Can One Change Fix All of RWBY? is a fix-fic brainstorming video by Calxiyn
on YouTube, who also wrote Fixing Cinder Fall's Backstory.
The video seeks to fix many of the perceived problems and criticisms that have been levied against the RWBY series, in a similar vein to Celtic Phoenix Productions' Fixing RWBY series and Unicorn of War's I Rewrote RWBY Volume 8 series — however, unlike previous RWBY fix-fic videos, Calxiyn seeks to achieve her goal by changing only one thing from canon which has massive ramifications on the rest of the timeline, instead of changing multiple things separately of each-other.
That one change is Salem instead of Ozma building up the kingdoms and huntsman academies.
Can One Change Fix All of RWBY? can be seen here.
This work provides examples of:
- Adaptational Angst Upgrade:
- Team RWBY endures considerably more pain and justified angst than their canon selves do from the Fall of Beacon onwards. Instead of briefly becoming fugitives in the Kingdom of Atlas due to their own unintentionally unsympathetic antagonism and Ironwood's sanity slippage, they're branded as wanted fugitives across the entirety of Remnant just after the Fall of Beacon, and they look set to remain so for a much longer length of time. They're also forced to work with very morally-dubious people and take very morally-dubious actions themselves which "fuck people over" in order to save the world, causing them a lot of discomfort and guilt.
- Ruby Rose-specific extra angst that she didn't go through in canon includes: her accidentally killing Pyrrha herself, finding out that someone she greatly looked up to is actually a monster who killed her mother and who was trying to engineer Ruby's death every step of the way, being hunted and attacked by people she considers her friends due to the villains' machinations painting her as a treasonous murderer and fugitive, and being under the pressure of knowing that the fate of the world hinges on her due to her Silver Eyes' necessity to retrieving the Relics. Unlike her canon self, Ruby is stated to be horrified by watching everyone both hero and villain rob Penny of her autonomy and free will when she's infected by Watts' virus.
- Yang Xiao-Long, on top of losing her arm, in this iteration ends up being forced to work with people who are indirectly accountable for her trauma, to her discomfort.
- Team JNR go through the loss of one of their own, Pyrrha Nikos, like in canon, but in this iteration, they're led to believe that their friend on their sister team, Ruby, murdered her and betrayed the kingdoms alongside the rest of Team RWBY.
- Team RWBY endures considerably more pain and justified angst than their canon selves do from the Fall of Beacon onwards. Instead of briefly becoming fugitives in the Kingdom of Atlas due to their own unintentionally unsympathetic antagonism and Ironwood's sanity slippage, they're branded as wanted fugitives across the entirety of Remnant just after the Fall of Beacon, and they look set to remain so for a much longer length of time. They're also forced to work with very morally-dubious people and take very morally-dubious actions themselves which "fuck people over" in order to save the world, causing them a lot of discomfort and guilt.
- Adaptational Early Appearance:
- Neopolitan/Trivia, Mercury Black, Emerald Sustrai and Salem's canon selves didn't appear in full until Volume 2 (the former three) and Volume 3 (Salem). In this iteration, they all appear much earlier in the timeline due to being teachers and the headmistress of Beacon Academy respectively. Cinder also obtains her Grimm left arm before the Fall of Beacon instead of after.
- Instead of first appearing during the Mistral arc as in canon, the Lamp of Knowledge first appears during the Beacon arc. A flashback during that arc shows Cinder, Mercury and Emerald killing Amber to retrieve the Relic. In the present time frame, the Lamp makes its first appearance during the Fall of Beacon, and Jinn emerges from the Lamp for the first time just after the Fall.
- Adaptational Late Appearance: Unlike his canon self who was in the very first episode, Ozpin in this iteration doesn't appear until after the Fall of Beacon.
- Adaptational Heroism: Some, though not all, of the canon villains instead become heroes acting to save Remnant in this iteration.
- Dr. Arthur Watts, unlike his pure evil canon portrayal, becomes allies with Team RWBY and the good immortal, instead of being allied with the evil immortal, but he's an antihero whose primary concern is screwing Ironwood over rather than saving the world.
- Adaptational Villainy:
- General James Ironwood and Theodore. Whereas their canon counterparts were men committed to protecting Remnant's people, in this incarnation, they're both knowingly allied with the evil immortal instead of the good one in the secret war, making Team RWBY a lot more justified in opposing Ironwood and removing the Staff of Creation. Calxyin suggests that this version of Ironwood deliberately engineered and exacerbated the class divide between Atlas and Mantle when he lifted Atlas City into the sky.
- Thanks to the evil immortal's machinations, a lot of characters who were consistently counted among the good guys end up dancing to the bad guys' tune as unwitting pawns and opposing Team RWBY; including Team JNR, Team CFVY and Penny.
- Adaptation Name Change: The Maidens' counterparts in this video are called "Witches," having originally been created by Salem instead of Ozma.
