#but like I still stand by most of my gripes with v3 even if my old rewrite concepts also sucked

[arolesbianism]

Every now and then I get haunted by my past as a dr fan because someone mentions it or smth and lemme tell you the worst case scenario is if they bring up v3 in an even slightly positive light because nothing will make me start giving a shit abt dr again except for my burning hatred of that damn game, I just spent like 30 minutes ranting to myself about how much of a nothing character Kokichi is in the bathroom after showering just to vent it out because if I don't rant abt v3 every now and then I'll explode and kill someone

[kasuna-kotonoha]

V3 Mastermind Tier List

I’ll be ranking all 16 characters by the following criteria

-How shocking the reveal would be 

-How impactful the reveal would be (To the audience and the charcters in game.)

-How good of a mastermind they would be. (Base intelligence, acting and social maniupulation.)

-How much sense it would make from a meta standpoint. (I.e, does it make sense, what does this reveal add to the character, what narrative potential is there for such a twist.)

S rank will be reserved for the one character I think would be the best mastermind. Be warned that this is heavily opinionated. With that, let’s get started!

D Tier

Gonta- Sorry, but no. While the betrayal would sting, and it would be shocking, i don’t think it’d be a very good reveal. From a canon standpoint, Gonta’s to naive and dumb to really be an effective mastermind. From a speculative scenario, it would have to be hinted that Gonta is much smarter than he let on. Something would have to be very obviously off with the beloved entomologist. But in canon, I think it feel like more of an ass pull than anything else.

Ryoma- Ah yes, everyone’s favorite tennis player. I just can’t see it. Ryoma holds the group at something of an arms length emotionally, so I don’t think enough characters would care on a personal lever for it to have the kind of impact characters higher up would. While he’d do fine as a mastermind, lIke Gonta I think it’d be more for the momentary shock value, with otherwise no other significant character impact.

C Tier

Tenko- While Tenko would make for a decent mastermind, like Gonta she’s not the smartest and is pretty naive. The impact would hit largely Himiko, and maybe Angie, but I don’t believe it would be as personally felt anyone else in the group. It’s would be a shock, but I don’t think it’d really be in a good way. It doesn’t really suit her.

Miu- She’s smart, that’s for sure, and that’s what gets her into C tier. She’s be capable of running a Killing game. However, she’s canonically a bit of a pushover, so unless that turns out to be an act, she wound’t hold up under her classmates scrutiny. She also draws a lot of attention to herself, which is not something you really want in your mastermind. 

B Tier

Maki- She’d feel just a touch too obvious, I think. From the start, she’s pretty mysterious and just a little suspicious. And, assuming her real talent is still revealed, I don’t think most characters would be that surprised. She’s just...there, meaning it’s impact would be limited.

Kiyo- Here for a lot of the same reasons as Maki. He’s suspicious from the start, so not a lot of shock value, and I just don’t think it’d make the best reveal. Not a bad reveal, to be clear, just not the best.

Himiko- She’s noteworthy enough to stand out, but can also fade into the background. This is good. However, like the previous characters, her impact would be limited, and the shock would be most of what it has going for it. However, I do think she’d do well masterminding a KG like it’s one of her shows.

A Tier 

Does this tier half half the class in it? Yes. Do I care? No.

Keebo- Boy is already an unwitting assistant to the masermind, so to upgrade him from camera to actual mastermind isn’t much of a stretch. Despite being a robot, he’s also able to fade to the back a bit if he so chooses; since he has a more normal personality, it’d be easy to let the more colorful personalities shine.

Tsumugi- Her only real downside in canon, in my opinion, is that she fades into the background just a little too much. She’s smart, and her apathy towards the situation and her actions is kind of chilling.

Kirumi- Betrayal from the mom friend? Sure, why not. Kirumi being the mastermind would sting for the entire cast, and her simply carrying out her duties as mastermind could make for a very chilling characters. Only problem is it might feel a little too plot twisty in the bad way.

Kaito- Another stinging betrayal. Kaito as the mastermind has the potential to be terrifying. We know Kaito has anger issues, and him being the mastermind would be shocking but not totally out of left field if done properly. 

Angie- We saw how manipulative she could be in chapter three. Her social awarness and intelligences is one of the highest in the group, and she’s quirky enough to stand out, but she also has this ability to stand out in a way as to be unassuming. 

