#contains RWDE content

[crystalsandbubbletea]

New introduction post!

Welcome to Crystalsandbubbletea's blog!

⚠️DO NOT FOLLOW ME IF YOU ARE STRICTLY A NSFW BLOG! I AM OKAY IF ADULTS FOLLOW ME JUST DON'T BE A NSFW BLOG I'M UNDER 18-⚠️

Pronouns page for easier navigation (Now includes fandoms I'm in):

Info + Other blogs under the cut

Infov

-Aliases/Names: Crystals, Crystal, Bubble Tea, Bubble, Tea, Mint, Rian, Rain

-Age: 17

-I have ADHD, Autism, PGD (Prolonged Grief Disorder), possible PTSD. I am also a furry and therian.

-I'm Indigenous American (Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma)

-I'm transmasc nonbinary (They/Xe/Ve/Zir pronouns), and also Trixic, Demiromantic, Demisexual (mildly sex-repulsed though-), and Polyamorous!

-I do follow a religion, however it's a religion that I founded (I only made one post about it, as I don't want my blog to go too deep into religion in case if people are uncomfortable/have religious trauma)

-Birthday: March 7

-I have two dogs, Bubble and Squeak are their names (And Squeak is part cat /hj)

-Traumagenic system (Will introduce the others later)

What my blog contains: I post incorrect quotes, art (Note: I reblog my art from my @crystalsandbubbletea-art blog), things about my book series, political things, ish that happened in my life, occasional vents (Please filter the tags "#crystals vents", "#crystal vents", "#bubble tea vents", "#bubble vents", "#tea vents", and "#rian vents" if you don't want to see my vent posts), things about the fandoms I am in, photos about projects I did, rambles, rants, queer things, and neurodivergent things.

Fandoms I am in: Baldur's Gate, RWBY, Red vs Blue, Halo, Percy Jackson, Andromeda Six, Murder Drones, Helluva Boss*, Hazbin Hotel*, Doctor Who, Demon Slayer, Hollow Knight, Warrior Cats, Undertale + Deltarune, Astroneer (Slowly getting into it-), and Fundamental Paper Education

*Note: I do NOT support Vivziepop, she's done way too many problematic things + Based Alastor off of cultural appropriation

Fandoms I don't like/VERY THIN ICE: My Hero Academia (The cultural appropriation in that fandom is intense-), Countryhumans (Specifically the shipping + NSFW side... Y'all need to look at the politics and histories of those countries your shipping, and I don't think it's ideal to ship land masses and make NSFW about them-)

Custom tags: #crystalsandbubbletea, #crystals ish, #crystal ish, #bubble tea ish, #bubble ish, #tea ish, #rian ish, #crystals storytime, #crystal storytime, #bubble tea storytime, #bubble storytime, #tea storytime, #rian storytime, #crystals vents, #crystal vents, #bubble tea vents, #bubble vents, #tea vents, #rian vents, #crystals asks, #crystal asks, #bubble tea asks, #bubble asks, #tea asks, #rian asks, #legacies by crystalsandbubbletea, #crystals sighs into the void, #crystal sighs into the void, #bubble tea sighs into the void, #bubble sighs into the void, #tea sighs into the void, #rian sighs into the void, #crystals rambles, #crystal rambles, #bubble tea rambles, #bubble rambles, #tea rambles, #rian rambles, and any tag with the names of my OC's

⚠️DNI: NSFW blogs that don't tag their content as NSFW (Note: If it's your side-blog that's NSFW then you're safe, but please tag your stuff though-), anti-LGBTQIA+, anti-Furries, anti-Therians, anti-Semitic, Islamophobes, Zionists, people who fetishize minorities, people who misuse tonetags, ableists, racists, TERFS, radfems, radqueers, anti-abortion, fatphobic, Wilbur Soot defenders, abuse defenders, victim-blamers, tag NSFW things on the asexual tags, RWDE (Y'all are the most racist, homophobic, fatphobic, and ableist people I have ever met), bodyshamers, transmeds, "LGB drop the T" (Y'all are hypocrites, we have rights BECAUSE of Trans people, specifically BLACK trans people), exclusionists, proshippers (Trauma related reasons-), anti-Cluster B Personality Disorders, Southern Baptist Christians (Trauma related reasons once again), people who think it's okay to send death threats and/or suicide threats, AI "artists", AI "writers"⚠️

Boundaries: Don't call me 'slut', 'cunt' or 'whore' even if it's a joke, don't flirt with me even if it's a joke (Trauma related reasons I'm not too keen on talking about)

THIN ICE: Countryhumans fandom, My Hero Academia fandom, people over 25 (Just don't be creepy please-), people who don't tag reblog bait

Other blogs:

Art blog: @crystalsandbubbletea-art

Blog for my fanfiction series: @the-official-legacies-blog

OC Ask Blog: @crystals-ocs-ask-blog

Clangen blog: @crystalsclangencorner

Berat blog: @berat-adil-emre-yukime

Warriors rewrite blog: @crystals-warriors-rewrite

Lore Olympus AU blog: @crystals-lo-rewrite

Gimmick blogs:

@aroace-spec-empire

@definitely-totally-croatia

@the-ottoman-empire-for-real

@the-republic-of-california-fr-fr

@totally-czechoslovakia

@actually-czechoslovakia

@croatias-ghost-vesna

@crystals-la-bubble-tea

@official-sakartvelo

@actually-cuba

@actually-bulgaria

@actually-titan

@totally-callisto

@the-real-planet-x

@venus-for-real

That's all! Have a great day! (⁠◕⁠ᴗ⁠◕⁠✿⁠)

(*Cough* Also I make posts about my Indigenous American heritage *Cough*)

[mean-and-rwde]

Volume 9 spoilers!

Contains RWDE content.

Lots of rambling.

Might be incoherent at times.

Don't like? Don't read.

Okay. Wow.

Binged all of V9 up until now, so here's some thoughts and rambles about it:

Weiss is a mood, but her "comedic" anime-style moments are... Annoying. And definitely out of character. I find it incredibly irritating that she refuses to believe they are in a fairytale even though it's pretty fucking obvious.

Ruby helps out a cute little mouse. She states that she wishes the mouse could help her too, then freaks out when the mouse responds. After some discussion, Ruby describes her friends in hopes that the mouse saw them (specifically stating Blake has cat ears and thus is a faunus, while the others are human). She decides to call the mouse Little, and thus they become her guide.

Sort of. Little constantly falls asleep.

Meanwhile, Weiss saying that they're looking for Gambol Shroud is a nice touch, but would be confusing if one didn't already know that was the name of her weapon. I like that the weapons have names, instead of it being just Ruby calling her weapon Crescent Rose.

Blake gets exhausted pulling a vine for maybe 5 seconds. Weiss gets tired after slashing two vines with her sword, only for them to grow back.

Ruby and Little find the two tangled in vines ( a trap Blake set off by trying to grab her weapon while Weiss cheers her on in the background). The mice explain they do not like cats, which Blake just... Shrugs off, saying she understands.

They encounter the Jabberwalker! But just before they move in to attack, Yang yells at it to get it's attention back on her. The Jabberwalker retreats. I love how weird it's movements look, but I have no idea what the hell it said.

Yang saying "Dammit. You weren't supposed to be here" to Ruby is nice. Ruby lying about why they're down there too is not. They fell in, they did not go after her and jump in. Also I honestly forgot they were sisters.

Blake knocking Yang over to hug her was cute. The missing arm jokes were not.

Oh my god, the raccoon's name is Jinxy. Why not just call him Jinx or something equally weird?

The odd "prices": a hug, something about love, and enough hope to fill a jar, were interesting, I'll say.

And the last one is particularly shocking: the usually hopeful, optimistic Ruby does not have enough hope to fill a jar.

And cool, Yang decides it's time for violence, despite Blake pleading that they don't fuck up like Alyx did in the story. The objects all turn back into what they actually are, and chaos ensues. Also, I don't remember Penny's swords being completely green.

Blake says they're acting just like Alyx, who started a war due to not knowing the customs of the citizens, and cheated in a game.

Also, what really irks me is that ALL FOUR know THE SAME STORY. They ALL heard it as children. Despite their incredibly different backgrounds and all. Why not have Blake recall a different version in particular? Maybe have one not know it at all? It seems incredibly odd to me that Weiss would know the same story as Blake, who knows the same story as Ruby / Yang.

I love the Curious Cat. His voice and design are pleasing to me. I like his "is it, or is it not" and / or literal responses, like "what do you go by?" / "I do not 'go by'; I leave that to the days and years". Also, the occasional cat-like behavior.

Speaking of, why the fuck is Blake so chill about being referred to as a cat? Ruby singles her out when talking about her friends, stating she's a faunus while the others are humans. What's worse, Blake specifically goes "from one cat to another" when talking to the Curious Cat. It just... Eugh. It's bad.

The Red Prince. Oh my god, he is so annoying. I know that's the point, but wow. The soldiers aren't much better, reminding me of Cordovan's soldiers.

The soldiers try to claim all the credit for the birthday gift, but freak out when the Red Prince complains that it's GREEN. One even says they didn't know it was green, even though they saw it before.

Speaking of the sword. I will admit, Ruby's speech about the sword made me tear up. Unfortunately, it rings hollow after the Atlas arc disaster.

