#I FEEL HONORED THAT A RWBY CHARACTER FOLLOWED ME

[matt0044]

Might we get a Volume 10 Chapter Zero?

Part of me feels like we're likely to get a recap special of RWBY so far. Maybe go the extra mile with it being framed as an interview of the girls with their arrival of Vacuo, many reporters wanting to strike while the iron is hot.

I can see each girl giving accounts of what came before. Maybe even justifying it as the interviewer wanting to know what happened during the Fall of Beacon. I also think that it would be interesting to hear the characters speak for themselves of their journey.

I know clip shows are reviled but some of the better ones have characters actually talk about the moments in retrospect, giving us new appreciation for what came before.

Like Blake and Yang explaining how they fell for each other.

Weiss speaking of her family troubles and finding solidarity with Team RWBY and JNOR.

Maybe even a JNR section where they honor Pyrrha's memory by talking about her and how she did all she could to the very end.

This would be a primer for those who follow Viz Media's releases and liscenses but aren't sure about this RWBY business. Maybe even give a more legitimate overview of the story compared to certain videos with an incentive towards the negative.

[konnoiseur]

What is it about Jaune that makes you like him? /gen

i know a lot of what im about to say can be boiled down to "hes miles self-insert" but like. as a certified Miles-Hater thats so dumb to judge a writers fav character (i dont think jaune is even miles character) or the character they heavily base around their own experiences on the feelings you have for the writer. many MANY writers far better than miles luna have based characters on themselves-- which is what jaune is btw a self-insert/mary-sue is ENTIRELY different-- anyways

you see, something that made weiss and pyrrha (and somewhat blake) in vol 1-3 many peoples fav characters, including me, was that they had functional character arcs. pyrrhas was far more deep and interesting than weiss' (bc the writers were scared to actually tackling unlearning racism) but functionally: weiss started off as an uppity racist bitch that was entitled and self-important, and by the end of vol 3 she had not only learned to summon, but also did it in protection of a faunus-- regardless of the quality of writing, this was a perfectly acceptable story arc during vol1-3 era that made weiss a standout. pyrrha went from a sort of empty mentor shell character to somebody that the audience understood to struggle with her identity, her destiny, her talents and lack of agency, coupled with this idea that she might be forever changed should she take on the burden of her destiny... and then she kissed jaune and took on cinder solo (meaning that if she was rescued [meaning she escapes the stigma of being the unbeatable girl, thus escaping her destiny] or somehow won, she could return to jaune [thus gaining the joy she was always afraid she would never have] OR she would die [again, escaping her destiny]

you see, people LIKE character development and that is in woeful short supply in RWBY. but jaune is constantly changing, while other characters remain static for massive bouts of time (ren, weiss, yang) or repeat the same character arcs again and again (ruby, nora) and while hes changing, its always for the benefit of others

jaune starts off as a doofus cringelord that throws up on the ship to beacon. hes a liar, getting his hands on fake transcripts (ive always wanted to know how the hell he did that), hes a poor student (like everyone else tbf) and he struggles to fight. hes unprepared, and he struggles with leadership, like ruby! where ruby had to deal with internal team struggles (blake v weiss and weiss v ruby), jaune struggles with external factors (his own backstory and cardins bullying)

ive seen Certain Individuals say they hate jaune because hes mean to pyrrha when she offered to help him but like. isnt that the point of character arcs and development? jaune started off as thinking he had to shoulder the burden of what cardin was doing to him (which btw was physically bullying and mental exhaustion, he was doing the burden of five people and in the meantime was being physically harmed) as well as the guilt of his own backstory (failing to live up to a huntsman legacy [which GOD why havent they come back to this at all] and his lies.) and by the end of it, off the advice of ruby, he fights back to protect his team and DEVELOPS into someone that willingly and genuinely apologizes to pyrrha and asks if she would still be okay with training him. its genuinely good development for both of them!

jaune continues to change post pyrrha. he honors her by incorporating her armor into his own, carrying her silently alongside them, while also keeping up his training because he knows that the best way to honor pyrrha is to keep up the fight, to protect their friends, to make sure she didnt die in vain. hes ALWAYS supported ruby from the very beginning, following her, supporting his teammates

im not going to pretend jaunes flawless or faultless. especially in vol 4-6 where a LOOOOOOOT of writing flaws and character issues crop up for me, in all characters including jaune. i hate the way they all blame Oz/Oscar, i hate his stupid plan to steal an atlas airship (cordovin literally offered to escort weiss just have her claim oscar as a servant boy and have qrow go along as her pet bird, have her go to atlas with oscar and qrow with the lamp and then ironwood would have given cordo orders to have everyone else shipped out GOD), i hate the way they all just SIT AROUND at haven, i hate the way they all act like qrow turning into a bird is some fucked up thing, yadda yadda yadda. the fight at haven is bad and ugly and he (like everyone) fights like an absolute ding dong but OUGH his semblance...

listen one thing about me? i love paladins. love healers. im a support main, i play clerics and bards, i LOVE paladins. theres something really great to me that his aura was set up from the very beginning as something he had a lot of and now his semblance is literally giving that away to his friends, literally giving his SOUL to others to heal and boost and protect. that's genuinely so beautiful to me. its not only a wonderful semblance that has really good utility and synergy (regardless that he only seems to use it with ren) but its wonderful that it heals, because thats the first thing he found out aura can actually do; pyrrha unlocked his aura to HEAL him. and he struggled for so long with the fact that he couldnt help pyrrha because he didnt know how but now? his literal super power is to help others. (i mean. not that the writers use it to great effect but still. the potential is there)

and then the atlas arc starts and man this is some of my favorite jaune era because a lot of what i like is background details! i ADORE his friendship with marrow, i truly wish more characters got to make friends with the characters in atlas (give me blake/neon NOW!!!!!!!!! give me weiss/flynt NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!! double date!!!!!!!!) guard dogs is literally one of my top five ships (i also adore marrow to death and back so its a no brainer) i like that he actually steps up to do huntsmanning work that isnt glorious or battling, even if at first hes a little disappointed and then!!! it literally comes back around in the finale episodes!!!! it showed that even seemingly silly tasks like escorting kindergarteners to school and back can be utilized in the right situation, bc hunting in atlas isnt just about fighting monsters, its about taking care of the people, from evacuation procedures to literally escorting children. i loved it and it felt really satisfying to watch (even if it did make me judge literally everyone else like what now suddenly you dont care about the civilians in mantle?)

and also, this entire time, its been wonderful to see jaune slowly build up his arsenal and his fighting skills. ill admit, some of my fondness from jaune comes from my own headcanons regarding his legacy and such but tbh the fact that only some of my enjoyment comes from my headcanons and not literally all my enjoyment (like most characters) is an improvement. but also, its just ingrained in my media to want to root for the underdog, the clumsy bad fighter that gets cooler and cooler, thats the appeal of the literal Heroes Journey (sora, noctis, link, jaune; all swordfighters, all either knight/royalty coded, all went on the heroes journey, all some of my favorite characters... coincidence? i think not!)

im not really going to speak on vol9 too much because its a lot and its unfinished rn and i dont know how this series arc is going to end for him so i cant make an informed sort of conclusion but i think hes very in character as a naturally continuation of his character before the time in the EA that was put through the Horrors for a couple dozen years. it makes my heart Ache

anyways this was already a lot. basically, i like jaune because he feels like a genuine paladin and feels like what a huntsman should be like. one of my biggest complaint that is specific to him and not a series wide issue with writing is i wish his designs were better? im loving the rusted knight look with the full armor and the longer hair and i hope that he keeps the ponytail (if he survived vol9). hes a genuinely good friend who ive never questioned whether he actually would be a good huntsman (as ive questioned with literally everyone else of the main cast except ruby) or if he even wants to be there at all! he has his own motivations to be in this fight beyond just following ruby and he actively gets better throughout the show (unlike rwby, who all started off goated and then have had to be nerfed through the show). i think he had a lot of potential that was wasted but i think hes genuinely one of the better characters we've gotten as a main staple of the show and hes been there since the beginning!

i hope this answered your question! i could literally go on for hours (it took me an hour to respond to this alone) so if you have specific scenarios you want me to break down i can totally gush about jaune, or my headcanons (for example i have a hc that he has a drag persona named Matre Domme, a play on matyrdom (bc joan of arc) as well as being french for Master Domme bc of course jaunes experience with feminity and what he would explore through drag is rooted in strong dominate women)

[birder-of-remnant]

Here is my list of the top 12 obscure RWBY villains (part 1 of 2). While RWBY is an expansive series complete with complex characters and numerous mainline villains, there are also a surprising number of rabbit holes and side series that introduce a range of lesser-known Ne'er-Do-Wells! This is just my take on some of the more interesting scumbags in the RWBY universe outside of the main narrative, starting with some of my least favorites and working my way up. How I rank them is pretty arbitrary to be honest. Spoilers Ahoy! Naturally, this list also contains several spoilers for the various RWBY comics, manga, games, and splinter video series. Continue at your own peril!

12. Starro - Lowest on my list is Starro… the evil starfish… from outer space. Seriously, this is a RWBY villain, no joke. Anyone out there who is a fan of the DC universe may recognize this character as one of the original villains for the Justice League. For those who are not (like me), this came as a bit of a… surprise. Starro serves as the primary villain in the first RWBY x Justice League comic book where he starts the first several years of his time on Remnant hypnotizing fish. Eventually, he gets bored of exerting his domain over fish and other sea life, and decides to conquer the world by building an army of starfish-fanatical minions, including Phyrra and the other members of JNPR, who must all bear his starfish emblem to strike the fear of starfish into their foes. In the end, the Justice League manages to overthrow this oversized echinoderm (with a little help from Team RWBY). Honestly, I don't know whether to laugh or cry looking at Starro. I will give them credit for… uniqueness. I do not think that there will ever be another starfish supervillain. Still, as cringy as Starro is, it is still far less cringy than seeing Ruby flirting with superman IN THE FIRST 5 PAGES OF THE BOOK (shiver). But that is just my personal feeling, no worries if there is anyone out there who likes Red Cap or Starro, I promise that I do not cast judgement.

11. Vermillion - Honestly, I cannot say much about Vermillion at this point since I have yet to watch season 2 of the Grimm Campaign (mostly because I do not want to buy a Rooster Teeth subscription). So I cannot place him any higher than number 11 on this list, but I would recommend watching the Grimm Campaign. The Grimm Campaign is a D&D style RWBY adventure played by Sherry Shawcross and company as they explore a conspiracy in the Mistral city of Kuchinashi. This semi-canon RWBY side-series follows Team SAFR as they investigate reports of bizarre Grimm and unusual criminal activity. Vermillion is only foreshadowed in season 1 but serves as the main antagonist in the second season.

10. Edward Caspian - Okay, he may not technically be a villain. But this character from 'RWBY: After The Fall' still makes some pretty questionable choices that bring pain and misery in roughly equal proportions. Being kind by nature, he may mean well but he still makes Qrow's bad luck semblance seem like mild indigestion (yes, I know, but it is still his decision for them to be there).

9. Deery & Perry - The only two antagonists on this list from the main series. Both are members of the White Fang that kept popping up during the good ol' Beacon Days. Perry is perhaps the more recognizable of the two due to wearing glasses. Both first appeared during the White Fang recruitment rally in season 2 and played minor roles during the Mt Glenn incident. While Perry's fate following that literal train wreck is not known, Deery apparently escaped and could often be seen next to Adam in season 3, even participating in the Fall of Beacon. As with many other villains, they probably believed that their extremist actions were just. Honorable mentions go to Floyd the Geist from the Chibi universe for this spot.

8. Hei Xiong - A minor villain in the book 'Roman Holiday' alongside Neopolitan's father, Xiong was the biggest and scariest crime lord in Vale until Roman came along and showed him the door. In terms of personality, he is kind of your standard mafia boss-type persona. Although not as brazen as Lil Miss Malachite, he ruled with a subtle hand and a keen wit, unlike his son Junior from the main series. Although the book is excellent, Xiong himself is somewhat of a plain-vanilla type of character and so I placed him down here at number 8.

7. Bram Thornmane - Okay, perhaps not as obscure as some of the other villains on this list but still not one of the show's staple boogeymen. Bram is an antagonist from the game 'RWBY: Arrowfell.' He wraps himself in a cloak of false nobility and lies to manipulate others into doing his dirty work. Unstable and egotistical, he seeks only vengeance over a petty grudge. Some people just can't handle rejection. Overall, I found his character somewhat forgettable but at least he puts up a good fight.

This ends Part 1! Thank you to anyone crazy enough to actually read this. Sorry for any spoilers! Though I promise you are not missing much with Starro. I will be posting Part 2 in a while.

[itsclydebitches]

Clyde, it would be my honor to make a Apollo prophecy with you.

The highest display of love to a mutual.

We will weather whatever the Gods throw at us together, friend! XD

Okay wait, not to take my own memeing seriously... but we've kinda already gotten this? Granted, comparing any two shows will inevitably lead to a wealth of differences, but think about the framework: two characters of the same gender, heavily coded as queer and in love, face a crisis where one of them is (presumably) killed and sent to a Very Bad Place. There are similarities between SPN's Super Hell and RWBY's "Don't fall" void, in that the latter is heavily implied as not just a death, but a horrific one. Ambrosius isn't shrugging at the possibility that one of them might fall with a, "Eh, it would suck to leave this world early, but that void leads to Remnant Heaven! :D" There are similarities between SPN's choice to reconnect Dean and Cas in actual Heaven (even if we don't see that) and the inevitability of Blake finding Yang in the Wonderland. There are similarities in the sacrificial nature of the death, even if in RWBY's case the sacrifice was for her sister rather than the love interest.

The two most significant differences to my mind are that a) Cas' death immediately follows his admissions, whereas RWBY hasn't had even a one-sided confirmation yet, and b) that in SPN this occurs towards the very end of the show, whereas RWBY presumably has at least two more Volumes. So it's by no means an exact comparison, but there are #vibes here that I think are worth acknowledging. Oh look, another coded-but-not-explored pair of queer characters is dealing with a horrific "death" that doesn't actually remove them from the narrative because the rest of the cast has a personal relationship with Gods/the afterlife/alternate universes, thereby allowing the writers to indulge in that removal without committing to it given the inevitable backlash. I'm still not on team "RWBY is queer baiting!" because I think there's a lot of nuance here, as well as the influence of the term's original definition, however, if we start comparing RWBY to other shows, the lines become more blurred. Why is SPN's "Cas, not for anything, but the last time someone looked at me like that I got laid" a problem without a confirmation, but Blake's blush and the hand-holding without a confirmation isn't? Is it just because RWBY hasn't gone on as long? (Even though I think that quotation is from Season Five.) Is it only because RWBY doesn't treat the coding as a joke like SPN does? Is that was keeps the hope alive: that if creators aren't encouraging their audience to laugh at the idea of this couple, then it's considered proof that they'll commit to it? For me personally, there's a huge divide between the two. Queer baiting--or it's more complicated cousin we've seen in recent years--doesn't have to be followed by a criticism/joke. It's entirely possible that RWBY will continue to imply without committing or, like SPN, commit in the final hour so they never have to write the relationship itself. It exists only in the gaps of the show and fans' imaginations.

