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Additional Notes on the Consequences of V9
I know what you are thinking. "This isn't Chapter IV" and "Is he really still complaining?"
The answer to both is "yes". Allow me to explain, though before I do, I would like to make it clear that you do not have to read this "filler chapter". This chapter is for those who share in my frustrations with how RWBY has been handled since the death of Monty Oum, as well as how CRWBY have taken things to an entirely new low with V9. If you are just here to enjoy some escapism (intense foreshadowing right there) and do not want to hear me rant further, then go ahead and skip it. No insult taken. For those of you who are just as frustrated and insulted with RT and CRWBY as I am, or are at least mildly interested in how bad things have gotten that I would need to release a chapter dedicated to it, I hope you will find this informative, if nothing else.
For the record, I do not like writing about this sort of thing, as I would much rather tell stories, with some extra notes and mild commentary. So, if that is the case, why did I write all of this? To put it simply, since I know that no one else will—certainly not Hero Hei, Adel Aka, and whoever else that remotely cares anymore—I just feel as if I have to. I have always been the outlier when it comes to RWBY, so I just feel compelled to voice my thoughts—even if it eats away at what little free time I have, as well as my happiness. DDCT, BICO, and JADA, were written with the "If you want something done right, do it yourself" mentality, so why stop now?
With that now out of the way, let us begin.
As I said in the previous chapter, there was much more to be said about the nonsense that occurred with V9, though not about the story itself. Yes, it is about the story, but it had more to do with the insane hubris of CRWBY. I tend to ignore anything and everything they say, as very little, if any of it, can be taken with any sort of credibility. They have repeatedly lied since V3—everything from planning, to the state of progress of volumes, to what is going on at the company—without being able to provide evidence to their claims. The scandals that come out from Rooster Teeth are enough for me to not care what anyone involved says, with the only exemptions being when they say something that hurts their arguments, exposes themselves as liars, exposes themselves as idiots (and that they know nothing about the show they write/voice for), or exposes how they actually do not care about the show.
What has been clear as crystal, however, is the show's intentions. The show has spoken for CRWBY time and time again in how they think, how they see the characters, how they see the show, how they see their audience, how they see the critics (as few of them as they are), how they see Monty, how they see the genre, and how they see the world. Whilst I have come across some new information that has confirmed my suspicions in how they write RWBY (the Official Companion for one; though while so heavily retconned—even before V9—and is not worth the paper it is printed on, it has some damning evidence), some clips from the blu-ray commentary tracks that make it to YouTube, or I stumble across something in the occasional perusing on the wiki, I do not go looking for it. Why trust a pack of traitors?
And even when I hear something that sticks in my craw, it is gone within two days, if not the same day. I just make a wry face, nod, and use that distaste to fuel my writing. That is it. It may boil under the surface for years a little while, but it does not stop me from doing my own thing.
Consider my shock when a reader of mine by the name of Nerd315, brought to my attention a certain video released by Rooster Teeth Animation's YouTube channel titled, "Why RWBY Volume 9 Went Fairy Tale". Since I never had any reason to go looking for such videos—I also unsubscribed from every RT channel years ago—I was not aware that CRWBY had gone full modern creative, where they make videos where they confess to all their sins—just like Benioff and Weiss with Game of Thrones; Michael Chabon and Alex Kurtzman with modern Star Trek; Chris Chibnall with modern Doctor Who; Damon Lindelof with the Watchman TV show; Lisa Joy with West World; Lauren Schmidt Hissrich with The Witcher; Kevin Smith with He-Man: Masters of the Universe; Charlie Grandy and Mindy Kaling with Velma; Eric Kripke with The Boys; Jessica Gao with She-Hulk: Attorney at Law; Kyle Killen and Steven Kane with Halo: The Series; Rafe Judkins with The Wheel of Time; J.D. Payne, Patrick McKay, and Lindsey Weber—and by extension Jennifer Salke—with The Rings of Power, the list goes on.
My life expectancy has been shortened enough as it is, so I will not wallow through the mud, as there is a series of videos that was released for V9. This video in particular, however—again, thanks to Nerd315 for telling me in the first place—had the magic words that are the admittance of complete detachment. When Nerd315 told me those words, I thought, "I have to see this", for I wanted a direct quote.
It turned out that the entirety of the video was full of eye-widening lines, which resulted in an explosion of commentary, to the point that my already long-in-the-tooth notes for Chapter III, were turning into tusks. After speaking with my editors, beta readers, and regulars, I was outvoted 2:1 to cut it, and I decided to release it as an additional chapter.
I do this because I think it is very important to talk about what CRWBY said, for what they admitted to, and stated without anyone to counter or question them, is my raison d'être. That is why it ticked me off so much, and whilst this would make for a very good YouTube video, for my response would better lend itself to that format, given the state my laptop is in, I cannot. Furthermore, with what I am trying to do with these stories, this is the place to bring it up, even if it does put the brakes on the story itself—and for that, I am sorry.
Without further adieu, I hope what I have to say about this will be as informative for you as it was aggravating for me. Let us begin.
RWBY is Not a Fairy Tale
As I have said many times over, RWBY was meant to be a fantasy epic, but because it was poorly thought out, and then ended up in the hands of those who hate fantasy, it became a laughingstock. In that same vein, I have said that RWBY makes a mockery of classic fairy tales and literature, seeking to subvert and deconstruct the tales that we have loved for so long. I have held that position for years, and I have yet to see anything to suggest or convince me otherwise.
The video we will now be dissecting is a perfectly clear presentation of the ignorance and loathing CRWBY have for both fantasy and fairy tales, as well as they being fed up with the show, and there not being a soul within that company that can or will disagree with them.
Hosting this clown-show is Jack Pattillo, one of the few members of RT that does not have some scandal attached to him (that I know of), and the only native Texan that is proud to be from Austin. Equally hilarious is his lower third saying that he is a "RWBY Superfan". Since that usually entails some rather awful behaviour—or in the case of The Rings of Power, not knowing anything about Tolkien, nor bothering to watch the show you were paid to promote—perhaps he does have some skeletons in his closet, but I think it is more likely that he could not care less about the show, and it is a hollow lower third. As if anyone who is critical of the show and the company, remains in the company.
On the panel is Eddy Rivas, the new head writer of RWBY, who leapfrogged Kerry Shawcross after Miles Luna quit, despite him being a relatively new addition. Speaking of which, Shawcross is also present as the showrunner; a position that I had never heard of—and Microsoft Word says is not a word—until 5-8 years ago, which Oxford dictionary says is "the person who has overall creative authority and management responsibility for a television program", yet it did not appear in use—according to Google Trends—until the 1990s, and even now is not in common use. So, what is the point of both a showrunner and a head writer? At least writer and director have different jobs, though I personally cannot wrap my head around that as someone who has done both. Also, what does the producer do exactly? Then there is Erin Winn, the Art Director for RWBY—who only says a couple of words in this video—and who should have been fired for her terrible work. And I say that because of how terrible RWBY has looked for so long, not because she forgot to draw Yang's arm, thus getting harassed by the community over it, which she did not deserve. It is not as if Yang has had a fake arm for years or anything. Finally, we have Lindsay Jones and Barbara Dunkelman. I do not know why these three are here, but they are here.
It would have been more valuable—though not by much—to instead have had Miles Luna present, given that he has been involved with the show since the beginning. Whilst he did quit as head writer, and is now only the voice of Jaune, why should he not be allowed to explain something that he "must have" been a part of? Given that the show has gotten considerably worse, and Jaune, who, in all reality, was not treated any worse than usual, what would be the issue? Of course, I am being naive to think he could or would say anything on the matter, though he did admit at last that the Faunus race and anti-Faunas subplot was terrible, but it was a thought.
And here is where the shit-show begins:
Jack: Let's dive into it. So, Volume 9, a little bit different from the rest of RWBY that we've seen before. So, where did the idea for Everafter come from?
Shawcross: That's a big question. There's a lot of history there. So, way, way back in the day, this is like, I think between Volume 1 and 2, we had this idea of like, yeah, we could maybe do the Alice in Wonderland kind of themed thing that was actually going to be a tangible place that was between the fall of Atlas and what came next and that was, uh, uh, eight years ago at this point.
Barbara: Oh my God!
Shawcross: Um, we kept writing, we kept writing and we got to the end of, uh, Volume 8 and Atlas falling and we're like, well, we still wanna do this, but maybe we'll do it a little different.
Right out the gate, we are dealing with immense stupidity—and funny how "a lot of history" took a couple of sentences to explain. Is it any wonder why my chapters are so long in comparison to the scripts? Also, this was a scripted segment, and yet, you could not have bothered to be more thorough or clearer on this? At least try and sound as if you know what you are talking about.
Firstly, I do not believe a single thing he or any of them say, given their default reaction is to lie, and without any evidence to back this up, I just cannot believe him. Furthermore, if you were to ask each of them the same question without them knowing what the other one said, they would give you different answers.
Secondly, you are writing a show about fairy tales and classics stories, and you want to use one of the most famous? Utter genius. Who would have seen that coming? Also, I love how much of a stereotypical blonde Barbara is with that reaction. Now, is she just being an empty-headed cheerleader towing the party line? That is very likely, though it also implies that she has never heard about this before this video, which brings further doubt to Shawcross' claims. Or she is just lying, as always, or she is shocked at how much time they have wasted.
