#but regardless of that they're both content with where they ended up. they're living their best lives and that's what matters

[relicsongmel]

You know, I've held for a long time the belief that canon!Denise eventually surpasses Sylvia and is just a notch above her in terms of battle prowess despite being younger. But the more I think about it the more I realize Paldea!Denise blows Sylvia out of the WATER with how strong she is to the point it's not even a contest

[envy-of-the-apple]

Third Wheel

Dark!SatoSugu x reader

(Warnings: Yandere, dark content, dark, misogynistic language, delusional behavior, kidnapping, blood, violence, +ShokoHime x reader, choking (not in the sexy way tho), threesomes, oral!F!recieving)

Synopsis: Regardless of what Satoru and Suguru tell you, you've always felt left out in this relationship. But when you leave, you quickly find out there's no line your ex-lovers won't cross to get you back

Word Count: 7.3k

When you come home that night, they're already cuddled together, watching TV. 

It's cute. Your boyfriends were always so loose with their affection. When Suguru was cooking, Satoru would lean on his back, more than happy to talk his ear off. Suguru would hold Satoru's waist, steadying him, being his anchor. At night, you'd catch them reaching for each other, trying to hold hands even in their sleep. 

It's clear to even the blind: they are soulmates. 

And you were just extra baggage. 

You don't know how you caught their eyes, but this past year was fun. They've been sweet, both of them have. Inviting you into their lives, into their home, into their bed. Everything moved so fast, but you didn't mind. You were young and a bit spontaneous. Two beautiful men showing a glimpse of interest in you wasn't something you could pass up. This was nice, while it lasted. 

But unlike them, you aren't forever. Their bond would never come close to anything they could have with you. 

It took a while for you to accept that, but eventually, you did. 

"Hey, babe," Satoru calls. "Rough day?" He lazily waves you over. Suguru grunts, before shifting over to make space. 

Despite it all, you're a coward. You don't announce it; you just stare at them. Fondly. Yes, this was nice. You don't think you could handle telling them, though; that would be too much. Seeing how little they cared would break you. 

"Yeah." You give. "Rough day." 

You weave through the house. It's theirs. Not yours. That they've made clear. You're an afterthought. It's the little things. Their toothbrushes are together, yours on the other side of the sink. Their shoes were neatly stacked side by side, and yours were always tucked away in a corner. Left out. Forgotten. Why wouldn't it be like that? They've been together for years. You were still an outsider. 

You only have a little to grab. You just grab your extra clothes, the hair clips you have a terrible habit of leaving around. Just a few items. And then the bedroom looks like you'd never been there at all. 

When you come back out, they don't notice your suitcase. Satoru laughs loudly at something happening on screen. Suguru chides him sternly. Good. It's better this way, you think as you take your suitcase to your car. You don't need any additional heartbreak. 

You make a few more rounds, collecting everything you need. Suguru only catches you when you are about to leave their house forever. 

"Angel?" He calls. "Where are you going?" 

He's looking at you, head tilted in mild curiosity. You manage to smile, looking down at your car keys. 

"Out for a drive." You shrug. "I'll be back." 

Suguru takes it at face value. He lets you go with a small 'have fun'. The walk to the car is heavy. Metal dumbbells on your shoulders. 

When you get in the seat, you finally allow yourself to sob. 

~

I'm sorry, I just can't do this anymore

That's how you ended the wall of text before blocking them. It was the coward's way out. 

"No." Utahime's quick to tell you. "It's the only way. Those bastards would've never let you go otherwise." 

You shouldn't be so quick to listen to her, considering she hates them both. Still, she was more than happy to offer you her home while you picked yourself back up, and started looking for an apartment. You'll humor her for the time being. 

"She's right," Shoko pipes up. Her dark circles are even more prominent tonight. You guiltily think it has more to do with you than with her patients, but she and Utahime have insisted that you stay with them. 

"It was for my sake, more than theirs." You say honestly, tucking yourself into the couch. "They...don't care about me. At least, not like they do each other." 

Utahime rolls her eyes. "You are blind." She says. "Those two were obsessed with you. I'm just glad you got out while you could." 

You laugh, but it beats crying all over again. Utahime doesn't find what she said as funny. She chides you again, something about being oblivious before she settles down to watch the movie she put on. Shoko falls asleep right at the intermission. Her head falls against your shoulder. Utahime leans against you too. And it's nice to have friends to fill the void they left. 

~

Satoru appears first. 

You woke up later than you would have liked. Your eyes are itchy and red from crying all night. Utahime was more than happy to give you her guestroom, but you know you can't take advantage of her kindness for too long. Tomorrow, you'll start apartment hunting. 

Today, you'd sit on the couch and eat ice cream. 

When you go downstairs, you hear a hushed whisper. Utahime's by the door, using her body to keep someone out. She looks angry. 

"-No one's here but me. Now get the fuck off my property." She seethes. 

You recognize his voice. You aren't ready. "Have you heard anything? Anything at all?" 

"No." Utahime gripes. "So go, Gojo-" 

He catches your eyes. Your heart gets stuck in your throat. 

He's taller than her. It takes little to no effort to barrel through her body, easily shoving her aside to get to you. You flinch, his touch burns when he grabs you, pulling you into his arms. 

"Oh, baby." He sighs into your hair. "There you are. Missed you." 

It's too soon. You aren't ready. You can still feel the emotions bubble up from that night, when you collapsed in Utahime's arms, sobbing your heart out. This wasn't fair. They never made it fair. 

You cast a glance at Utahime. She was scowling, close to boiling right over the edge. It gives you enough strength to try to push Gojo off, but he only lets go, when he wants to. 

"Okay." He smiles, reaching down to grab your hand. "C'mon. Let's go home. You had us both so worried for a sec, but if we explain everything to Suguru it'll be okay." 

You find your voice then. As well as your strength. His grip on your hand isn't all that tight. It slips away when you gently shake him off. Satoru stops, confused. 

"Satoru..." You start. "Didn't you get my text?" 

He rolls his shoulders, agitated. "Yeah, but-but it doesn't matter." 

There it was. His lovable personality. Casual careless, nonchalance. For once, you aren't annoyed by it. Maybe your grief made you numb to it. 

"I did mean it," you say as plainly as you can, "every word." 

He freezes. You smile at Utahime. 

"Could you give us some time?" You ask. 

She frowns, but she's never been able to say no to you. 

"Ten minutes." She finally says, before she's marching back to the kitchen. You still hear her muttering while leading Satoru back to your room. 

"I'm sorry." He says when the door shuts behind him. 

"For what?" 

He runs a hand through his hair, taking off those glasses he loves so much. You can't look him in the eyes for too long. It brings up too many memories. 

"I fucked up, right?" He says, he sounds desperate. You've never heard him sound like this before. "I'm sorry. I dunno what I did, but I'm sorry." 

You shrug, picking at the lint of your sleeves. "You didn't do anything. I just...it felt like a good point to just-" 

"-Leave us?" He cuts in. "Come home, baby. I'm so sorry, just come home and we'll figure this out." You look away because you can feel the tears burn up. 

"You didn't do anything." You insist, but your voice is weaker. 

"Was it Suguru? Did he do some bullshit?" Satoru interrogates. "What'd he do? I'll kick his ass, I promise." You hide your smile underneath your sleeves. 

"He didn't do anything either," you assure, "neither of you did." 

He's getting more and more desperate. "Then why did you leave us? What's wrong with us? Why can't we go home and talk this out? Please come back, baby; home doesn't feel like home without you." 

Isn't this what you wanted? A confession. Evidence that they wanted you just as much as they wanted each other. Satoru certainly did. Suguru did, too, considering how hurt Satoru implied him to be. A week ago, you might have been over the moon, too wallowed in self-pity to do anything but agree, run back into their arms, and willingly sink back into 2nd place all over again. 

But the thought of going back to their home makes you feel sick. 

"I can't." You decide. "I just can't. It's over, Satoru." 

I'm sorry. You keep that last line to yourself because you're too scared to crack in front of him. Shatter. Splinter. 

Satoru doesn't share the same sentiment. You hear movement, and when you look up, he's crying. 

A part of you wants to hug him, but you hold yourself back because he isn't yours anymore, and maybe he never was. Still, it hurts seeing him like this. The piece of you that still wanted him is ready to forgive and forget. Your vindictiveness keeps it at bay. 

"That's not fucking fair." He's saying through his tears, even when he's crying, he's beautiful, "You-you can't just ditch us like this. You don't get it; we can't live without you. It's killing us; you're killing us, baby." He staggers forward, in a way that makes you afraid he might fall. In the end, he just collapses on the bed. Eventually, you take a seat next to him. 

He's looking around, you catch him eyeing the pile of clothes in the laundry basket. The hair ties on top of the drawer. The plushies on the bed. You think it might finally be starting to sink that that you're truly gone. 

"Suguru can't sleep these days, y'know that?" He starts, a sardonic laugh in his throat. "He pretends to, but he can't. He stays up all night just wishing you'd come home. The guy is miserable without you, and you can't even gimme a fucking answer." 

His voice cuts you just the way it's supposed to. You wince, feeling his words slice into his skin, finding their way into your heart. You look at his shoes for a moment. He didn't bother to remove them. Maybe that's another reason why Utahime was so pissed. 

"I was starting to feel like an afterthought with you two." You speak. "I mean, it makes sense, you two were together, first. I thought the barrier would just take time to go away....but then it didn't." 

How many times has Suguru taken Satoru's hand over yours? How many times has Satoru forgotten your drink but not Suguru's? How many inside jokes you didn't understand? You always felt petty for being jealous over the tiniest things, but those tiny things kept getting bigger and bigger until it felt like they'd been purposely building that barrier themselves.

You were sick of feeling like the third wheel in your relationship. 

"Baby..." Satoru's voice is tinged in guilt and you can't look at him because you can feel the tears start to well up. "I-I didn't realize." He grabs your hand. 

"Come home." He pleads. "We'll fix it, I promise. We'll be better. We'll do better." 

You shake your head, slipping away from his grip. 

"It's too late." Your voice is shaky. Please let him not notice. Please, please, please for once can his oblivious about everything but his one and only work in your favor? "You can't fix anything, Satoru. Not now." 

"You haven't even given us a chance to-" 

"You should go." You stand up. Satoru follows you out the door. Utahime's already outside. She catches your eyes and nods. 

"Gojo." She speaks, tone clipped. "Get the fuck out of my house." 

He stills, frozen like the prettiest painting in the world. His eyes turn to ice as he stares at her. Utahime doesn't budge. If anything, she advances, pulling you close, acting like a human barrier between you and your ex-boyfriend. You take it immediately, nestling into her side, taking refuge from his icy stare. 

There's silence. You only relax when you hear his footsteps fade and the door slams ricochets into the apartment. And that's when you break down into Utahime's arms completely, letting her coo you into comfort. 

"Maybe I am being overdramatic," you say when Shoko comes back later that day. Utahime was enraged since Satoru left, pacing around the apartment. It's only after both you and Shoko coaxed her back into the couch that she calms down enough to take a seat next to you. 

"Maybe this whole thing is ridiculous. I-I should just go back and-"

"No." Shoko is immediately saying voice firm. "Absolutely Not." 

You can smell the hint of smoke when she came back from the hospital. You try not to assume it's because of you. 

"No way in hell are we letting you go back there after what he did." Utahime gripes. 

"He didn't do anything." You argue. "I swear, I-I was just...being pathetic." 

Warm hands lift your head up. You struggle, still shuddering from your sobs as Utahime forces you to look at her. 

Her eyes are brown. Not as glittery as Satoru's, who's eyes shine like the burning sun itself. Not like Suguru, with his celestial purple. No, hers are just brown. 

You didn't realize how beautiful brown eyes could be. Not just the color of home; the color of chocolate; the color of brownies. The way the light cast down at them made them deep and dark, like a night sky. If you looked closer, you could see tiny stars swimming around. 

"Listen. Are you listening?" When you nod, her voice softens. She tucks your hair behind your ear. 

"You deserve better." She insists. "You deserve better than them. So so much better. I know you can't see it right now, but there is better out there waiting for you." Her voice loses all momentum all at once. "Just...trust me, okay?" 

Her desperation to be heard makes you smile a bit. You nod. Her frown loosens, just the tiniest bit. She relaxes. 

"Thanks," you say after a beat. "I...I needed that. I'm glad I have goods friends." 

Utahime's hands drop from your face. She collapses into the couch cushions with a groan. Shoko laughs. 

"Told you." Shoko says, mirth and alcohol on her tongue. 

Utahime flips her off, and Shoko takes her place. She settles into your side. 

"They were assholes." She tells you. "Forget about them. And she's right, you deserve better." 

You were glad they were there for you, even when you weren't there for yourself. It felt nice that they cared. Vouched, Advocated for your comfort. They made better boyfriends than your old boyfriends ever did. Their support helped heal the Satoru and Suguru-sized holes left in your heart. Every day became a bit better. 

When Suguru eventually turned up, you were a bit more prepared. 

