#fall of the future foundation arc | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

lunart-06 · 5 months

Text

My Makoto Naegi angst analisis thing (Hc)

(PLEASE KEEP IN NOTE): That this is just my general idea of him, kinda scared to share this cause qjdnnejf I know everyone has different opinions on Makoto so I'm just posting this in my own prespective of him. (It's a little messy cause I am unstable and disorganized when I write this so beware ooo)

Here's the art I made for this

So like, I believe Makoto has issues I think we all established that, and the moment when komaru mentioned of how he changes a lot in UDG (but still hold some same aspects of traits and habits that just makes him.... him) after managed to contact him the first time. It strucks me so bad that it gaves me a migrane /vpos

Like, Makoto earned his new title of the ultimate Hope (with the capital H and everything) just by defeating Junko the ultimate despair? By that point he was seen by the world as the savior and as the first and only hope they have thought lost for YEARS

Makoto's ability to move everyone by just words to which he probably didn't even realised the power he held over it. He's just incredibly passionate and its because his whole body speaks GENUINE emotions, his stubborn willpower and determination undeterred by despair and everything Junko herself has set up for.

It is something not everyone has the luxury to have. His optimism. But that's the thing.

Makoto was the ultimate Hope, only because he was just optimistic in nature. It was the flock of the moment during the last trial, his contagious optimism is what everyone, his friends, the world, preceives as Hope. The enlighting feeling of inspiration by just words of support and motivations for the first time since years after the tragedy started.

But again. Thats the thing. The "Hope" they admire, they clung onto, they worshipped, and they DIE for, was his mere optimistic nature. Just like he said himself "Optimism is all I'm best at".

Its cause well, it's true. (Kinda)

All he was ever good at in his view was just being that. When I rewatched future arc I sense how unBEARABLY useless he is without that title and usual positive nature, and his words don't reach the leaders of future foundation from attempting to kill one another (aside from certain ones, and at the very end ofc, but even then it was too late to prevent the deaths). His words doesnt even managed to reach Ryota from preventing him in using the Hope brainwash video.

It just further shows how.... normal he is

Despite the title, it just shows that he is nothing but a normal guy. He's not some god everyone preceives him to be, he's just some dude that was placed in a wrong time and place.

It's like all the good he is being- well, normal. Like typical "good kid". Somehow it kinda hurts to think about it, like you're obligated to see all positive in lives for it as everyone depends on you for such.

And now the whole world was in the palm of his hands.

I feel like he's scared, despite his strong stand and brave, determined face, he is a normal, ordinary guy that scared to lose what he was ever good and seen by everyone as. Being optimistic and hopeful.

Its like he's not allowed to even be sad for a moment to cry his hearts out. Because the world depends on him, his friends depends on him, he rely on them too much, he cant lose hope cause if he does, the world will fall apart AGAIN, and people will die AGAIN (just like his classmates, just like the people who died for him) he doesnt think he can handle that the second time.

Since that one thing Makoto despises the most is violence. Death to be exact.

He was probably exhausted but he cant yet, he has to keep moving forward, for the world's sake, his friends' sake, his only remaining family; his sister's sake, and for the sake of those who had died so he can carry out their hope that was left behind.

Theres also this quote that remind me of him:

"I'm scared that the moment I look like I'm suffering. Noone will believe me anymore"

Because like. He really cant do things as much without his friends. All he has was his hope; his positivity, determination, and optimistic nature. So he stood tall, facing despair, putting up a strong look just so people of the world, and his friends know, that they all can trust him. To have faith in him.

Because being optimistic is all he's best at.

That hope he has held dearly was destroying him internally. Scary thing is it? Despair isnt what was breaking him. It was the very thing that he was good at. And the very thing everyone thought of when they see him.

Just like junko when you think about it. She- ultimate despair, destroyed herself by the very thing she is (basically executed herself in the last trial) and now makoto was doing the same thing.

"The world's hope", "the strongest who never falters at the face of despair", "the savior", "their guiding light"

How much longer should he keep that up? Before everyone realised that he's nothing but just an ordinary, plain, boring guy?

How much longer should he fall before allowing himself to hit the ground?

A sprout who never truly managed to grow old, it's choose to shelter other by it's leaves, holding still, unmoving.

Yet its roots slowly rotten by parasites and disease, trying to keep the earth together. They can't die now, they're the protector, the hope of it all. <-(quote by one of my friend Ele, which I think is neat in itself, considering Naegi's name means sappling or seedling in general ajdhwjdj)

He may have survived the first killing game that birth his title as the Ultimate Hope,

He may have survived the second killing game in the Neo world program that shows us how devastated it must be for Makoto that Nagito would go that far for the sake of hope, how Makoto's words and hope does not reach the remaining survivor,

He may survived the third killing game in the Future Foundation where it must be devastating that he's unable to understand the victims fully from preventing them to try and kill eachother off ("don't try pretending you understand them, you don't understand them at all" kinda feel), where he watched as Kyoko died for his hope, not telling him THAT she will die, letting him live because not only that he was the closest friend she ever has, but knowing her; she thinks that the world still need the ultimate hope, and because of that, she was ready to accept her fate for it, because she was assured that Makoto is strong enough to move forward even when it's hard, because she has faith in him. Because she believes that Makoto will never give up Hope.

Eventhough he had survive countless scenarios where he could die anytime of those. I feel like eventhough he had survived multiple times.. he had died, multiple times as well, to become who he is now (multiple rebirth symbolism). To the point where he is unrecognizable in his own eyes, the feeling of the old him far out of reach, who is he now?

Things are so simple to him back then, why does things don't make sense to him about himself now?

He may never feel lonely outside, because he believes that his friends will always have his back, he believes that there will always be someone that could give him a hand.

But here, in his own mind, in his own exhaustion, in his own struggle, in his own confusion, he is completely all alone. This one is his alone to go through, his friends has too much on their plate already to handle this, he relied on them too much already.. (in a way, perhaps, he try to rely on others less).

Theres soooo many I wanna say about him but this is the general idea of my view on him, or er, version ig? His accidental savior complex that is.

And don't make me start of his self-sacrificial tendency. /lh

#danganronpa #makoto naegi #lunardr thoughts #danganronpa 3 #danganronpa 3: the end of hope's peak high school #also to note how despite his attempt to assure strongly of their escape and protection to Sayaka #it's still wasn't enough to stop her from drowning in her own desperation #its almost like she doesn't believe in him at all #butterfly effect as what my friend said /lh

73 notes · View notes

em-dash-press · 8 months

Text

What Does It Mean to Write With Intention?

Creative writing is an inherently personal practice. It’s you spending time with yourself to make something out of your ideas or feelings. It might seem like you have to wait for inspiration to strike, by learning what it means to write with intention will change the game.

What Is Writing With Intention?

Writing with intention is writing anything with a complete understanding of why your story matters. It’s easier to do this when you shift your mindset and prepare for your writing sessions ahead of time.

Simple Ways to Write With Intention

Decide What You’re Telling Your Reader

What’s the purpose of your story? If you’re picturing the description on a book jacket, that’s not what I’m referencing.

The purpose of a story is its message to readers. A novel about a family torn apart by greed might have the foundational message that capitalism can drive people to destructive lengths in pursuit of money. You’re warning readers about that drive.

A romance novel might use a romantic relationship to tell the reader that they’re worthy of a healthy, supportive, and thriving relationship even when they think very little of themselves. The message is encouragement.

Every story tells the reader at least one thing. Know what it is before you start writing and you’ll immediately gain a crucial intention.

Know Why Your Story Matters to You

You can tell someone something important without caring about it too deeply. Stories take up so much of our time and energy that they need to matter on some level.

Imagine your best friend telling you they overspent on their favorite shopping app again. You laugh together because they’re trying to make light of the situation, but then you gently remind them they need to learn how to budget. That’s an important part of succeeding in life, but you’re only telling your friend because their well-being matters to you.

You need to identify why your story matters before you finish writing it. It’s even better if you know your motivation before you start writing. When the message comes from something you feel deeply about, readers pick up on your authenticity and enjoy the story more.

Practice Self-Reflection

You might wonder what you value that deeply. Self-reflection is the best way to identify those things.

