#ironwood ptsd

[grimmgrinningghouls]

Do like. People actually think ironwood having ptsd is an excuse for his actions. Like actually?? Mfer I have diagnosed severe ptsd and I don’t think I could get away with literal murder.

Also I hesitate to say he actually has ptsd. I think he’s just paranoid not traumatized.

[eumenidaes]

Writing a fic about Ironwood going to therapy bcs good god does he need it

[yinyangofnevermore]

So you’re considering watching RWBY

Or you’re trying to convince someone else to watch it

(I made another similar post about this a while back)

But you/they aren’t sure. Something is holding you/them back. Like:

“But the animation n stuff is SO BAD!” - Sure. In the beginning it’s not great (though many of us now look back on those early volumes with fondness.) But you have to understand, RWBY started as a passion project at a small company with a budget of like $20 (yes I’m exaggerating but STILL.) They simply didn’t have the funds for good animation. But, after volume 3 came out, the show became a literal international hit and so the budget increased. And, subsequently, so did the animation quality. You can see that progression easily enough here. The quality goes from this:

To this:

“It looks stupid and childish!” - Yeah, in the beginning it’s meant to seem silly. And it still has its cartoonishly silly moments later on too. But those silly moments are meant to soften the blow of the PAIN. Because, while RWBY starts off as a silly, “good always triumphs over evil” slice of life magic academy type show it does not STAY that. There is PAIN. LOTS OF IT! If you keep watching, you’ll find out within like 6 hrs worth of watching that it’s not just some silly slice of life show. There is a complete 180 along the way when you find out what RWBY is truly about. The show actually delves into some pretty heavy stuff. PTSD, abuse, neglect, abandonment issues, alcoholism, loss, the inability to move on from loss for some, and more. For more on this, check out this post.

“I saw some stuff on Twitter/Tumblr/Youtube about how bad it is.” - That’s because there are ppl out there who want the show to be something it’s not. Or they got upset when things didn’t happen the way they wanted. Like Blacksun shippers or Adam and Ironwood Stans. Or they just want to shit on something. But EVERY show has its haters. Every piece of media has its haters. And they like to be loud edgelords about it. Sometimes just to be controversial and pick a fight. But that doesn’t mean shit. There are ppl out there who absolutely hate your favorite pieces of media, whether you’re aware of it or not. And that doesn’t stop you from liking it, does it? Don’t let a few haters prevent you from potentially finding your new favorite thing. Because there are a LOT of ppl out there who absolutely LOVE this show.

“I tried watching the first few episodes and I just... Couldn’t.” - Dude, I get it. Trust me. I did the same exact thing when I started watching. I watched the first couple of episodes and literally turned it off. But then I saw a few ppl posting about it here on Tumblr a while later and gave it a second shot on a whim. And BOY did it not disappoint when I got far enough in (and yes, that took a minute.) Mind you, this was back when Volume 3 was originally airing, so the drastic improvements in animation hadn’t happened yet. But I stuck with it anyways. And now look at me. But the show does take a while to really ramp up, so to speak. The beat doesn’t DROP until a bit later on in volume 3.

But, if you enjoy character growth and analysis, then you will most likely enjoy this show. The number of analyses on Tumblr and prolly Twitter as well are MANY. The main 4 characters are badass ladies learning how to fight and deal with life. Every character in the show is based on either a fairy tale, mythology, history, pop culture, etc. (sometimes they have multiple allusions to different degrees) and teasing out those details on top of everything else is quite fun if you enjoy searching for Easter eggs, significant imagery, foreshadowing, parallels, and so on. Interesting villains too. Not just the standard “Evil Witch because she’s evil with henchmen” thing. But fleshed out villains that have their Reasons™️. Like “Cinderella took so much abuse as a kid/teenager that she fucking snapped” type reasons. There is SO MUCH you can delve into with this show if you want to. Details as small as a whale statue in Gepetto’s office, or Belle reading a book with a candelabrum that looks like Lumiere, or characters wearing the colors of the person they love, or characters having eyes the color of their love’s aura (an extension of their soul.) SO MANY PLACES TO FIND THESE DETAILS. Including the lyrics to the music.

Which leads me to the music in this show is freaking AWESOME. And if you can’t appreciate that Casey Lee Williams has been singing in these soundtracks since she was like 13 or 14 (and listening to how she’s grown as a musician throughout it all to the point where she is now one of the music leads for the show) then I don’t know what to tell you. The music is all produced in house. And the lyrics reflect that. Each song is from the perspective of a RWBY character (or like team RWBY in general, depending on the song) and the lyrics give insights either about the characters or about stuff in the show (lore, foreshadowing, etc.) And they’re as fun to analyze as they are to jam out to.

