#i don't know. it creates other characters who are praised for having done nothing despite their great power

[lemonduckisnowawake]

TMW a story you started to read for the screwball comedy of errors starts to become a thematic exposition on how, no matter how much you think you're a nobody, that if you have power, your actions will always have consequences. Yes, not all the things done are your responsibility - especially when other people commit them in your name - but if they were following the example you publicized (as opposed to your real self), then you for sure need to take responsibility. And perhaps that power you wield can become a fatal weapon or something you use to prove your superiority over those who don't. But maybe what power first and foremost of all is, is a gift given with a request that you be responsible for it, something that you need to own so you can either give back or simply understand how to manage it so you can live your life properly.

[scummy-writes]

Ikepri Suitors and their OnlyFans Account

This is silly, entirely based on messages in my server over the great Silvio Tit Block and jokes about OF following soon after, but I did put some thought into this!!! Just don't be upset if its odd, because while we all know chev would never have an OF in his life, it is fun imagining it 💭

We'll skip over the 'hows' and 'whys' here. We can pretend they're the princes of OF, and just what they specialize in.

Characters: Chev, Silvio, Gilbert, Clavis, Jin Keith

Chevalier

- There is a room lined with bookshelves, various titles glinting from the low light. In the center is a lavish lounge, and laid out across it is Chevalier. There is a robe draped across the back of it. Nothing on his person save for a book in his hands, which he calmly reads aloud.

- yeah. Chev just reads his romance books while nude on camera. It's a bit of asmr while getting nice eye candy

- a lot of comments in his page is about watching his erection, especially when he gets to a sex scene- people claim to see it twitch at parts, but they're never completely sure.

- rarely cums on camera. Usually reserved for higher tiers where they supply him with rare books that are difficult to find. Those videos focus on him in a different viewpoint, his breath heavy as he tries to control himself. Seeing precum drip down the length of his cock is a sight you'll want etched into your memory.

Clavis

- It's an adventure every time you view a new upload from him. Most of the time, he's testing out sex toys he's created, alongside any experimental lubes or mild aphrodisiacs. Other times, he's slowly fucking his fist or a fleshlight, whimpering out how much he loves his darling.

- his tendencies for being foolish are not entirely gone from here. They will show in the toy designs or follower requests he abides. He's done things such as drawing on himself with whip cream, trying to edge himself with vibrators, or see how long he can last without touching himself while taking his brand of aphrodisiac.

- there is a persona he has for his OF, a silly gentleman who is prone to trying to please his fans through his creations, but between the curated chaos there are softer videos of his. Ones where he sighs out praises and words of love, playing up a fantasy of being your loving husband, coaxing himself to cum on your command.

Jin

- His chest is his money maker. Of course, his whole body could be considered so, but he pays attention to the comments he receives, and he knows what his audience wants. There's many a picture and video of his body slicked with oil, hands squeezing his chest as he winks at the camera

- certainly has started off videos shirtless and in sweatpants, letting his erection strain against the fabric. He's came in his pants just a few times, as a treat to his fans every once in a while.

- lots of focus on him jerking off for the camera. Sometimes he's got the hem of his shirt in his mouth, jerking off while letting you soak in the rest of his body. Other times he's in the shower, soaping his body slowly, paying attention to his chest, laying out his best dirty talk with gentle chuckles and sighs.

- sometimes tests out some of Clavis' special creations, but not often. One dyed his palms and dick, and he's been more careful since.

Silvio

- Silvio is known for his money, and also his tits. Those days out at sea have caused his body to be toned delightfully, and when accentuated with the fine jewelry he wears, it wasn't a surprise that nudes of himself caused a stir among those who knew of him.

- despite how often he sleeps with women, he rarely has any with him in videos. Most of his content centers around tasteful photos of himself, lounging on furniture with jewelry adorning his figure. This account was how others found out just how many piercings he has litered along his body.

- in the few videos he has, the times he collaborates with someone is few and far inbetween. Those videos are often rough, a means to an end for both parties, and when Silvio cums he'll elect to do so on his partner's face when possible. Something in the way he does so, then takes their chin in his hand to survey his work, makes his fans go a bit wild. But outside of those videos, he's often jerking himself off. Slowly, taking his time chasing his pleasure. He'll hiss curses as he gets close to his orgasm, edging himself more and more until he can't take it anymore.

- there are rumors that if you post photos of his tits outside of his OF account, your account will be struck down immediately with an explicit marker. His chest is just too much for other sites to handle.

- carlos has to delete many comments stating "I can fix him", lest Silvio pop off.

Gilbert

- oddly, when you view his content, there is no comments on anything. It's as if you've found a diamond in the rough, a private profile not meant for others eyes. Yet Gilbert doesn't kick you off of the page, and you're surprised at the amount of content he produces for such little price.

- he focuses on different ways for himself to get off. His hand, various toys, trying to cum without touching his cock. Occasionally, he'll experiment with a kink you happen to enjoy, but never mentioned. All the while he asks if his 'little rabbit' is enjoying the show, panting with his chuckles. Watching him cum is a delight, as you get to see how breathless he becomes, how his hips jut as he works his cock to the point of overstimulation.

- at some point, he allows for you to make requests, and you're surprised at how willing he is to do anything you desire. It's a bit concerning, but it's difficult to worry about as he follows each request, looking at the camera as he teases you for asking such a thing of him.

- there's odd cum tributes that he'll upload, but you never understand exactly who they're for.

Keith

- Keith will never show his face on his account, terribly ashamed of what he's doing to begin with. He'll opt to wear a facemask with anything he does on the account, keeping his bangs messy often.

- his content varies at times, to the point of confusing his fans. Most of the time, there will be sparse uploads: videos where he is palming himself through his pants, getting off on the act of filming himself while apologizing. Its clear that this is a shy man, and those who view his content are confused as to why he's uploading. But most love the way his eyes water, how sometimes he'll pull his girthy cock out for them to see, coaxing himself through a rough orgasm.

- other times, those apologies are nowhere to be heard as Keith- still donned in a mask- shows his body with confidence. He'll look directly at the camera as he teases his thick cock, murmuring about how he wants to make them gag on his length, how he needs someones tight warmth milking him dry. In some videos, he'll treat a fleshlight as if its one of his subscribers- fingering it slowly and stretching it out, talking low and dirty to the camera about how much it's going to take for them to fit all of him inside, how he's going to have to train them to take his cock with ease.

Chev's, ironically, is inspired by someone I knew. They had an OF dedicated for doing the same thing, but no jacking off element. Meanwhile Silvio's funny blurb is due to @xbalayage getting temp marked as explicit due to trying to make her icon Silvio's tits, and thus caused this post to be born. The rest came about just through idle thinking. I'm aware that all of this is ooc, I'm not taking this as a serious piece and neither should you.

