#though grimm also has attacks other than fire-

[prophecyoflunarflame]

who do we think would win, y'all?

hey so, if leif and grimm fought, that'd be pretty cool right

[sarahshoots1st]

RWBY Characters as Tarot Cards

Not an artist so I can't make these, but I've been stuck on the idea of RWBY characters as tarot cards for some time now and I wanted to share my opinions.

(Note: I am by no means an expert on tarot cards or the arcana in general, so my interpretations of their symbolism is based on whatever I was able to find on the internet. You are perfectly allowed to disagree with my conclusions.)

0. The Fool - Jaune

Jaune's arc starts with him being easily the least experienced member of the cast. He has placed great expectations upon himself to live up to the standard of his family line, but has none of the training or experience necessary to be a Huntsman. His bravery, while admirable, often prevents him from backing down in situations where he has no chance of success. He has all the trappings of a great hero-to-be, but he has a long way to go.

The Fool symbolizes naive innocence, a blank slate who will be shaped by the adventures to come. Over the course of the series, Jaune learns to readjust his definition of what it means to be a hero. It is not his optimism, but his expectations, that are ultimately tempered by the journey.

At the beginning of the series, Jaune's goals are wrapped up in traditional male power-fantasy - a conquering warrior who saves by killing, and wins the affection of the ladies by doing so. RWBY is a show that consistently and intentionally subverts gender-norms in media, and so it is no surprise that Jaune grows beyond those Fool-like expectations for himself. To paraphrase the opening monologue between Salem and Ozpin, victory will be found not in strength, but in the forgotten virtues of a more honest soul.

Though he grows into a competent fighter, Jaune does not fit the classical ideal of a front-line warrior. Instead, he fills more of a support role in his team, coordinating his allies' attacks and boosting their Semblances with his own. He is still a brave hero who tirelessly fights to protect the innocent. However, that process involves healing his allies and keeping civilians calm and out of harm's way just as much as it does slaughtering hordes of Grimm. In Volume 9, even that can be a stumbling block for him, as we see his inability to accept failure ultimately preventing the Paper Pleasers from growing into what they needed to become.

Our favorite Vomit Boy has grown a lot since the early days at Beacon. The awkward, clumsy boy we meet in episode 1 has quite the journey ahead of him, with many hardships to come. But the fires of tribulation will ultimately forge him into something stronger. Not the idealized knight in glittering armor he imagined himself to be, but a bruised and tattered warrior whose compassion and optimism can inspire others even in the darkest of times. I can think of no other character who better fits the diamond-in-the-rough, naive-optimist archetype that The Fool represents.

For the card art, I think we would see V1-3 Juane, still on the Beacon Academy grounds, but looking out over the wider world as a whole. In the background, a semi-transparent image of his V9 incarnation could be present, symbolizing what he is growing into - an older, more mature version of himself, having achieved the hero status he so desperately craves, but also having been weighed down by the experiences it took to get there. Classically, The Fool is depicted with a dog nipping at his heels, so obviously we would get a Zwei cameo here.

(This came out much longer than I thought it would be, so I'll probably try to do these one at a time. If this gains interest, I'll add links as I go.)

next

[pumpkincarriage3]

Grimm Character Analysis

Grimm is the first character that Yuu meets. Grimm is also the character that has been present in every chapter thus far. He typically plays a bigger role -- chapter 6 non-withstanding -- so he naturally gets quite a bit more character growth. Though, ironically for the character with so much character growth, he's backstory is pretty vague. It might be of importance in chapter 7 later, but there's no telling as of now.

When we first meet Grimm, he's a little sociopathic? Or maybe it could just be considered a species difference in morality. Take for instance, people in Twisted Wonderland have no problem killing monsters (Crowley literally makes the off-hand comment that since he's so "kind" he won't turn Grimm into stew, implying that this is normal), so it might be normal for monsters to kill humans or beings that take on a more humanoid appearance.

Which is probably why when Yuu doesn't immediately give Grimm their robe, he threatened to burn them. A lot of people don't really talk about how Grimm threatened to kill Yuu upon first meaning, instead playing it up as Grimm not actually being a threat, or as Grimm not actually meaning it. But Grimm fully planned on killing Yuu if he didn't get that robe. If Crowley hadn’t stepped in when he did, not only would the library have likely burned down, Yuu would be dead.

And this violent behavior continues into the Entrance Ceremony where he randomly sets things on fire. He sets Kalim on fire. And that's just the person we know about, who knows who else he might have burned. He didn't care that he was hurting people. He didn't care that he could potentially kill them.

And the next time Yuu speaks to Grimm, while Grimm doesn't attack them, its because Yuu doesn't have anything Grimm desperately wants. Realistically, Grimm would have stayed their regardless of Yuu's wishes. (The player can select an option where Yuu calls for the "Guards" and Grimm freaks out, but that's probably because Grimm was expecting someone like Riddle to come out and collar him again. He was never frightened of Yuu. And if it was ever shown that Yuu was bluffing and still trying to kick Grimm out, and Grimm realized, I doubted he would have hesitated to harm Yuu in that part of the story.)

Grimm actively looks down on others. It's in part because of that switched monster-human mentality. Human's think themselves better than monsters because they see monsters as mindless beasts. Monsters sees themselves better than humans because humans are weak. Add in the fact that Grimm has magical abilities, and Yuu doesn't, he looks down on Yuu in particular even more. But he looks down on most of the NRC population as a whole because from what is shown, most of the NRC population is humans.

Grimm is prideful. He's proud of being a monster. He's proud of his magic. And because of that mentality, he feels as if he has a superiority over everyone. Which in turn leads to laziness. Though, the reason why he refuses to do everything isn't just because he's lazy, it's also because he thinks himself better than other people so he thinks they should serve him. Because in the end Grimm fully intends on becoming the greatest magician. To Grimm it isn't an if, it's a when.

Though, it's not like this pride keeps Grimm from connecting with people. Keeps him from wanting to connect with people. Because we see that he does. Anytime he mentions his past, of always been alone, he seems melancholic because he doesn't want to be alone.

And then the person that helps him gets into NRC, someone he has to rely on, is a magicless human of all things. Grimm still looks down on humans. He still looks down on others without magic, but he isn't incapable of forming connections with them anyway.

In fact, we see over the course of the story, that even with his pride and initial distaste for humans, he grows to care about Yuu. He cares about their safety and their feelings on things, even though before he only cared about himself. Crowley was right that Grimm doesn't understand human culture and that's why he needed Yuu to help him, because Yuu was so different from other NRC students.

Because of the events that happen over the course of the story, Grimm grows as a person. To think of others and not just himself. To look at the situation as a whole instead of just jumping into things with no impulse control. He learns how to make friends and connects with others. The importance of hard work and what that work can achieve for him.

Grimm is the character that receives the most growth throughout the story, for the Grimm we have now isn't the same as we started with. And he's still growing.

[howlingday]

Ok so Lore Dump today! I know I'm behind and after this I will make sure I do an ask about the Dusknoir au. Anyway Part 2 of the Guardians!

Name: Scimon (Sci-mon) He/Him

Appearance: In his human diguse he is a pale skinned raven faunus. He is about 7 feet tall. He has toxic green hair and wears a waring sign yellow cloak. He carries a black mask shaped like beak that covers most of his face but not his eyes. His trait is some raven tail feathers. He wears wear neon red pants with black shoes. He does not wear a shirt. In his true form his entire body is made of a thick dark green acid. His mask fuses to his face and becomes a working beak. He also grows wings in this form.

Aura:No

Magic:Acid(He can create and control acid. He can control how acidic his acid is. This includes his own body. His acid can quickly melt though even metal and only a speical kind of metal is immune.) Posion (He can produce and control posion and toxins in gas or liquid form) Storage (He has a small pocket dimension He can store supplies and weapons to use.) Flight (His wings can't really fly him so he has this magic) Wind (He was wind powers to work his acid and posion)

*Note I'm doing weapons now because the last three Guardians did not have weapons and either hand to hand and used magic so I'm adding it now.

Weapon: A metal staff and a round bottle on top without the lid. The staff is painted to look wooden. The bottle on top is used to fire out elemental attacks,potions he crafts, or just more acid.

Other notes: Scimon was made to guard the experiments of the Keeper as well as conduct and oversee them. They can range from finding new ways to use magic, to upgrading grimm and machines , or even human and fanuas ones. His base is a group of factorys used by him amd other companys. He is seems intense but is quite chill most of the time. He's does get really exicted with his experiments. He tends to hunch over a lot. He gets upset very quickly if people underestimate him in battle. He tries to end fights as fast as possible even being brutal. He main attacks are wide spread area attacks or close range acid touches and acid blasts. Hates the cold because his acid loses its acidity when frozen.

Main Inspiration:Horus from Idle Heroes amd Plauge Knight from Shovel Knight.

Name: Frost Helen She/Her

Appearance: Frost has three forms. Her first is her human disguise. She looks like a fair skinned women with long Grey hair(about mid back) She wears a thin grey shirt with a heavy cloak on her back made of black bear fur, cream colored pants, and thick brown boots. Out of her disguise her skin turns to see though ice. Her eyes turn pure dark blue amd her hair is know made of Grey snow. Frost second form is a giant snow wolf with ice teeth and claws made of blue ice. Her tail now her Ax. Eyes are still the same. Her size nows allow her to fit a 5'10 well built man in her mouth easily. Her final form is a large serpent with scales and teeth made of ice covered in white ice. She is long enough to coil around the outside of median sized village and taller than three stories. She can fits a Goliath in her mouth without stretching.

Aura:No

Magic:Ice( She can make and control Ice) Freeze( This allows her to constantly make the surroundings area cold enought to freeze water instantly.) Shape shifting. Wind. Snow(She can produce snow storms to cover her escapes or make people lose track or them or friends location.) Durability(She can make herself more Durability allowing her to use her strength to burrow though wood,stone and even metal)

Weapon:In her human form she uses a great two sided ax. She can use with only one hand. She can also channel magic though it to allow her launch freezing blast.

Other notes: Frost guards the portal to the Ever After(It does not work yet). She is quiet to the point of being selective mute. She also gets irritated easily. The most trigger happy of the Guardians she has no issue attacking people near her home even if they would have never entered them selves. Her home is a frozen viking/norse inpired village in Soiltas. She often reads to pass the time since she is alone a lot. When she gets lonely she calls the other guardian to talk.

Main Inspiration: Loki's three kids

Name: Terraend (Terra-end) He/him

Appearance: In disguise he is a average height dark skinned Chinese man. He has brown hair and yellow eyes. He wears a straw hat to cover his eyes and a purple and red Dragon robe on his body with open toed straw sandals on his feet. Without his disguise Terraend is made of a brown stone with glowing pure yellow eyes. He can also turn into a crystal form covering his body in crystal and having mupitle crystal eyes on his bofy.

Aura:Yes Semblance:Not yet

Magic:Earth( He can control and manipulate anything related to earth. Dirt,Sand,mud,stone, concrete and even iron but only pure iron.) Mind control(Anyone who looks into his eyes will fall under his control unless they have magic themselves or are an Arc by blood) Speed(He can boost his speed much higher than most Magiolems) Tired (he can drain people's energy though contact of his body or weapons with someone else's skin or thin clothes.)

