RWBY IX: Fractured Fairy Tales

[The Fury]

So...is anyone besides me telling themselves that the show ended with Season 3?

I got through S4, but just barely. I found S5 unwatchable.

At first I thought they were brave for going on without Monty, but by now I think it was a huge mistake. I'd prefer a flawed and incomplete cult classic to a run-into-the-ground commercial IP.

I don't know about that. Season 3 would be a pretty bitter note to leave on, Pyrrha finally having something interesting given to her character only to be killed off almost immediately after is something I was grumpy about already. If the show ended with Ruby going on her next unknown adventure with what's left of JNPR as Blake goes off and does whatever and Yang and Weiss throw in the towel... That just feels depressing and pointless.

Each season is flawed in different ways, though one thing I feel like the series has always suffered from is clunky exposition. Seasons 1-3 didn't have the issue as badly and in some cases it actually tied in to the narrative. For example, Yang telling her backstory so she could emotionally connect with Blake... I think is pretty good. It doesn't feel like an info-dump because it ends up going somewhere. Similarly, Pyrrha explaining aura to Jaune didn't feel info-dumpy because she was explaining something to someone that genuinely didn't know.

Season 4 is where the story started to lose focus just because the main team was sort of scattered to the wind and were all sort of doing their own thing, which was around when I started to have issues with how the story was paced. Then there was Qrow's "Gods of Remnant/Origin of The Grimm" story, which was really info-dumpy and didn't add much of anything to the overall narrative and felt like a waste of time. I like to think Qrow was only going on about that because he was tripping on scorpion venom.

Season 5 was the worst yet with pacing and clunky exposition. Virtually every scene with Oscar/Ozpin (...Oz-car?) was really exposition-heavy. Then the whole bit with Sienna Khan... introduce a character and kill her off in the same scene? I'd get it if it were supposed to be funny, but it doesn't look like that's what they were going for. I heard that Season 5 had a rushed production schedule which explains a lot if it's true. I could imagine that a lot of the season's issues could be fixed with a few rewrites and tweaks.

I'll even admit that there were some parts of both Seasons 4 and 5 that I liked. The characters move and emote better, I liked the Vernal-decoy thing, I like the implication that Yang isn't recovered but recovering. I feel like there's still some good ideas left in the show and it can still be salvaged with a little greater care taken in the production side.

[Lethologica]

The last couple of seasons have provided plenty of interesting raw material. To me, that was always the best thing about RWBY anyway. My opinion of seasons 1-3 is not so much higher that I have noticed much of a quality drop to lament, overall - they do some things better and others worse, which is only to be expected.

[LaZodiac]

The people I know about who abandoned the series tend to do so at the end of season 2. So yeah even I consider Season 3 too bitter to end on.

[Lector87]

The core appeal for me was the fast-paced, tightly choreographed fight scenes, which stayed fun through the end of S3. I always thought the lore and overarching plot was the weakest part of the show, so when the action took a backseat to loredumps and angsting, and when the quality of the fights themselves dramatically dropped, it couldn't keep my interest.

Actually, the Yellow Trailer was my favorite RWBY video, more than any of the actual episodes. When I first saw it, knowing nothing about the show, I was thrilled. I'd never seen anything like it, and it fired my imagination. I thought we were getting a Matrix / John Woo / Cyberpunk martial arts extravaganza, all motorbikes and night clubs, flashy fisticuffs and cold city streets. When the first episodes aired and I realized it was a cliche magical high school plot, I was disappointed, but I stuck with it. And it was still a fun ride, until Monty passed and nobody could choreograph a fight worth a darn.

I still adore Yang.

[Anyr]

Speaking of Yang, has anyone else heard her new theme song? Its message is weirdly similar to the old one. She exuberantly brags to an enemy about her invincible power; And mocks them for the folly of daring to challenge her. I was expecting at least a hint of her recent character arc in the lyrics. But it's basically just 'I Burn' with a different melody.

[The Fury]

The last couple of seasons have provided plenty of interesting raw material. To me, that was always the best thing about RWBY anyway. My opinion of seasons 1-3 is not so much higher that I have noticed much of a quality drop to lament, overall - they do some things better and others worse, which is only to be expected.

