#felt like i should ask since 2 out of 4 members of rwby are with someone now

[aspoonofsugar]

Your Power...Your Theme

This post is born because of @waywardtravelerfart asking about a comparison between Semblances (Rwby) and Quirks (BNHA).

In general, I am not a hardcore BNHA fan, though, so I decided to drag other magic systems in this comparison.

So, I will be comparing...

1) Semblances:

2) Quirks:

3) Nen (HxH):

4) Abilities (BSD):

5) Magic (WHA):

Body and Soul

1) & 3)

Pyrrha: Aura is the manifestation of our soul. It bears our burdens and shields our hearts. Have you ever felt you were being watched without knowing that someone was there? With practice, our Aura can be our shield. Everyone has it, even animals.

Nen and Semblances are very similar ideas. Both have their root in the concept of aura aka life force and are trained through specific exercises that are based on martial arts.

More importantly, they are manifestations of a person’s soul.

This is why in both series they are linked to one’s individuality:

Ren: A common philosophy is that a warrior’s Semblance is a part of who they are.

And both Nen and Semblances grow and evolve with the person.

At the same time, both stories focus not only on the soul, but also on the body.

In HxH Gon and Killua must train their bodies just as much as their nen. No matter how much stronger their auras become, they would still be left defenseless if they forget about basic training and if they do not take care of their bodies.

Similarly, Huntsmen and Huntresses in Rwby have both Semblances and Weapons:

By baring your soul outward as a force, you can deflect harm. All of our tools and equipment are conduits for Aura. You protect yourself and your soul when fighting.

Weapons are linked to personalities just like Semblances are:

Ruby: Just weapons? They’re an extension of ourselves! They’re a part of us! Oh, they’re so cool.

It is only through the combination of weapons and semblances that one becomes strong and whole.

In order to experience humanity to its fullest, one needs both a soul:

And a body:

In short, Semblances and Nen are representative of the Soul. They are a physical projection of it. Moreover, they need to be completed by the Body to properly work.

4)

BSD abilities are similar because they clearly symbolize characters’ coping mechanisms.

They are linked to people’s personalities and their effects are highly variegated and impossible to explain through biology alone (for example, a character is able to materialize a whole room in another dimension).

At the same time, they seem to have some physical properties.

For example, it is possible to create artificial abilities and to implant them into people. The process has yet to be properly explained, though.

This can be compared to the research on aura made in Rwby.

That said, this specific research is framed negatively by the narrative because it is an attempt to control what it should not be (a person’s soul).

Similary, in BSD, such experiments are criticized as well because they violate human rights and are an attempt to weaponize abilities, which is an ongoing topic explored by the story.

2)

Quirks are instead framed as the result of biological evolution. This creates an interesting inversion compared to the other stories. Quirks are not simply physical representations of a character’s psychology, but they are a part of the reason why that character develops a specific coping mechanism.

Toga is attracted to blood because her Quirk is about drinking blood, so she naturally likes it.

Shigaraki’s destruction traumatizes him because it leads to his family’s death.

Touya’s weak constitution makes his power difficult to use, hence he develops self-hurting tendencies.

5)

Finally, Magic in WHA is something that exists outside the characters.

It is not something people are born with, but an art they can master through study and dedication.

Its origin is still unknown, but it is explained that it works thanks to specific materials:

And even human blood can be used to strengthen it:

In short, Magic is a human art that makes use of specific natural resources and a specific knowledge to create several effects. In a sense, its logic is similar to both art and programming. It is similar to art because the witches need to exercise on drawing and to be creative on their approaches to things. It is similar to programming because they must use what is basically a specific language made of symbols to create different effects.

So, Magic is not linked to a person’s soul in the way other magical systems are, but a character’s personality still emerges from the kind of magic they specialize in. This is something unavoiable... after all this is how personality works in real life as well... we all have different approaches to problems and beliefs that will emerge in our art and in our jobs.

In conclusion, all these magical systems are connected in different ways to characters’ personalities, to their flaws and to their symbolic roles in the narrative.

In these metas, there are some examples of how this happens for HxH, Rwby, BSD and WHA.

Power and Privilege

3) & 5)

Nen and Magic are similar:

With enough training, both powers can be used by everyone.

However, both HxH society and WHA society choose to keep them secret because the damage that could come from sharing this knowledge is potentially devastating.

That said, both stories also show how there is hypocrisy behind this stance.

HxH does so in an indirect way.

Nen is supposed to be secret, so that dangerous people can’t use its power for wrong reasons.

However, many hunters are not really moral people. If anything many are violent and ready to kill. The exam itself encourages these tendencies since it does not punish murderers. Moreover, it turns out that very dangerous people already know about nen:

WHA explores this theme more directly:

The secret behind magic creates inequality. Magic could be used to help much more people, but it is limited by the law that imposes witches to keep the secret and forbids them from using magic to heal.

The result is an unjust society and a paradox. Isn’t there another way to use magic that it is less elitarian?

2) Similarly, quirks create inequality in BNHA. However, the mechanisms behind it are slightly different.

Not only people without quirks are discriminated, but also people with specific powers are considered less than others.

This happens either because the power is considered weak or lame or because it is considered a villain power.

In other words, BNHA society nurtures a simplicistic and black and white vision of quirks and people. This leads to some being discriminated for their quirks and to others being excused of everything because of their abilities.

4) In BSD, we have a similar yet partly opposite situation.

Ability users are mostly dehumanized and weaponized by society.

Basically the series explores how society makes use of its more vulnerable members and objectifies them.

So, in BSD having an ability is not really a synomim of privilege, but it is rather something that can set you apart and make you a victim of your country or your organization.

Because of this,the characters struggle to both accept their powers, but also not to be defined by it.

1) Finally, the case of RWBY is interesting because even if society is founded on privilege and inequity, semblances are not really a pivotal part of it.

It is much more common for people to be discriminated because of their bodies (like the Faunus) or their social status than for their semblances. Surely, cases like those exist, but they are not particularly explored by the story.

This might be because semblances are just one of many factors that determine a personal’s stance in society. Moreover, it is not even that clear how much common people know about semblances and aura. I would not say it is exactly a secret, especially because semblances can manifest themselves in a variety of situations. Still, it seems to me that they are mostly aknowledged and accepted by common people, but not exactly pursued or studied.

Symbolically, semblances are linked to an ancient magic that has been forgotten by people. This could tie with why some people, especially in Atlas, have been dismissive of them to an extent. Whitley dismisses his own and is not interested in developing it, while Watts is one of the few characters who fight without a semblance.

It might very well be that human technology and dust make so many different effects possible that a semblance, even if important for a warrior’s own strength and individuality, is not really the only factor that determines the place of a person in society.

In conclusion, all these power systems are linked to privilege in different ways. They are used to explore social inequality or parts of the society that are either repressed or not aknowledged.

Choices and limits

1) 2) & 4)

Quirks, Abilities, Semblances and their limits are not chosen. You are born with them and the most you can do is to try and overcome the limitations or to come up with clever ways to use your power.

You can train your Quirk, so that it becomes stronger.

When it comes to Abilities instead, characters usually must train to control what are potentially dangerous powers.

There are also abilities that help other people to control their powers and modify how these powers work. For example, there is a character whose ability is about summoning a fighting avatar. However, to do so, she needs to be called on a specific phone and it is actually the one calling that commands the avatar. Still, thanks to the influence of the above mentioned ability, she becomes able to summon the avatar at will and does not need the phone anymore.

Finally, in the case of Semblances, you need to meditate and to train your semblance, so that it can evolve. At the same time, though, semblance evolution can happen also because of specifical psychological conditions.

For example, Ren’s Tranquility both activates and evolves not because of physical training, but because of stress (the first time) and emotional growth (the second). This is fitting because his ability has mostly to do with emotions, so it is telling that it evolves as he grows emotionally rather than physically.

Ruby’s semblance is instead a physical one since she is super fast. So it is fitting that it mostly manifests and evolves with her training at using it.

Finally, when it comes to semblances, you do not really choose how they evolve and what new effects you gain. They are mostly an unconscious part of yourself that grows with you.

3) & 5)

The kind of magic you specialize in and the nen power you are gonna have are things one chooses.

To be more specific, they are influenced from one’s talents, but then they evolve according to a person’s choice.

For example, the protagonist Gon has an aura which is particularly good to strengthen things, so he chooses to use it to strengthen his punch. Moreover, he really likes Jankenpon, so he comes up with a power that uses this game. It is a technique that creates different effects depending on what he chooses to “play” (scissors, rock or paper).

Similarly, Coco is good at drawing straight lines and this makes her good with basic magic, that she uses in original ways because of her thinking outside the box. Her teacher Qifrey instead specializes in water magic because he used to be scared of water when he was little and wanted to overcome this fear.

At the same time, both nen users and witches must face limitations.

Nen has limitations that are self-imposed and decided by the users.

Magic has limitations that are imposed by society and codified through law.

Nen works with the idea that the stronger the limitation you set, the stronger will be your power. Similarly, if you sacrifice something, you can obtain a more powerful effect.

For example, another character called Kurapika creates chains with different powers. One of his chains has the limitation to only work on the members of a specific criminal group. Moreover, if Kurapika breaks this rule, he’ll lose his life. Since the sacrifice Kurapika has decided is pretty extreme, that chain is basically impossible to break.

Of course, limitations do not need to be so extreme. The protagonist’s jankenpon is limited by the fact he says out loud the name of his technique and takes time to use it (both goes against him, since it gives his opponent time to prepare). In this way the power gets stronger.

Magic is a very dangerous force, so it is prohibited to use magic on people’s bodies. This includes the idea that you can’t heal bodies directly or that you can’t change the way you look. It also forbids people from using blood to make magic stronger and to put glyphs on a person’s skin.

These limitations challenge the characters and force them to think outside the box. For example, Coco wants to save her mom who became a stone. The best way to do so is  to use magic on her, but this is prohibited hence Coco keeps brainstorming about how she can do it and even thinks about breaking the law multiple times.

In conclusion, powers are often linked to the self and the degree of control and choices characters have on them is symbolic of which part of the self we are talking about.

In the case of semblances and abilities, they mirror an unconscious part.

A Quirk is a biological factor that influences one’s self instead and that everyone can try ot develop in a way they like.

Finally, nen and magic are a conscious part of the self that still mirrors unconscious tendencies.

Not only that, but abilties have limits that come from either outside the person or inside them.

POWER SYSTEMS AND THE FIVE KINDS OF CONFLICT

In stories, there are at least five types of conflict.

1) Man vs Self

2) Man vs Society

3) Man vs Man

4) Man vs Nature

5) Man vs God

The magic systems we explored are linked to at least three of these five types.

Man vs Self

Supernatural abilities are linked to a person’s interiority and personality. Often they are representative of the character’s flaw and their limits can be overcome only by the person’s growth.

Man vs Society

Power systems end up being influenced and influence fictional societies.

They can represent privilege or some wrongdoing in society itself.

Alternatively, they can be limited by society’s rules and imposed laws.

Man vs Man

It is not uncommon to have special powers used in fights. In this case, they become symbolic ways to explore characters’ relationships, themes and different value systems.

This is something that BSD, HxH and Rwby do a lot. WHA has had less fights as for now, but it is definately something that has come up and will come up more in the future. Finally, I am not too much into BNHA to comment on the series, but I would be surprised if it is not the same there as well.

In conclusion, I do not really have much to say on the onthology of powers in different narrative worlds and tbh I do not think this is really what many writers think about when they design them. I think what writers focus on is how to make interesting powers that convey a character’s personality, can be used to explore the world and give life to entertaining fights.

[littlemisssquiggles]

I might get some flack for this but, in hindsight, Oscar technically doesn’t need to be in chapter 4. He hasn’t gone to a huntsmen academy. He hasnt really been properly trained, and therefore he shouldn’t get a license and celebrate with everyone. I’m sure he’d feel it’d be weird to celebrate with them anyway since he hasn’t been with them for as long as they been with each other, and besides he hasn’t earned anything, at the moment. He’d be more comfortable congratulating them when they return

Hey Cora. Whelp, first of all, I don’t think you’re going to get any flack since you’re not the only Pinehead who’s tried to justify why it was a good thing that Oscar wasn’t present to join everyone in celebrating receiving their huntsmen licenses. So you’re good on that front.

Here’s the thing with that though. I get what you’re saying, and while I can’t speak for all Pineheads, I can speak for myself and explain why I didn’t particularly enjoy RWBY V7CH4 for Oscar’s absence from that scene. I didn’t like it when I first watched the episode yesterday and even now, after I’ve listened to this same rationale from other Pineheads such as yourself, I’m sorry but my feelings have not changed much from my initial first impression.

This episode only served to further justify a glaring issue with Oscar’s treatment within the show. I’ve heard other Pineheads (and in some cases, even Ozpinheads) voice this concern before and now I’m starting to see it too. 

Oscar is not a character. At least, often at times, he doesn’t feel like a character even after three seasons since part of his characterization involves him being used as a plot device for the purpose of either advancing the plot or aiding in another character’s development while his own gets swept under the rug.

With the exception of certain characters; like Ruby and to some extent Nora; the only time when the other characters are required to care about Oscar’s well-being is when it services the plot. Other times, the Writers are perfectly content with having the characters behave as if Oscar doesn’t exist and this is where it becomes bothersome to Pineheads like myself who take notice of this dribble.

This would explain why Blake mentioned him last episode since it led into Yang addressing the Mammoth Grimm in the room regarding hiding the truth about Salem from Ironwood which then led into her asking Ruby about Oscar’s feelings in all of this.

It serviced the plot since that’s how we were able to get the flashback to Ruby’s talk with Oscar…even though it was brief. And following that episode, Oscar wasn’t seen or mentioned again for CH4 since…well…his presence wasn’t required to advance the plot of this seemingly filler episode. CH4 definitely felt like one of those ‘cool down’ episodes especially coming off the high of the last three episodes that were pretty packed with lots of entertaining action and intriguing plot-heavy exposition.

So Oscar wasn’t a factor in CH4 since his character wasn’t needed. Still didn’t make his absence feel any less weird, at least to me since a) I genuinely missed my boy this episode and most importantly of all b) I don’t understand why he couldn’t be there with everyone.

Not even your rationale about Oscar being uncomfortable being there around everyone when they’re having their moment is helpful because it doesn’t really answer why he couldn’t be there. It’s just another hunch—another potential reason as to why Oscar couldn’t be there but we’re not sure if that’s the case since it’s not supported by the show.

This is why I have a better chance at believing the Pinehead hunch by @miki-13 and @maripr where Oscar wasn’t present for the celebrations because, at the moment, there might be some unspoken tension between him and Ruby that possibly arose because of their talk from CH3. 

I’d believe that reason since it’s supported by a bit of evidence from the show. The saddened expression on Ruby’s face and how defensive she got when Yang probed her about the topic definitely gives the vibe that she didn’t manage to win over Oscar as she did with the others. I wouldn’t be surprised if this was the case as we’ve seen in the past how Oscar becomes when he senses that Ruby isn’t being completely honest with him. 

So I’m wondering if the two did get into a fight and now things are akward between them. I don’t really know and another thing that bummed me out about CH4 is that we got no further clarification of what went down between the Rosebuds. CH3 gave us a teaser and left us a cliff-hanger while CH4 dropped it all together. This all feels like the calm before the storm.

Like imagine if…in the next episode, it is revealed that things are indeed tense between Ruby and Oscar. Like picture the episode kicking off with Ruby standing outside the door of Oscar’s dorm this time to parallel him coming to her in CH3. 

Perhaps…the door is closed and Ruby has just been standing there for several beats, gearing herself up to speak to Oscar since, the last time the two chatted, it didn’t go as well as she remembered. 

But as Ruby goes to knock on the door, it suddenly slides open and there’s Oscar already standing before her. Oscar doesn’t even react to seeing Ruby there. 

As the audience, you can tell that there is some assumed strain between the little barn prince and his little red rose by their taut interaction but you don’t get a sense of what’s really going on until they speak to each other.

Imagine a dialogue exchange like this:

Oscar: *tersely* …Uh hey. What’s up?

Ruby: *awkwardly* Oh I…just wanted to show you this. *whips out her huntsman license* I got my license, see! Ironwood gave it to us after the mission. Isn’t that…great?

Oscar: *indifferently* Yeah. Nora and Jaune already told me. Congratulations.

Ruby: …Thank you.

