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Weiss Learns Why Yang’s Symbol is a Burning Heart -- a quick chibi comic in honor of lil’ @shaevira

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Freezer burn | 川 [pixiv] https://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=65878806

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#special thanks to#queer-anime-girls#for inspiring me 

Awww that makes me so happy. <3

And I agree it’s undeniable that asymetry is thematically important for them both. Things like lopsided hair and uneven socks are visually interesting shorthand for them being Different. A facial scar and a missing arm are marks of survived hardship. All together, they symbolically reject expectations and ideals of perfection. That’s so important for both of their characters.

There’s a lot to be said about the lovely way this show uses visual cues, but it’s also great when these cues are backed up textually – and that’s exactly what happened in Alone Together when they flirtatiously clinked cups to “defying expectations” and later laid themselves bare to each other.

I love it when arguably “coded” LGBT themes (like mutations in the X-Men ‘verse) feature people who feel Othered coming together and supporting each other, even if what makes them different from others also makes them different from each other. And there’s no doubt that mutual feelings of isolation are at play here. The only question for me now is whether their budding relationship will be left “coded” or be made fully textual.

Thoughts on RWBY Volume 5: Chapter 8′s Freezerburn moment

Hey guys, Mona here. Sorry for the bad quality on the screenshots but I just wanted to get my thoughts out. Everything’s under the cut!

Keep reading

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I am loving your Freezerburn analysis!! I am glad someone was finally about to out into plaintext of what I have gestate as a gut feeling about Yang and Weiss evidently, blossoming relationship for years-YEARS!! I look forward to reading more of your thoughts and commentaries.

Aaaaahhh thanks! And LISTEN, thanks for spreading the good word of freezerburn for YEARS before I showed up on the scene like: “Oh hey I never even considered this possibility but apparently it’s happening now??? So I guess i should rewatch the show and rethink everything from top to bottom???”

Seriously, thanks, because it’s the longtime freezerburn shippers that gave me a backlog of art and theories and excited ranting to look through when i first realized i wanted to hop on the bullet train to Gayville, Remnant - Population: 2 Lonely Friends Who Kick All Kinds of Ass (and 1 Cute Cult Member) (and probably that 1 Two-Dimensional Couple in V5Ch1)

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Perfection and Loneliness: Freezerburn’s Fairy Tale Origins

Some meaty analysis about the surprises, overlaps, and shifts in Yang and Weiss’s common themes.

Snow White, the character Weiss was inspired by and named for, is a perfect girl. Without even trying, without even being aware of it, Snow White is the “fairest” and most desirable in the land.

In the context of RWBY, that sounds much more like Yang than Weiss. Yang, in many ways, is portrayed as “Just Right” (like the creepo bandit would say). Not just in terms of The Male Gaze, but also in how easily fighting came to her. Until she lost her arm, we never really saw her struggle to get better. During their first big test at Beacon, Yang started out completely carefree -- launched off a cliff with sunglasses on, yelling and laughing. Always confident before a big fight. The perfect brawler.

Weiss, on the other hand, has always been in her head. Over-analyzing. Never completely pleased with her own efforts. Constantly struggling, in desperate pursuit of perfection, hoping it would satisfy her. During the first big test at Beacon, Weiss chastises herself for having a foot slightly out of alignment for Proper Form, and freezes up.

And who does that sound more like? Goldilocks, the character that inspired Yang. So difficult to please. So caught up in a meticulous search for perfection that she could be blind to other dangers around her.

This makes for an interesting subversion of expectations for their characters, and an interesting crossover between the girls themselves. How likely is it to be unintentional?

And there’s so much to be said about how they’ve both changed since the beginning. Weiss, the icy perfectionist, is softer and warmer, less hasty to judge herself or others. Yang, the wild beauty, is more cool and cautious, more likely to think before she acts, more likely to doubt herself.

But these changes don’t bring them closer to their Fairy Tale counterparts. They bring them closer to each other.

