#weiss has to go back to atlas. that's a given.

[kinaesthetiqueer]

man. this is going to hurt like a bitch.

i think ive just crossed the line of no return. i think this is going to be nordic winter victory after all.

[virtueking233]

Alright, time for angst before I do a nice silly talk about how Ruby and Weiss brought out the best in each other/grew to be who they are now with the help of the others

So what angst am I talking about today? Simple!

Y’all know how Blake leaving Yang was a breaking point for Yang

Or that Pyrrha’s death was a major breaking point for Jaune

Y’all ever noticed how Weiss misunderstanding Ruby or that Weiss lack of support in V9… was what truly broke Ruby/caused the dam to break for Ruby?

What do I mean by this?

Well

Let’s begin by talking about the possible misunderstanding that happened with Weiss in V9 ep 2

Specifically the moment where Weiss talks to Ruby and both opens up to Ruby about her own doubts and tries to get Ruby to open up to her towards the end

Then two Things happen here

1. Weiss, upon failing to get Ruby to fully open up and talk to her, most likely feels sad/guilty that unlike all the times Ruby has managed to be there for Weiss, Weiss isn’t able to be there for Ruby/get Ruby to open up and provide her comfort

And

Now for the misunderstanding

2. Weiss most likely believes that Ruby is asking/wanting to be left alone right now, given time and space so that she can process and figure out her emotions before she opens up and talks to everyone

Now, how does this lead up to Weiss being the one to cause Ruby’s breaking point/cause Ruby’s dam to finally break open?

Simple, a mix of another misunderstanding and self blame

Throughout the course of Volume 9

Ruby is going through a ton of sorrow and pain… but also, through some interactions/moments with Weiss

A great deal of self blame

Most likely Starting with episode 2 and how Ruby most likely took Weiss words as something to blame herself for

That the loss of atlas… and their “failure” in the finale of V8 is on her… no one else

That since she was supposed to be the Leader and be the one who always puts other before herself/be “perfect”, it’s ultimately her fault everything failed

Even later, as know in episode 5, Ruby takes the words of Weiss, “leaving places in ashes”, as another thing that Ruby takes as her own fault /her failure at Being her fault, since she is supposed to be the leader… and she is the one who has led to this happening (again, “perfect” leader mindset)

Then a little later in episode 6 where Ruby sees Weiss staring at the water mirror vision of atlas falling

She blames herself once Again

For being the leader that caused them to leave a place in ashes

To leave her partner’s home… in ashes

And that now all comes to and is finished off in episode 7

Where the greatest misunderstanding by Ruby and her blaming herself comes to play

With Ruby Weiss with what she says and does in this episode

As something that leads Ruby to believe… that Weiss has broken her promise

Because Ruby is no longer a “great”/“perfect” leader

That Ruby is no longer needed anymore

And this comes from a few factors ranging from how Weiss makes a suggestion about being lead out of the EA or how Weiss went and gave comfort to Jaune but never did it for Ruby

Thus leading to that misunderstanding

But you want to know another thing?

Weiss quickly puts this together and comes to realize (most likely) that She was the one who greatly led to Ruby breakdown

Especially after she realized why Ruby felt like she couldn’t open up to anyone/talk to any of them (realizing Ruby thought she had to be a “perfect” leader)

But overall, why this is important and why this is a major moment For Ruby and Weiss relationship is because this leads/has a major set up to a moment where Ruby and Weiss relationship can greatly change

Set up to a moment where Ruby and Weiss have a major heart to heart moment and greatly reconnect to one another… come back together and Be whole once again

Either way, I hope you all enjoy this little angsty analysis and hope you all have a wonderful day/night

(Also, in the making of this analysis… I’ve made several connections and realized how big brain the writers are)

[itsclydebitches]

RWBY Recaps: Vol3E1 "Round One"

Hello, everyone, and welcome to a new collection of RWBY Recaps!!

This is a unique project in that instead of writing purely for my own entertainment, these recaps are part of the Fandom Trumps Hate auction (you can check them out here if you're interested in learning more). Specifically, these recaps are a gift for the lovely Kae who requested some meta on the earlier Volumes, or work that focused on Ozpin and/or Ironwood. I figured that Volume Three would touch on all those requests and, frankly, it's an era of RWBY that I was already interested in covering. Volume 3 was a turning point for RWBY's tone and overall mythology and I'm eager to see what I think of it in 2024, after six additional seasons and a rather chaotic overhaul.

(If anyone is reading this from the future, one of the reasons why it took me so damn long to get the first recap out is because finding official streams of RWBY has become a fool's errand as it changes ownership. Fun!)

Anyway, the game plan is simple: cover all of Volume Three at an undetermined, though hopefully steady-ish pace from here on out. Technically, the deadline for our FTH fandowrks is at the end of 2024, however, I absolutely plan to continue this series past my 5k promise. As always, this will be a RWDE-focused meta (though I'm eager to see how much nostalgia carries me through the season), so if you Don't Like; Don't Read.

Everyone got that? Great!

Now, indulge me for a moment and cast your mind back. It's October of 2015. Pizza Rat is a tumblr icon, Left Shark still reigns, and everyone is arguing over whether a dress is gold and white, or blue and black (it's the former FYI ;). Amidst such quality memes RWBY begins airing again on the 24th, presumably bringing with it another season of stellar choreography and simple, if entertaining conflict. Team RWBY has just helped contain a massive breach courtesy of Cinder's machinations, Torchewick is in Ironwood's custody, the White Fang is falling under Salem's puppeteering, Penny has revealed her android identity as well as her supposed fate to save the world, the girls are beginning to acknowledge the responsibility of their chosen career path, and the mysterious Raven has been identified as Yang's birth mother. All in all, RWBY has a lot to play with going into its third season.

It's notable then that we open peacefully. The viewer is treated to a number of environmental shots to set the scene, including one of the forest with its iconic falling Fall leaves. Ruby is positioned at the edge of a cliff with her signature rose petals drifting behind her. Stylistically it fits the scene, though from a literal standpoint it also implies that she used her semblance speed to get here. Given the momentary reveal that she's speaking to her mom, that's a rather heartwarming detail.

Sidenote: has anyone given any thought to cliffs in this series? It only occurred to me recently how often they show up, often during character milestones. Here we have Ruby talking to Summer for the first time, her (bodiless) grave situated at the end of a cliff. The Beacon initiation involves chucking the kids off a cliff and seeing how they fare, an action that is the catalyst for the group's introductions/growing dynamics. Shooting Oscar off the edge of Atlas solidifies Ironwood's turn from anti-hero to outright villain. Though I'm far from a fan of this scene, Ruby's (ridiculous) near-fall off the cliff during the fight with Cordovin preludes her (supposed) growth in leadership as she stands up to Qrow. Penny lets herself fall from Amity after sacrificing herself to get it up into the air. Then, of course, we've got the girls falling off of Ambrosius' bridge, taking them to a world where - execution aside - the intention was for them all to go through major developments: Ruby is literally reborn, Jaune experiences a lifetime of struggle, Yang and Blake finally admit their feelings, and Weiss... gets over her whole country being destroyed?

Idk, we'll have to come back to that one.

I clearly don't have a big takeaway here, just the acknowledgement that this is a visual RWBY gravitates towards. Might do a whole side meta on it some day...

Anyway, as said we realize quickly this is Summer's grave with her name carved into the headstone along with "Thus kindly I scatter." Notably, she also has her rose motif there and it's likewise prominent on Ruby's belt in this scene. Looking back, we can see how RWBY did a better job at the start of sprinkling in these significant character details before, you know, dropping them completely and then attempting a rapid-fire resurrection. Meaning, I would have bought into the emotion of Ruby giving her pendant up in Volume 9 if we'd gotten these moments consistently throughout the story's run. It wouldn't take much, just a reminder every couple of episodes to maintain the momentum. Give Ruby a scene where she explains that this rose was left by Summer before she disappeared and she's treasured it ever since. Show a flashback where we learn that it was really left behind for both girls and Yang handed it down to Ruby when she was old enough to keep track of it. Give us a minor conflict where it's lost during battle and Ruby unnecessarily endangers herself in an attempt to retrieve it (perhaps in Volume 8, setting up that the object itself is not as important as the intangible love it represents). Hell, keep it lighthearted where Yang gets Ruby something rose related at the gift shop, Nora tucks a Rose into her hair while wandering the wilderness, Qrow gives the pendant a cheeky flick while talking about how Ruby's as stubborn as her mom. My point is there are a million ways the show could have built towards that scene in Volume 9 - ways like showing us that rose on Summer's gravestone - but the show dropped the ball halfway through.

Here and now though, Ruby begins catching Summer up on everything that's happened to her since she started Beacon, which serves as a useful way to catch the viewer up too - both those who, for whatever reason, may have started RWBY with Volume 3, and those who just need a hiatus refresher.

Ruby is delightfully awkward here, a personality trait that I think becomes more forced as the series goes on. She jokes that she hasn't gotten kicked out of Beacon yet - while doing that cute little rock on her heels thing - and says that she's able to "keep [Yang] in line" by being on the same team. She follows that up with, "...that was a joke" which is just quintessential Ruby to me. Love it.

She recaps that Yang has grown a lot as a fighter since Summer left, the rest of their team is made up of Blake and Weiss, together they form Team RWBY and yes, that's as confusing as it sounds. She's stopped bad guys and met some "odd" teachers, including Ozpin.

(THAT'S MY BOY!!!)

Looking back, this is actually a fascinating couple of lines. At least, I think they have the potential to be fascinating if RT had followed a clear writing path. Ruby wonders again why Ozpin let her into Beacon early, but shrugs it off under the assumption that he'll tell her one day. "You know how he is."

Yeah, I do, Ruby. Do you?

We already knew from their initial interaction that Ruby knew who Ozpin was - she recognizes him on sight - though him posing the question implies that he never visited Patch post-her birth. At least, not recently enough for Ruby to have formed a memory of them meeting. I can only assume then that she's heard enough about him from Tai and Qrow to a) be sure of his identity (any promotional material/news about Beacon would have helped with that too) and b) believes strongly that her impression of him formed since entering Beacon aligns with what her parents presumably said about him: "You know how he is." The fact that this is in reference to Ozpin's secret keeping makes me wonder how often that came up around the dinner table. Did Tai ever express frustration, a la Ironwood, that they're clearly being kept in the dark about things? Did Qrow ever dodge the girls' questions about where he's been because he can't be honest about his spy activities, aligning Ozpin's reputation with secrecy by virtue of working for him? The casualness with which Ruby shrugs off Ozpin's secrets to Summer heavily implies that Ozpin's cagey history is both well known to the family and accepted.

