#rwby meta stuff mine

[invested-in-your-future]

I just realized that, for some reason, RWBY doesn't really care about giving their villains a proper backstory.

Adam has a one-sentence backstory that does literally nothing for him and is delivered in the last second of his screen time.

Cinder's backstory comes way too late and is inconsequential to anything she has done until now. It doesn't explain her motivations or worldview, and it doesn't show us why she became the person she is.

Jacques is just sort of this vague rich person who doesn't even get to be a villain because the show throws away the build-up in favor of something completely random that has nothing to do with him.

Hazel's backstory exists solely to place him in Ozpin's path, rather than giving him logic and reasoning to justify it (because let's be frank, EVERYTHING about his reasoning falls apart the moment you think about it)—maybe because he was never supposed to exist.

Mercury and Emerald's backstories don't really do much for their characters, don't come into play in their decision-making or characterization, and are barely there.

Raven has one of the dumbest, most barebones motivations for her betrayal.

Sienna exists to get fridged so she doesn't even get the bare minimum.

Watts's backstory is there solely to give him a reason to do The Thing but doesn't really give him a worldview to explain WHY—maybe because he was never supposed to exist.

The only one with a backstory is Salem, and it's more of an Ozpin backstory than anything else. The whole origin story—presented as 110% truth and not some sort of unreliable narrator—basically just lays the guilt of her decisions solely on her rather than two manipulative omniscient beings randomly retconned into the story.

It's like the show genuinely believes people are either born evil or born good and nothing they do in their lives will change that, hence the V9 ridiculousness of decrying self-reflection or acceptance of one's flaws as evil.

It would be fine if only half the show's songs, including the best OP songs (the first three), weren't about how "we" should improve and overcome our pasts and learn from our mistakes, how everyone is imperfect, and how one can't rely on the childish naivety of good and evil growing up, because there's more to the world than stories.

Almost as if that simplistic worldview of good and evil wasn't the original intention before V4.

[multi-muse-transect]

RWBY/Justice League Rewrite.

So basically I imagined an AU years ago where the RWBY characters are reimagined as DC characters. So here’s sort of a rewrite of mine, the RWBY/Justice League movie is an anthology series that focuses on RWBY characters as DC superheroes with them building up to teaming up with their canon counterparts. 

Woman Of Steel: Focuses on Yang/Superwoman and establishes that the world is recovering from an event called the Apokolips War where every hero perished as it gives rise to violent anti-heroes that cause collateral damage. Mild reporter Yang Xiao Long aka Nyssa-El is sent cover the opening of a new shelter for metahumans by Lex-Corp-Remnant’s new CEO Salem. A meta human hate group attacks the place coupled with an anti-heroic Livewire fight as Yang intervenes as Superwoman and stops the two (her outfit resembles Sasha Calle Supergirl but with red boots). Basically the usual Superman stuff and feels light hearted.

Rose Speedster: Ruby Rose is a normal cosplayer on social media and systems engineer of STAR Labs but also the new Flash. She is given an objective to deliver a package which contains a new organ for the Princess Of Markovia who has days to live which she tries to but fights Count Vertigo. A mix between serious and funny.

Beware The Knight: Blake Belladonna is a heiress to the Belladonna-Wayne Enterprises but at night-she’s the Batwoman-a seemingly mythical being in Gotham’s urban legend. Batwoman intercepts a package shipment heading to one Roman Torchwick aka Black Mask and another package to Neopolitan aka The Penguin. Goes more on the line of horror and thriller as it centers on how the people of Gotham view Blake as to them-a monster.

Sorceress Of Atlantis: Weiss Schnee is an underwater researcher and also the protege of King Arthur Curry and Mera who is skilled with magic as she takes on a gang of pirates that raid an oil rig. 

[sillytorch]

To be honest, I think Cinder isn’t going to last as long as we think she is. As in, I DON’T think she’s as endgame material as we think she is.

But she’s one of the primary antagonists of the show!

Yes, but Salem is taking the reigns right now. You’ve seen her getting her Beringel army ready by the V6 stinger. And Hazel said so himself, “If you want something done right, do it yourself.” Yes she has Watts and Tyrian going to Atlas too but now we’re actually going to be seeing Salem in action.

But Cinder has Neo as her partner.

It’s heavily implied that even after their truce, Neo is not very fond of Cinder. From the how she rolls her eyes at her to her fake smile right after getting tired from showing her ability to cloak an entire ship with her semblance (she MIGHT even be pulling an act on Cinder). I doubt she’ll be the one to kill Cinder, but I’m sure she’s going to backstab her both figuratively and literally. ALSO, remember Cinder’s words to Neo right before Neo agreed:

“Help me get to Atlas. Help me FIND HER. And the rest... is up to you...”

So she basically told Neo that after they FIND Ruby, Neo can do what she wants.

Other than that... Cinder won’t have anyone else. WT_H is not fond of her, Salem, despite knowing that Cinder’s alive, left her out, and Emerald and Mercury are starting to get doubts. And since Cinder went to find a loophole to get Neo to kill Ruby even though Salem told Cinder NOT to kill Ruby, where and how do you think Salem knows about Cinder’s whereabouts and status? 

Maybe... it might be her GRIMM ARM... And if Salem knows about this team up... she’s NOT going to be happy

So all in all, I don’t know what the writers have in mind for Cinder, but from what I’m seeing so far, things are NOT going to be pretty for her in the Atlas arc.

[lara-prisma-avm-ask-blog]

Well if you want to gain followers, give them a reason to follow you. Its that simple. No one will follow you because you are complaining that you dont many followers.

right now all you do is complaining and give bad vibes in general. All you will gain is probably petty followers at best and most likely from your closest friends only.

also your blogs are confusing. this is supposed to be an ava/avm ask blog but you also talk about other fandoms as well as if it was your main blog. if i was an ava fan, i wouldn't follow you.

and you seem to do the same thing with your henry blog. i dont understand how your organisation work at all.

like it is often said, those are your blogs, you do whatever you want with them. but dont be surprised if they dont attract as many people as you wish they do.

personal blogs like your prisma project are even harder to get followers because no one will follow you just because you have pretty OCs or decent concept for ideas. everyone have those. Only your friends and closest mutual will follow you for your personal project. thats how it works.

you want more followers? then go make more actual arts and complain less.

good luck.

ok, thanks for the constructive criticism.

