/rwby/ - RWBY

>>35129

>>35130

Celtic seems like an alright guy.

>>35254

In the sense that he's friendly and funny sure, but he really needs to shut the fuck up with dumb dumb creative writing 101 knowledge.

It seems he went to community college and has since been brainwashed exclusively be in milquetoast B-tier writing mode 24/7 (just read his fanfiction. Technically proficient but terribly formulaic.)

Like he brings up good points when critiqueing RWBY but at the same time brings shit alternatives to the table.

>>35267

Well yeah, I don't take the guy seriously at all as an actual writer. The dude writes fanfiction, for fuck's sake. I haven't read it myself but it's no real surprise that it isn't actually unique in any way. RWBY itself is just a bland regurgitation of random anime tropes tossed into a pot and stirred into an incoherent mess of a show. I can't imagine anybody autistic enough to write fanfics for the fucking thing is going to put much effort into making it stand out.

Still, he understands RWBY better than Miles and Kerry do.

What gets my goat are his retarded political beliefs. I guess that's neither here nor there though.

>>35267

>Like he brings up good points when critiquing RWBY but at the same time brings shit alternatives to the table.

That's actually a good point for analysis of the show overall.

We know whats wrong, we kind of know what would be cool if done well- but we don't necessarily know how to do it well (though unless your doing animations or writing dialogue as an example of how to do it right, that's something armchair critics don't need to think about too much- just analyzing animation & dialogue they see)

> How would you have the show shift from it's semi-care free in season 1, to the misery of season 3?

> Do you address concept-breaking plotholes, like getting teenagers- where emotions run high thanks to puberty- to fight monsters attracted to negative emotions?

> How do you show the villains & antagonists as true threats without spoiling their plans upfront or have them kill people excessively?

Not that I'm saying because we can't get a concrete answer that the show is beyond reproach. We know what works, we know what is shit (I've rarely seen divided opinions here apart from who's the best girl), and we know the show had so much potential to do so much more.

>>35268

>regurgitation of random anime tropes

Honestly, I'm not even sure about this. People say RWBY borrows a lot from anime but I've never really seen much correlation to anime apart from the aesthetics of the show.

Then again, considering Monty's age I'm guessing RWBY is derivative of older shows like dragon ball and the like, which I haven't watched. I haven't seen RWBY do anything that contemporary anime does though.

> Still, he understands RWBY better than Miles and Kerry do.

Well, that's a given.

>What gets my goat are his retarded political beliefs.

I haven't heard him talk about this but I'm guessing he's against Scottish independence and against leaving the EU?

>>35269

>That's actually a good point for analysis of the show overall.

This is actually some fucking next level meta stuff now that I think about it. You're completely right.

It's like a Catch-22; the only people who care enough to want to fix RWBY are the people too incompetent to actually provide anything meaningful to the show. Woah.

>How do you show the villains & antagonists as true threats without spoiling their plans upfront or have them kill people excessively?

Have the consequences of their actions directly and negatively affect the main characters emotionally.

"World will blow up? Who cares. MC's puppy gets killed? Shit's about to get fucked."

This is so simple and I can't believe M&K never really went for it, considering Yang's misfortune in S3 had the best response of the audience to anything in the show ever. They went straight back to lore dumping and fracturing the narrative to the point it becomes meaningless. Well, actually, to be fair: this did start happening a bit in S3 and S4, but even M&K still don't quite understand that to humans, seeing other humans on TV overcoming relatable emotional distress is way more interesting than Vacuous McGuffin Quest starring characters that do what the plot requires.

>apart from who's the best girl

Come on now, we all know it's Pyrrha

>>35274

RWBY's about magical high school girls doing battle with big fuck off weapons at a school that teaches them about martial practices.

It has a tournament arc, it has cat girls, the list continues for quite a while if I could be bothered to write it out. I feel like it's actually supposed to be more cliche than it comes across, if only because Miles and Kerry can't into writing and thus a lot of the intended character development/interaction takes a pretty rough tumble.

>I haven't heard him talk about this but I'm guessing he's against Scottish independence and against leaving the EU

He lives in Cincinnati, but he's a self proclaimed 'anarchist' who believes that the world should be without laws and government. Anybody who slaps that label on themselves is snowflake supremo and deserves a nice hard dose of reality check, preferably in the form of taking a trip down to an actual anarchic shithole.

MORE BADASS FIGHTING AND HOT GIRLS AND LESS EDGE AND (((SOCIAL JUSTICE))) GARBAGE

>>35280

this tbh

>>35280

>>35281

Edge could have been done well. But only if written well.

The sort of shit where you'd have to research into soldier/police PTSD, those arguing the age to sign up for being s soldier/cop should be raised, race -based terrorism, how politics shift between nations just after a war, politics based around eliminating bad-thoughts or negative influences etc.

The show has phenomenal potential to tell a serious story.

> A race of animal people who breed more than people, if they cross breed with people make more of their own, and have an organized terror group that the moderates/genuinely good don't or can't stop.

> Huntsmen having a high rate of suicide after retirement or death, hence why they have to train from such a young age- to replace them quick enough.

> Blake's claims of Fanus oppression in [current year] being genuine or not- depends if you want to keep that error by RT.

> Monsters mauling & killing Huntsmen in training, and the other students having to put on a brave face or risk attracting more monsters.

But even if it was barely hinted it, shit would get slammed hard for racism/anti-left/whatever.

The show (if hypothetically rebooted) needs a tone between Season 2 & the first half of Season 3. Not saying shit like the finale of Season 3 can't happen, but the tone needs to be more consistent rather than escalating that quickly. (Again, if each season was longer, would this shift in tone be spread out over time, so it feels natural).

Or maybe a more grim tone would have worked, with bits of levity scattered through-out. Though the best/expected moments wouldn't have fit (the food-fight, Jaune living up to his dare, etc)

I found a video game with combat as stilted, static, and awkward as post-Monty RWBY.

Brace for awful.

>>35327

Thats looks pretty good compared to post-monty RWBY

Issue with Vol 1 is pretty much that Jaune took up like 28 minutes of a 115ish minute volume(Going by a thing called "Jaune Arcless" on Tumblr, where someone cut out every frame and mention of Jaune.) If they had given more attention to the actualy R W B Y part of RWBY for that volume it would've been better.

>>35392

I actually hold that up as further evidence that Jaune is supposed to be more important in the long run. He's going to be the Knight in Shining Armor in Red Like Roses II. Think of who they took the time to introduce in episode 1. Main character, sidekick sister, antagonist, administration to get the plot moving, and Jaune. And now we've got WoR hinting he's the descendant of the hero warrior king. And remember Ruby was his first choice of cute girl before Pyrrha or even Weiss.

Lancasterfags are probably on the right track.

>>35393

If you end up being right, the furious screeching of White Rose fangirls will be intense.

>>35395

If Jaune ends up with Ruby I'm going to drop a hydrogen bomb on Austin. Pyhrra claimed her beta and if she can't have him nobody can.

>>35396

Rube is a beta too. She just gets a free pass because she's adorable about it. Punchbowl buddies, remember? They're made for eachother.

>>35396

Would you rather have Jaune get Rube or Yang?

Blake is heading towards Sun.

Weiss, no one yet. (Given the message behind her, I don't think she'll ever get one.)

Phyrra is not available for the time being. Maybe for now, that is.

Nora and Ren are confirmed already.

So, Rube or Yang?

>>35401

Jaune will be forever alone until phyrra gets resurrected eventually if I can have it my way.

>>35405

>if I can have it my way

If.

Would dumping some analysis of the world and what it's consequences should be OK for this thread? Or is that it's own thing?

Plus, taking the world (re)building to logical conclusions might take away from the shows original light-hearted tone.

>35417

perfectly fine.

>Plus, taking the world (re)building to logical conclusions might take away from the shows original light-hearted tone.

that has been the inescapable conclusion of almost everyone who examines the world of RWBY and tries to extrapolate a logical consistency so don't worry about it.

>>35417

>might take away from the shows original light-hearted tone

And that in and of itself is the ultimate irony: Monty never intended the show to be light-hearted. Torchwick was suppose to be torn apart by an alpha beowolf at the end of Volume 1. Not just simply killed, but torn apart. Jaune was suppose to the direct reason why Pyrrah died. It was suppose to be darker as it goes on. However, the darkest thing happened before that: Monty's passing. And RT decided not to push RWBY's edginess to overload like Monty wanted.

In fact, that's why all the opening theme songs are all about something bad happening, even volume 1's.

>>35417

>>35418

>>35420

Alrighty, lets give it a shot. Apologies up front if I get some lore wrong.

> Ancient history

Maidens are fine, artifacts less so. Either ditch the artifacts or make them a maiden thing (I.e. a Maiden is a one-woman army, a Maiden with her artifact is basically like an infinity stone in their hands).

> History

The world war was so fucking bad Grim became epidemic. So some governments tried an Equilibrium "no emotion" thing (since even positive emotion can spark disagreement, resentment, jealousy, etc). People rebelled, Etc. This now leaves the world in an odd state.

Negative emotions are still a soft-taboo, and people try to help each other more. Not because the community is tight knit- but because their parents did, and their parents did (who did it to stop a grim attack- not because they cared). This results in people giving advice/aid who really shouldn't. Encouraging words can sometimes be the worst thing or come across as pandering. Of course, news of Grim attacks or witnessing them creates more fear and sadness, so more Grim come. Unless you beat them back to the point the Grim "learn" that area isn't worth hunting in then it'll escalate (but a split second chink in the armor and even the tall walls of Mountain Glenn will fall).