Honestly, I would have loved to see this woven into Ruby's core characterization, perhaps even an extension of her "simple soul." Give me a girl who is intrinsically accepting of people, including their need to keep certain things close to the chest. Teammate deliberately kept her faunus identity under wraps? Friend hides the fact that she's an android from the whole world? Ruby accepts them. Ruby gets it. The fact that Ruby does, canonically, accept their duplicity without so much as a blink is, I think, one of the reasons why I expected her of all people to be more sympathetic towards Ozpin's hidden identity. We can argue about the girls' right to the truth via participating in this war till the cows come home, but at the end of the day Ozpin's secrets are intrinsically tied up in his family, his history, and the trauma surrounding both. Let the others get mad, prioritizing information over personal motivations (that does fit their characterizations well, with Blake perhaps being an exception), but Ruby? The show has never been willing to commit to the kind of dark story that would result in a 180 character growth - endlessly forgiving protagonist becomes jaded and cynical as she experiences The Horrors - and little moments like this one further emphasize to me that Ruby, specifically Ruby, is uniquely suited to helping Ozpin not just fight, but finally finish this war. It should never have been (just) about her talent with a scythe, or even the rarity of Silver Eyes. The Gods wanted Ozpin to unite humanity and here's a young woman who unabashedly loves everyone that the world tends to despise: secret keepers and drunk uncles and faunus and Schnees and scary androids. Ruby should have been the emotional bridge!!

Okay, I swear I'm not going to make this series a rehash of my issues with the later Volumes lol. Inevitably some things are going to crop up though.

Moving on, Ruby mentions that Tai is here too and the viewer gets to see his avatar for the first time, albeit from a distance. In keeping Summer updated on her... husband? Wait, were they married? Well, in keeping her updated on her partner, Ruby says that, "He's, you know... Dad," which, unlike the Ozpin line, is just plain funny. Sure, most of her talk is very exposition-y and absolutely functions as a soft lead-in to new content, but that's not to say a story should ever put absurd dialogue in a character's mouth simply for the sake of the viewer. That is, Ruby should never say, 'Oh, Tai is here! You know, my Dad?' because the person she's talking to, Summer, knows damn well who Tai is. Television has actually gotten better about this as a whole. Once upon a time a medical drama would have the doctor yelling, 'Her skin is turning yellow - she's jaundiced! Her liver is failing!' to ensure that the viewer understood precisely what 'jaundiced' meant, never mind how absurd it was for a professional to be shouting that among their peers. (Granted, medical dramas as a whole are absurd. I say that with love.) Despite RT's general inexperience, RWBY belongs to an era of televised storytelling where leaving certain things unsaid is par for the course.

Here, the unspoken information is what it means for Tai to be, you know, Tai. We don't really know who Tai is yet- personality-wise, I mean - so Ruby's comment functions more as a way to set up our expectations rather than to connect with us in agreement. We now expect Tai to be the kind of guy who does things to make his teenage daughter sigh and go, 'That's Dad...' and we, presumably, look forward to seeing that.

Granted, the three things we do know about Tai at this point in the story consist of:

He's a fellow Huntsmen (which is an insane job)

He let his daughter join Beacon two years early to also become a Huntress (also kinda insane but I support him)

He maintains a relationship with said daughter and daughter Sr by sending them their dog in the mail (do I really need to say it?)

Based on that I suppose we can guess as to what Tai is like lol.

He calls Ruby away so they're not late for the match and she sends a last message to Summer over her shoulder: "It was good to talk." As we transition, a murder of crows flies across the sky. Or is it an unkindness of ravens? I can barely tell in real life, let alone when they're animated blobs, but either option works well enough given the upcoming revelation about the Branwen twins.

Cutting to the arena a little time in the future, the viewer is treated to some establishing shots that, while simple, are honestly pretty cool. I believe this is our first introduction to Atlas' floating environments and showing a bit of Beacon Academy in the background helps give us a sense of scale.

This event is clearly popular, with the stadium absolutely packed with people (even more are trickling in from ferrying ships) and, to RT's credit, they did a bit of work to convey diversity in this world. We see a decent variety of skin tones as well as faunus characteristics, to say nothing of the cool designs many of the competitors will get. Beyond the main cast still being overwhelmingly white, I'd say the biggest issue here is the lack of body diversity, what with everyone having the same, stick-thin figure. Yeah, RT is clearly using the same base model copied a hundred times and I'm very aware of their previous status as a small, independent company, but such visuals nevertheless stand out in a series that's been pushing a minority plotline for three seasons.

The camera swoops down to follow Team RWBY in the midst of a battle which, again, is staged in a way that's clearly meant to catch up/invite in new viewers. It's very trailer-esque as each shot lingers on Weiss, Blake, and Yang for a moment before finishing with Ruby, complete with a twirl of Crescent Rose. This is the show visually reminding you of what it's really about. Sure, we might have started with Ruby speaking peacefully by a grave, but at the end of the day RWBY is the story of a team engaging in combat situations.

Oobleck and Port are announcing the event and Oobleck throws out his standard "Doctor" when his title goes unacknowledged.

You know, I started RWBY nearly a decade ago. Four years ago I secured a PhD, so I feel that now.

Port provides another handy info dump for those "just now joining us." AKA the viewer who has no idea what a Vytal Festival is, but this is as good an excuse as any given that people are still entering the stadium. Simply put, all the Kingdoms' huntsmen schools are competing as teams first, then as duos, then as individuals to determine the final winner who will have achieved "victory for their kingdom!" Age and year are irrelevant, which makes perfect sense given the nature of RWBY's combat. You've got young prodigies like Ruby and people who sneak into Beacon like Jaune, and though the other schools/years probably don't have as much drama going on, the variety of semblances, weapons, dust use, and personal experience really makes this anyone's game. A first year might easily beat a fourth year if they won the genetic lottery with their semblance, or a student from School A might trounce someone their age from School B, depending on how much their school has sent them into real combat situations.

Given all that, I kinda wish the Festival had developed the other Kingdoms more, given that it's the perfect opportunity for the cultures to learn from one another and/or butt heads. In a perfect world, one where RT had some sense of where their story was going, I would have loved to see:

Strong development of Vacuo's citizens, especially given that it will be the focal point of Volume 10 and possibly the end of the series (if we ever get that...).

Though the gag that Weiss excepts strict, militaristic fighters from Atlas only to get Neon is funny, that 'Don't judge a book by its cover' lesson really doesn't align well with what Volume 7 and 8 try to push. Better, perhaps, to set up Atlas' dictatorship tendencies before swinging hard in that direction (and I'll get into how what we do see doesn't make the cut).

How Remnant's racism gets displayed in a highly public competition. Do Blake and the other faunus face more discrimination now that they're in the public eye? Do asshole citizens challenge wins because no way did a faunus beat that human?

How different schools approach training their huntsmen. Specifically, everyone seems to abide by the four-person team structure, so why would this competition eventually highlight duos and individuals? It seems counter to what Beacon, and by extension all the other schools, are trying to promote. This setup would make more sense if we were shown that different schools have radically different curriculum. Maybe it's eventually 1v1 because Vacuo's individualist, survival-based culture teaches huntsmen to fend for themselves; teammates are just another liability. Maybe Atlas, being militaristic, prizes safety in numbers and has students train in groups of six rather than four. Maybe Mistral is incredibly semblance-focused (a way to develop Neptune's phobia rather than just making it a gag; a fighter who can't or won't use their semblance is considered effectively useless) and if you can negate that aspect of their style somehow, you find they're lacking severely in weapon-based combat.

Again, I know that RWBY, particularly early RWBY, only had so much time per episode, but looking back it feels like there are a lot of missed opportunities in this world-watched event. None of this is even taking into account Cinder sneaking into the school, or Penny being outed as an android. If any RWBY rewriters are reading this, the Festival is a potential goldmine of characterization and cultural development. If you're going to write random RWBY books, write some about that!

One moment of cultural significance that is shown though is the Atlas security hovering around the arena. They mostly keep to the background, without any single appearance being obtrusive (yet). This is one of those moments where (some) fans look back and say, "See? Ironwood was always a controlling, military-obsessed bastard," but the reality is that this is incredibly tame by real world standards, to say nothing of the realities of RWBY's fantasy world. Regardless of how you feel about the, uh... motivations behind the security in your country (because that's a whole other conversation), you expect there to be some level of professional oversight when that many people are meeting in one place. That's a reality we have to work with, which includes all the potential pitfalls, biases, manipulations, and accidents that come with any large-scale endeavor. Toss in the fact that RWBY's security is designed to defend against man-eating monsters and I'm honestly surprised it isn't presented as dystopian here. Meaning, we easily could have been given a story where people are comparatively safe from grimm in modern day Remnant and the security functions primarily as outside control and/or a fear-mongering tactic. It's not that security is inherently unnecessary, but those walls have done a damn good job for the last generation or so, so why is James so insistent on populating this festival with his probably not-needed robots? Seems sus 🤔.

As it stands, grimm DO attack people on the regular (that was kind of a big part of last Volume's finale), security IS necessary (according to many other council professionals once James raises the issue), and it's arguably MORE necessary now - during the festival - because there are so many potentially negative emotions just waiting to crop up. Instead of "Seems sus," the reaction to having defensive robots around is more, "No duh." At the very least RWBY might have had the characters react to the security with suspicion/fear, even if that doesn't totally track with the rest of the worldbuilding, or better yet, demonstrate that there are major issues with AI leading the charge (robot mistakes kid in grimm mask for real grimm and fires a shot!). Granted, we get that through the hacking at the very end of the Volume, but here and now the Atlas ships seem to be used primarily for transporting viewers, the crowd is fully at ease with these guys, and — as we'll see later — the prospect of additional security in the form of AI is greeted with enthusiasm, not wariness, simply because it will keep real, breathing people off the front lines. Those are all important things to keep in mind when you consider whether a) The show took a very sharp turn in Volumes 7-8 or b) The show capitalized on a long established, slow burn plotline.

(Psst the answer is 'B')

ANYWAY, Oobleck is yelling about the "Spectacular spectacles on which to speculate on!" and I love him all the more. While he and Port narrate we get some non-animated shots of people viewing the Festival from around the world, though frankly it doesn't do much to help RWBY's worldbuilding. Some people watch the fights from a camper outside, others are in a minimalist apartment, still others are in what's basically a bar... if you're looking for intriguing backgrounds to drum up interest in the world outside of Beacon, you're not going to find it here. The presence of various faunus individuals is really the only thing that distinguishes these settings from a show based in the real world.

Onto the fighting! (It's about time :p) The girls are facing off against Team ABRN (pronounced "Auburn") from Haven and they're decent for a couple of one-off characters. I like the design of the girl with the skateboard - Reese - and how her weapon, the board itself, gives her a lot of flexibility in battle. Since it functions as a hoverboard she has a lot of maneuverability, she can use the board as a shield, a projectile, adapt its abilities via Dust, and - of course - she can pull both sides apart to duel wield the guns. Looking at all that flexibility, it is a little lame that she 'loses' that particular encounter with Blake by slipping on the ice, but then we're not really supposed to care about these characters. They exist solely to get us hyped for the battles to come and give a quick primer on how those battles will work. AKA, now we've learned that the battlefield itself has hazards the girls must circumvent.

