Why Ruby with an Eyepatch is Awesome

So a lot of people like to freak out about the all the potential angst that could come out of ‘Eyepatch Ruby’, ie: Ruby loses an eye (likely to Cinder) and it’s all very dramatic/traumatic and is probably the moment where Ruby has her long-brewing mental and emotional breakdown. Basically, lots of that good ‘rip your heart out and show it to you’ emotional angst we’ve come to expect from RT.

But consider this: That’s not (exactly) what happens.

The thing is, we’ve already gotten an arc wherein a Main Character suffers a horrific, debilitating injury that permanently scars her both physically and mentally, leaving her an emotionally broken wreck. And likewise, followed (and are still following) that character on her long road of recovery. With all the focus RT has put into Yang’s recovery from loosing her arm, I think it’s strange to think that they would simply do the exact same thing again with Ruby.

So, what if that isn’t what happens? What if loosing her eye doesn’t break Ruby?

Now of course I don’t mean something cheap like Ruby just brushes off this horrible injury like nothing happened. Rather, Ruby handles losing her eye in a different way than Yang, and in turn serves as a contrast to what we saw with Yang.

Simply put, what if Ruby just does not break? Sure, she goes through the initial pain and shock, and the lose of her eye is shown to have a clear effect on her. But whereas Yang was completely emotionally and mentally destroyed by what happened to her during the fall of Beacon, which is the reaction we would reasonably expect from any normal person who went through something that horrific, Ruby simply… isn’t. She copes. She recovers. She gets a nifty cybernetic eyepatch from Pietro. And she gets right back into the fight.

I think this would be a perfect way to display just how truly indomitable Ruby’s spirit is. Show her go through the sort of experience that would break just about anyone and leave them permanently scarred and diminished. And show that this is just not enough to break this girl.

Ever since I saw the first fanart depictions of Ruby with an eyepatch back in 2013/2014 (that was back when we were still on Volume 1 BTW. This theory’s been around for a while), I’ve always loved that image. Not just because Ruby had an eyepatch and that looked cool, but because so many of those pieces of fanart also showed a Ruby who still had that bright, friendly, optimistic smile.

You see, a character having an eyepatch is almost always a visual shorthand for ‘this person has seen some serious shit’. People with eyepatches are almost ALWAYS the gruff, dower, edgy and cynical types. And how often have we seen that an eyepatch-wearing gruff badass used to be all bright and optimistic, but then the bad shit happened, they got their eyepatch and now they ‘see the world how it really is’ and ‘aren’t that naïve idiot anymore’?

So think about what it says to have a heroine with an eyepatch, that universal symbol of ‘I’ve been through some bad shit’, who still has a bright, optimistic, friendly, even goofy or adorkable smile. It means she has faced down the kind of horrible events that have broken so many before her.

And it couldn’t break her.

Nagisa's story tries waaaay too hard to emulate the more tragic tone Madoka Magica had and fails at it. The worst part is that Inucurry shoved their OC into the story which distracts from whats happening and clearly its not a character that even belongs in it. I'm afraid they're going to be doing this with Kuro in the anime.

Ok people, come here, we need to fucking talk right now, Charlie is PISSED like I have not been pissed since the days of Rebellion, the days of the KyoSaya morons and the days of you know who, so here me out.

Let me start by clarifying something, some people make the assumption that Nagisa is my favorite Madoka character because wel...it’s the name of my blog, but that is not the case, my favorite Madoka character is Mami, the reason this blog is called “The Gospel of Nagisa” is because it was made during the days of Rebellion, so I designed it to function as an “Apocryphal Gospel” to function as an alternate contrary view of  “Rebellion is awesome” a view that thankfully, has died down a lot, I picked Nagisa as a way to “Mock the Movie” and twist its own creation against it, yeah...that’s why.

But I admit as time has gone by, I’ve actually grown to really love Nagisa Momoe, not as a character because, she didn’t have any, but the little bits she had, showed promise, I always believed she had potential to become a very sweet and wholesome character in the franchise, I adored the fanarts of her teaming up with Yuma and Momo (Kyouko’s sisters for the people who just play Magia Record and don’t have access to Kyouko Info) it was adorable, I wanted to see Nagisa on her own away from Mami and the whole Charlotte meme and I hoped MagiReco would do that for me.

