#rwby could never

[constantvariations]

If K. A. Applegate had been RWBY's writer from the get-go, it would be the greatest show to ever exist

[temporary-tats]

Mon Loup

Please send help, Wenclair has taken over my brain.

Per usual, do not reupload without credit/permission. Thanks folks!

(My ko-fi, should you wish!)

[pinerose]

[flipomatic]

What about her?

She’ll find herself, one way or another.

[daenystheedreamer]

i feel like cersei needs a crazy anime girl weapon like a whip or a huge fuckass scythe. there's something missing from her character design and its a gunsword from rwby

[aerithisms]

the little scene we got of team rwby talking about ruby's outburst was very telling with everyone's reaction.

blake didn't say much but she was sympathetic, and it makes sense - she's no stranger to depression or to lashing out and running from the people you care about. and she was still playing the leadership role in ruby's absence, mediating yang's frustration and keeping everyone together.

i think it's fascinating that yang was the angriest over it. yang loves ruby more than anything, but i think there is truth to the idea that the nature of her relationship with ruby as her big sister and protector made it harder for her to understand this side of ruby, because to yang ruby has always been her happy, brave little sister who she protected from the horrors of the world. and now she must be hating herself for that blindness (though of course it's not her fault).

and weiss seemed to understand ruby best. she got that ruby felt isolated, and put on a pedestal, and that she didn't think she could talk to them. and i think she gets it because as ruby's partner she feels responsibility over it. since volume 1, weiss has only ever wanted to be a good teammate and a good partner to ruby, and now she must feel like she failed.

[anthurak]

So here’s an interesting little detail I noticed while rewatching some of the Beacon arc:

Out of all the various disposable pawns, patsies and stooges we’ve seen utilized by Salem over the course of the show (not counting the stooges who make up her inner circle), it’s funny how the only one who seems to actually recognize how much of a pawn he really is, is TORCHWICK of all people.

Like when you look at Roman’s scenes with Cinder and her minions, and particularly his final fight with Ruby in Volume 3, it’s pretty clear that he was always acutely aware that he was a very small piece of a MUCH larger game.

Just compare that to the likes of Adam, Leonardo, Jacques and Ironwood, who by all rights were all COMPLETELY oblivious to how much they were getting played, or just how little they mattered to Salem.

And that gets even more interesting when you consider that Roman was probably the smallest piece in terms of both status and overall significance compared to Salem’s other pawns. Like I actually don’t think for a moment that Torchwick ever actually met Salem or even KNEW about her by name. I imagine all Roman knew was that there was some boss/mom that Cinder was reporting to.

Instead, Torchwick was able to look at everything Cinder was doing and plotting, between manipulating the White Fang, securing several warehouses of stolen dust, planning a full-on grimm-incursion of Vale during the Vytal Festival with the ultimate aim of toppling one of the four Huntsman Academies. Not to mention I imagine Roman had at least an inkling as to the whole Maiden business that Cinder was after, plus the fact that she seemed to be able to control grimm to a degree. Maybe even guess that this was a plot years if not decades in the making.

And it’s pretty clear that Roman took one look at all this and rightly surmised that he was a bit player in a truly MASSIVE game. As he implies to Ruby during their final fight, Torchwick may not have known much about Salem or her plans, but he knew ENOUGH that he didn’t want to be standing AGAINST her.

Again, just compare that to someone like Adam Taurus, so-called big-shot revolutionary with his big plans to topple the oppression of the humans… who seems to have had no fucking clue that his new ‘friends’ were fully intent on sending him and his followers out to die as a DISTRACTION for their own plans.

Or of course, James Ironwood the big, strong (self-appointed) defender of Atlas and (also self-appointed) last, best hope for humanity, who to his dying breath seems to have been ENTIRELY oblivious to just how completely Salem and her minions were playing him like the cheap kazoo he was.

Or just Jacques Schnee the big-shot corporate overlord who wasn’t even important enough to know about any kind of scheme. All he needed was Watts dangling an election win like keys in front of a baby to be a dutiful little pawn for Salem.

Though funny enough, to Jacques’ credit; the moment he hears about the heating grid going down he does seem to immediately catch on that Watts played him for a chump.

And it’s rather amusing that this is more than can be said for the likes of the ‘Faunus Revolutionary’ who bent the knee to a human girl who kicked his ass, or Ol’ Jimmy the Child-Shooter himself.

