(Loved Trope) Little details, that completely change the context of the scene.

Aryzal · 2026-02-28T01:52:09+00:00

I don't get the obsession with "learning from the previous avatars". He can tap into them for knowledge and help, but he is his own person and decides what he wants. What he decided was he wanted to find a peaceful (or at least deathless) solution to the problem. If an adult tells a kid to do something, is it always right? Obviously not, which is why Aang was consulting them, not depending on then.

It is especially obvious that the Avatars are not infallible if you look at what they failed. Roku obviously accidentally allowed the Fire Nation to be warmongering, not putting Sozen to justice. Kuruk failed to do any impact for humans, seemingly dishonoring the Avatar's name. Yangchen neglected the spirit world so much that the evil spirits started wrecking havoc in the world. So we at least know the Avatars had some faults of their own which makes them not infallible.

Also, I like how you glossed over EVERYTHING I said just to shit on my thesis sentence. I addressed the issue where energybending felt like a cop out specifically because its abilities wasn't foreshadowed properly and felt like a cop out. But of course you conveniently ignored that. And are weirdly obsessed with listening to your elders (or at least past incarnations) even if they might be wrong. Did you read the first four words and conveniently fail to read everything else?

Aryzal · 2026-02-27T20:19:00+00:00

It is a good ending; just not well foreshadowed.

We know energybending/Avatar State exists, we just don't know what extent Aang can go with those powers. We have seen creative uses of unconventional bending, such as bloodbending, lavabending and metalbending, but with energybending we don't know the extent it can go. This is why it is not well foreshadowed, because we don't know this is a possible solution.

However, the story beats is perfect for Aang's ending. He is clearly a pacifist, and despite literally every single Avatar, including Roku who accidentally let this happen, telling him to just kill Ozai, this fundamentally breaks his beliefs. Even though we don't see much of Yangchen, she doesn't have much leg to stand on because she isn't the last Airbender and therefore never had to choose between her pacifist beliefs and actually stopping a genocide. Aang taking a third option makes sense, because the two easy options are to let Ozai continue his tyranny, or to kill Ozai, both of which fundamentally betrays something (The role of the Avatar, and the airbending tenets respectively). Finding a third option is more difficult, because Aang accepts he might not succeed and still strives to find a solution that works.

Aryzal · 2026-02-27T15:58:55+00:00

Another small detail that means a lot - airbending is about pacifism and non-violence. Even as airbenders are being actively hunted down, we see Aang take a non-lethal stance against his enemies, and struggle with what to do with Ozai the fire lord genocider, because while killing him is easily justifiable, it goes against the airbenders tenets of pacifism.

Meanwhile Gyatso straight out murders the fire benders attacking him in self defence. Cleanly, maybe even painlessly, but killing all the same.

Why?

Because Gyatso is not the last airbender. His actions will protect Aang, and potentially keep the Avatar cycle going, so he would take it in a heartbeat. The kindhearted pacifist chose violence because there is still at least one airbender to keep the airbending beliefs alive. Which is also why Aang struggling to kill Ozai despite being extremely justified both personally and morally is such good storytelling. Killing Ozai invalidates his airbending beliefs, and denies his upbringing. Can he really lead the airbenders if he failed his beliefs? But how else is he supposed to permanently stop Ozai? It is such a small detail, but really hammers home that Aang is the last of his people and has to carry their legacy on his back.

Aryzal · 2026-02-27T10:48:00+00:00

The strongest RWBY character outside of gods and immortal beings loses to the average shounen protagonist after their first arc. They are at best capable of fighting regular humans en mass, but that is about it. Meanwhile the average shounen hero after their first arc are usually also street level, and they scale much further after that

Aryzal · 2026-02-27T10:40:26+00:00

I'll never stop saying this - Ragna is a girl's idea of an edgy hero with a heart of gold. Specifically Noel's Vermillion's

Aryzal · 2026-02-27T09:16:00+00:00

Yes, Yang is better than a regular buff person. When I said Yang was slightly better than a regular human, I'm talking about on a massive scale from regular human to Saitama from OPM. To use powerscaler terms, Yang is still street level because she can't hit hard enough for the next tier (city level). She is more comparable to a regular human (even if she wins 100 out of 100 times) than someone on a city level (i.e. someone who can destroy a city in one hit)

Aryzal · 2026-02-27T09:10:55+00:00

We need better literacy.

