#and targeted violence was exactly what the white fang was doing before cinder showed up and ruined everything

[constantvariations]

One of Hello Future Me's videos on revolution brought up an event from the Philippines back in the 80s: the dictator sent a battalion to crush a supposed revolt, only for the soldiers to be met with nuns and children offering food and water. The majority of the army defected as a result

I'm going to use rwby to try hammering this abstract concept into a coherent thought, but this incident got me thinking about how nonviolent protest is theater

If a similar event were to occur in rwby, for it to be successful, the protestors would have to be the cutesy faunus types: rabbits, cats, dogs, and the like because they're non-threatening. Attacking a sweet cat faunus would be akin to attacking a child or nun, paragons of innocence and virtue respectively. Only a monster could cut them down, and no one wants to be seen as a monster

A scorpion faunus, though? Their mere existence is a threat. That tail is dangerous, a weapon available at all times. Bull faunus have horns they can use to gouge out eyes and organs. Claim they attacked and most people would agree that killing them in self-defense is justified

Because nonviolent resistance relies on public perception, people who could possibly taint the image of the movement will get left in the dark no matter how important they are. Bayard Rustin was the one who taught Dr King about civil disobedience and was an organizer for many major events, but he opted to ride to events in the trunk of people's cars so his status as an openly gay man wouldn't harm the movement's image

There would be little wonder why the White Fang would be more popular with the "scarier" faunus. Public perception is already against them, so it's not going to change much for them if they join a violent organization, but this in turn will be seen as justification for discrimination against these types of faunus. A hellish self-perpetuating cycle

These faunus would also be far more likely to experience violence at a much younger age, akin to how black children are treated as adults even if they're literally six years old

The strategy behind nonviolent protest like the ones Dr King did is to show the world the mistreatment of the innocent, but when your existence is deemed a threat, there's little hope that you'll ever get enough support to change the system. This is why bigots constantly spew the "queer groomer" and black crime "statistics": by portraying someone's freedom as a danger to the innocent, any level of violence is justifiable defense. The police aren't attacking queers, black, and brown folk discriminately, they're attacking dangerous criminals, so it's okay!!1!

Theater can't save those already condemned and to try is wasted effort

[gainaxvel3o]

A look at Adam Taurus

Now that I’ve rewatched  RWBY up until Adam’s death, I kinda want to talk about him. There’s a thought in some circles that think Adam was a wasted character, that he had no arc or personality to say much of.

I don’t quite agree. Or at least, I don’t agree that’s where his actual flaws as a character are.

Adam has a demonstrably clear and comprehensive arc built up over the course of the series. As far back as the Black trailer, we could see that this guy was someone Blake respected, who was also a bit of an extreme guy given the whole “trying to kill everyone on the train” thing. Naturally Blake left him after that, and he doesn’t show up in full until pretty much the last few minutes of Volume 2. Given how disgusted Blake was by his violence against humans, you’d think Adam would take the time to think on why she might possibly disagree with hm- ha, just kidding he goes on to help destroy Beacon Academy, specifically targeting Blake for leaving him, promising to destroy everything she ever loved, a promise he made good on by cutting off Yang’s arm when she tried to step in. 

His presence kick starts Blake and Yang’s arcs from Volume 4-6, where each have to recover from the scars Adam inflicted on that night. As that happened, Adam makes a couple of appearances in Volume 5; the first one he kills Sienna Khan to take control of the White Fang, planning on turning it into his cult much like in Vale; the second appearance is in the finale, which has him lose his sway over the White Fang due to Blake and her friends forcing him to run off. Volume 6 begins with him slaughtering a bunch of White Fang grunts for making fun of him. He began the show having this power over Blake and loses it through the series.

The Adam Short before Volume 6 expands on his origins, showing his rise to power in each of it’s little segments, how Adam explains the Grimm masks as a fear tactic against the humans, how Sienna unintentionally encouraged his violent behavior, how even in the past he was more than a manipulative jerk to Blake, Power and control are a constant theme with Adam, each volume peeling back a bit on him until his end, where he ditched the mask to reveal the SDC symbol on his eye. From those details, one can surmise that Adam hated weakness, so he sough to obtain strength, and on his quest for it he turned into an abuser himself, one that Blake and Yang had to stop.

So if all of that is understandable, what is my problem with Adam?

Well, he’s tied heavily into the Faunus racism plot, which I hate, but I’m not gonna get into that here. For now, I’ll say that my biggest problem with Adam is that... I just don’t buy him as an effective cult leader.

