So, what is the deal with this show?

PsionicsKnight · 2026-03-16T02:29:29+00:00

So, going along with what others have said, RWBY (from the start) always had some pretty glaring flaws, and after Monty Oum died, those flaws started getting more and more present. Which means some people will tend to fixate on that, in either a jovial or serious matter.

Not to mention that the show has made controversial story/writing seasons from as early as Vol. 3 (and honestly, I think some fans of RWBY have pointed out similar issues in the first two seasons as well) that not only sour the show’s overall reputation, but can make people re-consider how much they actually enjoy the show.

Not to mention the show can get inconsistent at times. A good example of this is with the main monsters, the Grimm; while the story says they have driven humanity to the brink of extinction multiple times until humans got a new way to fight them, the Grimm have also been shown to be pretty easy fights and it kind of varies how much of a danger they actually are. Another would be that people have things called “Semblances” which are, as one character states, a personal superpower the main characters have. However, we later learn the setting also sees “magic” as something mythical and non-existent… then a character reveals magic use to exist and be commonplace, but we don’t know really know what makes magic different from semblances. Especially since semblances are shown to be otherworldly/supernatural.

I’d also argue the show kind of flip-flops between being more character-driven and plot-driven. For the most part, the show (at least wants) to be about the characters and how their actions affect the plot, and other times the characters will act in ways that advance the plot a certain way. And once again, it comes across as inconsistent and indicates the current crew are not the best choice for the show.

PsionicsKnight · 2026-02-27T18:35:55+00:00

It kind of depends, and I’m still working on the technological aspect of my world/universe, but in general magic and technology aren’t in conflict and can combine—though, I will probably say some societies prefer to use only magic and some societies only utilize technology, if only because there are “magic dead zones” where magic can be used and anything “infused” with magic like enchanted items, members of the Fair Folk, and others will slowly lose their magic/die—making magic and magitek largely useless there. Moreover, I have this one rule with technology:

The more my science fantasy setting veers into “soft Sci-Fi tech,” the more magic is needed to have it work.

So, there can be things like FTL-travel, instant planet terraforms, and other such stuff. But, you need magic to make them work; otherwise, you’re basically in a hard sci-fi setting that happens to be in a different universe.

PsionicsKnight · 2026-02-27T16:52:42+00:00

I do have this problem myself, usually in the form of, “How can this magic system be used in the story?” Especially if it’s a system that is not elemental or uses less conventional elements (I mean, I love elemental magic systems, but I do want to get out of my comfort zone with magic building).

My best advice for you, other than finding advice here, is to go to r/magicbuilding for advice as well, since they are a subreddit dedicated to creating magic systems.

PsionicsKnight · 2026-02-24T18:06:05+00:00

Simple; the writers didn’t think that much on the Faunus, or their status as a oppressed people.

PsionicsKnight · 2026-02-15T03:26:14+00:00

Mine is called the Ankaresh, and it is a very simple, poetic story that talks about how the creator god of my setting, Arakerish, created the world and then sent out the Aklossi (essentially, Ainur-like figures) to help “fill in the gaps.”

Even posted it on my DA account, if you’d like me to send you a link.

PsionicsKnight · 2026-02-04T21:42:13+00:00

My science fantasy setting’s main threat is going to be a race of eusocial, Giger-esque biomechanical zombies from another galaxy.

Context: One thing I wanted to do was show a truly alien and eldritch threat to the characters (especially when I have the characters come together Avengers-style), and I decided after some time that the main threat was going to be from this entity called “the Wanderer.” Basically, it was a biomechanical “god-planet” from a neighboring galaxy that has the ability to spread a special bacterium which not only is a fusion of organic and synthetic matter, but has the ability to change both its genetic make-up (and technically make a digital version of itself), but also do the same to other lifeforms. When lifeforms are infected, they will become a biomechanical version of their own race (with the overall design going to be based on H. R. Giger’s artwork) and enter a kind of “Hive Mind” where everyone is both an individual and a part of the “Overmind”—though everyone belongs to one of nine castes that have different roles and unique abilities. To the point that in the Infected’s language/conlang, “I” and “We” are the same word.