Rantaro- One of the main things he has going for him is the mystery. He’d be able to stand out when needed but, similar to Keebo, other, more colorful personalities can shine when he wants attention off of him.

Kokichi- My main gripe with mastermind!Kokichi is just how obvious it would be. From a narrative/meta standpoint, Kokichi is honestly one of the worst picks because no one would be surprised. That being said, Kokichi would do well at pretty much all other aspects. Hell, when he only pretended, he did the masterminds job better than the actual mastermind. He’s effective in every aspect that’s not shock value, such that I have to put him here. He’s intelligent, both socially and academically, and he’d do a brilliant job.

Kaede: Ah, yes. Everyone’s favorite pianist. She’s blend with the group well, and no one would see it coming. She’d be well liked by everyone, furthering the effects of her betrayal. She’s smart, and I think she’d do well masterminding a killing game.

S Tier

If you were keeping track, you already know who’s here

Shuichi- Best boi, need I say more? Well, yes, actually. Shuichi took the elusive s tier spot for several reasons. (Also, assume someone else is protag for this one.) One, he blends in well, but he stands out by virtue of being a detective in a killing game. He can take an active role in the investgation and trials, but ones they’re over, he stands back, letting others take the spotlight. He’s one of the smartest in the group, so masterminding would be no problem, and neither would manipulation. He’s betrayal would have a drastic effect on the group, since he’d been so helpful up to this point. He could either be Junko leves of insane, or cold, calculating, and unfazed. Overall, he’s got a lot of the best foundation to be mastermind

And that’s a wrap. Feel free to add your thoughs on my tier list, or even make one of your own. I’d love to see what everyone else thinks. Also, let me know if you want me to do some scenariaos with these.

[littlemisssquiggles]

Some people say seasons 4 and 5 were weakest in terms of stuff happening for Ruby and character progress for her, compared to the focus of several episodes on Blake. Like Ruby doesn’t get that too much. What would you say to refute that? I’m just curious I like seeing people’s stance on things gives me a new perspective at times.

Hello again Sweet. Seasons greetings to you and your family. Whelp as I toldyou before, I didn’t exactly see V4 and V5 as Ruby’s weakest seasons. On thecontrary, this squiggle meister hasthe opposite opinion in which I think that V6was Ruby’s weakest season (with the current V7 potentially becoming a closesecond) despite her enduring quite a bit of focus and development during that volume.

Although much didn’t happen for Ruby during V4 and V5, I personally didn’t mindit . While the title of RWBY says that the storycenters around the adventures of all four RWBY girls, I’ve always had the greater impression that Ruby was the mainheroine of the story.

This was evidenced by the fact thatshe was the first character to be introduced to us both in her originalcharacter trailer and the first episode of the series. Not to mention that for a good chunk of the Beacon Trilogy (V1-V3), you can say that much emphasis was based onRuby, often by her own peers which made her stand out compared to her oldermore experienced teammates.

Basically what I’m saying is thatfor half of RWBY’s narrative, Ruby had been a focal character. So when V4rolled up and we got an opportunity to focus on the JNR members for a change,particularly Ren and Nora, for me, I actually enjoyed it. I know some Ruby stansdidn’t like that Ruby’s time with JNR involved her receiving less focus as opposedto the rest of her team (who were the focal characters of their own plots whilethe team were divided during the first 2/3 of the Mistral Trilogy). But like Isaid, I didn’t mind it coming off the high of the Beacon Arc which, in myopinion, had a good amount of Ruby development to satisfy me long enough untilthe PLOT was ready to resume fleshing out what’s next to come for her story.

To me, my biggest gripe with V4 andV5 had less to do with that. As a matter of fact, I actually disagree withfolks on saying that Ruby did receive focus during those two seasons. What wasproblematic for me was what the PLOT—here go the CRWBY Writers at the time(Miles and Kerry) chose to focus on as part of Ruby’s story for the Mistral Trilogy.

During the Beacon Trilogy, Ruby’s arcwas her starting her journey to become a huntress and most of her story fromV1-V3 was about her training to live up to that aspiration of hers whilelearning to be a leader as part of a huntsmen team. It was an establishedaspect of Ruby’s story that remained pretty consistent until the conclusion ofthe Fall of Beacon.

