#it's not a death sentence but I'm poor and I can barely afford his heart medication

[neurotichunter]

My cat was just diagnosed with epilepsy (on top of having a heart condition) and I just can't.

[ironwoodprotectionsquad]

Penny being trans + autistic coded made me resonate with her as I am nonbinary and autistic myself. Her being a robot felt like me when I have to hide my neurodivergent traits. Her getting confirmation that she wasn't just a robot/machine but a real girl felt so validating. I don't have to look like everyone else to still be considered "real".

Ironwood's semblance being literal hyperfixiation, something I've dealt with since I have ADHD + autism would have made me feel better about myself. This is a man who, despite everything: his PTSD, being an amputee, still was a kind-hearted man. This is something rarely seen in media. I was happy.

Then they fucked up both Penny and Ironwood in ways that struck me. Penny is hacked into and forced to comply with basically forced suicide- she was to open the vault, then self-destruct.

Ironwood, oh dear god. They couldn't wait to fuck him over. He was so HAPPY to see team RWBYJNROQ. He told them everything about his plan, trusting them with literal GOVERNMENT secrets, giving them a place to stay, FREE weapon upgrades (Atlas is known for its advanced technology), hell even gave them their HUNTRESS LICENSES THREE-ISH YEARS EARLY (which Ruby later uses as a credibility source in her broadcast, which was eerily similar to Cinder's in Volume 3, when she says IRONWOOD CANNOT BE TRUSTED.)

Not to mention that she conveniently forgot she was calling for help from OTHER KINGDOMS. OF COURSE they wouldn't arrive soon enough. And no one had reason to trust her. She's a nobody. She was at the Vytal Festival and her team made it all the way to the singles? Cool. Ruby wasn't the final fighter, hell after the 4 vs 4 match she didn't compete further.

Blake would have obviously been a bad choice: she's a faunus and if anyone knows about the White Fang, they might recognize her.

Yang is more known than Ruby, but the world saw her kick an unarmed teen in the finals round. She doesn't have too good a reputation.

Weiss? She's well known as the Heiress, but also her singing. Having her give the speech is a mixed bag: on one hand, she's a recognizable face. On the other, that's a problem. Her father, the CEO of the SDC, is known for his cruelty. Blake said it herself way back in Volume 1: questionable business practices and partners.

So... How about no broadcast at all? What did her broadcast accomplish?

Nothing. Help didn't arrive and likely caused more panic. Plus, people still had a negative view of Atlas, as the last thing the world saw was Atlesian soldiers turning against civilians.

The last broadcast was before Beacon fell. So likely another hacker giving a message would be met with fear.

And what attracts Grimm? Negativity.

Ruby's broadcast could have been a DEATH SENTENCE to so many. But no, this is treated as the... Right course of action?

Ruby and co. hates Ironwood's plan, yet it's clear they don't have one. RWB spends a lot of time moping around the manor drinking tea. Team YOJR (Yang, Oscar, Jaune and Ren) actually DO SOMETHING. Oscar gets kidnapped and they chase after him. Ren rightfully points out that NONE OF THEM SHOULD BE DOING THIS. But that goes against the Hivemind™, so he must apologize and agree to whatever the fuck Ruby decides to do.

Which is NOTHING! RWBY didn't even take down the hound: WILLOW and WHITLEY did. A drunk woman and an unarmed teen defeated it.

Oscar is the one who blows up the whale (with his time bomb? huh??)

Ruby whines that it's all too much, cries on a staircase while her sister (remember that Ruby and Yang are related????) comforts her. The scene has no emotional depth because the two barely interact anymore.

OH GOD AND WHEN YANG TAKES A HIT FROM NEO THAT WAS MEANT FOR RUBY IT TAKES HER OUT COMPLETELY. AURA? GONE. HELL, SHE'S EVEN UNCONSCIOUS. I swear it's like the animation budget could only afford to have ONE character react, and it's Blake "sad kitty face" Belladonna. Not Ruby, who is her sister. WHO HAS A SPEED SEMBLANCE. But no, they just watch her fall, not knowing if she's alive.

Ruby has more of a reaction to CRESCENT ROSE, HER FUCKING WEAPON falling.

Which is retconned so hard in the Vol 9 trailer, where she tells Neo "I hope it was worth it" before falling into the void. Huh??

Anyways I'm rambling again but I am so angry!

-🎼

Never, ever, EVER apologize for rambling. I LOVE hearing peoples thoughts and sometimes it's a really nice feeling to let out your frustrations and anger towards something that has caused you harm and it really REALLY sounds like this caused you a lot of harm and so I do not blame you one bit for being hurt and angry. I should apologize for this taking so long. This was a lot and I needed to sort my thoughts and even so I probably missed some points so I also apologize for that.

Penny and Ironwoods biggest mistake was trusting and being kind to RWBY. They lied and betrayed James and treated him like garbage even though he showed them nothing but kindness and did whatever he could to help them and listened to them. Penny was told what to do and think far more so then James ever supposedly did. Ruby decided to give her a new body, decided she didn't like how James was treating her and that she thought James was a bad person, and decided that Penny was better off with them. Penny stopped being able to make her own decisions once she started hanging out with RWBY and co.

Really though what did they all think was going to happen when they sent out a message that matched beat to bear a lot of what Cinder said before Atlas fell? Did she think about the panic that would cause? Did she forget she was worried about Ironwood telling everyone back in Volume 7 because of the panic it would cause everyone??? Did that just conveniently slip her mind?

