Board Thread:Speculation House/@comment-14138255-20140801004849/@comment-14909251-20140802234549

I see the problem with people talking about Weiss is that most are limiting themselves basically to the interactions we have seen in the show and failing to consider what is going on in the gaps or the deeper context. Due to how the story has been constructed, Weiss was regularly put in the role of foil to some other character who needed to grow or overcome a challenge. Blake could not be a foil to Ruby because she is too introverted and interested in fitting in with others to actually create conflict. Yang was Ruby's sister so it would not really work in the context. Maybe at some point they will bring up some family baggage that causes one of them to serve as the foil of the other, but it was not right for the story at the time. As far as Blake, Weiss was the ideal foil simply because of her background and there was little chance of Yang or Ruby serving as a good foil in context due to their lack of history with the Faunus and closer relationship with Blake.

Ruby and Blake both had their own character flaws that created the situations as well. Fact is, after The Shining Beacon, it was pretty much in Ruby's court how Weiss would feel about her. In the Emerald Forest, Ruby did everything wrong because she was impulsive, cocky, and bratty. After that situation was resolved, Ruby once more did everything wrong after being chosen as the leader by being annoying, disrespectful, and lazy. When you consider the context in The Stray, Blake also did many things wrong. She knew the history between the White Fang and the Schnee family as she was part of that history, and even left the White Fang due to their actions, yet still defended those actions to someone she knew had been a victim of them.

You have to consider all the details and the behavior of the other parties before saying Weiss is this or Weiss is that. People can accuse me of overanalyzing, but it is better than a superficial analysis.

70.195.129.80 wrote:

1. Living outside the kingdoms. "If you don't fight you don't survive." Needless to say it's dangerous, but rescent theories regarding civilizations/states say that hill people and barbarians weren't societies that failed to advance but were groups of people who didn't want to be members of a state because to be a citizen of a state means you have to pay taxes and do what the government tells you to do(this also includes being forced into slavery or being a soldier depending on the civilization), and give up certain freedoms (anarchist like this theory). Getting how this relates to RWBY, this may mean there are small comunities living outside the Four kingdoms because of the freedom it gives them even with the higher chances of danger. Certainly appealing for the faunust who have to deal with discrimination. Honestly, I think Blake was lying about that. Remember that she would not even admit to being a Faunus until Ozpin confirmed he knew and she never admitted to being in the White Fang despite him hinting at it. During the flashback in Black and White we saw Blake as a little girl at a major protest and her being a member of the White Fang most of her life makes it unlikely that was really living outside the kingdoms. Maybe there is some truth to it, but it was definitely meant more as an explanation for how she could pass the entrance exam with flying colors despite having no apparent schooling.