#none of the characters are blameless. but blaming a character for forgetting one person that left

[mx-paint]

Some of y'all are weak. Y'all don't need a reason to say your fav fictional character did nothing wrong you just have to say they're your little meow meow and everything falls into place.

[omegas-spaghettios]

In Defense of Hunter, Wrecker, Tech, and Echo

I want to clarify that I like Crosshair. I used to love him and I just kinda like him now, but he's a great character. I hold nothing against his fans. I just want to talk about how people are slandering these 4 like they did everything wrong when everything they did was pretty justified.

I need to talk about Crosshair's chip, because that affects how we all view these final episodes. While I agree things don't add up completely, Cross has no scar, nursing a headache, etc., his behavior DOES indicate he is telling the truth.

Chipped clones have been shown to show loyalty to the Empire above all else. They killed the jedi, they'll kill innocents, they forget all sentimentality, and we see with Jesse that they will more than happily die to accomplish the chip's commands. The Batch has experience with this with Captain Grey in the premiere and later Wrecker. Chipped clones are basically battle droids.

Crosshair does not act like that at all. He shows sentiment and loyalty to personal history, he defies orders to even kill his fellow imperials, and he puts aside his anger in order to escape Kamino. NONE of those things are congruent with him having a chip in at all. So while it doesn't add up completely either way, the evidence honestly seems to favor that he's telling the truth as his behavior is a huge tell that has not been shown to be able to be countered for more than a few seconds (love you Rex) while an absence of a scar could indicate a variety of things and the headache can honestly just be chronic pain from his insane head injury in Episode 8. I'm not saying that is the truth, but what I am saying is the evidence provided can easily line up to more than make it believable that Wrecker, Echo, and Tech believe he has it out.

Wrecker does know what a chip feels like, so we all expected more empathy from him, but Crosshair is not acting the way did Wrecker did AT ALL. Wrecker lost all control and immediately tried to kill the people he loves most, while as stated Crosshair is exhibiting almost opposite behavior. Wrecker knows what a chip does to you and Crosshair is definetly not showing that, so why would Wrecker show empathy for it? Wrecker knows first hand that is not what the chip does to you so it more than makes sense that he sees Crosshair's behavior and story and believes it.

Crosshair's intense feelings of Supremacy and loyalty to the Empire are not out of no where. We see in TCW that he is incredibly cruel about regs, he has always hated them. So considering the journey he went on this season it does feel like a realistic progression of belief.

Crosshair also is hurting his own cause here. Now we as the audience know for sure he had it in for Episode 1, we are shown explicit evidence. We have no idea when he got it out though due to the lack of a scar, and his refusal to specify hurts him here because what he actually did as himself vs. chipped is VERY important. I also want to say that while the audience knows Crosshair has the chip in in Episode 1, no evidence is provided to the Batch to know that, so Crosshair saying he had it out "a long time ago" means it is reasonable that the Batch could even suspect everything he did since Episode 1 was him. And here's a quick rundown of some things he did this season that the Batch would know about:

Obeyed Order 66 and shot at a child jedi even when ordered to stand down

Advocated to kill civilians to the others

Shot Wrecker and used him as bait to lure the others out

Lead dozens of Troopers to Bracca to kill them

Went out of his way to order his troops to kill Omega during that confrontation within earshot of Hunter

Tried to burn them all alive with an Ion Engine

Contributed to the oppression of Ryloth

Arrested Howzer, a clone who was trying to do the right thing

Spouted supremacist jargon about how they are superior to regs (something Hunter, Tech, and Wrecker have been shown to be softening up on)

Said the might of the Empire was the only way and basically gave them all the choice to join or die.

And remember, our heroes just got the revelation that potentially all of those actions were taken of Crosshair's own free will. They have every right to be harsh or unwelcoming after that. Sure they didn't try to rescue him but he also tried to put multiple blaster bolts through their heads, no one is innocent.

So the general coldness and harshness is more than understandable considering that Crosshair just admitted to trying to get them all killed on multiple occasions on his own free will, that would sour your relationship with anyone I reckon, so why are they expected to be okay with Crosshair doing all of that?

