#and don't get me started on temari

[nejitenotp]

Temari and Shikamaru and Sai and Ino are both the definitions of girlboss x malewife, but in slightly different fonts

[obitos-whore]

I'm so stinkin' happy about the Temari one. My wifey's gonna come home to me. <33

And just look at how adorable Kid!Obito, Rin and Shisui are!! And don't get me started on the Kakashi vs Obito one. (Shisui is an Amazon Glow in the dark Exclusive btw.)

[13as07]

Spitting Image #4

(Gaara Sabaku)

[Artwork is not mine! Credit to silent.rosario]

Requested by: Myself

Word Count: 4,077

Warnings and/or Pre-Notes:

Part five? Maybe. Prequel? Also maybe. Y’all’s thoughts?

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     I have spent the last year and a half shifting between being thankful to Gaara and hating him. At this moment, I hate him. I am hot, sweaty, sunburnt, with sand in crevices I didn't know existed. And, this camel isn't too comfortable to ride. I am tired and irritable. Honestly, I'm just being a bitch right now and I know it. Sadly for Gaara, he's on the wrong end of the bitch stick.

     On the plus note, Yoshiki seems to be living his best life. Courtesy of his father's genes, the heat doesn't seem to bother him. If anything, he's enjoying the temperature and the feeling of the sand Shinki keeps playing with him in.

     "My Dear - "

     "Call me that again and I'll cut your tongue out," I hiss at Gaara, stopping whatever attempt at comforting he was going to offer this time. "I am not your dear, we are not together, you're nothing more than the father of my child. Don't let this move convince you otherwise."

     He goes stone-faced, slowly blinking in that dumb way he does when he's thinking. "Perhaps we shall spend the day cooling off once we get back to the village. I think the heat is getting to you."

     "And I think you're a dumbass with a weak pull-out game," I mumble under my breath, shifting on the camel saddle again.

     "My dear - "

     "I'm going to stab you."

     " - would you like me to get you down? Maybe stretching your legs will help you feel better. You get antsy if you stay still too long. Besides, I'm sure Shinki could use the rest."

"Jerk," I mutter, rolling my eyes at the man. As if he knows what will make me feel better.

I know he heard me, the proof being the slow blinking of his eyes again. Regardless, Gaara's hold on the camel's reins drops to grip my waist. He helps me down, sight as intense as ever as he settles me on my feet. "See? Better. Now, please be nice," he mutters, hands sliding over my sides to brush off some of the sand specks. "I'm not too fond of the attitude you have at the moment."

"Ya? You won't be too fond of my foot up your - "

"Papa?" Shinki calls, cutting off my empty threat. "Can Yoshiki ride the camel with me?"

"Yes."

"No," I answer, head snapping towards Gaara. "No, it's not safe," I repeat, glaring at the boys' father who seems confused by my decision.

     "It will be fine. Shinki has been carrying him, what would the difference be if he kept carrying him?"

     "Instead of a four-foot fall, it would be a seven-foot fall?!" I say more than ask, dumbfounded by the shinobi's thought process. "Not to mention it's a bumper ride than just walking with him in his arms. It'll be harder to hold him especially if he wiggles around."

     "It will be fine," Gaara repeats, lifting Shinki - with Yoshiki still in his hold - onto the camel.

     "It will not be fine. Gaara, get him down!" I shriek, panic quickly feeling me up. "What if he falls? What if - "

     "What if you calmed down?" He asks, leaning in to bump his nose against mine. I stand there stunned, blinking at the dumbass as my panic quickly grows into anger. "My apologies, Shikamaru does that to Temari when she gets a bit much to handle. It tends to calm her down, it does not calm you down."

"Of course it's not going to calm me down! My baby is up way too high! The chances of him falling and getting hurt"

"He is fine, my dear. Shinki is not going to drop him, and even if he does - which he will not - I am right here to catch him. Please calm down. Your irritation is starting to irritate me."

Before I can stop myself, my hand swings forward, having a mind of its own. A mind to smack the stupidity out of Gaara. The hit doesn't land though, he catches my wrist before I have a chance to touch him. "Perhaps while the boys take a dip in the springs, we can have some alone time. My brother tells me women can get irritable when their bedroom needs have not been fulfilled in a while."

He has to be kidding, right? Gaara can't be this stupid, this naive, this unaware of the things he says. "What the hell is your problem?" I hiss, trying and failing to tug my wrist out of his hold. "What part of 'we aren't together' do you not understand?"

Another round of slow blinking, making the black markings of Gaara's eyes stand out. I like his markings, the ones around his eyes, the one on his forehead. They're what originally caught my attention, but I can't think of that right now, because he is an irresponsible idiot.

"Would you like to sit on the camel with the boys? Would that calm you down?"

"Yes."

He lets out a soft sigh before turning away from me, going to work situating the three of us in the saddle. "Better?" He mumbles, his hand clinging to my thigh I have pressed against the sides of the animal.

"I guess," I murmur, trying to shake his hand off. "Can we get going? I feel like I'm melting."

"As you wish, Dear."

                      ————————————

All I can think about is a cold shower and a nap as Gaara leads us around the streets of his village. Yoshiki has the same idea, my son is fast asleep, cuddled up in the back wrap his father is carrying him in. Shinki is fast asleep too, my watchful eyes on him as he rests in the saddle.

     "My dear - "

     "Stop calling me that."

     "My dear," he repeats, stopping in his tracks. "What is it that you want made for dinner?"

     "What do you want for dinner?" I ask, leaning closer to take a peek at Yoshiki. "I can make whatever you want. I'm not really in the mood to eat anything."

     Gaara's head tilts as his face scrunches up. "You do not have to cook anything for dinner. We have chefs at the palace. They shall cook us dinner."

     "What?"

     "My dear," he annoyingly says for the hundredth time today. "There is staff at the Hokage palace. They take care of things so there is less I need to do. Cooking, cleaning, all that stuff."

     "Oh," I mutter, the fears that come along with this move amping up again. "That's... useful."

     "Yes, it is. I will have to get Yoshiki and you ID cards for the palace but for now it should be fine. I also - " Gaara goes on a ramble about the things he needs to do to get our son and me settled.

     I let his ramble go on as I follow after him. Soon a round-looking building with a red symbol falls into view, standing out from all the sandstone buildings. "Gaara?"

     "Yes, my dear?"

     I brush off the nickname this time. "What's that building?" I ask, pointing to the symboled building.

     His eyes flicker towards where I'm pointing before falling back to me. "It is my home, our home. It is our home," he rambles, tugging in the camel's reins before his free hand falls to grip mine. "Let me take you home," he whispers, tugging all of us forward.

     What I think is eagerness flows off the man who's almost dragging me forward. "You seem excited," I tease, letting my eyes flicker down to our joint hands. I don't know how I feel about it. It's not the worst feeling in the world, it's actually pretty nice. Maybe I'm being too harsh, maybe I'm not giving Gaara enough credit, or enough effort.

     "I am not excited. I am... I would like to see my family in my house. I would like to see that a lot."

     "So, excited?" I repeat, a smile crawling on my face. Maybe I should give him a chance, he is trying really hard after all. "Gaara?"

     "Yes, my dear? Have you given some thought to us enjoying our marital perks?"

     Just kidding. Gaara is an idiot who doesn't know boundaries. "No," I mutter, shaking my hand loose from his. "Just a reminder, we're not married."

     "Not yet, but - "

     "But never," I cut him off, leaning closer to him long enough to pull Yoshiki out of his carrier wraps. "We're not going to get married. Not now, not soon, not never," I hiss, holding my son to my chest as I storm away from him.

     "My dear? Will you calm down? I don't understand why you're upset," he calls after me, trailing behind as I rush towards the palace.

     "Because you're suffocating, Gaara," I shriek, quickly walking up the steps of Yosh's and my new home.

     "I'm suffocating? What do you mean? I don't understand, dear. Would you please explain what is happening?"

     "Dear Lord, Gaara!" I yell, turning to the side so I can look at him and not fall down the stairs. "That! You're trying so hard and... and... go away!"

     I storm the rest of the way up the stairs, Yoshiki now awake, my upsetness rubbing off on him and warming up his tantrum. "Ma'am!" A man at the entrance calls. His head is covered in a wrapping and one of those hourglass headbands I've seen around the village hangs around his neck. "You cannot enter the palace without showing your ID badge."

     "Bug off," I groan, storming past him to push the door open.

     "Madam, don't make you detain you," the man calls, jumping forward to tug my hand off the door.

     "Norio, unhand her this instant!" Gaara calls anger coating his face and his words. "She and my son are free to come and go as they wish. If you ever put your hands on her again, you will not be found by anyone. There won't be anything to find, am I understood?"

     He's fuming by the time the threat is let loose, jaw locked and murder swimming in his eyes. The look makes my heart pound in my chest and my arms tighten around my son. This isn't how Gaara acts, he's soft-spoken, he's gentle, he doesn't yell, and he sure as hell doesn't threaten to kill people.

     "Yes, Kazekage. My apologies, my lord," the guard says, releasing me before he bows. "My greatest apologies consort Kazekage."

     "My dear," Gaara calls, helping his son to his feet before working his way up the stairs. "Would you please calm down?"

     "Would you please leave me alone?" I shout, walking through the door before slamming it in his face.

     I storm through the palace, rocking Yoshiki who has started screaming in my arms. This village is suffocating, this house is suffocating, Gaara is suffocating. I thought he was just scary looking, that it was just how he looked, but after how quickly that threat came out and how upset he looked, I don't think it's just a façade.

     "It's okay, my love," I coo, shifting Yosh further up so I can cover his cheeks in kisses. "It's okay... we're just... in a village I know nothing about, with the only person I know being your father, who is scary as hell," I mutter more to myself than to Yosh. My soft tone works nonetheless, calming him down.

     As my son soothes down, I look around the random hallway we've ended up in. The thought of calling for Gaara crosses my mind, quickly being followed by the fear the scene outside has littered my nerves. "What position did I put us in?" I murmur, shifting Yoshiki in my hold. He smiles at me, hands landing on my cheeks to squish them as he babbles.

     "Lady Sabaku?" A voice calls, a young lady with a long head of raven hair asks, her head poking out from a door a few paces ahead. "Lord Gaara said you'd be home today. I have drawn an ice bath for you if you'd like to cool off. I'm sure the heat of the desert has gotten to you."

     My eyes flickered between Yoshiki and the woman, my nerves still shot. Is this a trap or am I just uneasy? However, I could use the cool down and Yosh is covered in sand. "Yes, I'd enjoy that," I finally decide, slowly walking forward. "Thank you...?"

     "Gou," the woman says, bowing once I'm stood in front of her. "My name is Gou, Lady Sabaku. I am your handmaid, my lady."

     "Handmaid?" I ask, shifting Yoshiki again. I don't know why he seems so heavy today. Probably because of the heat still seeping off my skin.

     "Yes, my lady," Gou says, standing up straight before she snaps her fingers. The door swings open wider, another lady - this one with short red hair - pops out from the room. "This is Sana. She is the palace nanny. Her primary focus is Shinki but until we find a nanny you approve of for Yoshiki, she will aid you in caring for him."

     "I... don't want her touching my son...s," I say, making it plural toward the end. If she's Shinki's nanny, Gaara must approve of her, so she's a good person... maybe? I don't know, especially after Gaara's little power trip.

     "As you wish, my lady. Give me a few moments to prepare your bath to suit Yoshiki joining you," the woman mumbles before turning on her heels.

     "Wait!" I call, holding my son closer to my chest as the Sana lady bows before walking down the hallway. Gou stops in her tracks, turning back towards me. "What... what is a handmaid?"

     "It means I am your personal servant. I am here to serve you in any way necessary, at any time, for anything you need. I am at your serves, my lady." She finishes off the little speech with another bow. "What you and our prince still like an ice bath?"