The writing is FANTASTIC. Is it perfect? No. Of course not. They made mistakes along the way. Prolly will make some more. But every piece of media does to some extent. People aren’t perfect and so neither are their creations. But those imperfections don’t outweigh how amazing the story they’ve woven is. The writers of RWBY constantly subvert expectations in a BRILLIANT way. Not in a “wtf?? Where did that come from?” sort of way. But in a “OMG! Now that I go back and watch this again it makes SO MUCH SENSE” sort of way. And things that happen in early volumes actually COME BACK to affect things later. The show doesn’t just MOVE ON. The writers have been playing the long game this whole time. And rewatches will almost always show new details and foreshadowing you might have missed before.

Also, it GAY. And it’s THE major romance of the show. Not just a side story. And the voice actors are the Captains of the Ship! And it’s a beautifully written slow burn romance (amongst other romances also in the show) with yearning and pining for DAYS.  I believe it was Monty who said, “Good romance is earned.” And boy are they earning it!

So, in short, FUCKING WATCH RWBY.

DAMMIT.

If you do decide to watch, Volumes 1-8 are all on RoosterTeeth.com for free or everything is on Crunchyroll. And I definitely suggest starting with the 4 trailers, in order: Red, White, Black, then Yellow.

[valenshawke]

I can't say I'm terribly surprised by (some) of the reaction to this episode.

There's a contingent of fans that one (or more) of the characters and ships.

But trying to apply a dichotomy of who is right and who is wrong really fails to get a bunch of points.

Yang, Blake, and Weiss acted according to how they were brought up and socialized. An excellent post by phoenix-fells gets at what Yang is doing. And this post by bumblebyaf gets at how much Ruby has actually been through it.

Ruby likely has some in-universe PTSD at this point because... I mean... look at what she's been through? Ruby has BEEN THROUGH IT and hasn't had much in the way of support.

As a character-building moment, I am all in for it and I was happy that she finally got to be angry and vent her frustrations. Was logical? Of course not. But it was EMOTIONAL. And she's has had to mask her true feelings or just bury them because she's the leader of Team RWBY, she's the one everyone depends on, she's a huntress, she's the one everyone must count on.

If there's any group or individuals in the series that are wrong and have failed all them, especially Ruby, it's the fucking adults. From TaiYang's emotional shutdown (as someone who lost a parent before I was a teenager and saw first hand what that'll do to one's spouse, I can sympathize and understand. Still doesn't make it right, still has a ton of negative consequences), to Ozpin making her the leader despite being 15 while Weiss, Blake, and Yang are 17, to Ironwood's general misguided evil-for-the-greater-good strategy of killing anyone/letting everyone else die to save his piece of the world, to the other older Hunters and Huntresses just treating them as equals and not realizing they might be licensed but they still some maturity and guidance and support. Ruby, sometimes, got that from Qrow. Sometimes. Most of the time, she's had no one to vent to, no one to really show vulnerability to, no time to be vulnerable (even by herself).

"But Val," you say, "she had that opportunity after the fall of Beacon and immediately formed a new team with Jaune, Ren, and Nora. She's HAD the opportunity to at least take time to herself and mope." Did she? Did she really? Or did she act exactly as what was expected of her by everyone else that was still around? Did she think she probably owed it to her now scattered and broken-up team to try to salvage something? She might have had a choice at the most basic level. But given her personality type, her own beliefs on duty, I don't think she really DID have a choice. And again, she bottled up the grief and sadness, and kept going despite the fall of beacon, the death of Pyrrha, and the first death of Penny from earlier.

Ruby is going to feel guilty and horrible about what she just did. It's going to add to her breakdown. It'll be interesting to see if the writers draw from the Volume 4 (boo-hiss, I know) episode where Yang has to work through her trauma.

Ruby's ascension is going to be the most interesting. What aspects of her will change? What kind of leader will she be going forward? Yeah, I still see this being the case, the show IS called RWBY.

But yikes on the some of the reaction. For all the criticism that Ruby has developed the least by virtue of her role in the story, it was clear that the writer's have been setting up her breakdown and growth and we're finally getting it. After all, if you want to learn, you have to suffer.

[thousandyearphantombunker]

