#We really to give them an official ship name

[bicryptide]

season 4 in a nutshell

Based on this trend

[zorobff]

how to disappear. (opla!zoro x fem!reader)

synopsis: joining luffy’s crew made you believe that you’d finally escaped your former pirate crew and nightmare of a captain for good. that is, until a certain butler starts looking a little too familiar. good thing zoro’s keeping a close eye on you.

warnings: opla spoilers (ep 3), some direct dialogue from opla, mentions of verbal/physical abuse, kuro is just a weirdo tbh, reader is called a bitch, protective zoro, for the sake of the story sham and buchie joined the black cat pirates after reader left

word count: 4.7k

“this guy is full of shit.”

you knock your shoulder into zoro’s wider one. “be nice. and so what if he is?” 

zoro gives you a pointed glare. “then we should turn around and look for someone who can actually help us find a ship.” 

“all business, as per usual,” you reply, with a purposefully dramatic sigh. “why can’t you have a little fun?” 

“what about this is supposed to be fun?” zoro spits out the word like it’s poisonous. “this is the blandest village i’ve ever seen.”

you scoff. “now you’re the one that’s full of shit. nothing’s ever bland with us and you know it.” 

the us in question was your newly formed pirate crew… if you and luffy could even be considered that. having left the ship you’d been on a few years ago, you were in search of a new crew. luffy was persistent and charming — when you’d crossed paths in shells town, it took little to no time for him to convince you to join his hunt for the one piece. zoro and nami, on the other hand, had yet to follow in your footsteps. 

“well, considering that we’ve only been traveling together for a day and a half and i’ve already escaped a marine base, defeated a marine captain, and fought a clown with devil fruit powers… i’d actually have to agree.” 

you can’t help but giggle at his sarcastic delivery. “be grateful, zoro. not many pirate crews are this fun to be on, trust me. oh wait, that’s right, you still haven’t officially joined—”

“tell me about your old pirate crew,” interjects zoro, your comment having piqued his interest. 

you notice that the playful atmosphere dissipates. “god, where do i even start?” 

zoro answers that for you. “why did you leave?”

“starting with the hard hitting questions, huh?” you joke, mostly to stall. you clear your throat before you answer. “well, it was different. nothing like what luffy has going on. he actually cares about his crew… and even those who aren’t technically on it.” 

at that, a smile tugs at the corner of zoro’s lips. even you crack a small grin. although as you continue speaking, it fades. 

“on my old crew, we were dispensable. anytime something went wrong, our own captain would threaten to kill us. it was… scary, to be completely honest. there were so many times when i thought i’d die with that filthy crew. and i never wanted that. so as soon as we docked at shells town, i left.”  

zoro’s jaw clenches as imagines the things you’d seen and been subjected to. “this old captain of yours sounds like a real—”

“he was a nightmare,” you tell him. “he didn’t care that i was the only woman on board, he treated me just as horribly, if not worse.” 

zoro stops so suddenly that it takes you a second to realize he’s not walking alongside you.

“what do you mean by that.” the way zoro phrases the inquiry doesn’t even make it sound like a question. more like a demand. his narrowed eyes are fixed solely on you. holding his gaze feels… intense. 

you can’t help but glance away as you answer him. “he was just a bit of a creep.”

before zoro has the chance to try and extract more information out of you, a familiar voice calls both your names. you’re not really sure when you and zoro had fallen behind but from where you currently stand, the rest of your group looks miniature. or perhaps it’s just the massive size of the mansion behind them that makes luffy, nami, and usopp look pocket-sized in comparison. 

“why’d you stop walking?!” your captain shouts, hands pressed on each side of his mouth to amplify his voice. “get over here, we’re about to go in through the top secret entrance!” 

you vaguely make out usopp gesturing for luffy to keep his voice down. you’re sure that would warrant another comment from zoro about his reliability but he’s too busy staring at you with that expectant look in his eyes. 

“we better catch up,” you tell him, heading in the direction of the deluxe home. 

he allows you to dodge the subject and sighs, walking in long strides to catch up to you.  

“i’ve never seen a house this big before,” luffy admits, admiring the mansion along with the wellkept greenery surrounding it. 

“awesome, right?” usopp gloats, walking around like he owned the place. “kaya’s given me an open invitation to drop by anytime i want.” 

“wow.” you’re not sure if luffy was just going along with usopp’s act or if he really believed him. knowing the devil fruit user, it was more than likely the latter. “all this for just one person?”

“well, she lives here with her butler and a few other staff,” usopp replies, leaning against the stone well that sat in the middle of the lawn.

“money really shows you who people truly are,” nami mutters, eyes scanning the property. “most people only care about themselves and what’s theirs.”

zoro is quick to throw the insult back at her. “sounds like someone i know.”

you roll your eyes at his comment, though you make no effort to disagree with him. nami was a little on the materialistic side. 

“and a small staff makes for easy pickings,” she continues, proving your point.

“we just got here and you’re already planning on robbing the place blind?” you ask though you already know the answer.

“at least a little blurry,” she smirks, following behind luffy and usopp who walk toward the entrance. 

you and zoro share a look. one that says disappointed but not surprised. 

going under a shrub shaped as an arch, you’re met with a beautiful pond. you admire the pink lilies that float at the top and the bushes that were intricately trimmed into the shape of various animals. even if the people that lived here were filthy rich, at least they had good decorative taste. 

“so if you have an invitation, why are we going around the back way?” luffy ponders.

usopp’s answer is nonchalant. “oh, i never use the front entrance. like i said, this is the vip entrance reserved for special guests.”

zoro scoffs. “this guy’s definitely–”

“don’t start,” you groan, cutting him off. 

abruptly, usopp freezes and spins around, attempting to usher your crew back. “you know what, there’s actually a more exclusive entrance this way–”

the sharp swoosh of a knife cutting through the air and burying itself in the ground between usopp’s feet cuts him off. from the direction the kitchen utensil was thrown stands a heavyset gentleman with his face wrinkled in anger. his demanding voice booms through the garden, “the hell are you doing here, usopp?” 

the dark-skinned boy fumbles over his word. “buchi, buddy, uh, kaya’s expecting me.”

“another one of your lies,” the man – seemingly named buchi – seethes, grabbing him by the collar. “you ain’t welcome here and you know it.”

“i know nothing of the sort,” usopp retorts, keeping his cool even when he was practically being lifted off the ground by his shirt. “i’m here to give kaya an extra special gift.”

before buchi can get another word out, a feminine voice calls out for your companion. coming down the steps is a frail looking girl in a pink dress. on her arm is a man dressed in a crisp suit, presumably the butler usopp had mentioned earlier. though, from where you stand you can’t see either of their faces too clearly. 

“what a wonderful surprise,” she exclaims, breathlessly. 

“kaya!” usopp exclaims, returning her enthusiasm. buchi has no choice but to let him go, begrudgingly. usopp makes sure to shoot him a smug look before walking towards the young girl. “happy birthday.” 

the butler clears his throat, not afraid to intrude on their special moment. “usopp, we’ve discussed this before. you mustn’t show up unannounced.” 

“nonsense, klahadore.” kaya smiles warmly. “have you come to tell me another story? i do love hearing about your adventures.” 

“i’ll do you one better,” usopp smirks with such confidence that even you’re left wondering what kind of surprise he has up his sleeve. “i brought some of my crew!” he gestures back towards the four of you, proudly. 

your excitement vanishes. “oh. the surprise is… us.”

“well, that’s boring,” luffy agrees, just as disappointed as you are. 

kaya, on the other hand, is none the wiser. “it’s so nice to meet you. you must all stay for dinner.” 

klahadore lowers his voice. “miss kaya, it is a bit last minute. i’m afraid the kitchen hasn’t prepared for any extra guests.”

“please,” begs kaya, softly. “it’s my birthday. can’t be too much trouble can it?” 

giving in, klahadore purses his lips. “anything for you, miss kaya.” 

luffy claps his hands together. “alright! when do we eat?” 

“you don’t. not dressed like that, at least.” the butler directs himself to a staff member with teal colored hair. “sham, kindly show usopp and his friends to the guest suites. you will bathe and change before dinner.”

she follows his orders and leads the way. luffy, usopp, nami, and zoro trail behind her and you go to do the same. however, all it takes is a quick glance to stop you dead in your tracks. usually, you weren’t one to stare but klahadore’s face. that stare. so dark and depraved. 

“yes, miss?” he asks, holding your gaze. “can i help you?” 

“n-no, i…” your throat goes dry as you attempt to recover smoothly. “i just wanted to, um, thank you for being so hospitable.” 

his lips curve upwards into a sinister grin. “the pleasure’s all mine.” as if to confirm your worst fear, klahadore uses his palm to readjust his glasses. his beady eyes gauge your reaction closely.

the familiar gesture sends chills down your spine. appearance-wise, he had changed drastically but his aura was still just as menacing as you remember it. he was still the corrupt pirate captain you used to serve under. you feel like a weak and helpless subordinate all over again.

“klahadore!” giggles kaya. “you’re smiling! that’s certainly a rarity.”

he hums. “i’ve simply come to the realization that having guests once in a while can truly be a delight.”

his sickeningly sweet tone makes your stomach turn. just the fact that you were standing in front of him – captain kuro – again after all these years was nauseating in itself. last you’d heard he had died at the hands of captain morgan. how was this even possible? then again, he wasn’t dubbed kuro of a hundred plans for no reason. he always had a trick or two up his sleeve. you assumed this was no different. 

“hey, you comin’?”

you turn around to see zoro waiting for you. he meets your gaze for a moment. the softness of his eyes is a stark contrast to kuro’s. it’s a breath of fresh air. he then shifts his attention to your former captain and you swear his eyes darken. 

“yeah, sorry,” you mumble, trying not to look shaken as you walk up the steps. 

zoro follows behind you, this time closer than before.

“why would anybody even need this many clothes?”

“it’s not about need with these people, luffy. it’s about want,” nami spits, thumbing through the various fabrics on the wall. 

“at least she’s rich and nice,” luffy replies, innocently.

nami rolls her eyes. “yeah, letting us stay for dinner must be her idea of charity work.” 

“what are we even supposed to wear?” luffy continues, uninterested in nami’s criticism of the rich. 

“anything you want. when are you ever going to get the opportunity to wear things this nice?” 

you step out from behind the changing board where you’d swapped out your old tee and cargo skirt for an elegant satin dress. it was a stunning shade of olive green and frilly lace decorated the edges. not to mention, it hugged your curves in all the right ways.

nami’s eyes widen. “see, she’s got the right idea. you look amazing.” 

you smile, bashfully. “honestly, i feel amazing.”

“you look the same to me,” your captain shrugs.

nami shoots him a death glare but you intervene before she can scold him.

“way to keep me humble, luffy.”

“no problem!” 

at that exact moment, a freshly showered zoro arrives donning a silk robe. he eyes the multitude of garments that cover every inch of the room, not particularly impressed. 

“there you are. don’t you think she looks nice?” nami asks him, gesturing towards you. she doesn’t notice how you shrink under zoro’s gaze. neither does he, as his eyes take their time raking over you, from top to bottom.

he hums. “suits you.” with that, he sets off towards a chair in the corner of the room.  

“seriously?” sighs nami, exasperated. “are you two physically unable to give compliments or something?” 

“hey, doesn’t that butler seem familiar to you guys?” zoro asks, promptly ignoring nami’s complaint. 

his question causes your breath to hitch. you’d pushed the kuro problem to the back of your mind while you were in search of a suitable dinner outfit. you figured that as long as your crew was by your side, he wouldn’t dare try anything. and even if he did… well, you’d seen what had happened to axe-hand morgan and buggy. 

“yeah, i think he was at the last dinner party i attended,” nami replies sarcastically, taking a handful of dresses behind the changing board. 

as he takes a seat, zoro grumbles, “i swear i’ve seen him before.” 

“where?” you can’t help but ask, fiddling with the lace on the neckline of your dress. 

“so far, i’ve got two suspicions. a wanted poster or funky bar on mirrorball island. you ever been?”

you know zoro’s teasing you, judging by the grin on his face. after all, funky bar was known to get insanely rowdy; never would he imagine finding someone as gentle as you there. but what he didn’t know is that it happened to be one of kuro’s favorite bars. per his request, you and the rest of the black cat pirates frequented it often, so he was more than likely right about having seen kuro there. he’d probably even seen you in passing, once or twice. thankfully, he doesn’t seem to have any recollection of that.

the thought of zoro knowing about your past forms a knot in the pit of your stomach. would he think less of you for having joined such a ruthless crew at one point in your life? what if it put a strain on the friendship you’d worked so hard to form? 

“i’ve, uh, heard of it,” you decide to reply, pushing down your worries for the time being. 

he tilts his head slightly, thinking out loud. “then again, i have seen a lot of wanted posters and bars in my time as a pirate hunter.”

you feel a grin creep onto your face. “probably more bars than posters, huh?”

zoro mirrors your smile. “shut up.”

by the time dinner rolls around, the entire crew is doing what they do best. 

luffy is stuffing his face, nami is attempting to swindle one of the staff, zoro is hanging by the drinks, and you’re hanging by zoro. 

“hey zoro, you gotta try this!” luffy calls through a mouthful of food.

“i’ve got all i need right here,” he mutters, taking a swig out of his champagne flute. 

“you know, i don’t think i’ve ever seen you choke down something that isn’t alcohol,” you comment, watching the way he downs the glass in one go. 

dryly, he replies, “that’s because i haven’t.”

“very on brand.”

“ladies and gentlemen,” calls out that voice from the top of the stairs. “may i present… miss kaya.”

arm in arm, kuro and kaya walk down the steps, all eyes on the birthday girl and her stunning gown. well, except you. your eyes never leave the so-called butler by her side. your jaw clenches when he has the audacity to meet your gaze and hold it. shameless bastard. 

once they reach the bottom, merry leads kaya to the guests while kuro takes his post at the bottom of the stairs… right next to the drink table. before you can think about steering yourself and zoro away, kuro speaks.

“forgive me if i am speaking out of line, madam, but i must inform you. you look positively radiant,” he purrs, soaking in your appearance. he looks ready to pounce.

you can’t stop your eyes from rolling. good to know he’s the same pervert he used to be.

looking between you both and sensing your discomfort, zoro steps in. “and you look familiar.” 

kuro’s head stiffly turns to face him, eyes peeling away from you. “highly doubtful, sir.” 

“funky bar? mirror ball island?” 

“funky bar?” kuro repeats, disgusted. “well, i can assure you i’ve never patronized that type of establishment.” 

while it was amusing to see your highly esteemed former captain lie through his teeth, the tension between him and zoro was unbearable. 

“well then.” zoro continues with his little interrogation. “ever been on a wanted poster?”

you cringe at his bluntness. sometimes it seemed like he had less of a filter than luffy.

kuro puts on a scandalized face at the question. “sir! such an accusation is highly offensive.” tugging on his collar, he goes to remove himself from zoro’s probing. “now, if you’ll excuse me, i’m going to help prepare the dinner table.” 

he leaves, en route to the dining room. zoro’s eyes follow his figure until he disappears, squinting as he racks his brain for any further recollection of this suspicious butler. 

you sigh. if zoro was going to continue being so relentless, you were sure the night would end in bloodshed and uncovered secrets. 

“keep this coming,” zoro demands, handing the empty wine bottle to sham. she takes it with a glare. 

“would it kill you to say please?” you ask, slicing the slab of fish on your plate into smaller pieces.

“the service here is shitty. why should i have to be polite?” 

you scowl. “remind me to never have dinner with you again.”

zoro turns to you with that cocky grin of his. “what if i asked nicely?” 

his quip makes your heart flutter but you manage to keep your composure. “you can try your luck.” 

before he can respond, usopp speaks up. “luffy, isn’t there something that you wanted to talk to kaya about?” 

luffy gesticulates enthusiastically with his fork. “oh, yes! usopp told me that you own the whole shipyard.” 

“well, actually, my parents founded the shipyard and merry’s been running the business since they… passed. but all that’s about to change. tonight, at midnight, i will become the sole owner.” she smiles somberly. 

“well, that’s great,” luffy says, raising his drink at her. “because we want to buy a ship from you.” 

“ah, i see. usopp mentioned that you’re sailors.” 

“nope, not sailors. we’re pirates!”

you’re certain at least three people at the table choke on their food, yourself included. 

“this ought to be good,” zoro mumbles behind his glass.

you’re too busy coughing into your napkin to chastise him for finding this entertaining.

“pirates?” kaya repeats, unsure of how to react. 

“yup! we haven’t sailed together for very long but we’ve already defeated an evil clown, raided a marine base, and taken down a captain with an axe! for a hand!” luffy holds up a fist, presumably to impersonate axe-hand morgan.

“sounds a lot like your adventures, usopp,” kaya says, turning to the brunette.

all he can do is laugh dryly. “yeah, that’s… that’s crazy.” 

“and we’re just getting started!” luffy continues, climbing up onto the table.

“someone put me out of my misery,” you mumble, looking down at your plate to ignore the secondhand embarrassment.

a tap on your shoulder answers your plea.

turning around, you find yourself face to face with kuro once again. “madam, a word please?”

“might i ask what for?” zoro cuts in before you can so much as think of a response.

kuro offers him the most forced grin you’ve ever had the displeasure of seeing. “i’m afraid that is between the lady and i.”

the swordsman turns to you, scanning your face for any ounce of discomfort. “you okay with that?”

you inhale, figuring it was finally time for you to confront the darkest part of your past. it was silly to assume you would be able to ignore him throughout your entire stay here. besides, you were sure zoro, just like the rest of your crew, would be on standby if kuro got brave enough to try anything. “sure. just… keep an eye out.”

zoro understands completely. truthfully, you didn’t even need to ask – he always looked after you. “got it.”

you push yourself out of your seat and smooth out your dress. you allow kuro to lead you to the doorway – he was smart enough to know that was the farthest you’d let him take you. 

“what do you want, klahadore?” you seethe, folding your arms.

he arches a brow. “why must you call me that? it’s ridiculous.” 

you tilt your head with faux innocence. “oh? is that not your name? must have misheard.”

he gives you an irritated look, dark eyes drilling into you.

“i remember that look,” you mutter, your memory serving you well. “it’s the same one you’d give me before you’d threaten to slice me to bits with your claws.”

kuro has the audacity to chuckle dryly. “but i never did, did i? although there were certainly times times where i should’ve.”

“what you should be is dead,” you hiss bitterly. “when i heard the news, i knew it was too good to be true.”

“you wound me, kitten,” he drawls, reaching up to fix his glasses. 

the condescending nickname makes your skin crawl. it carried so many awful memories of your time spent with the black cat pirates. it reminded you of just how weak kuro viewed you — nothing but a helpless, pitiful kitten in his eyes. typical of the man that abused his authority and treated you with not a single ounce of respect. 

he continues, putting on a sweet tone. “after all these years, stuck waiting hand and foot on that spoiled brat, there’s nothing i’d love more than to hear my favorite crew mate say my real name.”

you snap at him. “i’m no crew mate of yours.”

he sighs, dramatically. “sadly, you’re correct. after all, you did slip off the ship the moment we docked in shells town. locating you on an island crawling with marines proved to be nearly impossible. we had no choice but to leave without you.”

“that’s exactly why i chose to escape there.” 

“and to this day i can’t for the life of me figure out why you would ever do that. why would you want to leave us? leave me?”

you actually laugh right in his face. “is it really that hard to figure out? you were evil. you threatened and harassed me on a daily basis.”

“so your solution was to join that ragtag crew?” he glances at the table. “it’s pathetic, even for you.”

you lean into his face, lowering your voice down. “i’m happier than i ever was on your shitty crew. every day i wake up grateful that i managed to escape you.”

you see that vein on his forehead bulge before he’s gripping you by the chin. “listen here, you little bitch–”

the shiny silver of a sword slides between you and kuro, coming to rest against his neck. his adam’s apple bobs as he gulps anxiously, releasing you. thanks to zoro’s sword, it seemed as if he finally remembered where he was. you were no longer on his ship, he was no longer allowed to treat you like the dirt he walked on. not without someone noticing, that is. 

“why don’t you step away?” zoro offers simply.

that much was a kindness. usually those who found themselves on the end of zoro’s blade(s) weren’t lucky enough to receive a warning. however, the swordsman didn’t wish to cause a scene. at least not when you were right there and everyone was watching with shock from the dinner table.

kuro obliges, stumbling back. he meets kaya’s horrified eyes, feeling ashamed that he allowed his act to slip. surely this would cause some setbacks in his plan. with no excuse for his uncharacteristic behavior, the raven haired man scurries away and up the stairs.

zoro turns and locks eyes with luffy, giving him one singular nod. luffy returns it, jumping out of his seat and going after the butler. quiet murmuring breaks out at the dinner table, everyone surely confused. 

sheathing his sword, zoro directs his attention to you once more. “are you alright?” a calloused hand comes up to grip your chin, much like kuro had. however, this time, the touch is gentle. loving, almost. you welcome it.

