#that’s probably going to be Qrow and Robyn

[averagemrfox]

Need volume 10 so I can get the Blake and Yang vs Tyrian match up of my dreams

You got Yang, whose semblance relies on her taking the hit. Who’s been shown over and over to use her own body as a shield so that her loved ones don’t get hurt. She’s been able to use it as more than a last resort in more recent volumes but it still requires her to store up the energy by taking the hit while her aura is gradually depleted.

Then you’ve got Tyrian, an incredibly good close quarters fighter like Yang but with an acrobatic ability closer to Blake’s and a semblance that cuts straight through people’s auras leaving them completely vulnerable. Burn is completely irrelevant if Tyrian goes for a lethal hit the first opportunity he gets

Blake on the other hand relies on her semblance to avoid taking the hit. She can create space for herself, put herself in a better position, and if she uses dust trap or hurt enemies with it. We’ve seen Blake avoid hits that would’ve killed her multiple times. If he can’t even hit her Tyrian’s semblance doesn’t mean shit

I want to see Blake just lose it again like she did at Neo for a bit after Yang fell but this time she doesn’t have to worry about Cinder. Let Blake be a little ruthless vs a serial killer. As a treat. I want to see this fight as a set up for Blake and Yang to finally talk about Yang’s self sacrificial tendencies.

[rachetmath]

Yang Priorities

Yang: Hey Jaune. 

Jaune: Yes?

Yang: Remember that question me and Winter asked you?

Jaune: Yes. 

Yang: Be honest with me then am I a good sister?

Jaune I mean you are better than me but not better than Winter or Sapphron.

Yang: How so?

Jaune: Yang you have been doing Ruby dirty for a while.

Yang: Not true.

Jaune: Yang on her first day you abandoned her. How do you think we met?

Yang: um.

Jaune: Our initiation, you never once tried to save her. Weiss did that. 

Yang: Okay but that was because she needed to toughen up. Especially if she is going for the big leagues.

Jaune: Okay. First mission.

Yang: Oh come on, I was asleep. I found her and hugged her.

Jaune: Okay. After the fall of Beacon. 

Yang: Okay you can not fault me for that. I was going through it. 

Jaune: You were crying over a girl. At least she was alive. 

Yang: I lost my arm.

Jaune: Protecting Blake who you were crying over. And you got a new one. I stepped up and went with Ruby to Mistral.

Yang: I eventually came back.

Jaune: You did. But not before going after Raven. The deadbeat.

Yang: She was my- 

Jaune: Bitch, you could've just called once you were close to the city.

Yang: It would have taken me hours. 

Jaune: You had a bike.

Yang: Still.

Jaune: Okay then back Blake. You talk shit about how your mom did you dirty. But suddenly when Blake did the same shit and came back you forgave her.

Yang: She's different. She did it to protect us. 

Jaune: That's great. But here's the thing, um, we were in danger anyways. What the fuck do you mean?!

Yang: … … I-

Jaune: And the crazy part is, you prioritize Blake a lot more than your own sister.

Yang: Not-

Jaune: Yang, Beacon you gave her a lecture because she was obsessed with the White Fang. 

Weiss: Then in the house, you got Blake out first before Ruby.

Jaune: Yang you were against telling Ironwood a lie and called Ruby out on it. 

Weiss: Not once but twice.

Yang: Weiss!

Weiss: You're right. He is going to do the same thing to me. But still.

Jaune: But all of a sudden when Blake wanted to talk with Robyn you agreed to that shit! With no debate!

Yang: Okay that-

Jaune: Then when that old lady talked bad about Faunuses, you were ready to talk shit considering your girl is a Faunus. 

Yang: Okay, I-

Jaune: Nah, bitch, I am not FUCKING done. The Ever After you were crying over your sister, but before, what were you doing that you didn't notice her having a mental breakdown?

Yang: Umm… well-

Jaune:  See bitch I should- Ooh. Ooh.  

Yang: Okay but-

Jaune: And then when she finally broke down. Start yelling at Blake, you jump in front, protecting her, from your own sister. 

Yang: Okay but I am still there for her.

Jaune: You're right. You do. But still, you need to start balancing Blake and Ruby because if you don't, then your relationship will be just as bad as Qrow’s.

Yang: Yeah you're right. But hold on what makes you worse?

Jaune: Yang, I have seven sisters. The one sister you met, I allowed all of you into her house. Eat her food. Cracked her walls. Risked her wife’s job and in danger her whole family to get us to Atlas. And guess what, I never told her about Salem or the mission we're on. She's probably worried sick especially because I barely write to her. 

Yang: Damn. 

Jaune: In fact I haven't talked to my family in years. I haven't spoken to anyone in my family since Beacon.

Yang: What? 

Jaune: You heard me.

Yang: Oh my God, Jaune, you need to go home. 

Jaune: *stressed out* I know!

[bestworstcase]

people who talk about "cast bloat" in v7/8 are so funny to me bc v4 and especially v5 really suffer from having so few minor and supporting characters—like. literally the only new faces are 1. nameless bit characters, and 2. arc antagonists (the albains, ilia, lionheart, raven, and vernal).

and i think that is the reason those two volumes feel so… empty. they're not actually that slow-paced and there is in fact a LOT of narrative meat on the bones, but v4-5 feel slower and feel like there's less going on in them. (and that is not exactly an uncommon opinion: "nothing happens in v4-5" and "v4-5 are slower paced and that's good actually" are both sentiments that i see a lot.)

but… like, v4 comes out swinging with salem putting her plan into motion, and while juggling between blake / weiss / rnjr / yang on their separate journeys does slow down the progression of character arcs in terms of watching time, narratively things do happen at a fair clip and the story does a good job of weaving these disparate threads together thematically. similarly, v5 murks up the timeline by being non-chronological but none of the characters are ever just sitting around and there is quite a bit of momentum. it just doesn't feel that way—

—because these narrative events feel isolated. menagerie is crowded with nameless extras, only one of whom gets a shred of actual characterization; the only side characters who get anything at all are the antagonists involved in blake's arc. similarly, rnjr meet a few bit players during their journey across anima and then… literally just lionheart, once they reach mistral. vernal is the only bandit with an identity beyond "bandit."

