#anyway just thoughts. I like thinking about my characters tbh

[ghouljams]

Idk honestly I could probably write a really in depth analysis on the prevalence of the blue/brown eyed Ghost debate, and what it means in terms of fandom politics especially when coupled with whether Ghost is a natural blond or a brunet, but I doubt anyone wants to hear about the political implications of people pushing most popular character in the series as aryan...

well, i for one would absolutely love to hear about it, but to be fair my degree is in media studies so fork found in kitchen

but tbh is it surprising that this kind of discourse (along with the whole Gaz “not being interesting enough” bs) is a prevalent discussion in a military propaganda game fandom? probably not lol

i also agree with your take that his eyes are brown as part of his character development and that it feeds into the complexity of the dynamics between them

anyway, don’t feel pressured to talk more about it if you don’t feel like it, just wanted to let you know that at least one person would read all of it lol

Much love!!

- Morph

Ghoul thoughts under the cut because I love media analysis and rambling

You hit the nail on the head by bringing up the Gaz "not being interesting" bullshit in relation to this entire thing because I absolutely see the crux of the brown vs blue eyed Ghost debate being a debate over which eye color is "better" which has inherently racist roots.

And as an immediate disclaimer: I am not saying that headcanoning Ghost with blue eyes makes you racist, I am not saying that headcanoning Ghost as blond makes you racist. I am simply pointing out that the way we view certain traits has been and will be filtered through a lens which requires an examination of our own values/beliefs.

It is so intensely interesting to me that in a fandom with a history of racial exclusion, for a media property that upholds whiteness as the pinnacle of virtue, that upholds western ideals and values as the height of moral purity, that places the good guys in a position where they can do NO WRONG despite having a higher torture rate than the bad guys, that a faceless character would be arbitrarily assigned blue eyes and blond hair despite textual/in game evidence to the contrary (yes there is evidence).

Now maybe I am just sensitive to certain things because I paid attention in school and know what a dog whistle sounds like, maybe that's all this is. However, within a fandom that seems to cater so hard to white women and has racist bullshit popping up every other week, I think... maybe we should examine why we want Ghost to have blue eyes.

I find that with faceless characters headcanons always exist within the hopes of making them more attractive. The idea that they would be ugly under the mask is antithetical to the wish fulfilment of fandom, so it makes sense that people would come up with a face for them. But then why are so many faceless characters made into skinny white blonds? Surely people would want some diversity- oh no, wait...

So we make Ghost blond. Alright, I mean he was a brunet in the comics and in the one scene where we see him take his mask off he's got dark hair, but I guess there were too many people with dark hair on the 141 already, so we gotta mix in a blond. But then why the blue eyes? He has blue eyes in the '09 comic, but in every cutscene we see in the '22 remake his eyes are brown. There's already two members of the 141 with blue eyes, so we don't need another one for diversity. So then why give Ghost blue eyes? If you want him to be closer to the '09 version why make him blond as well?

It's because people want to make him attractive, and in the dominant racial zeitgeist blue eyes are attractive. Which... I mean do I need to ask why? It's because they're a white european trait and people still hold white features as the attractive ones. Same with the blond hair. That's why WW2 Germany designated Blond hair and Blue eyes as the "true German" traits and created a whole class for them "aryan."

So what are the political implications of creating an aryan character out of the most popular character in the series (one who has minimal voice lines and minimal canon backstory in the reboot) within a fandom that regularly disregards/ignores the main black character? It's the continued upholding of whiteness and a specific kind of whiteness as more valuable than others. I'm not even going to say more valuable than blackness, I would say more valuable than other white traits. Why are blue eyes more attractive than brown eyes? Because they're more "white." Why is blond hair more attractive than brown? Because it's more "white." Why is a blond haired blue eyed Ghost such a popular headcanon despite evidence to the contrary? Because he's more white that way.

