#toprotectandscrve

[doyl1st]

Questioning Sentence Starters // Still Accepting@toprotectandscrve asked: "You know who's behind this, don't you?" -Walter

Isaac giggles. It's a small, but shrill sound that almost always suggests misbehavior on the doctor's part. Of course he knows who's behind this, he's Isaac fucking Doyle.

But, outright stating it would be too easy. Why would he do that when he can wring just a little bit more fun out of this? So, he simply shrugs his shoulders.

"Maybe I do, maybe I don't. Maybe it was easy as pie to figure out. Maybe I'm still stumped. Maybe I'll tell you the truth, if you make it worth my while."

[governmentofficial]

@toprotectandscrve continued from [x]

It wasn’t unusual for work to rouse either of them in the middle of the night, particularly Mycroft, being in his own home. While not nightly, Jasper had become accustomed to being the latter one to rise every now and then because of it.

However, he was not accustomed to finding the man awake while still lying next to him in bed.

“Are you all right, dear?” Sleep’s lingering grip restrained his voice to a hushed whisper; his hand went to Mycroft’s chest soothingly. “Would you like some warm tea, or a hot toddy, perhaps?”

Mycroft had been trying not to wait Jasper up, laying as still as possible in the hope that he wouldn’t disturb him. He was waiting for an email, having woken up half an hour ago and suddenly found himself with the solution to a particularly issue he had been facing at work. Having send off the necessary information, all he needed was for somebody to confirm that everything had been put in place. Once he received that message, he could go back to sleep and deal with the rest in the morning.

The communication should have already come through. It was a little concerning, but not so much so that he was about to rush into the office. Not yet, anyway. If no response came by the end of the hour, then he may have to reconsider.

With an audible sigh, Mycroft turned his head on the pillow so that he was facing Jasper. “No, no. I’m just waiting for a colleague to respond to an email,” he explained, assuming that it was already obvious that this was not a normal situation. Yes, he worked exceedingly long hours, but he did not usually do so from bed.

“Did I disturb you?” He then asked. “I can move to my study if you need me to.”

[governmentofficial]

"Oh?"

Mycroft raised an eyebrow. He got the impression that Jasper was joking, but only partly. That made him curious, but he was not concerned. Jasper was many wonderful things, and one of them was steadfastly loyal. There was no need to be jealous of what he assumed to be a former fling - or, at least, Mycroft didn't think there wasn't while Jasper's attention was still fully on him.

Though, even with that thought in mind, Mycroft did step a little closer to the other man and wrap a hand around his waist. He wasn't worried, but was there any harm in ensuring that nobody had any doubts about his claim to Jasper's heart? Mycroft certainly didn't think so.

"Would you like me to aim to increase that loathing, or would you prefer that I play nice?"

Though he knew of the ever-present tension of Mycroft being newly out, Jasper still was relieved to hear that the man was pleased with this particular outing thus far, as he could be. It was of the few times that Mycroft had gotten a taste of his life rather than the other way around, albeit very small; it was the only time during which Jasper had very little control over what Mycroft organically found out.

He smiled smugly at his beloved's question, pleased. Humor meant that he was relaxed: a striking improvement from their first few times in public together. (He did, however, leave the question unanswered—a bad habit of his.)

"Well..." He took a look over the large room, bustling with guests and a few waiters with trays. "...There may be eyes that loathe the sight of you here with me." It was his turn to be humorous; though indeed there had been another member of the staff with whom he'd had a trifling, it had not been nearly so involved as to assume jealousy—let alone years after the fact. But, he was riding the egotistical wave of being complimented and esteemed. In the moment, it felt right that Mycroft should know he was not only an adept employee, but a desirable man worthy of his arm.

[mettleborn-a]

@toprotectandscrve​ said: 

“I wish, as well as everybody else, to be perfectly happy; but, like everybody else, it must be in my own way. Luckily, I'm rather easy to please.” (Walter for Adelia)

“Funnily enough, I have heard the exact opposite said of me.” Adelia laughs lightly before giving her horse a nudge, encouraging it to keep pace with Walter.

“I would not wish however to be perfectly happy, for what of the happiness to be found in life’s imperfections, Walter?”