However at the end of V3, the CRWBYWriters introduced this new element of intrigue to her character—her being aSilver Eyed Warrior. After the end of V3, I was hoping that the nextinstallment in Ruby’s development would’ve involved her unlocking the mysteriesof these mystical powers she alone seemed to possess, learning about its strangeorigins in connection to her mother and even Ozpin who seemed to be the onlyperson at the time who knew any info on the Silver Eyes, as revealed by QrowBranwen back during the finale of V3.

I thought Ruby learning aboutthe Silver Eyed Warriors and potentially starting her training to become a fullyrealized one was what the Writers’ had next in store for her story.

But rather than watching three seasonsof Ruby learning about the Silver Eyes, instead we spent two full seasons—V4and V5—feeling as if the PLOT had forgotten this new part of Ruby’s story asthey had her focusing on other things. 

At the time, I previously chocked upRuby’s lack of interest in learning more about her Silver Eyed heritage as her concentratingmore on the upcoming Battle of Haven and the acquirement of the Relic ofKnowledge since that was the main objective of the Mistral Arc at the time. Howeverthe more I thought about it, the more I started to think that it probably would’vebeen a better idea if the PLOT had spent more time providing the groundwork forthat side of Ruby’s story.

Even if it was as small as Ruby simply askingfor more information on who the Silver Eyed Warriors were, I would’vetaken that as opposed to having her not care about it at all for two seasons.Especially since it was tied to her relationship with her mother as well aswhat happens later in V6 after Maria Calavera’s debut. 

This also illustrates my biggestpeeve with the treatment of Maria. As much as I really, really like our veteran pocket abuelita,right now she feels like wasted potential.

The Writers had an opportunity tomake Maria a significant character in Ruby’s rise to Silver Eye status as theold lady is the first and only other Silver Eyed Warrior that Ruby has met inthe story thus far.

Instead, the PLOT practicallyrendered Maria’s character irrelevant bythe finale of V6 after rushing Ruby’squintessential ‘magnumopus’ moment with her Indomitablescene against the Leviathan Grimm.

They still had a chance to redeemthemselves by progressing Ruby’s relationship with Maria for this season. Butfor the second time since V4 and V5, the CRWBY Writers have once againabandoned focusing on building up Ruby as a Silver Eye in favour of forcing development onto another side of her character.

What do I mean by that, you might ask?

Back in V5, it was said that Ruby’s so-called‘problem’ was that she needed to learn hand to hand combat…in spite of her alleged ineptitude forhand to hand never being a key liability to her fighting style inprevious seasons. I mean yes we saw Ruby struggle without Crescent Rose duringher brief altercation with Mercury Black during the Vytal Festival back in V3however we’ve also had moments when Ruby was able to hold her own without theneed for her trademark weapon as shown back in her last fight against Torchwickand Neo in the same season.

So the Writers making the choice to alter that trait in Ruby’s character to suit the PLOTfor that respective season honestly came off as a minor retcon for our little red rose .A retconthat was ultimately made pointless bythe end of V5 entering V6 since Ruby was never seen using or even needing to use hand tohand combat ever again; making me ask the obvious of question of whythe Writers chose to have that be a point of focus for Ruby back in V5 sincethem dropping it a season later  madethat aspect of her story from the season before quite meaningless.

Now this squiggle meister is starting to get a weird sense of déjà vusince I’m seeing a similar pattern being repeated for Ruby’s character for V7only now it’s with her semblance.

While I understand that one’ssemblance is capable of evolving withtime and proper continuous training as mentioned by Ozpin back in V5, however Ican’t tell whether Harriet’s remark to Ruby in V7CH3 about “there being more to her semblance than sherealized” was an indicator that Ruby’s Petal Burst semblance might be evolvingwithout her realization or not.

I mean that could very well be thecase going on with Ruby. However instead I’m left feeling like it doesn’tmatter or that it’s not really that important since Ruby herself has been shown to notthink about it at all; in spite of characters like Harriet and later Oscar inCH6 pointing out that there is something different going on with her signaturesuperpower. 

Instead I’m left thinking that thewhole thing with Ruby’s semblance for V7 is just another example of the PLOT forcing attention onto another aspect ofRuby’s character that’s didn’t really need it.