Now I like blond haired Ghost. I think it's an interesting addition to the color pallet of the team, and I like that it makes him look more like a ghost to be so washed out. But I think fandom has a habit of following what becomes popular within head canon spaces and making it fandom canon, and so many of us don't examine why a headcanon might pop up. Where did Ghost having blond hair come from? When did we all decide that was what we were going with? Why is it even a debate whether or not he has blue or brown eyes, and why does it matter?

If I said right now that Ghost 100% in canon of the '22 game has brown hair and brown eyes, would people get mad at me? And why? Why would it matter if he had brown hair and brown eyes? Does that make him less attractive? Why? Why does it matter? Why do you want him to have blond hair and blue eyes? Why do you care? What is the difference between blue and brown that makes it so important? For God's sake look at the societal conditioning that you've been put through! Why does it "make more sense" for him to have blue eyes if he's blond? Why?

Every single idea we have of what is and isn't attractive has been designed for us by the society we live in. Consider what ideals are being upheld when deciding that the "hot" character is blond and blue eyed while also discarding the black character. Being anti-racist and dismantling your own racial biases is a long and constant process, but it is so vitally important. And once we start examining those biases all sorts of shit starts popping up.

And before someone comes in and tells me it isn't that deep: maybe you should look at why you need it to not be that deep, does it make you uncomfortable to think that you might be feeding into these biases without realizing? And who does it benefit to have it not be "that deep" is there perhaps a group of people that would want you to not examine your preference for blue eyes and blond hair? Some sort of brotherhood perhaps...

[orangepeelknives]

your character notes posts are phenomenal so thank you first of all. but second, on the topic of will needing to be okay because mack needs him to be, what, in your beautiful mind, could actually shake will enough that he can’t act like everything’s fine. and do we think mack can 1) recognize that and 2) react in a way that’s helpful without being able to rely on will for the script. like mack can give will space when that’s what he needs but what if the answer isn’t space you know?

hi okay here are my Thoughts on this:

first of all, what could shake WSH enough that he would have an extended emotional reaction?? we know that he is a D1 internalizer, and he seems to self-regulate very well, he doesnt crash out on the bench or throw tantrums he just kinda puts himself in a corner, deals with it, and moves along. hes a 20 year old babey, so i dont want it coming across like i think hes his super duper emotionally mature well adjusted Adult, he's not, he's a boy in a high pressure situation who was raised by hockey, a bedazzled helicopter, and Catholicism, there are issues there. but i do think that when it comes to things like losing, things like his hockey, ect, he is able to handle that on is own, and bounce back.

however. i think it is pretty clear atp that WSH is verrrrry connection-driven. his people are important to him! he goes the extra mile for his friends and family! obvi, sending mothers day flowers to his billet mom while entire timezones away. also it manifests in his hockey! mack's first hat trick, that third goal?? will made that happen. sure he wants to win the game but he was contorting the fuck outta those passes so that mack could have that personal victory, because he cares about mack! he goes the extra mile! and he's out here maintaining friendships with guys from boston who likely wont ever make the league! its not all about career here, connection and people are important to him.

i think that he's confident in these connections as well. he puts in the effort, he does the maintenance. so i think that the emotional crashout scenario would have somethjng to do with loss of connection. i think that would be really devastating, like a personal failure almost, like i worked at this and this was important to me and i lost it anyways, despite the fact that people usually like me, despite the fact that i put in the effort.

as far as mack's reaction, i believe in our little squish!! would he be this perfect comforting angel??? absolutely not. ABSOLUTELY not like omg just look at him. buttttt i think that the effort from mack, to try to be what will needs, to try to be supportive, would be what matters to will, here, especially in this scenario. the reaffirmation of that very important relationship i think would help significantly with the emotional fallout.

however. this is all speculation to be taken with a grain of salt and tbh i would love the scholars of wacklin nation to chime in! i justttt joined tumblr and have developed a lot of my own opinions in my isolated little bubble of No Internet sooooo what do we think, chat?