It's just that my other blog is more focused on a variety of topics, but I don't talk about them much due to lack of ideas of what to talk about T-T

But I already have plans of what to do! I want to talk about games like fnaf, undertale, hollow knight, danganronpa, phoenix wright , etc. Shows like the owl house, arcane, tales of arcadia, ninjago, Monkie kid, rwby, Miraculos, winxs club, Meta Runner, Murder Drones, etc. And several projects like one of magical girls, learning to make my own games, fanfics, comics, who knows even animations! I just want to be able to expand my horizons of what I can do! And this other blog of mine, Projeto Prisma is the beginning!

I don't like to complain, I know it's really annoying. I just feel frustrated ;-;

I'll try to stop anyway, I just want to say that I have a lot of plans ahead!

Once again, i really appreciate everyone's support for what i do, i love you guys and i really want to show you what i want to do for the future of my blogs! I still have a ways to go, so wish me luck. the images above are related to future projects that try to which will be more elaborate on my other blog, Comic projects, AU's, and other stuff. I appreciate your feedback on everything I've ever done, and thanks for your critique anon.

[itsclydebitches]

How long does it take you to write a rwby meta? I'm thinking of doing a similar thing for miraculous ladybug but I'm not sure I'd have the time. Any tips?

Miraculous Ladybug! I started you and then... lost track of it, as usual lol. I should pick that up again. 

To answer your question though, each kind of meta takes a different length of time. If we’re talking recaps, each generally takes me around eight continuous hours to complete. I watch the episode, take notes as I go, frequently stop for screenshots, write the meta, browse the main tags for clarification about anything I’m confused about/general reaction to the episode, read through to edit/try to catch typos, format it into a tumblr post, add screenshots, add links and such as needed... post. If I have any tips, it would be to not do all that over the course of one Saturday afternoon and night lol. The only reason I subject myself to that stupidity is because 1. I like to ride the episode’s wave and post when people are engaging with it (or at least the First viewers are) and 2. If I let myself post whenever, there’s a good chance they’d never get done (as my poor Before the Dawn recaps attest). If you establish any sort of routine though you’re good. If, for example, you want to write a meta about each week’s episode but don’t think you’ll have time to do that in a single day, space it out. Tell readers you always post the day before a new episode airs, helping to remind everyone of what happened last week and giving yourself six days to write. Something like that. 

Other, very general tips: 

Like with any analysis, work to prove any claims you make. Point to where you saw this on screen, mention the dialogue where this occurs, provide screenshots as evidence, etc. 

Accept the fact that you’ll probably be wrong about things. Obviously a great deal of meta-ing is subjective, but there are plenty of times you just misread a scene. Example: when I was confused about how Weiss got her boar to Whitley in time, not immediately realizing that Willow had summoned it. It happens (but it also happens less when you’re not writing on a self-imposed deadline lol) 

Edit your work to the best of your ability and try to break up long paragraphs (oof I’m dragging myself today) and/or break things up with images 

If you’ve discussed a point elsewhere and your blog is organized enough to know where it is, link it so new readers easily know what you’re talking about without you having to rehash the whole thing 

Speaking of organization, have a page on your blog where people can easily access all the stuff you’ve written 

I usually work chronologically through episodes, but don’t be afraid to jump around, especially if you have a singular point to make about multiple, connected scenes 

Pick your battles, whether we’re talking about criticism or praise. Chances are you’ll have far more to say about an episode than you can work into a single meta (mine usually clock in at about 4-7k, which is already pretty long). Save the smaller stuff for side metas or, like me, start half your posts with, “I was also thinking about this thing I didn’t put in the recap...” 

Don’t be afraid to reblog your metas on different days/at different times to catch new readers. Tumblr has developed a strange “You can’t reblog your own stuff” mentality which I’m personally not here for. It’s your blog. Do what you like! 

And, as said, have fun with it! 😊

[anneapocalypse]

RvB Rec Day: Multimedia!

Happy May, friends! As most of you know, I tend to do fic recs most of the time, because well, I’m a writer and I love to read fic as much as I love to write it. But I want to give a shout this month to some amazing creators of other kinds!

@notjustsharksfanart is a longtime favorite artist of mine and has so much wonderful RvB art out there that like, if you haven’t gone through her archives you are just cheating yourself, seriously. Jess is a comic artist so a lot of her art is in comic form with an expressive and dynamic style, you’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you might do both. (She also makes some original webcomics and if you are into space future with canon lgbta+ characters, please love yourself and go read Closer to Home.)

@falling-towards-the-sky is behind some of the most beautiful gifsets and edits out there in the fandom, especially from the Chorus trilogy (and some for RWBY and Halo as well). Go appreciate the crispness, the clarity, the Carolina! Dster is also responsible for giving me a whole new appreciation and perspective for Carolina and Epsilon’s relationship on Chorus, both through meta and simply by the way their gifs have highlighted that relationship. Great stuff.

@omgplushies (sideblog of @agenttexsflippedshit) makes adorable, beautifully-crafted plushes. Oh my goodness, go and take a look through their RvB tag. If you haven’t seen these beautiful and huggable works of art then you’re in for a treat. Roni makes plushes for other fandoms too, and is sometimes open for commissions or trades. Go check them out, you will love them.

@texelations is known especially for her longfic, Keystone, which I’ve recced before, but she also has an extensive collection of excellent fanmixes for RvB. If you know Marti, you know she has a song for everything--and if she doesn’t, she’ll find one! (If you’re ever stuck for writing inspiration, go ask her for a song, seriously, you will not be disappointed.)

Previous Rec Days

[kandrakelsier]

Fandom Fic Rec

Alrighty, so this is apparently a thing, and I’ve been meaning to do recs for a while so... here’s a long list of my favorite fanfiction works, with links to each of them. I recommend all of them.

Hanover Chronicles-Katriona_Subasa (@agronadb​)

Fandom: Fire Emblem 7-Rekka No Ken, Fire Emblem 6- Fuuin No Tsurugi

A series of four fics, spanning just over a thousand years of history in the Fire Emblem world of Elibe. This series is one of my favorites; the characters are well developed, there are little tie-ins and easter eggs between fics, the writing style (particularly the dialogue) feels super realistic, and the pacing is excellent. Also would like to point out that the series is approaching 1 million words, so if you start, you’ll have plenty of material to keep you going, particularly since the last fic is still in progress.

