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Bumbleby is the femslash ship between Yang Xiao Long and Blake Belladonna from the RWBY fandom.
Canon[]
Volume 1[]
Their first interaction was in Chapter 3, when Yang wanted to help her younger sister, Ruby make new friends. Yang noticed Blake and walked over to her introducing herself and Ruby. Both Ruby and Yang tries to start up a conversation with Blake, where Yang gives Blake a cute awkward compliment about how she likes Blake's bow and thought it looked great with her pajamas. Blake thanked her for the compliment, but was reluctant on keeping the conversation going and cut their conversations short because she wanted to be left alone to read her book. After multiple failed attempts to spark a conversation with Blake, Yang gives up saying Blake's a "lost cause" to her sister because their conversations weren't going anywhere and it was clear Blake wanted to be left alone. It wasn't until Ruby asked Blake about the book she was reading that Blake was more open in talking to them. After their conversation Blake seemed to enjoy their presence more than before.
In Chapter 6, Blake follows Yang running past her concealing herself in the shadows within the bushes as Yang walks around calling out if anyone was around. Blake appears when Yang encounters three Ursa Grimm, where Blake comes in and defeats the last one with one hit. Yang is surprised to see Blake because she didn't notice her presence prior and Blake looks at Yang with a smirk. Yang then states how she could have taken the last one by herself and Blake smiles with a head tilt in acknowledgement, then Blake and Yang become partners.
After partnering up, Blake and Yang surprisingly got along pretty well. They had no conflicts or awkwardness between them. They communicated well and found the relics they were supposed to find and despite Blake initially being cold towards Yang she smiled a lot with her and found some fondness in how silly Yang can be, playfully rolling her eyes saying sure, when Yang asked if they could pick the cute little pony chess piece as their relic of choice. Blake even notices and checks on Yang when Yang stood back while everyone else ran past before the fight with the deathstalker and giant nevermore. Blake showed her concern and asked Yang what is it that has her stopped and Yang responds smiling fondly that it was nothing because Yang was only standing back looking proudly at her sister taking the lead and Blake catches on smiling right after.
Volume 2[]
In Chapter 2, Blake is adamant about finding out what Roman Torchwick is plotting. After Ruby proposes they start planning a day to do so, Yang gets excited liking Blake's determination and turns to Blake with a big grin saying, “I love it when you’re feisty." Blake responds smiling at Yang's comment.
In Chapter 6 titled Burning The Candle, after losing Torchwick a second time, Blake dedicates all of her hours trying to investigate him and the White Fang. Because of this she doesn’t sleep and acts cold towards her friends. Yang decides to try and get Blake to take a break and attend the upcoming school dance. After leading Blake to an empty classroom, she opens up about her own childhood struggles, explaining how her mother abandoned her and she’s been searching for her for years. But she won’t let that search control her like how Blake’s search currently is. Blake argues with her at first, until Yang hugs her and tells her that she doesn’t need to stop, but she should get some rest, “not just for herself, but for the people she cares about,” showing that she cares about Blake's health and well-being. As Yang is about to leave, she turns around and winks as she says to Blake, “And if you feel like coming out tomorrow, I’ll save you a dance.” In the end, Blake does go to the dance and shares her first dance with Yang.
In Chapter 10, Yang can’t sleep and asks Blake if she is awake, which she is. This leads to a discussion (that Weiss eventually joins) about why they want to be huntresses. Blake goes on to open up a bit about her past, revealing that she had an old partner named Adam who became a “monster.” She becomes wary of what her future will be once she leaves Beacon, and Yang reassures her by saying “I’m sure you’ll figure it out. You’re not one to back down from a challenge, Blake.” This shows that she genuinely believes in her, even if Blake may not think the same of herself.
Volume 3[]
In Chapter 1 during the Vytal Festival, team RWBY does a great job beating teams where Blake and Yang are shown to have great chemistry fighting together being in sync and doing their signature team move bumblebee where Blake throws gambol shroud to Yang and then Blake throws Yang to the enemy where Yang delivers a crushing blow knocking the enemy team out.
In Chapter 6 when Yang won her solo match, Blake stood up showing her support for Yang, cheering and clapping for Yang celebrating her win and telling her good job.
In Chapter 8 when Yang gets deceived by Emerald’s allusion and attacks Mercury while he was down, Blake has a hard time at first believing Yang’s story of being deceived due to her trust issues and what she saw. Blake states that she wants to believe Yang, but her hesitancy causes Yang to be sadden showing how much Yang values Blake’s opinion of her. Blake explains the reason behind why she was hesitant and opens up to Yang and talks about her past. Blake talks about how this situation was familiar to a guy in her past where in this story that Blake compares Yang to she implies that Yang is someone dear to her. Blake mentions how the guy gradually changed where little choices began to pile up and he told Blake not to worry about his aggressive behavior and called them accidents, then self-defense and before long Blake began to think he was right, but realized he wasn’t. But Blake knows that Yang is not the same as him and knows Yang has never done anything like this before, so instead of wanting to believe Yang, Blake tells Yang that she will believe her and chooses to go against her trust issues for Yang and only asks Yang to look her in the eyes and tell her that Mercury hit her first and when Yang does, Blake thanks her and no longer has any hesitancy.
