#windward watched rwby

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I love that RWBY 7 is literally an election year drama ... But with monster fighting and friendship

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I’m watching rwby 7 and. Wow. I’m luminent over how this show has returned. The plot’s tightened, the stakes are specific and sharply clear, the dialogue’s back on point in humor and drama, and they’re using the characters properly again at last! (And it’s Paranoia Mood again because I will never be calm while Tyrian Callows is around. Thanks, man.)

Also let’s just say I’m... very very glad I kept my Weiss and Knight poster up...

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Look who's watching RWBY again (and one for the first time)

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Okay, RWBY hype train is cleaning itself off and leaving the station wi fanfare, this volume heals my heart (although RIP silly revolutionary dude)

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Eucatastrophe

There are some moments that I never get tired of in stories and one of them is that dark gorgeous sequence of Qrow coming in to rescue Ruby from Tyrian in v4. The desperate flight of his bird form and then he transforms mid-air and is running, running already to slide into place at the last instant, blocking the attack, smiling at Ruby with that tired gentle look he has. Telling her to get out of the way, he'll keep her safe now, take this fight over for her.

If you ask me what I love in stories I think that would be a good starting example. Care and sacrifice and loyalty, and courage against the odds, and a finding when all seems to be going wrong.

(Also things predictably continuing to go wrong, bloody consequences, awkward revelations of secrets, trading off rescues, handling past trauma during wilderness expeditions, etc. are also good plot bait for me. I just love RWBY 4, okay?)

[windwardrose]

RWBY 6.6

yells quietly

- Qrow, my sir, seriously. I do hope you talk to someone about the emotional turmoil you go through - but would that break your streak of Hasn’t Seriously Faced Feelings in Years, hmm? Well, Try It Sometime.

- I hesitate to suggest this because the shippers would have a (snow)field day, but in an old house in the winter I would venture to expect they’d huddle for warmth overnight. Come on, guys, nobody bites. Much.

- That moment when Weiss and Yang and Blake are all staring off Ruby by the well. Yikes. And poor Ruby.

- We go down into the tunnels: Windward has instant flashbacks to FMA:B and an uncomfortable remembrance of the second Mockingjay film.

- Speaking of the things in the tunnels - I gotta say that may be the nastiest Grimm I’ve had the pleasure of beholding, by which I mean it was not pleasant to behold. Like the Nucklavee but Worse because Multiple and Screams.

Wait, the Nucklavee also screams. But the Apathy screams Worse.

- DON’T TOUCH BLAKE, YOU SCREECHY OVERGROWN DEPRESSION GHOSTS!

- “Life is beautiful. Life is precious. And life must be protected.”

- Oh, Weiss, Weiss, so brightly furious at what almost became of you and yours, at the manipulation of your mind and emotions, at what was almost done in and beneath the house that day - turning to say not yet and setting fire to the creeping evils behind you as you leave. Beautiful work.

- Nobody died. This is awesome. Somebody hug Qrow. Hugs all around.

- SILVER EYES... fan theory confirmed... and the week to buzz with a thousand questions.

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RWBY 6.12

So.... that happened. Wow. Yes. That did indeed happen.

I watched it for the second time just now and can confirm: that did indeed happen.

- They’ve done a great job on animating faces and expressions this season - and there’s a specific wide-eyed wistful stare that Qrow gets when he’s seeing something going down that he doesn’t like but feels like he can’t stop, and owch.

- Count of whose Auras are maxed out: Jaune, Nora, Blake, Yang, Ruby... am I missing any? Dude, I hope not.

- I am mutually glad - I think I am - that they had Ruby make the speech about we’re supposed to be on the same side and that it didn’t work. It was a beautiful thing to try and a realistic thing that it didn’t fix the problem.

- The Adam v Blake & Yang fight was stressful. So very stressful and awesome. I think it will go down as one of the iconic RWBY fights, and oh, it should. It should. I appreciated the mix between solo and group fighting, between dialogue (”did she make that promise to you, or just to the person you were pretending to be?”) and action (oh amazing action).

- Normally I don’t love one-handed blade blocks. But This One Works, WOW it works. Thematically and materially. To let your weakness be your strength that wins the rematch.

