#idk. bc like i said she Has only been in one episode and when ruby gets taken she Is shown not to be interested in like. Caring For Anyone

[seveneyesoup]

episode was. fine. not sure why they set things up like the family ruby has is what matters and then also make a big deal out of her biological family. weird decision there but the stuff w coincidence and language and knots and rope. speaking my language there. definitely an approach to timeless child we’ll see how it shakes out tbh. also sideeying rtd a little bit over rubys mom. she’s only been in one episode and she’s shown to be not Necessarily a caring mother etc but still much closer to the mammy archetype than i would like

[nomairuins]

thank GODDD the doctor is taking time to work on himself maybe now he can stop ruining womens lives .

[itsclydebitches]

RWBY explains why reactionary, traumatized teenagers who have never been held accountable for their actions shouldn't carry grand fantasy narratives. RWBYJNR have no moral code, no loyalty, no ability to work with outsiders, and now by all rights they should have screwed two cities. The Ace Ops and IW are doing a great job as reasonable adults. It's just when the show says 'these are the heroes' (or the FNDM actually bc RWBYJNR don't have a win yet in 8 seasons) that there's an inconsistency.

The strange thing is that the writers must have some sense that they’re writing a group ill-equipped to deal with the realities of this war because they keep having others call them ignorant kids, demanding that they make a choice, be held accountable, Ruby’s favorite phrase right now is “I don’t know”... but it never leads anywhere. The show pulls back on every acknowledgement before any change can occur: Ruby is comforted for her ignorance, charges are dropped, May changes her tune, Ren no longer has a problem with their behavior, etc. Then on the flip side, we have characters who are doing their best given the situation, which means that in order to ensure they’re appropriately evil in comparison, they do things like oh, say, shooting innocents for absolutely no reason. We can’t forget that Ironwood presumably killed the councilman and must believe he’s killed Oscar, which is by no means doing a great job, yet we simultaneously recognize that these actions don’t fit with the rest of his characterization. We keep seeing A, being told B, watching the show acknowledge that it is actually A, before still insisting it’s B. So we’re watching this show call Ruby out in one episode, then reassuring her she’s blameless the next; having Ironwood making realistic and justified decisions one moment, then randomly killing someone. It’s like the writers know they haven’t crafted the characters they wanted  — a morally pure simple soul and a corrupt dictator  — and they understand that they need to acknowledge that, yet they’re entirely unwilling to commit to these characterizations in the long term, either to run with them, or to develop them into what they wanted them to be in the first place. It’s like watching someone try to make a cake. You said you were going for cake, you called this product a cake, but the reality is you forgot the leavening agents, frosting, and messed up the ingredient amounts. That’s a brownie! And the person goes, “Oh yeah, I guess it is a brownie...” only to turn around the next day and try to sell it to you as a cake again. No, you acknowledging that you messed up doesn’t suddenly turn this into something new. Either work with the fact that you made brownies or start a new season batch and try to actually make a cake this time. 

...idk where I’m going with this, except to say it’s weird to watch a show that acknowledges its problems without making any attempt to fix them. And also I’m apparently hungry lol 

[rainbuckets8]

Why you should watch RWBY

TL;DR:

Summary: RWBY is an epic fantasy with themes like found family, the struggle to remain hopeful, the younger generation growing up, villain redemption, and systemic evils.

Strengths: RWBY has unique and memorable characters. The show is smart. It has excellent cinematography and animation. It has representation. It tackles hard topics. It’s got incredible music and it’s free on RT’s website.

Weaknesses: RWBY has some early growing pains, specifically volume 2’s finale, as well as budget and polish. Later on, volume 4 is weaker than the rest. Volume 8's finale is extremely distressing for a lot of viewers (and we haven't seen the follow up to those events yet). The fandom can be bad at times.

Misinformation: The early volumes being bad, the racism plot line, and the animation (not the same as “budget and polish”) are not as bad as you may have heard from YouTube.

Suggested viewing order

Red Trailer, White Trailer, Black Trailer, Yellow Trailer

Volume 1

Volume 2

Volume 3

Volume 4 Character Short

Volume 4

Volume 5 Weiss Character Short, Volume 5 Blake Character Short, Volume 5 Yang Character Short

Volume 5

Volume 6 Adam Character Short

Volume 6

Volume 7

Volume 8

(I did my best to make this spoiler-free. When there are spoilers, they’re worded ambiguously enough that someone new to the show would never guess what’s going to happen just by reading this.)

What to expect

The world of Remnant is filled with monsters called the creatures of Grimm. Warriors called Huntsmen and Huntresses defend humanity. Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang go to school to become the next generation of heroes. Together they make Team RWBY (pronounced, “Ruby”)! Joining them is team JNPR (“Juniper”), made up of Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha, and Ren. But evils even more dangerous than the Grimm are ready to make their move, and school quickly becomes an afterthought…

(I mention these next two topics specifically bc they can immediately turn someone away based on bad expectations.) There is a fantasy school setting, but RWBY is not a show about school. School topics are not a dominant idea: it seems to resemble a setting like Harry Potter, but the actual focus of the show rarely touches on things like classes or homework or tests, and we quickly move on. There is romance and it has a role in the plot, but RWBY is not a romance show. On the scale of romance in FMAB to She-Ra, RWBY falls somewhere in the middle.

What is RWBY about, then? RWBY is like an epic fantasy or high fantasy, despite first appearances. Perhaps not every genre convention is followed, but at its core, RWBY is about an epic struggle of good and evil.

RWBY contains themes such as found family, the struggle to remain hopeful, the younger generation growing up, villain redemption, and systemic evils.

Strengths of the show

The characters are unique and memorable. One of the cool things is that they all draw inspiration from a real life fairy tale, myth, or something else. They designs are all top notch. One character who died with extremely little screen time even got so much fandom love, they included the character in a mid-hiatus short later. The characters have unique weapons, too; in the world of Remnant, a weapon is an extension of ones’ soul, and they reflect the variety of their owners. They’re also just plain cool; Monty was famous for following the “Rule of Cool.” And their individual stories are all compelling and interesting.

The show is smart. As a fandom, we generally pick up on the narrative hints the creators are dropping. And our predictions usually come true, but not in a way that makes the show predictable and boring. We very rarely guess exactly what will happen, but we have some similar idea of it. It’s just excellent foreshadowing.

RWBY also likes to play with tropes, as an extension of this. Often it will challenge them, or subvert expectations. In other cases, RWBY uses tropes to avoid showing us what we already know will happen. This occurs in both characters and plot. For example…

SLIGHT SPOILERS FOR VOLUME ONE FOR THE REST OF THIS PARAGRAPH: Jaune’s entire character arc is about trying to be the anime protagonist, and learning that he doesn’t have to do things alone, and it’s ok to be a support main. The show sets up the narrative in a way that looks like, oh of course the direction it will go is him becoming the main character, but then it destroys toxic masculinity instead.

Our characters are smart, too. Plot-induced stupidity generally doesn’t happen. (A few big mistakes or errors in this regard aren’t actually the fault of the narrative, either, but animation and miscommunication and failure to execute. And those aren’t common.) It goes beyond just “not being dumb,” however. The villains’ plans are incredibly clever, and our heroes sometimes even guess at the usual “plot twists.”

The cinematography is just incredible. There are numerous freeze frames with extreme attention to detail that reveal character motivations or arcs or foreshadowing, there are many effective cuts and moving parts, there are soooo many parallels and callbacks, and visual cues such as lighting and color all are used appropriately to convey emotion and assist the narrative. It is one of the biggest overlooked strengths of the show, imo, simply because a lot of people in the fandom don’t notice these things as much for whatever reason, or else don’t give as much praise about them.

The animation is extremely good as well. Budget issues and technology issues aside (which means a lack of polish), the actual animation? The fight choreography, and all the other parts of animation that aren’t just “expensive CGI” are all wonderful. You can have very shiny, polished turds after all, and RWBY is like the opposite: not very polished, especially early on, but very well animated. All the trailers, volume 1 episode 8, the volume 1 finale, the volume 2 penultimate episode, and basically everything else hold up extremely well even today. If anything, the worst fight animation was in volumes 4 and 5 because of Maya growing pains, and those are an example of being more polished, but not necessarily better animated. Animation of faces has always been good, animation of characters has always felt lively. Aside from a few small actual hiccups (that one person running across rooftops for instance), it’s well done.