These were silly but fun, I hope yall enjoyed, even if it was just a chuckle!

Taglist (please let me know if you'd like to be added/removed!):

@yarnnerdally @katriniac @kissmetwicekissmedeadly @bakaneko-chan @skoetiepoetie @bestbryn @nightghoul381 @xbalayage

Ikepri Masterlist (more serious stuff on that) | Ikevamp Masterlist | Ikevamp/Ikepri Server

[androgynousblackbox]

Okay, so I did liked the DHMIA new show. I thought it was funny, very creative, very choatic, very clever, all the good stuff a show can be... except for the "friendship" episode. Especifically because of Warren. Like, the first moment this guy, who looks like a worm, walks like a worm and even has a fucking ID with the word worm crossed out, but he insist is an Eagle, writes Eagle on his own ID and, not only that, thinks someday he is going to spontaneisly grow wings that are stronger and cooler than other Eagles, I thought this guy was a walking transphobic joke and I can't take that idea off my head. Mostly because I don't fucking know if the idea of a worm insisting he is an Eagle was just inherently funny for the creators or they wanted to slip a little jokey joke about how some "Warrens" (aka trans people) think they are something they are not, can you belive it, isn't that ridiculous, please laugh. Like, also is just the way that Warren is written in general. He is a obviously insecure person who keeps grudges for a long time, is extremely self-centered, a annoying ass that nobody can fucking stand being around and he ruins even the creatures literally created to be as indulgent as possible. Warren Eagle literally had people indulging him on his fantasy of being that Eagle and he still ruined it because his personality is that rotten, because he wanted more attention, more praise, more control over what other people did or talked about. Everyone else on the show knows already that is not an Eagle. You can clearly see it. The computer character, who is meant to know everything because he is connected to the Internet, immediately is "eagles has wings" and prints an article about how eagles REALLY are, which obviously excludes Warren of being an Eagle. By the end of the episode he is treated like a "worm on someone's brain" and killed as such, reduced to an actual worm and not even a puppet worm. Fuck, he is killed after being revelead to have been a horrible monster who couldn't stop INVADING the brain space of Yellow Guy. That is a transphobic joke. Regarldess of what the thought process behind it was, I can clearly see some fucking terf or other transphobe looking at that and immediately going "that is exactly how trans people should be treated." Also, like, and I cannot stress this enough, the episode didn't NEED Warren to think himself of an Eagle for his character to work. He was an annoying ass who was a bad friend but still felt entitled to everyone's friendship, everyone's food and everyone's admiration. If the idea was to show how out of touch and lacking self awareness he has, then have him talking about how many people he helped with his program while at the same time he is obviously hiding multiple papers of lawsuits from people to whom he only made matters so much worse. Then the "brain friends" tell him about how "helpful and effective" his program was because he was on it and done. You have the exact same character, the exact same point, without the transphobia. That would be funny. The Eagle thing does nothing for the narrative, for the character or the message. The only thing it does it's ridicule the idea of people pretending to be something that they are not, despite all the evidence, which is exactly how transphobes view trans people.

And nobody talks about this? Nobody thought that it was weird but on a way that is icky and questionable? I don't want to cancel the show, the creators or fucking anyone for that matter by saying this. I am just so fucking confused about why this happened at all and how come no one seems to have an issue with it. The rest of the show is exactly what I expected it to be and more, except for this.

[animehouse-moe]

Dandadan Volume 4: Have You Ever Seen A Cattle Mutiliation?

It's really so easy to lose sight of the vibe of a series when you've got 3 or more months between volumes. Despite that, Dandadan volume 4 hardly misses a beat as it caps off the Nessie/Serpoian fight of volume 3 and begins to set up for our next close encounter of the 3rd kind. Thanks to that, there's not a huge world of things to talk about specific to this volume, but I feel like that break gives us the perfect opportunity to dive further into Yukinobu Tatsu as a mangaka.

I'll just say it to get it over and done with: Tatsu, with the right story, would make for a great slice of life/comedy mangaka. The humor, the posing, the interactions, the sheer oddity of their appeal. It's the perfect recipe for a story you can't put down that doesn't need action or drama or anything like that to keep it going.

This doesn't mean they shouldn't create action stories like Dandadan, but it does mean I think Tatsu has room to grow in regards to action series, so I'll start there.

The combat itself is interesting and innovative, but hinges on large movements and actions that are preceded by careful planning and struggling against a far superior enemy. This in itself isn't a bad thing, but requires effort and ability to pull off the pieces in between planning/struggling, and execution. And I feel like Tatsu is just on the cusp of grasping it. The big moments are big and impactful, but the in between can feel lacking, and out of sync with those bigger moments.

Take this page as the prime example. The two action shots of Aira are very good. The top is a very unique angle on the situation, while the bottom plays into a more typical style in aggressive fashion. The middle that separates them though, I'd say it's very far from being needed or contributing to the flow of the moment.

I think even further, a piece that Tatsu is so close to grabbing, is the level of detail for events. Not so much how much work is put into the art for it, but how much is shown for the respective moments. Pieces that you'd want to see more of you get very little for, and then other pieces that seem somewhat inconsequential you get plenty for.

Of course, this isn't the case for everything, as Tatsu provides an incredible sequence for Momo to finish off our Serpoian Nessie here.

The storyboarding, the degree of detail in it, and just the sheer quality. It's an incredible moment that shows Tatsu at their very sharpest in this volume, at the peak of their ability to deliver action and energy through this story.

But anyways, the next piece. Tatsu's Always Timely Humor ™️. Tatsu just gets humor. They get the kind of humor that they enjoy, and they get the kind of humor that works perfectly with their absurdist approach. And whaddya know? They're one in the same.

So, what's the secret to conveying this humor that Tatsu's so good at? Sincere characters paired with an absurdist reality and posing. The comedy is such a genuine piece of the characters that the ridiculous poses and insanely odd setups meld perfectly with the overall story.

And just one last bit of good humor that brings us perfectly into the next topic. The Mantis Shrimp alien became an outlaw for the sake of his son who has an illness that causes him to lose blood daily. As our group of misfits finds out, the blood that runs in that Mantis Shrimp-like alien's blood is nothing else than milk. Thanks to that we get a classic cow abduction scene with some added flavor.

Yeah, that second image? That's 100% an homage to the Millenium Falcon (with a few tweaks to avoid copyright). And that's where the next piece of praise comes from for Tatsu (and why they'd be great with a slice of life/comedy story). The references are on point and creative, and stay true to where the material comes from. Disparate to his one-time senpai Fujimoto, Tatsu's references are very forthcoming, and play a core role in the comedy and reception of the story. They don't carry the story or its humor, like parody series tend to lean on, but it adds a very nice complement that provides variety and breadth.