I feel like Apollo has been tossing soft balls for years that we've been able to dodge up until now, but that doesn't mean he hasn't been playing the game 😬

[howlingday]

Who are your least favorite rwby characters?

My least favorite?

Looking back on it, I wouldn't say there are any truly awful characters. Like, they all play their roles really well, and the ones who are only truly awful are the ones who don't even have a name (for example, that racist lady at the end of the Atlas Arc, like it feels kind of forced in, to be honest).

But if I had to make a list in no particular order? Well...

Qrow Branwen

Yeah, I get it. Everybody loves Drunkle Qrow. At least I did at first. Edgy, smart mouth, bad influence Qrow was fun to watch. Especially his slap fight against Winter in his introduction. However, as time went on, we got to see his darker side, and it's very reminiscent of Rick Sanchez from Rick and Morty. He drinks to get over his pain, classic alcoholic move, and when he does recover (Good on him, by the way) HIS LIFE GETS SO MUCH WORSE! He meets a nice guy, they flirt, and the CRWBY RIPS HIM AWAY over the STUPIDEST GOD DAMN REASON! WHAT THE FUCK, GUYS?!

As a side bar, this man is what I predict Jaune Arc will become in future episodes unless one of two things happens. First, Salem dies and everyone lives happily ever after. Yay!

Alternate option... We don't talk about his alternatives. Let's just say that there's a thousand and one ways to do it, and it would piss a lot of people off just at the mere mention of it. I did it before, and it wasn't pretty.

Speaking of pretty...

Mercury Black

As I'm sure you are already aware, if you've been following me for a while. I have a... distinct dislike of the Merc with a mouth. My beef with the metal-legged menace is less to do with his character, and more with the FNDM's response to him.

I get it. Mercury Black is an assassin. He was "trained" by his father, Marcus Black, and killed him, losing his legs in the process. Awesome start to a bad guy with a dark backstory.

Then we get to see him in action, and as a man who enjoys watching kick moves while mimicking them, I have to say, it is an honor and a pleasure watching the man in action.

And then we get to his actual character. Mercury plays everything off as a jokey, haha, schadenfreude kind of asshole. I get it. It's a good style, and it works great for bad guys. I mean, look at Felix from Red VS Blue.

He sets up his kill by criticizing a bookstore. Alright, got a good meme out of that.

Oh, he tricked everyone into thinking his legs were broken! Classic bad guy move!

Oh, what's he doing now up on top of that building? He's... Wait, what is he doing? Oh, god, is he-? IS HE FUCKING FILMING THE FALL?! AND HE'S LAUGHING AT IT!

And I'm totally fine with that. It's fucked, yeah, but he's a bad guy. We get it. Something we'll never forget, right?

Right?

But you did forget, didn't you? Just like when the dog murdered the cat, and looked at you with expectant eyes, you just buried the cat and put the dog outside for half a day. All while saying, "Good boy."

Mercury is that dog, and you want to give him a fucking redemption arc because he's pretty. Just like Sasuke "I tried to destroy my fucking village after my brother fought so hard to protect it" Uchiha.

Fuck you, and the tin-legged horse you rode in on, Mercury Black.

---------------------------------------------------

And that's my list... Kind of short, isn't it.

As always, I will be available for follow up reblogs where you call me out for hating your favorite characters instead of hating your least favorite characters, then proceed to point out the "nuance" of why filming a massacre and laughing about it justifies him to be forgiven, so he and reformed girl can continue sharing soft looks with each other.

[hamliet]

Chemical Weddings in RWBY

So once upon a time Hamliet said she’d write a meta about ships in RWBY, and then arrived months later without Starbucks. 

The central tenet of alchemy is solve et coagula: dissolve, and then coagulate. The process (RWBY appears to be following Ripley’s 12 Gates) repeats, rinses, and repeats again and again throughout the steps, “each time at a more refined level.” The point of a chemical wedding is to reconcile opposites, which is something I touched on in my pseudo-quick meta here. Lyndy Abraham, the author of A Dictionary of Alchemical Imagery, describes the chemical wedding as: 

a crucial operation in the creation of the philosopher’s stone. The alchemists were ultimately concerned with the union of substances, the reconciliation of opposites.

Basically, it unites opposites (fire and water, air and earth, sun and moon, passive and active,  etc., etc., etc.) and then the opposites start to take on each other’s qualities, creating the “Rebis,” or a person both male and female. 

The first chemical wedding is usually somewhat violent, primitive even, whereas the second one signifies the creation of the stone. However, characters can have more than two weddings, and chemical weddings do not inherently have to be romantic--Sam and Frodo aren’t, for example--but most often are, because it’s the most obvious way to show a union between separate people (the old adage “two become one” in marriage, for example). 

If we look at George Ripley’s 12 Gates, chemical weddings tend to be focused on in the fourth stage of conjunction (which I wrote about here) and in the ninth, fermentation (which is probably going to be in volume 10--maybe a little in volume 9, but traveling between worlds seems to be a hallmark of sublimation in fiction so I’m guessing we’re stuck there for the time being). But in a lengthy series spanning eight years and counting, there is going to be overlap. 

So let’s talk about chemical wedding imagery historically. It tends to involve dissolution (via water or fire--keep in mind metal was associated with fire in olden days, so stabbing with metal was considered liquid fire, or so it was believed to be by alchemists) and then coagulation (healing/coming together). 

Four of the five ships--two of whom are definitely happening, one of which I think is happening and one of which I think has a good chance--reference historical alchemical artwork and symbolism in key moments. (RWBY does reference alchemical artwork; see here and here.) So let’s dive in and examine potential chemical wedding allusions in RWBY:

Lie Ren/Nora Valkyrie (Renora)

Let’s start with the most obvious couple: Ren and Nora. Their first chemical wedding occurs when they are children. In alchemical art, birds are often used to show the volatility/primitiveness of a first chemical wedding:

The raven is replicated in the Nevermore which forms a similarly threatening pose over Ren and Nora when he unlocks his semblance to protect her, thus honoring his father and mother’s legacies. 

You can even see earth (trees), water (river), fire, and air (the bird flying) in the scene as it pans out. After this, Ren and Nora become “Ren and Nora,” as Nora herself says in Volume 8. They’re inseparable, because they’re on their way to becoming one. However, unification doesn’t mean that they’re literally the same person; in stories like these, it’s more like they become better versions of themselves through growing towards each other and adopting each other’s traits (like Nora’s courage for Ren, and Ren’s caution for Nora). 

Their second, elevated chemical wedding is in the same place as their first, when in Volume 4 they return to the village and defeat the monster they were too young to defeat last time. This time, Nora is the one who protects Ren by telling him he could not sacrifice his life by pulling Ren back, in a reversal of his running to her in their first moment years ago. 

Like the first, there’s water involved--Ren and Nora hide next to a river, watching as the Knuckelvee advances on them. I talked previously how I thought this looked like a possible allusion to this alchemical image (look at the moon symbol on the head of the aggressor): 

The moon symbol actually shows up quite a bit in this scene, first when Nora and Ren discover the Nuckelvee is still alive in the cave: 

And then in the moment when they defeat it: 

While I am certain this is a chemical wedding, I’m not certain why the moon symbol is so prominent in this, though I do think it is possibly in reference to this image and how Nora and Ren are united now: 

Yang Xiao Long/Blake Belladonna (Bumbleby)

Firstly, the alchemy image is somewhat of a creepy image, right? In this, Mercurius has united the two principles by beheading them (amputation is a Thing in alchemy), leaving them to putrefy and then coagulate.

Like the Nuckelvee for Nora and Ren, Blake and Yang have a somewhat antagonistic Mercurius who unites them: Adam Taurus. He doesn’t cut off their heads, but he does seriously injure Blake and cuts off Yang’s arm in a scene that is romantically charged (you have Blake’s possessive ex telling her he’ll target someone she loves and specifically chooses Yang). 

While I have my issues with how Bumbleby is written, it’s hard to interpret that as anything other than him seeing Yang as a rival for Blake’s affection.

Their second chemical wedding also involves Adam. There’s no one direct image that seems to have inspired it, but it does take place in a place full of waterfalls (fountains and flowing water in general, like the ones in Nora and Ren’s village, are common elements of chemical weddings’ settings) and by the ocean (the “mercurial sea” is where the elements dissolve to make the Philosopher’s Stone, so it’s also a common hallmark for chemical weddings).

(To briefly address this: this is where my complaints about the writing pile in, because you can also make a damn strong case that Blake and Sun fighting on the ship to Menagerie is a chemical wedding, which it is, but I think it’s clear at this point that Bumbleby is endgame. Either both were written for a reason, like if they weren’t sure if they could do Bumbleby, or a narrative reason, in which case Black Sun should have been dealt with rather than hand-waved away, or they were just teasing, but baiting fans is never, ever good writing; it’s cheap. All that to say that while I think there’s a compelling case they were interested in pursuing Bumbleby from the start, Black Sun shippers have a right to feel tricked and not all criticism thereof is based in homophobia or a lack of narrative understanding, or even in a dislike of the ship.)

At the beginning of this scene, Adam makes it clear that this is a redo of their previous chemical wedding by reminding them of it: 

Blake stabs Adam with a silver weapon; Yang with red. We have earth, air (clouds), water, and weapons as a stand-in for fire.

It’s still somewhat of a violent wedding, which makes me wonder if Bumbleby will have a third (and Renora as well). But it also parallels Renora in this: returning to a pivotal scene where they were traumatized, but this time being able to overcome it because they’ve become more like each other. Blake is in many ways Yang’s trauma stretching far beyond Beacon (Blake runs away, as does Raven, Yang’s mother who abandoned her), and likewise Yang for Blake (she’s hotheaded and holds grudges, like Adam). But Blake and Yang have been working on becoming better versions of themselves. 

At the end of this scene, they even exchange quasi-wedding vows (since Blake’s promise is to not abandon Yang): 

And the artists drive home the point by drawing Blake’s hair far bushier than normal (more like Yang’s), and Yang’s far tamer than normal (like Blake’s). 

Jaune Arc/Weiss Schnee (White Knight)

Weiss and Jaune have had one chemical wedding thus far (possibly two but not sure) and I didn’t ship them at all until I saw this scene. Like Bumbleby and Renora, they have an antagonistic Mercurius: Cinder.  

(This one I’ll be arguing a little bit about why I think it’s set up for romance as well.)

In this scene, Cinder directly compares Weiss to Pyrrha in regards to how Jaune feels about them (and we know Jaune and Pyrrha were romantic--you can also argue Cinder was an antagonistic Mercurius uniting Pyrrha and Jaune). 

When Weiss screams, Cinder gets an idea and slides her gaze from Weiss to Jaune. 

And then reenacts this: 

As I also mentioned previously, Jaune then plays the role of the Prince to Weiss’s Snow White (which is an alchemical fairy tale). Like when Ren unlocks his aura to protect Nora, Jaune unlocks his to save Weiss. Weiss looks as if she is in a glass coffin that gets more and more golden, symbolic of refinement. 

It’s also probably an allusion to this image of a chemical wedding presided over by Saturn (Mercury in this scene, since he’s there) and Death (Ruby and Qrow, who are also present in the scene with Jaune and Weiss). (For more on this image, see here.)

Weiss and Jaune also have some oppositional imagery and arcs: Weiss starts Beacon with a deep family legacy and an inherited semblance, she chooses to go to Beacon on her own and is the favored child (at first). Jaune too has a family legacy of warriors, but instead of feeling empowered because of this, he is insecure and  literally cheats his way into the school. He doesn’t have a semblance until season 5. After this incident, Weiss and Jaune spend some time recreationally together (seeing a movie in vol 7); Jaune becomes more confident as a leader, and Weiss continues her arc in becoming more sympathetic to those from less privileged backgrounds.

Arguably, what happened at the end of volume 8 could be seen as having some symbolism of a chemical wedding for Weiss and Jaune too, but I don’t think it actually is one since they weren’t focused on as characters enough (if this was intended to be the start of one, we’ll get something next season, I’d imagine). The only reason I’m mentioning it is because it does function as an inverse of the previous one, which is the case for Renora and Bumbleby’s first and second weddings too. Cinder again almost kills Weiss (she falls in the exact same position as in vol 5), but Jaune saves Weiss when he screams after killing Penny. Instead of saving Weiss by healing, he kills. There’s also some distinctive red and white imagery. 

And then Winter arrives with a six-pointed star and birds before telling them to run together:

But again, I wouldn’t really call this one; it just has some imagery of one and fits a pattern, so I’m including it as a potential lead-in to an actual one in the void or later. 

Ruby Rose/Oscar Pine (Rosegarden)

Like with Weiss/Jaune, I’ll be arguing a little bit about why I think this one is likely to end up romantic, too (for example, Cinder most recently in volume 8 used Oscar to taunt Ruby in a callback to using Pyrrha and Weiss to taunt Jaune).

Also: oh look, finally a wedding that isn’t violent. They just... meet. Which is also normal for a chemical wedding but less dramatic.

Behold, the bird uniting the solar king and lunar queen: 

(Fun fact: unless CRWBY came up with ship names which I highly, highly doubt, this is pure coincidence, but it’s a funny one: the art series this image is taken from is called Rosarium Philosophorum--which literally means “rose garden philosophy.”)

Let’s look at the scene where Ruby and Oscar meet for the first time. What makes this a chemical wedding is in part how obvious their markings are and the overall imagery is in the scene.

They are united by Qrow (who in addition to being named after a bird can literally transform into a bird):

Oscar asks about Ruby specifically (yes, I know because Qrow’s her uncle, but the writing is telling us to focus on his relationship with her): 

And immediately notes/is in awe that she has silver eyes (i.e. the moon): 

Qrow seems to realize he’s done something momentous in a way that almost doesn’t entirely work within the frame of the narrative (but he is drunk, so). 

The scenery of this room is also telling. The table is literally an Emerald Table, the legendary foundation of alchemy itself. 

