#RWBY Analysis

[maxiemumdamage]

Something I find so interesting about The Badge and the Burden in hindsight:

Weiss learned a correct lesson which set her on the path to becoming a better person, while Ruby learned a wrong lesson that set her on a path of self-destruction.

[darth-khal]

Blake's V5 character short

Blake is strolling through the market in Kuo Kuana where we can see her deliberately stop before a flower stand (even though there is a fish vendor behind and she even checks it).

So she stops to look at the lilies and lotus (pink and white lilies, purple lotus), but she's specifically looking at the pink one - which symbolizes love, feminity, friendship, and admiration.

The first thought that came to my mind was the lyrics of Bmblb, but specifically the part which is believed to be from Blake's perspective:

Now the flowers are in bloom

And you chased away my darkness and gloom

Her expression softens, she leans closer with a smile on her face, like she's remembering, like the flowers bring about happy feelings.

When the wind blows through the trees

And your voice is like a song in the breeze

Then the light wind/breeze starts to blow and her expression changes from happy to sad, looking away from the flowers.

Blake is visibly hurting throughout V4-5 over what happened at Beacon/what happened to Yang. It's what occupies her mind most of the time, so it made me wonder if these few seconds in the video is another example of the pining/longing after what she had. Blake was very obviously very close with Yang, from the way she's acting since V4 she clearly has deeper feelings than mere friendship so it would make sense that even the little things remind her of Yang.

[bobauthorman]

I just realized why we see so many posts depicting Jaune Arc as this total chick magnet. Because that's the character Jaune is. Or rather, he's the deconstruction of such a character.

See, Jaune's character inspiration is the same as these 'magic girl boyfriends' you see in various manga and anime. This plain vanilla boy who living a normal life but one day stumbles upon a strange, new world, either by literally being transported, or just learning about a hidden civilization. either way, they get embroiled in crazy, intense things, but don't worry! They get a girl, sometimes several with crazy powers to help and protect him, soon becoming ride-or-die for the guy. And soon the guy gains powers of his own, with his character growth being centered around 'being a real man who can protect the weak women who shouldn't be fighting'. His power scales to absurd degrees until he becomes a basic god.

Jaune more or less has the same thing happen to him, as he goes from a civilian life to Beacon Academy, and gets Pyrrha Nikos as a partner to help and even train him. The problem is that Pyrrha gets killed, filling him with much angst, regret and rage. And the other girls he's stuck with don't so much love him as they regard him as a lost puppy in a box. The closest we get to women wanting Jaune THAT WAY is the Thirsty Moms bit in "Sparks". And despite his training, Jaune is always stuck at the bottom tier of Team Remnant, largely due to his inexperience. (How true that is now after V9 is unknown).

Basically, what I'm saying is that Jaune's character is what would happen if a vanilla boy didn't have plot contrivance and raw pheromones to carry him through the hardship and crisis.

[anthurak]

So by this point, I think many of us are likely familiar with the idea that the breakup of Team RWBY at the end of Volume 3 is meant to thematically parallel the breakup of Team STRQ in the wake of Summer’s death, ie; Ruby falls into a coma for a few days while Summer disappears and then both their teams fracture. Along with a popular sub-theory that Blake leaving Yang after the Fall is meant to parallel Raven leaving Tai.

But the thing is, if Ruby falling into a coma at the end of Volume 3 is meant to parallel Summer’s (supposed) death and the way this loss caused the fracturing and breakup of their respective teams, then Raven’s actions DON’T really parallel Blake nearly as well as a lot of people think.

And in fact, I feel like Qrow could potentially have paralleled Blake’s actions FAR better.

Like people talk about how Raven ‘abandoned’ Tai just like Blake ran away from Yang after the Fall of Beacon. Except if the point of parallel to the Fall of Beacon is Summer’s death, then the parallel doesn’t work because Raven was ALREADY GONE from Team STRQ by the time Summer disappeared. To the point where Tai, Qrow and Ozpin had (and still have) NO IDEA she was even involved in whatever happened to Summer. Raven can’t exactly have abandoned Tai just like Blake did to Yang if Raven wasn’t even around.