Thirdly, it is amazing how it goes completely over their heads that the introduction of an entirely new dimension/plane of existence is monumental—which was something else I predicted correctly before V9's release. You cannot just drop that with a smile as if you are serving a Coke. Then again, is this surprising? They have been doing this for a long time; introducing insane technology, magic systems, and a shocking amount of retcons, without a single concern if it hurts the story, or destroys the verisimilitude. Sky is the limit when you do not give a shit, and boy, are they at the end of their rope with this volume.
And fourthly, to be charitable, I am sure it was an idea...just like everything regarding RWBY was an idea; an idea that never got thought out past the "wouldn't it be cool" stage. And to make matters worse, Shawcross admits that there was never a narratively appropriate or logical way to include Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (the actual name of the book, by the way), and therefore, they did it because they wanted to. This is why you need to bounce your ideas off people who are critical, as well as having experience in this genre, which further proves there are no such people at RT, because just because you want to do something, does not mean that you should.
The Fable of the Blind Man and the Cub
There was once a Blind Man who had so fine a sense of touch that, when any animal was put into his hands, he could tell what it was merely by the feel of it. One day the Cub of a Wolf was put into his hands, and he was asked what it was.
He felt it for some time, and then said, "Indeed, I am not sure whether it is a Wolf's Cub or a Fox's: but this I know—it would never do to trust it in a sheepfold."
Evil tendencies are early shown.
I would also like to remind everyone that all CRWBY did was copy and paste Lewis Carroll's story into V9—not simply the story, but had the actual book there—and this is supposed to be "filler".
Rivas: Yeah, the idea with Volumes 7 through 9 was always that it was gonna kind of culminate in, like, a personal story with Team RWBY.
Pardon me? What? What personal story? V7 and 8 was nothing more than an allegory of the 2016 American Presidential election and the humiliation of the Kingdom of Atlas, and the only "personal" story for Team RWBY, was how neither Yang or Ruby are sisters, but instead were deeply narcissistic, selfish, and unlikeable. Weiss did something with her family, Ren and Nora were destroyed, and Jaune and Blake merely existed to be mocked. What? Do you see why I say that they are completely detached from reality? It is not just the community. CRWBY have been guilty of it as well, and for just as long.
Also, that was a complete non sequitur, and bears no relevance to the question Pattillo asked, or what Shawcross said. I can play that game too. In this video, Barbara keeps looking at Rivas in a way that can only be described as intense smugness, or sexual desire. Now, did that have anything to do with the topic at hand? No, but it is an observation.
Rivas: OK, maybe this island Everafter idea could be worked into at the end of Volume 8 and it would be a really great place to kind of reset, get away from the main narrative and, and actually let Team RWBY all have some time together, make it feel a little bit more like Volume 1, just in the sense of being more focused.
Shawcross: Pare things down a little bit, you know.
Barbara: The most crazy volume yet—"pare it down a little."
Winn: "Back to the basics."
Lindsay: Extreme visuals, "simple themes?" Yeah, yeah.
You have been getting away from the main narrative for years, though to be completely honest, what exactly is the main narrative of RWBY? It started off as a story about killing monsters, then there was some sort of mystery evil, then everything went to shit, and you then continuously reset things so often that even I have lost count. Also, for the first 6 volumes, about 50% of the runtime was wasted on White Fang/racism nonsense; a runtime that was already too short to tell an epic fantasy properly. They truly are on another planet.
Also, I love that you need to have to do this at the literal 11th hour, because of how broken Team RWBY is. They are not friends, and you all know it, so you hit the pause button to try and "fix" it. That is hilarious and pathetic—and not at all what happens in V9, to which they instead made things worse. Furthermore, you then go on to say in Chapter 4 that old RWBY was "too simple", and here you are at the start of the airing of V9 claiming you are trying to hearken back to it? Which is it? And what exactly is thematically simple about time-travel, suicide, introducing another world, introducing the One True God, reincarnation, pre-determinism, and existential crises? How is this like V1 precisely? Pare it down, indeed.
What I will say—and I was not expecting to say this—is props to the ladies here for laughing in Shawcross and Rivas' faces for being so full of it. I know, probably not what they intended by it, but what they said and how they said it is valid criticism in how nonsensical the people writing this show are. I wish there had been a lot more of that. Maybe we would have gotten a better show.
Of course, what is most insulting is that the reasons they are providing us as to why they introduced the Everafter, was to effectively take a break when time is of the essence, given that the world is at stake. Surely they must have a better explanation that that—preferably one that does not make them look so brainless and heartless.
Pattillo: So, is that why you want to do it right now? Like, it's a good spot to fit it in?
Shawcross: I'd say so. Yeah, because I think we knew even before we wrote them that Volume 7 and 8, the fall of Atlas was—
Rivas: Going to be a low point.
Shawcross: It's gonna be a low point and it was gonna be a lot. I think we all kind of felt like, let's, let's take a little bit of a breather, you know, and, and do something different.
Nope! You just admitted that there was no place to include this absurd idea for Wonderland (I am going to call it that from now on because that is what it is), and you are doing it solely because you want to. And to do this, you had to make this a "filler volume", where you broke what few rules remained. Do you not hear yourselves? Speaking of which, whilst you would need to watch the video to know this, you can hear how spliced together the audio is, meaning Shawcross either rambled too much, or he stuttered and had a dozen "ums" throughout his response, and the editors had to clean it up. Given that they cut away to footage of V9 to cover it, I think that was the case.
Also, so because of the "low point", you felt it necessary to "take a breather"? Are you children? Do you think that the audience are children and cannot handle it? Well, at least we can agree on that last one. Furthermore, since you have portrayed Atlas as such an "evil" place for so long, why is it a "low point" to witness its destruction, pray tell?
And to "do something different"? This show is indistinguishable from every other show that has been aired in the last eight years—if not longer—as well as major films, hitting all the same notes—plot points, character archetypes, themes, and messaging. They even committed Gingercide—the killing off or race-swapping of redheads and gingers (usually women) with black people—and doubled down by killing Penny again, and race-swapping Alice, who is not actually blonde, but auburn (reddish-brown); though, to be charitable, I doubt they knew that when they made the change. For those interested, there is a comprehensive, if now out of date, list of this modern phenomenon in action in the comic book world called "Every Single Redheaded Comic Book Character That Has Been Race Swapped" by John F. Trent from Bounding Into Comics.
Something different. What a joke.
Pattillo: So, you're saying this is like a pressure valve essentially where you can have some fun with it, sort of bring some energy and some positivity back a little bit?
Shawcross: I mean, I, I think this is probably something we'll get into later but it's, it's, it can be kind of hard to get to some of these more, like, character driven things when the world is also ending.
Barbara: Right.
Yes, Kerry, the world is ending, yet you seem to constantly forget that fact in your decision-making when it comes to the story and how the characters react. I must admit, "Pattillo" (we all know these questions are screened, but let us roll with it) is asking the right questions, as well as the right follow-ups, and the answers he is getting are indeed terrible for CRWBY and the show. Sadly, this hurts me, as there should be some other very obvious follow-ups he could and should be asking. Of course, you do not want to spoil anything, but looking back, you can see how full of it they all were, and still are. Then again, as I said before, admitting your flaws and trying to improve upon them, are not the same thing.
The Fable of the Cat and the Cock
A Cat pounced on a Cock, and cast about for some good excuse for making a meal off him, for Cats don't as a rule eat Cocks, and she knew she ought not to.
At last she said, "You make a great nuisance of yourself at night by crowing and keeping people awake: so I am going to make an end of you."
But the Cock defended himself by saying that he crowed in order that men might wake up and set about the day's work in good time, and that they really couldn't very well do without him.
"That may be," said the Cat, "but whether they can or not, I'm not going without my dinner"; and she killed and ate him.
The want of a good excuse never kept a villain from crime.
Also, that "get into later" comment has now become Shawcross' catchphrase. Allow me to translate: we will never talk about it again, or at best, say it quickly in passing, also known as "Mystery Boxes" brought to you by Jar Jar Abrams. As I have said before, this "character driven" notion had to be done at the start of the show, not now, which is why I had to do so much of it in DDCT, and will also throughout JADA. Again, doing this in the 11th hour of the show is an admittance of failure in character development and storytelling. Furthermore, I hate to break it to you, but there are no characters in RWBY to drive the narrative. Every "character" is an allegory, a punching bag, a self-insert, a political prop, or a token. Simply put, they are purse puppies, and there are no exceptions.
I personally view that the usage of the phrase "character driven" in the modern era is to cover for the lack of plot and story. Of course, there are neither characters nor plot in modern storytelling, though it is rather fascinating that every time a terrible TV show comes out, the phrase "character driven" is used to describe it. There is no denying that good characters are crucial to a story, as well as that good characters can help forgive weak plot—that is what RWBY was at first, in fact—for having a good story, yet presented with detestable characters to follow, makes said story unreadable. However, I would stress that for the longevity of a story, as well as being able to return to it again and again, especially in the genre of fantasy, the plot has to be as good as the characters. The story is the path, and the characters are the guide. Due to this, I would say that the best stories stress characters over plot, but to a 51-49 ratio in the best of scenarios. RWBY, however, since V3, has neither.