In Chapter 10 everything goes wrong during the Vytal Festival. Grimm all around are invading the school and attacking people. Yang immediately calls Blake and Blake asks if Yang is okay. Yang responds that she’s fine and asks if Ruby is with her because she wasn’t answering her scroll. Blake tells her no, but reassures Yang that she’s sure Ruby is fine because she’s their leader and can take care of herself. Yang agrees and then tells Blake about the seeing the WF, which was an organization that Blake was once apart of but left, that appeared near the docks. Blake is shocked upon hearing this, but immediately switches to concern when she hears noises through Yang’s scroll and calls out Yang’s name out of worry. Yang tells Blake that she has to go and to be careful before ending their call.
Yang charging at Adam blind with rage and tears in her eyes
In Chapter 11, during the battle of Beacon, Yang finally arrives at the fight and sees Weiss and asks if she’s seen Ruby first then Blake. Weiss doesn’t know where Ruby is, but tells Yang that Blake went after an alpha Grimm close by and Yang tells Weiss to look for Ruby while she goes and find Blake. Blake is seen on the ground fighting her old partner Adam, who is the same guy Blake was referring to back in Chapter 8. Adam is overpowering Blake and is mad that Blake left the WF yelling and slapping her. Adam then threatens Blake saying he'll make it his mission to destroy everything Blake loves and in this moment Yang arrives close by, but unaware of their presence. Yang calls out Blake’s name and asks in distress out loud, “Blake where are you?" because Yang can't find Blake and is worried. Blake is horrified upon seeing Yang because Adam just made a threat about destroying everything she loved and Yang is here. Adam notices this when looking at Blake’s horrified expression looking at Yang that gives it away. Adam then adds on to his threat looking at Yang saying, “Starting with her”. When Blake’s face becomes even more horrified upon hearing Adam’s addition to his threat, it confirms to Adam of his assumption to be true. Adam then stabs Blake in the stomach with his sword, causing Blake to cry out in pain to gain Yang’s attention. Yang notices this and gets mad yelling at Adam saying “Get away from her!” When Adam doesn’t move, Yang becomes furious and activates her semblance and charges at him in a blind rage with tears are in her eyes. Blake begs Yang not to come closer because she knows Adam is trying to set her up and doesn’t want Yang to get hurt, but it’s too late. As Yang charges at him, Adam activates his semblance and cuts off Yang’s right arm. Yang then falls to the ground unconscious. Adam walks over to Yang planning on killing her, but Blake immediately throws herself in front of Yang protecting her and giving Adam an angry expression. Adam is displeased and swings his sword directed at Blake’s neck, but cutting off one of Blake’s shadow clones as Blake escapes with Yang in her arms running away.
After what happened with Adam, Blake and Yang are seen lying together on the ground in the courtyard where Yang is still unconscious and Blake is holding Yang’s left hand, weeping and saying sorry over and over again. Blake blames herself for what happened to Yang and feels an immense amount of guilt for it. Blake made sure Yang was safe before she left her team and ran away believing that if she wasn't around then no one else would get hurt again because of her where Blake carried on her guilt from what happened to Yang and traveled to her family in Menagerie.
When Yang talks to Ruby and recounts the events that happened after the fight because Ruby is unaware of what happened, Ruby starts to ask Yang about where their teammates went. When the topic comes around to Blake, Yang starts to get deeply sad and emotional. Yang's voice cracks telling Ruby “And Blake ran”, when Ruby asks Yang why did Blake leave, Yang gives Ruby a sad expression telling her she doesn't know why and then looking away saying she doesn't care when in actuality Yang does care, but is hurt that Blake left.
Volumes 4 & 5[]
Volumes 4&5 are paired in this section because moments Blake and Yang have start in volume 4 and continues and finishes in volume 5 where both volumes feel like two parts of each other
Volume 4
During volume 4 all four girls on team rwby are separated where each of them are in different places dealing with the aftermath of what happened during the fall of Beacon. Each of them going through their own personal journey during their time apart. Blake is working on herself in Menagerie, while Yang is slowly healing and working through her PTSD as well as working on her fighting style in Patch.
Even while apart Blake and Yang still think of each other talking about or referencing to the other throughout.
In Volume 4 Chapter 3 Blake is on her way to Menagerie traveling on boat. While on the boat Blake still feels guilty about what happened to Yang and looks over the horizon with a sadden expression thinking about the night with Adam and the fall of Beacon. On the boat Blake is a little paranoid due to her fears of Adam following her when she meets the ship captain. The ship captain asks Blake why she’s traveling alone in which Blake responds telling him that maybe it’s better for some people to be alone. Blake is referring to herself and believes that it’s better for everyone if she’s not around.