[motherish]

SCREAM!!! 🥹 My Sanjeepers!!! 💕💞💓💗

This had to have it's own post because I got so much to say LOLL OK!!! SO!! 🥸

🫀 We're walking around and I see THIS particular Sanji just standing there posing as people take pics and I'm like ?? where's his bodyguard like he's literally just floating around the park all on his lonesome?? so I snap my own pic and as he's walking away I go "I love you Sanjeeps!" (if I really love a character i just say their name differently) and he falls to his knees clutching a lightpole and yells that he loves me too and I'm OVER THE MOON 🥰🥰 cause it feels very in character LOL and I'm just damn!! 🥲 I wanna see more of him!!

🪼 We walk around some more and I tell Keii i really wanna take a pic with a One Piece character esp THAT Sanji so we walk back around and the Sanji and Usopp that we want aren't out smh it's some other people! 🙃 And I won't say they looked bad? It's just that the other guys playing Sanji and Usopp looked BETTER! But whatever we stand in line anyway cause at the end of the day we want a pic!

🫎 The line is long and we're chitchatting and suddenly we see people just crowd around some characters that were coming this way?? First it's Zoro and Nami and we're just "meh" cause we ain't in that line and then I'm like WAIT are they switching out!? 👁️ Maybe our Sanji and Usopp will come back?? AND SURE ENOUGH THEY DOOOO I was literally jumping up and down going "are they walking this way are they walking this way??" 💃🕺 CAUSE THAT'S THE SANJI I WANTED!!

👘 They trade places and MY HEART!! I have been cold this entire trip and that was the first time that ENTIRE night that I didn't even notice I was cold because I was too busy laughing n giggling about the fact that I would NOW get to take the photo with the Sanji that I WANTED! 🥰 And Keii with the Usopp that she wanted!!

🛝 Except everyone infront of us was taking 99yrs.. 🙄you woulda thought they were meeting THE Sanji and Usopp with the way these people were lingering about 😤 smh so here I am checking the time cause now we've been in line for a MINUTE and I know the switch off is gonna be soon and I am nervousss cause I'm so close and yet so far!? 😖 And the group infront of us.. I coulda screamed there were like 12 of em and they ALL wanted individual photos and THEN they wanted group photos and.. yeah I was sweating LOL I had Keii all nervous too I felt so bad! 😅 But I needed THAT one! I even asked the staff member guy watching over them and he said they were switching in 5 minutes.. and we still had folks infront of us.. oh hamburgers. 🙃

🎒 We finally get up there like WE ARE THE NEXT ONES IN LINE and the guy is checking his watch and i go over to him again and I say "can we please be their last group? 🥹" and he looks at me as if he's thinking it over and then he says "ok" WOOHOOO LOLLL then its our turn and remember when I was like "man you woulda thought they were meeting THE Sanji and Usopp with the way they were acting smh🙄" yeah that was me once I got up there HAHAHA ALLLL SMILES!! I told Sanji i wanted HIM in particular! And I wish I woulda thought of something more clever to say! Cause when he asked why I said "because you're tall" SANJI IS SUPPOSED TO BE TALL OK? HE'S ALL LEGS HE'S LIKE SAILOR MOON!

💋 Sanji is so touchy too like kept gripping my hands and hugging me and tbh I can't remember half the shit he even said because I was too busy just being happy that I got a pic with the Sanji I wanted LOL 💞 then I got to hug and speak to Usopp at the tail end and the guy did a really good job replicating his voice?? It sounded just like dubbed Usopp! And he looked AMAZING I mean just LOOK AT USOPP!! I was so blown away just stunning!