- Yang didn’t use her Semblance till the end. I was watching carefully - she didn’t use it at all in the first half of the fight - she saved it till it was needed - she was indeed smarter like she said, she didn’t get overconfident, she knew what she had to do. Oh Yang.

- Correct me if I am wrong, but... is this the first on-screen deadly bloodshed that the protagonists commit?

I didn’t really know what they’d do with Adam. End of v5 I thought he’d get arrested and humiliated; this time my bet was Chekov’s Waterfall and a sort of Plausibly Deniable Slip. Surely the wicked are set in slippery places, and those who dig pits shall fall into them. But we didn’t have that. Nope.

Me to my friend as the blades strike home: “Well. We went there.”

We did. I - I can’t say one way or the other what I would have preferred - but I will say it was new, and unexpected, and not unfitting. Especially considering Adam’s kill of Sienna in v5 was the first onscreen deadly bloodshed committed by ANYONE in this show as far as I can recall.

(Note: I’m not just being euphemistic - I really am making a distinction about  onscreen fatal outcomes [clearing Yang, Blake, Qrow, and Weiss] which involve visible blood [which marks out Penny’s, Amber’s, and Pyrrha’s deaths]. In my mind those three points used together really cross a certain line. So it was poetically just, in a way, that those who live by the sword die by the sword.)

- Can I just say, that is a LOT of Grimm. That is really some considerable quantity of Grimm. I am a bit worried. And then some.

See my comment about Auras.

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Prediction time!

- Ironwood and the Atlas Military, after having been invoked so many times, actually appear as the very helpful cavalry and help out. All concerned are appreciative, except Cordovin who may be a bit embarrassed. (Partial credit for this prediction to my friend.)

- Tyrian and Watts show up in the after-credits scene waiting ahead of us in Atlas. Bonus points if they somehow get in cahoots with the remaining Atlesian Schnees: it would be an advantageous move for them and, personally, one that I could see Weiss’s dad going for, now that he’s at such emphatic outs with the Powers that Be

- Ozpin returns just in time to do something totally glorious

- Cinder and Neo turn up precisely when and where we don’t need them.

- I know I always say I’m worried about Qrow, but at the risk of being a stopped clock: I wouldn’t lay too much on his chances of making it into v7.

He’s had a turning point in this volume and used it to take a hard swerve into despair mode. In stories, there’s a slow way to come back from this kind of thing and then there’s a quick way. The slow way involves finding of purpose and hope, a new store of determination, and a steady improvement trajectory with a few blips now and again of backsliding and reminders. We might do this. We very well might. It would be nice, especially if the show really decides to go for it and do a growth plotline for him. The quick way is Death Equals Redemption: he’s killed by Grimm while defending Oscar and/or Ozpin (to touch on his previous broken trust and how it doesn’t preclude his doing what he knows is right), or he’s killed by Cinder or Neo while protecting Ruby.

My personal bet would be for the second one. We’ve all heard the “prophecy” about Neo, right? - that she’ll do something that will make everyone hate her. Things are beginning to pull together in a way that would make that very, very easy.

We’ll see. We’ll see what RT decides to do. Whether that’s “Qrow proudly shows off his amazing nieces to Ironwood after a cool battle” or “Qrow dies in Ruby’s arms, calling her by her mother’s name” remains TBD.

- On a lighter note... I can’t think of a lighter note... oh yes! Cordovin and Maria end up fighting back-to-back and the only thing that flies faster than the weapons is the snark. PLEASE.

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RWBY 6.4-6.5

- The keyword for these two eps is Aftermath: long falls, brutal failures, broken trust, crashed trains, dead comrades, lost hands, old memories and what comes after.

- What comes after? Well, anger, for some. Altruism for others. Cheerfulness. Attempts to connect, or to run away. Salem screaming as the dark gathers outside her windows, Ozpin who betrays and abandons, Yang who pushes Blake away after her attempt at comfort, Cinder and Neo who band together to fight their mutual foe, Weiss who retreats behind haughty concealment.

And Ruby? Ruby’s just happy that there are canned beans. Also suggests we should keep Qrow out of the cellar. You know, Ruby, why face the man with temptation.

