𝓌𝒽𝓎 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝓎

have no active threads

you have never sent me a meme/liked my starter calls/liked my meme calls

haven't spoken/plotted in a while or there's little to no ooc interaction

i'm getting follow-for-follow vibes

because i post a LOT of meme and starter calls, constantly have my inbox open so if we're not interacting then?? what are we doing >:(((

...That there is NO time limit or expiration date on asks, memes or threads.

...That your partners NEVER need to feel they have to apologise for not responding to a thread or ask yet.

...That you welcome replies to "OLD" threads and memes, even if they've been sitting quietly untouched for weeks or months.

...That there is NEVER any pressure or obligation for your partners to reply until they feel the drive and enthusiasm to do so.

...That YOU will happily respond to things at YOUR OWN leisure, and you would like your partners to feel comfortable doing the same.

　𝐓𝐎 𝐀 𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐄 𝐖𝐇𝐎 𝐃𝐈𝐃 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐁𝐄𝐋𝐎𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐋𝐃 𝐎𝐅 𝐌𝐄𝐍, 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐖𝐇𝐎𝐒𝐄 𝐒𝐎𝐂𝐈𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐋 𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖𝐋𝐄𝐃𝐆𝐄 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐔𝐒 𝐒𝐎𝐋𝐄𝐋𝐘 𝐁𝐄𝐄𝐍 𝐁𝐔𝐈𝐋𝐓 𝐎𝐍 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐋𝐄𝐍 𝐌𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐒, 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐃𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐑 𝐂𝐄𝐑𝐓𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐋𝐘 𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐄𝐃 … 𝐄𝐂𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐂, 𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐋𝐘 𝐒𝐎. but whilst someone may have thought his reactions to be odd and unusual, the nymph was genuinely delighted by them: his poise was elegant and detached, and yet he seemed prone to stumbling on his own feet whenever an unexpected event piqued his attention. if sorrow had previously haunted the doll - like lineaments of her visage, now something much softer had bloomed 'pon the freckled apples of her cheeks ; she felt comfortable, dangerously so.

with a nectarine titter bubbling forth, ahri turned to the side in order to gently take the hand that he had offered. her hold was careful, deceitfully polite and bashful ; in truth, she was merely unaccustomed to touching another person for reasons that were enflamed by neither hunger nor violence. ❝ i fear that my introduction may sound tedious after yours ... i'm simply ahri, from the flower shop on the other side of the city. ❞ her occupation must have certainly sounded painfully uninteresting when compared to his own, but the playful shake of his hand quietly indicated that such things did not matter to her. ❝ maybe you have heard of it ? some people come to the shop simply because they want to try and pet my foxes. ❞ she let go of his warm hand then, stubbornly ensuring that any lingering grief would remain hers and hers alone. ❝ i suppose this is why i was so pained, earlier⸻ i couldn't help but imagine my little ones as the victims of such a terrible accident. ❞

When she finally released his hand, it settled over his stomach, as if he were bleeding out and holding in parts of himself he feared would spill and splatter.

　𝐈𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐀𝐆𝐎𝐍𝐈𝐙𝐈𝐍𝐆, 𝐓𝐎 𝐒𝐖𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐎𝐖 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐆𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐅 ( … ) 𝐈𝐓 𝐒𝐂𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐎𝐅 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐂𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐎𝐀𝐓, 𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐋𝐘 𝐃𝐄𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐎 𝐁𝐄 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐃, 𝐏𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐘 𝐏𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐎 𝐁𝐄 𝐆𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐍 𝐕𝐎𝐈𝐂𝐄. however, such things were meant to be intimate, solely shared betwixt hearts that spoke the same mother tongue ; he had been kind, but was he kind enough to comprehend the pain that now corroded the very fabric of her chimerical soul ? the sudden feeling of his hand settling on her shoulder interrupted a stream of consciousness that was becoming dangerous and chaotic: he brought her closer to himself, offered a metaphorical bandage for the open wound festering 'pon the muscle tissue of her heart and, once more, fed the starving beast with the nectarine promise of kindness.

and thus, the woman - fox became docile and compliant. no longer a rose embellished by thorns, but a gentle and tender camellia ; she followed him down the road, far from the carnage until the familia scent of blood had almost entirely faded from her keen senses. it was then, whilst the artificial lights of the city shone all around them like the lingering echo of stolen stars, that the nymph finally broke the silence between them. ❝ what's your name ? ❞ how odd, that she unconsciously wished to never forget him ( ... ) so that in all those lonely nights she may remember that, somewhere in the world, a person with this same name had once rescued her from the abyss of her own ire. there was comfort to be found, in the remembrance of being finally seen after centuries spent at the invisible edges of the world.