the atlas portions of v4 are comparatively memorable because we DO meet new characters of varying importance: jacques, klein, and whitley get a decent amount of fleshing out in relation to weiss and ironwood, with ironwood's headbutting with jacques giving an indirect glimpse into atlas politics; then there's smaller characters like henry marigold, the business people who talk about the faunus and economic inequality with jacques, the socialite who scoffs about the fall of beacon because how is this our problem.

the same can be said for the other arcs too. the blacksmith and the mayor at the beginning of v4 breathe life into that village; the friendly captain makes the ship feel more alive. nameless extras don't do much for a narrative—they just visually fill out a scene—but bit characters with a bit of personality bring the world to life.

so during the beacon arc, there's a steady widening of the supporting cast (team cfvy + sun and neptune + penny and ironwood in v2, winter and qrow and various tournament competitors in v3). and then in v6, we get dee and dudley, maria and jinn, the cotta-arcs and cordovin and the encounter with pyrrha's (probably) mother. and in v7-8 there's the ace-ops and the happy huntresses and pietro along with bit characters like the councilmen and racist grandma and fiona's uncle. and v9 is chock full of memorable side characters. there is a significant and consistent presence of side and bit characters.

compare that to v4-5, which have long sections of narrative where The Only Characters are… the core cast and the arc antagonists. it makes the world feel smaller and that makes the narrative events feel insulated and unimportant.

a bare-bones cast of only characters who are strictly necessary for the plot will not make v10 feel "tighter" or "better focused," it'll just make vacuo feel lifeless. lol. (and this is not even getting into how rwby uses side characters to develop its core cast; like the point of robyn being so prominent in v7-8 is not to develop robyn herself, it's to incite development with ruby, penny, blake, yang, ironwood, and qrow. she's a catalyst. this is true also of the ace-ops and may.)

[kitkatopinions]

Your take on the recent RT announcement of a storybook anthology series to show what was happening in Remnant during volume 9?

I really feel like it's unnecessary at best at the moment and really doesn't give me any hope at all for... Anything going forward. XD

Like, 'this shows what's happening in Remnant during V9' V9 happened over the course of like a day and a half. And yes, it's obvious to the audience through the visual of the ships over Vacuo that it's been at least aa bit longer for the people of Vacuo than for RWBY+J in the Ever After (which I didn't want.) But if they were doing V10, I think they could stand to actually confirm how long they were gone in the show before they're like 'aren't you curious about what happened during all that time?'

Number one, it makes me feel like they will just brush over any time gap and have RWBYJ be like 'Well I guess it's been six months' or whatever and then move on quickly. Number two, despite caring about and liking a lot of the characters left in Vacuo, my hope is below zero for the fact that we'll see anything good or worthwhile at all.

Here are my predictions:

We'll get a minor cameo from Team SSSN and Team CFVY working with Team FNKI or something and at best Sun will ask about Blake and Nora will offhandedly say something about Blake belonging to Yang and Sun will be like 'oh, good for them.' Nora and Ren will get back together. Winter will get a ton of focus and weirdly will be like the only person really allowed to grieve for the presumed dead kids in more than a passing way. Maria and Pietro will also make a minor appearance and the anthology will say like one thing about Pietro missing Penny, but there's not gonna be any info on what happened to them out in the tundra or how they got to Vacuo. Qrow will get like a moment of acting bummed about Ruby and Yang and then Robyn will put a hand on his shoulder and Qrow will just move on. Theodore will make an appearance being 'the good member of Oz's inner circle' where he'll make some comments about never trusting Ironwood and will say something to Oz like 'it's a good thing you had those girls picking up the slack' and Oz will be like 'I know,' and they'll mention Glynda in passing. Mercury and Tyrian will be dealt with in this anthology.

And honestly, I could like all of them so much and I still wouldn't buy this because 'what Ren and Nora did in passing while Ruby was committing suicide' obviously doesn't matter as much to me as seeing Ruby actually go through the plot. And there being enough time for an 'anthology' to happen in Vacuo does damage imo to the main story because it gets consequences of V8 for Remnant and personal conflicts and moments I'd have liked to see addressed in the actual show for characters all brushed aside.

Also some people in the Discord chat I'm in mentioned that they think it's possible that the 'Beyond' portion of this is concerning.

As in, we might be getting important things like Team RWBY+J's return to Remnant and reunion with the others in this instead of waiting for V10 out of a desire to quickly tie up loose ends in the fear that V10 will never happen.

I've been on the 'V10 will probably happen but it might be the last season and probably will get rushed hardcore' train, but everything that RT does with RWBY makes me feel like V10 might not happen after all, or at the very least will only happen if the projects they make sell very well.

[thesassiestcolor]

Just thinking about how Qrow and Winter's introductions in the show and how they left vol 8 like.

Vol3 Qrow baited Winter over and over until she was mad enough to use a "finisher" that we didn't end up seeing (Qrow going to use his scythe that we didn't end up seeing until the end of the volume) because Ironwood ordered her stop, probably sparing Qrow's aura (if not serious injury lmao get fucked) AND proving she's not ready for the (fall) maiden powers

Go to five years later when vol 8 Qrow is the one mad enough to kill ironwood but was stopped on his way by Winter (And robyn but Winter physically redirected him to stop the bomb) Only for Winter to turn around and use her finisher on Ironwood thus proving she IS READY FOR THE MAIDEN POWERS

SOMETHING SOMETHING PARALLELS QROW SAVED HER FROM BEING A MAIDEN TOO SOON AND THUS UNDER IRONWOOD'S CONTROL

[strqyr]

So important detail about Raven versus Summer with increasingly plausible Spring collateral damage coming out in the later half of the show. Robyn Hill to verify that Raven isn't lying. Which given the speculation involved - is a sucker punch for someone and probably multiple someone's that short circuits lying accusations

i've been thinking since the finale that robyn might play a role with her semblance in finding the truth bc the track record isn't exactly there for anyone to trust raven and raven doesn't think anyone would believe her anyway, so ya gotta bridge that gap somehow.