And truthfully, I think that summarizes a lot of my thoughts on the volume. An old "friend" of Momo's returns with promises of a haunted houses and further teasing of the Serpoians being involved, and this time a reverse triangle appears as Okarun and Momo's "friend" Jiji vie for attention from her. It's well done, and it provides a nice break that allows for the house to be explored in full with the next volume.

I don't think it's a surprise to any that Yukinobu Tatsu and Dandadan are good, but I think it's pretty clear the improvements that appear the longer that Tatsu gets with this story, and the further they grow as a well rounded mangaka similar to their tutor(s), such as Fujimoto. So yeah, Dandadan good. You should read.

[unintentionaloracle]

I agree that Seth is a good champion and was the right person to win the new world title, but I don't see why Roman has to be brought up every time. You can praise Seth for the good job he's doing without dragging Roman into it and making a dig at him every time. At this point, it seems like Seth's title reign is all about Roman more than anything else. Roman isn't even the one who created this situation, WWE did. If they wanted him around more and defending the title more, why did they give him the new contract and agree to let him work part time? Why should Roman take the heat for something he can do nothing about and that wasn't his doing?

Let's also not forget the first two years with him as champion, when he was there all the time and defended his title frequently and pretty much carried the majority of the pandemic era, along with Sasha and Bayley. Funny how that gets swept under the rug and no one will mention it. The fact that he's part time now doesn't suddenly erase everything else he did before that or mean that he wasn't doing anything before. But a lot of you make it sound like Roman has done nothing through all of his career. And of course, Roman will never get the credit or the same respect as Seth. Just because it's Roman and he will never do right in anyone's eyes.

I'm sorry for the rant and that this has gone longer than I expected, but it's really disheartening to see so much negativity and hate towards a human being that has never done anything wrong to anyone. It's even sadder, knowing that Roman has a family, as well as his own health (due to his history with cancer) to take care of, but no one seems to care about any of that. Meanwhile, other wrestlers who have families or that have had a health issue or any kind of personal issue to deal with don't get hate for putting their families and health first. But when Roman does it and it's just oh so wrong. I just can't anymore.

Anyone who thinks Seth wouldn't do the exact same thing or that he won't in the future is only kidding themselves. It's only a matter of time before his daughter gets older. You think he isn't gonna want quality time with her or to be present for important milestones in her life? And if it were Seth doing what Roman is doing right now, we all know you'd be defending him and excusing him too and wouldn't like people sending him hate or making digs at him about it.

Hi (sorry this took a while to respond, had some things to deal with). First I'd like to apologize. If my guess is right about what prompted this ask, I probably could've phrased my comparison of the two/info passing better. And I likely will compare Seth and Roman less the further into Seth's title run we go (although my brain does kinda link the two together, given their history with each other. Almost like how my brain can't help but link Sami and Kevin together despite them having lives/careers outside of each other.)

Secondly, yeah, Roman HAS done a lot of work (and grown a lot), especially early in this title run of his. I know I may not say it much, but I'll give him all the flowers in the world for his part in The Bloodline Saga and his current character (that latter of which I find super fascinating on a lot of levels, in ways I don’t with a lot of my faves. Even Seth).

I may not have said it here, but any problems I have with him aren't really with him but with the booking/powers that be, the biggest being I think it was shortsighted of them to pivot to putting the WWE belt on Lesnar (a decision I dislike for other reasons, too) when Roman had to miss Day 1 for medical reasons (that I'm glad didn't turn out as bad as they could have given his medical history), and then do the title unification at Mania. Especially since IIRC there were rumblings about Roman wanting to go part time before that. I DON'T blame Roman for wanting time off. It was on the higher ups for not coming up with/implementing a solution earlier. Or, again, doing a unification at all.

Heck, I honestly don't mind him not defending at Night of Champions in hindsight and his title going undefended again at Money In The Bank because we're getting new developments in The Bloodline Saga and I'm a sucker for the drama of it. I'm glad he's got more freedom to do stuff like this (and last year's Survivor Series WarGames match my beloved!) now that he's not the sole world champ of the main roster(s).

I totally get being frustrated. It sucks when people hate on your faves. I’ve been there before. And despite how I might come off sometimes, I do like Roman/have grown to love him (like I felt bad for him with Extreme Rules 2021. That match was fun for most of it [especially on Roman's side. His reaction to the mega-kendo stick was great], but the ending with the turnbuckle did neither him or Finn/The Demon any favors); I may make some jabs now and then but at the end of the day there are wrestlers I have worse problems with than I've ever had with Roman. (Plus, I really am trying to be more positive overall lately, even if I slip up and get too salty now and then.)

And finally, I agree Roman gets too much hate for things and has for a long time (and the people who spew a lot of the nastiest hate/take it too far need to chill at minimum). He seems like a genuinely nice guy IRL. I don't blame him for wanting or needing more time off for family, health (physical and/or mental), or even just "hey I want time to be able to try other things, too." (Again, I’m more frustrated with the booking putting him as the sole champion for so long when he wanted to go part time, not him being part time.)

At the end of the day I do think wrestlers should take care of themselves and do what makes them happy. That's always going to be more important.

[thefirstknife]

Hi! I saw the Mara discussion and I got curious. I don't understand very well what people mean when people say smth along the lines "she sacrificed a lot for good" (not the exact wording, sorry). When I read marasenna and the forsaken prince, she struck me as pretty manipulative and just looking to have an obedient following. Admittedly, it's been a long time since I read these books, so I might have forgotten a lot. I also got some kinda bias bc she reminded me of some, uh, not-so-nice folk who had a negative impact in my life, so I'm a bit squicked by her attitude, especially w/ how she treated Uldren and Ghost at some occasions.

Is it ok to ask for some clarifications about her motivations? Totally okay if not if it's too much work. Sorry if it's a weird ask fjjshf

Oh, Mara definitely has a manipulative streak about her.

Marasenna is in general a very biased source because it's coming from Mara herself so there's bound to be some narrator bias there. She presents some of her actions as being done for the greater good and we could debate whether that's true or not.

For example, when she created the Awoken people and the Distributary, a lot of negativity came when the Awoken realised they were created by one of their own and wondered why someone would create them in a way where they could still experience pain, suffering and death. Mara's reasoning is that without those things, there is nothing to advance towards. If you could live forever in perfect bliss, there's no goals to achieve and nothing to work for. They'd just be trapped in the Distributary living pointless "perfect" lives.

I agree with that because I, as a player, know that the Awoken weren't given the Distributary as some great and amazing gift: it was a punishment by the Darkness, just not done in the same way as the Collapse. The people on the Yang Liwei wanted no part in the Collapse and asked to be treated as a separate species and Darkness tossed them into a singularity. I personally don't think this was some sort of a great fate, especially if the plan was to live in the singularity forever and do nothing. So Mara not giving the Awoken a perfect paradise and immortality and life free from suffering IS, in a way, for the greater good. Obviously, this isn't an objective view of things.

