#note 1: i put (...) in parts where they would go off topic to make random jokes or tease each other or do other silly shenanigans

[ysphcpb]

SafehouseSS2 Day 4: Send-off for P'Krist ♡

Book: Thank you for everything you've taught me. Let me say this. P'Krist is a very lovely person. Before this, I'd never met P'Krist. I was worried that you'd be hard to talk to, but ever since we met- (everyone remarking that Book was kneeling so respectfully, as if Krist were an elderly person) No, I really respect him. P'Krist has taught me a lot of things, both during the live and off-cam. Thank you so much. Thank you, really.

JJ: I want to really thank P'Krist. Before coming to SafeHouse and meeting you, I was nervous, because we have an age gap, and I see you as a seniour. I was afraid of coming off as disrespectful. But now? (Krist: Not anymore? *laughs*) No, you're still my seniour, a beloved seniour, just like P'Off. At first I thought P'Off would be more chaotic, but later on, phi... you are just as chaotic. The exact same. Scarier even. (...) Now, I'd like to... Please raise your arms. *proceeds to put garlands on both of Krist's arms*

Force: I've got to say, we'd never talked to each other, nor met each other before. We just got to know each other here. The first day, I was still a little nervous, didn't know how to talk to you. But now, we've become close. P'Krist is a very lovely big brother, who always gives me support. Anyways, let's meet each other again back in Bangkok. (...) He's a wonderful and cute big brother. Love love krub.

AJ: Let me first say, P'Krist is "my bro," even though we weren't that close before we went to SafeHouse. Now, we are very close. Like I said, we didn't get to see each other often, right phi? We didn't talk much, only simply greeted each other. But since meeting P'Krist in SafeHouse... Like, I knew you are a cute person, but now I've found that you're even cuter than expected. Much much cuter. Just really, really lovely. (...) I want to say thank you so much, P'Krist, for many things. For teaching us, for taking care of us kids. Thank you so much.

Drake: Honestly, I've known P'Krist for a long time. P'Krist took care of me a lot, as I'm from Chiangmai, when I first arrived I didn't know the area well. He always gives me help and advice on my acting and my growing journey. Thank you so much, phi. (...) Today is my first day, I only get to see you for one day. I'm secretly sad, I want you to stay for longer. Actually, you can just keep staying here, phi. (Krist: Honestly I want to stay too *pretends to squeeze out some tears*)

Ohm: At first, I thought when I came today you'd already left, and I wouldn't get to see you. But I got to at least see you for one day, I'm very glad. (Krist: Right, we got to see each other recently, filming a lakorn.) That wasn't recent! It was a while ago. When we filmed An Eye for An Eye, I got to meet you and get to know you. We got close, but we didn't get to know each other that much because we didn't spend that much time together, and we filmed separate scenes. But now, we finally meet for real. This garland is to thank you. (...) This other garland is to ask you for forgiveness, for the times that I might've played around and gone too far. Because still, I'm the younger one and you're the older one. (...) Love you, phi. Let's meet when we have the chance.

Nanon: Let's say, we've known each other for a long time, we've gotten so close, ever since I first joined the agency. (Krist: You're my first nong in the agency.) Right, and we became close. At first, we may have not contacted each other much, also I was still a student back then. Once I went to university, we got to see each other more often and became much closer. Thank you for everything you've taught and advised me, for always giving me support. Love you always. If I didn't love you, I wouldn't be giving you this many garlands. (Krist: That's right. You can love me a little less, it's fine~ I'm kidding, kidding.) Hey, I love you to death. Our condos are even near each other, wow~ We can meet each other easily. (Krist: I've picked you up before~) Yeah, he once called me "Hey, let's go out and eat!" - "Phi, it's 9pm now." - "I'll call a grab for you. Just come." And so I just came. Ah, here you go, I love you.

Mike: Frankly, I'll probably feel lonely, a little bit, but I believe that with the kids here I won't be lonely. (Krist: Right, they love you to death.) So you don't need to worry about me. Well... I don't know what to say! We understand each other already. Honestly, the only thing I want to say is, you're a very talented person. I've seen Krist since that first impression, the day he went "Hey friends, can I join your group?", when we first met at the freshmen welcoming event. (Krist: We've been friends since our first year at uni.) Until now. He's grown up a lot, and has gone through many things. There. I don't know what else to say, we talk and see each other all the time! Ah, I love you~

[system-of-a-feather]

Is it really final fusion if there are parts that you're still keeping separate and disowning from yourself? These parts deserve to feel like they have a right to exist, that healing is possible for them and that they are not a lost cause. It isn't fair to call yourself final fused when these parts are being excluded from your recovery. Repressing trauma is not healthy and it isn't sustainable to do that forever. It would be healthy if you worked with them, held compassion for them, and helped work through their trauma beliefs with them. Sometimes to heal you need to be disregulated sometimes, because you're letting yourself finally feel the feelings, and they've been kept away for so long, naturally it will cause disfunction for a while.

Bro, you are assuming an awful lot off of an awful little combined with a lot of poor interpretations of that post. I also find it a bit rude and crossing some boundaries for you to be 1) telling me how my vulnerable parts feel 2) telling me that I dont know what >I< feel and 3) telling me how my vulnerable parts - both when they are operating seperate from me and fused with me - should be treated.

If you think you aren't doing that and are not encroaching on territory you don't know about (ie my trauma, my system, my recovery and my healing) then please, tell me the details about my vulnerable trauma holders that you seem to know more about than I do, because man, between being literally them and living 24/7 with them and talking with them for my entire life, I really thought I'd know them better than a random anonymous stranger online. Go figure. You learn new things every day.

Putting aside the honestly disrespectful breach of boundaries under the assumption its well intended, I will continue the rest of this post assuming you asked me about how the post on how we handle our vulnerable parts relate to our fusion rather than assuming and judging because I honestly think the question I am giving you the benefit of the doubt and assuming you MEANT is actually a really interesting one! Because it can be totally confusing how our system that does not actively engage and actively interact and actively force our trauma holders to go through trauma processing could POSSIBLY fuse with them.

(Actually I have to comment on a few points of confusion and disclaimer on this before I can fully just move onto the next topic in case there is some really strange miss understanding or reading comprehension issue that might make the interesting part of this response confusing if not addressed)

---

Confusion and Clarity Section:

To remove any potential confusion, I'd first like to state that it is "really" final fusion because they're literally me, I know what they feel, I know what they think and I know what they've been through. I can only write the post about how we used to handle things and how we operate now AND speak for those parts because I AM them like, genuinely and fully. Not even "technically them" I deadass AM them, so please don't assume I can't speak for myself and my own trauma and recovery. I know myself and my needs.

There isn't really a debate whether or not we are "finally fused" or what aspects of our life determine "final fusion" other than, you know *checks notes* the fact we literally operate like 75% or more of the time as a complete solid whole with little to no dissociation and honestly even these days, no disconnect between our identity beyond a general and standard IFS way of navigating complicated feelings.

Clearing up that odd comment on "really final fusion", I'm pretty sure you are referring to this post? And if so, I think you missed the part where we have always stated they are absolutely welcome to engage and hang out and we don't "lock them up" or repress them in any way or form.

---

Final Fusion & Our Sleepy "Dragons" / Trauma Holders

The post in reference discusses some of how a lot of our heaviest trauma holders and parts that have been extremely disconnected and dissociated from life for years actually don't regularly spend a lot of time near the front and our system / whole has STRONG rules against EVER forcing those parts to "recover" or process their trauma or "engage in the real world and life and exist" if they don't want to.

It's a concept our system didn't really understand and used to REGULARLY do the opposite of because of good intent and good will "these parts deserve to live and exist and they deserve to heal and be better and so they need to heal from their trauma or they will be forever suffering and they deserve better" and its something we spent over a year learning from one specific part in our system - a major trauma holder - that it is far far more HARMFUL than helpful and that A LOT of that good intent / good will interest in making parts heal came from a lot of 1) projection of me wanting to be perfectly healed right now and projecting that need for healing onto other parts and 2) very trauma-unresponsive, inconsiderate, and not respecting either the autonomy, individuality, or ability for those parts to speak for themselves and their own needs.

Trauma informed care, both internally or with other people, is built on a principle of respecting the traumatized individual and ACTIVELY listening to what THEY are saying and what THEY need and what THEY are experiencing. Often trying to push your ideals, your agenda, your recovery schedule and pacing and trying to push an individual to heal faster than they are ready, serves in small amounts of reinforce the idea that the traumatized individual can not make their own decisions, they do not know how they feel, they do not know whats best for them, they shouldn't have a say in how they are treated, and that they have to conform to another person's standards and heal correctly.

I would LOVE for those parts to come sit with us and talk with us for hours upon hours about trauma. I would LOVE fro them to cry and throw things and be in crisis. We actually get slightly excited whenever those parts are around and in crisis because it gives us an opportunity to support them, show them some coping skills, and help them learn that life is actually pretty okay. Some of our best and most happiest moments (on both sides) have been in those post-crisis where those parts have, for the first time in their entire life, EVER felt ANY support from ANYTHING or ANYONE and those moments are so warm, healing, and impactful on both the supporting and the supported end.

That being said, while our whole and our supporting parts would LOVE to be able to speed run those moments until those parts are completely comfortable existing immediately, that would require us to ACTIVELY make them suffer, feel pain, and relive their trauma when they otherwise would not have to.

These parts have COMMUNICATED to us, when they were more stable and when they were not, that they >do not< want to regularly be around the front and out because everything as it is is too much for them. They have actively asked us to let them rest and have extended periods of calm and peaceful sleeping when things are good so that they can have a break from chronic suffering.

Yes, if we dragged them out, made them process trauma, made them look it straight on, made them dysregulated, eventually they'll "get over it" and "get used to it", but that is only after EXCESSIVE pain as those parts are EXTREMELY prone to being thrown into deep and intense flashbacks. We COULD quickly desensitize them and get them used to life, but the quick method is honest to god cruel, inconsiderate, trauma-unresponsive, and arguably traumatizing to those parts.

Instead, we listen to what those parts have communicated and meet them where they are at in their recovery. Those parts have told us that they are in *peaceful* sleep when they are not triggered and that sleep / distance actually helps them process the sheer amount of stimuli and information that is required for them to regain some stability.

Of course, sometimes triggers come in our life that forcibly wake them up and they get thrown into flashbacks and thats okay! Not ideal, not fun, and I feel bad for them but its okay! Because while they are suffering deeply, they are also surrounded with SO many parts that are actively and intently here to support them, help them, show them the world, and help them develop an understanding for the present and coping mechanisms that are healthy.

And usually after we have helped calm them down, showed them around life and given them some time to enjoy and appreciate existence, they - in a good mood that is now regulated and calm - actively ask to go back to sleep because they are 1) tired and 2) have a lot of new things to process and anything more would be overloading.

And so we have parts - specifically Lin - who is good at holding the front and keeping them company while they fall back to sleep, much like a parent reading a kid a bed time story. It's a very healing and very helpful and trauma informed way of approaching, supporting method that respects the communication and feelings of the individual parts and minimizes the amount of unnecessary stress, triggering, and flashbacks for those parts.

And thats all when we operate as independent parts - which we mostly do when those parts need support because its easier for us to give them focused support when operating as independent parts than as a fused whole as it can be hard to utelize our coping skills as a fused whole when they're triggered. (Think of it like using IFS framework, but instead of parent part and inner child, they just have actual names)

As a whole, I don't "stop being those parts" or exclude them, I am still them and their traits are integrated into the whole. As a fused whole those parts can actually exist and engage in the world A LOT easier than as individual parts because they themselves don't have to be over active and the predominant part of the brain while the trauma they hold can really just remain sleeping in the back. As a fused whole they aren't "trauma holders that are sleeping" they are Feathers and their trauma that they held remains sleeping.

And as a fused whole, I don't think I have to be chronically experiencing and processing my trauma to be me, to be happy, or to be present. My trauma isn't my identity and I am not any less "existing" by not chronically living in my trauma.

As a fused whole I'm literally just Feathers. I got "brains" because I know where certain thoughts and feelings would have come from as individual parts, but like... I'm Feathers. I'm literally just fucking Feathers XD And I literally am those vulnerable trauma holding parts as well. And thank you for your concern, but as those vulnerable trauma holding parts, we're fine and honestly enjoying our life the way it is man.

If you are really that concerned about us, please check to make sure you aren't projecting your own struggles because if you are, please take care of your trauma holders and give them lots of love, support, patience and understanding and please don't rush them to heal faster than they need to.

(the pink is very much explicitly from an Evaline brain which is one of those heavily traumatized vulnerable parts; I am explicitly calling that part of this out because I am genuinely very fucking proud and surprised any of them actually wanted to voice anything for themselves and I am gonna reinforce that cause its awesome and I love that for them)

[sp1lled-lemon4de]

¿۵Crazy in love۵?

Characters: Mina Ashido x sub!male reader Fandom: MHA (My Hero Academia) Genre: smut

NOTE: This is a continuation to my previous fic, which ig is a part1? This will be 3 mina fics in total, i have 1 fem one and this one will make 2 male ones :> this was also a request by two of my amazing followers, one asked for the og fic and another asked for pt2, so enjoy :D P.S. this is a continuation, so i recommend reading the first fic: ♡ _________________

You went through your day attending classes and so on.

You pretty much stayed in your corner except for hanging out with Deku and talking with Momo, who was planning on having some movie night....

Somewhat along the lines, you would have to talk to Mina about it later...{opening for a part 3?????}

On the topic of Mina, where is she? After your "conversation" with her this morning you haven't seen her....

Its fine, you know your way around the school, she knows her way around the school, she has classes, you have classes, you know that you wouldn't have her around all the time, but most of the time atleast.

Besides you are in the same class, so you get to see her all the time.

(((Ring)))

There goes the bell, you decided to wait in the class for a bit knowing the hallways would be crowded, you timed it and in 15 minutes you were out the door, well atleast by the door waiting for Mina....

You sighed and thought to yourself why does she have 3 million school supplies????

Truth being she didn't have that many supplies she was just talking to Momo....

She hurried up and got out, she took your hand in hers and walked down the hall way....

silence....it wasn't an awkward silence just a unusual one...

you were a bit surprised Mina hadn't began telling you about her day, especially since you guys didn't see each other, maybe it made your heart drop or not, you just focused on her body language, analyzing her to see if you had upset her.

She took out her phone and began texting....(I am a firm believer that U.A has the best free wifi...FULL BARS AND EVERYTHING, FIGHT ME)

You peaked over but couldn't really see much so ignored it, not like that would matter, because it felt like she was ignoring you.

You let out a dramatic huff which was "ignored" before reaching the dorms, you abruptly let go of her hand and walked inside, poor Mina...

You were to busy stomping off to see Minas shocked face....Later that night, to be exact 11:00 you were still awake, reading a book.

Everyone, well mostly everyone was asleep, Deku, Momo, Todoroki, were all gone and Denki, and Kiri were probably up doing some random weird stuff, probably mixing poison in the dorm kitchen...

You heard a knock on your door, and you went to open it.. Mina, it was Mina...

she gently pushed you aside and locked the door and plopped herself on your bed...

"Are you mad at me?~"

"No, not at all."

"Lie"

"Its 11:00, why are you here, go to bed"

"Im your girlfriend Y/n, are you giving me a curfew?"

She chuckled a bit as you leaned on the wall...You noticed she has something with her, a small bag...You raise an eyebrow and gestured to it..

"Oh this? just something to spice our night up"

"our night up? you didn't tell me you were sleeping over, if so i still have some of your clo-"

"no. Remember this morning?"

You froze.

"i told you that i would "leave more tonight", correct?"

You nodded slowly..."o-ok, so what does that have to do with the bag?"

She clasped her hands and opened her bag, she pulled out a very bright coral vibrator (omfg i struggled not to put pink) , perfect size and everything, and she playfully turned it on and off.

"woah woah, explain, p-please"

"How about i "explain" it to you visually, or what's the right term, hands-on-hands?"

Your legs begin to shake, thank god you were leaning on the wall.

To your surprise and maybe your relief she wasn't going to use it on you...

(if you were waiting for that, ill make a new fic just for that scenario if you want) She gestured for you to get on your knees, and you did so with out hesitation (i would too).

To your surprise she removed her clothes, tossed her panties aside, turned on the vibrator and began to work, on herself. You watched intently, taking notice of how her pretty thighs spread, and her puffy lips ached, and her poor clit being feed with so much stimulation, your cock twiched as you watched her, you were getting impatient, and she could feel it... And she made matters worse, by moaning out our name ever so softly, and adding a few praises in between...

gosh you were mesmerised... "look at you, practically drooling as you watch me pleasure myself" "M-mina...please" "please? what? say it~" "please, please let me touch you..." "no." (LITTERALY FLABBERGASTED, AND IM THE AUTHOR) "please please please, wanna touch you, wanna make you feel good, wanna stuff you full-" She huffs in amusment but gives in immediately and calls you over, she lets you pick her up and place her on your lap, right infront of your mirror... you slowly run you fingers over her clit and bring them down to her entrance, you slowly slide 2 fingers in, setting a steady pace you pump your digits in and out of her pretty hole...

Her sweet moans fill the air as you kiss her neck, dont be fooled, she is still the one in control, view it like this , you are her pawn... "Fuck, Y-y/n mmhm im so so close" You keep your pace steady, hitting her g spot over and over, her walls clench around your fingers as she cums, leaning her head back as she sighs, you kiss her cheek and rub her waist calming her down like the good boyfriend you are.

"Take your pants off for me" you quickly did as told, one swift motion your pants and boxers were off and your dick was out in the open for her. She laughed softly.

"good to know I still turn you on"

you huffed at her, just wanting to touch her and feel her...

She pinned you down and kissed you deeply, using one hand to take your member and stroke it gently...

you softly moan in to the kiss as she positioned her hips. She slowly brought her hips down and began bouncing...

You let out a soft whimper, finally being inside her making your brain turn to mush.

Her juices covering your length as she bounced up and down.

The sight to much for you to handle you let out soft groans but they soon became loud, she felt so good, the way her walls clenched around you, the way her tits bounced, the way the light reflects off her, her on top of you made you feel some way...

like she was using you, for her pleasure which you loved because pleasing her is one of your biggest goals, using you like a fuck toy, over and over.

It made your head get all dizzy and fuzzy and before you knew it you were thrusting Into her, you held her waist, guiding her.

She had already cummed you can't let her do all the work...

her sweet praises filled the air as you took over with doing the action, still being her perfect sub, but helping her.

"Such a good boy, huh? Fucking his girlfriend so good" she ran her hand through your hair gently tugging it.

You let out a long moan, you cock throbbing, it's like it reacted on its own to her praises, in seconds without warning you shot you long sticky white ropes of cum into her.

"Ahh, m-mina I'm so sorry m'sorry, fuck you just felt so good~" tears form in your eyes from the pleasure.. you felt to good to pull out, much less warn her...that didn't matter to her, she just kissed your forehead and cupped your face.

You sighed contently and closed your eyes, happy with the events of your night...

___________________

HEY HEY HEY, I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS!!! I TRIED GETTING IT OUT OF MY DRAFTS AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE, I HOPE ITS NOT TO SHORT FOR YOUR LIKINGS LOVLIES ♡♡♡ have a wonderful day/night/noon

♡

(TAGS BELOW)

[windermeresimblr]

13, 31, 24 for the ask game :)

13: from basic planning to a finished post, how long does that take you?

I tend to spend a while planning, mostly because research is my favorite thing in the world. When I finally think I've got something good enough to post--this can be a while or I can be really feeling it and put it up in a minute--my process goes like this. First, if I write anything, I try to write with poses in mind. (I usually have some of yours in the mental picture files, haha.) Or if it's not quite pose-friendly, find a spot where I can take a photo and have it look naturalistic. I want my pictures to look like they're illustrating the story, and I'm not always successful! Second, it's off to hair and makeup for my Sims. And wardrobe, of course. Wardrobe is my favorite part. Oh, and set design, because I'm the one who insists on very niche topics to write about, and very few other people have the same "visions" as me. This can also take some time, because I'm horrendously picky. Then I have to remember how to take pictures in-game, because that always slips my mind. If I'm being good, I get a bunch of angles so that I can pick and choose. More often, I am not being good and I only take a few. After that, it's editing, and then fighting with Tumblr to put my text (I write in Google Docs or LibreOffice or the notes app on my phone) into the post without it looking weird. So this is usually at least three days; a week is closest to my high-production output. And if I get discouraged, it's usually in between stage 1 and 2.

31: drop some random trivia about your story.

Alasdair once had a storyline where he lived in 17th century Holland and grew tulips. I still think of that storyline from time to time. I didn't go through with it because I don't remember why. Like Alasdair, Ioluri originally started life in Create-A-Sim as a brunette, before I went for the bottle of hair dye. Wee Lassie, rarely pictured, got her name because I was imagining Alasdair being totally besotted with a runt of the litter. I suppose she has a pedigree name, but she is always and forever Wee Lassie to him. (And to me.)

24: are there any characters who remind you of yourself?

I think I put a bit of myself in all my characters, but Kolfinna--do you remember her? she got lost in the shuffle, poor thing--was closest to me because she has my hearing loss and speech impediment, as well as my stubbornness. She also inherited my habit of hiding plans until they can't be hidden anymore, which is what would have led her to cross paths with Alasdair. They would have had a lot of fun if I ever get back to her story. Alasdair is not like me at all, I think, but he got my bravado foolishness in the face of the supernatural. I have had precisely one possibly supernatural encounter, which was on a study abroad in Ireland at a tourist trap that was supposed to be a fairy circle. I thought the undergrads were being ridiculous when one of them said they 'felt a presence,' and so, being the grad student and the adult of the group, I dared the "Lords and Ladies" to come out and show themselves. (Yes, I did grow up stealing peeks from my grandmother's huge book of Irish folk tales, but clearly I did not learn anything from it.) When a fence cable across the pond we were at then vibrated like someone plucked it, I said, "that could be anything! if you're really there, make it stop!" And it did! Stone cold! As if someone had simply stopped and grabbed it! At this point we all screamed and ran to rejoin the group. I laid awake in the hotel that night wondering if I was going to be abducted, or if I was in the clear, and had I seen that or had I imagined things? Fortunately for me, I have not been stolen away by the Fair Folk just yet. Poor Alasdair not so much! (What they'd do with me anyways I don't know.)

[area-zero-rogue]

// Some random headcanon questions! Sorry these took some time ^^ 1) Is legacy important to Rosario? If so, what kind of legacy would she like to leave? 2) What's the first thing she thinks about when she wakes up? 3) What would it take for her to be perfectly happy? Is it possible?

