#I have another one of a raven

[chipped-chimera]

Reblogging Silverhand got me thinking - if you're like me and live in a country where the official CD Projekt merch store does a big 'HAHA NO' and will not let you buy anything from them, I would like to shout out Graphicine (instagram linked) for making some of the most gorgeous embroidered back patches and specifically this extremely nova Cyberpunk Oni Demon back patch.

I highly recommend their stuff, it's not often you find anyone who makes back patches as good as these (and this is coming from an embroidered patches enthusiast), and their entire store is a work of art. You can check out the store here.

[poindexterpng]

x-men characters as headlines — part 2

cause people seemed to like it and i made loads of them for fun

i still have like 15-20 more of these

part 3: https://www.tumblr.com/mgnetocore/759523226689978368/x-men-characters-as-headlines-part-3

[intheconfessiondial]

Redraw of the cape post, because that entire concept deserved better than the illustration I gave it.

[cometblaster2070]

i see ashlynn as the kind of person who injects 4 shots of espresso straight into her veins because she's unfortunately taken up the role of being the mom friend of her crack ass group and if she takes her eyes off of them for approximately 3 seconds someone will start crying and something will inexplicably be set on fire.

she hasn't slept in 2 weeks and she's starting to see things that aren't there now but she'll be fine enough in a while. Maybe.

[wasteofstardust]

Okay but Down Bad by Taylor Swift is a kevjean song…

[ganondoodle]

I fully understand the pain you feel with TLOZ now. I mean, I understood it before, but after Arcane becoming League's canon, after watching the second season, I feel so broken and conflicted and like I spent time loving something just for it to amount to nothing.

reliving my totk nightmares just a few months after finally being able to cope with that

[gomzdrawfr]

Raven: what if he buys me a car, Kyle? I'm panicking here. Gaz: And? Don't see the problem, mate. Raven: He owns every bloody brand of watches, colognes, wallets—stuff I didn’t even know existed! How the hell am I supposed to match that? Gaz: Did he ever mention what he needed? Raven: Raven: So there was this torque wrench he used on his bird- Gaz: Uh huh... Raven: It's wrapped in, layers of black tape, like it has been broken into two but he still used it. The other day though, it was completely unusable and he seemed really sad. Gaz: Get him the wrench. Raven: Kyle. Gaz: Trust me, he'll bloody worship the ground you walk on. Raven: Really? You know how bad it’ll look if he gets me a car and I hand him a bloody wrench wrapped in pink ribbons? On Valentine’s Day. Really. Gaz: Bruv, a man needs his tools. I bet you he’ll use that wrench ‘til his last breath just ‘cause you bought it for him. Raven: Gaz, smirking On Valentine's Day.... Nik gifted Raven a custom-made hand gun (much to her relief), then Raven handed him a leather bag which took her weeks to secure and import. Nik: Ah! You really shouldn't have- Nik unzipped the bag and spotted the wrench, pulling it out and stared at it in disbelief: Oy yoy! Nik proceeds to kiss Raven then the wrench, spinning her off the ground, plopping her on the desk and went off rambling about how happy he was in Russian Raven, dishevelled and stunned, sitting on the desk: Bloody hell it worked…

[yatagarasuhonyaku]

Yukiya's Memory (Novel Translation)

Blog version

Context: Two scenes, just before and after the Ravine, as Wakamiya asks Yukiya for details on what he saw to identify the assassins.

Yukiya looked up to Wakamiya, asking for his opinion. In turn, he rested his chin on his hand, deep in thought.

“…….. What if he didn’t choose to use it as payment, but instead was left with no choice but to use it that way?” A reason to pick a prestigious item received from the Lord of the North himself, of all things.

“What are you trying to say?”

“Nevermind, it’s truly just guesswork. We can’t say anything for certain at the moment,” Wakamiya murmured. He didn’t make any other attempt to bring the topic back up, and it looked like he had just reconsidered something. His attitude was oddly evasive.

Then, as if he had just come back to himself, he clapped.

“Leaving that aside, there is no doubt of the fact that today’s assailant is somehow related to the Northern House. Sumio, make sure to look into those related to the Lord of the North before investigating the thugs.”

“Understood.”

“And Yukiya, did you see the face of the person who shot that arrow?”