“yeah, i’m… fine.” your heart is beating out of your chest and it has everything to do with your close proximity to zoro.

he tilts your face around, inspecting every inch of it. once he finishes, he pulls back. his demeanor goes serious once more. “we need to have a talk.”

you nod. “i know. i’ve been keeping some things from you guys and–”

“just tell me what’s been going on,” he demands. “and don’t overcomplicate it. you can be straightforward with me.”

his sincerity makes you start over, this time far more candidly. “klahadore used to be a pirate. i was part of his crew. he was my… captain.”

the shame in your voice pulls at zoro’s heartstrings. didn’t you know there was no reason to feel guilty with him? “is that it?” 

you open your mouth to speak but come up empty. all you can do is furrow your eyebrows at his unexpectedly dismissive reaction.

“i knew it,” zoro continues, annoyed. “i knew i’d seen him on a wanted poster before. just didn’t have any proof.”

“wait, so you don’t– you really don’t care?” you ask, still avoiding eye contact. “me being a former black cat pirate doesn’t bother you?”

he shrugs. “you said it yourself. ‘former.’ all that matters is that you got the hell out of there. and away from that creep. would he always put his hands on you like that?”

you blink a couple times, sighing. “his temper was really bad so–”

that seemed to be enough for zoro. “i’ll kill the bastard,” he hisses. “wanted to slice him to bits the moment i saw him grab you.” 

though it’s a violent threat, you can’t help but smile. the idea of zoro being so protective that he’d kill a man just for touching you made you blush. pirate love language, you suppose.

“well, i wouldn’t have stopped you,” you tell him, more than ready to see your former captain go.

zoro clicks his tongue. “nah. could’ve stained your new dress with his blood. i never would have been able to forgive myself.”

“so you do have a soft spot,” you tease.

“only for pretty things.”

“do you mean me or the dress?” 

now it’s zoro’s turn to become bashful. though, his lack of response is an answer in itself. you can’t help but giggle. 

a loud bang from upstairs interrupts your moment with the green-haired man. you assume luffy had gotten his hands on kuro… or vice versa. zoro must be thinking the same thing judging by the way he instinctively rests a hand on the handle of his blade.

“you should go up there,” you tell him. “i’ll stay with kaya.”  

he gives you a nod, though he doesn’t make any effort to leave. he stands there like he wants to say something… or do something. before you can think about it too much, you pull him in by the collar and crash your lips onto his. they’re slightly chapped and taste like the wine that’d come from the cellar – it’s pleasant. his large palms come to rest on your lower back; his hold feels tight and secure. 

when you finally allow yourself to pull away, you’re biting back a smile. “kick his ass for me.” 

“will i get more of that if i do?” asks zoro, wetting his lips. they now taste like the cherry lip gloss you’d borrowed from kaya. he takes a step forward, attempting to close the gap between you two once more.

you shrug, pushing him away by the chest. “go help luffy and we’ll see.”

you both know that means yes.

[writingquestionsanswered]

Describing Scene Locations

Anonymous asked: I've been writing for a decade, mostly short stories, and have recently started writing a fantasy set in the 17th century. My setting is a world pretty much like ours, but with made-up names for specific towns and whatnot. The characters are pirates, and a few are non-human. I'm finding it difficult to figure out where certain plot points take place when the story is mostly character-driven. There are parts where they need to be on land, but apart from 'vague port/island', I don't know what else to do with it. (Am I overthinking this?) I suppose my question is: How specific do secondary locations have to be for it to be immersive and realistic (for their world) without it being lackluster or overdone? I don't want it all be "it's a beach with a village," but adding a giant seaside kingdom seems overkill if it's only mentioned in passing once or twice. Thank you so much for taking the time to answer these - this whole blog is a gift, really.

[Ask edited for length]

First, thank you... that is very kind of you to say! ♥

So, I think it really helps to think of your story in terms of scenes, and to think of each scene almost like a scene in a play. Your scene's setting is like the stage in the play, and the amount of description is the amount of scenery and props on the stage.

If you've been to plays, you've probably noticed that the scenery can be very minimal or very elaborate, depending on the needs of the show:

With fiction, it works the same way. How little or how much you describe the scenery (setting) depends on the needs of the scene, but you do need to make sure to give the reader a sense of place. Looking at the first image, just with the little bit of scenery that's there, we know this scene is taking place in a home, perhaps a living room. If the two men were just sitting on chairs with no other scenery, we wouldn't have that sense of place.

However, that doesn't mean that any of your scenes need to be set in sprawling seaside kingdoms. There are all sorts of land-based settings for pirates:

-- bustling port town like Port Royal or Tortuga -- coastal village, town, or city -- isolated island or cove -- small fishing village -- seaside castles or estates -- pirate's stronghold on a hidden island/cove/cave/bay -- tropical jungle or rainforest -- remote island -- colonial outpost -- swamps and marshlands -- rural countryside -- ancient ruins

There are all sorts of reasons pirates might go ashore in these places:

-- to resupply (food, water, liquor, gunpowder, ammunition) -- to buy specific items (weapons, clothing, equipment for ship) -- to sell, trade, deliver, hide, or bury loot -- to hunt and gather resources -- to recruit crew -- to maintenance, repair, or refit the ship -- to meet with allies, informants, business partners, etc. -- to visit friends/acquaintances -- to avail themselves of various goods and services -- to drink in a bar, gamble and carouse with friends -- to enjoy some much needed rest and recreation -- to learn or exchange information -- to seek medical treatment/medicine/remedies -- to seek legal assistance or meet to discuss legal matters -- to "case" a potential target for a raid -- to visit family and love interests

Within these settings and potential errands, there are many specific settings you could use:

-- the docks of a bustling port -- the tavern of a coastal village -- a quiet moonlit cove where pirates are laying low -- the great hall of a seaside castle -- a masquerade ball at a country estate -- the crumbled ruins of an ancient civilization in an isolated jungle -- at a freshwater lagoon on a remote island during resource stop -- busy market at a colonial outpost -- fisherman's shanty in a quiet bayou -- an official's luxury town home in a big city -- the coastal farm belonging to a family member

So... having the different locations in mind, how much or how little do you describe them? Once again, all you have to do is create a sense of place for the reader. If your pirates are having a heated argument on the docks of a busy port town, you may at least want to give a vague description of the docks, whether it's night or day, what the weather's like, how crowded it is, and maybe a brief sampling of what the crowd is doing, notable sensory details (sounds, smells, visuals) etc. You can also weave those details into the narrative in a way that serves a dual purpose. For example, maybe in the argument, one pirate gestures to a toothless fish monger and uses them as an example in a point they're trying to make. Not only is this a necessary part of the dialogue, but it also fills in some of the scenery detail. Or, maybe instead, they're perusing spices in a bustling seaside market while they talk/argue quietly. Here are some posts from my description master list that will hopefully help further:

The Right Amount of Description (5 Tips!) The 3 Fundamental Truths of Description Description: Style vs Excess/Deficiency How to Make Your Description More Vivid Adding Description to Your WritingWeaving Details into the Story Guide: Showing vs Telling When “Telling” is Okay

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

♦ Questions that violate my ask policies will be deleted! ♦ Please see my master list of top posts before asking ♦ Learn more about WQA here

[whateverisbeautiful]

♥️Reveling in Richonne - TOWL

#50: The Dream Come True (1.05)

gif cred: @machonnes

This moment is a dream come true for Rick. A dream come true for Michonne. And a dream come true for many of us. 😭

It's also a top 10 all-time Richonne scene to me. 😭 For a long while my favorite thing Rick had ever said to Michonne was “How’d I get so lucky finding you?” And then TOWL came along and Rick was saying some of the most romantic lines possible throughout this miniseries. And in this breathtaking scene right here, Rick says my official favorite thing he’s ever said to Michonne. The whole moment is the epitome of beautiful 🥹💍...

Before we even get into this breakdown, you know I gotta dance and shout because Won't 🎉 He 🎉 Do 🎉 It...

Y'all, I am so grateful that our captains ensured this ship and this fandom stayed blessed and highly favored at every possible turn. 🙌🏽😇And this scene right here is an all-caps BLESSING. 🥳

After taking out Jadis, Richonne is back walking in the woods and Rick points out where her helicopter is ahead. He then says, “What you said to me before in front of her, it wasn’t just for her.” I like how Rick already knows Michonne was not bluffing with Jadis.

And Michonne replies, “You couldn’t have changed them by yourself, Rick. But together - 'the whole damn world.'” It always makes me smile hearing Michonne say this in ep 5 after hearing Rick say it in ep 4 because Dream Michonne said it in ep 1. 😊

Rick’s mind really does know Michonne well because what he imagined her saying is something she’s now saying in reality and believing wholeheartedly. She knows the two of them together can make the world the good place they believe it should be.

I also think it’s sweet how Michonne doesn’t think Rick should have to try and change them alone. She’s never felt Rick should have to carry anything alone. 🥲 And now that she’s back with him, she’s with him all the way, so now changing the CRM is their shared mission. See, even Dream Michonne is always right 😌...

Michonne says, “I see how we could make it better, and if we can, Rick, we have to.” Thats Richonne for you. 😌 When called to step up and help others they always do. 👌🏽 I love that they know what they’re capable of and care to make it their responsibility to fight for others.

And now they’re taking a more balanced approach because before, Rick thought he’d have to essentially give up his life to fight for future generations - but now they know they can stop the CRM and still go home and live life together with their family as well.

As Michonne speaks, Rick turns to her when she says his name, and when she's finished talking, she continues walking forward. But then Rick stops her. 😍

And y’all...I’m already twirling my hair and kicking my feet just from the moment he takes her arm and says, “Michonne, wait.” 🥲

gif cred: @nat111love

The moment before he takes her arm you can see Rick looking at Michonne like he truly doesn't want to let one more second go by without proposing to her. He's waited practically a decade for this moment and he can't wait any longer. 🥲 Especially with the hefty undertaking they're about to do with stopping the CRM, I love that he wants to make sure they have this private moment between them before all that happens.

When talking about the proposal dream in episode 1, I had said that Rick’s thought process was “Before we make the world ours, I want to make you mine.” And I feel like that’s also what plays out in real life in this scene. Because before they go and save the world, he first wants Michonne to know just how much she saved his, and that he’s forever hers. 🥹

So Rick stops her and then they face each other and Rick says, “I’ve been wanting to say something.” And y’all, the little nervous breath he takes after he says that. 😭 It makes my heart melt that Rick is nervous for this proposal moment. Similar to his nervousness in the Say Yes proposal moment.

He and Michonne have already been through everything together and he knows they’re committed to each other forever, Michonne has literally said yes to creating life with him already - but Rick is still nervous in these woods because this is still a big important moment for them. 🥹

gif cred: @nat111love

Seeing Rick’s endearing nervousness, it's like you can see a glimpse of the boy he likely was in high school who, while Shane was probably running game and smooth-talking all these girls, Rick was being more reserved. It also makes you see the man who only ever wanted to give all that love in his good kind heart to one woman, the right woman, and now he's found her - he finally found the perfect woman for him who loves the way he shows love and loves him back just as fiercely. 🥹

It’s sweet how much Rick feels like he hit the ultimate jackpot getting Michonne. And his energy both in the dream 'proposal' and in this irl proposal depicts how he still feels like this woman, whose heart he has so completely, is someone he truly lucked out in finding. It’s like even after all these years, he still can’t believe he got so lucky finding her. And not just finding her, but finding that she wants him as much as he wants her.

Michonne is an extraordinary gift to him and Rick knows it. He’s known it for years. That’s why when he tells Michonne that he’s been wanting to say something, he means not just for the last few hours or days, but for nearly a decade he’s been wanting to tell her exactly what he says in this proposal - a proposal he’s thought about and dreamt about often.

Rick takes the ring out of his shirt pocket and I love how even part of why it takes him a minute to get the ring out is because he’s staring at her. Still as entranced as ever. 😋(Also it’s cute how the blood on his forehead even looks like an 'm.' He’s hers for real.😇)

gif cred: @riickgrimes

I love the way Michonne looks at Rick as he takes out the ring. She has this moment of just looking at him so adoringly before even shifting her focus down to the ring that he holds up.

And then when she sees the ring, her face softens and she has this little smile and quiet breath and once again it just melts my heart. 😭

gif cred: @nat111love

I always get so reflective on Richonne's overall journey with scenes like this. So I think about how Rick took out mints from his pocket and that ushered in Richonne's romantic relationship, and now here he takes a wedding ring from his pocket, wanting to further cement that Michonne is his wife. The best. 😭

And then because he’s the greatest loverboy to ever exist, Rick holds up the ring and says, “It’s a broken world, Michonne, and you’re the only thing that puts it back together.” 🥹🥹🥹

If you think I’m squealing like a fool every time I hear this…you are correct. 🫠🥳 It’s so perfect and so powerful hearing Rick say this.

gif cred: @riickgrimes

Part of what makes Rick and Michonne’s love story so special is that it depicts how a love so healthy and whole can grow and blossom even against the backdrop of a broken world. 

Andy really summed Richonne up perfectly in saying that they’re perfect partners in an imperfect world. And that was beautifully illustrated in this special ep 5 scene and all throughout Richonne's TWD/TOWL journey.

Also, after all those CRM folk tried to take credit for saving Rick’s life, it’s great that in his proposal he gives Michonne the credit for being the only one to put his world and the whole damn world back together. 

The way there’s so much emotion and sincerity as he whispers this. And I love how he says the only thing. Like the way this man constantly gives Michonne her flowers and acknowledges her as the greatest influence on his life is really something. 👏🏽🥹

gif cred: @sharpesjoy

And as many have already noted, this wording is especially special when thinking back to season 3, when Rick was going through an extremely tough time mentally after the death of Lori.

Rick imagined speaking to Lori on the phone and there he became emotional saying that he couldn’t put the pieces back together. And it is just beyond beautiful and full circle that now Rick can look into Michonne’s eyes and tell her that she is the one who was finally able to put it all back together for him and with him. 🥲

gif cred: @riickgrimes

I always say Rick and Michonne didn’t just find a second love in each other but a supreme love. The best love. They found the one. 💯 And particularly, they found the one who helps them make the world make sense and make life so worth living.

In plenty of TWD scenes between Richonne, it's clear that Michonne makes all the sense in the world to Rick and that she makes his world feel intact. Even pre-canon, as soon as Rick and Michonne realize they can trust each other, Rick has so many moments where it's clear he wants and needs her safe because she matters a lot to him and she's the North Star in his world.

gif cred: @michonnegrimes

And no matter what else was going on, no matter how much was going through his head, Michonne could always reach Rick and he’d always hear her and resonate with what she’d say, what she thought, and where she’d lead him. She both repaired his broken world and made it so much brighter.

When Rick says Michonne is what puts the broken world back together, you just know he’s been wanting to say this exact thing for such a long time because he’s been aware of it for such a long time.

I think about how in season 7 Rick was aware that Michonne was the one who had led him this far and reinstilled in him the will to fight back.

gif cred: @michonnegrimes

And now in The Ones Who Live, Rick gets to share that he’s aware that even despite the vast darkness and the heavy brokenness of this apocalyptic world, the world still hasn’t entirely fallen apart. And why? Because she puts it back together. 🥹

gif cred: @sharpesjoy

I love how he doesn’t even just say his world, but the world. Rick has always felt like Michonne can bring everybody to the light like she’s done for him countless times.

When I think about how much Rick and Michonne have been through it fully warms my heart to think that Rick reflects back and feels it’s Michonne that kept their world together.

And it makes sense. From the moment she showed up in Rick’s life, she began putting pieces back together.

She provided formula for his baby girl. She became the best friend his son needed. She saved his life against the Governor. She became wholly committed to being a part of Rick and Carl's family as they healed and traveled on the road to Terminus and she gave Carl and Rick warm lighthearted moments even despite this dark world. She co-led with Rick and led team family to their longest-standing home ASZ. And she became a fantastic mother to the Grimes children.

Then through Rick and Michonne’s romantic relationship, she gave Rick something personal to have and enjoy for himself that wasn’t strictly about leading, protecting, providing, but really living and loving too.

She gave him the strength to fight back and free themselves from the Saviors, and particularly instrumental was the way she built Rick back up after the devastating loss of their son Carl. ❤️‍🩹

I don’t think Rick survives that incredibly painful loss the way he did without Michonne being by his side, and I think Rick would cosign that.

And even after that loss, where Rick’s world could have easily gone completely dark and bleak, instead he found a way to honor Carl’s memory and be present with the family he still has in his wife and daughter - so much so, that Rick even had enough hope in both the future and his love with Michonne that he and her planned to have a baby. 🥲

Then, Rick's world actually did go dark only once he’s taken from Michonne. 💔

And it’s dreaming of her that keeps him going and keeps his world from ending. But when he can’t get to her anymore in dreams or reality, he forces himself to die while alive because he believes there is no scenario where he can be alive in this world without her.

But then she showed up again.

Michonne reentered his life in real life and fought so hard for him even when he had convinced himself that he’s stuck and not worth fighting for. Her love helped him see the light again and made him come alive again.

And after the CRM broke Rick's world and his heart by taking away the image of Carl, Michonne even restored one of the most vital parts of his world - his son - to him with the phone portrait of their beloved boy. 🥹

And now that they’re finally on the same page about going home together, Rick gets to actually look forward to being a father again to both his daughter and the son Michonne gave him. 🥹

Like if this isn’t the epitome of Hershel’s lovely sentiment that 'things break but they can still grow' and a whole new plant will arise, I don't know what is. Because even while Rick was away and feeling alone in the CRM, his family was still growing and his legacy was still living on and expanding through RJ. 😭

I just say all this to say that when Rick tells Michonne she is the only thing that puts the world back together, he means that from the bottom of his heart. Because it’s a scientific fact. 

Again, I'll forever love that Rick is utterly in love with the woman who changed his mantra from ‘We’re the Walking Dead’ to ‘We’re The Ones Who Live.’ Michonne changed his life. She saved his life. She brought him back to life. She put his world back together.

And it makes sense that Rick put an asterisk on their motto and felt he's only the one who lives if he lives with her - because an intense element of soulmates is now part of your very heart and soul lives outside of your body. They are that one. And I love the way Richonne operate as one throughout the flagship show and this miniseries to the point that they can both declare belonging to each other.

So y’all, clearly the "It's a broken world, Michonne, and you're the only thing that puts it back together" line alone was enough to have me reveling for days. But once again Richonne reminded me that there is no ceiling on how beautiful their love story can get as Rick then tells Michonne:

“‘Til my last breath, I am yours.”

gif cred: @sharpesjoy

PERFECTION. My heart can’t even handle it. 😭

That line is breathtakingly beautiful for so many reasons but especially for how Rick wants Michonne to know she’s the one for him past, present, future, forever. I adore that Rick so happily belongs to Michonne. And til his last breath. That couldn’t be more romantic. 🥹

It’s also so fitting because he’s saying that so long as he’s breathing he’s hers. And we visibly saw that play out. Because along Rick's years-long journey, he’s been alive, he’s been dead, and both versions still were madly in love with Michonne. All versions of Rick love Michonne. So truly as long as there is air in his lungs, he knows that any version of him will be hers. ♥️

And my heart is so happy for both of the characters to see Rick finally get his dream of directly telling Michonne, his North Star, that she’s the only thing that puts this broken world back together and he forever belongs to her. I love the way Rick always is aware of, vocalizes, and appreciates Michonnes immense importance. He knows there is no other that mends the world quite like her.

Then Rick just makes my heart burst even more when he gets down on one knee while holding up the ring. This perfect scene just kept getting more perfect with each second. 🥹

gif cred: @nat111love

I absolutely adore that Rick stayed wanting to wife Michonne up any chance he could. Whether it's over dinner on their Say Yes honeymoon run, with a priest on a bridge like he was planning, in a dream on an idyllic park bench, and now here in reality, on one knee in a forest. 🥹

And I also love that this proposal comes in the fifth episode too. 5 Episodes & A Wedding Ring. 😊

I'll forever celebrate that we really got pretty much every single thing we could have ever wanted from The Ones Who Live. 😭 Like they really knew our Richonne wishlists and said...

A huge thank you once again to Danai for being the one behind this decision to have a Richonne proposal moment. And of course, Andy delivered this whole moment flawlessly. 👏🏽 Those two are a true gift. 🎁

I know for many of us we consider that Say Yes dinner scene to be a Richonne proposal. And I still do view it like that, but I also love that in TOWL we get an even more direct and clear-cut proposal moment. Richonne was already so married but it’s great seeing them want to solidify it even further.