Once they sit and talk, behind Oscar are the elements of earth and water, which he represents, and also the moon, which while traditionally associated with earth and water, he does not (at least not as strongly as he’s associated with the sun/gold):

Similarly, behind Ruby we have the elements of fire and air (like, if you zoom in, they actually drew air), which she is marked as, and the sun, which again, she’s not as strongly associated with as she is with the moon:

In Splendor Solis, which CRWBY has referenced before, the Solar King does eventually end up grounded in the moon, and likewise the Lunar Queen in the sun:

Oscar and Ruby also do have oppositional arcs and roles: Ruby starts the series in the very first episode by being invited to Beacon two years early because of her leaping into action to stop Torchwick. She’s scolded for her recklessness, but immediately picked out as special because of her silver eyes. In contrast, Oscar is reluctant to leave his farm once Ozpin inhabits him; he refuses at first, and then once he does leave, is nervous and timid.

Anyways I wouldn’t be surprised if Qrow arrives in Vacuo with RWBYJ in tow and this time reunites Ruby with Oscar in an inverse. We’ll see. 

I do want to say that I also see potential for Emerald Sustrai/Mercury Black, in that they often act as one and share a theme song, but I haven’t seen any actual visual references to a chemical wedding for them... yet. 

[hyperfixation-hideout]

Top 3 moments from RWBY vol 8?!!!

oh gosh, this is gonna be hard! 

1) Monstra exploding - that whole sequence was nothing short of breathtaking. The lighting and effects were phenomenal, and seeing the aftermath with the disintegrating whale coloring the air like a post-apocalyptic landscape really set the mood and let us know we are now in the third and final act. Absolutely one of if not THE best sequences in RWBY (or at least a subjective favorite of mine). MAJOR props to the animators.

2) The moment when Cinder, Watts, and Neo enter the command room - the music swells and builds, Cinder opens her hand and a single flame dances in her palm, the civilians scream and try to flee but there’s a hard cut to their dead bodies at their desks, with one final ringing note echoing among the corpses and flame. It lets the moment set in, building and building tension, then everything is quiet and all life is gone. These villains are a threat and are competently working together, and it raised the stakes (which was sorely needed after ch12). An excellent trio I wish we’d seen more of. Incredible sound design that whole scene. Cinder’s leitmotif playing right before the hard cut and again at the end bookends the scene beautifully. Again, one of the absolute BEST scenes in RWBY.

3) This is gonna sound small, but the scene in Monstra when Oscar and Ozpin are just... talking. It’s a moment that’s been a long time coming and really felt like a breath of fresh air. They’re both just so tired. This is the first conversation they’ve had where they feel like equals, and it’s always heart-wrenching to see Oscar openly express his fears. Sometimes it seems he’s taking everything too well, so seeing how resilient he’s being juxtaposed with how broken he feels gives us some much-needed insight that left me wanting more. And the way they introduce the story of The Girl Who Fell Through The World is really smooth -- Oscar’s just lying there and reciting a quote he resonates with. It finally gives us some character depth and background for who Oscar was prior to Ozpin in a way that feels natural. (Also this is the first time in the show someone’s asked Oscar how he’s doing.)

Honorable mentions (aka ones I considered putting in the top 3): 

Pietro saying “I want the chance to watch you live your life” and Penny responding “But Dad... I am trying to.” He lets her go, and she falls with the final words to her father: “I love you.” 

Oscar meeting Salem, impersonating Oz and sassing the big bad while a foot away from her face, and Salem’s quiet intimidation before torturing him. Great characterization and really made the main villain feel like a threat. 

Ren and Yang’s argument in the tundra. Both said things I agreed with and things I disagreed with, and I love that! (Though I wish it’d been followed up on because Ren made some good points)

The Renora scene (you know the one) with the healthy, mature conversation about their relationship. And! The! Boop! 

JOYR+Emerald’s conversation in the tunnels. I’m a sucker for interpersonal conflicts that fit the characters, and I loved how Oscar emphasized that you aren’t obligated to forgive anyone, but it can be worth it to give them a chance to be better. Great nuance you rarely see in media. Plus him helping reintegrate Oz into the group and Oz’s sincere “Thank you, Oscar,” and Oscar’s little smile?? They’re getting along and it’s soft.

You asked for 3 and I basically gave you 8 oops

[fadedneonzzz]

My Top 10 RWBY Characters

Because I feel like it, and I’ll give a brief explanation for every character on this list.

First up, Honorable Mentions. In no particular order

Team CFVY

I know it seems lazy to put them all in one, but they’re here for essentially the same reason: lack of meaningful screen time. I appreciate they were amazing in the books, but it’s optional material. Also if it weren’t for Velvet’s popularity, CFY wouldn’t even exist.

Salem

While I do enjoy her for the most part, I feel there are other villains that are way more interesting. I also don’t enjoy villains who act like gods without something else going for her. However she is a master of destroying hope and has a terrifying presence, I will definitely give her that.

Neopolitan 

This might come as a shock to many of you as all I do is complain about Neo, but I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t some kind of charm with her. My distain for her isn’t really her fault as it stems primarily from the FNDM overhyping her along with CRWBY doing the same. I think many people would agree with me that Neo is by far RWBY’s most overrated character. But damn did I love her in V2 and V3.

Blake Belladonna 

This may also come as a surprise because at one point Blake was in fact my favorite character. But everything about her arc V4 onwards was pretty weak, though V5 was actually pretty good for her, it wasn’t enough to stop her from falling to Honorable Mention status. A lot of what made her interesting is gone, though I still like her a lot.

Emerald Sustrai 

While I have enjoyed her character since V3, her redemption arc was by far the weakest part of V8 and if it doesn’t continue in V9 or V10, it’ll be one of the weakest redemption arcs I’ve ever seen. On a more positive note, I found her snark to be great and she was probably the second most interesting of the villains around V3. As it stands however, I cannot put her in my top 10.

Now on to the top 10!

10) James Ironwood

Now don’t worry I’m not one of those crazy Ironwood stans that think he was right all along and RWBY was stupid not to follow his orders, but he was one of the best written antagonists in the show. Seeing him “lose his heart” was one of the most heart wrenching scenes in RWBY because you know he means well, but his methods aren’t. You didn’t want to see him turn antagonistic, but he did, and in the end it’s what causes his ultimate downfall. 

9) Neon Katt

Nothing really too special, I just think she’s a fun character to watch and I love her bubbly personality. That and she really likes talking shit to people, but wants to be your friend afterwards (after you beat her ass of course). She’s been a favorite of mine since V3 mostly due to her fight with Yang. I hope to god she’s still alive.

8) Jaune Arc

Ironically he became a better character with worse hair. Honestly, it wasn’t until V7 and V8 where he really started to grow on me. I loved that he grew as a character, I’m glad he’s not fixated on revenge like some of his fans want him to be. He has shown time and time again that he is the most level headed of the main team. It seems now he understands what Pyrrha’s sacrifice really meant and I hope he keeps growing.

7) Winter Schnee

Thanks to V7 and V8 doing wonders for her character, Winter has become a delight to watch. I can’t wait to see where her character goes now that she’s the winter maiden. I like that she had to change as a person before inheriting the powers. At first she wanted to do it because Ironwood said so, but then she used the powers for something more important. In a way, she cut her puppet strings like Penny did.

6) Ruby Rose

The thing about Ruby that I’ll always love about her is that she stays optimistic even during the darkest of times. While she may not be as interesting as other characters, she definitely grows and matures which is all I really need. In V6, it was cool to see her take charge after being sidelined in V5. Now Ruby is the light that everyone needs to keep moving forward. She is becoming the heroine she always dreamed of becoming.

5) Nora Valkyrie 

All I really ask from any character is 2 things: either be interesting or have character growth. Nora represents the latter as for the first 6 volumes, Nora was just there for me. She wasn’t particularly interesting, but not boring or annoying. However that all changed when V7 hit. She showed she’s more than just the comic relief character. It’s also very mature of her to want to find out who she really is, it may have taken a while, but better late than never I always say. She has quickly became my favorite member of JNPR.

4) Arthur Watts

Also known as Revolver Mustache, is my second favorite antagonist in RWBY. While he hasn’t directly interacted with any of the main characters, I do like his connections to Atlas and the people there. He had a pretty good fight against someone who could’ve easily beaten him. And his voice is amazing. 

3) Yang Xiao Long 

One of my all time favorite characters since the beginning, I loved seeing her get back up from having her arm cut off and maturing as the series went on. Some of her highlights include her talk with Weiss in V5 where we see a more vulnerable side to her. I liked her final confrontation with Raven as well, and so far she stuck to what she said. Yang might be afraid of Salem and all the future hardships she may have to endure, but she won’t run.

2) Cinder Fall

In my opinion Cinder is the most interesting character and the best villain in RWBY. Some may disagree with me, but she is just as much of a main character as the heroes. Her story arc is very relatable and compelling. What keeps me hooked to her character is that the writers can go whichever direction they want with the character. It’s rare to see a villain go through character growth that doesn’t (immediately) lead to a redemption arc. Villains are mostly static characters who are for the most part set in their ways, but not Cinder she became a better villain after so many failures. Some hate her because she fails so often, but honestly that’s more realistic than one would think. I’m really excited to see where her character goes in the future.

Now who could possibly top Cinder?

1) Weiss Schnee

Probably the most consistently well written character in RWBY for the past 4 (arguably 5)  volumes. Even when RWBY at it’s lowest point, Weiss was a joy to watch. I loved how she started off as a cold hearted bitch, but in V4 we found out where it stemmed from. Like her jumping into Yang’s arms after reuniting with her just shows how much she has grown as a person. While it took many of these characters a while to become my favorite, Weiss managed to be my favorite throughout. I also love how she managed to stitch her family back together by the end of V8.

So what do you think of my list? What’s your top 10 characters?

[shortnotsweet]

The Allegory of the Tin Man, the Dictator, and the Knight: a Dissection of Ironqrow and a Character Arc of Failure

“There lived in the Land of Oz two queerly made men who were best of friends. They were so much happier when together that they were seldom apart.”

— L. Frank Baum

A brief Ironqrow meta and character analysis of James Ironwood, the ultimate screw up, in three parts.

I. Qrow and Ironwood’s Homoeroticism in Canon Source Material and its Translation

II. Ironwood’s Repressed Characterization and the Inherent Chivalry of the Dictatorship

III. Ironwood, Alone

Qrow and Ironwood’s Homoeroticism in Canon Source Material and its Translation

Within the Oz series, the Tin Man and the Scarecrow are layered within homoerotic subtext, even if it is included unintentionally. Tison Pugh’s analysis Queer Utopianism and Antisocial Eroticism in L. Frank Baum's Oz Series posits that the land of Oz as portrayed within the series is a largely asexual environment of suspended adolescence that involves the deviation of binary gender norms, and of performative heterosexuality. Pugh refers to it later as a “queer utopia”. Men are portrayed as a lesser military force to women, and heterosexuality is a flimsy presence at best; all signs of procreation within Oz are stifled. While this could be chalked down to Baum not wanting to get into the subject of sex and exploration in a children’s series, it does contribute to a particular tone with real-life critiques of capitalism and a particular deconstruction of gender norms. Ozma, who will become the ruler of Oz after the Wizard and the Scarecrow respectively, for example, is originally a boy named Tip (the name itself holds phallic implications) who is “transformed” into a girl. The strongest military force is one of all-women led by a rebellious female general. Pugh observes, “At the same time that Baum satirizes...women as leaders…he consistently depicts women as more successful soldiers than men, and female troops appear better capable of serving militarily than male troops…[the] male army comprises of twenty-six officers and one private, and they are all cowards…” and cites the Frogman’s declaration that “Girls are the fiercest soldiers of all...they are more brave than men, and they have better nerves”.

RWBY itself isn’t opposed to this kind of subversion, either in its characters or its relationships. There’s an obvious effort to include LGBTQ+ representation (albeit primarily in the background), strong female characters are prevalent and make up most of the main and supporting cast, a character’s gender is not strictly reliant on its source material, and BlackSun, while cute and a valid ship in its own right, is treated as a heterosexual red herring to Bumbleby. Additionally, there have been a lot of hints by the voice actors, writers, and creators on social media that Qrow himself is queer, the infamous Ironqrow embrace included.

Admittedly, if I wanted to write an essay about the likelihood of Qrow being LGBTQ+ or having some kind of queer identity, I would probably focus more on his relationship with Clover, which had a lot more overt and probably canonically intentional Gay Vibes, and despite having known Qrow nowhere near as long as Ironwood has, it has just as much, if not more, to extrapolate. Unfortunately, that’s not the main point of this essay, although it remains relevant. While I personally don’t doubt that Qrow has had sex with women or experiences valid sexual attraction to them, I get the feeling that it is, to a degree, a performative act and a masculine assertation of enjoyment intended as a coping mechanism. It plays into the trope of the handsome, tortured alcoholic (best exemplified, perhaps, in the MCU’s Tony Stark, Dean Winchester in Supernatural, and critiqued in the superhero episode of Rick and Morty) who sleeps around just to recall the feeling of intimacy, or because he associates sexual ‘degradation’ as a reflection of his worth. Real self-deprecating, slightly misogynistic stuff. Qrow’s recall of short skirts, as well as his brief exchange with the waitress in an earlier volume, reminds me of one specific interaction between the Scarecrow and his own love interest. Within the series, the Qrow’s source-material counterpart, the Scarecrow, has one canonical love interest, the Patchwork Girl:

“Forgive me for staring so rudely,” said the Scarecrow, “but you are the most beautiful sight my eyes have ever beheld.”

“That is a high compliment from one who is himself so beautiful,” murmured Scraps, casting down her suspender-button eyes by lowering her head.

Pugh points out that the two of them never develop this relationship further than flirtation, and heterosexuality is reduced to a “spectral presence” lacking the “erotic energy [driving] these queer narratives in their presence”. Specifically, Qrow never reveals a serious or long running heterosexual love interest - he is not the father! [of Ruby] (despite much speculation that he and Summer Rose were involved) and he and Winter never really moved past the stage of ‘hostility with just a hint of sexual tension’ - and there is no debunking of potential queerness. His interactions with Clover (deserving of an entire essay on its own) seem to support this interpretation, and is more or less a confirmation of some kind of queer inclination or identity. Again, the “queer utopia” of Oz comes at the cost of the expulsion of the sexual or the mere mention of reproduction - still, through this device, same-sex relationships gain a new kind of significance with the diminishing nature of heterosexuality. Speaking of queer narratives, the Scarecrow and the Tin Man have the most tender and prolonged relationship of perhaps all the characters in the series, exchanging a lifelong commitment:

“I shall return with my friend the Tin Woodman,” said the stuffed one seriously. “We have decided never to be parted in the future.”

