#longroadstonowhere

part of the experience of murderbot is that it was brought up as property, not as a human - so, like, it might be physically considered a human by certain standards, but to the society it's in, it is not, it is an object, cargo, property

This has been sitting in my ask box for a bit because I wanted to fact check my memories but woof. I don't know that I would have handled David any better at 14 or now for that matter.

Especially after the Saddler incident. Like we saw some humanity from a Yeerk in book 19 and then some REAL Yeerk behavior in David choosing to steal this poor kid's identity and life--literally throwing him down an elevator shaft to finish him off. Not just any kid either--Jake and Rachel's cousin. Their obnoxious cousin who sucked but still. Their flesh and blood family.

The thing that really gets me about The Solution is, at the end of the day, it's Cassie's plan. Cassie, the kindest most empathetic member of the group, is forced to use that empathy with brutal efficiency to figure out how to play emotional chess with this fellow kid huge amoral liability and it works. It works exactly according to plan.

But she has to live with that. Cassie, the tree hugger, the vegetarian, the one who was willing to sacrifice her life for one stranger three books ago has to live with the knowledge that she did this (knowing full well what the lifespan is of a rat as opposed to a human boy) and she has to live with that knowledge for a long, long time.

Their creator is no longer a fan of RWBY, has very low opinions of everyone involved in the show's creation, and seems to regret paying money to have their characters feature in the show, partially because they had designed Team NDGO to have varied body types, only for all four of the girls to be made thin (when none of them were thin in the concept art) on account of one of the higher ups not wanting any fat girls on the show.

So, there's your behind the scenes tidbit of the day!

Consider me fully briefed on the topic of Team NDGO.

Also I wouldn't know anything about fan-made characters inserted into the canon as a crowdfunding reward that are subsequently rather poorly treated by the narrative of th--

Gundam has always been gay, tbh.

This is just the first time that Gundam has had a true lead be a girl.

There HAS been female pilots before, but this is the MAIN MAIN characters both being girls so like... HUGE!

Elena: And Jaune will have to live with that for how ever long

Me: Up until he dies. You know, Pyrrha had to live with that until she died too. They both murdered Penny, you know.

I SURE DO HAVE FEELINGS. I’m not sure I have thoughts, is the thing, or at least... I’m not sure I have thoughts that aren’t comically on-brand and difficult for me to articulate, but I will do my best. Because you asked ME of all people can we read Penny as a superhero, and my ears will only ever hear that question as is Penny Jewish? And I am a parody of myself so obviously I think the answer is yes.

... but let’s zoom out a little.

I talked about this a little in my chosen one post-- how it’s kind of inadequate to apply the classic “with great power comes great responsibility”* superhero dogma to RWBY when, in theory, this is a field that’s open to all. Anyone can become a Huntsman with enough training; everyone has Aura. there’s no one class of people or circumstances that will grant you powers others can’t get.

[*which, again, cannot emphasize how fundamentally Jewish this is as a thought. It’s straight from Pirkei Avot: “If I am not for others, who am I? And if not now, when?” “You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it.” One of the fundamental tenets of Judaism is tikkun olam, repairing the world. You’re here to leave the world better than you found it. That’s your job.]

the first exception to that rule-- the idea that everyone’s working with the same building blocks of potential--  is the Maidens, who have access to old magic. 

the second is Penny, who was created with a purpose. 

Which is to say that in the parlance of the show, Penny’s a superhero twice over, even in a world already populated by them. Second, later, because she chose to take on Fria’s mantle (the protector of mantle, they call her). but first, and fundamentally, because Penny was designed, not born. And her project was greenlit with a particular task in mind: to save the world. she tells Ruby as much, when she comes out.

Penny’s base story surrogate is clearly Pinocchio, and the argument for Astro Boy is incredibly compelling. all of these characters share a basic premise: they are the lifeless made living; theory made praxis. A concept made real.

in other words, they are golems.

as anyone who’s read The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay will tell you, if you scratch just about any superhero created by Jews in the 30s hard enough, you’ll find a golem underneath. a golem is an automaton, an avatar of mud and clay whose purpose is to protect a (Jewish) community; something powerful designed to shelter the powerless. you activate it by writing a word on its forehead: EMET. truth.

[if that sounds like superhero shit, well, that’s because it is. truth, justice, and the Atlesian American Way. “you plant yourself like a tree beside the river of truth and say no. you move.” holding up the last beacon of communication, just to get the message out. because people need to know what’s coming.]

the thing about golems, though, is that they have this habit of turning on their creators. the classic golem does not think for itself, so-- sometimes it takes its orders too literally, and goes too far. sometimes it just gets too powerful, too strong, and refuses to be controlled. they get dangerous, and have to be stopped.

but that paradigm takes for granted that the golem’s creators are in the right. that they’re the wise rabbis, the ones with the best interests of the people at heart. and as we know, Mr. Teeth has never met a trope they didn’t want to subvert.

so what happens when that’s not the case? when the creator is reckless and paranoid, and a little too trigger-happy with their creation? well, then the golem has to decide whether saving Atlas means saving the people, or the place. because that’s the choice: follow the letter of the law, even if it allows harm to happen, or act in the spirit of the law, even if that means breaking it.

in other words, to become a vigilante.