(Later, Ruby giving the teapot lady her pin is even worse. It absolutely feel like a last ditch effort. "It contains a mother's promise" like hell it does! She sounds like Jinxy trying to sell his fake items: making it sound more special and valuable than it actually is.)

Ruby tries to cheer up the Red Prince by offering to play his game. When she asks how to play, everyone laughs. Then, the three rules are stated: pawns can move forward a certain number of spaces. one pawn moves each turn (a rule later discarded), and in order to take a square, one must dispose of whoever is occupying that space.

Ruby asks what that means, and finds out that it's literal. But the injured pawns are whisked away from the board, so no real harm is done. The Red Prince ever so kindly lets Ruby start. Her pawns are visibly far weaker, and as uncertain as Ruby herself.

Ruby notes she's missing a few pieces. Then, boom! Her friends are thrown in! They shrink to about 6 inches, and land on the board. Of course, they wreck house against the red pawns. But everything goes to shit when the Red Prince suddenly remembers Ruby is a human. Now both red and white pawns turn against her friends.

I admittedly liked this episode the most.

It's kind of cute that Ruby carries her tiny team mates in her cloak. Little is cute, but useless in all honesty.

Herb is interesting too. I love the design and voice. But the hallucination part was...

They encounter their old selves, who offer them to go back, to change who they are.

Weiss: what if you completely changed who you are? started over, with no baggage?

Blake: why be the bridge between humans and faunus? you could be a human, or a cat.

Yang: what if you could get your arm back? don't you want to be whole again?

The three each refuse, Yang stating her loss has made her stronger, made her who she is now. She states: If I'm missing something, it's not because I lost it, but because I haven't found it yet." Which would be amazing if her recovery arc wasn't cut short because the writers stated it was boring. Also it doesn't really make sense in terms of her arm, which was what was offered: to be whole again.

Blake states that such a life wouldn't be simplicity, it would be betrayal. She continues: "my friends, my family, my people, my culture... they belong to me as much as I belong to them."

...Which is even worse because her character took a hard hit when the WF arc was dropped. What culture? Blake doesn't seem to have one. Again, it doesn't hit as hard as it could have.

Weiss replies, in true Weiss style: "I don't know who you think you are, but let me tell you who I am. I am a citizen of a fallen kingdom, an heiress to nothing. I am the great granddaughter of a hero, and the child of a villain. I will not be defined by my name; I will be the one to define it."

Probably my favorite. But again. Her arc was cut short by her just... Throwing her abusive father in jail. He was killed, but she doesn't even know that. The "great granddaughter of a hero", but said great grandfather was the one who started the SDC. Her father wasn't really a villain, just an asshole who was abusive.

She refused to be defined by her name, giving up everything... Until it was convenient for her, ie when they needed to hide, she literally bullied her way BACK into the Schnee manor.

Then, there's Ruby.

Her former self is overly cheerful, even as she tells Ruby: "your friends need you. the whole world needs you to keep fighting forever and ever, against an unkillable enemy that took your mother. ... Mom was the best. But even she failed. That doesn't seem fair. None of this seems fair!"

Ruby forced her way into this. She chased after Cinder during the Beacon dance. She went to Mountain Glenn on a mission far too advanced for her team (Ozpin bent the rules to allow this). She forced herself to be part of this.

I do love how past!Ruby says "none of this seems fair" as well as mentioning how Ruby originally wanted to be like the huntresses in the stories. How life wasn't like a fairytale but that was why Ruby needed to keep fighting. Going as far as saying "You can be whoever you want! You don't even have to be Ruby Rose!

So... What do you want to be?"

Ruby is unable to defend against her past self, and crumbles. The Curious Cat has to intervene, and tells Herb (or Past!Ruby?) to get away from her.

The Curious Cat says to him "You help others find their way, but you have lost your own" and gives him some of his heart? Then Herb is literally swallowed up by the ground. Holy fuck.

What the fuck is Ascension? It sounds worse than dying. I mean. You get swallowed up by the ground, then spit back out with no memories, just a "purpose".

Weiss says it's not possible, that everything must die eventually. Even though Ozma and Salem herself are literal proof against this. Yes, Ozma's host will die, but his soul will simply find a new host.

Wait... Why are they running?

No, seriously. The previous episode ended with Herb falling through the ground.

Okay, they need a bunch of stuff to make Grow-Gurt Parfait(?). Including... Nose hair from a leprechaun? Ew.

The group splits: WBY + Curious Cat gather the other ingredients, Ruby and Little get the nose hair.

Ruby has some sort of... Hallucination? Teleportation? To a blacksmith's workshop, where she finds Penny's sword (Red Prince voice: WHY IS IT GREEN). She sees Penny's reflection in it. Then, she sees what looks like a sort of scythe. Looking closer, she sees someone's reflection. Maybe Alyx?

Boom, she's back(?), and she has no nose hair of any sort. Thankfully, they soon find the Teapot Lady. Curious Cat knocks random crap over, just like a cat would.

The Grow-Gurt Parfait is made. The girls go to eat it. One handful makes them slightly taller.

Suddenly, a Jabberwalker appears! The parfait spills on the ground and the Jabberwalker eats some. Fuck.

Everyone panics!

WBY run over to the spilt parfait and eat what's left. Which is enough to return them to normal size.

Blake asks what's a Jabberwalker, despite seeing one earlier and knowing what it was. Apparently, if they get eaten by it, they will not Ascend.

So they do die, basically. Weiss was correct.

A jackalope - bunny creature appears to fend off the Jabberwalker. A knight is seen on its back. The Jabberwalker disappears... But in a similar way to Neo's semblance.

Meaning Neo is somehow behind it!

[Neo's semblance evolved. Now she can literally create clones. ]

Suddenly, several more crawl into view.

The knight tells them to run. So they run.

Weiss watches the place burn as people scream and run away. She tears up, telling Ruby she's tired of leaving places in ashes.

They keep running after the knight, who Blake recognizes as the Rusted Knight.

The creature is named Juniper (JNPR callback, which would have more impact if the team interacted with each other more). The knight takes off his helmet, revealing...

[groans]

Jaune. Except he's... Much, much older. Even though he fell last.

"Team RWBY. You finally made it."

I knew Jaune was gonna have some big huge arc instead of our main four. No wonder their journey felt rushed. Though, then I started wondering about how the heck Jaune turned into the Rusted Knight when none of RWBY literally became Alyx. Or any other character.

I really don't know how to feel about this volume. On one hand, it's interesting. On the other... It's annoying because, remember:

- Atlas is now Atlantis (gone)

- Almost the entire population of Atlas / Mantle is now in Vacuo. A kingdom already struggling.

- Salem is roughly halfway to her goal of getting all the relics and is on her way to Vacuo.

- Tyrian and Mercury are also heading there.

And since time likely flows differently in the Ever After, this feels like a huge distraction. A time skip so team RWBY don't have to actually do anything about the situation.

Literally what I hoped wouldn't happen.

[divinecomedyproductions]

Pinned

Welcome to the the multi-fandom and original content Tumblr blog Divine-Comedy-Productions run by Retro Ace!

Here are links to his other blogs and accounts!

The Emperor-Verse

YouTube

WordPress

Loreverse tag(link to be added)

The VIGIL-Verse tag(link also to be added)

Warning: this blog contains RWDE, unpopular opinions, Catholic Christian Faith, reviews, editorials, and other shenanigans...

[kitkatopinions]

Okay, let’s talk about what I think is the biggest problem with Summer Rose. I don’t think it’s unrealistic for Ruby to react the way she has to Summer Rose and information about her from a character standpoint, but there wasn’t enough emphasis on her throughout the show to make me interested in her and specifically in how Ruby feels about her.

A lot of protagonists have at least one dead parent, and it doesn’t always feature prominently in the story they’re in - instead used as an excuse why the kids can do whatever they want without having to worry about parental figures, or backstory for why they’re the way that they are. But when the parents are treated as more significant, it’s better to make them consistently featured. It makes total sense for Ruby to not talk much or even think much about the mother that she lost when she was between the ages of two to four, but starts to talk about her more and be emotional about it once she gets some down time and during a time of personal crisis, especially as she’s learning new knowledge about what happened to Summer. That makes total sense from a character point of view. But as a viewer, I honestly didn’t care at all about Summer Rose past ‘why is Yang acting like Raven is her mom.’ Her grave was seen during the Red trailer, Yang talked about her in V2, and Ruby talked to her grave to start off V3 (which to me read as an ‘easy way to get exposition and remind everyone of some of the RWBY details’ scene.) And that’s it. That’s very little significance, I was given no reason to think she was going to matter to the storyline at all, I was given no reason to think she was going to matter to Ruby at all. If anything, I thought she might maybe matter to Yang, who clearly remembered her and who the story went out of their way to have talk about her, but then Yang didn’t talk about her mom until six seasons after the scene in volume 2. Which again, makes some semblance of sense from a character point of view, but made me think that Summer was unimportant and made me ambivalent to what was a non-character. We didn’t know anything about Summer past ‘good mom’ and ‘dead,’ for six seasons. We didn’t know anything about how Ruby felt about her mom past ‘talking to her grave one time’ and the knowledge that due to her age when Summer died, Ruby likely only has vague memories of her (if she has memories of her at all.)