Within the source material, the Tin Man and the Scarecrow voluntarily live together, and are life partners in nearly every sense of the word. The second book in the Oz series is The Tin Woodman of Oz. In summary, the Tin Woodman recalls that he had a fiancée before the events of the first book, forgot all about her, and now must search her out so that they can get married. Who does he ask to accompany him in this pursuit? None other than his no-homo life partner, the Scarecrow. Although this sounds like a stereotypical heteronormative storyline, “this utopian wonderland...rejects heterosexual procreation...First, the Tin Woodman does not desire...Nimmie Amee...” and even acknowledges that due to the ‘nature’ of the heart that the Wizard had given him, he is literally incapable of romantically or passionately loving or desiring Nimmie, and by extent, women in general - to me, that works perfectly as an allegory for a gay man who is literally incapable of experiencing legitimate heterosexual urges, but ‘soldiers on’ out of obligation and societally enforced chivalry. “The Tin Woodman excuses himself from the heteronormative imperative...Only his sense of masculine honor, rather than a heteronomratively masculine sex drive, impels the Tin Woodman on his quest to marry his long-lost fiancée.” Again, Ironwood’s character follows the lines of propriety within the sphere of the wealthy elite, and his persona as a high-ranking military man and politician, as well as the conservative values instilled within Atlas, prioritize duty and obligation. This kind of culture is stifling and in a lot of ways aloof, as the upper class deludes itself into believing that it is objectively better and more advanced than its neighboring territories. *ahem the myth of American exceptionalism ahem*

“There lived in the Land of Oz two queerly made men who were best of friends. They were so much happier when together that they were seldom apart.”

I think it’s funny that the characters that Ironwood and Qrow are based off of are canonically the closest of friends, who coexist almost as a unit. In contrast, the first introduction we get of Ironwood and Qrow is a hostile exchange where they’re at each other’s throats, never on the same page, and never in sync, not when it matters. Indeed, Qrow snaps at Ironwood for his lack of communication, which is a recurring issue between the two of them on notable occasions. If the source material is anything to go by, there should be a significant relationship between the two of them, or at least some kind of connection, even if it goes unspoken or unacknowledged. To be fair, in RWBY’s canon, I think there is.

I’ve seen this joke that while Qrow hates the Atlas military, the only people he really seems to flirt with is Atlas military personnel. “Ice Queen” is something I interpreted to be partially hostile, partially mocking, and partially flirtatious, in equal spades - the voice actors and creators have indicated that it was flirtatious, and there was a whole Chibi episode dedicated to the concept of Qrow and Winter’s extrapolated sexual tension, albeit in jest. I might argue that his use of abbreviates aren’t reserved for people he dislikes, but for people who bring out his playful side. “Brat”, “Pipsqueak”, “Firecracker”, and “Kiddos” are all drawn from a place of affection, however short or mocking it may seem, because that’s what crows do: they mock others.

Qrow has little nicknames for people; while it’s not exclusively a sign of affection, I do get the feeling that ‘Jimmy’ is an informality that irks Ironwood, but can also be interpreted as Qrow giving James what he needs, rather than what he wants.

Glynda is by no means a pushover, but in assuring him that while he does questionable things, he’s still a good person, she’s softening the blow and probably further enabling deeply rooted and pre-existing traits, many of which contribute to his problematic control complex. It is established early on that Qrow resents the military (as he should), and it is implied that he’s spent a fair amount of encounters harassing and provoking military personnel (Winter being the most evident example of this), and has insulted the military numerous times to Ironwood’s face. He lectures Ironwood about the way he conducts his operations, his inability to communicate, and basically what a complete, inconsiderate asshole he really is.

What Ironwood needs is someone who operates outside of the pretense that he works, breathes, and lives under, and just tells it like it is. Jimmy isn’t all that - he’s a person, just like the rest of us, and he can flaunt all the titles that he wants, but James stripped down is still just Jimmy.

Qrow also is the kind of person who pries, who is insistent, and not particularly sensitive. For someone like Ironwood who has a lot of (physical and emotional) barriers, logically, in order for him to receive genuine understanding, Qrow fits the profile of someone who is invasive but not exploitive, who sees past the cracks in his armor and takes him for what he is. What is just important is that whoever Ironwood is with is someone who makes him want to try not only to be better, but to be real; thematically, General Ironwood seems to have a great respect for but a deep struggle with authenticity. He clearly resents the ignorance and frivolity of Atlas’s wealthy elite, as evidenced by his support for Weiss at the dinner party in announcing that “she’s one of the only people making any sense around here”, while struggling to project the facade that he’s carefully created.

See, we don’t have evidence that there is something going on between Ironqood and Qrow so much as we have enough evidence to inconclusively say that there’s not not something going on. I think there’s enough evidence to support the idea that something could be going on, or was going on.

When Qrow saves Ironwood at the Battle of Beacon, who is under the false impression that Qrow believes him to be the culprit of the attacks, his eyes follow Qrow and we get a closer shot of his awed expression; we the viewer can only imagine what he sees as Qrow arcs through the air and slices down a Grimm from behind his back. The focus on Ironwood’s expression portrays something like shock (so Qrow wasn’t trying to attack me after all, but then what the hell is he doing?), maybe wonder (I can’t take my eyes off of him, I can’t look away), maybe respect (I know he’s a good Hunter, but I’ve rarely seen him in action), but it is unfiltered nonetheless. In a show where fight scenes are vital to the progression of the story itself, the dynamics of these fights are at their best when they are character driven, whether it is revealing or reinforcing something about the characters and their relationships, or it is deciding their fates. There’s something to be said about characters being given moments together in battles, and what that says about the significance of their relationship. The best example of this might be the battle between Blake and Yang vs Adam; it served to give Adam what he deserved, help Blake and Yang reach closure in certain aspects of their own trauma, and solidify the bond between the girls. Similarly, Qrow and Ironwood’s moment is meant to reveal a theme that will later be revisited in volume 7; trust. Ironwood is startled but not shocked when he believes that Qrow distrusts him to the degree of attacking him, and is ready to attack or defend as needed.

Qrow tells him what he needs to hear, more or less: YOU’RE A DUMBASS. Ironwood is, indeed, a dumbass. While he does extend the olive branch of trust and good will to CRWBY and co. this trust is highly conditional and proves to be, while from a place of desperation and sincerity, at least partially performative.

When Ironwood snaps, he snaps hard.

Amber’s voice actress tweeted early on, joking that Qrow has two Atlas boyfriends, and Arryn has made comments, too. It’s one of the older ships, and the crew is certainly aware of it (“...extended chest bump...”).

Kerry has stated that he finds the Ironqrow relationship interesting, and wishes it had been explored more (additionally, allegedly lobbying that Ironwood’s arm in the Ironqrow hug scene be slightly lower). I’m not saying that they’re going to both make it out alive, or canon, or even that romantic subtext was intentionally woven into the script. All I’m saying is that I think their relationship is interesting too, especially when the subtext of their source material relationship is taken into context, and the way their characters are positioned is suggestive of some sort of compatibility, even if it is a hit or miss kind of opportunity, and I have the sinking suspicion that it was missed on both accounts.

The Tin Woodman of Oz concludes,

“All this having been happily arranged, the Tin Woodman returned to his tin castle, and his chosen comrade, the Scarecrow, accompanied him on the way. The two friends were sure to pass many pleasant hours together in talking over their recent adventures, for as they neither ate nor slept they found their greatest amusement in conversation.”

Ironwood’s Repressed Characterization and the Inherent Chivalry of the Dictatorship

“I don’t give a damn about Jacque Schnee...what about the other two? Do not return to this office until you have Qrow Branwen in custody.”

“And that’s not all we’ve lost...I had Qrow in my hands, and I didn’t do what needed to be done.”

Observe: Ironwood, at this point, does not care about politics. I doubt he’s ever wanted to, or ever liked it (if his tired outburst at the dinner party is any indication) but his Knightly qualities (we’ll get to that) have, up till this point, prompted him to adhere to them for both power and etiquette. James surrounds himself in a world that he understands and despises; more than anything, he’d like to be a general, a commander, and the Knight in Shining Armor archetype, because warfare is something he understands. It is a testament to his (superhuman) willpower that he forces himself to become fluent in the language of politics, and to live and breathe in it. To clarify, Ironwood sees himself as a man who does what needs to be done; if he wants to change and control Atlas, he will have to involve himself in its politics.

Likely, his resilience has contributed to the way he views himself and what he deserves, as someone long-suffering and almost martyr-like, a silent hero doing what needs to be done. But at the moment, he’s lost his goddamn mind coming undone. He’s murdered and jailed his political dissent (and might have considered executing prisoners), but at this point, that’s all that Jacque and Robyn are to him. First he dismisses Jacque, narrows it down to the two escaped prisoners, and finally reveals what’s really on the forefront of his mind: Qrow, free and out of his hands.

[ When recalling this dialogue, please do so while imagining a bad recorder cover of the Titanic music playing over the background. Here is a sample. ]

In the most recent episode, Ironwood seems to have gone off the rails even further. The fact that Winter, his most faithful lieutenant, is losing her unshakable faith in him, says a lot about how hard he’s fallen off the deep end. In Winter’s mind, I think that she sees him almost as a surrogate father figure, or at least a patriarch who can be positively compared to Jacques in every way. The previous volumes go to lengths to compare the two as adversaries and showing James in a favorable light; Winter is in her own personal horror right now, because she is beginning to understand that Ironwood is a man who may not be her father but is just as susceptible to corruption, and may have been that kind of person all along. Skipping over the...ah, genocidal tendencies, and the fact that he’s proposing to kidnap Penny’s friends to force her to obey him and likely is starting to realize that Winter is the perfect bait (let’s just say that “Ironwood is not good with kids” is the understatement of the year) Ironwood wants Qrow back (in captivity), I think that it’s significant that while Ironwood registers that Robyn is gone as well, his first priority is Qrow, probably for two reasons. On one hand, he still refers to Qrow by his first name, instead of the formal Branwen. Of course, that doesn’t have to mean anything at all. They’re colleagues within the same age range, both members of the same secret brotherhood and similiar skill sets.

On the other hand, it reminds me of the moment when Qrow and the kids first fly into Atlas, and they see the heightened security, and Qrow mutters, “James...what have you been doing,” under his breath, sounding concerned, apprehensive. He’s not addressing the kids, he’s talking to himself; he regards James much more seriously both as a potential threat and a friend than he’d rather the other know, and I think that James’ focus on Qrow at this point is similiar, only not only is this a sign of them knowing each other well, but of Ironwood’s slipping control. He offered Qrow his trust and camaraderie, his last attempt to keep a handle on his humanity (or, his heart). Qrow, in return, withheld vital information, got close with another operative instead, then allegedly killed him and and escaped ‘rightful’ imprisonment.

The Tin Man is offering Qrow his heart, at least proof of it, and the Scarecrow [and co.] steps back to observe the situation, and assesses that no, what you are going to do is wrong, and I cannot agree with it.

Ironwood is not an objective person, as much as he wants to be. He’s angry, desperate, scared, and humiliated. Worst of all, he’s rebuffed, and he’s taking Qrow’s escape personally. First, he understands that Qrow is a threat. He’s Ozpin’s best agent, he has years of field experience, and he knows too much, probably more than James knows. Second, they have history.

My personal interpretation of Ironwood is something this:

He’s a sad, sad, lonely bitch. What Ironwood longs for, just like his source material counterpart, is a heart. He will go to any lengths to achieve this, because he believes that he has self awareness and therefore is able to check and balance himself. He treats his subordinates well, is diplomatic, skilled in a variety of trades, fighting the good fight, and longs for the affirmation that yes, he is a good person, and yes, he’s had a heart all along. He just strays from the path, and loses his way.

This is symbolically represented by his partially mechanic exoskeleton; we have no idea how far the cyborg extremities extend, or how deep, but we do get the visual notion of humanity in conflict, or a man’s soul deconstructed and split between the cold efficiency of machinery and the very real warmth of a human body. Ironwood wants to appear human, and benevolent, and genuine, and in return, loved; he is human, and he could be all of these things. If my reliance on the source material holds any merit (although I highly doubt it), then there is also a potential struggle with sexuality, (Glynda herself even explicitly and exasperatedly references a testosterone battle between Ironwood and Qrow, suggesting a regular overassertation of masculinity) and a further incentive to achieve love and subsequent acceptance.

To clarify, I do believe that there were less-than-subtle allusions to Ironwood and Glynda having a vaguely flirtatious history, taking their shared scenes and background dancing into account, but this, again, does not “debunk” the presence of queerness within a narrative; it could be an assumption of heterosexuality, or performative itself, or just not an exclusive interest. Besides, Ironwitch isn’t what this essay is about. I’m not trying to persuade or dissuade someone of the notion that Jimmy is gay, or straight, or something else, only that the potential ambiguity exists. What I do think is most important is that James doesn’t openly ward people away, not when those people aren’t under his command and are technically outside of his jurisdiction. He’s friendly with Glynda, tries to extend trust to Qrow, is kind to people in the aftermath of battle, and overall clings to diplomacy as his first weapon. He wants to be accepted, to be liked, and to be welcomed. This is not an outrageous want, nor is it uncommon. Unfortunately, Ironwood’s understanding of love and acceptance is entangled within the concept of control, and he associates unquestioned compliance with this Want.

Ironwood’s introduction into the series shows him being openly cordial, and very considerate, especially his interactions with Glynda and Ozpin. He’s a gentleman, he’s apologetic, and, as Glynda assures him, he’s a “good man”. She doesn’t really elaborate on what a “good man” is, exactly, but we might presume that a “good man” is a person with good intentions, who strives to do what’s right, regardless of his options.

Here’s the thing - one similarity between Ironwood and the Tin Man is that they both have the capacity to love, but they fool themselves into thinking that they don’t; before the Wizard gives him a ‘heart’, the Tin Man suggests that he is only kind and considerate to everyone in Oz because he believes he needs to overcompensate for what he lacks, and is therefore doubly aware of how he treats others. However, the Wizard knows no real magic, only tricks and illusions, and what he gives the Tin Man is essentially a placebo that enables the Tin Man to act towards and feel about others the exact same as he always had, only with the validation that what he feels is authentic. Similarly, Ironwood has always had the option to be empathetic and not fucking crazy open to collaboration, which he’s very aware of, until his own paranoia cuts into his rationality and compels him to cut himself off from all allies and alternative perspectives. He then uses his difficult position and responsibilities to justify unjustifiable actions, to rationalize irrational urges, and to gaslight and brainwash his subordinates into compliance.

The Tin Woodman knew very well he had no heart, and therefore he took great care never to be cruel or unkind to anything.

“You people with hearts,” he said, “have something to guide you, and need never do wrong; but I have no heart, and so I must be very careful. When Oz gives me a heart of course I needn’t mind so much.”

Qrow sees through this, however, and not only seems incapable of following orders himself, but disrupts the decorum that Ironwood is used to. In return, I think we see a little more of James that he’d like to reveal.

“If you were one of my men, I’d have you shot!”

“If I was one of your men, I’d shoot myself!”