Legacy is definitely something Rosario thinks about. How might her contributions (or even lack thereof if she isn’t successful) impact others? What can she do to help set up a foundation for success if they decide to take up a similar topic in the future? Even if she is unable to find the answers she is looking for, she at the very least would like to leave record of what she has discovered in the hopes it could help other aspiring researchers. She could really care less if people pay attention to the more personal aspects of her life and she will be damned if she continued anything for the sake of lineage. Her mother’s side, maybe. In the end, as long as she can help by passing her knowledge on in some way, that’s what matters most.

It always begins with a list of what needs to get done. She is constantly set in “go mode”. If she can keep herself busy or occupied with other things, even if this includes putting herself in risky situations, that is preferred to being left alone with her thoughts and emotions. That typically doesn’t turn out well and often kicks off a good few days where she is unable to get anything done, executive dysfunction having a part or not.

Rosa does not believe there is anything that could make her perfectly happy. It already takes so much for her to voice her needs and by pushing them to the side for so many years, she hardly thinks about it anymore. (I will note, she is actively trying to improve this) Sure, there is plenty she imagines would be nice to have such as a home in the countryside, a family, and someone who will actively want to stay by her side. All of that, though, are very stable things and much of her current lifestyle is far from that. She hesitates to decide on where she would want to settle down and have all of that because of the fear that she could make the wrong choices. The last thing she would ever hope for is to potentially bring a child into something similar to what she lived through. I think it could be possible if she had someone to guide her a bit and show her things can be okay, help coax her out of this mindset where she constantly prioritizes others over herself. Also therapy, therapy would definitely help. It will take some work, but I’m sure she could get close if surrounded by the right people.

[lilywily143]

I posted 3,569 times in 2022

That's 2,806 more posts than 2021!

369 posts created (10%)

3,200 posts reblogged (90%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@error-core-animations

@senseiwu

@fishybehavior

@legogeek33

@aeonthedimensionalgirl

I tagged 1,540 of my posts in 2022

#lego ninjago - 615 posts

#lilywily post - 361 posts

#lilywily143 - 341 posts

#lilywily art - 223 posts

#jay walker - 114 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#does anyone have those moments where you dont see a name mentioned in a post so you jump to some random character that just looks familiar?

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

More stimmings

Part 1

Nya

Tugs ponytail

Punches nearby items that don't easily fall over

Clenches her fists, letting the fist down, and repeat

Lloyd

Sniffs everything; food, toys, personally owned items, new people he meets, people he hangs out with, etc

Bounces in one place

Moves his weight on his feet from toes to heel in a rocking motion 

Kai

Scratches arms and thighs

Owns a pop-it

Has a stim toy that he strokes the fluff on

Jay

Scratches arms

Pacing around the room when end rants about a topic end is really into

Flicks the nearby lightswitch over and over

Cole

Walks on tip-toes

Used to bite the inside of his cheek and put unsafe items in mouth to bite on; Jay gave him chewelry.

Sings random lines from his favorite songs; Glowworm is definitely included.

32 notes - Posted January 18, 2022

#4

Incorrect Quotes but Ninjago!

Enjoy!

Skylor: Oh my FSM, are we there yet?

Kai: No! Fuck! For the bajillionth time, we're not there yet. Can you guys shut up?!

Brad: You have to have a car so small like this??

Skylor: Its really cramped back here...

Kai: You guys compl- wow, I'm driving you to the park and you can do is complain about it. We stopped and got McDonald's!

Lloyd: Yeah!

Skylor: I didn't get anything

Brad: Yeah, all you got was a plain cheeseburger. How boring is that??

Kai: Shut up!

Skylor: Boring!

Kai: I'm gonna pull this car- I'm gonna drive this car right off the cliff, right now.

Brad: What!?

Skylor: Huh?

Kai: Brrbrrr- hahaha

Brad: Ehh!

Skylor: Hehe

Brad: Didn't know you had to go like that to step on the gas pedal.

Kai: Brrbrbrbrbr

Skylor: Brrbrbrr- hehe- I wanna drive! Arererer

Kai: Brbrbr

*Lloyd Purrs*

Kai: Hahaha!

Brad: I am not entertaining this.

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Skylor: So who goes next??

Kai: Q,R, S..... Ssssss

Skylor and Kai: Sssssssss

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See the full post

33 notes - Posted January 3, 2022

#3

Here is my entry for the 2022 Ninjago Valentine Exchange hosted (I think) by@ninjago-valentine-exchange

Someone had to make a fan fic for Ninjago fanon and I would add onto it with a piece of art!

My piece here is at the end of the fic, to clarify.

The fic it is from

The person who wrote this delightful fic was @ninjas-go-round

34 notes - Posted March 13, 2022

#2

I had a idea...

See the full post

66 notes - Posted August 3, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Not Enough Room

"You are too sweet."

"You really don't have too."

"No! I will be the sacrifice and sleep on the couch!"

"Kai, you really don't need to. I'm sure we can figure out a way for all of us to sleep together."

"Zane. I am good. I wouldn't want any of you to be on the couch. Just sleep in my bed. I sleep in it all the time! I need a break from it!" Kai combated with a chuckle and a smirk.

His charm always got the others convinced in these stupid situations like this. But, they were still reluctant to go into Kai's room to sleep in.

The three were basically forced into the room by Kai.

"Goodnight!" Kai exclaimed to their lovers. And with that, he closed the door to his own room.

Well, it wasn't exactly their room.

An incident happened with them, their sibling, and their dad.

It was the kids' final straw and they dipped out of that horrible household.

Wu was nice enough to help them out and let them live in the ninja base.

It was actually a pretty nice home.

Big space to play in, it's all quiet because the warehouse was away from the city by a good distance, and they didn't need to travel that far whenever they needed their mechs.

Kai walked over to the 'living' room.

Just a corner of the training room, away from the mechs and training equipment.

Then, they set up a makeshift bed. Folded up spare blankets to separate them from the rough fabric of the couch, and a loose, thin one folded even more than the others as a pillow.

They could have grabbed another blanket to cover themselves, but it was Summer. They would be fine without a cover.

It took a while, but he fell asleep.

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See the full post

69 notes - Posted January 13, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[stayatsam]

DM tips to make your game better for you and your players

I've been having a lot of thinking lately of how i've seen complaints from both DMs and players of having bad experiences with each other, games falling apart, etc. Put together some tips for DMs out there to help communicate with your players and keep a game from dying. This tip-sheet isn't about campaign-building or storytelling, it's more meta out of game stuff.

Listen to your players and pay attention

This might seem like a no-brainer, but your players probably are not familiar with some of the finer details of D&D, and they certainly don't know what your campaign has in store for them. Be flexible and willing to bend parts of your campaign to suit them.

Listening to your players includes keeping note of how they talk to each other in the game, not just how they talk to you. If a player makes a quick quip about how everyone else in the party has cool magic items and they don't, slip something in for them in an upcoming session that would suit them especially.

2. Be annoying about planning, I mean it

It's easy to feel like you're annoying the group chat or server by constantly asking "Hey wanna get together this weekend?" but it's just something that has to be done. Your players want to play D&D just as much as you do, but it's the Dungeon Master that has to pull the schedule together. DMing comes with a leadership, organizer role that your players automatically look to for scheduling.

3. Post-session talks.

Plan some time after you end your session to talk with your players. Discuss recent developments in the story, comment on their use of technique and spells, ask them where they want to go next, and open a discussion to let everyone (DM included) talk about the game. Even if it's just one or two of your players, it's super helpful and gives a lot of insight

4. Establish a Session 0

This probably should go under 1 but I wasn't thinking of it until right now but: Session 0 is so important. It lets the party get to know each other, talk about their characters' relationships, aspirations, shortcomings and strengths before you dive into the game. This is a pretty solid Session 0 checklist.

5. You are a player too

Dungeon mastering is hard, and can often go un-appreciated. But you are also playing this game to have a good time, and that's something that should be communicated to your players. Be willing to open up a dialogue if a player is doing something bothersome to your game, chances are said thing is bothering the other players too.

6. So, D&D

It's fine to get off-topic and start talking about life and random things outside of D&D while you're in the game, and I'm guilty as both a DM and player of getting very off topic but inevitably I say the line "So, D&D" or "Dungeons and Dragons" to get our attention back on the game. There's usually at least 1 or 2 players in your group that is mildly annoyed when the group gets too off topic, and chances are you're on a time limit before it gets too late in the day/night.

7. Session Summaries

A lot of parties don't take notes, or won't remember every little detail. Hopefully, you'll remember most of these details. At the end of every session, or before every session, write down what happened that session.

Before we start playing, I start each session with a quick summary of the previous week's events. It gets all our brain juices flowing and reminds all of us about important developments. There'll probably be a "Oh I forgot about that!" moment when you're going over past events.

Put these summaries in a place your players can see them too, like a channel on Discord.

8. If you're not having fun, your players probably aren't either

Know when to end a session or game entirely. It's ok to need a break and refresher. And if the campaign itself is just not clicking, sometimes you'll just have to start over. It happens, but it's better to start fresh on a game people enjoy then try to churn out a mediocre campaign. Have fun with your players! You're all in this together.

[zodiyack]

Being Married To Henry’s Characters Would Include...

Requested by @cuisinequeen​: Hi, I love your work. I was just wondering if you could do a headcanon for being married to Clark Kent/Geralt/Sherlock Holmes/Napoleon Solo

Pairing: Clark Kent x Reader, Geralt of Rivia x Reader, Sherlock Holmes x Reader, Napoleon Solo x Reader

Warnings: Swearing, some references, trashy writing lol

Note: This doesn’t include all of his characters, so my apologies if I misled you with the title. Not all that confident in the HCs so sorry about that too

Taglist: @matth1w​, @redspaceace-writes​, @simonsbluee​, @darling-i-read-it​, @fandom-puff​, @thewarriorprincessxo​, @sebastianstanslefteyebrow​, @maan24​, @beckster07890​, @missihart23​

Masterlist | Henry Cavill Masterlist

Clark Kent

You know he’s superman, therefore, you gotta expect the unexpected

Kiss: Level 100

helping him keep his identity secret isn’t always easy-

you wanna kiss him even when he’s superman but fuck you need him to remain undetected

but you manage

Little hc of the first few months after getting married:

Clark comes home late after a fight you see on tv

you turned it off before anything else happened, too worried already

he’s beat up

your eyes are red and puffy with tear stained cheeks as you stand and cross your arms.

you bet your ass there were cuddles that night.

Later into the marriage, he still scares you like that, but you’ve grown somewhat used to it and wipe the tears away

He’s protective of you too though

Aight sorry, but the gif is making me addicted to Henry kisses so Imma say it again,

best fucking make out sessions ever

yes, I’m gonna say that for all four.

fuck it, Clark!Kisses HCs

they’re soft half the time, needy the other half

if he comes home from superman duties or you have a run-in with a villain, so on so on, his kisses are rougher, needier, more possessive

bitch, he just needs you to know he’s still alive 🥺😢

Henry in glasses really do be hittin tho.

Stealing his glasses

Calling him a nerd because of the glasses

Probably making it a small joke about superman

Especially with oblivious friends

“I think superman’s a nerd.” “why??” “I just do.”

Having to stifle your laughs every time someone gushes about superman in front of him

Clark has to hold you back so you don’t unleash your wrath of fucking doom upon some oblivious woman who wrote about superman in a news article

She wrote things that would make you jealous, like talking about how she’s curious to his personal life *wink wink* and stuff- you don’t just have a raging fury because someone writes about him

Superman this hoe

You’ve made jokes about how he has to take his ring off when he’s superman, but he’s got a feeling that you’re actually not kidding at all

Exercising with Clark

Cursing him out in breathy pants for being more athletic and cheating with his “alien powers”

he just laughs at you

Ah, the difficulty have having a husband with two identities

When you rant about your husband, it’s so hard not to fuck up and say something about being married to Superman

Forgetting that you’re one of the few who knows his identity

Basking in pride because you’re one of the few who knows his identity

One time, Clark forgot to take his ring off and the person he rescued had known him personally.

He asks where he got the ring-

“What ring?”

“The one on your finger. The wedding ring.”

It felt like his stomach dropped...if that makes sense-

Clark ended up making some random story about finding it on the same plane the guy he rescued was on and that he put it on so he wouldn’t lose it.

The guy still thought he was pretty sus, “why was it on your wedding ring finger then?” but let him off after some time

The guy gave it back to Clark in person, but you had no idea what happened,

so when he gave him the ring, you were watching with the most confused look Clark had ever seen

thankfully, he played it off well and informed you later

He forgot to take off his wedding ring? You “secretly” fist bumped the air- ...he totally saw you though

Geralt Of Rivia

I don’t think Geralt really expected to get married

Jaskier didn’t either-

He’s the only one who stands when the priest asks if anyone doesn’t accept... only to ask how the fuck Geralt got lucky enough to get you

Everyone laughed but Geralt, he just grunted and looked away with a lil’ bit o pink tinting his cheeks

You demand he lets you go on adventures with him

You also wash him after adventures

wink wonk ;)))

Geralt is a stubborn thing

You’re a stubborn thing

Y’all love each other

When I say that Geralt is a confusing husband-

I mean that he confuses the fuck out of you

“don’t do that”

“okay”

few minutes later

“I thought you were doing that-”

“You told me not too...?”

“I don’t recall. Do whatever.”

Minutes later.

“What the fuck!?! Don’t do that!”

He’s hard to read and it bugs you

However, it makes a good game out of it

If he ever introduces you as anything but his spouse, you hold a bitter glare while internally plotting

Before you marry, Jaskier hits on you without realizing that Geralt is interested in you

He gulps nervously as soon as it hits him

You might just use that mistake as a way to get back at Geralt for not saying you’re his spouse

Jaskier pleads you not to

like for real

He’s in tears

CuDdLeS!

Congrats, you have a stubborn manbaby for the rest of however long y’all shall live

Kithes

Geralt is a little distant when it comes to admitting his feelings for you at first

When you’re dating, you’re all over each other

Marriage is that but amplified lmao

Braiding his hair

Teasing him not the wink wonk and getting away with it because you’re his spouse

If Jaskier said anything remotely close to the shit you’ve said, Geralt would probably choke him out

But then resuscitate him cause they’re bros

Seeing the softer side of Geralt

Sure, sex, but getting to know each others bodies? Yes.

Soft!Sleepy!Geralt

His deep n husky morning voice telling you to “get your ass back in bed”

Having the excuse of “because I’m his spouse” anytime you do stuff people are too afraid to do

Jealous bb 1 and jealous bb 2 aka Geralt and Y/n

I think Geralt’s the kind of guy to just pick you up, ignore your flailing limbs, and move you out of the way

He takes shit from no one...well, from you SOMETIMES

Gives in to your requests with a sigh and roll of his eyes most of the time

He was protective of you at first

now he’s PrOtEcTiVe so uh

Basically, number one husband, number two bodyguard

you put yourself first for the bodyguard part, but Geralt doesn’t know that

Sherlock Holmes

He asks your family for their blessing, then asks you-

I can imagine Mycroft just ranting away and Sherlock drops to his knee

“What are you doing?”

He ignores his brother and proposes to you

Mycroft is confused and upset because he wanted to rant about meaningless things and Sherlock decided to change the topic

rude

Being married means constant visits from Enola

Probably being the “second parents” to Enola

Gossip with Enola and Eudoria about Sherlock and him as a kiddo

Kicking Sherlock out of the house for sleepovers with his sister

bet

Helping Sherlock with cases

Dealing with Sherlock telling you it isn’t safe

still being upset when he’s right you know it

Finding Enola and Eudoria with him

Snapping at Mycroft for how he treats the girl and everyone else

Threatening Mycroft by just being a badass bitch and telling him to fuck off every now and then

Long story short, you make Enola laugh and Mycroft scoff as he walks away

He’s a stubborn bean, which now that I think about it- aren’t all Henry’s characters?

While he doesn’t say it much, he loves you

You get paranoid with this character too, as he does work that can be very dangerous as well

When he returns, he doesn’t say much aside from that he’s there now and that he loves you

cuddles with him whispering softly,

“I’m here now.” “I’m safe.” “I’m okay.” “I love you.”

Kisses in public either be quick pecks or minute long for goodbyes, but greetings-

especially after being apart for a while?

HC TIME

He comes home on the train and you’re at the station with his siblings

As soon as he spots you, he sets his stuff down because you’re already running at him

You jump into his arms and kiss him hard, not caring in the slightest about the other people at the station

It makes you smile every time he introduces you as his spouse

You’ve heard it so many times yet it still makes your heart flutter every single time

Napoleon Solo

The amount of times you’ve just dropped everything and walked away because he was being ‘too serious”-

You say something, he takes it seriously, you groan and stomp away

But then you know you can do the same back to him

Napoleon is an all around awesome husband but he’s not going to just pretend to agree with stuff

Will correct you no matter how embarrassed you get 

Makes up with kisses or stuff idk

Let me be honest, I don’t know much about writing for Napoleon but he is an icon...sometimes

He’s protective

by that I mean he’s stubborn but really it’s his way of keeping you safe

Would probably lock you in your room even though you’re a, a grown ass adult, and b, his spouse for fuck’s sake?!??!

Doesn’t tell you when something’s bothering him unless he feels the need to

“I’m not a fucking mind-reader, Solo!”

“Neither am I but I still manage-”

He doesn’t mean to make you feel bad, he just- emotions and him aren’t the best of friends

Emotions aren’t exactly friends with most of his characters

He’d much rather just speak with actions than admit anything

Sometimes you worry that he’s just fucking with you

When he proposed, it scared the shit out of you ‘cause you thought it was a joke

Never admits to anything willingly...?

Yeah sorry...Idk, that’s all I got :\

[oneoftheprettynerds]

Just My Type: Dark!Steve x Reader (Mob AU)

Chapter 2 in the Lipstick and Crayons Series.

Chapter 1: Welcome to the Darkside

Main Masterlist

A/N: This chapter is 2K words more than the last chapter and I’ve second guessed every single line in this one. This story is getting a lot of traction guys and I’m equal parts happy and scared. Thank you for the nice comments, they do encourage me. Also I’m just ranting feel free to skip this note haha. Your support in any form: like, comment or reblog is appreciated greatly. Also you can dm if you want to be friends, God knows I need those. Hopefully, this chap was worth the wait. Also, I made a poster for this on the main masterlist so check that out, it might be foreshadowing dome plot.

Warning: Eventual Non-Con, Sickening Threats, Mob Themes, Violence, Death, Manipulation, a mild mental breakdown, Cheap Tricks later.

Genres + Characters: Mob AU, Single Parents AU, Steve Rogers x Reader.

Summary: Steve can't ever repay you for what you did. After meeting you, Steve believes his broken family is the missing piece in the puzzle of your own wrecked one. Indebting the crime lord to you has been the biggest mistake of your life, cause now you can't get rid of him, no matter what. Loyalty and favours go a long way in the mob.

Chapter 2: Just My Type

It had almost been a week since the incident and you had barely gotten a wink of sleep. When you drove back to your house that night, Steve surprisingly didn’t argue as you had expected. After that friend of his whispered something in his ears, you only assumed he was needed elsewhere and you couldn’t be more thankful for that. They escorted you to your car and Steve thanked you with a strained smile, words genuine but eyes calculating. You didn’t even wonder what went inside his head. You were thankful for the peace and quiet of your own car, content to just get out of the area and into your humble abode.

After you put the already asleep Grace to bed, you couldn’t bring yourself to get out of her room. You just sat on the floor beside the bed, hand intertwined with hers as you rested your head beside her tummy on the mattress.

Your adrenaline wore off and your limbs ached as your thoughts finally settled into place, the gravity of the catastrophe a few hours prior hitting you. Tears made their way down your cheeks as you realized that you both could have very well died tonight.

One bullet could have sealed each of your lives and you were basically defenseless had Steve not saved you against the creeping assaulter. You couldn’t commend yourself for even defending yourself against one attacker, the guilt of killing someone harboring in your tired head. Your quiet whimpers eventually wore you out, while Grace’s shallow breaths lulled you to sleep.

You didn’t manage to sleep for long though, every time your eyes closed, horrific images flashed in your mind. A blood curdling scream here, heaps of dead bodies there, with distant exploding sounds all around. You could see men clad in black holding guns to Grace’s head and whensoever you woke up, you just wondered how much more creative your mind could get, making these visuals so realistic.

When 8 AM rolled in, you didn’t wake Grace up even though it was Monday and you had work. You got up, changed into a long tee after a shower and called your office and then her daycare. You knew you would have a hard time going back to your normal life, to become trusting enough to leave her alone.

Your assumption about yourself was right. You took almost the entire week off, which your boss generously allowed you to after hearing your traumatic experience, which soon made the city news headlines. All your colleagues checked on you, almost once in the five day break you took, and sweetly enough offered to bring you anything you needed.

It was kind of them, but none of them could bring you what your heart genuinely craved: peace and assurance that you and Grace would be safe.

Even though Saturdays were off, you did go to work to see what you missed and where to start on again. You went in because you knew that the random spurt of resolution you got in the bathroom to collect your life, wouldn’t last.

To ease back into your normal life, you gathered your guts, called a babysitter and left home. You couldn’t bring yourself to leave Grace at the daycare just yet. One of your good friends offered to come in to the office and help you, even on the weekend and you were quite grateful to him.

When you both decided to take lunch in the nearby dining place, you both got to talking, the conversation obviously originating from ‘How have you been?’ and ‘Is Grace okay?’. You reminisced about how you used a photobooth to hide, grotesquely and uncomfortably chuckling when you remembered Sarah calling you her mom and how her dad saved you all.

You deliberately left the part where you killed someone and Steve shot someone too. You hadn’t come to terms with it yet and you stiffly restricted your mind whenever it tried to go down that lane.

He sensed how the conversation was becoming tense and distressing for you and briskly redirected the topic.

“I hope the dad was hot though?” He wiggled his eyes creepily and you snorted at his vulgarity, light for the first time in days.

“He was easy on the eyes; I will admit that.” You played along, recalling your girlfriends and how you used to ogle people.

“Don’t be a homewrecker though, I don’t support cheating.” He said nonchalantly, checking his phone as a notification bell rang off.

“He’s a widower.”

His eyes snapped up and met yours as his head tilted in confusion. “That’s a strange fact to know about someone you met for a few minutes.”

Steve’s even stranger comment about his dead wife popped in your mind and before you could stop yourself, you blurted that out as well.

“He even said and I quote, ‘She deserved what she got.’” He put his phone down, weirdly amused.

“Ooh Creepy! Do you think he is one of those husbands who kill their wives and bury them in the backyard? The podcasts always say that the psychopaths are visually handsome and charming. And his statement was quite vague and spooky.” He continued munching, and you felt that now Aiden was really paying attention unlike before.