There are LGBTQ+ characters. The treatment of one of the recent trans characters, in volume 8, was nothing short of amazing. They worked with a VA who was trans. The moment of canon confirmation was important to the character for backstory, because of course that affects the character’s life, but not the only important thing about the character. The representation is not in-your-face or pandering. And there is a split of representation among the main cast and the minor characters, with promises of more to come (notably they’ve said they’re working on more mlm for future volumes, too).

RWBY is not afraid to tackle hard topics. It deals with things like mental illness, systematic racism, and cycles of abuse. It’s not because the show is trying to earn “gritty and dark” points, it’s because those are some of the topics that real people have to struggle with as well. And the show handles most or all of them very well, in a way that shows respect and an honest attempt to depict these things as best they can. (NOTE ABOUT VOLUME 8: THERE IS A VERY DIFFUCLT CONVERSATION CURRENTLY HAPPENING. I am on the side of, let’s wait and see what happens next because the story isn’t over, so we haven’t really seen the fall out. But I understand why this paragraph feels really difficult to agree with if you've seen the volume 8 finale. I trust the track record of the rest of the show, personally.)

As an example, the show has a theme that villains are rarely evil just because. A lot of villains choose to do bad things because they were hurt in some way. Some lived in poverty; some were hurt by racism; many of them are victims of abuse. But the show doesn’t make excuses for them. It’s possible to be both sympathetic and still choose evil over and over again (that’s called tragic). The ones who eventually do try to do good again are not always forgiven, either.

The music is amazing. I can probably count on my hands the number of times I’ve heard someone say otherwise, which is astonishing when you consider this fandom.

It’s also free on RT’s website. (A paid, “FIRST” subscription removes ads and lets you see new episodes one week early, but they all eventually release for free.)

Weaknesses of the show

Early volumes’ growing pains exist, much like most or all other shows. (Even some of the greatest were not immune to this, like ATLA.) In this case, however, it’s a little bit rougher. A large reason why is that this was kind of the first big thing from RT to ever come out. If you remember back almost a decade ago, their only other big thing at the time was RvB, which was machinima. They pretty much started from scratch with everything, from assets to VAs to animation to writing. Imagine if a random twitch streamer, like Ninja (idk who’s popular these days) said one day, “OK let me just direct something that’s intended to be the next great movie series of all time, like Star Wars, with a $4 bill and an iPhone camera.” Then went out and actually made something. Of course it would be rough…but then it turns out the movie is actually really good. And then you get to watch over the next several years as everything gets better and better until it’s honest-to-god comparable to the MCU. That’s kind of what happened with RWBY.

One specific growing pain was the volume 2 finale. Pretty much everything else up until that point, I love about the show. But the finale just fails to deliver on the build up of tension from other episodes. Some of it is because of later plot developments that we didn’t know at the time; some of it is because of just not great writing; some of it is because of just not great animation; and yes, some of it is budget. Regardless, it’s a low point for the show.

Speaking of, the budget for the early volumes is super small. The infamous volume one shadow people, the infamous person jumping across the rooftops in volume two, and just production quality isn’t high compared to a major release from some established studio. These are real weaknesses of the show that for some people, make it unwatchable, and if that’s you, that’s ok.

One last weakness of the show, the screen time per episode, especially early on, is NOT a full 20 minutes like you may expect of an anime (or anime-inspired-western-media, for those of you who will die on the “RWBY is not an anime” hill). This is a trend that has stuck with the show, a shorter run time per episode, for generally the entire lifetime. On one hand, it means it’s a little less daunting to catch up or rewatch than the number of episodes might imply. On the other, early on, some episodes have a little weird pacing. It also means the writing had to adjust for this, so while RWBY got really good at telling a story within a shorter amount of time, there’s also challenges with that too. Perhaps one of the notable ones is the pacing, with slower moments sometimes feeling like it takes up too much screen time, or not enough. Volume 4 was a particular struggle for the crew, both because they switched animation engines and also for the story.

Common complaints that I don’t agree with

I don’t agree that the early volumes were actually bad overall. Growing pains, yes, but not bad. I attribute that complaint to overly focusing on one character’s storyline, back when it wasn’t clear there was so much more to come and before people realized the show would challenge the tropes instead of falling into them. It’s pretty much just volume 1 when people say this anyway, most of them I’ve heard admit that volume 2 was a lot better (except the finale) and almost everyone loves volume 3. And looking back on it, I do think volume 1 holds up.

Tying into this, the racism plot line is another common complaint. I don’t think it’s actually executed quite that badly. I think it makes sense for there to be regional differences in the amount of racism we see, it just so happened that we only saw a very small and isolated environment, Beacon, for much of the early volumes. (Incidentally, that’s actually similar the environment I myself grew up in.) It’s not perfect, though. But there’s no doubt that the later volumes do a better job portraying this. Again, I attribute it mostly to people not knowing how long the show would run for at the time, so of course if that’s all we saw, it would’ve been bad. But it’s not. I have a lot of respect for Miles and Kerry for even attempting to handle the racism topic in the first place. And for the faults that DO exist in this plot line, I credit them for learning and growing past that too, and doing better in later volumes.

The animation is not bad. I’ve already touched on that earlier, but people confuse “budget and polish” with “animation.” Give me RWBY any day over Michael Bay’s Transformers: no matter how much polish those robots have, they’re still a confusing mess to try and follow. And the polish isn’t even an issue once we get past the growing pains of Maya and get a bigger budget, because wow does this show look good now.

Between these three complaints I hear about often, I think those are the biggest ones. And they’re all generally done in bad faith, based not on just those but on other more provocative statements people also make with them. That’s part of my issue with the fandom, specifically the vocal but small parts of the fandom, because they’re just repeating these things from early days that aren’t true. But YouTubers gotta get those rage and hate clicks somehow, right? Unfortunately it discredits the show a lot and influences other people’s opinions into not giving it a fair chance, because it’s become a narrative of “RWBY IS BAD” when they all won’t shut up about it. So yeah, fandom can be bad, join at your own discretion. (Of course, all fandoms have annoying parts, and my interactions with the fandom have been good overall, otherwise.)

Onto other complaints, some say the cast is bloated. I don’t agree, but I don’t think this one is in bad faith. I think we get the important characters as much screen time as we can, and the minor characters don’t actually detract from that; one of the differences between good minor characters and bad ones, is that bad ones take up too much time. RWBY has a ton of characters but many of the minor ones don’t actually take up too much time. So it appears bloated, but actually I don’t think it is.

Finally, a small word on the no-no topics. Adam, and Monty. Adam is like the champion of the Monty topic. Which essentially boils down to “Miles and Kerry are ruining Monty’s vision for the show.” Toxic fandom is truly awful and I have no respect for anyone who says anything like that. Shame on all of you. This isn’t really anything negative about the show, but the fandom, and tbf all fandoms have toxic parts. But toxic fandom can be a real and valid reason to not watch a show. Thankfully they seem fewer in number these days, but I think they’ve evolved into hiding behind other characters or topics, so you know. Beware. Again, it's not too hard to avoid them or block them, and my interactions otherwise with most fans have been good.

[dumbbitch89]

RWBY V8 E1 thoughts- SPOILERS

yall im rewatching it and i have so many feelings like yall wtf.

yang and blake get speaking roles that affect the plot wtf, im so used to the action scenes im pleasantly suprised by the amount of dialogue being used. adding onto that, everyone is speaking more in general and i love it.

yang is showing some personality by finally standing up for something instead of following orders

blake said something for once, weiss’ hair isnt that lumpy anymore, not suprised about the ruby/yang conflict but ruby rly does needa broaden her horizons when leading, im glad juane stepped in and the ruby/yang conflict didnt turn into a fight although with all the back and forth shots i can assume the conflict is still gonna play a part in the plot.

im pretty biased but im going team yang for this one, even though i agree with ruby as well. the communications tower thing needs to be finished but the priority is always the civilians, which is why i prefer yangs group (also i love yang “wow op i couldnt tell at all” yeah ik ik i have a huge bias)

penny being so sad makes me sad but robot girl go brrrrrr

the longing looks from blake and weiss as yang leaves have my bees schnees heart oozing but at the same time whiterose has been seen together more than twice for a whole season so im rooting for them too. also ladybug?????? has had more interactions in one episode than like all of last volume so hell yeah for anyone who ships them

the animation in general has gotten sm better and i love it, the style in faces and everything else is a lot more consistent and there are less wonky moments and it makes close up shots more appealing now that its cleaner and it makes everything flow a lot better.

im gonna touch on this again because yk its a main plot point, i know the divided teams were like forcibly hinted at last season but at the same time, nora was always for putting mantle first above ironwood, but then she doesnt go to help evacute them first and protect mantle? like i understand the bigger picture but you would think it would be the opposite way around with nora and ren considering last volume but eh oh well its just something i noticed. maybe they did that for a specific reason that will change everything later on or not who knows.