Good try, boys, but no.
Shawcross: How do we take away that threat a little bit, or at least temporarily so that we can address these things with it? Feeling like, hey, I know this character is sad but the things are on fire. What are you gonna do?
Barbara: Everything kinda sucks.
Shawcross: Yeah. Um, so, this is a way for us to balance that a little bit.
Rivas: Yeah. It would feel really weird to kind of, uh, pause it while everyone's kind of still on Remnant, you know, trying to figure things out. We really wanted time for the four main girls to, to be able to do that with themselves.
Well...there it is—stated in, at least, quintuplicate. I would like to say that I am glad they can admit it openly, however, I know that it is because they know they will never receive criticism from their community, that they feel so comfortable in admitting this and more. Remember, Shawcross admitted to the very same thing with halting the story for Team RWBY to have tea in V8 whilst Atlas is being attacked outside à la Marie Antoinette. He said that he was afraid with how bad it would look to the audience in the director's commentary—and by God was he right—yet CRWBY did it anyways. Now, they say it again in the open; not behind the paywall of the blu-rays, but for all to see, and repeat the same, story-shattering error. You really can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make it drink.
The Fable of the Fox and the Monkey
A Fox and a Monkey were on the road together, and fell into a dispute as to which of the two was the better born. They kept it up for some time, till they came to a place where the road passed through a cemetery full of monuments, when the Monkey stopped and looked about him and gave a great sigh.
"Why do you sigh?" said the Fox.
The Monkey pointed to the tombs and replied, "All the monuments that you see here were put up in honour of my forefathers, who in their day were eminent men."
The Fox was speechless for a moment, but quickly recovering he said, "Oh! Don't stop at any lie, sir; you're quite safe: I'm sure none of your ancestors will rise up and expose you."
Boasters brag most when they cannot be detected.
I now must comment on this need to take a break from the perspective of the characters. Do characters need to take a break from time to time, especially when things go terribly? Yes, but there is a time and a place and a method to do something like this, not to mention context, and this was the worst on all fronts yet. This is such a ham-fisted, callus, and selfish way to do this, as to have the characters (and the writers for that matter) show no concern for the lives of the innocent in the wake of an apocalypse is outrageous. It is their jobs to put the lives of the people above their own, and such a dereliction of duty is so disgraceful, so shameful, so narcissistic, that it cements how Team RWBY are not heroes. Think, in comparison, to our own soldiers, how they pressed on in some of the worst battles in history. Now remember that Team RWBY are superhumans who continuously take breaks. What an obliteration of stakes, as well as shameful behaviour from these "heroes".
I know. I am just repeating myself, but it truly is amazing how they do not realize what they are admitting, nor are they aware that they are just saying the same thing over and over again, yet never justifying it past "we wanna". Do you see why I am so frustrated with not only CRWBY, but the RWBY community itself? The people who are writing the show are open about how little investment and care they have towards it, not to mention that they have poorly allocated time to develop and flesh out "their" main characters, yet RWBY zealots will fight as if all they hold dear is on the line.
The introduction of Wonderland was not a culmination of a longstanding idea, but the result of the running out of ideas—along with the copying of time-travel and multiverses from the MCU. Do not ever underestimate the destructive power of sins of omission. Bloody simpletons.
Lindsay: From an acting standpoint, just from Ruby's perspective, I like that we already had her kind of attempt to escapism, or a little bit of a pause on all that disaster that's happening in front of her through the wishes with Djinn. Now we get to experience that in a bigger playing field. The literal world that they're exploring; in where you can divulge into your feelings.
It was this very statement from Lindsay that drove me over the edge to write the following segment, which may or may not offend some people. Therefore, we shall go through it properly, breaking it down to brass tacks, and leaving it to you whether or not you take offence.
First off, thank you for admitting that Ruby is a terrible character. Her behaviour has been awful for years, and with this volume, was mocked more than ever before—to the point that people were cheering for her death. I know you are her VA, Mrs Jones—nice bit of narcissism by saying "Ruby" is a great actress, by the way—but you have to face reality, and that reality is just how out of her depth Ruby is and how she cannot handle whatever responsibilities she has been saddled with. This volume showed just how much of a scared child she is—she had a literal existential crisis—as well as just how selfish she is. It is amazing that Lindsay herself admits that Ruby is a coward and not at all a hero, given how often she just wants to run away from her problems. And to make things worse for Ruby, as well as the story overall, even though Jaune is chastised for it, he never stops trying to do the right thing, even after literal decades. I am starting to question if they truly are aware of the criticisms they receive about RWBY, let alone comprehend them.
One of the major qualities of a hero is showing courage and resilience in spite of their fear. This is vital, because courage is the rarest of the good traits, for even if you intend to do good, yet you do nothing, it does not matter. Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up and riding on nonetheless; for fear is a reaction—true bravery is a choice. In modern storytelling, however, especially with "Her-oes", they are either selfish cowards, or Mary Sues; and these days, both at the same time.
For the uninitiated, the "Her-o" is a modern female protagonist that engages and/or involves herself in the following tropes: has self-taught mastery in a difficult discipline, and humiliates the male mentor; starts amazing and stays amazing, thus never needing to grow; requires constant affirmation from the rest of the cast; promiscuous in the same way as a sleazy, playboy male would be; can take on men in physical combat with ease, regardless of physical size, strength, and experience; issues constant denigrating attacks on male characters—warranted or not; has a twisted moral compass, or has no morality whatsoever, along with other characters (as well as the creators) supporting said immorality; and have bad dads or hate their fathers, even if they prove to be good men who love their daughters. What they are, in the simplest terms, are caricatures of men, and the worst version of men, that being a smug, sexist, selfish, immature horndog, who in reality would be the description of a villain, not a hero. I recently heard the term "Überwhench" to describe such female characters, and I like it. Furthermore, these "Her-oes" are found in films and shows with girl bosses; two or three female characters to every man; full of retcons to facilitate their status; employs a bait-and-switch where the leading male character is then replaced with a female; every male character is either bad, duplicitous, cowardly, childish, incompetent/stupid, or a combination of thereof; and take female characters that we like and then turn them into insufferable chits or termagants—id est, smug cunts. Sound familiar?
Returning to the topic at hand, in my author's notes in Chapter III, I aptly used V9 Jaune as an example of a proper hero, in spite of how the show demonizes him for holding the line when the rest of the cast gives up. With that said, I have already shown in practice how a hero is meant to act with my version of Oscar Pine in Chapter II of this story. He openly admits he is terrified of what he is being asked to do, but he knows he must go forward nevertheless, understanding what is at stake—or at least, understanding enough. I again recall The Lord of the Rings, when Frodo says to Gandalf, "I wish it need not have happened in my time", and the wizard replies, "So do I, and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us". This is the "Call to Adventure" and the "Supernatural Aid" from Joseph Campbell's The Hero's Journey, which is precisely what Sam (Ozpin) became.
Ruby, as well as the rest of her team, has proven the polar opposite of a hero, with Weiss achieving the high-water mark in V4. My version of Ruby in comparison is hyper aware of her shortcomings, and wants to be the best she can be for her friends and family's sake, despite her fears of failure. As you will see in time with this story, she will be heavily tested, and I hope to show a better character than what CRWBY came up with. Honestly, what a twisting of words CRWBY spew, having heroes acting like villains, yet sugar-coating their actions in the same manner as pissing on someone and telling them it is raining. It is downright Orwellian.
You know what? I think it is time to finally break down and explain why Ruby Rose is neither a hero, nor the main character of the show. I honestly had no idea where to include a dissection of this topic in any of these stories, so why not do it here? It won't take long.
1) Her Age: Ruby, being the youngest of the group—Oscar is effectively dead, so he is disqualified—makes it difficult for her to earn and command respect. Once upon a time, we believed that with age came experience, and therefore, older men and women possessed wisdom to share with the younger generations. The leader of a village or Kingdom was an old man, the storyteller and guide was an old woman, and the grizzled General led the troops.
In current day, we no longer operate in such a logical manner. Ruby, instead, is a very inexperienced kid—literally. Having entered Beacon two years early, she is further behind than the rest of the cast, as well as (obviously) being two years younger. This, while quite apparent to us, is never presented as an issue throughout the history of the show, up until Blake mentioned it out of the blue in V8, when it should have been Weiss' prerogative to see it as being an issue back in V1. I should also point out that Ruby's age at the start of the series is not really clear, for we do not know if she entered at 14 and turned 15 in October (she was born on the 31st), or entered at 15 and turned 16. The RWBY timeline and time progression is very unclear, and it took nearly a decade to learn the remaining birthdays of Team RWBY—and still nothing on Team JNPR. It hardly matters, since they never acknowledge each others' birthdays anyways, though it is impossible to determine how much time has progressed in the show. To the shock of no one, CRWBY also have no idea, and therefore the chronicling of events is a crapshoot. Also, she looks younger than she is, which does not help.
