#V7C6

[dailynnd]

#11: Priorities

During the rally attack in V7C6, Penny didn't take action first. In fact, the first thing she did after activating her night vision was to check if Ruby was alright. Then she proceeded to identify the threat (Tyrian).

[thepalestrose]

RWBY/Justice League Movie Review

I went into it with extremely low expectations, but was pleasantly surprised. It's not amazing, but I really enjoyed it for what it was. I would 100% immediately buy a Part 2 if it was made, and would recommend this to anyone who loves RWBY and wants more after the V9 finale, or a JL fan who wants to get into RWBY.

Without spoilers... they leave the door open enough to this that the movie could actually be canon in the RWBY universe! (No idea if the same can be said for JL.) It also has lots of cute moments for the bees, as well as some hard hitting emotional moments with some of our favorite characters.

It's geared towards RWBY viewers. I watched it with someone who knew Justice League, and while I could pick up on the JL elements easily, they struggled with the RWBY stuff. The JL characters felt like they belonged in the RWBY universe.

Spoiler-review below!

So the last scene confirms this movie is taking place during V7 (between when they get their new outfits V7C3 and the election V7C6). I could totally see Watts being the one behind it, teaming up with Killgore to trap RWBY and co.

Just one of the many things that Watts did to try and destroy Atlas.

Okay but like, those Jaune and Pyrrha scenes were just mean!! Jaune knowing the entire time that Pyrrha isn't real, yet still desperately clinging onto the hope that there's a way back to her.

When Jaune is in the white room with Jessica, he realizes this is all fake, which leads him to think that maybe his memories, of Beacon falling, of Pyrrha's death, are all fake too. So... he literally throws himself to the grimm in hopes that it kills him and he wakes up in a reality where Pyrrha is alive.

Just... wow. A really great way to show his trauma.

I'm of the opinion that we'll never actually see Pyrrha, the real Pyrrha, ever again in RWBY. It's the most permanent loss that the show has ever had, and will always have. In a way, I'm glad the movie respected that? Overall, the movie definitely felt in the spirit of RWBY.

Another reason I think it could be canon is because its themes of leadership, of not being enough, really fit in with what was going on in the show at the time.

I really liked Jaune and Jessica together. Jaune is at his best self when he's supporting someone else, helping them realize their true potential. 10/10 use of him.

Jessica was also ADORABLE, from her design, to her personality, to her arc during the movie. Definitely my favorite of the JL characters. They'd make good friends.

Superman was good, and he and Ruby played well off each other as leaders of their respective worlds. No further comments.

Batman was awesome. Loved his wings. Loved his character arc. Him and Weiss together were pretty great, runner up duo after Jaune and Jessica.

Cyborg/Nora/Ren was... alright? Found it funny that Nora basically decided not to pay attention to either of them.

Flash and Vixen were both there too. My JL co-watcher pointed out halfway, rather annoyed, that the Flash should be faster than that. Turns out, he called the villian twist early!

Like I said before, if you like RWBY as much as I do, where you hang on every little piece of content we get, you'll enjoy this. As far as the extended universe goes, I'd rank this above Arrowfell (game was fun, but the story was a mess, sorry Arrowfell!), but below Roman Holiday.

[chittychittyyangyang]

This is just a quick skim, but the first time I noticed was V4C3

V4C8, she’s rubbing her arm more out of nervousness about wanting to talk to Ghira but I’ll count it.

V5C14

V7C2

V7C6 when Ironwood gives them the night off after talking about the election

V8C10

Does anyone have/know which episodes I can grab screenshots of Blake making this pose?

It’s for science an analysis post.

[askapossessedfarmboy]

“Finally freeeeee-”

[ozcarma]

Same image

[sunshinem0ths]

Tyrian be like

Vibe check

[desib717]

I still can’t believe Volume 7 made it canon that Penny sticks her tongue out when she’s concentrating

[kizzycannon]

“Let’s try it together?”

After V7 ep 6 those adorable bee interactions gave me a need to draw something so here they are dancing together. I don’t know how much luck Yang will have teaching her but I’m sure they’ll have fun either way XD

[lacependragon]

Robyn Hill and Fiona Thyme in V7C6 “A Night Off”

[fiona-thymee]

This episode was filled with such great fodder for my daughter

[sashathephoenix]

BABY. BABY BOI.

okay but look how happy our little farm boy looks when weiss says she’ll join them for the movies

[dailynnd]

#18: Pro-gamer move

In V7C6, the reason why Ruby decided to go to the rally even though it was on her day off was probably because she knew Penny wouldn't have been able to spend time with her otherwise. In fact, Penny states herself in V7C5 during the truck conversation that Ironwood said she "doesn't have time for friends". Thus, Ruby went to see Penny working, since the latter didn't have any day off.