Reprise-Elfpen

Fandom: Star Wars

A series of time-travel fix-it fics where Obi-Wan is sent back in time after his duel with Darth Vader on the Death Star. The humor is great; imagine Qui-Gon trying to deal with two Obi-Wans at once. There’s also cameos from characters in the True EU, which was fun to see, and some great philosophizing about the nature of the Force. Lots of good meta, and overall just very well written.

Messenger-HundredHanded (@hundred-handed​)

Fandom: Overwatch

An Ancient Greek AU. Angela travels with Reinhardt as he tries to take down Talon, and Fareeha is a bodyguard. Very clean writing; you can tell a lot of research went into this one. No character feels out of place, even if the entire thing takes place in Greece, and the names are absolutely brilliant. Good fic, good pairing.

Beneath the Stars-StarlightWalking 

Fandom: LOTR

A finished fic covering the travels and life of Tauriel after the Hobbit and through the War of the Ring. Really fleshes out the brief relationship between Tauriel and Kili. Provides a lovely conclusion to her story, which was more or less left hanging at the end of the movie. Shout out to TolkienGuardians for always posting updates on this so I could go read new chapters. 

Knight-Errant-Zinjadu 

Fandom: Star Wars

A canon divergent fic covering the Clone Wars, where Ahsoka wasn’t expelled from the Jedi Order and instead was promoted to a unique position. Proceeding relatively slowly, but has a lot of material, and each one is well done. Covers battle, politics, and slices of life, which very few other sources do. Contains a whole bunch of fics, so pick your poison.

Love, Life, and Peril-LiamReyes

Fandom: Fire Emblem 7-Rekka No Ken

A unique take on the story of FE7, involving a tactician with a checkered past. This is an older fic that is progressing slowly, but is well written, with enough AU tossed in to keep the story fresh. The background adds a nice twist to the story, and some character deaths are left out, which I think makes the fic much better,

A Fresh Cup of Coffee-Lydia_Rogue (@marykay91​)

Fandom: RWBY

Hoo boy. Another favorite fic of mine, involving the formation and adventures of Team CFVY (You know, the ones that got maybe ten minutes of screen time?). Super well done, and covers some serious issues within the show that the actual series does not (Racism, Ableism, etc). Bonus points for having the team be in a super cute poly relationship, and for fully fleshing out the most badass team on the show.

Overwatch Emergency Communication Channel-ArcaneAdagio 

Fandom: Overwatch

This is... a legendary crackfic. Just, imaging the entire Overwatch team on a chat server during day to day life. Absolutely hilarious, and the format is great. Lots of pairings, lots of shenanigans. 

It's Basically Discord-Hanzo Shimada (Ubercharge)

Fandom: Overwatch

Same as the last one, another crack chatlog fic. This one starts in the days of Overwatch before the fall, so you get to see some of the interactions between the old soldiers when they were still young and snarky.

Reaping Dragons-MegsBlackFire 

Fandom: Overwatch

A series featuring genderbent Reyes and Hanzo, and covering their recruitment into Overwatch before the fall. McHanzo and Reaper76 feature prominently, and there’s plenty of OC characters to help flesh out the story. Well written, and ongoing through the current storyline of Overwatch (Whatever that is Blizzard’s timeline is so messed up)

The Young Never Sleep-CerealMilk (@cerealwatch​)

Fandom: Overwatch

A much, much darker fic, but one that I thoroughly enjoyed. Details D.Va’s life and current status in Overwatch, and explores how being a child soldier who’s been fighting omnics for years might fuck you up a bit. Lots of triggers, read the description before you start. Goes a lot into recovery and in how D.Va deals with life and death, and doesn’t treat her like a child. Basically the anti-gremlin D.Va; Hana Song and D.Va are very much not the same person here. 

Sorrowful and Immaculate Hearts-Unpretty (@unpretty​)

Fandom: DC

Ah yes, another legendary series of fics. You’ve probably seen at least one of these floating around. Covers a wide range of topics, mostly Batman related, but all of them are well written, and most are hilarious. Hard to sum up this one since there’s so many fics, but all of them are worth a read.

The Stars Our Destination-CommanderRoastedWolf 

Fandom: Overwatch

A fantasy AU centering around Pharmercy, with Pharah as knight and Mercy as priest. Gorgeous worldbuilding and character development, and I love how other characters are portrayed. Ongoing, updates fairly slowly.

Imagine the Ocean-Damkianna

Fandom: AtLA

An Avatar AU where Katara is the Avatar, instead of Aang. Supremely well written, and adds touches of details to the original that improve the already incredible story. A few OCs provide some nice contrasting points of view.

Kingdom of Rust-Colms (@kelsiers​)

Fandom: Cosmere

Ah yes, this was a fun one. Wayne and Marasi go do shooty-shooty stabby-stabby detective work. I love this one because the writing style is so similar to Sanderson’s; the dialogue is spot on, and the plot fits right in with canon. Love the characterization of Marasi, who I at least feel is slightly underdeveloped in canon. 

Equilibrium-Caesurae 

Fandom: Overwatch/Pacific Rim

A crossover fic with Angela as a Jaeger pilot. Has both Pharmercy and Gency, and most of the other characters make appearances at one point or another. This one is plenty long, and the style/viewpoint of the writing is unique and makes for an interesting read.

Once There Was-Peradi 

Fandom: Star Wars

A series that examines the fall of the First Order from within, inspired by the actions of Finn when he dared to break off and become a traitor. Written almost like poetry, this one strikes deep and is a good read for fans of Star Wars from any era; it applied regardless.

In Loco Pirates-IzzyTheHutt 

Fandom: Star Wars

So what if Hondo (Yes, that Weequay pirate with impeccable business sense and a great sense of humor) ran into Luke Skywalker and then sold helped him reconnect with his father? Good stuff. Definitely AU, but so far everything is believable. Does some great character analysis of Darth Vader and Palpatine as well.