Let me explain. It’s not inconceivable that Adam was able to get far in the White Fang due to his strength alone, but whether due to the acting or a lack of scenes with this, I don’t get the sense that he’s a charismatic enough man who could get a ton of people into his cause. Aside from the brief scene in his short where he hands out the masks, we don’t get a sense of Adam’s ideology, or what he’s selling to the Faunus in order to gain momentum. Sienna seems more politically savvy than Adam, but we don’t see enough of the two to get meaningful distinctions in their approaches. That’s partially due to Sienna dying in her first scene (to this day I still think that was one of RWBY’s biggest mistakes), but also that Adam’s sparse appearances make it harder to understand what he’s thinking.

His use of Grimm masks is interesting to me. What does Adam think of the Grimm? Given we never see him take his mask off until late in the series, does he see the Grimm as a symbol of strength? That seems to be the implication given the masks are used by the White Fang as a fear tactic and how he doesn’t seem to have a problem working with Grimm to destroy Beacon, but how far does that go? Speaking of working with others, why did he think that working with Cinder and Roman, a bunch of humans, was a good idea to begin with? The latter is especially odd given Roman is a huge racist against Faunus. I’m surprised Adam never tried to gut him at all. Keep in mind that this team up happened before Blake left him, it was one of the reasons she was suspicious of him in fact. Adam is not exactly known for his pragmatism so something’s up here.

Looking back on Sienna’s death, that could have been the perfect opportunity for Adam to show what he’s made of. Imagine if Adam doesn’t kill Sienna right off the bat; she makes the same accusations, but Adam picks apart her words and build a case that she’s “gotten soft,” that she doesn’t understand how destroying an establishment where humans force faunus into working for them was an essential part of protecting the future of their kind. In an ironic turn around of her scene with Ghira, Adam turns the White Fang against her by making her pragmatism seem too centrist for their liking. Maybe Ilia is there too. Maybe she agrees with Adam openly, putting Sienna on the spot. Maybe Sienna retreats while Adam is cheered on by his fellow members. 

But he doesn’t take the throne for himself, no that would be too convenient, plus it might stop him form acting in the field. He gets Ilia to do it instead.

Blake and Ilia worked under Adam. It’s implied that Adam had also manipulated Ilia on some level, which he could seize upon to make his grand take over of the White Fang. Adam could be on the frontlines attacking the humans while Ilia was in his control, which would also effectively pit her further against Blake.

But that’s just a hypothetical scenario. It’s easy to think of something like that in hindsight, when the volumes have been out for years. I just think that something along those lines could have helped sell Adam as a manipulative bastard who could convincingly pull off a take over of the White Fang.

I feel that Adam is a fine enough character as depicted, just that there were some specific holes that could have been used to better flesh him out. I like him primarily as a phantom that Blake and Yang must overcome together, but it would have been nice to get a bit more insight into Adam’s motives and ideology. 

[razorblade180]

So I learned RWBY DC comic was canon today.

Disclaimer:I’m not mad, this isn’t rwde, and this is just one person making an observation of what was given to them. I have no beef with anyone so don’t catch an attitude kay?

I missed that part of the news I guess when it was being talked about and learning that is a bit shocking to me. I’ve already said I don’t like like comic much but that’s not what this post is about.

This shocks me because know I’m living with the knowledge that Blake canonically was “spellbound” after Adam cried and walked her home once. Then proceeded to join him in the White Fang after not seeing him for a year. What makes this a little crazy to me is this.

Adam never had some kind of grand scheme to attract Blake to his side. He spends this entire issue confused about why she isn’t scared when he has made no attempt to hide the fact he wants people dead. Blake misinterpreted the reason he was crying a year ago and that’s what kinda starts relationship.

Honestly this makes them both better characters to me because Blake wasn’t just soms unsuspecting target that caught his eye. She was just a teenager that thought some guy was “neat” Blake had no idea she was playing with fire. Adam isn’t this creeper and completely vile person everyone in the fandom tried to make him out to be. Even when Blake was around he wasn’t exactly trying to get close to her; she’s basically flirting with him. He literally says

In response to Blake trying to see his face, but she doesn’t anyway and says how she’s not afraid of him and that’s when he starts crushing on her back. That’s not a crazy thing to do either because it’s not unrealistic for anyone to develop feelings or an attachment to someone who is telling you that they’re into you even with a terrible scar on your face. You would genuinely think this person cares.