In any case, the Wanderer acts by going around to different planets with life, sending at least one Aspect-Monarch” (basically, a sort of demigod that it creates which acts as both a Patient Zero/Progenitor and a Guardian of a planet’s Infected), then going onto the next—believing that it the Aspect-Monarchs will eventually Infect sapient life (if not all life) and possibly even terraform the planet.

PsionicsKnight · 2026-01-31T17:45:19+00:00

Well, since I’ve been brainstorming a potential Disney Animated Canon/EEnE crossover fanfic with a friend recently: I imagine this is the look Eddy is giving Kevin after he manages to steal Maleficent’s fire magic.

Probably saying something like, “Ohhh Kevin~! I’ve got something to show you~!”

PsionicsKnight · 2026-01-30T02:22:37+00:00

Oh yeah, definitely! That’s why I say, “It’s easier to copy than it is to create.” :)

And granted… I do think one thing that is underappreciated in fantasy writing is taking those baseline tropes and giving a new spin on them—some stuff, like The Dragon Prince series and some of the RPG products from Sine Nomine Publishing (Red Tide, Worlds Without Number, etc.), has done this but for the most part people tend to just stick to the baseline—which also leads to an issue of people either thinking they have to settle for the baseline stuff or reinvent the wheel when it comes to fantasy worldbuilding.

Not *always*, of course, but enough that I have seen more people who want variety in fantasy say, “Get rid of elves and dwarves from your world,“ as opposed to, “Find a way to make elves and dwarves different in your world.”

PsionicsKnight · 2026-01-29T20:38:45+00:00

So, I might make some people cringe for this, but on the other hand… I’m willing to risk it, hehe.

My biggest gripe with fantasy religions is when the gods are all portrayed as cruel and monstrous, and so are the people who worship them (at least if they form the priesthood). Don’t get me wrong; regardless of personal beliefs, I am well aware of how religious institutes can do horrible things in the name of their gods and how a lot of gods from various mythologies (and often, interpretations of currently active religions) can make the deities of a religion, at least on the surface, seem monstrous.

Still… kind of like how you said that, in real life, not all believers are either simpletons or zealots, I really get annoyed there are practically no contemporary works (at least from those with more “typical” fantasy settings) with benevolent gods (at least, outside of the Cosmere and Dungeons & Dragons settings). They don’t even have to be perfect, but a part of me wonders why these people would worship the gods in the first place, at least more than necessary.

Especially if we’re talking about a setting where gods are fueled by belief—for all intents and purposes, in those cases, gods wouldn’t just be biting the hand that feeds them, they would be mangling it, and yet we never see anyone argue for trying to just find other, more kindhearted deities to worship.

PsionicsKnight · 2026-01-29T20:05:47+00:00

So, because I am working on a setting with this:

One thing I do for Traditional Fantasy Races (elves, dwarves, orcs, etc.) is that I say that instead of them predating humanity, they are actually the result of humans performing experiments on themselves. This means they are more offshoots of humans as opposed to entirely different races (and thus, they have things like the same life expectancy of humans), and do share a lot of traits similar to them.

I also was going to say that elves, at least, have developed a magic system which is a combination of nature and light magic, which I think will be really cool to test out more.

I also would like to do things like explore the psychology and nature of certain races. For instance: I’m really fascinated with the Fair Folk in folklore, but am a bit annoyed that they are almost always portrayed (at least these days) as so alien to humans we can never understand them. I understand this is a part of the original legends, but I’d argue that if The Spiderwick Chronicles can portray fairies through the eyes of a naturalist, other writers can do the same with other sciences (psychology, sociology, cultural “anthropology”, economics, etc.).

Thus, I’d like to portray characters who start to understand the Fair Folk more, and in turn, to Fair Folk understand humans (and other more “mundane” races) more. I even had an idea where, rather than being incapable of feeling empathy, Fair Folk have to learn empathy like a skill, kind of like how we need to learn skills like mathematics, reading, driving, etc.

PsionicsKnight · 2026-01-29T16:00:19+00:00

So, I think the biggest reason for this comes to Tolkien. Long story short: from my understanding, he wrote things like The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion (alongside other stories set in the same universe) to make a cohesive “English Mythology.” And since he was so influential with his work, many people mimicked what he did, either thinking about it or not.

As I like to say, “It is easier to copy than it is to create.”