“The titan said Belos is evil tho! Are you stupid the show said he was evil!”“Masha said lil’ bro just got jelly that his brother got a girlfriend! He doesn’t have depth and his ending was supposed to be unsatisfying!”“But James Ironwood losing his arm is supposed to represent him losing his humanity”“Jason Rose said that James could’ve always become evil and sided with Salem”“They literally called him genocide general!”“But in this Q&A they said the puppies survived they just lost their laser powers! And in the tie-in material, they showed everyone was fine! You just hate Starco!”“The show/tie-in material/a fucking Q&A said blah blah blah!”These arguments are shit. TOH- “God says witches are evil so it is his duty to kill them!” is a pretty horrible justification for killing someone except when the titan says it to Luz. I don’t think Luz is in the wrong for killing Belos, he was a genocidal maniac and child abuser and genuinely irredeemable- nobody who hates the ending of The Owl House complains about Belos being irredeemable, they complain about the show flopping the cult critical message, how hunter’s possession felt like needless shock value, the show not properly setting up the collector or how the coven system/conformitorium’s writing is a mess or how Eda becoming a teacher makes as much sense as Toph becoming a cop and you can go ‘but the show said-’ what the show said had unfortunate implications, was uncomfortable to abuse survivors, and I can’t forgive the ass-pullery of the trailer-bait nightmare sequence or how in the hexside crew became irrelevant! When people complain about how Belos was handled nobody complains about him not getting a redemption arc- they complain that hunter should’ve been there to see belos die or how they hate Luz’s power up. RWBY -James Ironwood’s and Penny’s character arcs and deaths felt so ableist it’s actually uncomfortable to watch, I have ASD my sister, and like half of the people I know have PTSD, I don’t know any amputees but I’ve seen plenty making noise about how shit the writing was. Good, they should be mad! The show’s message about prosthetics/amputations was toxic! Not mention for all the hopeful messages Team RWBY screams at the top of their lungs about trust they knowingly broke Ironwood’s trust for very poorly defined reasons! while I do think ruthless pragmatism is a bad thing, team RWBY offered no alternatives, he wasn’t a villain- he was facing an ethical dilemma and got fucked over. And SVTFOE- I shouldn’t have to buy tie-in materials to understand the show- tie-in material should be a bonus not a supplement or requirement, I Don’t have to buy the ATLA comics inorder to understand the show, I don’t have to read all of Lord Of The Rings to understand the movies. It doesn’t matter how the show was supposed to be interpreted or how the audience is supposed to feel, and It’s perfectly valid for the audience not to care about damage control spinoffs (cough cough Steven Universe) or Q&A’s or whatever. I’ll admit sometimes the audience is fucking stupid and completely media illiterate but can we stop acting like anyone who doesn’t blindly consume product and go with what the writers said are stupid? I know im not articulating this well but I’m pissy rn and I’m having trouble deconstructing whats wrong with those kind of arguments but god there is so much wrong with these arguements

[set-wingedwarrior]

I need to talk about Adam Taurus and James Ironwood, and why they are good characters deserving of apreciation.

You see, as much as it's true that a lot of fans of their are crazy stans who see them as men who did no wrong, I don't think it's fair to get mad and attack all the people who enjoy their characters. I do enjoy them for example.

Yes, they are terrible people, but that's what makes them good characters! I love them for playing their role well, not because I condone their actions or think they are in the right!

Let's take Adam for example. I hate him as a person, while watching the show i wanted to beat the shit out of him, and that's precisely why I love his character! He gave me emotions, and played his villain role in Blake and Yang's story arcs masterfully! It's partially thanks to him and the way he played his role that their relationship got to shine this way! He is part of why I love bumbleby so much, and I can't just ignore that.

He's the victim that turned into a monster (even if we find out specifically about that very far in his story), the wronged person who took that in the worst possible way (the fact that you got influcted pain doesn't give you the right to inflict it to others). A boy who had no control over his life that decided to get revenge and control everybody else instead. It's tragic when you think about it this way, and I love that!

Or, even more clearly, Ironwood. From the beginning we see good intentions and terrible actions, that later on, under so much stress and pressure and ptsd, just made him go down. All of his faults come from a place of untrust toward others and the idea that only he could know the best course of actions, never taking into account other people and ideas. This obsession and hero complex is what leads to his and Atlas' fall and, again, even if I really wanted to bash his head for all the stupid things he did (or wanted to do), I still loved watching him play this part and fall deeper down every episode. Again, it's sad and tragic and I love it!

This isn't meant to be a full blown analysis of the characters, but I just wanted to point out that it's unfair to be authomatically hostile towards anyone who likes their characters. I understand that so many of them are people defending their actions, and it is very frustrating (and sometimes worrying) when very clear evil actions get misinterpreted or justified by someone, but it's not like everyone is like this.

They are characters, vessels to tell a story, and people aren't just allowed to enjoy a well played part, but it's actually good being able to apreciate the executions and characterization of villains! Both understanding their roles on a "technical" level, but also understanding their characterization and why they do what they do.

I love when it makes all sense, when I completely see how a character is reasoning and it's consistent with everything else around them! It's part of what I enjoy in stories, and the fact that I do have a good time watching, analyzing and understanding them, doesn't mean I am condoning their actions. Understanding and justifying are two very different things.

So, take this post as a little show of love and apreciation for Adam Taurus and James Ironwood: you are two assholes, but you are so good at that, entertaining and you played your roles well; thank you for your service in the story!

[ironwoodprotectionsquad]

So I have been asked about the Near Pure Evil Ironwood article by a few people and it's full of ableism and lies but I wanted to highlight for now this one section.

And um....it's got some red flags for me for sure. In a show that has redeemed other murders no questions asked....why does James "Need" death? What other reason besides blatant sexism and ableism?

I hoped (in vein) other murders would be in the Near Pure Evil category as well....and well....