     "Yes, please."

                      ————————————

     My eyes are locked on the boys through the cracked door. As I've been soaking in the bath, Shinki and Yoshiki have been playing with Shinki's nanny. She seems nice, which has helped me calm down a bit. Shinki is bouncing on the guest bed, making his younger brother tumble around from the mattress moving. The nanny promptly sat on the bed, leaning over the mattress to help keep my son upright and not accidentally stumbled on.

     There's a knock on the door before Gaara's head pops in, cutting off my view of the boys. "Hello, my dear."

     "I've told you to stop calling me that," I mumble, sliding deeper into the bathtub.

     "As you wish, my... darling," he mutters the last word, imaginary eyebrows scrunching together as he walks into the bathroom. "It seems that you have settled. I have had Gou and some of the other servants unpack your things."

     "In there?" I ask, flickering my eyes towards the bedroom.

     "Of course not. It's been unpacked into - "

     "We are not sharing a bedroom," I cut him off, sinking even lower, the water settling over my shoulders now.

     "Not for the time being. You will stay in the master bedroom. I shall stay in a guest room unless you are comfortable with us sharing a bed."

     "I'm not."

     "Then I shall stay in a guest room," he mutters, his eyes scanning the bath water before they flicker towards the window in the room. His cheeks are a light pink color, a bit blown out as he stares at the street outside. "Kankuro tells me it sounds like I have scared you. Is that true? Did I scare you?"

     "Maybe," I mutter, skirting my fingertips over the surface of the water. "You were a little... harsh with Mr Security Guard. You don't usually act like that and... it was scary."

     Gaara lets out a sigh before he sinks to the tiled floor. His chin rests on the side of the tub, his cat-like eyes locked on my face as he stares at me. His eyes are intense, not the 'I'm going to murder someone' intense but the usual 'trying to figure you out' intense.

     "I did not mean to scare you," he whispers, eyes flickering down before they settle on my face again. "I just..." his cheeks puff out for a second as his eyes jump around, ending up settling on the boys still playing in the bedroom. "I did not like how it made me feel... seeing the palace guard grabbing at you. It made me a little... I don't know."

     "You don't know what?" I ask, blowing on the water to cause it to ripple.

     "I don't know how you make me feel. I enjoy... you, but you make me very angry. Especially when you get angry and won't tell what I have done."

     I scan the confused man for a moment, taking in the dark circles of his eyes that are more visible because of his scrunched-up face. Slowly, I move my hand out of the water to cup Gaara's cheek, confusion flickering across his face as his focus shifts to me again.

     "Gaara?"

     "Yes, my dear - er - darling?"

     I swipe my thumb over his cheek watching the confusion slide around his face. "You can be a little much sometimes. Just because we have a child together doesn't mean I want to, let alone am ready for us to be together."

     "I don't make you feel good?" He asks, his soft confusion is quickly bubbly to angry confusion. "You make me feel... nice. Why don't I make you feel nice? I do not understand."

     "You do, sometimes. You made me feel really nice the first time I met you - "

     "Well yes, that is what sex is for. To make people feel good."

     "Not just the sex, Gaara," I groan, dropping my hand from his face and letting it soak into the bath water again. "You move too fast. I am happy you want to be with me and I like having you around, but there are some steps between being strangers to being a married couple."

     "I am aware, but we... missed some steps. I like how you make me feel and you have had my son. I want you to be my wife, so you shall be my wife. That is what we are supposed to do."

     "Gaara."

     "My darling?"

     "I will make you a list."

     "A list?"

     "Yes, a list," I mutter, fluttering my eyes closed. "I will make you a list of stuff that makes me feel how I make you feel. When you have all the boxes checked off, you can ask me to marry you again."

     "Until then?"

     "Until then, stop asking me to marry you, stop talking about weddings, and just... stop talking about the future for now, okay? I just need some space."

     He blinks slowly as his eyes flicker between my face and my chest. "Alright, I will give you space."

     I let out a sigh, my shoulders relaxing at the spare-of-the-moment plan I came up with. It's not a lie, I do enjoy Gaara and a part of me will always love him especially since he is the father of my son. I'm sure if he slowed down I would fall in love with him, but if he keeps pushing I don't think it'll work out how we both seem to want.

     "Darling?" I hum a yes, opening one of my eyes to look at him. Gaara's eyes are soft and now locked on my legs instead of my chest. "I wish to join your bath. You should let me join you."

     I let out another sigh, deciding it would be easier to end my bath than fight the father of my child. "I'm getting out actually, do you mind grabbing me a towel."

     "As you wish, darling."

     "As you wish, darling," I mumble under my breath, a soft smile crawling on my face as I watch Gaara search for a towel.

                      ————————————

     A knock at the door stirs me in my bed. Like usual, my first reaction is to check on Yoshiki who's asleep in the bassinet next to my bed. Gaara tried insisting on letting him sleep in the nursery set up for him across the room, but the thought made me panic. So many people that come and go from the palace that I don't know, let alone trust. I would have never been able to sleep with him so far away.

     Another knock comes, pulling a sigh from me. I've sighed a lot today, courtesy of Gaara's failing attempts to give me space. On the plus note, he hasn't mentioned anything about marriage or weddings since our conversation.

     "Come in," I mutter, flapping back onto the bed. It's huge, easily fitting three people fully stretched out. Everything here is huge, the rooms, the dining room, the hallways, everything.

     The door slowly gets pushed open, the light from the hallway sneaking in. "Darling?"

     "Gaara?" I sigh out, eyes caught in the hanging drapes of the bed frame.

     "Can I come in?"

     "Sure."

     More light spills in before it's cut off by the door closing. The soft patter of Gaara crossing the carpet fills the space, soon replaced by the sound of him crawling into bed with me. The hot-headed Shinobi hangs his head above mine, his red hair fanned out and his forehead mark on full display, reminding me of the similar one our son has. "Hello, Darling. I have been looking over your list."

     "Ya?"

     "Yes. Should I do the things in order?" He asks, head tilting as his eyes run over my face.

     "Not necessarily, why?"

     Gaara settles down next to me, sitting against the headboard before he pulls out the paper. I shift in bed, mirroring his position. My eyes scan over the sheet, rereading the list I made for him.

     Date Nights

     Day trips

     Cooking together

     Late night cuddles

     Love Letters

     Star gazing

     Spa Nights

     "I don't know what cuddling is, but it is late at night. Would you show me?" He asks, cutting me off from finishing reading the page.

     My eyes flicker towards him, taking in the blankness of it as he looks at me for guidance. "Ya, I can."

     "What are the steps?"

     I let out an airy laugh, flickering my eyes around the room. "Just lay down, Gaara."

     "Why? Am I going to sleep? If so, I will need to change out of my day clothes."

     "Dear lord, Gaar. Fine, take off your clothes. Strip down to your boxes. I don't care," I groan, and lay back down on the bed. I snap my eyes closed again, soaking in the warmth of the bedding.

     The bed undips as he climbs out of it, the sound of his clothes shuffling off filling the space. "I am unclothed. Now what do I do?"

     I roll onto my back, letting my eyes scan Gaara's frame, the frame I haven't seen in so long. "What the hell is on your sides?" I ask, the imprints there snagging my attention but I am unable to make out what it is.

     "Your scratch marks."

     "What?"

     "The scratch marks from our night together. They made me feel... the ways you made me feel. So, I had them permanently stuck on my skin."

     "You tattooed the scratch marks I left on you?"

     "Yes."

     My eyes blink on over-drive as I look at the emotionally unintelligent man next to the mattress. "Lay down under the sheets," I muttered, lifting the blanket. Gaara does as he's ordered, laying as stiff as a board once he's in the bed. I slowly shift closer to him, laying next to his side and resting my head on his chest. "You don't have to be... unclothed for us to cuddle, by the way."

     "Alright."

     "It's love, by the way."

     "What is love?"

     "The thing I make you feel. It's called love."

     "Do you love me?"

     "I think so," I whisper, wrapping my arms around him. "You scare me so it's hard to tell, but yes, I think I do."

     "Do you know I love you?"

     "I mean, you gave me a son that's the spitting image of you so I'm pretty sure I know you love me."

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[ghoultyrant]

Anime Sakura vs Manga Sakura

I first got into Naruto the way a lot of English-language fans very clearly did: by virtue of the anime starting to run in my region. More specifically, I got into it partway through the first Toonami airing of the Wave Country Arc -which, for those who don't know (or don't remember), lead to the anime looping back to the beginning as soon as that arc concluded while localization worked on getting the following episodes localized.

I was sufficiently hooked that this wasn't really enough for me, particularly once the anime got back to the episodes I'd already seen, so I checked out fanfic, became aware the series' original form was a manga, and started reading that. This confluence of events resulted in me becoming aware of something I suspect a lot of fans never notice:

That the anime actually changes a lot of early scenes.

Some of this is actually quite appreciated. For example, in the manga Naruto's classmates don't exist in the first chapter: Sakura and Sasuke don't exist until it's time for team assignments in the second chapter, and the rest of Naruto's classmates don't exist until they show up in the Chunin Exams -this is why Naruto breaks the fourth wall and gives an intro for each of them when they show up there, even in the anime where we actually saw them all in the very first episode. The anime adding them in to the beginning is nice!

By a similar token, the manga actually skips the fight between Tenten and Temari, so jarringly I actually had to double-check and make sure I wasn't missing a chapter somehow; the anime giving us the actual fight in detail is also appreciated!

Other changes are sort of random-feeling if you're not familiar with the tendency for anime adaptations to overtake the manga they're rendering in animated form, but understandable if you are familiar with this point: for example, there's an entire episode dedicated to Naruto having a Wacky Adventure in trying to get to the Chunin Exams' final stage on time, involving silliness like running from an entire stampede, which... has no relevancy to the larger plot because it's an anime-only filler episode to stall for time, not based on anything from the manga.

And then there's how Sakura gets changed.

This is kind of weird to describe, because the anime doesn't cut anything or completely rewrite any scenes: it only ever adds bits. The problem is, the bits that are added are... problematic. Consistently, up until about her Chunin Exam fight scenes. But since it is only addition, I'm going to start from just describing Manga Sakura, then explain the changes.

In the manga, Sakura starts essentially exactly as she does in the anime; she doesn't like Naruto, she's pursuing Sasuke... the only 'difference' is that of course Ino doesn't exist until the Chunin Exams and so the whole Ino/Sakura rivalry thing doesn't come up.

However, in short order Sakura starts changing her mind about Naruto; she attempts to confess to Sasuke, it doesn't work out, and she finds the rejection a fairly unpleasant experience and then connects this pretty immediately to her own rather harsh rejections of Naruto's requests for dates and resolves to not be such a jerk to him in future.

And she does in fact stick to that for... at least everything I read. (I've yet to get fully through the Shinobi World War Arc, so I suppose it's possible she goes back on her word somewhere past there)

This is how Manga Sakura goes overall; she starts as a bit of a shallow, thoughtlessly cruel person who isn't really taking this whole 'life and death battles as a ninja' thing adequately seriously, but tends to be quick to engage in introspection, resolve to change such behaviors, and then stick out this resolution; the Sakura we see in the Chunin Exams is something of a culmination of how Sakura has been progressing this whole time.

Anime Sakura still has these moments, but... they get undercut. The date thing is the bit I still vividly remember: Anime Sakura makes her resolution to not be so cruel to Naruto-

-and Naruto immediately shows up, asks for a date, and Sakura punches him out and goes 'never mind' about her resolution.