Consider your past experiences. What did they teach you? What feelings resonate most deeply with you due to those experiences? You can also shape your hopes and goals around instinctive values.

Journal prompts may also help you answer these things. Therapy is another great resource. Sometimes life makes our brains put up walls around what’s closest to our hearts to protect us. If you feel like you’re hitting a wall, therapy can help you deconstruct them to better understand yourself and eventually write about your primary motivators.

Read Like a Writer

Once you fall in love with creative writing, it’s helpful to always keep your writing hat on while reading. Whether it’s for fun or an assignment, take mental notes on how your current book or short story works. Note things like:

The plot structure

The primary plot points

The emotional core

The protagonist’s character arc

The antagonist’s role

The potential themes unfolding with each chapter

It’s also crucial to get your own feedback about what you read. Are you enjoying how the writer structured those things? What would you change? Which elements pulled you in and kept you thinking about the story after you put the book away?

Knowing what makes you engaged with a story and how your favorite authors structure their books will make it easier to write with the intention of engaging your future readers.

Create a Writing Practice

Every writer’s writing practice looks different, but it must exist in some way. You might have the right schedule for a weekly or daily writing practice. Maybe you can only get 15 minutes to write twice a month.

There’s no wrong answer because everyone’s life works differently. The advice of a full-time author who has eight hours every day to write creatively will be much different than that of a writer working on manuscripts for fun while working two jobs and raising kids.

Whenever you find that you can write, craft a practice with routine rules. You could set a rule that your phone remains on silent for those 15 minutes you’re with your WIP. Maybe your most effective rule will be sitting in a specific environment, like a library.

Rules and routines shape everyone’s creative practices. Start small and set more when you find a routine that works with your life.

Remember—what works right now or even this year might not work next year. Life is always changing. Part of writing with intention means writing in the best way that works for your life at any given time. Otherwise, you’ll be writing from a place of frustration or annoyance.

-----

Intention leads to phenomenal stories. Saying you’re intending to write a story isn’t going to get you there though.

Consider these tips to hone your focus and motivation. You’ll create an intentional sense of drive that doesn’t wait for inspiration to make you feel fulfilled.

#writeblr #writing tips #writing advice #writers of tumblr #creative writing #writing #writing community #writing help #writing resources #writing inspiration #writing with intention #intentional writing

134 notes · View notes

himboskywalker · 2 years

Note

Soooooo final thoughts on the Kenobi show miss Tag?

Sobbing, we were given everything we wanted isn’t it great?

But really we were pretty much given everything and even after a couple stolen hours of sleep I’m still just reeling. Because it was so Godamn good guys,like everything about it was as close to perfect as we could get. Literally everything I wanted from this show,the Hero’s journey arc for Obi-Wan,force visions/flashbacks of Anakin,Vaderwan fight scenes,an open faced Hayden as Vader scene, I not only got,but I got masterfully done. Everything was handled with such deference and love and it’s so evident that for Deborah and Ewan and Hayden,this was at its core a passion project that all mattered dearly to them. And that soul and dedication and care truly shines through in the weighted moments they give the characters and the narrative arcs that really mean something.

Others have mentioned on here how good the show is simply for leaning in on the themes that Star Wars is built on. Good and light and goodness will always prevail against hate and evil. Kindness is the foundation of the Jedi,letting go is tantamount to growth and happiness. The Kenobi series,reduced down to its bare bones,actually understands what Star Wars is about. And it’s narratives boiled down even further is to Obi-Wan and Anakin and forgiveness and holding on.

Obi-Wan’s arc is relearning himself,relearning to be a Jedi and to have faith in people and to forgive himself. Anakin’s is to cement himself in his own agony and inability to let go,to become the Darth Vader Obi-Wan faces Nine years later. You truly cannot have one without the other,where Kenobi goes Skywalker follows,and however you look at these men you cannot untangle them,or truly examine their characters without the other.

But on a less thematic perfectness vein,the choreography was also stunning. The evolution of Obi-Wan through his movements and his fighting. Can you believe episode one opened with a bent and weathered Obi who looked closer to Alec Guinness than the Ewan we know? He is haggard and worn and weak,and through the narrative he puts on his robes and takes up his saber and slowly learns to have faith and to use the force again. And by the finale he is the great Jedi Master General Obi-Wan Kenobi,falling into his iconic opening of Soresu and leveling an entire battlefield of rocks with the force. The lightsaber scenes were spectacular,and as much a story in themselves as the dialogue and emotional arc.

And I think the ending was perfect. Obi-Wan gets closure as much as he’s capable of,he is ready to move on. And after the wretched devastation that is the Anakin/Obi final fight,we end on a note of happiness and hope. Obi-Wan gets to meet Luke and Lobby that Hello There line,we see him actual to god laugh when he didn’t even smile for ten years. He finally communes with Qui-Gon,is finally looking to the future rather than the past.

In all I think it was brilliant,better than I could have ever hoped for. It better win awards,the world better prostrate themselves at Hayden’s feet and beg for forgiveness when he is such a stunningly phenomenal actor and a fucking wonderful person to boot. I want Roman parades of victory,I want to throw myself into the sun so I can stop having so many feelings.

#star wars #Star Wars meta #obi wan kenobi #anakin skywalker #kenobi series spoilers #kenobi series #obi wan kenobi spoilers #kenobi spoilers

459 notes · View notes

muthaz-rapapa · 3 months

Text

Hirogaru Sky Final Impressions (5/5)

Honestly, what were they going to do with those two weeks after 48 episodes? Have us wait until WonPre's broadcast? Yea right, lol

So the 20th installment of Precure is now officially finished and it feels both great and a little bit sad to say that since the bar has been readjusted quite high, we will probably need the 25th anniversary to get another season as awesome and well-written as HiroPre. [/harsh]

But that will be for something to worry about in the next five years.

So first, that finale!

Pretty much 5(ish) of the 6 last episodes was a whole arc dedicated to the most engaging lore Precure has ever given us to date.

Cure Noble is definitely entering the league of legacy Cures and perhaps as the one with the best story as well. How she went from princess-sovereign to becoming the very first Precure (in this universe, anyways) to helping pave a way for peace with her nemesis to laying out the foundation for the Cures who will succeed her in the future.

Yeap, Ellee-chan may have gotten a nice age-up bonus so that we can see her embrace her destiny and actually converse in something other than baby talk.

But it's more accurate to say that Ellee-chan/Cure Majesty's character arc is really Princess Elleelain/Cure Noble's instead.

Which is totally fine with me. Not only was Elleelain super interesting as a hero/protagonist in her own era but Kaiserin was...dear god.

Dear god, when have we gotten a twist that was this good and this dark by the series' standards? I felt we haven't touched this level of grim writing since Heartcatch and that was my first Precure season ever.

But seriously, it's impossible not to sympathize with Kaiserin and appreciate how much she contributed to the plot as well as this season's message that power is not what makes a hero, but the strength of one's heart that does.

Even her traitorous tutor, Skearhead, said she had what it took to become a hero (and maybe even Precure? oooh~), which just makes her fall into darkness more tragic.

But thankfully, she never lost her kindness and compassion, which was what ultimately allowed her to not only be saved but her wounds to finally heal after hundreds of years of suffering from the pain of betrayal Skearhead had inflicted on her.

And that her generals, who all turned over a new leaf, came back to the Undergu Empire to loyally serve her and make sure she isn't alone...

Good! This is so satisfying, I couldn't have asked for anything better! Kaiserin deserves her happiness after all she's been through!

But of course, that's not all because no Precure finale is complete without the last episodes dishing out the best combat scenes of the entire season and did it deliver, alright.

Uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-HUH!

The animation was absolutely stellar and not so overdone that it'd look more gaudy than cool. coughDeliPaPrecough

Moreover, the teamwork is what really sold the animation. As it should because Precure is all about that team effort brought on by personal growth, not a one-man show.

I loved how Wing, representing wisdom, was the one everyone trusted to get that barrier back up because it is a mechanism that he researched and developed to help everyone. It proves that boys don't need to fit into a specific mold of masculinity or genius to be a hero because in the end, those things don't matter. It's being true to yourself, your beliefs and your dreams and what you choose to do with those abilities that counts.