As such, horror movies are a little more taboo (with special interest groups using Grim as justification for attempting bans). Japanese TV can be described as very "light". From what I've seen you'll rarely see programs with heavily political debate or trying to shake the status quo for what is acceptable (except for the raunchier anime but that's not main stream). The Japanese government also have a habit of down-playing certain issues. When one Japanese official told people to basically not worry too much- it sparked that "Yatta Yatta" song you might have seen online in the 90s. Despite the cheery tone, the lyrics are actually a criticism "I'll say it's alright even if I wind up destitute" etc.

So mainstream entertainment across Remnant is probably like that. Light and "fuzzy". Which then just makes people even more pissed since no one can express a contradicting opinion for fear their words making someone else mad, and sparking such great civil divide that Grim attack. Of course in a world where debate is stifled, corrupt individuals can take advantage of it.

I think PsychoPass kinda covers it (IIRC, anime where certain emotional levels or states are banned because it's a sign the person will become violent). Or sort of like: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Happiness_Patrol but not as extreme ("People can be sad- they just need help before the Grim come!"). Even Japanese society overall seems to hate public displays of emotion (even positive but especially negative).

Mental health and depression get an especially bad wrap- with sanitariums placed far from civilization, and set-up more like a prison (to defend the inmates and stop them getting out) and since mental-health can escalate quickly, people can get whisked off there with people who are far gone even when their case is mild. And since they're trying to keep them happy and not actually treat them, shit's awful.

People don't want to be compared to the old governments, so they don't like telling people what to do or think… But no one wants to be victim to a Grim attack. It's like the Sword of Damocles- fearing that any negative emotion could burn their world down around them. Ironically, like a wide spread fear of depression and sadness creating depression and other mental health issues.

And the above isn't even considering the mental health of Huntsmen. You're a soldier where any slip into fear or sadness or anger can suddenly call every Grim in 100 miles down on top of you. PTSD and Huntsmen veteran suicide must be rampant (and covered up- thanks to the soft-TV trying to prevent outbursts of misery or anger). And since Grim attacks get more frequent recent years (thanks to solving the problem by doing what the "No Emotion" government did but softer- allowing outbursts of negative emotion) Huntsmen need to be trained from a younger age to meet demand. No one wants to put emotional teenagers up against Grimm- but they have to out of fear of being overrun. And of course the debate over if teens should be allowed to train and fight Grim at a young age is stifled- leading to protests outside the academies when new students roll in. "Welcome to Beacon. Ignore the people yelling that you're just children and we're leading you to slaughter- you have important work to do."

>>35393

>>35395

>>35396

>>35399

Of course the authors character gets the lead girl.

>>35422

> Faunus

Agreed with most stuff RT/Monty actually proposed.

People fear Faunus since cross-breeding with humans always makes a Faunus. So it's hard not to see they could out-breed humanity. Couple that with Faunus being seen as "animals" (not just due to their appearances. Perhaps they had lower IQ when first encountered or their culture/religion originally shunned technology making them look third world and basic?) and you've got a prime recipe for prejudice. Justified or otherwise. Faunus protest back, both sides escalate, both sides get people who take it too far.

World war breaks out and bickering like that is put on the back-burner (for most), and Faunus get drafted out of desperation by all nations. When shit needs to get rebuilt, many Faunus soldiers proved themselves in the eyes of human allies- helping bring them closer together when they went home and tried to pick up the pieces.

> Menagerie

Faunus got their own island and were sold it sort of like emigrating to the US was sold to people of other nations. Some Faunus stayed put, most went along. Only to discover setting up home in that day and age was hard- especially on their own. They were expecting help setting up, but everyone was pretty much dumped onto the island with their supplies and left to fend for themselves. They could get rudimentary houses and food, but medicine, communication, mining? How would your average go in (roughly) 1945 know where to dig, what to keep, how to smelt, etc.

Human government was happy since the Faunus population was low and manageable, and those that were tempted away were the lower class of Faunus. Menagerie was a honeypot for fortune seekers and those wanting something for nothing. Meaning the Faunus who stood behind must be hard-working, right?

When messages from Menagerie finally got through- Faunus got pissed. They protested, shit escalated, and the Faunus Equal Rights groups became the White Fang.

> Modern Menagerie

Even if everyone who sold a product and shipped it did it for free- the sheer distance and the technology available make sending anything too or from Menagerie expensive. And since people want to get paid, the people of Menagerie simply can't afford shit from the mainland. They can sell tropical fruit- but what else?

Even if Faunus leave for the mainland- they have no prior experience and no home. And the disillusioned youths who do make that journey and fail are prime targets for White Fang recruiters.

Then the Schnee Dust Co worked out Menagerie was sitting on a huge stash of Dust. Not wanting to risk anyone else working it out and becoming a meaningful rival, they offer jobs to the people of Menagerie. When comparing what they'd be paid to how much everything cost- they felt it was an insult. Hence how the hyperbole of Dust using slave labor is used (and actual slavery during and before the great war). If the Faunus dug it up themselves they'd have made a mint. But now the Schnee employers have them under careful watch, no one is going to seize the means of production anytime soon without the White Fang organizing it (and they're probably paying off Schnee people for dust on the side).

So in animation- I would depict it as busy, and drop the fucking palm-tree mansion Blake had. I wouldn't go as far as huts, but it is a second-world country. Everything they want comes from the rest of the world, but they have a decent enough IQ and the mining industry to sustain themselves. They aren't going up the ladder, but they aren't going down either.

As for the Schnee's- even if they liked the Faunus they can't make shit any cheaper to send to Menagerie. And with the constant attacks and accusations- they're not going to reduce their profit margin for "ungrateful animals".

Write it so both sides have areas that can be sympathized and loathed- and the fault being history and geography.

>>35424

> Minor notes and shit

- Cordin gets more shit for bullying since shit encourages negative emotion and that's the antithesis of what the school is about (if you were in the army and any shit you started could cause an ambush- you'd think twice). Further, I wouldn't have him pick on Velvet because she's a second year student. Cordin may or may not respect power, but he'd certainly not go after someone who can fight better than he does.

Monty also hinted that Cordin wasn't a generic bully- so I'd want to see that. Have him begrudgingly clap when JNPR dance at the prom, have ask what to do in times of great crisis from people he know are smarter than him (like Jaune or RWBY).

- More hints at the darkness. Newspaper articles on Huntsman suicide seen for brief snippits, background students getting injured/dying even before Season 3, students dropping out because they can't handle it- anything to world build and show the story is in a dark wold.

- Put the plot from Grim Eclipse (Dr. Merlot and such) into the main plot (Season 2.5). It gives the students more time being students, and allows characters to grow more and show they are competent Huntsmen/women in training. Plus as the B plot you can have Cinder do more preperation for the Vytal Festival.

- Have the teachers spar with their students in a match before the Vytal Festival. Apart from being a way to gauge their students abilities, it gives us a great fight scene between several teams all working at once against the 4 teachers. It also helps dissuade any of the audience wondering "they seem competent fighters after one year" when their teachers can kick the ass of 8 to 12 or even 16 students at once. It also allows Ozpin to have a brief scene of ass-kicking, so when Cinder-Maiden is his equal it makes her look more powerful (and a bonus if Ozpin beats her easily when she's pretending to be a student).

- Explain better how Cinder & co can become students during the middle of the school year and no one bats an eyebrow to it. Hell, have them badly injure Prof. Plum in an "accident" so Cinder can come in as a Teacher if it's more believable then her passing for 17 (and hold back her muscle memory so she looks like an amateur). When you have the internet, fake Haven transfer student documents won't cut it. At least show the hacking or something to explain how they got away with it.

On top of that, have her try more evil antics. Since she's found the girl with "silver eyes"- priority one is killing her or breaking up Team RWBY. Antagonize Blake when she's run down & tired so she snaps at another student and gets into a fight. Try to assassinate Ruby. Even try to seduce Cordin to make him a disposable lap-dog and then have Cordin confess he has a crush on Emerald. Making Mercury laugh his ass off and Cinder pissed.

Otherwise, the whole "silver eyes" thing needs to be something she and even Salem don't know about (because if Salem is a master strategist like we think, she'd bring it up. "The silver-eyes are just a legend- but if you see anyone with remotely silver-eyes, kill them, Or they'll ruin the plan). And throw in Neo under her other identity so Cinder has a team of 4 like in the Vytal Festival. CEM?

>>35425

- Have more students and official Huntsmen involved in the breach. Having Coco blast a Deathstalker on her own does not properly illustrate how much stronger second year students are compared to the first. Show us the younger students struggling, the older students getting by, and the Huntsmen managing pretty well- until one of the Grim gets lucky and kills them for suspense sake. Also have a "boss" Grim for everyone to work together on. Like the elephant grim or something worse.

- Have a plot with Sun and Neptune as detectives. Have some detective loath working with Faunus for a reason (prejudice, understandable fear, or even that his Faunus partner was killed by the White Fang or something). Have the pair work on a case that ties into the Breach or what'll happen in the Vytal Festival- or a case on Fanus/Human hate crime (or made to look like it). To help show what the majority of that world thinks of each other, and what the outliers think and why.

- If Qrow's semblance is so bad, why would he even talk to Ruby? Is immediate family immune? Otherwise this guy should be a ghost to everyone except Ozpin and Co trying to protect the Maiden, and until shit hits the fan.

- Have the Vytal Festival go to the final. The final can still be Penny Vs. Phyrrah- but give the characters we like interesting matches and follow it like a proper tournament. While those who get knocked out B stories trying to dig into Cinder & co. Full team matches. Then 3 person teams. Then duos. Then singles where you can even wind up fighting your team. Since the tournaments longer, we have more fights, more development (have Taiyang give his "around not through" speech to Yang during this time, Emerald becoming more conflicted, etc).

