riven as a person is super receptive to like... gentleness. maybe it’s a little hypocritical of her because she, as a person, can come off as sort of guarded, flippant, sometimes even cold if she Really doesnt trust you, but she absolutely doesn’t respond to tough love. noxus, as a whole, i think, is a very “tough love” sort of place, but having been raised in that environment and having already gone through the ringer proving herself over and over again, i think she sort of... resents it, on some level. riven may hold herself like a noxian, but she doesn’t trust other people that hold themselves the same way, and maybe that is a testament to her reluctance to accept help and sympathy. riven feels the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, so to speak, and she just so happens to be a very self-critical apple.
my point is, tenderness opens her up. she does very well with people that are willing and able to needle through the tougher parts of her exterior; she, in turn, can become very gentle. she can still be guarded, but it’s the sort of guarded that... implies a very conscious carefulness. riven handles the softer, kinder parts of her life like spun glass. it’s fragile in her hands, and she may not trust herself with it, but she’ll try.