Board Thread:Episode Discussion/@comment-14138255-20161225162718/@comment-25936766-20161231142918

Shoddysilver244 wrote: 1-Ruby can turn into a cloud of rose petals. In fact, according to the Character Short, she can turn into multiple clouds of rose petals.

2-Qrow turning into a bird is not outlandish or inimaginable going by that. 1-Maybe now, but definitely not before. In V1-3, she simply moved fast. Rose petals appeared when she dashed around, but she did not turn into any rose petals.

Which is why that moment in the character short was full of bullshit. It's a completely different kind of power that she had never shown to be capable of doing before.

2-It still is, however. For starters, how it's supposed to happen. He seemingly turns into a bird in a second, nevermind the 100% different anatomy and everything. Maybe if the change was slower, it would be more believable.

1&2-There's this thing called Willing Suspension of Disbelief. Based on the established rules and facts in the work, we can believe things the characters do. But there's a limit, and when that limit is crossed, usually by something that is, or seems at least, to be too unbelievable by the established rules and stuff in said work, then it hurts the quality of the work for us.

Like I mentioned in Point 1, Ruby's Semblance had been established to be Super Speed. So when in the Character Short she instead turns into a storm of petals, then it's simply unbelievable, since 1) She had never done anything slightly similar, and 2) It's completely different from Super Speed.

And with Point 2, shapeshifting of that extent, with that speed, is quite more fantastical than anything we've seen done before with Semblances, given the required massive alterations to the anatomy and everything.

Like you say, Semblances are pretty much their excuse to let X be able to do Y without having to explain it. But we have Willing Suspension of Disbelief, and regardless of the Doyllistic excuse, if we, Watsonianly, think it's too absurd, then one cannot expect us to accept it just like that.