As the sun starts to go down, Blake notices a person behind a cloak watching her and asks for them to show themselves. The person behind the cloak jumped up and revealed themselves to be Sun. Sun had followed Blake without her permission and hid in a cloak watching her before he got caught. Sun wanted to make sure that Blake was okay because he saw her leaving and asks Blake why she left. Blake tells him that she had to run away and that Sun wouldn’t understand and Sun indeed doesn’t understand because he believes Blake ran away to get revenge for what happened and Blake tells him that's not why, saying she needed to go to Menagerie to sort things out.
In the same chapter Yang is in Patch appearing depressed. Yang sits on the couch and looks sadly at a pile of books that remind her of Blake and then watches the news talk about what happened during the night Beacon fell. While sweeping the floors of her house, Yang drops a class cup and a flash of red with an image that looked like Adam’s mask popped up. Yang backs away scared before regaining her composure that show Yang's PTSD from what happened when Adam cut her arm off.
In Volume 4 Chapter 11, Sun gets hurt and Blake is reminded of the night when Adam hurt Yang and tells Sun this is why she left her team during the end of volume 3. Blake tells Sun that she’s done seeing the people she cares about getting hurt because of her. Then goes on to ask Sun if he thought she liked being alone, stating how she thinks about her team every day since the day she left and talks about how much she cares for all of them. When listing out each team member names, Blake’s voice starts to crack when she says Yang’s. Blake then talks down on herself saying how she hopes her team hates her for leaving, believing that this is what she deserves. She continues saying they’re better off without her, thinking of their best interest at heart and saying she was the one to make her choices and that she should be the one to deal with the consequences because they belong to her and are her responsibility. Sun helps Blake see reason and tells her that Blake thinks she’s being noble, but she’s not. Sun goes on to say that even if he got hurt, he would do it all again if it meant protecting Blake and says that he promises that Yang would feel the same. Sun continues saying that people want to be there for Blake and to fight for her regardless if it’s her responsibility or not because they want to and that it hurts more than anything the bad guys could ever do to them when Blake shuts them out.
Volume 5
In Volume 5 Chapter 5 Blake talks about the personification of each of her team through a word. When talking about Yang, Blake smiles and describes Yang as strength.
In Volume 5 Chapter 8 Ruby, Weiss, and Yang all reunite with each other talking and sharing coffee together where Ruby talks about how she wishes Blake could be here with them. Yang is still hurt by Blake leaving and talks about how Blake made her choice and walks off when she lashes out at Weiss for telling her to calm down. Yang is then seen holding a picture of all of her team looking sadly and stroking her finger along Blake’s image conveying that she does miss Blake and is having a hard time with her being gone.
Yang yearning for Blake
Weiss soon joins Yang and the two talk. Yang starts out by saying that Weiss doesn’t understand what it’s like to be left and talks about the people who left her and how she had to pick up the pieces by herself in her family. Weiss agrees that she doesn’t know loneliness like Yang does, but says how they all have their own versions of loneliness and mentions how Blake must have her own version too. Yang says how Blake doesn’t have to be alone and that Yang was here for her, that they all were, but Blake still chose to leave. Weiss then asks Yang why she thinks Blake did, wanting to help Yang understand why Blake left. Weiss talks about how the entire time at Beacon Blake was afraid to open up to people, how she tried to keep her past separated from them, and how Blake tried to protect them. Weiss goes on to say that eventually Blake’s walls she put up came down and the moment she did the one thing Blake was afraid of actually happened with the universe proving Blake’s initial fears of getting close to people right. Yang chimes in saying how no one blamed Blake for anything and that if Blake talked to them, she would have known that. Yang then goes on to say, “How can I be there for her if she doesn’t let me” then sadly looking down and putting her hands on her face crying saying “What if I needed her here for me”. Weiss sympathizes with Yang saying she knows that it’s not easy saying she wishes Blake didn't leave too and the only thing they can do now is to be there for her when she’s ready, when Blake comes back. Yang is a little doubtful that Blake will saying “If she comes back”, but Weiss reassures her that Blake will.
In Volume 5 Chapter 13 during the battle for Haven, Yang is inside Haven Academy fighting several villains, while Blake is outside Haven Academy stopping Adam’s plans of bombing Haven. When the wall to Haven breaks due to Nora hurling Hazel through it, Blake investigates. Blake walks into the school to see all of her old friends and classmates. Despite this, the only thing Blake says is, “Yang?”. Yang looks at Blake in awe because out of everyone who has ever left her (without giving a good reason first), Blake was the only one to come back. Though, in a twist of dramatic irony, Blake had no idea her friends would even be at Haven in the first place, but Blake and Yang had to finish their respective battles before their reunions could begin.
