#tobias *insert whatever*

[r1ng-w0rm]

Been thinkin about this man lately

(OG Twitter pic used below)

[magg0t-king]

Wormday :)

[atsadi-shenanigans]

Thinking thoughts. In a lot of popular books, usually YA, I’ve noticed that when the mc (usually a girl) goes through Some Shit, at the end of the series or whatever to show healing and growth, the authors often have her married off and possibly with a kid. The ~normal ideal~ and all.

But for me, that don’t resonate. I appreciate to hell that Animorphs author K. A. Applegate said, “Sometimes the wounds left really fuck you up” and, like, spoilers for a 30 year old book series:Jake’s life collapses, Rachel fucking DIES, Tobias fucks off from society completely, Marco is sitting pretty on fame and fortune but that boy had a 50/50 chance of completely cracking and collapsing his own life, and Ax went back to his militaristic, authoritarian by the sound of it war-mongering society of holier-than-thou xenophobes. Cassie is the ONLY one who got out and stayed out, and she had major issues about the whole thing from the start.

I’m so glad that was one of my formative media obsessions. I didn’t really grow up with, in my very personal opinion, was this idea of “A bad thing happened but you just need to get married and have a baby or two and all better!”

And expanding on this (insert Tom Cardy as JRR Tolkien ripping off his sweater), “I’m not even HALFWAY started!”

Astarion. Some of y’all really love papastarion and you go, Glenn Coco. I ain’t trying to shame you or say you’re doing it wrong. Y’all seem really happy and that’s genuinely awesome. I love some of y’all’s work myself.

But for me, I LOVE the idea that, even romanced, Astarion doesn’t “settle down” in the aforementioned traditional context. That man has been through A Lot, and after the events of the game, so has his LI. I am feral over the idea that he alone, or with LI if he has one, just fuck off. Never married. No kids. Just spending decades and decades figuring out who he even is and what he wants to do with that. That’s comforting in the extreme, to me. You don’t have to be married and with kids to be happy and fulfilled, and I just really appreciate that.

(For those of you creating absolute gremlin children of his, I do salute you, that shit is amazing and hysterical).

[sailxrmxrs]

shoutout to my three friends who are equally unwell over trigun and infinite blue. this one's for u. it's so so incredibly niche but the ones who get it, get it. taking some inspiration from the current obsession and throwing some faves in to spice it up. tobias, rory and dear reader just out in some post apocalyptic western landscape fighting for their lives against a notorious gang of gunmen. very very loosely inspired by the vash, wolfwood, and meryl dynamic. insert blood and thunder from 98 trigun soundtrack here. anyway enjoy the result of my late night brainrot and screaming over tasty fanart. cw for guns and some mild violence !

The sun sat high over the rolling dunes of sand, bearing down heavily on the unfortunate souls traversing the uneven ground. This time of year made that unforgiving heat feel all the more powerful as it threatened to burn the exposed arms leaning atop the side of the oversized car. Tobias had one arm resting where the window had once been and the other lazily sitting on the steering wheel, barely moving it as the car sped across the dunes. The car wasn't all that old, but it had seen its fair share of gun fights and fast escapes. There had once been a time when all of humanity wasn't on the brink of extinction, not fighting tooth and nail just to keep its cities from falling to ruin. But those times were no longer. Now, bands of desperate individuals were wreaking havoc and robbing innocents for all they were worth. Wanted posters were plastered over tavern walls, countless bounties out for whoever could drag their bodies back—dead or alive. Tobias' face had long been drawn to perfect likeness over the browned parchment. The bounty he'd amassed for himself, however, was not for pillaging and stealing from the bar owners who housed him on long journeys nor did he use his gun for unjust means. Rather, Tobias had garnered himself somewhat of a Robin Hood-esque reputation; he stole what had already been stolen and gave it back to the people. But when those who had stolen not only money, but also power, found themselves reaping the benefits of their greed, their first course of action was to bring down the man responsible for their shortcomings in whatever way possible. For anyone else it might have damaged their spirit, but Tobias cared too much for his cause to let a bounty on his head sway him. Especially now that he no longer travelled alone.

Months ago he'd been a lone soul going from town to town with little but the clothes on his back for company. Until he'd met you. A city native confined by circumstance who saw his freedom as a symbol of hope. All it had taken was one quiet conversation under the moonlight, aided by Tobias' slight inebriation, for you to be taken under his wing and brought along for the ride. His way of living brought uncertainty and risk; danger and threat becoming a constant friend looming over your shoulder. But you wouldn't change anything for the world. Not when it took you to the most remote corners of the planet. Even if that meant driving across the desert in the middle of summer with a broken cooling system. Tobias had tried to fix it once, but somehow made it worse. Since then, you'd taken the executive decision to ban Tobias from any kind of technical repair work. It was for the best. So long as the car held up long enough to get to the next town over, that was all you cared about.

"It's too hot," Tobias whined, leaning his head to rest atop your shoulder. You could feel the car jolt with his movements, hitting a slight bump in the sand. If it weren't for the fact there was no one around for miles you might have panicked a little more. Tobias' driving was a little less than careful out in the middle of nowhere.

"Hey, eyes on the road. Sand. You know what I mean," you said with a playful push against his head. Tobias sluggishly dragged himself back up, a sulking pout on his face as he scowled at you.

"If you let me fix the fans maybe I wouldn't be almost collapsing in the car. I don't see you volunteering to drive in my stead." His tone was light and teasing, not really meaning the words he said. He just knew it'd spark a reaction.

A bemused laugh left your lips, watching Tobias reach for his sunglasses. "First off, collapsing? Sure thing, bud. Secondly, the last time I offered to drive you told me off and made me sit in the back seat. Only got yourself to blame there."

"Because you had just gotten shot! You were bleeding out and insisting on driving! What did you expect me to do?"

"You said no driving then so I'm just doing as I was told," you said, folding your arms across your chest and closing your eyes. Tobias sighed, admitting his defeat. He might like to push back sometimes, but he really he was rather soft at heart. He liked your company more than he cared to admit, even if that meant being the one to drive uneven terrain in the scorching heat.

An hour later and your destination was finally in sight. The town stood like an oasis under the afternoon sun, the promise of food and, hopefully, fresh water an irresistible temptation luring you in. By the time Tobias had parked up under a shaded canopy and got out to make a point of stretching his legs, you were eager to see exactly where he'd taken you to. The town was another new venture to add to your list, its buildings and architecture looking similar enough to everywhere else you'd travelled that it felt familiar. Though it certainly seemed livelier than the previous destination had been. It wasn't quite a thriving city, but there was still life here. Still the teeming buzz of humanity clinging on to its home. Curious eyes followed you walking side-by-side with Tobias, some going wide in recognition and others scrutinising you both for intruding on this peaceful little town. There was no telling how situations like this would go. Either you'd leave unscathed with no one looking to take Tobias' bounty for themselves, or there'd be guns shooting from all over as you made a run for the car and made your escape. The last few escapades had been mostly uneventful, but there was no room to let one's guard down. Especially not when there was a stranger shrouded in a cloud of smoke leaning against the wall of a busy sounding bar. Dark sunglasses rested atop his nose, and his hair was a bright shade of red despite being muted in the shade. You could feel his gaze even as you looked away, as if he perhaps knew something you didn't. It wasn't a nice feeling.

"Hey, Tobias. Don't be obvious about it, but there's a guy over there looking our way. You think he's trouble?"

Tobias spared a glance, the concern in his face turning to a grimace. "Yes. But not the kind of trouble you're thinking of. Come on." Tobias reached for your wrist, pulling you in the direction of the mysterious stranger. Your attempts to ask for any semblance of clarity were ignored, Tobias' grasp warm and unmoving.

Up close, the stranger looked even more displeased. Someone had clearly pissed in his cereal this morning—if the deadpan look of repugnance was anything to go by. "Brave of you to show your face here," he drawled, the toothpick between his teeth moving with each word he spoke.

"Why? You looking to try and break it?" Tobias asked, an easy grin stretching his face as he leaned against an old and rusting motorbike.

"Not at all. Looks like you want to break my bike though. Move your ass." Whatever relationship Tobias held with this man it was certainly not friendship.

"You sure it's worth caring that much about this thing? Looks one wrong move away from falling apart."

The stranger looked almost bored as he uttered, voice completely toneless, "You're right. And I'm looking right at the wrong move in question."

You watched as Tobias' face dropped its lazy smile and jumped to hold an arm over his chest. "Settle down, boys. I'd prefer to not have to coddle Tobias for getting his ass kicked five minutes after arriving."

The stranger scoffed, raising an eyebrow as his eyes fell to yours. "Good luck with that. You know what kind of bounty your friend has over his head, right? And that the man who's hellbent on having him killed lives in this very town?"

Your eyes went wide, head snapping to see Tobias looking meek. He'd kept that one quiet. Before you could get any kind of explanation, the stranger looked elsewhere, tutting as he gestured for the two of you to follow him. Wariness stayed your steps until you felt a reassuring hand at your shoulder. Tobias might not have a gleaming friendship with this stranger but he clearly trusted him. And that was enough for you. For now, at least.