Instead, as I’ve discussed in the past, I think Raven’s actions following Summer’s ‘death’ potentially line up far better with WEISS. Like if it turns out that losing Summer was what actually drove Raven to return to her tribe, then that lines up very nicely with Weiss being taken back to her family/Atlas in the wake of the Fall of Beacon: Both return to the shitty, abusive family that raised them. And given how much of Weiss’s character is tied up in her family and their ‘legacy’, then the way Raven eventually took over her tribe makes her an ideal foil; effectively representing a Weiss who did eventually take over the Schnee family and company, but in the process internalized all the pain and trauma her family gave her.

And as for a cherry on top; if Ruby falling into a coma after the Fall of Beacon is meant to parallel Summer’s supposed ‘death’, then what was one of the last things Ruby did at the Fall?

Run off on a special mission with Weiss, just like we now know Summer did with Raven.

Now going back to my point about how Raven was not even around to abandon Tai just like Blake did to Yang, you know who WAS presumably around when Summer ‘died’?

Yeah; Qrow.

Let’s consider what exactly Blake actually did following the Fall of Beacon beyond just a surface-level reading: Yes, she did go back to her family, similar to what Raven may have done, but given that the Belladonnas are NOT actually shitty and abusive, I maintain that Weiss is still the better parallel to Raven. Instead, let’s consider Blake’s whole arc across Volumes 4 and 5 relating to the White Fang: At first being depressed over loss and perceived failure before being inspired to start working for a better cause, in this case pushing back against and stopping Adam’s takeover of the White Fang.

So I have to wonder; what if this reflects what Qrow did with Ozpin and the conspiracy following Summer’s ‘death’? Maybe Qrow and his teammates had helped Ozpin in the past and knew what he was doing, but what if THIS was the point where Qrow became fully committed to Ozpin’s cause and joined the Ozluminati full-time? Perhaps seeing it as a way of ‘honoring’ Summer’s memory.

Instead of staying with the one teammate he had left (and possible partner) who was now in a massive depressive spiral AND had two kids to take care of.

It starts to make Qrow and Tai feel a lot like Blake and Yang, doesn’t it?

This is one of the big reasons why I think Qrow and Tai are the REAL foil to Bumbleby on Team STRQ. They effectively give us a look at a version of Blake and Yang whose relationship failed. Or rather, were never able to ‘take the next step’ and actually form their relationship.

Qrow is a Blake who fully internalized her self-loathing and belief that she didn’t deserve Yang or that Yang was better off without her and has simply been pining for Yang from afar.

Meanwhile Tai is a Yang who likewise fully internalized her fears of abandonment and fully resents Blake for leaving her or may not have ever even fully recognized her feelings for Blake in the first place.

Essentially, Qrow and Tai are the version of Blake and Yang who weren’t able to work through all the problems, issues and baggage which allowed them to actually start their relationship. Like a Blake who didn’t get that vital pep-talk from Sun at the end of Volume 4, or a Yang who likewise didn’t get that vital talk from Weiss in Volume 5.

Which in turn leads us to what I brought up earlier with Qrow joining up with the Ozluminati full-time, essentially representing a Blake who threw herself into reforming the White Fang instead of returning to Team RWBY and reconnecting with Yang. Meanwhile Tai simply throws himself into a deep depression, grief and ‘moping’, ironically all the things he would later accuse Yang of doing (at some point I’m going to do a post on just how much PROJECTING Tai has likely been doing…)

So now Qrow and Tai have this low-key toxic relationship where Qrow is more-or-less aware of Tai’s extremely dysfunctional parenting but has also been enabling it and a lot of Tai’s unhealthy coping mechanisms over the years because he’s been pining for Tai ever since their Beacon days and still is pining in a very depressed, self-loathing ‘I don’t deserve him/to be happy’ way and also doesn’t want to risk conflict with his former partner and also the only teammate he has left.

Thus Qrow keeps his distance and just goes along with Tai’s dysfunctions and/or lets Tai push him away. Which in turn just reinforces Tai’s abandonment issues.

And Ruby and Yang are still stuck with utterly dysfunctional parental figures.

Oh, and if you need more proof about the deliberate parallels between Blake and Qrow…

Then how about the whole damn song where they sing about how they’ve always felt terrible about themselves but now things are looking up for them.