In Volume 5 Chapter 14, after having dealt with Adam, Blake joins to help her friends fend off the rest of the villains in Haven Academy. When everything was done and they won the battle of Haven, Blake walks over to her team who are all huddled together on the floor, with Blake being a little hesitant to approach because she’s unsure how they feel about her. Ruby asks Blake what she’s doing here, in which Blake responds that she was going to ask the three the same thing. Ruby smiles saying how that’s a long story and Blake says how she’s not going anywhere, where Ruby responds saying, that’s all that matters that they’re all here together. Ruby then looks at Yang saying “Right?”, Yang looks at Blake and Blake looks away from Yang’s gaze in guilt and Yang thinks over her decision. Yang then smiles softly looking at Blake and agrees with Ruby saying “Yeah”. Blake is surprised by Yang’s response, but is happy that Yang is willing to give Blake a chance. Blake smiles softly at Yang and joins her team in a meaningful group hug where they are all finally reunited together.
Volume 6[]
In the beginning of Volume 6, two weeks have passed since the battle of Haven and in Chapter 1 it starts out with Blake and Yang fighting together taking down a Griffon. Despite being apart from each other for a couple of months, Blake and Yang still have wonderful chemistry with each other and are in sync as they fight. After taking down the Grimm, Yang teases Blake saying “Good to see you’re not rusty” making light of their time apart where Blake smiles in response.
Inside the train, Blake looks out the window thinking about ways to make it up to Yang because she knows how much leaving hurt her. Blake sees Yang reaching up to grab her bag and insists on helping her saying, “Here, let me help you with that.” Blake gets Yang’s bag for her and Yang tells Blake that she doesn’t need to do that saying, “I’m fine. We’re going to be fine. It’s just going to be a bit before things are back to normal.” Blake looks down sadden and Yang smiles looking at Blake saying, “…but I am glad we’re all back together,” meaning Yang is happy to have Blake here because she missed her greatly and understands why Blake left, but still needs time before things are back to the way they were. Blake smiles understanding and says okay.
In Chapter 5, all of team rwby are starting to come under the influence of the Apathy. The Apathy being a type of grimm that influences the emotions of people making them apathetic or not care. Blake suggests that her and Yang search other buildings in the town to look for vehicles so that they can continue traveling. Yang starting to come under the influence of the Apathy, gives Blake the cold shoulder and ignores a joke Blake makes when they walk into the shed. When they find something that’s useful, Yang looks outside the window and panics when she sees a glimpse of Adam for a split second. Her PTSD triggers and Yang's hand start to shake. Blake looks at Yang’s shaking hand concerned as Yang tells Blake that she “still gets flashes from that night,” in which Yang is referring to the night Adam cut her arm off. Yang then asks Blake if she thinks Adam is still out there in which Blake responds saying she doesn’t know where Adam is, but reassure Yang’s fears by telling her that while Adam is strong, his real power comes from control. Blake gives an example of this by opening up to Yang about how Adam used to get in her head and make her feel small, but realized that he only wanted to pull her down to his size. Blake then takes Yang’s hand in hers and looks at Yang softly saying, “I’m not leaving and if we ever see him again, I promise I’ll be there. And I’ll protect you.” This is Blake referring back to the night in Volume 3 when Adam cut Yang’s arm off. During the time, Blake wished she could have done more to protect Yang when Yang was giving everything she could to protect Blake. So now Blake wants Yang to know that this time it’ll be different. Blake won’t run away and is here for Yang and will protect her like Yang did for her in volume 3 if they see Adam again, but Yang takes what Blake says the wrong way. Yang was smiling softly at Blake’s words up until Blake got to the part about wanting to protect Yang. Yang took Blake wanting to protect her as Blake thinking Yang wasn’t strong enough to go back up against Adam, when that’s not what Blake meant at all and is a misunderstanding. Yang then pulls her hand away from Blake’s and walks out the shed.
They later make up when they realize that they had all been under the influence of the Apathy. When they are able to escape the Apathy in Chapter 6, Yang grabs Blake’s hand and runs out of the house with her.
In Chapter 10, Blake is tasked with shutting down the communications tower to help everyone steal an Atlas airship. Yang takes Blake there on her motorcycle named Bumblebee, with Blake holding onto her close. As they get to their destination and Blake gets up and is about to leave, Yang asks concerned if she should come with Blake. Blake tells Yang that more intruders means they’re more likely to be seen and playfully teases Yang saying “besides stealth isn’t exactly your..” Blake cuts herself off and covers it up saying “I mean you're great! And I’ll hurry back.” Yang smiles finding Blake’s consideration endearing and understands what Blake meant and tells Blake to go on. Blake gives Yang a loving stare before she goes off and Yang gives Blake a loving stare in return, gazing after her long after Blake leaves.
