#The White Fang (RWBY)

[rainbow-zebra-art]

I don't know what this style is anymore, let's call this one a clean sketch?? Here's a (relatively) quick redraw/reimagining of one of my first commissions. It was made for JumpinJammies, and it was her funny idea too! I'll always be grateful to her and my other friends who were willing to start paying me for my drawings... It really boosted my confidence back then <3

So I've been glancing at that drawing for a couple of years now, feeling a strong desire to draw Sienna in this silly sweater again. Which I finally did these winter holidays. And I made her stripes a bit differently, since after this drawing we learned a little more about them.

[howlingday]

Jaune: Ugh...

White Fang: He's coming to.

Jaune: What... What do you want?

White Fang: Silence, human! We will ask the questions here!

Jaune: Okay...

White Fang: Where is your team? When is your extraction?

Jaune: ...I'll answer you if you answer one question for me.

White Fang: Fine, human scum. I'll humor you. Ask your question.

Jaune: Do you know what's worse than a captured huntsman?

White Fang: Your team? What the hell kind of question is that?

Jaune: Eh, pretty close. But it's actually a person with a reason to live.

White Fang: (Feels Jaune ship breathing down his neck)

Jaune: And in case you couldn't tell, I'M their reason to live.

[lovingdabeessss]

RWBY MEMES

[hamliet]

Do you have any thoughts on how RWBY handled the white fang storyline?

Unpopular opinion: it's decent?

Now, now, before people come at me with pitchforks: yes, it's overly simplified. The entire story is a fairy tale, though, so that's not out of place. It also complements the rest of the story thematically, and manages to incorporate nuance and complexity in despite the simplification of issues.

I think it's a mistake to look at the White Fang as a 1=1 of the real life struggles of marginalized groups. That said, there obviously are parallels, and so people aren't mistaken to note those. I just think it's not meant to be an instructional manual and shouldn't necessarily be viewed as one, but rather a conversation starter in some ways. And yes, those conversations can and should include critiques.

So I'll go over the points that I think it did well and how those ties into real life, but also specifically how they work for RWBY's overall story. This does not negate criticisms, especially those by marginalized groups.

In contrast to some other fictional depictions, RWBY actually is better as well because it avoids the number one pitfall of such issues: the X-Men fallacy. I've talked about this in terms of Attack on Titan before, but essentially it's the idea that the problem with depicting discrimination against superpowered people is that, well, there is a logical reason for people to be concerned about superpowers; hence, it almost justifies that very discrimination it seeks to condemn. This isn't present in the faunus/human divide. They are both capable of superpowers.

It also doesn't fall into another common pitfall: the idea that people have to be perfect to be victims of discrimination. The White Fang... has senselessly and cruelly murdered people; doesn't mean faunus discrimination isn't also cruel and senseless and doesn't justify it. And this is something that we do see in real life too--people trying to either completely whitewash the actions of radical anti-oppression movements, which can do awful things, or trying to use these awful things as evidence that these people deserve discrimination when really it's a result of rage and desperation at a society that refuses to give them anything. That doesn't justify the pain of the victims of the awful things (see, Weiss) but nor does it negate the righteousness of that anger.

It does portray the faunus as a fairly diverse group too, when fiction often portrays marginalized groups as a monolith. That's not true. People from one group have very different ideas about what liberation looks like, and what they want to achieve. People in marginalized groups are people, and they can be motivated by a variety of selfless principles and egotistical validation, and neither negate the other. See, Sienna vs. Ghira vs. Adam.

Now, of course within RWBY Ghira's more nonviolent principles more or less win out. That's because RWBY is again a fairy tale where you have to fight to live, but that also doesn't endorse violence. If you expected otherwise, wrong genre. Of course the real world is far more complex, but it's not as if there is no real world basis for this either. Peacemakers exist, and nonviolence has accomplished a lot before. Whether or not that's the be-all-end-all of the faunus struggle in RWBY isn't even clear, so I don't think it's intended to be the be-all-end-all preached moral as it applies to the real world either.

Story-wise, the White Fang functions as a Jungian shadow of society. If you do not take charge of your own life, you are letting others decide for you. The faunus who disagree with the White Fang take it back, because they have to acknowledge it to move forward in society. They have to integrate with it, and accept their own humanity: capable of good and what they might rather deny.

This faction--the faunus who don't like the White Fang--are represented in Ghira, who becomes passive and steps back from aspects of the movement. However, when Blake arrives in Menagerie, this changes, because Blake's entire arc is about integration. Ghira then becomes active, working for the rights of the faunus and for the White Fang to be better rather than simply disavowing the White Fang in an attempt to be a good person, because doing nothing isn't exactly good.

On a more character level, the White Fang exists for Blake's arc. Her Jungian archetype is the Shadow. Like, it's literally her semblance's name. Hence, the idea of the shadow is gonna be important. If you want more on this, @aspoonofsugar has written a meta on it here and another here.

So, for Blake, on a personal level the White Fang (especially under Adam) represents the parts of herself she doesn't like. The part that ran from her family. The part that is violent. And yet, she cannot abandon it or simply disavow it. No, the answer is instead:

We’re not going to destroy the White Fang. We’re going to take it back.