Weapon: Terraend uses a variety of modified gardening tools. His main weapon his a flat shovel with a thick blade of gold looking metal and ruby embedded in the handle and the shovel. A steel sand rake with spikes. A hoe and scythe with sharp blades made of jade.

Other notes: Terraend guards a collection of plants being grow in Anima. His base is and old village ripped apart by grimm and then later raided by bandits. He is dismissive of anyone he is talking too or fighting. He always remains calm even when fighting muptile opponents. He is the most skilled of the active Guardians and makes that clear to people who like to brag their own achievements. He's hates the towerments on T.V because he feels in a real fight the rules they use are pointless and the champions are nothing but show ponys. He's like to make and care for Zen Gardens.(I know I made him look Chinese but it's fits other theming.)

Main Inspiration: Tsuchi from Clicker Heroes

Okay, so we have a warden for the magical experiments the Keepers hold to conduct.

Helen gives me vibes of either Demeter from Hades and Auril from Dungeons and Dragons.

Terraend's mind control power kinda reminds me of a combo of both semblances of Umber Gorgoneiaon and Jax Asturias. Him being a zen gardener sounds like a neat concept and makes me wonder if he follows Daoist or Confucian style philosophies.

[woklf54-blog]

Weiss is one of the strongest characters on Remnant and I'm tired of pretending she's not.

OK. Bold statement I know but, in this post, I will prove why I think that at the very least. So, in the show we know that Weiss can one:

Summon enemies she killed in the past

Summon just parts of past enemies (Worthy)

Can change the size of her summons (Unforeseen Complications)

Her summons can teleport through her glyphs (Dread in the air)

Make platform glyphs

Augment her glyphs using dust (there are 12 kinds btw)

Can control and manipulate dust (Ice fist the tournament and Lighting the candles in Brunswick farm)

Can use her what seem to be base glyphs to hold things in place (End of White trailer)

Can use (what I call) “Moonshot” (End of White trailer)

Has excellent fencing and sword fighting skills

Can skate on her glyphs

Use time dilation

Tactical minded (wiki)

And based on what I can gather most likely has a lot of aura since apparently according to the wiki. Semblances use aura as a power source. With how semblance heavy Weiss’s fighting style is she should have something close to Jaune’s level

Also, it can be used as power source apparently (JLxRWBY P1)

With all of this I feel as though it really just takes a little bit of creativity and suddenly Weiss can best 95% of the characters in RWBY. But Weiss has low endurance and glyphs are breakable. Is what you might be saying and honestly that just straight up doesn’t make sense like, how many years has she trained in order to be a huntress.

Fencing is not easy to learn and having a good base of endurance is necessary in order to learn any weapon because how tiring it can be to hold a weapon. Now I’m not saying Myrtenaster is as heavy as Crescent Rose or something but even something that is lightweight can become insanely heavy when you have to use it for a long time.

Now getting into some interpretation territory, why would Weiss who comes off as a hardworking studier who seems to be a perfectionist not have a good base of endurance when she knows that Grimm isn't just going to wait for her to catch her breath real quick. Some arguments I’ve seen used for Weiss’s lack of endurance are the White Fang lieutenant smashing her head into the ground and trying to decapitate her and Nora hitting her into a concrete pillar.

This is horrible reasoning in my opinion as to why Weiss has low endurance. Do you really think that the other girls could have survived that hit on the train? Do you think Blake could’ve totally tanked that hit and been fine? Ruby? Hell Yang? Yang got taken out by a weaker hit in the same fight sequence.

In Yang and Neo’s fight, Yang misses all of her punches while Neo lands a couple of hits on Yang then throws Yang into the metal roof and knocks her out.

Weiss on the other hand lands all her attacks and was then grabbed out of the air and had her fucking head slammed into the metal floor then throw into the air and almost decapitated by a fucking chainsaw. Like what, who the fuck could’ve survived that hit cus it sure as shit isn’t Yang.

And the Nora food fight once again I ask could Blake survive that hit? Could Ruby? Sure, I think Yang could’ve but that doesn’t change the fact that just about anyone else couldn't. So, in conclusion I think Weiss is one of the strongest characters in RWBY.

Also here are some of my ideas of how cool but OP Weiss’s semblance can be.

Summon a Beowulf dual wielding great swords

Use water dust to recreate a dolphin uppercut paying homage to final fantasy

Have her use any kind of dust to make copies of her friends and make them move

Use wind and ice dust to mimic a voice box and copy others voices

Use time dilation at all

Use the “Moon shot” more as that was really cool

Have a sparring match with everyone else with no semblances being used as a rule

Use any other dust than just gravity, ice, fire and electric

Have Weiss cover the ground in ice and use her ice skating abilities to her advantage

Summon an army of small Grimm to crawl on her opponents to unnerve them

Summon a really big Grimm

Summon a small Grimm and recreate old kaiju movies like Godzilla

Use her summons as entertainment like a dinner and a show

Have a butler Beowulf that has a little bowtie

Have her kill steal new enemies so she can summon them later

Have her insist that she gets all final blows to be able summon it later

Go hunting with beowulfs and Atlesian knights

Have her crush a building by using gravity glyphs

Have her throw a building using gravity glyphs

Show Weiss sewing dust into her clothing

Show Weiss doing maintenance on Myrtenaster

Have Weiss be indignant about Myrtenaster being use a charger for everybody's scrolls

Have Weiss sleep with Myrtenaster right next to her on the bed like Ruby

With how rich Weiss is at the beginning of the story have her pay people to build robots and mechs with wild and wacky abilities and have her “fight” them so she can summon them

Have her ride her summons (beowulfs, griffons, nevermores, ect)

Have her summon all of her fluffiest summons and cuddle them

Have her summon her paladin and manually wreck shop in it

Use her summons as recon in stealth situations

Use a fire glyph and platform glyph to cook food

Have her cuddle a boarbatusk to sleep

Hold an enemy in place using a gravity glyph and drown them using a water glyph

Use two gravity glyphs to break an enemy’s bones or collapse their organs

Use a gravity glyph to hold an enemy in place

Use a gravity glyph to rip the weapon out of an enemy's hand

Use a gravity glyph to shoot their bullet right back at them

Have her use platform glyphs in every picture so she the tallest one

Have her freeze tree bark so she can fix her appearance

Have use a plant glyph (yes that is a dust type) to make flower crowns for her team

Have her use a plant glyph to make poison plants appear

Have her use a plant glyph to get healing herbs

Have a gag wear she walks away and makes a rock house using a rock glyph

Have her cover the ground in rock glyphs and have them shoot up to attack

Have her mix gravity and lightning dust to make a magnet and steal peoples silverware when they're not looking

Have her blow dry her hair with a wind glyph

What are some of your ideas? and why do you think Weiss got so shafted by the writing team.

Link. To original Reddit post.

[supersaiyanjedi14]

RWBY COMBAT ANALYSIS: LIE REN

“Well, think back to when we were all at Beacon, would you say you ever did anything foolish or embarrassing? Or do you think you were perfect?[…] Well that embarrassment - that desire to go back and tell yourself not to be so stupid - that just proves you're not the same person you used to be. You're smarter, you're kinder, you're stronger, and you're not done growing yet. None of us are.”

PHYSICAL

When he led the exodus to Vacuo two years after the Fall of Beacon, Lie Ren was a nineteen year old human male.  Born in the Mistrali village of Kuroyuri to the hunter Li and his wife An, young Lie’s peaceful childhood ended abruptly when his home was destroyed by a massive Grimm attack, with a veteran Nuckelavee as the vanguard.  Narrowly surviving the ordeal with the street urchin Nora Valkyrie, he survived the following decade before enrolling in Beacon Huntsman Academy, choosing a path that would allow them to prevent their life-defining tragedy from afflicting others.  Assigned to Team JNPR alongside Jaune Arc and Pyrrha Nikos, Ren would distinguish himself as an extremely capable Huntsman in the making while also forming lasting bonds with his teammates and friends among their sister team RWBY.  However, this new stability would not last long, as the Fall of Beacon led to the destruction of the school and the more open operations of the immortal sorceress Salem, with Ren’s teammate Pyrrha being one of the most prominent casualties.  Ren’s participation on the front lines of Beacon and subsequent accompaniment of Ruby Rose in her quest for answers led to him becoming fully ingrained in the shadow war, fighting alongside his friends and establishing himself as a reliable and skilled combatant, though he remained conscious of the toll this mission was demanding of himself and his peers.

A conventional humanoid, Ren stands at 5’9” and boasts a lean, athletic physique, further distinguished by his pink eyes, pale skin, and black hair accented with a dyed magenta streak.  Over the course of his career, Ren has regularly displayed high acrobatic ability and running speed, easily standing as the swiftest member of Team JNPR.  During his time at Beacon, he evaded and outpaced both heads of a King Taijitu, dodged May Zedong’s sniper fire, and after hitting the road with Ruby, utilized nimble parkour to traverse the Petra Gigas and Caroline Cordovin’s Colossus mech.  As far as his speed compared to fellow skilled opponents is concerned, he has kept pace with the likes of Yang Xiao Long and James Ironwood, and while Tyrian Callows and Neopolitan were able to outmaneuver him, this is no sign of weakness, given that both of these combatants are renown for their great agility.  In terms of dexterity and strength, Ren was roughly average but still highly capable.  His hand movements were best expressed through his use of unarmed combat and his seamless alternation between his weapon functions, switching from gunfire to bladed combat on the fly.  Though his weapons’ nature meant that subtle skill-based movements were uncommon, he still executed his strikes with precision and control, seen in his battle with Nolan Porfirio and his proficiency with Stormflower’s grappling hooks.  While many would be quick to downplay Ren’s strength given that he has been so regularly overpowered, it must be remembered that most of his opponents have been powerful aggressive heavyweights that anybody would be pressed to engage.  Even if he couldn’t slug it out with the likes of Hazel and Elm, Ren’s more focused application allowed him to pose a challenge.  Ren has the strength, he just employs it in a much more controlled manner than others, seen when he overpowered the King Taijitu with the aid of expanding his Aura.

When examining Lie Ren’s endurance and stamina, we see multiple impressive showings but also a few notable shortcomings.  Possessed of a powerful will to fight, Ren has worked through multiple heavy hits during his career and continued to press on, his exceptional discipline allowing him to maintain his composure even when under duress.  During the Vytal Festival, he endured a direct hit from Nolan Porfirio’s cattle prod, yet remained strong enough to continue the fight without noticeable strain.  The trip to Haven saw him regularly battered by Tyrian and the Nuckelavee before regaining his feet, and he was only overcome at Haven when Hazel Rainart sucker-punched him into a balcony and struck him with an electric blast.  During the pursuit of the Hound, Ren was slammed into several rock faces and dragged through the snow, yet remained fit enough to continue the chase and prevent Yang and Jaune’s fall.  Despite wearing no armor, Ren’s resiliency has enabled him to soak up anything short of a catastrophic hit and keep moving forward.  However, despite his physical hardiness, Ren’s stamina was limited, as periods of exertion frequently left him drained.  His and Nora’s trek in the woods during their initiation left him with labored breathing, the fight with the Deathstalker ended with him collapsing with exhaustion, and though he fought through the Fall of Beacon, he still succumbed to fatigue where many of his peers remained vital.  While Ren can shoulder long term engagements, he runs a greater risk of burning out than his peers, and his Aura has regularly been the first to break.  My belief is that this lack of sustainability is tied to the heavy demands of his Semblance, regularly expending energy that takes a toll on his body.  Ren isn’t fragile, but he can’t fight forever and is poorly suited for slugging matches, reflected in his emphasis on controlled technique and pursuing a quick victory.