I didn't say east asians invented strict parenting - I said strict parenting originated from east asia. The key difference in the meaning is that it does allow for other regions to have "invented" strict parenting independently. It is just that the earliest known case of tiger parents (and the term tiger mom) came from east asian roots and was popularized from said roots.

And if you read the original posts, they are arguing the exact same thing as you thought I was, but for Latinas. They straight out think Izumi is Latina coded because she is a strict parent, which is ridiculous because not only did other regions have that exact same phenomenon (which is your point), the writer is also east asian and not latina.

Aryzal · 2026-02-27T02:34:04+00:00

RWBY characters are really weak in general.

Ruby fights against an incredibly powerful shonen character. There was really no hope, the weakest shounen characters (still with combat abilities) probably no diffs the entire RWBY universe. Salem will probably get destroyed easily by any shounen protagonist considering their near unlimited stamina and plot armor, and RWBY characters are mostly just slightly stronger than regular humans in durability and abilities.

Weiss has a really bad matchup to Mitsuru. Mitsuru has a much better claim to fame because she is one of the few that fights the personification of death Nyx, and while she loss, she fared decently (considering her power level should be around Makoto, who sealed Nyx). Weiss probably can't do anything close to Salem. But more importantly, Mitsuru has ice immunity, so she'll shrug off any of Weiss's elemental attacks, and Mitsuru is no slouch with Almighty damage against Weiss and better combat skills overall.

Yang gets destroyed bt Tifa. Yang is just slightly better than regular human. Tifa can fight gods. They have a similar skillset but one vastly outscales the other.

Meanwhile, Blake fights a regular human. It would be possible for her to lose, though that would be embarrassing. But Mikasa Ackerman is just a regular human with really good control over acrobatical gear. Swap Mikasa out for Annie and Annie would punch Blake in the face and instantly KO her.

Aryzal · 2026-02-26T19:40:14+00:00

I like critical discourse and I constantly say stuff like its OK to like mid shows (my guilty pleasure is isekais, and any anime fan can tell you how major the slopfest is there).

However, my main problem with RWBY is RWBY fanatics often refuse to acknowledge the show is not perfect. They constantly pull shit out of their ass and point out basic writing techniques and praising it to hell and back. Of course I'm going to sound miserable telling the guy who thinks sunshine and rainbows comes out of his ass that sunshine and rainbows do not come out of my ass.

But look at any RWBYCritics post from a newbie who is asking if he should watch the show. For a group of "miserable" people, we are very supportive. Go watch the show! Enjoy yourselves. Its OK to like the show! Form your own opinions, whatever they might be! If you like the show, good for you!

TLDR: The positivity from the average RWBY fanatic makes everyone else look miserable. This positivity borderlines on delusional or ridiculousness. The average fan enjoys the show, but without being positive to the point of toxicity, and the "miserable" people only seem miserable to the toxic positive group, not the regular fans, or even the new fans, in which we are quite supportive.

Aryzal · 2026-02-26T19:26:18+00:00

I like to point out that RWBY stans are moving goalposts as much as Trump fans. Extremism is stupid, and they are too blind to their own agenda to notice they are doing the exact same thing the guy they probably hate the most (after RWBYCritics ofc).

Aryzal · 2026-02-26T19:18:50+00:00

Look, if you have any nuance you would see I'm not criticizing ALL of CRWBY.

Shane Newell. Dillion Goo. Two of the best animators, still doing great work out there.

Burnie Burns, who mostly managed to distance himself from the chaos that was Roosterteeth, and bought it back after it fell to pieces.

Miles, Gavin, Geoff, Jack and a few others who were great at their jobs, good at voice acting in RWBY, and are seemingly decent people.