- Tyrian, as usual, is just a bit unhinged. By which I mean the hinges are on the wrong side of the door and the door is on the wrong side of the house.

- I’m still confused about Maria. Maybe next episode we’ll get information? I hope so!

- In the meantime I’m glad that we’re getting a chance to catch up with people a little. They’re still trying to get into the rhythms of being a team again, and goodness only knows they’ve had enough happen to them since the last time they were one.

- Anyone but me get worried when Yang started acting tired? I mean, we’ve got mysterious folk who died apparently in their sleep. Are we going to go all Sleeping Beauty on this? Also I really suggest an all-nighter, for once ever. Weiss and I are on the same wavelength here.

- NOOOOOO GUYS Not the Cellar Door I don’t even want to know ... actually, no, wait, I really do.

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RWBY 6.10

First may I say AAAAAAHHH HELP

Second may I say AAAAAHHH HELP again

- Okay, so it looks like everything I predicted was wrong, except for the part about things getting messy. Things have Got Messy. Getting the airship wasn’t hard. That was when the hard stuff just started. So we’re not just brushing off Ruby’s defiance last episode, and we’re not going to make this easy and triumphant... Most of me is happy and some of me is just full of what I referred to once as “good, old-fashioned fear for the character’s safety.”

- Maria tried. Kind of. Kudos for the attempt. Granted, I can’t fly a plane, so I should be respectful.

- That sad, understated little moment when Weiss watches all the connections flicker off on her scroll and looks up wide-eyed with momentary abandonment. Ow.

- QROW WHY. But I know why, I guess.

Here we see a character for whom self-hatred has become a casual instinctual habit, now extending this self-hatred into global acceptance of blame in a totally irrational way. Qrow my sir, there’s a reason I relate to you: and for your sake stop this, stop. It Really Truly Doesn’t Help. It only hurts more and more.

It’s such an easy habit to get into for some of us kinds of folk, and it’s hard to get out of, and goodness only knows I can slide into it again if I’m not watching myself hard - but it’s so futile and sad, and seeing Qrow react that way onscreen is making me worried for him even more. He’s taken a downhill track into despair, and I’m not sure what it will end in.

I think he will still fight for others’ sake, but I’m not really sure if he’d care much for fighting to protect himself, now.

- NOOOO ADAM THOU UTTER CREEP

Did we ask for him? No. Did we require him? No. Does he add a fine decorative touch to the landscape? Honestly not enough of one. No benefit is conferred by having Adam Taurus enter a scene (except for making all the viewers yell in concert of shocked suspense and outraged horror).

I have a worry about Blake now, who is facing Adam alone. I made a prediction years ago and I’m afraid it’ll come true - we’ll see - I mean, they won’t really damage a team main - this had better be good, right? Right?

And in closing, AAAAH HELP.

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Also about RWBY 6.9

Somehow with all that’s going on I forgot until just reminded that WE STILL HAVE CINDER AND NEO OUT THERE.

Windward: distant wail of doom

Windward’s dog: [gives a funny look and goes back to sleep]

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RWBY 6.11

Well, that was a stressful ride...!

- Let’s just get this out of the way right at the start: I think I will spend the rest of the week absolutely RELISHING the feel of that moment where Yang comes hurtling onscreen and throws herself, righteous rage and motorcycle and all, at Adam

- Qrow helps Ren! I was worried about Ren for a moment there! I was also worried about Qrow for a moment there but what else is new!

- Jaune saves Nora! Yay Jaune. Has he maxed out his Aura though? I saw the lights ripple. Let’s keep our eyes on this. JAUNE BE CAREFUL you are Valuable to the Team in Multiple Ways these days...

- Maria continues to be a joy. I like her scrappy rivalry with Cordovin - if only she didn’t have Oscar with her and they needed that airship, I would say let the two of them go at it for a while. Maybe at the end they’ll be friends again.

- I want to talk a little longer about that fight with Adam.

It was beautifully done, tbh: from my perspective at least we can definitely lay to rest any fears about RWBY fight scene quality. And it conveyed everything that it needed to: my friend and I were talking of it after and she pointed out how different Blake’s demeanor was than in the fight at the end of V3.