[violetparakeetchuggerofkerosene]

Tbh whenever people describe or depict Yang as a hotheaded, hedonistic bimbo who needs to learn to be responsible and smart, I think, hm, that actually sounds more like sun than yang

like, Yang is usually only these things on a surface level. In practice, she’s very intelligent and responsible: she and ruby both confirm that she raised ruby after their family fell apart, she utilizes clever tactics like breaking up the ground to slow neon down, she tries to get Ruby to make friends in the first few episodes, talks down Blake from exhausting herself, etc, and note these are all from the first 3 seasons. She doesn’t need to learn to be more mature, because she already is

sun, meanwhile, butts into Blake’s space in his first fight with her, straight up leaves a fight while Rwby is still out there without going back to check on them, and is casual to the point of insensitivity when Blake talks about the white fang and anti Faunus bigotry. These are also in the first 3 volumes, before volumes 4-5 where he stalked Blake across an ocean, repeatedly butts into her business even when it was unnecessary, completely misunderstood her actual goals, admitted he just wanted to join a fight with her, and left his team behind the whole time.

If anyone can be described as irresponsible, reckless, and vapid, it should be sun. He’s basically a yang who is the dumb blonde the fndm seems to think she is, which does work as a foil to her

[nightshadebee]

I feel like we don’t talk about Blake’s tech skills. We all know and love the line from volume 6, but girl was confident in her abilities and so was everyone else. When the tower didn’t turn off Yang knew immediately that something else must of happened. And then in volume 2 when she’s in her spiral, shes doing research about the white fang. Sure that doesn’t add much to her hacker skills, but she still obviously knows her way around computers. I don’t know if this adds much to it but in volume 8 she is the one recording Ruby’s speech to remnant, she probably isn’t the one who’s actively ensuring it works. But with Penny and her dad being on Amity, someone has to be working down on the ground (unless it’s stated otherwise and I just forgot). There may be other moments I’m forgetting but Blake knows books and computers.

Wow, look at her go she’s dual wielding that knowledge as well.

[greenteaandtattoos]

the way in the v9 poster, wby are surrounding ruby but not really seeing her, causing her to feel trapped and smothered.

but then in the new art, wby are behind her. they are giving her space to breathe but they're right there, watching, ready to catch her in case she falls.

[sunnysunsins]

New episode is up!

This time with a fully rendered illustration:

Look at them being silly together~

[asm5129]

I know this is NOT a popular take in the RWBY FNDM but y’all…I love Jaune Arc. He’s such a refreshing, interesting male character.

He’s Ruby’s best friend, and the two of them parallel each other in such FASCINATING ways. I’m planning a full video essay on this but as some examples:

1) They both have hero complexes, obviously.

2) Ruby is a prodigy who earns her place at beacon two years early, while Jaune cheated his way in and needs to work constantly outside of his school training to be anywhere near capable of huntsmen level combat

3) Jaune’s pain is loud and disruptive, Ruby’s pain is quiet and suppressed (examining their respective expressions of pain through the lens of gender expectations is REALLY interesting)

4) Ruby inherits silver eyes, an invaluable tool in fighting Grimm. Jaune inherited a regular sword, heavily outclassed by most of his peers.

5) Ruby made her weapon but modeled it after her mentor, Jaune had a hand-me-down

6) Ruby leads by developing plans and taking action, Jaune leads by supporting his team and bolstering their strengths with his own.

I’m sure there’s more too but those parallels are why their conflicts in vol 9 work so well for me, they are partners in narrative from literally the second episode.

I also just adore the commentary on masculinity with Jaune. From day one he was deconstructing traditional ideas of masculinity and patriarchal concepts of heroism.

The way he has to learn to reject so many of the things that blockbusters with men at the center have been pushing for decades is fantastic. He tried to pursue revenge like John Wick or Iron Man and it went HORRIBLY.

He can fight when necessary but it’s not where his true strength lies and that’s SO COOL for a male character.

I dunno y’all I just think he doesn’t deserve the hate. He doesn’t butt in on other stories nearly as much as people claim—in terms of Ruby, he actually serves her story quite a bit—and he is a character worth following in and of himself.

[misstrashchan]

I know people have picked up on the board game scene in RWBY V2 Episode 2 (Welcome to Beacon) as foreshadowing the events of the show, but for funsies I want to take a stab at how it foreshadows the general arcs of each four kingdoms myself.