[tumblingxelian]

Having been reminded there's a whole genre of reaction videos along the lines of Ex-Mob Boss Plays Mafia 2. I think there should be RWBY fanfics where Blake Belladonna provides realistic commentary on depictions of: Revolutionaries, terrorists & criminal syndicates.

They could be set anywhere from pre Faunus reveal in volume 1, post reveal, or as far forward as Atlas when they're having a night off. Any variant can be funny, incisive or character driven, & even educational given what the author is going for.

[tequiilasunriise]

I am in immense pain with no balm in sight (my favorite fanfiction was deleted rather than orphaned and I’ll never get to read it again)

[nightmare-foundation]

I'm thinking again about the take that the brother cult religion as seen in The Infinite Man (or similar to it) is a widespread/well known religion in modern Remnant.

And like... i do LIKE the idea of there still being a Brothers-based religion on Remnant. Fantasy religions are always fun, and it'd be fun to explore how that might effect Remnants societies.

But like. It's almost laughably false. It's a cool headcanon, and I like seeing it in AUs (I use it myself), but when talking about canon, it's just not true.

For one, there isn't any discussion of religion in any rwby material, at least nothing truly in-depth. None of the characters are ever stated to be religious in RWBY, and we also don't really get any hints of religion in the entire show? We never see any churches in Vale, Mistral, Atlas or Mantle, and the only thing I can think of that MIGHT be a church is the building in the v4 Ruby-focused short, though we never see the inside of it and it could just as easily be like, a town hall or something. Specifically, it has statues of 2 women in front of it, so if it IS a church, it doesn't appear to be Brothers-based.

Also in v4, Qrow states to RNJR that "Not many people are religious these days". I highly doubt that this line is untrue? First of all, Qrow has absolutely no reason to lie. Second, I doubt this is a case of Qrow being an unreliable narrator; even if he believed that all of the other religions were "fake", this would still be a very odd thing to say if religion is widespread?? It's like if you were talking to your friends and said "haha yeah not a lot of people are religious these days :)" which would obviously get you VERY weird looks. On top of that, none of RNJR ever seem to recognize what he's talking about. Qrow never says like, idk, "Do you know about [insert name for Brothers religion]? Yeah, they're real. In case you don't know the story- [insert convenient religion/lore dump for the audience]". At least, if i were writing RWBY and wanted to make it clear the Brothers were still being worshipped, that's how I'd write it.

Qrow does, obviously, phrase it like it WAS a religion- which is true. But it doesn't seem like it's like still a religion, and if it is, it's certainly not big anymore because religion on Remnant has slowly died out.

And about Fairytales of Remnant, it isn't a "propagandistic hit piece", it's a book of fairytales that Ozpin put into Beacons curriculum. I doubt a tale in a widespread religion (or religions) would be put in a book containing fairytales, at least not without public backlash. That'd be like if you put the story of Noah's Ark into a book containing things like Cinderella and Snow White. If Ozpin really wants to create a Light-based cult in the modern day, he wouldn't do that lmfao. (Though that would be a HYSTERICAL move on his part)

Also, the topic of the Brothers (and separately, them being real) is treated like it should be kept secret. Ozpin never told the Inner Circle about his task either- they follow HIM, not Light, and the Gods aren't really treated as important by anyone. The Relics are more important, both before and after the reveal in v6.

And in general, there's nowhere in RWBY on Remnant that shows that it's main religion is a doomsday cult. If it was as widespread as Christianity is in the modern day, that would SHOW. And people on Remnant seem very against controlling religions and doctrine like these, both The Infinite Man and the Great War showing this. Oz's biggest achievement up until that point... was creating a TOWN dedicated to his task. A freaking town. Where peoples main desire was to learn how to defend themselves and the people they cared about, which was promptly destroyed by people who HATED the idea of a doomsday cult (reasonably so) and completely forgotten afterwards. And you're telling me he'd be more successful with an oppressive religion right after the war that was fought partly BECAUSE people hated that kind of oppression?

And like... idk it doesn't track with Ozpins character as it is now. It's sort of a Rose Quartz/Pink Diamond situation- we see how he is now, and then shown how he WAS, and think how he was is how he is now. And like. I don't think how he is now would do that kind of thing- it's blown up in his face multiple times, why would he keep trying? On top of that, there's multiple other pieces of evidence that he's saying NO to Lights task and the Gods' return. And like... i feel like the end of the war and post-war kinda shows that he kinda Gets the balance thing? Even if he doesn't realize he gets it, he kinda... did the thing the Blacksmith was talking about. Destruction to clear away the wilderness (the Relic of Destruction was presumably used during the final battle, then he tore down the world's militaries and monarchies), and then he created (created institutions of learning, created an entirely different form of government, and raised Atlas. Idk which this one goes into, but he also helped free Vacuo).