There's a lot of moments like this with Anime Sakura: 15-45 seconds of content added to otherwise-faithful-to-the-manga scenes where said added content is 'comedy' moments that horribly undercut Sakura's character development. Taken seriously, they make her into an incredibly unpleasant person who intentionally rejects opportunities to become less unpleasant; it's little wonder that so many of the fanfics I saw in the early days really did not like Sakura.

Once the Chunin Exam starts these added bits of unpleasantness stop occurring, but after so long seeing Anime Sakura do things like make resolutions and immediately break them, I imagine lots of viewers found Sakura's Big Resolutions and Major Character Development difficult to take as intended; if I'd not read the manga, I know I would've been expecting these moments to not really stick.

The whole thing is particularly frustrating for how easy it is to overlook; if I'd not been experiencing the manga and anime near-simultaneously, I never would have realized these quick bits of character assassination were anime-only additions. And if you go look at a wiki or the like, you're not going to trivially learn this info, unlike how basically everyone knows that the Anime Filler Arcs are, in fact, the Anime Filler Arcs.

So I've long suspected lots of people are unaware that Sakura comes across very differently in the early anime vs the early manga.

[sickflowerbed]

One thing I hate about Naruto is that Kishimoto wasted so much potential for Sakura, Team Gai, Hyūga clan, Kurenai, Shino, and so many others.

For me, Sakura is the most wasted because she's one of the main characters, yet it didn't seem that way. Compare Sakura and the other mains. She is more like a side character who's a fan favorite like Shikamaru, expect a lot people hate her.

It makes sense to not like Sakura in the beginning. That's what character development is for. Sakura was supposed to go from boy-crazy to the strong independent heroine, and if you read the manga, it does feel that way but, in the end, she ends up with Sasuke now, that would be a problem if she didn't immediately forgive him, she was the one who told Naruto to stop seeking Sasuke because she could tell, that it was pointless and the damage is evident. Kishimoto himself said he regretted Sakura's character, failed, and said that even if he expanded on her it wouldn't raise her popularity. It was too late the damage was done. Kishimoto knew Sakura wasn't popular yet chose moments for Sakura that needed understanding of her badly written character.

All of the team members of Gai had so much potential, Gai & Lee being the best Taijutsu users, Neji being the genius of the Hyūga clan, and Tenten even though we don't see her a lot, in the manga, we don't see the fight between her and Temari, but we see a few scratches on Temari. Of course, we didn't see the official fight, and Tenten still got folded, but it's the thought that counts. It's a shame we never got to see her get better. She could have used her chakra and infused it with her weapons like Asuma does. We never got to see them fight after the Kazekage Ark, and we never saw them fight as a team, a beautiful dysfunctional team.

The Hyūga clan at the start was shown was the strongest clan, and we learned a lot about the clan during the chūnin exams. With the Hyūga clan, I see the loss of potential with using about them. Personally, I'm fine with Hyūga clan being put in the sidelines for the Uchiha clan to shine. But we only had two main characters from Hyūga clan, Hinata, and Neji. Compared to the Uchiha clan, we don't see any other characters aside from fillers. I just wished we got to learn more about the Hyūga clan and their connection to the Ōtsutsuki clan, which we only saw during the last movie.

I always feel bad for Kurenai because she was done dirty. We were told she was one of the greatest genjutsu users, and the only time we see her fight is against the greatest genjutsu user, Itachi Uchiha. Of course, she gonna lose against him, and that's the one time we see her fight apart from fillers. Then she ends up pregnant and boom she's nothing but a mother, which is fine. Most of the mothers in anime are dead, but we are told that Kurenai is a genjutsu specialist and we never got a chance to see that canonically.

Shino has shown potential in the fights we have seen him in, but we never went into depth into Shino how he uses his bugs and gets better at using them. Apparently, the Aburame clan can identify and counter genjutsu because their kikaichū don't have the brain structures for it. I mean it's a shame we didn't see especially since the show later was centered around the Uchiha clan.

Overall, the reason many characters got left out of the series or ignored was that Kishimoto focused everything on Naruto, Sasuke, and popular characters due to the fans.

[v01dm1stak3]

"I Could Treat you better anyways."

Summary: Nobody really liked your boyfriend, he was always controlling and possessive. Slowly isolating you from everyone. Temari came to visit and when he slapped you Infront of everyone, Temari had finally had enough.

Word count: 1.5K Warnings: Getting slapped??? Cussing.... Bout it. A/N: I Suck ass at writing, Started this blog to get better.

Everyone knew that Temari had eyes for you, and only you. Yet, they also knew that you had a boyfriend, who you loved dearly. That love for him made you blind of the way he stared at other women. Made you to blind to see that he was slowly pulling you away from your friends with his overprotective demeanor. People tried to tell you, but you always dismissed it with a simple “He just wants what's best for me.” You really were blinded by love. 

You walked down the streets of konoha, a basket in hand. The streets weren't busy, but they weren't dead either. It was nice. You waved towards the people in shops you recognized and the people on the road you have met before. You gripped your basket, looking at the stuff you have bought. Checking off everything, making sure you didn't forget something. 

As you were checking off your mental checklist, you heard a voice right by your ear. “What are you doing?” You jolted, turning around to give a face to the voice. It was Ino, someone you considered a close friend. “Jeez Ino, you scared me.” You sighed, scratching the back of your neck. “Pffft, And you call yourself a shinobi?” She smirked, flipping her hair over her shoulder before resting her hand on her hip.  The streets seemed to get busier, people passing by lost in their own conversation. 

You smiled, adjusting the headband that rested on your neck. “Yeah…. I've been losing my touch haven't I. My boyfriend has been wanting me to stay home more. He wants me to be safe.” You thought he was sweet, Ino clearly wasn't all too happy with it. A clear scowl planted on her face. She began to speak, quickly cutting herself off. Just before saying something else. “I'm not going to even bother. Listen.. I.. umm… Temari is visiting the village. We were all going to meet at the Ramen shop Naruto likes so much. Ichmaku… Ichymaru??? I don't remember the name.” She sighed, looking away and watching the people go around and into shops. “ Just don't bring that boyfriend of yours. It's just going to be us fellow shinobi.. You know?” She fiddled with her hands. She didn't want to make you upset being your friend and all. But she didn't like your boyfriend. Nobody did.

“Huhhhh? Yeah, that's fine! I'll be there!” You affirmed, a happy tone in your voice and a smile planted on your face.  Ino turned her head back around, a smile planted on her face. “ That's great I'll see you then! “ She blurted. Before you could speak, she had disappeared when somebody walked between you two. You were excited, you hadn't seen tamari in forever. 

The night came quicker than expected. When you had gotten home, your boyfriend wasn't even there. He left to who knows where. Just in case he came back while you were gone, you left a note saying where you were at. Just so he knew you were safe. You wore your usual outfit, the usual shinobi uniform. You looked great in it, and didn't really have anything else nice to wear. 

As you stepped out the door the cool wind blew, the stars sparkled overhead and the crickets sang. It was a lovely night. You made your way towards the Ramen shop, your footsteps not making a sound as you went. The streets were empty, compared to when you were out earlier. Everyone was asleep. Besides the very loud shouting as the Ramen shop came into view. You quicken your pace unknowingly as you rushed to get over there. It had been awhile since you were out. And it had been awhile since Temari had been here. 

You moved the piece of fabric as you stepped into the little area. Everyone was sitting down already. Ino, Choji, Shikamaru, and… “Temari! It's been awhile” You beamed, Rushing to give her a hug from behind. “Ack- Hey!! It has been, huh ..” She mumbled, patting your arms signaling to let go despite how much she enjoyed it. “Hey! We are here as well, you know!” Ino shouted from behind. You chuckled before running up to her and giving her a hug. 

As you greeted your old team, Temari's eyes never left you. Even as the night carried on. When you were in a conversation or when she was in one herself. She always had her eyes on you or her hand holding yours. Friends could hold hands, couldn't they? Time flew by and hours passed. You didn't realize how late it had gotten! As you were about to pay your bill, you heard someone shout your name. You didn't have to think hard to figure out who's voice it was. You quickly paid the bill and rushed out, a smile planted on your face. “Hey Love! Me and my friends were just finishing up. I-” You were cut off by a hand smacking your face. Your boyfriend's hand, smacking your face. Your eyes widened as you brought your hand to your cheek. You slowly moved your eyes to look at him. He was pissed. 

“WHAT THE FUCK IS YOUR ISSUE?” Someone screamed from behind you, you didn't bother to look to see. You were too busy trying to figure out what you did. What made him so angry. You studied his face for some kind of answer. He shouted at the person behind you. Multiple voices joined in and shouted at him. Your ears began to ring, the shouting becoming background noise as tears slowly streamed down your face.

You weren't in your thoughts for too long. As someone grabbed your hand and pulled you towards them, away from your boyfriend. You were snapped back to reality as Temari was getting louder at the man. Starting to step closer to him. “ARE YOU FUCKING JOKING?? SHE WASN'T HOME SO YOU CAME AND FOUND HER AND FUCKING SLAPPED HER?? ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND???” Temari was fuming. “I DONT FUCKING LIKE YOU GUYS. SHE SHOULDN'T BE WITH YOU GUYS AT ALL.” Your boyfriend scowled, matching Temari's tone.  “THE FUCK DID WE DO TO YOU?!” Ino shouted, clearly pissed.

The argument continued for a bit longer. Your boyfriend giving half-assed responses and just yelling. Sooner or later when Temari threatened to get physical he finally walked off, shooting you a glare. The moment he walked off Temari turned towards you, making sure you were alright. You were staring at your shoes, eyes still wide and your cheeks stained with tears. Temari wiped your tears with her thumb and brought you into her embrace. “You guys can go home, I'll deal with her, Alright?” Temari mumbled towards the other 3, Playing with a strand of your hair. Shikamaru nodded and Choji did as well. Both still worried, but they walked off. Ino Nodded as well giving you a pat on the head and saying everything was going to be alright before walking away as well.

You and Temari stood there for a few minutes, the warmth of her embrace keeping you grounded. It was silent besides when the wind blew, it was comforting. But of course, one day someone had to break the silence. “Break up with your boyfriend.” Temari said sternly. “What?” You whispered back, not believing what she said. “Break up with your boyfriend..” She repeated, pushing you out from her embrace and holding you by the shoulders in front of her. Your eyes lock as your eyes widen once more. “B-but it was probably just some misunderstanding! He probably didn’t mean it!” You stammer, moving your hands to try and communicate what you were saying. “A boyfriend doesn’t slap you over a misunderstanding. A boyfriend doesn’t keep you from your job for his selfishness.” She growled, taking her hands off your shoulder. “And a boyfriend, definitely, does not keep you from your friends, and slowly isolate you. “ She crossed her arms, figuring out what to say next. As she began to speak again, adding to her points, You cut her off. “He wasn’t doing that.. Was he?” You whisper, looking down at your feet. She hummed confusingly. “He wasn’t isolating me…” Your hands dig into your uniform as you struggle to meet Temari’s gaze. “He was, why do you think none of your friends like him? Why do you think you are barely leaving the house anymore?” You struggled to form your words, Temari was right. You didn’t want to believe it though, you loved him. Yes he had his… ways. Yet you still loved him. Despite all of it. “I Get it may be hard, but you have to trust me on this. Please?” Temari murmured before hugging you again. You slowly returned the hug, Nodding a yes. You didn’t want to leave him, but you trusted Temari..She sighed a sigh of relief, whispering in your ear something you would remember. “I Could treat you better anyways.”

[ofoceansandtombsanew]

Can I ask, if you have top favorite romantic couples (can be canon or non canon) of all time from any media? Why love them? Thx :D

... now this, took a minute to answer in some ways. There a lot of ships I like, so this was really easy and hard to answer at the same time. Some ships it was an immediate yep yep and others I had to go '... but is it a fav of all time, though?" But I think I got it narrowed down.