He's a bit nicer than Satoru was. He actually knocks, instead of relentlessly pounding on the door. He doesn't barrel through Shoko when he spots you cowering behind her. His face betrays nothing. He's still. A polite smile is stretched on his lips. Shoko isn't happy about letting him into her home, but when she glances at you, you nod. You needed to do this. You needed closure. 

And so did Suguru. 

You don't speak to him until you're shut in your room. Geto cuts the silence first. 

"How have you been?" He asks nicely. 

"Good." You respond. "You?" 

"Good." 

Conversation stilts. You don't know what to say. Luckily, your ex is never the man who stays silent for long. 

"How's living with Shoko and Utahime been?" He asks, "I'm surprised you've put up with them for this long. They were pretty scary in high school." 

"I bet you two were scarier." You counter. 

He smiles. It's soft, looks good on him. You find yourself smiling back. When you take a seat on the the of the bed, he doesn't follow. You don't know whether to feel glad or not. 

"Yeah, I'm not the proudest of those times." He admits with a sheepish laugh. 

It dies down, and you know the artificial barrier between you two has broken. You shift, waiting for the inevitable. 

"Satoru told me what happened." He sighs. "I'm sorry, Angel. We-I didn't know how you felt. Everything was so perfect, I just thought you felt the same." 

"It's fine." You assure, and this time, your throat doesn't clog up, and your eyes don't feel itchy. "Really. It's-it's fine." 

"It's not." Suguru shakes his head. "You'd be in bed with us if it were." 

That comment pricks something deep within your skin. You swallow, turning away from his piercing purple eyes. They were much like Satoru's. Breathtaking, you could stare at them for hours. You used to. 

But now, you don't have that desire anymore. 

And maybe now that you aren't so attached, maybe you could try being a little more honest. 

"I was jealous." You finally admit. "I couldn't help it. I-I always felt like I was fighting within my relationship. You two were so much closer to each other than I was. Than I ever could be, honestly." 

Suguru frowns, troubled. 

"That's not true." He insists, soft, but something's burning underneath his tone. "Satoru and I have history, but that doesn't mean-" 

"I was runner-up." You cut him off. "For both of you. Looking back, I'm not really upset. It was always impossible for anything to come between the two of you. This-" You gesture between you and him "-was always inevitable." 

"It's my fault." You smile at him, hoping it comes across as sincere as you feel. "I couldn't stand being second place." 

He moves then, kneeling in front of you. Eyes the widest you've ever seen them. He catches your hands in his. You let him. A parting gift. 

"Angel." He starts. "We never once thought of you as that." 

You shrug. "It doesn't matter." You reply. "It's how I always felt. You can't really change the way I feel about things, Suguru." 

You think he's realizing that he's beginning to lose you. His grip gets tighter as if he can physically keep you with him at the very least. He shifts until he's right at your knees, looking up at you desperately. 

"Come back." He insists, abandoning his persuasions. "Just...come back. At least for a little while? We can try again, can't we? Just give us a second chance?" 

It's strange, they don't look too similar, but you can see the similarities. Wow, they're just perfect for each other, aren't they? Yin and Yang. Two halves; one whole. 

You were always a leftover. You just had to learn that the hard way, through days of heartbreak, crying, and sobbing your heart out. It took you awhile to understand that the affection they had for each other is different from the affection they had for you. 

You shake your head. His hands nearly crush yours. 

"I love you." 

It takes you a while to figure out what he said. When it does sink in, your world tilts. Your heart stops at his abrupt declaration and you must stare at him because why? At first, you think he's just desperate: lovebombing. And then you look into his eyes, his sincerity. No, he means it. It makes you feel worse. 

"Satoru does, too, but you know him-he'd rather die than admit something like that." Suguru gives a bitter laugh, one you find familiar even after all this time. "I've always wanted to tell you but thought it was too soon. I thought we had all the time in the world." His voice tapers so he doesn't have to say the obvious but clearly you three didn't. 

You want to reach over, tuck a stray lock behind his ear but you stop yourself because he isn't yours anymore. You gave it all away when you ran. Instead, you curl your hands around his in silent understanding. 

You don't know how you didn't realize it before, but Suguru is less put together than usual. His hair is typically well-groomed and shiny, but now you see split ends. His eyes are clear and bright, but today...they aren't. A dull purple. Hazy violet. 

He's miserable. 

You did this. This was all you. 

"Satoru misses you," he says, "always had. Barely smiles anymore. I don't think I can blame him." 

They loved you. They love you. This was all what you wanted. Just a bit of recognition. There's a tiny part of you that's still itching to jump back in Suguru's arms, kiss him until you're out of breath 'just kidding! it was a prank! let's go home!' and then you two would leave hand-in-hand back to Satoru. 

Going back to them would make them happy, but not you.

But Shoko was right. You deserved better. 

 "It'll get better." You assure. "You'll heal." 

Day by day, the cracks in your heart start to seal. Bit by bit. It may never heal over completely, but you know you'll be okay one day. And they'll be alright too. Who knows, maybe in a couple years, you'll all laugh at this. 

Suguru shakes his head and stands up. His eyes are just the bit glassy, but he's blinking them away before anything gives. It's just like him, honestly, so you're not too upset. 

"You don't get it." He's smiling, not quite in humor. "I don't think you'll ever do but..." He trails off, mid-thought. 

"But what?" You press. 

Then he sighs and closes his eyes. When he looks at you again, his signature pleasantly cold smile is on his face. 

"I did all I could, I think." He turns around, abrupt. "I'll see myself out." 

You're caught off-guard by his sudden departure, but by the time you're following him, Shoko's already leading him out the front door, locking it with exasperation. 

"Is that it?" She asks. "They won't be barging in anytime soon, right?" 

You stare out the window, watching as Suguru gets in his car. Something bubbled in your stomach. 

~

It was one of those nights. Shoko had come back early. Utahime was back from the school. You had planned a cute little evening for the girls and a relaxing night in. You had everything: wine, freshly-prepared dinner, a cheesy horror movie, and an announcement you're sure they were more than happy to hear.

You had just settled down the blanket when you hear Shoko come through the door. You take off her coat before she can even touch it, excitedly flitting around her. 

"What's gotten you in such a good mood?" Shoko asks, her dark circles even more profound than before. You don't have to feel guilty about those for long. 

"You'll see!" You chirp back. 

Utahime strolls out of the bathroom, fresh from the shower. Her hair is still wet. You'll ask if you can blow dry it later. 

"That's what you've been saying for nearly an hour now." Utahime groans. "Just tell us already. Or at least, me."

"Patience." You chastise. "But, it's a good surprise, I promise." 

She's not satisfied, but she sits down anyway. They eat dinner, complimenting your skills all the while. You preen at their praise. It's a stark contrast between Suguru and Satoru, how cold they'd often been whenever you did something nice for them: tilted smiles, less-than-receptive words of 'oh baby you didn't have to'. 

As you lived with both couples, you can see the similarities. Utahime's temper is close to Satoru's, but that's where the similarities stop. She's more serious and less likely to blow off your feelings with a playful huff. Shoko and Suguru share the same laid-back personality, but Shoko is always there to listen to you instead of cutting you off with condescending sympathy. 

Wow, maybe Satoru and Suguru were a little more shitty than you initially thought. 

Eventually, the night draws to a close. They're drunk, full, and smiling. Perfect. You clear your throat just when Shoko refills her fourth glass. 

"Again, I'd really like to thank you for letting me stay." You start. "It meant so much to me to have two amazing people to support me like this. So, thank you." 

Utahime smiles. "Don't thank us," she says, "again, you can stay for as long as you want-forever, honestly!" 

You nod. "Well, I don't think I have to do that anymore." 

Shoko freezes mid-sip. 

"What?" She asks. 

"I talked to my parents." You tell them, oblivious to their stone faces. "And I'm going to move back in with them, just until I get back on my feet. Isn't that great? Now, you two won't have to-" 

You stop when you finally notice how cold they look. Utahime looks close to tears. 

"What's wrong?" You ask. 

"You're leaving?" Utahime asks, her voice nearly cracks. "Why?" 

That...wasn't what you were expecting. Shouldn't they be glad the third wheel is finally out of their house? Why does Utahime look so heartbroken? Why is Shoko so quiet? What was going on?

"Isn't-isn't this what you wanted?" You fumble with your words. "Now, you don't have to share the house with me anymore. It'll be just the two of you again." 

They exchange glances, and it reminds you of those secret conversations Suguru and Satoru used to have. Except this time, you can read their faces. 

"What if...we don't want it to be just the two of us anymore?" Shoko starts, hesitant, reproachful like she's approaching a scared wild animal. 

Your eyebrows scrunch. "I don't understand." 

At that, Utahime drops her head in her hands. "Oh, c'mon! We've been doing this for weeks! You can't be that oblivious-" 

And then, she stops herself. Looks at you. You stare right back, and the three of you have the exact same realization at the exact same time. 

"Oh." You breathe. 

"Oh." Utahime whispers. 

"We're all idiots." Shoko says behind her glass. 

"Wait wait. Hold on." You backtrack. "You-you two want...with me?" 

"Yes!" Utahime exclaims. "Yes! God, now everything makes sense. I thought you were just trying to let us down gently, but this whole time you just weren't even paying attention!" 

"No." You argue, face hot. "You two were just really subtle." 

"We all sleep in the same room, these days." Shoko lists. "'Hime sat on your lap with nothing on but a bra and panties." 

"I thought we were just doing friend things!" 

"What kinds of friends sit on your lap, half-naked?" Utahime asks, mortified. 

"I-I-" You give up. 

All this time. You were mourning over something you lost months ago, even when there was something blooming right under your nose. God, you're an idiot. 

Hands. They clasp your own. You look up into Utahime's pretty brown eyes. 

"We want you to stay." She whispers. "We want you." You take a glance at Shoko. 

"Do you want us?" 

You take a deep breath. 

You nod. 

She's smiling, and then Utahime's kissing you. Soft, so soft, nothing like the possessive kisses Satoru gives you. It's innocent and adoring and you find yourself melting into her completely. 

Utahime disappears and before you can mourn her warmth, Shoko's lips join yours. You can smell the alcohol, the slightest sting of cigarettes. You don't mind it. Her kisses are nothing like Suguru's, all powerful and domineering. She takes what you give her, asking ever so nicely for more. 

You break away, panting. 

"You good?" She asks. 

You nod. 

"Good." Shoko hums. "Cuz we're gonna fuck you now." 

"What?" 

Shoko pushes you down on the couch. You land with an oomph before Utahime's descends on you with a flurry of kisses. 

"Waited so long to do this, baby." She's sighing into your lips, fiddling with your shirt so she can pull it off. "Weeks and weeks." 

She pulls down one of your bra cups, massaging at your tits. You hadn't had action in so long, so you eagerly encouraged her movements, kissing her back with just as much fervor. Shoko takes her place next to her girlfriend, pawing at your other tit. 

"Look." Shoko purrs. "One for each of us." Her soft mouth sucks on your nipple, swirling it around her mouth. Your head leans back with a pleasant sigh. 

"Feel good?" Utahime asks. "She's good with her tongue, isn't she?" 

"Yes," you nod, and Utahime gives out a delighted giggle, peppering your face with kisses. You gasp when you feel her hand shift through your shorts, palming at your dripping pussy. 

"Poor thing." Utahime's cooing, and there's a brief hint of mockery in her tone. You've never heard that before. It turns you on even more. "They never gave you attention back there did they?" She circles your clit. "They were too busy sucking each other's dicks to pay attention to such a pretty pussy." 

Shoko pops off your tits, shifting down. She kisses her way to your stomach. You blearily watch as she adjusts herself until she's right at your shorts. Utahime follows her lead, tugging off your shorts. Your panties go next. 

And then you're staring down at them with trepid anticipation. 

"I meant what I said." Shoko says softly. "You deserve better. You deserve someone who cares for you." 

"You deserve us." With that, She and Utahime latch onto your pussy. 

They're everywhere. You have to stop yourself from cumming right then and there, arching your back as one of them sucks on your clit while the other licks into your hole. She manages to stick her tongue inside of you, and it's enough to shoot sparks through your eyes. 

"So tight." Utahime's hissing into your cunt. "Sho, after this, you wanna try to fuck this pussy with your strap?" 

There's a soft laugh, and Shoko pulls away from your clit to answer, much to your disappointment. You whine, thrusting your hips in the air. She stills you with a hush. 

"I don't think we're ready just yet." She hums. "Yet." 

When you glance down, they both are making out with your clit. It's debaucherous. Their soft lips are connected, your tiny bud locked in the middle as their spit trickles down into your pussy. Utahime groans and when you look further down, you realize she's touching herself. 

You don't know which part of this makes you cum, but you cum. It's the hardest you've ever orgasmed. There's so much stimulation that your hips buck up, trying to chase the sparks of pleasure. They let you, licking you through your orgasm. 

When you come down, your thighs fall apart, splayed against the soft cushions. Utahime still isn't finished, licking at your clit. You shudder at the overstimulation, whining until Shoko is pulling her off of you by her hair. 

