#mod quartz

Animation: Let’s get an easy one out of the way first. RWBY manages to get better with every passing Volume, this is something that is generally agreed on in the fandom. This time around one of the bigger improvements was the animation. The animators have switched from the kind of blocky Poster to the smoother Maya and it really shows. Gone are the robotic-like motions and movements (such as the weird ways the arms bend when being held up that makes my arms just tired looking at them) and the odd facial expressions (such as characters’ either not really changing or over emoting) and in their place are much more fluid and human movements that stand up to close inspection (except for Episode 1) and much softer and more realistic looks to the character’s faces. They all just move a lot more human and it really helps with the immersion.

And then we have the artstyle change where the CRWBY have switched to a cell shaded style. And I must say, they have really done a great job with the new artstyle as some of the backdrops are truly breathtaking with how detailed they can be and how the colors meld together to set the stage for the necessary emotion (such as the contrast of the Schnee mention which is mostly light blue and white with light only being shown through windows giving it an elegant but cold and harsh environment to the Xiao Long/Rose household whoch is a mixture of tan, orange and darker warm colors to make it seem cozy, warm and safe). And the faces of the characters have ben giving an overhaul as well, like more prominent lips, more vibrant colors to the characters and smoother looking skin that really makes them stand out.

However, this isn’t all good. The fighting animations have, predictably, taken a hit. The combination of moving to Maya and the loss of Monty have caused the fight scenes to drop in quality. Two examples of this would be the Sea Dragon Grimm fight which had odd floating effects that broke up the flow of the fight and kind of made it seem weird and my least favorite fight, the one with the Geist which didn’t have much going on besides Ren’s acrobatics and Ruby’s zooming about. And while the fights did get better (Mostly with Tyrian), there are some general problems still there such as a few characters have trouble with moving swiftly or the impacts not feeling very impactful with both a lack of visual and sound impact.

Characters: Volume 4 is definitely a more character and world building driven Volume than the more plot heavy Volume 3. And thankfully, they managed to this off rather well (with one exception.) Ruby got some subtle but profound character development by showing us she isn’t that constantly happy and naïve girl we first met back in Volume by showing that she is in fact still dealing with the Fall Of Beacon with Pyrrha’s death being the stand out example. But it’s alos still shown that Ruby is still hopeful and determined to do what is right, she just isn’t doing it out of naivety and has accepted the world to be a cruel place that she still needs to try and make better.

Jumping from that, I’ll take about the rest of team RNJR. Surprisingly, Jaune is lacking development this Volume: all that really happened was that he became a little jaded and cynical which, honestly, has been a part of his character for awhile (the way he puts himself down shows some cynicism): it’s just more pronounced now. But this was for the best because Jaune shined as a support character this Volume as his cynicism contrasted and exemplified Ruby’s own optimism and his attempts at healthily processing Pyrrha’s death contrast Ruby’s denial of any attempt to process it which results in Jaune being cynical but more stable and Ruby more optimistic but more emotionally varied.

He also put into perspective the pain and loss of Ren, who is the one out of these four who got the most development. This Volume we’ve seen Ren at his most emotional, both visually as well as vulnerable as a demon from his and Nora’s past comes back to threaten his team, causing Ren to range from desperation, sadness, despair, self destructive rage to finally calm focus once more all in one Volume. His backstory is shown to us to inform us as to why he acts this way and shows the true terrors of the world as well as how he met Nora and why they are so close. Speaking of, while she was secondary in Ren’s development, Nora showcases a very...mature side of her. While Nora has constantly been shown as hyper and childish in her actions, her actions here as well as her past shows these moments in a new light. Her near child-like hyperactivity comes across less like being immature and more like enjoying life the best she can and her harsh way of trying to cheer up her friends becomes less like her being over enthusiastic and more like having to deal with no doubt bouts of sadness from Ren. Whenever Ren is being emotional, Nora is there holding his hand and keeping him calm with him being his most emotional when separate from her. This shows a shocking amount of awareness of Ren’s emotional state from Nora and shows that she knows more than Nora has ever let on before. This comes to a head when Ren is consumed by anger and fear and keeps acting recklessly and Nora has to slap some sense into him before forcing him to calm down and focus o0n surviving rather than revenge. Really, both Jaune and Nora shone as support characters this Volume.