So here we go, fav ships of all time from any media, no particular order. I didn't get any specific no. to do so I'll just list a handful until I can't think of any others. (Anyone who comes across this that sees a ship on here you don't like and feels the need to say something about it, stay in your lane this ain't about your opinions it's about mine.)

The main FMA ships

Arakawa Hiromu, nigga, you cooked. Imma just put the FMA ships as one and leave it there because if I do it separately, we'll be here all day. But if you wanna see me diving into why I like these ships in a manic ramble, here's a post I made on that here. The romance in FMA is literally a category and a discussion all on its own that I can go about on for hours. FMA has the best romances in shounen so anyone who has consumed FMA will know what I'm talking about. Like, whenever anyone tries to use a manga being 'shounen' to justify shitty romantic writing, I point at FMA's brilliant riding. An animanga's demographic is not an excuse for terrible executions in romance. EdWin, RoyAi, LingFan, AlMei and all the side ships drank and left no molecules.

NaruSaku

Toxic shippers, again, stay in your lane, I don't feel like dealing with y'all any day. I have been shipping this shit for years, always have, always will. Ignore the fact I ship Sakura with literally everyone from the Akatsuki to Hinata to Sai to Shikamaru. (Y'all I used to look up Kisame/Sakura fics, unironically TAT). (Same for Naruto honestly, I've shipped him with Sasuke, Ino, Temari, Tenten, the list goes on and on.) The way Sakura goes from finding Naruto annoying to almost dying multiple times to keep him safe, I will never EVER be over that. Naruto's love going from puppy to something as passionately red as the thread of fate itself. The MinaKushi parallels. I have a lot (and I mean a lot) of ships in Naruto pertaining to these two, but NaruSaku is my absolute favorite. Like it was literally confirmed that Sakura got over Sasuke and then it got retconned for some bullshit. Saying it with my whole chest, argue with a wall, it should have been them. I won't dog any other ships, but yeah, it should have been them. 699 chapters of Naruto being in love with one woman, I sing the praises everyday.

SakuHina

Hinata's prince charming is literally Sakura. I have a whole ass fic I am slowly, painstakingly writing about what Naruto would have been like if Hinata had a crush on Sakura the whole time. I just think they're really cute together, have amazing chemistry and balance each other out. I didn't expect to like SakuHina as much as I did but here we are.

Kyoru

I mentioned it before in another answered ask but Fruits Basket was my first manga (if you're curious what my first anime was, it was Yu Yu Hakusho) and Kyoru was probably my first OTP. There are two characters I think upon so many rewatches and rereads that were prime game for who Kyo and Tohru could have ended up with had things been different (which, I do really ship as well. Multishipper here guys) but I'm not mad about the endgames that we got. From start to finish, Kyo and Tohru's relationship is beautiful and you can feel how strongly they feel for one another. It's like, wow, Takaya really gave us one of the best ships in shoujo and didn't even apologize for it.

Klance

Red + Blue = True. They had chemistry, supplemented for what the other lacked and we really don't need to have me diving into the bs that was VLD. That show wasn't even out long, my god, it was a mess.

NeuviFuri

Should I explain to you the romanticism of Hydro x Hydro? Oof how I love them. A Genshin ship after my own heart, truly. But if anyone is trying to against MiHoyoverse (I was here from the Mihoyo days, leave me alone) in terms of seeing who ships NeuviFuri more, we all lose. They literally paid people to do an ice dancing program in NeuviFuri cosplay, paid a guy to make a companion piece to Furina's song from Neuvillette's perspective and several other animations concerning their relationship in some way. But the Mihoyoverse shenanigans aside, it's the build up of 400+ years of working together, the care they still have for one another and yes the complementary abilities and color palettes. Not enough time in the day to talk about them, I don't think.

AriDante

Almost thought I wouldn't have a gif for them, then I remembered THEY GOT A MOVIE. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe is one of my favorite books in the world. I have reread it once a year religiously since 2017 when I first discovered it. This is such a beautiful novel and relationship and if you haven't had the pleasure of reading it or the sequel, please do yourself a favor and buy it or rent it from your local library. It's just, the way Ari has been in love with Dante for so long and didn't even realize it but it's so, so clear to the reader because of just how he talks and describes him? I don't even want to go to deep into this one just in case there's someone here that hasn't read this book because it deserves to be read and experienced blind. Just, just please y'all read it.

[geekthefreakout]

The GaaNaru Letters (part 2 of ?)

PART 1

AN: Here's some more letters. I don't know how much more I will write, or how much actual romance I will get to. This is still early on.

Dear Gaara,

Sorry I'm sending this with a toad which is weird but I'm in a hurry and this is important. Have you ever heard of the Akatsuki? Don't tell anyone I asked. But this is important

Naruto U

Uzumaki Naruto,

I have never heard of this "Akatsuki." I have told no one. Your toad does not like me. What is happening?

Sincerely, Gaara of the Desert

....

Uzumaki Naruto,

Temari says the more appropriate question is "Are you alright?"

I still have not told anyone your question.

Sincerely, Gaara of the Desert

Dear Gaara,

Sorry for the delay. There's a lot I'm not supposed to say. I'm okay, though, thanks for asking. Sorry if I worried you.

I'm going to tell you what Akatsuki is. Don't tell Tell who you need to for safety. But not how you heard about it. It's a secret, but you should know this one. Akatsuki is a group of weird guys, and they're after kids like us. Kids with monsters. Two of them found me while I was traveling with Pervy Sage, but him and Bushier Brows Sensei got rid of them. Now Sasuke is hurt, though, so it's even more important that we find the next Hokage. The lady Pervy Sage is thinking of is supposed to be a great medical ninja or something. She can help Sasuke and Bushy Brows.

Anyways, just watch yourself. Especially if you see weird guys with bad fashion sense and a thing for red clouds.

You were right, mine is Kyuubi. I didn't know until right before I became a genin. The Third didn't want it to be known by the younger kids, so only the adults knew. They hated me, but I never knew why. Then I did know why, and some stuff started to make sense. It doesn't really matter, because I'm going to keep working hard so that everyone sees me for me and acknowledges me! That's why I'm going to become Hokage.

You said your sister told you what to ask- does that mean you're on better terms? You didn't actually let them beat you up, did you?

You said a lot of other stuff in your letter that I want to talk to you about, but I don't have time now. Pervy Sage and I are setting out again, as soon as he gets back from "gathering information" at the onsen. Why are so many of the teachers I end up with perverts?

Sincerely, Uzumaki Naruto

Uzumaki Naruto,

Thank you for this information. I do not think it is likely that this Akatsuki will be a threat to me- unlike you, my defense is automatic. However, my time in the Hidden Leaf Village showed me that even my defenses are not perfect, so I will be vigilant. In a few days, I will tell Baki that I overheard a rumor about the Akatsuki and wished to report it to him.

Why do they want us?

Do not answer that. You've already shared too much. Your con You shouldn't I am grateful, but please do not put yourself in an awkward position for me.

Who is this "Pervy Sage"? I wonder if the woman he is speaking of is Tsunade. Her skill as a medical ninja is known even here in the Sand village. Kunoichi everywhere look up to her, including my sister.

I did offer to let Kankuro hit me, and I believe it helped, though not in the way I had anticipated. He became upset and insisted that he, Temari, and I sat down to "talk things out." I did not talk as much as they did. Both of them acknowledged that things were "a little weird" between us, but they insist that they do not want to hit me, because I am their little brother. I've never considered what that meant, outside of the obvious blood relation.

It's because of you that I have this chance I appreciate your advice in this area. Temari is surprised that I am writing to you, but she approves.

How is Rock Lee I will wait for you to return from your mission before resuming our other conversations.

Sincerely, Gaara of the Desert

Part 3

[bandsandwristbands]

A post with questions - please tell me more about headcanons with piercings 👁️ 🫦 👁️ who is the big spoon/little spoon too

HEWWOOOOOO 💕💕💕💕

boy i hope this is about gaara and or lee cuz thats what im talkin bout

omg so piercings

Firstly i hc piercings as very normal/relevent in Suna with different ones popular for different types of ceremony! More 'casual' ones for coming of age (like ears, lips, eyebrows etc), more ornate ones for spiritual devotion/religious reasons (Things like more fragile dermals, stretching, specific types of metal or crystals represented in the jewelry would be indicative of status as well) Also probably personally assigned meanings to signify marriage or familial status.

Also also tattoos and henna are popular for similar reasons

OKAY onto Gaara specific hcs

I think Temari pierced his ears for him shortly after the chuunin exams. Two sets to represent his siblings and the relationship with them that he is now starting to fix. (Yada yada healing physically while healing damaged connections yadayada) Plus it's something to bond over mutual interest.

Belly piercing cuz i said so idk if you want gender hcs but short of it is it makes him feel pretty lol

I think he'd show interest in piercings/body mods to try and connect with his people and culture more in pursuit of Kazekage office but also would be about Him trying to practice controlling his sand in response to pain. Between hosting a demon and being treated like a weapon most of his life, Gaara probably struggles with feeling present or in control of his body so having agency over his own pain and how he gets to present would be cathartic.

Others ones that I like on him in general but may be ooc to some are tongue, smiley, or corset but they're all good really 👌👌

Others

Temari def has a belly piercing tooo as well as lots of ear piercings (helix on one side probably for shikamaru, daith, like three on the lobe)

Temari also pierces any Konohan homies who show interest (Mostly the girls, she def pierced Ino's nips lolll)

Kankuro has his whole face done basically (Tongue, snake bites, all three on the nose, an eyebrow my cringe goth king)

Lee is unpierced for practical reasons, with the way he's constantly moving, fighting, getting injured it'd be a bit anxiety inducing to worry about it. He thinks they're very cool tho and really appreciates the cultural significance. He can be convinced once he and Gaara are married uwu

Lee does get done up with traditional henna at the pressure from the locals because it's a warrior thing and when in rome yknow. Plus Gaara is real gay about it. Seeing his culture all over Lee has him all mushy inside.

All three sand sibs go all out during festivals with the ornate body jewelry because they're allowed to express themselves in an official way without the council being a bunch of squares. Flexing the kage wealth a bit lol.

((I don't have any art for this rn cuz I'm including it in Lore Art for a behemoth fic I started that I hope to god i finish in a reasonable time lol))

Anyways they take turns with spooning, they both want to just curl up and disappear into each other although Gaara big spooning is more like a backpack, Lee sprawls and Gaara clings (touch starved headass)

[mahou-furbies]

Miss Meguca contest (casual outfits), comments

All preliminary rounds are now over! Since there was some variance in how many people voted each round, I'll have to calculate everyone's scores with percentages. So I think the final round won't start until tomorrow. In the meantime, here are the comments:

Round 1

Let’s Hope Madoka Wins this Thing Again. I want to See an Idol or Maybe a special Surprise Image song round or something.

Most of these outfits are so good. I only docked off points for some of them cause they weren’t as interesting. Also Ayaka’s outfit is perfect except for the color of her tights

Always glad to see my girl, Ashley!

Hoods are always a good taste, so…

I'm a sucker for suspenders!

Yuuna, Rena and Kokoro are the TOP of winter fashion!!!

There're quite a few outfits I WANT to like but they're just drawn so weird. Like. Why is Mitsune's sweatshirt Like That.

Also why is Mami dressed like she's in her 40s.

I really love all the varied silhouettes Magireco gives its characters in their casual clothes. Yuuna's is probably my least favourite because it's so boring. Ikumi's cat socks are extremely 2010s fashion and I love them.

Ashley has the best one here! It's practically something I would wear!

Rena's was so cute… until the short shorts. Girl!!! Your thighs are going to freeze!!! At least with skirts it's easy to wear skin colored thermal tights!

