#I now know why people ship suitors I think

[violetshideout]

To be completely honest in the past I couldn’t care less about shipping suitors. I was closer to the side of not really liking it so I typically just ignored anything to do with suitor x suitor posts. Then I started playing Ikepri and was introduced to Chevalier and Gilbert. It was like the floodgates opened and all of a sudden I was shipping these two together. Cause how can I not when they have THIS much tension. I wonder if it’s just Gilbert?

[yandere-kittee]

Yandere! Malleus x Gn! Reader

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Note: I strictly believe that Malleus has everything that it takes to be a yandere, so here are my thoughts on this:3

❦warnings: Yandere behavior, kidnapping, drugging(like using magic to make you fall unconscious),

༶•┈┈⛧┈♛

Malleus finds it hard to grow closer to other people, except for the few people he is already close with, he swears he's not all that scary he plays out to be, He's just very tall and intimidating, that much people know, but once you grew closer to him without knowing who he was at first, Malleus was happy to talk with someone who wasn't Lillia, Sebek or Silver.

He loved the way you would listen to him, getting so invested and adding little comments of your own here and there, his admiration for you increased after his identity was revealed, you didn't care, in your eyes he was still the same Hornton to you.

Malleus later realized that he wasn't all that fond with sharing, not when he could see the way Ace was draping his arm over your shoulders and how close the two of you were, he found it hard to contain himself.

He tries not to be selfish and seek your attention out for himself, so he makes the most out of the moments he is with you, walking closer to you, the brief longing touches, and just staring at you whenever you're not looking.

Lillia is not blind, he's lived enough years to know the meaning behind the look that Malleus gives you, he's very aware of Malleus' growing feelings for you and encourages Malleus, even helping him to get closer to you.

He's Malleus' wingman in love, he gives Malleus advice to make you his, "It's best to claim them now before anyone else can. " He had advised.

Malleus would do just that, he wanted to begin courting you officially, gifting you gifts that he find would suit you, especially if it's shiny, he seems to smile even wider when you accept it from him and hold it with such gentle care, when he comes into your room in the future and sees the gifts he's given to you displayed on your shelves he'd feel giddy at the sight.

Just imagining of you thinking of him whenever you lay your eyes on the gifts. When the prospect of you having suitors aside from him, he can't seem to blame you for you are just so irresistible and perfect in his eyes, he eliminates any potential threats to your growing relation ship, passing them all of as accidents.

Though, whenever he's with you, and he can't seem to eliminate them himself, he orders Sebek and Silver to go after them themselves, not wanting to disturb whatever the two of you had going on.

Although Sebek may be quite hesitant and very unaccepting at the fact that Malleus wants you to be his, he will not let his Master be sad or have someone else take what belongs to his master rightfully, so he does everything he his told with the pride as Malleus' guard, protecting his relationship.

Silver doesn't seem to be very bothered, he doesn't inherently agree to what's happening because of his morals, but Malleus was his Master and Lillia seemed to be all in on it, even Sebek who seemed so reluctant was doing everything to bring the two of you together, so he would just shrug and do what he's told.

Now, what manifests/testers his yandere side more is after being told that there's a possibility of you finally finding a way back home through Crowley, why would you need to go back home when home was where ever he was?

Why we're trying to get away from your future spouse? Did he do something wrong? Was it all not enough?

He didn't understand, but he tried to, when he asked you if you really were going to leave, you had explained that you had to go back to your family and friends, you needed to be back home!

...

"Silly child of man, whatever do you mean? You are home. " he said with an innocent smile, you we're about to ask him a question but your vision seemed to turn black after that.

Before you could fall to the ground, Malleus had catches you, wrapping his arms around you, your unconscious body leaning against his steady and calm figure.

He had picked you up in his arms and brought you back to his dorm and trapped you into his room, once he graduates this year, he'll take you back to Briar valley and even introduce you to his grandmother and announce you as his future spouse.

"Don't worry child of man, you are safe with me, and you will have everything you could ever want be given to you. Including my heart. "

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I don't know man, did I cook a little too hard with this one?

Anyways! I just started posting again cause I was voted:P Might post again in the next blue moon!

ALSO I DID NOT NOTICE I FINALLY HIT 417 FOLLOWERS??? THAT'S INSANE I LOVE YOU GUYS SM💙💙💙

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[katerinaaqu]

Finished Chapter 14 of The Song of Achilles and like you I already found one change that gets on my nerves. Why is Odysseus now the Prince of Ithaca? When he was already King by the events of the original poem? What was Madeline Miller’s purpose in demoting him from King to Prince?

This better have a payoff or else… without Odysseus being King I feel his 20 year absence from Ithaca has less serious consequences. I think without him being King of Ithaca, his wife’s suitors wouldn’t be so eager to replace him.

Well I will start with what me and other classics readers say, that Miller is extremely biased with certain characters and that shows in her writing (true she writes in a very beautiful way and has great expression but still...) so certain characters are depicted positively and others negatively (no surprise or news there) and she writes in a feministic way so certain characters in the background are bound to be disregarded or worse changed. However most people have come to know that her writing of characters is really inaccurate or that it comes straight from her imagination (see for example how in order to get her romcom aura we must see a "homophobic character" aka Thetis who acts almost as a villain, we see the stereotype of star-crossed lovers like Achilles and Patroclus (which is a trope she uses by combining elements from the original but ignoring the character development of others in order to fortify her message) etc.

That being said, Miller's style seems to me like she uses SOME elements of the original, blasts them out of proportions, altering it to be more simplified to fit a romcom setting and re-writes the rest to fit the characters. I am not 100% famliar with her books given how I haven't read them in the full but I have seen stuff around and read some passages so take this hypothesis with a grain of salt but this seems to be the case to me. So in this case it is clear that Miller doesn't see Odysseus in a very positive light (given what she goes with to her other novels as well) so yeah her trying to lesser his importance or the status in the story seems more than just a possibility to me.

So here goes my reply, sorry if this is long:

In this case she seems to take advantage of the fact that in translations there is no distinct difference in the text between the word "prince" or "king" in the homeric text (both are being stated by the term άναξ (anax->wanax, from mycenean greek as well) and is being used to speak on the ruler that has under his command the ships and the army. That is to be said some of the commanders of the greek army had living parents back home and Odysseus was included among them. It seems like Laertes was in a way retired since indeed Odysseus seemed to be a king in his own right, in fact Penelope even insinuates he had been so for a long time, given how she tells Antinous the story of his father who arrived to the palace begging Odysseus for his own life, possibly implying that Odysseus was a ruler of his own right more than 20 years prior, possibly before Antinous's birth or during Antinous's childhood or infantry. On the other hand some people seem to separate his father from Odysseus by naming Laertes "King of Cephallenians" and Odysseus "King of Ithaca" aka that technically Laertes is the king of the entirety of the kingdom (Ithaca, Cephallonia, Acarnania etc) and Odysseus's juristiction is Ithaca. Personally I do not fully support that last one given how Odysseus is the only one who seems to be in charge even if Laertes is still alive. It seems that the tradition in Ithaca was a bit more family-like in terms of ruling and the king retired from his duty because of age, letting the younger and more capable son to rule (potentially Laertes is an exception and gave the authority to Odysseus because he thought he was more capable ruler than himself. Odysseus possibly proved his worth during the internal conflicts with the Taphian pirates or in conflict in Messinia [when he received his bow in his youth as a gift])

It also seems to be backed up by how by n large they got married within the kingdom (Eurylochus is from the same kingdom, from the small island of Same and marries Odysseus's sister Ctimene, the suitors of Penelope all come from within the kingdom from different principates and regions). Laertes and Odysseus seem to be exceptions to the rule since Laertes marries Anticlea, daughter to the great thief Autolycus who lived in Parnassus and Odysseus who married Penelope from Sparta) So it seems that the kingdom is more like a "family business" than actually some kingdom with expansive or military construction (unlike Mycenae or Sparta) so it doesn't seem impossible that there is either a tradition for the old ruler to quit and pass the throne to the next generation rather than wait for his death to pass authority or that if one did it wouldn't seem impossible. It also seems that other kingdoms are not necessarily the same as modern kingdoms either. Icarius is still alive when the events of the Odyssey take place. We don't know if Tyndareus also is alive or not, from what I remember, in Homer's writing so it is not clear what kind of rules exist to that realm. Could it be also that the ruler is not only of age (able to grow a beard aka around the final 20s or early 30s) but also marriage that gets them ready to rule? Like Menelaus is a ruler of Sparta by marriage, Odysseus rules as a sovereign ruler because of his marriage? It could be although again the suitors of Helen were often called "kings" in literature, it doesn't seem to be the case given how most of her suitors are either young (Ajax, Menelaus, Antilochus was also mentioned or even Diomedes in some sources even if the two of them would be literal children at that time) or sons of existent rulers let's say Odysseus. So it is possible that marriage AND coming of age play their part in succession. It gets a bit confusing as well since Odysseus leaves order to Penelope that she has to wait till her son is of age (when his beard grows) to pass him the throne, if he hasn't returned till then. Does Odysseus imply that his son would rule if he was of age, regardless of his death or is he implying that they first have to confirm he is dead before Telemachus takes over? It is indeed an enigma but then again the case of Odysseus is complicated; he goes to a war that he doesn't know if he is gonna return from and according to some readings and traditions, he was repared to be off for a long time as well from an omen he heard so his case with Telemachus seems to be an exception rather than the rule given the extreme conditions they deal with.

Either way yeah it doesn't seem that Odysseus is not a ruler in his own right in any shape or form in the Iliad or the Odyssey despite the fact that Laertes was still alive throughout the entire process. Either because it was a consistent tradition or because Laertes made an exception, it seems that Laertes was not an active ruler by the time Odysseus left for Troy and as I said it seems that Penelope implies Odysseus was already a ruler capable of giving pardon to someone (Antinous's father) or command armies (Taphian pirate incident, Messina, Troy) so yeah it doesn't seem that Odysseus is considred "a Prince" like for instance his brother-in-law Eurylochus or the Suitors and their families but he seems to be a king in his own right; he is the one who has the duty to send away the suitors; he is the one to command the army and he is the one to call the counter-attack in the Odyssey against the retalliation of the families after the murder of the suitors and not Laertes.

