#RUBY CANONICALLY DOES NOT KNOW ABOUT ADAM TAURUS

[constantvariations]

Thinking about how the official White Fang uniform is red, white, and black, but Yang is the one to help Blake end racism 🙃🙃🙃

[iamafanofcartoons]

Hey, what are your thoughts on the whole 'Qrow is Ruby's father' theory? Genuine answer, please.

Okay, let's look at it this way.

We all know vaccines don't cause autism. But anti-vaxxers repeatedly claim its a lie, a conspiracy, and refuse to listen to the CDC.

We all know the earth is round, not flat. But flat-earthers refuse to listen to NASA and treat it as a conspiracy.

How does that relate to Qrow theorists?

Monty Oum said, before Volume 2 Chapter 6? That Ruby and Yang are half-sisters. Not Step-Sisters. Half-sisters.

What do the "Monty's vision" and Qrow theorists say? "Monty meant step-sisters" "Monty was hiding the truth" "CRWBY has already retconned Adam Taurus and the show, so they should retcon this" "Monty is dead, so M&K don't have to follow this"

The very man that RWBY Critics put on a pedestal and claim to be some man whose work was ruined, but everything that comes out his mouth or tweets gets ignored and despised.

Yang talks about how Summer and Tai raised Ruby and Yang together as kids. Qrow theorists: "Yang was too young, her memory is spotty" "Qrow gave Ruby to Tai to raise after Summer's death" They literally ignore EVERYTHING that Yang said. Eruptionfang , the biggest Adam Taurus dickrider, made specifically suer to completely ignore the entire scene in his theory video which made sure to try to paint Monty as a liar.

Tai reads a bedtime story to Ruby and Yang about the Warrior in the Woods?

"Its not canon" "It was after Summer's death, so here's how Qrow can still be Ruby's father"

Now...how about specific things in question.

A girl named Anna masters was so in love with the theory, that when evidence disproving the theory came about, she used the R-Slur.

Another girl, Rose, kept claiming it was monty's vision, but when the mods of the facebook group showed her monty's tweet? And showed her that she could NOT use "Monty's vision" to support her claim? She started badmouthing Monty....because that's what Qrow theorists are like.

A third girl I dealt with happened to be a member of the WomenforVic movement of the vic micnogna defenders.

She had managed to get Vic Micnogna to say "Ruby, I am your father" at her camera, and she used that to claim that anything monty said was meaningless because Qrow's va , at the time, did a joke.

When Miles Luna shut down the theory on reddit and claimed that Qrow was a role model and father figure, but NOT ruby's father in any way shape or form?

The Qrow theorists immediately showed their true colors by doing mental gymnastics trying to twist Miles' words, or flat out calling him a liar and claiming that he was "Ruining monty's vision"

Anti-vaxxers. Flat Earthers. and Qrow theorists.

For these people, truth is not what is actually true. Truth for these people is what they decide to be true.

They reject reality, and substitute their own.

And if you try to show them that they're wrong, they hate you and call you toxic or other unsavory names, because these people wish to keep their delusions. They find their delusions better than reality.

Its the same way Adam Taurus fanfic writers get furious because their headcanons that they decided was somehow the actual show was debunked by the actual show. So they claim it was a retcon or character assassination.

Just ask these theorists about their thoughts of Qrow being Bi for Clover? Their responses will be full of bigotry.

But at the end of the day? There is no god. Vaccines do not cause autism. The earth is not flat. And Qrow is not and never will be Ruby's Father.

[dowhatteverer]

If they're a male character who treats women like shit, you RWDE folks will stan the hell out of them, huh?

You literally cannot come up with any other criticism of us outside of projecting the show writers' misogyny onto us because you can't come up with a good retort to our criticisms so you fall back on using buzwords to demonize us.

Look, I don't know what character you're specifically talking about, my blog is mainly centered around Ironwood, and I just posted an edited screenshot of Whitley, so I'll just go over peoples reasons for liking these male characters you've decided we shouldn't like and why we're not misogynists for doing so.

Adam Taurus- let's get something very clear, no one likes Adam as he is in the show. No one likes that he abused Blake, no one likes that he was a faunus supremacist, and no one likes his terrible voice acting. The reason people have still held onto Adam and go out of their way to rewrite him is because he is the embodiment of the show's disgusting opinions on race and the concept of fighting back, and is the main face of the white fang plotline.

Illia? She turned to Blake's side after getting talked out of violent protest, so she can't be a representation of violent protest being necessary. (And it was necessary canonically, According to Blake, the only reason the faunus have most of the equal treatment they get now is because of the white fang moving to a more violent approach) Sienna was a gorgeous character design that existed for four minutes before she was unceremoniously killed and Adam was once again cemented as the big bad. Forgive us for wanting a well written racism plotline rather than a poorly written abuse plotline.

If you're bitching about Ironwood here's the deal, I only like Vol 2-7 Ironwood, because I view vol 8 Ironwood to be an entirely different person. Let's see what sexist things vol 2-7 Ironwood did? He flirts with Glynda in his first appearance (kind of, all he does is say "Glynda! It has been far too long) and she walks off annoyed.

Flirting with a woman does not inherently make a man sexist? JAUNE went out of his way to not hear a no from Weiss and Weiss was treated like the bad guy by her own friends because she didn't say yes to a boy she wasn't attracted to. That's sexist, but I bet you guys don't think it was that big of a deal do you?

Ironwood is mostly shown to care about the opinions of the women in his life, encouraging young women like Ruby when he tells her that going after that masked woman and trying to prevent harm was exactly what a huntress should do. And he defaults to Winter's opinion constantly because he respects her and views her as essentially his second in command. If you're going to bring up the Winter Maiden, I don't know if you can blame Ironwood for providing Hospice care to an old woman with dementia as well as keeping her safe from the villains who want to murder her and take her powers, as well as putting the woman he believes is the best possible fit for the job in charge of taking care of her needs so she when she passes, Winter can take the powers.

Any sexism in that plotline is inevitable because the Maidens are kind of an inherently Sexist concept for the show writers to add onto the story.

Ironwood treated Penny just fine until Vol 8. What we're told and what we're shown in volume 7 is inherently contradictory ("Ironwood says I don't have time for friends" *Ironwood literally lets her hang around these people all the time and have a goddamn party with them*) so that's up to interpretation. I personally think that him keeping Penny on a tight leash in the Beacon arc because of her status as a government funded synthetic person who is also meant to be a weapon, and whose discovery could get Atlas in big trouble and might compromise her safety (which it did for the record) is personality reasonable, BUT I don't agree with it. I think that Penny deserves to be her own person with her own friends, and who can get the chance to live a happy normal life. And her relationship with Ironwood and his overprotectiveness is a big theme in my Remnant City AU.

Ok, so, for laughs. Let's talk about Whitley. I don't know about you, but I feel no need to be nice to people who have never been nice to me even if they are women.

The only women Whitley is shown to be mean to in anyway are his female family members, and if I was ever in his position, I would probably hate them too. His mother basically abandoned him for his entire life and became a neglectful alcoholic, something that every child should have the right to be pissed about. Winter and Whitley barely interact. Winter never mentions him or worries about his safety, and Whitley is not obligated to be kind to someone who clearly doesn't give a shit about him.

As for Weiss? He and Weiss are literally raised in a narcissistic abuse situation (as in the parent abuses the child to further their own goals, not necessarily that the abuser IS a diagnosed narcissist, I just feel the need to clear that up) where their father pits them against each other.

Whitley has also been left by Weiss with his abusers without her giving a damn about him after already being gaslit by his father into believing that Weiss is his competition and not a loved one. Even when Weiss's told that Whitley has been abused by his parents as much as she has, and the reason he hates her is because she chose to leave and never think about him, cementing in his mind that she never cared about him, Whitley couldn't even get a goddamn sentence out before she was threatening him with a military grade weapon designed to kill monsters three times his size.

I don't understand why the show writers thought it was the abused child's job to redeem himself in the eyes of someone who he thinks (with very good reason mind you) doesn't love him or care about him just because she's the main character, and I definitely don't understand why the FNDM took this interpretation and ran with it. But accusing Whitley of treating women like shit because he didn't immediately roll over and do everything he could to appease them when they never even looked in his direction with anything other than a glare? Shut up.

[vanphanel]

I try to avoid posts calling individual posters out, but there is so much wrong here, that I can't help but comment:

Full disclaimer, I think shipping wars are at best ridiculous at worst detrimental to a fandom, I like Bumblebee as a couple, am not heavily invested in the ship, but I think it's the inevitable and satisfying conclusion of their relationship arc in canon RWBY both from an in-world perspective as well as taking meta-information into account (statements by creators and voice-actors), I read this post and wonder if that person watched the same show that I did. They're either delusional or - worse - it's intentional.

a) "Everyone agrees" in full knowlegde of not everyone agreeing. b) Five lines about Freezerburn of which the first three are generic and/or subjective, the fourth, I'll give you that one (it makes for a nice contrast and there's more interesting contrasts to the two which inform the Weiss-Yang dynamic) the fifth defines the ship via denigrating another ship. Not making the greatest case there. c) Bumblebee is supposed to be toxic. Why? Like, over 9 volumes, I remember two instances that could be construed as toxic (note that I say construed):

The second and minor one is during volume 6 on the farm where Blake slips up about protecting Yang. She notices as she says it that the statement could sound ableist - which is not the way she means it - and it culminates in "we protect each other", arguably the climax of volume 6 (because while the Leviathan is a Argus-ending threat, dealing with Adam Taurus is personal). Also note that the scene on farm happens while the cast is already affected by the Apathy. And the first and most obvious thing is of course Blake leaving after Volume 3. But here's the thing: making mistakes is not inherently toxic. Yes she's wrong to leave. Yes it hurts Yang (in fact it hurts her so much that whenever I watch Ruby asking for Blake in V3 C12 I verbally add something to her statement: Yang says "I lost a part of me." and I add "and an arm"). But from Blake's perspective in that moment, she's protecting Yang from further harm by Adam by distancing herself. Now I'm sure I'm not saying anything new here, but still: consider that Blake was trained by Adam. Most likely she hasn't ever been able to defeat him, even in training. He was her leader, her mentor (and also either her partner or her unrequited crush) and in her mind he was invincible. She is unable to see fighting him as an option at that point. And here's what's making this worse for Blake: Blake already understands her feelings. So she decides that the only way to save Yang is to leave. Yes this is wrong. But in that moment, her decision is between hurting both herself and RW_Y and getting all four of them killed. Of course this is a mistake and she comes to understand that it's a mistake later and we all know that she will never leave again.

For both these instances, yes she makes a mistake. Later, she learns from it and does better. She lets Yang help her and fully understands her as an equal by the end of Volume 6.

So after this lengthy retelling of things we mostly already know, let me compare this to Weiss. Early Weiss has issues with a capital I. She doesn't understand equals, she doesn't understand friends, she's rude, she's racist, she's selfish (and more). In short she starts out a terrible person. Then she learns. R_BY and Beacon whittle at her learned behaivour and she grows to be a better person. In fact, not only a good person but a great person. Weiss Schnee is my favourite character in canon, precisely because of her ability to reflect on her own behaviour and grow better.

Now here's my question: why is Blake not granted the same courtesy? Weiss's character arc is unequivocally praised. Even from people who almost exclusively criticize the show, I have never, not a single time, seen a sentiment along the lines of "Weiss is a toxic person".

(Could it be because some people think anything after V3 isn't real?)

This was obviously the core part of the post, but let me still finish:

Bumlebee shippers are supposedly annoying. They are? I mean sure, there may be some who are but it's stil rich coming from someone who defines "their" ship by denigrating others. Personally, I have only ever seen genuine happiness that Bumblebee is canon, insistence, that build-up for Bumblebee was always there (even before it actually was sealed in the kiss) and annoyance that a surprising amount of people are unwilling to accept that Bumblebee was planned from the very beginning and/or that it is canon now.

d) Whiterose: "Boring" - Why? Low-hanging fruit, because it's just throwing adjacent main characters together? Sure, I'd buy that (even though I disagree, I can see the argument). But "boring"? Why? Because they go from openly antagonistic to friends to best friends? But their relationship (speaking as someone who does not expect it to be canonized) has interesting enough dynamics and they certainly trust each other enough to be a good couple. "Delusional Shippers" - More or less delusional than someone pushing their ship that only works by decanonizing a canon ship? This has become quite the wall of text and I kinda apologize for that, but also not. Because seriously, if you like Freezerburn, enjoy it, but maybe - just mabye - find positives to gush about instead of searching for negatives in other ships.

Everyone agrees:

Freezerburn clears both these ships. It’s just better in every way and should be way more popular than whiterose which is boring and canon instead of bumbleby which is toxic

[lightsaroundyourvanity]

top 5 rwby episodes. has anyone made you do this yet??

no!! but what a perfect one!! ok in no proper order

seeing red (v6c12): has there EVER been a more cathartic rwby episode? from the perfect culmination of the bees vs. taurus arc to adam “ultimate ally” taurus screaming “what does she even see in you!!!!” at yang like the jealous fucking ex he is (and tbh inadvertently confirming the ship for me). the extra choir in the nevermore instrumental... the return of yang’s semblance... adam getting shishkabobed and hurled off a cliff and then dashed on the rocks and carried off to see in case anybody was worried for even a moment that he wasn’t dead... yang and blake crying in each other’s arms and pledging themselves to each other in front of a waterfall like. damn. DAMN. and that’s just the bumbleby half!!!!! i’m a HUGE fan of the fight against cordovin, particularly when ruby jumps into the canon. that moment right before she shoots when jaune goes “but the raw dust gets locked in!!” is maybe my favourite line in all of rwby and i still get chills when i think about it.

breach (v2c12): look i know that for a finale, this was mostly just a baller fight scene but WHAT a baller fight scene!!! i really like when JNPR shows up and pyrrha is like “let’s go!” and leads them into battle. i really like at the end when we actually get a quiet beat where the girls relax and bask in their triumph. i REALLY like when cfvy shows up and are given the cooles team intro of all time. and hello??? miss coco??? hello?? i’d be beyond remiss not to include this. sidenote: who tf are that group of shadowy figures ozpin is on a call with at the end?? i’m sure i just missed something but i have always wondered haha

burning the candle (v2c6): classic, iconic, never before seen.... this is like, the episode that really, really sets up bumbleby and it goes so hard. it’s also the first episode where “summer was yang’s mom too” gets genuine, textual focus and that’s something that means a LOT to me. there’s actually a ton of really beautiful yang characterization in burning the candle that makes me love it a ton. it’s also the first time we get a glimpse of how intuitive pyrrha is (”practice what you preach, pyrrha”) which is an underrated character dynamic when it comes to her imo.

lighting the fire (v5c4): no i am never going to shut up about this episode!! yang kicking the ass of all those bandits!! do they know how lucky they are!! weiss and her tiny little strategic summon and then ‘welp, subtlety is out’ as soon as sir xiao long busts onto the scene!! when raven is like ‘simmer down’ and yang is like ‘make me’ and her eyes flash red and it is so so hot?? YOUR MOM KIDNAPPED ME????? the freezerburn hug!!! this episode is like gold standard and everyone who says v5 sucks should be forced to watch it on a loop like they’re in clockwork orange.

gravity (v7c11): there’s a lot to love in this chapter, but when it comes down to it, i am still just wrecked by that conversation between ruby and salem where salem takes ruby to pieces. the sound design/glitching effect of the summer effect was so powerful and eerie. and the ending, when ruby goes rogue and announces ironwood’s intentions to everyone... felt that. but i cannot stress enough that this is mostly because that salem scene rearranged my soul.