And I call it a proposal moment since there’s the whole Rick on one knee giving Michonne a ring, but I also really like how it feels like a proposal between a couple that already knows their husband and wife. A vow renewal of sorts.

We kinda get the best of both worlds too with Rick clearly saying a muted “Will you marry me?” in the scene. I don’t mind that it's muted because we get to visually see him say it while also knowing that it doesn’t even really need to be a question. The beautiful words that Rick said just before getting down on one knee are almost more of a vow to the woman he knows is and has long been his wife. And this is his reaffirming vow to be her devoted husband forever.

And I adore how this all goes to show that part of why Rick always seems so determined to give Michonne the world is because he knows she’s the one who put his back together. 🥹

gif cred: @riickgrimes

So this part already did me in but y'all, it's not done because now we get to see Michonne's lovely reaction to her man's heartfelt declaration. And after 50 of these RIR posts, I think it's clear I'm extra as all get out, so of course I have to do a Part Two of this lovely dream-come-true scene. 👌🏽😌

[maul-of-shame]

[ABOUT "THE RINGS OF POWER" RUMOURS GOING AROUND:]

Sooooooooo, I’ve been seeing this swirling storm of chaos over on Twitter and Tumblr, and it seems like shippers (and non-shippers alike) are whipping themselves into a frenzy over this “Amazon Preview program” post. People are panicking, spinning theories, and already mourning the show as if the Valar themselves have announced its doom.

First of all—breathe, besties. Lemme grab those reins before y’all ride headfirst into Mount Doom on a horse named Speculation. Let’s take a step back, re-saddle our ponies of reason, and navigate this mess with a clear head. Because honestly? This panic spiral isn’t doing anyone any good, and it’s time we address it properly.

This post claiming to be from someone in the Amazon Preview program has thrown out the idea that The Rings of Power might get canceled, based on one alleged survey question asking how viewers would feel about such a possibility.

Naturally and obviously, that one sentence has snowballed into chaos: shippers blaming each other, Haladriels claiming to be the sole saviors of the show, and everyone else clutching their lembas bread wondering if this truly spells the end of Amazon’s multi-billion-dollar endeavor.

Spoiler alert: It doesn’t.

But before we dive into why, let’s lay this out clearly. Speculation without evidence is just that—speculation. Right now, this rumor has the same credibility as Gollum’s “juicy fish” promises. So, let’s chill out for a second, untangle the web of panic, and address this mess calmly, because trust me, The Rings of Power is not about to vanish into the West just yet.

1. No proof = no panic. While the original poster claims to be part of the Amazon Preview program, we have no concrete evidence that this survey or its specific question even exists. I'm sorry that's not me being mean, that's a fact. Until Amazon makes an official statement, take this with a grain of salt. Let’s not give ourselves heart palpitations over unverified claims. We don’t need to borrow worry from the future.

2. Viewership ≠ Haladriels alone. I’m sorry (not really), but this idea that Haladriels are the "main audience" and thus the show’s sole reason for survival? Nope. Stop right there. While the Haladriel fandom is vocal and sizable, they are not the entire viewership. Millions of people around the world are tuning in for the larger story of Middle-earth, the intricate lore, the stunning visuals, and their own favorite characters and dynamics—whether that’s Elrond & Galadriel, Durin & Disa, the Harfoots, or even Arondir's badass moments. Amazon didn’t pour half a billion dollars into a single ship.

Haladriels, who are you? The dwarves showing up at the last minute to the Siege of Eregion, claiming to be the sole saviors of the battle? Let’s pump the brakes on this idea, because while your contributions to the fandom are visible and often loud, you are not the entire viewer base. You’re part of the tapestry of fans, not the whole thing.

Yes, you’re passionate. Yes, you create fan art, fanfics, and engage actively in discussions. And yes, maybe you’re a good chunk of the audience (you are).

But—and I cannot stress this enough—you are not the majority of viewers Amazon is depending on for the show’s success.

The show has millions of viewers globally, and a good number of them don’t EVEN engage with shipping.

They’re here for the lore, the spectacle, the drama, or maybe just to see an elf and a dwarf bicker their way into a beautiful friendship.

Amazon’s decisions about the show—renewals, budgets, story arcs—aren’t hinging on one ship. They’re analyzing data from a massive, global audience across dozens of countries, not just the trending tags on Twitter or Tumblr. And even if Haladriels make up a decent slice of the pie, it’s not the whole bakery. This is Middle-earth, not a kingdom under one banner.

While the ship is part of the fandom's flavor, it is not the main course. This isn’t me throwing shade—it’s me asking for a reality check, from one passionate fan to another.

And just so we’re clear—this isn’t me throwing shade because I ship Elrondriel (Elrond/Galadriel). Trust me, I know my ship isn’t the entire audience either. Elrondriel shippers are a passionate, creative, and dedicated part of the fandom, but we’re also just one piece of the puzzle, just like Haladriels are. Believe me, we’re in the same fandom boat here—just sailing with different banners.

I understand the urge to feel like your ship carries the weight of the fandom. When you’re surrounded by incredible art, fic, metas, and headcanons that fuel your love for a pairing, it’s easy to think, "We’re the backbone of this fandom!" But the truth? We’re all in this together, and none of us—not Haladriels, not Elrondriels, not any ship—can claim to be the be-all and end-all of The Rings of Power audience.

We might feel strongly about our pairings, but the reality is that shipping communities are just one part of the much larger audience Amazon considers when making decisions. There are fans who aren’t on Tumblr, Twitter, or AO3, fans who aren’t debating ships, and fans who might not even care about romance in the show at all (I know, wild concept, but they exist!). They’re here for the epic battles, the exploration of Middle-earth, and the overarching story.

So, no, this isn’t a case of “my ship is better” or “your ship doesn’t matter.” It’s about perspective. I care about fandom health and fandom spaces, no matter the ship. I’m here advocating for all of us to recognize that we’re not the sole audience Amazon is catering to—and that’s okay. We’re all contributing to the fandom in different ways, and that’s something worth celebrating.

So to Haladriels feeling like the show’s fate rests on your shoulders, let me reassure you, that you have to produce and produce and produce: it doesn’t.

The show’s survival isn’t riding on Elrondriel either, nor on any single faction of fans.

We’re all part of the audience, but none of us are the entire audience.

The fellowship of fans is vast and diverse, and while we might be rowing in different directions sometimes, we’re still in the same boat when it comes to loving this world and wanting the best for it.

We might not ship the same thing, but we share the same love for this story and the passion to see it thrive. So let’s focus on that instead of spiraling into ship-centric fearmongering. Let’s celebrate what we love, stay creative, and keep contributing to this incredible fandom in ways that uplift us all.

3. Bezos isn’t walking away. The Rings of Power is Jeff Bezos’s lovechild. He and his family are reportedly huge fans of the Tolkien franchise. Love him or hate him, Bezos is not the kind of person to let a project this massive—one of the most expensive shows ever made—flounder without giving it every possible chance to succeed. The man is prideful, and he’s not just going to bow out because of mixed reception in its first season or something. If anything, he’ll double down, exert even more control, and pump the breaks on creative risks to bring the show in line with mainstream expectations.

You can even check this right here, which is from a trusted source:

You can also see this article and passage here:

As part of that investment Amazon MGM Studios recently acquired Bray Studios, where “Rings of Power” is filmed. Can we take that as indication that the show, which shot its first season in New Zealand, is staying in the U.K.?

JS: I think you can. Why not? No plans to move it. Very excited about it.

How have you found the reaction to Season 2?

JS: Obviously very different marketing levels and all of that [to Season 1]. But that being said, over 55 million people at this point have engaged since Season 2 launched. And if you look at the long-term trajectory, which is how this company looks at an asset like that, this is a long-term investment in that franchise. […] There’s well over 150 million viewers watching and engaging with the show. So I feel really good. I think we all do.

Is there any change to the 50-episode commitment?

JS: I don’t think so. [That] commitment is never the thing that’s driving what we’re doing. We’ll continue to make the show as long as we see global customers loving it and watching it to the point where — it is a business. Obviously, we need a large amount of people showing up. And there are a large amount of people, so there’s no debate about whether or not the show will continue.

4. "Cancelled" doesn’t mean what people think it does. Even if Amazon is “mulling over” decisions for Season 3, this doesn’t mean the show is on the chopping block. It’s standard practice for large-scale productions to reassess budgets, strategies, and audience reception to refine their approach. It doesn’t spell doom; it spells adjustments. Given the scope of The Rings of Power, Amazon likely planned for this to be a long-term investment and would have accounted for a slower start. Building trust and an audience takes time—just ask any successful franchise.

5. Let’s calm the Fellowship down. Worrying about every rumor floating around is exhausting. It’s like trying to outrun a Nazgûl while barefoot in Mordor. We don’t need that energy in our fandom right now. Yes, we can be critical of the show. Yes, we can hope for improvements. But the speculation about the series getting canned before Season 3 even airs is unnecessary noise that only feeds negativity and add worries to already existing conflicts.

TL;DR:

I’m not here to sound like your mom or anything—but if it helps, think of me as your friendly neighborhood Gandalf (minus the fireworks but with plenty of snacks). I’m just here to calm things down before we all start marching out of Hobbiton over a rumor that has absolutely no solid ground to stand on. This whole situation is snowballing—and let’s be honest, it’s not even winter yet.

This post that everyone’s spiraling over? The one about surveys and cancellation questions? It comes with exactly zero proof.

No screenshots, no corroboration, nothing to confirm it’s legit beyond someone’s words on the internet.

I’m not saying it’s impossible, but without evidence, it’s like claiming to have the One Ring but refusing to show even a glimpse of it. Sounds a little sus, right?

Look, I get it. The wording is scary. “How would you feel about cancellation?” is enough to make anyone who loves the show clutch their lembas in fear. But panicking and spreading unverified claims like wildfire isn’t helping anyone. It’s like rallying the Rohirrim before you even know what you’re riding to face—take a breath, assess, and then make decisions.

Until we hear something concrete, let’s not let this post stir the pot unnecessarily. The show is far too big to just disappear overnight, and Bezos’s pride alone will probably ensure we at least get to see this through. Let’s focus on enjoying what we have, continuing to provide feedback where we can, and sharing the love of this sprawling, beautiful world Tolkien inspired.

It’s a single claim from an unverified source with no screenshots, no corroboration, and no concrete evidence. Until we see something legitimate, this is just another shadow in the Misty Mountains of Fandom Panic™.

With everything I’ve mentioned—the insane budget, Bezos’s personal attachment, and the fact that Amazon has already made long-term commitments to the show—there’s little reason to think it’s on the chopping block. Is it possible they’re retooling it or adjusting things? Sure, that happens with every major series. But outright canceling the biggest, most ambitious project in their streaming history? That’s a huge leap, and frankly, it doesn’t line up with what we know about how Amazon operates (or how Bezos’s ego works).

So let’s not get sucked into the Eye of Sauron-level drama without solid proof.

I get that the idea of the show being in jeopardy is unsettling—Rings of Power means a lot to so many of us for so many different reasons. But until there’s something concrete, let’s not fall prey to baseless fear. Hold fast, steer your boats true, and don’t let panic steer you off course. Keep your lembas close, your theories reasonable, and your hearts hopeful. After all, not all rumors that spread doom are gold.

Bezos and his family love this series. The man isn’t going to let his shiny billion-dollar baby get canceled quietly.

Let’s channel some hobbit energy—grab a snack, take a deep breath, and wait for actual confirmation before we assume doom and gloom. We’ve weathered plenty of storms in this fandom, and this? This is just a passing cloud until we know otherwise. Stay calm, my friends. Middle-earth wasn’t built in a day, and neither are Amazon’s decisions. 🌿

[kukuandkookie]

People keep claiming Chinese BL manhua really only have stories featuring toxic male leads, so I offered to give recommendations with green flags... Someone finally said yes, so here's what I typed up in response!:

I Ship My Rival x Me:

One of my personal favourites!

Based on the hilarious novel, commonly known as I Ship My Adversary x Me and also has an audio drama adaptation on MaoEr FM. Basically a story about two actors who are seen as complete rivals by everyone except the actors themselves, which annoys the main character (Wei Yanzi) enough that when he discovers there are actual fans who ship them instead of pit them against one another, he’s so excited he sort of starts shipping them too (in like, an abstract, theoretical manner lmao). This of course causes shenanigans as he actually gets to know the person who people ship him with/pit him against, Gu Yiliang.

Gu Yiliang is a true sweetheart and the greenest of green flags. He’s a complete puppy and I love him. And this means, naturally, the only misunderstandings in this story are of the hilarious kind (you’ll know what I mean if you read it lol). 😂

This one actually used to be available officially in English on the Bilibili manhua’s international app before it got shut down, but it recently got picked up by Seven Seas, the company behind a lot of official English translations of danmei (Chinese BL)!

Touch Your World:

A literally colour-blind boy (as in, he cannot see colour at all and only sees things in black and white) discovers someone who he can see colour on. This person is a designer who has suffered past betrayal and trauma that has caused him to shut himself up and grow much more on edge, but this chance meeting draws both parties out of their shells.

Pixiu’s Eatery, No Way Out:

Not a green flag top in the traditional sense, but here we meet the mythical Pixiu: an ancient Chinese mythical creature who now runs a restaurant. While he’s a penny-pincher with a temper and he doesn’t get along with his love interest at first (a ghost named Wen Xi who he finds suspicious due to Wen Xi’s ties to a past rival of his named Taotie), Pixiu and Wen Xi eventually grow, quite naturally—and hilariously!—into a found family.

The Wife Is First:

Based on a novel of pretty much the same name (and is written by the same author as the popular manhua and donghua, No Doubt in Us (a heterosexual body-swap romance, which also has a subtle gay side ship)). Here we meet Jing Shao just as he’s about to lose everything: once a royal and a powerful general, he has been betrayed by all those around him…except the husband he has never treated well.

As such, when we first meet him, we actually witness his—and his husband’s—deaths. But then he awakens and finds himself back in time to the night right after he was forced to wed this husband of his, and Jing Shao vows to treat him well from now on because he stuck with him through thick and thin despite everything.

Don’t Say You Love Me:

A high school romance with a supernatural twist: Lin Yutong was confessed to by his best friend, Qin Weiyun, at their graduation party. When he drunkenly freaked out and ran away, Qin Weiyun was hit by a car during the chase…

Devastated by his loss, Lin Yutong quickly wakes up to find himself back at the start of his high school journey, right before he meets Qin Weiyun… And this time, he wants to keep Qin Weiyun safe.

But his overly familiar attitude at first gets the wary Qin Weiyun a tad suspicious, because he’s actually quite an aloof person.

The author and artist of this one is also behind another popular manhua titled Your Dream Is Delicious, which is about a demon named Yi Kui who discovers he enjoys eating the nightmares of Lin You. This eventually leads to them—you guessed it—falling in love.

It’s Not That I Want to Wear Women’s Clothing:

Our main character is hired to crossdress to help this CEO get over his gynophobia (fear of touching women) without him knowing. Naturally, this leads to an awkward romantic journey of both identities of our main character getting close to this CEO…who at first glance seems like the typical cold and aloof CEO type, except he’s actually quite a sweetheart.

Salt Friend:

A slice-of-life high school story about the “school bully” named Tong Yang who’s actually a crybaby and the aloof person named Xiao Zhen who discovers him crying. While the two don’t seem like they’d get along at first glance, this quickly becomes a friends-to-lovers story that navigates family drama alongside the romance.

How’d I Get a Heroine’s Script?:

A transmigration story with a twist. Chao Yi is wheelchair-bound but finds himself eventually as a young lord in what is basically a palace drama (court politics, intrigue, family drama, all that good stuff). His System, Qin Que, tasks him with wooing the difficult 7th prince, Gu Yunheng, who smiles on the surface but is quite cold in actuality.

Despite the two getting off on the wrong foot—mostly because Gu Yunheng is really hard to get close to—they soon end up as unlikely allies…especially since there’s a lot of secrets, such as regarding the death of the body Chao Yi’s occupying, the scheming princes, and even Gu Yunheng himself.

See You My King:

Zhang Li, a student interested in what is basically ancient Egypt, goes on an expedition to the ruined civilization and nearly loses his life. Except at the same time, he discovers an ancient tomb with a statue that actually comes to life and saves him…

And this statue even follows him home. This statue is sweet and loving despite its inability to speak, and Zhang Li grows attached to it (or him)… But then the statue falls apart and Zhang Li is devastated.

In wishing for a miracle to bring them back together, the statue’s stone heart sends Zhang Li back in time…to when this ancient civilization is still present. And that’s how he discovers his stone statue is the “tyrant king” of this region, and as cruel as he seems at first glance, both this king and Zhang Li eventually grow close and unfold the different sides to one another that makes them inseparable in the face of all kinds of threats.

Trapping the Foxy Doctor:

A doctor and a psychiatrist meet…except it doesn’t seem like a perfect love story at first glance. Not because the doctor is traditionally foxy (seductive and/or cunning), but because he’s so silly and on-the-nose that he initially kind of rubs the psychiatrist the wrong way. Except, of course, with the kind of sunny sincerity displayed by our doctor Zhi Banyi, you can’t resist him for long…

And the psychiatrist, Lin Li, is himself quite a polite soul despite his complex upbringing. As such, the two end up together through a series of cases where they have to collaborate and help clients, with a lot of shenanigans sprinkled in between (including the fact Lin Li has a side-job live-streaming as a woman—and “she” just so happens to be Zhi Banyi’s favourite streamer lol).

Pirouette Into My Heart aka Salad Days:

You know the “he was a skater boy and she did ballet” kind of set-up? Well here we have a boxer and a ballet dancer…and hey, “can I make it any more obvious”?

This one is basically a feel-good story of the century. It’s childhood friends to lovers, and it’s soft and cuddly and encouraging, as we follow the main character, Jiang Shen, in achieving his ballet dreams. And on every step of the way, he’s accompanied by the boxer Bai Jinyi, who’s also chasing his own dreams.

The draw of this one is that while there’s obviously conflict to drive the plot along, it’s ultimately a comforting story, so you get all warm and squishy inside reading it. Bai Jinyi and Jiang Shen are very supportive of one another, as is everyone around them.

There’s even extras at the very end that swap the classes of the two main characters, which makes for a similarly compelling AU. 🤭

Beryl and Sapphire:

Not always BL but often is. What do I mean by that? Well it’s a story that can switch to any universe even as the characters stay the same, and some worlds are just one-off gags while some are whole story arcs. The original manhua features stick figures, so if you really want to experience this one, I’d recommend the donghua. The first season also cleverly shows the main characters as actors in the OP, which explains all the world-switching pretty easily haha.

Don’t Pick Up Boyfriends from the Trash Bin:

Unfortunately I’m not sure the manhua for this one is still ongoing, but the original novel (all about transmigration and hopping multiple worlds) 100% features a green flag top.

The Guy Inside Me:

I know the title sounds sexual lol but it’s actually a joke about how it’s a body-swap story. 😆

The original Chinese title is “This Question Is Too Difficult”) and of course, the author also wrote Fake Slackers, which has two very smart students act like terrible ones due to not wanting trouble.

Falling to Where I Belong:

The thing about this one is that the top is 100% a total green flag... It's the main character that's more of a red flag, in the sense he at first only asks the top out to humiliate him due to a misunderstanding.

But it's still a heartfelt story filled with regret and growth, and I did really like the portrayal of Cheng Feichi. Personally I think the manhua humanizes him a bit more than the novel since we didn't really get his POV in the novel that often, but I did hope for even more emotion in the ending... Still, it was a satisfying read, and while I would like to comfort the main character, Zhen Yeming, over his regrets, I really want to just give all the good things to Cheng Feichi, who definitely deserves it after everything he went through.

More Than Brothers:

For the "non-freaks" out there, they're not actual brothers, don’t worry; not adopted brothers either. Just a guy who saw his younger friend as his bro…until this friend disappeared from his life and apparently got into a bad crowd… Except in reality he is being harassed and is struggling to leave his abusive family.

The Protagonist Just Wants to Fall in Love:

Kind of a classic in the transmigration genre, except now we get multiple worlds in multiple arcs. Our protagonists are Systems on their final mission, aiming to become human by the end of it, and their task is to guide their protagonists away from the path of "darkening" (essentially corruption).

And each and every one of these systems do so by getting their protagonist to fall in love with them lol.

Unsurprisingly, my favourite arc so far—in the manhua at least!—is the historical one between the advisor and the emperor, but the third—and currently ongoing as the time of me writing this—world between two university students who started getting close during military training and by playing games is also quite cute.

And okay, man I could really keep going, especially with the manhua that are based on novels, but this post is already really long asjakfl. It was, in fact, so fucking long YouTube wouldn't even let me post it at first until I cut it down AMFKGSJDFGS.