Well....it didn’t....thank God I checked this story on my own after watching the anime, otherwise I think I would hate Inu Curry forever...because people, this event “Nagisa’s Witch” it’s a strong contendent for “The worst fucking thing Madoka Magica has ever done” I honestly think this could be just as bad as Rebellion.

While Rebellion sucks becuase it is an unncesary sequel fueled only by fanservice and greed, this story sucks because it is basically Inu Curry’s edgy Madoka fic, and never before has the word Edgy meant its meme meaning more than for this story because...Holy Shit, I need to go to the Hospital because of all cuts I made to myself watching that edge, I agree with anon here, it tries waaay too hard to be tragic like the main anime was, using a side by side narrative with tragic stories to create this version of Nagisa Momoe, a child in denial of the abuse she suffers who later goes watches her own fuckin mom bleed to death and it is implied she ENJOYS IT!

This is one of the most repugnant things I have ever seen from this franchise, and let me clarify that I don’t have any probelm with tragic stories featuring children, I adore Yuma Chistose and she has a tragic story as well, but Yuma’s story is handled with a lot more taste and she ends up becoming one of the stronges (Emotionally) characters in the entire franchise, being able to pull both Mami and Kyouko out of the “Witch Revelation Truama” with just a simple a phrase:“Tomorrow is not Today”

But apparently Inu Curry decided to take Yuma’s story, take everything that was good about it, make it more tragic and so much edge that Shadow would blush, and BAM! We get Nagisa’s Wish....there was not a single indication in Rebellion that Nagisa had this kind of backstory, she seemed like a really innocent and sweet girl who got duped by Kyubey into wishing for a Cheesecake only to later realize she wasted a wish she could have used to save her mom, showing how manipulative and despicable Kyubey can be without really “Involving himself directly” ....Wasn’t that tragic enough for you alreafdy Inu Curry you fucking pieces of shit? You had to give Nagisa this horrendous story and put on your shitty OCs you made after watching Arya Stark enter the House of Black and White?Valar Morghuis Puella Magis! Hahaha I am Yu! I am a cool Puella Magi girls! Seriously!

I made some people angry when this story was released in Japan and people got mad at me saying I misunderstood the story and it wasn’t a big deal, and of course, that I should play it, well I have, I just recently finished the story and I am disgusted, it is worst than the translated summary from japanese, it’s such a terrible way to threat a character with so much potential like Nagisa, we didn’t need a shittier version of Yuma Chitose.

People please I beg you, read Oriko Magica, learn about Yuma and love the super badass little girl she is, as to this...well....I don’t know which one is worst, this or Rebellion, I feel so sorry for Nagisa, she didn’t deserve any of this, I hope Kuro doesn’t end up the same way.

I propose this simple Question

First:  why I ask this. Since the infancy of the KH fandom all the way back from KH1, I noticed this simple trend one that picked up tremulously after kh2. No this has nothing to do with shipping. Also to note; I have genuine curiosity if anyone else notices this and this is from my perspective and experience with dealing with the Kingdom hearts fandom. Others may have very different accounts but others (that I have asked) have indeed noticed this as well in my own view. I am not aiming to stir up hate or discourse. I aim for peaceful fandoms. However, this subject is something I see no one ever addresses and well... maybe breaking a status quo or ‘unspoken rule’. I hope this can be a reasonable discussion where I can learn another perspective or some people may notice it and just go... “Oh yeah. That is a thing.” To which the question at hand. “Why does R*ku always have to be cool?”

(Disclaimer I do not hate this character. This question is not hateful. It is not anti or whatever. I mean exactly what I say. I will not be tagging this in the R*ku tab to prevent any misunderstandings. I ask others do the same. Anyone who reblogs this with hate is in no way associated with me.)