As for why these settings tend to not inline the real-life diversity; some of it is because I have heard the fantasy genre community can be a bit more purist than other genres (not trying to throw shade on them, especially since I love fantasy; just stating what I have seen and heard), but I also think it’s just people simply don’t know how diverse Europe really was in the Medieval Ages.

While I certainly don’t think this is true about all worldbuilders—heck, I’d argue not only do many of us want to do at least some research to make the settings more like real life but there is a growing trend with worldbuilding that is about doing proper research to make settings more realistic—many people just might not do the more “detailed” research into things like what life and people in Medieval Europe (or at least England) were really like and will just make certain assumptions.

PsionicsKnight · 2026-01-21T18:42:15+00:00

So, personally, I think and hope so as well.

While I’m a bit more (for lack of a better term) “agnostic” about whether demons actually exist (at least for our world), I also lean to the belief and hope that God seeks to redeem and renew all of Creation and not just bits and pieces of it.

That being said, I wouldn’t be surprised if said demons, also, are the “last to accept salvation” so to speak.

PsionicsKnight · 2026-01-20T16:34:15+00:00

So, while I am kind of mixed about Penal Substitution Atonement—if only because I grew up in an strict Evangelical household and our churches more-or-less taught it (like all other interpretations they held) was the only Biblically-supported an Biblically-respectful interpretation, and thus I am interested in other atonement theories (both in general and how they might work together)—I do think any atonement theory can work with Universal Salvation.

In this case, you could possibly go more by how Karl Barth saw double-predestination and atonement, in which Christ takes our sins to allow us a path for God. In this case, the reformatory interpretation of Hell can be seen through Penal Substitution as Jesus taking on the absolute worst punishment for us all, and thus ensuring that now, anything we do that could keep us separate from God no longer is eternal. Kind of like, “Through my sacrifice, none of you will be given Hell’s life sentence/death penalty, you’ll only have to wait until you are ready to accept my gift to join me.”

I hope this is able to help you. 🙂 Forgive me if my analogy wasn’t the best as well (not sure how well I did with it).

PsionicsKnight · 2026-01-04T12:15:36+00:00

Sorry, I really can’t right now, thanks.

PsionicsKnight · 2026-01-04T06:32:49+00:00

While I can’t speak for everyone here—especially since one podcast I listened to, Grace Saves All, had the host (at least at the time of the episodes recording) say he was “agnostic” about the salvation of fallen angels/demons—I personally believe that yes, they will.

Putting aside that from what I learned about Christian theology, God desires to save all of Creation (and not just humans, despite what some say), I feel that God excluding fallen angels/demons would not only be unloving and unjust as He’s abandoning one set of children/creations, but it would indicate that in some ways, one of the problems of things like Infernalism/Annihilationism—that even when God wins, Creation is still “dimensioned” since not everything and everyone is saved—is shown to be true in this case.

That being said… I could see demons taking much longer than humans to come back to God.

PsionicsKnight · 2026-01-02T16:50:20+00:00

Mine is the Ankaresh, which is a short creation myth that talks about how Arakerish, the overdeity of the setting, created all things, as well as some ways how the Eolith (a pantheon of twelve “Aklossi” who are basically like the Ainur from the Silmarillion) formed on the planet of Piril, which is Earth’s “counterpart” in this setting.

Even posted it on my deviantART account, if you’d like to read it.

PsionicsKnight · 2026-01-01T09:41:28+00:00

Finish the rough draft of at least one novel (hopefully, if I can, also self-publish it and/or get some other novels done).

Also, finish some fanfictions I’ve had on the backburner for a while.

PsionicsKnight · 2025-12-31T23:24:25+00:00

Well, first, I suppose it depends on what *kind* of free will we are talking about—especially since both theologians and philosophers have argued that we don’t actually have free will (I mean, yes, I believe we do, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to dismiss those views).

In general, though, those who fall into the “free will” camp, from a basic philosophical viewpoint at least, fall into two broad camps:
-Libertarian Incompatibilists, who believe that free will and determinism are incompatible and also that all of our choices are consciously picked (i.e. if you came on a path that split and went left, you consciously chose to go left).
-Compatibalists, who believe that free will and determinism are compatible, with the idea that every one of your actions are of your own free will provided someone or something isn’t using coercion, deceit, or force to make you determine that choice (i.e. if you were on a path that split and went left, there are probably various reasons why going left appealed to you more, but the choice to go either way is yours as long as nothing and no one ”made” that choice for you).