He'd sat the three of you in the corner of the bar, tucked away to preserve whatever privacy you could garner. There was enough bustle and energy to hide your voices under, with no obvious lingering looks from particular patrons. It seemed you and Tobias were going to have to play it safer here than you'd first thought. From what the stranger, whose name you now knew to be Rory, had said, Tobias' reputation here was notorious. The common people of the town knew him for his true intentions, having been first aided by him long ago. But equally there were many out for the bounty—not to mention the personal vendetta a local leader had for him after Tobias had not only stolen a good portion of his fortune from him, but also played a hand in making a public scene mocking him. Needless to say, those who disliked Tobias, really despised him. And would do almost anything to see his head in their hands. Such an outcome wouldn't exactly be ideal, so you could only hope it wouldn't come down to that. Stealing glances around the bar didn't offer much insight as to whether the wrong individuals had recognised Tobias. The revelry all seemed normal enough. But there was no telling how the day might turn. It was, after all, still bright and busy enough outside that he would be easily recognisable in the daylight—even if the crowds might help conceal him.

"Look, if I were you I'd get yourself out of here as soon as possible. Before you draw any more attention to yourself. News travels fast here," Rory warned, fingers playing with the glass at his hand. He hadn't taken a sip of the misty water. It was probably for the best.

"You worry too much, Rory. That's all in the past, I'm sure no one remembers or cares for something so trivial." Tobias laughed, waving off Rory's apparent concern. Rory scoffed, readying to quip back at Tobias' easiness when a piercing shout brought all chatter in the bar to a close. If it weren't for the remnants of Tobias' laugh, you could've heard a pin drop with the stunned silence that fell. Another shout sounded—a command to fight. The peace had well and truly shattered as your eyes landed on the group of men weaving through the bar tables.

"Tobias," you uttered, moving to rise from your seat. "Time to move."

He raised a brow, nonchalance smoothing his features. "Don't act guilty and they won't come for you." As soon as the words left his lips, a call of his name set Tobias' eyes wide. "On second thought, I think I've had enough to drink here."

Rory scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Look at that, I was right."

"I don't care who was right or wrong, I care about not getting my head blown off," you grumbled, eyeing up the best possible escape route as your pursuers came ever closer. Gaze landing on the window, you saw Tobias already running to jump through the small gap, his legs getting caught on the window frame and sending him tumbling onto the dusty sand below. For a wanted man, he wasn't exactly the dastardly delinquent that the rumours might have painted him out to be. He wasn't quite so talented on his feet as he was with a gun and it didn't exactly help with making a swift escape. In a split second, you and Rory shared a look of exasperation with your companion before following suit and climbing through the open window, landing on your feet in a manner much more becoming than Tobias had. It was then, as Tobias finished dusting off his shirt that the first gunshot sounded, glass shattering along with it. You needed to find cover, and fast.

Rory called for you and Tobias to follow him, leading you both through the backroads of town. Gunshots and shouting could be heard coming from the bar, but there was telling where others might by lying in wait. Your hand was resting at the hilt of your gun, ready to pull it out at a moment's notice. It had taken some getting used to, wielding a gun and shooting to defend yourself, but with Tobias at your side it became less and less scary each time. He never shot to kill. Only to deter pursuers or injure them at most, but only as a last minute resort. A gunshot fired, deflecting off a broken lamp post. One quick glance was enough to see that you had company. You readied your gun to aim, delayed only by the sight of Tobias already sending a bullet in their direction, knocking your pursuer's gun out of his hand.

"Got a plan, Rory?" He shouted, the three of you picking up the pace.

"I don't know, get out of here alive, maybe?!" An excellent plan, really. One you hoped to follow. Even if it was easier said than done. Rory slowed his pace, crouching behind the wall of a worn-down house. He'd avoided the busy clearing and managed to buy a few moments to plan the best route of escape.

"On the count of three, I want you to charge out there and shoot. Keep their focus on you. But don't die. Or get injured. I don't want any of you bleeding out on my bike."

"I'm sorry, did I hear that right? Your bike? You really think all three of us will fight on that thing?" You asked, incredulous. Rory's motorbike had looked like it'd seen better days. It barely looked like it could support one person let alone three.

"It's all just a means to an end. I start up the bike, we find whatever rundown motor you drove to town on and we get out of here."

Tobias shrugged. "Works for me. Do first, think later." He reached a hand out for your wrist and bolted with no hesitation. The gunmen shouted Tobias' name, calling for reinforcements as they aimed. The crowds had since dissipated and the townsfolk all seemed to have hidden away in their homes or in the shadows out of harm's way. The last thing you wanted was for anyone to get caught up in this unnecessarily. Your back was at Tobias', taking aim to disarm anyone in Tobias' blind spots as he did the same for you. You were a force of nature, an unstoppable duo completely honed in on the task at hand. Soon, the revving of a motorbike echoed from across the way, Rory's bright red hair gleaming under the sun as he tried to get it started.

"Don't tell me it's given up on you now!" Tobias called out, laughing under his breath as he leaned closer to you. "Hey, you got this. We can take these guys easy." Before you could eke out a response, Rory's motorbike surged forward and he soon reached you and Tobias. Bullets reflected off the rusting metal, Rory only stopping for a quick moment to reach an arm around you and haul you up onto the back of his bike. Instinctively, your arms wrapped around his shoulders as he pulled away.

"Uh, I think you're forgetting someone."

Rory shook his head, flinching as a bullet scraped by his cheek. "Shit. That hurt. But he'll be fine. The man never misses. And he's not about to get himself killed today. I'm just getting you to the car so we can all get out of here safe and sound."

"You'll be pleased to know our car isn't rusting and falling apart. Unlike this bike of yours."

"Don't complain, it's gotten us this far," Rory quipped. Although, as if on cue, a bullet struck the rear tyre and created a nasty puncture that had Rory swerving to try and regain control. The pair of you skidded across the ground, quick to draw out your weapons and recover from the mild throbbing of pain. The car was so painfully close. There was just a few feet between you and the promise of freedom. Tobias shouted for you to run, his feet moving so fast yet so gracefully it was almost like a choreographed dance. Heeding his command, you made for the car, leaping into the driver's seat and pulling forward as fast as it would let you.

"Get ready to fish for a Tobias," you instructed, eyebrows knitted with focus. It was almost cartoonish the way you slowed the car for Rory to open the door and reach out to grab Tobias, yanking him backwards and with a force you hadn't expected from his appearance. Tobias let out a yelp as he tried, and failed, to regain his footing, landing atop Rory's lap in the passenger seat. Rory closed the door and yelled for you to hit the accelerator. If it weren't for Tobias' near maniacal laughter, you'd be teeming with stress as more bullets came flying at the back of the car, the rear windscreen cracking as you escaped.

"That was the most ridiculous thing I've ever witnessed," Rory announced, voice as expressionless as his outward appearance until the realisation set in that Tobias was still sprawled over his lap, one leg hanging out of the broken window. "Get off of me. Now."

"Would love to. But unless you want me to kick them in the head trying to climb onto the backseat, we're stuck like this," Tobias sang, leaning his head to rest on Rory who looked like he was half tempted to throw Tobias back out of the car.

"Get used to it, Rory," you called out. "He's like this 24/7."

"Can't wait." Tobias only smiled brighter up at Rory while your eyes flickered between them and the sand dunes ahead. All danger was long gone in the distance, already becoming a fading memory. With how content Tobias seemed to be, it looked like whatever business he'd had in town was either not important enough to risk being caught again or had already been seen to. A small part of you suspected he'd only wanted to return in the first place to find Rory. You didn't know exactly what kind of past they shared, but the two were clearly important to each other in some way—even if Rory looked like he might eat a fistful of sand before he admitted it. Still, the new addition felt right. Even if it'd come with no small degree of danger, this all just felt like the perfect beginning to another new adventure.

[girldawgcity]

INTRO

My name is TOBIAS or TOBI for short

Grown woman with a job and whatever...

My flow of art has been very inconsistant but i am trying to change that!! Please be patient, at times I have times where i have no energy to post/make art.

I do mostly digital art, but i dabble in traditional occasionally

CURRENT INTERESTS:

(no particular order)

OMORI (Specifically, the JOHA au me and my dear sibling are working on.)

OC and self insert content

Warrior Cats

Valve games (Tf2, HL, Portal...)

Final Space

Yume Nikki

HLVRAI

Popee the performer

DDLC

Clerks

Camp Camp

Surrealism

MLP

FNAF

UNDERTALE

Magical girls

I hope to post more, and i will be focusing on the things that i truly love and appreciate, the right people will find me.

TO MY CURRENT FOLLOWERS:

I recognize that the majority of you are following me for HLVRAI content since that is primarily what i used to post, but now im chosing to focus on new things that i am into. You may choose to unfollow me, it truly doesnt hurt my feelings, people will move on from things.

If you've made it this far.. thanks for reading! I appreciate your time.

[jerzwriter]

🥂 🍁 💐 🕸 for Eli and Zoe

🍥 ✈️ for E&K and T&C

Hi Ann! Thanks so much for the asks! (LIST)

Eli x Zoe

🥂 - How was their first date? 

Well, in canon, there weren't really "dates." Although their motorcycle escapes when being chased by The Raiders, and their time at the abandoned amusement park had elements of dates within them.

I will write something that is a little more "first date" like for them, but it will be simple, like a picnic or Eli cooking her dinner. Their world is so different; there aren't dates the way we know them. Whatever they are, though, I'm sure they're adorable AF. lol

🍁 - How was their first kiss? 

That was canon, and honestly, it was steamy AF lol Let's be real. The man lived in relative isolation since he was seven and in more or less total isolation for three years. Now here's this woman he's catching major feelings for, and he's fighting it like crazy (think Ramsey level, then double it). She kisses him, and he gives in. And I think they described it as a "volcano erupting," and I can see that. lol I had our beloved Ainna memorialize that right here... :)

💐Is one more protective than the other?