Compare that to something like Harry Potter. (Quick disclaimer, as always, I’m not endorsing JKR, just comparing stories.) Time was taken out of the first book to establish not only Harry being an orphan, but Harry’s feelings towards it. Him looking in the Mirror of Erised and seeing not only his parents, but his family told us a lot about Harry’s longing for a family and to belong, and his attachment to the idea of his parents and family clearly connected to him (including through physical features that he’s been put down for having by the Dursley’s.) The first book also establishes connections to his parents through others. Hagrid knew his parents and got him a scrapbook of pictures of them, Snape hated his father, Dumbledore gave Harry his father’s invisibility cloak, and discussed the love spell his mother had made when she died, and told him about Snape and James’ ‘rivalry.’ I don’t remember if there was much connection to Harry’s parents in Chamber of Secrets, but in Prisoner of Azkaban, we start the story with Harry reacting defensively and using accidental magic (tied to emotional outbursts) when a relative starts insulting his parents, and then the whole book centers around the man who was framed for helping Voldemort murder Harry’s parents catching the real traitor, Harry meeting his father’s former best friends, getting yet another relic of his father’s, hearing more of the vague memory of his parents’ death when he’s encountered by the Dementors, thinking he had seen his father save him, etc. And the book tells us that Harry’s light based magical guardian Patronus takes the same form his father’s did. Then, in the fourth book, Harry resolves to face Voldemort head on whether he’ll die or not ‘like his father’ and literally sees the spirits of his parents and is able to talk to them briefly even though they’re dead through the use of a spell. In the Order of the Phoenix, Harry sees memories of his parents through Snape’s pensieve memories and his idealized versions of them (but specifically James) is challenged. He’s greatly bothered by this and seeks out advice and reassurance from his father’s friends. In the sixth book, the Half-Blood Prince, Harry gets a potions book with all kinds of recipes and useful spells written in the margins and starts thinking it might be his father’s, still desperate for a stronger connection to his parents, and at the same time, he’s interacting with a teacher who was fond of and talks about his mother. Consistently throughout the whole of the book series, people talk about James and Lily, we see the impact James and Lily had with other characters, we know how Harry feels about them, we know why Harry feels that way, we see his feelings about his parents start to adjust whenever he learns new information, we see the way their actions affect Harry’s actions.

So when Deathly Hallows rolled around and there were all these big significant moments involving Harry’s parents - visiting their graves, seeing their statue, seeing Snape’s memories, summoning their ghost forms to walk him to what he thinks will be his death - viewers might not be particularly attached to their characters, but we’re still invested, we still care about Harry’s arc with his parents, it’s pay off to a storyline that’s been a central part of the whole book series. Imagine if the only things we had heard about Harry’s parents before reading Deathly Hallows was a scene in book two about how his parents death connected to this wider issue (like the scene in Volume 2 with Yang using Summer’s death as establishing details before talking about Raven,) and a scene at the start of Prisoner of Azkaban where Harry like, talks to the pictures in his scrapbook about how he’s excited to go back to Hogwarts and how things are going with Ron and Hermione (like Ruby’s gravestone talk at the start of volume 3,) and then we still had all the significant moments centered around James and Lily in the seventh book.

It just feels like the emotional depth they’re going for with Summer was a wide swing and a miss because she never mattered to the story before. Summer was a passing plot point, and now that they’re trying to involve her more heavily, it feels boring. It feels like wasting time on something that doesn’t matter all that much when things that have been established as significant were put on the back burner (like Ruby’s relationship with Qrow, a mentor figure and parental figure, or even her relationship with Maria, who took over as a mentor figure when MKEK started to seem to want to diminish and put down Qrow’s character.) For six seasons, the audience had barely knew what Summer could possibly look like, Tai doesn’t talk about Summer, Qrow only mentions her in passing to talk about Ruby’s eyes if I remember correctly, Oz doesn’t talk about her, Yang only talks about her for one scene and that’s only to set up Raven, Ruby only talks about her for one scene and that’s to exposition at the start of a season. The only real reason to think Summer Rose would be significant to the plot at all is the Red Like Roses II song, but lots of the Ruby character songs seem a little disjointed like that. Before volume seven, I was wondering why that song even existed since Summer had so little to do with the plot of the show and specifically Ruby’s character (affected much more by Yang, her dad, her uncle, her team, Ozpin, Penny...)

It’s not a bad thing if they wanted Summer Rose to be important, I actually think it could’ve been good. Ruby feels a little stale at times compared to the friends that have bigger backstories that are gone into more, and her character could use some more interest and some more ties to Salem, so having her struggle with having a dead parent she can barely remember who was probably turned into a monster due to having the exact same power Ruby does is a good concept. But like a lot of things in RWBY, it came too little, too late, and with too little groundwork. Now it feels like they’re trying to cram extra unneeded plot into the story instead of working on what they have, now it feels out of left field, now I’m wondering why I’m suddenly being expected to care about Summer, now I’m wondering why there was so little set up for her importance. I would feel much more emotionally connected to this story plot if it had been featured more prominently. If Ruby had been set up from the start to want to be a Huntress like her mom. If Ruby had talked about Summer to Weiss or Jaune or her team, if she’d had a picture of her mom she put on her wall or something, if she’d talked about how the death affected her early on, if Tai had talked about Summer to Yang more, if maybe Ruby had asked Qrow about Summer when he told them about Oz, “Did Mom know any of this?” if maybe Maria had known Summer or something. I don’t know, I’m not a professional, I just know that they failed to write a story where Summer mattered at all until they suddenly wanted us to feel emotionally distraught over her being turned into a Grimm. Instead, I heard about the Silver Eyed Warriors getting turned into a Grimm and thought ‘maybe Mercury does have Silver Eyes and that’s what’ll happen to his character.’

The emotional depth just isn’t there with Summer in my opinion, and it’s made even worse by the fact that there’s very little we can extrapolate from her character based on her appearance. ‘Ruby, but more subdued,’ and ‘boring,’ are the only two things I can even think about her character design, which is a confusing thing for such a design heavy show that places so much emphasis on individual creativity.

[caddeter]

A Public Service Announcement For the Entire RWBY Fandom

Or, at least: @asmallermorehonestsoul​

despite tagging it as #anti rwde

That still shows up in the tag because it contains ‘rvvde’ as its own word.  This is why I find posts tagged #Bioshock Infinite if I look up #Bioshock.  We’ve had this conversation with KKKoB and his ‘rvvde bullshit’ tag.

By this logic, you can’t complain about anything we have to say because we very clearly tag all our posts to let you know that it isn’t for you.  You also can’t complain about the fact that this post is tagged #anti rwby.  You don’t get to wave a flag in a park and then complain when people notice you.

Furthermore, that doesn’t matter.  The tags of a post are not the first thing someone browsing tumblr will look at.

And it is very hard to look through RWBY content without seeing them

If we are expected to ignore it when your posts wind up in our tag, why are you allowed to complain when our posts end up in your tag?  Especially when our tag is specifically meant to be blacklisted:

The first thing you want to do is click on the little person icon in the top-right corner and go to your setting.

After that, you scroll down to ‘Content You See’ and select the pencil next to ‘Filter Tags.’

Then, add the tag you want to filter out, in this case, ‘RWDE.’

There, done.  That should stop our posts from popping up whenever you search for things like RWBY.  I have tested this multiple times, it fucking works.* I tested this with the main tag, and I legit couldn’t look it up!

Now, true, we can easily do this with with your tags to remove them from our feed.  But that’s not the point.  We made this tag so that you could remove our complaints and criticisms of the show from your feed.  Not so you could have an easier time complaining about us.  You complain about how dark it is with a candle in one hand and a match in the other.

If expecting you to blacklist a tag is too much, why do you expect it of us?

Furthermore, if you expect us to curate our tags for your browsing conveniences, then please, do tell me:  What exactly do you want us to do?  Stop tagging our posts with RWBY?  Most of us already do that.

And as for ‘using our disabilities as a shield,’ I’ll let @dowhatteverer​ explain why that’s bunk.

*This does not work if you specifically go to blogs who are known to post content into the tags you have blacklisted, which I know for a fact the anti-criticism crowd does.

[itsclydebitches]

Indeed people should be careful about that kind of behavior. However, I will say that the "people writing RWBY's story for them" sometimes actually do a fantastic job. I'll often look at these theories and go "huh, that's neat. The show really would have been better if it had used this idea".

Oh absolutely, anon. That's one of the reasons why I find those kinds of responses frustrating. I see fans coming up with truly fantastic ideas, but rather than celebrating their own or the community's creativity, the conclusion is, "RWBY is such a well written show, I can't believe you would try to say something negative about it." Putting aside the difficulty of discussing a story when many fans equate any criticism with hating on it, it's just disappointing to see people putting in the time and creative energy to spin gold out of RWBY's potential-filled straw... only to turn around and insist that RWBY did that from the get-go. RWBY has not (yet) written an epic love story between Blake and Yang. The writers didn't come up with an impressive twist with Ambrosius' rules. There is no arc of Salem modifying Solitas' grimm to give herself an advantage. We think these things (and many, many more) should indeed have happened because they're good writing: the romantic subplot, the celebratory twist, and formidable villain laying plans years in advance. I often see fans claim that of course such and such happened off screen because otherwise that would be stupid and I'm like yeah... RWBY is often stupid. The writers often make stupid choices, especially in more recent volumes. Your unwillingness to admit that doesn't magically make the story better. The thing you assumed must have happened didn't, or it kinda happened in a badly executed way, and the community has spent years revising the story in their heads and going on to treat that version as canon because the idea that RWBY has problems is a take that's really frowned upon, if not outright rejected. I want to give the fandom a little shake and lovingly go, "RWBY didn't write the epic you're talking about, you did. If you don't want to take credit for that, fine, uphold inspiration before transformation, but please don't tell others in the community they're wrong because you're working from your RWBY AU rather than what we were actually given (or not) on screen."