Weiss’ development is once again tied to her family and her heritage like in the past but now things are a lot more direct and her development is more pronounced due to the fact that we actually see what her family is like and her interactions with them. Weiss goes from being rather soft spoken and submissive (most likely due to her father’s abuse) but slowly regains her confidence and stubbornness until she resolves to escape and do the right thing despite being disowned and under the thumb of her abusive father. This shows that Weiss has fully taken control of her life and is ready to face the world and make a name for herself, not just a new name for the Schnee family.

Blake’s development too focuses in on a previous aspect touched upon: her tendency to run away from her problems as well as having something of a martyr complex. Every time we see her run away from her problems or trying to tackle the problems by herself, the show punishes her for it and only causes her more and more pain. Despite this, she refuses to accept help or to stop running as she believes that it’s the only way to help her friends (which makes some sense considering what happened to Yang) but is called out by Sun for thinking this way, who has to teach her that pushing away her friends only hurts them more and that running away won’t help her at all. Speaking of, Sun himself does get some development in this Volume. While most of this development is centered around Blake, it makes sense for Sun. He showcases a rather knowledgeable and wise side when concerning Blake’s predicament, calling her out on her tendency to run away and well as forcing her to confront her issues about her friends while walking her through the thought process that her friends must go through with her. All while still being awkward and goofy as usual.

Yang’s development is focused around dealing with the loss of her arm and the depression that was caused afterward be her defeat at Adam’s hands. While some people have said they did a good job on the depression and PTSD parts...one could not feel that this was all rather rushed feeling. Volume 4 had a bit of a problem where they needed to slowly unwind the viewer from the climax of Volume 3 before jumping into the heavy stuff thus there is some time issues with the Volume. And Yang once again got the short end of the stick seeing as her time was the shortest out of all four  of the girls and thus we got a great outline for her section but not the best full plotline.

Next we’ll be diving into the villains. Cinder is shown to be heavily injured and incapacitated from her battle with Ruby, having been rendered scarred and basically mute. While Cinder is getting her just desserts, her plotline is all about dealing with her loss, how to control her Maiden powers and coming back into her own as a threatening villain. There was also some possible hints about a redemption arc here and there but I can’t say for certain if this is true or not. Then we got Salem, who we learned is the type of leader who does have a motherly side (although this might be a form of manipulation like Jacques used), she has a sort of quiet authority over her subordinates and edges the line between unsettling and horrifying.

Next we got new characters to talk about, starting with the new villains. First we got Tyrian who seems like he’s your run of the mill sociopath with a very unsettlingly joyful attitude about blood and murder and acts like Salems manchild...until he starts speaking to team RNJR, where he starts talking like he’s in a Shakespearean play, calls Salem “Mistress”, fights without a Smeblence using break dancing, is actually a Scorpion Fanaus with venom and a rather...creepy fear of disappointing Salem. So yeah, all in all, great Villian. His other two comrades (excluding Cinder) are Dr. Watts, a British Villian who has some connection to Mistral and the headmaster of Haven Academy, and Hazel, the gruff muscly man who surprisingly will help people out on his journey and has the Semblance of the Fonzes I.E the ability to make anything work by hitting it. Not much to sya about the and thank god because ei still got to talk about the new supporting cast for this Volume and Oscar! Not mention Story and Pacing and Audio!

Speaking of, let’s talk about Oscar. He’s just your average farmboy in Mistral with a tan, a pitchfork, a sarcastic aunt and an old guy in his head telling him to go to school and pick up a cane so he can go pimpslap the bad guys. But in all seriousness Ozpin ends up in Oscar’s head and tries to get him involved in the whole “world ending war” thing going on. Seeing as Oscar s the normal type of guy who likes his simple life and doesn’t listen to he voices  head to bitch slap a half Grimm woman, he obviously says no. Until Ozpin starts talking to him about destiny and how Oscar choose to accept him and how he has greatness inside of him so he needs to help the world. So Oscar relents and finally starts working with Ozpin to arrive at Mistral. Which is nice to see that Oscar is working with Ozpin but alas, this is his Volume 1 so we’ll have to learn more about him later.

And finally, we arrive at the supporting cast, which I will give a quick run down. Qrow takes up Ozpins mantle of Lord of Exposition as he protects Team RNJR and teaches them about the relics and the situation of the world. We also learn more about Qrow’s past as a former bandit as well as his Semblance which explains a whole hell of a lot about his character (I’m going to have to do a separate post about this later.