But I still want to at least give a shout out to some of the manhua with pretty healthy, green flag tops/gongs!:

Like Han Yuan, despite the characters not getting along at first and Yu Han being rather aloof to the spoiled Luo Linyuan, is still quite sweet at its core. Lovely Allergen is as well, even with their "brotherly" relationship being the forefront of the conflict between Song Yu and Yue Zishi.

Another kind I wanted to bring up is the ones where their worlds or stories are dark, but the characters aren't necessarily. Like The Film Emperor, He Insisted on Being My Patron has a very green flag gong (he's such a puppy!), but he and the main character are up against the reddest of red flags of a villain LMDFKGSJFD.

It's also not a manhua I think people who want green flag leads would necessarily enjoy, given that beyond being "darker," it also goes into the territory of fan service-y and "problematic" nsfw content, but again, the male lead is really quite sweet to the main character despite the shitty situation they're in.

And I thought of Bu Chonghua from Tunhai aka Swallowing the Seas (another one based on a novel), since the main character there, Wu Yu, comes to see Bu Chonghua as so good and just that he pushes him away because he feels like he can't dirty such a man with his own darkness, both in his past and personality. It's a trope I really enjoy.

I'll briefly mention some ⚠️ spoilers ⚠️but the reason I wanted to highlight it is because: the latest chapter of the manhua has Bu Chonghua overhear Wu Yu saying he likes Bu Chonghua, and this is after Wu Yu disappeared and Bu Chonghua is worried he skipped town for good. He follows Wu Yu, all while wondering if the like Wu Yu holds for him is the same as his liking of Wu Yu, and when Wu Yu is about to be gravely injured in an underground fighting ring, Bu Chonghua steps in to save him... The chapter ends with Wu Yu holding him back pleading with him to stop because it's not worth dirtying his hands with such a man as his opponent, and that's such a delicious flavour of angst because like...Wu Yu thinks it's fine for he himself to fight against such a person, but he doesn't want Bu Chonghua to. ;-;

Oops. I didn't mean for this to become a deeper ramble of Tunhai KMSGFKGHSJ. It's just interesting to me since Tunhai and its prequel, Poyun aka Breaking Through the Clouds, may not have what the people who prefer green flag tops want in terms of content, but its tops are technically not that much of a red flag either.

Which also get us to the kind of stories where plot can also sort of outweigh whether a top/gong is a green flag or not. Like No Arguing With Mr. Mo has two characters who struggle greatly in their relationship, with the question of "are they in love?" being an overarching issue for them, meaning it's not exactly healthy, and prevents them from being fully either green or red flags.

I also didn't bring up a lot of historical/xianxia manhua, which I'm sure some people may disagree with... Like the leads in Tianbao Fuyao Lu are arguably quite good, and while I haven't read Dinghai Fusheng Lu yet, I assume it's in a similar boat as something set in the same world.

And then there's the ones that develop into green flags... Like Mo Ran starts off awful, yes, but he does become much better later on!! But I don't think that's what those people after green flags want to hear lol. Plus I'd argue Erha is best experienced in novel (or audio drama) form over the manhua anyway—the manhua feels more like something made for established fans in my opinion.

Regardless, I hope this shows that with so many listed above, many manhua actually feature male leads who really do care for their love interests in a healthy, respectful way, whether they're 100% green flags or they develop into green flags or they're not even complete green flags. ^^

Edit: Oh I forgot to link my full list of danmei/baihe manhua recs HMSKFJSKS. I currently don’t have any summaries, tags, or content warnings in this list though, but there’s quite the range of stories!:

[in1-nutshell]

Bot Buddy the single parent with a sparkling and being friends with Swerve

SFW, Platonic, Familial, Cybertronain reader

MTMTE

Swerve has a lot of respect for Buddy.

Who else goes on a ship looking for a new life for them and their sparkling?

Not a lot of bots sadly.

Buddy and Swerve first met in one of Blurr’s races.

Swerve had just left with his supposed hero’s number in servo when he noticed a bot holding a sparkling trying to open a door with their pede.

Swerve opens the door for the bot.

The bot looks in surprise at the open door and looks down at Swerve.

“Please, after you.”--Swerve

The bot goes through and turns to smile at him.

“Thank you so much! I’ve been trying forever to try and get that door open, but you can only do so much when your servos are tied.”--Buddy

Swerve just smiles before looking at the sparkling who was staring at him curiously.

“No Problem! Happy to help!”--Swerve

The bot looks at a nearby confection stand.

“Hey, let me buy you something as a way to say thanks.”--Buddy

“Oh, there’s no need—”--Swerve

“BAH!”--Sparkling

The bot smiles a bit.

“I think they’re insisting too…”--Buddy

“Oh! The names Swerve!”--Swerve

“That’s a nice name, I’m Buddy.”--Buddy

After a bit of talking the two had exchanged numbers and the rest was history.

Buddy doesn’t go on the ship immediately; they ended up on the ship as Megatron’s official guard.

It took a lot of convincing to get they’re only sparkling to come aboard the ship.

When Swerve heard about his friend joining the ship, he made sure to be one of the first to meet them.

Buddy was so relief to see a familiar face when they entered the ship’s entrance.

The sparkling was just cooing and giggling hearing the familiar voice.

Swerve loves the little sparkling.

The sparkling gets very attached to him and their parent when more and more unfamiliar faces start to appear.

“Hey Swerve, have you seen—”--Buddy

The sparkling is crawling on the floor with Swerve crawling behind them.

“Imma getcha! Imma get—"--Swerve

Swerve pauses and looks at Buddy who’s leaning on the door frame with a tired smile.

“I take it you got them?”--Buddy

The sparkling perks up and happily crawls to their parent.

Buddy picks up their sparkling as Swerve stands up brushing the imaginary dust from his armor.

“We just finished one of those Earth dino films and they wanted to play dinos so…”--Swerve

Buddy chuckles a bit and pats Swerve on the helm.

“Thanks Swerve.”--Buddy

Swerve looks a bit more at Buddy’s tired face.

“You know I don’t mind watching them for a while longer. Really! Anyways I think a few hours of recharge would do you good. You look like Whirl after that 36-hour cocktail binge last month.”--Swerve

“I’m fine Swerve—”--Buddy

Swerve gives them a look.

Buddy sighs before giving him their sparkling.

“Only for an hour.”--Buddy

“I’ll wake you up Buddy.”--Swerve

Buddy smiles at Swerve and their sparkling and walks back to their habsuite for some extra sleep.

Swerve knows that Buddy’s job isn’t easy and long night are a common thing, but it turned into a real nightmare when the sparkling was awake or had a nightmare.

He did his best to help Buddy with their sparkling so they could at least get an hour or two of sleep or work done.

One of the best ways he has figured out to get both Buddy and the sparkling to relax a bit was through movie nights.

He has all sort of kid’s movies or softer toned ones to entertain them both or just the sparkling and let buddy sleep through it.

It’s mainly a minibot club that joins in for the movie nights, but on the occasion, they’ll get other bots to join in.

While watching Beauty and the Beast.

“When is Belle going to use that knife and kill the Beast?”--Whirl

“Whirl this is a kids movie!”--Swerve

“And? The last ‘kids’ movie you put on had that earth cats creator die from that free fall.”--Whirl

“Wait he died!?”--Tailgate

“Yes?! Weren’t you—oh yeah, you left in the middle for a snack break.”--Whirl

“Shhh! Buddy’s sleeping. Keep it down a bit.”--Rewind

Whirl sassily waves his claw dramatically draping part of his frame on Cyclonus who was holding Tailgate in his lap. Tailgate was holding the sparkling on his lap, both extremely invested in the movie.

The sparkling is very shy meeting the new bots but does warm up to them with some time and with enough talking.

They prefer the minibots a lot more than the rest of the crew.

It may or may not be because they associate smaller bots to Swerve.

Tailgate loves playing around with the sparkling.

But he can only play certain things with them.

One time Tailgate thought it was a smart idea to bring the sparkling on his hoverboard to take a quick ride around the ship.

Buddy, Swerve, Cyclonus and Whirl walking down the hall.

“Do you think they’re okay? It’s been a couple of hours…”--Buddy

“You worry too much Buddy; Tailgate isn’t going to let anything happen to them. Tell them Cyclonus.”--Swerve

“Tailgate would never put your sparkling in harm’s way.”--Cyclonus

“Hmm…”--Buddy

“Please! What is the worst thing Panic buttons gonna do? Take them on a high speed chase—”--Whirl

Tailgate zooms past them with the sparkling strapped on their sling.

“HI! BYE!”--Tailgate

Rodimus is chasing after him with Drift following closely behind.

“…I stand corrected.”--Whirl

THUD!

Buddy falls backwards fainting.

Swerve is by their side slightly panicking that his friend just passed out.

Rewind shows pretty colors and shapes to the sparkling.

He teams up with Chromedome in trying to get them to say their first words.

Both secretly think this is their idea of practice in case either wants a kid in the future.

“C’mon say ‘Rewind’.”--Rewind

“Or Chromedome.”--Chromedome

“That’s too long.”--Rewind

“And Rewind is too complicated.”--Chromedome

Brainstorm comes into the room.

“Brainstorm?”--Chromedome

“I brought the new binary gun designs—”--Brainstorm

“Bwainstorm.”--Sparkling

“…”--Everyone

“EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!”--Brainstorm

Brainstorm picks up the sparkling who just looks confused while Rewind face palms and Chromedome just chuckles a bit.

“Buddy is not going to like this.”--Rewind

Swerve is the sparklings favorite.

They have him wrapped around their digit and everyone knows that.

He gives the best bedtime stories, and they love hearing his voice.

The sparkling will get excited whenever they hear their parent of Swerve talk.

Swerve is Buddy’s go to babysitter but knows that they can’t rely on just him and the mini’s. They do take more of an effort to formally introduce their sparkling to the rest of the crew.

A safety precaution if you will.

Buddy pointing at a picture of Swerve.

“Safe?”--Buddy

The sparkling nods.

Buddy shows them a picture of Lockdown.

“Safe?”--Buddy

The sparkling shakes their helm.

Buddy shows a picture or Whirl.

“Safe?”--Buddy

The sparkling nods their helm.

“HA! Take that Magnus!”--Whirl

Whenever Buddy has a mission out of the ship and Swerve is babysitting them at the bar, he puts up a sign announcing when the baby is present.

This is a universal sign of being on your best behavior or he will sic Magnus or Ten on you.

[akookminsupporter]

ARE YOU SURE?!: FOURTH EPISODE

MY IMPRESSIONS

Preface: This is not an analysis post, and honestly, I don’t want to overanalyse their interactions or everything they said and did—many others are already doing that. My intention with this post is simply to share my thoughts on the episodes, my impressions, and perhaps my conclusions.

I’m writing this as I watch the episodes for the second time.

Okay, this episode picks up right where the last one left off—obviously, Rosie, haha! 

If there’s one thing BTS love almost as much as being on stage and their fans, it’s food, haha! 

One of the things I adore about Jimin and Jungkook, or the maknae line in general, is how silly they can be, but in the cutest way possible. 

To Jimin, Jungkook will always be cute, just like Jimin will always be pretty to Jungkook. 

I can totally see why they love Jeju so much—it’s gorgeous. 

Ahhh, Tae saying he loves travelling with Jimin and Jungkook is adorable. 

Honestly, the best places to eat are often in the sketchiest streets or the hardest to find. I feel like that’s almost a universal law, haha! 

Ahhh, who would’ve thought that in 2024—or technically 2023—we’d see Jimin openly talking about his tattoos in official content, haha. Jimin really loves the moon, and so does Jungkook. I’ve said it so many times, but I LOVE Jimin’s tattoos, especially the ones on his back. Selfishly, I’d love it if they covered his entire back, but obviously, my opinion doesn’t count, haha! 

Look, people can argue about Jikook, Taekook, Jinkook, etc., being Jungkook’s biggest ships, but no one seems to notice that Jungkook’s biggest ship is with good food. There’s no relationship more obvious and strong than that. That man LOVES to eat and cook. 

It’s the little things that often go unnoticed that I love about Jimin and Jungkook, like how, when they’re together, enjoying something or laughing at something funny, they always look at each other to confirm or make sure the other is feeling the same way, saw the same thing, or just to see their reaction. It’s like they’re looking to reaffirm what they’re already thinking or feeling. I’m not sure exactly how to explain it. For example, when they were eating sushi, Jimin or Jungkook would often turn to look at the other and nod, saying how delicious the food was, or reacting happily to what they were eating. It’s similar to when they’re at a concert, and they look at each other and nod as if to say, “Here we go” or “We’ve got this.” 

Ahhh, something I loved seeing in this episode was Jimin being more active, feeling better, and enjoying the trip. 

When Jungkook is eating, he’s oblivious to almost everything around him. It’s so funny watching him so immersed in his culinary experience while Jimin was massaging Tae’s neck because Tae wasn’t feeling well, haha. I mean, they mentioned his name, and he just didn’t hear it, even though Jimin and Tae were just inches away from him, hahaha! Jimin immediately explaining/justifying why Jungkook didn’t have the same neck issue as Tae is nothing new, haha. 

Jimin definitely has my sense of humour, haha! That’s why he and Yoongi bicker so much! Because they’re so similar. Understanding something literally and responding based on that is definitely my kind of humour, haha! 

Can someone please give Jimin and Jungkook a YouTube channel already? Jungkook would record everything and edit everything, and Jimin would be the frontman. That man is always pretending to be a YouTuber, and Jungkook always plays along. 

The passive-aggressive dynamic between Jungkook and Tae is so entertaining, but sometimes I can’t tell if Jungkook is being a cheeky brat or if he’s serious, haha! Again, I don’t get why so many people persist in not understanding the dynamic between those two. 

I recently tried sushi, and I get the hype now. I totally get the boys’ reaction, and I’m sure the sushi I had wasn’t as good, fresh, or authentic as what they were eating. 

The three of them honestly looked like baby birds waiting to be fed, haha! They take good food very seriously, haha! 

Something we saw a lot in this episode is how Jimin and Jungkook completely get each other’s quirks and know how to play along because it’s basically the same for both of them. Watching them with others, especially other members, just makes it more obvious because the other person, in this case, Tae, looks lost/confused about what Jimin and Jungkook are saying or doing, haha! 

Yes, Jimin, please do more shows like this! I’m totally on board. Jungkook obviously agrees. 

Okay, it’s sweet that Tae thought of Joon and wondered why he didn’t join them. Something no one can deny, no matter how hard they try, is that those seven guys love being together. They’re always thinking of each other, BUT the fact that Jungkook almost immediately responded that not everyone is invited/part of the show is such a MOOD. The fact that he did it while sounding and looking serious makes it even funnier. The way Jimin followed up by saying the show was really for him and Jungkook, practically implying that even Tae shouldn’t have been there and that he only was because they allowed it, is an even bigger MOOD. And then Tae wrapping it all up by saying he felt it and was grateful they invited him is pure comedy, but with a bit of dark humour. It made me wonder if even off-camera, Jimin and Jungkook kept reminding Tae that he was just a guest and the show was really for the two of them, haha! Ahhh, the passive-aggressive relationship between these three is something else. 

Jimin and Tae are just too adorable together. 

Jungkook is really a passive-aggressive brat with Tae, isn’t he? Haha! 

They’ll always be each other’s biggest fans. 

Tae basically rubbing it in our faces that he can just call up and ask for an unreleased song hurt, haha! The privilege of being a BTS member. It’s also lovely to hear how much admiration they have for each other.

“Alone” is truly an incredible song. It’s still one of my favourite Jimin tracks and one that feels deeply personal to me.

I don’t know if this happened to anyone else, but I was surprised when Jimin took his shirt off, and I’m not sure why, haha. It’s just, well, it’s so out of character for him! Even though he always says he walks around the house barely dressed and loves showing off his shoulder, hahaha. And don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining—I love seeing Jimin’s tattoos.

Jungkook was checking out Jimin, wasn’t he? He was.

Hearing Jungkook say “Jimin-ssi” will always give me life, haha.

Okay, I’ve mentioned this before, and it’s my first tinhat moment of the episode, but Jungkook reminded Jimin that the pool was see-through because he knows what they’re like when they’re together. It was like a warning, wasn’t it? Like, “Remember, they can see us,” hahaha.

Okay, I’m not really into comparing dynamics, but one of the reasons I think it’s great that Tae was with Jimin and Jungkook in this setting is that you can clearly see the dynamic between each duo and how Jimin and Jungkook’s is just different from the others. And like I said in another post, the way each duo played in the pool is a good description of each one and how different they are from each other. This doesn’t mean it makes one ship real or more real than the other; it just shows why many of us see Jimin and Jungkook’s dynamic as different and a bit more similar to that of a romantic couple.

Jungkook and Tae playing in the pool were like two energetic guys just having fun. It’s what you’d expect to see when you hear the words “pool” and “men” in the same sentence. And yes, that sounds a bit sexist and stereotypical, but that was the vibe they gave off, sorry.

Jimin and Jungkook, on the other hand, were two guys being silly and careful with each other. I’ve already mentioned this above, but Jimin and Jungkook share the same quirkiness, and that helps them understand each other on levels that other members don’t. Some people on Twitter said they “get each other’s freak,” and they’re right, and this becomes even more evident when another member is around them. That’s why I always say Jimin and Jungkook operate on a different frequency than the others. They just click. I didn’t say it—Jungkook did.

The way they play is also different. Sorry, but objectively speaking, it is, and even though many deny it, that doesn’t make it any less true. They always seem to be flirting. Jungkook is always a bit more careful when it comes to Jimin, especially when their games involve physical contact. There’s always an extra layer in their interactions that simply sets their dynamic or relationship apart from the rest. It’s no wonder their moments are always used by fans to describe what Jimin or Jungkook would be like as a boyfriend, husband, etc.

I think it’s important to highlight the breath-holding endurance those two have underwater, hahaha!

From what I saw on Twitter and some of the ASKs I’ve received, some people are upset because some Jikookers keep mentioning that Tae was just a guest, and although jikookers are saying this in reaction to the subgroup that last week was pretending the show was about Tae and Jungkook or all of BTS, they’re also doing it because Jimin and Jungkook wouldn’t stop mentioning it in this episode. They directly called Tae “the guest,” so I don’t understand the “upset.”

Tae seemed tired and apparently had a stomach ache or something, so maybe that’s why he didn’t join in the fun, but I also wonder if he didn’t do it because he wanted to give Jimin and Jungkook their space. It seems he did something similar on the yacht, but we’ll get to that later.

Guys, I’m not even halfway through the episode, and I’ve already written three pages. I wonder if anyone has actually made it this far. If someone is reading this, I’m sorry, I talk a lot, but I feel like so many things happened in this episode that I want to comment on, everything. Oh, and I still need to write my conclusions. Sorry!

Okay, the conversation about ramyeon. I suppose this is the second tinhat moment of the episode. It’s pretty clear that Jimin and Jungkook know the double meaning of the question “Do you want to eat ramyeon with me?” right? Right. So, starting from that premise, it seemed like they were referring to the double meaning of that question or the variation of the question that Jimin asked. Starting with the tone in which Jimin asked the question. Yes, Jimin probably meant the question literally, BUT they knew how suggestive it was. The tone of their voices and certain reactions during that conversation really didn’t help.

Now, “ppeuri.” Is that another one of Jimin and Jungkook’s inside jokes? Yes, they explained why Jimin said it, but the way Jungkook brought it up and Jimin’s reaction makes you think, and sometimes it’s bad to think too much when it comes to these two.

Jimin and Jungkook talking about eating ramyeon while half-naked with their tattoos on full display isn’t good for my heart, let alone my imagination. But seeing them so happy makes me happy.

Also, am I the only one who felt like they cut a part of them around the fire? I hope we see more of that moment in the behind-the-scenes.

Ahhh, the feeling of the everyday life of the first two episodes is back! Jimin and Jungkook talking while getting ready is the most domestic thing in the world. The fact that they then sat together—personal space isn’t a concept they understand—looking at their phones and talking about their plans is simply… normal.

Jungkook confirming with Jimin that he hadn’t slept at all since New York is… interesting. Did Jungkook travel to New York before going to Jeju? I don’t remember. Or was he talking about when he and Jimin were there together? Because if it’s the first one, why would Jimin know that (more or less rhetorical question), and if it’s the second one, wow. I mean, was the last time Jungkook slept well when he was with Jimin? Or is it because it was the last time he took a break? Even if it technically also counted as work? That moment was definitely edited and had parts cut out.

Jimin and Jungkook silently competing to see who got to the bed first is too funny, and the fact that Tae was awake or had woken up anyway makes it even funnier, hahaha!