- Have Jaune be the reason Phyrrah dies. Not as a distraction IMO but when she tries to save him when he tries to help.

>>35426

- Give Blake the PTSD over Adam instead of Yang. It makes more sense for her to have it (he's ruined her life on more than one occasion, and now she's running from the White Fang, her being afraid of the embodiment of that organization and jumping at hallucinations makes her run on the road more complicated). Assuming we had a remake, it'd be a surprise. Yang is getting De-fibed, and even though she's mutilated Blake's apologizing and blaming herself. Nothing shows her character flaws greater then crawling/limping away thinking she's ruined everything when she's taken the brunt of it. Plus the new-head of the White Fang wearing a mechanical arm made by the Schnee "We hate Faunus Probably" Company is sure to make her challenges more challenging.

- The above does leave Yang with jack-shit in terms of motivation and development though. So- have her catch up to Ruby around the time scorpion-man attacks? Maybe she's help back by injuries and her frustration stems from survivors guilt of other students/people in Vale or even thinking Blake died. That or self-loathing for not progressing as a fighter fast enough. Tai then shares advice on when he screwed up in a fight (maybe the fight that made Raven "power is everything" leave or got Ruby's mom killed) and all that.

- Maybe when Sun follows Blake the rest of Team SSSN also follow. It gives them more time to develop and allows those humans to be audience surrogates for questions on Faunus and life in Menagerie, and have a group fight with the sea-monster and White Fang working with Chameleon girl. Have Blake and Sun argue not just about her running away, but on Faunus oppression. Not that Menagerie should look as idyllic as RT accidentally made it but the fact Sun has actually had to fight for survival in Vacuo/Desert Bandit town- and Blake has the wrong attitude relative to how much Menagerie is suffering (they're not oppressed, they're ignored). Then Blake can feel more guilt when Chameleon girl hurts Sun.

- Sort the fucking geography and timelines in Season 4. Shit makes zero sense. Why are some flying vehicles OK and the gang can't take them? Have multiple (smaller) flying Dragon Grim burst out of the mountain- forcing any transport between cities and towns needing heavily fortified army transports (and RNJR think it'll be quicker moving on foot and less likely to find danger. Then a transport party finds them in Ren's old village and takes them the last 1/4 or something).

- Ren using his semblance earlier and more often. Grim invisibility is pretty handy.

- Save Oscar as a surprise. Maybe show the farm boy at the start- but cut all his journey out except for maybe the first episode of the next season (and throw in a fight scene where the train is attacked by Grim and possessed Oz-Oscar fights them off or something). Maybe have the Mom also join in on the "journey" and trying to adjust to all the shit happening to her kid.

- Try and get the girls together by the start of (what would be the next season of RT's run) 5. Ruby is seeing that headmaster, Yangis now joining her. Weiss steals/sneaks aboard a transport and knows Ruby will be there. Blake hears the White Fang are planning a big attack on that city, so she travels there as well. Everyone bumps into each other and the team is back together.

I'm sure I'm missing a ton (not including shit like better animations and what is shown matching what the writers claim the world is) but thats what I have.

>>35427

> - Give Blake the PTSD over Adam instead of Yang.

> and even though she's mutilated Blake's apologizing and blaming herself.

> - The above does leave Yang with jack-shit in terms of motivation and development though.

BMBLB : Yang gains a lesbian attraction to Blake after Blake saves her ass at a great cost to herself. Yang spends months trying to distract herself from this strange new attraction. She doesn't want to be with the team, because… awkwardness. Then, when she does meet up with Blake again, we can have Blake "do not want"ing.

The biggest problem with BMBLB is that Blake has already been in a relationship with Adam: the kind of childish relationship that shows that masculinity is what Blake finds desirable in a mate.

>>35428

Usually I would never have discovering sexuality as the main focus of a character arc- but they are teenagers. Shit could work.

And Blake going for Adam is more primeval/instinctual than anything. She picked a strong male leader. It just happens he's a fucking psycho and it's implied he knocks Blake around when she "displeases" him. Thanks to her idolization of fighting for Faunus rights- Blake probably legitimized it for a long time.

But I imagine RT will juggle the battered girlfriend, gay virtue signalling, and anti-racist things and fail on all accounts.

Like Adam giving a none too subtle hint he thinks homosexuality is wrong, then Yang and Blake have their fight scene with him together and leave a snarky line about how Yang's been a better man to Blake than Adam ever was.

Instead of giving Blake her own arc and "boss" to overcome- they've sort of tacked Yang onto it, watering down the character of both. They become one person- as two halves of a couple and two people who want Adam dead.

But honestly, I suspected Monty always wanted Yang to lose an arm because it shows the consequences of losing a fight, and robot arms are cool.

>>35426

>Qrow's semblance is so bad

Hahahahaha.

"Oh, that's my uncle Qrow. He's a teacher at Signal." - Ruby, first episode

Motherfucker is teaching middle-school students how to use lethal weapons with his semblance in full effect. They must have an insane turnover rate.

>>35435

I have two theories.

A- While Atlas has the best students thanks to resources, Signal has the students who can adapt best. Having to learn what to do and dealing with shit going wrong all the time would do that. But seeing as this is the school they go to before the likes of Beacon and Patch's small size- I doubt it.

B. Qrow being a teacher at Signal was a cover. He never interacted with Ruby since he just lied and said he "wasn't allowed to teach her classes in case she was soft on her". In truth he was running around for Oz or whoever dealing with major crisis that couldn't enter public knowledge.

>>35431

>Instead of giving Blake her own arc and "boss" to overcome- they've sort of tacked Yang onto it, watering down the character of both.

This is my biggest complain about it.

Blake is always sharing her screentime and character development scenes with someone else since most of her backstory seems to rely heavily on her relationship with others, either humans, the white fang, Adam, Yang, Sun, her parents and Ilia. I guess is ok for one of the 4 main characters, even if I still feel it waters her down a little, but I don't want that happening to Yang too.

She already had a big part of her development tied to Raven and to a minor degree Ruby. Why tie her to Blake and Adam too?

I understand that RWBY is all about partnership and team work, but I think each character should solve at least some of their issues by their own too. So far the only character going through that is Weiss, because they literally put her away from any other well known character in volume 4.

Also if the whole Blake and Adam affair is resolved by putting another character (probably Yang) in the middle, it will ruin the Beauty and the Beast theme they had and that they could heavily exploit to bring a huge redemption arc with a huge acceptation message.

>>35490

Adam seems too far gone to ever redeem- plus RT's general politics mean that a redeeming racist is impossible, and only a dead racist "solves" the issue.

However, it could be the other way around. Adam is the "beauty"- luring in other Faunus with the promise of something better, and having a thing with Blake.

Blake is the "Beast"- someone who runs at the first sign of danger and lashes out when cornered.

Blake overcomes her "animal instinct" i.e. her self-preservation and learns to be more accepting of people based on their actions, not on who they are, and vice-versa.

An analysis of how Shonen anime has issues with progression & escalation the guy oversells how important anime is IMO, but otherwise his analysisis good IMO. I think some of this applies to RWBY- as the team are certainly aping that style of show- just in a much cut down time-frame or trying to tick certain boxes early (surprise character death, tournament arc, a place of great meaning torn down or destroyed, major antagonist steps back for real antagonist, etc).

- No Goal.

This is certainly true for RWBY, as the goal has changed. From graduating/being recognized as a hero, to saving the maidens/relics. This is certainly why we strangled last season for fuck-all happening. No major goal was achieved or overcome. Ren & Nora got over trauma, Ruby sent a nice letter, Yang got off her ass, Weiss lost the family heir, and Blake is gonna fix the White Fang… But what about the Maidens? Or Relics? No one did anything to stop or hinder them, even the villain didn't move their goal forward aside from chatting to the head-master.

Maybe this is why it's easier to break down & analyze RWBY than it is to write for it. Once we see the season we know where the writers wanted it to end, so we can then say "Here's how to get there better."

- Power escalation.

We haven't seen this in RWBY, but with the Maidens it is possible characters will have to get stronger somehow. Even if it's implied training off screen or a sudden power up like that. Other than that, we've seen Ruby's semblance letting her break up into smaller pieces of rose petals (or maybe when she went around Mercury she was curled up inside one of the three "balls" that went around him) and Jaune get a new sword. Being how bat-shit insane the fights already (were) are, I doubt we'll see any of the characters actually get new powers or forms. They'll suddenly pull shit out of their ass with their powers, or have moments of sudden strength. The current power ceiling seems to be either Cinder's maiden powers or Ruby's silver eyes. And I think both of those ceilings will be shattered when someone gets all 4 of the maiden powers/Relics, or whatever Salem can do.

- Scale of Escalation.

RWBY is fucked on this front IMO. The pacing of the plot & length of each season means shit will have to escalate FAST (assuming each season will be saving a "school" then dealing with Salem). Ruby's semblance changed over time, but not due to training. It just seemed she suddenly used it in a new way. However the show has also taken a step back. The fight we saw against the Nevermore is certainly on a higher power scale than against the strechy-arm Nyuku Horseman thing in season 4. With how inconsistent the fights are from earlier seasons to now, and even between individual fights then I think we'll go from Dragon Ball to Super between episodes as the writers/directors demand it.

- Power System.

I can easily see Yang toppling a building with a single punch as I can Blake's Shadow Clones being able to do more than just mimic actions and attack. I honestly hope any "final boss" of the series is beaten by teamwork and uniting forces of the world, rather than RWBY getting all the maiden powers and becoming a Saiyan or a similar God Vs God conflict. However with the current animation team- we're not gonna see "smart" ways to end a fight- just someone suddenly hitting harder.