Blake is cute here though. She's so concerned and I'm like yeah, girl, that looked like it hurt 😬

This whole exchange has that same vibe: one of casual playfulness, which makes perfect sense given that this is supposed to be a fun competition. They're exhibition matches, not real attempts to take the other team out (which is why Yang's supposed act later in the tournament will be seen as so heinous). The guy with the pink hair (Nadir) full on pouts when Ruby successfully traps him in a block of ice and, of course, we have the classic "Got your back!"/"My BFF!" lines in response. The girls are enjoying themselves and that's so damn wholesome to see after all the tragedies - plot and writing-wise - of the later Volumes.

Team ABRN are able to make a bit of a comeback and - *gasp* - the girls have to actually think creatively/combine techniques in order to get the upper-hand. Blake successfully tricks Reese with a clone and catches her in the midriff with a quickly timed ribbon, cleanly knocking her out of the ring. It's here that we learn a team member can be eliminated via leaving the bounds, or having their aura dip too low (remember when that was a thing?) I know I just said there's teamwork, and there absolutely is here, but it did stand out to me how Blake just like... disappears after this moment? I mean she comes back, but it's clear RT wanted each girl to have her moment in this battle, despite the fact that any member who successfully defeated their opponent would be rushing off to help the others. That should be a near defining win condition - defeat one opponent and suddenly it's a 2 vs 1 situation for someone else - but that expectation falls by the wayside until the fight's final moments.

It's a good fight though. Not the greatest by RWBY standards, but it was no hardship to rewatch for this recap either. Weiss pulls out an epic ice hand that ensnares two of the members, now rolling chaotically across the arena, and clearly she thinks this is the end of the fight. However, Arslan — the monk-type who favors hand-to-hand combat (or the one with the "Eastern martial arts influence" according to the RWBY wiki...)— simply rolls her eyes, plants her feet, and shatters the ball with a single hit. Gotta admit, it's pretty cool.

Of course, Team RWBY still comes out victorious in the end. With all of Team ABRN now in one place, the girls have one of those lovely mind-reading moments and pull off a coordinated attack, allowing Yang to sucker-punch them all out of the ring. Again, it's nice to see that kind of teamwork, as well as the adorable way they all stand there, mildly shocked that they won.

I'll take that over the brazen, cocky confidence they've gained any day.

The only thing I'm kinda iffy about regarding this fight is how Team ABRN feels a little less like a full-fledged team to me, and more like a faint Team RWBY echo. It's most noticeable in the Yang vs. Arslan sections where you've got two yellow-coded, hand-to-hand snarkers facing off. Blake and Reese both feel like the cool, alternative style members of their teams, and then you've got the Weiss-Ruby duo trying to overtake the Bolin-Nadir duo. It's admittedly a subtle familiarity that lessens with each example, but it stood out to me in the re-watch; like Team ABRN only exists to give Team RWBY someone vaguely similar to overcome. Which, granted, they do. These are not characters we're going to follow as the series progresses, so in most respects they've done precisely what they needed to do and in a way that looks cool and feels entertaining. So this isn't a criticism, really. More an acknowledgment that RWBY is a series with limits and if we want to know more about these characters/flesh them out beyond their paralleling characteristics, we'll have to do that ourselves in the fanfic.

As Ruby jumps into the air in a victory celebration, we PowerPoint slide cut to the festival later that day where she nearly collapses, asking if anyone else is starving.

Yeah, child. You just made it through a physically intensive battle in front of an audience while existing as a teenager. Of course you're hungry. Blake's stomach gives a giant, embarrassing growl in response and Weiss sarcastically bemoans the fact that there's nowhere to eat at the food-focused festival. Good times, good times.

Ruby: "It's okay, Weiss. I forget about the fair grounds too."

Before they can grab lunch though Weiss declines a call from her father and an old 'acquaintance' suddenly shows up.

Emerald.

You know, kudos to Katie here because Emerald's laugh and, "Good to see you, Ruby" sounds so fake to me now. It just oozes, 'I secretly hate you but am pulling out all my acting skills to convince you otherwise' energy. Obviously RWBY has a host of villains/antagonists that have done a plethora of heinous things, but there's something particularly skin-crawling to me about seeing Emerald in retrospect. Part of it is the deception. I don't know about anyone else, but I personally would prefer a villain who's upfront about their nature from the get-go, rather than one who pretends to be my friend before stabbing me in the back. The first scenario just lacks the same emotional punch, you know? Though the other part of it is, of course, knowing where everyone ends up. Beacon will fall. Ozpin will "die." Pyrrha will actually die, and our heroes will be sent out into a war they're in no way ready for. Yes, Salem is our ultimate Big Bad, yes Emerald has her sympathetic moments and does a heel-turn into "good guy" territory four Volumes from now... but I think the fandom often forgets that she willingly and actively participated in this horror show. This isn't someone just along for the ride because their crush manipulated them, this is someone with a working brain between their ears who has PLENTY of time to consider the ramifications of this and still went, "Yeah, I'll lie my way into orchestrating a massacre."

All this hindsight angst is interrupted by the joke (and I use that term with great reservation) that Ruby must have dropped her wallet because "Girl pockets are the worst!" Sorry, but that has such cis-guy-trying-to-relate-to-women-and-failing-miserably energy to me. Like yeah, I also hate the super small/outright fake pockets that they often sew into women's clothing and I too have smiled at women promoting pockets as part of their independent brands... but somehow hearing the RWBY writers reference it just doesn't land. It's not #problematic, just cringy.

Emerald butters them up a bit by complimenting their fighting and Weiss notes that they haven't seen Emerald's teammates in action yet. We cut to their battle where they dominate the other team, complete with a disguised Neo showing her real eye color before she knocks the competitor out. "[They did] really well," says Emerald in the fakest humble tone ever heard.

Ruby invites them all to lunch and Emerald - clearly horrified by the prospect - dodges by claiming that her teammates are too socially awkward for a meetup. In her defense, Mercury is in the process of randomly sniffing a boot, so although this is absolutely just an excuse, she's also not wrong. Like, at all lol.

Fishing for more info, Emerald asks who's moving onto the doubles round and it turns out that Team RWBY voted for Weiss and Yang. There are three things that I love about this moment:

They voted. Yes, Ruby cheekily tries to make it sound like this is all coming from her genius as team leader, but at the end of the day they decided as a team who would represent them. It's a small detail, but those stand out so much more now that we have Ruby vocally and angrily calling the shots.

(This is a ridiculous side-note I'm 99.9% sure I've mentioned before, but every time I talk about Ruby's intense form of "leadership" in the latter Volumes, I'm reminded of Rick's, "This is not a democracy!" in The Walking Dead. If you know, you know.)

They chose Weiss and Yang. From both an in-world and meta perspective, it's actually a little surprising that Ruby isn't representing them. As established, she's team leader. The team is named after her. She's the protagonist of the show. She's also, canonically, a prodigy wielding an insanely deadly weapon. Yet it's refreshing as a viewer to have a new duo taking the spotlight and within the story-world this choice reinforces Point #1: They're a team and no matter how individually talented any one member may be - or even what titles they hold - they are, at the end of the day, all on equal footing. Why shouldn't Yang and Weiss represent?

The way they both respond to this reveal is dang cute. Weiss' "I will happily represent Team RWBY" while curtseying to Emerald vs. Yang's "Yeah! We're gonna kick some butt!" while slamming her fists together. It's a great contrast and shows why these two might have been chosen. Though powerful on their own, their styles and personality are different enough to compensate for any flaws.

With all that out of the way Emerald rejoins Mercury and her smile immediately drops. She's disgusted at having to get all buddy-buddy with them, but "Orders are orders." She has this classic villain moment where she expresses shock over how they're just so happy all the time and I'm like oh, honey. Darling. Morally misaligned baby girl. Just give it a few Volumes.

We cut to Team RWBY at lunch and aRE THE BOWLS SUPPOSED TO BE THAT BIG?

I recalled that they were big as a visual gag, but not half the girls' size. Honestly? Great choice. I too want to live in a world where you can get insanely giant noodles a millisecond after you order them.

Deviating from the others, Blake nods at the seller dude and receives an equally giant bowl filled with fish. You know, I really wish RWBY had done something with the faunus' animal traits rather than turning them into an endless joke. The concept of a god merging humans with literal animals and then, generations down the line, cat-people being influenced by cat instincts as well as human instincts (because remember, we're animals too) is actually really interesting to me... but navigating the racial implications of that takes a level of nuance that RWBY was never interested in exploring. So we're just left with a Blake who is fish obsessed and chases laser pointers and hates dogs and we're supposed to laugh at all that, rather than buying into her teachings that many people use these traits to dehumanize the faunus.

Anyway, Weiss shows off a bit and pays for all their food. At least, she tries to. Turns out her card has been declined, which is more than a little confusing to her given that she was "barely into [her] monthly allowance." Hmm, could that possibly have anything to do with her ignoring her father's phone calls? Surely no one knows.

Luckily, Pyrrha shows up and offers to pay instead (it's nice having a famous BFF, huh?), but like... what were the girls' initial plans? None of them were expecting Weiss to pay, yet they act like Pyrrha is saving the day by showing up, implying that they don't have the money to cover their meal. The shop guy even takes Blake's fish away, leaving her despondent. So what? Were they planning to eat and just worry about the bill later? Actually, that sounds exactly like something these chaotic preteens would do lol. Yang especially. She was introduced while "buying" a drink before destroying the whole dang bar.

Speaking of teenagers, they all finish their bowls with the kind of appetite only seen in 14-71yos. Although, it was a near thing for Jaune. He's very close to barfing (callback!) and Nora encourages him to "aim it at the enemy!"

She continues ragging on him for a bit, failing to come up with any compliments while hyping up her team. Pyrrha is a world-renowned fighter, Ren is basically a ninja, she can bench five of herself, and Jaune is... Jaune. Nora also doesn't include him in her secondary list which implies that Jaune a) hasn't trained as much (or, more realistically, hasn't gotten as much out of it) as the others, b) doesn't possess an "awesome" weapon, and c) is still frequently yelled at by Glynda.

Poor Jaune. I don't say that very often anymore, but he's going through it here lol.

All of this leads to Nora spiraling at the possibility of them losing. This includes the oh-so-causal drop that she and Ren "have no parents and no home left to go to" which is a HELL of a thing to throw out in a comedically framed breakdown. I mean, being orphans is sad enough, but "no home left to go to" won't be explained until we learn that their town was basically wiped off the map, so damn.

Team RWBY reassures them that a fight with actual rules is nothing compared to what they've already been through. You know, the murderers, extremists, and sociopaths. "Oh," gushes Ruby, "imagine what it'll be like when we graduate!"