Glancing over at him, she offers him a playful smile. “For example, the slight nick below your ear where you clearly cut yourself shaving this morning; a bright display of your humanity and your mortality…I must admit I find it quite endearing; that little imperfection, the one that tells me your razor would be better placed in my hands.”

[strawberryswalker]

@toprotectandscrve​ continued from here

Manic’s eyes were still coming into focus, he just practically wormholed though time itself! And now finds himself face to face with...Himself? The GREAT Manic Monday would figure this out!

He tries to focus on the man, but his stomach still churns from all the strange mode of travel he just discovered. However, he can not deny that his own face was perhaps the most comforting to see. If anyone had this face he’d trust it implicitly, to be a little. Manic.

“ New York. But that is not the question my charming fellow. The question Is, When am I? And Where am I?”

Manic feels unable to just remain on this couch, but can’t move just yet.

[reverxnce]

|| Continued ||

@toprotectandscrve​

-

         Though his pacing gait was rife with irritation, and his tone with anger, there was none that reached his eyes that looked upon the reverend. He didn’t hear an insult. “—Tact can be overrated. Some things need to be said, and straight, or they’ll never come out at all." 

“Yes, I suppose there is some truth to that.”

Ezekiel wrung his hands nervously. Perhaps he himself had been a little tactless with that remark. But he couldn’t help but be shocked by the other man’s frankness - frankness that had sent the third party abruptly leaving the room. Then again, he could understand why Walter had been so irritated by him…

Fiddling awkwardly with the folds of his cassock, he looked cautiously over at the remaining man in the room, before carefully speaking up once again.

“Is there something I can get you, sir? To help settle your nerves - tea perhaps? Or something stronger?”

[bluesunsdusk]

@toprotectandscrve

I cannot wait for the Fable resurgence. The seven of us in the fandom are going to fucking LOSE it.

[helvenandgrey]

🫀 & 🧭

[ 🫀 ] does your muse make decisions with their head or their heart? perhaps a bit of both?

Shade: Primarily with her head, she's much more strategical in her thinking and likes to do things she knows have a chance to work. On rare occasions she might operate based on emotions, but she tries to stay away from it.

Careil: As smart as she is, I don't think Careil has heard of forward planning. Most of her "strategies" in life have gone "Learn from x person -> Do some questing -> Get rich from questing -> become most powerful fire mage ever -> gains." The vast majority of her decisions are made from a mix of emotions/heart and pure hubris.

Mili: Her decision making is a bit of both. She was raised by a demon war general and a professional "fighter for hire" aka neutral aligned mercenary/guard. She knows how to survive nd how to plan out attacks, but she also tends to live life and think about one goal at a time, so her heart and emotions can very quickly make her shift gears into a completely different and separate plan and goal.

Rowan: Pure heart baby, with an occasional use of her head, but that's often to make her decisions alight with her personal idea of right and wrong. While she is very smart, she is also very prone to doing things based on her feelings at the moment with only a few moments of foreplaning or debating if it will help her in the future.

Cerda: She likes to claim she makes decisions with her mind, but very often she is acting from her heart. If she is actively working then she is in pure logic mode, but otherwise she is indeed a creature of the heart.

Evelyn: Both and she is very aware of it. Unlike Shade she does not hide from her emotions since it fuels her magic, but she also doesn't try to hide decision reasoning as something they are not. It's taken her a long time to work on, and it's not perfect, but a lot of it also comes from a deep sense of low self-worth based on occupation and social rank (being a strega and scout, both of which are viewed as either low or near non existent in Remulan society) and aren't horribly healthy. It's still a work in progress.

[ 🧭 ] does your muse consider themselves a good person? why or why not?

Shade: Yes, she does her best to do good by her home, friends, country, etc. She believes that actions make the person.

Careil: Yes, and she believes in her own inherent virtue rather than her actions. As long as she is comfortable with herself, she cannot see herself as being anything less than good and right (often she is not right, not evil either, but not right).

Mili: Mili would categorize herself as good, as she does try to protect the majority of people when she can, and will often help the weak. She also understand that her decisions are often made selfishly, her help to big towns often comes with a price tag, which isn't the nicest thing. She doesn't believe that niceness makes goodness though, and honestly only cares what her loved ones think of her. nice =/= good, but selfish or self-serving =/= evil and she uses that as her personal moral compass and to explain herself. As long as she doesn't actively wish to hurt innocent people, she sees herself as generally good.

