User blog:Zolnir/Yang, Blake, Weiss, Ruby

The main reason is to keep my writing skills from rusting (not that writing random reviews actually help keeping one’s inspiration alive), but regardless I would like to share some theories and possible insights onto each of our beloved characters.



''' Yang Xiao Long '''

Nothing. Because all I want to say about her (or all that I remember) was put in Ruby’s section. Sisters.



''' Blake Belladona '''

Although initially shown as a reclusive person, Blake obviously does not mind human contact even if she might think that she doesn’t deserve it. The fact that she put up with Yang and Ruby’s random antics was more than enough to show that she really does want to fit into a student’s life in Beacon. However, was her motivation truly just because that she was lonely? Or perhaps there was something more?



The Spy

Many people have speculated that Blake might be affiliated with the faunas, and that she might be a half/full fauna herself. That was something that I too supported (though details might differ in one way or another) mainly due to her amber eyes (similar to Crimson, though the latter was more animalistic) and less because of her bow twitching honestly.

But that was beside the point. What I want to say was that, if we may assume that Blake was on the fauna’s side – this is judging from her theme song, where she wanted to do something, anything to salvage the situation – and if we assume further that she was even a White Fang member, then it was not hard to think that she may have been assigned to infiltrate Beacon Academy and learn of its movements. I have read on assumptions where Blake was a spy/investigator/whatever for Beacon, but in my opinion it would be more logical and probable to assume it the other way around.

The Black Trailer may support this theory, assuming that it was set in the future. We may assume that Blake had discovered information on an important Dust cargo, and that the information was considered important for the White Fang’s movement. She may have learned this from Weiss Schnee herself. Therefore, she was sent along with Adam to destroy the cargo for whatever purposes using any means necessary. However, her days in Beacon had caused her to grow sentimental, and she was from the very beginning a gentle-hearted girl simply hardened by life. In the end she decided in the end to quit White Fang and left for Beacon and her team once and for all.

This would provide excellent storytelling material since we get to see a lot more interactions between Blake and Adam and subsequently the White Fang, as compared to when the Black Trailer was set in the past (Flashbacks are not always the best idea to tell a story). And even if it is set in the past, there is room enough to justify the stated theory.



'''The Black Bow '''

By now almost everyone had assumed that either her bow is her fauna ears, or that she’s hiding them inside it. The twitching is real in Episode 8 alright, though unless someone gives proper confirmation it may easily be just an animation problem. At any rate the information cannot be confirmed as of now, so I’m simply offering a different view on the mystery of Blake Belladona’s black bow.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt">To put it bluntly, she’s hiding a very small animal inside her bow. It could have a Grimm-like look etc (as long as it’s controversial) that might cause some huge misunderstandings if let out in the open, and that’s why she hid it in her bow and was never seen to have taken it off.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt">… Or the bow may just have very strong sentimental value and so she always holds on to it for fear that it would go missing, just like how Ruby wore her red cloak even though together with her school uniform attire it made her look really weird.

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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt">''' Weiss Schnee '''

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt">'''Clothes '''

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt">This one would sound completely off as compared to the other theories, but I never gave a damn about consistency and stuff anyway.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt">So. In the past, I deduce that Weiss Schnee had another outfit that she wore consistently (when she was still a little girl, a captive Heiress, a caged bird, whatever) until a sequence of events occurred, and she obtained her current outfit and decided to stick with it. In a way you could say that her previous outfit was an identity she assumed in the past, and that she had discarded it since for her current Huntress (in training) identity.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt">The reasoning for this was because of the unnatural shading/tan/coloring/I-DON’T-KNOW-THE-WORD-BUT-YOU-GET-IT around her neck. I’ve been trying to ignore it for a long time as shadow from lighting, but it’s obviously different when you compared with the other characters. So.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt">What kind of outfit do you think Weiss is wearing before she came to be? I personally think that it has the shape of a collar or a necklace (one of the metal ring thing that looks kinda heavy and probably is), but it may be something more. At any rate I am absolutely noob at woman wear, so I’ll leave it to the commenters to make the appropriate guesses.