- Self-Contained Arc.

RWBY doesn't do this at all. Events from other arcs bleed over- due to how short arcs are and because events are usually big enough to warrant it. Honestly, I don't mind it. It's essential for long stories, but I don't think (at the pace they're going) RWBY is going to be that long. The quality of these arcs needs to be sorted however.

- Caring about the characters and their lives/mortality.

RWBY does this well, even with it's break-neck pace. But it's starting to break. The more illogical the plot gets, more characters act like they shouldn't based on past events, or the more character's don't improve or mature- the more we hate it.

If people like Shoen style shows because they become invested in characters they like, RWBY is frustrating because we're losing investment in characters we used to like. Like friends or family who gradually change. Only the characters aren't changing due to logical reactions to events of the plot- they're just being written worse.

I've been thinking about how to fix Yang's arc in season 4/ stuff for season 5.

I don't see how spouting fan-fiction can help, but it's been burning in my noggin for about a week now.

Anyone interested- or should the focus be on how to fix RWBY from where it is now, rather than re-write fanfics?

>>35559

I'm interested. Post it.

And if you want to post any ideas on how to fix it from where it is now, too, go for it.

>>35563

As mentioned in other posts (maybe in other threads) I think Yang having PTSD over Adam takes elements that would have been better for Blake. Not only would she be running away, but she'd be seeing Adam in every shadow.

I think Blake should have lost her arm (Adam cuts through swathes of shadow clones while trying to not actually hurt Blake- just push, punch or kick her away- while trying to kill Yang. Adam is going so berserk he cuts the real Blake's arm off). Yang on the other hand gets stabbed clean through the chest. Blake practically drags Yang away while Adam is otherwise occupied (Grim, or even Raven turning up). Blake see's Yang getting defibrillators or field surgery, and judging by the way the doctors are talking- thinks she is good as dead. Blake then drags her self away (probably while saying "I'm sorry" over and over) and doesn't see Yang revive.

Yang now has to take pills for her heart. If her heart rate gets too high, it could cause it to split open. To someone whose an adrenaline junkie and' someone who wants to be a huntress (something that's sure to get the heart-rate going) this is a nightmare. You can learn to fight one handed or with a bad-ass robot arm, but it's nigh impossible to learn to keep your heart-rate down in a fight unless you're doing some monk shit. Not to mention Yang's main go-to is "get angry- punch harder." Meaning she doesn't have to learn to fight smarter just to be a better fighter- but to not die.

Tai is reluctant for her to get back to training- and even feels 50/50 about whether Yang should get her license to be a huntress (in-training) back. You might get a scene where Yang has a nightmare about Adam, she wakes up and knocks her pill bottle off the table, scrambles to pick up the pills, Tai walks in and tries to help, Yang finally gets the pills and breaks down into tears because she hates how she's held back.

Yang gets a trial where she tries to prove herself innocent for what happened in the tournament ("A semblance did it" is not an excuse unless there is proof, the prosecution flips between her not being mentally unfit/dangerous and not being physically able/trying to "protect her" due to her heart). Maybe Penny's eyes somehow saw the illusion because robot-aura-spirit-bullshit or multiple factors (angle of how she attacked, Emerald's aura reader went a little higher as she was using her powers, a heart-felt speech by Yang, etc). She gets her license back and charges are dropped (or not). Tai agrees to train her again.

When Yang chooses between Ruby or Raven, Tai decides to come along. To get safe passage (and a decent vehicle) Yang decides to do Junior a favor. He wants to transport illegal goods across country, and Yang/Tai have nothing that would throw suspicion on them (Tai being a former Huntsmen would also gather more respect and less suspicion). Maybe the two girl bouncer tag along as well to keep an eye on them (they could also be wearing half-masks. One got mauled by a Grimm during the attack, and the other wears it out of sympathy. It makes it easier for them to empathize with Yang and vice-versa, as Yang tempts them off the path of evil). Tai is out of his element, having to rely on Yang for how to deal with people like Junior. They might stop at that bar Raven and Qrow were at and find more info about Raven (Yang and Tai talk about what Raven was like).

As they approach Mistral/Haven, Yang reveals she brought some masks/disguises for her and Tai on a hunch. Turns out, the guy Junior was selling to was also offered the couriers- getting a picture of them so as to blackmail them into working for him ("I own the cops so I'll get off" kinda guy). The dealer is pissed they're in disguise, so he just outright threatens them to work for him.

[Fight]

Yang has to balance out when to use her semblance (or outright suppress it) so as not to kill herself. The sisters probably join in and aid Yang/Tai- maybe even fucking Zwei if he smuggled himself along. Yang and Tai give the money to the sisters to take back to Junior. The sisters explain they realize the hold Junior had over them was largely psychological. There's no way he'll spend the resources to get someone to track them down if they refuse to come back- especially with so many Grim it'd cost more than the money they "stole" to hire someone to do it. They decide to stay in Mistral and become (semi) legitimate club owners. This club would then also provide a place for Ruby/Yang to discuss plans outside of Haven.

The above doesn't solve the issue of "how unsafe is it to travel now Grim are rampant and transport is limited"- but I feel it's a stronger story for Yang.

>>35564

Blake on the other hand has one arm. Her fighting style is fucked (relying on the ribbon or dual-wielding the scabbard and blade) and as she tries to run the White Fang she'll have more difficulty (who's gonna follow someone with one arm).

It also provides some interesting choices for Blake to make when she's given an artificial arm by Ironwood. Despite him making it clear it's a gift and not related to any bargaining between Atlas and Menagerie (most likely over Dust mines or how damn expensive it is to import to the island the big thing they should do is explain while being shoved onto Menagerie was a tactical move- there's nothing no one can do. Transport to Menagerie is expensive, and sending over the materials, experts, and builders needed to set up a modern hospital, medicine synthesis factory, or even luxuries like TV and internet would mean everyone involved would have to operate at a loss. And no one in power in Atlas/Schnee wants to give charity to the people trying to kill them. To attract more people to a peaceful White Fang, Blake needs to get Menagerie into the 21st Century- and no one outside wants to do that unless they're already peaceful. Catch-22 plus the real White Fang probably preferring Menagerie to be backwards to get more recruits and push the idea humans are intentionally keeping them down with inflated prices.), Blake has to decide if she wants to walk around with Schnee tech on her. Figuratively and literally "Property of Schnee Dust Co." on her body in exchange for having a working arm. Even the more moderate Faunus would probably be reluctant to follow someone with a very expensive arm while they can't even get a decent hospital set up, etc.

And this wouldn't even be considering if White Fang members attempt to disrupt any negotiations Blake tries to set-up with the outside world, or if the Atlas negotiator actually wants to negotiate (Take this terrible deal, or we'll just wait for the White Fang to go over the line so we can march on Menagerie and take the mines after the island is "liberated". By the way, here's evidence that might imply your parents were with the violent White Fang for a bit and killed some Atlus people. Hate for that to get out, right?).

>>35563

As for fixing where it is now? Whoo boy.

Yang and Ruby are obviously gonna meet up. There's potential for Yang to try and hide her PTSD so she can protect her sister and not expose herself as being "weak" or "unfit" to fight. The key here is that even when Ruby discovers- Ruby saying she'll support Yang doesn't mean her PTSD is cured.

This is something; realistically, Yang needs to fight her whole life. Which is no damn easy task. Having her recover/get over it feels cheap and almost an insult to real life PTSD sufferers. But keeping it just destroys what everyone loved the character for. Here's the cocky kick-ass of Team RWBY- crying like a child and a fucking liability to everyone whenever the plot demands it. Having characters stumble into danger is one thing, having that happen due to their own foibles and flaws is also fine. But if they do it too much, and even the audience will be begging Yang to go home.

How do you show off PTSD without doing it to the point your bad-ass loses all respect they once had?

You can't.

It strips someone of their pride, their sanity, and their confidence. The former and latter being the first things you think about when talking about Yang. This is not saying Yang could never be pitied, but due to the nature of the problem (mental health) this isn't something she can have a big battle or a big puzzle to overcome so the audience can go "Fuck yeah- Yang did it! She's back on top!". It's a slow, painful climb back up to something close to what she once was. Or at least it should be if the PTSD is to be taken seriously.

And if she does undergo some monk-training to "calm her mind" quicker- she'll come out as a saucy monk/nun trope (calm and tranquil- yet the odd line not like that for comedic effect). Yang becoming more balanced in her temper is something that would be a beautiful transition for the character. Instead I'm seriously worried she'll just ricochet into a shadow of her former self, then into this calm martial-artist trope that sometimes talks like Yang. And if Yang comes out as her bubbly self after meditating her PTSD away or fighting Adam within her mind thanks to meditation drugs- then what was the fucking point of her trauma? Or any character's trauma? Just do your meditation and all the character's inner conflicts are solved- with no real growth.

She's destined now to fight Adam in a double-match with Blake- meaning she has no "big bad" for herself to conquer ('cept Raven). I honestly can't see how she's gonna keep her own story or cope with her PTSD in a manner that isn't swept under the rug or destroying her own character.

>>35566

I predict Yang from now on will suffer what Blake did up until this point. Blake's development was always in relation to other characters (which is fine, but if the audience is starting to notice that, then Blake isn't developing enough) now she's trying to fix how Faunus are perceived by the world- that is a HUGE chance for her to grow (prejudice on both sides, how to learn to work together for values that are shared, not holding the "sins" of ancestors over the heads of people today, and how to deal with issues that are simply impossible). Yang on the other hand just has to get to Haven and try not to freak out too much. I can see Jaune/Ruby comforting Yang and saying stuff to her that they're almost saying to themselves over fears they have (Jaune over not being a good fighter or a liability to the team, Ruby trying to cope with how awful the future looks and trying to keep a brave face). Yang could easily wind up as a device to further other character's development.

