Another RWBY Fan

Now, I'm VERY aware that the odds are against us. But I absolutely REFUSE to go down without a fight. Because if RWBY has taught me ANYTHING, it's to never stop fighting for what you believe in. Even when all hope seems lost, you keep going. Because if you don't fight back, who else will?

So please, if you're reading this, spread the word. This astounding series needs your help to continue. Share this series with your friends and get them on board the train. The more, the merrier. Give the team behind the series your unending support. They absolutely deserve it.

RWBY is an absolutely INCREDIBLE work of art. For it to get cut off here would be an absolute travesty. So don't let that happen. It's time for us, the fans, to stick up for ourselves. It's time to…

Please guys if you love RWBY don’t stop in your support for volume 10. Keep letting the higher ups know that you want this series to continue and that there is a demand. They just announced the bluray release of V9, if you can please support the series by buying the set. If we can show WBD that the numbers justify more volumes then the chances of it happening can increase even more.

So, here's my two cents, as a longtime RWBY fan.

First off, fuck Rooster Teeth. They're a shitty, exploitative company, and they suck.

Secondly, obviously real peoples' lives are more important than a cartoon show.

But I've seen a sort of vindictiveness around this that's kind of weird? And I'm noticing that the wishes of the people who were mistreated are kind of being talked over.

I think sometimes it helps to take a breath and look back on what, exactly, the point of any particular boycott is. In this case, there are no unionizing workers, because it's nearly impossible to unionize in Texas, and most of these workers were leaving for better work anyway. Moreover, if we look at the parting statements of the workers who left, and the statements from the ones who are still there, not one of them have called for a boycott or piracy (as far as I'm aware. If I'm wrong, please let me know in the replies!)

In fact, several of them have wished CRWBY the best, and expressed support for the show to continue. And I think that if we're expressing rage at a company for how it treats its employees, it's pretty important to center what those employees want.

I haven't had a FIRST account since October 2020. I'm all for people cancelling their FIRST accounts, I think that does send a message. But if we want to support the animators without supporting Rooster Teeth, well, someone outright asked an animator how to do that on Twitter, and they replied.

So, that's pretty clear-cut, coming from one of the animators. I get that people are angry - hell, I'm still pissed at Rooster Teeth. But this isn't a Hogwarts Legacy situation. As someone on one of the many Discord servers I'm in put it,

if you buy HP stuff you're giving JKR money to lobby for anti-trans causes. If you pay for RT First you're giving RT execs money to buy a beer they don't really deserve

This is a labour issue, and so, as in any labour issue, the first step is to defer to the workers. And as far as I can see, none of the workers have asked people to boycott or pirate the show, but rather have asked us to watch it on Crunchyroll. I'm not buying any merch for this show, or anything from the Rooster Teeth store ever again, and I'm certainly not paying for RT FIRST. But that's for my own personal sense of integrity, and it's not a collective action or effective protest.

If you want to hurt Rooster Teeth (which on some level I do too, for treating the people who make my favourite show like garbage), then pirate or abstain from the show. I'm not going to judge anyone for doing so.

Conveniently, when you cancel, the RT site asks why...

So that was a nice way to be direct. Hopefully that input is actually logged somewhere.

Then they hit you with this, which was the cherry on top:

Even that was a pretty vague response honestly, so feel free to be more specific if you find yourself filling out the above forms.

Hopefully this helps someone somewhere in some way, but regardless, Crunchyroll is where RWBY's gonna be for the foreseeable future and that's where we've been urged by CRWBY to watch, so... That's where we'll be, eagerly awaiting any other indicators of how best to support CRWBY (past, present and future).

What the heck!!!

This is adorable!!!

How did I miss this!!!

Thank you so much for sharing this beautiful creation!!!

It’s incredible to think something I was inspired to create might inspire someone else to create something in response!!!

Wow!!!

This made my day!!!

What the heck!!!

This is adorable!!!

How did I miss this!!!

Thank you so much for sharing this beautiful creation!!!

It’s incredible to think something I was inspired to create might inspire someone else to create something in response!!!

Wow!!!

This made my day!!!

Bumbleby Menagerie AU

I envision this as a post-V6 AU where Kali and Ghira call Blake back home due to a branch of the old White Fang re-organizing themselves and threatening the peace of Menagerie. With the situation being stable in Atlas, Yang decides to join Blake on her quest. I guess this could also work as a canon divergent V4 AU, it’s up to you.

