#though you devote so much time to Witcher posting that I'm not sure you have time for much else

[persimmontartkisses]

Some bad people can't even imagine that someone supports Marina and thinks that the fandom has behaved abominably with her. For you, any kind word about her is just a fake.

I think I'm nice to you 😭

Look at this zinnia I grew

[thenightling]

Which Witcher is Witch?

Note: I know there are multiple-in universe Witchers. This post is specifically in regard to the title of the franchise. It's time to address something in The Witcher fandom. In the Witcher novels you have a monster hunter (called a Witcher) named Geralt of Rivia, who adopts an orphaned princess from a fallen kingdom. Her name is Ciri. Geralt had accidentally claimed Ciri via a magical invocation known as "Law of Surprise." When you call upon Law of Surprise in front of someone, whatever they gain next now belongs to you. It can be as random as a sack of flour or a puppy. But the thing about Law of Surprise is it invokes Destiny itself and once invoked it cannot be denied. The person who called upon Law of Surprise cannot decline what he has claimed and the person who has to give the thing cannot refuse to give it or Destiny will intervene to make it happen. Geralt had invoked Law of Surprise (without realizing it) in front of a pregnant royal. When he learned she was pregnant he fled rather than take her child. Twelve-years-later the kingdom was sieged and Princess Ciri was the only survivor, forcing Geralt to embrace his Destiny and accept her as his adoptive daughter.

Now, when I first got into The Witcher a fan boy scolded me that Ciri could not count as a "real" Witcher and that "the author said so." He insisted that because she never underwent the Trial of the grasses she would never count as REAL Witcher no matter what was said in the novels or video games. This was before I learned how the novels and video games actually end, mind you, or perhaps I would have had a better rebuttal for this totally-not-a-misogynist. Recently I saw some interviews with the showrunner and writer for The Witcher Netflix TV series. I am well-aware that there have been many deviations from the novels but I do find it a suspicious tell that the two main things that seem to offend certain fan boys are 1. The canonical realization that Jaskier is bisexual / pansexual and 2. The idea that Ciri will become a Witcher, herself...

The best scenario ending of the third Witcher video game (Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt) is Ciri becomes a Witcher, herself, and goes off on her own adventures. In the novels Ciri eventually ends up in another universe (possibly our own) where she rides off the Knights of The Round Table. The TV series is already hinting at going in the direction of Ciri becoming a Witcher, herself. And now the showrunners have pretty much confirmed that Ciri is the actual main protagonist of the show. But there are angry fanboys whining "But Geralt is The Witcher!" No. Not necessarily. The title may be subversive. You thought you were following the adventures of The Witcher this whole time when you were watching Geralt but the reality is Ciri is who the title is for. Ciri is also The Witcher. Now there are angry fans whining and bemoaning the idea that Netflix has "changed The Witcher" and made Ciri the main character even though "The title is for Geralt." Not necessarily. I'm not sure why so many of the fans seem to be reacting badly to this. It was kind of expected the whole time. It's how the video games end, which are actually set after the novels. And in the novels she rides off with some of King Arthur's men. She's pretty much The Witcher there too. I'm getting deja vu of the angry "My adventures with Superman" fans from just a few days ago who whined about what a "Simp" Clark is for Lois- meaning he's doting and devoted to her and wants for her happiness. Superman was always like this... Fanboys, this sort of sexism went out style in the sixties.

[itsclydebitches]

RWBY team impact anon. Thank you for answering my asks! I did want to follow up with one quick question. Does RWBY actually represent anyone? Nobody appointed/elected them. Blake is a princess bc she's Ghira's kid and that's it. IW has a commissioned duty. RWBY doesn't seem to have a legal right to make decisions for Solitas...let alone withhold information from IW that could impact the continent's defense. I'm confused why these kids are the protagonists? Has CRBWY done enough to justify that?

Of course! :D

I touched on this briefly many months back and as far as I can tell, no, the show hasn’t done a particularly good job of answering that question: Why are these people our protagonists? What gives them the power to get involved? Usually stories—particularly fantasy stories—provide clear-cut answers so that we can best immerse ourselves in this situation, rather than continually questioning why this group, out of all groups, is the one we get to follow. The two most common explanations are: 

This group has to fight whether they want to or not. Meaning, some outside force is exerting control over them. They’re stuck in the center of this fight whether they like it or not and thus we, in turn, are stuck with them as our protagonists. Think Harry Potter with a prophecy hanging over his head. Luke being born as a Skywalker. Geralt forced into a witcher’s life with a destiny to juggle. These characters are all bound to something larger than themselves and are, to one extent or another, carried along on the current of that. They have to fight. (“Have” — often overcoming the internal conflict of whether they’ll agree to this unwanted responsibility adds to their heroism. They COULD just run for the hills like Ozpin with his cabin, but they won’t). 

RWBY, however, undermines this sort of setup at every turn. Our characters continually reject responsibilities that may have led them to being a part of other fights—Blake leaves the White Fang despite her parentage and life-long involvement in it, Weiss walks about from the SDC despite being born as an heir and wanting to improve the company—and the closest thing we get to fate is with Ruby’s silver eyes. However, that was likewise undermined when Maria came onto the scene. Rather than presenting us with a world where silver eyes are either unique or rare enough that Ruby feels compelled to fight Salem even if she doesn’t otherwise want to, they gave us a character with the same skill, even more talent (if Maria’s moniker as The Grimm Reaper is any indication) who then said no thanks. She left. Bowed out. So what’s stopping Ruby from doing the same? Nothing. She could pull a Maria and be done with this nonsense and the world would continue surviving as it has for over a thousand years (with the exception of Salem’s new involvement, but again, we don’t see Ruby deciding to fight because Salem is now a more active threat). Ruby is not at the center of the world’s safety and there is no other outside force acting on the group to a point where the audience feels that their involvement in the fight is unquestionably necessary. We might have gotten that if the story had spent more time developing Ruby’s silver eyes. We might have gotten that if the story had spent more time establishing that if Ruby were to bow out, she and her friends would still be endlessly hunted by Salem (AKA, if she wants any kind of life, Salem has to be defeated first). We might have gotten that if the silver eyes/other talents were presented as lynchpins, etc. As it is, RWBY keeps providing examples of how heroes can leave, do leave, have every reason to leave, because they’re not the most talented, their powers are not unique, not necessary, there is nothing in the universe saying YOU have to be a part of this fight... so why are they? 