Keii and I walked away smiling n giggling. Just riding the wave of being able to be silly with some of our fav One Piece characters. If even for a moment. 💗

[bringbackavac]

so, i was rewatching the 8x17 kitchen scene and realised that it felt like a lot of the past fights they've had??? and came into the conclusion!!! that buddie has a certain pattern in their arguments!!!

the thesis is that its rooted mostly by their character weaknesses, history and upbringing. especially, when the topic is centralised on them or affect them deeply, it usually goes atomic.

alas, this post was born and honestly i have no idea why i can't stop adding to it. i just keep having additional thoughts, or more prospects that work so well to deepen and complete the theory further. it's been a a few days and i truly need to move on to be able to function properly in my day to day T__T

but tbh i still have a lot to add more to it—especially how their families play a part in building that habit/response—in the upcoming days. i really need to stop writing in that post at 3am bcs in actuality i'm super swarmed with things atm BUT BUDDIE KEEPS INSISTING TO BE FRONT AND CENTRE IN MY MIND *sighs* i hate themmm :/

ANYWAYS i wanna know what ya'll think!! because i genuinely can't stop thinking about it and i need someone to discuss it with because ngl this feels so buddie road to canon??!! LIKE THAT FIGHT WAS INSANE AND INTENSE but that reconciliation??? got me: *grins evilly in buddie canon coming soon* :3

[vees-scribbles]

When They're Sick

Ever since I did the post about Bo and Vincent with a sick S/O I've wanted to do how the characters act when sick so. Enjoy.

CW: Murder mention, drug mention, very brief sex mention

Characters: Luigi Largo, Amber Sweet, Blind Mag, Nathan Wallace, Otis Driftwood, Baby Firefly, RJ Firefly, Bo Sinclair, Vincent Sinclair

Luigi Largo

Doesn't get sick very often

The Luigi in my brain does not like germs

And was also a sickly ass child

So he's very careful about illness

Insists that when he IS sick, he's very manly about it

I do think he'd push through a headache or some small symptom (though several GENterns do not make it through, such is life)

But when he gets sick sick?

Oh BROTHER

Man baby alert clean up aisle GeneCo

Very grumpy and insisting this is the WORST ailment in the history of ailments

He has the common cold

Demands nursing but is a pain in the ass about it

No he doesn't need you to feed him soup but since you're already here...

I don't think he'd let many people see him like that tbh

Which mostly just means that as his partner you should be prepared to handle the brunt of it

Good luck catching it!

Amber Sweet

Probably doesn't know she's sick tbh

She's lounging about high off her ass

Nothing is different from a normal day

Does need pampering but it's the normal amount

Tbh I think she's toughing it out better than Luigi

I don't think she's often sick either

If you ask she'll tell you she can't remember the last time she was sick

Could have the bubonic plague and be treating it like mere allergies

This one is short uhhhh Amber Sweet is more of a badass than she gets credit for pass it on

Blind Mag

Sick the normal amount for a person

Very graceful about it

Like she feels like shit but she's not really mean

Does take a day or two to recuperate

Bring her soup but she's going to worry about you catching it

Not very chatty, because she doesn't want to risk her vocal chords

Might take some convincing but yes, she would like some cuddles

Reciprocates if/when you catch it

Or if you're sick at all

Remember when ppl really wanted tuberculosis bc they thought it was romantic? Mag embodies that

She has the flu but she still manages to look stunning all pale and sickly

The author's barely disguised love for Mag

Nathan Wallace

I KNOW I DON'T LIKE HIM BUT

In his defense

He's a parent

He is absolutely trucking through it

Unless he is literally unable to stand he's not acknowledging that he's sick

"But Vee, isn't he a doctor?" That doesn't mean he follows his own advice

Gets through cold with a pack of cough drops and a prayer

Any partner of his would have to really wrestle to get him to take a break

I think how often he gets sick directly correlates to Shiloh's age

Little children are illness machines

Toddler Shiloh definitely wreaked havoc on that man's immune system

"She was locked away from the world how would she get sick" Never underestimate a toddler's ability to bring sickness upon a household

Otis Driftwood

Never sick

That guy has an immune system of STEEL

Bacteria tell their children about him to keep them from misbehaving

Otis Driftwood is a germ

BUT IF HE WAS

He's not admitting it

He is acting it

On his death bed talking about 'I'm fine'