“and parent-related abandonment issues”

“and enjoys thrill of combat”

Read below the cut because this gets long.

Raven’s Darwinist mentality is, of course, rooted in a selfish, animalistic fear for survival.

Adam’s mentality is less about survival for survival’s sake, and more about petty, bloodthirsty vengeance, motivated entirely by spite.

They both masquerade as powerful leaders trying to serve their people, and in both cases their facades crumble spectacularly when the flaws in their actions are highlighted.

But after that, even with all their amazingly constructed parallels that allow them to act as perfect foils for Blake and Yang respectively, they are still fundamentally two different people.

Raven grew up a bandit, and went to school to learn how to kill the people who might ruin her family’s way of life. Somewhere in the mix, she bonded enough with her team to seemingly fall in love and deliver a child with one of them. For all her years spent pillaging and plundering, we don’t get a sense that she enjoys those acts of banditry - rather, it almost seems to her like a necessary evil as a duty to her tribe. Perhaps that was different at one time, but given her association with STRQ, it seems doubtful that she was ever truly bloodthirsty.

Whatever the deeper source of Adam’s loathsome behaviour may be, he has not shown any indication of hesitation or reluctance to brutalize or take life, and takes pleasure in doing so even when it’s clearly unecessary. Even if he did have the good of the faunus at the forefront of his motivators at one time, it’s pretty clear that he hasn’t been very genuine or dutiful about it for years. He might even have convinced himself that he’s still staying true to that duty, but his selfish, spiteful, egomaniacal actions speak otherwise.

TL;DR: They’re great parallels and perfect foils but they are still very different characters whose journeys will take them in very different directions, and that’s… kind of amazing that they’re still able to be such independent characters.

Whenever Raven has the upper hand over Cinder, the animators make sure we see these clips of Raven’s provocative and almost sadistic expressions to show that, yes, Raven is fighting Cinder to avenge Vernal and retrieve the relic, but that she is still revelling in this fight.

And we see this trait passed onto Yang for at least from the series’ start to Volume 3.

Raven and Yang (v1-3 that is) actively go looking for fights because they want to feel powerful and dominant over their opponent. And we see this desire for violence in Adam as well.

In a world where you can have an epic, showy scuffle with people for fun, using ridiculously dangerous weapons, with minimal consequences... She may be hot-headed, but Yang is there for the thrill of the fun and sport of it all (at least until shit gets real in V3, after which she doesn’t mess around). Yang does not desire violence for violence’s sake, nor does she seek power or domination over others beyond friendly competition.

I also view that fight with Cinder as Raven simply reveling in the opportunity for vengeance, in the process finding a bittersweet satisfaction in showing up an arrogant, murderous child. Not so much “yes finally a chance to commit acts of violence” as “yes finally I get to beat the crap out of you specifically for what you’ve done you foolish jerk”. Fine line, maybe, but it’s still different from Adam’s “yes finally a chance to destroy an entire institution and probably a few innocent-ish humans inside it before we go assert our dominance over humanity aw yeah”

Read below the cut because this gets long.

Raven’s Darwinist mentality is, of course, rooted in a selfish, animalistic fear for survival.

Adam’s mentality is less about survival for survival’s sake, and more about petty, bloodthirsty vengeance, motivated entirely by spite.

They both masquerade as powerful leaders trying to serve their people, and in both cases their facades crumble spectacularly when the flaws in their actions are highlighted.

But after that, even with all their amazingly constructed parallels that allow them to act as perfect foils for Blake and Yang respectively, they are still fundamentally two different people.

Raven grew up a bandit, and went to school to learn how to kill the people who might ruin her family’s way of life. Somewhere in the mix, she bonded enough with her team to seemingly fall in love and deliver a child with one of them. For all her years spent pillaging and plundering, we don’t get a sense that she enjoys those acts of banditry - rather, it almost seems to her like a necessary evil as a duty to her tribe. Perhaps that was different at one time, but given her association with STRQ, it seems doubtful that she was ever truly bloodthirsty.

Whatever the deeper source of Adam’s loathsome behaviour may be, he has not shown any indication of hesitation or reluctance to brutalize or take life, and takes pleasure in doing so even when it’s clearly unecessary. Even if he did have the good of the faunus at the forefront of his motivators at one time, it’s pretty clear that he hasn’t been very genuine or dutiful about it for years. He might even have convinced himself that he’s still staying true to that duty, but his selfish, spiteful, egomaniacal actions speak otherwise.