As Port and Oobleck call Team JNPR to the arena for their match we cut to Emerald and Mercury settling in to enjoy the festivities. In retrospect, this right here is a really nicely composed shot:

It tells us that Emerald is serious about going through with this destruction (again, she's no manipulated damsel), but she's not getting the same personal enjoyment out of it like Mercury is, as showcased by the smirk. The focus remains on them with Team RWBY framed in between. This is the villains' Volume. They're going to win. Our eyes follow the soon-to-be champions not of the festival, but the battle, while our heroes are literally and metaphorically trapped between them. Finally, Yang is the only one who looks back. We won't know this for several episodes, but she's at the heart of their plan and has every reason to cast the almost-but-not-quite-worried glance over her shoulder. Subtle foreshadowing, how I love thee.

It's shit like this that makes my brain go, "It used to be good! RWBY used to be fun AND occasionally insightful! Those overworked animators were uplifting a mediocre story and the result was good!!!"

As they take their seats who should show up but Cinder, casually using her semblance to pop a kernel of popcorn (power move). "Even if you know how a story ends," she says, "that doesn't make it any less fun to watch." True that! I mean, she's talking about knowing that Team JNPR will be moving on because they need Pyrrha to murder Penny, but I agree with the sentiment outside of that context.

Actually, do they ever explain how they manipulated the fights? I mean, they obviously entered and are winning their own battles and we know that Mercury will be staging his injury with Yang... but here Cinder makes it sound like she's pulling strings in every match. Toss that onto the list of development I would have liked for this Volume: what precisely are they doing behind the scenes? I'll have to pay careful attention going forward to make sure I don't miss anything because right now all I can recall is them looking at Penny's blueprints (presumably obtained via Watts).

Team JNPR's area is randomized into a forest and mountainous land before the battle commences. We end on that cliffhanger, complete with the superhero-esque freeze shot.

And that concludes the first episode of Volume 3! As well as my first recap in a long while. If you've followed me at all you'll know that work has been my personal Big Bad the last two-ish years. Given the scope of my responsibilities and the energy they extract, I simply don't have the time or means to write the way I used to. However, I feel like if I can muster up the willpower to finish this on tonight of all nights (people reading from the future: check the posting date and you'll understand), then I must be getting a little better at carving out writing time in my hectic schedule. All hail self-improvement!

On that positive note, everyone have a wonderful night. Or at least try to. Seriously. Text a loved one, treat yourself to a favored snack, do something that feels fulfilling. Take some deep breaths and I'll see you for the next one.

~Clyde❤️

[rachetmath]

Jaune: *pacing back and forth*

Writer: *scared* Um.

Jaune: Let me ask you something. Do you get off on me suffering?

Writer: What? No. No. No, we don’t.

Jaune: Really? S-so—so w-w-why have me kill Penny? Like I really could have saved her. I really could have healed her. Like what are we doing? But no, I listened to a girl who had a human body for the first time and was having a dying experience which she probably wasn’t thinking straight.

Writer: …. ….

Jaune: Then I don’t even mention her and Ruby was going through it, acting like she killed her.

Writer: I mean she technically did kill her.

Jaune: Why didn’t you let Ruby do it then? Why did I have to go through all that crap?

Writer: Jaune your a knight.

Jaune: I also had a rabbit hoody. Plus didn’t Ruby pick a knight piece? She is TECHNICALLY a knight. You all could have had me as the late bunny.

Writer: How does that fit into your character?

Jaune: Hm. Beacon wasn’t I late to save Pyrrha? Mistral, wasn’t I think irrationally to where Weiss almost died. Argus, I was close to getting my friends killed because I was lack of leadership skills.

Writer: …. ….

Jaune: The heir always arrives late because he neglects his responsibility and doesn’t do his job. Haven’t I been neglecting some of my duties to almost where no one has complete faith in me?

Writer: …. …

Jaune: Plus, again, Ruby has silver eyes. She could have been training with those and her scythe skills. You can also determine what age you want her to be.

Writer: Okay Jaune chill. We just thought it was best for your character.

Jaune: So having me go back in time. I was stuck in the Ever After for years and couldn’t find a home until RWBY was there. Letting me get poisoned by Alyx. And getting no kind of skill set was good. Isn’t my character all about growth and change? So why does it feel like I haven’t changed? I’m back to square one again.

Writer: Yeah…

Jaune: y'all come on. First, you had Tyrian having some interest in me which might as well be a prison joke right now. Then you had Vine say something about extending my aura which is irrelevant considering y'all wanted Ren to have attention. Y'all had Harriet grieving over Clover which I could have been related to her on, you know, because I lost Pyrrha. And I let Emerald join my team because Oscar says so. There was a lot of shit I could have done. But no, killing Penny was important.

Writer: …

Jaune: Ya’ll had Ruby and Salem in the same kingdom, Salem drops the Summer bomb, and instead of having Ruby figure that shit out by seeing her you had her sidelined.

Writer: She was protecting Nora and Penny.

Jaune: She could have left and gone help in the war. Silver-eyed warrior timing and left Weiss in charge. Don't give me that shit.

Writer: Okay but -

Jaune: Back to what's important, why was James her highest priority over Salem? I mean at least he was protecting his citizens. Salem was trying to kill everybody. How was she not Ruby's target? Why didn't you leave James to me? That would have hyped up Penny’s death way better if you wanted me to kill her!

Writer: You wouldn't stand a chance against James?

Jaune: I almost outsmarted the Atlas military with my plan.

Writer: James is stronger and smarter than you. You are no fighter

Jaune: Exactly fighting for me is the last resort. I am a strategist! Not an all-out fighter! My job is to adapt to situations and operate within the chaos!

Writer: … I mean-

Jaune: I also have emotional intelligence. And I’m not stupid. Are you telling me I wouldn't see through or question some of James’s actions if given a chance?

Writer: Well Ruby was trapped in an electric barrier.

Jaune: Gravity shield. So Nora didn't need to be absent in the fight.

Writer: Shit.

Jaune: Let's go to the Ever After.

Writer: Come on man. If it wasn't for you team RWBY wouldn't have made it out. Also, you were going through the worst.

Jaune: F team Rwby.

Writer: What could you have done better than Ruby?

Jaune: The same shit but better. I would have traded my armor for Yang’s arm. My sword for an audience with the Red King. Pyrrha scarf for the antidote. All are a part of my identity. Not to mention while having my friend's gun on me which she rejected after keeping it safe and not destroying it.

Writer: …

Jaune: Alyx’s dagger, I could have used it by probably seeing her memories and figuring out what happened to her and how to get home. And, mainly, as a means of self-defense.

Writer: But Yang, Blake, and Weiss-

Jaune: Speaking of them why did they prioritize me over Ruby? And why did Ruby need help from a god when her issues were minor compared to mine? I mean even if she spent years alone, talking with her team would have been enough for her. And probably for the best considering Ruby is her team's sister, friend, and leader.

Writer: … …

Jaune: Like seriously, I was messed up mentally. Penny whose death I might as well be keeping a secret, from everybody. I mean if you killed one of your allies to save the world, wouldn’t you feel morally messed up? Meanwhile, my team was nowhere on site. I don't know Weiss, Blake, and Yang like that, so opening up to either of them would have been a challenge. Especially Ruby. Not to forget but my friends were in a whole different kingdom by themselves and I don't know what happened to them. They could've been dead for all I knew. So my worries would have been expeditiously high!

Writer: Oh God.

Jaune: And since we are on Penny, what happened to her body?!

Writer: … … We don't need to discuss that.

Jaune: Funny, because of the way the Jabberwocky was looking at Ruby I can make a guess what happened to her.

Writer: Please don't.

Jaune: Then we have the Cat, my enemy and opposite to my personality., He manipulates my friends and controls them like puppets. Neo would have had a field day with me too. After all, Pyrrha died because I couldn't stop her. Penny died because I had zero options to save her. Ozpin died because I failed to do my job. Ironwood died because of me and Ruby. And Harriet told me about Clover so I know he’s dead.

Writer: …

Jaune: And after all that bullshit you just gave us nothing. No new looks. Now new weapons I could have used. We might as well have been through a filler arc. Oh, and you know what, you could have finally given me a backstory. Something that finally ties my character together.

Writer: *tears falling* Jaune, please.

Jaune: *weapon drawn* You f*** with me for the last time. Now. DIE!

Chopper, Steven, and Orihime: No!

Orihime: Shoten kessun I reject.

Writer: *protected*

Chopper: *Goes Arm point and restrains Jaune*

Steven: *Traps them both in a bubble*

Windy: Jaune please calm down.

Jaune: Nah I'm killing them. They got me f*** up.

Steven: We’re really going to need therapy for you buddy.

Jaune: I don't need therapy, I want them dead.

Sakura: Chopper.

Chopper: Come, buddy. They are not worth it.

Jaune: Let me at least punch them.*screams in rage*

Sakura: *stares at the new staff*

Viz media writer: …

Sakura: Look just go easy on him. Please? Just let him be useful in other areas. Don't give him more trauma.

Viz media writer: You must know how he feels.

Sakura: Yes. Yes, I do.

Steven: And so do I.

[anthurak]

Imagine how perfect it would be if it turns out that Salem is actually COUNTING ON the heroes killing Cinder out of revenge?

As in, Salem has a failsafe in place to ensure that if Cinder dies, she can still recover the Maiden powers from her. Perhaps Salem has a small grimm (similar to what Cinder used to extract the powers from Amber) imbedded deep inside Cinder, or some form of mental conditioning to ensure that if Cinder dies, the Maiden powers WILL go where Salem wants them to. Either to Salem herself or perhaps one of her other hybrids or perhaps even a specialized grimm Salem has modified to specifically serve as a storage-device for the Maiden powers until Salem can find a new holder for them*.

Meaning that when Cinder just can’t resist her raging hate-boner for not-actually-dead Ruby and sneaks/tears off to Vacuo against Salem’s orders to murderify her once and for all, Salem isn’t actually worried.

First Salem decides that Cinder has finally lost her ‘free will’ privileges and triggers the ‘assuming direct control’ protocols of Cinder’s grimm implants/prosthetics, causing Cinder to forcibly undergo a horrific and painful transformation into a full grimm hybrid just as she’s about to fight Team RWBY. Complete with Salem giving a terrified Cinder a classic ‘you have outlived your usefulness’ telepathic speech.

At this point, Salem can see only two possible outcomes to this charade: Either Grimm!Cinder is able to survive her rampage and make it back to her, now an entirely obedient slave. Or she’s killed by Team RWBY and co, in which case Salem can still get the Maiden powers back and find a new host, making this far more of an inconvenience than a true setback. And with any luck, perhaps Cinder’s rampage will manage to do some serious damage, maybe kill off a few of Salem’s more prominent enemies.

Even when Ruby is able to hit Grimm!Cinder with a full-power Silver Eye blast that manages to obliterate the vast majority of her grimm-attachments, even if she’s lost direct contact, Salem still isn’t worried.