Oscar: *dismissively* Anyways, I should get going. Got training.

Ruby: Oscar wait. C—Can we talk?

Oscar: About what?

Ruby: You know what. About…what happened…last time we—

Oscar: It depends. Did you tell Ironwood the truth about Salem?

Ruby: N—No but—

Oscar: *crossly* Then there’s nothing for us to talk about.

Imagine if...Oscar is mad right now at Ruby. It’d actually be interesting if there was currently a bit of bad blood between the Rosebuds. I’ve seen one or two Pineheads voice how much they’d like to see Oscar go off on everyone for how he’s been treated by the group since Argus. I doubt Oscar is going to be 100% okay with Ruby pulling an Ozpin. As a matter of fact, I’m expecting that to be a point of conflict for his side of things this season. 

The last time Ozpin pulled an Ozpin, Oscar technically was the one who instigated the reveal. If Oscar hadn’t stopped Oz from trying to retrieve the Relic back from Ruby and if he hadn’t also told Ruby the truth about the lamp then Jinn wouldn’t have been summoned. You can almost go so far as to say that Oscar was the reason the truth came out. 

While Ruby was the one who asked the question, Oscar was the one who fed her the information required for her to get the chance to ask that question.

The truth came out with Oscar’s interference. So I’m wondering if that’s going to happen again, only this time Oscar will be forced to do the same to Ruby. And I can imagine him being very conflicted on that due to how much he cares about Ruby. That could be cool. But for now, it’s only an assumption.

An assumption that I wished CH4 had kind of addressed. IT really sucked how the CRWBY Writers got us intrigued with the Rosebuds scene in CH3 only to go into CH4 with no mention of Oscar at all, not even in a flashback. This is why it all felt so jarring.  

When I first saw Ironwood there, my immediate reaction was “Oh! Is Oscar here too? Did he come down to the construction site and took a lift with James?“ 

But as we saw, Oscar wasn’t present. I kept waiting for him to pop up especially when the group were taken up into Amity Tower for their briefing. I kind of expected him to be present since all the people who knew the truth about the tower’s purpose were there in the arena room. 

Penny was there. Winter was there. The Aces, to some extent were there. But Oscar wasn’t. When I first saw this scene I figured it was going to be another follow up debriefing regarding the tower’s construction since that’s how it started off as before it went into the licence rewarding.

I’m not saying that Oscar should’ve been there to receive his license too since Oscar is still inexperienced. Even if he’s trained by Ironwood, he still hasn’t earned his license like the others and I understand that. That’s not why I was upset.

I was more upset at the fact that here were have yet another moment with the team together, bonding and celebrating an achievement they earned together and…Oscar, who we’ve been told is also a part of the team too, isn’t there to celebrate the moment with them. Not even to be shown congratulating them afterwards?

As I said on Twitter yesterday, this moment only served to remind me of my biggest nit-pick with Oscar’s treatment in the show. You have the series clumsily trying to tell me, as the audience, that Oscar is supposed to be a member of the team but then you get moments like this where everyone is together and he’s not there to share the moment with them.

It reminded me of why I strongly disliked V6CH9 and most of V6 for how they handled Oscar’s integration into the group. After two seasons with him going on three, I still don’t feel as if Oscar is really a part of the team. 

And your reasoning for Oscar only being with the team for a short time and shouldn’t be allowed to share in this moment further justifies that fact.

Oscar has only been with the team for roughly 48 or 49 days. That’s approximately one month, 2 weeks and four days. But if @_ebea over on Twitter is indeed correct about another month passing between the group’s arrival in Atlas and their first mission with the Ace Ops, then it would mean that Oscar has actually been with the team for two months.

So…why would it be better for him to not be present during a great moment for his team…when he supposed to be a part of the team??

I’m sorry Cora. Again, I know what you’re trying to say and I hear you m’dear. But, hand over heart, I’m not fully buying into this rationale because all it’s doing is making me think back to V6CH9 when Jaune Arc dead-ass says:

“…This team just isn’t the same without you Oscar.”

And yet, here we have this nice little moment of achievement for the team and Oscar isn’t even there to congratulate everyone and be there for his team even though he’s supposedly a part of it.

(Dude; Penny hasn’t seen the team in about the same amount of time as Oscar has been with them and yet she was allowed to share in this moment with them? So why couldn’t Oscar too?)

I’m sorry. This moment just does not compute with me.

As a team moment for JNR_RWBY, it doesn’t work for me since ALL the members of the hero squad are there, except Oscar.

And as a meeting of all the people who knew about Amity Tower, it doesn’t sit well with me either since, like I said, everyone who knew about Amity Tower and were present in Ironwood’s office for the meeting were there…except Oscar.

The one plausible reason for Oscar’s absence from V7CH4 is that he couldn’t be there because he didn’t know that JNR_RWBY were getting their licenses that day. 

If I recall correctly, the earning of the licenses was a shock to the heroes too since Ironwood surprised them with it…after just one mission with the Aces.

Still felt kind of weird that no one asked about Oscar again for this episode though. Especially when Ironwood, Winter and Penny all came down from Atlas which pegged the question of :

“If Ironwood was down at the site with our heroes; since the FNDM assumption was that Oscar was probably training with Ironwood while the heroes were with the Ace Ops; then does this mean that Oscar was left all alone up in Atlas while everyone was celebrating up in Amity Tower?”

My saving grace is that Oscar was actually with Pietro helping out in the lab and secretly being trained to become an inventor’s apprentice. 

Because as I said, we got everyone there except Oscar. Everyone who knew about Amity Tower and its purpose were present except him and that’s what mostly bothered me about this episode.

It just felt…like the Writers honestly forgot about Oscar…again and it just brought back a lot of bitterness for me because it reminded me of V6 all over again.

So yeah, your reasoning is cool Cora. If that’s how you look at it then great. Just don’t mind little ole me if I disagree with that outlook because from my perspective, leaving him out of team moments like this has the opposite effect.

To me, this just further highlights the disconnect between Oscar and the others and just shows how much he doesn’t really have a place on this team even though he’s supposed to (and especially since the show told us last season that he does). That’s my take on it.

Also, not to be that person but… bold of you to assume that the CRWBY Writers are actually going to show Oscar congratulating everyone on earning their huntsmen licences once they return up to Atlas Kingdom. We didn’t even get to see him sending off everyone before their mission or reacting to everyone’s new looks (particularly Ruby’s like most of us Rosegardeners had hoped).

We’d only be so lucky if next episode opens with a scene where Ruby shows up at Oscar’s room to show him her sparkling new license …who’s to say, right?

Only CH5 will tell and I’m curious if it will highlight Oscar training with Ironwood as part of the narrative. Unless that’s going to be it’s own focus episode which it should be at this point since…Oscar could use a focus episode that actually gives him full attention for once. But who knows.

I can’t really trust that with these Writers. Not after V6 and not after V7CH4. But we’ll see.

~LittleMissSquiggles (2019)

[mystech-master]

So, let’s go through each of the BBTAG fights in the 4 o.g. story modes and see which ones are necessary for character stuff. I may not want to use a fight if there is another fight with the same characters I want to interact but doesn’t have a dumb joke assigned to it.

Now I know Tag Team means tag-in-tag-out stuff, but I am just going to look at these fights as two on two fights with a designated opponent for each fighter.

Episode Blazblue

Ragna and Rachel vs Waldstein and Linne: Initial fight so kind of necessary. Linne and Rachel having some banter, maybe Rachel being able to find out about Linne’s curse, meanwhile, you got Wald tossing around Ragna before Ragna goes Grim Reaper on his ass.

Ragna and Gordeau vs Ruby and Blake: 1. I like Ragna and Gordeau’s interaction, 2. Have members of RWBY learn of Gordeau and Ragna’s Soul Stealing Powers and 3. Really you can switch up who fights who, because with Ragna vs Ruby and Gordeau vs Blake you got similar color schemes, but the other way with Ragna vs Blake and Gordeau vs Ruby you got actual Sword vs Sword and Scythe vs Scythe.

Ragna and Chie vs Hakumen and Carmine: Obviously Ragna has to fight Hakumen and Chie against Carmine b/c Hakumen would CRUSH Chie, plus this is where Ragna could earn some point with the I.T. by helping Chie. Of course, since this is post-CS/Pre-CP Ragna he’s a bit more gruff, blunt and not as nice with it, but he’s still helping kind of. Kind of like how Shinjiro was with Minato (yes I use that name STFU), Yukari, and Junpei when they were about to get mugged in P3.

Ragna and Waldstein vs Kanji and Azrael: Like I said, ignoring this one. Dumb joke, no good interactions, and I prefer Ragna and Kanji’s interactions in Episode P4A.

Ragna and Nu-13 vs Aigis and Vatista: As much as I don’t want Ragna to suffer this, this is the only way for him to have any contact with Aigis, the Shadow Operative, so she can report it back to Mitsuru when this is all over.

Ragna and Noel vs Hyde and Linne: This meet up is necessary since this is where they talk about plot stuff, Ragna’s hostility here is understandable considering everyone before his was all like “LET’S FIGHT!” without using any brain cells. While it starts out hostile they do become more amicable over the course of the conversation.

Side note: I do like it when Ragna says Observer, of course either meaning an overseer or the Blazblue term as one who makes things reality by acknowledging them, and Linne sees the term as “Supervisor”. It’s just stuff like that in crossovers that I like, the clashing terminology and stuff.

Ragna and Hazama vs Weiss and Orie: Weiss and Orie becoming aware of Ragna’s bounty, thus allowing some tensions during later meet ups. Although IDK how this will affect Hazama trying to act all friendly with the other worlds when Weiss and Orie saw him all chumy with Ragna, plus if they later see both Ragna and Hazama activating their Blazblues, with the similar activation codes, and they learn that Hazama/Terumi made the Azure Grimoire, with Ragna’s being a prototype in a way. That might not work out for him.

I’m skipping the Es fights since IDK if I’d even add Es in this.

Episode P4A (most of these I feel like should be kept since this is the only fight where almost the entire faction all joins up)

Yu and Yosuke vs Gordeau and Carmine: initial battle, so necessary. Could be someone different, since these itneractions don’t really matter.

Yu and Chie vs Tager and Makoto: Electric vs Electric and fist vs foot, since I’m trying not to flanderize them, Makoto and Chie won’t immediatly be all “KUNG FU *WATCHYA*!” so I’d tone that down a bit considering the situation.

Yu and Yukiko vs Hakumen and Rachel: Like I said before, I’d like to see how Hakumen, and maybe Rachel, reacts to the Wild Card. Since in Arena, Yu’s Wild Card Power of Friendship aura made Elizabeth, aka the one who oneshots Erebus (the manifestation of mankind’s desire for Death) every other month, step back. So imagine how Hakumen, mr. Power of Order/killer of the Black Beast would react to that.

Yu and Chie vs Jubei and Platinum: Kind of wish Kanji was here since this is his intro in the episode, that and Platinum needs to get smacked, but making it a girl on girl fight is fine I guess. Then you have maybe Jubei’s reaction to the Wild Card and Yu’s truth powers (I wonder if the Orb of Sight could reveal Terumi’s true form like Jubei’s Sekigan?)

.....wait is Kanji just not playable b/c he was DLC at the time, okay then screw that noise.

Yu and Yosuke vs Linne and Orie: Okay Naoto has no excuse for not fighting here like Kanji excpet for maybe beign DLC at the time, so Yu and Naoto vs Linne and Orie. Come on seeing Orie’s Thanatos clash with a Persona would be cool. Or at the very least the Persona characters assuming she has a Persona, it wouldn’t be a stretch for them.

Yu and Ragna vs Weiss and Ruby: Should I keep this in? Since it is a moment where people call Ruby and Weiss idiots for blindly trusting System inspite of being the one who summoned them. Plus a lot fo stupid lines from Ruby. The ony thing this does is give Ragna a chance to prove himself to the I.T.

Ignoring Es fights like I said but I do want to keep the offscreen fight of Ragna and Kanii vs Hakumen and Rachel (Kanji’s lighting resistance against Rachel, HA!). Also they were playing Naoto’s theme from the Arena games at the time, so that was kind of off for me.

Episode Under Night In-Birth (half of these is just Hyde’s “Must Save The Girl” tendencies coming in)

Hyde and Waldstein vs Rachel and Naoto: No good interactiosn outside fo seeing how Hde and Wald fight as a team, like maybe Wald pulling a fastball special with Hyde.

Hyde and Ruby vs Yosuke and Chie: Stupid reason to start with Hyde thinking they were bullying Ruby when it was a mistake, and well all know that even if Ruby is like a year or two younger tha Hyde she’d kick his ass. But I know people want to have Ruby be amazed at the Insulator, but I won’t have her be all “YOU HAVE COOL WEAPONS! LET’S FIGHT!” Like I wanted RUby to have more of a personality, but this is too much.

Kind of a side note, but when Ruby brought up weapons with Jaune in Volume 1, she wasn’t all in his face about it immediately, they were apparently talking for a while before bring it up naturaly in a conversation. It felt more....real, to me.

Hyde and Gordeau vs Makoto and Blake: Only here for the Makoto and Blake interactions.

Hyde and Weiss vs Azrael and Carmine: no one here should be fighting with, against, or near Azrael. This is just here for Hyde to play knight in shining armor to Weiss. You Hyde/Ruby shippers might want this so he can earn points with Ruby for protecting her BFF.

Hyde and Yukiko vs Platinum and Noel. More bad cooking jokes, that all of a sudden make Yukiko good, but I think that’s just to make Noel the focus of the joke since this is BLAZBLUE Cross Tag Battle. More Hyde saving the girl in a way, but I’m slightly more for it since Platinum suffers. And hey, System said the losing TEAM had to eat it, so maybe Noel eating her own food can result in her getting better.

I mean seriously, Yukiko apparently got better at the end of her Social Link in Persona 4 (If I recall) and I THINK that there was one line about Fuuka improving in Arena or something (someone please help me on that, I know she gets better in P3P as part of her SL there, but I really don’t think one should cook, even if they like it, if they suck at it), taking that away from them is kind of insulting.

Hyde and Yu vs Jubei and Jin: Insulator vs Musashi (the swords that cut through anything) and Power of Friendship vs Power of Order. I got asked a while ago on what would happen if Isnulator and Musashi clashed and this would be a good chance to explore that. Plus Jubei seeing both the Wild Card and the Insulator would be interesting.

Also, Jubei with Jin goes with Blazblue canon, as at this point (between Cs and CP) Jubei is training Jin on the Power of Order).

Ignoring Es fight

Episode RWBY (this’ll be hard b/c I am TRYING to tone back the anime bullshit with RWBY)

Ruby and Weiss vs Noel and Makoto: System didn’t intervene here and they were just like “We have to fight over the Keystone”, considering RWBY’s themes of unity and such you’d think they’d try and be amicable, before System jumps in. Weiss could even TRY and be civil with the apparent Faunus in front fo them dressed rdiduclously (seriously IDK who else in RWBY during Vol 1-3 wears shit like Makoto who, as Kokonoe said in one of the HMPK segements “Is a strong breeze or a cough away from a major wardrobe malfunction”).

But still Weiss and Makoto on the front with Ruby and Noel as long range support wiht their guns.

I do think Weiss saying they should split up is dumb though.

Ruby and Hazama vs Hyde and Carmine: Alowing Hazama to get some connection with Ruby so he has someone to vouch for him at Beacon when/if he tries something there.

Ruby and Rachel vs Vatista and Platinum: Rachel landed on Ruby, gave her snark, because Platinum and Vatista were trying to ask her questions about the situation, Ruby is TRYING to be cool-headed and ask questions, but Rachel is being a butt and forms a tag team with Ruby just to shut Vatista and Platinum up. This could be used as a way to make Rachel seem untrustworthy.

side note, Vatista asks if she “should switch to a beefy, macho, muchle-type body...” So....can Vatista shapeshift? I mean we know she had an older looking form before she gave up one of her wings to give the Insulator to Kuon in UNI’s backstory. SO does that mean she doesn’t have to be a loli and maybe this form is just o conserve energy or something?

Ruby and Waldstein vs Hakumen and Tager: Hakumen attacks Ruby and Tager tries to intervene, Hakumen says smething interesting “This world may be jeopardized if elements from conflicting worlds interact” in this case Ruby and the keysone.

