V8 Spoilers - Blog Posts

James Ironwood, for character ask? 👀

Aaaa thank you so much for the ask ♡ More rambling incoming !! Sorry for the wait btw, I've been both pretty busy and tired ;;

If you hate James Ironwood and don't wanna hear one good thing about him tap out now please ღ

My fav ship(s) for the character

I am not a super big shipper when it comes to James, but there are still some I like more than others soo here goes :

I think Ironwitch is a pretty good one. It's not necessarily a ship I'd search content for but I think these two would work well together ! Glynda is stern and honest and a no-nonsense kind of woman. She has the strenght to stand up to James when he slips or gets too stubborn when faced with the high stakes. At the same time, we've been shown that she cares for him and she knows he's only trying to do what's best for people. She has faith in him but also the ability to stand at his side as an equal. She seems to be the more steadfast of Ozpin's circle : loyal, you know you can trust her, and she will not crumble. This is the kind of personnality that I think James both admire and feel safe with. And the other way around, I think James is a good match for Glynda too. On a day to day basis, he's serious enough to not annoy here, but he's also a softie in some aspects and that's a nice combination to smooth out Glynda's edges.

Ironqrow is a completely different dynamic. The "we're annoying each other" dynamic is not one I'm particularly interested in usually xD But these two certainly had strong & interesting moments so it's a pretty valid ship !! Despite how they might butt heads because of the difference in their upbringing they (prior to V8) clearly trusted each other with their life. Even if Qrow jokes about shooting himself if he had to be one of James' man, when everything goes to shit there is no doubt in his mind that James wasn't responsible. Similarly, while James talks of shooting Qrow for his misbehaviour, when push comes to shove and we meet a tired Ironwood, run ragged by the pressure he's under... the only thing he does is hug him and reiterates how glad he is to see him. So again, they clearly have a lot of faith and trust in the other, and that's solid ground for a relationship.

My least favorite ship(s) for the character

Same spiel as always, shipping kids and adults is a big no from me; so any ships between Ironwood and RWBYJNOR can qualify here. That said, among the less uncomfortable ones, here are those I don't really like

This one is again because I love their relationship but platonically only, I'm talking of Winter Soldier. The reading I like best is not that Ironwood is Winter's Jacques 2.0, nor that he groomed her; but that he was an important father figure in her life. Protective and caring, who tried to help her escape with what he knew. I don't see James recruiting Winter as a way to gain a strong ally. But rather that Winter wanted to detach herself from her family name, and make something worthwhile of herself all on her own. And that the military is what Ironwood knows and understand, so naturally it's a career he'd see as a good path. Just like Winter then proposed it to Weiss. I like to think they care about each other a LOT and they're their own tight family in between the lines, even if professionalism might throw a wrench into it. For short I love them together but not romantically please =)

I don't know if there's a ship name for this, but Salem x James Ironwood would be a big nope from me too... In general, let's just assume I ship Salem with nobody because abuse.

My fav & least fav platonic relationship(s) for the character

Fav platonic relationship would be (have been because we dont talk about V8?) with Winter. Fooor the reasons I've explained above I suppose x) I (again) love the trust they had in one another and the quiet support.

There was also his relationship with Oscar that I really liked during V7, although it has been soured a bit by the (valid) reading from some people that Ironwood sought out Ozpin a lot through Oscar, and given his identity issues it is not ground for a greatly healthy relationship. Their interactions were still very intersting though ♡ I consider Oscar to be the kid who went at trying to appease James' fear or make him reconsider his decisions the best way. There was true understanding and hope for a working relationship here. I do feel that Oscar put in more work than James however (emotionally) and I wish there had been pay-back instead of a gunshot.

For my least fav relationship ? Probably Robyn or Watts ? Robyn was always very antagonistic toward Ironwood since their priorities are so different. And I overall just don't really like her after V7 so there are very few relationships with her I'm interested in (the exception is her ship with Fiona I think it's cute). Meanwhile, Watts is just a petty asshole hell bent on ruining Ironwood because he didn't pick his project. I'm not very interested in hate relationships, and since theirs wasn't deeply explored anyway, it's even more the case here. Their fight was great though, one of my favorite RWBY fights !

My favorite thing about the character

Well this was completely proven wrong by V8 buuut as of V7 I liked that he was a deconstruction of the military general (dictator) trope. Sooo you can guess how i feel about V8 X) In general among RWBY, several of my fav are fav BECAUSE they look like one trope but also have key differences that from the get go make the character stray away from said trope. For example I'm not a fan of the princess tsundere archetype at all, but I loooved Weiss in V1 BECAUSE she was extra-willing to listen and change her mind, and you could very easily tell that it was her upbringing speaking more than herself in most occasions.