Eli & Zoe - They're both fiercely protective of each other. I'd say Eli has the edge just a bit. After what happened with his parents & brother (if you don't know... it was BAD), he is terrified of losing Zoe; but Zoe is also terrified of losing him. So it's pretty 50/50.

🕸 What does one do that scares the other? 

Eli x Zoe - They live in a very dangerous world, but both are pretty cautious and know how to defend themselves. They worry about each other, but neither feels the other is doing anything to worry them. But Eli thinks Zoe can be too trusting of others (she is), and that causes him some concern. Zoe worries when she sees Eli going into a dark place because he can become very depressed at times.

Ethan x Kaycee, Tobias x Casey

🍥 - Who was (insert character)’s first crush? 

Hmm. Let's see.

Well, with Ethan, we know it was his old teacher that Casey bares a striking resemblance to. When Eli remembered that, it damn near landed him in counseling lol (There is a fic of this.

For Kayce/Casey, I'd say it was one of their childhood friends from Philly. One of the neighborhood kids a little older than her, she thought he was just so smart and cool. They hung out all the time, but he never knew she had a mad crush on him.

Tobias, why is it I can see this mofo having a crush on the hot nurse that worked the nursery he was in after birth? 🤣🤣🤣 Seriously, I think he'd have a crush very young. He probably had a preschool "girlfriend" and had a crush on one of his teachers there too. (Though, unlike Ethan, he owns it and likely lives out a teacher roleplay with Casey. 🤣🤣)

✈️ - How do they celebrate anniversaries? 

Ethan x Kaycee - I can see Ethan being very romantic and over the top. Dress up and fancy restaurant in Boston. If there is a musical she wants to see (or an opera, since she grew to enjoy them too), they'll see that. She'll get flowers from him, and she'll buy some sexy lingerie to surprise him with after. Some years, they go for a little weekend getaway instead. Especially if they're just not in the mood to dress up. Now, don't forget I HC Ethan gave her a beach house as a wedding gift, so they might just go there to spend alone time together.

Tobias x Casey - Tobias loves spoiling Casey, and anniversaries are no exception. He celebrates many... the one where they met at the deli, the week after that was their "first date", the one (about 8 mos later) when they FINALLY got together, the anniversary of the day she told him she was pregnant/they got engaged, the anniversary of their secret elopement, and the anniversary of their "real" wedding. So that's six. lol

I think he's more low-key for some, like the one when they met at the deli. I think he'd get her food from that deli (as long as they're in Boston), then at home, she gets a backrub, flowers, and 😏. For their wedding anniversaries, they talk to see what they're up for that year. Sometimes it is just a romantic dinner at home (where there would be candles and oodles of roses), sometimes it's a weekend away or big ol' vacation, sometimes it's dressed up for a night on the town, sometimes its in bed for the whole day with no clothes. :)

Thanks so much for the asks, Ann!

[monstrousgourmandizingcats]

Tagged by @itsallwearecalledtodo

Nickname: Various. “Sasquatch” from @mayasaura‘s little sister is one of the more interesting and unusual ones.

Sign: I’m a fan of “yield” signs and the wordless cartoon-picture-of-runaway-car-only icy road warning signs they have in Italy. Also I’m an Aries and a yin water rooster.

Height: 6′3″

Last Google search: [name of Japanese restaurant within walking distance of my apartment] hours

Song stuck in my head: “Perfect View” by the Graces

Number of followers: 1,342, of whom about fifty or so are hot singles in my area whom I haven’t gotten around to blocking.

Amount of sleep: Six to ten hours a night, depending on my morning schedule the next day. It all evens out decently.

Lucky number: I’m partial to 17 and 71.

Dream job: Some kind of academic sinecure. But visiting distinguished [insert more modifiers here] faculty, NOT administration.

What are you wearing: Aqua sweater (or maybe a little darker than aqua, maybe azure or cerulean) and taupe pants.

Favorite media: This is a vague question to the point of unanswerability. I do generally like the via media as a theological approach, yes.

Favorite song: Lately, “All Comes Crashing” by Metric, but this is an answer that changes regularly and I normally refuse to commit too hard to whatever I say to this question.

Favorite instrument: Piano and various woodwinds.

Aesthetic: See “favorite media.”

Favorite author: Shirley Jackson, J.R.R. Tolkien, Miyazawa Kenji (a dream to translate; very interesting and unusual word choices, but very lucid and straightforward syntax), Christina Rossetti, Flannery O’Connor.

Favorite animal noise: Red-winged blackbird calls, my cat meowing, the wheeking sounds guinea pigs make (so cute!), starlings, red-tailed hawks (thanks, Tobias Animorphs!), little voles and so forth skittering in the undergrowth, and, of course, The Cow Says Moo :) <3

Random: I’m developing a very strong and specific affection for old Soviet wristwatches.

Tagging @pertweecape @carys-the-ninth @beyondthetemples-ooc @lilaccatholic @rebeccadumaurier and @catgirl-dannyelfman

[party-gilmore]

Thinking about all the lesbians from the bar adopting Eliot and like.

On a more sentimental note.

Can we just.

He would Family them so fucking good???

Especially those who's families had rejected them like.

Every generation on down the line, from the elder dykes to the baby gays, he'd be such a sweet son/baby brother/annoying middle sibling/older brother/dad figure to them all, and like.

Of COURSE he soaks that up just as much as they do and if he thinks about it for too long there's a threat of waterworks so it goes in the box next to HardisonAndParker labeled "Well Don't THINK About It Then."

And he's always there to support them like as much as it's risky for him to interact too much with cops he's a bunch of the younger one's (and some around his age too, though the elders are a little more Handle It Themselves Like We've Always Done - Trust Me Sonny What Ever You've Got To Throw At Me Can't Hold A CANDLE To The Eighties) first call when they need a cishet-passing just-a-good-ol-boy sounding man to deal with an authority figure for them. He's the BEST at diffusing situations where police have been called or there's some Heartlander causing trouble. Sure he'd also LOVE to hit some of these fucks, but there'd always be some threat of retaliation later when Eliot's not available, you know?

And vice versa, they TRY and help him out, but it's always [Nate voice:] "you never admitted to needing need anything." So they bully him into accepting some comforts at least, even if they can't get the whole story out of him. And maybe there's one grizzled ex-vet, pushing 90 but still buff and ornery as hell. Tattooed every where. maybe she even runs the joint, used to be special forces herself till they found out she was lesbian (it might been fine if it were just her sexuality, but apparently her gender was a bigger issue) and started on a PMC tour of her own. She was good at what she did, and private companies were always a little more willing to look the other way in exchange for skill.

Anyways she not only knows The Look but also still keeps her ear to the ground, stays in touch with some old squad mates from the military days as well as some of her private security contacts. Spencer was WELL after her generation so the name doesn't spark anything until the boy comes in looking haunted as hell the night after The Warehouse, and she knows that look, so she starts digging.

The name gets her a heavily redacted service history, some spotty PMC employment records, and a frantic voicemail from a friend in Brussels telling her to stay the fuck away from Moreau's Dog.

She follows that name around a bit - it's like pulling teeth at first but when suddenly the news breaks that Moreau has conveniently just been imprisoned in San Lorenzo? it gets a hell of a lot easier. the only people who like to gossip more than freshly dumped pillow princesses are mercenaries whose NDA's have just been suddenly terminated - and gets a few more pieces of the story. Enough pieces to put together a decent picture.

Eliot heads right for the bar when he gets back to Boston, only to find it closed for a Private Event.

Damn.

He really coulda used just bein' around the girls for a bit tonight. After everything. Might as well head back to McRor-

"Bout time you got your ass back stateside, boy," comes Toby's gravelly smoker's drawl just as he turns to leave. "S'just you an' me an' a couple my ol' army buddies tonight, kid. We're gonna talk a bit then we're gonna drink a lot then we're gonna take all your money in a poker game. Get on in here."

And just like that Eliot's got himself a queer ex-vet ptsd support group too.

[velvetfoxgames]

hi hi!! i was just wondering that the boys’ thoughts are on dating an mc who’s ace/on the asexual spectrum? and, if it’s not a spoiler or anything, are any of the boys themselves ace too?

They'd all want to date you, even if they weren't ace themselves.

Alexei - Immediately accepting of you being ace/on the asexual spectrum. Loves you as you are, no matter what.

Leo - Happy to be intimate in other ways and will make sure you know how much he loves you and that he's content with your relationship. Lots of cuddling if you're ok with physical touch.

Brooklyn - Continually communicative about what works and what doesn't work in your relationship. Very ~healthy~

Milo - Doesn't care. Says the only thing that matters is that you're happy.

Rory - Feels like your connection/bond runs deep (although he might not say this outright), so other aspects of your relationship are more important to him anyways.

Tobias - Respectful of your boundaries. Might be overly cautious to take the lead in the beginning in some ways because he doesn't want to accidentally hurt you/make you feel pressured etc. (like even if you say you're ok with kissing, you'd have to initiate it at first).

As for your second question, the plot only takes place across 10 days, which wasn't much time to get into/explore the boy's orientations/relationship preferences, therefore I'm leaving that open. It's not actually something I've determined for the characters myself, since it wasn't important to the plot (although there's some content that might suggest who isn't ace in particular lol). And since the MC is self-insert, I also thought it might be nice for players to be able to decide that for themselves. So feel free to headcanon whatever you'd like in that regard! ^^

[rookie-ramsey]

Forty (Ethan x MC)

Description: Ethan hates surprise parties. That much, he knows for certain. But she has a way of making anything special, even something as mundane as his fortieth birthday.

