#because a kid shouldn't HAVE TO take on such adult burdens

[jackalmeat]

Mostly just throwing spaghetti at my own mental wall and seeing what sticks, but I have Unorganized And Poorly Articulated Thoughts about the fact that Ekko and Jinx are around the same age, lost their guardians and peer groups at the same time and in a deeply traumatic way, etc.; and yet I feel like Ekko's status as a victim of their broken, oppressive, and exploitative social landscape doesn't receive remotely the same acknowledgment or weight as Jinx's.

While I'm sure that that's due in large part to the fact that Ekko has been successful at building a sense of healthy, mutualistic belonging + community with others in a way that Jinx clearly hasn't, it's nonetheless worth noting that [A] he had to build that and learn how to take care of both himself and others when he was still a child, and the maturity he exhibits is a direct and tragic result of his boyhood being cut violently short; and [B] failing to acknowledge him meaningfully as a victim and a kid, just because he seems to have 'turned out okay' or some-such, reads very distinctly to me like an extension of the documented tendency in our own world for people to "adultify" young black boys due to perceiving them as older, less innocent, and more threatening/less in need of protection than their white peers.

[churchsideblog]

what was wrong with my ward that we had multiple sunday school lessons preaching about the virtue of not complaining

[circuitcircus]

in defense of kabumisu……..

addressing things I see people say about why kabru being shipped w mithrun is ‘bad’ or why their canon relationship ‘doesn’t mean anything’ while also clearing up misconceptions of the characters some fans have

listen it keeps popping up and I just gotta do this or my brain will melt (if you don’t see it around then god I wish that were me) there’s an age gap!- erm there’s also an age gap in farcille (ily), the most popular ship in the series...also chilchuck looks like a kid but a lot of fans recognize him as a dilf because of his relative age, so there should be no age gap discourse among adult characters because it feels so conditional tbh

kabru taking care of mithrun is racist!- marcille likes to take care of others as well. is that sexist, or just an aspect of her character?

kabru isn’t treated like a servant, waiting on mithrun hand and foot…I mean he gives mithrun a foot massage but no one told him to do all that lmfao

he's also not the only one to care for mithrun. pattadol is shown to worry for him and milsril was the one to start taking care mithrun in the first place after he…...y’know. speaking of which-

they probably met when kabru was a kid!- neither of them showed signs of recognizing each other the entire time mithrun was introduced nor when they were together. and im pretty sure KABRU of all people would show some kind of recognition if they'd met before. it's kabru!!! the people person!!! mr. "i-noted-down-50+-characters-in-this-dude's-backstory-for-fun-and-actually-enjoy-social-gatherings"

you would think some kind of memory would come back to him especially after hearing mithrun’s backstory if milsril had even told kabru about him as a kid. but nope. it’s just fan speculation unless there's a side comic suggesting otherwise that i haven't seen

mithrun doesn't care about kabru, his shapeshift double looked like shit!- it's obviously because of mithrun's (then) lack of desires that it looked like that, but they really grow on each other

i think it's safe to assume it'd look more like kabru after they spent so much time together (also laios can barely even remember kabru's name..also saw his face multiple times and didn’t recognize him when they talked for the first time)

mithrun is racist!- he’s actually the least likely character to be racist since he lost his desires and that includes a desire for superiority over others. he even calls his past self out on that part of himself. the other elves in that side comic were being just as racist to shorter lived races but just didn’t use ‘outdated slurs’

(unfortunately literally every main character in dunmeshi is at least a lil prejudiced, but I believe it’s worldbuilding and a sign of the times rather than a reason ryoko kui is giving to hate each character)

taking care of others is a pain in the ass!- saying this as a reason kabru and mithrun shouldn't be together is basically saying disabled people shouldn't be allowed to have romantic relationships because they're a "burden"...if someone is actually willing to put in the work, then let them be.

that's not even all of their relationship, mithrun is the fighter of their duo and kabru would've been killed by the shapeshifter or something if he'd fallen down the hole on his own since he sucks at fighting monsters. mithrun helps collect ingredients for cooking every time, too (barometz fruits and griffin egg). he pulls his weight and then some!! i feel like people forget that part of mithrun a lot somehow.

+senshi literally cooks for everyone all time. it's kind of an important aspect of the narrative.

+also, while it is a popular fan thing I see around that kabru handfeeds mithrun, he literally never does lol this is mithrun using his own hands to eat:

also here we have him washing his own body

just saying because people like to treat mithrun like a baby even though the narrative respects him as a capable adult who also has special needs because of an accident. he’s captain for a reason

kabru hates taking care of mithrun!- not exactly, he was initially surprised and put off but got used to it quickly. i’m sure he’s grateful for all the times mithrun saved him from a monster and teleported them out of danger as well

he even starts doing “unnecessary” things for mithrun’s comfort and safety like when mithrun pushes himself too hard fighting, even after his mission to take care of him was complete when the canaries came back

here is even kabru resting while mithrun keeps watch (mithrun let him sleep for 5 hours before waking him up from the nightmare earlier, too):

there's nothing more to their relationship!- they actually have had a very tight and consistent dynamic since they met and they incite the most change within each other by the end. kabru is the one who inspires mithrun to create new desires so he doesn't waste away, and mithrun is the first person we see kabru being genuine with and it leads him to be more honest with others by the end instead of tiptoeing around everyone all the time (that mask was also the reason some ppl initially disliked kabru…)

kabru’s relationship with mithrun is honestly so important for his character and vice versa, but it’s often disregarded because of one over exaggerated aspect of it (an aspect that isn’t even the first way they interact with each other) or because people want to just straight up ignore it for some reason 🥲🥲

kui dedicates many panels to them that don't particularly serve the narrative as a whole in order to demonstrate this and i think that's pretty significant

you're taking this too seriously!- as if i'm the first person in the world to be crazy about a ship or the characters 😭 i love analyzing text and it's upsetting to see them mischaracterized when kui lays out the characters so clearly and deliberately

also they end up touching each other like all the time and have the kind of canon validation most ppl can only dream of lol i feel so insane look at this:

and this is just when they're first getting to know each other cuz there's a fuckload more

kinda hard to explain how i don't actually need them to get married or whatever but i'd die on this hill for them and i enjoy their dynamic immensely

haha you thought you were reading ship discourse but it was actually a character analysis 🤪🤪🤪

also don’t somehow take this to mean I think anyone has to ship them, I just need everyone to understand these accusations kind of don’t make sense especially when they can also apply to other pairs or characters

bonus kabru just looking at mithrun:

[kandyzee]

The emotional incest aspect of Frank and Fionas relationship has been on my mind sm so imma talk about it.

I don't exclusively think that it's emotional. Frank makes a few creepy comments but I'm gonna talk about that after.

First here is a quick summary of what emotional incest is cause so far everyone I have tried to talk to about this didn't know what it was

I think the most noticeable example of Frank going to fiona for emotional support is how he makes her raise her siblings. Throughout the whole show, Frank talks about how his kids are a consistent cause of stress for him, even goes as far to blame them for his drinking. Part of the reason he's so good with franny is because there isn't as much responsibility and grandchild 'don't expect anything' from him. He willingly unloads that work onto fiona even when she is a young child. The burden/stress should have been passed onto Monica. Since she isn't around, a lot of the time Fiona steps up. This is why I think this aspect of their relationship goes unnoticed. People accept that fiona had no choice when really Frank could have found an adult to help him like fiona goes to kev & Vee. Frank had brothers, for example, but he wanted fiona, his young daughter, instead.

Something I think is almost just as significant is Fionas' willingness to help Frank despite her obvious hate for him. In season one, Fiona is the most determined out of all her siblings to get Frank back from Canada. That, to me, shows that bringing Frank home is normal. It's part of her job as the caretaker of the house. She isn't just taking care of her siblings but also Frank. Not only does fiona get Frank back, but she trusts he will. We see this in S3 ep1 when fiona tells Debbie that 'He always comes back'. During that same scene, we find out that Frank had left fiona for almost a year when she was 9. Frank isn't dumb. He knows fiona will worry about him. By leaving her for so long, Frank doesn't just put her siblings' lives in her hands but also puts the worry of his wellbeing on her, too. Although I don't think this is him directly him leaning on her emotionally. we know Frank is happiest when he knows someone is careing/worrying for him. I find it odd that he decides to find that feeling with fiona of all people.

A scene I think about a lot is when fiona goes to comfort Frank about his mother.

Frank doesn’t say anything. He leans into her slightly and accepts the comfort she is giving him. Typically, when Frank's parenting is criticised, he gets mad, especially if he is already emotional. Here tho when fiona says that her parents suck referring to him, he smiles. This is because it's fiona saying it to him. Frank knows he's being insulted, but there's a disconnect for him. Frank doesn't fully see himself as fionas dad. I also think it's interesting how he so easily let's fiona be motherly towards him (she's comforting in the same way she would with her younger siblings) when it's his real mum that has caused his pain to begin with. Fiona is a tool to fill different roles. In this example, it's the parental one.

A large part of what emotional incest is is the idea that the parents view the child as a like partner. This is 1000% Frank and Fiona. I've talked about how fiona takes the parental responsibility that should be Monica's, but it's Frank himself that compares the two in a different way.

Thinking of Frank being attracted to Fiona makes me deeply uncomfortable, but I think it's a real possibility and shouldn't be pushed aside. The 'wild and dangerous' natural of monica is something Frank fell in love with. At Monica's funeral, Frank tells the story of when he fell for her. The story summed up is Monica acting 'crazy' and being naked. Saying his daughter looks like her mum isn't inherently creepy. It's normal until the 'stripper on a bender dangerous'. It's a description of the 'wild and dangerous' Frank finds so attractive. It almost sounds like a reference to how Frank and Monica fell in love if Monica was a stripper ofc. Even still then you could argue that he doesn't mean it like that. If you think about instances like in s1 ep8 where Frank tells his daughter to be 'skins' meaning she would take her top off ,it clicks as something much more unsettling.

I think the shift in their relationship started when fiona was 9 yrs old. She often brings up this age, probably because it was the most traumatic. This is the age where Frank is away for most of the year.