So to close this already long answer yes among the many changes Miller imposes in her book to fit her narrative, it seems that she takes advantage of modern day perspectives of rule and succession (aka the sovereign ruler's death before the other takes over) plus the fact that there is no distinct word between king and prince in the ancient texts to call Odysseus "a Prince" possibly to decrease his status (similar to how ancient writers mentioned Odysseus not being legitimate son of Laertes but a bastard son by Sisyphus) so yeah it does seem like it as you said given how Miller doesn't seem to be fond of Odysseus as a character. But that would be my hypothesis. Either that or Miller simply doesn't want to consider a different rule of succession than the modern one she and her readers are familiar with aka a king becomes king only after his father's death. Which is ironic though given how many people mention Odysseus "a king" even if they know or possibly because they forget Laertes is still alive.

Hope this helps

[linmeiwei]

Do you really think Darcy and Elizabeth would be happy together? It's one thing to not care if an insufferable aunt doesn't like your bride, but it's very different when friends and peers start treating him like an idiot for marrying an unimportant and "tolerable" country girl. Also when he realizes that Georgiana will not be getting the same suitors that he would expect.

That's why I think their marriage is not going to be all that. Don't get me wrong, I don't believe Darcy would start being cruel or disrespectful to Elizabeth like Mr Bennet was to his wife. But to continue happily married? I don't think so.

Oh I strongly disagree! I think Darcy and Elizabeth would be extremely happy in marriage.

As to the social consequences of his marrying a tolerable country girl, I'm not convinced that they would be so dire. The Bennets' ruin was averted through Lydia's marriage, I'm not sure it would be talked about much in the wider world. More to the point, he has a powerful family in whose interest it would be, once the Darcy/Elizabeth marriage happened, to make sure Elizabeth was accepted in all the right circles. They'd likely ensure that Lady C didn't do or say anything to spoil the family's standing. We know from some hints in the novel itself that, once push comes to shove, even those who don't like Elizabeth and may know something of the Wickham fiasco, are too afraid to lose the privilege of friendship with Darcy to continue being a nuisance about it (e.g. Caroline Bingley).

We also know that Elizabeth isn't really only tolerable. She's charming, attractive and clever. I genuinely think that she'd actually make quite a hit once let loose in Darcy's world.

Finally, there's Darcy himself. I'm conscious that people interpret his character very differently to me (e.g. they think he's shy or anxious or on the spectrum) so this is very much my interpretation but… going by some of the descriptions we have of his character, he just doesn't seem like the sort of guy to let himself be swayed much by popular opinion. E.g. in this bit, which takes place in Netherfield, when Darcy and Bingley discuss each other's character traits (paraphrasing):

Darcy: When you told Mrs. Bennet this morning, that if you ever resolved on quitting Netherfield you should be gone in five minutes, you meant it to be a sort of panegyric, of compliment to yourself […] but I am by no means convinced that you would be gone with such celerity. Your conduct would be quite as dependent on chance as that of any man I know; and if, as you were mounting your horse, a friend were to say, ‘Bingley, you had better stay till next week,’ you would probably do it—you would probably not go—and, at another word, might stay a month.

Elizabeth: You have only proved by this that Mr. Bingley did not do justice to his own disposition. You have shown him off now much more than he did himself.

Bingley: I am afraid you are giving it a turn which that gentleman did by no means intend; for he would certainly think the better of me if, under such a circumstance, I were to give a flat denial, and ride off as fast as I could.

In another conversation, he says himself that "[his] feelings are not puffed about with every attempt to move them."

He's just not a volatile sort of guy. He knows his own mind, he knows Elizabeth's merits, and (for all his faults) he's the sort of strong type A that would see it as his responsibiltiy to captain his ship out of any storm rather than abandon it or feel annoyed with it for having got into a storm.

I honestly struggle trying to imagine any set of events that would be at all likely, in which these two were anything other than deeply in love, delighted in each other’s company and devoted to one another.

[wordy-little-witch]

Ghost Roger ships Shuggy and that’s why when Crocodile and Mihawk start to court the clown all hell breaks loose.

Okay it may be a bit more complicated than that, Roger is protective of his kids in a way, he feels a bit remorseful for not making feel Buggy important in live and he’s HELLA worried about how his sons parted ways. Of course even if there’s more to it than just “There were some misunderstandings” and he maybe won’t be able to make things completely right after dead, he still wishes those two would just TALK to each other. He probably told Buggy a lot of stuff after he first was able to contact him, but that doesn’t mean the grudge against Shanks (and Roger for that matter) is immediately gone.

So Roger really hopes those two make up and maybe kiss a little, he’s seen those obvious crushes those two had on each other for ages…. So when the two men who threatened his Bug suddenly start to get all flirty with him… well you can’t blame him for not being completely rational about it.

He can’t really do much besides be a nuisance, hiding things from them, throwing things off the table, one time he secretly put ketchup in Crocodiles coffee and he counts that as a massive victory, but he’s not full on Poltergeist level, he doesn’t have much power anymore. The only time he regains a significant amount of Strenght is when Buggy confronted him about this behavior, it truly was a scene to behold, Buggy, screaming into an empty room that Roger can’t decide who or who not he gets to trust and choose for himself, and Roger, not being able to communicate his own frustrations to Buggy and tell him he’s just worried but that Buggy also needs to stop being so damn stubborn, throwing things across the room and howling and causing a storm just with his intense emotions alone.

It’s only late at night when they both have calmed down that Roger makes his way back to Buggies room, now properly calmed and thinking somewhat rationally again. He doesn’t have much more energy than to scribble a “Sorry” with Buggys lipstick onto the mirror, but he knows his boy will get what he means.

Roger might get pleasantly surprised on several accounts tough, not only do Buggys new suitors actually care for him, despite their initial treatment of him, but Buggy may or may not also reconcile with Shanks after some gentler pushes and encouragement from his side…. And it may or may not turn out that Buggy has a lot of space for several people in his heart, who’d have thought? Atta boy! His little casanova….

Oh my goshhhh yeah this exactly (sorry it took so long to respond, was a lil busy)

Roger really would be like. The strangest mix if "you got this!!" And "not on my watch". He's got redneck girl dad vibes, like "don't mind me sitting on the porch making aggressive eye contact while I clean my gun and/or sword, kid, but yeah I know how to use them and use them well anyway be good to my kid or else haha no I'm serious-"

Ironically I feel like Roger would be pushing less for a Slowburn Romance for Shuggy and more a you can fix it and salvage smth and maybe it's different but you two are two sides of one coin guys come onnnn- type of deal. Like. The kisses would be nice (he'd win the bet and Rayleigh would owe him 500 berri) but also it just... it hurts to see his kids so hurt. It doesn't matter how the end result is configured so long as some of the pain is abated.

So when Buggy, his baby blue, his bright and bold and flashy little nugget, begins getting courted by the same men who unflinchingly harmed him?

When Roger has SEEN the things Buggy went through up to this point?

When Roger knows how easy it is for Buggy to fall into the arms of someone who means him harm, when he knows how Buggy clings to and almost searches for it?

Oh he's livid. He's frothing. He's not going to let that slide, not even remotely.

And so begins his Hijinks.

And so ignites Buggy's temper.

It goes on maybe a month, if that. Roger is petty and angry, but he's pacing it and being careful to make it impossible to trace to his kid. The few opportunities that leaves for him is very good motivation to go bigger each time. Croc's favored pen? Gone. Mihawk's wine glass? Different cabinet. Croc's ash tray? Flipped onto a document. Hawkeye's wine bottles? All corks are in some way damaged. He starts small and works his way up.

The ketchup in the coffee was his magnum opus - and that was Buggy's last straw.

He passes Alvida and informs her that it's a Code Pink. She nods and spreads the word. Nobody gets in his way as he beeline to his workshop and the adjacent sheds connected there.

It's arguably a hurricane by way of fury. Things are thrown and voices blow into uneven crescendos. Buggy begins to angry cry and Roger pulls at his own hair to fight the urge to wipe the tears away or crush the emotions out of his kid with his own arms. It's a hot mess, and it only gets worse when Roger hears Buggy say the one thing he didn't ever want to hear but suspected nonetheless.

"What's it matter if they hurt me? I deserve it-!"

He'll admit - he doesn't rightly recall what exactly it is that he does after that. The words echoed in his head, louder and louder until it was a battering ram in his skull. He doesn't remember much of that split second between hearing it and acting, but he found himself crushing his boy into his chest, one hand in blue curls, the other across a trembling back.

"Never," he swears, "you never deserve to be hurt, Blue. I'm so sorry you feel like that's true, but baby Bug, Red has told you-"

And that's the final straw for Buggy.

"Red?! Red's all you ever fucking think about!" And he shoves Roger away, mouth running faster than he can stop it, tears falling with the mess of his emotions as he rants and raves and leaves a captain, a father, hollow in shock.

Buggy pauses for a breath, and Roger reaches out, just to pull back at the swat to his hand.

"No," Buggy hiccups, "I just... I'm done. I'm fucking done. Go find someone else to bother. I'm through."

He leaves.

And Roger rages.

Hours later, finally calm and able to rationally think, he drifts to Buggy's room. He's shaking with exhaustion, but he grabs a lipstick - the cheap writing one, never Buggy's good lip color - and scrawls an apology onto the mirror. He floats over to Buggy's bedside, watches his kid sleep, tear tracks on his face and dried in his lashes. He aches.

He sits vigil there all the night, energy depleting until he's a bare whisp of a presence. He'll protect his kid how he can, but he won't step in the way.

It's only when Rouge offers to trade out that he deigns to rest.

Things go back to mostly normal afterwards.

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When it turns out that Crocodile and Mihawk truly do care for and want to make Buggy happy, Roger is pleasantly surprised and very suspicious. He keeps it mostly to himself (and to Rouge, Ace and Eddie), but he is watching. He gets to witness the growth first hand - except some things second hand, because he may be a pirate, but he's also a father and some things are meant for a parent's eyes to never ever EVER see - but he does see it. He acknowledges it. And he gives his approval subtly.