I'd agree that there's interesting raw material, and if it were better refined, we'd get something pretty darned solid. What we got though, I think... wasn't that.

The people I know about who abandoned the series tend to do so at the end of season 2. So yeah even I consider Season 3 too bitter to end on.

I don't meet many people that watch RWBY at all, though the ones I do are either considering bailing after Season 5 or they're the diehards that proudly wear Nuckelavee shirts. I'm guessing the latter feel that the series can do no wrong.

The core appeal for me was the fast-paced, tightly choreographed fight scenes, which stayed fun through the end of S3. I always thought the lore and overarching plot was the weakest part of the show, so when the action took a backseat to loredumps and angsting, and when the quality of the fights themselves dramatically dropped, it couldn't keep my interest.

Actually, the Yellow Trailer was my favorite RWBY video, more than any of the actual episodes. When I first saw it, knowing nothing about the show, I was thrilled. I'd never seen anything like it, and it fired my imagination. I thought we were getting a Matrix / John Woo / Cyberpunk martial arts extravaganza, all motorbikes and night clubs, flashy fisticuffs and cold city streets. When the first episodes aired and I realized it was a cliche magical high school plot, I was disappointed, but I stuck with it. And it was still a fun ride, until Monty passed and nobody could choreograph a fight worth a darn.

Cards on the table, I actually never saw any of the trailers until I had watched Seasons 1-4. The Yellow Trailer... was really weird. Like Suda51 weird. Though it did make the lyrics of Armed and Ready make more sense. The part where the singer mentions a "strawberry sunrise" left me scratching my head. At first I thought I misheard, then I assumed it was a metaphor that went over my head. Then I saw the Yellow Trailer... Oh! It's one of those god-awful party cocktails!

I'm not sure of Monty's creative process when he planned out a fight scene, if he went through multiple iterations of the same scene, refining it as he went along. Considering the long work hours he apparently kept, it would make sense if he did. The only reason I bring this up is because quite a few of the Season 4 and 5 fight scenes feel sort of... first draft if that makes any sense.

Though there's some fight scenes that I thought were pretty good, Yang vs. Bandits, Tyrian vs. Qrow, and Raven vs. Cinder. I'm still holding out hope that with a bit more care and attention to detail, we might end up with something special.

I still adore Yang.

I'm a bit direction-less, kind of a rage-head and I love puns. Yang and I are kindred spirits.

[Lector87]

I'm a bit direction-less, kind of a rage-head and I love puns. Yang and I are kindred spirits.

Cerveau de Iop!

[The Fury]

Cerveau de Iop!

C'est vrai.

[Reddish Mage]

I'm not sure of Monty's creative process when he planned out a fight scene, if he went through multiple iterations of the same scene, refining it as he went along. Considering the long work hours he apparently kept, it would make sense if he did. The only reason I bring this up is because quite a few of the Season 4 and 5 fight scenes feel sort of... first draft if that makes any sense.

Though there's some fight scenes that I thought were pretty good, Yang vs. Bandits, Tyrian vs. Qrow, and Raven vs. Cinder. I'm still holding out hope that with a bit more care and attention to detail, we might end up with something special.



I'm a bit direction-less, kind of a rage-head and I love puns. Yang and I are kindred spirits.

Monty did so much of it by himself, he could think through things by going through the process and correcting it, with a couple of other people doing finishing touches (probably without much direction from Monty). Monty could get away with it because he worked long hours and his output several times faster than a typical animator. He had a process that worked well for Monty, and is probably the only way we'd get fights like the Deathstalker/Nevermore or the Food Fight. The Emerald Forest battle went through at least three way different concepts (the initial had three giant grimm and ended with Ruby doing a slash through the goes right through a mountain...which they held back because HELLLO scaling!). Supposedly, they often didn't storyboard and instead Monty would just go into something because the inspiration struck him.

These days, they have a animation department of at least a dozen people that they organize into different pipelines working through everything. Now they have to story board and they have to commit . They don't have the luxury of being able to quit with half a draft.

So they'll have to learn on the job.

I agree that Yang vs. the Bandits was good. So was the Yang preview and the Weiss preview. All of these have in common that they focused on one character's fighting and did not attempt to skimp. That's what I think it takes for their approach to have anything like the feel of a fast-paced, high-action, everything-on-camera style Monty used.