This is a part of the "Adults are Useless" trope—Ruby herself shouts that—which, even at the height of my love affair with Anime, did strike me as odd, when there is also the great, older master archetype at every turn. This trope is not confined to the East, as we see it often with children's content here in the West, one of the most famous being Harry Potter, which, hot take, has not helped it age in my mind. Furthermore, CRWBY subscribe to the maddening belief to never trust or listen to anyone over thirty (a "popular" "philosophy" that arose in the late 60s), which may have made "sense" when they were in their twenties writing this show, though now it has come to bite them—amongst other things.
This should go without saying, but if adults went to teenagers or children for advice, and not the other way round, the world would collapse. Alas, that is what has happened in Remnant, and it is surprising to no one. I am sure that, all things being equal, Ruby's call to arms would have done nothing but hurt the war effort. Who is this girl? Where are the Councilmen? Where are the Huntmasters? What in Remnant is she talking about?
There is also the issue that not only is she young in age, but in her behaviour. It is hard to tell if her extreme naïveté and immaturity is due to her age, or poor upbringing—though probably both. She has only become more infantile as the series has progressed, and that is not becoming of a lady, making her very ungregarious, impudent, and inexorable, resulting in her becoming an Ultracrepidarian wastrel, and a nonentity. It is bad enough with her teammates and peers, but with adults with decades of experience? Insurmountable.
Also, Ruby's nickname is "Rubes", which always baffled me, for a rube is an "awkward, unsophisticated person" and a "naive or inexperienced person". That is painfully accurate, which is why I have avoided using that nickname (her name is monosyllable, so why bother?), and it is quite amazing no one, not even CRWBY, realized this. What a bunch of rubes.
2) Her Design and Archetype: Snipers are meant to be support units, and are not supposed to stand out. Making your main character a sniper instead of a member of the supporting cast, clashes when you need your main character to do what is required of them—to lead, to negotiate, to inspire, etc. It is also why Ruby is always so clumsy when she gets into fights. She needs to be there to lead, so she must use Crescent Rose in polearm form, yet that takes away from her sniper role, which does not help, since Crescent Rose looks so awkward in her hands. This is why I changed it so that her rifle was her mother's, and Ruby is doing the best she can in order to use it, which is what I had assumed at the start, and only developed it further. Then there is the personal element in that I am tired of the little girl and big weapon trope. RWBY, despite its appearance, is not an Anime, and therefore, it does not get a pass; and even then, I still do not like it.
I should also remark that Monty had given his team homework to watch certain Anime series before or during the making of the show. Since I cannot tell you what those series were through the show itself (other than maybe The Legend of Korra), I can only conclude that they did not watch them, or said series were deconstructionist crap (Evangelion) or modernist crap (Naruto).
3) Her Lack of Presence: Heroes have an aura about them. They uplift others, they shine in the dark, and when they walk into the room, you know it is them. That is not Ruby. All things being equal, no one would listen to her. She is too meek, too young, too cute (until V7), she does not take command (passing the buck most of the time), and she is small—not merely due to her height—in comparison to others.
There is already a major issue with modern "heroes" being unimpressive in order to break "stereotypes" and "inspire the mundane" to be heroes. The result is that everything—and every one of these "heroes"—become so utterly forgettable. How inspiring.
4) Her Motivation: She has none. Every hero has a motivating factor as to why they do what they do. Whether it is to be a hero (Charles d'Artagnan), was forced into it through accidental need (Bilbo and Frodo Baggins), as a way out of a tough situation (Richard Sharpe), or divine providence (King Arthur, Luke Skywalker, and Daylen Namaran), a hero has to have purpose. This is what is known as, again, the "Call to Adventure" in The Hero's Journey. Simple and universally loved.
So, what exactly is Ruby's? Mommy and Daddy were Huntsmen, so I will be one too. Now, that is not necessarily terrible, as why would one not want to follow in their family's footsteps if they have pride in them, not to mention the societal duty to become a Huntsman if you have powers—which no doubt comes with prestige. However, care needs to be taken that there is more too it on a deeper level, usually through personal convictions and morals. Unfortunately, Ruby's convictions are not convincing, nor does she have morals any longer.
What is worse is that Ruby does not seem to know very much about anything regarding Huntsmanship. She badly wants to be a Huntress, and yet does not know what the job entails, and acts shocked that she is required to do specific tasks—having to go into the field and march, for example. This makes no sense given her upbringing and the world she lives in. She was not dropped into Remnant from our world; she was born and raised in it, and went to school to become a Huntress, where her father teaches and uncle taught, and sister went before her. It is bad enough that Jaune and Oscar do not know basic things about the world, but it goes tenfold for Ruby.
As I mentioned in Chapter III, Ruby is suffering from "Ash Ketchum Syndrome"—a term I came up with. Ash Ketchum, the main character of the Pokémon anime, wants nothing more in life but to become a Pokémon Trainer and Master. And yet, despite living in the world of Pokémon, as well as living near one of the most famous Pokémon professors in the world, Professor Oak, he is constantly corrected and educated by people around him on things he should already know. Is it unsurprising that he took 25 years to become a Pokémon Master, and then immediately retired, not to mention how so many have said that he is terrible and that Red was always better? This fits Ruby to a tee, especially with her existential crisis, where she has no idea who she is or what she wants to do, though given that the world is ending, she does not have the time, the privilege, or the right to do this. Also, Ash and Ruby share another trait: their perpetual infantilism.
Whether the reason be personal, or larger than life—and even then there should be a more intimate reason alongside the altruistic motivation—a hero must have a purpose. Whether you must slay the dragon, save the princess, restore the throne, liberate your people, defeat the Dark Lord, rescue your lover or family, or defend your nation, a man has to live, fight, and die for something.
Then there is the issue of trusting Ozma in the first place in order to have the second half of the show, but that is a bigger problem for another time.
5) Her Lack of the Exceptional: Going off that last point, there is nothing about Ruby that makes her special, as all good heroes have some special quality that makes them stand out and be a hero, or at least the main character. Whether it be their courage to act and do good in the face of danger, a special bloodline, magical abilities, possessing a magical item, or the grit to stand up and put their shoulder to the wheel when it would be easier to give up, there has to be something that makes you believe this individual is the main character and a hero. Not all at once, of course, for that would make them a Mary Sue. Instead, they grow to develop those exceptional qualities—which makes them feel earned—but there also needs to be a spark that you want to see be kindled. Ruby has none of that.
To be frank, I do not find it inspirational that anyone can be a hero, for it undermines what separates a hero from the layman. I much prefer the notion that a hero can come from anywhere, so long as they have the exceptional qualities of a hero, or the potential to be one. I enjoy the idea of there being the Fighters, those who help the Fighters, and those who do nothing, as categories of people, though I would go further to include those who want to help but do nothing, those who are indifferent, those who agree with the enemy but do nothing, those who help the enemy, and the enemy themselves. The point is that those who help the Fighters are also important, and there is a degree of heroism in that as well, despite it not being as glamorous.
Now, you would think that Ruby's special quality would be her Silver Eyes, for that was immediately established as something of note back in Volume 1. Alas, it would not be mentioned again by anyone for many volumes, bringing into question just how unique silver coloured eyes are, but the more pressing issue is that her Silver Eyes served no narrative purpose, and is now only loathed by fans. And then there are the Maidens. We have just completed V9, and none of the main characters are Maidens, let alone Ruby. If, however, she was a Maiden at the start, then that would make sense, as Ozpin would want for her to be trained properly as soon as possible. Alas, the Maidens were an idea that was suggested after V1 and 2 had been completed, with the Artifacts and the Vaults meant to be the sole focus, and the change to the Maidens was last minute after Monty's death, thus resulting in the clunky and disjointed story of Ozma, Salem, the Maidens, the Artifacts, the Vaults, and the Silver Eyed Warriors.
Despite Ruby being labelled the main character, and given the era we live in, with her being right for the picking to be yet another "girl that is the key to everything", she really has nothing going for her. And no, that is not a selling point.
Ruby used to be Little Miss Supportive, so she seems to me more as a member of the supporting cast, rather than the leading character. Just look cute, bake cookies, and go to the range...at least for now.
6) Not much of a Character: That is the short of it, for Ruby was never much of a character to begin with. While she had some character traits at the start—a gun-girl of sorts—they was quickly forgotten, and worst still, was Monty's doing (I think), which CRWBY never sought to restore. Furthermore, as a sniper, she should act and think in more ways one would expect, as well as having interests that revolve around that archetype—reloading ammunition, gunsmithing, optics, ballistics, target shooting, firearm collecting, reading books on such subjects, and more. Alas, we got nothing of the sort. What is rather funny is that the BlazBlue writers remembered who Ruby used to be, having her gush over the weapons of the rest of the roster, and wanting to know more about them. I wonder how Lindsay felt reading those lines. And if they were written by CRWBY, then shame on them for knowing the truth, yet choosing not to stick to it in the show.
As you have seen thus far, my version does have all those obvious traits and hobbies, as well as having a passion for baking. These are all self evident to me, based on what was originally written in the show. This is not rocket science, yet it might as well be to CRWBY.
7) There Are Better Options: The most galling thing about RWBY is that there are better examples of leading protagonists/heroes within the cast. To be transparent, I never questioned Ruby's position as main character when I first began watching the show, despite being far more interested in Team JNPR and their story than with Ruby and her team; it also does not help that said team has two of the characters you hate most.