There's a level of irony here given the recent backlash against RWBY rewrites. I've spoken before about how every fandom rewrites the canon, in large and small ways, but RWBY is the only community I've ever been in that contains pockets who think that's offensive; that it's an insult to the authors to try and improve upon what we were given. Honestly, I want to talk about how weird that is in an explicitly transformative space. I want to talk about the staggering difference between criticizing a published piece of media people pay for on a personal blog the company will never see vs. criticizing a passion project done in someone's downtime by sending hate directly to their inbox, or putting it on their post, or writing about it in the circles they very much do run in. I want to talk about RWBY's status as a rewrite of 50 different fairy tales all mashed together and the absurdity of trying to approach that as something original and, therefore, untouchable. I want to talk about how some members of the fandom claim that the RWDE community does nothing but complain, so they create their own celebratory content, but then that becomes a problem too. (The same way posting in "RWBY" was a problem, so fans went to "RWDE" as requested, but then "RWDE" became a problem, so we're seeing the rise of "Anti-RWDE" as a cross-posted tag.) There's a lot going on here, but the irony is being disgusted by rewrites of a canon that is itself a rewrite, all while the fandom works very hard to mentally rewrite the story in a way that smooths over anything negative. RWBY presents itself as a first draft. It's a story with a lot of potential and, as first drafts go, also a lot of work that still needs to be done to make it into the great show fans are looking for. Yet instead of acknowledging that and celebrating our own ability to do that work in RT's stead (without the limitations of things like time limits, budgets, etc.), the norm has, very strangely, become personally writing the final version in your head, getting mad at the fans who are (obviously) watching the first draft, and getting mad at others who overtly call their rewrites what they are.

[miss-writes-a-lot]

What I PERSONALLY didn't like about Rwby Volume 8 (content warning: caps and spoilers.)

I am surely going to garner hate from the title alone, so let me explain - THIS IS NOT MEANT TO BE RWDE! THIS IS NOT MEANT TO BE HATE TOWARDS THE SHOW OR ANY SHIT LIKE THAT! THIS IS CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM AND MY OPINION ALONE. If you liked volume 8 and its entirety, that's good on you. I am just not the same way. I am going to approach this as respectfully as I possibly can and not going to slander the show just because I didn't like something. This is not what this is.

This post contains spoilers for volume 8. You have been warned.

The Unnecessary Flashbacks - the last two episodes before the finale had flashbacks that are oddly placed in both episodes and break up the flows of action in both. I think it would have been better if they either placed it in the beginning or get rid of it so we can have more time with our other characters.

Show not tell - these, again, are moments that mainly take place in the last two episodes. There's barely a balance with show not tell and not explaining certain aspects ahead of time so we do have to explain it again or spend too much time explaining during the moment of action and haste. In the episode where they are trying to get Penny to the vault, they have the oddly placed flashback where they discuss the plan and it didn't really feel like they explained it in much detail at all (again, this is my opinion) and when it came to actually getting the Relic of Creation in a moment where they were meant to be quick because they needed to save penny, they have to explain to us the mechanics of the Relic and Ambrosius' powers. I feel like if they had the conversation of the powers of the Relic and Ambrosius earlier, the urgency of the moment can remain and the intensity can still be there.

Ironwood and his weird gun thing - I just don't like it. I would have preferred it better if he just used his guns which are already attached to whatever that thing was. I just did not like it. It looked a little bulky and unnecessary.

Robyn and Qrow - I hated how they were just held up in their cells for half of the volume and how the other half just had them walking around and running into the Ace Ops. I wish they could have joined up with one of our groups or maybe Ruby's team for the first half of Volume 8 could have gone to break them out somehow. I was somewhat disappointed that their story was seemingly pushed to the side.

The Bomb's relevance - the bomb was kind of this big looming threat both times it was mentioned but it was never used which was good. But I feel like after that, the bomb shouldn't have been relevant because it wasn't. It should have been left alone or there should have been a scene where they deactivated it or ripped out it's wires or something so we no longer had to deal with it.

Tone - I did chuckle at a few of the jokes and I understand that Rwby has always had jokes and light bits in it, but I don't think they fit the tone that this volume was trying to set up. Especially after what happens in the finale.

Penny's end - I felt genuinely upset that they decided to kill off Penny just after she became a real girl. I don't know the reason why or speculate the reason either, but it upset me that this is Penny's end. After bringing her back in the 7th season and then have her become a real girl and then just kill her off like that? I was genuinely depressed and slightly angry.

The last Cinder fight - I didn't enjoy the fight because once Cinder ejected herself in the air in her giant fire tower, team Rwby just stands there as she monologues. They don't try to attack her by using team attacks or using their weapons to launch them into the air and attack. They just sit there and listen to her speech and then Neo comes in and takes out best girl in an instant.

The Girl Who Fell Through The World - I didn't mind it too much. I just felt like when they first introduced the concept, it felt like they were laying it on really thick.

Reactions - Arryn's performance was great. It really hit me emotionally when Blake broke down, but I wish the rest of Team Rwby was the same. I wish Ruby's silver eyes activated like they had with pyrrha and jaune. I wish Weiss was in so much pain, she wouldn't be able to control herself or console Blake. I'm not trying to imply that they don't care about one another, I just wish they would show our characters getting upset.

The power scaling and aura breaking - this is just a general problem I have. I feel like after they introduced aura breaking, our characters get their auras broken by hits we've seen them take before and survive from, and it seems like some characters are a lot weaker than they once were. Like the scenerio on the train. Neo had the upper hand because Yang was physically exhausted from not sleeping or resting her body. Here, Neo did get the upper hand, but with one strike, she manages to break Yang's aura whose semblance is to get stronger with each hit. I may have seen it wrong or maybe I am wrong. That's just how I feel.

The bloated cast - this is somewhat of a callback to the pacing and cutting between the flow of action. We have a very large cast and it feels like we are always cutting through multiple perspectives during pivotal moments to catch up with our other characters (i.e Robyn and Qrow, the Ace Ops, Winter, etc.) Maybe keep the groups limited to team Rwby + jaune and the Vacuo crew in Volume 9 so we can get a balance of the two and it can open the doors to a group character arc since they are so close together.

That's all I have. I thought the volume was good but there are definitely things that should be worked on. If you found offence to this post (not sure if I phrased that right) I apologize. This is not meant to be rwde or any type of vicious hate. Please do not harrass me or flood my notes with hate because I really don't mean anything malicious towards crwby or the show at all.

Have a good day.

[faunusrights]

Before The Dawn -- Preview Thoughts (ahoy rwde)

So if you didn’t know (or didn’t see [or didn’t hear {or are living the life of blissful ignorance that I, for one, wish I had}]), a preview for the next CFVY-centric novel, Before The Dawn, came out! It’s the sequel to After The Fall, which I liveblogged a while back and generally like… was ambivalent about. Some of it was okay. Other parts were weird. Some bits just plain bonkers. But whatever!

Well, a part of this preview also happened to contain a flashback of Velvet and her father, and I really wanna extrapolate on some reasons this has me bewildered and frightened for my wellbeing! Because what the fuck! Anyway, goes without saying this post contains spoilers for six pages or so of Before The Dawn, but I can’t imagine anyone really cares about spoilers? Probably? Anyway.

(A small aside: I’m not crazy interested in engaging in, like, any debate over anything I’ve put here. This is just a write-up of conversations I’ve already covered with other people for the sake of quick linkage, and not a bright flare arc of ‘somebody come debate this’. If you like what the book says: fine! I don’t. Let’s leave it there, kiddos.)

So, I’m opening this with a disclaimer: many people know I have some hefty headcanons for Velvet’s parents, and I wanna just make it, like, excruciatingly clear: never, at any one point, did I think my headcanons or my AUs or what-have-you would ever become anything even vaguely close to canon. I knew a day would come in which what I’d filled in would come to have canonical content (or, rather, I’d hoped they’d not touch Velvet with a ten-foot pole and I’d never get disproven), and that this was inevitable. Canon and I aren’t on speaking terms, and that’s okay! I didn’t want, nor expect, nor imagined, my stuff becoming canon. So everything I’m about to say isn’t a case of my headcanons were superior or I wish they’d done what I did. What I wanna talk about is how… bad the canon we got, is. Got it? Good.

The preview doesn’t grant me page numbers so I’m unsure exactly where we are in the book, but that prooooobably doesn’t matter so much as the content of the section I’m talking about, but anyway; somewhere in this book is a 6-page section of a flashback Velvet has of talking to her father, as well as some Velvet and Scarlatina family lore. Can I even call it lore? Probably not. But it’s there and it’s real, and I wanna just dissect it for a moment by covering the main points from this excerpt, in no real order, with no input on my half, just facts:

Velvet’s father is an Atlesian engineer.

He works for/under/with Ironwood.

Velvet’s own skills as an inventor and engineer stem directly from him.

His work in Atlas has divided the family, because Velvet’s mum hates that he prizes his work over his family.

Velvet has always wanted to go to Atlas as it’s the tech capital of Remnant.

