#He's also probably afraid of not being good enough; either as a parent or as a protector

[teyrnacousland]

ooo 21, 23, and 29 for Illario?

Yay, Illario! I will take any excuse to ramble more about Illario ♥

(ask list)

21. When do you think they were at their happiest?

This is an especially fitting question for Illario, since his name means happy!

I think the answer is probably before his parents died. Before he learned about all the weight and pressure the world would put on him, and before his every relationship became tainted by the fear of the pain of loss, or of disappointment. I think that event and everything that happens after it haunts even the happy memories.

I like to think that he finds new happiest memories in one way or another post game, either by reconciling with Lucanis or by making friends/finding love/finding a purpose, whatever.

23. Future headcanon

I like to think that after they rebuild some trust again, Illario ends up being Lucanis'... not secretary, because I think he'd hate that, but basically the person who meets with people on Lucanis' behalf. They both claim it's because the First Talon is too busy to attend meetings himself, but really it's just that Lucanis doesn't want to go and they both know Illario is better at it.

I like to think that this grows into collaborating more until eventually, they end up as unofficial Co-First Talons, unless one or both of them leaves the Crows. They each handle the things they're good at and they argue about Crow politics behind closed doors.

(Also Teia and Viago are there too, and possibly Rook. The title of First Talon is still officially Lucanis', but unofficially it's basically a group project at this point.)

29. How do you think they would be as a parent? (and if they are a parent, how do you think they would be if they weren't?)

Oooh, you really did pick the best questions for Illario, hm? I think he'd be... complicated? But I think he'd want to be better than Caterina was to them. He resents Caterina, and he says in The Wigmaker Job that if he was in charge, he wouldn't do the things Caterina did. He wanted Lucanis to retire. He wanted Lucanis to be safe and away from the dangers and pains of life as a Crow.

I think that desire would apply to his child, too. I think he would look at his child and resent Caterina more for it, because he couldn't imagine treating his child the way Caterina treated him. I think he'd be fiercely protective and that spoil his children with the best luxuries money can buy. He obviously has his own issues, and I think it'd be naive to say none of that would affect how he is as a parent, but I think he would want to try.

[toto-the-cactus]

Primarchs + Daughters

My perception of how each Primarch would behave when nosediving into parenthood if they had daughters. Enjoy!

I wanna personally thank @moodymisty because a great deal of their works inspired this piece.

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3

Lion El’jonson

The embodiment of 'tough love' made man. Having a daughter doesn’t do much to soften this guy… or at least that’s what others believe. The Dark Angels Legion are probably the only ones aware of the small gestures the Primarch often gives to his little girl in the safety that privacy offers. Where Lion lacks words of compassionate and parental love, he appropriately makes up for it with actions. He isn’t one to go over the top and prefers to give modest gifts to his daughter as the last thing the man wants is to raise a spoiled brat. Father-daughter bonding time can be summarized with strenuous training using the sword. This man will not let his precious Princess go through life without learning how to protect herself, even if he has made an oath to forever shield her too.

Fulgrim

The complete antithesis of Lion. Where this man views the Emperor as the perfection anyone should strive to reach, his beautiful daughter comes close to the second place in fulfilling that ideal. There’s a big fat chance that he teared up a little when his little gem called him Papa for the first time, but managed to wear his ever unshakable mask because he absolutely refuses to break character even in private. Has the mistaken notion that his baby is a blank canvas ready to be painted to its fullest potential; aka, molding her to what HE wants and expects of her. Fulgrim probably spoils her rotten but only through conditions that she must follow, as the Primarch understands the importance of fighting and earning for what you wish to obtain. He makes sure that any of his gene-sons are in her company as he refuses to let even a single scratch happen to his little girl. Honestly, a grown-up version of Fulgrim’s child has the chances to go both opposites of the spectrum with no in betweens: A shy aristocratic lady who is unable to speak her own mind or a completely haughty, sharp and manipulative noble woman. Too much to unpack there, yo.

Perturabo

(Slaps this bastard's head loudly) This bad boy can fit so much family trauma in it! Okay no but seriously, there’s a good reason why so many people agree that this bitch has a thing for gilded cages and all the fucked up poetry that comes with it. The good ol’ classic Greek tragedy of Medea. Perturabo may have big and insane expectations for his gene-sons but when it comes to having a daughter? The apple of his eyes. The sunshine of his life. For this Primarch, his little princess is the only living thing in the entire universe that loves him genuinely and unconditionally, making his love the equivalent of a child crushing a bird between his hands. While still easy to anger and with a resting-bitch face, he is incredibly tame and careful with his girl; always making sure that she is well versed in all kinds of science and engineering that could easily label her as a genius (but we all know how stressful can be to try and live up to big expectations). Most of his Legion finds the child either an annoyance or don’t even care enough beyond the factual point of her being the child of their mighty Primarch, beyond that? This poor girl is probably the loneliest child to ever grace the world. Remember that I referred to this like the Tragedy of Medea? Yeah…

Jaghatai Khan

Probably one of the few best papa-tier out there. This man will see his little daughter and think the only thing a good parent should do: To love and guide. He’ll be not afraid to say “I love you” to his baby girl no matter where they are, but he’ll know when to be stern and wise so she grows to be a fine and humble woman. Honestly, this guy would learn how to make a sling just for the single purpose of having his precious princess close while also being excited to teach her how to ride on a horse like he did in his childhood. The thing that makes this dude the best in this list is that if his daughter ever expresses to follow a different path in life like becoming a remembrancer or anything that doesn’t involve the Imperium, this Chad of a man will look deep into her eyes and tell her that he’ll support her no matter what. The only thing he asks is that she stays in contact as he’ll miss her terribly. Kudos to him, fr.

Leman Russ

Another one for the ‘tough love’ guys list, yo! On his defense! Hear me out… in his defense, this guy was literally raised first by Fenrisian wolves before even knowing what a proper bath entailed, so of course he’ll sometimes be a bit too much on his poor little baby girl. Roughhousing was his best first approach to teach her how to fight, trying to make his little pup have some proper backbone worthy of being called the child of a Primarch. Sometimes he’ll get carried away (either with words or actions) and is in those moments when Leman would learn what genuine and heavy guilt feels like; a very alien emotion for someone as brutal and fierce as he is. There’s no worse feeling than knowing that you are the reason behind your daughter’s tears. No one would ever say it out loud, but the way this giant of a man apologizes is by slowly and silently hugging his little girl while pouting until she hugs him back. He may suck at expressing verbally his love towards his baby, but actions are his best way to communicate and this is something his daughter eventually learns and accepts from him. Forgot to add that the entire Space Wolves Legion are not only suffocatingly protective of their Primarch’s child, but everyone takes turns when she asks them for piggy-rides or let her braid their hair.

Rogal Dorn

I don’t wanna be too mean to this poor man but lord have some mercy, trying to squeeze any emotion that doesn’t range to watching paint dry from this damn guy is already a miracle on its own. He’s probably the kind of dude that’ll leave his poor daughter in the care of his astartes and serfs while he works. Workaholic in bold, yo. It literally will take watching his poor little princess cry her eyes out for him to attempt some bonding time but man he just sucks at trying not to have a stick up his ass (Again, I’m not trying to be mean but god this is painful). This is the kind of man, besides Guilliman, that will search high and low for some paternity books to help him. At the end this father-daughter relationship can be salvageable by having a heart to heart between them both and even then, is the poor girl the one that gives more than she receives. Honestly, any daughter from Dorn has the patience of a saint. Besides this Primarch's ineptitude to properly communicate his feelings, everything else doesn’t change the fact that he loves his little princess and will do anything to make her as happy as possible so he gets some brownie points for the try.

I'll later write the second and third part of this, I swear <333

[razrbladekiss]

MAPLE HAZEL | Joel Miller — Part Two

SUMMARY: another day, another visit to joel’s little coffee shop. he’s as miserable as ever, and you’re probably the only person brave enough to want to spend time with joel outside of his work.

PAIRING: no outbreak!joel miller x afab!reader

WORD COUNT: 3.5k , i’m afraid this is v. short. </3

WARNINGS: fluff. angst. our luke danes-y joel is having a hard time trying to mentally confront his feelings. you’re just as annoying and oblivious to it all as always. mentions of food consumption. reader refers to her parents verrrrrry brief. mentions of reader’s hair blowing into her face, but otherwise nothing to note.

SERIES MASTERLIST

Joel’s back is flush to the counter when you amble through the door this morning, hair strewn across your face, strands set into sticky peach gloss. A few strong gusts of wind—and a stupid confidence in your locks to stay in place—has led you into this precarious position.

Typical. On a morning where you’d like to feel good about yourself, you’re suddenly left feeling like hot garbage.

“Coffee. Now.” Guttural and bone-tired, you hurl at him. But he doesn’t move. His eyes affixed to the chalkboard above the strategically placed syrup station, arms folded over. You’re lucky if he’s even heard you for his attention is wholly deployed to the new menu that he’s spent the better part of thirty minutes creating.

You trudge—cold and dishevelled—through the cafe, feeling eyes on your back. The woman whose face, outfit, and attitude is always put together, is currently struggling through her morning no thanks to the glorious October weather. And the fact that last night’s date went to absolute shit is no help to you today, either.

“Joel.” Exhausted from the day already—despite it barely pushing eight twenty—you squeak. He grunts in response, pointing to the coffee pot that’d just finished brewing as he awaited your inevitable appearance at his door.

Still, he doesn’t move. So you take it upon yourself to shift from one side of the counter, to the other—dropping your purse on it as you do so. It’s weird, being here. Being in Joel’s territory. It gives you a random power trip, more than anything.

But that’s short lived when you realize that your favorite pink polka-dot mug is too high on the shelf—and Miller is too enamoured with whatever it is that he’s doing—so you settle for the less appealing yellow butterfly one, and begin to pour in the liquid that’s definitely comparable to black tar heroin.

You take a swig, before you’re traipsing away from the carafe that you’ve been so gratefully acquainted with.

“I’m so over today already.” You moan, walking over to your seat. You’d have liked to have been sipping on a fresh maple hazel latte today, but you’ll take what you can get so long as you’re not having to actually make it yourself.