After all, there’s no way the heroes will be able to resist killing the girl who has done so much to hurt them and take so many of their friends from them.

But then Ruby does the ONE thing Salem wasn’t counting on.

She shows Cinder MERCY.

Instead of simply being killed, Cinder is captured. And is therefore removed from Salem’s influence and given the opening to be shown genuine sympathy, positivity and kindness for what may be the first time in her life.

At the very least, from Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang, who have already seen first-hand the horrors of Salem’s grimm-experiments back in Atlas. And in Ruby’s and Yang’s case, are almost certainly grappling with the looming possibility that their mother was subjected to similar horrors.

And thus, through acts of mercy and kindness, Team RWBY is able to completely blindside Salem, removing one of her most vital agents from her control, and ultimately turning her AGAINST Salem.

Salem has always counted on her enemies showing cynicism, ‘pragmatism’ and cruelty.

But her enemies showing optimism, idealism and KINDNESS?

THOSE are the things Salem ISN’T expecting.

Not to mention it would play PERFECTLY into the themes of ‘Choice’ that have always surrounded Cinder: By chasing after Ruby to Vacuo, Cinder; the girl who has spent her entire life being denied a ‘choice’ by those in power above her, is finally MAKING a choice. And after spending the entire show dancing obediently on Salem’s strings, Cinder is defying Salem. And through this choice to defy, Cinder inadvertently puts herself in the position to be finally FREED of Salem’s control.

All because of Ruby.

Oh, and also the reactions of all of the people who have spent years now baying for Cinder’s blood would be fucking hilarious XD I mean just imagine the show pointing directly at everyone clamoring for Jaune or Ruby to ‘take revenge’ and how Cinder ‘totally deserves to die’ and effectively saying “Yeah, so the villain was actually counting on the heroes to do EXACTLY THAT.”

--

*And if anyone is going to say something like ‘grimm can’t use maiden powers’, let me reiterate that it is to STORE the powers. Let’s not forget that we have seen grimm being used as a conduit for Maiden powers when Cinder stole part of Amber power and later tried to steal power from Raven and Penny. So it stands to reason that grimm could also be used to store the power as well. Which all frankly makes perfect sense when we consider that both the grimm and the magic of the maidens ultimately come from the same source: The God of Darkness (remember when he called magic “My gift to them”?)

[matt0044]

I never liked the “cast bloat” argument or that Team RWBY don’t feel like protagonists.

Now in fairness to the first one, RWBY isn’t the only fantasy series with loads of characters that seem snuggly packed in. Many writing teams or authors want to show off facets of their world via characters born of various fantastical cultures. Y’know? Show and not tell what their world is.

But shows like RWBY can’t all be Shonen Manga designed to go on for as long as possible or at least as long as editorial wants. Especially in the age of eight episode seasons. That said, even if it’s a glimpse, I always appreciate when the world of Remnant does not stop nor end at four girls still figuring themselves out.

With Hunter X Hunter, Gon may be the face of the series with Killua as his number two but you also have Kurapika take center stage in their individual arcs like Yorknew or Leoreo sharing one with Killua in the Election arc. And even then, we will have other perspectives in any given arc.

The Chimera Ants may be the antagonists in a very fan favorite arc but they’re borderline protagonists of their own stories. Hell, Gon doesn’t even face off with the big bad but rather one he has a personal score to settle with. Instead a bunch of old mentor type characters take out the Chimera King.

RWBY clearly learned from Shonen Anime that the world doesn’t have to stop or end at the main character. After Dragon Ball, titles inspired by it afforded other characters to have their own time in the limelight rather than be purely foils for the main character.

Raven vs Cinder is relevant to them because they are important characters even if none of the titular characters are there to witness it. Furthermore, Cinder as a Maiden is connected to Ruby, Winter to Weiss, Yang to Raven, I bet the Summer Maiden will be close to Blake.

Basically, this choice keeps the world from shrinking and feel big, lived in.

And it’s hardly unique in this regard as Trixie The Golden Witch explains in her video: Is There Meaning In "Subverting" Shounen Tropes?

To argue against Team RWBY supposedly not feeling like protagonists, sometimes titular characters can feel too much like protagonists. I have been rereading Harry Potter to sort out my feelings regarding Rowling crowning herself TERF Queen. To keep it relevant, I have found the Harry only perspective both effective and limiting.

It’s effective at making the dramatic parts hit us hard as if we were in Harry’s shoes buuuuut it can feel limiting when there’s a whole school of magic with students of all sorts to get to know. It feels like there were potential side stories that could flesh out Hogwarts.

A similar criticism is often lobbed at Steven Universe. Effective but often limiting.

So… I prefer a cast bloat to there being no other characters for Team RWBY to bounce off of whether the budget calls for it or not. They call them character foils for a reason.

Circling back to RWBY, some characters are there for as long as they need to so they make the most of things to make an impression. If not, discourse would become how flat they are.

The Ace-Ops inform us of how huntsmen as basically super cops in Atlas, building up to Ironwood’s downfall. The Afterans inform us of the eccentricities of the Ever After.

Hell, who says we’ll never see them again be it in the main show or supplementary content? This provides such fertile grounds for fan content alone or future spin offs.

[soundkiller0017]

NTR RWBY (Not really)

Narrator: After Salem's defeat and the departure of Ozma our heroes are back in Beacon as students beacuse after Atlas fall the were 'tecnically' not licensed Huntress and Huntsman. So they were back in a rebuilded Beacon who was directed by Headmaster Qrow Braween (Glynda Goodwitch retire after the war ended.). Now in Beacons courtyard we can see the 4 year student Cardin Winchester who still thinks that Beacon was still the same from his 1 first year (he is wrong)

Cardin: Why does Arc, Pine, Ren, Wukong and Xiao Long have hot girlfriends and I the most cool and handsome student dosen't have nothing (he is coping)

Narrator: You see dear viewer, Cardin was obssed with a tag in his +18 content that was call NTR, so he thinks that he can steal and humilated a pearson, beacuse he thinks NTR is cool.

Cardins mind:

Ruby: Oh! Cardin, you are so sexy and hung! I will leave Oscar just to be with you!

Weiss: Same here! Cardin! You are more stronger and hung that the limp dick Jaune has!

Nora: Renny dosen't have the masculinity you have Cardin!

Velvet: I'm just a cum bucket for you master! Sun is a useless animal!

Blake and Yang: Master please! Please make us love dick again

Back to reality:

Cardin: Hahaha! Now all Beacon will see who is the real Giga Chad alpha male stud king of harems!

Narrator: Now with that 'boost' of motivation Cardin decide to 'steal away' the most beatifull women in Beacon

1st attemp: Ruby Rose

Cardin: Hey there sexy Rose!

Ruby visible cringening to the nickname: Hello Cardin. How are you?

Cardin: I'm good. But I heard that Pines is not plesurering you and he is nothing more than a loser femboy farmboy. So how about if I help you *tries to grab her butt* with tha-

Ruby who now is piss: HELL NO!! *grabs Cardin arm and throw him to the neares trashcan* NOBODY TALKS TRASH OF MY PRINCES!!! *goes to look for Oscar*

Cardin: *groans in pain*

2st Attemp: Weiss Schenne

Cardin: Hey Ice Queen!

Weiss not even looking at him and waiting for Jaune to both go to a date: Hello Winchester.

Cardin: I heard that Jauney Boy is not given you atten- *is converted in to a frozen statue*

Weiss: Yeah I know what follows Cardin. And no, I'm not interested in cheating or being close to you. And now that you excuse me, I must go to a date with me boyfriend *goes to where Jaune is waiting*

3th attempt: Nora Valkyrie

Cardin: Hey Valk- *Is hited by Magnhild in the balls*

Nora: NORA SCORES!!!

4th Attemp: Velvet Scarletina

Cardin: Hey there Slut Bunny!

Sun who was nearby: WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU CALLED MY GRILFRIEND BICHESTER!!!??

Cardin shakeking in fear: Nothing Wuko- *is attacked by Velvet with a copy of Crocea Mors*

Velvet: *ALOT of Austrilian insults and slurs* AND GET OUT!!! *grabs Sun abs and start making out with Sun*

5th and final attempt: Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao Long

Cardin: Hey there bitches!

Blake and Yang who both are furriosly making out not even looking to Cardin: *Both punch Cardin to the orbit*

Later in the hospital

Narrator: And thus Cardin ended in the hospital for all his injuries. What was the moral of the story?

Cardin: Beacon woman are crazy?

Narrator: No you idiot! Is to not act like life is a fucking porno and you are the guy who NTR the MC you dumb fuck!

(Acclarations: I don't hate Cardin, is just that I hate when the use him for NTR, so I decide to create this post with the idea of what would really happend if NTR!Cardin try to steal away women in Beacon and failed misserable)

[the-path-to-redemption]

You know after looking back on the show. I refuse to believe that WF just disbanded after Adam defeat because you know who would've finish Adam work and rebuild WF?

The WF lieutenant that was always by Adam side.

If you go back to Vol 2 episode 11. He says these words at the beginning of his fight with Weiss.

"Finally, I get to kill a Schnee..."

And what did we find out about the Schnee treatment with faunus? Oh yeah slave labor and imprisonment for mine for dust. That means he could've been a slave like Adam and why he trust him so much.

Even Rwby: Atmity Arena quotes this about the lieutenant.

"As Adam Taurus' right hand Faunus, this hulking masked figure is a capable fighter with strength, speed, and toughness beyond even his most bestial peers. He has been seen leading many of the biggest White Fang attacks in remnant with his massive chainsaw. Yet none, know what kind of Faunus he is."

You can't tell he would've rebuild WF and become leader to finish Adam work. I would've love him to see him confront Weiss and this time showing her what her family has done to Faunus. Maybe even call out Blake for keeping it a secret about what her friends father has done to Faunus and how she never tole anyone about Adam mistreatment.

Long Post Ahead

Goddamn, I miss Banesaw so much.

He's such a cool looking design, and honestly, yeah I wholeheartedly agree with you on him being the next leader after Adam. Or just him continuing to exist within the Faunus narrative after Adam's death, because he's always been shown to be dutiful in his loyalty to Adam/the WF. Hell, he was the one who proposed to go after Blake after she deserted, and they had that confrontation on the train car during "No Brakes". Banesaw knew Blake, maybe her parents too, and it's a shame that he just disappear after Beacon when he's also a vessel for the nuances in the Faunus story line.

That Amity Arena card is just *chef's kiss*. Look at the supplementary continuing to add onto the show instead of said show doing it themselves and forcing fans to participate in as many products as possible. Not predatory and lazy at all /s.

And yes, Bane's card info was a great look into who he is as a character. His Faunus type being a mystery is also a great chance to look into Remnant as a whole, because it opens so many doors to the previously mentioned nuances. Does the mystery around his trait a result of oppression because his oppressor doesn't care about him at all to even distinct him from the other Faunus, and to them the only thing that matters from Bane was his physical feats? Or does Bane hide his trait to lessen day-to-day racial aggression and it's an unfortunate habit that he had to develop to survive? I love Bane so much, you have no idea.