As a speed and skill-based martial artist, Ren relied quiet heavily on full freedom of movement in his fighting style, and thus his wardrobe emphasized mobility over protection.  During his time in Atlas, he wore simple white trousers and a green tunic over a sleeveless turtleneck, in addition to arm-length black gloves and leather boots. The closest thing he wore to armor was a black leather manica on his right arm, with pink padding on the inside.  Though offering only environment protection, the outfit was nonetheless practical in the field and left Ren unencumbered.

RANKING: Tier 2, Peak Human Fitness

Despite his limited resiliency and lack of armor, Lie Ren is still a well-rounded and very gifted physical combatant, with athletic performance that is comparable to his peers even on his worst days. Though he is decidedly more delicate, avoiding the speedblitzing onslaughts of his contemporaries Tyrian and Adam, his speed is still top of the line, further supported by his strong performance in supplementary areas. Even Ren’s lackluster stamina plays into his overall game plan, avoiding wars of attrition by dispatching the enemy as quickly and efficiently as possible.

MARTIAL

The first weapon that Lie Ren owned was a nondescript curved dagger given to him by his father Li, his only defense in the dangerous world after the devastation of their village.  A good six inches in length, it was otherwise run of the mill, yet still strong enough to seriously injure Grimm, seen when Ren dismembered the Nuckelavee with casual ease.  Ren continued to carry the dagger during his later career, and it was likely this blade that served as partial inspiration for the signature weapon set that Ren would build prior to his admission to Beacon, a pair of bladed machine pistols named “StormFlower”. Modeled off of the .45 caliber Colt M1911, the guns initially featured extended magazines to accommodate the fully automatic firing mechanism, while the collapsible blades were both strong enough to easily pierce Grimm hide and sharp enough to dissect at least moderate level Grimm. Following upgrades from Pietro Polendina, StormFlower was outfitted with grappling cable launchers build behind the blades and a selective-firing mechanism, allowing Ren to alternate to semi-automatic shots when needed.

As he and Nora were rendered homeless following the destruction of Kuroyuri, it is strongly implied that neither of them had a particularly formal training background, their early development tied more to self-taught skills and the needs of survival than formal education.  Despite this, both were still highly capable and seasoned combatants when they enrolled in Beacon Academy, appropriate given that people who lived beyond the Kingdom frontiers had a reputation for quick, practical learning.  Ren in particular displayed great skill with both of the primary modes of his weapon and advanced hand-to-hand combat, seen when he single-handedly dispatched a King Taijitu and later contributed to Team JNPR’s inaugural takedown of a Deathstalker during their initiation.  Ren’s formal studies at Beacon prepared him for the trials of the Breach, Vytal Festival, and Fall of Beacon, and the subsequent journey to and battle at Haven Academy ironed out his training with real-world combat experience.  By the time the conflict in Atlas reached its peak, Lie Ren stood as one of the most skilled and talented warriors of his generation, proving his mettle on multiple occasions against a wide variety of opponents. In his core fighting style, Ren was extremely physical yet fluid, relying heavily on flying leaps, jumps and spins to build up momentum for swift cuts and stabs from StormFlower’s blades.  Direct yet sophisticated, Ren’s attacks combined fluid weapon attacks with heavily integrated hand to hand combat techniques, his engagements with Yang Xiao Long and James Ironwood functionally amounting to fist fights supported by armed combat.  When choosing to keep his distance, Ren was a capable marksman but nothing to write home about.  His preference for fully automatic firearms was expressed through his use of wild sprays of bullets to chip away at his opponents, often to soften them up before he moved in to dominate in close quarters.  This varied offensive technique was reinforced with active defense, deflecting incoming attacks and manipulating the opponent’s weapon to catch them in the bind.  As far as more esoteric disciplines were concerned, Ren has been observed throwing his weapons to attack at range, using one half of Stormflower as a boomerang against the Petra Gigas.  Though his grappling hooks are a very recent addition to his arsenal, Ren proved to be quite proficient in their use, traversing the battlefield with dynamic swings and propelling himself to deliver flying kicks. He even demonstrated skill in the use of flexible weapons and snares, trapping Ironwood’s ankle with his cable during their confrontation in Atlas.

Defined by his calm, stoic demeanor and wisdom beyond his years, Lie Ren was a cunning and skillful tactician, showing a talent for quick strategic analysis.  He is able to insert himself into incredibly dangerous situations and still keep his cool before coming up with an effective response.  Always one to preach self-improvement and discipline, Ren approached his chosen career path with a professional mentality that eschewed distractions and levity, a mindset that often conflicted with his genuine and powerful affection for his friends, Nora in particular.  Accounting for this intelligent and controlled approach, Ren could nonetheless be more accurately described as a freeform fighter, adjusting his approach to suit the needs of a given opponent and situation rather than planning things out.  As such, his battlefield conduct was based around adaptability and subversion, going with the flow and coming from the path of least resistance.  In his Beacon initiation, he deliberately targeted vulnerable joints on the King Taijitu and Deathstalker, setting up for his teammates to land the killing blows. During the Vytal Festival battle with Team BRNZ, Ren squared off with Nolan Porfirio, and despite taking a hit to the abdomen, he persevered and trapped Nolan behind his own weapon, using him as a shield to deter May Zedong’s gunfire.  Against the Petra Gigas and Colossus, Ren played masterful tactical support, chipping away at armor and coordinating with Qrow Branwen to disable the mech’s shields.  When faced with intelligent and skilled opponents, Ren would apply these same probing tactics on a smaller scale, keeping his distance to sus out the opponent’s measure and relaying that information to his teammates.  This chameleon approach to differing combat situations made Ren quite unpredictable despite his relatively standard technique, while his adaptability made him a highly effective tactical operative when it came to coordinating multiple avenues to a single goal.  Essentially, Ren is the quintessential battlefield scout, able to dart around the battlefield to wherever he is needed, hit the enemy where they’re not expecting it, and clearing the field for his more powerful allies to finish the job.

However, Ren’s advantages were far less prevalent when it came to single combat against well-trained opponents.  As he was so used to adapting to the situation and running from there, he had nothing to work with if the opponent adapts to him in turn.  In these situations, Ren’s tactical mind was too slow, and his measured approach went from flexible to predictable.  When confronted by Tyrian Callows and during his battle with the Nuckelavee, Ren was caught off guard by their sudden shifts in technique and sheer ferocity, blindsiding him before he had a chance to catch his breath.  Neopolitan enjoyed a similar advantage during their brief confrontation at Atlas Academy, seizing the cables of his grapplers and throwing him off balance.  Additionally, Ren had difficulties dealing with heavy focused aggressors able to bully through his interference, regularly folding under sheer output.  During the Beacon food fight, Ren fought evenly with Yang but was conclusively overpowered, and Hazel Rainart swatted Ren out of the air with ease after he injected lightning Dust into his arms.  While Ren did score hits against James Ironwood, trapping the general and contending with him in close quarters, Ironwood’s superior might allowed him to eventually overcome him, Ren’s escape owing more to Nora’s interference.  Even controlled sparring sessions saw Ren coming up short; Elm Ederne overpowered him when she seized his cables and pulled him in, and Neon Katt tripped him up and froze his weapons in ice.  While not a one-trick-pony, Ren’s emphasis on technique does limit his overall effectiveness as a duelist.  In the Star Wars EU novel Labyrinth of Evil, Count Dooku bemoaned the phenomenon of “enslavement to form”, something that Ren could be argued to suffer from.  He was more concerned with maintaining his own composure and executing his style correctly rather than trying to understand the scope of his opponent’s, which allowed the less refined Hazel and Elm to get the better of him.  Furthermore, despite his typically calm demeanor, Ren was weighed heavily by the burdens thrust upon him and his friends, and his composure ran the risk of breaking, especially where Nora was concerned.  Seeing her get tossed around by the Nuckelavee was enough to throw Ren into a violent rage, and Neopolitan was able to touch a nerve when she assumed Nora’s appearance during their fight in the Academy.  All these would be compounded when he, Jaune and Yang were confronted by the Hound, the erratically powerful beast proving a physical and psychological horror that no-one, least of all Ren, was prepared for.

RANKING: Tier 4, Advanced Application

Lie Ren’s weaponry and fighting style mark him as a very talented and flexible martial artist, his skill set covering all his bases and his skill level being advanced enough to contend with multiple master-level opponents.  However, Ren’s approach is clearly built for general combat with mindless Grimm rather than single combat with intelligent humans, leaving holes in his skill set that can be exploited and get him into trouble.  Even his most compelling victories, such as the Nuckelavee and Ironwood, were achieved on the back of collaborative team efforts rather than his own skill as a martial artist.  That said, these weaknesses are tied more to logistics rather than oversights, as Ren is obviously aware of his limitations given his overwhelming emphasis on self-improvement.  Even with these shortcomings, Ren’s talent is undeniable, and someone who can only be overpowered by Salem’s personal elite isn’t someone I would call a novice.

SPECIAL

Lie Ren’s Semblance is a power known as Tranquility, the ability to mask Aura and emotions from the Grimm.  Taking the form of a shimmering pink light from his hand, the power concealed the target from the Grimm’s perceptions, the effect manifesting as a grayscale effect surrounding the subject, allowing them to move among the creatures without being detected.  Tranquility first manifested with the destruction of Kuroyuri, the severe emotional stress the young Lie was going through instinctively triggering the power to activate.  Though capable of concealing himself, Ren overwhelmingly favored using his powers to hide others, regularly masking allies and civilians to give them time to escape whatever battlefield was present.  This ability also manifested first time out when he shielded Nora from the Nucklelavee, and after dedicated training he was able to apply his powers to subjects outside his physical contact, demonstrated when he concealed Jaune Arc and Qrow Branwen to give them time to find cover.  Given his restored composure following the awakening of his Semblance, it is extremely likely that this power also served as a meditative focusing tool for Ren, reinforcing his composure and blocking out distracting thoughts.  As such, while the power was seemingly extremely situational, I believe Tranquility was a critical part of Ren’s overall method, enabling him to act as the stoic ninja warrior by blocking out his fear and anger.  This should not be seen as a dismissal of his emotions entirely, however, as, unlike Ironwood, Ren was not willing to sacrifice his feelings even for combat.  The most impressive displays of Ren’s Semblance were seen when he was aided by Jaune Arc’s Aura Amp, spreading his mask across large groups of people simultaneously. This proved critical in the evacuations of Mantle and Atlas, protecting civilians from the Grimm without even drawing his weapons.

