I've had this thought swirling in the back of my head for a while, but it's finally congealed enough that I think I can make a coherent pitch, which is: I think RWBY's problems with the more vitriolic part of its fanbase partially stems from the fact that RWBY is a deconstruction that doesn't advertise it's a deconstruction.
RWBY's status as a deconstruction is pretty textbook. It takes apart standard fantasy, shounen, and anime tropes in order to analyze them and their deeper meaning and then reassembles them in new and interesting ways for the plot/characters/series. Thing is, it never says that outright in promotional material, which can lead to later outrage in fans.
See, unless their way of discovering new shows is to close their eyes and stab their finger at random, most people tend to choose series to watch/read based on expectations. Maybe a friend said they'll like it because it has [insert thing], maybe they read the summary and were intrigued, maybe they thought the poster/cover art was cool, whatever. These small pieces of information are generally enough for people to make a snap-judgment of the style and genre of the series, which they can then gauge against their personal tastes and decide whether or not they want to try.
Most of the time, this works just fine. Well-written deconstructions also generally give the viewers some warning/buildup before they take a hard swerve. See Madoka Magica: the magical girl paradigm is shaded by the possibility of death as soon as we're introduced to it, then there's an onscreen death with blood, and then a few episodes later we eventually realize the Faustian bargain of it all. Even innocent viewers who stumbled into watching it, unaware of the show's reputation, would go "Oh, wait, this is not going in the direction magical girl shows usually go" by a third of the way through.
The thing is, with RWBY, this does not happen unless you're paying a lot of attention and/or looking for it. And neither the cover art nor the summary nor, I believe, the fanbase gives a lot of warning about the swerves ahead.
In fact, RWBY initially bills itself as a pretty standard shounen anime. The main protagonist is hinted to have Special Powers and gets into the Magic Monster-Hunting School in the first episode, and the first two-and-a-half seasons are taken up by her and her friends' superhero-esque slice-of-life shenanigans as they thwart robberies and terrorist attacks and gear up for a tournament arc against the looming background of a larger conspiracy.
Then in the last half of the third season the villains' entire Rube Goldberg machine of a scheme snaps into completion and the plot twists so hard the entire genre takes a hard right. If you're used to character analysis and common anime tropes, this is not completely a surprise -up until this point, RWBY's character arcs and plot have been subtly traveling in non-traditional directions that hint of greater flexibility in genre treatment ahead- but if you're not... well.
Thing is, people watching RWBY up until this point have signed up for pretty standard shounen and they've been getting it, but the third season's ending smashes that all to bits. From then on out in RWBY, it's like they ordered fries and suddenly got a hamburger. It might be delicious; but it's not what they asked for, what they wanted, or what they paid for, and they are, justifiably, displeased.
So when the reasonable people either adjusted their expectations or sighed, shook their heads, and clicked back out (perhaps with a grumble and a scowl), the unreasonable people dug their heels in and began insisting that everybody was Getting The Show/Character Wrong and that CRWBY is ruining it, because the fact that RWBY's method of deconstruction is to put standard tropes in a blender and then arrange what's left in deceptive patterns means that said unreasonable viewers can scan the bare surface and argue that all the stereotypical stuff is clearly still under there, somewhere.
So they're continually trying to drag RWBY back to the tracks of a typical shounen anime series (it's closest relative), which creates a dissonance between the show they're watching and the show they think they're watching. They're trying to turn the hamburger back into fries, basically, except that doesn't work and just frustrates everyone involved, because you're trying to make RWBY into something that it's not. Hence, this attitude probably starting/fueling some of the more contentious statements in the fandom, i.e.:
"Ironwood was right the whole time" (in most action movies and shounen anime, allied military leaders are trustworthy beyond reproach)
"Adam's character was wasted" (we all know how much shounen loves their powerful warrior antiheroes)
"Ruby and the others are in the wrong about [insert thing]/or for doing [insert thing], and this is bad writing!" (shounen protagonists don't usually make more than One Very Big Mistake over the course of their entire careers, which is usually fixed/overcome/redeemed via an appropriately rigorous training arc)
And to be clear, there's nothing wrong with shounen tropes or shounen anime. They're wonderful storytelling devices in their own way and their own time: but if you want standard by-the-book shounen without any new and interesting concoctions, then RWBY is definitely not the show for you. And most people don't find that out until it's too late.
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tagged by @asweetprologue because i have seventeen wip tabs DONāT JUDGE ME *sobs*
Right, so, otherĀ than the second part of the immortal!Jask fic...? Let me just have a looksie and-- Ah. Oh dear.
The hair on the back of Jaskierās neck stands on end, and then thereās the unmistakable feeling of a cold ear being pressed against his skin, a hand to his stomach.
(his eyes are closed)
that is a Lot of words, because as-ever I am a little run-on sentence jester, so Iām saying anyone who sees this and goesĀ āawww i wanna be tagged!ā is now officiallyĀ tagged by me, and I love you.
Ā Ā To all my followers and those who may stumble across my blog within the space of the next two days:
Ā Ā Holy Thursday is nearly finished, but while I was in Mass earlier this evening I was inspired with the thought of giving up Tumblr for the rest of Triduum.Ā I should have started on Palm Sunday, or even at the beginning of Lent, but Iām definitely tabling the idea for next year...and Iām getting off-track.
Ā Ā ANYhoo, Iām giving up Tumblr from the moment this post is made until after the 10 AM service on Easter Sunday.
Ā Ā So what you will NOT be seeing from me in that time includes:
Reblogs
Responses to chats
Original Posts
Whatever else you see people on Tumblr Doing
Ā Ā What you MAY be seeing, if school, work, and Mass allows for it includes:
QueueādĀ āMusical Inspoā posts that Iām desperately behind on
A new chapter to ProsceniumĀ
A one-shot involving Dr. Jekyll and Utterson
Ā Ā Ā Now, after the 10 AM Mass on Easter Sunday, I will be around again!Ā I will reblog all the great posts, answer any messages/asks/chatroom stuff, and whatnot.Ā Feel free to tag me in specific posts or whatever if you want me to see something after Easter Sunday Mass.
Ā Ā Ā I guess this is also something of an experiment.Ā I love Tumblr, I really do, but like most of us, I struggle with prioritizing my time.Ā Itās much easier to spend an hour or more scrolling through Tumblr and ogling at you guysā amazing contributions to fandoms rather than do school, say my prayers, get ready for work in a non-rushed manner...etc.Ā You guys get the point.Ā And I get frustrated at myself, sometimes, for not being timely with my own contributions.Ā I have stuff I want to write...ideas I want to share, but if I spend all my free time just looking at random stuff on Tumblr, then my stuff doesnāt get done.Ā Ā
Ā Ā Ā ....So, long-story-short for anyone whoās made it this far: Iām giving up Tumblr for the rest of Lent, but itās also an attempt for me to be more disciplined with my time, and to be a more active member of the amazing fandoms on this platform.
Ā Ā I hope the rest of you are having a blessed Lent so far.Ā Weāre almost to the end!Ā Ā
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
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I really donāt have anything else to say about the trailer. For starters, I couldnāt even SEE 90% of it -- I spent the duration stabbing at the Brightness button on my keyboard. But it was just 2 minutes of people standing around looking *concerned*. Or at dragons. Or just dragons. Even the Starks, who HAD MAGICAL CREATURES OF THEIR OWN, look just about ready to dump their house sigils and raise their own dragon banners.Ā
But at least it looks like Tormund and Beric survived the Wall collapse, so.... yay for that I guess.
