#look at how large that anvil is for him .

[nanaslutt]

Crack smut with the JJK men, using your funny/embarrassing stories :3

incl: Gojo, Geto, Nanami, Choso, Toji, Sukuna

Contains: fem reader, established relationships, pussy eating, multiple orgasms, dirty talk, titfucking, throat-fucking, so much crack, ass slapping, anal (in sukuna's), teasing, first time (in Nanami's)

MDNI

°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ

Gojo:

"Oh fuck- Tight fuckin' pussy is suckin' me in~" Gojo groaned, grabbing your hips with both hands as he slammed your ass back against him. He was fucking you SO rough, the bed shaking and creaking with every thrust, your loud moans and his panting only adding to the noise. "Right there- o-oh my god right there-" The tip of his cock was hammering straight against your g-spot, making you see stars behind your eyelids when your eyes rolled back in your head. Gojo bit his lip, feeling himself get close. You arched your back deeper for him, helping the angle in which he was fucking you.

"M-my clit Toru- rub my clit-" You whined through your moans, feeling yourself creep closer and closer to your high. "I got you baby, fucking got you, gonna cum all over my cock? Huh?" He groaned, his hips losing their pace inside you. You let your jaw fall slack, moaning freely into the room as he fucked the both of you towards your orgasms. The shelf above Gojo's bed that housed some of his old trophies from his high school days had been shaking and trembling along with Gojo's thrusts; his hips knocking the bed into the wall repeatedly.

Right before you were about to get pushed over the edge, one of Gojo's solid metal trophies finally had enough; tipping over the wood it landed square on the top of your head, making you cry out in pain, Gojo's cock slipping out of you when your body fell forward, your hands no longer supporting your body as they cradled the top of your head, rubbing out the throbbing pain. Gojo had his head tipped back, so he failed to see what had happened, hence why he didn't stop the trophy when it fell. Safe to say he was a little confused when he opened his eyes, his chin tipping down as he watched you curl up in pain, groaning and cursing beneath him.

"Woah, what the fuck happened?" Gojo asked panicked, holding his hands out in front of him like if he touched you, you would break. "Fuck- trophy Gojo- your fucking- ughhhh-" You rolled over on your side, your eyes screwed shut as the throbbing only seemed to get worse. "Oh shit." Gojo said, his eyes landing on the heavy piece of metal that had knocked you straight on the head. He pulled his lips together, suppressing a laugh as he replayed in his head what it must've looked like when it hit you, the anvil noise sounding cartoonishly in his head when it made contact with you.

"Fuck baby-" Gojo spoke through his giggles, his hands coming to smooth over the skin of your hips and thighs, rubbing you sweetly, "I'm- I'm so sorry, are you okay?" His dick was twitching in synchronicity with his poorly concealed laughs, your eyes squinted as you looked at him from under your arms pressed to your head. "I'm fine but if you don't stop laughing, you won't be." You grit, your eyebrow twitching in irritation. Gojo burst out in laughter, making you kick your leg out at him, only it didn't hit him, it hit something softer. A warm and wet sensation caressed itself on your foot, making your head shoot up in panic, your hands holding your body up behind you as you stared at whatever had just touched you.

A large black dog was sitting by the edge of the bed, your eyes noticed how Gojo's door had been pushed open at some point by the large dog. Gojo turned his head, his giggles quieting as he reached out his hand to ruffle the dog's fur on top of his head. "I didn't know you had a dog, that fucking scared me." You said, plopping your body back down on the sheets, a little too roughly albeit, as the motion made your head throb again; you swore you had a concussion. "Oh, it's just my sons," Gojo said, nonchalantly. You staired at the ceiling for a moment, processing words before your jaw fell open incredulously, "YOU HAVE A SON!?"

Geto:

"Oh fuck- Suguru- right there baby- right there-" You squeezed your thighs around his head, feeling your orgasm creep up on you rapidly. Your boyfriend was kneeling between your thighs on the floor, his head buried between them as he ate you out with vigor, one hand wrapped around his cock as he stroked himself off, the other wrapped around your thigh, keeping you as close to his face as possible.

The two of you were innocently watching a movie, when a very explicit sex scene came on, making the both of you go silent and blush as you watched the two actors make love in front of you. Geto pulled you out of your own head when his big hand came to caress your thigh, slowly sliding up and up and up, until he was rubbing your over your shorts, not acknowledging his actions as he kept his face towards the screen, watching the man go down on his wife as he rubbed your clit through your shorts, feeling a damp spot start to form. Once you had enough and gripped his wrist, whispering out his name, it was over.

He had been eating you out for almost an hour now, you had cum twice and he was steadily working you towards your third. One thing about Suguru is he was going to eat you out until his jaw fucking locked, every. single. time. He shook his head against your pussy, sticking his tongue out as he let it beat against your sensitive clit, licking in your folds in the process, the stimulation making your legs tremble around his head.

Your hands were buried in his hair, tugging harshly whenever he sucked your clit into his mouth. Anytime he felt that burn on his scalp from your fingers, his eyes rolled back into his head, his hand simultaneously picking up speed as it throbbed at the painful pleasure, the dull ache in his balls growing stronger the more you did it. "Sugu Im cumming- fuck baby- cumming again- nghhh-" Geto moaned into your cunt, his eyes squeezing shut as he felt your orgasm crash over you. Your nails dug into his scalp, your thighs snapping shut around his head as you gushed on his eager tongue that was lapping up everything you gave him.

His loud moaning against your pussy was making you see stars. Geto jerked himself through his own orgasm, aided by your mean hands yanking on his hair repeatedly. Hot ropes of cum shot out of his dick and onto the base of the couch, some getting on his fingers that created lewd squelching noises on his flushed cock as he jerked himself through his high. Your hands pushed him away with all the strength you could muster, breathing heavily as your hand came to rest over your eyes as you caught your breath. Geto pulled back, the bottom half of his face absolutely drenched in your juices as he heaved with you, his face bright red from having cum so hard.

As he watched you catch your breath, your legs falling loosely over his shoulders as your body relaxed, he couldn't help but think how cute you looked like this, the skin on your stomach folding over itself as you slouched on the couch, your cute bellybutton looking right at him; there was only one logical thing for him to do. Your arm shot away from your face and down to wrap around Geto's neck when you felt him blow a raspberry into your tummy, the feeling sending you into a fit of giggles as your entire body tensed from the ticklish feeling. "Geto!" you laughed, grabbing his cheeks with your hands and squishing them together you raised his head to look up at you, a funny-looking smile on his face.

"Sorry, your tummy looked so cute." He said, his words coming out mumbly from the way you were squishing his cheeks together. You burst out in a fit of giggles, your head falling back against the cushion as Geto rose from his place between your thighs, laughing with you as he wrapped his arms around your body.

Nanami:

It was time, Nanami was finally going to lose his virginity, and with you of all people, his crush since high school, he thought he was dreaming. Your legs were spread open for him as his large body was slotted between your thighs, his thighs slightly under yours as he sat back on his heels, a condom packet in hand as he ripped it open, readying it to roll onto his cock. You laid patiently on the sheets, one of your hands between your thighs was slowly rubbing circles into your clit, your little hole clenching around nothing for Nanami's eyes as he tried to focus on the task at hand, this proving extremely difficult when your other hand started stroking his thigh softly.

"You're quite distracting you know.." Nanami mumbled, pulling out the lubed-up condom from the packet, and placing the wrapper next to him on the bed. "I can't help it, you're making me feel so fucking needy." You whined, tipping your head to the side against the pillows as your fingers came down to tease at your hole, dipping the tips in slightly. Nanami swallowed whatever saliva still resided in his dry mouth as his eyes darted between your cunt and the condom he had started rolling onto his cock.

"I'm.. not even doing anything," Nanami said, forcing the groan down in his throat that wanted to fall from his lips, a light blush dusting on his cheeks. "You have no idea what you look like right now, huh? Touching your big cock as you roll that little condom on it.. It's so hot Nanami, see how wet I am right now? 's all from you.." You whisper like it's a secret. Nanami griped himself hard at the base when he fully sheathed his cock inside the condom, feeling like he might cum from your words alone. He leaned over you, placing one hand by your head as the other jerked his cock slowly, his hand guiding it to your cunt as your hand made way for him, his mushroom tip rubbing up and down along your folds.

You wrapped your hands around his lower back, biting your lip as you kept your eyes on his serious face, the man biting his lip between his teeth in concentration as he teased your clit with his tip, feeling the little bud twitch against him. "You liked watching me put on a condom that much?" Nanami asked, his eyes coming up to meet yours as he dragged his cock down to align with your hole, his fat tip pressing against it slightly. You nodded, your jaw falling open in a small o when you felt him push against you more firmly before pulling back, testing the waters.

"Mhm.. y-you're so sexy Nanamin~" You whispered against his lips when he leaned his face down to yours, millimeters between your lips. "Fuck princess, you drive me crazy." He whispered, shaking his head as he continued to tease your cunt. You didn't know if he was doing it on purpose or not, but it was driving you crazy, you needed to feel him inside you soon or you were going to lose your mind.

Keeping your eyes locked onto his you slid your hand from his back to between your thighs, your hand wrapping around his cock as you gave him a couple slow strokes, his jaw falling open as you did so. You pressed him harder against you, "Stop teasing me baby, give me your fucking cock~" You whispered against his lips. Soon after you uttered those dangerous words, his tip popped into your hole, making you groan out in unison as his thick cock slid inside you, your mouths opening against one another as you relished in the first feeling.

"Fuckkk- It's so- so tight-" Nanami groaned against your lips, your hand sliding away to once again wrap around his massive frame as you dug your nails into his back, leaving little crescent marks into his pale skin. "Yeah? It feel good Kento?" You asked, kissing the side of his open mouth, his eyes shut and eyebrows scrunched as he took in the feeling of his first pussy. "ahhh- fuck- feels so good sweetheart, so fucking good-" He moaned, his eye cracking open as he kissed you back with vigor, moaning into your mouth as you greedily swallowed up each other's noises.

"Kento- movee.. fuck me~" You whined against his lips, wiggling your hips on his cock, feeling him twitch inside you. He nodded, pulling back his hips he slammed them against your ass, making you moan loudly against his lips as he quickly found a steady pace. Nanami sat up, placing both of his hands on either side of your head as he fucked his large cock into your tight cunt, feeling his orgasm already build up inside him at how warm and wet you felt, combined with the adorable expressions you were making as his tip rammed into your sweet spot.

"Does it feel okay sweetheart?" He asked, steadily humping his hips into you, his waist rolling deliciously as he made sure to aim his thrusts upwards inside your pussy. "Y-yes- ohmygod- so fucking good-" You groaned, your hands loosely holding onto his hips as your head laid back against the pillows, letting yourself feel everything he was giving you. When Nanami looked down to locate your clit, his hand coming down to toy with it, he noticed something.. off, and when he focused a little more, he noticed something felt off too.

Stopping his thrusts entirely he pulled his cock out about halfway, his fingers spreading open your pussy a bit as he looked at his cock. Your eyebrows furrowed in concern; wondering if he had come already, you tipped your chin down to look at him, ready to consol an embarrassed Nanami. You weren't expecting him to look at your pussy with the expression he had on, he was looking at it like it was deformed, making you voice your worry, "Kento? Everything okay?" You asked, sitting up on your forearms, your body folding slightly as you tried to see what had him so concerned.

"Uh.." Nanami said out loud, pulling out the rest of his cock, making you wince in the process. He let his dick bob freely between you, before he spread you open once again, trying to look inside you, obviously to no avail. "The condom.. is uh.. gone." He voices, looking up at you like you were supposed to know what to do in this situation. You burst out laughing, your hand coming to press itself over your chest. Nanami blushed between your legs, his hand resting on your thigh as he almost pouted, embarrassed at the situation.

"Honestly, that's my fault, I shouldn't have been distracting you when you were putting it on." You laughed through your words, rubbing his thigh in comfort. Nanami looked away from your eyes, his blush only growing deeper at the thought that he--a grown man--had put on a condom incorrectly. "We uh.. might have to go on a treasure hunt, sorry." He whispered meekly, his thumb spreading your folds open so he could get a good look at your hole while you laid back laughing, your fit of giggles not even being interrupted when his fingers scissored inside you to fetch the condom.

Choso: (small chested reader)

You moaned around Choso's cock as he fucked it slowly in and out of your mouth, your eyes squinting and coughs forcing their way out around his cock when he fucked his dick a little too far into your throat. You were currently laid out on your back on the bed, tits out, panties still on as Choso straddled your chest, his hands firm on the headboard as he used it to steady himself while he fucked your mouth.

You crossed your thighs together for relief while he used your mouth like a fleshlight, your hands gripped around the back of his thighs for support, your nails digging into his skin when it got too much. "This feel r-really good." Choso groaned, picking up the pace as bit as he shallowly thrust into your mouth, making sure not to go too far as to not bruise your throat or make you gag. You moaned around him, tears forming in your eyes from the roughness of his thrusts. You tried to breath through your nose the best you could when you had the chance so you didn't pass out while sucking his cock.

The vibrations from your moans were going straight to Choso's balls, he clenched his teeth together, the muscles protruding out in his jaw from the force as he tried to keep his composure, his head tipping back as he moaned freely into the room, his eyes falling shut as he let himself really feel your mouth around him.

It was so hot and warm, and the way you were licking your tongue around his cock and along the sensitive underside of him, along the big vein that ran up the length of his heavy dick was making him roll his eyes back in his head; he swore he was seeing stars. When he tipped his chin down once more to watch your mouth take him, he was distracted by your bouncing tits, the perky little mounds jiggling with his thrusts, and your hard nipples looked so fucking cute bouncing with them.

His mouth was filling with saliva the longer he watched them bounce; if he wasn't careful he was going to start drooling. Your eyes were screwed shut, so you couldn't watch Choso oggle your tits, but you did feel the way he yanked his cock out of your mouth so suddenly, making you cough and swallow air greedily into your lungs.

Without even saying a word, Choso put more of his weight on your chest, his hands coming down from the headboard as he pressed your small tits together, sliding his cock in between them, trying to titty fuck you. Although he wasn't accomplishing much, your tits were barely able to press around his cock. "Uh.. Choso." He looked absolutely enamored, his hands trying to scoop up more of your breasts to push together as he humped his cock between the small crater he had created.

"Y-yeah?" He responded, his eyes still not leaving your tits as he watched his cock rub back and forth between them, your saliva and his pre smearing along your skin. "I uh.. don't know what you're trying to accomplish but I don't exactly have the.. facilities for what you're trying to do." You said, looking between his solid cock rubbing against your skin, and his face, which was so focused on the task at hand.

Choso finally looked up at you, just briefly, a confused look on his face, like he didn't understand what you meant. This felt good, why would you not have the facilities? What did that even mean? "Huh?" he voiced, before his eyes were once again on his cock, his face flushed red from his ministrations. "No, no.. this feels good, wanna keep doin' this.." He mumbled, groaning as he massaged your small tits in his hands, pressing the skin against him the best he could.

He was clearly enjoying himself, he looked even more pleased than when you were sucking him off. His jaw was slack, his face was beet red, and his moans were steadily rising in pitch, his breath hitching whenever he paused to rub his cock against your hard nipples. You smiled at him, loving how good he was feeling regardless. You giggled internally, watching your boyfriend use your small tits to get himself off. Oh well, if it worked for him so be it, less work for you.

Sukuna:

"Take my fucking cock, fuck- feel me in your fucking womb- haha-" Sukuna laughed maliciously, one of his feet perched on the bed as the two of you layed on your sides, his cock pistoning in and out of your cunt rapidly from how wet you were. His hand was pressed against your pelvis so he could feel himself inside you every time he fucked his too large cock into your tight hole. "O-hmygod Kuna-" You cried, your hand bending behind you to dig your nails in his hair to support yourself.

"Yeahh you love that huh? Love how deep I am- ngh- when I fuck up your guts like this-" He groaned, biting his lip as he fucked you with more vigor, the loud squelch emanating from between your thighs making him feel pussy drunk. He was hitting your g-spot just right, combined with his fingers that occasionally came down to toy with your little clit, you were leaking all over his dick, you don't know if you've ever been so wet in your life. "Fuck- I love it, you're so fucking d-deep!" You cried, your head tipping back against his chest, giving him the perfect leverage to kiss you.

He grabbed your jaw with the hand that was pressed over your tummy, using it to pull your head back more towards him, "Cmere doll," Sukuna groaned appreciatively when your jaw went slack obediently, making it easy for him to stick his tongue in your mouth, tangling it with yours. The two of you moaned into the others mouth, Sukuna's nails digging into the skin of your face as he continued fucking his hips in and out of you an an inhuman pace, his balls tightening with every thrust.

Sukuna liked to pull his cock out almost entirely to the hilt, then fuck it back inside you at once, loving how your cunt swallowed up his dick with no complaints, squeezing around him when he jackhammered into your sweet spot. You've never had any problems with it before, but you've never done it in this position, and you quickly realized why. Sukuna fucked you fast, so fast he lost control over his own body sometimes.

This was one of those moments. He pulled his cock out a little too far, his dick slipping out unexpectedly as his hips kept jerking. His cock curved upwards, meaning when it sprung out, his next hard thrust fucked his big cock all at once, right into your unprepped asshole, making you almost bite his tongue as you yelped, your head snapping forward at the intrusion. Sukuna stopped his thrusting, looking down he realized what he had done, and why it felt so different.

His cock was currently balls deep inside your tight ass, the hole squeezing around him at the same pace as your heartbeat, creating delicious tension in his balls. "Fuck- Fuck Sukuna you're in my ass-" You cried, crossing your legs together as you tried to adjust to the stretch. You were wondering why he hadn't pulled out, instead, he smiled maliciously with a slacked jaw behind you as your asshole clenched and unclenched around his dick, making his balls tingle.

"This might work.." He laughed, rolling his body over yours so you were now laying flat on your stomach, your legs crossed behind you as he held himself over you in the prone bone position. "Always wanted to fuck you in the ass." You whined, feeling your hole start to loosen around him, getting used to the intrusion. There was still a very prevalent painful throbbing deep inside you, but your wetness had eased the stretch, so you weren't left with too much of a burn.

"W-what?" you asked, a slight tremble in your voice, but you weren't completely put off by the idea. "Yeah.." Sukuna responded, rolling his hips against your ass in circles, stretching his cock out inside you. "Doesn't feel too bad now that the worst part is over, huh?" He smirked, laughing at your whine when he pulled his cock out of you only an inch or so before he humped it back inside you. He was right, it really didnt feel that bad, actually.. it felt kind of good.

"Want me to keep going.. hmm?" He asked, pulling his cock out slowly he spit on it, fucking it back inside you slowly, repeating that motion a couple times to tip your mind over into agreeing. "Y-yeah.. feels kinda good.." You admitted, turning your head to watch him smirk down at you. Now given the go-ahead he started to pick up his pace, not nearly as rough as his one before, but one that definitely still had your mind spinning. "Fuck- Kuna.. I feel so much fuller like this.." You whined, clenching your fists by your side.

He gripped your hands together in his larger one, locking your hands behind your back in his iron grip he pressed your wrists together, pressing them down on the small of your back. "Yeah? Gonna feel even fuller when I fill up your ass with my fucking cum." He growled, biting his lip as he relished in the feeling of your tight virgin ass. This is not the way you thought you would try anal.. but hey, it wasn't half bad.

Toji:

Toji was absolutely obsessed with slapping your ass. He had no care in the world about it, zero shame. He would smack your ass in public, with a long line of people behind you as you waited for a concession, he slapped your ass in front of your parents, in the privacy of your own home, every single time you bent over anywhere, or walked in front of him, his hands were slapping your ass.

You decided after almost a year of this, that he needed a taste of his own medicine. Sure, it felt good sometimes, but it was fucking embarrassing, especially when he did it in public. His excuse? "It's mine isn't it?... why wouldn't I touch it?" He definitely needed a taste of his own medicine. You tried to gather up the courage to do it several times, but you always chickened out last minute, or he turned around and caught you at the last second. He never caught on to what you were trying to do though, thank god, you were always able to play it off.

You finally found the perfect moment though. Recently, a pipe in your sink had burst, meaning you called your large, handy boyfriend to fix it for you because a plumber was too fucking expensive when you could just force Toji to learn how to fix a broken pipe so he could do it for you. This meant your mammoth of a boyfriend would be bent over for hours, half of his body under the sink as he dug around with a flashlight, trying to figure out what was what, as his caked up ass presented itself to your greedy eyes, and soon to be, palm of your hand.

You stood across the room, admiring how well he filled out his pants while you took deep breaths, preparing yourself to get body slammed into the floor or chased across the house after you slapped his ass. Slowly, you crept up on him, biting your lip between your teeth as you got closer and closer. "Stupid fucking.. is this is? What the fuck that's the same fucking pipe in the video! Work! Stupid bastard... fuck." Toji cursed into the small space under the sink, some video of a guy showing him what to do playing with him.

You bent down, rubbing your hands agaisnt one another as you braced yourself for what was to come. Nothing would stop you this time, you were going to do it, do it, do it, just- *smack*. Silence filled the room, the connection making Toji go silent, the video playing quietly in the backround. Is this where you were supposed to run? Maybe this wasn't a good idea, fuck, forget giving him a taste of his own medicine you fucked up you- "Babe."....."Yes my beautiful, handsome, boyfriend."

"Did you just smack my ass?"

"......Yeah."

The silence was palpable, you waited for Toji to say something, anything. Every muscle in your body tensed up when his head turned around, a large smirk plastered over his face as he stared at you with dark eyes before he pulled his lip between his teeth. "I get why you like that so much, kinda felt good." He laughed. Your jaw dropped in disbelief, he was supposed to hate it???? This was supposed to be him getting a taste of his own medicine, "I don't like it I-" You started to retort, placing your hands on your hips when his voice cut you off again, his face still smirking at you, "Do it again." He said in full seriousness.

"....Huh?" You asked, your jaw dropping again. "It felt good, do it again." He said, wiggling his ass at you. You pulled your lips between your teeth, inhaling deeply through your nose before you sighed, your hands dropping to your sides. "I can't stand you." You said, turning and walking away while he laughed boisterously at your failure.

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[earthtooz]

hurt/comfort blurb based off an ask @missmeinyourbones received :3

gojo x gn!sorcerer!reader, he's ridiculous, lovesick and dramatic in the one but that's how we like him here so. enjoy!!

“where is our couch?”

gojo looks up at you from his phone, grinning at you gently with the small smile that he always wears; one you’ve come to adore over the years. this time, however, it does nothing but irritate you because there is a large, vacant space in the living room that has ‘gojo satoru’ written all over it.

“what do you mean?” he asks but the lilt in his tone tells you everything you need to know.

that one, gojo has everything to do with your missing couch. two, you have fallen for his bait, successfully tricked into talking to him because three hours ago, you refused to acknowledge his existence after a heated argument that ended with you promising to sleep on the couch. yet after one harmless trip to the supermarket, you come back to discover that your bed for the night was missing.

and you know him well enough to know that his giddiness stems from the fact that you’re finally giving him the attention he’s been craving for the past few hours.

“where. is. our. couch?” you reaffirm, emphasising each word so they can get through his thick skull. 

“is it not in the living room?”

he sounds almost delighted at this peculiar interaction, seeming proud of himself as his eyes shine with mirth. they bravely look into your frustrated and irritated ones.

“i am in no mood to bicker, gojo,” you begin, “either you tell me where our couch has gone or i kick you out.”

the sorcerer pouts from where he sits on the bed, curling into a ball as he stares up at you. the sight would’ve been more comical if you weren’t so mad. “that’s not very nice.”

“you don’t deserve nice,” you mutter, turning on your heels to walk away before gojo can melt you with those honeyed words of his. from the bedroom, you hear fumbling and rustling, followed by footsteps. 

instead of paying gojo any mind, you go to the kitchen counter where you left the many bags of groceries you bought.

he rests his elbows on the kitchen island, subliminally begging for an ounce of your attention whilst you sort through the bags. “would you like some help?”

you give him a brief side-eye before resuming. his pout worsens.

“if i tell you what happened to our couch, will you promise to sleep on the bed tonight?” pleads the white-haired, “with me?”

you sigh, “yes.”

“i warped it somewhere.”

“what?” you almost drop the carton of eggs in your hold. “what do you mean ‘somewhere’?”

“somewhere in jujutsu tech, i’m not really sure.” he cringes at the glare you shoot him. “i was gonna get it back if you agreed!”

that was your last straw. running a hand down your face, you don’t see the way that your lover stares at you with hope from the corner of your eye. 

“for goodness’ sake, why did you warp our couch?” you quiz. 

“because you were going to sleep there,” he murmurs, “and i didn’t know how else to change your mind.”

“you’re twenty-three, gojo. you should know a thing or two about how to reconcile properly by now.” 

his pout worsens at the use of his family name. “i am a man in love, y/n, do you know what they say about men in love?”

before you can even think of a snarky remark, realisation hits you like an anvil. whenever gojo uses his teleportation technique it always… leaves… something behind. 

rushing over to the carpet that used to be under the couch, you almost have a heart attack when you lift it up and see the scorched marks that occur as a byproduct. the white-haired leans against the kitchen island innocently, whistling.

“and what are you planning on doing about this?” you shriek. you try to remain calm, really, but it’s hard to do so because gojo has an affinity for driving you to the brink of insanity.

“i will get someone to fix it, i promise!”

“and will they not be suspicious that there are marks in our floor?”

“a little bribery never hurt nobody, and i have a lot of money to bribe someone successfully. plus, i have connections in the jujutsu world!”

you drop the carpet, giving up. “i’m calling shoko to crash at hers for the night-”

“-then i’ll warp her house.”

“can you even do that? a couch is pretty impressive already.”

“so you think i’m impressive?”

“gojo.”

“i don’t know if i can teleport a house but i’m always willing to try.”

you hate him, you decide. “even if you could warp a house, you shouldn’t, because shoko will kick your ass.” 

“but you’ll protect me, won’t you?” 

you say nothing, merely glancing at your boyfriend before reaching for your phone in your pockets. however, before you could even unlock the device, gojo is beside you, crouched down to your level. he maintains a respectable distance, one that does not invade your personal space whilst fulfilling his need to be close to you. 

“are you actually leaving?” he whispers brokenly, completely changing the atmosphere as his eyes begin to shine with tears that threaten to spill. 

your words are lodged in your throat at the pitiful sight. whilst some part of your brain curses you for giving in so easily, the other part that loves gojo (who are you kidding, all of you loves him) begins to feel a little bad.

he continues, reaching for your hand to play with your fingers, “please don’t leave. i’m sorry for what i said when we were arguing. i love you,” he pauses for a second before adding as an afterthought: “a lot.” 

gojo’s apology, although a little awkward and rushed, is nothing short of endearing, successfully quelling the waves of frustration and anger you’ve been feeling for the past few hours. although the hurt has not completely faded, it’s a little less suffocating to be around him now.

his life is far from normal, you understand that, and you realised that it would be something you had to deal with when you started dating him in your last year at jujutsu tech. but you fell for gojo because of his sporadicity. life may have not been the same ever since, but in a world where all you are gifted is targets on your back in exchange for keeping lives safe, his love is a refreshing oasis for you to return to when all is said and done. 

even though he expresses it through unconventional ways, such as teleporting your couch because he was heartbroken at the prospect of being away from you, you think it’s a fair trade. 

as a way of accepting his apology, you open your arms for him and the white-haired doesn’t even let a second pass by before he’s crashing into you. 

it’s comforting, the way he holds onto you like you’ll slip from his grasp otherwise. “i’ll go get our couch back soon,” he mutters into you, squeezing your waist a little tighter.

“we’re having a moment, gojo, please don’t mention the couch or i’ll be angry again.”

“sorry,” the white-haired raises his head to look at you, “can i at least get nickname privileges back?”

“you’re ridiculous,” you huff, “no.”