“Well, yes, kind of. But it was only for a moment and from far away. I can’t say I saw it clearly…” Yukiya began, before suddenly coming to a halt. “But wait, now that you mention it, it felt like this assailant and the person watching us over at the Gazing Moon Hall(1) were similar.”

“Interesting.”

“But you didn’t really get to see his face well, right?” Sumio asked back, unsure.

Yukiya himself tilted his head in confusion too. “Well, I certainly didn’t see his face per se, but, how to say it, there was something off about him.”

He couldn’t really tell what it was exactly, but something told him the assailant who shot the arrow and the person from yesterday were one and the same.

“Then, what if you saw this person again? Would you know if it was him?” Wakamiya asked.

After deeply thinking about it for a while, Yukiya nodded.

“I think so, yes. But, well, at the very least, I can say that this assailant wasn’t among those who have gone to the Northern House Main Residence for New Year’s in the last seven or eight years.”

“Huh?”

“What?” Sumio asked, full of doubt, “are you truly sure of that?”

“I mean, quite a lot of people go there for New Year’s?”

Including the servants, the event amassed quite the number of people. If they had gone through the trouble of hiring thugs, it was highly likely that the assailant too was someone who couldn’t afford to be seen in such a position. And so, the main suspects were either the servants to one of the Northern Clans, or people closely related to them.

As far as he could tell, Sumio and Wakamiya had fully intended to focus their investigation on them. Understandably, however, they didn’t want to risk losing an essential clue because of Yukiya's fuzzy memories.

“But it’s not like you can say that much without a doubt,” Sumio said.

Yukiya, however, flat out denied the notion. “Don’t treat me as some fool. No matter how you put it, there is no way I could forget the face of a Yatagarasu I’ve seen before. I’m not really that much of an idiot.”

Yukiya was quite serious about it, but neither man was able to answer. Sumio, in particular, seemed to be too dumbfounded to even open his mouth.

“Ehm… Did I… say something weird?” Faced with sudden silence, Yukiya glanced at Wakamiya to gauge his reaction. His self-confidence had vanished into thin air.

“No, don’t worry,” Wakamiya replied firmly, “I get what you’re trying to say. We’ll investigate with that in mind.”

“——Understood.”

Wakamiya looked to Sumio, who immediately nodded and stood up. He planned to depart immediately, from the looks of it.

“Oh, and Yukiya. You’ll be coming with me now.”

⊛　　　　　⊛　　　　　 ⊛

“Yukiya, there is one thing I want to confirm with you.” Yukiya turned a questioning gaze to Wakamiya, who was still frowning. “Did you find the assailant who shot that man in the head during your time in the Ravine?”

“I didn’t, no.”

“Not even among Kazumichi’s men?”

“I made sure to check his bodyguards too, but the assailant wasn’t one of them.”

“That’s weird,” Sumio’s expression turned grim as well, “I looked into it through other avenues too. All retainers capable of organizing such an attack should have been there yesterday, with Kazumichi.”

And, if the assailant wasn’t connected to the Northern House, the next option to consider would be someone specialized in this kind of dirty job, someone likely to frequent the Ravine. After spending more than a month and a half in there, Yukiya had been certain that he would find their target’s face somewhere, and yet—

“The people there worked me relentlessly, and I often ended up running all over the place. This is just my guess, Your Highness, but that was at your request, wasn’t it?”

“Indeed. They’ll do anything as long as you pay for it.”

Yukiya didn’t simply work during his time there, either. He had somewhat guessed that this was precisely the main reason why Wakamiya had left him at the Ravine, so he had made an active effort to check the people around him for the assailant.

“Still, if that’s the case, Your Highness, please tell me about it in the first place!”

For a moment there, he had truly believed that Wakamiya had sold him off.

“Oh, yeah, sorry about that.”

------------------------------------------------

1: Gazing Moon Hall refers to the red light district shop Wakamiya frequents and through which he accesses the Ravine to ensure nobody follows him there. It’s also the place he buys for the night when the assassination attempt happens.