So when things begin blooming outward, he's aware, somewhat, but mostly acting as but an observer. Though when those tendrils of Blue reaches out to Red.... well. He's Looking Heavily.

And then he's cheering aggressively because YES!! FINALLY!!!! RAYLEIGH OWES HIM SO MANY BERRI!!!!

And when blue and brown eyes cut towards him, Roger pauses, shrinks a little. By the Seas he forgot how weird his kids and their Haki was. He waves awkwardly.

".... Captain," Shanks says after a moment.

"Red...?"

"I am very happy to see you, believe me. But I also am very happy to have Buggy in my arm, so maybe go bother Lucky Roux or Yassop while I do unspeakable things to my Blue."

"Shanks," Buggy squawks angrily with a face as red as his nose, squirming in place.

Roger just laughs, gives a salute. "Aye, captains!"

He slips off through the walls to the symphony of his eldest laughing while baby blue complains loudly. There was a sudden thump, silence, then rustling. Roger, eyes wide, floated faster.

He'd always said Buggy would steal riches and hearts alike.

By Davy Jones, Ray owed him so much money.

[anxiousnerdwritings]

since we on the ropic of sibling reader can you imagine how pissed bruce + batfam (and alfred, to a degree) would be if like talia ever did get with sibling!reader, she'd be smug af bcuz if bruce's sibling lives in the manor, it gives her a chance to see her love and her ex in one trip. cut to damian standing in the back conflicted that his uncle/aunt has the chance to become another mom/dad but also looking at his mother like "why are you dating my uncle/aunt 😦🤨"

can you imagine tho bruce throwing an aggressive fit if his sibling chooses to date Hal of all people?? Clark, Diana? He's sees the appeal tbh; he won't be too happy, but he sees the vision. Oliver, Dina? another pair of 'sees the appeal'. But Hal???? no no no bruce is shutting that shit down and fast. Barry is really the only safe option and even then he can quite literally sweep his sibling off their feet and away from the safety of the manor.

i want to imagine that the kids feel very strongly against this but also play matchmaker yk?? like some do it to piss bruce off (mainly jason, damian) and a few others do it for the drama (steph + cass by association, dick). the rest are a mix of both.

Talia totally takes pleasure in rubbing it in Bruce’s face that she’s with his sibling now and she loves seeing Bruce affected by it. He’s not jealous that she’s with someone else, let alone his sibling, honestly he couldn’t care less about that. No, it’s the fact that his sibling is in a relationship in general. Bruce is very much the type who thinks that no one is worthy of being with his sibling and no matter what they will never meet his standards for being a romantic partner to his beloved sibling who more than deserves the world and everything else. Not to mention Bruce knows damn well that Talia plans to take the Reader with her eventually and he’s having none of that.

I could kind of see Damian actually wanting the Reader to be more of a mother/father to him, they already act like one to him so why not officially become his second mom/dad. It wasn’t really until Talia was very open with her romantic intentions towards the Reader that had Damian really leaning towards making it all happen. I could also see Damian being very bratty and extremely jealous thinking of the Reader becoming a parent and having a family of their own that didn’t include him. As far as he’s concerned his aunt/uncle is already like another mom/dad to him and to have their focus and affections being taken off of him really irritates and frustrates him to no end. But when Talia mentions offhandedly about taking the Reader home with her, all bets are off and he’s fighting to keep them with him and Bruce. Unless the Reader was actually willing to go with Talia and start a life with her and the League of Assassins then Damian may be willing to go with them, not only to keep an eye on the Reader but also to stay with them as well.

All the batkids have their own OTP ships for the Reader and they would definitely play matchmaker to make it come true. Mush to Bruce’s horror and disdain. His own kids are going against him when it comes to the Reader’s love life. While he believes they shouldn’t have one whatsoever, the kids have their own ideas of what the Reader’s love life should really be. Also, this is all totally happening behind the Reader’s back without their knowledge. And I have no boyfriend that all the Reader’s suitors have and will continue to make impromptu and uninvited visits to the manor to see and spend time with the Reader. Whether the romantic yanderes were in actuality invited by/planned with the respective Baylis shipping them with the Reader or they came of their own accord to be around the Reader is debatable. But it certainly gets on Bruce’s nerves. Hell, even Alfred has his own ship of who the Reader should end up with adding more towards the betrayal Bruce feels with everyone in the batfamily going against him like this.

Just imagining Bruce’s reaction to Hal pulling up to the manor to take the Reader out on a date is so hilarious. I can’t help but see him being the one to answer the door only to slam it in Hal’s face when he sees him. If the Reader is adamant about going out with Hal then Bruce would totally be sat on their bed the whole time they’re getting ready trying to persuade them to cancel or at least go for someone else other than Hal. Bruce just Turing into a bratty sibling is just too funny not to think about. He definitely glares daggers at Hal the whole time he’s there. The only compromise Bruce could come to is either having the Reader and Hal’s date at the manor so it can be monitored or the date turning into a double date with Bruce and either Selina or some random woman he takes out just so he can keep an eye on his precious sibling. (I can’t help but imagine not only Bruce but the rest of the batfamily dressed in hilarious disguises spying on the Reader and whoever they’re on a date with. Or even the respective yandere’s rival suitors doing the same thing too.)

If you think Bruce’s reaction to his sibling dating Hal is bad, imagine how he takes to learning the Reader is going out with Guy Gardner.

[billiuspendragon]

Something always bothered me about the Terusai dynamic and I couldn't put my finger on why. I finally figured it out the other day when I was listening to "every breath you take" by The Police and realised that it reminded me of them.

I feel like the whole "watching over your loved one" thing is considered romantic, but I find it really creepy. Now, I get that Saiki stalks basically EVERYONE in this show, but stalking your friends and stalking a potential lover gives me massively different vibes.

Saiki watches Teruhashi to make sure she's safe, and drags those other potential suitors away because they "don't deserve her" - and while those guys he dragged away were dickheads, that still gives me major dodgy vibes! If we do go with the interpretation that he loves Teruhashi romantically at this point, then it goes from making sure guys don't bother her to eliminating competition. I know that probably wasn't his motivation, but that's what it FEELS LIKE.

I do think these two love each other by the end of the series in canon, but no matter how much I try to logic myself into liking them as a couple it still gives me the ick. At least people like Akechi or Aiura stalk him just as much as he stalks them, so they're on a more equal footing lol.

I absolutely love when fics have Teruhashi and Saiki connect as real friends, but I just can't do the romance thing with those two. I almost consider their romantic feelings for each other as something they must overcome, if that makes sense.

Of course if you do ship these two, mad respect! I'm just writing out my own thoughts because, well, it's Tumblr. Please don't think I'm hating on you if you do ship them - I can respect the ship from a distance even if I don't like to engage with it.

[mxrcjqckspnchqsc]

Hiii! If you're accepting requests for prince Friedrich (bridgerton), could I get a Friedrich and reader fic where theyre royalty too and frenemies? And they end up at the same ball and have to dance tgt (obv)? The next day lady whistledown and the ton out there shipping the two so they have to keep up appearances and promenade together all the time? Eventually fall in love!! (+ points if they childishly argue through the whole dance) thanksss💕

Is It Love Or Hate?

Summary: Read request above!

Prince Friederich x gn!reader

Genre: Fluffiest of fluff, (It's also the only thing I can write about but moving on)

Warnings: Romantic themes, strong language(not really just good old british slang that I love very much), and It is a gender neutral reader, y/n(aka you or just plain old y/n) is a princess and wears a dress in this one-shot!!

A/N: Omg omg omg this is my first request, this is so exciting! This request is so cute, I hope you like it! Also I'm sorry for some of the writing is in third person, I just don't really like first person. And I'm sorry this took too long, I'm quite busy with stuff(school) atm. And now because of this request, I wanna make a prince Friederich fanfic lol but I hope you guys enjoy this one-shot!!(Also this isn't proofread so if there are any errors do tell me!)

Y/n groaned at the thought, they were going to yet again another ball, y/n loved being a royal and all but that meant they had the possibility of seeing him, Prince Friederich, Y/n had mixed feelings about him, they would love him and then the next minute, they hate him. As I finally laid down on the couch, my mother busted in, causing them to jump up.

"Mother, what is it? Why must you rush in here as if I did something wrong?!?" I asked.

"Oh no dear, it's just your dress is finally done! You just have to wear it for tonight's ball." Y/m/n explained as she gave you the dress. "Doesn't the color look nice?"

I had to agreed, the colors on the dress were absolutely stunning, y/f/c always looked good on them, always.

"Well I must agree, the dress does look nice." I agreed.

"Perhaps you might even find the one," Y/m/n teased.

"You said that as the last fifty balls," I exaggerated. "It seems people only see me for my looks Mother, nothing more, I told you many times that I wanted to marry for love."

"Then find someone you love, my dear. You know I will always support you." Y/m/n smiled at you and left moments after.

Y/n changed into the dress and was suprised on how the dress complimented her very well.

"Are you ready to go-?" Y/m/n asked as she busted in the room but stopped once she saw y/n. "My dear, you look beautiful."

"Yes mother I am ready to go," I placed the tiara on her head. "Thank you but we must not make haste," I reminded.

"Oh yes yes!" Y/m/n exclaimed. "We shall go to the carriage at once." Y/m/n announced.

Y/m/n linked her arm with Y/n and they left and headed to the ball, moments later, they had arrived.

"I'll be on the lookout for potential suitors, and you Y/n shall be the princess you are and dance with two men tonight." Y/m/n said.

"One," I corrected.

Y/m/n sighed knowing that Y/n wouldn't listen to her. "Fine, you must dance with one man tonight."

"Good, Ah I think I see the Duchess of Hastings right there. I'll leave you be mother!" I called out.

Before Y/n could make her way to Daphne, she was stopped by the one of the many men she didn't want to see tonight.

"You highness, Princess Y/n," Lord Gray bowed down infront of her. "May I have your first dance?" He asked, holding out his hand.

Y/n was about to tell him off when someone did it for her and she didn't have to turn around to know who it was.

"Actually, the Princess had already offered her first dance on her dance card with me." Prince Friederich explained.