ALSO WHY CANT TEAM RWBY EVER JUST BE TEAM RWBY IT FEELS LIKE THEYRE ALWAYS SEPARATEDDDDDD ugh now thats just me complaining but anyways

the opening is a whole monster in itself its great i love it.

i love the two moments where whiterose’s weapons r together and so r bumbleby’s and i LOVE that they finally remember that theyre partners like fuck yeah finally give weiss and ruby some partner time together. and like its just looks so pretty and like idk i just love it.

youll notice im not talking about the villains bc idk i simply dont rly have an interest in them like other ppl which is fine, you do you, i just dont care to talk about them when i can talk about the one character that never leaves my head. yang yang yang yang yang yang yang. but anyways neo is cool and the only villain i can stand

winter looks hot af in the opening and im glad that the opening is covering all aspects and storylines like its not just the main conflict in the opening its all the side plots as well like nora/ren conflict, the schnee family as a whole, yang/blake and nora/ren having symbolic moments that r literally the same thing and i am losing my mind they really said here shippers go wild.

the scene in the opening with penny and the mirror breaking hurt, i will admit to that.

the final clips of the opening where team rwby falls thru the ice and everything after that is very cool and i would like the personally thank whoever made that part specifically like holy shit. the symbolism not only in the fact that their weapons r lost, but that fact that it looks cool as fuck and it hints that the end wont be as simple as they believe it to be. but im glad that its just team rwby because we need team bonding time pronto.

[seratlantisite]

junoverse s3 finale speculations

because we have 3 days left and i’m super excited. or i guess 1 day now bc i forgot lmao. these will be wild let’s GO

the tiDIEST answer would be that the signal Dark Matters picked up came from Nureyev, who did it to distract the family to get him time to make the payoff without them following him. Thus the final ep will just be the payoff going badly and the family chasing after his trail, to an uncertain degree of success.

But there definitely has to be another piece because. buddy, juno, and even goddamn VESPA all said peter would not maliciously sell them out to DM and takabert doesn't just Lie to us. So even while i keep insisting ‘it was just as a distraction, he could trust they would escape’, that’s kind of a cheap excuse for a huge gamble for people you care about.

And nureyev does care about them. I will defend this hill until the end of time.

So what other threads do we have left to tie into this?

Let’s start with the distress signal

The Ruby 7 could have sent that signal. Probably. I don’t know Ruby could morph into Optimus Prime and I’d nod and say ‘it makes sense’ cos we know jack shit about her. If she has a master plan, it will lead directly into next season because there is no way we will have enough time to satisfyingly explore what the heck that would mean, even if it’s a three hour episode. She is the best escape artist in the galaxy, so maybe she was doing the math on something this whole time (like say coming up with a plan to get peter a window to pay off his debts no i will not let this idea go lmao)

@northisnotup suggested that The Book could have sent the distress signal. I struggle with this one because Rita said it was just very curious and not quite true AI (the distinction is important to me i’m a cognitive psych nerd) so why would it decide to do anything on it’s own. But, while takabert never lie to us, they do decide to re-explore things later, so maybe there is a whole lot more to this book than just a compulsive safe cracker. It would have to be something hidden within it’s code, since Ruby already has the ‘evolving tech’ story line. It would be very interesting to learn where and how about the book’s past.

there’s also the possibility that Buddy set off something by accident when she walked into nureyev’s disaster of a room. Maybe something his creditors’ snuck him that she set off accidentally. Either as a failsafe distress beacon, or she like foot-dialed the creditors up and they shrugged and sicc’ed DM on the family because they over heard her like agent G heard Rita talk about the cure mother. Or maybe the creditors just knew the heist was up, so they pinged DM anyway. Since the creditors have got to be present somehow next episode, this would be a really fun option. a real “we have the fate of your family in our hands” option. Only they didn’t count on the power of family...

M’Tendere’s key or one of their somethings could have activated a distress signal too but that feels like a real narc move and doesn’t really seem like a thing they’d do? mostly since they did not like DM? The most obvious solution to this problem should have been that one of the pharma-corps built a distress beacon into their trap, but its so obvious that Juno or Sasha should have suggested it, and since they didn’t I’m really writing this whole option off.

Next, what about the Radical?

Now. See. IDK y’all you really would think it’s the ruby 7. The intelligent sapient car that can create anything at a moment’s notice. only DM literally used to have the ruby 7 they sent it to M’tendere to study, so you think they would know not to look for the radical in sock drawers. So what is it?

Theia? she’d be deliciously invaluable to DM, in general and specifically against a, ugh, a cognitive virus. (vibert, please. sci-fi is supposed to be based on actual science what does that even mEAN).

I don’t know! I’m excited

[verobatto]

You did something stupid, again

Destiel Meta. Supernatural Meta. 15x13. Spoiler. Visual Narrative Meta

Hello my friends! Did you watch the episode?

Okay, I must say i feel a little disappointed bc AUDean didn't flirt with our Cas and we didn't get a jealous Dean, but ... We will always have fanfictionland, I know many of you will fix it by writing what should happen there... 😏

Okay I want to say thank you to @agusvedder for her wonderful gifs in this meta!

Now, my quarantined friends, let's start this short meta...

Call back to Ruby/Sam, one of the first Destiel mirrors from season 5

It was hilarious when Cas pointed at Ruby as the demon Sam had been sexually intimate.

Why Cas is recalling this? Is important because while Sam was sexually intimating with Ruby, Dean was sexually tensioning with Cas 🤣🤣🤣 omg, is quarantine, sorry...

But it works, right? They were both mirrors, so...

Then we had Castiel talking face to face to Ruby, and Ruby remembered Sam, she said she liked him! Was him one of her regrets?

Just like the Empty scanned Castiel's head when he was there, discovering his feelings, Ruby confessed that to him.

Old Married Couple

And I'm guessing because this was a BL episode, we had a lot of Wincest, but we also had old married couple sit com with Destiel.

The exchange of bad jokes coming from Dean and Castiel being all grumpy, is our jam.

But we also had a recall to doing stupid things, only this time, it wasn't stupid.

Castiel almost dying to get into the Empty, is a parallel to Dean almost dying to get into the veil. And idk why it was so easy... But, could work as a foreshadow too.

Why a foreshadow? Because they showed us how, through Jack, Cas, or anyone else?, Could break into the Empty, and maybe... Because Ruby called Cas, he could represent the connection, the first one in waking up the Empty, and being released from it. So maybe, this could be the way to refill Heaven with angels sleeping in the void.

But is also a clue for my spec of Dean rescuing Cas from the Empty too.

The way Dean nonchalantly asked for Cas' grace under his scolding eyes, is a sign that maybe he was still a little mad at him for doing the almost dead plan. Because they are married. And they're two dummies in love. That's why.

Far to be Happy

We talked extensively about what meant for Castiel to be happy. He always will put the excuse AUMICHAEL IS STILL OUT THERE, or now, CHUCK IS STILL OUT THERE. But... What is the show telling us about his truly happiness?

In this episode we had people dressed in colors that can give us clues about that.

I told you that everytime we see pink colors means happiness. Now... Look at Jack T-shirt...

Is white (light blue and white means purity and divinity) so divinity with pink and blue. He was wearing Castiel's happiness. Jack is pivotal for Castiel to reach happiness. And the white color representing divinity, is maybe talking about his destiny, to become the new God, as I pointed so many times in my meta specs.

Now, let's jump to Jo.

Jo was wearing a pink coat with a red bluse and black T-shirt with lines in blue and red.

Okay... Pink is happiness... So... Red is our toxic, and angry Dean, black is the Empty and lines in blue and red are Cas and Dean again. This has so much sense, because Dean is Castiel's happiness too, but the Empty is there separating them. And I suppose Dean is in angry when he discovers the deal with the Empty, or when he will see is really too late.

