#RWBY 8x13

[pictures-of-yxl]

[aspoonofsugar]

Worthy

I love the new RWBY soundtrack! So, before delving into longer metas on volume 9, I want to share a quick analysis of Bumbleby's new song.

BUMBLEBY VS CINDER

As many have highlighted, the song shares its title with episode 8X13.

This episode is interesting for 2 reasons:

It is a Cinder's centric episode

It is when Yang falls leaving Blake behind

Our Maiden of Choice is one of the strongest foils to our protagonists. In particular, she ties into all the MCs's allusions as an antagonistic force. This is particularly clear in Ruby and Weiss's stories, as she plays Ruby's Big Bad Wolf and Weiss's Evil Queen.

What about Bumbleby?

Cinder is a personification of Blake's Beast

The Beast is the Jungian Shadow, which represents everything hidden and repressed. Blake integrates her shadows and brings them to light. Cinder is instead consumed by her darkest parts, as her Shadow Hand shows.

Cinder embodies Yang's too hot

The too hot is a metaphor for asymmetry and anger, which are core traits of both Yang and Cinder. It is just Yang accepts her own asymmetry and faces the feelings of vulnerability she masks with rage. Cinder instead doesn't aknowledge her emotions and her hurt.

In other words, Cinder embodies Blake and Yang's flaws and represents an obstacle in Bumbleby's fairy tales. This is why in the finale of volume 8 she re-enacts the 2 girls' traumas.

She manipulates things, so that Yang has no choice, but to go too hot:

And Yang's fall has Blake go feral:

The whole scene is a repetition of Blake and Yang's two fights with Adam. Yang protects a loved one and loses her arm as a consequence (Jinxy steals it in the Ever After). Blake sees Yang get hurt and has her weapon damaged (only the ribbon this time).

This happens so that Blake and Yang can prove they are now stronger than before. They are worthy:

And now I know I'm worthy of you

In the end, both Cinder and Bumbleby have to show their worth. Still, this word gains different meanings for the bees and for our Cinderella. Let's see why by analyzing the Worthy song's lyrics.

BLAKE'S PART - FALLING

Why did Why did I come here? Was I always meant to take this shape? Never was given a love like this A parachute falling with no fear of hitting the ground Hitting the ground You fell And suddenly I did too While the world was dying Didn't know how to not lose you again

Blake's lines tie her and Yang's romantic dynamic to their fall in the Ever After.

You fell:

And suddenly I did too:

While the world was dying, (I) didn't know how to not lose you again:

The metaphor is rather clear. Yang falls for Blake first, while our Cat Girl struggles with her feelings for Adam and her attraction to Sun. Still, Blake finally falls too and the two bees find themselves in (Happily) Ever After, where they get together:

The falling imagery is mentioned in the confession scene, as well:

Yang: (in thought) It's like a cliff. And if I do it, I'm just going to fall. Blake: (in thought) I think we're already falling. (turns to Yang) Just, say it, Yang.

Never was given a love like this A parachute falling with no fear of hitting the ground Hitting the ground

As the song states, Blake was "never given a love like this". The comparison is clearly with Adam's passion, which was violent and abusive. Blake feels the bond between her and Yang is different. This is why she is not scared of falling, as if she is wearing a parachude. She knows Yang is there to catch her.

YANG'S PART - CATCHING

Hands down Heart wide I've only ever known the fight But I'll catch you This time I'll never let you out of my sight Unguarded I Surrender to a softer side I loved you, I'll love you Till the end of time Kiss me Hold tight I'll never let you out of my sight

Yang symbolically catches Blake in the song, so that the falling metaphor is completed. The meaning is clear.

Falling is a risk, but risks are necessary to truly live:

Yang: You were being optimistic. Look, blind optimism isn’t great, but no optimism means we already lost. We need hope. We need to take risks.

So, Yang herself takes a risk and makes a leap of faith:

Yang: I think I love you.

And she is promptly caught by Blake:

Blake: I love you, too.

By this point the two hold thight and kiss each other:

Yang taking this step is important because she is scared of vulnerability and intimacy.

She only knows the fight:

And yet, she faces Blake with her hand(s) down and her heart wide:

She surrenders to a softer side:

She trusts Blake not to leave and is determined not to let her out of sight. It is great development when compared to this:

You're lost You're found You're hard to pin down I never know if you'll come through Then you appear Together we're here And that's all that matters somehow

The scene happening on a bridge over the void strengthens the implication. If Yang and Blake's feelings were not mutual, they would have crashed down. Still, they love each other, so they embrace in a beautiful garden.