Anyway, to specifics. When Wrecker says Crosshair never even tried to come back and that they would have taken him, there is truth to that. During both Bracca and Ryloth, Crosshair was right there and had opportunities to turn heel and help them all escape, but he never did. I've seen this described as victim-blaming but you guys need to realize that Crosshair has potentially done ALL of this of his own free will and is actively trying to pull the others to the Empire. Wrecker is right, Crosshair put more effort into killing or converting them than he ever did in returning. It's harsh but it's true.

And Tech saying it's in his nature is like, classic Tech. I don't necessarily agree that they all have set paths due to their biology like Tech does, but Tech began this season rattling off about how Wrecker was made to be the way he was, this is just how Tech rolls.

The one I see a lot is after Crosshair rescues Omega and they still have the guns up and then never thank him. First of all, Crosshair never thanked them either for saving his life so let's not go around expecting any shows of gratitude from everyone. But more importantly, how were they supposed to know that Crosshair was saving Omega? As a viewer I legit thought he was aiming for Hunter there, it makes more than enough sense that they pulled their weapons on him. And considering their recent history, it makes sense that all three of them keep their weapons up longer than needed, both Hunter and Omega are potentially at risk. We all saw how quickly all of them drew their weapons in Episode 13 at even the slightest hint of danger to Omega. Considering everything before, it makes sense they kept them up until he disarmed himself, that's just good self defense honestly.

And my final point:

CROSSHAIR WAS NOT ABANDONED AT THE END OF THE SEASON

He was given multiple invitations and opportunities to join. Sure, he was not made to feel all that welcome, but even after all of the season and the finale, Wrecker stops to ask if he is coming and Hunter gives him one last chance. He was given many opportunities to go with them. He said he made his choice, that isn't abandonment, that's stepping away.

In Conclusion

Honestly all 6 of the main characters really dropped the ball on this season's conflict and no one is blameless or unjustified.

I'm not mad about it because it makes for compelling character drama, but everyone involved kinda didn't do their best, so maybe let's not slander one side over the other?

(Small lists of commenters who showed interest is seeing this: @violettavie @shilsvampsinger @rain-over-kamino )

[valkyrieelysia18]

RWBY Rewrite: Raven Branwen

Hey there everybody! You know, I was debating Raven and Adam for quite a bit until inspiration hit on the former teammate of Team STRQ and candidate for worst mother in the show. And you know how writers get when they’ve stumbled across something.

Still, Raven is definitely one of the more disappointing characters, having made a strong first impression for further appearances to take away the coolness. Most of the disappointment comes from her being set up as a third party to Oz vs Salem conflict, which could offer a unique perspective on both sides of the conflict. Unfortunately, she came off as selfish manipulate bitch that the main reason we cheered her on during the end of Volume 5 was because Cinder was much MUCH worse.

Now with these rewrites, I don’t intend to change fighting styles and weapons (mainly because I have no idea how to do that, unlike certain people I am fully capable of admitting when I am out of my depth and leave that to someone who knows what they’re talking about). As for personalities, I don’t think I’m massively rewriting them given how little some of these characters had been given, but you can correct me if I’m wrong. Raven will still be a strong bandit leader with a survival of the fittest mentality.

Now the first thing I would change is in regards to her semblance, albeit more along the lines of refining what was already established. Her portals lead to people she has bonded tp, but bonding is not so simple as it seems. The type of bonding needed for this would be someone she trusts wholeheartedly, someone she would willingly die for. These bonds of hers are both her strength and her weakness. When a bond is established, Raven is then attuned emotionally to them, always having a sense of them in the back of her mind and feeling their general mental state. Much like Qrow’s semblance, she can never truly turn it off. As such, she is fully aware of what Yang feels about her as well as being the first person to know about Summer’s death due to feeling it. Naturally, this a very emotional side effect and plays quite the role in her relationships with Yang and Summer.

The big changes would relate to her main relationships of the story: the Branwen Tribe, Team STRQ, Ozpin, and Yang.