So we have Blake playing as the Kingdom of Vale, and she's completely unaware of the events of the game unfolding and not really paying attention, clearly distracted.

"Alright Blake, it's your turn!"

"Huh? Sorry, what am I doing?"

"You're playing as Vale, trying to conquer the four kingdoms of Remnant!"

"...Right."

The Vale arc is the first three volumes of RWBY, where all our protagonists are at Beacon, but during that time, much like Blake during the game, they're unaware of the larger conflict with Salem, and aren't actively participating in the war at that point. They are ignorant and reactive instead of active. However it's ironic that Blake plays as Vale, since the reason she's not paying attention to the game and seems distracted is because, out of all the main characters in the Vale arc, she is the one most concerned about being kept in the dark and that they're ignorant as to what's really going on.

Blake: I just, I don't understand how everyone can be so calm.

Ruby: (approaching Blake) You're still thinking about Torchwick?

Blake: Torchwick, the White Fang, all of it! Something big is happening and no one is doing anything about it!

She also leaves the game during her turn, much like how she runs away after the FoB and the end of the Vale arc.

"Right. Well, I think I'm done playing, actually"

Yang is playing as Mistral, and she's the most savvy and knowledgeable (hah) player, winning many rounds of the game, teaching Weiss how to play, and has the other players falling into her trap cards.

"Heh, pretty sneaky sis, but you just activated my trap card!"

There's two ways this can be interpreted, with how the Mistral arc (volumes 4-6) is when our protagonists start to gather more knowledge and awarenesses of themselves and the world. It's also in Mistral that our heroes have their most decisive victory so far. It's fitting to have Yang playing as Mistral then, since during the Mistral arc she's the one who who learns from Tai to fight smarter, and to question the authority figures around her from Raven, and after confronting her in the vault is the one who retrives the relic of knowledge.

But, most of the losses our heroes experience are because of Cinder, who is from Mistral, and them falling into her own "trap cards" with the Fall of Beacon being orchestrated by her, killing Pyrrha and Ozpin. And in Atlas the same, with her manipulating Ironwood, undermining the heroes plans to evacuate everyone from Atlas, and killing Penny. She often finds ways to trick and exploit others, and is most dangerous when overlooked and underestimated, like falling into a trap.

Which brings me to Ruby playing as Atlas, where Ruby and Yang have this exchange after Yang's trap card is activated by Ruby:

"Giant Nevermore! If I roll a seven or higher, fatal feathers will slice your fleet in two!

"But! If you roll lower a six or lower, the Nevermore will turn on your own forces!"

"That's just a chance I'm willing to take"

In the Atlas arc (volumes 7-9) the theme of trust and taking risks is very prevalent. Like the move Yang makes in the game it is a risky one, that could end badly for her, but it is one worth taking nonetheless. They take the risk of trusting Ironwood but he ends up turning on our heroes. Oscar takes a risk trusting Hazel and Ozpin, as well as Emerald later on being accepted into their group, and it ends up working out for them. Ruby takes a risky chance in sending a message out to all of Remnant and evacuating Atlas, which saves a lot of people, but they still lose some, including Penny, a dear friend of Ruby's.

"Noooooo! My fearless soldiers!"

"Eh, most of them were probably androids anyways"

"Goodbye my friends... you will be avenged!"

Ruby acts distraught when losing her turn in the game as Atlas, expressing anguish over losing her friends who are described as androids by Yang, just like how Ruby is incredibly depressed and broken after the Fall of Atlas in V9, mourning the loss of Penny, who was both a sentient android and Ruby's friend. (I do wonder if Ruby's comment on avenging her friends might be foreshadowing for her wanting to avenge Penny's death in the future, like how Jaune tried to 1v1 Cinder in V5 to avenge Pyrrha, but I think it's too soon to say)

As a sidenote the fact it is a Nevemore in this turn that has a chance of turning on Yang or helping her is interesting, as it puts me in mind of two characters who can turn into ravens/crows, like the bird and poem Nevermore is associated with. It could pertain to Raven, someone who turns on Yang in v5 during the battle of Haven, but appears to help her and her friends in the V9 epilogue. It could also be about Qrow and his semblance, since during the Atlas arc it begins to evolve so that it is not simply a bad luck semblance, but one that can generate good luck too. In other words he can affect whether the chances are in people's favour or not.