Next we have Jacques Schnee, who fulfills the role of being the evil and abusive father who beats his daughter and treats her as a puppet in his PR games in order to uphold his company’s reputation only to disown her the minute it inconvenienced him to a wonderfully hateable T while still having some rational in his reasoning (his kid did try to kill someone at one point, never mind the fact that it was HIS fault she did that.) Whitely Schnee is a lot like his father just that his manipulation is a lot closer to Weiss and unexpected than Jacques and also gives us an example of how abusive behavior can be inherited. Then we have James Irondaddy walking back into the picture, bearing a lot of guilt about what happened at Beacon as well as showing some Knight Templar characteristics.

Next on the list we have Ghira and Kali Belladonna, the surprisingly alive parents of Blake. Ghira is serious about his former position in the WHite Fang, care deeply for his daughter and tries his best but is hampered by an inexperience with parenting and seemingly social skills in general while Kali is a comfortable, loving, warm mother who enjoys teasing her daughter about Sun as well as showcasing she’s probably the social one (seeing as she was able to read her daughter and husband so well) but being a little clumsy (like falling through doors while eavesdropping.) So think Blake and Sun but with the genders reversed. And the we got the a pair of Fox brothers who lived up to the adage about being as sly as a fox and crushing my hopes that the White Fag aren’t all crazy and Illia who seems to have a past with Blake and reignited my previous hopes in the White fang.

Then we have Taiyang Xiao Long, the father of Ruby and Yang. Gonna have to put up a disclaimer here: Taiyang took my spot as my favorite character in this Volume so this next bit will probably be biased. Anyway, Taiyang is a kind, loving father who looked after Yang for six months while she was depressed as well as getting her a cybernetic prosthetic for her over this time. He also shows that he has a deep understanding of his child, seeing as he was able to tell Yang how she should not let her depression rule her in away that both pushes her out of her comfort zone but also doesn’t hurt her as well as the fact that he deconstructed her overreliance on her Semblance, how she allows goes for the straight forward solution and how she needs to control her anger and how he knew that she was leaving as to give her a choice where to go, even going down to using kicks to emphasize how far she has to grow yet. And despite the afct that they don’t interact at all in this Volume, there is subtle bits of Ruby’s personality in Taiyang as well between their inability to help people beyond brutal honesty and a bit of social awkwardness. All in all, a good support character that helped Yang develop and one of the best father figures I’ve seen in an anime.

Story and Pacing: This one is a bit easier than the others. For the plot, all we really get is the journey to Mistral, the information about the relics (four gifts from the gods that Salem wants to use to destroy humanity), Weiss’ dealings with her family, Blake learning about an uprising in the White fang and how deep their corruption has spread and Yang recovering. We do learn a lot more about the world, such as how the four kingdoms came to , how they operate and their role in society, and about the bandits who are groups of people who prey on villages outside of the capitals and about the Great War itself, the events of how it came to be, the war itself and how they handled the Grimm, the twists and turns of the War, the end of the war and how the Academies came to be. But the plot itself I rather bare bones here.

As for the pacing... Well, this is the first time the writers have ever tackled something like this so of course there will be flaws. The pacing was pretty good with episodes 1-4 but then things got weird with EPisode 5 which was a totally Blake centered episode, then Blake dropped off the show until Episode 9 with 6-8 being Ruby and Weiss centered, speaking of Yang didn’t appear in again after episode 4 until episode 9 again and then we have Oscar coming in and out of the plot to tell his story as well. So yeah, while the fact that they went this path is still impressive in and of itself, the execution was pretty flawed. I will give RT props for doing as well as they did but next time, try to think this through better.

Audio: Okay so the voice for Volume 4 has probably been the best in the series so far. Not only did each of the four main VAs do a fantasist job conveying the emotional times they were going through with the Fall Of Beacon by Burnie did an amazing job with Taiyang, being perfect for the warm and caring but still sarcastic and a little harsh father, Neath did an excellent job keeping Ren’s character with all the emotions being done, Samantha was great with making Nora serious and caring and Miles did an all around job portraying Jaune as sad and cynical but still in the wrong for some of his actions. Although some of his takes with jaune screaming could have be done again with how his voice cracked. Vic returns as the voice for Qrow and does an excellent job, Jen Taylor made me legitimately afraid of Salem, Jacques is voiced by BEERUS from Dragon Ball Z, Tara Platt did so well as Kali and...let’s just say Volume 4 has come a long way in voice acting.