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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt">''' Ruby Rose '''

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt">'''Aura '''

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt">We would talk about the mysterious red petal phenomenon for this section.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt">By now many people have speculated that it was a form of her Aura, and I believe so too. However, I would attempt to go more in depth and explain exactly what it was. The discussion would cover other characters as well and the appropriate title really should just be ‘Aura’, but whatever.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt">As mentioned before, Aura is the manifestation or expression of one’s soul. For Yang, it is in the form of blazing fire from her entire body – more notably her hair – and red eyes. For Ruby, it is in the form of rose red petals that trailed behind her cloak or her scythe. For Blake, it is in the form of black-colored bubbles emerging from her hair and/or her bow. Jaune and Ren glowed just the basic white color everyone should have, although for the former he’s just started using it and the latter may have his own reasons. So far Phyrra and Nora has not exhibited any signs of Aura yet, though of course they too also have it.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt">In my opinion, these unexplainable, almost physical manifestations (red petals, burning fire etc) are the signature of one’s soul. Basically it defines the very person themselves in these varying forms. Ruby Rose’s was red rose petals because while roses may look pretty and innocent from the outside, they also have thorns, signifying Ruby’s Rose apparent youth and wicked fighting skills that did not match her exterior.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt">For Yang it was in the form of blazing fire – especially her hair – and blood red eyes that literally warned of people that getting too close would get them burned. What does this mean? This meant that Yang was initially not a sociable person (perhaps due to a unfortunate past) and was more prone to anger, violence and outright rejection before being ‘reformed’ into what she is now. Perhaps she still is now, except that she had managed to control herself far better than in the past, though in feats of anger her Aura would still explode into existence. This is further supported by the fact that Yang did not bother to be civilized at all when facing Junior (Yellow Trailer) and roughed him up right away to obtain her information.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt">Of course, her Aura doesn’t mean only the bad things and can also be interpreted as natural passion, as we could see from Yang’s current personality. Ultimately the possibilities are so broad – perfect to describe a soul – that they would leave more than enough room for RWBY writers to wriggle in their attempts to create a compelling character.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt">As mentioned before, an Aura’s manifestation defines the person themselves. Using it in the open is like exposing one’s true nature to the world (or to put it in a more straightforward manner, being spiritually naked), therefore I believe that veteran Aura users like Phyra or even Ren would usually keep theirs hidden and not use them unnecessarily. We can also say that they focused their Aura fully for combat purposes and did not waste any residues of Aura to manifest, whichever reasoning fit the best or both.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt">Now, onto the subject of Aura appearing on objects. As mentioned by Phyrra, a weapon can act as a conduit for Aura, but we can interpret that most objects can also do the same. This would explain mostly the red rose petal phenomenon that’s usually seen emerging either from Ruby Rose’s cloak, or her weapon.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt">But what exactly does this mean though? Obviously you would channel Aura into a weapon to make it more powerful, but what purpose does it serve for Ruby to channel it into her cloak? The most probable answer to that is of course, nothing; it was simply an unconscious habit of hers.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt">How exactly does one ‘channel’ their Aura into an object though? It is your soul after all, and not just some random power inside your body. Here’s a deduction: The red cloak and Crescent Rose holds significant importance to Ruby. She loved these items very much, and she had even remarked during Episode 2 that she only needed her weapon and Yang to be her companions. In a way, we could say that these items are so important to her that they’re like parts of herself already, that she has formed a tight ‘bond’ with these items. She had put her heart into them - her soul - and therefore she could channel her Aura into these items – was doing this instinctively for god knows how long – and make them alive with her presence.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt">I wouldn’t be surprised if in the far future there was a final battle sequence where the bonds between the teams caused their Aura to combine together and deliver a super final attack or something. At least it has some ‘science’ to explain the usually facepalm-y phenomenon.