I loved how Butterfly, who is physically the strongest in the group, always takes on the tougher tasks such as facing the army of tedious mooks to let those younger than her forge a path ahead. She never forgets her responsibility as an adult to protect the kids but she also encourages them to move forward because she fully believes in them like a good adult would.

I loved how Majesty comes to understand that though she's meant to inherit Cure Noble's will and power and position as Skyland's princess, it's not her destiny to inherit Elleelain's loneliness. And the whole reason that she started out as a baby but was able to grow and become Precure was because she was surrounded by the right people who brought out that potential in her. For Ellee-chan, being with her friends and fighting alongside them was the bigger, more important destiny than her duty was.

Finally, the star duo of the show.

Sky was given stronger MC vibes than the other cast members but you can't deny that she wouldn't have gotten this far without Prism by her side.

Sora's idea of what it means to be hero expanded a lot because she became friends with Mashiro.

She has come to treasure Mashiro so much that when she was on the brink of losing her best friend, she let Skearhead corrupt her in order to have enough power to save that best friend. She was willing to sacrifice herself for someone important to her, which in a way, can be seen as an act of heroism (but only as a last resort, plz do not attempt).

And even then, Sky kept resisting from being taken over. Prism didn't even flinch when Sky aimed a punch at her. That's how much Mashiro believes in Sora, in the hero that Sora is. That even if Sora accepted darkness into herself to do the right thing, she won't ever let that darkness consume her into doing the wrong thing.

And the fact that it was Prism who had the ability to not only purify Sky but also heal Kaiserin's centuries-old wound. She's come a long way herself from the girl who used to think she was talentless, who didn't believe she had anything special going for her.

"You are good as you are now, Mashiro-san."

What Sora said was true until the very end. Mashiro didn't ever need to change. She was already good enough and she was always going to become even better than how she started out because she was always being inspired and supported by those around her and challenging herself to do things she initially hesitated on doing.

Now she's continually drawing new stories, even winning an award for one. Even her Prism Shot evolved and multiplied as an attack and it's all because she learned to believe in herself because all her friends believed in her.

This is essentially what sets Precure apart from the others, what makes it the major name it is in modern day mahou shoujo.

I cannot begin to describe how glad I am that the staff at Toei reinforced those aspects of friendship as well as the celebration of individualism in a milestone year. But I can definitely say with confidence that we can expect to see more well into the franchise's 30th anniversary as long they don't forget these two very crucial things.

As for me, I think this will be the last time I blog Precure on a "regular" basis.

I'll still continue to watch cuz hey, there's no reason for me to stop yet.

(and all the more reason to not stop if Satoru and Daifuku become the next two male Cures in WonPre OMGI'MSOGONNAJINXTHISAREN'TIBWUAHAHAHAHA!!!)

But my priorities have shifted so I gotta tend to those foremost. And as much as I enjoy the show, I feel like I'm always saying the same stuff over and over again anyway, just in different variations of it.

(also, something about WonPre tells me the next four years will be filled with hit-or-miss seasons so meh, I'd rather just follow it leisurely than get too invested and then disappointed)

On another note, I do have some personal rankings that I'd like to post some day. I was going to do it for the 20th anniversary but didn't have time to cuz life got way too hectic and busy but yea, eventually I'll have them up.

Just for fun, y'know.

Ok, that is all.

Thank you, my hero girls and boy! You made this season so wonderful hahahaha, good luck, WonPre for me and I can't be grateful enough for it.

Thank you for a beautiful anniversary! Let's aim for the next!

25th year with 100+ Precure!

Let's gooooooooooooo!!!

#hirogaru sky precure #cure sky #cure prism #cure wing #cure butterfly #cure majesty

13 notes · View notes

layingeggs · 3 months

Text

Wow. I always thought the original Gundam was foundational to mecha anime specifically. I didn't realise that it was just foundational to anime.

I will discuss spoilers in this post but I'm not spoiler tagging for a show that's old enough to fulfill a lesbian fantasy about getting hunted by a cougar.

So yeh, anime. We've got kids becoming Akira. We've got Rei Ayanami and Anthy Himemiya. This show is crazy, it has everything.

And you know, we've all heard people saying that Neon Genesis Evangelion is a deconstruction of the mecha genre. I always thought that that was wrong, but I think I'm reconsidering!

I believe the popular take is that NGE is deconstructionist because unlike other mecha anime it highlights the harsh realities of being a child soldier.

So obviously that's completely wrong. Perhaps the biggest thing that Gundam focuses on is the harsh realities of being a child soldier.

But then you have Lalah. A beautiful mysterious quiet girl child soldier who is made to fight by an older male commander. She fights because she loves him dearly. He shares a gentle and affectionate side with her, where otherwise he is only ever seen being formal and withdrawn and rough, even to his own family.

The beautiful mysterious quiet girl child soldier and the begrudging hurt naive lead protag boy child soldier come into conflict with each other over this male figure. The former seeing the soft side and the latter seeing the rough side.

Eventually they come into an understanding with one another when their minds collapse into the singularity that human evolution is either rising or falling to.

It's Rei Ayanami, isn't it? *Points at her* Look! It's Rei Ayanami! It's her! It's Rei! It's Rei Ayanami!

I get this sense that Hideaki Anno watched Gundam and became fixated on her. That NGE is his fanfic where she not only takes on a more major role but the ending of her character arc, one of apotheosis, is shown with more detail and fervour. What is implied in Gundam is made textual in NGE.

He watched Gundam, and he understood the underlying ideas being put forward by Lalah's character, but still felt it wasn't properly done justice. And so he sets out to fix that, and show what Gundam really could have been.

NGE isn't deconstructionist because of what it has to say about mechs, it's deconstructionist because of what it has to say about young girls who are made to embody utopic ideals. And the way that the dream becomes the nightmare becomes the dream. The utopic and the dystopic collapse into each other. All of this is filtered through the lens of how the girl sees herself and how she is seen by others.

These are themes that Gundam itself touches upon, but never fully explores, at least in regards to Lalah herself.

And so you have the setting of Gundam being a catastrophic near future war because the story at its heart really is about us and about war.

But the setting of NGE is the extinction of humanity under a greater unpredictable threat, because the story there at its heart is about the self and the world and girlhood.

The core thesis of NGE as a work of deconstruction then is that Gundam doesn't talk about girls enough. An idea that I personally have some mixed agreement and disagreement with.

#Mobile Suit Gundam #Neon Genesis Evangelion

9 notes · View notes

isagrimorie · 5 months

Text

I need more interviews with Dave Filoni and the cast of Star Wars Ahsoka! I need it!

“She had a very particular idea of him, the Jedi order, and who she was in all of that for a very long time until that image was shattered,” Dawson says. “The point we graduate to here is, yeah, he did some terrible things, and he also did some really great things. And it’s always up to you how you choose the direction. She can look back at her own life. She’s gone through some hardships that could have been the moment that turned her dark. She didn’t go there. So I think she’s starting to trust herself.” The series continues an arc from the animated Rebels series, set at the beginning of the galactic uprising, when Vader was at full power as an Imperial enforcer and Ahsoka came face-to-mask with her former mentor. “While I had introduced in Rebels the idea that she came to understand that Anakin had become Darth Vader, I never really dealt with the fallout from that,” Filoni says. “How does that affect somebody when a person that they really admire and looked up to turned out not to be the person they thought they were? Are we all just capable of a fall from grace? And what is forgiveness? What shape does that look like? Did I take the good parts of this person with me as well as the bad, or am I just the good? I thought there were a lot of interesting challenges for her.” -- Dave Filoni on Vanity Fair

---

Sabine has no blood relationship with Anakin, but she has a certain recklessness in common with him that makes her mentor Ahsoka more than uneasy. “Part of the reason Ahsoka originally had issues trusting Sabine was because I reminded her so much of her master in some ways, in terms of the internal struggle I was going through,” she says. -- Natasha Liu Bordizzo

---

Filoni felt he had to expand the Star Wars universe in order to justify their absence and add an extra-large obstacle to their eventual recovery. “If they were in the Star Wars galaxy—the old Star Wars galaxy that we know—I think somebody would’ve found them,” Filoni says. “There’s too many starships, there’s too many people traveling. You get a signal out, and I think you could have found them if they wanted to be found. I had to really throw them far afield.” Lucas himself laid the foundation for this solution, which Filoni found tucked away in one of the prequel films. “I think it’s in Attack of the Clones,” he says. “If you look, there’s an image of the galaxy, and then there are actually these smaller galaxies near it. So I’m like, ‘Oh, that’s interesting.’”