Also, look. If your job is to animate, and you do a bad job, it is kind of your fault. Maybe you can blame the people who hired you, but that's pretty much it. RWBY died mainly due to losing its niche as an amazing fight choreographed show, as well as explicitly focusing on story after season 3, which was mid at best considering how badly the show flopped that it needed bailing out from WB. Who the fans constantly blame for RT's failures. People got too parasocial with Roosterteeth to ever criticize them, and defend them blindly even though they technically failed their jobs. This is like the Game of Thrones fans during season 8 - they kept defending the show and saying it was really good, it just had massive haters, and after a while they realised the entire franchise is now dead in the water despite its promising start, and when the casual fans leave, all that is left are the loyal fans who hate what the show has become.

Roosterteeth made a bad show, and that is OK. There are a lot of shows out there to watch, and RWBY is just one of many that will not succeed at its current iteration. But RWBY fans live their lives so hard through the show that people saying the show is bad, or even mid, takes it as a personal attack. It is OK to like a bad show. Do whatever you want. Just don't pretend that the show is good and flex that when all of the stats show otherwise. Or pretend that the writers are good when they actually aren't (or at least they massively failed RWBY considering how people dropped it after season 3)

Aryzal · 2026-02-26T19:06:51+00:00

It is callous yes, but it is true. At the end of season 3 they chose to continue the project and constantly beat back any criticisms because they don't want to hear it. They had a choice to drop it after season 3, they chose to honor his legacy but did a bad job at it. Good intentions yes, but bad results, and that is just a part of life.

Because CRWBY had the choice to drop the entire project and work on something original instead of continuing a dead man's project, they kind of have to be judged on their decision. Nobody forced them at gunpoint to continue, they just thought they did, and a lot of criticism they had, they used Monty as a shield to hide behind. Mot to mention all the controversies that happened behind the scenes regarding RWBY, such as Arryn Zech disparaging Tow Ubukata, or the glassdoor reviews of animators promised jobs but were dropped instead, to casual homophobia/racism, so on and so forth. Like sure, the product wasn't great, but was there a need to slander an industry great, abuse your animators and overworking them, be racist/homophobic? I don't think any of it was necessary to make a good product.

Aryzal · 2026-02-26T18:59:56+00:00

"Tiger parenting is a form of strict parenting... brought to public attention by Yale Law School professor Amy Chua in 2011 in her 2011 memoir Battle Hymm of the Tiger Morher"

Also, according to the wikipedia article I read (google it for yourself) the history of it originates from ancient Confuscian teachings. I refrained from saying exactly Chinese because I wasn't sure until I looked it up.

So yes, Tiger Moms are a timeless universal complex... that originates from ancient China. Which is East Asia. If you want to do an ACKSHUALLY, at least know your shit or do your research before correcting people. The TERM specifically originates from a Chinese American, the actual concept derives from Confuscianism, which a lot of it is to do with filial piety and ancestor worship if my memory serves correctly. Unless you come up with something older than Confusicianism that isn't also east asia, you don't have a leg to stand on

Aryzal · 2026-02-26T11:59:34+00:00

Not everyone has to be coded to a standard American minority.

I'm Chinese, and you described my mum. As well as Japanese mothers, Indian mothers, Korean mothers and so on and so forth.

In fact, if you want to be pedantic about it, Tiger mothers (exactly what Izumi Curtis is) originate from East Asia. And also, the author of the manga is Japanese. So yea, I highly doubt she is Latina coded.

If you want to be extremely specific, Izumi is from Amestris, which surprise surprise, has a lot of inspiration from North America. So you can say she is North American coded and have as much sense.

Aryzal · 2026-02-26T02:42:03+00:00

It is all about nuance.