Nope. No Emerald or Mercury who helped bring down TWO kingdoms and killed a lot of people nor Tyrian or Hazel who slaughtered an entire kingdoms hunters. I thought maybe their was a pure evil category and hoped once again in vein they would be their.

The able bodied and able bodied female mass murders somehow are not in this category despite killing more people then some of the other people on either list. James is declared too far gone to be saved and they even pretend they are his judge, jury and executioner and call for his death which is just. Yikes.

I FINALLY found Salem by straight up googling what the hell her alignment was and thankfully she's in Ultimate Evil (and is the only one their from what I can find), however their is no discussion of her redeemability or any declarations she deserves death and her page is....tiny. It feels like it is trying to skim past her bad stuff to try and pretend they can change her morality to be better even though she is far worse then anyone in the show.

Meanwhile doing the same search for Emerald leads to no results at all which is extremely suspicious and enraging all at once. I did a quick read of the other wikis and....James's is the ONLY one that declares he is irredeemable and deserves death and it's....distressing honestly. The tripple amputee with PTSD is the only one who gets the death sentence. The woman who abused and killed people doesn't have any sort of moral declarations on her page like this. It screams of a hatred of people with PTDS and its frankly disgusting. I am appalled such ableism was allowed like this.

[playinhooky]

it's the audacity for me. the absolute middle finger to erect a fucking tombstone for James Ironwood and write DONT COME BACK on it. I had hoped that RT would have just dropped him and forgot about him like they do literally everything else, but nooooo gotta do a nonsensical thing so that everyone knows they fucking hate disabled men with PTSD!

fuck off RT

[helena-and-helena-meta]

So, I have a few headcanons about James Ironwood and I want to share them with ya’ll:

James has a vintage telescope and you can’t tell me he doesn’t, I mean he loves astronomy with it being canon through how his office is set up. James got his telescope from one of his students when they found out about his birthday(It can be through blackmail or being told) and ever since James refuses to buy a smart telescope. Also, his telescope is in pristine condition and he cleans it regularly. The only people who know about it would be people he’s very close to, but only he is allowed to handle it.

James says he dislikes physical touch, but he’s secretly very touch-starved, just too afraid to get close to people because he doesn’t want to lose anyone important to him again.

James treats all of his students like they’re his kids and if one of them has bad parents he will find out and terrify them for treating their kid or kids horribly.

James acts stoic in public but breaks down while in private, he also blames any of his students’ deaths on himself because he wasn’t able to teach them enough or protect them.

James Ironwood is a hopeless romantic who loves sappy or very cheesy stories, enough said. He gets embarrassed whenever anyone finds his books and forces them to keep it a secret.

James sends his students one to three gifts on their birthdays, he also secretly cries whenever he gets any gifts from his students and keeps them in safe places so they never get damaged.

I’ve said this once, but James has a starlight projector that Penny and Pietro gifted to him, he uses it late at night whenever he has a nightmare from his PTSD he turns it on so it can help him calm down.

James Ironwood is easily flustered, his ears turn bright red whenever someone flirts with him, Qrow makes fun of him for it and sometimes flirts with him to the point James has to hide his face in his hands because he gets redder than a tomato.

James gives Qrow small shiny pendants or rings, Qrow gives him kisses and smartass behavior in return.

[rachetmath]

Ruby: Jaune our characters are not that mixed up.

Jaune: Ruby are you freaking kidding me?

Ruby; Jaune you got admit we are complete opposite to one another.

Jaune: Yes but the presentation makes it worse.

Ruby: How so?

Jaune Ruby I killed Penny.

Ruby: So I killed people too.

Jaune: Name one.

Ruby: Roman.

Jaune: A grimm ate him.

Ruby: Umm….

Jaune: Pyrrha died fighting Cinder against Ozpin’s orders. Ozpin died fighting Cinder. Leon died somehow. Clover and Ironwood I don’t know. Penny died by my hands. So who did you kill with your weapon?

Ruby: Oscar.

Jaune: So a fake Oscar is worth crying over the real one huh?

Ruby: Your point.

Jaune: You didn’t kill anyone. So how are you struggling to kill no fight with your weapon if you never token a life with it. While I’m able to fight with mines despite it’s condition.

Ruby: Um.

Jaune: That can give someone the impression that Penny’s death met nothing to me.

Ruby: But Jaune you had years.

Jaune; PTSD. Survivors guilt. Any form of depression or disorder can last for years Ruby. And you say I had years but Penny was still on my mind during a Ponder Storm. And then I was trying to be hero to the paper pleasers, who mind you were trying to off themselves, because it seems I can not be a hero in Remnant.

Ruby: Oh.

Jaune: Now let’s go back to what you say about not being good enough. How so?

Ruby: Well I failed to save Penny and Pyrrha. I failed to save the people of Mantle and Atlas. I only made things worse.

Jaune: Okay look. There is no such thing as perfect plan. Things are bound to screw ups. It’s impossible to avoid. But again, Pyrrha chose to fight Cinder and died. Penny chose to die. In theory because she thought you died.

