"FUCK THE FAUNUS!" They are not oppressed, they are not being "pushed around" and they are not in the right. Bar Sun and Velvet, they have been shown to be a delusional, emotional unstable people, who's entire culture is to blame even the slightest grievance, be it increase in crime or the weather being a bit shitty, on a non-existent human tyranny. They are the least sympathetic race I have ever witnessed. Even pure evil races like the Daleks or the Skaven are the way they are because they were made that way. These A-holes are too up their own ass to even consider they are in the wrong. So if the IronWall happens and its purpose is to keep Faunus out to force a narrative, I want Menagerie to pay for it. It's funny because i like to use rwby ''racism'' and blake story to explain to geeky feminist and anti-racist how projection work. Every single point of Blake story can be resumed to ''the audience should see racism because blake said it was racism''. Like the fact that Weiss ISN'T racist in season 1 as her "racism" is only described as so by Blake. Like really, calling a stowaway who is a faunus, a faunus criminal is racist ? and calling faunus terrorist, criminals, is also racist? Due to faunus having numerous distinct advantages over the Grimm, the Grimm being able to kill entire cities on a regular basis and homosexuality interfering with reproduction in a Death World with a high mortality rate, faunus are not discriminated against in Remnant but homosexuality is heavily frowned upon. Faunus are seen as an asset in Remnant because institutional racism in a world where the Grimm exist doesn’t make any sense. The White Fang plot should have been more developed. The organisational structure could have been divided to increase effectiveness, with only members of certain authority having contact with other branches. This would have given depth to their goals and threat level as it was revealed, independent of any cooperation with other antagonists. Branches could include; 1) White Fang (front organisation for combating faunus oppressors), 2) Caritas [Latin: Charity / Virtue] (a charitable organisation helping disenfranchised faunus. Also gathering intelligence, selecting special recruitment targets), 3) Sankalpa [Sanskrit: solemn vow] (organisation dedicated to building human allies to inform on or weaken companies / governments conducting anti-faunus activity. Also gathering intelligence for raid targets), 4) Ibara [Japanese: Thorn] (rear organisation responsible for training talented recruits and specialists). Menagerie was not a slap in the face. I've wondered recently if the Faunus really were right to complain about Menagerie being a "slap in the face" instead of a "fair reward". I mean, on one hand: 1-It's very damn small compared to the continents. It's barely half of Anima at best. 2-It was uncivilized at the time it was granted to them. Like America, but probably without more-advanced-than-they-seemed natives present. 3-It's 2/3 desert that are supposedly inhospitable due to the dangerous wild-life. And 4-It doesn't have a CCT, making communication with the outside world difficult. On the other hand: First of all, being uncivilized at the time, and (Leaving aside the reasons) Humans wanting to leave Faunus there, meant the Faunus could shape it however they wanted to the best of their capabilities (current or future) with no real opposition or intervention from the Kingdoms. The dangerous wild-life could be a "wall on the road" for them, but Rome wasn't built in a day; it's a problem that can at least be dealt with to some extent, over time. The lack of a CCT can be excused to an extent even leaving aside the discrimination. After all, by design, if one falls, the world loses the WWW. Now, Vale, Atlas, Mistral, Vacuo, they were Kingdoms, established nations that had endured the test of time, and could be expected to keep the Towers safe. Menagerie had literally just been colonized, so placing a CCT Tower there, given that quirk in their design, would've been risky. And placing a smaller, Supporting Tower there would only be of limited efficiency due to Menagerie's distance from the Kingdoms (aside from maybe Vacuo), and because it still couldn't be expected to last long. And of course, then the Faunus launched a Revolution. Not many humans in high places would be expected to be willing to help the Faunus afterwards without a good incentive. Even then, it's been less than a Century since the FRR, probably less than half a century, so old feelings and values can remain. Eventually the Kingdoms might be willing + capable of finally giving