However, Ren’s powers also seemed to affect his personal life more negatively, his tendency to suppress his feelings leading to increasing fixation on pragmatic action as opposed to actually coping with his trauma.  During his time in Atlas, Ren was in the middle of strong mental hangups over the increasingly dire situation, leading to angered outbursts and alienation of his friends as he tried to shunt out all distractions from his mission.  While he, again, did not go so far as to turn himself into a soulless war machine in the mold of Ironwood, there is no doubt that Ren’s coping mechanisms were far from healthy.  Fortunately, his care for his friends proved to be stronger, and this second major emotional turmoil resulted in an evolution to his Semblance.  When captured by the Ace-Ops, Harriet Bree’s regarding of allies as replaceable led to Ren angrily opposing her in the name of rescuing Oscar from the Monstra.  During this exchange, Ren developed the ability to pick up on empathic perceptions.  Through his senses, Ren was able to to perceive the emotional states of individuals in his line of sight, these feelings taking the form of various colored petals floating around the subject.  With this new power, Ren was able to talk reason into Winter Schnee and the Ace Operatives by appealing to their better natures, confirm Emerald Sustrai’s genuine defection by perceiving her fear, and later reconciled with Nora by properly understanding her feelings for him.  While Ren has yet to leverage this new power in combat, there is an obvious tactical advantage to be gained from this ability.  As Ren’s approach to battle was based around probing his opponents and attacking their weak points, getting a read on their emotional state can potentially swing the initiative in his favor, picking up on cues from the opponent and adjusting his approach to exploit it.

Even before his evolution, Ren demonstrated advanced perception-based abilities tied to his training with Aura.  A keen observer, he regularly demonstrated an ability to detect the presences of individuals and Grimm that were otherwise sneaking up on him.  Notable examples include his quick response to the King Taijitu in his initiation, alerting Team RNJR to the approaching Tyrian Callows in Oniyuri, and later tracking down a captured Oscar when infiltrating the Monstra.  The only time Ren’s perceptions failed him was when the Ace-Ops ambushed and arrested the gang in Mantle, all five of them being high-level Huntsmen who had the drop on them.  Additionally, Ren demonstrated a talent for outward Aura projection when he intercepted and deflected the King Taijitu’s Fangs after it tried to eat him.  However, this regular use of his Aura meant that Ren was constantly expending energy, and his powers often left him drained of both Aura and stamina.  Though he was able to mask the Atlas evacuees by himself, he was quickly exhausted by the effort and ultimately owed their survival to the new Winter Maiden Winter.  Given the limited nature of his Semblance’s combative abilities, Ren’s use of his powers were almost strictly limited to utility and tactical support, and he otherwise heavily favored physical combat.

RANKING: Tier 4, Reinforce Combat

Tranquility and Lie Ren’s other special abilities mark him as a highly effective tactical operative who more than qualifies as a master in his own right, but the actual combative applications of his powers are limited and circumstantial.  Even if my theories about the range of Tranquility’s applications are true, Ren has not demonstrated any exceptional talent or skill for using his abilities in live combat, and much like his martial arts, show a very clear emphasis on general combat rather than single combat.  Ren is more than capable of reinforcing his own technique and approach to battle, but contesting the opponent’s powers is not within his purview.  That being said, the tactical benefits of Ren’s abilities, especially in the wake of his evolution, have the potential to be remarkably impactful, and if he plays his cards right, he can very well elevate himself to the master levels.

OVERALL RANKING: TIER 4, EXPERT HUNTSMAN

Lie Ren’s final placement is determined from the average set by his martial skills and special abilities, placing him on equal footing with his contemporaries in Team RWBY.  Of those four, Ren has the most in common with Blake Belladonna, both being well-rounded and skilled combatants that balance out versatility with focus, yet are held back by a weakness for single combat.  Ren’s athletic performance is top-notch and very well built for the type of combat he favors, but he can’t fight forever and is poorly suited for slugging matches.  His fighting style is intelligently constructed and is proven effective in dueling, but it is clearly optimized for the battlefield while also somewhat overspecialized.  With his Semblance, Ren is one of the most gifted sense-based adepts in the setting with powerful utility skills, but these powers have simply not been developed to be properly leveraged in battle.  Ren is an expert-level fighter whose skills qualify him as a master in his own right, but as it stands, he is merely a respected name, not an all-time great.

For all his foibles, Lie Ren still stands as one of the most gifted Huntsmen of his generation, and he is continuing to grow and develop far and above what his Beacon education alone could have prepared him for.  His experiences in Atlas have provided the greatest opportunities for Ren’s development as of late, both as a combatant and a person.  Just as his reevaluation of his attitude towards his friends and loved ones prevented him from falling into damaging isolation, the evolution of his Semblance has rescued him from the trap of stagnation.  Ren is still growing and has a long way to go, but for what it's worth he is still a very credible threat to just about anyone.  Only time will tell if his upcoming trials in Vacuo will see his new abilities elevate him into a true master Huntsman, but even if he doesn’t, Ren has more than come into his own.  Li Ren’s caution to his son was that “sometimes the worst action to take is no action at all”, and whatever the future holds, the one thing we can count on Lie Ren to do is act.

*originally posted on RoosterTeeth Community page on 08-30-21*

* images taken from RWBY Wiki*

RWBY Combat Analysis

[hotpotrandomfics]

RWBY OC: Jin Arcturus

Name: Jin Arcturus

Age: 17 (Pre-Fall of Beacon)

Race: Faunus (Sun Bear)

Height: 5'11"

Physique: Welterweight, defined upper body and back

Eyes: Silver

Hair: Umber Brown, medium length low fade

Trait (Faunus): Bear Claws, slightly longer and stronger nails

Complexion: Warm, caramel brown with slight freckles all over the body, minor scars on the abdomen, upper back, left and right shoulders

Personality: Protective, sensitive, intuitive, and individualistic

Likes: Fruit-based pastries, coffee, tea, capable training partners, and modern fantasy novels

Dislikes: White Fang, manipulators, motivation-lacking individuals, irresponsible individuals, and arrogance

Hobbies: Martial arts training and sparring, evening walks, going to jazz clubs, bonding with his team and friends

Allusion: Perseus

Symbol: Bear head with a pair of Butterfly swords on either side and a crescent moon

Weapon(s):

Tempest Eclipse, is a pair of modified gauntlets with Dust access points at the wrist that is capable of dealing with electric and wind dust predominately. The pair of gauntlets appear similar to a set of fingerless gloves but are durable and are increased in other areas after entering Atlas Academy and visiting the weapons forge for assistance in improving the design.

Tempest Howler, a custom VP9 Tactical that was received during a firearm search in the early days of Atlas Academy, was modified with Atlas technology to fire solid dust rounds.

Combat knife

Fighting Style & Skills:

Wing Chun Kung Fu

Atlas CQC (Kali/Eskrima, kickboxing, muay buran, jiu-jitsu, and wrestling)

Combative Shooting

Infiltration

Demolition

First Aid

Semblance & Abilities:

Shatterpoint: can see the structural weakness in inanimate objects, structures, living creatures, and creatures of Grimm. This allows for the surgical ability to disassemble an opponent throughout the battle.

Silver Eyes

Biography:

Left in the care of his aunt named Freya, and his uncle named Fa Jin, Jin Arcturus lived with his guardians in the city of Argus where he'd grown up. Fa Jin was a medically retired huntsman from Menagerie, who had to walk often with a cane but was no less a threat than the most seasoned of huntsmen and Jin idolized him. Freya was a more authoritative guardian compared to her husband, Freya had grown up in Mantle but moved away to be able to marry Fa Jin and run the local tavern named "Ours Endormmi."

Jin is a kind soul whose sympathetic nature has landed him in multiple altercations with a few unsavory elites' children, predominately faunus racist even though their influence in Argus was nothing. Sadly, one of those children happened to be the child of the principal of the huntsman prep school, Sanctum Academy, and as result, the boy was banned from attending the school or any local huntsman school in Mistral.

Melancholy, but not disheartened due to the inspiration from Jin's uncle, the boy would be trained by his retired guardian who'd hand down his huntsman weapon, Tempest Eclipse, though worn and torn they were an excellent set of gauntlets. Jin would later have the opportunity to prove himself during an attempted terrorist attack by the White Fang where he'd meet the Atlesian Specialist, Winter Schnee, and aide her small team in the attempt to save his home city. Though his skills did show a need to be nurtured, he had the drive to push and would be offered to go to Atlas Academy on the Specialist's recommendation.

One major factor that would also place him in the Atlas Specialist program was the fact Jin possessed Silver eyes like his father, something that General James Ironwood took interest in and decided additional preparation was needed for such an individual given the limited and falling numbers of silvered-eyed persons. It was rare to be a sun bear faunus, but to be one with silver eyes? Jin is one of a kind... hopefully, that will be enough to keep alive with what's to come...

[teruterusky]

I made it to the top 5000 in Master Ball rank with my first SV VGC team, so I wanted to share it! It’s a flexible and fairly off-meta team that has some counters to the more popular Pokémon, without being too predictable in its usage. The first three Pokémon were taken from a team made by marcofieri, which can be found here.

Explanations for each Pokémon below the cut:

Glimmora

Fittingly this flower made of Tera Jewels is the Pokémon I Terastalize most often, and into a Grass-type no less. Glimmora frankly surprised me with how strong it is. Its huge Special-Attack stat and diverse movepool allows it to hit many Pokémon for STAB weakness, and one-shots more often than not. Glimmora is also a defensive behemoth, and almost never is OHKOed thanks to its main types and Tera-type having great defensive synergy, as well as Assault Vest giving it superb special bulk. The most underwhelming part of the set is Toxic Debris; while it occasionally provides extra damage at the end of the battle, it does not happen often. Glimmora rarely opens, so the debris aren’t set up by the time the opponent has to send out their backline, and even if it does set up, a fair amount of the format is immune to Toxic Spikes.

Gardevoir

Everyone’s favorite fairy completely denies Trick Room from setting up. Imprison shuts down the strategy regardless of which Trick Room open is being used. Hariyama is the only common opener that could prevent Imprison from being used, but Gardevoir’s Ghost Tera-type gives it immunity to Fake-Out. Ghost is also useful in a couple other cases, such as giving immunity to Population Bomb or Final Gambit, which are fairly common back-up strategies for Trick Room teams. Most players also don’t expect Gardevoir to have the team’s Focus Sash, giving it extra longevity since it doesn’t get double-targeted. Psychic is a hard-hitting STAB move, while Dazzling Gleam is a lighter spread, but they can also be easily walled by Steel, so don’t rely on Gardevoir too much offensively.

Garchomp

Honestly, if Paradoxes weren’t going to be legal in 3 days, I’d probably be working on replacing Garchomp. Its a relic from the team this was inspired by, where every Pokémon except Glimmora had Earthquake immunity. Its not the worst Pokémon I could be using, but the combination of friendly fire and increased counterplay make it difficult to use in a lot of situations, and I would rather have a Pokémon with a priority attack. That said, Garchomp outspeeds most opponents, and has solid damage output that allow it to be useful in certain situations. Rough Skin is also a great ability, and can be useful for things like breaking Dragonite’s Multiscale. One fun trick Garchomp can pull off is setting up Toxic Debris; when Terastalized Glimmora takes little damage from Earthquake, but still throws out the spikes.

Ceruledge

In the right matchups, Ceruledge either functions as a glass cannon or a wall. The biggest advantage it has is outspeeding Gholdengo by 1 point, and one-shotting with Flare Blitz. Its resistances let it wall a variety of things, including Torkoal, Maushold, Volcarona, and when Terastalized it is completely immune to most Armarouge sets. A well-timed Terastalization can also let Ceruledge turn the tables against a few other mons, including Annihilape, Kingambit, and Meowscarada. Since Trick Room teams often incorporate several of the above, Ceruledge is primarily useful against them, though it has utility in other matchups as well. Clear Amulet is useful against Choice Scarf Tatsugiri, and avoiding the stat drops from it has won a few matches for me.