[violent138]

As a locked room connoisseur and premier escapologist, I have to know you guys' thoughts: which group of members from the Batfam always completes the three levels of the locked room in like forty seconds (and then goes ahead and breaks the records for four more). Which members overthink everything, break a clue, and use up all their time and hints while the very patient helper tries to get them to stop chasing after the red herrings and assures them it is "that easy". And lastly who comprises the group taking it super lightly and cheering every time a lock opens but who may have also accidentally punched the costumed worker trying to scare them?

[ronkeyroo]

🍂 ' 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴, 𝘪𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 '

[light-wrath-paradise]

Completely normal pins for my completely normal friends and me. Btw.

[strqyr]

ruby: i'm a huntress. my team and i are heading to the leviathan and can weaken it for you to attack! jaune: we can? ruby: i can. maria: ruby, when i said "trial by fire"— ruby: i did it at beacon and at the farm. weiss: you really think you can do it now? ruby: i don't have a choice.

there was something only summer could do—"if i do this right, there's nothing to worry about." in red like roses part ii, summer's part includes "i didn't have a choice, i did what i had to do."

ruby: we don't have to kill you to stop you. and we will stop you. salem: your mother said those words to me. she was wrong, too.

the goal wasn't to kill the leviathan, but to weaken it for the military to attack; and when the answer from the military was no, they're not getting support for them for their ship is flagged as hostile, ruby says fine, they'll do it alone if they have to.

summer's plan wasn't to kill salem, but to use her silver eyes to encase her in stone for what she surely hoped was for eternity; but like the leviathan, salem broke free, and summer was proven wrong.

but what interests me is that ruby asked for help from a local authority, and got a no for an answer because their ship, their mode of transportation, was flagged as hostile. it makes me wonder if summer originally brought up her plan to ozpin as a way to defeat salem once and for all, an attack they'd all play a part in, and ozpin said no. he couldn't reveal his true reasons for why he denied it, but if summer's plan always involved raven—who just so happens to have a semblance perfect for transporting people—, he could have used that as an excuse; raven had already left, they had no idea if she was loyal to them or not, she could be hostile, etc.

it's too risky.

but summer was determined, and she'd do it alone if she had to; she "didn't have a choice", after all. and the rest is history.

[hiraganasakura]

Hi so me being me I've decided to hyperanalyze the conversation Qrow and Raven had in Higanbana practically line by line bcus I have Many Thoughts and this is the best way I can think of to get them all out. If you can't tell I'm absolutely obsessed with these two. Btw.

Thanks to the RWBY wiki for providing transcripts for every episode, otherwise I definitely would have missed smth despite having just watched this scene recently lol

I put it under the read more for easier scrolling due to how long this post got!

I immediately noticed smth in the very first lines of the interaction:

Raven: "Hello, brother." Qrow: "...Raven."

You'll notice throughout the whole conversation that Raven never calls Qrow by his name, only condescendingly referring to him as "brother" this one time and never calling him anything else. Meanwhile, Qrow directly refers to Raven a total of three times throughout the conversation, and only one doesn't call Raven by her name (which we'll get to shortly)

On the other hand, Qrow doesn't bother with even so much as a greeting beyond simply stating Raven's name

It's different ways of communicating their distance. While Raven holds her relationship with Qrow over his head — never once, even outside of this scene, does she call him "brother" with affection iirc, only derision and condescension — Qrow doesn't seem to rly know how to greet her. He hesitates before saying her name and approaching her, as if trying to assess the situation before acting

Qrow: "So, what do you want?" Raven: "A girl can't just catch up with her family?" Qrow: "She can, but you're not. Now how 'bout we get on with it? Unless you plan on keeping these [drinks] comin'."

Again, Raven seems to bring up her familial ties with Qrow as a tactic to get him to do what she wants — in this case, stick around to talk to her despite him not seeming to rly want to. Frankly, it feels manipulative. We're gonna put a pin in this for now and come back to it in just a moment

Additionally, Qrow already knows that Raven's not just here for a friendly chat between two siblings, and sees right thru her facade that it is. Raven is here bcus she wants smth from him. But interestingly, it is Raven in V5 that says, in an almost frustrated/disappointed tone, "Family. Only coming around when they need something." There's another pin; keep both in mind

Raven: "Does she have it?" Qrow: "...Did you know Yang lost her arm?" Raven: "That's not—" Qrow: "Rhetorical question, I know you know. It's just obnoxious that you'd bring up family and then carry on like your own daughter doesn't exist." Raven: "I saved her." Qrow: "Once. Because that was your rule, right? Real 'Mom of the Year' material, sis."