TO EACH OTHER - BMBLB

Voice 1: And now I know I'm worthy of you Voice 2: (Oh can't you see, you could be with me) Voice 1: With every smile you told me, "I love you" Voice 2: (I am your dream, I love you)

Baby can't you see? You could be with me We could live inside a garden of ecstasy You could be my queen I could be your dream Our lives like a fantasy Maybe set me free? Let me be your bumblebee

Bumbleby's kiss fits the scenery described by the Bmblb song.

Blake and Yang are in a garden and their confession "chases away the darkness and gloom" by making "the clouds run from the sky":

They are metaphorically making honey:

Like a Purdie* beat You are oh so sweet Every day is sunny, tastes like honey Feel so alive take me back to the hive

Which is why the flowers surrounding them bloom magically. Fitting for bees, right?

TOGETHER - SEEING AND STAYING

See me for everything I am You don't run away No matter the mistakes I made It's here, you'll stay

This stanza is the climax of the song and it conveys its most important message.

Why are Blake and Yang finally able to be togehter? In which way have they grown?

Yang sees Blake for everything she is:

Yang: Well, Blake, I'm Yang, Ruby's older sister! I like your bow!

Yang: You have cat ears! (…) I think your cat ears are cute.

The juxtaposition between these two lines sums up our Yellow Beauty's development.

Yang has always been attracted to Blake, but she is initially unable to see her as a whole. This is what the bow line alludes too. As a matter of fact Blake's bow is symbolic of the girl's shadow, as she initially uses this cloth to hide who she is (her beats part). So, Yang's first interaction with Blake shows she is drawn even to Blake's darkest parts. However, she is not mature enough to understand them completely.

It is only through her personal arc that Yang becomes able to see Blake for the person she truly is. Beautiful and ugly parts alike:

Weiss: You're right though. I don't know loneliness like you do. I have my own version. And, I'll bet Blake has her own version too.

This is why she can now openly praise Blake's animal trait.

Blake too has grown, of course. She gets irritated by Yang's bow compliment because, at the time, it hits a little close to home. Right now, she displays her ears openly and is flustered and happy by Yang's words. She doesn't hide herself anymore.

Blake is ready to stay:

Never thought that you would stay forever / Never asked you to commit your life

Blake: I have people who actually care about me, and I promised I'd never leave them again. So I'm not dying now.

Blake leaves Yang when our Golden Beauty is at her most vulnerable. This hurts Yang deeply, but Blake works through her flaw, grows and comes back. Once she does, she is ready to do what Yang never asked her to. She commits her life:

Blake: I… I am not going to break my promise, I swear.

Blake's vow to Yang is in fact a wedding vow, symbolically. It means Blake is determined to stand beside Yang no matter what. And Yang knows Blake means it:

Yang: I know you won't.

In conclusion, Blake and Yang's growth has them see the other's flaws and accept them. This is where their worth comes from.

TO BE WORTHY

You can't just be strong, you have to be smart! You can't just be deserving, you have to be worthy!

Blake and Yang are worthy of each other not because they are perfect. Rather, they know they aren't, but accept their own shortcomings. They forgive themselves and the other, so that they can grow better together. They become more balanced inside and this results in a new found harmony between each other.

Cinder's self worth instead comes from superficial validation by people only interested in using her. She doesn't face her inner demons, but rather chooses to push them down, so that she can keep wearing the mask of a powerful woman.

This is why Blake and Yang find real self-worth, while Cinder has set up an unreachable standard for herself.

[thuskindlyshescatters]

For the rwby ask thing, 7, 20, 28

Thanks for sending these over! <3

7. Favorite lines? A brief list, for the consideration of the Academy:

Roman's dying monologue in 3x11 Salem's entire monologue in 3x12 "Nobody needed to die today" -Hazel, 5x02 "I'm sorry." "Yeah. Me too." -Raven/Yang, 5x14 Ozpin's entire monologue in 7x13 Watts' monologue to Cinder in 8x10 "I've never wavered in fighting the enemies of this kingdom. And I won't start now." -Winter, 8x13

Honorable mention for anything Oobleck ever said, because he's hilarious.

20. What are you looking forward to seeing in Vacuo? Obviously, meeting the Summer Maiden. Also seeing Sun and Neptune again, Mercury's redemption arc, and RAVENNNN 💖

27. Favorite voice performance? Lindsay and Miles were so good in Volume 9, but I gotta say, Jessie James Grelle as Tyrian and Aaron Dismuke as Oscar have always impressed the hell out of me. Roman's performance also always felt the most natural and genuine to me in the whole show.

