#rwby theory-crafting

[anthurak]

So this is almost certainly going to be an unpopular opinion for some, but for a long time now I’ve been feeling that the RWBY fandom puts just a bit TOO much stock in the various fairytale/mythology/literary allusions of the characters when it comes to theory-crafting. It feels like people find out that a certain character A is an allusion to another character B from an already completed story and go ‘Well that must mean that Character A is going to turn out just like Character B!’

Which of course completely ignores that these are allusions and references. Ruby Rose might have strong parallels and similarities to Little Red Riding Hood, but that does not mean she IS literally Little Red Riding Hood. Just as Weiss Schnee is NOT literally Snow White, Penny Polendina is NOT literally Pinocchio and Oscar Pine is NOT literally the Little Prince. Ultimately, whatever allusion a character might have comes SECOND to who they are as an actual character, NOT the other way around.

Whatever allusions a character has might inform what could happen to them, but that should still be treated as secondary to what we actually see them do in the show.

For example, I see a LOT of ships in the RWBY fandom that people seem to largely use interpretations of the characters’ allusions as ‘evidence’, rather than what the characters actually DO in the actual SHOW. Like has anyone noticed that discussions of ships like Bumbleby, Renora, Nuts and Dolts or White Rose have historically not involved much interpretation (relatively speaking anyway) of the potential ‘complimentary allusions’ of these characters? Because there is no NEED to, because all the evidence for these ships is right fucking there on the screen. Meanwhile we’ve got ships (and I am NOT naming names) that people will swear up and down are TOTALLY going to be canon for really-realsies where most or even all of the ‘evidence’ consists of people effectively playing some kind of matching game with their allusions. Or saying nothing more than ‘Character A kinda-sorta resembles the love-interest of Character B’s allusion’.

And ALL of this doesn’t even take into account the biggest factor which I keep getting the impression that WAY too many RWBY fans still having gotten the memo on:

The fact that RWBY literally NEVER plays its allusions STRAIGHT.

All the way from minute one when we saw an allusion to Little Red Riding Hood cutting down a horde of Big Bad Wolves, RWBY has ALWAYS been subverting, inverting, flipping, twisting and otherwise playing it’s allusions, references and archetypes literally ANY way but actually STRAIGHT.

Little Red Riding Hood hunts the Big Bad Wolf. Snow White is equal parts Princess AND Knight in Shining Armor. Cinderella is a tragic villain origin story. Pinocchio was always a real girl. The Great and Powerful Wizard Oz is far more powerful than anyone thought, but is ALSO far more of a fraud than anyone thought.

So when people use these characters’ allusions as some kind of rigid road-map to theorize what might happen to them, it’s not just that this detracts from their identity as their own characters; the story itself isn’t even using that map!

I mean speaking personally, that’s what has always made RWBY theory-crafting FUN. Trying to guess how the writers might twist and flip the allusions they’re using. But that also means that the allusions of the various characters simply DON’T actually provide ANY kind of accurate ‘road-map’ for where they might be going. Instead, the best we can do is use what the actual show has actually shown us to get any kind of idea where the characters are headed.

Ultimately, I feel like too often I see that when people are making theories about RWBY characters, they are treating them more like the characters they are based on, instead of the characters they actually ARE.

[strqyr]

Tbh I think an issue the rwby fandom has when it comes to analyzing the story and making theories n stuff, is that they forget to include what DOESN'T happen.

Like you can make a million assumptions based on what did happen! And that stuff is obviously important. But it's really easy to miss the stuff that doesn't happen, despite that being just as important.

Cause like,, let's throw an example out there. Some people say Oz is bigoted, and on the surface, if you only look at what did happen (Oz interrogating Blake and thinking she could be White Fang still, and thus be connected to Salem). But there's many things there that DIDN'T happen; Blake never pointed out Oz being bigoted (she would've done so had she felt he was), she never complained afterwards of Oz seeming to target her, and Blake wasn't intimidated at all. All she criticized him for was for 'not trying hard enough' to clean out Vales systemic racism, which was pretty fair. Not only that, but the story doesn't say Oz is wrong for thinking this, nor does Blake seem to blame him for being cautious.