Velvet’s father doesn’t see her often and that causes some strife.

Her father’s name is Will Scarlatina.

Her mother’s name is Meg Scarlatina.

These are probably our main points to cover, and I’m gonna go over ‘em probably in this order since this is more or less how the excerpt presents them. So let’s take it from the top.

1. Velvet’s father is an Atlesian engineer.

WOW what a start. What a START!!! So, someone pointed out to me that this definitely implies he’s a human, which has some in-text proof that I’ll show a little later in point three, but my god what a. bold beginning. Yes. That said, this point only gets egregious a little later down the line, so let’s hop to point two.

2. He works for/under/with Ironwood.

Okay, so, again. I don’t plan nor intend for my headcanons to become canon in any capacity… but GOD do I hate how we have someone else tied up to Ironwood in some way. This man pulls all the strings, and it seems like nobody can do anything science-y or invent-y without it getting all wrapped up with Ironwood, what gives? Also, probably further proof that Will here is a human, though I’m ready to be wrong. I SURE HOPE I AM. Either way, with Velvet being a Faunus and Will potentially being/having married a Faunus, this slaps in all the bad ways. Can we stop that? Right now? Thanks.

3. Velvet’s own skills as an inventor and engineer stem directly from him.

SO THIS WAS MY FIRST STICKING POINT. The way I explained this was that, in some ways, some people are just like their parents (I sure am in a lot of ways!) and others are totally UNLIKE their parents (such as a lot of my friends!), but it really bothers me that RT looked at Velvet, who they decided was a very competent inventor and creator, and said well, she must’ve gotten it from somewhere! No way she did that all by herself! Let’s have this masculine figure in her life be the reason she’s Like That!

You can say I’m maybe over-exaggerating and, hey, maybe I am. But I really hate stories when a person’s skill is attributed directly towards someone else as if they have no autonomy to learn things on their own. Wouldn’t it have been cooler to have had Velvet strike out and make use of a skill that she developed with the help of friends and family? Who weren’t responsible for this skill, but aided her improvement? It’s real annoying that they decided she’s basically a clone of her father, which is supported by that in-text quotation I mentioned:

“She might have her mother’s ears, but she was her father’s daughter.”

So, first off: what the fuck. Secondly: ?????? Thirdly: so I think this is proof towards Will not being a Faunus, since the reference to ears is so pointed, but GOD I HATE THAT WHOLE IMPLICATION? People aren’t always little mini-clones of their parents, and something really bothers me about a daughter being Just Like Her Dad. It smacks all wrong, and maybe it’s ‘cause I have my vision of the Scarlatinas being so matriarchal and all but it bothers me one hell of a lot. Jesus.

4. His work in Atlas has divided the family, because Velvet’s mum hates that he prizes his work over his family.

/deep breath

Okay. Again, not tryna inflict my own headcanons on this. But are we really gonna play ball with yet another heterosexual marriage on the rocks because the man of the house prizes his job over his family? Really? Really? That’s what we’re being given, hot and fresh, off the printer? Really?

I’m just. Deeply disappointed that this is the angle we’re getting here. Like… right now, the ONE family we’ve got with their braincells in a row is, like, the Belladonnas, and yet we can’t get ONE other out here??? Not one??? The hets, they’re at it again! And I just. It would be SO easy to toss in some good queer content with these flashbacks and we’re just Not getting it. I don’t know why, I shouldn’t have to wonder why, but this is that, I guess.

5. Velvet has always wanted to go to Atlas as it’s the tech capital of Remnant.

HAS SHE THOUGH… REALLY? We’re really gonna say the Faunus who canonically got bullied in Vale and like, is visibly concerned about asshole humans being assholes, wanted to go to Atlas? Asshole human capital city? Are we positive? ‘Cause I, for one, ain’t. Tech is everywhere! You can study and deconstruct and pick apart and invent shit anywhere on the planet! Why would Velvet put herself at such risk just to see the equivalent of Silicon Valley dipshits engage in a circlejerk?

6. Velvet’s father doesn’t see her often and that causes some strife.

Here’s a slice of in-text dialogue to chew on:

“Just another way I’ve disappointed you, huh?” he said.

“Dad. No!” Velvet paused. She didn’t want to hurt his feelings, but she didn’t have much to follow that up with, nothing that would convince him, anyway. It was hard to argue with the truth.

Now, small tangent: if you’ve read, or seen, any of my writing on Arslan-as-Sienna’s-offspring AU (which is [are] good AU[s] and general idea[s] you should read my content on the matter), then you’ll know I hate the trope in which a parent who does wrong by a kid, then expects that kid to apologise in order to make themself behave better. For instance: kid has an absent parent. Kid apologises profusely to the parent in hopes they’ll come home and be more present in their life. Parent feels bad, and does that, validating the kid’s belief that they needed to apologise to get their parent to come home. It’s a garbage trope and a dangerous one, because you don’t have to apologise for someone else hurting you. Full stop.

So imagine my surprise to see the same thing happen here! What’s this guilt-tripping? What’s this weird focus on Velvet when he’s the one not coming home? As soon as I read this line, it felt skeevy, it is skeevy. I hate it. I am brimming with hatred. Why do this? Why bother? Why does she need this drama? Jesus christ.

Next two points are a two-in-one:

7. Her father’s name is Will Scarlatina. 8. Her mother’s name is Meg Scarlatina.

WHAT? WHAT??????????? HUH????????????????????????

Okay, I know this seems like a bizarre thing to latch onto when there’s already so much fucked up here, but huh?????? These are the names? You chose? Will and Meg??????????????????? Never mind that they do NOT flow into their surnames at all (Meg Scarlatina????????????????????), but also the fact that Meg makes me think of Family Guy (which is something I NEVER want to think about, thanks,) just makes this a fuckin’ TRIAL of pain for me. Will and Meg???????

Did they pick up a phonebook — or, like, an online one — and grab the first two names they saw? Did they get a dartboard and put on a blindfold and launch darts across the room? Was this a socially-distanced[1] conference call gone wrong? I’m BEWILDERED. I learnt these names from someone posting about it in my discord chat, and I thought it was them telling a shit joke to try and piss me off. Are we really serious?

And to me, the name thing really epitomises this whole section. These names — that don’t fit well, that don’t really make sense with the whole colour-name lore, that don’t sound like they should be within a 20-mile radius of RWBY canon — are like the excerpt itself: bonkers. Bonkers bananas. Where every page brings in a new and unprecedented level of huh???????? that I JUST can’t get over.

Now, again. I don’t want my take on Velvet’s parents to be canon. No, really, I’m gonna use them for an original fic, RT don’t touch them they’re mine and they’re going to be in a novel. A series, even. It may even be erotica! But that’s neither here nor there; when I made Ash and Taffeta, I spent a lot of time reverse-engineering (my brand of) Velvet to put the pieces together. How did she grow up to be who she is now? What influences did she have? What examples did her parents set? What were her family like, and how did she take that upbringing forwards? And I spent a lot of time thinking about who they were, the environment they fostered, and I spent so many hours googling names it doesn’t even bear thinking about. Point being: I put a lot of time and energy and love into the Scarlatina family because I wanted, so badly, to have a family people could be, well, jealous of! A family so big-hearted and kind and full of love and furious compassion that you couldn’t help but wanna be there.

To me, this… take. This version of Velvet’s parents being peddled as canon is just so… unreal. Never mind that it’s been so many years since Velvet was unveiled, so many years people have developed headcanons of their own that, honestly, at this point, why bother? But it’s so frustrating to have taken time to make a queer family built on the solarpunk and socialist and eco-friendly and green-thinking and sustainable ways of being to then have canon turn around and say, okay, what if her dad’s a bootlicker, Velvet’s a mini clone of him, and the marriage Velvet’s parents have is on the rocks due to a trope older than time itself! Why? Why bother? What can this possibly add?

I’m not mad that what I wanted isn’t canon. I’m mad that what canon has given is so… lackluster. So boring. So unoriginal. I feel like I’ve read this story a thousand times, but it would have been so easy to make something so much richer with just a smidgen of effort on everyone’s parts. I expect so little from canon and I’m still let down. This is somehow worse than anything I expected canon to pull. It’s wild. What a bonkers series of choices to make.

[1] I know that most of this book would’ve been planned/written before lockdown, but please bear with the joke.

[knightofbalance-13]

Critical Tag Hypocrisy

One of the most anger inducing things about critical tags is that when someone, anyone, starts treating THEM even remotely like they treat the creators, theyb] get all uppidity ad call it harassment.

Like during my time with RWDE, they said that I harassed them when the worst thing I ever did was go around the blocking system once like a year ago but when they go and suicide bait not only me but my friend and even asked when one of the creators was gonna die, slander and spread lies about not just me but my friends, innocent people and the fucking creators of the show, they lie continuously, they drive people out of the fandom and then try playing the victim, they talk over minorities and scream at minorities for not thinking the way they want them to and exhibiting the behavior of cyber bullying (such as threatening harassment if content creators don’t include diversity all the damn time) and abusers (https://knightofbalance-13.tumblr.com/post/164532571210/rwde-the-domestic-abusers-of-the-fandom I made a fucking list). And when they try claiming to be better than the creators and I start treating them critically, they go and cry “HARASSMENT”. 

Like: If what I am doing, which is essentially calling you an asshole, harrasment, then what pray tell is YOUR actions, which contain ACTUAL harassment, cyber bullying bordering on terrorism and abusive behavior? If I’m Satan, what does that make you, someone who is OBJECTIVELY worse in every way?