but. i'd also be interested in knowing how robyn's semblance actually works, i.e. does it react to the objective truth or what the person believes is the truth? like, if someone says the sky is red, obv robyn's semblance would give a red light if they're lying, but if they truly believe the sky is red, would it give a green light?

like would it turn into another lost fable situation? for sure, the basics of "this is what happened" would be caught by her semblance as either true or false, but the finer details, the motivations, what exactly was said, how those words were taken in hindsight, etc.; bias still exists and safe to say that whatever did happen during the mission, it completely wrecked whatever trust there was between summer and raven.

it's either they get robyn involved, or ruby & yang are just going to trust raven to tell the truth, which admittedly isn't completely out there; raven didn't exactly lie about anything when she told yang & weiss everything, and the episode was literally called 'known by its song' which i believe comes from a proverb "a bird is known by its song, a man by his words", meaning that as you can recognize a bird from its call, so can you tell the type of person someone is by the way they speak, e.g. liar lies, and so on.

on the other hand yang didn't exactly react well to raven insulting qrow and especially tai, so. you win some you lose some lol

[littlemisssquiggles]

Do you think ozpin and qrow could some how be friends again/ qrow trust ozpin again

Hello there anon-chan! Thank you for the inbox!

In all honesty m’fam, this was a subject matter I was hoping the series would’ve covered after V6. After that season, I was hoping that part of Qrow’s development moving forward would’ve had him reconsidering his entire relationship with Ozpin; touching base on things such as how they first met and really giving the audience a further deep dive in their history together. This would then ultimately leed up to Qrow realizing that he was wrong for how he treated Oz after the reveal, learning to forgive him again and the two would essentially reboot their friendship with deeper feelings of trust and understanding.

Judging from the events of V6, a lot of Qrow’s feelings about himself were synonymous with his ties with Oz. There was no doubt that Oz was someone Qrow revered and thought of highly.

It’s as he told him back during that season. No one else in his life---not his clan, not even his own sister---ever believed in him due to his misfortune semblance. According to Qrow, he was cursed. But it was Oz who made him gain some confidence in his own self worth by making him believe in the good he could accomplish even with the type of semblance he had.

Words alone are not enough to surmise my disappointment in the fact that right after the writers teased the history and meaningful dynamic that Qrow and Oz shared together, they just dropped it after V6. Instead of making Qrow focus on his bond with Oz, they instead awkwardly did everything they could to have Qrow not discuss Oz.

Instead they had Qrow pining over his relationship with Clover for two seasons. Clover---a character he barely knew and just happened to develop a small kindred comradery for like a couple of months versus Ozpin who he has known FOR YEARS. Probably since he was even a student at Beacon and had remained loyal to well into middle age. Like seriously?

Don't get me wrong, I liked Clover as a character. However I honestly hated how he was the focus

Qrow wasn’t even allowed to focus on his friendship with Winter since even their rivalry dating back to the events of V3 was pushed aside in favour of Clover who only first appeared in V7.

Don’t get me wrong. I actually thought Clover was a decent character. However I really didn’t like how he suddenly became a person of massive importance to Qrow when the two barely knew each other.

If Clover shared the same past with Qrow or the two were actually good friends/rivals who knew each other dating way back to their academy days then I can get behind why Qrow cared that much about him after his death.

But no. There were other characters that Qrow shared deeper bonds than Clover, like Oz, and yet, all Qrow focused on between V7 to V8 was this one dude. I will never understand why the Writers chose this route to go for Qrow. It just felt so off and misplaced; at least to me.

Shout-out to my fellow Snowbird shippers since we too were robbed of any potential further development between Qrow and Winter since that it seems their dynamic was replaced in favour of one brewing with Robyn Hill.

So, in a nutshell anon-chan, I do think Qrow can trust Oz again and rekindle their friendship. However, it’s up to the CRWBY Writers to implement that into the story canon. Thus far, they haven’t done a good job on having Qrow focus on his ties to Oz. But who knows? Perhaps we’ll get something in that epilogue series that was recently announced by RT. RWBY Beyond.

Hopefully that series will drop some crumbs on the aftermath of Qrow and Oz’s relationship, finally giving closure to of us who were wondering about it.

LMS (2024)

[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

[spectralscathath]

do you have any voice headcanons for Antares? how they talk, stuff like that?

Okay well here’s the characters that I think would keep the voices similar to what they have in show, because the performances given were excellent and really defined the character to me. The cadence, the tone, all that, these ones work well.

Winter, Ironwood, Tyrian, Watts, Salem, Hazel, Oscar, Ozpin, the Ace Ops are all solid, Robyn, Whitley, Sienna, Raven, Mercury, Vernal.

So here's the ones I'd mess with:

Ruby: I’d want to still have her sound light and innocent, but I’d definitely make her way less squeaky then she was in the show. A voice that can still have a bit of grit, if she needs it. I’m picturing something like Dani Phantom in Danny Phantom, or X-23 in x-men evolution (Andrea Libman’s version). Childish but able to get dangerous.

Weiss: definitely something posh but not necessarily snooty. She should have a very clear voice, one that’s clearly been through a million dictation lessons and speaks quite musically at that. Pick a soprano broadway singer, go from there.

Blake: I think she’d probably have the deepest voice of the main four girls? Not raspy, but resonant. Able to soften up, I picture something like Vi from Arcane or Korra from Legend of Korra.

Yang: Not as deep as Blake’s voice, but definitely with a bit of grit to it that gives her that tough vibe. Where Blake has resonance, Yang does have rasp. Sorta Ryuko Matoi-esque, or like Amethyst from Steven Universe.

Qrow: as much as I like Jason Liebrecht’s work I don’t think he works quite as well for Qrow, which is not anything against him just the voice doesn’t fit as much as I’d prefer. I’ve always felt Qrow should have a voice with a deeper register anyway, so I’d be picking a performance like Wolverine from X-Men Evolution, or Ghazan, Legend of Korra.