Meowscarada

Since Gardevoir got the Focus Sash, this bingle is running a Choice Band set. It outspeeds most things and can deliver one-shots to anything weak to part of its moveset. That said, its presence also triggers the most defensive Terastalizations from opponents, so easy KOs aren’t guaranteed. Ironically, it has a bad matchup against other Meowscarada, since its speed is lower.

Grimmsnarl

I originally wanted to use Murkrow as support, until my friend traded me a shiny Morgrem, and the hairy fairy has been doing a great job! Primarily used to control the battle against non-Trick Room teams; Fake-Out and Thunder Wave can neutralize opponents that would otherwise threaten my attacker. Parting Shot is niche, but can be used to help an ally survive while also setting up another Fake-Out. Spirit Break is a solid damage-dealing option, especially against Fairy-weak mons. It also has just enough speed to outspeed other unboosted Grimmsnarl. Its Tera-type is useless (it should be Steel, but I don’t have the shards), though its also the last candidate for Terastalizing.

[tresradiossolis]

"?" (i wanna hear all about potential muses from you! i already love your suns so skfjskfjjd)

Potential Muses?

This was at your own risk....

tl;dr Funtime Freddy, Eclipse, Phone Dude, Withered Bonnie and Michael Afton

Funtime Freddy ××× Frederico Fabel

Frederico is from my College AU verse, a 6'8" 20 year old student at his family's college (pretty much all the Freddys are related one way or another) that focuses on Engineering and Robotics, although he's taken up studying Art and Prop Making instead, as well as Theater. There's a whole Mess of a history when it comes to who should inherit the college, but his parents gave up on Frederico pretty early on because of his Conduct Disorder, which was not properly diagnosed. This also lead to his relationship with his parents being really messy too.

He loves to make dolls and puppets, as well as more intricate work (think Audrey 2 from Little Shop of Horrors), and in every manner that he presents himself, he's a jolly jokester who loves a good pun, always dressing up in pink and generally most know him as a big softie.

He did stab his childhood friend's bully to death and then hid the body that one time though... and in his friend group, the Fun Gang, he tends to be very aggressive about getting his way. He'll do it with a smile of course, but he Loathes not being in charge.

Why I don't write him: At this point he's so much his own character that I worry I'd alienate people with him. He's also a Very dominating presence, and it's easy to do that in a small private server, I think about him daily though...

Eclipse ××× Umbra

Umbra is an orphan that's been struggling through the foster care system their whole life, and because of various trauma and just... awful awful experiences, it's left them with crippling social anxiety and phobia.

They're a hikkikomori, they do Not leave their room under any circumstances, this will give them severe panic attacks. They're very slow to open up to people and even slower to actually meet them in person, and once they do, it's a long process to even be able to get past their door.

Other than that, Umbra is a twitch streamer and is known for their game breaking speedruns, glitching through stages with ease while cursing like a sailor. People love seeing them do their work, but also love it when they get absolutely Furious on their twitch streams and chews out their entire team in whatever game they're playing. Umbra is an asshole, and we love that for them.

Why I don't write them: I've actually considered it... again they're such an OC at this point, I could maybe see them being a part of a multimuse, but then who'd read everything about the verse idk... I'd love to write Umbra though, I love this little shit

Phone Dude ××× Dylan

It's Phone Dude man. Outside the college verse, Dylan is just a dude who really wanted to create his own horror attraction, he loooooves horror movies and has quite the artistic eye for making props and even engineering, and Freddy's checks all those boxes. He's made some sick shit bro, and have recorded some movies for his YouTube that really kicked off.

Idk what to add... in college verse he studies Film and Art, he is known to make some gnarly stuff for the theater crew. He's as dumb as a rock and loves the devil's lettuce.

Why I don't write him: I can't answer that. I should probably write h

Withered Bonnie ××× Wilt Grimm

The lad to the right

A blind mortician that focuses more on grief counseling and funeral planning than the practise for quite obvious reasons. That's not to say that he isn't incredibly skilled at what he does, but the limitations can't really be ignored.

Wilt lost his eyesight and left arm in a fire when he was just a teenager, and gained severe burns all across his body with it. The incident was life changing to him, since he had been at a house party when it happened. He lost all his classmates that day, and he couldn't understand why he was special in any way for surviving. This lead him to study to become a mortician, because he wanted to help all those who grieve the loss of their loved ones in whatever way he can.

Why I don't write him: Again, he's such an OC.... also this is some heavy stuff I gotta carefully think about making public

Michael Afton

My Michael is. Basically a zombie LMFAO

He's so tired and goal driven, he has his Tasks and he's gonna Do Them, no matter what is in his way. He's not sure how to express emotions anymore, be it because he got dun scooped, or just really fucking traumatised from seeing his brother's skull cave in because of him.

He doesn't feel like he deserves to be happy, or mad, or even sad anymore. He just needs to do what his dad told him to do, but also.. he needs to make things right.

He's an excellent mechanic and can put together, or take apart, whatever you throw at him. He's a little stinky but it's nothing some wunderbaums can't fix, and he's been known to sass every now and then.

Why I'm not writing him: Intimidation. The fear of having to read up on all the lore 10 times over and having somebody tell me I got something wrong xbfbdb, I do love him tho...

[fire-kitty-lol]

I know nobody asked but imma give out some Hollow Knight headcanons!

- Gods have their mortal selves and their true selves, they don’t often show their true self, as it could blind mortals or drive them mad to witness such raw power. The true self also has a few personality differences from the mortal self.

- Pk is unnaturally cold, so much so that unless water is hot enough to cook a bug alive, it will freeze to his shell.

- Pk talks in whispers, as being a the god of mind/soul gives him a powerful voice that can influence mortal bugs.

- Radi is a poodle moth

- Pk and the Nightmare King were buddies at some point in time! Grimm only really knows PK from what NKG has told him.

- Wyrm’s are born intersex, and don’t really have a concept of gender or sexuality.

- Hornet inherited a small bit of PK’s foresight, it comes in the form of strong feelings about places or people

- Speaking of foresight, Pk’s foresight, while it can be used on command, can also be triggered by touch. Making it so that he can see a specific person’s future if he is touching them while using his future sight.

- Gods can change the temperature of a room to match their moods

- Gods have magic themed around elements that represent them, but are capable of other magics (Grimm is a fire mage, PK is a frostmancer, Radi had light magic, Root can do plant magic, etc)

- The vessels have a form of telepathy between each other, but have to use sign language to speak to anyone who doesn’t have a connection to the void.

- each god has their own realm, the realm contains their memories, but mostly take the form of environments that best fit them, and deteriorate or change depending on their physical health or state of mind

- Pk doesn’t like his more brutal instinct, but does trust it (it’s never steered him wrong in fights or hunts)

- God are more physically frail the more powerful they are. Extremely powerful gods will have very defensive fighting styles, with lots of ranged attacks.

- Bugs have always had minds, as instinct is a part of the mind, when PK got to Hallownest he didn’t give them a mind/intelligence, just greatly enhanced what was already there.

- Pk had ADHD, hence the meticulously clean palace versus the messy workshop (he has a system, okay?)

- Pk is a socially awkward recluse, many people find him intimidating due to the fact he doesn’t talk very much, and when he does it’s in cold, echoey, whispers. Truth is he has no clue how to socialize

-Root forces PK to socialize with the dreamers and the five knights (He and Ogrim became good friends due to this)

-speaking of the dreamers, Lurien admires the king, but more like how a kid would admire their older sibling, rather than some one sided crush.

- He and Herrah have a “you don’t bother me, and I won’t bother you” relationship. It’s not hostile, but it’s not peaceful ether, (pk is not great at first impressions) (and Herrah does not give second changes)

- PK did his best to be a good father to Hornet, but was clueless about children, though they are easier to interact with than adults (children are so genuine and easy to read, adults have so many social rules)

- Root did most of the talking when she and pk were in public

-Pk and Monomon get along well, they’re friends, but they aren’t particularly close (mostly because they both get so absorbed in their work they never leave their studies)

-The great knights are loyal to a fault, but do have some gripes with the royals

- Hegimol thinks PK needs to be more aggressive and assertive

- Dyraa has a one sided crush on the Queen, both royals know, Root thinks it’s cute, PK doesn’t care because in the end Root chose to marry him

- Isma believes that a little patience and kindness is all the push the king needs to get out of his shell, and admires the queen for her kind heart. She is also vegetarian

-Wyrm’s cannot eat vegetables, they will make the Wyrm sick, (PK forced himself to eat Isma’s cooking anyways because she worked hard on it)

- Le’ Meer (did I spell that right?) has no opinion on the queen, just didn’t interact with her often, did think that Dryaa’s obvious flirting was unprofessional, and Hegemol needed to stop being so forcefully in his attempt to spar PK, also had little to no opinions on PK. The royals were just Le’ Meer’s employers. (I do not know Le’Meer’s pronouns)

-Pk did not commission the statue of him, or the idols, but though it was a nice gesture

-Wyrm’s are born blind, pk is no exception, he just uses his other senses to navigate, and memorized each persons footsteps, speech patterns, and tells them apart based on their voices. (It get hard with people he’s not around often)

-Monomon is a jellyfish, and cannot leave her little tube/tank (?)

-Hornet was named after Herrah’s first kill

And that’s it! For this post anyways, it’s getting long

[bridgyrose]

Adam hid in the bushes to spy on Blake and her friends. With no opportunity to attack, he has to listen to the group shit talking and bad mouthing him for hours.

Adam frowned as he walked through the forest, a few grumbled sighs escaped his lips as he continued forward with the directions one of his soldiers had provided. What should have been an easy task became more than a nuisance as he wandered through trees and bushes to where Blake and her friends were supposed to be. He paused as he heard Blake’s voice in the distance and made his way closer, making sure to keep low and hidden by the bushes and underbrush. 

“I’m telling you, I’m over him, Yang.” 

“And there has to be something more to it.” 

Adam moved closer to the voices to see Blake along with a blonde he could only assume was Yang, the Schnee Heiress, and a girl with a red cloak. He kept quiet as he listened in and waited for his chance to get his beloved back. 

Blake sighed and shook her head. “Why do you want to know so badly?” 

“Because you never talk about it,” the girl in the cloak said. 

“Ruby’s right,” Weiss moved a few more sticks to the campfire. “We’ve been together for a couple years now, fought the White Fang multiple times to stop them from stealing dust, and now you’re clamming up on us?” 

“Because its… complicated.” Blake leaned back a bit and stared into the fire. “When my dad stepped down, I was angry. I thought he was a coward and I ran away from home to stay with the White Fang because I really did believe that hurting those that hurt us was the only way we could get anything to change. And… because there was a time that I believed in Adam.” 

Yang nodded and pulled her roasted marshmallow off the fire. “And we’re just curious as to why you followed him. So far all you’ve told us is that he’s a violent man who wanted revenge over being wronged.” 

“You also said that he doesnt care about faunus rights, just getting even,” Ruby said. “So… what exactly made you want to follow him?” 

“Because there was a time when I thought that he was… right. But as he started to become more violent, accidents became more frequent, and innocent humans ending up in the line of fire, I couldnt follow him anymore. So I left to make my own path.” 

“Sounds like a dick if you ask me,” Yang said as she stood up. “Though, it is starting to get late and we still have a grimm to find in the morning.” 

Blake nodded and started to make her way to her tent. “Who’s on fire duty tonight?” 