There's many more examples of what did happen vs what didn't happen but I can't think of any atm lol. Essentially you can't rely on just one side of a story. Plus the framing is important, as well as what purpose something might serve narratively (and Oz being bigoted... serves absolutely no purpose).

Sorry for rambling in your inbox for the millionth time, hope you like it lol

yup. it's very easy to cherry-pick scenes and what parts of them to focus on to make it fit into whatever conclusion you've come to, or theory you're crafting. like, it's a thin line to walk and confirmation bias is one hell of a thing, but there's a difference between making up your mind and then working backwards to make everything fit into that conclusion (selective, if one must) vs looking at scenes, analyzing them, seeing what is being portrayed, how it's portrayed, and then if it forms a pattern that keeps repeating, you very well might have something there.

using the ozpin & blake scene as an example: yes, ozpin questions blake. yes, some of it comes across as accusative. but look at the end of the scene when ozpin tells blake that if she ever needs to talk to him, she shouldn't hesitate to ask, with this look on his face:

ozpin isn't just being cautious over the possibility that blake is undercover for the white fang / possibly salem, he's worried; "you wouldn't have been the first," he tells her when blake claims to have just been "at the right place at the right time." in regards to the white fang's presence at the shipyard that night.

this is not ozpin's first rodeo. blake is not the first troubled teen who may be involved in something she'd rather not and is looking for a way out but doesn't know how; she's paralleled with the branwens the most for a reason, me thinks lol

it's a small moment right at the end of the scene, and because of it it may not leave a lasting impact in the same way as the rest does, but it still exists, shining a new light on the rest of the scene.

[cinderthefallenmaiden]

RWBY Beyond Predictions: Vale

Spoiler warning: This post contains spoilers for V7-9 of RWBY and RWBY V9 Animatic as well as the two team CVFY Novels

Last we saw of Cinder was when she left the site of a destroyed Atlas/Mantle with Salem. At the time I thought the two of them were heading straight for Vacuo.

However, the RWBY V9 Animatic paints a different picture. According to Oobleck and Port who have recently fled Vale, Salem has set up shop in the vicinity of Vale and the city is gone. The usage of the word gone rather then destroyed is interesting to me. It paints the picture that while presumably waiting for Tyrian to prepare Vacuo for their arrival and locate the Summer Maiden, Salem and presumably Cinder attended to other matters in Vale.

Why are Salem and Cinder in Vale?

I think It is a safe assumption that they returned to Vale at the very least to search for the allusive Crown relic. Another possible reason is because the situation in Vale had changed. Salem has a mysterious informant in the area of Beacon who may have caught wind of something that Cinder and Salem needed to investigate on their own.

Who will be our POV Character?

This is a bit of a toss up between Cinder and Salem for me. It would be insightful to get into Cinder's head now that she has for want of a better word exercised the demons of her past. On the other hand so much of Salem's goals are still shrouded in mystery. We think she wants to end the world but are Ozpin and Tyrian reliable narrators?

The case for why both Ozpin and Tyrian are unreliable narrators for understanding Salem's endgame

Tyrian:

1.) Tyrian reveres Salem as a kind of death goddess to be worshiped and is probably working under an assumption that supports that

2.) If Cinder is the only one who knows the truth about Salem's true aims, I find it kind of hard to believe she would consider Team Remnant's attempts to stop the end of the world as misguided

Ozpin:

1.) Ozpin hasn't had a heart-to-heart with Salem since before the messy "divorce" and that was before the Great War so quite possibly well over 80 prior to V1.

2.) Due to a combination of the GOL's words and his own experiences Ozpin can only see the very worst in Salem so assuming her goal is the end of the world is kinda a given at this point.