Ikumi: I'm going to wear e-girl cat socks with the most boring fit possible.

Round 2

Ren's outfit is so adorable!

Bring On Da Next Round! I Need Madoka to Win!

Yuma stands out not being super detailed, but I like it.

Scene 0 Madoka's outfit isn't bad but I don't think the silhouette and blue jacket necessarily suit her. Also adult Hikaru's outfit looks like something I'd wear in IRL help

Yuna: I don't understand the transparent fabric on her, but aside from that, is a pretty fashionable outfit

Akari: The bunny purse? The bow with the scarf? The puffy shorts? *chef's kiss

Moka: teh top part is a 10, but the bottom is a 3

I would once again kill for Mami's, but Ria's on the block too

Felicia ily but THAT clothes???????

Round 3

It's designs like these that get my hopes up about character design and fashion.

Alina wins out because of the paint on her clothes!

No Madoka Here but I’m Alright with That Besides Madoka Is Gonna Be the Winner Again!

I love Alina's painting clothes 💚💛❤️

So many cute designs in this round💖

ADORE alinas outfit, its so unique among the rest of the super feminine and cutesy casual outfits!

What is up with that bow on Tomoko’s outfit? It feels like everything was just slapped together when it comes to how she’s dressed.

Round 4

sorry, kyouko. i cant stand orange+green color combos.

Finally a good outfit for Kyoko!

Why does it feel that they put more effort into making the winter ones and just slap some ramdom shirts and skirts for casual?

They really did Kyouko dirty in this game.

Looking Good I know Madoka is the Winner nothing ordinary or new!

Thought Homura had a mustache necklace for a sec

I was gonna give glasses Homura a -1, but she's getting a 2 for the mustache necklace actually. I don't like it but it's such a bold choice and I love that for her lmao

I dislike Kirika but her clothes are in my fav choices ;;

I find my choices a little funny in hindsight because Kokoro's outfit is a hiking outfit and it looks nice but it also feels very generic, but I also feel like Leila's outfit looks like she's about to go camping or something. Also I am OBSESSED with Homura's mustache necklace.

Round 5

I'd like to make a disclaimer that I'm not rating Ranka's outfit 1 because I hate it, I just don't think it makes a good winter outfit necessarily. But does this also mean she's into larme kei and shops at places like MA*RS and Ank Rouge? Also: 1) Yachiyo's cold shoulder sweater dress amuses me for some reason. Girl your shoulders! 2) Green is a very interesting colour choice for Temari.

Hotaru, my beloved!! Sleepy queen!!

This is getting Good Final around Ahead and Madoka must Win!

I want Konomi's one so baaaad!!!!

Homura with glasses has the best outfits ;_; I have seen a lot of hers in the polls and always I love how she mixes cutesy with black clothes

Some of these are awful

Round 6

Lots of threes this time for interesting silhouettes or designs that make me go "yeah, that's [character]"! Also Mifuyu's outfit is just one of my faves in general

These are not as awful as the other but somehow most of them has something that ruins the look for me.

The thing is, a magical girl costume is always so extravagant and beautiful, that when we go back to their casual clothes, we expect nothing less. Bu then it comes some disappointment, because they look so plain and simple.

Last One I Need Madoka To Win!!

hard to be picky abt it ;-; they're all so pretty tbh

ui looks adorable!! i love her little outfit! you can certainly tell she's a kid. i find her outfit works really well over all. a lot of others i felt like there'd be one or 2 elements just don't fit with the rest but ui's just matches perfectly in my eyes

This is so difficult because imo the game has really really good designs for the casual outfits

Round 7

Kyoko looks really good in purple

After seeing Yachiyo's dress everything seems pretty.

Disclaimer I like Kyouko's outfit but I don't think it suits /her/ personally. I don't really like the mauve on Oriko? I feel like she should be wearing white or a very pale lilac at least. Tsubaki's is okay I guess and there's something about Tsukuyo's I don't entirely vibe with for some reason

I came to the conclusion that Homura is the Fashion Queen…

And poor Kyouko has so much to learn…

Let’s Hope Madoka wins this whole Thing!

Kyoko's outfit is great, but not a good fit for Kyoko.

Nagisa gets a 3. The OG deserves it. Too good for this world. Too pure. Deserves all the cheese.

Again, Homura has the best outfits

[13as07]

Spitting Image #3

(Gaara Sabaku)

[Artwork is not mine! Credit to Tamengkay]

Requested by: Myself

Word Count: 3,874

Warnings and/or Pre-Notes:

Should I do a prequel of their night together? Hmm… probably

———————————————————————

The opal eyes my son inherited from his father are staring back at me from the door frame of my apartment. "Yoshiki isn't here right now," I mutter, clinging to the door I've cracked open.

     "I know. Shikadai and Inojin were playing with him at the flower shop when I stopped. I stopped at the flower shop, on the way, for these," Gaara races out, shoving one of the fancy bouquets toward me. Ino and I tease that it's the 'I fucked up' bouquet since its starting price is twelve thousand yen.

     "The thought is appreciated but flowers aren't a good present for a nine-month-old," I point out, a ting of sadness aching in my chest. Yoshiki has officially been out in the world longer than I carried him for.

     It's been about two months since Gaara met his son and since we met Yoshiki's family. The Hokage keeps randomly showing up, never going longer than a week without appearing back in the village. More often than not he's only gone three or four days, and while he's away his older sister tends to show up.

     The extra help is nice, for the most part. I'm still a bit on edge about letting Temari help though. I don't like someone I barely know around my kid, even if it is his Aunt.

     The only person stressing me out more than Temari is Gaara himself. He seems cold most of the time, definitely not the blushing 'oh my this is happening' guy he was the night we spent together. He also seems to not know what he's doing, which I get if it wasn't for the older son he has. It leaves room for speculation.

     That and I can only imagine how the sand village is reacting. It's a good half-a-day trip either way, and with him spending so much time in the Leaf I'm sure his council isn't too happy, especially since rumor has it our council isn't too happy with his constant appearance.

     Pair all that with the constant shove of money in my face and it doesn't sit too well in the gut. I know he's doing it in good nature, the fancy dinners, constantly buying new things for Yoshiki and leaving money around the house when I deny it from him. I know it's all meant in good faith... I think, but it stresses me out too.

     I don't need Gaara to take care of us, to take care of me. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad Yoshiki's father can offer him the nicer things in life and a part of me is glad that he wants to. But it still stresses me out. It makes me feel like he's setting himself up for a 'you owe me'. Another worry that doesn't get stomached too well.

     I haven't used any of the money Gaara keeps leaving behind. I have been saving it though, squirreling it away, keeping it as a little nesting egg in case Yoshiki and I do have to make a run for it. My father might have kept me blind to the Shinobi world but he didn't keep me blind from ways to keep myself safe. Rule number one: always have a packed to-go bag and an exit plan. At the rate things are going, that might just come in handy.

     "I know that," Gaara says a bit defensively, pressing the flowers to his chest before leaning them back towards me. "I got them for you," he mutters, eyes jumping around the apartment I'm in the middle of cleaning. "What is it that you are doing?"

     "Cleaning," I answer, eyeing the flowers. Is Gaara acting suspicious or am I being paranoid? We shall see. "Yoshiki has grown out of his pre-me clothes and some of the other outfits he has so I'm going through them. Whatever Konah and his wife don't want is going to be taken to the women's shelter."

     "Pre-me?"

     "It's short for premature. Yoshiki was born just short of thirty weeks. He was really small, three point two pounds. He's doing good now. His doctors say he's still a bit underweight but it's nothing to worry too much about. Just something to monitor." During my rant I've shuffled away from the door, focusing on folding more of Yosh's clothes and placing them in the box to bring Konah.

     "I was born premature," Gaara whispers, following behind me to watch as I fold.

     "My mother was too, so the chances of Yoshiki being a pre-me was always there. Besides that's a thing that comes from the mother's DNA, so don't work yourself up over it."

     "I was not going to," he murmurs, eyes jumping around the small space as his cheeks slowly dust themselves pink. I hum in disagreement, carefully watching as Gaara makes the short walk from the living room to the kitchen. "Where do you keep your vases?"

     "I don't have any vases."

     "What do you mean you 'do not have a vase'?" He asks, face scrunched up as he looks at me.

     "Exactly what it sounds like. I don't own a vase. Never have cause I've never needed one."

     "I am going to get you a vase."

     "You really don't need to, Gaara. I don't need a vase and I don't need flowers. I appreciate the gesture but I'm good," I tell him, panic banging around my chest at the thought of him buying me something else, much less more flowers.

     His head tilts and his face scrunches more before he shakes his head. "I am going to get you a vase," Gaara says more to himself than me, nodding in agreement with himself. "And new cups," he mutters, opening the cabinet, being met with the mix-match cups I've somehow gained over the years. "You shall have a vase and new cups next time I stop by."

     "I really, really don't need a vase and those cups work just as well as any others. I don't need new cups or anything else from you. I'm doing fine for myself and my son."

     "Our son."

     "My son," I repeat, feeling like I'm going to throw up despite the hardass tone I've managed to maintain.

     Gaara blinks at me a couple of times, seeming a bit dumb-founded and looking it as he stares, still holding the 'I fucked up' bouquet. "As you wish," he mutters, finally back in motion. He sets the flowers down before opening random drawers in search of something. When he finds it - a pad of paper and a pen - he goes to work scribbling on it. "Nonetheless, I shall walk around and make a list of things you two need."

     I let out a laugh of disbelief, clothes completely forgotten because of the madman's words. "No, you are not. I already told you -"

     "If you wish me to stay out of your room I will, but yes, I am going to figure out what it is that the mother of my child and our son needs," Gaara freezes for a second, imaginary eyebrows jumping up. "My apologies, what your son needs."

     "Are you being a smart-alec right now?" I ask, another disbelieving laugh leaving my lips. "Is that what you're doing?"

"No," he says matter-of-factly. "You are not okay with me referring to Yoshiki as something we share, so I will avert from doing so."

"Dumbass," I mumble under my breath, turning my attention back to the pile of clothes I'm giving away. "I got knocked up by a dumbass."

————————————

"I'm just saying, Gaara is being a little much," I grumble, messing with my keys in search of the one that unlocks my front door.

"And I'm just saying, Gaara wants to take care of you. What's the harm in letting him?" Ino asks, her eyes are shiny with amusement.

"If you like the idea so much, ask him to take care of you," I groan, finally managing to get the key in the lock.

She laughs focusing on the grocery bags she's shifting in her arms. "Ya let me just ask Gaara to give me a baby too. I'm sure that'll go over well. Honestly, I still don't know how you managed to talk him into bed."

"You and me both," I mumble, pushing the door and leaving it open for Ino to follow. She does follow after me, silence flaking between us as we head towards the kitchen to place my groceries down.

     "Welcome home!" Shinki calls out, racing into the kitchen to greet us. "Oh! Hello Auntie Ino!"

     As Ino greets him, I head back out to the living room in search of Yoshiki. Panic starts to rise a bit when I don't find him - or Gaara.

     The panic doesn't last long though, the two of them falling into view when I push Yosh's nursery door open. Gaara looks uneasy as he sits in the rocking chair, my - our - son fast asleep on his chest. "Hello," he calls, stiffening when our son stirs in his sleep.

     "Hello," I echo, softly closing the door before I head towards them. "You know you can lay him in his crib," I tell him, carefully picking Yoshiki off his chest.

Gaara stiffens again, face scrunching up as he inches forward. "I am aware. I did not wish to."

A smile weighs on my lips as I cuddle with my son, pressing soft kisses to his head as I rock the sleeping boy. "Do you want him back when I'm done?"

He blinks at me in his slow way, his face slowly softening as he thinks. "Yes," he mutters, relaxing in the rocking chair again. "I enjoy our time here."