I'm not sure I agree Tyrion vs. Qrow was really good, although it wasn't bad. Honestly, despite watching through the last few episodes several times, it doesn't even stick out to me.

Raven vs. Cinder, however, was good and its a different sort of good. They are using a lot of full-on anime styles for this fight (we see a lot of charging, sword growing, still-figures flying through each other or to their destinations). They weren't afraid of doing something different. When they do this sort of thing they can achieve something of the free-styling feel of the original, and something like anime-style suits the animation crew ("cRWBY"). Keep this up with heart and they can approach something that will look very different but have a similar spirit.

However, I'm worried that the animation team is being overburdened by all the new shows in addition to RWBY. RWBY is something everyone talks about on various RT talk shows as overwhelmingly time and work consuming, especially for the end episodes. They call it "RWBY fatigue."

I'm afraid fatigue is going to set in time and time again unless RT allows more breathing room, such as more spacing between episodes and seasons. The other problem, however, and this is far more important. I'm not sure this current cRWBY is pouring their heart into the fight scenes.

[Excession]

Speaking of Yang, has anyone else heard her new theme song? Its message is weirdly similar to the old one. She exuberantly brags to an enemy about her invincible power; And mocks them for the folly of daring to challenge her. I was expecting at least a hint of her recent character arc in the lyrics. But it's basically just 'I Burn' with a different melody.

That song, Ignite, is from Yang's Vol 5 character short. That was set before even the original trailers, so it makes sense to me that later character development would not be included.

Same with Path to Isolation for Weiss, though that also showed up on volume 5 when Weiss was recounting that part of her life to Yang.

If you want recent character development, check out All That Matters.

[The Fury]

Monty did so much of it by himself, he could think through things by going through the process and correcting it, with a couple of other people doing finishing touches (probably without much direction from Monty). Monty could get away with it because he worked long hours and his output several times faster than a typical animator. He had a process that worked well for Monty, and is probably the only way we'd get fights like the Deathstalker/Nevermore or the Food Fight. The Emerald Forest battle went through at least three way different concepts (the initial had three giant grimm and ended with Ruby doing a slash through the goes right through a mountain...which they held back because HELLLO scaling!). Supposedly, they often didn't storyboard and instead Monty would just go into something because the inspiration struck him.

Slicing a mountain, huh? I wonder if that was a random shout-out to Irish myth. (Y'know, Caladbolg? Slices tops off mountains?)

The fact that Monty evidently changed the plan on the fly does explain a bit about the earlier seasons, because there's a few moments, even outside of the fights, that have an ad-libbed spur-of-the-moment kind of feel. Like when Ruby's trying to talk to Penny and butt-slides down a handrail to catch up to her.

I agree that Yang vs. the Bandits was good. So was the Yang preview and the Weiss preview. All of these have in common that they focused on one character's fighting and did not attempt to skimp. That's what I think it takes for their approach to have anything like the feel of a fast-paced, high-action, everything-on-camera style Monty used.

I'm not sure I agree Tyrion vs. Qrow was really good, although it wasn't bad. Honestly, despite watching through the last few episodes several times, it doesn't even stick out to me.

Raven vs. Cinder, however, was good and its a different sort of good. They are using a lot of full-on anime styles for this fight (we see a lot of charging, sword growing, still-figures flying through each other or to their destinations). They weren't afraid of doing something different. When they do this sort of thing they can achieve something of the free-styling feel of the original, and something like anime-style suits the animation crew ("cRWBY"). Keep this up with heart and they can approach something that will look very different but have a similar spirit.

I mainly like the Tyrian vs. Qrow because of the sequence where Tyrian disarms Qrow, seems really sure that he's gained the upper hand, then Qrow just punches him in the face and continued to fight him really well bare-handed. Maybe I just really wanted to see Tyrian get punched in the face. No offense to any Tyrian fans, I just found him really grating.

However, I'm worried that the animation team is being overburdened by all the new shows in addition to RWBY. RWBY is something everyone talks about on various RT talk shows as overwhelmingly time and work consuming, especially for the end episodes. They call it "RWBY fatigue."

Hey, I'd be all for it if they wanted to give the writers and animators breathing room to refine their scripts and storyboards and put together some awesome animation. Heck, I'd be OK if they needed to take a mid-season hiatus.