3.) It's quite possible that Ozpin views Salem wanting to end the world as a foil to his own desires of stopping Salem and being granted eternal rest by the Gods.

Why not Tai or Glynda?

I think the writers have planted the seed that Glynda is MIA but are in no real hurry to confirm what happened to her. As for Tai I think he is another end game character who's involvement is going to be kept close to the chest.

Is the Crown in Vale?

I highly doubt it. However, for the sake of playing devils advocate lets say it is in Vale what would that accomplish for the story? Well other then shortening the series by one to three volumes not much comes to mind. Sure, this could make it so Vacuo is the final arc but why make a mad dash to to wrap up what remains of the story in just one to two volumes?

Past RWBY Beyond Perdiction Links

[moltensmusings]

I remember watching volume 1 of rwby and knowing something was going to happen to pyrrha. Either a villain arc, or she'd be killed. She had some kind of flag over her that was too big to ignore and everyone I'd met I'd tell my theory.

So when she died in volume 3 while I was happy to be right about something, it also meant that people who were unsatisfied with her handling also had merit to their feelings. Because Pyrrha was made too perfect. She wasn't allowed to have flaws until the episodes right before she dies and even then her only flaw was how ready she was to shoulder every burden. She was crafted to be loved and missed when she was gone and they didn't think of her outside that.

And this isn't to say she shouldn't die, her death is incredibly important, but her treatment throughout volumes 1-3 don't do the best job in showcasing that. We as the audience know she's a big deal. We've been told it since her first appearance. She's always winning fights and perfectly landing shots. She fumbles sometimes bit overall is clearly as skilled as she's intended to be. Her polarity makes her untouchable to most.

But they didn't push far enough with her and that's to their detriment. They wanted so bad for Jaune to be a 0-hero that they didn't actually think about a way to do it that would benefit both him and Pyrrha as characters.

Make her the leader of team JNPR if she's so incredibly talented, have the teachers and school itself laud her as someone for her peers to look up to and rivals to look out for. Put her on a pedestal that causes her to be so divisive in the student body that we are just as likely to find someone challenging her as we are to see those admiring her. Make it so we can't escape her. Have everyone buzzing during the tournament about watching her and her team fight because it's not every day you get to watch the rise of a living legend. Let her teach Jaune but still allow him to have his moments as a character outside of her.

Everyone we meet should know her name to some extent, and I beg that we let her be flawed beyond being sacrificial. Them constantly having her hover following her death is good, but she needs to hover more. If pyrrha's death is the one that changes everything, we needed her to be inescapable before we had the chance to miss her.

[short-wooloo]

RWBY V9 theory

Given how much Ruby is still repressing her feelings and ignoring her own state in favor of moving forward, I suspect that next episode or episode 3 she will dismiss the search for Crescent Rose under the pretense of "we don't have time, let's go", probably opting to pick up and use whatever weapon she finds, only for it to not "fit" her, and despite the fact that this other weapon does not work for her, Ruby will insist on pushing on

Weapons in RWBY are often crafted by the user, they are representations of the wielder and are effectively a piece of them, a piece of their soul, particularly true for Ruby, she's a weapons geek, Crescent is her baby

So in essence, Ruby would be discarding a part of her soul in the name of victory (which also can seeve as a parallel to Ironwood, the disregard of the self in order to win, ignoring what this does to a person, essentially Ruby is in danger of being on the path Ironwood took)

And I suspect the blacksmith will come into play here somehow, more or less articulating the above to Ruby

Ruby can't just replace/discard/foegwt Crescent, it's a part of her, it is her

(Couldn't resist)

Ruby will not be able to truly move forward until she reclaims Crescent, aka stops trying to push forward in spite of her issues, only when she takes time to see to her own needs, processes, reclaims Crescent, will she move forward

[theseerasures]

two questions going into the finale, and some possibilities for answers:

how can the Curious Cat go to Remnant?

it's clear that certain rules have to be followed--rules which seem to contradict. in rough chronology of how CC might have figured them out:

it has to be someone from Remnant. self-explanatory.