You lean over the counter—zoning in on the miniature cake-case—and lift one of those beautifully round cinnamon rolls. You take a bite, and all seems to be right in the world. Aside from the man whose bun you’ve just stolen.

“Joel, are you even lucid right now?”

“I am.” He mumbles, wondering whether the specials should be placed before or after the main menu. It’s a predicament he didn’t think he’d be faced with at this time on a Friday morning. But here he is.

“Whatcha doin’?” A little bit intrigued—because Joel has never struck you as a perfectionist—you ask. He doesn’t respond straight away, and you don’t mind because you’re raking your fingers through tangled strands, wondering why you never carry a hairbrush with you anymore. You’re also munching on your illegal cinnamon roll.

“Just tryin’ to make this stupid place look a little better.” He exhales a deep, exaggerated breath. Joel’s line of sight meets yours when he swivels around, a wonky smile pulling at your lips and a sheen of sticky buttercream icing twinkling beneath yellow spotlights.

He takes you all in. The black dress that you’re donning, your favorite double-breasted woolen coat—that you pull out of your wardrobe each fall—the collection of bracelets decorating your wrists. You’re a marvel, despite feeling less than adequate. A different kind of beauty.

Joel bites back any feelings, and blinks at you.

“Did you just take that cinnamon roll without paying?”

You nod, swallowing down the last mouthful, followed by a long sip of coffee. “I did. And I’d do it again.”

Yeah. He thought as much.

“The specials board looks good.” Striving to change the subject, you tell him. You look up at it, impressed by his handwriting and ability to draw little pumpkins and maple leaves. It’s sweet. “Why’d you change it?”

He glances at it with you, noticing too many imperfections. He sighs.

“Was boring me, the old one. But now…”

“Now this one isn’t up to scratch either?” You pose, setting your lips into a straight line. “But I think it looks great. And I come in here every single day, so I think that I’m qualified to say that.”

Joel chuckles. He supposes that you’re right. He also supposes that you need another refill.

“How’d last night go?” Almost as if he doesn’t want to know the answer, he asks. All the while pouring enough coffee into the mug to drown a small town. “Was Costco guy a hit?”

You groan. Dramatically. Joel grimaces.

“I take that to mean no, he wasn’t.”

Wordlessly, you nod. You take a long, drawn out pull of your coffee. Again. And Joel checks you out. Again.

The apples of your cheeks appear to be slightly more subdued, now. No longer blazing red. And your smile—despite faltering at the mention of your date—is as bright, and toothy as ever.

She’s so beautiful.

I wonder whether or not he was a jerkoff.

Soft spoken, Joel asks about Marcus for the last time when you swirl the remnants of coffee about in the mug. He’s curious. Maybe a bit too much.

“Ugh, I don’t even know what to say.” Slightly depressed—completely unlike you—you start. “It was so crappy, Joel. I had high hopes, but he was just so…eh.”

“Eh?”

“Yeah. Eh.”

“Meaning?”

“Boring. Irritating. A literal life-sucking, soul-destroying, personality vacuum.” Blunt, you tell him. “I’d rather sit and watch an entire room of paint dry, than have to spend another waking minute listening to him ramble on about his vapid life.”

Plump lips contort—against his better judgement—into a little smirk. Satisfied, perhaps. Content with the fact that your date—the one that you unintentionally rubbed into his face—went so awfully bad, you don’t even want to talk about him.

Very, very satisfied.

“But my lunch with Maria was great.” Starting to smile again, you explain. “She told me that she and Tommy are heading to Cancun next summer. And that they’re hoping to start trying for a baby—“

Joel grimaces. He hates this.

So. Much.

“Come on, it’ll be cute. Uncle Joel.”

He stares at you, a few loose curls poking out from above the backstrap of his hat makes it almost impossible to take him seriously.

“I’d rather not think about my brother and his wife trying for a baby.”

Your eyes roll. “Grow up, you prude.”

Joel’s hands fuse to his hips, a light sheen of sweat coating the skin of his forehead. He can’t tell if it’s because he’s hot, or starting to get annoyed.

“How is that me being a prude? I just don’t wanna think ‘bout my brother having—“

“Enough.” Warning—though fighting a giggle—you say. “I can’t believe that when I say that you’re brother is trying for a baby, you automatically envision Tommy having sex. That is not normal.”

He supposes that you’re right, but still. The mental image haunts him.

Maybe it’s just a girl thing, to think of that so positively. Like it’s something to share with the entire world. But to him—a guy—it’s the most inconceivable thing.

Perhaps it is a little bit prudish.

“Moving swiftly on…” Hands placed gently against the newspaper left at the spot to your right, you make eye contact with him again. “Maria said she’d cover tomorrow night.”

Joel says your name, letting his head tilt back a little bit. He seems annoyed at you for going behind his back like this. You can’t find it inside yourself to care, though.

“She said she’ll be happy to. ‘Cus you never go out, and have no friends, and no social life, and—“

“I get it.” His baritone is low as he growls. It’s almost primal. It’s actually a little bit seductive, you feel.

Despite being handsome—almost painfully so—you’ve never thought about him like that. It’s never once crossed your mind to harbor these feelings about your friend, but that has completely unintentionally awakened something inside of your already chaotic—much too busy—brain. And your vagina.

You feel very Bridget Jones-y, now. In a strange position, but wholly comfortable with the fact that you’re stuck here. In fact, you don’t hate the thought of pushing some more.

“And considering that you never get laid, neither, I said that I’ll be happy to help out.”

Joel’s dick twitches. His face falls.

“With setting you up, of course.” You finish, watching fifty different emotions flit over his hardened features. One of which being complete unadultered fury.

Fury for the fact that, maybe, you’ve teased a little too close to home. and getting to grips with being single stings. Or fury because he wants you, and you’re trying to push him onto another body.

Regardless, Joel looks pissed.

And so, with that, you take the morning paper, and stuff it into your little purse. He watches intently, and the little adjustment to your panties through your dress absolutely does not go unnoticed as you stand to attention beside the barstool.

Your coat is being shrugged on in a heartbeat.

“I’ve gotta shoot. My parents are coming to stay with me Monday for a few nights, and I needa stock up on tea leaves, fresh linens, and enough red wine to get so drunk that perhaps I’ll be able to tolerate an hour with my mother.”

Joel forces a laugh.

“See ‘ya tomorrow.”

“Yeah.” He watches you leave—like each day before this one—and smirks. “See ‘ya tomorrow. Maybe.”

Your head whips around as you get to the door, eyebrows fused together. With eyes squinting, you point at him. “Thin. Ice.”

The next evening rolls around faster than what you might’ve liked, and is considerably colder than before. A black scarf wrapped around your neck really tampers with the vibe of your very put-together outfit for movie night.

But you suppose that if you were to leave that at home, then you’d absolutely die of frostbite. And then the question of who’d annoy Joel if I was six feet under? rattles around your head. And you can’t possibly carry on with the prospect of death.

So the scarf stays on. And so does the matching hat.

“You look like one of the snowmen that the kids build on the green.” Is what he greets you with when you enter the coffee house. Neck and chin swathed in faux cashmere.

“Very funny.” You mumble, pulling down fabric to reveal your perfectly plush lips. “Let’s go. I’m starving, and it’s cold.”

“Don’t forget your coal ‘n carrot.” Maria jokes from behind the counter, and Tommy is almost doubled over laughing at his wife.

They’re so cute together. It makes you sick.

“Don’t poke the bear.” Joel murmurs to his brother. “I’ve gotta spend the evening with it, and I’d really rather my head stay intact—“

“I can hear you.”

Joel glances over his shoulder shrugging on his denim jacket with the white borg trim, and stifles a laugh at the sight of you; completely clothed from your cheeks down. It’s adorable.

“Sorry.” Murmuring again, he says. He gestures for you to go out first, before he’s turning to his brother and Maria, mouthing a quick thank you.

She simply smiles in response, and turns to her husband when the two of you leave the building.

“He’s totally into her.”

“Oh, no doubt about it.” Tommy replies. “Just hope he’s not too chicken shit to do anything ‘bout it.”

She agrees with a soft hum, making tracks to a table of new customers to take their orders.

Per Joel’s request, the two of you grab a burger from a very—very—greasy joint a few blocks away from the movie theatre, and you find it being one of the best you’ve ever had in your life.

Piled to the absolute high-heavens, it’s safe to say that you’d never seen such a creation before. Cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomato—a boat-load of pickles—and, like, six onion rings, had that monster very deserving of its title of gut-buster.

But the way that you absolutely mangled that thing had Joel way more impressed. He’d only ever watched you devour cinnamon rolls and the odd stack of pancakes. This was like a fever dream.

And the fact that you then decided on grabbing a purse-full of snacks to take into the screening of Beetlejuice with you, has you very deserving of a few freebies from his humble cafe.

“That movie never fails to make me smile.” You say as the two of you walk—arm in arm—back into the cold, dreary night. “But it always begs the question; if the Maitland’s died by drowning, then why aren’t they wet throughout the movie?”

Joel laughs and shrugs, finding himself tightening the grip that his arm has on yours. Neither of you mind.

“I just think that Keaton plays a demon super well—“

“Don’t call him that.” You defend. “I mean, I know that he technically is one, but still. He’s a stand up guy.”

“He’s a total jerk—“

“Joel.” You whine. He’s one of your favorite fictional characters, and it’s killing you to hear this slander. “He’s my—he’s my boy. I love him.”

He blinks at you. His respect for you is dwindling, mainly because you’re essentially saying that Keaton’s portrayal of a green-haired gremlin is better than his version of Batman.

Blasphemy.

“He’s hot.” You say after a few moments of silence, feeling your cheeks heat at the confession. “In a dilf-y way. I think.”

Two brown eyes almost bulge out of Joel’s head, and he literally cannot help the laugh that bubbles from the fissures of his throat. You are very troubled.

“That’s concerning.”

“The fact that I like older men is concerning to you?”

His heart thumps. He’s not sure why, but it does. It’s a strange sensation—one he’s not able to describe in so many words—but he enjoys it. He thinks.

Maybe.

“No.” He clears his throat. “The fact that you find Michael Keaton—as Beetlejuice—hot is concerning to me, kid.”

You throw your head back laughing, motioning to a bench that looks fairly dry. You’re not ready for your evening to end quite yet.