Him and Weiss is on the same vein as Adam and Weiss; the SDC takes from Faunus until there's nothing left to take, and Weiss wanted to take over the legacy (at least during Beacon Era) without even glancing at their plights because of her own prejudice that she has to work through herself. These are two exploited minorities in front of her, and they could have went somewhere with it in V7 had Bane stuck around. Though I doubt it, with the mess that is Atlas as a whole.

As for Banesaw and Blake, I can see why he wouldn't call her out for not telling Weiss about Adam's brand. That information is not within Blake's rights to tell, because it's Adam's. Adam's trauma should've been his, and that's cool with me. However, Banesaw should have called Blake out for running, for being compliant while their people are continued to be discriminated against, for not fighting and would rather burn down her fucking house to goad a bunch of Faunus to fight for a kingdom that doens't like them when they just wanted to be left alone. Banesaw should have been given the chance to call Blake out for the coward she is, even though she's seen first hand what her friend's family can do to people like them and did nothing.

[bestworstcase]

As far as your willow example goes, it’s possible she didn’t want to run the company and give it to Jacques back before she learned what’s prick he was. We aren’t really given a lot of indicators as to whether or not she has any affinity for or interest in running the SDC.

gently: no.

And so entered Jacques Gelè. Having married into the family, Jacques decided to take the Schnee name over his own. He was... a lot of words I shouldn't repeat. But most importantly, he was a cunning businessman. Jacques managed to convince Nicholas that he was the perfect man to run the SDC in his place. 

i know its trendy these days to be like “unreliable narrators show! everything the characters say is meaningless!” but the text does actually matter and there are specific techniques the narrative uses to help the viewer sort out what’s reliable information and what isn’t. the most important of those techniques are 1. conflicting perspectives from different characters (eg: like ten answers to “what does salem want?”) and 2. statements contradicted by on-screen action (eg: “summer rose telling lies! first time for everything” vs summer’s well-practiced emotional masking).

neither of those techniques, nor any of the smaller ones, are used with regard to the SDC: everything weiss says about her father and the company adds up with the narrative presented in WOR. everything we know about jacques’ behavior and about willow lines up too. there’s no reason to be skeptical of the events described in the WOR episode, which is completely unambiguous about this discussion having been between nicholas and his (future/current depending on how long the persuasion lasted) son-in-law.

if willow had been meaningfully involved she would have been mentioned at all. you don’t even need to establish what her name is, if it’s too cumbersome to introduce her properly: you’ve just explained that jacques married in to the schnee family so you just say “jacques managed to convince his wife and nicholas that he was the perfect man to run the SDC” or leave nicholas out altogether if you want to suggest that willow is the one whom he tricked. there is no reason to exclude her from this narrative if she had a say in the decision to sign over her inheritance to jacques.

given that she’s also clearly had combat training but has never at any point been described as a retired huntress, and that we know nicholas was himself a warrior who personally escorted deliveries around the world? the implication there is that willow was training to follow in her father’s footsteps before her fiancé/husband convinced nicholas to leave the company to him instead.

add on that jacques does the exact same thing to both his daughters, in weiss’ case going as far as apparently spinning it like she chose to relinquish her claim to the company willingly? (with zero repercussions, implying that whatever he did was legal and there wasn’t anything weiss could do even with ironwood’s help—remember that jacques was running an election campaign in v7, if weiss could’ve returned to atlas and gone public about her father committing fraud to force her out of the company and imprisoning her at home, she undoubtedly would have had ironwood’s full support.)

like the most charitable reading of nicholas here is that jacques straight up lied to him, or forged nicholas’ signature, but that requires willow to have basically no agency (why wouldn’t she question this? why wouldn’t she kick up a fuss if jacques literally stole her inheritance against both her and her father’s will?—we know from weiss that willow didn’t shatter until weiss was ten, the way willow is in the present isn’t reflective of who she was 25+ years ago when all this happened)

it’s a lot simpler to take the text at face value that nicholas disinherited his own daughter because his son-in-law talked him into it.

[lovingdabeessss]

Given how generally terrible atlas was in almost every regard I question somewhat how much Weiss is gonna miss it lol

Mmmmmm yeah it was pretty terrible… but she only really realized that like a year or two ago.. that’s her home and it’s completely gone

like I live somewhere that’s not great politically or has done things I’m at all proud of

But I’d miss the trees and the rocks

Shops I’d gone to the school I grew up going to

It’s not changed or better it’s g o n e

It was still a place there was a culture there it wasn’t even just atlas it was also mantle

Everything she ever knew pre rwby is just gone

That’s got to be so terrible

Like she never wanted to go back there when she left but now she doesn’t have a choice it doesn’t exist anymore that’s awful

There’s a difference in leaving your terrible home and abusive family behind vs having it buried under rubble

Sorry I know this is a joke I’m just I feel so bad for her poor baby

[aspoonofsugar]

RWBYJN And The Stages Of Grief

Volume 9 is clearly a story about grief. It opens with Ruby hearing Penny's scream and the first episode ends with our heroine discovering her friend is dead.

Not only that, but so far it seems the story is using the Stages of Grief as a motif, both when it comes to individual characters and to episodes.

THE FIVE STAGES OF GRIEF

The five stages of grief model is a psychological theory that describes the feelings of people who are grieving. Its accuracy is up to debate, but it is rather famous and often referenced in popular culture and medias.

The 5 stages of grief are:

Denial - refusal to aknowledge the truth, while clinging to a preferable reality.

Anger - lashing out on others in an attempt to channel one's pain and frustration.

Bargaining - being ready to negotiate, to give something in order to avoid loss. When death already happened, it is about exploring what ifs scenarios.

Depression - sadness, desperation and refusal to engage with others. It often comes with low energy.

Acceptance - coming to terms with one's loss and finding a new stability.

Let's see how they are used in the story.

FIVE CHARACTERS FOR FIVE STAGES

As @hamliet highlights here, the story is having the characters embody different stages. To be specific:

Ruby is depression: she is clearly sullen and has uncharacteristically low energy. She would usually be curious and enthusiastic of the Ever After, but right now she can barely smile. She just steps into a role given to her and follows a script already written.

Weiss is denial: she postpones telling her teammates the truth. Similarly, she strongly refuses the idea they are in an actual fairy tale.

Blake is acceptance: she is more stable than her teammates and is ready to come to terms with their situation and to think up a plan. She is the first one to realize where they are and quickly aknowledges it.

Yang is bargaining: she has to negotiate to get her arm back. Not only that, but is ready to accept her death if it means her teammates are safe. Finally, she accepts they are in a fairy tale, but refuses to follow its rules the same way Blake does.

Neo is anger: she lashes out against Ruby and Cinder and even transforms into them the moment she arrives in the Ever After. Moreover, her first action in this new realm is to cruelly attack the Jabber Walker (let's save them, please). She is letting her anger reshape the story they are in.

Wait, isn't there someone missing? Yes, there is. We'll get back to it, but let's now keep going and focus on the episodes we have so far. If we do, we are going to notice an interesting pattern.

GRIEF TAKING CENTRAL STAGE

So far there are only 3 episodes out, but each one explores a specific stage.

Episode 1 can be seen as a "neutral" episode that sets up Ruby's conflict through her grief. She discovers about Penny's death here, after all. However, it already deals with the stage of denial:

Weiss avoids any confrontation with her teammates until the very end

Ruby goes through the episode suspecting something is wrong, but doesn't address it until it explodes in her face

Episode 2 focuses on the stage of bargaining:

Weiss and Ruby explore what ifs scenarios while discussing Atlas and hope Winter and Jaune managed to save the relics

Yang and Ruby have both to bargain to get parts of themselves back. Not only that, but both items represent something, which got lost or even died in Penny's case

Episode 3 explores the stage of anger:

The Red Prince is dealing with the loss of his father by lashing out

Ruby ends up giving in to anger while playing the game of chess and gets in a confrontation with the royal brat

Neo appears and attacks the first creature she meets, even if they did nothing to her

So, each episode has the characters and Ruby especially go through a stage. Moreover, the person, who embodies a certain stage gets focus in relation to it. Weiss avoids the truth, Yang has to bargain, Neo lands in the Ever After.

So, does it mean Ruby is going through the 5 stages in the first 5 episodes and that's it? I doubt it. I think it is possible specific stages are gonna take more episodes to get dealt with. For example, we know the stage of denial is coming back with flying colors:

?: You seem to be carrying a rather large burden with you. Ruby: I'm fine. I can handle it.

It is possible some stages are getting 2 episodes or that as the story goes on, they are gonna get mixed, while Ruby and the others work through grief.

As for now, though, there is something rather interesting going on. So far, each episode has a character letting go and expressing their sadness by crying. However, it is only a brief moment, which is immediately followed by an affirmation of the coping mechanism at the heart of the episode.

In episode 1, Ruby passes out and the rain starts pouring. However, once she wakes up she refuses to answer Yang's question. She goes back to deny her feelings.

In episode 2, Ruby gets Penny's sword and once again a storm comes. Still, she is quick to get a hold of herself and immediately uses her friend's weapon as a bargaining chip to meet the Red Prince.

In episode 3, the Red Prince finally breaks down crying thanks to the Curious Cat. A moment later, though, he is back to give in to anger and is determined to have the protagonists beheaded.

You get the idea... it is to soon to say where this is going, but so far it's a thing.

JAUNE AND THE SIXTH STAGE

So, what about Jaune?

He has yet to appear, so it is too soon to say. Still, I can think of 2 possible theories.

The easiest one is that Ruby is going to encompass all stages, so Jaune is the real depression stage. It would make sense considering what happened to him. He might appear the moment Ruby can't ignore her sadness anymore and needs to let it out.

A more interesting idea, though, is that some models use a sixth stage, which is about finding meaning. It is a phase, where the person learns to remember their loved ones with more love than pain. Once they do they are able to move forward in a way which honors their loved ones. RWBY might have to find Jaune in the Ever After and once they do they will have their meaning and will be able to leave the realm.

Whatever the case, time will tell:

Curious Cat: Time changes, you know? And so do we when it's our time to change, don't you?

[virtueking233]

Oh wow… I said I was going to try and post here more often and tell my theories but I completely forgot to… anyways, is it just me or am being delusional?

And I don’t know if I have talked about this on here before but does anyone notice how Weiss Nevermore summon is possibly greatly connected to Ruby and Weiss relationship?