Now, Jimin + Jungkook + bed = interesting, right? Haha. The way Jimin immediately threw his legs over Jungkook, and Jungkook just laughed and got more comfortable without even bothering to move them, really shows how at ease they are with each other. Although Jimin and Jungkook are pretty comfortable together, it's rare to see them in these kinds of situations or moments—or better yet, in bed together, haha—so it’s definitely interesting to see them like this. Jimin warning Jungkook not to hit him again was too funny.

And then, eventually, Jungkook gave his bed to Jimin.

Aww, Jungkook’s conversation with his mum was too sweet. The way they talk the same way is just adorable.

Once again, their relationship, especially Jungkook's, with food is something else, haha. And very serious.

Mate, Jimin and Jungkook teasing Tae sometimes is hilarious, haha.

Not Jungkook telling Tae he basically had to pay for his share of the food. Why is he like this?

Jimin and cats are a match made in heaven, and it’s cruel that he’s allergic.

The guys mentioning that another member would have enjoyed this or that, or wondering why they weren’t there, is just so heartwarming. They really do love each other and appreciate being together. BTS forever.

Yes, Jimin, you guys definitely need to do another show. You can call it whatever you want, but give us another show like this, please.

Jimin, I can tell you that the trips to the USA and Jeju were amazing! Fun. Wholesome. Thank you for sharing those moments with us.

It’s a shame Tae didn’t seem to be feeling well on the yacht, and I also think that wasn’t exactly his kind of fun? Not being on the yacht per se, but swimming or snorkelling like Jimin and Jungkook did. I also wonder if he was giving Jimin and Jungkook their space, after all, the show is about them, and everything they did was planned for the two of them.

Okay, Jimin pretending to be a paramedic giving first aid to one of the members isn’t new, but pretending to give mouth-to-mouth is?! And the way Jungkook didn’t seem surprised—sorry, but the editor’s comment, “A way-too-effective-kiss of life (?)” hello?! The way Jimin seemed embarrassed or shy immediately afterwards was too funny.

Jimin and Jungkook are just too cool. We often talk about how adventurous Jungkook is, but sometimes we forget that Jimin is just as adventurous. He likes fun things that some might consider extreme. He enjoys sports and risky stuff, maybe not as much as Jungkook, but almost. And that’s another thing they have in common, and I wouldn’t be surprised if that made planning many of the activities they did much easier.

Jimin and Jungkook are very good swimmers. Jimin and Jungkook just click.

I’d like to believe that once the group resumes activities, the agency editors won’t put stickers to cover their bodies when they’re semi-naked or showing “too much” skin, haha.

It’s funny how both the editors and Jimin and Jungkook themselves use any name but Jikook or Kookmin—though I think Kookmin would be the most obvious and familiar to them. Now it’s not Jikook but Jimkook. Maybe to avoid confusion, haha.

Well, in the end, Jimin and Jungkook did share a packet or cup of ramyeon. Haha.

Mate, the drone suddenly falling into the water was too funny, and I don’t even know why, haha. And Jungkook saying up until the last minute that Tae was the guest of the show is a mood.

Jimin and Jungkook cuddling while watching the sunset, with Jungkook filming it. That’s all that needs to be said.

Wait, didn’t Jungkook say that the drawing Jimin posted on Instagram was of a whale? I remember ARMY was saying it was a fish, I think? And he was like, “No! It’s a whale!” So why was Jungkook originally saying the cloud looked like a shark? Or was that a translation error?

I really loved how Tae respected some of the moments between Jimin and Jungkook and joined them at the right time.

MY CONCLUSIONS ON THE FOURTH EPISODE

God, this post is already too long, so I’ll try to be more concise here.

I really liked the episode. I think the vibe was a mix of what we saw in the first two episodes and the third one. Jimin feeling better changed the trio's dynamic, in my opinion.

Something I think I’ve mentioned several times before the first episode of this show even aired is that I was curious to see the dynamic between Jimin and Jungkook without the presence of the other members, and we got plenty of that in the first two episodes. I believe the contrast couldn’t have been clearer. I also remember saying something similar when it was confirmed that Tae would be in this part of the show. I said it would be interesting to see the dynamic between the three of them—not just without the other members but also in the context they were in. Again, the contrast between each pair and among the three of them couldn’t have been clearer, at least to me, and I think this episode made it even more apparent.

Jimin, Jungkook, and Tae get along really well, but they don’t always vibe on the same frequency. This means that when the fun ends, they can seem a bit awkward. Maybe it’s the cameras, I don’t know. In my post about the previous episode, I talked about how I see the dynamic between each pair, and in this one, where Jimin was more active, it was easier to “compare” the dynamics, especially when Jimin and Jungkook did similar things to what we saw Jungkook and Tae doing in the third episode. I’ve mentioned this above, but to sum up: they’re different. There’s something about the way Jimin and Jungkook interact that looks different. That sounds different. One thing I always notice is that the tone of their voices changes. It becomes softer, quieter. Calmer. And that only happens with them.

I loved the little moments of everyday life between Jimin and Jungkook. The moments of them just being themselves. Being together, having fun. That’s what the show is about, isn’t it?

I liked that, for whatever reason, Tae knew when to give them space. And I think this episode made it clear that this show is really just about Jimin and Jungkook. Even though it wasn’t necessary to prove the obvious, it’s pretty ironic that this happened after all the noise last week. Jikook karma is stronger than ever.

Jimin and Jungkook mentioning more than once that Tae was a guest was funny. They can be a bit petty when they want to be, but at the same time, I highly doubt they were upset about him joining the trip, as many fans have been suggesting. If they weren’t okay with Tae joining them, he wouldn’t have done so. I’m sure of that.

I’m surprised there’s going to be another episode in Jeju, to be honest, but I’m not complaining.

Final conclusion: I liked the episode. I liked seeing Jimin and Jungkook in sync again. Enjoying their holiday, they obviously deserved it and needed it. I’m glad Tae got to experience some of that too. That they were all together.

Now, I’ve seen some posts from the subgroup changing the narrative yet again. Insulting Jungkook and even his mum. How these people still have space in this fandom is beyond me. How no one else is calling them out for their behaviour—no one other than Jikookers, really—is inconceivable. Sad but not surprising. Not really. The narrative will change even more with the next episode, and it’ll be even more drastic once the episodes in Japan start airing. So, brace yourselves.

To those who were happy with this episode but not with the third one, I suggest you ask yourself what kind of fan you are. And I don’t mean a BTS fan; I mean, what kind of fan of Jimin and Jungkook are you really?

If you made it this far, thanks for reading all of this. I’m not sure if it makes sense. Apologies for any spelling and grammar mistakes. See you in the next episode, haha.

[uninformedartist]

So hey long time no see, just popping in to say that this video by Official_TVC is bullshit.

So summary + thoughts:

Video starts off with defintions on different types of stalking & they say Vivienne has experienced all this kind of stalking. Then goes on to say its 2 individuals doing this stalking and they we the viewer doesn't need to know them, Official_TVC has done a lot of research on them and we should should trust Official & their word without evidence because apparently they retweeted something on twitter & it was a tumblr post thats supposedly exposed Vivienne's siblings, personal things ect. All this is hearsay by you, it shouldn't make the average viewer trust your word. Yes I've seen things but that was from posts I've seen.

Aside -honestly Official should be questioning the anon asks we get on here, some of the asks contain some questionable info like how do you get that info. People get asks on here containing info, people don't go out & hunt all Vivienne's private life, we receive stuff thats how things come to light, OTHER PEOPLE SEND US STUFF.

All the background of the video is helluva boss/hazbin scenes coupled with music from respective shows. No evidence, not even heavily censored evidence to protect Vivienne, just Official_TVC talking & basically saying "trust me bro I did research, believe me". This is heinous accusations, individuals you are talking about & you give nothing. It could be lies for all people know, I don't even believe & I've seen the things you're referring to.

Continued, the stalkers, the 1st one is a "troll" according to Official_TVC & the second is supposedly so bad they were quote " has been 15 ft from vivziepop", no backing on that 15ft statement, Official_TVC just states this. All this stalking, entire pages made is because of a ship. Leaking show stuff (aside again, is GIVEN TO US VIA ANONYMOUS ASKS).

They carry on to say essentially all this hate talk on Viv on YT is cos she's popular, they got nothing of meaning to say on Viv cos they hate her so much they can't talk about her positively. They then mention a person has a never ending stream that just feeds misinformation other YouTubers & quote "on the precipice of wanting to strangle a woman (Viv) who made the crime of making demons gay". Wtf does that mean, who has this never ending stream of feeding misinformation to other YouTube, who & wtf are you talking about.

Anyway, goes on to compare spindlehorse workplace allegations to Amazon (yes ironic) & how Amazon treats its workers really bad... do I need to say more. Goes on to say everyone ragged on Viv because hazbin hotel is on Amazon, Amazon is bad & quote by Official_TVC is cos "everyone looks for an excuse to hate". Ok now I'm giving evidence on why people ragged on Viv for prime since you give jackshit.

Amazon/prime is currently being boycotted, its on the bds list why people were saying to pirate hazbin. Not some bullshit reason Official gave on it being mindless hate. Here is a video explaining why people are boycotting Amazon:

Vivienne also like this post from a fan, do I need to spell out how fucking disgusting this tweet is and the fact that she liked it.

Official carrys on to say stalker 1 did 3 things, doxxed Vivienne, & in their words if you go to said person's page Official states "im pretty sure they know where vivziepop lives". That is speculation, thats your opinion cos no evidence is provided or can be for that matter cos this is what YOU think. Dropping as Official says "nuggets" of info on Viv's siblings University, their work (this info was from a sibling's linked in page, public info). Can I say aside, I know her sibling's names. Why, not from stalking but from them leaving comments on Viv's speeddraws and Viv publicly naming them on her PUBLIC socials. And if you know someone's name you can easily find out what uni they went to, if you know my name & search me up you know what uni I go to its in the public on their linked in, social posts ect.

They go on to talk about how terrible leaking Viv's shows are, which idgaf. Amazon is a zionist corporation I'm pirating anything of Vivienne. Even invincible which I love, pirated it. Fans should too (since I see a lot of fans with free palastine in bio but still pay for prime). Anyway thats on them.

TW: talks of sexual harassment. So Official doesn't want to give more info on this individual which I respect & understand. However they say stalker 1 is sexually harrassing this person, sending content of a sexual nature all because the victim in this situation didn't agree with stalker 1 on the stalker's sentiments on hazbin hotel. I understand protecting the victim but my soul you're literally protecting the perpetrator. Expose them, you keep staying stalker 1 & 2 CALL THEM OUT. Protect the victims but expose the perpetrators.

They go on to stalker 2, who know stalker 1. Stalker 2 supposedly went to the hazbin premiere. They were there to keep an eye on vivziepop Official quotes. No evidence of this quote or info just them relaying it. Again this is all your words against what. Yeah that is concerning it really is but substantiate this evidence & quotes. This is the 1st time I'm hearing about this so I would like to know more on this & this heinous person. But you don't give any evidence. Official says " these people need to be stopped", how can they be stopped. You give no names, no info or evidence, its wishful thinking you saying this. I'm harping on and on on about Official gives no evidence but its so flipping frustrating hearing them spout all this WITH NOTHING to back their words.

TW again: Mentions of suicide and Shay a fan bullied by the fandom who then took their own life. Know a lot of people are still saddened by what led to Shay's passing why I mention this.

Official says stalker 1 is using the death of Shay to entice fruther harrassed on Vivienne. Its "apparently now", huskerdust fans went after Shay with heinous harassment & Shay subsequently ended their life, may they rest in peace. Official claims stalker 1 says Vivziepop is directly responsible for Shay's death. Shay's death was worded as "apparently" but stalker 1 using Shay's death to pin it on Vivziepop is stated as a fact. How disgusting can you be someone died & its apparently so to you but your word of mouth should be considered fact, fuck off. Official then goes on to say... sighs quote "we do not hold politicians accountable when they massacre people of other countries... bloodlines don't exist but we don't blame the politicians pushing the buttons".

Ok wtf, yes we do we blame Biden & other politicians & presidents for pushing the figurative & literally buttons on massacring Palestinians & other minorities, WE DO so wtf are you talking about. I honestly hate Official at this point because wtf are they saying. I don't blame vivziepop on Shay's death, even though when there was attempts to reach Vivienne on what was happening to Shay, maybe the channels they used like email didn't get the message across unfortunately. What I absolutely hate is when fans, like official now use Shay's death as a pawn in relation to people hating on Viv. No one that I've see & I'm saying it now I know who these stalker 1 & 2 are not even they were as disgusting as Official & fans to use Shay's death as to further hate on Vivienne. What Official_TVC is saying is bullshit.

And I disregard everything Official_TVC says after they hearted this comment, fuck you Official_TVC for hearting this vile comment.

I link a screenshot of the outreach to Vivienne via email on Shay aswell as the document on Shay's.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vSfCoyn81fp83pycx5eyS4oxryRpFnVnHdEeyEyouigrKSWAZ5iEgTjt7Q63n68S_PcZK7_klB-9dH1/pub

In all this video is a load of nothing, bullshit actually & just vile on the parts of Shay. They ended of once again reiterating they won't give proof because people just want names & evidence for the tea/gossip & they want to protect Vivienne, shoo shoo. Again trust me bro, I did the research so trust me.

I want to reiterate I condone no actions if provided true on stalker 1 or 2. But from what I've seen of them is all out of context, lies spread by the fandom & things just made up down the grapevine. I don't do this for likes, clout or other bullshit the fandom says. Wouldn't be of me on my nature and the work that I do. Come with substantial evidence, then we discuss & make conclusions but for now

...

I hate Vivienne and this fandom, bye all.

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

What did you think of kataras character arc if you exclude all the shipping wars?

Did you like it

I think it's pretty good, and I like her character a lot. I'd say she was the best written female character, and one of the best written characters in general, and that's despite her not being my favorite on either category.

There were a few issues/inconsistencies, namely her going from not being as good as Aang at waterbending then suddenly she's a master, or her stealing from the pirates yet getting on Toph's case for "cheating a cheater", but overall I'd say the show handled her well.

I like that they allowed her to be one the kindest characters, yet don't shy away from making her assertive, proud, strong-willed, stubborn and even mean sometimes (because children be like that) and that is so satisfying to watch, especially compared to bullshit like the Netflix version that is fucking TERRIFIED of giving the characters any flaws, to the point of stripping them of any agency or emotion.

Even her being both a fighter AND a healer ties into that duality. If you mess with her, you're fucked. But if you're nice to her, she'll be nice to you. And if you're in trouble, even if you're are a stranger, she'll help you because she can't wrap her head around the notion of just letting an innocent suffer. And as a bonus she commits ecoterrorism and helps deliver babies. Girly can do anything! How could anyone NOT love her?

We see her compassion ties in with her morals and convictions in MANY episodes (Imprisoned, Jet, The Avatar State, Crossroads of Destiny, The Painted Lady, The Puppet Master, The Southern Raiders, etc) as a result it feels like we really KNOW Katara, to the point that it's super easy for me to forget that she's a character because she's just that believable. I don't see a list of traits or just necessary actions that move the plot forward, I just see Katara being Katara, reacting to and influencing the world around around her.

As for her arc, like I said, I do think it was strange how she went from struggling to do some basic stuff to being able to hold her on in a fight against Pakku so fast, but once the show settled on "This girl be strong as fuck" they made damn sure we didn't forget it and they were smart to tie that in with her being a super inspirational figure (and to also have continue to learn new things even after being considered fit to be the Avatar's official teacher, so it made that incosistency a bit less distracting).

Pakku calls her master and Aang calls her sifu, we see her doing lots of cool moves in fights, and she's powerful enough that Hama's bloodbending doesn't work on her, she literally held up the rain and parted the seas and, oh yeah, she brought the Avatar back to life. No fucking wonder the messiah of this story took one look at her, fell in love immediately, and said the SHE gives HIM hope. It IS pretty difficult to give into despair when you're friend is that awesome, and goddamn, it'd be hard not to simp.

I also love that the show lets her be smart with HOW she uses her powers. Even in the second episode, when she's struggling with her bending and accidentally freezes Sokka instead of their enemies, she's smart enough to think "I just have to do the exact same motion, but to the other direction", she can work with her mistakes. She uses her waterbending to lift up a piece of the floor to defend herself from Mai's knives. She even uses her own sweat as a source of water before meeting Hama and being made to think of "Oh yeah, nearly EVERYTHING has water." Her last battle move in the show even was a mirror to her struggling to freeze her enemies at the start of the series, with her luring Azula to the right spot to freeze them both, unfreeze herself and slowly chain her, showing us how using her powers effortlessly has become second nature to her.

But THE episode that shows us the key role Katara plays in the story is "The Desert." Appa is gone and can't fly them away, Aang is too emotionally distraught by Appa's kidnaping to be of any help, Sokka is high as fuck, Toph can't "see" or use her bending as much because she still struggles to use sand the way she uses Earth, and we know for a fact that Momo doesn't understand a damn thing that's going on. The responsibiliy of keeping everyone together and then getting them out of there fell entirely on her shoulders for that episode, and she handled it like a pro. And at the end, when Aang is going nuts with grief, Katara is the only one not cowering before his power and can bring him back to earth with just one look.

The show could never work without her. The creators even said she's the heart of the story. That's why her voice is the first one we hear in every episode. She introduces the audience to this world and is the one to welcome us back each time. We learn her backstory before we even see Aang, that's how central she is to the plot.

And just like her introduction was handled perfectly, her send off was the same. She is reunited with her dad, who is very proud of her and knows her mom would feel the same way. She has helped save the world, and now she can finally be a kid again. She is free from the war. Free to go home with her family, travel with her friends every now and again for FUN instead of on a mission.

And yes, she's in a relationship now, with the guy she has clearly been in love with for a while. That romance IS one part of her arc and I celebrate it because there's nothing wrong with wanting love. I was cool with it even back when I didn't care for Kataang as a ship and didn't think it'd last - because I already cared about Katara and had seen the literal YEARS of foreshadowing, set up and development for it.

That's why I don't mind it when people ship her with her someone else - but get furious when Zutara shippers claim ALL OF THAT doesn't really count as her being treated with respect, both in universe and by the writers, because she didn't up marrying Zuko and becoming his girlfriend and future wife. Like it was all for nothing unless she kisses an emo boy and/or end up being a ruler, despite never having any interest in ruling anything. Like Katara's character and arc, all that she is, all that she overcame, accomplished and was rewarded with is irrelevant if the romance is not with the "right" guy. ONE part of her arc not being what they would have preferred RUINS her for people COMPLETELY.

And they have the nerve to call themselves "the REAL Katara fans"? What a joke. They can ship whatever they want, but they better put some respect on her name.

