#ruby and qrow

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Did you miss me?

Yes.

Uncle Iroh 

                                                          VERSUS

Uncle Qrow Branwen

2020 has been a shit year, was it not? 

But keep in mind that any moments of happiness and positive matter. Accomplishments, even the smallest, matters bc an accomplishment is an accomplishment, but the biggest one we’ve made is surviving this year, even if it includes staying home for the majority of the year. 

It was tough, but we survived it. We’re strong, and I’m proud of all of you and myself. We have reached to the bottom of 2020 and woke up to a new day of 2021.

Enjoy the fanart above - LOL something I enjoy working on in the mid-season break of Volume 8.

Also hoped y’all had a fine Nondescript Winter Holidays in the shit year of 2020. Check out my BRNZ fanart in Xmas attire from the game RWBY: Amity Arena <3 Cute huh

[W/o backgound effects]

I’min agreement with you on that one Miggy.  Onone side, I honestly don’t blame Ruby for reacting the way she did with Qrow. Tobe fair, I think we all saw this confrontation coming from as far back asBrunswick. In the beginning I sympathized with Qrow because I knew his recentbehaviour was coming from a place of grief and sheeranger after realizing that he practically disowned his own family in place offollowing a man who made him believe that he was fighting a good fight when inreality it was an unwinnable battle with an unbeatable foe. Though I stillstand firmly in my defence of Ozpin, I’m not mad at Qrow for beingangry nor do I blame him for choosing to cope with his emotions the only way heknows best which is alcohol abuse sadly. Like I said, I sympathizedwith Qrow at the start but that sympathy started to wear thin the more Irealized that Qrow went from being understanding to more or less unreasonable.

Notto sound harsh but Qrow is supposed to be the adult inthis, right? Second to Ozpin, Qrow is supposedly the next in line to takecharge in Oz’s absence or at least assist from the side-lines as he did diligentlyduring V4and V5.However, as of V6C4, Qrow hasn’t been at his best. He’s been rather…how you say…difficult thesepast few episodes. Again, I sympathized with him back on Brunswick’s Farms butafter the second time he abandoned the team to go drown his sorrows, especiallyafter Cordovan blanked the group aid to Atlas, that’s where my sympathy wellwent dry. Whether you’re a huge Bird Dad fan ornot, I think we can all agree that the Branwen man has been a brat these past few episodes; more so than the actualchildren on the team.

Thisis why I’m grateful that the group encountered Maria whenthey did. You do realize that if Maria wasn’t present, the QROWMBY probablywould’ve surely perished back when they were still separated. If not from thefreezing weather but also on Brunswicks.

Andwhat was Qrow doing during both those times. Not taking charge and drinkingaway his pain. I’m not bringing all this up to bash Qrow; I’m just mentioningit to prove a point. The reality is that Qrow has been problematic. That’s not to say he’sthe only adult at fault and didn’t have a justifiable reason for his behaviour;it’s just…it’s just both sad and angering at the same time how much Qrow allowedhis pain over Oz’s deceit keep him from staying connected with the group, y’knowwhat I mean?

Youcan see that as the episodes progressed, especially after C7, the othercharacters have moved on from the Ozpin debacle. Whether they still don’t trusthim is a question still left to be answered but the others have moved on tofocus on the biggerpicture which is getting to Atlas.Qrow, technically still is the only one still left feeling hopeless.

WhenOzpin abandoned the team in the cold (which he had reason to given the level ofhostility targeted towards him at the time), rather than stepping up, Qrow fell apart as well and continued to do so even up until lastepisode. As a matter of fact, I think last episode was his worst, according toYang. It was also the final straw with Ruby and her tolerance of her uncle’srecent behaviour.

AsI said, Qrow isn’t the only person who felt the blow of the truth. The whole team did but at least everyone else was able to sort ofbounce back from it.

EvenJNR were able to bounce back from their exposure to the truth despite theirinitial disgust. The only person who hasn’t recovered is Qrow himself.