“Why’d you always call me that?”

Joel unhooks his arm from yours, taking a seat as you plop down onto the birchwood. He lets out a little grunt as he goes down, something about his back and knees hurting from slaving away alllllll day.

“Call you what? Kid?”

You nod.

“Dunno.” He shrugs, leaning back. Joel extends his legs, just watching the city lights pass him by. “I’m a lot older than you. It’s habit, I ‘spose.”

Dallas is bustling, tonight. A cold, foggy evening will seldom stop the population of Texas from stepping out on a Saturday night. Phil’s Line Dancing club is packed, as per usual. Wall-to-wall with people just looking for a good time.

The atmosphere is unmatched, to you. Nothing feels as good as your state. Especially on weekends and football days. You get a little wet just thinking about the Cowboys playing AT&T.

Your home is so vibrant. So colourful and beautiful, and you’re happy to be seeing Dallas in all of its glory with Joel by your side tonight.

Many a drunk couple stumble past you both as you sit and chat on the bench, the thought of his last sentiment still hanging over your head like a little rain cloud. He may be a lot older than you, but you don’t mind. You still see him as a friend.

A good friend, as a matter of fact. Great, even. The best, perhaps.

A friend who despite seeing every single morning—and sometimes evening—you still feel like you cannot fill in the blanks on the sordid details of his life.

“Can I ask you something?” You turn so that you’re facing Joel, eyes searching his face for an answer. He smiles. The lines around his mouth, crows feet and forehead wrinkles have your eyes softening.

He’s so handsome.

“Yeah, shoot.”

Fiddling with the chain on your wrist—the one that Maria got you from Toronto—it’s a struggle to find your words. The right words, anyway.

You clear your throat after an awkward juncture, finally able to verbalize what you want to say.

“Did Tess leave because of me?”

It comes like a ton of bricks to the chest. Joel didn’t think you’d ask such a heavy question, least alone after spending the evening—outside of the shop—together. It’s a very jarring—painful—position to be thrust into. But it’s a question that he knew he’d have to respond to first as last.

His heart wrenches. He knows the answer, but he doesn’t know whether you do.

“I won’t be offended. Honest.”

“Where’s—uh—where’s this comin’ from?” He stutters over his qualm, hand reaching for the back of his neck. He rubs at the skin, feeling his heart pound. “Did someone say somethin’?”

Your head shakes. “No. I’ve just been thinkin’…”

“Why?” Comes a little bit curt. He kicks himself, but you don’t seem fazed by his tone. “People talkin’?”

Again, you’re shaking your head. “No, Joel, I just wanna know.”

Inquisitive as ever.

He swallows thickly the acrimony that’s rising to the surface at the thought of Tess and the day that she left. Trying to keep it suppressed hasn’t done him the favor that he thought it would’ve.

“She left ‘cus she had enough.” He spits, doing the most to avoid eye contact. “Of me. Of Birch Grove. Of everything that I fuckin’ did.”

You gasp. You don’t think that you’ve ever heard Joel curse.

Raw with emotion, his voice sounds barren. Bare. There’s nothing left to say, on the topic, but so much at the same time. But he owes this to you.

“She never liked you, y’know?” Almost guilty, he says. “Said you’re always too chirpy and flirty—hell, I think she was just projectin’ ‘cus I never saw her happy to see no one.”

“No way.” Not nearly sarcastic enough, you laugh. “I’m surprised that she never spat in my coffee.”

“Yeah, well. I’d never put anything past her.” A little bitter, he responds. “Hated all you girls that’d come in. Even scared off Josie—told her not to come back, or she’d tell her husband that she was tryna screw me—“

Genuinely shocked, your jaw hangs low. “Jesus.”

“Yep.” He watches over the stragglers stumbling out of Phil’s, and looks at you.

Your cheeks, nose and ears are stippled with a rosy blush. If he were to set his calloused palms against your tender skin, he’s sure that the cold would be almost bone-chilling. But he refrains.

“Nasty, nasty piece ‘a work. Glad she left, if I’m honest.”

“You two…You seemed so happy.”

“We were.” Honest comes his proclamation. “Until we weren’t. Until she started to get envious of every single female that walked through the cafe doors, and turned into a big blonde green-eyed monster.”

“Jealousy is such an ugly trait.”

He agrees with a tight-lipped smile and a nod, ignoring the fact that he was feeling that very emotion when you went out on a date. With a man who wasn’t him.

But now, here you are. With Joel. On a not date. But he’ll take what he can get, so long as the two of you can have some time together.

“God, Joel. I couldn’t imagine my life not coming to see you every morning.”

He smiles.

“What?” You blush. But it’s not apparent, what with the way your skin is already flush.

“Nothin.’” Joel’s teeth show beneath the scratchy hair of his mustache. You smile back. “Just couldn’t imagine mine if you didn’t come ‘n bleed me dry of lattes ‘n cinnamon rolls, either.”

That’s wholly the truth. Something he didn’t think he’d ever find himself letting you become privy to. Yet, here he is.

“That’s sweet. It’s nice to know that you have a heart beneath all the band shirts, and flannels.”

“Yeah, well.” He stretches his arms out and you slide closer to him—taking the man completely by surprise—nestling comfortably into his side. A perfect fit, actually. “It’s hard to get to, but it’s there.”

You smile up at him, eyes twinkling beneath the streetlights above.

“That’s good to know.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Your gaze is averted to the sidewalk, now. Focused wholly on the night passing you by. “Hopefully I hold a tiny little place there.”

Joel hugs you into his side, silently reassuring you that there’ll always be a tiny little place in his heart just for you.

[gothamiteeditor]

Tim Drake is my favorite Robin because he’s not only the glue keeping Batman from flying off the rails at some points, but is also actively flying off the rails himself. The League of Assassins never stood a chance. He’s probably wanted in more countries than he’s allowed in, if he disappears that list slowly grows. Not only is he a freaking genius but he also should be feared by his sheer willpower to get anything and everything into his little hands. If it’s to be found out he will find it. The Robin who didn’t have to become Robin for himself, the one who became Robin because someone else needed him to.

Jason Todd is my favorite Robin because he’s a Robin that was so mistreated by his creators and writers that they literally voted for him to die. He dies in every alternate version. He’s not only died but came back stronger, more than once. Sure he was different but that difference allows us, the readers, to see the thoughts and feelings of a Robin who could never be good enough, who still is good enough, because he’s better. The happy Robin who made the mantle magic turned into a Crime Lord who wants nothing more than to ensure no other child goes down the same path he did or at least gives them the help to succeed.

Dick Grayson is my favorite Robin because he lost his parents in a traumatic way Bruce could relate to and still somehow ended up being a better mentor and better leader than Batman himself. Dick who was the Angry Robin who grew up realizing he could still be who he was before his trauma and grief and became Nightwing, a symbol of not just one city but two, and then in his civilian life still took the cities he loves in his hands as his job. A man who watched his little brother die, and come back different and refused to help the man who wouldn’t do anything about it. A man who actually got revenge only for it to be taken back from him. And also in some obscure timeline became a Tyrannical Dictator who wanted to annihilate aliens because his alien wife died but no one really talks about that era…

Damian is my favorite Robin because he defies everything about every Robin we have had. He’s the Robin that had a kill count before he was Robin. The boy who would either become the Demon Head or the Batman, legacies he was promised, but could never achieve with the guidance he was given. The boy who couldn’t understand why Bruce tried to get him to open up and relax because he’d never known that before. The boy who had Jason before Bruce. The Robin with a sword and isn’t afraid to use it and knows how to. From assassin heir to prince of Gotham.

Stephanie was my favorite Robin because she was the Robin who didn’t stay Robin. The Robin who forged her own way really quickly and realized she didn’t need the mantle to make her own difference against her father. The one who would never be one of Bruce’s but always was one of Bruce’s. The Robin who pushed the boundaries of everything Gotham had come to expect from Robins, a powerhouse in her own right and never credited for her role.

(Edited because I originally had said Jason was the only Robin to be mistreated by his writers and fans. This isn’t entirely true so I edited a correction. Truth be told all these characters deserved better.)

[asleepygremlin]

Pokémon scarlet and violet and its theme of isolation and overcoming that feeling

So I don’t know if people have pointed this out or not but I noticed with the main characters of Pokemon sv, they suffer from some type of isolation. This will only focus on the main characters which are Arven, Nemona, Penny, Kieran, and Carmine. This will discuss events of scarlet and violet and its dlc so spoilers will be in this post. I apologize ahead of time for my poor wording as I’m not good at putting my thoughts into words. (I also apologize if this theme was obvious and I just sound like an idiot for noticing it now)

Tl;dr the main characters suffer from some kind of isolation whether it’s visible or hidden

The most obvious one to notice in my opinion is Arven, first I’d argue he suffers from physical isolation as growing up, sometimes the one parent he has isn’t even home most of the time and at the very least had mabosstif. He has no parents in his life and the one that partially is, is now dead. Next from the way Arven latches onto the player later on especially when seeing how he acts in mochi mayhem and how he seems kind of jealous of the players new found friendship with Kieran. This to me also shows he doesn’t have any friends either (I believe he even says mabosstif is his only friend which is kinda sad). So in short Arven has no support figures besides mabosstif, but he doesn’t truly have any human connections. That is until he makes friends with the player, Nemona, and penny

Penny is the second one that I noticed, like Arven, she also suffers from physical isolation by locking herself in her room. She’s suffered from bullying which would obviously lead to isolation and has probably caused her to close herself off from everything, but at least she has her friends at team star right? Although she does, when she first was friends with them, her identity was anonymous. She knows and connects with team star but they will never truly know and connect with her until later events which finally allow her to bridge the gap.