After defeating Ruby (Atlas) Yang says this:

Yang: Not until I draw my rewards! Which are double this round thanks to the Mistral Trade Route!

Ruby: Bah!

Yang: Oh, and what's this? The Smugglers of Wind Path?

Ruby: Bah! Bah, I say!

Yang: I say, it looks like I'm taking two cards in my hand!

After the Fall of Atlas Cinder retrives not one but two relics for Salem, and with Atlas falling into Mantle, two kingdoms are destroyed in one fell swoop.

Then it's Weiss's turn. Weiss is playing as Vacuo, but has no idea how to play the game. Yang takes it upon herself to teach Weiss how to play and what she can do to win the game:

Yang: Well, Weiss, it's your turn.

Weiss: I have... absolutely no idea what's going on.

Yang: (Yang slides up beside her and puts her hand on her shoulder.) Look, it's easy! You're playing as Vacuo which means that all Vacuo-based cards come with a bonus.

Weiss: That sounds dumb.

Yang: See, you've got Sandstorm, Desert Scavenge... Oh, oh! (She pulls up a card to show Weiss.) Resourceful Raider! See, now you can take Ruby's discarded Air Fleet—

Ruby: (crying) Nooo!

Yang: —and put it in your hand!

We know from the end of V9 that what remains of the airfleet of Atlas, as well as the airfleet of Mistral and Vale, have all flocked to Vacuo's defence. What remains of the kingdom of Atlas, the airfleet, but most importantly the people, have now fled to Vacuo and are trying to make a home there.

Yang continues to give Weiss advice on how to win the game to Weiss, building her up, until Weiss starts to get arrogant, believing she's going to win the whole game and is the one in control:

Yang: And since Vacuo warriors have an endurance against Natural-based hazards, you can use Sandstorm to disable my ground forces and simultaneously infiltrate my kingdom! (Yang points a finger at Weiss.) Just know that I will not forget this declaration of war.

Weiss: And that means...

Ruby: You're just three moves away from conquering Remnant!

But then Yang turns on Weiss, activating her trap card, and Vacuo loses.

Since this is may be foreshadowing for the Vacuo arc that we haven't seen yet, I can only speculate what this might mean.

...But judging from the V9 extended epilogue and the books, my best guess would be that if Yang/Mistral is meant to be in part Cinder/Salem and their forces, then Weiss as Vacuo is in part the Crown. In the extended epilogue Jax and Gillian appear to be recieving help from Tyrian and Mercury, meaning Salem has decided to recruit them to her cause.

The Crown wants to restore the Vacuoan monarchy and detest outsiders, especially Atlesians. They do however wish to protect Vacuo from the same forces that destroyed Beacon, aka Salem, and so they are likely going to be manipulated like Weiss is by Yang in the game, being offered aid and giving them advice on how they can win and achieve their objectives, making them believe they can "conquer Remnant", only for them to realise later they were being tricked and used.

"Once again, Vacuo had been isolated from the conflict raging throughout Remnant—only this time it was an opportunity. With the global CCT network disabled, Vale in ruin, Haven leaderless, and Atlas closed off, Vacuo was theirs for the taking. This was likely their last, best chance for a generation. And it was their only hope to defend Vacuo against whomever had been targeting the other kingdoms. In likelihood they had written off Vacuo, like everyone else did, but if they tried to move against the Crown, they would have an unpleasant surprise.

Vacuo wouldn't break this time around."

Weiss: (Weiss stands and a thunder clap accompanies Weiss' overjoyed psychotic laughter.) Y-yes! Fear the almighty power of my forces! Cower as they pillage your homes and weep as they take your children from your very arms!

Yang: Trap card... (Yang's arm appears holding the card.)

Weiss: Huh?

Yang: (Yang shuffles the pieces on the board, Weiss' pieces disappearing in a puff of smoke.) Your armies have been destroyed.

Weiss: (Weiss slumps in her chair, cries and whines.) I hate this game of emotions we play!