Like… if you think about it for a moment and just analyze what the Nevermore possibly symbolize/represents (as a great deal of Weiss summons are allusions to something or share some sort of connection or mean something), you sort of just notice that Nevermore is practically directly linked to Ruby and Weiss relationship

(Which makes sense given that Weiss wasn’t really the one to have killed the Nevermore… it was Ruby who cut off its head)

And the way this Nevermore summon connects to Ruby and Weiss relationship symbolically is possibly through it representing Trust, belief, connection, understanding and Freedom (possibly)

(Which again, makes sense for the Freedom part due to how birds are symbolically used to represent freedom)

But the thing that made me think this and made me sort of notice this connection is when the Nevermore is first killed and the slow gradual attempts by Weiss at summoning the Nevermore until her first actual summoning against CC (also some stuff about what Winter said about summoning/the Schnee family semblance back in V3)

And the reasons these make me think of this… well, starting off with the Nevermore being killed

This part is rather simple since It’s the beginning piece of what creates and gives way for Weiss to be able to summon the Nevermore

In the beginning of the finale fight of the Emerald forest arc against both the Nevermore and the Scorpion (brain fart, forgot its name), both Ruby and Weiss sort of come to a small mutual understanding about each other and both chooses to accept and trust in the other

When Ruby comes up with a plan to kill the Nevermore, a plan that Weiss chooses to trust in and chooses to believe in Ruby (and Ruby chooses to trust in and believe in Weiss as well) being able to kill the Nevermore

And this belief in Ruby is quite easily proven true

Now moving on to the bit about Weiss attempts to summon the Nevermore till she truly does in the finale of V10

And before I fully go into depth on it, I would like to say some stuff about how during the atlas arc… Ruby and Weiss slowly got more and more distant from each other due to being too busy, having issues with some burdens, or possibly some miscommunication

And this is important because this is slightly reflected in Weiss first attempt to Summon the Nevermore in order to try and save Ruby… but yet she fails due to not being quick enough in summoning the Nevermore (and partially because of a Grimm attacking her before she could summon), because her connection and sort of understanding about Ruby has sort of… fades a bit due to distance

But this slightly changes come V9, after RWBY reunites

With how Weiss comes to learn and understand a bit about Ruby’s current emotional state and tries her best to help her a bit by trying to talk to her and get her to open up… but fails as Ruby doesn’t want to talk right now and chooses to focus on the task at hand

Something important to note is how Weiss not only understands that Ruby is hurting and something is bothering her… but Weiss also partially misunderstands when Ruby walks away when Weiss is trying to talk to her about Penny… that Ruby wants to be left alone for now and wants to get things handled first before she opens up

And Weiss (believing in that little misunderstanding since Ruby does want someone to support her or talk to her and help her) chooses to trust and believe that Ruby will talk to her and open up to her about what’s hurting her and will rely on her as well as coming to accept that Ruby needs some time

Leading to Weiss being able to almost fully summon the Nevermore but only being to summon the wings and use the wings

But not yet being able to manifest it yet

Until Ruby breaks and Weiss comes to understand and fully realize what was wrong with Ruby and what she needed most

Until the group arrives at Tree statue Ruby and Weiss comes to understand, trust and believe and accept that whoever or whatever comes out of that statue, will still be Ruby Rose

That whoever Ruby chooses to be and comes out as… Will always be Weiss’s partner, leader, and best friend to her

Which once Ruby comes back and once again… proves that belief true

Weiss is fully able to summon and conjure up the Nevermore to help in the fight against CC

But who knows… I could just be coming up with this is or looking a bit too deep… but what are all of you folks thoughts?

Also, I didn’t really get into the “Freedom” part about the whole Nevermore thing and might just make a part two to fully explore it

But to simplify it just to put it in here

The Nevermore represents Freedom because through Acceptance and Understanding, through trust and believing in one another

Ruby and Weiss manages to come together and learn to be free together

Free to choose who they want to become and who they wish to be

Free to follow their own path and define their own name

Free to find joy and love wherever it may be… to be free to find comfort and warmth in friends, family, and partner quite special

But again… what are your thoughts on it

[citadelofmythoughts]

Ran into some shipping discourse recently and need to cleanse my pallet.

What’re your top 5 (if you have that many) RWBY ships and what do you love/like about them?

This is an open question to anyone who wants a chance to gush about their favs cause that’s what I need right now. Optimism, excitement, and seeing people “fan-person” about loving love.

Just to be fair, here’s mine!

1. Bumbleby: I love literally everything about them both as a couple and as individuals!

2. Nuts-and-Dolts: They’re two absolute optimistic sweet hearts who’ve had one of the truest connections I’ve ever seen. Just like the BYs, I love literally their entire characters with my entire heart and soul!

3. Icebyrd/Schneewoodforest: Completely fair that they haven’t had any interactions yet, but I absolutely believe that the potential and reason for them to get close is there.

Having the true, open, understanding, confident, and sexy as hell Robyn Hill help the cold, closed, troubled, confused, and also sexy as hell Winter Schnee is an incredible match for me. Robyn would love all of the positive traits that Winter has hidden away and would probably think that she’d be a great fit for the HHs; while Winter would love Robyn’s selfless personality and the fact that she can be true to herself.

Plus, given that Robyn is Mantle’s most trusted person and Winter was Ironwood’s (whom the people of Atlas trusted) second in command it only makes sense for them to work together in Vacuo to help the refugees.

4. Arkos: They also had a true connection. It’s just a shame that Jaune only realized it in V3. Just like BY I truly believe that they were meant to be and will always be connected, which is why I just CAN’T ship Jaune with anyone else. (Despite my endless love of Weiss’s: “mature” 😏)

5. Ghira/Kali: Dunno if they have a ship name buried somewhere. But they have one of only two healthy married relationships in the show and they’re both such amazing people! I’m REALLY praying that they both show up in Vacuo so I get to see more of them and they get to meet their daughter’s true love!

Again, please no discourse. Only love and appreciation, please!

Bumbleby always and forever. Absolutely perfect, astounding, soulmates. It's been such a ride for those two with the lowest low and the highest high. I mean going from Blake WANTING Yang to hate her so she wouldn't come trying to find her and risk her life in the process and Yang being so devastatingly sad and trying to mask that sadness with anger but all the while she missed her so much. And then the most amazing high ever, baring their souls in the most beautiful way in a literal fairy tale moment.

Nuts-N-Dolts hits my tragic romance buttons. I can't imagine falling in love, believing they died only to get them back and losing them again. It's part of the reason I believe that we haven't seen the last of Penny.

Renora You start of watching RWBY and being certain that they are already a couple but then you get to V7-8 and realize that their communication sucks and they've been unintentionally hurting each other for ages. But when they talk about it, it doesn't immediately fix things but it does start the healing process and I hope they eventually make it work

Frostbyte is a recent ship of mine. It's a bit of a crack ship because on the surface Weiss and Penny don't seem to have a lot in common but then you think about it and realize that they're both victims of Atlas society and have been used as things rather than people.

Ghira/Kali - look it's impossible not to love the best parents on Remnant and it's nice to have a shining example of mature love and it's so obvious that they adore each other even after all this time. I agree that I hope they're in Vacuo because they are going to love Yang so much.

[rachetmath]

Can We Stop

(You know what I'll say my peace. This may be the last RWBY hate and Jaune defense I'm doing. I will talk about James, Pyrrha, and Summer later on. So I'm sorry. And to let you know I'm guilty of this too.)

Jaune: What is y'alls beef with me?

Rwbyfan: what?

Jaune: Why do you hate me so much?

Rwby fan: Because you steal screen from the main characters.

Jaune: For real? Okay, sorry but what about Harriet? Winter. Robyn. Or Qrow. 

RWBY fan: … … ..

Jaune: And since we are talking about time what has any of the main characters, you so believe to be, accomplished during said screen time they had?

RWBY fan: They accomplished plenty.

Jaune: *sigh and leave*

RWBY fan: Yeah, take your waste of screen time out of here. Pyrrha should have lived instead of you.

Me: *appeared* What up bitch?

RWBY fan: The hell? What are you doing?

Me: I'm here for that claim. Rep your set. What have any of your main characters accomplished with the amount of screen time they're given?

RWBY fan: Why is this important? 

Me: Because you keep saying the same stupid shit and I am tired of it. So explain?

RWBY fan: Well Ruby evacuated the people of Mantle. That was supposed to be Jaune’s job.

Me: Okay.

RWBY fan: Weiss finally took down her father and saved her people.

Me: Mm-hmm.

RWBY fan: Blake stopped Adam and the White Fang. Not only that her and Yang got the Happy huntresses on their side.

Me: Yeah.

RWBY fan: Yang finally finds her mother. Overcomes her fear with Adam. Got the relic scoring a victory for our heroes. And she has a girlfriend.

Me: okay so did Ruby master her silver eyes?

RWBY: Um, that's not the -

Me: No. Nope, that is important to learn because you know Salem exists. Speaking of Salem, can Ruby’s eyes even work on her?

RWBY fan: That is irrelevant. 

Me: Bet, so when Salem arrived in Atlas what was she doing?

RWBY fan: She was protecting Penny and Nora.

Me: So while Jaune was on the battlefield trying to get Oscar back Ruby was sitting on her ass. 

RWBY fan: Hey she-

Me: What about her mom? Did she discover anything about her?

RWBY fan: Only that she met Salem and-

Me: Died?

RWBY fan: Um Ruby-

Me: Ruby theorized. She only knows part of the story. Raven does.

RWBY fan: Still she- 

Me: People fell off the bridge. Penny is dead. Those people including Jaune’s teammates would have died if Jaune didn't stab Penny to save them. So technically he did his job and succeeded. While Ruby's plan, Amity Arena, fell apart.

RWBY fan: Um

Me: Alright, Weiss. Look, I said it before she screwed her family. She did nothing for her people. I mean come on she destroyed her home with nothing to show for it. 

RWBY fan: I mean she's gotten better.

Me: Yeah and less mature. Winter has an army to command and people who need her. Whitley has to run what little is left of his family business while Weiss gets to be with her friends and have fun—contributing nothing.

RWBY fan:...

Me: And I said before volume 6 that Weiss should have gone home. Go to Ironwood. Fill him in on her friend's situation and have him make an exception to bring them to Atlas. Instead, Weiss steals from Atlas military agents, destroys Atlas property, and endangers thousands to avoid her father. 

RWBY fan: … But Jaune-

Me: Yeah, he made the plan but it’s crazy everyone agreed to it. More importantly, he didn’t even lead the operation. Ruby did. And guess what it still somehow worked despite the people getting involved. But can I  please say that the way Cordovan conducted herself was insane. Like, was a giant robot really necessary?

Rwby fan: … … 

Me: Blake repeated the same mistakes that led her to become the person she was back in volumes 1-5.  She faced no consequences for her choices. Her parents, friends, and teammates welcomed her back with open arms. No one called her on it. Just Sun.

RWBY fan: Well she promised Yang she wouldn’t run away again.

Me: Fine, but does that change the fact that she told Robyn everything going off the deep end which like volume 2 got people either hurt or killed? And insane damage to a bridge or a whole city block.  Not to mention once they were caught they drove Ironwood off the deep end.

RWBY fan: Oh come on Ratchet. He was already there.