For the next one, I’m going to skip Nemona for last and put the kitakami siblings into this one section (also this one relies the most on speculation since we don’t know exactly what their experiences were). Unlike Arven and Penny, both of them don’t suffer from physical isolation but mentally. Carmine and Kieran have both grew up in a remote village for most of their life until attending blueberry academy. The isolation they must have felt must have been staggering. Although from the sounds of it they eventually were able to find solid ground via the league club. Now with Carmine and her prickly attitude, that might have caused her to push others away and keep to herself at times (I admit I’m speculating, I wish the dlc was longer DX). As for Kiki, I admit it’s a lot more easier for me to speculate because I relate to him more I feel you get more insight into his character compared to Carmine sorry Carmine. He is a lot more introverted and shy compared to his sister and I bet his love for the ogre led him to being a bit of a social outcast and moving to blueberry academy most likely didn’t help with him, even just feeling like he was, an outcast, plus his already bad self worth. When he meets the player, he is still very shy but seems ecstatic to finally having a friend to talk to… until you have to lie to him. I could go on an essays worth on how Kieran’s self worth and paranoia caused him to quickly think he’s being betrayed and see himself as unworthy of the player’s friendship but that’s another story and this paragraph is already getting long enough already. By losing his friendship with the player, he further isolated himself from others and it’s even worse in the indigo disk. He now isolates himself by being a ruthless champion with everyone afraid to confront him. Now he’s not alone from being a shy outcast but instead from being champion and hiding his already fragile heart with thorns. Ignore the poeticism of that last line lmao and yep this section with Kieran is of course the longest. however while both were able to find some solace in the league club, I’d argue they were able to truly open with the help of the player especially Kieran who learned to accept himself as he is.

Now finally Nemona and one I find the most fascinating because she isn’t as visibly isolated as the others and admittedly is the reason I wanted to write this. First I’d like to point out something I think people forget often, just because people seem to have a great social life and friends doesn’t mean they don’t feel lonely. Nemona is champion rank, student council president, and is overall a star student. However because she’s at the top, some people are intimidated by her and in one area convo she mentioned how someone refused to battle her because she’s a champion and battle wiz that would wreck him. Then in another area convo, she laments over people thinking that battling is natural to her and ignoring the genuine hard work that she puts into her skills. And in her final convo in her dorm room, for this I’ll just copy and paste the quote from bulbapedia and let it speak for itself.

"People would tell me to my face that I'd only managed it 'cause I have some innate gift, or 'cause I was raised differently, or whatever. And suddenly I started to feel like there was this invisible wall between me and everyone else."

(Also I was also going to add more info from the scarlet and violet novel “after the rain with you” but it hasn’t been officially translated and the only translation I found was via google translate so I decided to take it with a grain of salt and not add any info despite it having the most insight on Nemona’s character imo, if you want to take a look here’s the link)

Despite being the at the top being up there can get pretty lonely… until she met the player and had someone standing right beside her.

Anyways if you’ve read this far then thanks. This was longer than I thought it would be as I mainly typed this in one go only taking a break to do more research for Nemona’s section so sorry again if it seemed kinda rambling at times.

Edit to add: rereading this I realized that Kieran and carmine in fact do suffer from physical isolation as they live in a remote region that resembles a traditional Japanese village which could add some cultural isolation. Another type of isolation I didn’t think about was class isolation(is that even a term?) coming from Nemona as she comes from a wealthy family which could also adds to the gap between her peers. I guess I didn’t think about it like that since in comparison Arven and penny’s situation is what would usually come to mind when you think of the word isolation, my bad.

[writing-for-life]

The Mother Wound…

…or what if one of your major arcana was possibly created in the image of the parent who emotionally abandoned you over and over

We recently discussed episode 8 (Playing House) and Dream’s relationship with Gault. And I can’t even begin to tell you how happy I was to see that someone else had the thought that there’s an eerie resemblance between Gault and Mother Night. So far, I always thought I’m the only one who might have had the fleeting thought that Dream has created Gault in the image of his mother (but that’s possibly because not everyone has read the comics).

And if I think about it a bit deeper, all sorts of feelings come up…

Mother Night in Overture, design by JH Williams III

There is a shared motif here—Night promises Morpheus a dreamworld in her realm. It’s the ultimate escape, the ultimate laying down of his responsibilities and letting it all end…

Gault builds Jed a dreamworld he can also escape to—from the pain of his abuse and loneliness. The only difference is that Gault is benevolent. Night—not so much, but as a cosmic force, she isn’t truly malevolent either. She just is. As a mother, she is an emotionally distant, manipulative and cold catastrophe though, and we have reason to believe she was always like this, and that her emotional unavailability hurt several of her children. Dream and Delirium most from what we can gather, but it’s probably not unreasonable to say they all suffered in one way or another—what does it say about you if you didn’t even know, or at least didn’t care, that one of your children died and grieves for her lost brother to top it all off, or that you have no clue that said brother walked out on his duties? The only one who always seems to get off lightly is Destiny (also with Father Time btw):

That mother wound is deep, people. There’s also a father wound—on top of emotional unavailability and manipulation, it’s one of constantly being told that nothing you do will ever be good enough, that you’re useless. But maybe that’s for another time. And said mother wound could also explain why Morpheus initially reacts so badly on Gault “overstepping”. Because funnily enough, he starts out quite calm and only gets truly angry when Gault says that none of the dream folk came back because they loved him, but only because they’re afraid of him.

And I believe that’s the sentence that truly set him off—not that Gault left or wanted to be something other than she is (even if that’s at the very core of his own conflict and will certainly sting):

It’s the deep rejection he has felt throughout his existence, and possibly even sought out and replicated subconsciously [all his relationships replay a pattern of rejection or being the rejected over and over], because that’s what people with attachment issues do 😩. The same rejection and coldness he took on himself, began to wear like a shield, showed towards others—because if you reject someone first, they can’t hurt you, right?

But it still hurts…

So you proceed to inflict the exact pain on others that has been inflicted upon you, and you send them to the darkness and abandonment just like you have been sent to the darkness and abandoned (and he doesn’t just do it to Gault—he has done it to his own son, just like his mother and father did it to him several times over)…

But what if the seed of who Gault wanted to be and was (someone who is caring and nurturing) had already been subconsciously planted by her creator, without him being aware he was doing it? Was she not always who she was, and wouldn’t she always be that way? Maybe that’s the most interesting question…

Maybe some truths are buried so deep inside of us that they just need the right environment to come to the surface. But they are always there, and they just need space, and sometimes pain, to lead to transformation. And then I start to think of another repeating motif, and I guess we all know what that one is…

[questionablecuttlefish]

Ezreal's kinda great actually.

Ez is a champ I used to love to hate, but he grew on me because once you get past his arrogant showboating e-boy wannabe shonen protagonist energy (and boy is it a lot) the fact that his entire ... the above thing is a masquerade for a lonely young man who blames himself for being abandoned by his parents is....wow ouch.

His backstory���oof, give that boy a hug. IDC what Christian Linke says, he would be fine in an Arcane-like show if you leaned into his bravado being a mask for loss.

I know we all rag on his crush on Lux, it's basically a running joke at this point but it's also an interesting bit of characterization…like the rest of his cocky adventurer persona it's completely superficial, he doesn't know anything about her except that she's blonde and pretty, and she doesn't know who he is.

And ofc they can't really work as a romance because Lux has SO MUCH GOING ON that has nothing to do with Ezreal, and her story is firmly grounded in Demacia, her family, and the plight of the Demacian mages, while Ezreal's story is all about his globetrotting adventures, his tomb raiding, his search for his parents.

If he stays with her, his story ends, if she goes with him, her story ends. They could in theory be a cute Disney protagonist romance, but the incompatibility of their storylines and the way Riot has spent probably over a decade now playing his feelings for laughs as a cringe, nigh-stalkery crush and her complete disinterest doesn't bode well for any kind of actual relationship coming of it.

It's not an evilbadtoxic ship by any means, it's just, imo, a bit of a nothingburger without enough actual connection or chemistry to make it worth sacrificing both characters for 'the ship'.

So the crush is funny (and Jarro Lightfeather is hysterical) but a critical part of an Ezreal character arc would be getting over it and moving on, imo. You don't give a guy a shallow stalker crush and then reward him with 'getting the girl' and call it character development, it's only character development if he doesn't.

Ez is at his most interesting when you can see the glimmers of him getting over himself and being the genuine hero he could be. (turning back to help Kai'Sa in Warriors is a good example).

I could really, really enjoy an Ezreal show where he ends up in a fun little D&D party with Kai'Sa and Taliyah running around Shurima exploring ancient ruins and battling Void horrors. I would LIVE for the comedic value of Ezreal being the most annoying showboaty jackass he possibly could be ("Ha ha! It's ALL skill") trying to impress the intimidatingly baddass Kai'Sa, whilst she's just so deadpan Raised By Wolves socially awkward killing-machine-trying-to-reconnect-to-humanity that she just takes him completely in stride.

Ez getting increasingly ridiculous in his antics and just completely failing to either impress OR annoy Kai'Sa would be just comedy gold, imo. Alternatively, getting back into the 'canon bi route' and my Ezko agenda, he he, Ezreal and Ekko actually make a really interesting pairing in the main timeline because

They've got a LITTLE bit of that oil-and-water energy with Ezreal being a Piltie, but he's an adventurous, inquisitive Piltie who isn't afraid to get his hands dirty, so Ekko would appreciate that even as he was giving the guy MASSIVE sideeye for all the cultural theft.

Ezreal would annoy the shit out of Ekko, since he's such a damn poser and Ekko is such a genuine, grounded guy.

They're both very, very intelligent, though, and they're both big fat nerds. Ekko is much more on the genius tinkerer and inventor science nerd end and Ezreal much more on the lore, culture, history nerd end, but they are both big nerds.

I think Ezreal would be just in awe of Ekko from the moment they met. 'This guy is so f'cking COOL how do i get him to think I'm COOL' and then drive Ekko up the wall overcompensating trying to get his attention/approval but coming off as being hypercompetitive and showboaty.

But if Ekko (especially League Ekko, whose parents are such a big part of his story) gets a whiff of Ezreal's past and his parents, he's going to start seeing through Ez's masquerade very quick, and if there's one thing Ekko is, it's a compassionate person, a carer, who just wants to help.

The boys could bond over shared adventurers plumbing the depths of Zaun for some secret mystery hidden in the ruins of Oshra Va'Zaun that could potentially be a threat to Zaun or the Firelights, and that Ezreal has an archaeologist's interest in.

You get all the back-and-forth dynamic, conflict, bickering, and slow burn affection that make Ezko a fantastic ship.

I might just write this.