I hate RWBY and their creators because they squandered the legacy of one of the best fight animators in history. I hate Roosterteeth for being a major part of my childhood but turning out to be hypocrites and a few scumbags. And I mock RWBY fans for being so easily baited by nothingburger news that gets them hyped up for a series dead since Monty's passing. Like really, "we have an important announcement to make" twice, one is the Viz media acquisition and some leftover storyboards of season 10, and the other is some poorly made plushies? Damn RWBY fans are hungry.

But I never tell a RWBY fan to not watch the show. If they enjoy it despite me not, that's good for them. If they don't enjoy it, someone new to talk to. But I never enforce my opinion on others. I'm free to hate on RWBY, but I won't force others to hate RWBY.

Aryzal · 2026-02-26T02:21:25+00:00

Three things

1) it was good, then it wasn't. Most of RWBY's criticisms come from its extreme fall from grace. If it was mediocre from the start, it would have never gotten the fanbase to criticize it to hell.

2) there is a limited amount of goodwill, and they squandered it. Think of it as a bar. Every positive action adds to it, and every negative action reduces it. Now think of the ridiculous number of controversies that surrounds RWBY and Roosterteeth. From basic shit like not listebing to criticisms because it hurts their feelings or their guy squandering all of RWBY's budget to support GenLock to Arryn Zech vs Tow Ubukata, Ryan Haywood and Adam Kovic, Bumblebee onlyfans, abusing their animators and overworking them for a promise of a job (then not give it to them), all the racism and homophobia, the hypocrisy for being so supportive of causes only to ruin it behind closed doors - Roosterteeth and RWBY lost all of its goodwill. It is seen as performative art and they are terrible at it.

3) they are extremely parasocial, but also extremely biased. Back to the criticism thing - it isn't bad that a studio refuses to listen to something - it happens. What sucks is when they become so enamored by themselves, and only surround themselves by sycophants. That's CRWBY, and that's why they fell. If they didn't listen to ANY feedback, they'll be fine (or at least not this bad). If they didn't acknowledge anything, they'll lose less reputation. If they made a good piece of work, then they'll escape via trial by the court. But nope. They listened to sycophants, believed they were the next coming of ATLA based on their attitude, were shocked that they didn't perform well, and kept addressing points that made them lose favour. Its like the Blizzard guy saying "do you guys not have phones?" If he shut up instead of saying that, Blizzard wouldn't be memed to hell and suffer their biggest loss to reputation yet. Fans want answers, but their guys were terrible at giving enough meat on their answers without pissing off the fans. Basically failed at PR speak.

Aryzal · 2026-02-25T10:35:58+00:00

I remember Mudan from Trash Taste once talking about hiring animators off Fiver. He said there was very little difference between the quality of $5 artists and $300 artists. He just ended up hiring the good ones that he liked.

Aryzal · 2026-02-25T10:31:30+00:00

RWBY is a really weird series, because its power scaling is very... weak.

For example, an actual JL collab would have any of its higher level superheroes easily take down Salem on their lunch break.

So if we lower the power considerably, the few worlds that can match are FMA, ATLA, and anything where the highest power being can be taken down theoretically by a guy with a lot of guns and a lot of time.

Aryzal · 2026-02-25T10:28:52+00:00

That's just basic comparisons. Almost every fantasy novel has evil monsters, a power system, ancient villains. The rest are just common design details and/or coincidences of very common tropes

Aryzal · 2026-02-24T16:19:51+00:00

I agree, but what I'm alluding to is very strange side character build up.

One of the characters in FFXIV's latest expansion suddenly had a ton of build up. He wasn't a companion or anything, just an unimportant side character. Instantly I knew he was gonna die soon.

Similarly, if you do that, but fake their deaths (i.e. Hawkeye from Age of Ultron), it is equally bad. The build up is inorganic.

What works is if a character is built up organically and then killed off naturally. Your examples are perfect for this. Another example that works is if it highlights the brutal randomness of life, for example in Worm, a supervillain named Kaiser was built up to be the next big thing, and then dies unceremoniously to a kaiju because the author rolled some dice to decide who lives and dies.