And I don't even know how they'll handle Blake and Yang meeting again.

> How dare you leave us!

< I had issues.

> Shit, so do I.

< I guess since we're both fucked up we have to forgive each other right?

> Yeah! Why have us arguing over confronting out biggest issues? Even the writers and our audience can't do that in their own lives- and that'll make them feel bad.

< Let's go back to teasing Bumblebee- we don't want any of the staff attacked by crazy SJWs. That'd make the left look bad, so lets just do as they say.

> I hear Adam hates homosexual people.

< He's the worst!

Actually, despite my bitching and how firmly they've stamped their feet in the ground on previous matters; after Trump banned Tranny's from the army, their quiz show had everyone in drag "as a joke" by coincidence and the many times the VA's/writers have expressed their paranoia over Trump- I'm surprised they've not done anything in the show. So far all they did was pin one vague line from Season 3 and said "Yup, that's in response to Trump. Honest!". Now I've yet to see a lefty who doesn't escalate, but I'd be pleasantly surprised if they addressed issues with the world of Remnant on the brink of another world war and how, realistically, it's understandable how prejudice springs up in times like that and how it's going to happen no matter how much it shoots your own culture in the foot (or actually protects it from a legit threat) no matter how much you say "We need to stand together". Then again, I've yet to see a writer propose the "Love or hate the differences, at least work together to stop people using you against each other for their own gain" ideal outside of more mature or darker worlds. It's always "You have to work together and you have to like each other completely."

>>35564

>>35565

>>35566

>>35567

Good shit. In regards to the Blake/Yang meet up that's bound to happen, I have a feeling RT will try to force a fight between them just so they can have a fight scene happen. Then, as Blake and Yang lunge at each other in the fight's climax, someone will step between them and get them to kiss and make up (not literally, I hope) so they can go fight the White Fang together.

And as far as political pandering goes, if it were anything other than RWBY, I'd say RT is smart enough to know their fanbase wouldn't like them shoving that kind of stuff in the show, but it's not.

>>35572

I'd say the opposite. When it's live shows when the people can show off their personalities, the anti-Trump stuff comes out. When it's scripted, it seems missing- especially in RWBY. But, the election happened during writing for 4. Can't wait to see how tone-deaf it is compared to the world now. Though obviously I hope they improve and dash any negative expectations.

>>35573

I figure that they're trying not to scare off paying viewers. Try not to alienate the part of the audience more likely to have regular, paying jobs.

>>35575

Not even.

Most folk have work. The hard left however have higher income and more disposable income (there's probably analysis out there about how more moolah turns the brat into AntiFa in training, but who knows).

So yeah- if they had to choose based on who'd buy merch, combined with the politics they favor- it's hard not to see.

Then again, they've ALSO seen all the backlash virtue signaling has gotten. They're biased sure- but I think Burnie has enough smarts to encourage the writers to make it "accessible" to all.

You'll still get humans abusing Faunus (which I fully expect and don't mind) and on paper-thin motives (which I fully expect because most of the writing has had motives hand-waved).

Atlus will be "forced" to help the world out rather than clam up. If we assume each of the remaining head-masters are based on the Wizard of Oz, Lionheart will fuck up being a coward and forced to do shit for that Salem minion, Ironwood will fuck up being heartless by only focusing on his own county in a time of great disaster and instability (you could argue Atlas has surplus, or if they want to lead the way in tech they need the responsibility to look after the world they're in. If not to prevent future enemies, then at very least to prevent Grim building up to a level even they can't handle. Whether that's the angle they go for…?) I mean really, there IS no reason for Atlas to not go behind a wall and wait shit out. Their tech is good enough to the point it seems like they could survive any assault by other nations. Hell, it's their dust that fuels the other nations. Pull the plug and the other countries drown in disorder and chaos. No more having to sell your materials to other nations, or staying more advanced to prevent hypothetical invasions. And all it costs is your humanity towards your fellow man. But unlike the real world, the people of the surrounding nations seem to be from compatible cultures. The hard part for the writer is showing why its a bad idea from a political and developmental standpoint first to sway Ironwood's opinion- then shatter it with empathy and emotion. Focusing on only one makes Ironwood look foolish or a soft-touch. Something a general/most powerful man in Atlas can't be.

I assume Ironwood will be talked around (with a painfully thin metaphor about how focusing so much on protecting your country means you condemn the rest of the world akin to defending only your home when there is a riot in the street outside).

By the above logic, in a future season we'll probably see Shade's headmaster fall for propaganda/fake footage/deceived in another fashion (brainless) and goes after/doesn't trust someone who should be an ally.

>>35512

Another video to bounce off this.

Rather than power levels being bad because they become silly- power levels are bad because they're lazy.

The audience has to be told the character is stronger & better- rather than showing it.

The guy also goes on to tear Toriyama's ass apart, and some of the things he criticizes him for may apply to RWBY- if indeed Miles & Kerry are emulating Shoen. Be on the look out for them.

1. We're only told fights are becoming grander in scale. Giant birds are being dragged up mountainsides, and people are running up a tower the size of a sky-scraper. Will we see smarter fights (outsmarting, horizontal progression), or will we see shoen fights (we're told the person is stronger & better, because the animation for how hard they hit the other person was different, or more background stuff was reduced to atoms)? Do you get stronger than the maidens & the relics- power sources that are worth starting a world war over- or do you work out how to out-fight them as a team, using everyone's strengths & weaknesses?

2. Having a limited setting. Consider how large the setting is- entire countries on a globe. Does everyone within that world believe the same thing? No- Good. What about each Kingdom? The overviews were nice- but surely, not every single man, woman, and child follows that status quo religiously right? This more applies to Atlas- as they're shaping up to turn it into douchebag kingdom, possibly with an impoverished underclass. A lot of hate so far comes from the characters not feeling like real people. The same applies to the world itself.

>>35129

You can't unless you re-do FUCKING EVERYTHING.

>>35129

So who is the artist that did that picture???

Why RWBY is Cringe, by Uniquenameosaurus (the guy who talks about RWBY and sounds pre-pubesant but doesn't do 3d animation).

I used to think RWBY's core concept could be fixed.

This review (and the subsequent ones for the later seasons) sink it. Even the good stuff is pulled apart.

True if the audience is enjoying it you can get away with a lot more errors (lord knows the audience is the only way RT survives), but the guy even tears into the action scenes and core plot.

Highly recommended, but a long watch. Even helps remember some minor details like how Glynda and Ironwood were a thing.

Its just not possible to do training montage of hand to hand combat. Its just impossible to shoot I tells ya.

>Remember to push CC for english subs.

>>36467

OK scratch that. He made a pretty good attempt to fix Volume 1-3.

A few artistic choices I'd have kept (keep Salem's narration in the first ep, but change what she's saying. So the "omg the narrators turned nasty, and is was the villain all along" reveal for season 3, etc). And he even slips up on his own (RWBY are pulled onto the train force-ably… Why? Why would Roman want them on board? Keep them away so you can drive the train and fulfill your mission. Sure Ruby can run to catch up, but just get some guys to shoot her. And fighting 1 is better than 5).

At first it sounds like he's cutting the Nevermore & Death Stalker fight, but he doesn't and beautifully reworks it along with combining the drama with the Jaune & Cordin drama.

Doesn't address major issues with characters. I.e. The 4 protags are Ruby, Weiss, Jaune and Pyrrah (based on stuff in Season 1-3). Blake and Yang need a serious do-over to make them part of a cohesive plot. For starters, give Blake a fake name to use at Beacon. Logically she should change her first name as well, but whatever.

Not happy with the pacing in some areas, feels like everything is happening within the first few weeks of arriving at Beacon. But in execution you could give the illusion of a whole school year. I.e. Rework the Vytal Festival to

A) Always be first years or

B) Have divisions of students of different years.

I don't like the idea of pushing up the Vytal Festival- even if you did do it for morale, the date is symbolic and your combatants would all be half-assing it since they're not ready.

IMO smush Season 1 and 2 together, keep 3 as it's own thing due to the volume of fights or just the importance of the events.

It's a cheat, but you could stretch out FatManFalling's version so things are spaced out over the school year (Jaune and Phyrrah arguing, the food fight) within a school year by showing time passing. The Blake & Weiss argument -> Finding the White Fang -> Mech -> Roman fight -> Dance happens just before the tournament (why hack months in advance when it could be patched out when you could do it the week of the event? Hell, maybe the night before).

This does imply that nothing really for RWBY & co other than school stuff… Which is logical. "Adventure all the time" is fine once you're ready, but they're still learning. And we can still have the odd Grimm fight here and there to re-iterate how great a threat they are, and to intermix other character growth. Could throw in the plot from the videogame, but Merlot doesn't really tie into anything unless Salem asked him to mass produce Grimm faster than she can for the attack (or even made the Dragon Grimm), and Merlot was mutating some on the side (hoping to make beasts of burden/war).

I also don't like cutting most of the tournament. People love their fights. While adding new stuff while cutting is a sin, you could add more character growth & arcs to the tournament arc. E.g. Blake meets Neon after the match and she's panicked/miserable since she's let down the reputation for Faunus in Atlas. "I don't want to just be the Faunus girl." Blake goes to talk to Ironwood, and have some simple dialogue that implies a lot

> Hm? … Ah yes, the Faunus Girl.