Does still get pissy if you don't dote on him

Another guy you have to just accept catching the illness from

Still trying to fuck

Don't get too tender about it or he'll be mean

He'll be mean either way actually

Baby Firefly

I don't think she's sick a lot either

She's subjected to just as many germs as Otis

Fairly normal? For her anyway

She wants your attention about it

But she's not mean like Otis

Will admit that she's sick and just go lay down

But she wants you to come cuddle her

I'm getting very 'sick day when you were a kid' vibes

Watching TV and drinking 7-Up kinda deal

Like she's not exactly stoic but she's not being a giant baby

Naps through it

Still cracking jokes when she is awake

Generally not a bad time

RJ Firefly

See Otis and Baby

Stoic

He's everything Otis thinks he's being

He clears his throat like. Double the amount he usually does

Probably you have no clue he's sick until you get sick

Then he's like "oh my bad"

Doesn't actually say it like that

I don't have much to say here

I want to nurse him back to health

He would never let me

Someone write a fic where he's sick and someone takes care of him

Bo Sinclair

Sick an average amount I imagine

Probably has allergies real bad

Like anyone in the US South I feel

MAN BABY MAN BABY

On his death bed with the common cold poor thing

Very resistant to any kind of help

"I don't need you babyin' me"

Yes he does

Keep at it long enough and he will give in I feel

This guy has mommy issues in his deepest darkest heart of hearts he wants to be taken care of

He just also has daddy issues and will refuse to accept being taken care of

He didn't know you were supposed to dilute those cans of soup with water

You can change his life with a single can of Campbell's chicken noodle prepared correctly

Another guy who tries to get horny with it

Less aggressive about it than Otis

Because he really just wants to take a nap

Lowkey annoyed when you inevitably catch it

Vincent Sinclair

Also sick a normal amount

What can I say the Sinclairs fall pretty close to the 'just a normal ass guy' end of the Guy to Freak spectrum for me

Less of a man baby

Will admit that he's sick, but is also capable of realizing a sniffle won't kill him

Will BECOME a man baby if you're not very, very careful

Open to being taken care of

Probably really sweet if you bring him something, squeezing your hand or kissing your fingers

But if you're too good at it he starts milking it a little

He's like a cat when they learn you give them extra attention when they limp a little and suddenly they have a mysterious injured paw

Let him tbh he deserves it

You down for fever cuddles? Better get down with them

[forthedancingandthethriving]

Thinking about Queen Melody giving Peach some advice for working towards fixing her relationships, or just Melody helping to push Peach in the right direction regardless. She doesn't know the full story, and she doubts she will, but she can see the consequences of Peach's past actions.

She'll always remind Peach that she can't undo the past. That she can't fix what's been done, even if one was to use time travel. It'll just open up all other holes and the sort. But that doesn't mean Peach can't start fixing things now.

"It'll take time," Melody will tell her. "And there will be people who may never forgive you." Melody'll spare a glance towards Saiko or Mario if they're around. But that doesn't mean Peach can't fix things. But she'll have to accept that some relationships may never be repaired.

And if Peach expresses doubt, Melody will remind her that the queen has seen a lot. Maybe not as much as Peach herself, but she's seen relationships damaged, sometimes even beyond repair. She's speaking from experience, both personal and from witnessing.

Melody will do her best to help Peach stay on the right path. But she'll always remind the princess: "I'll help you, but the decisions you make must be your own. In the end, it won't be me repairing the damage, but you. The repair is up to you, and you best not falter unless you'd like the foundation to shatter beneath you."

Idk,, just thinking about Melody being a mentor/guiding/motherly figure to those who need it :)

[kaiserouo]

(prev | next | first)

yay i gave him a name

[biblically-accurate-dca]

super disorganized sketch page because i do what i want

[dragonroar64]

im finally back with another pvpciv headcanon. I live my brain is finally having more thoughts than just a single sentence. good luck there's more angst ahead

okay so! in the most recent episode, y'know how Evbo goes and gets the other diamond swords to pay for things? that seems perfectly normal, right? wrong. Evbo can respawn. he could've just passed his sword off to whoever had the least amount of durability left and then came back down to buy things himself. but he didn't. he asked others for help(side note:I love the silly little found family going on here it brings me joy. look at them!!!).

my personal theory for why he'd ask the other diamond swords to buy these things for him is because he doesn't want to have to respawn ever again, or more accurately: he doesn't want to die ever again. I imagine if you'd died dozens if not hundreds of times you'd never want to do so again. not even on your own terms, not even when you're going to come back to people who care about you, not even if you wouldn't have to do it again any time soon. Evbo probably doesn't want to experience dying again, probably doesn't want to wake up in his room on the wooden sword level holding a weapon made of the weakest material around, much more vulnerable than he is anyways. do you think being there bothers him? do you think traveling down through the layers makes old memories and old pains flair up?

do you think that the other diamond swords know about this and try to help Evbo avoid going through it again? do you think that's why they help him pay for things without suggesting a respawn? do you think they're reluctant to send him out to the other civilizations? do you think they feel like he's a sort of annoying little brother to them, but still a brother and therefore someone they care about?

anyways I just think this found family thing going on w/the diamond swords should be explored more. like what if they saw how much he devolved on every trip to the golden sword level and just assumed his deterioration was caused just by the golden level itself and only learned later about what exactly happened on the iron sword level? they probably weren't watching all of his video journal updates. he probably didn't make one after every death. what if they didn't find out until just a little while before Evbo made it to the diamond swords level. or what if they didn't find out until after he made it back after Tabi killed him. what if he'd managed to stay strong up until he realized his closest friend didn't actually care about him and after the fact he just spilled his guts out about it to the diamond swords. what if they help him buy stuff because they don't want him to ever have to go through a respawn again

tldr what if the diamond swords help Evbo buy things in the newest episode because they know respawning is a horrible experience for him

[onesnoopyaday]

snoopy blue-eyed person stare

Snoopy #87

27/12/2024

[skunkes]

i loooove when ocs unrealized development makes them feel like real people like no i dont know whether talon is genuinely attracted to women after years of both clinging to them for safety and years of putting them onto that untouchable idealized Perfect Protector Pedestal that must remain untainted by any bad experiences, so he doesn't even try to Be With any. He doesn't know either

[greyedian]

MAN I'm seriously so sad about season 2. Bc I wish act 2 had the same emotional impact on me as it appears to have on so many others. But rn I'm just somewhere between unable to care and actively annoyed by some of those writing decisions. Seriously the more I think about it the less I like it.

[fiapple]

i'm getting towards the end of the skypeia arc, & i'd like to say just how much i adore the way the female strawhats have been treated.

just... every aspect of how the way their characters have been previously contextualized influences the story-line is treated with a masterful amount of consideration. we're given so many layers to both of them that enrich not only their characters specifically, but the arc, and the one piece world as a whole. without nami & robin having their specific skills, and their specific values, without those being built upon, the story would have come to a halt.

you could not have skypeia without nami & robin being who they are as individuals. not just because they never would've gotten there without nami, but also because the way these women think is itself foundational to the machinations of the arc as a whole.

to be totally upfront, if you think any other strawhats were more central to the skypeia arc than nami & robin were you are full-on fucking lying to yourself.

[cestacruz]

Drawing the messiest sketches is actually so good for my brain

[silusvesuius]

n*loth not being able to bag anyone over the (human term) age of 25-30 at most is the only logical and real conclusion to me because it can be just explained away as him wanting to prove and control everything and anyone (Cus he's a man!) but being stuck in that demographic because his unbearable and vile personality is a force that nobody can look past once they've outgrown the possible fear and idolization period of anyone but also n*loth in particular.

[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