"Oh, I see," Lord Gray seemed to buy the lie and walked away.

"Shall we?" Friederich held his hand out.

Y/n only glared at him before taking his hand, the two royals made their way to the dance floor.

"Now look at what you did," I whispered. "I only wanted to dance with one man tonight and now you're fulfilling my mother's wishes and I'm going to dance with two."

Prince Friederich only snickered in response.

"Well I apologize for doing that but it seemed like you didn't want to dance with him." Friederich stated the obvious.

"Yeah well I didn't want to dance with you either and here we are." I smiled sarcastically.

"You can blame my aunt on that, she actually insisted I'd dance with you first tonight." He replied.

Prince Friederich dipped you and pulled you close, making you gasp, he noticed this and backed away. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" I asked confused.

"For making you uncomfortable," He answered rather quickly.

"If anything, you actually made me feel more safe from the viscount, I can see him glaring at us" I laughed and smiled at him, causing him to smiled back as he pulled you in close again.

...

"Y/n, Oh Miss Y/n! Wake up! Your highness, it is urgent!" Evelyn, one of the lovely servants shook you awake.

"I'm up," I mumbled, not fully awake.

"Lady Whistledown wrote about you and the Prince from the dance, you must read!" Evelyn exclaimed.

"Can I atleast get out of my bed first?" I asked, Evelyn nodded excitingly before leaving.

Y/n got up and ready and finally headed down the stairs where they was greeted by not only Evelyn but their mother as well.

"So Lady Whistledown wrote about me in her paper?" I asked.

Y/m/n nodded happily and gave you the paper. When you were shocked, Lady Whistledown wrote about the two of you dancing and how you two would make quite a lovely couple but before you could read anymore, you got called upon by Prince Friederich, he seemed to have read the latest issue quickly this morning.

"Your highness," Evelyn bowed down at him before he stopped her.

"Oh please, just call me Friederich, is Y/n awake yet? I hope I didn't wake her, I just wanted to have a little chat." Friederich smiled.

"And does your little chat include those lovely y/f/fs?" I asked.

I made my way to him and Evelyn, who now exited the room once she took notice of my appearance.

"Oh these," Friederich looked at them as well. "I didn't send them, maybe Lord Gray no Gary sent them." He teased.

Due to his teasing, I snorted and I quickly covered my mouth in embarrassment.

"I'm sorry," I apologized. "I normally never do that."

"It's fine, it was quite adorable if I were to be honest." Friederich smiled.

I blushed at his words and smiled softly but quickly changed my expression as I still had no idea what he was doing here so I asked. "Well if you will allow me to Prince-"

"Friederich," He cut you off.

"...Friederich, what are you doing here?" I asked.

"I was just going to ask if well considering what Whistledown wrote about us, maybe she should write about us even more if you give me the opportunity to court you and take to on a promenade?" He asked.

My eyes widened at his words, he wanted to court me out of all people but I realized that maybe this was just his aunt's doing.

"Are you sure that you want to court me and this isn't your aunt's doing because if it is then I'm gonna have to-" I was cut off again.

"No!" He exclaimed before clearing his throat. "My apologies, I did this on my own. My aunt has no idea I am even here." He chuckled.

"Oh, then yes, I would be delighted to be courted by the only prince I seem to know." I laughed.

...

Y/n and Friederich have been courting for quite awhile now, making this their fifth time going on a promenade, Y/n had developed feelings for him and was wondering just as everyone else was thinking once they saw the latest issue "When will he propose?"

"This is the fifth time we're out to promenade, can we please go somewhere else Friederich?" I asked in a hushed whisper. "The sun is practically setting!"

"Please Y/n, just called me Freddie and to answer your question, we can't go somewhere alone, you know that but perhaps a boat ride would be nice."

"Or hunting or we can pretend to get lost in a flower field?" I suggested.

"A flower field would be nice, hm there is one there," He held up his arm. "Shall we go?"

"We shall," I smiled. "Mother, we'll be right back. We're going to pick some flowers from the field!"

"Okay, stay safe!" Y/m/n exclaimed.

But Y/m/n was distracted with Lady Danbury that she didn't even notice that the two royals weren't going to the flower field but instead the woods.

"Ah the woods, why did you take us here Freddie," I asked.

Friederich blushed at the nickname even though he suggested it but brushed it off.

"I wanted to look at the nature, nature is quite interesting. I mean just look at that bird!" He exclaimed in a hushed whisper.

"That bird does look quite fascinating." I comments, making him smile wide.

"I never saw those in Prussia so they are new to me," Friederich revealed.

"Well maybe if you stay here a little longer then maybe you'll see more," I smiled at him.

"Yeah maybe," Friederich smiled.

I took my eyes off him and laid down to look at the sunset, He laid down beside me.

"It's quite beautiful isn't it?" I asked, referring to the setting sun.

"Yeah, it's breathtaking." He whispered, still staring at me.

I looked back at him when he was indeed already staring, he didn't take one look at the sunset and kept his eyes on me. I blushed and tried to look away when his hand caressed my face and leaned in, he kissed me and I kissed back. When we broke apart, he sat up, I repeated the action and we kissed again, he mumbled something in the kiss that I couldn't decipher..

"Freddie, what did you say?" I asked, my hand resting softly on his cheek.

"I wish to marry you Y/n, I'm in love with you." He confessed.

"The night of the ball when we danced, I lied to you, my aunt didn't say anything about you at all, I chose to dance with you that night because not only are you breath taking, you are the only person that I love competing with and poking fun at with, you're the only person who knows the real me and I love for that, I love that you let me in and that you trust me and you share all your conspiracies about who Whistledown is, you're the person I want to spend the rest of my life with, kids or no kids, in London or in Prussia. I want you just the way you are because I'm smitten and I love you oh so much. And I completely understand if you don't desire me the same but I couldn't keep it in any longer and I-" Friederich was cut off by you kissing him again, more passionate this time.

When you pulled away, you spoke. "I love you too, I would say that I want you but that's a lie, I need you and I just can't possibly see my life without you in it. Without you, I could probably be married to Lord Gray and I know we are both happy that isn't the reality," We both chuckled before I continued. "Freddie, just know this. No matter where we are or who we're with, I will always be looking at him and with you because you are now my husband to be, and I wish to be your wife forever." I confessed.

I rested my head on his chest and I heard his heartbeat making me calm, I closed my eyes and hugged him, he hugged me back.

"Your wish has been granted, my love." Prince Friederich kissed the top of my head.

[thetiredasthmatic]

The Twisted Fairytale [Welcome Home Fanfic]

Synopsis: Only one person could be Mx. Darling. And it was the time of year where suitors were chosen. But...how did they get here? And more importantly....how do they get out?

Au: Royalty Au (Also Human Au!)

Word Count: 1.5k (4 and a half pages!)

Warnings: Scopophobia, Stalking, excessive eye contact (it's wally so it's expect lol), obsession and devotion, kidnapping.

A/n: OH BOY DO I LOVE A GOOD TWISTED FAIRYTALE- I'll talk more at the end. Hope Ya enjoy!

edit: I may or may not be continuing this or not, it was kinda just a one off idea i had in my head. I'll probs be focusing on writing other stuff more and take a mini break from writing for welcome home! and I don't want to be disrespectful by continuing to write for this series! I hope you guys understand and stick around to see what else I have in store!

“Y/n! Y/n! You should go! What’s the worst that can happen?”

“I don't know, Ms. Joyful…”

Your boss, Ms. Julie Joyful huffed. You worked for the fashion designer in the west district of the kingdom of the Welcome, a beautiful and colorful land filled with amazing people.

Ms. Julie was bestfriend with the Prince of this land, so she was something of a royal advisor, so she got the scoop of when things were happening in the kingdom.

It just seems that today she found out that they are looking for a suitor for the Prince. She explained her reasoning for wanting you to do it, as she thinks you’d make great royalty and you’d be wonderful.

But you, a commoner from the farming district knew better. 

That and the prince creeped you out a bit…but you weren’t going to tell her that.

You hated it whenever you had to go to the castle with her. You always felt like you were being watched, judged, like someone was waiting on you to make everyone move...

Hell, besides that, you still were in shock how you managed to get this job working alongside Ms. Joyful, so you could only imagine what the competition for the Prince’s hand would be like.

“Well! Whether you like it or not! You’re going Y/n! I don’t want you to pass up this opportunity! Plus, Sally and Poppy recommended you too!”

You wanted to slowly disappear.

Like maybe you could go hop in the river.

Or you could ask Eddie Dear to ship you off to Alaska.

You wanted to be anywhere but here right now...

Ms. Sally was an amazing actor who over saw the entertainment district alongside Barnaby, the prince’s right hand. She was always coming to you so she could get more ideas for scripts or costume designs for her latest plays!

While You already knew Ms. Poppy was going to recommend you as well, she was like a mother type figure to you.

When you arrived in the farming district of Welcome, you had little to no memory of where you came from, just your name.

It was strange when you try to remember it, you remember being pulled somewhere and falling before you ended up falling face down in Ms. Poppy's garden.

She took you in and showed you the ropes when it came to farming, and the rest is history. She was the reason why you worked alongside Julie as she saw you had talent that shouldn't be wasted with farming.

You should have know they were gonna throw your name in the bunch.

You could only sigh in response.

“So when do I leave Ms. Julie?”

“Um..Now actually! Barnarby has been waiting on us this entire time!’

You whipped your head around an low and behold there stood the large, blue haired male with a big grin on his face. He gave a sheepish grin as Julie marched over to him, handing your bags to him.

“Come one! I’m gonna take you up there!”

“Y-yes..ma’am..”

You allowed yourself to be led by the two, your fate resting in their hands until you arrived at the castle. But you felt a burning sensation in the back of your head, almost as if your body was trying to tell you something.

Like it was trying to tell you that this was a bad idea…

—------------

When the three of you arrived, Julie walked through the halls of the Welcome Palace with you, entering the meeting room and passing a trio of other women.

They glared at you with filthy glances until they jumped at the shrill yell Julie let out.

“WALLLYYYYYYYYY!!!!!! I BROUGHT MY CANDIDATE CHOICE!!!”