Said without malice, it shows that Faunus are rare in Atlas, he doesn't see anything wrong with calling a Faunus a Faunus (which throws different ideas to different people depending on if you think describing someone purely by their race is fine), and that not everyone in Atlas has a hate boner for the Faunus. Ironwood and Blake talk about the White Fang more which takes off exposition from Season 4, or even stuff mentioned earlier if you want to space it out.

Overall it still kicks my ass as a writer since I pondered fixing what was there instead of how taking a chainsaw to it actually solves many issues. Less is more and all that. I always hate keeping things concise since I'm worried dialogue comes across as forced or out of place for exposition, as well as going a million miles an hour. But, the guys shown it can be done well. On paper anyway.

Also a big shout out to Celtic Phoenix.

A lot of the plot points you could keep if you're logical and actually show their effects. I.e. Cinder's virus infects and takes down the CCT network- still causes the panic of no communication, but an better excuse beyond "if one is silent than all are silent" (which I get the spirit behind, but is not practical). Then just don't have people using TV or other communication methods. Likewise a lot of the changes he suggests in the videos talks as though when characters said "I believe" or when spouting the most popular theory that they were hard fact (the two gods, where Aura comes from, where Faunus come from etc). Again, throwing in "some believe" more obviously would it works wonders.

Dust can still have tonnes of "flavors", just have 4/5 coloured crystals, and every other color as powder that's been carefully mixed to produce that effect a'la paint or light mixing (depending on which route you go down, the one you can't make- black or white- becomes it's own rare crystal. Prob black seeing as it's gravity and it's been done in the show). I.e. Red is fire, Yellow is lightning, but Orange made from half red and half yellow is Haste. Orange that's 3/4 Red and 1/4 yellow is a strength buff, etc. It then emphasizes how important and difficult it is to mix dust, since breaking down the crystals and the mixing are like video-game alchemy, wrong combinations waste good material at best, or detonate at worst.

Shocked he managed to keep the "Grimm attracted to negative emotion" thing and have it make sense. I was gonna throw in some addiction style stuff (a big enough source of negative emotion overrides their self-preservation instincts. I.e. the festival's disaster is so wide scale even older, smarter Grimm are willing to zerg rush walls with gun turrets mowing them down- and it works), but that just works flat. Could have kept them only eating/hunting humans though (which I think is what he says, but he phrased it ass backwards. Sort of like RT did as well).

>>36472

I'd have kept the Fanus breeding compared to his History video, since Faunus not having an issue breeding, plus having Faunus babies even with another Human gives another reason for them to be hated (fear of being genetically over-run). Heat cycles are logical if you have low-breeding chance, but just feels like fap and doujin bait. Plus it seems pointless to bring it up and not show it, and there's no logical plot driven way to show them in heat without it coming across as cringy or immature (Illia initially pushed away feelings toward Blake as her being in heat, etc). I would keep sensitivity to light & noise, but the human jealousy seems an odd fit in a setting about individualism and equality, by implying the humans have a reason to be outright jealous as Faunus are better. Even if you include the weaknesses (maybe include stuff like being more suseptable to alcohol or poison), those who loathe the Faunus would not idolize their positive traits, legitimizing it instead as abnormal and freakish. I'm one of the few who thought the "We didn't like an animal-man walking out the bush, and constant age-old conflicts is what kept the racism today" approach was fine- but in addition to the historical reasons he proposed

The History of the Kingdoms never really bothered me. Though the logic he underpinned to each society is pretty gud. Made Atlas/Mantle Socialist rather than Nationalist, not sure if it works (maybe because I feel socialism can never work as it's designed to fail a'la communism, though Nationalist Collectivism could still work in the setting I guess? Or it goes Nationalist post-Atlas takeover). He does make Mistral Japano-Greece which I appreciate. His proposal for the Great War is interesting, though I do prefer the "Suppress Art settlers vs. Freedom settlers" getting into a war over an island that grows and grows. It is still somewhat interwoven with his proposal (though I'd change "art show" to some sort of trade meeting or summit, and keep Mistral also abandoning their art, albeit reluctantly and probably practicing in secret still). His logical explanation for why the king won is probably the scientific reasoning behind the tottaly-not-real-poetry-and-stories claiming he had a magic sword.

Absolutely love how he handled the Faunus oppression (being born of something logical, a kinda-not-legal contract, eventually evolving into "well my parents always hated them"), and the slavery just being shitty work conditions that won't/can't be dealt with (same reason, for example, the US doesn't tell China to knock off it's shitty work conditions. They benefit from it, can't afford the political tension, and it's hard to prove with no doubt- and due to the influence of those companies and their deep pockets, it's 100% or nothing). Throw in details of how the Dust companies intentionally fuck over areas their mines are in so Faunus have no other choice but the Dust mines, or hop to another Kingdom and be dirt poor there assuming they can even afford to travel. Even Menagerie is a bad option as you're starting from 0, no home and hard physical labor on an overpopulated island. You could assist the shows plot by having Menagerie "at capacity" so they can't even take in their own kind who are suffering.

Keep the White Fang initially being peaceful (maybe even starting as the guerilla movement proposed in the vid), and you've got gold.

Could probably combine this with FatManFalling's version of Volume 1, but mainly focusing on FMF's version (90% of it).

Weiss overloads on being a bitch, to the point redemption might not work for the audience. I get the emotional highs & lows, but it's too much. Same with the teen drama and interpersonal clash. It comes across as hard to believe they'd become friends.

IMO the big bicker should come during the Faunus discussion (politics & religion are sure to cause a bump even amongst frierce friends). Yang taking Blake's side (back up your partner and a free-spirit, though feeling the modern WF goes too far) and Ruby being idealistic (only punish the Faunus that do bad, which Weiss counters back with how you prove it when they feign innocent and even good Faunus cry harassment when accused, along with "waiting for them to act gets us killed".

I also prefer FMF's approach to Jaune's arc- and it could be interspliced as a "B-plot" to most of the RWBY focused A-plot (the Cardin bullying is limited to once early on in the forest during the relic hunting with Jaune attempting to fight back with secret aid or Pyrrah to prevent him being a total pansy, and Jaune becomes a rival to him since he "got lucky" and kicked his ass. He still picks on others and 9 times out of 10 beats Jaune in sparring. You can still keep him being a little prideful and finally accepting Pyrrah's help later, but drop Cardin's blackmail). Personally never liked it out of cliche. Not to mention a military/police training school- while bullying is still common in those places- usually put a stop to it much quicker as they don't have to worry about "excessively" expelling people. Wanting to keep the best of the best and all that. Despite this, I do like the logic he proposes as to why Velvet didn't fight back to Cardin.

> I did have my own idea for an episode where Velvet finds out she's in charge of monitoring Cardin as he goes on a mission, and her report will affect whether Cardin stays. Since Cardin is on his last straw for poor grades and behavior, he basically has to prove he can be Huntsmen rather than just a brute. Cardin is horrified to learn that not only is Velvet his senior (respecting power), but that she now has his fate in her hands. He attempts to ass kiss early during the mission of killing a Grimm, but his own arrogance shine's through and he eventually gives up, hoping martial prowess will save him again. Velvet tries to make a bridge with Cardin offering to answer questions about Faunus, leading to some clarity about them and maybe a gag or two (Cardin asks if Faunus can talk to animals, Velvet scoffs no, only to "reply" to a squirrel chittering with "I know right?" to mess with him.) When an attempt to stop the Grim fails, Velvet and Cardin argue, prompting Velvet to ask why he bullies. Cardin rattles off all the reason's he's not (no abusive parents, no harassment by Faunus or hatred toward the Faunus, etc) he just finds it funny. Before Velvet can inquire further, they find the Grim again (or it finds them). Velvet's weapon is damaged before she can use it, so Cardin fights it alone, his wreckless and explosive fighting style making a large blast leveling a large chunk of forest. Velvet loses her shit, claiming that Cardin could never be a Huntsmen as he fights with no care for anyone else (citing how he regularly clobbers his own team-mates during fights), and how he doesn't care about anyone. Later she walks to Ozpin's office ready to hand in her report, when she notices Cardin training and working with his team, seemingly taking her words to heart. Ozpin bumps into her, and she quickly says she needs more time. Ozpin feigns surprise as she's usually so prompt with work, but makes a thinly veiled statement with how people can change.

> This leads to something during the fall of Beacon, when Cardin is pinned under rubble and watches his team get slaughtered in front of his eyes. While RNJR are walking through Mistral, they come across Velvet's house. She says she's helping out local villages while Huntsmen are spread out thin. A comment about "no more surprises" is followed up with Cardin walking in and saying "Honey I'm home". It becomes clear Cardin and Velvet are an item now, and Cardin is super nice. Jaune leaves in frustration. Cardin tries to make things right, and Jaune comments how he hates it that Cardin is the better man. A better fighter, he matured more, and got the girl- while Jaune hates how he feels resentment and that it makes him a bad person and/or the lesser man. Cardin confines in Jaune that he tried to commit suicide after seeing what happened to his team (maybe scarring around his neck to show an attempted hanging) and Velvet saved him. He says how Jaune is and was the better man in various ways, including how Cardin swears he will never pick up his weapon again. Maybe even show the garden he was tending is actually three symbolic graves for his fallen team-mates. A traveling group approaches the house, who are lynching Faunus left and right in retaliation for Beacon, seeking a place to rest before going to other villages. Velvet & RNJR hide while Cardin feigns his old persona to not arouse suspicion, only for the gang leader to offer Cardin an initiation by killing a kidnapped Faunus accused of being part of the White Fang. Cardin turns on the leader and a fight breaks out. As Velvet tries to comfort the kidnapped Faunus, she discovers they are part of the White Fang, which leads to another brief fight. Cardin & Velvet says they'll deal with the subdued WF member. After RNJR leave, Cardin acts and heavily implies he's going to outright kill the WF member, since prison is at breaking point and the risk of WF reprisal if they find out is too great. He then reveals he won't, walking away as Velvet approaches with a copy of Cardin's weapon. After bludgeoning the WF member seemingly to death, she cries and Cardin embraces her.