I really, really love that we open up the Star Wars universe more, and opening up in a different galaxy!

Expect this broader universe to be a factor in any future season of Ahsoka or that feature film he is developing. “I’m setting up what seems to be a larger conflict with the Imperial remnant,” Filoni says. “That conflict can’t just mirror what we’ve seen before. It has to take on a different shape. It can’t just be the Empire versus what looks like the Rebellion, or even the Republic. It has to be visually different.

#star wars #star wars ahsoka #dave filoni #natasha liu bordizzo #sabine wren #ahsoka tano #anakin skywalker

15 notes · View notes

starlightshadowsworld · 5 months

Text

Danganronpa 3 Future Arc episode 7

Thonks

(We're back!)

I find it interesting that people blame Makoto for Junko's death.

I get why because he's the one who defeated her. He's the one who won the final trial, learned the truth and beat her at her own game.

He's Ultimate Hope and she's Ultimate Despair.

However, Junko's death is not Makoto's fault. She's the one who pressed the big red button and had all of this set up.

If anything Makoto was trying to prevent her death.

But of course her followers can't blame her so they pick him.

Man... I'm like barely a minute in and I'm on a rant.

Monaca in a dictator outfit while a bunch of Monokuma's at a bar.

Not a visual I expected.

Well Monaca is definitely embodying Junko, doing a lot of her mannerisms and such.

I do find it ironic that Junko's death gives people such despair, it's what she would have wanted.

And Monaca made herself the heir to Junko rather than Komaru.

Junko Enoshima the 2nd aka Monaca Towa doesn't really roll off the tongue, maybe workshop that.

Ayyy Nagisa!

Okay okay the Warriors of Hope are in on this too and know where Monaca is.

Okay but Nagisa's reflection dead ass looks like Mukuro.

I'm not the only one who's sees it, right?

Awh hell yeah Komaru's blasting Monokuma's with a microphone and taking names.

And Toko is here, trying her best.

I love Komaru's inner monologue of how she was just a normal high-school girl before all of this, while taking out Monokuma's.

Immediately the "hopes not my thing neither is despair" her whole I'm just gonna leave that up to my brother attitude I love it.

Have I mentioned I love the Naegi siblings? Because I absolutely do.

And Genocider Sho is here. I love how Komaru has befriended both Toko and Sho.

Hmm maybe let's not tell Komaru that Makoto was about to either be locked up for an eternity, or if Munakata had his way, executed.

Nooo not the Byakuya fantasy.

What in the world... Why he look like that? Why she look like that?

Ima skip this...

I feel so bad for real Byakuya who is somehow aware of all of this... Poor guy.

It's cool seeing Byakuya's inner monologue. It's no hangman's gambit but it's interesting to see him think stuff over.

And it is suspicious that the killing game isn't being broadcasted, shows they've got something to hide.

I love how Byakuya isn't even that far up in the Future Foundation but takes control abd everyone's just like yeah sure why not.

"Do not fret, for as long as I draw breath this organisation will not fall. I swear it on the dignity of the Togami name."

Nevermind I see why, he was the ultimate affluent progeny, dude was quite literally born to lead.

And it's nice to see it, especially seeing how he's changed and doing this to help his friends.

Also his name means nothing in this world and yet he makes it mean something, man so cool.

Toko and Sho heading into Monaca's base.

This should be good. I love that Nagisa said they don't have the man power and yet these two are just running inside.

It is highly impossible to be more Junko than Junko.

That's just basic maths.

"You're not gonna lay a hand on my brother!"

... No one let Komaru meet Juzo or Munakata.

Actually... Someone please do.

Wait, she surrendered? Huh...

Oh wow she really did blow this pop stand.

And there's a Monokumamobile.

Monaca be acting like every ex Junko cosplayer.

I kinda like this Monaca, just like oh yeah the whole Junko thing eh that was a phase I was going through.

Just laying down and playing games and eating crisps.

I don't trust it tho.

"I don't get it, how did you become such a lousy excuse for a human being."

WOAH!

Komaru!

Wow Komaru Naegi really gives no fucks. She's so over all of this, can't blame her tho.

I... Forgot about the whole Nagito was their servant thing... Huh.

Honestly going soo far down the road you think you're become a Despair filled Nagito... Yeah that'd make me stop in my tracks too.

Nevermind that is the evil smile.

So there gonna kill one of the previous survivors.

... Please don't, Makoto almost lost it when they fake killed Asahina I don't think he can handle a real one.

And Monaca knows but won't spill.

Wasn't prepared for Monaca to actually go to space.

Sure, why not maybe she'll find Kaito.

... Too soon?

I like how it actually gets to Sho that one of the past survivors could be killed.

Komaru being upset at the idea of losing Toko is so sad and sweet.

Aww Komaru and Makoto video reunion.

.... Komaru! Better ways to phrase it, don't say hey Makoto my dearly traumatised older brother.

Monaca told me someone's gonna die because of you.

Like, I get it we don't have much time but don't rip the plaster off that hard.

He's not gonna take this well.

Especially when he's standing next to a survivor from the first game.

Byakuya's attitude of that's complete bullshit, is my thoughts exactly.

"Somebodies gonna die.. Because of me...."

SEE! What did I say?! Oh man I was already concerned for mental state of Makoto Naegi.

And this is only increasing that concern.

I am stressed.

#danganronpa 3: the end of hope's peak high school #Danganronpa #makoto naegi #monaca towa #komaru naegi #toko fukawa #byakuya togami #long post

10 notes · View notes

kradogsrats · 11 months

Text

So now I can finally return to my true love, the AU rewrite of the Titan Heart arc. I've been wanting to fill in the gaps and post this bit for a while, because it's kind of the culmination of... a lot. Mostly a lot of trying to understand Sarai.

This is right after Harrow and Sarai's duel in "Breaking the Seal," which Lissa witnesses from one of the castle windows.

—

Ezran had slipped into a doze, his soft baby snores rising and falling with his small chest. Lissa lifted him off the blanket and stood, moving to sit beside Sarai on the couch. "Can I ask what's wrong?"

"What do you mean?"

"You didn't seem happy when we saw you down there with King Harrow."

Sarai looked at her quizzically. "'We'?"

"Well, I don't know how much of it Ezran caught," Lissa clarified, "but I'm sure he was rooting for you."

"He'd better, if he knows what's good for him," Sarai chuckled, then sighed. "It's... a difference of opinion. I don't like setting out with the intent to take a life. I don't think I ever will. Not even a life others would deem monstrous. Not even to save ourselves."

Lissa looked down at Ezran, now asleep in her arms. She imagined him shriveled and gaunt, his healthy chubbiness melted away. The lively bloom in his cheeks gone dull and gray. His contented burbling changed to weak, thin cries.

"What else can we do?" she said quietly.

"I don't know. I wish I did."

She handed Ezran over, careful not to wake him. Sarai's face softened as he shifted sleepily. Lissa could tell her thoughts were moving along the same path as her own had—imagining the pain of watching helplessly as a child wasted away in a slow death. A death that they could have been spared.

"I suppose I'm just wishing things were different," Sarai said, after a moment. "Either that we didn't have to make decisions like this, or for Harrow to at least be less cavalier about it. He's so intent on the virtues of this solution that he's not considering all its ramifications.

"We have so many plans, Lissa—plans to make things better in real, lasting ways, for everyone. Plans that would shore up the foundations of the entire Pentarchy, and build a future on top of something solid. Now I worry that he'll abandon those plans the minute some magical quick fix is able to plaster over the cracks."

"King Harrow's not like that. He wants to do what's best—he won't just settle for whatever is easiest." Lissa tried a smile, knowing it was probably half-hearted and lopsided. "And if he does, you can always flatten him in the sparring ring."

"That's true." Sarai returned the smile, but it faded quickly. Her gaze slid away from Lissa's face. "It's unfair of me, but I suspect some of how he's behaving now is because of Viren."