“I can take care of it.” Ruby picked up a small bucket of water and dosed the flames. “And I’ll take first watch.” 

Adam kept watch over the four girls, relieved they were finally heading to get some rest. Though, he knew the one called Ruby would give him a few problems. He waited another hour before he started to make his way closer to the camp and grinned as he tossed a rock towards the trees on the other side. 

Ruby turned towards the sound and readied her scythe as she looked out to the forest. After a few moments of silence, she sat down again and sighed. “Its probably just a rabbit.” 

Adam grinned as he quietly walked over to Ruby and put a hand over her mouth and jabbed her with a needle. “Its a shame I have to waste this on you, but I need you to get Blake back to me.” Once Ruby quit struggling in his arms, he carefully dragged her into the forest and dropped a small patch with the White Fang logo near the campsite. “You’ll make the perfect bait.” 

[noneatnonedotcom]

concept: TOTAL WAR RWBY

in a universe where the great war destroyed every kingdom and caused a collapse of civilization you play as one of the five remaining peoples of remnant as you seek to (re) forge a kingdom that can stand the test of the grimm tide

KINGDOMS

Vale: led by Ruby Rose

ruby's kingdom of vale focuses on light cavalry and ranged. her own special abilites as a general are

SILVER EYED WARRIOR: grimm are weakened greatly within her aura and can even be outright destroyed if the differance in power between her and them is great enough

OPTIMISTIC HEROISM: lower unhappiness in area's controlled by ruby means that there's less Grimm to fight overall meaning lower garisons and more money spent on the main armies

unique units

Wood Runners: long bowmen with added range and melee combat stats equal to melee infantry. light armor means that you should keep them in cover though as well as being a juicy target for cavalry. added range over most normal archers and better armor piecing with their arrows makes them a powerful, unit that can last in melee as well specializing in Anti heavy infantry

Dire corgis: large war dogs with aura unlocked. look like giant corgis because they are giant corgis. great for running off ranged units and light cav. weak to spears, though their aura lets them hang around in combat longer than most would think. they do rely on the charge bonus though and can't be controlled once they're let off the leash. can be called back to their handlers though to be repositioned

FOCUS OF CAMPAIGN: ruby's main focus is to retake the cities and villages of vale that were lost to the grimm tide. your main strategy should be to build up on patch while the rest of vale falls to the grimm before striking out. your main advantage is against the grimm not people after all. and your added happyness means that you can spend more on your armies to put in your frontlines rather than worrying about protecting your rear (ruby's got a great rear guys) your main rival will be

UNITED TRIBES OF VALE: led by Yang Xiao-Long

yang's all about shock infantry and charge bonuses. using them to break the morale of enemy armies her special abilities are

HOT STUFF: human morale lowers around her and buildings catch fire in her aura when she's in combat. she's too hot to handle

PROBABLY WASN'T IMPORTANT ANYWAYS: still recruits units and receives money from buildings that are burned down. though at a slightly reduced rate

UNIQUE UNITS

Bandits: replaces mob, cheap units that gain charge bonus when next to another bandit unit. burn down buildings when nearby. no formations though and can't brace for charges so avoid cav. low morale, they're bandits they're not sticking around when shit goes south

berzerkers: shock infantry, cause dread in enemies lowering morale. chance of going berserk which makes them unbreakable but uncontrollable may even attack allies if they're the closest unit. REALLY FUCKING STRONG ON THE ATTACK! weak to ranged

yang's campaign is all about uniting vale as a tributary state to the tribe. you can recruit units from burned down buildings and still get money so spread like a wildfire and try to show your baby sis that it's safer under your protection. be aware that grimm are gonna be a huge problem for you so keep some bandits as a garrison in every village to deal with grimm.

"some of you may die... but I don't really give a shit about you" - Yang to the bandits probably

vale is a mix of American and French culture. so yeah kinda like Louisiana plantations but with more anime

Vaccuo: led by Jaune Arc

jaune specializes in pike infantry with heavy armor and heavy knights on horseback. he's set up to be a slugger with his special abilities

AURA AMP: allied units in jaune's aura slowly recover health and have increased stats (including armor)

SCION OF HEROES: the effects of chivalry are doubled and you gain it faster.

UNIQUE UNITS

shining knights: heavy knights with aura and mounts also in aura and armor. fuck you, fuck the guy behind you, and fuck the guy behind him I'm coming through. very expensive high morale and capabilities

rainbow guard: heavy pike infantry that proudly protect the standard of the arc family. give extra morale to those around them. fuck you they're not breaking. if there's even one guy left they're still fighting.

jaune's campaign is centered around taking control of the deserts and jungles of vaccuo from your origins in the mountains and hill country of the arc territories.

vaccuo's culture is like Scotland mixed with the middle east. fiercely independent people with a very strong sense of honor. also fuck you they'd rather die then be seen as a coward so you'd better just fucking kill them all. AND FUCK TAXES! so jaune has his work cut out for him, but he's in it for the long haul

MINSTRAL: LED BY PYRRHA NIKOS

pyrrha's all about personal combat and single entity units

INVINCIBLE GIRL: pyrrha herself is fucking busted and everyone wants to be like her. single entity units like huntsmen or companions are stronger and get more XP from battles

AN OFFER THEY CAN'T REFUSE: if pyrrha has more military power than someone they have improved relations with her. peacefully annexing people is possible this way. though this can cause a problem if you expand too fast

UNIQUE UNITS

pyrrha's guard: heavy spear infantry made in the image of spartans. slow but they decimate cav outlast ranged and out fight most over infantry. but they are fucking slow and hate being flanked where their phalanx will not work.

nora and ren: two unit entity, stealth shock is the name of the game ren sneaks them in close to anything even grimm. nora deals a fuck ton of damage all at once that can't be blocked by armor and shatters units. you only get one though sorry the world isn't ready for two noras

while sino/Greco/Roman culture makes martial ability the most important, however, only champions and highly expensive units can be trained. your low-level fighters (I.e most of your army) will have to be mercenaries. still with enough champions, you can take on most things so that's good

SCHNEE DUST COMPANY led by Weiss Schnee

atlas is all about dust weapons. a necessity because of but funded by Weiss's special abilities

COMPANY MEN: units require less upkeep cost

WEISSY: she's kinda a bitch, -50 to all diplomatic relations -75 to faunas factions

UNIQUE UNITS

WEISS GUARD: dust rifle units, slow to reload but longer range than normal dust muskets. dust round in general deal moral damage greater than almost any other units in the game (only yang's berzerkers and blake's beast-men scare people more)

BIG GUNS: 24LBS rifled field guns. or cannons rather for those who don't know the difference. fire straight and have an effective range of 1500 feet. highly accurate and with enough kick to drop even the largest of grimm

atlas and the SDC by extension are based on German and Russian culture (mainly german now that the nobles are gone) and have their main campaign focused on dealing with internal divisions and grimm. their cheaper units lends themselves to using dust arms rather than melee but bare in mind they suck in melee as a result. still, weiss is of the opinion that if you can kill your enemies from the comfort of your home and simply bombard them into submission or dust, why wouldn't you?

Menagerie led by Blake belladonna

menagerie must toe the line between animal and man, utilizing special abilities like

SAVAGE REPUTATION: the effects of dread are doubled and you gain dread faster

CUNNING HUNTERS: blake has bonuses to stats and the stats of her army while ambushing or attacking at night. doing both will make the bonuses stack

UNIQUE UNITS:

white fang infantry: can deploy anywhere light armor but use spears so cav has a hard time with them

NINJA: can deploy anywhere, inspire dread, use grenades flung from slings. capable of vanishing or using smoke bombs to lower enemy stats in melee for a short time

menagerie is a mix between Australian and Polynesian cultures but they are relatively new on the world stage. having been granted the island of menagerie in the brief time before the collapse of vale after the great war. the fuanas population outside of menagerie is very low as a result of the collapse and you have to ask yourself "what will you do to ensure the survival of your people?"

menagerie is a mix between Australian and Polynesian cultures but they are relatively new on the world stage. having been granted the island of menagerie in the brief time before the collapse of vale after the great war. the funas population outside of menagerie is very low as a result of the collapse and you have to ask yourself "what will you do to ensure the survival of your people?"

concepts.

chivalry: is a meter in the game, doing honorable actions increases chivalry. making formal declarations of war and waiting a turn to attack, not doing night battles, honoring alliances and calls to arms. generally making combat harder for yourself will be seen as chivalrous. the higher your chivalry the bigger bonus you will have to morale in battles and to diplomatic interactions.

dread: dread is the opposite of chivalry and is gained by doing unchivalrous actions. it will cause the enemy to start with lower moral and cause everyone (including yourself) to lose moral more quickly. this can be really helpful against strong enemies that have better weapons than you. it will also cause diplomatic relations to be harder. using dust muskets or cannons will cause dread but only in small amounts the more you use them the more dread you'll cause

post-campaign content

finishing your kingdom will open up international diplomacy and will allow you to start a campaign in another kingdom. each with different results based on the person you're playing

jaune can marry the ruler of another kingdom giving him their special abilities (jaune can only get dust muskets and cannons after he marries Weiss btw)

Pyrrha may offer protection to the others and gains their general unit for her own army

yang may extort tribute from them and treat them as the tributaries she had before gaining access to their unique units. ruby may offer bonds of friendship and do the same

blake may create embassies and get faunas versions of each unit (they can fight at night) as well as improve her chivalric reputation with each campaign (basically lets you gain the bonuses of dread without the negatives)

and Weiss may open up branch offices and have each character as a leader under her (you basically play the official campaign as the character you choose but with access to Weiss's abilities and units now as well)

you may only do one campaign at a time. so if you're jaune you have to subjugate yang and ruby in vale before you can try to marry weiss. you gotta finish what you started before you move on basically

on each map, there's an ancient grimm. this is a massive single-unit entity and has an army of grimm backing it. defeating this grimm will grant you a major bonus to happiness and prevent further grimm from showing up later.

single unit entities are very powerful but get weaker as their health goes down. their health will recover with time though

if you finish every campaign as a single character you unlock the grimm tide. salem has taken notice of you and wants you gone before ozma has a chance to bring you to his side. grimm will spawn every turn based on the unhappiness of cities in every kingdom you will wage a war all over the world against the grimm and try to hold on as unique and powerful generals lead hords of powerful grimm to attack you. these hords will even be supplemented by the grimm attracted to your unhappiness to keep your pops happy!

if you beat every general salem herself will come to take you out. she has an unending army that will constantly get reinforcement from offscreen every time you kill off a unit and she's a capable commander in her own right with powerful magic that will prevent you from camping too much (she's out of practice so she can only cast a spell every once in a while, be sure to move when you see the strange glow) if you can manage to get your character to her through her army you'll win and defeat her once and for all

@weatherman667 don't know if you play total war but had an idea for total war rwby and wanted to know your thoughts on the various kingdoms as lead by the main characters.

anyone else who sees this and has suggestions go nuts with it. it's just a bit of fun at the end of the day. how would you incorporate a character? what would their unique units be?

