#i could write a whole other essay about how well it captures neurodivergence

[pinkwhalepjs]

Class Conflict in ACoFaF (& Wuuvy)

I doubt this narrative will actually go anywhere in ACoFaF but interestingly, just like the Austin novels the season is based around, there is a larger conflict than just the injustice of the Court system at play here and that is the injustice of classism. However the Court system is vilified because it stands as an Obstacle to our Heroes desires for expression and romances, whereas the class system is taken for granted and played for laughs. This is not a critique of Aabria or the season just as an interesting thing that is mirrored from the original genre and I think really shows in how the audience comes to see Wuuvy.

Some Courts hoarding power in the form of Magic is the evil meant to be defeated at the end of the story. It clearly hurts our Heroes by cutting them off from loved ones and eliminating the members of Binx’s court. It also stands as a mirror to the hoarding of Love that all of the heroes struggle with. That their respective Courts or families withhold love based on preconditions of behavior or achievement or assimilation (Binx being the exception of course).

But the actual unfairness of the system they exist in goes largely unaddressed. From the salt goblins who are expected to live their whole tiny lives in service to their superiors and die on command, to the servants Lord Airavis polymorphs and maims for laughs, to Gobble begging for his life while forced to dance, even to Andhera’s dog who is sentient, all (with the notable exception of Binx who goes out of her way to respect servants from Andhera’s dog to Lady Featherfowl’s penguin messenger) enjoy their time at the expense of those below them. This includes Rue, who uses a Command spell on Wuuvy who up to that point happily obeyed their commands and never truly apologizes or addressed the gulf between them. This is a defining moment for Wuuvy. She was happy to serve as a friend and equal and although she continues her devotion to Rue, from that point on she must understand that Rue does not see her as quite such an equal.

But we are not especially meant to feel sympathy for the lower class characters. They are either set pieces or worse, Obstacles and Antagonists for our Heroes to overcome. Wuuvy not delivering the letter to Hob is naturally seen in a villainous light because the story is about the Romance between our Heroes. However isn’t it incredibly fair for Wuuvy to lash out in the only ways that she is able. The line between her and Hob is incredible thin. Both are military leaders of lower station who see Rue’s hidden conflict and admire them ardently. They are both beastly and duty bound. Yet Rue is enamored with Hob after meeting him once and sees Wuuvy only as a friend (or servant) despite (or because of) knowing her for decades. Wuuvy demands satisfaction and does not deliver the letter not because she thinks it will make Rue change their mind or fall in love with her instead, but she has simply had too much indignity to bear. She will not deliver up her own hopes and dreams to another with a smile on her face. That is a step too far. Yet in the end it is Rue’s feeling of betrayal that the story will follow and not Wuuvy’s revelation that she could spend her life knowing every little detail about a person and they could still not understand the most important truths about her.

Again this is not a criticism of the show, and it would be phenomenal if in fact this did arise as an canonical plotline/issue, it just fascinates me that the same phenomenon I find in Austen novels replicates itself here. Characters may actively talk about the oppression of their own station (Elizabeth in P&P or Hob in the show) and yet still happily take part in enforcing the class system. They will be allowed to rise above their own station for the sake of Romance but the stations themselves will remain.

[musings-from-mars]

I request some Weiss finding out she's on the spectrum after Ruby and Penny... open her eyes so to speak.

((Okay but neurodivergent!Weiss is so underrated and needs more love, thank you for requesting this!

Btw, instead of saying “on the spectrum,” it’s totally cool to just use “autistic,” or “neurodivergent” to be more broad. I’m not sure of the consensus among the wider autistic community, but “on the spectrum” has always felt like a euphemism to me, when there’s no need to dance around the word “autistic,” so feel free to use it! 😊 ))

Weiss wasn’t sure how she’d managed to get roped into hanging out with Ruby and Penny in the Beacon library so often, but with every passing “study date,” she’d become content with just sitting and listening to the two girls talk while Weiss read from a textbook or wrote an essay. Their chatter was great background noise, as Weiss had adapted to living with the rest of Team RWBY by managing to do everything with some sort of chaos going on in the background, and that included schoolwork. She didn’t really engage in conversation during these study dates, as Ruby and Penny were content with her company while Weiss did her best to be academically productive with her time.

Today, however, the topic of conversation tugged at Weiss’ attention. There was usually an intense focus that would overtake her when it came to studying, like she was viewing her crystal clear text book on a blurry background and nothing could breach her attention. But Ruby had said something to Penny that made Weiss’ ears burn:

“Oh yeah, I do that all the time!” Ruby said. “Like, it’s super embarrassing sometimes, but if some asks me about my weapon I’m like BLAGH! Word vomit.”

