Ruby and Jaune are spot on, but seeing as the books are god awful and I don't consider them canon at all cause they did Team SSSN so fucking filthy it's not even funny.

However I do agree that Sun's journey as a Huntsman should have indeed been about him maturing and taking things more seriously. I don't agree that he's a bad Sun Wukong allusion, just that RT handled him poorly (like everything in their damn show). Sun isn't a terrible leader, but he was definitely getting there to be his best and we never saw his progress because it was relegated to books that focused way too much on CFVY and also assassinated CFVY as characters.

Coco was honestly fine before the books, and I feel that as a second year IIRC, she could have given Ruby, Jaune, Sun, and dare I say Cardin some pointers on how and what to strive for as Team Leaders, and she subsequently learns from them too.

‘People make mistakes’ is the absolute worst argument in defense of something that I have every heard. I find it even more insulting than the infamous ‘don’t like, don’t watch,’ because it implies that putting effort into your craft is optional.  What this argument says is that I am in the wrong for expecting anything more than garbage. You are legitimately saying, ‘It could have been better, but you’re wrong for saying so.’  Yes, I realize that nobody is perfect and that they are going to screw up every now and again.  That’s why I’m criticizing it.  I mean, when was the last time you heard people get criticized for doing something right.

Give me Summer Maiden Ilia. Give me Summer Maiden Coco or Velvet.

Give me Summer Maiden Arslan or Reese.

Give me any member of NDGO as the Summer Maiden.

For the longest time now, I’ve rarely ever seen content that’s 100% about Emerald. I’ve mostly seen E/mercury, E/mberald, content that barely features her in it, and even content that has nothing to do with her at all. 

 As an Emerald fan, I’ve become quite annoyed with seeing all of this improperly tagged content within the tag. 

What are my top four favorite non-romantic relationship dynamics for them?

Something I realized when trying to think of answers to this question - Blake by far feels the most separated from the main team. By that, I mean she feels like the character that has the most life outside of the team, like it’s not as big a part of her life as it is for Ruby and Weiss. She has a stronger relationship with Sun than her teammates, opening up to him in V1 instead of Ruby or Yang. When Yang talks about her family, Blake doesn’t reciprocate. It’s not until V3 that she says anything about Adam - and of course it’s in her right to keep private! But combined with being completely separate from the main plot for both V4 and 5, dealing with an entirely new cast of characters - her parents, Ilia, the fox brothers - it has her feeling like the team is just a small piece of life, and that it would be perfectly in character for her not to rejoin them in Haven, instead continuing her work with the White Fang. That is her ultimate goal, after all; to fight for racial equality. Why leave that, her goals, family, friends, and home for a team that she feels less attached to by comparison? Sorry, tangent over. Point is, RWY probably won’t heavily feature here and it’ll probably be more “relationships I’d like to see more of”.

Ozpin: First on the list - I feel like these two would have a lot to talk about, especially after the reveal of Ozpin’s past. Both of them have suffered the abuse of a romantic partner, and Ozpin’s unique perspective as someone that lived before the Faunus came into being and has observed the progression of human/Faunus relations should be something that Blake would be incredibly interested in. We got a taste of what their dynamic would be like in V2 as student and professor, and I could see it continuing that way - Blake mining Ozpin’s experiences for knowledge and advice, and the two working together to help support Faunus rights, using Ozpin’s first-hand experience of what tactics have the quickest and longest-lasting effects. A lot of healthy debate and mutual growth in that department. Also, just any acknowledgment of the fact that Blake should be able heavily sympathize with what Ozpin went through, of having a manipulative romantic partner that convinced you to go further and further down a road that you weren’t completely comfortable with, and then turned on you and lashed out when you tried to leave. I feel like the two could give each other some healthy mutual support in dealing with those wounds. I just think it’d be neat~