“Steve did have a gun while searching for Sarah, come to think of it.” You drank your tea and awaited his response. What you did not expect was his eyes to widen and worry to cloud his features.

“Um Widower Steve with a toddler Sarah? At the place where The Vices attacked?” He mumbled, grabbing his phone and doing God knows what on it. Your eyebrows furrowed and before you could ask him what was up with his antics, he resumed.

“This is a long shot but I really hope your Steve didn’t look like this.” He positioned the phone in your vision, and you could already tell it was Steve by the sapphire blue of his eyes piercing through the screen into your soul. The picture was a month or two old, his hair was much longer when you met him than in the photo.

“This is him.” Your eyes met Aiden’s and worry visibly took over his features as his forehead creased and jaw tense.

He looked around the restaurant, finding it empty in the afternoon. He leaned and whispered, “This Steve of yours is dangerous.”

You interrupted Aiden, even though you already knew Steve was, the sight of his armed men still fresh in your head, and inquired, “Why do you say so?”

“It’s just like the fictional stories we hear from our parents, except here, in this city of ours, every myth holds true. There are really powerful men, untouchable by law, who reign the city silently and live luxuriously. Every shady, under the table deal you’ve heard of, transpires. Illegal trades, fraud schemes and bounty hunters are not fictional, they exist here. These men kill whatever hinders them and trust me, you don’t want to be the deer caught in their Jaguar’s headlights.”

Ice froze in your veins again, resembling the fear you felt that night but now because of your deemed ‘savior’. You convinced yourself that you had not wronged him in any way, instead had saved his daughter’s life.

“Are you in contact with him? If you are, distance yourself cleverly, don't block him immediately.”

“No, we just parted ways near my car, he thanked me for Sarah and was called away. It’s almost been a week and he hasn’t reached out if that’s what you mean. We didn’t exchange contacts and I don’t think I even told him my full name.” You explained yourself as if you were on the witness stand in court, trying to convince yourself more than Aiden.

“Pray that he doesn’t remember you more than that, if at all. I’m being totally honest here in telling you this, I’m genuinely worried for you and Grace. You are smart but he is powerful. He has unimaginable resources and if you become more than a speck of dust on his windshield, you are screwed. There is no exaggeration here.” You took his words to your heart and swore to be careful, if not for yourself then for Grace.

The rest of the day went by and you found yourself dwelling on and worrying about Aiden’s words. At least he put it out there as it was. Heeding his advice, you did google Steve on your phone, finally finding him in the topmost news headline when you added ‘Buck’ in the search bar as well.

‘With 38 lawsuits pending against businessman Steve Rogers, the filers have lost all hope in prosecuting him. All cases are being drawn out for indefinite periods of time by the Chief Justice Bruce……’

Aiden was right.

Businessmen was code for illegal mob heads. Cases being stretched on meant he was, in fact, invincible, at least to the common man’s fists.

You flickered through several titles, each one more surprising than the last. He was believed to be involved in the carnival attack, alleged for three hit and run cases that he didn’t lose but the witnesses swore they saw him driving and was also rumored to have brought in quintals of drugs just last week, but the packets just evaporated into thin air and there was no proof of their existence in the first place even on incessant searching.

Every crime of his made you shudder and you mentally thanked Aiden for pulling you out of your oblivion. Your mind raced and heart palpated and you cursed yourself for being so drastically unaware even after living here for almost four years. Technically speaking, Steve and you were even, him saving your life and you saving his daughter’s. No logical reason came to your mind for him contacting you ever.

You wished as Aiden said and assured yourself that your paths would never cross again, Steve not having reached out in a week, so hopefully never again.

That thought went out the window when you reached home to find a box awaiting you. Hannah, the babysitter you had called, informed you it came around 5 in the evening and was exclusively to be opened by you today.

Your mind raced as you paid the babysitter, your hands sweaty as you tried not to think about the gift and its sender. There was an apparently clear answer to who mailed it but you refused to accept that, courtesy of Aiden.

The box was of the height of Grace, it was black with red hearts painted across it; some red roses also sparingly adorned it. You opened the lid and found tons of red tissues and a multi-flower bouquet adorned with mostly red roses and a few purple and pink flowers.

Because of your frequent gardening in your backyard, you knew all the flowers’ meanings. To sum it all up, red flowers, especially roses were used for courting someone. Pink meant admiration, purple for beauty and you knew the ‘violet’ flowers were for loyalty.

As your nerves increased tenfold, you willed yourself to get it over with and empty out the box first, ignoring the little card in your bouquet, saving the ‘best’ for last. You find a mini bouquet inside but unlike yours, it had chocolates of every kind. You did read its card and cringed when it was for Grace, bothered not by the deed but by the doer.    

Further inside were some animal plushies, face masks, perfumes, scented body lotions and shampoos. Your head hurt thinking about the ‘single mother care package’ delivered to you by someone you refused to acknowledge.

As Grace sat in her playpen occupied, you dared to pick your card and read its message, your heart beating unrealistically fast for someone who refused to accept the cruciality of her situation.

~

I can’t thank you enough in this lifetime for saving my little princess. The gift of your help is more than anything money could ever buy for me. Please accept this invitation of mine for dinner tomorrow night, 7PM at La Bonne Nuit, as a symbol of my sincere gratitude for everything you’ve done. I’ll gets the kids covered and pick you up, you just be ready and look as amazing you always do.                                                                                           Sincerely,                                                                      Steve Rogers

                                                                                            ~

You stilled as you read it over and over again.

An invitation, your ass. Even in writing his authority portrayed, there was no question and hope for you coming, he just stated that you’d come. Looking pretty as always? You just met him once, in the middle of a calamity, covered in dirt and blood.

All the red roses and gifts screamed his romantic interest but you illusioned yourself into thinking they meant gratitude. You wouldn’t be able to digest it all otherwise.

Knowing what you knew now about Steve, you understood there was no denying the dinner tomorrow. You had to get out of his clutches and distance yourself, but as Aiden had so rightfully said, cleverly.

That night you laid in bed mulling over your next course of actions. You had called the gift shop to return the unwarranted presents you received but they said it was non refundable and anonymous to trace. You bitterly snorted in their face, they put a card with Steve’s name on it for heaven’s sake!

You didn’t flinch even when you realized you never gave Steve your address, neither for mailing stuff nor for picking you up. There was no number given to call him and thank or to call him and deny. The bastard had planned it all out, and you felt like you were driving in a one way lane, going deeper into the tunnel. Somewhere among your all-relentless fretting, you managed to finally sleep.

 When the doorbell rang, your eyebrows furrowed. It was just 6 PM and you weren’t expecting anybody else except for Steve. You had already begun getting ready, having developed a habit of keeping an extra margin of time now having a toddler. You still had to assemble Grace’s essential backpack, fill it with her meds and bottles.

While still putting on your diamond earring, you made your way to the door, unlocking it to find a redhead grinning at you. Before you could interact with her, a small body clung to your legs and you looked down to find the azure eyed kid that put you in this mess, Sarah, smiling up at you.

“Mama! You look pwetty!” She looked up in awe and now aware that she didn’t have a mother, you were even more so coerced into accepting this title rather than telling the kid that 'you are semi orphaned'.

“I’m Wanda, Sarah’s nanny. Mr. Rogers told me to pick her friend, Grace, up for the night?” So, this was what Steve meant. Bringing Sarah was proof enough of her legitimacy, but behind her you saw ‘Buck’ salute you from the driver’s seat of the black car. One of these days, you needed to learn his real name.

You invited Wanda inside and Sarah ran to Grace immediately, grabbing and whining while asking Grace to give her some popcorn she was munching on, her fist generously full.

In your open plan kitchen, you grabbed two plastic bowls, filled them with each with the tub of popcorn that sat in the microwave and handed each toddler one, fortunately quietening Sarah. Sarah obeyed Grace, in first thanking you, their ‘mama’ and then following her to her open playpen.

You faced Wanda again who sat on a barstool and kept on beaming. If your annoyance at her amusement showed, she sure didn’t let it falter the smile.

“Mr. Rogers told me you’d worry about your daughter, but I assure you she’d be in more than capable hands.” All you could focus on was how self-reassured she was. “I’ve served him for almost two years, the last family I served, I was there for 8 years and before them, I was employed for 3. I know the general bedtime and snacks, all I need from you is information about her allergies.”

You nodded and told her about Grace, her meds and what all you packed. When you got to know that her family owned the daycare Grace went to, you were finally somewhat convinced. After seeing them off, it was about fifteen minutes later, that the devil disguised in Prada showed up at your door.

You grabbed your purse and your keys. Wiping your sweaty palms on your dress, you opened the door. Steve stood there, a smirk lodging on his handsome face. His blue, three-piece suit perfectly paired with his cerulean eyes was impressive to say the least.

He was dressed to kill, and it appeared as if you were his first victim.

As your eyes took him in from top to bottom, his did the same lazily, taking their time, resting at certain places for longer period than others.

“You look stunning.”

You knew you did. You wore one of your more expensive dresses when you found out La Bonne Nuit to be one of the few seven-star hotels in the country. In hindsight, if you’d have dressed worse, maybe he’d have left you alone.

“Thank you.”

“Shall we?” He offered you his hand and you obliged with your palm in his. Your other hand pulled the doorknob while you stepped out, all alarms already set-in place. He waited while you locked and put the keys in and when you were done, with a soft kiss along your knuckles, he pulled you along.

The act surprised you, your stomach turning and your gut wrenching and you wondered if you’d be able to process the food after all, with your upset digestive system.

Like a proper gentleman, he opened the door for you and when you settled, he took his position at the driver’s seat. The silence was painful for you, your overthinking finally filling ideas in your head that you avoided contemplating about all day, focusing on Grace.

He was relaxed though; his humming was proof enough.

Mid way through, your thoughts were rudely interrupted when a hand housed itself on your knee. You glanced to find Steve’s palm slightly rubbing your knee. If it was meant to be assuring, you certainly didn’t feel like it.

You frowned and looked up to Steve who still had the arrogant smirk on his face, eyes straight ahead on the road, giving no indication of his inappropriate touching.

You wanted to swat his hand away but a brainwave dashed through your head and a disturbing thought made you halt, that whether he carried guns to restaurants as well, since carnivals were no big deal.

You ignored his hand and continued looking outside, pretending to ignore it as well as he did. Your scowl was a huge giveaway though.

You didn’t know that, but when your eyes found their way out, his finally rested on your face, the smirk growing even more.

Thankfully, apart from the incongruous touching, the dinner went okay-ish. The food and wine were impeccable, perfect even, the restaurant on the hotel’s top floors was so picturesque. You tried to savor your one-time experience there, knowing you’d no way be able to come back there.

Well, you tried to relish as much as you could while your mind still sat there, wary of the human in front of you. If you’d ignore your journey here, Steve was nothing short of a true gentleman, often making you wonder if you had imagined his hand on you.

This ‘friendly’ date you were having was probably one of the best you have had, he had left no expenses. He appeared to be interested in your work, about your childhood and about Grace’s but you swiftly avoided his questions about her father. He was growing a tad bit too comfortable for your liking and you still refused to entertain the idea that this was a ‘date’ date.

When you were finally onto dessert, the last course of your meal, your table was shadowed by the broad frame of a brunette and his date. He clapped Steve’s shoulder and Steve rose to hug him, you awkwardly smiled.

“It’s been far too long since you’ve been here, Cap. Why don’t you and your gorgeous date stop by my penthouse for a bit? We could finally go over the papers you sent me, in person?” He winked, they discussed something more and then went away, his date bowing and trailing after him as well.

Steve claimed his seat again, and finally told you about the interrupter. “That was my good friend, Tony Stark, always in a hurry. I’ll introduce you to him when we meet him later.”

“I think I’ll be heading home; you need not worry about my introduction, I hardly think we’ll ever run into each other again.” His eyes narrowed and you clarified, “Me and Mr. Stark, I meant.”

That’s good, don’t associate yourself with more of his kind.

“He was so kind in inviting you though, it would be rude to refuse.”

“It’s already late, Steve. And I’ve never left Grace alone for a night yet. What if she’s antsy? What if she is bothered? What if she feels unsafe? She's only used to very few people, and after last week, I-” You had started the sentence hoping to use Grace as an excuse but every word of yours succeeded in making you more apprehensive.

The carnival night flashed in your mind, along with the nightmares and you started panicking even more. Your hands clammy, your dessert spoon fell in your lap as sought your phone in your purse, hoping to call Wanda for an update. You felt like a terrible mother, who left her child with a stranger, only a week after she suffered trauma, just to go on a date with a mobster.

Steve reached across the table and grabbed your fidgety hands and as you wriggled to get your hands free, he softly called your name. Voice stern but vocals gentle. Your blurry eyes snapped to meet his while he guided you to breathe deeply, in and out.

His firm hold convinced you to listen to him, you’d never free yourself of them otherwise.

When you had calmed a bit, he withdrew his hands and fetched his phone. Your thoughts slowed down, and you wondered if anyone here was judging you. Your little scene, mercifully, went unnoticed by the other affluent people dining here.

Steve handed you his phone where four colored frames rested, the screen showing you Grace and Sarah cuddled in a frilly, pink four poster where Wanda sat too, her lips moving.

The feed was live and the screen muted, both the toddlers’ eyes fluttering close slowly, on the bridge of sleep.

You handed the phone back to Steve and drank your water while he rubbed circles on the back of one of your hands. You never freaked out like you did right now, always collected and never giving into anxiety. What had happened to you?

Well, In your defense, you had never experienced a disaster either.

“The kids are safe; I’m never putting either of them in harm’s way ever again.”

Your mind did catch the plural in his statement but you promised yourself you would not let it get that far and continued drinking your water, emptying the entire glass.

“The HD image you just saw was by cameras Tony recently developed. His technology is amazing, I’ll take you to his lab sometime.” You appreciated his attempt to redirect the topic but you also focused on how tech-savvy his friends were as well.

You hummed and agreed, trying to be ambiguous with your answer.

When you finished your dessert, you hoped he’d forget about his ‘friend’ Tony but to no avail.

“His penthouse is two floors above. He owns this hotel as well in case you didn’t notice.” He led you to the elevator as you recalled the Starks Group logo you saw earlier sometime.

Some AI named Jarvis opened the elevator doors for you in the living room of Tony’s penthouse. It was even more magnificent than the restaurant earlier, the place illuminated by several hues of different colours. Steve chuckled and strung you along, introducing you to a ginger-head named Pepper, who was Tony’s date earlier and went to search for his acquaintance.

She offered you wine but you politely declined, opting for water instead. She brought your glass to you from the extravagant kitchen and you both sat on the barstool there instead of the living room. Too anxious to say the wrong thing, you stayed quiet until her voice filled the deafening silence.

“So, Steve almost never brings dates around. You two serious?” She questioned, leaning towards you, waiting for some gossip, no doubt.

“Oh no! We aren’t dating. He just invited me for a friendly dinner. We merely met the other week.” You deliberately left out the part where there was bombing by crime families and attack on the common man.

“Honey, in the mob life, you don’t just introduce random people to the fam.”

Oh, she wasn’t being shy about the whole mob ordeal. It seemed weird to hear it from her, since you and Steve hadn’t used the word yet. Maybe he figured you already knew considering the circumstances you met in or how famous he was.

“We really aren’t romantically involved. This dinner was just a gesture of gratitude if I’m being truthful.”

She chuckled, as if you were a kid making stories and quizzed, “Gratitude for what?”

You trapped yourself into that one. You didn’t know how to answer her and your brain downright blanked. Surprisingly,, Steve came to your rescue and two voices interposed your conversation.

Steve called your name and as you turned to the men, he continued, “She’s the one who saved Sarah the other night. You know the story, Wilson probably got it printed.”

“Impressive, really. Hey, I’m Tony and I see you’ve already met Pepper, my fiancée.” He shook your hand and kissed your knuckles, much like Steve did earlier in the day. You bowed, smiled and mumbled a ‘nice to meet you as well’. They escorted you to the elevator and Tony continued.

“Well, it’s not everyday Steve brings brave and extraordinarily attractive women around. Welcome to the family, sweetie. She’s a keeper, Cap.” He winked while saying the last sentence and before you could correct him, Steve ushered you inside the elevator, bro-hugging him. As the doors closed, Pepper winked at you from behind Tony and a shudder ran through you.

Okay you had to make it clear, get on the same page.

As the elevator music filled the silence, you started, “Steve, look we aren’t-”, “I served in the army, that’s why Tony calls me Cap, short for captain.” And crudely got interrupted.

“I never wanted to get into the army, I thought people were fools to sacrifice the one life they got. But I went to make my mother’s dream a reality, I really loved her, you know? Sarah is named after her, my mother.”

His voice broke at the end and as much as you wanted to redirect onto your former topic, you couldn’t. This amiability of yours would be the death of you.

“She died alone in her bed; I was dispatched too far away to even make it back for her funeral.” He mumbled but you heard him clear as a sunny day, and he leaned back onto the wall for support while you awkwardly rubbed his shoulder to return the support he provided earlier during your mental breakdown.

He closed his eyes and gathered himself, taking deep breaths. As the elevator dinged, his eyes opened and he gave you a strained smile.  

The car ride to his mansion was painfully silent, his mind too sidetracked to focus on harassing you again. With all that you went through today, you almost forgot about that.

His mansion was enormous, twenty guards stood outside and even more patrolled the lawn. He took you inside his house, the interior even more detailed and scenic than Tony’s temporary residence.

You just concentrated on swiftly getting Grace and Uber-ing back. As Steve showed you earlier, Grace and Sarah hugged and slept and it was a meticulous task to untangle their limbs without waking either of them up andnd get Grace with her back-pack. You thanked Wanda on the way out, hoping to avoid Steve but somehow he stood outside before you, leaning on his sleek black car. He opened the door for you before you could refuse the ride. You settled with Grace in the backseat itself, trying to be smart.

He just summoned one of his guards to drive and sat alongside you in the back. You didn’t let the annoyance at his clinginess show though. You just focused on Grace who drooled over your shoulder.

Hopefully, there won’t be any point of exposure to him ever again, your circles didn’t match, both social and professional. Your Venn diagrams didn’t overlap anywhere. This should be reason enough to avoid meeting ever again.

He didn’t try anything even this ride around. You doubted it was hardly because of the toddler or because of the driver. He did as he pleased, if he wanted to he could very well grope you. Luckily, he wasn't in the mood.

When you reached your dwelling, you stepped out hastily, thanking him in a whisper. You fumbled to get your keys out, but since everything you held slowed you down, he caught up with you without even trying.

He took and held Grace’s bag while you drew the keys out, Grace still on your hip. He handed you the bag back, “So this is it, I guess?”

“Yeah, tonight was a total delight. Thanks for the dinner and everything, really.” You put up your best façade, hoping to convince him.

“It was, thanks to you. The company matters the most.”

You awkwardly chuckled and you sensed him leaning in, his eyes flickering shut. Your eyes closed as you turned your head to avoid him, so that his lips would peck your cheek.

They never came.

Your eyes opened to find his and he chuckled, leaning in once again swiftly, catching you off guard this time. He didn’t meet your lips though, he kissed the corner of your mouth, lips overlapping for a fraction of skin.

“In due time, baby.” He stepped back and strolled to his car leisurely, content in his own world.

You opened your door and slammed it shut, the peck feeling wrong on so many levels. It felt more sensual than a lover’s kiss, leaving room for intimacy and longing.

Your thoughts ran a hundred kilometers an hour, the most absurd but nauseatingly true being, this was a date and it was not your last encounter.

Steve smirked outside in his car, the dinner an absolute success in his opinion. Tonight just made him feel that you both were more than compatible for each other. You needing him during your mental breakdown, him relaxing under your shy touch, Tony’s approval, not that important though, and your anxiety for Grace was the best part, because he, more often than he’d like to admit, fussed about Sarah the same way, agonizing and fretting her well being.

A text lit up his black screen and his grin widened even more if possible.

‘The Stark cameras are up and working, Sir.’

[stellocchia]

So, I once made a post about c!Tommy and c!Dream’s relationship throughout season 1 (which you can find here), but today I was thinking, why not do the same for the Exile Arc?

There are some people that still don’t seem to have a comprehensive idea of what actually went down during that time (either because they joined the fandom afterwards or haven’t watched it at the time) so I’ll try to do that here. I’ll cover the first 2 streams here, and then continue in the next part because this is gonna be way too damn long otherwise...

As always I’ll be talking only about the characters and the roleplay from here on out and also I’ll be touching on some very heavy topics under the cut (such as gaslighting and abuse). Also this is gonna be another one of my Overly Long Analysis, so... you know... be warned of that.

I’ll be going through this vod by vod, so It will be so long... God why do I always do this to myself?

Let’s start with TommyInnit Is Exiled From The Dream SMP... which is the vod when Tommy actually get’s exiled.

So, the exile scene per se has been covered a 100 times over, but, right after Tubbo asking Dream to “please detain and excort Tommy out of my country” Dream yeets Tommy off the walls and then he immediately establishes the general idea of how it’ll be in exile: “I don’t think you wanna die Tommy. You need to- to listen to me”.

Also it is to be noted that in this “exile” time and time again Dream establishes arbitrary rules that were most certanly not meant in the initial sentence (which is why it’s much more of a kidnapping then an actual exile). Starting from before they even leave L’Manburg completely. In fact when they are still in the vc with the others and still just down from the obsidian walls, Tommy and Dream have this exchange:

“Do I have any time to speak words? What can...” “NO. NO. NO. NO!” “what the...” 

And then right after (just after leaving the vc):

“Do you have food?” “Yeah...” “Good, we’ll be going a long while still” “Am I not allowed- well surely- surely I’m only exiled from L’Manburg-” “Oh, no no no. You’re exiled from everywhere that’s been touched”

The sentence was only for him to be exiled from L’Manburg. Dream theoretically only had authority over the Greater Dream smp in any case, so how come immediately Tommy’s “sentence” becomes being exiled from “everywhere that has been touched”? What authority did Dream have to exile him from the Badlands? Or the Holy Grounds (considering those are widely considered neutral)?

This is from right after Ghostbur joins them:

“Well, I don’t- I don’t have to come with you” “Well, I mean, I’ll kill you” (...) "I don’t have to follow you! I don’t-” “Tommy! Then I’ll just kill you. What happens if I kill you?” “I die...”

Again, technically Tubbo only asked Dream to escort Tommy out of his country, not all the way to his place of exile. Tommy here is right, he is exiled, he is not supposed to have a jailor going with him, he is not supposed to be imprisoned. All he supposedly had to do was get off the lands he wasn’t allowed into and then he’d be good. Of course Dream’s plans were different there.

