#Ren would learn to communicate better and ask for help from Yang

[rwby-confess]

Confession #157

[the-hate-keeps-me-warm]

kisses and cuddles

wooooooooo time for some more fluffy shit yall i loved making this so much this sorta relted to my weed garden fic but you dont need to read it (be cool tho)

Ruby was sitting in the cafeteria with Oscar and penny she was too tired to pay attention to what the two were talking about penny sitting across from her and Oscar was excitedly talking about something while Oscar liens looking interested she’s unsure how he’s so put together they were both up late hanging out dreading comics and it’s only 7 am she leaned on Oscar and closed her eyes hoping to get a little more sleep before She had to do missions she had a relatively short one today only a search and destroy so maybe she could get home fast and take a nap Oscar nudged her shoulder and she lifted her head “hey don’t fall asleep if you don’t eat you’ll be grumpy” he says she fakes a pout and starts eating the gross cafeteria food she assumed that atlas food would be good sense it’s so many rich folks but no she’s actually had  better tasting mres or maybe she was just getting spoiled eating Oscar and rens cooking “ruby why are you so tired did you have trouble sleeping” penny says drawing circles on the table with her finger “no me and Oscar were up late last night and I only slept like three hours“ penny frowns “while I am happy you and Oscar are spending time together you require at least 6 hours of sleep for maximum field efficiency” ruby just nods “so why don’t you seem tired Oscar you couldn’t of slept anymore than I did” she says with a yawn he shrugs and says  “I guess I’m used to it I had to wake up early back home so I always didn’t get a bunch of sleep” penny raises a finger “actually according to my scans  Oscars brain is only running at 89% efficiency and his hear rate is faster from his normal 48 beats per minute to to 51 it is likely that he simply better at hiding his tiredness” Oscar slumps “penny do have everyone’s heart rates memorized” he says exasperated “yes I also have all of your medical charts on file and criminal records why” he raises a brow “criminal record?” Penny nods “yes several of your team have criminal records qrow having the longest with 22 counts of public intoxication as well as 3 of public indecency and” ruby raises her hands “trust me you don’t wanna know the rest they had to make a new law for one of the things he did but who else has charges?” she tries to wake herself with conversation and it sorta works she also learns some new and unsettling things about her friends but eventually breakfast ends and she starts to get her gear ready she’s loading rounds into one of crescent roses magazine when someone knocks on the door to her locker room “it’s open” she calls out and incomes  Oscar he’s holding a small Tupperware box and a small metal tumbler “hey I wanted to give this to you before you go” he says with a sheepish grin he sets the box next to her and hands her the tumbler it’s warm and smells good “it’s coffee, don’t worry I added way too much sugar for you and the other thing is a surprise you said you don’t eat a lot on missions so I made it for you it’s a bit of an experiment so tell me if it’s bad” she’s grinning ear to ear and stands up from her weapon bench and hugs him “you are the best and I’m sure it’ll be great” she gives him a kiss on the cheek she’s been slowly trying to work her way up to kissing him on the lips but nose and cheek kisses were enough for her he smiles and his cheeks get all rosey  and he hugs her back and says “be careful ok sorry I know you can take care of yourself but just you know“ she squeezes him a little “yeah don’t worry I know  I’ll be careful and when I get back we are so taking a nap mister I’m not that tired” he giggles and looks up at her with a smile  “you won’t hear me complain and uh before you go could I uh kiss you like um on the lips” he says nervously she leans down pressing her forehead to his and smiles she smells his breath it smells like chocolate and coffee she feels her cheeks heat up to match his and says “I’ve been wanting to do that for a while now are you sure you want to ” he nods his head wordlessly she takes his hand and gently presses her lips to his its short and maybe a little clumsy but it makes her heart soar when she breaks the kiss Oscars breath shakes slightly  and a little panic starts to fill her did she mess it up did he hate it and then he smiles and it all fades away “that was really nice” he says rubbing her knuckle with his thumb then there’s a knock on the door frame she looks up and weiss and Blake are standing there weiss looks annoyed and Blake is grinning “time to go ruby morning Oscar” wiess says already turning to walk away ruby quickly gathers crescent rose and Oscars gifts and says “bye Oscar I’ll be careful byeee” and dashed out the door behind the others Blake nudges her shoulder “your lucky I made weiss wait  ,god you two are adorable” ruby squeaks “will you stop spying on us”  “we weren’t spying you two dolts left the door open” weiss says annoyed 

 The mission was boring as she thought it was gonna be how normal soldiers couldn’t handle this she’ll never know on the airship ride home she opens   the box Oscar gave to her a note on top says “have a great day and stay safe” she smiles at the note and sticks it in her ammo pocket  it looks like a brownie is some kind and yang leans over and says “where did you get that”

“Oscar made it for me” she says taking it out of the container it smells like a peanut butter protein bar “ooo come on share with me pleassss” yang says putting her hands together “ugh your lucky I’m a good sister” she breaks off a small piece and hands it to yang and takes a bite of her own and it’s amazing it Taste like a peanut butter brownie but somehow better it’s somehow not dried out or crumbly yang seems to have a similar opinion “god if you don’t marry Oscar i will his food is too good”yang says with a laugh  she kicks yang in the leg “I know right I can barely eat the cafeteria food anymore” her and yang chat a bit about food until they finally land Oscar is standing on the landing pad waiting for her she bounce on her heels excitedly despite how tired she is when the door finally opens she rushes out to hug him “how did it go” he asks wrapping his arms around her shoulders “oh it was easy but soooo boring I don’t know why they asked us to do it” she says leaning into him he chuckles “well I’m glad it wasn’t dangerous at least did you like it” he asks sheepishly she puts her head on his “yeees brothers it was great what was it” he unwraps his arms and looks at her “there’s no name for it yet but it’s kinda like a protein brownie was it too grainy or anything what about the after taste” he asks “I didn't even realize it was supposed to be healthy” she puts her hands on his shoulders “Oscar I’m gonna need more of that” he smiles “happy to make some more tonight” he says proudly yang walks past and ruffles his hair “make sure to make enough for me too kiddo” and walks off “how about that nap ruby my teams still on mission so we should have some time” he says taking her hand “yes please” 

They walk back to team alpns dorm room after ruby changes into something more casual Oscar was already wearing his normal clothing he sits on his bed and smiles “I’m gonna get to have two naps today” she sits down next to him and throws her arm around him "you and your team  sure like your naps huh" he smiles as they lie back on his bed "honestly who doesn't like naps I never use to be a huge cuddler but it’s nice to have someone close to you, you know” they lie back Oscar resting his head on rubies shoulder “well I do  wish my team took naps together sometimes yang is a big cuddler too but Weiss  doesn’t like being warm and Blake can’t sit still even so less than you” he snorts as he takes her hand running his thumbs along her knuckles  “well I’m sure the others wouldn’t mind you joining our naps if have to ask but i'll warn you ren sits up in his sleep  Jaune snores and i talk in my sleep” she raises an eyebrow “you didn't last time” she says “that's cause we were smoking  but if i take a nap or if im really tired you can actually talk and I'll talk back” she grins “well what do you talk about”  he rests his head on her chest “usually about my aunt or all yall but Nora has told me i say lots of stuff about you if i'm asked” he says his cheeks getting just a tiny bit rosy she grins and plants a kiss on his nose “well i hope i get the chance to ask but i'll probably fall asleep first im super tired” she rolls over and wraps herself around him oscar adjusting to lay on her arm pulling a blanket over them "well if you can get me to talk I'll answer any question just nothing to embarrassing please" he says  “i would like to know what you have to say tho so maybe i'll try to hold out just a bit longer” she says closing her eyes as oscar lets out his relaxed sigh about half of Oscars communication was nonverbal she liked to mentally catalog the things he does when he relaxes he lets out a long almost high pitched sigh it makes her happy to hear that and it helps her relax her thoughts starts to get fuzzy as sleep takes her she wakes up a few hours later laying on her back oscar laying on top of her them both having wrapped around each other she hears quiet murmurs  coming from him to quiet to understand "Oscar are you still asleep" she whispers no response "Oscar are you comfy" he nods his head "of course I'm comfy I'm cuddling with ruby" she snickers he was definitely still asleep "who's the coolest person you know" she she's "ruby for sure she's so good at fighting and everyone trusts her I wish I was more like her" she runs her hand through his hair "how do you feel about ruby " she asked "I'm in love with her she makes me feel strong and weak at the same time when she's with me I feel like I'm safe and that we could do anything together i want to be with her forever" she's crying now "oh shit I didn't expect him to be that honest" she thinks as tears run down her face "I love you too Oscar"     she kisses the top of his head “you know i never used to want like romantic stuff and all the fluffy garbage i just wanted to be a huntress and fight grim stuff like that but you  make me want that stuff i wanna take you on dates and like hold your hand and stuff there are a bunch of things i wanna do like” she pauses resting her head on his “i forgot you were asleep for a second i'm starting to embarrass myself i do love you tho i dont know when your supposed to say that we've only been i guess dating for what 2 and a half weeks my dad always joked that huntsmen relationships move really fast nothing like holy shit we might die to move a relationship forward right but you make me feel like i don't know amazing and I love being with you you make all my worries disappear even if it's only for a little bit and i'm rambling and your not talking back” oscar lifts his head “its cause im awake and i love it when you ramble” she feels her face light on fire “w-what when did you wake up” he hums happily “around we might die  i think it was nice that stuff you said you can ramble longer if you want what that new gun you saw in that magazine” she smiles “it's a roller delayed blowback sniper rifle its a smaller caliber than crescent rose but it has a longer effective range because of the way the bore is shaped i prefer bolt actions to semi automatics for a long range rifle semi autos have there merits and stuff it's a lot lighter than crescent rose as well on account of it not also being a giant scythe you know i was thinking about carrying a pistol too crescent rose is great but shes heavy and she's also really hard to conceal  even when shes folded speaking of i need to clean her gears a bunch of dust got in them today you said you wanted to learn weapon maintenance i could teach you today if you want” “sure i can learn there's a lot of things oz knows but it's like a big library without a librarian its all jumbled up” she scratches the back of his neck “well i do not understand the dewey decimal system but i'm happy to help” they both giggle at her joke ruby keeps rambling until the rest of team alpn return 

Oscar is walking ruby back to her dorm they come to her door and they turn to face each other and oscar rubs his hands together “so ruby uh I got permission with ironwood to leave school grounds as long as someone's with me so I was wondering if you’d like to maybe go out like on a date” she smiles and puts her arms around his shoulders “sounds amazing sweetie I’m free this weekend where do you want to go” he blushes and says “well I actually have something in mind but I wanna keep it a surprise if that’s ok” she kisses him on the cheek “of course casual clothes or should i dress nice” he shakes his head “i mean it's really up to you but were not going somewhere fancy just a place I think you'll like" she smiles and kisses his nose and he leans up a little so there lips are level "can i kiss you again" he asks just above a whisper her pressing her lips gently against his is her answer they  hold the kiss for a few moments Oscars hands drifting to ruby's waist when they separate  she says "i think we're getting pretty good at that" Oscar smiles avoiding her eyes "yeah um It's certainly enjoyable" they break the hug "I'll see you in the morning I'll make that stuff you like ok" he says "yes awesome you're the best Oscar good night" she says as she slips into her from her teammates giving her knowing smirks 

[itsclydebitches]

Welcome back, welcome back! We have a relatively short chapter this time, which theoretically means it shouldn't have taken me as long as it did to write this recap. Yet here we are. 

We open again on Sun's perspective as he joins a large group in the dorm common room. Recall that last chapter Velvet said she wanted to show SSSN something and I took issue with her "Speaking of family" line. We'll get to that in just a bit, as well as the surprise element of this chapter. Moving chronologically though, we learn that this group is the self-named Beacon Brigade and there has been a unanimous vote to allow SSSN to become a part of whatever the Brigade is doing. "Everyone here helped defend our home and school," Velvet says, "even though they didn’t have to. We’re grateful. As far as we’re concerned, you’re all honorary Beacon students." That's a rather nice sentiment and, once again, Velvet shows herself to be the best and most mature character presented so far. That's not a terribly high bar to clear and as established last chapter, she definitely contributes to the intense Sun-bashing, but this is one of the sweetest lines I've heard from RWBY in a while, so kudos. 

Sun, however, doesn't take kindly to the inclusion. "Whatever that means anymore, Sun thought. Then he chided himself. To the others here, it still meant a lot." That's how you do a character flaw without making them a complete asshole. You either have someone else call the character out (paying careful attention to whether that person's opinion has any weight in the story—something the webseries still needs to work on), or you have the character call themselves out. Which Sun does here. The story allows Sun to have this flaw while likewise recognizing that he's not being fair to the others. That's a conscientious human being right there. 

Or a faunus. You get what I'm saying. 

Sun continues to unpack his prejudices and acknowledges that he's not a big fan of how that mentality impacts the formation of teams: "That was the whole point of the team system—to become part of something, to define yourself, to lose yourself in it. A team made you someone new, someone better." But for Sun that's too much attachment. He claims he's not the type to get attached to either people or places, though his willingness to follow Blake to Menagerie on a "What if?" says differently. Here we get to see how Sun thinks of himself as someone outside of these community ties even as he tries so hard to maintain them. It's a part of his personality that—for reasons I assume have to do with his past—he is unwilling to acknowledge yet. 

The rest of this group is introduced, including Team ARBN and Nolan, originally a member of Team BRNZ. Where are the other three? Oh, they died at the Fall of Beacon. 

Cue me putting the book down for a solid minute because this is one hell of a deviation from the tone of the webseries. With (maybe) the exception of the Schnee charity ball, the Fall of Beacon has been presented as no worse than what we, the viewer, directly experienced. Meaning that the end of Volume 3 was the moment RWBY went from a lighthearted action show to a tragic epic trying to take itself seriously, and crucially the show has made it seem like we were privy to everything that was a part of that change: Penny dies. Pyrrha dies. Yang loses an arm. Everyone is forced to abandon their school. Those are the four events that made this the Fall of Beacon and already we had a problem with how little the show chose to grapple with those things. Ruby's nightmares conveniently disappear. Yang has no difficulty fighting despite working through PTSD. Ruby doesn't seem to care that the friend she saw killed is miraculously standing before her. These events are, by and large, not integrated into the cast's feelings, reactions, and motivations  and when they are it's to say that such a tragedy has no bearing on difficult things like trust (Ozpin) or that those who are still haunted by the Fall are unstable and unfit to lead (Ironwood). Post Volume 4 these events haven't been given the proper weight, which is bad enough on its own, yet now we find out that things were even worse than they first appeared? 