In Chapter 11, before Blake is able to disable the tower, Adam Taurus ambushes her. Blake realizes that the times she thought she was just imagining Adam there, in reality he had stalked her across Anima. They begin fighting, Adam continually harming Blake both physically and mentally before breaking her sword, disarming her in the process. Finally as he prepares to kill her he asks, "How does it feel to be alone?" Blake hears the sound of Yang's motorcycle approaching in the distance and replies, "I'm not alone." Yang then drives off of the cliff above them, launching herself off of Bumblebee and landing next to Blake as the motorcycle proceeds to run Adam over. Yang and Adam begin fighting, and he taunts her to a point where her PTSD starts to act up. Adam asks Yang if she’s just trying to scare him away so she won’t have to die trying to protect Blake. Blake takes Yang’s hand and says, "She's not protecting me, Adam. And I'm not protecting her." Blake pauses and they both face Adam, confidently holding hands. "We're protecting each other." This statement was phrased in this way because of the misunderstanding that happened in Chapter 5 when Yang took Blake wanting to protect her the wrong way. This is Blake saying that she wants them to protect each other being equal in partnership where whatever they face, they face together and not have only one person protect the other because they think they're not strong enough.
In Chapter 12, Blake and Yang continue to fight Adam together, before he is able to land a hit on Blake which sends her off the edge of the cliff. Luckily she is able to hang on, but now Yang is left to fight Adam until she’s able to get back up. At some point Adam yells, “What does she (Blake) even see in you?” Yang uses the lessons her father taught her in Volume 4 to disarm Adam, and throws his sword off of the cliff. When Blake eventually comes back up, she and Yang use her broken sword to stab Adam. He falls off the edge and into the water below, now dead. Blake begins to shake and falls to her knees, sobbing. Yang quickly rushes to her side to comfort her, pulling her into an embrace. Blake swears she’s never going to break her promise she made about not leaving Yang. Yang then brings her hand to Blake's face and replies "I know you won't." They touch foreheads and continue to hold each other, Blake putting her hand over Yang’s in the process.
In Chapter 13, when they are able to leave Argus in the Atlas ship, Blake apologizes for not being able to disable the tower. Yang sits close to her, and reassures her that what had happened wasn’t her fault. Before Blake can protest, Ruby interjects and says that all that matters is that she’s safe. Ruby pulls Blake into a hug and looks at Yang, who smiles at her before looking away, Ruby seemingly understanding how she feels.
Later on Weiss says to Blake that she’s sorry she had to “go through that nightmare” but is glad Yang was there for her in time. Yang then places her hand over Blake’s and says, “We were there for each other.” The two share a meaningful look and Blake's eyes seem to dilate a bit.
Volume 7[]
Throughout the entire volume Blake and Yang can be seen looking at each other at various points in time. They also fight solely together more often than not.
In Chapter 3, everyone receives an outfit change and Blake cuts her hair. When they are receiving details for their new mission. Blake realizes Yang is looking at her, who starts to fumble slightly after being caught saying, “Sorry! Just… not used to the new hair yet!” Blake smiles and visibly blushes, asking her if she thinks it looks bad. Yang, not wanting her to get the wrong idea, quickly responds, “No! No, it’s good, great even!”
Since Blake’s weapon was broken at the end of Volume 6, her weapon receives an upgrade as well. Her sword was mended back together with gold, which is a method known as Kintsugi. The gold can be perceived as a reference to Yang as she is associated with the color gold on multiple occasions throughout the show. It is also implied that Blake specifically requested her weapon to be repaired this way.
In Chapter 4, during their “graduation” party, Yang runs up next to Blake and starts taking selfies of them together. Blake was surprised at first but smiles anyway.
In Chapter 5 during the morning montage, there are flashes of team RWBY progressively getting more and more tired up to the point where Blake falls asleep on Yang’s lap, and Yang rests her hand on her arm.
In Chapter 6, after being told that everyone has the night off for the election, Blake is seen putting on makeup while Yang looks at her from on her bed. When Ruby asks where they’re going, Blake says that team FNKI invited her and Yang out dancing. When Ruby brings up the fact that Yang thought team FNKI was annoying, she replies with “That’s the best part about dance clubs. 'I can’t hear you'”, which causes Blake to laugh. A few moments later, Yang starts laughing as Blake attempts to copy a dance move that Yang had shown her. Yang demonstrates again, and Blake insists that she was doing the same thing, causing them both to laugh. Later in the episode, at Robyn Hill's political rally, Ren and Nora try to work out aspects of their own relationship. In doing so, Nora compares their relationship to Blake and Yang's, commenting "Friends, huh? Just friends?", implying that she knows they have romantic feelings for each other.
In Chapter 7, Blake and Yang are sent to ambush Robyn Hill. They have a vague conversation about what happened with Adam, Yang telling her that they “did what they had to do.” Blake understands that but says she doesn’t want to have to resort to killing someone again. Blake then expresses her opinion on their current situation and doesn’t want to ambush a huntress who’s just trying to help. Yang ends up agreeing with her, and together they go against orders to tell Robyn about what Ironwood has been doing. When Ironwood eventually finds out they told her about the Global Communications Project in Chapter 11, Yang defends Blake.
In Chapter 9, Blake and Yang look at Ren and Nora holding hands before looking back at each other, smiling.
In Chapter 12, Blake and Yang use their tag-team prowess to defeat the more "experienced" Ace Ops in combat after Ironwood turns on them due to his paranoia after Salem makes herself known.
