Anime Birder

Obsessing over birds and plants by day, nerding out over RWBY and Star Trek by night (they/them). Demi-sexual. Rent Free Brainrot: Nuts-and-dolts, White Rose, Bumbleby, Lumity, Sulemio, Dimiclaude 'In your darkest moments of despair. When you see the world torn apart by war. I want you to think of the salmon cannon and think, "We can do great things"' - John Oliver Formerly birder of remnant Profile picture from Rooster Teeth

[8bit-cookie-thief]

Staying Warm

The events of this day have been a shock for everyone but I urge everyone to not give up yet!

This art was commissioned for everyone who has worked to make RWBY an inclusive and supportive community (especially for @citadelofmythoughts), even when it has not been easy. The news from earlier this day has me shaken. I cannot even begin to imagine how everyone with CRWBY is feeling. And everyone else at RT who has poured their hearts into creating this community, even when the upper management has been so poor. RWBY has changed my life and I am so grateful for this show, for CRWBY, and for everyone in this community who have embraced what RWBY quintessentially represents. I hope that RWBY and its team find a new home soon! Regardless of what happens, in the end, I will be standing here. I have no plans on leaving this fandom now.

But I have rambled enough. Today has been a chilling day, but we have people to support us. I wanted this piece to be about support, and I am so happy with how it turned out! I thank @ahn1zos for their incredible work putting this together!

Commission created by @ahn1zos

[jammatown919]

[citadelofmythoughts]

Once again FNDM, we need to have a talk about Blake Belladonna.

Blake is a Faunus. She is part of a species of people who exist alongside Homo Sapiens.

She has, as all her species does, a singular animal trait.

She is not a cat.

She is a Faunus with cat ears.

Some of the fault with the FNDM's characterization of Blake is the fault of CRWBY with both the early writing of her in RWBY and...sigh... RWBY Chibi. Which has done tremendous harm in the Flanderization of all the main girls.

When was the last time Ruby had a cookie onscreen? Weiss calling someone a dolt? Blake obsessing over fish? Yang making a pun?

This fandom seems terrified of complicated and nuanced characters and want to compress them down into people they haven't been in YEARS and even then just barely.

The treatment of Blake goes even further in my opinion. It borders on racism.

I can't tell y'all what to do. I will say that every time I see shit like that my urge to block is nearly overwhelming.

Just....think about it.

[deadbeatbirdmom]

I think OP has already seen most of my points below, considering she's my girlfriend and we talked about this, but I wanted to add:

To some extent I can understand the appeal of a more catlike Blake, because cats are cute, and indeed one of my favourite animals. Yang's very right about Blake's cat ears being cute.

However, like Citadel said: the problem is that Blake is not an animal but a person, and faunus get called animals as part of the prejudice, discrimination and abuse they face on Remnant.

CRWBY have unfortunately not tackled the matter when it comes to Blake, and they probably lack the time to do so with everything else packed into RWBY. I just wish there had been a scene in Vol 2 where she has a little chat with Yang and maybe her team in general that explains why the laser pointer incident was never repeated. That sort of thing would be a microaggression to a cat faunus. So would a lot of the sort of gags in RWBY Chibi and the manga anthologies.

Don't get me wrong, I do love parts of Chibi and the manga anthologies. But some parts do leave me rather uncomfortable, because if they were taken seriously in canon... Well. Need I say more?

Blake fought for faunus rights when she was just a child. I don't think she'd like emphasis on more things making her catlike rather than the person she is. (Yang finding her cat ears cute is an exception because Blake knows that comes from love)

Like Citadel, I'm not telling anyone what to do, but I am explaining why it makes me uncomfortable.

I will end with this: I do not think anyone is a terrible person if they headcanon Blake as being more catlike. I don't think Citadel is implying that either. Blake is a fictional character, and cannot be hurt by our headcanons (apart from hurt by CRWBY in canon, but that doesn't make them terrible either, just slightly evil, like me with my own writing).

I'm not immune to the cute factor. I've found fan art of Blake being more catlike cute. I'd never tell anyone what they can and cannot draw or write. In fact I'll say this: you should write and draw what you like, because it's fun.

It's just with this particular thing there are in universe implications. That's all. Bear them in mind or disregard them, whatever makes you happy. Because bottom line: that's why we're in this fandom. To have fun.