Me: I will talk about James and his bull shit later but come on you have to admit they were dirty for that. Especially Yang. 

RWBY fan: Now Yang-

Me: Yang was given a relic which she then gave to Ozpin. Then Ruby took it. Ruby almost lost it. Ruby then gave it to Oscar, knowing damn well he couldn’t fight yet. Then he lost it to Neo. And though she asked about it she never bothered trying to reclaim it or mention it ever again. Especially when they were in enemy territory. 

Rwby fan: Okay but that's not her fault.

Me: … … …  *breaths* Okay but here’s the thing, Yang called Ruby out on lying to James, who mind you gave her an arm. She debated on it with Ruby. But all of a sudden Blake thought of telling Robyn the truth and Yang was completely on board with it. No speech. No lecture. She was completely down with telling a stranger, someone she doesn’t even know instead of James.

RWBY fan: … …. 

Me: Isn’t that hypocritical? How is she going to judge Ruby, her leader, when she was the one who made a bad call? Never mind how come she can judge the Ace-ops for following orders when she allowed everyone else to bark orders at her? Especially the girl who was a terrorist once and still left her along with her sister to head back to Atlas. So much for keeping a promise.

Rwby: That was different.

Me: Again Blake was never called out on her bull crap. Yang might as well be a simp at this point because not only does she do as Blake tells her but she prioritizes Blake over her own sister. She is more down bad than Pyrrha.

RWBY fan: … …  Wow.

 Me: Overall team RWBY hasn’t done squat but makes things worse. And the fact that the people of Remnant find them to be heroes makes me wish Salem killed them all.

Rwby fan: … …. …. … 

Me: Now get ready because this will get crazy. Jaune hasn’t repeated any of his damn mistakes. 

Rwby fan: …

Me: When Oscar got kidnapped Jaune took the f***** opportunity to go get him. Though Oscar saved himself that doesn’t change the fact he charged through a warzone to save his friend. Something he damn straight couldn’t do when it came to Pyrrha. Then his team went up against a headmaster. And won. 

Rwby fan: Team Rwby beat the Ace op though.

Me: How powerful were the Ace-ops?

Rwby fan: That-

Me: That is very important. Round one, the Ace-ops just sneaked them. There was no struggle. They fought a different-skinned Grimm that Jaune managed to help beat. With no weapon in hand. In fact, they fought the same kinds of Grimm as our heroes. What makes them so powerful?

Rwby fan: … Um.

Me: And yeah team RWBY won but second round they lost and got trapped. Not to mention the Ace-ops weren’t even fighting them but each other. Arguing back and forth over orders,  they all agreed to follow.

Rwby fan: Oh.

Me: Then Jaune… Jaune managed to hoe Cinder out of the maiden powers. By killing Penny, he made sure Cinder didn’t get what she wanted. Unlike Beacon, where she shot Amber because Jaune wasn't watching the damn door. His one job.

Rwby fan: But Cinder got the relic.

Me: Who’s fault is that? Because I recall Penny was ordered to run. Not his fault. Not to mention Jaune was the reason Team RWBY GOT TO THE TREE.

Rwby fan: See you Jaune fans are the same. You keep dick riding-

Me: Stop. Look, I’m a Jaune fan. At first, I didn’t like him. But in later volumes, the man earned my sympathy and my respect. All I and probably a lot of Jaune fans want is for this man to be happy. So we have him finally pipe a girl, we just want him to be happy and loved and to move on from Pyrrha. When we have him strong and dependable we want this man to be happy and be a hero. We don’t want him to have all that trauma. Why do you think we were happy when Ruby was getting a taste?

RWBY fan: ….

Me: I'm just saying can we stop? “Jaune is a self-insert” Oc shipping exists. Come on. Don't act like none of you insert yourselves into these characters from time to time. It's okay. “He takes up screen time” We have completion videos of every character on screen. You will see the difference. “He takes the focus away from the story” Then how about team RWBY be interesting characters then. 

RWBY fan: *sad*

Me: Anyways let’s change the subject. Who’s this?

RWBY fan: The curious cat.

Me: No. He’s the Curious Diddy Cat.

Rwby fan: How?

Me: I mean he loved Alyx. Then Ruby. And in real life she’s eighteen, but in canon or in the show she’s a

Rwby fan: A?

Me: A.

Rwby fan: A-MINOR!

Me: Oh yeah.

Not Like Us By Kendrick Lamar

[bridgyrose]

Ruby at some point : I came here to eat cookies and fight and Yang said no more cookies!

(I dont see her ever saying something like that in cannon, so... lets have an AU for it.)

“I came here to eat cookies and fight and Yang said there’s no more cookies!” Ruby yelled out, scythe in hand as she looked at the hunter across from her. She slowly lowered her scythe and sighed. “Dont you think that line is a bit… lame?” 

“Cut!” the director yelled out. “Take fifteen everyone. We’ll start shooting at the top of the hour.” 

Ruby folded up her scythe and put it onto her back as she watched the director make his way over to her from his chair. “I’d never say anything like that. Maybe something like “Its time to duel” or a pun about the situation.” 

“And I was put in charge of the promotional video for you and your team,” the director reminded her. “Lets face it, huntsmen are a thing of the past with the way Atlas has been protecting the kingdoms with their robots, so its my job to make you marketable to the kids and kids love video game references.” 

“Why does it matter if I’m marketable to kids? Being a huntress is a job. I’m supposed to be out there taking missions and fighting grimm, going undercover to root out corruption or faunus trafficking, not… standing here for eight hours a day reading lines until we get something usable for a commercial.” 

“If you’re marketable to kids, then you’ll be trusted to get missions again from the people who really matter. Now, read over your lines, I expect perfection from you.” 

Ruby nodded and looked at the lines she was given at the start of the day. It was all supposed to be so simple: read the lines she was provided, make the promotional video, clear up the huntsman name. Then again, they wouldnt have had to do this if their last couple missions had gone better. 

“How’s everything going, Rubes?” Yang asked as she walked over. “Still having trouble with your lines?” 

“How can you do this so easily?” Ruby asked as she put her paper away, falling down into the chair she was provided. “This whole thing is-” 

“Great, isnt it?” Weiss interrupted with a smile as she watched a few of the techs move equipment from stage to stage. “We get to be in front of cameras, everything is taken care of for us, practically pampered while we have the easiest job.” 

Ruby rolled her eyes and lowered her voice. “I was going to say frustrating.” 

“Lighten up, its not like its the worst thing we could be doing,” Yang said as she lightly tapped Ruby’s shoulder. “And we’ll be running missions again in no time once we’re finished here.” 

“But we should be running missions now!” Ruby leaned back and looked up at the ceiling of the studio. “I’m tired of reading lines and trying to make huntsmen look good. What we do is messy, it blurs the lines of what’s right and what’s lawful.” 

Blake pinched the bridge of her nose. “You arrested two of the council members after tying them to Roman. As far as the public is concerned, we went rogue.” 

“Blake has a point,” Yang said as she held onto the collar of Weiss’s shirt, keeping her from following a few of the techs off set. “The council was already looking for a reason to get Ozpin off and to move away from the academies, and we gave them that reason.” 

“Yeah but-” Ruby went quiet as she looked over her teammates, then down to the script in her hands. “Fine, we do this, start taking missions again, and show the council that we’re necessary.” 

“Besides, if things dont work out here, we can freelance for another kingdom or for some of the villages out there.” 

“As long as we dont mess things up,” Blake added. 

Ruby nodded and got up as the director came back in, yelling for everyone to get in position. She tucked her script away, pulled out her scythe, and made her way opposite the other huntsman as the lights in the studio kicked back on. 

“And… Action!” 

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ruby winced as she heard the promotional video play once again as she walked through the Vale streets, hearing her own voice echo through the night as a nightmare she couldnt get away from. At least now people werent staring at her as if she was a danger, but it didnt make her feel any better that everyone treated her like a joke. She quickly ducked her way into the dust shop, putting up her hood and making her way to the magazines like she always did, picking up the first one and flipping through it. 

“I came here to fight and eat cookies, and Yang said no more cookies!” 

Ruby cringed a bit as she could still hear the line from the video playing outside. She quickly slipped her headphones on, ready to play music until her scroll started to ring. “What’s going on Yang?” 

“You busy?” Yang asked. 

“No, why?” 

“Ozpin has a mission for us.” 

Ruby perked up a bit, lowering her voice as she continued the conversation. “Really?! What’s he need?” 

“He thinks he knows who framed us and wants us to start looking around Mistral to see if he’s right. Blake and Weiss will meet us out there.” 

“I’ll meet you at the airship-” 

“I’m going to make my way on my own,” Yang interrupted.  “Have a few things to take care of.” 

“Alright.” Ruby sighed and put her scroll away as the call hung up. She looked out the window of the dust shop and stared at the screen that once again played the promotional video for the fifth time. “One step closer to not having to hear myself say those words again and being a real huntress. Again.”

[n6918]

Atlas Tech has certainly come a long way, compared to the rest of Remnant, even in the quality of Sexual toys one could acquire. That is what Jaune thought, as he used the Tech Fleshlight Weiss gave him, as it felt so real and life-like, he couldn't stop himself for a few hours. What Weiss hadn't told him, was the fact that it was really just a small Portal Device, meaning every inch he sank into it, would come out the other side - Aka, through Weiss' panties.

Ruby: ahhh~ I told you not to do it

Weiss: PLEASSSYYYYY! I need to TaKe ThMe OfF!

Yang: awww~ she’s so cute like this~

Blake: watching her be breed~ hmmm~ so satisfying~

Weiss tossed her head back-and-forth as she lay on the ground. Her head resting on Ruby’s lap. Will the girl caressed her face. Yang sitting on one of her arms, rubbing her wet panties over her hands. Blake sitting on the other playing with her nipple as she stared down at the girls crotch.

They’re on full display with a unique sex toy, or 1/2 of it, that weighs had given to Jaune. The panties sitting on her pill, body visibly damp from the amount of cum already pumped into her. Weiss’s fucked silly face, stared up at her friends as she continued to orgasm. This has been going on for over an hour. And they refused to let her take off the panties. But had stripped her naked and forced to run to the floor to watch the scene unfold; all three watch does the friend word breed right in front of them.

Weiss: HoW Caaaaan Heeee~ KeeeP Cummmm~

Ruby: poor thing I think her mind is breaking~

Blake: it’s a good question though? How is he going this long?

Yang: oh easy! I gave him a video of Weiss in the shower~

Weiss: bItCh!

Yang: and some of her panties~

Weiss: Ooooh GoDDDDs~

Weiss: I WILL GET YOU FOOOOOOO~ OHHHHHGODSHESCUMMMINGAGING~

As she threw her head back and arched her self up. They could see the panties begin to leak out more semen. Ruby picked herself up and placed her on top of the white haired girls face to feel the vibrations of her orgasm. Well yang leaned down and put another tally mark on her stomach for number eight.