Now, let's come back to Jack's wardrobe at the end... Light brown coat (so Cas, isn't?) And orange t-shirt. Orange is the mix of Red (Dean) and Yellow (Sam) so each time I see orange I recall the brothers... And is so cute he is wearing this colors, because is his family. They are his three dads.

Miscellaneous:

There were a lot of point that caught my attention, but because this is the Destiel Meta, I will put just two here. And a third we were discussing bwith my friend @weirddorkylittlediana

Dadstiel talking with Jack about the way Dean manage anger, and mourning, because he knows. He knows Dean very well. So he can talk about that with his son. And we, Destiel shippers, can scream like the fangirls we are.

Why no one were helping Sam to block that door?? And Dean and Castiel spotted side by side? Okay, I could scream again my spec here about Dean and Castiel in the Empty, and Sam helping them to open the rift and keep it open through a spell and Jack, but... It is also a clue to think about Destiel endgame as vessel sharing. Just saying.

Diana told me: look the church scene looks like a wedding, I noticed the colors (bisexual flag) but I didn't noticed they were spotted as if they were getting married, I will use her pics to show her idea...

Okay... Hilarious, thank you Diana!

To Conclude

I didn't like the Wincest subtext in this episode, but we'll, I think you can't give to all the sections of this fandom happiness at the same time, right?

There was a lot of old married couple but like sit com.

The reference to the Empty and how Cas can get in and get out and maybe, bring some dead demons and angels, it could be a foreshadow to what the Heaven Restoration will be.

I hope you like this meta, see you in the next one!

Tagging @metafest @gneisscastiel @emblue-sparks @magnificent-winged-beast @agusvedder @weirddorkylittlediana @michyribeiro @whyjm @legendary-destiel @a-bit-of-influence @thatwitchydestielfan @misha-moose-dean-burger-lover @lykanyouko @evvvissticante @savannadarkbaby @dea-stiel @mybonsai1976 @anarchiana @angelwithashotgunandtrenchcoat @trashblackrainbow @destielshipper221b @mishtho @dancingtuesdaymorning @feathered-castiel @bre95611 @zoerayne2426 @justmeand-myinsight @that-one-fandom-chick @proccastinate @studio-hatter @pepevons @liwos-rabithole @poorreputation @mrsaquaman187 @dizzypinwheel @jawnlockwinchester @breathing-oxymoron @a-bit-of-influence @dwstiel @thislunarkiss @ladygon @shippsblog @la-random-fangirl @lets-try-this-again-please @mychemicalobsession514 @destiel-shipper-11

If you want to added or removed from this list just let me know.

Buenos Aires March 23th 2020 5:58 PM

[mego42]

207 Discussion Q’s

shout out and thank you to @pynkhues for putting these together even though she wasn’t gonna be here this week

1. What was your favourite scene of the episode? Tell us why!

obvs the dubby but underrated fav is Ruby and Jane in the closet, idk exactly why but I am starved for the families interacting with each other content (screw the timeline, the most unrealistic aspect of this show is that they aren’t constantly in and out of each other’s houses with ben and sara continually being called on to babysit) so this little snippet makes me levitate

2. Was there any scene that missed the mark for you? And if so, how?

the annie and noah scenes for sure. I mostly feel betrayed bc I really liked them the first time I watched (i have a lot of built in affection for sam huntington let me live) and now I’m like BEGONE FOUL BETRAYER and feel pre-emptive fatigue over annie’s taste in men and how that’s not going to get better any time soon

3. I know time does not exist in the Good Girls universe (or in reality anymore), but let’s start with a timeline question! The implication of the opening montage is that a bit of time has past since Beth strongarmed the partnership with Rio at the end of 2.06. How long do you think it’s been? And more importantly, what do you think these early days of their partnership looked like?

I tend to lean towards at least 2 months, maybe more based on:

the number of shoeboxes and how many times Beth’s shown making a closet deposit

how lived in their annoyance over Beth’s dividing her time and Rio pushing back feels

the implication (at least how i read it) that Rio’s annoyance stems from having to track Beth down which presumably implies they’d grumbled their way into a semi-functional working relationship prior (supported by their ease with each other in 208) and if the montage has only been a month, that would be a maximum of 4 meetings and I don’t particularly think that’s enough time for them to get over being extremely prickly with each other

the fact that Beth goes to Rio for help when Jane’s missing (again, to me implies a longer period of time to get over some of their antagonism than a max of 4 meets)

I imagine their initial partnership went something like Beth being a smug brat about forcing her way in, Rio being deliberately unhelpful and trying to force her to admit she’s in over her head (while still keeping enough of an eye on things that his money isn’t jeopardized), Beth stubbornly refusing to and finding ways to rise to the occasion, Rio being grudgingly impressed, Beth being annoyed with herself for how pleased she is over that. Lather, rinse, repeat until they’ve worn a cantankerous but bizarrely comfortable groove into each other.

meanwhile, Mick, Annie and Ruby are absolutely disgusted by everything happening in front of their eyes.

4. The first scene between Ruby and Turner in this episode is a really dynamic one! It’s pretty clear that Ruby’s afraid of Turner, but what do you think Turner thinks of Ruby?

I think he sees a big cartoon canister labeled "Beth Boland Bait"

5. Taking the kids to the drop was a pretty big mistake! What do you think Beth should’ve done in this instance? Do you think saying no again to Rio was an option?

CALLED BEN OR SARA FOR A BABYSITTING ASSIST. For fucks’ sake.

And yeah, I think she could’ve said no to Rio but he would’ve kept her cut of that drop and, even worse, would’ve been able to hold the fact that she didn’t deliver that one time over her head forever more.

6. The krav maga teacher offers some sage advice telling Dean to not order the hit and instead just divorce his wife, haha. Do you think that he thought the baby hitmen would come through for Dean? Or do you think he was deliberately setting Dean up to get robbed?

I choose to believe the krav maga teacher knew exactly what kind of an idiot Dean was and set him up because the dude clearly had at least two brain cells to rub together and anyone with two brain cells to rub together would never get tangled up in a murder plot with Dean standing on the street corner telling random bystanders in detail how he wants to kill the guy that fucked his wife what do you mean established means and motive Boland.

7. During Ben and Annie’s tense conversation, Ben tells Annie that she’s hard to keep track of - she’s parent mom, cool mom, sketchy mom. In a lot of ways, this feels like a parallel to Ruby talking to Beth in the last episode and calling her ‘drug Beth, gun Beth, human trafficking Beth’. What do you make of this? And how do you think it relates to the show’s themes?

I defer to @foxmagpie’s answer because I like it a lot. 

8. The scene with the girls in the house! Tell me all your thoughts please!!!

I love this scene a lot

Beth’s channeling Rio in general but also specifically in 201 you will never ever change my mind

Sometimes I lie awake at night wishing Rio had seen it

Prayer circle that he sees a version of it in s4

Can you imagine the nightmare level of boner he would get? The sheer narcissism!!

Ruby’s obvious wish for new friends is The Most Valid

I really love the main drug den guy, I love Blake Shields’s energy, it makes the scene crackle, and I wish they’d bring him back purely bc he’s gr9

9. Annie meets Noah in this episode! What do you think of their introduction to one another? And how would you rate Noah on the scale of ‘Garbage Annie Love Interests’?

at least he’s not her therapist I guess

10. Beth has two pivotal and emotionally revealing fights this episode - one with Dean and the other with Rio. How do these fights compare? And what do you think they tell us about her respective relationship with them?

UUUNNNNNFFFFFFFF

I L O V E how hard the show goes on Dean’s obsession with Beth and Rio as the primary source of his angst

the fact that he’s trying to rope Stan into murder while looking for Jane who isn’t even MISSING but Dean had NO IDEA bc instead of giving a shit he went straight to HOW CAN THIS BE THAT GUY’S FAULT

I love how clearly they delineate that it isn’t about Beth but specifically about someone else ~*~taking~*~ Beth from him and how emasculated that makes him feel (something something something the storyline opens with the krav maga guy choking him out and then telling him to divorce her and Dean being like I reject your rational and logical solution bc it doesn’t punish the man who touched my property, idk i have a half baked thought there but i can’t pull it out of my brain)

and then it’s all underscored how little Dean’s worried about Beth and her safety by him bringing her work up specifically as a gotcha (which, unless I’m forgetting something, is p much the only context Dean ever brings it up in besides maybe the sit down fight but that’s again, about Beth acting out vs genuine concern)

Meanwhile, this is contrasted with:

Beth flipping tf out at the mere suggestion Rio would ever hurt her children, showing how deeply and instinctively she trusts him in regards to her children aka what’s been established as her Most Important Priority over and over (in the same breath that she rips into Dean for losing Jane in the first place)

which is doubled down on her immediately going to Rio for help

and he is FURIOUS at her, but the thing he leans hard on isn’t how she could have jeopardized the business deal (aka his money, what’s been established as his Most Important Priority over and over) but how she jeopardized herself and how badly she can fuck up if she doesn’t take this seriously

putting himself in a vulnerable position (presumably burning a connect, letting on that Beth means something to him beyond business) to look out for Beth’s emotional well-being

And then, just to drive it home a little further, @sothischickshe pointed out the Beth and Rio fight over Beth’s self preservation is directly paralleled with Stan freaking out at Ruby over the IA stuff because he’s worried about her and I had to go and stare at a blank wall for a few minutes to calm down.

anyway, draw your own conclusions.