And as for the music: Jeff keeps up the level of quality as he did before with the Volume sound track with “Bad Luck Charm,” “This Life Is Mine”, “Armed And Ready” and ‘Let’s Just Live” which is god damn inspiring. I’d say more but...what more can be said about the music now?

Well, this was an adventure and a half. While this Volume wasn’t as good as Volume 3, I think that ahs to do with more how the Volume was structured more akin to Volume 1 and 2 than an actual dip in quality. This was a Volume of both build up and experimentation in order to keep the show fresh and exciting and considering that they had stepped out of their comfort zone in more ways than one, I think this Volume turned out pretty great. We got very interesting and enjoyable new character, a lot of character development, some really interesting world building, great song, amazing voice acting, a beautiful improvement of graphics and artstyle. While there were problems with pacing, some more plot could have been introduced and Yang could have gotten more screentime (as usual), I’d say this Volume was an overall success. And I’m really excited for Volume 5!

I think I should preface this by saying: I hate “dark and mature” edgy shows that constantly fuck around with tropes and clichés because it’s “smart” AKA because one show did it and it was good and now everyone must do it while barely understanding why it was good in the first place (both the first show and the clichés themselves.) Yeah, a good deconstruction is good every once in a while and it’s even healthy for the genre and medium as a whole. But when it becomes the norm and everything starts trying to be the “smart and edgy” show it gets tiring very quickly as the actual appeal wears out way too fast and the original appeal of said tropes and clichés are gone now, leaving you with nothing to enjoy.

I say all of this to show why RWBY deciding to not go this route was a good idea. I’m not saying RWBY can’t deconstruct a trope or cliché (in fact the show HAS done it before with things as small as like Ruby skipping two grades has made her feel out of place and looked down upon to as big as the fairy tale setting showing how screwed up a world like that would actually be) but that’s not the sole or even major appeal of RWBY. The show manages to take worn out tropes and clichés and make them appealing and entertaining once again.

One way RWBY does this is with the main character Ruby herself. Ruby is your average innocent hero whose out to help save the world because she’s altruistic. However, while most shows would leave it at that and thus would make it boring, the show expands on this to show why the character works: Ruby is altruistic because she is childish but shows that this childishness can be both good (Like how her pure heart often leads her to do the most selfless thing possible) and bad (Like how the world is more complex than her child-like mindset would allow her to acknowledge). It shows us how so many different people would react to such a character like with Blake being quietly cynical at her motivations and actions to Yang admiring them to Weiss being openly critical of them. And it shows us how this character would positively affect people like how Weiss becomes softer and more personable because of Ruby and how Ruby inspires people around her to keep moving forward through her determination and selflessness. And this isn’t limited to Ruby herse3lf. almost every character is a tried and true character archetype that shows us later on why the character works.

Another way RWBY works the way it does with the tropes and clichés is  the setting. The setting sounds like an average Shounen fantasy world anime with an inhuman enemy that is incomprehensible to humanity while a select group of humanity fighting back against the enemy. The show goes out of it’s way to show the complexity of the world: How the world would actually work (as humanity is constantly on edge) how humanity wouldn’t really change with the new surroundings (liken how the main Villians are in fact humans for the most part with the monsters serving as an extension of them or as a recurring physical enemy) and how heroic these people would be to fight against this enemy and how inspirational they are through their struggles and battles (Ruby ad Yang being prime examples of this.) The show goes to great lengths to explore the world and how it functions to make it feel more real and entertaining.

A different way RWBY works with the clichés is the tone of the series. While the show initially feels like a happy go lucky, innocent show: it quickly shows that the world and characters are a bit more complex than that. And while the show does get rather dark at times, it is always quick to show that things are not hopeless and that the world ca be both light and dark. Because of this, RWBY can explore both sides of a trope or a cliché without the threat of tonal whiplash. The show can examine and show everything about a trope using the freedom the tone it has chosen gives.

And finally: There is the feeling that the writers are using these tropes and clichés not to make a quick buck but because they honestly enjoy these things in writing and want to make them enjoyable to other people. There is honest to God effort in writing these and an honest effort to show why they are enjoyable through likeable characters, colorful settings and good acting. There is an effort to make them entertaining, which is more than can be said for a lot of things sadly.