Also the trend of constantly undermining anything Tommy is feeling at any given moment sure doesn’t stop with the Exile Arc! 

“No, no! I don’t want to head anywhere! I wanna to go back! I wanna go back!” “Fine fine, we’ll head this way then. It’s fine, this is fine” “I don’t wanna go!” “Tommy come on...”

Honorable mention to Dream talking about the first time he exiled Tommy:

“Do you remember- this is actually funny! Do you remember the first time you ever joined the server? And uhm... you got exiled? By me?” “Yeah?” “It’s kinda like that, except now if you don’t listen you die”

And the conditioning begins all the way here, with Dream trying to decide Tommy’s emotions for him:

“Oh... I hate you” “*laughs* Okay Tommy, you don’t hate me” “No, no I definitely do” “Noooo, you don’t hate me”

Cue Dream just blowing up Tommy’s second Summer Home after he explained that it was supposed to be a safe haven for him and Tubbo. Also note that Dream is already getting rid of any mob attacking Tommy even if at this point he still had armour and weapons to defend himself. I talked about this before, but Dream does seem to want Tommy to be as dependent on him as he is on Tommy, which is why during exile he made him dependent on him for protection/safety and company and in prison for food. Also Ghostbur going: “I don’t think this man is very nice...”, thank you Ghostbur, I wish you could remember that, but you’re trying your best and I appreciate it...

“How long is- how long am I exiled for? When can I just go back?” “You can’t (...) if you go back you die”

Again, not Dream’s decision to make. Tubbo was the one exiling Tommy meaning that, if Tubbo actually had the decision power in that istance, Tubbo was the one who should have decided when he could come back. Also, again reiterating the point from before:

“I thought I was only banished from L’Manburg, that was the deal, not the entirety of the smp-” “Oh no. No you’re banished far enough where they don’t see you”

Also, a little look into Tommy’s mentality here:

“Tubbo said he wasn’t thinking with emotion, but with reason, but: what the fuck is the point if there isn’t any- any emotion?!”

This is honestly why he is Dream’s exact opposite and probably why he finds him fun, while Tubbo is irrelevant to him. Tommy thinks emotions should always be taken into account when making decisions and he values sentimentality over everything. Dream is the opposite, to him emotions are irrelevant and sentimentality is a weakness. Tubbo is a bit of both, which makes his clash of ideologies with Dream a lot less evident. 

Anyway, they get to the island and Dream builds Tommy a dirt shack for him to set his spawn into. And then there is the first istance of Dream taking all of Tommy’s stuff (building blocks and food included) and blowing it up. Which, again, is in no way an actual exile condition. Tommy is in jail basically. He got kidnapped and now he is in jail. Also right after that Dream gives them food and obsidian (of course acting like he is doing them a big favour, when he actually just created that need), which Tommy bromptly refuses, later burning the obsidian.

Also Dream’s parting words here are: “I’ll see you never”. Which couldn’t be less true! There is quite a bit more after that, of Tommy and Ghostbur settling in, finding a ruined portal with some armour and the village nearby and Techno visiting, but this is about c!Dream and c!Tommy and it’s already incredibly long as is, so maybe I’ll talk about everything else another time...

Onto the next one: Tommy Is Alone in Exile with Dream...

This stream starts off with Bad visiting Tommy to give him a few presents (which consist of Chirp, 2 diamonds, an enderchest, and almost dead diamond pick with silk touch, some coocked chicken some bones and a few stacks of oak wood logs). Also Tommy sees Logsteshire for the first time. Then Dream arrives and he is not happy about the present (something something, having other people giving Tommy useful stuff would make him less reliant on Dream). Also Bad seems to be slightly scared of Dream since he immediately tells Tommy that he should not say that any of the stuff he gave him was from him. Anyway, Dream destroys everything, but Tommy, with Bad’s help, manages to save Chirp. Here’s their exchange in this scene of course:

“Tommy?” “Yes! Yes?!” “Do you have uh... something you wanna put on the floor here?” “Yes *throws in 3 red concrete blocks*” “Anything else Tommy?” “No! You’re evil by the way, you’re an evil man-” “Come on... I know there is something else you wanna drop down here...” “No there-... *gives disk to Bad* I don’t reckon there is!” “Okay are you sure...?” “Yes!” “Alright... how about uh- how about your armour Tommy?” “No this is- I actually earned this myself” “I know you did! Just drop it in the hole Tommy” “No, no! You can’t just come and demand things from me! I’ve been exiled, I’ve done your shit! What- what do you mean-” “Tommy~” “What?” *Dream hits Tommy with an enchanted netherite axe* “Drop them down~” “Hooooo okay okay okay!”

So, in case anyone was wondering, physical abuse is there as well. And this is fully depicted as physical abuse. Like, normally, with this being Minecraft, it is implied that violence is generally inconsequential, here though c!Tommy reacts to it clearly in pain and shock. There is no doubt there. 

Sapnap arrives at this point as well. After that Dream makes it a point that Tommy cannot have the enderchast that Bad gave him because you can never have enough random arbitrary rules when kidnapping someone apparently! 

“Why are you here? Why are you here? What- what could you- what could you possibly want more from me? You’ve tortured me-” “I’m just! I’m just... keeping an eye on you Tommy” 

I’ve highlighted this because, considering the last time Dream was there he said he would never see Tommy again, Tommy’s confusion here is more then understandable. But of course Dream acts like it’s obvious that he would be there and that it’s necessary to make sure that Tommy is not “up to no good”. Also, another extremely important exchange: 

“You’ve exiled me you stupid manipulative green bastard!” “Yeah I know! I know! And you know why I did that” “Yes? Yes?” “No, you know why” “Why?” “Because you don’t listen to me ever. You’re the only person who doesn’t ever listen to me (...) listen, you are like a little annoying bug in my room and it pisses me off so I take you and I put you outside and that’s what I did. And now I’m just making sure that you stay outside”

So... the bullshit about this being about George’s house is out of the window by the first proper exile stream. Also Dream goes in the ever increasing list of villains who, if annoyed enough, will reveal all their evil plans to the protagonist. Like Tommy screaches enough and Dream will immediately go in evil monologuing mode...

“So what do you actually want from me then?” “Well nothing, I’m just here to talk to you. Tommy, we’re still friends ok? Just because I exiled you doesn’t mean we’re not friends-” “Just because I killed your friends and family doesn’t mean we can’t be bros...” “Well, it’s true!”

Ok so, it’s confirmed that Dream would still go on with this “friendship” facade even if he killed Tubbo or Wilbur then. Also:

*Tommy sees a creeper* then in the most monotone tone ever: “Help me” Dream sprinting from the other side of the cave: “TOMMY!”. I love this scene and I love this two dumbasses (and I mean the cc’s here). Also, to go back to the serious stuff: once again Dream is the one killing every single mob around Tommy because he blew up all his means for defence. Also Bad and Sapnap are still there as well, but Dream is always the on interveening (mostly because he is the one following Tommy around more closely). I’ll have a few of the more interesting quotes here afterwards until the next interesting scene:

“If I had 8 legs I would fuck you all up” “Oooh, no you wouldn’t” (Dream de-valuing Tommy’s anger once again)

“Stop following me” “NO” “Well okay then...” (honestly this was just funny...)

“Can I call you Wilbur? Or is it Ghostbur...?” “You can call me whatever you like” (for those saying that Ghostbur not correcting Tommy was weird)

“Alright Wilbur, what do you need an enderchest for? I might make an exception but-” “We- we need it so that we can access our stuff from the old world, the old world” “But not to go back” “How would we be able to go back with an enderchest?” “Well I don’t know maybe there is stuff in there that’s... better” “Tommy do you have anything that could get you to go back? In the enderchest?” “A boat? What’d you mean?” “Yeah to be honest we just need wood to get back, it’s not really-” 

Here we have Ghostbur poking holes in one of the new rules that Dream added that day. As a matter of fact, why would an enderchest be dangerous? Tommy mostly keeps sentimental stuff in there and a bit of iron. Still that’s the whole point: Dream is trying to get Tommy under his control so he needs to bring him to a point where he’ll listen to his orders even when they don’t make any actual sense. Also, btw, Dream doesn’t actually give them an enderchest after this exchange.

“Do you want to come with me Tommy? Do you want to come with me and visit the old library?” “No no no” “Yes! Yes please!” “No he wants to stay here with me” “I don’t. I definitely don’t” “He does! He’s just trying to be nice to you Wilbur. He’s trying to be nice to you” “I’m not Wilbur, I want to come with you” (way to gaslight an amnesiac ghost...)

“So how long is Tommy supposed to be here?” “Like a week?” “Oh, a week is not bad!” “*laughing* No he’s here forever” (Like goddamn, imagine if every minor griefing was punished with permanent exile!)

“M-maybe like- does Tommy gets like visitations? Like once every month he get’s to go to L’Manburg-” “No! No no no” “No visitation, huh?” “No visitation” (well, let’s thank Sapnap for trying...)

So, after this Tommy gets his plan to go through the Nether and find a quick way to and from L’Manburg to, perhaps, sneak in unnoticed at some points. Dream “allows” him here to go to the Nether (even though technically there is no reason why the exile would extend to there as well), so they get to work on fixing a ruined portal. “Did you know, I apparently blew up a nation and killed everyone” (thank God we have Ghostbur, he makes everything better). One thing I want to note though: at this point Tommy still kills the mobs attacking him when Dream is not stalking him and doing it for him, which is kind of nice. We are still at the first exile stream though...

“Can I go back for like an hour and see all my friends?” “No, they can come here though. I-I mean Tommy, I think- I think that someone could come here and visit you, but you can’t ever go back. Like I-I don’t have anything against people coming here and visiting you if they want to. They don’t HAVE to, but they can if they really want to” “Tommy think of it this way: whenever you’re in prison you can’t just go and visit your friends, but they can come and visit you” “They can come and visit you, yeah, that’s actually a very- that’s a perfect analogy”

I wonder why the best analogy for Tommy’s situation is not a f*cking exile analogy, but actual prison. Maybe because he is confined to one place, not allowed to keep any personal items and never allowed to go back? Also they actually get to Nether hub at this point and there is the famous scene with Tommy looking at the lava: 

A curious thing about this scene (aside from being a clear indication of the beginning of Tommy’s depressive spiral) is both that Dream didn’t seem to particularly care about Tommy dying up until now (and in the future as well) as long as he is the one to kill him. Meaning that he seemed fine with it as long as he had control over it. And yet at the end there he agrees with Tommy’s statement of “it’s never my time to die” which kinda makes me think that Dream by this point was already entirely set on his idea of Tommy needing to be alive for Dream to control the whole server. Tommy and Dream head back to Logstedshire after this scene.

*Tommy looks at the lava while standing very close to the edge* “I’ll go back through just to... check and see” *Dream hits Tommy away from the edge* “Come on” *Tommy goes back to the edge and Dream pushes him away again, this time covering the hole* “It’s not your time to die yet Tommy” “It’s never my time to die” “That’s true” 

“Home sweet home...” “Home sweet home. I think it’ll be good! People might visit you all the time, I mean, I can visit you! It’s- it’s actually fun to come here! It’s a little bit- it’s a change of scenery, you know?” “It’s not fun to be stuck here” “Well... you’re not ’stuck’ it’s your vacation home!” “Can I go back? I’m ready...” “No but you can leave this area, you can go somewhere else. This is just- like, I took you far away, you can go further if you want”

So, if anyone is wondering, this is not, in fact, Dream giving Tommy more freedom. Especially considering that when Tommy does leave Logstedshire later on Dream literally hunts him down, so no, that was never an option. What Dream is doing here is make himself sound benevolent by comparison by telling Tommy that the only other options he has are worse since they are even further away.

“I’m here for a good time, not for a long time” (more hints towards Tommy’s depressive spiral)

“Guys how do you know when it’s too much?” (and again)

“Can I go and see the tree?” “Tommy, you can’t go and see the tree” “Dream why don’t you let him just- it’s not in L’Manburg! Why don’t you let him just see the tree and then escort him back?” 

Ghostbur my beloved, pointing out holes in Dream’s rules all the time. Something tells me that’s the reason why Dream tried to kill him later on...

Anyway! This concludes this first post because it’s... Oh fuck this is REALLY long.... welp! I’ll make the others in the next few days! 

[suchalonelysunflower]

A Different Kind of Night (h.s)

Pairing: Harry Styles x Reader

Summary: Is the Grammys! And you’re spending it at home with your handsome nominee.

Warnings: Fluff. Mentions of alcohol, COVID, anxiety and a bit of smut if you squint your eyes. Also, maybe some grammatical mistakes (English is not my first language. I’m sorry)

Word Count: 2.6 k

Author’s Note: let me start by saying that 1) the Grammys are rigged and I don’t trust them. 2) I haven’t seen the Grammys in years so I don’t know exactly how the awards go and 3) While this is a piece of fiction, I love Harry and I hope he brings home one golden record player 💕 Remember that Reblogs, Comments, Feedbacks and Likes are very important! You don’t know how much it helps me ❤️ Happy early Valentine’s Day. Hope you like it and Happy Reading 🦋🌻✨

My materialist // wanna be part of my tag list?

“Harry, did you get the drinks?” You asked as you walked down the stairs.

“Go’em ready in the living room, love” Your boyfriend's answer came from the kitchen, his shoes clicking against the wooden floor as he made his way to where you were fixing your hair at the end of the stairs.

The moment he saw you, all dressed up and giddy, he let out a loud whistle. You felt your cheeks turn a tinted red as you felt his eyes checking you out up and down.

“Well look at you, pet,” He said with a grin as he walked towards you, rounding his arm on your waist and pulling you closer to him “You look stunning”

He placed a soft kiss on your cheek, making you giggle as his stubble tickled your skin.

“I wanted to look good tonight,” You said with a shy smile “Even if no one is going to see me”

Harry hummed close to your ear “Lucky me, then. Don’t have to worry about anyone stealing you away from me”

You scoffed “As if that were possible” With one last kiss on his cheek, you started to walk away. But not before Harry stole one small squeeze to your butt, making you gasp and shoot him a knowing glance as you turned into the kitchen, still able to hear him laugh.

You stepped into the kitchen and made sure the finger food you ordered was ready and placed in the tray. You wanted to make tonight extra special for him despite everything that was going on.

After pushing it back a few dates, the Grammys were finally happening tonight. Given the circumstances though, they were being held in an empty theatre while all the nominees stayed home and watched the ceremony.

Upon hearing the news, Harry was understandably a bit bummed out, but then he thought better of it “At least I’ll get to spend the evening with you” He said with a grin.

It was true. If it weren’t for the norms applied for the ceremony, you weren’t going to be able to celebrate with him. At least, not at that moment. That’s the downside of having a secret relationship.

You were used to it, though. Years of sneaking around and secret rendezvous made you an expert on the topic of privacy. It was something you both agreed on earlier on in the relationship, not wanting to attract the wrong kind of attention towards the two of you.

And yes, although that meant to have to deal with all the rumors of your boyfriend dating other celebrities and see him up and about in different galas where you had to maintain your distance until you were sure there were no peeking cameras, you wouldn’t change this for the world.

You loved Harry Styles as much as the next person did. But you much rather have Harry, just Harry all to yourself. And that made you one of the luckiest people on earth according to you.

“It’s weird to see the red carpet so empty,” You said as you walked into the living room holding the tray of food. Smiling at seeing Harry already seated comfortably with a glass of wine having already poured you a glass as well.

“Pfft. It’s boring anyway” He said, helping you set the food before you sat down with him, kicking your shoes under the table and cuddling next to him “You just walk, then stop to take some pictures, then talk to some random interviewer for a random channel, say you’re excited to be there and to be wearing Gucci and keep walking”

“Oh yeah, sounds dreadful” Sarcasm clear in your voice “I don’t know how you could survive that”

He grabbed a handful of popcorn and threw it your way, making you squeal before you retaliated with some salted peanuts, starting a small but very chaotic food fight among the two of you.

You were glad that it was only the two of you. While Harry’s manager offered to make a big celebration in his name for being nominated, he opted not to. Not only because he already received well-deserved repercussions for partying in the middle of a pandemic, but because this was a special moment for him and, even though he won’t admit it, he is scared of letting everyone down if he doesn’t get the win.

You, however, still wanted to make the night special for him. So you suggested you dress up for the red carpet- even if the only carpet you’d walk on is the one in the living room, get drunk and let whatever needs to happen: happen.

He loved the idea, although now he was starting to have second thoughts “‘m not gonna clean this” He said after taking into account the mess you both created.

Popcorn was scattered across the sofa and the rug, he had some pieces of peanuts tangled in his curls and on his suit. You didn’t want to look in the mirror to check how you ended up.

“Well, I wasn’t the one who started it,” You said, shrugging as you took a sip from your wine.

He crooked one eyebrow at you, ready to make his usual teasing comments known. But just as he opened his mouth, the opening number of the ceremony was starting.

The Grammys were broadcasted on tv, but all the nominees had a link where they should enter the moment their category is announced. Harry got it all set up in the living room, the computer and the camera ready to focus on him when needed. Yes, this was odd, everything was odd in these trying times. But you were glad they managed to pull through it and celebrate the artists like they deserve, even if it’s miles apart for their safety.

You enjoyed the first few numbers, chatting over your bets about who will win what category, yelling at the tv whenever your favorites didn’t receive the golden record player, and laughing at the bad jokes of the presenters.

When the pop categories came, however, the both of you were quiet as a mouse.

You knew Harry was nervous, you’ve never seen him fidgeting this much before. You gave him your hand to hold, to distract himself a little bit and for him to feel your unconditional support, and he squeezed it hard, placing a kiss on your knuckles and patting it softly with his other hand before covering it with it as his leg started moving up and down with a quick pace.

This side of him always surprised you. You were still amazed at how confident Harry was on stage and with people from the industry, yet when it was just the two of you, you could see the real him. The doubts, the second-guessing, the frustrations, the fears, and sadness of a real person. Not from the one that’s putting on a show to please strangers in a room. With you he allowed himself to feel, really feel like he couldn’t do outside the doors of your shared home. And you knew these nominations were eating him up from the inside with the anxiety it produced on him.

Harry was a perfectionist. He felt the weight of the world on his shoulders since he was sixteen, having the responsibility and burden to carry it without a word of complaint. He gave himself out on this album, showing parts of himself his fans would appreciate and accept. The pressure he had was unbearable and he still made it out of bed every morning, ready to give the world more than it could ever ask for.

You were proud of him, you always were and you told him time and time again, knowing he appreciated more than he could say. But sometimes you wished you could take him away for some time, letting him relax and breathe without constantly having to check himself if he did a wrong move or not. If he wins tonight, at least he will know it was all worth it.

The first two nominations were called. You could feel how hard he gripped your hand before he was asked to appear in front of the camera he set up in front of him. He tried to appear unbothered, but only you noticed the way his eyes gleamed with a shimmer of hope.

Harry waved at the camera and politely nodded whenever his name was being announced with his leg bouncing out of frame. But when the presenters called another name, he was the one clapping enthusiastically as his other colleagues received the acclaimed award. Never letting his true feelings show on his face.

You never asked if he was okay after he didn’t win, you knew he would say he is and brush it off like it was nothing. But you also knew that he needed your support at this moment and you gave it freely and lovingly. Cuddling next to him and soothing his hair as he let your hand run through his curls. It was the little moments, the details that let him know that he is loved. And he feels so lucky to be loved by you.

He told you time and time again and proved it to you thousand times more. But every time he said it, every time he showed it… it still brought butterflies to your entire being.

“Okay, love,” He said as soon as they cut through commercials for what it seemed like the tenth time “The album category is up next”

He said that with a serious face. You could tell that he was nervous, it was the most important award in the pop category; he had some strong contenders this year and was not at all convinced that he would win, especially given his other two losses.

You were about to say something, wanting nothing more than to comfort him and shake that mental frown away. But a notification rang on the computer, letting him know that it was time to get online and let people see him as he waited to be called.

He looked at you and smiled, letting you know that he was okay. “It’s just a stupid award,” He said, but you knew it meant more than that.

You smiled understandingly back at him and kissed him on the cheek before getting up to stand in front of the tv but behind the camera as you did in his previous nominations of the night, making it seem like he was alone.

“You got this” You mouthed at him from where you were standing, sending him an encouraging smile and two thumbs up. He replied with a wink and his award-winning smirk as the announcer called his name among the nominees.

Harry waved at the camera and you can already see his name trending on Twitter right now, it’s been too long since his fans have seen him up close and he knew very well what he was doing. That smug bastard.

While the presenter was calling the other nominees, your phone rang. You quickly grabbed it from the table and thanked the gods’ Harry’s vídeo was muted for the time being.

“Hello?” You said quietly, not really paying attention at the name of the caller before you picked up.

Harry had his eyes on the camera, but he furrowed his eyebrows to let you know that he was just as curious as you to know who was calling at this time and at this moment.

“You need to open the door, now!” It was Jeff’s voice. He sounded frantic as he hung up immediately after.

You stood there confused for a second before realizing what was happening.

“And the winner for best pop vocal album is…. Harry Styles’ Fine Line!”

Harry’s eyes widened as he heard his name being called as the winner. He started looking around for you, but you were now gone from your spot only to return seconds later with a golden record player in your hands and tearful eyes.

You were now standing at his side, face away from the camera as the viewers could only see your arms extending the award towards Harry, who had the most beautiful and genuine smile you’ve ever seen.

He took the award and threw it on the sofa next to him, quickly standing enough to reach your face and giving you a one in a lifetime kiss. Not caring that he was on national television at the moment. He was happy.

You felt how his hands cupped your cheek softly as his lips melted with yours. It tasted salty and you didn’t know if it was because of the popcorn or the happy tears on both your eyes. You only knew that this was one of the greatest moments of his life and you were lucky enough to witness it with him.

Soon, Harry had to let go of you, smiling widely at you and mouthing an “I love you” as he sat back down to start his speech. You quickly went back to your place behind the camera and smiled at him with utter pride.

You knew how much he worked for this, to separate himself from the kid he once was and to start his own career by just being Harry. And to see him smile like that… Harry only smiled like that when he was with you. His childlike grin and sparkle in his eyes brought life to your shared home as he held the award close to his heart, finally grasping the idea that that little boy from Cheshire made it.

He made it.

“... I want to thank my mum and my sister, who were always there for me. To the fans that made this record so special and have gifted me with their enormous support. And I want to thank the person I love most in this life” He said, lifting his gaze to meet your teary eyes. He smiled like a thousand suns and gave you a look that was just exuberant with love before placing his eyes back on the camera. “I love you and I couldn’t have done it without you. Thank you so much for this”

You waited a good five seconds after his transmission ended before jumping at him on the sofa, wrapping your arms around him as you plastered kisses all over his face.