Penny and Pyrrha were not the only ones to die. The Fall was always a tragedy, but this is a tragedy that goes beyond our core group of characters. Was anyone going to mention that Jaune, Nora, and Ren weren't the only ones to lose a teammate? That an entire generation of huntsmen are working through this on a far more personal level than previously established? As said, it's bad enough that the webseries has glossed over Pyrrha's death for everyone but Jaune, yet now BTD comes in to say, "Yeah, some of these kids lost their entire team. Remember these guys?" 

"Everyone on the right is dead now." No need to make room for that in your primary story. 

(As an aside, an anon once asked whether it's weird that Pyrrha got a statue in Argus. At the time I argued strongly that it wasn't, partly due to her celebrity status and the fact that this was her home city, but also because she seemed to be the only "real" death in the Fall. Obviously we as the viewers count Penny as well, but the world may not view the dismantling of an android in the same way they'd view the murder of an organic teenager. As the single "real" death that Beacon suffered, Pyrrha's memory shoulders that attention... but now this little tidbit blows all that out of the water. Apparently lots of kids lost their lives that day and our webseries hasn't taken the time to acknowledge that.) 

So I'm reeling from this revelation and taking in what it's done to Nolan: "He was even thinner than he'd been last year at the Vytal Festival, and his rose-colored glasses didn't hide the dark shadows under his eyes." Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled that at least some part of the RWBY-verse is acknowledging the severity of Volume 3's finale, it just rankles that this work is relegated to a supplementary novel already loaded with other problems, rather than put into our main storyline where it would do more good. 

Speaking of those problems, we get another conversation about how unnecessarily cruel the Shade students are. I like the little pun on "shade" that Nadir gives—"Let’s just say some of the Vacuan students here are giving a new meaning to ‘Shade’ Academy"—but I’m not sure why Myers feels the need to follow that up with Nadir giving an awkward explanation. I can't remember precisely where, but didn't we see this already? With Sun or Neptune? Plus we definitely just got Fox's 'joke' that went over Neptune's head. Not every character needs to be #awkward regarding humor and you can trust your reader to get the joke without explaining it each time. That’s a specific character trait that feels like it’s being applied to too many characters now.  Moving on, Arslan speaks my mind by pointing out that, regardless of what Shade might think about them "abandoning" the academies, it's not a productive attitude. Their new peers are more interested in beating them down for what's already happened than discussing how they can move forward as allies (sound like any main characters we know?) So the group strikes up a conversation about what they can actually accomplish. We learn that Yatsuhashi has been leading some of them through meditation and others take the time to share their survivor's guilt, admitting that the Shade students' attitude sometimes feels like a punishment they deserve. Iris brings up Castor, another peer who perished at Beacon, and Nolan continues to grapple with the death of his teammates. Yet despite the severity of these admissions, Sun still isn’t impressed. 

“Yeah. Because you ran away, Sun thought, unable to stop himself, even though this was the exact thing the other Shade students were thinking of the Beacon and Haven survivors. No wonder Nolan was here—he was probably getting criticized worse than anyone, because Shade students were supposed to be stronger than everyone else.”

Okay wait, does Sun actually know that Nolan ran away? Is "ran away" in the context of Nolan's specific battle (his team was fighting a mech or something and he split), or is it in the context of the entire Fall (he failed to take back Beacon and therefore 'ran')? That's a huge difference because if it's the latter (and I suspect it is)... Sun ran away too. Has Sun—and Myers—forgotten that he was there? At the Fall. Right there on the left. 

It feels more than a little disingenuous of Sun to be adopting any of the Shade Academy's criticism when he himself was a part of the 'failing' group. Why is he acting like he’s an outside observer, judging Nolan when they went through the same horror? When he too ‘ran’ from that fight? Obviously this ‘You ran away’ perspective is just garbage all on its own, but I'm really distracted by what appears to be only three explanations: 

Nolan really did ditch his team, Sun knows about it, and this is all info that I've missed from the previous book (always possible)

Nolan really did ditch his team, Sun knows about it, but Myers isn't interested in telling us how Sun got that info or why it’s important 

Nolan never ditched his team, 'ran away' is in the context of leaving Beacon to the grimm, and Sun is so deep in his denial he’s removed himself from the facts of the situation. You didn't save Beacon either, Sun! 

I'm just 

Sun isn't done yet though and before we cover that I just want to say: I get it. This book drags him to an unreasonable degree and any Sun fan must just be frothing at the mouth reading through this. However, I also can't claim that Myers has made Sun particularly endearing here. Like in the prologue when Sun is all about being a solo act, denying reality, and ignoring the harm he's done to his team, here he's presented as someone I'm just not interested in spending time with. I know I praised him above for correcting his knee-jerk thoughts, but like with Coco's flaw becoming overdone Sun-bashing, Sun’s attitude it so over the top I get frustrated with him even while I sympathize with the extreme criticism he’s shouldering. Because this Sun isn’t any kinder or wiser than the group targeting him: 

“But he’d believe it when he saw it. It was easy to talk about doing something, and another thing to follow through on it. Maybe that was what he didn’t like about this group. So far it was all just sitting around and talking. They should be focused on moving on— channeling their strength toward protecting their new home, their new friends.”  

Sun has little to no faith that this group can accomplish the things they set out to do (despite evidence to the contrary). He's critical of what they have chosen to do and is dismissive of their needs. He likewise criticizes others for not taking care of their home and their friends... even though he's the one who left his team to chase after Blake, someone who explicitly did not want or need his assistance. It's something Sun himself brings up later on: "Blake may not have needed or wanted him, but there was no doubt in his mind that he had helped" and it's his dismissive attitude here that’s my primary issue with him both in the webseries and in this novel. Sun prioritizes his own desires (I want to help) over everyone else's desires and needs (Blake didn't want my help and didn't need it). We see him doing the same thing here, rejecting what a very large group all needs because it's not something he as an individual wants. It feels contradictory to call Sun selfish because his desires do revolve around helping others—his wants are all coming from a loving place—it's just that how he prioritizes that drive to help often ends up hurting others and he continually refuses to acknowledge that. His “but I helped” is used as a catch-all justification for the bad choices he made in providing that (unwanted) assistance. Like creepily following a woman, or ditching his team, or getting in over his head by following three goons alone, or criticizing a conversation that others find beneficial. To reiterate, I do think that Sun has gotten way too much heat in this novel, but I also can't pretend that he's a character I'm particularly fond of. He made me uncomfortable the moment spying on four women in their bedroom was played as a joke and RWBY has done very little to endear me to him since. It's a bit of a surreal experience to read about someone I’m very critical of, but when the material itself criticizes him I’m suddenly like, "Hold up. That's going too far." 

Reading about Sun feels like watching someone who insists they help another bake a cake. The baker does not want help, does not need help, but our character is just desperate to do something. So he forcefully takes the ingredients for himself and ends up ruining the batter. I'm like, "Okay, that's not appropriate. You're coming from a good place and you never meant any harm, but your actions were still a problem. We should address this, including where that desperate need to help is coming from." 

Except then the baker 'addresses this' by screaming at him at the top of their lungs, throwing things, and banning him from the kitchen for all time. 

Me: "Not like that!!" 

Simply put: this novel is generating a lot of emotions and very few of them are pleasant. 

Things finally come to a head when Sun rolls his eyes because he doesn't like therapy—wait. 

Hold up. Just give me another second. 

You remember I spoke about the "surprise element" earlier? Think about the structure of the last chapter. We end on what's essentially a small cliffhanger. Velvet says she wants to show Team SSSN something but the reader doesn't know what that is. We’re waiting for the reveal. Yet we only learn that the group is having a therapy session four pages in—and this is a six page chapter. (Yes, I'm writing twice as much as the source material. You all know I'm not succinct :p ). Myers is now demonstrating a habit of not introducing the core aspects of a scene: who, what, where, when, and why. We've got half of that— who, when, and where—but not the 'what' or the 'why.' What is the group doing in the city in the middle of the day? Are they patrolling? Out to lunch? Following a lead? Looks like they're visiting a wall. Would have been nice to know that a couple pages earlier. Oh, there's a souvenir table there? Didn't feel like it, and it was never mentioned in the scene setup, so that’s an awkward surprise. Now Velvet wants to show them something. What is it? No seriously... what is it? Please tell me what's going on before we're more than halfway through the event in question. Granted yes, you might be able to deduce that they're in therapy, but we don't know that for sure until Sun uses the word. And we need to know in order to properly read the scene. I spent the first four pages thinking that this group was an expansion of CFVY's solo missions. While they were talking I was waiting for Velvet to reveal what she wanted to share—another secret mission they were conducting, or something—not realizing that the conversation itself was it. That’s the reveal. I mean, Beacon Brigade isn't exactly a name that makes you think "therapy." They're labeling themselves an army, ergo I assumed this had something to do with their war. That is, more to do with it than working through the aftermath. 

In retrospect it is somewhat obvious that these students are engaging in group therapy... but at the same time it's not because I would think, technically, that this isn't therapy. Who's the therapist? Velvet? She's the one leading, but she's also an unlicensed, traumatized teen just like everyone else in the room. It's a support group and that's fantastic, I'm honestly thrilled one of RWBY's stories decided to incorporate this, but at the same time it's odd to have Sun seriously referring to this as therapy like this is comparable to receiving professional help. I’m bringing this up because we saw the same perspective regarding RWBYJNR's status as huntresses. That's a job, something earned and presented to you by an expert, but up until Volume 7 Ruby seemed to be working under the impression that because she wanted to be a huntress and because she did vaguely huntress-like things, she was one. Simple as that. But crucially she wasn't and that lack of knowledge, maturity, and training caused serious problems in Volume 6. Now we have a group calling their activity therapy, doing vaguely therapy-like things, but Velvet isn't a therapist. I'm saying that not to knock the excellent work she's doing to help both herself and her friends (and I'm also quite aware that I'm missing an entire book's worth of information that may be pertinent here) but rather, I bring it up to acknowledge that the whole of the RWBY-verse seems to have a skewed idea of how professionalism works. We've got a lot of teens in this franchise who are put in positions of power when by all logic they shouldn't be. RWBY has failed to do the work of coming up with compelling reasons for why these half-trained teens keep getting put in charge of stuff, which is what any story staring kids and teens needs to do.  

Anyway, I've rambled on about that enough. As said, Sun isn't enjoying the touchy-feely-ness of it all, even when Velvet reiterates that they're "like family." Coco reminds him that he's free to leave, but of course she turns it into an insult: "Maybe you’re not ready for this.” Sun ignores the implication and does try to leave, admitting that what he has to say probably won't go over well. The others encourage him to share though, it's a safe space... until Scarlet makes a dig about keeping them waiting again. I'm simultaneously going, "He's right. Sun still refuses to acknowledge how badly he hurt his team" and also "#Yikes. So much for this being a safe place!" 

What I’m saying is these kids all need an actual therapist. Sun himself is described as feeling "strangely disconnected from his body. Unsettled” at the start of the chapter. The tragedy here is that one of the characters most in need of this help is the one digging his heels in the most. 

It gets worse though. Sun finally caves and his take is, as one would expect given his feelings thus far, not great: "This is why Vacuans won’t trust you. Because you’re holding on to who you were and where you came from instead of focusing on where you are.” He also claims that “Theo really wouldn’t like this," making it sound like the group is breaking rules and should be ashamed of trying to cope with their trauma in a healthy manner. He ends with the confident belief that Vacuans understand them completely because they punish themselves by staying in the same, harsh place. 

(So do these people move on or not?? Ugh I can't get into this again.) 

Scarlet, as Sun predicted, isn't pleased to hear any of this. Frankly I can't blame him. "Like you didn’t leave us the first chance you got to chase after someone you barely knew who didn’t want your help?" he says. "You didn’t even stay in Vacuo for school —you chose Haven.”

He's not wrong. Hard as it is to hear, Scarlet has a point. Sun did abandon his team. He did chase after someone he'd just met who didn't want his help. He did choose to go to Haven because, as he explained last chapter, he's not a big fan of Vacuo. Which isn't a bad thing in and of itself, it just means he's not in a position to criticize others for not immediately adoring this kingdom, rejecting Beacon in the process. Like so many other RWBY protagonists, Sun holds others to a standard he doesn’t demand of himself. I can hate Vacuo and leave because there are things about it that make me uncomfortable, but you have to learn to appreciate it and forget what’s outside this kingdom, despite never having a choice about coming here. It’s food for thought and something he should be encouraged to consider. However then: 

“You wouldn’t know anything about loss, Sun. You never stay in one place long enough to learn.” 

That's not a point, that's just cruelty, and it's an attack that clearly hurts Sun a great deal. He flushes and snaps, "You all belong in Vacuo more than you think." Really, they all do. He reiterates to himself that there's nothing to work through, they all just need to move on, and then he really does leave, saying that he'll see them for patrol. Well, at least Sun isn’t planning on going off on his own again, even if he is on the outs with his friends. 

So that was an all around depressing chapter! I didn't like it. I was honestly shocked when I went back and realized that it was only six pages because it felt far longer. We're now three chapters into this novel... with only nineteen more to go 😬

Until next time! 

[swatato]

fat. FAT. P H A T RANT INCOMING FOR ANYONE WHO CARES TO READ THIS NONSENSE CUZ @haldidoodh ASKED

That episode literally blasted the last of my serotonin into smithereens but TBH??? WHO AM I MAD AT I should have seen this coming this whole volume has been such a headache. I cant be bothered to type up a coherent rwde essay on everything that bothered me this episode so im just gonna copy and paste my earlier yelling here instead ;A;

Team Rwby was god awful in episodes 11-12. They’re so self-righteous, entitled, hypocritical and cocky as a team and it doesnt help that they all suck as individual characters nowadays (except for weiss but even she lost best-girl points this episode also lmao blake and yang aren’t even INDIVIDUALS anymore they’re just bumbleby). It was annoying at first but now its just infuriating how rwby thinks theyre always right with their uwu energy and think they can do whatever tf they want with ZERO CONSEQUENCES.