Rating: 17+ due to suggestive dialogue at the end, but nothing graphic. 

Ethan hates surprise parties.

That much, he knows for certain. He’ll attend events when it’s for the greater good, but there’s nothing about surprise parties that Ethan thinks serves any real purpose.

If he’s honest, birthday celebrations on their own don’t have much of a point. They’re entirely for socialization with people he normally makes a point of avoiding. He hasn’t made a point of celebrating his birthday since high school, and he can’t remember having a surprise party since he was six.

The jovial tune Olivia’s humming doesn’t go unnoticed. She’s hiding something, and everything about her demeanor suggests that he’s going to walk into a surprise party by the end of the day.

Ethan arches a brow, peering over the rim of his coffee mug at her. He knows by the smirk she’s trying to hide that she has something up her sleeve.

She catches his eye and lets the smile widen. “You’re staring at me like you think committed a felony.”

“You’ve been incredibly suspicious all morning.”

Olivia rolls her eyes and leans across the desk. Her lips touch his in a quick kiss that he wants to sink into, but she pulls back with a teasing grin.  “It’s only eight in the morning. How could I have been suspicious that long?”

“It’s something about the way you’ve been smirking and whistling since the exact moment I asked if you’re planning a surprise party.”

Her mouth curls downwards in mock offense. “I said I wasn’t planning a party. I’d never plan a party without your awareness.”

“That sounds… unconvincing. Very much so.”

The glass doors to the office slide open and Olivia smiles across the room. “Tobias, am I throwing Ethan a surprise party?”

The smirk Tobias gives in response does nothing to ease Ethan’s suspicions. “If you are, I’d like to know why I didn’t get invited sooner.”

“See?”

Instinctually, Ethan pinches the bridge of his nose. If this were absolutely anybody else planning a surprise party, he’d insist on sulking and explaining why he refused to partake in such tomfoolery.

“No party.” Still, she winks and grins in the way that never fails to make his heart stutter, even when she’s absolutely up to something.

There had better be whiskey at this surprise party.

XXXXXX

Ethan doesn’t see much of her the rest of the morning.

In fact, he doesn’t see her again until lunch time, in the cafeteria. She’s already seated, huddled close to Sienna and grinning at something Sienna is showing her on her phone. The glance she throws in his direction tells him that it absolutely has something to do with whatever she has planned.

A friendly clap on his shoulder distracts him. He turns to see Bryce standing in line, grinning ear to ear.

“I hear someone hit the big Four-Oh today. Should I bring tequila?”

Next to him, Rafael tries not to laugh. “Come on, Bryce. Don’t tease him so much.”

Ridiculous as it is, hearing his age out loud makes Ethan cringe, not for the first time today. “Tell me what you know about this party.”

“No can do. I’m sworn to secrecy.” Bryce makes a performance of pretending to zip his lips, chucking an invisible key basketball-style into the nearest trash can. The amused smirk never leaves his face as he picks up a tray and walks away with it.

Ethan turns his attention to Rafael, thinking that maybe he’ll show an ounce of mercy. “Well?”

“I’m… going to go make sure Bryce didn’t take the last pudding cup.” With that, he follows his friend, and Ethan’s suspicions are no less than they were before.

XXXXXX

“Ethan!”

At the sound of Naveen’s voice, Ethan looks up from his patient’s charts. Naveen strides into the room, smiling warmly and holding an envelope in his hand.

“Happy birthday, Ethan,” Naveen greets, pulling his former protege in for a hug before handing him the envelope.

Ethan opens the envelope and reads the greeting on the front of the card. “Welcome to your forties, where a night of heavy drinking requires more recovery time than minor surgery.”

Naveen rolls his eyes at the mildly amused snort that follows. “Hey now, if you laugh any harder, you may get hurt!”

Olivia snorts and smiles at Naveen. “Speaking of heavy drinking, and since Ethan doesn’t want a party, we thought we’d reserve a big table at a restaurant tonight. One with a bar.”

“I don’t think I can make it, but who knows? I always did love crashing parties.” Naveen winks, confirming Ethan’s suspicions that apparently the entirety of Edenbrook’s staff is going to be in his living room when he gets home tonight.

Once they’re alone, Olivia catches his stare and sighs. “Ethan, we’re messing with you. I promise, no surprise party.”

“Mm hmm. You’re fortunate that you are the only person I’d go along with this for.”

“I’m touched.” She pretends to dab at her eyes, then steals another tauntingly quick kiss before her pager interrupts. “Gotta go. But I promise… no party.”

She can deny it all she wants, but Ethan knows better. He’ll go to this party, but he wasn’t lying-- there is absolutely nobody else he would do this for.

XXXXXX

It’s the end of his shift and Ethan knows he only has a few minutes of peace and quiet before he goes home to find co-workers he barely knows occupying his home.

Olivia’s fingers lace through his as they make their way to the top floor. Ethan half-expects to already hear music pulsing through the door, but the hall is eerily quiet.

Suspiciously so.

With the number of people she recruited to tease him today, Ethan expects no less than ten people, and that’s assuming she only invited their closest co-workers.

She steps ahead of him, reaching the door first. Her eyes sparkle with a teasing glint as she inserts the key--- her key--- into the doorknob and unlocks it. She tentatively pushes the door open and emits a low whistle.

“Wow, it’s dark in here. I mean, it’s always dark because we’re responsible people who turn the lights off when we leave, but… you know.”

Not subtle at all.

With a flourish, she swipes at the light switch. Light floods the room and Ethan expects an onslaught of people to jump out yelling some pre-rehearsed birthday greeting, but he’s met only with a living room devoid of partygoers.

“Huh. I told everyone to meet in the living room. They must be in the kitchen. Close your eyes.”  When he relents, she bites back a smirk and ushers him into the dining area. “Okay, open them.”

Ethan opens his eyes, blinking in mild surprise when he isn’t greeted with people jumping from behind every piece of furniture. Instead, there’s a table set for two, a bottle of fancy scotch at the centerpiece.

“I… you didn’t…”

“I didn’t plan a surprise party after all?” she finishes, smirking as she leans up to silence him with a kiss. “Told you so.”

“Then why did you go so far with the act today?”

“Because you’re almost impossible to surprise and I thought if I tricked you into thinking you’d walk into a surprise party, you’d actually be surprised by a nice, quiet dinner.”

At that, he lets out a low chuckle. “Well… I suppose I can say I am very nicely surprised to not have people in my house on my birthday of all days.”

The teasing glint returns to her eyes as she wraps her arms around his neck. “Besides, you’re really getting up there in years now. I couldn’t risk startling you like that.”

Ethan rolls his eyes. “Such a comedian. If my aging memory is correct, your thirtieth is not far away at all.”

“Shh.” Olivia shakes her head and steers him toward the table. She lifts the lid from the serving to reveal their dinner, the warm spices wafting into the air. “Steak, paired with the best potatoes you’ll ever eat, and expensive alcohol. Three things that I know you like more than parties.”

“Four, if your presence counts.”

Her grin widens, making his features soften in response. “That was cheesy, but I’ll take it since you’re the birthday boy.”

Ethan laughs as he picks up a knife to cut into his steak. “I’d like to know how you managed to do all of this.”

“I have my ways of finding help so I can sneak off to cook fancy dinners using your recipes.” She pours two glasses of scotch and sits across from him. “And there’s chocolate cake for dessert, courtesy of Sienna.”

“So that’s what you two were conspiring about in the cafeteria.”

“Got it in one,” she confirms. She clinks her glass to his. “How does it feel to be forty?”

“No different than it felt to be thirty-nine.”

“You would say that. But I’m curious, how old were you the last time you had a birthday party?”

“Sixteen.”

“Did you have to share your birthday cake with dinosaurs?”

Ethan’s eyes roll again. “Enjoying yourself?”

“Absolutely.” An amused laugh shakes her shoulders and she doesn’t miss the way Ethan’s lips lift into a soft smile.

Companionable quiet falls between them as they enjoy their dinner, followed by slices of chocolate cake. As soon as Ethan takes his last bite, Olivia hands him a long wrapped box.

“Open it.”

“Impatient.” Ethan removes the gift wrap to reveal a framed photo. They’re sitting on his couch, her head resting on his shoulder as she snaps the picture. He’s not looking at the camera, but the side view of his face catches the softness of his smile.

The smile he’s pretty sure he’s making right now.

“There’s more under the tissue paper.”

Ethan moves aside the tissue, his fingers brushing against the plush fabric of a soft bathrobe. “I think someone is enjoying her first year of an attending’s salary.”

“Maybe a little. I know I didn’t go all out and the gifts are pretty small, and-“

He closes the distance between them, cutting her off with a tender kiss. Olivia doesn’t hesitate before she melts into it. Her fingers reach up to graze his stubbled jaw.

“I love it,” Ethan assures her when their lips part. “The dinner, the gifts… I’d rather have quality time with you than extravagant parties and presents.”

Warmth fills her eyes as she takes a seat on his knee and touches her forehead to his. A smirk forms on her mouth. “I got a matching robe for myself, too. But I’m sure you’d rather see what I’m going to wear under it.”

The words send a shiver down Ethan’s spine. He’s half tempted to swipe the dishes off the table and let her have her way with him right here, right now, but he does have self-control.

Her smile widens, tantalizing him. It’s enough to make his heart skip with affection and longing.