And like....seithr, ars magus, personas, EXS, and Dust and aura coliding WON’T cause things to fuck up? Especially Hakumen, who has kind of a messed up existence at the moment.

and whe Ruby brings up what Rachel told her, Hakumen gets all on the offense, once again maing Rachel seem untrustworthy. Or at the very least not willing to be cooperative.

Hakumen begins to do his thing but Wald pulls a Hyde and comes in to scold them for attacking a little girl.

I would like to see Hakumen sense the Silver Eye power lying dormant in Ruby, and then lay down some cryptic words here though.

Like comparing the Silver Eyes to the Power of Order is interesting b/c the SIlver Eyes work with love and protection, unlike the Power of Order which is mostly used as a weapon.

Ruby and Weiss vs Gordeau and Orie: scythe and scythe vs rapier and rapier.

1, Orie blowing her cover by saying she is with Licht Kreis, although given the circumstances I doubt that matters. Also she kind of fights on Hyde’s behalf for Ruby getting Hyde’s keystone, and speaking up when she heard his name.

2, Weiss being all too eagar to fight, IDK if this would be in character for canon Weiss.

3. Orie mentioned a restriction. Didn’t System just say there was a punishment? Is it both?

4. Once again Weiss being all too eager to mock and fight. But maybe she is in a bad mood because she has also been having to deal with neandertha;s who don’t care about the situation and are just like “FUCK YEAH, FIGHTING!”

5. Now I may not be too up to date on UNI’s Chornicle Mode, but I don’t know if Orie being THIS against working with Amneisa would be what she would be like.

6. Gordeau is being amicable, but him saying “hate the monk, not his robes”, makes it sound like he is still a member of Amnesia. But if I recall, he quit. Does him working for them as a mercenary count?

7. Orie saying she is devoted to her mission with her ego being secondary should be kept in mind when characters want to be major assholes and make demands of people instead of being nice.

Okay I’m done with that

Ruby and Es vs Yosuke and Yukiko: with that stupid Ninja and Geisha comment, plus I already said I was ignoring Es.....yeah I’m going to skip this and the next one, even though by that logic Ragna won’t meet Ruby. I can fidn some way for this to work, sionce Ragna saving Ruby gets him points with Yang and the RWBY characters.

Alright that seems to be all. Blake got a few fights in but no Yang. What fight would you guys want to see her in that I could add onto here?

[arkus-rhapsode]

Rhapsode Reacts: RWBY Volume 3

Hey guys, Rhapsode here. So I’ve been on the record numerous times saying I haven’t watched the internet series RWBY. I haven’t. However, I have a rather close mutual @remnantoforario who tells me about most of the series and characters. Seriously, I basically have experienced the plot through osmosis. Now me and remnant work on a lot of fanfiction stuff and general discussions of video games and manga. And highly suggest anyone who wants a more in depth look at RWBY to please check him out. He’s great.

Now due to the fact he has basically told me the series up this point, its kinda been a bit frustrating when I forget something and ask him to reiterate. So I decided to knuckle down and watch some of the series.

I helped remnant get a non RWBY fan opinion, by basically live-blogging him in our PMs. And I thought I had some level of humorous reactions and Remnant had some witty observations to my reactions.

Anyway, if you didn’t catch it the first time, I must repeat, I’m not coming at this from the perspective of a fan. I have very little emotional or personal enjoyment going in the series up to this point. If I say something that offends you as a fan, I’m sorry in advance.

With that out of the way, let’s dive in:

Oh that’s a sweet scene of Ruby at her mother’s grave.

Why would you start Team RWBY’s preliminary fight in the middle of it?

the Vytal Festival feels like it should be reversed: you should start with 1, then go to 2, then for your finals, 4. Or just do a solid 4 v 4 all tournament

Remnantoforario: I dont know what the purpose of the tournament is, or why anyone would want to participate. There is no prize 

Me: Bragging rights I guess. But the whole point of the festival is to celebrate peace. Lets celebrate piece with a bunch of kids beating each other up .

Ruby has a line of "we did it?" like she was surprised. Was that a concern? 

Like I understand the festival has been built up since the second volume, but there's a reason most good tournament arcs ease you into the first round. Its to reaffirm character motivation and actually show you what a fight would look like 

  I do appreciate some of the “show don't tell” moments like the one girl using a heat crystal in her skate board to free her teammate

But usually even if the first round is jobbers, they're at least presented as a threat. I never really got that. The tide seemed more and Rwby's favor, but I can't tell if that was always the case because we started in the middle of the fight

the pacing just feels like you can't handle the story, so it wants to get to the fight scenes to keep your attention 

Emerald is actually really funny, holy shit 

“How can they be so happy?” And “It’s the heiress and the bimbo” 

Still Weiss and Yang, better savor this duo while I can 

Neo’s gothic Lolita is cute. Though I feel like their match should’ve gotten a focus 

Like I mean not an episode but if they started with the instant eliminations of 1v1, I could easily see this cool intro of Rwby has met Emerald, Mercury, and Cinder, but then is shocked at who this fourth member even is 

OK I feel like the scene with Rwby and JNPR should’ve happened before the first round.  Given Nora’s rant would actually tie to Ruby’s whole “we won?” Surprise

“Cinder: Even if you know how the story ends that doesn’t make it any less fun to watch.” I’d agree with you if you know the story wasn’t Rwby. And it’s not really that fun to watch a bunch of fighting with no weight.

OK team JNPR vs team BRNZ is actually a much better introduction to the tournament than Rwby vs Abrn

We actually see how the field is chosen and we actually get some genuine strategy and coordination. And before all this we actually get some motivation about how the characters feel going into this battle

Me: OK why are these not the protagonists and why was this not episode one?

Remnantoforario: questions for the writers 

I got admit I’m not very much of a fan of melee weapons that also turn into guns and just kind of makes the purpose of melee fighters and ranged fighters pointless 

Logically it makes sense that if you’re making a weapon you do want it to have multiple functionality but at the same time it kind of makes a lot of that fighting less fun 

I mean what do you want to see more a team complete each other or just one person who can just do everything with the right weapon?

  Ehh OK the team meeting joke is running a tad too long

Okay, that was what I was mentioning before... Just cut out Nora with missiles. I feels more like a give and take as well as more unique to have that moment with her slamming on the ground 

“Crow Bar.” Oh you go to the corner for that pun.

OK that joke with Weiss and telling Indigo to beat up Neptune was timed and delivered really bad 

Also port makes a point that Sun is from Vacuo. Wouldn’t it be interesting if the leader or any membr of Indigo actually did know Sun from Vacuo?

I say that because no member of team Indigo has said anything, and it would at least add something unique to this fight

OK I have to bring up the weird use of western cartoon comedy

Neptune running up the mountain it’s super speed is kind of funny but this is also a fight I’m supposed to take seriously 

Nora and Ruby kind of get away with it given their powers but Neptune just ran up a mountain like it was nothing

What is the tone here?

Sage went out like a bitch 

you know if you wanted to eliminate someone to make me feel for this team being in trouble why didn’t you just eliminate Neptune? 

OK scarlet’s scene actually really works 

That nut joke didn’t. Again, tone? 

Me: Why would you sacrifice the two characters we don’t know anything about just to do Neptunes stupid joke?

Remnant: COMEDY 

OK this fight was bad 

Me: I get the idea indigo was a bunch of jobbers so you decided to play the comedy angle. OK, well then tone down the serious rock music, turn down the cartoon physics

Remnant: For reference. That was a post Monty fight 

I agree with Qrow, that was a mess

okay introduction to Winter is pretty good. Shame we don't really get that "Novice victory" vibe from their fight. Maybe if it last for more than 8 minutes and didn't start from the middle... 

okay see, I don't mid Winter and Qrow having a fight in the middle of the square as it helps serve as an introduction to the characters and flexes their strength

though Im also starting to notice something else that bugs me in the fights, no banter or introspection or comments

its just fight moves 

like there's times that's god, DBZ did it tons of times when its just Goku making "Hiyah" noises but there was still a bit of time to get in a line that both broke up the action and highlighted how two characters felt or through thought was able to give us a peek into their head

watching rwby fights makes me think, "This be better as a video game" 

so... does no woman in this world wear a bra? 

 Ironwood: “If you were one of my men, I'd have you shot!”

Okay, that can't be legal

Ironwood is kinda becoming my favorite character 

He's a flawed human being, and the narrative shows that, but it also shows he has a point 

Okay, yeah I see what you mean, all this Fall stuff is happening in the background which is nice, but there's no real plot with the tournament 

Okay Mercury and Emerald vs Coco and Yatsuhashi is actually really good 

not much character, but its actually more intimidating seeing how strong these two are. Wish the music had a bit more ambiance 

Okay, that's an interesting plot point. Qrow explaining how beating one high profile criminal hasn't stopped crime. And the fact there is zero crime is concerning and relating it back to Ironwood

Wow, its almost when you just slow down and lt characters breath and talk to each other and have them be characters without shoving in a fight scene, its pretty good

Why is team Cardin fighting a non faunus team? Feels like a waste of characters 

disappointing that Ciel doesn't know Penny is a robot

mainly because the way its queued up with Ciel seemed like she was only spending time with Penny because ordered and her attention to the schedule makes it seem like she is a soldier just having to play dress up for the robot to make it comfortable 

Me: Wow Weiss's heels...  Never noticed them. I just thought they were boots

Remnant: Nope heels 

Also Neon and Flynt actually have a pretty good intro 

We know what Atlas is like seeing Winter and Ironwood, so Neon and Flynt make an interesting and immediate contrast

And it feels like there is something riding on our opponents side given Flynts history with the Schnee. Which makes him stand out from the other jobbers

And Neon's intentionally irritating personality actually is more character displayed by any other opponent character

I actually really like the OST in the fight too. This might be my favorite action scene 

Flynt actually has a really cool semblance too 

oh wow, some actual dread with Weiss getting eliminated 

Imma let you get away with that Hulk reference Port

I like how Yang beat Flynt, but if I was gonna beat Neon, I'd have Yang punch the ground and through her off balance 

Haha Ironwood doesn't have a heart, I get it, he's tin man 

least they didn't go with Ozpin saying Qrow doesn't have a brain 

Me: So... If Pyrrha is all these things, why aren't we following her team?

So abridged version of the four seasons story Four random chicks find a guy camped out in his house, be nice to him and he gives them super powers. If I were a kid being told that, I’d demand another story 

Pyrrha: like a semblance?

Oz: Like magic!

Me: Like a semblance

Qrow is right, this selection is stupid 

You’re keeping a woman in your basement in cryogenic suspension. Oz you and Rhea need to share notes 

Oh god... Adam. You can’t act

Adam seems already psychopathic Or maybe that’s just his acting

So this is the famous Yang punching Mercury... It works I guess

Actually getting a chance to see some Jaune and Pyrrha moments in v3 and it’s good 

Me: Velvet is British? Huh... never predicted that 

Remnant: Australian 

How can Ruby notice Emerald all the way across the arena? Actually wait she’s the only one not in a black uniform 

Why did they leave Mercury behind where anyone could find him? 

And Penny is dead and I do not care at this point

Cinder’s little speech is the first time I’m actually feeling like I’m getting a villain motivation out of her 

She talks about how Oz and the headmasters are just men capable of making mistakes But she’s someone who would embrace and all powerful godly being. Though that seems and odds with the presumed motive that she’s working with Salem to potentially kill the brother gods

Okay, Blake and Weiss have a pretty good scene when all hell was breaking loose 

Ruby versus the big ass bird was actually pretty cool and the scene of everyone’s lockers being what puts it down is really clever 

Oh really cool scene of Port and Oobleck. Hey the fall is turning out pretty decent

Ironwood killing the wolf was pretty good 

Roman is a breath of fresh air as a villain. And it’s namely his acting 

You know I feel like you could let the more tertiary characters fight the robots while Weiss and Blake fight WF 

OK I repeat this is just become a video game. Giant dragon that spawns mini monsters in a destroyed town 

The spectacle fighting actually really works when your opponents are mindless and faceless brutes

You have Adam in a school full of terrified people, why aren’t you showing his nuance by showing he won’t hurt Faunus staff and is giving them an out? 

Velvet’s scene be cool if it was powers she was mimicking. Looking at a lot of weapons really doesn’t do much for me.

That said, this could work if she ended up copying the mech and fighting against it

Okay I feel like Weiss finally being able to summon something should’ve been done with a lot more gravitas

And Sun proceeds to be the best male character 

Neo is fucking beast. Y’know what, let her be final boss

Now I just have this image of Neo flying through the air with a sign reading “I’m Mary Poppins, Y’all”

Wow, Roman went out like a bitch 

Like zero build up just dead. And his replacement is Adam... There is no justice 

Ironwood: someone has done the unthinkable and taken control of my machines!

Watts: What? Like it’s hard? 

Blake and Yang holding hands on the ground after Yang lost an arm. Yeah that’s pretty shippy 

Also, I feel like the animation really limits a lot of the characters expressions. Like the time Ruby spent dwelling on her sister being mutilated is well timed. But usually a lot of the emotional devastation comes down to the expression.

a lot of faces seem stiff in transition expressions. Or they have this doll like quality 

The most expressive person seems to be Emerald 

Pyrrha and Jaune’s kiss is actually really tender 

Me: Okay how the hell is Cinder’s dress still managing to cover her loins? 

Remnant: maiden magic.

And Pyrrha died 

Are you done with the whole line of do you believe in destiny was fine Personally I would’ve also accepted the Ted Kord response, Rot in Hell.

Ruby went super saiyan 

Tai being the first person Ruby sees is nice 

Yang’s bitterness works here. Though given how I wasn’t feeling too much of the sisterly bond between the two, it’s probably not as hard hitting as they wanted 

Salem’s introduction isn’t bad 

so after watching V3. my final opinion is meh 

Strikes me as they wanted to the fall, and the tournament was just a lot of window dressing. Because the stuff with the Fall is the best part, but everything else has felt dull and fillery.

Maybe I’ll do this for the next season of a series I binge. But till next time, take care.

[queen-peck-neck]

Lady Winter Information

I decided to polish up the google doc I had for her. It’s about time I talked about her rather then being vague?! yeah! Also do excuse my english!

Warning Her backstory contains: Death of family members, Abuse, Bullying, Suicide attempts and Drinking 

I thought, i’d put up a warning because most of her back story is quite sad But don’t worry things got better~ :D Information is under read more!

Name: Lady Winter Pentecost/Campbell

Nicknames: 

Vampy [By most people and The Conductor]

Vampire mama [Children often call her this]

The Lady [strangers, hk and bk call her this]

Wifey ,Birdmate [it's like soulmate bit for birds, it's a pun jgnrth],Sweetheart, Saloon babe, Wintey, Dearie ,Rosie cheeks,Siren and His Bonnie Lass [all given by conductor, you'll see why]

Race: Vampire

Age: Old enough to be your mother.

Height: 5’2 [5’8 with heels]

Pronouns: She/her or They/them

Appearance: outfit one: LINK and outfit two: LINK

Occupation: Bartender owner, Housewife

Weapon[s], Items: She carries an umbrella that not only protects her from the sun, it has a rapier style sword in it to protect herself if needed.