OK, fanfic over.

I'm in two minds about the community service bit, it does it's job, but again it's dragged down by Weiss being even more of a bitch than in the official show.

The Blake & Ruby book bonding is brilliant, especially since I've always wanted the show to take a 15 rated approach, and having Ruby address the "darker origins" would meld nicely into that. (maybe have protesters mad that the Huntsment training age is getting lower, and Ruby trying to lay low is scuppered as someone found out a girl much younger than the legal limit was attending. Students enter the school for the first time with baying protesters at their back).

Drunkard/party hard Yang really doesn't fit though. A few characters are OOC as well (too smart, too mean, too strict, etc). Blake snapping at Cardin would be OK, but the set-up needs to be better (Cardin bullys to mock and enjoy, not to maim or seriously harm). Weiss defending Cardin; again, makes her too much of a bitch. She'd agree Faunus are assholes (as that's all they've ever treated her or her family like) but not outright inferiority, and certainly not siding with Cardin (when everyone clearly has shown disgust and rejection, why harm her status taking his side in anything). Having Blake revealed as White Fang is something that should have been done, Blake knowing Tukston makes sense, but I don't think Blake should be missing for more than a few hours.

Gave up around the 53:00 mark.

>>36474

>>36475

The only things that really rub me the wrong way are how long it takes in this version for Weiss to turn a new leaf and how Penny's relationship with Ruby has changed. In the original, Ruby was Penny's first friend, and that meant a lot to Penny, to the point where she was willing to fight off Roman and his mooks to save her. In this guy's version, they're still friends, but they're not as close and it causes Penny showing up at the fight with Roman to make less sense. Oh, yeah, and the Yang party girl stuff- I have a hard time believing that she'd go off and get drunk despite knowing RWBY would be doing community service the next day. I agree about certain characters being OOC, but otherwise, it's not bad.

I just realized- why are they going to Atlus next?

Sure it's closer, but there's a better argument to go to Vacuo next:

> Show greater divide between a rich and poor nation. As well as a nation where everyone gets along compared to one where people are more divided.

> Show how the dust mines are shit and why we should hate them. Doing Atlas first and (probably) changing how Ironwood thinks may have an effect on how the Dust Mines run (if they become independent and still evil, we don't see how bad it was before. Seeing is better than telling)

> Weiss can see first hand how the Dust Mines treat people poorly, and how the community of those mines get very little. So she has more motivation to change the ways of the Schnee company.

> Political tensions in and toward Atlas have more time to rise. Imagine trying to get into Atlas as they just declare war or something.

> Possible pattern autism. The relic chamber/pocket dimension thing for Mistral showed a desert. So the one for Vacuo could show a snowy tundra, Atlas could have a lush forest, and Mistral high mountains. Each chamber using the biome of the next locale. Though I imagine they'll go for opposites (Mistral is very lush, and it shows a desert. Atlas is very cold, so we get a volcanic wasteland. Vacuo is desolate, so we get a jungle or an abandoned city).

Love this person's analysis of tropes.

Here she explains rule of 3- and how a 4 person team kinda sucks (5:10), she does say how with 5 or move you get a trio within them and it's fine. But 4 is a tricky number, a little too much.

Weiss is still an important character, but imagine the show was RBY? In fact, apart from her silver eyes- what does Ruby's character and backstory bring? Hear me out for a sec:

> Ruby Rose is the daughter of the Rose Dust Company president in Atlas. She's grown up [like Weiss], but she's not completely rotten thanks to a few times she escaped and explored Atlas [a bit of Ruby], and learned secretly learned some training skills via a strange man called Qrow. Fighting, fitness, weapon maintenance, etc.

> She wins the right to go to Beacon instead of the Atlas Academy. She's wide-eyed and eager to see how the rest of the world works. As the main character learns, so do we.

> She's worried she's being given special treatment because of her family ties, but after stopping Roman's heist, Ozpin assures her he'd have rejected her if not for the skill she showed (keeps the "I want to be a normal girl" motif, and makes it pay back later when her silver eyes mean she is special, and how the gift can help people. Just like running the Rose company to not be shit)

> She meets up with Yang Xiao Long - a local girl whose looking for the mother that abandoned her and her father, and Blake- [keep her the same].

> All the malice Blake has on the Rose company is piled onto Ruby when she's found out, yet she does not hold the harsh opinions her family does, or slowly comes to terms with it. Other than bonding over Faunus/White Fang stuff, they also bond over their love of books.

> Yang initially doesn't have much kindness to show the "rich girl who has everything". Despite their family once working together on the same team (STQ. Raven doesn't need to join the team, Tai falls for a bandit woman as a secret/taboo relationship). But they bond over how Ruby's family sucks and Yang's mom is missing. They still contrast as Ruby misses her dead mom (Papa Rose went off the deep end when she died, becoming much more harsh) and Yang hates her missing mom. She learns how to let loose a little from Yang, and Yang learns to think things ahead/plan more from her (remember this is Ruby + Weiss who planned sneaking out and secret training, plus maintains her weapon very well). You could keep the surprise reveal they're half-sisters (Taiyang/Qrow is Ruby's biological father, while Papa Rose got cucked or was infertile/didn't care how he got an heir).

> Blake and Yang do whatever they did in the official show but better.

> Ruby learns about the Silver eyes, and realizes her ancestors most likely got into such a prestigious position because of it. Her bloodline defended Atlas so it could mine Dust & develop advanced tech- not that Atlas defended itself via Dust and Tech like the world thinks. As she sees the fucked up stuff Atlas does (awful elites, strangle-holding the dust, dust mines basically being slave labor, etc) she feels conflicted if she should save it.

> JNP would probably be fine, since Ren doesn't add anything (though he could have done with better writing). Or hell, give Jaune some of Ren's back story. Grandson of famous hero, but his family/village was wiped out in a Grimm attack leaving him and Nora. Nora and Pyra could vie for Jaune's affections, or Nora is reduced to comic relief and just likes Jaune like family.

> Cinder, Emerald and Mercury can keep their 3 person team instead of crow-baring in Neo for the Vytal Festival.

> The 4 academies can stay for the Wizard of Oz motif.

> Vytal Festival has four rounds. One with 3 v 3, the second 2 v 2, and finally 1 v 1 semi-finals and finals. That's at least 12 participants and 4 teams- one for each kingdom. Throw in more rounds if more fights are needed to prevent people re-matching (2 teams from each kingdom, etc).

> Maybe 3 maidens and change the motifs from seasons to something else. Same with Relics.

Not to say that rule of 3 should always be harshly adhered to, but it would have solved a lot of issues with character interaction at least. The above isn't better, just different. But it gives more chances for the main characters to interact so it can become better- in at least one way.

>>36486

Just as a minor point, you could even have it with Ruby, Weiss and Yang (albeit changing their names and inspirations to it still spells out RBY), and Blake is dropped, or a side-friend like Penny or Jaune.

Blake was always the weakest link, and keeping her out of the group might not be such a bad idea. Adds more weight whenever it looks like she might rejoin the White Fang. Because we know the main cast would never join "the bad guys".

>>36486

And as a continuation- the five man band.

Montly couldn't have picked a more difficult number than 4 to make the teams. While it ruins the naming convention, Jaune is already a main character anyway- and him falling for a girl on another team wouldn't have been a big deal plot-wise.

Then again, all the teams would be inflated by an extra member, (2 for JNPR since it becomes JPR) so it'd be a fucking mess. Not to mention a bunch of other motifs being ruined (RWBY = fairytales, JNPR = genderbent mythological and semi-historical figures).

I think Monty loved the motifs so much he didn't consider the writing process. He studied what looked cool, but not what could help him make a story.

>>36485

I sure hope we get some actual world building & not our herous sitting in a room for most of the volume.

I just realized- Cardin can't work as a character in Beacon.

If it was a more militaristic school, then they'd try to teach him discipline and tell his victim to nut up buttercup since they're going up against worse than bullying when they graduate.

Since Beacon is encouraging empathy and care for others, someone who harasses others for his own enjoyment would be out on his ass.

The only fixes I can think of are a need for students due to the high mortality rate of huntsmen. Either meaning the standards for it have had to be relaxed to get more recruits (most likely Ozpin would be opposed but was overruled by vote from the other headmasters or other forces like government leaders and mayors of cities demanded it), or anyone with an aura and a semblance gets drafted.

You could have Cardin come from a position of influence (son of someone who helps fund Beacon or he's from a line of great Huntsmen), but I can't see Ozpin doing that (other than desperation and a failing budget).

I found a vid/podcast on worldbuilding.

Maybe it's your thing?

The Grimm are fucking useless, I can't believe I didn't notice it sooner.

This vid seems unrelated at first, but some of the comments on worldbuilding apply to RWBY and Remnant as well. (4:14 - 8:03).

In a world with monsters in the countryside, how come more places aren't like Atlas? Walls and a focus on self-defense?

If we take the logic of one episode- the grim don't attack places they can't breach out of self-preservation, unless negative emotions are so high they instinctually know a TON of grim are going to make an assault that could breach it- then you don't even need to do an Equilibrium-like culture where excessive strains are taken to eliminate negative emotion. But you would still need something for villages. Either a massive wall, everyone armed to the teeth, the ability to up-sticks and book it, or a culture that attempts to stop negative emotions thriving (but also won't fall to bandits, in case anyone started thinking of drugs or drink).