[hailtothepumpkinqueen]

Headcanons for the Shane Stardew Valley that lives in my Switch because I wanted to put them down somewhere lol 💙🐔

•He's 35 years old. When Farmer tells him that's not old he replies "Old for a gridball player" and shrugs. (basing this on mid-30's apparently being old for a lot of sports lol)

•Definitely not as "weak" as he thinks he is either. The man helps Marnie around the farm, including hucking around heavy bags of animal feed and hay. And probably hauling heavy boxes around JojaMart. So great upper body strength, just gets tired and out of breath more easily than he used to.

•Strong arms and soft tummy 👍

•5'7" but wishes he was at least 6'1". A little insecure about it, especially since Farmer is taller than him.(she's 5'10")

•Favorite color is blue 💙

•His last name is Cooper. (Purely because I find it funny for him to have "coop" in his name. Like chicken coop lmao)

•Ears are pierced. I imagine 10mm gauges and two other piercings. Doesn't wear them super often, but enough so the holes don't close up.

•I think he'd be a Taurus. Stubborn but also down to earth.

•Started showing signs of depression as a teenager, but got dismissed as being "moody" and "lazy".

•Both parents had issues with alcohol and were distant/absent. His dad physically distant, as he was gone a lot and often came home drunk. His mom emotionally distant due to untreated depression.

•Leaving Shane to care for himself a majority of the time. So lots of microwaved pizza rolls and frozen dinners.

•Started drinking before the legal age because there was always alcohol in the house.

•Has not spoken to either parent since he moved out.

•Gridball was initially a good distraction for all the shit going on in his life and a way to get out of the house. Discovered he had a genuine love for the game and was really good at it. Good enough to play for the varsity team in college.

•Definitely a bit of a hot shot in college. Pretty popular for his goofy and easygoing personality and had a lot of friends(including Jas's parents). A few flings and serious relationships too.

•Ended up tearing his ACL, which put an end to his dream of going pro with his gridball career.

•Which exacerbated his depression and worsened his dependency on alcohol as a coping mechanism...which lead to a pretty bad breakup with his partner at the time. (This literally came to me in a dream lol)

•Light sleeper, particularly sensitive to noise. On top of having trouble sleeping a lot of nights because his brain won't shut off. Hence why he'll have a beer or two before bed, it helps him sleep.

•When that doesn't work he goes on walks. Nighttime is a preferable time to walk anyway because less chance to run into someone and have to make annoying small talk.

•Has dark circles under his eyes pretty much all the time due to lack of good sleep.

•Runs hot, basically a walking space heater. Which is great in the winter but MISERABLE in the summer.

•Was the best man at Jas's parents' wedding.

•And one of the first people to hold Jas after she was born. He was afraid he'd drop her or something and in awe of how tiny she was.

•Loves that little girl SO much, but when her parents died...he was in no position to be taking care of her. Not with his worsening depression and even worse alcohol dependency. So he signed over custody of her to Marnie, who was more of a mother figure to him than his own mom ever was(In my head, Marnie is Shane's mom's older sister).

•Used to spend summers on Marnie's farm as a kid. It was a nice break from his home life and gave him things to do.

•Was living with Marnie and Jas for about 6 months when Farmer moved to Pelican Town.

•It was his idea to pay rent, because he'd rather eat his shoe than feel like more of a burden than he already does.

•Listens to predominantly rock, but secretly knows the words to a lot of pop songs thanks to Jas.

•Lets Jas paint his nails or put makeup on him. Will wear the nail polish until it flakes off, no matter the color or glitter content.

•Has an armband tattoo of fairy roses around his bicep. For Jas, obviously.

•Definitely friends with Emily (they swap bird facts and just vibe) and and considers Sam a work friend(absolutely talk shit about Morris when not talking about music). He just seems to attract bright, friendly people lol

•Not a people pleaser by any stretch of the imagination (there's a reason he stocks shelves instead of being behind the counter at JojaMart), but loves making the people he cares about happy.

•Him being standoffish and prickly is definitely a defense mechanism. Can't get hurt again by losing someone if you never get close to them in the first place, right?

•Can tell when it's gonna rain because his bad knee starts hurting. When Emily teasingly calls him clairvoyant, he goes into a spiel about the scientific evidence that the drop in barometric pressure affects joints and it's not magic. It's basically an inside joke between them.

•Swears like a sailor but tries to censor himself around the children. So "sugar" and "fudge" and "son of a biscuit". Lot of food words lol

•Walks quietly. Accidentally scares people all the time because he just "appears out of nowhere".

[theallianceofcelestials]

How would the SEA family react to a possible grandchild? Either Eclipse accidentally acquiring a child through some means (he got a raise for being surprised adopted, so he should get a raise for surprising adopting too) or possible Solar having already built Jack in that scenario thing. KC is a very devoted and involved father, curious how he would be in regards to a grand baby. Also Lunar no longer being the youngest, cue petty gremlin

Let's just say in this situation there's a Jack, who's either an SCP or just a newly forged animatronic that ran off in the city Eclipse usually shops in, and stumbled upon him and imprinted like a baby duckling

I kinda like the normal SCP running around and imprinting one, so we shall go with that. And for conveciences sake, Eclipse was alone when this happened, and couldn't just leave the random SCP there

So he's kind of freaking out, because there's another SCP glued to him now, and for all he knows this Jack fella is going to get into a territorial dispute with his own family. And well, the angry little thing certainly tries.

He'd hiss and growl at the family, and would be confused when he doesn't earn the expected reactions, and instead has these people cooing over him. He'd find it especially weird that when he tries fighting them, they turn it into something playful. So after getting freaked out by these friendly randos, he'd hide behind his newly claimed father's coattails.

Eclipse on the other hand is not amused, especially when he can see his father get emotional and teary. He's especially disappointed in his family by that point.

Bloodmon would be good uncles, and mock fight with the baby to encourage him to become a better hunter. They'd also let him stalk them, pretending to act surprised when they're caught. They'd quickly grow to be the favourite uncles, if only because they can match Jack's energy.

Solar Flare would be more of an emotional support, trying to share the things it loved while growing up. Jack'd quickly grow to love storytime, even if Solar Flare doesn't think it's as talented as its father. They'd love their new nephew tho, even if he wishes Jack was better behaved.

Lunar would feel threatened at first yeah, but then Jack'd just stare at him with his big ol' empty eyes, and he'd decide that he's the fun uncle now, teaching the kid the bad words and all the mischief. He'd also finally have a full-time partner for his cookie heists, and KC is less likely to do anything with the grandbaby involved. He's still the lovest on the favourite uncle list tho, simply because he was being meanish at first. Lunar can live with that

Moon is in a crisis all over again. He's not prepared to become a gruncle, same as he wasn't prepared to become an uncle. And this is another chaos gremlin! He'd be afraid of being bitten, he'd be afraid of being stabbed, and he'd be the strictest out of everyone, seeing as he's not sure he can live with someone who has this much energy. He'd still teach the kid how to do pranks though, and he'd be the most likely to sneak him treats. He denies this

Sun doesn't know how to react for a bit, seeing as this was very sudden, but he'd adopt the grunkle title pretty fast. He'd probably have fun knitting for a new family member, even if they still have to go through the cats being treated weirdly by Jack first thing. After that he'd make sure to teach his grand-nephew how to behave around animals

Killcode is in absolute bliss. He thought it'd be Bloodmoon who'd get a part of themselves first simply because... out of all his kids, they're the best at romancing someone amusingly enough. He especially didn't expect Eclipse to bring home a grandkid first, but he's escatic nontheless. He enjoys being the doting grandpa, more than willing to make pumpking shaped cookies and whatnot whenever his grandkid requests. He'd also be completely overbearing with Eclipse for a bit while he teaches his prickliest son how to parent. He may or may not get shouted at a bunch of times, but he really doesn't mind. He just wants the best for his family, even if he's utterly weak to the grandbaby once he learns puppy eyes

Eclipse meanwhile is just staring at his weirdass family, dying inside while simulteniously feeling warmed. It's weird for him too, because he never wanted a kid, but he does have to admit he likes having him around sometimes. Even if he ends up being the one who accidentaly teaches Jack how to curse

[felix-lupin]

In Coraline, there’s a recurring theme with names and identity, and I personally don't think it's talked about enough. 

(As a note, this is dealing largely with the book, not the movie, although there are some hints of this theme in the movie as well)

Coraline’s neighbors constantly get her name wrong, calling her “Caroline” and not “Coraline”, to which she persistently corrects them. Despite her attempts, they never get it right, until chapter 10, in which Mr Bobo (Mr Bobinsky) finally gets it right.

"It's Coraline, Mister Bobo," said Coraline. "Not Caroline. Coraline." "Coraline," said Mr Bobo, repeating her name to himself with wonderment and respect. "Very good, Coraline."

It should be noted that, until this chapter, Coraline did not know Mr Bobo’s name either. In fact, it had never even occurred to her that he had a name. Up until then, she had just been thinking of him as “the crazy old man upstairs”, not as a person with a name. This moment, with her learning his name and him getting her name right, is a moment of genuine understanding and connection between the two, humanizing them both to each other.

Coraline’s other neighbors get her name wrong, which is representative of them not listening when she says anything, really, such as her telling Miss Spink and Forcible that her parents are missing and them literally not even acknowledging it at all??

"How are your dear mother and father?" asked Miss Spink. "Missing," said Coraline. "I haven't seen either of them since yesterday. I'm on my own. I think I've probably become a single child family." "Tell your mother that we found the Glasgow Empire press clippings we were telling her about. She seemed very interested when Miriam mentioned them to her." "She's vanished under mysterious circumstances," said Coraline, "and I believe my father has as well." "I'm afraid we'll be out all day tomorrow, Caroline lovely," said Miss Forcible. "We'll be staying with April's niece in Royal Tunbridge Wells."

Mr Bobo gets her name right after being corrected (only after being corrected alongside her using his name, mind you, showcasing her making an effort to listen to and understand him as well), which is representative of him actually making an attempt to listen and understand her. This point is further illustrated by a conversation Coraline had with the Other Mr Bobo in chapter 10.