Branwen Tribe

In the show, the Branwen Tribe was the Disposable Mook Group Number Thirteen with no real depth to them. Under this tag, I was originally going give an overview the Tribe’s history and culture, but it became too lengthy. I’ll have that as an additional separate post. Long story short, they are going to be much more dangerous and a lot more connected to the history and culture of Anima.

As to Raven’s relationship to the Tribe in general, it’s a lot more complex. Unlike Qrow who was always kind of an outcast, Raven was actually well regarded by the Tribe and was seen as a potential successor to the Chieftain of the time. While Raven knows the Tribe was brutal and unforgiving, it was her home and there were people she did care about there (though not as much Qrow). In fact, Vernal was the daughter of a late friend of hers that she took under her wing, basically her goddaughter. In addition, Raven never truly felt comfortable in the Kingdoms. Even as grew to care for her teammates and fell in to the lifestyle of a huntress, she could never conform completely to the system. At least part of the reason she did leave her teammates and Yang was because the Tribe was where she felt she belonged. Still selfish, but selfish for an understandable reason.

The one other thing to clarify in relation to the Branwen Tribe is the former Spring Maiden. For someone trying to keep a low profile, taking in one of the biggest targets on Salem’s list seems counterproductive. In this rewrite, Raven would take her in due to a sense of empathy, with the girl having discovered Leo’s treachery and was desperate to get as far away as she could. Her death by Raven’s hands would genuinely be an act of mercy, having been fatally injured during a raid and the only thing that could be done is make her death quick and less painful. As to inheriting the Maiden powers, Raven would not have known about the cutoff date for being Maiden and kind of assumed she was too old by that point (would have turned thirty in a week). This was because Ozpin wouldn’t have told her and the others every little detail about magic and his situation, though this time it was more to him viewing it as a trivial detail rather than actively trying to hide it.

Team STRQ

Her relationships with her teammates are equal parts love and care with anger and frustration. Before Beacon, Qrow was the only bondmate she had. Summer and Tai she took a while to warm up to, but grew close to them despite trying not to do so because she felt nothing could ever truly come of it. And in this Rewrite, she’s not the sole reason Team STRQ falls apart; none of them are completely blameless. 

Qrow was the first bond she ever forged and is arguably the strongest bond she has. Part of the reason she wanted the position of Chieftain was so that she could make things better for her brother in the Tribe. While heading to Beacon led them to new experiences and new bonds, it also led to a distance growing between as Qrow took to the Kingdoms and everything in them. This would lead to Raven feeling somewhat lonely and jealous, in how her brother was so much happier then when it had just been them. This distance only grows as they get involved with Ozpin and the bigger conflict. The more Raven sees, the more concerned she gets and brings up her doubts about Ozpin to Qrow as well as mentioning that they should probably return to the Tribe soon. Qrow at first brushes her off, getting more irritated as she continues with it. This would culminate in an argument in which Qrow tells his sister off for being so distrusting of the man who’s trying to save humanity and that the Tribe should rot for all the things they’ve done; he’d rather die than go back. It’s at this point Raven realizes that her brother won’t listen to her anymore. These bittersweet feelings influence her relationship with her brother to this day; as much as she cares about him, she can’t save him. This will also play a part in her relationship with Ozpin.

Her relationship with Tai didn’t start off with the best first impressions (she definitely had to restrain from strangling him during the Initiation and almost did during the first week of classes), but eventual grew very strong. Unfortunately, the relationship while passionate, was between two people who are not suited for long term romantic relationships. Raven has her obvious issues and I’ll get Tai’s in his post(believe me, there will quite a bit to discuss). Not to mention they’re two people with vastly different goals and expectations out of a relationship. Tai was happy in teaching and in Vale, there was no way she could have convinced him to throw it all away for the bandit life style. Raven does still have some fond feelings for him, but she does get even more frustrated with Tai than Qrow as she feels he could have tried to talk the girls out of becoming huntresses or at least told them the whole truth of things before they went off to Beacon.