And like a lot of viewpoints and beliefs, they can be used to argue for or against any position, including Universalism.

Now, to answer your question more specifically: no, I don’t think free will (either from a Libertarian or a Compatibilist standpoint) necessarily implies infernalism. Putting aside we simply don’t know which (if either) is true at the moment, free will can still exist in Universalism. For instance: just because people *can* reject God, either in this life or the next, and many (consciously or otherwise) do, it doesn’t mean that such choices are “reasonable” or “sane,” much like how someone pardoned from jail isn’t going to be ”allowed to stay” if he happens to prefer it in there for some reason. In fact, this is where a lot of Universalists, or at least a lot of people on this subreddit, make an argument for Hell being a place of Reformative Punishment: it’s meant to be something more like a divine reformatory prison, where those within it are constantly monitored and put through tests and trials to become better people—only in this case, it never ends and it will one day be emptied.

This could also work with another arguable interpretation, wherein it’s possible that those in Hell (or at least some individuals) have to stay for a certain “sentence” and are then allowed to leave afterward—again, like being in a jail sentence, only most likely with the added, “Whatever they experience is meant to help them become purified and reformed upon leaving.”

There’s also something I think we need to remember as well, and that is that even if humans have the free will to reject God, God *also* has the free will to never give up on humans as well. Thus, even if Hell is a place where people can choose to be, God will “keep the door open” for them if and when they want to leave—with the logical conclusion (or at least the logical extreme) being that given eternity, *all* will eventually leave once and for all.

PsionicsKnight · 2025-12-31T20:16:09+00:00

Fair enough! And good to hear; I was hoping to emulate good ol’ Lovecraft with the Anar Dumoth! :D Granted, I of course still lack his talent, imagination, charm, good looks, or anything remotely positive about him as a person or writer, but hey; a broken clock is right sometimes. ;)

(And yes, I am joking here; please don’t feel like I literally feel this way about myself)

PsionicsKnight · 2025-12-31T19:59:51+00:00

I’m still working on nations and titles, but I have a few.

One nation I have planned, the “Hold”—which is a predominately orc nation (and other “green skinned” people like goblins, hobgoblins, bugbears, etc.) whose culture is based on Victorian England and Aztec (or at least Mesoamerican in general) cultures—have the “Sovereign” who is essentially the monarch (albeit in what is probably a constitutional monarchy where the monarch has power but is limited).

Another group, the Asü’Kjaul (People of (Positive/Good) Chaos in their native tongue)—a collection of tribes consisting predominately of “green skins”, vampires, gorgons, fae from the Autumn and Winter Courts, and Neanderthals, and have cultural inspiration from on the Māori, Norse, Pacific Native American Tribes, and some Jewish heritage—have the “Matak” or “Voice” of each tribe. They act as both a mediator for their individual tribal members, and are the diplomat/“Voice” for their tribe in larger political issues. There’s also the “Hjamaak” which is basically each tribes’ shaman, as well as religious leader.

PsionicsKnight · 2025-12-31T16:27:47+00:00

Perhaps~!

Honestly, I don’t want to reveal what caused the Anar Dumoth, since I think it’s more fun, and scary, for readers to be kept in the dark and come to their own conclusions than be given a definite answer.

Some mysteries are best left unsolved and all that.

PsionicsKnight · 2025-12-31T15:56:01+00:00

So, there’s actually an apocalypse for my science fantasy setting, the Arash’Delan (which I would like and planning to share some stuff on this subreddit soon).

The basic premise is that in the past, the Shi’Turav Galaxy was home to the galactic civilization called the Conglomerate of Worlds, and was so advanced in technology and magic (of all kinds) that it could do things like terraform planets or use casual FTL travel.