It was silent for a bit after her yell before a Monotonous voice could be heard coming down the hall.

“Coming! You don’t have to yell Julie, I already knew you had arrived!”

That voice belonged to the prince, and you quickly joined the others as he rounded the corner. You felt like your breath had been taken away.

Prince Wally Darling, or Prince Darling as he so lovingly went by, is a beautiful man, glowing brown skin, pretty dark blue eyes, well done hair and a handsome face to seal the deal. 

He knew how attractive he was and he was not afraid to use it.

He then walked over to Julie, engaging in conversation with her, and you let out a sigh of relief.

Until she pointed at you.

You felt your body tense as his eyes followed Julie’s finger and you could’ve sworn when you made eye contact his pupils dilated a bit before returning to normal.

You wanted to go back to the time when you didn’t know he existed right about now.

Wally then tilted his head in confusion before turning to Julie. “I thought it was supposed to be seven, not five?” Wally asked and Julie giggled,

“Sally and Poppy chose Y/n as their choice too! She’s just that lovely!”

You could feel the other girls glare at you at Julies statement.

You wanted to roll your eyes and yell that they could have him, that you were forced to be here really.

BUt one other one looked at you with a sheepish look. 

You knew her from your time in the farming district, Her name was Viola Vibrato, a pretty dark skinned woman with pretty green hair and matching yellow-green eyes. She was your only friend in the entire kingdom besides Julie and Sally.

She was an amazing singer so it was weird to see her here.

And it appeared she didn't want to be here herself...

She seemed to look uncomfortable as well, and she quickly made her way over to you.

“Psst. Y/n can we talk real quick?”

“Yea, Sure!”

Viola then grabbed your hand and headed in the direction of what you could only assume were bedrooms. A pair of eyes following you as you were pulled along.

Turns out Viola was the first one to be brought to the palace for this little suitor selection, so she had a room in the Palace already. She hurriedly pulled you into the room before closing the door.

You took notice of how she was acting…She seemed a bit…

Paranoid.

“Vio…are you okay?..” You asked as you watched her check around the room.

It was liked she was looking to see if someone or anyone was listening in on you two. She checked every part of the room until she felt comfortable. 

When she finally stopped she grabbed your shoulders.

“Y/n. we need to get out of here.” 

You were shocked by her words and tilted your head in confusion, prompting her to continue on.

“We don’t belong here Y/n…”

“I mean of course we don’t were farmers in a royals-”

“No! There’s something off about this place! About the prince! Hell even about the advisors!”

You stared at her, reading the worried look on her face. 

“Don’t you find it strange that you don’t remember anything about your past life? That we woke up here in this sunshine and rainbows kingdom!?”

You then averted your gaze to the ground. She was right. Viola had explained how she had also woken up in the farming district, barely being able to remember a thing about where she came from until she started having these weird dreams.

Dreams of being chased down by something unknown yet all seeing..

The feeling of eyes just on her, even when she was out in the open she felt eyes on her. Or how she had met others who felt the same way that she did, but when they brought their feeling up, they disappeared as quick as they arrived in the kingdom.

“Don’t you think it’s weird that we of all people were chosen to be here? It’s like they’re setting us up for something…” Viola finished and you gave her a nod.

You had always thought this castle and the kingdom was a bit odd. 

You questioned how the district ran if people never paid for anything, or how the shops were able to keep their stock high, despite not charging a thing for their goods. Why did the kingdom only have one scientist and one mailman, or how did Wally even become prince?

“So what do we do, Vio?...we can’t just get up and leave!”

“We fake the funk until we can figure out what the hell is going on.” She answers quickly.

“We fake it until we can-”

A rapid knock cut Viola off followed by Barnaby’s voice.

“Umm, Ms. Viola, it is time for bed! I have to show Ms. Y/n to her room.”

Viola looked at you, before nodding and allowing you to leave out the room, the situation you already didn’t want to be in seems like it just got worse…

When you did reach your room and bid Barnaby goodnight, you still felt like eyes were on you. Though you knew you were alone in the room.

You sighed and decided to finally sleep it off, especially with the information that Viola had just told you. You snuggled up in your bed and hoped and prayed that nothing was coming to get you in your sleep…

—------

‘Y/n….Darling…

You slowly opened your eyes, only to find yourself in a dark void. You let out a shriek of fear as you realized there were eyes in the void. And said eyes were staring at you.

‘My….darling…you’re not leaving me are you..?’

You were frozen with fear as the eyes bore down on you.

‘You don’t get to leave…not after i did all this work to bring you here…’

With that phrase you quickly scrambled away, where you were running? You didn’t know but you just wanted to get the feeling of eyes off your back.

‘Don’t leave me! Where are you going!?’

You covered your ears, you felt like someone was watching you, that the voice you was hearing was in your head, so no matter how hard you try to block it out, You could hear it booming in your head.

All you could do is effortlessly run and hope that you would get away wake up

Wake up..

Wake up.

No matter what you do you need to WAKE UP-

You jolted away, only to be met with the black void of your room. You quickly reached over to turn on your lamp.

Suddenly, You didn’t feel like sleeping anymore….

------------

"Do you like her?..."

......

"Yea...She's not like the others...she's the perfect piece.."

....

....

"Do you really think so? You think she'll become my Princess?.."

...

.........

"Okay. I can't let this one get away.."

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

a/n: OKAYYYY I hope you all enjoyed! I do like to take time when working on these longer fics and I take great care whenever I'm developing a universe! So there will be small things that I may come back and change! But I hope you all enjoy!

Also Don't forgot to leave requests for me or if you just want to say hi and talk about other ideas! Don't be afraid to!

Till next time <3 Take care of yourselves and I love you all!

[oph3liatlou]

— WHITE ORCHIDS

pairing(s) - prince!nikolai lantsov x sarcastic!f reader

word count - 920

warnings - none, just pure fluff.

proofread? - yes

note from author - totally not based off nikolai and zoya 🫣

summary - nikolai is looking for a queen, for ravka - he knows what’s best for the country yet, he can’t stop thinking about you.

Nikolai was forced to pick a Queen for the Ravkan court - and quite soon. He sighed gently looking over possible suitors for himself.

He had always been a man of business but, he also tended to follow his heart - which, made options practically impossible. He thought of the perfect person for himself.

“Hello?” You asked, pulling him out of his day dream. You didn’t care that he was the future king, nor did you care about labels like moi tsarevich. Regardless, you liked to believe Nikolai thought of you as a friend. “Are you even listening to me?” You snapped, in your usual blunt way.

“Huh?” He asked looking up from his idle staring, now looking at you. Your beauty radiated, warming his otherwise dullened heart.

“Sorry…yes, yes - I’m listening.” He says, smiling softly as he gazes back at her through his green eyes. “What were you saying again?”

You rolled your eyes at him in annoyance. “If you were listening, you would have known what I said." You grumbled, as you flipped through a stack of papers. Nikolai had asked you to help him narrow down the suitors for a Queen - he said you had great judgement.

Nikolai ignored the fact that you were obviously irritated with him. “Well, let’s see…” He looked over your shoulder at the papers you were reading. “Do you have any favourites for me? Any names that stick out at first glance?” His voice had his usual arrogance and charm to it.

You shook your head in disgust. “All of these people are-“ You went to say an inappropriate insult, but decided against it. “-unqualified.”

Nikolai laughed. “Well, that’s quite…frank, isn’t it?” He chuckled again in amusement. “We do have some time, I can arrange for some new suitors after all. Perhaps we can also consider other countries?” He suggested.

This brought a small chuckle out of you - even though it was still sarcastic. “Like any Fejerdan or Shu Han would marry you…”

“I don’t see how that’s so far-fetched. Plus, we could make an alliance out of it.” Nikolai said, slightly annoyed at your comment. “I’m the future of Ravka - also handsome and intelligent…who wouldn’t want to marry me?”

You raised another eyebrow at him, looking up at him from your papers. “Was that a rhetorical question or - should I answer you?” You smiled sarcastically.

Nikolai smirked at you shaking his head. “I do enjoy your…remarks - it’s amusing.” He said playfully. “So go ahead - who wouldn’t want to marry me?”

“Lots of people.” You scoffed.

He gave you another smile. “You are quite the wit.” He said, “Does my status alone, not make me desirable?”

You sighed. “Ravka is poor now, since the Darkling destroyed it. Your status doesn’t matter anymore.” You paused before continuing. “You should change the currency into gold, that way we’d profit more with the ports and the ships.” You trailed off flipping through more papers.

Nikolai thought on your solution for a moment. He knew you were right. “Doing that would also make Ravka more desirable for the other countries - not that I really want to marry into them.” He muttered the last sentence under his breath.

But you heard him anyway. “Why not?”

He wasn’t sure if he needed to explain himself or not. “The Shu Han have their strict cultural rules, the Fejerdans have their…obsession with blood.” He said carefully. “I doubt they’d want to make an alliance with Ravka - and I doubt I fit their criteria.”

He had a point. “Well, then what do you want?” You continued. “Because I hate to break it to you but, these women are all useless.” You grumbled pointing to the papers again and walking towards the window.

Nikolai sighed. “I know these candidates are not…good choices. Which is why I had asked for your help.” He paused thinking and then speaking again. “I have…a personal preference, you know?”

You laughed turning back towards him. “You’re seriously an idiot if you marry one of them-“

Nikolai was getting a little annoyed at your statements. “You’re saying I should ignore the expectations and rules of the monarchy and instead, marry someone I desire?” He asked in a teasing voice. “Because, I already have someone in mind I’d want to be my wife.” He said charmingly.

You knew what he was getting at, you had known all along but - you were also too stubborn. “Good for you,” You paused. “I guess you don’t need my help anymore then.” You also, didn’t want to make the situation more awkward.

He was your best friend. And admitting it, would make it all too real.

Plus the fact that he was a prince and you, we’re just a simple Grisha.

Nikolai chuckled, he knew you knew. It was all just unspoken words. “Who’s to say she’d want to marry me anyway…” He stated.

“She wouldn’t.” You admitted. “Not yet anyway.”

“You sound quite confident about that.” He said teasingly. “Are you suggesting that I need to win her over?” He asked with a smirk.