Offspring: 6 [4 biological and 2 adopted] 

Backstory:  Lady winter as a child only grew up having a Father and a Twin brother, only occasionally seeing her other relatives. You see the reason why this woman didn't have a mother was because she died when the twins were born. They never had a chance to met her, only hearing about what she was life from their father William and other relatives. William wasn't around to often due to being busy making sure the town wasn't falling to pieces and having to deal with the townsfolk of Shady Hallow but he always does try to make the effort to be there for his children. Winter always saw her father being so stressed, tired and sad all the time yet he hid it with a smile. Even at a young age she knew something was wrong. But besides her family the lass only had one friend outside of the family. His name was conductor or so he liked to be called. These children met at the train station one day while winter was waiting for her father to return home from his business outside of the town. The station wasn't too far from Shady Hallow so it was easy for her to walk there. These kiddos got along pretty quickly and became friends fast. Things were all fine and dandy until child winter woke up one night only to find her own father dead in a pool of his own blood. She didn't want to believe what she was seeing. Her grand-uncle Vlad took her away from the scene. Though she could tell something was up with him. He seemed to calm and contempt for what went on. Not only that he seemed to be smiling a bit when the funeral went on. Speaking of which, the child felt a part of her die, no child should feel like that but she did. She used to be quite adventurous, happy and quite innocent but now she just finds herself empty and sad. Winter wasn't quite herself anymore but she tried her best to keep herself happy. But even that wasn't easy due to being separated from your own twin either. Winter's life got totally turned around, She had to live with her grand-uncle to which she didn't like in the slightest. You see, Vlad made her life a living hell, often treating her as if she was less than dirt. Belittling her emotionally and mentally, gaslighting her as if to make her feel like she was the one to blame. Going to school wasn't much better either. All throughout it she had to deal with the constant bullying from everyone there. Especially from the ringleader of it all, that person being named Viola. The kids were brutal to her there, from making fun of her from losing her family, telling her she wasn't worth being around, and often getting beat up to. Going home wasn't even an option to feel safe either with how her uncle treats her. For years Winter had to deal with this, feeling nothing and miserable. She forgotten what it was like to smile and feel happy. Eventually she up and ran away from all the torment but the world around her wasn't too kind to her either. From the ages 7 onward, she had thoughts of wanting to die, and countless times she tried to make herself disappear. But she still was alive and kept pushing forward no matter how hard it was. Winter kept herself busy by working multiple jobs to keep herself stable and trying to keep herself hidden from her grand uncle. She stayed at a certain childhoods friends house for a while and she's grateful for that. The lass appreciates all that conductor did for her and wanted to pay him back somehow. Eventually she did manage to get a place of her own, it wasn't the best little apartment but it was a roof over her head. When Lady winter became a young adult she still wasn't the happiest person around, she drank and smoked all of her sorrows away. The lass wasn’t very trusting of people either, she would often push people away because she was so scared of getting hurt, feeling vulnerable, feeling weak and pathetic. She was scared of people seeing her the way she is because well can you blame her after all the hurt she went through? Only one person seemed to stay, she wasn’t sure if it was out of pity or if he actually cared. Conductor sure might be prideful and hotheaded. But he does care, and he’s quite stubborn so he isn’t going to quit once he has his mind set on something. Eventually Lady winter started to put down her walls and open herself up more. It was a slow process but she was doing it with some support. Lady winter and Conductor took in a tiny owl named Jade whom was found in the alleyway of Dead Bird Studio. The two decided to take care of the child together. It wasn’t easy being first time parents in a sense but they got through it together and love their little girl. You see at this time Lady winter and Conductor were already in a relationship but weren’t married just yet. Lady winter might’ve tried to push him away but she’s so glad he stayed by her side through thick and thin. No one could ever understand how much he means to her and how grateful she is to have a partner like him. Years go by and Jade is now 7 years old, The couple decided to get married, Lady winter waited for quite a time for conductor to ask her the question. It was a beautiful day, the two got married, and it’s only of the happiest moments in lad winter’s life. She seemed to smile more when she had jade and was together with conductor, she even slowly started to smile before the two got into any sort of relationship. Lady winter has been happier then she was in the past. Sure she has her ups and downs but doesn’t everyone? Now lady winter is working hard at her job and raising her children, she adopted two and the rest are biological. She adores her family so much. And now Lady winter does her best to make the best out of life and always willing to lend a hand to help others! She even meets a certain hat wearing child but that all unfolds in the Chapter that is. Shady Hallow.

Fun facts about Lady winter:

Lady winter has three pet cats and a rabbit. The cats names being Lucky, Pangur Ban and Boo and her Rabbit’s name being Oreo.

Lady winter was actually created way back in 2017 a bit after the game came out, she was originally a nurse. And of course was still with ducty then to.

Since she is married to conductor she took his last name that being Campbell [personal headcanon]

Lady winter sings and has a lovely singing voice to which people love hearing, Conductor calls her his siren for this reason.

Conductor calls her his siren for this reason. On winter’s mother side they are Scottish while her Father's side is of Polish origin. Because of this Lady winter is bilingual in Scotts Gaelic and Polski. [Polish]

Lady winter’s voice is very soft spoken [sorta like morticia addams but not quite]  with a slight scottish accent.

Lady winter actually given conductor little nicknames as well those being Fluffy butt,Cowboy,Hot Stuff,Pumpkin,Sugar,Hubby,Loverboy, and Her Hero.

Lady winter’s family is quite wealthy on her father’s side and she does have a lot of money but she doesn’t spend it that much other than bills and repairs on her bar if needed. But she’ll get people things. She got the money through an inheritance.

Don’t ever make this woman angry because although she can be nice and sweet, she is quite scary when people get her angry. She doesn’t like getting mad. Thankfully she has a lot of patience.

Lady winter can in fact purr like a cat and wiggle her elf like ears like a bat.

Since lady winter is a vampire she can turn people into vamps but she rather not unless the person is willing to go through with giving up their mortal life. She is also strong and quite fast. The only thing she can shape-shift into being a vamp is a tiny bat.

Lady winter’s real hair color is white like her mother’s but she dyes it black.

It took some time but Lady winter and her twin brother Seth did reunite again. Winter cried and so did seth. 

Lady winter has fighting styles inspired by Neoplitain from RWBY and Parasoul from skullgirls!

The vampire lass smells like cloves, roses and a hint of wine

.Lady winter would often tire herself out from working so hard sometimes to the point of getting sick but she does rest when she can

The lass can be sorta smug from time to time just like her husband and is capable of burning people if needed be. 

Lady winter doesn’t have a boss fight for a time piece rather she just breaks down while holding it and apologizing to hat kid. But she does have a boss fight in death wish mode oddly enough.

The lass actually has her own rose garden she takes care of at home!

Speaking of which, she talks to her plants, people might think it’s weird but hey plants are living things to.

[rwbyconversations]

A retrospective on the first half of Volume 6

I’ve made no secret of the fact that I hated RWBY’s fifth volume. I felt it was a slog that started on the right foot but as time went on more and more cracks started to appear until the Battle of Haven episodes which were... unpleasant. I made my thoughts on them very clear over the summer. I will also note that I was very cynical regarding Volume 6 during the period between the V5 finale launching and RTX Austin, where we got Adam’s character short. Even with the short being good I remained only tentatively interested in Volume 6, since Volume 5 had good shorts too and look where that got the season proper. Volume 5 was a failure on many levels for RWBY, and while I’ve found things to enjoy about it, it’s ultimately my least favorite volume in the show. Coming off Volume 5, I felt concern that RWBY had peaked in Volume 3, and everything from there on in would just be a painful slide downwards in quality. 

Thankfully, I’ve never been happier to be wrong.

ALL HAIL THE BRINGER OF END TIMES AS SHE BESTOWS THE FLAMING MERCY OF DEATH WITH A SMILE ON HER FACE

RWBY Volume 6 Chapter 7 is now out for First members, and as such, we’re now at the halfway mark of the volume. I have to say, going in with lowered expectations even in light of the Adam short, I have utterly adored this entire volume thus far, in fact it’s probably my favorite set of episodes in the entire  show to date, and I’ve had very little to criticize in each episode beyond just “Give me more Mercury and Emerald.” 

As such, this week at the perfect halfway mark of the volume, and to celebrate my third hundred post, I’m doing a retrospective of each episode of Volume 6 and see how the chapters do their best to avoid the slights that dragged down Volume 5. As well, I’ll be consulting comments made by Miles and Kerry pre-release of Volume 6, specifically concerning what they wanted to focus on this year. In particular, I’ll be cross-referencing Miles’ three points that the crew wanted to improve on for Volume 6. I’ll also look at most of the episodes and see how they handle elements that were previously condemned in Volume 5 (which also means some potshots at Volume 5 if that’s a thing you need to know). This gets long, forward warning, hope you enjoy. 

0.5) Adam’s short

Adam’s short might have been thinly veiled damage control made with the intent of re-building Adam’s fear factor after the disaster that was his outing at Haven, but the short proved to be good damage control nonetheless. From an acting perspective, Garrett continues to grow his vocal talents and for fans of the gone-too-soon Sienna Khan, the short gave her some posthumous feats and showed her in the field. Really, none of my criticisms about the short were significant enough to lower my enjoyment- barring CRWBY’s continued love of the weapon spinning circle, both Adam’s solo fight and the fight that makes up the back half of the short were both enjoyable bouts. Adam’s short was the only short we got this year, but it proved to be an entertaining short that provided some fun battles and a killer song by Jeff- Lionized is already one of my favorite vocal songs in the show, I must have watched the first battle in the short like fifty times now just so I can hear the first verse. 

You’ll see, I’m their hero, I’ll be Lionized! 

All in all, a very solid short and a great way to win back some fans after Haven before the season started off. 

1) Argus Limited, the beginning of the redemption arc. 

Despite Adam’s short, my expectations were low for Volume 6, almost deliberately so. Volume 5 had burned me hard, and I wanted to avoid getting burned by my own hype. But you know what? Argus Limited might be the best premiere in the entire show. It’s damn near flawless in everything it sets out to do. 

In the AMA, Miles set out three things that the CRWBY needed to improve on for Volume 6- more fights that better utilize abilities and weapons, giving Ruby more agency in the plot, and fixing the “tell don’t show” problem that plagued Volumes 4 and 5, especially whenever RNJR were stuck listening to exposition monologues. And for the most part, Argus Limited does take steps towards all three of these problems. RWBY get a great fight which sees Ruby and Weiss especially using a lot of their skill-set that had been left to the curb in Volume 5, which is my nice way of pointing out that Ruby never used her Semblance in Volume 5 and Weiss over-relied on her Summons, which was a huge point of contention among Weiss’s fans in the now-infamous “Weiss vs Vernal” debacle. Ruby’s also given a stronger sense of being a leader than she’s conveyed for much of the past few years, being quick to take command of the situation when Qrow and Dudley start getting into an argument and forcing the team to focus on the Grimm instead of Oz’s newest round of omitting the truth. While there is a fair bit of exposition in regards to the timeskip, we do get a lot of information shown to us- particularly the sendoffs of Sun and Ilia.

While I’m still bummed that Ilia didn’t join the team going to to Atlas since I feel her character would have greatly benefited that arc, alongside her interactions with Weiss, she still gets a touching sendoff. And my Sunny boi shines as he usually does when in the spotlight. Absence makes the heart go fonder and Christ I miss Sun already.

Argus Limited is unique in that barring Adam’s short scene at the beginning, it’s the only premiere entirely focused on the heroes. The even numbered volumes beforehand had started with Emerald and Mercury, with Volume 4 also formally introducing the rest of Team WTCH. Argus Limited focusing only on RWBY and JNR allows for each member of the team to contribute during the episode, and also allows for more time to be spent on JNR’s departure for the rest of the first half. Jaune and Ruby’s quick scene near the middle has a great dynamic to it. 

And of course it goes without saying that the music is to die for. Be it the soft acoustic of Like Morning Follows Night as Sun bids Blake farewell, or the two new songs in Miracle and Rising, Jeff, Alex and Casey came out of the gate running musically. Argus Limited to conclude was a fantastic opening episode, so good that even notorious RWBY critic FatManFalling was impressed. And if that’s not a sign that even the most diehard of RWBY critics was impressed... I dunno what is. 

2) Uncovered- the truth comes out

Uncovered is a setup episode for a lot of the remaining first half, but one that executes its set up well. We immediately open with confirmation that Cinder survived the Battle of Haven, which is as much the crew going “Look you know we didn’t kill her, she’s on the damn poster,” as it is an acceptance that everyone capable of narrative comprehension understood that she wasn’t dead. Cinder gets a new outfit, meets a board game villain, and displays shreds of character development that I hope are carried up on. Meanwhile with RWBY we get one last scene in the Dreaded House where Ozpin flat out lies and Nora undoes the bad will of “They really ARE magic!” with some fantastically funny lines. 

“Can we ask for more wishes? CAN WE ASK FOR MORE WISHES?!” 

I also love the camera shot of Ruby promising they’ll protect the Relic before cutting to her digging it out of the snow. I’m easily impressed with camera trickery like that. 

Uncovered addresses a significant criticism of V5, specifically how RNJR’s plot devolved into them just sitting around and receiving exposition from Ozcar and Qrow. While we get another such scene in the House where Ozcar explains the Relic and its powers, it’s much more lively- the kids weigh in more and are much more dynamic, particularly Nora. They’re not just sitting in chairs in a circle, they actively move around or are on the floor packing. It’s the same vector of information delivery, but it’s much less passively received. 

Ozpin’s debate with RWBY is also similarly well-executed. The kids were soundly mocked last year for just blindly accepting Ozpin at face value barring the one instance of Yang bringing up the birds. Here, Yang and Weiss are openly confrontational of Ozpin, and while his argument of not telling the team about the Relic attracting Grimm has a logical reason behind it, the girls are tired of being spoon-fed information, especially after Oz bluntly promised no more lies or half-truths (Yang really should have included “omissions” in that list too in hindsight). It’s an argument where both sides have their reasons and both have good points that are presented, with everyone getting to weigh in (barring Maria, who is super chill during all these shenanigans).  

What’s that again? Oh. Good writing. Sorry, wasn’t used to it being there after “OZPIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIN,” “Because you’re afraid of Salem!” and “This is bad.” 

Regardless, Uncovered is a stellar setup episode that flows smoothly into...

3) The Lost Fable- OZPIN FUCKED

The longest episode barring the Volume 3 and 4 finales, Lost Fable is an episode I was cold on when I first watched it- after Volume 5, numerous times, spelled out that Ozpin was shady and not to be trusted, I was expected some deep skeletons in his closet- that he created the Grimm, that he caused Salem to become evil, something so horrifying that the Gods saw fit to curse him with eternal life. 

I didn’t expect the secrets to be “Ozpin’s first life looked like an isekai protagonist, he died of herpes, got Thanos’d like six times, fucked Salem at least four times and fathered the spiritual predecessors to the Maidens, had a life where he looked like my Starbucks server and... isn’t actually the bad guy.” 

That Ozpin wasn’t too evil- more his secrets are because of lifetimes of dying over and over, he just has severe trust issues to work through- was something that caught me off guard. That everything is the Gods of Light and Darkness’s fault rubbed me the wrong way at first, since it felt like revisionism, the show going “We can’t have Oz be too evil so let’s just put most of the blame on the Gods and Salem.” That said I do like how the God of Darkness is actually surprised and pleased when Salem came to him for help. It was a nice bit of character to the God that no one ever came to him for help, just punishment, so he basically gave Salem what she wanted on the spot just because of that. As he says to Light, “you may bask in the powers of creation but you do not own them.” 

Granted, there is still one massive story flaw in the episode- the handling of the Faunus just showing up during Ozma’s vacation in purgatory and slavery having already been implemented. It just feels like an awkward last-minute addition and one I do not very much like. It’s pretty much the one thing I outright hate about the episode, the rest execution wise is spot on. Hats off to CRWBY for the technical side of this tale, and to Salem, Ozma and Jinn’s actors for carrying this as well as they did. 

I’m still not sure where I sit exactly on Lost Fable- it’s no doubt a well executed episode and answers/raises a lot of questions about Remnant and its mythologies (like how the moon is shattered because Satan yeeted out too hard), and the animation is some of the best in the show, barring some slight irritation at the understandable reasons for not seeing Ozma vs Salem onscreen. It’s technically very proficient, my problems are just a few small preconceptions of my own holding me back. 

This planet empty. YEEEET.

... also that plushy dog was the cutest fucking thing and if we learn Salem kept that toy after digging it out of the rubble I may actually cry. 

I will buy this dog plush if you just make it RT, you are passing up my money for God’s sake!

Also just so we’re all clear, that holy war Ozma accidentally helped start was totally Remnant’s version of the Crusades, right? 

Also also, no, the kids weren’t the first Maidens, they’re the spiritual successors. Let’s just get that clear while I’m on a soapbox.

4) So That’s How It Is- Best Kids Finally Show Up

Merc and Em were in this episode so I’m contractually obliged to love it. Good thing I really do love their scene. It was good to finally see what the villains at large were up to while RWBY processed the knowledge Jinn had bestowed... while Qrow bestowed his fist unto Oscar’s jaw. In all seriousness, it’s good to see that RWBY retain the dynamic nature in the short final argument with Ozcar. Volume 5′s nightmarish scenes of just sitting around and passively listening are a thing of the past.  

Mercury as usual is relegated to short but sweet moments, namely “Back off, freak!” and his being the first to realize that Salem’s about to snap. Please RT, give him things to do, don’t waste Spider Man while you have him in the booth. Pacing wise I suppose this was really the earliest we could have gotten Em, Merc and WTH unless the first episode got a lot of additional padding, but it still hurts to see my favorite characters all of once in the entire first half of the season. Like I said, absence makes the heart go fonder, and I miss the kids.