Lissa paused, seized by the sudden, desperate wish for her husband to be there, alive and with them. He'd be in the thick of things, for sure—researching spells with Kpp'Ar, or bickering over siege weaponry with Sarai, or simply taking some of the weight from King Harrow's shoulders in the way only his presence could. His loss had left them all weaker.

"He was as much an idealist as King Harrow, in his way," she said quietly. "He truly believed magic, given the chance, would be the way to a better world. They were close for a long time—it wouldn't be surprising for that to influence the way his majesty thinks, sometimes."

She hesitated, wondering if she should reveal more, then chose to press on. "Did you know that he grew up with nothing? When he went to Kpp'Ar, he only had the clothes on his back."

"I didn't. He never talked about his childhood—not in front of me, at least."

"No, of course not. To hear him tell it, you'd think he sprang full-grown from King Harrow's footprints." Lissa shook her head ruefully. "Stubborn man. He didn't even talk to me about it until I was pregnant with Soren.

"His mother was all he had, and she worked herself into an early grave providing for the two of them—she died only a few years after he left home. She was able to keep them both fed, but only just."

Sarai saw what she was getting at. "And in a famine, they would have gone hungry."

They both knew the bulk of widespread deprivation was always borne by the poor, the orphaned, those enduring illness or disability, the outcasts—all the people who already scraped by with so little. Scarcity would make prices rise, and the wealthy would continue to pay them. Those who could not would go without.

"All those plans you have are part of what makes the two of you truly great rulers," Lissa said gently. "You have a noble vision, and more importantly, you have the patience and will to make it a reality—but you're not gods. No throne has the power to gather up all of a kingdom's suffering and distribute it fairly."

"I know you're right," Sarai said, sighing, "but I wish you weren't."

They both fell silent. Sarai looked down at Ezran, who gurgled softly in his sleep. Lissa leaned slightly against her, shoulder to shoulder, wanting to offer some sort of comfort. After a moment, Sarai leaned against her in return, sighing again.

"I never went into a battle wanting to kill," she said, still looking down at Ezran. "Even knowing I was leading soldiers to their deaths—soldiers I knew had parents, siblings, even spouses and children—I always went in wanting as many of us as possible to go home safely, on both sides.

"There's no amount of killing that can save everyone." She looked to Lissa, her face serious. "But I'm going to make sure Harrow comes home. If he won't come home until he has this creature's heart, then I'll make sure he gets it."

"And keep him alive, if he decides to be a noble, brave idiot?"

"His usual self, you mean?" Sarai cracked a smile. "Yes. It might as well have been in our wedding vows."

Not for the first time, Lissa wondered if she would have stopped Viren, had she known what he planned. Would she have let him trade his life for Soren's, if he hadn't robbed her of the choice? Was it a choice she would ever have forgiven him for giving her?

“Then I’m going, too,” she declared.

Sarai drew back to look at her in surprise. "You?"

“I’m Del Barian, remember—I can ride, and I can shoot. I've brought down big game. I may not be a soldier, but I'm hardly helpless.”

"I'd never doubt it," Sarai countered, "but you're also all your children have. You shouldn't risk—"

"And who will Callum and Ezran have, if you and King Harrow don't come back?" Lissa demanded, cutting her off. “This was all my idea. It’s not right for you two to take all the risks while I stay behind.” She fell silent for a moment, then sighed unhappily. "Besides, you'll have your hands full, with him. Someone will have to look after Kpp’Ar."

#the dragon prince #lissa #sarai #neither crows nor eagles au #kradogsfic

20 notes · View notes

supersaiyanjedi14 · 1 year

Text

RWBY COMBAT ANALYSIS: NORA VALKYRIE

“When my mom ran from the Grimm and left me behind, you found me. We became Ren and Nora. But I realized on this mission apart, I don’t know who “Just Nora” is. And if I’m ever going to find out, then I have to do it alone. Because I’ve always loved you, Lie Ren, and that pretty head on your shoulders seems like it’s doing a lot better. But I still got to get mine sorted out before I can be the partner you need. Is that...okay?”

PHYSICAL

At the time of the Atlas exodus two years after the Fall of Beacon, Nora Valkyrie was a 19-year-old human female originally from Mistral. While specific details are sparce, her original hometown was known to have been destroyed by an attack by the Grimm, prompting her mother to abandon her at an early age. Reduced to a homeless orphan, Nora eventually made her way to the village of Kuroyuri, scavenging for some time before it to was overrun, this time spearheaded by a savage veteran Nuckleeve. Fortunately, Nora found companionship in the concurrently orphaned Lie Ren, whose newly uncovered Semblance saved their lives and set a foundation for their nearly inseparable bond down the road. The pair would travel together for several years before enrolling in Beacon Huntsman Academy in Vale, continuing formal Huntsman training alongside Jaune Arc and Pyrrha Nikos. Be it a coping mechanism or sheer optimism, Nora retained a cheerful and friendly, if sometimes eccentric, disposition in her everyday life, though her past trauma and future ordeals would come to severely test her mettle.

Despite obviously suffering from malnutrition during her time as a street urchin and being somewhat gluttonous in the modern day, Nora retained a clean bill of overall health and possessed an exceptional degree of physical fitness. A conventional though nonetheless highly impressive human specimen, Nora sported a stocky athletic physique, standing at 5’1” and distinguished by her auburn hair, green-blue eyes, and fair skin. Nora’s most noteworthy physical characteristic was her exceptional physical strength, leveraged though her direct and heavy-handed approach to combat. By her own estimation, she could bench press five times her own weight, a likely embellished assessment that is nonetheless corroborated by her displays. She has overpowered numerous targets with a single blow, up to and including crushing even high-caliber Grimm, notably executing a Deathstalker, killing a King Taijitu, staggering a Nevermore, and later landing the critical blow on the Nuckleeve. Compared to her contemporaries, Nora has sent multiple trained opponents flying with the force of her hammer swings, and the only beings consistently able to challenge her have been fellow heavy hitters such as Yang Xiao Long, James Ironwood and Hazel Rainart, all of whom she has been able to overpower herself. Although Rainart and Ironwood were only overcome when Nora’s strength was augmented by her charged up Semblance, this is still an impressive feat given the terrifying bulk of both men would have required an exceptional baseline strength level to even attempt these feats. The only times Nora’s might was insufficient was when a Dust-amped Hazel caught her hammer at Haven and when Tyrian Callows braced his tail against her in Oniyuri. Despite this heavy-handed approach, Nora was dynamic and mobile, covering ground with running charges and power leaps. She maneuvered through the Beacon food fight with relative ease, used full-body spins to add power to her strikes, and was proficient in leveraging her weapon’s recoil to propel her across the battlefield. While Nora’s ability to contend with more agile opponents may appear to be middling, given that Tyrian Callows, Neopolitan and even Neon Katt were all able to outflank and trip her up, I won’t deny that it has only been speedsters of this caliber or higher who have ever done so with ease. Though she favored simple movements and strikes with few elaborate movements, Nora still demonstrated strong reflexes and dexterity, responding to gunfire and wielding her hammer skillfully even against Weiss Schnee’s elegant fencing style.

Nora’s extremely high levels of athletic output were reinforced by her exceptional resiliency and stamina, fighting in numerous lengthy battles while maintaining her performance and surviving various major hits. Though not quite a tank along the lines of Ironwood or Hazel, Nora was easily an armored truck in the mold of her contemporaries Yang and Jaune. During the food fight at Beacon, she shrugged off being slammed into a vending machine and was only overcome when Ruby’s Semblance-induced whirlwind slammed her into a wall and battered her with debris. In Kuroyuri and Oniyuri, Nora was battered around by Tyrian and the Nuckleeve, the latter shattering her Aura, and she continued to fight without any noticeable deterioration in her performance. During the protracted battle at Haven, she was knocked around by Hazel Rainart and endured the pain of the brute manhandling and electrocuting her, digging deep and overpowering him (albeit with the aid of her Semblance), and only started to suffer from fatigue in the final stretch. Appropriately for such a tough girl, Nora has only been subdued by overwhelming force or power, folding to punches from an Atlesian Paladin and later Caroline Cordovin’s Colossus mech. While the latter feat was only possible thanks Jaune amplifying her Aura, the simple fact that she was able to walk after such a catastrophic hit is a testament to just how much it takes to put this woman down. However, Nora was not invincible. In easily her most impressive display of fortitude yet also her most risky, Nora endured the agony of absorbing the electric energy of the Atlas command center security door in order to escape, overcoming both her Aura and Semblance, and leaving her with disfiguring Lichtenberg scars across her arms and torso. Though successful in aiding her allies, Nora was knocked unconscious by the ordeal and was left bedridden for anywhere from several hours to a full day. Regardless, just as with Cordo, Nora was able to bounce back very quickly. Despite these severe injuries receiving only limited medical intervention from Klien Sieben and Jaune, Nora made a full recovery and was fit enough to engage Ironwood the following day.