it has to be someone who WANTS to go back. Jaune was in the Ever After before Alyx and Lewis and (given how CC remembers all the way back to this world's sundering) CC probably knew about him before they encountered him with Alyx and Lewis. but at the time Jaune didn't want to leave, because he had to look for Team RWBY.

conjecture: it has to be someone who promises to take them along? this seems to be the operating theory with Alyx and Lewis. CC keeps harping on how ALYX said they could come, and how ALYX tricked them in a way they took very personally. would also explain why CC couldn't have just left with Lewis when Lewis left. so: Alyx promised she was leaving, and she could take CC, but then Alyx didn't want to leave, which in CC's mind also broke the promise. at this point it doesn't seem like possession is part of the plan to leave; they use the expression leave WITH.

humans are tricksy and change their minds, so CC will possess them to make sure they keep their promise. unclear on how CC knew how to do that, but the description we get is similar enough to how CC describes giving Herb a piece of their heart that it seems like an evolution of their power.

conjecture: starting with Alyx? it definitely seems like CC attacked Alyx in some way after Lewis leaves to try to MAKE her leave (and take them with her). that didn't work either, because...

sub-conjecture 1: like Neo, Alyx has no attachment back on Remnant? which seems impossible given her brother just went back there, so

sub-conjecture 2: the possession didn't take? because it seems like CC can only possess someone who is heartbroken and bereft of purpose--someone who needs to Ascend--and it seemed like Alyx already had a new purpose, and CC couldn't override that. which explains why it's so pressing for them to break Ruby out the tree before she gets a new purpose, too.

Ruby is the best chance for them to go to Remnant. Alyx wasn't a suitable vessel (and the process might have "broken" her in some way), and Neo is, but Neo has no reason to go back to Remnant. Ruby--before Ascension--fulfills both criteria, partly thanks to CC working her over this season. and CC obviously doesn't want to start from scratch because a) it's a lot of work and b) no one trusts them anymore.

what feels unresolved, to me, is the conundrum where once CC possesses someone, the vessel's identity--and presumably their attachments--are overwritten by CC's own, and it's clear that CC's own attachment to the Maker(s) is not enough to send them to Remnant. Neo is by all parameters an Afteran at this point, and CC doesn't think that will be true of Ruby, but i'm not as convinced. in fact, i'm not convinced that ANY of these rules are real; they could be as artificial as Jaune's schedule for the Paper Pleasers: crafted by CC in an attempt to circumscribe a world doesn't make sense. it's possible that the Gate, like the Tree, is a place you go once you are ready.

who will emerge from Ruby's cocoon?

well--Ruby, obviously. in much the same way Penny emerged from her old bodies, Ruby will be Ruby no matter what happens. wherever you go, there you are. WBY has pretty much confirmed it. but there are some gradations when it comes to what of herself Ruby gets to, or will WANT to, keep. CC said that Ascension doesn't work "like that" for people from Remnant, which is misleading at best and an outright lie at worst, so how will it work? and how will it stack up against other examples of reincarnation in the show (i.e., Ozma, the Maidens, Penny?)

HERE, I MADE A GRAPH:

(to be clear: i mean "evolution and regression" as discrete stages of being as determined by a previous incarnation. that's why Oscar and Cinder are at baseline, because their relationship with their previous incarnations is contested/nonexistent.)