You smiled at your banter. “I’m sure she’d appreciate some flowers.”

Nikolai rolled his eyes at your suggestion with a smile. “You seem to know a lot about her.”

You smiled with a nod before turning to leave the room. You paused for a moment. “I prefer white orchids.”

Nikolai was at a loss for words for a moment as his eyes followed you walking into the hall.

[homuracar]

personal complaining rant about haikyuu and hypermasc fanart--because!!! speaking exaggeratedly for fun, and because i don't think anyone's reading

i just saw very very veryvery cute sakuushi art, right after seeing some haikyuu fanart that i really do not like... thing i've realized is i think i hated a lot of the haikyuu fandom so much because, a lot of the art was very masculine LOL. it'll depend on the fandom side ofcourse... and it's not like everyone drew it like that. but i was always stupid and crazyparticular sometimes. hypermasc depictions of characters, in haikyuu fandom i reaaaally hated it. especially because my favorite was ushijima (>_>) it was over. i didn't know how to explain it back then because i was a kid and totally disconnected from that thought, i decided it was because i didn't like my fav being sexualized(complete lie lmao)

a lot of haikyuu fandom sees the boys more as love interests in like, an otome game? or something. or potential husbands. which is fair, people can do what they want... i don't care... well i do care because i hate the drawings and i hate the depictions. but this is my own problem mostly, i didn't end up aligning with most of fan's views on it. ushijima isn't my husband... (gnaws hand) i wouldn't intrude like that... he wouldn't see me like that even if i wanted him to be my wife..... and i would pale in comparison to his other suitors(is now just crazed). not only that i don't align with their shipping views either?! if i was bored by most of the main pairs the fandom decided on when i first got into haikyuu, by now i basically hate them. fuck bokuaka and fuck that one fanfic. (seethe) well actually the ship is fine, most ships are fine or would be fine if i didn't think a lot of the fanwork was atrocious about the characters lol. my art leans feminine, and most of my preferences does too. but i didn't Like the characters that fans decided was feminine like that. i didn't care for them, or i didn't even see them like that! maybe my view of what is fem/masc is a little too jumbled up, but i abide by it. fuck all of this. fuck you. and fuck ushioi. oiushi is fine. ushioi nearly made me dislike oikawa with it's sheer force. oikawa is fine actually he's funny. in fact ushijima and oikawa's relationship IS interesting... i just hate 90% of what i saw of it fanon-wise. sakuushi is precious to me, because gap moe is super. i never liked sakuatsu and i probably never will. i love atsumu but this is not where he should beee...(rolls around). it also made me despise mafia aus by instinct. im crazy but heta is kind of fresh air to me for this, so many cutesy art... so many fun art... and the source material goes with it too. if not outright cute then it's funny, which is cute itself! even if it's dark or weird it's still cute. and so much more ryona than i could ever dream of (Im So Happy). at least back then when i was more brain tied to haikyuu, there were the bunch of people who'd make more cute art. in english fandom, the cartoonish funny cuteness. i find easian fandoms get the characters down in a way i like much more most of the time tho lol. for some reason the jokes people pick up on are different? like you don't see obsessive fan shirabu in english fandom LOL. but seasian fandom does a lot of handsome ultramasc husbando haikyuu fanart(gnaws hand). that's not surprising... i know indonesians like manboobs... whatever idon't even care. i don't care. i don't.

i'm complaining so i might as well, but saddening to me when art of characters being feminine felt so limited. especially for the characters with more "masculine" bodytypes(fuck all of you). again my view of fem/masc is a little jumbled, or kind of weird so my words don't mean much here. but i never understood why characters were so limited by fans in it. if a ""masculine""(fuck you) character were to be given like, a dress, or feminine clothing, it'd be like, deliberately an outlier in some way. like for the "absurdity" of it... they'd never shut up about the absurdity too... i don't care if it's sexualization it's just really annoying to keep being like this guy is so masculine but he's wearing a dress!!! crazy right!!! look how annoyed he is scowling and jaw hard and muscles tense!!! don't you see how crazy masculine he is while in that dress!!!! i'll kill you all. characters flustered in dresses is cute. nobody understands. it's over. it's just strange to see, the only characters where anyone ever acknowledges their feminine traits are whoever people decide are twinks. the characters who isn't usually get focus on how dominant and masculine they are. No i think ushijima has feminine traits? fuck all of you. it's kind of my fault for preferring feminine things while falling in love with strong/big characters LOL. fml... not my fault the fandom's dearest chosen twinks are MID and not WIFE MATERIAL. i don't like twink atsumu miya actually but he's still a cute puppy. okay? fuck. can't we balance this out. can't a cute girlfriend who gets red in the face also work out and be professional athletes? can't tall fit girls faces get flushed confessing to you? do you hate me? why can't everyone be cute girls is it so wrong? look they're slice of life-ing isn't this so cute?!?! don't you agree that it's cute to see them eat meat buns in the snow and have puffs of breath show up?! i'll just yuribend them all. i guess

i say this but i also just never rly gravitate towards more petite or smaller characters. so. lol. and if they have a shy timid pathetic personality it makes me want to see them seme more... lol... the predicament. all the characters with aura is decided seme tch.... which makes sense... tch.. i guess... i'll accept that ame makes sense seme/uke(but i'd never ever let him or draw him seme don't get me wrong.) but i won't allow it for ushijima. im smiling at the sky. my girlfriends are so cu

but if you dig you can find fanart of them in super very cute artstyles! the core of haikyuu is volleyball fun after all. most of the time the characters behave very endearingly, rather than the super macho mafia bosses people are so insistent on. for the majority of it's runtime they're stupid teenage boys, and even after timeskip they're having good fun. they're happy and loving. i really can't stand a lot of the fanart. but if you find right you will find the best the cutest the sweetest. (my current heta twt used to be the acc i used scouring for cute haikyuu fanart and posting them LOL... i still follow some haikyuu accounts bcz of it)(korean sakuushi art!!! the absolute best!!!) ones that really understand haikyuu's cuteness. it's still a manga dear to my heart, even tho i'll avoid checking in the fandom 90% of the time.

[smallraindrops-blog]

Dear Raindrops, You are feeding us well as we wait for the new chapter! Do you, by chance, have any drabbles or other au idea you would be willing to share as we wait? (Only if you want to!)

That said, I hope you're doing well and have a good rest of your day!

Sorry for the late response. Im getting close with the current chapter and i need to dump out this out of my brain so here. Odyssey AU

Tw: for SA, violence, death, the typical greek myth shit.

Sometimes I wondered if I should had completely gone a different way with Y/N. Bc like imagine Y/N joining the ill-fated journey and like at first everything seemed to be going fine.

Yeah, he is grieving, homesick for a place and time and people who no longer existed. But his parents’ ashes are close by, and something about going into the wild blue yonder helped.

A journey to an unknown place like your parents.

Then… shit started to go sideway.

It all started with that goddamn island. Y/n was originally almost left on the ship although he offered to come with.

“Lad, you are not a friendly face. I need men who that don’t make people want to run in the other direction.”

“You also need men who will scare people into obeying.”

“… well, i can’t disagree with that.”

so y/n is listening about the food-cave and is like bullshit but he knows better than to go against Odyssey too much in front of his men.

When exploring the cave, Y/N doesn’t noticed until too late that some of the men killed a sheep.

Of course, they picked the worst sheep to kill first.

The favorite sheep.

Afterwards the battle of with Cyclopes, with the other crew members -who didn’t see their comrades get crushed/eaten- celebrating around him, Y/n just stares out into the sea and wondered if he should have gone with his original plans.

Just another nightmare among the many.

then there was the bag.

Y/n knew immediately that was no treasure, the god said not to open the damn bag.

Don’t. open. the. damn. bag.

They opened the bag.

Because y/n had apparently decided to follow a captain that the gods hated. Of course, he did because would anything ever go right?

And Poseidon nearly wipe them all out.

“Odysseus-“

“I know, I know-“

“I regret the day i met you.”

“Yeah, I hear that a lot.”

Then the witch, Circe and y/n had lost count of many men they had lost. He also doesn’t know exactly what going on between her and Odyssey but y/n just knew it wasn’t good.

“Y/n?“

“Yeah, Myron?”

“That pig there, it looks pretty wild, I don’t think it is one of our crew member.”

“No, that is Onias. I remember the birth mark on his lower back.”

“How do you know about that birthmark?”

“… look, pigs are off the table completely until they change back.”

When y/n learn that about the journey to the underworld, he couldn’t sleep. When they made it inside, he kept looking for his parents. Surely he would see something.

But he didn’t.

It took everything in him not to jump overboard and search for them. They were happy now. They should be at rest but surely this would had gotten their attention. They were happy here right?

Right?

…

Right?

Somehow y/n didn’t get killed by Zeus, the god too pissed off at Odysseus y to realized he miss y/n ( and y/n wonders if the gods actually hate him too and that why he can’t seem to die.)

“Lad-“

“Don’t speak, keep paddling.”

“I have a plan-”

“Shut. It”

Calypso was a hot mess and Y/N spent of his time far of time far away. Although there was a few times he was also forced into her bed.

He and Odysseus don’t talk about it.

Eventually

They made it home.

Only not really.

Because Y/N didn’t realized that Odyssey might not be completely sane when it came to his beloved wife ( gods, just kill him if y/n ever ends up that insane over a single person. No one is worth all this pain.)

and because Y/n literally hates himself, he ends working side by side with Odyssey looked like homeless men and when one of the suitors go too far, helps kill all 108 of them.

And later, Y/N is cleaning the blood awkwardly of his blade on a dead man’s clothes, feeling a little guilty because it is clear even to him that Penelope put a lot of time and effort into keeping a very lovely home and now there is blood and bodies everywhere.

Even on her roses.

Poor Telemachus looked traumatized, the young man didn’t know where to look it seems.

Odyssey and Penelope just leave them alone.

Y/n sighed.

Why didn’t he just die in the war like everyone else?

“Ah, are you a friend of my father’s?- sir?”

“More like his pet jester.”

“Oh… Do- do you want a bath?”