Last but not least we have Summer. Raven didn’t really like Summer at first because she really didn’t seem like leadership material, much like Weiss and Ruby at the beginning. It isn’t until Raven gets a demonstration of “Good is Not Nice” from her leader that she really began to respect her. The relationship grew and by the time Raven was leaving for the Tribe, Summer was the only positive relationship she had at that point. In fact, she actually tried to convince Summer to come with her, but Summer declined as she had reasons of her own for fighting for Ozpin along with their other teammates to watch over. Summer also shared quite a bit with Raven, including the price behind the Silver Eye powers which is a lot more costly than in the canon. Raven’s respect was so great that she asked Summer to be the mother Yang needed and explain things to the girl when she was old enough to understand. This plan is naturally torn apart by Summer’s death. Due to their bondmate connection, Raven fully felt Summer’s death and to this day, it is something she has not gotten over(whether these feelings are platonic, sisterly, or romantic, I leave that to fan speculation). Half of her blames herself for not going to her side, at the time she was helping her people in the midst of a natural disaster. The other half blames Ozpin. 

Ozpin

Oh boy, Ozpin may not be her strongest relationship, but it is perhaps the one that had the most impact on her life. Raven’s first impressions of Ozpin was someone to respect, but not trust as it seemed he was keeping a close eye on her and Qrow. It would take a while for her to realize he was keeping a close eye on Team STRQ as a whole and wouldn’t fully get the answers to that until Ozpin filled them in on the greater conflict. Long story short, Tai decides not to get in any further but the other three are brought into the inner circle. Raven is driven by the need to know more, but ultimately finding the truth to be more horrible than she imagined.

It starts with the bird magic. Unlike the canon, the bird transformation does have significant issues with it. On the minor side, the two will behave a bit more like birds such as having cravings for seeds, being drawn to shiny objects, etc. On the major side though, the magic also amplifies their fight/flight instincts and it gets stronger the longer they stay in bird form to the point where if they stay transformed long enough they will slowly forget their humanity (which is why they will transform for an hour at most). Now, to Ozpin’s defense, this was not something he deliberately kept from them, these were unintended side effects. Raven, however, is pissed that he didn’t consider how the magic might have affected them and could have warned them after Qrow and her stay transform for a little too long with Summer snapping them back to themselves. And that’s not the only problem she has with Ozpin.

As mentioned earlier, she did grow concerned with what she had learned and getting the whole truth about Salem and Ozpin as well as the lengths Ozpin has gone to defeat her, Raven’s doubts come to a head and she tries to get her brother to understand her point of view and get out. By this point, Qrow is fully committed to Ozpin’s brotherhood and views her actions and mindset as being unreasonable and selfish. While their relationship wasn’t as close as they were before, this confrontation was an utter shock to Raven. From there on, she blames Ozpin for “stealing” her brother and “blinding” him to the reality of the conflict.

But what really cements her hatred of Ozpin and giving up the fight with Salem is Summer’s death. Summer died at Salem’s hands, on a mission for Ozpin, and Raven was emotionally connected to her when she died. In response, Raven would make her way to Ozpin to confront him, which is also how he and others get the news. While Ozpin is genuinely grieved by Summer’s death, his first reaction to Raven’s words is frustration and despair that not even Summer using her eyes could stop Salem. THIS is Raven’s breaking point, the realization that Ozpin will use anything and anyone for his war Salem, even people he does significantly care about. After everything that Summer had done for him.... She actually attacks him for this, only to beaten down by Ozpin. He lets her go, but warns her to never return to Beacon and he won’t be so lenient if she tries this again.

In other words, this is where Sacrifice comes from.

Yang 

Out of all her relationships, Raven’s feelings for her daughter are the most complicated. For starters, I don’t think Yang was a planned pregnancy (neither was Ruby in my opinion). Tai was the over moon about it, but Raven wasn’t as thrilled. Partly because her doubt with Ozpin had had her seriously consider returning to the Tribe and the pregnancy was a delay in that, but also because Raven had absolutely no idea how to be a mom and didn’t have much in terms of maternal instinct. Contrary to popular belief, not all women have a natural inclination and understanding of children and babies (myself included). Ultimately, it wasn’t Yang’s fault she left, she had planned on going back to the Tribe from the beginning and she will tell Yang all this when she asks for answers.