Also props for making me give a shit about Hazel again. Turns out he’s not a bad dad when you ignore the whole... “OZPIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIN” thing. 

Ruby also gets a few short but sweet moments- she’s initially calm at the beginning, allowing Ozpin to explain his plan. She only gets more visibly angry after Ozpin admits that he has no plan, but doesn’t lose her cool like Yang does. She’s also the only member of the team to separate Ozpin from Oscar at this stage, taking the time to reassure him before they leave the train wreckage. It shows again that the crew are striving to make Ruby feel like a leader, by having her take charge and be there for everyone under her wing. 

Meanwhile Yang’s only interaction with Oscar is to demand he bring Ozpin back. ... When you think about it Oscar must have so many issues that he refuses to talk about Jesus Christ someone give this kid a therapist. 

I wrote about how much I loved how Salem conducted herself in the short clip released for RWBY Rewind, and while ultimately her temper did snap rather explosively, I love that she visibly tries to contain her rage, something the animators put a lot of painstaking work into.  

On the hero’s side, this is largely a cooldown episode and a conclusion to the “arc” surrounding Jinn in the first half while getting the team in place for the Brunswick episodes. For the villains it’s a chance to check in, and also see what they’ll be up for the year. The villain scene alone makes this a delight, with Watts being snarky and Tyrian continuing to be a walking :D in every scene he’s in.

... also who flew the airship that MEH took to Evernight? We never see the pilot.

5) The Coming Storm-

Let’s get the obvious praise out of the way, Neo vs Cinder? One of the best fights in the entire damn show, like damn they knocked it out of the park! 

Fun fact, I got an ask the day before this dropped asking if I thought Neo would be in this episode and I said no. This is where you all laugh at me.

Neo vs Cinder is a sterling example of the fights becoming more creative and better utilizing abilities. Neo’s Semblance shattering looks great in Maya (shame it came at the cost of her hair) and the fight flows smoothly. I was worried that if Neo came back, her fighting style wouldn’t be well-represented without Monty able to bring his magic, but the crew have managed to create a fight on par with Neo vs Yang in sheer spectacle. I especially loved the segment on the bar top where Neo used bowls as weapons. And if it wasn’t great enough, One Thing grants an additional look under the mirrors into Neo’s inner turmoil over Roman’s death- Casey finally got her wish of voicing Neo, at least. 

Also between this and Lionized, why do the villains get the best songs? 

The Brunswick segment may not be as dynamic, and I’m sure some people groaned when they saw RWBY would be in another house, but at least this time they use more than one room. Weiss and Ruby get a nice scene near the end and there’s a great unspoken moment of Weiss getting why Ruby doesn’t want Qrow to find the beer stash- since remember, her mother’s been a drunk for at least seven years. 

I appreciate the continuity touch in the garage scene that Yang saw Adam in his Beacon outfit when she hallucinated him, as she hasn’t seen his newer outfit. Regarding the garage scene, I can’t help but feel like it was misread by... a lot of people who were looking more for romantic validation than they were actual character reasoning. I’m not a fan of how Blake has acted around Yang this year, she’s been almost... condescending to her. Rushing for her bag in chapter 1 when Yang already had, the whole “I’ll protect you” line. Blake doesn’t see Yang as the strong person who stared a Maiden down and won, she sees... damaged goods. And that’s the last thing Yang wants or needs to hear. Yang didn’t crawl her way into recovery and ride off to another continent just so the girl who ditched her the first time without even waiting for Yang to regain consciousness could provide empty platitudes about not leaving and then assume that Yang needs protection in a manner that felt very patronizing to me. I particularly disliked how Blake reached over Yang’s real hand to grasp the cybernetic one, and how that got spun hard. Yes, the gesture was well meaning from Blake but all it takes is one look at Yang's reaction and that moment is just... not great at all for them. Yang is still hurting and shut off when she made that good intentioned but horribly misunderstanding gesture. Blake is trying to be there for Yang like Sun had been for her, but she can't help her because Yang isn't communicating what's wrong. That's not romantic. It's so awfully, bitterly sad. Yang is hurting and Blake can't undo the damage that she did when she left during the Fall of Beacon. It's not development, it's insight into the poor state of their relationship (regardless of how you view it, I just mean friendship here myself) after the events and the distance they suffered. Barbara herself has said that Volume 6 would see Blake and Yang’s relationship would never return to the way it was pre-Beacon after Volume 6, and this may have been what she was referring to. 

The Coming Storm has a great fight, so it’s already a great episode in my book, but it adds a cherry on top in some quietly good character moments as well.

And of course, Burrito Weiss is Best Girl.

6) Alone In The Woods- Ruby’s Redemption Arc

Right before Volume 6 started, I wrote a whole post about why the fandom had grown cold on Ruby in Volume 5. At the time I noted that part of me wanted to wait until Volume 6 just in case things either improved or Ruby’s character failed to develop for another season, giving me more citations regarding her developmental stump since Volume 3. 

But thankfully, Volume 6 has been very good for Ruby so far, and this episode is the peak of that. Ruby takes initiative, drives the team forward, and actually gets angry at a few points. Lindsay sells this so well and I’m so glad she finally toned down Ruby’s squeak in the more serious moments, because this episode would have otherwise died on its feet if Ruby still had the Squeak. In fact, if this positive trend of Ruby development continues into the back half of Volume 6, I’m planning on a post talking in more detail about Ruby and her development. 

The Apathy were terrifying, and are easily my new favorite Grimm. Funnily enough, in another case of me writing a post before Volume 6 that was partly addressed, I asked why the Grimm failed to scare the audience, and one of my ideas was just that with the protagonists being so strong, no Grimm can really pose a threat. Well the Apathy prove that such a thing is possible. Fans have been suggesting that the Grimm employ more psychological or emotional based attacks over sheer physicality for some time now, and it seems that all this time, the answer has just been waiting for the right moment. Miles revealed on Reddit that the Apathy was his “favorite Grimm” that he’s been working on getting into the show for a few years, and later added on Twitter that he’s been sitting on the idea of the Apathy since the start of the show’s creation, well over six years ago. It’s proof to me that Miles can have some stunning ideas when his heart and soul is dedicated into a project, and regardless of what some people on Tumblr, Twitter and/or Youtube may think, Miles cares about this. Add in the unsettling atmosphere and the amazing work that went into everyone’s eyes and making them dull and disturbing, and you have a stellar attempt at horror by relative newcomers to the genre. The Apathy worked at being terrifying for a large portion of the vocal audience, creating a villain that solved a problem that the Grimm have had since Volume 2, while also letting Ruby finally step up and gain the agency she’s needed for several years.

While Maria being a SEW was something most everyone guessed, it was good to finally see Maria gain plot prominence, since some people had been complaining about Maria joining RWBY feeling somewhat arbitrary. Regardless, she’ll serve as an important vector into getting SEW lore, which is one of the only major significant mysteries left now that we know about Salem, the Gods and the Moon. 

I haven’t mentioned it in the prior segments, but I’ll stop here to give the writers praise for finally giving Qrow an arc. While it is a bit odd to go from Volumes 3 through 5, where Qrow’s alcoholism is played for comedy (in fact it’s the punchline of the first episode) to Volume 6 playing it very seriously, I will still take any development for Qrow. He was the hardest hit by Ozpin’s secrecy, learning Raven was at least partly right in leaving Ozpin and as a consequence, learning that Summer likely died for nothing. He fell into depression, becoming an invalid wreck of a man. The Apathy had little to do to make Qrow a desolate waste, had he been left in that bar he’d probably have drunk himself to death while his nieces died just feet away from him. It takes seeing the Apathy to finally break him out of the stupor that hung around his neck like a noose, and I wouldn’t be shocked if we see Qrow hanging up the flask for good by the end of the volume. 

Alone In The Woods is probably the best episode of the season so far. Somewhat sloppy running animations aside it’s a stupendous attempt at horror in an action show, and signals our protagonist finally becoming our lead. 

7) The Grimm Reaper- Tick tock, tick tock

I’ll be honest, when I saw the Haven vault in the Rewind for this episode, I expected Cinder to open the episode by kicking Vernal’s corpse into the water out of jealousy. I’m not sure if I’m impressed  or not at how brazen Cinder’s loophole abuse is, but I am impressed at how both Cinder and Neo are visibly hesitant at different points in the scene to trust the other- the show is clearly setting up Neo backstabbing Cinder.

Maria’s flashback was amazing. I didn’t expect a new fight scene so soon after Neo vs Cinder but Maria hasn’t got time to waste on my opinions. She was such a badass in her youth. I loved her weapons (I still think they’re a reference to Darksiders 2, fight me) and as someone who’s wanted to see Gravity Dust in action for years, my expectations were more than met. Continuing the promise in the AMA of unique fights, we get Maria using Gravity Dust to whirl around the battlefield like a hurricane of sharp death, her weapons combining into a scythe was a cool moment. I loved how ferocious the fight felt, like there was barely any stopping for posing and everyone was moving. They even avoided using the Weapon Spinning Circles for much of the fight, which is always a nice touch. The ending was viscerally brutal too. I think it’s safe to say Maria vs Tock might break my top 10 favorite fights of the entire show, easily top 5 Maya era fights at least. 

Tock continues the show’s trend of one-off villains having really cool first outings and making me wish they’d stop dying so quickly. Regardless, Tock was a great one-off villain. She got a fantastic fight, had cool weapons, a unique design, and she wasn’t a reference to Tracer you idiots go read Peter Pan. Anyway, Maria’s flashback was really cool and I loved every second of it. 

Ruby got another great moment when after Maria destroyed herself and Qrow in the most vicious self-burn in recorded history, she tried to lift Maria’s spirits by asking her to teach Ruby to use the eyes. Ruby was said in 4 and 5 to be inspiring without much to back it up, and we see that now. Her bonds have grown closer with everyone on the team over the first half- even with Blake. Let me repeat, Ruby and Blake have interacted onscreen. I never thought this day would come. 

I didn’t expect the show to reach Argus by the halfway mark, in all honesty. The city looks breathtaking, I love the San Francisco vibe to it and how the entire trip to Saphron’s house is in 3D environments, unlike the Mistral scenes in V5E1. I have to admit, I did miss JNR a little. Nora was in peak comedy this episode, Ren was... back to being the exposition guy, nothing much changed there but Jaune was pretty decent. Miles remains a criminally underrated voice actor, if he doesn’t go pro in the event he leaves RT, the VA community is worse off. 

The handling of Saphron and Terra’s marriage was masterful, and I love the two of them already. V6′s new characters have been very consistently good I must say. I love how despite the first half of the episode being very dark and having someone lose their eyes onscreen, the back half is very cutesy. This time last volume we had the dinner scene, and the sandwich scene blows it out of the water. I love how everyone who talks to Oscar is far softer than they were to Ozpin, it’s good to see that the gang know the difference, and it’s good for the team to unwind before the next few storms hit their shores. Ruby and Qrow in particular were peak adorable.

I guess the baby was cute too but... look at them wiggling! :D :D 

The Grimm Reaper was a great mid-season checkpoint. Getting another new fight was a surprise to be sure, but it being easy “standout fight of the year” material made it a welcome one. Argus looks like a fantastic location and I would kill for a spinoff here, it seems like such an interesting city. 

8) Conclusion

Volume 6 had a lot of problems facing it on the onset- Volumes 4 and 5, 5 especially, had received lukewarm to poor reviews from the fans, and the pressure was on to prove that RWBY was a show worth watching. And judging by the first half of the Volume, Volume 6 is on its way to becoming the best volume in the entire damn show. We haven’t had a string of episodes this consistently good since Volume 3′s back half, and if Chapter 8 retains the quality, it’ll have exceeded that half numerically. Almost every major grievance I had with Volume 5- the protagonists being too passive, the excessive exposition, weak fights, the lackluster threat of the Grimm and Ruby’s placid lack of solid character growth- have all been addressed with gusto, as I hope I’ve explained above. At the very least, it does seem that the crew are meeting the three goals posted in the AMA with gusto. Add in some genuinely hilarious lines, spine-tingling horror and suspenseful action that rivals and at times exceeds what Monty was doing, and Volume 6 part 1 is this show’s redemption arc. While the second half could and likely will take a dip in quality, nothing short of a Battle of Haven level disaster can taint this volume, and I feel comfortable at this halfway mark saying we may be witnessing the new best volume of RWBY... if they gave Emerald and Mercury more screentime. But otherwise! New best volume. 

I think it’s telling that while I roughly knew what to expect around this time last year for Volume 5, I have no idea where Volume 6′s back half could take us and that excites me. I’m being led along for the ride and loving every damn minute of it. Keep it up CRWBY, let’s make Volume 5 a distant memory in the rear-view mirror as the show and fans go onwards to greener pastures.  

Or to put it in a more comedic way: 

Thank you for reading. If you enjoyed the piece, please share it around, Tumblr’s current state means that I can never be sure what works and what doesn’t so outside sharing goes miles.

[whiteroseisendgame]

Here’s the Bumbleby Social Link of my Persona/RWBY crossover! For those of you that prefer, the full thing is below the cut of this post as well, Tumblr has been eating tags as of late so idk if this’ll even post, but whatever.

13/09 Yang asked me to hang out with her after school. It felt a little like she had something more to say to me, but we ended up going to a café and just… Enjoying each other’s company. Asked if I was enjoying my time at Beacon, unconscious teammate notwithstanding. Told her it was fun, partly because I enjoy seeing her face light up, though on some level I think it’s the truth. There’s this, passion, she carries with her wherever she goes, and it’s hard not to get caught up in it, to start enjoying life just that tiny bit more when she’s around. Even just sitting on a terrace and drinking tea, listening to her puns. In a way, it’s hard to picture this girl as the same one whose hair and eyes catch fire when she’s rushing down Shadows in the Dark Hour. But the smirk is the same, regardless of the situation. Ever-present. Encouraging. A spark that motivates the rest of us to do our best.

I am thou, thou art I. Thou hast formed a bond with the free spirit, an embodiment of power. We bestow upon you the gifts of the Strength Arcana. Strength Rank 1-Follow-Up Attack: Chance to follow-up should an attack trigger a One More

20/09 Got a text asking if I wanted to spend the Saturday with “my favourite teammate,” so she took me to the manufacturing district like some sort of twisted field trip. Not a single fiction book in sight. Plenty of manuals on what looked like ancient technology to leaf through, though. Strangely, when we’d stopped for lunch, she turned beet red before admitting she was the one who built her weapons. Apparently, most people who talk to her only do so for the looks, not expecting the brain that comes with them. Not that it was something I would have expected either. I reassured her it was nothing to be ashamed of; after all, we could use that expertise to make our equipment better. A conclusion she came to herself, offering to enhance anything we found in Beacon provided I also brought her the parts needed to do so.

Strength Rank 2- Start with a Yang: Yang is now capable of basic upgrades to your weapons.                                Back Talk: Chance to step in if Shadow negotiation fails.

22/09 Decided to spend my free time with Yang. On a whim, she offered to take me for a ride on Bumblebee. Honestly? I could get used to living life like this. Spontaneous, energetic, free. It’s like the antithesis to life with Adam, he had to control every. Little. Thing he could. Plus, she stopped at a flower store and ended up buying a bouquet of Deadly Nightshade, talking about how it should be my codename for missions. When she asked what flower I thought of when I pictured her, I answered honestly; Chrysanthemums, after all, I read somewhere that they symbolised optimism, and that’s what Yang is to me. On the other hand, it might’ve just been because they remind me of her hair. If she ever asks, I’m going with the first one. After all that, it felt like she wanted to say what she’d originally intended to on our first outing, but she stopped herself again, mumbling that it wasn’t the right time. Whenever she’s ready to tell me, I’ll listen.

Strength Rank 3- Baton Pass: Allows Yang to set up an enemy for a killing blow from a teammate.