[kitkatopinions]

What makes you like May so much? I notice that despite her relatively little screen time and character development, she’s in a LOT of your top 3 ships. Not hate or anything, just always curious when people latch on to minor characters

Alrighty, let’s unpack May Marigold. Like you said, she doesn’t have a lot of screen time or character development, but even if a character isn’t featured much, there are still ways you can like them right away. Funnily enough, some of the reasons I like May are the same reasons I liked Qrow from his first season even though he didn’t get a lot of focus and we knew very little about him.

1. Mannerisms, body language, and attitude

I like expressive characters, I like characters who are dry or feisty or both, I like characters who can be in tense situations and look totally bored, I like joking characters and mock politeness and winks and attitude. May has a dry wit and an air of devil-may-care behavior around her that I find really appealing in a character. But she also has a society upbringing and it leaks into her actions here and there and that adds interest. She feels really distinctive. Also since the mains have started all seeming a bit... interchangeable, May is a nice change of pace in that way. Everyone in the above image is making pretty much the same face, but May, who looks like she couldn't be more bored.

2. She's someone I want to root for

When Team RWBY wanted to pretend they were in a situation where they could save everyone and everyone could win, May recognized what they were too stubborn and illogical to. May was the voice of experience and reason in that situation that point blank told them ‘there’s no saving everyone, you have to choose.’ And I mean, I was on Ironwood’s side in volume seven before he shot Oscar, but May not only has a point in what she says and in her goals, but has follow through (something Ruby didn’t have.) She wants to launch Amity Tower and so accompanies Team RWBN while feeling assured that Ruby’s friends are making up for her loss in protecting Mantle, she resolves to help Mantle after the Tower is launched with the statement that Atlas has soldiers defending it while Mantle does not and therefore she’s of better use there, and then she does what she says she was going to and goes to protect the people of Mantle even though she did it alone because Team RWB couldn’t choose anything. While Team RWB was hiding out in a mansion drinking tea, May was actually determined to do something. May is a flawed character, she calls Penny ‘robo-girl’ and gets called out for it, she’s aggressive with Marrow, she’s partially responsible for the delay of Amity being launched, and she seems to follow Robyn with too much devotion imo (considering my dislike of Robyn lol, I think this is fair.) But she’s also determined to help those in need and is willing to follow through, and uses actual logic to see the situation for what it is and understands her own limitations. Between annoying protagonists with impossible idealistic standards that act like they never have to change who feel very insincere, former heroes who have gone crazy and who might be actually fighting and trying to do good but are also down to murder anyone and therefore can’t be supported, and villains who are getting ‘redeemed’ in the sloppiest and least convincing ways possible... May stood out as someone who is trying to be both smart and caring, brave and compassionate, but realistic. Ironwood was no longer allowed to be seen in a good light and so was turned into a puppy kicking maniacal ball of crazy willing to torture and bomb just to get his way, and Ruby was not allowed to be seen as wrong or failing and so the whole narrative was about how good and right she was even if she didn’t accomplish her goal or earn a victory because hey, at least she made a rousing speech and yelled at anyone who wanted to do something she deemed not enough. May was allowed to be a moral character who just disagreed with Ruby, she was allowed to make mistakes without it either being treated as monstrous or quickly covered with pretty words about how everyone knows she’s still great. May was allowed to be a character without the authors constantly reminding us of what they want us to think of her. Maybe if she’d been in one of the earlier seasons, she wouldn’t have been as compelling to me (because that wasn’t a rarity lol,) but compare her to Ruby now and she’s amazing. Also she told Ruby she was wrong, and she may have softened it later, but still, it was one of the better parts of the whole volume. Ruby needs more people who are willing to give her hard truths, instead of people who are going to agree with and support her no matter what.

3. Potential

When it comes to characters, the first thing I really look at is if they’d be good in fan fictions, how I’d use them, how I could see them interacting in this or that scenario, and what dynamics I think they’d have. A lot of this has very little to do with actual canon, like wondering how she’d fit into a fake organization full of OCs I’d written into a couple of fan fics or wondering what her dynamic would be with the redeemed Roman Torchwick and Emerald and Mercury that I’ve often centered my stories around. But some of it is stuff like ‘How would May see Winter? What sort of tension might May have with her in Vacuo?’ ‘How would May get along with Sun and Neptune in Vacuo?’ ‘When the others get back from the void, what will May be doing?’ Much like I took to the cocky but clearly more under the surface winking argumentative Qrow in his very first season, I like what little I’ve seen of her and hope I get more of what makes her an appealing character to me later. And much like I got attached to Neo after even her very minor appearances in the first three seasons and started including her as the babied little sister figure of Roman somehow three times more cut throat than him that takes his word as gospel, I like May for what I can see her turning into in my fics even if she’s never given a lot of focus or room to grow or (God forbid) gets her character thrown to the wolves.

Also, as for shipping her with people, I feel like since she hasn’t yet taken a lot of screen time and we are wondering at how she’ll interact with people once things aren’t so tense, it’s easy to imagine her with a lot of people just because I haven’t been put off by any interactions and relationships that were badly handled or that just don’t vibe. I think I’ve listed her in the top three ships with Ilia, Sun, and Blake, and omg I just realized how funny it is that I listed May as a possible romance for all three of them. XD These ships are pretty casual, as I was looking for numbers and I’ve shipped Sun and Blake for so long, it’s hard to picture them with anyone else and there are pretty big road blocks in shipping them with many of the other mains, and I hadn’t really considered many ships for Ilia before writing the post. May just happened to be a ship I saw that I thought ‘that could be pretty cute, actually.’ However, thinking about her and Sun...

Idk, I just think it’d be neat. If BlackSun can’t be canon, this just might be my second choice. Sun is a bright, caring, loyal optimist who isn’t afraid to get serious and emotionally vulnerable and is also down for some low grade crime here and there. He values independence, he’s not pushy, but he’s also not afraid to challenge and call people out. May is cynical and a bit jaded, puts her trust in people maybe a little too much, but is also feisty and sharp witted and has a quick tongue, and she’s compassionate and willing to get her hands dirty and put what she thinks needs to be done over what others want and she’s realistic and gutsy. Also he’s got blonde hair and blue eyes and she’s got blue hair and honey colored eyes, so... Yeah. I don’t know, because it’s so hard trying to ship anything other than BlackSun for him, but there might be something the writers could work with there.

[knightofbalance-13]

Your Handy Guide to Debunking RWDE Bullshit

http://dudeblade.tumblr.com/post/163107301598/your-handy-dandy-guide-to-the-rwde-tag

Ladies and Gentlemen, are people who call themselves critics acting more like abusive lovers? Is someone completely lying about a character and acting like that is how they are in canon? Is someone just outright attacking the creators?

Well, this guide will show you how to counter these arguments with ease.

Hello, my name is Dudeblade. I’ve been around this tag for a while, and I do feel that there are some things that need to be said for any person to be able to get into the tag overall. Consider this a guide of sorts, to help you navigate the (in)famous rwde tag, as I show you the wonders that aggressive criticism can bring.

we need to get this out of the way as soon as possible: “Aggressive criticism” and “being a general asshole are  not the same.” Aggressive criticism is when you give criticism in a harsh tone (I.E. “Why is Nora’s frame moving separate from her body? This is easy mistake to fix!”) and being a general asshole is just benig insulting (I.E. “Why si Nora’s frame moving separate from her body, you incompetent fuck? This is why people hate you and why in the hell this shit is popular is beyond me. And don’t try defending it whiteknights.”)

Notice how one is just exasperated and the other is being malicious and insulting? that’s the difference between Aggressive criticism and hate. And RWDE is mostly the second masquerading as the first. Still, you have to give people the benefit of the doubt (I have been bitten by this personally) and either wait to see what they say or look into their blog.

Just a quick reminder that these rules not only apply to rwde, but to every day interactions overall: [1] [2].

... Listen, the things you learn in here CAN be used in day to day interactions...if you are the debating type or the critical type. And even then, RWDE postsers are not normal people: they are mostly comprised of selfish, social justice warrior, psychoctic and narassistic people and I urge you not even treat all critics a half of the way you do RWDE: They deserve better.

Now before you jump into the rwde tag, it’s important to know a few things about the tag to begin with, like how this one post sums up pretty much 98% of the tag.

Incorrect: the link provided implies most RWDE posts are about being criticial and helping the show. That is the excuse. What is actually going on is that hate what RWBY is and want things done their way, shown in that they are incapable of putting aside their personal biases against certain people (Miles, jaune or in Dudeblade’s case, Taiyang) ad a c t like personal opinion and criticism are one and in the same with them.  This si mostly used to brush off criticism of how they express hate more than love for the show.

The tag isn’t a place for hatred, no matter what people might say, or how they act (HA! Take that, me!). The rwde tag is here so that people who don’t want to see criticism/complaints about the show can avoid it. However, since you’re here, it probably means that you are either A: Trying to understand the tag better. 2: Trying to figure out whether or not you should post something in the rwde tag. or third: You’re a person who is looking to start something and/or trying to cherry-pick things so that you can demonize the entire tag. if you are part of the third group, then eff off.

