Board Thread:Episode Discussion/@comment-25396609-20191130155818/@comment-35434444-20191207223040

Jinxxed15 wrote:

Hasn't Qrow beat himself up enough already? And what has he done to deal with all of these problems?

I was hoping you would ask about this. I'm a little moody right now, so if you get on my nerves, I might forget to hold back as much as usual.

Qrow hasn't been beating himself up. He's been running away from himself; forgetting himself. Drowning himself in drink. If platitudes and can-do attitude were enough to return him from the brink, he'd be right as rain by now.

You see the forest and ignore the trees. "You're a pathetic little bitch" is only a insult if you look at it the wrong way.

Why put in the energy to tell someone they're a bitch and pick on them if they're bitch? Surely it puts them beneath notice? There are only two reason to bother with such an act. One, one is a bitch themselves and is projecting I.E the real meaning of toxic masculinity. Or two, it's a device meant to help. An upaya.

There is not an insult and then an encouragement. Only subversive encouragement and obversive encouragement. Reprimanding a person isn't nearly the same as disowning them. Just think of the way Chichi abuses Goku as the stereotype of the domineering housewife. Her frustration at getting Goku to conform ironically seems to enliven the relationship, as so they stay together despite him being an absentee father.

The only real danger of this approach is that it might convey that Clover and Qrow are a bit too close, even if we assume they're destined to be shipped, because they'd be acting like a married couple after knowing each other for only few days.

The strength of a relationship is measured by how much shit the two can give each other without falling apart, not by how nice they are to each other. Niceness doesn't put any stress on the bond.

To answer your question from before, "Why does he have to be an asshole about it?" him being an asshole is just his way of being a good person: his version of what you're trying to do by labelling him an asshole!

So a more pertinent question is, "What in blazes do you think you mean when you label him an asshole?" The two questions are the same. Consider that your homework assignment.



"...he almost died travelling with JNRR and has felt more useless than helpful the last few seasons."

He's a huntsman. If you don't almost die constantly, you're doing it wrong. I almost die once a week, and all I do is ride a motorcycle. (And people still act surprised when I'm not intimidated by them online. Are you scarier than a sixteen-wheeler hurtling towards you a combined 100 miles an hour because you skidded into the wrong lane in the middle of a thunderstorm? I didn't fucking think so! Ultra instinct or death.) Every time you see a hunstman, you should imagine a person who's been through this and hasn't gone AWAL:

https://youtu.be/-ZYlXEUo-Lo

Which is exactly why, if Clover seeks to help Qrow, Qrow's failure as a role model must be acknowledged if he is going to cope.

Nothing is so corrosive to a man's spirit than pity because it suggests he can't look out for himself. In sweeping Qrow's failings under the rug, he's also sweeping away the responsibilities that make him an uncle, a huntsman, and a rolemodel.

<p class="MsoNormal">Think of the scene between Blake and Yang in Brunswick. Blake attempts to comfort Yang but misreads the situation and fails to recognize that she's fearing for her independence because of her inability to confront Adam, resulting in a spasm in her arm.

<p class="MsoNormal">There's also tone to consider.

<p class="MsoNormal">I thought this would have been intuitive, but apparently no one here is able to perceive that I meant for Clover to be somewhat sarcastic in putting this to Qrow. Like when your mother tells you to stop whining on a long car journey, but a little rougher so it doesn't sound like he thinks Qrow is too washed up to set himself straight.

<p class="MsoNormal">   Qrow isn't going to fix his problems by quitting drinking. He was a troubled man back in volume three, but not swallowed by depression as he would become.

<p class="MsoNormal">The difference is that he started drinking in order to get away from his problems instead of drinking because he enjoyed being drunk. Abstaining now is just the same problem in reverse; trading laxity for asceticism when he should really be on the Middle Way.

<p class="MsoNormal">Even this old bastard can consent to Qrow and Clover being together if it means seeing a drunken bird and a leprechaun dancing on a tavern table together like two shitfaced shire hobbits. (Oh god the Sam and Frodo innuendo flashbacks!)

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">I digress within my own digressions. Qrow should not be a bitch and people shouldn't treat him like a bitch by not holding him accountable when he deserves it -- and he himself more than anyone should be the first to pipe up about this. Fuck your compliments. Nobody needs them.