Weiss as Vacuo may lose to Yang after realising they've been tricked, but is offered comfort afterwards by Ruby who relates to her losses and empathises with her, which is interesting since Ruby plays as Atlas. So I'm predicting at the end of the Vacuo arc they'll experience somewhat of a loss, whether that's the Crown, our heroes, or likely both, but Atlas will give support to Vacuo and the two kingdoms will come together to heal and ultimately work together, making steps to overcome their tense history with one another.

"Stay strong Weiss we'll make it through this together!"

"Shut up, don't touch me! "

...Which does make Weiss specifically playing as Vacuo especially intriguing, as she is the SDC heiress from Atlas, and Vacuo is a kingdom that has suffered the most in being exploited and colonized for it's natural resources by Atlas. From the epilogue it seems like the Schnees are being confronted directly with all the harm that has been caused by their family and kingdom, so I wouldn't be surprised if Weiss recieves a certain amount of focus during the Vacuo arc in deciding what her legacy as an Atlesian and heiress to the Schnee name will be. Moving forward to make amends, maybe inspiring the citizens of Atlas/Mantle to come together with Vacuo so they can all help and support one another, instead of isolating themselves and suffering alone.

Jaune offers to plays Weiss's hand for a turn also, with Weiss refusing:

Jaune: (Begging with both hands folded together.) Come on, let me play your hand for a turn!

Weiss: I'm not trusting you with the good citizens of Vacuo!

Which is reminiscent of how Vacuo is mistrustful of outsiders, as we've seen in After the Fall and Before the Dawn books.

Yang follows up to say that Weiss attacked her own forces, which could reference the infighting in Vacuo, especially with the Crown.

Weiss: Besides, this game requires a certain level of tactical cunning that I seriously doubt that you possess.

Yang: Uhh, you attacked your own naval fleet two turns ago. (Weiss makes an annoyed sound.)

Overall Weiss as Vacuo recieves the most help as any player during their turn, being taught how to play by Yang, offered comfort by Ruby after losing, and Jaune wanting to help her by playing her hand for a turn. This seems to fit with both how all kingdoms have flocked to Vacuo's aid in response to Ruby's message, but also Weiss as a character, who starts out "the loneliest of them all" but gradually opens up and warms up to other people. The crux of her arc being looking outside herself and at the people around her, relating to their struggles and coming to support them and being supported by them leads to her better understanding herself and becoming stronger for it... Which is kind of what the Kingdom of Vacuo needs to learn too!

Following this is Blake's turn as Vale, which I covered at the start of this post, but that's not the end of Vale's turn. We don't actually see it, but we know the aftermath of the game is this:

Yang: Ugh, we should have never let him play!

Ruby: You're just mad cuz' the new guy beat you!

Blake leaves the game during her turn as Vale, and presumably the "new guy" which is likely Neptune, who they'd just been introduced too, takes over her hand as Vale and wins the game of Remnant overall, even beating Yang and her trap cards. This is likely the endgame of RWBY itself, our heroes return to Vale after the Vacuo arc during the last volume for the final stand, where they win.

How and what that victory will look like I don't know, as we don't see the last turn of the game, so yet again this is even more vaguer speculation. Neptune doesn't really have much plot significance so I can't think there's any meaning to that except that he's a minor foil to Jaune, and the line of it being "a new guy" that wins, so maybe someone who recently joins our heroes side in the final act of the story, possibly Mercury or Cinder.

[maxiemumdamage]

…of course RWBY’s ultimate, kindest and most worthwhile deity is a Blacksmith. One of the first things we learn about Ruby in episode TWO of the series is that she forged her own weapon.

[darth-khal]

Aa newly RWBY fan who started watching the show because I saw the bmbly confession of Vol 9 last year, and while I just started Vol 5, I think i cracked the who fell first vs who fell hard dilema. Blake was steadily descending a flight of stairs up until some point on Vol 2 in which she jumped with a perfect landing strategy. Meanwhile it would appear that Yang was on free fall since Vol 1 but in fact she spent all this time half an inch away from the ground, like that scene on Mission Impossible movie , refusing to let go while Blake was seated beside her waiting for her to take her time.

This is a very controversial topic, my friend, but I do love the simile you've come up with!

It's not that obvious from V1 + first half of V2 that Blake and Yang are really close. Sure, it's no secret that Blake has the best relationship with Yang, but we're not aware how deep that goes just by watching those first 3 volumes. I think if you really want to know the depth of their relationship from the Beacon days, you gotta read the mangas + DC comics as those fill in the missing pieces so well to understand why they were pining after each other in later volumes so freaking much.