Basically any time there is a problem in this show they have Ruby uwu at it and its solved lol.

They kept giving ironwood shit for taking on this incredible burden SO THAT NOBODY ELSE WOULD HAVE TO and rather than offer any real solution they just kept going “but mantle” like okay?? But remnant??? Like obvi letting mantle rot is bad but HE WAS OPEN TO ANY HELPFUL SUGGESTIONS CUZ HES OBVI AT HIS WITTS END AND DOESNT LIKE THE IDEA EITHER but yeah they just proceed to be the fattest hypocrites by hiding secrets of their own after being all “no more secrets uwu” and WHEN THEY GOT EXPOSED THEY JUST WENT “>:[“ (yangs self-righteous little glare here pissed me off so much oof) especially when ironwood was laying everything out in the open to them from the start. AND ESPECIALLY WHEN THE SECRET WAS FKIN “OH YEAH SALEM CANT DIE LOL” They watched ironwood make every decision he did in hopes of beating Salem while KNOWING she couldnt die??? So literallY WHERE do they get off on screeching at him with their yOu doNt hAvE to Suffer In ManTle YOu doNt kNow whAt iTs liKe bs. Wtf made ruby distrust iw at the start anyway? Because he had a bunch of ships out? They kept this CRUCIAL piece of information from him because he seemed stressed out?? Like what made ruby keep the secret from him. Someone tell me.

And the fact that rwby beat the ace-ops makes no goddamned sense. The power-scaling in this show is non-existant. We finally got to meet some pro huntsmen in this universe who aren’t teachers but are actually on the job, but because we gotta move out of the way for that 👌🏽✨ Power Of Friendship✨ and ✨rwby is always right✨ they somehow managed to beat experienced huntsmen with YEARS in the field who’ve actually graduated school??? FARM BOI OSCAR WHOS *JUST* LEARNING HOW TO FIGHT MANAGED TO LAND A PUNCH ON NEO FKIN POLITAN??? Didnt neo dance circles around yang??? Yang, who punches for a living and also beat mercury and adam??? I cant yall (and the fact that he didnt even bother to sneak up on her this boi literally screamed “no!!” as he ran down a hallway and neo didnt even have time to blink??? Pls)

Ruby’s “you were the best, until you trained us :3” -for maybe 2 days before my team went dancing ruby sis shut right tf up pls my god is this line just so. UNEARNED. Training in a room for a short while does not simply grant you the years of field experience the ace ops have and whAT IS UP WITH HER TRYING TO REASON WITH HARIETT AFTER SAYING THAT COCKY LINE AND FIGHTING HER??? WHAT and also like. The entire idea of “the ops lost cuz they weren’t good friends and were bad at teamwork uwu” is just so dumb. Ur telling me this group of high ranking hunstmen who’ve most likely been working together for at least a few years didnt have teamwork down??? Learning to work together is the most BASIC concept for a team to learn!! Its like the first thing a team has to perfect!! If the ace ops are supposed to be the best of atlas you dont think the ops would have gotten something as fundemental as teamwork down?? I dont buy it. And who gives a shit if they dont hang out after work or take selfies with eachother. Being friends doesnt necessarily mean theyre great at working together. If they succeed at relying on eachother to watch their backs, to keep each other alive (in the words of hariett herself) then Id think theyd know how to protect eachother i.e WORK TOGETHER.

And for all the ✨friendship✨ and ✨going through so much with someone✨ talk rwby like to do, the show barely displays these people acting like friends. We’re constantly TOLD how great of friends this group is, but the actual CONTENT we are shown leaves a lot to be desired. Tell me the last time ruby and blake teamed up in a fight. Or weiss and blake. Or yang and weiss. What teamwork?? Yang only interacts with blake now and weiss is only ever allowed to interact with ruby. Has blake ever said nora or ren’s name out loud? Have jaune and yang ever held a conversation between just them? Team rwby just spent a GOOD DEAL of time seperated from eachother, but when they reunite their teamwork is still somehow better than the ace ops?? Honestly its easier to believe that ruby is closer with team jnpr than she is her own team. If they showed the ops messing up during rwby vs ace ops fight due to lack of communication, then it still doesnt matter. My point is that they shouldnt have lacked teamwork in the first place.

Robyn was m e h this episode “JaMes ConTinUes to UnDeresTimAte Me” *proceeds to get knocked over in .3 seconds and is then KO for the rest of the episode* also great job for starting a fight and aiming to take clovers life in a moving airship with a terrorist on board when clover was acting PEACEFULLY and qrow was WILLING TO TALK IT OUT WITH IW and potentially work on a solution, but naw robyn is big mad and shall shoot.

Qrow made zero sense this episode too. I was with him right up until he chose TYRIAN OVER CLOVER??? THE PSYCOPATH WHO CANNOT BE REASONED WITH OVER THE RATIONAL DUDE YOU KNOW IS GOOD except clover wasnt acting rational in this fight at all and ill get to that AND IS THE ONLY FRIEND YOU HAVE WHOS NOT 19????? Qrow rly looked at tyrian- a man who is literally an enemy to all of remnant and went after ur neice- and said lets get rid of this punk together u and me bro. Like screw teaming with clover to bring down the dude you ACTUALLY have a grudge with whos also a serial killer and then trying to talk it out with clover whod be willing to do things peacefully why is this show like this

and AS FOR CLOVER. where were the braincells this episode. Qrow was trying to fight tyrian-the WAY bigger threat here, but clover??? kept knocking him away from tyrian and restraining him with his hook like??? YEAH LETS HELP OUT THE DEMON SCORPION CRACKHEAD HES CLEARLY NOT THE PRIORITY ATM nvm clover deserved to die there m8

His death scene was emotional and I feel bad for Qrow but u literally sealed his death when u ganged on him with tyrian so why are you even surprised. And on the subject of fairgame, im glad it didnt happen. Qrow was in no state for romance and I was glad he finally had a friend. He just spent the last volume thinking he wasted his life away helping oz, drowning in misery, drinking til he passed out on the street and so drunk he couldnt even be of any help during the apathy situation, when up til now hes been shown to fight just fine while drunk. I don’t see this as a “bury your gays trope” because clover was never confirmed to be gay and all their scenes added up to 40 seconds of platonic friendship. These two are grown ass men, if they had the hots for eachother then im pretty sure they could openly show it and not dance around it like theyre kids. I do feel bad for mlm viewers who were hoping for some rep with fairgame/lucky charms (cuz rt only cares if ur a cute marketable lesbian) but idc for the overly entitled fans who try to force their own headcanons on the writers and go feral when they dont get what they want. You dont just get to prance around claiming whats canon and what isnt. If rep is there then great, but if it isnt, then why not look somehwere else and let the author tell the story theyre trying to tell? Shipping fairgame cuz you think its cute is absolutely fine but not when u start getting ready to casterate crwby for not catering to you. Also, rwby sucks with lgbt+ rep anyway so what were yall expecting.

The only thing that was great this episode was the chorerography. It just sucks that the animation/choreo continues to improve while the writing doesnt. Another thing that really fell off this episode was the whole “we’re friends but we have to fight” drama. It doesnt work when its only ONE SIDE SHOWING ANY DISTRESS OVER IT. Only the ace ops (marrow, clover, the vine dude) seemed to show distress over having to fight rwby (it sucks that the only 1v1 weiss has won was because marrow was going EASY on her cuz he didnt wanna fight her fr) but rwby???? They didnt give any shits. They were so quick to turn against them and aim for their heads. They were SMILING as they ran at the ace ops, while they looked conflicted. If you oppose their UwU philosophy, you’re dead to them.

I really wanna enjoy RWBY but sometimes this show (and the fndm) really tests me. Its ironic how this episode came right after last episode, which I thought was the best chapter this volume. Anyway I rate this 10/10 cuz it gave me best character ironwood and best boi marrow and I would like to give them hugs for carrying this volume on their backs. (Also tyrian and penny and winter have been great too)

[real-jaune-isms]

RWBY Volume 7 Chapter 5 Rundown

I really did not expect to get a daily huntress life montage episode, but here it was. Luckily that’s not all it was, and the ending is definitely gonna set events in motion to upset the status quo. But we can’t reach the ending unless we go to where it starts.

And it starts with Penny giving a sunrise wake up call to Team RWBY in their Atlas dorm. They’re in wall indented bunks, wearing matching Atlas Academy pajamas... and with the loose shirts it looks like they grew in more than just height over the last few Volumes, especially Weiss. Guess those dresses bind the chest pretty tightly. Or maybe they made one character model for the Atlas pajamas outfit and then changed up the face, hair, and other important details like Yang’s arm but left the torso basically the same? Regardless, they’re all very tired... except Ruby, who’s excited to start doing official Huntress work. 

Next thing we know everyone’s gathered in a briefing room to get the rundown on the day’s missions, and Jaune is coerced to give his cup of coffee to Marrow. Stupid puppy dog eyes... Clover starts briefing everyone, and his monologue plays over a montage of everyone doing the very thing he’s talking about. How convenient for show with minimal tell. Most of the missions are going to be escorting supply runs out to the Amity launch site and fighting off whatever Grimm might gather around the mine or strike on the road. But since so much construction stuff is going to making Amity a communication satellite, they can’t mend the damage to Mantle’s border wall so they have to do some Attack on Titan style Garrison work and defend the wall from approaching Grimm. We see Nora adorably playing with Ren’s braid, or maybe redoing it for him that morning, before they set to work on perimeter defense. Then the Bees are seen in the mine with Marrow killing Grimm, since it is a volatile part of the launch site and worth defending. He calls their combat styles into question, specifically how they don’t seem suited to work well together and they might want to mix up who teams up with who. But they execute a flawless tag team take down on a Beowolf and that quiets him down for a bit. Let’s get into that a little, because people have been getting a lot of impressions on it. Here’s how I see it. He comes from a team where all the members were chosen specifically to compliment each other. These are girls who met and were partnered by random selection, and had to learn how to make their styles meld together, so from the outside looking in it seems disjointed but when they apply themselves they have synergy. So it’s a matter of perspective, really.

But then we get to my third favorite part of the episode, and the moment we had been teased about since RTX. Jaune is indeed helping a group of preschoolers cross the street on the way to school, with a stop sign that has six sides instead of the eight real world signs do... odd. And this earns him the attention of five flirty, posing, winking, Real. Thirsty. Moms. A sixth even comes up and gives him a casserole she made... apparently something she’s done before. And she’s not taking no for an answer, shoving it into his hands even while acting all flustered and shy. Nora is watching from nearby and attributes his mom-magnet status to the new haircut. Makes you wonder if these ladies would still be into Jaune if they knew he was only about 19?... But even this has a point. It’s still important to help out with day to day troubles and jobs around Mantle to help the public know that the huntsmen and huntresses are there to keep them safe. 

Clover assures them they can use their free time however they choose, and everyone seems to take full advantage of that. The Rose-Xiao Long sisters spend their time hunting down Grimm that get into the city, while the Schnee sisters bond over strengthening Weiss’ summoning abilities... even if Winter doesn’t want to directly show praise or approval of her sister’s growing finesse. But another very practical activity emerges, training with the Ace Ops. Jaune and Ren get their butts kicked in some Atlas equivalent of the X-Men’s Danger Room by Vine and Elm respectively, but seem to learn a thing or two from the experience. Ruby tests her speed against Harriet as the two run in circles, with a little help from Weiss’ glyphs as she also gets to practice keeping up with Ruby’s movements to place the glyphs where and when she needs them. But Oscar gets the executive treatment, sparring with Ironwood himself to try and pry some of Oz’s muscle memory and fighting skills loose and hopefully bring Ozpin out too.

Next thing we know it seems to be the next morning and Ruby is excitedly telling Penny about her and Weiss’ mission the previous day complete with sound effects and wild hand gestures, while Blake drags a sluggish Yang away by the wrist to get ready for work. Jaune has learned his lesson and brought Marrow a coffee of his own, but Nora is still asleep in her chair. Can’t trust her with caffeine... Team RWBY are at varying levels of enthusiasm as they stare at the mission board, and as the days seem to fly by that energy starts to drain from all of them until its a team family napping pile. If you’re a shipper like me you can enjoy Blake sleeping with her head in Yang’s lap and Weiss leaning against Ruby’s shoulder to snooze, and if you’re not you can still enjoy the whole group comfort dynamic and Yang catching some z’s on her sister’s other shoulder. It’s a moment for all types.

But then IT happens. The best thing we could have ever hoped for all Volume. Team FNKI is Back, BABY!!!! Flynt got some fresh clothes including a jacket, while Neon wrapped her pigtails up into buns that look like cat ears and changed her whole wardrobe. She kept her cat collar-like choker and roller blades but added a white jacket connected to paw padded fingerless gloves, a crop top connected to a pair of short shorts with stars on them and a white belt by what look like suspenders, and blue leggings with a rainbow stripe down the outside and a few holes worn into it. It’s a whole ass look and she makes it work. But for all her clothing changes, her in-fight attitude is still just as bratty and insulting, calling Nora slow even as she smashes pillars to run directly at her. Ren is hiding behind a pillar and trying to shoot at... gasp, a third member of Team FNKI!!! His weapon is a whip and his outfit is mostly white and gold with a very deep cut to his shirt. Curious to see if we learn anything more about this person. But we don’t have time for that, because we bear witness to a MURDER. Neon took notice of Ren putting in so much effort against her teammate as she did a flip over him and froze Stormflower with her glowsticks, and goes for Nora’s jugular. “Where’s all that energy when he’s around you?~” ABSOLUTELY. ROASTED.

Nora takes the white and gold guy with a grenade before hopping on Magnhild and somehow riding it like a witch’s broomstick using repeated grenade shots as she chases after Neon... past Oscar fighting a guy wearing blue and black? No... it can’t be. 

They based the other two members of Team FNKI on that goddamn dress meme from 2015???? You brilliant bastards... what else could we expect from the people who made a raver chick out of Nyan Cat and a jazz musician from one of their own Minecraft jokes? So JNR and Oscar are doing their best against Team FNKI, much to Ironwood’s subtle amusement. Flynt and the blue guy, whose name we later learn is Kobalt, are beaten and Neon is cornered in the center of the training room by Jaune Ren and Oscar, then ambushed from above by Nora. Even with a black eye that disappears within 4 seconds, Neon is very impressed with how much they’ve grown since the Vytal Festival. And she seems kinda flirty with Oscar, much to his flustered confusion. Jaune returns the compliment to a certain degree saying they kept them on their toes a good many times. Flynt invites them to lunch, and Nora says she could eat a sandwich the size of a human being. Kobalt, the human she was comparing its size to, is not amused that he gets hypothetical lettuce on his head. Weird how much her fantasies can affect reality like that... But before they can all head off to bond, Ironwood needs JNR+ Oscar for a mission so they promise to try and meet up again.