“I told you you were going to win!” You said excitedly.

He laughed and kiss your lips with passion “You did” He said between kisses “And I didn’t believe you” one more kiss “If this is not a sign for me to admit that you’re always right, I don’t know what it is”

You smiled before kissing him again, this time with more intent as you let him deepen the kiss, parting your lips as you granted him more access.

Harry grabbed you by the legs and made you straddle his lap, not breaking the kiss once as his hands roamed your back with soft touches.

“You know…” You said, letting out a sigh as his mouth traveled from your lips to your neck “You just kissed me in front of a camera”

He hummed, sending vibrations all over your pulse point “That I did”

“It’s going to be all over Twitter tomorrow”

“I don’t much care right now,” He said, placing his hands on your ass, making your hips slightly buckle against his front as he continued to ravish your neck and collarbones, leaving a trail of marks and soft breaths to follow later.

You chuckled, tangling your fingers through his hair, tugging it lightly so his eyes were on yours once again “Harry, you just won a Grammy!”

“That I did, too” He smirked, pure joy visible in his eyes.

“And how would you want to celebrate? My Grammy award winning boyfriend” You said, moving your hips with more intent and making him let out a groan.

Harry’s pupils grew and turned his eyes into a deep forest green, looking at you hungrily while he grinned “I got a couple of ideas”

*

Tags: @iknowyouthinkimbulletproof @mystic-232 @talksoprettyjjx @theshyspy @sarcasticallywitty15 @hoodhoran @flaneurcth @notinthesameguey @bubblegum18 @irwin-fletcher-ash @multistann @tenaciousperfectionunknown @sunflowercherry

[nohoney]

I Just Want It To Be Us - 1.1

note: Part 1 of the Us series which is originally posted on my ao3 here

Us series masterlist

characters: Dabi/Touya Todoroki, Hawks/Keigo Takami

warnings: 18+, drug use, toxic relationships, cheating, angsty-ish

summary:

That question always rang through your mind every time he comes back smelling like one of his side whores and cash in his pocket. He’s your boyfriend but he’s been doing this since way before he met you, and he wasn’t going to stop just because you’re together. It was a condition that you pretty much forced yourself to accept from the very beginning because well… you really did like Dabi that much.

Dabi knows that it makes you upset but he’s not going to stop for your sake.

You know that he won’t.

1.1 ✧ 1.2  ✧ 1.3

Your mother would be so disappointed if she saw you with your current boyfriend.

“Marry a nice man, honey.”

“When you find someone to settle down with, make sure he’s the one.”

“Don’t flit about from guy to guy, it’s not lady-like.”

All these rules your mother set you up with when it came to finding a boyfriend, you knew it came from a good place in her heart. She was only looking out for you when she told you these things but didn’t she get that dating now was different in this age and time? You’re a free person and you can see however many people you want or you could see no one at all and that was perfectly fine as well.

She has a feeling you’re seeing someone but you haven’t confirmed with her. To be honest, you don’t think you’ll tell her anything about your current boyfriend. It would be for the sake of preserving her little, fragile heart. How horrified would she be if she found out her precious daughter was dating the local drug dealer in her college campus?

He didn’t like being called by his surname and he didn’t seem to like being called by his first name either. The first time he speaks in front of your intro to philosophy class, taking it just to fulfill one of grad requirements, he says to just refer to him as ‘Dabi’. It’s curious to the people who don’t know who he is already but who are they to argue with someone how they should be addressed?

So you call him Dabi.

You called him Dabi the first time you spoke to him in class, asking for notes from the day you missed before in class. You called him Dabi when he found you sitting alone in the library and he kicked your chair to get your attention. You called him Dabi the more you spent time together with him, even past the semester once your one shared class is over and final grades were submitted. You called him Dabi the first time he ever rails you on his cock in the backseat on his car.

You almost forget sometimes that his real name is Touya.

In his off campus apartment, he sits in a chair in front of the bathroom mirror and you stand behind him with plastic gloves over your hands, helping him dye the roots of his hair black. The dye stinks, you hate the smell of it, but he kind of suckered you into doing it for him this time. He promised that if you’d help him, he’d sit through one of your stupid romantic-comedy movies you’d been dying to watch for a while. But you had to tack on a condition if he was going to give you an incentive.

If Dabi watched a movie with you and wasn’t entertained by it enough, he’d always leave to smoke a joint and come back high just so that he could get through the rest of the film.

“No break of any kind unless it’s a snack or pee break, you understand me?” you tell him as you put the final layer of dye on his roots. “And no doing it before the movie starts! I want you sober when we watch it together.”

“Yeah, yeah doll. You have my word.” Dabi passively waves his hand at you as he looks down at his phone.

Your eyes casually glance down at his phone screen and see that he’s in his messages app.

Wonder if someone is trying to get him as a connect. You think to yourself as you dispose of the plastic gloves and the remaining hair dye. You’re cleaning up the hair dye tools and open the window to air out the awful smell of the dye, all while Dabi sits in his chair and stares at his messaging app. The sounds of incoming messages from his phone tell you that there’s a conversation going on but his fingers don’t move over the keyboard to respond. It’s not your business how he runs his operations.

“How long do I leave the dye on?” he asks as he stands up from the chair, putting his phone on the countertop, and literally rips the shirt off his body from the neckline down the middle. It’s just a regular t-shirt he bought to protect his skin from the dye dripping onto his body dispensable from the very beginning, but he didn’t have to make a show of it. The shirt drops to the floor in a heap and he kicks it off to the side; you are not picking it up for him.

Dabi’s hot, ridiculously hot, that’s the first thing anyone notices about him. Both his ears have multiple piercings and his nose as well sporting three studs on his right nostril. If he’s wearing short sleeves, the first thing anyone will see that his both arms are tattooed all black, save for where they end, at his hands and shoulders it’s detailed to look like his skin is being held together by staples. On any other person it would look ridiculous to you, on Dabi not so much.

He notices you staring and winks at you, but you scoff at him and push past him to exit the bathroom. “You know how long it stays on, you’ve done this plenty of times before by yourself.”

“I like it when you tell me doll.”

Ah Dabi could be so charming when he felt like it.

You roll your eyes at him but peck him on the lips. “Shut up, I’m going to order in some food for dinner today.”

“Wow, ordering in for dinner tonight. Such housewife material (Name).” Dabi pokes fun at you.

“And you’re going to be the perfect husband Dabi.” you tease back.

You’re not certain if Dabi is long-term boyfriend material, you’ve only been dating for about five months. It’s not a long period of time you’ve spent as boyfriend and girlfriend but you’ve had a lot of fun with him. Although you have to admit that part of the fun you were experiencing with Dabi was because of what he’s introduced you to.

Before Dabi, you’d only smoke a little bit of weed every once in a while or take the occasional edible to wind down. You never had your own stash of it, you’d only partake if a friend supplied or if you were at a party. There was no point in having your own selection if you didn’t really partake in it that much. You were okay with smoking from a joint or a bong every once in a while, maybe take an edible if you wanted something a little stronger than smoking flower.

After Dabi you’d indulge in the occasional gram of coke and maybe some ecstasy if you felt like you could afford to take two days off from work for the come down. There were still others you hadn’t given a try yet, like shrooms or 2CB or do a candy flip, but you were slowly working up the nerve to give them a try when you were ready. Dabi offered you a Percocet but god, never again because you were too fucked up the one time you tried it.

You didn’t really think in your life you’d be involved romantically with a drug dealer but honestly it’s not as bad as you thought it would be.

Oh yeah, try explaining that to Mom…

Dab treats you right for the most part, he’s never yelled at you or ever taken his anger out on you either since dating each other, he just sells narcotics on the college campus and he got you into it too, it’s not a big deal. It helped that Dabi took it easy on you rather than just pushing you to do more than you were comfortable with. The first time you were curious about coke, he made you a little thin line of it and it took you more than an hour to decide you were ready before finally snorting it. After that first one, he let you decide how long and thick you wanted your lines to be. He’d cut it nice and neat for you and point to which one was yours to take. Coke felt good but the drip was disgusting in the back of your throat.

Speaking of disgusting…

“Hey, it should have been long enough so wash that gross stuff out your hair and let’s eat dinner.” you called from the kitchen as you plated the takeout food that arrived not too long ago.

You and Dabi sit at his little dinner table with the television streaming some random drama for background noise. Dinner topics for the evening range from school, homework, family news if there is any, and when to coordinate seeing each other next in between classes and your part time job. Conversations go smoothly and you’re cleaning up the kitchen when Dabi comes up behind you and presses a kiss to the back of your head, nuzzling you as you wipe the plates you just ate off of. You feel a sense of dread because every time he does that it means…

“Hey, there’s a house party this Saturday and I gotta work.”

You bite your tongue inside your mouth and exhale through your nose.

He has to work so he’ll be gone for a while, has to disperse his inventory and has to please his regulars as well as find any potential new customers.

If it was just selling, it wouldn’t be an issue.

The real issue is that you know he fucks some of his female customers. No no no, they don’t just get free coke or acid or whatever they’re asking for by spreading their legs for Dabi. He still expects cash as payment, but if he thinks they’re pretty enough then he doesn’t mind getting something extra aside from money after a sale. He’s handsome so why wouldn’t someone want to hop on his lap and go for a ride?

Dabi saves you the trouble by just being upfront about it, swears to you that you’re his favorite and that he only sees the other girls if he’s making a sale, they’re just customers. He goes to them, he goes to their location and fucks them where they meet him. None of his side whores have ever been brought back to his place, not like how he lets you in so easily when you knock on his door. He doesn’t take them out or treat them sweetly like he does with you; it’s just a sale and a fuck. It still doesn’t matter to you though, it still makes you jealous. It makes you clench your jaw in anger and want to just deck him right where his nose piercings are.

You’re his girlfriend but did that title mean anything if he was still going to sleep with other girls?

That question always rang through your mind every time he comes back smelling like one of his side whores and cash in his pocket. He’s your boyfriend but he’s been doing this since way before he met you, and he wasn’t going to stop just because you’re together. It was a condition that you pretty much forced yourself to accept from the very beginning because well… you really did like Dabi that much.

Dabi knows that it makes you upset but he’s not going to stop for your sake.

You know that he won’t.

“Fine.”

━━━━✧

If Dabi gets to fuck other girls then surely you have the right to do just the same with boys right?

The thing is though is that you did one time just right before the two of you made your relationship official, you hit up an old fuck buddy of yours while Dabi was out selling at another house party in the middle of the night. He left a measly text saying not to wait up for him and that he’d see you for breakfast. It would have been sweet if not for the fact that he came to your apartment smelling like another girl, just spending just two hours with you before flitting off into the night. Two hours of him on your sofa smelling like someone else, not even offering to shower to get their stench off, and he did his best to placate you before giving up and letting you stew in your own anger.

So you hit up your old fuck buddy and you go to him, you just get straight to the point when you’re let into his dorm and fuck your frustrations out on him. You intended to go straight back to your home but angry fucking took a lot out on you so you just spend the night there instead. “Don’t cuddle me, I’ll be gone in the morning.” you tell him after patting his cheek and pulling the blanket over your body.

It’s a quarter before eight when you’re trudging back to your apartment and you see Dabi leaning against your front door. You’re going to ask how his night was but he abruptly pulls you to him and growls in your ear to, “Get in your fucking apartment… now.”

He knows you went out to get fucked, doesn’t want to know who you went to.

You and him argue for over two hours inside your home, pacing back and forth in the living room. It’s back and forth of ‘it’s just business with those girls’ from him and ‘why shouldn’t I be allowed to do it to you?’ from you. Dabi says it’s just business and they mean nothing to him, claims to you that you hurt him more because you did it out of revenge. He really got you screaming at him after he said that but he didn’t dare back down. He stands firm and so do you, that really gets him angry with you even more.

He didn’t apologize and neither did you.

You were jabbing your finger in his chest when he grabs you by the wrist, irritation and exhaustion evident in his turquoise eyes. “Don’t fucking do that to me.” he growls at you.

“Get your fucking hands off me Dabi.” you spit back, shaking his hand off your wrist. “Get out.”

“No, we’re not leaving it like this.” he insists. “We’re fucking talk about this.”

You throw your hands up in the air in exasperation. “No, you want to ‘talk about it’ until I yield to you which is never going to happen! We’re going around in circles! You’re not going to be sorry and I’m not going to be sorry!”

A tense stare off between the two of you for a few seconds.

Next thing you know, you’re pulling off each other’s clothes and you’re forced on your hands and knees in your own bed. The only foreplay you get is a few seconds of rough kissing and Dabi spitting on his fingers to prep you as quickly as he can. When he pushes in, it’s rough and a little uncomfortable but you’re quick to adjust to the punishing pace. He pulls your hair too hard, you backhand him in the face, he spanks you until your ass is red and aching, you dig your nails into his back and scratch achingly slow down his flesh to make sure it really hurts.

Hate fucking with Dabi was a whole new level of intensity for you but you keep up with him until it turns into slow love making.

The biting, angry dirty talk from the beginning turns into whining praises; from ‘you spiteful, fucking bitch’ to ‘my pretty, little angel’.

“Fuck babydoll, you know how good you feel? I think I’ve fucked you so much that your pussy’s shaped to take just my cock. This cunt damn near drained me dry but I still want more. Cum on my cock more, tell me how bad you want it.” Dabi whispers into the skin of your shoulder before licking a trail up to your chin and pressing a kiss to your cheek.

“Ugh, baby it’s so fucking good, only you know my body like this. I don’t want it from anyone else but you… shit, I’m going to cum again!” you groan as you clamp down on him once more and your pussy strangles his cock for more cum.

You fall asleep after two hours of fucking, your head resting in the crook of his neck and his arm around your shoulders to keep you close. The both of you are all fucked out but your mind is still fixated on the fight. Despite the intimate sex that’s brought you closer together after rounds of hate fucking, it doesn’t change the fact that Dabi still fucks his customers sometimes and you’re still resentful about it.

“If it makes you feel better then fine (Name), you can fuck who you want.” Dabi says to you when the both of you wake up and are pulling your clothes back on your bodies. “But know this, if you want to be in on this then you’re just going to have to accept that I’ve been doing this since before I met you and it’s not going to stop just because we’re together. So go ahead, fuck who you want but as long as you always come back to me. I always come back to you, don’t I sweetheart?”

You’re smoothing your hair down, taking in his words before looking up at him and asking, “We’re together?”

Dabi’s eyes are full of mirth as he approaches you, pulling you close to his body and squeezing one of your asscheeks in his hand. “You’re my favorite, my number one, I like you (Name). The things I do for you, what I’ve done to you, no one else gets that from me.”

He didn’t apologize and neither did you.

But funnily enough even though he gave you permission to sleep with whoever you wanted, you didn’t really have the desire to do so. He comes to you smelling like other girls sometimes and that should be your cue to go find your own rando to hump on but you just… don’t.

Part of you wonders if Dabi is happy that you don’t go around like he does despite his blessing. You’re resentful towards yourself sometimes that you don’t go out and have some fun with someone else too. He gave you permission so you should take him up on it, that makes sense given the circumstances. Apparently the only thing that was important to him was that he always be your priority the same way that you were his.

Maybe at the time you just wanted the rush of revenge and now it was different that Dabi took that away from you by giving you permission. Maybe he knew that once he gave you the green light that you weren’t going to bother anymore with seeking anyone else out.

You were certain that he was manipulating you but you didn’t have solid evidence so there wasn’t much you could do. What the hell were you supposed to say to him?

Hey Dabi you tricked me into not sleeping with other people?

Dabi did always give you a heads up at least when he was going out to sell and he always tried to make you happy when he comes back. He offers to order in your favorite food, bring your favorite bottle of alcohol with your favorite juice to chase, eat you out until you’re a quivering mess on his mouth, or nudges half of a tablet of ecstasy in your hand and says that he just wants to put on music and house roll with you.

It still doesn’t change that you get jealous no matter how many sweet things he does for you.

But you like him enough to deal with his shenanigans… just barely.

━━━━✧

“Why don’t you come with me?” Dabi asks you as soon as you’re back from work. You’re tossing your purse onto your sofa and drop your body onto the cushions, your head in his lap and seeking his warmth. His hand goes to your head to start massaging your scalp, his fingers working magic and making you groan in pleasure. “Come with me tomorrow doll.”

You roll your eyes and turn your head to look at whatever show Dabi was watching while he was waiting for you. “To watch you flourish your business? I don’t think so. I’ll stay behind like I usually do.” you scoff, pressing your cheek against his leg and sighing.

He’s never asked for you to come along before, he doesn’t need the distraction of babysitting you. You wonder what’s caused him to ask you to tag along.

“Come on doll, just come along. Odds are I won’t be coming back the night of the party and Keigo will be there tomorrow, he can keep you company.”

Ah you loved Keigo, he was the only one that Dabi really considered to be a friend to him. Maybe it was because he could keep up with your boyfriend in regards to their drug consumption but you could see that they had a bond beyond just getting high together, more than just pills or powders or tabs that keeps them together. Together they both seemed like laid back individuals but Dabi only seemed laid back due to how apathetic he was whereas Keigo was actually a chill person because that’s how he actually was, it wasn’t just the air about him that made him seem so.

You loved being with Keigo, he always spoiled you silly and made you laugh.

“I don’t know, what exactly will I get out of it?” you shrug your shoulders and huff out quietly.

Suddenly two little baggies come into your view, one filled with white powder and the other with a little pink tablet. “Is this supposed to be a bribe to get me to come along?” you ask, staring at the bags and not bothering to take them from your boyfriend’s fingertips. You won’t lie that it is a little bit tempting, just a little bit.

“Maybe so, you know that my merchandise for you is discounted doll. Nothing but the best for you, my shit is always clean.” Dabi shakes the little baggies as if the contents are going to be more enticing if he does so. There’s definitely a big truth to what he said, the quality to his inventory is nothing less than superb. It’s why his clientele always kept on coming back to him but the absolute best was either for his favorites or it was apart of his own personal stash.

You’re staring hard at the baggies and start debating in your mind. Dabi would still give it to you even if you insisted that you stay home but there was no fun in doing it alone. You had some friends that could help you kill the coke if you asked them over but god forbid they start feening, that’s when they became difficult to deal with. There was no point in you holding onto them either if you weren’t going to do anything with them right away.

Since Keigo was going to be at the party tomorrow and if Dabi was going to give the baggies no matter what…

“Alright, only since Keigo is going to be there. Nothing else.” you give in and pluck the two baggies from Dabi’s hand and sit up on the sofa. “Now how much do I owe you for your merchandise sir?”

Dabi smirks at you as he crawls over you until you’re lying flat on your back, like you’re his prey and he’s the predator. “Just your usual payment madame, if you please.”

[pascalscenarios]

THE ONE (Frankie Morales x Reader)

THE ONE

Frankie Morales x Reader  

Summary: Since seeing Frankie Morales, you can't seem to get him out of your mind and old feelings start to arise. While out on a lunch date with your finance, you run into him again. 

Warning: Mild Swearing

Words: 2388

Author Note: I’ve been in my Frankie feels lately. It hurts. 

CH 1 | CH 2

Chapter 2

2011

“You’re leaving?” You stood in the doorway. You were confused watching Frankie run around your shared bedroom collecting his belongings.

“Yeah, I am.” he stuffs clothes into his tan large tactical bag and a duffle that sat at the foot of your guys' bed. He must have been called out again, that's why he’s quickly trying to pack.

“Oh… I didn’t know you were called back out, why didn't you-”

“I wasn't called back.” he cut you off.

“...okay, so what's all this then?” You motion to his bags. “Where are you going?...”

He didn’t answer you. He just kept packing his things. He zipped his tactical bag, putting it on his back and slinging the duffle over his shoulder. Frankie walked over to the dresser picking up his hat, placing his hat on his head, and grabbing the keys to his truck.

He walked past you, heading out of the room and into the living.

“Frankie, What is going on?!” You laugh in as you call after him. You had no idea what was happening and what he was doing.

“You have a camping trip with Santiago and the boys? If that's the case-” You enter the living room finding Frankie standing a few feet from the dooring staring at you. You couldn’t read his expression. Just a deadpan look took over the soft and happy face he usually had. Something was wrong.

“Frankie?” you furrowed your eyebrows at him.

“I’m done. We’re done,” he says bluntly.

You were taken back. “W-what?” was all you managed to say after he dropped an unexpected bomb on you.

“I’m leaving,” he states again.

“Frankie, I’m so confused! Where is this coming from?!” You were in disbelief. You walked over to him, placing a hand on his cheek. Frankie moves his head back, moving away from your touch.

“Frankie…”

“I’m sorry.” He says turning his back on you walking towards the door.

“NO!” You yelled as you dash for the front door. You stood in his way blocking him from leaving. “NO, I’m not letting you up and leave without talking to me first! We're gonna talk about this!”

He sighs. “Move”

“Talk to me. Don’t shut me out. We can just work this out if you just talk to me and tell me what’s wrong...Please...Talk. To. Me.” You pleaded, tears forming in your eyes.

He extends his arms out, swiping you away from the door so he could leave. He walks outside to his parked truck, tossing his bags in the back. You followed close behind, fuming with emotions.

“FRANCISCO MORALES!” You shouted after him. “Like HELL you’re leaving!.”

“I gotta go.”

“So that’s it?! You’re just going to walk out on me, walk away from everything we’ve have and just leave?”

“Pretty much.” He says leaning against the truck, folding his arms across his chest.

“Are you hearing yourself?! Do you even know what you’re saying?! This makes no sense! I’m so confused, hurt, scared and you’re not even going to give me an explanation or try to work it out with me!”

He looks down at the ground, avoiding your burning stare.

“I don’t want this anymore. We’ve run our course.” He stares.

“We’ve run our course? No, Y-you don’t mean that… I-I know you. I know you inside and out. I know your heart. You wouldn’t do this to me”

“You don’t know me. I’ve changed, my feelings have changed.”

You scoffed. “I don't believe you. You’re a fucking coward! Running away like a scared little boy!” Tears streaming down your face.

With that, Frankie stands up and opens the car door. Your eyes widen. He was really going to leave you. Just like that. He starts the engine.

You quickly rush to the divers window. “Frankie, come on you can’t be serious. Frankie-” He reversed the car down the driveway, you following the car.

He was leaving. You started pleading for him to stay, begging even. “Please don’t go! Stay! Don’t go! Don’t leave me! Please, just tell me what I did wrong!” You sobbed as he pulled out the driveway.