"Hm?" Her question pulled him out of his ever-flowing stream of consciousness, tormented as it was, cold water rushing over a bed of sharp rocks. The inspector turned to her, and was immediately reminded of why he had opted to look straight ahead as they walked, his hands now deep in the pockets of his trousers. The woman was earth-shatteringly beautiful, as if carved by hand, and Alfendi was certain that if he looked at her too long, her beauty would swallow him whole. "Alfendi," he replied, and then, as if remembering himself, withdrew a hand from his pocket, offering it to her in a somewhat awkward manner, considering they were walking side-by-side. "Detective Inspector Alfendi Layton, of Scotland Yard," the man further clarified, quite clearly hiding behind his title. His professionalism was the mask he often wore to keep people at arm's length, for a man of his standing simply had no time to form relationships. No, no, father, the loneliness isn't paralysing at all! "How about you?"

　𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐈𝐑 𝐒𝐋𝐎𝐖 𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐏𝐒 𝐁𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐌 𝐅𝐀𝐑 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐀𝐈𝐍 𝐆𝐘𝐌, 𝐁𝐔𝐓 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍 𝐀𝐒 𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐔𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐎 𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐀𝐊 𝐈𝐍 𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐎 𝐑𝐄𝐏𝐋𝐘 𝐓𝐎 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐎𝐔𝐒 𝐐𝐔𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍, 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐃 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐒𝐓𝐔𝐂𝐊 𝐎𝐍 𝐀 𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐋𝐄 𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄⸻ 𝐈𝐓'𝐒 𝐁𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐎 𝐀𝐕𝐎𝐈𝐃 𝐀 𝐅𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓. a few months ago, when her life was still painted in the gentle watercolors of youthful innocence, she would have readily agreed with his predicament ; back then, violence had seemed to be something horrendous to her naïve mind, an unforgivable and unforgettable sin, a transgression that deserved neither absolution nor clemency ( ... ) she had feared violence, and had ofttimes sworn that she would have never indulged in it, nor would have she relished or coveted its bloodied warmth.

and yet ... and yet, the memories of that tremendous day were still vivid in her haunted mind. she had been the victim of brutal violence, and in turn, she had become a violent perpetrator as well ( ... ) could such a hideous thing have been avoided, if he had been by her side ? if he had told her that it was better to be at peace, than plagued by the remorse of a violent outcome ?

her hand instinctively found his shirt. lithe fingers curled against the sweat - drenched fabric and gave it a demanding albeit gentle pull. this time, when plush lips finally parted, her voice was barren of mischief. ❝ but what happens, when violence finds you ? ❞ lithe brows furrowed above the bridge of her nose and for a moment, she felt herself shrinking into a much smaller and much more pathetic version of who / what she was. ❝ would you really choose to be soft ? would you⸻ would you condemn someone for biting back ? ❞

"Nah, kid," an affectionate term, not one meant to patronise or demean, but to comfort and reassure. Leaning down, he placed a large, paw-like hand on her shoulder, his other hand rising to point a finger at her; again, not intended to belittle her, but to drive home a point. "If someone 'urts ya, you don' stop kickin' 'til the twitchin' stops," he said quite seriously, gaze unwavering as it met her own, his expression entirely still. "Every woman needs t'know 'ow to defend 'erself, and if someone-- anyone is stupid enough to fuck with ya, you've gotta make 'em regret it."

It would always be preferable, in his mind, to be the ever-present defender of women, to always be around so they needn't fear anything, but that was far from reality. Women and children remained the world's perpetual victims, forever the ones who suffered at the hands of men, and it was for that reason Robbie taught them to defend themselves. They might not have the size and stature to win every fight, but making an attacker regret acting against them was better than nothing.

"i'm not saying you have to like it. i'm not even saying you have to support it. you can bitch about it and you can worry about her." eva's stare is level, reassuring as cool water on a balmy summer's day. "but i'm telling you, i've seen what she's like without it. and i've seen what she turns to instead of it." her lips purse together.