Obviously this doesn’t excuse the gas lighting he does to her when Blake tries to leave after his violent missions that he’s been fine doing since day one. All his verbal manipulation is wrong and completely low but in a way it makes since why he tries pulling those cards when Blake has told him before she wasn’t afraid of him and joined him after her parents already wanted nothing to do with his faction. Blake unknowingly set up dominos while Adam is horrible for knocking them down when he needed to.

Tauradonna Summary: Blake got a crush because she unknowingly misunderstood why he got emotional. Adam eventually got a crush on Blake because she was okay with everything about him due to that misunderstanding she made, and then things got real bad when both of them realize they weren’t the person they thought each other were.

I don’t blame Blake for misunderstanding his feelings because that happens all the time and it was an honest mistake; I also don’t blame her for pursuing him. It was definitely a pretty dumb move but it’s only dumb because she was wrong about him. When you do something bad because you didn’t understand the situation it’s generally seen as a dumb move. So I don’t blame her misunderstanding something but her actions are still dum nonetheless if that makes any sense.

I don’t blame Adam for getting attached to Blake. I blame him for all his behavior during their relationship after it begins to crumble because no matter what, if someone wants to end a relationship then that is that. It takes two to start dating but only one person to end it; that’s final. No excuses for anyone being a manipulative boyfriend or girlfriend.

Edit:For anyone who’s gonna try to say “he’s a creepier for hunting her across the world.” First of all, Neo hunted Cinder down and Cinder is hunting Ruby down. Second, when good guys ruin the villain’s plan in anything then of course the villain is gonna go after them. Blake destroyed his white fang faction, of course he’s gonna try to murder her. He has nothing else to do as her villain.

Also nothing in the show proper counts as physical abuse. They’re not dating anymore, two out of three times she initiated their fights, and most importantly.... they’re enemies. Enemies have to fight each other. You wouldn’t call Oz and Salem fighting domestic violence would you? It’s just two people that used to be a couple, thowing hands at each other. (AKA assault 💀)

[itsclydebitches]

RWBY Recaps: Vol. 5 "Dread in the Air"

This is a re-posting from Oct. 21st, 2017 in an effort to get all my recaps fully on tumblr. Thanks!

Seeing the intro for the first time as an intro in Episode 2 is always exciting, especially since RWBY has a history of hinting at things to come in their openings. Though it is a little reminiscent of an Instagram filter, I do enjoy the grainy texture given to each of the girls' introduction shots--a move from pure, bright coloring to a darker texture reflective of the show's darker themes. The fact that we have house shenanigans alongside a passing silhouette of Ozpin, an intense fight against a literally larger than life Salem while Ruby still finds reasons to smile... it's looking like Volume 5 is finding its balance.

Indeed, in the name of balance this is one of the rare episodes where Ruby never shows up. "Rare" doesn't even cover it really, considering that in previous episodes focusing on others she at least appeared in the background: attending class, cheering on her teammates in the tournament, etc. However, as the stakes and cast grow, we should expect more time to be devoted to the other players in this game. "Dread in the Air" pays particular attention to its villains.

Any lingering doubts about Lionheart's loyalty are laid to rest as Watts visits him personally, escorting him to one of Salem's jellyfish grimm that's... just hanging out in the middle of the school somewhere? Alright then. We see partly now why Lionheart got rid of all his security. Not easy to keep your duplicity a secret if you're housing stuff like that next to the broom closet. Regardless, it's clear that he's being threatened or blackmailed and is caving under that pressure pretty quick. For a long time the fandom considered Qrow/Tai/Ironwood/Ozpin as the scarecrow/cowardly lion/tin man/wizard representatives, but with the introduction of Lionheart as a cowardly figure and an obviously lion-ish look/name, we might eventually be getting a third school headmaster in need of a brain...

Now that jellyfish thing is certainly creepy--remember Mercury and Emerald's first reactions?--but here we get to see that even the creepiest grimm become a thousand times worse in Salem's hands. Lionheart makes the mistake of trying to order her around, telling Salem to hurry and get the Spring Maiden before Qrow does, and his outburst is rewarded by tentacles snapping out to choke him, one threatening to put out an eye. The fact that Salem can control her grimm from such a distance lends credence to the theory that she's the other "brother" from Qrow's story, capable of manipulating all her creations. Or at least she’s connected to them somehow. She is, in short, their god. Does that mean then Ozpin can do similar things with life as her opposite? Regardless, this moment also implies that these jellyfish grimm aren't inherently weird scroll replacements, but rather that this communication is an ability that Salem is bestowing on them. After all, we haven't seen any of the other creatures being used as tools yet.  