Iunderstand that everyone takes things in differently than others and noteveryone reacts to problems the same. But…I guess the thing that gets me themost is here we have the team stuck at a dead end and they’re all trying tocome up with a solution. Despite everything that they’ve learnt, here are theheroes trying to still figure out a way to keep moving forward and rather thanhelping, Qrow continues to be problematic. Storming off because things didn’twork the first time. Not answering when your teammates are trying to get incontact with you because you’re probably too plastered. Getting yourself soplastered that you can barely function right to the point that you wind uppassed out on the front step at the house you’re staying at. For a person whohas a misfortune semblance, Qrow is lucky that he crashed in front of the righthouse.

What if thegroup had been in serious danger after Qrow had left them again to go drink? Whatif the group had been in serious danger when Qrow returned home in this currentmessed up state?

Andto add the cherry on the cake, when the group are having a moment becauseon the members disappeared (which Qrow would’ve known about if he had cared toanswer his phone when Ruby called. I wouldn’t be surprised if she tried callinghim again after RWBY and Maria went looking for Oscar), Qrow once again choosesto walk away and leave them after being absent for nearly a whole evening.

Thenof course, when Jaune makes a suggestion for how to get to Atlas, rather thanhearing him out further, he shoots it down. Yes I know Jaune’s plan is pretty out there…butstill Qrow could have heard him out more. Instead Ruby had to step up which brings meto the meat of my post.

Qrow is theadult.He’s the one that’s supposed to takeleadership when Oz isn’t around or at least be a strong support. He’s supposed tomake himself present during the times when the group are rallied togethertrying to come up with a plan. But what has Qrow done since C4? Get wasted anduse that as an excuse to distance himself from the team when he really shouldbe standing with them. As Ruby rightfully said, they should all stick together and try and figure things out together because as ateam united, they’re much better off than if they’re divided. United we stand.Divided we fall.

Asfor Ruby’s statement to Qrow, I didn’t see it as her implying that the groupdidn’t need the adults. More along the lines up of when shit hit the fans, thetwo adults who normally take charge were too focused with their own problems thatthe kids had to step up and figure things out in their place. It may not be assmooth sailing as a plan from Oz might’ve been but at least it’s doable. Atleast they managed to keep moving.

And that’s what they’re trying to do againcurrently. Devise another plan to keep moving toward Atlas because right nowit’s they’re best chances of keeping the Relic out of Salem’s reach for now.

If the heroes are united, they will have a muchbetter chance of succeeding if they tried together. Ruby has been trying tokeep the group’s moral up by keeping things together. She’s been doing that onher own even though she has not the slightest clue how to do it. This is why Iliked Maria’s comment to her in C8 about Ruby not giving herself enough credit.She’s correct.

Rubyis practically the heart and soul of the hero team. It’s her unquantifiablespark that keeps the others going. However just becauseRuby is an inspirational person and a voice of hope, that doesn’t make her invincible.She’s just a fragile as everyone else. Perhaps…evenmore.This is also why I appreciate characters like Oscar and Maria. Even thoughthey’re both the newcomers to the team, they’ve both acknowledged how muchresponsibility Ruby places on herself as a leader. 

This is why I love how Oscarhas sort of appointed himself as a person who wants to offer Ruby supportwhenever he sees her overwhelmed or distressed in some way.

WhileMaria is quick to pull up Ruby when she does too much for herself, Oscar is supportive and doesn’t mind stepping in if it means that he canhelp take the pressure off Ruby for a second. Honestly…Oscar and Maria, blessthem both for their roles in Ruby’s court now.

Soyeah, Ruby has been doing her gosh darn hardest to keep things together butit’s very difficult for her to do that when you have Qrow, the actual adultwho’s supposed to be doing the guiding or at least helping with the guiding isoff sulking or worst fighting her or shooting down any idea the group mighthave without offering any of his own.

Qrowhas notbeen guiding this team. Ruby has and Ruby is technicallya child. One of the youngest members on the team. When I look at itlike that, I don’t blame Ruby for lashing out at Qrow the way she did. He hadit coming.

HOWEVER…

…Ican also see Ruby’scurrent stance with Qrow becoming problematic as well. Not only doesit put a bit of a strain of her relationshipwith her uncle especially since Qrow and Ruby have been thick as thieves sincethe birdman’s introduction.