The way I imagine it is that Frank comes home to find that Fiona has matured considerably. The fact that she says guys have been trying to sleep with her since she was 9 makes me think she was an early bloomer. Considering she had been solo raising her siblings for a large amount of time, she has developed emotionally, not just physically. This leads Frank to relying on her more than he would before. She's more capable, and her older appearance makes it's that little bit easier to start forming the previously mentioned disconnect with being her father.

The effects of covert incest (they could be caused by something else who knows) match up perfectly with Fiona. She has problems surrounding both physical and emotional intimacy, has a lack of self-esteem and identity, finds it hard to set and adhere to boundaries, and has a love/hate relationship with her parent. The way she leaves the show is a great example of these imo. It's her lack of identity that pushes her so deep into the caretaker role. Her desperation to look after everyone causes strain on her siblings' relationships because she can't handle boundaries. Her low self-esteem makes it easier for her to fall into alcoholism. When all these things come to a head, she leaves to find herself.

Another factor to why this lable fits their dynamic is Frank's favouritism towards Fiona. Fiona prefers Frank to Monica, and when Frank reveals he has a hidden daughter, she is upset. Nor just because Frank lied but also about that means her place is at risk of being taken. The special treatment she gets from being the favourite starts as something good but slowly fades into something more unpleasant. When she stops being daddies little girl like she's meant to Frank, he gets mad. He sabotages her relationships as if he's determined to be the only man in her life. The way Frank acts with Jimmy Steve feels more like a jealous ex than a concerned dad.

The last key thing i want to talk about is that Frank doesn't mention fiona at the end of the show. This might should be like a reach but stay with me. At the start of the show, Frank says,'Fiona, my rock, huge help. Has all the best qualities of her mother, except she's not a raging psycho bitch.' The first ever thing we find out about Fiona is that she is like her mother and has essentially taken her place. Its made to sound like they are a team. Fiona is the only one to be compared to someone else. When Frank gets over Monica's death, he gets over fiona, too. Frank has so deeply intertwined Monica and fiona that without fiona near him, she is simply forgettable. Even though fiona is Frank's favourite, he doesn't see her as her own person. She was a placeholder, and with no one to step in for, she isn't worth mentioning.

I still think I could say more about this, but I'm not risking getting everything deleted again, so I'm done. I do really fast wanna say that sometimes the parents don't realise they have such an unhealthy relationship with their kids, so for once, Frank might not know what he's doing wrong here.

[mamawasatesttube]

hi im lost in the kon & clark + kon & the kents sauce today.

thinkin about how clark takes him to live with ma and pa shortly after "our worlds at war" - after kon has lost guardian, and now mickey and dubbilex and everyone he knew at cadmus has vanished and left him on his own. after he's been used and discarded by knockout, tana, and rex leech. he's not even two years old and there is a whole list of adults who he relied on and who he's already lost because, as he believes, of his own inability to be what they needed him to be. he wasn't savvy enough to realize rex was using him for money, he wasn't heroic enough to save knockout from herself, he wasn't mature enough for tana to love him, he wasn't good enough of a superhero to prevent guardian from being killed in the leadup to everything with apokolips...

anyway, what i'm getting at is that he's used to nearly all of his relationships with adults having a time limit, and to being left alone to fend for himself when that time limit runs out. so, uh, the first time he has any sort of argument with clark, or clark expresses any frustration with him...

which, imo, is extremely possible because, like. kon's an impulsive kid who doesn't always listen to others or ask for help when he needs it (partly because he's so used to fending for himself!) and clark definitely has a protective streak, and i think it'd frustrate clark that kon didn't even tell him he had nowhere to go after cadmus went underground. like he gets that kon's got issues but also Please For The Love Of God. People Who Love You Want To Help You But You Have To Tell Them You Need Help. he wants to help and protect kon but kon doesn't even realize the things he's gone through are fucked up and that he shouldn't have had to deal with them, let alone on his own. suggesting that he should lean on others would make him bristle. and he definitely doesn't want to be a bother or a burden on superman.

so it's a point of contention but like, the love is there. it's a point of contention BECAUSE the love is there.

anyway i'm just thinking of the first time clark tries to talk to kon about opening up and asking for help and telling him or ma or pa or lois when something is up, and kon getting mad at him because he can handle himself and he's not incompetent, and clark being like that's not what i'm trying to say at all, i'm plenty competent and i lean on people when i need to and so should you. but kon's a traumatized and headstrong teenager who doesn't want to hear it, even (especially) from his idol, and clark gets a little frustrated, and then kon ??? stops arguing and just gets really disproportionately upset out of the blue??? and shuts down and then runs off??? and clark doesn't understand what happened exactly but clearly SOMETHING is wrong. figures he'll give kon some space and talk to him again in the evening when he's had a chance to cool off.

instead not even an hour later martha kent hollers for clark to get over to kansas and explain his side of things because she KNOWS the boy she and jonathan raised would Never have told kon he's sick of cleaning up his messes and wants him out of his parents' house and might even be planning to take his name back from him. (clark, hearing this: HE THINKS I WHAT???????? D: D: D:)

(ma sent pa to check on kon when he didn't come down for dinner and pa found him sniffling and stuffing clothes into a suitcase. he said clark hadn't told him to get out yet but it was only a matter of time. they are gonna have a nice long family heart-to-heart and at the end of it pa is going to have to talk ma down from hunting down rex leech with a shotgun.)

anyway kon gets a Really good family group hug that he TOTALLY doesn't cry about (he's cool as a cucumber about it!! really!!) and gets whacked across the head with a boatload of affirmations and reassurances that even if any of them ever argue, his place here and his name and status as part of the family are never going to be in question. (ma wants the shotgun again when he seems genuinely surprised by this.) it might even be the origin of them coming up with "conner kent". a second name just for him, as part of clark's family on earth too.

i am just. so not immune to stories about a little guy who's not used to having a family Getting A Family you know?????

[max1461]

Ok, here's the hill I'm gonna die on: I hate the concept of "chores". I hate it both in the context of parenting, and in the context of romantic relationships. A "chore" is something that you do because you were made to do it by an authority figure. Nobody likes that, and rightly so. But, living in an imperfect world as we do, there are various tasks that need doing. And when we care about each other, helping with these tasks and seeking help with these tasks are some of the most significant things we can do to show it. I think all our thinking around "chores" should flow from that.

Like, if you are a parent, bringing your kids in to help with the Very Important Tasks that the grow-ups do can be presented like an offer, not a command. The kid gets to help! They get to participate! They get to be needed! That feels good, and teaches them skills they'll need when fending for themselves later in life. It's not a chore that you must do, it's "come help mommy and/or daddy with this Important Grown-up Business". In my experience, most kids like that kind of opportunity. And not only does this give them practice helping others, it also teaches them that it's ok to ask for help, and that tasks are things which are often best approached as a team.

Yes, probably kids are still sometimes not going to want to participate. To me this is a heartening thing, however inconvenient it may be in the moment—I like when kids feel the strength to advocate for their own desires—but, you know, sometimes tasks still need to be done, so handle this how you will. But just not presenting things as "chores" from the get-go is I think a good place to start.

As for "chores" in relationships... I do get how, ya know, if a relationship partner says "you need to start doing more chores around here" or something, that could feel bad. Because, it's like, they're framing themselves as an authority figure who gets to assign chores; that would feel bad to anybody! But at the same time it's like, ok—life is full of tasks that need doing, as mentioned above. And if you love and care about someone, if you claim to have their back, shouldn't you want to help ease the load of all those fucking tasks they're burdened with? Isn't that a big part of what caring for someone is all about?

Relationships require labor, and figuring out how to set up an equitable distribution of labor in a relationship can be a genuinely hard problem. Especially if one or both partners are disabled, and things like that. I can't tell you how to do that for you and your situation. But I think a good place to start from is both partners thinking of it like "I care about you, so I want to help you with all these tasks, I want to help make your life easier". Not as, you know, "these are all the chores I/they have to do". That's why it's actually important for both partners to put in their fair share of labor in a relationship. Not because either is an authority figure who has the ability to assign "chores" to the other, but because when two (or more) adults have decided to live together and be committed to each other and face life together, they should be working to make each other's lives better and not worse, taking care of each other, and cooperating to fight The Tasks together is generally a pretty fundamental part of that.

And if your partner isn't helping you with The Tasks, it's not that they're a disobedient child who won't do chores, it's that they're an adult who's meant to be your ally in life but who isn't living up to all the responsibilities of that role, isn't helping take care of the things that need doing. And that's not a fair or compassionate way to treat someone that you're supposed to be a partner to.

Idk if any of that makes sense. I just don't like the concept of "chores" ok. We're all oppressed by The Tasks and helping each other with The Tasks is one of the most important ways we reach out, connect, show love and affection, and express our responsibilities and commitments to each other. I just don't think there's ever a case where it's good to frame it as "chores".

[widowed-mistress]

Honestly? Shout out to anyone who wrote anything related to Steven Universe visiting Gravity Falls. One of the BEST crossovers people decided to take.

Like, his dreamscape abilities make him a perfect match for the series main antagonist. He WOULD love to protect the Mystery Twins as he sees they're kids just like him dealing with things they shouldn't have to at the time. When Ford shows up he'd be the perfect balance of nerdy (this is a boy that did not go to school but loved The Spirit Morph Saga and did have a love for learning) but also enough strength and fun energy in him to make him the perfect balance between Ford and Stan.

Not only that, but the series is set up in the woods. Woods. His mom's main power is based around plant life. Not only that, but with a supporting cast of people around his age, he gets to feel like a regular kid. I feel like people always forget that Steven had other human friends uninvolved in gem business before Connie(Pete).

AND unlike the adults in Steven Universe, the adults in Gravity Falls are so much nicer. Sure, the agents tried to take away the twins from Stan, but that's because they thought him a craze super villain that would destroy the world. They even tried to take their minds off it with mindless television. I feel like almost every adult antagonist in that show says "I'm sorry" to them at least once. Even the deputes make sure they know they won't be killed to discovering a government conspiracy!

Good adult figures that almost succeed in not burdening the children with their own issues. Not perfect, but definitely better than what Steven had growing up.

I want more stories of this. It genuinely is a shame there seems to be so many stories of this just either incomplete or one shots.

To whoever started this prompt, I love you

Will be posting something else regarding what other details people could add to these types of stories.

[theheirofthesharingan]

Hello,

As someone who’s recently delved into the anime community, I’ve noticed a profound connection many fans have with characters like Itachi and Sasuke. Their stories are undeniably tragic, and it’s clear they hold a special place in the hearts of many.

I’m curious about the depth of affection and empathy for these characters, considering they are fictional. What is it about their journeys that resonates so deeply with you? Is it not challenging to experience heartache over their struggles and sacrifices on a daily basis?

From my perspective, anime is a source of enjoyment and escapism. While I understand the impact of these characters, I wonder if focusing on their sorrow might overshadow the joy and adventure that new anime series can bring.

Itachi’s tale has concluded, and Sasuke’s safety is assured within the narrative. Wouldn’t exploring new stories potentially enrich our lives with diverse experiences and emotions?

I hope this question comes across as sincere and not dismissive of your feelings. I’m genuinely interested in understanding the emotional bonds fans create with these characters.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

Any piece of media that explores emotions and emotional bonds between characters is likely to click with a lot of people and leave profound impact on them. I'm not into anime or TV in general either, so I haven't seen many shows except for a handful few I can count on the fingers of my one hand.

To me, personally, while both Itachi and Sasuke are special because they're well written, there's also a kind of relatablity factor.

Sasuke grew up being compared to Itachi, no matter how hard he tried he didn't get the acknowledgement he deserved, because his brother was considered better than him. Maybe Itachi was better than him in skills and knowledge, but Sasuke was a different person with a different personality who shouldn't have been compared with Itachi at all. I've been through the same. Being compared with my classmates, friends repeatedly no matter how hard I worked. It just wasn't enough for some reason. It poisons you from inside and leaves you feeling insecure with a lot of sell-esteem issues. We know Sasuke went through them.

It's the same with Itachi. Kids experience different versions of parents. Older kids meet more immature and flawed versions of their moms and dads. The mistakes parents made with them aren't repeated with the second and third-borns. That doesn't mean it doesn't damage the older children who didn't ask to be born and bear the brunt of their parents' traumas. They're older so no they're expected to take the burdens and the responsibility. They kind of become mother and father to their younger siblings but more tender ones.

That's how Itachi and Sasuke's relationship before the massacre was as well as Itachi's relationship with his parents. I find this very relatable. The way he's not allowed to voice his opinions yet he cares about his brother. His ideals aren't really considered relevant, and his feelings don't matter to any adult in his life. That is so, so, so relatable to me. I learned a lot about my relationship with my parents when I watched and analyzed Itachi's with his parents. I learned to forgive my own parents after that. This is getting a little personal, but yeah, it happened. I don't feel as angry and bitter with them as I did before I watched Naruto last year.

Other than that, there are people who watched Naruto and also other anime, and they love these two along with the characters from other anime. I'm just not all that interested in it even though, yes, more stories would mean more entertainment. But I'm not someone who moves on easily from things and people.

Plus, I like the 'flavour' of angst some characters provide. It's hard to explain in the words, but it's like seeing colours. And it doesn't happen with every character I read about or watch. With Itachi, I 'see' red colour, and yes, it's the colour of his susano'o as well, but I'd had this feeling about him before it was introduced. It's like his aura that has some kind of purity to it. It doesn't have anything to do with his morals or how I perceive them, but something else. With Sasuke, it was bluish-purple. Again similar to his susano'o, but I'd had this 'vision' about his aura from the beginning. A character from a show in my country made me think of transparent snowflakes - pure and unblemished, and when his character was ruined, I started to see the 'muddied static' and I lost the connect with him. It never happened with Itachi or Sasuke. I love them both so much.

And I don't think I'm missing out on anything by not watching other anime. They might have other well-written characters that I might fall in love with too, but I love what Sasuke and Itachi make me feel. They're my comfort characters and they're therapeutic to me too, and they both feel very personal to me. Their pain made me feel less lonely. I don't really have friends irl (not the ones I can talk to when I feel alone), okay, this is getting even more personal but yeah so I spend my time either reading or writing. And it's also probably because if you've been depressed for too long, this kind of pain becomes addictive. So I need something to latch on to because I don't want to go to therapy.

This whole answer probably hasn't made any sense, because I don't know.. I tried my best, I swear.

[femmefatalevibe]

how do you decenter men & dating? do you ever feel like it's difficult to handle the social pressure to have a partner/"time is running out"?

Honestly, I think my personality has a lot to do with it. I've always been called "stubborn" since I was a young girl and have been making nearly all life decisions for myself since I was a pre-teen/teenager, so creating a meaningful life has always been my top priority. The thought of centralizing my happiness or validity in this world around a phantom man who might or might not show up, or even worse, negatively impact my life – either short-term or permanently – in some way has never made sense to me.

It also helped that dating was something I never discussed with my family as a kid, never had any parental pressure/input on whether I should or shouldn't date, and have gotten next to no questions about boys/men basically ever. Of the 2-3 times or so it has come up as an adult, I set a boundary on my private life and just remind them of the question they're asking if no one is serious enough for me to mention on my own.

With friends, I don't feel pressured to be in a relationship just because they might be or looking for a partner. If anything, I find it entertaining to chat about it when they inevitably start asking for my advice or input on a given person or situation, lol.

I perceive general societal pressure to date for commitment or idealizing a relationship with a man as a projection of other people's neediness that I don't feel the inclination to entertain. If someone enjoys companionship, great for them, but I find it quite presumptive that someone can't differentiate between their personal needs and every other woman/person in society. We're all unique. If you're secure enough in your choices, you shouldn't need to spend your free time convincing others that your way of life is superior to others who choose a different path. I feel sorry for them, honestly.

In terms of "time running out," I think being child-free takes off the burden of this race against a "biological clock." I can imagine if someone wants children, the idea of dating, relationships, marriage, and timelines is a lot more stressful. I'm glad to see that many women who are undecided about kids or are giving themselves time to pursue other goals are starting to take advantage of egg freezing services en masse and speaking about their experiences publicly. I applaud all of you for exercising your right to bodily autonomy. You're all incredible for changing the narrative and idealization of women to become mothers as young as possible.

If you mean worried about "time running out" from a purely chronological perspective, I have the opposite view. Why would I want to waste my 20s – the years of youth, energy, and self-discovery – on a man that I probably will no longer speak to in the next 6 months or 1-2 years? I would be running out of time to set my life in the ways I want if I decided to put a considerable amount of energy into finding a partner and focusing on men (or anyone else's approval past a client relationship, interpersonal boundary, or ethical principle, of course).

Hope this was useful in some way xx

[heartbreakercupcake]

BNHA : No you see, its all the family fault that Touya turned out that way cause they didn't stop them or said anything!!

Me: WHAT COULD THEY HAVE DONE?!? Fuyumi and Natsuo where CHILDREN at the time, even if they had told their brother to "stop it" What makes you think he would have listen to them if he was that far gone, also it is not their job to look after their brother that is for the parents to do, you shouldn't put that burden on a child! Also, maybe the reason that Fuyumi and Natsuo didn't tell another adult about what was going on in their family because again they're CHILDREN but maybe they where scared of their father, they saw what happened to their mother when she "failed" to stop their bother and think that would happened to them on top of that what makes you think they would have been believed or taken seriously the first time they would have told someone because AGAIN they are children and that's not even getting into how much money and power Enji has considering he's a hero and with all the BLATANT hero worshiping that goes on in this universe, I'm pretty sure it would have been impossible.

BNHA: Yeah, well, Rei could have-

Me: REI. IS A. VICTIM. It is shown plan as day, from the beginning that she came from a poor family that pretty much sold her off and with the new information they would have paired her off with a cousin to "keep the bloodline pure" or some shit, their marriage wasn't even based on love, it was an agreement more then anything, she was trying to survive and this seemed like the best option for her, SHE HAD NO OTHER CHOICES! Yes she agreed to have more kids with Enji but I ask you, did she even really had the power to say no? She was just meant to be a house wife and take care of the kids and the moment where she "failed" like when she tried to stop Touya she got punished for it, WHAT COULD SHE HAVE DONE?! Run away? Did you want her to leave the kids? Runaway with the kids? Do you HONESTLY think Enji wouldn't have tried to track her down or spun the narrative around to make it seem like Rei was crazy and brain washed the kids? Let's not even go get into how women are already not believed in these kind of situations, on top of all that, she was poor, she had no money and no power, nowhere near as much Enji has, where it be his size, his quirk, the fact that he is a man and a man that as seen as a hero to the public eye, her words would mean NOTHING! When Rei finally snapped and hurt her child Shoto, not only did she quickly realized what she did and tried using her quirk to cool him off, but the very moment she did that, they sent her away to the mental hospital no questions asked! They kept her there for 10 YEARS pretty much, meanwhile Enji, who was the one harshly training Shoto got to stay with the kids, and to add on to it Shoto, even at age 5, didn't even blame his mom for it, he clearly understood with was his dad.

BNHA:.....

Me: YEAH, maybe next time THINK before you handle topics like this.

[edwinspaynes]

Okay, I'm gonna say some very controversial stuffs but I'm gonna put them in different asks.

I don't want Alastair to raise Zachary, and I don't want him to help either. I think Alastair was given too much responsibilities as a kid. I mean he was literally a third parent to Cordelia, and there's like 2 years between them. I want him to be an older sibling and that's it. I also want him to leave London with Thomas for a while, and just take sometime for himself to heal from this burden. Being a child parent is so toxic, and mind consuming and tiering, and I don't want him to take this responsibility again.

Thank you so much for saying this, because I have been thinking it for a LONG time.

I think it's a really fucked up attitude to actively want a 19-year-old with untreated cPTSD to be saddled with a baby, and I found it really annoying when Pre-ChoT people seemed to want him and Thomas to end up with Zachary. Like ???? Give this man space to learn what it means to feel safe! Let him grieve for the childhood he never had! Let him live for once in his life without the burden of parenthood! He's not even 20!

That being said, I love the idea of him being a big brother to Zachary. Taking him to festivals, giving him the adult support that he never had growing up and the security of that love. I think that in doing "kid things" with Zachary, Alastair can begin to heal his inner child, too. (I actually have a planned multichapter fic about this!)

But let him give Zachary back at the end of their very fun days together and let him go home to Thomas, kick back in an armchair, read a book, and vibe. He should be able to choose when to interact, and he shouldn't be used as free childcare. He deserves that peace, and luckily I think he'll have it with the current setup of him in Cornwall Gardens and Zachary at Cirenworth.

[greentrickster]

CorreaCelestePriscila XD me di cuenta que hesperia es el tipo de personaje con sobrecarga de trabajo que a diferencia de querer tomar un descanso el se niega a hacerlo….los niños totalmente lo taclean o tienen que perseguirlo para dormir, verdad??

(Google translation: XD I realized that Hesperia is the type of character with work overload that unlike wanting to take a break he refuses to do it .... Children totally cup or have to chase him to sleep, right ???)

greentrickster: XD Yeah, he's definitely one of those people you have to chase down to make have a cup of tea and a nap - Hawkmoth takes no responsibility for his actions, but Hesperia takes too much responsibility for everyone's actions. Fortunately he's got the kids, who understand his importance and also care about him, as you said, but also it's really not they're job, because they're 14/15 and he's in his forties, he's right about that. He's a man naturally drawn to push the envelope in how much he expects from himself, but this particular scenario has him leaning to extremes even he wouldn't normally take.

And it's easy to say that the five of them are young adults, they're smart, strong, and capable, they're making their own decisions, this is their world and they have as much right to fight for it as anyone... and that's all true, very much so! The thing is, speaking as someone who - like Hesperia in this AU - is over the age of thirty and possessing of strong nurturing instincts, the urge to take responsibility and pressure away from young teenagers doesn't come from a place of disrespect or dismissiveness, but from wanting to keep them safe. Of knowing that they're entering a stage of life where they're going to really start testing their wings and their own limits while also still generally having that sense of immortality you have when you're younger and wanting to make a space where they can fly to their absolute limits while also leaving them a safe place to land or fall, and to pull them back before they get hurt in ways that can never be undone.

It makes for an interesting dynamic, because Gabriel is behaving as a genuinely good man in how he's trying to treat the kids, but he's hurting himself and in doing so risking the world never breaking free of the Supreme's grasp in the process. It'll take a lot of careful balancing to figure out a group dynamic where Hesperia's accepting support from the rest of the team without crossing a line and giving them a responsibility that they shouldn't have to carry. (Which is frankly a flavour of angst that would be 90% more interesting to me than any 'Gabriel's just a terrible dad in every universe' idea. There are only so many ways a character can be a terrible parent, but there's a far broader spectrum of ways to write a genuinely caring and decent character having to contend with a situation where they have to navigate an extremely complicated moral path where the lines between right and wrong are so heavily skewed due to the situation.)

If they were all adults, or if Gabriel was also a young teen, it would be a much simpler matter, he'd just need the occasional reminder that it's okay to let others share the burden and support him the way he supports them. But he's the eldest of the group by almost thirty years and the rest of the group is comprised entirely of minors, and that opens the story up for some truly delicious complications and intergroup conflict and bonding.

OoOoOoOoO

CorreaCelestePriscila: Vi en tumblr una publicación en la cuál hesperia tiene que recordarles a shadybug y claw noir que ahora son buenos…y al final una imagen de un hombre con correas para niños alrededor de dos niños……me hizo reír a carcajadas cuando me imaginé a hesperia con correas para niños alrededor de alya,Nino,claw, shady y Chloe

(Google translation: I saw a post on tumblr in which hesperia has to remind shadybug and claw noir that they are good now...and at the end a picture of a man with child restraints around two children......it made me laugh laughing when I imagined hesperia with child leashes around alya, nino, claw, shady and chloe)

greentrickster: XD XD XD Hardcore yes, they're doing a great job with their whole moral alignment shift, but there's still the odd time when their old supervillain ways are just so easy to accidentally slip into and the rest of the group has to run herd on them (and also stop them from being bad influences on Chloe. And also prevent Chloe from being a bad influence on them. Chloe, Shady, and Claw are the Trouble Trio in this universe, they're all here to smack down and verbally roast their enemies and I love that for them.

And this aspect makes them so hard to deal with at times, all three of them, but it's also surprisingly useful in regards to helping Hesperia and making sure he's okay. Because all three of these kids have their 'you're not the boss of me!' dials turned up to twelve, and they're only willing to listen if they think an adult or someone else has something worth saying. As mentioned in another post, Claw 100% appoints himself as team medic (which is great, because they need one and no one else wants to do it). Shady cheerfully (and much more sneakily) integrates herself into Gabriel's civilian life with a "Hi, I'm dating your son, I adore fashion, this is my portfolio, smile once while looking through it and I get to be your new intern" technique and proceeds to team up with Nathalie in regards to getting the namesake of the Gabriel line to not run himself ragged. She 100% does not care if anyone thinks she's dating Adrien solely as a career advancement technique, and anyone who tries to make it a problem for her can kiss her yoyo before it hits them in the face.

(Side note, Adrien didn't think he could fall for this girl any harder than he already has but hoo boy, was he ever wrong-)

As for Chloe, she gets the benefit of my love for the 'Chloe figures out Ladybug and Chat Noir's identities without being told' trope, and becomes the group schedule coordinator without anyone realizing what she's doing, primarily because she hasn't told anyone she that she knows. Having to hide Pollen for a month and some change made her realize that it can be kind of fun to know or have something no one else knows you do, even if it was extremely scary, but she's not on her own anymore and she figures that a couple of extra secret identities is safe enough to keep to herself. Marinette and Adrien are going slightly grey over how loose-lipped this girl seems to be with information about the resistance sometimes, Nino, Alya, and Gabriel are all very impressed at how often Shady and Claw manage to show up at just the right time without having prior knowledge of a meeting or mission, and Chloe's a busy but also very smug little bee. Turns out she likes coordinating more than just outfits, which eventually leads her to getting more involved in Alya's research and reconnaissance work, and the two of them getting to be better friends.

[mrsfrecklesmarauders]

Regulus couldn't believe it. Arranged marriage shouldn't be a thing anymore. He had to meet Pandora Lovegood. Probably an annoying rich girl that was as superficial as the rest of these people. Walburga hadn't said precisely he was going to marry her. Regulus just had to be nice with her because they were around the same age. And her Uncle was the American  Ambassador. But most of all, Grandpa Pollux and the rest of the bloody family, wanted to make sure he wasn't gay like Sirius. Not that anyone knew exactly if it was true.

That picture of Sirius kissing Lupin had been circulating throughout the Internet. Remus' face could be recognized but Sirius was on his back and it was blurry. Regulus knew it was him. But no one was hundred percent sure. Orion was still refusing to believe it.

Now Regulus had to pretend of course. Not that Regulus knew if he was straight. He hadn't fancied or dated anyone to know. All he knew was that he didn't want to be "forced" to like someone. But Regulus didn't know how to say no. Another burden that Sirius left.

Pandora Lovegood wasn't what he expected. She wasn't dressed with a classic dress. But with a colorful suit that appeared to have Unicorn vomit on it. She had short platinum hair and cool makeup. Surely what concerned Regulus more was the wide smile he was giving him as they were introduced. Regulus didn't know where to look.

Barty certainly would have many comments and jokes about her and her color choices.

"Regulus...." Walburga said, putting an arm around his shoulder and making him flinch "Why don't you show Pandora around?"

Walburga didn't like Pandora. Regulus could tell. But the fact that she was rich and important (and female) would content the rest of the Family. Which was the purpose after all.

"That sounds wicked!" Pandora bounced.

How did this girl have so much energy?

"Pandora, please take it easy. Will you?" Her Uncle implied rather irritated.

Pandora looked down embarrassed by the scolding.

"I would rather die" Regulus whispered.

"Sorry?" Walburga asked.

"I said it would be my pleasure" Regulus faked a smile.

"Care for a drink, Mr. Lovegood?"

As the adults left them alone, Regulus started panicking. There was a reason why he didn't have more friends than Barty. It was because he wasn't very eloquent with words. Barty did all the talking. Regulus hated speaking. And worse, he hated speaking with strangers.

Pandora was still smiling and looking around.

"Do you think we will live here when we get married?"

Regulus blinked. They hadn't talked about it. No one had said anything. They were introducing them that was all.

"What?" he asked "No, we are not... Who told you that?"

Pandora still didn’t seem bothered. She was still smiling.

"Isn't the whole point of this introduction?" she asked "And why I am going to Hogwarts now. To be close to you"

Regulus shook his head as if he could change things like that.

"Didn't your parents tell you? My Uncle keeps saying you are good suitor for me"

"Your Uncle is delusional. I am not going to marry you. I don't know you at all"

Pandora laughed.

"Let's see my future home"

"This is not your..."

And just like that she started walking through the house. Regulus considered leaving her alone and running away. Maybe hiding in the loo, calling Barty while smoking the joint he had hidden in his pocket. This was the most bizarre girl he had met. Who said such things while meeting someone for the first time?

But there was that feeling of guilt. Something that made him follow the rules and stay put. Something Sirius didn't have. But fuck Sirius. Regulus didn't want to think about him. He was angry. All of this was his fault.

Regulus sighed and rolled his eyes before going after Pandora.

Pandora, Regulus reckoned after spending five minutes with her, was like an energetic kid. She asked questions about everything around the house. And when Regulus was about to answer, she asked another one. Regulus found himself taking vases and reliques out of her hands before she broke them.

"No no no no... You're going to break this"

Or forbid her to touch stuff she wasn’t supposed to touch.

"Leave that alone, will you?"

Seriously it was like babysitting. Regulus hated kids. So he rolled his eyes every five seconds. Pandora introduced herself to all the servitude around as if they were Regulus' family or friends. The worst part was that she said: "Hi, I'm Pandora! Regulus' friend" to anyone who listened. Including some guests at the party.

"I want to see your room" Pandora said when they got to the second floor.

'When girls say that.. ' a voice inside his head that sounded too much like Barty said '.. Is because they want to have sex with you'

"No! Why?"

Regulus never understood his own cousins. Worst of all, another girls. He hadn't spoken to one for more than five minutes.

The idea of shagging Pandora made him panic. Even snogging her. Even coming closer.

"The way someone keeps their room says a lot about them" Pandora shrugged "Is it here?"

Pandora was pointing to Sirius' room, which hadn't been touched or opened since he left. Except when Regulus got extremely high and he missed his brother like hell, and he sneaked in.

"No!" Regulus took her arm and pushed her away rather harshly "Don't go in there!"

Pandora looked at him in confusion. Rubbing her arm. And Regulus realized perhaps he had been a bit too harsh. So his expression softened.

"My room is over there" he said pointing down the hall "But you have to promise not to touch anything"

Pandora smiled and nodded.

"Promise"

Pandora kept her promise. She didn't touch anything but she eyed everything with great curiousity. Regulus' room was very tidy in comparison to Sirius'. He didn't use much decorations or posters. Just a My Chemical Romance poster that had skeletons on it and Regulus found cool.

Pandora started singing the lyrics of The Black Parade which was kind of surprising. Regulus didn't know a pinky princess like her would like this type of music.

She eyed the well made bed, and the pile of clothes very well folded on a corner. And the stash of books Regulus owned. And the music sheets stuck by his desk.

"You are a musician?"

"I used to play the piano. Not anymore"

He used to practice daily. It was one of the things he loved doing when he was younger. But he didn't find inspiration anymore. He found all of it silly. Maybe because he was tired and sad all the time.

Pandora didn't answer. She seemed to be occupied with something on Regulus' night table.

"What is this?"

Pandora was holding the box that contained his stash of weed. No one from his family knew he actually smoked. He had forgotten to hide it. Pandora looked like the snitch that would tell her Uncle and the man would tell Regulus' parents. And he didn't want to have that conversation.

"Nothing!" Regulus took the box for himself.

He put the box inside a drawer rather aggressively. He could feel the joint inside his pocket burning.

Regulus might've needed it right now.

Pandora shrugged and moved to grab a picture frame. It was a picture of Sirius and him when they were kids. It was a happy one. Not like the the ones The Black's used for press or put around the house to pretend they were a happy family. Their smiles were genuine. That day their parents had a business trip or something. And Mrs. Syre had been miraculously sick. So they were sent to spend the day with their Uncle Alphard. Regulus remembered it as one of the best days of his life. Their Uncle let them eat all the sugar they wanted and play as much as they wished. Alphard had been into photography at that time. He was always into something new. And he took the picture. Sirius kept it of course. He kept everything cool or nice. And Regulus had found it in his room when he sneaked there to smoke the other day. That picture was before Lupin, before Potter, before everything.

"Is this you brother?" Pandora asked, getting Regulus out of the memory "I heard so much about him. That he is gay now and all... Which is fine. There's nothing wrong about being gay. I am actually thinking perhaps... "

"He is not gay" Regulus found himself spiting , Interrupting Pandora "He is just a bloody douchebag"

Thinking about Sirius made him extremely angry and sad lately. So much that he felt like punching something or breaking down crying. Regulus hated that he had left. Just like that. And suddenly forgot he had a family. That he had a brother. And Regulus had to take care of a lot of things since he left.

He hated that Pandora had an opinion about Sirius, that everyone had an opinion. That everyone was judging him.

Regulus took his stash out of the drawer, grabbed the frame from Pandora's hands and put it down. Hiding the picture.

"If you want to see what this is, I will show you" Regulus said "Follow me"

Pandora followed him very pleased, with a big smile on her face, and even bouncing a little.

"Your room shows you are actually not that though as you look like" Pandora said as she followed "You care too much about things and you are very disciplined with yourself. But you keep everything in layers afraid of showing others"

Regulus stopped walking just to say:

"Don't physicoanalize me based on my room"

Pandora simply laughed.

But she talked a lot on their way to the study where Regulus usually liked to smoke because of its large window so the smell would go away. Pandora talked about a lot of random facts about herself, her Uncle, and a lad named Ralf which apparently was her body guard. Regulus pretended he didn't care. But he listened closely.

By the time they got to the study, Regulus regretted even bringing Pandora here. She seemed like an innocent girl. Regulus didn't want to show her how to smoke weed.

But God, he was so stressed with everything. And Pandora talking and talking. He needed something to ease his mind.

"You can return to the party now"

"But I am having a blast with you!"

Pandora smiled as she began to curiously wonder around the room. Like she had done with all of the others.

"I thought we were smoking weed"

Damn. Perhaps this girl wasn't that innocent.

"I am not stupid" Pandora laughed, watching his face "I know how it smells and looks. Tons of kids used to do it at my school"

"And you?"

Pandora shook her head.

"I had never"

"Well then... I am not going to be the one to corrupt you"

"Is this a thing you would like to do right now?"

He would love to. But preferably alone. Or with Barty.

"Well..."

"Then let's do it!" Pandora exclaimed "I want to like the things you like. Because we are friends..."

They weren't friends.

"Or future spouses"

Pandora smiled as she tried to reach the joint in Regulus' hand but he pulled away.

"No!" he snapped "And we are not going to be spouses ever"

"Come on, Regulus" Pandora begged trying to reach it "Let me try"

"No!"

"I want to be cool like you!"

Regulus had never considered himself cool but okay...

"I said no!"

"Regulus Henry Black!" Pandora put her hands on her hips.

"My second name is not Henry"

"Whatever, it is the first name that came into my mind" Pandora shrugged. Then she frowned "Give it to me!"

"No!"

Pandora was now trying to tickle him. Just like Sirius used to do when they were kids. Regulus did his best not to giggle. And kept putting the joint away. Above his head because he was taller.

The next thing that happened was that Pandora had climbed on his waist, trying to grab it.

"Give it here!"

"Get off me!"

"Come on, Regulus!"

"What is wrong with you?!"

Pandora was laughing and Regulus hadn't had a clue of what to do. He was trying to cover himself and avoid the tickles. And Pandora was way heavier than she seems.

"Jesus Christ! Get off me!"

"I won't give up, Regulus"

It got to the point where they dropped to the floor on the carpet.

Regulus was on his back and Pandora was sitting on his waist. She finally grabbed the joint from his hand because Regulus was suddenly too uncomfortable to fight.

"Ha! Got it!" Pandora laughed.

"Honestly, what is wrong with you? You are literally insane!"

Pandora's expression changed. She looked sad and embarassed now which made Regulus feel guilty. But then Pandora added with a smile.

"How do I use this?"

In that second they heard a voice approaching.

"I told you I cannot talk right now, Ulrich!... Yes I am with her... What's the problem?... It's Narcissa, my girlfriend...."

Regulus didn't have time to react before Lucius Malfoy had crossed the door speaking on the phone. He was surprised to see Regulus there. Like he had been caught doing something bad. But then he saw Pandora on his waist and Lucius raised an eyebrow smiling.

"I have to go" he said to the phone. Then he stood by the door, crossing his arms and looking amused between the two.

"Sorry... Am I interrupting something?"

Regulus then realized in the compromised position they were immersed into.

"No! No no no..." he pushed Pandora away and she dropped to the floor letting out a soft shriek.

"No there is nothing going on..." Regulus stood up nervously "Me and her? No... Not at all"

This night had been crazy so far. He didn't want Lucius Malfoy, the bloody king of gossip, to tell Narcissa or worse Bellatrix about this. They would never leave him alone.

Or perhaps this was what the family wanted....

But Regulus would rather die than actually date a girl like this. She was too much.

But Lucius was laughing.

"I didn't know you were a little Casanova, eh Reggie?"

Sirius hated this asshole for a reason. He was a twat. Worth pranking on. Narcissa deserved better.

"Who would have thought?"

"Regulus, you pushed me!" And Pandora was now on his side. Until she noticed Lucius.

"Hi, I am Pandora" she shook his hand "Regulus' friend"

"We are not friends" Regulus said under his breath but there was no use.

"Lucius Malfoy..." he answered "Nice to meet you, sweetheart"

"Regulus and I were about to smoke a joint, Lucius"

Regulus' eyes opened up like plates. This girl was so thick.

"Pandora..." he grunted.

"A joint, you said?" Lucius asked.

Regulus wanted to deny it but Pandora had it in her hands and Regulus wanted to die.

Lucius smiled and closed the door behind him.

"Do you mind sharing that, Reggie?"

"It's Regulus. And no! We are just leaving"

He grabbed Pandora's hand for some reason but Lucius added:.

"If you share I won't tell anyone you smoke"

Regulus stopped.

"Does Cissy know you smoke?"

"Does Cissy know YOU smoke?"

This fucking wanker.

"Who is Ulrich?"

Lucius was surprised by that question.

"A friend from Oslo" he answered nervously "Is she your girlfriend?" Lucius pointed at Pandora.

"No! She is my... friend"

Was she? Pandora smiled at that statement.

"And future wife" she added.

Regulus dropped her hand because he was still holding it.

"No we are not!"

"Yes we are?"

"Says who?"

"Our families"

"Bullshit"

"Damn..." Lucius added looking between the two "The chemistry"

Regulus wanted to vomit.

They ended up sharing the split. Regulus and Lucius had agreed to not tell what they apparently knew about each other and keep quiet. Somehow Pandora agreed too. Though she wasn't involved but whatever.

Regulus found himself very pendant of Pandora because it was her first time smoking. She coughed a little but then she learned quickly not to. Regulus didn't know if he should be surprised or concerned.

All he knew was that he was starting to relax as he got high. Best feeling in the world lately.

"Is it true you are marrying Narcissa?"

Regulus asked, trying not to be bothered by Pandora's hands running through his hair.

Lucius coughed after he took a drag.

"Who told you that?"

"Everyone is expeculating about it" Regulus shrugged "It is the next move, isn't it? Now that Sirius is not the heir. Probably your father thinks I am not capable. You have to marry Narcissa to be part of the family and therefore be considered an Heir"

Lucius seemed pale and uncomfortable. But perhaps he was also high because he grinned.

"Damn, Reggie. You are too fucking intelligent"

"It's Regulus"

"Who is Narcissa?"

Pandora seemed to be the most high of them all. And Regulus was worried because it was his responsabilty.

"My cousin..." he said "His girlfriend"

Lucius nodded at that.

"Oh that's cool!" Pandora bounced on the couch "I think I actually have cousins but none of them speak to me. No one from my father's side speak to me. Apparently he ran off to marry my mother who was a hippie woman that new about magic... They said she was a witch..."

Regulus and Lucius looked between each other. This girl was insane.

"But I think maybe she was on drugs all the time, you know? Because I feel like magic right now" she touched Regulus' hair again and he flinched "Regulus' hair is magic... So soft and fluffy like a bunny"

Regulus pulled away "Let go"

"Anyway my parents died in a car accident when I was nine..." Pandora continued "I was there. And I like to believe she put a spell on me to keep me protected and save me from death"

Regulus didn't know what to say. Luckily Lucius spoke.

"Hell! You're a miracle then!"

"I am a miracle!" Pandora screamed and then giggled dropping her head on Regulus' shoulder. If he wasn't this high and relaxed he would've probably pushed her away.

"I have the ring, Reggie..." Lucius was saying now.

"It's Regulus"

Lucius ignored him taking a tiny shinny little ring from his pocket. Oh! An engagement ring. Cissy...

"I don't know what to do" Lucius sighed "I love her but I don't know if I want to marry her, you know?"

"Oh! Shinny!" Pandora luckily got off Regulus' shoulder and leaned in to look at that ring up close.

"It was my mother's" Lucius said miserably "Now I have to give it to her, to Cissy"

Regulus thought of Narcissa and the amount of time she talked about Lucius. How she talked about him like he was the best bloke alive, a real prince. How Cissy got so happy when Lucius arrived at Family Gatherings showering him with kisses. Did Lucius feel the same?

Sometimes Regulus didn't understand love. It sounded like a lot compromise. Like something that made people act stupid. Regulus thought of Andromeda and how she left everything for Tonks. He thought about Sirius and how he always preferred Lupin. Was it all worth it?

And now Pandora was speaking.

"If you love her, Lucius. If you truly love her then you should propose and marry her"

Lucius' eyes were watery.

"Sounds easy, eh?"

"It is"

"Have you ever been in love, Pandora?"

"No" Pandora answered immediately "But love is easy. People are the ones who made it complicated"

Perhaps that was true.

Lucius pocketed the ring and leaned back.

"I thought you were going to marry, Reggie"

Regulus blushed for some reason. Mainly because they were talking about him. In front of him.

"Nah..." Pandora gave Regulus a smile than made him blush even more "I don't want to marry, Regulus. I just think he is really cool and I want to be his friend"

Lucius chuckled.

"Friendzoning  him already, eh? Poor Reggie"

Regulus rolled his eyes. Pandora laughed.

"Shut up, Malfoy" he said "And it's Regulus!"

Although he was glad that Pandora didn't have a crush or something. That would be weird.

The door was bursted open. And Regulus almost had a heart attack. But it was only Bellatrix and Narcissa.

"Lucius! There you are!" the latter said.

Regulus hid the joint behind his back but he hadn't realized they were surrounded by smoke until his cousins coughed and cleared it away.

"What the hell is that smell?" Bella asked but her wicked smile and expression showed she already knew everything.

"Cissy!" Lucius tried to grab her waist

"Are you smoking weed?" she asked indignated "And with my little cousin?"

"Reggie is cool"

"Yeah, Reggie is cool" Pandora added.

"It's Regulus..."

"Who is she?" Bellatrix was staring at Pandora with disgust.

"Pandora Lovegood!" she extended her hand "Regulus' friend"

Regulus rolled his eyes.

Bellatrix pursed her lips.

"Oh! The American Ambassador's niece" she told with amusement to her sister. But Narcissa was busy trying to wake Lucius who had apparently fallen asleep.

Regulus didn't know what that meant. He didn't want to ask.

Bellatrix turned to them again.

"Give it to me!" Bellatrix demanded.

"What are you talking ab.... Ah ah ah!" he protested when Bellatrix pulled his ear "Bella!"

"Give it now!"

"Jesus fucking Christ!"

Regulus was embarrassed to be scolded by his older cousin in front of Pandora. Practically a stranger, was she?

Regulus showed Bellatrix the joint. It was almost finished. Bellatrix raised an eyebrow.

"Please don't tell my parents!"

Bella came closer and Regulus flinched.

"The next time, don't invite that wanker" she pointed to Lucius who was on Narcissa's lap "Invite your dear cousin, will you?"

Regulus didn't expect that. So Bella smoked too, ha? He was relieved.

At least this night didn't turn as boring as he had expected. The first New Years Party without Sirius to make mischief. And it didn't turn to be that bad. All thanks to the strange girl next to him.

[2x4plank]

I'm absolutely going out of order going over these episodes but if I don't talk about Season 2 it will kill me.

⚠️This post is very long. It's a commitment to read, so be ready to scroll if you wanna!⚠️

We start with Omid getting shot. I feel like how it played out was pretty realistic. His quiet sneak-in--it made sense. I don't know if I entirely feel bad for Michelle, but I don't feel good about her getting shot neither. And then Christa dies off screen. Maybe not the choice I would've made, but I'ma let it slide--if only because Clementine was trying to be outta there! I love Clementine's lil backpack. I wish she kept it.

I honestly don't dislike Clementine as a protagonist. In fact, I like spending a lot of time with her and letting her have more autonomy in the story. However...it does bring its own set of problems.

The theme of this story seems to be dangerous incompetence--which is a personal pet peeve. There is so much reliance on Clementine and this burden of accountability the adults around her make her take. Like, it was good of Luke and Pete to carry her back. I liked Pete (and then he died real soon after). But then they fumble on locking her in a shed. To die of either illness or the walkers that surround her. And Nick almost shoots her too! It was cool of him to draw the walkers toward him, but like...you're very trigger happy buddy. I never really warmed up to Nick before we turned his head into a salami log. He was on a streak of poor decisions (see: Matthew's murder).

Leaving Clementine to do her own sutures in the cold and rain instead of just having Carlos at the very least fix up the obvious animal bite is really stupid of them. I felt like I was CPS reviewing a case while playing this game, and I'm not even a decade older than Clementine here. So to find out that these adults (with Luke, apparently one of the younger members at 26-27) were okay with leaving her there? That makes me mad! She shouldn't have had to do that.

Then we have Sarah, the tall dork kid, who is willing to help you out because she has more than an ounce of good sense and understands that this is unfair. But then they do her real dirty! She is abused and dies a horrible painful death after being riddled with anxiety and watching her dad get devoured. And then everybody just...forgets about it! Not even a forlorn look at her pair of glasses or whatever remains of her. Wow! That is awful! I completely disagree with those choices. Sarah absolutely deserved better. I mean, I don't really care about Carlos, but Sarah deserved better. Forget Arvo! We need more cute fanart of her.

Then there's Carver. Pretty good and believable antagonist. He has a doctrine that is unfairly and irregularly enforced. Less a ruleset and more of whatever he feels like at the time--which is mostly anger. He does some recon before striking which is also pretty cool. And maybe it would've gone better if Carlos hadn't let two children stay home alone. Ain't that like...Parenting 101? If you're so keen on protecting your daughter, why ya leaving her alone in the apocalypse? Maybe she wouldn't be taking photos if you were there with her. Maybe she would've been better about not opening the door. Don't force children to watch children.

And then Bonnie does the second round of recon, which was really obvious. If I walked around the corner of the lodge and saw some guy looking into the window and acting real surprised to see me...I would probably think they were counting how many people were inside to launch some sort of attack. I knew she wasn't a good person, and that remained true to the very end. Despite her sorry attempts to make amends, she really wasn't nothing. She ruined Christmas! I'm not even religious, but the decorations were so pretty...and she was an agent of its destruction.

Reuniting with Kenny at the Ski Lodge was nice. I felt happy to see him. As I said before, I was absolutely sitting at his table because he is Clementine's secondary dad. As we'll find out later on, he kinda toxic, but I was still loyal to him because...the devil you know, right?! That is literally one of the worst perspectives, don't listen to me, but it's the one I had. And also I felt like he wasn't really going to hurt-hurt the kids, but he did still hurt Clementine emotionally. I felt like he was the best guardian out of the ones presented to us (outside of maybe Rebecca).

The addition of Sarita brought some problems too. They did not flesh her out. She deserved better also, outside of being Kenny's new wife. I know that:

She likes...Christmas.

She found Kenny somewhere.

She thinks his beard got bigger.

She had to listen to Kenny tell his sad backstory before she went to sleep at night.

She got bit on the hand.

Sarita didn't get enough space outside of Kenny--who I still like, for some reason.

Then there's Kenny's other friend, Walter. After watching Breaking Bad, I was not ready to trust this dude. I mean, he mixes peaches and beans for Pete's sake. But he was actually factually nice! Not even taking vengeance on Nick after he shot his bestie--that was a real kindness. And yes, I did tell him. Seems kinda hypocritical considering my position on Ben telling the truth, and maybe it is, but I think he deserved to know and that he'd find out pretty soon otherwise. I felt like it was wrong for Luke to cover for Nick so hard--especially sending Clementine out there to do so, putting her in the line of fire as they so often do. I mean, they're friends...but your friend has a history of going off and killing people with no real reason. I completely forgot where Nick was during the Carver Cult situation, so no more about him. But back to Bill Depot.

We meet some dude named Mike and another one named Jane. They help the crew escape while Kenny absolutely defaces Carver with a crowbar. He deserved it, no question about that. I think it's hilarious how if Clementine just insists, she can stay and watch. "No, you can't watch this guy get massacred. Okay, only if you really want to."

Carver's behavior towards Rebecca is extremely disgusting. This ownership of her is gross and the entitlement towards AJ, regardless of their prior relationship is gross. And while I do not blame Rebecca one bit, it's all Carver's fault, I couldn't help but keep thinking: "If I hadn't got mixed up with this group, this wouldn't have happened to me! I don't even really care about these people!" It was moreover the group's collective incompetence that made me feel that way.

Reggie was pretty funny. One thing this game is never lacking is in humor, and I liked Reggie...kind of. Course, his cavalier attitude towards imprisonment is not good, but he had been left there. I'm still confused as to how his arm was cut off. Was it really a walker bite, or a punishment? I really felt like he was lying to make Bill Depot look like a better place to be, and as we can see with Lee, amputation doesn't typically work. But maybe it's a time thing and something to do with using sterilized tools.

Clementine being the linchpin in their escape is kinda cool, kinda not. She is the smallest and least likely to get noticed. But they let her out in that bright ass jacket. Get 'er in something darker, at the very least! And of course, I was thinking: "Lee wouldn't let her do this. Lee wouldn't make her do any of this." But Lee did let her sneak through the vents, so...? I don't know.

Mike & Jane are pretty cool at first. Mike is funny, seemingly reasonable, and Jane is strong and collected. That definitely changes pretty soon with catching Luke and Jane fooling around and the introduction of Arvo.

I was completely against robbing Arvo and disagreed with Jane escalating things. She did still rob him of his gun, but not his medicine, but that put Arvo in danger on his return so I understand him being mad at HER about that. But the way he treats Cleemntine no matter what and holds the wrong people accountable really soured me on him. He held Clem at gunpoint first, even though she's not even a preteen in a rainbow sweater.

However, the way Kenny beat on him? I didn't agree with that, nor did I agree with leaving him in the cold. Additionally, the xenophobic names Kenny called him were rude and nonsensical. You're calling him a commie but you want to go to Wellington? A supposed COMMUNE?! Aight.

But Kenny's anger is not unjustified. It's not like Arvo didn't lead a crossfire that put everyone, including the kids in danger. If they weren't shot, they could've died of hypothermia. And in Kenny's eyes, being held up might've led to Rebecca turning.

I didn't want Arvo to be tortured regardless. He was young and there really wasn't any point to beating on him. That is, until the very end--but it's not like Kenny knew what was going to happen.

When Kenny is talking to Clementine alone in that truck, my soul was screaming. I know exactly how she feels, what position she's in, and God it is icky. I still like Kenny for the most part, somehow. I still feel like he was there for the kids, kind of. However, this bouncing off of Clem to make serious decisions after snapping at her, telling her she was at fault for Sarita's death (he did apologize at the very least, which is more than I've gotten most of the time). This isolation and weight Clementine felt is awful. Not to mention he was so consumed by anger at Arvo that he let Clementine sit there freezing and wet for longer than she should've had to instead of finding a log or something. Some of the burdening on Clementine is realistic. Children of color especially are often expected to act more adult than they should, but uh, don't ask me why I know what that feels like. On the other end, some of the decisions Clementine has to make are purely done for story reasons.

The betrayal? I thought it was pretty good. I don't think it came out of nowhere and it riled me up. I know Mike seemed like a nice guy, but his connection with Clementine was shallow. People normally have the common decency to protect kids, but it's hard to tell until you gotta. And he'd been talking to Arvo, seeing how Kenny mistreated him, he wanted to get them away from Kenny. But he was content to take away all the food that could've been used for AJ and Clementine. In the cold. In the snow. He thought less about protecting the most vulnerable and more about taking his favorites with him. And then there's Bonnie!

I knew she couldn't be trusted. She clearly didn't know her place after being part of the reason the crew got kidnapped. And then she pulls that stuff, after blaming Clementine for Luke's death. Saddling the pre-preteen with something else. By the way, I didn't feel much at Luke's death. Maybe he should've got some skis from the lodge. The only thing Bonnie did was give her a cool jacket THAT SHE STOLE FROM THE SKI LODGE!!! I hope she didn't make it. Flaky-like-a-pastry-ass-Bonnie.

Then comes Arvo's shooting of MY BABY! MY LITTLE RAINBOW BABY CLEMENTINE! HE SHOT HER! WITH A RIFLE! A GUN THAT WOULD GIVE YOU TIME TO NOT SHOOT A CHILD! OOH, I WASN'T OKAY WITH BEATING HIM EARLIER, BUT I THINK HE DESERVED A PUNCH FOR THAT!

But then they make you mild with that Lee flashback. Lee is just so concerned with keeping this child safe and comfortable. He really was father of the year.

I'm glad Clementine survived, but then comes another ordeal. Jane v. Kenny. Okay, I was half with Jane. She wasn't completely clean (seriously? you were so willing to give up on Sarah twice), but neither was Kenny. She seemed to want to get Clementine out of a possible volatile environment. But that stunt she pulled? You heard of leaving a baby in a hot car. Now how about LEAVING A BABY IN A COLD CAR TO DIE AT SUB-ZERO TEMPERATURES! I wasn't willing to shoot Kenny because I didn't know what Jane did to AJ. "Just trust me," told me nothing. I was certain he wasn't dead, but I still didn't know if he was in danger. So I let Kenny kill her. Guess I'm going with truck freak--at least he won't leave me in a car.

Now, Kenny did make me uncomfortable. Especially with his steep change in emotions, like saying, "Race ya!" after violently killing someone Clementine was close to. Like, I understand why, but still.

Finally, Wellington. Kenny's last good deed. He does what's best for Clementine and AJ without giving Clementine shit about it. He helped her get there and seemed genuinely happy to make sure they'd be safe. That's one reason...I still kinda like this guy!

But damn, Clementine has to watch another person she trusted and felt like watched over her disappear. That is very bitter, slightly sweet. I hope they have apples at Wellington.

[furiousgoldfish]

i hit a breaking point with my sister recently. shes only 12 but shes a preteen so of course shes a bit more work than i would expect. my parents were out the house, and i cared for her like i have for years when theyre out. i even help with my older brother, but back when he wasnt 18, when he was 17 and younger!

she got mad at me for taking too long to shower, then for "looking mean", then she yelled at me for not making her the food my mom makes.

I regret what i did but i talked back. i told her i wasnt mom, im just a girl. i tried the gentle parenting thing, even read my old parenting book i bought when i turned 11!! i still couldnt control what came out my mouth, i was cold to her. i said "fine, you don't have to like it, or me just stop fucking yelling at me like im your mom. im 16 not mama. im still a kid"

she told my parents and they didnt even know what to do, my sister WANTED me in trouble, but instead my parents just ate a silent dinner last night and tonight.

im not a mom, im just a 16 year old person trying to be a good person for the piece of intolerable idiocy of my sister. i love her, but shes so annoying.

I'm not sure what to say, you were right about saying you were a 16 year old, and not your sister's caretaker. Your parents obviously put you in a role of parenting your sister, and you tried so hard, so it's no wonder your temper ran out when all that hard work was met with unpleasantness and lack of gratitude, but this is because your parents put you in a role you were never meant to be in. You're not an adult, you're not supposed to be expected to have researched parenting and to figure out the best way to parent your sister, this is insane that they asked this of you.

What they've done is called 'parentification', and it's putting a child into a role of a parent, expecting them to have their problems figured out on their own and on top of that to care for their siblings, and sometimes even the parents themselves. This puts the immense pressure on a child to keep peace, make everyone happy, appear to have no troubles, no issues of their own, and then also so quickly grow up that they can effectively care for their siblings, have endless patience, do tasks perfectly and take on responsibilities they were not trained or developed enough to do.

You are not supposed to be burdened with all this, you're supposed to be chasing your own interests and hobbies, have free time and enjoy yourself, figure out how to fit with your own peers, have friendships and first relationships, you're not supposed to be burdened with parenting and making everyone in your house happy. You're supposed to be cared for.

So I don't think you've done anything wrong, and it is alarming that your younger sister wanted to get you in trouble - it sounds like she's already realized you're at the end of made up 'hierarchy' of who is supposed to be blamed for everything, so she took advantage to affirm that her place is above you, and that you will be punished if she isn't pleased with you - which has to be immensely painful for you, who worked so hard to try and parent your sister.

She is 12 and just absorbing whatever her environment is telling her, and I actually don't know enough about 12-year-olds to say if her actions were normal or messed up at that stage, I can tell that they hurt you and that it wasn't fair towards you.

Your parents seem to have done absolutely nothing to resolve this situation, to comfort you, or to parent their own 12 year old, which makes this even worse, to know that when you're at the end of your rope and no longer know or can do anything, that even then they will not pitch in and act like adults and resolve a painful situation, or to even comfort you after an incident. I'm really sorry you're in this situation, you shouldn't be. I know this happens a lot, people have children and then think it's an easy out just to leave to the older children to parent the younger, it's not a cool trick, it's neglect and burdening children with their own responsibilities. I hope one day you experience what it's like to be free of responsibilities like this, and to know that it's not your job to raise children you didn't have - even though in this case I understand you love your little sister and you're ready to take on a lot of burdens just to make her life easier. It's still not fair, and this burden shouldn't be put on your shoulders.

If anyone else can relate to this situation or knows some good words to say, please add to this post. I didn't have a personal experience like this, so I probably am not the best person to make comments on judgment on it, hearing other people's experiences might help.

[mysteriouslypalecollective]

I found a really old fanfiction I wrote about the dream SMP more specifically C!Tommy. And I wrote one chapter so here it is

===============================

Found family

This story starts off with a boy named Tommy. He is a blonde boy with curly hair and a white streak. His hair was long and put in two small spiky pigtails in the back. He wore a big comfy blue sewn sweater with a ruined red and white shirt peeking underneath it. He had long baggy tan pants. He had a devil tail peeking beneath his sweater. He had small red horns. His face was covered in scars and on his cheek was a smile.

“ELLLO?” He called out his tone was a bit weak and scared. The voice that answered was not recognized by the young boy. The voice shouted “hello” . It almost sounded like a young adult. The boy was startled and jumped. He then looked at the person "Who are you?” said the blonde boy.

“Hi, my name is Wren. What's your name.”

The person now known as Wren was a young adult presumably female but it was hard to tell they were reasonably tall they had a bandana over their hair and it looks like little goat horns poking out from underneath they had go to ears and hoofs which were nicely paired with a with cargo shorts and a cardigan a yellow cardigan with a black t-shirt underneath.

The blonde haired boy quickly tries to think of a fake name “My name is…Uhh…Umm. My name is…Uhh, Jack.”

“It's a pleasure to meet you Jack,” Wren said with a smile.

Tell me was cautious he has to be cautious he gone through so much already he couldn't risk it after dream killing him bringing him back to life having people portray him in going through wars and going through so much he couldn't risk meeting a stranger in them taking advantage of him he was just so tired and so sick of it and didn't know what to do. He missed his parents but his parents had been nothing but garbage to him ever since he was born. Philza had treated him well but those are now distant. Having to kill his own son was brutal and traumatic for the entire “family”. But now he couldn't go to phil, he couldn't go to anyone they were either dead or were betraying him or had replaced him entirely, he was just alone and he didn't know what to do and he didn't want to open up to a random stranger at least not immediately, he didn't know them yet.

“Are you planning to kill me?” the kid bulleted out

Wren immediately steps back very surprised by the sudden question

“Why on bloody Earth would I do that!” they responded in shock and also slight fear.

“My bad…I have just had some…not so great experiences with people and I am a bit…um…you know.” He shrugs and looks away. “I've been through shit.”

“Are you going to therapy like, at all?” Wren asked, quite worried about this kid's mental health and physical health at that matter.

Tommy nodded, explaining how he goes to Puffy's for therapy whenever she is free. But most of the time he bottles of his emotions and doesn't burden them on anyone else unless they pri.

“I'm glad you're going to therapy but please “Jack” don't bottle up your emotions. It's a stupid way of coping and it doesn't work. It just leads you to a bad mental state where you fall apart, not a fun time.”

Wren does this whole little speech on how bottling up your emotions is bad and you should talk to people you trust and she just they just kind of get into the zone on talking about this mental health issue and Tommy's just there watching it listening and realizing that this person is genuine and probably isn't a piece of shit.

Tommy sighs, takes deep breath in and decides to tell them about all of the not very fun things that he's done and he's had to go through and just tell someone because if someone's going to go throw this trouble until you why you shouldn't follow up your feelings you have to make them regret it by trauma dumping.

“Well…um…you see….”

The boy sighs and mumbles.

“I’m a child soldier.

“Oh honey, “Jack” I'm so sorry”

“No need to apologize…” He says quietly. “The worst has already happened to me…nothing worse can happen…”

“That’s what I tell myself at least…”

“It still means you went to shit that's not good like that's rough and really sorry you had to go through that and are still going through that” Wren looks over at the boy with empathy and compassion, desperately wanting him to have a good childhood and wanting to give him a good life.

He shrugs and smiles awkwardly.

“Well…it’s my life.” He mumbles and sighs.

“Not much I can do about it…I just…it is how it is I guess.”

“Can't you just leave?” Wren asks

He laughs and says. “Where am I going to go? I have no money, no education and no way out of where I am.” He chuckles and shrugs. “You think people would just let an orphan child soldier just get away that easily?”

“You could pick a direction and just keep going, find a nice spot where you have access to fresh water and Good soil and start making a home. I guess I don't know. You just shouldn't need to go through that shit, just leave that to the adults you shouldn't have had to go through that. You shouldn't be going through that when you're a kid it's not okay” Wren tries to convince him to just leave this behind and get a good life free of pain.

“So you want me to make a home alone in the woods? And what? Eat berries?” He laughs nervously and shakes his head. “First of all, I don’t have the survival skills to live off of what I can find around me and second of all, I am still wanted by the army. I was not supposed to get out and they are looking for me.”

Wren looked at the blonde haired boy with so much desperation and love and just wanting him to be okay Wren had barely known the kid and they'd already got an emotional attachment to him.

As Wren stared at Tommy, Tommy stared back. Tommy didn't take Wrens staring as a threatening thing more as a vague interest. Tommy was starting to feel a little bit uncomfortable with the staring thing, he felt like Wren was looking at him and trying to pick apart his trauma and how his brain worked. Almost like a science project that no one bothered to finish.

“Umm are you ok with hugs? It's fine if you're not. I don't want to set off a trigger or anything. I just thought that you might have wanted one.” Wren explained

The boy shrugs. He doesn’t mind not getting hugged.

“I appreciate it anyway…uh…can you promise me one thing?”

“Sure, what do you need me to promise?”

“Can you please not tell anyone where I am?” He is serious and seems to be begging.

“Of course, I'm not going to tell any of the information you tell me to a third party. I know I sound like a government official or something but like I swear I won't tell us all unless you want me to because I don't want to make your life worse.” Wren explained.

The boy smiles. “Thank you.”

Then he seems to be thinking of something.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure what is"jack”?”

“How old are you?” The way Tommy said it was very abrupt and to the point it was not jumping around the topic it was very direct and immediate in the way he said it it was slightly drawing to Wren but they did appreciate the forward nes.

“Oh, umm 20-21 ish. I kind of stopped keeping track a while ago." Wren says this with a smile and a shrug.

“Hmm…” The boy thinks.

Then he asks with a serious tone.

“Did you have a normal childhood?”

“Well damn straight to the important questions it is then my gosh. Not that I mind it just shocking how forward you are. But all in all yeah I would say I had a pretty good childhood compared to yours. Because what you went through is horrible and I'm really sorry.”

“Can you…can you explain what it was like?” He asks. “I don’t understand what a normal childhood is supposed to be like….” Tommy looks sheepishly to the ground trying not to make eye contact and more interested in my feet now because hooves.

“…I can't… I don't it's hard to describe what a good childhood is like it's complicated all childhoods are different and what you may see is good can also it's everything's a mix that and no matter if you have good or bad there will always be ups and downs of the best I guess the best way to have a good childhood is least what my childhood at least I had to parents loved me and it was nice then there was other things that can't control like non-family people and illnesses and there's always things that will make something shity and will endorse trauma or a bad memory at least there's never a perfect child there's better ones but yeah at least kind of want my childhood was like if that made any sense.”

As Wren says this they start to tear up a bit just thinking about all of the shit that the kid in front of me had to go through for his childhood damn he's still in his childhood the things he's going through just broke wren's heart.

The blonde haired boy just nods kind of taking in what Wrens saying and also kind of not his family is chaotic and messy and not necessarily blood and it's just hard to relate for him so he's just kind of sitting there for it standing there trying to take in what he can and understanding what they're saying. He thinks back to Phil and what it was like when they were all together with Wilbur, Phil and techno. It was nice and his eyes but nice it was comfortable not necessarily perfect but comfortable he missed those days he missed when everything was comfortable not necessarily perfect but he didn't always fear for his safety and scared as he could shot in the heart with an arrow or blown up or beaten to death again. he missed those days. Then he thought about mothers. He had never known a mother, at least not a mother who cared about him enough or one that stuck around long enough.

He sighs and smiles and says.

“thank you for the insights….. Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure!”

He seems a bit nervous and whispers.

“What’s…um…a normal relationship between a mom and a child is supposed to be like…?”

It's it's kind of like you look up to them and they look up to you and it's kind of this weird sense of loving both ways of and you can get upset at them but they stop and talk you through what's happening and you have each other I am sorry about the bad explanations”

Wren starts to tear up a bit again.

The boy seems a little shocked by their answer and stares down at the ground.

“I never…I never had that. My parents were…not the best to say the least. I probably should be more specific I do mean my birth parents not my family”

The boy sighs and asks. “Do you think my parents loved me…”

Wren was cut off guard by the sudden question. they were more trying to process the thing that they said before about not having great birth parents but then this kid hit them with that bombshell! When the two were shocked to speak for a second just trying to compute all of the information that they had just been given.

“I-i don't know your parents so I can't make a good judgment on their character. all I can say is did you feel loved?”

Tommy shakes his head looking at the ground.

“From the little bit I know about your birth parents I don't think they may have loved you but it didn't show through and so and if you're not in touch anyway you should give them any time of day it's your childhood was shity and I'm sorry that you had to go through tons of trauma and are still going through more things. I'm so sorry because it's shity and you don't deserve that.”

The boy looks down and mumbles.

“Thanks…”

“Do you want a hug?” Wren offered

The boy pauses and then looks up at you.

“Yes…please…if that’s okay.”

Wren open star arms in an embrace with a warm smile on their face.

The boy walks into the hug.

He was shaking a little bit.

“Thank you…”

“You're welcome kid.”

He starts to sob a bit.

“I…I thank you…this is…really comforting…”

“You can stand my arms as long as you need. Can I ask you a question?”

Tommy teary eyed Wren's shoulder muttering something along the lines of “yes” through his tears.

“Is Jack your real name? Or is that just the name that you picked so you wouldn't have to tell me your real one?”

The boy goes silent. After two quiet seconds he says.

“No…Jack is not my real name….”

“Can I know your real name or is that too much?” Wren asked.

The boy looks at them with a bit of fear before quickly shaking his head “No…I…I can’t tell you.”

Wren sighs and then and then says “that's okay I'm here for you.”

His shaking slows and he mumbles.

“Can we not talk about my past anymore?”

Wren just nods not wanting to pry into the child's trauma.

The boy sighs and says.

“Thank you…uh…and thank you for letting me hug you…you are very comforting.”

Wren starts to sway while holding on to him trying to lull him into sleep.

The boy closes his eyes.

In a soft voice he mumbles.

“I like this, I've never had this before not for my parents or anyone really”

Wren just continued to sway, basically rocking him into sleep like a baby. thinking over things whether to say stuff or not eventually they decided to ask something.

“Hey kid, do you want a new parent?”

______________________________________________________________________

Tommy stops. There was a long break after that