I'm afraid fatigue is going to set in time and time again unless RT allows more breathing room, such as more spacing between episodes and seasons. The other problem, however, and this is far more important. I'm not sure this current cRWBY is pouring their heart into the fight scenes.

I'm not so sure those are separate issues. I mean, if the animation crew is worn down and fatigued they probably don't have that much heart to pour into the fight scenes, or really any scenes.

That song, Ignite, is from Yang's Vol 5 character short. That was set before even the original trailers, so it makes sense to me that later character development would not be included.

Same with Path to Isolation for Weiss, though that also showed up on volume 5 when Weiss was recounting that part of her life to Yang.

If you want recent character development, check out All That Matters.

I liked BMBLB, maybe because it's uncharacteristically light-hearted and cute. Though it's deliberately stated as being non-canon.

[Callos_DeTerran]

Slicing a mountain, huh? I wonder if that was a random shout-out to Irish myth. (Y'know, Caladbolg? Slices tops off mountains?)

The fact that Monty evidently changed the plan on the fly does explain a bit about the earlier seasons, because there's a few moments, even outside of the fights, that have an ad-libbed spur-of-the-moment kind of feel. Like when Ruby's trying to talk to Penny and butt-slides down a handrail to catch up to her.

That's nothing, you know the whole sequence with Penny at the end of Volume 1 where they make it pretty obvious (with very little doubt) that Penny is an android and is extremely powerful by annihilating Roman's White Fang mooks?

Yeah, that wasn't supposed to happen originally. Monty and a friend of his just kind of slipped it in late at night before the episode aired because he wanted to animate the fight and thought it was cool.

I mainly like the Tyrian vs. Qrow because of the sequence where Tyrian disarms Qrow, seems really sure that he's gained the upper hand, then Qrow just punches him in the face and continued to fight him really well bare-handed. Maybe I just really wanted to see Tyrian get punched in the face. No offense to any Tyrian fans, I just found him really grating.

Well you ARE supposed to find him grating and want him to be punched in the face. Even as one of the very few people to actually like Tyrian around here, his job is to be very punch-able and he is.

That said there's a lot of little touches and foreshadowing in that fight that I like. Especially the foreshadowing for Qrow's Semblance in action such as Tyrian falling through the roof, Ruby missing a stationary target just barely, and the beam almost crushing her if Qrow hadn't gotten involved. Not to mention the choreography is just real fun and drives home a point that I haven't seen dis proven yet..which is Qrow's sword is for people but his Scythe is for monsters considering he never tries to use it on Tyrian despite being pushed to the edge (and pushing Tyrian to the edge as well).

[Anyr]

Not to mention the choreography is just real fun and drives home a point that I haven't seen dis proven yet..which is Qrow's sword is for people but his Scythe is for monsters considering he never tries to use it on Tyrian despite being pushed to the edge (and pushing Tyrian to the edge as well).

So Winter is a monster? Because Qrowe is willing to use his scythe against her. Just before their fight gets interrupted, we see his sword begin to transform.

[The Fury]

Well you ARE supposed to find him grating and want him to be punched in the face. Even as one of the very few people to actually like Tyrian around here, his job is to be very punch-able and he is.

Yeah? The impression that I got was that Tyrian was supposed to be cool and menacing in a sort of The Joker by way of Hellsing kind of way. For my part though, his antics that were meant to have him come off as unhinged... did, but also made him come of as incredibly obnoxious.

That said there's a lot of little touches and foreshadowing in that fight that I like. Especially the foreshadowing for Qrow's Semblance in action such as Tyrian falling through the roof, Ruby missing a stationary target just barely, and the beam almost crushing her if Qrow hadn't gotten involved. Not to mention the choreography is just real fun and drives home a point that I haven't seen dis proven yet..which is Qrow's sword is for people but his Scythe is for monsters considering he never tries to use it on Tyrian despite being pushed to the edge (and pushing Tyrian to the edge as well).

Another thing to consider, Qrow's sword to scythe conversion takes a while and Tyrian can move fast. It might be that Qrow thought he didn't have enough time to get the scythe out.

So Winter is a monster? Because Qrowe is willing to use his scythe against her. Just before their fight gets interrupted, we see his sword begin to transform.