Ruby; Um.

Jaune: Next wasn’t Ironwood going to kill thousands.

Ruby: But our plan could get millions in danger.

Jaune: You right, but that forces Atlas and Mantle to get together and stop discriminating against each other to survive. Better that than having one half of the nation fend for itself while the other thrives.

Me; (Look I’m not trying villianize James but we have to admit his plan was darker than the kids.)

Ruby: Oh.

Jaune: And then we have Ozpin. Or Ozma who’s first idea was to sleep with his first love.

Ruby: Um.

Jaune: Use every relic possible but still doesn’t know how to kill her. He single handily divided the world he was suppose to help fix.

Ruby: Mm

Jaune: Exactly.

Ruby: Your point?

Jaune: Ruby, you threw away a perfectly functioning weapon while I have a broken sword with a rusted shield. You killed an illusion. I killed an actual person. You say your not good enough well sweet heart at least you didn’t have to forge your identity off lies and fake transcripts. You had training. You had support. I had nothing like that. Not even from my family. Pyrrha showed me something like that but then she pushed into a locker. Your leadership always seems to go fine. Mines doesn’t.

Ruby: I mean it sometimes does.

Jaune: Yeah. (Until the writers fuck me over one way or the other.)

Ruby: I’m still not seeing your point. My friends helped you more than me.

Jaune: Because you didn’t say shit. My problems were completely visible and hard to hide. Yours were minor compared to mines.

Ruby: No they aren’t. I struggle with my identity. I was too weak. I wasn’t good enough.

Jaune: How?! Look your problem was simple. You had hard time processing change. As well as being overwhelmed by stress. And you know what that’s my bad. Because I couldn’t help you. Why? Because I was already going through of my own problems. I couldn’t make time for you. Your sister couldn’t make time for you because she was prioritizing her own happiness. Weiss couldn’t help you because she was trying to figure out what to do after her home got destroyed.

Ruby: Um-

Jaune: However here’s the thing. Yang was out right now. But wouldn’t me and Weiss neglect our problems to listen to you. Would we not give our time and our ears to you if you asked. Did you think about that?

Ruby: No.

Jaune: NO! You just ran off. Basically you questioned our loyalty to you. You questioned our friendship. You did exactly what Penny and Pyrrha are guilty of.

Ruby: And what’s that?

Jaune: You didn’t give me chance. You made a decision and you didn’t consider how it effected everyone around you. Including me.

Ruby. Oh.

Jaune: I think he can say the rest.

Ruby: *sees me and sigh* You do know a lot people will hate you right?

Me: I said before, I don’t control the show. I don’t control the fan base. I just leave my penny worth opinion down and move on.  So let’s start. Ruby I didn’t feel bad for you at all.

Ruby: What?

Me: In fact, I enjoyed your suffering. Mainly when you got jumped.

Ruby: Really? You didn’t feel sorry for me at all.

Me: No. I would… but sweet heart you were a horrible person.

Ruby: That’s not true.

Me: You lied to someone who gave you their trust. That led to them to being more insecure and highly emotional to where they become reckless and foolish. And never took responsibility for that. Oscar did. Jaune did.

Ruby: Alright that just one thing.

Me: One thing? That one thing caused four hunters lives. That one thing caused millions of people’s livelihoods to be ruined. That one thing caused the relic.

Ruby: Okay but I suffered.

Me: Jaune suffered more than you. He went back in time. Had to be Alyx and Lewis Rusted Knight. Only to get poisoned by Alyx, the same girl who he come to find out was killed by the Curious Cat. He waited. He waited for you. Try to find a way home for you.

Ruby: So?

Me: Ruby your problem wasn’t even that bad. All you had to do was open up. Shit my bet is Jaune or Weiss would have listened. Basically your were acting like a child and I don’t care about you.

Ruby: UM.

Me: Shoot I don’t know why cat needed you to get to Remnant. He could’ve tried Jaune. Like bro imagine the reason Jaune and CC had beef because that cat was secretly torturing him. Like CC instead of helping you, was using you to get close to him.  And Neo when she destroyed you that should sent him over the edge.

Ruby: …

Me: Basically y-y-you showed me how weak you really are. Like I don’t understand. I get your fifth teen in canon but still.

Ruby: But my friends-

Me: No-no-no. They should’ve token more responsibility too. Blake, Yang and especially Weiss need to start being more supportive to your health. Mainly, because Weiss barely did anything to help Atlas or you at all.

Jaune: What about me?

Me: Motherfucker you need to go home. You need a break. Gets some training. Get some bitches. Go get some pussy. I don’t know. Relax. Cause you earned it. Like I’m sorry but for the much “development” you’ve gotten, I’m surprise KnightFall shouldn’t be canon.

Jaune: …

Me: Bro you fit this post:

Me: Like you have gotten hoed so many times by not just your friends. But the fan base and the writers themselves. Look just take a load off okay? Get help! Jesus, you got to be Salem’s descendant cause life be bringing you pain.