Sun: I really like Lego Monkie Kid and all the voice actors are great, I just can’t decide if Sun gets MK’s voice (younger, peppy, excited, also Sokka) or Monkey King’s (equally peppy, a little more deep, a bit tricksy, also Goku).

Ilia: I think Cherami Leigh’s voice acting is great (maybe she can be Blake?) but my Ilia is a bit younger and a lot softer so I’d want her to have more of a higher voice, to contrast Antares-Blake’s lower register. Something that still cracks, a bit like Luz from Owl House, mayhaps, or Marcy from Amphibia.

Summer: if any of you have watched Critical Role 3 Bells Hells and have listened to Ashley Johnson’s voice for Fearne, that’s it exactly. Really soft and breathy and gentle, really distinctive from the rest of the cast.

Tortuga: Tortuga had a very deep voice compared to the other Ace Ops, but not gravelly. Not quite on the levels of like, James Earl Jones, but more like Keith Davids in his Dr Facilier role, able to be quick but with gravitas.

Cinder: needs to be huskier, definitely able to have charisma behind it rather than risking sounding childish, or whiny. I picture something like Meg from Hades or Lust from FMA.

Jaune: I think he’d have one of the higher pitched voices of the male cast? Definitely a tenor, speaks fast and nervously, I picture kinda like Martin Blackwood’s voice from the Magnus Archives (I have no idea what anyone’s accents are and I don’t want to think about it), or Rocky from Lackadaisy.

Nora: super high pitched and nasally, but really sweet and cute nonetheless. I’d say kinda like, Molly from Epithet Erased, or Ivy, Lackadaisy again.

Pyrrha: I think she should have the most standard teenager voice? She deserves it, she deserves normal and not exceptional. I picture, like Gwen Stacy from Spiderverse, or Wendy from Gravity Falls?

Ren: a very subdued, almost monotone voice, its not necessarily particularly low or high, but could totally drop down to something very menacing if pushed. I’m thinking, like, a chilled out version of Percy from Vox Machina, with that same ability to go right down into a danger zone.

Emerald: what if we took Cherami Leigh's Ilia voice and just moved it here what then? Other options I think would suit her would be something like Miriam from Dragon Age (Kimberly Brooks is always a win)

Penny: If Nora was high pitched I think Penny should sound like a literal child, on account of Pietro really leaning into the 'innocent little girl' thing when he was downloading voice clips to make into her synthesizer- or, hear me out: Penny voiced by a vocaloid.

[gothicafish]

Ok imma explain why I'm a fairgamer, you don't have to agree with me or anything I'm just exteralizing my thoughts tbh. Now that that's out of the way let's go.

-ok broski first of all they literally complete each other?? Through semblances?? Bad luck? And good luck ??

-Qrow is Qrow with everyone he meets. In personality, in humor, in cynicism. Its the same with rwby jnro, iron wood, enemies. But I noticed immediately how different he acted around clover. And sure it could just be then being besties but Qrow is different around Clover than any of his actual besties, like Tai or ozpin, or any other old friends. He's nicer. Not only that, clover gave him hope. Even helped him stop drinking. Though admittedly the seeds for qrows sobriety had been planted before clover was introduced. But clover was the tipping point.

-its one thing to keep clovers clover pin after he's dead its another to stare at it for hours in a jail cell, or pull it out when you thunk your probably gonna die by bomb.

-also Qrow was hurt DIFFERENT after Clover died. Qrow had lost people before, off screen and on screen but he never mopped like this. Also he even got one of those dramatic screams next to the dead loved one TM. That and Robyn keeps saying things like "I know your hurting" or "I know you lost someone dear to you" (I am paraphrasing cause I'm too lazy to find her actual quotes, but if you got what she says to qrow in front of the elevator when they're escaping in v8 send it please)

-they were literally flirting in every scene they had together (like that one scene when they were playing cards and Qrow literally looked away in embarrassment). Lowkey it gave me second hand embarrassment but thats neither here nor there.

This argument would be a lot stronger if I actually put work into putting pictures ans exact quotes but yeah these are just my thoughts. Again you don't have to agree with me or anything I just need to expel these thoughts from my brain.

[awsydawnarts]

Okay this one might be a bit of a weird thing to discuss (and will be much less relevant if there’s a time skip on Remnant) but I wanted to talk about Ruby and Oscar’s height difference and how much it means to me in light of this recent episode.

I’d like to start this off by saying that I’m actually (conveniently) Ruby’s height. One source is saying 5’4” and ones saying 5’2” and I’m about 5’3”, and something I’ve been noticing a lot recently as I accept that I’m done growing and this is my permanent height is that there’s always going to be something that intimidates me about the majority of the population. As much as I want to think that I’m a confident, capable person, it really takes away from your confidence when you have to look way up at someone to have a conversation with them. On top of that, I’ve noticed that 1. People tend to get really close to me when having conversations, much closer than I’d like, possibly because they’re trying to make up for the fact that there’s about a foot between us that wouldn’t be there normally, and 2. This is a problem, because a) it’s intimidating to have someone larger than me get in my personal space, and b) it just makes me so much more aware of how much taller they are because I have to really lift my head to look at them, only to see them looking down on me.

My point in saying all this? The last few volumes have been really leaning into that with Ruby. This happened a lot in V 7, where Ironwood would be framed as looking down at her, and it really jumped out at me in this last episode with that one shot after Jaune yells at her and she’s left staring up at him with tears in her eyes as he gets up in her personal space.

This scene to me really highlighted how small Ruby is compared to most of the people around her who are supposed to be equals to her-Jaune, Ironwood, Qrow, Robyn, Clover, any of the ace ops-but not Oscar. Oscar is one of the few characters in the show that Ruby is taller than. And speaking from personal experience? It’s so much more comfortable interacting with people who don’t use their size to physically intimidate you (even if that’s not at all their intention).