We don't know that she isn't!

[Rater202]

Winter's Semblance lets her summon monsters.

[Callos_DeTerran]

So Winter is a monster? Because Qrowe is willing to use his scythe against her. Just before their fight gets interrupted, we see his sword begin to transform.

That was also the point in the fight that Winter has begun to actively use the summoning half of her Semblance which means...well...almost anything could be about to show up. The only thing we've seen Winter summon are Beowolves but it would be silly to assume that's all she could summon.

Yeah? The impression that I got was that Tyrian was supposed to be cool and menacing in a sort of The Joker by way of Hellsing kind of way. For my part though, his antics that were meant to have him come off as unhinged... did, but also made him come of as incredibly obnoxious.

This is also true but they don't have to be mutually exclusive either. Its always struck me as a bit of failure in writing for a story, show, game, etc. if you don't look at a primary villain (especially one like Tyrian) and want to punch him in the face. The best villains are those you are happy to see because of how entertaining they are but you STILL want to punch them in the face. Tyrian does come off as unhinged and menacing but doesn't change the fact Qrow punching him in the face was pretty great.

[Reddish Mage]

There is an alternative world out there where Winter and Weiss are the main villains.

[Calemyr]

There is an alternative world out there where Winter and Weiss are the main villains.

Easily, I should think. Winter is the turning point. If Winter had concluded that her father was right (or just decided to play the good little daughter), nobody would have encouraged Weiss to question the family's legacy. Weiss wouldn't have rebelled if Winter hadn't rebelled first - she doesn't go outside of her comfort zone without a push.

Now, if we assume Whitley doesn't have the talent for the family semblance, and neither does Jacques due to marrying into the family, then a compliant Weiss and Winter would be useful weapons for Jacques's power grabs. Of course, that path ultimately leads to Winter and Weiss becoming too powerful for Jacques to control and them realizing they don't need him. Boom. Two girls able to summon controllable monsters on a whim and no compunction for playing nice. With their drive to excel unshackled by morals, Salem would have a heck of a time amassing the support she needs to pursue her goals, stealing the spotlight from her and placing it on a more active and less subtle threat that is closer to home. Imagine Hela from Thor Ragnarok, if there were two of them that cooperated and summoned monsters rather than weapons.

The only wildcard I can see there is Cinder. She'd still side with Salem because what she wants is power and independence and Salem gives her both. The Schnees, if they went bad, would be too proactive in their dealings, and thus would not allow Cinder the free rein she enjoyed. This would recast her into the third party underdog role, where she'd be an enemy to both sides. It'd take some swagger out of her step, though, which would probably make her much more likable as well.

That's how I envision it, anyway.

[The Fury]

Easily, I should think. Winter is the turning point. If Winter had concluded that her father was right (or just decided to play the good little daughter), nobody would have encouraged Weiss to question the family's legacy. Weiss wouldn't have rebelled if Winter hadn't rebelled first - she doesn't go outside of her comfort zone without a push.

Now, if we assume Whitley doesn't have the talent for the family semblance, and neither does Jacques due to marrying into the family, then a compliant Weiss and Winter would be useful weapons for Jacques's power grabs. Of course, that path ultimately leads to Winter and Weiss becoming too powerful for Jacques to control and them realizing they don't need him. Boom. Two girls able to summon controllable monsters on a whim and no compunction for playing nice. With their drive to excel unshackled by morals, Salem would have a heck of a time amassing the support she needs to pursue her goals, stealing the spotlight from her and placing it on a more active and less subtle threat that is closer to home. Imagine Hela from Thor Ragnarok, if there were two of them that cooperated and summoned monsters rather than weapons.

The only wildcard I can see there is Cinder. She'd still side with Salem because what she wants is power and independence and Salem gives her both. The Schnees, if they went bad, would be too proactive in their dealings, and thus would not allow Cinder the free rein she enjoyed. This would recast her into the third party underdog role, where she'd be an enemy to both sides. It'd take some swagger out of her step, though, which would probably make her much more likable as well.

That's how I envision it, anyway.

I don't think a super compliant Weiss and Winter would be super-threatening as Jacques's enforcers. Weiss in particular wasn't able to summon at all until she went to Beacon and neither can summon monsters they haven't personally defeated. Jacques never approved of either getting into the Huntress or Army gig, so if Weiss and Winter were never in a position to defeat monsters they'd never be able to summon them.