She did consider taking Yang with her back to the Tribe, but realized that she couldn’t take care of a baby like that and Yang would be better off growing up inside one of the kingdoms. Like I said, she did entrust Summer to be the mother she couldn’t be and to tell Yang the truth when she was old enough. After Summer died, she really wasn’t in a state to come back even if she wanted to return. After sometime, she did resolve to pop back and check up on Yang from time to time. It does hurt her a bit that Yang has such obviously negative feelings towards her, but she accepts it and is fully okay with her daughter viewing Summer as her mother figure. She, in no way, regrets her choice.

And if there is one thing she is impressed by it’s how protective Yang is of Ruby because it reminds her how protective she got with Qrow when they were younger. Raven’s feelings on Ruby are complicated (she’s perfectly okay with Tai moving on, but the timing is rather questionable), but her respect for Summer and love for Yang does make Ruby fall under her one save rule as well as something else. On the journey to Mistral, Team RNJR and Qrow come close to perishing and are saved by Raven’s timely intervention. Tense atmosphere aside, she points them in the right direction and gives Ruby a warning both about the conflict she was walking straight into and not to use her Silver Eye powers unless she wants to follow her mother and grandfather’s path into an early grave.

Her role in the story would still be that of a third party and she will be both enemy and ally to the group during different points in the story. I do plan on her dying to help them as well as Qrow and Tai get away to safety, after finding out that there is a way to bring the conflict to an end and realizing that Summer fought not because she wanted to save the world, but because she wanted to protect those she cared about. In the end, she would die with her mind at peace and her last thoughts would be of either Yang or Ruby, passing on the Spring Maiden powers.

Oh boy, this post got long. And the next one’s going to be on Branwen Tribe history and culture. Maybe after that, I’ll get to Adam or Pyrrha. Hope you guys are up for that!

[komraekenkru]

Season 5 Memori Meta that no one asked for!

(Well, technically, @spacekru-defense​ asked for it, but I don’t think she knew what she was getting in to when she said I should do it)

WARNING: This isn’t very Emori-friendly. I don’t place the blame fully on her, although I do hold her responsible for all of her actions. If you want to debate it, I’m down. If you want to yell at me and say I’m wrong, go ahead, but I probably won’t respond. But if you’re looking for a meta that completely absolves Emori of all her faults and mistakes..... go read a different meta, cause you ain’t getting that here. 

Under the cut, cause it’s kinda long and I don’t want to clog anyone’s dash!

So, we don’t actually see the Memori breakup in Season Five, we just get told about it by three people:

1) Emori

2) Murphy

3) Raven

None of them are exactly unbiased, Emori and Murphy were in the relationship and Raven became Emori’s roommate and friend. If my friend was pissed at an ex-boyfriend, I wouldn’t even ask questions, I’d just be ready to cut the bitch, and I don’t think Raven’s much different. What is different, though, is that Raven is a lot smarter than me and she knows she’s a lot smarter than just about everyone. So, she probably put the pieces that she’s seen together and came to her own conclusions.

What Raven see’s is Murphy breaking down and not contributing, Emori fitting in with the rest of Spacekru and being as helpful as she can, and Emori being hurt by Murphy. Raven knows just how hurtful Murphy can be, she’s seen it up close, probably experienced it sometime during Season One or Two, and was definitely told about it by Bellamy and Clarke and Jasper and probably the others, too. So, based on what she knows, it makes sense that Murphy was being an asshole and the breakup is completely his fault.

In one of the first episodes of Season Five, Raven mentions Emori making Murphy feel inadequate and Murphy ruining a good thing. She doesn’t say who kicked who out, but it’s implied that either

A. Murphy kicked Emori out.

or

B. Murphy was so terrible he made her kick him out.

Now, later on in the season we learn Emori is the one that kicked Murphy out, but not if anyone else know’s that that’s what happened. Based on Raven insulting Murphy about ‘losing’ Emori and him not commenting on it but deflecting by insulting Raven right back, I think it’s safe to assume he didn’t talk about it. Based on him holing up in a different part of the ship, I don’t think he did much talking to anyone, which is, like, great, for your mental health (sarcasm, in case that wasn’t obvious). 