"I'm glad," I hum, soaking in my greeting to Yoshiki for another beat before I gently lay him back on his father's chest. "Yoshiki enjoys it when Shinki and you are here too."

"Do you enjoy when we're here?" Gaara asks, eyes locked on me, his stone-face expression on it like usual.

I think about it for a moment, trying to decide what answer to give: honestly or sugar-coated. "I enjoy spending time with Shinki, he's a sweet kid. I absolutely adore him. I'm happy the two of you are in Yoshiki's life." Both, that works.

"Are you happy we're in your life?"

"Yes," I answer before I have the chance to fully think about it. It's not a lie, I do enjoy having the Sand Shinobis around. I truly adore Shinki and like having him around. Gaara isn't terrible to have around either, it's nice having an extra set of hands, to have a man for Yoshiki to grow up looking up to, and I might have grown a bit fond of the flowers and the pale blue vase he got me.

He nods to himself, slowly rocking himself and Yosh in the chair as he spaces out. "How was your grocery shopping trip with Ino?" He finally murmurs, opal eyes set on me in their intense way. I swear Gaara can't look at anything calmly.

"It was alright. I think I'm going to make homemade ramen for dinner. I'm thinking of topping it with pork and boiled eggs."

Another spaced-out look and agreeing nod. "You should wait until Yoshiki wakes up so I can help you."

"I think I'm capable of - "

"- I know," Gaara cuts me off, eyes scrunched in a way that makes the markings of his eyes stand out. "I am aware you are capable of a lot of things. I am here to help, so I shall help. I wish you would let me help you more often."

I open my mouth to respond but get cut off again, this time by a knock at the door. "Hey, mamas," Ino's voice rings out as she opens the door, slowly poking her head into the room. "I have a meeting soon so I'm going to head out. Shinki is working on putting the groceries away. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Enjoy your meeting, I'll see you later," I call back, waving at my friend before she pulls the door closed again.

"Let me help with dinner," Gaara butts in once the door is closed, ending my attempt to respond before I can even start it. "I want my sons to see me helping around the house. It is not fair for you to work all day and then come home to do the household duties. Let me help."

I let out a long sigh, crossing my arms over my chest as my eyes jump around the nursery. "Fine, you can help with dinner," I say, giving in to Gaara's request.

I suppose there's no harm in letting him help more around the house, especially since he and his son spend most of their time in the village here. Of course they don't sleep here, it's only a small two-bedroom apartment, but if they're not sleeping or spending time with friends and family in the village, they are here. Which means they're here most of the day.

As I leave Yosh's room, thoughts of getting a bigger apartment cross my mind. Should I start looking for a three-bedroom or a four-bedroom? Probably a three-bedroom, I don't think Shinki would mind sharing a room with his younger brother... maybe. I'll just look for both. After all, at the rate we're going Gaara isn't going to let up anytime soon.

————————————

"You're doing that thing again," I grumble, shifting the strainer back and forth to shake the water out of the noodles I'm prepping for dinner.

"What thing?" Gaara asks, his eyes still intensely on me as they have been for the last ten minutes. I swear he hasn't even blinked during the time.

"That thing where you sit there and stare at me. You did it during..." My mouth snaps closed, not sure how to refer to our night together so long again. Not really, it's only been eighteen months. Though a lot has changed in that year and a half. "Our time together," I murmur, shaking the strainer harder.

"Did what?"

"Just sit there and stare. Even in my drunk stupor, it creeped me out a bit."

Gaara finally blinks a few times, slow and steady as he thinks of his response. "You are a very beautiful woman. Besides, I like to look at the mother of my children."

The plural use of the word makes the strainer tumble from my hands, crashing into the sink as I lean down to rest my weight against the edge of it.

"Are you okay?" Shinki asks, his head popping up from the wood blocks he and Yoshiki are playing with. Shinki is trying his hardest to teach his younger brother how to spell his name. I don't think he has grasped the concept of how young Yosh is yet. Still, it's been cute watching him try.

"Yes, sweetie. We're fine," I call before letting out a silent sigh, my eyes snap closed as the sink edge digs into my palms. "What the fuck, Gaara?" I hiss out quietly, refusing to let the boys see me lose my temper with their father.

"What?" He asks, blinking in his slow 'trying to comprehend' way that's starting to piss me off.

"Child, the mother of your child. Singular, one, I have had one baby. In total. Not just one of your sons, one in total."

"Yes, I know that," he says, face scrunching in lack of understanding. "But you are the closest thing to a mother Shinki has known, and I fully intend to get you pregnant again. Perhaps we will have a daughter this time."

"What the hell, Gaara?!" I yell before I can stop myself, snapping my eyes open and standing up straight.

"There is no need to yell. It is not something I plan on doing soon. There are things we need to get in order."

"Like what?" I hiss quietly, shifting closer so it's easier to keep my tone quiet. I don't need the boys noticing the fit heating up, and Shinki's glancing eyes let me know he's starting too.

"Well, I would like to get Yoshiki and you situated in the Sand Village, again not anytime soon if you don't wish it but preferably within the next couple of months. Then we will need to get the events in place for the wedding and of course the papers to update Shinki's adoption order. Then the matter of getting pregnant again. I do not mind the age gap between the boys but I think it would be best to have our next child sometime before Yoshiki is three or four."

"Get out." The words come out airy, disbelief and anger rooted in my mind.

"What?"

"Get out," I repeat, anger quickly outweighing my disbelief. "I need you to get out of my sight. I need you out of my home, I need you out of the village. I need you as far away from me as humanly possible. Get out, now."

"What is it that I've - "

"Get out!" I repeat, shouting at him now. My hands jump forward, connecting with his chest before I start shoving him out of the kitchen. "Out! Get out! Get away from me! Get away from my son! Go away!" I yell, continuing to shove him.

"I do not understand what it is that - " Gaara tries to say, his hands jumping up and gently cupping my elbows, he's not even trying to stop my shoving.

"I swear to the lord I'm going to stab you, Gaara. Go away," I shriek, tugging myself from his grip before slamming the front door open. Once the door is open, I go back to shoving him out of the house, leaving the Sand Hokage in the hallway before slamming and locking the door shut.

When I turn back around, Yoshiki is crying and screaming in fear because of my yelling. Shinki is wide-eyed and his mouth hangs open as he stares at me. "I swear," I mutter under my breath, taking quick steps towards my son. I swoop down, picking him up before I try rocking him. "It's okay, Yosh. I know, I know. Mommy is sorry for yelling. Everything is okay," I coo, shifting us back and forth as I rub his back.

"Are you kicking me out too?" Shinki's soft voice calls out, the volume being his failing attempt to hide his sadness.

"No, no. Of course not, sweetie," I continue to coo, my fake calmness aimed at him instead of Yoshiki. "I'll never kick you out of my home, okay? You're always welcome here," I continue to soothe, dropping the arm not holding Yosh down so I can run my fingers through Shinki's hair.

"This is a safe space for you, Love. I'm sorry I've made it unsafe," I continue to soothe the older boy, placing his younger brother back on the ground now that he's calmed down. I fall to my knees in front of Shinki, wrapping my arms around him and pressing his head to my shoulder. "How about we put Yosh in his high chair and you can help me make dinner, okay?"

"Okay," the older boy whispers into my shoulder, willingly laying his head down now. "I'm sorry Papa upset you."

"You don't have to be sorry for him. Just because I'm mad at Gaara doesn't mean I'm mad at you, Sweetie," I tell him, littering the side of his head with kisses. "Let's finish making dinner now, okay?"

"Okay."

————————————

Ino lets out a loud chuckle, hunching over the counter as she giggles. "I'm sorry, it's really not funny... except it is."

A groan escapes me as I lay my head on the counter, rolling over my fight with Gaara again. "I do not know what is funny," Sai says, looking quite confused as his head switches between his wife and me. "I think it is nice that Gaara wants another child."

"My dear," Ino says, wrapping herself around Sai's arm. "Gaara's bluntness is what's funny. They barely know each other, they are nowhere near close enough to get married, let alone have another child together."

     "Well, why not?" He asks, head tilting as he looks at his wife. "Gaara is here about as much as he's away. They practically live together and already have one child together. The only person in the village who knows Gaara better than her is Temari... well, and possibly Naruto. It seems that the only way they are not married is by the law of the Great Nations."

     Now it's my turn to giggle at Ino's unaware father of her child. "Well," she starts, mouth gaping like a fish as she struggles with her words. "The... there's not the emotional part of it. No one should marry someone they don't love, Sai."

     "Are you blind, my love?"

      "What?!" Ino shrieks, letting go of Sai's arm.

     "Please calm down. I meant it in a joking way, not literally. I am just saying it is obvious that Gaara enjoys her company."

     "What do you mean?" I ask, turning my attention away from the hissy fit Ino is throwing.

     "Like I said before, Gaara spends a lot of time in the village. I am aware it is to see Yoshiki, but he seems quite interested in taking care of you as well. If he did not love you, why would he be interested in your specific needs? Personally, if I was not interested in the mother of my child, my sole focus would be on my child. I would not care about the mother is all I'm saying. My child's needs would be met and that's it."

     Ino's lecture about the hypothetical situation goes into full swing, a few groans of manners and politeness thrown into the mix. As she gets after her husband, I replay Sai's words in my head. Maybe he had a point, or maybe he didn't. I don't know.

     Gaara's and Shinki's constant travels have been weighing on my mind recently though. They travel to and from the village at least once a week, if not twice. It would be a lot easier on them if we all lived in the same village, and well... it would be easier for Yoshiki and me to move to the Hidden Sand than Gaara and Shinki moving here. After all, Gaara is their Hokage, and leaving that job wouldn't be easy or smart, financially.

     "Maybe I will," I mutter, letting out another sigh.

     "Maybe you will what?" Ino asks, stalling her discussion with Sai.

     "Maybe Yoshiki and I will move to the Sand Village. It's the least I can do since Gaara is doing so much for us. Besides, it would be easier for me to get a new job at the same pay I have now than it would be for him."

     Ino and Sia fall quiet for a couple of minutes, the weight of my words hovering over them as much as it's hovering over me. Ino finally pipes up, saying "Whatever you choose to do, we'll support you. Always."

I swear I'm never drinking a margarita for the rest of my life.

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[puzzleemerald]

Because Amaterasu and Sesshōmaru don't have much further art at the moment, I decided to share another couple who are most dear to my heart. YCH by the lovely Antodonatella on Instagram & DeviantArt.

Please don't reblog!

Keep in mind I will be talking about the FanFiction version of Ayumu in this post! The version of Ayumu I roleplay is her own separate deal! When her bio is done and put up on my Master Post, I won't only RP Ayumu interacting with exclusively Neji writers, lol.

Neji Hyūga is already a very recognizable character, being one of my very first crushes when I started really getting into anime as a thirteen to fourteen-year-old. In fact, he's the reason I later bought and read the manga... all hundred-heccin'-something volumes of it. Much like Sesshōmaru, it was his long hair, elegance, intellect, and stoic demeanor that won me over at first. It also amused me to watch him just be cool; he always felt like the definitive head of his team. Even if Lee wasn't to be sneezed at as a fighter, I saw more leadership qualities in Neji that Lee lacked. I also felt that he had the most interesting plight among the Konoha thirteen as someone from a branch in his clan where he was basically expected to serve and protect the head family deemed "above" him on the social-political totem pole the Hyūga were built on. Despite his innate talent rivaling the daughters of the clan's head at the time, he'd always be considered lesser because of his birth. In ways, he felt like more of an underdog to me than Naruto did—though that also has a lot to do with Naruto's characterization as the "optimistic headstrong protagonist" Kishimoto had going. (I kinda wish Kishi had leaned more into Naruto having some resentment towards the Leaf, but that's a post for another day)

So what'd teenage me do? Tailor an OC to be another half for him because GDI this man deserves happiness, not getting skewered like a redshirt on an overgrown splinter. If they had to have someone, ANYONE, sacrifice themself for Hinata... tbh, I wish it'd been someone on her team like Kiba or Shino, so we didn't have to basically do the thing he was "born to do" according to Clan tradition asfdhjrhyud—

Deep breaths. I'm calm. Suppress the fangirl rage.