(Herb doesn't have lines after his Ascension, but i assume from the imagery that he metamorphosed positively.)

touching on the extreme ends of each axis:

extreme one: Ruby returns with full memory. CC wasn't lying, EXACTLY, because Afterans don't come back with memories except those of the heart and for people from Remnant it's more like...when the Doctor regenerates. thematically appealing because it underscores how there is no easy way out of being yourself: Ruby's arc is ongoing, and the only way she can get that heart forged Fullmetal is through. she pops out with not much being different except probably a Vacuo-ready outfit, and has to reckon with both her own bitterness that this is all she gets, and reactions from her teammates in the way Renora got to react to Jaune in Volume 6.

extreme two: Ruby only remembers what her heart does. CC is a lying liar and Ascension works exactly the same. she's still Ruby at her core, but she doesn't have concrete memories of WHY she's like this. thematically appealing because Ruby has always been so burdened by the context for her existence, and here's her chance to be without that, only to find out that psych!!! she ends up speedrunning to become basically the same person. a side writerly perk would be it would heighten our hero's "out of the loop"-ness when they go back to Vacuo. interesting in terms of character dynamics as well, because WBY would still NEED to react to all this, but have to wrestle with whether this new Ruby deserves that, and with how much of a person's core is made up of their memories anyway. it'd be very Steven Universe, but...Ruby WILL need those memories back at some point. we've been following this version of her for too long.

extreme three: Ruby Ascends to become the person she always wanted to be. hey, apparently next episode is going to be really long! maybe she figures it out, or at least makes some in-roads toward it. it's not about attaining perfection--Penny's human form was decidedly imperfect--but about intent. Ruby never asked to be made, and now she is making herself. the possibility for evolution is there: the Paper Pleasers Ascended with a conscious, particular want, and they got exactly that. Herb's intent wasn't as clear, but presumably now he is better at helping people in the way he wanted. in order for that to happen, though, Ruby has to figure out what she WANTS, as opposed to the growing list of what she doesn't want.

extreme four: Ruby takes the easy way and decides to reset into Summer/her Beacon self/whichever. i'd certainly sympathize if she did. Ruby doesn't know what she wants, because she's never been allowed to want much of anything, and the Afteran with the closest dilemma to that was the Red King, who "couldn't cope with losing" and so defaulted to what he decided was most important, which was winning. in a way this extreme horseshoes back to the previous one: this would still be what Ruby WANTS to be, just...toxic. which, y'know: could be fun! and echo Jaune's whole deal this season. it would also be a huge bummer to end the season (and likely the series) on, but hey--that's the Atlas arc for ya.

[theuntoaster]

Now that RWBY's future is feeling hopeful again, I can go back to theory-crafting.

Anyway, my latest headcanon is: what if Summer is the one who convinced Raven to kill the Spring maiden?

Like, we know Raven is the current spring maiden and it's heavily implied that she killed the last one (there's always the chance she was lying). And Raven seems to know a lot more about Salem and Ozpin than she should, suggesting she was the one who used the first question from the lamp. We also know that Summer and Raven were working together on Summer's last mission and thus were in contact with each other after Raven left everyone else. The timelines can easily work out such that part of Summer's plan was to ask the lamp a question and to do that they needed a new spring maiden.

[thesilliestofgals]

NONNYYYYYYYYYYY HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE TOH FINALE BESTIE

SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THE OWL HOUSE S3 EP3 WATCHING AND DREAMING:

Unserious answer: BESTIE I WAS ALREADY RECOVERING FROM THE NEWEST EPISODE OF RWBY SO WHEN I TELL YOU I COULDN'T SLEEP AFTER WITNESSING WAD I REALLY COULD NOT SLEEP (/POS)

Serious answer: WAD was honestly a perfect way to end TOH. They took what time they were given and crafted something beautiful. I actually predicted that Luz would get hurt/temporarily die to cause Eda and King to absolutely feral, so seeing my theory come true was both exhilarating and heartbreaking. Also, they went off on her Titan design, and I LOVE IT. I had like. one or two minor gripes (not seeing Caleb and/or Evelyn), but again, minor gripes, nothing too major. 100000/10, will definitely watch again.

[bobauthorman]

It shouldn’t be a loop

A lot of people have jumped on the “Jaune’s the Rusted Knight and went back in time” bandwagon, but I severely hope that isn’t the case. Here are my reasons;

1) A time-loop would completely destroy the theme of Choice that is prevalent throughout the series. (I’ve mentioned this on another post, but I want to really want to get it out). It would suddenly justify every bad decision made by every character, because, “It had to happen to complete the loop.” And with that, it would make it harder to learn from their past mistakes, which would also wreck the “Learn from history” theme also prevalent.