(Like, honestly? One of them warming up and the other cooling down is like a big, blaring billboard reading: “THESE CHARACTERS AND THEIR DESTINIES ARE CONNECTED”)

There are events we can link up, as well. Goldilocks got a rude wakeup call and left behind her mess as she ran into the forest. Snow White was trapped beneath glass in the forest when her true love came to save her. Are these coincidental parallels with recent events, or not?

There are all sorts of delicate threads we can reach and stretch to connect here. But the most important threads for Weiss and Yang are perfection and loneliness. Perfection plays a huge role in both of their origin Fairy Tales, as well as their in-show story-lines, but both of them have seemingly lost their illusions of perfection, and are simply trying to do their best right now for the sake of others. And in spite of always being surrounded by people, both of them have been always lonely, yearning for familial bonds-- but instead of pining for a perfect family, maybe both of them will start looking for something that feels... (pause for audience groaning “don’t do it”)... Just Right.

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So I’m sitting here sketching Freezerburn warmups, thinking about what colors to choose... and I’m suddenly realizing that Weiss and Yang aren’t just Ice and Fire – they’re also Silver and Gold. And they’re Repression and Freedom. They’re The Princess and The Rogue. They’re Honor and Glory. They’re Finesse and Brute Force.

One of them hears the call of duty but is drawn to wild things.The other one hears the call of the wild but is drawn to dutiful pursuits.

One prefers to be proper and subtle, but will be impulsively bold with her feelings and actions when it’s really important. The other one prefers to be brazen and bawdy, but has a hard time being open and honest about things that make her vulnerable.

I mean??? I could go on for several more paragraphs. And the full weight of this is all crashing down on me right now and I feel like I’m looking into infinity wow wow WOW I’m losing my mind over the sheer volume of possibilities.

This pairing has so many classic elements just baked right into it. SO MANY GOOD TROPES TO PLAY WITH.

LET’S PLAY.

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This week has been exhausting, so I doodled best girls in best outfits.

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LOOK CLOSELY!

You’ll see Yang’s arm wrapping even more tightly around Weiss and her face burying even more deeply into the embrace.

THAT’S IT.

MY FREEZERBURN HEART CAN’T TAKE IT.

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Biker Babes: A Mostly Serious Visual Analysis

Okay, so it’s exhaustively well-established at this point that CRWBY uses visual contrasts as a narrative device, right?

WELL. Consider this hilarious and totally intentional contrast:

In this volume, we’ve seen Yang driving her bike with two very different people riding on the back of it, at two very different speeds.

First example: the establishing of expectations.

If this random punk, who got his ass handed to him by Yang twice, is strong enough to hang on to the bike while it’s going at least 20 MPH, then we know Weiss would be strong enough to maintain a similar sitting position while going about 2 MPH. But yet--

She doesn’t. Instead, probably less than half an hour after being held by Yang in front of the sunset for an unknown length of time, she wraps herself completely around Yang again. Presses her chest into Yang’s strong back.

There’s even a close-up shot in which Weiss’s fingers tighten around her own hand right as the engine vibrates to life beneath them, and yeah, wow, there’s kind of a lot to unpack there.

We have to acknowledge that (according to both our Real-Ass Earth Logic and the precedent already set within the show itself) any bodily contact Weiss has with Yang in this scene is approximately 9000% unnecessary. It was only because she wants to have close contact. Weiss wasn’t afraid to fall off a bike that was going slower than a toddler riding a tricycle. She didn’t have to cling to her hot friend just to survive the two minute journey.

And CRWBY wanted us to know that.

p.s. In future episodes, be on the lookout for Weiss to wrap her arms around Yang as a means of protecting her from something, because they made her position look super protective in this shot and it would be an awesome opportunity for a visual echo.

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I missed you, so much♥

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Weiss supporting Yang while she cries because of Blake. Vol3 ep8/vol5 ep8

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I’m so rusty and blocked, but I had to draw Freezerburn.

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YES HALLELUUU PRAISE THOSE BALLERINA LEGS

DAT LOOK DOH

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Your freezerburn art gives me life. Bless you 🙏🏻

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CRWBY serving up some real good Obliviously Thirsty Yang so far

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my updated RWBY alignment chart