This is how we get handsome Yang in v10 mhm mhm

Exactly it! The cast and crew have pretty much confirmed Yang is at least masc, it's not something that we plucked out of thin air. So it's good to know that our assumptions are actually correct.

YESSSS!!!

I can imagine it happening at the Vacuo Ball. Her and Blake are in the middle of a dance, rudely interrupted by a Grimm invasion. Everyone gets out their weapons, battle ready, except for Yang - who rips off the sleeves of her shirt and starts charging at them like this:

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.

Obviously we know Blake is gorgeous, with Yang complimenting her appearance in V7 ("It's good! Great even!"). But I'm really hoping one day we get that reciprocated on Blake's side especially now that they're dating. The sleeveless vest, the chaps, the ponytail... there's no way Miss 'acts like a schoolgirl in front of her crush' Belladonna isn't going to be drooling at the first sight of her.

I'm talking about stumbling over her words, giggling and twirling hair, and unabashed staring types of Down Bad. Unable to keep her eyes off her girlfriend's arms in the middle of a dangerous mission. Squeezing said arms as they walk side by side. Convincing her to ditch the jacket because "it restricts your movements!!" Offering to apply her sunscreen at every opportunity because she's such a thoughtful partner (despite how Yang was literally made to thrive in the heat).

Listen... they're both hot, young, and in love. The desert heat definitely has its advantages of allowing more skin to show.

tldr one non canon chibi episode from years ago taking place during beacon, not written by the headwriters doesn't negate current canon yang being masc

Also in regards to the surnames being flipped doesn't that only sometimes apply? Cause we have yang xiao-long, - goes by yang. Lie Ren - who goes by Ren (if we're going by Chinese standards of having the first name appear as a last name - at least to westerners) but then we have Sun Wukong and he's only referred to as Sun which is his last name.

Why is Sun referred to as Sun and not his actual first name Wukong? Cause jttw is Chinese literature.

I've never properly watched RWBY Chibi aside from clips here and there so I can't really give you a proper answer, but I'm pretty sure I know which scene you're referring to here. And I'm going to say this: RWBY Chibi is known to over exaggerate certain personalities, and they tend to act out of character a lot of the time for the sake of comedy. So I wouldn't take anything that happens in the show to heart, it's just meant to be something silly and funny.

But let's say, for the sake of your ask... that this scene between Yang and Neptune were canon. First off, he phrased 'tomboy' in a way that sounded very insulting, like it was something wrong. It makes complete sense for Yang to be offended (even if she identifies as one), and her "what did you just say?" seems more shocked that he had the balls to even say that to her, imo. And to top it off, he ends it with "I might even ask you on a date" in response to Yang potentially becoming more feminine. So, yeah... I don't blame her at all for punching him. He was being misogynistic and creepy, and that was the reason why she reacted the way she did. It's just the principle more than anything else, really. So, personally, I don't really see it as evidence that Yang doesn't identify as masc. And besides, this took place during their Beacon years, and she probably wasn't even aware of her identity at this point (if you wanted to interpret this as more canon).

And then referring back to your comment about the surnames. Being honest here... I don't think Monty thought nor cared this much about surname rules. I know OP mentioned something about the surname/forename switches to emphasise on Remnant's culture differences, but clearly he doesn't 100% follow it. He probably just chose which name sounds best. Like let's be honest, 'Sun Wukong' rolls off the tongue a lot better than 'Wukong Sun'. The same with Yang: 'Xiao-Long Yang' doesn't sound nearly as cool as 'Yang Xiao-Long'. But at the same time, Ren, Yang, and Sun are all from different areas, so maybe there's a cultural difference that we don't know about. Mistral might use the standard Chinese naming rule, whereas Vacuo and Vale switches it around. Ren seems to be the outlier here, as he is referred to by his last name (if we follow western standards). However, if I recall correctly; I think his mother does call him Lie in the flashback episode. So it's more likely that his forename is actually Lie, but uses his last name Ren as a way to honour his parents and keep the family namesake alive. If we assume this that means Ren (or Lie) follows the same pattern as Yang and Sun: using surnames as first names. I think that makes the situation a lot less confusing!

So there's a specific post that has garnered attention on Twitter about 'not being woke enough' assuming a masculine woman is a lesbian (in response to someone being disappointed Invisigal from Dispatch has a male love interest). And while I agree with this sentiment about harmful stereotypes, I think there are a lot of factors people are forgetting.

Invisigal very much looks like Vi. You can see the similarities, even if the artists didn't intentionally take inspiration from Arcane. The short hair, the jacket, her fighting style, even her demeanour is very much like Vi's, and therefore, is also influenced by other masc women in media. You can't blame people at all for assuming she's a lesbian from first glance when so many people have compared her to Vi, a butch lesbian.

Do you ever wonder why fictional women who present as masc are more likely to be canonically sapphic? Because masc lesbians & butches have adopted specific aesthetics and lifestyles to signal to other queer women that they're attracted to them, this has been a thing for decades and it's why stereotypes exist in the first place. It's not that all queer women need to dress or act like this, but many of us do for that reason. Think of it as a secret code of sorts.

But the problem with modern day fashion is that, a lot of these aesthetics that are originally labelled as queer are now being worn by heterosexual people, because it looks trendy or comfy or... they simply just want to. And I wanna clarify once again that, there's nothing wrong with wearing what you want to wear no matter what sexuality. As long as it's not offensive. But my point is, it's becoming harder and harder to distinguish between what's just a fashion choice or queer signalling. Things like carabiners, and flannels, and doc martens, are a few examples of items typically worn by lesbians and queer women that have become trends over the past couple of years. You genuinely cannot thread them out. And then straight women have the nerve to be offended when you assume they're queer? It doesn't sit right with me.

In defence though, I can see where they are coming from. It's incredibly harmful to be forcing sapphics to fit into a mold of what's 'acceptable' for them in the LGBT community. She could be straight, bisexual, lesbian, who gives a fuck... but the problem here is the complete ignorance as to why these assumptions are being made.

A fictional woman could be queer coded in every possible way except outwardly saying "I like women!" and straight men will try to condemn you for thinking she is even though the signs are there. Like I can already see the shift that's happening, Invisigal is just the tip of the iceberg. The ongoing argument that "masc = bad". But when you confront them and ask, "do you assume every feminine woman is straight, then?" it's absolute crickets. Because a masc woman is only dressing up for the fun of it and not for any other reason, right? I'm just so so tired, constantly hearing the excuse of "I didn't know!" by a man when she couldn't be dressed any gayer.

(Also, it's absolutely disgusting seeing certain men use lesbians' distaste as motivation to romance Invisigal because it makes them mad. You cannot tell me they're saying this shit to be inclusive dude.)

Do... do you guys not realise that Monty wasn't the only one who worked on the show, right? Like I understand his vision was one of a kind and cannot be replaced easily, but Miles & Kerry have been there from the start much like Monty was.

A lot of the hate I see for late RWBY boils down to 'they're disrespecting Monty's vision' which doesn't make sense at all when they planned the series with him??? So much foreshadowing and key story points have been there from the beginning because it's the same fucking people!!!

It's actually so fucking tiring to see this argument being used over and over when actually Monty would be incredibly proud of his friends and how they have continued on his legacy. If anything, the way the series has turned out was probably how he wanted it to anyways considering many of the OG staff are still involved.