Blake’s still scared. But she’s in control. Adam spits all kinds of lies at her and she comes back flatly with and you’re delusional - and I cheered.

And when his mask comes off? It’s not hiding a magical secret or a huge significant plot point. It’s because he has a scar on his eye, a reminder of something that hurt him once - and given the choice, he’d rather be the enigmatic Grimm-masked leader than be scarred. Rather inspire fear and awe than show damage or allow himself to have a visible reminder that could suggest the possibility of weakness. Rather guard and cherish and weaponize the proof of his pain than try to move on from it.

I wrote once that scars are not fair because they remind you of things you’d rather forget. That was why I spent a lot of money on scar removal gel once - and mind you, I’m not saying that I’m shaming myself for that - but I think that if I were putting concealer on my scar every morning, the way I did now and again when it was fresher, I would be far more reminded than I am now.

We all work through things differently - I wouldn’t fault someone, for instance, who did put concealer on their scars every morning. But quite frankly Adam’s coping mechanisms are (to put it mildly) miserably ineffective for him and damaging for him and everyone else around him. And the pain he’s been through - and I’m not denying there was pain - has turned him selfish, so that now everything revolves around him - his victimhood, his mission, his feelings, his vengeance.

Well, try this one on for size: his downfall.

That’s my prediction. I mean, guys, Chekov’s Waterfall here for the convenience. Although I would love it if he got dragged back to town and made to stand in public trial and explain why under the shattered moon of Remnant he thought this was all a good idea to homicidally stalk his ex-girlfriend halfway across the map. I am reminded of how Black Panther stopped Zemo from shooting himself at the end of Civil War: why should a villain be able to choose how their tale ends? Let them come to justice and answer to the living. The living have many comments to make. Do you take constructive criticism, YOU CREEP.

- In closing - I am looking forward to next week - yay! I’m not sure where it will go but I am interested.

And oh, I am far less afraid for Blake than I was, now that she has a friend to stand by her.

[windwardrose]

there are times when it is a Comforting Thought to recall we have a healer on Team QRWBYJNR+M now

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A brief and belated statement on RWBY 6.3

I did actually in fact watch that episode. While doing so, I thought thoughts and yeeped yeeps. I now know more about the cosmology of Remnant than I ever expected to or, perhaps, frankly, needed to know. ;) (Then I got Rudely Interrupted by Doom in my Other Current Story Interest... but I digress.)

- Salem: I have caused awful trouble by being defiant and demanding!

Salem: I know what will solve this! Being more defiant and demanding!

Me: “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting a different outcome”

- I do not even dare to Think about what everyone is going to have to handle once they come out of this Mist of Exposition.

How much did Qrow know already? That will be interesting to see, too.

- Friendly reminder to hug your local Oscar. He needs it.

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RWBY 6.13

Finally addressing the Mammoth Grimm in the room: yes, I did watch the finale; yes, unfortunately I found it a little underwhelming. The show did not commit to the mess and did not become sharp-edged: it wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t what I think they could have pulled off if they’d chosen to.

But I don’t want it to be forgot that V6 did some lovely lovely stuff:

- I am still expecting Blake and Yang’s victory to go down beautifully in the history of RWBY. SQUINKS that was amazing.

- 3 thousand cheers for a bit of closure on JN_R’s emotional state

- The Apathy episode is chilling and fabulous

- and it’s nice to meet Jaune’s family

- I like Maria and I’m very curious with where she could go in the future of this tale

- Best wishes to Qrow for continued growth, safety, and life

- way to wreck the mood, Cinder (but in such beautiful new outfits for you and Neo!)

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Here’s another RWBY thought

What if Hazel’s sister was the Spring Maiden who ran away and met an Uncertain Fate under Raven’s supervision? I mean, it’s not as if Ozpin would admit the truth very easily if so, unfortunately; “training mission” would be a great cover.

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Occurred to me a scary idea about RWBY

We’ve seen Blake get fake-killed about... three times now?... when it’s actually her Semblance standing in for her. What if there’s a point someday with the exact same staging, when we and/or the characters in the story all think it’s a Semblance fake that just got stabbed/impaled/etc., until we suddenly realize it’s not?