11. Ruby takes Jane being missing as an opportunity to try and find evidence on Beth for Turner and, in the process, finds Jane too. How do you think this scene captures Ruby’s moral dilemma? And do you think it’s a satisfying turning point in the Ruby-Turner arc?

I struggle a lot with the Turner and Ruby plot specifically because I HATE that Turner’s ruthlessly leaning on Ruby as the weak link but I’m also ferociously attracted to him so I’m less bothered by it than I feel like I should be so mostly I just try not to think about any of it.

Idk, I see it in some ways as a continuation of Ruby’s fight with Beth and Annie in s1 where Annie said she isn’t blood. They put Ruby on the outside but when push comes to shove, Ruby still puts the two of them above her own family. As far as I’m concerned, Annie still owes Ruby a massive apology for that. Beth I let off the hook a little because by the end of the season she’s ready to turn herself in to make it all go away for all of them (I think, unless I’m misremembering, which is entirely possible bc I don’t think I’ve ever rewatched all of 213)

12. RIO GETS BETH THE DUBBY!! That’s it, that’s the question. Please discuss.

I think a lot about how the gesture is so baldly honest neither one of them can face it either at all (Rio) or without taking a shot first (Beth) which, now that I’ve typed it out, is also an interesting flip of their general MO bc under normal circumstances I’d put Rio down as the one that, of the two of them, is more willing to face stuff whereas Beth’s the one that hides from it.

[lexicals]

Jfc I am BUZZING what a fucking episode. The first part of this is mostly screaming tbh

I love happy juno but also grumpy juno is my favourite welcome back

I love how firm peter is with him in stopping him from spiralling? It's good

Rita coming into her own!! Learning lessons!! Growing up!! Yes!!!

SO MUCH INFO THOUGH. Dark matters wants the crime family and they want them alive and they don't know anything about two of them but!! Which two!!

You'd presume nureyev is one but..... who knows ahh

This is gonna be mostly screaming I have no time for coherent thought rn

Juno being protective over rita godd

Juno comforting rita while she's panicking ;;

OH HEY FUCK THE NAME? I MEAN LIKE IT WAS ALWAYS A POSSIBILITY BUT RITAAAA

Me thinking no surely he wouldn't have just abandoned them and breathing a sigh of relief when he hadn't only for my boy to DO THIS?? ET TU PETER??

PETER

NUREYEV

DESERVES

TO

BE

BULLIED

I'm not serious but my guy had BETTER have a good reason for this. I would hope it's a long con of some kind or SOMETHING but PETER

Anyway if these people know his name idk if this is either 1. Blackmail or 2. Maybe he didn't get away from brahma all by himself after new kinshasa after all. Maybe he had help and it's finally come back to bite him in the ass. Who knows but I'm fucking 👀 PETER.

MISTER WHO

Also. Robot kisses 🥺

ALSO. Juno just. Picking him up and carrying him out of the room fhshdhdgs

MAMA BUDDY SO ANGRY THOUGH. I thought this would be the case but ooof

LESBIAN WEDDING TIME THOUGHHH Buddy and vespa inventing romance once AGAIN

I mean I'm sad they're retiring (although depending on what nureyev is doing here this "last job" could be UHHHHH DERAILED) but!! Yes!! Married!!

Knife girlfriend will finally be..... knife WIFE

Juno sniffling in the corner like ME TOO BITCH THE FUCK. Secretly a sap as usual though mr steel I love you

I can't remember other things I just. So much happened. I'm gonna need to listen again at least a few times here

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Oh FUCK also rita!! "When someone tells you what they want you to call them that's what you call them"!! Penumbra said trans rights once again thank you kabert and also ms jones. Bless

Not a second listen yet but more Thots:

Rly good episode...... and the robot kisses were very cute...... but I had this thought in pt. 1 and again this episode that I'm kinda bummed out that we've kinda just.... skipped over all the relationship development for juno & peter. Like on the one hand it's kind of unavoidable to miss stuff given the series format this time around but on the other it feels like 2 seasons of build up for something that.... just happened offscreen :/ Idk I was hoping for a first kiss back together or Something

On the one hand while it seems like nureyev is being a Snake™ I'm gonna hold back on actually saying he's gonna betray the crew bc he's been so consistently set up as the villain, going back to s1 when juno refused to trust him all the way through to shadows of the ship, and he's never actually proven himself untrustworthy a single time through that? Like, murderous mask has been the only time he's actually fucked anyone over for his own gain, and he went back on that one pretty quick

Plus the fact that he's only claiming to deliver the four items they need, not the curemother itself - it could be that he's planning to wait until after they've stolen the curemother when they no longer have a use for them, or at least I'd like to think so peter I'm fucking Watching You

Another thought: you know how else you might describe a debt? Something you owe to someone because, maybe, they have something of yours? A fucking ransommmmm

Also, why! Did! That! Bot! Not! Self! Destruct! Or at least not straight away. It's almost like someone wanted them to get away in the nick of time. There's a part of me that's wondering if the fact that dark matters is under mysterious new management and the fact that nureyev has made himself what seems like a very powerful enemy are linked, but we'll see. Either way I think someone definitely facilitated their escape, and I wouldn't be surprised if it was whoever is holding peter's debt, using the crew as a tool to get their hands on the four items they want and keeping nureyev as a source on their progress

Looking forward.... other people have said this as well, but I don't think nureyev is ever going to be cast as a villain here. At the very worst, he'll do something well-intentioned but kind of stupid, and it's gonna blow up in his face. Like, it's gonna hurt, but I think he'll come out of the other side better for whatever happens. Currently, my thoughts are on whether or not we'll see a repeat of new kinshasa - a high-stakes choice between someone dear to him, and the choice he feels he has to make, whether that's other people's lives again or something else. Idk, maybe not, I'm just thinking about the theming of the series with the past always coming back to haunt them, the fact that he's been said to be at a crossroads back in man in glass, and the part in tools of rust where the ruby gives jet the opportunity to make the same mistake he did fifteen years ago, and he chooses differently. Tbh as usual I'm just excited to see how things play out however that is

ACTUAL second listen this time:

Rita redacted I love you so much x3 combo. I missed this earlier but it needs to be said

Rita says she found nureyev's name by hacking into buddy's notes on him and comparing them to the outer rim criminal records which leads me to ask the question how much does buddy know? Why would rita be checking outer rim records unless something in buddy's notes pointed her in that direction? I've had my suspicions that she knows more than she's saying for a while but 👀

Nureyev sounds so nervous/scared too...... :(

I had this thought on the first listen but didn't write it down: nureyev is so goddamn smart, like so smart, I don't think he gets enough credit for that. Also him saying "one problem at a time, like [buddy] would say" was - oof. Considering how much time he spends referencing mag's advice in man in glass, even if he's bitter about it, I think that reference is very telling on how he thinks about her

Love the way he skirts around saying they have to move sneakily dhsgjf. Also "only twice" I do love him

Juno joking about his track record on not dying.... oh he's come a long way though

The way that nureyev talks to rita throughout them moving around - he's kind of a natural leader (which, ouch), but also it's clear that he has absolute confidence in her, he doesn't ever doubt for a second that she wouldn't be able to do something. It's obviously a little unempathetic when she's so shaken and doubting herself but also he clearly trusts her almost as much as if not as much as juno, and I do love to hear it

Detective falco? 👀

Juno looking on the bright side! Not blaming himself! Saying maybe it's gonna be okay and believing in her! I cry!