We shift to Ruby, Penny, Qrow and Clover in a transport bringing supplies out to the launch site and driving past a few adorable penguins, though Ruby is bored by the long drive when an airship would be faster. But Penny informs her the supplies would be too heavy and use up too much Dust fuel when they should be conserving it for coming fights. The girls have a conversation about making friends and finding time to balance between work and social lives while the men are in the back playing cards and shooting the shit. Clover keeps winning. But they still have a heart to heart about how good of an influence Qrow has been for these truly gifted kids even if he doesn’t want to give himself that credit. He tries to shift the praise back to the Ace Ops for keeping the teens safe in Atlas, but Clover says its a no brainer, since the new generation is the ones who will inherit the planet they’re still trying to save, and that hopefully they can keep the world in better shape than the current adults are leaving it for them. Some real world parallels about environmental protection and all that if you ask me, and it’s subtle enough that I don’t mind at all. Qrow confirms that he really is off the booze by saying that once upon a time he would have drank a toast to that sentiment, and Clover calls him out on his behavior. But not the alcoholism, the deflecting praise. He deserves to feel good about what he’s done, because he really has been doing a better job than he thinks.

The truck comes to a stop, and the cause is unlike anything they would have expected. Robyn Hill and her Happy Huntresses have set up a roadblock. Penny stays in the truck as a last resort, while the other three get out to try and talk to Robyn. She wants to know why they’re bringing stuff that could be fixing the wall and protecting Mantle to a mine in the middle of the tundra. Turns out the sheep faunus from last episode really was one of her agents and reported what she saw. You might think there would be no harm in telling Robyn that they’re trying to make Amity into a new communication tower so global communication can be restored. It’s a noble thing to do and I doubt she would object to such an ambition, even though she would have liked to know sooner. But the more people you tell about it the more chance there is the wrong people will hear it. So if Watts got word about it and told Salem she might actively choose to send a lot more Grimm to ruin the launch instead of there being a few that naturally wander onto the site. Or if Jacques found out he might make a smear campaign out of it by spinning the truth. Also, it may not be for Clover to tell. 

He goes by the book in all things, so he would have to run it by Ironwood to know if this is info they can afford to share with Robyn. So he tries to play it off as getting lost out in the snow where everything looks the same, but she calls him out on it. He says Amity is at the mine for routine maintenance, but she’s not buying that either since usually only drones and select technicians do the repairs, the next tournament isn’t for a while, and the supplies they’re taking are more than what would be necessary not to mention better suited for Mantle wall repair. She demands answers for the shady military business she’s taken careful notice of, and for the materials to be handed over for the good of the people. But Clover gives that a hard pass and encourages her to focus on her political campaign so she can request materials be taken where they’re needed through the proper legal channels, especially when she shifts her questions over to Ruby and Qrow and the young huntress tries to assure her this is also for the good of Mantle. She seems very ready to fight for the sake of raiding the truck here and now, and everyone’s hands go to their weapons... until Penny pops out of the truck with her swords drawn and demands Robyn stand down and call off the camouflaged huntresses approaching the back of the truck. Guess her sensors are better than the human eye. Her pleading for Robyn to let them through peacefully works and the barrier gets taken down. But Robyn swears vengeance, she’ll get to the bottom of this secret no matter the cost. Potential antagonist? I hope not.

But enough of that tension, time for Schnee vs Schnee sparring: Weiss’ Knight vs a large Beowolf Winter spawned, but Winter has years more practice and skill so she wins a pyrrhic victory. The Knight gets slashed to death but it impaled the Beowolf with its sword. She criticizes Weiss’ technique, but it turns into a backhanded compliment that she’s made her sloppy moves a part of how she fights and makes them work for her. Weiss recognizes that’s her sister’s way of showing approval, and calls her out on being nice like that. The elder sister is mortified that her stern attitude has been called into question, but she calms down and acknowledges that Weiss has grown a lot during their time apart, she’s confident enough to make jabs like that and stand up to Dad. Winter is proud her sister has found her own independence and has made her own kinder worldview, since her own leaving the Schnee name behind was the best thing that ever happened to her. They can carve their own path together, though she still thinks Ironwood’s side is the best place to be with that path. Weiss is skeptical since she knows a bit more than the General about Salem and all that, and she doesn’t like the way the kingdom has become under his leadership, what he has let it become. Winter assures her this downward spiral is temporary and the satellite will fix everything, Ironwood is doing some tough things but it’s what he feels is right. Weiss had to deal with Ozpin keeping world shattering secrets and leading them on a deadman’s quest because he thought that would keep his self interests and plans on track, so even if she doesn’t admit that much she’s openly more skeptical. Winter stands firm that Ironwood wouldn’t keep secrets from her, but Weiss calls her on that. Can she be sure?

This is enough to spurn Winter into making a decision, to lead Weiss to the depths of Atlas Academy, through the facilities and labs and past a secure access door... to a viewing room. Overlooking a room where an old woman is resting in a hospital bed. There’s a sink and some cupboards, some paintings on the wall and an easel next to the bed, and a few medical pods on the left side of the room while the bed is on the right surrounded by health readout screens. The bedridden Winter Maiden was a painter. Oddly enough, the pictures on the wall seem to be concept art from the credits of the last few Volumes: the aquatic market in Menagerie, the Mistral train station, and the cave overlooking the forest where Nora and Ren found the Nuckelavee’s spoils of war are the ones I can recognize at the moment, but I’m sure the other 2 have relevance. But enough with the small details, let’s address the Goliath in the room. Winter has been personally attending to the Winter Maiden, named Fria, in her final days, how appropriate. In fact, that’s the plan. Winter will literally be the next Winter Maiden, so she’s the only person Fria is allowed to interact with so she can be the last person she thinks about when she dies. Which could be any day now. But I can smell a monkey wrench a mile away and there are a few that could be thrown into this plan. Fria is a very Norse sounding name so it’s possible she’s related to Nora and she could think of her in her last moments, the granddaughter she laments she may never see again after they parted so many years ago. Or if some grand attack comes to Atlas and Winter is otherwise engaged, Weiss will be the only one who knows to come bring Fria to safety and the worst might strike leaving one of our main 4 as a Maiden. All I’m saying is, there could be a lot that goes wrong. But for the moment, Winter is ready to take on this responsibility even if it seems like a dick move of Jimmy to have her volun-told to be next in line. But she calls back to Weiss’ growth and accepting what she can’t control. Her entire military career may have been a paved road to this outcome, but she’ll still make her own choices along the way and be the Maiden her way to make a real difference in the world with these powers. It’s not for Ironwood or their Father’s sake, but for herself.

Unfortunately, speaking of Father and doing things your own way, Jacques holds a press conference to proclaim how Ironwood’s embargo have caused everyone to suffer equally, himself included. That’s a load of garbage, he’s just moody that he’s 5% less rich and dropping. But he also announces that he will be closing down every SDC owned business that isn’t Dust mining and refining. It’s a “necessary measure” with how the embargo is effecting businesses and making it supposedly nonviable for those businesses to stay open and still be effective. Another lie, he just doesn’t want to have more money leaving his pocket as employee wages. This is clearly part of the strategy Watts suggested to him, keep as many doors closed as possible so he can horde the wealth he still has while spinning it to be Ironwood’s fault. He comes off as another victim doing what is necessary so people don’t hate him directly for it and he can win voter support. And it’s not like Robyn Hill can do anything to make the SDC give people their jobs back, so why vote for her? It’s a seemingly perfect plan, as infuriating as that is to admit. And it sure sets off the people of Mantle, as they start a riot in the streets. Guess our good boys and girls will have to deal with that some time soon.

A whole lot to think about while we wait for next weekend’s episode. But it was still a very good chapter in my opinion. What did you think?

[calliecat93]

You know, every time I get ready to write these reviews I think ‘oh God, how am I gonna type all of this out?!”. There is so much to say. So much to go over. It’s like that with every review I’ve done, but for this volume? God… I am at a loss every single time. There’s so many conflicting things going on. So much where I have an opinion on practically everything. Differing views about everything. Where I can see both the right and wrong in every action that the characters take.

RWBY has grown more and more complex over the years, but this volume? It takes the cake. The last chapter has so much of… everything that watching it again still gives me chills. So… how will the follow-up go? Going off what I already said, you can probably guess: tense as Hell. So let’s get on with it.

Review

Things are at an all-time low. Ironwood has banned public gatherings in Mantle. Curfews have been put in place. Everyone is utterly terrified and despite Atlas saying that the footage was doctored, they are calling for Penny to be deactivated. With Atlas becoming even more strict and her no longer able to get on the council, Robyn and her Happy Huntresses have gone full-on vigilante and are robbing the military for everything that they’ve got. We get to see their Semblances though, wth May being able to create an invisibility dome and Fiona (THE SHEEP LIVES!) having some kind of pocket dimension ability. Kinda reminds me of Miroku’s Wind Tunnel in Inuyasha, awesome!

Needless to say, Ironwood is nooooot happy right now. With the stolen resources and Mantle no longer cooperating, Amity has been at a standstill. It is at the point that he and Winter are strongly considering enacting Martial Law on the city, much to the shock of both Ruby and Nora. Well… for Nora, shock isn’t the right word. No, no.. she is enraged. She angrily rebukes Ironwood when he says that he knows that Mantle is taking the brunt of the sacrifices, pointing out that no, they’re taking all of it. They’re suffering, scared, and being forced to fall in line all because of this waiting game, and all it’s going to do is make them easy targets for the Grimm. I don’t think we’ve ever seen Nora this enraged before, so… yeah… wow…

Ruby, much more calmly, tries to convince Ironwood that his actions are only causing the division that Salem wants. But it’s derailed as the reason that they are Ren are there is to confirm that it was indeed Tyrian there. Which we learn that he is a wanted serial killer who was caught, but escaped when his prison transport was attacked by the Grimm. Which we all know where he ended up after. Ruby wants to tell the people, but Clover says no since it’ll only cause even more panic, which is why Ironwood refuses to talk about Amity or Salem yet. His orders for now? For Robyn to be arrested in order to get Amity back on track/Mantle’s cooperation, and anyone not doing that will be assigned to finding Tyrian. He asks if he’s made himself clear, which is acknowledged by Clover, WInter… and to the shock of Ruby and Nora, Ren. 

Later in Mantle, Blake and Yang are with Ace-Ops on tracking down Robyn though in a different van. This gives them time to talk about the recent events. Yang still believes that they should have told Ironwood the truth from the start since he deserved to know, but Blake still believes that it was best to hold back especially since it’s now proven that he tends to overreact to bad news. But Blake is pretty worn down about their actions in the name of doing the right thing, and not just with Atlas. They don’t outright say it out loud, but it’s clear that she’s referring to Adam. Even when Yang reminds her that they had no choice, Blake is still worried about it coming down to that again and isn’t exactly looking forward to arresting a Huntress who is only trying to do good… at least, until Yang proposes that they don’t have to.

Meanwhile in Atlas, Pietro has Penny hooked up and is working to get the footage that she recorded to prove her innocence, though even he doubts that it’ll do any good now. Ruby and Weiss are there… as is Maria, who has been helping Pietro with his work. FINALLY SHE IS BACK! Pietro is understandably upset about his daughter being framed and viewed as a murderer, especially since Robyn would have been killed had Penny not been there. Ruby, however, suspects that Tyrian never intended to kill Robyn and that framing Penny was exactly what they wanted. They wanted to use Penny to send a message of division, just like at the Vytal Festival. Pietro has realized that the same person who caused the events then is likely the one doing it now, though with Atlas’ code updated it should be safe. Though since the SDC is one of the ones with access, Weiss isn’t so certain and even more suspicious of her father’s involvement.

But hey, if worst comes to worst, Pietro can just rebuild Penny again, right? Well… not exactly. You know how Penny said in V2 that she’s the first robot to be able to generate an Aura? Well… there’s a reason for this. Pietro reveals his Aura… and there are two noticeable chunks missing. That’s right, Pietro gave us parts of his own Aura, his own soul, to create Penny. We find out how back in his youth, he and his colleagues proposed their own projects to Ironwood, and his was selected. He wanted to create a protector with a soul, and thus The Penny Project came to be. But the more times that Pennyisi destroyed, the more that it takes from Pietro and he may not be able to do so again if Mantle gets their way. Something that very understandably has him scared and distraught. Ruby swears to find the man responsible… as Pietro puts down a photo that he has of himself and his colleagues. Including a certain disgraced scientist…

Back in Mantle, Robyn and her gang start to rob another truck.. But it’s the one with Blake and Yang. They start to try and talk to her, but Robyn and her team run for it. They give chase, eventually leading to a clash between the Bees and Robyn. It’s not exactly a spectacular fight, but a nice and short one that further shows the Bees teamwork as well as their own capabilities, and especially Robyn’s own skill as a Huntress. They do eventually convince her to listen though, revealing the purpose of Amity being reconfigured to re-establish communication. To see if it’s true, Robyn has Blake take her hand where we discover Robyn’s Semblance: Lie Detection. Wow, the theories were true. Robyn is surprised to realize that Blake is indeed being honest and confused about why Ironwood would keep that a secret. She wants to know what else is going on and who the actual villains are, but the Bees aren’t ready to reveal anything more. The Ace-Ops are nearing the area so Robyn flees, swearing that nothing is going to stop her until she knows the truth.

We cut back to Atlas Academy... and into the Vault where Ironwood has taken Oscar in hopes of jigging up some Oz memories. Behind the door is the Staff of Creation, which we learn is pretty much some kind of endless energy generator. In fact, it is the reason why Atlas is floating in the sky, an idea made by Oz, and not Gravity Dust which was the cover story, However, the Staff can only be used on one thing at a time, hence why they can’t use it on Amity since… well…that would cause some devastating issues for Atlas, to put it simply. It’s certainly strange for Oscar. To see something that a part of him helped create, even though he himself didn’t do so. But Ironwood says that he’ll get used to it and eventually won’t even be able to tell the difference anymore. Something that Oscar doesn’t exactly look happy about, though at least he takes it better than he has in the past.

