Mansion
Length does matter because it is part of the context. Another part is the injured Nora.
Everything they tried to work for had gone down the tube. They are now wanted criminals. Ruby and the group were divided on what to do. They reluctantly split into 2 groups. And now they just survived a second round with the AceOps and now have a severely injured friend and no healer. Now Salem herself is parked on Atlas. Ruby herself is shown to be near the end of her rope and struggling to figure out what the next course of action should be to save the people of both cities, all while being pressured from 2 sides to "Pick a side". If she picks Atlas then she has to give up Penny and sacrifice everyone down in Mantle. If she picks Mantle that means trying to fight an army and possibly risk everything getting worse. She can't pick at the time because she is afraid of screwing up, and the clock is ticking.
Blake
I don't see how Blake "losing" fights is any worse than Weiss having basically no win herself until her fight against Marrow in V7. Not to mention that Atlas Blake is still a touch rattled by having killed Adam back in V6. There is nothing wrong with her not wanting to risk a fight with a drunk, not to mention they are trying to keep a low profile. Weiss chucking the drunk was just the first showing of Weiss not willing to put up with anyone's BS while in Atlas. For Nora she has always been one of the more vocal people in the group. Given what Blake had been through in the previous volumes (4-6) I don't think it is odd they let Blake rest action wise while in turn giving members of JNR time in the spotlight.
Assertive
I don't think they have forced their way on other. Instead they have had a goal, and aimed for it. They needed to get to Atlas, but Qrow tried to talk them out of Jaune's plan. Ruby answered back basically saying she was going to hear him out and that they would come up with a plan, and that they would be happy to have him. When faced with Cordovin Ruby explained that they were only stealing the ship because Cordo was not giving them any other choice, and when that whole mess brought grimm to Argus Ruby and friends jumped right back into the fray to defend the city even when the army told them they would get no aid, and Ruby's words and bravery stirred Cordo enough for the short-stack specialist to give Ruby a chance and they parted on good terms. In Atlas they, again, did not force their way on anyone. If anything things went to hell in a handbasket because Ironwood refused to be swayed in the end.
Ableism
The commentary of "removing his humanity" makes sense to me with the context of the show. To stop Watts Ironwood basically flayed his own hand and arm to break free and grab the weasel. "I will do whatever it takes." And he does (or at least tries to). To put himself back in working order he has the flayed hand/arm replaced with a new and hurried prosthetic. To get Winter back in working order he got her into that brace. What is something we learned about Atlas and the Ace Ops? You are replaceable. If someone dies, a new person is swapped in. Just like how Marrow replaced Tortuga if Harriet short yet emotional vent is to be believed. Ironwood I think even at one point questioned if Salem lacking a heart is what made her strong. This is what I think the CRWBY meant by what they said. It's not so much "Prosthetics = less human" it's the context of the meaning of the replacements. Yang took time to rest and even debated putting the arm on after she got it. Maria retired from the field and quietly slipped away after she lost her eyes and even after eventually getting her prosthetics did not rejoin the fight until the present day. Ironwood, on the other hand, just swapped to a new metal hand and powered on like a machine. Metal as hell, but not good for one's mental health, which is bad when you are trying to lead an army and not let anyone question you.
Penny
Are we just ignoring what all of Team RWBY was telling Ambro when they were talking to him during the Penny part of the plan?
They didn't tell him to take her soul and plop it in a flesh body. The way they worded it basically left Penny as just the soul that had been in the metal shell and when Ambro was unsure of what would happen I think Ruby said "Well, I guess you'll have to get creative." And thus a blue fairy gave Pinocchio the "real" human body.
oh and as for "The writers created that entire situation. They didn't have to, but they did." Welcome to writing any story whatsoever. Because ALL writers make the situations in their stories. Did George Lucas had to have Obi-wan die? Did he have to make Jar-Jar Binks a thing? Nope, but he did. Did George R.R. Martin have to keep killing characters? Nope, but he did. Did The Legend of Korra have to exist? Nope, but it was made. Etc. etc.
Mansion - the amount of time does not matter because of the context i would say. It is one thing if the protagonists spent 24 hours at the mansion while nothing is going on. Its quite another to do so during an invasion. Its like firefighters taking a break during their shift, yes, its "only" 24h, but in the situation they are in, many people may die in those 24 hours. Nora can be looked after by a single person and them being wanted should not stop the protagonists from being heroes. This is the same thing as with stealing the airship in V6 in my opinion, if the protagonists prioritize their own comfort over helping people, they are not heroes. As far as Ruby herself goes, she had already made the choice. Both for herself and for Mantle/Atlas already. Her choice was to stand and fight.
Blake - Using Weiss is not a greatest example to use because Weiss has also been very much nerfed in her fighting prowess and in Volume 5 we have a near-fridging of her by making her an incompetent fighter just so Jaune could unlock his semblance. There is nothing wrong with Blake not wanting to risk a fight. But it is the writers who chose for Weiss to be a "white saviour" trope to Blake, and it is the writers who chose that Blake is now no longer an activist, and the groups clown, Nora is. One has to remember that RWBY is not real life, its a story, and the writers decide that these things happen. Im not questioning character logic here, i am questioning the writers choices in making Blake near non-existant.
Assertive - The protagonists have forced their way on others since even Volumes 2-3. A good example is how Ozpin allows them to go to Mountain Glenn because he knows that otherwise they would do it anyway. In V6 they choose to steal a military airship, forcing their journey upon others instead of looking for other choices. In V7-8 they force the choice of Atlas not being allowed to leave on others.
"They left us no choice" - is just wrong. The protagonists had a choice, especially with Cordovin. They just chose to force their way through instead of using any other plan. Like for example, sending Weiss ahead so that Weiss can contact Winter/Ironwood and get the rest of them into Atlas.
Ableism - Self sacrifice is not a loss of humanity, that is just a disgusting statement. The writers directly talked about prosthetics being symbolic for Ironwood losing his humanity. The prosthetic is also black, the colour usually associated with evil. The prosthetic is also skeletal looking, once again, associated with evil. And when Ironwood makes his crazy decisions in V8, his prosthetic is usually made to be clearly visible. LEt us be very clear here, how they treated Ironwood prosthetic is just disgusting. All of those details i mentioned are not coincidental, they were chosen by the writers and then commented on.
Penny - I am not ignoring anything, what Ambro was told is irrelevant to Penny at the end of her journey getting a human body, despite the fact that her entire message since V2 was that whats outside doesn't matter. Do you know how empowering that message felt, especially to me? It does not matter who you are outside, its inside what counts. So for that to be crushed and the story to end with her receiving a change to her outside is just... It just ruins the entire message. It ends up turning the message into "It doesnt matter who you are outside, its inside what counts, but its still better if your outside changes too".
Also, could we not start justifying that decision because "Pinnochio?", this also applies to another reply in that was made recently. Penny is not Pinnochio. The references to fairy tales in the show are usually skin deep and barely matter. Pinnochios story is completely different from Pennys. Pinnochio wanted to become real, that is the point of his entire adventure, that is why goes on an adventure. Penny since V2 did not want to become human. Because she already was.
Writers created the situation - The reason i said that is because you seem to be operating under the logic that the writing makes sense because the characters have reasons to act as they do. I do not disagree. But that is not the point i am making. I am exploring the writing itself, decisions that the writers made, choices that they made. Not the characters. I mentioned that the writers created the situation because it seems that we are arguing in two different dimensions, with you arguing about things making sense in-universe while i mostly explore out of universe considerations.
My point is that the writers make their choices for a reason, which does not always mean that it makes sense in-universe, or that its good writing.