As Lionheart reports that he's found the Spring Maiden we learn that Cinder has finally recovered, at least enough to tell Watts to shut up and argue with Salem about murdering children. (Didn't you miss her?). I'm always pretty attuned to when people use names vs. epithets, and Cinder's move from "the silver eyed girl" to "Ruby" when she begs Salem to kill her shows just how personal this fight has become. Salem also warns Cinder that Ruby's powers--once she harnesses them--are a real threat to the Maiden's. Jury’s still out on whether that’s because of their magic or something else intrinsic to the Maidens. 

After Salem asks to speak with Tyrion (appearing highly displeased) and Watts is tasked with somehow getting him a new tail, we cut to Weiss where my reading of last's week's conflict (and Weiss' character) rings true. They are still near the ship that sent out the distress call and after another one crashes Weiss says enough is enough. She's going to help, "What we should have done in the first place." We're then treated to what are, in my humble opinion, the most god awful grimm to ever grace the RWBY screen.

Wasps.

Or lancers, as they're called, with stingers that act like grappling hooks--isn't that wonderful?

A lot of people have complained about the fight sequences since Monty's death, but there's still a wonderful wealth of creativity here. Flexible magic structures aside, from a purely fight standpoint I've always appreciated the ways that Weiss utilizes her glyphs, in this case to steady herself on a moving airship, shoot volleys at a number of moving targets, slow their descent, and lift an entire cargo hold of dust to turn it into a bomb. (Seriously... she can do anything with that semblance.) When that doesn’t work we get what we all knew was coming: that knight. For the first time we really get to see it in action and learn that these summoned creatures aren't just mindless minions, but rather avatars that Weiss can control. While she closes her eyes in concentration the knight fights with her style: using glyphs as launching points to attack, the exact move we first got in her trailer.

It's also worth noting Weiss' little smirk while they're getting attacked by freaking wasps that shoot spikes and have a queen that is impervious to dust. It doesn't matter how hard things get. Like Ruby, Weiss just loves the challenge.

Meanwhile RWBY is once again showing that they have a very iffy handle on race issues. People have voiced numerous grievances over the years, from the small (that the racism against faunus is never actually shown--Cardin doesn't count when he's a bully to everyone), to the large (turning the group demanding equality into one of the series' main villains is...not good.) These problems are even more overt with the introduction of Sienna Khan, a tiger faunus who is murdered after just a few minutes of screen time. Her opinion that attacking the schools "crosses a line" and her speech that she wants respect from the humans sets her apart from Adam's radicalism. Yet at the same time including "fear" in what she wants and the implication that she's only refraining from going to war because she might not win... it adds complexity to her motives, complexity that we rarely see in so short a scene. Not that it matters, considering Adam runs her through with his sword seconds later. The fact that Sienna is one of the very few PoCs in RWBY (and a woman to boot) just makes her sudden death all the more cringe-worthy. It wasn't impactful and it hardly seemed necessary. Was I really the only one who thought Adam was already in charge of the White Fang? RWBY's wiki assures me Salem mentioned Sienna once, but it was hardly emphasized. Her loss of power means little when at least some of us didn't realize she had that power to begin with.

Admittedly some fans are already theorizing that Sienna survived (A single stabbing couldn't kill her, right? What's her semblance? Where’s her aura? They didn't have to mention that burial...) but we'll have to wait to find out if Sienna pops back up and spills some blood when they try to put her in the ground. For now Adam lounges on the throne, dreaming of the humans serving him, and Hazel laments that, "Nobody needed to die today." Despite my interest in Hazel and his connection to Oscar, I can't overlook the fact that this is two white men seizing power (and the scene) through violence. It's apt, but not exactly refreshing.

Luckily we don't end with these two. Poor Weiss takes a beating in that crash and the final scene is her waking up, begging two shady-looking men for help. Who should walk over then but Raven. See? Groups are already coming together! Just... not how we wanted.

First the Spring Maiden and now the (former) Schnee heiress. Raven sure does like kidnapping important young women. Sadly we'll have to wait until next week to see how Weiss gets out of this one.

Until then,

<3

Other Details of Note

Watts - "A little birdie told us." You're hilarious, asshole. Please stick around.