As Coraline entered he began to talk. "Nothing's changed, little girl," he said, his voice sounding like the noise dry leaves make as they rustle across a pavement. "And what if you do everything you swore you would? What then? Nothing's changed. You'll go home. You'll be bored. You'll be ignored. No one will listen to you, not really listen to you. You're too clever and too quiet for them to understand. They don't even get your name right."

He equates those in the real world not getting Coraline’s name right with them not listening to her, and fundamentally not understanding who she is. So, somebody getting her name right, then, shows them actually listening to her, and being willing to understand who she is.

The mice in the real world know more than they should be able to know, and they also get Coraline’s name right.

"The message is this. Don't go through the door." He paused. "Does that mean anything to you?" "No," said Coraline. The old man shrugged. "They are funny, the mice. They get things wrong. They got your name wrong, you know. They kept saying Coraline. Not Caroline. Not Caroline at all."

They seem to know about the other world, somehow, on some level, and the dangers it presents. Them getting her name right represents them knowing more than they should know, more than they are told. Animals in general seem to have this type of quality in Coraline, actually.

The cat does not have a name. It says so in chapter 4, that cats do not need names. It says that this is because cats know who they are. But humans need names, because they do not.

"Please. What's your name?" Coraline asked the cat. "Look, I'm Coraline. OK?" The cat yawned softly, carefully, revealing a mouth and tongue of astounding pinkness. "Cats don't have names," it said. "No?" said Coraline. "No," said the cat. "Now, you people have names. That's because you don't know who you are. We know who we are, so we don't need names."

The cat shook its head. "No," it said. "I'm not the other anything. I'm me." It tipped its head on one side; green eyes glinted. "You people are spread all over the place. Cats, on the other hand, keep ourselves together. If you see what I mean."

This shows that, in humans, names are connected to our identities and who we are. Names are used to individualize and distinguish ourselves from each other. But cats do not need names to recognize each other, or be recognized.

"Oh. It's you," she said to the black cat. "See?" said the cat. "It wasn't so hard recognising me, was it? Even without names."

With or without names, it is still the same cat.

During the Other Miss Spink and Forcible’s performance, in chapter 4, they begin quoting Shakespeare. The specific quotes that they use are interesting to me when looked at under this lens of the importance of names, especially Miss Forcible’s.

"What's in a name?" asked Miss Forcible. "That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."

"I know not how to tell thee who I am," said Miss Spink to Miss Forcible.

Now, of course, this is just them quoting Shakespeare. But. Why these quotes specifically? They’re at the very least notable when discussing Coraline’s recurring theme of names. Especially the quote about the rose. It makes me think of what the cat said earlier, about how cats are sure of who they are so they don’t need names, about how Coraline didn’t need the cat’s name to be able to recognize it for who/what it was.

But, of course, this does not apply for humans. We need our names to be able to know ourselves, to be able to tell others who they are.

In chapter 6, Coraline wakes up and is disoriented. This disorientation is compared to the feeling one might experience upon being suddenly pulled out of a daydream. In this comparison, forgetting one’s name is equated with forgetting who one is and where one is.

Sometimes Coraline would forget who she was while she was daydreaming that she was exploring the Arctic, or the Amazon rainforest, or darkest Africa, and it was not until someone tapped her on the shoulder or said her name that Coraline would come back from a million miles away with a start, and all in the fraction of a second have to remember who she was, and what her name was, and that she was even there at all. Now there was the sun on her face, and she was Coraline Jones. Yes.

The ghost children have also forgotten their names, and with it most of who they were. In chapter 7, when Coraline is locked behind the mirror in the Other World, one of the ghost children says that names are the first things that one forgets after death.

"Who are you?" whispered Coraline. "Names, names, names," said another voice, all faraway and lost. "The names are the first thing to go, after the breath has gone, and the beating of the heart. We keep our memories longer than our names. I still keep pictures in my mind of my governess on some May morning, carrying my hoop and stick, and the morning sun behind her, and all the tulips bobbing in the breeze. But I have forgotten the name of my governess, and of the tulips too." "I don't think tulips have names," said Coraline. "They're just tulips." "Perhaps," said the voice sadly. "But I have always thought that these tulips must have had names. They were red, and orange-and-red, and red-and-orange-and-yellow, like the embers in the nursery fire of a winter's evening. I remember them."

The ghost children may have their memories, but they have largely forgotten who they were. They may remember their tulips, and certain strong memories, but there is very, very little left of them, and they have forgotten who they once were, they have forgotten their names.

"That is why we could not leave here, when we died. She kept us, and she fed on us, until now we're nothing left of ourselves, only snakeskins and spider-husks. Find our secret hearts, young mistress."

"She will take your life and all you are and all you care'st for, and she will leave you with nothing but mist and fog. She'll take your joy. And one day you'll awake and your heart and soul will have gone. A husk you'll be, a wisp you'll be, and a thing no more than a dream on waking, or a memory of something forgotten."

The Other Mother stole their hearts and their souls and their selves. She stole who they were away from them, their identities and names and the names of those they loved, leaving nothing in her wake.

The same ghost that talked about the tulips and the names of the tulips struggles to answer when Coraline asks their gender, as well, and when they do eventually give an answer they seem somewhat unsure of it, as shown by the word choice of “perhaps” and “I believe”

"A boy, perhaps, then," continued the one whose hand she was holding. "I believe I was once a boy." And it glowed a little more brightly in the darkness of the room behind the mirror.

(I personally take this quote, specifically it "glow[ing] a little more brightly" after coming to this conclusion, to mean either that the ghost is happy at realizing that he was once a boy, or even to mean that he has become somewhat more tangible upon this realization; upon remembering something about his self, and his identity.)

As an aside, it's noteworthy to me that we never learn the Other Mother’s true name. She is simply “The Other Mother” and “The Beldam.” Never is an actual name applied to her, only titles. We do not truly know who, or what, she is. Beings without names are shrouded in mystery (or should i say mist-ery). The ghost children are benevolent mysterious beings, the cat is an ambivalent-leaning-helpful mysterious being, and the other mother is a distinctly malevolent mysterious being.

"Who are you?" asked Coraline. "I'm your other mother," said the woman.

"She?" "The one who says she's your other mother," said the cat. "What is she?" asked Coraline. The cat did not answer, just padded through the pale mist beside Coraline.

But in conclusion, names in Coraline are extremely important. I’m sure there’s probably more that I'm missing, and feel free to add onto this, but basically—

People need names to know and remember who they are, and forgetting one’s name is the first step to losing the rest of who one is. Names humanize a person; with a name, they are less shrouded in mystery, more clear.

Knowing somebody's name helps one connect to and better understand that person; it is the first step in getting to know them and see them as a full person, the transition from “the crazy man upstairs” to “Mr Bobo”. Names, to people at least, are one of the fundamental building blocks of who we are.

[spidercoris]

random aidlyn (platonic or not wtv you take it as) headcanons mostly about activities they like and dislike

thoughtof these while staring at a wall and talking to myself so i wanted to write them down somewhere (probably tons of spelling mistakes please ignore them)

roller skating

i’ve always seen fics and stuff where either ashlyn or aiden don’t know how to skate but i honestly feel like they’d both be SHREDDING on that floor.

ashlyn is more graceful and elegant with it (perks of being a ballerina). she can go fast and spin around without looking dumb, but she chooses to go steadier cause she likes it that way. tyler can’t skate for the life of him so sometimes she rolls past him for fun while watching him flail towards the wall. she throws in balancing on one foot for funsies and it gets him fuming

aiden on the other hand is absolutely wild when he goes skating. always pulling some weird tricks and speeding like nobodies business. he can like do that thing where you crouch while skating idk how to describe it.

one thing is that he has barely any regard for the people skating around him and has nearly ran over people multiple times before quickly serving out of the way.

then there was this one time he nearly ran over a five year old but then ended up just?? picking them up?? mid skate?? like just imagine him hoisting them by the armpits. keep in the mind the kid is confused as hell and doesn’t know why tf they started levitating. and then he just puts them near the wall where they won’t fall. ashlyn thought she was gonna witness a child get murdered and told him to be more careful.

ice skating

they are both practically the same when ice skating. both pretty good at it, but aiden always gotta be doing some shit.

he attempted to pull one of his moves that he did at the roller skating rink but then found out it was a lot harder in skates. he ended up crashing and gashing his leg cause the bottom the skates were so sharp. ofc he laughed it off while the others were freaking out.

ashlyn scolded him really hard and now always makes sure he’s going at a steady pace when ice skating. if she finds him going faster than one mile per hour she has to manhandle him and aggressively grip him until he admits defeat and goes at a steady pace again

swimming

now here’s where it switches up, i whole heatedly believe that ashlyn is an AWFUL swimmer. she refuses to have her feet not touching solid ground and will not step foot in water that is taller than her. whenever she swims she ends up using her legs more than her arms and splashes everyone around her cause she can’t keep them underwater.

she CAN float on her back but dislikes it cause water easily gets into her ears and obviously they’re sensitive. so she will only step foot in a pool if she has a floaty or twelve noodles to hold onto.

does she have the ability to learn to swim? yeah. does she want to learn? nah. her parents, just like with ballet, wanted to sign her up for swimming classes when she was a kid. and you know how ashlyn learned a bit of self-defense before quitting? it ended up just like that and she stopped learning after like two days.

now aiden is a pretty good swimmer but he ALWAYS splashes. like in all directions. no one can tell if he does it on purpose to piss them off or if he genuinely only knows how to swim like that. either way he finds it funny.

he likes going underwater and grabbing peoples legs. not to pull them down or anything but just to scare them enough to THINK they’re being pulled down. he doesn’t do it to ashlyn though cause she already can’t swim and doesn’t wanna make an attempt to scare her (also her reflexes are fast as hell she would definitely kick him in the face before he could swim out of the way)

roller coasters

ashlyn isn’t afraid of rollercoasters she just doesn’t like them. she doesn’t find them that enjoyable and it bothers her ears when the ride gets too high and there’s a lot of air pressure. she’ll mostly have a stone face after the ride is over which they thought was because she was frozen with fear. it was actually cause she didn’t gaf about it.

but like she isn’t going to ruin everyone’s fun. if they’re all going on the ride, she will too. sometimes someone offers to stay behind with her but she refuses and doesn’t wanna be a burden (trauma from the phantom dimension unfortunately, she doesn’t want to be responsible for someone else’s displeasure after thinking she got them all stuck there)

now aiden over here loveeessss living up to his name as “mr. durable.” he will go on any ride no matter how horrifying it looks. “12 people died on that ride in the past year? i wonder if ill die too!” that’s his entire thought process. he doesn’t gaf he’s in it for the thrill.

once said something along the lines of “imagine if the tracks just ended as we were heading down lol.” he nearly made someone on the ride puke from nerves after saying that and got pinched really hard by tyler.

andddd that’s it. if you read all of that i love you.