I know realistically, Oscar is probably going to get taller than her (and when that happens I will find it cute) but right now it’s just so incredibly important to me and really serves to (once again) emphasize how good Oscar is for Ruby and how much his very existence supports her and takes stresses away. In a world where ticking time bombs like Ironwood, Jaune, and the ace ops can turn on her and use their size as a weapon, Oscar can’t (and wouldn’t) do that. Oscar has Ruby’s back, and she trusts him in a way that I don’t think she trusts anyone else in the show.

[powertaco]

Alright. So what would you do if CRWBY (RT) contacted you and asked you to help incorporate Whiterose into canon? Would you do it? If so, how, and if not, I’d still want to know how.

I'm sure most of us would like to. I don't know if I'd be the best person for the job, or what not, but I think at this point you'd have to play for the long game and aim for like last volume.

I think the general groundwork for a relationship, especially with V6 is there but needs built on. Ruby and Weiss have pink petals only when together and the color pink used as petals is used by Ren's new semblance when he detects love.

There's tons of symbolism and pictures/promo material of WR being very important with each other. I don't see Weiss with a shield in the promo material nor do I see her thirsting over Jaune in the spin off stuff or Ruby looking at Oscar or any symbols that represent him. Manga anthologies, the movie crossover, IQD are all supremely WR coded.

They need to talk and be partners again. They need to have conversations and set things right between them. Weiss needs to come clean about why she was taking Ruby for granted, and Ruby needs to apologize for not talking to her about things, and they need to have a real partnership going forward.

V10 (they said 12/13 was their planned end point at one time so we'll go based on that) would be about this in the background with the war against Salem likely taking center stage as well as the fallout of Atlas.

I'd like to see more Ruby still falling into bad habits (unlearning them IS hard) but her team, and Weiss in particular helping her plan and taking the work off her shoulders and helping to divide it up. Even if they don't want WR endgame this is something that needs to happen because they're supposed to be best friends.

Blake and Yang as much as people might hate it need to take a slight step back. I'm happy for them but they're too wrapped up in each other to the point that they're the others world to the detriment of everyone else.

More interactions with other partners. Yang and Weiss and Blake and Ruby need to interact a bit more.

Blake and Yang can talk to the others and in time start drop hints about things but mostly as teases for now.

Once Salem finds out Cinder lied to her...a lot I would expect her to have a less than pleasant time and probably not be doing much outside of not dying. We might get the start of a 'we found the summer maiden' plot here.

V11 I would focus on the relic of destruction. I'd probably have this be the volume Tyrian dies likely as the villain of the volume in a battle for the relic. Seeing as they wanted 9/10 to start turning around you need to give the team some wins. So either they win and get the relic or they kill tyrian but still lose the relic. Depending on how they run with Theodore he could live or die securing the relic.

Based on how little of a chance Team RWBY seem to have against someone like Cinder they need to upgrade their semblances or one of them is probably gonna have to end up a maiden at some point. If they go that route then Raven actually dying to give her powers to Yang is possible but we need more from and about Raven before I'll buy that she'd do something like that. Unless of course she somehow gets ambushed and is dying then she might think of Yang. If this does happen i imagine we'll get more of that flashback from earlier.

Good chance for Ruby and Blake to comfort her if that does happen because well if Yang does end up with them then I mean it's clear what happened and her mom is dead. I imagine Qrow wouldn't take it well either but he has Robyn so she'll prob be helping him a bit.

WR would start incorporating little touches like they used to. Shoulder grabs, little quick hand squeezes and hugs that go on just a second too long and more playful banter in and out of battle.

They should still be serious when it calls for it but not have an issue just hanging out in the limited downtime they do have. Others should notice they seem to be happier now and have WR not understand what they mean.

V12 would likely be the start of Ozpin/Ozma opening up with some more deep lore and hopefully someone calls him on the whole 'jinn only said you can't kill her' angle. Probably not.

From here it really depends on how they plan to resolve Salem. Is it gonna be a hail mary we're united and have the relics fix it gods thing or not.

If it's not then I'd like to see them ape the gods and use that to 'kill' salem for good. Ie Ruby's eyes represent the light and Weiss and her grimm summons the dark. Working together and in concert to kill her just like the gods combo powers cursed her. If you want it to be a more team thing then Yang and Blake can represent light and dark too. Jaune can amp up their auras to an extreme level for this to work. Whether this kills him or his ultimate fate is irrelevant.

Ruby would be a bit more mature after Ever After and talking with her friends and Weiss would start taking notice because as Kara said 'Weiss like maturity'

If you wanted a twist for after this then have the gods show up and be pissed that rwby undid their work. 'who are you to undo what we gods have done etc?

From here they can drop the knowledge bombs that they're no better than runaway kids who left and what not.

The gods can then either bring back salem again proving that they're massive hypocrites since they told salem earlier she didn't understand the value of life and death and cause the gods to want to wipe out humanity and faunus.

At this point I'd expect the blacksmith/tree to basically be like 'no you're done' and drag them back.

If they don't bring salem back they could be like 'well humanity has come together so you know what good enough stay that way or else.

Then you'd have a few after it's all over episodes.

Now that the war is over they're focused on rebuilding. Weiss is busy helping Whitley and Willow and Winter (if she's alive) rebuild the SDC.

Ruby appears and asks her to take a break for dinner. Weiss is going to refuse until Willow tells her they'll manage and shoos her out the door.

Weiss asks where they're going to meet Blake/Yang, and Ruby says 'oh i was kinda thinking...it could just be us two.' Weiss could say something with a small blush and be like 'I'd like that' and it could cut to the other couples then credits.

Admittedly part of me would find it hilarious if Weiss gets fed up with waiting and just grabs Ruby and smooches her mid final battle.

Or the safer route just have a scene set after the war 5/10 years and casually let it be dropped they married in that time to avoid having to do anything.

Personally if I was doing RWBY from the start I'd make the WF bigger antagonist along with Jacques and probably cut out the whole brother gods/salem deal. Maybe even magic and maidens. I think that could be a lot of fun and as attractive as mommy salami is I don't care much for her in the story. Great VA though who really nails the voice I'd imagine for Salem.

I'd probably also keep them in school for another year and have more inter-team friendships. Like Blake , Velvet, Ruby, and Ren having a book club, or Ren and Weiss bonding over having super high energy partners.