Nice change in audio as Salem speaks through the grimm. Her voice echoes a great deal, making her appear even more powerful and threatening than usual.

I appreciated the pilot's skill helping to save Weiss' ass. It's incredibly rare for us to see non-Huntsmen making a difference in combat.

We learn that the White Fang will execute its members if needed. They're no longer just an "activist" organization, but truly creating their own government and rule. Salem is, in many ways, no longer the biggest threat.

Can't help but think that Adam's choice to blame Sienna's death on a human huntsmen will cause serious trouble down the road (as is his intention). The kingdoms are already divided on the huntsman's place within society and having the White Fang hyper-focused on them (as an embodiment of the worst of humanity) certainly won't help.

[tumblingxelian]

So uuh, please forgive me for jumping on this post bu it gave me some ‘thoughts’ given where I’ve seen it that I wanted to share. 

So some quick context, I certain;y don’t think Cinder is incompetent. I do think her competence is sometimes exaggerated by some fans or that other villains like Watts & Tyrien get crapped on by said fans to beef her up. 

You don’t seem to be doing that so I won’t say anything more on that point but here’s my take. 

Cinder is indeed smart, skilled and strong. 

She is also a very flawed and imperfect individual made all the worse for the fact she has trouble realizing and accounting for those facts. 

Two things we must understand about Cinder is she wants power and to be feared, this informs all her actions and a lot of her behavior. 

In many respect she and Adam are actually somewhat similar, both lust for power and the ability to abuse others with it, but then they start getting it they grow more and more careless and out of control, compare and contrast: 

Adam is granted control of the Vale chapter, ignores his orders to rob a train and instead tries t blow it up to no discernible gain while denying the WF resources & handing their foes a propaganda win.  Adam isn’t being directly managed by Cinder or Salem? He instantly launches a dangerous coup that leaves the WF unstable and that hangs on a dime  Once he gets “control” of the White Fang, Adam instantly starts wasting energy on his obsession with Blake and trying to oust Menagerie's government when the people were neutral, with something like 20 soldiers. 

Now lets look at Cinder. 

Once she gets the Fall Maiden powers does she go and reinforce the Grimm, search for the Relic or target her foes organizing the evacuation?  Nope she heads to the highest place possible to preen and establish authority over a dragon, before playing with Pyrrha for funsies and actually ending up struck severely as a result. 

In V5 once she’s recovered and outside Salem’s watch, what does she do? 

Instantly starts ignoring smart efficient plans to instead form an alliance with an unreliable ally operating under a hilariously flimsy premise (If Raven wanted Qrow dead she’d slit his throat in his sleep via portal or bird)uses violence and threats to enforce her will over diplomacy while largely disregarding her foes and loses. 

The blow are more questionable but I still feel they show Cinder has ideas, plans and make decisions which were often significantly worse than many think and that she was lucky didn’t blow up in her face. 

Sneaking into the CCT rather than having Neo sneak her in via illusions could have been a power move, or it could have just been her wanting to flex, given her ego, I would say the latter created the former justification. 

Allying with Adam was always an unstable thing at best, he’s not nearly as smart as Sienna save in his ability to lie and back-stab, nor does he command nearly as big of a force. What’s more, he is incredibly unreliable, ignoring Salem’s orders when they don’t suit his wants, inadvertently raising an army against them and when things aren’t going his way he was ready to blow all of them, Cinder included, up just to get the last word in. Cinder was saved by Blake out-planning Adam, but she invested in a time bomb and it almost got her. 

As it is, Cinder’s diplomacy outside of damaged and lost children has consistent largely of violent coercion which isn’t exactly super reliable and fosters resentment. If she’d been left weakened and vulnerable and Roman or Neo were around, there’s a good chance they’d have just killed her for the chance to be done with this. In essence, she creates enemies and surrounds herself with them, relying on her power to keep them in line, if that power wanes, she dies. 

Additionally, less a thing a against her, but a lot of Cinder’s success would not have been possibly without Watts doing all the technical heavy lifting. She didn’t operate alone, Watts gave tech and Salem presumably the Dust and Lien by some means and she’s beholden to Salem who controls Watts. 

So yeah. 

Cinder isn’t dumb, when she knows she has to be subtle, she can be and she is indeed a solid schemer and strategist. 

However her ego, enchant for violence & greed do her no favors 7 on average I don’t think she;s quite as good at reading people as she thinks. 

I know Everybody Hates Cinder[TM] but people who say shes incompetent are just straight up wrong