[a-cat-in-toffee]

bad kids avatar and victim headcanons lets go 🔥🔥

fig - obvious answer is avatar of the desolation (paladin of ankarna) but i feel like the stranger could also play into her impersonations of people tbh. (she would also make a pretty good slaughter avatar, music flavored obviously.) ON THE INVERSE my girl would absolutely be a stranger victim as well esp because of how afraid she is that everyone likes her for her facade and not how she actually is. I could totally see her being a victim turned avatar

gorgug - i think my first instinct would be either hunt/slaughter because barbarian. rage. duh. but i think hes got real buried vibes HEAR ME OUT it is CONSTANTLY talked about how gorgug is too large for places + he had to crawl through a small and enclosed space in the forest of the nightmare king

adaine - you would THINKK she would be the eye because she's an oracle but you'd be WRONGGG my girl is SOO lonely/vast coded absolutely. someone who felt isolated at every turn, never had friends,w as never enough for her parents, small and insignificant, she is SO vast/lonely

fabian - junior year fabian was super lonely victim but i think there's something about living up to bill's legacy that is inherently slaughetr yknow i think slaughter avatar and lonely or hunt victim

kristen - desolation. the church of helio. need i say more. okay i probably need say more but i htink it kind of speaks for itself. being the chosen one for the literal Sun God. fire without flame. on the exact inverse shes also very avatar of the dark coded, rejecting her "destiny" and embracing cassandra, a goddess of night and doubt, that plays well into darkness and the obscuration of facts.

riz - i think riz is the easiest, he's an avatar of the eye and a victim of the lonely. honestly if i were to make a magnus archives fantasy high au he would be the archivist probably. i feel like he's also web touched because of kalina

bonus content

tracker is an avatar/victim of the hunt, kalina is an avatar of the web, chungledown bim is an avatar of the hunt, and baron is an avatar of the lonely.

[elsajoyagent8]

I’m in the mood for angst headcanons because I CRAVE angst.

So here! With four for each character, here’s some of my…

TSAMS/ TLAES/ TEAPS Angst Headcanons

Sun

- Sun hates being left alone, it gives him flashbacks from when he was locked in that magic box by Moon.

- Sun sometimes gets overwhelmed at the daycare for what seems like no reason, and he always runs home and locks himself in his room.

- Sun doesn’t sleep very well when in this state. He tends just stay in one place and stare at the ceiling all night.

- Another headcanon of mine is that Sun literally has a permanent smile on his face. No matter what he does, he cannot stop smiling. And this is how Sun masks his sadness — a smile. Pretending he’s happy all the time.

Moon

- Moon pulls at the wool of his turtleneck when he’s overwhelmed. There’s a lot of loose wool around his sleeves and chest for that reason.

- Moon hates loud noises. It’s why he doesn’t like working in the daycare as much as Sun. If he’s in there for too long with all the kids yelling, he gets overwhelmed, runs into a corner with his hands over his ears, probably near tears.

- Moon scratches at the metal of his palms when upset. There’s now a few small holes in his hands.

- Moon goes completely mute when he’s really upset. No one can even force a word out of him. Sun has to coax him into doing things like eating or even getting out of bed.

Eclipse

- Eclipse has chronic nightmares, they’re almost impossible to ignore. This has caused him to have somniphobia, and refuses to sleep at night. His nightmares are always vivid and graphic.

- Eclipse refuses comfort in the form of touch. He feels like he’ll get too mentally attached to someone if they touch him too much. Heck, not even just touch from comfort. Just touch in general.

- Like Moon, when overwhelmed, Eclipse goes completely mute. He doesn’t want to draw attention to himself and therefore doesn’t want anyone to notice if he’s overwhelmed.

- If a boundary of his is crossed, Eclipse will run off after it’s resolved, away from everyone. Then, he drops his cold facade and struggles to breathe.

Lunar

- Lunar talks to himself to try keep himself calm when overwhelmed. Though this often only makes him more anxious.

- Lunar has a specific bean bag in his room that he sits in when he’s upset. He’ll often sit in it for hours just crying.

- Lunar gets flashbacks from when he hurt Earth everytime he uses his powers after he got them back. Everytime he has to stop and just get his breathing back in check.

- Lunar blames himself for what happened to Jack. In his eyes, if he never came back and therefore never got his powers, Rez never would’ve been around his family and therefore the beast never would’ve bitten Jack, furthermore also meaning that he thinks the creator getting revived is his fault.

Solar

- Solar is sensitive to being touched. Not because he’s afraid of getting too attached to people like Eclipse does— but because he was not just mentally abused by his Moon. He was also hit a lot. So now, he still flinches at any sudden touch to his shoulders and/or just in general.

- Solar struggles with both sleeping and eating. He doesn’t like doing either because it makes him feel like he’s not doing anything useful. If he’s not working, he feels like he’s not good enough. You have to either coax him into doing it or manually force him.

- Solar believes that he’s a bad parent. He feels as though he should be around for Jack more, and blames himself for his son’s kidnapping. Lunar might blame himself too, but Solar’s on a completely other level.

- Before he got Jack back, Solar struggled to do anything but try come up with ways to get him back. Doing regular work at the theatre got overwhelming at times and he’d have to clock out early, often to just go home to privately just… cry.

Earth

- Earth occasionally looks back on the fake memories that the Creator fabricated to try imagine what life could be like if they were real.

- When Solar died, Earth found the shirt she made him at Christmas and kept it in her room. She was the only one who couldn’t really move on from his death. When she found out Eclipse was bringing Solar back, she gave him the shirt to leave for Solar when he was revived.

- Earth misses the days where she could just walk like a normal person again. Deep down she still doesn’t forgive Lunar for what he did.

- Earth keeps up the fake smile a lot. Not as much as Sun. But she does, especially when in the daycare. She doesn’t want to worry the kids.

Ruin

- Ruin only talks about his past if it’s the good parts. He refuses to talk about his trauma because he doesn’t want to burden others.

- Ruin keeps an act up to hide the fact that he secretly hates himself underneath. He almost never drops it, he’s good at keeping everything bottled up. Only when alone or if he’s been woken up from a nightmare.

- Ruin feels remorse anytime he sees any Monty from any dimension. It reminds him of his Monty and how he was unable to save him. It’s also why he hangs around in Monty Golf a lot.

- When Sun and Moon needed time off after the whole Mimic situation, Ruin was told to work in the daycare. Sure, it was him going back to his roots, but after hours he always felt guilty that he couldn’t have done that in his home dimension.

Nexus

(transgender Nexus supremacy btw, bite me)

- Nexus never felt comfortable in her body, even before when she was just New Moon. She never really thought about it too much until she changed it.

- Nexus made herself out to be someone who knew what she was doing, but in reality she was just making things up as she went along and rolling with the punches. She was honestly afraid of her own power sometimes.

- Nexus was almost hoping that Solar still cared about her when she came to ‘visit’. She made out that she didn’t care, when in reality hearing her once ‘brother’ want her dead and not want her near him was actually eating her up from the inside out.

- After the encounter with Solar, Nexus threw away his old goggles that she kept. She hated the idea of just giving them back and felt guilty wearing them, so she threw them into the corner of her room and promptly forgot about them.

Now, a poll. Idk man, I like this and wanna know ur thoughts :)

Feel free to suggest characters you want me to torture >:3

[thequietkid-moonie]

Saw you write for corpse bride, im not sure if requests are open since your bio and pinned say different things but if they are could I get something for Victor? Im a sucker for friends to lovers so maybe something with that? 👀

Friends to Loves w/ Victor Van Dort

[ HEADCANONS ] [ Corpse Bride ]

OMFG thank you so much for requesting this!! I love so much the movie and finally writing for it is so amazing!!! Waaaahhh hope you like it as much as I did!!

Also, so sorry for confusing you, it was totally my bad, I totally forgot to change the one of the bio but thanks for checking both, I apreciate it a lot!! 🖤

Getting to be Victor's friend could be either pretty easy or pretty difficult, he normally doesn't go out of his house and when he does is mostly with his parents, it could be that you two met because your families are friends or because you two agree somewhere

He could be pretty awkward and clumsy at first due not really knowing what to say but wanting to give a good impresion, but at the time pass he will start to feel more comfortable and will start to express more himself

He would prefer if you don't meet his parents right away (and actually prefer to avoid it as long as posible), not that he is embarrased of you but he is afraid for his mother reaction, and even if she takes it well is probably that will say something embarrassing about him and he doesn't want to scare away his probably only friend

Is more likely that Victor will accept you the way you are without much problems, not matter if you are more the shy or energetic type he just wants for you to feel free to be yourself (since you do the same for him, is only right in his mind and even if you would criticize him he prefers to just let you be). If you are more the shy or introvert type he tries to talk more and motivate you to do diferent things together as friends (even when is something new for him) but if you are more the energetic and extrovert type he tries to follow your lead and your rythm, he may complain a bit sometimes for being too much but he just get uses to it over time

It doesn't have to pass much time for Victor to fall in love but that doesn't make it less meaningful, his feeling grows faster that he can notice so it would take him a while to know what he is feeling, and when he does it will take him a little bit of time to accept it mainly because he is really nervous about the whole thing, he doesn't know if he will be enough for you or even if you will ever like him that way

Even before him realicing his feelings it start to be a little bit obvious, since, even if he had already got used to having you around he is more nervous and clumsy around you again, just like he was when you just met, but this time he tries to brush it off by laughing at it, as well he start to trip on his words and sometimes speaks before thinking (more than he used to). While having a crush Victor is stuck between being really nervous and completely comfortable around you

He isn't exactly planning to confess his feelings for you but there are moments where you two are talking in a more serious manner and he just start to talk from his heart and his true feeling slips a little (if he realice it in time he will try to apologize or cover it up). He will only confess if and when he is sure of his feelings for you and that are reciprocated because he doesn't want to risk your friendship, he wouldn't mind too much never telling you his true feelings if he knows you don't like him back

If you are the one confessing then it will take him by surprise, it actually take him a moment to fully process what you have said and is probably that he asks you if it is real, he will be all blushy and flustered, even triping on his words but at the end he manage to express his feelings for you too

It would take him a while for Victor to accept that this is for real and that he is in a relasionship with you and yet he couldn't be happier for it, he tries to be the best boyfriend, the one that you deserve, unfortunately his insecurities sometimes push him a little to much and make him think that you deserve better than him

It would take him a while to get used to being in a relasionship but once he does he will be actually pretty open with you and tries to have a lot romantic and meaningful gestures with you

[melanieph321]

Dominik Szoboszlai x Black Reader - Not Enough Part 4/6

+18

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

Summary - Reader is excited to meet Dominik's parents but is shocked to find out that they are very prejudiced and do not approve of her.

