Still Not Sure.

Number 7 for the RWBY ask game!

Yang's "I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!!! CAN EVERYONE JUST CALM DOWN FOR LIKE FIVE MINUTES BEFORE SOMETHING CRAZY HAPPENS AGAIN!" from V1

No super deep reason why I like this one tbh. Often I just find myself repeating this line either in my head or out loud when I feel overwhelmed and stressed out. Idk I just find it cathartic and it's just a good line of expressing anger and frustration in a humorous way when too much is happening all at once.

"Do you believe in destiny?"

The last words said before her death, carrying Pyrrha's legacy. The way it encapsulates Pyrrha's arc and her struggle with agency and existentialism. The way it continues to haunt the narrative, especially for Cinder and Jaune's characters, makes it one of the most iconic lines of the show.

"This must be really hard on her too"

I have literally written an entire meta on why I love this line.

"Some things are more important, I think. Keeping our humanity."

I absolutely adore the humble and honest defiance Oscar's line has in the face of Ironwood's "we have to do whatever it takes to stop Salem, nothing matters more". It's also really when you see Oscar coming into his own and finding himself, starting to find and assert his own beliefs (...though you can clearly see Ruby's inspiration and influence shining through *gestures to her "so all those times you talked about having faith in humanity... That was just for everyone else?"). Because Oscar is trying to believe in Ironwood's humanity. And in his own, in the face of the merge. He pays for it dearly and yet that belief of his doesn't falter, and we see it again with how he believes in Oz, Hazel and Emerald. And what he says here really is at the heart of what will lead to them saving the day I think, in the same vein as Ruby and Maria's conversation about the Silver Eyes not being about destroying monsters, but preserving humanity and life.

"She's not protecting me. And I'm not protecting her. We're protecting each other"

If Blake and Yang facing against Adam again and holding hands wasn't enough to drive me wild and giddy, this line does. So much growth in Blake and Yang's relationship culminating in their confrontation with Adam, especially with this line. Letting go of matyr complexes, and instead coming together as equals to mutually uplift and support each other, so neither has to suffer alone or feel infantalised or overshadowed as the protector or protected, instead growing beyond that into something stronger and more beautiful, the moment their love truly began to blossom.

"You atlas elites are all the same! you think hoarding power means you'll have it forever, but it just makes the rest of us hungrier. And I refuse to starve."

I love this line for the feral energy it has, the raw drive and ambition Cinder has that it bleeds far past desire and into a need, a desperation. It carries so much weight with it, the foreshadowing for Cinder's backstory as a slave girl trampled and abused by atlas elites, literally starved for food, affection and agency. I really love the way the hunger motif in general is used. On top of that it makes the foiling between Winter and Cinder very apparent

"Without you I am nothing, but because of you I am everything"

Honestly up there as another one of the most iconic lines of the show. It's said in a a moment of rebellion and triumph by Cinder over her abuser, but simultaneously is tragic in how Cinder is essentially defining herself by the abuse and pain she endured. Fully expecting this line to resurface in a moment with Salem, but with the original meaning turned on its head.

"Maybe there was something you just weren't seeing" I also wrote another whole ass meta about why I love this line

also shoutout to Ilia's "Quit taking pot shots and FIGHT ME LIKE YOU MEAN IT!" and "I DON'T KNOW WHAT ELSE TO DO! I don't know what else to do..." purely for Cherami Leigh's brilliant performance in delivering such raw and emotional lines.

Ozpin's fear speech is pretty great too.

There's another line from V9 that's one of my favorites too, but I know you haven't watched V9 yet so I'll tell you that one later :)

It looks like Cinder will end up trapped in the pocket dimension with RWBY, and now this dumb scenario in my head is SLIGHTLY more plausible. If Cinder were to let her mask drop even a little, the people most likely to notice would be Weiss and Blake. Because they're abuse survivors, too. If Cinder were ever to shrink away instead of fighting back... I don't know, man, I just imagine Weiss and/or Blake seeing her flinch and thinking, "Oh. I see a little of myself in her. This could've been me."

Oh, I love this! And, no I don't think it's dumb at all. I think the most striking thing about Cinder for me is how much she parallels not just one, but all four members of Team RWBY.

For Ruby: Both saw becoming a huntress as something to give purpose, struggle with trauma around a mother figure, choice vs. destiny

Weiss: Grew up in abusive home in Atlas under a domineering parental figure not above using force to make them comply

Blake: Tied her identity and self worth to a "savior" she later came to recognize as an abuser who manipulated and hurt her

Yang: Both lash out to mask emotions, had to grow up quickly without a trustworthy caretaker, focus on strength to cope, traumatic loss of arm.

To the point where it feels really intentional. What separates Cinder from so many other characters we've seen go through similar hardships is that she's never had a support network. Weiss had Winter and Klein, Blake had Ilia, Ruby had Yang, Yang had Ruby and they all have each other. Cinder had Salem.

To have those parallels pay off so that Cinder finally gets support. Finally gets shown compassion by the people who she knows have every reason to hate her most. All because they see and acknowledge and relate to her pain instead of punishing her for it. All because they recognize that they very easily could have become her - I feel like that would be really powerful. Not just in terms of for Cinder as a character. But as an illustration of the show's themes of empathy and choice. Cinder being bad wasn't destined, neither was RWBY being good - it's a matter of choice and circumstance.

Like. Maybe I'm just clowning bc the image of Cinder lashing out only to be met with acknowledgement in Blake and/or Weiss's eyes has got me in tears. But with the themes and parallels they've drawn to Cinder I would not be surprised if they went down a route like this.