"Good, baby?" She asks, crawling back up to you. You kiss her as an answer. She melts in delight. 

You break the kiss, glancing over at Utahime. 

Taking the silent request, she kisses you again. You can taste yourself on her lips. You don't mind it. For some reason, it's sweeter on Utahime's tongue. 

When she breaks away, she stares at you, face soft. "You're staying, right?" She asks you. "You'll stay with us? Because after this, I don't think we could ever let you go." 

You give a shy nod, and Utahime beams. 

"Then, you're ours now," Shoko says, settling into your side. "And we're yours. Always." 

"Always." You breathe, content, happy. You could almost go to sleep. 

Shoko slaps your thigh. 

"Not yet." She warns before propping you up. "First, I want you to sit on my face." 

Hours later, you wake up delightfully sore in bed. The two girls are curled up next to you. When you move, you can still feel the bruises Utahime left. You never knew she liked to bite so much. 

You can't even begin to remember what happened, but you don't regret any of it. Hours and hours had passed as they fucked you and fucked each other, and you fucked them. 

Shoko shifts beside you. She was always a light sleeper. 

"Awake?" She asks. 

"Yeah." You softly say back. 

She hums, shifting a little more to face you. Utahime's behind you, arms protectively curled around your waist. At your voice, her eyes twitch. 

"Shut up." She grumbles, but her arms cinch around your waist. 

Shoko stretches as she rises up. You miss her body warmth but you don't mind the view she gives as she saunters over to the dresser, pulling on some clothes. 

"I'm gonna get food." 

Utahime mumbles out her order. You say nothing because you don't want to come in between them, and then Shoko looks at you. 

"What do you want?" She prompts. 

You blink, and when you answer, Shoko smiles, and then she's out the door. 

The interaction makes your heart warm. 

Still, it can't last. 

When you go to get up, Utahime protests, grabbing your wrist. 

"And where are you going?" She prods. 

You fumble. "Back to my room?" 

"What? Why?" Utahime demands with a frown. "What's the point, you're already with us, now." 

"Oh." You blink, but you give in and slink back into bed. "Is...this really okay?" 

"For God's sake, " she hisses, but you don't count it against her because Utahime has always been a little grumpy after waking up. "Yes. We're obsessed with you. How are you so blind?" 

"We want you, and we're not like them." Her voice drops in disdain. "We'll treat you better. You're ours now. You're mine." 

"Yours." You repeat, something warm fluttering in your belly. 

"You can't leave, we'd go crazy, okay?" She seriously tells you. "If someone else takes you away, I'd lose it. And Shoko is okay with murder." 

You laugh. 

"That's not a joke." She warns. 

"I know." And you kiss her again. 

It's like that for a couple weeks. You live in peaceful domestic bliss with two wonderful girlfriends. Now that you're in an actual loving relationship, you can't tell why you ever contemplated ever going back to Satoru and Suguru. Shoko actually talked to you about your feelings. Utahime cared about your input. You weren't treated like an afterthought, second place. 

They were with each other longer than they had been with you, but they never made you feel like you had to fight for your relationship. Speaking off Satoru and Suguru, they never once contacted you after their first two attempts. They'd clearly given up. 

Everything was just perfect. 

And then, it just wasn't. 

You were in bed with them. Fifteen minutes ago, Utahime shuffled off to go to the bathroom. She still wasn't back. Half asleep, Shoko grumbled. 

"She's probably in there fighting a cockroach." She complains, but she rises anyway. "Sleep, I'll be back." She kisses you on the cheek, and then she's gone. 

Their body warmth fades, but they stay because they're tired. These days, you can't really sleep without them, so you wait for the girls to return. Two minutes pass. Then, five. Then, ten. By then, the bed is cold. 

You open your eyes, sitting up. It's so quiet. Are they okay? 

You pull off the comforter, stepping onto the cold wooden floor. The apartment feels strangely...haunted somehow. The air felt heavier now, thick with an invisible tension, like the house itself was holding its breath. It must be because you feel alone, you're sure of it. 

The bedroom leads to a dark hallway. As you make your way down, you can hear something. Voices? Murmuring. The relief almost makes you laugh. Seriously, what were you even afraid about? 

The living room is horrific. 

They look dead. You can't tell if they're breathing or not. Shoko's eyes are closed. Utahime's limp body is sprawled across the floor. There's blood on the wooden panels. 

Suguru doesn't even blink. 

"You're awake." He says it so casually, like waking up to your ex-boyfriends mauling your girlfriends is normal. 

"What..." Your voice fails, you weakly try again. "What did you two do?" 

Satoru answers, smiling with glinty teeth. 

"Isn't it obvious? We're getting rid of the competition." 

You don't understand, your brain hasn't caught up yet, you still think you can talk to these psychos. 

"It's their fault." Satoru's still smiling, but there's nothing happy about his tone. He's carrying a knife. There's blood on it. "It's all their fault. They manipulated you into breaking up with us, baby. That's how these useless sluts got you into their arms." He spits on Utahime's hair. You cover your face with your hands. 

"But, it's not like you aren't at fault, Baby." He points the knife at you. "You left us for them. I'm not letting you off the hook for that." 

You don't know what he's saying. His movements scare you, his eyes, the knife. When you glance at Suguru, you don't know what you're expecting. 

But you know you aren't expecting...that. 

His purple eyes are icy cold. Utterly devoid of any emotion. You don't think you're staring at a person, anymore. 

"You lied," Suguru says, "You lied about us not giving you enough attention. You just wanted to leave us. For them." 

You step back. They step forward. 

Those bastards would've never let you go otherwise. Utahime warned you. Looking at her limp body, you wondered if she thought they'd ever go this far. 

"I didn't." You weakly insist. "I-I wasn't lying about anything! It-it wasn't like I wanted to leave-" 

"Stop lying," Gojo insists. "Stop fucking lying already." 

He smiles again. 

"It's okay, baby. I know you'll come back with us. Right after we're done dealing with these two whores." 

"You'll belong to us." Suguru promises and he steps on Shoko's hands. "Just like always."

They were both crazy. Nothing could get through to them. Now, you would sit there and watch them maul the only things in your life that made you feel complete. 

The worst part is that everything was your fault. 

Shoko's pinky twitches. You can see Utahime take shallow breathes.

And you speak. 

"I'm sorry." 

Your weak voice makes them stop in their tracks. Satoru glances at you, Suguru does too. You can't convince them. The only thing you can do is play into their delusions. 

"You're right." You say, the tears finally feeling useful. "I just wanted to leave. I-I was just bored. I wanted something new." Suguru's lips curl and you quickly move on. "But-but the more I stayed with them, the more I realized...how much I missed you two." 

Satoru halts. You caught him. 

"I did." You stress, carefully making your way to him on feet that were close to dropping at any minute. "Every day, I thought about you two." You reach out, touching his face with shaky fingers. "I really really wanted to come back, but I was afra-afraid you wouldn't...want me back."

Satoru reaches up to touch your hand. His fingers are cold. You resist the urge to shudder. 

"You missed us?" He wonders. 

The lie feels like sand. 

"More than anything." 

His kiss is violent. He crushes you with his grip, touching and biting and everything you hate. You squeeze your eyes shut, letting him suck your soul dry. 

"Don't kill them." You whisper when he finally pulls away. "Please don't kill them. Everything was my fault." 

Satoru's face is pensive. His gaze drifts off to Suguru's. Those silent conversations you hated so much. 

Then, Satoru gives a delighted sigh. 

"You're lucky. I love you so much." He kisses your nose, before pushing you in Suguru's arms. 

"I'll clean up here. Suguru, go back to the truck." He demands. 

You don't fight, letting Suguru drag you away. Shoko and Utahime live in apartments, but you're afraid if you scream, Satoru might change his mind and gut them anyway. Before Suguru leads you off, you catch Gojo scoffing before he kicks at Utahime's face. You gasp and pray that when Shoko wakes up, she'll be coherent enough to call for an ambulance. 

I'm sorry, you tell them. I'm so so sorry. 

Suguru pushes you into the backseat of their vehicle. You obediently take a seat. 

"You shouldn't have left." He tells you. "You should've stayed." 

His face is cold, but his tone betrays the tiniest tremor. If you weren't so scared, you'd laugh. The irony is that he's the one who feels wronged here. 

"I'm sorry," you say anyway. 

He hums, not quite satisfied with your answer. 

"You aren't." He responds, and you hate how well he knows your tells. 

And then, he grins. 

"But you will be."

Hands reach out, gripping your neck. You flail immediately as Suguru cuts of your oxygen. You can't breathe. You can't fucking breathe. No matter how tightly you squeeze onto his wrist, digging your nails into his hands, clawing at his face. He keeps you still, keeping you there as you grow weaker. Your vision gets blurry. Your attempts get sluggish. There's a kiss on your forehead, and you black out completely. 

~

You wake up in a room you've never seen before. And your neck is sore. 

The pain drifts in as soon as consciousness does. You feel like you have a hangover, your head throbs, your eyes struggle to remain open. You can't go back to sleep either, not when it hurts so much. 

The panic doesn't settle in until you catch the cuffs on either one of your legs, keeping you attached to the bedpost. Silver chains, with enough lead to let you move around a bit. The cuffs are padded so you don't rub yourself raw. You don't care about the thoughtfulness. 

They're in the room with you, watching with silent eyes. Nausea builds up in your stomach, and you wonder how long they'd stayed there, just watching you. 

You miss Shoko. You miss Utahime. You missed people who actually loved you. 

Not these two. Monsters that lied and pretended, but deep down, they were just too selfish to share. 

"You were out for a while." Suguru comments. 

"I told you to use the syringe," Satoru remarks, but he doesn't sound too upset. At his voice, Suguru laughs. 

You shift in your spot. Suguru takes that as an invitation. He sits at the edge of the bed, watching you with satisfied eyes. You must look pathetic: shivering, in tears. He reaches up, catching your tears with his finger.

"So cute." And then he frowns. "You know why we're doing this, yes? You were bad. You need to be punished."

"I'm sorry." It's all you can say. You feel like a broken record, doomed to repetition over and over again.

"You aren't. You should stop lying." Suguru says sweetly. "But I'm sure, a couple hours in your new home will help you think about how much you hurt us."

You wanted to scream, but you can't cuz your throat still hurts from Suguru's hands, and you know he's not above putting his hands on you this time. Maybe he never was, you just never saw this side of him until you made him snap.

"You're leaving?" You stumble, moving as they back away but the chains only take you so far. There are no windows, and when Suguru shuts the light off, the only thing that's keeping you from the dark entirely is the light emitting out the hallway.

"Wait." You beg. "Please. Wait, don't-don't leave me here. I'm sorry. This is scary. I'm scared."

Satoru hesitates at your broken voice. Like a shark smelling blood, you pounce.

"Satoru, please."

"If you keep coddling, then the lesson will never be learned." Suguru warns.

Satoru stares at you. He's not wearing his sunglasses. You can see him for what he is now.

"I love you." He says it so sincerely, you almost believe it. "This is for your own good."

The door shuts, and everything goes dark.

[twilightkitkat]

Do you ever just sit there, thinking about Logan and Wade and them together and what it means?

Thinking about why they're so big right now. Why it took THIS version of them to finally get that formula right?

Because it wasn't like they hadn't interacted in previous universes. It wasn't like they hadn't had crossover comics or episodes where they interacted in animated series of other Marvel characters. It wasn't like this was the FIRST time they'd been together, like it was a new concept.

They'd interacted before. They have a whole backstory together, both Weapon X experiments gone wrong (and right, in a fucked up way). They both had similarities. They both put on a metaphorical mask to hide their emotions, to keep others from seeing how desperately they needed to feel human connection. They both have low self-esteem and low expectations. They both were the ones people turned to when they needed to get the gritty, morally grey, dirty work done that nobody needed to do.

They always had a kinship. In some of the comics, it caused them to become friends. To reach a sort of mutual understanding.

But now?

It took THIS version of Logan—exhausted and grieving and borderline suicidal, closed off from the world—and THIS Wade—desperate and aching to matter like it'd eat him whole—for them to finally come together into something greater. Into not just Deadpool and Wolverine, teaming up for a one-off, but Deadpool and Wolverine, where they're a set. Where Wade takes him home and makes a place for him in his family and Logan accepts it. Relishes in it, even.

They'd always had similarities. But in a fucked-up, high-stakes situation, they were finally able to let down their masks and see them. They finally saw the void reflected in each other's eyes and realized they were one and the same. And they fight over it, sure, but they understand each other and it's so evident in the way they interact. In the way Logan knew just the weak points to hit to piss Wade off. In the way Wade understood why Logan would want to sacrifice himself but refused to let it happen.

It took two men at the end of their ropes, reeling from loss, to see each other at rock bottom and yank each other up and climb together.

And isn't that beautiful?

To meet someone who sees you at your worst, at your lowest, and still decides you're worth it. Who easily shoves past your facade and sees the real you—the grief-ridden, terrified, clawing animal that begs to not be alone—and welcomes it.