“Yes, please.”

and when odyssey finds him later, he just beams at Y/N, “see lad, i told you that it would be worth it.”

Y/n just down another cup of wine.

~

Later he met Hypnos and realized that maybe Odysseus’ respond to the suitors was maybe not that insane.

[pileontheyears]

“So Ryan and Laura...” (Lovers Card Analysis)

I know people talk about Ryan and Laura not having any romantic chemistry and it’s bizarre to say that there was any romance between them. And while I agree about they're not really being chemistry, I do think the writers were trying to make them love interests (and did a terrible job). So I decided to do an analysis of their relationship (this is what I'm using my English degree for) and I thought I’d share my thoughts because boy I’ve got some stuff to say.

And of course feel free to take this all with a grain of salt, these are just my interpretations and I'm also by no means an expert in tarot (I'm really not all that familiar and any familiarity comes from a google search). Just wanted to make those quick notes so that if you don't agree I totally get it! I do try to address the most common points for why people don't see Ryan and Laura in a romantic light and while I agree I try to show what I think the writers might have been Attempting to do.

The more obvious points are of course from the script itself. How there’s “sexy sparks” between the two, how Laura begrudgingly says trauma can bring people together (as if to say it didn’t bring her and Max together), how Laura brings up Ryan’s relationship to Kaitlyn and his reply of “maybe neither” to whether he likes Kaitlyn or Dylan perhaps insinuating his choice is going to be Laura.

And it's... bad writing. For instance, Laura pins Ryan as a “brooding loner” when she’s known him for an hour and in that time he’s been talkative/around people/acting as leader. How would she know he's a brooding loner? Not to mention her saying Kaitlyn seems to look up to him when it’s the opposite of what she’s seen? (Ryan potentially asking Kaitlyn what he should do, her scolding him for pointing the gun at Laura). But all of that is not the point of this post. I’m bringing these moments up to say this relationship is a lot of tell with little show, (and what we're told we've already been shown the opposite).

If you didn’t pick up there was “chemistry” then Dylan and Kaitlyn will tell you that. If you think Ryan is interested in Dylan because you chose to grow that relationship, Ryan is going to say no. (Of course you could interpret the "after tonight I don't know" line that Ryan is understandably not sure of anything given the circumstances, I myself interpret it that way however the "maybe neither" definitely is this additional "Ryan chooses neither Kaitlyn nor Dylan" and perhaps there is an unasked question of will he then choose Laura?) That being said, I don't think if any of the “these guys are into each other” lines were in the script people would have even thought they were flirting/interested in each other (it would still be a ship some people like based on how they work together to survive akin to Sam and Mike but again at least that script didn't constantly point out romantic/sexual tension in between horror scenarios).

So when people say there’s no chemistry and the relationship is more “we have to work together but I’m gonna bitch at you the whole time" I agree, but the game kind of throws Laura at Ryan (her literally falling on top of him) after revealing the Lovers card depicting Laura biting Ryan’s arm. We know it, we hate it, but this is where my analysis comes in.

Aside from the obvious fact that Ryan and Laura are labeled as the lovers, the card itself has a few layers to it that I’ll go through.

The first being choices, specifically choices in relationships/partners. Now when I first read that I thought “Great, that doesn’t mean Ryan is her choice perhaps he just is one choice.” But the context makes it so he’s kind of her only choice if Ryan is going to survive. The context being Ryan can let Laura bite him in order to save him from blood loss, or he can refuse which leads her to reuniting with Max. There is no way for her to reunite with Max without Ryan dying. What that insinuates with the context of choice of suitor is... yikes. Basically Laura “choosing” Max comes from Ryan dying, and the implication that in order for Ryan to survive that he and Laura are somehow bonded romantically from that point on. Hate both of those, actually.

Now we move onto the next meaning of this card, temptation. This is where we go full analysis mode. The original Lovers card depicts Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. After all what better example of temptation than Adam and Eve biting into the forbidden fruit. And what does Laura do? She bites Ryan. He is her forbidden fruit. And where does this scene take place? The Hackett greenhouse.

A garden.

It’s not exactly subtle. There’s also the parallel of Ryan being stabbed in the ribs, Eve being made from the rib of Adam. 

So alright, they’re drawing parallels between Adam and Eve and Ryan and Laura (bringing about the downfall of humanity/the Hacketts). But does this mean that Laura is “giving into temptation” by saving Ryan’s life? I mean that sounds stupid. And maybe her "temptation" is more-so the werewolf curse and giving into that but then why point out "sexy sparks?" Why have Laura ask if Ryan is flirting with her? Why label them lovers? It may just be that stupid because I also found this in Chris’s office when playing as Dylan. This book is right by Ryan, right where Dylan asks if he has a girlfriend or boyfriend. 

Maybe it's a reference to the love triangle between Ryan, Dylan, and Kaitlyn. But the title? ...The King of My Gardens?

Not looking like a coincidence anymore. They were planting this seed early on. And the fact that the only foreshadowing of Ryan and Laura is this book cover that no one is going to see (unless they scower through each corner of the game like I do) that’s not even writing.

I love nothing more than when writers put in extra effort with little things like this that a casual viewer won’t see but it just goes to show that even if you do that it can’t make up for bad writing and a lack of chemistry. I’m sure some people like the pairing but to me it’s introduced way too late after the player has invested time in other relationships.

Perhaps Dylan and Kaitlyn aren't reliable when they talk about Laura and Ryan, and if that was the Only instance the game tries to put Ryan and Laura together I would agree but twice is a coincidence, three times is a pattern and man is there a pattern here.

As for Laura yes she is going through all of this for Max but it depends on the players choices how that relationship is going. After all, she could have left him at the very beginning of the game. While Laura's choice to save Max is always the same in order for the story to stay on track, her motive could be from love or perhaps a sense of loyalty/duty (Ryan's and Laura's loyalty being what brings these two together, be it romantically or out of admiration but I can see that's probably why the writers were trying to put them together because they respect how far they're willing to go for the people in their lives).

So if the player's choices hurt Laura and Max's relationship and she starts bonding with Ryan, the camera lingering on her smiling after Ryan says "maybe neither" could be read as her being interested. After all she asks (curiously? hopefully?) how close he is with Kaitlyn, insinuating she's trying to figure out if he's available. Maybe that's not the case or maybe it's due to her werewolf infection but the game doesn't show her fighting back against it so it seems to be presented as genuine. Regardless of the viewer's interpretation the relationship as a whole could have been presented better (let their be an option if the player really doesn't want Ryan with either Dylan or Kaitlyn to turn them both down early on and if Laura's relationship with Max has also plummeted then sure add another relationship path, but let the player choose which relationships will become romantic).

And I know these games aren’t dating sims, the point of these horror survival games is, well, survival. But literally every other Supermassive Game puts just as much emphasis on character relationships (and a lot of emphasis on romantic relationships) as they do survival (Chris and Ashley, Alex and Julia, etc.) And for a game to be all about how your choices matter and then have them not really matter when it comes to the relationships they bring attention to? When they do in every other game? 

It feels like Supermassive just told me “It’s Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve.”

[spot-splatter-splash]

Okay okay hm, any thoughts on Jewel and Storm E. relationship(or one/the other), I want to know what other people think about them

Cause, I to, have thoughts about them

I just think their neat and fruity

Jewel and Storm E.'s dynamic is one of my favorites!

They are polar opposites on the surface. Designed to clash with their aesthetics and their interests. Jewel likes being the center of attention and pink frilly hyper femineity. She's organized and likes to feel in control. Storm E. is rather reserved letting others take the spotlight and while not rejecting femineity doesn't participate in it to the extreme Jewel does. She likes a little chaos and watching it play out.

Yet both girls are rather similar under the surface. Both have a tendency to fixate on themselves. Sometimes at the expensive of others. Neither one do it out of malice but it is a byproduct. Both are heavily opinionated and don't often hesitate to voice it. And its those similarities that cause them to clash the most.

I love Storm E. and Jewel's relationship.

Storm E. enjoys annoying Jewel. She likes getting a reaction from her. Jewel is easy to tease and fluster so its fun to her. And it's clear that Storm E. knows her well enough to know what makes her tick but also what she enjoys.

Jewel likes receiving the attention. Storm E. may annoy her but she also makes things interesting in a way the other girls don't. Her and Storm E. are capable of getting along. In L.A.L.A Prep specifically she states that she enjoys the playful rivalry and finds it equally fun. In We're Lalaloopsy its more competitive but even then she still wants Storm E. to like her.

Coming at this from a fandom/shipping perspective they're dynamic is equally fun. A mundane princess and a reserved musician? Sign me up. Jewel and Storm E. developing feelings for one another would be such a hot mess. Storm E. would assumes she's sick before she'd recognize it as being a crush. And Jewel would deny deny deny for as long as she possibly could.

In the L.A.L.A. Prep canon the idea of a Jewel catching feelings first amuses me. Storm E. is her self established rival. They're polar opposites! Storm E. is not a suitable suitor for a Princess such as herself. Surely it's just a fluke. But Storm E. challenges her in a way that's engaging and has an energy she's never seen before. She's mysterious and reserved. Tall, dark, and foreboding in an alluring way. And then when Storm E. smiles it sticks with her. It was weird at first but she cant stop thinking about it. It drives her nuts because how is she, student body president, suppose to go about handling a crush on her rival without kneecapping her social status.

In the We're Lalaloopsy canon it being Storm E. who falls first and falls hard is so humorous to me. She's just like her Cat now. What happened to not getting attached! And of all the people in the town WHY JEWEL. Begrudgingly she has to admit to herself that she finds Jewel pretty and kind of funny. That she likes getting a rise out of her because she finds Jewels mannerisms endearing. That she is 'unfortunately' enamored by her pompous neighbor. That she finds her cute.

[katshuya]

The possibility that Arthur and Elia had a romantic relationship is not impossible, but some people deny it simply because they dislike the idea. Aemon crowned Naerys could be one hint. Arthur didn't. He probably blamed himself over that. His sad smile at the end can be due to his failure in protecting her and regreting that he never married Elia when she visited Starfall and spared her the horrible fate. George loves helpless tragic romance. You have to put that in mind the huge parallel between Aemon and Arthur.