This leaves us with heroes who fight because it’s the right thing to do. Think Frodo saying he’ll take the ring to Mordor. Katniss stepping in to save her sister. Peter Quill yelling that he’s going to try to save the universe because he’s one of the assholes who lives in it. There’s nothing like destiny, a prophecy, or an inborn talent forcing (“forcing”) the hero to step up, they just do it because it’s the right thing to do and/or they realize that no one is able or willing to help. They and others might both assume they’re not be the best for the job (insert theme of underestimating Hobbits here), but they’re doing it anyway. They’re all that’s available. 

Similar to the above, Ruby could fit really well into this setup. She’s just a kid, she’s talented but she’s barely trained, she knows nothing about magic or this intricate war... surely there’s someone better to take her place? But Ruby wants to help people, which means she’s poised to step up if that’s required of her... but RWBY failed to create those circumstances. Ozpin is not an inept or corrupt leader who she must replace — he created a time of peace and kept the relics safe for who knows how long. Ruby does not live in a world where others refuse to step up — she’s surrounded by talented fighters who are already involved in this war. Ruby doesn’t even live in a world where she fights alongside these more talented and informed fighters — by the end of each volume she’s replaced them as the “real” hero. When someone asks, “Why is the screw up group of convicts trying to save the world in Guardians of the Galaxy?” the answer is, “Because no one else is doing it. The world has to take what it gets.” With RWBY it’s, “Why is the group of second year students, traumatized from a recent battle, going off to find a Maiden they definitely can’t beat?” and the answer is, “Because... they want to? There are other older, more powerful, more informed people dealing with this situation already but Ruby’s group is going off regardless.” “Why is RWBYJNR at the center of this fight now? Have they proven themselves some way? Is there no one else?” “Well no, not exactly. They just showed up at Ozpin’s safehouse expecting to be involved, they definitely provided much needed support at the Haven battle, but then they created circumstances where they were at the center of things regardless of whether others approved of that: stealing Ozpin’s secrets, driving him off, lying to Ironwood, etc.” Then, because the story hasn’t successfully laid out why they have to fight or why others would want them to fight (they often don’t), we get the plot turning in on itself to explain their continued involvement. Like refusing to grapple with their recent behavior. Or having them suddenly able to beat the Ace Ops. 

RWBY’s underlying reasoning for why this group is at the center of this plot is “Because they’re the protagonists” which is a circular explanation. You should craft protagonists that have a reason to be involved, not ignore the lack of a reason for the generic protagonists you’ve got. And don’t get me wrong, RWBY has lots and lots of nods towards various reasons, but they’re never well developed. Things like Ruby’s eyes, her “I want to help people,” the others’ devotion to her, the villains’ interest in them... they’re all the beginnings of compelling explanations, but RWBY never does much of anything with it, largely because we haven’t gotten enough of a look into the group’s personal motivations. Why is Ruby so compelled to throw herself into a war? Because of her mom? That’s never said. Why is Jaune? Because Cinder killed Pyrrha? Then why isn’t he trying to hunt her down? Why is Yang? Because she’s Ruby’s sister? Give us better motivation for Ruby then. And so on and so forth. This is particularly important post the lore episode because the group learned about Salem’s immortality and came to the unanimous conclusion that this war was impossible to win. So why are you still in it?? Volume 6 and 7 should have been an exploration of why they’re fighting, what they’re fighting for, and what they can bring to the table. Instead they happily ignore all of it until Salem and her subordinates get right in their face, then Ruby took control of the situation despite the story failing to establish why she wants to, let alone why she should. 

When we have characters like Ironwood and the Ace Ops trying to stop her and the takeaway is supposed to be “Omg how could they stand against Ruby they’re evil!” ... I just find myself agreeing. Ruby is a teenager. Ruby has one year of formal training. Ruby has thus far rejected or screwed over everyone she’s allied herself with (outside of the group who has agreed to follow her). Ruby has a very useful skill, but does incredibly little to learn about it or train it. Regarding the question, “Should Ruby be the hero we follow?” we’re shown a number of things that give a resounding “No.” She’s the protagonist because her name is in the title, not RWBY has convincingly written a world where her help is necessary or, at this point, even desired. She runs off to nearly get kidnapped, orchestrates an attack on the Argus military that results in a Leviathan grimm showing up, emotionally cripples the world’s oldest defender, undermines and betrays his replacement, and is now risking two relics/a Maiden by hanging around to fight Salem head on. At this point it doesn’t matter how pure her intentions are, Ruby’s actions have been inconvenient at best and downright damaging at worst. Though they clearly don’t intend it, RT is closer to writing antagonists then protagonists. Outside of their pure “We want to help people” outlook, we’ve got this group shouldering their way into this war and, more often than not, making things a whole lot worse. If the story had done a better job of explaining their involvement, such mistakes would be quiet sympathetic, but as it is their insistence on getting involved reads more as arrogance rather than resignation/drive: I have to help. There’s no one else. I’m needed.