I honestly think Weiss would have been the best choice to give the broadcast of them all but I don't think they should have sent out the broadcast in the first place. It should realistically only cause panic and death but the narrative is gonna yadda yadda right past all of that.

Oh god yea RWBY and co complain and whine and scream that Ironwoods plan is bad whilst offering up no alternatives then just taking his plan and acting like it was theirs the whole time. They even did this in Volume 7 when in episode 2 they where worried about James telling Atlas about Salem and then turning around and acting all happy and shocked when James told everyone near the end of the season as if they wanted him to the whole time and not the other way around.

Man RWBY really did jack shit all volume huh? As you said all the major things side characters did: Fight James TWICE: Winter, Emerald, and JNRO.

Try and rescue Oscar: JRY

Blow up the Whale: Oscar

"Redeem" Hazel and Emerald: Again Oscar

Defeat the hound: Whitley and Willow

Launch the tower: Penny

Help defend Mantel against the swarm of Grimm: FNKI and the soldiers that all died trying to buy Ruby time while she cries in a mansion.

Like what does this girl do to help any of the people SHE trapped???

Oh god Ren, poor Ren, he's finally seeing the light but he can't stray from the Hivemind so he needs to get back in, we can't question the pure and perfect Ruby her plans are always right even if it causes Salem to get two relics and destroys the only kingdom with an army or the technology to restore global communications in the process.

Yea you're right like CRWBY can make excuses all day for why Ruby didn't react to Yang falling and MAYBE I can buy her not using her Semblance because she's in shock but not crying or reacting at ALL to her supposed death?? Why does her weapon get a more emotional response then her SISTER? Why is only BLAKE allowed to be sad about Yang supposedly dying? Why does fucking WINTER have more of a reaction to her sister dying?

Why are all the people we are supposed to be rooting for so fucking unlikeable???

[iruludavare]

“  i can’t keep acting like i don’t see something is wrong with you.  ”

Malva flicks a lock of magenta hair back behind her ear.

"I know something's wrong, because I know Lysandre and what he does to people. I know it can't be easy watching everyone continue to talk about someone who hurt you in such a glowing way. Even your professor ---"

She shakes her head, folding her arms over her waist.

"--- like I said, I know you're not okay with any of it. You don't look okay with any of it. If you want to talk about it, I'm here. If not--- then I'm out of your hair, okay? I just know you're having a harder time than you let on, that's all."

Confrontations || Accepting

     Normally, she can endure hearing others speak of what good they perceived Lysandre to have. To stand there, arms holding her form, lips firmly shut together, saying nothing-- zoning out entirely, until the conversation takes a different course--, why it is the routine Serena has tried to perfect. Listening to the positive traits and bittersweet memories of a man whom she had looked up to-- a man who had been one the blonde had turned to for advice; whose life lessons Serena had tried to shape her beliefs around in a desperate attempt to grasp onto a soul that constantly felt just out of the young woman’s reach. Forgetting, for a time, that he had planned the death of all living beings. That he had manipulated and lied and hurt so many individuals, and left in his wake a smoking ruin of places, pokemon and people alike. A murderer, a monster who sacrificed the lives of others and deemed genocide the only means to better the world.

     But this time, it had been too much to bear.

     Hands had balled up into fists, a frown visible on the champion’s features, when the professor once again continued to insist that Lysandre, beneath it all, was a good person. A poor, unfortunate soul so misguided and hurt by the world, who had done so much good. It had been the last straw. Not a single word had left the blonde’s lips-- just a glare of disbelief in Augustine’s general direction, a turn of her heel, and quick strides carrying the heroine’s form away from the group. Politeness and social etiquette be damned. What right has the professor to talk about him like that in front of someone he knows was irreversibly hurt and scarred by the same man?

     None. He had no right.

     So perhaps it is unsurprising to say that when the sound of Malva’s voice, of all ones, hits the heroine’s ears so shortly after retreating to another room, Serena’s form jumps. A look throws itself over the side of a tense shoulder. Did she follow her here? How else would the other trainer have known where to find the heroine? Fingers grasp onto the fabric of her shirt a little tighter, legs shifting a bit closer. Goodness, what an unfitting display for the champion of Kalos-- curled up in the corner of a room, back against the wall, wanting nothing more than to quiet a mind at odds with itself; a mind still trying to figure out what was real and what was not. What parts of Lysandre were real. If any of it had been.

          “I’ll--”

     The sentence dies on pale lips. A slight flick of her head, so that strands of hair might obscure Serena’s features from view. No, she cannot find in her bleeding heart to trust Malva in such a way-- not with this. Even if the older woman seems sincere, and her offer does not strike the blonde to be one for self-gain, what good could come of it? What could she possibly understand about it all? Surely, there is another motive lurking beneath thick skin. There is no way the other trainer would subject herself to listening to the woes and heavy words of the same girl who singlehandedly took down Team Flare. The little trainer with curls of spun gold, who crushed a cause that the other believed in.

          “--I’ll keep it in mind,”

     Her voice is low, barely above that of a whisper, as though unsure of the very words that manage to slip past the champion’s defences. There is a pause. A light sniff. The back of a hand moving up to wipe away the remnants of tears. No-- Serena simply cannot afford to let someone like her in when she is this vulnerable, and uncertain of every facet of the woman’s personality. That mistake is one the heroine will never make again.

          “...Thank you, Malva.”

    But what she does do is rest a hand silently on an empty space on the floor a small distance away.