Who agrees to make a home with you, in the aftermath of it all, even when one of you gets back what you'd had before. Because you realize that you found what you'd been working so hard all along to save: a home.

And you wouldn't have this without them. You can't go back to your life before, even if you love the people in it. Because you can't imagine going back to feeling cosmically alone, to feeling like people care but don't get it. To going back to starving after finally getting used to eating well.

There's something special about this Wade and this Logan. Something that their other versions wanted, yearned for, but never quite achieved. They were their own individual people with their own lives and friends, but were they ever more than content? Were they ever truly happy with themselves in the way we see these two at the end of the movie?

It's like meeting your soulmate.

You were destined to cross paths in different universes, temporarily entering each other's orbit, but always left unsatiated. Until, finally, finally, you get the push you need. To reach out. To take that outstretched hand.

To latch onto each other and let your orbits shift to accommodate. To push past Wade's cheerful, crass mask and Logan's gruff, closed-off exterior to finally let each other in. Let them be seen.

A relationship is a series of choices. Regardless of your chemistry, regardless of the similarities in other Logans and Wades, it's the choices that matter. You can want for something and still not have it, you can realize you relate to someone without reaching out.

That's why this Logan and Wade are so special.

Because they chose this. Wade chose this Logan, out of all of them, and stuck with him. Logan chose to believe Wade, to not abandon him even after realizing he'd lied. Wade chose to be emotionally vulnerable and reveal his history with Vanessa. Logan chose to break free from Cassandra to help save Wade's World, even if she could silence the voices in his head. Because Wade was more important. Wade chose to show Logan his family, instead of just claiming that he was being noble and saving the world. He chose to be honest, to show Logan who he was. Logan chose to sacrifice himself and Wade chose to do it in turn. Wade chose to call out after him, to not let him go, and Logan chose to turn around, to listen, and to come with him. To come home with him.

They finally chose each other.

[inchidentally]

insane half-formed thoughts that

Oscar in all his media with anyone but Lando is really relaxed and sarcastic and actually pretty quick and witty with responses, he's rly not quiet or shy - yes he def leans on ppl who are more extroverted to carry things but he's very fast and clever when he replies or adds things! yet to this day with Lando he stares, stutters, prefers to listen to Lando talk, does Active Listening, and just beams and laughs at everything Lando says or listens intently and agrees with everything Lando says and Lando can be fully interacting solely with Carlos or Charles or Alex but if Oscar is close by he'll stand there and stare and smile and laugh regardless of if Lando even knows he's there or not

and how Lando is so brotherly and stupid and loud with his friends and the other drivers who he's friends with and enjoys picking a "fight" for fun and having it all end in him shrieking and laughing - but w Oscar he gets flustered bc even when he's bratty, Oscar just smiles and loves it and Lando ends up finding himself smiling as a reaction and as a result he's actually pretty mellow by comparison with his acting up and he's so content to gently ramble about whatever's in his head bc Oscar keeps his eyes on him and has that little fond smile the whole time and never gets mad even as a joke and always follows up his sarcasm to Lando with a giggle to soften it (and like the sport bible moment where each time Oscar's gonna write Lando's name for a joke, Lando just pouts and says 'don't!' and Oscar erases it immediately)

and then how - as far as we know so far at least! - they're both so cautious and so tentative about the rivalry aspect and in Monza they were both so miserable but in a companionable sense and then they traveled back to Monaco together once again and we even saw them chatting before getting on the plane, so it's never them stewing at each other so far it's literally just them stewing over The Situation and in a way it's so good to have your teammate know exactly what's up and neither of you needs to do anything, it's ok to just be angry or upset and wait it out and end up playing board games on planes and leaving the race behind and moving on!

and like, they just nudge each other that little bit off kilter from their usual relationships and they're guys under 30 so they likely have abs no way of processing why or how that is - they just show up in each other's lives and act Like That with each other and don't seem to quite know where to put it and it just results in them smiling so hard their eyes crinkle shut and Lando finding any opportunity to say "Osc!" in that way he has or Oscar being a happily practically married man but also sitting at a safe distance from his teammate so he can just look at him uurrhghggll <3

[affluent-havoc]

Spoiler Blather Ahead So Be Warned! I personally feel the tragedy would lowkey strip a part of Makoto's identity/make him grow out of this part of himself faster than he would if the tragedy didn't happen. Basically, Makoto mentions how he's a trend follower. His interests are dictated by what's popular. However, with the tragedy, he would be physically incapable of being in tune with the times. As the Ultimate Hope, Makoto would be quite busy. Sure, maybe he could keep up with a few things going on in the world, but he's already far behind by the time he becomes the Ultimate Hope. All of the survivors are. Due to their memories being wiped, they dunno until they are basically face to face with the Mastermind that a year has already passed and they have forgotten that part of their lives. So, they're all be out of the loop both in the state of the world AND whatever hip thing's popular. Furthermore, as time progresses, they all will be busy, having minimal time to keep up with the kids! They got work to do. Not to say that all of them would be out of touch millennials. For Byakuya, I feel he would be very in tuned with the stocks and the state of both Japan and the world. He would already have no interest in the trends of the common people. Not saying he wouldn't learn some stuff from the others but he'd just be that guy that the others would have to explain this new commoner stuff too. There's Kyoko who doesn't care for trends either though being more in the loop than Byakuya. Since she's a detective, being informed of current events would be helpful. Say there was a new app on phones that was shrouded in controversy. By knowing of it's existence, it'd be an aid for any potential cases with it. Kyoko's got good foresight and all. She would by no means be an expert with the trends of course, she too being busy with other tasks, but she'd at least know some info. Meanwhile, I feel Aoi would be in tuned with some stuff but not all. I can see her really being in tuned with swimming related stuff, it being her Ultimate and all and something I don't think she'd drop. So, she'd be the one to update the others on sports news and content. Meanwhile, Hiro is the type I feel would be clueless regardless but also somehow know current trends perhaps via predictions or by chance. Then there's Toko as well who I feel would be a bit more in with the times with her writing, knowing what's in but also staying in her lane. So, she wouldn't know the latest game the kids are obsessed with but she'd know the current books that are out or who the newest rising authors are. For Makoto though, I feel that, once he has time to understand what's going on, he'd be lost a bit on what's trendy. Not saying he wouldn't know anything or wouldn't participate. I feel that he'd be the type of guy who'd go watch Barbie and Oppenheimer for instance but he'd have to be updated a bit since he's a busy man now and can't fully dedicate his time to seeing what's in and what's out. He's not an unemployed teen; he's the Headmaster of Hopes Peak! Though, I feel that he'd be a bit updated on stuff due to the students but still a tad confused simultaneously. Some specific ways I feel he'd turn out during this stage of his life are the following: A) Makoto likes what was popular back in the early 2000's-2010s maybe due to nostalgia, coping, or just out of familiarity. B) He learns of new media, gaining a new sense of taste, maybe becoming akin to new songs and movies from the other survivors or from his students like learning about Vocaloid, indie Internet shows, and kpop. C) He actually becomes akin to new stuff going on (it's just in his genes to be a trend follower) and abandons the old content. D) A mix of the A) and B) where he ends up liking a mix of things, Makoto still liking old content from the 2000's era he remembers enjoying and liking the newer media. This isn't a definitive thought though and I would be happy to see others interpretations on this concept!!! An older Makoto and company would navigate the world, trying their best!

[kazutora-kurokawa]

Okay okay, so here’s my thought process. I ready the HanKisa drabble you wrote and fell in love. What about…Because god I love both these men but they are in different timelines. Bad Toman!Takemichi and Bonten!Mikey or Manila!Mikey, whichever one works better, and like reader is their like safe haven, the only thing that keeps them here and believes there’s some happiness for them. Takemichi being the more gentle one and Mikey being the more rough one. But both have the same mentality of keeping her away from the gang world or at least she has protect at all cost. NSFW and/or SFW either one works honestly but I live for them because I think it’s just a thing at this point, I have a thing for toxic men like this. Honestly if you disagree with me, you can just disregard this ask, but regardless of it all, have a good day Kaz! Love you and your work! 🫶🏽🩵

-SunRay☀️

Corrupt!TakeMikey x Wife!Reader

♡ SFW, fem reader, Corrupt Toman!Michi, Manila!Mikey, violence and harassment, fluff and comfort, cuddling ♡

note: I am also a sucker for toxic men (especially ones who only have a soft spot for you) and these men are 😮‍💨🫠 love you too hun 🩷

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Takemichi and Mikey always had the same end goal: Protect you. They were both involved in some shady shit, which made it even harder for them to stick around as much as they wanted to. Regardless, their dedication to you and your safety never wavered. You were the light of their lives, their beacon of hope, their little slither of happiness. Nothing and no one was going to snuff out the light they found, especially not one of their own underlings.

The guy had been eyeing you up whenever you came to see your husbands and just being a creep in general, so Mikey and Takemichi decided to pay him a visit. They showed up at his house, roughed him up a bit and left him with a not so ominous warning.

"Come anywhere near our wife and see what the fuck happens."

"Trust us, you won't like where you end up."

They make their way home, almost speeding through traffic to get to you. As soon as they're through the door they're hugging and kissing and complimenting you. They're like polar opposites of the tough, cold, and distant men they portray themselves as.

"I'm sorry-"

"No, we're sorry. We didn't realize that guy was messing with you darling."

"But it won't happen again, so pretty please forgive us?"

All you can do is breathe a sigh of relief that the creep won't be bothering you anymore and laugh at your whiny husbands. You forgive them, even though you weren't blaming them to begin with, and let them cuddle up with you. Takemichi has his arm draped over your waist and Mikey's laying on your chest. The two of them are kind of heavy, but they're content, they're comfortable and they're with you.

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Taglist

@arlerts-angel @i-literally-cant-with-this @trevengersprincess @giugiette @katkusuo @happy-trenchcoated-impala @drunkcheesecake @darkstarlight82 @reiners-milkbiddies

[trapped-in-the-valley]

My open letter to the Moomin fandom

cw: swearing. Not a lot of it, but it's there.

I don't know if I'll ever actually post this, but I need to get this written down because I just can't with this fandom anymore and I need to get my emotions out somehow.

Before I actually get into it, I want to make one thing clear. This is not a personal attack against anyone. You are allowed to have your own opinions, to ship who you like, to do whatever you want to, really (try to stay on the legal side tho), just like I have the right to the very same things.

You can disagree with me, you can even tell me just how much you disagree with me, as long as you stay kind and respectful about it. That's just how people work. We're not gonna agree on everything, and that's fine. Great even. Otherwise the world would be a very boring place.

Mostly, I love this fandom. The people are very open and welcoming and the vibes are absolutely top notch. There are a lot of very skilled and passionate people here who fill this fandom with joy and life and creativity.

But ever since I first joined this fandom, there has been a certain attitude on here concerning Snufmin, the most popular ship in this fandom (for understandable reasons), that has irked me every time I came accross it in any form.

"Well, obviously they're more than just friends, you have to be blind not to see that."

I hate that fucking phrase so much.

Now, before I start going into my biggest problem with this wide-spread attitude, I'm gonna look at that expression for a second. "more than just friends."

Usually I try not to get snagged on phrases like this, because it's really just a common expression (even I use it occasionally. probably.) and people probably don't mean it that way, but in this specific case it's actually relevant to the larger problem, so bear with me for a bit.

"More than just friends" explicitly implies a sort of ranking or hierachy. That romantic love is inherently more valuable than platonic love. It devalues platonic relationships despite the fact that they're actually equal to romantic relationships.

This is a very important point here. Equality. I am not trying to put either of them above the other. In my opinion, neither of them is more important than the other. They're just two of the many ways you can express your love for someone. Both of them can be equally deep and important.

Okay, it's time to finally take a look at the actualy contents of this phrase. The part of the attitude that has been chipping away at me for the past few years until the dam finally burst.

It's not a secret that, while they're incredibly close, Snufkin and Moomin are not canonically a romantic couple. Now, would Tove have made Moomintroll and Snufkin explicitly a couple if she had lived in a time where that would have been possible? Maybe. We'll never know, since we can't exactly ask her anymore.

But regardless of Tove's intentions, what we ended up with is this beautifully ambigous relationship, that could be anything, really.

The relationship is beautiful. It's close and trusting and endless and admiration and adoration and written in the fabric of the fucking universe. But it's not defined.

It's very fitting for a relationship that serves as an allegory for longing to be that way.

Longing isn't defined, it's complicated and deep, and everyone feels it differently and it can be felt regardless of what kind of relationship you have with the person or the place or the thing you're longing for, which is why the ambiguity of their feelings for each other and the deep love and complex emotions they feel is a perfect representations of a very complicated emotion.

Now, to make one thing clear: I'm not bashing anyone for shipping these two. Again, the relationship is ambigous, and a romantic reading of the source text is just as valid as a platonic one or everything in between.

There's a lot to like, and they make for a very compelling ship.

My problem is with the people who act like Snufmin is the foregone conclusion. The only valid interpretation.

The people who don't tag their fanfics as Snufmin because "It's basically cannon."