So, as a result, I created Ayumu! Who was, by every definition, a Mary Sue at first!! (It was bad... oh god, was it bad...) But after I ditched her for a few years when I lost interest in Naruto, I returned to her when I turned seventeen and completely rehauled her. Leading to the designs she has now.

This is Ayumu's Part 1/Naruto Design. The Settei was done by a friend of mine on IG called Sento.OC, whom I commissioned.

Then, we have Ayumu's Part 2/Shippuden Design, also by Sento.

When designing an OC for Neji, I wanted to go more complimentary than contrary. It just didn't feel like it'd make sense for Neji to ever be romantically interested in someone with bombastic energy like Naruto or Lee—mans doesn't have the patience to live with that on a daily basis, LOL! So I thought, "Hey, Neji's a pretty traditional guy; why not give him a traditional woman?" and Ayumu ended up as a very grounded, calm, and analytical person. A bit more on the conservative side, similar to Neji. All the while having occasional bursts of warm, thoughtful moments where she lights up but doesn't explode. She's very, for lack of a better term off the top of my head, "normal" compared to Naruto's big personality, Sasuke's broodiness, Shikamaru's laziness, or Temari's ferocity. It's why I imagine her getting along very well with people like Tenten or Kakashi, too, who tend to be the metaphorical straight man to the more comedic characters around them. Characters like Gai and Lee and Naruto can only be funny, after all, if they're offset by some typically.

Ayumu is also a close-range fire-style specialist with a Kekkei Genkai related to it, so her style compliments Neji's pretty well imo. They can be in a shoulder-to-shoulder or back-to-back situation and cover one another while knowing the other is nearby and safely under their wing. Both characters have some insecurity and neglect issues but for very different reasons. However, this means they relate to one another over their feelings and traumas, and neither really feels a need to "fix" the other. It's what makes them last, in my opinion. They just quietly comfort each other (also slap whoever tries to put the other down, lol), and that's it. ...They did kinda try to scratch each other's eyes out at first, but that'll be its own post! Once they get over their big hurdle and understand each other, they end up just being a pair of supportive friends to lovers 90% of the time. The other 10% is them getting fucked with by the plot around them because Neji barely gets any screen time in Shippudennnnnnn! ;-;

[shunshinstan]

When Tenten and Temari start going out casually, becoming closer after Lee and Gaara get together, I think that they start having little team gai + sand siblings meetups in the name of cross-cultural socialisation, but it very quickly ends up being gaalee + tematen double dates, while Kankurou and Neji sit across the table from each other silently, just staring at each other, their only thought being "PLEASE don't tell me I'm supposed to date this clown now"

[hellcifrogs]

About the bad dads debate: Rasa neglected his elder two children too, and saw them as nothing but disposable soldiers. There's plenty of evidence of that in the series. In the manga, before the final stage of the chunin exam, there's a scene of the 3 sibs looking up at their dad (or whom they thought was their dad, it was Orochimaru in disguise but they didn't know that), and it's clear from their faces how stressed, scared and uncomfortable they felt just looking at him. Kankuro and Temari were even sweating. In a semi canon filler anime eps (ep 388 I think. An ep that expanded on what happened the day Gaara lost control of Shukaku). We can see Kankuro completely alone, taking charge of the situation, before his dad appeared. And once he did, Rasa at no point made any attempts to get Kankuro to safety, he just stood and stared. In the scene right after that, Rasa had no problem leaving them in a room alone with Gaara, fully knowing that Gaara could lash out at any of them and kill them. In that scene, Kankuro himself says that Gaara killed their friends, and Gaara threatened him, which ended with Temari taking Kankuro out of the room. It's a canon fact (stated by Temari), that they underwent emotional training, so who knows at what age did he force them to start ninja training to become soldiers. Probably as soon as they could walk. It's just, Temari and Kankuro didn’t have it easy. Just because their dad never directly tried to kill them, doesn't mean they had it easy. And I'd say that he did try to kill them indirectly. Putting them on a team with Gaara at that stage alone, knowing what he could do to them, could be considered a suicide mission. So yeah. Rasa fucked up 3 children not just one, so I'd say he's the worst.

And I'd say you really don't need to argue against Rasa to me! I hate him the most already 😤

[finishwhatyoustarted-event]

Finished It Friday Masterpost - SFW Fanfictions

This special post celebrates all of the Safe For Work (rated G and T) works posted during this spring Finish What You Started event! This will include ones only included on previous twitter threads, as well as ones in tumblr posts and ones from the AO3 collection.

If you do not see your work, please let me know! It may have slipped through the cracks.

--

Wish: Extras by sasuhina_gal

Miraculous Ladybug - Rated T - Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Luka Couffaine - Lila and Adrien's Lives are Switched, Fluff and Angst, Ladybug Luka Couffaine - "Even though the wish has changed Adrien's life forever, sometimes, the past has a way of poking at you, even if you don't remember what it was."

https://archiveofourown.org/works/57902863/chapters/149604478

 beloved, betrayer by ubepandeSol 

Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rated G - Nico di Angelo & Percy Jackson - Unrequited Crush -"|Nico knows now that he shouldn’t have trusted his father, but his sister Bianca once told him that there are a number of things he can only know for sure when he tests the waters. There are also a number of reasons why he shouldn’t have followed this advice, a number that does not matter right now. They’re Bianca’s words. Sometimes, Nico indulges this gut churning feeling that leads him to listen to the dead.| Chapter 8 of The Last Olympian, from Nico di Angelo's point of view."

https://archiveofourown.org/works/58783639

Sick with Guilt by Akinasky 

Teen Wolf - Rated T - Derek Hale/Stiles StilinskiSheriff Stilinski & Stiles Stilinski - Underage Drinking, Anxiety, Derek Hale is a Good Boyfriend - "Stiles gets drunk, has anxiety about his dad finding out about the supernatural and goes to Derek about it." 

https://archiveofourown.org/works/58674040/chapters/149505505

 Too Much Pie by Akinasky 

Content warnings: Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified, Vomiting - The Last of Us (TV) - Rated T - Ellie & Joel, Joel & Tommy - Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ellie Needs a Hug, Ellie and Joel Bonding - "Ellie's never had pie before, something happens the first time she does. She can't seem to control herself." 

https://archiveofourown.org/works/58677097

 Joel's Hoodies are Safety by Akinasky 

Content warning: Panic Attacks - The Last of Us (TV) - Rated T - Ellie & Joel - Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Sharing Clothes, Ellie and Joel Bonding, Vaccine was Created - "Ellie doesn't know how to feel about clothes and having preferences but she knows that she feels the safest in Joel's hoodies. Sub plot: Maria's distrust of Joel is causing harm for Ellie and the Miller family has it out." 

https://archiveofourown.org/works/58834027

If You Could Leave a Light On Please by Edai

Naruto - Rated T - Inuzuka Kiba/Kankurou, Gaara & Kankurou & Temari - Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Getting Together, Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Chronic Illness, Psychosis, Disability, Polyamory, Trans Character - "|“You’re still bleeding.”    “Have you considered maybe that’s why I want to be left alone?” “Have you considered maybe that’s why I don’t want to leave you alone?”| In which Kankurou wins a hospital stay and a boyfriend."

https://archiveofourown.org/works/34313401/chapters/85376500

surrender my heart by ubepandeSol

Nikolai Series - Leigh Bardugo - Rated T - Hanne Brum | Ilya Grimjer/Nina Zenik - Pre-Book 2: Rule of Wolves - "|The dream started the same way, with a bullet hole ripping Matthias’ chest open. Then it continued differently: some nights the boat would sink them all to the bottom of the ocean; some nights Matthias’ face disappeared; some nights the smoking gun was in her own hand; some nights Matthias was replaced with Inej, and then Kaz, Jesper, and Wylan. Last night, it was Hanne.| Nina and Hanne execute a high-stakes rescue mission to free drugged women from their slavers.    All this while Nina, still grieving Matthias' death, is on the cusp of falling in love with Hanne."

https://archiveofourown.org/works/58861555

The Bitter Taste Of Victory by TheStarGayzing EtherianCollection (TheStarGayzing Etherian)

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power - Rated T - Adora/Catra, Bow/Glimmer - During Canon, Missing Scene, Canon-Typical Violence, Angst - "After capturing Glimmer and Bow at Princess Prom, Catra ponders her victory, her feelings for Adora... and if staying with the Horde really is worth it."

https://archiveofourown.org/works/59143801

5 Times Joel was an Overprotective Caretaker and 1 Time Ellie Tried to Be by Akinasky

The Last of Us (TV) - Rated T - Ellie & Joel, Maria/Tommy - Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Medical Procedures, Medical Trauma, Vomiting, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - "Times when Joel was an overprotective caretaker in the hospital.  Turned it into a 5+1  Prompt 9: Overdramatic patient/caretaker"

https://archiveofourown.org/works/58978831?view_adult=true

Taking up Space by Akinasky

The Last of Us (TV) - Rated T - Ellie & Joel - Canon Compliant, Episode 8 Follow Up, Protective Joel, Ellie Needs a Hug - "Getting Ellie away from Silver Lake was the easy part, Joel seeing her in a catatonic state was much harder.  Directly follows Episode 8 and can be read as a prequel to Only Awake, Not Really Living.   Prompt 17: Brain Fog/Spaced Out"

https://archiveofourown.org/works/59071114

She's Sick, Not Terminal by Akinasky

Teen Wolf  - Rated T - Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Derek Hale & Stiles Stilinski & Original Children of Derek Hale and Stiles Stilinski - Hypochondriac Tendencies, Derek Hale Doesn't Understand Human Sickness, Derek Hale Needs a Hug, Anxiety, Panic Attacks - "Claudia is sick as an infant and poor Derek is freaking out! Stiles and Derek will work it out like they always do in this series.   Negasonic Series Addition.   Prompt 19: Hypochondriac Tendencies"

https://archiveofourown.org/works/59072170

New Reality by Akinasky

The Last of Us (TV) - Rated T - Ellie & Joel - Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anderson Died before they Arrived, Ellie & Joel Bonding, Depression - "Ellie wakes up in a hospital bed in Salt Lake City with a very different reality than the one she expected before they were hit with that flashbang.   Sicktember 24: Prompt Alt Hospital Bed"

https://archiveofourown.org/works/59311240/chapters/151266412

She Takes on the Pain by Akinasky

The Last of Us (TV) - Rated T - Ellie & Joel - Headaches & Migraines, Vomiting, Ellie trying to deal alone, Good Parent Joel - "Ellie dealing with a migraine and just wanting Joel to help her while trying to be independent at the same time."

https://archiveofourown.org/works/59341183

so lucky to be loving by ubepandeSol

Haikyuu!! - Rated T - Miya Atsumu & Miya Osamu, Kita Shinsuke/Miya Osamu - Post-Haikyuu!! Time Skip, Casual horoscope talk based on pop astrology - "|He remembered subscribing to this newsletter during one drunken party last year when Atsumu couldn’t stop grumbling about retrogrades. Now, Osamu read through the astrological forecast for his signs again, with equal amount of exasperation and incredulity. Little did he know that this would come up again later in another conversation with Atsumu, which wouldn’t even involve any alcohol.| Osamu cheers up a heartbroken Atsumu by baking him a cake, the day before their shared birthday. Atsumu thanks him by imparting very wise astrology-related information. Some time later, Osamu (secretly takes this astrology-related information seriously and) finally works up the courage to ask Kita out on a date properly."