But instead of pondering on his identity issues, Oscar instead tries to talk to Ironwood about the path that he’s currently heading down. How he keeps trying to be the one with all the answers. The one where he does everything to do what he feels is right, even if it means crossing several moral lines. Essentially, Ironwood is trying to be Oz, and we all know how that went for him. But Ironwood feels that there is no other choice. Allt hat matters is stopping Salem, though Oscar rebukes that preserving their humanity, the thing that Salem threw away, matters even more. But Ironwood isn’t so sure, even wondering if that’s Salem’s greatest strength. Can she feel fear? Hesitant? Helpless? The same things that Ironwood felt at Vale. When he saw his forces be taken over, with him unable to do anything. How even with all of his forces, he could do nothing. We even see him flashback to seeing the Queen Virus appear on his screen back then. It’s… pretty damning. 

Oscar tells Ironwood that it’s okay to feel these things. Even fear. You just can’t let it control you. Ironwood however only swears that he won’t end up like Lionheart did and asks Oscar if he believes in him. Oscar says yes… but not /only/ on him, encouraging him to talk to the people he’s afraid to. The two take the elevator up, only to find an anxious Penny and Winter. The latter gives Ironwood a letter… from her father. Turns out, they’ve all been invited to the Schnee Manor for dinner. One where Ironwood will be defending his seat on the council, Jaques first act as the newest Councilman. 

Review

So… not quite as evil as last week, but still a very tense ride. You can cut the tension with a butterknife at this point. Everything is building up, and I imagine that the downfall won’t be pleasant.

We’re going to talk about where RWBYJNRO stand respectively. Let’s start with JNR. SInce Jaune isn’t in the episode it’s hard to gauge where he stands currently, though going off the past few chapters I imagine that he’s in the middle of Ren and Nora, but leaning towards Nora. The Renora duo though? Ho boy… they’ve never been more divided. It’s been clear since Chapter One where Nora stands. She is completely disapproving of the treatment of Mantle, and it and the secrets have her nearing a breaking point. And she’s totally right. Mantle is bearing all of the burdens, all of the sacrifices, and they don’t even know why. They don’t deserve this. Considering how we know that she was a street urchin, having to steal food and be mercilessly bullied by others when she ended up in Kuroyuri, it makes perfect sense for Nora to be this way. But it also makes sense why Ren is how he is. I don’t approve of him siding with Ironwood… but I understand why. After all, lack of any security and protection is what caused his village and family to be slaughtered. No, I don’t view Ren as a boot-licker and IDT he’s particularly happy about any of this. But he’s so focused on the what-ifs over the now, and it’s messing with him. Tyrian’s massacre, an event that he got distracted from detecting due to kissing Nora, doesn’t help.

I just feel so horrible for both of them. I am glad to see it though. For the longest time, Ren and Nora have differed but generally, they had little conflict between them despite their varying different personalities. It’s sweet to see, but they aren’t the same person. Ren is reserved and quiet, Nora is outgoing and bubbly. Ren is the Straight Man of the group, while Nora is the Genki Girl. Ren had a family that he lost, while Nora had no one until Ren came along (that we know of anyways). Ren’s Semblance involves masking emotions, while Nora’s involves absorbing energy. They are both very different people, but they love each other and always supported each other. But now they’re at an impasse. Nora is against Mantle’s mistreatment no matter the reason, while Ren sees it as a necessary evil to protect everyone and appears fully on board with it. And Ren seems even more closed off as ever since he didn’t even talk or express anything until siding with Ironwood’s orders, while Nora made her stance and feelings very clear with Ruby backing her. IDK where this is going to lead, but it shows that the kiss didn’t just magically fix their problems. Which is good, but it makes it all the more painful as we see the division grow between them.

Then we get to the RWBY girls. So let’s discuss Blake and Yang’s decisions here. For the most part, I agree with them. Robyn is only trying to do what’s right for Mantle. Sure she’s robbed military vehicles, but so far that’s the only morally ambiguous thing that she’s done, and she has a pretty valid reason for it. Trying to talk and work with Robyn is a much better option than opposing her and furthering the divide. It’s also good to see that the two have differing opinions on Ruby’s lie, with Yang still trusting Ruby but still feeling that Ironwood should know, while Blake feels that it could have caused much worse and in that regard is still on the same page as Ruby. They discussed it maturely and while again they don’t outright say it, it’s good to see that Blake does still have lingering issues from killing Adam despite knowing that she had to. It makes sense that she doesn’t want to arrest Robyn since… well, a Huntress doing morally ambiguous things to help the oppressed. Yeah, she fully understands that. And Yang has always kinda been anti-authority and is clearly against secrets especially towards those who deserve to know it (though it further makes her hiding Ravens Maiden identity very bad on her part), so of course she’d be on board with Robyn.

But… I can’t say that this was the right thing to do. First of all, they don’t know anything about Robyn. Yes, it’s clear that she does indeed care about Mantle. We also do see here that while she’s still upset about what happened before, she isn’t unreasonable. She does listen, and once she sees that Blake was telling the truth, accepts it. But of course, we see that she’s Hellbent on knowing the full truth and finding out who actually did this. We don’t know if she’s going to give the Bees her trust. We don’t know what she’ll do with this information. Maybe she’ll be swayed, maybe she won’t. She knows that Atlas has reasons… but they’re still oppressing Mantle instead of just being open about it. And if she does find out about Salem, there’s no telling what she’ll do. Robyn isn’t a bad person, but she is certianly not afraid of breaking the law and while IDT she’d harm innocents, there’s no telling how far he’ll go to get answers. There just isn’t a lot known about Robyn and while I think it is right to reach out to her, IDK if doing so without talking to Ironwood or the rest of the team was a good idea.

This brings us to the next point, the lack of communication. It’s been pretty clear that Bake and Yang are kinda doing their own thing and have for a while now. Which is fine and helps with their development, especially after V6. There’s a lot of trust and understanding between them in a way that only they can understand. We see that in how they talk about their differing opinions, doing so maturely and understanding the other’s view while still standing by their own thoughts. It’s good to see. But the problem is they made this decision about Robyn… without talking to the others, especially Ruby and Weiss. While I do agree with them, it makes it look like... kinda iffy. Like despite Yang saying that she trusts Ruby, she doesn’t fully. How despite Blake saying that they’ll follow Ruby’s lead, they won’t. On the one hand, they aren’t following anyone blindly, and that is important. But doing do without trying to talk to the others? That is not a good thing. Sure they think they’re helping and I do think that they’ll tell Ruby when they get to Atlas. But IDK how she’ll feel. I can see her agreeing that it was right... but IDK how she’ll feel about it being done behind her back even if it was split-second. She may/say it’s fine, but is that true? It may just add more pressure to her and her worries, and that is going to lead to bad things. I agree with Yang and lake, but I feel that they should have waited until they talked to the others because if Robyn does who knows what, it could only make things worse, and in turn make Ruby’s ultimate decision even harder.

But Ruby’s also not communicating anything. So far, aside from talking to Qrow a little in Chapter 4 and expressing her uncertainty in Chapter 6, she hasn’t talked about making a decision or her own feelings. She’s on board with Amity going up, but we don’t know if she feels like she needs to tell Ironwood about Salem now or not. Aside from any questioning it in Chapter 3, no one else has tried talking to her nor has she tried talking to any of the others or their opinions. Mind you, we may see that soon since the recent events are still recent, but it needs to happen soon. Weiss has so far been uninvolved with the Robyn stuff and while shes voiced her disapproval of Ironood’s regime and suspicions of her father, none of the others have really talked with her about it. Yang dismissed Weiss’ concerns about Jaques in CHapter 6 (though tbf it was before everything went to Hell), and no one acknowledged her voicing her suspicions this chapter. She’s ceritnaly against Ironwood’s regime, but right now her focus seems to be on her father, which isn’t unfounded. But it’s hard to say where she stands regarding Ruby’s lie and working with Robyn at this point nor especially how she feels about Winter’s current stance.

Then we have Oscar. This was an interesting chapter for him. He’s been completely uninvolved in the Robyn stuff and we haven’t seen how he feels about Ruby’s choices since Chapter 3. But he was good here. We see him display a lot of maturity and hindsight. He’s pretty much seeing Ironwood trying to be like Oz, and he knows how that is a bad thing. He wants to side with Ironwood since he sees that he’s a good person… and he is. Ironwood is one of if not the most complex character in the series. He is a good person. He is caring, can be light-hearted, and ultimately does want to protect everyone and do what’s right. But he is also a very, very flawed person. He is allowing Mantle to suffer and be viewed as a dictator, which he puts off as not caring about even though it’s clearly tearing him up. He saw what happened last time when he had a huge army and usurped power for his own reasons, but here he is doing it again. He’s trying to shove away his emotions and trying to be this fearless leader who has all the answers and is doing what’s best, aka be like Ozpin. But he isn’t Oz, and no one should be. He is letting fear control him and compromising his morals to do what he views as the right thing, even if it means that innocents suffer. The Tin Man is throwing away his heart, just as the Cowardly Lion gave into his cowardice.

Oscar can see this. He gets it. Ironwood is a good man, but he’s so focused on his own goal that he’s disregarding everything else. He’s practically shoving away his humanity, the same thing that Salem lost a long time ago. The general is heading down a dark path. It’s like I said in my Opening Analysis, Ironwood’s hopes are shattered. He’s trying, but he doesn’t know what to do. He’s just lost, and he’s risking staying that way for good. IDK how much Oscar’s words actually helped, but I am glad to see him speaking his own thoughts. Not Oz’, his. We do see for a brief second that Oscar is still unhappy about being viewed as Oz and the eventual merger, which that seeming to be dropped was a big issue with him last volume. I still don’t feel like he’s getting proper development, but this is a start. He’s acting like his own person instead of needing Oz to guide him or worrying about if his thoughts are his own. This is very much what we needed from him, and I’m very happy to see it here.

Finally, let’s talk about Pietro and Penny. It’s clear that the last chapter broke Penny. Any time that we see her here, she’s either sad or anxious. She is completely quiet, a major contrast to her bubbly, energetic personality throughout the volume. Once more, the villains used her status as a root made by Atlas to turn the people against Ironwood. How she may look like this sweet little girl just trying to protect the people, but in reality, she’s just a weapon used to further oppress the people. Now people want her destroyed, even though despite being made of metal, she is human. She has a soul. She has a heart. She has genuinely good intentions and just wanted to do good. But now it’s pretty much impossible for her to be viewed as anything but a weapon. The poor girl deserves all the hugs in the world.

But it’s equally heartbreaking seeing Pietro’s reaction. He clearly loves enny. His creation. His daughter. His distraught over this is a feeling that any parent who sees their children suffering can relate to. But then the bombshell happens. We find out that Pietro gave up his own Aura, the manifestation of his soul, to bring enny to life. Twice. Something that’ clearly wearing him down, and it’s pretty likely that doing it again may very well mean his death. It’s… IDK how to express it. It’s so sad to see, but it’s so sweet that he was willing to do so to bring Penny to life, and he clearly loves her with all his heart. This might also mean that he’s the one who created the Aura Transfew tech, and he used it on himself to bring Penny to life. IDK if he extended it to jam Aura into another person, but he clearly developed the tech. Still, it’s… such a bittersweet backstory. It’s about a man who wanted to create life. To create something with a soul, and he succeeded… but it cost him his own soul. And now he has to watch his daughter suffer, helpless to do anything except hope that the one behind this is caught before she can be hurt anymore. It’s so heartbreaking, but comes across as so genuine and just makes me care about these two characters even more.

This was a very eventful chapter. The length of the Overview alone I think demonstrates that. But it was an excellent one and a perfect follow-up to last week. There’s so much tension and conflict, but you can look at all these characters and understand all of their decisions. Ironwood, Robyn, Nora, Ren, Blake, Yang, everyone. There is no clear cut good or bad choices here, just choices. Everyone is trying to do what they think is right, and no one is particularly wrong. But every choice has a consequence. Even with the best-case scenario of appealing to Robyn, there is uncertainty regarding what she’ll do or how far she’ll go. It could lead to the worst-case scenario. As Blake said, there are few if any good options left. Add in things like Penny and Pietro backstory, Tyrian stuff, and talk about the Staff of Creation, and we’ve got what may be the best chapter so far. It’s gonna be one Hell of a second half, especially with the DInner Party ahead. Speaking of…

Chapter Eight Predictions

Final chapter of the year, folks. Going off the past, this one is gonna be a doozy. We’re clearly going to the Schnee Manor, though IDK who all is gonna go aside form Ironwood and Winter. Sure WInter said ‘all’ but it’s hard to say if the main group would be tagging along. But I am for certain that Weiss is going to go. Not because she wants to, but because she feels she has to (if Jaques didn’t make it clear that she has to be included, of course). She suspects her father of rigging the vote and of his recent decisions, and she’s gonna want to know why. But the only way is to go back home, something that will be very, very difficult for her and Winter both. But if it means stopping her father and uncovering the truth, she’ll do it. Might not be the smartest thing to do, but she’d do it.

This could lead to a number of things. There’s, of course, the political drama between Jaques and Ironwood, cause that’s ALWAYS fun. But this will be the first time that we’ve seen the Schnee Manor (outside Jawues office in Chapter 4) since V4. I already worry about Klein’s fate since it was Whitley who answered Watts and not him, but he could still be there. Though I suspect that Weiss is going to find out otherwise. Whitley will most likely be there, and we’ll see if he keeps on with his facade or if it’s gonna slip. Maybe even see him and WInter interact finally. But the thing I’m most hoping for That we finally see Mama Schnee. It’s been so long, and this seems like the right time especially if Weiss is genuinely concerned for her after Jaques gaslighting. And haha… if so they’ll beat the DC Comic in showing her first by mere days. Great timing there! Whatever happens though… it’s not gonna be a pleasant night for everyone involved. Hope that the food is good, at least.