“FRANKIE!”

…

“Babe!”

“Hmm?” You snap out of your thoughts.

It's been a few days since you saw Frankie in the parking lot. Since running into him, the night of your break up is constantly replaying in your head. It hasn’t been like this in years. From time to time you thought about that night. What would have happened if he stayed. If he had been willing to work things and not run away. You still had no clue as to why he left you, just the bullshit of an excuse he gave you. You were able to move on past what had happened... at least you thought you had. Seeing him again really set you off. You felt like you were being sucked back into those days of overthinking and analyzing everything.

“How do you like this one?” You and Alex were at a local bakery trying different cake flavors for your wedding cake.

“I don’t like it.” You say pushing the red velvet sample piece away. You weren’t in the mood for this. Frankie was the only thing on your mind lately, and it was driving you insane.

“You, alright?” Alex asked.

“Yeah, I’m a fine sweetie. Why?” You gave him a fake smile.

Alex takes a seat beside you. “You’ve been acting strangely for a couple of days. You seem like you have a lot on your mind.”

You sign, picking up the fork, and start to you with your piece of cake. “I’m just stressed with the few things we have left of the wedding, work, and the fact I ran into fra-” you stopped yourself once you realized what you were going to say.

“When you ran into who?” Alex questions.

You didn’t want to tell Alex you ran into your ex and make it a whole huge thing. “Frankie Morales…” you stab the fork into the cake.

“Who’s that?” You never brought up Frankie to anyone unless it was close family and friends. Alex was your partner but there was no need to bring up Frankie because he was a part of the past. You haven’t told anyone you saw Frankie, not even Santiago, but it is weighing and taking a toll on you. You needed to tell someone.

“An old friend.” Technically you weren’t lying. Frankie was your friend at one point in your life, but he also became more than a friend… a boyfriend...an ex-boyfriend. “We were close when we were kids, but we had a falling out a long time ago, but he recently came back into town.”

“Maybe you could try to reconnecting with them-”

“No!” You quickly shouted. Alex is taken back by your sudden outburst. “No...It was good to see him I guess, but things have changed. We’re different people. It’s not the same as it once was.”

You pick up a different sample cake to distract yourself and move on from the topic. You pick up and have a bite.

“This ones too sweet.”

“I kinda like it.”

“Honey no!” You chuckle.

…

After deciding on your cake flavor, coconut, and design at the bakery flavor, you and Alex headed towards their favorite restaurant for lunch. You were just outside the door when you noticed Frankie walking in your direction. You swear the universe must hate you. You cursed underneath your breath.

“Hey, I’m not so hungry-” as you take Alex’s hand, turning in back around towards the direction you came from.

“Woah what? Come on, this is my favorite-” Alex stops you both from moving.

“Yeah. I think we should just go ho-” You grab Alex’s hand and start dragging them, but you didn’t even take a few steps.

“Hey, Smiles.”

You close your eyes, deeply signing. You turn around slowly. He was still wearing the same casual clothes he always wore and that damn hat.

“Hey...” The three of you awkwardly stand there in silence for a few seconds.

“Sup Man. I’m Alex!” Alex introduces themself, extending his hand to Frankie.

“Ah Smiles’s finance…” Frankie says shaking Alex’s hand. “I’m Frankie.”

“Oh, Frankie Morales! The old friend! Funny you came up in conversation today!”

“Alex!” You say through your teeth.

Frankie cocks his eyebrow at you. “Really? Smiles told you I was coming to the wedding?”

“You invited him to the wedding? I thought-” Alex whispers to you.

“Yeah, I did!- Um, Nice to see you again Frankie, but we really should get going-”

“Frankie, We’re headed to lunch, you wanna join us?” Alex says inviting Frankie.

Alex did NOT just do that. The last thing you wanted was to see Frankie, but having lunch with your ex-boyfriend AND finance? You wanted to crawl into a hole and just die.

You glare at Frankie, your eyes telling him to say no. “Sure, why not.” He smiles.

“Lovely! Frankie, We’ll meet you inside, I need to talk to Alex real quick!” you gave him a fake smile. He said yes on purpose, that fucker. You’d deal with him later, but you needed to deal with Frankie.

Frankie opens the door and heads inside the cafe. You turn to Alex.

“Alex? I don’t want to reconnect with him.” you sigh.

“I mean you invited him to the wedding”

“I didn’t mean to invite him. It just came out-”

“He’s your childhood friend. Maybe it's a good thing that Frankie is back, you can catch up and rekindle your friendship. Life’s too short to be upset with someone.”

You wanted to rekindle NOTHING with Frankie Morales and you had every right to be upset with him after what he did to you. Maybe you should have told Alex that Frankie was your ex, then you wouldn't have been in this predicament.

You huffed.

“Come on, it can't be that bad.”

Oh, Alex, you have no idea, you thought.

…

You were at the restaurant for a while talking about the wedding and random things. Frankie and Alex talked the majority of the time getting to know each other.

“What do you do for a living?”

You toyed with your paper straw in your drink as you listened to Alex and Frankie. You just wished the waitress would come to buy and drop off the check already.

“I’m ex-military, I flew helicopters. Now I just fly doing cargo transports. How about you?” Frankie says picking up a french fry from his meal, dipping it in ketchup, and popping it into his mouth.

“I work for a tech company in the city.” Alex bites into the last of his sandwich. “We were talking about you earlier, they mentioned you knew each other from childhood.”

“Yeah, Smiles and way back.” Frankie chuckles.

“Smiles?” Alex asks, unaware of why Frankie kept calling you that.

“It’s a silly nickname he gave me when we were kids.” You chime in.

“It’s not silly. She always had the biggest smile on her face. Always happy. She was constantly following Santiago and me around. ” He smiles thinking about the simpler times.

“You know Santiago?”

“He’s my best friend. That’s how I met Smiles.”

The gears were turning in Alex’s head. “Hmm, I’m confused as to how I’ve never heard of you. You’ve never been brought up in conversation.”

“Well, Frankie did up and disappear at one point. No one knew where he went for a while.” You sit back in your seat, changing the tone of the conversation. Alex was oblivious to it all, but Frankie knew just what you meant. You both started at each other. Frankie gulping, growing unformattable, adjusting in his seat slightly.

“What? Where you’d go?”

“Yeah, Frankie…Where’d you go?” You cocked your head to the side giving him a questioning and clueless look.

“Here are your check folks!” the waitress comes dropping off the receipt on the table. Of course, the waitress comes at this exact moment.

“I can pay,” Frankie says, picking up the bill.

“What? No, we invited you man-”

“It’s cool. Consider it as an almost getting married gift.” Frankie says gabbing cash out of his wallet and setting it with the bill folder.

“Thank you! I'll be right back. I'm gonna head to the bathroom before we go.” Alex gets up and walks away from the table.

You and Frankie sat there alone.

“Alex seems nice,” Frankie speaks up.

“What are you doing?” you ask him straight up.

“What?”

“Cut the bullshit Frankie” you snapped.

“Woah this is a total change of attitude from when you saw me the other day.” He folds his arms across your chest.

“That was me being in shock. The feeling has since worn off,” you said coldly.

“I was curious and saw the opportunity to see who you’re getting married to Smiles.”

“No. You don’t get to do that! You don’t get to come back into my life pretending everything alright between us because it's not. We are not on friendly terms and never will be. So stop trying to wedge your way in. You left, I’m not letting you back in.” You said sternly.

“Alright. Ready to go?” Alex says walking back over.

“Yeah.” You say getting up out of your seat, Frankie doing the same.

“Nice to meet you, Frankie!”

“Same here.” They shake hands.

“Bye Smiles.”

You look at him with hurt in your eyes. You shake your head and sign. You take Alex’s hands and walk towards the exit.

Frankie stood there watching you and Alex leave. Every day of his life since that night, he regretted leaving you the way that he did. He should have stayed. After years of reflecting on the situation, he realized how completely and utterly stupid he was, but he thought it was the best choice at the time. It was the worst decision he had ever made in his entire life. The number of times he wished he could have gone back to fix things. He would do it in a heartbeat if it meant being with you. He knew owed you an explanation, heck he owed you so much after everything he put you through. He wanted to make things right with you, he needed to make things right with you. He just hopes it isn’t too late to do so.

[talesofarcadia78]

Sorceress of Arcadia || Becoming Part 2

Summary: Y/n Lake is Jim Lake's older sister. She discovers  that she is sorceress and her brother is the Trollhunter. She and the Trollhunters go on adventures together, they save trolls and humans. Along the way, a friend becomes more than just a friend and discovers their secrets.

Warning: Pain

Word count: 6,601

Tags: @lunariasilver

Previous >> Becoming Part 1  • Next >> Becoming Part 2 (Douxie’s POV) 

Next morning, you woke up, looking around. You looked down at your ankle, it wasn’t purple anymore. You cautiously stepped on your feet, it hurt a little bit you could handle it. You got up and got ready for the day. You were wearing the same thing from yesterday, not bothered to wear anything else. You saw yourself in the mirror. Your hair was a mess. You combed your hair, which was very hard and tied it up into a low ponytail. You walked downstairs, calling for Jim, but he was going out the door. 

“Where are you going?” you asked. 

“To the dentist, to tell Toby about yesterday. I’ll see you later,” he said, closing the door behind him.

You walked into the kitchen and saw your mom making something. Oh no. She didn’t have Jim’s cooking skills, or any for a fact. 

“Mom! What are you making?” you asked peeking over her shoulder. 

“Just making toast. You want some?” she asked and you backed away. 

“I’ll pass, I’ll just grab something out of the fridge,” you said, walking to the fridge and opening it up. 

You took the first thing you saw, which was an apple. 

“Your going to eat an apple for breakfast? You’re not the type of person who would have fruit first thing in the morning,” she said, raising her eyebrow at you. 

“Well, you know what they say: an apple a day, keeps the doctor away,” you stated. 

“That’s what parents say to make their kids eat an apple, it’s not actually true,” she told you. 

“Meh. Well, I’ll get going, bye!” you said, kissing her on her cheek and walking out the door. 

You rode your bike over to Mr. Benoits, hoping for something to eat, more then just an apple. You walked in and saw there were a lot of people today. You walked out of the cafe. It would take a long time for you. You went to a taco truck instead. You saw that the line wasn’t too long, so you stood in line. As you moved to the front of the line, you looked at the menu. When you got to the front, you ordered a breakfast burrito. You waited a good 5 minutes until when your burrito arrived. You thanked them and walked off to find somewhere to sit. It was a beautiful day, so you sat outside the museum. You ate your burrito quietly while researching about sorceresses. Apparently you were one. You found a wikipedia page that said sorceresses were a female practitioner of magic. ‘Practitioner of magic’ was in blue so you clinked on the link, to only find out about magicians. Not helpful. You only found websites that defined sorceresses, not actually tell about them. You sighed, frustrated. 

“Looks like someone is frustrated,” a familiar voice spoke. 

You looked up to see Douxie. 

“Oh hey Douxie. I was just researching but didn’t find what I was looking for,” you explained. 

“Ah, I see. Well, I see you are in town, so your ankle must be okay. Right?” he asked. 

“Yeah, its better. It still hurts a bit, but I can handle it,” you said, walking over to a near by bin to throw the foil that was wrapped around the burrito. 

“Well, are you interested in books?”Douxie asked. 

“Yeah. Why?” you asked, curious why he suddenly brought up the topic of books. 

“Well, the bookstore I work in isn’t far, wanna come?” he said. 

“Yeah sure,” you replied. 

You both walked to the bookstore, chatting about your life. When you had arrived, Douxie held open the door for you and bowed. 

“Why you’re very chivalrous,” you commented.  

“Thank you m’lady,” he joked.

You both walked inside. It felt very cozy and homey. You walked over to a shelf, and started skimming through the titles. None of them looked appealing to you. You kept searching through the shelves, until you felt a tap on your shoulder. You spun around to see Douxie, holding out a book. 

“What about this?” he asked, handing you the book. 

The title read: Life of a Wizard in Camelot. 

“Wait, Camelot as in 12th century, medieval times Camelot?” you asked. 

“Yeah, I guess. I don’t really know. This book had been here for ages, no one has ever showed any interest in it so far. You’re the first,” he explained . 

You walked over to a couch and started reading the book. You couldn’t really read what was written, since whoever wrote it was not a neat hand writer. But it wasn’t that messy that you couldn’t read it all. There were margins where there was neater hand writing, where they had random notes like, ‘Magic isn’t a permissible shortcut to hard work!’ and ‘Master doesn’t let me use my magic’. The last one caught your attention. 

“If it says me, then there must be someone else who wrote, not the author,” you mumbled to yourself. 

You kept reading through the pages, learning about Camelot and the wizard, Merlin, who had also written the book. It was interesting to see Merlin’s perspective of the world. Your eyelids started getting heavier by the minute as you kept reading. Then you dozed off. 

“I got lemonade!” Douxie declared, to no one in particular. 

You jolted up. You had realised that you had dozed off in the middle of the bookstore. Douxie came up from behind you and gave you a glass of lemonade. He sat next to you on the couch and looked over your shoulder. 

“Is it good so far?” Douxie asked. 

“Yeah. It’s interesting to see Merlin’s perspective of Camelot and King Arthur. Plus it’s funny to see the little notes in the margins,” you said, pointing to a note. 

“Well, I hoped you liked it, want to buy it?” Douxie asked, finishing his lemonade and setting it on the table in front of him. 

“Actually yes. How much is it?” you replied, closing the book. 

“As I said, the book has been lying around for ages so, it’s on me,” he repeated. 

“No. You have two jobs and on top of that, you study. You deserve the money,” you denied, getting $15 and handing him the money. 

He shook his head, shoving the money back into your hand. You were about to protest, when he jumped up, off the couch. 

“What about, you give me the money and in return, I buy you dinner tomorrow,” he suggested. 

You thought about it. You got to give him the money he deserved and in return, you two got to go out for dinner, as friends. 

“Okay, sounds like a plan,” you told him, handing him the money. 

“Great, it’s a date!” he added. 

He walked over to the counter and put the money in a box. 

A date? Did he just really say that. You shook your head and concluded that it would be a friendly outing. 

You opened the book and continued reading. Douxie came back and sat down next to you again, reading with you. He noticed that you had also finished your lemonade and put the glasses away. He looked at the time, it was 12, it was break time. He walked over to the door and spun the sign from ‘open’ to ‘on break’. He walked back over to you and sat next to you. The two of you read through the book. 

Once again, your eyelids got heavier and heavier. You tried to not close your eyes, but you slowly drifted off. As you closed you eyes, you leaned onto Douxie’s shoulder and fell asleep. Once Douxie had done reading the page you were on, he wondered why you had stopped turning the page, so he turned to see you. He realised that you had fallen asleep on his shoulder. He grinned. He book marked the page and closed it. He put the book on the table gently, making sure not to wake you up and leaned back into the couch. After a few minutes, he also drifted off into a sleep, leaning his head on yours. 

It had been about half an hour, when you heard a loud banging. You woke up abruptly, looking towards the source of the noise. You realised a slight pressure on your head, you looked up to see Douxie sleeping peacefully. You smiled. You gently shook him by his shoulder, and he instantly opened his eyelids. He looked down at you, and you pointed towards the door. Some people were knocking on the door. He sprinted towards the door and unlocked it. 

“Sorry folks! Just drifted off a bit, please come on in,” Douxie apologised and opened the door wider to let the people in. 

“It’s okay lad. We understand if you need to focus some time with your girlfriend,” an old man said, pointing to you. 

“I...uh...um...” Douxie stammered, trying to look for an answer.

“Lad?” the old man waved his hand in front of Douxie. 

Douxie snapped back into reality. 

“Yes sir! Please come on in,” Douxie answered, gesturing him to come in.  

You walked up to Douxie, with the book in your hand. 

“Well, I have to go. I’ll see you later,” you said, and was about to leave when Douxie grabbed your wrist. 

“Wait! How am I going to let you know what time I’ll come pick you up? Do you have an email or a number...”, he asked. 

The two of you exchanged numbers. 

“Thanks. I’ll text you what time I’ll come,” Douxie said. “Oh and come dressed....nicely,” he added.

“Sure, you too. Don’t wear, you know...that,” you joked, gesturing to his outfit. 

“Cheeky!” he teased. 

You walked back to your bike and rode back home. When you opened the door, you saw Jim and Toby in the kitchen. You put the book on the table and walked into the kitchen. 

“Hey Jimbo! Hey Toby!” you greeted, as you leaned on the kitchen bench. 

“Hey y/n!” they both said. 

“It takes 8 hours! 8 hours!” Jim cried. 

“Yep!” Toby replied, going on explaining what happens in those 8 hours. 

“Wow! That’s a lot,” you commented. 

You walked out of the kitchen and took your book and went to your room. You could hear Toby freaking over Jim’s armour, and telling him that he can use that to kick Steve’s butt. You put the book on your desk and went back downstairs. 

“Really? I show you a glowing sword and a suit of armour that can only be magic, and that's how you respond?” Jim exclaimed. 

“Yeah! It’s butt kicking time! Wow, these pants are so elastic!” Toby replied, fascinated that his pants were so flexible. 

Then you heard a knock on the back door. You looked towards the door and saw Blinky waving. 

“What?! Don’t open the door!” Toby freaked out. 

Then, the door opened up by Blinky and then he shouted, 

“Master Jim!”

Toby started screaming, and hid behind the counter. Toby dialled animal control, and started speaking to them. 

“Monsters, at my best friend's house! I need you to send a squad! Make that the National Guard!” Toby panicked. 

Then Animal Control hung up on him. 

“Animal Control hung up on me!” Toby said, frustrated. 

While Toby freaked out, AAARRRGGHH was having a hard time getting through the small doorway. Poor guy. Before you could help him, he got through by himself. 

“You told your stout little friend about us?” Blinky asked. 

“Uh is that a problem?” Jim and you asked. 

“Master Jim, miss y/n, we trolls have gone to great lengths to keep our existence secret from your kind, lest there be panic,” Blinky explained. 

Toby on the other hand was panicking. 

“Like that,” Blinky said, gesturing to Toby. 

“It’s all right, Tobes,” you soothed, trying to keep him calm. 

“They’re like nine feet tall!” Toby said, looking at AAARRRGGHH. 

“This is my best friend, Toby D,” Jim explained to Blinky. 

“He has like 800 eyes. We’re going to die,” Toby wined. 

You rolled your eyes. 

“Hardly. Your friend is the Trollhunter. His noble obligation is protective and the other one is a sorceress” he explained to Toby. 

“What! Y/n is a sorceress! Like in magic?!” Toby remarked, “And by ‘protecting’...You mean like a super hero? Oh, can I be his sidekick, along side y/n? With a cool superhero name like Deathblade or Snipersnake? Just wait. Who would I be protecting?” 

“Us,” AAARRRGGHH said. 

“And mankind. From bad trolls... As well as goblins, gruesome, and the occasional rogue gnome,” Blinky told us. 

Then Toby started tapping Blinky with a large spoon. You giggled. 

“Do you mind?” Blinky scolded. 

Toby drops the spoon. 

“The mantle of the Trollhunter is a sacred responsibility, one which has never been passed to a human before. This is a momentous occasion,” Blinky continued. 

Then we all heard a car pull onto the driveway. 

“Oh no, it’s our mother! Upstairs, quick!” you cried, running upstairs, into the bathroom and locked the door. 

“Jim? Y/n? It’s me!” your mom announced.

“She’s not supposed to be home till midnight!” you whispered. 

Then it hit you. Not why your mom had come home, but the pain in your ankle. It started to come back. Curse you ankle! You tried to look like you weren’t in pain, and this time it actually worked! You got out of your own thoughts and back into reality. 

Blinky and AAARRRGGHH were explaining about the amulet and what had happened to the previous Trollhunter. Unfortunately, he was killed or had sacrificed his life, something like that. Then your mom started speaking to Jim. He had made a lame excuse that he had food poisoning and obviously mom was a doctor, so she had to treat her son. She was about to come in, when Jim some how shoved us in the shower. 

When your mom had left, you all came out of the bathroom and into the living room. AAARRRGGHH started knocking things over, since he was a big troll. 

“Your cave too small,” AAARRRGGHH complained. 

It technically wasn’t a cave, but if he thought it was a cave, then a cave it is. 

“So Master Jim, are you ready? We should begin training immediately, y/n yours too, since you need to develop your magic skills, Vendel will help with that” Blinky said. 

“Uh, it’s a school night for us,” Jim said, picking up books that had fallen over. 

“Yeah,” you agreed. 

“I assure you the relevance escapes me,” Blinky tried to convince us. 

“I’m 15 and y/n’s 18. We have to stay home and study, and stuff- do homework? We can’t be out y’know Trollhunting and sorceressing?” Jim explained to Blinky. 

“Because?” Blinky asked. 

“Well the whole getting killed by a vicious troll named Bular might be a deal breaker to Jim,” you said. 

“Deal breaker?” Blinky asked. 

“We don’t want to die!” Jim blurted. 

Who does? 

“Goodness gracious, who does!” Blinky exclaimed. 

Jim takes out the amulet. What is he going to do?

“Maybe you should take this back,” Jim said. 

“Jim?” you said. 

“The amulet called to you, Master Jim. It chose you. It is your-” Blinky said, when he was cut off by Jim. 

“Please don’t say destiny,” Jim begged. 

“-sacred obligation!” Blinky finished. 

“Or that,” Jim added, face palming. 

“You cannot refuse it, you cannot give it back. It is yours until you die,” Blinky said. 

“And I would like to get a little further past puberty before that happens!” Jim blurted. 

Ooo! You wanted to side with Jim, but Blinky was also right, the responsibility was his to take. You were about to say something, when the pain in your ankle got worse. You leaned on the window seal. Jim looked at you, worried. 

“Y/n are you alright? It’s your ankle, isn’t it?”Jim asked. 

“I’m fine, I’m fine. Really. It’s just a little pain, it’ll subside eventually,” you reassured your brother. 

Jim raised his eyebrow. 

“Know it’s fine,” you lied, walking towards the back door, where Blinky and AAARRRGGHH were. 

Toby was giving AAARRRGGHH some VHS’s for the road. When you heard Blinky start to say something to Jim. 

“Master Jim, if I may... destiny is a gift. Some go their entire lives living existence in quiet desperation, never learning the truth that what feels as though a burden pushing down upon on our shoulders is actually a sense of purpose that lifts us to greater heights! Never forget that fear is the precursor to valour. That to strive and triumph in the face of fear, is what it means to be a hero. Don’t think Master Jim... become! Would you at least consider?” Blinky said. 