MaftWaft-Oddport

Fandom: TF2

A TF2 fandom? In 2017? Yep. An AU where the fem!mercs end up in the canon universe, and the two teams join forces to take down Grey Mann. A fun read, with all the characters behaving about as you’d expect them to when confronted with themselves. Lots of adorable couples too.

Wayward Son-Gunlord500 

Fandom: Fire Emblem 7-Rekka No Ken

Hoo boy. This fic. Over a million words across (I believe) six years and almost eighty chapters. In universe, it covers a few hundred years, following the story of a single enigmatic man as he lives, fights, loves, and dies. Very interesting backstory on one of the most mysterious characters in the canon, and contains loads upon loads of philosophy and religion that I, at least, found very useful.

The Last Red Shoulder-Gunlord500

Fandom: Fire Emblem 6-Fuuin No Tsurugi

In the same universe as the above, covering a side story about corruption and a horrifyingly evil artifact. Same praise as the above, basically, and well worth the read. Would recommend reading Wayward Son at least to about chapter 50ish first though, as there is some backstory that you’ll be better off knowing.

Six Shots to Go-CourierNinetyTwo 

Fandom: RWBY

Another CFVY fic, covering all six possible pairings in the team. Each one is explored in detail, and seems true to the characters from what we know of them. Overall, a cute fic (I think there might be some NSFW in this one, careful)

Silly: In Defense of Parvati Patil-DirgeWithoutMusic 

Fandom: Harry Potter

A look into life after the books, focusing on Pavarti and how she deals with the trauma of going through a full blown war before the age of eighteen. Fills in the gaps that JK Rowling left behind, and offers a much more realistic view of what life would be like after seeing your friends die.

Sealed In Silence-MorriganFearn 

Fandom: Fire Emblem 7-Rekka no Ken

A look into the life of the Eight Heroes, focused around Bramimond, the Dark Druid. It’s told as a series of small interactions between Bramimond and the other heroes. An older fic, but it has aged well.

The Dusk of Our Revolution-LittleGreenBudgie 

Fandom: Fire Emblem 7-Rekka no Ken

An AU where Matthew is trying to escape the Black Fang gang; a well written side fic that covers one of my rarepairs from this ancient fandom. Each of the Four Fangs makes an appearance as well, as do other characters, and the whole thing fits neatly into the new setting.

Clandestine-LittleGreenBudgie 

Fandom: Fire Emblem 7-Rekka no Ken

A quick meeting between Matthew and Leila. This is the rarepair I mentioned above, but it’s cute, and this little fic covers their interaction very well, I think.

End of An Era: Unholy Alliance-LordHippoman 

Fandom: League of Legends

The League falls to a combined assault from the Void, Noxus, and the Shadow Isles. An older fic that I read back when I played League super regularly, but it’s a good read overall.

Another Hope-Rose of the Nile

Fandom: Assassin’s Creed IV

This beautiful fic is another time travel fic, where Edward is sent back in time after the events of AC4. Knowing what he does, he tries to fix his mistakes. This one made me happy mainly because of the pairing and improved character development, and is a great read for anyone who loved Kiddway as much as I did.

Deep Breaths-CrimsonNoble

Fandom: League of Legends

An AU fic with Riven and Irelia. Basic Cop and Gang fic, with each of the major factions being a different gang member. Older fic, but done well, with interesting perspective shifts and descriptions.

More Than Words-Kitten Kisses 

Fandom: Fire Emblem 7-Rekka no Ken

Sadly, this fic was taken down, but you should be able to email the author for a copy. A post game fic where Hector and Farina get back together. Very fluffy and angsty; poor Farina doesn’t catch a break in this one, but it all turns out lovely.

The Ice Girl-Meelu the Bold

Fandom: Fire Emblem 7-Rekka no Ken

Linus and Lloyd save Nino when she’s abducted by faeries; bit of a strange premise, but it leads to some classic puzzling and hack and slash action. Very old fic, but a good read.

[invested-in-your-future]

It's astonishing how easy it is to find an angle for Adam where his backstory hopefully makes him compelling and understandable, without excusing his actions or making him redeemable/good.

There are, like, ten different possible backstories that could work without leaving it to the last possible second—and most of them would likely help flesh out Blake as a character too.

It baffles me that the show didn't even try.

[invested-in-your-future]

Volume 9 gets a lot of criticism (deservedly so) for its message that seeking to grow and change yourself is a bad idea, but the more I think about it the more I think that the rot begins all the way back in V3 and its beginning of rejection of aspiration.

Volume 2 contains the scene in which Oobleck probes WBY on their motivations and goals. It's one of the best scenes in the entire show, I think, especially when paired with the subsequent scene in which they talk to one another about their discussions. Each character is presented as having ambitions, even if those goals are thinly sketched (Yang) or if they aren't entirely sure how to achieve them (Blake). They all have room to grow, but there is somewhere they want to grow towards.

That changes in Volume 3. The last thing that Penny says to Ruby is that she wants to stay at Beacon, and that she has a plan to make it happen. But before we can learn what that plan is she is killed as part of the villains' scheme. Pyrrha also gets the opportunity to talk of her own ambitions, and of how she has become conflicted between her sense of destiny and her attachment to Jaune; but then she dies to, having neither destiny nor Jaune, the whole thing amounting to nothing.

At which point the surviving characters pretty much give up on having personal goals in the same way as they give up on having growth. Blake leaves fighting for equality to her father and Ilia to get on with off-screen, Weiss makes some reference towards redeeming the Schnee name in Volume 9, after several volumes of not caring about it either way, Yang abandons whatever vague plans she had for her own life, they all become completely content to be led about by the plot, following Ozpin's direction, going where they're told and doing only what they need to to stop Salem.

Even the resurrected Penny, who in the early volumes had her own goals and took steps to achieve them, becomes a passive figure, stumbling into the Winter Maiden's powers and having things done to her until we're asked to believe that the only choice she ever made was to die.

It may seem as though I'm talking about two different things here, on the one side ambition and aspiration, and on the other side personal growth and change, but I think that the two are linked together. After all, how can you grow and change when you have nothing to grow towards, and the characters have had nothing to work towards for several volumes now except for the resolution of the main plot.

I don't think it's as clear-cut.

