Cinder Shouldn't Use A Bow. Her Whole Thing Is Glass/obsidian, Which For Those Of You Who've Never Had

Cinder shouldn't use a bow. Her whole thing is glass/obsidian, which for those of you who've never had a window break, is famously inflexible. Everything to do with bows depends on flexibility — the arms have to bend to store energy, the string has to bend to draw back, even the arrow bends around the bowstaff when it's loosed and wobbles in flight.

Instead, Cinder should use throwing knives. It makes way more sense and fits her aesthetic better.

protective girlfriends™

I really love that Vi is a protector not an avenger. She hates Sevika and yet she only fought her until she had Sevika beaten. She didn’t at any point go for the kill blow in either of their fights. She could have easily slid down the path of hatred especially in act 1 but when push came to shove she decided that it was more important to save what she loves than to destroy what she hates. And that decision defines Vi’s character for the rest of the series.

I just love that through all the pain and hardship she chooses her love over her hate every time. She really is a caring person. It just sucks that she was forced to push it down or hide it many times in her life to survive.

Consider this: Sakura secretly loving swords (bc she's a lesbian and what lesbian doesn't love swords??)

i absolutely agree and offer this iconic sword lesbian official art

but also consider: why stop at swords

Protective. Proud. Supportive.

I honestly really love the weapon symbolism in RWBY. Ruby says in the second episode that their weapons are extensions of themselves, and it’s absolutely true. 

Like, take Crescent Rose for example: in Volume 4-6, it’s scarred, it’s cracked, it’s beaten up, but it’s still working. Much like it’s owner. And in Volume 7, it’s upgrade isn’t in firepower or something new and fancy, it adds adaptability.

Crocea Mors is also a fantastic example. In the beginning, it is literally not Jaune’s weapon. It’s his great-grandfather’s. It’s a manifestation of the legacy Jaune is desperately trying to live up to. 

Come Volume 4, and Jaune adds Pyrrha’s diadem to the shield, symbolising that he’s now attempting to live up to Pyrrha’s example as well. Plus, it gains a mode where Jaune sacrifices his defense for offense, foreshadowing his suicidally reckless belief that he doesn’t matter.

(It’s not a coincidence that this form is first revealed when Ren is going through a bit suicidal recklessness.)

Come Volume 7, and he now focuses on the Shield, symbolizing how Jaune has switched his focus to supporting and defending those around him. 

We’ve also all noticed that Gambol Shroud now intergrates Kintsugi into the design: the idea that something that has been repaired, healed can be more beautiful than before it was broken. 

But I really love Cinder’s weapon symbolism. 

Chronologically, the first appearance of Midnight is in Beginning of the End. Where it’s an actual metal weapon that Cinder carries around with her. But once she gains half of the Maiden powers, she tosses it to the ground and burns it. 

Symbolically, Cinder has sacrificed a part of herself in her quest for power. 

Throughout Volume 2 and 3, the Midnight we see is a facsimile, a fake created with the Maiden Powers. Cinder is trying to use the powers to replace a part of herself she’s lost. 

But that Midnight is made of glass. It’s fragile, easily broken. 

And after Volume 3, she hasn’t used Midnight at all. She’s trying to distance herself from what Midnight represents, what she’s left behind in her search for power.  There’s nothing actually stopping her from reclaiming it, reforging it, creating it anew… except herself. 

And if you’ll notice, when Cinder creates obsidian blades now, it’s never the same blade. The RWBY Wiki lists nine different sword designs she uses just in last few episodes of Volume 5. Even in Volume 6, when she’s making daggers down in the Vault, there’s five different dagger designs. And in the fight with Winter and Penny, she uses three of those swords, and one of the knives. 

Combine that with her incredibly frequent outfit changes, and it paints a picture of a young woman who doesn’t really know who she is, only who she doesn’t want to be.