Wow! That was some speech. Jim fist pumped all of Blinky’s hands, as an agreement. Blinky and AAARRRGGHH went out, noisily, climbing over the fence. 

“They’re pretty stealthy. How’s that? We bought you a night!” Toby said. 

“A night?” Jim scoffed. 

“Dude, you’re the one who’s always talking about ‘wanting adventure’, and ‘something more!’ Well, wish granted! So trolls are a thing, who knew?” Toby reminded. 

“Well, there you go Jimbo! You have an adventure. Happy?” you said, as you headed towards your room. 

You were just about to go up the stairs when, you heard a ‘beep’ from your phone. You looked who it was from, Douxie. 

It read: 

Hey, 

So, I can’t take you out for dinner tomorrow, something came up. But I am free tonight, are you? 

You replied: 

Yeah

He immediately relied: 

Great! I’m coming to pick you up in 20 minutes. Bye.

You replied: 

Okay, bye. 

You ran upstairs, when you winced halfway, your ankle. Maybe it was a bad idea to curse your own ankle. You ignored it, and continued to your room. You flung open your closet, looking for something good to wear. Then your eyes landed on a dress, it had a black to navy blue gradient, with purple flowers on the right side of the waist. With   navy blue flats. You looked in the mirror, your hair was a bit messy, so you quickly made it back into a low ponytail, with a few loose strands around your face. Perfect. 

You walked into your brothers room to find Jim doing his homework. He looked at you. 

“Where are you going?” Jim asked. 

“Out for dinner with a friend,” you replied, while texting your mom that you were going out for dinner. 

“Who is this friend?” Jim asked. 

“Douxie,” you replied, while you read through your mom’s text. 

She had agreed and told to be back by 10. 

“Douxie?! Why?” Jim asked, again. 

“Why do you keep asking me questions, like a police officer?” you asked. 

“Well...I...uh...” Jim stammered, “I don’t trust him, y’know”. 

“Why?” you asked. 

Douxie wasn’t a bad person. Jim was about to answer when the door bell rang. You were about to walk downstairs and open it, but Jim beat you to it and told you to stay. He went downstairs and opened the door to find Douxie, in a black dress shirt, with the sleeves rolled up and a navy blue bow tie, with black pants and shoes. 

“Hey Jim. I was here to pick up your sister. We’re going out for dinner,” Douxie said. 

“Hey Douxie. I’ll call her,” Jim replied. 

Douxie was about to say something when Jim shouted out, 

“Y/n! Douxie is here!”

Douxie winced, that was loud. Jim took a step back from the doorway and you came down. Douxie’s eyes widened as he saw you. You looked beautiful. As you walked towards Jim, he grinned. 

“Come back by 10. It’s school night,” he said, sternly, but you could hear the little amusement in his voice. 

“I will,” you replied. 

“Shall we?” Douxie asked, offering his arm to you. 

You took it and stepped out of the house. You turned to face Jim. 

“Have fun sis. Douxie, take care of my sister, she’s the only one I have. She is the only person I can talk to when no one else would understand, even when Toby wouldn’t understand,” Jim said. 

“Don’t worry Jim! She is under great care for the next 2 hours. I promise,” Douxie reassured him.

You waved to Jim as he closed the door. You went over to Douxie’s vespa. 

“I never knew you had a vespa” you said. 

“And I never knew your brother was very protective of you,” Douxie joked. 

“Well, that’s true. He’s never been so protective before,” you said. 

“Well, let’s leave your brother to the side for now, and you come and sit behind me,” Douxie said, patting the seat behind him. 

You sat behind him as he started the vehicle up. Once it was started, you jolted, as he rode very fast. You were about to fall, when just time, Douxie caught you with one of his hands. 

“No offence, but you need to ride more safely,” you commented, as you put your hands around his waist, not wanting to have a risk of falling. 

“I’ll get around to it. For now just enjoy the view,” he said. 

You looked out, it was beautiful. The moon was rising and the scenery before you was beautiful. You put your chin on Douxie’s shoulder, taking in the scenery. After 10 minutes, you saw that you were at a fancy type looking restaurant. You got off the vespa and walked into the restaurant with Douxie. 

“Wow! You chose a nice restaurant,” you said. 

He thanked you. 

You walked over to a two seater table and was about to sit when Douxie stopped you. He took out the chair for you and you sat. You were going to pull it in, when Douxie did for you. Then he took a seat in front of you. Douxie grabbed the menu and looked through the variety of foods, then his eyes lit up at something. 

“Do you want pasta?” Douxie asked, looking up from the menu, at you. 

“I don’t mind,” you said. 

“Which one do you want?” Douxie asked, turning the menu so you can see. 

You read through each one, there were a lot of options but not a lot of vegetarian options, since you didn’t like the idea of eating animals. (If you aren’t a vegetarian then you can imagine another type of pasta you like)

“Maybe the Macadamia pesto pappardelle? Wait you aren’t allergic to nuts, are you?” you asked. 

“Nope! It’s sounds good. Nice choice,” he said. 

Then a waiter came over to you and asked for what you would like to order. He took down what Douxie ordered and walked away. 

“I’m sorry, if you found my choice of food, well you know,” you said. 

“It’s ok. I’m guessing you are a vegetarian or a vegan?” Douxie asked. 

“Yeah, I just don’t like the idea of eating animals,” you explained. 

From that you and Douxie started talking, and finding out a lot about each other.

 After you had finished dinner, you both went to the front to pay. You took out your card to pay while Douxie took out his. 

“Are you guys splitting the bill, or is one of you going to pay?” the employee asked. 

“I’m going to pay,” Douxie and you replied at the same time. 

“Y/n, you bought the book, I buy you dinner. That was the deal,” Douxie said. 

You were going to protest, but Douxie quickly tapped his card on the machine. You sighed and put your card back into your purse. 

“Let’s go,” Douxie said, heading out of the restaurant while you followed behind. 

He started the vespa and you sat on. 

“Ride safely,” you said. 

“Will do,” Douxie replied, and rode off into the night. 

You looked at your phone, 9:55. You had to hurry. 

“Uh, Douxie, maybe you want to go a bit more faster,” you said to him, as you showed him the time. 

He nodded and sped up a little. You were half way across the bridge, when something jumped in front of you. Douxie halted to a stop. The thing that had jumped in front of you was huge, and had red and orange eyes, that were staring at us. It came towards us, scraping the floor with its sword, a troll.

“What is that?” Douxie whispered. 

“Two little flesh bags out and about at night, make tasty meals,” the troll said. 

“I do not want to be a tasty meal,” you whispered. 

“It has been so long since I had a human for dinner,” the troll said. 

It kept coming forward. You looked for an escape route, but didn’t find one. 

“Douxie, what do we do?” you whispered to him. 

“We have to distract him,” Douxie whispered back. 

“How?” you asked. 

“I didn’t think that far,” he replied. 

He tried to start up the engine, but it didn’t work, no fuel. 

“We have to run,” Douxie said. 

You nodded. You got off the vespa and looked at the creature. 

“I’m sorry lad! But you won’t be having dinner tonight!” Douxie shouted at him. 

He roared and ran towards us. Douxie grabbed your hand and said, 

“Do you trust me?”

You nodded. Then he ran to the edge of the bridge and jumped down, taking you down with him. He landed perfectly, but you on the other hand, landed on your already injured ankle, which had landed the wrong way. You let out a groan, hugging your ankle. Douxie turned to see what the matter was. He saw that you were holding your ankle in pain. 

“Y/n! Are you alright?” Douxie asked. 

You did a thumbs up to him, forcing a smile on your face. 

Then the troll jumped in front of you. In a flash, Douxie picked you up and ran. 

“Sorry y/n, the dinner didn’t go as planned,” Douxie said. 

“It’s okay,” you said, peeking over Douxie’s shoulder to see if the troll was following you. It wasn’t, it had disappeared. Then you looked ahead, seeing where you were going. You had reached your house. Douxie walked up the stairs and saw that the door was slightly open. He kicked it open, to see that Jim was sitting on the edge of the couch. He jumped up off the couch and ran towards you. 

“Y/n! What took you so long? I was worried sick!”Jim exclaimed. 

“I’m fine,” you said. 

“You are clearly not fine. You are literally in Douxie’s arms for a reason,” Jim said. 

“It’s her ankle,” Douxie said. 

“What did you do?” Jim asked, giving Douxie a glare. 

“Nothing! We ran into...trouble. Her ankle started hurting, so yeah,” Douxie explained. 

Jim nodded. Douxie set you down and waved goodbye. Jim glared at Douxie as he went out. 

“Jim, it’s not his fault,” you said. 

“It is! I never should have trusted him. He said that you would be under great care for the 2 hours that you would be with him. But no you weren’t, he broke his promise,” Jim exclaimed. 

“Well the only reason I did get hurt cause a random troll jumped in front of us while we were coming back. And the only evil troll around is...” you explained. 

“Bular!” Jim finished. 

“So it’s not Douxie’s fault,” you said. 

“It is his fault. Now lets go to bed,” Jim said, helping you to your room. 

You sighed. How were you going to make him believe that it wasn’t Douxie’s fault?

You changed into your PJ’s and went to sleep, hoping that tomorrow would be a better day. 

You woke up the next morning a bit late and quickly got changed. You headed downstairs to find Jim waiting for you. 

“Sorry I overslept,” you said, as you headed out. 

It was a quiet ride to school, Jim and Toby were riding ahead of you, chatting away. While you silently rode your way to school. 

As you put your bike away, your friends came over to you. 

“We got the news! If you don’t spill yourself then we will annoy the entire day,” Izzy and Rachael said. 

“What news? I have no idea what you guys are talking about,” you said, walking over to your locker. 

You actually had no idea what they were talking about. 

“Don’t try to act innocent,” Rachael teased. 

“I’m not! I have no idea what news your talking about,” you said. 

“The news where you and Douxie...” Izzy hinted. 

“Oh that! How did you guys find out?” you asked, placing books into your bag. 

“Your waiter!” they exclaimed. 

What? Then it hit you. The waiter was one of your classmates! You were so caught up talking with Douxie, you hadn’t realised. 

“It was just a friendly dinner, that’s all. Plus it only happened because I paid for a book at his bookstore so he took for me for dinner,” you explained, closing your locker and started walking towards class.

 “Hey y/n!” someone said. 

You spun around to see Douxie running towards you. 

“Well, there comes your boyfriend,” Izzy giggled, making you blush.

“He is not my boyfriend!” you hissed. 

“Whatever,” Izzy teased. 

“Hey Douxie!” you greeted him. 

“So from yesterday, is your ankle alright?” Douxie asked. 

“Yeah. I’m sorry that my brother was so rude yesterday. He was mad at you, for not keeping your promise,” you added. 

“It’s okay. I’m to blame for though, I promised Jim you would be in great care, and I broke that promise,” Douxie admitted, looking down to the ground, feeling ashamed. 

“It’s okay. It’s not your fault, plus I’m fine now,” you reassured him. 

He shook his head. Then, you saw some tears drop onto the ground. You put your hand on his shoulder. 

“Douxie, I’m fine,” you said, making him look up, “See?”

You jumped up and down a couple of times to prove your point. After you stopped jumping, you tried to not wince from the slight pain. 

“I’m fine,” you repeated, putting your hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him. 

Suddenly, he took your hands in his and looked you in your eyes. 

“Well can you come to my concert tonight?” Douxie asked. 

“What time?” you asked. 

“8:30, at the square” he replied. 

“I’ll be there,” you said. 

“Great!” Douxie grinned and kissed your cheek, making you blush.

He then waved bye. You were shocked. He had just kissed you. Izzy and Rachael walked in front of you and got your attention. 

“He just asked you out!” Rachael squealed in excitement. 

“Douxie Casperan, the most popular and hottest guy in Arcadia Oaks Academy just kissed you and asked you out y/n!” Izzy exclaimed, shaking your shoulder. 

“Um...yeah, but he didn’t ask me out, just asked me to come to his concert,” you whispered, looking around. 

There was a crowd, starring in awe. They must’ve seen everything. 

“Let’s just go to class,” you said, as you noticed people starting to come up to you and ask questions. 

The day went like a blur. Before you knew it, it was already 3 o’clock. 

You walking over to your bike when a bunch of people surrounded you. 

“Is it true that Douxie kissed you?” a girl asked. 

“Are you two a couple?” another girl asked. 

“Are you two dating?” a guy asked. 

You had to get out of there, when someone pulled you out of the crowd.You looked at you saviour, it was none other then Douxie. 

“You alright?” Douxie asked. 

“Yeah, but my metal state, not so much,” you replied. 

“People asking you too many questions?” Douxie asked, giving you a sympathetic smile. 

You nodded. The crowd started surrounding the two of you know and started to shoot questions at both you. 

“Are you guys dating?” a girl asked. 

“When did you guys get together?” another asked. 

You were starting to get tired of these questions. You looked at Douxie, hoping he would have a plan to get out of this problem. He just smiled, took your hand and ran through the crowd, towards the bikes. You both grabbed yours and started riding away. When the coast was clear, you stopped to catch your breath.

“I don’t know how you do it, managing such a big crowd at school,” you said. 

“I just do, love” Douxie said. 

“Thank you Douxie, for saving me from all those people,” you said. 

“No problem. You still coming to my concert, right?” Douxie asked. 

You nodded. Then in the corner of your eye, you saw that Jim and Toby were coming towards you. 

“Doux, I think you have to go. My brother is coming towards us, and I don’t think he’s in the mood to see you right now,” you warned Douxie, pointing towards your brother and his best friend. 

“I agree. See you tonight,” he said, giving you a salute and riding off the opposite direction. 

“Hey Jimbo! Hey Toby” you said, waving both of them.

“Hey y/n!” they both said. 

“How was your day?” Jim asked. 

“Overwhelming and tiring,” you answered, starting to ride along side him. 

Jim raised one eyebrow, not understanding. 

“Dude, that was amazing! You were amazing! I’m amazed at how you were!” Toby exclaimed. 

“I can’t believe that just happened,” Jim commented. 

“What happened?” you asked. 

“I tried out for Romeo and Juliet, as Romeo, in my armour,” Jim explained. 

“And did you see how that chikita was looking at you? Your amour totally did you a favour!” Toby added. 

“Blinky said it reacts to your emotional state. The armour turns on when you’re in distress!” you remembered. 

“But I wasn’t in distress back at school,” Jim claimed. 

Then you turned the corner, to find the troll from last night again, Bular. He roars. 

“But I am now!” Jim panicked,.

“Trollhunter, Merlins creation, Gunmars bane!” Bular said.

“I think he’s talking to you...” both you and Toby said. 

Bular roars again and tries to leave the shadows, when his hand gets hurt when he puts it in the sun. 

“Look! He’s afraid of the sun!” Jim noticed. 

You looked over at the sunset. 

“Not for long!” Toby exclaimed. 

“The amulet! Surrender it, and I will give you a speedy death!” Bular threatens Jim. 

“Doesn’t know how to negotiate this guy!” you said. 

Bular lunges at the three of you, but you cycle away. The three of you ride until you see a row of cars and hide behind a truck. 

“Armour up, armour up. Armour up! Please! Now! FASTER!” Toby asked. 

“For Merlin’s sake, hurry up and armour up Jim!” you pleaded. 

“For the glory of Merlin, daylight is mine to command!” Jim chanted the incantation, but nothing happened. “It’s not working! For the glory of Merlin, daylight is mine to command. Seriously! It’s mine to command! I’m commanding here!” 

Then Bular picks up the truck, revealing the three of us. 

“Centuries of Trollhunters, and I will have killed two in almost as many days!” Bular chuckled. 

“HE’S GOOD AT MATH!” Toby yelled. 

“GO! GO! GO!” you said, hurrying onto your bike. 

Bular throws the truck at us. 

“Flying truck!” Jim warned. 

You dodged it and peddled faster. 

“Head down Delancey!” Jim said, changing courses. 

Then you narrowly avoided another flying vehicle. 

“Behind Stuart Electronics!” you said, noticing the alleyway. 

“You guys know I can’t fit there!” Toby whined. 

“You can fit!” Jim argued. 

“I CAN’T!” Toby argued back. 

“You’ve been on a diet, remember?!” you reminded Toby. 

You and Jim easily slide down the alley, while Toby get’s stuck. 

“I can’t fit! I can’t fit! I can fit! I can fit, I can fit! I’m fitting! Yay, diet!” Toby said, eventually getting through the alley. 

You ride towards the neighbourhood, wanting to get away from Bular. 

“Look at me. Look at me! We’re not dead, right?” Toby asked Jim. 

Then from the nearby trees, you saw Blinky and AAARRRGGHH. 

“Aha! Master Jim! Miss y/n!” Blinky exclaimed. 

“Bular is trying to kill us! He chased us all over town!” Jim explained. 

“And you’re still alive! I knew you had potential, Master Jim!” Blinky added. 

“You have a sweet voice, but you bring death with you!” Toby shouted at Blinky.  

“You guys can fight him right?” you asked, hoping they would say yes. 

Blinky and AAARRRGGHH chuckled. 

“I could not hope to posses the skill to defeat Bular!” Blinky told the three of you. 

Jim points to AAARRRGGHH and asks, 

“What about him? He’s big!”

True. AAARRRGGHH was big and could fight off Bular. 

“Pacifist,” AAARRRGGHH said bluntly. 

“Seriously?” Jim said. 

“Man, what a waste of a hulking brute,” you and Toby said. 

“Thank you,” AAARRRGGHH grinned, taking it as a compliment. 

“This is why there is a Trollhunter, Master Jim. AAARRRGGHH renounced the violent path ages ago,” Blinky explained. 

Then, you heard Bular snarling behind all of you. 

“Follow me! We’ll be safe in Heartstone Trollmarket!” Blinky said. 

You started peddling behind Blinky, when Bular knocked over a power line, disrupting Toby. AAARRRGGHH catches Toby and places him on his back. From this, Bular is slowed down, since his leg is caught on Toby’s bike. 

“Master Jim! Dawn your armour!” Blinky commanded.

“I’ve been trying! The amulet won’t listen to me!” Jim said. 

“Did you speak the incantation?” Blinky asked. 

“I’ve been incanting the crap out of it and it’s not working!” Jim exclaimed. 

“Just focus and incant dude!” you shout. 

You reach the canals and slide down, while Jim gets his amulet out. You can see Jim was incanting the incantation and what looked like the third try, the amulet activates and equips Jim with his armour, just a Bular reaches him. Bular roars at Jim. But Jim backs out. He tries to run, but his blocked by Bular. 

“Use you sword Master Jim!” Blinky told Jim. 

“I’ll drink your blood out of a goblet, made of your skull!” Bular threatens. 

“Cut him like a meatloaf, Jim!” Toby shouts. 

While Jim is trying to fight with Bular, AAARRRGGHH is drawing an arch on a wall under the bridge with something called a ‘horngazel’ and opens a portal. 

“Wow!” you said. 

“Master Jim! Master Jim, come on!” Blinky said. 

“I’m a little busy here!” Jim says. 

“You are not fit to wield the amulet! I’ll tear the armour off you, along with your skin!”Bular threatens. 

Jim dodges one of Bulars swords. He tries to hit Bular with his sword but it gets stuck in his arm instead. 

“C’mon Jimbo!” you exclaimed. 

Jim runs towards you but the doorway closes. Blinky quickly reopens the doorway and pulls Jim in. 

“He nearly- we nearly- he almost,” Jim pants, trying to say something. 

“What? Speak Master Jim,” Blinky asks. 

“HE ALMOST KILLED US!!” Jim yelled. 

“Almost! A very important word! A life of almost is a life of never,” Blinky said. 

“Why’d the armour suddenly shut off?” Jim asked, frustrated. 

You place your hand on your brothers shoulder, trying to calm him down. 

“Master Jim, you are the first human to posses an amulet crafted fro trolls. It’s to be expected it’s behaviour will be unexpected,” Blinky explains. 

Then, you start to walk, when a stair case of crystals light up. 

“This way masters, this way,” Blinky said. 

As you walk down the stair case, you looked around the place. It was beautiful, who knew there was a whole other world right underneath our feet! When we get to the bottom, you saw Heartstone Trollmarket. 

“Woah,” you breathed, walking next to Jim. 

“This is the world you are bound to protect! This is Heartstone Trollmarket!” Blinky exclaimed.

[neutron-stars-collision]

The Art of Inversion

Neil x Reader 

Chapter 5 - A Question of Trust 

Previous Chapters: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4 

Summary: First day in New York brings new challenges and fears. But one thing is certain, your relationship with Neil is changing.

Warnings: Minor cursing.

Author’s Notes: So this is sort of an unplanned early update because I loved what I wrote and had to share it with you. Hope you enjoy this quieter chapter before things kick off very soon...

Also this has been severely inspired by ‘A Question of Lust’ by Depeche Mode so I’ll post the link in another post!

Despite being severely jet-lagged, the next two days, you did not get much rest. You and Neil were thoroughly briefed by the TP on Saturday, and the plan seemed simple: arrive in New York; check into the hotel; research the target (a weapons dealer named Steiner); set up a meeting with Mr. Steiner; rehearse the cover; get intel; leave New York unscathed but with valuable information.

You have received a Glock (just in case), a burner phone with emergency contacts, and a dossier filled with the information about your cover. As far as you have managed to learn so far, you and Neil were supposed to pose as ‘partners in crime’ hoping to get your hands on the mysterious nuclear material. It did seem easy. But that did not help the stress you felt the closer you got to the departure.

Monday morning, you stepped onto the Amtrak train to New York Penn Station and followed Neil to the First-Class compartment. You had two seats with a large table and a window in a relatively quiet carriage. This time, sadly, you have not taken your notes with you and have been desperately looking for a distraction. Neither of you has mentioned the moment on the terrace, and you felt like it was a cause of mild tension. But instead of addressing it in any way, you decided to stare out of the window. After going through the same onboard magazine for the third time, you heard Neil clear his voice deliberately. You looked at him with a raised eyebrow:

“I’m bored” he shrugged and grinned at your eye roll “Want to talk?”

You searched his face for any signs of wicked intents. But he seemed genuinely interested.

“As long as you won’t make me drink again and embarrass myself” you turned towards him with a pointed look.

“I promise” he smiled and leaned onto the table separating your seats 

“However I must correct you and say that you haven’t embarrassed yourself on the plane” when you glared at him with disbelief, he added “At all”

“If you say so”

His piercing blue eyes were fixed on you with fondness that made you want to turn away. But you held his gaze until he grinned and asked:

“Excited to go on your first mission?”

“If by excited you mean scared then yeah” he laughed, and you beamed back “Though I suppose if my first outing is with you I should consider myself lucky”

“Oh you’re certainly lucky in that regard” he winked, grinning smugly “I’ll keep you entertained”

The smirk and look in his eyes were far from innocent and you felt your face heat up at the sight. But you did not want to let him win easily.