[magnhild]

Nora Valkyrie, Identity, and Purpose

Hey everyone, Blaire here, and almost exactly a year ago, I made this mess of a post where I laid out all of my thoughts on Nora and what I thought the show could have in store for her.

And honestly, most of my ideas were way off, and not at all correct. Also, the post kind of flopped.

Thankfully, Volume 8 has given me a chance to redeem myself, and write another, more coherent, essay about my favourite RWBY character; where this Volume seems to be taking her character, and what it means to me, personally.

Buckle up.

To the vast majority of people in the RWBY fandom, Nora is the least-developed character, and the one most lacking in dimension. Most of her character seems to be defined by two things; her energy and love for fighting, and her relationship on Ren.

Volume 8 took note of these conceptions, and addressed them head-on.

Of course, any keen-eyed viewer will have noted Nora’s hidden depths even before this volume, which I noticed in last year’s post. She is perhaps the most perceptive of the main cast, at least, when it comes to people’s feelings and relaionships. She was the only one to really comment on Pyrrha’s crush on jaune, and the first to bring up Blake and Yang’s growing relationship. It was also her level-headedness that resolved RNJR’s argument in Volume 4, Chapter 9.

Volume 7 also showed us her innate desire to protect the weak, and her disdain to those who have the power to help, but refuse. I personally get the feeling that this was her driving motivation in becoming a Huntress; to protect people who cannot protect themselves, perhaps because she doesn’t want anyone to have to grow up as she did. Nora’s fury at Ironwood in V7C7 is esepcially signifigant, because it’s the angriest we’ve ever seen her before, even more so in that this anger is directed at someone with much more authority than her.

But these little details were only the tip of the iceberg. These were traits she already had, and while they help to add layers to her character, they’ve done very little in terms of her actual development. 

This is where Volume 8 came in stronger than any other.

Volume 7 hinted to us that Ren and Nora’s relationship was beginning to get more complicated, between their bickering, Ren’s dismissiveness at Nora, and their kiss in V7C6. By the end of the volume, it was clear that they were still struggling, despite their clear love for each other. Volume 8 carried this thread along, having them split into different parties, and Nora giving Ren a bit of attitude we’ve not really seen her direct at him before. 

She’s frustrated with him, and disappointed that he can’t see what she sees. But despite her tough front, V8C2 then hints that she’s sadder about the split than she’s letting on, after May brings up Nora’s ‘friends’. C3 then brings this to a head, where we get a conversation that sees Nora opening up to Blake and Yang, and revealing a deeply sad truth about herself- that she has no idea who she is without Ren, because she’s spent so much of her life with him and him alone, and her feelings for him have shaped so much of who she thinks she is. We’ve never seen her so hopeless and lost, especially after she reveals that, as far as she’s concerned, all she’s good for is hitting stuff.

Right in these few minutes, the show takes how the audience percieves Nora, and reveals to us that those two core traits are the gateways to a far deeper insight of her character. She’s known for her relationship with Ren, but wait- what about when he’s not there with her? She’s known for hitting stuff, but wait- that’s all she thinks she’s good for. 

It’s revealed to us that, not only is this how most of the audience percievs Nora, but it’s how she percieves herself. And for all her energy and upbeat attitude, deep down, she thinks incredibely lowly of herself. For all her confidence in her fighting abilities, she lacks confidence in herself as a person. 

Surprisingly enough, the ‘who am I?’ character arc is one that was hardly explored at all up until this point, despite it being one of the most common and signifgant character arcs in fictional media. And I don’t think many of us at all could have imagined that Nora would be the one to get that arc, when she’s always seemed so self-assured on the surface.

And then, when Penny is in need of help, Nora takes Weiss’ advice to heart, and does the one thing she believes she’s capable of- being strong, and hitting stuff.

Nora overcharging her Semblance to take down the wall is seen by a lot of the fandom as some kind of win for Nora; as her ‘big moment’. But while it’s certainly a really cool and badass scene, it was far from a triumph for her.

This was Nora at perhaps her lowest point so far in the series. This was Nora figuring ‘well, if this is all I’m good for, I’ll do it to the extreme’. This was Nora thinking her only purpose was to greatly endanger herself for the sake of others, because she figured she was the only one who could. And she almsot got herself killed for it. 

While certainly a defining moment, it was far from triumphant. It wasn’t a win. It was a self-destrcutive act that reflected how little she thinks of herself; that she’s not worth anything unless she’s pushing herself to the limit doing the one thing she thinks she’s good at.