Enjoy!

It was a dreadful night. As you tossed and turned, not all comfortable in the little room Dominik's family put you in, it hit you that this was probably the first in three years that you had sleep alone.

You couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness. You missed the familiarity of Dominik's presence, the way he would wrap his arms around you and pull you close. Now you hoped, no, prayed that Dominik in the other room was as miserable as you. How could he allow this, you thought. Was he that afraid to disrespect his parents?

"What a baby." You muttered, also coming to the conclusion that there was no comfortable sleeping positions in this bed. You might as well stay up.

Tossing the sheets aside, you got up and out of bed, the floor boards cracking underneath your feet.

"Such a old fucking house." You murmured. At this point you were angry at the world as you went to search through your bag.

"Yes, a good movie will do it..." You said, retrieving your laptop. Just then there was a light knock on the door, causing you to draw a sharp breath.

Knock knock

You had been to loud, you thought, standing frozen like a cat in the night, terrified to make a sound.

Knock knock

"Y/N, it's me."

"Dominik?"

The door handle yanked as he opened it. Your shoulders fell as he appeared in the frame, half naked wearing only his sweatpants.

His smoky eyes shifted to the laptop in your hand. "Couldn't sleep either?"

"No." You muttered. "And it's all your fault."

"My fault?" He said, voice low as not to wake up the rest of his family.

"Yes, your fault. You left me to sleep alone, knowing damn well that I don't know how to do that anymore."

Dominik shut the door behind him entering the room. He was grinning from ear to ear.

"What?" You said, quite tempted to slap him across the face for being such a dick to you.

"You missed me didn't you?"

"Pardon?"

He nodded. "You missed me and couldn't fall asleep without me by your side."

You crossed your arms. "So what?"

"So what?"

"Yeah, so what if I missed you? I'm still mad at you."

Dominik stepped forward, closing the gap between you. His hands went to wrap around your waist, claiming you to press your chin against his torso as you tilted your head up to meet his eyes.

"I'm here now aren't I? That means I missed you too." He said and bent down to kiss you. It was sweet at first,  his tounge dancing around yours. Then the kissed turned needy, his lips smacking against yours.

"Dominik." You gasped against his mouth. His tounge licked a crossed your bottom lip. "Yes, baby?"

You dropped your laptop, wrapping your arms around his neck. "Fuck me."

His arms went under your ass, lifting you up to wrap your legs around his waist. He did so never breaking up the kiss, at least not until he had your chest pressed against his, looking him deeply in the eyes. "With pleasure." He smield and moved to plot you down on the bed where he wasted no time stripping you of your clothes.

"Dominik please."

He didn't settle until he had you butt naked, laying under him with that complecant smile of yours.

"I have to leave in the morning." He said.

You nodded. "Then fuck me until morning."

He chuckled, but did not hesitate to pulll his pants down. There was no time for foreplay, you were horny like dogs. You sat up in bed and made the attempt to reach for his throbbing cock. However he slapped your hand away, causing you to whimper displeased.

"Turn around." He command.

You did what you were told, although the taste of his dick in your mouth would've also been nice.

"Ass up."

You tucked your knees in without raising your chest from the bed, that way Dominik had a perfect view of your....

"Fuck." He grunted, like a wolf about to tare up it's vunrable prey.

You felt a dip in the bed as he got on it. You anticipated his touch that came when he first place himself behind you, aligning his stiff cock with your butt hole, tugging at your hips.

"Wait." You weezed, quite surprised that he wanted your ass more than your glistering pussy.

"I didn't bring condoms." He explained, knowing exactly why you hesitated. "If it's too much for you we can do other things."

It would be a challenge without lubrication, still you shook your head and hid your face between the pillow. "Put it in!" You pleaded and held your breath as Dominik's grip on your hips tightened.

He showed himself into you and fucked you mercilessly. You were limb after five strokes, trembling all over.

"Stay with me, baby, say with me."

Dominik chest warmed your back as he leaned over to search for your hand. He grabbed it and guided it between your legs, wanting you to pleasure yourself while he got it on as well. You tried to match his pace but he was closer to collapsing than you.

"Fuuuckkkk." He groand. Inserting himself inside of you with one last sloppy stroke of his hips. Dominik then collapse on to of you but was quick to turn you over so that that he was the one on the bottom and you were the one on top.

Your heavy breaths filled the room as you came down from the high. The warmth liquid that was Dominik's cum still ran down your leg, however you didn't have the strangth to get up and clean yourself.

"Fuck that was good." He pulled your face to rest against chest, kissing the top of your head. "I'm sorry." He siad, ones again apologized for making you sleep apart. "I'll make it up to you tomorrow night as well. Just leave the door open like you did tonight, okay baby?"

You nodded. "Okay."

Truthfully you wanted to question why the two of you had to sleep apart in the first place. You were grown people in love, and Dominik's parents said that they liked you. Didn't they?

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

[mycupofrum]

Opinion on a ship: Prongsfoot 🥰? (Yes yes I want rant)

Hi! Thank you for your ask! Well, you wanted a rant and I wrote a whole essay. :D These are my own headcanons combined with some canon. 

Prongsfoot is the ship that contains so much love, devotion and tragedy that I'm afraid nothing else can ever replace that for me. 🥲 But besides their extremely close canon friendship that can be stretched to a canon-divergent romantic relationship, I really enjoy those AUs where they fall in love later in life too!  

Friends to lovers 

There's the obvious reason why they're so good together: friends to lovers makes sense, since they grow up together and learn to know each other's best and worst qualities. And no matter what, they're each other's favourite person. It's clear they bond on the train pretty much right away, and then that connection only deepens as years go by.  

They have that chemistry that you can't force, it's either there or it isn't. James likely can't get enough of this boy who comes from a similar background as him, but who grew up with such different values and yet decided to go against the family traditions. On top of that, he is not boring and pretentious at all as one might expect but really smart and has a wicked sense of humour.  

Sirius is probably so fascinated by the energy of James Potter, a boy who comes from a known pureblood family that Sirius's parents consider blood traitors, and who is so full of life and really witty and has some good banter. And he takes a clear stand on things and people he likes and dislikes. Each of them thinks the other is just really intriguing and fun to be around with. 

Connection 

You know whenever you have something on your mind and you just need to share it with a specific someone? That's James to Sirius, and Sirius to James.  

It's hilarious that them not being good at staying apart even for separate detentions is what urges them to use the two-way mirrors. But just how much do you need to spend time with your best friend? For them it's preferably 24/7. This kind of obsession (or devotion, however you like to see it) makes it easy to think of them in a romantic way.  

Respect 

I have a feeling James and Sirius test their limits as teenagers, you know like how Ron and Harry sometimes get upset with each other and don't talk for days but then miss each other like crazy and make up. Yeah, that's a part of growing up, and I think that happens with James and Sirius too, except them not talking to each other would not last for very long. Hours, maybe. :) 

They know how to push each other's buttons but at the same time have a lot of respect for the other – more than for any other of their peers, certainly. Sirius doesn't have a problem telling James when he's being a prat, and James listens to him, because for reasons he doesn't quite understand, it matters when it comes from Sirius.  

I think James has a harder time telling Sirius when he's overreacting to something, i.e. usually cutting someone with his words, but James's willingness to forgive Sirius even if he fucks up is what really wins Sirius over again and again. (Also, my HC is that James did not give Sirius a hard time about the prank but just told him not to do it again, and that was that.) How does James's belief in Sirius never waiver even though everyone else can so easily turn against him? It's wonderful and strange and terrifying all at the same time. Could it be love? Yes! 

Trust 

This is all my HC but I think James finds out about Sirius's background little by little. I don't think Sirius would just openly talk about Walburga and Orion's shitty parenting methods with anyone, or even realise it's not normal to raise someone the way they have, until he hears James talking happily about his parents and what they do together. It's even more baffling when Sirius visits the Potters for the first time. How different their families are! 

James is the one person who has any inkling of how bad things really are for Sirius at Grimmauld Place, and James is the person Sirius deems trustworthy to run to when he can't stay home anymore. He's the person who gives Sirius what his own family never did – safety, care, unconditional love. In turn, Sirius gives James his unconditional loyalty and love. This is all perfect grounds for a romantic connection. 

In canon, this trust is there when James and Lily choose Sirius as Harry's godfather and guardian, in case anything happens to them, and eventually their Secret-Keeper. If only Sirius didn't swap places with Peter. :'( 

AU: Everyone lived  

Stepping fully into my favourite AU, Prongsfoot live and get together in their 20s, 30s or later. No matter what kind of events take place that everyone lives or at least James and Sirius don't die, this is them dealing with adulthood and complicated feelings. I like it when Harry exists in this AU so more often than not, James and Lily do get together before breaking up. (Or, you know, Jilypad happens.)

You can make this Prongsfoot version as messy, angsty or sweet and fluffy as you like. Some of my favourites include: 

slow-burn friends to lovers, angst or romcom, either works for me 

estranged Prongsfoot (something makes them break their friendship/relationship and they meet years later) 

infidelity (it's juicy and no I don't feel bad about it in fiction!) 

unhinged murder husbands (darker version of James and Sirius) 

That's it, don't think I have more to dig into right now. I hope you enjoyed this essay. :)