Back in V5, hand to hand combat didn’tneed to be an obstacle Ruby needed to overcome since a) scythe-wielding has alwaysbeen her signature combat style since her introduction and most importantlyof all b) she never needed to learn hand to hand since it’s never been a  liability to her as a huntress in the line of combat prior to V5.

And now for V7, I’m seeing a similarthing with Ruby’s semblance seeming to be getting some focus but I’m leftfeeling confused by this choice since Ruby’s semblance had been consistent(mostly) for many seasons and honestly didn’t really need any focus at allsince I wasn’t expecting Ruby’s semblance to be developed moving forward.

I was expecting it to be her SilverEyes especially coming off of the end of V6. However it appears that onceagain, Ruby the Silver Eye plot thread has been dropped for yet another season whichunfortunately makes all of progress back in V6 (as small as it is) feel …well…kindof pointless.

Now the impression I’m left with, asa viewer and Ruby Stan, is that the CRWBY Writersdon’t have a clear blueprint or treatment for what Ruby’s Arc is supposed tobe.  While it’s evident that they do haveIDEAS for what they can do for Ruby’s story, a proper PLAN of how they intendto go about executing said ideas per season isn’t there and it SHOWS in the show.

Case in point, Ruby being a SilverEye. Despite presenting the allusion that Ruby being a Silver Eyed Warrior mightultimately play an important part in her story with Salem, the implementationof them building up that side of her story has not only been sloppily handled butit’s also been very fickle with how they flipflop with other things they claim to be important to Ruby’s development.

And as someone who was very excitedto see the progress of this stage of Ruby’s character, seeing the way the PLOThas been handling Ruby in that regard has been a disappointment. Nonetheless, inspite of the oddness in choices made for her writing, this squiggle meister still likes Ruby as our protagonist. She’s stillmy second all-time favourite RWBY character.

If anything, my feelings for Rubyironically match my other favourite character: Oscar—Still one of my favs howeverthe treatment of their side of the story within the series has been so questionable that it’s made it hard toremain invested in whatever the showrunners have planned for said character.Granted that there even is a clear plan which I’m left feeling like there isn’tone based on what I’ve seen so far. However, this is only my opinion.

If anyone reading through myresponse respectfully disagrees withme since they’ve been satisfied with Ruby’s story up until this point then that’sperfectly fine. Like I said, this is my stance onthis subject matter and I hope no one is offended byme taking it this way.

That being said, my verdict isn’tthat Ruby doesn’t receive a lot of focus compared to other characters. As I’vestated throughout my post, I think she receives a good amount as the leader ofour main four. It’s just what the PLOT decides to be the focal point of Ruby’sside of things and the execution of those ideas. This has been my issue withRuby for the past three volumes and even as we’re in V7, it’s unfortunatelystill a problem with the writing for her character for me.

It’s as I said. During the BeaconTrilogy, Ruby’s story was that she wanted to become a huntress to protectothers and a pivotal part of her arc back then was watching her grow into thatrole while proving herself in the eyes of other characters who either doubtedher abilities (such as Weiss) or rose to challenge her on her ideals (such as RomanTorchwick).

It was great watching Ruby grow intoher own as a huntress back in those early seasons because it was a stable part of her character writing that grew withevery season that followed the last.

It’s why I’m having issues followingRuby’s development into a Silver Eyed Warrior (or anything the PLOT has donewith her after V3). The consistency thatwas present with her development has been lost a bit and thus, I’m left feelinglost on what Ruby’s story moving forward is going to actually be.

This isn’t me trying to throw shadeat the Writers or the writing for RWBY in general. It’s just an issue that I’vebeen noticing over the past few seasons, especially since I did my full recapof the whole series last year in preparation for V6.

It’s an overarching issue that, forme, began a bit back during V4 until it was made more apparent by V5. While V6and V7 have shown improvements andsteps in a better direction for the series, unfortunately I’m still noticingthe same lingering problem that has impacted the overall treatment ofcharacters such as Ruby.

Don’t get me wrong. There has been plentyof material dropped by the last few volumes from which I can see the PLOTworking off of to further strengthen Ruby’s story and character. But just likeher treatment back during the Mistral Arc, I’m concerned for the execution of those said ideas and that’s where I mostlystand in that regard.

~LittleMissSquiggles (2019)