The people who post stuff about how you have to be stupid not to see that they're obviously a couple. How the people who prefer a platonic reading are willfully ignorant or blind to the elephant in the room.

Maybe it's the aromantic in me, the person who was told growing up again and again that that you had to find romantic love to be complete, that was made to feel like something was wrong with me because I didn't.

The kid who was told "they must be more than friends."

Who was made to feel like platonic love, the only kind of love I felt, was inherently less valuable, less cherishable than the romantic kind.

So yeah, maybe it's the aromantic in me, but I haven't been a huge shipper ever since when I was around 18. I'm not anti-shipping, but when I'm in a fandom most ships just end up on a scale from vaguely positive to vaguely negative for me, with most of them ending up in the neutral zone.

I'm not gonna seek out any content of the ship specifically, but a good piece of fanart is a good piece of fanart and a fanfic with an interesting storyline intrigues me, regardless of whether or not it has a ship in it.

Snufmin was on the upper end of this scale for me when I first joined the fandom. Not even neutral, but vaguely positive. They're really cute together, to the point where I'd actually seek out content specifically for it being Snufmin (There's some really cute animatics out there. 10/10. would recommend) and even came up with an entire AU based around the ship.

But as the years went on, and the comments and untagged fanfics and this fucking attitude in the entire fandom went on and on and on, it all started piling up. Chipping away at me. Discomfort started to settle in, and I felt more and more uncomfortable, less welcomed in a fandom that used to be a source of comfort for me.

I started to hate this fucking ship. Genuine hatred, which is a rare thing for me. I guess I blamed it for the loss of something dear to me.

It got to the point where I left this fandom almost entirely, only staying tethered to it through the fact that I still enjoyed and consumed the source material.

I've been getting better about it recently, slowly finding my way back through the things I originally found joy in while trying to avoid everything else best as I can, but that's my personaly journey and I'm not going to bore you with the details. Just know that the hatred is gone, with only occasional annoyance left.

The attitude that caused it though, isn't. It's still there, just as it was back then.

Again, I'm not telling you to stop shipping Snufmin. I get it. It's a great ship and I'm glad you find joy in it.

But the next time you post about it, try not to devalue the just as valid platonic love these two can feel for each other.

I'd appreciate it, and while it's probably not the most popular opinion, I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one.

Thank you if you read this basically-a-breakdown until here. It genuinely means a lot to me.

All your best,

Trapped-in-the-valley

PS: Tag you fucking fanfics. Please.

[wordpress-blaze-219437556]

Introduction: Into the Ethereal Tapestry

Greetings, seeker of mysteries, and welcome to the arcane realms of Eldritch, where reality and imagination intertwine in a dance of ethereal wonders. Prepare to unravel the enigma of Eldritch, where ancient secrets are etched into the fabric of existence. Join us on a journey through the veiled landscapes and eldritch mysteries that define this otherworldly realm.

Ethereal Landscapes: Painting Dreams with Reality

Eldritch unfolds before you in a dreamscape of surreal beauty. Imagine surreal landscapes where floating islands drift lazily beneath a sky adorned with iridescent hues. Crystal-clear lakes reflect the ephemeral glow of ethereal flora, and towering trees exude auras of mystical energy. Eldritch's landscapes blur the lines between dream and reality, inviting you to explore the uncharted territories of your imagination.

Phantasmal Entities: Guardians of the Ethereal Veil

In the shadows of Eldritch, phantasmal entities emerge as silent guardians of the ethereal veil. Encounter elusive spirits that weave through the air like spectral dancers, their presence a testament to the timeless energy that flows through Eldritch. Engage with ethereal beings whose forms transcend the conventional, existing in a state between the corporeal and the fantastical. Eldritch's guardians beckon you to traverse the ethereal realms with reverence and wonder.

Arcane Riddles: The Language of Eldritch Whispers

Eldritch communicates through arcane riddles, each whispered breeze and shimmering light bearing hidden meaning. Decode the cryptic symbols etched into ancient stones and interpret the dance of mystical lights that flicker along forgotten pathways. Eldritch challenges the mind to unravel its secrets, inviting those who dare to venture into its depths to become conduits of ancient knowledge and arcane wisdom.

Nexus of Eldritch Energies: A Confluence of Realities

At the heart of Eldritch lies a nexus, a confluence of energies that binds together disparate realities. Traverse the ethereal corridors that lead to realms where time is fluid, and dimensions intertwine. Peer into the veiled reflections of alternate existences, where echoes of your own journey reverberate through the tapestry of Eldritch. The nexus is a cosmic junction, inviting explorers to navigate the delicate balance between the known and the unknown.

Conclusion: Carrying the Eldritch Essence

As our journey through the ethereal realms of Eldritch concludes, may the essence of this enigmatic realm linger within your spirit. Carry the mysteries, the beauty, and the arcane wisdom of Eldritch with you as a guide on your continued journey through the tapestry of existence. Let the whispers of Eldritch inspire a perpetual sense of awe and curiosity, reminding you that, in the vastness of the ethereal, there are always new mysteries waiting to be unraveled.

[wambsgansshoelaces]

hiiii can you write one where reader is always serving as a waitress at the waystar parties and become fuck buddies with shiv but when shiv catch feelings when they're several months later doing this she finds out that reader is a single mom (she has a daughter) and they have a huge fight and "breakup". I need all the drama that comes with it 🙏 ik with shiv being a mess and being mean as hell things will escalate quickly 😂

-🫀

Mind, Body, Soul

Siobhan Roy x single mom!Reader

Oneshot

Summary: what originally was purely physical takes becomes something better.

okay anon I had to change your plot a bit to make everything work but I really hope I pulled through this time!! Idk why I’m not too sure about this one, I just feel like it’s one of my sloppier works. Regardless, I hope you enjoy x, thank you so much for your request, I love you <3

Word Count: 2.987k

Life was unpredictable.

That’s how you’d ended up with your daughter. You love her to bits, and she’s absolutely your world, but she wasn’t exactly planned. Because of that, her father had exited your life as soon as he’d entered it. You didn’t feel too bad about it; the way you saw it, you’d dodged a massive bullet.

She’s four now, and finally able to go to daycare without issue. You finally have more time to yourself. Thankfully, your job wasn’t that demanding, but it paid you well. You were content with what you had. Your daughter, a good job. You feel like you don’t really need anything else.

You’ve been single for a really, really long time. After your last heartbreak, you weren’t exactly out and about, seeking anything out. Deep down, you craved something real. Something actually substantial; that feeling that you’re with the one.

You’d met her at a work dinner. She radiated opulence, something that usually repelled you. Not this time. Maybe it was something else about her. Something in your subconscious, the work of an alternate universe, just something pulling the two of you together.

She’d sidled up to you, sly smile spread on her face.

The rest was history.

Rather to your disappointment, she’d kept you after your first time together and told you you were strictly fuck buddies. Nothing more. Despite being let down, you thought it best.

Time passed. You started off slow, seeing each other every so often. Then, you’d see her whenever physically possible. Not just to enjoy yourselves, but you spend time with each other. You found yourselves curled together, cuddling on the couch while she went through emails.

She’d admitted that she’d just come out of a messy relationship, much like you. You find that you’re both extremely similar; you’re both driven, ambitious. You feel at home with her. You feel so relaxed. You hope she feels the same, but you know she doesn’t. You’re strictly a fling to her- nothing more.

At least, you thought so.

You have one of these conversations when you’re sprawled out on her couch, her leaning against the doorway to her bedroom.

“Listen,” she begins, arms crossed over her chest.

“What is it, Siobhan?” you ask, smirk playing on your lips. She huffs, a cute pout developing on her face. “Ants in your pants?”

“What… What does that even mean? Never mind that. Fucking weirdo,” she mutters, before continuing. “I just want to make something clear. You and I aren’t an item. I’m free to see other people, same as you. No hard feelings or anything. I’m just living, you know?”

You shrug. “We’ve had this conversation before.” From your perspective, it looks like she’s trying to put distance between the two of you. “If you don’t want to see me anymore, just say so. Like you keep saying, no hard feelings.”

Shiv’s nose wrinkles. “What? No, I still want to see you. You’re the best sex I’ve ever had.”

You laugh. “I’m strictly pleasure, huh?”

She opens her mouth to say something, then presses her lips together. “Yeah, you are.”

You roll your eyes. “Whatever you say.” You push yourself into an upright position. “You know you like me more than that.”

Shiv turns away from you, flipping you off over her shoulder.

One night, your daughter’s staying the night with a relative. You go to see Shiv, and to your surprise, she invited you to stay the night.

You’re curled together in bed, rather domestically, you think, her head tucked into the crook of your neck. She lightly presses kisses along your skin, leaving spots wet and red. Not that you minded at all.

“We should do something tomorrow,” she mumurs to you.

“Like what? Fuck again?” you ask, feeling her fingers trace up your hip, up your side.

“I dunno. Maybe. But something else. Something fun. I need a break from work, and I want good company.”

“What happened to strictly pleasure?” you tease, shifting so that she’s draped on top of you.

“Nothing,” she mumbles. “We can still have fun outside of fucking.”

“Tomorrow?”

“Mhm,” she hums into your neck, leg coming around your waist. Bare skin on bare skin- you feel like you’re in heaven. Your hand finds her ass, helping her adjust and get comfortably. You also can’t stop yourself from giving it a small squeeze, eliciting a rare giggle from Shiv.

“Can’t. My girl has a birthday party tomorrow. It’s a whole fucking dusk-til-dawn ordeal.”

Abruptly, she sits up, squinting at you.

“You’re seeing someone else?” she asks incredulously, brow furrowing.

“What? No, my daughter. Didn’t I tell you?”

She pulls herself off of you completely. “A daughter? Like, a human child?”

You nod slowly. “She’s four.”

“You didn’t fucking tell me that!”

Now you’re also sitting up. “What, is that going to change things?”

Shiv slides off the bed, pulling a robe on. “Yes, it changes things!”

You scoff. “Does it really?”

“You kept something so massive from me! How can I keep seeing you? What else would you be hiding?”

“You’re serious? You’re being serious?” When she gives no response, making her way into the bathroom, you pull your previously strewn clothes on from off the floor. “What’s your fucking deal? You do nothing but insist you can never see me than more than sex, so what’s the problem?” you shout bitterly.

“Fuck off!” is the only response.

You let her do whatever it is she’s doing in the bathroom and gather your things. She’s being ridiculous, and any sort of feelings you’d caught for her are painfully ripped from your chest. You call an Uber, and before you know it, you’re back home.

You’re angry, confused, upset.

Your phone pings with a message.

where’d you go?

fucked off, like you asked.

wtf?

why wouldn’t you tell me something like that?

i thought i did

besides, what’s it matter to you? you want nothing to do with me outside of being your fuck buddy

that’s not something you keep from people

you’re being fucking insane

Shiv doesn’t respond to you after.

You can’t harp on it for long. You have shit to do. Your daughter gets dropped off the next morning, and you greet her with a kiss and a hug. When you smile at her over the counter while you scramble eggs, she frowns.

She sees the smile doesn’t reach your eyes.

“Why’s Mommy sad?” She rests her head on her little hands, glancing up at you, doe eyes soft and concerned.

“Oh, nothing.”

Her frown deepens. “Why won’t you tell me? I want to help Mommy.”

You sigh, scraping eggs into her tiny bowl before setting it in front of her with a fork. She begins eating, cautious to chew with her mouth close like you so often remind her. “Well,” you say carefully, “Mommy’s having issues with a friend.”

“Is It making you sad?” she asks around a mouthful of egg.

“Chew with your mouth shut, you little piggy,” you say playfully, reaching over to pinch her cheek. “And it does,” you add a moment later, rather deflated.

Your daughter wriggles out of her chair, small feet pattering against your hardwood floors as she rounds the counter to wrap your arms around you where she could reach. Your hand immediately goes to her head and strokes gently, and you can’t help but smile.

“It’s sad when my friends don’t want to play. I’ll play with you instead!”

You lean down to plant a kiss on her hairline. “Thank you, cutie. You’re such a sweet girl.” She grins up at you, arms stretching up above her head. Getting the point, you stoop over and hoist her up into your arms, her giggling all the while.

𖥔 ݁ ˖

Siobhan Roy could only take two days away from you. To be clear, you’d never actually had her over at your place. It just felt inappropriate, what with your daughter and all.

She does, however, know where you work.

You can’t remember how it came up in conversation, but it did, and you were sure it did because she was standing outside your office, hands clasped behind her back. You wave her in, trying to not let anything show on your face.

Wordlessly, she sets a square, velvet box onto your desk in front of you.

“I remember you talking about how your favorite bracelet broke,” Shiv says quietly, almost ashamed. “It’s not the same, but it’s something.”

Hesitantly, you reach for the box and thumb off the lid. The bracelet is gorgeous- she’s noticed which metal you wore and got you an awfully expensive, much nicer, much more durable version of the bracelet you’d accidentally snapped when it snagged on a zipper of your daughter’s clothing.