Volume 8[]
In Chapter 1, Blake is seen to give a sad glance to Yang as she leaves after disagreeing with Ruby's plan to stick together as a group.
In Chapter 3, Blake admits feeling worried witnessing Ruby and Yang's fight. When Nora confesses how she's struggling to understand herself and her relationship with Ren, Blake claims that growing close to somebody that they become a part of you, but remember that you should never forget the rest, in reference to Yang.
In Chapter 4, Yang asks Jaune "Do you think she thinks less of me, for not helping out with Amity?", to which Jaune says that Ruby is her sister and no matter the disagreements, will always love her. Yang responds with a somewhat cryptic, "Yeah. Ruby", meaning that, while she understands that Ruby will eventually forgive her, she is worried that Blake may think less of her because she believes to have broken the promise they made in Volume 6 to always protect and look after each other.
in Chapter 10, when Jaune, Yang, Emerald, Oscar and Ren blow up the whale, the rest are all horrified, believing they didn't make it. Blake eventually receives a call from Yang, her face lighting up with relief when she noticed they were safe. This made Yang realize Blake never thought less of her and knew she was only trying to help Mantle in Chapter 1. When everyone met up at Schnee Manor, Blake stood alone in the back. Yang places a hand on her cheek, the pair smiling and holding one another close, happily reunited.
In Chapters 11-12, Yang and Blake are seen to always stand close to one another, sometimes laughing together whilst a plan was established to save Atlas.
In Chapter 13, Team RWBY were fighting against Cinder to save the citizens who were on their way to Vacuo. Yang took a heavy hit from a sneak attack by Neo that was meant for Ruby, losing her aura and falling into a dark unknown abyss. While the rest of Team RWBY stood in shock, Blake ran to throw her Gamble Shroud for Yang to catch as she usually would, however this time Yang was unable to catch it. Blake began to scream, crying out Yang's name in agony. Furiously standing up, Blake ran to Ruby's side to possibly end Neo.
Volume 9[]
Blake and Yang cuddling together on the ground
In Chapter 1 team RWBY were all scattered around from falling into the ever after from what happened in the volume previously. When team RWBY all find each other and reunite in the Ever After, Blake sprints and tackles Yang in a hug to the ground. When they settle on the ground, Blake says Yang’s name very softly relieved and overjoyed that Yang is alive and well because she thought she lost Yang when she fell in volume 8. Yang looks softly at Blake and smiles at her happy and relieved to see her too. Yang then closes her eyes and puts her hand and caresses Blake’s head relaxing into her embrace as they cuddle together on the ground happy to see each other.
In later chapters, Blake and Yang blush and flirt multiple times with each other. A notable moment is when the two were joking and laughing together, where their hands brushed up against each other with Weiss acknowledging and playfully remarking that it's "about time".
In Chapter 6, Blake and Yang along with the rest of team RWBY were taken into what's called a punderstorm that the Curious Cat put them in. The punderstorm is a place where the weather pattern creates a physical manifestation of a mental or emotional problem where the only way out is to solve the problem or wait until the storm passes. Blake and Yang were separated from the rest of the group within the punderstorm because they had something they needed to work out and appeared separated on opposite sides facing each other on a bridge with a big platform in the middle in-between them. The weather on the bridge was windy and cloudy, signifying that their situation was unclear and unsettled. Yang worries about Blake's safety because of the strong winds and asks if Blake is okay. Blake responds that she'll feel a lot better when they're together on the platform, which triggers a step to appear in front of Blake on the bridge. Yang at first doesn't understand what's happening, but when she compliments Blake saying she knows Blake will figure it out because she thinks Blake is smart, it triggers a step to appear in front of Yang. Pleasantly surprised that a step appeared, Yang tries again thinking that the solution was talking about Blake, where she blurts out that Blake has cat ears, in which Blake found endearing flicking one of her cat ears in response and smiling softly at Yang. No step appears, but when Yang smiles and says with a soft tone that she thinks Blake's cat ears are cute, a step appears in front of her. Blake then figures out what causes the steps to appear and comes to the conclusion that it must be things they've never said to each other before.