Qrow dodges Raven's question about the Relic and instead brings up her hypocrisy in how she treats family. And it's a good point. Here she is lording her siblingship with Qrow over his head while simultaneously defending and upholding her rule that she is only obligated to help her own daughter a single time. Another pinpoint on our little conspiracy board

Also, here's the one time in this conversation Qrow refers to Raven as "sis". Like Raven's use of "brother", Qrow's use of "sis" is very pointed and with intent. But it's not to manipulate Raven, it's a snarky jab meant to rly hammer home Qrow's point

Raven: "I told you Beacon would fall, and it did. I told you Ozpin would fail, and he has. Now you tell me. Does. Salem. Have it?" Qrow: "I thought you weren't interested in all of that." Raven: "I just want to know what we are up against." Qrow: "And which 'we' are you referring to?"

A few things of note here. At some point in the past, Raven expressed an outright disinterest in Ozpin's inner circle, at least to Qrow. Qrow also feels excluded in the "we" Raven mentions being against Salem. To me, there seems to be a distinct possibility here that it wasn't that Raven felt personally disinterested in Ozpin's operations, but that she somehow felt excluded and feigned a lack of interest in order to protect herself. An idea that is further supported in my eyes by the following dialogue:

Qrow: "You should come back, Raven. The only way we'd beat her is by working together. All of us." Raven: "You're the one who left. The tribe raised us, and you turned your back on them." Qrow: "They were killers and thieves." Raven: "They were your family." Qrow: "You have a very skewed perception of that word."

And there it is. Raven's problem is laid out here for us, loud and clear: She feels like she was the one abandoned, not the one running away. She says it outright! "You're the one who left." To her, Qrow is the traitor, the one who left their family behind. If you ask Qrow (or, for that matter, Tai, Yang, and even Summer based on the scene in V9), it's the opposite

Bcus they have different definitions of family

Another thing to pin (I promise this will all become clear soon)

Raven: "I lead our people now. And as leader, I will do everything in my power to ensure our survival." Qrow: "I saw. The people of Shion saw, too." Raven: "The weak die. The strong live. Those are the rules." Qrow: "Well, you've certainly got someone strong on your side. I've seen the damage." Raven: "We couldn't have known the Grimm would set in as quickly as they did." Qrow: "I'm not talking about the Grimm. And I'm not talking about you, either."

Notice Raven's shift from "the tribe" to "our people". More of that guilt tripping!

Additionally, Raven is *obsessed* with rules. One save. The weak die, the strong live. Raven lives and breathes rules, even seemingly arbitrary ones. Guess what this is? Another pin!

Raven: "If you don't know where the Relic is, then we have nothing left to talk about." Qrow: "I don't know where the Spring Maiden is, either, but if you do, I need you to tell me." Raven: "And why would I do that?" Qrow: "Because without her, we're all going to die." Raven: "...And which 'we' are you referring to?"

Qrow's "either" here implies that he also doesn't know where the Crown of Choice is, which is... interesting. He's one of Ozpin's closest lieutenants, and is in the dark on where Beacon's Relic is? Wherever it is, it is such a closely kept secret that even Ozpin's best spy doesn't know where it is (maybe so that in the event Qrow gets captured by Salem he can't be forced into giving her the information?)

Meanwhile, Raven's "And why would I [tell you]?" implies that she does know who the Spring Maiden is (obviously. Raven's the Spring Maiden lol) but refuses to disclose to Qrow

A lantern sputters out after Qrow says "Without [Spring] we're all going to die." Now, I genuinely can't remember if this is headcanon or canon, but iirc Misfortune seems to act up when Qrow's upset. He's clearly tired of this little game of dancing around topics that Raven's been playing with him

And once again, Raven indicates a feeling of exclusion from Qrow's life in the iconic final line. She gets the final word in before leaving

We've finally reached the end of the conversation. Now what does all of this tell us?