29/09 Xiao-Long finally worked up the courage to talk to me about what was on her mind. Huh, calling her by her surname doesn’t work as well as when she does it to me. Having “Belladonna” shouted across the hallway certainly gets my attention every time! Before I knew it, I was being pulled into an empty classroom and listening, watching as Yang drew her uncle’s insignia on the board. She opened up to me about Raven (her mother), and her desperate attempt to find her when she was younger. Apparently, even Ozpin doesn’t know what happened first-hand, just Qrow’s last report, which he turned in before refusing to do any more work. I finally cracked and told her. About Adam, what the White Fang were doing, how they had access to the Dark Hour. How I couldn’t sleep because I was scared he’d find out where I ran off to. Strangely, she simply offered to stand guard in the hallway every night until I felt safe. Her own way of lightening the mood, and the insanity of the suggestion certainly did just that. After a comfortably long hug, long enough that we were both smiling by the end of it, she reiterated that she meant it. Something tells me I might actually be sleeping comfortably tonight.

Strength Rank 4- Intimidating Stance: Yang’s imposing stature means enemies may ask for less during a negotiation.

12/10 After taking out the train of White Fang, Yang stopped me at lunch to ask how I was doing. I didn’t even say anything, but I could feel my pulse start racing. Apparently, she could tell as well, insisting I spend time with her after school. Part of me considered ditching her; I didn’t want to talk about it. Not so soon after putting everyone in danger. Instead, we found a nice little ramen shop where Yang seemingly knew the owner. After a few whispered words, he returned with a huge bowl of tuna! Only noticed I was drooling when she reached to dab it off my chin with a napkin, embarrassingly, but the food was really good. She still ate way more than me, insisting it was her treat after the ordeal, and ignoring the fact I was holding all our funds from Shadow fighting. Granted, I’m sure people would be asking questions if I casually spent hundreds of thousands of Lien like it was nothing. I think it had its intended effect, though. Everyone had been handling me like I’d break if breathed on. We finally talked as friends again. Not as teammates, or in deference to me as field leader. On the way back to the dorm, she admitted to practicing more with weapon upgrades in her free time, saying she might have found a way to increase the firepower of our guns.

Strength Rank 5- Continue with a Yang: Firearm upgrades now available                                Harisen Recovery: Yang can now cure status ailments inflicted on party members

14/12 I agreed to see a film with Yang during our Christmas break. Her pick. She wouldn’t admit it, but I have a suspicion she based this choice on what she thought I’d enjoy. Action, but with a message. And a helpful dollop of mushy romance. Thankfully it wasn’t an adaptation of one of my books, I’m not sure anyone could properly translate them onto the big screen. What keeps going through my mind isn’t the film, however. At some point, I felt her hand gently graze mine, before gripping it more affirmatively. Caringly. Not that I was going to protest. Almost instinctively, my hand curled around hers in response, urging her not to let go without saying a word. For the rest of our time out, she did her best to avoid eye contact, like locking eyes would turn her to stone, or something. I couldn’t tell you what it meant, but I wasn’t opposed to most of the conclusions I reached. There was definitely something between us. While she’s probably embarrassed about it, as most people would be, I got to see a different side to her once again. For once, it felt like she let her guard down, stopped putting on airs and just… Enjoyed being herself, briefly. The girl I went out with today wasn’t Ruby’s sister or my second-in-command, but Yang herself. I’m not sure I can really put the sensation into words besides those, but it’s like we were dragged much closer than we’ve ever been before.

Strength Rank 6- Smooth Technique: Chance to step in during negotiation and steer discussion

03/01 I messed up. Seeing her in that hospital bed just drives it home. I can only imagine this is what I looked like to her as Adam towered over me. All motivation, just… gone. Resignation. I thought going alone would make it easier, and less like we were there to look after her. That I was coming to see her as a friend, like she’d done for me after the train. No amount of ramen could mend this. I did my best to make jokes like she did, but even that wasn’t working. When I finally got her to turn around, she was fixated on the bandages around my waist. My own reminder of the encounter. She asked me to take my jacket off, to let her see it. It was probably only a few seconds, half a minute at most, but it definitely felt like an eternity in uncomfortable silence. “Don’t go.” The last thing I expected Yang to say. Her smile was definitely forced, lacking in its assuredness. But I could see in her eyes that there was still determination, pleading, screaming for me not to go, that in that very moment she wouldn’t be able to bear it. Not after almost losing me once two nights ago. So I stayed. Held her remaining hand in both of mine. Watched it shake as she finally let all of her rage and despair boil over. “I’m not leaving.” Any other time, that line would be as cliché as they come, but not tonight. Tonight, it was the truth. And the weird thing? Afterwards, that was the first time I’d seen her smile properly since losing her arm. If it weren’t for the missing limb, you could’ve easily convinced me nothing happened that night.

Strength Rank 7- Endure: Chance to withstand a fatal attack with 1 HP remaining

01/02 Exactly a month. That was how little time it took Yang Xiao-Long to start training again. Admittedly, I jumped a little when I heard her ringtone after class, and it was hard not to blush when I found her leaning against the school gates, like a cool anime character, prosthetic sprayed yellow-and-black to match her aesthetic. On the surface, she was better. Laughing, joking, insisting firing her arm at Shadows was a viable combat tactic. But those cool amethyst eyes gave everything away. I didn’t press her on it; no matter how much I wanted to, trying to force her to open up would have the inverse effect, and I knew that. For today, we focused on getting her back in the field. What really stuck out to me was how quickly she’d come to accept the substitute as the real deal. In fact, were it not for the brightly coloured paintjob, you could be lulled into thinking it had always been there. Apparently, the weapon wasn’t in there when Weiss left the box outside her room, she referred to it as a “Yang special,” a shotgun hidden in the wrist. When we were done, she explained that, thanks to making her modifications, she might be able to tweak our weapons further before we next head into Beacon.

Strength Rank 8- Finish with a Yang- Upgrades to weapon critical hit chance are now available.

05/02 Even though I was the one who asked Yang to hang out with me, she still insisted on choosing where we go. Of all places, I didn’t expect to be back at the flower shop again. And she had a request. Pick out a flower that I thought represented her now, and she’d do the same for me. Even before doing it, the whole thing felt like a strange test, almost wanting to make sure my opinion hadn’t changed because of what happened. Or, at the very least, hadn’t changed to something she disliked. I don’t think it surprised her when we both picked something different to our first choices. She handed me a light purple rose, explaining that it meant love at first sight, and adding that she thought purple things complemented my eyes well. My choice was slightly less romantic. A black tulip, an association I’d formed with her after finding out that specific colour represents strength. No one else could possibly understand how strong Yang was to me. No other people were there when she saved me from Adam. When she stood up to the one person, I thought was unbeatable. And stood back up again when he tried to destroy her. The bear hug was unexpected though. She was practically in tears the moment I explained. We both knew there was more between us now. You just don’t do what Yang’s done for me on friendship alone. Love. It’d always been there, I think. Especially since she thinks of me as being a love at first sight. The hand-holding, wanting me to stay despite telling everyone else to leave, all of it was shoved into focus now I had a glimpse of her perspective. Even opening up about personal things, things she couldn’t tell anyone else. Our trust was more than that of good friends, of teammates. Somehow, we’d fallen right into each other’s laps. And I was all the happier for that.

Strength Rank 9- Protect: Chance for Yang to take a fatal blow for Blake. It would seem your relationship with Yang is getting intimate.

10/02 Yang finally let me pick where we go on a date. Feels weird calling it that. A good weird, though, like it’s what we should’ve been calling these outings the whole time. Something tells me she knew I’d just want to ride somewhere on Bumblebee, already knowing “just the place” after I suggested it. A small piece of nature, untouched by the sprawling metropolis below. Even the road we’d stopped on was a fair walk away. Almost too many types of flower to count. And a small clearing just on the edge of the cliff. The romantic in me wants to say it was just big enough for two people, though that’s probably an exaggeration. She grabbed my hand again, without hesitation this time, and promised we’d do everything together, even when we’re done with school and the Dark Hour. I believed her, too. Especially when she leaned in for a kiss. Had to stop myself blurting out “finally!” But it was worth it. I never want to be apart from her again. From the sounds of it, I’ll never have to be, either. My Yang was back. The one who stood by me when my worst nightmare came true, and had the balls to fight it. The Yang that opened up to me because she saw me as an equal, not as someone to be protected. We’ve both grown so much from when we started, and we’ve still got a ways to go, but now we can do it together.

Strength Rank 10- BumbleBY: When Blake and Yang are in a party together, both are immune to status effects.

[periodicreviews]

RWBY/RTX Austin 2018

Last weekend, I went to RTX Austin which is Rooster Teeth’s annual convention. Last time I went in 2016, it was about primarily to try it out, but I was also interested in seeing the RWBY panel for the plan the staff had for the forthcoming Volume 4, the first without Monty. I was pleasantly surprised when I heard Jeff Williams would be performing a concert and this turned out to be the highlight. 

I skipped 2017 because there was no Jeff Williams concert and partially due to being disappointed with Volume 4.

I bet this year on the fact that Jeff would be coming back and that turned out to be a good choice because the show did not disappoint. I don’t think the 2016/first time experience can ever be topped, but this 2018 show was equally worth the money.

After the disappointment that was Volume 4 and the mediocre Volume 5, I wasn’t as hyped about RWBY, but I figured I should still go to RTX and see it since I’d be there anyway. But admittedly I was going more for the concert than anything else.

The following is a summary of the RWBY panel #1 on Friday, the JWFO concert and Q&A, and a few other things.

RWBY pre-panel

There were several things that stood out to me at this panel.

Before the panel began, two women came out on stage to warm up the crowd. (This was after Craig from GameAttack came out to ask for donations for the Extra Life charity stream that they do). I hate to reduce them to stereotypes because I don’t really know anything about them and don’t have anything against them, but it’s the easiest way to convey the scene. Girl #1 was cosplaying as Yang. She seemed to be a very energetic and outgoing type of person and I got the impression that she is trying to get hired by Rooster Teeth in a marketing/PR role. Girl #2 was wearing a RWBY dress and was the quieter kind of nerdy girl who had a little trouble speaking either due to nervousness or she just stutters when she talks. Girl #2 also had a bat wrapped with barbed wire, like from The Walking Dead which apparently someone just gave to her as a gift.

I bring up their appearances/personalities because they mentioned they had introduced several panels together, meaning that some organizer had put them together for some reason. There just didn’t seem to be any chemistry between the two. Girl #1 would start to go off on a PR line about how beautiful all the Yangs/cosplayers looked and Girl #2 would say “I like turtles”. She didn’t actually say “I like turtles” but I’m just trying to illustrate the kind of disconnect between them.

 “So amazing!”

Girl #1 repeated this phrase at least 20 times while she was on-stage. I get she was there to hype up RWBY and RT, but maybe she went a little too far. She made it sound like everything at RTX was the best thing ever, which I get for fans, it’s a very enjoyable experience and from a PR perspective that’s what you want to convey. This is no different from something like Electric Daisy Carnival where they really push the “You are loved”/“We are all friends” message as you bake for 12 hours in the sun.

“Proud of me yet dad?”

Girl #2 said this near the end of their time and it felt like it was one of the few genuine moments during that opening.

“RWBY is the most forward facing property that Rooster Teeth has.”

Girl #1 said this and it’s one of many things she said that made me think she was trying to get hired.

“Are you guys ready for the Yang-bang with Barb?”

I cringed at this. I was completely unaware that the group selfie with Barbra Dunkleman (the voice of Yang) and other Yang cosplayers was referred to as a Yang-bang (I looked it up and that is what she tagged it as in 2016). I get that RWBY is now dark and gritty and no longer a “kid-friendly” show per se. But phrasing the selfie like this seemed to be a little too casual pun on “gangbang”.

Besides this, they went through the usual crowd questions like “Who’s here to see RWBY?”, “How many people have been to RTX before?”, “Did you guys get your merch? Oh that merch is so great.”, etc.

RWBY main panel

Once the panel officially started, I was confused as to why, just like in 2016, everyone seems so unorganized/unprepared. Maybe they think it’s funny, but I’d much rather prefer just a concise 45 minutes of presenting/banter, with 15 min for question. Kerry is always like “Oh guys, where did I put that? Is this next? Is that later? Should we just do it now?”

They announced “RWBY After the Fall” a new set of YA novels from Scholastic. It makes sense that they’re exploring the RWBY universe but it does make me wonder whether the V4 timeskip was seen as more of a business opportunity or done more in service to what would make the story better.

The most shocking thing about the panel was the discussion about how the writing process is different for Volume 6. Kerry and Miles initially started to say “In the past” but then quickly altered course and said “Let’s not talk about how we used to do it, just how we’re doing it now.” They basically described how they are writing more than one draft/getting the opinions of other people in the company who have been on the RWBY team for a long time.

It was shocking that they are doing it just now in Volume 6. I can understand Volume 1 and 2 just being a product of Monty/Miles/Kerry and 3 can kind of get a pass. But before/during Volume 4 and 5, wasn’t there anyone that said “Hey, maybe we need to do something different”? Maybe they did and it didn’t work out like they hoped. I am glad to hear that they are trying to improve the process.

The other big thing they did was to show a new character short. This one focused on the villains, mainly the White Fang/Adam. The short featured at least one new Jeff Williams vocal track and some of the animation looked amazing. In general, the animation for V4 and beyond has been decent to good, but there aren’t many instances where it really blows me away.

The short shows Sienna Khan using a chain rope weapon against multiple enemies at the same time. The chain (with a blade at the tip) moves so fluidly and the combat has a real sense of rhythm to it. Sure, you can have the greatest animation in the world, but it doesn’t mean anything if the story isn’t there to match it. I’m willing to stick around some more to see if the script improves. They did also announce a new RWBY Co director and if this short was a product of his involvement, then I like what I’m seeing so far.

Jeff and Casey Williams Q&A

When tickets first went on sale, the only option to be on the floor was to pay 60 dollars for a poster, ticket, and Q&A with Jeff and Casey. I think afterwards, you could just buy the standalone ticket, but I didn’t want to risk not being on the floor.

I get that the concert is hosted by ACL and not by RTX, but you would think there would be a little more coordination between the two organizations given that the concert appears on the RTX schedule and the graphic says “RTX presents”. On Saturday afternoon, I tried to figure out when and where the Q&A would be held. The regular guardians didn’t know and referred me to their manager. I was told to contact the venue to find out and that RTX wasn’t in charge of the event. It was just weird that RTX staff didn’t seem interested in finding out for themselves. I would bet I was not the only person to ask someone at RTX for information about the concert. Additionally the guy in charge of coordination was apparently not at RTX that day so I guess maybe he would’ve known. I ended up getting an email at 4pm telling me to go to the venue at 6pm. But for anyone who didn’t see that email, they were pretty upset that they missed it.

When I got to the venue, one of the staff members saw my Babymetal shirt and asked if I had seen them at ACL. I said no, but that I had seen them elsewhere. From that guy’s reaction and some of the looks from the other staff members, it felt like they instantly had a level of respect towards me. Like they had seen how the fans of Babymetal were at the show and thought “hey, this guy knows his good music.” Maybe I read them completely wrong. It was a very bizarre feeling because few people know what Babymetal is and fewer can read my almost illegible shirt.

Jeff seemed like he didn’t enjoy the stress of having to put on a big show and seemed kind of bored or just tired? Maybe RWBY fatigue is setting in and he feels kind of trapped by the constraints of the show. He talked about wanting to retire and start his Rush Limbo side project, which is music by the band Rush set in all 4-4 time in a reggae style. Obviously someone had to be that guy to ask Casey if she was single. I realize the guy thinks he is being funny or has a chance, but I think you’d be far less likely to go out with someone after subjecting them to a question like that where they are obligated to give you a response.

They floated the idea of playing shows in other locations but that seemed to be constrained by the forces at Rooster Teeth. Or maybe they’re just concerned they aren’t big enough to make any money off a tour. Jeff recommended everyone read a book called “The War of Art” which is about overcoming yourself to create the thing you’ve always wanted but never finished.

JWFO concert

The concert itself was great, but got off to a late start.

I almost forgot about all the weird things that happened while waiting for the concert to start. Someone started a sing along to Bohemian Rhapsody and several other songs. I’ve experienced the Bohemian Rhapsody sing along before, but never at another concert. When they played Numb by Linkin Park as background music, everyone sang along to that too, which is something that I have seen at other concerts at Hard Rock/House of Blues. At one point some people in the crowd erupted in shouts of “Jason?!” which I can only assume was a Heavy Rain reference. Then the crowd started to cheer whenever any technician or photographer came on stage. Again, this is not something I experience at many/if any shows.