“I’ve no doubts about that” you stared back defiantly.

Your staring contest finished when he smiled and reached out for your hands that were folded on the table. He squeezed them.

“We’ll manage just fine together, I’m sure. It’s a simple mission” he reassured you softly.

“Can’t say I’m convinced” you looked back sceptically and frowned “I’m a bit surprised you’re willing to go into the field with a rookie”

“TP said it has to be us” he shrugged and leaned back into his seat.

Your hands felt cold without his touch.

“You do trust him enough to do anything he says?” you asked with curiosity.

All that you have learned during the meeting with the Protagonist was still fresh on your mind. You struggled to understand how on earth you could be important to the story. But it was made quite clear that you would have to wait for any answers.

“Yes” Neil’s tone was quite serious “I’ve learnt from past mistakes that he really does know how things will go”

You haven’t missed the distant look of sadness in his eyes. You made a mental note to one day learn the story. He must have noticed your scrutiny as he schooled his features and added:

“And it’s better to listen to him. No matter how difficult it might be” he looked at you with a faint smile.

You did wonder if he thought about the moment on the terrace in that instant. But before you could dare ask, he closed the subject with a definite statement:

“I know for a fact that you’ll be much better than a random rookie” he grinned, and despite feeling conflicted, you smiled back.

Then he quickly changed the topic to New York itself, and you rather enjoyed talking to him about your travels and experiences with other cities. While you were still stressed, when you arrived at Penn Station, you were much less tense. The conversation has distracted you enough to forget about the worries. You wondered if that was why Neil wanted to talk in the first place.

*** You took a taxi to the hotel, which was situated far off from the main city centre. It was a comfortable and stylish four-star establishment with a booking system that did not mind fake identities. Your rooms were on the sixth floor and were joined by a set of locked doors, as you were informed by the receptionist (with a wink). You were not sure what to do with this information but, as usual, Neil’s charm saved you.

“Thank you, miss” he smiled at the clerk and snatched your keys from the counter “It’s good to know” he smirked and walked away.

You followed him to the lift, where you could finally ask:

“What was that about?”

“I suppose she thought that we’re not here for…” he took a moment to think about the right word “Strictly business reasons” he enunciated every syllable “But rather for fun while keeping up the appearances”

Your eyes widened at the implication.

“Right” you didn’t dare think why she got that impression.

Neil chuckled as he led you to the rooms, pausing to hand you the key. Only once you saw him open the door to his room you sobered up:

“Wait, what do we do now?”

“Come to my room once you’re ready. I won’t lock the door” he winked and disappeared into his room.

You stared at the closing door before shaking your head and entering your own room.

He can be impossible sometimes, you thought with fondness and disbelief.

The room was quite big, with a queen-sized bed, a sofa with a coffee table, and a large bathroom. The view came out onto the maze of skyscrapers that you associated with New York. The barely visible sky was grey and threatening with rain. You decided to quickly shower, change into more comfortable clothes, and fix your make-up. All that took twenty minutes and you were quite proud of yourself. You opened the door leading to Neil’s room and hesitated at the second set. Trying the handle you found it unlocked and tentatively came in.

“Finally” he gave out a theatrical sigh from his place on the sofa.

He changed into yet another shirt and dress trousers. You did sometimes wonder how many sets of those he had.

The next thing you noticed was that while you were getting ready Neil has ordered quite a big selection of food from the room service. It has taken the whole space on the coffee table, along with water and teapot.

“Wow” you grinned at the sight, feeling your stomach rumble.

“Thought we might need it” he shrugged and motioned for you to join him on the sofa.

“I know I did” you quickly dove for the toasties before he could snatch them.

He laughed at your enthusiasm for food, but you could not care less at the moment. You felt his fond gaze for a little longer before he too started the feast. After you ate, Neil cleared the table and spread out the dossier along with any files you received.

“So…” you both looked down at the mess of papers and photos “Today we need to get to that bar” you squinted at the name “Benny’s and set up a meeting with Steiner?” you looked up at Neil for clarification.

“Yeah, that’s it” he nodded and picked up one of the documents “We’re a pair of weapon dealers who want to know a bit more about that mysterious piece of plutonium” he explained.

“That’s a manageable cover” you mused while trying to memorise your new identity.

“Well, I was hoping they’d make us fake married or something” Neil retorted innocently, and you glared at him sharply.

“What? Wouldn’t you want to be married to me?” the wounded look on his face made you laugh.

“Sounds horrible” you swatted his arm playfully and reached for another document.

But before you got that far, he grabbed your hand and squeezed it. You met his soft gaze and smiled back, admiring the sparks in his blue eyes. After a beat, he let go of your hand.

“I think we’d be a perfect match” he sent you one last smug smile and got up “We should get going if we want to catch Raul and establish contact” he added.

A perfect match? You observed as Neil put on the tie and suit jacket and considered his words with curiosity. You did like him, there was no denying that. And you felt like he enjoyed your company too. But before you could dwell on it too long, you felt his intense gaze. Caught in the act of staring, you felt yourself blush. But he only grinned and offered you a hand to get up from the sofa.

“C’mon, we need to get going” he ushered you towards your room.

Right, first mission. You took a deep breath and started to get ready. The time has come.

*** The first part of the plan went without any major fuck-ups. You and Neil met Raul at the bar, and he gave you all the information you could need about Steiner. It was clear that you both had to learn your roles perfectly as he tended to be suspicious. After that Neil went away to set up the meeting with the weapons dealer for tomorrow’s evening. All you could do was entertain Raul with random stories from your training which proved rather easy.

Once Neil came back, you both decided to go back to the hotel to get much-needed rest and prepare. The fact that so far everything seemed to go along the plan, made you feel a tiny bit more confident. But nerves were still there, and you could barely contain them when you made it back to the hotel. You lied to Neil that you were tired and shut the door before you could even look at him again.

But after showering, changing into sleeping clothes, and having a cup of herbal tea, nothing got better. You tried lying down in the darkened room only to quickly get up with a pain in your chest and shallow breath. After sitting in the dark and trying to calm down your racing thoughts for close to an hour, you gave up. You put on a cardigan and looked at the door leading to Neil’s room. It was past 1 AM but you had the feeling he was not sleeping. You knew there was no way you were able to rest now. Oh, why the hell…

You tried the handle of the connecting doors and found it unlocked. Of course. 

Neil’s room was covered in darkness, save for a bedside table lamp casting a warm glow. You were struck by how neat everything looked, with his suitcase in one corner and clothes folded on the chair. Only the bed was in disarray with papers thrown on it and Neil himself sat in the middle. He glanced up as you came in, surprised:

“Shouldn’t you be sleeping?”

“I tried but…” you shrugged helplessly “Just couldn’t get my brain to shut up”

The worry in his gaze made you freeze. He was sat on the bed with ruffled hair and a wrinkled shirt. He was probably very tired. And you were weak and overreacting again. Suddenly you realised what a mistake it was to come here:

“Sorry, I shouldn’t… I’ll go now” you blurted and started to turn away.

You heard the rush of papers falling onto the floor and then Neil’s voice.

“No, stay” he sounded concerned.

Slowly you turned around to face him again, trying to put on a brave face. It was pointless though because he saw right through you. He got up from the bed, scattering all the documents onto the floor. Seeing you hesitate, he crossed the distance and took your hand in his, guiding you towards the bed. That only increased your panic.

“What are you doing?” you tried not to step on all the papers “Don’t we need those?”

He looked down at the pile with a surprised look, almost as though he forgot about them. Then he quickly made up his mind and looked up at you with determination.

“We do. But more so I need you to calm down so get in” he gestured towards the bed.

Your mind was blank. There was so much that could go wrong. But he noticed your uncertainty and unceremoniously pushed you onto the bed. You stared in shock before recovering enough to retort:

“You know I’m pretty sure there are better ways to make a lady sleep with you” You heard him laugh as he collected the pages.

“Certainly” finally he got up and dumped the pile onto the coffee table “But it worked” he shrugged.

Neil watched as you clumsily shifted to sit up with your back against the headboard and then joined you. After a few minutes of awkward silence, you asked:

“Sure you don’t want me to leave so you can go back to work?”

You felt extremely self-conscious in your sleeping clothes, with uncombed hair and tear-streaked cheeks. Neil’s intense gaze did not help it either but before you could even think about getting up, he replied:

“Perfectly sure” he smiled at you softly “Now tell me what’s wrong”

You sighed and let yourself relax slightly, leaning on the pillows. Staring straight ahead at the wall, you explained:

“I felt very anxious and hoped that maybe the shower and tea will help. Nothing changed so I tried to go to sleep but… my chest started aching and I couldn’t breathe” you finished while feeling the tears well up at the recollection.

You felt the bed shift as Neil moved closer and took one of your hands. You watched with curiosity as he traced the lines of your veins to the pulse point on the wrist and held his pointer finger there, checking your heart rate. You felt a nervous flutter at the gentle way he cradled your hand. You were pretty positive he will detect a pulse of 100bmp. After thirty seconds of intense focus, Neil released his hold on your hand and smiled:

“Apart from a very fast heart rate, you’ll be fine” he winked, and you looked down flustered.

But you were not allowed to get lost in shame for too long as he scooted even closer, leaving no space between you, and gingerly placed his arm around your shoulders.

“Is this okay?” he asked, looking at you with genuine concern.

Your breath hitched at the closeness of him, but you quickly suppressed the feeling and nodded. After a few more tense breaths, you relaxed into the embrace, feeling him trace circles on your shoulder.

“What made you so scared?” his voice broke the comfortable silence.

“Think it’s just the idea of the first mission” you admitted “And ever since you and TP told me about the plan and the algorithm, I felt this tension rise and I guess it just hit the fan” sighing helplessly, you let your head rest on his shoulder.

“It’s okay, I probably would have been more concerned if you took all this without questions”

“I guess I reacted that way because I never expected to be important… Definitely not in something of that scale” once you started talking the honesty did not seem to stop “I’ve spent so much time looking for my place in the world and now when I think I’ve found it, I’m not sure I’m good enough” 

After your admission, you felt Neil’s embrace tighten. You propped your head on his shoulder, so it was resting in the crook of his neck again, enjoying the warmth and safety.

“You are more than good enough” when he finally spoke you were almost surprised “And I’m not only saying that because I believe in what TP says”

You looked up at Neil and met his earnest gaze.

“Since the day we met and I showed you how inversion works, I knew that you will be amazing at it” he smiled at you softly.

“Even though I nearly passed out in the training zone?”

“Yeah” he grinned at the memory fondly “I just had the feeling that you’re supposed to work with us, with me”

You would swear that his eyes briefly glanced at your lips. But as quickly as the thought entered your mind, he reached out to brush away a stray hair from your forehead and you lost the ability to think entirely. He tucked the strand with care and brushed your jawline with his thumb.

“TP was right, you know” he was looking at you with a tenderness that made your heart ache.

“About?”

“Me taking care of you” he smiled and admired your dazed expression. You could only stare, too overwhelmed with feelings to say anything. And you probably would have kept on staring if it was not for the extreme tiredness that begun to catch up. Before you could say anything, a wide yawn made you cover your face with your hands. The spell was broken.

“Think you’re tiny bit tired” Neil grinned at your sheepish expression.

“No shit” you mumbled and moved to get up, but he kept his grip steady.

“You can stay here” he answered your surprised glance.

You quickly considered the options, admitting that it was tempting. You felt safe with Neil and his presence definitely made you calmer. But it did feel like crossing some lines.

He was still looking at you with that hopeful eyes and that sealed the deal.

“Thanks… for everything” you smiled at him, hoping to convey even a quarter of what you felt through it.

“Always” he grinned back.

You both quietly shifted so that you were lying down with a small gap between you, both staring at the ceiling. After a few quiet moments, he turned off the bedside lamp and turned to face you.

“Good night” you heard him whisper and turned to look at him too.

“Sweet dreams, Neil” you replied while trying to make out his features in the darkness of the room.

“Oh I know they will be sweet” you could picture the sly grin.

And with that, he turned onto the other side. No longer than five minutes later you heard his breath level off and make way for quiet snores. You could not help but smile at the adorable sound. Maybe this night wasn’t so bad in the end.

*** You have not slept so soundly in days. When you woke up, the first thought that came to your mind was that you were being cuddled. An arm was thrown over your waist and you felt warm breath near your ear. Then as the morning fog slowly ascended, you remembered it all clearly. Neil. As though he was reading your mind, a second later you felt him stir and mumble:

“Morning sunshine” he sounded cheery.

Before you could react you felt him brush his lips over your temple. You froze, feeling the flutters in your stomach return with tripled force. Taking a deep breath to calm down you slowly squeezed the hand that was draped over your waist and sat up.

“Hi” you glanced at him only to be astounded by how unkempt and yet adorable he looked.

His hair was completely ruffled, with strands sticking out in every direction. And the shirt and trousers were crumpled to the point of needing starch treatment to ever be wearable again. And yet he still looked good. Especially with that boyish smile and sparkling eyes. One could suppose that you were not immune to him. At all.

“Do you always sleep in that?” you gestured towards his outfit, trying to divert your thoughts.

“No, but I didn’t want to overwhelm you last night” it was that shit-eating grin again “Did you sleep well?” he sat up now too but kept his distance.

“Very well” you admitted with a blush “But it’s late and we should probably prepare” you used the most sensible excuse to get up.

Before you could do that, Neil reached out and took your hand in his, intertwining your fingers.

“Just don’t you dare feel sorry for this” you knew he was serious from the look in his eyes.

“I’ll try” you smiled slightly and used this chance to leave his room in haste.

While you did indeed try not to feel embarrassed about what happened, it was difficult. You were not used to people seeing you as vulnerable as you were last night. But at the same time, he did not seem to mind and that took you by surprise. His kindness and thoughtfulness were certainly not helping in trying to be more objective about him.

You managed to get changed and prepare yourself for the day relatively fast, considering what a mess your thoughts were. Once you were done you grabbed the needed documents from the coffee table and made beeline for Neil’s room without thinking too much. As usual, the door was unlocked.

The moment you stepped into his room you knew you have fucked up. He was there, just in front of where you entered, in a new pair of trousers and no shirt. Your eyes widened when you registered that last detail.

“Shit, sorry! I shouldn’t just come in…”

“No worries, darling” Neil drawled out the nickname expressively.

He looked at you with a grin, clearly enjoying it more than you were. It seemed as though he slowed down the process of putting on a new shirt just to tease you. It worked. You stared at his rather fit body and felt your cheeks grow warmer. He caught your wandering gaze with a wink and held it with an expression that was far from innocent. The knowing smirk told you that he was aware of what he was doing. But still, you held your ground, letting yourself openly look at his toned arms and chest. If he didn’t mind then there was no harm in looking, right?

Finally, he finished the process of buttoning up the shirt, while still keeping his gaze fixed on you. He assessed your expression with one last look and grinned:

“Let’s get to work, sunshine”

You wanted to punch him in that perfect jaw.

[coldmorte]

So i have some unpopular opinions; i feel like Dutch doesnt sleep around as much as people would like to think. He probably likes the fact that people think that of him, even if its not his style. Also...i dont think Dutch and Molly have any chemistry.

Howdy! (ASK 1 OF 2)

I apologize it took me some time to actually reply to this, especially because it is such a great ask! I definitely agree with both points made here, but I was debating how I wanted to write a response (and how far to take it).

Anyway, I'm open to hearing unpopular opinions! I know I have plenty of my own, so I'm not really one to judge others (as long as there is mutual respect) ☺️

My response is fairly long, and it deals with some sensitive topics. I decided to add a cut to this first ask, just to be safe! 💜💜💜

(Warning: SPOILERS below)

In regard to Dutch sleeping around, there are a few reasons why I don’t think he does it as much as it is often implied/assumed (I’m primarily limiting this to the timeframe of RDR2, Ch. 1-6).

First of all, Molly explicitly says Dutch doesn’t show her a lot of physical attention, even though he is her SO. If he’s not sleeping with her much, I doubt that he is going around with any other women at this time. He seldom leaves camp, outside of doing missions, so it is unlikely that he would meet up with anybody not in the gang. It just doesn’t seem plausible to me, as it would put him in a vulnerable position.

Dutch complains multiple times - including to Molly - that he is under stress and concerned about the Pinkertons closing in on them. Why would he go around outside the camp sleeping with random women? It would put him at the risk of being seen or reported on, and I believe he is smarter than to take on the unnecessary danger. Generally, he doesn’t spend much time in civilized areas, unless he needs to.

Not to mention, stress can be a real inhibitor of sex drive. For the entirety of the game, Dutch exhibits various degrees of anxiety and depression. I believe the gang and his personal safety were of much more concern to him, thus diminishing his interest in sex.

Speaking of the gang, I don’t personally see Dutch as sleeping around with the women in it that much. He did have a relationship with Susan in the past. Whether anything was still going on between them or not is uncertain, but if there was something, it probably was not serious or very frequent. In RDR1, he also suggests that he slept with Abigail, but if this happened, I doubt it would have occurred during the events of RDR2. They hardly ever interacted, and when Abigail did talk about Dutch, it was almost always in a negative manner. Dutch also showed some interest in Mary-Beth. However, I don’t think it went beyond flirting. She didn’t show much interest in him, and I think word would have gotten around if he tried to force anything, especially to Arthur (I am not going to discuss the events of RDR1 in any more detail here because that is a whole different conversation). But other than them, who else in the gang? There were not enough interactions with other women to suggest there was anything between them and Dutch.

Also, sex was considerably more risky in 1899 than it is today, and the means of contraception were not as dependable. For instance, The Pill didn’t go onto the market for another 60 years, and it was more difficult to get ahold of other birth control methods. This was partly because there were not as many technological advancements in this field and because there were a few laws that prevented reliable access to contraceptives (ex: The Comstock Laws). Condoms were arguably one of the easier birth control methods to find, but they still were not as widely available then as they are today (the quality was arguably not as good either). As I understand it, some searching was generally required to get ahold of condoms (usually in more civilized areas, which Dutch tried to avoid).

Dutch is a very contradictory character. My point in bringing up birth control is because although on some level I think Dutch probably would have liked to have actual children, I do not think he was serious enough about it to take any risks that might have led to an unwanted pregnancy during the timeframe of RDR2. As I mentioned, he was under a lot of stress with the gang. A biological child on top of that most likely would have overwhelmed him, and it would have required a long-term commitment to not only the child, but to the mother as well. I believe Dutch was smart enough to recognize this danger, and since birth control methods were not as widely available or reliable, he would not have wanted to sleep around too much (unwanted pregnancies were relatively common during this era).

I’ve written in the past that I believe Dutch had a certain degree of self-consciousness underneath his pride, so I do agree that he probably would have liked people finding him attractive or seductive. These traits emanate a sense of power and confidence, which would have provided a more favorable presentation of himself to others. These perceptions certainly would have helped to conceal his own self-doubts and insecurities, so he would have welcomed them, rather than try to refute them.

Now, in regard to the chemistry between Dutch and Molly, I agree. I think it was a pretty bad relationship all around. I don’t see its flaws as being entirely one-sided.

I will get into this a little more on the next ask, but I will discuss a few things here first.

Starting with Dutch, I will admit that he could have treated Molly a lot better. Even if he wasn’t happy with her or the status of their relationship, he should have seriously talked to her more. She deserved that, at the very minimum. There were a few instances where she tried to get his attention, and he just brushed her off. Again, like I said, even if he wasn’t very keen on the relationship anymore, he should have at least been honest about that. Then, as I already discussed, he had some mildly flirtatious conversations with Mary-Beth. I certainly do not think this helped matters. It was rude the way he insulted Molly for bringing up his interactions with Mary-Beth and how he pretended he had no idea what Molly was talking about.

Onto Molly, I don’t think she was perfect either. I know Dutch didn’t talk with her nearly as much as he should have, but she didn’t seem to show a whole lot of support for him in return. Dutch expressed that he was feeling stressed and not up to much physical activity, to which she got quite upset. She seemed to turn some arguments towards herself and her needs, with little regard for Dutch’s wellbeing. I do think she was selfish for demanding him to give her something he did not want to give/could not provide. Also, she refused to help the gang find leads or assist with chores, even when told to do so by others (ex: Dutch and Arthur). She tended to act above everybody else, claiming she wasn’t a servant to the needs of the gang as a whole. Though I can respect her sense of independence in that regard, it did show a sense of entitlement. Even Dutch donated to the gang funds, and as the leader, he was the one responsible for overseeing the vast majority of missions they engaged in. Molly was the only person who really did not contribute much. (Side note: Even UNCLE - the laziest bastard in the West - helped with leads and contributions!!)

I will get into this more in the following ask, but although I know she loved Dutch to an extent, I think part of her fascination with him was rooted in infatuation. Little is known about her background, but it is canon that she came from a wealthy and influential family in Ireland. I think part of the reason why she liked Dutch so much was because of the powerful position he held. She frequently lashed out at people who she perceived as challenging the reality of her “love” for him, such as Abigail and Karen. In one instance, Molly even went so far as to slap Karen across the face because she thought Karen was talking negatively about her. There was no evidence to prove or disprove Molly’s beliefs, but it did show that she was pretty sensitive about criticism (whether it was perceived or real) in regard to her relationship with Dutch.

Now, Dutch was wrong to use Molly’s fascination with him and his role in the gang to seduce her. But like I said, both of them had their issues. It was just a bad situation from both sides, and I do not think it should have happened in the first place. I don’t necessarily blame one more than the other. To be honest, I think they each deserved someone who fit them better.

And if I am being even MORE honest, I think Dutch should have stayed with Susan. She loved him, and he made a big mistake in ever giving her up. I believe the events of RDR2 would have turned out very differently, had he kept her closer.

(Ending note: Outside of serious posts - like this one - I know I make quite a few jokes about Dutch on my blog in regard to sexuality, but I do not mean for much of what I say in that regard to be taken *too* seriously. I don’t particularly want to discuss my personal life in the text of this post, but I will say that even if Dutch was a person I knew in real life, I’m not sure I would seriously want anything to happen between us. However, that is another matter entirely that has nothing whatsoever to do with him. I absolutely LOVE his character to death, and my blog will remain dedicated to his role in the RDR story for as long as I am around! That is all that should matter!!!)

Also, it is perfectly fine and normal to separate fiction from reality! It is okay to alter interpretations of Dutch (and/or Molly) for the sake of artistic expression, as long as the reasons can be justified. Furthermore, it is fine to disagree with me!!

I just hope this response gave you a thing or two to consider. Thank you again for sending your message in!! 💜💜💜