And yet certain people in the rwde tag (like Cpt-10) insist that RWDE started as a hate and venting tag for the show and to this day contains direct attacks against the show and the writers to the point of harassment. This is a core problem with RWDE posters as well: They believe everything negative about the show is “criticism” and everything positive is “ass-kissing”. They will completely ignore and even attack people who tell them to tone it down (and no, I don’t count: I just tell them to shut up in general.)

The three categories actually come closer to the following: New to the Tag, trying to see what the tag actually is and critics of the tag. And I do mean criticis, as nice and passive as you can be towards to people in the rwde tag, they will ignore it and continue doing what they were doing even if most of the fandom and indeed most people with the average decent morality will tell them what they are doing wrong. And the Fuck Off part is pretty accurate as to why they react to criticism.

The entire point of the tag is to be able to post complaints and harsh criticisms of the show in such a way that others don’t have to see it. They can blacklist it if they so choose

And yet there are posts calling the CRWBY homophobes and sexists which don’t even make sense considering half of them are females and they have prominent and vocal LGBT people in their team. This or they will simply call everything they do bad and never endingingly insult and attack the show, calling it shit. (Look at SOkumotonaka’s posts about RWBY being in the Blazblue crossover: instead of being happy for the fandom or bring up the actual criticism as to why Guilty Gear was not featured but RWBY was: he isnteads promotes hate against RWBY.)

My advice for countering this is sarcasm: lots of it. not only will your posts be more interesting to read but you can also bring more subtly to your arguments as well make sure your jabs are not completely malicious.

Secondly, it’s a good idea to figure out exactly what it is about the show that you want to criticize. There’s plenty of things to criticize the show about, so I’ll cover the most popular subjects.

Yes but I want you to take a look at the subjects: LGBT representation, Racism and character representation. Out of these three starting points, only one is actual problem in the production of the show at face value. the other two are, you guessed it, social justice topics. This is because RWDE posters are mostly Social Justice Radicals (I refuse to use the term SJW: There is nothing warrior like these people) who specialize in attacking people over RWBY.  RWBY began with four female characters and Monty said that there will be an LGBT character: this drew in the radicals of the group. And now, a major part of RWDE is attempting to bully people into agreeing with them and getting what they want. And I will guide you in how to counter them all.

1. LGBT Representation. It’s no secret that the LGBT+ Fanbase is getting tired of waiting for the reveal of the queer character that was promised so long ago. The only assurances are that they want it to “Be natural” and that “They don’t want it to feel forced.” However, at some point, “Wanting it to feel natural” starts to sound like “We don’t consider it to be natural, so we have to have all this buildup to it.” And “Don’t want it to feel forced” falls apart when one remembers that Pyrrha wanted to jump on jaune’s dick within moments of meeting him, Renora not feeling forced at all, and people claiming that Blake and Sun are practically a couple. But those apparently weren’t forced at all. And the fact that it was MONTY OUM (god rest his soul) who said that there would be LGBT+ representation, it doesn’t give people hope that the LGBT+ Representation is coming anytime soon. For the record, this isn’t even counting all the discourse that arose from BMBLB being released. That’s a different can-o-worms right there.

Counter: Bring up LGBT people in the fandom who are calling aginst this or have no opinion on the matter. Since this argument is based on the fallacy that the RWDE posters speak for everyone in the LGBT group: Bring up people of the same community who have a different opinion. @weissrose @rwby-analysis and @hawkeyedflame are all examples of people who do not agree with RWDE postser’s stances on this (DOn’t actually try bring them into the discussion directly: They won’t like it. Instead, ask @mageknight14 @tumblezwei or @ula-star for their statements on the subject if you have no other options. I would think you should ask your friends and use them as examples with their permission. This doesn’t there aren’t people who have this opinion, just that they don’t speak for everyone.

Another counter would be to bring the people in the tag’s history in being called “homophobes” despite the people being LGBT themselves. This will show that they only care about people who stand by them and don’t actually care about the subject.

2. Character representation. Due to the… unsettling amount of lines that some characters have had over others, people are starting to think that a certain character is hogging the attention to themselves. In addition, there are sometimes characters that are given a sympathetic light when they have yet to earn any sympathy, characters that were put in just to give the audience a new person to hate, and characters that acted SO abrupt, that they felt like they were OOC despite it being their first time onscreen.

Counter: to the line argument, state “what is the content of the lines?” See, while a character may speak, they don’t necessarily benefit from talking nr are they the focus of what is being said. For example in Volume 4 Episode 10, Jaune had a long speech that consists of most of his lines in the Volume. However, he doesn’t benefit at all from the talk. In fact, he actively devalues himself to the real topic: Ruby. Ruby is the one who benefits and develops from the lines, not Jaune. For further examples: Taiyang, Ghira, Kali and Klien’s are pretty much all made to develop their children. Because a character speaks doesn’t mean they benefit from it.

A second counter would be to take into account character’s personalities: Ruby herself doesn’t talk all that much and her time is spent mostly reacting to the world or in combat thus she wouldn’t have as many lines as more vocal characters. But she still has the lions share of screentime in her plotline. These at logical fallacies to make their side look better but they are easy to deconstruct.

The counter to the characters being OOC is to point out bias on their part through either previous posts or their language, as well as liking to certain moments that contradict them through atmosphere, actions or tone. Again, RWDE will claim things that are simply not true and teh best way to deal with them is links,

3. Racism problems. Let’s be honest here, outside of select few, very few faunus have positive depictions. Neon is basically Nyan Cat (One of the oldest, and most annoying memes since Rick-Rolling), Any White Fang member is an automatic villain, Tyrian is a psycho, and to a degree, Sun counts too (He’s a stowaway, and steals ‘cause it’s fun). Not to mention the fact that it makes no sense. In the real world, people would be more likely to date a faunus rather than try to kill them. Now, if it had been jealousy over their enhanced senses, that would have made sense. But the WoR stated that when man first encountered the Faunus, they were afraid.

To counter this: point out how the majority of the Fanaus in the show seen are in fact members or the White Fang which is a terrorist organization and thus because one of the major struggles in the show is trying to get the White Fang back to peaceful protest and not Fanaus as a whole, there would be more negative representation.

Then point out Fanaus characters OUTSIDE of the White Fang and share their reactions: Especially Sun as is both a vocal character and one that has no relation to the White Fang so he would act as the voice of Fanaus outside of the White Fang: Point out his very vocal disdain for the group and show that most would not think of the WHite Fang as their representatives.

As for the accusations for the characters: Point out how Yang isn’t going around stealing pourage or Pyrrha wasn’t pouty and selfish. This shows that the characters are not the same as their inspirations and thus the argument against Neon is invalid. Point out Sun’s heroic acts such as helping Blake defend against the White Fang, attacking the Paladin despite the risk to his life, helping defeat the machines attacking Beacon, saving Blake from death against the Grimm Sea Dragon, how he risked his life to stop Illia. This shows that Sun is not that simple. For Tyrian, point out his loyalty and devoution to Salem as opposed to Cinder, Watts and Hazel, thus making him the best person out of the four. In essence: Show the that just because they have flaws and are Fanaus, they are not automatically bad. And if necessary, point out how Blake is unambiguously good alongside her father and mother.

You can even use teh arguments used for the LGBT community argument for anything concerning race too here. However, don’t use tehse arguments in reverse: The LGBT arguments doesn’t have these problems.

“MKG” Stands for Miles, Kerry, Grey - The writers of the show. The ones that everyone believes is tearing the fndm down right now. Given that they’ve made the cliche, “We’re not homophobic, but…” excuses so many times, and literally have a “fag” joke in Camp Camp, it shows just how ‘great’ their representation and respect is. “M&K” Is also a used term for them, but it excludes Grey

*Sigh* To counter ths is easy: Point out how they’ve never actually said anything to this extent and then bring up original definition of Faggot which is a bundle of sticks and point out how the show was doing a play on words. Then ring up South Park’s “The F-Word” as the final nail as these kinds of people are mocked in that episode.

“bmblbgate” is a term that is used to label the whole “bmblb controversy.” - it’s best not to go into “full-rant” mode for this, as others have already done it before.

Counter: Bring up the fallacy of the “-gate” title meant to portray a horrible event and subconsciously make the reader turn against RT when in all actuality, the only controversy was the RWDE tag attacking Arryn and any LGBT members that defended them. And no, you cannot callit “Bmblbgate” either. Or you can bring up “Assistgate” where someone falsely accused RT or stealing assests from other games before they were promptly shut down or “Lettergate” pertaining to Shane’s Letter which RWDE argued was truth despite self admitted mental illness, unhealthy hero worship of monty and attempting to blame RT for his failed marriage because he spent more time with Monty and Sheena then his own wife.

“Disgusting Males” is a term by another “rwde-er.” It’s used to describe a male character that is generally hated by the fans. This doesn’t actually exist, it’s really just Jaune. - Speaking of…

Counter: bring up the hate that Qrow, Taiyang, Sun, Neptune and even Ren gets and show that the RWDE Poster’s bias against male characters, especially if said character does something that a female character has gotten away with.

More terminology includes “Queerbaiting” in which you counter by pointing out since the show is not over, the LGBT character can still happen and RT never said when the character shows up. Also: Point out that teasing a ship between two same sex characters is not queerbaiting: it’s ship tease and to call it bad for just being gay is not equality. “R/WBY” which is the RWDE poster’s way of avoiding the main tag. And I can’t remember much more so I’ll move on.