[itsclydebitches]

Its really interesting how quirks are used in BNHA vs RUBY'S semblance. Like I feel there is a lesson to learn about magic systems in the two

Oh definitely. Which isn’t to say that BNHA’s system is flawless—I’ve talked a little about problems/missed opportunities in the past and I’m sure the hardcore fans have plenty more to say—but comparing the two, it’s like day and night. Putting aside for a moment the huge leg-up BNHA has simply by virtue of not introducing “Your magic system now has other, literal magic,” something that stands out to me is how variety is upheld as a necessity for success. Meaning yeah, you have characters who are super powerful and could 1v1 a fight (All Might, Izuku, Bakugo, Todoroki, etc.) but the series also develops a lot of characters who, frankly, aren’t that impressive at first glance. Like, Ojiro literally just has a tail. That’s it. That’s his power. Having an extra appendage is not going to let him win against a villain with any combat-focused quirk, but the in-world system/the structure of the worldbuilding teachings that this doesn’t matter because they’re going to work as a team. Heroes aren’t supposed to be fighting any of these battles alone. They have classmates, mentors, organizations, peers, other heroes that randomly come on the scene. There’s a lot of emphasis in the series on people figuring out how to use their quirks together to take down the bad guy, rather than simply relying on those with the most "powerful" quirks to get the job done. (And indeed, we often see the most "powerful" heroes in situations where power alone could never win.) You need Izuku’s strength to crush the giant, but Uraraka’s float ability to ensure he doesn’t die upon landing. You need Aizawa to give you an opening and Thirteen to capture the enemy and Jiro to scout the area, etc. etc. It always struck me that Inko’s belief that she has an unimpressive quirk isn’t true. Though the story doesn’t always capitalize on this, the takeaway is that any quirk, in the right circumstances, with the right support, and with a bit of creativity, becomes an asset. If she’d wanted to be a hero, her quirk is no more or less useful than many of our side characters’. You just have to figure out the best way to use it.

In contrast, RWBY has really lost that sense of teamwork. The creators seem to think they’re telling that story, but it hasn’t actually shown that message in a long time. One of the excellent designs of quirks is that, given their endless variety, that means enemies come in an endless variety too; the power belongs to both good guys and bad, making for challenging, creative encounters. However, RWBY’s primary antagonist are the grimm and though they come in different shapes and sizes, the way to beat them is (almost) always the same: hit them with something sharp. Characters don’t even need their semblances to stand a chance, given that they all already possess weapons, dust, and aura. No one needs a character with a shield semblance to take a hit for them because everyone already has a built-in shield with aura. No one needs a character with a fire semblance to attack an ice creature with heat because everyone has access to dust, etc. And even with the insane amount of power each individual has, making peers somewhat unnecessary to their own potential success, it often still comes down to a generic hack-and-slash. Meanwhile, many of the people they fight—Roman, Watts, Ironwood (yes, I’m including Ironwood)—don’t have semblances of their own, or they’re characters like Tyrian who technically have one, but don’t seem to use them in a fight, or characters like Neo who do, but only once or twice per battle. Semblances are very rarely presented as a challenge to overcome. They're just a flashy additions to weapon-based fights. When was the last time the characters encountered a semblance they had to collectively figure out how to get past? ...never? And then we have enemies like Cinder and Salem who possess generic magic that should be a major hurdle to overcome, yet the characters aren’t working to utilize their unique skills to do that. How do we attack Salem? Idk, charge her and strap a bomb to her chest. Exactly as you would a grimm.

So we have a real underutilization of semblances, combined with every character being capable of taking on any enemy themselves (in theory), and that creates scenarios where teamwork just… isn’t necessary. No one needs Ruby’s speed semblance to beat an opponent because everyone has a weapon they’re just trying to hit the villain with—and eventually do. It used to be that, though semblances were supplemental, they were at least combined to create interesting advantages. Now, characters almost never rely on one another, let alone their unique talents, to overcome a formidable foe. Let’s tally up some recent fights:

Salem, as said, is attacked by Yang charging her and placing bombs. Hazel fights her solo. Oscar defeats her while the rest of the group escapes. The only teamwork is in Hazel sacrificing himself to hold her in place.

Ironwood goes to fight Watts solo.

The group all attack Ironwood one at a time, taking turns despite it being 5 vs. 1.

Same with the Cinder fight and here Yang’s semblance, which should have been the exact skill needed to save her from Neo’s hit, is inexplicably absent, leading to her “death.”

The show keeps insisting that the group beat the Ace Ops due to teamwork, but they split up at the very beginning of the fight. Ruby actually enters the room Weiss is in again at one point and then just… leaves. Blake and Yang fight together, but that’s their norm and, crucially, Vine and Elm fight together too, evening those odds. The most we get in terms of creative semblance help is Weiss summoning her wall of ice, after Ruby already has Harriet beat.

Blake and Ruby don’t need to work together to kill the centipede grimm, Blake instead begs Ruby to wake up and do it for her, which she does. Weiss and Willow don’t need to combine their semblances to beat back the Hound, their attacks remain separate. Ruby does the majority of the work herself by flashing her eyes and the kill shot is dumping a suit of armor on top of him.

The story separates Penny from the rest of the team when the Ace Ops attack and when they get out they’re immediately knocked off the platform, resulting in them doing nothing for that fight.

We have another split as Maria fights Neo and Penny fights Cinder. Having Emerald there should have been an easy win for the villains—there's literally a scene where she begs to come so she can be of help!—but instead Emerald only summons up one vision that's immediately overcome.

Qrow goes up against Harriet solo.

Winter goes up against Ironwood solo.

Ren, Yang, and Jane take turns attacking the Hound before just standing there while it transforms.

I could keep listing examples until… well, I’d argue Volume 4. I’d say that’s one of the last times we saw the teams working together, specifically in a way that creatively combined their semblances, such as Ruby carrying Nora so she can lightning up and smash the geist. Though it’s not quite the level of teamwork we saw in fights like the Nevermore or against Roman’s mech, it was still there. Then Volume 5 taught Oscar how to 1v1 Ruby using only hand-to-hand. It separated everyone for the final battle. Yang beats Adam almost entirely by herself. The major beats of the Cordovin battle are Ruby using her eyes and Ruby throwing herself into the cannon. No one is functioning as a team anymore and the story goes out of its way to separate people for a fight: Blake is alone when Adam attacks, then Blake is too injured to seriously help Yang. We flip-flop. There are some battle exceptions of course (there’s a little teamwork when the trio is trying to rescue Oscar) as well as the nugget of ideas for other semblance uses (Jaune helps Penny fight the virus), but on the whole we’ve really lost that work of semblances acting as a necessary, collaborative tool to win the battle. Work that, while not always perfect, BNHA has had a much better time with.

RWBY’s magic system suffers from a lot of problems, but at least we started out with the idea, “In order to beat something as powerful as a Nevermore, your tanks need to hit it hard enough to stun it, the girl with dust and glyphs needs to hold it/provide a way to run up the mountain, and the speedster needs to quickly use her scythe/the momentum and cut off its head.” A pretty good use of weapons, resources, and magical powers. Now we’ve got fights like, “Girl who can summon things runs outside, fails to summon, goes back inside, girl who can make copies of herself doesn’t use that, let alone using it with dust like she once did, instead just parries uselessly while begging for help, scythe girl stands up and cuts through the beast from behind.” No innovation. No creativity. No real teamwork. What happened to Ruby shooting Nora with a lightning bullet? Weiss powering up Blake with a time glyph? Yang riding Blake’s ribbon to gain extra power in a punch? Why bother giving grimm speed or acid or (harking back to Oobleck) intelligence if our characters no longer need to find ways around those unique traits? The closest we've gotten lately is the Apathy, which was really just a way to re-introduce Ruby's silver eyes — and that was at the expense of things like, "Neither Wiess nor Yang can blast a flimsy, wooden door down now. In a world where they're blowing craters into the ground, a lock is the true enemy!" It just feels like we’ve lost the majority of that collaborative creativity, replacing it with solo fights, or taking turns fights, almost all of which are focused on each individual character battling with the tools they have, rather than figuring out how to combine their abilities to create a whole that’s more powerful than its parts.

[garbagecrow12]

RWBY season 5 rewrite (kinda)

Saw a really odd, to say the least, RWBY season 5 rewrite idea so I got fueled to make one of my own. Thing is though, I actually kind of like/am okay with season 5. So this is just going to be bullet point ideas of a rewrite of the final fight scene, and maybe a bit more. Quick note, this is not me claiming I’m better at writing than the original writers, this is just me exploring out a different execution of plot points and such. Anyway, let’s do this!

• Cinder ends up dragging Ruby into the fight between her and Jaune, maybe shouting at Emerald for trying to “take her victory away from her”.

• Ruby has no chance of using her flashbang eyes besides the snippet of power gotten from remembering Pyrrha’s death.

• Blake shows signs of being scared to fight Adam but Sun manages to help her feel more confident about going against him, this would also have Sun and Adam have a quick scuffle before Adam elbows him in the eyes or something and runs off.

• Jaune still gets his line of not caring if he dies as long as his friends are safe and Cinder still impales Weiss, Ruby reacting to this like how she did with Qrow getting poisoned and nearly cutting off Cinder’s clothed arm in rage. The eyes still don’t enter bright mode due to it being a moment where Ruby wants to hurt Cinder rather than protect her friends.

• This actually is what foreshadows Cinder’s Grimm arm before the official reveal as it’s shown that the small bits of skin shown are black and, I assume, leathery like the Grimm arm. Maybe this can also be what reveals to the squad that Cinder has a Grimm arm in the first place since they never actually have anything to notify that the squad know about it before they see her again besides no slight reaction to the arm itself.

• Weiss ends up having lasting trauma from nearly dying and begins doubting her abilities, although this would be more for later seasons so just a hint of it would come from this with something like Weiss casting doubtful looks towards her summon and myrtenaster.

• Blake and Emerald end up going against each other, specifically cause I think it would be cool to see them using their weapons to swing around the room. Maybe at one point Emerald actually attempts to drop the chandelier in the room on top of Weiss’ summon to destroy it but Blake manages to kick it away, possibly having it crash down onto Hazel.

• Yang’s actually at a disadvantage against even just Mercury because of still not entirely being used to her new arm and Mercury in general being a sore subject in Yang’s eyes.

• Make characters interfere more in the middle of their fights with other fights, mostly to give off more of the impression that this is one big fight happening in the same room. Things like Yang firing off shots at Vernal, Raven creating portals near some of the enemies so they could launch surprise attacks at either Yang or Qrow, and other stuff like that.

This is mostly just scraps of ideas that I think would have been cool to see, they’re not perfect though. One small idea that I think would have been cool for the whole season would probably have been to actually show some of the students from Haven throughout the team RNJR part of the season, since they did show off the Atlas students during the Atlas arc. Possibly even Neptune and have him talk with the others about how Sun just ran away with some slight bitterness to imply that this isn’t something that’s happened only with just his season 1 entrance. Just a thought though.

[howlingday]

Team RWBY and JNPR are both really balanced.

Both have two feral members (Ruby, Yang), (Jaune, Nora)

And members that work as impulse control (Weiss, Blake), (Pyrrha, Ren)

And then team RNJR was formed.

How you do see their dynamic? Do you think Ren misses Pyrrha and times as team JNPR more than Jaune?

Looking back on everything pre-Fall, it's interesting how we would define feral.

Ruby and Yang were definitely feral, though Ruby was more controlled.

She would slack off, sure, but when it came to acting on her impulses, she was very tame. Sure, she kicked a guy though a window and took down a gang of thugs, then chased after their boss and was almost murdered by said boss' boss. But she never went too far.

