#bumbleby analysis

The Bumbleby hand reaching. They obviously aren’t looking at each other’s hands so they don’t know what the other is doing. Blake reaches first, but thinks against it and pulls back. Yang - whether she felt it or she just felt the same urge to hold her hand- reaches for her hand, too. They barely missed actually brushing fingertips, and who knows what would’ve happened if it had.

The “knowing what it’s like to be loved” line. Obviously the audience knows the length to which Blake loves Yang, but why would Yang? She is so focused on what “love” means to her from her mother and father that she doesn’t even consider a type of love that falls out of those boundaries. Aside from that, bevause if everything she has been through, she can’t fathom anyone else loving her the way she loves other people. She sees and shows her love by protecting the people she cares about, and that’s how she defines it. She is always the one sacrificing herself and putting herself in front of the people she loves. She doesn’t even consider that, instead of them hiding behind her back, they are there protecting it.

I saw this; there was an anti-bees post in the bumbleby tag, and it led me to it quite quickly (source removed because I'm not singling out a person, just the attitude. Please, don’t go looking for this person to just berate or attack them):

Okay, clearly you're not the only one triggered if we look at the notes. Strong word, by the way, when you're talking about how you don't like that people are anticipating Blake and Yang's reunion to be romanticised. I think it'd be completely wrong of me to claim that there's some aggression in this, because all in all, there’s nothing visibly mean stemming from the fact that it’s a F/F ship.

But, it bothers me how over the top and accusatory this whole post is.

The first point they make is the whole reason why the beeunion is called the beeunion, and why it's so important. Ruby and Weiss miss Blake, and they want her to be there. The basis of anticipating the beeunion is the fact that Yang, undoubtedly, didn't feel the same way as Ruby and Weiss. She was visibly upset and basically said that she was still mad at Blake for leaving. This is why Bumbleby shippers are more focused on Blake and Yang reuniting rather than the whole team.

We are well aware that it will be a great moment for the girls who truly want to see Blake, and have no reason to be bitter about what she did. Weiss knows why Blake ran away, understands why she felt she had to leave, and doesn't hold it against her. Ruby is still arguably naïve and most likely simply wants her friend and teammate back, for the sake of them all. It's possible she's figured out the same thing as Weiss.

But Yang did not see it the same way. It's been apparent that Yang was deeply hurt by Blake; she didn't mention her for all of V4, and when she finally did in V5, she dismissed the subject of her with forced apathy. When Ruby asked Yang, “don’t you want [Blake] here?” Yang responded, “why would I want [Blake] here?”. She then become further agitated (her red irises are proof) almost yelling at Weiss when she told Yang to calm down. Yang storms off after this, and a scene with Blake was cut in-between that conversation and Yang’s next scene. Next scene, we see Yang sitting alone, wistfully looking at a picture of team RWBY, even drying a tear from her eye. She had tried to cover up her feelings, but when confronted by Weiss, she argues that she won’t change her mind about being mad at Blake, because she’s always been left, and always had to deal with that alone (another reason why the conflict of Blake leaving is so powerful; it ties directly into something that Yang always struggled with). After Weiss explains that they all have their own versions of loneliness, even Blake, Yang says that she wanted to be there for Blake and for Blake to be there for her in her time of need - contradicting what she’d said previously. This conversation happened for a reason.

For two volumes, tension between Blake and Yang has deliberately been set up to emphasise the moment when they reunite. While it's 100% true that this show isn't just about romance and ships, it's written that "Blake said 'I love them like I never thought I could love anybody'- they are like her family". This is also true, but, here's the thing: Blake finally came to Haven, and saw her whole team standing in the grand hall. Ruby, Weiss and Yang were all standing there, shocked to see Blake. Yet, Blake, who said she loves them all, only says one name. Yang.

This moment is extremely focused on Blake and Yang. This is the tension that has been built for two volumes; two real years, coming to a point. And all that we see is Blake shakily saying Yang's name, and Yang staring, wide eyed in disbelief that Blake is there. The thing that breaks this moment is the battle they're still in the middle of, and thus, the tension is left unresolved once again.

There's a reason why this was, and what's hopefully to come, is called the beeunion. Because the reunion of all of team RWBY is not a conflict. They all desire to be with each other again, but it’s Yang that didn't believe Blake would return. Weiss said that they simply would have to be there for Blake when she’s ready to accept their help, “when she comes back.” Yang herself commented, "if she comes back,” seemingly agreeing that Weiss is right, but still not convinced that she’ll see Blake again.

There’s nothing to anticipate with RWBY reuniting. We can anticipate the moment, but we know it will be a happy experience overall. The thing we can anticipate is the resolution to the conflict that is Blake and Yang’s reunion. We’ve been made to anticipate this; Weiss and Yang’s talk heavily implying that Yang did not ever think it would happen. There’s no guessing how Yang will react to Blake now, after all the time that has passed. Blake has stated that she hopes her teammates hates her for leaving, but it’s been made apparent that Ruby and Weiss felt no such hate for her. The only person that had any semblance of a reason to hate her was Yang, and Yang herself said that nobody blamed her for anything. Blake is afraid, most of all, how Yang will react - she is aware of Yang’s issues with being left, having learned about it in V2E6 ‘Burning the Candle’. Which, by the way, has interesting commentary from Monty. The particular scene of Yang hugging Blake has Monty commenting (I transcribed it as best I could):

“I fully expected [Yang] to like, punch [Blake] in the face in this sequence, but I like this more. It's great, we need to use this again, more, down the line. In a more extreme fashion! Also, the way this worked out, it's really great for their characters. I think like, especially like...There's a lot of growth here. And it all happened very quickly!”

This in particular, I wanted to mention, as some of us are wondering if that comment was not just a joke and actually a hint as to what they were planning to happen three volumes later. It’d be a great callback to a very emotionally vulnerable moment that Yang chose to share with Blake. It’s possible to have growth between these two characters happen quickly, and there’s a lot of possibility for growth when it comes down to the fact that it’s another occurrence of Yang having been left, and her having the chance to resolve this with Blake.

I think I also really have a problem with the fact that us that ship Bumbleby are made out to be bad or terrible people because we choose to focus on it a lot. The fact of the matter is, that it is called RWBY, and it is about the story of them all. They do see each other as family, but that doesn’t mean that automatically rules out anything beyond platonic friendship. There’s absolutely no reason why Bumbleby, or any romance for that matter, can’t run in parallel with the story (or be a vital part to it and the character’s development). I have to say, there’s not one ounce of my being that doesn’t want the whole team to interact and for them to have their reunion together. I’d be hypocritical if I didn’t, because I criticised The Legend of Korra for the last moment of the series finale being focused on only two characters of a team comprising of at least four members. I do want them to emphasise team RWBY. Bumbleby isn’t the sole reason I watch RWBY, and it’s not the only thing I enjoy about this show. But it is incredibly important to me, wanting to see this kind of relationship on screen, and not just a fleeting moment. We can see strong young women, that are not only cared about because they’re representing something, on screen for potentially years to come.

But lastly, I want to make something clear. There’s nothing wrong with people that only watch the show for Bumbleby, or any ship. That is their prerogative. There’s no right or wrong way to enjoy a show. We shouldn’t set out to make people feel bad for their own personal reasons to consume a piece of media. I really despise the fact that someone can post something like this, acting like their word is the gospel truth and that they can dictate the way people watch RWBY.

We have every right to use the word beeunion. You have every right to criticise that, but I don’t have to sit down and take it like I’m doing something wrong. You don’t get to belittle us because you don’t agree. You are not better than us, and we aren’t better than you. We are equals and we should treat each other that way.