Qrowhas always had Ruby’s back and she has his which is why it’s miserable (and interesting from a story perspective) to seethis volume challengetheir close bond. Plus, the way Qrow looked at Ruby after she told him that shedoesn’t care what he thinks was the real kicker tome.

Ifeel the reason why Qrow looked so surprised is because; he’s probably heard that same sentence beforefrom someone very close to Ruby who looked exactly like her. I thinkQrow might’ve seen Summer mirrored in Ruby atthat moment.

Iwas having a chat with @che1sea-xiao-long the other day and we both pretty muchsummed up the same conclusion. This must’ve been one of the last few thingsthat Summer said to Qrow before leaving on her last mission.

Somefolks believe that Qrow probably killed Summer by accident with his semblance.For me, my theory was that Summer must’ve discovered the truth about Salem from Ravenbefore she left and made a plot togo after Salem herself. We know now, especially from Maria’s originstory that Salem has been hunting Silver Eyed Warriors since in her time. Why would Salemneed to hunt the Silver Eyes unless they didn’t pose a real threat to her personally?

Iwonder if Salem had an encounter with a Silver Eyed Warrior and got hurt by oneof them and thus put out a hit on all Silver Eyes. If not, then what if…afterRaven told her the truth of Salem’s immortality, Summer must’ve put two and twotogether and came up with the idea that since Salem was hunting down her kindthen it must’ve meant that Silver Eyes are the key to stopping her once and forall.

Iwouldn’t be surprised if that became the motivation for Summer to stubbornlygo after Salem herself in a final mission that was against Ozpin’s orders. I have a hunch that Summer must have confronted Ozwith her theory of going after Salem herself. Oz refused to put Summer in suchdanger based on an unproven theory. Even if the Silver Eyes were an enemyto the Grimm, there was still no proof at the time that it can hurt Salem so Ozwasn’t willing to put Summer’s life on the line like that. After what we knewof Oz before and what we know now, he wouldn’t do such a thing. However, Summer Rose was a stubborn and decided to go against Oz’s orders despite hisresilience.

Andsuspecting that Summer might do something rash, Oz told Qrow to keep close tabs on Summerbecause he feared she might do something dangerous and Qrow, being someone whoobviously cared a lot about Summer followed her. He probably even tried to talkher out of her so-called important secret mission that doesn’t want to tellanyone about---not even him. But he knew it must be something bad if Oz toldhim to go after Summer. I like the idea of Qrow confronting Summer during herfinal mission only for her to tell him the very same thing Ruby told him.

“…I don’tcare what you think! I’m doing this whether you like it or not! Whether youwant to help me or not!”

Whatwould even been be sadder is ifthose were the verylast words Summer said to Qrow before she…Idunno, sacrificed herself to protect him from a Grimm horde that overpoweredthem both or something.

I’dlike to think that Qrow followed Summer on her final mission but had no clueabout the truth regarding Salem. Oz didn’t tell him still and neither didSummer. They both chose to keep him in the dark for his own safety. At least bymy theory.

Ithink eventually Qrow will start to see a lot of Summer Rose in Ruby and that might start to make feel more concerned for the attitude she’s adopting. Ruby is starting tosound more like her mother and for what it’ s worth, Qrow might start fear thatshe’ll make the same brash self-sacrificial choices that her mother did yearsago before she died.

Butagain…this is just my theory. We’ll see how things play out for these two intoday’s episode. Until then, sorry this response took so long Miggy. Ihad a rather busy week last week. But I hope it’s a good answer.

Anon Asked: Is little Ruby scared of Daddy's long hair, or does she like playing with it just as much as mummy does? :P

@dappercookiexd: Long haired Qrow is probably the best thing I've seen all day, thank you for this gift

@bloodofbranwen: Does Ruby get in on the whole 'Braiding daddy's long hair' thing when she gets old enough? Or does she just put bows in it?

Since so many of you wanted to see more long haired Qrow and his interactions with Ruby, have another quick-sketch!

Ruby loves playing with Dad’s hair, long or short. When it’s long, though, it gets braided, put into ponytails, brushed, and flowers placed through it. She doesn’t share the ‘awe’ that her mother has, though, about his feathery, soft hair texture, since she has the same kind of hair. Mommy’s silky hair perplexes her more than Dads, but Ruby still loves to play with it none the less.