In case this entire ass essay doesn’t make it obvious, I do really ship Ironqrow. I’m open to other pairings, definitely, but this one in particular is just more interesting to me. It feels more revealing, more subtle. I have more questions.

In hindsight, maybe the dialogue example above ^ didn’t age well, considering where they’re at, but I do like how their professional animosity is flavored with a kind of camaraderie, and understanding. This exchange isn’t exactly playful, but they’re taking each other seriously - and, like repressed schoolboys, taking the piss at each other in a childish way, and isn’t that part of the fun of banter, when they’re so focused on each other that they forget to act their age? In a lot of ways, this is a really fun dynamic to watch. They’re opposite-kind-of-people, which I like, at least on a superficial level, and I can easily imagine them tempering each other in ways that would make them ultimately happier people.

They even look well-coordinated, with similar color schemes that lean on the opposite sides of the shared spectrum (white, grays, reds and black); I think the decorative design on Qrow’s new sleeves are supposed to be more ornate simply to communicate that Qrow is committed, and willing to be sentimental, but some viewers have suggested that it resembles the pattern on James’ weapon, Due Process (the revolver is based off of the Tin Man’s pistol, although, curiously, in The Wizard of Oz, the Scarecrow was the only character to carry a pistol, and the commentaries suggest that the 2007 Tin Man miniseries was the “basis of the allusion”. Does that mean anything? I don’t know. Probably not.). Still, it raises the questions: who was in charge of designing the team’s new clothes and gear? How much input did Atlas get, and was this intentional? Personally, I think that the vine-like pattern on Qrow’s sleeves also bear a resemblance to Ozpin’s staff, a subtle reaffirmation and foreshadowing of his allegiance in contrast to Ironwood, but I digress.

They can also deliver that UST kind of banter that takes up their attention, and get up really close to each other, in each other’s faces, and just be pissed, which I think is very sexy of them, mhm. Enemies to Colleagues to Reluctant Friends to Lovers is a trope that I very much appreciate. Gaining some sort of common ground at the Battle of Beacon only to reunite, tired and battered, after the shit has already hit the fan? Slow burn kinda vibes.

That hug between them was something genuinely vulnerable and a sign of Ironwood letting his guard down because he is tired as fuck. It also was uh...kinda fruity.

Ironwood approaches closer, and Qrow scratches the back of his head, a characteristically nervous gesture that he’s made before; it’s a nervous twitch, manufactured nonchalance. He has no idea what Ironwood wants, but he does know that Ironwood wants something. James is the one to initiate the hug, and Qrow startles and even freezes up before relaxing into it. He seems suprised, but gives the bisexual eye roll of grudging fondness. This is out of character for James - Jimmy - but Qrow doesn’t think that Ironwood is a bad person. He leans into the hug, and the camera cuts out before they separate, suggesting that they probably end up standing there for a long ass time. You can also see from the side shots that it’s a close hug; their torsos are pressed up against each other, front to front, and there’s not a lot of wiggle room. James must be really goddamn depressed. It’s a long, manly, intensley heterosexual hug. Like I said, kinda fruity.

Other people have analyzed the hug shot for shot, so I won’t get too into it, but I think that it was intentionally left as a double red herring; some people thought that maybe he bugged Qrow, and after finding out that he didn’t, we were forced to conclude that this is a genuine olive branch. To find out that Ironwood is sincere but was still susceptible to corruption is that second subversion that I didn’t really expect. I hadn’t prepared myself for it, at least, and neither did Qrow. I wouldn’t go as far to say that Ironwood’s descent into fucking craziness paranoia is triggered by Qrow not ‘reciprocating’ or something, but I do think it’s interesting how the volume opens up with a signifigant interaction between Ironwood and Qrow, only for Qrow to spend the rest of the volume homosexually bonding with Clover, while Ironwood basically has no one as emotional support (again, his subordinates do not have the power or the place to be viewed as equals and the veil of formality is one of isolation). Qrow initiates nothing further, and nothing further happens.

Ironwood’s downfall, in a thematic sense, is that what he Needs is a heart, and when he gets that chance to demonstrate tolerance and empathy, James ultimately rejects his Need (a heart) and his arc reverts into one of villainy. To be specific, Ironwood is essentially a fascist dick, and that is not very sexy. (Speaking of dicks, the thought of Ironwood’s dick makes me laugh. I bet in the RWBY universe, people have made memes about that. I do not accept criticism because I am correct. Anyway,).

Dictators are charming, charismatic, and one of the pillars of their method is absorbing potential political opponents into their own administration to reduce the threat of rebellion, to appear openly tolerant to their supporters, and to further consolidate power. A good example of this would be Mean Girls, which runs on a comedic commentary of dictatorships as a political structure of power. I hate to compare James Ironwood to Regina George, but Regina’s posse includes Karen and Gretchen, two of the only girls who might take away from the authority she holds over the rest of their school, both in their wealth and attractiveness, and Cady’s interesting backstory and conventional attractiveness is the main reason Regina draws her into her own sphere - because she detects a potential threat. Much in the same way, while Ironwood likely has good intentions, his efforts to win over team RWBY and co. - including Qrow himself - is a logical way to consolidate resources. His willingness, at first, to cooperate with political opponents (ie Robyn) is because he’s not inherently evil, and he has nothing to lose. It’s when he is openly opposed and diplomatic gestures no longer hold the necessary weight that he snaps.

In one really interesting meta about Ironqrow’s archetypes (that I reread occasionally just because I really love it), @onewomancitadel posits that Ironwood is framed within the archetype of the Knight in Shining Armor, which should inform us of the moral consistency of his character. The meta was written around the beginning of volume 7, I think, and obviously we have a lot more character development and information to go off of now, but I think she makes a really interesting point about the nature of parallels and how that might help drive Ironwood as a character. I love her analysis of the visual of Ironwood stepping out of an airship wreckage, onto the street, the smoke billowing around him to reveal his cyborg prosthetics, and of the intentional framing. Once his uniform is stripped back, we see a man who is literally half-armor, which could be indicative of a lot of things. He’s emotionally guarded, he’s used as a human weapon, and he wants to be a line of defense. In her words, “The symbolism is really obviously put into perspective of his actions in trying to do the right thing: in the flesh (his true physical self) he is literally a knight in shining armour. From the ground up. Even if it's unseen or distorted by his uniform, his nature is still true.”

While Ironwood clearly has gone down a darker path in the most recent volume, I think this analysis holds true in a crucial way. “Ironwood is working with different information, and he’s doing exactly what he knows: stick to his knightly virtues, even disgraced.” Disgraced, indeed. Ironwood is holding onto his knightly values, and doing what he believes is right. If not right, he believes that it is necessary. The problem is that these values are manifested within Atlas’s sociopolitical-military culture in an inherently toxic way - his response is, at this point, neither rational nor empathetic, but it can be explained partially due to his cultural (flawed) understanding of justice, and because of the extenuating circumstances. The harsher the conditions become, the more difficult it is for anyone to project a facade that is not sincere at its core. If James is to uphold his Knightly virtues, he needs to be a protector, a leader, and a servant all at once while operating under limited intel with dwindling trust. All he has left are the few key players still in his grasp, and the control of the people he is responsible for.

To digress: generally, knights take an oath. It could be to a King, or Lord, or some noble, but Knights are supposed to operate on a code of honor, and chivalry, and to uphold these values throughout the land as an extension of whoever they have pledged themselves to. The story of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a really good example of the way that, back in the day, chivalry and honor was supposed to place knights on a moral high ground compared to the common people.

In the middle of a celebration in Camelot, an obligatory tradition that has since lost real value but is rehearsed because Camelot fears that failure to uphold traditions that once had meaning is disrespectful, a Green Knight interrupts the celebrations and offers a strange challenge that boils down to a fight to the death. Gawain volunteers because accepting this challenge is what is expected of him, and Arthur would be humiliated if his knights, supposedly the best in the world, would not rise to the challenge. Gawain - and to a certain extent, the rest of Arthur’s knights - are fickle, in a sense, because their adherence to this code is performative, and it allows them to delude themselves into moral superiority and lie both to the commoners and amongst themselves; their identity as knights is based on a falsehood. Gawain is offered the first blow, and after beheading the Green newcomer, is horrified to see him become reanimated and immune to mortal blows. He invites Gawain to receive his own - likely fatal - blow, and gives him a time in which to meet, before promptly leaving.

Throughout the story, Gawain is tested in a variety of ways - in his final test, he fails, and allows his greed for self preservation and the fear of death to lead him to lie to his hosts and proceed to his meeting with the Green Knight under dishonest pretenses. While he is spared at the last second and becomes a better person (after it is revealed that Morgan le Fay orchestrated the ordeal to spook Queen Guinevere) - and by extent, a truer Knight, by the end of the story, the superficial and hypocritical nature of Arthur’s court is still in question, and still unanswered.

See, the entirety of Gawain’s trials was a test, not necessarily for him, but for Arthur and his court as a whole. Morgan wanted to prove the fickle nature of Arthur’s knights. The Knights of the Round Table were considered the best in the land, and to discredit one was to discredit all. What use is tradition if the meaning is empty, what use is chivalry if it is performed for reward instead of merit, and what use is loyalty if it is blind and unearned? Returning to Oz, the Tin Woodman, or Tin Man, grew to be made of tin because his axe became enchanted by the Wicked Witch of the East to sever his own body parts instead of the lumber he tried to cut down. A nearby tinsmith replaced each amputated limb with one of metal, until his entire body became tin and his meat body had been entirely discarded. Something to note is that Nick Chopper’s, (General Ironwood’s) wounds are technically self-inflicted. Each time he swung his axe, he made the decision to continue, knowing of the end result each time. In losing his bodily functions, the Tin Man believed that he had lost his humanity and ability to love.

The tragedy of his origin story draws a pointed correlation to Ironwood’s current dilemma; his unwillingness to stop, his self-imposed isolation, playing into the hands of the witch, and finally, the decision to let go of his ability to love remain consistent throughout both stories.

Watts even refers to Ironwood as a “Tin Solider”; a reference to the Tin (Woods)Man, no doubt, but could also evoke a soldier clanking around in metal armor. Ironwood is a Knight in Shining Armor, through and through. He wants to save the world, but at the terrible cost of civilian autonomy and possibly life. The problem is that he’s pledged himself to a discriminatory and hypocritical system, and his code is something that can easily be misconstrued by fear ( @disregardcanon ), much as Gawain’s own values. The Tin Man is, after all, still a man, and if we’ve learned anything from real fairytales, it is that men are fallible, whether or not they are made of metal.

Ironwood, Alone

he’s a lonely bitch

I know I f- up, I'm just a loser

Shouldn't be with ya, guess I'm a quitter

While you're out there drinkin', I'm just here thinkin'

'Bout where I should've been

I've been lonely, mm, ah, yeah

— Benee, Supalonely (2019)

You do get the sense that Ironwood is riddled with self-loathing conflicting with pride, with self-doubt clashing with competence, and that he is the kind of person who longs for things without verbalizing. Maybe his dad never paid enough attention to him as a kid. Maybe he suffered some terrible physical and emotional trauma, which might as well be assumed, given the extensive nature of his cybernetic limbs. Maybe (probably) he’d be more well-adjusted and would’ve made better decisions if the people around him trusted him and were a little more open. To be fair, though, he is the one at the wheel, and he is making the calls; no one else is to blame for his mistakes, and to pretend otherwise is to deny him accountability. I think we do enough of that in everyday life, in excusing powerful men of their responsibilities. To his credit, I do think he wants to help people. I think James also wants to project the personality of a leader who is stoic, controlled, and measured. He is charming when he wants to be, sympathetic when it suits him, and influential in just the right areas. He is not a sociopath, but he is a politician, and in a lot of ways, those are the same thing. We see in his brief flashes of temper, often prompted by Qrow, or most notably by Oscar, that this is not a calm, stable person. This is someone is on the verge of exploding, who is so fucking angry that he is not in control that it’s killing him, and so he is going to lash out and kill the things that are not within his grip. If the people beneath him will not reciprocate the heart that he offers, then he has no real use of it. James Ironwood does not begin this story as a bad person. This is a tragedy, in however many parts it takes.

I read, in one very smart and very put-together analysis that I cannot find and properly credit at the moment, that part of Ironwood’s (many) failures can be seen in Winter, and how, like Ozpin, he has appointed a woman as his talented, no-nonsense, second chain in command at his right hand. In this way, Winter is an intentional parallel to Glynda, who is, without question, a bad bitch. In theory, surrounding yourself with strong individuals is a demonstration of self restraint, in implementing your own checks and balances. James wants to project that he is powerful, yes, but he is reasonable.

I take this to mean that, to some degree, even if it’s unintentional or subconscious, Winter serves to boost Ironwood’s ego.

The issue with this is that within the inherently hierarchical structure of the military, Winter cannot question, undermine, or challenge Ironwood in a way that is particularly meaningful and their relationship is one of commander and subordinate before colleagues or equals (link to a fantastic post about Winter’s role as the Good, Conscientious Soldier by @fishyfod). Whereas Glynda is free to argue with, converse, and be as combative as she needs to be with Ozpin (although their power dynamic is arguably one of commander and subordinate albeit informally), Winter cannot temper Ironwood effectively, and through the illusion of equality, Ironwood is further isolated.

His head and arms and legs were jointed upon his body, but he stood perfectly motionless, as if he could not stir at all.

Dorothy looked at him in amazement, and so did the Scarecrow, while Toto barked sharply and made a snap at the tin legs, which hurt his teeth.

“Did you groan?” asked Dorothy.

“Yes,” answered the tin man, “I did. I’ve been groaning for more than a year, and no one has ever heard me before or come to help me.”

The Tin Man needs oil to lubricate his joints; without it, he cannot move, and he is rendered helpless and inanimate. When Dorothy and the group find him, he is entirely isolated with no one in sight, and he has been there for such a long time that he has begun to rust. Similarly, Ironwood needs valued voices of dissent to keep him in check. His colleagues were able to serve that purpose in the beginning, and out of them, Qrow is the best example of someone who doesn't take his shit, openly questions him, and looks down on the performative decorum of the military culture that Ironwood is surrounded by. What Ironwood needs is to be flexible and adaptable; his Semblance, Mettle (heh, metal, very nice pun, RoosterTeeth), is a double edged sword in that it gives him supernatural focus and willpower - enough, perhaps, to flay/chop off your own limbs - but it blindsides him, and is only further prolonging his pain.

