so hey meta for me. does raven actually love her brother?
@QURSEDFLOWN › META HOUR SLUTS.
right, so this is hard because people with aspd don’t recognise or emote love like neurotypical people do. a lot of relationships for people with this disorder tend to view relationships as a quid pro quo situation, and something to be tossed aside once the usefulness has dried up.
however raven has shown that beneath her self imposed distance between herself and her loved ones, that she does in fact love them — in her own way. her semblance is an example of this, a bond to those that she can’t disconnect or sever, even in death. it’s a metaphysical representation that as much as her disorder and upbringing by the tribe have warped the meaning of love in her mind, raven cannot deny that she is connected to people. to yang, qrow, taiyang, vernal, summer.
now with qrow … it’s difficult. that’s a word that can describe a lot of raven’s psychology lmao. it’s always been her and qrow, but that bond from the very beginning was tested with the two very different footings they were put on. raven was adored by her tribe for the ‘ strength ’ she showed, the ability to lead, the ruthlessness cultivated by their upbringing. her semblance was useful, she knew when to knuckle down and listen to the leader’s word. qrow on the other hand had a dangerous semblance, and honestly strikes me as a very stubborn minded, confrontational teenager who only would’ve been emboldened by the very stark difference in treatment between the twins to act out and rebel against what he calls, a bunch of thieves and murderers. qrow canonically has a moral compass and worldview that raven doesn’t agree with, he can’t just go along with the awful shit the branwen tribe does.
i can’t deny raven does care about qrow. he was the first one her semblance latched onto, the first bond she couldn’t break. he’s her twin, and raven values those in her inner circle above all else. that’s why him choosing summer, taiyang, ozpin and just the huntsman world over their tribe — and by proxy her — hurt so much. raven doesn’t handle pain well, not emotionally. for a lot of aspd / people with cluster b disorders, the emotions of anyone outside of themselves simply don’t matter ; unless they’re congruent with manipulation for their gain.
that last part feeds into what qrow told yang, when the pair were talking about her in 3x08, destiny —
qrow : i don’t see my sister very often, but she does try to keep in touch … whenever it suits her.yang : [ shaking her head at the revelation ] wait. you mean you talk to her? that was real?qrow : yeah, she found me. had a tip from my most recent assignment and wanted me to give you a message.
even though raven and qrow have a very strained relationship, and she has abandoned everything from her lifetime as a huntsman ; she hasn’t completely dissolved her relationship with qrow. they still talk, albeit fraught with tension and everything unspoken which makes sense. qrow wants her to come back to her damn family, but in raven’s mind she already is.
and this is the crux of their relationship. in raven’s mind, the tribe is family. the tribe is Paramount, nothing else comes above it. not her husband, not her brother, not even her damn child. raven has been so emboldened and manipulated by those in the tribe who raised her that combine that with her faulty brain chemistry and she has completely given over to this blood in, blood out mentality. and qrow chose out. he chose ozpin, he chose being a huntsman and in raven’s eyes ; he chose them over her. over what truly matters. in my headcanon, raven can’t physically kill those she has bonded to ; and so that’s why she wanted him dead by cinder’s hands, or anyone’s that cinder brings. all of this eventually culminates that they both disown each other.
qrow : running away was one thing, but this … you’ve crossed the line!raven : sorry, brother. sometimes family disappoints you like that.qrow : we’re not family anymore.raven : were we ever?qrow : i thought so, but i guess i was wrong.
sometimes family disappoints you like that. there’s no disappointment without emotional attachment, without some form of connection and for raven ; that was her acknowledgement and underhanded way of reminding qrow that he betrayed her first. at least, in her eyes.