Despite her heavy grounded approach to combat, Nora’s fighting style heavily emphasized full freedom of movement, putting her full weight behind her strikes and swinging as hard as she could. As such, she opted for lightweight Huntress garb rather than adopting armor, fighting unencumbered. When she joined in Atlas operations, she wore a simple black unitard underneath a sleeveless pink overcoat, covering her arms and legs with detached sleeves and leggings. She completed the outfit with fingerless gloves, rugged boots, and metal bands on her upper arms and thighs. Despite offering no protection in the event of an Aura break, it remained practical in the field and continued to reflect the young Huntress’s colorful personality.

RANKING: Tier 2, Peak Human Fitness

Despite lacking any significant anatomical features or enhancements, Nora Valkyrie was irrefutably the most physically powerful member of Team JNPR, and she continues to outperform her peers with her exceptional athletic performance and extremely impressive tolerance for injury. Perfectly representing the physical apex Huntsmen strive for, Nora’s sheer output ensures that she is going to be a major threat to just about any potential adversary, while her ability to roll with the punches means that nothing short of a catastrophic hit will take her out of the fight. Much like Yang and Hazel, Nora is only kept out of Tier 1.5 due to her aforementioned conventional anatomy. Nora isn’t superhuman, she’s just made out of concrete and hits like a wrecking ball. What can be deemed superhuman, however, is her will to fight and persevere. Nora Valkyrie may hurt and cry, but she will not be beaten into submission. It’s a death blow or nothing.

MARTIAL

Nora Valkyrie was armed with Magnhild, a revolver style grenade launcher that converted into an oversized war hammer. Similar in design to the real-life Milkor MGL, the revolving chamber could hold at least six explosive canisters at a time, though the magazine capacity, like most RWBY weapons, it somewhat inconsistent due to Nora never being seen reloading her weapon. The projectiles themselves appeared to be outfitted with proximity detonators, and the individual shots had enough stopping power to stagger a fully-grown Nevermore with a single hit. The firing mechanism could also be altered to launch all the grenades at once in a devastating anti-personnel attack. When converted, the hammer was a comfortable 5.5 feet in length, the 10-inch diameter head appearing to combine elements of a pein and sledge. Built for hard combat, the maul has regularly proven itself strong enough to kill or stagger Grimm in a single blow as well as shatter stone with ease. Furthermore, the firing mechanism could still be triggered in hammer mode, Nora making a habit of using the recoil of the shots to send her flying across the battlefield. During Team RNJR’s journey to Haven, Nora upgraded her weapon with a built-in electric generator, allowing her to better exploit her Semblance in battle, and a more refined propellant system, using continuous exhausts to more efficiently traverse her environment, in addition to…well, turning her weapon into a Scooty Puff Jr. You do you, Nora.

In a private conversation with Headmaster Ozpin, Blake Belladonna stated her stance that individuals who lived outside the boundaries of the Kingdoms needed to learn to fight as a matter of survival, sink or swim. What these people lacked in formal education, they made up for with the trial by fire of real-world dangers, and few combatants in the RWBY setting embodied this mold as strongly as Nora Valkyrie. Given her status as an impoverished street rat and later Kuroyuri survivor, Nora’s formal combat training prior to enrolling in Beacon Academy would have been exceedingly sparce, forcing her to adopt a self-taught freeform approach to combat, building her skill set through grit and practical experience. This pragmatic approach allowed her to stand out as a remarkably talented martial combatant, making up for a lack of refinement and polish though focus and intensity that made her more than equal to her peers. Her training at Beacon and subsequent string of battles in Mistral and Atlas helped to smooth out the edges, her combat experience showing her strengths and weaknesses that she learned to tweak accordingly. Nora’s fighting technique was heavily tied to the nature of her weapon and her baseline physical might, operating as a powerful yet dynamic juggernaut. Her favored melee attacks were devastatingly powerful overhand slams and sweeping backswings, putting her full power into each of her blows to achieve single-stroke takedowns. Despite this brutish method, Nora was no barbarian with a cudgel, executing her hammer blows with precision and control when necessary. Nora was a capable markswoman, though her preference for explosives over standard projectiles further demonstrates her emphasis on power over control. She would often fire off her grenades in a sustained barrage, aiming to either destroy the target outright or soften them up for a critical blow. Ironically for such a heavy-handed offensive stylist, Nora’s defensive component was centered around evasion rather than fortitude, avoiding attacks with solid jumps or quick sidesteps. That being said, Nora’s defense was not perfect, and she regularly found her guard subverted or even overcome with sufficient force. Additionally, there is no evidence of Nora possessing any skill in hand-to-hand combat, relying wholly on her weapon in battle. The only time Nora ever displayed unarmed techniques was when she powered through Hazel Rainart’s grapple and judo-threw him over her shoulder, a clear act of desperation on her part enabled by her Semblance bolstering her strength. Despite her narrow skill set, Nora’s offensive output was devastating, all brought to a point by her committed focus and enthusiastic perseverance.

As a tactician and strategist, Nora Valkyrie was…well…

I hesitate to call her average, as she is quite intelligent and intuitive. Despite appearing to be a bubbly airhead at times, Nora took combat very seriously, recognizing legitimate dangers and responding to them with calm and focus. She had a particular talent for recognizing openings in an opponent’s style and approach before tailoring her own technique to exploit it. However, Nora’s greatest successes in this regard were often when she had time to evaluate or, more commonly, when she had direction from her allies, operating as an essential team player on multiple occasions. In Team JNPR’s battles with the Deathstalker and Team BRNZ, Nora operated completely within Jaune Arc’s strategies, coordinating with Pyrrha Nikos to literally hammer in the Deathstalker’s severed stinger, and taking higher ground to flush out May Zedong from her sniper’s nest. Team RNJR’s confrontations with the Petra Gigas and the Nuckleeve followed a very similar pattern, where Jaune and Ruby funneled Nora’s devastating blows were down the path of least resistance to critically disable their monstrous opponents. This position as her team’s heavyweight carried over to confrontations with intelligent skilled opponents, often engineering scenarios where her full strength could be brought to bear while undermining the enemy’s ability to defend or escape. During a sparring match with Team FNKI, Jaune, Ren and Oscar cut off Neon Katt’s retreat, in the process allowing Nora to fly in and beat her into the ground. Against Tyrian Callows in Oniyuri, Nora capitalized on her Semblance by allowing Ruby to shoot her with an electric Dust round, tricking the Faunus into lowering his guard before she rushed in and blindsided him. A similar tactic proved more successful during the Atlas Academy false flag operation, only this time Nora was charged by Winter Schnee’s Dust-charged Glyph, attacking James Ironwood while he was busy fighting Ren. This isn’t to say that Nora was useless without direction, as her skill and power still gave her the ability to maintain offensive pressure on the enemy as a means of covering for her allies When confronting giant Grimm, Nora typically opened with her grenade launcher, battering the target from a distance to soften them up before moving in the overpower them physically, something the King Taijitu at the Breech learned the hard way. Against skilled opponents, Nora used this same methodology to blunt incoming spearthrusts, her sheer force allowing her to repel Nolan Porfirio and Ivori with casual ease while freeing her teammates up to come up with a new plan of attack.