[eruhamster]

no, im thinking about the whole thing of more than just one or two people reading TGCF and somehow thinking he xuan only just found out about the fate switch again. the fact that this is something people think is so insane to me because even if the specific time he learned was never given, like it's essentially spelled out for you.

hua cheng says when he xuan died, shi wudu showed up and made sure he was dead, so he xuan knew something was up with this guy. he found out he was a god and grew more suspicious. and then he infiltrated the heavens to find out more. like that's really the only actual statement we get, but like... it's so clear it's been a long time coming.

suspicions don't make you eat a bazillion water ghosts to make you into a water ghost to give you the specific powers necessary to overcome and kill a water god. he had to have known for as long as he was considered black water sinking ships. and of course he would know from the moment he infiltrated - he knows what happened to him and when. he would go up there and see that shi wudu has a brother with his name, who ascended the same day he died, who isn't known for doing anything beyond pulling a drunken party trick on an asshole. and sqx is so willing to talk to everyone, "ming yi" even complains that he throws out his array password to everyone. sqx told xie lian his ghost story, complete with a spell to make it cold and spooky with scary music while he told it, within like a month of knowing the guy. there is absolutely no way in hell that he xuan did not connect the dots within a year of infiltration.

and this idea of "well why would he spend centuries not doing anything" is so fascinating because it completely disregards the entire subtext of who he xuan is and what his relationship is with others. he is not friends with hua cheng. hua cheng is actively antagonistic toward him(and this is not just a hua cheng thing; hua cheng is actively nicer to sqx and even pei ming than he is to he xuan): he calls in inept. he says he doesn't know what he's thinking. he freaks out at him coming into his territory(puqi shrine), he is actively on edge while they're on the island, and he goads and mocks him in ways he doesn't to his other underlings. and yet hua cheng bankrolls him. he xuan is insanely in debt because hua cheng pays for his food, the cost of his fish(that hua cheng also actively dislikes), the cost of bribing heavenly officials(probably to keep their mouth shut), etc.

hua cheng doesn't help he xuan and fund his escapades because they're friends. he is clearly hua cheng's actual spy. it's a sort of payment for his services.

there's no real info on this but they clearly have a deal worked out. hua cheng pays for his expenses. he xuan was likely tasked at keeping ears out for news of xie lian. their deal was likely set to end when xie lian was located. maybe it went further, given hua cheng is so familiar with what he xuan knew as a new ghost - esecially since hua cheng is known to help ghosts pass on and help them with petty revenge or give them shelter in Ghost City in turn for their assistance(best example being the boar and chicken ghosts, they serve their chengzhu after he helped them get revenge and that's why many of the cultivators in the mt tonglu arc hate him, as seen in the ghost inn scene), it could easily be the case that he xuan came to hua cheng and they worked out a plan together. hua cheng knows how the heavens work; he ascended once. he could have come up with the infiltration plan and assisted he xuan in turn for him being a spy alongside he xuan's goal of finding out what shi wudu did. so even when he gets up there and immediately connects the dots, he'd do the work he was tasked with.

because if he only just recently found out, it would be insane to think that "ming yi" wouldn't go berserk. that "ming yi" wouldn't at the very least start acting noticeably different toward sqx. but he doesn't, because he's known.

i've seen people mention the hua cheng line of "my underling for 10 years" - this is him working out the hole he xuan found himself in when the real ming yi set off the flame pillar. "ming yi" was working as jun wu's spy for 10 years. the 10 years comment was aligning with that, giving an out so he could be taken back to the heavens with the idea that he was only jun wu's spy that was discovered after 10 years of infiltrating ghost city.

in reality, jun wu was unlucky enough(or maybe 'ming yi' volunteered) that the spy he picked was already hua cheng's spy of centuries; a double-agent. he xuan was spying, and that was why hua cheng knew the moment xie lian ascended. that is why he knew the exact mission xie lian was on and where he could find him. because he had a spy on the lookout.

and by the time their deal had been fulfilled, he xuan had been sqx's best friend for so long that he had grown complicated feelings and didn't start on the path to revenge until he had no choice: when the real ming yi finally killed himself in a cry for assistance(which, personally, i think may have been spurred by he xuan potentially deciding he wanted to keep that ming yi imprisoned indefinitely, or perhaps only due to an accident that originated from xie lian's unluckyness burning sqx).

the real issue from then on is he xuan fighting with himself, stuck between 'ming yi' and the oppressive and violent black water, seemingly actively attempting to both get his revenge while trying to salvage a relationship with sqx and keep the truth of "ming yi" from his best friend.

that's why, despite it all, he xuan still pops into the rebuilt puqi shrine to eat the food in a silent act of congratulations. xie lian actively got in the way of his plans to the point of he xuan barely being able to contain his violence and hua cheng legitimately being worried, and again, hua cheng and he xuan clearly are not friends - but hua cheng still helped him for centuries. hua cheng is the reason he got his revenge. and that warranted stopping by during a celebration.

this fits in so perfectly with their characters and the events of the story. the moment you think that the discovery happened recently, motivations come into question and it makes things muddy. like, one person who believed that he'd only just learned had said that hua cheng must have found out about xie lian's ascension through the rain master - there is not a single instance in the books that imply the rain master and hua cheng have interacted meaningfully. you have to actively make things up to go against this very clear line of what likely occurred.

this is also what makes he xuan so tragic. "ming yi" is not a complete lie, and he does try to cling to it, and only has to let it go after xie lian's continued meddling that eventually reveals the truth to sqx - long after he would have known, if he xuan actually wanted sqx to know. he wanted to stay friends with sqx, and he hated himself for it, which is why he shows a bit of himself when he asks xie lian to 'exorcise the demons in his heart.' the real he xuan is not so evil; hua cheng does not work with evil ghosts. the real he xuan has silly pet skeleton fish that assault him and accidentally poison him the moment he comes home because they're so excited to see him, and makes little jokes like teasingly sliding away from sqx when sqx recalls the 'reverend' saying everyone close to him will perish. that's why he doesn't change sqx's fate after he kills shi wudu. that's why sqx makes it clear that he xuan wasn't the one that broke his leg and arm. that's why he hesitated when sqx called out his pet name. that's why he kept and repaired sqx's fan. that's why he laughs before leaving when sqx is hounded by all his new friends about godhood. that's why he helps hua cheng one more time. that's why he congratulates xie lian on the shrine reopening. that's why he still says 'dream on' and 'do it yourself' to sqx even when there is no more ming yi; he xuan is not a bad person. he is just a man with demons. and if his hand hadn't been forced time and again, maybe he would have made the decision that being "ming yi" indefinitely wasn't such a problem. but the mountain of sins he'd committed over the centuries in the name of getting his revenge once xie lian was found was a hill too big to climb over, and once the path to revenge started, he had to do it. otherwise, what was the point of all the debt, all the lies, the wrongful imprisonments, the killing- everything he used to stand against, the crimes that others had done to him? he had to do it.

[lifebloodblue]

Here’s my personal interpretation of the timeline of Kirk and Spock’s relationship

So they meet when Pike is still captain of the Enterprise and they become friends right away. Once Kirk becomes captain and makes Spock his first officer they start working together a lot more and through spending more time together they fall in love at some point during the 5 year mission. Once they both realize it and confess to one another they start seeing each other in secret (we’ll call it dating even though they can’t really make it official)

Then Spock goes to Gol and obviously this means they won’t be seeing each other and Spock is seeking to purge all of his emotions so for that time they’re broken up

During the events of TMP when they’re reunited for the first time in 3 years and Spock accepts his emotions, they fall back in love, and the hand holding scene, especially the little nod they exchange, is how they both know it

Now there were approximately 12 years between TMP and TWoK. I think that after the events of TMP they started dating again and at some point during those years they get married

In TWoK Spock calls himself Kirk’s friend, both when giving him command of the ship and when dying, saying that he has been and always will be that. Kirk also refers to Spock as his friend at Spock’s funeral. And it’s true, because even though their relationship has advanced since then, that’s what they were first, and have continued to be even as they eventually fell in love and later tied the knot

Then in TSFS, Spock remembers Jim’s name and that he was Jim’s friend because, again, that’s the first and most important thing that they were to each other

And Kirk understands that Spock is going to need some time before his memory fully returns, but he secretly doesn’t mind it all that much because it means that he and Spock get to fall in love with each other all over again

Then after the end of TUC they happily live out their retirement together and we all know that nothing tragic happened to either one of them after that!!

[b4tasquad]

✭ HANDSY: NIKO OMILANA

Authors note: the lack of beta squad related stuff on here makes me sick every time i open this app. therefor i’ve made it my mission to not only revive the beta squad # but also find others that love them as much as i do. please hmu if you like them, i beg 🙏

Warnings: eh nothing really. just language, lmk tho.

…

“I still don’t get why we couldn’t have someone else in her place.” Niko stares intently on the flat screen facing him, eyes set on you getting placed in position in the other room.

When the YouTuber got told that they’d be filming a blind date video like this, he was excited. Not only would he see two people spend a long amount of time with a complete stranger, but he’d laugh and joke about it while getting paid. It was a win- win situation. What he hadn’t seen coming was the special guest on today’s episode being you, his girlfriend.

Now, he had to watch guys try to flirt and win you over, and had to fake being happy about it too.

“The people wanted her.” Kenny shrugs from his seat next to him on the comfortable sofa, eyes on his phone but still knowing who his best friend was talking about. He was referring to the post they made on their official account, asking people to comment who they wanted featured more in videos. Majority of the comments asked for you, another famous influencer in the Uk, who had been spotted around the guys before.

“My girlfriend, really?” He still feels uneasy. Not in a million years would he think you would ever leave him for another guy, but ideas that the internet would start shipping you with someone else were entering his head. It made him feel sick.

“That’s what you get for having a secret relationship.” AJ replies making the rest of them break out into mocking laughter. The group knows the internet would break your relationship into bits, overanalysing and picking on everything but they still found humour in how mad their friend seemed to be at the thought of his girl being on fake dates

“So funny.” The tall boy rolles his eyes. When AJ, Chunkz and Sharky sat behind him doesn’t stop laughing, he makes a move to hit every single one of them. “Shut up.”

Fortunately, they’re told to get into position, making them ultimately shut up. The camera got set up and the person behind them giving them a signal to start.

“Today we have a special guest!” Kenny introduces.

“It’s me.” You speak flatly, hearing his words through the mic in your ear. “I’m the special guest.”

You can hear the guys groan hating the lack of happiness in your voice. Keeping up his role and hiding the fact that you were in a committed relationship, he clears his throat. “You gotta be more enthusiastic than that. You’re on beta squad, we’re giving you a chance to make a name for yourself.”

If you hadn’t been on camera, you would threaten to break up with Niko, but since you were you tried a different approach. “You’re almost speaking like I don’t have more followers than you. Bitch I’m making your career.”

“A round of applause.” Sharky tells at your bite back, and Niko side eyes him knowing of the small crush he had on you. It wasn’t hard to tell really, the guy took your side on literally anything and smiled stupidly at the things you said.

“Niko could you zip it, we’re paying her for the minute don’t drag it out.” You can’t help but laugh in your seat at Chunkz’ words, nodding in approval at his humour.

“Anyways.” You continue, eyes set on the camera as you cross your legs. “Let’s get into the video.”

The boys introduce the idea for the video and that’s when you remember this is the first time they’ve done it on their channel. Basically, you’re going to be going on an arranged date with a guy, and the group have certain stages you had to go through to help you find ‘your perfect match’.

As Kenny concludes the whole thing, you can’t help but roll your eyes and sigh. “ I’m not even looking for a guy. I’m all good.” You tell, a little smile on your face as you think of your lover. As if catching on to it, Niko also stupidly smiles in his seat, feeling much better about it now.

“Contestant one.” They call out and the next second, a blonde walks into the little setup. From across the table you thin your lips a little as you look over him.

“She hates him!” Chunkz cackles, pointing at the scene on the screen. “Did y’all see that little lip thing? This gyal is crazy for that one.”

Niko grins to himself.

“Hey.” The guy greets, and to be polite you get up and hug him, muttering pleasantries. You’re going for a friendly and comfortable hug, your arms loosely wrapping around his middle. The guy on the other hand tightened his hold on your waist, hands creeping down.

“Hell no.” You push away, a disgusted laugh rippling out of you at this actions. “D’you not have shame? Mans tried to grab my bunda before introducing himself. Get him out. Can I vote people out?”

The four other members, slowly look towards Niko, watching almost fearfully as he gets up from his seat, not caring wether the camera was still on. He wasn’t thinking logically, only feeling anger as someone got handsy with his girl. You’re laughing at the guy, not even giving him a chance to explain himself when Niko storms in, eyes set on the unknown guy.

“You, get the fuck out.” He points towards the exit. Behind him, the rest of the guys run after him, calling for their friend to stop.

“Niko, chill.” Sharky tells him, coming up to him and stopping him from doing something stupid. You’ve completely frozen near the table, never seen your boyfriend so mad.

“I’m not going to stop, what the fuck? This lad is proper mad, trynna grab her.” At his words you finally snap out of your shock.

“Let it go.” You plead with him, coming to stand besides him. Still wary of the countless eyes of contestants and others, you make a note to not touch him and plead with your eyes instead.

He silently nods, but he’s not done. “He’s out. Or me and y/n aren’t doing the video.” To someone who only know you two as influencers, they must think Niko is crazy. Not only raging, but threatening to leave the video for a girl he didn’t know that well must’ve seemed crazy.

“Why are you so mad?” The guy who minutes before tried to touch you questions, standing a good distance away from you guys.

“Don’t fucking speak, you little shit.” You tell him, sick of him. Because of him, your boyfriend not only got uncharacteristically mad, but the guy you didn’t know had managed to make the whole thing weird.

It wasn’t a question for the rest of the beta squad, without even a second of thinking they got the guy removed of set, him cussing him out as they do so.

“You good? Can we continue?” AJ asks, his question directed to the two of you. Niko’s chest was heaving, and with the lack of eyes on you now, you take a hold of his hand, kissing the back. It seems to relax him a great deal.

He nods. “Yeah.” Letting go of your hand, he leans down to hug you close to him, secretly kissing your covered neck, whispering a little “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay baby.” You tell him, nodding to give him even more reassurance. “Don’t worry about these guys, I don’t want anyone but you. This is just a video.”

Even though he doesn’t seem completely content with the idea of it, he seems to feel much lighter than a few minutes ago. Now, seemingly in the joking mood again, he huffs a laugh. “I should’ve smoked his jaw.”

Kenny is the first one to break as he hears the words, imagining Niko in a fight. After that, the rest of the guys fall into heavy laughter, and you can’t help but let out small giggles yourself at the thought of your funny and problem solving boyfriend getting into a physical fight.

As if you’ve betrayed him, he looks at you with widened eyes and an open mouth, before addressing his friends behind you. “Stop laughing!”

They laugh even more at that.

[pepexpablito]

okay going based off my previous request smth with a famous reader x hector

like maybe and athlete or like an actress(spider woman actress?)

and just like them having to shoot a promotional video with liek say nike and the bts gets released and everyone is talking bout how hector and reader cant stop giving each other heart eyes :)

It started when hector's manager sent you a DM saying, " hello Ms. y/ln, we wanted to contact you regarding a photoshoot with hector and Nike.", which led you to be in your current situation sitting in a hotel room waiting for hector to finish his game of FIFA so you both could attend the photoshoot. after almost 30 minutes he stood up and put on his coat walking out leaving you behind and not speaking a word to you, "you know the least you can do I talk to me" you say following close behind him "and why would I talk to someone as boring and annoying as you" hector says his head snapping back to look at you, you just start walking faster now leaving him behind while also trying to hide the tears in your eyes. during the photo shoot though hector was staring at you the whole time and blushing HARD after the photo shoot hector had invited the whole team to a bar with drinks on him, and who would say no to free drinks, while there hector was just sitting across from you in the VIP section staring and looking madly in love.

(1 week later)

fans and even haters were shipping you and hector even your only families then during another Nike shoot with hector he was staring and blushing again but you still ignored it and continued, then again he invited the whole team to the bar when you walked in the door you started to dance with everybody until hector walked up to you and said he was to drunk to drive and needed a ride home.in the car hector is just staring at you while you sit across from him "you look really pretty" he whispers drunk "what was that?" you reply not being able to hear him, "you look really pretty right now" he whispers again, "speak up if you want me to understand you" you say getting annoyed, " you look really pretty right now" he says and you can finally understand him "oh... um thank you" you say. when you both get to the hotel you have to practically carry him to the room were then you lay him down on the bed helping him get into his pajamas, " I just love you soooooo much" hector say, " I... I love you to" you say softly , "will you cuddle me... please" hector says looking at you with puppy eyes "sure" you say laying down behind him spooning him until you couldn't keep your eyes open any longer and ended up falling asleep.

(3 months later)

It started again at a coffee shop near camp nou you and hector were seen sharing a table and laughing together but it wasn't until hector was seen with the bracelet you rarely took off that the fans started to get suspicious of the two, then you posted a photo wearing a barca jersey a few days later but didn't show the back, and the fans started going crazy asking all sorts of questions like " whose name is on the back!" and " are you and hector dating!?" .About a month later, there were pictures every where at this point of hector and you, you and hector's mom, hector and you're brother, aswell as hector being seen in the back of a photo from one of you're family events and you're reflection taking a photo of hector's mom and some of her friends, at this point fans were begging for them to announce that they are official up to the point that hector posted a picture of you and himself kissing on the beach and dedicated a winning goal to you.

(I'm thinking about starting a series for hector or Gavi but i don't know what it would be about so if you have any ideas feel free to share💕)

( SEND ANY REQUESTS FOR ANY BARCA PLAYER!!! 💗💗💗)

[egg-emperor]

Maybe Eggman admires Big for being fat and physically capable. Eggman takes pride in the size and shape of his body so maybe he gets excited whenever he sees another fatty who can perform athletic feats.

Yesss I do like to imagine them both feeling a type of kinship. From Eggman's perspective, meeting another fat guy who is also very strong and comfortable with his body, though not in the extremely egotistical way he goes about it lol

And for Big it's finally meeting another guy who is fat and is the same height. He's used to always looking down at everyone else and being the fat one. And one of my favorites which makes part of this canon: he has a funny mustache like Eggman!

This is so cute he looks at Eggman and thinks "hey he has one just like me!" the boys are both beautifully fat and have precious whiskers and have the cutest ship name of BigEgg, a perfect match fhsjfnskgdgh 🥰

I can see Big finding it cool that they both have big round bellies, are tall, have whiskers, and if he saw body hair on Eggman's chest and tummy he'd think "he has a bit of fur like me too!" 💜 I like to imagine them having fascinations and curiosities with their similarities and differences so they compare what they both have and explore what they don't with each other

Because then they also have a bunch of perfect opposites attract attributes, like Big lives in nature while Eggman's world is all mechanical, Big is simple minded and Eggman is a 300 IQ genius, Big is chill af and Eggman has a terrible temper, Big is selfless and cares for his friends and Eggman is selfish and only cares about himself, Big is pure hearted and Eggman is evil hearted

They're so underrated man. With that there's another similarity between them irl too, in the way that Eggman and Big are commonly hated, seen a joke, or at least not cared about for various reasons in fandom, a lot of the times being because they're fat and not "conventionally attractive" and very misinterpreted characters

Big boys gotta stick together and give each other the loving they deserve! ;) ❤️🥚💜🐈

That's why I really wish Eggman could win the poll so we could see them in the Sonic Channel art together! When he inevitably doesn't I'll do it myself and finally completely draw them together and post it because if the rest of the fandom is gonna deny us from letting that happen officially then I'll have to do it myself :P

[ofthecaravel]

Brandy

Chapter Eight

Summary: Years after Sam gets his sailor, big plans are hatched and tensions arise as Daniel attempts to keep a secret.