https://archiveofourown.org/works/59456566

Even In a Different Life You Still Would’ve Been Mine by DogsAreTheBest312

Doctor Who (2005), Doctor Who (TV Movie 1996), Doctor Who (Big Finish Audio), Rose Tyler: The Dimension Cannon (Big Finish Audio) - Rated T - The Doctor/Rose Tyler, Ninth Doctor/Rose Tyler, Tenth Doctor/Rose Tyler, Eleventh Doctor/Rose Tyler, Eighth Doctor/Rose Tyler - Anthology, Alternate Universe — Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe — Human, Alternate Universe — Modern Setting, Dimension Travel, dimension hopping Rose Tyler, Kid Fic, too many AUs to tag, There’s 31 of Them, Some Plot - "Rose’s search for The Doctor is far from easy. It takes her through dozens of parallel worlds, each one different from the last. In many, she encounters parallel versions of her parents or other people she loves. And in some, she comes across parallel versions of herself and her Doctor.  'Cause I believe that we were supposed to find this So, even in a different life, you still would've been mine We would've been timeless"

https://archiveofourown.org/works/57670348/chapters/146758819

Subterfuge by ubepandeSol

A Court of Thorns and Roses Series - Rated G - Aelin Ashryver Galathynius | Celaena Sardothien/Nehemia Ytger - Fix-It, nehemia lives - "|All Nehemia knows is that she lives. She lives to tell the tale, she lives to hold her beloved’s hands, she lives to breathe the air prophesied to leave her body permanently. At the core of this tale—a nightmare, tossed sideways and turned upside down. Years and years later, this is all she’ll remember. This is the story she’ll tell.|   Nehemia lives to tell the tale—of spending time with, and working with Aelin. The two of them break a curse."

https://archiveofourown.org/works/59503534

Stars and Roses by NoseBridgePinch

South Park - Rated G - Stan Marsh, Sharon Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Shelley Marsh - family fight, Childhood Trauma, Mother and Son Relationship, Sibling Rivalry, painful hug - "Stan gets into a huge fight with his mom when she takes Shelley’s side. He ends up sending himself to his room. Kyle joins him to fangirl about Persona 5.    Whumptober 2024"

https://archiveofourown.org/works/59932120

climb with me by OverthinkingThis

陈情令 | The Untamed (TV) RPF, Chinese Actor RPF - Rated G - Wang Yi Bo/Xian Zhan | Sean - Established Relationship, Alternate Universe - Non-Famous, Rock Climbing, Love Confessions - “Relax, Zhan-ge,” Yibo says, patting Xiao Zhan's well-muscled back comfortingly. “It'll be just like we practiced in the gym.” “But it’s nothing like we practiced in the gym! There are no candy-colored plastic holds to tell me where to put my hands and feet.” Yibo laughs, and the croaking sound of it melds into the pulsing background song of cicadas, the rustling of the trees all around them. Yibo loves his job at the climbing gym, but he feels so alive when he’s out in nature like this, drinking in the wildness of it all, reveling in the way it tests his limits. There isn’t anything quite like it, and he’s excited to finally be able to share this experience with the man he loves.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/58625368

aristotle and dante and their symphony of love by pouler

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe - Benjamin Alire Sáenz  - Rated T - Aristotle Mendoza/Dante Quintana - Prom, Missing Scene, Canon Divergence - It's the season for senior proms, and Aristotle and Dante have no interest in going if they can't be each other's dates. Fortunately, their friends help them find a way to make sure everything ends up perfectly.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/58802329

Tell Me About Catra by TheStarGayzingEtherianCollection (TheStarGayzingEtherian)

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power - Adora/Catra, Adora & Scorpia, Netossa/Spinnerella, Perfuma/Scorpia - Rated T - During Canon, Fluff, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, One-Sided Catra/Scorpia - "Despite Etheria being in the middle of Horde Prime's invasion and the Rebellion pushed to the brink, Adora can't stop thinking about Catra. And there's only one other person who knows Catra as well as she did. (Catradora, Canon, Fluff/Angst)"

https://archiveofourown.org/works/60090280

First Kisses by TheStarGayzingEtherianCollection (TheStarGayzingEtherian)

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power - Adora/Catra, Tarangela/Succubug - Rated T - Pre-Canon, Catra is in Love with Adora, Abusive Shadow Weaver, Kissing, Adora and Catra are about six or seven here, Angst, Hurt/Comfort - "On yet another day of life in the Fright Zone, little Adora and Catra stumble onto something that opens up their world… and their feelings for each other. (Catradora, Canon, Hurt/Comfort/Fluff)"

https://archiveofourown.org/works/60090733

That's My Seat! by TheStarGayzingEtherianCollection (TheStarGayzingEtherian)

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power - Adora/Catra - Rated G - Fluff, Post-Canon, Silly, Dorks in Love, Outer Space, Minor Bow/Glimmer - "One morning aboard Darla, Adora finds that her girlfriend has comitted a most unspeakable crime... she's stolen her seat! (Catradora, Canon, Fluff)"

https://archiveofourown.org/works/60103723

Just Like Magic by edupunkn00b

Sanders Sides - Deceit | Janus Sanders & Logic | Logan Sanders - Rated G - Alternate Universe - Magic, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, blooming platonic loceit, Past Abuse Referenced, Minor Character Death - "There are no mages in the South. There are no mages in the South. There are no mages in the South. There are mages in the South."

Tumblr promo - https://archiveofourown.org/works/33598879/chapters/83489710

The first wave of love… by sasuhina_gal

僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia - Midoriya Izuku/Todoroki Shouto - Rated T - Mermaid Melody AU, mermaid shouto, Surfer Midoriya Izuku, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Video Diary entries - "Izuku figured something about himself involving Shouto. Now he just needs to figure out something else about him."

https://archiveofourown.org/works/33846982/chapters/84150544

find me in the world of yesterday by tellmeyoufool

전지적 독자 시점 - 싱숑 | Omniscient Reader - Sing-Shong - Kim Dokja & Shin Yoosung - Rated G - Post-Canon, Omniscient Reader Epilogue Spoilers, Angst, Hospitals, Temporary Selective Memory Loss, Platonic Relationships, Hopeful Ending - "|When Shin Yoosung opens the door of the hospital room, there are no more [Story, “Savior of a Star” has started its storytelling.] messages to see. There is no more warmth stirring in her chest when she’s felt her Story resonating and reaching out to her Constellation. In a world without the Star Stream, the absence is loud.|  Or: Kim Dokja is back, but some parts of him are still lost across time and space."

https://archiveofourown.org/works/60193591

the way it was before by tellmeyoufool

Content Warning: Major Character Death - Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle - Kamui & Subaru & Sumeragi Hokuto, Kamui & Subaru, Kamui & Subaru & Sumeragi Hokuto - Rated T - Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Acid Tokyo Arc (Tsubasa), Vampires, Angst, Past Character Death, Grief/Mourning, can you mourn a sibling you don't remember having?, Parallel Universes, Time Paradoxes - "Before there was Subaru and Kamui, there was Hokuto and Subaru and Kamui. Or: surrounded by water in a strange, new country, Subaru dreams."

https://archiveofourown.org/works/60193744

Moonstruck by heyholmesletsgo for ayoforbetterdays

陈情令 | The Untamed (TV) - Song Lan | Song Zichen/Xiao Xingchen - Rated T - Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Fierce Corpse Song Lan | Song Zichen, Flirting, Full Moon, Identity Reveal, Minor Violence - “The cloud passes by, casting them in full moonlight.   Xiao Xingchen’s eyes sink to Song Lan’s neck.”

https://archiveofourown.org/works/60167524

Potya’s Night Out by ubepandeSol

Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime) - Otabek Altin/Yuri Plisetsky - Rated T - Pre-Relationship, group chats, direct messages - “Yuri and Otabek go through a rough patch in their friendship. Told from the POV of Potya, and in the texts Yuri exchanges with Otabek, and his skaters plus coach group chat.”

https://archiveofourown.org/works/59066806

[renaerys]

Heya Renaerys. Can you tell me your thoughts on multi saku ships? 👀 I'm not a super majestic avid fan of Naruto and I'm just one of the normal ones who like the canon ships of it, but as I found out that there are fans that ship Sakura with other characters, I got curious about the nature of it. What is the appeal? How does the ship/s work? What makes you love it and enjoy it so much?

Ps. Worry not! Despite liking the canon ships, I'm open to multi shipping. So I hope these questions appear "safe" lol 😋

I am someone who does not in any way support the "canon" ships in Naruto. So I only ship things are not that lol. But I'm a fan of people liking what they like and not bothering others, so I sincerely hope you find fanworks featuring your favorite ships that you can enjoy and love!

I'm not interested very much in multi-sakura. I actively ship only two Sakura ships, which are SasoSaku and ShiSaku, and in very specific, nitpicky ways. That is just my personal preference. I'm supportive of some other Sakura ships and I enjoy experimenting with rare pairs if I get a really good idea, but they don't get my heart pumping like these two do. My main problem with multi-Sakura is that the majority of that fandom doesn't actually care about who Sakura, the canon character, is and instead they flatten her to be a cardboard, self-insert YA heroine with a vaguely stubborn streak. I don't think this is like evil or bad or anything. There's a reason this type of main female character archetype is popular and ubiquitous. But I find it excruciatingly boring, personally.

Canon Sakura is kind of a shitty person. She is extremely selfish in many of her decisions, and her brand of romantic love is obsessive and smothering and, again, selfish. She is a very insecure person. For all of part 1, she is lazy and unserious in her role as a shinobi and cares only about her crush on a boy. And she is really bad at taking no for an answer. She experiences a lot of growth in Shippuden, some of which mitigates and improves upon some of these earlier negative qualities. For example, she stops being lazy and starts actually working hard at being a shinobi and becomes pretty strong. She demonstrates more positive qualities, such as more compassion for others, a fighting spirit, and teamwork. She also just gets older, and with that comes the expected growth in maturity. A 16 year old is going to be more mature than a 12 year old.

But the negative qualities are part of her character and her growth, and I don't hold any of it against her. I think these qualities make her interesting and layered, and decidedly not the cardboard, blank slate, self-insert YA heroine type at all. Yet, so much multi-Sakura or "BAMF" Sakura content erases all of this nuance. To many of these types of fans, she's always been just a victim wronged at every turn, never did a thing wrong herself, every hot guy in the world wants to bang her for some completely mysterious and illogical reason, and she's "not like the other girls" in the laziest, most insipid ways. She becomes a chimera of the traits of many of the other female characters (she is sassy like Ino, caustic like Karin, tough like Temari). None of this is earned or even remotely close to who this character is in canon. And it makes me wonder--why are these people writing about Sakura when they really ought to be writing about any of these other female characters who actually do possess these traits and may be a better fit for a particular story or ship? Why do you have to steal these traits and give them to Sakura and make every ship about her?

I know why. You know why. I don't think I have to spell it out.

All of this being background to your question: what is the appeal of multi-Sakura? In short, multi-Sakura has become associated with self-inserting into a female character you've stripped down to bland oatmeal personality in a pretty package to make her appealing to the lowest common denominator and shipping her with any hot guy you want without thinking critically about why the pairing might make sense or work as evidenced by canon personality and/or events. Is that every multi-Sakura work in existence? Definitely not. Is it encompassing of every person who happens to have a Sakura ship? Not even close. But it is a significant and, sadly, vocal majority, and the term "multi-Sakura" itself has become shorthand for this kind of shipping preference and characterization (or, rather, lack thereof).

But just like any fandom preference, it's basically harmless. Boring and vapid, in my personal opinion, but harmless.