Similarly, I wasn't a big fan of Ironwood before V7. I didn't hate him you know and he wasn't lower than most characters in my Tier list but I also didn't particularly care. But you know what ? I've aaaalways had a really soft spot for the "angsty angry traumatized teen". And RWBY made the mistake of extending that soft spot to "tired adults trying their best" (only to repeatedly beat them up/make them villains after making me care about them but what can you do uh)

Soo in general, I loved that Ironwood was trying so hard. I loved that he was tired and in over his head but learning and listening and trying to do good and be better despite his fears. I liked that he told his entourage about Salem and was loyal. I liked that he cared about helping the people above his own image and the way people perceived him. I liked that you could tell this was a terrible situation all around, and his decisions WERE questionnable but we could SEE that he meant WELL and was genuinely trying so hard despite how scared and tired he was.

My biggest criticism for the character

Well this won't be a surprise but in general I just wished he had stayed a morally grey character we were allowed to feel for instead of a cartoon black villain. I didn't need James to be THE Hero or anything like this despite some accusations levelled at those who like him. Him becoming one of RWBY's antagonist is honestly fine by me ! It is interesting. But I'd have preferred they kept him ambiguous and trying in his own way. (And smart because V8 Ironwood was dumb af)

I can be a tad overprotective of his character since he's just... so despised, so I think that I have inadvertently distanced myself from any of his flaws... somehow like "people are already yelling all of them so I don't need to add to this shit show" you know ? skjfkd But I KNOW he has them and it would still have been good to develop his flaws, just... not like that

But yea I'd have liked it if V8 Ironwood DID diverge from RWBYJNORQ and became an antagonist but not an iredeemable villain. LIKE,, we redeemed Hazel and Emerald and IRONWOOD is where the writers draw the line by saying "nope this one is rotten" ?? What ?

When was their writing at the peak according to me (ex : best season)

V7 definitely ! Ironwood carried V7 so hard haha. His character was fleshed out and given nuance and made to struggle and evolve and I loved him in that volume.

A song I think fits them & why

Hunger • Monsters & Men Human • Rag'n'Bone Man Way down we go • Kaleo Beekeeper • Keaton Henson Thistle and weeds • Mumford and Sons Castle of Glass • Linkin Park It's all so incredibly loud • Glass Animals

A headcanon to make up about them

His metal parts impact his metabolism so Ironwood is terrible at holding his alcohool and very little manages to knock him out. He's a workaholic. His low tolerence for alcohool is a great tool whn friends need to put him to sleep.

His joints crack and hurt in the cold, his metal parts as well and they are an hassle in the sand. James like to keep his room temperature warmer than the average atlasian because of this, otherwise he has to spend 30 min every morning simply unwiding muscles to move around efficiently.

He's not a good singer but has a nice low voice for telling stories. If he had kids, he'd probably avoid lullabies but compensate with bedtimes stories.