Despite her prowess as a team player, Nora’s advantages sadly did not carry over to single combat. When operating on her own, Nora’s policy, by her own assessment, was “be strong and hit stuff”. While I must stress that Nora is not unintelligent, her personal approach to combat was still very straightforward, mostly boiling down to a direct attempt to overpower the opponent with heavy offense. To Nora’s credit, her sheer power meant that this method was still very effective, seen when she overpowered both Weiss and Yang in the food fight, disabled Nolan in the Vytal Festival, and crushed numerous Grimm like soda cans over her career. She may have lacked precision and finesse, but her attacks were so powerful they rarely needed to be. Much like Hazel, Nora’s advantage as a martial artist is based around supplanting skill with raw physical performance, getting to the point where strength can override skill. However, this also meant that Nora had nothing to fall back on if brute strength failed her, as she had no means to truly subvert her adversaries nor to prevent the opponent from subverting her in turn. Despite surprising him with her charged attack, Tyrian recovered very quickly by blocking the blow with his tail and kicking the stunned Huntress away. Additionally, Nora’s most significant blunders came from her overextending, whether being baited into pursuing a more evasive adversary or simply over committing to an attack. Neon’s taunting was enough to get under Nora’s skin as she constantly tried to chase after her, the cat Faunus’s defeat owing entirely to the rest of the team cutting off her escape and giving Nora an anvil for her hammer. At Haven, Hazel’s strength simply exceeded hers, allowing him to overpower her, disarm her, and pin her to the ground. The only reason Nora was able to fight back at all was because Hazel, ignorant of her powers, subjected her to electric shocks that powered up her Semblance and gave her the strength to throw him off. Against Neopolitan at the academy, Nora was baited into charging in while the assassin simply tripped her up with a bat from Hush. Nora was at her best against fellow offensive stylists that she could brace up against and overpower, and at her worst when faced with more measured duelists who could cancel out her strength and dissect her.

RANKING: Tier 4, Advanced Application

Nora Valkyrie is a devastating offensive heavyweight, with a performance level more than advanced enough to threaten the greats of her era and a weapon that allows that power to be leveraged both at range and in close quarters. At the same time, Nora’s most compelling feats have been the direct result of working in concert with her allies, filling in the gaps of her narrow skill set with more consistent and adaptable tactics. Nora is a product of her era, her fighting style designed for general combat rather than single combat, leaving her at a disadvantage against more skilled and tactically nuanced opponents who can nullify her simple hammer strikes. Still, simplicity has a strength of its own, for while Nora is not a true master martial artist, she is certainly a master of her weapon, and her ability to capitalize on her advantages means she can maintain a consistent game plan with consistent power. Be strong, hit stuff. Lather, rinse, repeat.

SPECIAL

Nora Valkyrie’s Semblance was a particularly shocking power known as High Voltage (pun completely intended, come at me bro!). As described by both Bartholomew Oobleck and Nora herself, the ability allowed Nora to absorb electricity into her muscles, bolstering her already considerable physical strength to superhuman levels. Nora’s powers first manifested on what she dubbed a “crazy Thursday”, a freak accident resulting in her getting struck by lightning, not only enduring the bolt but emerging stronger as a result. Beyond the obvious application, this power’s nature fed into a secondary ability to negate the effects of electric shocks and injuries, something that Nora has demonstrated on numerous occasions. While Nora was not immune to the pain and still had to endure it, the lasting effects of the shocks on her Aura and body ranged from minimal to nonexistent, and the magnitude of these shocks is truly immaculate at times. When hit with a sustained application of electricity from Nolan Porfirio’s cattle prod, Nora showed mild discomfort at best, while a direct hit from an electric Dust bullet from Ruby merely knocked her off her feet for a bit, moving to attack Tyrian Callows almost immediately afterwards. While the exact measurements have never been established, there is a degree of correlation between the intensity of Nora’s absorbed electricity and the effects it has on her physical strength. Nolan’s prod merely empowered Nora to the point of blowing him backwards, but after absorbing a lightning bolt from Amity Colosseum’s mountain biome, Nora was strong enough to make a crater in the arena center. Nora also seemed able to control the amount of energy she expends for a given attack, having enough juice leftover to send all of Team BRNZ airborne hard enough to eliminate them. When Hazel Rainart subjected Nora to a sustained electrocution at Haven, Nora, despite clearly being in great pain, gained the strength to throw Hazel over her shoulder and later slam him through the walls of the Haven entrance hall, which is frankly incredible given that Hazel had spent the better part of the battle overpowering everyone he came across, including Nora herself.

Unfortunately, as impressive as Nora’s displays with her Semblance were, they were also fraught with numerous logistical drawbacks. Due to Nora needing electricity to absorb in the first place, her power’s effectiveness was severely diminished if there was insufficient electricity for her to draw on. While Oobleck’s commentary in Volume 3 says that Nora could generate electricity herself, this detail can comfortably be attributed to Early Installment Weirdness or a simple typo in the script, as Nora has never demonstrated this ability by herself. Instead, all of Nora’s uses of her Semblance have boiled down to circumstantial factors or the benefits of equipment. At the Vytal Festival and Haven, she turned her opponents’ attacks back on them by taking in the electricity of their weapons, bracing up against them and hitting them where it hurt. While these showings were impressive, they required Nora to exploit what the opponent had in that specific moment rather than something she actively took advantage of. This reliance on others carried over to her allies providing her with the electricity she needed. Against Tyrian in Oniyuri, Nora took the boost from Ruby’s Dust round to blindside the Faunus, and Winter Schnee infused her Glyph with electric Dust to provide a similar effect against Ironwood at Atlas Academy. While this reflects well on Nora’s ability to coordinate with her allies, this is, again, something she would not be able to accomplish when operating on her own, which limits her overall combative viability. To get around this, Nora upgraded the head of Magnhild with an electric generator during her travels in Mistral. Through this means, Nora was able to empower herself in the moment to perform some of her most impressive feats, most notably the destruction of the Petra Gigas. While Nora has rarely used this feature in live combat, my Watsonian belief is that the generator requires time to build up the necessary power, time Nora has rarely had against skilled opponents.

A far more serious shortcoming was the fact that Nora’s Semblance did not cancel out pain entirely. While her resistance to electrocution is truly immaculate, her most impressive feats have taken hefty tolls on her. Nora’s overpowering of Hazel was preceded by her screaming in agony as she was electrocuted, and her minimal participation afterwards indicated the beginnings of fatigue setting in. Even the comparatively limited power of Ruby’s Dust round was enough to stagger her, her survival owing entirely to Tyrian’s gloating. Fortunately, Nora was able to partially compensate for this by avoiding direct contact with the currents. Like many of her peers, she has frequently utilized her weapon as a medium to safely channel the power, allowing the weapon to take the damage rather than enduring it herself. It was likely this feature that influenced the incorporation of her hammer’s electric generator, providing her with a means to safely bolster her strength. However, the generator clearly had a limit to how much energy it could expel, as Nora’s greatest displays have still required outside influence, thereby continuing to expose her to risk. Cycling back to Nora’s ability to manage her output, this demonstrates that her Semblance is based around a serious calculated risk, forced to choose between power or control. Furthermore, even this tactic had limits, put on full display in easily Nora’s greatest showing of power. When her party was trapped in the Atlas command center’s computer terminal, Nora, through the hammer, absorbed the energy of an electrified security door, giving her the power to smash through the barrier. While this titanic display demolished the door, Nora’s Aura was overwhelmed, knocking her unconscious and leaving her grievously injured. Nora’s feats make it clear that pushing her to her limit is no easy feat, but even the strongest conduit in the world will eventually burn out.

RANKING: Tier 4, Reinforce Combat

Nora Valkyrie’s Semblance is a uniquely powerful ability, enabling her to perform some of the most incredible physical feats in the series while also providing an ability to turn her opponent’s energies against them. At the same time, the practicality of Nora’s powers in live combat is extremely circumstantial, as she requires outside sources of energy to use them to their fullest, while her showings against Hazel and the door prove that she does have limits to what she can do. Nora’s attempts to compensate are only partially successful, as the generator in her weapon has its mechanical limits and she has constantly relied on the Dust of her allies rather than carrying her own. Nora’s Semblance strongly reinforces her fighting method and plays into her ability to work together with her teams, but its logistical limitations hinder its effectiveness as a strategic tool, seen in her overwhelming preference for physical combat.