[lore-of-the-silvereyes-rwby]

Home is where the heart is

This is where Ironwood's loyalty to the Oz collective begins to waver and falls deeper into his Atlas brainwashing.

As stated before Ironwood more or less idolized Oz because of him being one of his heroes reincarnated. Specifically the Warrior King of Vale who from his POV had returned from the death to ask for his help.

Now Ozpin’s predecessor; the in between soul was the Oz that Ironwood knew and called Mentor and even friend. As well as the one who had set Ironwood down the path to power for his own agenda with Salem. In other words Ironwood is in a position of power because of Oz. Now obviously we would be loyal or at least respectful towards the people that have helped us achieve such great heights in society. Now what happened that caused Ironwood to lose respect and loyalty to Oz?

The answer: The Oz he knew died and Ozpin wasn’t him.

As discussed in a earlier section there have been at least 4 different versions of Oz whose action have affected the current events of the story; Their relation to Ironwood can be interpreted as this;

The Warrior King; Childhood hero

Ozpin's predecessor; Very Close friend and Mentor/Benefactor

Ozpin; An anomaly and disappointing mistake

Oscar Pine; 2nd chance for his mentor and friend to return properly

From this we know that Ironwood was closer to the 2nd Oz than Ozpin or Oscar. Due to the fact that the 2nd was the one who had elevated him to positions of power as well as feeding his ego and pride about being a chosen one. And given from specific dialogue Ironwood has said about Oz, it is quite possible that Ironwood has molded himself after his former mentor. This quote for example;

“I refuse to believe that a man that I've trusted for so long would act so... passively.”

—Ironwood, to Glynda Goodwitch in regards to Ozpin

Might tell us what kind of man the 2nd Oz was before becoming the passive Ozpin that Ironwood argues with. This quote and several other lines from Volume 7 tells us that Ozpin's predecessor was more active, straight forward, and demanding than Ozpin ever was. If this is true then Ironwood has tried his best to be and emulate the 2nd Oz for 1 of 2 reasons

He believes this to be who his hero was as he only met the second and doesn’t know what the king was like and assumes the 2nd is the overall default when it comes to handling the Salem threat.

He saw this as the most efficient Oz given the circumstances and the results surrounding the 2nd.

Either way it shows just what kind of bond these two had before the 2nd becomes Ozpin. And as even the series has gone out of its way to show Mentors have a long lasting impression on the students. Examples being;

Student/Mentor

Ruby Rose/Qrow Branwen; Shepherd of right and wrong

Blake Belladonna/Adam Taurus;  Need for redemption

Weiss Schnee/Winter Schnee;  Break your chains and be free

Jaune Arc/ Pyrha Nikos; Motivation to be better

So yeah the show does have some sort of narrative theme for its student/mentor dynamics. As for Ironwoods and the 2nds dynamic can more or less be summed up by something like this; Duty before self. Not a great dynamic but it was there dynamic. But what exactly changed this one has to wonder?

Ozpin.

Basically sometime after Ironwood's graduation in 29/26? B.F.B and before Team STRQ’s first year at Beacon in 23 B.F.B.  the 2nd Oz has most likely died and reincarnated into Ozpin. The reason I say the 2nd has died by this point is from dialogue by Raven which makes it clear that Ozpin has already become the next man with 2 souls by the time strq attends beacon. This is further supported by Ironwood’s line in A New approach;

“That's never happened before.”

This tells us that Ironwood has already witnessed the reincarnation cycle in the case of the 2nd becoming Ozpin. There's an estimated 3-6 year gap for this event to happen, and by the time Ironwood has found his Old friend/Mentor he is more or less shocked. Not because his friend is back from the dead(again) but because he is changed and not what Ironwood expected of Ozpin.

Imagine this scenario;

You are set forward on the path of power so you and your mentor can better efficiently combat a malevolent force of evil. The mentor has practically given you everything you need to achieve this high position of power with the benefits that come with this newfound status. Things are looking well. Then all of a sudden the mentor dies. You now hold onto the hope that he would come back as he probably said he would, but you're a little skeptical of whether or not he would or could come back. Some time passes and you do find him again. Only to your surprise is he changed. Changed from the Active and efficient leader he knew to the passive, and lax anomaly that is Ozpin.

Now the way Ironwood talks about Ozpin’s predecessor in comparison to his onscreen interactions with Ozpin shows a great divide in their relationship. Ironwood saw Ozpin as this pale shadow of his former friend while he saw his predecessor as the ideal leader that he was loyal to. Once that was made clear Ironwood saw Ozpin as an ineffective leader and left Ironwood wondering what had happened to his proactive leader and mentor. And to Ironwood the problem was Ozpin and as such he blames Ozpin for not either merging properly with his predecessor or for being a falsely chosen vessel for his hero. Either way he did not have much faith for Ozpin.

As volume 6 had shown us each Oz was different in one way or another. Some were depressed and gave up, others were hopeful and continued onward and each one had their own way of doing things. For example the King Oz before the War you can say was more relaxed and diplomatic like Ozpin while the 1st Ozma reincarnation was more like Oscar wondering WTF is going on with this soul in his body and just goes along with it. With this in mind its different bodies with the same soul and memories but new ideas that are being explored in accordance with the current vessel's personality. As such we can guess the guy after the King was heavily affected by the great war either during or after it. Once the King had died and reincarnated into this new Oz he was more or less a mix of the idealistic Ozpin, and the Realistic Ironwood. Once he become Ozpin he leaned towards the idealistic side while Ironwood favored the realistic side

As the show clearly defines, Ozpin and Ironwood didn’t exactly have the best working or good relationship. Especially in comparison towards the other current known members of the Oz gang like Qrow, Glynda, Theo, etc. This is because Ozpin was more for living and enjoying life as opposed to Ironwood’s service before everything else mantra that he mistakenly got from the last Oz.

So yeah that swift in loyalty is pretty apparent. And it further grew and festered as Ironwood focused on the progress of Atlas. While Ozpin again was rebuilding his world status as the youngest headmaster of Beacon and as well as recruiting team STRQ to the cause. While the Wizards away the soldiers will play or in Ironwood’s case descend further into the toxic ideology of Atlas.

Now we go into what this section was originally meant to be about. How Ironwood grew to value Atlas above all else and how he eventually became the embodiment of Atlas itself. Carrying on the plans of the last Oz, Ironwood continued in the pursuit of power and control over Atlas as the figurehead in order to counteract Salem. Keep in Mind Ironwood was most likely a young officer with possible rank of a 1st/2nd Lt when Oz died and reincarnated into Ozpin. In other words without his only source of influence outside of Atlas Ironwood was left alone to achieve this goal. While being surrounded by the Atlatian superior man philosophy and authoritarian Ideology which he was already affected by during his youth. Now without Oz’s influence, he was further consumed by the inhuman influence of Atlas. Which had led to the blunt, arrogant and paranoid Ironwood that we see in the show.

With Oz’s plan in motion Ironwood would prosper among the ranks of Atlas and become the prominent leader of Atlas. Now it's likely that the whole world isn’t aware of Oz’s manipulation of Ironwood's career so most likely they assumed that Ironwood's success was due to his own ability, thus giving him praise for it. With this false sense of accomplishment most if not all of the Military were impressed and began to Idolize Ironwood. Now it's quite clear that the Atlas Military is loyal and respectful towards Ironwood to the point that they see him as a Divine Savior. Evidence by character interactions with him such as the Ace-Opts or WInter who have made it quite clear they side with Ironwood.

As well as his Character card from the semi canon(?) game app amity arena which is a in -universe app that is developed by Atlas scientists that specialize in combat research and analysis. Who seem to have an unhealthy obsession for Ironwood as evidenced by his card in the game.(Side note I wouldn’t trust whoever these guys are given some of their research and assumptions are questionable)

Below are a few lines from Ironwood’s Amity Arena card That highlight Ironwood's false divinity.

General Ironwood. The hero of our time and Atlas' greatest protector. Under the general, we have advanced to incredible heights, discovered new technologies, and created the world's first artificial intelligence.

Though horrifyingly revealed at Amity Arena, Penny is our proud foray into sentient AI, and Ada is the culmination of the machine learning we have long developed in our labs.

We say Atlas is the greatest, the mightiest... the city in the clouds, but what is first place when there is no competition? Yet, our kingdom and our General... we're the best chance that humanity's got... which scares us to death.

Basically the Military, the scientists etc all hold Ironwood in such high esteem that he might as well have been the god of the military to them due to his accomplishments. And see that the only reason why they have progressed and prospered as much as they have was due to Ironwood leadership. As discussed in earlier sections if we combine Ironwood’s Glory hound ambition along with his false sense of being chosen one hero and his unethical upbringing we can agree upon that the reason Atlas is the way it is now was due to Ironwood as a way or means to further his own agenda in his assumed winnable war against Salem with Oz.

It does seem very unlikely that Ironwood is responsible for everything that Atlas has become however seeing how the Ace-opts Winter those arena scientist and even how he believes that he can use his influence to declare martial law without  the consent of the council it's quite clear that Ironwood can put his money where his mouth is if asked if he is responsible for the prosperity of Atlas and will take great pride in it. And this has been shown in the show actually.

As Ironwood is known to be proud of the advancements in technology developed by his nation, (or to be more accurate his own accomplishments) believing in only using the best and most efficient means of protecting (Warmongering) not just the people of Atlas, but the entire world as well.(More like control)

This is even seen in how he ensured that when Yang Xiao Long was given a specially designed prosthetic arm, only the finest resources available were utilized to make sure that the young Huntress was able to return in full force as soon as possible.(This might as well be manipulation and illegal recruitment but hey who wouldn’t want the rwby equivalent of a super saiyan on their side?)

He was also seen boasting through a holographic display of the advancements of the Atlesian Knights and Paladins and their capabilities, showing his belief in constantly advancing the means to protect the people to meet the constantly evolving threats of their enemies.(Welcome to the future people technologys great and everyone uses it, to kill each other and you have me to thank for it.)

Okay It's pretty clear that Ironwood has taken pride in his accomplishments and views himself as the main benefactor of his kingdom. And his kingdom in turn has saturated his ego to the point that Ironwood can view the City of Atlas as a monument to his glory. This is sorta similar to how the city of Volgograd was renamed to Stalingrad in honor of Joseph Stalin’s accomplishments in its defence against the White Army between 1918 and 1920. To better clarify this reasoning it has been stated in the by Ironwood himself in V7 episode 4 that by framing him for murder it would also by extension be framing Atlas as well.  

“Slow success builds Character, but fast success builds Ego.”

For Ironwood he had put his heart and soul into the thing he valued the most and prided himself from; His Home Kingdom of Atlas and he would sacrifice anything to secure his legacy and glory no matter the cost.

Paranoia over reason

[littlemisssquiggles]

Hello! Long time no see! I read your Cinder the Red Queen theory, and it's really cool! Cinder is one of my favorite characters (even if I don't watch RWBY anymore) and it would be really awesome to see Cinder play a really big role, besides "revenge on Ruby". Although, I am personally more of a Cinder Redemption Arc fan. So, hypothetically, if Cinder were to get one such redemption arc, how do you think it would play out?

Hiya Yellow! Yeah it has been a while. Sorry I took so long to get back to you. Slowly working through my backlog of posts inside my inbox. Anyways, how have you been fam? And in the literal immortal words of one Oscar Pine, wait…WHAT! When did you stop watching RWBY? ! D8

What happened? If you don’t mind me asking, how come you’re not watching anymore? Is it because you just fell out of love with the series as a whole after being disappointed with its current direction or did all the discourse surrounding the show (and by extension RT as well) drive you to stop?

Sad to hear you’re no longer in the FNDM man. But on a different note, allow me to say thank you! Knowing that you’re a Cinder fan, I’m happy to hear that you liked my Red Queen headcanon for her. Much appreciated.

And yes, I do remember you being an advocate for Cinder’s redemption as well. In response to writing a Cinder redemption arc, I’m gonna be frank. 

Given the way the canon has portrayed Cinder’s character, both in previous seasons and currently, redemption is still the last thing I can envision for your favourite Fall Maiden m’dude. I’ve never seen Cinder getting redeemed as a possibility since to me, the show hasn’t shown enough evidence of her being empathetic to anyone else other than herself to make me believe there’s a chance for her to change for the greater good.

The only way I can picture Cinder going is either she is given the Adam Taurus treatment---unceremoniously killed off despite the series keeping her relevant to the story for so long or…Cinder survives long enough to rise up and see herself becoming the all-powerful entity she desires to be---ultimately walking out of Salem’s shadow to overthrow her and replace her as the Red Queen and succeeding within a short time what Salem has failed to do for centuries---thrusting Remnant into utter anarchy in the form of a second Great  War sparked by one of the kingdoms (possibly Mistral) declaring war against the remaining three kingdoms hoping to conquer them all after learning that the great Atlas Kingdom has fallen along with the former Mantle.

