Talk:Yang Xiao Long/@comment-209.195.85.199-20161003030322/@comment-27350660-20161003220921

Curse you RWBY Wikia, Eater of Posts! Well, for the second time then, and this time we start out in a text editor. Hi there, I don't remember you, but I am fine thank you. I just got my tickets for the London Tugg event, so I'll have all the opportunity to study the phenomenon of Yang Xiao Long. How are you?

Yang really is a bit of a blunt instrument, isn't she? I agree with you that her habit of acting first, then thinking, if at all, is her main weakness. When her emotions flare up, Mr. Brain goes byebye. She could have learned from her encounter with Neo what a bad idea that was. Neo was toying with her, giving Yang plenty of time to see that this wasn't working and she should try something else. And she didn't.

In a sense, her fight with team FNKI was a bad lesson for her. She won that fight by powering through Flynt's attack and turning it back on him, reinforcing her habit of "When in doubt, hit harder." I'll forgive her her outburst against Mercury, because she was tricked. Her fight against Adam was pretty much the ultimate lesson.

Could she have defeated Adam if she'd changed tactics? I don't think she could have killed or disabled him. Adam is simply too strong for that. But she could have opened fire on him, then ran away. With Adam determined to destroy everything that Blake loves, he would have followed her, giving Blake the chance to get out of there. Yang could have strung him along all the way back to her friends, where Adam would have been outnumbered, and would most likely have retreated to fight another day. Blake lives, and Yang doesn't have to count to ten out of her head. But that is not how Yang works. Adam was hurting Blake, and she exploded.

I think Yang will always be a rage warrior. Drawing power from her emotions is so basic to her that if she'd abandon that, she would be a completely different person. But she'll have to learn not to go into blind rage. Instead of channeling her anger into brute force, she'll have to learn to channel it into focus. Not simply wanting to beat the snot out of him, but really really wanting him dead, and dedicating every shred of her mind and body to that. If she manages that, she'll be deadly.

But first, she'll have to get out of her slump. Something has to stir her into action. Introspection? Her dad? Her mom? Messages from afar? I've seen the trailer now, and I think that whatever happens, it'll happen pretty soon.

And then, she's going to have to learn to fight again. I doubt even now that she'll have the patience for a long trek to awesomeness on her own. Someone will have to mentor her. I'm still hoping that someone will be Raven. Raven grabbing Yang by the scruff of her neck and dragging her along with her own adventures, Yang learning along the way to control her temper, would be marvellous.

Will she be remembered*? I agree with AL that that would take time, and if it happened too soon, it would be a bit weak. She needs to earn her power-ups. And maybe, she'll just not bother. That brass cap on her stump looks like she's counting on wearing it a long time. Maybe she can hit people with it.

All and all, I'm really looking forward to V4. I tend to move between favorites now and then - sometimes Blake, sometimes Weiss, sometimes Yang. For some reason I don't have as much with Ruby, but maybe that'll change. But at the moment, Yang is my clear favorite again.

Go Pun Dragon!


 * Well, she was DISmembered...