2) The Ever After is realm of total mind-F****ery. We can’t trust anything that happens there at face value. One of the series’ other themes is that first impressions can be deceiving. This could be that, but on a deeper level. Maybe Jaune went back in time, or there’s something more going on here. Since “Jaune went back in time” was the first idea, it’s very likely to be proven false.

So what’s really happening? I don’t know. I’ve got theories. Maybe the “Time-travel” is an illusion crafted by the tree. Maybe Alyx and Lewis never left the Ever After, and their spirits are forcing people to relive their story. Maybe it’s the Curious Cat’s fault. We’ll know by the end of the Volume.

I hope. (Because that’s also one of RWBY’s themes)

[whiterose-fans-blog]

Hope ya don't mind if I write my own take on it.

For starters, it helps if one can relate to the characters. And as they're RWBY characters, well designed as they are, that's not hard to do.

Weiss. The hard working, tsundere heiress we've come to love.

We all know she comes from an emotionally distant family who is super controlling. There are a lot of people who can relate to this, as you don't need to be rich to have either controlling or emotionless parents. It just involves more emotional manipulation. It can be pretty hard to be in a situation like that.

She's scarred, but wears it proudly. I'm sure there are people who are inspired by her to accept whatever "flaws" they may have. This may apply to Yang too, but we're on Weiss.

Weiss is also rebellious. She made a whole song series about rejecting the control of her father. She went to Beacon to become a Huntress, with Jacques disapproval.

Ruby is our talented, awkward kid whom we've seen crack and grow during her journey.

Ruby, who has had the responsibility of taking care of the people she cares for thrust upon her. For anyone growing up (since many RWBY fans have been here for 10 years, this is literal), we can relate to this, and have possibly done it ourselves.

She's goofy when she can be, and slightly immature. She is younger after all. A nerd about smithing and crafting weapons. Can get sidetracked about her hobby's.

Ruby's got anxiety and confidence issues. Is she strong? Is she capable? Is she enough? I don't think I have to explain that one.

And the loss she's experienced. For someone as caring as her, it can get pretty crushing.

White rose is a ship we believe in with our hearts, because we see all the things they can do for each other.

They're both hard-working and dedicated. A good combination for battle buddies.

I think we can agree on the cuteness of the "morning person" Ruby and the "not so morning person" Weiss.

Both have experienced what alcoholism can do to a person. Ruby with Qrow, Weiss with Willow. Knowing that the other has experienced it, and hopefully won't fall to it themselves, is a strange kind of comfort.

For those who relate to Ruby, they'd love to have someone like Weiss to be their girlfriend/lover/wife.

Weiss is stalwart and mature. If Ruby has trouble focusing, Weiss can point her in the right direction. And when she is mature and doing it right, Weiss gives her approval. From personal experience, I know gaining someones praise you value more than your own is a powerful thing, especially if you have anxiety issues.

She's also has full confidence in Ruby, even when Ruby doesn't have any in herself. Knowing that Weiss is beside her, supporting her with everything she's got, just melts the heart.

Weiss is fiercely loyal as well. Although Ruby set out on her journey with JNR, not expecting her team back, Yang and Weiss show up anyway. And having a girlfriend as loyal as her big sister is very attractive.

Ruby is bound to destiny, but Weiss is rebellious. (There was something I was gonna say here, but my brain lost it's train of thought and I cannot find the wreckage. I'll edit it when I do.)

For those who relate to Weiss more, Ruby is someone they'd love to have as a girlfriend/lover/wife.

Ruby's not manipulative. If Weiss was to tell Ruby her feelings or a secret, she's positive that Ruby wouldn't use it against her to get Weiss to do what she wants. A sincere positive for someone with trust issues.