For a moment, she pauses, her face inches from his. She steals another kiss before she gently grips his shoulders and urges him out of his chair. “Follow me for the rest of your birthday surprises.”

He doesn’t have to be told twice.

XXXXXX

Moonlight and glow from the city lights bathe the room, spilling through the window. Raindrops drip down the glass, the sound of their pattering lulling him toward sleep.

Sleep tugs at his eyelids. Ethan stifles a content yawn. His hand cradles Olivia’s head to his bare chest, his fingers combing softly through her hair.  She’s already asleep-- she always falls asleep first-- and Ethan wants to cherish the moment before he surrenders to sleep, too.

His arm tightens around her waist, drawing her closer. Her breaths escape in soft snores, almost inaudible and warm against his skin. Ethan’s not sure what he did to deserve this, deserve her, but he made a decision two years ago to never take a moment for granted.

He couldn’t be happier if he tried.

author’s note: So I definitely cringed at some of my own dialogue, especially since I don’t use present tense often. But I liked the way this turned out! It was originally going to be a headcanon, but... this happened instead.

Tags, part 1

@princess-geek / @lapisreviewsstuff / @silverlitskies / @paulfwesley / @dr-brianna-casey-valentine / @junehiratas / @choicesstanblog / @trappedinfandoms / @justanotherrookie / @bellcat2010 / @desmaranj / @lion-ess24 / @nooruleman / @caseyvalentineramsey / @xee-na / @edith-eggs1 / @oofchoices / @schnitzelbutterfingers​ / @tefigranger​ / @jlynn12273​ / @laceandlula​ / @crazy-loca-blog​ / @somegdchoices​ / @briefdreamlanddream / @forthebrokenheartedthings​ / @lilyvalentine​ / @parkerattano​ / @drramseysownsme​ / @misswhit12​ / @drethanfreakingramsey​ / @juneiswriting​ / @macy-ray85​ / @swimmingauthordreamerbonk​ / @myusualnerdyself​ / @siaramsey​ / @takemyopenheart​ / @queencarb​

[r1ng-w0rm]

Some old WBB! Oc idea that I really wanted to show u guys (+extra info on it)

Okay soo, I had this idea a while ago when I was making WBB! Tobias- it was just a skim through concept designs and I managed to find this beauty in thy picture folders. I couldn't just delete them cause I really liked their hair. :'[

(p.s Gary the tapeworm is not my oc, it's @ewwwabug 's lil homie)

Also I forgot to put Tobias' scars, but to be fair- it looks better scarless.

🪱Bonus Stuff about them! (I don't want to take up space)🪱

[GOB] and [GAT]

🪱This was supposed to be an idea of if the lbb/wbb simulation thing absolutely screwed up and morphed Tobias and Gary(what a silly fellow) into some corrupted goopy two being thing. How did it happen? I don't know. Probably post!rbb But mid relapse of Tobias' bad acid trip. Funny hardy har har. I'm not creative enough for this-

🪱These two are not brothers, they are purely clones/an error multiplied in coding. Plus, if you try to kill them, they multiply.. So don't do it. Or do. Idc

🪱They are not good! They are parasites, therefore bad- evil- and weirdly clammy.

🪱Their hair has nerves and cartilage in it- it can move on its own like tentacles and it squirms if pulled too hard.

🪱Can and will turn you into a rug.

🪱Also, they can be found hiding out in many biker group spots. Either in two headed worm form or in the flesh. Though, as always, they like staying beside the rivals because yknow... That's kinda Tobias' main terf, but that's not to say the thingies stay with Tobias! Eyeball lickers delux 2000.

🪱If the two had some form of ending:

➬Good Ending: They give you a sliver of their weirdly fleshy hair and make you eat it. Congrats! You're the host to a new lovely baby tapeworm who's probably going to be birthed as a screwed up mix of either Varai and Gary, Varai and Tobias, orrrrrrr... Dun dun dun!!! Gary and Tobias again?!?? Now you've got an Antichrist worm baby on your hands!!!! Yippeeeeee!!!!!

➮Neutral Ending: You're kinda stuck watching sitcoms with them until either Varai gets back or until they're hungry for that sweet za (pizza).

➫Bad Ending:... The worst of it all... The absolute horrors... Something so profound and disgusting........... They spit on your shoes and call you stupid names before walking off like they're better than you. They don't want you to become the new host to a tapeworm because you obviously aren't cool enough for that. I hope you're happy. They'll make sure you're band from every good spot in town.. Except the gas station, they'll just give you the permanent bad luck of picking out expired food.

𖤐[ABOUT GOB]𖤐

🪱Lowkey might be a 'THE BLOODY CULTIST' oc. He's purely obsessed with the occult due to him 'hearing a calling' somewhere within his divided dreams where he's a seperate being with long pretty pink hair.

🪱Gobs voice is a mix of two masculine and one corrupted 'demonic sounding' one.

🪱He's allergic to fish whilst Gat isn't, so the two have little fights about that.

🪱Gob can eat rust and live off of spinal fluid

✶[ABOUT GAT]✶

🪱The one who is like the holy divinity of the two. He's not religious, but he has an insane amount of luck on his side... Legend has it that when he cries, a radiation storm happens... Hope you have your rad resistant umbrellas!!!

🪱Gat loves sticking his triple jointed fingers in people's eyes and noses :).

🪱His voice is a mix of static, a feminine voice, and something of an echoed whisper.

🪱Enjoys the sweet supple taste of stomach acid and bugs (specifically centipedes and wasps!!)

[vaguely-concerned]

Any tips for a TF POV fic? I want to write one because I too went through a time in my life when I let feelings bounce off cuz that was easier, but I feel like that's not quite on point for him 🤔

God I have SO MANY THOUGHTS about this and they’re all so wordless and frustratingly evasive to me yet (I am in the process of writing a looooooong T.F. POV fic and it gives me much more trouble than Graves POV, probably because as a person I’m quite a lot more like the T.F. Type in real life lol). But yes, here we go, let me try to express some of what I personally try to have as my hm ‘anchor points’ for his perspective. (Heavy disclaimer that these are just my personal & disorganized little musings and by no means the only or ‘correct’ way to read the character!)

- First of all I agree, the image of ‘bouncing off’ doesn’t feel quiteright -- it’s in the right neighbourhood but the wrong address sort of thing, but it’s really hard to come up with a way to explain how I feel the nuance here.

*insert three hours later spongebob meme here* Okay, so the metaphor I came up with is: T.F.’s relationship to emotions is a direct parallel to his relationship to water/the ocean: it’s scary down there, it’s dark, it’s dangerous, and if he should ever be dumb enough to try to go in too deep it’ll kill him dead because boy oh boy on so many levels this man just did not learn how to swim. As far as he’s concerned any sensible person would simply bob along on the surface in a sturdily built boat and try not to think too much about the weird shit that lives down there in the depths. (In this metaphor the layer of artifice and performance so habitual it’s basically integrated into the fabric of his soul is the boat. Y’know, the part that’s Twisted Fate and not just plain ol’ Tobias. I’ll hasten to add that I think both parts of his identity are equally ‘real’ and equally him, but the Twisted Fate part is like… protecting the Tobias part. Keeping him from drowning, as it were. I’m not sure he’d think of it like that himself for the longest time, though, I suspect he has more of a ‘that man is dead’ attitude towards the Tobias part after Graves is gone)

I think what I’m trying to get at is the idea that to him, raw emotion is as hostile and unknowable and unnavigable an ‘environment’ as the deep ocean. (And the only time we see him willingly go there, physically and otherwise, is for Graves, so you know let’s jot that down first of all lol.)

- He seems to genuinely quite like and be interested in people – how they think, what moves and motivates them, their secrets and foibles. So I tend to try to keep the uh ‘detail work’ in his POV focused in that direction. Priority going like 1) people 2) people’s valuables 3) the relative availability of people’s valuables at this moment if you have clever hands and a very charming smile haha

- One of my favourite things about T.F. is that he seems, I don’t know… quite genuinely good-natured beneath it all? If you back him into a corner some sharp and dangerous things peek out (he has survived in his line of heh ‘business’ for like thirty years, and a lot of it on his own), but for the most part and when unthreatened he has a sort of mildly amused and intrigued live-and-let-live attitude to the world even as he’s conning it that I find deeply charming. Which to me ties in with:

- T.F.’s first instinctive reaction to danger (perceived or real) the majority of the time seems to be ‘Flight’. Confrontation and violence are basically his ‘when literally everything else has failed’ options. (As seen prominently in Burning Tides, where he just keeps running and running and the only time he actually starts throwing punches is when he has to because Graves is in immediate danger and they’re backed into a corner. Which feels like it means something huh lol, I often think about what could actually make T.F. angry enough that he would openly express it and that seems to be the most likely angle for it in my eyes.)

- My take on one of the fundamental differences between Graves and T.F. is that Graves has A LOT of feelings but doesn’t quite know it (or more like can’t quite conceptualize it I should say) – he has a hard time identifying or finding vocabulary for feelings that aren’t some shade of anger. Meanwhile T.F. KNOWS he has feelings, he just doesn’t like it, ardently wishes he didn’t, and will do pretty much anything to run away and not have to engage with them haha.