“What’s this for?” you ask nonchalantly. You don’t plan on accepting it after the pointless argument you’d had. She’d made it painfully clear that the two of you would never actually be anything serious. Any reminder of her just made your chest hurt. It’s a deep rooted issue of yours, and you know it. You’d been so agonizingly lonely all your life. You yearned for connection, something real, something pure. Everything you tried, every relationship attempted, it all ended the exact same way. They found someone better, they discarded you, you went back home broken hearted.

“Um, for you.”

“Mm.” You’re not really paying attention, but you catch her shutting the blind to the door in your periphery. You’ve never really seen her like this before, all jittery and nervous. She sits in one of the chairs facing your desk and folds her hands into her lap. “Can I help?” you ask stiffly.

“You’re fucking gorgeous,” she blurts, pausing before she continues. “I really, really want you. Not just physically. Fuck, that’s not what this is about. I’m sorry that that’s what we keep making this about.”

“What you keep making this about,” you correct, leaning back into your chair. She bites back a retort, you can tell. “Sorry. Can’t help it.”

Shiv takes a steadying breath, and for a moment, you feel a bit bad for pushing her buttons. “I… I want to commit. To you.”

“Where’d this come from?”

Her gaze flickers from you to her lap then back to you again. “I don’t… I don’t know. It’s just, some nights you’d leave, and I wouldn’t feel detached. I’d miss you. I do miss you. You… you make everything around me better, you make it brighter.” She looks back down, fiddling with her own fingers. “I was just too stupid and self absorbed to see it. And scared. Fucking horrified.”

You don’t know what to say for a while. “You’re suspiciously self-aware,” you say hoarsely, not quite believing what you’d heard.

She can tell. “I’m so fucking serious. I’m past the point of just wanting you for your body.”

You reach back for the box, feeling up the delicate bracelet. “So how do you want to do this? We have shit to sort out if we want this to work,” you reply.

Shiv shrugs. “Just let me try.”

“If we do this, I want you to take this seriously,” you say lowly. “I won’t fucking stand for it if I catch you still going out with other people. If we’re together, we’re together.”

She laughs, an airy, mirthless sound. “I stopped seeing other people the fourth time you came over. I’m yours, already. Mind, body, soul. I can’t stop thinking about you. You’re just so..,” she trails off, gesturing vaguely at you.

“Can I ask you something?”

She looks up at you attentively. “Always. I’m an open book.”

“Why’d you overreact?”

She pauses. “I don’t think I did.”

You sigh. “Nothing’s going to work if you keep going like that.”

“You didn’t tell me,” she insists. “That’s something important.”

“Siobhan, I was under the impression I was just a good fuck. Regardless of if I told you or not, what would that have changed?”

She chews on the inside of her cheek, averting her eyes. She takes a moment to think. “I think I was too in my head,” she admits. “In my head, we’re already the cutest girlfriends. And then you tack on your daughter, and I don’t want to just… ignore her, you know? I guess it was just, you know, reality hitting me. And me realizing that I didn’t really care that you have a kid. I want… I want to be with you, to help with her.”

You can feel the heat rushing to your face, your gaze locked with hers. “I… I don’t know what to say. That’s… a lot, Shiv.”

“Just… promise you’ll think about it?” she asks, uncharacteristically nervous.

You shake your head. “No, no. I already know what I want.”

Abruptly, you push yourself up from your chair and quickly round the desk. You brace your knee on the cushion of Shiv’s chair, right by her thigh, and take her jaw and crash your lips against hers. It’s your first real kiss, one not just thrown around during sex, and it’s rough, needy.

She responds the minute your mouths connect, kissing you back with an equal fervor. You deepen the kiss, your other hand fluttering to her chin to tip her head back. She makes a happy, contented noise, lips working against yours. Her hands are braced on your torso, just above your hips. Her fingers scrabble for purchase on the fabric of your clothing.

When she pulls away, her lips are slightly puffed up. Yours probably look the same, and you can’t help but smile at the thought. Shiv’s hands drift down to your waist, letting her fingers trace mindless patterns into your skin.

“You’re very pretty,” she murmurs up to you. “Especially when you’re all worked up like this.”

Your smile splits into a grin and you push off her chair. “Asshole.”

“What did I say?” she exclaims, expression matching yours. “I was just praising my sweet, gorgeous girl.”

“I never agreed to you calling me that,” you point out, going to perch on the edge of your desk. Her face falls, and you scramble to recover. “I’m just saying,” you amend quickly, “that I want you to ask me. For real.”

Shiv gets out of her seat, trapping you where you sit, planting her hands on either side of yours and keeping her eyes focused on yours. “Will you be my girlfriend? Can I be your girlfriend?”

“On one condition,” you say, smile playing on your lips.

She fakes a pout, her face only inches away from yours. You lean forward, brushing your lips against hers. “No silly shit.”

“Of course not.” She lets out a breath, and you can feel it stutter along your skin. “I’m all for you. I don’t know what it is, I just know I’m all fucking yours.”

𖥔 ݁ ˖

Life is easy after you and Shiv get together.

Your ridiculous fight is forgotten, and she’s the most perfect, most attentive lover. The first half-year is a dream. She brings you gifts, invites you over if your daughter is with other family, texts you day in and day out. When she’s not working, she’s pacing your office, talking your ear off about a show she’d begrudgingly watched without you, catching you up to speed so you could watch together the minute you could.

As time continues to leak away from you, the flowers and jewelry keep arriving to your doorstep. She adores spoiling you rotten- she never lets you say anything about it.

But then, the gifts start coming in pairs. One for you, one for your daughter.

A toy kitchenette, a play vanity, princess dresses and heels, play makeup. Shiv hasn’t met her yet, but it doesn’t stop her. As you near and suddenly pass your one year anniversary, you realize you’re so head over heels for Siobhan and you see no future without her in it.

For the first time in your relationship, you bring her home with you.

She hovers behind you as you unlock the door. “What happens if she doesn’t like me?” she asks nervously, voice barely below a whisper.

“Baby, once she realizes you’re the one pay rolling her fantasy Barbie world, she’d kill me in exchange for you.” Before you open the door, you look over your shoulder at her. “Besides, she’d love you regardless.”

Since your daughter is five now, she’s finally started school. It hurt you physically watching her grow and having her leave every day. Shiv had been by your side every single day, wiping away your tears and helping with errands even though you were perfectly capable.

“The bus comes at one?” she asks, following you inside.

You hum your yes, going to make your daughter her afternoon snack as Shiv tentatively sits on the couch, crossing her socked feet under her.

Before you know it, the place is filled with both their giggles as Siobhan Roy whirls your daughter around as if she were an airplane.

𖥔 ݁ ˖

You watch as Shiv sits, cross legged, threading flowers into your daughter’s hair. “You’ll be the prettiest flower girl to walk the aisle,” she murmurs, eliciting a giddy laugh from your daughter.

You’d both forgone the entire first look thing. You want to get ready together, spend time together. It felt more intimate, it brought you even closer together. Once your daughter’s hair was done and she’d ran out of the bridal suite, gone out to play, Shiv comes over to you, silk robe clinging to her body.

“I know I’m not supposed to give you this yet,” she says, turning a beautiful, dainty ring with her fingers. “But I wanted to show you it. I’m just so proud.”

She takes your hand, stroking your knuckles, and holds the ring so you can see an engravement on it’s inner part.

Mind, body, soul.

[theheirofthesharingan]

In defense of my pov and maybe I wasn't very clear in the ask... I do think the point of Itachi in the earlier arcs is that he is meant to come across as one dimensional (of course to writers and those who read a lot this actually should equal something potentially being incredibly fishy), so when we get the conspiracy reveal after his death I mean that I wasn't surprised there was more to it and I love how it threw every interpretation of his actions from beginning to end into a new light. (And I realize I forgot to fix a sentence and I love Itachi now, but when I first encountered naruto in my early teens, he honestly didn't scare me that much 😅, he comes into town, doesn't kill any of the main characters because that point in the story wouldn't have made sense for such a thing, and then he leaves, seemingly on a tactically considered whim which fits his characterization at that time)

I also think it's actually incredibly important that Orochimaru and Itachi are both meddling in Sasuke's lives at the same time, which is why I brought them up as a "comparison" even though their motives are never even remotely the same! Orochimaru is horrific as an individual and a villain, but from a narrative standpoint serves as an incredibly effective smokescreen. Orochimaru is an immediate threat from the moment he is introduced, he's a constant and threatening presence and Sasuke goes and exposes himself to that for years which leaves him very little time to introspect on the circumstances around his family's death.

Itachi on the other hand is more of a goal than a threat. He's dangerous, we see enough of him vs other cast members like Jiraiya and Kakashi for that, and he very badly wants Sasuke to pursue him (seen as early as the hotsprings town attack and later made abundantly clear to be because he wants Sasuke to spend his vengeance on him, although even that reasoning is multi layered). He's one of Sasuke's primary enemies, but he functions so differently from Orochimaru that the audience just sees him as a different kind of big bad is all.

(Sorry for the long explanation, I just don't want you to think I'm stupid 😅 but I also might be coming at my interpretations from a different place than you and that's fine too! I appreciate your first answer regardless and thank you for those panels! The manga is so long that I definitely forget things.)

For the purposes of my own work, I often think of how information is compartmentalized in the village... because other members of the konoha 11 also come to the conclusion Sasuke should be killed, but the tactical ones have different justifications than Sakura if I'm remembering correctly? I think they're mostly meant to parrot the village policies, esp since they're secondary characters at best, just cementing the way that villages sacrifice individual members for the sake of less war (which is different than real peace!), but it still makes for some interesting considerations of how much/what other characters know and where they get their information from.

Anyways, sorry again for the long ask but thank you for so much uchiha content!

Oh, of course. Initially, he is meant to be a one dimensional villain, and there are hints dropped to give him more nuance, which make sense after the truth reveal. When we move towards the chapters/episodes leading to his death, the story starts to explore his fragility while he's still a villain.

His reveal didn't surprise me. It devastated me. I've been one of those who had some gist of him not being evil, but the tragedy was entirely unexpected.

If you love Itachi too, then welcome to our hell because we suffer forever here, loving both the brothers.

Don't worry, I loved reading your interpretation of both Itachi and Orochimaru and their influence on Sasuke. Itachi is a big deal because even though Sasuke faces an actual threat from Orochimaru, he isn't scared of him. But whenever he sees Itachi, his reactions are always intense. And even after their battle, he was completely shaking, even if he knew Itachi would have exhausted his chakra too. The only person Sasuke was really scared of was probably Itachi. Other than Itachi being invincible, there were a lot of feelings. Itachi had been cruel to him. Not only physically or psychologically but also emotionally. The only one who could dismantle him was Itachi. And Sasuke had all the unanswered questions in his mind because from his POV, his beloved brother one day stopped loving him when he'd always been so supportive of him.

I think other Konoha Shinobi wanting to kill Sasuke is different from her wanting to kill Sasuke. They didn't love him, they didn't care about him, and that also includes Kakashi. She claimed to love him, and concluded that he needed to die for his own sake. I have no expectations from Konoha 11 and I don't care about their opinions on Sasuke either. But she married Sasuke and never bothered to know why he changed so suddenly and why he would want his brother back. Does she even know anything about the Uchiha clan and its history? And what happened with Itachi and all? Probably not.

Don't worry about the long ask. It's totally fine. Thank you. :)

[tuxedo-rabbit]

Shadowheart's Curse: The info missing from the Selune Path

Spoilers Ahead! Don't read further if you are not finished with Shadowheart's Act 3 quest.

I just finished Shadowheart's act 3 quest and had some questions about her curse. The decision you're given at the end seems incredibly simple, despite how grave the characters act while discussing it. Then I read this reddit post.

Apparently the Selunite path is missing context about what exactly Shar's curse does. I'd love to bring this discussion to the tumblr side of fandom, so I've copied the relevant bits of discussion here. Feel free to read the full thread instead, but the Shadowheart bits are a small part of a larger discussion, so you will have to scroll to find things.

From reddit user That_Red_Moon:

"IMO SH suffers from having such a massive cross-road in her story in Act 2. They wanted to support the paths with basically the same amount of "space" expected comparable to others/ Ast, so lines and content and details are divided in such away that you would have to play a number of paths to get the full picture.

Like (Shar path) people think SH taking her Parents to the camp is the best choice because they think the Shar curse is just an annoying AF chronic ouchy and "you can handle chronic pain if it means your family lives". No, Shar Path SH reveals that the curse connects them to Shar. The pain was punishment for moments when she felt SH starting to lean towards Selune (Which explains why it goes off so often in the background in Act 3 when SH saves Night Song and why it's completely gone and replaced by POWER when she goes Shar path ... unless she turns on her and takes her parents), and Shar used the parents pain from the curse/ their refusal to turn from Selune regardless of the torture to convert into power.