Blake's manga anthology basically revolves around Yang, she's a central character in almost every little story there. Yang has always been supportive and patient with Blake, slowly easing her out of her shell. She constantly tries to cheer her up when she is down, make her forget her problems, takes her to places, has her arm around Blake a lot, validates her feelings, etc. There's even a line from Blake "She makes me feel at ease" in reference to Yang. I mean, what else could you look for in a romantic partner if not these qualities?

Also, there is a lot of flirting and blushing going on there too!

We know Burning The Candle is like the episode where things got a little more concrete with Yang's determination to get Blake to attend the ball, the hug, Blake's expressions, the wink (I mean, helloo??).

Personally, I am more inclined to think that Yang was the one who fell first, but she didn't acknowledge it for a long time. Or even if she did, it was probably put into the "I have a silly crush on my partner" pocket of her shorts. We know people are prone to fall for Blake like instantly (understandable tho), and I think Yang was no exception in this matter.

Blake definitely fell harder, the pining is strong with that one after Beacon fell.

She was drawn to Yang and specifically picked her as a partner in the forest. Yeah, we know there are certain similarities between her and Adam, but at the end of the day they couldn't be further apart from a personality aspect. Blake definitely realizes that early on, she just has tiny sway of trust during the Vytal festival fiasco.

I think Burning The Candle was a definitive turning point in regards to her developing feelings and they were in full swing during V3. She seems rather carefree during that volume, she even cheers for Yang on more occasions.

Yang is constantly on her mind during V4-5, but I don't want to spoil the rest for you so my analysis stops here. The more heavy evidence comes from later volumes, so keep watching!

And if you progress further in the story and want to talk about it, hit me up/send more asks!

[bobauthorman]

Gamer Move

For a while, I've seen posts asking why the RWBY gang never used Jinn's last question to figure out Salem's plans. And after some deliberation, I realize that this is probably because Ruby is a total gamer. And maybe that effects her thought processes in real life. And sometimes that works...

Ruby: You know, in video games, the weak spot's usually on the back of the giant boss!

Weiss: Ruby, this isn't a game!

Qrow: (Finds shield power source on the back of the giant robot)

...And sometimes is doesn't. Like when she though fire would be effective against Geist that took a tree for an arm, only for her bullet gave the thing a flaming arm.

In video games, mostly RPGs, there are uber-powerful items that are only good for one use. BUT, to offset these items making the game too easy, they are very rare, probably nigh impossible to attain. A common mistake gamers make, myself included, is wanting 'save' these important items for a more appropriate battle or occasion. However, we spend so much time saving them that we never use the items, and they end up just taking up space.

And that's exactly what happened with the Lantern.

Ruby: And there's always Jinn, but... we only have one more question we can ask her.

And to be fair to Ruby, she wasn't the only one who suffered from this sort of fallacy. I once made a joke about it, but back at the Fall of Beacon, Oz had a death ray in his cane which he could have used to vaporize the Wyvern. But instead, he chose to kill off one girl and put another at risk to avoid spending his power. And Ironwood, who refused to do anything worthwhile with his army until Salem landed her Grimm hordes quite literally on Atlas. It wouldn't be a twist to say that Ruby's mistakes in the Atlas Arc are the result of her falling victim to the same mental pitfalls the aforementioned 'leaders' did.

[anthurak]

I'll probably be doing some more in-depth posts on this topic in the future, but I've started noticing that Ruby seems to actually have subtle but very notable differences from Summer. Which feels quite notable because before Volume 9, the general fandom consensus was always that Ruby was basically a carbon copy of Summer.

For example, we now know that Summer was actually the shortest member of Team STRQ. Which feels rather interesting given that Ruby is the second shortest member of Team RWBY, and has been for most of the show.

And wouldn't you know who DOES seem to be the second-shortest member of Team STRQ?

Yep. Raven.

A curious parallel, isn't it? XD

Also Summer being the shortest member of her team and prominently wearing white? Sounds oddly similar to Weiss, wouldn't you say? The Rosebird-Whiterose parallels continue XD

Also, since some will likely bring this up, yeah there is certainly a lot to discuss on how Yang actually seems to have taken a lot after Summer. Possibly more so than Ruby in a number of ways.