There is a lot of sympathy to Ironwood’s character, as much as I’ve ragged on him for being an authoritarian, kind of a dick, and bad with kids. There are moments, such as the previously mentioned dinner party, where he shows his colors a bit, and when he assures the students at the Vytal Festival that there’s no shame in leaving before the battle begins, and in giving Yang a prosthetic arm before her father even has to ask. As far as Generals go, it seems that he’s seen soldiers come and go and understands, at least in his best moments, that not everyone is the same, and not everyone has power of unflinching determination to rely on. Ironwood performs his best when he tempers himself because he understands himself, and others. It’s when he fails to self-reflect that his hypocrisy shows through. Glynda points it out, too, as does Qrow; Ironwood advocates for trust but often fails to give it himself, going behind Ozpin’s back, being absolutely shit at field communication, and now the whole fascist, borderline-genocidal keruffle he’s gotten himself into.

I think that Ironwood reaching out to Qrow was his ethical last stand, his last chance and conscious effort to choose the right path. Qrow is unequivocally an equal, not like how Ozpin is the Big Boss, the authority that James becomes disillusioned with and tries to overthrow. He wants someone to trust, desperately so, and Qrow wants that too, but narrative subversion has hands. The Scarecrow and the Tin Man have no brain and heart respectively, and are in need of them. As it turns out, Qrow is actually a pragmatic guy with solid principles angled against authoritarianism, and Ironwood is a dick who would rather enforce martial law than to empathize and tame his military-shaped boner for one second.

I might conclude that someone like Qrow might be best for Ironwood, but that does not mean that someone like Ironwood would be the best for Qrow. Qrow has a brain after all, but Ironwood does not choose his heart when it matters, case in point. Even the intro of the current season features Salem and Ironwood on a chessboard; his white pieces are disappearing, dissolving into dust, as hers transform into Grimm. Ironwood is isolating himself by depleting himself of allies. As this post by @hadesisqueer points out, Ironwood isn’t even positioned as King, the supposed commander, but the Queen, the most versatile player on the board that is so far underused, since he hasn’t moved from his spot. Ironwood’s refusal to unify against Salem is his failure to strategically utilize the best resources that were available to him; soon, the pieces will be swallowed by the dark.

James is guilty of something that a lot of us are guilty of: doing a Bad Thing for what we have convinced ourselves is a Good Reason, when in reality, it is actually a lot of Very Bad Reasons. James Ironwood is a Knight archetype, through and through, and he is charging forward to do the right thing. He is afraid, he is lying to himself, and he will never surrender.

“All the same,” said the Scarecrow, “I shall ask for brains instead of a heart; for a fool would not know what to do with a heart if he had one.”

“I shall take the heart,” returned the Tin Woodman; “for brains do not make one happy, and happiness is the best thing in the world.”

Dorothy did not say anything, for she was puzzled to know which of her two friends was right, and she decided if she could only get back to Kansas and Aunt Em, it did not matter so much whether the Woodman had no brains and the Scarecrow no heart, or each got what he wanted.

The lesson of James Ironwood is a lesson of failure, and of the way that we succumb to fear, because that is Salem’s agenda, really, in the end: fear. It’s the negative emotions, fear being first and foremost, that draw in and empower the Grimm, and it’s fear and uncertainty that causes chaos. It is when Dorothy’s friends give into their fear that they are truly defeated. FDR’s assertion that “The only thing to fear is fear itself” holds true here; it’s not so much that these characters are afraid of losing their lives, their loved ones, and of the dark, but that they do not have the love or the resources to be brave for themselves or for others.

Qrow as a character is introduced as one who is already defeated, in a sense. Half of his team is gone, dead or estranged, he’s forced into the shadows of espionage to protect a world he knows is darker than it should be, and he’s fighting a losing battle with alcoholism. As charismatic as he’s written, he’s referred to as a “dusty old crow”, a hunter of renowned skill but past the prime of his life.

Dorothy’s three titular companions are defined by what they lack; in the same vein of the Disney I Want song (a main character’s main monologue song in which their wants and desires that motivate them throughout the rest of the film is laid out in song; ie Part of Your World, Reflections, How Far I’ll Go), the Lion, Tin Man, and the Scarecrow want bravery, a heart, and a brain respectively. RWBY relies on flipping the script of its characters based on what the audience might expect from the source material; Ruby is not just a helpless little girl - her introduction is a badass with a scythe. The Scarecrow is a chronic alchoholic. Cinderella is a victim of abuse, and is also a villain who wants to set the world aflame. Subversion, subversion, subversion.

There are obviously parallels between the characters in RWBY and in their own fairytales to keep them in character, and part of the fun is spotting those clues and occasionally connecting the dots to anticipate the direction of the narrative and certain connections between characters and the significance of their arcs. While I’m not aware of Dorothy Gale’s RWBY counterpart, if she has already been established or is yet to be introduced, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to assume that Ruby has adopted a Dorothy-eque persona and can act as a surrogate in a way. She begins as a sweet, naive child eager to join a world of color and excitement, who initially believes that she has “normal knees” and is thrust into a political scheme full of powerful and older players. She even has a small dog as a companion, Toto Zwei, who seems like an odd addition, since he’s usually sidelined and basically forgotten about except in a few spare moments, unless he’s there to draw further comparisons to Dorothy. She may not be from Kansas, but she is first helped by Glynda (the Good Witch), and later expects assistance from Ozpin, Qrow, and the later Ozian counterparts. I find it a peculiar detail that for Ruby to be Little Red Riding Hood alone, she is surrounded specifically by Dorothy’s companions. This, of course, only increases the importance of the relevance of the Oz series in particular and the characters that are borrowed.

In the case of Ozpin’s inner circle, Dorothy’s closest comrades (sans Toto) differ in crucial ways to their source material. (After finishing this essay, I found a much better, condensed explanation by @neopoliitan )

Disillusioned by the Ozpin, the Wizard (who has been projecting an illusion of a failsafe) and overwhelmed by the rise of the Wicked Witch of the West, Lionhart (the Lion), gives into his cowardice and ultimately forgoes the arc and redemption of his character from the source material; as such, he is by all definitions, a failure and a premonition, as Ironwood eventually follows. If RWBY is a dark take on classic fairytales, then it is only fitting that these characters are charred husks of their fairytale selves - these are people, and some people are selfish, scared, and cowardly, and they do not overcome these traits.

This is all opinion based, pure speculation. I have no idea what will happen in the next episode, and whatever goes down will be...shit will hit the fan. I’m under no delusions that Ironqrow is going to be canon in a healthy, tender, endgame sense. They’re both kind of losing their minds, and Ironwood is shitting absolute bricks. No, they’re going to try to kill each other, and I personally cannot wait for Qrow to cleave this man in two. (Not sexually, just, literally. Like, with a scythe.)

On that note, I think that the RWBY writers are good at callbacks, at drawing attention to their own connections, and if Ironwood and Qrow’s inevitable confrontation is scheduled, then it will include visual callbacks to Qrow saving James at Beacon, maybe shot for shot. Their visuals have only gotten better as time goes on, and I imagine Ironwood’s eyes widening as Qrow leaps through the air, scythe drawn, in recal of a moment so long ago when they weren’t on the same page, but they were at least on the same side. When Qrow brings the blade down, there will be no enemy behind him. Only Jimmy James. The difference between the two of them will be that Qrow isn’t fighting out of fear, but out of love, for what happened to Clover, and to what could happen to his girls.

Qrow’s reliance on alcohol, as well as his (mostly) feigned nonchalance is meant to fit with the motif that the Scarecrow has no brain, and, had he a mind to desire anything, would desire it most of all. His role is, also, notably, gathering intelligence for Ozpin (his character is also based on Munnin from Norse mythology). There is so much about Qrow that is an act and so much that is not, and I think that this act is born both from this motif and from his own cynicism, and the alcohol contributes to this act. However, he eventually gets sober after Ruby expresses legitimate frustration, and he understands that he’s putting their lives at risk. While one could say that he gave up drinking for the kids, I would argue that the kids - Ruby in particular - made him want to give up drinking for himself, to better himself.

While Lionhart and Ironwood betray the people depending on them, Qrow’s love for his nieces (and for the kids) allows him to deviate from this pattern. The answer to fear is perhaps not merely bravery - Qrow’s triumph is love.

Ironwood knows triumph in the context of a military state, but he’s backed himself into a corner. Soon he will find himself alone and friendless. Hopefully, his last stand will not be in vain.

[thewickerking]

🏳️‍🌈🎶

HELP i was typing this and it got so long... im going to put this under the cut for the sake of everyones dash

🏳‍🌈 do you have any headcanons (lgbt, race, neuro, etc) that are important to you?

oh man a lot... um lets start with my number one everything.. qrow branwen.. literally bisexual first off. he is so into men i think. but not the men everyone ships him with -_- i think some stuff with him and clover is kinda cute but clovers literally a copppp.. the way they meet is clover arresting him and like 8 children for the crime of *checks notes* protecting civilians and ppl say qrow "my opening scene is destroying military property and shittalking the militarization of goverment and predicting its downfall AND BEING RIGHT" branwen not only falls for him but also jokes abt the cop "fixing him" like. yes qrow has every mental illness but if u think the cop is fixing him instead of the other way around.... 😬 also the other popular ship is him and ozpin.... who he met when ozpin was a principal and he was a student.... ok im done with shipping drama its just so much of what i find when looking for content for him its annoying -_-

um hes also canonically an addict and like. its undeniably true that he has depression and its not a headcanon exactly but him being explicitly mentally ill and fucking up and giving up and relying on unhealthy coping mechanisms while still being good and loved while also being called on things he does that hurt others without ever losing that love..... ough it means a lot to me even though some of the earlier writing skips over these things they are a notable part of some later volumes (volume 6 is my fav for a reason.. the reason is qrow) and not even exaggerating one of my fav things abt rwby is that they havent killed qrow off which sounds SIMPLE but hes a character following the footsteps of many cool but messed up mentor figures teaching protags and then dying for their development but he DOESNT. the idea of stepping aside for the next generation is CHALLENGED and hes CAPABLE of working on his issues and contributing to the main cast and betterment of the world not as a mentor but an equal in the fight to save the world. OUGH. WHATEVER. HE MAKES ME FEEL SO MANY THINGS.

also he isnt white i dont care about the models. there are points to be made about him and his family being vaguely indigenous and/or asian coded but the worldbuilding is sooo. its so. idk. i wouldnt say theres super strong evidence for either but i do enjoy both headcanons. i personally like to interpret him as latino/japanese bc mixed latino is the highest honor i can bestow upon a character but i also think it brings up some interesting concepts with his complicated family relationships. oh also hes nonbinary i do make the rules talk to the wall if u disagree. his gender is off the charts sir give me ur eyeliner secret. just kidding i know in my heart u do it with ur giant scythe.

HELP. thats all just qrow. Well yeah that tracks im obsessed with him. anyways ill list a few other things that are important 2 me without trying to type tooo much

um ruby yang and taiyang are all chinese. ur name is NOT taiyang xiao long if ur white (and also created by an asian man... but ppl rlly like to skip over that part) especially when contradicted with characters named shit like nora and peter (and weiss and jaune)... this specific like biggest pet peeve is people talking the character models at face value and drawing (especially yang but definitely also ruby) them as white like 🤨 thats so embarrassing. the models themselves kind of whitewash the characters (for lack of a better term, its complicated) and they do hire artists who further that but plssss do some thinking abt a man named taiyang xiao long having daughters and how that very much makes them chinese -__-

on a similar note blake shouldve been a poc. black and south asian hcs are my fave for her but like. it wouldve been so much better for several reasons. unrelated, but i like to hc that yang had ptsd before volume 3 but thats mostly because i project a lot of my childhood mental health issues on her lmao.. i could probably go on for a very long time so ill end it here. also. tyrian is trans

🎶 if your hyperfixation has songs/an ost, what is your favorite song from it?

oh man.... i have every rwby song memorized except some of the newer ones and lionize (bc i hate adam <3) but my fav of all time is probably bad luck charm. yes because its qrows song. i think it was my second song on spotify at some point. but some of my other faves are gold, i'm the one, hero, war, the sky is falling, and like every yang song. i love the music for rwby a lot <3

[toysoldiers-rwby]

Yo, weird question but: if the show didn’t like, follow your personal story/fic/headcanons you wouldn’t be like, salty or angry about it, right? It’s just, I’ve seen multiple ‘fan’ content creators with that sorta “high and mighty, ‘if my stuff isn’t canon the writing is trash’” mentality and it’s well...its something alright..

Nah, I like things BECAUSE it didn't follow my personal stuff and headcanons or theories.

I don't like fish bowls or imposing my opinions and ideas onto others, things get stagnate and stale. We stop growing without new ideas, a fresh perspective.

I didn't write Cutting Strings or Show Your Teeth as a prediction for RWBY. I started it because I wanted to write again, wanted to explore character I love in a different narration. Different doesn't mean better, just... gay in my case lol. But most importantly, and emphasising this because I feel like a lot of people (not just u) forget about this, I create to and explore MYSELF in a safe and positive way.

Toy Soldiers is many things, TO ME. It don't need to mean anything to you and that fine. Everything I make on this blog is completely for me, if other people vibe with it awesome. In the end all I care about, having a good time creating something and developing my skills, I'm honored if people like my work enough to stick around and happy to be seen.

[dupliciaa]

I posted 3,213 times in 2021

1151 posts created (36%)

2062 posts reblogged (64%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 1.8 posts.

I added 1,756 tags in 2021

#rwby - 638 posts

#cinder fall - 218 posts

#winter schnee - 197 posts

#rwby 8 spoilers - 156 posts

#blake belladonna - 115 posts

#snowfall - 92 posts

#pokemon - 91 posts

#my art - 88 posts

#the world of rhevial - 82 posts

#cinwin - 79 posts

Longest Tag: 137 characters

#it’s easy to get them confused bc they’re both very focused on people taking care of themselves with little regard for their own feelings

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

“Ah yes. Me. My girlfriend. And her 500 lien four foot tall beowolf.”

430 notes • Posted 2021-02-04 01:40:27 GMT

#4

this quote has been floating around tumblr and i think it’s hilarious so i drew Them. transcript below.

Cinder: Schnee Winter: Cinder: You might be wondering why I’m taped to the ceiling...

498 notes • Posted 2021-06-11 21:52:29 GMT

#3

ko-fi request for @sadiemacoy ! the bees having a cute little coffee date. it’s been a while since i’ve drawn them, so this was fun ! please don’t judge my inability to draw backgrounds...........

if you’d like to make a request, buy me a coffee !