Rowan: She is a firm believer that nice = good, and frames her goodness largely on public perception of her. She relies more on other's ideas of her than she lets on, and a lot of her confidence comes from the idea that she is a good person at her core, and she believes that is evident by her being a nice and likable person.

Cerda: She believes she is good, and would be shocked and distressed if someone counteracted that idea. Despite operating based on emotion, she is a very analytical person and is very likely to examine a new idea should it be presented, but until anything is presented or a challenge comes to her views she is unlikely to examine them on her own.

Evelyn: She believes so and has been told so, but she is also continually examining herself and her role in the empire she lives in and is constantly trying to prove her own goodness. She will not deny having helped do wrong in the name of the empire though, and does worry on the regular if she is effecting things in a bad way, or a good way as a small cog in the clock of time and life.

[the-wittyfool]

|| Continued ||

@toprotectandscrve​

           "Oh, I'm just looking after him for a friend." The smile on Walter's face told that he was happy to do so, and the calmness with which the creature trotted about his vicinity without a leash told that they were quite acquainted. A handsome collie, it went to sniff at Feste's feet and fingers before looking up at him expectantly—because when one was raised into royalty, one expected head pats from every friendly face. "Looks like he likes you. He always has been a good judge of character." Beneath the dog's smiling face (and resulting drip of drool) shone a tag from its collar that read, in Walter's native language, R E X.

“Right...” Feste murmured, looking fairly unenthused. 

It wasn’t that he didn’t like dogs. It wasn’t that he liked dogs either. They were amazing creatures in their own right and Feste had nothing but admiration for their intelligence and remarkable capacity for love. Then again, that love was something that Feste would tend to find...well, a bit intense. And they would always move so quickly and suddenly; that always made him jump.

“U-Uh...” a brief stammer escaped him as the dog began snuffling around at his shoes and Feste found himself resisting the urge to back away. He looked nervously down at the surprisingly large creature, tensing up in preparation for the likely event that the dog would suddenly jump at him. It seemed likely given his experience with them, anyway. 

All things considered, though, there was no denying that the creature was dreadfully sweet...

“Uh...hi, um..Rex, is it...?” He said awkwardly, slowly bending to hover a hand just above the mass of cotton-like fur.

“Can I touch him...?” 

[lionhead]

; @toprotectandscrve The sky this morning was dreary, but the birds still chirped and fluttered outside Logan’s chamber window. It mirrored the inner turmoil he was feeling as he dressed for the day - Like falling into an abyss while still clutching onto hope that the fall might not be as bad as it seemed when you first peered down into its depths. Logan was the reigning monarch of Albion now and had been for days, but every morning has felt the same as this one. A guttural sinking feeling, despite having wanted this his entire life - to be a great king, like his father. The shoes were near impossible to fill, but he stepped into them anyway, as was his duty. No matter the great lengths he went to prepare himself for the role, Logan still second-guessed his actions and their impact on the rest of the Kingdom. It was why he leaned so heavily on his advisors, Sir Walter Beck especially. A man capable of telling you how it is, and for that Logan was grateful. He shuffled uncomfortably as buttons were clasped and strings were tied, making everything feel far tighter than he was used to. A regal attire worthy of a king, certainly. He stepped out of his chambers, making his way to the War Room while guards and servants assembled themselves around him. Walter was to be waiting for him, something Logan looked forward to - a breath of fresh air to have a conversation with someone that didn’t feel like if he misspoke someone would leave angered or upset. When he reached the doors, he turned to dismiss the guards and servants that seemed to trail him like lost puppies. The guards stationed themselves outside the door as was their job and Logan turned back to enter the room. There was Walter, waiting for him on one of the sofas that decorated the War Room. “Sir Walter,” Logan smiled tenderly as he addressed the older man. “I do hope anything you have to say is nicer than the weather this morning”

[tooxldtorememxer]

@toprotectandscrve​ wrote: [text] You wanna meet up soon? -Walter to someone random because someone else fucked up when giving him their number ):

( Text: Unknown number ) And what would that entail? Just a drink? Dinner? A hook up? a trip to the local library?