I have made my point in spades with Jaune Arc—a tall, blond, blue-eyed Arthurian Knight who wants to make something of himself, or get revenge for his murdered love—but there is also Oscar Pine, which I explained his hero archetype in-depth in Chapter II. Those two are the best examples, though I would also nominate Lie Ren, who may not be proper leading protagonist material, still has a better story and motivation, and I think in the right hands could work—with Nora by his side, of course. Sun Wukong is a great choice as a hero as well, being so charismatic, handsome, and selfless, not to mention is also tall, blond, blue-eyed, and muscular, and having him succeed in convincing Blake to change sides is a strong romantic element as well. Weiss Schnee and Pyrrha Nikos, while unconventional, I think are robust enough that they could also work as leading protagonists, though I can concede that it might be how much I love them as characters that it makes me want to go with them.
Is it any wonder CRWBY either kill them off or humiliate them? And technically speaking, Ozma is the main character, not Ruby. Everyone seems to forget that point.
8) Ruby is a Girl: Now, this Sword of Damocles is what RWBY zealots accuse me of thinking from the start, so to see it being listed will no doubt fill them with glee. I would suggest caring enough to prove me wrong with a successful show and good, memorable characters, but you do you.
While I feel I have to say that if the previous traits I listed were met, then Ruby's gender would not matter, I cannot lie that the chances of it working are still low. Now, for the record, her gender never crossed my mind when I started watching this show, and I did not question her position as the main character until after I quit watching. It is only after having all these years to think on it on a macro level, have I come to the conclusion that the main character of a fantasy epic should be male. All the best heroes I can think of are male, as well as every action adventure series from both the West and the East. Even non-conventional heroes like Bilbo and Frodo (I adore them, but characters like Aragorn are more of what comes to mind as a traditional leading hero), are still male. That does not mean you cannot have great female characters in this genre—far from it—which I have proven as much with my own characters, not to mention that I adore Pyrrha, Nora, Weiss, Winter, and Yang. Even Ruby and Blake in my stories shine in their unique ways, and I have introduced my own original female warrior characters. That is, in fact, the great advantage of fantasy, for you can have believable female warriors that do not have to sacrifice their femininity, comeliness, and vivacity.
That said, when the vast majority of creators and fans are male, it make sense why a male being the leading protagonist resonates. And what makes things worse for Ruby, is that in this modern world we live in, female protagonists do not go on the same Hero's Journey that men and boys do. At worst, they start perfect and never change—even if they are terrible—also known as the "Her-o's Journey", and at best, according to the so-called "Heroine's Journey", does not follow Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey even remotely, with the starting position being not "The Call to Adventure", but "Separation from the Feminine". It is dead on arrival.
On a personal note, I have already grown quite tired of children telling adults what to do, so having a naive little girl do it, makes it even more grating. If it is sexist for me to prefer a male lead, then it is sexist for women to prefer a female lead. Fair is fair...except that, even these days, women gravitate to strong and attractive masculine leads, rather than female ones.
My detractors, as well as RWBY cultists as a whole, become quite agitated when you point out how unheroic and unqualified Ruby is, chalking it up to sexism and nothing more. Whether the fanatics like it or not, there are undeniable reasons as to why Ruby fails as a hero, a protagonist, and a character, with her own voice actress admitting to them. Did she intend to? Of course not, yet she did, as pointing out how Ruby keeps running from her problems and the fight, at the most crucial of times, is damning to Ruby's existence. To use an overused, yet appropriate, quote, "You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain".
Ruby is nothing more than a narcissistic, witless, clueless, gutless, aimless, craven brat, and I just hope that my version has thus proven to be better on all counts. There is much more to come for her in JADA, which I hope illustrates my points clearly. And unlike CRWBY, I have no intention to kick her to the ground to uplift Jaune, as they did in reverse. I am not so scummy.
Also, to address the meta, Blanchette (Little Red Riding Hood) is the mascot and embodiment of all fairy tales, so for CRWBY to treat her and portray her so poorly—a deconstruction—truly does expose who they are, and how they see the show and these classics over all. Insert quote from G.K. Chesterton here.
The Fable of the Bear and the Travellers
Two Travellers were on the road together, when a Bear suddenly appeared on the scene. Before he observed them, one made for a tree at the side of the road, and climbed up into the branches and hid there. The other was not so nimble as his companion; and, as he could not escape, he threw himself on the ground and pretended to be dead. The Bear came up and sniffed all round him, but he kept perfectly still and held his breath: for they say that a bear will not touch a dead body. The Bear took him for a corpse, and went away. When the coast was clear, the Traveller in the tree came down, and asked the other what it was the Bear had whispered to him when he put his mouth to his ear.
The other replied, "He told me never again to travel with a friend who deserts you at the first sign of danger."
Misfortune tests the sincerity of friendship.
Speaking of exposing yourself, we now reach the major insult of this video. Lindsay used the word "escapism" to describe what Ruby has been doing. When I say that I lost my temper upon hearing that, it is not an exaggeration on my part, nor is it that it made me jump in with both feet into writing this piece. And here come the triggering. Damn the torpedoes!
To avoid going into a massive diatribe, I will get to brass tacks. None of these people know what the fuck escapism is. CRWBY are part of the modern creative amorphous blob collective, in that they hate escapism of any sort. Look at every piece of content made from the major studios—Disney, Netflix, Amazon, Warner, CBS, HBO, Paramount, etc—and you will not find one that does not have contemporary politics and allegory. It does not matter what type of content it is, it will have some form of political agenda, with it overtaking any story that might exist.
RWBY is exactly the same. It is full of allegories or direct insertions of our racial politics, gender politics, LGBT politics, identity politics, environmental politics, foreign affairs, social issues, and so much more, leaving no room for the show to stand on its own merits and tell a story. Again, volumes 7 and 8 were an allegory of the 2016 American elections, with Jacques Schnee as Donald Trump, Robyn Hill as Hillary Clinton, and Dr Watts as the Russians. None of this had any bearing on the story of RWBY, and that is bad enough, but what makes it far worse is that everything regarding Russia aiding Trump to "hack the election" has been completely debunked—especially with what has been revealed recently—and furthermore, Monty Oum died four and a half months before Trump even announced his candidacy, and the volume itself took place three years after the man took office, and after the Mueller Report exonerated him. I know the Orange Man lives rent-free in your head, but could you please try to be an adult and keep it to yourself?
I want to make this abundantly clear, I do not give a pinch of loon spit whether you love him or hate him, nor do I care what your politics are, just do not bring it into stories that do not require them, which goes 1000 fold for an epic fantasy, because it is IN A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT WORLD. Seriously, I barely understand the political systems of Remnant as it is—a poor copy of the United Republic Council from The Legend of Korra, which, in and of itself, made no sense in-world, as well as it being a complete misunderstanding of Plato's Republic—so how they can just shove in the American Democratic Republic system of government and the Electoral College, which was for the presidency, not the equivalent of a congressional seat, and think it works, is beyond me.
I do everything in my power not to bring up politics when criticizing the show in my stories, for if you play stupid games, you win stupid prizes, but it has become impossible. I take one look at a decision CRWBY make, and I know it was for political reasons rather than narrative ones. They even had VNN and VOX as stand-ins for CNN and FOX, just as the White Fang was for BLM and Antifa, for goodness sake. I cannot wait to see the DeSantis equivalent next volume, along with Vacuo being turned into an evil Isolationist place (Isolationism is considered good or bad solely on which politician of a particular side of the aisle is in charge) that only allows people to enter through merit, and the Atlassians being an immigration allegory. Maybe we will even get a wall—no, wait, they did that one already, plus the guy they like is in office. You cannot have it all, I suppose. Also, I should remind people that I am not American, and we bloody hate this politicking and "virtue" signaling also. Do you think I amassed over 1500 books over the course of twenty years, with hundreds of them coming into my possession within the past eight years alone, by dropping everything and watching the latest movie or show? Fuck modernity, embrace the classics.
People like CRWBY actively include all of these contemporary elements, because not only is it all that they know, but because they do not want you to ignore current day. On a personal level, I think we should all take life a bit more seriously and not overly indulge in things to run away from our problems, but when telling stories, especially FANTASY, you MUST leave that out. Inspiration from our lives and histories can work, if not damn necessary when trying to build a believable fantasy world, but context is everything, and given that the entire point of fantasy is to leave the real world behind for a while, this is the worst genre to do this in. Is it any wonder why modern fantasy always fails?
Oh yeah, lest we forget that most of the characters are just self-inserts, despite the fact that they are supposedly based on pre-established characters from our culture. How is that for escapism?
Since those better than me have made this point, I will once again quote that most beautiful piece of wisdom in this field:
"I cordially dislike allegory in all its manifestations, and always have done so since I grew old and wary enough to detect its presence. I much prefer history, true or feigned, with its varied applicability to the thought and experience of readers. I think that many confuse applicability with allegory, but the one resides in the freedom of the reader, and the other in the purposed domination of the author."