This super hype atmosphere is fine, until it turns into everyone trying to be a comedian while there’s either a break between songs, or when the musicians are conversing on stage. Someone said like “Rest in pieces Pyhrra” or something like that at one point and sure I can handle one or two jokes or the occasional shout out. But at the end of the day, I’m here to see the band, not the crowd. I don’t blame those people in the audience trying to get Jeff or Casey to notice them and to have that deeper connection, but it gets old after a while.

There seemed to be communication issues or just not enough time to practice the ordering of the songs. Richie Branson was incredible as an opening act. I’ve seen him three times before and he is great every time. I think a lot of the audience didn’t know who he was or that there would be an opening act, but he seemed to win everyone over by the end of the first song. Adrienne Cowan, Lamar Hall, and Lydia were great again on vocals during the main act.

There were sadly no solos sections like there were in 2016. I remember vividly the extended piano solo the keyboardist performed to lead into “When It Falls”. Jeff also didn’t crowd surf this year either. But I think they were just pressed for time. Casey still seems to struggle more on some songs than others, but she was frank during the Q&A that she has a long way to go and it’s a struggle to keep up at Berklee.

Highlights for me were “Ignite” and “Smile” off the Volume 5 soundtrack.

 Other things

I spent the majority of my time in the Vendor Room playing Rock Band 4. Harmonix was there because “This Will Be The Day” is now available as DLC. But with everyone playing the same song, I think they were grateful for anyone who wouldn’t play that. There were some talented players there and it just felt good to play Rock Band after not having done it with a group in a while. I think the people in the Rock Band line were some of the friendliest I met all weekend.

I felt like I struggled socially during the whole weekend. Maybe it’s just that most con-people aren’t very good at socializing. Or it’s just me or a byproduct of going alone. Everyone else staying at the hostel I was at was interested in talking though.

I went to see an improv comedy show at the Fallout Theater. The show was called “Penalty Box” and there were a set of rules that the audience knew but the performers didn’t. So every time they violated a rule, they would get sent to the penalty box and through trial and error they would figure out most of the rules. It’s entertaining as an audience member, but as someone who is taking improv classes, I recognize how painful it is for the performers. Some of the rules prevent you from doing things that you are taught to do, resulting in at least one scene where the performers just stood still on stage and didn’t talk.

The Mega64 panel was also very enjoyable. Arcade UFO is a pretty nice arcade with a lot of games you don’t normally see in the US. I also got to see a friend I haven’t seen in a while. I have mixed feelings about Troy Baker’s “TED” talk style panel, but I respect that it was not just “another Q&A” type panel.

 Maybe I’ll go back next year.

[katara0524]

RWBY Speculation: Will Ruby Be Captured in this Volume (or in a Later Volume)? *UPDATED*

So, I’m not a theorist in any way, shape or form, but I really felt like I had to get this off my chest because literally NO ONE has seemed to mention anything about Salem’s intentions for Ruby. So I brought it upon myself to put together this post for ya’ll. You’re welcome. (I think.)

DISCLAIMER: This post is mostly speculation, and not everything is held up by evidence. Some inspiration/speculation for this post came from some of @calxiyn‘s videos.

With Volume 5 now in full swing, fans will be piecing together theories 24/7. But, one theory that I haven’t ever seen talked about is the fact that Salem has plans for our favorite Silver-Eyed warrior (SEW), yet we don’t know what exactly what these plans are. I’ve watched countless theory, reaction, and analysis videos, and read pretty much every speculation thread I can, yet no one has seemed to mention anything about Ruby possibly being taken off to Salem’s castle (is it a castle? I’m calling it a castle.) in the near future, whether it’s in this Volume or a later one.  Of course, there ARE going to be 14 episodes this season, so anything’s possible, I guess… 

Anyways, seeing how things are currently going for Ruby and the gang, we can safely assume that she could very likely be captured this Volume, most likely by someone other than Tyrian since he already failed in retrieving her once.

Even in the last moments of the V5 intro, as RWBY is running towards Salem, Ruby looks a little bit afraid of her, while the rest of her teams just looks determined. Of course, the intro should be taken with a grain of salt, since several things from the last intros never made it into the show (like Weiss vs. Emerald in V2 and V3).

So, I’m basically going to present 4 different scenarios of what could go down once Ruby is taken to Salem’s castle. 

Scenario #1: Cinder will attempt to kill Ruby.

We’re all too familiar with the infamous scene in the Volume 3 finale. Upon seeing Pyrrha’s tragic death, Ruby activates the power of her Silver Eyes in sorrow, unleashing it onto Cinder and Kevin the Dragon.

Then, in the Volume 4 premiere, we see that a now severely debilitated Cinder is itching to get revenge against Ruby, even expressing intense anger towards the other members of Salem’s faction whenever they poke fun at her misfortune. 

Later, in the finale of Volume 4, we see that Cinder’s hatred for the protagonist hasn’t faded one bit. Emerald creates a hallucination of Ruby for Cinder to practice using her Maiden powers on. Even Salem herself watches this, and appears to express some satisfaction in the brutal murder of the vision (though it could be that she’s simple pleased with Cinder’s progress). 

Now, in this scenario, I believe that Ruby will be brought to Salem’s castle (obviously), and thrown into a battle against Cinder. Cinder will go on full-on Fall Maiden (aka “Avatar State”), while Ruby will use the full(?) extent of the SEW powers.

Because of each character’s desire to seek vengeance on the other, this scenario can make a lot of sense. But before we come to any conclusions, let’s take a look at some other probable situation that could explain Salem’s intentions.

Scenario #2: Salem will somehow steal Ruby’s powers.

Now, I know what ya’ll may be thinking:

“Marii, now you’ve REALLY gone crazy! There’s no evidence for this!”

I hear you, comment section. Just let me state my case. Besides, this is all just speculation, so chill out. XD

If you’ve ever seen any theories about Salem, you may know of one that suggests that Salem was once a SEW herself (according to her supposedly having Silver Eyes in the concept art she was seen in).

In this speculation, Salem somehow became corrupted and turned into the evil ruler of the Creatures of Grimm we all know today. It is also theorized that she gained the power to “absorb” or even “steal” the SEW abilities from other Warriors. Some even believe that this is what could have happened to Summer Rose. Perhaps this is what Ruby’s fate could’ve lead to if she wasn’t the main protagonist.

It seems very unlikely, but it’s still a plausible outcome.

Scenario #3: Salem will possess Ruby in order to gain her powers.

This one is pretty similar to the previous scenario, but instead of Salem simply taking Ruby’s powers, she could possibly just straight-up possess her, or absorb her soul in some way.

Much like the last situation, there are many theories about Salem possibly being a former SEW. Some of these theories state that Salem could have the ability to absorb the souls of other SEW’s, or even just possess them. This could also possibly explain Summer Rose’s fate.

If you look at one of Salem’s hands, you can see a ring or bracelet resembling a beetle of some sort. This might be just the thing that Salem could use the possess other SEW’s, much like the glove (which might I add also had a beetle in it) that Cinder used to steal the Fall Maiden powers from Amber in V3.

But, of course, we won’t know until more information is revealed about this mysterious villain before we can come to a conclusion like this.

Scenario #4: Salem will manipulate Ruby, and turn her over to their side.

Now, this is the scenario that I’m most on board with. It also seems the most probable to actually happen.

If you recall the World of Remnant episode about the huntsman and huntresses, the final seconds of the video could very well be foreshadowing this exact situation…

Ozpin, the narrator of the V2 WoR episodes, says this: “…all are expected to serve humanity, and never succumb to the darkness.”

As he states this, a silhouette of Ruby in front of the moon is shown on screen. This moment here has to be foreshadowing if I’ve ever seen it. After all, why would RUBY of all people be shown during a statement like this? Seems a little fishy to me… :/

What I predict could happen, is that when Ruby is taken to Salem’s castle, Salem will “push her buttons” and manipulate her into joining Salem, forcing the girl to use her SEW abilities against the rest of our heroes.

In the V4 director commentary (which I had the privilege of seeing during V5 premiere in theatres), Kerry himself talks about Salem being really good at getting others to do her bidding, and she does so by hitting a the “weak spots,” so to speak. For example, she can easily manipulate Tyrian by using his obsession with pleasing her, and she only has to tell him that she’s disappointed in him to set him off, and he’ll punish himself and make sure he doesn’t fail her again.

With this information, we can predict that Salem will use this same tactic on Ruby in order to get her to “succumb to the darkness,” as the WoR episode states.

So far, I can definitely say that this one is my favorite. It has a lot more evidence to back it up than the others do, as well.

If/When Ruby is captured, what will it mean for the others?

Now that I’ve gone through the different scenarios of what could happen to our protagonist, let’s talk about what  Ruby’s capture will mean for the rest of our heroes.

To start out with, Ruby could very well be the only one who’s able to stop Salem, for all we know. And if Ruby’s gone, Salem wins. So, if (or when) Ruby gets taken away, the rest of the crew will HAVE to go after her, no matter what. Even if it means losing a few battles along the way (like the Fall of Haven?). If their only hope of saving the world disappears, then Remnant is royally screwed. (Now, obviously she won’t die or join Salem’s side permanently, because she’s the main character, but that doesn’t mean she’s necessarily invincible, either.)

What will be most interesting to see, however, is how everyone copes with Ruby’s kidnapping. Surely they’d all be sad or angry. Some might even hit a breaking point. However, Miles and Kerry might have other ideas in store for us…either way, it’ll be really interesting to see how our main cast deals with this tragedy, and how they plan to get their friend back (seriously tho i rlly wanna see them all unit and rescue Ruby as a team; make it happen, RT!)

More Evidence *SPOILERS FOR V5C2*

Also, I think Chapter 2 hinted at Ruby’s capture.

Whenever Cinder asks Salem about keeping Ruby alive, Salem says this:

“Never underestimate the usefulness of others. Take Leonardo; he was one of Ozpin’s most trusted, and yet, now…”

“…If Ruby Rose has learned to harness her gift, then you must take care to protect yours.”

Not only is it interesting that Salem says Ruby’s name (though she probably just got it from Cinder), but she also talked about how Lionheart was turned against Ozpin. Sure, she may just be referring to using the bandits to get the Spring Maiden, but I’m pretty sure she means that she’s going to use Ruby against the rest of our heroes. (also I want to know what she meant by Cinder protecting her Maiden powers; maybe it’s the same reason why Cinder got messed up by Ruby?)

Also, the RWBY banner for the RT Site depicts Team RWBY, but the background is of the Grimmscape. I may be looking too far into this, but if Ruby DOES in fact get taken off the Salem, really the only place she’d be is IN the Grimmscape, right?

Now, do I WANT any of these to happen? Well, yes and no. Yes, because it means we’d get some much-needed development for several characters. No, because each scenario involves hurting my favorite character (and all the others, too), which hurts my heart. T-T

What do ya’ll think? Is Ruby going to be capture by Salem and her forces? If so, when do you think it’ll happen; in Volume 5, or later on? Which outcome do you think will come to fruition? Do you have any ideas for other scenarios? Am I just another crazy RWBY fan who needs  to chill out? Let me know in the comments below! Sorry for the super long post, but I hope ya’ll enjoyed my rambling anyway. :)

-Marii

[madlost1]

I was bored and did all the questions on one of those ask me things.

Get to know me a little bit after the break if your interested:

The meaning behind my url: No meaning at all just a user name that I mad up a while back when I needed one.

A picture of me: posted one last night.

How many tattoos i have and what they are: 6 Godzilla text in Japanese, Charisma.com logo, Sucy Manbavaran portrait, Doctor Who quote, Sailor Moon symbols, Ruby Rose (RWBY) picture.

Last time i cried and why: Last night thinking about someone.

Piercings i have: 4 (2 in each ear)

Favorite band: Babymetal followed very very closely by AC/DC

Biggest turn offs: Dishonestly is probably the biggest one, smoking, manipulation, uh some other stuff that is slipping my mind right now. Physically nothing though the mind is more important to me then looks.

Top 5 (insert subject): I’ll go movies 1)Sucker Punch (2011) 2) The Blues Brothers 3) Casablanca 4) Inglourious Basterds 5) Army of Darkness 

Tattoos i want: Too many but the next will probably be either a Sailor Saturn or the Straw Hat Pirates Logo.

Biggest turn ons: Honestly (obviously), Being nice. Physically Short Hair and Glasses fuck me right up.

Age: 27 (28 next month)

Ideas of a perfect date: Dinner, Mini golf, and a movie to cap the night off

Life goal: Just to live a happy life with a significant other.

Piercings i want: no more I’m done

Relationship status: Single (feels like it will be that way forever)

Favorite movie: Easy already did this one but Sucker Punch (2011) most would probably say it was because of the skimpily dressed girls or the action scenes but if you look past all of the there is a really deep and intricate story being told behind it all with multiple interpretations of what is actually going on.

A fact about my life: I shouldn’t really be here typing this today since I should have died when I was a baby.

Phobia:  Autophobia (more specifically a fear of dying alone)

Middle name: John

Height: 5′9″ or 5′10″ don’t know anymore

Are you a virgin? yeah

What’s your shoe size? depends on brand 11 in Converse up to 12.5 in Nike

What’s your sexual orientation? Straight

Do you smoke, drink, or take any drugs? None of the above

Someone you miss: Honestly I miss texting my crush.

What’s one thing you regret? I regret a lot of things biggest one probably being not giving the one girl that was willing to me a chance a chance myself.

First celebrity you think of when someone says attractive: Oh boy celebrity crush I’m going to have to say Mami Sasazaki from the Japanese band Scandal.

Favorite ice cream? Strawberry

One insecurity: My looks

What my last text message says: That wasn’t work or family related it was kind of a long one to that girl that I told I didn’t think I should ask her out. ( which I later found out she had a boyfriend already any way so there was no point to it to begin with).

Have you ever taken a picture naked? No

Have you ever painted your room? Yes

Have you ever kissed a member of the same sex? No

Have you ever slept naked? No

Have you ever danced in front of your mirror? No

Have you ever had a crush? Oh god yes I’m pretty sure everyone has. I still do.

Have you ever been dumped? You kind of have to be in a relationship for that to happen in the first place so no.

Have you ever stole money from a friend? Who the hell does that? No. Even if I borrow a couple bucks I always pay them back.

Have you ever gotten in a car with people you just met? No

Have you ever been in a fist fight? I’ve never thrown a punch because I will never hit a woman which leads me to the fact that my cousin was kind of an idiot and punched me a couple of times, and I also got punched in the face by some girl on the bus ride on the way home from school one day in Middle School because she said me and one of my other cousins were being too loud. (More literally a case of us talking about music I think it was, her and her friend sitting in the seat in front of us and her turning around and saying shut the fuck up and when I said no she punched me in the mouth.)

Have you ever snuck out of your house? No

Have you ever had feelings for someone who didn’t have them back? I mean I do right now.

Have you ever been arrested? No

Have you ever made out with a stranger? Np

Have you ever met up with a member of the opposite sex somewhere? Whats met up with? Gone somewhere with then yes.

Have you ever left your house without telling your parents? Of course

Have you ever had a crush on your neighbor? No

Have you ever ditched school to do something more fun? No

Have you ever slept in a bed with a member of the same sex? Assuming my dad doesn’t count (listen 6 people on vacation in a 2 bed hotel room is not ideal) then no.

Have you ever seen someone die? No

Have you ever been on a plane? Yeas

Have you ever kissed a picture? No

Have you ever slept in until 3? I can’t sleep that late. I can lay in bed all damn day though.

Have you ever love someone or miss someone right now? Love is a strong word. I don’t want to use it but I guess it is kind of what it is. 

Have you ever laid on your back and watched cloud shapes go by? Yes

Have you ever made a snow angel? Yes

Have you ever played dress up? Yes

Have you ever cheated while playing a game? Yes

Have you ever been lonely? All the damn time

Have you ever fallen asleep at work/school? Yes

Have you ever been to a club? No

Have you ever felt an earthquake? No

Have you ever touched a snake? Yes

Have you ever ran a red light? Accidentally when I was first learning to drive.

Have you ever been suspended from school? No

Have you ever had detention? Yes 3 times all BS if you ask me. Me and my cousin got into a argument in like 5th grade that led to us both getting it. I think it was 7th grade computer class when a couple of us were fucking around and I hit a couple keys on a keyboard by accident and the piece of crap computer froze so I got hit with that one. And a lunch detention for a week because I accidentally spit mashed potatoes over a couple of people at lunch at while I admit it looked bad because I was trying to eat mashed potatoes with a straw the teachers way over reacted. 