[oddlyhale]

Nah, I have to just say a few things because OP is the worst.

Looks like OP wants to have this "my disabled person is better than your disabled person" take.

BRO, no disabled person is somehow 'top-tier' than another disabled person. They're BOTH going through their own trauma and journey. Yang isn't the perfect little one-armed warrior and James isn't this devil that doesn't believe in trauma when his PTSD was crystal clear in V7 when he talked to Oscar down in the Atlas Vault.

While we know how Yang was poorly handled with her own PTSD arc, we get nothing from what Ironwood did or does to deal with his own. And from what I could get out of his arc? He's so busy protecting everybody else that he's never dealt with his problems thoroughly. He hadn't seen her in a YEAR and some change and gave Yang an arm anyways.

OP is acting like he's hunting Yang down to get her back to fighting? THAT'S NOT IRONWOOD, OP. THAT IS YOUR FANTASY-HEADCANON-IMAGINATION-FANFIC.

He didn't force them to come to Atlas, it was an idea the team came up with after Haven. He didn't force them to steal an aircraft to get to Atlas, that was Jaune's bright idea. That wasn't Ironwood's plan to fight Cordovin, it was the TEAM's. HE WASN'T EXPECTING THE TEAMS AT ALL UNTIL THEY CAME KNOCKING ON HIS DOOR. He was so busy keeping Remnant on lockdown that he never once thought a thing about Team RWBY+JNOR. He saw Weiss at the manor after bullying Jacques but he never stopped and thought about her team. (Wow, the one person that saw Weiss as a person and not as a limb of a team or family name.)

The team baby-duckling their way into his life because they think, since they're heroes, they should be given permission to do whatever they want, and because they got a world-changing relic in their hands... and then LOST to Cinder.

He gave Team RWBY+JNOR food, shelter, and freedom to explore Atlas and Mantle, help with the elite Ace Ops on missions, gave them their Huntsman licenses, and upgraded their gear. HE ISN'T FORCING THEM TO DO ANYTHING. HE WANTS THEM TO GET BETTER.

Also, VERY convenient that the writers want to cover up the fact that Ironwood gave Yang that arm A YEAR LATER while she was recovering. Maybe because... he understands what it's like to lose a limb??? WHOA???

But okay, if OP wants to say Yang is the pillar of overcoming trauma, then WHY WAS SHE THE WORST SISTER IN V9 AND IGNORING RUBY'S DEPRESSION. YANG IS THE WORST IN V9 OUT OF THE TEAM. SHE IS SO HYPERFOCUSED ON BLAKE THAT RUBY IS EDGING CLOSER TO SUICIDE AND YANG COULDN'T BE BOTHERED TO CHECK ON HER.

I fucking hate that the FNDM wants to forget that Yang was the worst person to try and deal with someone else's issues. SHE'S NOT THE ONLY ONE WITH PROBLEMS. RUBY HAD THEM. AND SHE COMMITTED SUICIDE AFTER BEING PUSHED BY NEO, AND YANG JUST STOOD THERE AND LET HER DRINK THE TEA.

[constantvariations]

"Ruby wouldn't be angry at Jaune because she would understand it was Penny's choice" as if grief over losing a close friend again after going through so much to save her again wouldn't manifest in absolute rage that blocks out suicide fetish logic. The writers refused Ruby her anger not only to protect their precious Jaune, but because they think certain emotions are evil

I'm constantly thinking about Blake in V5 attributing spite to Adam as if it's a bad thing. Spite is the emotional version of "hold my beer," and is responsible for some incredible things

Lord of the Flies by William Golding is a spiteful response to The Coral Island by R. M. Ballantyne, a story with the same premise of several middle class English boys being stranded on an island. Where Ballantyne has the boys having "wonderful adventures" such as... saving women and children from being killed and eaten by the native Polynesians, Golding depicts the boys falling into savagery as time and isolation grows their paranoia to the point where they start killing each other. Golding was pissed at the saccharine portrayal of English boys as the height of humanity because he was a teacher who taught that exact demographic and damn well knew better

After a teacher said he wasn't smart enough to get into college, Huey P. Newton taught himself how to read and got into law school. When the college committees were more into intellectual talk than action, he said, "Fuck this, I'm gonna make my own group," and he did! It became an international organization that had the FBI shitting themselves! That's the power of spite, baby!!

The writers are using emotions as a shorthand for a character’s morality, which is why Ruby can't be mad at Jaune without losing her status as a hero and why Adam's anger at injustice makes him irredeemable from day one. Ruby's ptsd disappears with a triumphant smile and musical number while Ironwood's vilifies and dehumanizes him even after his death

The writers have tied "negative" emotions to evil and "positive" to good when they're neither. Emotions are a body's response to stimuli, similar to goosebumps and crying. Think of it as a "check engine" light on your car's dashboard. What someone does because of their emotions can be good or bad, but emotions in and of themselves are morally neutral

Really wish people would learn that

[planet-crait]

For science. For those of you who have watched RWBY, do you believe James Ironwood may be depressed or have some level of PTSD? If so do you think this influenced his choices and actions?