Except for when nureyev is in danger though ): I love that this story never shows recovery in a linear way, that juno is still inclined to beat himself up even if he is better than he used to be. He's growing but it's always gonna be a work in progress!

The fact that dark matters seems to be moving entirely towards remote operation now? Like it makes sense tactically, there's no risk of expending agents in a fight, I'm interested if the writers are gonna dig into that considering the real-world state of drone use in the military and law enforcement

Calling their heist marks "radicals", it seems like dark matters is trying to keep track of or maybe capture rogue (or radical) elements out in the universe - things like the knife and the key, which is probably why they were after m'tendere, they themselves being a radical element. I wonder if this is what brought the crew to their attention in the first place; it's definitely why they want to capture them alive at least, they want information out of them on why they're collecting the same marks

They specifically say two radicals though, and potentially a third, depending on whether the book is counted as the third that might mean they don't know about the map at all, maybe

I mentioned this another time but I'm wondering Again if dark matters was behind the mysterious disappearance of all the theia soul chips except for juno's, esp with what rita said about the interface for the bots being like theia tech - experimental tech like that would deffo be considered a radical element and they definitely could have used it as a basis for these new bots

Peter........ he's in a ROBOT stop being HORNY

"Galaxy-class criminals" huh.

Someone else pointed this out elsewhere idr who but buddy's line that sometimes helping people means trusting them to help themselves despite your concerns, when paired with what's going on with nureyev is.... interesting

WOW buddy is mad though

I'm REALLY wondering how much she knows about what's going on tbh, especially seeing as her pov is probably up next. Aaaaa I'm gonna be yelling for the next however many weeksss

Jet sounds so happy about the ruby being fixed aw

Vespa so nervous about making her announcement AW

Buddy sounds so HAPPY AW

Peter starts laughing right at the end when vespa starts threatening juno which,, oh boy ): I rly hope everything turns out okay ;;

Rita saying that sometimes trying to help someone in pain is being selfish because you just don't want to look at the hurt is a really interesting thing to come from her considering her long-standing relationship with juno, huh

“Before the year is out” is a very vague timeframe, once again thinking that nureyev’s plan may well be to only hand the items over once the heist is done

Anyway once again AAAAA

[nikosarc]

A couple notes on the volume 6 premiere 

The episode felt a bit short but that might have just been me

THEY DIDNT SHOW THE INTRO AND IM SAD

Ilia had a new outfit and she looked like a whole snacc

Sun and Blake’s goodbye was cute but I think my favorite part was the end when Nep said something along the lines of ‘it feels like you’re just letting her go’ and Sun replied something to the effect of ‘it was never about that’ which I took to mean he didn’t follow her bc of his feelings for her, he followed her bc he wanted to make sure she was okay and to help her deal with her trauma

Sun is back on my good boi list

Blake tried to help Yang grab her luggage bc of her arm and I cried

Yang is being v forgiving but I feel like she’s still putting on a brave face and eventually she’s going to reach a breaking point in regard to her resentment towards Blake.

Either that or Blake’s guilt will get the better of her and she’ll confront Yang herself only to find her experiences with her mother helped her forgive Blake

Qrow had a martini and held it like the bicon he is

“Don’t let anyone else die” was in response to one of the blockheaded huntsman from the preview being carried off by a manticore Grimm, not JNR (not that anyone with half a brain and modicum of critical thinking skills had any reason to think they were dying in the first episode anyway)

Weiss used her glyphs to basically skate across the train and it was v cute

The other blockheaded huntsman broke his arm and jaune healed him and I was v v proud of my boy

He also used his semblance to boost Ren’s so that they could mask the passengers on the train. He touched Ren’s shoulder and then the power of their love protected everyone on the train #MartialArcs4lyfe

Cast was more downsized than I though it would be, RWBY and JNR split up bc the Grimm are attracted to the Relic so RWBY took the relic and JNR split the train cars. There was a cute Lancaster moment where Jaune made Ruby promise they’d meet them there. I thought they would hug but alas

Idk when they’ll meet up with JNR again and I’m sad about it

Everyone was kinda pissed that Oz didn’t tell them the relic attracts Grimm so that probably has something to do with the moment from the trailer

Y’all know I can’t stand white rose but they were cute this episode

Bees had some good teamwork moments during the fight too

Best moment in the fight by far though was Qrow and Ruby both using their scythes in tandem to behead a giant Grimm. If the theory about them being father and daughter hadn’t been debunked their synchronicity would have absolutely added fuel lol

Maz Katara stowed away on the cut off train cars and surprises RWBY after the cars crash and that’s where the episode ends

I’m seriously sad I didn’t get to see the intro

[gothfield-official]

Who Neopolitan is Based on (UPDATED)

Ok so a while ago my friends and I came up with this theory and I feel the need to update it with more proof. If you haven't read the original theory then strap in bc it's kind of wild. (Also I tried to upload this to r/rwby but evidently I’m still shadow banned for no reason so guess I’ll die?)

So everyone in RWBY has some sort of fairytale/classic literature ties to them. Obviously there's Ruby as Red riding hood, Weiss as Snow White, ect. Some of the connections aren't very deep, for example Roman's connection to Romeo Lampwick seems to be only in character design and the basic characteristic of being a criminal. However, there are a few characters who's fairytale backstory we don't know yet. And among them is Neopolitan.

Before I go into this I want to make it clear I'm not going to consider the "Neo is Mary Poppins" Theory. It's pretty much only predicated on the fact that she has an umbrella and many people seem to think this has been confirmed. The only thing Neo is, in canon, based on is the ice cream.

So, if she's not based on Mary Poppins, then who is she based on?

Frankenstein's Monster.

Now, I know Frankensteins monster is about the furthest thing aesthetically to Neo, but the connections are there.

But first, a bit of background for reference: Let's go back to the episode in volume 3 where we're introduced to how Cinder got her motley crew. Pay attention to who's introduced. First we hear Cinder, then we see her recruit Emerald, then Mercury, then Roman (albeit we only hear her recruit him). We even see her forcing Adam to join her and he's not as closely linked to her group as everyone else. But who do we not see? Neo. This leads me to believe that Cinder never recruited Neo, or even had the need to.

In addition to this, while Neo is almost always seen with/associated with Roman, in the first episode he doesn’t have her with him and has to hire second rate mercenaries to help him rob the dust shop. Granted, it’s a small job but considering how much we see Neo with Roman afterward, it is odd for her not to show up. It's especially odd since Cinder shows up to help at the end of the fight, which is the role Neo fills in all other battles. I speculate that Roman didn’t find Neo, nor have they known each other for a very long time (they met some time after the events of episode 1)

Then we have Neo's connections to Frankenstien's monster, which, as I said before, seems as aesthetically antithetical as possible. However, that's only if you get caught up in the big discrepancies.

My first and main piece of evidence comes from Neo's name itself. Neopolitan. Neapolitan is an ice cream made up of 3 different ice creams. 3 parts, one whole. Frankenstein is a monster made up of many different humans. Many parts, one whole. Admittedly this sounds really stupid but it also makes a lot of sense.

We also have the fact that Neo never speaks. In the first half of the book "Frankenstein", the monster cannot speak. Granted, the monster does learn to speak through observation and study, but putting that aside for a moment consider that the lack of speech as abnormal and an imperfection. Imperfect because the monster, and Neo, both were created by men trying to play god. Imperfect men with imperfect creations.

Going back to aesthetics, consider the fact that Frankenstein is, in almost all interpretations, stitched together, clearly abnormally looking from the outset. Now, consider Neo, with her two tone hair that's split exactly down the middle, her heterochromatic eyes that inexplicably change color, and her overall doll like appearance. Both are very abnormal, even in the context of RWBY, no one else has two toned hair like Neo's, or eyes like hers.

The prefix "Neo" means new. Frankenstein's monster is a "new" form of man. The fact that her name is often shortened to Neo puts emphasis on the meaning and it's importance.

Homunculi are very similar to Frankenstein's monster. Interestingly, homunculus means "little man" Neo just happens to be the shortest character in RWBY by far.

So Neo has clear connections to Frankenstein. The next question to answer then, is who created her and why? My answer is from a person who has no canon interaction with Neo so far. Watts.

We learned in volume 5 that Dr. Watts is a disgraced Atlesian doctor and scientist. I find it very telling that Watts was able to get himself booted from Atlas, considering we know their science gets very morally grey (see the soul transfer machine in volume 3). Ergo, Watts must have being doing so really fucked up experiments. Perhaps fucked up enough to grab Salem's attention.