[8bit-cookie-thief]

100%!!! Nothing new to add, they articulated it much better than I ever could. Especially the last three paragraphs.

[lyricthecat-12]

This should to be a common knowledge: You can't truly be both RWBY Fan and a Homophobic, since the are concepts totally opposites 😌

[darth-khal]

yang is such a lesbian to me I genuinely forget that people think her in a relationship with a man would genuinely work out

She is, indeed, a huge dyke to be honest. Girl has been crushing on Blake forever and (briefly) had the hots for Wonder Woman as well. She likes dark haired women who are capable of bossing her around if they want to - without much effort - just by being their alluring selves. If that doesn't scream big lesbian energy...

[8bit-cookie-thief]

My brain simply crashes whenever I try to think of Yang with a guy. Nope, just can't process it.

[8bit-cookie-thief]

I was just thinking about when Oscar bought his trench coat in v6, how he explicitly chose the color green. To be clear, Oscar absolutely rocks the green! But it is interesting that he consistently chooses the same colors as Oz: green and black (along with their golden eyes, of course). It makes sense from a character design perspective to keep him color-coded with the ancient soul that is slowly, if unwittingly, consuming his identity.

But what if Oscar had decided to wear colors that contrasted with Oz in defiance of their merging? As a statement to show that he wants to be his own person? What if he decided to wear red like Ruby, who he sees as a true role model, rather than the person he is being modeled for? In some ways, I could see that slowing their merging process. But I think in the end, it would just create more pain for him.

Over time, his color choices would slowly and subconsciously begin to drift in favor of the greens and blacks that he had been fighting. Perhaps he would realize this and would fight these tendencies with renewed vigor. But over time, it might get harder for him. Would this initial act of defiance eventually become a poignant reminder of what he is actually losing? Or would he simply change Ozpin's preferences and mislead him into a false sense of control? I don't know, but it keeps me up at night sometimes.

I miss the bean QwQ

[8bit-cookie-thief]

Only about ~43 hours, 28 minutes, and 32 seconds until Elijah posts her reaction to RWBY v9 chapters 5 and 6 on Patreon. No, I'm definitely not waiting with excitement for her reaction to their moment.

(unless she forgoes chapter 6 due to its length, at which point it will be ~211 hours, 21 minutes, and 25 seconds).

Then, she'll need to hide it from Moscow, who is getting close to the v6 showdown with Adam. I also wonder how well she can keep Penny's fate a secret. Moscow will be excited for her return, so Elijah has her work cut out for her to avoid accidentally slipping. Especially since Moscow knows that something terrible happens at the end of V8.

[8bit-cookie-thief]

We are getting SO close to Elijah's big moment in RWBY v9! We have just ONE week to go for Patreon!!

Update: actually, she'll probably only do ch 5 next week, since ch 6 is technically over 29 minutes

How many times will Elijah watch the great Bumbleby triumph?

A humble once or twice, just on-screen

Once or twice on screen, then another million or so off screen (+/- 100,000)

Probably 3-5 times

42

🤯 -> ☠️

1,058,203.4

Other

Voting ended onJan 17

[c0sm0nad0]

As a larger chested, masc-presenting woman myself, having on screen representation like Yang Xiao-Long is sooo affirming to me.

Yang reminds me that having bigger boobs doesn't disqualify me from being masc. She doesn't use them to sexualise herself or make more attractive to others (mostly men), it's just a part of who she is. And the fact that Butch Yang is such a popular headcanon in the community despite that just makes me so happy.

It's small I know, but, on occasion I feel out of place - mascs, and especially more butches, are typically stereotyped as having short hair, being skinny, having a flat chest etc. Over time I've grown to accept my identity more so it's not as much of an insecurity, but... the bias is definitely there in the queer community.

I think it's important to recognise that sapphic identities aren't born out of appearance, but behaviours - you could be a fem-looking person, but if your morals, principles, and personality line up with what's associated with being masc or butch, there's nothing stopping you from using that label. You shouldn't let your body type make the choice for you. Skinny or chubby, muscular or curvy, literally none of that matters. Everyone is allowed to choose their identity if it feels right for them.

TLDR; Yang Xiao-Long is a butch icon, and I'm so glad she exists.

[8bit-cookie-thief]

Yang's gradual acceptance of her own butch identity throughout the show has ceaselessly awed and inspired me. I feel like even when we see butch characters in media (shout-out to Korra and Adora!), they are usually comfortable presenting themselves as masc from the beginning. With Yang, we have seen her grow so much since the Yellow Trailer.