Based on Emori constantly insulting Murphy - ‘I’d rather clean bathrooms than be near him’, ‘he should stay in space instead of Raven’, etc. and yes, I’m paraphrasing, because I don’t know the exact quote, but the meaning is the same - and continually blaming him for everything, as well as admitting to Harper that she put the whole blame on Murphy, it’s safe to assume she either didn’t tell the whole truth or didn’t say anything about the specifics. 

Now, I have different mental health issues than Murphy, but I know at least a little and I like to think I’m not terrible at analyzing characters, but it depends on who you ask.

It does not, however, depend on who you ask on if Murphy has mental health issues.

He does. Full stop.

He has PTSD, Depression, suffered horrible amounts of abuse, not just physical, but emotional and sexual as well, and has lower self esteem than a thirteen year old girl who watches Onision. There’s no way Emori doesn’t know all of that. She might have different words, but she knows. 

More than five years together and he’s never had a panic or anxiety attack around her? He’s never woken up in tears, remember all the horrible things? He’s never broken down and told her parts of his past, not even fully realizing what he’s doing and regretting it once he does? He’s never had flashbacks? He’s never once, in over five years, shown any symptoms that aren’t an incredibly obvious indicator that he’s not okay? Sure, Jan.

Emori’s smart, she knows what’ll hurt. And she willingly hurts him over and over and over again. She knows every snide comment he makes reminds him of is mother. She knows being trapped up in a spaceship is basically torture for him. She knows he struggles and she doesn’t give a damn. She can’t be bothered to be understanding and kind to ‘the man she loves’.

When Emori says that Murphy ‘punished her’ for being a part of the group, that’s what she saw his actions as. I’m not saying she’s wrong to see him and his actions that way, I’m not saying that it’s easy to be with someone who pushes you away, I’m not saying it was a completely healthy relationship and Emori should have stayed, I’m not saying it was easy. If you can’t handle someone with mental health issues and it’s causing you to be hurt, then you have every right to leave them. You don’t have every right to pick at them and make them worse, though, and that’s exactly what Emori did.

Now, on Murphy ‘punishing’ her. Again, we don’t see it, so we don’t know for sure what happened, but we can make some educated guesses, or just guesses in general. And my guess is that he pushed her away - stated in canon - and ignored her. 

She hangs out with Raven all day? He doesn’t talk to her that night. 

She tells him about a conversation her and Bellamy had? He won’t sit next to her at dinner.

She learns how to help Monty make Algae? He won’t hold her at night.

Her mental health gets better as his deteriorates and he can’t deal with it. There’s no therapy, no antidepressants, no escape, no physically fighting to make him forget everything. He probably started fights with Emori, and maybe the others, too, so that he could have some of the chaos and anger from before.

The thing with people that have been hurt and had people leave them before is that they assume it’s gonna happen again. Person A left me, so why wouldn’t Person B? Except, with Murphy, it’s Person A - Y left me, so why wouldn’t Person Z? He didn’t punish her, he pushed her away because it’s easier to be the one to leave than the one left, but he couldn’t stand to leave her, so he gave her reasons to leave him besides him just being him. He’s being an asshole and mean and cruel to her and everyone, so that’s why she leaves, not because he’s inherently unlovable. 

It’s not just Emori that Murphy pushes away, it’s everyone. He has his own wing of the ship away from everyone, he says there’s no one to disappoint there, he pushes everyone away because he’s positive they’re all going to leave him.

He was completely alone there, even with the other five around. And the one that’s supposed to be the closest to him, love him the most, won’t and doesn’t. 

Sure, the Memori breakup is partially Murphy’s fault. But Emori is far from blameless. And even after they broke up, Murphy tried to be nice and civil, Emori was the one pushing him away.

I’m not even gonna get into the 5x08 mess of a flaming trashcan that was that scene, because everyone’s been over it and I’m trying to not bash Emori here, plus this is already pretty long, so sorry about that.