Have you ever been in a car accident? A little bump on a rain slick road when every one slammed on their brakes. Unfortunately I was on the down slope of a hill and slid down it into the back of the car in front of me. No damage all was good.

Have you ever hated the way you look? Always

Have you ever witnessed a crime? Shoplifting I guess but that’s what happens when you work in retail.

Have you ever pole danced? No

Have you ever been lost? No

Have you ever been to the opposite side of the country? Yes

Have you ever felt like dying? Nah as much as I say I want to there is no point to it. Just live your life. You never know how important your life may be to someone else and how your absence in life may affect them.

Have you ever cried yourself to sleep? Yeah last night

Have you ever sang karaoke? Alone in my room and in my car I sing along to songs all the time but that doesn’t really count.

Have you ever done something you told yourself you wouldn’t? Tried drinking a few times. Taste of alcohol is horrible to me anymore though.

Have you ever laughed until something you were drinking came out your nose? Uhm the aforementioned mashed potato incident with is kind of why the mashed potatoes went everywhere

Have you ever slept with someone at least 5 years older or younger? I never slept with anyone

Have you ever kissed in the rain? Never kissed anyone

Have you ever sang in the shower? Yes

Have you ever made out in a park? Never kissed anyone

Have you ever dream that you married someone? Yes

Have you ever glued your hand to something? Yes model kits all the time

Have you ever got your tongue stuck to a flag pole? no

Have you ever ever gone to school partially naked? no

Have you ever been a cheerleader? no

Have you ever sat on a roof top? Yes but thats because I used to help my dad re-do roofs  all the time when I was younger.

Have you ever brush your teeth? I brush my teeth every day

Have you ever ever too scared to watch scary movies alone? I used to not be able to watch them before bed because I would get nighmares but it hasn’t happened for awhile

Have you ever played chicken? No

Have you ever been pushed into a pool with all your clothes on? Yes

Have you ever been told you’re hot by a complete stranger? No

Have you ever broken a bone? No (actually probably my toe at one point but I never went to the doctor for it.)

Have you ever been easily amused? I am very easily amused

Have you ever laughed so hard you cried? Yes 

Have you ever mooned/flashed someone? No

Have you ever cheated on a test? No

Have you ever forgotten someone’s name? It happens sometimes

Have you ever met someone who didn’t seem real? Yes

Have you ever give us one thing about you that no one knows. Not yet

[shenanigumi]

20 Questions Tag Meme

I was tagged by @lanaya-lavellan​! Putting it up here first, since this blog was the one that got tagged.

1. How tall are you? 5 feet 4.5 inches at last count.

2. What color and style is your hair? Brown, except it’s the kind of brown that can’t really make up its mind—streaks of lighter and darker, sometimes bits of gold, mostly almost copper. It’s wavy and kinda bushy and falls past my waist at this point, so I should really have my mom trim the ends. It gets in the way all the time, but literally the only thing I know how to “do” with my hair is put it up in a ponytail. A low ponytail. I can’t even do the high ones like Chizuru’s got.

3. What color are your eyes? Boring brown. But I like to think it’s kind of a nice brown. A clear, chocolate brown. Not the dull brown I’ve seen in other people.

4. Do you wear glasses? Yeah, have for the past 15 years. When I was six, my mom took me to the San Jose Opera production of Die Zauberflöte and we found out I couldn’t see the subtitles without binoculars, so we hooked me up with glasses as soon as possible after that. My eyesight has been getting steadily worse ever since. Literally everything farther than 3-4 inches from my eyes is blurry without my glasses.

5. Do you wear braces? *shudders* Please don’t ask about my teeth. I had braces for a year and a half, from sixth to eighth grade. Apart from that, I’ve technically had retainers since second grade, but it’s been literal years since I’ve worn them and now my teeth are subtly starting to shift again so all my suffering may have been for naught ughhhh

6. What is your fashion sense? You say “fashion sense” like I have any kind of sense for fashion. Alas, I do not. Most often it’s a.) 1 of about 5 pairs of almost identical skinny jeans, each of which I wear repeatedly until obviously dirty; b.) whatever t-shirts are clean; c.) an extra layer of some sort if the weather calls for it, typically a zipper hoodie; and d.) boots or sandals. I have exactly one functional belt, and though I own multiple pairs of shoes, I wear exactly one pair of boots and two or three identical pairs of sandals to death. I do adore dresses and skirts, but they’re so much effort I hardly ever get/take the opportunity to wear them.

7. Do you have any siblings? No, thank gods.

8. What kind of student were/are you? The kind that was above average when she was a kid, so she developed expectations of natural aptitude—the kind that panics whenever she gets a C or lower on any given assignment due to a phobia of disappointing her parents—the kind that started struggling to do her assignments because of the weight of her own unrealistically high standards—and the kind that learned to really, genuinely hate school because of it, yet still feels obligated to participate. Don’t even talk to me about school, seriously. I'm strung out so tight I’ll snap if you touch me.

9. What is your favorite subject? I really do hate school. I don’t even like my past Creative Writing classes, for gods’ sakes (blame the teachers I’ve had). I’m okay with my small press editing class because my classmates are chill and one of them legit runs the class, but like, I literally don’t have a favorite subject. Unless you count my independent study on Bakumatsu Japan, because that’s fucking awesome.

10. Favorite TV shows? I don’t watch TV alone, but I’ll watch some things my family puts on, like certain dumb game shows or Project Runway whenever it’s in season. I also sometimes get hooked on Law & Order (especially Criminal Intent), even if I usually can’t watch the first several minutes due to general squeamishness. Oh, and if RWBY counts, I guess I like that too, although my enthusiasm has waned somewhat as the series progresses.

11. Favorite books? Sorry, but for all my love of writing, college has totally ruined my appetite for reading, as well as my ability to read for pleasure. I can’t even remember the last book I read all the way through, let alone ones I actually like. I suppose the longtime favorites that have stood the test of time include The Thirteen Clocks by James Thurber and A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. I also seem to remember liking the Pippi Longstocking series by Astrid Lindgren.

12. Favorite pastime? Writing, first and foremost (and, more prominently, bouncing ideas around!!); dancing, at least whenever I remember I like it; and playing video games, more for the plot than the experience. Seriously, I am such a casual gamer. I’ll be on the easiest of modes and I’ll still probably have a hard time. That’s a big part of why I like otome… no actual gameplay required…

13. Any regrets? This is depressing enough already, come on! But I don’t really have any long-term crushing regrets, so moving right along…

14. What is your dream job? I'm technically already a writer, since I write constantly, but getting paid for my passions would be awesome. My ultimate goal is to be able to sustain myself just by writing fiction, whether novels or short stories… but in the meantime, I’d love getting a day job as an editor. Frustrating as it usually is, it brings me a strange sort of enjoyment, and I like to think I’m good at it.

15. Do you want to get married? Being only demisexual and grayromantic, I’m not entirely sure marriage and I agree with one another. Besides, marriage is more a side effect than a life goal, wouldn’t you say? Lots of prerequisites, don’t you think? I’ve only checked one box, so… I mean… we’ll see. But if anyone gets me any diamonds, fuck that, I’m saying no till I get a better ring. Amethyst is where it’s at. Nobody gets enslaved and worked to death over amethyst.

16. Do you want kids? How many? In my current state, I absolutely could not handle kids, and it’s difficult for me to think of not being in my current state, so I can’t give a solid answer. See, I feel like in order to truly be said to “want kids”, you have to be okay with all the possibilities. If it were possible for me to have a single blood-related daughter without having sex, artificially inseminating, or being pregnant at all, I might consider it. Maybe. Until then, nahhhhhhhh.

17. How many countries have you visited? Just the one I’m from. Might consider exploring more now that a certain “mangled apricot hellbeast” (to quote someone on Twitter) has been elected president, though. Think some of my family members can hook me up with an Italian citizenship if I ever need to make an escape…

18. What’s the scariest dream you’ve ever had? There was a super-symbolic dream that really upset me (fear, anger, sadness, you name it, I felt it) back in eighth grade, all about how so much sexism and racism in America has been swept under the rug instead of getting fixed, and how the same people have ultimately been in power for centuries. It was really deep and unsettling, and I was only like 13-14 so I didn’t know how to process it. I’m still not totally sure.

19. Do you have any enemies? Nah. There used to be people I hated, and I’m fairly certain people hated me too, but I haven’t had anyone I’d call an enemy since roughly high school. The last person I hated was one of my Creative Writing teachers. I refer to him only as “Professor Jackass”.

20. Do you have a datemate? …Hey, ain’t that a planner? Or are you referring to a significant other? (And if that’s the case, if you marry your datemate, do they have the potential to become a housespouse?! I might even consider getting married now!!) Anyway, I do have a planner, but never learned to use it. I also happen to have a boyfriend of just over two months, and I don’t really know how that happened, or what I should be doing with him, but he somehow manages to make my life brighter—so I hope I can do the same for him, in my own inimitably clumsy way.

Tagging: @doodlethewhiteraven​, @sabinasanfanfic​, @impracticaldemon​, @shell-senji​, @kazama-hime​, and @queen-mizera​ if you haven’t gotten this already! But please feel free to NOT do it.

[bryanclaesch]

Hey, everyone.

Continuing with my series of Top 10 Reasons Why (this-character) Should Be Your Favorite, this time, we'll be looking at everyone's favorite emo kitty-cat Batman, Blake Belladonna. I'd also like to thank my friend Michaela Roan and RWBY Wonderland admin Blake Belladonna for their help in making this list.

And if you guys want to make sure you don't miss the next Top 10 RWBY post, subscribe to my RWBY mailing list: http://eepurl.com/cWX8Fj. And if you really want to show me the love, support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.con/bryanclaesch.

Let's get to it!

"Blake..."

So, Blake... so... Blake-y. I'll be honest, before I started writing the Novelization and before Volume 4, I really didn't like Blake. I didn't get the hype. She felt more like a stock character than the other members of RWBY and it still feels like she has the least characterization of them all. So it can be difficult for me to get into that Blake-mindset, but I'll do my best to explain why people like her so much.

1. "And what about you, Blake?! You seem to carry yourself with a sense of purpose."

"There's too much wrong in this world to just stand by and do nothing. Inequality. Corruption. Someone has to stop it."

Perhaps Blake's strongest asset is her strong sense of justice. Having lived through injustice and even committing unjust acts, Blake knows how far the crimes of others reach and how deeply ingrained they are in the world. Desiring real equality through real change, Blake left the White Fang and became a huntress all for the sake of rooting out the corruption. And even though she isn't quite clear on how to go about it, she's still fighting which is more than most people can say.

2. "There's no such thing as pure evil!"

This one confuses me a little, especially because I do believe in pure evil. (His name is Satan.) I got this from Michaela, so if it confuses you too, blame her.

Anyway, the argument here is that since Blake has been from both the right side and wrong side of the tracks, she can see the motivations behind every action and doesn't actually see people as necessarily evil. At the worst, they're just misguided. Who knows? Perhaps one of the reasons why Blake left the White Fang is because she pitied the White Fang and Adam. Blinded by their prejudices, she sees them not as evil, but handicapped, and so they can't objectively see the harm they're doing.

3. Psychomachia

I'm sure that's a new word for a lot of ya! But I bet Blake knows its meaning.

Anyway, psychomachia is a fancy word for the phenomenon of the angel and devil that sit on either of your shoulders and tell you what to do. Nearly all of Blake's existence has been tied to a battle between good and evil. She is that battle, and she constantly struggles with how to live a normal, virtuous life when her life has been darkened by everything she's done. We even get to see this battle play out as she struggles with the decision to just kill Torchwick or let him live in No Brakes. Her sense of morality and the struggle she faces reflects how others also struggle with the fight between good and evil.

Luckily though, Blake has her own sun who'll never stop brightening her world just like how morning always follows night.

Suck on that Bumblebee shippers! Blake's light is a sun, not a firecracker.

4. Redemptive

Blake fell in with a very bad crowd. She stole, she hurt, and quite possibly maimed or even murdered. (We don't know.) But Blake had the perspective to see what she was doing and what she was becoming, and she was repulsed by it. So, she left and got back on the right path. And as her father points out, she faced the White Fang, her demons, again and again, and she always came out on top rather than running away or changing her stripes for the sake of survival. Her story is one of redemption, and the audience always loves a good redemption story.

"I should have left the White Fang with you and Mom."

 5. "I've heard students visiting from Vacuo will be arriving by ship today. And as a representative of Beacon, I feel as though it is my solemn duty to welcome them to this fine kingdom."

"She wants to spy on them so she'll have the upper hand in the tournament."

Not much gets past Blake. Is it the Faunus eyes? The life of a criminal? Or is she just naturally sharp? (Ow! I cut myself!)

Whatever it is, Blake can see through the BS whatever the situation, whether it be Weiss' feigned diplomacy, the goodwill gift of Menagerie, or that there's no good reason for the White Fang to be working with Torchwick. Blake's got the eyes of a hawk.

6. "General Lagoon was inexperienced and made the mistake of trying to ambush the Faunus in their sleep. His massive army was outmatched, and the general was captured. Perhaps if he had paid attention in class, he wouldn't have been remembered as such a failure."

Besides being perceptive, Blake studies. The girl knows her history, and although it's easy to assume she would've known that since she's a Faunus, we must also remember that in Volume 2 when she becomes obsessed with finding Torchwick and the White Fang, one of her problems that Weiss mentions is that her grades started to slip meaning she had grades that could slip. (I can't even claim that! But I don't go to school anymore.) And! The way Blake went searching for the White Fang and Torchwick suggests a studious, researcher mentality what with checking out books and searching the web. Blake's not your stereotypical cat-furry--she's got brains.

7. "Plus she likes books!"

If you were asked to name two things that Blake likes, what would you say? Adam? No! Yang? Maybe. Sun? Depends on the situation. But two things that you'll never go wrong with are books and tea. This may sound a little strange, but for those of us who like books and tea, it's great to see a character with these traits. Especially tea--there's too much coffee in the world! And books and tea go together perfectly. What's the perfect drink to have when you're reading? Tea! What's the best thing to do while drinking a cup of tea? Reading! See? It works splendidly.

8. Mmm, mmm. Yeah, yeah.

Have you guys ever been on YouTube and seen those RWBY Crack videos? Most of them suck, but some are genius. One I saw played that crappy song "Mmm mmm yeah yeah" by Austin Mahone over the footage of Blake walking away from Ruby after helping her with Weiss, and for the first time ever, I had to recognize the fact that Blake has a great booty. It's shallow, I know. But I mentioned Ruby being cute and guess what I'm going to say about Yang. That's right. Steel yourselves. But my point here is that while Blake is overshadowed by Yang, she's no slouch herself in terms of physical beauty. And I think all our hearts melted when we saw her in her prom dress.

9. "Now that's a katana!"

The Gambol Shroud is an interesting weapon. It's a sword, it's a gun, it's sheathe is a sword, and it's got a ribbon and can be thrown like a kunai. While I never would've thought of this as a viable weapon design because there's too much going on and there are better gunblade designs, Blake's weapon is effective and adaptable. In fact, there are times when it's more of a tool than a weapon. And if the Samurai or Ninja could've gotten their hands on the Gambol Shroud, they would have definitely used it. It's a pretty cool katana. (But admittedly Jetsteam Sam's is cooler.)

His sword is also a gun!

Can Blake's sword do that?

Hmm... not bad, actually.

 10. "Here. This should help you."

On the surface, Blake's shadow clones don't seem to be anything special. She dodges and leaves a copy of herself to take the hit--what's so great about that? Well, Blake's semblance has a few extra advantages. For instance, she doesn't just dodge, she can use the clones to change the direction of her movement on a dime. She can go from flying right at Torchwick to the train car floor a safe distance away. Or, she can be flying through the air and then use her shadow clones to move her into attack position to take on a giant Nevermore.

Add dust charges to her Gambol Shroud and she can show you a whole range of new tricks from freezing an enemy's weapon in place to blowing them up. And if Weiss' semblance can evolve, I wonder what will happen when Blake's also evolves. Because lets face it, no one predicted Weiss being able to summon her fallen foes or how dust could help Blake. Just goes to show that Miles and Kerry still have a few tricks up their sleeves, and that we still don't know everything there is to know about Blake. How exciting.

And there you have it. The Top 10 Reasons why Blake should be your favorite character.

Ugh!

If you guys think I missed any, go ahead and put them in the comments below.

Keep writing, my friends.

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