TL;DR: They’re great parallels and perfect foils but they are still very different characters whose journeys will take them in very different directions, and that’s... kind of amazing that they’re still able to be such independent characters.

Anon, you took the almost words right out of my mouth although I will say it’s not that Adam is racist towards the Faunus (because racism requires resentment towards someone based upon, well, their race) but that he doesn’t see anyone, not even Blake, Ghira or Sienna, as equal to himself.

Blake followed Yang through the Emerald Forest from the shadows before stepping in to take out the second Ursa and make eye contact - deliberately choosing Yang as her partner

Yang was the only one able to break through Blake’s destructive, obsessive spiral and convince her to rest, by sharing something deeply personal about her past (in fact Blake’s the only character Yang has spoken to about Raven that didn’t already know who Raven was), and making it clear attending the dance was optional as Blake resting was her main concern

Blake not only took Yang up on an offer of a dance, but ensured it was her first dance of the night (and this was Yang’s only dance of the night too, as she went back to welcoming guests and then watching the dancefloor from the balcony)

When Blake expresses doubts in herself while in Mountain Glenn, Yang is quick to compliment a trait of Blake’s that she admires (even if Blake herself can’t see it)

Blake stands to applaud Yang’s victory in the first round of the finals

Following the incident with Mercury, it’s thinking that Blake has lost faith in her that causes Yang to burst into tears. additionally, acknowledging that her doubts are brought on by a fear of her history with Adam repeating herself, she trusts in Yang’s word

On two separate occasions Blake has been stated to love Yang (”I will destroy everything you love […] starting with her” and “Ruby, Weiss, Yang… they were my friends! I loved them like I never thought I could love anybody” - with a notable voice crack on Yang’s name)

To expand on one of the things quoted above - Blake is saying she cares more about her team than she does about anyone else (which, given how she chose Yang in the forest, rings quite a bit of how the bonds of found family can be stronger than those of the obligation of blood relatives, because they’re something you choose)

Blake holding Yang’s hand and sobbing apologies (notably using her left hand, meaning she’d have to reach over and put strain on her injury, just so she could hold Yang’s hand properly)

According to Armed and Ready, there’s nothing Yang won’t do for Blake

When Yang’s looking at the photo of her team, the photo has fallen one side, so she seems to only be focusing on the half with herself and Blake on it. she also seems to be stroking her thumb over Blake’s part of the picture

Yang has stated that she wanted to be there for Blake and needed Blake to be there for her following the Fall of Beacon - a rare moment of vulnerability from Yang, especially admitting that she needed someone when so often she’s the one supporting everyone else - followed by Yang breaking down in tears because of how hurt she was by Blake leaving

Blake entering a room full of people she never thought she’d see again, and zeroing in on Yang and only saying her name

The look of pure shock on Yang’s face when she saw Blake again (with Wings playing in that specific moment - a song long speculated to be from Yang’s perspective to Blake)

Blake makes it clear she’s not going anywhere (an implicit promise that she’s back and intending to stay with her team) and Yang is willing to accept her back

(posted on Monty’s twitter a mere 3 days after Burning the Candle, featuring Yang and Blake’s heart-to-heart, and after an AfterBuzz interview where he expressed that he and the crew were very eager to include LGBT characters in the show. in addition, the only replies to this post he liked were from someone saying that he might want to be careful with what he says because LGBT fans took what he said in that interview to heart)

good romance, in fiction, doesn’t mean a static relationship with characters who are the exact same in the relationship as they were before it

characters are supposed to grow and develop over time, and a well-written relationship has those characters growing in response to each other  as the characters (and by extension, the audience)  start to understand and learn more about each other as things go on - their development is influenced by each other

those relationships are also often tested by major changes that can threaten to shatter them, but they work together to adapt to how things have changed, become comfortable with one another again, and come out the stronger for it. they don’t just accept each others flaws, they help each other grow past their flaws

I have already analysed the manipulative and abusive tactics Adam uses against Blake in the rooftop scene from the Adam character short and the parallels between this scene and the scene in which Blake doubts Yang after attacking Mercury in Volume 3. In this post I want to go into the differences between Yang and Adam. 

Adam: I don’t know. I’m out there fighting for us, and when you fight, people get hurt! What, do you want me to just abandon our cause? Like your parents?

Blake: (worried) No! I’m not saying that! I- I don’t know!

Adam: I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought them up. I just get scared when I feel like you don’t believe in me anymore.