Tags: Lotsa crying (both good and bad), anxiety, insecurity, illusions to saucy shit, overall a very very good happy time though I swear

Words: 9.2k

A/N: SURPRISE SHAWTYS you know I couldn't leave this one alone for too long. Here's a little follow up. Enjoy!

~~~

“This is honestly going better than I expected.”

Jake gave a muffled little laugh from behind the wide, felt brim of his hat, which he was holding to cover his face as he sat on the very edge of the couch. Josh, on the other hand, made no acknowledgement of the teasing, simply continuing to keep his face buried in his hands while his chest sputtered with dramatic little sobs. Jake reached blindly to the side and his hand found clumsy purchase on Josh’s back, giving him a sympathetic pat as Clarice the chicken pecked gently at Josh’s curls. 

Daniel stood awkwardly in front of them, wringing his hands nervously as he had been doing from nearly the moment he’d woken up that morning. He hadn’t even said very much to them, but if he was being honest, he’d definitely expected far more drama from the both of them combined after he’d told them his thoughts. Daniel had gotten used to the high energy hysterics that they seemed to draw from each other, which had seemed so unusual at first considering that the cool, swashbuckling Jake that he had gotten to know was jovial yet never ridiculous. But Josh so easily riled him up and Daniel found their mania a comfort when he spent time at the Kiszka residence, which was nearly every day despite it being a 15 minute walk from his inn. 

He’d made that walk earlier in much less time, channeling his anxiety into speed and then shuddering babbles as he’d burst through the door and instructed them to sit down and listen. What he’d said was very simple and straightforward and went something along the lines of Hello, so, basically, you’re aware I’ve spent the last 5ish years dating/falling in love with/wrangling your brother, Sam, I guess I don’t need to say his name because we all know him, obviously, anyways, but I was sort of thinking that since he lives with me at the inn now that the next step would be for me to, uh, well, ask him to…marry me. Officially. But I wanted to ask you guys first if I, uh, have your blessing. Considering you’re his family and I’d actually really like it if you ended up being mine too. Yes. Okay. That was what I wanted to say. 

They had, of course, immediately burst into synchronous spells of tears, which Daniel took as a positive answer while they fumbled to hide their rosy, contorted faces.

“Christ,” Jake finally said, his voice thick with emotion but clearly desperate to answer with levity. “Daniel, you don’t even need to ask. But it means so much that you did.”

“So much,” Josh repeated, barely coherent through his tears. He straightened from a dramatic slouch to a dramatic backwards lean, turning his face to the ceiling and attempting to fan his tears away with his hands.

“You’re already family,” Jake insisted, reaching out to Daniel and taking his hand to pull him closer. “And- wow, your hand is sweaty, ew -you’ve been family since I first met you on that shabby old ship off the coast of God knows where. I loved you then, I love you now, and I think Sam is going to actually lose his mind when you ask.”

“If you two are reacting like this at the mere prospect, I feel like I should be expecting him to have a full blown meltdown,” Daniel laughed, flushing at the concept as Jake gripped his hand passionately and kept borderline uncomfortable eye contact with Daniel.  

Something that Daniel loved so dearly about Jake was his fierce sincerity, and he felt it hard in that moment as they grinned at each other. Without Jake’s friendship, Daniel never would have gained a certain kind of confidence that had made him reliable on the ship and assured within himself. When Daniel had first met Jake and the rest of their crew, he had been a seasick, homesick shrinking violet that had to be coerced into talking. And Jake, who was being slowly driven nuts without the perpetual chatter of his brothers, was more than happy to be the one to poke and prod Daniel until his guard was down. It was after Jake had worn Daniel down and nurtured his shy laughter into raucous babbling that Jake had known he had to bring him home to Sam…but that’s a fact that Jake would save for the wedding. That reminiscence was at the forefront of Jake’s mind as they held to each other.

“Sam is going to fucking explode,” Josh blurted tearfully, his weeping finally giving way to laughter that punched out of his chest and infected Jake and Daniel too. Jake released his grip on Daniel and slumped backwards against Josh, who received him with an “oof” and set off a chain reaction of bantering back and forth between the two. Daniel listened fondly, wringing his hands with increasing fervor as he remembered that his speech wasn’t quite finished. Jake noticed Daniel’s notorious nervous tic and calmed again, sitting up straight and arching an eyebrow.

“What?” Jake asked. “What now?”

“I, well, I kinda wasn’t done,” Daniel explained meekly. “There was something else I wanted to ask about.”

“Do you need a ring guy? ‘Cause I know a guy,” Josh piped up brightly, quickly mirroring Jake’s posture and grinning. 

“He does not know a guy, he knows a guy who knows a guy,” Jake clarified, rolling his eyes and pinching Josh’s side. “Or at least that’s what he says.”

“Why would he lie?” Josh scoffed, smacking Jake’s hand away and shoving at his cheek. “You like him.”

“Yeah, well, you like like him, huh?”

“Shut up!”

“Guys!” Daniel interjected, clapping his hands. “Hi!”

“Hi, sorry, yes,” Jake cleared his throat, waving his hands as if to clear away a spiderweb. “You were asking something.”

“I was, yes, okay, so,” Daniel started, wiping his sweaty palms on his shorts and gearing himself up. “So. I was thinking. That. Maybe. Jake, would you be interested in being my best-”

“Yes!” Jake yelled, flying to his feet and hurling his full body weight at Daniel, who caught him with a wheezing laugh. Josh stayed on the couch with an anticipatory look, holding his hands out like he was waiting to receive a first class package. 

“AND?” Josh blurted, clearly anxious about the assignment Daniel was going to entrust him with.

“Josh, would you want to marry us?” Daniel asked gently, dividing his attention between patting Jake on the back and scanning Josh’s face. Josh’s eyes, already red and heavy from tears, began to glitter again and his lip quivered. There was a flicker of confusion as well, and Daniel jumped to tend to it.

“It’s just, I can’t think of anyone else that I’d want to do that,” Daniel further explained. “For us, I mean. I can’t say I’ve ever pictured myself getting married at a church and I know you guys have never been religious, so…I choose you.”

“I’m not a priest, honey,” Josh whispered, voice thick with awed emotion. “It wouldn’t, you know, count.”

“Well, I think any rites you’d do would hold a lot more weight than any performed by someone actually ordained,” Daniel smiled, hot in the face like he always was whenever he explained his thought process. It suddenly sounded very silly now that he’d said it out loud and he began to think of a backup plan, but then Josh was leaping to his feet and tackling Daniel in a hug of his own and he realized that probably wouldn’t be necessary.

“Of course,” Josh accepted, struggling to wrap his arms properly around both Daniel and Jake, who was still firmly cemented to Daniel’s chest. “Of course. God, it’d be an honor. I promise not to fuck it up.”

“Same here,” Jake agreed, giving Daniel another squeeze. “I’m gonna write the best speech you’ve ever heard.”

“I don’t doubt that for a minute,” Daniel laughed, a warm light burning in his chest and making his face ache with a smile. “Just try and keep it under 10 minutes.”

Jake paused.

“I am not going to make that promise.”

They all gave a laugh in their varying harmonies and stayed in their embrace, Daniel allowing the love from his friends to pass through him. With this rare silence, Daniel closed his eyes and basked in his gratitude. Just outside he could hear a squall of seagulls flying overhead, somewhere beyond it the pluck of a fiddle from the instrument repair shop that Jake had impulsively bought a guitar from a few years prior and hadn’t put down since. In the house, the windows were open and let a cool breeze wash over him and these men he felt beyond grateful to call his closest friends and soon his brothers. 

Getting lost in the moment, Daniel indulged in his fantasy of this perfect wedding day he was working towards and the parts they would play: Jake, wine drunk and flushed, flailing about theatrically as he delivered a speech that was equal parts lecture about the sanctity of true love and embarrassing stories about the grooms. Josh undoubtedly fighting a warble in his voice through his entire faux sermon, one that he painstakingly crafted for months on end and will certainly complain about not being any good despite it being beyond beautiful. 

And Sam. God, Daniel couldn’t even begin to imagine how he’d look, what he’d say. The prospect of it had the creeping ache of tears pressing on Daniel’s throat and at the back of his eyes. All he could manage was fleeting imaginings of Sam’s hand in his as they stepped into their first dance, or the sensation of Sam smiling into a kiss at the altar while their eardrums are blown to bits by the ferocity of the cheers from the audience. It’d all be perfect. A swan song from all the hardship they’d faced before they’d even been together officially and the gentlest, softest beginning of the rest of their lives. Calm. Peaceful. Quiet, even.

“‘Sup, fuckers!”

With a startling bang, the door was thrown open and Sam’s peppy voice filled the previously serene room. In the years they’d been together, Daniel had watched Sam come alive in a way he couldn’t feasibly describe. It could be felt in the way he dragged a certain electricity with him from room to room, something practically visible with every movement. Daniel could see it when he bounced in the house then, a sort of colorful blur at the borders of Sam that kept Daniel transfixed to him wherever he went. His face was already warm with a smile that reached his eyes and appled his cheeks, and Daniel for a moment forgot just what kind of strange position he was about to be caught in as he let the sight of Sam settle over him like sunlight. However, he was cold a second later when Sam finally looked at the strange amalgamation his brothers and Daniel had become and his bright expression was soured in an instant. 

“What the hell are you doing?” Sam asked in an incredulous tone, his eyebrow raising sassily when Jake and Josh peeled themselves off of Daniel a little too fast to not be suspicious.

“We…” Daniel began, making brief panicked eye contact with Jake as he struggled to come up with a story. “Josh…had a bit of bad news and we were all hugging to make him feel a little better.”

“I’d say it worked,” Jake added on, nodding confidently and gripping Josh’s shoulder. “He’s pulling through.”

“I’m pulling through,” Josh finished with a bit of an amused waver to his voice that Jake dispelled with a dig of his nails into Josh’s skin. “From my bad news, I mean. Everything is fine, really, don’t worry about me.”

“It was just some moral support,” Daniel continued, trying to give Sam a calm smile that ultimately he knew he wouldn’t buy.

“What’s wrong?” Sam questioned with his brows still furrowed critically. 

Daniel and the twins all exchanged a split second nervous look, with Josh begging for help with a slight squint of his eyes and Daniel and Jake returning it with apologetic silence.

“It’s just…Clarice,” Josh began unsteadily, feigning a pained look with uncanny quickness. “She’s not been doing so hot and I’m worried.”

From across the room, Clarice was hopping merrily from the top of the couch to the cushions over and over, clearly swept up in the excitement of playing and clearly in good health. Sam regarded her for a long moment and looked back to Josh with unrestrained scrutiny, squinting his eyes at Josh’s act of agony. 

“You’ve been crying,” Sam noted coolly. “What about?”

“Clarice! I just said Clarice,” Josh wailed, smacking his hand against his forehead and looking at Clarice like it was the last time he ever could. “My Clarice…”

“What fucking ever,” Sam grumbled, rolling his eyes and landing his gaze on Daniel. “Do we have everything we need for dinner tonight?”

“I think so,” Daniel answered happily, hoping he was masking his body’s involuntary sigh of relief at Sam dropping the topic so quickly. “Was there anything special?”

“I think we just needed, like, yogurt or honey for the dessert.”

“I have honey!” Josh offered. 

“Don’t get him fucking started on the fucking honey,” Jake lamented as Josh dropped his pitiful performance and scurried off to the kitchen to dig in a cabinet. “I can’t hear one more story about how ‘the cute honey guy’ looked at you while you weren’t looking but were actually looking or whatever.”

“He, like, super definitely did, though.”

“It might not even need honey, I was just saying that it might need honey,” Sam interjected. 

As they all watched Josh pull jar after jar of honey out of a low cabinet like a clown pulling silks from his sleeve, Sam finally migrated over to where Daniel stood. When Jake sighed and went to Josh’s side to bicker about where they placed the recipe for the fancy Friday dinner they’d planned, Sam reached out and clung to Daniel’s arm with his cheek burrowed into his bicep. This was something Sam had done from the very start and it still made Daniel’s stomach flip. 

“Hi,” Daniel whispered to the top of Sam’s head. 

“Hi,” Sam whispered back, looking up at Daniel through his lashes. “Everything all good at the inn tonight?”

“Yes, indeed,” Daniel affirmed, kissing Sam’s forehead. “Apparently those rowdy sailors from Greenland left this afternoon, so they won’t be any more trouble.” 

“Aw, all of them? Even the one with the two different colored eyes?”

“All of them, as far as I know.”

“Man. He was kind of cool.”

“You’re just trying to make me jealous.”

“Is it working?”

Daniel let out a laugh through his nose and kissed Sam’s forehead again before he dug his fingers into his side to make him yelp and wiggle away. 

“Not at all,” Daniel replied with a chuckle.

“I’m gonna kill you,” Sam answered, covering his side with his hand and smacking blindly at Daniel with the other. A smile split his face again and Daniel drank it in.

“And I’m gonna marry you,” is what he replied in his head, but out loud, Daniel only scoffed. He went after Sam for another jab and gave chase when Sam squealed and ran in the opposite direction, eventually losing the thought as he fell into the hectic atmosphere of the Kiszka household on a Friday evening.

-

Lucky for Daniel, he never had to take Josh up on his “ring guy” offer. He already had one. 

Truth be told, Daniel had had a ring on hand for an embarrassingly long amount of time. Since that agonizing year where he’d been at sea and oceans apart from Sam, in fact. A few days after getting Jake and Josh’s blessing, Daniel bowed to the compulsion to check the hiding spot the ring had been nestled in since the day he came back and hastily moved into the inn. It was a little risky considering Sam was in the shower and not far away like Daniel usually preferred him to be when he checked in on the ring, but Daniel just had to look at it. The anticipation of the actual proposal was killing him and he could only be soothed by the ritual of pulling the little velvet box free from the handkerchief it was wrapped in, which was in turn hidden in the inside pocket of a coat hung in the very back of his closet. Listening closely to the rush of water hitting the tile behind the bathroom door, Daniel popped open the lid and smiled at the ring. It wasn’t anything flashy, but it was damn near perfect in Daniel’s eyes: a simple rounded diamond surrounded by a halo of little pearls, all set on a silver band. Looking at it, he remembered wandering into a jewelers when they’d docked in Italy with the ring in tow, pulling it out and stumbling through a request in broken Italian to resize it. The jeweler had spoken a few words of English and they managed to get through the transaction without much issue, and Daniel remembered how he’d told Daniel that whoever was going to be on the receiving end of the ring was a very lucky person. The irony was not lost on Daniel when the jeweler informed him that the ring was, if Daniel’s feeble understanding of Italian wasn’t mistaken, made in “the siren style”. Daniel could’ve told him about how the lucky person was a siren themselves, but he just wished him well and pocketed the ring again.

“Done!” Sam announced from the bathroom, sending a shock of panic through Daniel as he fumbled stuffing the ring back into its box and springing into action to shove it back in the closet. 

“I’ve missed you!” Daniel responded weakly, his hands shaking slightly as he struggled to wrap the handkerchief around the box. His body was half hidden in the closet when Sam strolled out of the bathroom, towel around his waist and a comb being dragged through his wet hair. He’d cut it recently so that it reached just past his shoulders, and he often wore it in a ponytail to combat the stiff summer heat that had settled over the town in the past month. When Daniel had successfully jammed the coat and its secret treasure back where it belonged, he turned around and was happy to see Sam’s hair loose and already beginning to curl slightly from the humidity.

“Lose something?” Sam asked innocently, looking around Daniel into the darkness of the closet. 

“Nope, just putting a shirt away,” Daniel lied, closing the closet behind him with a smidge too much enthusiasm. “How was your shower?”

“Rejuvenating,” Sam sang with a mischievous twinkle in his eye. “Energizing, even.”

“Yeah?” Daniel countered, casually leaning back against the door and crossing his tattooed arms over his chest.

“Yeah,” Sam flirted, looking Daniel up and down where he relaxed in his comfortable outfit of shorts and a thin tank top. “Would you be interested in taking advantage of this burst of energy before I go clock in?”

In the past few years, after Josh had mercifully yet begrudgingly hired some non-familial help around the Caravel, Sam had been splitting his time between the bar and working the front desk of the inn. Seeing as it was only a few steps from their front door, Sam and Daniel were in a continuing game of how close they could cut it before Sam had to run to the desk as the clock hit the hour on the head. Despite their ever growing catalog of games and running jokes they shared, this one was an undoubted favorite.

“I’d be extremely interested,” Daniel purred, straightening and closing the distance between them. “I think I can get you there at 5:58 on the dot this time. Plenty of time to get to the desk and lovingly tend to our guests.”

“You’re on,” Sam responded, already breathless as he wrapped his arms around Daniel’s neck. “Loser buys dinner.”

“I always buy dinner no matter what.”

“Loser.”

Daniel laughed and kissed Sam, one arm circling Sam’s waist to keep him close and the other reaching down to loosen the towel. After all was said and done, Sam would cheerfully wobble down to the lobby and Daniel would slip out to talk with Josh about a restock of Kiszka Liquor in the gift shop that had gone up in the past year. 

But not really. Daniel had bigger plans than that.

-

A week or two passed. Sam stood in the doorway in the early evening, watching Daniel lace up his boots with an odd look in his eye. Sam’s whole world pretty much revolved around Daniel, so he was quick to pick up on the little things. And he had never been more convinced that something was wrong. 

There wasn’t anything glaringly obvious, but Sam had spent his days attuning himself to Daniel and he’d been picking up more and more frequencies that didn’t quite make sense to him. His gaze lingering on Sam a beat longer than usual, the new and unusual way he twisted his ring finger while lost in thought, the thousand yard stare at couples passing them by on the street. He hugged Sam a little tighter, like he was bracing them for something. It was driving Sam absolutely crazy, and the worst part was that Daniel had to know that.

“Remind me where you’re going?” Sam asked nervously.

“Putting up lights for Josh,” Daniel answered patiently, eyes trained on the movement of his hands as he finished up a double knot. “I won’t be long at all, it’s just, well. You know he can’t reach.”

“Yeah,” Sam answered with an absent little laugh. His thumb gravitated to his mouth and he began to anxiously gnaw on the thick skin next to his nail while watching Daniel get to his feet and stretch. For a moment, Sam’s anxiety fluttered away as he became consumed with the sight of Daniel’s back muscles flexing and his long ponytail swaying. Daniel looked over his shoulder at Sam in the doorway and smiled softly. A few short curls strayed from his bangs and stuck to his temples, and Sam fought the urge to push them away just to feel the flush of Daniel’s soft freckled skin under his fingertips. There was some kind of…distance that Daniel seemed to have been implementing lately, and he didn’t want to disrespect that. But he did want to understand it.

“Hey,” Sam started, briefly removing his thumb from his teeth. “Are you okay?”

“What?” Daniel replied, looking confused but not confused enough for Sam to register it as genuine. “Yeah, I’m great. Are you okay?”

“I don’t know. Are we okay?”

Daniel blinked in real disbelief and Sam’s fears were assuaged slightly in the way that Daniel was at his side in an instant. 

“Baby,” Daniel cooed, cupping Sam’s cheek in his hand. “We’re amazing. I mean, I think we are. Why?”

“You’re being weird,” Sam accused, his words mumbled as he looked at the floor. “You’ve been weird for, like, a full week now.”

Shit.

“I’m not weird!” Daniel sputtered.

“You’re very weird.”

“Well, I can’t help being weird. You’ve known I was weird from the start,” Daniel laughed. 

His flippance sent a flash of irritation through Sam. Sam tore his gaze from the tips of Daniel’s boots and glared as best he could right into Daniel’s eyes.

“Stop it, stop deflecting,” Sam demanded, smacking Daniel’s hand away. “What’s wrong? And don’t say there’s nothing wrong because there is. I know you well enough. You can’t lie to me anymore. You promised.”

“I wouldn’t want to lie to you,” Daniel answered, his tone faltering slightly as his eyes skipped anxiously around Sam’s face and into the corridor behind him. 

Come on, Sam couldn’t even give him two hours? Did they have to do this now?

“Daniel,” Sam said firmly, holding Daniel’s face between his hands and staring him down. “Talk to me. What’s wrong?”

“Sam, I am not lying to you when I say nothing is wrong,” Daniel replied earnestly. “I’m fine, we are fine, I swear. Okay?”

Sam didn’t reply. He had never ever known Daniel to be cruel, but he knew something was off and Daniel blatantly lying about it made it sting all the more. As Sam tracked Daniel’s expression, every twitch of his lip and guilty squint of his eyes, he spiraled deeper and deeper into all of the worst possibilities.

He’s met someone, Sam’s paranoia whispered to him, smooth and assured. He’s going stir crazy. He’s finally sick and tired of you and your high maintenance.

In the blink of an eye, Sam’s fire dimmed and he dropped his hands from Daniel, taking a step back and opening up the hallway to Daniel. Whatever was going on with him, Sam wasn’t going to stop him.

“Just go,” Sam muttered, nodding towards the front door with a placid look. “You know how impatient Josh gets.”

Daniel, terrified by Sam’s sudden and completely uncharacteristic shift in demeanor, felt sick to his stomach. He wanted nothing more than to stay with Sam until Sam was entirely reassured that everything was fine, but there was so much Daniel couldn’t say. There was a plan in place for the rest of the evening and he needed to set it into motion, which didn’t allow any time for any of that. Every beat of Daniel’s heart felt like a palm pressed to a barbed wire fence. It was all going to turn around in such a short amount of time, but up until that point, Daniel was wracked with guilt. There was nothing on Earth that disarmed him more than the sight of Sam’s sad puppy dog eyes boring right through to his soul, and he actually had to look away for a moment to regain his composure.

“I’ll see you so soon, Sammy,” Daniel said weakly. And then you’ll understand just how secure we are.

“Sure,” Sam replied blankly, crossing his arms and clenching his jaw to keep the tears at bay until after Daniel had gone. 

“And I don’t need you at the desk for another half hour.”

“I know.”

“I know you know, I just…”

“Go,” Sam whispered, crumpling in on himself a little more as he stared at the floor.

Daniel hesitated, fighting every instinct to pull Sam into his arms and confess everything right then and there.

Tonight is all for you, he’d say into Sam’s hair. If you just wait a little longer you’ll see that I don’t want to go anywhere if you’re not going to be there too.

“Kiss for luck?” Daniel blurted. 

He fully expected Sam to spit in his face at that point, but Sam immediately took hold of his collar and pulled him down into a deep kiss that had them both exhaling heavily through their noses at the shock of it. And when Sam finally released Daniel and steered him by the shoulder into the hall, there was a thought at the back of Sam’s mind that put a lump in his throat.

