#i have been struggling with work and life in general

[airandyeah]

Animals (Alpha!Sukuna X Alpha!Toji X Omega!Reader) Pt.3

My Masterlist Series Masterlist Warnings: Obvious A/B/O dynamics, suggestive comments or actions, just generally Minors DNI-just in case. This will be similar to Pink Pony Club and Sins, where I just mark every chapter as 18+ This also has the general warning of Toji and Sukuna both honestly being menaces.

The store was small—just a handful of aisles, stocked with the essentials, but clean and well-kept. The kind of place where everyone probably knew each other’s business, which meant you were already regretting coming here with them.

You had barely grabbed a basket when a sweet-looking old woman shuffled up beside you, her warm eyes crinkling as she peered up at you.

“Oh my, you must be new in town,” she said, voice kind and familiar. “And here I thought these two hooligans didn’t like sharing their space.”

You opened your mouth to correct whatever assumption she was making, but before you could, Toji slung an arm around your shoulders, grinning.

“What can I say, ma’am?” he drawled, tone smug. “She’s special.”

Your entire body tensed. “I—”

“Oh, she’s more than special,” Sukuna added, stepping up on your other side. “She’s ours.”

Your jaw dropped.

The old lady beamed. “Oh, well, isn’t that just wonderful?” She patted your arm, eyes twinkling. “These two may look like trouble, dear, but they’re good boys at heart. You keep ‘em in line now, you hear?”

You made a strangled sound, desperately shoving Toji’s arm off you. “I—we—that’s not—”

“Oh, don’t be shy,” Toji teased, giving you a wink. “No need to be modest in front of sweet Mrs. Takada.”

“Modest!?” you hissed. “You two—you—”

Sukuna leaned down, voice dripping with amusement. “Something wrong, sweetheart?”

You swore you were going to kill them.

Mrs. Takada just chuckled. “Oh, young love. You three have a wonderful day now.”

She shuffled off, leaving you fuming in the middle of the store.

Slowly, you turned to face them. “You two are the worst.”

Toji grinned. “Nah, you just make it too easy.”

Sukuna smirked. “Come on, Omega. Let’s get your groceries before people start asking when the wedding is.”

You hated them.

The basket wasn’t that heavy. You could handle it just fine. But apparently, Toji had other ideas.

One second, you were shifting the weight in your grip, and the next, it was gone—plucked effortlessly from your hands as Toji slung it over his arm like it weighed nothing.

Your brows twitched. “Give it back.”

He raised a brow, smirking. “You’re struggling.”

“I was not.” You crossed your arms, glaring. “I can carry my own damn groceries.”

Sukuna snorted from beside you, casually tossing a bag of chips into the basket. “Yeah? And yet, here we are.”

You bristled. “I didn’t ask for your help.”

“Didn’t need to.” Toji adjusted the basket in his grip like he wasn’t even holding anything, then shot you a lazy grin. “It’s cute when you get all worked up, though.”

Your fists clenched at your sides. Alphas. Always acting like they needed to step in, like they had to take over. You were perfectly capable of handling yourself—you’d been doing it your whole life.

“Seriously, give it back,” you snapped.

“Nope.” Toji popped the p with infuriating ease.

You turned to Sukuna, fuming. “You gonna let him act like this?”

Sukuna smirked. “You think I’m any better?”

You let out a frustrated noise, snatching a can of soup off the shelf with a little more force than necessary. “You two are insufferable.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Toji chuckled, moving ahead of you toward the register. “Come on, stubborn. Let’s get you checked out before you throw a tantrum.”

You gritted your teeth, following after him.

If the whole basket fiasco hadn’t grated your nerves enough, Toji pulling out his wallet at the register nearly made you see red.

Your groceries—your food, that you picked out—rang up one by one, and before you could even reach for your own wallet, Toji had already handed over a couple of bills like it was nothing.

Your jaw clenched. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Paying,” he said casually, shoving his wallet back into his pocket.

You shot a glare at Sukuna, hoping for backup, but he just leaned on the counter, smirking. “What? Gonna cry about it?”

Your eye twitched. “I can buy my own damn groceries.”

Toji just grinned. “Yeah, but this is more fun.”

You hated him. You hated them both. Your hands balled into fists at your sides. “Give me your damn Venmo—”

“Don’t got one.” He grabbed the bags, stepping back with zero shame.

You turned on Sukuna. “You, then—”

He chuckled, clearly enjoying himself. “Mm… nah.”

You let out a sharp breath, trying to keep your temper in check. Alphas. Always thinking they had the right to take control, to step in uninvited. Like you couldn’t take care of yourself.

Toji slung one of the bags over his shoulder, then nudged you toward the door. “C’mon, stubborn. We’re taking you home.”

“I hate you.”

“No, you don’t.” His smirk was nothing but cocky.

You stormed out of the store, practically vibrating with frustration.

The worst part? You didn’t take the bags back from him. ~~~ The car ride back to your cabin was excruciating.

Toji and Sukuna had spent the whole drive making smug comments, throwing you amused glances, and generally basking in their absolute audacity. Every time you grumbled under your breath, they just seemed more entertained.

By the time they pulled up to your cabin, you were barely holding onto your patience.

The truck rumbled to a stop, and before either of them could say a word, you snatched the grocery bags from Toji’s grip and shoved the door open.

“Thanks for the ride,” you said, tone as flat as possible. You stepped out, desperate for space—for a moment without their presence weighing down on you.

“Anytime, sweetheart,” Sukuna called lazily.

You turned just in time to see the smug bastard leaning back in his seat, watching you with amusement. Toji, still behind the wheel, gave you a lazy two-fingered wave.

You bit back a growl, spinning on your heel and storming toward the cabin.

The sound of their truck lingering on the gravel sent a sharp pulse of irritation through you, but finally—finally—the engine rumbled back to life.

And then, blessedly, they were gone.

You exhaled slowly, stepping inside and shutting the door behind you.

Peace.

Finally, you could think. Finally, you could breathe without those two pressing in on you from all sides.

You set the groceries down with a little too much force, your mind racing despite yourself.

Because, no matter how much you wanted to ignore it—

Their scent still clung to you. Alphas. Alphas. FUCKING ALPHAS! You paced the length of your cabin, hands clenched at your sides, frustration bubbling under your skin.

It wasn’t fair.

Your body—your damn biology—was betraying you.

The lingering scent of them clung to your clothes, wrapped around you like a taunt. It was strong, invasive, and worse—your Omega instincts weren’t fighting it.

No, they liked it.

Your stomach twisted at the realization. Your body craved something you had no intention of giving in to.

You weren’t some weak-willed Omega, waiting around to be claimed. You had spent your whole life proving that you didn’t need an Alpha to take care of you. You were independent. You made your own choices.

And yet…

Your body didn’t seem to give a damn about your principles.

Your fingers curled into the fabric of your shirt as if you could shake off their scent by force. This is just instinct. It doesn’t mean anything.

Still, you hated the way your skin felt hot thinking about the way Toji’s muscles flexed pushing your car into the shop. The way Sukuna had smirked at you like he already knew what you were feeling before you did.

You exhaled sharply, shaking your head. No.

You weren’t going to be pulled in by them.

They could be as smug as they wanted. They could tease and push and act like they owned the damn town. But they didn't own you. ~~~ The truck rumbled down the dirt road, leaving behind a stubborn little Omega who had no idea what she was in for.

Sukuna leaned back in the passenger seat, arms crossed over his chest, lips curled into a knowing smirk. “She’s a tough one.”

Toji snorted, keeping his eyes on the road. “Stubborn as hell.”

Sukuna turned his head, watching the cabin disappear behind them. “You like that, don’t you?”

Toji’s grin was slow, deliberate. “Oh, love it.”

That little fire in you, the way you bristled every time they got too close—yeah, it was gonna be fun breaking that down.

“She’s already reacting to us,” Sukuna said, tapping his fingers against his knee. “Even if she doesn’t want to admit it.”

Toji hummed in agreement. “Doesn’t matter if she fights it. She’ll lose.”

And she would. Omega instincts didn’t lie. No matter how much you tried to shove them down, no matter how many glares you threw their way, your body was already betraying you. They could smell it. That sharp little spike of frustration, the way your scent wavered just slightly whenever they got close.

“You think she even realizes yet?” Sukuna mused.

Toji chuckled. “Nah. She’s too busy bein’ pissed off.”

Sukuna exhaled a laugh, his smirk deepening. “Good. I like a fight.”

Toji pulled into town, throwing his best friend a sidelong glance. “So? You in?”

Sukuna gave him a look like he was stupid. “Obviously.”

They didn’t need to talk about it much—hadn’t needed to for years. They worked in sync, had been since high school. If they wanted something, they went for it.

And you?

You were theirs. You just didn’t know it yet.

So they’d push. They’d chase. They’d win.

And by the time you realized you’d lost—

You’d never want to escape.

People had always assumed.

The way they moved together, the way they knew what the other was thinking without a single word—hell, the way they always stuck together.

Sukuna and Toji had heard the rumors for years.

But they had never been that way.

Sure, they had each other’s backs, knew each other better than anyone else, but it was never romantic. Never that kind of intimate.

But this? You?

That was different. They both wanted you.

And they weren’t going to fight over you—not when they knew how to share.

Sukuna chuckled darkly. “Cute how she thinks she’s got control.”

Toji’s grin widened. “Yeah. Real cute.”

They had all the time in the world to break you down.

To push you, tease you, drive you so far up the damn wall that by the time you realized what was happening, you’d already be theirs.

Like a toy between two hounds. One way or another, you were going to break.

And when you did? You’d never want to put yourself back together. ~~~ You stared at your phone for a good five minutes before finally caving.

You did not want to text them.

The very idea of willingly reaching out to those smug bastards made your skin prickle with irritation. But you needed your damn car back, and avoiding them forever wasn’t exactly an option.

With a sigh, you begrudgingly typed out the message:

You: Did you order the part yet?

You hit send, immediately regretting it.

Not even a minute later, your phone buzzed. You had changed their contacts to their actual names at this point.

Sukuna: Miss us already?

You groaned, flopping back on your couch. Of course that was his response.

Before you could ignore him, another text came through.

Toji: Yeah, it’s ordered. Gonna take a few days.

Simple. Direct. See? That wasn’t so hard. If only Sukuna could do the same instead of being insufferable.

But then, another text.

Sukuna: You should come keep us company while you wait.

Your grip tightened around your phone. You could practically see his cocky smirk.

You: Pass.

A moment of silence. Then—

Toji: You gotta leave the house at some point, sweetheart.

Your jaw clenched. Assholes. Both of them.

You tossed your phone onto the table, crossing your arms. No way in hell were you letting them get to you. You’d wait. You’d be patient.

You would not go running to them.

Even if the thought of their rough hands and sharp grins made your Omega instincts shiver in something dangerously close to anticipation.

You weren’t like other Omegas. You never had been.

Growing up in a house full of Alphas had made sure of that. Your mother was one—strong, sharp, a force of nature. Your brothers, every single one of them, followed in her footsteps. Loud. Overbearing. Built to dominate a room.

The only other Omega in the house had been your father, but most days, he barely felt like one. He had raised your brothers with a firm hand, standing his ground in a way that never once felt soft or yielding.

So where did that leave you? The answer had always been painfully clear—nowhere.

You never fit. Never wanted to fit.

While other Omegas dreamt of warmth and safety, of being cared for and protected, you wanted none of it. The very idea of submission made your skin crawl. You had fought your whole life to stand apart from the expectation that came with being an Omega—to prove you could be more.

Yet now, stuck in this tiny town, with two massive Alphas sniffing around you like you were something meant for them…

Your body was betraying you.

Your instincts. Your biology. That stupid ingrained part of you that curled in on itself whenever Toji or Sukuna so much as looked at you a certain way.

You hated it.

Hated them.

Hated the way you could still feel Toji’s warmth at your side when he had taken the grocery basket from you. Or how Sukuna’s voice sent something shivering down your spine, no matter how much you fought it.

You would not let them win.

You had fought too hard to be your own person—to be more than what nature decided for you.

And you would not let two cocky, insufferable Alphas be the ones to unravel it all.

Taglist is always open for anyone! Just comment, send an ask, or a DM and I'll add you! Taglist: @tojislongshlong , @jaxawinchester , @ectomotive Perma Tags: @thenightperson

[freedelusionshere]

This season has to be all about Syd

S3 and S4 of The Bear are technically one season broken into two parts. Part 1 was obviously about Carmy hitting rock bottom and Part 2 should be about Syd's struggles during all of this. Most of the back half of S3 was filmed last year, I don't see why they'd change anything or do reshoots. S4 is really S5, etc. Otherwise, why put the Part 1 title at the end of S3?

And because Syd's been bottling everything, and we have yet to see her interior life portrayed, we're not really getting to fully explore her journey emotionally yet in S3 Part 1. But the setup is that we will, and the show must. The show has set up Carmy and Syd as mirroring each other and being two halves of a whole.

All the questions that are left on the table are about Syd and what she will do. Carmy has done all he can as an EC and failed. At the end of S3/P1 Carmy is getting unstuck and the review drops. A negative or even mixed review impacts their ability to get a star first and foremost. Which Syd wants and is her dream (which, I'm with Carmy, it's a trap). Carmy spent all of S3/P1 trying to convince himself this is what he is doing all of this for. The review is not only about The Bear's financial future (which Carmy didn't seem all that concerned about in Apologies) but is also wrapped up in his desire to give more of what he thinks/hopes/prays Syd wants which he's been doing like clockwork since S1.

Cicero pulling the funding is also really an immediate issue for Syd because she is the one who will be hit hardest out of the gate. She's already on deferred pay, she's single, her credit is in ruins, and she will potentially be forced to go work somewhere else immediately. Syd didn't sign the partnership agreement, and Carmy knows something is up and the clock is ticking. It's why she's considering Shapiro's offer, and it makes her literally feel sick to have to do it.

Syd just signed a lease. We still don't know who helped her get that lease, landlords typically don't give leases to people with bad credit without a guarantor, I still say it's likely Carmy, because they intentionally tied it to her dad's general disapproval of Carmy (the thin walls like the thin partnership agreement). It's not financially sustainable for things to continue as they have (Carmy's doing, but also enablement by her and his family). Other characters will be impacted as well, but there is an immediacy here with Syd, who is making jokes about still not having health insurance.

Then there is the matter of Carmy being a bad boss as a reason for Syd to leave, which the show directly pointed out and tied it directly to Carmy's treatment of Syd and he knows he has hurt her and their relationship. Shapiro isn't going to be any better, they've already given plenty of hints about that. Carmy is a pain in the ass, but he doesn't lie or hide what he is (the opposite, for better or worse). The issue now is Carmy having to prove to Syd through his actions (no more apologies) that he can be a good partner. But that comes with Syd also having to make it clear what that looks like to her. Because he's repeatedly asked her to tell him when he's screwing up. He wants her to tell him what she wants, and she avoids having to do that. We know she's not afraid of him, because she stood up to him easily in S1. It's something about herself holding her back.

Even Richie writing about Carmy in his little black book, and about Syd, Luca, and Carmy. Carmy is to Syd as Luca was to Carmy. Carmy is the one who needs to change his ways and follow Syd's lead. But Richie doesn't really know what's going on inside Syd's head either, because she always plays it cool. Syd was even being somewhat evasive when Luca asked her at Ever if anyone else looked out for her besides her dad. She obviously was avoiding answering. She could've said her good friend Marcus. I mean, Luca knows Marcus. But no, she's thinking about Carmy there and of course that conversation gets interrupted by Shapiro, foreshadowing.

I could be wrong about all of this, of course, but I don't want them reshooting stuff. I want to see Syd get to be messy and all her dreams and ambitions and backstory and her crushing defeats. She is the yin to Carmy's yang. That way when they come together and crush it, they will have earned it narratively and it will feel like a huge victory and tie it all together.

Of course I want to see more Sweeps, Ebra, and Angel and Manny stuff as well. I want to see Luca and Marcus together. But the main driver of S3/P2 should be Sydney!

[galedekarios]

Do you think veilguard would be worth playing for someone who hasn't played previous dragon age games? I just don't really have the energy or motivation to play several other games first but man that game looks so good

i'm sorry i am replying only now!

thank you for your message. 🖤

again i want to preface this by saying that i don't feel comfortable telling people what they should spend their hard-earned money on, but if you're already interested in getting the game and are only held back by not knowing if it's worth playing bc you haven't played the previous games? then i will say that i don't think you have to have played the previous games to play this one.

bioware has always tried to create games - more so with the dragon age series, but they did it with mass effect too - that can be played as standalone experiences, which are enhanced if you have played the previous games.

HOWEVER, i do highly, highly recommend learning about what happened in inquisition and the trespasser dlc for a deeper understanding of the relationships and stakes of the world. i think it sets the scene for datv.

if you don't have the energy or motivation to play such a long game, which i completely understand, i would recommend perhaps watching a recap of what happen on youtube. it's much less of a time investment.

in addition to that, veilguard does have a glossary, where they explain lore (events, people and general things pertinent to understanding the world). so if you do feel lost in that regard, you can always take a look at that as well.

i hope that helped!

[palettepainter]

[eddiemunsonsmum]

Just saw this comment on a story posted a month ago.

*cries in Eddie Munson Solo Series no one wanted to read, interact with or request for*

No shade to the person that commented this on their own fic if you recognize it. It's not their fault. I'm not mad at them. More crying in the tags.

[strohller27]

.

[lightblueminecraftorchid]

My roommate and I had a conversation last night and I keep rotating it in my brain and I Don’t Like It

[causticsunshine]

wanted to share the sentiment here too but didn't feel like rewriting the whole thing lmao so here are some Thoughts i had last night on twt regarding my weird relationship with my art whilst being in fandom:

i know i've definitely talked about this kind of thing in the past but it's been a very recent development that i actually understand what's been going on with me and why i've picked up this habit of letting a fandom i'm in / a piece of media i'm really into fully dictate my creative drive. like, just because i'm very interested or invested in something, it doesn't mean i necessarily feel inspired by it or inspired by it for the duration that it holds my interest, and forcing myself to create relative art or fic or what have you for the vested interest(s) has both dampened my desire to be creative as well as my imagination. i know a lot of people can be super into something or a few random things at once and that can keep them going for ages without them running out of ideas, but in my case, things that hold my interest aren't always synonymous with my creativity and i'm just now learning that despite how obvious it seems!

i also imagine i'm not the only person who functions like this but i personally haven't seen it spoken about very often (if it even needs to idk), so i wanted to bring it up / talk about it a little bit :)

[drifloonz]

one day ill be annoying ab my selfship again . although i enjoy that ppl enjoy my writing most of this is entirely self indulgent, projection, and for me . being so real .

[ourceliumnetwork]

it is not slacking off to write or create it is not slacking off to do things that are fun i am not slacking off or procrastinating right now i'm allowed to do things i enjoy doing for fun including playing games and writing and such

[friendofthecrows]

Wish I had more of that stereotypical "refined genius psychopath mystery villain" vibes and less "dysfunctional no sleep cycle can't tell when/if they have emotions traumatized mess doesn't feel like a human paranoid future true crime psychopath" vibes. So that was word salad. Moving on.

[chaos-storm]

Lately I've gotten a lot of progress done on my book(s) again! The series has been on hiatus for wayyyy too long now, but after getting some help with worldbuilding I'm inspired and back on track! I've spent the past three days completely re-writing the chapter where the protagonist meets the main villain for the first time, as I've decided to change a ton from his introduction and onwards.

Also funny side effect of having been working on these books on and off for almost 10 years now: It's a lot easier to write the main character's parent, set myself in their shoes and use my own life experiences in their characterization. They're less "adult parental figure" and more of an actual person now

[termagax]

i cant post the full of these until tommorow but bweeeeeee isnt he so cuteness

[icharchivist]

i mean i get why it sucks but i've been having an existential crisis that keeps me up at night for most of my life too and i'm not producing people expressly to abuse them and use them as tools about it. Astrals are just on something else i guess

i'd say it's a question of scale in general, as in an existential crisis coming so deeply from a whole different life in your head would fuck someone up much more. but anyway i keep saying Lucilius' way to treat other is bad, in those same posts in fact, just that his issues with depersonalization/derealization are also extremely compelling and actually make me feel bad for him. Those two feelings can coexist, and i don't mean that you have to be nicer to him or anything. i'm just saying he's still an interesting character.

[causticsunshine]

.

[domesticated-pirate]

Dr's be like " GooD News! We can't find anything wrong with you! So keep an eye on your symptoms and come back if anything changes! :D"

.... i guess i'll just keep collapsing/nearly passing out whilst feeling exhausted all the time and being unable to string more than three thoughts together with muscles that ache from sitting and being unable to walk more than 10 mins without getting out of breath then .... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