User blog:Wilfred J. Pemberley/Why I'm Quitting RWBY and the Fandom

Let me preface this by saying that I don’t normally do this. I’ve never willfully removed myself from a website or a community that I find (or once found) enjoyable, and I’ve never quit watching a show that I’ve become invested in. Truth is, I loved RWBY, and I loved being a part of this fandom. But I don’t anymore. I’ll split this blog into two sections, addressing both entities and why they’ve become so intolerable to me.

RWBY is an Empty Husk of its Former Self
When I first started watching RWBY, I was delighted and entranced by the sheer joy and quirkiness that it exuded. It was fun, it was unique, and it was written by people who were truly invested in it. You could see the love and hard work that they were putting into every scene. They were good at it, and they liked doing it. Then Monty died.

After that, Miles and Kerry channeled every fiber of their grief and their loss into Volume 3. The result was a masterpiece of the ages, fueled by the tragedy they had endured. Though we had lost an icon, and a creative talent, it had generated one last hurrah of emotionally-charged greatness that stunned both myself and the world. I thought, at that moment, that the show would survive the loss of Monty, and everything would be okay. But I was wrong.

Once the emotion and grief had faded away, the writers of this show were left with nothing. I truly believe that Miles and Kerry have lost all passion for RWBY, and I don’t believe they get any enjoyment out of writing it anymore. It’s evident in the final product. What was once a show that delighted me, became a show that depressed me. The tone, the dialogue, the look and feel; all of it is dull and hollow.

I have gotten trapped into watching a lot of shows; shows that were once great, but later became fuming dumpster fires. I have persevered in watching them only out of devotion and love for what they once were. I have never once stopped watching a show I was invested in, no matter how bad it got. But there’s a first time for everything, and RWBY will be the first show I’ll give up on.

I hung on through 3 Volumes of putrid garbage for no reason other than needing to see how it all ended. But I now realize that the ending won’t be worth watching anyway. This show isn’t going to redeem itself. It’s just going to get worse and worse, until it explodes in a nuclear fireball of despair and failure. Whether it ends on its own terms, or faces cancellation due to viewership decline, or worse: bends over backwards in acts of pure fan service to resuscitate its failing viewership, it will surely be more disappointing than any ending I could fathom. And, so, it makes more sense for me to just imagine my own ending for RWBY, than to persevere only to be ultimately disappointed.

I’ll be honest, I may tune in briefly if I hear about something amazing happening. An epic fight scene, or a certain character being killed, or maybe even (dare I say) some good writing might be enough to draw my gaze back on this show. But, short of that, I’m done. And I have to say, good riddance.

The RWBY Fandom is Toxic
In a way, I should be thanking all of you. Because if not for you I would not have realized how bad this show has become. The RWBY Fandom is a sad reflection of this show; a shadowy void where people fight and argue about nonsense in utter perpetuity.

This is, without question, one of the most toxic fandoms I have ever been a part of. It’s definitely up there with Undertale and a few others. Some of the people here are mean-hearted, disrespectful, and in some cases abusive. Others are sycophants whose only agenda is to weasel their way into becoming admins by sucking up to the current management.

Above all, the biggest problem with the people here is that you don’t listen to each other. You just stick to your argument and fight and fight until flamewars break out. And I’ve become a part of that culture. I’ve never acted that way in my life until I got here. This fandom has made me a worse person. And I just can’t let that happen anymore.

But the real straw that broke the camel’s back is that I trusted someone on this site, someone I thought was better than the others. And that person stabbed me in the back, twisted the blade; and what’s worst of all, they didn’t even have the decency to apologize for it. It sickens me, and it harms my capacity to trust people; yet another way this fandom has made me worse as a human being.

So, yes, this is goodbye. Even now, as I finish writing this, I feel a weight has been lifted from me. I feel free and happy for the first time in a while, and I urge anyone who feels the same way as me to get out too. This place isn’t good for any of us. Comments will be disabled on this blog because I don’t want this starting yet another puerile flame war, and because, in all honesty, I really don’t want to hear what you have to say anyway.