It's confirmed that when Shar SH kills her parents they go to Shar to be exposed to eternal torment and pain to power SH as Shar's chosen ... they don't go to Selune regardless of being "2 of her most fanatic followers" (Which was why she targeted them). Turning her parents into Moon Motes on the Selune Path is the only path that unquestioningly frees the family from Shar in both life and death, as the curse is a connection to Shar that allows her to take them in the afterlife. Otherwise? You're hoping Selune does something in the future with no guarantee. "

Reddit user mr_Jyggalag:

"Do her parents get sent to Shar after death in each case, or just if they would be killed by Shadowheart as Shar's chosen?" 

Reddit user That_Red_Moon:

"I don't see why Shar SH would have the power to send her life long Selune worshiping parents souls to Shar's Side for eternal torment but Shar, with her 40yrs of curse on this family, wouldn't be able to collect their souls in death if they're still connected to her via the curse.

To me, it's simple. The Odd Man Out is the Selune SH Moon Mote path.

-Shar SH leaves with her parents. This doesn't break the connection to Shar, she is back to being tormented by Shar making Curse pain to fuck up her life.

-Shar SH kills her parents. Parents are sent to Shar for never ending torment and this pain is converted into power for SH. She has no curse pain, but curse is still there because it feeds her and connects her to Shar + Parents ... she just gets more and more power from her parent's never ending suffering without remembering who they are or what she did (YOU remember though ... ).

-Selune SH leaves with parents. They are all still cursed and dealing with Shar tormenting them with curse pain. Again, like the past 40 years, doesn't matter that the parents are "2 of Selune's most fanatic followers" who never turned their back on Selune ... they're all still connected to Shar through the curse.

-Selune SH kills parents to free them all from Shar's curse. The whole family is freed from Shar and Shar's' curse, Parents go to Selune's side as Moon Motes, no way for Shar to torment SH or parents as the curse is gone.

There are 2 paths where the parents die, and the only time they go to Selune is when they're freed of the curse. With the curse, the go to Shar as it was always her intent to torment these 2 endlessly to juice up her chosen (SH)"

Here's a link to a youtube video showing Dark Justicar Shadowheart killing her parents, in case you'd like to see what That_Red_Moon is talking about yourself.

This missing context, imo at least, would make the choice for a Selunite Shadowheart hit harder. It makes killing her family feel like it has as many benefits as sending them to camp. And as many drawbacks.

As is, it feels like the game tells you that turning Shadowheart's parents into moonmotes is a noble sacrifice but doesn't actually show me why the curse is bad enough to warrant their deaths.

[niaerinisms]

These two excellent ILITW metas by @spacetravels really got me thinking about the 'Everyone Plays Together' scene in regards to Noah and MC. Regardless whether everyone else survives or dies, it is between them to take the place of the monster, in Jane's stead. Because, while everyone else was traumatized from what happened when they were kids, they were more-so stuck in their grief for Jane, the person they both loved so much, and their failure to have protected her. And by the end, they're the only ones who aren't to push past their respective traumas and insecurities. In the 'Everyone survives' ending, while everyone else is able to defend themselves and confront Jane when she taunts them about their insecurities, MC instead breaks down apologizing and never actually stands up for themselves.

(sorry for the shitty quality of the last one, I forgot to take my own screenshot and had to use a different one)

And Noah continues to blame himself for everything that had happened, instead of accepting that he was just an innocent kid who had no way of knowing what Redfield was capable and of stopping him from killing Jane. That he was not at fault for what had happened.

Noah and Devon's trauma and insecurities overlap (having been unable to save Jane when they felt they were the ones responsible for her protection) but manifest in different ways. MC feels like they need to save everyone, even at their own expense (like during the scene where they confronted Redfield, knowing that they could've died).

While Noah blames himself and falls into self-hatred and depression, being unable and not allowing himself to move on.

In the end, only one of them is able to be saved. Like everyone else, they're both tested by Jane, to see if they are able to overcome their trauma or if they succumb to it.

Noah is put under Jane's control, which symbolizes how his entire life, Jane's death has had a hold over him. His lack of a support system and his mother constantly blaming him has led him to centre his entire self over what happened back then. If his nerve is high enough, he's able to break her hold over him. If not, he succumbs to her influence over him and kills MC.

If Noah is able to break through, their fates are in MC's hands, which is MC's test. It's established that MC has a saviour complex, stemming from their past inability to have protected Jane. That's why it's MC's choice, not Noah's, of who sacrifices themselves.

Should MC choose to let Noah take Jane's place, it shows they're putting themselves first for once, and breaking their cycle of trying to save everyone. But if they choose to save Jane themselves/give Noah another chance on their own expense, while it was a selfless move, stemming from their love for Jane and want to save Noah, it was one that showed they had yet to overcome their guilt (and now would no longer be able to) and still felt like saving others were their responsibility.

That's what makes this final choice so interesting because neither choices are wrong or right. Would it be better for MC to let Noah make up for his last mistake and die content after a life of loneliness and self-hatred, being stuck in his grief about Jane to never have amounted into anything else? Or if they sacrifice themselves, letting Noah a chance of redemption and recovery while also robbing him the one thing that would've allowed him to finally feel at peace? And what about themselves? Is it better to be selfless and putting others in front of themselves like they've always done? Is it selflessness when Noah didn't even want MC to sacrifice themselves? And would it be fair to themselves?

There's no better or worse choice. It's just whatever choice MC chooses and the both of them have to live with it.

(another thing worth noting is how whoever out of MC and Noah do survive are shown in ILB/ILW to still be stuck on their past, but now in regards to each other and their past choices (MC letting Noah sacrifice himself/not saving him that day or Noah's actions leading to MC being put in a position where they choose to sacrifice themselves) with MC obsessing over trying to save Noah or Noah trying to bring MC back and undo his mistake but that's a post for another day)

[specialgradefckr]

Hello, I would like to start off with BYHTD. This is a very long message, so i apologise right now.

Never have i been so afraid of just knowing there might be a second part to a fic before. No afraid as in fear, but afraid as in the anticipation of adrenaline when you reach the highest point of a rollercoaster and you know it's abt to go down.

I gobbled up all the asks and everything to do with this fic. I'm so sO NOT normal.. and this level of hyper fixation is extremely new to me. I mean it. This one made me switch my cellphone off, had me deep breathing, muttering small 'damn', 'shit' 'fuckk' at random times during the day.

I've re-read it a couple times now and it just keeps pulling me in. I personally do NOT enjoy angst/ pining, etc. Not without assurance that the ending will be 'happy'. Yet this one. It's like when one first starts to get a taste for good wine, you know. For someone who absolutely detests the sad parts of a story, has even SKIPPED them in so many fics I've read before (not proud of it, but the heart wants what it wants), I am surprised to see that the parts that i specifically go back to are the ones where the reader is especially hurting/jealous. Like the realisation that they're both into other women but not reader. It hurts good. I was not this person. The story changed me. HOW DID YOU DO THAT!?

FINALLY, to My question. What would happen if reader just sort of... Gives up in the sense of wanting a romantic partner altogether? As in she just accepts that she's not going to get a good partner, and since all of her partners turn out to be 'evil' (given stsg frame them, etc) she decides to move on to 'self love/care'?

Imo, what if she wallows for a long time and the yearning gets to her. She realises what's happening and decides to participate on her own terms. So much so, that she does a 180 in her approach, and takes away what they hold most dear (her complete attention on them) and give them what they most fear (a stone cold facade that is borderline too sweet, too nonchalant, showing them that their antics have saturated the reader to the extent she's no longer affected). She just starts (outwardly) shifting her focus onto her work, etc. Like a sudden workaholic, who's gymming a lot too, suddenly.

I imagine them going in more aggressive, taking about their sexcapades more openly and all, but reader just... starts smiling and laughing with them. Even specifically mentions one of her 'friends' is interested in joining stsg, if they'd be interested. "She seems like your type. She saw you guys in my birthday pictured, and hasn't stopped talking about both of you. I can set y'all up on a date or something, since you're looking to spice stuff up... so yeah. lemme know."

All smiles and 'genuinely' looking out for them. And the whole times she's thinking... I'm gonna be an equally bad nightmare to you, I'm going to play according to MY rules and I'm not playing 'your' game. We're all playing mine now.

That's it. I'm glad I could voice it out because i haven't been at rest ever since I had these thoughts shimmering in my head.

I just want the reader to still have her pride intact, regardless of how the story goes. (I only just came to this realisation after I wrote this long-ass message)

Thank you for reading, I cherish you and your writing with my all my sanity and conscientiousness.

jdklsdhgfs i got this ask (and several others!) before posting the part two so let me just say!!! thank you so much for enjoying my work this much!

you, amongst several other anons, were so encouraging sending me asks like this. i had the "film them for onlyfans content" idea before this ask was even sent in, but it was SO fun to hear people talk about what they'd like to see next.

that being said, i hope it lived up to your expectations sjfhklgshdfg honestly i was kind of worried for a while that the next part i wrote might not live up to the first. but you gotta just for got it sometimes, you know?

but it is SO. gratifying. to think that this is how the fic feels from a reader's POV. as a writer i pour over these words and ideas SO MANY TIMES,, especially something like this part two which i worked on across a few weeks, it starts to feel stale, and i second-guess myself. hearing how much suspense you were in makes me feel like what i wrote actually was as emotionally impactful as i thought it was, and it's so rewarding to hear <3

honestly though if it makes you feel better, i also can struggle to get through a lot of super angsty stuff. there are particular kinds of angst that i can really feast on, but a lot of it can be a struggle to read through. i straight up skip the "hurt no comfort" tag most of the time, like for me a lot of the purpose of angst is the comfort or comeuppance.

but anyways... among the many theorizations for what reader could do, this is definitely on the more realistic side. gojo and geto have no good way of sabotaging your self-care and emotionally manipulating you much further than they already have.

the whole point of BYHTD is that they're reaching the limits of what they can do to you emotionally. there's just not a lot left to do without confessing.

i think the real problem with this route is, though it's an emotionally satisfying journey for the reader, i would struggle to create drama and yandere behavior like the original fic would call for. this is more a continuation that would focus on emotional growth and stuff.

even with the reader trying to play it cool and set them up with others. when you're manipulating someone, what you usually want is a reaction, and if the reader has feelings for them, still, well, they're really not better off than they were before.

it could be fun from satoru and suguru's povs as they try to sabotage your self care and slowly lose their minds more and more, but as a writer i shine more with emotional outbursts, or extremely fucked up yandere behavior (however dramatic/subtle it may be).

who knows though. maybe therapy is in the cards somewhere,,, SOMEONE here is going to have to change,, although to be fair. maybe not for the better >.>

but!!! i think i did do a good job keeping the reader's dignity!!! i absolutely feel you there like. on one hand there is value in putting the reader through hell, but personally i almost always need them to come out on the other side. i can be very stubborn with my grudges and i generally don't write readers who forget that they were wronged.

anyways!!! you are forgiven for the long ask, really, don't worry about it! i am always happy to talk about my work (although sometimes i have to stop so i can... actually work XD) - and i hope, whoever you are, you've enjoyed the next part that came out <3

[randomthefox]

Why do some people dislike the characterization from Frontiers?

They will say stuff like:

"But Amy already shares love with the world! It doesn't make sense for this moment to be sad!"

Me: You don't get it. Amy is going to be own hero and not rely on Sonic entirely anymore. She will help and heal others, even if that means she won't see Sonic that much anymore.

"Knuckles HAS been off of his island to do fun things! It doesn't make sense!"

Me: You don't get it. He's struggling between duty, and happiness. How can you live your own life and not be selfish? He is the last of his kind, but does that mean he won't get the chance to live how he wants? This next chapter for Knuckles is going to be interesting.

"Tails did stuff on his own! He defeated Chaos and Eggman! It doesn't make any sense!"

Me: You don't get it. Tails is going to find out what he'll be without Sonic. He called himself a "burden" to his best friend; now he needs to find the confidence to let go of that pain by proving to himself he is amazing. Overcome the fear of failure he had in Forces, and realize he isn't a "side kick" but a best friend who is the coolest. He is going to find out who to be without Sonic, because there might be a day....when his best friend won't be there.

But nope. SEGA and Sonic Team and IIzuka are stupid. They wouldn't put ANY god damn thought into the story and characters, right? Why do they think this? BECAUSE THEY DON'T GET IT.

Yeah honestly the complaints about the writing in Frontiers always seem really stupid to me. Like they're inventing things to complain about for lack of anything genuine that's bad about it.

I can understand not really jiving with the way Frontiers is handling its story. The game is very slow paced and dialog heavy and introspective, it's characters mostly just talking about their feelings. If that's boring to you I totally get that. If you prefer the more story light and action oriented plots of Sonic Heroes or Sonic Colors, or if you prefer the more theme focused stories of Sonic Adventure and Adventure 2, or if you'd rather be along a roller coaster that's more about the situation the characters are in like with the storybook games or Sonic Forces, or if you're more down for the vibes of an experience like you get out of Sonic Unleashed. Then that's totally fair.

Personally I'm up for whatever Sonic wants to do regardless of what it is lol. And Frontiers being more navel gazing and dialog oriented is something I can be very engaged by. If it doesn't engage you then I get that - we all have different tastes. But when you say it isn't a matter of taste and start acting like the writing of the story itself is lacking, that's when I'm gonna be holding your reasoning to scrutiny and often the complaints about Frontiers do not hold up under that scrutiny.