Mara definitely manipulated people, lied to people and even abused them, sometimes obviously, sometimes subtly. She also clearly cares, in her own way, about certain people and things. How much, we can't really tell because we only have biased sources about her. I think Mara's biggest crime is when she knows things will end badly but she lets them happen anyway; for example everything with Uldren. His corruption and death could've been stopped if she actually reached out to him and told him she's fine in the Ascendant plane and that the visions he's getting is not her.

I totally understand when people are not happy with Mara's behaviour and if they're also squicked out by her. She's a very polarising and morally ambiguous character. I'm not surprised if people dislike her, nor is that in any way wrong.

The problem is mostly that Mara gets an extreme amount of explicit and gross hate directed at her, the type of hate that no other character in Destiny gets, despite there being characters objectively morally worse than her. Like, she genuinely received more hate than the Darkness, the primary antagonist or the Hive, as close to the primary antagonist as one can be.

This could be because her crimes are more grounded (manipulation and abuse) rather than whatever Darkness and the Hive are doing (nobody on Earth has really experienced their entire planet being killed, not exactly the easiest thing to relate to). But there's other characters with similar stories. Calus is a good example, as he's also a very manipulative character who continuously tried to make the Guardians join him by giving them stuff and praising them and being manipulative in general when his only real goal is selfish. He was also manipulative to the Cabal people, a lot of which followed him literally into death so HE could fulfil his goal of talking to the Darkness. He never cared about any of his people or the Guardians really.

I definitely wouldn't like Mara as a real person, but she's an interesting character to read about. Most ambiguous and villainous characters are to me.

[nexyra]

RWBY's Love Language - Part 2

Hello friend ! I'm back at it with a second part and whatever character I can think of ! (Among which best boy Oscar because he deserves it, and also more adults)

Let's go !

***

Oscar Pine

So ! While I love Oscar with my whole heart, honestly guessing his Love Language is no easy feat. One thing for sure : touch isn't is thing even if it's how everyone else chose to communicate their love.

I saw a post a while back detailing how Oscar is always putting his hands up as a barrier when he's scared or uncomfortable and that makes me cry a little instead but it's true TT. Anyway...

In the latest volumes we've got quite a bit of comforting Oscar-talks but I have to wonder how much of that is due to Ozpin's influence really. As a result I've decided to settle on... Acts of Service or Quality Time ! This is based on a few details : when people are upset with him in one shape or form, Oscar was always very eager to prove himself useful, give some aspect of concrete help (such as cooking a Casserole, ringing any bell ?). Plus I imagine that's the exact brand of help his Aunt would have needed most on a farm. Added to that, he always seems fairly happy to be included, be with the others no matter what's going on. Training ? Yay ! A movie with Jaune & Weiss ? Smiling puppy look. Fancy party ? Shenanigans together ! So yea, I love seeing my boy loved and hugged but please everyone settle for the loving he's most comfortable with <3

“She made a choice! A choice to put others before herself! So do I.”

“Oh, uh, yeah. I thought you guys would appreciate a hot meal after... spending all day looking for me, apparently.”

“No, it's okay. These past few days, I've been scared of the same things you were. I don't know how much longer I'm going to be... me. But I did some thinking, and I do know that I want to do everything I can to help with whatever time I have left.”

- - - - - - - - - -

Ozpin

For our favorite immortal wizard aka not quite dead Headmaster... I think the answer is rather obvious. When you're so careful with your words, but also so fiercely devoted to humanity, Words of Affirmation is a must. Ozpin constantly does his best to calm, to reassure. He's good at controlling the conversation and getting people where he wants... Except he more often than not use it to make them think and help them reach an healing ore motivating conclusion. This man is so insisten on giving and cultivating hope, so painfully aware of just how much words can change... There's no doubt in my mind that it's through these very same words that he tries to fight the darkness in others' mind, even when they don't want to let themselves be persuaded. And with some help from the farmboi, Ozpin is gaining in honesty and earnestness. And that can only help in giving comfort.

But to be honest... If you offer him a hug I doubt he'd refuse, and he definitely deserves one. Also therapy. For Oscar too. Everyone in therapy 2k21.

“Ruby. I've made more mistakes than any man, woman, and child on this planet. But at this moment I would not consider your appointment to leader to be one of them. Do you?”

“It's not every day that friends are able to come together like this. Time has a way of testing our bonds, but it's nights like these that can help keep them stronger than ever. Nights like these are ones we'll never forget.”

“Don't worry, Mr. Arc. Your journey is far from over, and the same might be said for all of you. Unlocking your Semblance isn't the end. It can still grow and evolve. Providing you are willing to put in the work, who knows what could happen?”

- - - - - - - - - -

Emerald Sustrai

Now here I'm gonna go ahead and say that the way Emerald has been taught to express her love and the way SHE would rather preffered to be loved most likely do not align. At the side of someone like Cinder, and even Mercury who isn't exactly the most emotionally vulnerable person; the only brand of love that gets an easy pass is Acts of Service, and that's probably what Emerald is the most used to. I can go on a mission with you. I can help. We go right back to the "I can be useful" mentality and I'm not sure she's been shown any other way honestly. Let's be real though : if someone offered a hug or some gentle words ? She'd probably pout & fuss but I hardly doubt she'd object.

“I don't care about Salem! But I owe Cinder everything. You want to fight her that bad? Be my guest.”

“I just... Cinder was the only family I ever had. She cared about me, taught me things... But without her here, I don't know if what we're doing--”

“I've been working on my Semblance. I can help. I won't tell anybody.”

- - - - - - - - - -

Pyrrha Nikos

What's with everyone and dedicating their whole love toward just helping their teammates anyway they can ?! Stop ! But any way, you guessed it. I'm pretty sure one of Pyrrha's top way of showing love is Acts of Service, and nothing means quite as much to her as Quality Time. For someone who's been put on a pedestal and has a hard time relating to people; both touch and words can be a bit awkward. But if they're wrapped up neatly in a training session or semblance explanations ? Well that's already a more familiar area. Pyrrha gives her whole to her friends and those she cares about. And in exchange, if anyone can simply... be there and spend time with her... May it be at the ball or simply sitting in the courtyard... I'm sure our girl would be delighted.

“Jaune, you know if you ever need help, you can just ask.”

“I'm constantly surrounded by love and praise; but when you're placed on a pedestal like that for so long, you become separated from the people that put you there in the first place. But thanks to you, I've made friendships that will last a lifetime.”

“I'll do it. If you believe this will help humanity, then I will become your Fall Maiden.”