Yang's eyes lighting up shocked with adoration at Blake calling her extraordinary
Yang trying to keep things light and silly, gives Blake a silly gesture to start, but Blake takes this as an opportunity to really say what she's always been wanting to say to Yang, but never having the chance before because of everything that was going on with Salem. Blake looks at Yang and says she thinks Yang is an extraordinary person. Yang's eyes go wide lighting up, shocked with adoration from the heartfelt compliment. Blake continues saying Yang is always the first to lighten a situation, how she acts bravely when she's afraid, and does what she says. These are things that Blake admires about Yang listing out qualities within Yang's character that Blake adores, especially Blake's comment about Yang doing what she says. Blake has struggled in the past with trust due to her previous experiences, but Yang is true to her word which is something that Blake really admires as Yang is someone Blake can put her full trust into. Four steps then appear in front of Blake where Blake moves forward and makes a little joke teasing Yang telling her to try to keep up because she was four steps ahead. Yang smiles appreciating the light heartedness of her teasing and says she likes how Blake was never intimated by her, then laughs a little to herself saying even when Blake didn't like her all that much. This is in reference to their first meeting in volume 1 where Blake was reluctant to talk to Yang and cut their conversations short. During the time Yang might have thought Blake didn't like her because of this, but Blake counters saying she was wary of people in general wanting to clarify that it wasn't her not liking Yang, but Blake being cautious of everyone in the beginning. Yang then continues saying how Blake never gives up on people even when they hurt her, saying Blake never gives up because she knows what matters to her. This is Yang saying she admires Blake's big heart and willingness to give people second chances and Blake's determination to never give up on the people that matter to her which means a lot to Yang who feels like people give up on her. Four steps then appear in front of Yang where the wind dies down and the bridge is no longer windy. Yang wants to speed up the process and asks Blake if there's any big truths they haven't dropped on each other yet. Blake looks away with a fond smile blushing at Yang's question, knowing exactly what the answer is.
Blake and Yang confessing their love for each other
When Blake looks back at Yang, the clouds in the background around Blake start to clear up where a beautiful purple hue starts to come through the clouds. Yang is in awe and stunned by Blake's soft expression, where the clouds around Yang start to clear up where a beautiful yellow hue starts to come through the clouds. Yang knows exactly what Blake is thinking because it's something she's been thinking about and wanting to say for a while now, but is a little hesitant to say out loud because Yang's always struggled with vulnerability. This causes the bridge to move both Blake and Yang backwards because Yang didn't say what she was thinking where Blake asks if Yang was going to say something, but didn't. Yang blushes saying that can't be what this is about, looking away shyly and ruffling her bangs out of nervousness. When Yang looks back at Blake, Blake reassures her through a soft smile that it's okay for Yang to be vulnerable with her creating a safe space. Yang then uses a metaphor to describe her feelings saying it's like a cliff and that if she does it, she'll fall. Blake responds softly saying, "I think were already falling" and gently guides Yang to say what she was going to say earlier, but didn't. Yang takes a deep breath and says "I think I love you". Yang is still a little hesitant because this is a huge step for her with vulnerability, but Blake reassures her of any doubt by immediately saying I love you too, seconds before Yang finishes.
Blake and Yang on the platform together standing on a garden with lilies blooming around
The two then appear on the platform in the middle together blushing and smiling softly at each other where they embrace each other with Blake smiling and Yang being gentle as they share a very heartwarming and beautiful kiss with a garden appearing below them with white lilies blooming all around.
After Blake and Yang expressed their love for each other and kissed. Ruby, Weiss, Little, Juniper and Jaune were able to get everyone out of the punderstorm by making the Curious Cat leave causing the punderstorm to come down. When they got out everyone was surprised and shocked to see the newly formed couple. Blake and Yang was seen making out lovingly with each other in the same position they were when they initially kissed. Blake and Yang soon notice the groups presence with Blake a little bashful and Yang smiling and jokingly asking if they missed anything. Jaune looks at them and says he feels like he's been waiting forever for that.
Later, the two are seen giggling and holding hands, showing off their status as a new couple and enter into Vacuo as girlfriends.
Moments[]
RWBY Chibi
- In season 1, episode 6, Yang is cut off from telling a joke "And I said, 'Bumblebee? More like—'"
- In season 1, episode 12, team RWBY puts on a play with Blake as the big bad wolf and Yang as the grandmother. Yang insists on cracking jokes to make an impression for her one scene, to the frustration of the others. Blake comments "Just get in bed, grandma." to which Yang responds "Easy there wolfy, you haven't even bought me dinner yet!"
- In season 1, episode 19, when Yang is facing off Blake in a pillow fight, Blake teleports and dodges all the pillows. In one of the positions she is teleporting in, she pats the bed then winks at Yang.
- Yang holds a "Save The Bees" sign in season 2, episode 9.
DC Comics
- In Issue #7, Yang is insistent on helping Blake break out of her shell, taking Blake on multiple outings. Blake gives her the book The Man With Two Souls, which she doesn’t read at first but eventually does for her. One day Yang takes her to a saloon and they both get Sunflower Pops, which Blake is seen putting the bottle cap from hers in her pocket. They start talking about the stories that Blake reads and Yang compliments her by saying “You are… so smart, you know that? I could listen to you all day.”
- In Issue #4, Blake throws the Sunflower Pop bottle cap she saved from her night out with Yang into the ocean, only for Yang to find it washed up on the beach in Issue #11.
Fanon[]
This section is in need of major improvement. Please help improve this article by editing it.