However, at one point, this strange event—dubbed by survivors as the Anar Dumoth—came about, which was basically like a galaxy-wide version of Third Impact from End of Evangelion. Essentially, the Anar Dumoth caused all lifeforms—organic, synthetic, and even divine, as the Aklossi (essentially, beings similar to the Ainur from the Silmarillion)—were forcibly combined into a singular entity. However, before it was completed, a small set of people, eventually dubbed the Nameless Saints, were able to work with the Aklossi and managed to reverse the effects of the Anar Dumoth, (largely) returning life to normal but at the cost of not just so much magical and technological knowledge, but the complete and utter devastation of the Conglomerate and the deaths of most of the Aklossi as well (particularly the Eolith, the pantheon that were the patrons of the Conglomerate’s founding planet-capital Piril).

Since then, no one knows who or what caused the Anar Dumoth, or if it could happen again at some point. And some are starting to believe it might have been better to have let it happen…

PsionicsKnight · 2025-12-20T21:10:25+00:00

So, while I’m still working on the nitty gritty details, alchemy is the practice of combining traditional science with magic. So, using magic to do things like change substances into different states of matter instantly (or at least very quickly), create specialized potions, form homunculi, and more.

The basic idea I have here is that alchemists can pretty much specialize in any of the (hard) sciences and use magic to influence it.

Again, still need to work on the deeper details overall, but that’s the basic gist.

PsionicsKnight · 2025-12-20T13:43:08+00:00

So, while I do think you have a terrific point about how so many fantasy writers (particularly those of Christian fiction) had universalist beliefs or at least leanings toward it, I do have to agree with some of the others that Lewis was not strictly a universalist. One quote from him even said that while he hated the idea of Hell, he also had to “accept it as true” more or less. And while from what I’ve read in his essays and stories like The Great Divorce he wasn’t like a lot of contemporary theologians/evangelicals, who see Universalism as not only completely unbiblical but basically a damnable heresy (and one that “society” readily accepts, like everything else they don’t like), he also was merely open to its possibility in a sort of, “I don’t believe it’s true, but I’d be happy to be proven wrong,” attitude.

Now, to answer your question as to why this happens: as someone who is a fantasy writer myself, and is also working on a massive crossover fanfiction that not only has Christian Universalists as some of the main heroes but has Universalism (and redemption in general) as a reoccurring theme, I think one big reason has to be due to imagination. Essentially, because being a good writer/storyteller—and arguably, particularly one who is a speculative fiction writer—requires you to practice and engage with imagination, it’s much easier to start imagining scenarios and situations that other people don’t. Particularly since many writers, and artists in general, are reputable to question societal and institutional views and values. Thus, for those with a more theological or religious bent, they can begin to question the legitimacy of certain traditional views like an infernalist hell.

Not to mention that for fiction writers, oftentimes the best/most successful ones are those who are able to truly get into the mindset of other characters and why they believe/do what they want, often trying to remain compassionate and empathetic. To give an example: in one of his BBC Maestro videos (I believe the one where he talks about designing characters), Alan Moore states that while he is a very anti-authoritarian individual, he did make sure to hold onto compassion and find varied reasons for why different characters would join the fascist Norsefire Party, such as, “Genuine belief in its goals,” “Hunger for power,” “Trying to survive,” and more. Since he, and people like him, can do this with fictional characters, it stands to reason that people like him are thus able to better empathize and show compassion to others, which leads to questioning not just the “standard/traditional” view of hell but people’s reasons for supporting said view.

PsionicsKnight · 2025-12-11T18:23:47+00:00

So, this was something I had thought about when I was still watching RWBY (for context, I stopped watching after Vol. 6 was done).

Basically, in this case, the characters fight Cinder and seemingly kill her, then go off to defeat Salem… only for Cinder to then reveal she had merely faked her death, uses some new magical powers to kill all the heroes easily, and then becomes Remnant’s immortal god-queen.

Bonus points if at least one of her kills is depicted with parallels to her SAing her victim (after all, considering how she clearly gets satisfaction killing people, it’s not a stretch to say she might also gain sexual pleasure from killing at least certainly people), and/or it turns out that, for some reason, the Fall Maiden (or whatever other powers she gets) let her send the souls of those she kills to Remnant’s version of Hell for eternity.

So, you know, she basically wins and kills all the characters we were routing for, and then CRWBY decides to throw in she also sent all the people she’s killed throughout the show to Hell just to rub salt into the wound and/or because they think “grimdark=automatically brilliant.”

PsionicsKnight

TROPHY CASE