- - - - - - - - - -

Qrow Branwen

If I say Gift Giving for the corvid, is someone gonna hit me ? Come on it's fun ! Okay, more seriously... I think this kind of love conversation is kind of a necessity for Qrow. With a semblance such as Bad Luck, making everything complicated... Qrow tries to keep his distance from those he cares about. And since he's an emotionally repressed (but caring) asshole on top of it... Well that kinda narrows down his option. You know what DOESN'T put anyone at risk but can still bring smiles on their face ? GIFTS. Shiny things, souvenirs from his missions all over the world to give to 2 smol nieces. Sounds safe right ? That said, as any good emotionally unavailable character in this show, I gotta say Qrow probably has a thing for helping out and making himself useful in relation to Oz, Tai or the rest of the inner circle. So you know what that means *whisper* Acts of Service.

That said ! When it comes to receiving some love back... Qrow probably likes everything he doesn't allow himself to have. Soft touches, loving & comforting words, spending time with a friend without his semblance making everything complicated... We know that's all he wants.

“You idiot. I know you didn't do this.”

“Look, pal, I'm not sure who you are, but you need to leave my niece alone.”

“No one wanted me... I was cursed... I gave my life to you because you gave me a place in this world... I thought I was finally doing some good...”

- - - - - - - - - -

Clover Ebi

And among our newbies (and gone too soon) friends we have Clover ! Clover was a very good contrast to our dusty old crow but also a great help. Kind-hearted, perceptive and honest; he knew just how to put Qrow's self-loathing in his place and push him to give himself some credit. He always had a nice word or a joke for everyone, and visibly the rock of the Ace Ops : an expert a keeping the moral up and the mood companiable. Evidently, Words of Affirmation was his expertise. Had things gone differently, I'm sure we'd have had time for many more earnest and helpful conversations with this teal-eyed fisherman.

“It's a good thing they had someone to look up to and get them through it. Not everyone is so lucky.”

“I meant deflect a compliment. Those kids wouldn't be where they are without you. You've had more of an effect on them than you realize.”

“We don't have to fight, friend.”

- - - - - - - - - -

Winter Schnee

And today in the "emotionally unavailable" category we have... Winter Schnee ! TALK ABOUT YOUR FEELINGS PEOPLE ! Just - I would say look at Ruby but even she doesn't talk about her bad vibes... Nor does any of the "Words of Affirmation" peeps. Honestly what's wrong with y'all people ? Anyway Winter cares so much. Is it hidden behind professionalism and a stern *big sister* demeanour ? Sure. But it doesn't negate just how much she loves her closed ones. She's fiercely loyal, and even if she doesn't let her personal feelings get in the way of her duty and doing what needs to be done, no one is allowed to say she doesn't care. Countrary to Weiss, Winter doesn't seem as good nor as aware of the love that exists in simply *being* with people. Rather, she's dutiful and ready to help any way she can when given the chance. You guessed it, yet another Acts of Service kind of love... Maybe I'm doing this wrong XD. I'm on the fence about Words of Affirmation as well. Despite her standoffish looks, Winter has always been very open & reassuring during her discussions with Penny. But she's more stern when it comes to Weiss so I dunno x)

“I don't recall asking about your ranking, I'm asking how you've been. Are you eating properly? Have you taken up any hobbies? Are you making new friends?”

“You've grown up a bit, haven't you? You're not the little girl clinging to the family name anymore.”

“You can't just buy trust like everything else! You have to earn it!”

And that's it for Part 2 ! I might do some other characters if people suggest some but I don't have a pressing need to right now. I have many ideas of songs to apply to various characters however so that's prob what my next posts will consist of (or fun templates)

If anyone has tips to create RWBY gifs or links to download the eps in good quality I'll take it ! Good day everyone !

[wonderworldwonderings]

MAJOR ENDING SPOILER ASK/ DISCUSSION AND PICS UNDER THE CUT

Okay, so to preface this, before I read the novel (I have now and I'll be writing a big ole post about it) I have to say I was kind of heartbroken how things ended up for Lance. This ending just felt... Completely off centre from what the storyline was preaching the entire time. You come to the Balance theatre, where two characters combined make BALANCE, and in the end the negative one just gets yeeted, squashed out so positivity only remains?? I understand it could be a metaphor of the idea that negativity can and WILL drag you down if you don't be careful with it, but Balan didn't even try to save Lance?? Balan was built up as this character that completely and absolutely gives himself to other people to help them and be in their lives, yet there was nothing for Lance?? I'm not going to claim I know more about the character than the directors, but to me it just... Didn't feel in character at all. Balan should have reached out to save Lance, done SOMETHING to save them in the end.

I feel that Lance should have been saved. I understand that redemption for villains means they do have a lot of work cut out for them to repair the damages they've done, but fuck man, they didn't even give Lance a CHANCE. There's potential for a sequel if you finagle some things around, and fuck I might even write it myself where they make efforts to save Lance from wherever they went (because they're obv not DEAD, they just got pulled into some weird vortex). And especially to have them saved, RIGHT BEFORE they get killed off? That’s like... not even a victory. It’s just not fun.

The Tim drops being apparent tears is one thing, but I think they're more a creation of intense, positive emotions. Of course Balan crying means they'd create some Tim drops, he was experiencing such love in that moment! I wonder if the colours correspond to specific emotions? The drop looked blue in that cutscene (probably only because the background was a blue tint), but blue Tim drops have shown to give Tim's the ability to destroy obstacles... And Balan in that moment had witnessed Emma and Leo overcome a huge obstacle themselves. So it makes sense!

(This was super cool to hear because I had NO idea there were a lot of rules that go into being bonafide clowns! I’m gonna research it more after this)

And don't even get me started on Balan's 'canon' look under the hat. I DO NOT SEE IT. It's a fine design and all but it's not... Balan, imo. The look he has with the hat suits his personality so much more, this goofy, quirky and kind of weird and mysterious entity that is having a lot of fun with all his interactions. And without the hat he's just... Plain. BUT, talking to a friend who has a lot of info about how the Clown industry works, they actually provided me with a lot of really cool tips! 

- “Balan is most likely wearing traditional Whiteface makeup. Whiteface clowns are generally the leaders of a giggle of clowns, and traditionally all skin must be covered. So YES he and Lance are white, but it's likely just makeup! Especially since there's facial markings around the eyes on top of the white, AND that they're wearing gloves + are fully covered!”

Regardless, I’m also going to play around with some fan designs for both Balan and Lance that make them a better mix of their original designs. Because they should have both been alive in the end, both as a mix of each other to show the balance between negativity and positivity, heck, ANYTHING to show balance that the ending didn't provide (the novel KIND of explains this, but it’s still unfortunately LACKING in explanation and leaves the whole ending feeling kinda... hollow). I WISH Balan had of tried to save them, reached out, ANYTHING true to his selfless and caring nature. The ending dance number was something I called would happen all along, but I thought LANCE WOULD BE WITH THEM. 