Penny's death is framed as a negative thing—her aspirations cut short by the scheming of others. Sure, there's an ironic undertone because in a way Penny get's to stay at Beacon—forever, but the show makes it clear that it's not her fault. The show expects you, the audience, to be angered by what happened to her—to relate to what Ruby is feeling.

Pyrrha's fate is also very specific case in that the grand destiny is not necessarily her aspiration but an expectation forced upon her by Ozpin. Pyrrha already had her aspirations, trying to be her own person, and Ozpin's tales play into her morals and ideals—out of desperation introducing her to the world hidden away to use her as a pawn to stave off whatever chaos Ozpin is afraid of. Pyrrha thinks this is her destiny, but is she sure of that? She is torn, derailed from her life, and thrown into a world she has no way of understanding.

It's not a story of children being punished for their aspirations.

Volume 3 is the story of dreams—hopes of aspirations, bright futures, ideals, and fairytales—torn apart from the hands of the next generation by the "real world" and the sins of their forefathers.

Because the world refused to change and instead turned a blind eye to preserve the status quo rather than to rock the boat.

This sets up lots of great possibilities for the future.

The narrative urged the four protagonists to move forward, to face their past, cautioning them to not dwell in ignorance, to not avoid dealing with their flaws and issues.

The leads are shaken, their ideals and beliefs questioned, the things they were running from catching up to them.

As you said, "How can you grow when everything is taken away from you? How do you get back up?"

How does the world get back up after the status quo breaks—can it?

How do characters "keep moving forward" when everything they were was invalidated or taken away?

This is reiterated over and over again in the narrative—and in the show's soundtrack, like the Opening songs.

This is V2 lyrics OP, remember?

"Now it's time to say goodbye

To the things we loved

And the innocence of youth

With a doubt in our minds

Why we chose this life

And at times we can't help wondering

Were we born to fight and die?

Sacrificed for one huge lie?

Are we heroes keeping peace?

Or are we weapons pointed at the enemy

So someone else can claim a victory?"

There's still hope to find a future where the characters are more than tools but for that future they have to stop clinging to naivety and grow.

Yet the Volume 3 lyrics crush that hope, smothering it with tragedy and despair.

So what's next?

This is what the show going forward should have been after the Fall of Beacon—introspection, retrospection, reflection, and growth, juxtaposed with division, chaos, miscommunication, and decay.

What does it mean to be a Huntress? What does it mean to live?

Is there worth within humanity despite its destructive nature and tendency to (figuratively and literally) breed hatred?

Yet instead this is where the issues start—with Volume 4, and your read is pretty much correct from then on.

Jaune is the Hero Man, Ruby is the Eyes-Girl, Yang is the Punchy-Punchy-Puns-GIrl, Weiss is there to take the Ls, and Blake is there to tell everyone how it's actually the Faunus fault.

Instead of exploring what this shakeup means for those characters and whether they can find a way forward, overcome the tragedy, and grow as people, the show relegates them to chasing the Four Relics, forgoing introspection.

Because, as one of the VAs said, having Yang actually have to face what happened and heal and grow "would be boring".

The show is hellbent on freezing the consequences of Fall of Beacon or ignoring them as it focuses on prolonging itself.

So the characters turn into puppets—pieces moved around through the plot points, so the specific story beats can happen.

They have to get through Mistral, so they...do that without any real introspection or growth.

They have to go to Atlas because, of course, that's the next Kingdom and Atlas has to fall, so here we go; that happens.

Characters don't get to react, to grow, to change.

Why is it that way?

Because the writers are afraid to have characters upset the status quo.

Because they have no idea where they want this story to go.

They likely had some vague scribbles from Monty Era—as it's popular to meme a concept of a plan and nothing more.

So they couldn't commit to any direction except for prolonging the show without losing viewers.

They can't resolve the Yang and Blake subplot because it would mean disappointing either Sun or Yang fanbases—cue them having these utterly awkward, meaningless interactions that skirt this huge tragic event that happened and then continue to skirt anything they ever do even if it's to kill someone. Not to mention the show's really obvious intent to queerbait without a resolution. Let's be frank: V9 kiss only happened as a desperate marketing move to drum up the clicks and to exploit the LGBTQ+ community—if the show wasn't falling apart financially, RT would have been more than happy to keep the Blake/Yang/Sun situation in an ambiguous limbo.

They can't really resolve Ruby's eyes deal because they likely have no idea of what happened to Summer—after all, they had no idea what Raven's purpose was, hence sidelining her to lounge in her bandit camp offscreen. And Jaune already got all the subplots Ruby should have gotten anyway.

They can't really resolve the Weiss family privilege issues because, "Ohh, we've got to wait for Atlas to fall." Then, "Whoops, we have no time—remember we never did get to it, so let's reference it in Animal Talking Land and the DC Spin-Off Movie."

So that's the result—Volumes Four through Nine, where characters go through the motions of advancing the plot, but their character arcs are frozen right at the end of V3.

The show commits the ultimate sin of having a plot for the plot's sake, rather than having plot-driven characterization. And it keeps piling up plot devices—Salem's evil council, relics, two gods, a realm of talking animals, another god above two gods, etc.—as quick ways to get to the story beats they want and extend the show.

Because there is no plan, no growth, no will to move forward—not within the characters or the set-up, but within the writers, the staff.

[invested-in-your-future]

I finally witnessed a person claiming V3 potential (namely character separation) was used properly by the Volumes that followed...

"But the show did separate them."

Yes, and in terms of character arcs, that didn't matter at all.

The time away wasn't spent to develop them, make them grow, or explore the setting more.

Ruby plays second fiddle to Jaune's growth and looks vaguely annoyed in the background for multiple Volumes, getting such brilliant subplots like "you need to learn to punch people!". There's zero focus on the moral dilemma she should absolutely have after V3, zero focus on her deteriorating emotional state and trauma. Because Jaune has to get that first.

Weiss is mostly offscreen, rehashes what we already know, and returns. Now, I get that they haven't decided what Atlas would be at that point (flying Atlas is absolutely a retcon), but they still could have developed her home life more, set up Jacques as more of a villain, and had Weis reflect on her privilege.

Blake spends time away on a pointless trip to Menagerie with Sun because they need to create plausible deniability for their queerbaiting, then declares that "achshually it's the Faunus fault because we are so destructive; look, buildings are burning," and then the Faunus discrimination subplot is outright dropped and Blake is just a background object.