Weiss is touch starved from such a cold childhood, but is nervous about touching anyone. Then there's Ruby, who is more than happy to give Weiss all the hugs, pats and naps she can give. Not to mention Ruby is gentle when it comes to Weiss (positive for obvious reasons).

There's also the theory of a girl looking for someone who reminds her of her Dad. We all know that although he's not her Father, Klein is her Dad. And Ruby is the same kind unrelenting positivity in her life. Only Winter and Klein have been able to make Weiss smile all the time, until she got to Beacon.

IDK why WhiteRose hits as hard as it does for me. I’ve seen other ships like it such as TOH’s Lumity, and as much as I loved that ship, WhiteRose just speaks to me on a deeper level. Maybe I’ll make a post about why WhiteRose hits me on a different level, but I’ll cross that bridge when I get there.

[deserttransman]

Intro Post

I joined Tumblr in the fall of 2012, getting sucked in by (big surprise) lesbians (Korra and Asami to be exact. And by the way, I WAS FUCKING RIGHT HAHAHA!!!).

Anyway, I stuck around because of (surprise, surprise) more lesbians. This time it was Emily and Paige from Pretty Little Liars. And then more lesbians kept me around.

Now about me.

I’m 36 years old. I’m a queer panromantic polyamorous dude. I’m happily married. I’m a trans guy whose been out for nine years, on t for six years and had my top surgery 2 years ago. I consider myself a trans elder and am happy to answer questions for those just starting out.

I have ADHD (diagnosed at six), anxiety and depression (what Elder Millennial doesn’t?) and am self-diagnosed autistic. I do still have dysphoria and sometimes it still really hurts. I have fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome, as well as type 2 diabetes.

Also a leftist/communist.

Fandoms: Sailor Moon, Lord of the Rings, Stardew Valley, Persona 4, LOTR, RWBY, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, X-Men, Pretty Little Liars, The Hunger Games, Candela Obscura, Critical Role (Campaign 2), Batman... Yeah that's just the main ones I can think of. Interests: sewing, costuming, history, cosplay, period dramas, reenacting, art, dolls, crafts, writing, collecting, goblincore, medieval culture and history, food, cooking, reading, YouTube, content creation, politics, sociology, punk music and culture, communism, queer theory and culture, pop culture, ttrpgs, video games, bookbinding, DIY, pretty rocks, witchcraft, heathenry, norse culture, mythology, journaling, LARP NO HOMPHOBES, TERFS, TRANSPHOBES, NAZIS, REPUBLICANS OR RACISTS ALLOWED.

Links for some of my content creation: https://www.tumblr.com/deserttransman/729085543084851200/it-might-help-if-i-gave-yall-some-links?source=share

[anthurak]

The Inconvenient Truth of RWBY theory-crafting is that given the show’s penchant for Unreliable Narrators, I think we have to start considering the possibility that some, if not many or all of the assumptions we've long held from the early days of the show about characters backgrounds may be based on what are effectively ‘False Narrative Breadcrumbs’.

ESPECIALLY when it comes to Team STRQ.

[todds-rwby-liveblog]