She has to integrate with it, take the good--the righteous anger, the focus on justice and equality.

The White Fang also comments on the microcosm/macrocosm of alchemy.

For the unaware, RWBY is an alchemical story, and the principles of alchemy are represented in the symbol for the philosopher's stone, as seen above. Microcosm: the smaller circle enclosing two people in the center who come together (hence chemical weddings). The square is the four elements: water, earth, fire, air. The triangle is body, heart, and mind. The larger circle is the macrocosm.

The Shadows for Blake on a personal level--microcosm--is Adam. The Shadow on a worldwide, big picture scale--the macrocosm--is the White Fang. Integrating with the shadow isn't only an individualistic endeavor, but also one that benefits society as a whole and brings life to the entire world. The main point of alchemy's philosopher's stone, which Blake, along with the rest of RWBY, are symbolically being transformed into.

I think the main issue with the White Fang, by the way, is its handling of Adam. Typically you don't kill the shadow, though I do think Blake kinda had no choice. Still, I don't think the show fully explored him.

Yet what does work with what we have is that Yang has to face Adam, Blake's shadow, to be with Blake. Yang losing her arm to Adam parallels her being upset about losing Blake to fear, because symbolically Blake can hurt her deeply in the way only a lover can. Blake has to stop running from her shadow and allow herself ot be known and seen by Yang to be with her.

[howi99]

Jaune: Did you know? The average human is composed of 60% water. And did you know that if someone were to eat a spoonful of Ice dust, it would be enough to turn 87% of that water into ice?

White Fang grunt from the dock: *Crying* I already told you i know nothing! Please! Have mercy!

Jaune: ... Why is everyone reacting like that to my fun fact?

[armenianwriterman]

Concept: The "exploding sneeze" incident somehow becomes widely known and everyone hears that Ruby set Weiss Schnee on fire in public, and everyone in the White Fang immediately wants to become her new best friend (except Adam because he's a petty little bitch).

[massivementalitynut]

My Connection Lost Comm of White Fang Members by @ogariane

[sirazaroff]

"Serial Kisser Blake" is so funny to me cuz I imagine she's going full ninja-assassin with it. Like, she picks a target (Yang, Weiss, Ruby, etc) and just hunts them from the shadows. They feel eyes on them and suddenly they just mutter "Oh boy..." Then the lights go out, you hear rapid-fire kisses, and the lights come back on and the target has black kisses all over and is on the ground in a family guy-esk pose. Meanwhile, Blake's all "target neutralized"

Blake how could you…she was so young…

[uncaught-coolfish]

my little boo thang🧚‍♀️

[constantvariations]

I don't think anything will ever be funnier than Banesaw's first of his only two sentences being, "Finally, I get to kill a Schnee," knocking Weiss unconscious in a single hit, then just chucking her into the next room so Blake can save her

[rwby-confess]

Confession #278

[tumblingxelian]

CRWBY & the White Fang - To Critique or Compliment?

There's no denying that when discussions of RWBY's quality come up, the specter of the White Fang, Blake & Faunus plot lines will almost inevitably rear their head.

So, I wanted to take some time to analyze my own critiques of CRWBY;s handling of these subjects, which thee writers themselves have said they found fault in regarding their work.

But, to also outline what I think was done well and address some common complains that I see, as I think there is a much more nuanced discussion that could be happening here.

With that in mind, lets begin:

My issues lie in the Execution:

CRWBY simply don't have the budget or time to give this topic the necessary breathing room to be handled with as much nuance as it needs; which at times can lead to a subject not being explore sufficiently, or a bit like in Mistral, a seemingly easy solution being applied to a complex issue. 

While I understood the logic of having Sienna supplanted as she was, and the tragedy of her death. The loss of her character and a more active counterweight to Ghira's pacifism has weakened a lot of the stronger aspects of their writing on this topic.

The plot of the series while allowing for the exploration of some of the themes at play means that in universe, characters need to logically prioritize the apocalypse witch over other matters sometimes.

My Praise is in the details:  

Faunus bigotry varies from regions to regions & country to country, in Vale it's heavily rooted in microaggressions, harassments and presumptions of guilt. In Mistrals its not only legalized to discriminate against Faunus, but there are outright lynch mobs. Meanwhile in Atlas it is blended with heavy doses of classism and the impoverished of Mantle are placed against the impoverished Faunus in the crater. 

The writers consistently acknowledge that this is a complicated issue, not in the sense of "Ooh poor bigot has a reason to be that way" but in the sense of "Fighting for a better world is hard, complicated work, where there is no a neat and tidy ending, or simple solution." Which is frankly far more realistic than I see in a lot of media that want to cap off stories with "& then bigotry was solved!" 

While Ghira has been returned to a prominent role, he outright respected Sienna Khan, and acknowledged the faults in his all too passive approached in the past. It also seems that thematically Blake is the one being set up to eventually take the reigns of the movement and seek out a path between easily exploitable militarism and all too self effacing pacificism.