Yang, on the other hand and contrary to her mother figure character, is absolutely feral! She walked into a night club, grabbed and twisted Junior's boys, then rampaged inside Junior's club and fought his actual boys, his twin charges, and him, all in one night! Then she had the nerve, the audacity to walk back in months later like nothing happened.

Weiss and Blake are definitely domesticated, though Blake is more stray than feral now. Weiss was raised in high society environment where everything was monitored and controlled. Blake was feral, but then was adopted, then went stray a few times before finding her home on RWBY once more.

Jaune? Feral? No, definitely not. Or, at least, not before the Fall. Jaune had his outbursts, true, but he has always been in control of himself and never had to really break the mold. He was still finding his way around this strange, new world of Grimm and Dust and tournaments between schools WHAT IS THIS GOBLET OF FIRE BULL-?!

Nora was a hundred percent feral. She did what she wanted, when she wanted, how she wanted. Her only tie to control was Ren, but that was the same as your dog at the dog park running around to play, only to come back to you when they were done.

We joke about Pyrrha going yandere when it comes to Jaune, but in truth, Pyrrha was never going to go that feral. She has always been in control, but found a little freedom in JNPR. And when she was given the choice to remain free or being locked in control again, she chose what she thought was best for all. (AND DIED FOR IT)

Ren went feral once, and only once, and that was when Nucklavee showed up. Every time before and after was Ren being in complete control of himself to the point it was, and is, actually stifling.

---------------------------------------------------

For Team RNJR/JNRR, the dynamic is a bit different.

Ruby is still kind of feral, but is still in control of herself and her actions. You don't see it much, but when you look in her eyes as she attacks, there's a predator in there, ready to strike.

Jaune is domesticated, but he's also sad. He's now finding himself in a new way; a way without Pyrrha, or Beacon, or any shape or form of a resemblance of control in his life. His world is shattered, and he's left to pick up the pieces.

Nora is still feral, same as before. Honestly, we don't really see her vulnerable or taking control until her fight in Haven or her big moment in Atlas.

Ren, as stated before goes truly feral once, and that's either to kill the Grimm that took everything from him, or die trying. We do see him snap twice, both times at Jaune during Atlas. Will he go feral in Vacuo, now that it's just him, Nora, Winter, Emerald, Oscar, and whole bunch of civilians dying in a sandstorm OH MY GOD, IS THIS DU-?!

---------------------------------------------------

To summarize

Ruby: Light Feral

Nora: Heavy Feral

Jaune: Domesticated into Stray

Ren: Domesticated, Stray, then Domesticated again

[rachetmath]

JRY vs Ace-ops

Warning: Long read. This is theory on who would survive a fight. A analyses. In my opinion. So with clear, if you agree, then like or comment. Disagree, fine, go wild.  

Hello, so you must have read the title. Okay you might be thinking, "Ratchetmath, bro, you can't be serious. There is no way Jaune and Ren can ever defeat the Ace-ops. Only Yang, considering her and her teammates did in volume 7." Which I would completely side with you on. However, I've come to realize that the Hound was never a threat, and more importantly the boys could've done more if the Worf effect wasn't in place. So, let's give these guys a fighting chance and see what they along with Yang, could've done if they had to fight Winter and Ace-ops.

First, let's discuss the Hound and why the Worf effect failed. For those of you who don't know what the Worf effect is, it is when a new character is placed in the story and to prove their strength: you make them fight already deemed strong characters and let them win or stand a chance of winning the fight. The reason the Worf effect failed for the Hound is because Oscar is not a very strong character. Oscar skill level as the show presents is random at best. The Hound should have aimed for Jaune. Jaune as the show and writers made clear, has an incredible amount of aura. Seeing the Hound break his aura completely without even trying would've been more terrifying and makes sense. Or Yang, showing that it could fight.

But why? Why the Hound taking Jaune or Yang down first makes sense? Yeah, Yang is fine but Jaune is not strong or a capable fighter. Maybe not much of a fighter, but he is strong. In fact, he holds back grimm twice his size on a regular basis like an Urosa and Nuckelavee. Even Yang and the other characters, well except Elm because of her physical appearance, are guilty of this. The Hound is no different, it's basically a harder version of the Beowulf. Let's face it, Jaune couldn't do anything because the show must go as planned. Jaune could've save Oscar by getting close and blowing it away with his gravity dusted shield. The hound attacking Jaune first would prove it was watching them carefully, seeing their weapons and abilities to find who could be a threat to its mission. Proving its power and intelligence.

Now, the main event, team JRY versus The Ace-ops. The fight starts when the Ace-ops arrive after Jaune told them about the grimm river. Sadly, when they arrive, things were not so good. The Ace-Ops were more focused on finding Penny instead of the river. Now the grimm river destroyed the Atlas barrier and Atlas was under attack. However, the Ace-ops still want to arrest the group. Instead of going down peacefully, Jaune, Yang and Ren won't go down without a fight. Can they win?

Now, let's scan the environment. They were in an open plain field full of snow. There is nowhere to hide and almost no way to escape for team JRY. The motorcycle is not fast enough to outrun Harriet or a plane. But more importantly there was a crater beside them where the grimm river used to be. Now there are two ways this can go down, but I'll explain later. Let’s focus on the characters.

Let’s talk about the Ace-ops. They are elite hunters in Atlas. And from what we got from volume 8, Harriet told us that Marrow and Winter are replacements for their fallen comrades. Meaning Vine, Elm and Harriet herself are the remaining, long term members of the Ace-ops. So, they work very well together unlike with Marrow and Winter. That could give team JRY an advantage, but not much. Do to the fact that it's five against three and with only one of them being the strongest fighter, they need a plan to set the odds to their favor.

Now for team JRY. Beacon students turned hunters thanks to James. Now they’re with adults. However, there are a few problems with this team. There are three people in the team and two of them, barely fight or have barely won a fight at all. Jaune is more on the defensive while Ren... well, he spams his attacks, and relies heavily on long range. Sadly, the Ace-ops over power them with combative semblances and fire power. Their best shot would be to run. However, there still a way to win. This is a fight or flight situation, so what would happen if team JRY choose either option?

For flight, the reason being because they're not capable, it's a waste time and more importantly lives are in danger. First, remember they were on a field of snow. What does Jaune have? A shield that shoots gravity waves on contact weather it's from enemies or to the ground. Jaune was already in front of the bike and with good timing, he could activate and slam his shield to ground, sending snow flying, causing a smoke screen. Giving them little but plenty of time to hop on the one motorcycle and ride, while making sure Winter or Marrow have no time to stop them with either of their semblances. The crater also plays a key role for their escape. They can ride in it, but Harriet, due to her semblance granting her speed, will be on their tail. However, if orderly seated, Jaune can stop Harriet from getting too close. But what about the other members? Well, they'll be back on the ship, but they can't do anything. If they fire missiles, they'll get in Harriet's way and more importantly hurt her in the process. Jaune could also block her path himself with shield bomb.  

Now, for fight. Reason being is Oscar is in danger and needs saving. More importantly the plane is better for traveling around Mantle and saving people than a motorcycle. This will be a difficult battle but not one sided. This is going to involve the team trusting each other. And putting their skills to the test.

First off, they would need to get rid of Marrow. Marrow may be the rookie of the Ace-ops, but he is the most powerful. His semblance can stop time just by looking at his opponent or pointing at them, commanding them to "Stay" in place.

To take out Marrow, they need to knock him out before he uses his semblance. So, before the fight truly starts, Yang should be close to Jaune, grabbing his clothes and amplifying her aura. When she has enough, Jaune, since team JRY will get a plane, launches the bike and Ren shoots the gas tank. The explosion should cause a temporary smoke screen. Yang should immediately get on Jaune shield for him to launch her towards the Ace-ops and activate her semblance to knock Marrow out. Wait a minute, but Yang's semblance doesn't work like that, she needs to take damage to even use it. However though, Blake revealed that Yang and Adam's semblances are one of the same. Meaning, both can activate their semblances any time without the need to be attacked. Yang has done this once back at Beacon and in Atlas considering Elm couldn't even touch her. But this would wear her out. Too bad she was amplified by Jaune, so she may not experience the same negative draw backs when using her semblance recklessly before.

Wait, but what about Aura? Can't aura protect Marrow from harm? Well, sadly no. Aura, as the show so far made clear, is limited to what it could do for its users. If you have a broken arm, get poisoned and/or critically wounded, your aura my not save you. So, a heavy blow to the head is something your aura is useless in healing, especially when you need to be conscious.  

Now, it's four against three. So, what should happen next? Jaune pushes Harriet into the crater, allowing Ren to fight her. Harriet may be fast but with the crater being narrow and deep she'll have a hard time moving around and probably climbing out. This will allow Ren to adapt to her movements and fight in her in hand-to-hand combat. Hopefully, he's still good at that and not relying on his upgrade.

Jaune may have to take on two opponents. They are being Vine and Elm. Don't get me wrong, it took Blake and Yang to beat them, but Vine and Elm aren't really that good. In fact, they are just stronger versions of Ren and Nora, except Vine's semblance is better suited for combat. But let’s be clear, Jaune survived a journey of pain without his aura being broken but a few times. Never mind, only once, do to being tired after fighting a giant mech.

Now, hear me out. Elm is strong, and her weapon is an RPG. But her semblance is useless if the ground is cracked, which Jaune can do without wasting aura, or entering a burst mode. Elm also has not demonstrated any hand-to-hand combat skills. Even if she was willing to still use her weapon without her semblance, it only further proves she will suffer from the recoil from her weapon once fired. Plus, Jaune can block or deflect the missiles back at her using the gravity waves from his shield. Also, though Elm is stronger than Jaune, he's faster, has more movability and a sword. So as the saying goes, "Bigger doesn't always mean better."  

But hey, what about Vine? He beat Jaune before. But who can't beat Jaune? More importantly, didn't Vine need the high ground to fight anyone. In the snow plain field, Vine has no high ground but the ship, Jaune already fought him once so he might know how far his arms can stretch, and more importantly, Jaune is physically stronger than Vine. He might use his weapon but again, the shield can deflect it. And if Jaune grabs his stretchable arm, he basically can throw Vine around.

I will make this quick for Yang. Yang will take on Winter. She would be able to reason with her considering she's friends with her sister. But Yang might have some ways to fight Winter considering she should knows how Weiss fights and been working with Weiss for a while. However, we still must consider that Winter can make an army of grimm, but she has not used any other tactics.

But these are still highly trained hunters. They aren't so easily to be defeated especially against Jaune and Ren. Well, Jaune can assist Ren by knocking out Harriet. How? Ren could use his grappling gun to capture and slow down Harriet. Ren gives Jaune a signal, Jaune goes to him, Ren releases Harriet who was running too fast for her own good with no time to react. Finally, Jaune use his shield to knock her out. They climb out and both can fight Vine and Elm. Same for Ren if to assist Jaune first. Harriet may be fast but won't be able to climb out the crater. Once all four members are down Winter would be the only one left. And sadly, the Schnees despite their abilities, still manage to lose battles.

Well, that’s all folks. Remember this is in my opinion. If there are ways for team JRY to win or if there are flaws to my plan, then please leave a comment. However, despite what I said, team JRY would still lose. Mostly due to what I said about the Worf effect not being used properly. And the villains have way more plot armor then the heroes.