Watts is the odd man out in Salem's group. Cinder, Hazel, Tyrian as well as Emerald and Mercury, are all capable and used for their fighting skills. Watts, meanwhile, has shojo legs. He's not exactly the fighting type, so why does Salem keep him in her inner circle? Experimenting. Watts is making Salem a weapon, a living weapon, Neo.

With all that in mind the theory as applied to the story goes like this:

Watts was most likely disgraced for doing human experiments, gained Salem's attention, and began to work for her and continue his own research in human and other unethical experiments.

Watts creates Neo. Admittedly im not sure who she’s made out of (literally or figuratively) but we speculate it could be Cinder, Emerald and Mercury, since her semblance includes parts of Cinder (illusion shattering to glass) and Emerald (illusions). Obv Merc is just a guess since we don’t know his semblance yet (I also say it's the 3 of them because there's 3 ice creams in Neapolitan, so 3 people would make Neo). I assume Salem’s dark magic is involved in some way as well. Her hair could also be a clue as to who she's based on, however we haven't seen any characters with bubblegum pink hair yet.

Watts may have also used the same technology behind the soul transfer machine to transfer people’s semblances into Neo to make her more OP. the whole reason they tried to use the STM in the first place was to transfer Ambers powers to Pyrrha, not her soul. It would make sense if Watts attempted the same thing. (It also makes sense that Watts would have been involved with the STM, considering it's an Atlesian human experiment and ethically dubious.)

On the OP thing, something I didn't mention earlier is that Neo’s has a lot of powers. Clearly she can create illusions, which have a physical presence seeing as how Yang shattered the one she used in V2 Ep4. Also, many people have noted that during the Yang and Neo fight, Neo’s eyes switch when she’s about to attack. Then there’s also her teleportation at the end of that fight once Raven shows up. Suffice to say Neo has a lot of powers, more powers than anyone else in the show save for maidens.

It makes sense if she got all her powers either through the parts of others that were used to make her (i.e: Em, Cinder, Merc), through the STM, or a combination of the two.

Salem gives Neo to Cinder, most likely to test her ability in combat as well as test Cinder's ability to control her. While it does seem like Neo would be an important asset to have as a human weapon, Salem still needs to test her, she and Watts could probably duplicate their results or literally stitch her back together if they needed to. Not to mention that Neo is a flawed prototype (remember, she can't speak) so Salem wouldn't see her demise as much of a loss.

So there you have it. I think it's a pretty good theory and leaves a lot of interesting paths for reintroducing Neo to the story and for the story at large. Lemme know what you guys think, and if you have any idea where Roman fits into this, bc admittedly I haven't figured that out entirely either tho my inclination is that he's like the fire prometheus gives to man that they then depend on? Idk but ill update this if I figure it out.

[hisui-cotton]

RWBY V6E11 Theorizing and Reactions

Sorry it's a wall of text

Firstly GOD I HATE ADAM, IM SO HAPPY!!

Knowing that he really at this point- no matter what happened to him, even if he didnt deserve whatever it was that happened to him in the past- will absolutely deserve what Yang and Blake are gonna dish out, is fantastic.

I was pretty surprised about the face reveal actually I genuinely thought itd just never happen. But I'm happy it did because now I have some serious concerns about the world of Remnant.

It feels possible that Adam's semblance is actually artificial and brought on by whatever people branded him at the SDC. I doubt he was born with his sword, and it's safe to assume it's only his sword that works with his semblance since he always has it. Thus I think the SDC probably experimented on him and tested the possiblity or artificial semblances that they could make specifically to "enchnace" people for maybe a cause of some sort, in a way that ensured they'd always have the best possible fighters with the best semblances. Or the best dust test subjects.

That or the weapon has to be passed down through his family and the interest peaked people who research semblances so they poked and prodded him to figure out how his semblance worked.

Or he was just a SDC slave.

And if the artificial semblance was successful, could there be a chance that Mercury will one day be subject to it? Or find out and become interested?

And what kinda of people do something like that to a possible generation of faunus? Even if you don't see them as people, even if you see them as animals, theres got to be some moral kick at some point that tells you that you're the monster and not them. It's likely people of Atlas, who believe in the military power they have and likely want to sustain assisted by the SDC. Or a group that existed in the SDC and then was brought down with the early growth of the initial White Fang, maybe even before that and was a reason the White Fang came to exist.

Bumblebee moving to the possible canon is fantastic though I dont know how likely itll become full out canon right now, but maybe. I mean that with every hope that it will be, I just think that after this they'll simply be closer and feel better about their relationship before going "yes I am romantically interested in you".

But in all hopes I want that ship to SAIL NOW!!! WITH IT BEING SAID STRAIGHT UP! I love the hand hold, I love the togetherness so just say it straight up soon, I don't need a kiss I just need to hear the confirmation.

((As much as I also love Black Sun. Dont @ me please I'm a person who crack ships all the things in a pure AU world where anything is possible I'm sorry))

The fighting was top notch btw, the emotional investment is there and the coordination is so good!! I loved the use of smears and stretch, especially since this is 3D, I do wish the fighting was backed up just a liiiiiittle bit but I understood the use of character expression during the fight too. It just didn't feel like every hit was very big, just very strong so it looked kinda odd? Like you couldn't see much of the wind up while they were moving, only the speed of the attacks. When you did see more of the wind up it was just while they were still. It was still obvious the strength in each hit it just felt kinda off at minor points. Mainly with Blake v Adam.

Adam v Yang though WHEW I WAS GONNA CRY! She was doing really well she didn't flinch during the fight which I found suprising at first and then the hand shaking came in and I noticed that it's only her left, that's ever done it, and i wonder if that just because it has nerves or if she thinks that's something will happen to that one too. Or maybe it's just a general unconsciousness thing with the trauma of losing her other hand (the PTSD of it). But she still took the fight really well and I'm happy she is really learning to control her fighting its absolutely great growth, because while she's fighting with emotion, she's staying calm and not fighting in anger but more in...determination...to protect Blake and I'm sure she knows that things can't be going well at the cliff so she's trying to see the quickest way to finish this for their sake and the others.

Now speaking of the cliff. White Roooose, Flower Pooower, JAUNE BOI WITH THEM PRO STRATS, Qrow and Ren working together was actually unexpected, and Oscar and Maria in the plane has me scared af.

Grandma Atlas (bc I cant remember her name) is very confident in herself, and I would have though that silly if she didn't somehow make the mech move fast enough to catch that missle?? I, tbh, didnt like that but I'll give then the anime fight moment, itll be my one for the season (which is pretty good since there's only one more episode I think).

Maria is too loose of a canon, I literally cannot believe she just mentioned having her drivers license revoked and now shes flying ship. Itll be fine since she pretty much has the ships view but jeez Maria.

Ruby knowing that Weiss would be useful in the fight on the ocean means that she and Jaune are probably thinking very similarly about how to handle the fight. Jaune explaining the fight and reassuring it tells me he was thinking about how to fight it the moment it started approaching.

Jaune grabbing Nora was incredible, like back in V1 or V2 I never would have thought he could do something like that just out off the top of his head. But I think that also says something about how scared he is to lose another teammate. He was pushed away by Phyrra, could only watch initially when Weiss got hurt, but now he feels the strength he needed all those times and dived head first in protecting his teammate over just himself when he saw danger coming.

Oscar's analysis of fighting is likely getting good or getting influenced mildly by Oz's trained eye for that kind of thing.

Weiss's wasp was maybe overused just a tiny bit. I feel like if they amped her aura/semblance, created a surface, and then went with her knight, things would have been a bit easier. Or maybe harder? She and Jaune might have used too much and KO'd themselves if her knight wasn't enough and then they'd just be in the same spot.

MY PRECIOUS DAUGHTER RUBY!!! BETTER BE OKAY!!!!!!! She was fighting really well, but I was also surprised by that she took at the glass, she was out for blood with a shot like that. She used her semblance more than I expected but I guess again a giant mech what's she gonna do.

Nora getting back HER MAN!!! THAT WAS A GREAT LINE AND NORA IS THE GREATEST EVER thank you.

I hope the town doesn't get attacked by Grimm because they're scared of this ruckus the kids are causing.

Also based on the title of this episode are you trying to say that Grandma Atlas is the little old lady who lives in a shoe!

Umm....I guess that's all I have thoughts about? I dont feel like I missed anything that I had a big reaction to.