Another important difference: when brought out of equilibrium Graves gets angry, and T.F. gets scared. I have the feeling that beneath it all he’s scared a lot, and it’s why his persona is so oriented towards gaining control in ways where people don’t realize it enough to even think try to take that control away from him until he’s already long gone. Misdirection as a way of life babEY

- This might be too deep in the ‘my WIP/process specific’ territory to really count as general analysis, but I think it’s there in canon too – there’s almost a feeling that he implicitly feels like he has to make up for some fundamental flaw or lack he has at the core? (Not a weird thing for him to end up feeling, considering what happened to him as a kid.) All the rest of him, all the cleverness and style and charm, is there to ‘make up’ for how at the end of the day he’s… wrong somehow. As Graves, who knows him better than anyone, focuses right in on, a coward. And that is CERTAINLY not the whole truth and even Graves in a full rage relents when he sees the effect the accusation has on him and once he gets the actual facts of what happened. But I think that sense of deep unworthiness is what’s stuck with him emotionally. His people left him because there’s something fundamentally lacking and immoral about him. He lost Graves because he’s not good enough, because he’s a coward who leaves people behind. He deserves to be alone. Mix in a ton of survivor’s guilt to taste, and I think you have the like… core emotional wound he’s constructed around.

There’s also something here about fear of profound powerlessness specifically in situations where words, generally his strongest card that’s not a literal card (har har har oh we do have fun here), simply don’t work right at the moment when he needs them to the most – he tried to beg for his people not to leave him behind, he tried to convince Graves to get the hell out with the rest of the crew… and it didn’t work. (In Burning Tides you see he’s given up even trying to explain himself, he just wants Out in whatever way leaves both him and Graves tolerably in one piece, even if he won’t be understood or heard or less alone afterwards. It takes him until like half way through the entire chase to even THINK about just telling Graves the truth. In all fairness to T.F. it probably wouldn’t have worked at that moment, but it does vaguely crack me up that he didn’t even consider it until all of Bilgewater harbor was already burning merrily behind them fhsajkfa)

- He has a little bit of a (perfectly justified considering his background honestly) chip on his shoulder, especially when it comes to powerful or arrogant people. There seems to be a special satisfaction in outsmarting and robbing specifically rich assholes (which would also be the people who have the most to steal, so y’know good times all round). From his short stories and few places in his bio you almost get the feeling that he has a funny sort of Robin Hood-esque sense of lopsided justice about it. (Robin Hood-esque only so far as to define ‘the poor’ as the eternally hard-strapped ‘T.F. & Graves Waistcoats and Cigars Fund’, of course lol)

I think T.F. both has a mind that tends more towards analyzing the big picture and also has more direct experience with like… structural/systemic powerlessness and oppression. So the cons they pull are probably partly how he channels the emotions that arise out of that (and the rest he just represses, like the relatable guy he is haha)

- Graves being back would cause some IMMENSE internal conflict in him, I feel – of course all the feelings of relief and attachment and love, but also… so much of who he is now came about specifically to find a way to deal with Graves being gone, with seemingly just shutting down the entirety of his need for real human companionship or closeness for like a decade, things that are suddenly starting to be brought online again and must be tremendously stressful to deal with when you’ve had it completely suppressed and deadened for so long. He’s put so much into trying to be fundamentally unattached to anything, anywhere, anyone (and there are some things here about perpetually being an outsider his whole life that I can’t quite put into words, but that’s a dimension too.) That sort of psychological self defense mechanism doesn’t just contentedly nod its head and go away just because something good happened one time haha. Probably a work in progress there huh (at least he’s not alone in it now <3)

PLUS some bonus Graves POV observations because man. I love writing him, he’s just a marvel of a man

- I know I call him a dumbass all the time, but in a street smart way I think he’s actually quite clever haha, he just has a bad tendency to get hung up on an idea and get tunnel sight. (I’ve based this a lot on the short stories but see also more recently his Sentinel skin voice lines for good examples: he’s incredibly straightforward in that ‘well obviously if it doesn’t affect me personally I ain’t gonna give it that much thought’ way, but you also have glimpses of surprising insight/shrewdness and… I don’t quite know how to put it, but something like an ability to get to the bottom line of something without getting caught up in the details. (I suspect T.F. does find himself lost in the details quite frequently, he’s much more attached to the decorative curlicues of the world.) Graves clearly & frequently has no idea what’s going on, but he strips things down to the essentials very quick: Lucian’s story as a direct thematic mirror to Viego’s, Is There A Sun Lady – Oh, I See, all of this is weird and creepy and needs shooting, and maybe most crucial of all: Isolde doesn’t want to be with her husband anymore so what he’s doing is just like. Extra shitty. He gets what he needs to get and then just barges ahead heedlessly with that. Icon.)

- He’s actually pretty darn eloquent in a gruff sort of way and uses some quite sophisticated vocabulary! And the way this is contrasted with the tendency to slip into blunter coarser language just as readily -- like when he takes the time to describe the monster that takes down the Prince’s ship in such poetic terms as ‘gargantuan’ and ‘the behemoth’s immense, distended jaw’ and it having ‘pallid dead eyes the size of the moon’, and meanwhile during his swim at the beginning of the story we get bastard cold and bastard dark and full of bastard jellyfish and crabs – brings me such immense and unending delight

- He’s more eloquent in his internal voice than he is when speaking (especially noticeable in Destiny and Fate; he does have a tendency to fumble his words when talking lol), and he gets quite easily lost in his own meandering reflective musings in a way I find incredibly endearing. I’d almost call it whimsical at times, honestly, hilarious as that is? Like when he’s literally so absorbed in a line of thought he forgets which way they’re rowing and T.F. has to remind him. (I think T.F. generally has more of a grip of what’s going on around them than Graves does lol)

- There’s an important distinction to be made that Graves actually does, by and large, read T.F: very closely and seemingly also pretty damn accurately. He’s good at (and clearly very interested in) reading his moods, spotting what tactics he’s using interpersonally, when he’s being genuine and when he’s being dissembling.

What Graves is actually bad at is understanding his own emotions, and to not bleed those emotions into other people’s motivations and behavior, especially when he’s upset or in heightened states of feeling, like he is all the way through Burning Tides. He can only name his own feelings in a vocabulary of anger, when it’s pretty clear from the subtext that there’s a whole bunch of other stuff going on there, and he has incredible trouble divorcing those feelings from what other people’s got going on with them right then. He feels hurt, betrayed, and undone by everything that’s happened to him, so the intention to hurt, betray and undo must live in the other person who he feels caused it. In less drastic cases you see him do this a bit when he feels like T.F. is being evasive with him – taking it as a form of rejection rather than realizing T.F. is just lost in his own thoughts, sort of thing. There’s a real improvement in this one between Burning Tides and Destiny and Fate, though, so maybe he’ll have an easier time of it with some time and practice.

Sorry it took so long to get back to you on this and that it’s a bit of a rambling mess, words have been real hard recently. Or rather I have too many words, all the time, left and right, I just can’t put them into the right orders to make any sense hahaha, I hope there’s some useful point in this somewhere for you at least!

[yandere-wishes]

Eight Tries //Obey  Me Yandere! Asmodeus x reader //

Thank you so so much for this wonderful prompt @feedmestraycats​. Icon made by the lovly @bbelphie​!

TW: attempted suicide, mention of rape/noncon, gore, murder, cheating

This was getting old, he still wasn't home and there was no point in pretending that he was just running late. No, you knew that your husband was not coming back home tonight, maybe if you were lucky you would find him passed out on the couch sometime in the late afternoon once you returned from the marketplace. 

There was no reason to spend the dreary and dull night alone. If that spoiled hero you called a husband could be spending such a gorgeous night, out with some prostitute from the slums then you could also be having some naughty fun~

--To call your current like a nightmare was an understatement. People awake from nightmares, they could open their eyes and be back in the safety of their warm beds, next to the person they loved. But the second your eyes opened you entered a hell on earth, there wasn't any escape, no freedom...and the worst part was that there was not a single soul to comfort you--

Five red candles set in a circle each one a blase with a tiny passionate flame. Two twigs inserted parallel to one another, caging in the dried corpse of a scorpion. Next is the demon's sacred seal written in the summoner's blood, elegantly and delicately. Sprinkle it with salt and state the ungodly words. "Oh, great Asmodeus lord of love, aviator of lust, I become thee come forth to me, I offer you my body and soul"

--You had been born to a noble family in a small and rather poor town. Despite the town economical standpoint, the natives were tremendously kind and neighborly. Everyone shared whatever little of anything they may have had. Your family, in particular, was the most charitable. Giving and giving as much as humanly possible. When it came time for you to chose a husband, your father requested you marry someone from the town, someone you truly loved disregarding how poor or wealthy they may be. Marry for love he insisted but keep it in the family. Regardless to say that's what you did. You found a man and fell in love, married a month later in a joyous celebration in which the whole town had been invited to....but then HE came along--

The circle in front of you puffed with a cloud of thick pink smoke. It invaded your sense, plunging into your mind and sending waves of ecstasy. It was a rush pure lust was infected into your entire body...

but then it stopped, neglecting your corpse and leaving you you confused and sweaty. It was in that eerie moment that the demon decided to manifest himself. He stood tall in all his glory, petite bat wings spread out. If it weren't for the dark shadow and uncharacteristic bitter frown spread thinly across his face, he would have looked as beautiful and perfect as the first miserable night you played eyes on him.