> RWBY's Lore Is A Mess

I was watching a FatManFalling video, and there are two other channels he plugged/reference that also review RWBY and pitch re-writes.

Unicorn of War and Vexed Viewer. Literally only started watching them, but they seem alright.

>>36797

OK scratch that, Unicorn of War quickly turns insufferable. Proceed with caution.

>>36797

>>36799

Looking through more of the videos, skip all of Unicorn of War's review videos since they're more recaps of what happened and comedy with a summery at the end. The "Flip the script"/character arc rewrites are pretty good, but I couldn't stick it any more.

checking out Vexed Viewer now.

>>36797

Looking at Vexed Viewer, I'm tempted to say he's better than FatManFalling's crew. My only real qualm is that he sounds like he's reading off a script, which can undermine the quality of what he says. But if you listen his work is good, and it becomes a non-issue IMO.

Not that FMF & Co don't do this, but Vex focuses more on character development and arcs. He dedicates whole videos to why individual characters don't work in the story, while FMF is a broader overview that tackles things like animation.

Stories live and die by their characters IMO. If you can get characters right, audience can sometimes forgive bad stuff in other areas. And without good characters, you certainly can't make up for it with even the best of everything else.

>>35129

I would civilly assassinate Miles and Kerry.

Problems. Solved. /

>>36815

>>36797

>>36816

How about Floof artist, Muffin man dan, and adel aka? They’re on the same boat as Vexed and Fatman, aren’t they? All got chased to the ends of the earth by r/rwby (because we all know how they are).

>>36824

Those are the hardcore fans, they've had chased a paper-bag in the breeze that had "RWBY sucks" written on it.

Thanks for the recommendations. I know of Adel Aka, but not the others, will check them out.

Also, sorry for the two prior posts, it's just a transposition of what Vexed said + basically fan fic. I couldn't delete them after, so I reported them and asked mods to snipe them.

>>36826

Eh, I think Floof is a hardcore hater. The only person more nitpicky as him is Adel. As for Muffin & Celtic, they like the show but have some nice rewrites, but both of them are up and down with liking the show and hating it, it seems.

>>36827

What were your thoughts on Floof's RWBY is Broken videos in particular?

Comparing the mounty own arc is retarded, it was stupidity low budget and amateur as hell, now they got a good budget and hired lots of people to work.

This comparison is bullshit.

Salem's current backstory doesn't work to make her a sympathetic "tragic monster" figure. The flashback episode glances over too much of her life to see the sudden jumps she has into roping her fellow humans into war on the heaven, ruling the world as a goddess, and replacing humanity with her children. As it stands Salem should have had a longer flashback to present her more like a tragic heroine who slowly drifts towards towards the creature she is now as she desperately tries to find a way to undo what the gods did with her "war on them gods" plan a last resort, and once she's queen she deals with the harship of the throne for (war with other kingdoms, settling disputes, and of course rooting out corruption) until she becomes disillusioned with Ozpin's ideals and humanity then she decides that it's time for a new humanity. Instead of what's apparently an unbalanced lady who snaps at the first chance to.

Anyway, for all the talk about how poorly done the Human VS Faunus/White Fang angle is (which it is) it's funny how how no one suggested to just can it. I mean, how does the OVERALL plot change if the White Fang is just some army of thugs/bandits/mercenaries who happen to be faunus? Outside of Blake, it really has no connection to team RWBY's adventures outside of faunus goons to beat up. Even with Yang's arm loss she only got targeted by Adam for her friendship with Blake.

Speaking of Edgelord Magneto, he's not interesting to watch since he lacks both a cunning mind and charisma (which undermines his backstory of being some respected hotshot leader). His character can be summed up "DA Faunus are DA MASTER RACE we faunus can see in the dark n' sheet! BLAAAKE!!!"

Like I can whip up a way better sequence here:

>The White Fang are a band of mercenaries founded by Blake's parents

>They don't anything too nasty

>Adam comes to town and takes control

>The White Fang gets hired by Salem for her plans and commits atrocities.

>Blake has enough so she cuts her ties with them and runs off to Beacon.

Here's a video that's tangentially related. Not so much for the critique of the film, but how the video maker breaks down the illogical arguments others made defending the film.

I'd even argue it's a masterclass in how to reply to various arguments made when someone is defending a piece of media instead of discussing it. I feel that's especially important today since the mainstream never discusses- only deifies or condemns.

It is very long however- and only the first part. Though I skipped an hour of its intro with no ill-effect on the rest of the video. And even just this video on its own is sufficient for learning the defense arguing flaws.

>>37222

Ah fuck, now it won't let me delete that post either.

>>37223

He ended up making the intro bit you're talking about a video on its own, which is nice.

All of the living notable villains or meh to bad overall. Especially Cinder.

Also it's silly that Torchwick's obviously supposed to be the Big Bad Wolf to Ruby's Red Riding Hood, yet we don't see any signs he intends to violate her or any other women. The RRH story is one big representation of a girl's adolescence and the danger of getting violated or murdered by untrustworthy males. It's an example of Monty's weird attitude towards girls which got mixed with Rooster Teeth's Leftie policies.

>>35129

I honestly don’t think it needs to be re-written. That honor goes to sword art online

>>35129

I honestly don’t think it needs to be re-written. That honor goes to boku no hero academia

>>37282

I'm alright with Torchwick not being a more blatant big bad wolf since you know RT would've made it too obvious. He would've been the RWBY equivalent to those fat bald bastards in doujins.

>>37282

While it's a tenable comparison (more or less. I personally don't see it) but as you said, nothing really indicates Roman is compared to the wolf from the LRRH story at all.

His looks and personality are derived from the character of Lampwick and the main character of A Clockwork Orange.

I think perhaps Ruby's connection to RRH is more in the form of her personality (naive and kind of gullible) only, rather than as a connection to the story at large (same with other characters. Yang and Blake also don't have a real connection to their inspirations when looking at their place in the story).

It's true that the villains are subpar. They had a huge chance of making a sympathetic character out of Adam (ruthless but only because he's trying to help his people escape racism.) but they, for some reason, shifted that role to Illia.

Same with Torchwick. Right before he dies he says he's a gambling man, and that he decided to help the people most likely to come out on top (Salem and co). It would be interesting if, for example, he didn't die at all, and he would realise later that RWBY was actually more likely to win, so he and Neo switch sides.

While Salem's backstory is interesting, sort of, I really couldn't give a shit. Her personality is nothing compared to the minor villains like Torchwick, Neo, Adam, Merc and Em, etc.

>>37282

>>37553

>>37556

I always imagined a better version of Adam being "survival of the fittest" taken to extremes, fueled by how down-trodden he was. He doesn't just want the Faunus to succeed and thrive- he wants to be the Faunus who succeeded the most. His manipulation of the white fang and Blake always being a way to make his "tribe" bigger.

The only risk with that is you have multiple villains who egos are either "survive and thrive", ego-driven, or both. And yet another villain who manipulates others by playing to their fears/desires. Even as a recurring motif that's a bit much.

> It would be interesting if, for example, he didn't die at all, and he would realise later that RWBY was actually more likely to win, so he and Neo switch sides.

If the show was more fun, I would have hoped the season in Atlas was staged more like a heist (the vault has the First National Bank of Atlas built on top of it, and the army headquarters built on top of that). Desperate to work out how to break in, the crew turn to the criminal under and find Torchwick. Though I wouldn't say he'd switch sides. Now he's seen what Salem/Cinder can do he'd probably look for somewhere to hold up- after revenge on Ruby & co.

>>37556

>His looks and personality are derived from the character of Lampwick and the main character of A Clockwork Orange.

That just makes it worse since Alex is a gangster who rapes rapes rapes. We have a story where a villain is modeled off a protagonist infamous for his bloodshed/violation with that same villain also in the fairy tale role of the wolf (a major symbol of carnage and/or lack of inhibition) up against a young girl on the cusp of her adulthood covered in flower/blood imagery who's designed off a character from the iconic tale of the dangers that'd face young women (namely rape).

Roman is obviously supposed come-off as a depraved beast (see him stop his own escape just to get a chance at killing a teenaged girl) who has a veneer of charm but he's lacking in teeth thanks to RWBY's writing.

>It's true that the villains are subpar. They had a huge chance of making a sympathetic character out of Adam (ruthless but only because he's trying to help his people escape racism.) but they, for some reason, shifted that role to Illia.

The first showing of Adam had him try to kill off a train in the most edgy way possible. And the Fantasy Racism angle never worked since we failed to see such for the White Fang's actions (see them partnering with the faction that uses legendary monsters who destroy towns) to come off as warranted. See here >>36958 for more.

Ilia indeed is a sloppy character. She's more or less just a retread of Adam (complete with being a dyke) but with a more obviously forced dark past to make her sympathetic enough to join Blake's band of friends (even though her backstory has her look like a school shooter telling her manifesto).

>Same with Torchwick. Right before he dies he says he's a gambling man, and that he decided to help the people most likely to come out on top (Salem and co). It would be interesting if, for example, he didn't die at all, and he would realise later that RWBY was actually more likely to win, so he and Neo switch sides.

Roman had a chance to leave Cinder to rot for Ironwood. He didn't… to look cool I guess?

>While Salem's backstory is interesting, sort of, I really couldn't give a shit. Her personality is nothing compared to the minor villains like Torchwick, Neo, Adam, Merc and Em, etc.

Torchwick doesn't reach his potential in a show like RWBY, Adam is a bad edgelord, Emerald is just a dyke goon.

As for Salem, her backstory doesn't work for what was already noted here >>36956.