—Professor J.R.R. Tolkien, Foreword to the Second Edition of The Lord of the Rings
As you all know, I stick to this as if it were a biblical commandment, however, I have come across an even greater observation by the good Professor. I hope you will find it as illuminating as I did:
"Children are capable, of course, of literary belief, when the story-maker's art is good enough to produce it. That state of mind has been called 'willing suspension of disbelief'. But this does not seem to me a good description of what happens. What really happens is that the story-maker proves a successful 'sub-creator'. He makes a Secondary World which your mind can enter. Inside it, what he relates is 'true': it accords with the laws of that world. You therefore believe it, while you are, as it were, inside. The moment disbelief arises, the spell is broken; the magic, or rather art, has failed. You are then out in the Primary World again, looking at the little abortive Secondary World from outside. If you are obliged, by kindliness or circumstance, to stay, then disbelief must be suspended (or stifled), otherwise listening and looking would become intolerable. But this suspension of disbelief is a substitute for the genuine thing, a subterfuge we use when condescending to games or make-believe, or when trying (more or less willingly) to find what virtue we can in the work of an art that has for us failed."
—Professor J.R.R. Tolkien, On Fairy-Stories, Children, Tree and Leaf: Including MYTHOPOEIA and The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth, p. 37
What Lindsay said may be the most insulting thing that has been spoken about RWBY, and that is saying something. There is much more to discuss on the matter, but I will save it for another time. Instead, I hope you have enjoyed my stories, as I try to provide actual literary escapism, avoiding the inclusion of anything remotely resembling allegory to contemporary politics, events, or movements. I am so sensitive to it in fact, that I avoid using colloquial terms that would come across as out of place, to the point that I take care to use descriptive terms (multi-tool over Swiss army knife, adhesive bandage over Band-Aid, tissue over Kleenex, son of a Grimm over son of a bitch, etc). Verisimilitude und story über alles, rather than politik über alles.
"But, of course, if one sets out to address 'adults' (mentally adult people anyway), they will not be pleased, excited, or moved unless the whole, or the incidents, seem to be about something worth considering, more e.g. than mere danger and escape: there must be some relevance to the 'human situation' (of all periods). So something of the teller's own reflections and 'values' will inevitably get worked in. This is not the same as allegory. We all, in groups or as individuals,exemplifygeneral principles; but we do notrepresentthem."
—Professor J.R.R. Tolkien, The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, Letter 181 to Michael Straight, January or February 1956, p. 233
Now, on the subject of exploring characters feelings, while I mock and point out how it is far too late to do this, I nonetheless go against the grain in comparison to my peers. I think it is important to explore characters' feelings, HOWEVER, there is a time, a place, and a method for everything—and this ain't it. Modern creatives always get it wrong, choosing the worst times to explore a character's feelings, and it is nearly always on subjects that bear no relevance to the story. In direct contrast, please allow my work to showcase how to do it correctly. Why do you think that Chapter I of DDCT right away addresses the issues of Team JNPR's feelings? Because it was the time and the place to do it. Why do you think that Chapter I of JADA immediately establishes Jaune's feelings? Because it was the time and the place to do it. The same goes for Team RWBY, Ren, and Nora—not in the second to last season, which everyone involved as admitted is FILLER, meaning that it is non-canonical. Round of applause.
Oh, I also think that none of you at RT have hearts or souls, so do not speak to me about feelings.
Shawcross: Yeah. When you cry, it rains and maybe we're gonna get some feelings. I don't know, maybe.
Oh, suck it up, Buttercup. Seriously, this is fantasy, not a chick-flick soap opera. Well, I suppose it became that in the end. Can we have old men write fantasy again, please? Or at least an enthusiastic Mormon?
Since I have already been accused of being a sexist—completely ignoring how competent the women in my stories are and putting the show to complete shame in the process—is it not "problematic" that your leading female characters have to take breaks often in order to talk about their feelings? You do realize the jokes—and accusations—that can be made from that, right? Since they are women, they cannot keep their emotions in check, despite being trained to be warriors. Therefore, they being overly emotional means they cannot handle the stresses and responsibilities of fantasy heroes that have traditionally been held by men. Worse still, with them having to run from their responsibilities and their problems, they prove Jack Nicholson's perspective on women accurate—women are like men without reason and accountability—since the female characters of this show can get away with murder, torture, treason, conspiracy, shirking responsibilities and duties, etc. This, of course, makes sense, as women love nothing more than to talk about their problems rather than fix them, and any attempt by men to suggest a course of action is either ignored, or rebuked with whinging, thus prolonging said problems until an expected conclusion arrives. Never send a woman to do a man's job, eh?
I am being facetious here, though you can clearly see how easy it is to mock Team RWBY this way, as well as accuse CRWBY of being sexist for writing the female characters as they do. That, of course, goes against their raison d'être, and it would be entirely demoralizing if the RWBY community turned on them for how they write women, as well as how they write LGBT +÷& characters. Admittedly, I would have a good ol' laugh over it.
In all seriousness, while CRWBY are quite sexist when it comes to men, and they have a terribly warped view of women (everything that I said about what the female characters in this show get away with is true), and there is a conversation to be had about men and women in this show and the genre more broadly, we are just scratching the surface, and therefore, we will have to unpack all of that at another time. I do stand firmly, however, that this incessant need to allow emotions to overtake everything, is incredibly detrimental to not only RWBY, but modern storytelling. It does women no favours, especially when fantasy is the best genre to write warrior women and/or women leaders believably, and having men act overly emotional is disliked by both men and women.
Now, is there anything else that these posers have to share?
Rivas: It also felt really good to get a little bit more meta with it and dive into a fairytale setting and it just felt like a really appropriate place for—
Barbara: Yeah, because that's always been such a core of RWBY and the creation of all the characters and the plot lines and everything like that. Like, every character is based off of a storybook, character, mythology, everything like that. And so to, like, really dive into that fairy tale atmosphere, I think is, like, so cool for this volume.
And this was what drove me over the edge once again. That was an insanely baffling statement Barbara Dunkelman, and I have to ask, "What did you think RWBY was before this?" Did you forget that the show is ABOUT fairy tales? What do you think it was for the past ten years? And at literally the 11th hour you do this? The meta! Oh my God in Heaven.
This is yet another one of those major, fundamentally breaking flaws about RWBY, for despite the fact that the show is based on fairy tales, not only does the story not have that fairytale quality, but the characters that are based on fairy tale characters, are not at all the characters they are based on. Other than Jaune—though it was entirely unintentional on CWBY's part, as well as Ruby being just as naive and oblivious as Blanchette—every other character fails to mimic their inspirational counterparts, or even the core traits of those counterparts. The morals and lessons of those stories are mocked and bastardized, and CRWBY are gleeful about it.
And yet, it is not shocking at all to hear them say this, because I know their kind well. CRWBY and their ilk, are the sort of people that despise classics like the Grimm Fairy Tales, Aesop Fables, Arthurian tales, folklore, religious tales, and classics, for they see them all as "problematic", "racist", "bigoted", "sexist", "patriarchal", and, the most hilarious of charges, "outdated". These people hate the past, and have no problem whatsoever editing it, distorting it, or flat-out destroying it.
That hubris, that they know better and are better than the giants of the past, is what makes them think that they can "fix" these "outdated" classics for a modern audience, completely ignoring the fact that they survived for hundreds, if not thousands of years, without their help. I want to call this the "audacity of youth", but these people are nearing their 40s, so just as the beard grows and the head does not grow wiser, a fool at forty is a fool indeed. I am more than certain that they would disagree with René Descartes, who said "The reading of all good books is like conversation with the finest men of past centuries". In their minds, everyone that came before them are stupid and evil, which, by that very logic, means they will be subjected to the same dismissal in time, if not already. Oh, the cruel mistress that is Presentism.
"The fable must not allow for the crooked captures of the pawn; it must not allow for what Balzac called 'the revolt of a sheep.' The fairy tale, on the other hand, absolutely revolves on the pivot of human personality. If no hero were there to fight the dragons, we should not even know that they were dragons. If no adventurer were cast on the undiscovered island—it would remain undiscovered. If the miller's third son does not find the enchanted garden where the seven princesses stand white and frozen—why, then, they will remain white and frozen and enchanted. If there is no personal prince to find the Sleeping Beauty she will simply sleep."
—G.K. Chesterton, Introduction to Fables by Aesop, translated by V.S. Vernon Jones, 1912
I think this is a good time to bring up once again the "subverting of expectations" insanity that everyone enjoys doing these days. Everyone seems to get caught up on the "expectations" portion of that school of thought—or lack thereof—when I think the "subverting" is a tad more important. I say this because of the actual definition of subversion, which is "the undermining of the power and authority of an established system or institution". That sounds far more sinister and much more akin to what is going on with modern storytelling, for there is no beloved story or property that is not being defiled. Disney is public enemy number one on this, and I cannot express how happy I am with how strong the backlash has been towards their awful remakes that destroy their own past.
The fact that CRWBY can say that is fully expected, but is nevertheless insulting. Furthermore, they know their audience well enough that they are equally as ignorant of classic literature, and, therefore, CRWBY can get away with their butchery without outcry. At this point, I very much doubt that CRWBY has ever read the original Grimm Fairy Tales, Lang Fairy Tales, and other classics, with perhaps only seeing the animated adaptations, and then going in the opposite direction out of spite.