OVERALL RANKING: TIER 4, EXPERT HUNTRESS

Determined by her martial and special abilities, Nora Valkyrie’s placement in the Tier System highlights her status as a remarkably powerful warrior despite her repertoire of limitations. Like most Huntsmen of the day, Nora’s skill set and attributes are optimized for general combat with the creatures of Grimm rather than single combat with skilled adversaries, and as such Nora is a combatant built for the battlefield rather than the dueling arena. Her powers and abilities are well-honed, powerful, and feed into each other very effectively, but they are also rather straightforward and singular. What you see is what you get. Although the two have had little interaction in canon, Nora is surprisingly similar to Sun Wukong in how her attributes stack up. Nora’s physical hardiness provides a physical edge on par with Sun’s tail, their fighting styles emphasize power and force yet can be applied with subtly when necessary, and their Semblances provide strong battlefield advantages despite their logistical shortcomings. They are expert-level fighters respected for their prowess, but they lack the refinement and skill of the true masters. While Nora is not unintelligent, her displays of cunning and ingenuity are the exception rather than the rule, and she tends to rely too heavily on brute strength against well-trained opponents. She is an extremely credible threat to the higher ups, but her underdeveloped skill means she remains manageable.

In Volume 8, Nora pointed out her insecurities in formulating her own identity beyond Ren’s other half and the “be strong and hit stuff” girl. Aside from underscoring Nora’s own brand of psychological stress during the Atlas crisis, I find this idea (as is often the case with RWBY characters) intriguingly reflected in her development as a warrior. Just as she drew so much strength from her bond with Ren yet struggled to determine who she was on her own, Nora is someone who learned from her victories but not her defeats, doubling down on her offensive method rather than fleshing herself out with more tactically viable options and tools. Luckily for her, Nora has become aware of this, and has committed herself to achieving the healthy self-actualization she needs to grow. While not one of the great masters of her day, Nora is well on her way to truly coming into her own as both a Huntress and a woman just as Ren himself did. Whether this will carry over to Nora’s fighting abilities has yet to be seen, but given all she has demonstrated, I feel confident that the Valkyrie with come to fly on her own. One Boop at a time.

Special credit to KamenRiderAvenger (@kravenger2022) for the edit of Nora’s Atlas Arc render with her scars (slightly edited further by me to be closer to what’s on-screen)

*originally posted on RoosterTeeth Community page on 03-24-22*

* images taken from RWBY Wiki and @sapphire--art *

RWBY Combat Analysis

#rwby #rwby combat analysis #nora valkyrie #rwby nora #team jnpr #beacon academy #peak human fitness #advanced application #reinforce combat

28 notes · View notes

ovidiomedes · 11 months

Text

im sososo serious when i say dr3 should've been more focused on the survivors working at the future foundation

you can still have ur despair arc with class 77 falling to junko but make the future arc centered around the survivors. then make another season completely focused on the FF killing game

#danganronpa #at the end of the day i think dr3's biggest flaw was just too big of a story for not enough episodes

18 notes · View notes

greenhikingboots · 9 months

Text

Ship Game. Answer with a GIF. No repeats. 1. First Ship I thought long and hard about it, and I think my first ship must have been Mulan and Li from Disney’s Mulan. The movie came out when I was just old enough to start thinking critically about movies, noticing what I liked and didn’t like. And I realized I really, really liked Mulan and Li as individual characters, but I didn’t like that we didn’t get to see them fall in love — just the spark of something starting at the end of the movie. I think it was the first time I daydreamed about different scenarios that could have played out between them, which is basically the foundation of fanfiction, right? So…. count it!

2. First OTP This has to be Draco and Hermione (Dramione) from Harry Potter. This is the ship that got me into reading fanfiction and actually engaging in fandom spaces. Unfinished fics still haunt my Google Docs, and I hope one day I’m going to come back to this ship and finish them. Basically, I love thinking about Draco’s possible redemption arc and I love that a relationship with Hermione helps explore and enhance it. Oh, and the angst!

3. Current Favorite Sydney and Carmen from The Bear. It took until the end of the most recent season for the appeal to sink in, and I’d like to see more positive moments between them before romantic feelings solidify. But I think they’ve got a great foundation. Plenty of conflict, sure, but relationship experts say the frequency of conflicts and the subject matter of conflicts aren’t what indicate success in relationships. It’s all about how conflicts are repaired. And I LOVE the way they do repairs together. So vulnerable. So willing to accept responsibility and try to change. Looking forward to their development in future seasons.

4. Shipped From the First Minute Josh and Donna from The West Wing. I watched this show way after it ended and found myself just wanting more and more of them. Like, they could have been the main characters instead of having an ensemble cast and I would have been perfectly content. Playful banter right off the bat. She keeps him in line. He’d be lost without her. They’re both smitten but dammit they work at the White House and that means they have to keep things professional. The pining! Do yourself a favor and go watch YouTube videos of just them. You won’t regret it.

5. Wish They’d Been Endgame I’m putting Jon and Sansa (Jonsa) here so that I have a sensible spot left for other ships. I do believe they’ll be endgame in the books, if we ever get them, so this answer is for Game of Thrones specifically. We’ve all read, reblogged, and probably written a few of our own posts about how many different ways the show went sideways. I have nothing new to say here and to recap previous thoughts would take way too many paragraphs. Jon, Sansa, and the Stark legacy all deserved so much better. That’s the short of it.

6. Wish They’d Been Canon As some other answers hint at, I typically empathize with writers’ choices even if they don’t fit my personal preference. So it was hard to think of a couple that wasn’t canon but I truly thought should have been from a cohesive narrative perspective. Maybe Caleb and Maeve from Westworld? This show went more and more off the rails with each season, so a lot more than ship dynamics would have to change to redeem it in my opinion. And I definitely wouldn’t want Caleb to have been unfaithful to his wife. But they showed us such a stronger bond between him and his daughter and between him and Maeve compared to him and his wife that, like…. maybe his wife shouldn’t have even been a character? Write her out completely, as early as possible? And then that strong partnership between Caleb and Maeve could have been something even more? Yep, that would have been better.

7. You Like But Most of Fandom Hates Do people *hate* Jacob and Bella (Jella) from Twilight? I don’t know, but I like it 100 times more than Bella and Edward, and I think that’s probably pretty uncommon. Actually, in my college public speaking class, we had an assignment where we had to have a partner and write persuasive speeches from opposing views. And I was like, “Who wants to be my partner and have fun with this by debating Twilight ships?” I compared Jella against serious research about successful relationships and ACED IT. My instructor liked my speech so much she asked me to give it a second time to another class she taught while she recorded it. I would pay money to be able to track down a copy of that. A+ work.

8. Don’t Even Watch But Ship Them Anyway Eddie and Chrissy (HellCheer) from Stranger Things. Opposites attract? Grumpy sunshine appearing but maybe not really? Outcast boy and popular girl? A ship name that isn’t about their names? DOOMED BY THE NARRATIVE? What’s not to love, you know? Plus, this ship’s fans make amazing art! And if I remember correctly, it loosely inspired a Jonsa AU fic I really enjoyed, lounge act.

9. Wish They’d Had a Different Storyline Stefan and Caroline (Steroline) from the Vampire Diaries. I’ve only dabbled in this fandom, but it seems like Klaus and Caroline (Klaroline) is a much more popular ship. They had great chemistry, so I get the appeal. But the surface-level unrequited crush to reluctant mentor/mentee to genuine friends to platonic soulmates to lovers slow burn of Steroline is just chef's kiss. But then — spoiler alert — right after they get married, Stefan sacrifices himself so his brother and ex-girlfriend can be together? From a writer’s perspective, I get that ending. Full circle, brotherly love, blah blah blah. But I liked Stefan and Caroline so much more than Damon and Elena and would have rather seen the former couple get the happy ending.

10. Favorite that was Endgame Coach Eric Taylor and his wife Tami Taylor from Friday Night Lights. Do they count? They were together the entire series and had few serious marital conflicts. So there was never any threat of being something other than endgame. But I’m picking them anyway. I love their classic bickering like an old married couple and the way they still lust for each other after so many years. And I love, love, love that the series finale ended with them making a move that was more for her career than his. Relationship goals.

#ship game #dramione #jonsa #jella #carmen x sydney #josh x donna #coach x tami #maeve x caleb #steroline #mulan #hellcheer

11 notes · View notes