Counters to Common Complaints: 

The White Fang are presented as faceless mooks -  This is indeed an issue in Volumes 1 through 3, however, it is also one CRWBY course corrected on, and I'd note Blake is also meant to be our primary window into the White Fang. What's more, the radicalization of the White Fang took time, with Sienna's era notably having actually seen genuine progress for Faunus, before Adam ended it in fire and blood.

What's more, if we look at resistance movements like the real world IRA, we will see that they too can start out using moderated violence, only to be co opted by self serving despots who harm their own people as well as others, so their shift is not exactly unrealistic.

Making a victim like Adam a villain is in poor taste -  A questionable claim as I think that is all down to execution and he's hardly the only character like that, & there's many others who overcame similar issues, so tis hardly "Abuse makes you evil."

But more to the point, given how a lot of people who have dealt with abusive stalkers, including those who weaponized their own history of abuse or trauma for sympathy said he was the most realistic portrayal of an abuser they've seen, I think there's a great deal of merit to his portrayal.

I would also note that the philosophical stance, "X person was a victim and therefore cannot be bad" is a poor and rather problematic idea. Because there is no demographic of person that makes one incapable of causing harm. Plus, Adam's life and death is still framed as a tragedy, despite all the harm he did, his life still had innate worth even to the people he hurt most.

(Well, the one's still alive anyway XD)

The White Fang being antagonists is corporate/military apologia -  I already addressed most of this above, but I wanted to re-center it because I had some interesting thoughts to share. Specifically how in another show this would be true, but it's not true in RWBY.

Because in most shows where the freedom fighters/terrorists are villainized, the institutions they target are propped up and defended, where its claimed, even if they are "flawed" they are "better", "Necessary", or more "well meaning" than the rebels.

Not true in RWBY

The SDC is every bit as bad as it's advertised, and Jac outright enables the villains in a selfish bid for power to protect his own wealth. Ironwood, who in other shows would be the "Good military man" type, reveals himself to be a craven coward and despot.

Ironwood and Adam's character songs even hit on the same themes of egotism and entitlement. Adam's is angrier & Ironwood's more grandiose because of their respective life experience, but they are men cut from a very similar cloth & playing similar roles amongst their peers and in the wider narrative.

Blake was originally a street kid, her being a princess is bad- That's not true in both cases and I appreciate CRWBY subverting the tired trope of "Violent minority girl gets saved and civilized by nice Caucasian girls" the post below goes into more detail on that: https://www.tumblr.com/kkglinka/176246425849/rwby-racial-trope-inversion?source=share 

Conclusion:

Ultimately, RWBY grew beyond, explored or outright subverted a lot of the usual issues that come attached with these complaints and had a lot more nuanced stuff to say on the subjects they tackled.

Even with their issues in tackling these subjects, I feel that there is much more interesting stuff to talk about than a lot of what I usually see come up when this subject comes around, which is a shame.

There's room to acknowledge where there were flaws without tearing down the entire concept, or glossing over what was done well, I think.

[asm5129]

Blake’s final speech in vol 5 amounted to “I don’t know what to do just stop bad Faunus like Adam”

As for Kaitlyn I more so meant the nickname she was given, that was not just an issue of management. But fair point several of the original group are POC. But non the less it seems more likely crwby just wanted to do X-men and failed.

Blake’s speech was about the fact that there are no easy answers to stopping hate. Faunus were getting more rights through Sienna’s tactics, but actual acceptance was harder to achieve because it’s something you cannot force. Saving Haven and stopping Adam helped shift the narrative around Faunus. It didn’t fix everything, nor did Blake claim it would, but it started moving the needle away from where Adam was pushing it.

The White Fang arc isn’t a guidebook on how to successfully develop a more accepting society, it’s a warning about how anger that has a legitimate reason to exist can be validated, channeled and manipulated by selfish people who will ultimately abandon and work against the goals of the affected group when the crisis of said group no longer supports their self-serving interests.

RWBY is willing to accept that maybe there aren’t clear, easy solutions to societal issues but that developing connections and empathy and community with those around us still move us towards a better world—even if hate still exists.

[aliavian]

Real ones remember Perry, the random White Fang thug from Volume 2 who wore glasses on the outside of his mask. 😂👌

[brokentrafficknight]

[matt0044]

Volume 10 and/or 11 Theory: Salem, through Jax and Gillian, will sow divisions among the refugees by way of Faunus discrimination.

It's a classic tactic as seen with how capitalism feeds off of immigrants yet has white people blame them for "taking their jobs." It would be a good way to show Blake stepping up to grow up more into a civil leader and to show the White Fang maybe being the heroes if we follow up on Ilia's text from Ghira. Tackle the complexities of racial prejudice a lot better than Beacon did.

I say this because so many claim that Blake's been ruined by Bumblebee or that Atlas's fall ruined her character potential to be so sort of rebel leader. Well... here's a perfectly good place for her to tackle it with Atlesians forced to rub elbows with Faunus from Mantle. That's a recipe for disaster if the V9 epilogue is any indication.