I hope that wasn’t the last time.

-

Sam spent the half hour before his shift at the front desk perched on Daniel’s side of the bed, white knuckling the edge and staring a hole through the carpet. One hand he kept free to press the silver heart of his most beloved locket into his palm over and over again, keeping time to his own erratic heartbeat. 

Deep down he couldn’t believe that Daniel would hide anything from him. Hell, Daniel kept Sam up to date on anything from room renovations at the inn to the state of his matching sock pairs and which ones seemed to have “run away”. But if it wasn’t bad news, why would Daniel hide it?

Sam laid down and pressed his cheek into Daniel’s pillow, inhaling his intoxicatingly calming scent of fresh smelling shampoo, spiced cologne and his simple natural warmth that clung to all his clothes. In the time that Daniel had been away, Sam had associated that smell with adrenaline and butterflies, but now it just made him sleepy. It was the first thing he breathed in in the morning while curled into Daniel’s chest and the last thing he inhaled when he was evening out his breathing to drift off in Daniel’s tight embrace. There was a stab of icy panic when Sam tried to picture falling asleep without it and he rolled onto his back to stave the chill off, staring up at the ceiling and fiddling with his necklace some more to regulate. 

Eventually, Sam found the strength to rise up from his pity party and make his way down to the lobby, his feet dragging and his head low. All he could think about was Daniel not being close to him, which made him think about the year he’d spent thousands of miles and several time zones away from him, the isolation, the abandonment…

However, when Sam turned the corner from the stairs towards the front desk, he was startled from his storm cloud at the sight of…Jake. Behind the desk. Flipping through a magazine, looking bored, barely acknowledging Sam’s presence until Sam was right in front of him and rapped his knuckles against the wood. Jake glanced up at him and smiled briefly before looking back at the article he was reading, his finger tracing the outline of a microphone stand while Sam scowled.

“The fuck?” Sam asked pointedly.

“Language, por favor,” Jake scolded in an uninterested sort of sing-song, only raising his eyebrows in response instead of giving Sam any kind of eye contact.

“You’re in my seat,” Sam accused as he came around behind the desk. “And at the wrong job, actually. Scooch.”

“Oh, right, about that,” Jake began, turning in the chair to properly face Sam. “I’m covering your shift tonight.”

Sam blinked in surprise, furrowing his brow in confusion while Jake maintained a very neutral expression as they stared each other down.

“What?”

“Yeah. Daniel said he needs you down at the bar so I’m gonna shack up here for the night. You should probably get down there.”

Save for a couple years of piracy, Sam and Jake had always been pretty prolific at reading each other. However, they could also tell when the other one was trying to get a glimpse into their head, and Sam tried to play it as cool as possible as he studied Jake’s body language. Jake must have anticipated this because he simply sat there like a statue, staring up at Sam like this was an everyday occurrence and Sam was the odd man out for making a face at him.

“Needs me at the bar? He literally just told me that he was going to hang up lights with Josh,” Sam stammered. “‘Cause the other ones burnt out.”

“Yeah, I know they burned out, I work there, dumbass,” Jake snorted, side eyeing Sam as he turned back around to face the empty lobby. “Josh isn’t even at Caravel tonight. He’s got a hot date with that beekeeper, actually, and I mean thank fuck, I thought he’d ne-”

“Why would Daniel tell me he was putting up lights if he’s no-”

“Sam, oh my god, just get the hell out of here and go answer your own questions!” Jake sighed, throwing his hands up dramatically to gesture to the doors. From the strain of his eyes, Sam could see how desperate Jake was to get Sam out.

Sam, riled up from conflicting accounts and the cold ache of being left out of something, let out a frustrated howl and stalked off towards the front. But before he could burst out into the humid night, Jake called his name and he spun around. 

“Sam,” Jake repeated. “Don’t be mad at Daniel, ‘kay? He doesn’t need it.”

“What do you know what he needs, huh?” Sam snapped. Even though Jake had introduced them and known Daniel for long before Sam ever knew he existed, Sam felt a fierce protectiveness over him. With the state he was already in, jealousy came easily. 

Jake just gave an absent little shrug and smiled, getting swept back up in his magazine and leaving Sam to fume for a second longer before barging through the doors and out into the night to track Daniel down. 

Behind him, Jake watched Sam go with a growing smile. That version of Sam he’d just sent off, frustrated and snippy and primed for a fistfight, was one that Jake had been well acquainted with from the time that Sam could walk. It wasn’t his favorite way for Sam to be, if he was being honest, and that was something he was pretty confident in after he and Josh had had to step up to the parenting role and Sam had stayed in that combative sullen state for years on end. But it was a storm he weathered happily for the chance to get to laugh with his baby brother, who really was all things good and honest at his core. That was the thing with Sam; there was so much nuance you had to understand to really get close to him. And Jake knew that the man Sam was no doubt about to give a piece of his mind to was well aware of that, and he was going to ask Sam to spend forever with him anyways. 

It was Sam’s night, or it was about to be. But Jake couldn’t help but feel pretty lucky too.

-

Daniel had been transfixed staring at the door since he’d arrived at the bar, but he still nearly jumped out of his skin when Sam’s trademark 3 point knock touched down on the wood. Sam didn’t wait for any kind of response, he simply pushed the door open in a way that Daniel could read as irritation in a second. Despite this, Daniel felt oddly assured by it. If he knew Sam so well that he could read his emotion in the way he opened a door, he was more than qualified to ask him to marry him. 

On the walk over, Sam’s mental state had taken an even more rapid decline. As his walking began to border on jogging, Sam’s unwinding anxieties took him on a tour of every possible negative reasoning for this mysterious meetup.

Pick your poison, Sammy, his brain taunted him as it showed him nauseating imagery of Daniel pressed up against a faceless figure with a lovesick expression, Daniel sneering behind Sam’s back at all of eccentricities, Daniel boarding a ship for adventure and far off shores…

Sam had settled for the latter scenario by the time he was outside the Caravel. That had to be it. He saw the way Daniel looked out over the harbor, his eyes smoothing over cresting waves and his broad chest making room for great breaths of salt slick air. Sam knew that deep down Daniel missed his seafaring life no matter how much he assured Sam that he now preferred dry land and the lull of a consistent schedule. But when he thought back on it, Sam couldn’t recall the last time Daniel had assured him of this. Maybe he had changed his mind.

Sam geared himself up for a fight as he walked into the swell of air conditioning, taking in a deep breath as he prepared for the words to spill out and sink into Daniel’s guilty conscience as…as they... 

Sam froze as the door swung shut behind him, cutting off the light from the streetlamps so that Sam could be fully encompassed by the light inside. 

As it turns out, Daniel hadn’t lied entirely. The night prior, the last of the string lights hung up by Jake in his teen years had flickered their final goodbye and left them all scrambling to pull lamps from storage and furnish the floor with enough light for their patrons to drink by. Since then, a winding river of string lights had been strung in their place, lining the ceiling with warm blurs of orange, red, blue and pink that drenched the entire room. Sam assessed their march around the perimeter of the walls before his gaze landed on Daniel, who was leaning on his hip against the bar and his long, long legs crossed casually. To Sam’s further surprise, Daniel wasn’t wearing the comfortable hooded sweatshirt and jeans he’d tossed on before leaving the house. He was now sporting a wine colored button down with the first few buttons undone and dark dress pants, making him look oddly professional and utterly handsome. Sam flushed and struggled to conjure the words that just moments ago were threatening to burst out. 

“Hi, Brandy,” Daniel hummed with a shy smile. “Glad you could make it.”

Sam hesitated, unsure of what to do with his face as he took in the change in his surroundings, his drop dead gorgeous boyfriend, and the fact that he was now even more lost than he thought he could be. Daniel watched him with an amused grin, his rampant anxiety starting to settle down now that he was in the thick of it. No going back now.

“You wanna come here?” Daniel offered, holding a hand out to Sam. “You look cute.”

Daniel couldn’t help but notice that where Sam stood floundering was a few paces to the side of where Daniel had been standing the first time he had ever seen Sam. He recalled it often, usually without meaning to and always when he sat in a designated corner booth on busy nights as their unofficial security detail. It sounded so impossible, but Daniel was always baffled all over again at the memory of watching Sam fly through the back doors, realizing that he was the annoying little terror that Jake had been talking about for months, and then feeling himself fall in love without even hearing his voice.  

Sam shook himself from his haze a little and, going off of instinct, he took Daniel’s hand and let him pull Sam next to him. Sam still couldn’t think of anything to say and let Daniel tuck a stray curl of hair behind his ear and gently smooth his knuckle along Sam’s cheekbone as he stood there speechless.

“Seriously, you look so cute,” Daniel cooed. “Did you get cuter since I last saw you?”

Unexpectedly, Sam felt a rush inside him and tears sprang to his eyes. As his bottom lip gave an involuntary quiver, Daniel’s face fell and he leaned in to anticipate Sam’s needs.

“Baby?”

“Please don’t leave,” Sam gasped, a little sob escaping him as he started to cry. It shocked Sam as much as it shocked Daniel, but he couldn’t stave off the wave of borrowed grief and insecurity as he crumpled forwards into Daniel’s chest and cried. Sam had always been an angry crier, but it had been so many years since he’d had good reason to. He’d forgotten what it felt like to feel so stupid, so small. 

“Sammy, honey,” Daniel soothed, cradling Sam’s head as his heart raced with a renewed flush of anxiety. “Don’t cry, this is-”

“Don’t tell me not to cry when you’ve spent all this time lying to me!” Sam wailed. “Don’t you dare.”

“Sam-”

“How bad can it be if you can’t talk to me? If you have to use my own brother as some kind of pawn to get me here?”

“Sa-”

“I won’t do it again,” Sam declared through a shuddering sob, clutching the back of Daniel’s shirt and buried his face into the familiar crook of his neck. “I won’t sit around and wait for you to get eaten by a whale or get your throat slit by pirates or what the fuck ever, I won’t, Danny, I won’t.”

“Sam.”

Finally, Sam’s mouth shut and he quieted, not yet lifting his face from the jungle hot humidity he was crying against Daniel’s skin. Daniel smoothed a hand up and down his back, keeping their racing hearts pressed together.

“Sam,” Daniel repeated in a low whisper, speaking right into Sam’s ear. “Nobody is leaving anybody. Okay? This is not what this is, not in the slightest. There you go, deep breaths. You’re alright, baby, just breathe for a second.”

Sam obliged, drawing in as even a breath as he could muster and melting into Daniel’s near hypnotic suggestion as his voice continued to lull Sam into a state of calm again.

“Better?” Daniel asked gently after a minute. 

Sam nodded and sniffed, looking up at Daniel and breaking his heart all over again with the remnants of his meltdown blushing his nose and cheeks. This was a face that could break Daniel completely, he realized. Maybe it already had. A face he’d tried to jump overboard for, even though he’d known in some capacity that it was only a mask for a hungry monster. 

“What is it, then?” Sam asked cautiously.

“It’s…” Daniel trailed off, trying to remember how he had planned on doing this. It’d all he’d been thinking about, but now that everything had fallen into place, he really couldn’t call to mind what he was supposed to do. What he was supposed to say. It all felt too simple now.

I love you. I want you. I’m staying. Here’s a ring. It’s not enough. But it’s something.

“Why don’t you go put on our song,” Daniel suggested. “And then we’ll talk, hm? You want a drink?”

Sam finally smiled and rolled his eyes, sniffing again and straightening out his clothes as he stepped away from Daniel and attempted to resituate himself. Daniel watched him with a sly grin of his own, fighting to remember every moment with crystal clarity when Sam looked from him over to the jukebox. He watched as Sam’s face registered and then split into an even wider smile, this time laced with a high laugh.

“You dork,” Sam laughed, striding over to the jukebox. It was so predictable what Sam would say next that Daniel mouthed it along with him as he quietly followed behind Sam.

“That’s my tray”, Sam echoed, borrowing his own words from the first time he’d ever spoken to Daniel. It’d become a running joke over the years as Daniel kept his long accused kleptomania alive in the practice of constantly trying to steal Sam’s tray, something that was only funny to the two of them and decidedly idiotic to Sam’s brothers. Sam wasn’t surprised to see it perched atop the jukebox as he settled in front of it, flicking his eyes up to it for a moment before looking back down through the glass crown of the jukebox to find the desired disc.

“You gonna get me a drink or are you just gonna be my creepy shadow?” Sam teased as he selected the song, a familiar violin beginning to whistle over a bright guitar when the jukebox lit up. He could feel Daniel at his back, and if he didn’t know any better, he could feel Daniel’s smile. Sam’s eyes skirted over the tray again as he began to turn around to further question Daniel, but before he got the chance, he caught a flash of something glimmering bright from where it sat atop the worn metal saucer. 

Leaning in closer, Sam could see it for what it was. His heart seemed to freeze up in his chest and he drew in a sharp breath, his body seizing so as not to prevent any distraction from the simple little ring that seemed to stare him down as much as he was staring at it.

“There’s an old sailor’s tale,” came Daniel’s voice right over Sam’s shoulder, his arms coming to encircle Sam’s waist as Sam dared to pick up the ring to further gawk at it. “About a lonely pirate and a mermaid’s ring. Can I tell it to you?”

“Daniel,” Sam replied breathlessly. “Daniel, I-”

“Once upon a time,” Daniel interrupted. “There was a very, very lonely pirate who sailed the seven seas. He was lonely because he’d had to leave his lover behind very, very unexpectedly, and he missed him very, very much. The pirate wasn’t the superstitious type, but he was a man in love, and love makes you do crazy things. So the pirate started praying for a sign that when he made his way back to his lover - and he knew that he would - that he would be waiting for the pirate with open arms.”

Sam felt those tears from before rising up again with a renewed purpose, but he didn’t dare interrupt Daniel. He leaned back against his chest and ran his finger along the smooth circlet of pearls, all of them twice as small as the beads on a rosary but just as holy. 

“One day the pirate gets the idea that he’ll bring back treasures for his lover as proof of his love, just in case his begging didn’t work. The next time his ship lands on a sandy beach, he spends his day combing the sand for sea glass and shells and anything else the ocean might’ve given up for him to find. As it turns out, the ocean was feeling extremely generous that day, because while the pirate was on his hands and knees looking for his treasure, he found something he never expected to find. A ring. And the pirate knew right away that this ring was his sign that somewhere across all those oceans, his lover was thinking of him too.”

Sam, unable to bear another second without looking into Daniel’s perfect face, turned around and found that Daniel was as close to tears as he was. He looked almost pained in the way he regarded Sam.

“I think the lover would think the pirate was foolish for ever thinking anything otherwise,” Sam rasped, his voice thick with emotion. Daniel laughed a little and rested his forehead against Sam’s for a brief moment.

“Yeah, well, maybe the pirate knew the lover well enough in only a few days that he was pretty sure he was capable of murder considering the state the pirate left him in,” Daniel explained, delivering a kiss to Sam’s forehead when he leaned back to look at him again.

“Finish your story,” Sam whispered eagerly.

“Well,” Daniel continued, clearing his throat before going on. “The pirate had a lot of time to think about the ring. He figured it had probably been thrown into the ocean under the pretense of heartbreak. Maybe love that had fizzled out, or maybe something worse. He got paranoid about it carrying the memory of all of that, but over time, the pirate realized that the ocean had brought it to him because it was ready for a new love. It had been washed clean. The pirate thought maybe he had been too when picking it up and dedicating it with the purpose he had decided for it.”

“What purpose?” Sam blurted. Daniel laughed again and smoothed a hand over Sam’s hair lovingly.

“Can I finish my dramatic monologue or do you want me to spoil it?”

“Spoil it,” Sam grinned, now visibly vibrating with energy as the last of his insecurity wore off and was replaced by pure adrenaline. “Say it. Do it.”

“The pirate decided on two things,” Daniel clarified as he thought back on it. “He decided that if all else failed when he returned to his love, he would get down on one knee and give him the ring and ask him just one more time if he would please be his. But it never came to that. The pirate returned and their love was just as strong. However…”

Daniel gently took the ring from Sam and, carefully, lowered himself down to one knee, never taking his eyes off of Sam.

“He eventually decided he wanted to give him the ring anyways,” Daniel smiled, holding the ring up to Sam. “He decided that he really did want to ask his lover if he would be his forever, even if he was pretty confident that he was already going to be.”

“What are you saying?” Sam breathed, his forefinger and thumb splayed at the hollow of his throat as he tried to assuage his dizziness and anchor himself to the comfort of his locket. 

“Sam, I fucking love you,” Daniel sighed. “I’ve loved you before I even knew you. I think I’ll probably love you after I know you, too. Will you marry me?”

Sam couldn’t respond. He simply dropped to his knees and hugged Daniel hard, knocking a laugh and a little cry out of the larger man as he clung to him and began to weep all over again. This time it was from utter relief and unbelievable, blinding, terrifying love.

“Yes,” Sam agreed, nodding his head excitedly and wiping his face with his palm. “Yes, of course, I’ll marry you, oh my god. I can’t believe you. Yes.”

Daniel collapsed into Sam and reciprocated the hug fully, able to relax for the first time in a long time at the confirmation that his years of daydreaming weren’t wasted. Daniel borderline crushed Sam against him as they embraced and laughed, murmuring about how they loved each other and how silly they felt to cry.

“Can I put it on you now?” Daniel eventually asked.

Sam nodded and peeled himself from Daniel’s chest so that Daniel could slip the ring onto Sam’s left hand. Once it was on, Sam held it up and tilted it this way and that so it caught the light just right, electric and pearlescent and beyond beautiful. A bright, clear diamond offset by the pearls; it was everything Sam could’ve wanted. Maybe this was also an apology gift in part from the ocean, Sam wondered. 

“Now who would toss this into the ocean?” Sam questioned as he watched the ring dance in the orange glow of the lights. 

“Must’ve been a rough break up,” Daniel hummed. 

“Yeah, like, maybe one of them left to go be a murderer and the other one had to stay behind to hustle drunks for tips.”

“I can’t imagine anybody would ever be that evil.”

“Yeah, imagine that,” Sam smirked, casting a sidelong glance at Daniel. 

“I just said I can’t,” Daniel joked, leaning forward and kissing Sam’s cheek. “Are you feeling a little more assured that I’m not leaving?”

“Maybe a little,” Sam murmured, turning inwards to catch Daniel’s wandering lips in a proper kiss. 

After a long couple of minutes of clawing at each other and Sam nearly tipping over from how far Daniel leaned into him to chase his tongue, they broke apart. Sam held Daniel’s face in his hands, the cool metal of the band on his finger tickling Daniel’s fiery skin and making him grin.

“You wanna know something wild?” Daniel asked, voice hoarse from crying and kissing.

“Always.”

“When I went to go get the band adjusted in Italy, the jeweler told me the silver used for the ring was from Spain,” Daniel revealed, hooking the chain of Sam’s necklace and pulling it out as he spoke. “That’s where I got this. What do you think of that?”

“I think it’s fate,” Sam marveled, curling his hand inwards so they could compare the two pieces of jewelry. “I think it was meant to be.”

“Yeah, that’s what I think, too,” Daniel whispered.

“You big sap.”

Daniel turned and kissed Sam’s cheek again and Sam giggled, falling against him and into the touch. Daniel withdrew his lips and stretched before standing up again, holding a hand out to pull Sam to his feet. On the jukebox, the song had long since skipped to something new, but Daniel reached out and selected their song again. 

“You wanna know something else?” Daniel asked when the music changed. 

“Hm?”

“Remember the night we met?”

“Duh.”

“Hey, watch it with the sass, mister. I’ll pry that ring right off.”

“I’d like to see you try.”

“Anyways,” Daniel laughed, taking both of Sam’s hands and swinging them slightly. “The night we met. Before you ran away from me, did you know I was going to ask you to dance with me?”

“Really, now?” Sam smiled, blushing with a flutter of butterflies when Daniel nodded toothly and pulled him against him again. A hand went to Sam’s waist, another held the hand with the ring proudly on display.

“Yeah, really,” Daniel confirmed, swaying them to the jovial melody of the song. “I knew you’d say no, but I was gonna ask anyway.”

“You should ask,” Sam flirted.

“We’re already dancing this time.”

“And I was already going to marry you, but you asked me anyhow,” Sam pointed out with a cocky twinkle in his eye, letting Daniel give him a twirl before they settled into an amateur sort of side step with Sam’s arms around Daniel’s neck and Daniel’s arms around his waist.

“So you’d thought about it before?” Daniel prodded shyly, curls hanging down as he smiled dopily at his fiance. “Getting married?”

“Of course,” Sam murmured, feeling the heat creep into his face. “We have been dating for, like, a million years. Glad you decided to stop dragging your feet.”

“Gee, you’re welcome,” Daniel scoffed. Sam laughed and rested his head under Daniel’s chin, allowing them to dance in silence until the last few notes of the song bubbled over and then petered out.

“You wanna go inform the troops?” Daniel asked. 

Setting the whole thing up had been a group collaboration between himself and the twins, with Josh giving him the space for the night and Jake being a distraction to allow Daniel the time to set up the lights/change/get his mind together. He knew that they were both on the edges of their seats at their respective posts, Jake sat at the inn and Josh on the couch, probably with Clarice and any number of her chicks fluttering around him. He also knew (because they had told him, loudly and repeatedly) that they needed to know how it went as fast as possible, because they were just as antsy if not more than him.

Sam thought about it quietly before making an indifferent noise and cuddling up closer to Daniel.

“They can wait,” Sam announced, his voice muffled. “I want you all to myself for a little longer.”

“If you follow through on the whole marriage thing, you’ll have me to yourself forever, Brandy,” Daniel reminded him.

“Love the sound of that,” Sam giggled. “How about after forever, too? I think you said something about that.”

“Yes, after that, too. I don’t even know if there’s anything after forever.”

“Wanna find out?”

Daniel pretended to think about it long and hard, like he hadn’t spent every day for the past 5 years saying yes to it over and over and over. 

“Yeah,” Daniel agreed. “If we find out together.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

~~~

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