#shitley

Whitley Schnee has been sort of a base-breaking character in recent events within RWBY. Namely with the on-screen reveal of the neglectful matriarch of the family, Willow.

Willow: No matter what happens, Weiss... please don’t forget about your brother.

Weiss looks at her mother.

Weiss: Whitley wants nothing to do with me.

Willow stops at the door and turns to look at Weiss.

Willow: Of course not, you left him alone.

She looks at the portrait of Jacques behind the desk, and Weiss looks at it too.

Willow: (sadly) With us.

For all the mixed general reception for V7, Willow might have been seen coming from a mile away, eventually bringing up how Weiss left her family to go save the day. Which, depending on whether that was relevant or not has MADE ME THINK!!!

*Dun-dun-DUNNN*

The inevitable line that Willow would bring up about Whitley might not have been foreshadowed, necessarily, ever since some critics have theorized that Whitley is just as much of a victim considering the obvious fact that Jacques is a controlling bully of a father and husband.

But I feel that the "Shitley" camp who cannot 'stan' him if you will still have reasons to not care for him, as much as there are reasons to go easier on him.

I want to clarify that this is not meant to attack Whitley stand in any way, shape or form. This is simply an opinion-based piece that I felt like putting out there based on discussions with friends about the character. With that being said, let's begin.

Ever since Whitley's debut in V4, and with how quickly he turned on Weiss, most of the FNDM agrees that she never should have been treated that way. And with Weiss being seen as a beloved character by do many that it has made some of us wondering who's in the bigger wrong: Jacques or Whitley.

While we mostly agree that Jacques is a horrible father, husband, CEO, and generally a bad person there is always the possibility of how one abuser can corrupt so many others. As Vladimir Lenin once said: "One man with a gun can control 100."

The same applies for Jacques, given how he sent his wife into an alcohol-related despair, neglected his daughters into joining the military with the other becoming a Huntress respectively.

And the son has become a pawn in Jacques sphere of influence, by kicking Weiss while she was down and put under house arrest for finally speaking out against the Colonel Sanders-looking motherfucker we all love to hate.

None of this is really deniable at this point. What is more debatable however, is Whitley as a whole. Is he a victim? Is he just an unsympathetic little twerp?

Just so there are no secrets to any biases here, I am in the Shitley camp.

I myself grew up in an abusive home. Mom was a violent drinker and pill popper who drove my siblings and I to madness, which is why Willow was revealed to still have a heart and care for her babies.

This whole conversation between her and Weiss resonated with me, because of how I didn't have a mother with a heart like Willow's underneath all the booze. All the misplaced neglect. Which I never experienced.

Perhaps this can come off as more of a RWDE/venting post, but I just wanted to write something about how I feel that Shitley is a valid belief. And that I suppose I felt like presenting a more justifiable reason than: "oh Whitley is an irritating little shit" without any major explanation.

I can't speak for all Shitley believers, but you could say I was sorta coming to my camp's defense with this post and we really mean no harm to those who believe in Whitley being redeemed, which some of us do not.

Look, given the near endless string of abusers I dealt with besides my mother as a kid, I'm basically a little jaded with seeing people take sides with abusers of different motives since that's what Whitley reminded me of.

Basically a continuation of @bibivanna 's post lmfao

Extra:

Good catch. I joke about “Shitley” a lot, but as reprehensible as Whitley’s attitude is, it’s important that we remember that that comes from somewhere. Even a person as awful as Adam “It’s Time I Got What I Deserve” Taurus has reasons for being and acting a certain way. At what point those characters become irredeemable or unsympathetic is… difficult to discern. But what’s important is that there are reasons and sources for their behaviour - otherwise they are unrealistic, uninteresting characters whose involvement detracts or distracts from the real drama and themes present.