Yang spends some time staring at things, then gets told by a sexual harasser professor (voiced by a sexual harasser) that she should shut up and stop moping because it's like the fear of mice. There's zero focus on her disability, on her trauma, on her flaws, zero exploration of how aimless her life is, nor how her what happened had made her cheerful facade crack.

It's no better when it comes to character interactions on reunion:

Ruby upon reunion is fundamentally the same character, and her issues continue to be ignored for another FOUR seasons till in Volume Nine her grief and flaws get vilified, the show implying anyone dealing with mental wellness issues is evil and should ego-death themselves. Her idealism being challenged by the world is never addressed; her eyes or her mother and her false beliefs about her mother are never addressed.

Weiss upon reunion is fundamentally the same character. She hasn't grown, she hasn't changed, she hasn't matured, she hasn't overcome anything. Her dynamic with the team is exactly the same. The separation did nothing.

Blake and Yang are the worst offenders in this. These two left the V3 with a lot of hurt, despair, and anger between them, as Yang blamed Blake for leaving her without saying a word (especially with Yang's abandonment issues being a big thing), and there's clear relationship development that could happen. Instead, the show ignores it all when they reunite. They haven't grown; they haven't faced their shared trauma; they haven't grown as people; they haven't grown closer together nor further apart. The separation did nothing.

The team dynamics haven't changed, and the characters haven't grown as people nor grown apart due to thematic division that should be apparent within the story after V3.

Because the show is too busy having them go on McGuffin quest! And having Ruby walk through a forest watching Jaune develop! And wasting the whole Volume just to set up one of the most disappointing mecha fight that trivialized the oceanic Grimm! And having Ozpin's backstory be something that is so anti-climactic, the characters' reactions to it end up making zero sense! And focusing on Jaune!

And then V9 comes and the show decides to do some ableism and insult the entirety of mental wellness and psychological theory by deciding to vilify trauma and proclaim that people shouldn't change or face their flaws and mistakes because if they do they are evil and should ego-death themselves.

Tell me again how the pivotal moment at the end of V3 actually did matter and actually led to growth and was used to its full potential instead of being ignored in favor of vaguely religious retcon and Jaune focus.

[invested-in-your-future]

It just doesn't make sense for racism to exist when monsters threaten the world.

Our world is threatened by deadly diseases, pandemics, climate change, and the destructive use of technological advances to cause irreversible damage to our planet, and it still has time for racism, discrimination, bigotry, and hate—centuries of it.

If anything, it's expected that Remnant would be imperfect like that since it's still a society modeled after our own—one with nobles and the rich and wars and the class divide. Discrimination would draw allusions between the creatures of Grimm and the Faunus, as I have written about before in one of the answers.

If anything, the clash between the polar opposite aspects of human nature was always the most promising material within the show.

You can't have a story about fighting eldritch abominations attracted to hate—a reactive force mirroring the state of humanity, conveying its destructive capability—and not explore the said hate.

The fact that the show just gives up on focusing on human nature just as it sets up a major change in the status quo with the Fall of Beacon, instead retconning itself into Brother Gods and magic and facing the NotSatan nonsense, is outright ridiculous.

[invested-in-your-future]

Okay but. The grimm arent climate change. Or a plague. Theyre a very real tangible threat which we have no true analogue for on this earth.

Climate change is a tangible threat.

Pandemics are a tangible threat.

They aren't until they directly affect someone, though.

And even then people rationalize or outright excuse what they experienced.

"Oh, this isn't the actual Climate Change—we haven't yet crossed the Rubicon; clearly, people are causing all those fires, or it's one big conspiracy!"

Humans are rarely rational beings. Most love to live in their boxes, writing off what doesn't fit inside via the simplest solutions available.

Even Huntsmen are no different—even in the show, it doesn't even cross Ruby's mind that she CAN'T fight something like The Goliaths or that there are Grimm that she would likely be unable to do anything about.

Because even to Huntsmen, clearing the Grimm is their everyday job—they are there to protect people and clear out the monsters.

Most people living deep within the cities, going about their day, likely don't think much about the threats lurking in the shadows.

They can't do anything about them. It's an endless thing that has been there since the dawn of humanity and will be there forever.

"Beacon could never Fall."

"There's no way this peace would end somehow."

"Surely nothing bad will happen; this is the safest place in the world now."

Even the show toys with it—Ozpin and co's behavior through the first three Volumes are an example of gauging the Rubicon. They know there's something amiss; they know there's a force working against them, but obviously, there's still time to stop it; they are still not beyond the point of no return—right up until a giant dragon is flying over the city and eldritch mammoths rumble through its streets.

The ones who know how bad it could be, all while screaming and begging to take action, in their hearts doubt blossoms—surely they can turn this around, surely there's a way to stop it, surely people are better than this.

People can get used to the status quo, grow complacent, and start to view it as part of their everyday life.

Which makes it inconvenient as a scapegoat for their problems. They can't touch or "solve" the issue after all.

"Is it the pandemic crashing the economy and the bird flu to blame for the egg prices? No, obviously it's the people that look different from us. They must be the ones to blame, and if we just solve this issue and regain our past glory, the prices will go down."

This is the world we live in—the one where hatred is "dangerous" but surely "it would never happen here", where climate change is "worrying", but "surely we aren't there yet and we can turn it around"; where pandemics are considered horrifying, but "surely this can't be real yeah?"

Would an average person worry about the Grimm beneath the Kingdoms' walls?

Or would they rather listen to the voices whispering to them that maybe, just maybe, every issue in their lives is the fault of these "others" living right next to them—of how it "used to be way better back then in the old days"?

Sure, some would see reason, the big picture, the threat looming ahead, but what about those who don't—those who would rather listen to pied pipers grasping for power, those who would rather reinforce class divide and discrimination?

Discriminating against the other is no more "unusual" than the belief that the rich and wealthy are "powerful" or the ones leading giant corporations are "smart"—it's part of the same cycle.

If Schnees can sit on the pedestal, swimming in wealth and power and prestige, then the opposite is true—the people that they'd tower over, the ones they would have to exploit to have attained all that, would have to stay all the way back down there, far away, the insects they are.