One kingdom to rule them all and this was all done through Cinder puppeteering her pawns in the Mistral Council through her newly awakened abilities after finally succumbing to the Geist Grimm and becoming something more than human--- a Grimm with a soul and a conscience. A Grimm-human hybrid or Grimmoire as I’d like to say.

Instead of being redeemed, I more favour the idea Cinder becoming a bigger threat to Remnant than Salem who I peg would be defeated, purified of her darkness (courtesy of Ruby’s silver eyes) and stripped of any magic that she had, courtesy of Cinder betraying her.

Cinder’s whole “…Without you, I am nothing” statement from the trailer is just giving me huge red flags for her to eventually realize that she can probably do better than Salem without her holding her back. The student does eventually become the master, right? So why not expect Cinder to replace Salem as the main big antagonist of RWBY with her reign being the true threat of Remnant in a time of war?

I really, really like the idea of the main conflict of RWBY not being the war with Salem but the rise of Cinder Fall and the second Great War of Remnant. I think such a plotline would be cool especially looking back on the fact that Oz had told General Ironwood that he prayed that his students---the children whose futures and development were entrusted to him---would never have to face the pains and strife of war like his predecessor: King Phadrig of Vale, once did long ago.

It would actually be very compelling to watch our heroes attempting to survive a dire time when the world was divided with two of its founding kingdoms in shambles while one tried to conquer them all (Mistral) and another daring to defend them all (Vacuo). The first Great War lasted ten years. Imagine if…it were the same for the second with time fast-forwarding to another period ten years later when all of our young heroes were now grown adults. No longer naïve children enamoured by the huntsmen lifestyle but seasoned warriors doing what they could to help the people in a dark world where war raged, humanity pleaded for their salivation and the Grimm feasted.

That could’ve been nice. But…I’m getting ahead of myself here. I’m not sure if anything like that will actually happen in the show. Still it’s good to share the idea around.

Going back to Cinder, like I said---right now I can’t see a redemption arc for Cinder.

As I said, the core reason why I’ve never been for Cinder being a redeemable character is due to the fact that up until this point, the series has done very little to establish her having any positive qualities. Cinder has sadly been selfish through and through making it very clear multiple occasions that she’s only out for herself. For me to have pictured Cinder to be a redeemable character, the series would’ve need to introduce a sort of “buffer character”---for lack of a better term. Basically when I say a buffer character, I mean in terms of a character who could’ve acted as a sort of foil to Cinder---seeing through her power-hungry nature and faults and thus revealing to the audience a much more relatable, sympathetic and emotionally vulnerable side to her through her relationship with said buffer.

The best example of this type of dynamic for me in an animated media is the relationship between Prince Zuko and his Uncle Iroh from Avatar the Last Airbender. In that series, Iroh was Zuko’s buffer character---the one person who saw through Zuko’s acts of aggression and appealed to the side of him that was just a insecure young man lacking any real support in his life and wanting nothing more than to do his best to appease an abusive father just so that he can feel a sense of belonging in the world.

It was through his bond with his uncle that I, as a viewer, was able to believe in Zuko’s redemption arc since it was only with Iroh did we see a more open side to Zuko---the side that reminded us that outside of his status as Prince of the Fire Nation leading the charge to capture the Avatar---outside of that, Zuko was only a boy in need of guidance. Guidance that Iroh attempted to provide him on multiple occasions.

Going back to Cinder, this is what I would have needed to make her redeemable. Give her a character who is the only one to see her more vulnerable side. Using what we know about the series, I’d say Emerald Sustrai could’ve easily been Cinder’s buffer. In the show, RWBY already established Cinder as a sort of motherly/sister figure based on Emerald’s perception of her.

Through Emerald, the show could’ve used her close ties with Cinder to show a side to her that we often don’t see. A side that actually cares for Emerald or at least better fools Emerald (and by extension us as the audience) into thinking that she cares. Ironically enough, the show could’ve had Cinder mirror Salem in this regard.

The reason why I’m more of an advocate for Salem’s redemption over Cinder is because UNLIKE Cinder, the show has given me moments of Salem being genuinely kind and caring to others. We saw this with the way she loved Ozma and would’ve done anything to get him back before her self-interest and hatred toward the Brother Gods consumed her.

We saw this in the Lost Fable and to some degree, even though she is another pawn to her, I’d like to think that the way Salem treats Cinder is akin to a mother. My issue with Salem isn’t that she is incapable of caring about others, it’s that no matter what, she will never put them before herself. It will always be her first and others second. At least that’s what I interpreted and it for this reason while her curse will remain.

However at least the show has shown examples of Salem showing compassion towards other. This is something I have yet to see from Cinder Fall. To me, Cinder is lacking that side of her.

Salem is selfish but as strange as this for me to say, I don’t think she’s entirely heartless. It’s kind of complicated when it comes to Salem but this just adds onto why I find her character fascinating. This is what makes the difference for me between her and Cinder and separates the two.

Salem is selfish but is capable of empathy and a surprising amount of mercy in unexpected moments (like in the way she treats Cinder for example. Salem could’ve easily offed Cinder for her failures like how she ended Lionheart but instead she left her be. And judging from the V8 trailer, even as Cinder came grovelling back to her, Salem still seemed to mostly react to Cinder’s return with an air of a strict parent who isn’t angry at their child but more disappointed. And oddly enough she did the same thing with Tyrian back in V4)

Cinder, on the other hand, shares in Salem’s self-centred nature but lacks any kind of compassion. Cinder is heartless.

Sorry Yellow, picturing a redemption arc for Cinder Fall is tough for me, even hypothetically speaking. I mean, if the show had done something with Cinder akin to Zuko---having her gain the power and status she’s always wanted only to have it result in her losing the only good relationship she had in Emerald thus leading to her falling from grace again after realizing her mistakes---then I could see it.

Or…perhaps the show could’ve pulled an Azula type of redemption for Cinder. Have her gain the power she desired at the cost of her own humanity and she loses herself in the process, becoming a monster and realizing her mistakes too late. And in the end, despite everything she’s been through and in spite of all that she put her through, the only person to appear before Cinder in her time of death after falling from her mistakes is Emerald.

I like the irony of Emerald cradling a dying Cinder Fall, choosing even then not to hate her and remain with her until her last dying breathe as her way of finally paying her back for saving her from her former life of poverty; giving her a new sense purpose in life outside of being a street rat.

That could’ve worked, at least me. But again, this is only if the show had further developed Emerald and Cinder’s bond. I genuinely wished the show had explored more of Cinder’s ties to Emerald. This is why I wanted Emerald to be Cinder’s accomplice for Atlas instead of Neopolitan. We could’ve watched Emerald’s character grow further through her separating herself from Salem’s legion and devoting herself entirely to Cinder. We could’ve watched Cinder even entice Emerald with the prospect of her ruling beside Cinder in the new world she would’ve aided her to build for Salem.

At the end of the day, as Emerald implied back in V5, she doesn’t care that much for Salem. The only person of interest to Emerald Sustrai is Cinder so this makes me curious to see what their reunion would be like for V8. I highly doubt Salem just ups and left Emerald, Mercury and Hazel back in the Dark Domain. Unless they were sent off to Vacuo to retrieve the Sword of Destruction, they’re bound to be there with Salem inside of Grimm Monstro so I’m looking forward to seeing the look on Emerald’s face when she realizes to her dismay that in her absence, she had been replaced with Neo.

It would be interesting watching how Emerald deals with this development in addition to seeing where her story goes from here now that her beloved Cinder Fall is back with her but not really with HER, y’know what I’m saying? Perhaps this could lead to Emerald going out of her way to get back onto Cinder’s good side mirroring Cinder attempting to return to Salem’s.

“…Without you, I am NOTHING!” “…I don’t care about Salem but I owe Cinder for EVERYTHING!”

It’ll be a game of watching apprentices regain the faith of their masters as Emerald is Cinder’s apprentice while Cinder is Salem’s. This should be a fun development to observe for next season

…Sorry if I haven’t exactly answered your question Yellow. Truth be told, I don’t have much ideas for how Cinder could be redeemed. However I do stand by my points about Emerald being used to show a different side to Cinder. It’s a shame this wasn’t done much in the canon. But who knows? Maybe something might be done to change that for V8.

~LittleMissSquiggles (2020)

[nerdsideofthemedia]

BB & Renora

I usually don’t tend to spend so much time on shipping, but this one, it feels like the reason is so questioned and even denied is in no small part due to homophobia and heteronormativity. Honestly, if you keep denying it’s basically almost certain now, I’d call it homophobia, unless you don’t think Renora became canon in V4 either. The parallels are as on the nose as they can be and BB had much more romantic buildup and this is part of what I intend to show here.

Just to make things clear, I am not doing this to attack Renora. I think that romance was handled well enough, it’s just too bad that it’s demanded a whole lot more from LGBTQ+ couples. I just want to show that if we want to be pedantic nitpickers who find justifications to see Renora as just a friendship, we can do that, so how come only BB is subjected to such scrutiny?

 What was the evidence for Renora before V4?

Was it Nora touching Ren’s nose and saying “Boop”? They’re childhood friends, it’s normal for them to be very close and have gestures specific to them. OK, I don’t really have to guess, because a BSer decided to start a conversation with me, complaining how me saying stuff like BB is canon or close to that made LGBTQ+ raise expectations and the writers would have to deal with queerbaiting accusations when BS becomes canon, which: yes, if BS happens, there will be queerbaiting accusations, which would be more than fair and would have nothing to do with me. (Not that I don’t appreciate it, I just don’t really think I wield that much power within the RWBY community). Fortunately, they did direct to a post about the Renora romantic hints:

        - Boop, but if we’re looking at songs, BB isn’t lacking those, including the very first one Red Like Roses. All that Matters and Armed and Ready have lines with romantic connotation and I’ll always argue that though Bmblb isn’t canon, it would have been extremely stupid to create such a song with no intention on delivering. Queerbaiting is not seen as a good thing. Also I’d like to remind you that RT has been supportive of LGBTQ+ with 2 of the main RWBY VAs being bi. 

        - Jaune, the oblivious guy, picked it up when he asked Ren how he and Nora had gotten together, to which I say: Jaune, the oblivious guy, could have easily misinterpreted a close friendship as a romantic relationship.

        - Ren stammers when correcting Jaune and he is usually cool and collected. Still, I’d say it’s normal for teenagers to act that way when there’s crush accusation. That’s exactly how I was as a teenager, even if I didn’t have a crush on the guy. 

        - Nora’s words: “What are the odds we’d still be together?” followed by “Well, not ‘together-together’… Not that I’m not saying that you’re not handsome; you are handsome, but that’d just be weird, right?”, which the person argued “After that she’s just fumbling for words, and reveals more about how she feels about Ren. She didn’t have to say anythinggg. But she did, and now we know that she thinks Ren is handsome (well, duh). If her feelings for him were completely platonic, she wouldn’t have said anything like that. There’d be no reason for her to. Like seriously if I was writing two characters that were only meant to be platonic, I would never write a scene like that. The implication of those words are too strong.”

When I was a teenager, I literally fumbled over words in a pretty similar way to Nora, including the handsome part, I was not interested in the guy I said that to.

Yes, this isn’t real life, it’s a show, so words like those maybe should have a better reason to be there then verisimilitude of teenage awkwardness, I guess – it’s debatable. Here’s the thing, how can you argue romance as not only one possible interpretation, but THE correct interpretation because of the implication of such words, yet deny the romance as a possible interpretation of Yang and Blake’s scenes despite the implication of a girl flirting with another while phrasing it “coming out tomorrow”, or associating those 2 girls with the word “love”, or having one of the girls stroking a photo of the other one or traveling on a ship named “Pride” or having the ex-boyfriend asking “what does she even see in you?” – all of which are far far more coded as romantic than any of the Renora moments. I think the “Like seriously if I was writing two characters that were only meant to be platonic, I would never write a scene like that. The implication of those words are too strong.” applies to all the cases described.

 Renora became undeniable at the end of V4 though, as Ren put his hand over Nora’s. They look at each other, both of them know what that means.

Wait, no, sorry, wrong pictures.

As I was saying they look at each other: they both know what that means. That’s right, they’re really good friends. Wait… no. They’re in love. That’s it. They’re in love.

Did you get my joke and what was being called out or do I have to be even more obvious?

I’m going to flat out say it: if you consider Renora became canon in that moment in V4, BB should be considered canon now. They parallel each other, and the whole excuse that Blake and Yang only held hands to show support after facing their demon can also be used for Renora.

 Just a few bonus anti-BB arguments:

Yang can’t represent Yang in Yin-Yang because she’s not a man

Sun doesn’t embody all the concepts of Yang either, so it’s weird to draw an exclusion criteria for Yang but not for Sun (or Blake for that matter). If only Yang hadn’t used a yellow dress, it could have driven the point of Yin-Yang. Wait…

It didn’t actually click for me as to why Yang used a white dress until I watched Passion of the Nerd’s video on Primeval (Buffy). While watching it, I was like:

(Apparently, Yang’s dress was supposed to be yellow, but there was an animation problem. Still, it was a cool thought)

“We can’t trust Adam, he’s delusional even Blake said so herself”

Adam clearly had his reasons to believe those were their feelings, because he didn’t show jealousy immediately. Also why would the writers write those lines with no intention on delivering? Adam didn’t need to be jealous to attack Yang – he wanted to hurt Blake, so attacking her to hurt the latter would be good enough reason, not to mention she was standing in the way of his mission.

Again, I quote the person who tried to defend Renora, yet attack BB: “Like seriously if I was writing two characters that were only meant to be platonic, I would never write a scene like that. The implication of those words are too strong.“

 Ruin the team dynamics

I find it funny that the people who criticize Yang for not making her life revolve around Ruby are also the ones who complain about how Bumblebee ruins team dynamics because two characters now prioritize each other. I’m sure this isn’t motivated by homophobia, especially considering the same logic is never used for Renora and even Arkos (don’t even bother with team JNPR aren’t main characters: they’ve appeared almost as much as the main ones), and misogyny, because how dare Yang not be completely about putting Ruby first at all times?