[invested-in-your-future]

I just realized that, for some reason, RWBY doesn't really care about giving their villains a proper backstory.

Adam has a one-sentence backstory that does literally nothing for him and is delivered in the last second of his screen time.

Cinder's backstory comes way too late and is inconsequential to anything she has done until now. It doesn't explain her motivations or worldview, and it doesn't show us why she became the person she is.

Jacques is just sort of this vague rich person who doesn't even get to be a villain because the show throws away the build-up in favor of something completely random that has nothing to do with him.

Hazel's backstory exists solely to place him in Ozpin's path, rather than giving him logic and reasoning to justify it (because let's be frank, EVERYTHING about his reasoning falls apart the moment you think about it)—maybe because he was never supposed to exist.

Mercury and Emerald's backstories don't really do much for their characters, don't come into play in their decision-making or characterization, and are barely there.

Raven has one of the dumbest, most barebones motivations for her betrayal.

Sienna exists to get fridged so she doesn't even get the bare minimum.

Watts's backstory is there solely to give him a reason to do The Thing but doesn't really give him a worldview to explain WHY—maybe because he was never supposed to exist.

The only one with a backstory is Salem, and it's more of an Ozpin backstory than anything else. The whole origin story—presented as 110% truth and not some sort of unreliable narrator—basically just lays the guilt of her decisions solely on her rather than two manipulative omniscient beings randomly retconned into the story.

It's like the show genuinely believes people are either born evil or born good and nothing they do in their lives will change that, hence the V9 ridiculousness of decrying self-reflection or acceptance of one's flaws as evil.

It would be fine if only half the show's songs, including the best OP songs (the first three), weren't about how "we" should improve and overcome our pasts and learn from our mistakes, how everyone is imperfect, and how one can't rely on the childish naivety of good and evil growing up, because there's more to the world than stories.

Almost as if that simplistic worldview of good and evil wasn't the original intention before V4.

[matt0044]

Regarding the "Does RWBY like women?" poll (yes, yes it does BTW).

You know... the whole poll debacle reminded me of something.

RWBY helped me expand my media diet by telling me that just because people hate something enmass, it could just all be bullshit coupled with mob mentality.

Instead of hatedoms getting me to think:

"Damn, I don't even wanna be associated with that show based on the rage it inspires."

My more skeptical brain is like:

"Okay, so why is it reeeeeeeally hated? Is it reeeeeeeally bad or are people going along with the crowd because critical thinking is too much of a burden in this capitalist hellscape?"

Because bad media literacy is in part a result of the fact that most geeks and normies alike aren't out to be legit critics but rather just want to enjoy the thing, gush about the thing and so forth. They can't exactly articulate their reasonings why like they're trying to get an A+ in Therapy Studies.

And THAT is how the YouTube Video Essay and Angry Critic scene takes off.

We dunk on the Nostalgia Critic (often for VERY real IRL grievances) but his catchphrase: "I remember it so you don't have to" is something many who'd come after would take to heart. These video maker people are taking about a thing you like and are explaining it in a way you not only agree with but makes you feel vindicated.

Be it for love... or for hate.

Because hatedom circles like the RWDE looks to video essays that reassure them, keep them from doubting their stance on the thing and how they enforce it.

With the burden of actually seeing the thing and thinking hard taken off of them, people can confidently say things like "RWBY prioritizes Jaune" despite not looking at any potential evidence in the show that might contridice it.

Which is why this is a call for everyone to question the popular opinions.

Does Jaune Arc reeeeeeally get that much narrative importance at the expense of the main girls?

Was Jaune reeeeeeeally a self-insert?

Was Ironwood reaaaaaally derailed in his character arc?

Was Adam reeeeeeeeally representative of the Faunus?

Was the Faunus reaaaaaally offensive?

And of course...

Was Monty Oum reeeeeeeeally the only one who's vision matter to the show above all else?

Ask yourself these questions and do the work to back them up. If people are giving you responses that contridict you, responses that take evidence from the work itself more often than not, then try to do the same in turn.

Think about that show or movie being panned? What if... you actually like it?

Not everybody is a critic... but we can at least try to.