Blake: (putting a hand on Adam’s shoulder) I never said that.

Adam: (smiling) Thank you, Blake. It’s good to know I still got you…

As I have already pointed out Adam reacts with guilt tripping, straw man fallacy and gaslighting when Blake accuses him of killing innocent people. He manipulates Blake until she feels guilty for doubting him and makes the whole situation about him and his feelings until Blake forgets about her initial complaint.

Both Adam and Yang react very emotional when Blake doubts them, which makes it hard for Blake to trust Yang right away because Adam has used his emotions against her in the past. Those scenes are direct foils to one another that show us the parallels between Adam and Yang, but they also show is how different Yang is from him. 

Blake: (glances at Weiss, then takes a deep breath before starting) I had someone very dear to me change. It wasn’t in an instant, it was gradual - little choices that began to pile up. He told me not to worry. At first they were accidents, then it was self-defense. Before long, even I began to think he was right. This is all just… very familiar. (as Yang looks up, tears now falling down her face) But you’re not him. And you’ve never done anything like this before. So… I want to trust you. I will trust you. But first, I need you to look me in the eyes and tell me that he attacked you. I need you to promise me that you regret having to do what you did.

Yang: (wipes her eyes of tears, then says as calmly as possible) I saw him attack me, so I attacked back.

It obviously hurts Yang that Blake doesn’t believe her right away, but she also takes Blake’s feelings as seriously as hers. She could have been mad at her for comparing her to such a bad person or she could have said how much it hurts her that Blake doesn’t believe her, but she doesn’t do any of that. Instead she does what Blake has asked for. 

The reason why Yang was able to convince Blake to come to the dance in Volume 2 is because she took her seriously. Instead of just asking her to come or just telling her that it’s gonna be fun she talks to her about Blake’s fears. She doesn’t tell her that being scared of the White Fang or Torchwick is ridiculous or that they deserve a night without worries, but she tells her that she needs to rest in order to be able to stand her ground against their enemies. She tells her about her mum not to make the situation about her but to show Blake that she understands her. She doesn’t even directly tell her to come to the dance, she just tells her to rest and leaves the choice whether to attend the dance or not to Blake. 

In Volume 3 she directly replies to Blake’s doubts and gives Blake a chance to believe her at Blake’s own terms. She takes her concerns just as seriously as she did in Volume 2. That’s why both scenes clearly show us that despite all the parallels Yang is not Adam. Unlike Adam she’s really good for Blake. 

In the more recent 2 volumes however, the new animation style lets CRWBY put a lot more detail into the background and the world around Team RWBY, while the girls don’t seem to pop out as much in comparison. 

Yang in All that matters: “…That the one thing I can count on is that I can’t count on you”

A common complaint I see from certain groups in the RWDE community is that Ruby is a bad protagonist and that Jaune would be better as the main character because Ruby doesn’t behave like a normal shonen protagonist, and that Jaune does, and that it would be more interesting to watch a show about Jaune getting better then of Ruby, who is already great at what she does.

There is a reason that Ruby is not like a shonen protagonist; it’s because she isn’t one, she’s a magical girl protagonist.

RWBY is a magical girl show, and trying to view it or dissect the show and point out its flaws while viewing it under a shonen lens will definitely lead to a lot of complaints that ultimately just show a lack of understanding of what the show is trying to be.

RWBY isn’t trying to tell a story of Ruby becoming the Greatest™ in her world; Ruby’s not trying to become the Best Hero, or the next Hokage, or the Pirate King. She’s not focused on gaining strength and power and becoming better and better. She wants to be a Huntress because she likes helping people, she wants to help protect everyone and anyone on Remnant because she’s a kind person. She literally called Purity Incarnate, and her Pure soul and personality is something continuously brought up. Magical Girl protagonists are known for being idealistic, and believing in hope and purity and the goodness in the world, which are all traits Ruby has. She’s idealistic to a fault, and even when she’s having the world’s cruelty beaten into her, she refuses to bend and accept that is how things should be  (Ruby v Roman/Neo is a great fight just for showcasing this aspect of Ruby’s personality).

“If anyone ever tells me it’s a mistake to have hope, well then, I’ll just tell them they’re wrong. And I’ll keep telling them till they believe. No matter how many times it takes.” – Madoka Kaname

“We’ve all lost something, and I’ve seen what loss can do to people. But if we gave up every time we lost, then we’d never be able to move forward.” – Ruby Rose