#tamon

what kills me about tamon/utage is that yes tamon's overstepping (so is utage LOL)(utage just freaks out and has a mental breakdown whenever she thinks she's overstepping) but a main reason utage isn't receptive to it is her own self-perception that it isn't good for him and that it's not her place to be so close to him. utage is generally hyperaware of the surface-level and wide-scale social dynamics at play, and extremely conscious of (attempting) to remain within the (perceived) appropriate ones. meanwhile tamon has in a way a more accurate read of their dynamic on an actual personal level, and does not care for the outsider perspective that utage always filters everything through - she perceives HERSELF as an outsider perspective, despite this not actually being true. conversely, tamon conceptualizes her as someone that's been "let in" - combined with his apathy, or rather... kind of ill-socialization toward how interpersonal relationships are appropriately handled, he's iffy on who he is, who he should be, what and which boundaries need to be upheld - in a sense, his self image is so low that he views himself and his portrayal as a malleable object to be utilized as seen fit. even when that utilization is one that deliberately undercuts boundaries that would otherwise stand - "I knew you would be okay with it because you think I'm hot." and once again his reading here isn't wrong - utage IS okay with it she just doesn't perceive their relationship in a way that allows it to settle normally. and yes he has always been like that. good luck, utage! good luck, tamon!