And here is where all of those pins I wrote down are relevant. As I mentioned, the twins view family very differently

Qrow's view is pretty obvious: he views family as the ppl in his life who matter most to him. Unlike Raven, he does not view the tribe as family despite the fact that they raised him, disgustedly referring to them as "killers and thieves". It's implied that he was, in fact, neglected and/or likely abused by the Branwen tribe, saying in V6C4, "No one wanted me... I was cursed..." further explaining his distaste for them. Furthermore, despite not being related to Ruby by blood, they clearly consider one another family throughout the series, and he even seems closer to her than he seems to his niece who's actually blood related to him (I personally headcanon that he keeps more of a distance from Yang bcus she reminds him too much of Raven, who he feels abandoned and hurt by, but that's neither here nor there). Bloodlines and debts are secondary compared to loyalty, if they're considered at all. He is obviously furious that Raven only insists on saving Yang once and never directly interacting with her beyond that, despite Raven constantly guilting Qrow over abandoning his so-called "family" of the tribe. And yet. And yet. He still offers Raven a place back in his life, even if only to unite against Salem

Raven's view, to me, has been an enigma for a while. But after hyperanalyzing this conversation, after noting down all of those points of interest, I feel like I've finally cracked the code. Raven views family as an obligation, an exchange that always has an ulterior motive behind it. She seeks out Qrow only bcus she desires smth from him despite showing distaste when someone does the same to her; condescendingly calls Qrow "brother" more than his actual name and calls the tribe their "family" to try guilting him into doing what she wants; and feels fierce loyalty to the tribe but barely interacts with her daughter, only seeming to count one of the two as true family. She views the concept of family with cynicism and seems to feel an obligation to the tribe, as if she "owes" them for raising her

I think the two's perceptions of what defines family are all to do with the way the tribe treated both of them. This crosses a bit into headcanon territory, but as you can see by the above quotes and analysis, I rly don't think I'm just making it up entirely

As I already mentioned, I think it's implied that the Branwen tribe neglected/abused Qrow. In fact, we could probably blame their treatment of him for the deep self-loathing he has due to his "cursed" Semblance. But what about Raven?

Well, it's simple: I think she was abused, too, just in a different way. While Qrow was likely shown and told on a consistent basis that he was unwanted, unloved, undeserving of good things, Raven may have been shown and told she was wanted, loved, and deserving of good things... if she did what the tribe told her. If she repaid them for raising her and her brother, for being her "family". The way she uses her familial ties with Qrow as almost blackmail may be exactly the way the tribe treated her. Her obsession with following rules may stem from the fact that she had to follow the rules the tribe set for her in order to be accepted and deemed worth smth

As for her distance from Yang... honestly, I wonder if Raven is aware that Yang deserves better and keeps her distance as her way of doing that. When Summer confronts Raven in the V9 scene, Raven says, "...You're better at that life. Better than I was." She seems to have a fear and insecurity about being a good family member, a good mother, and maybe that's why she fled. Maybe she was scared of being like her abusers due to how she emulates them as a self-preservation tactic in so many other ways. Not entirely sure about this point tho

And I think too this is why the twins don't rly understand one another. They may have been unaware of the different ways in which the other was treated. Qrow, constantly unwanted and loathed, can't understand why Raven sticks around with the tribe; Raven, who obeyed the tribe and, in doing so, garnered enough of their favor to even eventually become leader, can't understand why Qrow can't just be "good", earn respect, and stay

This dissonance between the two experiences may also be completely intentional on the part of the tribe; abusers will often eliminate their targets' support systems in order to make them completely reliant on the abuser, so it's highly likely that the wedge was intentionally driven between the two siblings so that they could not find support in one another. This would also tie into why the twins seem to feel excluded from one another's lives and abandoned by one another: bcus they were made to feel that way by their common abusers, and did nothing to challenge these assumptions bcus they saw no reason to — and only seemed to keep proving one another right if they did

Which rly has some disturbing implications about how the Branwen tribe works. Like, do they just pick orphaned kids up off the street and abuse them into being perfect little bandits, molded to be of the greatest possible use and discarded if they're deemed worthless? Plus Qrow says his Semblance is how he got his name, which implies that the tribe also renames the kids they scoop up (possibly as a form of control or a way to make sure they can't be tracked down by any remaining family)? Plus there's the whole thing where Qrow and Raven were originally sent to Beacon to learn how to kill Huntsmen, which carries with it the implication that the Branwen tribe grooms literal orphan children into becoming stone-hearted murderers? What. The heck.

