Neptune’s character introduction is really bland, the in betweens of everything seem really irrelevant and most importantly: the season finale seems like a mid-season finale if anything.

Volume 3

My favorite volume; I’m going to be the least biased I can be. This volume featured a Naruto style tournament (I’m sure other animes did it before Naruto, but this one is the most widely known). This allowed the writers to show us some great battles, team combinations, and do some world building.

While the first half of the season relies more on comedy and action, when shit hits the fan it goes perfectly well. I have to say, the moment Yang gets caught after Emerald uses her semblance was the first moment since I started watching the show that I felt hooked. Somehow for the first time ever, I felt that something could actually happen. Stakes were being raised, and it shouldn’t come as anyone’s surprise that this season was the one that attracted as much fans as it did.

There are some bad things, unfortunately, about this season.

Ruby’s silver eyed warrior powers come from nowhere and it was only mentioned in the first episode ever.

A shit ton of new characters! But 0 depth to any of them!

We never get to see Team JNPR interactions that are not JP or NR centric, except that one time Jaune talked to Ren briefly in vol 2.

Seriously this volume needed more character interactions. We could have had Pyrrha interacting with team RWBY more. Even more team CVFY.

The FNDM grew exponentially, and the expectations to how RT was going to follow up to the fall of Beacon built up the moment volume 3 ended.

And finally, volume 4 arrived.

Volume 4

There’s nothing wrong with a slow volume. It’s true that you can’t have a show 100% about fighting. The reason popular animes and good shounen fights are popular is because of the stakes set up by character motivation and the plot. The problem with volume 4 is not the lack of fights, but how bad it fails at exploring the characters after the fall of Beacon.

Jumping from one character’s story line to another one didn’t help either. The constant teasing with cliff hangers began getting really obnoxious here. Is Qrow going to die? Is he? IS HE??

Ruby: she gets no character development. The only scenes that could be considered part of her arc would be: Ruby waking up listening to Pyrrha’s voice, only to find out it’s Jaune’s phone; the small talk she and Jaune have before fighting the creepy Nuckelavee; the letter she writes at the end.

Weiss: probably the best written storyline of the volume. However, having her train and building up the possibility of her actually facing her father before escaping, only to have her running away in high heels was not pay off. You can easily find a way to write Weiss confronting her father before leaving Atlas to find her team and save the world.

Blake: she heads to Menagerie in order to see her family again and find the way to cope with what happened at Beacon. She felt extremely guilty and was really in a bad place. Having Sun be with her makes sense, he says it himself, but the execution was extremely poor. Sun didn’t give Blake a choice. Furthermore, Blake is not able to open up after what happened at Beacon because she gets interrupted every time.

Sun: I’m so sorry his character ended up being comedic relief. He could have learned more about how to deal with Blake, and provide her with more emotional support that he ended up doing but no.

Yang: although I agree with most people that the events of volume 4 don’t have a canonical time stamp (because Miles and Kerry wanted to avoid plot holes), her coping with the fall is awfully paced. Armed and Ready was not earned by the end of the volume. I’m sorry, but Yang is not ready to face her demons yet. She’s suffering from PTSD, clearly needed to talk about what happened at the fall, and her feelings for Blake are filled with rage and hurt.

STILL NO SILVER EYES EXPLANATION DESPITE THE FACT THAT RUBY ALMOST DIED. WHY DOES THE SHOW KEEP TREATING THE MAIN CHARACTERS AS CHILDREN?

Klein being a really good character but only making an appearance twice.

The good of the volume include:

Raven and Qrow.

Ren’s backstory.

Weiss’s family being explored.

Did you miss it? You might have blinked.

Volume 5

This volume promised a lot of fighting, and to be honest, I rather have better set ups. Most of the people who are defending today’s episode claim that those of us who complain want mindless action without careful exposition.

I would like to remind everyone, including Miles and Kerry, the golden rule or writing for an audiovisual medium: SHOW, DON’T TELL.

I was already alarmed when I saw that Illia had more character development in a short, outside the main narrative, than Ruby got in an entire season.

I have many issues with this volume, most of them involve awful writing.

Ozpin’s story: why are the characters of the show getting so little information on him? Story wise it makes sense that us, the viewers, to piece together the information of this important character little by little; but within the show it makes no sense that Jaune and Yang are okay with knowing as little as they do. HOW OLD IS OZPIN? WHO IS SALEM? WHY DOES SALEM WANT TO DESTROY EVERYHTING?

Menagerie: Filled with cliffhangers and the slowest moving story ever. I love politic centered stories. For crying out loud, when everyone dropped snk because of it, I was hooked as fuck. The problem is that once again, the writers give you small doses of a plot line that should already be over.

Raven: is she evil? is she an anti-hero? Can the FNDM stop judging Raven so harshly after barely having any sort of explanation to why she’s doing things?

Most of the exposition during this volume has been through conversations of things we already know. The only things that are new are: Ozpin turning the Branwens into birds, the Branwens joining Beacon to learn how to kill huntsman, Ozpin confirmed for wizard and creator of the maidens.

And the worst part is, the CRWBY has written amazing scenes. Exposition doesn’t have to be bad, it can be perfect when done right:

Weiss and Yang’s conversation during ch8 was so beautiful. It established some common ground with them, it served to show Weiss’s character development; Yang finally gets to open up about Blake. The physical and oral communication this scene has is perfect. I love it so much, this is what the show needs. (Also, the animation was gorgeous, imma cry)

Illia’s conflict: not only when capturing Blake does she confess her feelings, she tells Blake that she was so blinded by her love of Adam that she didn’t know what Illia was going through and why she is acting the way she is now. The stakes are high with her, and I honestly want her redemtion arc ASAP.

Jesus, I wish I didn’t have to explain all of this, but I’m tired of people jumping to conclusions without thinking why people are complaining at the pacing of the show.

RWBY’s writing has never been great, it has had good times, but the pacing as always been terrible. Volume 4 showed the cracks clearer than ever before because more people were watching and the bar was set higher.

Anyways, here’s me hoping next week’s episode is better. This further proofs that my brothers claim is right: “The only way to enjoy RWBY is by binge watching it”.