“Just like how I infodump about bugs,” Penny said with a bright smile. “They are so interesting, especially the kind that fly or are bioluminescent.”

“Yeah! I remember that time you infodumped about fireflies for, like, thirty minutes!”

Weiss looked up from her book and listened to the two for a moment. Infodump? “What’s infodump?”

Ruby turned, her silver eyes lighting up when she heard Weiss chime in. “Oh! It’s a thing that’s common with neurodivergent brains.” She made her point by pointing to her temple. “Something that captures your interest so much that you get the urge to just go on and on about it.”

“Neurodivergent?” Weiss asked.

“Like how I’m autistic,” Penny said with a nod, “And Ruby is autistic and has ADHD.”

“And dyslexia,” Ruby added.

“And dyslexia,” Penny agreed.

“My brain has trouble being a brain sometimes,” Ruby said with a grin.

“Ohhh, okay,” Weiss said with a nod, understanding a bit better now. “So when you, like, talk about Crescent Rose or fairy tales for a really long time, that’s you infodumping?”

“Yeah!” Ruby said. “It’s fun, like...writing an essay, just...saying it as it comes to you.”

Weiss glanced at her dust theory essay to her right. Or, well, her “outline” for her dust theory essay. It was more of just a piece of notebook paper for her to put word vomit while she...

Hang on...

“I think I’ve done that, actually,” Weiss admitted, remembering back to a couple days ago. She had just finished reading a book about dust theory. Not a required reading, but something she just picked up for fun (yes, she is a nerd and Weiss was content with that). Since she knew Pyrrha was super interested in dust theory as well, Weiss went to her and talked all about the book. Pyrrha had listened kindly and bounced questions off of Weiss, but Weiss had pretty much dominated that interaction. That realization really hit her when, after she had finished talking, Pyrrha had giggled and said, “Wow, when you get interested in something, you dive in 100-percent, huh? That’s cool!”

Weiss explained that example, and Ruby’s eyes seemed to sparkle under the library’s fluorescent lights. “That’s exactly what it’s like! Let’s see, uhm...okay, when you’re doing something that you really like, do you focus on it for hours on end without thinking about anything else?”

“Well, yeah,” Weiss said, never having thought much of it. She was just doing that a minute ago, of course.

“But like, hours,” Ruby reiterated. “And you focus so hard you forget to eat or drink or go to the bathroom because you literally can’t think about or do anything else.”

“I mean, doesn’t everyone do that?” Weiss asked with an uncertain shrug.

Ruby simply stared at her in response, her jaw hanging open.

“That actually is uncommon,” Penny chimed in, missing the confused tension that radiated off of Ruby. “What you are experiencing is called hyperfixation. It occurs when your brain locks onto a single source of mental stimulation that triggers your brain’s chemical reward system and maintains that focus for as long as it can in an effort to continue to reap rewards in the form of firing neurotransmitters. This can cause your conscious mind to miss other common bodily functions and signals, like hunger or the need to urinate.”

“You know a whole lot about things you can’t do yourself, Penny,” Ruby said, both as an observation and a compliment.

“Thank you! The organic person’s mind is complicated and fascinating!”

“Yeah...” Weiss agreed, absorbing all the information Penny had just given her, all about neurotransmitters and whatnot. “I do those things a lot, actually.”

Ruby then slammed her hands palms-down on to the table and trained her eyes on Weiss’ with a serious determination. “Does your brain’s immediate response to any form of rejection include an all-encompassing feeling of dread and a blazing hatred of your own existence that makes you want to punch the nearest wall and scream out the nearest window until your heart and/or voice gives out?”

Weiss stared back at Ruby with wide eyes. “I, uhh...” Then two seconds later, she had an answer, and her shoulders dropped along with her face, which settled into a begrudged but well-worn scowl directed in no particular direction. “Yeah. That was my entire childhood.”

“That’s depressing!” Penny said. “And also another common symptom called Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria.”

“It’s like regular rejection,” Ruby said. “Except more sensitive, and dysphoric!”

“I got that,” Weiss said with an understanding nod. “So...what I’m hearing is...I should see a professional.”

“Wrestler?” Ruby asked.

“Mental health professional,” Weiss corrected.

“Oh nice! Maybe you can be brain cousins with us!”

“Brain cousins?”

“ADHD and autism overlap in many ways and are often comorbid,” Penny noted. “But that does not actually make us related.”

“That would be super weird!” Ruby added.

Weiss looked down and nodded. “Okay. You two have given me a lot to think about.”

“Sorry about that,” Ruby said sympathetically.

“No, in a good way,” Weiss assured her.

“Oh!”