And the "others"—the ones who just a century ago had no rights at all to the point of a Rebellion? What a convenient target they would make, so the ones beneath the boots don't struggle, don't look up and, instead, have someone to detest.

That's how you get hate movements, that's how you get radicalization, and that's how you get discrimination being perpetuated instead of dying out.

Because it's convenient.

Because it's a means to attain power.

Because it's normal.

Because unlike the threats somewhere "beyond the walls", it is here and now.

An easier, more simple answer

[invested-in-your-future]

How different would Yang's post v3 arc have been, if she hadn't lost her arm?

I have been thinking about this for quite a while.

Actually—ever since V3 ended.

Now the show doesn't really do anything with it overall (in fact, both in merch and overall the show really loves trying to hide it), but if we are to speak of it within the frame of how it could/should have been handled?

Writing a story is always about tying the physical setting to the inner struggle. The external is shaped and informed by the internal. Rain pours when characters are sad, a storm looms on the horizon when the future is uncertain, and morning comes when adversity is conquered. Sometimes even the color itself might drain from the world. Within the narrative, perception is reality—and each POV character lives within their own, ascribing emotion to their perception.

My overall thoughts are that the loss she suffered physically is an external representation of the internal defeat she had sustained in the form of both her failure to protect and the failure of her approach (rush into the battle head-first)—not to mention in the form of everyone abandoning her (or at least how she would see it).

The concept of phantom pain, for example, relates to "something that's not here, hurting"—the sensation of what's missing, with our brains refusing to accept that.

What's not there, metaphorically? Blake, who left without saying a word. Yang's ability to keep hiding behind the facade of this cheeky brawler smile. Yang's inner world and her future—replaced by the emptiness inside.

So overall, without losing her arm, there would obviously be fewer obstacles to overcome that a writer could use, but the overall arc would still be the same.

The loss she suffered, however, is a good way to convey the change that tragedy brings and to add a struggle to overcome for the character to show her growth. (Which is why the show deciding to just skip that "because it would be boring" is so mind-boggling).

Not to mention it makes the possible future confrontation very personal.

Healing—moving forward—doesn't mean the same as "fixing it and going back to what was before".

Things would never go back to how they were, no matter what.

But it doesn't mean that "different" would be "worse" or somehow "incomplete".

The end of V3 tore through the world, through the confines of the characters' childhood—and merely rebuilding it to stay exactly the same would be so boring and uninspiring.

[invested-in-your-future]

Some people would ask, "Why bother writing this rewrite—by now the show has been bad for longer than it has been good. It's been years since V3 ended."

And that's true; yes, the show I fell in love with had been eroded over time—chipped away piece by piece and replaced by a caricature of Brother Gods and talking animals and ableism and no followup for anything that end of V3 had set up.

But that doesn't change the place the first three volumes hold in my heart.

I still remember the exact moment the Red trailer dropped—I actually saw it for the first time here, on Tumblr, through gifs someone had posted. I clicked the link below those gifs, and that was the first time I "watched" RWBY.

I remember the disappointment when Volume 1 started, and it was kind of janky and less serious, and this Jaune guy would be absolutely annoying, but the setting, the lead cast, the music, the mysteries, the fighting—all of those things gripped me and hadn't let go.

I could ignore the jank and this writer's pet character hogging the spotlight as long as the rest remained good—or, hell, got even better.

And it did—V2 was a marked improvement.

I wanted to see what Ruby's theme song lyrics meant to her characterization. I wanted to see the answer to why the moon was broken and to all the mysterious hints in the lyrics and everywhere that things weren't as they seemed.

I wanted to see Weiss face her privilege and her family, see her grow, and see more of Atlas and Mistral and the reasons why White Fang would have been a thing—the discrimination that Weiss had participated in with her obliviousness and privilege.

I wanted to see Blake's past and what made her the person she were today.

I wanted to see Yang open up more and see the depths behind her obvious facade, especially after she had opened up a bit to Blake in V3.

And then V3 hit, and I was in disbelief—seeing characters die, seeing the status quo destroyed, and bad guys actually winning was a RARITY back then.

I remember watching the final stretch of V3 shaking each week. I remember the moments when I would have thought, "No way they would do this," and yet the show would do it and more.

After the V3 finale, I was at a loss—what now?

I wanted to know more; I wanted to see Summer's backstory; I wanted to see what drove Cinder to be who she was; I wanted to find out what Ozpin was and what those moves he made in that fight were; I wanted to see if Emerald would get a redemption arc or anything and why she was with Cinder in the first place.

And what's more, the world after what happened seemed to open up.

There was so much potential! So many possibilities! How would the world handle the worldwide communications being gone, and what happened? How would things change? Was this finally the time all the lyrics hinting at war and the world order crumbling came true?!

Like, it's impossible to overstate this—even now talking about this, I feel the excitement building as memories flash in front of my eyes.

It doesn't matter that everything after V3 had been an absolute disappointment. It doesn't matter that characters never evolved or grew and that the entire setting got thrown away for the sake of some very low-grade fantasy elements borrowed from other shows.

It doesn't matter that most of the answers in the show had been extremely anti-climactic and disappointing (like the moon reveal, if you can even call it that) and that the show never explored anything it could have.

It doesn't matter that the show treated its protagonists like trash, never giving them the focus or attention they deserved—in the end even spitting in the face of psychology and mental wellness altogether with V9.

The-red-trailer-through-V1-through-V3 memories are still very dear to me. It was a one-of-a-kind experience that still shaped what I like about fiction and my hobbies.

I can't let go of what the show could have been.

For years I couldn't.

I kept going back to the first three volumes, to what was, to what could have been, thinking through everything there—and each time the same kind of excitement would still be there.

So, writing that "what could have been" seemed like a logical solution for me.

It's the only way I can parse what I feel about the show—in a way dealing with grief over what it could have been.

It might sound overtly dramatic for sure, but what can I do. I really liked this show.

[invested-in-your-future]

In hindsight, rallying people around hope would never work.

A random literally-who girl sending a worldwide broadcast about hope would never work.

Because positivity is an abstract idea. People tend to ascribe material, realistic boundaries to it—we wouldn't want to be naive, after all.

"Have hope for the future. If we work together, we can make lives better."