#leah pls don't perceive me this is saur embarrassing #if u read this i will simply #idk what i will do but i will do something #it feels like the heavens is deciding my fate idk this is a lot of pressure HELP #i'm not totally happy with this one #but i was determined to get this out lol so #mediocre writing as always bc what else do i give you all <33 #i should get rid of this habit #gojo x reader #jjk x reader #jujutsu kaisen x reader #gojou satoru x reader #gojo satoru x reader #gojou x reader #gojo x reader fluff #gojo satoru x reader fluff #gojou satoru x reader fluff #jujutsu kaisen fluff

[undiscovered-horizon]

"Finnish polka" - Ivar the Boneless x Reader

SUMMARY: After helping one of the northern Jarls, the Lothbrok brothers attend a celebratory feast. There, they're faced with a tradition of warriors catching flower crowns that belong to young women. How surprised Ivar is when you almost shove your crown into his hands.

WORDCOUNT: ~ 2.1k

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Ivar is tired.

Of course he's glad that Jarl Thorstein came out victorious. And that his brothers are fine. Still, he feels weary as the adrenaline leaves his body. His legs start to ache. Ivar downs the rest of his mead in hopes it makes him a little more deaf to his mood.

The upbeat, bright music fills his mind like an obsessive thought. His heart beats to the rhythm tapped by the feet of dancing women. They spin, jump and run around with flower crowns sitting atop their heads. How the wreaths remain immovable, he can't quite say.

Ivar is also angry.

As the local tradition entails, when the song ends, all the dancing young maidens will throw their flower crowns to the crowd. Whoever catches it, is believed to be the girl's lover chosen by the gods. However, whether the couple indulges and trusts gods' judgement is a different story. But if the wreath falls to the floor, the girl is said to remain unmarried for the next five years.

Ivar knows the chance of him somehow catching one of those is near zero. He's sitting quite far from the dancers. Even if he did catch it, he's disillusioned about the imminent dissatisfaction of the flower crown's ownert. Not only is he disabled in a way that almost entirely excludes him from fighting but he's also infamous for his ruthless nature and vengeful heart. Hardly a man who invokes desire. Still, some naive piece of him remains hopeful that maybe he's wrong. Maybe he can be terrible and loved all the same.

He shakes those weak delusions away from himself before they sour his mood further.

His piercing eyes have been following one of the dancers for the better part of the song when he catches himself. Her movements look effortless even when the musicians pick up the tempo. Clearly, she's done this dance one too many times to have any doubts about what she's doing. Joy beams from her in a way that makes her appear almost shining. The wreath on the top of her head is mostly green with white and red flowers. It makes Ivar think of the woods surrounding Kattegat; it makes him think of home.

Ivar leans toward Oddleif, one of the Jarl's men, who's sitting next to him.

"Who is she?"

Oddleif looks at Ivar out of the corner of his eye. He scoffs, takes a large sip of his drink and only then decides to answer:

"If you're thinking of catching her flower crown, don't." His blond braids dance slightly as he shakes his head. There's a hint of laughter hiding in the back of Oddleif's throat. "Half of the surviving army wants it."

"I have no care for flowers," Ivar lies through his teeth. "They have no use. They wilt and die and soon no one remembers them. I am simply curious about her."

"Her father is the blacksmith. You might have seen him in the battle, swinging that damned sledgehammer." Ivar silently nods. He remembers that man - tall as a pine tree and wider than a stable. The blacksmith invokes respect even when he's not decimating enemies like a troll equipped with a tree trunk. "He said once that he'll let any man marry his daughter but only if he can lift an anvil. Tried it once myself. Not that I had any success as you can imagine." Oddleif laughs bitterly and continues drinking. His eyes are glued to the dancers but Ivar knows that right now, the two of them are admiring the very same girl with a flower crown like a forest.

The melody continues to quicken. Despite being out of breath, you don't want it to end. Your feet ache but they do not falter nor do they stumble. It seems that their muscles know the dance better than your mind. There are a dozen girls dancing with you but you do not see them. Not really. They appear worlds away from you and the song of bagpipes and strings.

And then appears he.

A slouched, dark figure flies before your eyes as you're doing another pirouette. The man simply sits there, in the corner, but his presence is overwhelming. Or so you think. He does nothing and yet he tears his way into your microcosm of quick footwork, turns and lively polka.

You recognize him. Of course you do. Many whispers, equally frightened and amazed, have spoken of him. You have believed in all of them until the moment you met his gaze for that split second. Right then, somewhere between blinks and breaths, you renounce every gossip you've ever heard about him. A voice in the back of your head, a trickster or an oracle, nags at you to learn the truth yourself.

When the lively, fast melody comes to a stop, you find yourself shaken awake from the thoughts about Ivar the Boneless. The end of the song seems somewhat abrupt to you as you've been letting your fantasy run wild without paying much attention to what's going on around you. Dancing the last part purely by the memory of your muscles. The moment musicians stop playing, a small crowd begins to form in front of you. Men of different class, age and ancestry reach out their hands. Each one of them is more determined than the other to catch your wreath. They start to yell something but considering that the inside of the long hall is awfully loud anyway, you can't make out any words. Reading their lips, you can only tell when they're exclaiming different variations of your name.

They're only pushing towards you, shoving each other away. You keep taking steps backwards but the distance you create with each step is quickly shortened with the men calling out to you. You knew there would be many of them in front of you but never assumed that many. Instead of somewhat flattering, the siege is terrifying and imposing.

Looking for help or advice, just something that will ease your tension, you silently look around the long hall. Your gaze falls on the same slouched, dark figure. Strange peacefulness washes over you when his eyes meet yours.

The dim candlelight seems to bend around Ivar, making his corner appear darker than anywhere else in the long hall. He's simply sitting there. Maybe he's not interested? But the way he's staring at you shows nothing if not burning curiosity. The sons of Ragnar aren't know for their patience. No, they're said to take whatever they want the moment their desire sparks. Despite that, the youngest of them, and arguably the most famous, appears to be waiting. But for what exactly?

The fresh pine needles prick your skin. You furrow your eyebrows. Your gaze falls to the wreath and then comes back to Ivar. Could it be...?

It isn't much of a throw, really. You toss the flower crown towards him without looking anywhere else but into Ivar's eyes. Without as much as blinking, he catches the wreath with ease as though he has been prepared for that. Low murmurs hit your ears but quickly the sounds of disappointment fall silent as it's made clear who caught your wreath. Despite their initial determination, the men who had been reaching out to you suddenly disperse like fog does in the early morning. They knew better than to get under the skin of a Lothbrok. Especially that one.

"I believe this belongs to you."

Ivar is holding up the wreath. Despite his words, he makes no effort to offer it back to you. His eyes are bright and glistening, the corner of his mouth is tugged ever-so-slightly upwards. He appears amused.

At first, it was nice to finally sit down after dancing for what seemed to be hours on end. But now, when you're facing the consequences of your spur-of-the-moment decision, the tension sets in once more. This time, however, it doesn't feel threatening. In turn, the nervousness is somewhat welcome like the jittery state before a surprise is revealed.

"If I wanted to keep it, I wouldn't have thrown it," you answer in a light tone.

"And why should I keep it?"

The blue eyes study you for a moment. It's a strange feeling - you can't help but think that the longer you are in Ivar's presence, talking or not, he's reading your mind and soul. He stares at you in a way that tells you he already holds all the answers but wants you to confirm them.

"It's said to bring good luck." You shrug your shoulders. "Until the wreath wilts and dies, Freya and Freyr will look after you."

Ivar looks at the flower crown again. Only now, when he's holding it, does he realize that for a flower crown, there aren't many flowers. A few sandworts and poppies, yes, but the wreath is made mostly of evergreen plants. It might take weeks until the crown wilts.

The microcosm seems closed again. Now it's not you and the bagpipes but you and him. It's strange and it's new but it's not threatening. It's not the kind of presence a man of his infamy should have. Or perhaps you've simply fallen for his honey trap.

"Why did you throw it to me?" Ivar tries to make the question seem unimportant, just curiosity brought to light. But he can't quite convince himself that he doesn't care. There's a hint of something vulnerable and genuine when the words roll off his tongue. It's easy to miss like a dandelion clock carried away by a gust of wind.

You wish you knew the answer yourself.

"I don't know really," you say honestly. "Perhaps it was one of the gods that threw the flower crown for me." You make a pause. Ivar's face is unreadable. "Or perhaps I have no interest in urgent, desperate men."

Ivar chuckles. A deep shadow is covering part of his face, making him appear kind of sinister. For a moment, you question whether he's laughing with you or at you.

"And what exactly makes you think I'm not urgent or desperate?" he continues. You notice his smile is growing wider. That glint of amusement in his blue eyes has changed in mischief. "What if I'm worse than all of them? You surely know who I am."

"Of course I do, Ivar the Boneless," you drone the words. In a barely noticeable fashion, he clenches his jaw when you say his name. It makes him feel a strange, burning sensation in his stomach but Ivar is left unsure whether he likes it or detests. "The whispers of your ruthless character are unending."

"But you're not afraid?" he asks with both disbelief and suspicion. A girl with a flower crown doesn't necessarily strike him as fearless in any way. Or this whole strange situation is a little too good, too dream-like, for him to accept it at face-value.

Ivar's smile falters when your face takes on a confident, maybe even arrogant, expression. He's taken aback.

"I'm a woman of the North," you say while leaning towards him on the table. The distance between your faces shortnes. "The only person I fear is my own reflection."

The sudden closeness makes Ivar inhale sharply. The strong smell of pine needles fills his nostrils. For a moment, his imagination runs wild but it's not his fault - he has no grasp on it:

How those big eyes glistened in the semi-dark of the long hall as you were staring at him. Your smirk, somewhat challenging and beckoning him to push on. Then, the smell of conifer that shakes all senses awake. His fantasy leaves the northern snows and travelles to forests, to him brushing pine needles from your hair and your naked, flushes skin smelling of evergreen trees.

But quickly his shaken awake, to his utmost displeasure, by you:

"Well, if you don't want it, I suppose I should take it back, no?"

Your hand unsurely reaches out for the wreath in Ivar's hand. He's quick to pull his arm back.

"It's bad luck to take back gifts," he states plainly. In an act of nonchalance, Ivar is playing with the wreath, spinning it around his finger. "I should like to keep it."

Sometimes you come back to the night you've met the infamous Viking, when you're rendered sleepless while he's calmly breathing next to you, getting the rest he desperately needs. How funny all of it seems - that a flower crown in bloodied, merciless hands could lead to having a genuine crown on your head. Maybe you were right, after all, and it really was the hand of one of the gods that threw the wreath for you.

#vikings #vikings series #vikings tv series #vikings fanfiction #vikings imagine #vikings x reader #vikings ivar #ivar x reader #ivar lothbrok #ivar the boneless #ivar the boneless x reader #ivar the boneless fanfiction #ivar the boneless imagnie

[raayllum]

Key to His Heart Theory: Shot Through the Heart, and You're (S5) to Blame

Intro

So a little over a year ago (since usually I think about things meta wise for at least a good month before writing them down), I wrote a meta about why I thought the Key of Aaravos might hold a quasar diamond, specifically Aaravos' missing chest piece. His heart, if you will.

At the time, I thought it was a very strong contender for what the cube might be, even if it didn't necessarily give us a clear depiction on what it might be used for, and was again operating under the assumption the cube itself is something Aaravos even wants back or needs (which is assumption still, at this point).

It made sense loosely with some of the new information we'd gleaned about the cube from S4 (mostly the Callum pawn intro with its bright flashing light, the emphasis on hearts in the narrative with Ezran's speech, the 4x04 flashbacks) and was likewise built upon a previous meta regarding the series' use of Egyptian mythology (Thoth and Ibis being present somewhat in Callum's arc, the main trio's parallels to another Egyptian myth trio, Aaravos' mirror and mirrors as objects of divination, and potential matching symbolism with the ankh).

The Key to His Heart theory was also built on previous seasons — largely the Magma Titan plot line, and Avizandum being stabbed in the heart — in addition to Aaravos' chest piece, seemingly, being notably absent, which seemed indicative of certain lines from the short stories, particularly Rayla (S4's Dear Callum), but we'll talk more about these later:

Please don’t let this hurt too much. But, if it does—if you feel that soft aching—know that that piece of your heart isn’t missing. It’s not missing at all, Callum: I’m carrying it with me! Always.

If you're interested in this theory and want to know about it, I recommend reading the two metas I've linked above, as the rest of this won't really be delving too much into what I've already written about, and talking about how season five has given more potential evidence.

With that out of the way, let's get into it in rough order of "most to least" likely:

Season Five

TDP Reflections

Whereas hearts weren't mentioned too much in the short stories leading up to S4, they became a reoccurring motif every TDP reflection story going into S5.

Fools. They might as well have held their own hearts, beating and bloody, in the palms of their hands. Kim’dael knew that if she showed them her heart—or something convincingly like it—the Sunfire elves would do exactly what she wanted them to do.

“Rayla,” she said, meeting Redfeather’s gaze. “My name is Rayla. And I’m going home.” Redfeather sighed. “Oh, you bleeding heart.”

“They balk at shadows, then.” Aditi pulled a slip of white-hot metal from the forge and turned to place it upon a gilded anvil. “I see your heart—and I am not afraid.”

It stared up at him. Ezran felt a coldness twist its way around his heart. It took his lungs, too, and for a long moment he could not breathe, could not feel anything but an unfamiliar anger so potent it seized the whole of him, inside and out.

Viren staggers backwards, his last breath shuddering through the blade. His white robes turn red at his heart. Something in Soren’s own chest shatters along old cracks, but he cannot look away. 

“You are stronger than this. All storms end!” Rex rumbled a snort through flared nostrils. “What lies at its heart?” 

 He wept for his city, his people, and the darkness struck deep into their hearts.

While one may say it ends with a sunrise, another will insist it ends at nightfall. Yet at the heart of the story is a single, simple truth…A star fell from the sky.

From where Kim’dael stood, she could only see the brilliant aura of its magic. For a moment, it was as though the queen’s heart overflowed with light.

Now, some of this is undeniably because a heart is a short hand for emotion and one of our most useful metaphors for communicating a variety of emotion. However, I did think it was particularly interesting / eye catching that these lines tended to overlap with the series' growing light and darkness motif and emphasis on wounds/scars (to the point we have a 5x02 episode titled "Old Wounds" that refers to both Viren's past and Callum and Rayla's healing relationship).

But by far the one that struck me the most, and seemed the most reminiscent of how Aaravos's (literal?) wound manifests is this paragraph from Claudia's short story:

Lissa had left her years ago, but the space she had owned in Claudia’s heart remained. It was a dark place now, hard and hateful, its edges raw as a wound that had forgotten to heal.

Mountains had crumbled and left in their wake a vast new sea. It was as though the land had been dealt a great wound and bled a hundred years. Terror washed across the remnants of humanity like a wave: What power could fell mountains? Turn all the world dark, and bleed a sea from stones?

—Ripples (pre-S5)

As well as Aaravos' clear desire to have revenge over the Startouch elves for something that seems to go beyond the resentment over just being banished:

I have not seen the stars in centuries. But when I see them again—when the stars are forced to look upon me, their dark brother—they will know how I have waited. And when everything they have built lies shattered, I will savor their fall from the sky. For I have been patient.

—Patience (pre-S4)

We don't know yet if we are going to get more TDP reflections going into S6 or S7, but given the way the previous stories emphasize the heart as both a symbolic idea (a darkened, hollowed out heart) and a literal entity you can hold in your hands... It's clear there's something going on symbolism else, otherwise why be so consistent? But enough of the reflections, for now.

Time to talk about S5 itself.

Laurelion

Previously, I thought the cube in the intro (a literal glow toy, as Rayla identified back in 1x05) already had similar properties to the star-glow effect in the title intro back at S4.

At the time, this was more of a guess. Most of the Star magic we'd seen at that point we weren't able to fully identify as such, it seemed a bit more magenta in colour, and while there was a parallel in the bright flash of light upon releasing Sir Sparklepuff, there's also a bright flash when the prison is actually made. It's just a good short hand for a crescendo of magical power, you know? We didn't know if quasar diamonds were even going to be white, besides the one presumably in Aaravos' chest concept art wise.

And yet — it still felt like something to me. Then S5 with Laurelion came along.

The Death of the Immortal

K: "And though undying, took last breath, immortal Laurelion was no more." C: That's good, right? I mean when someone "was no more," that's — that's dead, yeah? K: It's a bit confusing, but that is the clearest implication. Though it is somewhat odd they call them undying and immortal. C: Well, that doesn't sound so immortal? Laurelion "was no more". K: Right. C: But how? How did they...? K: Right here. "White as the star's heart it pierced, ivory draconic brought death's bite known ever forth as Novablade." C: It's a sword.

There's a few noteworthy things about this whole exchange:

The poem has to be relevant eventually, otherwise why include it at all when you easily could've just had Kazi and Callum stumble across the sword period?

It confirms that the heart of a star is something that can be pierced, presumably removed, and white, which I think is the biggest "hell yeah" to the 4x04 intro

There is no reason to point out the contradictions in the poem itself unless A) the sword doesn't work the way we think it does and/or B) we are going to find out why the "undying and immortal" thing matters — and they make sure to emphasize the contradictions quite a bit as well, so they definitely want us to notice

If Laurelion died, and Aaravos took his place, that would explain how Laurelion — identity wise — could die while the same person under a new name could also remain alive / immortal

We learn in Rayla's pre-S5 short story that Ghosts don't often keep their real names, and take a new one as the final severance of their bond with their old community. For all extents and purposes, Aaravos was Ghosted (banished) from his community as well. Taking a new name would make sense

"That must've been when [Harrow] fell." "Fell? Fell! He didn't fall, Rayla, he didn't trip and fall on the ground — he got killed!" (2x08)

There's more speculation here regarding the actual sword and draconic ivory, but that is another post for another day that other smart people have made if you are interested. For now let's just focus on the heart.

We know Laurelion had a heart; we know it got stabbed with the Novablade, leaving Laurelion both no more (i.e. dead) and yet immortal / undying. We know that Arc 2 in particular has had an emphasis on losing your sense of self and identity ("I was his puppet" / "We can't save everyone, Soren" / "But I'm not evil. It's me" / all of Viren's dream visions). We know that a Star's heart is white. We know that Aaravos seemingly used to have one, and now it's either missing or impermanent, only visible sometimes.

(Putting a pin in the second image cause we'll roll back around to it in the counter evidence section.)

We know his chest centrepiece glowed when he was imprisoned, and we know it was seemingly gone when he got banished. We know something about the Key of Aaravos was able to reveal his treachery.

I'm not saying any of this is for sure connected, but it does make you think, at least a little?

That, and it'd play into another bit of potential interesting foreshadowing / symbolism we got in s5 with

Viren Heart Theory

This is another theory I've discussed in more detail elsewhere, so I'm going to link to it here, but it wouldn't feel right to not talk about it at least a little here. Basically the theory is that Viren used his own blood / a piece of his heart, or possibly the whole thing, and the relic staff in order to save Soren when he was a young child.

This is largely due to Viren's spotlight turning red after he begs to be able to save Soren, and cinched by Kpp'Ar pointing specifically at Viren's heart only for Viren to deflect and start talking about Soren's case specifically. Whatever he did seemed to make him more 'powerful,' but at a great personal cost ("In the name of love you may perform acts that are so unforgivable, you will never forgive yourself") and something he finds the need to justify ("I had to do something! I had to save him! I had no choice!").

If Viren did this, it also adds another layer to Viren's sentiment of "Harrow's death breaks my heart" being well, half-hearted, in addition to Soren literally stabbing illusion Viren in the heart in 3x09. Viren mutilated his heart for his son's life, stopped being able to properly express love to said son, and then Soren stabbed his father right in the place that presumably saved him as a child. Ouch.

It seems likely that one of the reasons Aaravos was able to prey so aptly on Viren's desire for importance and attention — to Matter — was because Aaravos might've tried and failed earlier on to get the Startouch elves to listen to him pre-banishment. Being ignored, exiled, and disempowered is something he can relate to, and something he doesn't mind taking advantage of when it suits him.

However, if this combination could save someone Viren loved, it makes me wonder if Aaravos did something similar to likewise try (and fail?) to save someone he loved, too. It's either that or the Startouch elves just completely ripped it out, so... I guess we'll have to see?

But yeah — if Viren did it, then I'm expecting it's more likely that Aaravos did it, too. That is all.

The Pawn Intros

But Dragons, you say, didn't we already talk about the Callum pawn intro?

And to that I say yes, but — thanks to a promo S6 picture of Aaravos crying, we know something else very important about said intros that we didn't know before: they take place at the Sea of the Cast Out.

The sky, the mountains... the fact we know, thanks to the statues in 5x09, that this is likely where Aaravos' grief — his wound, if you will — began to bleed and take root, leading to his thousands of years of seeking vengeance and using just about anything or anyone he could. This is, presumably, where his chess game started... and where it is, symbolically at least, going to end.

Okay, so it's the Sea of the Cast Out — why does that matter?

Well, we know the Sea of the Cast Out is a site of literal trauma for Aaravos. We know, thanks to the statues of Aaravos and the Merciful One, that it plays into the same reaching motif we see Viren participate in quite a few times, both in his intro and in other places/relationships (most notably Sarai, Harrow, and Terry).

The Sea of the Cast Out is also, perhaps more importantly for this theory's purposes, near Elarion. What little we do know about the city beyond it being an important place for humans and dark magic ties it repeatedly to nature through The Midnight Star poem:

Elarion, trembling seed, lay down to earth in icy night, and in the cold her roots took hold defying winter’s deathly bite. Elarion, fading bloom, afraid to wilt and dim and die, [...] Elarion, dying husk, did wilt and whimper in the dark [...] Elarion, black-eyed child, her twisted roots spread deep and far,

as well as a tale about the Flowers of Elarion, precious blooms that could soothe the senses and turned to dust come morning—flowers that were left as "a fair exchange of beloved for beloved" (Tales of Xadia). Put a pin that Exchange idea because I swear we're gonna come back to it but not in the usual way you might be expecting, or at least not entirely.

And we have good reason to believe this nature motif is tied to Aaravos' current imprisonment as well, given how present flower imagery is for his mirror.

So the Sea of the Cast Out and Elarion seem to be the two places we know of thus far that are not only the most important to Aaravos, but the most instrumental to his banishment. It would not surprise me if either Aaravos got involved in what would become Elarion either because he was banished, or it was what he was banished over, or if discovering the truth of what happened there is likewise why the Archdragons were partially like "Yeah, we gotta lock this guy up" (now that they knew he posed a serious threat). The fact that Elarion is referred to as a child (everything with "blood of a child,"), black-eyed (which denotes dark magic), and winter's "deathly bite" ("White as the star's heart it pierced, / ivory draconic brought death's bite") just all ties together nicely in being related even if we're not totally sure how.

But Aaravos having his chest piece removed by force / as punishment in addition to being cast out by the Startouch elves, or him taking it out himself and giving it to someone who was lost... There's a lot of roads to get here as to why this stuff all seems connected if the Key is indeed his chest piece, which offers up both a power up, a sad tragic backstory, some baller symbolism, and some nice double meanings as to what it is key wise.

As the Key works in the moment, it doesn't seem like it's something that would be very useful to a primal mage, as other than pretty easily identifiable gemstones they wouldn't be using much the key identifies. However, the function of the Key being able to categorize and sort magical creatures and plants from each other is something that is very useful if you're a dark mage and need to shore up your ingredients list.

If the Key has Aaravos' chest piece in it, there are two main prongs this offers:

It may have been instrumental in helping humans discover dark magic, hence the "Elarion, searing white" and could also be the Gift the poem speaks of. Aaravos removed it himself (love makes you weak?), gave it to his chosen human, chosen human died, and he was locked out of Startouch realm as a combined result. This offers the clearest connection between why Aaravos' mirror has the nature motif and why Aaravos is crying in the beginning of 6x01.

It was removed by the Startouch elves and lost/hidden, forcing Aaravos to be away from his old home until he could find it again. This is the clearest explanation as to why the Key might be relevant on a plot level. It could give him the power up he needs to get out of his prison and barring that, it's what he needs to wreck havoc and gain access to the Startouch elves to get revenge on them

It also allows what we learn of the cube in 2x06 to have multiple meanings:

The Key is revealed in an episode called The Heart of a Titan. We're led to assume that this is just the Magma Titan, and you could perhaps make an argument the dual meaning (just like how Breaking the Seal refers to the letter and the titan's chest) refers to Harrow or Callum's capacity to love. But, given that one of Aaravos' most prominent mythic comparisons is to Prometheus, a literal Titan, well...

"It unlocks something of great power in Xadia" would work equally well if it's a Key literally made from Aaravos, not just to Aaravos. And the past 2 seasons in particular have emphasized over and over again just how powerful and dangerous he is

The salvation and destruction motif that is inherent in the key, ("I just have a feeling this key thing can help me" / "It's the key of Aaravos, no good will come of it") as keys are linked to chains and freedom with the ability to lock and unlock, is rampant in 2x06, as Viren states that Xadia and the Magma Titan "held both the promise of our salvation and threat of our destruction." This goes double for Sarai sacrificing her life to save Viren

And to round back to Viren and his intro, I don't think it's a coincidence that

is one of the first things Aaravos ever says to Viren, particularly when trying to earn Viren's trust. (Nor that Aaravos considers that Zubeia and co. "betrayed" him when "he would lower his guard," just before the imprisonment.) And while Aaravos gains Viren's trust as a political ally here first, it's also clear that he's actually primarily preying upon Viren's deepest emotional desires here as well: to be listened to. To matter.

Viren wasn't listened to by the monarchs around him (Harrow). He wanted to be important (to them). He wanted to matter.

"It is everything to me, to know that I matter. It's all I ever wanted."

Aaravos: Search your heart. There is something you want very badly. (2x09) Zubeia: He was able to give them something they wanted very badly. (4x04)

And that's what Aaravos offered him, with power and knowledge just being the bait. (If you're interested in more detailed thoughts on this aspect of Viren / their dynamic, check out this meta here.)

More to the point, I do lean towards the Key's plot purposes being 1) a power-up that may be needed for him to get out of his mirror and 2) something that likewise allows him to see the other Startouch elves again. After all, the Silvergrove gave each elf a similar kind of key:

But y'know what, let's talk about Rayla now, because

The Missing Piece of Your Heart

As stated earlier, Rayla's letter has a consistent metaphor when it comes to family and loss:

I remember how I felt when my parents left me to join the Dragonguard, like PART OF MY HEART WAS MISSING and I would never feel right again. I thought I hated them when they did that to me. In the beginning, it felt so big and terrible—like raging despair—but, overtime, it became a soft, sweet ache—a reminder of that missing part of my heart. [...] Please don’t let this hurt too much. But, if it does—if you feel that soft aching—know that that piece of your heart isn’t missing. It’s not missing at all, Callum: I’m carrying it with me! Always.

This struck me as interesting when the letter first came out, as it was a departure from most of Rayla's previous heart motif ("My heart for Xadia") and even the one attributed to her one half of her parents ("My heart goes out with this one"). Why have the motif suddenly switch up when it would've worked just as well, or been doubly romantic + a Ruthari parallel, to just have it be the whole heart?

Then season four came out, and I understood, because, well...

Upon her return, Rayla brings back that "missing piece" of "Callum's heart". It's a painful restoration and doesn't run entirely smooth, but in season five in particular we see him be much more like his older, happier self once he's let himself love her again, and how steadfast he is in said love ("To love is simply know this...").

But, in a moment that could've been exclusively about Rayla, nor did it need for Stella's connection to the Star arcanum to be this prominent in the same moment, they choose to likewise highlight Rayla 'bringing home' the missing piece of Aaravos' heart, too.

This symbolism is also consistent with how the key is introduced in the first place, i.e. first thought of because Rayla's drawing in Callum's sketchbook (another gift from Harrow) reminds Callum of it, and her ultimately being the one to retrieve it even once things at the Banther Lodge take a turn towards the south.