509 notes • Posted 2021-07-12 03:28:51 GMT

#2

can y’all believe the AUDACITY ironwood had to CRY when winter said she wouldn’t follow him in mass genocide anymore? can you believe this man actually thought he had the right to be upset when she decided she didn’t want to be his damn lapdog anymore? he really out here trying to make us feel bad for him with his single little tear after he murdered a man in custody and is now trying to kill the woman he had a part in raising? lmao GIRL BYE

586 notes • Posted 2021-03-20 16:02:16 GMT

#1

i love them your honor

859 notes • Posted 2021-06-14 20:16:48 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[waveypedia]

hi! since you are a bit of a writer yourself i am just wondering do you think there is a thing as "copying" other people's work i mean i know it is basically stealing if you just steal paragraph by paragraph and just change the names but what if i am feeling inspired by something? i just get tired of people being like "your characters seem a lot like these characters from this media" do i just need to work more on making my characters unique idk where i am going with this sorry dsjlkljfkds

‘’’’’Oh hello! Wow I’m honored that you asked me! It’s kind of a tricky and complicated subject but I don’t think so, unless you’re outright plagiarizing someone. The thing is, no idea is going to be completely original, right? The realm of human creativity just doesn’t go that far. Like say you see a squirrel and you think to yourself “Hmm I want to write a story about squirrels!” I guarantee there are already a bunch of stories about squirrels. But they’re probably not all the same as your story. That’s because even though you and the other hypothetical story writers took your inspiration from the same place, you both have a plethora of other ideas that create the whole picture. and those end up different from each other because your other ideas + inspiration came from different places. And you might take other inspiration from other places, but it’s still different from that other place because the other pieces that make up the picture are different. and so on and so forth. (i hope that makes sense KJDJFJ)

Taking inspiration from another piece of media to create something original is a common practice among creators. Not just from fan creators, but from original creators as well. Original creators are just like us - they’re fans of other things, and they love to show how much they love those things in their work. Where we usually do that by way of fanart or fanfiction, where we take a concept they made and put our own spin on it, with varying degrees of our own originality sprinkled in. (Obviously the majority of fan content pulls far too much from the source material to be fairly compared with original content that is inspired by other original content, but i have seen fanfiction that could genuinely be an original novel if they just tweaked a few things! i think some fanfiction has actually been tweaked and published as novels as well, though i haven’t read any myself. that i know of lol!)  Like if you listen to interviews or read posts by creators, they cite other media as inspirations a lot. some of them you can tell really easily - rwby and miraculous ladybug were both heavily inspired by anime (miraculous ladybug was magical girl anime in particular; I don’t know enough anime to cite a specific show/genre for rwby if there even is one); cuphead’s entire brand is styling itself after 1930′s (why does the apostrophe look like that) cartoons; and lin-manuel miranda’s notes in his Hamilton book are chock-full of references and inspirations he cited. Seriously, there are so many of them. like I think the biggest takeaway I could give you here is that creativity is  super original but also comes from a lot of different places and everyone, even original creators, take inspiration from all kinds of places! what really matters is the execution (which is why if someone steals your idea your job is to just do it better than them. lol)

Also sometimes people will end up with similar ideas out of complete coincidence and that’s still fine! Like Luz and Marcy both have similar personalities and end up in similar situations to the point where the creators have acknowledged and poked fun at it (bubbly, neurodivergent-coded tween girl with a huge imagination unhappy and undersimulated at home ends up in an isekai-situation with an otherworldly mentor and flourishes) yet their stories are completely different. and for the record I can’t really say if this was a complete coincidence because Dana Terrace and Matt Braly are friends and I have no idea what went on behind closed doors, but if nothing else it speaks to how you can take inspiration from other creators in the same genre/with the same audience and still create something largely original.

also re: the not unique enough thing, there is a comic on tumblr that is extremely inspired by miraculous ladybug (characters, artstyle, vague concept/plot), written by a ml fan, and consumed largely by people in the ml fandom. it has a steady following (to my knowledge - i don’t actively follow it myself, although I do like it). It’s kind of like that “two cakes” analogy you see sometimes when people talk about fan content that’s similar to another (which is kind of a different facet of this conversation) - people like to see things similar to things they already like. But this comic also has a lot of original lore, plot, etc that separates it from miraculous ladybug even though it’s so similar! so please don’t worry. your creations will always be inspired by things you’ve consumed/you like, whether you mean them to be or not, but they’ll also always be your own. That’s the beauty of creating!

[giveamadeuschohisownmovie]

RWBY / MCU AU (2.0)

(reposting since Tumblr is being weird)

The Avengers

1) Ruby Rose as Tony Stark / Iron Man (reasoning: weapons nut, expert inventor, red color scheme, main protagonist)

2) Jaune Arc as Steve Rogers / Captain America (reasoning: awkward blonde guy who is always trying to prove himself, forged his papers in order to get into Beacon, team leader of JNPR)

3) Weiss Schnee as Thor Odinson (reasoning: yes, I know that Nora is the more obvious choice. I went with Weiss since I felt that she fit Thor’s story better. Nora doesn’t really have good parallels for Loki, Sif, Odin, Hela, and the rest of the Thor cast. As for Weiss, she started out as an arrogant heiress with a terrible father and brother. She later lost her inheritance and was humbled by her experiences in Beacon and with Team RWBY. To me, her character arc fits Thor to a tee)

4) Yang Xiao Long as Bruce Banner / The Incredible Hulk (reasoning: prone to anger, known for brute force and punching. Also, since she’s Bruce, she would be close friends with Ruby, which could mirror their sisterly relationship)

5) Harriet Bree as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow (reasoning: if the Atlas Military and Ace Ops are S.H.I.E.L.D. in this AU, then I felt that a member of Ace Ops should be Black Widow and Hawkeye)

6) Clover Ebi as Clint Barton / Hawkeye (reasoning: if the Atlas Military and Ace Ops are S.H.I.E.L.D. in this AU, then I felt that a member of Ace Ops should be Black Widow and Hawkeye)

Guardians of the Galaxy

1) Mercury Black as Peter Quill / Star-Lord (reasoning: douchey guy who always feels the need to overcompensate. Hates his biological father)

2) Emerald Sustrai as Gamora (reasoning: she’s partners with Mercury, green color scheme, can be said to be in league with Salem due to her association with Cinder, black character)

3) Roman Torchwick as Rocket Raccoon (reasoning: loudmouthed thief who mocks everyone, partners with Neo who is Groot)

4) Neopolitan as Groot (reasoning: characters known for their distinct way of “speaking”, Roman’s closest associate, cutest member of the team)

5) Cardin Winchester as Drax the Destroyer (reasoning: big, muscular guy who is not really known for his brains)

6) Cinder Fall as Nebula (reasoning: she’s one of Salem’s main followers, Salem being our Thanos. Also, her connection to Emerald)

Wakanda

1) Blake Belladonna as T’Challa / Black Panther (reasoning: daughter of Ghira, our T’Chaka. Her story is all about discrimination and finding a way to bridge the gap between humans and faunus. Technically, she’s of royal blood. She’s also part cat)

2) Adam Taurus as Erik Killmonger (reasoning: anti-human/pro-faunus extremist who is obsessed with Blake. His main plan is basically to kill everyone who he feels is a threat to his people. True, the origins of his obsession with the Black Panther is different in this AU but still)

3) Kali Belladonna as Queen Ramonda (reasoning: Blake’s mom)

4) Ghira Belladonna as King T’Chaka (reasoning: Blake’s dad)

5) Sun Wukong as Nakia (reasoning: Blake’s love interest. Don’t come at me Bumbleby stans, he’s a faunus and Yang’s already cast as Hulk)

6) Ilia Amitola as W’Kabi (reasoning: since she’s a White Fang agent, I felt that she should be the member of T’Challa’s inner circle who ends up siding with Killmonger)

7) Sienna Khan as N’Jobu (reasoning: this is to act as a parallel to her relationship with Adam. N’Jobu was Killmonger’s father, Sienna was Adam’s leader. Also, just like N’Jobu, Sienna was a radical who wanted to fight against discrimination towards her people)

The Black Order

1) Salem as Thanos (reasoning: main villain of the series)

2) Arthur Watts as Ebony Maw (reasoning: member of Salem’s Inner Circle)

3) Tyrian Callows as Corvus Glaive (reasoning: member of Salem’s Inner Circle)    

4) Hazel Rainart as Cull Obsidian (reasoning: member of Salem’s inner circle)  

Asgard

1) Jacques Schnee as Odin (reasoning: Weiss’ father)

2) Willow Schnee as Frigga (reasoning: Weiss’ mother)

3) Whitley Schnee as Loki Laufeyson (reasoning: Weiss’ brother)

4) Winter Schnee as Hela (reasoning: Weiss’ sister)

5) Klein Sieben as one of the Warriors Three (reasoning: associate of the Schnee Family)

6) Nora Valkyrie as Valkyrie (reasoning: besides the obvious naming reasons and Viking symbolism, Nora is also headstrong and stubborn)

7) Lie Ren as Heimdall (reasoning: okay, to be honest, Ren is Heimdall mainly so that he can have some type of connection with Nora. In terms of personality, Ren is also stoic and honorable)

Stark Industries

1) Qrow Branwen and Summer Rose as Howard and Maria Stark, respectively (reasoning: going with the fan theory that Qrow is Ruby’s biological father, then it made sense to have Qrow and Summer as the Starks. Also, Qrow being Howard oddly fits if you picture him as a raging alcoholic who unintentionally neglects Ruby while she was growing up)

2) Penny Polendina as J.A.R.V.I.S. / Vision (reasoning: A..I. and android who is close friends with Ruby)

3) Pietro Polendina as Ultron (reasoning: okay, so this one is a bit of a stretch. Since Ultron is the “father” of Vision, then it made sense that Penny’s father would take this role. Just imagine that Pietro is a rogue A.I./killer robot made by Ruby and Yang in this AU)

4) Oscar Pine as Pepper Potts (reasoning: Jaune and Weiss have already been cast, so I guess this AU is a Rosegarden fic)

5) Coco Adel as James Rhodes / War Machine (reasoning: I was running low on characters. This is literally just because her main weapon is a minigun)

Other Major Characters

1) Raven Branwen as General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross (reasoning: so instead of Ross being Betty’s father, Ross would be Bruce’s father in this AU. The reason for this change is that I really wanted to include Raven in this AU and casting her as a power-hungry general chasing her daughter around the world in order to control the Hulk felt appropriate)  

2) Vernal as Betty Ross (reasoning: to keep the General Ross-Betty Ross relationship to some extent, then Vernal as Betty made sense. Instead of being father-daughter, it’s “mother figure-daughter figure”)

3) James Ironwood as Nick Fury (reasoning: big military guy and the head of Atlas Military and Ace Ops)

4) Glynda Goodwitch as Maria Hill (reasoning: this would’ve been Winter...but I have Winter cast as Hela. So Glynda, being my second choice due to her past relationship with Ironwood, gets this role)

5) Neptune Vasilias as Jane Foster (reasoning: closest character we have for Weiss’ love interest. Don’t come at me Whiterose stans, Ruby’s already Iron Man)

6) Bartholomew Oobleck as Erik Selvig (reasoning: it’s mainly because he’s a professor)  

7) Pyrrha Nikos as Peggy Carter (reasoning: warrior, closest character we have for Jaune’s love interest)

8) Saphron Cotta-Arc as Bucky Barnes / The Winter Soldier (reasoning: there was literally no other character who I could think of that could fit this role, so I went with Saphron since you have the sibling relationship element with Jaune. This is obviously not a romantic-Stucky interpretation, this is more along the lines of Steve and Bucky being spiritual brothers)

9) Ozpin as Stephen Strange / Doctor Strange (reasoning: Earth’s protector, one of the guys leading the charge against Salem. Also, Ozpin looks like the kind of guy who’d be a mysterious sorcerer)

10) Marcus Black as Ego the Living Planet (reasoning: Mercury’s estranged, biological father)

[howlingday]

About Jaune ships...

I have opinions. You may not agree, but they are mine. They may change in time, but not now.

LANCASTER ( RUBY X JAUNE )

The old tried and true. I mean, what's not to like? Cute girl falls for first guy she meets at Beacon? Classic romance trope, and after reading how much Ruby loves romance stories (I consider certain parts in the manga canon), it makes sense. In fact, after Arkos sank (A moment of silence, please . . . Thank you), many moved to Lancaster, which isn't bad. Happens all the time in fandoms. Sad thing, though, is far I think she'll last. If we're talking Volume 5 or earlier, then maybe. However, I feel if Ruby were to have an endgame in romance, it would be RoseGarden (I have opinions on that as well, but today isn't the day to discuss that), mostly because Oscar bumped Jaune's role from male lead to male side. Not to mention that while Jaune is becoming a beast in his own right, Ruby is a different creature altogether and evolving her character more rapidly and chaotically than anyone else (Must be all that screentime).

TLDR: I want it to be canon, but I might just be hoping.

WHITE KNIGHT ( WEISS X JAUNE)

Doofus in tin foil meets princess who hates daddy (Am I in the romance section of the library? You know, the corner for adults only?) No, but I do like this ship. I'm always a sucker for the fantasy genre, and using a zero to hero male makes it relatable. I also kind of ship it because the same reason I ship NaruSaku in the Naruto fandom: he likes her and he's willing to go the distance. But enough about that; instead let's talk about canon. Will they hook up? It's a soft maybe for me, for two reasons. 1. Rosegarden is most likely to be endgame, and after Ruby and Pyrrha, I'd say Weiss is Jaune's next to be his love interest. 2. Weiss has warmed up to Jaune. Sure, not lover or crush level (Yet), but she's definitely changed her opinion on him. In Volume 1, Jaune was bugging her, like all the time, which I could see as him getting mixed signals on (Exhibit A: Tall, blonde, and scraggly). When Volume 5 came around, everyone jumped onboard because he saved her life (Don't lie, because I'll admit that I did it, too). Not the best reason, but still reason enough, I'd say. Then in Volume 7, she hangs out with him and Oscar to the movies (It was either that or awkward Bumbleby all night. I feel ya, sister). Nothing romantic happens, but it does show how much their relationship has developed. If Weiss is Jaune's endgame, then they have set the pieces up perfectly to do so.

TLDR: High likelihood to be canon and I'm a sucker for Knight/Princess ships.

KNIGHTSHADE ( BLAKE X JAUNE)

This is the part where I say definitely not. Not in a million years, but I'll explain why I like the ship, though. As for why it won't work, the answer is Bumbleby. They haven't kissed yet, but you know they're going to eventually (Because if they don't, the fans will attack like a swarm of hornets). But here's the question you might be asking now: why do I ship this? Well, it's part of the allure of "opposites attract" ('Cause I'm dressed like a cat!). Blake is an intelligent, outspoken, and agile ninja with a criminal history of terrorism who spends her free time reading novels. Jaune is a B at best on his tests, soft-hearted, and ground-based knight who's worst crime is fraud (Still a crime, but peanuts compared to literal terrorism) and spends his free time hanging out with his team. Day and night. But they also tried that with Sun for a season and a half and it didn't last (BECAUSE BEES).