@greenbeany @squipedmew @definitelynotgayforqrow @actualbampot come answer these ^-^

[sapphic-yang]

[localboop]

How I imagine team CFVY and SSSNN find out about Oz

Fox, talking to Oscar telepathically and in a fighting stance: Alright. It’s just training. You’ll be fine.

Oscar, telepathically: Alright.

Ozpin: Remember to engage your aura.

Fox, frozen: DID I JUST HEAR OZPIN-

[stubbornessissues]

We all fall down...

[penny-weiss]

I've never wavered in fighting the enemies of this kingdom. And I won't start now.

Winter Schnee, RWBY v8x13

[sunny-little-dragons]

I hate to be the one to say it

But

Neo 2-0 Yang

[tanukyclaws]

Sorry mate you're not coherent with reading either, or analyzing a scene, or understanding reaction time. Ah but yes the writers are gods we will bend backwards if it meant excusing their shit writing. Cause Yang *screaming* Ruby's name before she gets hit doesnt make everyone turn their attention to her, nope. Not enough time for Weiss to turn around and at least *try* to use a glyph at the edge to catch Yang, or a summon when she starts falling. Not enough time for Ruby to use her *SPEED* semblance. No, you see, it just happened TOO FAST. So fast actually that Blake had time to turn around, start running then throw her weapon at Yang. Last I checked it was never shown that Blake had superhuman reaction times. And god the "shock" excuse gets tiring.

Shocked? Of what? After seeing her uncle poisoned and dying, her sister unconcious without an arm, her teammate stabbed on the ground, her partner impaled, her friend electrocuting herself and possibly dying, DOZENS of people dying, a friend dying right in front of her, Yang jumping in the mouth of a grimm to save her and break her aura. You'd think that after all of this it would take a lot more than seeing your sister get hit once to shock you. And the fact that this is the 2nd time Ruby sees it? Or at least the 2nd time that we have been shown, who knows. How can you see something at least twice and still be shocked the 2nd time?

And the funny thing is that Ruby's character literally revolves around being the optimistic leader who *takes action*. She always has a plan, she's always on the move, she always wants to go and help, no matter what. And now she does nothing.

There were so many ways to make that scene look plausible: have Weiss try to use a glyph but fail, have Ruby try to get up and save her sister but get attacked and stopped by Cinder. It was that easy! Nobody would've complained. But no, everyone has to stay in place, even Neo and Cinder, cause apparently Blake's new semblance is super speed.

There's (mostly) badly written scenes and there's some well written scenes. This wasn't the later. Can we stop pretending and finding SO many excuses for the bad writing? "she was in shock" "she didnt have time" "this and that". We have literally been shown the opposite, we have literally seen that there was enough time. It was like v5 all over again where eveyone stays still and they make one move at a time.

Yes you idiot, we know Yang doesnt have glyphs (she has her gauntles which could've propelled her if she wasnt semi unconcious), and you literally proved that you have no reading comprehension whatsoever.

This is why the RWBY fandom is so goddamn annoying. People point out badly written scenes and explain why and how it was bad, and even what could've been done instead, and youre bending backwards to defend the writers and make it seem as if we are stupid. You can enjoy a show and admit some things could've been done better. There's a thing called toxic positivity, where you act as if everything they do is perfect and all critique is bad. You are SOOO quick to come up with excuses (which dont even make sense most of the time) but don't think for even 1 second on why EVERY character had to freeze for a few seconds just so the scene could play out? Blake had time to run but Neo/Cinder didnt have time to attack, yup.

I'm in this tag to see people enjoy stuff, share theories, not to see how some show the whole fandom that its possible to live without a brain.

[nightlilly0110]

I’m convinced that Jinn was upset at Cinder’s question not because she was concerned about the safety of Team RWBY but because she sensed that Cinder had another question (perhaps about the Beacon relic or the location of the Summer Maiden) more important but Cinder chose the relatively stupid question.

Which also prompts the question of whether or not she knew there was one question left and knowingly wasted it or is she gonna have a meltdown once she finds out? Or is Salem going to punish her for it?