Furthermore, we do have reason to believe that Rayla is indeed the 'Key to Callum' in a sense, particularly after 5x08. Just like how a key can both lock and unlock — give freedom or entrapment — Rayla symbolizes a great deal of duality in Callum's life, including but not limited to:

Leading him to primal magic (1x03, 5x08) and dark magic (2x07, 5x08)

Light ("No one can control you or make your choices for you" / Ray of light) and dark ("But the second you see that elf girl in pain, you completely lost yourself" / "Stay safe, and stay in the light. Don't look for me")

Being routinely emphasized in Callum's arc with Aaravos, especially in S4

"Now you're back. That's kind of good, and it's kind of bad" / "You have to hold pain and love in your heart at the same time" / "And when she came back, I was so happy, and so mad at the same time"

Salvation ("Rayla saves people [...] that's what makes her a hero") and destruction (being willing to die / do dark magic for her)

The Ocean arcanum realization being both positive and negative, just as the poem itself takes on a different shape across the season in regards to how Callum views her and how he views himself while being motivated by his love for her / Ezran

“Wow. So [the berries] look identical, but they might kill you or they might save you,” Callum said. “Exactly. Just like me…” Rayla smiled.

—Book One: Sky novelization

If you're interested in a more specific meta on this dichotomy, I recommend this meta written pre-s4 and this more recent one about 5x08 specifically.

I've written before about Rayla have a weird consistency with the cube as well, particularly in her being the primary carrier of its foreshadowing for most of arc 1, with Callum only really doing so in 1x04 and having Rayla pick up the slack the rest of the time:

"It's a toy, a piece from a children's game" (1x04) as well as "It's a glow toy" (1x05) are now literally true as the cube is 1) involved in Aaravos' game and 2) literally glows a bright flashing light circa the 4x04 intro.

"Are you practicing magic or are you losing to Bait at a game of rolly-cubes?" (2x07 right after Callum calls it a key) came to pass, somewhat if not outright, it seems, in 5x08. Callum practices two different magics, Rayla is literal bait in exchange for the glow-toad, and the episode ends with Callum being worried he's potentially losing Aaravos' 'game' so to speak — that he's made himself more vulnerable to the Startouch elf's control.

Two lines of hers regarding the cube that have not yet come to pass are "This doesn't end well for you" (1x05) and "I hope it was worth it to you, putting everyone's lives in danger" (1x04) but I expect that we'll get them soon enough.

Rayla's 'tether' to a the cube does, of course, loop back into the Flowers of Elarion tale, in which there was a fair exchange of beloved for beloved. If the Key does indeed hold Aaravos' heart (and that is still a very big If), whether it would include an actual exchange is still debatable, but it seems inevitable that she would at least play a part. (If you're interested in more thoughts on Rayla + the cube, check out this meta pre-s4.)

Where the game motif gets the most interesting, I think, is where it intersects with the idea Aaravos mentions in 2x09 regarding, "Those who fail tests of love are simple animals," and one of the TDP short stories in particular having one very interesting tidbit:

“My behavior is—?” “—unusual,” Corvus repeated, nodding. “Very unusual. Ever since you started challenging me to all these little games.” Soren squirmed. His pauldrons clanked as his shoulders slumped. “They aren’t games. They’re tests. Ugh…I’m really messing this up.”

Since Rayla is going to have her "My heart for Xadia" undeniably tested, it would make sense if Callum and Aaravos' hearts came into play too, don't you think?

Other Misc Symbolism / Oddities

Last but not least, we have our odds and ends that didn't fit in the other sections, but I thought may be worthwhile to mention anyway.

For starters, we have screencaps (most notably in 3x06) where you can see a visible dip in Aaravos' tiddies chest that indicates something was removed, and it's not just an artificial darkness.

We have Aaravos touching a fist to his heart twice before he bows and indicates that Callum is going to "play" into his hands (remember that game motif?).

We have this shot, which is the exact kind of thing that "crew makes sure the Ocean and Moon runes are most prominently on display in Callum's dark magic dreams to foreshadow him doing dark magic in S5 Ocean for his Moonshadow gf 3 seasons later" would absolutely do and think they're So Funny about. "No gem for star magic" except the one you're unknowingly holding in your hand, am I right?

Finally, we have precedent that dark magic can 'darken' your heart both in show when Amaya passes the light trial ("A human that is pure of heart") and in the graphic novels with Claudia ("Your heart is not yet darkened") which allows her to see the map to a unicorn (The Puzzle House).

@self-spaghettification also noted that the bright white flash of the star in the 'o' of Aaravos' name in the Arc 2 intro momentarily looks like and makes the shape of the Nova Blade, which is also very cool.

Honourable mention to Rayla going "it's a piece from a children's game" and Ezran going "you said each of the archdragons had a piece of the puzzle" and the Orphan Queen and Jailer presumably working together to trap Aaravos. I think about that shit every day.

Evidence to the Contrary / Alternatives

But like I said at the start, there are plenty of alternatives or feasible pitfalls to consider. This theory resides on a few assumptions after all, that may not be true, such as Aaravos not actually needing the key for anything other than as a lure for Callum, it could purely have something to do with the Nova Blade and nothing to do with the prison, or even have something to do with the nature of magic itself, capable of great good as well as great evil.

His chest piece could've always been more immaterial and dark magic has just darkened it rather than it being removed. Aaravos may have stabbed Laurelion in order to use that heart diamond to partially make the Relic Staff he passed onto Ziard, or Aaravos' chest piece could be in the staff itself, and the cube is something else entirely.

Conclusion

In the end, as we go forward into S6 all the above is more less my personal bet as to where I think we really could go in terms of answering a lot of these questions we've had for a few seasons now. I hope you enjoyed reading the theory and considering (and possibly subscribing to) it, as well as getting your own thoughts stimulated. If any of the above happens I will cry for days and no matter what, I am deeply intrigued to see where S6 takes Aaravos' backstory and, of course, his cube. Luckily:

#tdp #the dragon prince #tdp aaravos #key to his heart theory #tdp meta #analysis series #aaravos

[exhausted-archivist]

The Deep Roads are Complicated, and I am in too Deep...

I've been working on and off at mapping the Deep Roads for a while now and after writing 4 pages explaining my methodology of why I think it is mapped the way I put it and then moving on to orienting the ttrpg thaig map, I realized something while taking notes on the directions mentioned and cross-referencing it to the description of Horrors of Hormak thaig description.

You can't map the Deep Roads from a top-down perspective because sometimes the roads change directions and aren't actually going in a straight line.

They need an orthographic map. Or a map that essentially bisects the mountain. The literal map in the corner of both the Origins and ttrpg maps. The maps... that have increments of depth.

Now, I knew that the deep roads had to change elevation, especially considering how they're described and the way they're supposedly below sea level for most thaigs.

But somehow, despite knowing that, I never considered that thaigs and the roads themselves would essentially be stacked on top of each other. Don't know why that never crossed my mind up until I was checking my notes and the passages of the ttrpg and Horrors of Hormak to confirm directions. To which it finally clicked as they both explain how there are galleries/antechambers and staircases/pathways that change directions.

How do we get to the thaig? This tunnel leads to a series of galleries. Think of them as interconnecting wide flights of stairs linked together and occasionally switching direction. We head down these for a few hours and we’ll be on the outskirts of the thaig.

-- Dragon Age Tabletop RPG, Buried Pasts p. 18

Beside him, Lesha muttered a word and her staff began to glow. She pushed it inside the entrance to the hole, giving light to the darkness within. The edges of the circle cast by Lesha’s spell revealed a small staircase that descended into an antechamber slightly larger than the clearing above, carved with a skill and delicacy that rivaled the works of Orzammar, or even Kal-Sharok. At the other end of the chamber, a doorway and a second staircase beyond that which spiraled into the darkness, the entire space lit by the glow of lyrium. And above the entrance, written in dwarven runes, a single word—Hormok.

-- Dragon Age: Tevinter Nights, Horrors of Hormak (p. 86)

Which then gave me pause and had me rereading and looking back at the map. Because the maps looked like they were straight and didn't initially give the impression of any verticality to them. Until you look in the corner. That's when it clicked for me and the mountains suddenly made more sense.

And now I'm screaming about it here. Because both maps are depicting a small chunk of mountain(s) in the Frostbacks. Which, for reference, my wip of the Deep Roads looked like this.

If you follow BioWare's scale of 1 square = 15 miles / 24 km - if the Deep Roads were in working order the journey to the anvil would only be roughly around 2.5-3 days journey. However, we know to get to the anvil and back to Orzammar is a month-long trip. So, with the darkspawn and collapsed tunnels it becomes a 2-week journey there and 2 weeks back. Which is quite a large jump in travel times.

I have a personal scale based on population size, megafauna, and the fact that it is supposed to take over a week to get to the Circle from Orzammar on the surface, among other travel time increments. Which makes each square 38 mi / 61 km. A 4-5 day journey from the anvil to the void when functioning.

Now, I think this map still holds up in terms of placement considering that mountains can have a wide footprint and the map on the Origins Deep Roads has at least two major peaks and a plateau, whereas the ttrpg just has one major peak and a couple of smaller ones. The ttrpg map also speaks of ravines and such so it fits the geography.

But yeah, long story short I need to revise some of my methodology; and maybe rescale the map, so things aren't super tiny.

#dragon age #dragon age maps #deep roads #dwarves #thaigs #dragon age origins #dragon age tabletop #dao #da ttrpg #long post #no cut because if I'm here you're here lost in the deep roads with me #archi is yelling

[hungermakesmonsters]

Catch Me If You Can

Chapter Eleven

Plot summary : When your friend interviews for a position at Anvil, you have a chance encounter with Billy Russo. He takes you for coffee and, by the time you’re done, Billy decides he’s anything but done with you.

Pairing : Billy Russo x Reader

Story Rating : R 

Chapter Rating : R for smut

Warnings : [This is a fic for 18+ only, minors DNI] This chapter contains mentions of panic attacks. There's also the usual smutty behaviour. Please check the warnings on each chapter if you choose to follow this story. 

Word Count : ~3.5k

A/N : This is set a few hours after the last chapter. Thanks to everyone still reading this, I'm honestly overwhelmed by how many of you are following this week after week.

CHAPTER ONE | CHAPTER TWO | CHAPTER THREE | CHAPTER FOUR | CHAPTER FIVE | CHAPTER SIX | CHAPTER SEVEN | CHAPTER EIGHT | CHAPTER NINE | CHAPTER TEN

Chapter Eleven

The gentle buzz of your phone on the nightstand was enough to wake you, and you quickly reached for it before it could disturb Billy. He was still sleeping soundly beside you. At some point, he’d rolled away from you and, now, his hand resting in the space between your bodies, like he was reaching for you in his sleep.

You moved slowly, slipping out from beneath the covers, grabbing his shirt off the floor and pulling it on. You’d gone to sleep wearing pyjamas, but you’d given up on them after the second time Billy had pulled them off you; just like the first night you’d spent in his bed, he seemed to be struggling to keep his hands off you. And, now, your pyjamas were nowhere to be found - he’d thrown them across the room hours ago and there was no way you’d find them without turning the light on.

(Besides, you quite liked the feel of his shirt on you; the soft material and the way it smelled of Billy.)

Grabbing your phone, you tiptoed out of the bedroom and headed for the kitchen, scrolling through your messages as you went. A chill ran down your spine and you pulled the shirt tighter around your body, but it wasn’t the temperature causing your discomfort, it was the messages waiting on your phone.

Call me. Now.

Stop ignoring me.

I’m not going away, we need to talk.

You quickly decided it was too late to deal with it. Sam could wait until tomorrow - or the day after. You put your phone down on the kitchen counter and started to search the cupboards for a glass - and, honestly, because you wanted to snoop. You wanted to know what a man like Billy Russo kept in his kitchen. And, as it turned out, not a lot; he had the basics, the things that a kitchen couldn’t do without, but none of it looked used, and there wasn’t much in the way of food to be found. 

Billy could afford to eat out whenever he wanted, you supposed, but it still felt like a shame to have such a nice kitchen and not use it.

Eventually you found a glass and filled it with cold water but, instead of going straight back to bed, you found yourself drawn back to the large floor-to-ceiling windows and the view of the city beyond. How often had Billy stood where you were, you wondered, looking out at the lights. It felt strangely lonely and you wondered if that was how Billy felt in this big apartment all on his own.

(No, he probably had a different woman in this apartment every single night and that was not something you wanted to think about.)

Twenty minutes passed before you finally returned to the bedroom, wanting nothing more than to slip back into bed and curl up next to Billy.

The bedroom was still dark, save from the faint glow from the city outside, but you could easily make out Billy’s figure, sitting on the edge of the bed, hunched over, his head between his hands. Your lips parted, about to say something when you heard it; a forced breath, followed by another then another, forming an awkward and disjointed pattern that sounded almost painful. For a second you froze.

“Billy?” You spoke softly, quietly, not wanting to startle him.

When he looked up, you saw wide, dark eyes, like he was surprised to see you. He didn’t say anything, but judging from what you could make out of his face and the way he was breathing, you weren’t sure he could say much even if he’d wanted to.

“Are you alright?” You dared to take a step towards him. It was a stupid question, but you had to say something.

“Fine.” The word sounded forced, awkward.

“What’s going on?”

“Nothing.”

Creeping closer, you didn’t stop until you were standing in front of him. Reaching for his cheek, you urged him to look at you, and your heart broke for him. Whatever this was, whatever had caused it, he was upset. But, before you could ask, his arm wound around your waist, pulling you closer so he could bury his face against your body.

You held him. You held him tight. One hand ran up and down his back, while the other tangled in his hair. You didn’t speak, didn’t dare ask him to even try, you just listened to his awkward, laboured breathing as it slowly started to even itself out.

Five minutes passed before his grip on you started to loosen and, when he finally lifted his head again, you offered a soft smile, loosening your own hold on him.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, it’s nothing,” he answered, almost sounding back to his usual self.

“It didn’t look like nothing...”

“I said it’s fine, can you just drop it?” The sudden sharpness in his voice took you by surprise, your arms quickly dropping back to your sides. 

“I was just -”

Billy let out a frustrated sigh and got to his feet, causing you to step back a couple of paces to give him space. He didn’t say anything before stalking out of the room, leaving you all alone.

While you understood that it wasn’t you, that his outburst hadn’t been aimed at you, it still hurt and, as you stood there, you thought about getting your things and leaving. As always, your first instinct was to run away. But that wasn’t fair, not to Billy and not to you either. Whatever this was, whatever had triggered it, it wasn’t something you could force Billy to talk about. And, honestly, you didn’t like the thought of leaving him on his own when he was clearly upset.

For five minutes, you sat on the bed and waited for him to come back, when he didn’t, you decided to go look. He wasn’t hard to track down, he was standing where you’d been only thirty minutes before, in front of the sink, braced against the counter and having a drink. At any other time, you might have taken a moment to admire his naked form, but this didn’t seem like the time.

“Do you want me to go?” You decided to ask, as calmly and as simply as you could, letting Billy decide what he needed from you.

“No,” he didn’t even turn to look at you, but his answer was enough.

“Okay.”

You waited a moment more before moving back towards the windows, not wanting to go back to bed without him. You’d wait it out; either he’d go back to bed or the pair of you would spend the rest of the night like this instead of sleeping. It was the only way you could think to show him that you were there, that whatever this was, you weren’t going to walk away over it. He’d stuck by you after seeing your scars, you’d do the same for him.

More time passed before you heard him move, the sound of bare feet on the wooden floor, getting closer and closer. You didn’t turn, you just followed his reflection in the glass as he moved towards you, standing behind you so he could wrap his arm around you. He let out a heavy sigh, sounding relieved as you stepped back, pressing yourself against him.

He didn’t say anything, neither did you; you were just happy that he was holding you. His head bowed, his face against your neck, just breathing you in as he held you tight. And, again, you wondered how many others had seen this side of him, who else had seen the softer side of Billy Russo. One day you might have the courage to ask, but not tonight.

Eventually, his hands started to move, slipping up your thighs and beneath his shirt. It felt different from every other time he’d touched you, like he was looking for something; comfort, something that made sense to him. And, as you were quickly starting to understand, for Billy, that meant physical touch, that meant sex. Maybe it wasn’t the healthiest way to deal with his issues (especially if anything Krista had told you was true) but you couldn’t force him to talk and the thought of him upset or in any sort of pain made you want to help.

You decided to try and be a distraction for him, to take his mind off whatever was bothering him. Finding one of his hands, you took it in your own and held tight as you slipped away from him. You didn’t go far, just a few paces until you were beside the sofa. You gave his hand a reassuring squeeze before leaning down against the arm of the sofa, propping yourself up on your elbows, letting his shirt ride up as you did; offering yourself to him, submitting to him.

His breath caught, and that said more to you that words ever could, but he didn’t move straight away, he was too busy taking in the sight of you. When he did step closer, his hands found your ass, fingers squeezing before sinking down between your thighs. You let out a soft gasp as his fingers ran through your folds, trailing up and down, not to tease but to ensure that you were ready for him.

When his fingers gripped your hips, you took a slow breath and held it, letting it burn in your lungs while you waited for the inevitable. 

There was a moment of stillness before his cock filled you, pitching inside you with such a force that you spilled forwards, crying out his name. The suddenness brought with it a delicious ache and a feeling fullness that you’d never found with anyone but Billy.  Your back arched as he drew back before filling you again. He fucked you hard and fast, each thrust of his cock causing you to shake, pushing you forward until your body was slumped over the arm of the sofa and all thoughts of propping yourself up were long forgotten.

A deep and possessive noise escaped him as he took what he needed from you, and you happily let him. There was a sense of realness about the moment, something honest, and you loved it, you were starting to love seeing this side of him.

Lifting a leg, placing your knee on the arm of the sofa, you opened yourself for him, letting Billy take more and more. Deeper, harder, faster; there was no slowing the feelings that started to coil inside you.

Burying your face in the cushions, you tried to muffle all the wanton sounds that were spilling from you, but there was nothing that could contain the cry of pleasure that tore from you when the crown of his cock hit that special spot. Your insides thrummed with need every time his cock filled you and you dreaded the emptiness every time he pulled back, so much so that you found yourself clenching around him, desperate to keep him.

You broke suddenly, shockwaves coursing through your body, convulsing around him. But Billy wasn’t done. Without warning, he pulled out, flipping you onto your back before filling you again. Your body twisted and squirmed, over-sensitive from your orgasm, but Billy held you in place, his grip strong enough to leave bruises on your hips. The shirt fell open, exposing your breasts as he fucked you; a sight that had his dark gaze transfixed on you, watching how your body shook and writhed beneath him.

Your nails bit into the expensive leather of the sofa, desperately trying to find something to hold onto, letting out moans that sounded closer and closer  to screams as he continued.

“Billy -” you moaned, long and loud, finally breaking the (relative) silence between you.

“Is this what you wanted?” he asked, breathless and through gritted teeth.

“Yes! Fuck - Billy, just like that -” you answered, knowing exactly what it would do to him, “- don’t stop. Please, don’t stop...”

Billy didn’t disappoint, pounding into you, drawing every desperate and needy sound that he could from you until you had to resort to biting a cushion just to keep yourself from screaming.

“This little pussy is all mine,” your back arched at his words, pressing yourself against him, your body saying everything you refused to admit, “you’re gonna be able to feel me inside you for the rest of the week.”

“Please -” you practically sobbed into the cushion, so completely overwhelmed by him.

He lifted your legs, pulling your knees up to his waist, changing the angle again. Without thinking you reached between your legs, fingers finding your swollen clit.

“That’s it, sweetheart,” he practically growled when he noticed what you were doing.

“Billy -” you moan, your slick walls fluttering around him, “come for me, come with me...”

“You want me to come inside you, sweetheart? Want me to fill your pussy again?” He panted, fingers pressing into your hips so fiercely you knew that they would leave bruises.

“I - I  need you to -” a moan tearing from your lips.

His thrusts turned quick and shallow, chasing his orgasm while your fingers and his cock pushed you towards another. You moaned his name one more time, soaked walls clenching tight around him as you tried to hold on just as little while longer. But it was impossible. You saw stars as you came again, harder than before, and harder still when Billy started to spill hot inside you.

He continued with short, deep thrusts as he came undone, his dark eyes fixed on your as your fingers continued to rub your clit. Both of you tried to drag the moment out as long as possible, but it nothing could stop the inevitable.

You moaned softly as he finally started to slow and as the pulse of his cock ebbed to nothing, you hand finally dropping to your side. Billy braced himself against the back of the sofa, not pulling away, remaining inside you. It seemed to be a thing with Billy, not wanting to pull away from you straight away, and you were coming to enjoy these little moments of stillness with him.

Exhausted, you closed your eyes, just listening to the sound of his breathing as it finally started to slow again. It was like there was nothing in the world but you and Billy, and it felt so perfect. Until your phone buzzed. 

“Who’s texting you in the middle of the night?” He asked, glancing towards your phone. You couldn’t help but tense.

“Tammy,” you forced a sigh, awkwardly pulling away from him and getting to your feet. 

Whether or not he believed your lie was quickly rendered irrelevant as you stood; your legs were shaking so badly that you had to reach for him to keep yourself from falling. Billy was quick to move, wrapping an arm around you and holding tight.

“You alright? Was I too rough, sweetheart?” While there was concern in his voice, just one look at him told you he was fighting back a smile, obviously impressed with himself.

“I’m fine, Billy,” you laughed, “my legs just feel like jello.”

“D’you need me to grab your phone?”

“No, I’ll deal with Tammy in the morning. She knows I’m spending the night here,” you leaned against him, not wanting him to go after the phone, “can we just go back to bed?” 

“Obviously I didn’t fuck you hard enough if you’re already trying to get me into bed again,” Billy smirked, clearly impressed with his dumb little joke.

“Oh ha-fucking-ha,” your eyes rolled as you tried to force down a giggle, “I meant to sleep. We’ve both got to work tomorrow.”

“I could take the day off and spend it in bed with you, if you want?”

You weren’t sure if he was joking, but; “maybe when I’m as rich as you I’ll be able to take a day off.”

For a few seconds he looked like he was about to say something, but you were glad he didn’t; whatever this thing between you was, it was far too early for serious conversations surrounding work and money.

Without warning, and with a slight squeal from you, Billy swept you off your feet and into his arms, and you quickly wrapped yourself around him, holding on tight. 

“You never told me what you were doing up,” he didn’t phrase it as a question, but it was clear he wanted an explanation.

“I needed a glass of water.” You weren’t ready to tell him the truth yet - you weren’t even sure where you’d start. Sam was a complicated topic that you wanted to put off for as long as you could.

“I thought you’d gone,” he muttered in little more than a sighed whisper. There was relief in his tone and, for a second, you were certain you’d misheard because it seemed like such a silly thing for him to say. But, then, everything started to make sense. He hadn’t been upset when you found him in the bedroom, he’d been panicking. He’d had a panic attack because he thought you’d left him in the night again.

As he started to carry you back to the bedroom, you didn’t say anything. You didn’t want to say anything. It just felt too private, too personal, and you were certain that Billy didn’t want to talk about it. You just held him tight, letting him know that you were there, that you weren’t going anywhere. You held tight until he put you down, but you only let him out of your grasp for as long as it took to slip out of his shirt and for him to climb into bed beside you.

“What?” He asked softly with a hint of a chuckle, obviously not sure what had inspired your clinginess as you pressed yourself closer.

“Cold,” you answered, snuggling close and resting your hand on his chest, right above his pounding heart.

Billy was quiet for a moment before; “d’you want to stay over tomorrow night?”

“Again?” You yawned, eyes falling shut.

“Yeah, why not?”

“I don’t know, I just - I don’t want you getting bored of me?”

He let out a soft laugh, wrapping his arms around you and pressing a kiss to the top of your head. “Sweetheart, I don’t think I could ever get bored of you.”

You didn’t respond save for letting out a gentle hum, happy and content but too tired to carry on the conversation. The events of the night had left you exhausted and, once you were back in the warmth of his bed and his arms, fighting sleep became impossible. Billy held you until you drifted off and neither of you stirred again until the morning.

He woke you with breakfast in bed - delivered, not cooked - and sat with you, making small talk while you both enjoyed pancakes and syrup. It was surreal just how domestic it all felt, like he was trying to show you how life could be if you chose him. (But you knew that wasn’t really your choice to make, it was Billy’s; he was the one that didn’t want a relationship, the one who didn’t want love.)

“I can’t believe you ordered pancakes,” you joked once your plate was empty and your stomach was full.

“Why not?” He laughed as he handed you a mug of coffee.

“Because you have that huge kitchen?”

“Sweetheart, if I cooked for you, you’d never want to come back.”

“That bad?” He nodded and you just grinned. “Well, pancakes happen to be my speciality, so -”

“So, you’re saying I’m gonna have to start stocking my kitchen with pancake supplies?” And, just like that, he was grinning too, and you wanted nothing more than for the moment to last forever.

Unfortunately, time was not on your side.

You showered together and it took at least twice as long as it reasonably should have because Billy didn’t seem entirely capable of keeping his hands to himself but, like everything else that morning, it was soft and gentle, it was tender rather than sexual. He seemed to just want to touch you and keep you close.

Then, reluctantly (and after several attempts at convincing you to take the day off) he drove you home so you could grab your bike and start your day.

When you heard from Billy again, it was to tell you that something had come up at Anvil and he couldn’t see you that night after all. You didn’t ask for details, but it sounded serious and Billy sounded stressed. One night became another, then another, until it seemed like you’d have to wait until the weekend to see him again.

But a little bit of time apart suited you just fine. As much as you enjoyed being around Billy, it was a lot. He was a lot, but in the most amazing of ways. You just needed some time to get your head around things, instead of diving in head first just because you felt like a smitten teenager. But that didn’t stop you from being glued to your phone, waiting eagerly for texts and calls from him, staying up late into the night talking about anything and nothing with him.

Some nights you’d stay up texting until you were practically falling asleep holding your phone. You didn’t want to sleep knowing that he was still working but, most nights, you just couldn’t help it. And Billy always seemed to know that when your messages stopped, that meant you’d fallen asleep, but you’d wake up to messages that told you he was awake long after you;

Sleep tight, sweetheart. 

I can’t wait to fall asleep with you in my arms again.

And, your personal favourite;

I never knew I could miss someone so much.

Chapter Twelve

END NOTES : You can probably tell that I'm starting to set up a little bit of intrigue here and I hope it all pays off in the long run. I didn't manage to get where I wanted to in the story to time things right for Christmas so I might try to put out the next couple of chapters a little bit quicker (maybe two next weekend), but we'll see.

Any, thanks so much for reading!!

If you want adding/removing from the tag list let me know (if it's not working for some reason... I honestly have no idea how to fix that but I hope it is working??)

TAG LIST

@lincerad @sweetserendipity65 @rafaelakelley @slayerofthevampire @rensolodriver @lovelydoveval @doloreschanal @damagelove @danzer8705 @unlikelystarlightcowboy @schlotzshewrote @bisexualbith @uncontainedsmiles

#billy russo #billy russo x female reader #billy russo x reader #the punisher #billy russo fanfic #cmiyc ff

[russosafehaven]

More Than I Can Carry

Pairing: Jigsaw!Billy Russo x GN!Reader

Content: Billy find himself in a bookshop, S2 isn’t canon and he still has Anvil, Billy and Frank are still friends, Bookworm!Reader

POV: Second

BR Taglist: @snowkestrel @judig92 @k-marzolf

~

He didn’t know how he ended up in the bookstore. Billy had his collection back at home, all his favourites he’d saved up for when he was younger. Yet here he was wandering around the tall aisles.

His memories had yet to come back, after the incident with Rawlins the healing process took months. Frank had felt nothing but regret when he realised he couldn’t save his brother. Maybe that’s why Billy was here in the first place. To try and get a semblance of what he liked again. Of course Curtis and Frank had told him everything but it felt like an outside perspective. He wanted to know who he was now, not who he was before.

The first glimpse Billy caught of you was in the classics section, you were flicking through a rather fancy copy of Dorian Gray. When you put it back pouting he was curious. You picked out a copy of H.P Lovecraft’s works next, turning it around to look at the price before putting it back.

It was then it clicked what you were doing. Ever since Billy started Anvil price tags seemed meaningless to him. He had all the money he needed to support himself. Against better judgement Billy decided to go pick up the two books you were looking at before following you. Anything you picked up he grabbed, adding it to the pile.