Episode Stats

Favorite Character: Nora Valkyrie, Pietro Polendina, James Ironwood, and Oscar Pine Favorite Scene: Nora telling off Ironwood and the Ironwood and Oscar talk Least Favorite Scene: The first minute or two, only cause it feels weird that we had the Grimm Attack last week that… just went nowhere. Favorite Voice Actor: David Fennoy (Pietro Polendina) Favorite Animation: Bees vs Robyn. Rating: 9/10

Final Thoughts

Dear God this is probably the longest review yet. And with where things are heading, they’re only gonna get longer. But damn… this has been by far the most complex volume and I am /loving it! SO many different conflicts between everyone, and you can understand everyone but see the problems with all of it. Good fights. Good expositions that don’t feel dragged, Good character interactions, and even more interesting choices made by characters. There are so many things that can happen form here, both good and bad. I feel more and more uncertain about things the more that it goes on, except that I love it. While IDK if it tops 3 and 6 yet in terms of enjoyment and we’ve still got six more chapters to go, this may very well be the best-written volume thus far.

[skyechaser]

Silence in Atlas 18/?

Once more, this is a dark take on Volume 7 from a Bumbleby standpoint. It has scenes of graphic violence. If there are any specific trigger warnings I will specify it. 

SO YEAH HERE IT IS :D Took a bit longer than expected because it’s been very busy days. I broke my rule of not publishing the chapter until the next one is done so now I am writing and posting as I write. Two updates a week still seem managable though :D Thanks to all the people out there supporting SIA. Means a LOT y’all. And to the haters: thanks for the publicity jajaja. ONTO THE CHAPTER! 

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Doctor Yu arrived at the hospital shortly after he was called. He had been sound asleep next to his wife when his scroll woke him up. As soon as he heard the word “Blake” he stood up and began dressing himself. Yang was really glad he was so committed to her girlfriend’s case. She really didn’t want any other doctor to see her. When she learned he wasn’t at the hospital she worried there would be no other choice. Seeing the man coming through the door was a relief.

“Good day” Yu said with a smile. It was four in the morning but somehow he looked well rested.

“Hey” Yang said standing up from her bed to shake the doctor’s hand. “Thank you for coming so quickly” the blonde added with a gentle curve on her lips.

“Thank you for calling me” he walked towards the bed slowly, trying not to overwhelm his patient. He had treated her wounds so he knew what she had gone through. “Hello, Ms. Belladonna, I’m doctor Yu, your main doctor. It’s so good to see you awake”. Blake stared at him for a while. He looked kind and it was a sight she had forgotten. Still, she felt uneasy. “I brought this scroll tablet so we can communicate better” he said, holding the object in front of her. She grabbed it. “You just use it to write or draw or whatever you prefer” the faunus nodded in response. “Are you in any kind of pain?”

“Just my head” she wrote.

“Can you move your body comfortably?” she moved her head sideways.

“I feel weak”

Doctor Yu asked several more routine questions before moving on to the physical exam. When he approached Blake to check her eyes she flinched back with a terrified look on her face. Yang stepped in, kneeling next to the bed and holding her hand.

“Baby, it’s okay” she said. “Doctor Yu is the best. He just wants to help”. Blake looked her girlfriend in the eyes and her breathing came back to normal slowly. When she calmed down she turned to look at the doctor.

“I’m sorry” she mouthed, her ears flat on her head.

“Don’t apologize” he replied “Your reaction is perfectly understandable”

With Yang holding her hand and telling her everything was going to be okay Blake managed to get through the examination. When it was done the doctor was happy to tell them everything seemed to be going fantastically. Her aura was considerably stronger, not completely back but able to help with the injuries. Most of them had already started healing. Her vitals were pretty good as well and they disconnected her from all the machines. 

“I’d like to keep you here until the injury on your neck heals completely” Doctor Yu proposed. “I don’t want that burn to get infected so we need to clean it constantly until the skin grows back”. Blake looked at Yang and they both nodded lightly.

“Okay, doctor” the blonde replied. “We trust you”.

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

Ruby hugged Blake the minute she walked into the room. Weiss waited behind her to do the same. Just like Doctor Yu, the team had rushed to the hospital as soon as they heard their friend was awake. They were both excited and worried about the challenges she would have to face during her recovery. On the way to the hospital, Nora had admitted she was was feeling uneasy about talking to Blake knowing that she couldn’t speak. The redhead didn’t want to react in any way that would make her friend uncomfortable but it was hard no to be upset or just cry at what had been done to the faunus. Ren told her to hold his hand firmly and smile. Blake needed their support.

“I’m so glad you are awake, kid” Qrow said, gently placing a hand on the girl’s shoulder. She wanted to move away from his touch but managed to control herself. It was Qrow. Nothing bad was going to happen.

“You’re looking better already” Jaune added, smiling. She smiled back. Blake remembered Jaune being in the airship when she was taken from Staub so he knew what he was talking about. She was glad she looked better.

“So, how long are you going to stay here?” Ren asked, holding Nora’s hand firmly in his. She didn’t say anything.

“Doctor Yu wants to keep her here until the wound in her neck is fully healed” Yang replied from her chair.

“Makes sense” Ruby said, sitting on the edge of the bed. “If there’s anything either of you need call us” she added looking at her sister. It was pretty self evident Yang wasn’t going to leave this hospital without her girlfriend.

“Thanks, sis” Yang smiled as she looked around the room. She was so glad to have her friends. Her family.

“It is a nice day to be awake” Maria said as she opened the curtains to let the the natural light inside. “The sun’s come out”.

Blake looked outside and she felt the wind hit her face. The sky was blue and cloudless. It was a beautiful sight. When she was captive she forgot how freedom even looked like. She took a deep breath. Her friends were with her and she was healing. The nightmare was over. She opened her mouth to say something, forgetting for a second they had stolen her voice. When no sound came out she remembered she’d never be free of what they had done to her. She looked down.

“Hey, everything okay?” Yang asked, noticing the change in the other girl’s demeanor. Blake nodded as she wrote on the scroll tablet.

“I’m just tired”.

“Well, maybe we should let you rest. It hasn’t even been three hours since you woke up” Weiss said. She was so glad that Blake was getting better. However, she couldn’t stop looking at the bandages on her wrists and neck. There was still a long way to go.

“We’ll get going then. We have a meeting with Ironwood in a couple of hours so we should get ready” Qrow added. The rest of the team seemed to agree with him and started saying their goodbyes. Blake was sad to seem them go but, at the same a time, a little relieved. She wasn’t feeling well enough to interact with so many people at once, even if they were her friends. When they started walking towards the door Jaune stopped to look at the ceiling.  

“Why are the lights on though?” he asked. Now that Maria had opened the window the room was pretty well lit so it seemed unnecessary.

“I’ll get them” Nora said walking towards the wall where the light switch was. Yang didn’t notice what was happening. She was sitting next to the bed staring at Blake as she looked through the window with sad amber eyes. Then they heard it.  

Click.

Blake tried to control herself. She knew it was the light switch. She knew she was no longer wearing the collar. She new she was safe. It didn’t matter. As soon as the click made its way to her ears it was done. Her body reacted on its own even though her mind knew it made no sense. Her blood burned.

“What happened?” Ruby asked, walking back into the room and kneeling besides her sister. Yang held Blake’s hand firmly.

“It’s okay, baby” she whispered in her ear. The girl shivered, an expression of horror captured in her face.

“Is she okay? What happened?” Weiss asked, visibly alarmed.

“She’s having a panic attack” Maria replied. “Everyone just shut up!”

Silence.  

“Breathe” Yang said in a calm tone, looking into Blake’s eyes. The faunus didn’t move. She was paralyzed by fear. The wound in her neck burned. “I’m here. It’s okay”. With those words Blake finally snapped out of it and looked back into lilac eyes. Her breathing started to normalize. Yang moved a hand to cup her cheek.

“What was the trigger?” the old woman asked. One didn’t get to live as much as her without learning a few things about trauma.

“The light switch” Yang said and Nora felt like shit. “They used a shock collar on her and the sound is very similar so it makes her body react”.

“I’m so sorry, Blake I didn’t know…” the redhead tried to apologize but she was interrupted by a calm voice.

“You had no way of knowing” Ren told her holding her hand. She looked at her feet, tears at the corners of her eyes.

“Let’s get going then” Qrow said, leading the team out the door. He didn’t want to make a big deal about what had happened. He felt it would only make the situation more uncomfortable for Blake. He looked at Yang and felt a tug in his heart. She was holding the faunus’ hand as she caressed her hair gently. They had a long way to go before things could be close to normal and he knew his niece was going to suffer. Love did that sort of thing.

“Are you feeling better?” the blonde asked once they were all gone. Blake moved her head sideways and picked up the scroll tablet the doctor had given her.

“I freaked them out” she wrote.

“You didn’t freak them out” Yang replied. “They’re just worried about you”. The faunus looked down. She knew her friends cared for her sincerely and that itself made her feel blessed. And yet the looks of horror in their faces as she came out of the panic attack had made her feel so broken. She used the scroll tablet once more.

“I want to get better”.

“And you will” the blonde said. She knew what dealing with trauma was. She had been chased by dreams of Adam ever since he had cut her arm in Beacon. She recalled how some noises would freak her out, how she would wake up from nightmares sweating and alone. She wasn’t going to let that happen to Blake. This time she was going to be there for her. This time they’d be there for each other.

“Blake” Yang called and the alluded one raised her eyes to look at her. She placed a hand on the back of the faunus’ head and pulled her in for a kiss. Blake closed her eyes and somehow the world was okay. Nothing else mattered but the feeling of lips moving against her own. Yang broke the kiss, moving back abruptly as if she suddenly remembered something. “Have I told you how much I love you?” she said with a look in her eyes that made the faunus’ heart race.

Blake blushed. She knew. A part of her had always known. Sometimes it scared her, knowing Yang cared so much about her. It had put her in danger. It had cost her an arm and yet she was here, saying that she loved her. Blake wanted to say it back. She was so in love. She thought of writing it in the scroll tablet but it felt so empty, so impersonal. How could she say those three words for the first time through a screen? This time it was her that pulled the other one in for a kiss. She promised herself the first thing she would do when she got her voice back was telling Yang she loved her.

Ruby and Weiss went back to the hospital after their meeting with Ironwood. They made their way towards Blake’s room but, once there, they couldn’t bring themselves to enter. The picture in front of them was both sad and heartwarming. Blake was asleep in her bed and there was something in her face that seemed peaceful. She looked considerably better than the first time they had seen her in that hospital room. Next to her was Yang, resting in an impossible position on the chair. In her hands she held a book. Ruby thought maybe she had been reading something to the faunus but at a closer look she realized what her sister’s intention actually was. It seemed Weiss noticed at the same time as her. They exchanged a bittersweet look and left, neither of them able to say anything.

The book on Yang’s hands was entitled “Sign language for beginners”.

[dramanovellife]

Listening Snow Tower: Final thoughts

I finished watching Listening Snow Tower yesterday and well while it was nice I have a whole lot of rant accumulated. The first half was quite enjoyable but I somehow lost patience during the second half so I was kind of speed watching a lot.

The main characters Xiao Yi Qing and Shu Jing Rong are truly quite something as a couple... She kept distrusting him and he would just take it without clearing the misunderstanding even when she was asking about it... He’s maybe hurt she doesn’t trust him or maybe he just can’t be bothered but argh that was infuriating. No trust no communication. Even at the end, they did it again and I was seriously questioning her love towards him. In the end, turns out it was actually a show for the bad guys. That was a very convincing show ^^”

I feel so sad for Nan Chu. He was such a good shixiong :( Why did they have to kill him off...

On the other hand, Chi Xiao Tai’s ending is not that bad. Life confinement? Looks like she can still walk around inside the tower if she was just chilling in the armory. She’s been such an infuriating spoiled brat from beginning to end. She’s been in love with the traitor for a very long time and yet because she’s a spoiled stubborn brat who won’t stop until she gets what she wants, she wanted to get her shixiong’s love and ruined everything doing that. She kept going on about how mad she was that she can’t compare to SJR but why do they always love to compare really... It’s not even a matter of who is the most beautiful or the strongest. I really don’t get women in drama sometimes... They either want to kill the rival (like that will help) or destroy everything (cause hate is better than being ignored). I guess her biggest punishment is losing the one who loved her all along due to her stubbornness.

I really don’t feel sorry for Gao Meng Fei/Qing Yu though. He was quite likeable at the very beginning but I lost all hope for him the moment he abandoned his shimei. Selfish ambitious no loyalty. He fell in love with the wrong person and that brought out the worse in him. They do make a good terrible couple though.

Another disaster of a person is Ming He. Seriously drama parents, treat your children with a bit of love. It’s either spoil them until they rot or be so harsh they become psychopaths. She latched onto the poor Qing Lan who showed her kindness and was so handsome...and would never let go. Because ofc love is being together forever with the person you love even if that person might not be willing. She’s the worst case of *I need to kill my rival*. She’s a pitiful love craved person who could have had a chance with Qing Lan if she wasn’t so crazy and vicious.

This show is truly full of foolish people. Another great and infuriating example is Gao Huang & Ye Feng Sha and Ren Fei Yang & Shi Ming Yan. Walking around in the enemy territory? Leisurely shopping? Very good idea. Maybe the first couple didn’t think they would strike in broad daylight but second couple should have learned from it.

The worst is that dark crazy SMY blamed YFS and RFY’s deaths on XYQ... I can kind of understand for RFY cause his death might feel like it was nothing since XYQ didn’t attack the Moon sect. But YFS??? How can that even be blamed on him?? The girl decided to die together with the person the Moon sect was targeting. XYQ told them to leave Moon sect territory fast but what did they do instead? Shopping. No sense of danger here. SMY wants the Tower to rush at Moon sect but she clearly doesn’t understand that rushing with no guarantee or plan is a very bad idea. RFY pretended to be Li Consort’s son for nothing indeed but that was all because of GMF who ruined the plan.

Crazy as she is, SMY even broke her own legs. And for what? I can’t believe SJR gave her the almighty sword at the end lol To be wielded by a righteous person sure. SMY is far from what I would call a righteous person. Besides, she’s a disabled little girl who can’t even wield a sword to begin with.

Best girl in this show is Qian Mei, the girl who was to be married to the Long guy. She’s such a strong person who stuck to her principles. It’s a pity the show seemingly forgot about her until the last few minutes. If anything she’s more worthy of the almighty sword.