[itsclydebitches]

IM SCREAMING, THEY SAW RUBY COMMIT MAGICAL SUICIDE AND JUST WENT ON THEIR MERRY WAY. WHAT IS WITH THIS SHOW AND REFUSING TO SHOW CHARACTERS EXPERIENCING EMOTIONAL REACTIONS TO THINGS HELP. The only emotions we get are Ruby's little fit and Jaune's paper thin depiction of PTSD. I'm gonna scream!

I think I'm in shock about it? I cannot stress enough that while I was prepared for the mess of Ruby's suicide attempt getting framed by the narrative in a positive light (this leads them to the way out, she gets some new ability, etc.) I still thought the GROUP would react appropriately. They just watched Ruby have a complete meltdown, she's already fainted once this Volume due to grief over Penny, they now understand the "hints" of depression Ruby has been displaying the last 24 hours (like her avoiding Crescent Rose), she runs away from them, is caught by Neo, gets the shit kicked out of her, and then looks them in the eye while drinking the Permanently Changes You And Erases Your Memories Tea while a fake Roman waxes on about how the world would be better off without her.

...and they're all just okay with that?

I was fully expecting Yang to go on a Super Saiyan rampage. I was prepared to write about how it's too little, too late now that Yang has revealed her supposedly-always-there love for Ruby after ignoring herfor most of the Volume. Regardless of how badly she's treated her little sister this season, it was oh-so-obvious to me that Yang was going to break, be inconsolable, go feral in an attempt to hunt down the Cat/Neo for revenge. I was expecting to see a frantic Blake and a near catatonic Weiss, horrified that she just lost someone else after her entire Kingdom was destroyed. I was waiting for Jaune's furious and annoyingly justified "I told you so!" after the Cat revealed their true colors and the tree - which he's said was evil this whole time - dragged Ruby away after she rolls over, 'dead' from its leaves that Neo gave her in an attempt to kill her.

Side note: for anyone who is seriously trying to argue that this wasn't a suicide attempt, if you consider nothing else, consider Neo. She does not want Ruby to be cured of her depression, or get a power-up, or take the supposedly magical medicine that will help her work through her problems. Why in the world would Neo give Ruby something harmless, let alone beneficial? Neo wants her dead. She gave her the tea to destroy Ruby once and for all and, when Ruby drank it, Neo believed she'd succeeded, becoming hollow as a result. She would not have been capable of being possessed if she believed that Ruby would survive and her revenge was incomplete. The whole reason the Cat was able to get to her was because Neo thought Ruby was gone for good and even the Cat themselves is surprised to find Ruby in the cocoon. Ruby, meanwhile, is drinking to escape the horrors of her own life that she can no longer face. That was a murder attempt turned suicide attempt.

So we've got [gestures] all of this and instead of reacting with anything like human emotions Blake is smiling as she tells Yang that this is a great thing for Ruby and Weiss is pulling a Volume 8 Yang by announcing that their mistakes don't matter because they were brave about it and Jaune is staring at these gem strangers that don't know him anymore right after watching the Cat horrifically possess Neo and announces that they were right about the tree? Seriously why is the surprise villain of the Volume positioned as the morally trustworthy source? Even Ironwood wasn't granted that.

Forget Ever After, I feel like I've fallen into a parallel universe. Not to be ~dramatic~ about it, but am I being pranked? Did someone sneak a RWBY parody onto Crunchyroll? Is RT pulling a Rebecca Welton and trying to tank their own show due to some personal grudge? I am legitimately trying to understand how we went from this

to this?

(Also, friendly reminder that the screenshot of Ruby is right after Little was murdered. I mean, I don't care about them and clearly Ruby herself should be the concern, but I just want to point out that no one acknowledges Little either. An ally has just been killed, brutally crushed during Ruby's torture session, so how do the characters react to this? They don't. They leave Little's body there and don't even mention them. Look at Yang's massive grin, Blake's satisfied smile, Weiss' (possibly romantic?) hug. Their leader just attempted suicide and a coded-as-a-child friend was just murdered... and this is how they're acting in the immediate aftermath.)

(Second friendly reminder that the group was already not reacting to the entirety of the Atlas fiasco and in the wake of the last three episodes I find myself frequently forgetting that. Yang thinking she'd died, Blake thinking she'd died, Weiss losing her entire Kingdom, not knowing which of her family members made it out, Salem getting two Relics, Jaune and Weiss still not revealing that he killed Penny... none of it is being dealt with and that was before we threw 'The group ignores Ruby trying to die' into the mix.')

[rnlacc]

Bringing back my headcanons(sfw and nsfw) about James Ironwood, most of them are silly af:

-James’ ears are the first things turn red when he consumes alcohol.