On another note, the ending with the Inhabitants and Balan? Holy, fucking shit. That was (despite the disappointment with Lance), GORGEOUS, WONDERFUL, HEALING. I loved it A LOT. It was interesting to have the confirmation that they're trapped hearts too! I know the novel goes into way more detail about the actual inhabitants which is really fun too. But good lord, the way Balan interacted with them at the end, it was so fucking sweet. He loves them, he loves them so much. You can Tell IMMEDIATELY when Jose goes over to thank Balan that he’s not at ALL used to receiving praise or thanks for what he does. 

LOOK AT HIM, HE DOESN’T KNOW WHAT TO DO FOR A MOMENT. HE’S SO TAKEN ABACK.

I should wrap this up before it gets too long. I will say, as a footnote, I've since read the novel after having written this all out, to which I’ll upload a separate post abt it before this one gets too long. Reading the novel NOW, it’s put way more into perspective and although I wish they had of done some key things differently in the game, I’m more settled on it. AND, I love this game so, SO much more!

[dragonofdarknesschaos]

I've been thinking (because I'm quarantined and bored, sorry )..how it could be possible for Jack to form a good friendship? ...I mean even if a person shows affection, good intentions or a real interest on his stuff... the chance of Jack's betrayal is still there. I don't know I'm wondering ..if he can have a healthy friendship.

*cackles*  Jack Spicer, as he is in XS, is not capable of forming a stable and healthy relationship, despite the fact that he desperately wants and needs one.  And if that ain’t the tragedy of the whole series.

The Jack of Showdown

Just when Jack finally starts to actually warm up and be open and honest about his feelings with others, he either gets grossly mistreated (“The Deep Freeze,” “The Apprentice”) or is presented with the choice of being loved and accepted, despite who he is and what he’s done, or giving in to his baser instincts and double crossing his new would-be friends to get praised by someone who could not care less about him (“The Apprentice”).  It’s difficult to tell if Jack feels he doesn’t deserve to be happy for some deep and personal reason, or if he’s so focused on being seen as EVIL™ and not good; that he believes he must take any and all opportunities to prove his evil worth.  Whatever the reason, the Jack in XS would need someone that will stick by his side no matter what decisions he makes, or what actions he takes to push that person away.  Someone who unconditionally supports him and wants to be by his side.  The problem is, that’s more of a pet and has the potential to become quite toxic.

The Jack of Chronicles

As for the Jack of XC, he has some boundaries, and he’s not quite as ruthless.  He knows he’s kind of a loser, but he still really wants a girlfriend to help boost his sense of masculine ego.  But more importantly, he just wants a friend, to the point that he was willing to pay people to hang out with him (just like in XS “Something Jermaine,” “Judging Omi” and XC’s “Magic Stallion and the Wild Wild West,” “Buddy Blue Ray and the Golden Bunnies,” and “Heal Me”).

Jack enjoys Wuya’s company, but she gets frustrated with his lack of action in favor of building capital or just having fun (the Golden Toilet arc, “Super Cow Patty,” “Tokyo Madness,” and “Omi Saves the Holidays” among many others).  Jack seems to have moved out of his parent’s basement, and is now in his own warehouse/factory, so he’s really trying to focus on starting up his Evil Business idea and often refers to himself as an “evil entrepreneur” throughout the series.  While Wuya appreciates the “go get ‘em” spirit, she still feels that Jack isn’t doing enough to help her, which is the whole reason they teamed up in the first place.  Because of her nagging attitude and matriarchal approach to the relationship, Jack often feels smothered and refuses to act.  However, he still has boundaries and refuses to do certain things if they are not in his interests as well (“Back in the Flesh Again”).

Jack and Shadow

With Wuya as Jack’s pseudo-mother, he needs a datemate to call his own.  Gone is his curiosity in Kimiko (though he does seem to think she’s still cool), but if it’s any other girl, he will do his best to impress her.

Case in point Willow--who he tried to ask on a date if he won the Showdown Trio in “The Fall of Xiaolin.”  She strongly states that she isn’t interested in him in the least, and because the two never see each other again, I would assume Jack dropped the pursuit.

Shadow on the other hand, he likely sees a lot of himself in her.  They’re both evil, admire Chase, they seem about the same age, and... that’s about where the similarities end.  Shadow’s actions say that she is repulsed by Jack, but she never pushes him away, and even praises his “doo-hickies” (“The Laws of Nature,” “Rocco”).  With the use of camera drones, Jack witnessed a lot of the private behavior and abuse between Chase and Shadow, and even some of the abuse in person ( “Tigress Woo,” “Rocco”).  Even the cold open of “Who Shrunk Master Fung?” features Jack being very careful not to harm a strange bird, who is later revealed to be Shadow.  Case in point, the Jack of XC has a streak of kindness in him, and it is unclear if Shadow sees that and resents Jack for having it, or if she admires that aspect of him.  Regardless, after the events of “The Laws of Nature,” where Jack effectively double crosses Chase (and her by extension), Shadow likely made the choice to never trust Jack completely.  She double crosses him at the end of their wonderful team up in “Back in the Flesh Again.”  And Jack doesn’t even get upset or angry about the loss and betrayal.  He’s even more smitten and tries to brag to Omi and Ping Pong before realizing they aren’t into it and flies off.

Overall Jack and Shadow have feasible grounds for a relationship--even a romantic one--if they could both create some honesty and trust between each other, but neither is willing to do that, despite Jack’s over sharing (literally every time he opens his mouth around Chase).  For further reading on Jack’s relationship with Shadow and Chase, check out this post.

Jack doesn’t interact with Tigress, Kimiko’s older sister, much, but he does bother to keep tabs on her and warns Kimiko about her sister’s more nefarious activities (“Tigress Woo”).  It’s unclear if he did this in an effort to get closer to the Monks as a friend, or if he was stalking Tigress because he was attracted to her.  In either case, Tigress is never seen again or mentioned by Jack.

Jack’s Other Interests

There are a handful of episodes in XC that revolve around Jack seeing or meeting another evil-doer and fixating on them, often trying to model himself after them in some fashion.  He does this with PandaBubba to a lesser extent in “Magic Stallion and the Wild Wild West,” then goes full blown fan for Super Cow Patty (in his self-titled episode) and later Le Mime in the same episode, making fan videos and full costumes with personas for both his fixations.  In both instances with the truly evil characters (PB and Le Mime), Jack was looking for a sense of acceptance by an Evil Businessman and entrepreneurial peer, and a sense of belonging to a larger community with Le Mime and his henchmen.  That desire for belonging to a larger community is reiterated earlier in the series with “Heal Me” and Reverse!Jack’s cult.