I look forward to the final ep, whenever that'll be (I think it's this coming sat. But idk) and then after that GEN:lock. But this season has been so satisfying to watch even if it feels like I dont really remember everything (though I'm sure that's from personal problems not anything with the story).

[mego42]

1x07 Discussion Questions

My b! My b! I usually try to do these when the episode is fresh but instead I went to sleep, I am at peace with my priorities, tbh. As always, many thanks to @pynkhues​ for her time and energy putting these together and shout out to @foxmagpie​ for the assist. 

1. What was your favourite scene of the episode? Tell us why!

Lot of contenders, tbh. I really love the scene with Mary Pat when she puts together the (extremely transparent) bullshit that is the whole secret shopper scheme (I mean come on y’all, did you even try????), I love Ruby and Stan’s date (high five to Stan for coming through with my parks & rec reference, it’s nice to know there is one (1) man I can count on). The Annie and Greg bit is REALLY SWEET LEAVE ME ALONE. The god tier brio content, specifically The Grab Heard Round The World My Living Room and the Give Me A Name bit. Some classic Rio nonsense (do you think if we asked him to point to an egg he’d point to an apple?) Tyler and his “reeeeeeally fill out the surveys?” was, obvs, the best moment on the entire show. Anyway, one of those for sure.

2. Was there any scene that missed the mark for you? And if so, how?

The Boomer setting up Annie stuff always falls flat to me and idk exactly why? Like, individual pieces of it are great, Mae does EXCELLENT work post police station and when getting arrested in the first place but ultimately I find it fairly forgettable in the grand scheme of things.

3. Let’s talk about the secret shopper scheme! What do you think were the strengths of it? The flaws? Do you think it had longterm potential? Or was it always going to crash and burn?

I said this during the rewatch but I straight up blocked out the fact that all of the shoppers are hitting the same store on the same day (waving around upwards of $5k in cash???? no less???????) because my brain cannot comprehend how three women we’re supposed to believe are reasonably intelligent didn’t realize this was the stupidest, most transparently obvious, most short-sighted scheme in the entire world. 

I struggled with the sustainability of it a bit when I thought they were spreading their efforts around (they roped in A Lot of people, there are only so many Costcos in the Detroit metro area and waving around that much cash and then returning it all, again for cash, is uh, already p memorable) but I could deal with it when I thought they were spreading it around. Short-sighted, immediate solutions are a cornerstone of Beth’s brand, after all, but all of them at the same store at the same day???? Too much. I cannot. 

4. The girls spent their money in very different ways! Ruby on romancing Stan, Annie on clothes for her son, and Beth on jewellery for herself. What do you think this tells us about them and their arcs? Particularly coming off the back of Ruby’s conflict with Stan, Ben’s issues at school with clothes, and Beth leaving Rio her pearls?

Love these connects. The show’s got a pretty clearly defined and consistent visual/character motifs (this may or may not be the word I’m looking for, shut up) when it comes to depicting the girls priorities and motivations. You also see it reflected and reinforced with their repeated coping mechanisms throughout the show. Whenever bad stuff happens, Ruby goes home to Stan, Annie crawls into bed with Ben and we usually close with Beth either alone (ouch david) or connecting with Rio in some way (exhibit a: the aforementioned pearls). 

In all of the instances it comes back to the heart of their priorities:

Stan is Ruby’s number one, (which isn’t to say her kids aren’t a part of that, I think Stan is both himself in this sense while also representing her whole Hill family unit—TV is all about visual shorthand kids—but also it serves to illustrate that Ruby has something Beth and Annie do not: a true partner). 

Ben is at the root of everything Annie does, she makes choices based on not only his. well-being, but how he sees her and he has the most influence over how she sees herself and what actions she takes as a result of that.

Beth, on the other hand, is at a contrasting point. She’s done the devoted partner and mother thing (lowkey implied by the little bits and pieces we get of her and Annie’s childhoods to some degree more or less for her entire life) and is now putting herself first, her needs, her wants. Which isn’t to say she doesn’t give a fuck about her family, she waits until she’s got a fat stack of cash and they’re taken care of before splurging on a thing, but as a symbol I think the necklace pretty clearly illuminates that for whatever Beth tells herself, she’s building an empire for herself, bc she wants it, needing it is secondary.

5. Eddie’s arrest is arguably what sets us on a collision course with the finale! Do you think Eddie was loyal to Rio until the end? How much do you think he told Turner? And what sort of loyalty do you think Rio inspires in his boys? And why doesn’t it translate with the girls?

OF COURSE EDDIE WAS LOYAL TO THE END HE HAS CLEARLY DEMONSTRATED HE HAS SOME KIND OF CODE OF HONOR HOW DARE YOU SLANDER MY BOY LIKE THAT.

Tbh idk how to answer the loyalty question without more information from canon because the gang and how they operate, how they all came together, etc is pretty well shrouded in not-central-narrative-focus, though I think it’s been implied somewhat heavily that what’s going on with the girls is not standard operating procedure.

My personal headcanon for Eddie is tied up in my personal backstory for Rio and Mick that I started for my (lmao first) Mick POV fic. I gave Rio and Mick a friends since we were kids backstory and decided Eddie was a kid in their neighborhood, slightly younger then them, and always looked up to them/followed them around/thought they were cool. He ultimately got involved in crime because they did and they looked out for him and brought him up with them (which, you know, makes how it all turns out that much more tragic). Obvs, this is all just me and my tendency to imprint on random side characters and give them backstories. Let me live.

6. This episode introduces us to Mary Pat, who’s probably one of this show’s most complicated antagonists! What do you think of her generally? And could you have predicted her arc with Boomer and Turner?

I love her and I’m done lying to myself about it.

LISTEN, first off, Allison Tolman is great. Her line delivery is fantastic, she has a knack for subtly adding SO MUCH to every scene she’s in and uses her face and inflection and pauses exquisitely. Top notch comedic timing. Truly a gem.

Second, on a character level, the lady is in a bad spot and the girls basically gift-wrapped the circumstances and handed them to her like here is a present!!!!!!!!!!!! What was a struggling girl to do besides accept what was offered to her??????!!!!!!???

7. This episode features a very pivotal scene in terms of the Beth, Ruby and Annie dynamic. What starts as tension between Annie and Beth quickly pivots when Ruby criticises Beth and Annie leaps to her sister’s defence. What do you think this tells us about the dynamic between the girls as pairs and as a trio?

I am so!!!! curious!!!!!!! about the backstory that exists in the writers’ heads for Ruby and Annie (all three of them, really, but the bff and little sister having an independent friendship is of particular interest to me bc it isn’t something you, or I guess I, run into a lot) and how much of it was defined at this point vs how much it’s evolved/fluctuated as the show goes on. This fight pretty clearly illuminated that when it really comes down to it, it’s Beth and Annie vs Ruby which a) breaks my heart and b) isn’t totally a dynamic I think the show ultimately stuck with? Or maybe intentionally fluctuates? Idk this is a half-baked thought. Ask again later. 

8. Greg is the one who kisses Annie! Who do you think left who in that relationship, and/or what were the biggest issues in that relationship?

I feel like there’s pretty much no way Annie wasn’t the one that called things off with Greg. Not just because of how it plays out this time but because he’s got a kind of persistent yet also go with the flow attitude that makes me think he would absorb a lot in the name of making it work whereas Annie seems to have a pretty established history of cutting her losses and bailing when she hits her limit. Based on how fond they are of each other and how much affection they clearly still hold, I tend to assume they just grew apart as they grew up which makes it almost more complicated and tragic because it leaves all of the good stuff and just mixes it with the knowledge that it wasn’t enough. 

9. What did you think of Ruby’s sauce story? And what do you think it meant as a turning point for her arc?

I HATE THIS STORY SO MUCH USED BAND AIDS ARE GROSS ENOUGH ON THEIR OWN WITHOUT MIXING IN FOOD SERVICE AND MONTHS, MONTHS, OF MARINATION. I REFUSE TO TALK ABOUT IT. GET OUT OF MY HOUSE.

10. Knowing that Beth, Ruby and Annie’s system of paying Mary Pat off doesn’t work, do you think there was a way they could’ve handled her on their own that would’ve worked? Or do you think Rio’s intimidation (and potential murder) tactic was the only way out?

Idk maybe I’m just cynical, but I take trust no bitch to heart, they pretty well screwed themselves into a corner by being idiots.