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Remembering Kittle.

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Yang, Penny, Weiss, and Blake at the end of Volume 8

Last year, when looking for another animated series to watch, I came across RWBY, a young adult animation, and one of Rooster Teeth's flagship series. While I wasn't sure about it at first, as I watched all eight seasons, I became invested in the characters, especially the protagonists, and a fan of the show itself.

Reprinted from The Geekiary, History Hermann WordPress blog, and Wayback Machine. This was the fourth article I wrote for The Geekiary. Before this got published, they said I would be kicked off the publication if I don't start writing, if I remember right. So, I started writing this post and many others. This post was originally published on October 8, 2021.

RWBY is the brainchild of the late Monty Oum. It is known for its captivating stories and a theme song, sung by Casey Lee Williams, which begins every episode, foreshadowing what happens in the season/volume. Although the series has the classic conflict of good vs. evil, there are well-developed characters with intricate storylines, elements of horror, and good character development. Some characters are even morally grey, like General James Ironwood or the Ace Ops. Other villains, such as Cinder Fall, don't want to strictly follow their leader.

Ruby in Volume 9 preview

The anime-inspired series is named after the four main protagonists: Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao Long. They stand against villains, such as Salem and her enforcers, like Cinder, Arthur Watts, Neopolitan, Tyrian Callows, Mercury Black, and the Grimm monsters. On the other hand, Ozma/Ozpin/Oscar Pine, Lie Ren, Nora Valkyrie, Qrow Branwen, Robyn Hill, and Jaune Arc, among others, help Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang fight against the forces of evil.

The show is clearly mature as it features its share of blood and gore, and the death of some characters, with the antagonist, Salem, even engaging in human experimentation. On the other hand, this science fantasy/adventure/action series has a large focus on magic, and sci-fi elements like the cyborg girl, Penny Polendina, and scrolls which can receive and record messages. Each of the protagonists, like those on RWBY, have a semblance which derives from their aura, helping them battle against the Grimm and other villains, either including powers such as object manipulation, disorienting people, or super strength.

I don't want to give away too much of the plot but I will say that the show features various supporting LGBTQ characters. In Volume 6, Saphron and Terra-Arc, a lesbian couple with a son named Adrian, as confirmed by Lindsay Jones, the voice of Ruby, who the protagonists, and their friends, stay with on their journey to another kingdom. Additionally, in the Volume 5 episode "Alone Together," Ilia Amitola confessed her romantic feelings to Blake, and was later confirmed by show writer Miles Luna as a lesbian in a Reddit AMA.

Most prominently is May Marigold, a trans woman. Unlike other trans characters in animation, she is voiced by a trans female voice actress, Kdin Jenzen, and her character came out as trans in the Volume 8 episode "War," which she described as "something so wildly powerful & meaningful."

LGBTQ characters in RWBY so far

There is a lot about the series which is wonderful. There is a strong possibility of confirmed LGBTQ representation in the main cast, especially since the voice actress for Blake, Arryn Zech, confirmed her character as bisexual in May 2020, and some even have argued that the shipping between Blake and Yang, known as Bumbleby, will come become canon in the show's next volume.

Even if this doesn't happen, the show is still powerful, from its music to the characters, the voice acting to the visuals, which have improved from the earliest seasons to the present-day. Although the fandom may be toxic at times, the show is unique in its colorful ship names, especially the femslash ones, like Baked Alaska (Yang and Neopolitan), Blood Mint (Ruby and Emerald Sustrai), Freezerburn (Yang and Weiss), Ladybug (Ruby and Blake), or White Rose (Ruby and Weiss) to name a few.

So, if you haven't seen RWBY yet, whether on VRV, Crunchyroll, Amazon Prime (in some locations), YouTube Movies (for purchase/rent), or on the RoosterTeeth website, now is the perfect time during the show's hiatus, before Volume 9 begins again sometime in 2022.

Ashanti

Was too lazy to draw her lion helmet😩

Click here for the other posts of ‘Behind the Scenes with Bee and PuppyCat’

Now that Bee and PuppyCat: Lazy in Space has dropped on Netflix, I thought I would share some of my recollections as to how this special series of Natasha Allegri’s came to be. –Fred Seibert

The road to Netflix was a long one.

Almost immediately after we dropped the “Bee and PuppyCat” series on Cartoon Hangover, we were thinking about the next one. The next PuppyCat, that is.

We knew the show was great, the audience did too. In fact, it had dramatically  changed viewer base on the channel. Up until that point, Cartoon Hangover had been dominated by Bravest Warriors and young men. 30% of the fans seemed to be women. With Bee and PuppyCat it became 50/50. Expected I guess, but exciting nonetheless. (We programmers get off on such things.)

But, now what? A wildly popular show. Not too much money. Again. How come? Well, the thing about YouTube is that while it’s pretty much unique in sharing it’s advertising money with channels, 1) YouTube doesn’t charge that much for it’s ads (it’s too complicated to explain why, but the simple answer is that they goofed up at the beginning of their existence); 2) a scripted, fiction show like PuppyCat, popular as it is, doesn’t generate nearly the views that a low cost influencer video does, and 3) a show like Bee and PuppyCat is really expensive to produce even when every corner is cut. (See the Kickstarter.) Of course, we’ve got to give YT big props, they’re virtually the only site out there that actually *shares* it’s income, paltry as it is. 

One way or another, we believed in Natasha and Bee and PuppyCat. Already, by the time the last episode posted on Cartoon Hangover, we had asked Natasha to start thinking about a new series, this time half hours, and map out a scripting plan.

At the same time we were finishing up the first series, as we were figuring out our next steps, I got a visit. Tom Pickett had led the team at Google that bought my online video company, Next New Networks in 2011. To my surprise, since I figured everyone at Google was a lifer, Tom filled me in on his new company, Ellation, and its plan with VRV to help programmers like Frederator launch independent subscription streaming channels. Later on in a meeting with his companion Arlen Marmel we found out it was “Bravest Warriors” and “Bee and PuppyCat,” among other Frederator productions, that was driving their interest. After some haggling, we figured out a deal that would let us produce new episodes of both shows on Cartoon Hangover Select, our new streaming service!

Score!

Above: “Bee and PuppyCat: Lazy in Space” rough draft title card for Netflix