If having 2 sisters on the same team doesn’t ruin the dynamics, then a romantic relationship doesn’t either. It’s not like sisters don’t put each other first too.

I just address the assertion she treated Summer poorly which is based on absolutely nothing other than crapping on a female character just for the sake of it. Yang probably loved Summer and thought she was her mother until told otherwise which happened after Summer’s death.

 They ruined Adam because of BB

They didn’t. Adam was never intended to be an anti-hero with a chance for redemption. If you had that idea, it’s on you. His death didn’t happen just because either – it did because it ended both Yang and Blake’s arcs, it marked the end of a chapter in their lives as well as the beginning of their relationship which is only possible precisely because they confronted their demons. It’s the ultimate obstacle that confirms that Blake will no longer run and instead faces her demon and Yang confronted her abandonment issues in V5 when she talked to Raven, yet she still had to deal with the pain caused by Blake leaving and trust her. Their fight with Adam and her reassuring Blake she knows she won’t leave shows Yang knows Blake isn’t Raven: one ran out of selfishness, while the other ran out of selflessness, however misguided. Adam going down is tied to their closure.

And for the love of all that is good and pure, stop saying a relationship isn’t healthy because someone was hurt. Yes, it’s true we should avoid hurting each other, but to think we’ll never hurt someone and call a relationship abusive as soon as someone is hurt is ridiculous. There are no healthy relationships by that standard.

More RWBY posts:

Filmmaking and Bumbleby

Bumblebee was Always the Plan

Bumblebee was Always the Plan part 2

Faunus and the White Fang: The Portrayal of Racism

BB & Renora

Weird Post on Weiss’s Clothes

Foils: Adam and Yang (this one is in wordpress; it was my first one and I didn’t have Tumblr then)

Let’s talk about Adam Taurus (I didn’t post this one on Tumblr because the title and tags could lead Adam fans thinking this was about “his wasted potential” when really it defends the decision of killing him off and explains why it happened)

[kob131]

https://izetarion.tumblr.com/post/189410998186/theres-two-versions-of-adam-taurus?is_liked_post=1

Monty!Adam: Created by Monty Oum, a minority. Focused on the Faunus, while wanting to get back at the humans for their mistreatment of his kind, a man of revolution who was focused on the safety of his people - seen as how he was strong-armed into working with Cinder Fall after getting her maiden powers, wasn’t so psychopathic that he would turn on his own kind and kill humans out of sheer glee (seen with Cinder and her lot, as he gave them a chance to leave), prioritizes the cause over a cat girl, who was his student - sharing a “student-mentor” relationship as established by the show’s creator as well as said cat girl (“Forget it! It’s time I headed back to Mistral!”), has a legitimate reason to hate humans - especially those affiliated with the Schnee Dust Company, very charismatic, somewhat of a fallen mentor figure given the way the catgirl described him, his cause steadily consuming him (“I had someone I care for, who changed…”), is one of the most popular male characters in the series in the first half of RWBY - despite having little screentime, has an aesthetically-pleasing look to him, compared to DMC!Vergil and Jetstream Sam - two of the most iconic video game characters, in terms of looks and fighting style, Adam Taurus fans signs his adoption papers so that Miles and Kerry would never touch him. People use this version in their fanfics and RPs, turning him into a redeemable person while still keeping his morally grey aspects. Tauradonna is more mutual than lovey-dovey.

Okay so let’s break this down and show this is bullshit.

“Focused on the Fanaus-”

He is never shown to actually help any Fanaus and all White Fang activity, ESPECIALLY in Volumes 1 and 2, revolves around fucking over human. In fact, considering Tuskon, the fact that Vale does not have discrimination against Fanaus and V1 E1 openly says a peaceful protest of Fanaus was interrupted by the WF (” In other news, this Saturday's Faunus Civil Rights protest turned dark when members of the White Fang disrupted the ceremony. The once peaceful organization has now disrupted...”): Adam has acted AGAINST the Fanaus since LITERALLY the first episode.

“A man of revolution who was focused on the safety of his people-”

Which is why, in an EARLIER episode than the one you cite (Volume 2 Episode 12 meaning MONTY was in charge here as we know since he was cited with putting in the Raven scene in the SAME EPISODE against Miles and Kerry’s wishes): Adam gave no shits about his men DYING when he openly said he’d convince them to work with Cinder without so much as a glare at her. BTW, Adam specifically cited Cinder being HUMAN for the reason why he didn’t want to kill his men (’I won’t sacrifice my men for a human cause’). If the human part wasn’t the reason why he wasn’t agreeing with Cinder, why would his dialogue not be ‘I won’t sacrifice my men, no matter what.”?

“ wasn’t so psychopathic that he would turn on his own kind and kill humans out of sheer glee (seen with Cinder and her lot, as he gave them a chance to leave)-”

Nuh uh, in the same Volume Adam out right STABS Blake and says he wants to destroy everything she loves, in the previous Volume he didn’t care about his men dying and said nothing about trying to DESTROY VALE killing THOUSANDS if not MILLIONS of people (including FANAUS) and at the VERY beginning, he tried to blow up a train car full of people who hadn’t even raised a finger against him even though, as Blake shows, he could have detached the train.

“ prioritizes the cause over a cat girl, who was his student - sharing a “student-mentor” relationship as established by the show’s creator as well as said cat girl (“Forget it! It’s time I headed back to Mistral!”),”

Except that, again. Adam STABS Blake and outright shows malice towards her in the SAME VOLUME, Arkos shows mentorship and romance are NOT exclusive and even THAT line is delivered with Adam looking furious clearly showing he’s hung up about Blake.

“ has a legitimate reason to hate humans - especially those affiliated with the Schnee Dust Company-”

Not really, especially since Adam was shown to be selfish in previous Volumes so why would he care about other people? In fact, the ‘fuckboi’ Adam you’ll bitch about later has the reason to hate humans, especially those with the SDC. This version, since he’s apparently completely seperate, is just racist.

“very charismatic”

Never shown OR said. Just projecting.

“ somewhat of a fallen mentor figure given the way the catgirl described him,”

Notice how here they don’t actually say WHAT the description is despite KNOWING about quotes? That’s because there’s nothing actually said in the show that is ambiguously about a mentorship.

“ his cause steadily consuming him (“I had someone I care for, who changed…”)”

Doesn’t prove anything AND it coinsides with ‘fuckboi’ Adam.

“ is one of the most popular male characters in the series in the first half of RWBY - despite having little screentime,”

So is Kirito, wanna guess what V1-2 Adam and Kirito have in common? They don’t have defined personality and their popularity came from people projecting onto them.

“ has an aesthetically-pleasing look to him, compared to DMC!Vergil and Jetstream Sam - two of the most iconic video game characters, in terms of looks and fighting style”

Both of which are incredibly common in anime.

“ Adam Taurus fans signs his adoption papers so that Miles and Kerry would never touch him”

Too bad according to you, they weren’t the ones who ruined Adam. No no, your issues, as I have shown, existed with MONTY. So you better start smack talking him... what’s that, if you did that you couldn’t profit off his name and his fanboys would rip you to shreds? Maybe you shouldn’t be a disingenuous fuck.

‘ People use this version in their fanfics and RPs,’

And people turn Jaune into a generic self insert and Ruby into an edgy angsty psuedo anti hero- that means nothing.

“ turning him into a redeemable person while still keeping his morally grey aspects.”

So basically making him a generic anti villian instead of a tragic case of someone not being able to get over their past tramua.

“ Tauradonna is more mutual than lovey-dovey.”

And it’s more ‘abusive’ than mutual.

Fuckboi!Adam: Created by Miles and Kerry, two amateurish white guys noted for writing sub-par comedy segments and part of the upper echelons of Rooster Teeth. Born out of the criticism of “show, don’t tell aspect” of the show - barely having any visible evidence of Faunus racism, born out of the two admitting they couldn’t write a racism sub-plot - despite having the money and resources to do so, established as an abuser by CRWBY and demonized heavily by them and the fanbase despite little evidence of such prior to because of catgirl’s various descriptions of him pointing towards someone “dear” (“More of a mentor, actually…”),  “hElLo, My LoVe!” “tHe bElLaDoNnAs HaVe CaUsEd Me NoThInG bUt GrIeF!”, “sO i JuSt wAsN’t GoOd EnOuGh FoR yOu.”, A fedora wearing crazed nazi ex-boyfriend, DMC-Reboot!Vergil but with the edgelord turned to 11, “Tauradonna? More like Tauradon’t!”, How many zippers does your dumbass outfit need? lol, Why did your voice crack?, Even his own VA hate him, Is an incel-ass bitch, Gaston apparently, Lol he’s attempting the birdbox challenge, That stupid ass face reveal did nothing as the damage was done, The fandom - primarily BMBLB, and CRWBY sing of his death (“Ding-dong the bitch is dead!”) - with the BMBLB fandom using his death as major evidence of their ship becoming canon. Also, his death caused such dissonance in the fandom that shit hit the fan in all kinds of ways, not to mention his death started the slow deterioration of RT - embodying the spite element that Blake attributed him, probably because he was pissed at CRWBY to the point where his hatred manifested as a curse - causing their various injustices against their employees to come out and be heavily criticized as a result (No, seriously, RT is visibly crumbling shortly after his demise).

“ Created by Miles and Kerry-”

And yet will somehow completely overlap with the Volumes Monty had the most control over.

“ two amateurish white guys”

Miles is part Mexician.

“ noted for writing sub-par comedy segments”

While Monty is noted for never writing whatsoever so i guess that means you think Miles and Kerry are better.

“ Born out of the criticism of “show, don’t tell aspect” of the show - barely having any visible evidence of Faunus racism, born out of the two admitting they couldn’t write a racism sub-plot - despite having the money and resources to do so,”

The criticism being located SOLELY in Volumes 1 and 2 Aka MONTY.

“ established as an abuser by CRWBY and demonized heavily by them and the fanbase despite little evidence of such prior to because of catgirl’s various descriptions of him pointing towards someone “dear” (“More of a mentor, actually…”)’“

You know...despite the fact that every single aspect of Adam’s character has been shown WITH MONTY, as I showed above.

“ “hElLo, My LoVe!” “

Located in Volume 3, which you cite as a Volume where ‘Monty!’ Adam existed.

“ “tHe bElLaDoNnAs HaVe CaUsEd Me NoThInG bUt GrIeF!” “

Huh, if you spelled “Belladonna” as “Miles and Kerry”, that sounds an awful lot like you...oh

“ “sO i JuSt wAsN’t GoOd EnOuGh FoR yOu.” “

They scream as Rooster Teeth ignores them.

“ A fedora wearing crazed nazi ex-boyfriend”

Never actually shown wearing a fedora or ever showing any personbality traits associated with it...but then again, you know what they say about mirrors...

Also at least it’s better than ‘blank edgy emo teen’ he was in Volume 3 which you loved apparently.

“ DMC-Reboot!Vergil but with the edgelord turned to 11″

Uh oh, Op’s brain rotted so he can’t actually make arguments....oh wait, he was always like that.

“ “Tauradonna? More like Tauradon’t!” “

So basically ‘wah wah wah. my otp is not canon’.

“ How many zippers does your dumbass outfit need?”

Dunno, why is wearing a tux as a freedom fighter and sticks out like a sore thumb?

“ Why did your voice crack?”

Why did he sound fourteen in Volume 3?

“ Even his own VA hate him,”

Ever since Volume 3 which you cite as “Monty!Adam”

“ Is an incel-ass bitch, Gaston apparently”

Or you know, a Beats who never grew up and never became a better person. But who needs insight?

“ Lol he’s attempting the birdbox challenge”

*insert Family Guy skit here*

“ hat stupid ass face reveal did nothing as the damage was done”

They say as most of the fandom did a 180 on how they view his character and gave him more justification for his actions than “Monty” Adam ever had.

“ he fandom - primarily BMBLB, and CRWBY sing of his death (“Ding-dong the bitch is dead!”)”

Which considering he was meant to be hated is a GOOD thing.

“ with the BMBLB fandom using his death as major evidence of their ship becoming canon”

Basically ‘wah wah wah make MY otp canon”

“ Also, his death caused such dissonance in the fandom that shit hit the fan in all kinds of ways”

all kinds being two ways: accepting it and throwing a fit because you didn’t get your way. Also inadvertently justifying wasps being assholes because they did the same thing during Volumes 4 and 5.

“ t to mention his death started the slow deterioration of RT - embodying the spite element that Blake attributed him, probably because he was pissed at CRWBY to the point where his hatred manifested as a curse - causing their various injustices against their employees to come out and be heavily criticized as a result (No, seriously, RT is visibly crumbling shortly after his demise).”

And said curse infected many of his fans where they all became monsters after his death like say, using the suffering of others AND THE DEAD *cough* MONTY *cough* all over a fictional character that didn’t even exist because as I have shown Adam is completely consistent with his characterization from the Black Trailer to his death. Something I am certain OP knows deep down because half way through this point they completely abandon any attempt at actually proving what they are saying to instead spout a bunch of memes in a vain attempt to appeal to people’s confirmation bias because they can’t actually make an argument to prove Adam had changed AT ALL, especially since their obsessive behavior, attempt at creating an abusive/parasitic relationship with RT and their own childishness has all but prove Adam is in no way unrealistic as they act like him except with NO justification whatsoever.

But sure, scream loud enough and people will think you’re right. That hasn’t BACKFIRED before.

[sprinkledonion-blog]

Another real long “I don’t like Bumbleby” post (Part 1)

So this one was a long time coming. I kept postponing it, polishing it, making it look the nicest I could, but it’s finally here. And it’s quite long. Let’s just, uh, start.

The first thing I wanna say is, I watched RWBY without interacting with the FNDM, just at the start of this year. I didn’t know what Bumbleby was, nor its impact in the overall FNDM. I was blissfully unaware of what was going on, so I dived in with a clean, open mind.