The Fable of the Bull and the Calf
A full-grown Bull was struggling to force his huge bulk through the narrow entrance to a cow-house where his stall was, when a young Calf came up and said to him, "If you'll step aside a moment, I'll show you the way to get through."
The Bull turned upon him an amused look.
"I knew that way," said he, "before you were born."
Unlike CRWBY and their community, I own a plethora of fairy tale books, not only because I have loved them ever since I was a child, but because I wanted to have a better understanding of them for my full rewrite, and these small ones.
My collection includes, but is not limited to, the following works:
· Household Tales by the Brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
· All 25 volumes of The Lang's Fairy Books
· Fables by Aesop
· The Odyssey and the Iliad by Homer
· The Oedipus Plays of Sophocles translated by Paul Roche
· The Norton Anthology of English Literature Volume 1 (4th Edition)
· The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri
· The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
· Indian Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs
· Irish Fairy Tales by James Stephens
· Scottish Fairy and Folk Tales by George Douglas
· Irish Fairy and Folk Tales by W.B. Yeats
· King Author and His Knights of the Round Table (The Treasury of Classics Edition) by Sir Thomas Malory
· The Once and Future King by T.H. White
· Idylls of the King by Aldred Lord Tennyson
· The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle
· Ivanhoe: The Legend of Robin Hood by Walter Scott
· The Journey to the West by Wu Cheng'en
· The Complete Tales of Beatrix Potter
· The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
· The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi
· William Shakespeare: Complete Works edited by Jonathan Bate and Eric Rasmussen
As well as the modern fairy tales and classics, such as:
· Dracula (Folio Edition) and The Lost World by Bram Stoker
· Frankenstein by Mary Shelly
· Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
· The Arabian Nights translated by Antoine Galland
· The Jungle Book and The Second Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling
· Treasure Island (The Treasury of Classics Edition) and The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (Collins Crime Club Edition) by Robert Louis Stevenson
· The Virginian by Owen Wister
· The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and The Complete Works of Washington Irving
· Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
· The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
· The Curse of Capistrano (also known as The Mark of Zorro) by Johnston McCulley
· Tarzan series by Edgar Rice Burroughs
· A Christmas Carol, Oliver Twist, A Tale of Two Cities, and Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
· Phantastes by George MacDonald
· The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain
· Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie
· The Complete Wizard of Oz Collection by Frank L. Baum
· Complete Works of G.K. Chesterton
· The Call of the Wild and White Fang by Jack London
· The Complete Sherlock Holmes Volumes I & II (Doubleday Edition) by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
· The Invisible Man, The War of the Worlds, and The Island of Doctor Moreau by H.G. Wells
· The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux
· Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
· The Complete Chronicles of Conan by Robert E. Howard
· James Bond series and Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang by Ian Fleming
· Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
· Aubrey–Maturin series (Master and Commander) by Patrick O'Brian
· Complete Tales & Poems by Edgar Allen Poe
· Gone with the Wind (75th Anniversary Edition) by Margaret Mitchell
· Animal Farm and 1984 by George Orwell
· Shogun by James Clavell
· Journey to the Centre of the Earth and Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
· The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan
· The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion (Deluxe Editions) by J.R.R. Tolkien.
I list these, not to flex as some sort of omnilegent intellectual, but to show, as an example, of what someone who cares looks like. I have gone out of my way over the years to get my hands on these great classics because I want to be better informed on classic literature, as well as improve as a writer. I have wanted to be a writer ever since I was twelve years old, and you cannot know where you are going unless you know where you have been. That means going back to the books that shaped the world, for there within them lies knowledge, wisdom, and blueprints to timeless ideas and lessons. It was how the now famous film directors created their legendary films, for they were all inspired by classic cinema from the 20s to the 50s. CRWBY, however, did nothing of the sort.
It was CRWBY's job to care and to do the necessary research, but they chose not to. Most of what I have listed is in the public domain, meaning they could have gotten them for free if they were really over-budget and underpaid (you can write things off as research on your tax returns, eh), and they had a decade to read them. CRWBY have been anti-fairy tale since the very beginning, so for them to claim they "went" fairy tale in this volume, is a massive insult. They have no idea what a fairy tale is, as when they tried to write one with "The Story of the Seasons", it made no sense and provided no explanation as to how the seasons came to be, and bears no resemblance to the Maidens. That actually makes it more of a fable than a fairy tale, though as I just said, it fails to be even that; just compare it to The Bee and Jupiter, Jupiter and the Tortoise, The Ant, and others. Everything about RWBY has spat in the face of fairy tales, given that they see all of these stories as "outdated" and "problematic", so I will politely tell CRWBY to fuck off.
What I will give them is that not all fairy tales and fables are created equal. Several months ago, I finished reading James Stephens' Irish Fairy Tales, and by God, those were not good, with only The Birth of Bran and The Carl of the Drab Coat being memorable, if not enjoyable. There was no rhyme or reason, new characters—Man and God—being introduced on every page, almost no morals or good characters, the stories move at breakneck speed, and I just felt as if I needed to be well-versed in Irish history and culture before reading the book to fully understand it. That is very much like what CRWBY have done, and since I—and no doubt you at home—have never heard of these Irish fairy tales—I myself only knowing of The Mórrígan—it does not surprise me.
I made this clear in DDCT, and now there is no doubt in my mind that CRWBY hate fantasy; and that extends to fairy tales and other classics, as well as Anime. Is it any wonder that they mock the classics? Is it any wonder that they seek to destroy those classics that we love so dearly, and cheer on others (Disney, Amazon, and Netflix) who do the same? Is it any wonder that they shame heroism and celebrate villainy? They hate these stories so much, that the only way they would touch them, was if they could deconstruct them, and remake them in their own, terribly flawed image. I can only recall the scene between Saruman and Gandalf in Fellowship of the Ring:
'"Radagast the Brown!" laughed Saruman, and he no longer concealed his scorn. "Radagast the Bird-tamer! Radagast the Simple! Radagast the Fool! Yet he had just the wit to play the part that I set him. For you have come, and that was all the purpose of my message. And here you will stay, Gandalf the Grey, and rest from journeys. For I am Saruman the Wise, Saruman Ring-maker, Saruman of Many Colours!"
'I looked then and saw that his robes, which had seemed white, were not so, but were woven of all colours, and if he moved they shimmered and changed hue so that the eye was bewildered.
'"I liked white better," I said.
'"White!" he sneered. "It serves as a beginning. White cloth may be dyed. The white page can be overwritten; and the white light can be broken."
'"In which case it is no longer white," said I. "And he that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom."
That final line from Gandalf is one that I would give as advice to every single artist, regardless of discipline or worldview. Claiming that you are a fan of something, yet want to change what it is fundamentally, means that you are not a fan. Now, there is nothing wrong with not liking something because it is not to your taste, or even wanting to try to create your own take on it. I personally want to try and write a pulp fiction detective series in a noir style, but with a main character that is more optimistic and likeable; a completely foreign notion in the genre, hence stopping me from enjoying it as I would with classic fantasy. That does not mean, however, that the noir genre must bend to my will, nor am I owed approval from traditional noir fans if they dislike my interpretation. The stories that I am writing here are a perfect example of that, as I knew going in that I was going against the grain and not catering to the fan-fiction/RWBY audience, thus not making something popular. Guess what? I am not owed anything, so I cannot complain.
Alas, that is not how we do things in the modern day, and all pay for it dearly. The creatives are entitled to your enjoyment, you see, rather than them having to earn it through their work, and you are to be shamed if you do not pay tribute. No wonder everyone is walking away.
And since we are here, I might as well share another quote from Professor Tolkien, aptly from his book, Tree and Leaf, which is, again, about fairy tales. I think you will find it most amusing:
"It is at any rate essential to a genuine fairy-story, as distinct from the employment of this form for lesser or debased purposes, that it should be presented as 'true'...But since the fairy-story deals with 'marvels', it cannot tolerate any frame or machinery suggesting that the whole story in which they occur is a figment or illusion. The tale itself may, of course, be so good that one can ignore the frame. Or it may be successful and amusing as a dream-story. So are Lewis Carroll's Alice stories, with their dream-frame and dream-transitions. For this (and other reasons) they are not fairy-stories."
—Professor J.R.R. Tolkien, On Fairy-Stories, Fairy-Story, Tree and Leaf: Including MYTHOPOEIA and The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth, pp. 14-15
Get fucked.
Perhaps they should have kept this in mind when they wrote this nightmare, for RWBY is no fairy tale. Well, we are at the end, so say your piece, Kerry.
Shawcross: It's the ninth volume [he said this with an exhausted sigh], you know, and I, I think we want to take a step back and, and kind of ourselves look at the series and, and, and these characters and this world and, and be able to have like a little commentary on that too. So, I think with all of that and all of this, this production going on during the pandemic, I think this is a volume that we all needed and that will become more clear as you watch.