And to drive the knife in harder, it backfires horribly. 

Because now she’s bedridden and critically injured, with scars that are probably permanent; a reminder of her lowest point, forever marked on her body. She can’t fight now, can’t help at all, and Salem has launched her attack on Atlas.

And in her half-unconsious state in V8C7, she realizes this, delivering an absolutely heartbreaking line:

As far as she’s concerned, her last attempt at doing what she thinks only she can do- what she thinks is all she can do- has prevented her from doing anything of worth at all. She lost one half of herself when she split from Ren, and now she’s lost the other half too. The two things that she defines herself by are gone. And the worst part is, we don’t know if she’s awar of the fact Salem has begun her attack. We could very well see her fully wake up, only to realize that the world has begun ending while she was unconsious, and she can’t do anything about it.

Now, this scene, and Nora’s struggle in this Volume as a whole, hit home for me in particular.

If you follow me on Twitter, you’re probably aware that Nora is only of my hightest- and only- kins. And I’ve only been able to relate to her more and more after what we’ve got of her in this Volume.

I am chronically disabled. I have a connective tissue disorder known as Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, which fucks up my body in a multitude of different ways, but signifigantly affects the joints. For me, it hits worst in my back, ankles, and my fingers. The fingers are my main problem. To make matters worse, I’ve also been victim to intense pains in my shoulder, which came out of nowhere a couple of months ago and have only gotten worse since. The slightest movement aggrevates it. As any follower of mine would know, I am both an artist and a writer. I create both for fun, and I’ve studied writing as a profession. It is these things I’m known for being good at, and not much else. 

Thanks to my disability and my shoulder though, I have to do these things less. Even on perscription pain medication, it still hurts. It hurts to write this even now; my shoulder feels like it’s burning up from the inside. It will only get worse over time.

So, I’m finding myself in Nora’s position. I can’t do what I’m good at anymore, and I don’t know what to do with myself as a result. Not doing these things makes me feel lazy and unproductive, and makes me feel that the people around me will abandon me so long as i can’t keep providing them content. And I’ve gotta say, it hurts a lot, and I don’t just mean physically. 

Because of what I’m going through, it’s especially important to see my favourite RWBY character just so happening to be dealing with the same problem; the same loss of idenity and purpose. We don’t know who we are or what we’re good for without the things we think define us.

While I’m unsure of my own future though, I find comfort in knowing that Nora’s problem will be tackled and addressed; that her friends will help her to rediscover herself and find her true worth. And while we’ve got a while to go until we’ll be able to see the Volume continue, I’m incredibely excited to see where Nora’s arc goes, especially if we can get some backstory along the way. I find myself wondering if her life before Ren is part of why she thinks so little of herself without him- was it the way she was raised to think? Is this the fault of her childood circumstances? Or is this just something she developed on her own, after becoming too dependant on Ren for comfort?

Whatever answers we get, I have faith that Nora’s story will be told well, and I’m very sure that it’s only just beginning. Even if she finds her worth before the end of the volume, her story won’t be over yet, not when we’ve still likely got at least four more volumes to go after this one.

In just seven episodes, Nora Valkyrie has gone from one of the least developed characters, to one of the most interesting and relatable, at least, in my eyes. There is so much more depth to her character than having a crush on Ren, and being the strong girl who hits stuff. There’s a layer of tragedy to her character that we’re touching upon now, and I’m excited to dive into it.

Thank you all for reading!

[nndfacts]

#11: Priorities

During the rally attack in V7C6, Penny didn't take action first. In fact, the first thing she did after activating her night vision was to check if Ruby was alright. Then she proceeded to identify the threat (Tyrian).

[askapossessedfarmboy]

“Everyone’s spending their night off how they want to, I’m just happy some of the others want to hang out with me!”

(PS: Weiss is done with her teammates going on dates while there’s serious stuff going on.)

((Fanforge contest ends tomorrow! Support my design here: https://community.forfansbyfans.com/m/fan-forge/designs/RWBY-Fan-Forge/list/id-9215 )

[kineticallyanywhere]

this is comparatively small next to all that that just happened in V7C6, but I am loving how this, from volume 4

isn’t turning out to be just a throw away thing they did for Ren to look badass that one time. 

but is turning into an actual thing that’s maybe a extension of Ren’s semblance that he’s still trying to figure out

It’d be cool if Ren’s semblance turned out to be more than just calming/hiding emotions, but also sensing them. 

Maybe one day translating them, gaining a full emphatic skill to share emotions without words, which he says himself he’s not very good at? Or maybe even like... a lie detector? that would be way off to the future, I’m sure, but would be pretty cool