#also oz haters don't interact thanks :)

[kitkatopinions]

RWBY volume 8 has a problem with conflict resolution, and it’s that the writers took situations where more than one person was at fault, and treated it like it was on only one person’s shoulders.

Ozpin shouldn’t have lied to Team RWBY, even if it was understandable, and I can accept that and think it’s fair that the writers had him apologize for that action and try to make amends with the group. But, Team RWBY shouldn’t have forced all of his secrets and very personal past out while he was begging them not to, they shouldn’t have treated him badly after the fact, and once Jaune was involved, he shouldn’t have been physically violent over it (it makes it worse that Oscar was the one he was hurting and that Oscar’s body is the thing that’s hurt, but physical violence wouldn’t have been okay even if it’d been Ozpin’s body.) Team RWBY acted entirely dismissive of and angry at Ozpin for two and a half seasons and multiple months of in show time, showing no sympathy towards him, despite lying to Ironwood themselves about many of the same things. But instead of having Team RWBY also apologize to Ozpin for the way they treated him, instead vaguely acknowledging that trust is a risk, and act serious and gracious, don’t even say they forgive him, and don’t apologize at all themselves. I have no problem with the concept that Team RWBY screwed up by forcing Jinn to reveal all of Oz’s deeply personal trauma in high definition, and then reacted badly when they realized how deep Oz’s secrecy went. They felt offended and hurt, they were doubting their mission, they’re flawed, human characters who are allowed to make mistakes. But having the writers have Ozpin apologize only to have Team RWBY not acknowledge their own flaws and act as though Oz was the only one in the wrong makes it seem like Team RWBY - and the writers - don’t think they were at fault or need to change or grow themselves. That’s very frustrating.

The conflict with Ren and Nora is two sided as well. Yes, Ren was bottling up his emotions and lashing out at his friends who were only trying to help him. Having Ren apologize for that? Completely fine, valid, love it. But Nora reacted to Ren pushing her away by yelling at him and lashing out herself, acting like she knew his wants and needs better than him, and yanking him into a kiss without his consent after he’d made it very clear he didn’t currently want to pursue a relationship, and then acted angry and sulky and accused him of being a bad partner when that unsurprisingly only made him shut down more. Then when Ren apologized, he had to really apologize and confess his feelings in order for Nora to start accepting it, and she never apologized to him for the way she’d treated him. Once again, there’s nothing wrong with the fact that Ren apologized, but it’s a problem that Nora didn’t also apologize. Once again, the way it’s framed as only Ren having to make the moves forward makes it seem like Nora doesn’t think she was at fault, and therefore doesn’t need to change or grow herself, and the writers look like they think the same thing. That’s very frustrating.

Then you have the conflict between Whitley and Weiss. Was Whitley a snarky jerk to Weiss in V4? Yes. Was he acting like a brat even in V7? Yes. Should he therefore take steps towards healing his relationship with Weiss? Sure, absolutely. I loved them having Whitley bring in Klein to help Nora, proving he’s at heart a caring person with morals who just also happens to be a snarky person who lashes out when his feelings are hurt. That was great. But, once again, Weiss is also at fault when it comes to their relationship. For most of our time seeing Weiss, she acted like she didn’t have a brother at all, like if Whitley wasn’t in the same building as her, she couldn’t be bothered to remember he existed. (To be fair to the show, I suspect Whitley was invented during the writing of season four and I’m not mad about it, so I can discount the first three seasons of no mention of Whitley. However, the other seasons still present a problem.) Weiss had every right to her hurt feelings and reacting coldly in my opinion in V4. Unlike with Nora and Team RWBY, Qrow, and Jaune, I don’t think her behavior in V4 was an over reaction. But I definitely think her behavior in V7 and V8 was an over reaction. Weiss treated Whitley (who is in an abusive situation) with no sympathy, she was rude and acted like he was a nuisance. Even after her mom spelled out for her why Whitley acted the way he did and begged Weiss to not forget him (I’m not gonna get into how I dislike Willow right now lol) Weiss still left Whitley behind and later pointed a weapon into his face and threatened him before dismissing him up to his room like she couldn’t be bothered. Let me say just one more time that I have no problem with the narrative making Weiss act like a brat every now again and having her be presumptuous and judgmental - these are consistent and trackable, realistic flaws for her character that add interest and conflict. No protagonist should be perfect, characters like that are very boring. But Whitley is the only one to take steps forward. Weiss only responds kindly to Whitley after he does something she likes, and even then, makes no move to acknowledge her own flaws, like now that he proved himself worthy of kindness, now she’ll remember him and act kindly to him, but beforehand, she was justified in her actions. It makes Weiss’s love and affection feel conditional.

And this one is a much smaller note because idk what Blake was supposed to be sorry for, but another example is Blake and Yang’s supposed ‘argument’ that Yang was worried Blake would think less of her over - Yang leaving to help Mantle while Blake went to launch Amity (something we’re meant to think doesn’t make them any less unified that wasn’t treated as any sort of falling out) and Blake looking somewhat bothered despite Yang seemingly not even seeing her expression. Blake acts nervous and sad, and Yang comforts her and is tender. The problem here is that Yang did the leaving in the Fire Swamp. If we’re meant to see their temporary separation as a fight and therefore worthy of guilt and forgiveness (I don’t,) then the person who should be looking guilty is Yang. Blake never even picked a side out loud, Yang’s the one who walked out of the room, Yang’s the one who seemed to leave the group on a note of contention (even though she quickly took back her doubts later,) and - through no fault of her own - Yang was the one who wound up leaving her mission and being unable to be tracked. There wasn’t a ‘this was my fault,’ but there was weird expressions of guilt on Blake’s side, and no expression of guilt on Yang’s. Like I said though, this is less important to the topic at hand, I just thought it bared mentioning because it was another one sided conflict, even if it made no sense. Neither of them should’ve acted like this was a big deal.

I think the problem here is that the writers themselves just have some morals I don’t agree with, but it makes it very frustrating to watch. “If someone isn’t trusting you, or isn’t opening up to you, or is snarky to you, it’s therefore okay to react with XYZ” is something I personally can’t get behind especially in situations like the ones we’re confronted with. “Ren isn’t expressing his emotions, it’s therefore okay for Nora to yell at him and force him into a kiss” is something I see as wrong, and it’s the same for the other instances. The main characters being flawed is good, I’m not mad that the writers had them act in these certain ways (you know, to an extent,) but what’s frustrating is how they’re not portrayed as in the wrong at all, seemingly because the writers don’t see a problem with their actions. Oz and Ren needed to give heartfelt, shamed apologies, but Team RWBY, Jaune, and Nora are treated as in the right and totally justified by the narrative. Whitley needed to prove himself worthy and make the first moves, but Weiss was treated as in the right and totally justified by the narrative.

It honestly hurts the characters involved. It makes them seem like they want more from people than they’re willing to give themselves.