Same
Even without considering how hard it is to feel passionate about something on this hellscape of a planet- There's waaaaay to many options laid before anyone looking into careers to narrow it down to even 10 choices

If I had to take a guess, his Gyserian past is probably what will change- We'll probably see all of the changes that are made in the next chapter finishing with him passing out- OR it completely backfires and things get worse

Spear time :3

It is fairly obvious, but that doesn't mean there won't, or hasn't, been pining from side characters and even attempts to mess with the relationship

And I suppose betraying his countrymen isn't a crime, but I do feel like some of the actions are more his subconscious choices and he wasn't technically doing it for Yvonne's sake, but he was doing it so he could have Penelope all to himself- Which still benefits Yvonne, but doesn't necessarily mean he's being brainwashed to do it, actually.
If they've said that he was being brainwashed so far- I don't remember, but I don't believe they have? I think Derek is the only one who has actually been showing signs of brainwashing

Speech bubbles are hard XD But he is kind of opening his mouth pretty wide, so it's a reasonable interpretation

It's probably somewhat of a political mask- A stone cold appearance that can't be read by the socially savvy to give him an edge when he's used to the honest men he commanded in the military (or something like that XD)

How dare you say "kinda"
SHE IS ALWAYS THE PEAK OF ADORABLENESS

https://i.postimg.cc/Y2Vf5z0m/i.jpg
I don't know the sauce yet ;-;

Yeah, but this one has the special case of her being divorced (in spirit) to the emperor, staying with him only for the status and reputation really

There are indeed many unfortunate circumstances, but I will say-
Reynold is fine, I hope he keeps being a little brother to Penelope- Aka a loving little shit (like me)
Eclis, the slave, did too much under the brainwashing to be free of the consequences, imo, which included betraying his homeland's people among a couple other things to try and get Penelope kicked out of the house
Derek has the potential to be the first side character to realize it's brainwashing and could have a redemption arc because of it- But I still don't like his vibes when it comes to how he looked at Penelope before Yvonne showed up. If it's incest, then ew, but I hope I'm reading too much into it
That being said, I love discussions and I don't want this to come across as a personal attack against you, Towan

My guess is the wasteful-energy move usually takes so much energy that most people use EVERYTHING they have in the tank just to do one, and he did it almost nonchalantly and was able to keep fighting with aura
Either he has very good control of his aura to be able to limit it's output, or he trained a fuckton to have a monstrous amount of aura

Also yeah the screaming would be loud in a cave, but 1) it's a meaningful moment to him and 2) that doesn't break most people's suspension of disbelief

Ngl, I'd love to see that in other shows. It'd probably have to be a bit of a thinner sword, maybe closer to a rapier, with less of a hilt and made of some super-light magic metal

Don't call us out like that bro, America is rough on us rn

Alright- ALL THREE OF YOU
https://i.postimg.cc/50nw0wfL/i.jpg

He avoided getting assaulted, WE got blue balled

Ah yes, Nonbinary

The dark side is all about embracing your desires, but you must be aware to not let your desires control you

Ehhhhhhh, he's not "gentle" per se~

Stop showing us the gross guy and give me more PRINCE

Sheena needs to fall in love with her, otherwise it'll just be a pain in the ass