Yang and Pyrrha work out buddies. Ruby and Jaune playing games with Nora probably joining it.

That sort of thing.

Of course if I was writing RWBY I'd find a way to have Maria hold WR hands so you know.

I hope I understood the question and if not I apologize.

[rachetmath]

Everything that could've gone right

Jaune: Okay, so from all the information you all have shown me, again thank you all, I think we should discuss some things.

Winter: Indeed. 

Ruby: We need to do something.

Jaune: Okay, first let's discuss the Crown. As Coco told me they were a horrible organization. They target people, especially with valuable semblances. Not to mention they are now partner with Tyrian. A wild card that we may not be able to predict.

Qrow: Yeah he is a slipper guy.

Jaune: We have no idea what their next move will be so we need to be prepared. So I think we send Emerald Sustrai in to infiltrate and spy on them. 

Ruby: What- No!

Jaune: I’m sorry, what's wrong, Ruby?

Nora: Emerald is still a villain, we can't trust her.

Jaune: What? But she helped in the evacuation, I think -

Winter: I agree. Especially considering her past crimes.

Jaune: Fair point but she's the only one who gets in and out while filling us in on what our enemies can do. Plus, if that's the case she can prove herself by helping us. 

Ruby: No Jaune that's too risky.

Winter: I agree.

Qrow: Same.

Raven: Yep.

Jaune: Okay. Next is the Grimm attacks. They are skyrocketing. This may be due to our mistake of bringing too many people to Vacuo. Not to mention Vale citizens. So… I am afraid we need to escort some of them out.

Robyn: What?! Objection!

Obleck: I agree, Mr.Arc. That is cruel.

Jaune: Huh. Cruel? Some of these people want to leave this city and kingdom altogether. Some of the people don't get along with each other as well. Not to mention food and other resources. 

Robyn: We'll find another way to provide. Plus how would get them out?

Jaune: I mean we have ships. We have hunters ready to fight. I mean, yeah, they’ll still have the Grimm to deal with but still. They should spread instead of being cramped up like animals.

Winter: Jaune, these people are our responsibility. We must protect them. Plus if we send hunters around on escort missions our numbers will thin. 

Jaune: I mean we have students who are being trained to fight. Let them go along and shadow the pros. Or stay and help us.

Ren: Jaune that won't help.

Jaune: They will gain experience and probably survive. I think we need to consider our resources.

Ruby: No Jaune. We need a different approach.

Winter: Agreed.

Obleck: Well said, Ms.Rose.

Jaune: Alright. Mm. Okay, so about the tribes. Some of them aren't willing to offer assistance. So, what do we do about them?

Ruby: We try to reason with all of them.

Robyn: Yes!

Jaune: What-?

Obleck: Indeed. We ask for assistance and if they don't provide it-

Raven: We crush them.

Jaune: Shouldn't we be careful though? I mean, we can do that but doesn't that give us more enemies than allies? We can't simply side with anyone and crush those who oppose us. Especially with no research or information on what they could have that we could use.

Raven: This is Vacuo, kid. It's all about dominance.

Jaune: Are you- oh my- okay, okay, breath. Breath. Guys… look. I know this is hard. But… l do need to remind all of you of what's up. First off Tyrian is still on the loose. And he has new allies. Allies who know this kingdom and its people more than we do. Due to the amount of problems many requests for hunters have been skyrocketing.  We have children with no parents. Parents who lost their children. Families whom we can’t feed or provide for. A war could happen at any time and you wish to start one before a greater threat arrives.

Ruby: Jaune we need hunters. We need to tighten security. 

Jaune: No. What we need is resources so we can help people and stop them from killing each other. And even after that, we need to get some of these people out of the kingdom. Do you not know what’s happening with them? Violence. Kidnapping. Rape. Extortion. We are having too many victims. And with more victims, MORE NEGATIVITY.

Oobleck: We understand but we can’t involve the students.

Jaune: My team. Team RWBY. We were first years. We’re still first years. We have been involved in this for months. And remember, these kids are here for the same reason we’re here. To be hunters. And what is needed when being a hunter? Experience. We have missions on the board, too many for us to work with. If we research every or as many teams as we can, we can divide the work among them. And it’s not like they’ll be alone. We have pros who aren’t doing anything. Let them work.

Raven: Then how do we handle the tribes?

Jaune: Not all tribes need to be dealt with. Some we can leave alone. Some might need help. Or we can talk with them. Who knows they may be willing to take some of the citizens off our hands. 

Winter: I understand.

Jaune: I highly doubt that.

Winter: But need our people here.

Jaune: Again some of them don’t want to be here. We might as well be imprisoning them.

Theodore: It seems we are in conclusion. Very well done everyone. Meet achured.

Jaune: We are so f****.

After weeks

Theodore: Oh my god the relic is gone.

Jaune: Probably because we had no guardian it. 

Ruby: Theirs too many Grimm to fight.

Jaune: Maybe because of so many people fighting, stealing and hating each other.

Raven: Too many tribes are against us. They sided with the Crown. 

Jaune: Maybe if we negotiated and made compromises with them we could have turn some of them into allies.

Qrow: Tyrian just killed a Summer maiden. Now Gillian has the maiden powers.

Jaune: If only we had someone to hide among them who could have fed us information so we had a counterattack. Or maybe save our maiden.

Emerald: Merury, please.

Mercury: It’s too late Emerald. Maybe if you found me and tried to help me earlier, I would have teamed up with you.

Jaune: Wow.

Mercury: In fact, I don’t know why they didn’t send you. Probably they didn’t trust you enough. I don’t know why you’re still working with them. Join us.

Jaune: You might be right.

Ruby: Jaune, com on, help us.

Jaune: What’s the point? We already lost.

After the battle

Ruby: A lot of people died.

Theodore: The relic is gone.

Oobleck: Our numbers are thin.

Winter: The people have abandoned us.

Jaune: Really?

Raven: Okay kid, you were-

Jaune: The proof is in the pudding. I know I was right.