However, when presented with an actual fan of his, Tiny Sim, Jack is actually somewhat reluctant to have the fan tag along with him.  And maybe that was for the best, as Jack soon discovers that the fan he inspired to become Evil is actually a lot better at it than he, himself, is (“Drawn to be Evil”).  In retaliation, Jack confines the fan to being just a creative idea intern.  Jack is essentially taking credit for all of Tiny Sim’s ideas, and not paying the kid a thing.  Sim, either because he’s doing what his idol taught, or because he feels cheated, makes it a priority to take a Wu or two when he can out of Jack’s stash (“Mark of the Dragon Spirit”).  Sadly, the series ended before the relationship between these two could be further developed.  It wouldn’t have been healthy, but at least it would have been something.

Another important note, Jack does make the clear distinction in both series that the gallery of sellswords he pays to be around him are only in it as long as there’s money for them to be had.  They are not his friends, they will never be his true friends, they’re just people he pays until the money runs out (“Something Jermaine,” “Judging Omi”).  So Katnappe, Tubbimura, Cyclops (after their initial debut), and to a lesser extent Vlad will never truly be Jack’s friends.  Vlad does make a return in XS’s “The Demon Seed” to try and cheer Jack up (not that he’s very good at it), but he doesn’t seem to want anything from Jack other than to do evil things and pal around.  This is a bit of a departure from their first encounter where Jack was presumably paying Vlad to be his hired muscle and inside man (“The Deep Freeze”).

Jack’s Robots

Jack’s relationship with his various Jackbots and other robots is an interesting one.  It’s possible that he created them out of a sick sense of wanting to have friends that he could control, but it comes back more to how the bots are presented in both series.

The Jackbots of XS seem to have a hive mind of sorts, as they will blindly (and sometimes literally) follow their master’s commands.  Those that fall are replaced as if nothing happened to the fallen Jackbot; their numbers are legion.  The bots are later programmed with emotions and feel sadness, but not fear.  This is interesting, because Jack is shown having temper tantrums from time to time, but he doesn’t break things, only tosses them around (“The Journey of A Thousand Miles”).

Jack’s relationship with the more “custom” humanoid robots is split into a binary.  On the one side are the bots that went rogue and have tried to annihilate him or simply want nothing to do with him: Chameleon Bot, Robo!Jack, and the patent-pending Shen Gong Wu Detect-o-bot.  On the other side are the bots he grew very attached to: Yesbot, his Cheerbot squad, and the Shen Gong Wu Detect-o-bot before it went rogue.  Both Yes~ and Detect-o~ allow Jack to be more of a child, as he is depicted being held like a scared child with both of them (if I remember correctly.  “Oil in the Family,” “The Demon Seed”).  He treats them like the parent he doesn’t have around.  The Cheerbots are his hott Barbie dolls that he gets to dress up and maintain.  He doesn’t go much farther than projecting personalities and life problems onto them.  Eventually they are absorbed into the Jackbot hive.

Remember how Jackbots don’t show or know fear in XS?  XC opens with Jack having a tantrum, and many of his various designs of bot run away from him.  Jack is left cornering Chefbot, who has darts sticking out of his chef’s hat.  Rather peculiar for robots to be afraid of their master, especially since they are meant to be hoards of drones.  As Chefbot is developed as a character, Jack comes to respect his creation more, but Chefbot says he has no interest in hanging around someone like Jack; he wants to go places and be a real chef!  He can’t do that if he’s making paltry snacks for Jack.  Chefbot’s last appearance in the series is on a cooking show (either on TV or YouLook) making pizza, while Jack follows along from his RV.  Jack seems quite relaxed and at ease, even using the Banyan Twister Shen Gong Wu to stretch his body and the pizza dough.  It is never stated, but perhaps Jack is proud of his creation accomplishing it’s dream.

Thank You for Being a Friend

In conclusion, the Jack of XS is incapable of having a healthy friendship with anyone, either because he thinks he doesn’t deserve it or because he really is just a terrible person and pushes everyone away.  He would need someone to stand by and support him no matter what he does and no matter how horribly he treats that person.  Such a relationship has the potential to become toxic if boundaries are not set and if Jack doesn’t grow as a person.

The Jack of XC is desperate for a single friend, but 98% of the cast sees him as a pathetic loser, and not worth a second of their time.  Those that do see value in Jack’s companionship have all been hurt by Jack’s betrayal and lack of trust, or have betrayed Jack, because they have no trust in him (often from a previous encounter).  For this Jack to form a stable friendship, he needs someone who he can talk to honestly, openly, and not be judged for his feelings, and he seems to want someone who talks the same way to him.  He’s ready for a relationship, he just doesn’t have the rapport or trust built up with anyone.

TL;DR

Jack lacks basic trust in all his relationships.  He would need someone he can constantly count on, while also setting healthy and reasonable boundaries with that person.  If honesty and trust--ABSOLUTE TRUST--is there, Jack can have a friend, maybe even something more.

[ramblings-of-a-mad-cat]

I don't want Percy to be MC's friend. He's a complete jerk who only cares about himself more than his friends, parents and siblings but at least, he learned his mistake in the last Harry Potter movie. Watch the video called "The Entire Life of Percy Weasley (Harry Potter Explained)"

I can’t say that I agree, anon, though I can understand finding Percy obnoxious, especially in this game. His personality can definitely rub people the wrong way. However, having just watched the video, I have to say that I think it’s very one-sided. I’ll try and go through everything that it talks about - under the cut because I have no filter.

Fred and George

To say that he didn’t like his brothers Fred and George, and that he wanted to control them, isn’t really accurate and it doesn’t acknowledge that whenever Fred and George were mentioned in conjunction with Percy, they were usually bullying him. Vandalizing his Head Boy badge, even though he was proud of having gotten the position and it meant a lot to him. Or the time that they literally sent him dragon dung. Or the time that they tried to leave him for dead in a Pyramid tomb. And it was played for laughs. I’m not condemning Fred and George because they were the human embodiment of the chaos alignment, so it makes sense that they would butt heads with Percy. Brothers pick on each other, I know it happens. But it’s not fair to act like Percy feeling distant from his other siblings was his own fault. Fred and George were really popular with the Weasleys and other kids. Percy, by comparison, was just tolerated. Even though he was the model student and the one who followed rules, and the twins were constantly causing trouble. Why should Percy be ashamed of doing what he’s supposed to do? Why shouldn’t he want attention and validation from his family? Maybe the reason he talked constantly about his accomplishments was because he wanted to be appreciated.

The other Weasleys

Most of the moments where he doesn’t get along with his family in the early books are not moments that Percy himself initiates. It’s primarily Ron, Ginny, or the Twins picking on him. He didn’t even feel like he could tell his family he was dating someone because he guessed (correctly) that they would bully him for it. Speaking of that, Ginny promised she would keep Percy’s secret, and then turned around and told basically everyone. 