--In the dead of night Asmodeus had murdered your husband in clod blood. He had made you watch as he shredded your lover's corps leaving only a messy pile of blood and organs on the bed. But that had not been enough for the lord of lust. On that same blood-soaked bed he had defiled you,  raped you and stolen what was meant for the man who's blood you now laid in, a weeping mess reeking of that demon's stench. Your parents had found you the following day. They were sent into an accentuated frenzy. How could such a horrifying thing happen? By the following year, you'd been wed again, only for Asmodeus to return on the night of your marriage and decimate your new husband. By the fourth accurations, the townsfolk had deemed you cursed, at first they tried all that they could to save you from this dreadful beast. But all too soon it had turned into a competition. "Who could marry the nobleman's daughter and survive the next day." Desperate to wed you off your parents accepted any challenger who arrived....and each was dead by the morning of your marriage. By the sixth time, the townsfolk had already tried to kill you on multiple occasions. The sweet and caring town you knew had been annihilated replaced by this bitter, angry village of unkind and untrusting residents. And Asmodeus? Well, he'd made a game out of this, each time he'd find a new grisly way to slaughter your new husband and a new repugnant way to rape you. By the seventh husband, you'd already attempted four suicides. All resulting in fallierur, by some black miracle that dreadful demon was always able to save you and keep you alive. All hope was lost or so it seemed.--

"He's out again..." Was there any need to explain why you'd summons him. Over the last two years since your wedding to the "hero", these summonings had been almost routine. 

"Of course he is darling~ did you really think you were enough to satisfy him? hm?"

The words stabbed your heart like a million needles at once, the reality was all too fragile and could come crumbling down at any given time. You had never been enough, this was a well-known fact at this point. You had never been enough for your lovers, parents or town's people and now you weren't even enough for your own husband, the man that had saved you from all your miseries. 

"Love, he's a hero. Hero's don't settle down and live domestic lives with their loved ones and children. They need the torture of missions and anguish of journeys to feel alive. When they leave it all behind they wind up as hollow husks filling out the rest of their existence with alcohol and street women."

--After having prayed to God for too many days and nights to count, he's finally sent you a hero. Tobias was sent to vanquish the demon Asmodeus and merry you as a reward. At the time you'd all thought he had succeeded, that the avatar of lust was really dead. The thought had brought you joyous days and depressing nights. A part of you was beyond thankful that he was finally gone. The other half missed and longed for his lips on yours, for his hands brushing against your skin, the feel of his honey-colored lock tangled in between your fingers. You missed your tormentor...

At first, you and Tobias had been like any young couple so in love to notice the conflict of the world around you, so in love to disregard each other's sharp edges. So in love, until you were no longer. The first year had been sweet and peacful, every day was a harmonious dream...but then Tobias started coming home late, neglecting your presence. Some nights he wouldn't return at all and you'd run into town finding him in some pub drunk and with some random woman clinging to him. You spent those nights crying yourself into fitful revolting dreams of happiness and death. The old pre-suicidal habits had returned. One night the blade slipped and slashed a vain to deep, mentally exhausted you simply laid there waiting for the blood to run out. That's when you saw him again. Over the years he hadn't changed one bit, flirty smile and reddish-yellow eyes still playful and dark. He'd brought you back again and stayed with you until morning. The occurrence repeated it's self like clockwork until one night it was no longer dying and talking but summoning and...more. It felt right to feel him all over you again. His toxic presence made you feel complete, filling up holes in your soul.--

Asmodeus stalked closer, arms slinging in that all too causal way. You didn't dare take a step back, having played this game enough times to know every result before it even sprouted. 

"(Y/N) why won't you listen to me! How dense do you have to be to repeat the same mistake eight times! Eight freaking times before it dawns on you that you are wrong! You will always be wrong! No worthless human or "holy hero" can ever love you as I do. I'm the only one. I'll always be the only one!" 

Your brain screamed that he was wrong, that you could have had a prouspoures, dazzling life had he not killed your first husband or second or even third. Ir was his fault that your beloved town had been plagued with riots and corruption. He taught your people to sin, to ignore the words of God and his angels! Yet your cracked heart knew that he was right, no man would ever love you again... hey all married you for some selfish obligation or another. And Tobias....Tobias was the worst of all. He was forced to marry you by the holy on. Thrust into a loveless marriage with the suicidal "beauty" he was forced to save. Why couldn't God have just killed you all those years ago? Given the poor "Miss wanna die" her sole wish. He was right, this MONSTER was had always been right! No one loved you. You were less than the rubble under people's feet. Even noble god had turned his back on you...but he, this evil demon...Asmodeus had always come back for you. Hw stole your innocence, your purity, your life! your destiny was forever ruled by him. Maybe that's what you were so constantly in pain and isolation. You were trying to outrun your furutre. Why? What was the point of escaping your inevitable faith? Let it go, submit,  your miserable life would finally become less of a burden. Give up, hand over the crumpled misery you called life to Asmodeus, let him take over. It would all finally be over. No more pain, loneliness, the misery would come to a sweet end!

In a daring, insanity driven moment you lunged yourself forward gripping Asmodeus' toned shoulders with all your strenghth. Fingernails digging deeper and deeper into his creamy skin. Crashing your lips onto his, trying to let the kiss speak for you. Begging he would comprehend your actions, praying he would accept your submission. In no time he took over, dominating the kiss, slipping his wet muscle into your mouth. Running his larger hands to your lower back. Dipping lower and lower, squeezing anything he could get his hand on. He was the one to (shockinly) break the kiss. He slowly pulled away leaving behind a thin string of saliva. His lush lips were pulled into a smug smirk, his eyes were lightening up with the most joy you'd ever seen. Forcefully he pulled you closer to his chest. Holding your head where his heart would have been. 

[lordalcorthedorkbender]

TAU Transdimesional arc pt 3

“There’s a demon in here”

Toby felt his stomach drop. Somehow, whatever that barrier was, it recognized him as a demon. And apparently, demons aren’t well liked here.

The six-fingered man scanned the room. Then his eyes landed on an unfamiliar face. Blond hair, eyes the shade of Bill’s fire. You

“Who are you” His glasses glazed over as he approached Toby.

“U-ugh, Toby, I mean, Tobias Evergreen...Sir” Toby gulped. The man looked like Alcor. But his looming figure, and dark expression made him feel very different to his guardian.

The man brought out a blue, glowing stone the side of his thumb. “Are you a demon?” He asked seriously.

“N-no?” Toby nervously answered. His eyes roaming to the strange stone.

As soon as it glowed a brighter cyan blue, the older man sighed.

“Sorry for scaring you there sonny. Can’t be to careful nowadays”

Toby just nodded.

“I’m Ford by the way. Stanford Pines. This is my brother Stanley Pines” Stanford gestured to- presumably- his twin.

“We call him Gruncle Ford and Gruncle Stan!” Mabel said, suddenly appearing.

“Gruncle?” Toby inquired, finally calming down from the pseudo interrogation.

“Short for Great uncle” Dipper explained. “Welcome back!” He addressed the older pair of twins.

“It ain’t pretty out there kids. Lots a monsters” Stanley stretched to pop his back. Toby winced at the sound. That doesn’t sound healthy.

“Cipher’s gang stay in that Fearamid of his, while those eyebats freeze people around town” Ford plopped down on a chair. Drinking a swig of water.

“Have you found any others?” Mabel asked hopefully.

Stanley only sighed deeply. “We were...We were too late”

The silence was heavy in the shack. Even Toby knew what they meant.

“But that’s enough moping for now. All we can do is find a way to take Cipher down without the complete Circle” Ford said

“Circle?” Toby asked. Like a summoning Circle?

“Oh yeah there’s this spell that can probably defeat Cipher and stuff. It’s called a Circle cuz it’s Bill’s summoning circle!” Mabel cheerfully regaled. 

“Wait, then why don’t we do that now?”

“Because some people who are on the Circle got captured. Bill probably has them as statues on his throne by now.” Dipper sadly explained.

Toby blinked. Finally processing that he apparently got transported to a dimension where Alcor was still human, Gravity Falls has gone to shit, The World had gone to shit, and there’s an evil demon partying it up sitting in a throne made up of real, human statues.

Alcor is so gonna ground him.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yep, he’s definitely grounding Toby after this.

Alcor frantically tried entering this strange dimension. Normally he’d just pop right over, work his magic. But this is not the case.

This dimension is dying. Falling apart from the seams. If he just inserted his existence without regard, it’d just implode. Destroy itself due to Alcor’s massive power.

But he really needed to get in there. Something in this dimension is causing it to slowly die. And for some in explicable reason, he can smell Cipher’s scent all over it. 

What he needs is a vessel. Someone to control. And Alcor isn’t a fan of puppets. It’s been several centuries, true. But he still hated sock puppets.

The next best thing is to just use a bit of power to project an image into the dimension. He won’t physically be there, but it’s the next best solution.

So he gathered a small ball of his power, molded it into his shape, and slowly pushed it into the boundary between spaces. The other problem about the fragile state of this dimension is that he can’t use most of his spells. The amount of power he can use without accidentally overloading or destroying this dimension is very limited. He can probably safely use 100% of his power for 15 minutes tops. Any more, and BOOM, dead dimension.

As soon as his proxy touched down near the area Toby should be, he opened his eyes. And saw.

[gotmilk5101520]

Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia Watch Episode 3 Wherefore Art Thou, Trollhunter?

It’s time to explore Trollmarket, punch a bully, and chew bubble gum. And i’m all out of gum.

“This is...”

“Yeah”

“Whoa”

“Pretty much” I know boys.

“Dang! And here i thought the only thing underneath our town was dirt and plumbing” Is this what’s really underneath my town? I need to find out.

“Check it out! Peridot”

“Topaz”

“Cassiterite!”