That said, Winter is already a high-ranking officer in what seems to be a morally dubious military. Weiss... if we're in an alternate evil universe, I can imagine that she might try a Game of Thrones sort of power-play against Jacques. Murdering him and framing Whitley maybe? To tell the truth, this is not my favorite alternate universe versions of Weiss...

Though I don't see Cinder as being portrayed much different from her canon characterization unless she's working more closely with The White Fang, which I could see as being presented as much more heroic and sympathetic, especially if the Schnees come off as morally bankrupt and screwing over more than just Faunus in their power grabs. Maybe this version of the White Fang would work with human sympathizers?

[Reddish Mage]

Weiss... if we're in an alternate evil universe, I can imagine that she might try a Game of Thrones sort of power-play against Jacques. Murdering him and framing Whitley maybe? To tell the truth, this is not my favorite alternate universe versions of Weiss...

What is your favorite alternative version of Weiss?

[The Fury]

What is your favorite alternative version of Weiss?

In truth probably the version I made up, where she ends up homeless after getting disinherited by Jacques and running off to Mistral.

Mostly, I'm not feeling the evil version of Weiss making power grabs for The Schnee Dust Company because so little of her original character is there. That and it would necessitate scrapping her whole "learning how to be a decent person" arc, and I always thought that was the best part of her character.

[Reddish Mage]

In truth probably the version I made up, where she ends up homeless after getting disinherited by Jacques and running off to Mistral.

Mostly, I'm not feeling the evil version of Weiss making power grabs for The Schnee Dust Company because so little of her original character is there. That and it would necessitate scrapping her whole "learning how to be a decent person" arc, and I always thought that was the best part of her character.

Evil Weiss has a lot more potential then you are giving her. First of all, as “evil” she will immediately all those abilities, like summoning, she had to work so hard get in her canon version. Evil is uninhibited and doesn’t hold back.

She doesn’t need a growth arc, she’s the villain! She’ll go straight to antagonizing the heroes...or the world.

Also, your version of Weiss has a fatal flaw, I don’t see how who can be shipped with her.

[The Fury]

Evil Weiss has a lot more potential then you are giving her. First of all, as “evil” she will immediately all those abilities, like summoning, she had to work so hard get in her canon version. Evil is uninhibited and doesn’t hold back.

She doesn’t need a growth arc, she’s the villain! She’ll go straight to antagonizing the heroes...or the world.

It's true, bad guys don't really need growth arcs. Though I liked Weiss's enough that I feel like scrapping it would be a shame.

Also, your version of Weiss has a fatal flaw, I don’t see how who can be shipped with her.

Pssh! Anyone can be shipped with anyone!

[Lector87]

Pssh! Anyone can be shipped with anyone!

The one thing I know for sure about RWBY - I don't know what any of the ship names mean, and I don't want to know.

[The Fury]

The one thing I know for sure about RWBY - I don't know what any of the ship names mean, and I don't want to know.

Though there seems to be a disproportionate amount of ships that could be canon which include Blake. Lots of folks are crushin' on Blake, I guess.

[Lethologica]

Though there seems to be a disproportionate amount of ships that could be canon which include Blake. Lots of folks are crushin' on Blake, I guess.

Lots of everything with Blake, really.

Blake's backstory is the most far-reaching and she's proceeded the farthest along her character arc of any character in the whole story. The end of season 1 and the first half of season 2 were driven primarily by Blake's backstory - it wasn't until season 5 that another character (Yang) had her personal quest tie directly into the main plot like that. Blake's personal villain was also a key player in the climaxes of seasons 2 and 3. And of course there's the whole Menagerie arc, which rivals the main plot for depth of involvement through seasons 4-5.

Blake has been involved with a lot, and so a lot of characters have been involved with Blake in one way or another, and it doesn't take more than that for ships to set sail.

[Reddish Mage]

Though there seems to be a disproportionate amount of ships that could be canon which include Blake. Lots of folks are crushin' on Blake, I guess.

Yes there are more people IN-STORY that have expressed Romaric feelings for Blake then anyone else (can we count Yang?). I count Adam, Illia, Sun, and Yang. Sun wins because people ignore him (see my Blake Battle Royal entry many pages back).