1. No ship hate. You can bemoan how some people are unfairly treating certain ships, are basically hating on it, or are trying to start a shipping war -but NO ship bashing. It takes $0.00 to just scroll past your NOTP. So spend it wisely.

Counter: point out how the RWDE tag is about compliants about the show and complaining about ships is still compliants regarding the show. Also, point out this rule if “queerbaiting” comes up.

2. 99% of all opinions are valid in the rwde tag. This is a tag about complaints and criticisms. This isn’t a place to bash on characters, with the exception of Jaune “Creator’s Pet” Arc. Give Jaune mass praise at your own peril when posting in the rwde tag. That 1%? - That any opinion that praises jaune in any way, and it won’t be met with defense.

Counter: point out how Jaune is actually disregarded in the show, like getting hit in the balls in his first fights scene or how he had to be assisted in pinning the Nucklevee’s arm in Volume 4 as proof. Also point out the logical fallacy of defending a certain character is not okay but anyone else is contradictory and how that argument can be applied to any character.

4. Respect others’ opinions. You don’t have to agree with it, and you can even block the person if they bug you so you so much… Okay, scratch that rule, the new rule is “At least try to respect others’ opinions.” This is the internet. People can be a jerkass to people and not have to face major consequences. You can basically be anybody on the internet. In a memic term:

Counetr: point out that when someone in the rwde tag professes the opinion that "queerbaiting” hasn't happened yet, they are called homophobes. Point out how anyone who calls the White fang terrorists is racist. Point out how anyone who defends the show in the tag is called a whiteknight. Aks them about those opinions and expose the hypocrisy.

Okay, the next is a faq about the tag which mostly consists of slander against...well, guess who? As I have refuted these points so many times, let me inform you about the people in the RWDE tag:

Sokumonotaka: Fanboy of Fatmanfalling (the orginal RWDE member) and probably the oldest member of the tag. Somewhat dangerous since he is somewhat smart but eh relies almost solely attempting to aggravate his opponents and logical fallacies. Stay calm and read up on logical fallacies and you’ll be fine. Although chances are Soku will block you in order to make fun of you without yu being able to defend yourself.

RWBYcriticism: Not very active but sadly one of teh few people in the tag I’d call close to a decent human being. I’d just ignore them.

SSSN-Neptune-vallias: Racist and sexist person who has a tendency to passive aggressively post about the tag. Bring up his post about how he said it was okay to harass creators for not brining in representation (http://sssn-neptune-vasilias.tumblr.com/post/160493347203/if-youre-making-a-show-at-all-in-the-modern-age)

Invested-In-Your-Future: Sexist who thinks all guys in RWBY are bad. Just bring up Jaune or Sun and she’ll defeat herself.

rwbycrit: Not worth your time.

Dudeblade: Sexist who is incapable of seeing himself as wrong. Just argue and eventually his emotions will take over and he’ll prove your point for you.

That’s basically it.

Now, you can basically defeat anyone in the rwde tag in a debate by simply being smart, using the internet to your advantage to use sources and links to contradict and shut the down. All you need to do is be versed in logical fallacies and RWBY and you’ll do just fine. Hope this helps you fight back against them. Good luck!

[knightofbalance-13]

Horseshoe Theory of Fandom Appreciation

http://dudeblade.tumblr.com/post/159601708316/blind-fanboyism-and-the-dangers-of-it

I could go on a rant about how dudeblade doesn’t get the message and how he’s a hypocrite but I want to do something productive with this. This a point in fandoms people seem to miss a lot: If you’re a blind ANHING, be it shipper, fan or hater, you ARE damaging the show. You are NO better than the other and as much as you deny it, you are JUST as bad as the other.

This is called the Horseshoe Theory Of Fandom Appreciation

Before we begin, I to explain WHAT the original Horseshoe Theory is. Essentially, the Horseshoe Theory is the belief that the Extremists of the far left and the far right have more in common than their center of the road counterparts. Such as the belief that sex should be demonized, whether because it’s immoral for the far right or because it’s sexist for the far left.

My theory is that those who are blinded by devoution (AKA fanboys) and those who at blinded by hatred (AKA haters) have more in common and do equal amounts of damage as each other. Throughout this post I will using this theory in practice against Dudeblade’s arguments, showing how blind hatred is just as bad as blind devoution. As well as disprove any misconceptions about myself in the post.

Here’s one reason: You stunt the growth of the show. By constantly praising it, and never giving suggestions on how it can improve, you cause the show to get stuck in a rut. It will never grow.

While at first this seems impossible to compare to blind hatred as it seems impossible for harsh criticism to be destructive,, the problem here lies in the fact that if you constantly bash on a show, constantly insult the people behind the show and never show them what they are doing right, they’ll either make desperate changes to the show to appease fans, think they an do nothing right and give up all together or hate their fans and make the show spit in their faces. The last is especially true as this HAS happened before with Neon Genesis Evangelion as the so-called fans of the show sent death threats to Hideaki Anno and he responded with End Of Evangelion, basically a giant middle finger to everyone and drastically lowering the quality of the show.

See what happens? Blind devoution and Blind hatred make the exact same outcome using the exact same tactics through different means. So Both are equally wrong. As for myself, I have criticized RWBY before and do have problems with the show. But likewise, I have problems with how criticism is given which will be discussed later.

Here’s another reason: You make the creators of the show unable or unused to taking criticism. The world isn’t sunshine and rainbows. So sorry that you can’t handle the fact that your work has flaws. Get. Over. It. If you can’t accept criticism, then maybe you shouldn’t be a content creator.

That also happens with blind hatred. By never letting the creators know what they are doing right or if every criticism has the intent of harming them (We’ll talk about intent latter) they'll never accept criticism because that’s all they get and to preserve their mental state, they will ignore everything but the positive which they ae so starved for that they accept it at first glance, whetehr constructive or not. Same goes for the bad. Once again, same result and same tactics through different means.

I’d also like to point out that both sides usually contain hypocrites of the highest caliber who refuse to see anyone in the wrong except who they personally believe, For fans, they can’t see that their slight dislike of this one character from a different media is the same as this other character someone else dislikes that they attacked them over. Or in Dudeblade’s case: Saying that you shouldn’t be a content creator if you can’t take criticism then deletes criticism directed at him.

Here comes a man named Semmelweis. He was one of the first who pioneered the idea of sanitation in a workplace like a hospital. He was also, a huge asshole. People didn’t listen to him because he came off harsh. But his ideas were still right. Criticism is criticism. Doesn’t matter if it’s put ‘nicely’ or not.

Here is the question of intent and what separates a critic from a blind hater. Did Semmelweis say that we should be sanitary because it was the right thing to do? or did he say it because he did it and he wanted everyone else to act the way he did?

Intent dictates what is criticism and what isn’t. If your intent behind your words is that you want the show to get better or you don’t want it’s mistakes repeated, you are a critic. If your intent is to bash a character, bash a writer or make people do what you want selfishly then you are a hater. The same goes for the difference between a real fan and a fanboy:Ifyour intent behind denying criticism is that you do not see what the criticism is even after giving it a shot, you are a normal fan. If you deny any and all criticism without thinking about it because of personal feelings: You are a fanboy.

Blind hater: Rawgh! I hate all the characters! They should die! The show is stupid! The creators should go kill themselves! Neutral fan: Can you explain why, or are you just going to rage on? Blind hater: … Neutral fan: Huh. He left. — Blind devotion: OMG The show is perfect!!! I hope that it gets nominated for something! Neutral fan: But what about3this scene, where some questionable shit happens, and there’s a glaring plothole after it- Blind devotion: OMG! I can’t believe you hate the show! If you don’t like it, then don’t watch it! *Scoff!* — See? It’s not easy handling the blind fanboy. At least you can shut up the blind hater, or wait until they find something else to hate/fanboy over.

Let me modify this with my experiences from fighting blind haters even outside of RWDE:

Blind Hater: Ugh I hate everything aboyt this show! It’s complete and total shit! Neutral fan: Why is that? Blind Hater: because it is! Neutral fan: Okay but...why though? Blind Hater: Because you idiot! Neutal Fan: But..Don’t you have a reason? Blind Hater: Because I say so! Neutral fan: But... tha’s not a critical reason. And even the reasons you provide are clearly contradicted by what’s shown in the sho- Blind Hater: FANBOY!

Blind Fan: I love this show! It’s perfect! Neutral Fan: Why is that? Blind Fan: Because it is! Neutral Fan: ... Why though? Blind Fan: Because you idiot! Neutral Fan: ... Oh dear god, it’s happening again-Do you have a reason? Blind Fan: because I say- Neutra Fan: You say so, yeah I’ve ehard it all before. Let’s just skip to the part where you call me a hater because I point out you’re being blind? Blind Fan: HATER! Neutral fan: Called it.

This is how it always goes: Both sides demand that they are right because they think so, ven if the show and criticial analysis denies either one of them. It always happens like this.

My problem isn’t that I am a blind fan: RWBY has problems. Undeniable problems. Too many clichés, shaky pacing, development to the wrong people at times, not enough development for others, not enough time for what they are trying ect. RWBY has problems. My problem is that you are clearly blind haters as shown by my application of the horseshoe theory, that you are blind to your faults and blind to your damage. I just want critics to be critics, not haters.

And I hope  have conclusively proven that no matter what they say: Blind hate and blind devoution are essentially the same and do the same damage. And I hope you learn not to be like the others.

Good day.