a real helping hand in this matter. After Vale's CCT is repaired and the Kingdoms recover the Internet first, of course. As for the "2/3 Desert" part.....let's compare it with Vacuo for a moment. Vacuo was founded in an Oasis with "lush jungles", not too different from Ao Kuana. If anything, it was probably smaller. By current times, it's a vast, harsh, barren wasteland of a desert, thanks to the Kingdoms's exploitation of the land (made easier by how Vacuans were lazy bums who didn't know what struggle was), bringing warfare, mining, and maybe-sorta ecological disasters. And said Oasis and Jungle, are no more. Prior to the end of the Great War, there wasn't even a formal government in Vacuo. And even after one was made, the people gave Laws the middle finger, and the only body with any actual authority and ability to enforce Order in Vacuo, is Shade Academy. Even in current times, it's been noted that due to scarce resources and Grimm attacks, the people have to indulge in a nomad life, moving constantly. Now: 1) Ao Kuana still has quite the jungle to spare, and it's on the coast of Menagerie, allowing it to have an actual harbor among other benefits. 2) Even if the reasons behind it are linked to Faunus Discrimination, the Kingdoms not being particularly-interventional with Menagerie means it's people, and the land, can avoid being exploited like with Vacuo, and thus avoid all the consequences said exploitation had on Vacuo. 2.5) Even if the Kingdoms tried to exploit Menagerie’s resources, due to it's "harsher" nature compared to (Original) Vacuo, the people of Menagerie wouldn't be even half as "lazy and easy" as Vacuans were, having been ironed by the Discrimination and by Menagerie's Wildlife. 3) They have a Chieftain, and the current one is Ghira, ex-Leader of the White Fang. So, even though it's much younger than Vacuo, it's likely not even half as Anarchic. 4) Most notably and factually....the people of Ao Kuana aren't nomads, they actually have a Settlement, and Menagerie most definitely doesn't have scarce resources that would push it's people to be nomads like in Vacuo. Hell, they had enough resources to build a pair of colonies on Anima. So, overall, I feel like Menagerie is really, really much better than people like Blake make it sound. Sure, there's the whole bit of "practically forcing the Faunus to live and stay there" that led to the Faunus Rights Revolution, but that has to do with the discrimination, not with Menagerie in itself. In fact, Menagerie feels like it's only "bad" because it didn't have the hundreds/thousands of years to develop like the Kingdoms. And it easily has the potential to be even better than Vacuo, an actual Kingdom, if it isn't already. Even in terms of size, current Ao Kuana feels cramped, but not tiny in itself. And being cramped is, in a way, an advantage over having random villages left and right that can take days, if not weeks, to travel between without a vehicle. I would like for Sun and Blake to maybe go out into Menagerie's desserts at some stage and for Sun to show that it really isn't as hard to live in the desert as they think - and then a few years down the track she goes to Vacuo and sees it for herself.....That would be beautiful. Make Blake get a dose of reality, show her that "The Faunus don't have it as badly as the White Fang makes it seem". Blake: “Oh, Menagerie, that sugar-coated insult. An island that's not even half-Anima in size, and it's also 2/3s desert that are inhospitable due to MMA-Champs Kangaroos and Super-Secret Agent Platypuses. Those bastard humans :C” Vacuans: “Bitch please, we don't have trees, our people live in shacks, we barely have resources and can't even make a proper settlement, and you don't see US whine about it! :P” Lien - A right to keep possession of property belonging to another person until a debt owed by that person is discharged. I think it's possible that members both former and current of the White Fang may be a bit biased when it comes to the payment of faunus miners. Are they rich? Most real world miners aren't, and it can be a dangerous job, but most will tell you that work is work, much like most physical labor. I'm a bit biased myself when it comes to the faunus racism and oppression subplot, but overall I just don't put much stock in what Adam, Ilia, and Blake have to say about how bad the faunus have it. Even if we see what they've been talking about all this time in Volume 6 it'll come across as too little too late in my opinion. It's possible that because faunus are mining the dust that Adam (and other WF members) view it as rightfully