I will state the positive traits about R*ku. He has had the greatest character arc out of all the Kingdom Hearts Characters. A great redemption arc from his lowest to blooming into practically a whole new person in his own struggle against his KH1 self. He’s loyal to his friends. Smart. Gets along with Mickey and Yen Sid. Mellow. Saved Kairi and Sora. Knows what he has done. He’s honest and shares his concerns with others. Since KH2 he has always been trying to help Sora in the best of his ability. In acknowledgment of his misdeeds in CoM and Days is very good and we see a character who has genuinely f’d-up and his trying his best to move past that by helping his friends despite the limited resources offered to him. ^These are very good traits for a character to have. Any character. Besides his one time self in KH1, what else is there to him? What can be addressed as a flaw or criticism of him? (I approach characters as even though a character goes through a development arc, does not mean they are void of flaws. No one works like that. Not characters or actual people.) I say this. I love Sora and Vanitas in the Kingdom Hearts fandom. However, I am not afraid to draw them doing stupid or silly things and point out they have various of unfavorable flaws. Sora is utterly dense and I hate the fact how he was portrayed in DDD but I accept it and I will drag him along pointing out that fact. It is part of his character. He’s a dork (and not always in a good way). He impulsive and is kinda a mess of a human being. He's stubborn in the worse ways and volatile. Vanitas appears to be on the surface a straight up evil villain. As far as the games go, he is just utterly vile in his contempt for the characters and his actions have brought suffering and misery to various of characters. (though there may be other traits that could set for his own arc) (I still love them both) But note how none of these flaws listed above are ‘endearing’ or even remotely positive. They are problems, that hinder the characters and those around them. These are persistent traits even though both Sora and Vanitas have mellowed. Sora far more than Vanitas. I just do not see this done with R*ku. I rarely (they do exist but in comparison to the likes of Sora, Org XIII, even foretellers, or Roxas [who could be compared to be as “badass” as R*ku], its rarely ever there) I don’t see anyone talking about Riku doing dumb stuff. Being silly or being the butt of a joke or just not, not being good. Example of the latter:  When there was talk about Sora cooking in KH3, rarely did I see that, ‘oh, Sora learns how to cook and becomes very good at it’ and most I see ‘R*ku is already a fabulous cook’.... what about Kairi? What about even Lea? Aqua? There is no mention of these other characters being good at cooking. R*ku is usually A.) always the cooler looking one, or must be made to look cooler and B.) always be the better or best at something. I know that is kinda the thing in KH, that R*ku is talented and gifted as a person. As for the coolness factor, Nomura does this as well. Sora gets a keyblade, R*ku gets an edgier cooler keyblade with more details. Riku gets the powers of both light and darkness. R*ku gets the Keyblade Master title. R*ku gets actual growth in his body. He gets the more competent companion (Mickey). I am not saying these things are detractions or upsetting, they are just there and be defacto, cooler than other characters. He becoming edgier and emo was a good play on Normura because back in early 2005′s people thought that was cool and hot. Silver hair is automatically an attractive trait and western audiences love a person with a muscled body like R*ku’s. I don’t blame fans for being appealed to his character. But I suppose I am getting off-topic. Why do fans keep feeling compelled to make R*ku perfect? When people make fanart of him like say a monster form or pirate outfit, they always make it more detailed, edgier or just cooler than anyone else who would be drawn that way. He always looks more impressive than an original canonical design when other characters are drawn or written in ways that are not as impressive or equally the same to a canonical design/form/power. Has the cool wolf animal companion or the cooler weapon, the more detailed designs etc etc Even Axel who is a badass assassin can be silly or dumb-looking. Heck, they even did that in games. They made Axel failed and acknowledge it.  I see Aqua who is awesome in design and badass moments, be criticized for her flaws that persist and others who wish to see her have more moments of weakness even with what we have seen in 0.2 Xion who has had a great arc in Days (Character arcs don’t always have to be a positive development) doesn’t get the coolness factor. Roxas who is probably the second most popular character still is known as a goofy boy who thought he could fight heartless off with a stick. That’s hilarious. The most notable thing about R*ku recently that wasn’t cool or badass or edgy was his infamous “WHAT?” response to Mickey in Kh3. And that was one thing. Only really that. But how Mickey worded it, anyone would have done the same. And I noticed that people use what Mickey said “Aqua is like Sora’ is a way to poke fun at Sora by implying that Aqua is like a dense 15 year old. (Again these are just observations I have made over a decade worth watching the Kh fandom). In talks with other people who are Sora stans or other stans, there is nothing but a lot of talk about R*ku being really good about things. Being superior to Sora, or Kairi, or Aqua and Terra. Over Roxas.  Giving Axel two keyblades is never done, but people have given two to R*ku.  I get it, people who love characters like to do so much with them. I do the same. I just... never seem to regard the characters I love as perfect as others see R*ku. Also... I just don't see anyone criticizing him (I mean criticism in actual acknowledgment of his character and not hating on said character). Or taking about traits or flaws that are not endearing “He cares too much about his friends” is not really that bad of a flaw in consideration. A lot of people would prefer to have that over say... anger issues. What about the fact he falls back into following the orders of others or doesn’t often decide things for himself?...  What about Minor flaws? I just never see them in regards to these characters. Alright, so these are my observations I have made over... 14+ years of watching this fandom. And I want to ask, why do fans see him as such? Besides the only reason being for them is “I like him.” Has it just become such a normal thing to make R*ku better? Is he really that good of a character than he is so universally loved? Or is the backlash of actually criticizing R*ku and seeing that maybe, making him too perfect is... not doing favors for him? An arc is just that, an arc. Doesn’t mean a character is perfect or done with. Doesn’t mean those flaws that persisted in him, are gone.   Make your favorite character silly, or doing something very dumb (that does not even have to do with shipping), or put forth of what you would like to see improve in this character or express more about their flaws and their struggles. I love pointing out the negative traits in all my characters because I like seeing their struggle and how that makes them interact with new nuances in other characters. Maybe it's a running joke that R*ku is ‘Mr Perfect’ in the Kh fandom and I am just not seeing it. But it's daunting and just kinda rubs me the wrong way that all these characters in Kingdom Hearts have so many nuances to them and the one who has the best character arc so far in KH is regarded as... ‘Perfect’ I would like to know your opinion and if anyone else who is not a R*ku stan notice this, or is it just me and my own personal bias? (anything said above is in no way should ever be used to promote hate against R*ku or even bash him. In no way, I want to make others hate R*ku. I do not blame people who love this character to portray him in a superior way over everyone else. My address is that I just see this all the time. And I was wondering... why is it so widespread? Not even Axel who has a great redemption arc gets this.) (also another things is the whole sexgod R*ku that is also about however that may go into shipping and that I will not poke a stick at)