[whip-the-wimp-girl]

with mizu5 being released tomorrow, i have a lot of thoughts — but one that i really want to say is: regardless of if they use the word "transgender" for mizuki or not, let's take a bit to celebrate how genuinely monumental mizuki akiyama's plotline is.

regardless of if they use the word or not (which, in all honesty, i don't think they will — remember, a corporation is still a corporation at the end of the day. even if the writers or TLs *want* to use the word, it doesn't necessarily mean that the corp will allow that), mizuki is canonically transgender. mizuki is canonically transgender, and her plotline is *excellently* written. mizuki is transgender, and everyone involved put genuine love and care into writing her.

i think tomorrow should be a day of celebration. in a world which is so hostile to trans people — especially transfemmes — representation like mizuki akiyama is so very important. representation that is well written, fleshed out, and ultimately isn't treated as a joke, isn't very common in today's day and age — especially in a game like a GACHA game?

a character like mizuki akiyama — that emphasizes that even if you're different, even if you're transgender, even if the world around you is so very hostile, there WILL be people who love you — is important. good representation like her is a step forward, and we should take a bit to celebrate the fact that she exists.

[0i-zys]

Its so mizuover gang

[mizusoupz]

tomorrow… October 12th.

[8bit-cookie-thief]

10,000 thanks to @kiyomides for completing this fantastic commission for me! I feel that Ruby and Minori would end up being great friends, there are just too many parallels between them not to be. The roles they play in their teams. Their energetic but socially awkward nature. Their themes of hope, perseverance, and straightforward aspirations to do good. Their ability to pierce my heart. Their mutually quizical association with shoebills for some reason (shoutout to Shubert the Shoebill and the random green shoebills from RWBY). And of course, their silver eyes.

I even have an AU idea stuck in my head involving an amnesiac Penny Poledina ending up in Minori's sekai. Maybe I'll actually get around to writing it one day lol.

I was originally just going to commission them on stage together. Until I remembered that they both had histories with shoebills. As a birder, how could I ignore that opportunity???

[kirbymongerr]

I have spent years seeing people see Blake/Yang was forced, came out of nowhere, etc. At the time I thought RWBY sucked so I took them at their word. Then I watched RWBY and found out it's actually real good after the first season. And then I saw that Blake and Yang's character arcs are fucking intertwined from the very beginning and their relationship was so firmly in place that in Volume 7, two seasons before they go 'canon' other characters are going "When will they just get together already".

So I am left to ask: What the fuck are the people who say the relationship was rushed/forced TALKING ABOUT. NINE SEASON SLOWBURN. THEY'RE A PAIR AT INITIATION. IT'S YANG WHO CONVINCES BLAKE TO CALM DOWN AND CARE FOR HERSELF IN VOLUME 2. YANG IS HURT DEFENDING BLAKE IN VOLUME 3. BLAKE IS DESPERATE TO REPAIR THEIR RELATIONSHIP IN VOLUME 6 AFTER SPENDING TWO VOLUMES SEPERATE FROM THE REST OF THE CAST, AND THEY KILL HER EVIL EX TOGETHER WHILE HOLDING HANDS AND PROMISING NOT TO LEAVE EACHOTHER.

THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN RUSHED AND FORCED???

[lylacynth13]

if ruby rose has no fans then I’ve vanished off the face of the earth

[8bit-cookie-thief]

Hauntingly beautiful. I cannot imagine living in such a world

[c0sm0nad0]

Someone else has brought this up already, but I adore Blake's hand placement in this shot.

She's cradling Yang's head exactly the same way Yang does with her loved ones. Whenever she hugs Ruby, or Weiss for example, notice how she tenderly cradles their heads. Like it's the most precious thing she's ever held in her hands.

I feel like the last person who ever did this to Yang herself is Summer. And that she picked it up from her because she remembers feeling so loved whenever her mom hugged her like that.

So for Blake to be the first one to reciprocate it is something sooo special to me. Yang is always the first one to comfort everyone else, the "motherly" one... but now she has someone who is willing to care for her too.

It just further proves how compatible they are, how they're both equally as protective of each other. She can truly let her guard down and feel safe around Blake.

[8bit-cookie-thief]

I MISS THE BEAN!!!