Qrow: So, I was pretty surprised when the V7 soundtrack rolled out and there was a song (Brand New Day, I think) that I think most people would agree with me in saying sounded like a duet between Qrow and Blake. It was such an odd choice, but from what I remember, it was an interesting... idea (I say idea because as far as I remember they didn’t really do shit with it, especially on Blake’s end). Both Blake and Qrow seemed to have resolved to move forward between V6 and V7, Blake wanting to end the chapter of her life that Adam ruled over now that he’s gone for good, and Qrow realizing that his attitude and alcoholism has become outright dangerous to the people he cares about (if only that had stuck). The idea of the two of them both resolving to pull themselves together and treat their time in Atlas as a new start, as a blank slate to become better versions of themselves, is one that I can get behind. A little redundant maybe since Blake did something similar in terms of character growth just in V5, but I could appreciate V5 being her gaining the confidence to trust her friends and allow herself to be supported by them, finding the courage to face Adam, and then V7 being her finally putting that chapter of her life to bed after Adam’s death, and starting something new. With Qrow, I also like the thought of him actually wanting to get his shit together - to put effort into his appearance, to work on sobering up, to find something else beyond Ozpin and the Salem mission to spend his life on now that his faith in Oz has been so heavily shaken (too bad that didn’t happen on-screen, or stick). Seeing the two of them recognize that they’re both trying to improve themselves and choosing to support each other in their respective journeys would be really sweet - Blake helping Qrow find a new outfit and keep him away from alcohol, Qrow helping Blake repair her relationship with Yang with his knowledge of his niece, and the two of them helping each other remember that they can rely on their friends and family to help support them, no matter the misfortune that they feel they may bring to the people they care about. A black cat and a bad luck charm - I’m surprised we haven’t gotten a conversation between the two.

Ruby: Yeah, I know what I said at the top, but these two were sleeping in the same room for 6 volumes and I can only think of 4 interactions they’ve had - and only two of them are longer than, like, a line. We were robbed of seeing any kind of cross-partner interaction like we got with Yang and Weiss. Blake gives this speech in V8 that, besides just... not making much sense if you think about it for too long... doesn’t mean anything to the audience because the last time Ruby had a meaningful conversation with Blake was literally in V1 E03. Give us something to work with here! It wouldn’t be that hard to have Ruby and Blake talk about their different outlooks on the world, with Blake trying to be positive but tending to be pessimistic, and Ruby being fairly optimistic and having to be convinced to consider other possibilities. Both of them could learn from each other, Ruby learning to consider motivations more strongly and Blake relearning to have hope after coming out of the White Fang having seen it gone so wrong, and then maybe Ruby would actually have earned Blake’s supposed admiration in Volume 8. Also I remember seeing a fic where Ladybug was a side pairing and it was super cute, so, uh, yeah, more of that dynamic platonic or otherwise please XD

....Annnnnd that’s it. I can’t think of anyone else that I’m just like, yeah, I could see these two having an interesting rapport. I like Sun as a romantic interest too much to put him in this section, and I’ve never really been interested in her parents or Ilia. Maybe Marrow, as a Faunus in a high position of power in the most racist kingdom in Remnant? It feels like they’d have something to talk about, but that’s kinda ruined by the writers not being able to write a racism story and refusing to uphold their previous worldbuilding. Pre V2 Adam is also something I was interested in solely for the “student realizes what their mentor is doing is wrong and can’t continue to support them but will continue trying to reach out and find common ground again” type vibe they had going on, but Post V3 Adam ruined that so thoroughly it basically sewed salt in that earth sooooo, yeah, I’m just going to move on now.

What season were they at their best and why?

I’m going to say V2 - I think she gets some really good characterization during the hunt for Torchwick, showing her tendency to get obsessed and pursue something single-mindedly, and her team worrying about her and trying to get her to rest for her sake is a nice bonding moment, even if the later talk with Yang has some... issues. Also, the Mountain Glen talk with Weiss and Yang is very nice, giving us insights into her insecurities and motivations as a huntress. The train fight also rocks, and getting to really see her Semblance in action as well as how it can work with the addition of Dust gets you really hype, wondering how other Semblances can be modified with the use of Dust. All in all, I think Blake gets cool fights and good character moments in V2, more so than any other volume off the top of my head, so it gets my seal of approval.

What season were they at their worst and why?

Hmm.... without rewatching the Mistral arc, I’m going to say it’s a toss up between V4 and V8. V4 is not kind to Blake, at all - who thought it was a good idea to make her slap Sun multiple times and never apologize for it? Being pissed after he followed her is one thing, but she slaps him on multiple different occasions and never apologizes for any of them. It’s not okay. 

But at least she’s actually fighting Grimm and doing something in V4. She does nothing in V8 but play damsel in distress; you could take Blake out of V8 and nothing would change, that’s how little she does. She’s not even allowed to hold her own in a fight anymore and it’s really sad. And for some reason she acts like she’s afraid Yang’s mad at her?? Like, what? It reeks of “there was meant to be a fight between Blake and Yang but we had to cut it, but didn’t rewrite the rest of the volume for some reason.” Thing is, though, without any concrete reason for her to be fretting, it paints Yang and Blake’s relationship in a really bad light - like Blake’s afriad that leaving Yang’s side for any amount of time for any reason is going to get Yang mad at her, which, uhhhhhh... not something you should be implying with a ship that’s had some pretty sketchy moments in the build up, like the promise never to leave, them getting angry at Marrow for even suggesting they learn to work with other people, them having a fight that just gets resolved by killing Adam... It’s not a good look to have Blake seem so worried of Yang for seemingly no reason. 