[doyl1st]

Tired Sentence Starters // No Longer Accepting @toprotectandscrve said: "I think that I've just about lost the ability to sleep, if I'm honest." -Jasper

If you spoke to just about anyone who knew his name, they'd tell you that Isaac Doyle is, above all else, a giant prick. He's loud, rude, and egotistical. Violent, too. He's the type of guy who'll kick your ass, rob you blind, and call you a whole host of terrible words while doing so. But to anyone who knows him, anyone who's really taken the time to peek see beyond that vitriolic shell, they'll tell you that the truth is much more complicated than that.

Yes, Isaac can be an asshole. He can be mean and angry and nasty and all those other things said about him, but he can be good, too. He can be sweet and caring, gentle and sincere. His better side is best exemplified when he's faced with a friend in need, or even just a friend in discomfort.

The corners of Isaac's mouth dip down into a concerned frown at the older man's words. A man needs his rest, and a man of Jasper's age much more-so.

"You aren't getting sick, are you? Restlessness is a common symptom for a number of things. It can be a symptom of itself, too. Have you ever heard someone say they're too tired to sleep? Maybe it's that."

[governmentofficial]

→ Your muse in Stardew Valley

Tagged by: @imprvdente Tagging: @toprotectandscrve @libdemdisaster @threecardtrick @bertievi

[silvertonguesilverdollar]

@toprotectandscrve asked-  “Do you have any family, Mr. Matthews?" -Jasper - stranded sentence starters

Hosea adjusts his hat on top of his head- since their initial meeting he’d lied to this good man. Played him for a fool in an attempt to rob him. Promised to help him find his way-only so he could slip his filthy fingers into his pockets and retrieve the contents.- Take whatever he was carrying in his bag. But...it turned out that Hosea was the real fool- the pair of English men he had tried to rob had nothing on them. Nothing worth taking at all- despite how they dressed and sounded. Really, you never can judge a book by its cover.

To make matters worse Walter and Jasper turned out to be really decent guys and Hosea is growing to like the both of them. It’s about time that he comes clean...A rarity he saves for those who he deems as friends.

‘I-’ He’s not even sure how to answer that. He does have a family of sorts- a sort of adopted family- but all his biological relatives have sadly passed- as well as his beloved wife. ‘ No. Not really.’ He shuffles a little where he’s sat. ‘My family all died long ago.’ There’s a pain deep inside him and it shows. ‘Though I suppose I got a lot of people I care about- perhaps they’d call me family.’

‘And you?’  Honestly, if Jasper does turn out to have a family- he will feel even more rotten than before.

[mettleborn-a]

@toprotectandscrve​ said: 

“It is not my place to set people right, but I do see that they are often wrong.” -Jasper for Adelia :3c

“How frightfully restrained of you.” Adelia whispers conspiratorially, nodding her head at more passing dignitaries, unable to resist trading a knowing glance with the Butler as they watch a frustrated looking Lady struggle with the overly-ostentatious size of her crinoline, rendering her proportions comically cumbersome.

“I would however request that you are savagely honest with me in such a regard Jasper, to save me from social embarrassment of course.”

Waiting until the hall has fallen silent once more, Adelia spins on the spot to show off her dress.

“Your verdict please.”

[yellowkclly]

♡ Our muses almost kiss, but are interrupted -(for whichever you think Kelly would be attracted to more, if either of them 🙂)

This wasn't an unusual position for Kelly. Out on the back step of a saloon in the frigid air with the excuse of a shared cigarette with a man less interested in smoking and more the man offering. 

It was a familiar ritual, fingers striking a match, warm hands cupped up to his face holding the fire steady and safe against the biting wind. An excuse to get close and test the gaze he was met with, to see where it dropped: to his lips or something lower. Then all that was left was to shift in closer with his lazy, testing smile, fingers hooking into a belt to coax him nearer with their breath thick and misted between them, as thick as smoke in the cold, tinged with almost as much ash and the acridity of one too many drinks.

It only lasted a moment, the door behind them slamming open and laughter pouring out. Then just like that they were just two men again. Leaned up against the back wall sharing a quiet smoke, watching the men stumbling more than walking past them down the steps and into the ice hardened slurry of mud at the bottom. 

Kelly's eyes were back on him by the time they rounded the corner, their shouting growing muted in the night. 

“Y’know, I think I’m done with this place,” he muttered around his cigarette with a smile. “I was about to head out... You wantin’ to join me?”