[bestworstcase]

final guess on beyond now that we know how many episodes; i would expect in the 5-10 minute range, mmmaybe a little longer, and each following events in a different location. probably in a narrative style similar to the epilogue with a character recounting the story as they experienced it.

specifics:

vacuo - probably won’t retread anything covered in the 9.11 animatic. i will note that we’ve heard from nora, oscar, ren, winter, and qrow, i.e. all of the core cast in vacuo except emerald, whose perspective on all this stands to be really interesting. betting on her figuring out her place against the backdrop of everything else going on; and maybe, because she’s the obvious best fit for this role, infiltrating and keeping tabs on on the crown.

vale - obviously, salem razing it. who narrates? glynda or tai feels like the ‘safe’ answer but my heart says salem. or summer. i’ve been rethinking 9.10 a bit in context with 9.11 having been planned as episode 12 before they lost those two episodes: 9.10 is very, very economical to its own detriment because it’s stretched to do the work of two episodes. what got cut? ruby sees summer walk through raven’s portal and then—“what?! what was that?!”—which is to say i’m wondering if the original intention was to reveal that summer joined salem in 10, aftermath in 11, and then hit us with “salem razed vale” in 12. if that was the plan, a ‘lite’ summer reveal does not feel out of scope for something like beyond; she narrates but we don’t see her so the exact circumstances are ambiguous.

argus - qrow, robyn, ace-ops, pietro, and maria have to get amity to argus to rendezvous with cordovin and secure help for vacuo. i think the most probable narrator is pietro; his grief for penny and central involvement in adapting amity to the needs of the moment make him the obvious choice.

mistral/menagerie - the wildcard. other than the new faunus rights movement and haven being closed, we have very little to go on as to what might be happening here. glynda arriving in mistral to solicit help for vale (if there are survivors) or vacuo or whatever the belladonnas and ilia did in reaction to the broadcast is the likeliest ground to cover. or both, since i imagine they’ll cross paths. narrated by ilia or ghira or glynda, i think, in that approximate order of probability.

if we see the razing of vale and salem narrates it, i am all in on her answering ozma’s fear monologue with her own philosophical outlook. because that’s fucking delicious.

[flightofaqrow]

[meta] vol 7 and star-crossed soulmates

Alright, it's time to talk about qrow and Clover. I humbly request that you set down the shipping goggles and sit with me for a bit. 🙏

I waffled on this for longer than I thought, because I was trying to keep my own pair on in the sense of trying to come up with thoughts about only these two, but I don't think we can actually talk, narratively, about their dynamic without someone else: Robyn. She's a soulmate and foil in this, too.

I. Color Theory

First point is how RWBY uses complementary eye colors to imply connections between characters, whether that's romantic, foils, or simply something of an influence on each other, or all of the above.

It's been difficult to dig up straightforward tertiary charts. We're going for the red-orange, yellow-green, blue-violet combo here, for Qrow, Clover, and Robyn, respectively.

[Interestingly enough, if we turn that into a quad, it creates a cross with complementary paired points of red/green and blue violet/yellow orange - otherwise known as Marigold. Giving us Good and Bad Fortune with Robin and Maid Marian or Briar. AND overall red/green, yellow/purple literary dynamic which is also seen heavily throughout the show. The tiniest tweak of rotation would also start leaning into a Schnee blue rather than violet... but these are different metas that I don't have fully formed yet.]

II. Symbolism

Anyway, back to the trio. A trio of soulmates in the sense that, if you want to believe in at least a portion of fate, met at the right time and right place to allow for some very important development with each other. Some lessons learned. Maybe to even turn to romance in places, were any of them so inclined.

Qrow is a big honking mesh of symbolism for: darkness, death, messenger of bad luck.

Robins are symbols of: dawn, rebirth, messenger of good luck.

Clovers are symbols of: faith, hope, love, and good luck.

Hmm. The foils look a little different in hindsight, huh? We can already see a tangible overlap of foiling and partnership, but also a disconnect. One pair of wow-that-fits, and a not-quite.

So, yes. They're soulmates. By design.

But they're star-crossed.

III. Foils

Qrow is not having gay panic upon meeting Clover. He's having a dawning realization that he is looking at a reverse-reflection of himself. Happy-go-lucky. Able to trust his surroundings. A leader with a place to be in his cohesive group. Looked up to, relied on.

All the things he always wanted, but could never be*.

And then he's pissed.

But he rolls with it. He starts to see it as an opportunity to be near someone who might have some immunity from his own semblance, just like Ironwood probably set this up to be (covering assets and liabilities, and all). But this is not the answer. It was never the answer. Qrow needs to learn not to blame his semblance or rely on external crutches to try and 'cure' it.

Clover learns nothing from this. He continues to be his usual self. That is a good person. He allows Qrow that opportunity to feel safe with him, encourages him to be better, explore this new sober-self. But Clover also looks at Qrow and sees everything he doesn't like about or wouldn't for himself. Cynical. Jaded. Separated from his companions. Moaning over his semblance. He offers his charisma and optimism in the hopes it might bleed over. That is also not the answer. Clover is trying to 'cure' Qrow.

This foil aspect which often sets up good conflict to turn into romantic or sexual tension that both characters benefit from is where the term "opposites attract" comes from, I think. But I also separate this into two different types of opposites: complementary and contradictory.

Complementary works. There is balance. There is a complementary strength in one character for a weakness in another. Extroverts and Introverts. Brawny and Brainy. Sun and Moon. Red and Green. "I don't like cooking and you don't like dishes, so you do one and I'll do the other and together we are happier and more easily whole."

There can still be conflict here. Stubborn and Patient. Hotheaded and Chill. Oblivious and Aware. But this is Robyn and Qrow. In both directions at different times, which is *chef kiss* even better. "I'm pulling my crossbow on Clover" and "Calm down, let's talk to Ironwood first" vs "I'm killing Ironwood" and "You don't really mean that."

Complementary is push/pull in a way that reinforces who the other character really is, and gives them the freedom to be that, even if the conflict is a tough love reminder sometimes.