First impressions and development (or the lack thereof)

I didn’t think about Bumbleby. For those who know me, I ship characters VERY easily and I don’t really care if it’s a gay, het, lesbian ship, I can and I WILL ship them. I shipped Ruby and Penny like crazy. Ruby and Emerald made my heart jump. Jaune and Ren looked insanely cute together, and Sun and Weiss had very nice potential. And in V2, in the Burning the Candle episode, when Yang had a heartfelt conversation with Blake, and hugged her, I was like “oh?”. It was the first time I had seen Yang this vulnerable, and while I really ignored her through the first volume, this scene made me realize she was more than it meets the eye. And she chose to be vulnerable… with Blake. Oh?

Then Blacksun happened. Oh.

I didn’t like Blacksun. I still don’t like it. It’s predictable and boring for my tastes. But it has a privilege Bumbleby doesn’t: development. 

I will never understand this choice. Barb said it was planned from the beginning. The question is, then: why didn’t y’all spend time developing Bumbleby? Bees will tell me it was developed, but I’ll suggest y’all to take off your rose-colored glasses and revise those interactions. I totally understand the warm, fuzzy feeling when your ship talk, even look at each other (my ships are 99% rareships so I take what I can get), but deep down you know reality isn’t like that. I’ve seen the 40-minute essay about Bumbleby; yes, you can attribute to every interaction a romantic feeling, but I can do the exact same with Jaune and Ren, and fans will roll their eyes at me and tell me it isn’t like that. The only remotely romantic interaction was the whole Burning the Candle episode. It was a nice episode. 

“But Onion”, y’all will say, “are you going to ignore V3 onwards? The plot completely ties Blake and Yang together”. Same as Blake and Sun. Yes, Yang lost an arm for Blake, and yes, she feels betrayed and everything, but… why should I think it’s romantic? Blacksun is being developed at the same time, following common romance tropes that apply to the rest of canon ships, so why should I think it’s any different? Yang could have lost an arm for Weiss and I have no doubt she’d have felt the same. (I also think Weiss would have called her and checked on her every day, until Yang even heard her in dreams.) 

That brings me to my second point. Let’s trust Barb, it was planned from the beginning. Then what was Blacksun supposed to be? “It makes the point that romantic relationships don’t always work and sometimes it’s better to stay as friends.” Valid point, but… Blake? Sun? Why did you keep at it? Blake, why did you kiss him on the cheek? That’s misleading, for the audience I mean (Sun already knows the script). When I friendzoned guys, and when the girls I know friendzoned guys, absolutely none of them kissed the dude on the cheek. The most they did was give a pat on the back or shoulder. Let me know if it’s an American thing to kiss guys you friendzone, because maybe it’s the cultural barrier that keeps me from understanding “yes, they’re friends and nothing more!”. 

And yes, I know Sun told Neptune it was never about that. What was it about then, Sun? Were you trying to get Weiss’ attention by making her jealous? Were you trying to get Blake to paid for the food? I don’t buy that Sun explicitly flirted with her just to be friends. Else I’m an alien and it’s my second day on Earth, or Sun tried to convince himself to feel less pain. Or who knows? Maybe he really was flirting with her to be friends. Maybe he flirted with Neptune too. Writers, give us proper answers. And no, FNDM, filling in the story holes with “show don’t tell, there’s a logical explanation for it” is still fanon and doesn’t count as canon. Show don’t tell is a rule, not an excuse.

Anyways, after the whole coming and going, Sun finally leaves the scene for Bumbleby to thrive on sudden romantic interactions, which are a little late at most. It’s confusing. Yang never felt jealous when Blake showed attraction to Sun. They didn’t choose to clearly spend time together, at least with the “we’re partners” excuse. I’ll delve into this point later, but for now: we had Blacksun, suddenly we have Bumbleby, and we’re supposed to have been cheering for them the whole time. Uhm, was this supposed to be a plot twist? 

Okay, I may be biased on this one, but listen to me. I don’t like this kind of plot twist. Oh, we have a heterosexual couple… OR SO YOU THOUGHT! THE TRUTH IS THAT THE LESBIANS ARE CANON! WE’VE TRICKED YOU, WHAT MADMEN WE ARE!

Get it? My problem isn’t that Blacksun isn’t canon. My problem is that the writers are using a wlw relationship as a tool, a surprise, manipulating and tricking the audience. It doesn’t feel genuine--it feels like they just wanted to cause controversy--or sell. At the end of the day, Bumbleby is way more popular than Blacksun, and a big part of the FNDM came for the bees. Don’t y’all ever wonder why voice actors don’t talk as much about other characters, or Ruby herself? The main main character? 

Let’s bee honest: at this point in time, the biggest thing keeping RWBY afloat is Bumbleby.

“And what’s the problem with all that?”, bees may ask. “What’s wrong with feeding us some good bees?” Ship whatever you want, y’all. But I don’t like getting ships shoved down my throat and treated as peak LGBT+ representation when it didn’t get the time and treatment it deserved. Not all that glitters is gold, guys. (Especially Yang.)

Racism

Oh boy.

Racism is quite the great deal in Remnant… at least that’s what the show tells us. It doesn’t show it. No, Velvet doesn’t need to get stones thrown at her to show us discrimination. But, you know… if there was discrimination, I don’t think she would be in Beacon in the first place. Or that Leonardo would be the headmaster of Haven… Adam Taurus, pack your things and go home; there’s no faunus discrimination worth the fight. (Wait! Don’t go yet, you still have work to do.)

What does racism has to do with Bumbleby?, you may ask. Well, it’s Blake’s main plot. I think it has a lot to do with Bumbleby… but uh, it seems I was wrong. Yang isn’t interested in it, so I guess it’s just Blake’s problem. Until uh, Adam makes a scene, but that doesn’t have much to do with the fact he’s a faunus. It’s still pretty distasteful of a human to kill a faunus, but I’ll tackle that point a bit later.

Blake’s faunity? is very important to her. If she’s an important person to Yang, why doesn’t Yang show interest in it? She didn’t even defend Velvet, even though she could have punched Cardin in the face. She sits around sighing “It must be hard to be a faunus” and annoys Blake with a lighter. This only shows me Yang doesn’t care about Blake’s identity, and not in a good way. 

I know, I know, I take the faunus issue to heart. It must be because I’m a person of color. I could talk hours and hours about the horrendous execution of faunus racism (reinforcing stereotypes, horrible analogies and really unfortunate implications), but I’ll limit myself to Blake for now.

Yang doesn’t care. She’s not one bit interested in reading faunus’ history, in asking Blake about her experiences, in thinking how she could help as a human. She’s like those people who say “I’m blind to race” as if it were a good thing. Yeah, you don’t discriminate, but you dismiss other people’s culture and background. It’s part of who we are. Some of us will take it better, some of us worse, but acknowledging Blake’s identity in this case could do wonders. That way Yang could show interest in her as a person, her motives to fight, her struggle. 

But she didn’t. In fact, she did quite the contrary.

Bonus: I’ve recently seen a… hysterical headcanon. As it turns out, some bees were excited at the idea of Blake getting branded and Yang going berserk, later saving all the faunus in the mine. It was supposedly justified by “faunus needed a reason to respect her” and of course, Bumbleby angst. Do I need to point out the White Savior trope and how blatantly racist and harmful it is? Do I really need to? Considering faunus are supposed to represent the civil rights movement? Especially knowing Adam’s previous treatment? If faunus were explicitly Black, this would be… well, this is a disaster, but it gets swept under the rug. As a woman of color, this headcanon just makes me want to cry.

I think I’ll have to divide it into two parts so it doesn’t get too heavy. Part 2 is here. 

[sculptural-renaissance]

I drew this as a joke & it's STILL better than all those ugly ass new outfits we're getting in Volume 7

Fashion died with Adam Taurus

Anyway, I saw this jacket in an episode of The Orville, and after a palette swap, it was PERFECT for Adam. Shame he can't show up wearing it while working at a Hot Topic in Vacuo. Rooster Teeth really missed an opportunity there.

Rant time. Just keep scrolling if you don't care, because I don't know how to do cuts on mobile and don't have time to mess with it.

So, Volume 7 premieres in 1 week, but I'm still dreading it. From all the interviews I've read, I have no hope that the sloppy writing we got in Volume 6 is going to be fixed. It was never amazing, but I never had any problems with it till the plothole and cringe-filled disaster we got in Volume 6.

• The Apathy were pointless. NONE of the grievances the characters voiced while under their influence were addressed later. They only existed for Ruby's eyes, which could have been done with any Grimm (esp since the relic attracts them but only on moving trains).

• Maria has no reason to be on that train. Think about it: the borders are already closed and she's feuding with the one person who can allow her through. She also claims she's been too afraid to fight, so it's doubtful that she intentionally hid so she could help. She's also too convenient of a character. She just happens to be there, can train Ruby, AND she happens to have influenced Qrow, Ruby's mentor, to the point that he based his fighting style on (stories) of hers. There's a slim chance she was even an active huntress during Qrow's lifetime, given their ages. Her backstory was also super boring. I suppose it's more realistic to have your eyes cut out by some rando, but it wasn't very interesting.

• Did no one know Jaune's sister lived in Argus? Why was this never mentioned? How did they find her? And of COURSE her wife is the one person who can help them shut off the tower. Adrian was also absurd. A child that age can't follow commands like that. They get a point for good LGBT representation, but I don't care for their function in the story.

• Cordovin, her goons, and her infantile feud with Maria were solid cringe. She was a cartoonish and nonthreatening villain. The mech fight spanned 3 episodes, yet the final boss was easily defeated in half of one?

• I'm not a big fan of Adam, but he died way too soon. We never saw him except when he was whining, so he's basically a nonthreatening villain who popped up for no reason just to be killed because the writers think he's icky. We never saw him as the charismatic leader he supposedly was. They should have shown him stalking Blake or *something,* and Weiss should have seen that brand. She probably has no idea the SDC does that.

I'm expecting more of the same. Bumbleby is apparently canon now, so that'll probably get pushed under the rug like Renora. Will they talk about their issues & act like a couple, or do we have to take CRWBY's word? Representation is more than cute hand holding. When people start dating, their behaviors change, but Ren and Nora have exactly the same dynamic they've had from the beginning.

RWBY is my favorite show, and I really want to be excited for it, but it just seems like it's getting really sloppy. I hope I'm wrong. :( Like, I really want to look back on all my worries and realize they were over nothing. I don't want the thing that I've basically centered all my free time around to end up as something I can't stand to watch.

[iamafanofcartoons]

Why RWBY Criticism is rarely constructive or respectful, and why haters of RWBY hide their toxic behavior behind the “criticism card”

When I blazed a RWBY Positivity Resource post last weekend, I was harassed by RWBY Haters accusing me of being unable to take criticism.

These people? Kept saying “RWBY Bad” or “RT is pandering” or “Fandom is toxic” but act like they know what criticism is.

They also screamed about “valid criticism” and “lost potential”

Here is from https://twitter.com/meliorqte/status/1540864352357699586

Judgmental Critter and her sister Twiins Iink repeatedly make video after video defending male villains and attacking female protagonists.

If you ever call out their severe hatred towards RWBY and their harassment of RWBY Fans, critics accuse anyone defending the show from their criticism of being “misogynists” or “toxic positivity”

I have never heard of toxic positivity until RWBY Critics started using it in their videos to harass RWBY Fandom and the writers.

Vexed Viewer repeatedly makes one video after another insulting female characters...People claim he’s “progressive” even as he insulted the #MeToo movement in 2019 while he was mourning Vic Micnogna’s sentencing.

UoW basically made transphobic rewrites that supported abusive relationships. Which was after his ex, another youtuber, left UoW for being emotionally abusive, something that UoW’s rewrite promotes, to where Bumbleby and Renora are written as emotionally abusive, and people defend that?

Raymond McNeil made sexist and racist “fixing rwby” that basically was one big middle finger to each and everyone one of rwby’s themes and elements (he made a sexual predator the stepfather of Yang and included “faunus heat cycles” while having women lose to men in most fights)

And Eruptionfang promoted the toxic “qrow is ruby’s father theory” and repeatedly idolized adam taurus before his channel got taken down.

A criticism is meant to be respectful, meant to be helpful.

Accusing the show of “sucking, bad, etc”? Wanting RWBY to die? NOT Criticism.

Behold every single RWBY Critic. “RWBY deserves better than the writers who literally created it”

These are the same people who like to talk about Monty’s vision or what Monty wanted.

But what was it that Monty wanted.

Here’s the first from the man himself! The first one being? Qrow is not Ruby Rose’s father.

But as you know, every single defender of this theory accuses Monty and CRWBY of being liars.

When a theory is shut down by the writers/creators, its no longer a headcanon, its an obsession with wishing a lie would be truth.

Sadly?

Too many “youtubers who claim to love RWBY more than CRWBY” refuse to accept canon because it doesn’t serve their bias. This youtuber, Sytokun? Who is basically making “RWBY Remnants” Basically claims to love RWBY but repeatedly insults the show’s writing and its writers. How many times must the writers Debunk a theory before these fanatics accept that the theory is wrong, and that insulting the writers because you don’t get what you want is wrong?

THIS is why I treat the “Qrow is Ruby’s father” theory as beyond contemptible. Because not only does it involve the writers lying for years on end, romanticizes the deadbeat dad, and encourages spitting on the complex family dynamic that is the xiao long rose family?

But also 95% of every single one of these theorists has insulted Monty, his friends, etc....and then claim “its just a headcanon, bro” when called out on their toxicity.

Anyway, moving on to Quote 2 from Monty Oum

Well....I’m sure I don’t need to explain this one?

Every single RWBY Critic when asked to please stop watching RWBY if they don’t like it or if they keep insulting Monty’s friends? They refuse , because they say they “criticize from a place of love” while they accuse Miles and Kerry, who Monty handpicked to write RWBY...of “Running RWBY into the ground after Monty’s death”

So wait, they wait till after Monty is dead to insult his friends and coworkers Checks every single RWBY Critic channel....yep, looks like pretty much every single RWBY Critics ignores this quote...especially HBomberguy who made half of his 3 hour video into a hate spiel against Monty’s friends.