What nonsensical rambling. Yes, of course, what you needed, but not what the show needed, which, at this point, is a direct application of .45ACP to the forehead. Furthermore, please do not bring up the lockdowns as some form of excuse, as they would actually have given you more time to do better job. I guess you truly are G.R.R. Martin, in that despite the isolation of the lockdowns, he made almost no progress with The Winds of Winter. In comparison, I wrote nearly one million words, and I did so whilst having to go into work—full-time—under some of the heaviest restrictions in the world. You have one job, and you have utterly failed at it. V9 became more and more muddled as it went on, with the only things made clear was how little CRWBY knew what they are doing, that they no longer care what happens, and stupidly establish their Yellowjacket poli-ship. No more, no less. Illia must be thrilled.
And that is the long and short of it. Despite a few egregious comments, the majority of this video was CRWBY failing to explain why they "went fairy tale"—or should I say, failed to provide a narrative reason for it, and just repeated that they are at the end of their rope. What can you expect from a pig but a grunt?
I hope it now makes sense why I saw that it was rather important that I tackle this video. I adore fantasy and fairy tales (and what RWBY used to be), and to see these philistines masquerading as stewards of Monty's work, dig into it with their rusted hooks to puppet it around, makes my blood boil. It is also why I started writing these stories in the first place, and what keeps me going—for better and for worse.
And, of course, the response you get from the zealots when you point all of this out and provide other criticisms is, "Why do you care so much?", which is absolutely asinine, given that these are the same people that see the "diversity" and "inclusion" in RWBY as "necessary" and "lifesaving", thus giving them all the reason they need to viciously attack and harass you. They cannot defend the show on its own merits beyond politics, and when attacking you and calling you a "S.I.X.T.H.I.R.B." (Sexist, Intolerant, Xenophobic, Transphobic, Homophobic, Islamophobic, Racist, Bigoted) does not work, they reveal themselves as posers, and think you are weird for caring so much.
Given that this is how they think and how they have gone about things for all these years, I believe that we should end this with yet another Aesop Fable that has the perfect lesson for CRWBY to learn. As you have no doubt noticed, I have been injecting said fables throughout this chapter, for I could not help but see the applicability in their lessons. Trust me when I say that there are more fables that I chose to leave out, but it felt too good to pass up an opportunity to mock them with the stories they degraded and used for a shitty pun—and that is me saying that. I will save the rest for later as a treat.
The Fable of the Mischievous Dog
There was once a Dog who used to snap at people and bite them without any provocation, and who was a great nuisance to everyone who came to his master's house. So his master fastened a bell round his neck to warn people of his presence. The Dog was very proud of the bell, and strutted about tinkling it with immense satisfaction.
But an old dog came up to him and said, "The fewer airs you give yourself the better, my friend. You don't think, do you, that your bell was given you as a reward of merit? On the contrary, it is a badge of disgrace."
What is the lesson of this fable? Notoriety is often mistaken for fame.
RWBY is neither a famous nor beloved property. From V3 onward, it has fallen further and further into obscurity; with the only ones who know of its existence are the zealots, the former fans, people who watch too much porn, and a handful of critics. RWBY's R34 is more popular than the show, and will outlive it, with Yang being in the top ten characters selected for R34 polls and commissions, to which she will either be in a gangbang, be ganged raped, or raped by a Grimm. That is the legacy of RWBY, with Rooster Teeth being a laughing stock, only known for its corruption, scandals, and betrayal.
I previously said that CRWBY continuously ignore most criticism of the show, though that is due to the lack of critics, with them living in an echo-chamber of their own making. RWBY is just as bad and Woke as everything else these days, but since it is not a pre-established and beloved series, none of the major culture critics know of it, with the closest they have come is backing Vic, and even working with him. Most of their audiences are just as unaware of RWBY—which goes to show how little relevance the show and the company have—so hundreds of thousands of people, if not millions, learn that Rooster Teeth are lying scum. RWBY is like the Walking Dead—a flash in the pan, and everyone is shocked to learn it is still going.
And yes, I am well aware of that two hour long video about RWBY, though I have not watched it. Harris has proven to be an empty-headed and compulsive liar, with next to no comprehension of proper criticism and critical analysis, so I cannot take anything he says seriously. Furthermore, what on Earth can be discussed in a mere two hours? I could easily break down what is wrong with the weapons in this show for over two hours alone; at 10-15 minutes a piece—give or take—that would be a cakewalk, and that does not include the issues with weapons and weapons technology overall. I have casually spoken with friends about the first volume for over two hours, so to do so critically for six volumes, let alone nine, would yield more substantive and thorough results. Also, I would be remiss to mention that Harris is too similar to the people at RT, so he would gloss over or straight up ignore the glaring issues, not to mention his lack of knowledge of the subject matter RWBY gets so terribly wrong, would make it impossible for him to identify said mistakes. Tell me about heraldry, weapons typology, mechanized warfare, Medieval and Renaissance hierarchy, military hierarchy, and fairy-stories, Harris.
And yes, there is a YouTube documentary on the rise and fall of Rooster Teeth that is not even a year old with over a million views. The fact that it only has a million views, shows how quickly RT has been forgotten, for even a few years ago, such a documentary would have easily hit five million in the same amount of time.
This is how RT and CRWBY have gotten away with this for so long. It is a cautionary tale—as much as any other good fairy tale or fable—of what happens when you betray everything and everyone, including the supposed friend that came up with the show, and your audience. Then again, this era of the show was made for CRWBY and their friends as a virtue signal to score clout on Twitter, and not to entertain the audience or respect Monty's vision. What a terrible fall from grace.
The Fable of the Ass, the Fox, and the Lion
An Ass and a Fox went into partnership and sallied out to forage for food together. They hadn't gone far before they saw a Lion coming their way, at which they were both dreadfully frightened.
But the Fox thought he saw a way of saving his own skin, and went boldly up to the Lion and whispered in his ear, "I'll manage that you shall get hold of the Ass without the trouble of stalking him, if you'll promise to let me go free."
The Lion agreed to this, and the Fox then rejoined his companion and contrived before long to lead him by a hidden pit, which some hunter had dug as a trap for wild animals, and into which he fell. When the Lion saw that the Ass was safely caught and couldn't get away, it was to the Fox that he first turned his attention, and he soon finished him off, and then at his leisure proceeded to feast upon the Ass.
Betray a friend, and you'll often find you have ruined yourself.
Yes, once upon a time, the RT community was a fun one to be a part of, and I can attest to that, as someone who was part of it for eleven years. And because of that past, I saw how things got worse over time, Monty's final years shining light on the dark patches, with the true downfall starting with their acquisition in November 2014, and felt in 2015. More and more people became aware of what was going on to the people whom we thought we knew so well, some of them coming up from the community and getting hired by RT, and they began to turn away. It had become impossible not to see the partisanship and immorality of the people at RT, and by 2016, I was done, only holding on for V4, which by the end of its airing in 2017, I was completely apathetic.
RT has turned from a proud rooster overlooking the poultry-yard that had been built from the ground up, to being consumed and replaced by a cockatrice that had been slowly incubated by a serpent. Whether this was a corporate serpent, or a serpent in dragon's scales—a false friend or a sycophant—I do not know for certain. All I can do is judge the results: founding fathers quitting or were fired, long-time members quitting or being fired, people in positions of power exposed as monsters, and the community thinning to all that remain are the most loyal of zealots, screeching at anyone who dares to leave the cult.
In conclusion, RWBY is not a fairy tale, instead being anti-fantasy and anti-fairy tale, with CRWBY poisoning the well that is the fountain of youth of fairy-stories. May it be cleansed one day by better men and women.
As for myself, I hope to never write anything like this again. Whilst there is something satisfying about dissecting all the flaws and blunders of CRWBY, there is a time and a place and a method for everything. Normally, that would be in working on my companion/reference tome, which is where I break the entirety of RWBY down, as some of my notes are taken nearly wholesale from chapters in that side project. Doing it this way, however, has taken up a considerable amount of my time—time that could and should have been spent working on the story itself, thus I feel shame for writing it time (the first draft was 7000 words). At the same time, it needed to be said, just as much as the story itself needs to be told, so I decided to get it done, and move on as fast as possible. Right now, what matters is telling a good story, as Professor Tolkien put it, "trying (more or less willingly) to find what virtue we can in the work of an art that has for us failed", and doing things like this, no doubt takes people out of it. Yes, my introductions and notes make it clear what people are getting themselves into, yet I still feel there is a better time, if not a better place, to do this. I hope that from now on, my ranting will be limited to the regular notes explaining why I made certain changes, or how my original plans contrast with the mistakes of CRWBY.
To end this on yet another Tolkien quote, here is my true raison d'être, despite what my detractors say: "The prime motive was the desire of a tale-teller to try his hand at a really long story that would hold the attention of readers, amuse them, delight them, and at times maybe excite them or deeply move them. Some who have read the book, or at any rate have reviewed it, have found it boring, absurd, or contemptible; and I have no cause to complain, since I have similar opinions of their works, or of the kinds of writing that they evidently prefer".
Next chapter will be the return of Jaune and his story, with two major chapters filled with twists, turns, battle, heartbreak, and romance. I hope you were able to tolerate my grumblings, and perhaps see where I am coming from.
Take care, and I will see you next time.
Post Script: It looks like V10 has been green-lit, given they are looking for a new head animator and interns. Sigh...