Now, Yang Xiao Long having anger issues isn’t something new to the fandom, especially since an aspect of Yang’s semblance is a pun on her being “hot headed.” (Her fiery hair). However, this problem is a lot more severe than people realize and it’s a symptom of a far greater problem: Yang doesn’t have good emotional control. Yang is heavily influenced by her emotions in her actions and this is a constant problem for her.

For example, using anger as the primary emotion here, there is her attack on Junior in the Yellow Trailer. Now, while it is implied that Junior himself deals with illict practices and illegal actions, he was just minding his own business when this underage girl walks into his bar then, when he informs here that she isn’t allowed to be there, she puts his testicles into a vicegrip, effectively threatening him. Then when she says she wants to make up, she sucker punches him and precedes to wreck his bar. Even though one could argue she was fighting in self defense, that same argument applies to Junior and his men as she attacked their boss and was wrecking their place of business thus it was well within their rights to forcibly evict her. And if Junior so choose, he could have pressed charges against her and gotten her arrested and by extension barred from Beacon.

Even ignoring this, there’s her battle with Neo in volume 2. In the battle, Neo displayed not only a knowledge of her battling style and how she acts but Neo also displayed a fighting style that Yang herself has a weakness and the battle was taking place in a very confined space, meaning that her ability to move would be very limited. Now, Yang could have retreated into a car behind her and used her long range function to barrage her opponent with shots or tried going into one of the cars with Weiss or Blake and doing a Tag Team attack or switch opponents. Of she could have grabbed a hold of Neo’s leg and tossed around once or twice, disabling her and allowing an opening to appear. Nut no, Yang doesn’t do any of that. Yang just gets angry and fights with raw power and raw power alone thus costing her the battle.

Going into an example that doesn’t correlate with anger, There’s that time when Yang went wandering into the woods with Ruby in search of Raven where she and Ruby almost gotten eaten by Grimm. Yang was no doubt determined to get answers from her birth mother as well as get closure about this but then: Why couldn’t she just talk to Qrow if she wanted to know mire? He knew who Raven was so she could get info from him. And at the very least, Yang should know better than to take her baby sister out into the Grimm filled woods.

And then there’s her depression. At the beginning of Volume 4, we clearly see that Yang has created a sort of peaceful but stagnant rut in which she just survives day by day but she fails to live the way that makes her happy. And for a passionate, intelligent, fearless young woman like that, I would think that even in depression she would understand something is wrong and try to fix that. However it seems like she’s letting the depression dictate who she is and how she should live her life without trying to change it. Just as well, her fear is controlling her as well, rooting her in place and preventing her from moving forward and continuing to make her silently miserable. Even when people are actively trying to help her, especially the person who would understand what she is going through having been through depression, she pushes them all away because it’s what her emotions dictate. It takes the gentle but firm approach from both her father and teacher to get her out of that.

And while this negatively affects Yang quite a bit, it affects the people around her as well. What would Weiss do if Yang’s anger cost them their match against Team FNKI? Weiss would equally blame Yang, causing friction, and blame herself, causing self loathing and doubt. What would Blake do if Yang DIED trying to save her from Adam? Probably become depressed and stagnant herself.

And then there’s her family. Qrow would be the least affected I believe and even then he would be absolutely crushed if his niece died from a weakness to emotions, which he himself displayed and his life would probably spiral down to hell afterward. Taiyang, despite his mental strength, would probably have a shut down equal to  SUmmer’s death and would probably stay that way. And Ruby, even with a mental strength surpassing almost everyone in the series ... I don’t want to think about that.

This is the same as Blake’s running away: everything that happens to Yang damages everyone around her. It drags them all down with her, even if she doesn’t see it. So I sincerely hope Yang learns to control her emotion: if not for herself then for those who love her.

The world of RWBY has a few good parents within it like Kali, Ghira and Taiyang who all do their best to raise their children the bets they can. And while they do all make mistakes (Kali butting in on Blake and SUn, Ghira not trying to talk to Blake about not running off with the White Fang and Taiyang for telling Yang about Raven when she was six), they have all done rather good jobs at raising their children.

Sadly this cannot be said for quite a number of parents as well liek Jacques Schnee (obviously), The mother and father of Raven and Qrow (who named their son after a cursed bird), Mercury Black’s dad (nice job abusing your son into a psychopath there) and the topic of today’s discussion, Raven Branwen.