He... kind of Gets the whole balance/actual meaning of destruction thing (hello, the circle/cycle theme in the Infinite Man?). I mean, it's sort of how his reincarnation works. I don't think his current belief system is very compatible with Lights at all. Plus it seems like he kinda... doesn't like the Gods. So it doesn't make sense for him to continue working towards his task at this point.

Anyways. There's no proof there's a modern Brothers-based religion in RWBY, and it doesn't fit with Ozpins character at all. I like the idea, but it's better as an au.

[onceuponalegendbg-rwby]

Figures the second I express public-ish confusion about this supposed 'let go of ur anger/ego yang' aesop someone pops up repeating it. And I mean…where? When? How was she somehow 'worse', 'less noble', 'cockier' or 'dumber' than any other leads in the Beacon volumes ('specially Weiss 'grouse about not being team lead & tackle tourney rival into a lava geyser' Schnee or Blake 'try soloing a crimeboss and run myself to near-death' Belladonna)? Do Angry Effort Noises alone mean a character ain't zen enough?? Gawd, I've even seen vintage reach-du jour-takes claiming she basically deserved Cinder's framing. I just don't see how any of this meshes with what we see onscreen or constitutes an Engaging Character Epiphany throughline (as opposed to Weiss escaping Jacques or Blake's trials in forgiving herself & reconnecting with her parents).

Some days it really is exhausting being a Yang fan.

I don't know what it is about Yang in particular that just deletes people's media literacy but they really do just make a sport out of it, don't they.

[constantvariations]

I don't think anything will ever be funnier than Banesaw's first of his only two sentences being, "Finally, I get to kill a Schnee," knocking Weiss unconscious in a single hit, then just chucking her into the next room so Blake can save her

[peridotite]

Also funny that adam cutting yangs arm indirectly led up to yang thinking about her feelings for blake and the start of her butchification

adam has always been the number one catalyst for bumbleby but it is indeed funny it also made yang go "i could be a better boyfriend than him"

[pinkrangersarah]

For all the reasons I've seen for people to either love or hate James's arc in V8, I've never once seen anyone bring up his semblance. Specifically, I've never seen anyone mention what a disservice it was to have it merely mentioned on Twitter and never once bring it up in any sort of way in the actual show.

I hate information being released on the side and never once being brought up in the canon in any sort of way. It's lazy. It is relying solely on the audience to have seen it and to take your word for it. It's like adapting a book into a show or film but leaving out important details about the world and/or characters, relying on the audience to have read the book first (which a vast majority of them will not have done).

James's semblance, to put it simply, is tunnel-vision. It "strengthens his resolve to carry through with tough decisions", basically cancelling out rational thought and ignoring consequences. This is a major piece of information about James's behavior that is never once brought up, and because of that I can understand why a lot of people didn't like his 180 heel turn into antagonist territory--I didn't either for the longest time, and because of this a part of me still doesn't. While parts of his downfall were done subtly and done well, this particular part of it was not.

"But why would his semblance ever be brought up in conversation?" Good question, one that could be easily answered by the three characters in the cast that definitely should know about James's semblance: Qrow, Ozpin, and Watts. Qrow and Ozpin had been working with James for years, and before that it is implied that Watts and James also worked together for a period of time, getting to know each other fairly well. It makes absolutely no sense for neither of these three to ever once bring up the fact that James's behavior is likely due to his semblance interfering with his ability to make decisions. Hell, I can even imagine Watts being delighted by this; Watts knowing how James's semblance works and how to take advantage of it would definitely benefit Salem.

James Ironwood was such a fascinating character, but the fact that his semblance felt like an afterthought is a major disservice to his arc, in my opinion.

[averagemrfox]

No clue if rwby will ever go this far but if we ever see an epilogue and find out what everyone is up to [x] number of years later I would really like Blake to have written some kind of sequel to The Girl Who Fell Through the World. Casey’s lyric “I’m what inspired the fairy tale” is what brought this to mind

[astronnova]

these two drawings are from like ... september. was making a set and was gonna include ruby and yang but i never did LOL