And finally....Number 3

This was for the fans who actually enjoy RWBY....

I just.....whenever I hear “I’m making this rewrite as a love letter to Monty and RWBY” All I think about is Fallout New Vegas Frontier, whose writers had the similar arrogance the these rewriters do with their claim of FNVF being a “magnum opus”.

I cannot confirm this quote by George Martin but...

These people have got to stop.

I’m going to leave it at this.

And will end this with a fantastic statement by Neath Oum...aka Monty’s Brother.

[ship-ambrosia]

Silverlight - Chapter 5

Sorry for the hiatus on this fic... I really wanted to have it done before volume 7 came out. The new season of RWBY really has brought my motivation and inspiration back... that being said, I've just begun my final semester of college, so I can't say how consistent I will be. I do not intend on giving up on this fanfic - even if canon does something to prove it wrong, like kill off Mercury (oh god plz no lol) Also I know this chapter is really short, but I really needed something to set up for next chapter which is almost done as well.

AO3: Chapter 1

  As if the universe couldn’t let her have one day on high, Yang had nightmares again once she had fallen asleep.

  They never had Salem in them. Maybe she was cocky for not being afraid of her. Except that was a lie. She was afraid of Salem, everyone she knew and loved and cared about was. It was simply idiotic that she would even claim such a thing. But Salem wasn’t the one who haunted her.

  No, the black and red and white that she saw were all the same person, over and over again. His cruel torment, and she’d cry out for Blake again and again, and she’d scream at the burning pain across her arm. She’d look down, and her automail would be gone. And then she would watch him die. Over and over again.  Dead or alive, she could not escape Adam Taurus.

  Nothing good had come out of what they did. She couldn’t even find peace.

  Yang shot up in a cold sweat. It was early in the morning, the sky a soft silvery-blue and the sun just barely peeking over the mountains on the horizon. She heard several Beowulf Grimm in the distance, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary with them; she knew she could take them on herself if she needed to. And they sounded a ways off, so for now she figured that she and Mercury were safe.

  And Mercury.

  She looked over toward her reluctant companion as she lifted a hand up to her neck and checked her pulse. Her heart rate had already begun to calm down, and Yang let out a sigh. Since that day back in Argus so long ago, she hadn’t been suffering from the physical trauma as much. Her hands didn’t shake when she got into a fight. She had confidence in her strength and in her Semblance again. She didn’t see him everywhere. She was no longer scared of being hurt by him.

  Yang was relieved that her exclamation had not appeared to wake Mercury up. She really didn’t want him to see her like that. He’d tricked them once already, learned how she and her sister and her friends trained, how they laughed and cried and trusted one another, how they fought. He had learned their strengths and their weaknesses, and then pulled the rug out from underneath them. He was the reason Beacon fell. He-

  He wasn’t the one who cut off your arm. Don’t say it. A traitorous voice whispered in the back of her head, and Yang felt herself start to tear up.

  She knew that was true, of course. Mercury was not the one who took her arm. And she knew it was unfair to link him to that. But he had been fine with all of them dying, hadn’t he? No guilt on his conscious. In fact, hadn’t he tried to kill her when they fought at Haven Academy?

  He probably would have cut her arm off too, given the chance.

  Feeling a wave of fury rush over her, Yang pushed it down and clenched her fists as she got back to her feet. No, it wasn’t worth it. Giving in to her anger and taking it out on Mercury was not the person she was anymore. She had grown so much more since the last time she saw him.

  “Get up,” Yang commanded, tapping Mercury’s stomach with her boot.

  It wasn’t like she had kicked him or anything, so Yang was caught off guard when Mercury’s arms flew up and grabbed her foot, eyes shot open and glaring at her.

  “Don’t touch me like that,” he snarled.

  “How else am I supposed to wake you up?” She asked, but sighed when his glare deepened. “Okay, okay. Whatever! Just get up. Let’s get going.”

  They were both silent for the rest of the day. Mercury, she was surprised, didn’t try to protest or fight her or get away. Yang didn’t want to talk to him because she knew he was smarter than he appeared and didn’t want to give anything away. His whole style was about deception. She knew he liked it when people underestimated him. She couldn’t ever let her guard down around him.

~

  “So I’m curious,” Mercury spoke up suddenly while Yang was preparing the rations from her bag for the two of them after setting up camp. She was once again surprised, as they had spent the entire day in silence other than the humming of her new motorbike. She found herself distracted by it now, the way the chrome plating gleamed in the moonlight. She missed the yellow of BMBLB, but found herself liking the silver of the bike more and more. Yang looked over at him to continue.

  “What did Little Red tell you about that night? At Beacon, I mean.”

  Yang felt her entire body grow stiff with coldness. What was he trying to accomplish? What advantage would her answering this question give him? Was he just trying to get a rise out of her? Was he trying to get information that Salem needed? Frankly she didn’t want to answer him at all. But she also felt a question burning on her lips that she knew he would never answer unless she gave him wanted he wanted.

  “She told me she found you in a back hallway in the arena, looking like I had never touched you,” Yang tried to bite back the bitterness creeping into her voice. They were in the middle of Grimm territory. She had to stay calm, and she needed to remember that. “You fought her. You tried to stop her. But she knew as soon as she saw you.”

  “Are you still mad we used you? Tricked you? Got the whole world to believe you were a monster?”

  She flinched, feeling a wave of hatred inside her at his words. What in Remnant was he trying to accomplish? Surely this was some sort of escape plan. That had to be it. Get her upset, attract some Grimm, and the queen of darkness would swoop in to save him. She could not let herself play straight into his hand.

  “I would say I’m over it,” she lied. “I can’t change what happened, what you guys did.”

  He shrugged. “That’s fair, I guess.”

  “I’ve got a question for you then,” Yang continued, stealing a glance at him from the corner of her eye. He looked up at her when she spoke, and she felt a smugness come over her now that she had turned the tables and caught him off guard.

  She took a deep breath. “Was everything part of the trick? All the dumb shit you did that made us laugh... all the training with Pyrrha and I?” Yang swallowed hard to suppress her rising anger. “Ruby and Emerald’s friendship? That was all part of the lie, wasn’t it?”

  Mercury was silent for a while, which was not the response she had expected from him at all. When she looked over at him again, he was looking away from her.

  “What a dumb question, Blondie,” his words were bitter, not smug. “Of course it was.”

  “Good. I didn’t want to pity you,” she crossed her arms as she laid her head down, turning away from him. “Night, Merc.”

[formerlyrunephoenix6769]

RWBY VOL 7 / VOL 8 - HEAD CANON TRAJECTORY/TIMELINE.

Heya Folks, so I’ve been enjoying the weather and bashing around ideas that would make for an epic fic,or even just my theories of how V7/8 could possibly play out. 

(Its in no way a prediction or do I have any expectancy of this any of this happening, just a lil bit of fun  and by no means a demand made of CRWBY or a claim that I know what they have planned or that I can write it better, anyone who claims any of the above and that they can are dipshits in my eyes.) 

I don’t have time to dedicate to writing it so I thought I’d get it down on bullet points, but If I do make it into a fic with will be called “Birds of a Feather.”

As we are going into Vol 7 and the Atlas arc, here are some thoughts. 

 * Picking up immediately from the end of VOL 6

 TEAM RWBY/ORNJ/Q&M

 Arriving in Atlas, our trusty heroes touch down and are detained by the Atlas Military. Though they plead for an audience with General Ironwood and explain why they are in possession of a military Airship from the Argus base, (The ‘lengthy’ report from Caroline Cordovin having yet still to be written and submitted.) their pleas fall on deaf ears at first.

 Weiss makes an adamant plea that her sister, Specialist Winter Schnee be contacted, rather than her father, as they have top secret information detrimental to the tide of the coming war which needs to be delivered immediately.

 They are still detained whilst the personnel in question are awaiting confirmation of information provided. 

Whilst detained, Blake is split from the group, much to Yang and Weiss protests, but Blake tells them that its ok, and is taken to the Faunus allocated holding cells, I shall be referring to as The Pound/Kennels

 (Divergent, Yang refuses to be split from Blake and so is held with her.)

 Whilst split from the group, Blake (&Yang?) sees how the Faunus ‘prisoners’ are treated, realizing that there is still very much to be done with regards to Atlas and its prejudices towards the Faunus community

 (It would also be a great way to show and not tell, even if there are snippets of info about the disparity between Mantle and Atlas parted to the two women.)

 Maybe Blake tells the Faunus of what occurred in Haven, that the WF is now back under the leadership of Ghira, returning to the previous peaceful ways, working with the humans rather than against.

That Adam Taurus and Sienna Khan are dead. (This could also segue-way into a brief moment of showing just how much killing Adam has affected both women)  The news is met with mixed reactions from the Faunus.

 * Specialist Winter Schnee arrives to the holding place of our main cast. After a heartwarming reunion between the Schnee sisters (as heartwarming as Winter can be) information is relayed minus a few omissions bout stealing an airship and vicariously causing the subsequent Grimm attack back in Argus, the Relic and Ozpin being in Oscar’s head, a request to see Ironwood is made.

(Extra points of some Winter/Qrow friction… The pair are cynically sassed by Maria.)  

 Weiss also makes it known that Blake (&Yang?) have been detained elsewhere and demands their return. The heroes are delivered to Ironwood and they are reunited with Blake (&Yang?). Apologies are made to Miss Belladonna for her treatment. 

Discussion of the Relic, Salem’s plans, Cinder as the Fall Maiden, etc occur, finally bringing Winter into the fold and Ironwood up to speed.

 (Yang still does not admit that she is aware that Raven is the Spring Maiden)

 Ozpin finally makes an appearance, much to the groups surprise, Winter’s shock and Ironwood’s expectation. (Maybe a tiny bit of unmentioned but shown discord from Winter towards Ironwood at being kept in the dark?)

 Qrow questions Jimmy about the Relic of Creation/ where abouts of the Winter Maiden and the importance that Salem and her faction do not get their hands on the two Relics. Ozpin presses the issue to be met with Ironwood cryptically parting that the Relic of Creation is ‘safe.’ Much to Ozpin’s and Qrow’s frustration.

 Mention of new clothing needed, Maria’s goggles, Yang’s arm and Gambol Shroud needing to be fixed. Lodgings are offered at Atlas Academy

 Our heroes make moves to go to lodgings leaving behind Qrow, (maybe Oscar/Oz and therefore vicariously Ruby) with Ironwood and Winter so that they can strategize. 

*Weiss begins showing the group round Atlas, (perfect opportunity to show us the aesthetic of Atlas much like we got to see Argus. The tech, architecture, culture etc.)

 Blake is ‘cat’ called so to speak, (Get your pet back on its leash) thereby showing the audience and the group just exactly what Faunus face on day to day basis.Everyone comes to Blake’s defense, esp Weiss and Yang.

 If Blake does not come under fire then at least in the background the group witness Faunus treatment, via difference in clothing, service jobs etc. 

It could even play out that when trying to enter an establishment that Blake is either denied entry or forced to enter through a Faunus door, akin to Apartheid or at the minimum, disgusted looks.

 Weiss is rather vocal. (What’s that supposed to mean?) and outright refusing to enter an establishment that treats Faunus that way…. The proprietor would end up grovelling and snivelling…. 

“I’m willing to make an exception for an illustrious Schnee!” OR ”So the news ‘is’ true… You have lost your mind!”   (As a call back to Jacques threat in Vol 4)  

 Nora offers to go in there and smash the place to bits.

 Blake begins to voice concerns that maybe she ought to put back on her bow, much to the group’s dismay.  (Maybe some sage advice parted from Maria)

 Henry Marigold is in the background having witnessed the altercation before slinking off????

 Our group meets Flynt and Neon, who offers to take them to the Academy and get settled. Brief happy reunion occurs. 

Neon walks through the streets of Atlas bold as brass, seemingly unaffected by the looks they are garnering, but also calling out to a few vendors she knows who jovially return her greeting, giving the sense that she is much liked (and as a direct contrast to the previous altercation) much to Blake’s surprise  

 New outfits are acquired. A few weaponsmiths admit that maybe Yang’s arm Atlas Tech is beyond their skill.

 Maria says that an ‘old friend’ will most certainly have the skill to repair her arm, and Blake’s weapon.

 *Maria goes to visit her ‘old friend’, with Blake and Yang(Ruby if she has returned from strategy meeting, or if she never attended it) in tow.

 They are brought to a workshop/lab. As Maria and the old man catch up, and he is looking at the goggles/weapons that need to be fixed. the girls have a look around.

 Ruby is fangirling over weapons. (They come across either the schematics for Penny, half built androids, ie inner framework etc ) OR a previous model, who is working as the old man’s assistant. 

Ruby is taken aback, when she meets the Penny 2.0, who does not recognize her and Ruby realizes that she has none of Penny’s memories. Ruby is visibly upset OR The audience sees schematics for Penny’s design, or an arm on a workbench in the processes of being rebuilt, or very distinctive feet poking out from under a cover. (this would save Ruby from yet another heartbreaking moment)  The old man in question is Professor Polendina. Once they find out that this professor Polendiina, he and Ruby have a heartfelt discussion about Penny and he is pleased to hear that penny had become what she always wanted which is a real girl and that she had made friends, who remember her fondly and will never be forgotten.  Prof Polendina fixes the goggles and begins preparing to fix Yang’s arm telling the group that it will take time and they can return at a later date.

 The group leave.  

(DIVERGENT NEON BRINGS BLAKE TO MANTLE TO SEEK OUT A FAUNUS WEAPONSMITH TO REBUILD GAMBOL SHROUD WITH SOME NEW ADJUSTMENTS, THEREBY SHOWING THE AUDIENCE THE AESTHETIC OF MANTLE, OLDER TECH, LIVING SPACE AND CULTURE THEREFORE FURTHER CEMENTING THE DISPARITY BETWEEN THE TWO PARTS OF THE CITY)  

 *Meanwhile. Cinder and Neo arrive in Atlas/Mantle, immediately going about finding a Spider’s Den for information on TEAM RWBY.