What I would change about them if I was making a re-write

As always, I'm kind of reflecting along the way as I write this, and one thing I'm thinking right now is... Doesn't it take away from the atlas arc message ITSELF to just pile up so many "standard bad guy" stuff on Ironwood ? Like, I wanna ask... why do we hate him ? Is he an antagonist because he lets fear get the best of him ? Because he's a classist who doesn't care about Mantle like some fans argue ? Because he's too stubborn and wants to be THE hero ? Because he doesn't listen to others ? Because he abandonned Mantle ? Because he kills peopke left and right ? Because he wanted to bomb a city ? I think you might see where I'm going with this : his status as villain is kind of messy. V8 just kept piling-up flaws and villainous actions onto Ironwood with no concern for whether this was a lenght he would go to (using the certainty that he would go to any lenghts to enact his plans), ,or whether these were one of the initial flaws/failings that led to his "fall" as an antagonist. What lesson is Ironwood supposed to learn ? Personally the very first time I yelled at my screen "No ! Why would the writers choose that ?" is when Ironwood shot Oscar. When answering criticism against medias, many people tend to look at it only through the lense of "well it makes sense in universe" or as if there were no other ways for the story to devolve. But at the end of the way, everything in a story is a choice from the writer even if it is influenced by the characters' personnalities. If I took the scene where Ironwood shoots Oscar, someone might tell me "he's crippled by his PTSD, he COULD do this." Maybe, that's a reading I can somewhat understand at least. But the writers have the power to NOT put his character in such a position. When I saw the wreck that was V7 finale, I ranted to my bestfriend about it and at no point did i say "why did Ironwood do that", I said "why did the writers make him shoot Oscar, the only point narratively would be to make irredeemable" Aaaand that's what they went for and I obviously didn't care for it. So if I had to rewrite it; I would have kept Ironwood's "mistakes" more focused. If he's wrong because he wants to abandon Mantle, because he's (understandably) scared and doesn't want to take risks; then stay focused on that. It's what makes RWBY leave, and out of all his V8 actions that's really the only thing RWBY needed to tell the whole world he wasn't an ally anymore apparently. - Don't make him shoot Oscar point blank, instead Oscar can simply fall because he flinches away from Ironwood's outburst; and a distraught/guilty Ironwood can decide that he doesn't have the time or capacity to help because of the tense situation. (Killing and not saving someone don't hold the same moral weight at all). - Don't make him kill people left and right or bomb cities, maintain the flaw of Ironwood struggling with his PTSD and his fear and not being able to take risks. - Don't paint him as a black villain, and eventually write V8 in such a way that RWBYJNORQ show taking risks might lead to a bigger victory, which was the volume's theme anyway. For example, following Oscar's destruction of the whale, a growth can occur that would bring back together the two anti-Salem factions : Oscar's risk put Atlas out of harm's way, which leads to Ironwood seeing that maybe there WAS a way to save Mantle as well as Atlas despite Salem's presence and he might have jumped the gun too quickly because of his fears. I'm not sure, I haven't thought about this extensively honestly but I hope you see what I mean. I think it would have been more focused & more in-character to focus Ironwood's failings on his fear; and the fact that he cares for the people and the greater good sometimes at the cost of the individuals. The idea that by sacrificing individuals too much you forget the people you're fighting for in the first place, could have been interesting to dig deeper into. Keep to the idea that Ironwood is somewhat disensitized to the individuals suffering for the sake of the greater good, instead of making him just

callous & uncaring.

My guess for their MBTI/Enneagram

I think pre-V8 Ironwood was an unconventionnal ENFJ. Aka, the type of character no one would type ENFJ because they go by stereotypes and Fe stereotypes are just enneagram 2 everywhere (aka nice, kind, helpful) whereas Ironwood has an enneagram tritype very common among xxTJs so that's what he looks/behaves like, but the way he thinks (what's best for the people, ethical values derived from an Atlasian upbringing) align more with Fe cognitively I think I'm going with ENFJ 6w5 1w2 3w4

Starting from V8 though, Ironwood veered clearly into ENTJ territory (types aren't supposed to change but I wouldn't say RWBY is the most consistent media when it comes to characters' personnalities)

One aspect that I think would be nice to delve deeper into ?

I understand why they didn't care to, but it'd have been interesting to get a few backstory hints for Ironwood. How did he lose half his body ? How did Oz recruit him ? Or some pieces about his upbringing ?

for the rwby character asks, whatcha got about Nora? :)

Ooooh Nora !! Thank you for the ask, I wasn't expecting her but this is great, this is gonna be interesting, I'll be organizing my thoughts & realizing how I fel as I go

My fav ship(s) for the character

Basic but I'm obviously very soft for Renora 🥺 The show has given me too much for me to not like it y'know ??? The companionship, the shared past, their easy bond & complicity, how well they complete each other... Nora with her determination and enthusiasm and emotionnal intelligence. Ren who is more level-headed, peaceful but also insightful. MHMMM I dunno if I'm making my case well but yea; I care them ! There's like... only one detail I dislike about their shipping interaction (the unexpected/kind of unasked for kissing at Robyn's rally if anyone is wondering) but otherwise they're very good

Next up is the poly Renorarc, I dunno I just think they're soft. Like; on one hand Ren & Nora are sooo close but at the same time I feel like the show striked a great balance and managed to still really make them a trio and I love their team-moments where they are all grieving or touching or caring for each other. They're neat !! And Nora has the biggest emotionnal intelligence I think, and she takes care of them both so well... She's also a pillar of enthusiasm. I love the scene they have at Pyrrha's statue !

If I have to think of a less common ship, I'll prob go with Gingersnaps, I think Penny & Nora had cute moments in V8; they're both lovely enthusiastic cuties, and thematically they both had an ongoing arc about finding themselves so they're nice together.

My least favorite ship(s) for the character

Mhmmm the least fav is harder already. So; like for pretty much all the kiddos I'll start out by saying that all the ships with adults are a No from the get go. Now to elaborate on the more "feasible" ships...

Candy Cane (Nora x Oscar) is a No from me. They are family, brother & sister strictly, I can't see them any other way ! Nora is the cuddly & overbearing big sister, nothing more >:0 Please let them beee ;;

Other than that, Heavy Metal (Mercury) & ThunderCat (Blake) are both ships that don't really interest me, I don't remember any interesting interaction to bring them together so meh x)

My fav & least fav platonic relationship(s) for the character

Good question ! I'm not sure so let me mull on it for a bit...