Oh well end of my rant xD Complained a lot about this show but it was still pretty nice and visually pleasing. I particularly loved the architecture in the Tower. So elegant. Very good ost as well. And well sickly but badass ML? Yes all the way xD It even had a happy ending :D

EDIT: OMG I almost forgot about XYQ’s mother. I’m honestly surprised at how weak and useless she was all throughout the show. Did they somehow strip her of her martial arts? Or did she just lose her mind after being confined for so long? Her decision to go back to Moon sect was the worst ever. I doubt it helped at all. It just launched her husband and son on a quest to save her.

[rwdestuffs]

Done dirty: Ruby

“Main Protagonist” my ass!

Ruby is supposed to be the main protagonist. She’s supposed to have this grand destiny she’s supposed to fulfill, and be the hero.

So why does it feel like she’s taking a back seat to everything important?

Take the Red trailer. We don’t get a whole lot for her, she’s jut there kicking ass. She’s tearing through those Beowolves like they’re nothing, and it’s some great choreography.

Then in Volume 1, we run into the first problem: She kicks the ass of Roman’s men without her weapon.

See, the writers have repeatedly said that Ruby is trash without Crescent Rose, and Volume 5 reinforced that. Not only is it something that is told, it’s something that contradicts what we are shown. Ruby goes gaga in a later episode over weapons, and that’s never brought up again. It would have been a great running gag, and a means to introduce the weapons that the main cast has to the audience in a natural way. Here’s a scenario: After Ruby cuts up those grimm while saving Weiss, she starts examining the weapon. To which Weiss begrudgingly answers the questions in a failed attempt to get Ruby to shut up.

“Ohh! Is this a Rapier mixed with a milti-chamber dust revolver so that you can use them for different effects?”

“Yes.” Weiss ground out.

“And it it made up of a steel-titanium alloy that makes it really durable?” (This part isn’t actually canon, but I think it would be neat if we knew what kind of materials these weapons are traditionally made out of).

“Yes.”

“Can I touch her?”

“What?- No! You can’t touch Myrtenaster!“

“Oh. So the weapon’s name is Myrtenaster?- That’s cool. You should see my sister’s weapons. She called them Ember Celica, and she made it so that they can look like ordinary bracelets when they’re not in use. They mix long-range shotguns with gauntlets, and they’re really cool!”

See that?- All of that could have been a conversation that Ruby could have had with Weiss. Not only would it have been natural, given Ruby’s love for weapons, but it also would have been a great way to introduce the weapons that the cast uses. We could have gotten a similar conversation (using different attitudes depending on the person) with other characters. It could have been a cool bonding moment. Ruby also apparently doesn’t have to prove that she can be a capable leader to Weiss. In this scenario, most would expect that the main leader would have to do something to prove themselves, and prove the person who doubts them wrong. But we don’t get that. All it takes to reinvigorate Ruby’s confidence is a talk from a teacher, and Weiss gets lectured by Ozpin. This could have also led into an interesting bonding moment, and show the differences between how Ruby and Weiss function, and how Blake and Yang function. But we don’t get that character interaction. Ruby gets further robbed of character interaction/development when jaune hijacks the plot to reveal that he’s putting his team in danger due to his lack of experience and reluctance to be trained because ego™. Ruby doesn’t even rush out to find Blake with her semblance, she just… stands there. Doing nothing. Some team leader. She also sides with Weiss on this, and since we never saw any bonding moments between the two, there’s no evidence to believe that the reason she’s siding with Weiss is because of a bond that they have.

Volume 2 also does Ruby an injustice. While the Food Fight has some moments for her (Like quoting Nixon for some reason), she doesn’t do much else. Because she’s not questioned while the team is visiting Mount Glenn, her motives are never questioned. She isn’t questioned on how she plans to accomplish her goal, or on how she would handle tough decisions. Ruby lacks focus in this volume, and the most she gets in terms of bonding with her team and character development is…

This scene… Which, while humorous, doesn’t really add much else. Ruby then uses her speed to defeat JNPR (And here’s a kicker: Assuming that the mess hall is the length of an average school, Ruby is actually only moving 10 Meters per second. She’s slower that freaking Hercule Satan!), and… That’s about it. Apparently she also confronts Cinder during the dance, but she hardly provides anything else. The Ozluminati don’t take any precautions because of this ‘masked intruder,’ none of them bother to check to see if their systems have any malicious hardware on it, they just sit around… With Ozpin probably literally dicking around in his dick chair.

(Why does it look like a dick?)

Volume 3 doesn’t add much. Outside of referring to Weiss as her ‘BFF,’ Ruby doesn’t actually do anything in this volume. And get used to that, because this is just the start of that trend. Ruby ends up taking a back seat to a lot of things, like Pyrrha’s first and final character arc, Yang’s framing, and some backstory for the villains. Ruby acknowledges Penny, and… Yeah. That’s kinda it. After that, she has a small breakdown on Pyrrha committing manslaughter (bot slaughter? mechaslaughter? droidslaughter?- Whatever), but that’s undermined by jaune taking Pyrrha aside to repeat the sentiment. Ruby’s words fall on deaf ears because she’s taking a backseat to Pyrrha’s arc. Normally, this wouldn’t be a problem, but in normal situations, Ruby’s motives, personality, and other aspects would have made her a character in her own right. And had this not been a rushed attempt to give Pyrrha some non-jaune related characterization before her death, Ruby taking a supporting role would have been normal. After everything, she ultimately defeats Neo (by using a weakness on Ice Cream Girl’s weapon), and watches Roman die. She feels no remorse, nor does she seem to have any real reaction. I mean… This is a young girl! And she just saw two people die right in front of her!- Yeah, Roman’s a villain, but his speech about surviving should have shaken Ruby up a bit. Maybe even force her to realize that some people aren’t bad for the lulz (that’s Cinder’s role), but that they do bad things because they’re in bad situations. Pyrrha’s death ultimately sets off her Silver Eyes, and then Qrow gives her the rundown on her newfound powers. This is where a lot of things start going wrong in a narrative sense for Ruby. She doesn’t question this. She doesn’t ask how they work. And she doesn’t ask how her mother could have been killed if she had this power. Then she sets off, knowing that Yang’s emotionally vulnerable, and that a lot of things went down the drain for her. Sure, Ruby has this grand destiny, but she doesn’t seem to leave a letter specifically for Yang. She leave a generic one for both Yang and Tai.

Volume 4 is where it gets obvious that the writers have likely forgotten about Ruby being, y’know… The first letter in the title. She takes a backseat to jaune’s angst, as well as the Renora duo’s conclusion to their backstory (Let’s face it; Ren and Nora have so little character to them, that they’re basically the same character). Ruby doesn’t comment on Penny’s death, she only acknowledges Pyrrha once, and her mentioning the family that she left behind to go on this quest that her uncle all but explicitly gave to her isn’t even mentioned. And when Ruby is about to finally acknowledge what happened, jaune steps in and is all “Nah, don’t worry about what you’ve done. You’re doing fine.” effectively robbing Ruby of any kind of development that she’d get by questioning herself and her decisions. She sends a letter home, and that’s it. She gives this monologue that genuinely feels that the writers only gave her because they realized, at the last minute “Oh crap! Ruby didn’t have a lot to do this volume!”- So they gave her that speech to make it seem that she grew, but it doesn’t actually feel like she grew.

Volume 5 rolls along, and by this point, we’re almost used to Ruby not getting any development. She isn’t questioning anything that Ozpin tells her. Nobody does. And she then learns hand-to-hand. Now, it feels as if the writers did this, as a means to try to say that they gave Ruby development, but they’re not exactly doing it right.

Yes, Ruby needs development. They acknowledge as much. But they don’t understand how she needs development. If they really wanted to teach her hand-to-hand, have Ruby be the one who suggests it. There’s a video that suggests that Ruby is afraid of her silver eyes, and it’s an interesting idea, albeit, not well-communicated. Here’s an idea as to how it could go down

Ozpin: Now, miss Rose, we will be needing to work on your control over your silver eyes.

Ruby (Frightened): My… My silver eyes?

Ozpin: Yes. Is there a problem?

Ruby: No! I mean, uh… How about I help Oscar train in hand-to-hand? I could use a bit of training without my weapon anyways. Heh heh…

And there you have it. Ruby trains in hand-to-hand because she’s afraid of her Silver Eyes. The last time she used them, a grimm dragon got petrified on top of Beacon Tower, and she fell unconscious for a long time. It would make sense had it been better-communicated to the audience if this were truly the reason why Ruby never once asked about them.

Ruby’s lack of development hardly stops there. She doesn’t get the fight with Cinder (You know… The fight that’s been foreshadowed by practically everything, from the opening themes, to Cinder’s grudge, to freaking episode one where Ruby foils Cinder’s dust heist), she ends up fighting Emerald while jaune’s revenge boner leads him to take on Cinder. That’s like Sokka fighting Ozai while Aang fights the random Fire Nation Soldiers. Jaune should have fought Emerald (While Emerald uses an illusion to make him see Cinder, or even Pyrrha as a means to taunt him), and Ruby gets to be the one to take on Cinder. Her Silver Eyes should have activated when she saw Vernal deplete Weiss’ aura. Because as far as Ruby knows, Vernal is the maiden, and seeing another maiden towering above a friend of hers that doesn’t have any aura should have triggered the Silver Eyes instead. The most she does is tell a speech to Raven that… didn’t really feel like a real thing. Most of the victories we saw on-screen rarely took teamwork, and mostly revolved around one moment of awesome that just undermined the threat of the grimm or big bad guys. She’s about as effective as a level five Bulbasaur in Inferno Cave.

Ruby is constantly taking a backseat to most moments that develop the much more interesting cast and jaune.

And once the story is all said and done?- What is she going to do? What is she going to do once the heroes defeat Salem, and the world is safe from the threat of the grimm?

Yang has some world exploring to do. Blake has equality to keep alive. Weiss has a company to run. Ren and Nora have each other……… What’s left for Ruby? What are her goals for after the adventure is over?

Nothing.

[helihi]

RWBY’s writing and pacing

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Volume 1

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

The characters at first seem like tropes.

A shit ton of clichés.

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

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

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

Variety of characters.

Rich lore

Cool character concepts and weapons.

The show was funny.

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

Volume 2

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

The humor is back.

That food fight scene eveyone loves.

The dance.

Papa Shcnee may not be a good person being foreshadowed.

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

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

Neo and Raven making an appearance.

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

Volume 3

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And finally, volume 4 arrived.

Volume 4

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The good of the volume include:

Raven and Qrow.

Ren’s backstory.

Weiss’s family being explored.

Did you miss it? You might have blinked.

Volume 5

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[ruffsficstuffplace]

The Keeper of the Grove (Part 90 - END)

<Nicholas, Freya.>

Nick nodded. <Ozzy.>

Freya bowed. <Archon.>

<How are you two?> Ozpin said, before he took a sip of his coffee.

<Oh, you know: pissed off ole Sparky actually went and did it, trying to find a way to stop her this time around while trying to help sweep back what little we can under the rug, squeezing in some worrying about all three of our granddaughters now being in that hellhole you call the Viridian Valley, if we can we find the time…

<You know, the usual.> Nick replied. <Now what’s up your end?>

<We attempted to offer Weiss a transfer to Arethusa.>

<And what did she say?>

<She refused.>

<Told ya,> Nick said. <Ya know, this would have gone a whole lot better if you were all a lot more honest with her in the first place; now she’s probably going stay there digging and digging till she turns up every last dirty little secret you have.>

Ozpin looked mildly annoyed. <So says the two that have been covertly communicating with their second youngest grandchild via the dreamscape.>

<Say what now?> Nick asked, confused.

<Penny has been reporting matching accounts from both Ruby and Weiss that the latter has been having dreams involving incredibly vivid conversations with both of you, sometimes with that of Ruby’s mother, Summer Rose.

<You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?>

<First time I’ve ever heard of this!> Nick replied. <If it helps, I have been having dreams about Weiss and Winter for the past two months, the two of them in the thick of some sticky business or trapped somewhere, and I have to help them and talk ‘em out of their funks.

<I’ve been having much of the same, too, actually,> Freya said. <It might be that her first exposure to such intense levels of magic has forged some sort of connection between us all. Well, that, or my family’s tendency towards mental illness is finally rearing it’s ugly head, and Nicholas here has finally lost his mind, too.

<Eluna knows incredible water weaving powers aren’t the only things that run with the females in my family...>

Ozpin nodded. <Indeed. Speaking of family, we of the Council have been discussing your current arrangement; if you would like, we could transfer you two out of there to the Viridian Valley with them.>

Nick and Freya’s eyes widened. They thought about it for a moment, before they both shook their heads.

<… Nah, not worth the risk; the fight against ole Sparky’s going to be a lot easier the longer she doesn’t realize me and Frosty are still around to fuck up her plans,> Nick said.

<Surprise and secrecy have always been the seeker’s greatest weapons,> Freya added.

Ozpin’s eyebrows rose. <Are you quite sure about this, you two?>

They both nodded. <Positive,> Nick said.

<I assumed you would be eager to take this offer...> Ozpin said before he took another sip.

<We assume a lot of things, Ozzy,> Nick said. <And look at where assuming too much got all of us.>

Ozpin nodded gravely. <The Council is, in the end, just a group of mortals who happen to be a cut above the rest...>

<Yeah, yeah, we know—you just focus on foiling Sparky again with the Fae, and we’ll figure out how we’re going to rope my species into helping you do just that now.>

<A word of warning: it looks like our best chance is arming them with new magitech weapons and armour, ones that will be much more capable of handling and resisting the dangers of the Valley, and consequently that of the Cradle,> Freya said.

Ozpin nodded. <We’ll deal with that problem once we get there.>

<Anything else to report, Ozzy?> Nick asked.

<Nothing you can’t see for yourselves through Penny’s eyes. I have to thank you two for your continued service; the amount of sacrifices you have made and are still making have been tremendous, and yet you two continue to deliver without fail or question.>

<You just keep up your end of the bargain, Ozpin, and we’ll keep up ours,> Nick said coolly. <It ain’t that complicated.>

Ozpin nodded, and shut off the link.