Despite all this, Percy very clearly cared about his family, well before Deathly Hallows. Like the time he boasted about Ron helping to win the House Cup. The time he tried to comfort Ginny, believing she was upset about Ron. The time he scolded Ron over this and warned him to stop going near the site of the Basilisk attacks because of how it would look. Or the time he watched out for Harry because Mrs. Weasley asked him to, “like an extremely pompous guard dog” as the video says. (Like I said, very one-sided.) Or the time that he refused to let go of Ron after Ron was used as a hostage in the Second Task. The video also attributes the end of Percy’s relationship with Penelope to him working too much in GOF...but there’s literally nothing in the books that ever suggests that.

The Triwizard Tournament

Like Bill, Percy is show constantly shown to be a good leader. He was named Prefect and Head Boy and he utterly embraced the positions. But the video mostly focuses on how proud he was of having gotten these positions and now enough on how he got them...because he earned them. In the same breath as talking about how he would apparate in the house every morning just to prove he could the video also talks about how Crouch barely gave Percy the time of day. Couldn’t be bothered to remember his name and just gave him pointless tasks. Despite how excited Percy was and how eagerly he would talk about all this to the rest of his family, who found it boring and avoided the topic. Percy is all alone in GOF. Even more so than he has been before. It’s really no wonder that he poured himself into his work and looked to the Ministry for support and validation, because he wasn’t getting any at home. He was just being belittled and humiliated at every turn. Of course, once Crouch was imperius’d, Percy thought he was finally getting recognition, but he was just being used. He was being set up as the fall guy. Even the villains are indirectly dismissive of this character! 

Because Crouch was out of commission, Percy was having to deal with all his work. So to say that he valued laws and rules over his own family is not only cruel, it’s completely wrong. Percy is resentful of them because to him, it feels like their actions are creating more stress for him at work and ruining that environment for him too. Ruining his dreams. The Ministry (and the video) blames Percy for not figuring out that something was off about Crouch, but it was still the same hand-writing, so why would Percy question it? 

The Estrangement

His supposed reprieve came when Fudge hired him as a Personal Assistant. Percy was excited and came home, hoping his Dad would be proud of him. But like always, Percy was disappointed. Arthur was right in his suspicions about why Fudge hired Percy, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is that Percy heard “You aren’t good enough to have gotten this job.” He heard Arthur refuse to believe that he might have actually earned this. That he was succeeding. “No Percy, this job isn’t real. The one person who’s actually valued you in recent memory is just manipulating you and it’s totally our fault for siding with Dumbledore, but I won’t admit to that.” That’s how it felt. And yeah, it was one time too many. The Weasleys have never conveyed to Percy that they appreciate him or want him around, so why should he want to stick around? Why didn’t anyone step in sooner, or come to his defense when he was taking the fall for Crouch? Why is it only when their agenda is threatened that they say something? And Percy is the selfish one? Why should he believe Voldemort has returned? I agree that what he said to Arthur about Arthur’s reputation and their family was horrible...but I think Percy-Antis view this as totally without cause. And the cause is clear. 

I take issue with how the video describes Percy slamming the door in Molly’s face “without even giving her a chance.” Because that scene was never depicted. We don’t know what happened or what was said. We don’t know how long the conversation may have lasted. But y’know, if I was Percy, I don’t think I’d even answer the door. He’s made his choice - cut ties with his family. To Molly’s credit, she was one of the only Weasleys who praised his accomplishments...but neither she nor Arthur ever did anything about the constant, constant bullying. That might be pretty hard to forgive, and Percy never receives any apology for it. He’s the only one who apologies in the end.

The letter that Percy sends Ron seems pretty terrible until you look at it from from the perspective that he’s genuinely trying to protect his little brother. Which he has always done in his own way. It’s an olive branch. Look, the word on the street is that Harry Potter is constantly lying and potentially dangerous. Percy might very well have made the judgment call that his family was blinded by their loyalty to him. It’s not like Percy and Harry were ever close. Think about it. After befriending Harry, Ron consistently got involved in dangerous adventures like confronting acromantulas, dementors, devil’s snare, the list goes on. It’s not unreasonable at all that Percy might want Harry to stay away from Ron. I’ll agree that giving Umbridge an endorsement is jaw-dropping...but we don’t see them interact. Umbridge might have put on a completely different face around Percy. Or he might have simply trusted Fudge and repeated his words. We just don’t know.

Fudge’s Departure

Dumbledore said that it’s harder to forgive someone for being right, then it is for being wrong. I’m not going to go off on a Dumbledore-bashing tirade right now, because that’s hardly the point -  but while that is very wise advice in general...it completely misses the real point of why Percy left. It doesn’t matter if Dumbledore was right and Fudge was wrong. (Though Percy no doubt felt horrible and humiliated yet again when he realized that.) What matters is that Percy’s family pushed him away and made him feel so isolated that Fudge valuing him was the only good thing going on in his life. Percy leaving doesn’t make him an asshole. But it does say a lot, not about him, that he decided Fudge’s approval and his job at the Ministry were worth moving out and cutting off all contact with his family. Dumbledore's assessment of Percy’s feelings once again ignores any responsibility that his family has in why he left in the first place.I genuinely do love the Weasleys to no end (just look at my URL) but their relationship to Percy was toxic.

 Scrimgeour, like Fudge, used Percy to get to the Weasleys, and forced him to pretend that he wanted to see them when he didn’t. Try to imagine being in that position, especially when Molly was the only one who even acted happy to see him. Fred, George and Ginny threw food at him. Literally why would Percy ever want to see them again if this was the welcome that he got? It was already painful for him and they did not make it any easier. Sure, I know that it was probably painful for them too, but they were once again not even considering Percy’s feelings, just their own. 

The Battle of Hogwarts 

I’ve already talked about how Percy apologies for everything, and the other Weasleys apologize for nothing. Not gonna lie, this is realistic to an uncomfortable level. Family members who have been mistreated wind up being the ones to apologize because they miss their family, even though they often aren’t completely to blame. But this is probably never going to be addressed because immediately after the reconciliation, Fred died. Just imagine how much undeserved guilt Percy felt about that. And then look to the epilogue where there’s one final humorous moment about Harry seeing Percy at King’s Cross and making a mental note to avoid him. Literally nothing has changed. Percy is still the joke of the family. He’s just accepted it because without them, he’s alone. He’s learned to see himself as the problem, and not them. 

...I am such a nerd. But I hope you can see where I’m coming from as well. Again, I love The Weasleys. I adore Fred and George. But Percy is not, and was never a bad guy. In some ways, he’s my favorite Weasley. I do love his character arc. But...I just...I wish there had been some apology from the twins as well.