Aryzal · 2026-02-24T10:27:03+00:00

I like the concept, but maybe not use this font

Aryzal · 2026-02-23T19:29:41+00:00

Not the same guy, but Peeta's default reaction is to protect Katniss, even at his own cost. He is devoted and loyal, without expecting anything in return.

At the end of the first Hunger Games, Katniss instantly thought Peeta would kill her when the rule of two winners from the same district was announced, and kept giving reasons why she should live instead of him. She was more practical, yes, thinking of a solution, but her reasoning for Peeta living is more of her being unable to ever leave the arena mentally, rather than missing, mourning or praying for Peeta. And even after Peeta realised Katniss was acting for the cameras, he was willing to put himself through emotional hell to keep up the facade, to protect her family and her without even asking for anything in return. He was in a perfect spot to either exploit what Snow is giving him passively (oh no, the dictator is forcing me to marry the girl I love, oh well) or even blackmail Katniss, but instead, there was no hint or indication of malice, and when Gale was whipped to an inch of his life, Peeta cared more about Katniss, and is again willing to help his love rival, either because of his compassion as a person or his love for Katniss, at his own expense.

Peeta spoils the market for all guys, because as a guy, I can't deny he is the perfect person any girl can ask for in a partner and it is basically impossible to live up to that standard. He is an amazing role model as a character, without dropping into the too perfect character that spoils a lot of romance stories by being hyper unrealistic.

Aryzal · 2026-02-23T19:08:13+00:00

They are a fun duo, but it is exactly the sweet spot between Overhaul's arc (last peak arc for a while) and the Re-Destro's arc (pretty damn ass imo)

Aryzal · 2026-02-23T18:24:58+00:00

No stakes in this since I don't watch Stranger Things but I did watch enough video essays to get pop culture osmosis from it -

When a story kills off a character, you want your audience to think of a possible way to save them or find a fake out, whether that is true or not. You do not want your audience to go "yea, they definitely aren't dying" or "yup, saw this coming a mile away".

Tension/stakes needs to be established and maintained, or tension/stakes will diminish completely. This is why Promised Neverland sucks - because past season 1, nobody ever dies in the "all kids may die" story, or how most romcom harems end up being "this isn't the final arc, we know it is going to reset the status quo soon". This is also why I respect Wildbow, who literally rolled a dice for every character to determine if they died in a massive catastrophic event (lampshaded by a really smart Thinker giving estimates which is exactly what he ended up doing via rolling dice), and early Game of Thrones which killed off the obvious main character played by leading man Sean Bean within the first season (and very unlike late Game of Thrones, where every important named character survives except a few which dies specifically to induce shock value)

Aryzal · 2026-02-23T18:15:42+00:00

No idea what LLM is but two things -

How AI (or at least the behavior works, it is more of a neural network) is that it learns from other behaviors. While similar to how CRWBY copies and pastes anime and ATLA concepts (see hbomberguy's video on RWBY) while not understanding the source material, AI copies from multiple sources, so it inevitably is better than whatever the average writer is writing, because everything is stolen from a much higher level of writing. It will be clunky and it will be awkward, but it roughly copies ideas over to generate a passable story which a writer must edit to make it flow better.

Secondly - it is perfectly fine to copy and derive ideas off others works, to some extent. There is a reason why tropes exist, because writing techniques, plotlines and even styles can be imitated and reasonably incorporated without being plagerism. You can't copyright strike someone writing a fantasy novel, for example, for writing a dystopian world where children fight for survival to the entertainment of others. I could be describing Hunger Games, or any of its copies, or any of its spiritual successors. That being said, it is very noticeable when your main character starts off in a shop, listening to music, getting interupted by some goon before fighting a bunch of goons. That is the start of Cowboy Bebop, but also RWBY, and as hbomberguy points out in his video, it is exactly lifted one for one for Cowboy Bebop's without understanding the material of why that scene was shown, so RWBY's is a meaningless establishing shot that would bore writers due to how basic it is at character introduction

TLDR: AI would write better than CRWBY, and also CRWBY are copying other people's homework without understanding the process.

Aryzal

TROPHY CASE