You can come up with four ships for Ruby. However it’s not going to be canon and you’ll be reaching. We have Ruby Weiss (rival frenemies), Ruby Juane (awkward friends together), Ruby Yang (sisters), and Ruby Penny (maybe there was something there...).

Weiss though we actually got something to play with. In addition to the thing going with Ruby, there is Juane, Neptune and a very odd relationship she has with her sister Winter. We just don’t see these dynamics developed like we see them with Blake.

[Rakaydos]

Ruby Penny (maybe there was something there...).

We've always said Ruby was a weaponsexual. Penny is a weapon in girl form, their attraction makes sense.

[The Fury]

Yes there are more people IN-STORY that have expressed Romaric feelings for Blake then anyone else (can we count Yang?). I count Adam, Illia, Sun, and Yang.

I'd say at minimum any ship would need to have one or both parties express romantic interest, (in story,) in each other before it has any chance at all of sailing. And I do count Yang as one of the characters that's romantically interested in Blake.

You can come up with four ships for Ruby. However it’s not going to be canon and you’ll be reaching. We have Ruby Weiss (rival frenemies), Ruby Juane (awkward friends together), Ruby Yang (sisters), and Ruby Penny (maybe there was something there...).

Hey, why stop at four? This is shipping and like I said, anyone can be shipped with anyone. Ruby and Emerald? Sure! Ruby and Cinder? Why not? Ruby and Oscar? ...Well, it'd be a little creepy knowing that Ozpin could be watching but whatever.

Though as far as ships that seem like they might actually sail? Ruby doesn't seem to have expressed romantic interest in anyone, and it doesn't seem like anyone's romantically interested in her. Not that I see anyway. I've been operating under the assumption that Ruby prefers platonic relationships over romantic ones.

Weiss though we actually got something to play with. In addition to the thing going with Ruby, there is Juane, Neptune and a very odd relationship she has with her sister Winter. We just don’t see these dynamics developed like we see them with Blake.

I feel like in Weiss's case there probably were plans to develop her relationships that never quite panned out. If I had to guess, I think Henry Marigold was there as an effort to draw some sort of parallel in Weiss's and Blake's story arcs. Both Weiss and Blake have someone romantically interested in them that are uncomfortably similar to how they used to be. Ilia with Blake-- Ilia is a White Fang enforcer loyal to Adam. Henry with Weiss-- Henry is a wealthy socialite only interested in status and success.

Also, I'm sure that I shouldn't be asking this, but since the Weiss/Winter pairing and Ruby/Yang pairing were both brought up, what's up with shippers pairing siblings together? I mean, it seems to happen in every ship-heavy fandom and it leaves me baffled.

[Reddish Mage]

[QUOTE=The Fury;23216380]I'd say at minimum any ship would need to have one or both parties express romantic interest, (in story,) in each other before it has any chance at all of sailing. And I do count Yang as one of the characters that's romantically interested in Blake.[\QUOTE]

Yang never expressed such feelings in story. It’s only ever been implied (see also Korrasmi).

Implicitations can be quite heavy as in Korrasmi but they’re medium in Bumblebee’s case, I think the Bumblebee pairing is meant to be ambiguous and #Bumblebee canon is coming from the VAs not the writers as in Legend of Korra (and I recall RT has walked back any implication). I’m inclined to say they made the pairing implication stronger than not though

Hey, why stop at four? This is shipping and like I said, anyone can be shipped with anyone. Ruby and Emerald?

Also, I'm sure that I shouldn't be asking this, but since the Weiss/Winter pairing and Ruby/Yang pairing were both brought up, what's up with shippers pairing siblings together? I mean, it seems to happen in every ship-heavy fandom and it leaves me baffled.

Ruby Emerald? Ah you mean “Christmas Time”...I joke. It actually should be LittleGems (again joke). Sure you can pair anyone with anyone I just went with four to match Blake’s canonical interests.

As far as siblings go, the rule is if there’s a relationship, you can romanticize it. I think Yang/Ruby is funny and gross myself, they’re sisters and act like sisters. However, Weiss/Winter you cannot tell me their relationship doesn’t have other things going on that is not quite a bit more intense than a typical sibling relationship.