I like the Renorarc team both romantically AND platonically they have their spot here...

I really like Nora & Oscar ! She's such a big sister to him it's adorable. In V4 to V6 she's one of the characters who tried to include Oscar the most. Teasing him, hugging him & including him in the convo and the chaos. She's very earnest and open about her appreciation and he really needs that. At the same time, she can bit a tad too much but she recognized that and I liked that. How slowly and softly she hugged him at the start of V8 ;; So yea.

I'm not sure what my least fav platonic relationship would be... I can't think of anyone right now honestly !

My favorite thing about the character

Mhmmm I think I like her emotional intelligence ! Like, we all know Nora is funny and excited and enthusiastic... But I like the calmer & more vulnerable moments; when she recognize Ren's trauma & takes off with him, when she takes his hands and say "I won't let you kill yourself like this." When she tells Jaune "You're not being fair to yourself. We love you, just like we loved Pyrrha.". When she comforts Penny "It's just a part of you, don't forget about the rest."

I just think it's nice when Nora gets to comfort those she cares about, along with protecting them =)

My biggest criticism for the character

Mmmmh good Q too. I don't think I have much to criticize about how they handle Nora's character in general ? Soo maybe more like... how things were presented maybe ? If anything, I guess there are some details that could have been handled better about her relationship with Ren in V7-8. For example, I wish the faults had not been presented as so one-sided. Ren struggles with communication and it was shown clearly. However Nora's "Screw talking then !" and subsequent kissing wasn't any better in term of communication, even though it was taken as a great milestone because "first kiss !!". I personally feel that they both were at faults during this arc ? Ren for bottling up & not sharing his struggles, but Nora as well because she lacked patience and was more concerned by their relationship/where they stood than how Ren was actually handling everything. Does that make sense ? I looooved the second part of their convo in Risk, it was adorable really. But I wish the first part hadn't be so unilateraly accusing toward Ren ? Sorry if I'm like... branching out from Nora it goes together in my head ?? Tell me what y'all think !

When was their writing at the peak according to me

To be honest, I think Nora is peaking right now so I have high hopes for her character in the next season ! As for the why I like Nora right now... I think V7 was good at putting her a bit in the spotlight, with the times she confronted Ironwood about Mantle's situation. It was reminiscent of the harsh times she lived herself, and how she could relate to Mantle as a consequence. As someone who liked V7 Ironwood, I sometimes found her to be a bit harsh but you know what ? It was still a GREAT thing. She can be harsh and go too far. It makes sense for her. Let her be a not 'big picture' kind of character who focus on the little person. It let her fight for what she believed in & what she knew. So I really liked that !

V8 was good too because it acknowledged what some people disliked about her, aka the fact that it was Renora instead of Ren & Nora. Nora needs the room to breathe as her own person, and V8 acknowledged that, it brought to life some of her insecurities and all of it was nice. Who am I if not the overexcited "be strong hit stuff" girl ? That's the question I'm eager to see her solve. There is of course already MORE to her, that she fails to see, but it should still be interesting to delve into.

A song I think fits them & why

Line without a Hook (Ricky Montgomery) for Renora + Walk me Home (P!nk) + I wouldn't mind (He is We) + Would you be so kind (Dodie) + I dare you (Bea Miller) ? (might edit to add more, i want a non-romantic song but it's late & i'm lacking in ideas rn)

A headcanon to make up about them

Nora has a big appetite and doesn't hesitate at the table because she knows what it's like to go hungry. She takes full advantage of Ren's cooking ;)

She's still able to share with her closed ones though

What I would change about them if I was making a re-write

MHMMM, apart from what I've said in the criticism section maybe just... mhm... OH YEA ! I'm... well I kind of understand why they did it ig, because they wanted Nora apart from Ren in V8; and I liked Ren's side too much to change it but... I feel like it would have made more sense for Nora to help Mantle instead of Amity in V8 ? Because in V7, Nora was very much in opposition to Ironwood. It was "the little guy" vs "the bigger picture" and it fitted Nora well... But then she chose Amity over Mantle and like. I wouldn't go as far as to call it JARRING but if you mull on it, it's definitely kind of weird.

My guess for their MBTI/Enneagram

ENFP 6w7 9w8 3w2 so/sx

One aspect that I think would be nice to delve deeper into ? (optional)

Give us her backstory ! I mean I know we got the Renora village backstory but I wanna know what happened to her before. What is it with her mom ?