marcmight

[marcmight]

I miss my girls…

[marcmight]

I mean, considering that Cinder was a power-hungry schemer, Watts had an ego the size of Atlas, and Tyrian is genuinely crazy, it wouldn’t be so farfetched to say that Salem recruited Hazel so that her inner circle isn't entirely made up of insane people.

Weird thought I had while working on an answer to that list of Salty Asks:

Does anyone else feel like Hazel is just a bit... undercooked, as a villain? At least when compared to Cinder, Tyrian and Watts.

To be clear, I'm not saying he's a bad character. He's got his great moments and his whole arc and conflict with Oscar and Ozpin is solid. It's more that he doesn't exactly have the same presence as a VILLAIN like the others.

Now you can certainly argue that this is part of the POINT of his character; that he's not actually a bad person and is being manipulated via his grief and anger by Salem. But particularly looking back in hindsight that kind of puts him in a position of the villain we're all just waiting to have his big change of heart and switch sides. Even as early as Volume 4, Hazel was pretty obviously the 'least-villainous villain' of Salem's crew, and he never really stops being that. He never really even DOES anything all that real overtly villainous. Well, aside from the all the child-punching.

Plus this ties into an even bigger contrast/sorta-issue: Looking back at Salem's inner circle, Hazel has this distinct 'What do you actually DO here?' vibe compared to everyone else.

Cinder, Tyrian and Watts? Each of them have very clear REASONS why Salem would want to recruit them, particularly in hindsight:

Cinder is Salem's loyal Maiden, key to the Vaults and possibly part of her Grimm-Hybrid experiments.

Tyrian is an absolutely deadly and fanatically loyal murder machine.

Watts is the absolute hard counter to ALL things Atlisian. And also tech support.

And Hazel is, uh... extra muscle, I guess?

You see what I mean, right? Why exactly DID Salem recruit Hazel specifically?

There's even an argument that each of Salem's four underlings have qualities specifically geared towards getting Salem one of the Relics:

Cinder is obviously the Fall Maiden who can open the Vault of Choice. Watts, again, is the secret weapon to cracking open Atlas to get at the Vault of Creation. And we may find out that Tyrian's skills make him particularly effective in Vacuo.

So then... HOW exactly was Hazel specifically meant to help get the Lamp of Knowledge? Again, when you look back at the Battle of Haven at the end of Volume 5, it feels like he was just there to be extra muscle.

Now I don't think all this is a huge problem for Hazel. Like I said at the start, I think as a character he's pretty solid and has a great arc and payoff.

I guess it's more that when compared to a lot of the rest of RWBY's villains, especially his three co-henchmen to the big bad, Hazel feels a bit underdeveloped/toothless.

[marcmight]

I just want to put this out here I love Adam Taurus but not because I think he's some sort of misunderstood character who the writers of the show did dirty. I love that motherfucker because he's an interesting character and a genuinely good villain. I'm glad that bitch is dead but man he was great while he was here.

[marcmight]

VOTE

AO3 Femslash Top 100: Semi-Finals

[marcmight]

AO3 Femslash Top 100: Semi-Finals

[marcmight]

AO3 Femslash Top 100: Semi-Finals

[marcmight]

AO3 Femslash Top 100: Semi-Finals

[marcmight]

PUSH BACK BEES LETS GO

AO3 Femslash Top 100: Semi-Finals

[marcmight]

AO3 Femslash Top 100: Semi-Finals

[marcmight]

AO3 Femslash Top 100: Semi-Finals

[marcmight]

Having media literacy is more important than being good at math prove me wrong

[marcmight]

Aight Bees, you know the drill. LETS GO BUMBLEBY, ALL THE WAY TO THE TOP!

AO3 Femslash Top 100: Semi-Finals

[marcmight]

The best thing about Team RWBY collectively is how ready, able, and willing they are to commit arson at the drop of a hat.

[marcmight]

This is the magic lucky word count. Reblog for creativity juice. It might even work, who knows.

[marcmight]

"fell apart" is a funny way to say "had 6 more seasons, an anime reboot and two crossover movies"

[marcmight]

Less than a day left to vote, folks!

AO3 Femslash Top 100: Round 5

[marcmight]

Invalid D&D Alignments

Lawful Chaotic - loophole abuse. their goal is to carry out as many zany shenanigans as possible in an absolutely nonpunishable manner. Chaotic Lawful - malicious compliance. dredges up obscure laws that haven’t been implemented in decades or centuries and insists on following them. thrives on inscrutable bureaucratic labyrinths. Good Evil - the token evil teammate. a missing stair. an objectively terrible person but charming or useful somehow so people keep making excuses for them. Evil Good - always does the right thing, but, like, in the least comfortable way. call them in for big, big problems, and then spend a year wondering if it was really worth it. their approval fills you with shame.