A symbol for bad luck and a symbol for good luck which can come to an understanding over how their semblances can make it hard on other people, but don't define them as a person. Qrow accepting his role as a Harbinger of destruction when and where it's deserved, and Robyn accepting her role as a truth-bringer, light-shiner, even when it's hard, even when people don't like to hear it. In the theme of Vol 7, as Winter puts it, they can work on making these things their own.

Contradictory does not work. It can present with similar strengths and weaknesses, but there is mutual exclusivity woven in. There is intolerance. There is a needing of one person needing to change to validate the other's worldview. There is a mismatch of personal values and unwillingness to bend. Optimism and Pessimism (when one cannot accept and learn from the other to compromise). Lawful and Chaotic. Stoic and Communicative. Generative and Stagnant. "We should paint this wall Red." "I think we should paint it green." "We should go to the mountains." "I think we should go to the beach."

...

"We should try and save everybody." "We should give a few a better shot at actually being saved."

...

("If you were one of my men I would have you shot." "If I were one of your men I'd shoot myself.")

This is not (healthy) romantic tension, this is unresolvable conflict. This is Qrow vs Ironwood. This is, ultimately, Qrow and Robyn vs Clover. This is probably some other over-arching dynamics with others, too, but I'm trying to stay focused here.

*Qrow is 100% actually looked up to and relied on, he just doesn't realize it. And when Clover gives him credit, he has his second panic of oh, i guess you're right, sometimes i can reach my own goals, but no one's ever been nice enough to say so (or i wasn't ready to hear it).

IV. The Narrative

WE WANTED IT TO BE DIFFERENT. We were rooting for Qrow and Clover!!! We wanted it to be complementary so bad!!!! We wanted them to learn. That's why 7.12 hurt so very, very much.

Qrow and Robyn, death and rebirth, were side by side, right there, begging Clover to change; to come into his role of faith, hope, love, and good luck for his team, for his home, to make them his own with his own decisions.

But no, he gave all of those things, all of himself, up to Ironwood's command. And it was the final confirmation of contradictory, and we realized it was always going to be, and had been the whole way. He was always going to choose Ironwood. And it re-writes every interaction. It feels less like he was befriending Qrow, and more like he was trying to change him. It feels less like he was Qrow's partner, and more like Ironwood sent him to keep Qrow under control.

Clover and Qrow are not sharing secret glances with each other after Ironwood gives orders, Clover is checking to make sure Qrow's reactions suggest he's going to fall in line with them.

We wanted more of this:

But the intro handed us the real outcome on a platter:

V. Conclusion

The Fall of Atlas is a Shakespearian Tragedy, in which, by definition: a noble has a tragic flaw or commits a grave error (hamartia) which leads to their reversal of fortune.

The highlighted theme of the volume is Trust Love.

We wanted James Ironwood to change, too. He had the potential and opportunity, too. But his character was doomed by the tragic flaws of a Hero/Martyr complex (literally his theme song) and a Sunken Cost Fallacy (literally his semblance), and Salem changing her plans to send Tyrian and Watts to Atlas before Vacuo to ensure these things would get the better of him - that he would chose fear over love.

Clover is the subplot fallout of this. In which he makes the (literally) grave error of choosing loyalty over love (literally, a piece of himself).

Ergo... red/green/purple character trio star-crossed by a narrative reversal of fates, because Clover didn't learn the lesson of choosing himself and his soulmates' love.

Small wonder Qrow and Robyn then cross paths with Winter and Marrow, who have made that transformation, instead.

[everafterfrisk]

Ozma & Ruby Parallels

Been rewatching Volume 6-8 and I've found some parallels between the two

Notably with the two becoming heroes for righteous/heroic reasons

Jinn: The people of the lands knew him as Ozma.

Jinn: Unlike those who had come before, this warrior was not driven by the prize of the young maiden's hand. He fought only for righteousness, and his pure heart and courageous soul prevailed

Ruby:"As a girl, I wanted to be just like those heroes in the books... Someone who fought for what was right, and protected people who couldn't protect themselves!"

-Ruby to Blake

But felt conflicted with their choices not knowing if it's the best option

Ozma going along with Salem's plan of becoming "the new gods of this world" But part of him still feels uneasy

Ozma: (troubled) Are we sure this is right?

Salem: (looking over to Ozma) You said we needed to bring humanity together. In order to do that, we have to spread our word, and destroy those who will deny it.

Ozma gains a shocked expression on his face upon hearing these words. He turns to see his reflection on the window, which suddenly talks to him.Ozma: What are we doing?

Ozma reels back in horror seeing his reflection ask him that question before looking over to Salem.

Ruby's talk with Qrow where she points out that she doesn't know what is truly right for everyone

Ruby: (soft laugh) All of the above. I'm trying to do what I think is best, but I really can't tell if what's best is what's right, or if I'm no different from Oz.

The Two took risks in hiding the truth that it ultimately damaged certain connections they've made

Ruby hid the truth from Ironwood cuz she didn't believe giving him the full story will be the right option as people in Atlas aren't in the best conditions,same goes for the people in mantle plus Salem's immortality is just gonna install more fear.

Ozpin hid the truth about Salem from the World because similar to Ruby, he knew that truth will only expel despair into everyone as a whole and his main goal was mainly to defend the relics from Salem's grasp & help make a world that the gods could deem worthy of living.

By the end of Volume 8, Ruby and the gang realize that while Ozpin did commit a grave risk about Salem being unbeatable, they also had to take heavy risks to protect what they held dear(Blake/Yang trusting Robyn,Weiss trusting Willow/Whitley and Oscar/Ruby hiding the truth from Ironwood)

Fits into the whole theme of Trust within the Volume

Ruby herself didn't like how Ozpin wasn't being truthful from the start but she realized by now that the truth is a risk that everyone has take in the long run and you decide the outcome of that decision in the long run.

In a way this is probably why he was so invested in Ruby from the beginning of the series

Ruby was essentially a reminder of his former self from so long ago, someone who fought for what was right and had the ability to be honest to those around her.

"But perhaps victory is in the simpler things that you've long forgotten. Things that require a smaller, more honest soul"