As you looked through the shelves you had a feeling someone was following. The same stomach feeling you get when a teacher is stood behind you in school. Ignoring it you continued your search, trying to find a book you liked and fit your budget. It was a silly idea, thinking coming to a bookstore would leave you with reasonable prices.

As you stalked over to the YA section a copy of Shadow and Bone caught your eye. It was a collectors edition and you wanted it desperately. You had borrowed the books from your local library back when they first came out. Ever since the show had come out you’d been dying to own your own copy of all the Grishaverse books. Checking the price you placed it back, once again all the copies you liked were far too expensive.

By then you had decided to make your way to leave the bookshop. A strange who had a large pile of books in his hands had brushed past you. Rolling your eyes you continued, you’d be the same if you could afford any.

As Billy finished up paying he followed you home. It was stalkerish and almost definitely illegal but you shared similar tastes in novels, he had to help out. As you climbed the stairs to your apartment floor Billy wasn’t far behind, giving you a head start so you wouldn’t see him. When he saw you enter, he placed the bags of books he brought on the floor. Knocking on your door before taking off to the stair well.

Opening your door you look at the bags, taking them in carefully to your shared apartment. Your roommate caught eye of them and raised a brow. She knew you hadn’t brought any and they were both curious as to where they came from. Looking through them you found they were all the ones you looked at.

“Holy shit”

Your roommate, Karen, muttered. Nodding your head in agreement you were stunned. Either there was a God or you were being stalked. Karen walked off grabbing her phone, assumedly to text her boyfriend Frank. You liked him, he was a nice guy.

“Franks gonna bring Billy over and they’ll sort this out”

Around twenty minutes later Frank entered the building with a scarred man in tow who you assumed was Billy. You walked over to Frank, greeting him with a warm hug as you always did. In your hands you held his favourite mug filled with hot chocolate. As you handed it to him he spoke up.

“For your book buyer already”

Both you and Karen cocked your heads. It clicked in your roommates head first and she burst out laughing.

“Billy boy here noticed you liked the same sorta books and when he saw you put them back he felt bad. Brought everything you touched”

Heat ran up to your face as you looked at the scarred man. Even you couldn’t deny he was attractive, resembling some of your favourite fictional characters. Dorian Gray, Logan Delos, the list went on.

“You- you didn’t have to do that”

The interaction felt awkward, you didn’t know this man. Hell you’d only just let Karen and Frank two months ago after you were fired. When you got a new job at the Bulletin you were assigned to Karen. Upon finding out about your living situation she practically demanded you move in with her.

“I know but I- I’m not good at shit since this,”

He gestured to his face. The scars more like it.

“You just looked upset and I wanted to do something good”

Karen and Frank went to wrap their arms around one another. Smiling at their friends who were riddled with an odd awkwardness.

“Well then a bookshelf would be a good next gift. So I actually have somewhere for them”

Billy nodded, replying it was done. You went to say you were joking but he wouldn’t let you. The two men ended up spending the night in your apartment. Watching New Girl with the two of you, the current favourite show of the residents. Somehow you ended up in Billy’s arms, he was comfortable and seemed perfectly fine with holding you. It was a good day, interesting and borderline creepy, but good nonetheless.

#billy russo #billy russo imagine #billy russo x reader #ben barnes #the punisher imagine #x reader #billy russo fluff #billy russo angst #billy russo x yn

[barbedbetty]

Stay with Me

Halbrand x Fem!Reader

Warnings: Semi rough, semi public, p in v, a little dirty talk, sex on an anvil bc c’mon, oral (fem receiving)

Y’all gotta forgive me, I just saw the new ROP yesterday and so this was not reviewed

When I first met Galadriel and Halbrand in Numenor, I had a strange mix of feelings about them.

Galadriel is kind and compassionate and fierce, she carried herself with confidence that I could only dream of having.

Halbrand on the other hand was more mysterious, he was constantly watching everyone. A lot like me I suppose, I grew up in my fathers forge and while most girls weren’t in the Navy, it wasn’t forbidden. He was spending a lot of time with my father watching him work and helping him with a few projects. I did think he was handsome but I steered away from him, he was a stranger to our island and I didn’t want to get attached.

Or so I thought, once I volunteered to go to the Southlands to fight with Galadriel, he was taking more interest in me.

I remember how Halbrand looked at me when I signed up for the voyage and he was waiting in the archway of my fathers forge that night.

“My father is away for the night.” I said as I walked past him. I set down a few things from the market and I saw him from the corner of my eye turn to face me.

“I didn’t come to see him.” He said in a low tone. “Why did you volunteer to go to the Southlands?”

I paused and turned to look at him. He looked ever more handsome with the moonlight behind him and his green eyes almost glowed in the firelight.

“I thought an adventure might be fun.” I smirked at him and he smiled.

“War is an adventure?” He came closer and I could smell the saltwater still drying on his skin.

“War is a part of life, it brings peace when done correctly.” I said quietly.

“I agree.” He reached out and gently grasped my chin, he tilted my head up so I was forced to hold eye contact.

He leaned toward me and it was like time stood still, he moved closer and closer and I was frozen in place. When his lips touched mine, it felt like my blood was on fire and then everything was moving too fast.

His fingers quickly went from my chin to my neck and I ran my hands up his chest to his shoulders and yanked him towards me.

His kiss stole the air from my lungs and I was not complaining. His other hand gripped my hip and pushed me backwards till the back of my thighs hit the large anvil.

He pulled his lips away and kept his grip on the back of my neck. He glanced down at the anvil and I could see his pupils get bigger and he looked back at me with a hunger that almost frightened me.

“If you want me to stop, tell me right now.” He said in a deep tone while holding my neck tighter with one hand and slowly lifting my skirt with the other. “Once I start, I will not stop.”

“Don’t stop.” I whispered and grabbed his collar and kissed him hard.

He easily lifted me to set me on the anvil and yanked my skirt up as far as he could. I reached down to untie his belt but he grabbed my wrists in a shockingly tight grip and shook his head.

“Not yet.” He whispered.

Before I could even let out a breath, Halbrand knelt before me and lifted my legs on top of his shoulders and started licking my cunt.

I cried out and gripped the anvil as tight as I could. He held tight to my thighs and moaned as his tongue made indecipherable designs in my folds, I felt him groan into me and I wanted to scream.

Everything felt amplified, I’d never experienced anything like this before. My skin felt like it was on fire, his tongue was erasing thoughts from my mind until there was only him. I could hear people laughing in the pub across the road and see dust floating through the firelight, I looked down and Halbrand was looking up at me. When we made eye contact, he pushed his tongue as far as he could inside me and I moaned out loud, I bit my lip and leaned my head back. His nail bit into my flesh but there was so much adrenaline pumping through me I felt nothing.

He moaned again and I felt my climax coming, so fast that it almost scared me. I tried to tell him to slow down but every time I could get a syllable out, he pushed his tongue further inside me and curled it against that one perfect spot and I almost blacked out.

Too soon, he tugged my thighs as tight as he could, he growled against my clit and curled his tongue over and over and over until I saw stars and my vision went white. My muscles grew tighter than ropes on a sail and I covered my mouth with one hand to try and keep my scream as quiet as possible.

I was still panting when Halbrand stood up, slowly lowering my legs from his shoulders and he licked his lips slowly before taking my hand off my mouth and kissing me slowly.

“Halbrand.” I whispered he pulled away.

“Y/N.” He whispered back and smiled at me. “I’m not done yet.”

He smiled as he held onto my hips and pulled my body flush against his, I could feel his cock rub against my cunt. I moaned and leaned my head back. He grabbed the back of my head and pulled me back to him.

“Look at me.” He growled and then he pushed slowly inside me.

I gasped and opened my mouth to cry out but no sound came out. His green eyes held my gaze in a strange way, it was so intimate that it made me blush more than his cock hitting my cervix. I shivered when he paused for a moment, he was taking deep and slow breaths.

“Don’t look away.” He whispered as he pulled his hips back slowly and gripped the back of my neck. “Look at me, luv.”

“Yes,” I gasped as he pushed back inside me. “Yes, Halbrand!”

I moaned and fought against the urge to to close my eyes, instead gripping his shoulders as tight as I could to hold him close.

His pupils were so big, his eyes were practically black, his tunic had fallen open and I could see his chest was flushed up to his neck. His thrusts were gaining speed and force and knocking the air from my lungs. All I could do was hold onto him as my eyes welled with tears.

He smiled as he kept thrusting harder and harder and whispered.

“You can close your eyes, I will have you more than once.” He let go of my hair and I leaned my head back as he used one hand to pin my hip still and the other to hold onto the anvil.

I felt another orgasm warm my skin like a hot summer breeze and I dug my nails into his shoulders and wrapped my legs around his hips as best I could.

“Come for me, luv.” He groaned and he thrusted with everything he had. “Come on my cock.”

I cried out and buried my face in his neck as I came harder than I ever had before in my life.

It was like I was pushed into ice cold water, every muscle seized up and yet it was the best feeling.

Halbrand rocked his hips slower as my pussy pulsed around his member and as he grunted and cried out my name, I felt him come deep inside me, letting me feel his warmth drip down my thighs.

I was panting like I ran five miles as he slowly pulled out of me.

He groaned and felt up my body with his rough hands and cupped my face and kissed me with a passion that made me want to pull him back inside me.

He finally broke the kiss and pressed his forehead against mine.

“Stay with me in the Southlands.” He whispered, gently rubbing my face with his thumbs.

“Is that an order?” I smiled and looked up at him.

“Please?” He smirked and kissed me chastely. “Stay with me?”

#fanfic #halbrandedit #halbrand x reader #galadriel x halbrand #rings of power #Halbrand smut #fanfiction #lotr #Sauron #smut #drabble #numenor #middle earth #Southlands #Mordor #smutty #Daddy!Halbrand

[yaboyhoney]

Can we get poly submas x DILF reader who has triplets from a previous marriage? Can you also make the triplets identical I just think that would be funny lol.

Poly Submas x Dilf Reader with Triplets

It's pretty obvious that people know who the twins are by this point. They're battle masters, train conductors, and are considered Unova's most sought after bachelors. You know them well actually, considering that they're your boyfriends.

You're a father of identical triplets, all girls. Every year you all dress up as Professor Utonium and the Powerpuff Girls. You always tell the girls that they can ask for a different themed costume but they insist on dressing up as Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup.

The girls are candy sweet, you love them so much! People often times have their own little nicknames for them. Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, or Eenie, Miney, Mo, sort of names.

The girls from oldest to youngest are named: Momoka, Hana, and Akari. The girls are adopted and you all immigrated over to the Unova region after you were able to secure a better job for a life for all four of you.

The girls are a handful at times but you're quite thankful to have the twins as your boyfriends. When you first immigrated, you were showing the girls on how to ride the subways safely. They all attended the same private school. The four of you would ride together in the morning and then the girls would walk over to where you worked at the Nimbasa Library. You'd all get lunch and when you went back to work, the girls would do their homework and play on the computers until it was time to go home.

There was a time though, the girls wanted to go hang out with some classmates. You were obviously very worried about them going on their own so you insisted that they take one of your Pokemons with you. But at some point, the girls got lost in the subway station, at three separate locations, and were crying for your help in the group chat.

You immediately went to look for them, asking for help. You found one of your girls but then when you found Hana and Akari, they were with one of the twins. Hana had found Emmet, and somehow charmed her way into getting him to buy her a lollipop. Akari was with Ingo, the two holding hands together as her other hand held a toy he had given her. You thanked the twins profusely for their assistance.

Since that day forward, the twins became almost an integral part of your life. Somehow the three of you have similar work schedules and train routes. In the morning, you'd see the twins on the same train to Nimbasa from Anville Town. The girls were happy to see the twins, but after learning that Hana got candy, the other two girls often ask when they'd get their share. It was here that you explained to the twins that the girls learned the concept of sharing. On the occasion you don't buy singular treats, you buy them a big candy bar and tell them to share it evenly.

On the train rides back home, the girls are often talking to the twins about their day. Talking about their school subjects and what not. At least until they found out that Ingo and Emmet are among Unova's best trainers and then they get excited and ask many questions, including wanting to see their pokemon.

When you all arrive at the same destination for home, the girls insist that the twins come over for dinner. The twins at first are apprehensive, but the girls insist and beg for you to let them join. Thankfully you have enough food in the fridge to prepare a large meal for them.

What started off as a coincidence, then intentions, easily became domestic. You at first tried to keep your romantic life with the twins a secret from the girls, at least until you gave them an explanation on gay people. When they saw Emmet and Ingo give you a kiss on the cheek, they all screamed in delight.

Birthdays and holidays became bigger with them in your lives. You wouldn't have it any other way.

#submas x reader #ingo x reader #emmet x reader #male reader #dilf reader #my writing #anon asks #the girl names are based off princess peach #daisy #and rosalina

[vgfm]

Deltarune Theory: Reappraising Father Alvin

An Omnibus Analysis of the Angel’s Servant, Gerson’s Successor, and the Roaring Knight

HEY EVERY     !  This has been a long time coming, but it’s time to take a look at one of Deltarune’s most overlooked characters: Father Alvin. This series newcomer has flown under the fanbase’s radar for years, but I’m here to tell you why he’s become my top suspect as the true identity of the Roaring Knight.

But that’s not all, I’ll also be delving into the nature of dark fountains, secrets that Gerson may have discovered before his demise, insights into a higher power offered by 1997’s #1-Rated Salesman, and even the origins of our favorite fluffy boy Ralsei. How can all this tie together? Read on and find out!

As a disclaimer, nothing I say should be taken as gospel—I tend to play fast and loose with my theory writing so as to weigh the various possibilities rather than settling on one objective answer. My goal isn’t to make readers agree with every point I make, but to inspire further thought and discussion on topics even if you disagree with my conclusions.

Note that this is the longest theory I’ve ever written, so I’ll break down the contents below in case you want to Ctrl + F to wherever you last left off:

Alvin as the Knight

The Initial Appraisal

Alvin’s Importance

Exhibit A: Alvin’s Drawing

King’s Connections

Fountains Bubbling from the Depths

Holy Fountains

The Knight’s Hand

The Knight’s Blade

Scoping Out the School

The Librarby

“A Large Person Could Easily Fit Inside”

Speaking of Communion

Ralsei’s Origins

An Alternative Perspective

Ralsei’s Connection to the Knight

Alvin’s Motives

The Knight’s Trials and Errors

Gerson and the Dark Fountains

Let’s Talk About Gerson

Gerson’s Grand Fountain

The Will of the Fountains

Dark Fountain Rulebook – Abridged Edition

Blessed with Talent

Lord of the Hammer

Counter-Arguments

The Elephant in the Room…

The Laws of Portraits

Exceptions to the Rule

Portraits and Typers

Spamton and Jevil

Bringing it Back to Alvin

Conclusion

The Final Tally

Closing Thoughts

Special Thanks

Alvin as the Knight

The Initial Appraisal

Father Alvin is the son of Gerson Boom, the old Waterfall shopkeeper in Undertale. He’s the local priest of Hometown and a devout worshipper of “the Angel.” Alvin’s first name is an anagram of “Anvil,” corresponding to his father’s association with hammers and former occupation as a smith. Alvin’s old drawing of Gerson can be found in the unused classroom at the end of Chapter 1, implying he was once a student at Kris’ school.

[Image transcript: Narration stating “It’s a yellowed, poorly-drawn picture of a green turtle. It’s signed ‘Alvin’. End image transcript]

Alvin typically speaks in a polite and reverent tone. He encourages Kris to express themself and become a more active member of the community.

[Image transcript: Alvin saying “Kris… What a pleasant surprise to see you here. And on a school day. I understand. I hope in time you may find the words you seek.” End image transcript]

Even when Alvin criticizes someone or makes light of their faults, he tends to phrase things in a roundabout, backhanded way.

[Image transcript: Alvin saying “Ah, Kris. Your brother. He is a very kind young man. Perhaps even a little… overzealous, in his younger days.” End image transcript]

This is in sharp contrast to his father, who was very curt and irreverent with this words.

[Image transcript: Gerson saying “What’s that? You want me to repeat myself? Heck no! Your eyes still work… Go read a book or something! Wahaha!” End image transcript]

It’s implied that Alvin may have had a complicated relationship with his father. Gerson is known for his best-selling “Lord of the Hammer” book series, which derived from a story he told to his children. Despite Alvin singing praises for Gerson and his work, his final graveyard dialogue indicates that he’s unsure if his father would be proud of him.

[Image transcript: Alvin saying “… were you proud of me, father…?” End image transcript]

Alvin’s dialogue implies that, like many townsfolk, he was once close with Asriel, who sang in the church choir.

[Image transcript: Alvin saying “Our choir sounds a bit thinner since your brother went away.” End image transcript]

It’s also implied that Kris, Asriel, Dess, and Noelle were part of the church’s youth group.

[Image transcript: Rudy saying “That angel? Noelle n’ Dess made it in youth group. Oh, right, you and Azzy tried to make one too...” End image transcript]

Both the Dreemurr and Holiday families are portrayed as religious and regularly attending Alvin’s services.

[Image transcript: QC saying “I remember, back on Sundays, after service… You and your family would come in and order the special.” End image transcript]

Gerson once taught at the same school as Toriel and she owns a signed copy of one of his history books, implying that the Dreemurr and Boom families may have been close.

[Image transcript: Narration saying “And a signed copy of The History of Humans and Monsters, by Gerson Boom.” End image transcript]

Speaking of family, Alvin and Berdly have dialogue which points toward other members of the Boom family—an unseen “Ms. Boom” that Berdly works for and one or more unnamed siblings of Alvin (which may include Ms. Boom).

[Image transcript: Alvin saying “Originally a smith by trade, he began writing history… And made a turn into telling stories, As a means to entertain his children.” Berdly saying “Ahh, I’m going to be late for my shift with Ms. Boom!!” End image transcript]

It’s currently unknown if Alvin had a counterpart that existed in Undertale’s world. Gerson is still alive during that game’s events, where we learn that, like in Deltarune, he’s a historian who knew the Dreemurr family. Gerson is also one of the few characters in Undertale to mention the angel of prophecy and the only one at all to mention the deltarune itself.

[Image transcript: Gerson saying “That’s the Delta Rune, the emblem of our kingdom. The Kingdom… Legend has it, an ‘angel’ who has seen the surface will descend from above and bring us freedom.” End image transcript]

Like many Hometown characters who did not first appear in Undertale, Alvin lacks a dialogue portrait or unique dialogue typer sound. His name also does not prompt any special response during the vessel creation sequence at the beginning of Chapter 1, unlike Gerson’s name.

[Image transcript: The Vessel creator saying “’Gerson.’ How interesting.” End image transcript]

Alvin has yet to be directly mentioned by any of the other townsfolk, so it’s unclear how Hometown’s other residents view him outside of their regard for his father and willingness to attend his church services.

On paper Alvin seems like a minor character in the grand scheme of Deltarune’s narrative and so far, as presented, he is. So why am I writing a theory post about him? I have two major reasons. The first is simply that I’m a Gerson fan and Alvin is the strongest link to Gerson that’s present in Deltarune. The second reason is that, despite appearances to the contrary, I do think that Alvin will be important.

Alvin’s Importance

One of the first things you’ll notice about Alvin is that he has one of the strongest connections to “the Angel,” a cryptic being represented as the central figure of the Deltarune symbol.

[Image transcript: Alvin saying “Let the Angel’s power light your way.” End image transcript]

Additionally, Alvin is one of the few Hometown residents with in-depth dialogue choices who is not a classmate of Kris or a returning character from Undertale. In other words, Toby designed Alvin with a specific role in mind for this game instead of including him as a form of Undertale fanservice or making him a one-off joke npc like the milk cat in Sans’ store.

[Image transcript: Milk Cat saying “Yea I’m tha sicko that looks at all the milks to find the best expiration date.” End image transcript]

To cut to the chase, I believe that Father Alvin is the most likely suspect to be the Roaring Knight. This is not an unheard-of theory nowadays, but this is something I’ve suspected as far back as Chapter 1 (albeit with a lot less certainty back then).  

In the past I’ve written at length about Alvin’s possible connections to the Knight and the Everyman entity from Undertale’s True Lab. Those posts are not required reading for this theory, mainly because much of their arguments were esoteric or became outdated with the release of Chapter 2. Instead I’m here to build a clear case from the ground-up for Alvin’s Knighthood.

Exhibit A: Alvin’s Drawing

[Image transcript: Narration saying “It’s a yellowed, poorly-drawn picture of a green turtle. It’s signed ‘Alvin.’” End image transcript]

The first major piece of evidence for Alvin being the Knight is his drawing that is found in the unused classroom at the end of Chapter 1. Toby Fox confirmed during his Chapter 1 playthrough stream that this is a drawing of Gerson made by Alvin. The drawing is referred to as yellowed and poorly drawn, implying that Alvin drew it as a child. At first this drawing seems innocuous, but its presence here is odd for a number of reasons.

Notably, we never see a darkworld manifestation of this drawing. Almost everything else in the unused classroom is represented somewhere in the Card Kingdom but there is no Gerson drawing to be found. When we look at the placement of the room’s objects, they’re roughly arranged from left to right in the order that we encounter them in the dark world, with the cabinet representing Card Castle on the far right. Alvin’s drawing is even further to the right, past the open door of the cabinet.

This implies that whatever manifested from this drawing would have been present at Card Castle but past the point where Kris and Susie ventured. Before Chapter 2 I had simply assumed that the construct created from this drawing had either fled out of reach or was lying in wait past the fountain. Chapter 2, however, gives us another solution: Alvin’s drawing is the Shadow Mantle.

In Chapter 2, Seam mentions the Shadow Mantle as a tool that will be needed to defeat the next Shadow Crystal holder. Unfortunately, Seam can’t seem to find the Mantle in Castle Town.

[Image transcript: Seam saying “In reality, it may be impossible to win. …Unless you use the power of the Shadow Mantle. Here, it may look like an old scrap of cloth, but… I can’t find it. Did someone… take it…?” End image transcript]

If Seam had this Mantle in the unused classroom then it seems strange that it would go missing, unless if it were left behind. Notably, Alvin’s drawing is one of the only objects in the unused classroom that Kris does not bring into the storage closet.

But what if that’s just a coincidence? Well, I can get more specific: I think that the Shadow Mantle was not only in the unused classroom but that it was also the King’s cloak.

[Image transcript: King in shadow saying “To my people, I am a hero...” End image transcript]

For one thing, it’s a dark cloak that casts him in shadow and the King loses it shortly after he mentions the Knight at the end of his boss fight.

More importantly, Toby refers to the cloak as a “cool mantle, bro” during his Chapter 1 livestream, but most importantly of all: the Mantle flies away from the battle and heads towards the right and (presumably) goes past the fountain.

In other words, the King’s cloak would have ended up in just the spot where Alvin’s drawing was, and the fact that Alvin’s drawing was not taken to Castle Town would account for the Shadow Mantle’s absence in Chapter 2.

The only potential flaw with this theory is that Seam’s dialogue implies that they were expecting to find the Mantle in their shop (or Seap) rather than in the King’s custody. However, this could have two explanations: First is that Seam was once the court magician and likely lived in Card Castle, which would give King ample opportunity to take the Mantle for himself before Seam left.

Second is that the Knight or any other lightner who entered the unused classroom may have moved the mantle in the light world without Seam’s knowledge. If Alvin were the Knight then it’d be unsurprising if he singled out his drawing from the classroom and hung it up in a place of prominence before opening the fountain.

Additionally, Chapter 2’s files have unused data for a “sky mantle” item that resists holy damage.

[Image transcript: unused text saying “SkyMantle – A cape that shimmers fluorescently. Protects against Elec and Holy attacks.” End image transcript]

Alongside it is data for a “pure crystal,” which is described as “the shadow purified by the cat.”

[Image transcript: unused text saying “PureCrystal – The shadow purified by the cat.” End image transcript]

The latter is implied to be a purified shadow crystal, which could serve as a parallel to the Sky Mantle—namely that it may end up being a “purified” Shadow Mantle.

If Alvin’s drawing is the shadow mantle then it would make sense why the sky mantle would resist holy attacks—because the drawing would have sentimental value for Alvin and he wouldn’t attack as strongly if someone wielded it. This is not unlike how the Mannequin item that resembles Spamton grants damage resistance towards Spamton Neo’s attacks.

[Image transcript: A yellow Addison selling a Spamton-like mannequin saying “We’re selling this for 75% off! Only 300 Dark Dollars!” End image transcript]

Speaking of Spamton Neo, he’s proof that cherished drawings can hold a lot of power in the dark world. The Neo body was created in an art program by a certain lightner with the help of Swatch and was seen by darkners as an artifact of great power, even before Spamton got his hands on it.

[Image transcript: Swatch saying “That robot was the embodiment of a Lightner’s dream. A dream I helped create… once. Splashing color from the motion of their hand. The Lightner filled it with their own hope, giving it an incredible power.” End image transcript]

Given Alvin’s sentiments towards his father, it’s very likely that his drawing would also be a powerful item. We do see King’s mantle fly away on its own accord, almost as if it had a life of its own—in that respect it has one clear advantage over the Neo body, which couldn’t move by itself. Speaking of the Neo body, one often-overlooked fact is that the Neo body contained Chapter 2’s shadow crystal, not Spamton himself:

[Image transcript: Seam saying “Oh, is that so? That salesman had found the crystal in the old machine…? I wonder… if perhaps, long ago, that old machine was very important to someone. A certain Lightner, perhaps… or maybe it’s just a hunch. Haha! At any rate, it’s truly unfortunate a Darkner decided to steal that power...” End image transcript]

This means that powerful artistic artifacts that embody a lightner’s hopes and dreams might somehow be tied to shadow crystals. Seam has already said that the Shadow Mantle will be connected to the next Shadow Crystal holder somehow, and given that Seam may end up purifying one or more shadow crystals to make the purified crystal, this is further evidence that the Shadow Mantle may end up purified into the Sky Mantle.

Overall, not only is it extremely likely that Alvin’s drawing is the Shadow Mantle and King’s cloak, but the fact that it ends up in King’s hands reveals even more evidence of Alvin being the Knight.

King’s Connections

King is the first true ally of the Knight that we meet. He was installed as the ruler of Card Castle after the Knight appeared and the other three kings were locked up.

[Image transcript: The three Card Kings saying “Once, all four of us ruled together, but when the Knight arrived, everything changed...” End image transcript]

The game never explicitly states whether King was merely inspired by the Knight and took over single-handedly or if the Knight aided him directly in this task. The other kings saying the Knight “arrived” does suggest a direct presence, as opposed to merely saying the Knight “appeared.”

Chapter 2 shows that lightners can create dark worlds without ever setting foot in them.

Queen also describes her world’s creation as the Knight manifesting as a giant apparition in the sky, implying that the Knight was outside of the Cyber darkworld for most if not all of its creation.

[Image transcript: Queen saying “The Roaring Knight... Today, It Deigned To Create This World. Reaching Its Long Hand To The Sky. It Coursed Its Will Into Its Blade.” End image transcript]

However, Chapter 1 implies that the Knight might have taken a more hands-on approach with Card Castle. One piece of evidence is the state of King’s throne room: the banners on the wall have been cut to pieces and the spade throne has a massive gash carved into it.

[Image transcript: King’s sliced up throne room. Narration saying “Wall banners. They seem to have been through some kind of struggle...” End image transcript]

One might assume King did this when he overthrew the other kings and a struggle ensued. However, we never see King’s attacks produce a slicing effect like this. Most of King’s attacks are regular spade bullets like Lancer’s and his chain attack is primarily presented as being able to latch onto and pull objects rather than slice them.

Moreover, we can see that the throne room is already adorned with spade-focused imagery, implying this was set up after King’s reign. It also wouldn’t make much sense for King to thrash his own chair. However, we do know that the Knight uses a bladed weapon. There isn’t a clear reason why the Knight would carve up the throne room, but given how power-hungry the King is it’s possible that a demonstration of power from the Knight was needed in order to establish the pecking order. This would explain why the Knight seems to be the only being that the King respects or demonstrates any lasting loyalty to.