“Your knowledge of minerals is almost troll-like, Tobias” “Well i learned a lot from school” “Toby, you didn’t “learned a lot from school” you learned a lot from Steven Universe”

Ah yes. That’s how you fix a TV.

“Gnomes are vermin. Pickpockets, scum of the earth!”

“We only tolerate them for their grooming services” Gnomes Grooming. Coming soon.

“Look at that. It’s amazing!”

“Heartstone” “The life force of trollkind”

“The means that keeps us from crumbling to stone”

“And the source of light and sustenance. And may contain the body of an evil sorceress that we won’t fight until the end of season 3”

“Okay, that’s totally the bomb”

“Who are these fleshbags?”

“Believe it or not, he is, um... How do i put this?”

“Our new Trollhunter”

What’s so wrong with a human? That’s racist. Oh wait.

“Pretty cool, right?”

“Bushigal!” “Draal, watch your language” “I don’t get it” “Bushigal is a very bad word. It means, as you humans put it, bullshit”

“I am Draal, son of Kanjigar”

“And the amulet’s rightful heir!”

“Uh, you’re his son?”

“He’s his SON!? That’s possible?” “Well of course, Master Jim. You see when a male troll and a female troll love each other very much-” “NO! I don’t want to know about the troll version of the Birds and the Bees!” “Actually we call it the Stalkling and the Gnome” “Whatever! I just don’t want to know!”

“Ooh”

“AHH! Don’t do that again! Who knows what’s down there!” “Like what? Our worst fears? Secret alien treasure?”

“This is the place of the final repose for Kanjigar the Courageous“

“One day, there will be a statue of you here, Master Jim”

“One day very far off in the future, of course” Nice save.

“Yeah, about that, there’s just one thing i’m not getting”

“Just one?” “You guys are trolls”

“So, “Trollhunter” sounds a little like you hunt yourselves, you know?”

“Hunt bad trolls. Gumm-Gumms”

“Not exactly the most terrifying name”

“In Trollspeak, Gumm-Gumm means”

“Bringer of horrible, slow, painful, and thoroughly-calculated death” Try saying that five times fast.

“There’s a big blade!”

“Excellent reflexes, Master Jim” Yeah, i would be dead by now.

“I wish to meet the fleshbag supposedly chosen by the amulet”

“I am Vendel, son of Rundel, son of Kilfred”

“Uh... Toby, son of Ralph”

“I live with my nana”

“Produce the amulet, Trollhunter” Trollhunter Toby au.

“Oh no!”

“My phone!” And now begins the running gag that goes on even in 3Below and Wizards: Toby’s losing his phone. Toby’s phone count: 1

“Hmm... So Draal tells me. Ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous!”

“However the amulet has been known to make ill-fated choices”

“As you know better than most”

“What’s that mean?”

“Blinky trained Trollhunter before”

“Unkar the Unfortunate“

“Why is he unfortunate?” “First night out, torn”

“Like, conflicted?”

“No. Limb from limb” That is unfortunate.

I’m not fixing that.

“Insert your right hand, Trollhunter”

“Um, i’m going to it back, right?”

“That is part of the test” Wait so has anybody lost their right hand before? Also Vendal says keeping your right hand is part of the test? What does it mean when you lose your right hand?

“Well? What is it?”

“Hmm... Inconclusive”

“Wait, wait, wait. What does “inconclusive” mean?”

“It means, Trollhunter, that we have to wait until the second half of the season. So just fight a Gnome in the next episode, fight a changeling, fight and befriend Draal, fight another changeling, babysit a changeling, hide from a stalkling on your birthday, find out your teacher is a changeling, have dinner with your changeling teacher, save and get the girl, defeat Bular, then wait a month. We’ll come back to this and then you’ll meet the spirits” “Wait, did he just say spirits?”

“Oh, what have i gotten myself into?”

“Um... trolls, cool underground city, indigenous gemforms, Heartstone? What you’ve gotten yourself into is almost like Steven Universe! Just without them being aliens, which aliens won’t show up till later”

“Oh, man. You would so not believe what happened on the way home from--”

“Look who stopped by”

“Hello, Jim” Oh, of course.

“It’s a great honor that you’ve been chosen to wield this mantle” Yeah. Not the mantle of Trollhunter. Right?

“Jim, surely you knew you’d won the part of Romeo? After your breathtaking audition yesterday” Wait, “Yesterday”? you mean Jim and Toby were in Trollmarket for a whole day?

How the hell do mess up making tea? I’m asking an important question here.

“”To be or not to be” Right?”

“Jim, that’s Hamlet. Which would later get ripped off and become Kimba the White Lion, which would also get ripped off and become The Lion King”

“Do you know when i was old enough to ask about dad, remember what you told me? You said “Jim, for the last time, your dad is not secretly a wizard”“

How long was he here?

“Your attempt to do so earlier was not only unsuccessful, it risked exposing our agenda to both humans and trolls” Wait, “Earlier”? but awhile ago you said:

“Jim, surely you knew you’d won the part of Romeo? After your breathtaking audition yesterday” You said yesterday. The audition and meeting Bular happened the same day. So i’m guessing it’s like midnight right now?

Jim is secretly Remy. I knew it.

“So, Mr. Strickler, he seems very nice. Is he single?

“What?”

“I-I don’t know. Wait, why are you asking this?” “No reason”

“The Trollhunter lives and dies by three rules”

“Rule number 1: Always be afraid” Well i’m afraid everyday.

“2: Always finish the fight” Hey that’s a video game rule.

If you listen real closely you can hear Jim saying “What the hell?”

“Hence the third rule: When in doubt, always kick them in the gronk-nuks”

“Gronk-nuks?” Gronk-nuks?

“The horror” Oh, oh, oh that gronk-nuks. Wait if that’s what male trolls call their “P” then what do female trolls call their “V” Gronk-van? Gronk-gin? These are important questions.

“No, no. I mean, what do i do? I’ve never hit anyone”

“Ever?”

“I’ve never gotten into a fight”

“In your entire life?”

“All 15 years of it, yeah” Wait, what about your fight with Steve? Wait what happened to that fight?

“All right, all right. Now, just give me a second here”

Nope.

“Master Jim, despite whatever doubts you may have about the amulet’s choice”

“It is now bonded to you”

“This is a mantle you cannot refuse”

“Watch me”

“Oh, shut up”

“¡Buenas noches!”

“Home run”

Keeps coming back. Just like my ex. Wait i’ve never dated in all 25 years of my life. Fuck.

“I know we don’t know each other all that well”

“But we’re going to spending a lot of time together” Oh, you have no idea.

“Wherefore art thou, Trollhunter? Oh wait that’s the title of this episode. Shit”

“Where have you been?”

“I scheduled your butt-whooping for yesterday, jerk face” Wait, you scheduled it for Friday and today should be Monday. So “Yesterday” would’ve been Sunday and there’s no school on Sundays. Wait so then Draal beating up Jim happened on Sunday, and, i’m assuming, Strickler showed up Saturday at midnight. So Friday would’ve been during Jim’s audition. But wait then that means when Jim showed Toby the armor, and meeting Blinky and Aaarrrgghh was a Thursday night, and earlier Jim said “Who goes to the dentist 2 days in a row?” and in the first episode when Jim called Toby, he was at the dentist. So that means the end of episode 1 happens on a Wednesday and that means Kanjigar’s death, and Jim finding the amulet happens on a Tuesday. Am i right?

“You want to crawl away from me, on your knees, bowing in front of everybody?”

“Whoa! I didn’t expect you to actually choose wussing over whooping” Well, who wants a whooping?

“Stay down and live”

“Worm”

“If you know what’s good for you”

“You’ll stay down and live”

“Worm”

“Good thing your mom’s a nurse”

“She’s a doctor, actually” Somethings need to be corrected.

“All i want is the chance to wail on that fleshbag again”

“Wish granted, loudmouth. Rematch”

“You. Me. Name the time, name the place, and i’ll be there”

“We both will”

“Changed forever”

And it’s also a fight to the death, but don’t worry about it till we get there.

Um... Why is the music different?

How to Catch a Gnome for Idiots.

[jerzwriter]

If Ethan would’ve kept her relationship/deal with Harper in book 1, and then he meets MC, do you think he would have called things off with Harper when he realized he was developing feelings (?) or whatever for MC or would he have kept the deal just to forced himself to not cross any lines? Do you think knowing they’re together (by gossip because I don’t see them showing it at EB) would’ve impacted when and if your MC started to have feelings for him?

OMG this is so topical - because IRL me and my friends have been having this discussion because of all the GMA3 drama in the States. Granted, that's gotten a little messier than originally thought, but my friend's quote "Should you let your spouse (yes, she said that) stand in the way of being with your soulmate?" and this has opened such a lively debate.

I always have HCd that Ethan & Harper were more of a relationship of convenience. They loved each other very much, but it was never an "in love" situation. I think he would still find himself having feelings for Kaycee, but if he was still involved with Harper, it would have only further complicated his feelings.

He'd have to address his own fear of being in love, the fear that people would think Kaycee slept her way to the top, and now it would be that she was the reason for him & Harper to split to boot. His head would spin.

If Kaycee knew Ethan and Harper had a thing, she'd never attempt to insert herself, but she wouldn't be able to stop her very real feelings from developing.

I don't think Miami would have happened, and I think Ethan would have pushed his feelings aside for her until the attack - that's when he'd realize life is too short, and he would take that leap.

Thanks for the great ask!

Oh, and two series I'm working on now - Reset for Ethan/Kaycee and Where it Goes From Here for Tobias/Casey kind of touch on these topics. :)