And if I'm right, if the Branwen tribe is that severely abusive, then like... wow, no wonder Qrow and Raven are Like That. They're both very deeply hurt people expressing it in different ways

I was considering adding their conversation at the Battle of Haven to this post, but I think that would be better as its own thing. Also I haven't gotten there on my rewatch yet so I may miss some details if I try to analyze it rn; it's better to wait overall methinks

But I have reached the point of my rewatch where we see Weiss and Whitley interact, and I think it would be very efficient to sum up what Qrow and Raven's relationship seems to be by using those siblings as a point of reference. Qrow = Weiss, actively trying to break free from and fight back against their abusers in different ways, while Raven = Whitley, continuing to do as their abusers want and have wanted as a method of self-preservation. Only, unlike Weiss and Whitley, Qrow and Raven have yet to come to a point where they can understand one another. I think that's a good way to briefly summarize the uh. Absolutely massive post this is.

In conclusion, I may have cracked the majority of the Branwen twins' pre-Beacon backstory purely by hyperanalyzing a single conversation. Oopsies

[beyondthetemples-ooc]

Just reread a fanfiction that I haaaated twenty years ago when I first read it, and though I find myself not hating it As Much as I did back then (there are elements that are Good, I see now!), I'm still not fond of it. But it's mostly for characterization and worldbuilding.

~ Even before I Actually Went Neopagan, I was miffed at Azar scoffing at other religious beliefs. At the time I was like "Azar was a good person! She wouldn't be bigoted like that!" (Colored more by fondness for Azar over the way she seemed to treat Raven decently. I was like 10 years old when I first read this thing and Didn't Want to Entertain Her Having Flaws.)

Now I just think she wouldn't care enough to scoff at xmas? Maybe she'd be like "When you came to Azarath you swore to leave your old life behind" or something, but not like... leveraging letting Arella celebrate it as a bargaining chip???

~ The take on Azarathean religion never sat well with me. It's hard to quantify (especially now, today, when I've just finished my sixth event of socializing on 30 days, which happened while I'm barely recovered from my stomach Being Awful^tm and I'm mentally exhausted). But Azar was both the High Priestess AND the one they were following / worshiping. She was their matriarch. Her Word was Law. Her citing a Higher Power being the reason she did what she did with Raven just feels... weird to me. Seemed to be conflating it a lot with xtianity, despite her spitting on xmas. Even used capitalized-g God. That's SO mostly unique to Abrahamic religions!

~ This one was there when I was a kid but has only grown STRONGER! I really don't understand why the entire fandom is CONVINCED that ALL OF AZARATH is emotionless and every bit as strictly disciplined as Raven? Like?? That training was specific TO RAVEN. Raven was the ONLY PERSON in Azarath who had to control her emotions or destroy worlds. Sure, I believe they had SOME meditations and scheduled prayer time, theocratic societies usually do. I believe they studied mental discipline for how to uphold peace and not give in to violence and fear. But not strict, emotionless, absolutely-eradicating-all-emotions training. That was RAVEN. Just RAVEN!

Why are people so convinced that The Entire Society functioned the way they trained RAVEN?????? They lacked compassion and violent urges, but that doesn't mean they lacked other aspects of humanity like rage and fear. Those were Very Much There. That doesn't mean they didn't get to enjoy their food, or they all had to live an ascetic life. Raven being raised the way she was without any Meaningful Interpersonal Bonds (arguably, aside from Azar) doesn't mean there weren't meaningful bonds between everyone else. In fact, Arella talks about having friends that died when Trigon destroyed Azarath. In every page we've seen, the Azaratheans knew each other.

And I know, Different Canons, blah blah blah, but in the comics, Raven flat-out said something about children playing in TotNTT #2. Contrasting it against her training. Other children WERE raised DIFFERENTLY! Allowed to play! Raven wasn't because she was RAVEN!

I dunno, it's a generalization that just absolutely BAFFLES me. Maybe because I've studied enough about other religions to understand that There's Nuance and Ways to Practice Meditative Discipline Without Being Entirely Emotionless??? Maybe when other people think of monks, they don't think of Buddhism like I do, but ascetic Catholic monks? But surely even THOSE guys don't mercilessly restrict their emotions, do they???