[Image transcript: King saying “My Knight… I shall not fail you...” End image transcript]

Speaking of King’s attacks, one of his attacks is named the Chain of Justice.

[Image transcript: King saying “Fall before the chain of justice!” End image transcript]

The fact that it’s called a “chain” corroborates my point that King’s weapon is intended primarily for grappling and tethering rather than slicing. More importantly, this attack follows the same naming convention of Gerson’s title in Undertale as the Hammer of Justice, which inspired Undyne’s title of the Spear of Justice.

[Image transcript: Undyne saying “That’s the store of Gerson, the Hammer of Justice!” End image transcript]

Given Alvin’s reverence for his father’s legacy and the precedent that’s been set for Gerson inspiring others, it’s not hard to imagine that he might wield a “Blade of Justice,” which in turn inspired King.

Lastly, King refers to the Knight’s dark fountains as “holy” fountains and the theme that plays when Kris encounters them is called “the Holy.”

[Image transcript: King saying “The Knight that pulls the Fountains from the Earth. Holy Fountains, whose shadows are creating a new world...” End image transcript]

Ralsei refers to sealing these fountains as a necessary step for banishing the Angel’s Heaven.

[Image transcript: Ralsei saying “Only they can seal the fountains and banish the Angel’s Heaven.” End image transcript]

Alvin is a devout servant of the Angel, so these aspects of the Dark Fountains all point in his direction.

Fountains Bubbling from the Depths

Let’s focus on Dark Fountains for a second. All too often we take the name for granted, but why are they called fountains, exactly? The fountain in Castle Town is referred to as a geyser—once at the initial save point and again during Ralsei’s telling of the legend.

[Image transcript: Narration saying “In front of you, a castle looms beneath the empty town. A black geyser emerges from it, piercing endlessly into the sky.” Ralsei says “Today, the Fountain of Darkness—The geyser that gives this land form-“ End image transcript]

Jevil alludes to “Hell’s roar bubbles from the depths” after mentioning the Knight, which likely refers to the roaring, but he curiously compares this to the ocean’s depths.

[Image transcript: Jevil saying “Soon, the ‘Queen’ returns, and Hell’s Roar bubbles from the Depths...” End image transcript]

To top it off, the sound that plays when Kris first wakes up in a dark world is called ocean.ogg. To put it simply, dark fountains are associated with water.

[Image transcript: a list of Deltarune audio files that includes “ocean.ogg.” End image transcript]

This is a strange comparison at first glance because the fountains aren’t simply spewing out darkness as if it were water—we can see from the fountain Kris creates and Queen’s footage of her fountain that the fountains emit darkness as if it were smoke or a column of energy.

[Image transcript: Narration saying “It’s a video of someone creating a strange pillar of smoke. There’s so much smoke, it’s hard to tell who it is.” End image transcript]

This leads me to think that the connection between dark fountains and water is more than simply a visual descriptor. What this exact connection will be remains to be seen, but it does make me question what else in Deltarune or Undertale is connected to water.

Waterfall would be the obvious answer, albeit a broad one. There we find Gerson, Goner Kid, Clam Girl, the Mysteryman event (believed to be Gaster), and the River person.

[Image transcript: River Person saying “Tra la la. Beware of the man who speaks in hands.” Goner Kid saying “Please forget about me.” Clamgirl saying “Her name is ‘Suzy.’ I feel like you two should be friends.” Ending with Mysteryman in an empty grey room. End image transcript]

All of these things bear some connection to Deltarune. Gerson mentions the angel and deltarune symbol, Goner Kid is likely connected to Gaster, mysteryman is self-explanatory, and Clam Girl is linked to “Suzy” and the “don’t forget” drawing in Sans’ workshop.

[Image transcript: Narration saying “It’s a poorly drawn picture of three smiling people. Written on it… ‘don’t forget.’” End image transcript]

The River Person alludes to the Angel and (what is likely) Gaster and Sans. On top of that, however, the River Person also mentions “the old song coming from the sea.”

[Image transcript: River Person saying “Tra la la. Did you ever hear the old song coming from the sea?” End image transcript]

We see this thread picked up on in Onionsan’s subplot in Deltarune, where they hint at a song coming from the sea as well.

[Image transcript: Onionsan saying “…I’ve heard that song before… coming from the sea. It’s not a ‘new’ song.” End image transcript]

“Sea” is an interesting choice of word, since “sea” refers to oceanic water. Until now I had assumed that Hometown’s shore lead to a small body of freshwater.

We do know that Gerson is connected to the sea—he lives in Waterfall, sells sea tea, and is likely a sea turtle himself. If the latter is true then this would also be the case for Alvin; funnily enough, a sea turtle conjures the image of both water and natural armor. If Alvin has been the one creating dark fountains then it would make sense why they’ve been associated with the sea.

Something that could make or break this idea is Kris’ fountain in chapter 3—if it shares this water theming or is noticeably distinct from the two previous fountains then that could tell us something about the true nature of dark fountains, since dark worlds are said to reflect the will of their fountains.

[Image transcript: Ralsei saying “You see, each Dark Fountain creates a different ‘world.’ A ‘world’ whose Darkners reflect the will of its fountain.” End image transcript]

For the time being, the fountain/sea connection is something to keep an eye on. It does serve as a slight nod in Alvin’s direction over other Knight suspects, many of whom have little to no connection to the sea. If I had to place a bet, I’d wager that Gerson and Alvin likely wield water magic in the dark world, which would be a fitting contrast to the Dreemurrs’ fire magic—there’s no evidence for this currently, I just think it’d be a neat idea. Besides, I’m sure Toby wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to make a pun on “holy water.”

Holy Fountains

This is a brief topic to cover and a bit of an obvious one, but it’s worth expounding that Ralsei refers to banishing “the Angel’s Heaven” as the ultimate goal of the Delta warriors. It’s not explicitly stated whether the Angel’s Heaven and the Roaring are the exact same thing but it’s a safe assumption, given that both are described as end-of-the-world events that occur when light and dark are out of balance.

Another somewhat obvious fact is that Alvin is strongly connected to the angel. In fact, he mentions it more than any other character aside from maybe Spamton. This led some fans to speculate Alvin had some significance even as far back as Chapter 1. There’s not a whole lot else to add here, other than just pointing out that Alvin would be one of the strongest proponents of an “Angel’s Heaven” out of Hometown’s residents.

If Alvin knew that Angel’s Heaven and the Roaring were the same then I could see him proudly taking on the title of the Roaring Knight while keeping the true nature of the Roaring to himself, perhaps preferring the gentler title of “Angel’s Heaven”. It would be in-character, given his tendency to bury the lede.

[Image transcript: Alvin saying “Kris, if you want some of our ‘sick’ Fruit Juice, you should come to our service. Kris, it would be wonderful if you would sing with us. Or even participated to any extent. Instead of just trying to drink the Fruit Juice.” End image transcript]

This would explain why King believes that opening more fountains will allow Darkners to rule the world, when in fact the Roaring will doom darkners as well as lightners.

[Image transcript: King saying “Soon, this world shall be blanketed in darkness… And Darkners shall rule it!” End image transcript]

This could also address the seeming plothole that Queen knows the title “Roaring Knight” but has never heard of the Roaring itself.

[Image transcript: Queen saying “The Roaring Knight… What Is That.” Ralsei says “Um… the Roaring.” Queen says “Yeah That What Is That.” End image transcript]

The Knight’s Hand

While the Knight has now been associated with the Roaring in Chapter 2, the Knight has also been associated with the image of a hand ever since Chapter 1.

[Image transcript: Jevil saying “The hand of the Knight is drifting forward.” End image transcript]

Hand imagery is something that’s obviously associated with Gaster due to his use of wingdings font and River Person’s ominous warning of “the man who speaks in hands.” I think it’s likely that Gaster has some sort of connection to the Knight, but the old doctor also has his “hands” in a lot of a lot of pies so that’s maybe not quite as telling as one would assume.

Something that’s often overlooked is that Queen provides us with a representation of the Knight’s hand at the end of Chapter 2.

[Image transcript: Queen looking at a green projection of a hand saying “Reaching Its Long Hand To The Sky.” End image transcript]

One thing I’ve seldom seen pointed out is that this hand lacks Gaster’s signature hole/circle in its palm. Since Queen’s depiction is likely abstract/simplified to some degree, this is by no means a silver-bullet argument against Gaster being the Knight, but it is something to bear in mind.

Getting back to Alvin, I think this depiction of the Knight’s hand is yet another nudge in Alvin’s direction. First, the hand is depicted as green. This is a minor point, since some of Queen’s other displays have used green lights and it’s not the exact same shade of green as Alvin.

[Image transcript: Queen with green displays saying “No I Am: A Computer (Smart).” End image transcript]

Still, it is curious that this is yet another small detail that aligns with Alvin over other Knight suspects (almost none of whom have green skin).

One thing I should note is that the slight difference in color from the Knight’s hand and Alvin’s skin could be accounted for by the dark world itself. Noelle, Berdly, and Susie all have brighter-colored skin in the dark world than they do in the lightworld. And wouldn’t you know it? The Knight’s hand is also a (slightly) brighter shade of green than Alvin, which would line up with this trend of using a different shade of the same basic color.

Granted, the shift in color palettes for lightners in the dark world is not 100% consistent. For example, Berdly’s beak doesn’t change brightness and instead just becomes more saturated with color. Kris also changes into a completely different color rather than a different shade of the same color. Though, so far Kris has been the exception and such a radical color shift might be exclusive to humans for all we know.  The general trend is that monsters’ dark world forms will be a brighter and more vibrant shade than their light world forms, and that trend very well could mean that Alvin’s dark world form will match the color of Queen’s depiction.

Something that’s far more interesting about the Knight’s hand is that it has the proportions of a human arm. Now, ordinarily this is what you’d expect: we’re led to believe that Kris is the Knight and they’re human, and on top of that a lot of Hometown’s residents have human-looking hands. This does rule out characters like Monster Kid or Jockington, who lack hands entirely, but on its own it doesn’t say much. Or does it?

Now, Alvin does appear to have human-looking arms. This alone does not improve his chances of being the Knight since, like I said, so many other characters fit this criteria. But what makes things interesting is when we look at Gerson’s arms: they’re absolutely massive.

[Image transcript: Gerson saying “Woah there! I’ve got some neat junk for sale.” End image transcript]

His arm is almost as big in diameter as his head thanks to his huge Popeye-styled forearms. Note that Alvin lacks this feature entirely, which makes some amount of sense since Gerson was a former smith and (in another world) a former soldier.

Toby mentions in the Undertale artbook that he designed Gerson’s face and Temmie “drew the rest.”

[Image transcript: Toby saying “I drew Gerson’s face then Temmie drew over the rest.” End image transcript]

It could be that Toby didn’t originally plan to give Gerson massive arms or he didn’t have a preference either way. But what we do know is that Alvin was intentionally designed not to share this trait. This is in contrast to other new characters who are relatives of Undertale characters. Specifically, Catty’s family is made up of monsters who all share a nearly-identical body type to her own.

If Toby planned all along for Alvin to be the Knight and for Kris to be a red herring, then showing the Knight’s hand to us would almost necessitate giving the actual Knight human-like hands. If Alvin and the Knight’s hand both looked like Gerson’s hand then that would’ve been a huge giveaway that the Knight isn’t Kris. Given that Gerson’s design provided a potential template for Alvin like how Catty’s design did for her family, it says something that Toby went out of his way to defy that template. And the end result is that Alvin once again just happens to check the boxes that would be needed in order to be the Knight.

The Knight’s Blade

There’s one last feature of interest in the Queen’s depiction of the Knight’s hand: the blade that it wields.

[Image transcript: Queen looking at a green projection of a hand and blade saying “It Coursed Its Will Into Its Blade.” End image transcript]

The game files refer to this as a “laser_knife.” The hand is referred to as a “laser_hand,” so the laser part is no doubt referring to the Queen’s method of depicting it rather than any trait of the blade itself. While the filename makes it safe to assume that this blade is a knife, that could just be its light world form. We technically haven’t seen the darkworld manifestation of Kris’ knife, and given that Kris’ pencil can become a sword it’s not unreasonable to consider that a knife could transform in the dark world as well.

Nonetheless, it’s safe to assume that the Knight owns a knife in the light world. When we look closely we can see that the knife has a crossguard on it. This means that this isn’t a simple kitchen knife or pocket knife, but rather what is likely a dagger or some other weapon. Guarded knives are a specialty item, meaning most regular people would have no reason to own one. Kris is an obvious example of a knife owner, since we see them brandish a guarded knife at the end of Chapter 1 and we know that they are a knife enthusiast.

[Image transcript: Kris brandishing a knife, following by narration saying “From search query: sharpest kitchen knife jello.” End image transcript]

Alvin, however, could be a knife owner as well. I mainly say this due to the fact that Gerson was a former smith, which Alvin himself points out.

[Image transcript: Alvin saying “Originally a smith by trade, he began writing history...” End image transcript]

This is a somewhat odd detail to draw attention to, considering that Gerson is already known for his other careers as a writer and teacher in Deltarune’s world. It could be that the smith line exists merely to explain why Gerson is still affiliated with a hammer, though his “Lord of the Hammer” series would be sufficient to explain that.

Smiths in real life don’t exclusively make weapons or armor, but given Gerson’s enthusiasm for fantasy writing it’s very likely that he has made a blade or two in his time. We also know that Alvin grew up with Gerson’s stories and expresses a fondness for them, so it’s not unreasonable to think that Gerson may have bequeathed a few weapons he fashioned to his children. We even have evidence that Gerson created armor during his time.

[Image transcript: RG01 saying “Nothing like admiring the great paint job, me and my bro did on our church.” End image transcript]

In Hometown we see the two royal guards from Undertale. Curiously they’re both still wearing armored helmets like they were in Undertale. While this may simply be an artistic decision to make it easier for players to recognize them, it does raise the question of where this armor came from. While there isn’t a direct link between the guards and Gerson that we know of, they do mention that they recently completed work on “our church.” Note that they don’t say “the church,” but “our church.”

Given that Alvin likely owns the church, he almost certainly has done business with these two men before, and the “our church” line implies they regularly attend his services. If Alvin owned some of Gerson’s old wares then I could see him giving them to friends and family, especially if they were sought after as props related to Gerson’s novels.

So although it takes a few steps to get from “the royal guards have helmets” to “Alvin has a knife,” Gerson making weapons and armor is a tidy explanation to connect those dots and it fits with everything we know so far about Gerson, Alvin, and the two guards. It’s possible that the guards’ helmets may never be explained and are just a joke, but this is another curious case of little details falling into place in such a way that hints towards Alvin.

Scoping Out the School

Let’s take a minute to look at the “crime scene” for Chapter 1’s fountain. The Knight would’ve needed to have access to the School in order to create a dark fountain there. It’s unclear whether Ralsei’s Castle Town fountain was created around the same time as Card Castle or whether the two fountains were even made by the same person. I have my own thoughts on that, but we’ll table that topic for later.

It’s harder to draw conclusions from Chapter 2’s dark fountain because it was created in a building that anyone in town would have had access to. We can infer some things from the exact location within the Librarby and the potential timeframe of that fountain’s creation, but the school fountains tell us a lot more.

Putting the Knight’s first fountain in the school makes a lot of potential suspects far less likely to be the Knight. This is because a school would typically be shut to the general public during daytime hours and locked up at night. In truth, I think the only person who could’ve made the Card Castle fountain would have to be someone who’s a student, a staff member, or someone closely connected to one of the former.

The only current students we know of are Kris and their classmates. A former student is perhaps possible, though it’s not exactly normal for schools to let graduates waltz in unannounced. Toriel and Alphys are the only known members of the current faculty, with Gerson a noted teacher when he was alive. There is a line from Sans about him being “the janitor,” which could tie into the school’s supply closet, but it’s still speculative whether there’s any connection there.

[Image transcript: Sans saying “me? I’m just the janitor.” End image transcript]

I feel that Susie, Noelle, and Berdly can be dismissed as suspects out of hand since we witness their first encounters with dark worlds. Kris is a thornier subject that I already wrote a whole post about, but let’s simplify and say that darkners (even savvy ones like Jevil and Spamton) don’t recognize them as the Knight.

[Image transcript: Spamton saying “Kris, did you know that the Knight...” End image transcript]

Snowy, Jockington, and Monster Kid lack arms, which Queen depicts the Knight as having. Temmie and Catti are technically possible and I don’t want to sell them short, but neither seem to have a clear motivation that we could draw on, nor do either of them seem driven enough to pull off the Knight’s handiwork. Catti’s after-school job may or may not give her an alibi as well.

[Image transcript: Catti saying “I’m working.” End image transcript]

Former students come with a big asterisk—the fact that they’re no longer students at the school means they lose the single biggest advantage that a student would have as a suspect: easy access to the school during the day. In order for a former student to be plausible, they’d have to have some kind of special skill or tool that would give them access to the school, or they’d have to know someone with access. This alone would shut out a number of (presumed) former students like Bratty, Catty, or Burgerpants, who have not been shown or implied to possess such means of access.

Lastly we have the three known faculty members: Alphys, Toriel, and Gerson. Alphys could have the means to open the fountains we’ve seen, though she hardly seems like the determined type or the sort of person who’d be respected by King. Toriel could command such respect, but the Knight’s actions are seemingly out of character for her. Additionally, Toriel is seen still at the school at the beginning of Chapter 2 and may not have been available to open the Librarby fountain. That just leaves Gerson.

Now, obviously Gerson is dead. That’s pretty much the strongest alibi there is. But as discussed with King’s “chain of justice,” there is reason to suspect the fountains in the school are somehow connected to Gerson. The fact that one exists in an unused classroom that King claims was “abandoned” by lightners would line up with Alvin’s statement that his father died years ago. And it goes without saying that Alvin’s drawing of Gerson is an even more obvious connection that implies Gerson used that room.

So how can any of that give Alvin an opportunity to open the school fountain? Well, for one thing we can infer he’s a former student due to his drawing. At minimum that would help him know the layout of the school and basic information regarding the building’s schedule and access points. On top of that he’s related to a former teacher, meaning he likely had more knowledge of the school than a typical former student, assuming he ever came to visit his father or was privy to any insider information. He’s aware of the fact that Alphys was his father’s replacement at the school and that Kris never had Gerson as a teacher, so he seems to be keeping tabs on things even after his father’s departure.

[Image transcript: Alvin saying “Kris, it is a shame you were not able to have him as a teacher. And difficult for Ms. Alphys, as his replacement.” End image transcript]

Alvin being related to Gerson could also give him an excuse to come visit the school and be let in by faculty even after Gerson’s passing. He could simply use the excuse that he’s stopping by to visit his father’s old friends or collecting some of his father’s old things, which we know there’s at least one of still in the school (i.e., the drawing). However, such an excuse is likely not even necessary.

As a teacher, Gerson likely had his own set of keys to get in and out of his classroom and likely the school itself. We know that Gerson was a smith, which could cover locksmithing and the ability to make duplicates of his keys. In the modern era locksmiths are far more common than classic weapon and armor smiths, but Gerson’s variety of talents wouldn’t rule out multiple types of smithing. But the idea of Alvin still having Gerson’s keys is pure speculation, right?  Actually, it isn’t.

In Chapter 1, Kris and Susie enter the school supply closet and the door shuts behind them.

[Image transcript: Susie saying “Hey, this isn’t funny! Let us out!” End image transcript]

In the moment it’s easy to assume that this is some supernatural event similar to the darkness spreading out of the closet door or the floor in the closet falling away. However, Susie reacts to the door shutting as if she knows there’s a person on the other side, and at the end of the chapter we see that the outside of the supply closet is locked just like the door down the hall.

[Image transcript: Narration for two doors in the school, both saying “The door is locked.” End image transcript]

Note that the flavor text doesn’t say “the door is mysteriously held shut,” but simply “it’s locked.” In other words, someone must have locked this door, which would require a set of keys. Only a staff member would have a set of keys—Alphys and Toriel were busy teaching their classes, which leaves Gerson’s keys as the only known set that weren’t accounted for in that moment.

Out of all the residents of Hometown, Alvin arguably has the most plausible opportunity to be within the school hallway during the moment when Kris and Susie are locked in the supply closet. All the other students and faculty are in their classrooms, the school is (presumably) closed to outsiders, and several other townspeople are seen outside the school when Kris and Toriel arrive.

Alvin, however, is not seen during Toriel’s drive, meaning his location at that time is conveniently unaccounted for.

The Librarby

The next day, the Knight opened up a dark fountain in the computer lab of the public Librarby. As mentioned before, virtually everyone in town has easy access to the Librarby, so it’s more difficult to deduce the Knight’s identity based solely on this location. However, there are a couple of things that connect this location to Alvin.

First up is Berdly’s mention of a “Ms. Boom” at the end of Chapter 2. Alvin mentions that Gerson told stories to his children (plural), implying that this Ms. Boom could be Alvin’s sister, or possibly some other relation. While it isn’t explicitly stated, this would imply that Ms. Boom works at the Librarby since we know that Berdly is a volunteer Librarby assistant and he mentions being late for his “shift” with Ms. Boom.

[Image transcript: Berdly saying “However, Kris. I am a benevolent volunteer assistant. Ahh, I’m going to be late for my shift with Ms. Boom!!” End image transcript]

If Ms. Boom works at the Librarby (or perhaps even owns it), then that would connect the location to the Boom family and give Alvin an easy method of visiting the building or reserving it whenever he likes.

[Image transcript: Susie saying “Hey, Kris, where the hell is everybody?” End image transcript]

Susie does mention how the Librarby seems empty when she and Kris first show up—perhaps Alvin pulled some strings to get the building to himself until a certain volunteer assistant let himself in?

Another thing that connects the building to Alvin’s family is the presence of Gerson’s book series, Lord of the Hammer.

[Image transcript: narration saying “Lord of the Hammer. First in the award-winning fiction series by lauded historian Gerson Boom.” End image transcript]

It’s not surprising that these books would be in a Library, but it could also explain why Alvin would choose this location in particular or take any sort of interest in it. To anyone else a Library is just a Library and a school is just a school, but to Alvin specifically these locations are far more personal in light of his loss. Alvin even talks extensively about his father’s work during Chapter 2, despite not bringing it up at all in Chapter 1—maybe the topic was on his mind for a reason?

[Image transcript: Alvin saying “Fans of his famous book series, Lord of the Hammer… That such a story, created for such a simple purpose. Could blossom into such a large, wonderful, world-changing thing… That is the majesty of words, Kris.” End image transcript]

One thing that doesn’t add up at first is why the fountain was ultimately created in the computer lab. Alvin doesn’t seem like a tech-savvy person, to put it lightly.

[Image transcript: Alvin saying “Nearly omitting the fact that he had done so in a ‘videos game.’” End image transcript]

You’d think it would make more sense for him to open the fountain in the main area of the Librarby where his father’s books are. My personal theory is that the computer lab was not the Knight’s first choice and there are some hints that point towards this.

First off is the fact that Queen seems far less connected to the Knight than King was. While not explicitly stated, the implication is that the Knight may have entered Card Castle and interacted with its denizens directly but interacted rather sparingly with the Cyber World. Queen mentions that the Knight has taken its leave, and given the limited timeframe when this fountain could have been created (in light of Noelle and Berdly’s presence), it’s likely that Cyber World may have been a rush job that the Knight was quick to leave behind. And given King’s attitude towards being “left behind,” I think it’s less likely that this was the case with Card Castle.

[Image transcript: King saying “How dare you come here, Lightners…? You, that left us in the shadows, stripped of meaning...” End image transcript]

The way I see events playing out is that Alvin may have reserved the Librarby to himself thanks to Ms. Boom. Unexpectedly, Berdly and Noelle showed up due to Berdly having his own key. Alvin backed up into the computer lab to avoid being seen and then was driven further back into the equipment closet once Noelle and Berdly came inside. As luck would have it, Noelle and Berdly fell asleep (as evidenced by Noelle claiming this is what happened, Berdly previously putting Kris to sleep, and Berdly setting an alarm beforehand).

[Image transcript: Noelle saying “I fell asleep in the Librarby, and…” Rudy says “I knew that birdbrain’d put you to sleep! Haha!” Noelle says “… he fell asleep, too.” Rudy says “Wow, he even put himself to sleep? Ha!” End image transcript]

[Image transcript: Berdly saying “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” The narration says “Listening to this, your eyes began to close automatically…” Berdly says “H… Huh?? My… my alarm??” Noelle says “Oh no, how is it that late already!?” End image transcript]

Alvin then cracked the closet door open, created a fountain that spilled out into the lab, then he ran out of the Librarby.

“A Large Person Could Easily Fit Inside”

One of the lynchpin clues of the Knight’s identity is the equipment closet in the computer lab.

[Image transcript: narration saying “The closet is spacious and full of old electronics. A large person could easily fit inside.” End image transcript]

The narration mentions that “a large person could easily fit inside.” As I’ve noted in my other theory posts, this is a very suspicious observation to make. The fact that the door to the closet is left ajar when the fountain is sealed indicates that the fountain’s darkness either seeped into the closet or, more likely, seeped out from it.

Why else would the narration draw attention to not just anyone fitting inside that closet, but a large person? As I’ve stated elsewhere, Berdly is among the smaller characters in Hometown. Kris, our point of reference character, is even smaller. Alvin, conversely, is on the larger end in terms of his sprite’s dimensions, and he’s easily larger than any of Kris’ party members.

While writing this post I tallied up the height and width of each of Hometown’s residents in order to argue in favor of Alvin’s “largeness,” but in the process I discovered something far more shocking: Alvin’s sprite is the exact same size as the equipment closet door. And I mean exact. Down to the pixel.

Admittedly the width has some wiggle room due to the open door overlapping the opening, but if we measure the opening based on where the top of the door ends (and how a door like this would open in real life) then it is 25 pixels wide and 47 pixels tall—Alvin’s exact size (and the only lightner in the game with those specific dimensions).

This makes my job easier since I no longer have to argue for Alvin’s “largeness” because by definition he is the largest character who can “easily” fit inside the closet (i.e., without having to duck or turn sideways). While the size matchup isn’t quite a silver bullet on its own, I do think it would be very in-character for Toby to make a doorway like this the exact same size as the Knight, given his usual attention to detail.

Speaking of Communion

Chapter 2 has one last major clue to the Knight’s identity, courtesy of our good friend Spamton. A lot of fans are already aware of this one and it’s what sparked many to consider Alvin as a potential suspect in the first place. When given the chance to talk to Spamton at his shop, he has this to say:

“I USED TO BE NOTHING BUT THE E_MAIL GUY, NOW I’M THE [[It Burns! Ow! Stop! Help Me! It Burns!]] GUY! [[Amazed at thi5 amazing transformation? You too can]] HAVE A {{Communion]] WITH [[Unintelligible Laughter]].”

When you ask him about the Knight, he continues this train of thought by saying:

“SPEAKING OF [[Communion]], KRIS, DID YOU KNOW THAT THE KNIGHT… No, I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to – TOO MANY EXCESS VACATION DAYS?? TAKE A GOD DAMN VACATION STRAIGHT TO HELL.”

Generally, Spamton’s dialogue can be hard to parse and you get the sense that he’s self-censoring (or being censored by someone else) whenever his manner of speaking changes abruptly. Even so, I find his use of the word “Communion” very interesting here. In the first usage of the term, he seems to be referring to his own encounter with whoever called him on the phone, likening this encounter to Communion.

In the real world, communion refers to the Christian rite of receiving “the Lord’s Supper” of bread and wine in church. Many interpretations of this rite involve a divine presence being imbued in the communion bread and wine, with some interpretations arguing further that the bread and wine are literally transformed into the living flesh and blood of Christ. Alternatively, communion can also mean a general association or friendship.

Now, the first definition could easily point in Alvin’s direction. The religious connection is obvious, and Alvin mentions that his church does offer “sick fruit juice,” likely referring to communion wine (or actual juice, which is a common substitute).

[Image transcript: Alvin saying “Kris, if you want some of our ‘sick’ Fruit Juice, you should come to our service.” End image transcript]

Toby has also shown concept art of Susie serving herself some sort of red liquid, which could be the same fruit juice.

Additional concept art of Noelle sitting in a “polite” manner in an unknown location, possibly next to her mother (assuming the face is being censored by the Noelle sprite) would imply that we’ll be seeing the inside of Alvin’s church in the coming chapters, given Rudy’s remarks about his family going to church the day after Chapter 2.

[Image transcript: Rudy saying “Might even be able to go to church tomorrow.” End image transcript]

The idea of non-living bread and wine being turned into flesh and blood is not unlike inanimate objects being turned into darkners through the use of “holy” fountains. In light of this interpretation, Spamton could’ve easily been about to say “SPEAKING OF [[Communion]], KRIS, DID YOU KNOW THAT THE KNIGHT IS A PRIEST?”

The second definition of communion, as association or friendship, could potentially apply to Alvin as well. Spamton first mentions communion in regards to his own transformation, which is likely referring to when he received the mysterious phone call that kickstarted his career. Given Spamton’s recurring theme of being someone else’s puppet, it’s possible that this “communion” event may be more akin to a possession, especially since Spamton frequently compares his own situation to Kris’ situation with the soul.

[Image transcript: Spamton saying “If you’ve lost control of your life. That’s a real bigshot move kid!!! You’re like me… I won’t have to be just a puppet any more!!!! It seems after all I couldn’t be anything more than a simple puppet.” End image transcript]

We know that Alvin serves a higher being in the form of the Angel. He refers to the Angel’s power “lighting your way” and the Angel watching over others.

[Image transcript: Alvin saying “Let the Angel’s power light your way. Good day, Kris. May the Angel watch over you...” End image transcript]

This is not unlike the soul’s role in guiding Kris, which Spamton likens to his own situation. Spamton’s line about the Knight could be a double-entendre meant to imply that not only is the Knight a religious figure but similarly a puppet to a higher power.

Now some might argue that since communion is written in brackets in Spamton’s dialogue it must be disregarded as a literal term. While I’d agree that it probably wasn’t intended solely as a literal meaning, many fans forget that Spamton’s bracketed text can sometimes be literal and straightforward. For example, he refers to Queen’s Mansion, the keygen, and the act of buying it all in bracketed text despite using the literal terms for them. He even uses brackets or no brackets interchangeably for both “buy” and “keygen”.

[Image transcript: Spamton saying “As a [Commemorative Ring] I will let you by [KeyGen] from me at [the low low price of]. [Buy] the keygen from me, unlock the basement, and get that EmptyDisk!!!” End image transcript]

Even many of his more off-the-wall bracketed text has some context clues that imbues it with meaning.

Moreover, Spamton uses religious terminology many times during Chapter 2, arguably more often than even Alvin does, so I don’t think the implied religious connotations of “communion” are a coincidence. Religious theming is very much a recurring part of Spamton’s repertoire.

[Image transcript: Spamton saying “Are you watching, heaven!? It’s time for Spamton’s comeback special!” Narration says “Spamton begs to the audience, Spamton prays to the audience.” A Swatchling says “Spamton? This used to be his room… Eventually, he just spent all his time in the basement… praying.” End image transcript]

Spamton is also one of a few characters shown to pray in dark worlds, with the others being Noelle and Ralsei.

The latter two utilize Heal Prayer, which is described as a heavenly light.

[Image transcript: menu text saying “Heavenly light restores a little HP to one party member. Depends on Magic.” End image transcript]

Noelle’s prayer isn’t too surprising, given that her family regularly attends church, she’s made her own angel doll, and is likely connected to the angel herself. Ralsei… well, he’s a whole other can of worms, but since I’m going for broke here we might as well talk about him. Trust me, I’m as surprised as you are.

Ralsei��s Origins

An Alternative Perspective

I honestly don’t know where to start with Ralsei—it feels like everyone has a Ralsei theory and no one can really agree what his “deal” is. I’ve tried to remain agnostic on the subject since I’m sure there’s something up with him that we won’t find out until later. But in the process of researching this Alvin theory I’ve found a troubling number of connections between Alvin and Ralsei. I say “troubling” because up until now I’ve been fairly confident that Ralsei is not “playing both sides” of the fountain conflict, nor that he’s secretly working for the Knight. However, I’m beginning to question things.

To cut to the chase, I’ve always been hesitant towards the idea that Ralsei is literally Asriel, and even the thought of Ralsei being Kris’ recreation of or idealized version of Asriel never sat right with me, especially after Chapter 2. Kris’ interactions with Ralsei don’t add up with this interpretation, in light of the Ralsei tea healing Kris for far less than the Susie tea.

[Image transcript: Kris heals 120 HP from Susie tea. Susie says “Stop looking at me!” Ralsei says “They seem into it” Kris heals 70 HP from Noelle tea. Susie says “…do they like it?” Ralsei says “They’re drinking it…” Kris heals 60 HP from Ralsei tea. Susie says “No reaction?” Ralsei says “I’m happy!” End image transcript]

Kris also seems to react more earnestly to the idea of taking Susie to the festival than taking Ralsei (or Noelle).

[Image transcript: Kris chooses Ralsei. Susie says “What!? Why are you saying it so confused?” Kris chooses Susie. Susie says “H… huh?” End image transcript]

Kris just seems more inclined towards Susie, and even some of their interactions with Noelle feel more earnest than many of their interactions with Ralsei (not to mention Noelle tea heals Kris more than Ralsei tea).

[Image transcript: Noelle saying “Har har, very funny! …gosh, do you need a dog treat or something?” Kris chooses “Nooooo.” Noelle says “Gosh, stop howling, I get it!” End image transcript]

You’d think someone who misses their brother as much as Kris does would embrace a suspiciously “similar” substitute, or conversely be horrified at encountering an uncanny doppelganger (especially for fringe theories which posit that Asriel is dead and Ralsei is him revived as a darkner). Instead Kris seems ambivalent towards Ralsei—they don’t dislike him, but he’s just a friend who isn’t quite “best” friend material.

This is one reason why I’ve always doubted the idea that Kris created Ralsei or that Ralsei represents Kris’ idealized conception of Asriel. Moreover, there are some key differences between Ralsei and Asriel. For one thing, Ralsei is implied to be much smaller, given that Asriel used to be able to carry Kris to school.

[Image transcript: Ralsei saying “Uh… um… it’s ok, Kris… err… I’m short, too....” Toriel says “Your brother cannot carry you to school any more, you know.” End image transcript]

Second, we know that Asriel was obsessed with video games, whereas Ralsei doesn’t express any direct interest in playing Queen’s punchout machine and implores Kris to play the game instead. He also takes Kris’ words at face value when they say that gaming is their life in (presumably) a dry, sardonic fashion. Even if Kris says “gaming is not my life,” Ralsei will nudge them toward playing anyway. I get the feeling that if Asriel were there he wouldn’t pass up a gaming opportunity, especially if his own sibling was offering up their spot.

[Image transcript: Narration saying “There’s also a game console. It has one normal controller, and one knock-off one.” Toriel says “Remember that video-game you and Asriel used to play?” Narration says “On the computer’s desktop is a folder called “Epic games Stuff!!!! It’s a picture of your brother and you playing video games.” End image transcript]

[Image transcript: Ralsei saying “Kris, I bet you’re very good at games, aren’t you?” Kris says “Gaming is my life.” Ralsei says “W-wow, Kris! Your passion is amazing!!” Susie says “…That was the most monotone response I’ve heard in my life?” Ralsei says “Do your best, Kris! I’ll be cheering you with magic pom-poms!” End image transcript]

[Image transcript: Kris saying “Gaming is not my life.” Queen says “If you aren’t enthusiastic I won’t want to enslave you.” Ralsei says “We don’t want that…” Queen says “Think ahead you will after I enslave you.” Ralsei says “Do your best, Kris! I’ll be cheering you with magic pom-poms!” End image transcript]

Finally, Asriel is implied to have had an active dating life with the ladies of Hometown, whereas Ralsei has no game.

[Image transcript: Catty saying “Oh my god, Asriel! Like, what a cutie pie! Do you remember when me and him went to the dance?” Bratty says “Remember that time I played truth or dare with Azzy? I, like, made him give me his first kiss…” End image transcript]

[Image transcript: Narration saying “You ordered Susie to flirt with the enemy!” Susie says “Hell nah. Let’s see Ralsei do it.” Ralsei says “I suppose if it can’t be helped…! Your hair is like a waterfall of…” End image transcript]

[Image transcript: Ralsei saying “… wait, um, do you have hair, or…” Narration says “Head Hathy felt awkward and left…” Ralsei says “Oh, oh dear! Wait!!” Susie says “Not so easy, huh!?” End image transcript]

So Ralsei hardly seems to represent Kris’ idealized version of Asriel, but maybe he’s meant to be someone else’s ideal version of Asriel? I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think Alvin may have had a hand in creating Ralsei.

Ralsei’s Connection to the Knight

I know, I know, “Alvin made Ralsei” sounds like a madlibs theory, but hear me out. For starters, let’s look at how Alvin views Asriel: a very kind young man who is, if anything, overzealous in his kindness.

[Image transcript: Alvin saying “Ah Kris. Your Brother. He is a very kind young man. Perhaps even a little… overzealous, in his younger days.” Ralsei says “Kris, if it’s for friendship… Well then, we’ll gladly help. What shall we do?” End image transcript]

We know from Alvin that Asriel once sang in the church choir, and in Chapter 1 we see Ralsei sing to put Susie and the Ponmen to sleep.

[Image transcript: Alvin saying “Our choir sounds a bit thinner since your brother went away.” Narration says “Ralsei sang a soft and entrancing lullaby!” End image transcript]

Alvin expresses unfamiliarity with the concept of video games, which lines up with Ralsei’s seeming lack of Asriel’s gaming obsession. Both of Alvin and Ralsei know what games are, but don’t express interest in playing themselves.

[Image transcript: Alvin saying “Nearly omitting the fact that he had done so in a ‘videos game.’” Ralsei says “Kris, I bet you’re very good at games, aren’t you?” End image transcript]

Finally, Alvin refers to instances where Asriel would show up to confess various sins to him.

[Image transcript: Alvin saying “He would visit me often to confess… to various, ‘sins.’ I would always ‘forgive’ him and send him home.” End image transcript]

And, in an uncommon piece of battle dialogue we can see Ralsei “repent” when he clicks on Poppup’s ads.

[Image transcript: Narration saying “Ralsei accidentally clicked on an ad for ‘lightners 4 darkners in ur area’ and was mortified. He deleted the browser shortcut on the desktop entirely… but immediately felt guilty because he thought he had ‘deleted the entire internet.’” Ralsei says “I… I didn’t mean to do it… I… I’m sorry!!! I repent!!!” End image transcript]

We also hear Spamton recite a similar line of dialogue begging for forgiveness when he discusses the Knight.

[Image transcript: Spamton saying “No, I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to--” End image transcript]

This line uses proper capitalization and no brackets, not unlike when Spamton quotes the “can anybody hear me?” line.

[Image transcript: Spamton saying “… can anyone hear me? Help...” End image transcript]

This implies he’s quoting something that someone else said, and his line is very similar to Ralsei’s, sharing the “I didn’t mean to—“ refrain, which makes me think both are channeling a young Asriel. The “repent” dialogue is especially telling because Alvin clarifies that his religion has no concept of sin or confession.

[Image transcript: Alvin saying “He would visit me often to confess… to various, ‘sins.’ Despite the absence of sin, or confession, in our religion.” End image transcript]

In other words, this isn’t standard practice for the town’s religion and it’s an experience that only Alvin and Asriel would be familiar with (and possibly Spamton, owing to his “forbidden knowledge” vibe). And, again, Spamton says this line when he’s talking about the Knight specifically. While I’m sure someone could try to use this fact to bolster an “Asriel is the Knight” theory, I think this points more towards Alvin because it’s implied that this confessional activity is something that Asriel grew out of—something that he might not even think much of nowadays but something that Alvin clearly reminisces about.

Given Alvin’s loss of his father and Asriel’s absence, it’s not too much of a stretch to imagine that he, like Kris, has (to a lesser extent) felt a bit lonelier since Asriel went away. If Dess was part of Alvin’s youth group and if she’s missing then that’s two pupils of Alvin’s that are no longer in his life.

We know from Ralsei that darkners reflect the will of their fountains. Given how few character could even know about the concept of confessing sins, I’m forced to conclude that Alvin’s conception of Asriel must have shaped Ralsei’s personality in some way.

I say I’m “forced” to conclude that because, despite my tendency to stress Alvin’s importance, I did not walk into this post from the outset intending to prove that Alvin created Ralsei. It’s certainly not a hill I want to die on, and I can understand anyone who was with me up until now seeing this as a hard sell.

Still, Ralsei being connected to the Knight could fill in a couple of small plotholes. First would be the fact that Lancer and other Card Castle residents know about Ralsei’s legend in Chapter 1.

[Image transcript: Lancer saying “You know. Teardrop-headed kid. From the legend?” Seam says “Ha ha ha… So you are the ‘heroes’ who are going to seal our Fountain?” End image transcript]

There’s no reason why this should be the case since Ralsei (to our knowledge) hasn’t even met individuals like Seam, who alludes to the legend when the option “we’re legendary” is selected. But if Ralsei and the Knight both know the legend then it makes sense the Knight would warn the King’s subjects about it.

[Image transcript: King saying “Their only goal is to destroy our glorious Fountain.” End image transcript]

This would also address the final battle in Chapter 2 where Queen knows about the Roaring Knight but doesn’t know what the Roaring itself is. This implies the Knight knows about the Roaring and introduced itself as the Roaring Knight, but essentially lied by omission as to the Roaring’s nature. If Ralsei and the Knight share some kind of connection then this could also explain how Ralsei is able to “feel” a dark presence from Castle Town when the Librarby fountain is opened.

[Image transcript: Ralsei saying “I felt a dark presence and hurried over!” End image transcript]

Like I said earlier, I’m not fond of the idea that Ralsei is secretly working for the Knight and I don’t think this theory automatically entails that. Creation does not necessarily mean loyalty. It’s possible Alvin and Ralsei may not even be fully aware of each other, or at least not actively keeping tabs on one another. How could that be? Well, I think it’s worth asking what Alvin’s intentions are—not just for Ralsei, but for the fountains he’s creating.

Alvin’s Motives

The Knight’s motives seem downright inscrutable, and the same goes for many would-be Knight candidates. When fans try to theorize about the Knight’s motives it usually boils down to either “something something escapism” or “life sucks, time to end the world.” These are certainly potential motives that the Knight could end up having, but they feel a bit too broad and impersonal. One advantage that Alvin has over most Knight suspects is that he has several potential motives that are hinted at in-game and largely unique to him.

The one most people have picked up on is the Roaring’s connection to the Angel’s Heaven. Given that Alvin serves the Angel, this is a bit of a no-brainer. We don’t know exactly what the Angel’s Heaven is, or rather what Alvin thinks it will accomplish (if it’s actually just the Roaring), but I think this is almost certainly one of his key motivations. However, I don’t think it’s the only one.

One lesser-discussed possibility could be that Alvin is trying to lure Noelle into dark worlds in order to help unlock her angelic powers. If you’re wondering what “angelic” powers I’m referring to, this is hinted at throughout chapter 2:

[Image transcript: Noelle saying “I’d grow big angel wings, and fly as far as I can, gazing back at it all...” A pink Addison says “C’mon, angel! You can’t get stronger without good equipment!” Spamton says “Angel, Angel.” End image transcript]

I suggest that Alvin could be luring Noelle because in Chapter 1 Noelle almost goes into the storage closet with Susie before Alphys sends Kris instead, and the two of them are then locked in the closet (presumably) by the Knight.

[Image transcript: Noelle saying “Hey, there might be a box in the supply closet… Miss Alphys, why don’t Susie and I...” End image transcript]

Later in Chapter 2 we see the Knight trapping Berdly and Noelle in a dark world.

Now, I think this motive is worth considering but also isn’t the most likely. For one thing, Alvin never mentions Noelle in his dialogue and it’s unclear if he’s even aware of her possible angelic connections. While Noelle does go to his church and it’s implied her youth group was tied to it as well, she doesn’t seem to be held in the same regard by Alvin as Asriel is, based on what little we know. A bigger issue is that this motive would require Alvin knowing in advance where Noelle is (likely) to be, which is a bit of a stretch.

What I think is the most probable motive for Alvin is a desire to revive his father through the use of dark fountains. Several fans have speculated this and there’s plenty of evidence to back it up. The most obvious is Alvin’s dialogue in the graveyard where he mentions his father’s hammer.

[Image transcript: Alvin saying “As per the ritual, a hammer is buried in the earth here. To symbolize his existence.” Narration says “You heard Alvin mumbling to himself as you walked away.” Alvin says “And… is it right for this hammer to…” End image transcript]

If monster burial rites are anything like Undertale’s then we know what happens when a dust-covered object is introduced to determination (or in this case, a life-giving fountain opened with determination).

[Image transcript: Flavor text saying “When monsters get old and kick the bucket, they turn into dust. At funerals, we take that dust and spread it on that person’s favorite thing.” Monsters say “Wounded, Asriel stumbled home. He entered the castle and collapsed. His dust spread across the garden…” Alphys’ lab entries say “In the center of his garden, there’s something special. The first golden flower, that grew before all the others. What happens when something without a soul gains the will to live?” End image transcript]

However, one thing to consider is that this resurrection-by-hammer (most likely) hasn’t happened yet. There’s no sign of Gerson’s hammer being dug up from his grave and Alvin’s final lines in Chapter 2 imply he’s still mulling over the idea. I’ve seen some suggest Alvin can’t be the Knight because he’d be using Gerson’s hammer instead of a blade, but I think he’s still working his way up to that. This is where Ralsei comes in, because I think that Ralsei and the previous dark fountains have been experiments conducted by Alvin in an attempt to bring Gerson back.

The Knight’s Trials and Errors

Perhaps the only thing harder to figure out than the Knight’s motives is trying to piece together how the Knight’s actions so far have tied into that motive. One day the Knight opens a fountain and seemingly intervenes in the affairs of its rulers, then the next day the Knight is suddenly in a hurry to leave a brand new fountain. And here I am throwing Ralsei’s creation into the mix, which should only complicate things further.

Well, here’s how I see it: we know from the Spamton Neo fight that drawings and representations of real or conceptual figures can be imbued with great power by lightners and brought to life. The implication is that this might somehow be distinct from an object that’s mass-produced or not made by a specific lightner’s hand for a specific purpose. In other words, sentimental value or a strong creative intent might make a darkner or dark world object more powerful than it otherwise would be.

Given that Ralsei closely resembles Asriel and looks far more like a lightner than any other darkner does, I think it’s not unreasonable to posit that Ralsei may have been made from a drawing or some other representation of Asriel. We already know that a Ralsei drawing is present in the game files as a page in Ralsei’s unused manual and it also appears inside of the official (hat) Ralsei plush.

[Image transcript: A drawing of Ralsei saying “Thank you! I’m looking forward to meeting you!” End image transcript]

This would not only explain why Ralsei looks so much like a boss monster but it would also explain Ralsei’s own identity issues and why he’d ponder what being “Ralsei-like” even is.

[Image transcript: Kris saying “It’s nice that Ralsei is Ralsei.” Ralsei says “No one’s… no one’s ever said that to me before… I mean, e-everything’s a first for me, but… I just wonder what… being ‘Ralsei-like’ even is…?” End image transcript]

I could easily see him worrying about this if on some level he knew he was created from a representation of someone else, or if he was viewed as a “failure” for not representing that person more closely.

On a somewhat-related note, both Alvin and Asriel share the distinction of having “poorly drawn” images in Deltarune. This description is also used for the “don’t forget” drawing in Sans’ secret room. The latter drawing only appears when Clamgirl tells you about Suzy, which ties the drawing to Deltarune:

[Image transcript: Narration saying “It’s a yellowed, poorly-drawn picture of a green turtle. It’s a poorly-drawn design for a game… It’s a poorly drawn picture of three smiling people. Written on it… ‘don’t forget.’” End image transcript]

I’m not quite sure what the full implication of this is—perhaps Alvin or the Deltarune version of Asriel was the one who made the “don’t forget” drawing? Maybe it’s just a coincidence? Who can say.

Now, I know the popular theory is that Ralsei was made from Kris’ headband, and I’m not dismissing that idea out of hand.

[Image transcript: Toriel saying “Remember when you were little... You asked when your horns were going to grow in? So we bought that headband with the little red horns on it. Oh, you wore it for months! Whatever happened to it?” End image transcript]

An object like that could have a lot of sentimental value stored in it, and if Kris harbored some desire to be more like Asriel then it’s possible some of that “intent” may have been imbued in the object, which mingled with Alvin’s own intent for it (assuming he got ahold of it somehow). Even so, I lean more towards the drawing interpretation just because it feels like the more straightforward way to explain why Ralsei’s appearance is so specific and anthropomorphized (as opposed to him just being a talking headband).

Getting back to Alvin, I think if he created Ralsei then his intention was to see how closely he could recreate a real-life person. Naturally, he based Ralsei on his own narrow perspective of Asriel as the overzealous do-gooder from his pre-college days. It’s unclear whether Alvin saw the experiment as a success or not, but I think it’s likely that he parted ways with Ralsei—either out of disappointment or out of a desire to move on to his real project: reviving his father. I think it’s quite likely that Alvin and Ralsei never meaningfully interacted, or at least never conspired together like some “Ralsei will betray you!” theory would have you believe.

Next up, Alvin created the Card Castle Fountain. This makes sense as a next step since it’s right next to the supply closet, it’s likely a place that was significant to his father, and Alvin’s drawing of Gerson would prove the perfect test subject. However, I think this experiment was unsuccessful. If Alvin’s drawing was the Shadow Mantle then it’s clear he did not succeed in recreating Gerson. This is likely owed to the “poorly-drawn” nature of the picture. Instead, I think the Shadow Mantle ended up like the “Neo” robot body—a powerful artifact that isn’t fully sentient (as far as we know). As a token of goodwill (and insurance policy against the heroes of legend), Alvin left the Shadow Mantle in King’s care.

Finally we end up with Cyber World. Like I explained earlier, I think this fountain’s creation was a botch job from the start. Whatever Alvin might’ve had planned, I think he threw that plan out the window as soon as Berdly and Noelle showed up. Instead, he settled for opening a fountain to cover his escape and bring the Angel’s Heaven one step closer. This would also explain why he (likely) didn’t linger in this fountain—it held no special value to him.

Afterwards, Alvin may have checked in on the Unused Classroom, where he’d only find the Card Castle fountain sealed and its darkners missing. This would explain why Alvin seems much more morose and unsure of himself at the end of Chapter 2.

[Image transcript: Alvin saying “It’s been a few years since my father passed on...” End image transcript]

At this point he’s no closer to seeing his father again, his fountains have been sealed, the darkners he entrusted have vanished, and his past efforts have all ended in failure. This could easily provide the catalyst for him to consider digging up his father’s grave—it’s not like anything else was working up to this point.

I think it’s safe to say that Gerson is the common thread that connects Alvin’s actions as the Knight. On top of that there’s evidence to suggest that Gerson may have had knowledge of dark worlds, which likely sent Alvin down this path to begin with. Gerson could almost get his own theory post, but since I’m swinging for the fences…

Gerson and the Dark Fountains

Let’s Talk About Gerson

[Image transcript: Gerson saying “Really? YOU wanna chat?” End image transcript]

To start with, can I just say that Gerson is a massively underrated character? In Undertale he’s one of the only living survivors of the human-monster war and he offers some of the most crucial lore tidbits in the whole game. Without him we wouldn’t know anything about boss monsters or the Deltarune symbol. Undyne refers to him as “the toughest monster that ever lived,” which is high praise coming from the “undying” head of the royal guard who regularly trained with Asgore.

[Image transcript: Undyne saying “That’s the store of Gerson, the Hammer of Justice! The toughest monster that ever lived…! He fought in the war between humans and monsters… And he survived! He’s a real hero!” End image transcript]

To top things off, Gerson is implied to have some degree of “forbidden” meta knowledge. He’s seemingly aware of the fact that you cannot fight him inside of a shop menu and even acknowledges that this is special knowledge that he’s exploiting for his own survival.

[Image transcript: Gerson saying “I’ve lived too long to be afraid of something like you. Try it, kiddo! … I know you can’t here. Wah ha… Knowledge like that is the only reason I’ve survived so long.” End image transcript]

Let’s see: implied meta knowledge, implied hidden strength, and a cavalier sense of humor even in the face of oblivion—it’s like Gerson was the Underground’s Sans before Sans was.

Getting back to Deltarune, the fountain locations from chapters 1 and 2 can all be tied to Gerson in some way. Gerson was a teacher at the school, where the Castle Town and Card Castle fountains were located. There’s also the possibility that the unused classroom was once Gerson’s. Then we have Gerson’s books in the Librarby, where a Ms. Boom is implied to work.

That much is an easy assertion to make, but let’s unpack this a little more. Are there any telltale signs within the dark worlds that indicate some sort of connection to Gerson or the Boom family? I did mention King’s usage of the “chain of justice,” which is likely an homage to Gerson. There is the occasional Deltarune symbol, which would be more of a link to Alvin, though surprisingly this symbol doesn’t appear as often in dark worlds as you might think. We do see it a couple of times in the Card Kingdom and it appears a few more times in Castle Town, but is otherwise rather scarce.

However, there is one telltale sign of Gerson in the dark worlds that I’ve seen no one bring up. I think the reason for this is that it’s a sign that’s so obvious and so broad that it almost blends into the background: the “swords and sorcery” fantasy aesthetic. Think about it: why do Kris and Susie gain medieval weaponry when they enter dark worlds? Why are there magic spells? Why do these elements persist even in a technology-themed dark world?

[Image transcript: Menu text saying “Brave Ax: A glossy ax from a block warrior. Suitable for heroes. Spookysword: A black-and-orange sword with a bat hilt. Heal Prayer: Heavenly light restores a little HP to one party member. Depends on Magic. MechaSaber: Press hilt to extend.” End image transcript]

Keep in mind that, unlike Undertale, there’s no in-universe explanation for why monsters or anyone else would gravitate towards these trappings. Undertale’s monsters were, to some degree, still stuck in their old ways of doing things from the war with humans. Deltarune’s world, however, is unabashedly modern. There’s a mayor instead of a king, there’s police instead of a royal guard, and it’s implied magic does not exist in the light world.

[Image transcript: Politics Bear saying “This town doesn’t have a mayor. The mayor’s charisma is about zero. No, it’s negative.” Undyne says “Nothing beats food home-cooked with fire magic.” Noelle says “I wish I knew healing magic in real life.” End image transcript]

Most players just take it for a given that an RPG is going to have a fantasy theming to it, but it’s by no means compulsory. Furthermore, it feels right up Toby’s alley for him to undermine our own assumptions about genre conventions by luring us into a false sense of security.

If you haven’t guessed what I’m getting at, I believe that Gerson’s Lord of the Hammer book series has had some sort of influence on the fountains we’ve seen so far.

[Image transcript: Narration saying “It’s the Lord of the Hammer series.” Susie says “Hahaha, Kris, you READ that nerdy stuff? Heh! Giant swords, hammers, bloody battles… uh, so if there’s any cool parts, you’d tell me, right?” End image transcript]

Perhaps the series is on Alvin’s mind whenever he creates a fountain, thus making it part of that fountain’s “will.” Maybe Alvin even brings a copy of one of Gerson’s books with him, either as a good luck charm or to add a special “flavor” to his fountains. Or, what if this dynamic goes both ways?

Maybe Gerson’s writing not only has an influence on dark worlds but was also inspired by them? In Undertale, Gerson mentions how it’s easy for him to study history when he’s lived through so much of it.

[Image transcript: Gerson saying “Studying history sure is easy when you’ve lived through so much of it yourself! Wa ha ha!” End image transcript]

In Deltarune Gerson was also a historian before making a sudden pivot to writing fiction, but what if he’s once again merely describing “history” that he’s lived through?

[Image transcript: Alvin saying “Originally a smith by trade, he began writing history... And made a turn into telling stories.” End image transcript]

Admittedly, establishing a direct connection between Gerson’s work and dark worlds is somewhat tenuous, but there are breadcrumbs here and there. For one thing, Gerson cites dreams as a major inspiration for his work.

[Image transcript: Narration saying “Gerson Boom Memorial Bench.” A quote from Gerson says “Throughout my career, some of my best ideas came from dreams. Take a rest here. If anyone asks—you’re writing!” Narration says “Gerson: Renowned historian, author, and teacher.” End image transcript]

Dark worlds and their constructs are compared to dreams numerous times in Chapter 1 and especially Chapter 2.

[Image transcript: Susie saying “Uhhh… you’re, uh… just having a dream!” Swatch says “A dream I helped create… once.” Narration says “It feels incredibly soft. Like sleeping on a dream…” Queen says “Into a darker, darker dream.” End image transcript]

You even have the option to skip right to each chapter’s dark world by going to sleep.

[Image transcript: Kris in the light world choosing “Sleep.” Narration says “For some reason, you decided to go back to sleep… But, when you opened your eyes…” Kris appears in the dark world. End image transcript]

We also know that Toby was inspired to create Deltarune based on a literal fever dream.

[Image transcript: An interviewer saying “How long has the idea for Deltarune been kicking around in your head?” Toby says “In 2011, when I was away at school, I got very sick. Iended up having a terrible fever and couldn’t get any medicine for it, and while I was sleeping I had a vivid dream about the ending to a game. Since then… I felt like I had to make the game with that ending. I attempted to make that game in 2012 using character designs by an artist I really like called Kanotynes. However, I stopped making ti even before I made a single room of the game. That game… I ended up repurposing a few of the songs from it for Undertale. For example, ‘Heartache’ was originally called ‘Joker Battle’ and ‘Bonetrousle’ was originally the main battle theme. Then I decided around when I did the Kickstarter to Undertale (2013) that if I ever completed Undertale, my next game would be a mix of Undertale and that concept.” End image transcript]

Alvin also describes his father’s work as blossoming into a “large, wonderful, world-changing thing”. While this would be a fitting description of a popular book series, it would also be a fitting description of a dark fountain—they can be said to “blossom” into something large since dark worlds are bigger on the inside than the outside, and they certainly change the world. One of the darkners in Castle Town even refers to the town as “a dream that grows with love and care.”

[Image transcript: A Rudinn saying “Things have changed again here in GersonTown! This is a dream that grows with love and care. Don’t be afraid to dream!” End image transcript]

Lastly, tying Gerson to the dark worlds would go a long way to explaining one of the major unanswered questions in Deltarune: where did the Grand Fountain come from?

Gerson’s Grand Fountain

In the past I’ve alluded to the idea that Castle Town and its “grand” fountain were not created the same way as the other dark fountains, likely through different means and/or by a different person. It’s explained in Chapter 2 that Ralsei’s fountain is one of pure darkness, which allows any darkner to live there without turning to stone. It could also be the case that Ralsei is immune to turning to stone because he originated in the grand fountain.

[Image transcript: Ralsei saying “Castle Town’s Grand Fountain is made of pure darkness. As long as it stays flowing, any Darkner can live there.” End image transcript]

Unless if there’s some hidden drawback we’re unaware of, it seems like the grand fountain is outright superior to other dark fountains, at least when it comes to living conditions for darkners. Chapter 1 implies that the grand fountain is the oldest dark fountain, given that the Card Kingdom fountain is referred to as appearing “recently.”

[Image transcript: Ralsei saying “Today, the Fountain of Darkness—the geyser that gives this land form—Stands tall at the center of the kingdom. But recently, another fountain has appeared on the horizon…” End image transcript]

If the first three fountains were all made by the same person then it raises the question of why their first fountain was so much more powerful and “pure” than the ones that followed. If anything you’d think the Knight would be getting better at making fountains with each new attempt.

I’m inclined to believe that Gerson created the Grand fountain, or at least had a hand in it. Besides being a more refined fountain, we can also see the afore-mentioned fantasy theming most prevalently in this fountain, which features an inn, weapons shop, and item shop—traditional staples of fantasy RPGs.

The music and presentation of the legend, while debatably non-diegetic, does evoke a fantasy theme the most strongly. Moreover, in the darkened supply closet we do see old papers on the floor—we know Gerson was a writer, so these would be expected in such a setting.

[Image transcript: Susie saying “There’s nothing in here but old papers.” End image transcript]

The abandoned buildings also look somewhat flat—perhaps they’re paper-based constructs?

The Will of the Fountains

The grand fountain’s seeming ability to make Ralsei persist across all fountains makes me wonder if darkners and dark world constructs are, for lack of a better term, “programmed” when they’re brought to life for the first time. In other words, Ralsei retains the grand fountain’s immunity to petrification even when he’s not in the grand fountain because he was made there. Conversely, Lancer retains his vulnerability to petrification when he’s in any fountain aside from Castle Town or his own because he was not first “programmed” in a grand fountain like Ralsei was.

This could explain why items and equipment maintain their original shape even when they’re brought to other fountains—Kris continues to wear medieval armor in Cyber world despite the clashing themes. Berdly, on the other hand, had his gear first “programmed” in Cyber world, which is why he’s outfitted with a scouter and more sci-fi-looking apparel.  

[Image transcript: Narration saying “Berdly crushes his Smart Scouter out of frustration.” End image transcript]

Since items from Card Castle can be brought to Cyber World with no issue, it can be presumed that petrification is something that only affects darkners rather than non-sentient dark world constructs. Whatever fountain a darkner or construct originates in seems to determine that dark world entity’s appearance and “compatibility settings” for all future fountains.

Why do I bring this up? Mainly to reconcile a potential snarl in my theory—namely, the idea that Gerson made Castle Town but Alvin (may have) created Ralsei. The two ideas seem to contradict each other, given that I’m arguing Ralsei was created in Castle Town but that Alvin did not create Castle Town. However, I think what matters here is what fountain a darkner is first placed into (and by who) when they’re brought to life, not whether they’re brought to life by the same person who originally made the fountain.

For instance, we know that Susie’s clothing and gear was not created by anyone who created a fountain—the fountain(s) were made first and then Susie brought her own starting gear into them. At that point her gear was “programmed” to take on its current appearance, which is arguably a mix of fantasy aesthetic and (to a lesser degree) her own tastes, and this appearance has persisted across fountains ever since.

Likewise, Gerson may have created Castle Town but Alvin may have been the one to create Ralsei by being the one to first bring his source object into Castle Town. If this object was a drawing of Asriel created by Alvin then, like the Neo robot body, it would have been imbued with its creator’s own creativity and dreams, allowing Alvin’s own intentions to shape the creation. Note that the Neo body was almost certainly not made by the same person who created Cyber world, and yet it maintains much of its original intent (assuming Mettaton was drawing his ideal body) while still fitting into Cyber World’s theme. Likewise, Asriel’s likeness shines through for Ralsei but he also has some of the flavoring of Castle Town’s fantasy theme sprinkled on top.

Alternatively, I could also argue that Gerson may have had a similar conception of Asriel that Alvin did, especially if Alvin shared any of his stories with his father, which could have resulted in Gerson and Alvin’s mutual view of Asriel shaping the creation of Ralsei. It might also be possible that Gerson was a teacher of Asriel’s—we know that Gerson never taught Kris, but Asriel is clearly older than Kris so it’s likely Gerson may have had him as a student. Or it could even be argued that Gerson and Alvin made Castle Town together, if it’s even possible to create a fountain collaboratively.

Dark Fountain Rulebook – Abridged Edition

Admittedly the “rules” of dark worlds are still vague in some areas and may never be fully explained in the story, but to summarize this is how I think darkners and constructs are made:

When a dark fountain is created, every object in the immediate surrounding forms a dark world that reflects the fountain’s will (aka, the maker’s will). All darkners and constructs present at the time of creation are “programmed” to take a certain appearance that will persist across other dark worlds. Darkners created in impure fountains will not “belong” in other impure fountains and will eventually turn to stone.

Objects that are hand-made by a lightner and/or that have a lot of sentimental value will retain some of that lightner’s original intent and power, even when brought into someone else’s dark world. If the object is artistic in nature and is given a specific appearance/likeness then it will largely retain that likeness in the dark world.

Ordinary objects that don’t fit the above description can be brought into an existing dark world by any lightner. If these objects were not previously “programmed” in a dark world then they will take on whatever “theme” reflects the fountain’s will. It’s possible that the lightner carrying the object may have some minor influence on the object’s final appearance in the dark world (i.e., Susie and Berdly’s clothes), but they will still match the fountain’s will.

To make this even simpler, the will of the fountain’s creator usually decides what an object will look like in the dark world, but a determined lightner with a strong desire for a specific object can potentially override the fountain’s will in varying degrees if the item has not already been “programmed.”

While I think this framework mostly makes sense, it doesn’t account for everything—namely the implied histories of King, Queen, and other darkners who seemingly existed before Card Castle’s fountain was created. Sweet Cap’n Cakes even talk about what Queen was like before the dark fountain showed up, which seems like a contradiction in terms.

[Image transcript: Sweet saying “Queen wasn’t always so… harsh.” Cap’n says “No, she WAS! She just got worse somehow!” Sweet says “It wasn’t ‘til that Dark Fountain showed up.” Cap’n says “That she started going into overdrive.” End image transcript]

Admittedly, I have no answer for this, but then again I haven’t seen many compelling explanations in the fanbase either. It could be that darkners are simply aware of their experiences as inanimate objects and process those memories as if they were sentient at the time.

The only alternative explanation I see is that some darkners would have had to have existed previously either in Castle Town (despite most darkners’ unfamiliarity with Castle Town in Ch 2) or in some other fountain(s) that existed prior to the start of the game. And the latter option only invites further questions as to who made and (presumably) sealed those fountains, which is beyond speculative and far outside the scope of this already massive theory. Speaking of which, let’s get back to Gerson so that we can (hopefully) get back to Alvin.

Blessed with Talent

Sorry for that big tangent, but it was important to lay out the differences between Gerson’s fountain and Alvin’s fountains for two main reasons: The first was to clear up the issues involved in Ralsei’s creation, which is one reason why I was initially reluctant to believe that Alvin created him. The second reason is to illustrate what could be another aspect of Alvin’s motivation: feelings of inferiority towards his father.

[Image transcript: Alvin saying “… were you proud of me, father… ?” End image transcript]

Admittedly this interpretation doesn’t have a ton of evidence yet but it seems like a direction that the story could go in in order to give nuance to Alvin’s motivations beyond a generic love for Gerson. We do see Alvin question whether his father was proud of him—note that he says “were you proud of me,” not “are you proud of me,” implying that he isn’t referring to his recent deeds but rather referring to whether Gerson was proud of him while he was alive.

[Image transcript: Alvin saying “My father was blessed to have such a talent for writing.” End image transcript]

Alvin also goes on about his father’s talents and remarks “my father was blessed to have such a talent for writing.” Note that Alvin doesn’t chalk this up to his father’s hard work, but almost views Gerson’s writing ability as something that fell into his lap—as if to say his father didn’t earn it or that Alvin rues the fact that he wasn’t similarly blessed.

The difference between Gerson’s fountain and Alvin’s fountains could reflect this feeling of inferiority—Gerson’s fountain is pure while Alvin’s explicitly are not. If we assume that Alvin created Ralsei then the order of Alvin’s dark world “experiments” paints a picture where he sees less and less success the further he strays from his father’s work. First he makes a petrification-immune darkner replica of Asriel in his father’s fountain, then he makes an impure fountain next-door to his father’s fountain, and then he completely botches a new fountain down the street at the Librarby. And to top it all off, Alvin’s fountains have been sealed while Gerson’s is still standing.

This idea of inheriting a legacy and failing to live up to it could be meta commentary on Toby’s own fears about creating Deltarune after the runaway success of Undertale. Or perhaps it’s a broader commentary on his own games’ place in the pantheon of RPG and indie greats that inspired them. Dark Worlds can certainly be analogous to creating fictional worlds that others can immerse themselves in and interact with. However, there is a different real-life creator that Gerson might parallel more closely, especially when taking each of their sons into account.

Lord of the Hammer

Deltarune establishes Gerson as a famous fantasy author who gained notoriety for his series “Lord of the Hammer.” The name is an obvious nod to the Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien and both works are implied to share a similar tone and subject matter, but the parallels between these two run a bit deeper. Tolkien was a former soldier and, in Undertale at least, so was Gerson. Both of them became writers and teachers with an initial focus on more academic subject matter—history for Gerson and translation/linguistics for Tolkien (with some focus on historical works like Beowulf). Both of them created their initial fantasy works as bedtime stories for their children. Both became highly successful based on their fantasy work but retired from the life of celebrity in favor of simpler pursuits.

JRR Tolkien named his youngest son Christopher Tolkien as his literary executor in his will—a position that Christopher used to publish many of his father’s unfinished works posthumously. Some might remember Christopher Tolkien as an outspoken critic of the various film adaptations of his father’s work and once threatening legal action against New Line Cinema.

I can’t say what kind of person Christopher Tolkien was, but based on what I know of his view of the films and based on the many posthumous works of his father that he helped publish (which I’ve read), I would offer my own opinion that Christopher was very protective of his father’s work and viewed it as sacrosanct. Even if the work in question was an earlier draft of an unfinished tale that was literally scribbled on top of an erased previous draft in an old notebook, the younger Tolkien likely viewed that as a work of infinitely greater value than any academy-award-winning film adaptation that lacked his father’s direct involvement.

I’m not saying that Christopher was right or wrong to feel this way, but his stance seems pretty clear to a mere outsider like me. Where this could invite parallels to Alvin Boom is the idea of him trying to pick up where his father left off, in some cases possibly even working with his father’s previous fountain and personal artifacts. This could be a meta commentary on fan works or literary “expanded universes” that operate on the principle of “continuity is law” while being afraid to try anything new. Alvin may have the knowledge and tools of his father, but perhaps what’s lacking is the unique creative drive—the soul, if you will.

If Alvin created Ralsei then even he is merely a recreation of something that came before. And that would make Alvin’s fountains pale imitations of his father’s work. If my theory is correct then Alvin’s work up until now has merely been chasing his father’s success. Bringing things full circle, I could see this idea tying back into Toby’s own view of his series and the works resulting from it.

I can’t say exactly how Toby regards his own fanbase in any appreciable detail, but given Undertale’s runaway success I would be surprised if Deltarune doesn’t contain at least some kind of thematic commentary on Toby’s experiences. As many fans know, Toby had the idea for Deltarune before he even finished Undertale, but I don’t think that rules out likelihood of Toby’s later experiences influencing his work—if he has room for modern memes in his writing then he has room for modern themes as well.

Toby has outright said that Deltarune Chapter 1 was meant to trick players into thinking they were playing a direct follow-up to Undertale, and since then he’s remarked that he’s glad Deltarune is being appreciated for its own merits rather than in relation to Undertale.

[Image transcript: Toby saying “My head is spinning seeing the massive response to Chapter 2. Thank you so much for playing, everyone. It was a really silly chapter, and the next one is going to be super silly too! I feel happy because it seems like people are finally seeing ‘Deltarune’ as something with its own identity and characters, rather than only thinking about it in relation to ‘Undertale.’” End image transcript]

Despite Toby’s own history with collaborative and fan projects, I think at the end of the day he values a work that can stand on its own two legs, even if it has more than its share of influences that it wears on its sleeve. Perhaps this is what he’s driving at with Deltarune’s potential themes of dark worlds as works of fiction—it’s ok to be inspired by someone else, but trying to directly recapture their work without reinvention produces diminishing returns.

Counter-Arguments

The Elephant in the Room…

In an ideal world this is where I’d be wrapping up my theory—I’ve stated the main idea, examined the in-game evidence for it, and even explored the potential character motivation and thematic meanings behind the theory. However, there is one major topic that I have failed to address—one that I’m sure many reading this post have been thinking or saying aloud to themselves this whole time: “but Alvin doesn’t have a dialogue portrait.”

To restate the obvious, Alvin does not have a dialogue portrait. His dialogue does not have a unique typer sound. His name does not prompt any special response during the Vessel creation sequence, unlike his father’s. These are all true statements. I’d be lying if I said that these facts haven’t given me pause before. Heck, in my first major Deltarune theory post I passed over Alvin as the most likely candidate to be the Knight for this exact reason. However, time and the release of Chapter 2 have made me rethink this position.

Before I begin addressing this topic, I fully acknowledge that Alvin’s lack of a portrait is a legitimate counter-argument to his supposed importance in the future narrative. And although I have several counter-arguments of my own, I understand that these will not convince every possible detractor. However, I will say that even if all of my following arguments fail to persuade then I feel it’s worth also acknowledging that seemingly the most prevalent argument against Alvin’s importance is one that sidesteps the game’s narrative entirely.

To me a dialogue portrait mainly falls into the category of game design and UI, so it says a lot to me that the biggest argument against Alvin is one that doesn’t directly engage with the narrative or its evidence at all. That in and of itself doesn’t disprove the portrait argument, but it feels both funny and slightly frustrating that so much focus has been placed on this aspect, sometimes to the exclusion of all else. I’ve seen competing theories that refuse to even entertain the possibility that Alvin could be important in any way solely on the basis of his lacking a portrait.

I’ve even seen more than one prominent Knight theory where the proposed Knight is literally a brand new character created out of thin air who’s attached to Alvin in some way (either as an old friend, relative, or creation of). Effectively, these theories are willing to file the serial numbers off of the evidence that’s in favor of Alvin’s knighthood by passing it onto a literal fan character just to avoid Alvin’s portrait issue. Whatever your view is on the importance of dialogue portraits, I hope you can at least agree that going to these lengths on account of Alvin lacking a portrait is a bit silly. Harmless, but silly.

The Laws of Portraits

To get everyone on the same page, these are some of the commonly-accepted “rules” regarding dialogue portraits, based on in-game trends and discussions I’ve seen within the fanbase:

Characters who have dialogue portraits are more likely to be important to the narrative than characters who do not have them.

Characters who had dialogue portraits in Undertale will continue to have dialogue portraits in Deltarune.

Characters from Undertale who did not have portraits will continue not having them in Deltarune.

At least some characters who were shopkeepers in Undertale now have dialogue portraits in Deltarune.

Lightners have black-and-white dialogue portraits and darkners have colored dialogue portraits.

Now, one thing you might have noticed is that there’s no universally-held definition for what constitutes an “important” character. Out of all the rules on this list I’d argue the first is the most vaguely-defined, and yet some variation of it is almost always cited when arguing why Alvin’s lack of a portrait disqualifies him from story relevance.

What exactly makes a character “important”? Is it the amount of screentime? That can be hard to gauge in a game where battles and dialogue go at the player’s chosen pace. Is it making recurring appearances? Well, Napstablook, Monster Kid, and Mettaton’s box form made recurring appearances in Undertale but lacked dialogue portraits.

Is it expressiveness? You could argue that base Mettaton and (maybe) Blooky lacked expressiveness to a degree, but that’s a much harder case to make for Monster Kid.

Is a portrait determined by a character’s total amount of dialogue? In Undertale there were nine characters with dialogue portraits: Flowey, Toriel, Sans, Papyrus, Undyne, Alphys, Mettaton EX, Asgore, and Asriel. According to this tally, the top nine characters are the ones with portraits… almost.

As mentioned, regular Mettaton does not have a portrait but his EX form does in the true pacifist ending.

Notably, Napstablook and Monster Kid have more dialogue than Mettaton EX, and even if we combined Mettaton’s totals it still results in a case where Asgore is barely above Monster Kid. You can argue this is some sort of cutoff point, but it does seem a bit arbitrary, given that Blooky and Kid make more total appearances than Asgore. If it wasn’t for the true pacifist finale dialogue in New Home then Napstablook and Monster Kid would likely have significantly more dialogue than Asgore as well.

Now one can easily say that Asgore is the king of monsters and the would-be final boss of the game, so of course he should have a portrait. No arguments here, though one could argue that Chara is just as important, despite their similarly limited screentime, and yet they lack a portrait.

And yet Asriel, a character with a similarly-late debut, gets a unique dialogue portrait.

One could argue that Chara’s situation is special, either due to being a human or due to the state they’re in during the game’s events, but that’s my point—there seem to be exceptions to these “rules” and the exceptions have only increased in number in Deltarune.

Exceptions to the Rule

So I pointed out that Mettaton initially lacks a portrait but later gains one in his EX form. This is a case of a character without a portrait gaining one and it isn’t the only example. Undyne lacks a portrait during her initial speaking appearance and so does Sans.

One could argue that this is done for dramatic effect and, in Undyne’s case, because her face wasn’t visible. However, I’m not even sure how to explain this next example:

Papyrus’ face is clearly in view here and he’s even striking up a pose full of his usual bravado, yet he still lacks a portrait. Granted, his face is in shadow for a good chunk of this scene, but I’m honestly not even sure what to make of this.

Nonetheless, contextual drama and face-concealing headwear are fair enough explanations for characters gaining or losing portraits in Undertale, but in Deltarune we see a clear-cut example of a character without a portrait gaining a portrait for no story-related reason whatsoever: Clover.

Clover is an interesting case because not only does she gain dialogue portraits between Chapters 1 and 2 for no narrative reason but I have not seen one person try to argue that Clover is suddenly important now because she has portraits. Clover was a one-off miniboss in Chapter 1 who only appears in Chapter 2 for minor dialogue and an optional re-fight in the Dojo—she can be skipped entirely in Chapter 2 and likely is skipped by most players.

While it’s likely that Clover may have gained portraits to make it easier to tell her three heads apart in dialogue, note that the Steam release of Chapter 1 was not patched to include these new Chapter 2 portraits. I would argue that such a change would be feasible, given other modifications made to Chapter 1 during Chapter 2’s release such as the doors of the computer lab being updated and Jevil’s shadow crystal being added.

Noelle received updated portraits in Chapter 2 that were ported back to the Steam release of Chapter 1, suggesting that portraits can be subject to change from chapter to chapter and even changed retroactively, including whether or not a character even has a portrait to begin with.

Additionally, in Chapter 2 we see another “three for one” portrait in the form of Sweet Cap’n Cakes.

Like Clover, their portraits were likely added to make it easier to differentiate between each character’s speech. This could be yet another example of portraits not being mutually exclusive to “importance,” since the Sweet Cap’n Cakes trio seldom appear outside Cyber Field and aren’t story-relevant until the final team-up with Cyber World’s other darkners. The trio is by no means unimportant, but the fact that their shop in Castle Town is essentially an optional recruit milestone makes it seem unlikely that they’ll have further story relevance beyond potentially inventing something or joining another recruit team-up sequence later on.

[Image transcript: Cap’n saying “Yo, chief. If you recruit enough fans for us, We might be able to make our music shop again...” End image transcript]

Sweet Cap’n Cakes’ portraits illustrate another rule exception: their portraits are black-and-white despite the fact that they’re darkners. Now while I do agree with the consensus that darkners generally have colored portraits (which is one reason why I don’t think Ralsei is a lightner), SCC nonetheless present an exception to this rule. Even though their portraits are smaller than the standard size, Toby could’ve easily given them monochrome colors like Kris and Susie’s battle icons if these portrait “rules” were as important to him as many claim they are.

Speaking of colors, one minor point is that Toby once tried another method of differentiating dialogue when more than one character is speaking: Catty and Bratty.

Technically this isn’t directly related to portraits but it does show that Toby has attempted multiple solutions to overlapping dialogue before eventually settling on 3-for-1 portraits. Notably Catty and Bratty lost this pink/purple text gimmick completely in Deltarune, showing that some characters’ text quirks aren’t set in stone and may only exist to serve a functional purpose.

Another important observation with 3-for-1 portraits is that it means Clover and SCC now have portraits… while Spamton does not.

Now I don’t care what kind of pretzel you try to twist yourself into, there’s no way to argue that Spamton is not an important character. He’s a shopkeeper with multiple boss fights and is the main Chapter 2 boss for the weird route, to say nothing of his thematic ties to Kris and his treasure trove of cryptic lore. All of that’s on top of his explosive popularity after Chapter 2’s release (which, to be fair, Toby didn’t fully account for). And to boot he has not one but two unique dialogue typer sounds, which is a whole other can of worms. But, this theory post is already one big collection of opened worm cans, so let’s talk typer sounds.

Portraits and Typers

If anything I’d argue that typer sounds are even more inconsistent than dialogue portraits. Deltarune has multiple examples of characters who have one but lack the other. Contrast this with Undertale, where Mettaton was the only outlier until his EX form. In Deltarune we have Catti, Catty, Bratty, Jockington, Burgerpants, Clover, Sweet, Cap’n, Cake, and Rouxls Kaard, who all have portraits but no unique typer sounds. Conversely, we have Jevil and Spamton who have unique typer sounds but no portraits.

To start with the “no typer” gang, one could argue in the case of Catty, Bratty, and Burgerpants that this is consistent with Undertale—in that game these three characters were shopkeepers with the default typer sound who could never be talked to outside of their shops. Between both games, Spamton is the only shopkeeper to use a unique typer sound, so one could argue that the three Undertale shopkeepers already had their typer value established before Deltarune.

One could also argue that Clover and Sweet Cap’n Cakes lacking a typer makes sense because their portraits are meant to serve a functional purpose rather than indicate their importance. What’s harder to argue is Catti and Jockington. Their case is especially tricky because many in the fanbase have argued that these two will become future party members—an assertion I don’t necessarily disagree with, but it does raise the question of why both of them use the generic typer sound.

In Catti’s case you could try to argue that because she’s related to Catty, who has the default typer sound, then that means she’s somehow “inherited” this sound as well. Note that this same argument could be used to justify Alvin’s lack of a unique typer due to his relation to Gerson (who lacked one), but I find this whole line of reasoning specious.

This would be a strange precedent, given that no other characters who are related “inherit” typer sounds when they’re unique, plus we know that Mettaton and Napstablook are cousins and that didn’t stop one of them from getting a unique typer and the other one from using the generic typer, though this could be chalked up to Mettaton’s robot body since Mettaton seems to lack a unique typer in Deltarune. I guess characters can lose unique typers in certain circumstances?

Jockington’s an even stranger case because not only does he lack a unique typer but he only has a single dialogue portrait in Chapter 1 or 2. Moreover, the game’s files include multiple duplicated entries that point to this same portrait and there’s a joke in Chapter 1 about him duplicating a picture several times.

[Image transcript: Jockington saying “I’ve already, copied a bunch of pictures.” Narration says “It’s the same picture of a soccer ball 73 times.” Jockington says “You could say I’m having a Ball! Hah haha!” In-game files show 9 duplicated entries for Jockington’s dialogue portrait in Chapter 1 and Chapter 2. End image transcript]

While Jockington certainly could be a future party member or important character by some other means, there’s also a non-zero chance that Toby gave him a portrait solely as a joke, given that he duplicated Jockington’s portraits in the files in both Chapters.

Lastly we’re left with Rouxls Kaard, who’s the most interesting case of all. Like the others mentioned above, he has a portrait but no unique typer. However, Chapter 2 does contain scrapped audio files for a unique Rouxls typer sound, which can be restored via hacking. Note that these sound files are exclusive to Chapter 2 and are not found in Chapter 1’s files. This implies that Toby was experimenting with giving Rouxls a unique typer starting with Chapter 2 but decided against it. Theoretically this means that a character without a unique typer could gain a unique typer sound in a future chapter.

Spamton and Jevil

Spamton and Jevil present the inverse issue with the above characters—these two have unique typer sounds, but no dialogue portraits. As mentioned, Mettaton had these same attributes up until the True Pacifist ending in Undertale. When I noticed this quirk for Jevil in Chapter 1 I thought little of it—I figured that Jevil wasn’t important enough for a portrait but perhaps his typer sound was a way to give him more presence when he’s introduced behind bars or to tie into the fact that he speaks during his fight. I was willing to leave well-enough alone until Spamton came along.

In terms of portrait and typer “rules,” Spamton makes absolutely no sense. As I’ve said before, he’s clearly an important character and he’s highly expressive, meaning that he bypasses the Mettaton argument.

Spamton’s also a shopkeeper and to top it all off he has two unique typer sounds, but still no portrait. If I wanted to be lazy I could just say “Spamton didn’t get a portrait, so who says Alvin needs one?” and leave it at that but I feel like there’s something deeper at work here.