 Tyrian is stirring up trouble amongst the Faunus in Mantle, claiming that siding with his ‘Queen’ will grant them the tools to overthrow the Atlesian Elite whilst Watt’s pays a visit to Jacques and other people in positions of power, fear mongering and telling them what exactly is coming to Atlas, that they don’t stand a chance and the only way to ensure their survival is by siding with his employer.

 This begins to sow the seeds of dissonance, and doubt in Ironwood’s leadership.  

x-x-x-x 

THIS IS ONLY AS FAR AS I HAVE GOTTEN WITH PAINSTAKING DETAIL, THE REST BELOW IS BRIEF OVERVIEW.

I have have a loads more written that I am corralling together but its something I’ll keep working on keep you posted.. If I do ever write a fic .. It will be called Birds of a Feather cause a good chunk of it is tied to the return of Raven and a desperate last stand with the Branwen twins back to back, trying to give Tai much needed time to get the kids out of the city. 

 There's a huge flash in the sky, behind the kids as they are escaping and all we hear from Yang is a very soft '"Oh' or a gasp. .. 

 (She is the only one who knows her mother has died as she felt the power entering her.  She keeps this to herself as nobody knows Raven is the Spring Maiden other than Cinder.

 It’s not meant to be some overly dramatic scene, just a soft realisation that Raven was indeed thinking of her in her last moments and did care.

 I'm a firm believer that Raven made out to Cinder's faction she didn’t give a shit about Qrow or Yang as an added layer of protection, that when she finally did double cross Cinder that Salem's faction wouldn’t come after them in retaliation, esp given Raven's semblance and her still being able to make a portal suggesting that she is still very much attached to her brother and daughter)

TO DO WITH THAT.

Yang spends the rest series not using her semblance, her father and friends believing it is to do with what she has learned in the last 3 volumes, rather than something else, which Blake does pick up on.

If Yang does use her semblance it will be sparingly and the others just think that is has evolved.But Blake defo knows otherwise and presses the issue.

 Maybe someone returns with Qrow's weapon signifying he is dead and that there was no sign of Raven, who everyone assumes ran and left him to die. Maybe a negative comment is made by Tai to that effect causing Yang to lash out an tell him Raven's died protecting them..

 When asked how she could possibly know, she tells the others that she is the Spring maiden. 

On the Weiss /Blake/Faunus issue. The Fall of Atlas causes the Atlesian elite to flee to Mantle where they are met with mixed reception. Some Faunus are adamant that they don't help. Others rush to help them.. 

 The Atlas Elite come to realise the kindness that these people are offering even after they have been treated as lesser.. (extra brownie points if the douchebag who told weiss to get her faunus on its leash is actually the background accepting help) 

 Whilst the group are hiding amongst the locals, attempting to regroup and Winter tries to coral what is left of the Atlesian Military, taking over command after the death of General Ironwood

.Weiss comes to see just how bad the conditions really are in the factories, esp SDC factories and truly sees how the other half lives. She is aghast to see other human beings running around with her Grandfather's legacy branded into their skin.

 When she points this out to Winter, she finds out that her older sister was aware of it,  but only due to her military duties. 

Weiss is of course appalled that Winter would keep this from her, who in turn tells her it was out of protection, that there was never a right time.

 Weiss vows that when all this is done she is taking back the SDC from her Father/Whitley no matter the cost.

 Some faunus are not at all happy that the Schnee's are down amongst them and it is Blake that comes to her defence explaining the new focus of the WF, what happened at Haven and that Weiss will stay true to her word. The faunus from the detention centre back at the start, back this up. 

The group find that they are being hunted for and make the ultimate desicion to leave and make a bid to escape.

A call is made for all Atlesian Military personal to return to their posts as the a new council has been formed , with Jacques Schnee at its head, (with Salem obv pulling the strings cause Jacques is a now a puppet.) having taken the place of Ironwood.

All Atlas students are also called to go back to the academy. Team FNKI refuse.    And Winter goes freaking rogue, gathering soldiers and personnel loyal to Ironwood.  Team FNKI join her, as do other students and Faunus from Mantle  vowing to protect what it is left and not let it fall until the very last man/women

(maybe the Branwen’s Last Stand happens here??? ).

Our heroes abscond with the Relic of Knowledge but without the Relic of Creation which is now in Salem's possession.  Spotted by Emerald, and it is suggested by a short clip that she follows them at close quarters. 

Our heroes are battered, injured and moral at an all time lows, (similar to vol 3 , as in all fairness they need a huge loss to balance things out and remind us of the stakes and NO ONE is protected by plot armour, extra points if Ruby loses an eye)

At the end of volume 8 , our heroes are in a non disclosed location, licking their wounds and wondering if they can truly carry on.  

A flash to Atlas devastated, surrounded by flying Beringals etc in the sky circling.

 TO DO WITH THE VILLAINS , 

This plays out concurrently over the two volumes. 

As Salem and her hoard of flying monkeys descend on Atlas and tear it asunder. Emerald and Mercury come across Cinder and Neo.

As Emerald rushes to apologise profusely that they didn't know  she was alive. Cinder brushes her aside. 

 Over time, Emerald comes to witness the difference with the way that Cinder treats Neo and becomes increasingly envious, Mercury points out what he did in V6E9 that Cinder doesn't give two shits about her, to which she replies,

 "You don’t know that!". 

The tension between Neo and Cinder build, mainly from Emerald's side, as Neo literally sassily  shrugs it off. Maybe at some point there is a 1v1 fight

 (mainly cause I really wanna fricking see a battle of the semblances... Hallucinations v's Illusions. 

Creating something from nothing, that only one person can see,  ie, Emerald's multiple copies of Mercury surrounding Yang back in Haven..... 

V'S twisting the real to look different, as I noticed Neo can only manipulate matter, as a disguise rather than create something from nothing.Neo needs something to work with. So Neo manipulates matter and Emerald manipulates the mind) 

 We know that Neo would win in a 1v1 with just fighting skills,  though we are also aware that Emerald is fully capable of taking on a number of Grimm by herself.  I think the semblance aspect would really make fight between the pair anyone's guess.

 Ultimately, either Neo throws the fight in order to stay close to Cinder and her original goal which is stabbing that bitch in the back, or Emerald wins.

OR 

 Emerald is defeated, exhausted and hurt. Surrounded by Grimm, Cinder leaves her to die.  

(Extra points for Emerald on the ground reaching out with hand as the city burns around them , eyes brimming with tears, as Cinder gives her a look , before turning her back and walking off. Cause I’m a sucka for heartbreak)

 Emerald's fate is unknown, until we see her at the end of the volume, spotting our Heroes leaving , there by kick starting her road to redemption, of sorts.

 (It always struck me as odd that in V6E9 why her and Mercury were present and told a very strategic piece of info.

 "The only thing that can stop Salem's plans for Atlas, is Vacuo coming to their aid, that Vacuo must be kept out of it at all costs!"

Esp when CRWBY are known for keeping things very close to the chest and making every cent of their budget count.. Which leads me to believe that it is important esp with concern to Emerald and Merc, which again makes me think that Emerald will eventually leave with that information and deliver that info to Vacuo, either out of genuine guilt and wish to make rights, or as a way to avoid being imprisoned. 

 We know that Vacuo have a very laxed view on criminals etc.. so it’s the perfect place for Emerald to flee to,  whether Mercury goes with her remains to be seen.)

 That’s as far as I’ve gotten with concerns to that. 

TO DO WITH THE BRANWEN’S LAST STAND.

This could happen anywhere long the narrative, maybe towards the end of v7 or v8 I see this pair standing back to back surrounded by enemies. Anything to stall and allow Tai to lead the kids out of danger. Cuts to scene in the aftermath of an epic battle with their slain enemies, Both sat on the ground, leaning back to back, both exhausted, maybe Qrow injured,  Qrow takes out his hip flask, giving it a shake, he takes a sip. He hands it to Raven, who takes a small sip before handing it back, Enemies approach a second time surrounding them, Cinder or maybe even Salem. they are severely outnumbered. The Branwen’s struggle to their feet supporting each other. 

“I never thought it would end like this!”

“We came into this world together, we go out of this world together!”

“Ah come on, that’s not like you, who says it’s over?”

(either line is interchangeable for either character)

They exchange a look, both knowing that this is the end, before turning with weapons raised and running into the fray. 

Cut to where the kids are, who witness sanse huge flash in the background, Yang’s soft ‘Oh’ and then cut back to Qrow’s hip flask on the ground, dented and scorched. 

Yes! I know , I am  a monster!

[alyasalias]

RWBY Maidens Theory

RWBY Maiden Theory: *Spoilers up to and including Vol 7:Ep5 "Sparks" (as far as I’ve seen as of Dec 7, 2019 ‘cuz I don’t have FIRST)...you've been warned.

Random theory after watching V7:E5 that team RWBY is destined to inherit all of the Maiden powers. I'll try to break this down in order of which ones I feel are most obvious based on the members of team Ruby and my reasons for my choices.

1) Weiss (Winter Maiden) -I think Weiss will become the Winter Maiden at some point. From V7:E5 we learn that her sister, Winter, is the main candidate to become the next Winter Maiden. -we understand that the maiden powers seem to transfer to whomever is the last person the dying Maiden is thinking about. -I think that Winter will inherit the Winter Maiden powers...but she'll be defeated and that Weiss will be the person she chooses to pass the power onto. For some reason, I imagine that Winter's downfall will happen out of Weiss's sight and she'll basically learn of her sister's death with the advent of the Winter Maiden powers on her.

2) Ruby (Fall, or Summer Maiden) -with what I currently know of Canon, I think we're led to believe that Ruby will inherit the Fall Maiden ability after defeating Cinder. Cinder clearly has it out for Ruby, after all. -honestly, with the Summer Maiden’s identity still up in the air, I'm starting to think that the current Summer Maiden is actually Summer Rose and she had to fake her own death to protect her family once she got the maiden powers. The lyrics of Red Like Roses II don't mention death explicitly on Summer's set of lyrics--just regrets. Her lyrics mention abandoning Ruby...and to me that sounds like an odd word to use if her fate was death. Abandoning to me, means that she knew she would have to leave Ruby permanently. She mentions she was sure she would see Ruby when she made it back home. I wonder if perhaps it means that when she left home she had every intention of returning...but then she became the Summer Maiden and ended up making the choice to fake her own death and abandon her family. Maybe only Ozpin knew, or maybe nobody--maybe Summer went into hiding permanently to prevent anyone she knew or cared about and had plans to use both her maiden powers and her silver eyes to take down Salem...eventually. I don’t think she would have used the word “abandon” if she died in combat unexpectedly to herself...I think she had to make the choice to abandon her family to call it abandonment and feel guilty about it. 

3) Blake (Spring Maiden) -I think Blake will inherit the Spring Maiden powers from Raven. -From what we know now, Raven is Yang's biological mother...even if she doesn't act like it. From what we know of Raven, she chose the Branwens/Bandits over team STRQ and even her own daughter. My impression of the end of S5? or so is that Raven's character is shaken. Yang chooses team RWBY time and again almost as a foil to Raven. Raven shows herself to ally with whomever she sees as having the best odds in a fight--even siding with Cinder for a time, or so it seemed. Yang is different, choosing RWBY time and again even when the odds are bad and showing a courage that Raven doesn’t seem to have. -I think eventually, Raven is going to have a scene with Blake or at least see the strong camaraderie between Yang and Blake. I don't think we'll see the Bumblebee ship in-canon the way fanfic depicts it, but I think that it's clear that the two of them have a solid relationship. They understand each other in a way different from the rest of RWBY and they've stuck by each other through a lot. They were paired up when they started at Beacon and Yang has been there for Blake through the whole Adam thing. I don’t think anyone else in RWBY knows about Adam to the extent that Yang does. They might know about Blake’s involvement with the White Fang, but maybe not her relationship (whatever it was) with Adam Taurus. Even hinted at in V7 is the dust-heist in the Blake/Black trailer. It doesn’t seem like Weiss knew it was Adam and Blake specifically involved in that heist...she just remembered that her father was furious about it and it seems like Blake hasn’t told Weiss she was on that train. Yang tried to get Blake to rest, but not stop, when she was conflicted prior to the school dance. Yang faced Adam with Blake time and again and they trust each other. They protect each other and stand as equals. I think Raven will see that and realize that she could have had that with STRQ but willingly chose to leave, thinking that sort of “I’ve got your back” was only possible with the bandits if she wanted it at all. -I think Raven will pass the powers onto Blake, potentially 'cuz Blake's the only one around as Raven dies, and she'll bestow the powers 'cuz she knows that Blake and Yang have each other's backs no matter what...and maybe 'cuz she think Yang wouldn't accept the powers from her anyway. Raven will probably pass it onto Blake in her final moments as she maybe realizes that even if the odds of them beating Salem are slim, they’re the only ones going for it and she decides to side with them in her final moments by passing the maiden powers onto one of them.

4) Yang -I'm pretty confident that Weiss will become the Winter maiden if the idea that all of RWBY will inherit maiden powers goes, so I don't think Yang will inherit the Winter Maiden powers. Unfortunately, with the flip-flopping on Ruby either being Fall or Summer, and accounting for the fact that Raven (Spring) is Yang's mother...I think that Yang could plausibly inherit any of these three. Some stronger than others. -Taiyang calls her "sunny little dragon" and "sunny" invokes ties to the summer season...so I wonder if personality/color-scheme-wise, Yang will become the Summer maiden. Whether or not this means Summer Rose is the Summer Maiden or not is up in the air with this theory...and my thoughts on Yang becoming the Summer Maiden hinge on whether or not Ruby becomes Summer or Fall, from Summer Rose or Cinder, respectively. Then again, it’s plausible that Summer Rose and Yang have a moment and Summer chooses to pass it onto Yang instead of Ruby. Maybe ‘cuz Ruby already has the Fall Maiden powers at that point or because she doesn’t want to give something so dangerous to her daughter...or maybe because she acknowledges Yang as her daughter, even if not by blood, and gives Yang the maiden power to stand beside and protect Ruby. -I think becoming the Fall maiden is plausible as well. Cinder has it out for Ruby, but maybe it ends up that they want to save Ruby's stamina to face off against Salem (whether in a one-on-one battle or all four of them--leaning toward the latter)...in that case Yang will face off against Cinder to allow Ruby to advance. -Spring...again, it's fueled by the fact that Raven is Yang's mom.