You are absolutely right, Anon. I do not want anything romantic between these two.

I will talk about it from Canon and Fanon's perspective. Because I believe taking a look at the fanfictions helps you understand why these two are hard to be accepted as romantic, especially in Canon since this is also what you are talking about. The possibility of them being Canon.

I do not think Arthur was having any emotional affair with Rhaegar's wife, nor I think Elia did the same with Rhaegar's friend

I understand the hints. The similar parallels with Aegon-Naerys-Aemon's situation.

But one could argue that Arthur was worse to Elia than Aemon was to Naerys.

What did he do for her? We know nothing except that maybe he regretted not marrying her to save her from her fate.

And that would be a regret out of guilt, not love.

I like to think that he regretted not saving her.

Another thing is I always say how I don't trust Gerorge. Shoving the romance between Arthur and the Dornish princess would be a really vile way to get people to be more forgiving with Rhaegar x lyanna COmPLeX romance and see Rhaegar in a better light.

Just because a character thought, "If only I had been with that person, everything would have been better," Doesn't mean it is romance. Shippers are going to ship and make the coolest, most romantic fanarts, which is fine, but it doesn't mean it is oh so romancic just because a character thought of a better outcome that could have been.

Is there a romance between Sansa and Willas? She kept repeating his name, dreaming of marrying him, but is that romantic? It is just a thought of a better outcome compared to the current situation. Of what could have been. I know at least Arthur and the princess knew each other, but still.

Also, Oberyn said that he blames Baelor Hightower out of all Elia's suitors. He never said if only Arthur married her.

Doesn't this imply no romance? Or at least Elia didn't find him suitable/possible for her?

As the Dornish princess, his older brother should be the first candidate, but maybe Arthur was involved too, but from what we know, it wasn't him that she was half in love with at the end. It was Baelor. They left Starfall with no agreement.

Nor I think that Arthur started getting infatuated with Elia after she married Rhaegar. It seems out of reach to me.

but let's say Rhaegar won. . .

Would Arthur have left the kingsguard for Elia, or would he have stayed in a secret relationship with her? In the latter, would Rhaegar have known? Would he have approved? Or maybe Elia was going to go back to Dorne, and Arthur would have followed her? It's kind of obvious.

l think the knight who took his vows seriously would have stayed with Rhaegar instead of risking to humilate his friend and king by messing with his wife and the Queen especially if Rhaegar won, the realm would still be in very problematic state. We don't want more houses criticizing Rhaegar for allowing a kingsguard to be so comfortable with the Queen without punishment now.

Even in a scenario that he at the end told himself, "If only I had married her," this doesn't scream romance. This is guilt. He can't just suddenly prioritize her out of nowhere now. It doesn't mean romance. It is just a thought.

Fanarts and fanfiction will not make it any more romance if we go with the canon scenario and continue on a road where Rhaegar won.

The only scenario that is possible for them to have a logical romance for readers, or at least for me, is that he abandoned the tower and went back to save her, which he didn't. It is not canon,

I also read a few one-shots about them, and I liked them because I wanted to see Elia have some justice. But they never go into details if Rhaegar knew, if anyone knew, or any other things that should be dealt with in order for them to be together.

A whole multi-chapter fanfction is usually very different than the Canon when it comes to these two and how they can be together with few to no realstic scenarios that kills important points in the canon. I'm not trying to sound rude, but the most possible one is where they escape to Essos, but still, I doubt Arthur Dayne would escape.

I'm not shaming. I'm just saying it's hard and complicated unless you ignore the Canon.

That's why I enjoy and read the no details one shot. I still prefer to read realistic things if they are going to be using canon materials.

So no. I see no romance, and if it's going to be romantic, I'm not going to like it, nor I like George's helpless tragic romance, as you said.

[danwhobrowses]

One Piece Chapter 1097 - Initial Thoughts

So we continue on with the Kuma flashback now

9 Weeks since we last saw Nico Robin though But we have a tragedy we're watching unfold, so let's soak up the brief moment of good times until it all goes bad.

Spoilers for the Chapter, Support the Official Release

A very rare occurrence here, maybe even the second time but it seems like the cover page coincides with the chapter, since it's Kuma catching Salmon (ha, you know because Kuma means Bear) but he keeps pawing them out of existence while Ginny wants to grill them

In fact this may be the first chapter cover to coincide with the events of the chapter, since Pudding's capture cover was implied to be some time before the Law vs Blackbeard fight Pudding was imprisoned on the ship for

Timeline is 30 years ago, 8 years after God Valley

It seems a lot of older people have come to the church in search of Kuma's aid

17 year old pastor Kuma is out here taking the pain away for those who ask, who are usually the elderly

He has the bear ears now, I think it's just his hairstyle really, he's still in his cinnamon roll stage and not his Revolutionary Chad era

They ask if Kuma can do more days, but 21 year old Ginny insists Sundays only, the day of rest

Ginny, who looks more and more like Bonney and has the freckles, is apparently known to be a bit of a cheapskate, she also has a lot of suitors, but the elderly people know she only has eyes for Kumachi

Kuma and Ginny don't even get donations for the church from those they help, but more because of the new king enforcing the tribute to the Celestial Dragons

King Becori (not sure what the pun is) doesn't seem to care for his people, and remains more focused on staying in the Dragons' good graces, even imprisoning those who don't pay tribute, and doesn't even feed them

Why do I have the sinking feeling that all of Becori's sins are gonna be attributed to Kuma as 'The Tyrant'?

But it explains why the elderly want to look healthy, to avoid being killed

The elderly leave and the paw is sti-oh...ohhhhh

The pain has to go somewhere, Kuma has been taking the pain of those who ask for his help

Explains why it's only once a week, as Ginny nurses him back, albeit torn about seeing him in pain

Seems if someone doesn't take the pain it doesn't dissipate, it festers and comes back

Ginny remains iffy about the fact that Kuma has to take on the pain, but her mood lightens up when it's time for food

25 years ago when Kuma's 22, Ginny pops the question

We can't Kuma you live in a church you could do it in 5 minutes

Ginny confronts Kuma's hesitance, knowing that they love each other, but Kuma is holding back out of memory of his father pleading the slavers to spare his wife

There's so much weight in that 'I don't want to make you unhappy'

Topics now change to news about the freedom fighters, precursors to the Revolutionary Army led by Dragon

And Kuma also shares the ambition of saving people like Dragon

The two kids who bullied Kuma last chapter return with fishes, and flirting with Ginny, but this is probably what tied into the cover page

22 years ago, something major happened? I mean 22 years ago I think Roger's execution so...noooo, let's not get that biblical again

25 year old Kuma finally pops off at the royal army for kidnapping people

Apparently there's a new law that ostracizes the southern province

As terrible as it is, Becori's point of 'people will grow accustomed to the inhumane situation until they aren't bothered by it' is quite close to the vein these days

It seems that Becori has gone apartheid on the Sorbet kingdom, ceding ties with the southern province where Kuma and the village of the elderly people and leaving it to be a lawless land

And why? Because the tribute is determined by population, he cut his country in half to pay less

Kuma, Ginny and some others ended up in jail, seems that Ginny and co were arrested trying to protest Kuma's freedom

Kuma's getting close to snapping, knowing that the Sorbet kingdom is getting even worse

But fortunately, the Freedom Fighters are here, led by Dragon and a familiar face

They overthrow Becori - who they call out for wanting to become a Celestial Dragon - then free Kuma and Ginny, leading to a brother sister reunion

In addition, Kuma gets his formal invitation to join the group (Ivankov having talked Kuma up to Dragon it seems) and after Ohara, they are rebranded as the Revolutionary Army

Ginny also joins the army, fitted with the Bonney-esque striped leggings

I mean I think that's Belo Betty and Karasu by the side but can't be sure, the shorter guy looks fairly defined to be a nobody

We see a bit more about the RA's plan of action at this point, since they have no funds they have to act like Mercenaries and essentially assist in rebellion first, that way securing funds, weaponry, numbers and influence

Tbf it's not unlike a Pirate action of plundering lands and securing territory, it's just more tactically against the WG

That's a different logo for the RA than we've seen before, almost looks like a sword, or Arlong's sword and a knife crossed over

Confirmation though that Dragon at the least dipped his feet into the Marine ranks, but left after finding justice

Wonder if that was the best or worst time of Garp's life?

Kuma remains encouraged by Dragon's goal, and in the 8 years he remains a revolutionary, Kuma still finds time to return to Sorbet to take care of the people he worries for

14 years ago now, Ginny remains an image of Bonney and is excited to see Kuma again

She's the Eastern Captain at this point, which would later be Betty's position so you know things are going to happen

A shadowed person's approach preludes the transmission to a face tattooed Dragon; Ginny's been captured

Bartholomew Kuma does not deserve any of this.

That man has suffered and suffered and he deserved to be happy, he was kind and caring and wanted no part in other's suffering and he deserved to be happy, he sacrificed his body, his allegiances and his very soul to protect people and he deserved to be happy.

But more and more it feels like that there will be no happy ending for Kuma, because the happiest moments in his life were always followed by pain, injustice and the looming shadow that they live in a world ruled by the enemy. And yet, this is where it's all about to get worse.

There wasn't any big reveals here, since most suspected Dragon to have been in the marines a bit, I get the feeling though that Kuma never in fact was the King of Sorbet - or at least not officially - and the actions of the past king were worsened to propaganda a Tyrant persona for him, one has to wonder what happens now to make Kuma go this far still.

My guess is that he sticks with the Pacifista program to protect Bonney, who I am growing more convinced in being Ginny's clone rather than biological daughter in the same way Weevil may be for Whitebeard, and maybe by extension Ivankov - who may've gotten captured trying to save his sister also. It's gonna be hard to watch what befalls Ginny either way, Oda has our hearts in a vice grip.

Gotta wonder who was the one that captured Ginny, might not be important but then again you gotta have something to capture a RA captain. Seems amiss too that Ginny would even allow herself to be parted from Kuma.

But yeah, no break again, meaning this is the first time since like June-July that we've had 3 consecutive chapters without a break, but in the process we're going to break Bartholomew Kuma

And he deserved to be happy.