DMCV spoilers follow. But. Dudes. I’m in love with the whole shebang. Or whatever.

(On the similar note, have I actually hallucinated DMC fandom of yore being focused a lot on anthropomorphized Bosses living together – with lots of very pretty CLAMP-styled fanart?)

The whole misdirection with demo/trailers, where people were going like ‘left behind a person, they must be speaking about V’, and then the game is like: ‘Sike! It’s about Dante!’.

The sequence with Nero losing his arm, and I’m like, ‘Hello, Vergil!’.

V having his summons named Griffon, Phantom, and Nightmare, and I’m like, ‘Nice try, Vergil’.

They shuffled the chronology again, so getting stuck in Hell is old news, and Hell’s doors are more the revolving type than the gate type.

Nico. Oh my god, Nico. She’s definitely fanservice but this kind of fanservice I can get wholeheartedly behind. Just. Nico. She’s a dumbass. I love her. She oozes the uncomfortable sleazy kind of sexy in sync with her character. Her interactions with Nero are top notch.

I liked Lady’s ‘redesign’. I liked the fact Trish has no redesign.

I liked the fact they finally outright came out and stated Nero is Vergil’s son.

I love Dante’s character in here. That’s character growth. He actually mellowed goddamn lot. Anyone trying to say he’s less of a badass in this one than the other games has a wrong definition of badass. Also, Dr. Faust sequence… and the ‘bitchslap’ comment. I love how Dante is kind of resigned to Vergil being the edgy drama queen of the family and is like ‘come on, I’ll drag you back home even if I have to beat you up again before’.

Basically, the game has plot, and that plot is not that bad. The characters are awesome. The game knows when to NOT take itself seriously.