TLDR: Not even a snowball's chance in the summer sun, but so much story potential if you do (Which I do)!

DRAGONSLAYER ( YANG X JAUNE )

This, I would say, is the opposite of Knightshade, where Jaune is the day and Blake is night, here Yang is the Sun and Jaune is the Moon (Like their crests! Remember those? Y'know, when they were relevant?) Will it work? Even less so than Knightshade. However, it does open up some interesting paths considering how... provocative Yang can be, and Jaune, compared to the other guys, is the nerdiest, geekiest dude at Beacon. It's like the cheerleader/nerd romance, except the cheerleader is the captain of every sports team... and rides a motorcycle. The Volume 8 preview introduced us to Yang and Jaune riding motorcycles and we went nuts over it. Yang was back in her element, roaring down the street, riding on walls, popping off tricks with Oscar riding- Back to what I was saying, people were asking, "How did he know how to ride a motorcycle?" and the elementary answer is "He didn't." He almost fell off his bike from a small box in the road. True, anyone would, but look at how he reacts: he stiffens, he refocuses on the road. This kid literally started riding at breakfast, and I DARE you to prove me wrong. But hey, great fic material right there, though, eh?

TLDR: Never gonna happen, but I don't care. All I care about is writing that they love each other. And they also fu-!

ARKOS ( PYRRHA X JAUNE )

I'm sorry, I need a moment. . . . Alright. Do it for her. This ship... was perfect. Probably the best ship out them all. I legit almost cry every time I think about Volume 3. Pyrrha was everyone's favorite. Her background, her interactions, her choreography, everything! But, of course, like everything in our lives, she was too good to be true. But let's honor her memory by talking about her ship, Arkos. Pyrrha was the champion of the world, the Brothers' and Oums' gift to Remnant. She could do no wrong and she HATED it. Her plight was with how she was seen. Everybody knew her! Everybody, except Jaune. And he only figured out she was "a big deal" was because Weiss had to spell it out for him! As time went on, they became the best of friends, two peas in a pod, the perfect odd couple! They worked together and trusted each other, they cared for and supported each other, they lo- No. No, I can't say it. It's been years, and it still hurts. So, I'll explain something else: the reason why Jaune SHOULD NOT be shipped right now. That reason is Pyrrha. Jaune was helpless to save her. He's suffering from survivor's guilt and he's still grieving. In Volume 4, he would sneak away and train until late at night to scroll recording of her. In Volume 5, he confronted Cinder and got Weiss almost killed because he let his grief for Pyrrha take control of him and let his emotions run wild. In Volume 6, he finds the Pyrrha statue and he... I don't know how to say this, but he let's go. He accepts that Pyrrha is gone and he's starting the healing process. He's finally ready to move forward.

TLDR: T.T I never felt that it was wise to wish too much~

MARTIAL ARCS ( REN X JAUNE)

I'll be honest, I don't really ship it. Yeah, it's cute, and it falls perfectly into the "if I had to pick a guy" part of me, but to be honest, I don't ship it. 10% because Renora and 90% it just doesn't click with me. They both just seem too soft, too quiet, too introverted. Best friends? Yes, definitely! But lovers? Eeeeeh, not really.

TLDR: I will only ship as neccessary.

NORA'S ARC ( NORA X JAUNE )

I've only just got in this deep with the fandom only recently, so I don't know if a lot of you know me. Heck, I'm probably just some RWBY fan you happen to spot as you move through your dash. However, old or new, I want to be made absolutely positively clear on this. Of all the ships here, this has got to be my-

O T FUDGIN' P

Wow! Never thought I'd feel so strongly about a crack ship like this. And yes, as sad it is to say, this is a crack ship. Renora was planned from day one, so it can't be helped. At least it didn't blast me in the face all of the sudden (OH NO, NOT THE BEES! AAAAARGH! THEY'RE IN MY EYES!). But why this ship? Well, for one thing, it's that whole opposites attract thing with Nora as the bubbly, outspoken, airhead powerhouse and Jaune as the soft spoken, introverted, nerd tactician. But wait, there's more to this trope, because it can go deeper: Order VS Chaos! Who makes all the messes? Who cleans up those messes? Who follows all the rules? Who makes their own doors? It's just. So. Damn! GOOD! One sad thing about this ship though is that it's not only not canon because of Renora, it's anti-canon because Renora. Every fan fic of Nora's Arc requires an explanation for Ren and Nora to not be together-together, like you have to write a formal apology to the FNDM for liking something that's different from what is canon or commonly accepted. If that's the case, then I'll be the anarchist here!

TLDR: I LOVE IT! What's that? Not canon? Who gives a damn?! I just explained why Jaune won't be shipped anyways! Now, if you'll excuse, I have some fan fics to find.

ARCFALL ( CINDER X JAUNE )

Oh, here it goes! Now, if we're talking ships that'll never happen, this is where we find better reasons than "it's not canon" and "character development". No, this... This is a declaration of war. Allow me to explain. Cinder Fall is evil. Like, down to her core. She wants power and she'll cut through anyone to get to it. Including Pyrrha. This woman sank Arkos by means other than "X and Y kissed, so..." She killed X, leaving Y alone. And her interactions with Jaune tell me she wouldn't even be worth a hate-bang. But, as Momma always, there's a thin line between love and hate. This is where the appeal comes in. Cinder is evil with no past, which leaves the previous chapter's of her life story blank to be filled in. Jaune is good with a troublesome, albeit easy past, but untapped potential for more. It's another opposites attract, but different from INTRO VS EXTRO and CHAOS VS ORDER; this is GOOD VS EVIL. Who will win this battle of wills; will our hero purify the tainted heart, or will he slip deeper into darkness, never to return to the light?

TLDR: Should be a NOTP, and yet the allure pulls me in.

What do y'all think? Do you agree? Let me know!

[jcmorrigan]

001 - Kingdom Hearts

Favorite character: On the villain side: VEXEN IS BEST ORGANIZATION XIII MEMBER. Shoulda stayed evil, though. I like it when he complains and screams about everything and hates everyone. He's one of my favorite villains, just, like...in general. So fun to write. Also attached to Demyx, but I actually liked him more in III than II because it reminded me of my rawr lolspeek weeb days when I f/o'd him without knowing what f/o'ing was and then transitioned this to shipping VexDem like heck. On the hero side: MY GIRL KAIRI! But honorable mentions go to Sora, Riku, Aqua, Ven, Terra, Xion, Roxas, Lea, Ienzo, any Disney character I loved beforehand (this is way too fuckin many to list), Merlin (OKAY I WILL SINGLE HIM OUT), Yen Sid (I'LL SINGLE HIM OUT TOO), you know what let's also single out the Mickey+Donald+Goofy power trio...just...any KH hero who isn't part of the Yozora stuff or the KHUX stuff. ...Except I also LOVE Strelitzia, and she is the only KHUX-exclusive kiddo I care about but I care about her MANY. (Oh, and there's a least fave I have who's a "hero" but that's a debatable label). I would go on about why I love all of them but...that's too many characters to elaborate on

Least Favorite character: See, I think the real answer is Yozora, but the thing is I just tend to forget about him or not care (unless I'm doing a weird AU where he's Noctis' bratty Nobody, don't ask). He kinda represents the Shark Jump and I don't like watching that scene where he literally petrifies Sora for not being strong enough. But again, I can just kinda forget about him if he's not fed to me through a social-media unit. The one I LOVE TO HATE is Master Eraqus. The man actually triggered me back in the day. He is purity culture. He is the overbearing parent who will not accept you unless you are perfect. He is by and large the reason VAT didn't communicate with each other properly. He was the one who taught Aqua to think in absolutes. He lied to Ventus for years and then insisted to kill him was the only option, and then, when Terra tried to defend his brother figure/friend without knowing WHY Eraqus was doing such a thing, Eraqus didn't offer an explanation and instead switched targets to Terra citing that the problem was Terra's lack of OBEDIENCE. Eraqus is just very "my way or the highway" and uses his moral high horse to justify doing things that utterly lack compassion in any regard, which is something that GETS to me on a deep level, and let me tell you, I hated him for so long until I realized he was actually a super fuckin fun guy to imagine as a Bigger Bad in AUs that either have the KH protags teaming up or have villain protags needing a "greater good lawful evil" figure. And I just have found too many good memes about him cheating at chess and killing children. I have to laugh. Making fun of him is fun. He's a ridiculous character. That said, this recent trend of "erase everything bad he ever did and paint him as the ultimate hero of the saga" makes me raise eyebrows for SEVERAL reasons

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon): VexDem, SoRiku, Kairi x Jaune Arc (RWBY), Aqua x Rosalina (Super Mario Galaxy) x Bayonetta, IsaLea, Ventus x Papyrus (Undertale), that was six but they all needed to be mentioned

Character I find most attractive: Ienzo. HOO BABY he is adorable. I saw someone make a Valentine's Day gifset of KH and FF characters shortly after III dropped and seeing his smiling face paired with a romance quote made my heart FLUTTER

Character I would marry: Probably Ienzo, see above. He's also a very kind guy. Favorite redemption in the modern era.

Character I would be best friends with: I hope the Destiny Trio would adopt me into their friend circle the way they've tended to do with every other inter-world denizen they've come across. I would love to have them as my positivity squad. Or, y'know, two positivities and one "it's okay to screw up" guy. Just. I would love to hang out with them. I often worry that I'm unlikable to my faves, but even though I would usually prefer to hang with the villains, I can pretty much guarantee these three would be open-minded about me. (Do I kiiiiinda wanna be friends with Vexen though? Of course I do. He'd hate me but maaaayyyyybe he would see me as one of his pet idiots who makes him look smarter, and we could bond over our fragile egos?)

a random thought: You ever think about that one NPC lady in Traverse Town who refused to tell you where she was from because it was none of her business? You ever wonder where she WAS from? What her world was like? How she ended up being the survivor of the Ansem Apocalypse when it hit her? All I know is that when I read her lines out loud (I used to read KH speech balloons out loud all the time), I gave her a Southern accent for no discernible reason and I stand by it. That woman has a twang.

An unpopular opinion: I don't want KHUX to be canon because I feel it's smaller-scale and takes a lot of mystery out of the worldbuilding. I always assume that the KHverse just includes ALL worlds in fiction, and that includes their thousand-year histories, meaning the Age of Fairy Tales should've happened long long long LONG LONG LONG ago and not five generations. And whatever screwed up the world should've been more than just five people having a fight, and whatever saved it should've been more than just five people getting along, and Daybreak Town really suffers from having to stick to mobile-friendly graphics and therefore is the least aesthetically attractive KH town ever, and I don't like that Lauriam and Elrena used to be such selfless people. I do still love Strelitzia because she's shy and relatable and quirky (sitting on the roof) and she questions authority and if you go with shipping subtext she's probably bi (or pan?), but I don't like the "Lauriam's dead sister for his arc's drama" bit. I liked when Marluxia was angry because he wanted to run Organization XIII but it was in the hands of an idiot who wasn't him. And more than anything I just like imagining that the Age of Fairy Tales was something bigger, further in the past, and more mysterious than something designed for a mobile game. Scala ad Caelum, however, I like a lot better because there IS a lot of mystery there and also it's a very pretty town with an amazing design.

my canon OTP: I really only count the Disney couples as the "canon" ones, so this is a question of picking my favorite Disney couple that shows up onscreen. I hope I'm not forgetting an important one, but I think the title has to go to Aladdin/Jasmine, which is always perfect in everything. (This would be an ENTIRELY DIFFERENT STORY if KH had ever adapted Treasure Planet, and if it ever gets the mind to adapt Treasure Planet then even if I don't care about that game I will immediately declare that Amelia/Doppler takes the KH canon OTP crown. *taps watch* Get on it Squenix)

Non-canon OTP: SoRiku, which I counted as "basically canon" after DDD until III decided it wasn't sure. But I'm just a sucker for how DDD is the two of them all "HE'S GOT MY BACK AND I'VE GOT HIS AND I'D DO ANYTHING FOR HIM SO LONG AS HE'S HAPPY." It's just the best kind of Friends-to-Lovers, except when you take all canon into account it's Friends-to-Rivals-to-Enemies-to-Friends-to-Lovers and that's a very juicy dynamic. BUT ALSO: VexDem, which is a nostalgia ship SO STRONG I had to accept that it eclipsed my former Vexen ships by a mile and I wanted to go back to my roots. That one, I have a much longer essay about that I'll just have you refer to so I don't repeat myself for pages. To make a long story short, their scene in III was JUST DELICIOUS.

most badass character: OOF THEY'RE ALL BADASS but in the end it's between Sora and Aqua, because Sora gets the widest RANGE of abilities across the series that he masters while Aqua gets the most POWERFUL abilities due to her Mastery (Command Styles seem like they'd be the most OP things ever in-universe and I'm here for it because flashy battle moves make brain go brr).

pairing I am not a fan of: SOKAI, Xehaqus, RikuNami, Vanitas/anyone not evil

character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): OH BOY. KAIRI THE MOST. YOU ALL KNOW WHY: lack of screen time, Fridging for drama, forced romance to invite death flags (they really wanted to milk that death to get people talking didn't they?), giving Alyson Stoner ZERO direction to actually follow up on Hayden Panettiere's performance. But then I remember that they made Vexen redeem and lose his entire personality and I just...uuugghhhh. I can't believe he died twice in this series. And then Demyx is FUN but also I know he's flipped sides as well, which means he won't be fun much longer! Xehanort seems to switch motivations to whatever makes him the biggest threat (and several of Eraqus' old flaws seem to be mysteriously glued onto him), Sora isn't a motormouth anymore, Riku just doesn't get anyone who cares about him anymore because everyone's distracted by Sora and Kairi, IS ANYBODY GOING TO ADDRESS THE ACTUAL ISSUES THAT DROVE THE WAYFINDER TRIO APART, oh God Marluxia and Larxene you're good guys now what have they done to you

favourite friendship: I really like each of the trios. But you know what's even BETTER than the trios? If you put...all of the trios together...meaning Sora, Riku, Kairi, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Aqua, Terra, Ven, Roxas, Xion, Lea, Hayner, Pence, Olette...and then you added Isa back in there...and you gave them Ienzo...and you brought back Naminé...and you say that Subject X is Strelitzia and you have her turn back up so she can have justice done...AND YOU HAVE AN ULTRA KEYBLADE GROUP OF FRIENDS. As for Vexen, any purely platonic relationship I have for him is a crossover but trust me I have many crossover pals for he

character I want to adopt or be adopted by: See everyone I listed above in the friendship question. They can either mentor me or let me be their big sis/mom. But also, I will GLADLY be Merlin or Yen Sid's daughter. (But also would I kiiiiinda wanna be a VexDem daughter? This is the worst idea. Still wanna try)