#and sorry to the people who've been following forever that see me post stuff like this fairly often

[wutherwaves]

housekeeping for myself / to-do list / so other people who might be nosy know what i'm planning for the next couple of days:

all posts related to livestream info will go up (or be made) after the EN stream finishes (including banner info, event info, wuwa dates/times)

i need to add changli to my tags/about page

i might go in and "strengthen" all splash art images (reduce the transparency to create fuller images, as they currently are all a bit faded) & reblog updated versions of these posts once i have the time

and as an aside: the main wuwa tag has been becoming a lot more active, which is great! since there's so many of you now, here's a few things you might want to know unofficially for the time being:

this blog is not exclusively for promotional and official material, and will contain a lot more of me talking to myself once wuwa releases

i will not be reblogging/posting any notable leaks, anything nsfw, and (for the most part) anything not strictly wuwa related

i'm not interested in posts or other content that insults wuwa or similar games (be them by kuro or by other companies)

if you have any questions feel free to message or send an ask

[onewomancitadel]

I was thinking about your v2 dance analysis, and I've been pondering that maybe Ruby's situation there is nudging at the idea that she will go the whole series without a romance. As much as I do see the evidence for rosegarden, I also see it as so faint that it could just as easily be played platonically (though that could just be the slow-burn, we all know how many folks said the same thing about bumbleby XD). Do you think it would be a missed opportunity if Ruby remains single forever?

And you also sent:

Oh also! On the topic of the v2 dance: I think it's interesting that Ruby brings no date to the dance, and neither does Cinder (Emerald and Merc paired with each other, she's alone), and then they end the night by dancing with each other (fighting at the CCT building). Not that I think they're seeding any sort of Fallen Petals agenda, not even remotely, but I think it's interesting. Another parallel between them. Sorry if I'm repeating something you already have remarked on, btw!

To answer the first ask:

Dance analysis in question.

(Caveat for people who've never read a post from me before: I think RG is probably canon, I'm just not an active shipper).

Yeah I mean, I have a few thoughts. I think RG is probably an endgame/lategame pairing like Knightfall, and there's a reason Ruby hasn't had very much romance (which will probably be explored with her oncoming arc): as a leader she's in a removed position from everybody else, and she's saddled a lot on her own. RG is interesting because it seems like Oscar is one of the characters interested in trying to challenge that. It's probably safe to say that Ruby's worldview being challenged over the next few volumes (and her mother wound) coincides with the opening possibility of a textual romance.

The thing with romance is that romance isn't just about the heart twinges, though I think that's a big deal, it also represents things emotionally and thematically inside the story... a RG romance is like Knightfall, in that Knightfall involves Cindemption, and a RG romance involves Ruby opening up and also confronting her own pains that she puts aside, as well as her own desires. Cinder and Ruby's arcs mirror each other, that's why Summer-the-Grimm is introduced the same volume Cinder's own mother wounds are. Then we have these in direct sequence:

As I remarked in that sexuality post, I also think handling Ruby's romance properly is necessary. You can do that through Knightfall, but it seems kind of remiss not... to give her a romance, because of the source material. Oscar is a non-traditional love interest in his design, and I think there's some interesting gender stuff there - especially because he is one of the characters emotionally in touch with his feelings, which help Ruby open herself up to hers.

I understand there are people who might want Ruby to be asexual - which doesn't preclude romance, and the show probably won't go sexual in any way textually - or don't want her to have a romance at all, but I can see this playing out with Weiss, personally, presently in the text. There's no set up romance for her that I can see following patterns of the other romances.

So yes, it would be a missed opportunity for Ruby's character arc as well as her intertextuality to not give her a proper, intense romance. I do think BB is easy to see as textual, particularly on RWBY's own terms, but I also think they've demonstrated with, say, V6, they can do high drama romance. That scene with Blake and Yang at the waterfall is really moving and passionate, and it should be, given that was a symbolic wedding. Blake even made a promise to Yang!

I actually sort of have... middling hopes for the romances yet to be canon, because honestly every new volume in recent years has become my favourite volume. If we get later development of RG and Knightfall, that's... kind of a good thing at present honestly.

Also the thing with the dance I mentioned was the colour-co-ordinating. Oscar isn't there, so he can't be matched with Ruby, and Ruby doesn't have a date-date, but a significant shot of her is with Ozpin at the ball. He's not her real partner, and he's in green (complementary to red) but also black like her. My point is that Ozpin hasn't reincarnated into Oscar (which is what makes Ruby and Oscar meet; without Ozpin, they never would have). Ruby doesn't have any childhood romance either, not like Jaune and Weiss, Jaune and Pyrrha, Ren and Nora, etc.

To circle into your second ask:

I think it's interesting that Ruby brings no date to the dance, and neither does Cinder (Emerald and Merc paired with each other, she's alone), and then they end the night by dancing with each other (fighting at the CCT building).

Yes, Cinder matches Jaune though, when I was being crazy about the colour-coding, and she turns up just in time at the ball... I think in the case of Ruby and Cinder, since they're not a couple dancing at the ball it's not childhood romance - it is a childhood fight though. Cinder's obsession with Ruby and hatred of her comes from a place of deep childish (not in a condescending way) fear. But you're right, it does count as dancing! Given that they don't fit the colour-coding, or the pattern of, say, Blake and Yang, I don't think it's romantic. But also neither of them leave the fight really hurt - so again, harmless and childish.

Also, I'm not really sure if this is contributing to anything... but as I remarked also in my post about sexuality in R/WBY, Cinder does represent adult sexuality in Ruby's story (and as her Jungian Shadow). It's very fitting that on the night that Ruby is confronted with the idea of a life beyond being a Huntress - by the bad wizard who reincarnates into her presumable love interest - is also the night she sneaks out on her own, and fights Cinder. Basically she's confronting the idea of sexuality, is what I'm saying, in her journey again.

So yes... it's actually appropriate that they 'dance' in conflict! Thank you for making me think about that!!!!

In other stories, sometimes the Shadow will be conflated with the anima or the animus - R/WBY is a show where for a lot of characters you can pretty much split them individually across the psyche. So I don't think this is Cinder/Ruby foreshadowing, but it is fitting for the narrative conventions R/WBY follows. Cinder isn't sexually confronting to Ruby romantically, just conceptually.

I mean I could take this even further and say that Ruby's dismissal of Cinder for so long is because she refuses to confront the idea of a life beyond being a Huntress (and by extension her own inner life, sexuality, romance, etc. these are all bundled up ideas), which is the next key part of her journey... which happens to line up with the foreshadowing of Ruby healing Cinder of her Dark Curse with her silver eyes.

So these are all interconnected ideas. Cindemption does a lot for Ruby's story, and the show overall. This is also why I read Knightfall and Rosegarden in relation to each other, and by extension a canon romance like BB.

Thanks for the food for thought, you made some great observations!!! <3 Hope you're having a good evening. And thank you for reading my posts, it means a lot. (o: