I think it’s interesting how the Do-M sides of the boys in both Human and Sub Aus are exactly the same, but come from different places. In the Human Au, their masochism is just your run of the mill desire to be owned and hurt bc it feels really good, which is great to have fun w/ as a sadist :)), but in the Sub Au, it comes from a certain vulnerability, of wanting to be looked after, wanted and cared for and to stop having to THINK so much (along with, of course, a good deal of pain ;p)

Indeed!! I love that you’ve looked into the writing this much ❤ You described my intentions with their masochistic side perfectly, and I could make a lil mini-rant here, but you kind of already summed up what I was going for! The Human Au is just a twisting of canon, while the Sub Au is actively exploring some of the boys’ darkest issues, and how that could affect their personalities if things went even a slightly different way. I’ve always seen the boys as fragile and vulnerable in a way, even through all of their cruelty, and the Sub Au is my way of exploring how I think they could have been.