Amy and Tails's character stories in Frontiers are about them wanting to set out on their own and figure out how to define themselves separately from Sonic. And you can't really argue against the fact that they're both very much satellite characters who are defined almost entirely by their relationship with Sonic. Realizing due to the experience of cyberspace that they kind of don't like that about themselves and wanting to strike out on their own to figure out who they are when Sonic isn't in the room seems like a reasonable character conflict to explore from where I'm sitting.

Knuckles' story as far as I'm concerned is addressing a hole that has existed with his character ever since the ending of Sonic Adventure, where his story concluded with him deciding ignorance was bliss and he was content with just living as a guardian for the master emerald without getting embroiled in the wider world around him. There was never really a direct in text explanation for why he's going and running around doing stuff with Sonic instead of guarding the master emerald after that. You could argue that them finally addressing that is too little too late but I say better late than never.

You could nitpick by saying that Tails and Amy spend PLENTY of time on their own without Sonic around so realistically this shouldn't be a question they're burdened by and that Knuckles obviously DOES leave his island to go on adventures so having him address the limitations of his guardian duty is a moot point. Obviously it's very meta writing, it's the characters sort of confronting their narrative roles rather than acting like three dimensional individuals who continue to exist whenever the camera isn't looking at them. But since when has being meta automatically been a bad thing? Sonic has always been meta from the very beginning. And going in a different direction with the narrative to have the characters confronting the way they're conventionally written as an in universe attribute of their characterization is a fun experiment for them to take to coincide with a video game that is experimenting with a new system of gameplay.

If that experiment didn't really work out for you, then that's okay

But that isn't a problem with the story.

[bellaaldamas]

speaking of hel, I always imagined an atreus and angrboda corruption arc involving her death, and since I'm obsessed with the mythology I'd love to see sms take both of them to a more "gray" characterization, just like their counterparts in the mythology.

I'd love to see them doing anything to bring their daughter back, and when they finally can, they're met with the fact that she can't live outside helheim, making the only place where she can have a sort of “normal childhood” and grow older is in the realm of the dead. (I haven't thought about how that would work, I'm just really into the concept of them having to accept that no matter what, their daughter is “gone”)

idk if this makes sense at all

Definitely a possible scenario, if not entirely the one I would hope for myself but would enjoy and embrace if executed right. I admit to my bias regarding mythological references and the idea that mythological accuracy translates to cultural accuracy when it's not the case. As a person of Greek background, my main issue is viewing Greek mythology as a representation of Greek culture and values and rejecting any media that attempts a different approach. Including media that redefines mythology in order to show Greek characters or people of any culture as multi-dimensional persons rather than stereotypes.

In that vein, a common complaint from the non-Greek "progressives" is that Disney's Hercules "makes a mockery of Greek mythology" and therefore is supposedly not a "good representation" when it's actually one of the few positive and respectful cultural representations Disney has ever presented. It treated the characters as individuals with their own complex experiences rather than walking stereotypes: Hercules as a young man craving validation and ultimately realizing social approval is far less important in the grand scheme of things than finding contentment and adjustment in your personal life with an equal partner and loving parents even if they are not your biological family (and even if said biological family parted with you due to forces completely beyond their control). Phil as a disillusioned middle aged male who could have easily remained cynical, bitter and limited his attempts to change his life for the better to harassing random women. But instead chose to reevaluate his views and realize it was up to him, first and foremost, to "go the distance" and be an example for a younger generation of men and boys. And obviously Meg and the Muses who openly discussed the issue of chauvinism and oppression of women. And whose entire storyline smashed the modern "feminism" (which is actually not feminism at all but a repackaged patriarchy in a girlboss form) by highlighting that hating men and rejecting the idea of romantic relationship with them is not "progressive" nor does it make women safe. What is progressive is a woman celebrating her romantic agency and acting on it even if the man she is attracted to might potentially not meet her expectations or prove to be unscrupulous (and if that ends up being the case it would be his fault, not hers; hence why Meg's ex ended up betraying her after she made sacrifices for him whilst Hercules sacrificed just as much for her as she did for him - because people regardless of gender are individuals with agency rather than a function to make anyone's life better or worse).

In that vein, Gow series offering their own take on myths has never been a problem for me. I have a much bigger issue with fandom "progressives" involving Lysandra in their HCs in order to "progressify" her and imply that her being "just" a devoted wife to Kratos was never enough to absolve her of a "Greek doormat proto wife" stereotype. SMS is the main culprit of this perception though because they know their target audience now includes the young leftists who don't go beyond the surface (much like the right wing dudebros). They, thus, would only see Lysandra as a female character whose role was "limited" to being Kratos's "Doormat Dead Wife" (as opposed to the "quirky and feminist Nordic Dead Wife" that was Faye; which is the perception of Faye that dehumanizes her completely and makes me want to defend her even more). Therefore Lysandra needs to be "fixed" and/or be included in assorted "progressive HCs". Again, I hold SMS accountable for that perception to a much greater extent than the fans who just go along with what is shown to them.

Greek women can't win because we have to deal with misogynistic "men of the house" first and then we have to deal with media and progressives trying to "fix" us.

In that vein, what I hope for in the upcoming games is Kratos honestly telling Atreus about both his sister Calliope and about Lysandra. GowR already made a step towards that by having Kratos have a heart to heart with Freya about Calliope but him not mentioning Lysandra to anyone in his current life (and the current timeline) is still problematic.

Notably, that artwork SMS reblogged where Angrboda pays her respects to Lysandra and Calliope by creating an art piece dedicated too them and "including" them in the family feast would be a perfect way to rectify those issues, were such a scene to happen in canon.

Hel's "half-dead" myth reference can absolutely come into play because SMS is known for incorporating myth references but offering their own spin on them (that's the foundation of the Gow series). While I don't necessarily want a "dark arc" for either Atreus and Angrboda, it would definitely be a fulfilling storyline to have Atreus in particular to fight for his family and not repeat any of Kratos's mistakes. I mentioned before that Atreus and Angrboda should mirror the positive aspects of Kratos and Faye's story while avoiding the more problematic ones such as lies and keeping major secrets from one another, even for selfless reasons.

Therefore, Atreus and Angrboda, by being perfectly honest with one another and doing everything to save their daughter together, could break the cycle of problematic parenting that Kratos, Faye and Freya all exhibited at different points and to varying degrees. Their challenges will come from external forces and if they do choose to go a darker route, it would be the route for themselves only, but not for "Hel" (whatever her name would be).

[roobylavender]

something tangential to the enforced motherhood post i reblogged but while dc's contention with this concept is pretty horrid and distasteful in general what i find worse is the fan reaction in batman circles, specifically with regards to talia and selina. on one hand, you have the very obvious projection of a racist and xenophobic trope onto talia where she is stripped of any and all personal agency and to the point her character can never be severed of motherhood or even worse only viewed as an abusive party within the concept. fans not only project their own experiences of abuse onto her despite these projections being contrary to her own ambitions and writing prior to her character assassination; they also, in the event they don't want her to be an abusive mother, decide to relegate her to a static concept of motherhood where she has no existence outside of raising damian and where there isn't even a possibility of toying with the idea that she may not have actually acquiesced to the concept of motherhood to begin with. i'm always so surprised by how little people seem to contextualize the life talia led as lex corp ceo with her potential role as a mother. how would she be able to live that kind of isolated, purpose-driven life where she could set every personal desire aside for the sake of her duty to the world if she was expected to parent a child first? this is a rare viewpoint i've never really seen expressed but one reason i find morrison's portrayal of bruce and talia as parents to be really ironic is bc i think the roles are nearly reversed. at that point in her life and with the slew of burdens and responsibilities on her shoulders i honestly think talia (regardless of what immense affection i'm sure she would have for her own child) would be the one who had trouble acclimatizing to her role as a parent, versus bruce who made it his intent for several years to parent various children and when he found out talia was pregnant impliedly committed to shielding that child (and her) from violence and a vigilante life at all costs. it's a narrative thread i really would have loved to see explored but on a practical level would likely be impossible to do not only bc of dc's handling of asian mothers and their racist degradation due to their juxtaposition against white fathers, but also bc of dc and dc fans' constricted view of motherhood to begin with. either you're a good mother or you're a bad mother. there's no room for the in-between nuance of possibly loving your child but not knowing how to balance that responsibility bc of what you view as important responsibilities you have to others

on the other hand, you have dc fans' engagement with selina's relationships with younger orphans and sex workers in her community. this is a really interesting one to dissect in light of ship wars specifically bc while i agree that there isn't any sense in having selina act as a mother-figure to bruce's children i also don't really agree with people's justification that she's not a "motherly" character. it's once again a very striking example of the restricted perception people have of motherhood or of behaviors commonly associated with that role, bc i don't think people who say this are really criticizing her ability to be a mother at all. what they're actually criticizing is her capacity to care. there's oddly all too many people who believe selina's anarchy or more self-serving nature is antithetical to any expression of compassion. so what you end up having is a phenomenon where one group of fans is eager to see her co-parent with bruce and another group of fans is eager to see her severed of any significant connections at all bc it somehow fits her "villainous" nature. and all-in-all, from both sides, her relationships with kids like holly and arizona are completely obscured. there's no room made to discuss how selina can possess deep empathy for young people whose experiences she identifies with and that she can care for them and even take them under her wing without necessarily wanting to adopt them, but that if she wanted, maybe she would adopt them. i honestly feel like that was the direction alan grant and doug moench were going in with arizona in the early 90s had mary jo duffy not abruptly excised arizona bc, like a lot of fans, she thought having significant emotional attachments was antithetical to the catwoman persona albeit there was no actual canon to back that notion on a behavioral level. i don't think selina has to be a mother, but i also don't think it's an infliction of stereotypical gender roles on her to imagine a scenario where she might adopt a stray, esp if that scenario occurs within a context where she is still independent and forging her own way of life and liberty. if anything, taking care of holly and arizona were some of the highest points of her narrative, bc they were a looking glass through which to explore selina's capacity for love and mercy, in spite of all of the trauma and abuse that she had to suffer at the hands of others

to me, the problem with dc's contention with motherhood is not so much that it's attached to these women at all, but that the definition of motherhood used is entirely framed with a heteronormative understanding of the family unit, despite the reams of potential to explore characters like talia and selina as independent figures acting outside of that traditional hierarchy

[xoxo-ren-xoxo]

Thinking about your Grumbo apocalypse AU again. Thank you for the Convex crumbs, I appreciate them :]. /silly

Anyway! Grumbo is so ill in this, and that makes me insane. Both are like. "I care for this person so much that I'd change fundamental parts of myself." While also freaking out about being with the other in any way.

Like. Here's Mumbo so scared by this monster! This thing that kills his kind! But, Grian is so nice to him. He cares. Mumbo isn't used to the idea of friends and people loving him and caring and. How can something made to kill him love him? How can he sleep in the arms of the enemy, knowing that others would have died for every nearing one of these creatures? Is he giving up his humanity by living with the Outsiders? Would society ever except him again?

Or Grian freaking out about not being human enough! He wants Mumbo to care for and love him, and see him as a friend, as he sees him, but Grian is so hurt that Mumbo is scared. He forces himself to be so human, despite it hurting, and that's terrifying. He's becoming something that is painful to be, because he wants his friend happy. He's no longer a monster, an Outsider, but he can never be human.

They're so just. I want you to be happy because I love you, and so I'll became what you want, at the act of destroying myself in the worst way possible.

Sorry for the long ramble. Your goofy AU is just ever haunting.

ohhh my god this is so trUE

they are incapable of being normal about each other...

for mumbo, the story is about learning to be comfortable going outside his own rules. becoming more spontaneous and less fearful of the unknown. yes, some of his fears are totally valid - but he shouldn't let those fears dictate how he treats grian. he's sort of in this 'it'll be okay if grian just pretends to be human. then we can have a normal life' mindset that will NEVER work out. they try it! multiple times! it does not work!! mumbo needs to change in a positive way so that he can access a happier, better life (with grian!). before this change, he wants everything to be a certain way, so much so that he misses opportunities (like making friends for example).

for grian, it's all about accepting himself. he loves mumbo and is so willing to change for him (where mumbo is more resistant to true positive change) but that change is forceful and it hurts him. it is also *not needed*. grian *doesn't* need to change for his life to be better, mumbo needs to accept him how he is - and, more than that, grian has to accept himself for what he is. he can't mimic humanity like pearl and martyn can. he *also* struggles to be content without mumbo. he has to accept that he is between worlds, human and monster, and that it is okay to be different like that.

grian meeting scar helps his journey, mumbo talking to cub helps him realise he's being a bad (boy)friend. (also, I think seeing how different cub and scar are and how they work together regardless definitely helps mumbo understand...).

they both have to consult an outside source to fuel their growth as people. something something narrative parallels.

anyway, they probably work it all out in the end.

i mean, grian does kill people sometimes but like that's not really something that can be helped--