So yeah, toss-up there.

How would I rank their outfits from worst to best?

Easy; worst is V7, then V4, V1, and V2 Hunter outfit as my favorite.

Which Hogwarts House would I sort them into (optional; what would their wand be?)

Oooh... I think the gut impulse is to slot her into Ravenclaw, because then you can have Gryffindor Ruby, Hufflepuff Yang, Slytherin Weiss, and Ravenclaw Blake, but I’m going to say Blake is a Slytherin. She’s goal-driven, resourceful, stubborn, favors subtlety in battle, incredibly determined, has a self-preservation streak, and ambitious. I think Slytherin’s emphasis of knowing what you want to do and doing whatever it takes to get you to that goal would suit her well, while Ravenclaw’s focus on knowledge, wit, and logic fit in some ways, but not others. I could see Blake as a History of Magic nerd, to be honest, and preferring the library to Quidditch matches unless her significant other is on the pitch~ 

As for wand, Blake is a bit tricky as there are a few that I think she could work with, but I want to say aspen with a unicorn hair core, though I could easily be persuaded into beech with a dragon heartstring core, or a few other various wood/core combinations.

What do I think this character would be like if they were on the opposite side (good characters are bad, bad characters are good)

I’ve got two - one semi-plausible for the character and one that’s just a blatant “eh, they have similar vices, so role-swap?” crack idea

First, the one that makes some sense is Blake not leaving the White Fang at the beginning of the series, but rather being an undercover White Fang operative on a special mission; to infiltrate Beacon and either kidnap or assassinate Weiss Schnee. Either holds some promise - kidnapping Weiss to ransom her back to Jacques Schnee in exchange for the downfall of the SDC/improved Faunus rights, or outright assassinating her to send a message to Jacques that the Schnee line will not continue, and not even a Huntsman Academy like Beacon is safe. 

And the crack one - in Mountain Glenn, Blake seems to emphasize that she sees herself as someone that runs from challenges, that when things start getting hard she ducks out. So, wouldn’t it be fun to see her in the role of our resident coward Raven? Blake as the leader (or second-in-command to Leader Adam) of a bandit tribe, looking out only for their band of Faunus after leaving Mistral due to discrimination, robbing human villages and living a nomadic lifestyle among the Grimm-infested woods, even taking on masks of the Grimm they hide among. Could be interesting~

If I suddenly had control of RWBY, what would I want to do with this character after the events of V8?

Give her something to do besides playing “will they wont they” with Yang! Anything! She’s had nothing to do for two volumes now, and it’s clear that the writers just have no idea what to do with her, so they’re stretching out the B/Y relationship confirmation because that’s the only thing they have still going for her after ditching the Faunus and Adam. I don’t know what they can give her at this point now that the CEO of Racism is dead, they missed their chance to do anything interesting with the Faunus in Atlas, and Sun won’t be back for at least another volume, but just give her something to do besides be this flustered, meek, timid girl that suddenly can’t win a fight by herself. I’d have to rewatch the volume to confirm, but does Blake win any fights in it? At all? Blake used to be a passionate, outspoken, determined ninja that could hold her own against a gang leader, a train car of robots, Grimm, and other trained huntsmen. V8 Blake can’t hold off one Grimm, and seems like she’ll fall to tears if Yang gives her a mean look. 

They both have older siblings.

They both have a deeper connection to the ocean than most people realize.

You can say that Neptune trying to be cool is his way of getting legs.

Plus I think it would make a fantastic story line between him and Weiss if he heard her singing one day and that leads to him being inspired to be a huntsman because he truly understands the meaning behind her song.

Bonus points if he doesn't know she's the one that was singing

Lol I could see that making sense as well, CRWBY was never concrete with their character allusions at times.

Honestly I had a friend of mine point out that Team SSSN could have and should have been the OG team from the actual Journey To The West story;

Sun is obviously Sun Wukong, has the clones ability and his staff, but unfortunately Sun's design just doesn't reflect that allusion. All he has is Ryu-Bang and Jingu-Bang, the golden hair and tail, the red armor on his forearms, but not much else.

Sage and Scarlet fall into neither other members, cause neither of them have traits of Piggsy or Tripitaka.

Neptune however is all over the place and the only thing he has to Sandy is his water manipulation Semblance and his polearm type weapon. Granted it's not a Monk's Moonblade like Sandy's but it's close.