"Okay, but how? (How much will it cost? What's in it for you?)"

The only free cheese is in the mousetrap—nothing just happens for the sake of bettering lives, and all that. There has to be a catch, and if there isn't, then obviously, you are naive—and thus it's an impossible, fleeting dream we shouldn't pay any attention to.

But hatred works differently—it works despite reason and logic.

"It's their fault! They are being unfair and exploiting us! If we get rid of them, lives will instantly improve!"

"Sounds about right. The egg prices are too high."

That never gets questioned.

There's a clear enemy—someone different—to rage at. The Other.

Negative emotions aren't usually ascribed reason, after all—otherwise, they wouldn't be an easy solution to all the problems when sold by demagogues.

Oh, you want to prove that The Other aren't at fault, and lashing out against them won't magically fix all problems? That we can all live together as equals? You want people to have hope? Sounds naive.

Since hatred is always (rightfully) framed as unreasonable, it becomes comfortably so—it just is.

Hate can't be debated or hoped away—only rejected, ostracized, and extinguished.

Thus, hope can never be a literal weapon or an argument. Hope can be a character's inner motivation, leading them to do things that might inspire others.

It can be fuel, but never to be used literally.

[invested-in-your-future]

Often I hear critique of stories in fiction where people get caught pants down by something awful happening to them.

It's not been at least five times in last few years that I got an ask claiming the Fall of Beacon itself as bad writing and that the good guys in the show were intentionally too dumb for it to happen.

You have a clandestine group of wise schemers running a Kingdom and dedicated to protecting peace. They know something is coming. They know more than the audience, actually. Now what they know exactly might change as the show eventually would retcon itself but at this point it's safe to assume they are aware of danger.

It's clearly an abnormal situation possibly threatening a century of peace and prosperity.

"How couldn't they see this coming? How could they do nothing?!"

And the same then extends to concepts like discrimination within setting where monsters are attracted to negativity. And to classism, the obvious rhetoric of some characters, whether within show or fanfiction.

Surely people would prevent it? Why don't they?

For starters Cassandra complex is the most basic storytelling technique—majority ignoring the warning signs till it's too late is the basis for most inciting incidents in fiction.

You want friction in the story, you want conflict, from the very first scene. If a scene has none then you remove that scene.

So how do you deliver conflict before conflict happens?

A Cassandra character stereotype is a common tool—a person or few might see what's coming but others will ignore them. It's an easy way to create tension by having them try to argue or try to change things or maybe just having to watch the inevitable.

A storm is coming and the character feels it in their bones, get for everyone else it's Tuesday.

The said character doesn't need to be the hero—sometimes they are sometimes they aren't because the protagonist caught off guard is also a great story beat. Within the V3, both Ironwood and Qrow take turns playing this role, questioning the decisions made—raising the alarm about the oncoming storm. Ozpin and Glynda, meanwhile, would take the opposite role—stressing the importance of the status quo.

Then something happens, suddenly, turning the heroes' lives upside down, pulling the rug from beneath their feet. Now it can be small and personal or massive and destructive but the end result is the protagonist setting off on a journey, be it literal or within their mind.

Then it's not unusual to repeat the trope again and again on a larger or smaller scale. Getting caught off guard is a brilliant storytelling device to generate tension after all.

And it's especially useful within the stories about humanity's folly. Disaster movies run on the idea of those in charge ignoring scientists ringing the bells on climate change or engineers holding up warning signs about budget cuts. Political thrillers and war movies run on the idea of people getting caught off guard by a conspiracy or an invasion because "it couldn't happen here". Even RPG games just loooooove wrecking that one town/kingdom you start in out of nowhere.

Betrayal, war, disaster, tragedy—all those are synonymous in execution. The status quo is shattered, everything changes and the characters are left questioning themselves.

It's very easy to criticize such plot beats—why would otherwise smart and cunning characters or perceptive heroes miss the warning signs? Why would they ignore them if they hadn't?! Why would they undersell the threat? Why would they let obvious bad guys worm their way into position or power or give them access to their vulnerabilities?

Because it's not just a story beat. It's not just convenient for storytelling.

It's human psychology.

I think most people underestimate in how willing an average person is to close their eyes and pretend that something wouldn't happen—even when it's literally already happening.

The "Surely it can't happen here/to me" is also known as "Normalcy bias"—a type of cognitive bias.

As human beings, we tend to underplay threats to the status quo—it's rooted in the way our minds respond and parse what happens around us. Denial is our first line of mental defense, whether it is disasters or grief. Denial protects us from difficult to parse emotions, from perceiving danger that would cause us distress. It exists to give us "time" to find a way to cope—to move forward.

It can't be said enough times that Man's capability to underplay, ignore, or rationalize crossing the Rubicon is infinite.

It doesn't matter if the Rubicon is a literal place and enemy armies are marching in or it's a moral even horizon and the character/nation are the ones marching past the point of no return.

Both in fiction and reality you'd hear people say the same thing:

"There's no way they would do this! It would destroy everything and would benefit nobody!"

Companies wouldn't work to prevent those wanting to stop climate change if they knew the truth. The Mayor wouldn't cut funding to the dam repairs because he obviously would be aware of the coming flood season. Midlandia would never invade The Further Kingdoms, and it's all just bluster and posturing.

People would rationalize, would deny.

And then they would write it off as a joke or irrelevant and move on with their lives. Normal, usual, maybe sometimes a bit bohemian, everyday.

What people fail to understand is that the Rubicon, the moral event horizon? It's subjective; it depends on one's sense of status quo, one's comprehension of normalcy.

What could happen might seem unthinkable to the people—something that would be stopped, noticed, and prevented.

Dam repairs would be funded.

Slide into authoritarianism would get protested and prevented.

Desire to invade would be squashed by the possible consequences.

Impending threats would be noticed and stopped at any cost due to self-preservation.

To the people, both within the setting and the audience, the obvious threats, within and without, are preventable because of how unprecedented and dangerous they are—because of how harmful to the status quo they'd seem. There's no need to worry—and those that do? Well, they might be overreacting.

Yet what people like that don't get is that for those decision makers it might be just another Tuesday.

The threat is still far away, the danger is still preventable, one of many.

Surely it couldn't happen here.