[dj-yukio]

A fanfic theory idea for rwby post v8 e13

Fun fact: I had a German test on Monday, so to relax I thought I’d go onto tumblr on Sunday, and it turned out to be the single greatest mistake I ever made because I found out then that Yang had fallen off the platform and turned into gold dust as she fell into the void AFTER not catching her literal lifeline so my mind has been coming up with a what if scenario about what happens next in the form of fanfic plot points

Fragmented memories like that of mirror shards

- end of battle, cinder and Neo escape, rwb sad before realising that ambrosius can’t kill

- Summon ambrosius, convo goes something like “ah, another chance to exercise my creative— oh it’s you guys, again— hey yellow is gone”

- RWB ask him about his warning, he tells them that his vault is about creativity, and that his creativity is like a bottomless pit

- He explains that falling is not fatal, however what goes in is going to be very difficult to extract out (in reference to oscar

- Semblance is manifestation of aura, aura is soul manifestation, and falling into vault fragments soul (thus yellow powder after falling in) (also think of fragments like mirror fragments such that each piece reflects a certain past or truth)

- Worlds created tend not to make sense as it follows a particular fragment’s memory or logic, but it is theoretically possible to put the fragments together to bring the person back (why penny soul remembers shtuff)

- After discussing with the rest of the other people like green team and Jaune team, they plan for what to do for vacuo and stuff

- RWB resolve to get Yang out, while other people who also fell in... well they’re living better lives, can’t exactly save them if you don’t know who the extras are

- Somehow get into vault without fragmenting themselves, with Ambrosius building a pathway for them (rabbit hole) directly to yang’s first fragmented world

- At the end of the path is just darkness, and the team wonders if they lost until they suddenly find themselves in Patch, a recreation of it

- Place is misty as hell (long forgotten memories), and Ruby sees her house and leads team there

- No one else is around, so Weiss goes straight to trying to knock on the door

- Knocking on the door, they easily find the first fragment, a young Yang about five years old

- The fragment confuses Ruby for Summer, and that’s when Ruby realises that her clock has changed to white among other things (such as how the cakes and drink in Alice in wonderland change one’s size and how the end of the story is about Alice recognising the logic and stuff) because Yang has perceived her to be their mother. Weiss and Blake are unaffected as this fragment has no prior memory of them at this age

- other shenanigans at each major life point

The goal is to reconcile the abandonment issues that Yang has, because we have the Story of the girl who fell through the world was that when she found her way back she was sad and not the same and honestly I just want a nice twist where Yang’s sad in the sense that she has, with the help of the team, finally accepted those abandonment issues of hers (bitch I think this has gone on way too long please for the love of god let her accept those fears and progress but feel free to correct me) and is no longer the same person in the sense that she has grown from the experience

And now my thoughts continue to be overwhelmed with oh shit what’s next when I don’t even watch the show, just slices of it in gifs but it’s forcing my brain to come up with scenarios that I’m too lazy to write a full fanfic out of but still want to theorise stuff which is why I’m here right now

[pictures-of-yxl]

[nitro502]

I don’t swear much but hey WHAT THE FUCK

[sktsmiyasimp]

So uhhhh is winter gonna die?

[sapphic-yang]

RWBY Volume 8: Chapter 13 - Worthy

Thoughts & Theories

1. WELL WE ALL KNEW IT WOULD HAPPEN BUT GOD DAMN

I’m very curious where this ‘detour’ takes team RWBY (time travel, afterlife, Oz, I know there are a lot of competing theories). Considering that ORNJ and Emerald can’t get back through the portal, I’m betting the girls decide to go after Yang (either by jumping or by using the staff) and Penny has to deliver the message to the rest of the crew about what happened. No idea what happens with Neo and Cinder (maybe they go with RWBY???). Also, I wonder if Neo still has the lamp in her hat?

There’s also this wonderful moment for Blake where she’s trying to decide whether to keep trying to kill Neo or help Weiss and Penny with Cinder and you can see the anguish as she decides what’s most important. Love that.

2. The look of betrayal on Cinder’s face when she realizes Emerald has turned against her is great. I know it’s probably going to be a while before they see each other again but I can’t wait for the angst.

3. Lots of character development for Cinder here, She really took Watts’s advice to heart. it’s interesting that the theme of Volumes 7 and 8 has been trust and now we get to see that mirrored with the villains. Whoever thought Cinder of all people would step up and be a real leader. I wonder if her getting used to being in charge will cause friction when Salem revives.

4. I kinda want Winter to lock Ironwood in the Maiden vault cause I feel like that would be karmic but that would require Penny coming back through the portal (or else dying and passing the powers to Winter), but I can dream.

5. Dammit Weiss why’d you have to phrase it like that?

It’s interesting to note that Ambrosius actively screws with the heroes in contrast with Jinn, who seemed genuinely sad she had to be used against RWBY and the gang. Makes me curious about the other two spirits personalities.

6. You know I kinda figured but it’s good to have confirmation. I just hope Harriet finally wakes up before Qrow and Robyn are forced to to end her.

7. I’d bet anything that team SSSN, team CFVY, and all the other side characters currently in Vacuo come and save everyone from the Grimm. It’s gonna be so cool.

[localboop]

but what if Yang is actually dead and Ruby has to tell Qrow and Tai.