belonging to them, but seeing all the applications of dust it's possible that it's valuable in the same sense as guns and gold in the hands of civilians, and/or other commonly stolen goods. Legos and Tide Pods for instance are often stolen because how easy it is to sell them and not get caught. There's also the very definition of lien to consider, which makes me wonder who that debt the people of Remnant are paying belongs to. Is the money owned by the government and easily tracked similar to credit cards? Or does the White Fang turn their noses at lien because it's borrowed money from the SDC and/or Atlas? Just a thought, and a little headcanon I use for my fanfics. Problems with White Fang and Faunus Discrimination. Freedom fighters or Ungrateful law breakers? Maybe it's just me but I've been really feeling as if the White Fang is unjustified for a lot of their actions. The show has stated that the Faunus are still being discriminated against and aren't treated as equals yet there’s not much of it we've really seen. I can already tell that some of you have mentioned Cardin because he picked on Velvet but that's because he's a jerk since he bullies Jaune too. I feel like he still would have bullied Velvet regardless if is she were Faunus. Weiss? Not really substantial there either. She doesn't hate Faunus but the members of the White Fang. And that's because they're a violent organisation that steals and kills innocent people for the sake of being equal. Oh but why was she so mean to Sun? She didn't mind him until she learned that he was a stowaway and a thief essentially breaking the law. Though she did assume he'd join the White Fang. Besides, she doesn't hate Velvet who hasn't done anything wrong. Blake on the hand is an ex member of a destructive group which basically messed with her childhood. Roman? He's a jerk to everyone regardless of race. He talks demeaningly to everyone he dislikes. Atlas and the Schnee Dust Company? It's been said that they use Faunus labour and they get unequal pay. The problem with this is that it's not shown though it probably might be. In my opinion Faunus look like they're equal for a few reasons. They were given their own island as an apology and the way Blake talks about it really irks me because humans gave them Menagerie so they could make their own rules. Blake acts as if they were forced to have this island even though she can live elsewhere which brings me to my next point. The Kingdoms. Faunus are not forced to live in Menagerie and everyone seems to be respected in all four Kingdoms regardless. The people Vale aren't discriminatory to Faunus. Many characters within the show, Ozpin, Qrow, Glynda, Yang, Ruby and Jaune show no ill intent to the Faunus. We hear no one in Vale insult the Faunus. And they are definitely equal if you look at Tukson who owns his own bookstore. No one cared that a Faunus owned a bookstore (although his trait is hideable). Vacuo had a Faunus leader and we have Sun who hails from there and he dislikes the White Fang, showing that their actions aren't necessary. Sun doesn't even act like he's suffered through racism at all. Mistral? Sun again. Who goes to Haven and seems like he's been treated fairly nicely. Atlas? They've got snobs all over there. Well, Neon Katt and her personality really dispells that. She doesn't look like she hates it at Atlas. This is probably why I dislike Blake so much now because she acts as if she's gone through tough times even though she's literally royalty within Menagerie. And the fact there's been a lot of telling but no showing. What rights do Faunus not have that humans don't that's been shown? Obviously not. But in my opinion I've been feeling like the Faunus are essentially equal to humans. Discrimination in the show isn't done well so it just looks like the White Fang are just unjustified. Also, I mentioned the Faunus don't have to live in Menagerie. Characters within other Kingdoms especially Velvet haven't received discrimination (except Cardin). It would have been easy to show someone being racist towards Sun or Neon during Volume 3. There probably are but it's not shown though. We haven't seen a place that doesn't serve Faunus. Even though it's implied/said it has become increasingly hard to believe since there's no display. I'm not asking for an extravagant display of Faunus discrimination. Just something simple. If they're not going to show it, Blake and The White Fang appear whiny for no reason. It makes it hard to believe that Faunus aren't equal regardless if they don't show it. If you're not going to show it don't bother having it there.