-James’ neck is sensitive af, especially, his adam’s apple. He won’t show his neck to anyone unless he trusts them.

-His waist is smaller than other hunky men around him.

-He doesn’t have time to shave or even groom his beard. He just…lets it grow. Sometimes, there’s a couple of thick, black hairs on his working desk because his beard sheds…

-James’ hair is soft af and his soldiers always want to brush his hair by their hands once.

-James will let children(maybe random children in the party or his soldiers’ children) play with his beard. But children are full of energy so they would grab and pull his beard for fun but he wouldn’t be angry. James Ironwood just loves to play with kiddos.

-James has candies and some snacks in his working desk’s drawer. He won’t leave his chair for meal until he has everything all done so he’ll be starved if there’s nothing he can eat in his office.

-James can only have coffees for the whole day without eating anything else. He can work 16 hours straight if no one forces him to go home.

-Clover usually passes by James’ office, opens the door then looks inside without saying anything and leaves. He just wants to check on his boss.

-James will let his students help him to roll his sleeves if his arms are acting up. The kids would love to help their Headmaster-General…

-Half of his students see him as their father figure and their parents always complain that “The General has stolen my kid.”

-James’ hand writing is quite nice because one of the the first things he had to learn after lost the half of his body was writing by himself.

-James Ironwood has PTSD and depression is canon. But in my headcanon, his PTSD and depression cause to another mental health problem such as GAD. James has to deal with too many mental problems but he always refuses to have a personal therapist because he thinks his “little” mental problems aren’t worth.

-Young James Ironwood was called “National treasure” by many broadcasters after what he has done for Atlas.

[nogoawaytism]

My second thingy for Nitpick November, because I'm not gonna do this consistently the way God intended.

It's just so... interesting to hear RWBY stans bitch about any sort of criticism regarding how certain male characters are treated. Apparently if any of us commit the unforgiveable sin of saying something like "I wish Sun/Adam/Mercury/Ironwood was treated better by the narrative + explored the unique themes that are a part of their identity as characters." rwby stans freak the fuck out and start whining about how RWDE only wants a show about a white male character. And I'm like

*looks at the vast majority of the cast, especially the heroes*

*looks at V9*

It's just so... interesting how these double standards work, because I guess a white male character getting the spotlight is ok when it's Miles's self-insert.

Meanwhile, Sun has a Chinese allusion despite being a blonde, Ironwood was modeled after Jason Rose who is half Asian (Oh wait, I bet we don't count mixed people). Interesting.

Also, Sun is an established, in-universe minority, an abuse victim thanks to Blake, which is frequently downplayed because Blake is a girl and a main character, and is therefore perfect, and Sun is evil because he isn't psychic, and expressed attraction to a main character. How evil.

Also, Ironwood is a veteran with PTSD facing a horrible situation, a triple amputee, and the only one of the cast who actually has a feasible plan. Oh wait, losing his arm made him lose his humanity, what an evil bastard. He probably lost over half his body on purpose.

Also, Adam is an established, in-universe minority, a former child slave, who has the SCHNEE FUCKING DUST COMPANY logo burned onto his fucking face. Adam should be a good faunus, and not complain at all about faunus oppression, otherwise he's a fucking nazi.

Also, Mercury was trained for an extremely dangerous job as a young child, and abused so badly to the point where he LOST BOTH LEGS. Man, white men really do be the worst.

Yes, two of these characters are villains, and yes, we should hold people accountable for their actions instead of inborn characteristics. Oh wait, y'all already did that when you bitched about them being "white men", while almost every important non-white character has been presented as a villain at some point, and the two non-white characters in our main cast, Ren and Oscar get treated so poorly compared to the other heroes. Sure, complain about how RWDE "wants to center white men" while Ren's mental state and feelings are invalidated at every turn. Sure, complain about how RWDE "wants to center white men" while Oscar the literal child that got dragged into this war is constantly the one bearing the brunt of physical abuse that we haven't seen our other characters experience + half of that physical abuse is by characters who ARE heroes and by Hazel who got the last-minute redemption treatment. Sure, complain about how RWDE "wants to center white men" while y'all treat this show like the best shit to happen to media since Charles Dickens when *checks notes* it's written by white men, which isn't inherently bad in my opinion, but in this case they write every fucking issue in this show in such an insensitive light, and are still horrible xenophobic people. Miles and Kerry ARE stereotypical horrible white men, but y'all still defend their stupid writing while bitching about white men abused by the narrative.

Oh, and might I add: the fuckers saying this stan Coco. I wonder what her allusion is.

So you mean to tell me, that expressing just a little bit of tact about Adam being a branded child slave, or Ironwood losing three limbs and being traumatized, or Mercury being abused and losing his legs, is super duper evil, but this Nazi insert is an absolute slay queen. Y'all really made a doodoo with this one, whoopsies!

Anyway, take the historic moment before Mercury rightfully whooped this Discord light mode-looking mf who's also a Nazi: