noticed the snowbird posts. why do you think qrow is good for winter? not hatin on the man or the ship, im just looking at a realistic POV. He's a pretty effed up dude. Alcoholic and self-loathing, plus winter has that ugly memory regarding alcohol because of her mother. Why do you think this strong-ass lady would need a self-loathing alcoholic like qrow in her life? I think winter's been through a lot already im just worried for my bbgirl what if qrow disappoints or breaks her again im gonna-
So a lot of my friends have actually been asking me why I’m a huge shipper of Qrowin/Snowbird and honestly, it’s not just because of the sexual tension or the tough love they have. I don’t think Qrow is exactly as fucked up as you say, and Winter is pretty much my favorite character in the show, so hell no way would I want her getting hurt by some asshat who can’t get his shit together.
Personally, it’s cause I see a lot of similarities between them despite the whole “opposite’s attract” thing. There’s always more to the surface than what we normally see in people, but with characters like Qrow and Winter, we get to go in-depth and analyze where their actions are based from.
Let me break it down for you why I think QROWIN/SNOWBIRD is a really good pair.
They have a CONNECTION.
They are very much ALIKE.
These 2 points. Plain and simple.
Let me explain further.
Even though it's not confirmed that something happened or is happening between them, they have it.
Now I know what you’re thinking.
How the hell could they possibly have a connection when they’re POLAR OPPOSITES and practically criticize and insult each other to no end? It’s Ironic! As evidenced by: “I don’t have time for your immature games” “He was drunk” “You Atlas specialists think you’re so special” “A bunch of sellouts”
So why am I saying this? Having a good connection or chemistry means that you're capable of connecting with someone physically, psychologically, and emotionally. It is about the feeling that you’re understood, supported, and accepted for who you are.
Let me point out the OBVIOUS CONNECTIONS/CHEMISTRIES. TAKE NOTE, it doesn’t always mean the actions are directed towards each other. It could be how they relate and understand one another.
Starting with what we already have based on evidence shown in the series:
Implied History
In V3, it’s the first time we get introduced to both of them in person. Qrow says “So that gaudy ship of yours is in town. Guess you’re here too”, meaning he was familiar with her ship. Also that she called him out with his name “I don’t have time for your immature games, Qrow”. Obviously, they knew each other before meeting at Beacon. Weiss also asks “Wait. You two know each other?”, Winter quickly looks down like she’s hiding the fact that she does know him.
Immediately, they call each other with snark comments and end up in a fight. Qrow knows how to get under Winter’s skin, and I don’t know what kind of relationship they had before this, but whatever they might have been was clearly enough to tick her off from her normally calm and collected self. Surprisingly, Winter actually lets him and amuses herself. Why do I think that? The very obvious smirks throughout their battle. The fact that they were this comfortable (and I would use this word loosely) makes someone think what exactly is their backstory.
Something I realized during the one-liner conversation they had in V7, when they first arrived in Atlas was Winter saying “But I cannot believe that you allowed this to happen, Qrow.” Now I might be overthinking it, but the fact that she tells Qrow off with her disbelief might be based on her knowing him personally. You don’t say something like that unless you knew what the person was really like, so for her to say that, maybe she already knew he was of thinking and how if it were up to him, he wouldn’t have let the kids do something as illegal as that.
Professional Psychology
Their way of thinking greatly revolved around what their bosses thought of. Qrow has always looked up to and served Ozpin even to the point of leaving his tribe. Winter has left her heiress title and her family to join the Atlas military, where she served and admired Ironwood a lot.
In V4, as Weiss escapes the manor, she overhears Ironwood and Jacques arguing. Ironwood says “I am basing everything on my report from YOUR daughter” where Jacques retorts “A daughter YOU STOLE” and Ironwood replies “Oh, we are not getting into that again.” This says a lot about Winter’s possible past and how she ended up where she is now.
During Qrow and Raven’s conversation, it was implied that Qrow left to go on Ozpin’s mission instead of returning to his ‘family’ and help their thieving and killing ways. We don’t know much about Qrow’s backstory yet but with Raven’s words, its enough to show this is what happened.
Emotional Connection with Others
If you noticed, Ruby and Weiss knew what they're really like under their exterior. Ruby knew that Qrow’s drinking is coming from somewhere dark and feels he has no place to go, exhibited by Ruby telling him he can talk to her in V6.
Weiss knows that Winter isn’t as cold as she seems. She displays a caring persona behind her strict words in V3, and Weiss was clearly amused during their training in V7 when Winter had a slip up in her critique. There’s someone who shares a bond with them that translates to a deeper understanding, someone who knows what’s behind their fronts.
Okay, so these are what we know and have seen so far in the last 7 volumes. There’s really no other visual concrete evidence of them sharing some sort of connection. Not solid enough, right?
What else is there to consider?
Well, let’s go with the offscreen stuff and dive deeper into their similarities:
Both of them lacked control in their lives, being forced to do what others wanted them to do.
Winter grew up in this high-class and elite life where her path was basically being paved by her manipulative father. There were hints of some form of abuse (verbal and physical) involved in her upbringing.
Qrow grew up with Raven and their tribe, trained to kill huntsman who got in their way. His semblance wasn’t something he could control, maybe it was what caused the death and injuries of friends. It was implied that he was a hindrance to the tribe, that no one seemed to want him because of it, surely the bandits didn’t bother to hide their dislike for him either.
Escaping their old lives. Without a semblance of control in their lives, they tried looking for a way out and went through some form of escape.
When she left for the military, it was to escape her father. This much was heavily implied in V7. She left behind her family, still keeping in touch with Weiss at least. It was also shown that there were no portraits of her in the manor other than the family painting, indicating that Jacques wanted nothing to do with her for leaving.
“They were killers and thieves” as Qrow said to Raven, showing how he didn’t accept the way his ‘family’ did things. He left to join Ozpin and dedicated his life for the cause.
They were acquainted with loneliness and being emotionless. They were never allowed to let emotions get the better of them growing up, saying that it was a sign of weakness.
Winter learned to keep things to herself. She treated everyone coldly, rarely showing emotions. She definitely has some unresolved feelings about her mother and how her father raised her. She scolds herself for not keeping in line in V7 and doesn’t let anyone in, having strong walls that remind her to keep her emotions in check all the time. Her work with the military only made her shell harder. Being the eldest, she had to appear as the strongest, especially for Weiss.
With the tribe, Qrow had to be a heartless killer, and he had no one to talk to about not wanting to be one. Raven was with him but still followed the rules of her tribe. After team STRQ, he ended up choosing to work alone instead of with a team knowing that he was just going to hurt everyone with his semblance, and I think that might have even caused him to stray away after his sister left (though idk if that's true yet).
Problems with Alcoholism and Neglect. This was evident in how they pushed on with their lives and how their personalities developed.
Willow was someone Winter looked up (shown in the way winter dresses in V3 and 7). Weiss said that Jacques told Willow he only married her for the family name on her 10th birthday, meaning Winter was 16. Being a teenager and seeing something that traumatic happen with your parents changes you. She had to watch her mother become an alcoholic and had to take up the mother role for Weiss and maybe Whitley. Her grudge for such a vice held and albeit that was what impacted her actions against Qrow in V3.
We don’t know much about Qrow’s parents, but he didn’t know how to deal with trauma. CRWBY initially painted him as the drunk that doesn’t really care much for what others think. He resulted to alcoholism to numb his pain and depression, to keep his semblance at bay, to keep the PTSD controlled or ignored. In V5, we could see Raven’s tent with bottles, and I think that alcoholism was something the Branwen twins had in common, maybe even starting before their Beacon days.
They looked for a new purpose that was their own. Something that they would dedicate their life to.
Winter leaving for the military gave a new meaning to her life instead of just being the ex-heiress of the SDC. I think that since she lost her role model in her mother, she had looked up to Ironwood. Winter’s destiny changed abruptly with the proposition of becoming a maiden and realized that with it, she could do some real good for Atlas and Remnant. She admitted in V7 that it bothered her at first but eventually accepted, working harder to make sure it was her own and not because someone else was giving it to her.
Qrow found a new purpose in his life, which was to defeat Salem and make the world a better place. With it, he could change his ways for the better, maybe redeem himself and make up for all the misfortune he causes other people.
Feelings of betrayal. To have something so important as your purpose in life or your destiny taken away from you or suddenly finding out it was all a lie is one of the hardest things anyone could ever experience.
Having the destiny Winter worked so hard for suddenly taken away likely put her at a loss. Her life was suddenly meaningless and her reaction in the V7 finale might have implied that. I’m also sure it wasn’t the first time she thought of her life as such either (evident when she told Penny “My life doesn’t matter”). She didn’t just feel the betrayal of losing her destiny, but she also ended up betraying the person who helped give her that new purpose. She has nowhere to go, and she additionally ended up sacrificing everything to make sure Weiss escaped.
When Qrow found out the truth from Ozpin, you can sense the betrayal in his tone and words. “No one wanted me. I was cursed.” “I gave my life to you because you gave me a place in this world... I thought I was finally doing some good.” Sound familiar? He went back to feeling useless and his life being meaningless, losing all the worth he thought he could have with saving humanity. It shows with his actions as the volume progressed, drinking to drown out the thoughts of despair and self-loathing.
A lot of sad evidence. These are pretty much the sad realities they both had to go through, and much to our surprise, they are actually very identical.
So where am I getting at?
Why exactly do I think that they would be good for each other?
Winter and Qrow are capable of understanding each other much deeper than anyone else can in the whole show. They could relate to each other on so many levels and their problems were so similar that they could find comfort in knowing that they weren’t alone in experiencing such harsh circumstances. Sure, Winter can always reach out to Weiss, but there are topics like alcoholism and neglect that she can’t bring up with her. These were things that she felt the need to handle on her own. Qrow has already come to terms with his own demons and Ruby helped him along the way. He would likely be the best person to talk to Winter about her unresolved feelings.
She’s strong on her own, he knows that, but with how easily he can get her temper going, I also think he’ll be able to get her to talk. He could get her to open up and yes, maybe she could speak with Ironwood, Penny, or Weiss, but they’re all on different levels with her. Ironwood is a professional figure to her and I don’t think she’d willingly open up to her boss about it. Penny has become a friend to her, Winter helping her understand what it's like to wrestle with emotions, and Penny actually pointing out humane feelings. Still, I don’t think Winter could tell her about those dark feelings because she wouldn’t be able to completely grasp nor understand what it means to go through them (like when she said she didn’t understand why Winter thought she should have kept quiet). She’s already talked to Weiss but she wouldn’t dive into those topics. I have a feeling that Qrow will be able to provide the solace that Winter never had the chance to experience.
He would be a good influence on her. He can help her display the emotions she’s been keeping instead of locking them away like she always does, helping her grow out of her shell and form a connection with the people around her. He knows what it’s like to be told that its a sign of weakness, but was able to get out of it, be a little more lenient, and actually learned and showed that he cared for the people around him, especially his nieces.
Qrow is sober now. I was honestly hoping Winter at least noticed that when they arrived in Atlas. She’s fearful when it comes to her past, maybe to alcohol and what it did to her mother. Being an alcoholic himself, he would be able to ease an explanation about it and relate it to her mother. I could imagine him saying something like “we can’t rewind the past but we can change the future”, which is very applicable here. Neither of them can undo the hurt that Winter went through, but they could do something about it now. Maybe encourage a change of habits, maybe Qrow actually talking to Willow about it and how much it affected Winter. Who knows.
He understands what it feels like to lose your life’s purpose, and he was able to push on and persevere after the events of V6 (even improving by stopping his alcoholism). She is currently stuck now, not knowing what to do now that she’s lost both her destiny as the Winter maiden and the trust of Ironwood (if he finds out that she let team RWBY/ORNJ go). She might even be charged with treason for letting Penny leave with them, defeating the goal of using the staff of creation to raise Atlas. She likely feels messed up and utterly useless now. She would go back to the helpless girl she once was and would have nowhere to go. Qrow is the only person that had a similar experience, where his life’s mission was suddenly all a lie and he didn’t know what to do. Now that he’s gotten past it, he could help Winter back onto her feet and find a new purpose than what she originally knew.
With all this said, Winter and Qrow both have similarities that are connecting them to each other more than we all know.
I hope we get to see them interact more in the next volumes, maybe even get a backstory. I’d love to see their pasts and how it groomed them to be the characters they are now.
Hope this clarifies why Qrowin/Snowbird is a pretty awesome ship and actually not a toxic one. It’s all about how they can help each other grow and not pull themselves down. You can’t judge someone simply by what you see, cause you never know what they’re really going through. These two are perfect examples of that and they both went through harsh events that made them the way they are.
Also, if anyone says anything about their age gap, I will seriously flip. Need I remind those people in question that they’re BOTH ADULTS. They can make their own decisions and act responsibly for it. Winter is in her mid-20s and Qrow is in his late 30s. Honestly, I’ve known people with bigger age gaps and they’re happy couples.
Thank you for coming to my TED talk on this amazing ship and congratulations on finishing my hella long post! I absolutely love these two and I hope Vol. 8 and 9 will be kinder to them.
(Someone please keep my queen safe and my king mentally okay they’ve been through so much in the last volume huhu)