OK so quick theory crafting time for copium (with a V9 finale retrospective and I luckily also rewatched The Lost Fable (TLF) recently too oop-) So we know the Beacon Relic has a different vault mechanism to the other three Relics that just need their respective Maidens to unlock them... I’m thinking gathering all four Maidens would be a little bit on the nose if it’s supposed to be so different from the others that Oz keeps it so secret-- I’m willing to bet it’s either unlocked by Ozma’s power or staff alone (depending on when the vaults in their current forms under the academies were constructed, which I assume is after the war i.e. within the last century so that might be a bit too recent esp when we don’t have an exact timeframe on when the Vaults were planned and when Oz’s cane was made). I’m thinking that Summer and Raven might have had something to do with the Beacon Relic- maybe it needs Silver Eye powers or a specific combination of SEW and Maiden powers in the same person? That would also lend to the theory of Raven mercy-killing Summer and gaining the Spring Maiden’s powers from her on their last mission together. Raven obviously knew how the Relics worked already which could most likely explain why Jinn only had two questions by the time RWBY & Co. summoned her, so I’m gonna assume Summer knew as well. On the other hand I can think of maybe multiple Relics being needed at once to unlock the Vault or something that ties back to the very first Oz/Salem dialogue of a smaller, more honest soul which might explain why Ozpin went about putting such a huge emphasis on Ruby and getting her into the academy (and by extension the Ozluminati) early from the start, regardless of the cost on her. EDIT: Or it could be some other embodiment of the Relics and the values they represent rather than the objects themselves. Everything our protagonists do ties back to them in some way- every step relates to the choices they make, the small or large things they create on their own whether it be friendships or new abilities, or through destructions such as through killing Grimm or even the falls of the Kingdoms, and everything also being very influenced by different chaarcters’ subjective knowledge of key events. So basically the real One Piece was the friends we made along the way type thing DNSJKDNS All of these are a bit crack-y and rambly but meh I was never a writer T^T I enjoy theory-crafting for RWBY sometimes tho

[cinderthefallenmaiden]

RWBY Beyond Predictions: Robyn

This is the second of what will probably be a four part series of posts. Before diving into prediction/theory crafting part of this post I will be linking a hopefully working link to part 1.

Spoiler Warning: As per the previous post there will be spoilers regarding the events of Volume 7-9 + the V9 Animatic and possibly the two Team CVFY novels.

Now with that out of the way onto the burning question regarding what Robyn focused episode might be like

Why have Robyn be our second POV character?

Besides the fact that I'm a big Happy Huntress fan and love getting more lore/screen time with them, I think there is a lot that the end of V8 left unsaid regarding Robyn. We see her reaction to the destruction of Atlas and Mantle but not much else. So, giving her a focus for this new miniseries to set up how she begins to process the loss of her hometown will both be helpful for the audience going into V10.

Why not have Qrow be our POV character?

We have already had Qrow get quite a bit of focus in the V9 Animatic. So all having Qrow being the POV focus would be is to fill the blanks between The Final Word and the V9 Animatic. I don't think it's as necessary as setting up Robyn's "Mantle is gone now what?" arc.

Are Maria and Pietro dead?

Considering that Amity Colosseum is in Vacuo something that was was confirmed before the full animatic was released I think it's a fairly safe bet that Robyn and Company will find them alive before making their way to Vacuo.

From Eddy's Twitter/X post from July of 2023

[strqyr]

coming up with volume 9 theories more like how many significant trees does this show have and is there a way to connect them all.

(the answer: yes... after 3 hours of sleep.)

[cmdrwilkens]

Thoughts on Ren

So obviously super theory crafting/spoilerish but...

This is the culmination of Ren’s Arc that goes all the way back to V4. We all probably thought that killing the Knuckleave was the catharsis he needed to finally move forward (and he did through the end of that chapter and then through V5 and 6) but he didn’t finish his arc. The killing was a catharsis but it wasn’t confronting his core issue that his Dad placed on him of “sometimes the worst thing to do is to do nothing at all.”

Despite the change in volumes and time that has aged him he still isn’t ready to just ACT and accept that there will be consequences that he must then face. His rant to Yang and Jaune wasn’t about those two, its about this idea that he is fully entrenched in the mindset that there MUST be an “Adult” somewhere who knows the right decision simply by virtue of being an adult. Substitute hunter/huntress in for Adult and its the same thing going through his head. He simply hasn’t yet broken through his crippling fear of taking an action and personally facing the consequences.

I think at some point he is simply going to have to face a CHOICE and its one where it will fall to him and he will have to finally act affirmatively and learn that it might not be the perfect answer, that being an adult, being a huntsman, doesn’t mean you have the right answer always. What you do have is the ability to make the best choice you can and keep moving forward.

Anyway that’s my theory.