Freya turned to Nick. <So are when are we going to tell them, now that our plans have been shot to shit once again?>

Nick shrugged. <I say in a year. It’s been a rough life for all of them; best we give them some time to know what it’s like to just live before we rope them into all this realm-wide conspiracy business, especially Weiss is still reeling from learning about the Keeper’s mates.>

Freya sighed. <I still can’t believe, of all the humans and hybrids in all of Avalon, it had to be her...>

Nick chuckled. <I’m not surprised, honestly—we Schnees tend to aim high,> he said, putting a hand on Freya’s shoulder. <Whether they were born or made.>

Freya sighed. <I have to wonder though: what sort of chaos will arise when we all three of our granddaughters, the Holy Shepherd, and the Keeper of the Grove together in one location…?>

Nick squeezed her shoulder. <They’re going to be fine, Frosty—they’re in good company, and even if they weren’t, they’re made of real tough stuff, just like me.>

Freya hummed and smiled, before she playfully looked at Nick. <Speaking of tough stuff: care to put that that alleged immortality of yours to the test again?> she winked as her tail began to wag behind her.

Nick grinned. <Ha-ha-ha—yeah, no. I’m still reeling from last night, and I’m not as young as I used to be, Frosty.>

Freya scowled. <Hmph. Fine.>

<Why don’t you go spend all that energy out on the training dummies instead?> Nick said, coaxing her to their Raucous Room. <If things go the way I think they will, we’ll probably be back out on the field soon enough.

<Plus, seeing you in your old seeker suit might make me change my mind in a hurry!>

Freya smiled, before it quickly faded. <I’ve been out of the Great Game for a really long time, Nick…>

Nick patted her on the back. <Yeah, but that ass of yours sure hasn’t quit.>

Freya snorted. <Nick, you are terrible.> She smiled warmly at him. <I love you.>

<And so are you, which is why I love ya too, Frosty,> Nick replied. <Now you go enjoy ravaging the ever loving crap out of something that isn’t me, for once.>

Freya hummed as she sauntered away. <I will, Nick, I will~>

Morning again in Keeper’s Hollow, and for the first time in memory, Weiss didn’t wake up because of bright morning sunlight searing her eyes; instead, it was the smell of something delicious wafting in the air.

“Rise and shine, everyone!” Taiyang said as he, Qrow, and Zwei hauled in a giant pot of food alongside bowls for everyone. “Breakfast is ready! We’re having one of my favourites: Daybreak Porridge, everything you need to get your ass in gear in the morning, then kick ass till lunch!”

“Also does wonders for hangovers, just so you know,” Qrow added.

Nora rocketed out of her and Ren’s stall bouncing in excitement as she grabbed a bowl from Qrow. “Oh man, breakfast! And Ren didn’t even have to make it first! Isn’t that great, Ren?”

“Yeah, it’s a nice change of pace,” Ren said as he came out at a much more leisurely pace.

“Thank you for breakfast, Mr. Xiao Long,” Pyrrha said as she joined them.

Taiyang laughed as he poured Nora an extra generous serving. “Please, just call me Taiyang—we’re all the same out here.”

Weiss and Winter came out of their stall, saw Jaune looking conflicted, and still dressed in his uniform sans the heavier body armour.

“Something the matter, Jaune?” Winter asked.

“… Should we be eating this stuff, Agent Schnee?” he asked quietly. “I mean, we’re kind of in enemy territory...”

“Unless you want to starve to death, or see a way to feed yourself without relying on the Fae, you should,” Winter said. “Also, it’s just ‘Schnee’ or ‘Winter’ now, considering I’m not a part of the Queensguard anymore.”

Jaune’s eyes widened. “You quit? Just like that?”

“I only joined the AFA because I wanted to protect my little sister,” Winter replied. “I can’t do that when I’m on the side that wants to arrest and/or execute her, now, can I…?”

Jaune paused. “… Right.”

“Don’t worry, you guys!” Taiyang said. “I made sure to make this stuff with filtered water; not the best way to enjoy it, but better bland than sick!”

Jaune debated it for a moment, before he lined up with Ren and Nora.

“Shall we?” Winter asked, gestured as the other sat down and started eating.

Weiss shook her head. “I always tend to my crops before breakfast.”

“Enjoy yourself, then, little sister,” Winter said, smiling as she hugged her goodbye.

Weiss left the barn, heading back to Ruby’s room to get her work dress. She had to stop and pause as she noticed Ruby, Yang, and Blake making two new scarecrows to protect all the new crops:

One massive, with short cropped salt and pepper “hair,” a full “beard,” wearing a tattered shirt and a red scarf, and wielding a stick that looked somewhat like a ceremonial AFA officer’s sword in one hand, and a pair of sticks shaped like pistol in the other; and the other much smaller, hair pure as snow tied in two parallel buns atop her head, a makeshift “lab coat” draped around her shoulders, her eyebrows and mouth slanted downwards in annoyance.

“Are those my grandparents?” Weiss asked as she came over.

<Yes,> Blake replied as she carefully adjusted Freya’s eyebrows, trying to find the right angle that would convey the most amount of disdain and annoyance for everything and everyone around her. <Ruby’s idea.>

“We were supposed to make both our moms, but then I’d be too tempted to punch mine whenever I pass her by,” Yang said as she tied Nick’s “gun” to his “hand.” “So since we already had one of your dad, and these two always came in a pair, we decided to do them instead!”

“You don’t mind, do you?” Ruby asked, smiling nervously.

“No, not at all!” Weiss said. “I love it, actually.”

Ruby beamed.

Yang pulled a little too hard to make a knot, ended up cracking one of the sticks making up Nick’s “hand.”

“… I’ll just be going back into the house now...” Weiss muttered as she began to leave.

“You do that,” Yang muttered as she picked up the severed halves.

Ruby glared at Yang as Weiss made her way to the elevator, Blake just ignored them and kept on working.

Penny was in the living room, all of Weiss’ belongings, Myrtenaster, and her box of mediums on the table and neatly tied up in her hammock. “Good morning, Weiss! I hope you don’t mind, but I took the liberty of packing all of your things for you, as you’ll be moving out later.

“I’ve also hung your work dress behind the door to Ruby’s room, in anticipation of your changing before you tend your crops as you usually do.”

“Oh, thank you, but you really shouldn’t have!” Weiss said. “I could have done all that by myself...”

Penny chuckled. “It’s no trouble at all! In fact, do you need my assistance with anything else?”

“Nothing at the moment, thank you,” Weiss said before she stepped into—well, it was just Ruby’s room, now.

As she changed, she got a good look at the empty room, noticed how different it was without all of her belongings among Ruby’s piles of stuff, her hammock hanging just by one of the windows.

Weiss sighed. “A lot of things are going to be very different from now on...” she muttered as she left the room, and went down to her crops

Taiyang was patiently waiting for by the tool rack. “I harvest and weed, you water and replant?” he asked.

Weiss smiled as she picked up the watering can. “Sounds good to me.”

The two of them got to work tending to the farm; the others all headed to the training grounds; and another small army of makers and their pack animals were starting to filter into the Hollow, ready to rebuild the cabins and Winter’s new house atop the barn.

When Weiss first set off for the Viridian Valley, she had imagined her new life there would involve a lot of staying inside camp, trying to pass the time inside a heavily guarded bunker as the workers and the mercenaries did most of the actual work trying to find resources and a wellspring to tap into, maybe venturing out for a quick stroll once her guards were reasonably sure it was safe, or once they had established a proper settlement around a claim.

She had never expected it to actually involve all of the crazy, disastrous, and confusing events of the past month-and-a-half, ending up with her being a wanted terrorist in the human territories, running a farm while trying to get a handle on her new magical powers, and trying a relationship with the not-so-mythological and not-nearly-as-evil-or-horrifying guardian of the Viridian Valley—even if it did mean she’d be part of a giant, ongoing containment project for a 1,000 year old realm-threatening disaster area.

She didn’t have the slightest clue what the future was going to hold, what new crisis fate was going to throw at her, but she did know she’d have her new friends, her older sister, and a loving girlfriend to help her out.

And at the very least, she was sure she wouldn’t ever get bored here.

Note:

Three months back, I started Keeper of the Grove on a lark on my tumblr. I was just writing 1,800 words on a lack of sleep, after a long day at school, and some caffeine, in an attempt to get myself to write more.

I thought this would be 10 chapters or so, not the beginning of my first novel series, the birth of this expansive and complex universe, of which there are many more sequels planned.

I’d like to thank you all for reading, all of you who have left kudos, reblogged, and left comments for me to read and enjoy, and sometimes figure out where I had gone wrong in this story like with my constant flip-flopping about whether or not the Council and the Fae are a good or a bad thing.

It’s been a hell of a ride, and for now, it’s time to pull into the station, refuel, make repairs, and get ready for the next trip.

See you all back on April 7, 2018, for “The Viridian Vanguard.”

[wicked-girl-with-wifi]

Character Development in RWBY

I’ve seen a lot of people complaining about there being no character development in RWBY and while I agree that it’s far less prominent than in other series of the same nature, I do disagree that there is none at all. I’ve made a list of character developments I’ve seen below the cut. Don’t have to agree with me, this is just the way I interpret the writing. (Written during V4)

Ruby: Far less vocal and much more curious about the people around her. First season Ruby was much more invested in making herself a huntress than helping those around her. She was annoyed with Weiss when she got in the way of her taking down grimm, when Roman robbed the store she didn’t seem interested in the safety of the shopkeeper but more in the activity of beating up his henchmen. The second and third season are more about her trying to make herself a better leader, which started her development but in no way concluded it. After so much happened in the third season, all under her nose, I feel Ruby has begun to realize just how little she knows and is beginning to learn how to listen and piece things together herself. I see this during things like the Oni Yuri scene ( Re: “Not just any one.” Ru: “One?” ) and the campfire scene ( Ru: “Why not just travel with us?” J: “He was using you as bait.” ). That was always something a lot of fans complained about in the earlier seasons, all these plot point introductions with little to no expansion; I feel like they are resolving this through Ruby. Ruby’s become much more motivated but not in the plucky innocent way we saw in the first season, she’s learning how to figure things out and piece together important information.

Yang: Once again far less vocal but also far less risky. One of the biggest problems with Yang is exemplified by her semblance; her inability to “lose”. Only twice in the entire series have we seen Yang genuinely lose a fight; once on the train with Neo, and once during the fight with Adam. The first loss definitely cut her down a little but in the end she got to see her mother, she gained insight into a mystery she’s been trying to solve her whole life, which I feel kind of clouded the humility that loss should’ve brought her, and her anger towards the loss of that fight was instead placed on her mother for abandoning her. Then during the fight with Adam she really did lose and she will always be reminded of that. She has always been able to use her enemies strength to her advantage but now she finally understands what it feels like to be on the other end. I feel once Yang finally leaves home she’ll be much more hesitant about jumping straight into a fight, and she might also gain a bit more mercy/compassion as well, both traits we rarely every saw in her.

Weiss: The complete opposite of Yang. Weiss has been polite and proper her whole life and just look at what it has gotten her. It’s at the point where last time we saw her she appeared ready to run away! She shouted and argued with her father, she sang that song in front of all there guests, and she straight up dragged a chick at the after party. She’s done calculating her moves and playing games with people she doesn’t like or respect. Unlike Yang and Ruby though, this development has been on track since season one, I just think it’s finally coming to a point this season and that Weiss may finally embrace the tiny rebel in her.

Blake: Much more open to attachment, NOT running away. I capitalized not in that because I don’t think people are giving Blake enough credit for going home after what happened. People claim it’s against her character to be running away after all that development in earlier seasons focusing on her staying and fighting with her friends. But I don’t see her going home as running away in fact it’s the opposite as we learned from this recent episode. She was returning from a major fight with her family, a fight which, at the time, probably felt like the last time they would ever see each other. She’s mending broken ties and resolving her own issues. And what makes it so great to me is that she thinks she’s running away but she’s NOT!!!!! She’s LEARNING HOW TO FORGIVE HERSELF AND COMMUNICATE!!!! Then there’s Sun who I’ll also get into but listen; he’s still around. Blake totally could’ve kicked him out on the streets of Menagerie but she didn’t! She was upset that he followed her but she still talked to him, she still let him know what was happening and she let him stay with her! I don’t think past Blake would’ve done anything like this!!! (I can say so much about Blake this season, I just love her, if anyone wants more message me) I think this is Blake’s one last run away before she realizes just how ready to fight she is, afterwards she’ll be hard to get rid of.

Ren : Just the fact that Ren is talking at all is development! The boy’s taking action, sharing parts of his past, parts Nora didn’t even know! I think he’s on a similar path with Ruby where he realizes that everything that was going on went on without his knowledge, the main difference being that while Ruby is learning to listen and learn, Ren is learning to communicate. I feel like this new Ren will be much less reliant on other people to tell him what’s going on and much more willing to ask the questions he wants answered.

Nora: The problem with Nora is that we’ve seen very few events aimed directly at her so her development in hard to pinpoint. But I will say she seems much more open to conversing with the group now rather than just Ren, I’m pretty sure this season she’s only had one conversation between just the two of them (the RNJR v. JNRR argument (RNJR 4 LYFE!)). I think she’s starting to bond with the group as a whole and based on the whole Oni Yuri exchange I think we’ll be seeing some trouble in paradise between her and Ren when she realizes she thinks she knows much more than she actually does.

Jaune: See I think a big problem people are having with the show too is that Jaune’s development is very very very easy to see. He is much more willing to jump into trouble, he’s much more serious about his goals, and he’s starting to take himself more seriously as a leader. It’s obvious they’re building Jaune up for something we just don’t now what it is yet, but it’s probably tied to his semblance seeing how he’s the only one of the main’s (Besides Ren, but I’m pretty sure he knows/can use his he just hasn’t yet) whose semblance we don’t know yet. 

Sun: I really love the direction they’ve taken with Sun this season because it’s just so intricately written to me. This is a boy who, prior to this season, had absolutely know idea that the world is stacked against him. Yeah he knew he was a faunus, and he knew some people didn’t like faunus’ or whatever, but he had no clue about his own race’s history! He had no clue what it was like for faunus as a whole! I LOVED the line when he got off the boat “I’ve never seen so many faunus in one place before” because it paints such a picture! This kid has always been a minority, he’s never really touched with his own culture! This is why I can excuse some of his cringeworthy obnoxiousness because I think it exemplifies how little he truly knows about the culture he’s apart of. Through Blake he’s learning about himself and the world around him and he’s starting to care more about the things that matter

I can say a lot more about these characters so if you wanna talk more feel free to message me!