Raven Branwen was a member of Team STRQ along with her brother Qrow, her team leader Summer and future lover Taiyang. Not much is known about Raven around this time except that she was headstrong, determined and had a few problems that caused severe damage to the team, enough to tear them apart. Sometime later she and Taiyang got together for one reason or another and eventually they have Yang together, who she abandons not too long after considering the fact that Yang had believed Summer was her birth mother, presumably to lead her clan.

Raven stays out of Yang’s life for seventeen years, being so distant that Yang outright searching for her yields no results. She only appears to save Yang in Volume 2 from Neo but the instant Neo runs away, Raven disappears again without a word to Yang. The next instance we get of her is in Volume 3, where Qrow talks directly to Yang about Raven and who she is. It is important to note the wording Qrow is suing: Although he admits that raven has her issues, this seems more resigned and even slightly defensive of her as well as cautionary to Yang, giving off the vibe that while Qrow believes in his sister somewhat, he isn’t certain that Raven and Yang meeting is a good idea. There is also the content of the words which shows that Yang was saved not out of familiar love but rather a self imposed rule on herself and makes it clear to Yang she isn’t saving her again. Whether this is tough love or true disinterest in Yang is shown latter.

The next instance is when Raven and Qrow talk at the bar. Here, Qrow is far more hostile and aggressive than before talking about Raven, going outright to insult her when she attempts to discuss family. However, he does try to talk about business, trying to get information about the Spring Maiden through her but failing to do so as Raven becomes cold and distant and leaves. Thus that is the end of what we know about Raven basically.

What shows about Raven’s bad parenting is the following: her abandonmnet of Yang. Raven abandoned Yang at an incredibly young age,evident by the fact that Yang had no idea who Raven was until Taiyang blurted it out to her and the two year gap in age between Ruby and Yang. This shows that Raven had no interest in being a parent nor did she want anything to do with Yang at first. And while this alone doesn’t seem like it’s enough to be a bad parent, this action had a severe effect on Yang’s like in that she nearly got herself killedlooking for her and her abandonemnt has quite possibly left Yang with abandonment issues in that she seems to be more hurt by the loss of her friends in Volume 3 rather than the loss of her arm. These issues have damaged Yang quite severely and have negatively affected her, which is a sign of bad parenting.

Another sign of her bad parenting is how she treats Yang. When Raven came into save Yang, she immediately left without making sure Yang herself wasn’t injured anywhere on her person, like say her head or a broken one like something a slam into a train top roof would cause, if not a concussion. And when we see Qrow in Volume 3, Raven makes it clear that her save wasn’t out of any form of family love but rather a rule she HAD to follow and doesn’t treat her any differently than everyone else, not to mention this all said through another person giving off this feeling that Raven considers Yang so lowly that she doesn’t even bother talking to her in person. Thsi treatment of Yang, despite her delicate and complex feelings regarding Raven, makes her come off as very callous and uncaring, supported by her throwing the fall of Beacon back in the face of Qrow in Volume 4.

A third sign is how she uses Yang. In Volume 4, Raven tries to talk to Qrow by saying that she was checking up on her family which Qrow quickly shoots down. She doesn’t try to debate this and instead goes directly to what she wants. Qrow however continues to talk about family and calls her out on her parenting. The thing here to note that Qrow’s hostility and attitude to $Raven is similar to how he acted towards Ironwood, expect that eh seems to be even more hostile here. He was hostile to Ironwood because he acted without informing Ozpin and took this as a personal offense to Ozpin so it is clear here that Qrow has taken personal offense from Raven’s actions towards her child and is acting in a way that spells out that she didn’t have the best intentions behind her actions. Supporting this is the way Raven talks about Yang, using her in away that makes it seem like she is trying to manipulate her brother using yang by trying to make it seem like she cares as to get Qrow to go with her through a feeling of family obligation. Thus Raven sees her daughter more of a pawn to use to manipulate people.

And finally, raven’s concept of a family. It is shown in Volume 4 that Raven considers her bandit tribe to be her family and no one else outside of it, including Yang, The thing about this is that her twin brother outright calls them murderers and thieves, a person who would logically have the same personal bias towards them seeing as he raised in the same conditions, meaning that the group is so horrible even a member of the tribe thinks so. And yet Raven chooses to lead this group and not talk to her daughter beyond saying stuff that equates to “I don’t love you.”

All of this together paints Raven as a truly horrible parent with a painful amount of apathy and disinterest in her child outside of using her to manipulate. This si why people think of her as a terrible parent and why so many despise her.