Team Rwby Critical - Tumblr Posts
The only thing I'd say is wrong is RWBY being called spoiled brats. The problem there is that RT is trying to write around an ideology or a criticism of some theme such as authority over the youth, and in the process failed to see when the narrative would horribly clash with the themes they are trying to put across.
Give this video a watch if you can! Great video made by Judgemental Critter, really does a deep dive into how Team RWBY fail as heroes and come off villainous.
Entitled, spoiled, antagonistic "heroes."
We literally see the bomb go off, we see Harriet doing her damndest to drop said bomb, we see the ace ops discuss if it’s a bluff and agree it fuming wasn’t,
If you think it’s a bluff you’d need to disregard literally everything the show tells us or shows us,
If you think its not a bluff you'd need to disregard that Ironwood did not order the detonation of the bomb the moment he got Penny in his hands.
You'd also have to disregard the fact that Harriet was about to not detonate the nuke thanks to Vine's advice, and Qrow and Robyn were responsible for escalating the tensions into a brawl that set off the bomb.
In any case, you should not be going off on me, or RWDE in general, for something that is entirely RT's fault.
The writers managed to cement Adam Taurus's villainy back in V5 when they SHOWED him detonating the Haven Academy bombs, but was only stopped by Ilia disarming those bombs.
RT dropped the ball (or bomb) on Ironwood because they had Trump Derangement Syndrome and were so eager to write a story about Political Power gone crazy they forgot to do for Ironwood what they did to Adam.
As it is, RT was so eager to have RWBY 'stop' Ironwood they forgot to actually write Ironwood as a definitive villain.
At this point, based on the writing, Ironwood can be interpreted as either a Hero or a Villain. I, and most of RWDE, choose Hero. Now you have to choose if you are willing to agree to disagree on this point.
That's a fair point, but you could also see it as Ironwood's semblance driving him to be as hardhearted as possible to SELL the Bluff.
Was he about to shoot Marrow? Maybe. But comparing Ironwood's off-handed shooting of the Politician, and the delay of Ironwood shooting Marrow, I wonder if Ironwood was going to kill Marrow. Or was Ironwood going to make a big show about it, then order Marrow to be arrested instead.
We won't know because Winter intervened before anything could happen. But if Ironwood had shot first and missed Marrow, before Winter arrested Marrow though, who knows?
Even if Ironwood did kill Marrow, he did it to save Atlas from Salem.
Jaune onscreen killed Penny to stop Cinder taking the Maiden Power.
We literally see the bomb go off, we see Harriet doing her damndest to drop said bomb, we see the ace ops discuss if it’s a bluff and agree it fuming wasn’t,
If you think it’s a bluff you’d need to disregard literally everything the show tells us or shows us,
If you think its not a bluff you'd need to disregard that Ironwood did not order the detonation of the bomb the moment he got Penny in his hands.
You'd also have to disregard the fact that Harriet was about to not detonate the nuke thanks to Vine's advice, and Qrow and Robyn were responsible for escalating the tensions into a brawl that set off the bomb.
In any case, you should not be going off on me, or RWDE in general, for something that is entirely RT's fault.
The writers managed to cement Adam Taurus's villainy back in V5 when they SHOWED him detonating the Haven Academy bombs, but was only stopped by Ilia disarming those bombs.
RT dropped the ball (or bomb) on Ironwood because they had Trump Derangement Syndrome and were so eager to write a story about Political Power gone crazy they forgot to do for Ironwood what they did to Adam.
As it is, RT was so eager to have RWBY 'stop' Ironwood they forgot to actually write Ironwood as a definitive villain.
At this point, based on the writing, Ironwood can be interpreted as either a Hero or a Villain. I, and most of RWDE, choose Hero. Now you have to choose if you are willing to agree to disagree on this point.
Is Ruby Rose (RWBY) a Mary Sue?
Definition of Mary Sue;
In an earlier post, I described the 'Mary Sue' as a narrative trope instead of a character archetype. A 'Mary Sue' occurs when a character's story overshadows the stories of the other characters.
Example;
Harry Potter in the last four books is a Mary Sue mostly because everything after book four is somehow tied to Harry, no matter how obscure or far removed. As a result, the story shrinks around Harry and the world of Magic becomes less interesting the more it focuses on Harry and his conflict with Voldemort.
Is Ruby is Mary Sue?
Based on my definition, no. She is just a badly written character. While all Mary Sues are badly written, not all badly written characters are Mary Sues.
Ozpin is more of the Mary Sue in RWBY. This is because most of RWBY's plot centers around Ozpin's mistakes and his relationships. Especially with Salem.
Therefore, Ruby Rose is not a Mary Sue.
Not today, Penny.
How Jaune should’ve responded.
Your points are fair. However, in this instance at least, I am experimenting with a different definition of Mary Sue. So I will respectfully agree with your interpretation of your very valid points to a certain extent only. I hope that you won't take offense for I mean none.
I believe that the ultimate nature of stories and narratives would inevitably favor the Main Characters, or the Protagonists. The classic mythologies are a good example of this, where the gods would intervene to assist the Hero in their quest.
An example of this would be Achilles. By the common definition of Mary Sue, Achilles would be a Mary Sue. Invincible, gets help from the gods through the story, and he is ultimately proven right over his rival, Agamemnon through the plot working in Achilles's favor.
There is an overlap between a naturally developing Main Character and Mary Sue which is better differentiated when one looks at the issue of Mary Sue as a narrative trope rather than a character trope.
Going back to the Achilles example. Achilles does not come across as a Mary Sue because Achilles is a part of a larger world that the Illiad builds throughout the narrative. Achilles does not overshadow the stories of the other characters through the Illiad's narrative, which allows the audience to understand Achilles not just as a part of the world, but also as APART from the world. Since he is partly divine due to his birth.
Looking at RWBY, I believe that Ruby Rose is a victim of Ozpin's issues that extends centuries before the start of RWBY proper. Ruby is not allowed to have her own story because she has to solve Ozpin's problems. Which is why Ruby's story gets twisted up not to make her 'always right', but to carry Ozpin's poorly written story onward.
Ruby is the main character, but this is not her story. Which I believe is the fundamental issue of RWBY and can only be addressed when a different definition of 'Mary Sue' is used to identify the true culprit of the poor writing. So to speak.
Is Ruby Rose (RWBY) a Mary Sue?
Definition of Mary Sue;
In an earlier post, I described the 'Mary Sue' as a narrative trope instead of a character archetype. A 'Mary Sue' occurs when a character's story overshadows the stories of the other characters.
Example;
Harry Potter in the last four books is a Mary Sue mostly because everything after book four is somehow tied to Harry, no matter how obscure or far removed. As a result, the story shrinks around Harry and the world of Magic becomes less interesting the more it focuses on Harry and his conflict with Voldemort.
Is Ruby is Mary Sue?
Based on my definition, no. She is just a badly written character. While all Mary Sues are badly written, not all badly written characters are Mary Sues.
Ozpin is more of the Mary Sue in RWBY. This is because most of RWBY's plot centers around Ozpin's mistakes and his relationships. Especially with Salem.
Therefore, Ruby Rose is not a Mary Sue.