- Alternate Universe Fic: The modern setting is rewritten so that Salem is in charge of the huntsman academies and the kingdoms, while Ozpin is working with criminals and exiles from the shadows.
- Ambiguously Evil: Although the switcheroo between Ozpin and Salem's occupations is clear from the onset, it's ambiguous whether or not their moral alignments (and by extension those of their canon and alternate allies) have also switched up, until the end of the Fall of Beacon.
- Ascended Extra: Compared to their canon selves, Team CFVY have a much more prominent role in the Beacon arc and they don't exit the main story entirely after the Fall of Beacon.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: Salem has Cinder, Emerald and Mercury's loyalty because she lifted them up from their miserable backgrounds and gave them better lives.
- Black-and-Gray Morality: One side of Ozma and Salem's war wants to set off Remnant's judgement day which will spell the destruction of Remnant, for entirely selfish reasons; while the other side wants to stop that from happening via working with morally-dubious people and employing very sketchy methods.
- Conspicuous Gloves: Calxiyn envisions Cinder wearing long, Cinderella-esque gloves. One of which conceals Cinder's Grimm arm.
- Fair-Weather Friend: Leonardo Lionheart is no less cowardly and unreliable than his canon portrayal. He's a mole for Ozpin instead of Salem thanks to the switcheroo premise, but he's equally terrified of both of them. Ozpin and Salem both know that they can't truly rely on him for this reason.
- Fairy Tale Motifs: Salem is compared to the Wizard of Oz in Ozpin's stead when she's introduced, contacting Ruby not in person, but via a hologram.
- Fix Fic: The video and its content were conceptualised as Calxiyn's attempt to create a fix-fic that remedies as many of the widely-held criticisms against RWBY as possible, but does so by only altering one thing which causes a butterfly effect on the rest of the timeline, instead of actively altering multiple things as other fix-fic videos like Fixing RWBY and I Rewrote RWBY Volume 8 have done.
- Hero with Bad Publicity: After the Fall of Beacon, Team RWBY and most of their immediate allies are wanted fugitives in every kingdom, even though they're trying to save Remnant from being completely destroyed.
- It's All My Fault: Weiss blames herself for Winter becoming a Witch, since she was the original candidate who Salem intended to convert before she left.
- Kick the Dog: Salem turns Winter into a Witch in part because she wants to cruelly spite Weiss for abandoning the calling.
- MacGuffin Super-Person: Ruby is sought out by both Ozma and Salem's sides for her Silver Eyes' magic, as per canon, but the reasons are somewhat changed. She's sought out specifically because Silver Eyes are one of the only powers on Remnant that can breach the vaults, which here are made of Grimm essence.
- The Mole:
- Neopolitan a.k.a. Trivia is a huntress teacher at Beacon Academy, but is actually Ozpin's deep-cover agent.
- Leonardo Lionheart is Ozpin's mole in Salem's inner-circle, instead of vice versa.
- Mysterious Veil: Calxiyn describes Salem as wearing a full-body dress and veil to conceal her Grimm appearance and nature.
- Only the Worthy May Pass: When the God of Light sent the four Relics to Remnant, he placed each of them in magical eldritch locations which Calxiyn has postulated would be comparable to the Ever After, and he placed each of them behind a "deadly trial" tailored to the concept that each Relic embodies. The Trial of Knowledge has already been completed and the Lamp removed from its resting place offscreen, while the other three Relics remain guarded behind their trials, preventing either Salem or Ozpin's forces from removing them for the time being.
- Role Swap AU: Salem is responsible for building the kingdoms and huntsman academies, while Ozpin is working against her from the shadows.
- Spared by the Adaptation: Roman Torchwick avoids dying on Ironwood's flagship and remains alive past the Fall of Beacon.
- Unwitting Pawn: After the Fall of Beacon, the bad guys have all the kingdoms' leaders and most of the huntsmen and huntresses in their pockets. They've manipulated Team CFVY, Team JNR and Penny Polendina against the heroes. The only reason why the bad guys haven't already won and destroyed Remnant is because the Relics in this iteration have been heavily-guarded behind deadly magic trials since they were first sent into the world.
- Villain with Good Publicity: Conversely to the heroes after the Fall of Beacon, many of the true villains have set themselves up as heroic huntsmen and academy headmasters who wield a lot of power in the kingdoms, making them beloved by the public for supposedly protecting them against the Creatures of Grimm. This serves to make Team RWBY's and their allies' meandering across Remnant and unwillingness to trust or cooperate with the kingdoms' authority figures after the Fall of Beacon a lot more justified and understandable.
- What If?: "What if Salem and Ozpin's roles were reversed?"
- What the Hell, Hero?: Calxiyn says that during this universe's version of the Atlas arc, Robyn Hill of the Happy Huntresses would verbally rip into the heroes when she learns that they were helping the people of Mantle in order to cripple the villains' goals in the bigger picture, not because they specifically cared about the people of Mantle's impoverished and downtrodden plight.