[strxga]

Adam Taurus, Bumblebee/y and Seeing Red from the lens of someone who hasn’t been in the FNDM since 2015

Let me preface this by saying that I’m not particularly someone who really is into shipping or really defends or excuses Adam’s actions. I like most characters in RWBY - Adam, Blake and Yang included, but I’m someone who likes to analyze from an objective standpoint and I hope I can get my point across without drawing any ire. If you wish to politely discuss things respectfully and in a friendly manner, my DMs are always open! But with that out of the way, let me get right into it.

I’ll dissect this in two segments: the first half regarding RW, JPR, Qrow, Oscar and Caroline and then the Adam vs. Blake and Yang section.

Let me get this out from the get-go: the main characters in this circumstances are, indubitably, the bad guys. This sounds like a very harsh and extreme assessment, but really there is no other way to put it. Ruby addresses Caroline most of the time in a way that makes it sound like, in a way, she feels she is entitled to travel to Atlas because she has set the burden of Remnant on her shoulders, and she has! But Caroline knows nothing about Salem, about WTCH and about her and Ozpin’s centennial long feud. She is merely a high-ranking soldier defending the base in Argus after she was entrusted with it by General Ironwood himself. Now, I’m saying that our main characters are the bad guys, but Caroline herself is also being extremist. We’ve already seen glimpses of her incredibly patriotic personality and her radical way of treating our main characters, threatening to send all of her armed forces against them.

While she is justified in her demanding our main characters surrender herself considering they’ve stooped so low as to committing highway robbery (or would it be airway robbery in this case?) and assaulting members of the Atlas Military. At this point they are actually, inexcusable criminals! And yes, I do understand that Caroline stood in their way and that she blatantly denied their request to at least confirm what they were saying with General Ironwood. Does this make her, from a narrative standpoint, an antagonist? Yes! But let’s remember that she has absolutely no reason to believe these groups of teenagers who refuse to tell the full truth to her! Not to mention that, if the Atlas Military does indeed follow the real-life rules of the military, then lower-rank members can’t just contact high-ranking soldiers willy-nilly. Often you even need a permission and appointment to just speak with them. Is Caroline justified to deny our main character’s request? Yes! But this doesn’t mean she’s in the right either.

The moment she was defied she not only used excessive force but also busted out a giant mech suit to use against the protagonists. It’s overly-ridiculous why she would even do something like this! At this point, it was only a matter of time before the two of them engaged in battle considering they’re in opposite sides. Now, regarding the fight itself, I won’t comment too much other than it’s just laughable a group of not even fully experienced hunters are able to tear holes through the robot... Not to mention how silly it is for the mech’s shield to not cover its entire body and it’s just blatantly awful how easily it was to dispatch of its shields and its rocket launcher design is just practically unreliable in any and all ways. The mech is just filled with unnecessary weaknesses that are very exploitable, so much for the might of high end and cutting edge Atlas technology... But that’s besides the point. It just, ultimately, feels like both sides are wrong but, from an objective standpoint, our main characters are ultimately causing Caroline to have to resort to forceful military intervention seeing as they won’t listen to her and she won’t listen to them.

Now this can only end up badly for Argus considering it’s been left entirely unprotected because Ruby and Jaune thought it would be a good idea to attempt and cross the Atlas Military. Ultimately, this is like saying the Brothers were the villains to Salem’s story, as they refused to upset the balance of Life and Death by bringing Ozma back after he expired even though it was Salem’s own selfishness that ultimately lead the Brothers to wipe the board clean after all of humanity had unified under Salem and decided to reject them, forcing them to get rid of Humanity until its eventual restoration. And now that Ruby, in her selfishness, decided to take down Argus’ greatest defensive weapon against supersized Grimm because she wanted to travel to Atlas fast and as soon as possible, it’s likely several more lives are going to be sacrificed. In the end they decided their own goals are more important than the rest of the lives in all of Argus, including Jaune’s sister’s family and likely Pyrrha’s relative too. It feels like they didn’t not only earn their victory against Caroline due to that robot’s massive defects but also like they learned nothing from the Battle for Beacon and Haven.

Now, of course there’s the second part and... This one is frankly the one I’m the most afraid of discussing, but... Just hear me out. Please don’t instaclick your ‘Block’ buttons and just take your time to listen to me.

I’ll summarize this first by saying the following things: Did I think Yang’s PTSD was accurately represented not just in this battle but throughout the Volumes? Arguably... Yes. Did I think Blake and Yang overcoming Adam was done fruitfully? Yes. Did I think Adam deserved to die? Yes. Did I think he deserved to die now? No. Did I think he deserved redemption? Hard no. Did I think Blake and/or Yang should’ve been able to individually defeat Adam? Hard no for Blake and an arguable no for Yang, but if it I had to decide I’d say she’d be able to keep up with him the most. Lastly, should Blake and Yang be able to take down Adam by working together? Absolutely.

Now to elaborate, let me say this... I know PTSD and abusive relationships from experience, and neither are pretty. This is obvious of course. PTSD is a mental condition which you can work at to get better but you can never truly get rid of it. Some of the more common symptoms are anxiety, paranoia, hallucinations, nightmares, flashbacks, body tremors and overall very nasty reactions to things that remind you of your trauma. Yang’s PTSD throughout the volumes was related to Adam and to fights in general, but while her PTSD was shown affecting her severely at first, besides handshakes and hallucinations, there wasn’t really much shown regarding her condition. I understand she talked and sparred with Taiyang, but truthfully you can talk to someone and that’ll still not really help you overcome entirely such mentally and emotionally taxing condition. Even with her PTSD and fear of battles, Yang still jumped recklessly into battles and she still came out winning. It genuinely feels like while she did get better, she didn’t truly learn anything from her past experiences. I don’t think she should’ve had a mental breakdown upon seeing Adam, but rather that more than her just shaking should’ve been shown.

Throughout the volume she still does experience visions of Adam and is utterly horrified by his mere visage, this very vividly represents to us that, despite what we might want to believe, Yang isn’t truly over her condition and still struggles dealing with even the idea of Adam being nearby! So, with this, the least we can realistically expect from her fight with Adam is to, for once, NOT recklessly dive in to fight him... Except that’s exactly what she does. She’s gotten training with Taiyang, sure, but Adam is a skilled swordsman who has been fighting for far longer than Yang has, so the very least is for her to be able to keep up with him but not have the massive advantage she displayed in The Lady in the Shoe. It would’ve been pleasant to see her hesitating more and being shown how she’s struggling to not give in to her fear of him. If, in the previous episodes, they would’ve shown her have a more relaxed and accepting response to her hallucinations rather than the fearful expressions she displayed then it’d make more sense for her to be so confident and reckless fighting Adam, but this wasn’t what happened, so it feels like she just had a massive boost to her mental and physical capacities that came out of seemingly nowhere.

Now as for Adam himself? While I understand he was meant to be nothing more than a foil to Blake and - to an extent, Yang - I still feel like his character was misued. For all the show tells about how Faunus are discriminated against, the truth is we’ve never seen true discrimination throughout the Volume. Adam is the only Faunus that we have canon evidence to have been witness and victim of Faunus oppression through the branding of his face and for having constantly fought Humans who tried to hurt those he cared about while the White Fang was being led by Ghira. His radical views could’ve made a great foil for not just Blake throughout the series but he could’ve represented the ideology that Humans help only in creating monsters like Adam by treating them the way they do and a great opposite on how Adam and Blake go about bettering the Faunus’ conditions; with Blake’s kind but seemingly ineffective method and Adam’s more sadistic and merciless tactics. In short, I feel like he still could’ve played a more important role in the whole Humans vs. Faunus debacle going on in the background.

The world is not black and white, it’s grey, and these two could’ve been great polar opposites; the fire to each other’s water, but this idea wasn’t sadly explored. He could’ve been more than just the former, stalking, abusive and controlling ex-boyfriend. Especially with recent revelations of his suffering at the hands of the Schnee Dust Company. His personal vendetta could’ve even been centered against the Schnee Dust Company or even Weiss herself instead of just Blake. He could’ve been more than that, but I respect and understand the decision Kerry and Miles took when writing him. I wouldn’t call it bad or lazy writing as much as I just feel like it is a greatly missed opportunity.

I understand Adam, or for the matter, any other ‘minor’ characters are only part of Team RWBY’s story and not truly 100% part of it, but what I don’t think many people grasp is that they’re STILL part of the story and they should be fleshed-out some more than just being given tiny glimpses of their past. And this doesn’t apply to just Adam. It applies to every other character besides the members of RWBY! We know barely anything about JNPR and about STRQ, SSSN or CFVY. We don’t even know anything about WTCH’s motivations or even Emerald and Mercury and they’re the main villains! They feel, comparably, flat to the main cast. They’re all part of THEIR story. They’re not the focus but time and effort should be put into getting to know these characters more. I won’t fault them for their writing, but it’s inevitable for the fans to think that they could’ve done better, but that’s true for almost every piece of media, because no one’s a perfect writer and there’s always going to be faults.

While I am not really pleased to see Adam go and do indeed feel like he was a missed opportunity for a great villain, it is what it is. His death, however, was executed marvelously. Ideally, for me, it would’ve been better if individually the two wouldn’t be able to overcome Adam because he would be faster, stronger, every single bit the monster Yang imagined him to be, but once together and understanding each other again, they’d slowly get the advantage on him and defeat him. Symbolically, it would’ve made a lot of sense considering how intrinsically tied to each other Blake and Yang are, but frankly with how Chapter 11 went, it doesn’t really feel like Blake even had to fight at all considering how easy Yang was beating him around without him landing a single hit on her. It could’ve been performed better but ultimately the way he was killed fell more in line with what I had in mind. 

His death feels bittersweet. Sure, they got rid of a terrible person, but one you couldn’t help but feel sympathy for because he wasn’t born a monster, he was made a monster by humanity. He was spiteful, but he was also broken and damaged inside, and rather than heal, he followed on the path of revenge. I’ve formed part of an abusive relationship. I was mentally, emotionally and verbally manipulated, deceived, cheated on, and gaslighted. I felt connected to Adam in a way because he, too, was likely treated that way by the S.D.C. but I saw him as a victim of his circumstances. That’s what made him so powerful. There’s rarely any characters that are truly shown to be the producers of what they were once the victims of. I wanted Adam to continuously evolve and direct his hatred at the S.D.C., at humanity. Him to confront Weiss so she could see his scar and show the kinds of racism and crimes her father was responsible of. Adam’s actions were deplorable and that’s why I, personally, wanted him to continue hurting others in his effort to ‘right’ the Faunus against humanity. He could’ve been an interesting side-villain completely unrelated to Salem’s circle, but again that’s just why I feel he shouldn’t have died at this current moment. Death wasn’t necessary for Blake and Yang to overcome him, but for the narrative it presented it made sense.

It’s not a happy moment for anyone. Blake breaks down and Yang does the best she can, which is to support her friend through her pain. Adam did once care for her after all and she was likely the first person to show him any compassion or anything like that regarding his branding, hence why I think she’s so attached to her, and she was attached to him too. His descent into the madman he is now was slow and gradual and Blake herself says that while they were together as both mentor and student and potentially lovers he was a different man. He let his revenge drive him where he was now and she no longer saw eye-to-eye with him. She left because she stopped believing in him. And now parting with him permanently hurts her. It’s not a time for jokes about how he’s finally gone, it’s not a Bumblebee shipping moment where they could kiss. It was an emotionally-charged scene where we see two broken but healing girls finally overcome their biggest hurdle yet, but to do so they had to take a life, and that’s something that’s certainly going to weigh heavily on them because no matter what Adam did to them, they’re Huntresses and their job is to protect life, not get rid of it. But ultimately they did what had to be done. Adam was far too gone to truly be redeemed or reasoned with.

Now, I’ve been in the FNDM since 2015 and let me tell you though, male characters have almost always been bashed by the majority of fans... Jaune, Mercury, Neptune, Sun... All of them have received such a huge amount of hate with the only one exempt from this being Lie Ren, though I feel that’s more because his character was, at the time, seen just as Monty’s self-insert. Regardless, it just feels like female characters don’t nearly receive the same amount of scrutiny and hatred as male characters do... People in the tags are calling Adam an abusive and pedophilic, psychopathic bastard, and while I agree on most of those, isn’t it kind of hypocritic to call him out on that when there’s another character who falls on the same category? I’m talking about Ilia. I understand and respect Ilia, but she, too, preyed on Blake while she was young considering she doesn’t look any different than Adam does in the Adam trailer too. I’ve seen the tag and I see nothing but love and praise for her and I just ask to myself if the FNDM’s changed at all from these past three years... And then there’s another character who shares many traits with Adam but sees no criticism other than “she’s flat and boring.” This character being Cinder Fall herself.

Adam at the very least could’ve been a vehicle to represent how oppressed and endangered Faunus could and would fight back in such extremist and reckless ways if left unchecked or unsupported but Cinder just falls flat precisely because she doesn’t represent anything, and I just ask myself...  Where's the Cinder hatred for also abusing and manipulating Emerald and Mercury? Where's the Cinder hatred for leading to the mass-death of several innocent Vale civilians through Grimm attacks? Where's the Cinder hatred for killing Pyrrha? Where's the Cinder hatred for being even more obsessed with hurting and killing Ruby than Adam was with Blake? Where's Cinder's hate for killing Ozpin's previous incarnation and scarring Weiss in the same way Adam did with Blake? Where's the Cinder hatred for being a terrorist? It feels almost like all of these awful actions are either ignored or just, swept under the rug either because no one cares about Cinder or because she’s a woman and it’s just honestly saddening how hypocritical the FNDM can be sometimes...

Anyways this post is already far too long to the point I doubt anyone’s going to read it so I’ll just leave it there. If anyone wants to talk to me and engage in friendly and respectful discussion, my DMs are completely open! Just, please no insults or slurs. I know there’s bound to be hate comments but let’s try to keep it respectful ok?