The writers have stated in multiple videos that they wanted Bumbleby to be a slowburn relationship that expanded across multiple volumes where Blake and Yang first start out as friends getting closer during Beacon and then developing feelings for each other and falling in love as the volumes progress over the course of the show
Bumbleby is considered one of the most popular ships in the RWBY fandom, if not the most popular. People have began to ship Blake and Yang since the "Black" and "Yellow" character trailers. The ship has always had nice intimate moments since the beginning, but really started to shine after Volume 6 when the pair defeated Adam together, helping Yang get over her trauma whilst Blake grew to become more independent from her abusive past with Adam. In Team RWBY, Bumbleby is known as the partner pairing to White Rose.
On AO3, Bumbleby is the most written ship for both Blake and Yang. It is also the most written ship in the RWBY tag and the 6th most written femslash ship across all fandoms.
During a panel, Blake's voice actor tells fans that she feels like Blake's love language is physical touch and words of affirmation, while Yang's voice actor feels like Yang's love language is quality time and acts of service
Fandom[]
- FAN FICTION
- Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long tag on AO3
- Yang/Blake tag on FanFiction.net
- TUMBLR
- bumbleby posts on Tumblr
- Bumbleby moments volume 1-4
Lists[]
| 1st | JAN 21st 2019 | JAN 28th 2019 | ||
| 2nd | JAN 14th 2019 | |||
| 3rd | MAR 22nd 2021 | |||
| 5th | NOV 30th 2020 | MAR 29th 2021 | ||
| 6th | MAR 8th 2021 | |||
| 7th | MAR 1st 2021 | |||
| 9th | APR 5th 2021 | |||
| 11th | AUG 3rd 2020 | AUG 10th 2020 | APR 26th 2021 | |
| 12th | 2020 | APR 12th 2021 | APR 19th 2021 | |
| 13th | MAR 15th 2021 | |||
| 15th | 2019 | |||
| 16th | JAN 25th 2021 | |||
| 17th | JAN 4th 2021 | 2021 | ||
| 20th | MAY 5th 2021 | |||
| 67th | 2018 | 2022 | ||
Trivia[]
- Their ship name comes from the fact that Blake’s main color is black and Yang’s is yellow, just like an actual bumblebee. It is spelled Bumbleby to mimic the "BY" used in "RWBY" and to make it easier to find in tags.
- Yang's bike is named Bumblebee.
- The in-universe team attack of Blake and Yang is named Bumblebee.
- The ship that Blake was on and Yang later rode in Volume 5 was named Pride.
- The fandom considers the song "BMBLB" created by Jeff Williams (feat. Casey Lee Williams) a romantic song about Blake and Yang's relationship, although this song is non-canonical as stated by Arryn Zech in a series of deleted tweets.
- Blake and Yang's eye colours match each other's aura colours (Yang has lilac eyes, and Blake's aura is purple; Blake has amber eyes, and Yang's aura is yellow).
- The original concept art for Yang's DGAS outfit features a bumblebee patch stitched onto her pants, although this was replaced by her emblem in the actual show.
- Yang's outfit from volumes 2-8 has always had a purple bandanna tied above her boot or a purple pop to her outfit. This could be seen as a reference to Blake.
- The flowers that grow during their kiss in Volume 9 are white lilies. White lilies usually represent lesbian couples.
Gallery[]
Screenshots[]
.gif "Bumbleby (1).gif (5.24 MB)")
.gif "Bumbleby (14).gif (2.93 MB)")
.gif "Bumbleby (9).gif (1.36 MB)")
.gif "Bumbleby (2).gif (1.77 MB)")
.gif "Bumbleby (3).gif (1.71 MB)")
.gif "Bumbleby (5).gif (2.67 MB)")
.gif "Bumbleby (13).gif (1.44 MB)")
.gif "Bumbleby (8).gif (2.22 MB)")
.png "Bumbleby (10).png (695 KB)")
.jpg "Bumbleby (6).jpg (69 KB)")
.jpg "Bumbleby (7).jpg (33 KB)")
.jpg "Bumbleby - Super Heroes and Huntsmen Pt2 (End Card).jpg (108 KB)")
Videos[]
Variations[]
- Bees Schnees refers to the ship between Blake, Yang, and Weiss Schnee
- Beejeweled refers to the ship between Blake, Yang and Emerald Sustrai
- Black Dragonslayer refers to the ship between Yang, Blake and Jaune Arc
- Blake's Harem refers to the ship between Blake, Yang, Ilia Amitola, Sun Wukong, and Adam Taurus
- Blaked Alaska refers to the ship between Yang, Blake, and Neopolitan
- Pollinated Knight refers to the ship between Yang, Blake, Jaune Arc, Ruby Rose and Weiss Schnee
- Pollinated Silent Knight refers to the ship between Yang, Blake, Ruby Rose, Neopolitan, Weiss Schnee and Jaune Arc
- Pollination refers to the ship between Yang, Blake, Ruby Rose and Weiss Schnee
- Queen Bees refers to the ship between Yang, Blake and Nora Valkyrie
- Sunny Bees refers to the ship between Yang, Blake and Sun Wukong
- Team RWBYN refers to the ship between Blake, Yang, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee and Nora Valkyrie
- Tease the Bees refers to the ship between Yang, Blake and Neon Katt