Why does Spamton lack a portrait? If anything this bugs me more than Alvin lacking a portrait because Spamton’s importance is already self-evident at this point, whereas Alvin’s importance is still theoretical. We can already rule out the “expressiveness” argument for Spamton, who doesn’t seem to be wearing any sort of face-obscuring headwear either. There doesn’t seem to be any story-related reason to deprive Spamton of a portrait, or is there?

Spamton never makes any direct reference to losing his face, nor would it be easy to interpret such a meaning from his various cryptic statements (that I’m aware of). However, throughout Deltarune we see multiple references to the idea of losing one’s face.

[Image transcript: Susie saying “Kris… How do you feel… about losing your face? Don’t worry, we won’t let your face get roboticized!” Narration says “It’s an angel doll. Its lack of facial features is unsettling.” End image transcript]

The Vessel has no face, Susie asks Kris whether they want to lose their face, Queen threatens to roboticize Noelle’s face, and the Holidays’ angel doll is notably unsettling for its lack of a face.

We see Queen’s method of “roboticizing” faces come to fruition in the form of the Werewrites and later Berdly. Queen’s control wires cover the victim’s face, and in Berdly’s case he does not speak with a dialogue portrait until after his wire is removed.

[Image transcript: Narration saying “Werewire – Controlled by the Queen’s wire, it’s sleepwalking through a nightmare!” Queen says “My control plugs are now suitable for teenagers.” Berdly says “You… won’t… control… me… Kris. Susie. I can’t do much with a fried wing…” End image transcript]

There’s also placeholder text in the game files that pertains tearing off a “mask beneath your face.” The Xbox One version of Undertale (which was made during Chapter 2’s development) went so far as to add a special controller disconnect message in True Lab that references no face being connected.

[Image transcript: Unused text saying “You’ve come again to this wonderful place. Now tear off the mask beneath your face!” Narration says “No controller connected: No head is connected. No body is connected. No arms are connected. No legs are connected. No skin is connected. No ears are connected. No face is connected.” End image transcript]

Now at first this seems like a broad running theme until you notice that most of the Deltarune instances of face removal/replacement tie into either Kris or Noelle. Noelle is implied to possibly be the Angel from Deltarune’s prophecy, which Kris is also connected to. Spamton uses the phrase “Angel, Angel” when approached by Kris and Noelle in the weird route, which could be simple repetition or it could be Spamton addressing both Kris and Noelle as angels. The latter interpretation is a bit of a stretch, but we can at least say Kris is part of the prophecy and losing their face could be a metaphor for loss of identity and/or control by a higher power.

So how does this tie into Spamton and/or Alvin? Well, Spamton was similarly a puppet for a higher power, implied to be the same “strange someone” who corrupted Jevil. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that neither Spamton nor Jevil have portraits in spite of their unique typer sounds—I think whatever happened to them caused them to symbolically lose their autonomy/identities/faces, which is represented by their lack of portraits. We also see that whoever hijacked the Undertale Twitter account had a blacked-out user icon and name, implying a similar loss or redaction of identity.

Given the high likelihood that the Twitter hijacker and the corrupter of Spamton and Jevil could be Gaster, loss of face/identity could be seen as a sign of Gaster’s meddling or just a general symptom of characters who mingle with higher powers. I mean, technically so far Kris hasn’t shown a dialogue portrait either—we don’t even hear their own dialogue outside of maybe their dialogue choices, and we know for a fact that they’ve had part of their autonomy and identity subsumed by a higher being of sorts.

Bringing it Back to Alvin

Wow, that was my biggest tangent yet! So what does all this portrait and typer talk mean for Alvin? Well, I hope I’ve demonstrated a few things:

The rules for dialogue portraits and typers are not 100% consistent

It is possible for characters to gain a portrait or have theirs updated from chapter to chapter (as seen with Clover and Noelle)

It’s theoretically possible for a character to gain a typer sound between chapters (as seen with Rouxls Kaard)

There could be a narrative or thematic reason for why otherwise important characters lack portraits

I see three pathways going forward for Alvin if he is indeed an important character:

Alvin will gain a portrait and/or typer sound in a future chapter with no narrative explanation

Alvin will gain a portrait and/or typer sound for a story-related reason

Alvin will continue to not have a portrait and/or typer but there will be a narrative or thematic reason for it

I feel like I’ve demonstrated the first option is possible—not necessarily likely, but it has happened before. Toby’s reasoning for such an approach would be simple: Toby knows that his fanbase loves to datamine and second-guess every detail of his games, so if the Knight’s identity is meant to be a mystery then he’d probably (rightly) assume that many fans would guess that a new lightner with a portrait is important, since the only others who fit that description are Kris’ classmates and Rudy.

The second option may seem unlikely as well but I have theorized a way this could work. For starters, we never see Alvin open his eyes. We don’t know if this is just a quirk of his spritework or if his eyes are literally closed. The latter possibility can’t be entirely ruled out, since this series has at least some precedent for making a big deal out of characters opening their eyes for the first time on-screen.

It’s also possible that Alvin may be vision-impaired and require glasses. This would fit with the sign in the early dark world that says “only eyes blinded by darkness can see the way.”

[Image transcript: Narration saying “In this land, only eyes blinded by darkness can see the way...” End image transcript]

We do see Ralsei lose his dialogue portrait when he takes off his hat in Chapter 1 and when he covers his face after Susie takes his glasses in Chapter 2.

While it’s a stretch, it might be possible that a character could forego a portrait while their eyes are closed, impaired, or otherwise obscured. Granted, we do see examples of dialogue portraits that seemingly have closed eyes so this is far from a bulletproof argument, but the above Ralsei scenes give me a little pause at least.

One thing I can say is that Deltarune Chapter 1 had a running motif of main characters having their eyes obscured only to be revealed later, and while this didn’t prevent them from having portraits (except maybe Kris), it does seem to be an intentional aesthetic choice.

Given the allusions to dark worlds as dreams and the possible thematic reasons for Spamton and Jevil losing their portraits, perhaps being steeped in dark worlds is like sleepwalking through life and losing your face/portrait completely is the next step of that process. We do see this idea represented in the Werewires and Berdly when they’re controlled by Queen.

One other x-factor to bring up with Alvin is the fact that he spends all of Chapter 2 with his back turned to the player. This may seem minor, but there is precedence in this series for characters not using their portraits while their back is turned, especially during emotional/dramatic moments, as was the case for Alvin in the graveyard.

[Image transcript: Asgore saying “I have almost finished watering these flowers.” Noelle says “… I wish Dess could see this.” End image transcript]

This isn’t universally true of all back-facing characters, of course, but it’s certainly not uncommon. While this doesn’t address Alvin’s lack of a portrait in Chapter 1, it would be a fitting enough excuse for his lack of a portrait in Chapter 2. If Alvin is intended to gain a portrait in a future chapter then this would be the perfect excuse for Toby to put it off until Chapter 3 or later.

But how would the game even address Alvin suddenly gaining a portrait? Well, I see two possibilities: In the first scenario, we would be inside Hometown’s church and Alvin would be poised to deliver a sermon. Before he begins, he clears his throat and dons a pair of reading glasses that let us see his eyes—at this point he would transition from no portrait to having a portrait as soon as he starts reading.

This is the more subtle of the two approaches, but if such a sermon scene were meant to serve as Alvin’s “proper” character introduction then it could follow the mold of character intros like Sans, Undyne’s, Asgore’s, or King’s where their portraits aren’t visible until well into the scene (or in Undyne’s case, after multiple encounters).

The other possibility would be that Alvin only gains a portrait once he’s in the dark world, showing how fully immersed he is in that reality. Perhaps this is when we’d see him open his eyes as well, tying into the afore-mentioned eyes blinded by darkness.

The final path is Alvin foregoing a portrait for thematic reasons. I touched upon this with Spamton and Jevil, but Alvin would similarly be deprived of a portrait due to his service to a higher entity that controls him. Now, one issue with this approach would be the question of why I’d carve out this special exception for Alvin when there are plenty of other characters without portraits—who’s to say their lack of portraits can’t be given a similar “thematic” excuse? What, is Milk Cat suddenly “important” now?

Well, Alvin’s ace in the hole here is once again his connection to the Angel—a being specifically associated with a lack of facial features. Moreover, the other characters most strongly associated with the angel (Noelle and Kris) are also the characters most strongly tied to this idea of losing your face. Even Spamton is heavily tied to the idea of Heaven and, thus, the angel. If any other character could claim this special Angel exception, it would be Alvin.

We might even see the beginnings of this angel-induced portrait loss for Noelle in the weird route, where she foregoes a portrait during several key moments:

[Image transcript: Noelle saying “It doesn’t matter if the battles are blurring together, There was so much snow, I couldn’t see anything… Keep it together, Noelle...” Susie says “So, uh, the hell were you two doing?” End image transcript]

Notably, Noelle doesn’t gain her portrait back in the ending hospital hallway scene for the weird route until after Susie butts in. Perhaps this snapped Noelle out of whatever “tranced” state of mind she was in at the time?

Now, the main weakness of my portrait argument here is the question of typer sounds. Jevil and Spamton still have unique typer sounds and Alvin does not. Even when Noelle loses her portrait in the weird route she still keeps her typer sound. I don’t have a firm counter-argument for this beyond reiterating that, if anything, typer sounds have proven even more inconsistent than dialogue portraits and I’d argue that giving Alvin a unique typer sound but no portrait would have been an even bigger giveaway to his importance, given how rare that combination is (and its current association with shadow crystal holders).

I admit that my argument that Toby removed Alvin’s portrait and typer from the start to avoid making him “too obvious” is a bit conspiratorial. Ironically, many of the fans who dismiss Alvin for his lack of portrait largely make my argument for me—many of these same people have turned a blind eye to Alvin but are 100% convinced that Catti and Jockington will not only be important due to their dialogue portraits but that they’ll also be full party members. Again, I’m not saying this won’t happen, but the most common evidence I’ve seen brought up in their cases is their portraits. If Toby even had an inkling that his fanbase would think this way, and he’s generally good at anticipating his fanbase’s assumptions, then it’s at least possible that he’d try to get out in front of that.

Giving Alvin no portrait or typer, at least for the first two chapters, is the perfect camouflage for a meta-savvy fanbase. It also has the advantage of allowing Toby to still give us interactions with Alvin and for clues to his greater role to be sprinkled into the narrative without arousing too much suspicion. Personally, I find this approach preferable to the idea of keeping Alvin (with portraits) unseen for the entirety of the first two chapters to avoid tipping us off, which would only make a future reveal feel like it lacked any buildup.

We do know that Toby is playing a lot of things close to the chest in Deltarune: Papyrus, Mettaton, Mayor Holiday, and Dess to name a few. But the Knight’s identity comes off as a mystery that should be solvable—not necessarily with what we know now, but something that would necessitate at least some clues being given to us early. And the fact remains that “unseen” characters like Papyrus or Dess wouldn’t be the best candidates for this approach since we know very little concrete information about them yet.

I think the “unseen” characters are meant to serve as unanswered questions in their own right rather than being solutions to the mystery of the Knight. We’re meant to ask where these unseen characters are or what they’re like, not pondering what secret alter ego they have. Kris’ actions at the end of Chapter 2 feel like a red herring, which implies that Toby is intentionally building up the Knight as a mystery he knows we’ll investigate and thus he’s feeding us false leads. Details like Alvin’s drawing or the equipment closet narration would be pointless inclusions if they didn’t mean something—they clearly aren’t jokes and their proximity to fountains is a major red flag. Toby even went out of his way to point out Alvin’s drawing during the Chapter 1 stream.

Two final counter-arguments that I wanted to address are the fact that Alvin’s interactions are optional and the fact that Alvin’s name doesn’t generate a response during the Vessel creation sequence. Unlike Alvin’s lack of a portrait, I never saw either of these two facts as a major obstacle to Alvin being the Knight. The first point is simple enough: Rudy is optional, Asgore is optional, Sans is optional, Undyne is optional—is it safe to say that none of these characters will be important to the plot? Especially with the police on their way at the end of Chapter 2?

As for the Vessel creation names, the roster seems a bit haphazard to me. We get QC but no Temmie, despite the latter being both a shopkeeper and classmate with implied importance to the egg sidequest. Conversely, we get no darkner names and no mention of Dess or the Mayor—while the latter would be a spoiler, Dess is mentioned in Chapter 1 and will likely play some role in the future. Near as I can guess, the vessel name selection is weighted towards Undertale characters and Kris’ classmates, with Rudy being the outlier.

Gerson’s inclusion among the Vessel names is both interesting and odd, given that he’s dead. While a resurrection is possible, such a thing would almost require Alvin being the Knight or at least having dark world knowledge, so Gerson’s name is a bit of a litmus test—if vessel names are those of important Deltarune characters then Gerson’s impending “importance” would necessitate Alvin’s importance, or at least grant Alvin some importance by association. If the names are somewhat arbitrary or not reflective of all important lightners then Alvin’s absence isn’t that big a deal.

Conclusion

The Final Tally

This has been a long journey, so I think a recap is in order. If it’s not obvious by now, I think Alvin is the Roaring Knight. If Kris ends up being a red herring (which I’ve devoted an entire separate theory post to) then I think Alvin is easily the candidate with the most evidence in his favor. Even when taking Kris into account I’d argue this is still the case. Let’s compare what we know about the Knight with Father Alvin:

The Knight:

Has been to the unused classroom

Has some means and opportunity to access the school

May have locked the door to the supply closet in Chapter 1

Creates dark worlds with varying degrees of fantasy influence

Their Dark fountains are associated with water and oceans/seas

Their Dark fountains are also referred to as “holy” fountains

Created a fountain next door to Castle town, which is distinct from the Knight’s other work and may or may not be the Knight’s creation

Gained the loyalty of King

Used a crossguarded blade to open Cyber World

Had access to the Librarby at a time when few people were inside

Likely hid in the Librarby’s equipment closet, where “a large person could easily fit inside”

Is somehow associated with “Communion” by Spamton

Is depicted by Queen as a green human-looking arm

Is set to bring about the Roaring and Angel’s Heaven

Alvin:

Has a drawing in the unused classroom

Is related to a former teacher and his location is unaccounted for at the start of Chapter 1

May own a set of his father’s keys, which would be the only set of faculty keys that weren’t accounted for at the start of Chapter 1

His father was a fantasy author who shared his stories with his children

Is a partially-aquatic species and his father was associated with water and the sea

Is the most outwardly devout and religious character in the game

His father was inspired by dreams that grow, which Castle Town is directly compared to by its inhabitants. His father had access to the supply closet over a long period and Alvin has potential connections to Castle Town’s only native darkner. Gerson had the opportunity and possibly the knowledge to create Castle Town, inspiring Alvin’s future fountains and explaining why they’re distinct.

King named one of his attacks after a term used by Alvin’s father. The King’s mantle may be the shadow mantle, which seemingly ends up in the same location as Alvin’s drawing

Alvin’s father was a smith, and the helmets of RG01 and RG02 (and their connection to the church) imply that some of Gerson’s wares are owned and circulated by Alvin

One of Alvin’s relatives is implied to work at the Librarby, which he may have exploited to keep others out

The opening for the equipment closet is the exact same size as Alvin’s sprite, making him by definition the largest person who can “easily” fit inside

Alvin is a priest and his church gives “sick fruit juice,” implied to be communion wine (or a substitute)

Alvin is green and has human-looking hands in spite of his father’s design

Alvin is the most devout follower of the Angel in the light world

Closing Thoughts

When all is said and done, could I be wrong about all this? Absolutely. While I’m more confident in the chances of Alvin’s Knighthood than I was during Chapter 1, I could never be 100% confident in a theory like this until the game itself confirms it.  So why would I write for so long about a theory that I don’t have absolute confidence in? Well, I still think it’s very likely to be true, but beyond that I wanted to shed light on ideas that aren’t discussed very often in the fanbase—not just Alvin being the Knight, but alternative origins for Ralsei besides the popular headband theory.

All too often it seems like the mysteries of this series are blindly attributed to Gaster or a handful of other widely-accepted answers, even when the game hasn’t settled the matter yet. In this case, however, I think that Alvin is legitimately a more compelling and likely answer to the Knight mystery than most other suspects. As I’ve alluded to earlier, many other popular Knight suspects either lack a specific motivation, a means of accessing the school, or have not even appeared in the narrative at all yet.

I think my rambling about dialogue portraits can also be attributed to my efforts to untangle commonly-held assumptions within the fanbase. The portrait “rules” I mentioned are not unlike the Smash Brothers fanbase’s tendency towards inventing “fan rules” for what characters can make it into each game, and more often than not such rules are eventually proven wrong. Unless Toby or another creator explicitly lays out their intentions, it’s best to never make assumptions or “rules” about what said creators can and can’t do with their own work, especially someone as subversive as Toby.

So even if my theory is ultimately wrong and nothing comes of Alvin as a character, I don’t feel that writing this post was time wasted—if nothing else it would be an interesting concept for an AU, plus it shows a scenario where a UTDR narrative doesn’t focus solely on the most widely-known characters. Even if you walk away from this post not agreeing with my conclusions, I hope you’ve at least considered alternative ideas or perhaps even found ways to strengthen your own theories with the information I’ve presented. With that, I’ve finally run out of things to talk about, so:

Good day. May the Angel watch over you…

Special Thanks

Afewbitsandpieces for their Undertale and Deltarune text projects, which were massive time savers.

Uselessundertalefacts for their data on Undertale characters with the most dialogue

Spriter’s Resource for their Deltarune sprites (even if several of them are improperly sized)

#deltarune #deltarune theory #undertale #ralsei #father alvin #arrow don't look

[jungkookienoona]

Finishing Touch

Recommended Song: Good to Me by Seventeen

|Masterlist|

Summary:

As your elder brother's apprentice, he sometimes sent you on errands for him. This time you didn't mind so much when you met the handsome blacksmith who mantained the tools of your trade.

Genre: Smut

Pairing: Blacksmith!Jungkook X Carpenter!FemReader (Y/N)

Warnings: Swearing, heavy handed flirting, blacksmithing/carpentry jargon, I JUST LOVE CRAFTS OKAY, Namjoon is the older brother who wants whats best for you, reader has buff arms but its not really mentioned, Jungkook and reader are both a little weird, crackish?, reader has a bit of an oral fixation, reader knows what she wants, face sitting, oral(m&f),multiple orgasms, 1 spank. Jungkook is a biter. Multiple positions. let me know if there's any I missed.

Word Count: 6k

So this in unbeta'd so sorry for any mistakes. I'll also be adding the poem I wrote that somewhat inspired this at the end.

Some days you cursed the day you asked Namjoon to be his apprentice. He was a capable carpenter and an attentive brother, but he was the biggest klutz you had ever seen! Which meant you were often sent on errands by him as he nursed his latest injury. You loved him dearly, you just wished he was more careful. What had you on your most recent one for him was a twisted ankle he had received after slipping on some wood shavings.

Namjoon had his tools handcrafted by a surprisingly local blacksmith who you had yet to meet. And apparently after a horrendously bad attempt at maintaining said tools, his blacksmith had forbade him from even trying and demanded that anytime upkeep was needed, Namjoon was to take his tools to this blacksmith where he would be discounted the cost. The benefits of being a regular you guessed.

So with a box of blunt chisels in grasp, you shifted them to rest on your hip so you could open the door to the blacksmith. A system bell twinkled above you to mark your arrival. The interior wasn’t quite what you had imagined it would be. When you thought of blacksmiths, what honestly came to mind was that they all looked like they did in mediaeval fantasy films. Cramped, hot and full of hazards. But much like how Namjoon’s shop is fairly modernised, so is this one. 

The entrance was a crisp white and sectioned off from the main workshop. There was a standing desk that looked to be bare save a lone laptop and a card reader. Behind the desk to the side was a code locked door, seemingly soundproof. Next to the door, thus directly behind the desk, was a large window, also soundproof as you did not hear the sound of the forge fire that was in clear sight. Through the window you saw the workshop itself, spaciously layed out as to minimise trips and accidents. Different tools safely stored away in carefully organised shelves. Grindstones and sanding belts lined in a row for sharpening. A power hammer tucked away in a corner. The forge was central on the back wall with the anvil not too far away. There was a work table pressed up against the wall opposite to the grindstones, where you saw the smith, setting something down before heading to the door.

You weren’t sure what you were expecting when you saw the smith for the first time, but you certainly weren’t expecting him to be so handsome. Shoulder-length hair was tied away with some loose strands framing his face, some soot smeared across his cheek highlighting a small scar. It made you want to get the rag out of your pocket to clean him up a bit. Big doe eyes met yours and you were captured in them like the small galaxy of lights they reflected. He wore a fitted grey long-sleeve shirt, its sleeves rolled up, a pair of cargo pants and a tool belt. You had to stop yourself from staring at the tattoo sleeve that consumed his arm.

The smith cleared his throat, snapping you out of your daze, “What can I do for ya?” He asked, gesturing towards the box.

“Oh! Uh, my brother- Namjoon- needed some things sharpened but had a bit of a… mishap,” you felt a blush colour your cheeks.

“Ah~ So you’re Namjoon’s little sis. He talks about you a lot whenever he stops by.” He took the box from you and surprised you a little when he grasped one of your hands to inspect, “looks like he wasn’t lying, you’ve been putting the work in, these calluses are impressive.”

You gently pulled your hand away, blurting out against your will, “are you like this with every girl you meet?”

“Only the pretty and talented ones,” he said with a wink, “do you want to come on through as I sort these out? Shouldn’t take too long.”

You nodded dumbly, reeling from his apparent flirtatiousness. 

He gave you a lopsided smile before turning, punching in the code and opening the door. He gestured with his head for you to go in first. It was warm in the workshop, almost sweltering. 

“How can you wear a long-sleeve here? It feels like I’m about to melt and I’m in a t-shirt.”

He shrugged, “You get used to it I guess. I’ve been working around the forge since I started apprenticing under my father at thirteen. Also stops my arms from getting burnt when sparks fly.”

That made sense. He headed over to the grindstones, set the box down and got to work. You noticed the stonewheel he was using was different from the others. It was situated in a wooden basin of water, wetting it as it spun. It was also most hypnotising, watching him pick up a chisel, make sure the angle is perfect before putting it to the grind. Once satisfied he would get a leather strip and give the chisel a few swipes against it.

"This is called 'Stropping', it polishes the edge and makes sure there's no imperfections in it that aren't visible without a microscope or something."

He set the chisel on a nearby table and picked up the next one.

"This doesn't look so hard, how did Namjoon fuck up so bad that you'd need to do this for him?"

"He would lose and chip his edge in his sharpening attempts. But I don't mind doing this much for him as a favour if he helps me out with a few projects from time to time."

You raised a brow in interest, "Such as?"

"Carving axe handles, knife hilts, spear shafts, things like that. Especially if it's a custom order that stipulates some sort of cosmetic aspect to those. Though he's come out to fix my bed a few times."

"Your bed? Is it old?"

Jungkook chortled, "No… let's say it's well loved." Your cheeks coloured, immediately catching on to what he meant. "Sometimes it was some of the supporting struts the mattress sits on, once it was a leg. Namjoon was an angel for fixing that in such short notice. Though I haven't had to call him out in a while."

"Ah, you've taken pity on it."

"Not quite, just been too busy for a relationship recently."

You deflated a little at that, not that you were interested. It was just a shame such a handsome man was off the market.

"What about you? Anyone in the picture?"

You huffed, "Nope. Namjoon hasn't approved of anyone who's shown even a hint of interest in me. And his fucking vibe checks always turn out correct. Last guy was a potter and Namjoon felt there was something off, so he catfished him, turned out the dude had a wife and kids."

Jungkook stopped what he was doing and turned to you with wide eyes, jaw slack, "No fucking way."

"Yep, sometimes it's suffocating to have such a protective older brother. But in that situation I was thankful."

"He does talk like the sun shines out your ass. He once said, and I quote, 'I will not let the hardships of this world sully her'. That was when we went out for drinks and he started complaining about a… dancer?... that wanted to be fuck buddies with you."

You put your head in your hands, "That guy was spewing some bullshit about how having sex regularly would limber him up and make him a better dancer."

"And according to Namjoon you almost fell for it."

"It made sense at the time!" You cried in embarrassed betrayal.

"You sound just a little frustrated," he said with a bunny toothed grin.

"No shit. All the guys I meet just want my body."

"To be honest, you do have a banging bod but I get that it's annoying for people to be so shallow. I've had similar issues. But do you know what helps me manage the stress of being single?" He paused to give you time to respond but you just shrugged. "My work. Hitting red hot things with a hammer is great for working through things."

"I'd imagine splitting wood with a froe is a similar sensation."

Jungkook tilted his head in confusion, "Excuse me, I'm not entirely acquainted with the processes of carpentry. How is a froe used? The blade doesn't face out like an axe but is on the top so…?"

"You put the blade against the wood and hit it with a mallet, once the wood starts cracking you can use the handle as a lever to pull the wood apart. It's quite effective and is good for getting the wood to the width you need with little shaving."

"Ah yes, so you too get to hammer things." He nodded sagely and got back to work. "Here's an idea, I feel you need a man in your life that isn't a family member, someone to measure potential suitors against. How about once a week we take turns going to each other's workshops. You show me some carpentry tools and techniques, I show you how to maintain the tools of your trade. And we chat, you can get to know me because I already feel like I know you thanks to Namjoon." 

You shook your head, "You know Namjoon's ideal me. So that's a rather rose tinted view."

Jungkook shot you a mischievous smirk, "You saying there's a bad girl side to you Namjoon doesn’t know?"

"I will neither confirm nor deny anything. That's for you to find out."

"I look forward to it."

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

A week later and Jungkook was knocking on your workshop door, Namjoon was taking the day off and so the shop was technically closed. He was in a tank top due to the warmer weather you had been experiencing, which showed off more of his arms and that gorgeous tattoo sleeve of his. Loose fitting sweats clung to his thighs like their existence depended on it and his hair was half up in a bun. His doe eyes were framed by a pair of glasses that suited him far too well. You found yourself biting your bottom lip as you appraised him. He waved hello and chuckled as you noticeably broke out of your trance. 

"I know they're cool," he said gesturing to his sleeve, "maybe someday I'll talk you through them."

You shook your head, "Sorry, just wasn't expecting to see so much of you so soon."

"That's what she said." Childish. "But in all seriousness, it's hot as balls out there and I feel like I'm less likely to get a serious burn here than at the forge. So I thought I'd let the boys breathe a bit."

"You'll have to be extra mindful of splinters then," you half joked. You had gotten some rather nasty ones in your early days before you had gotten yourself some woodworking sleeves. 

You noticed his gaze was going past you to something in the corner and turned to look.

"Is that a wizard? Is Namjoon carving a wooden wizard statue?"

You cleared your throat awkwardly, "Not Namjoon, I am. It's my first proper solo project and it's taken me a good few months just to get a decent base design done. I'll be etching finer details into it soon hopefully."

"Can I ask why a wizard?"

"Wizards are cool. Not like the Harry Potter ones, I mean the types you find in D&D or painted on to the side of a hippy van from the 70s. Ones that ponder the orb."

Jungkook contemplated it before nodding, "I get where you're coming from, but personally I'm more of a fan of warriors and stuff. In fact one of my personal projects has a crusades motif."

"You what?"

He grinned, "It's a long sword I call 'The Inquisitor'. One of my favourites if I do say so myself. One of three in a collection called ‘The Hero’."

“Might want to be careful about who you’re calling a hero there. I don’t know many people who look at crusaders fondly.”

“Yeah I know. Organised religion is flawed but its imagery slaps.” That earned a laugh from you. “So what are you teaching me today?”

You gestured to an overturned incomplete table that was on the floor, “we’re attaching the last two legs with tongue and groove joints and pegs. Namjoon doesn’t like to use wood glue, saying it's ‘a shortcut for quantity over quality’. Which I do actually agree with. Also helps to keep the old methods alive. The grooves have already been cut into where the legs will be going. You'll be helping me with the tongues.”

Jungkook muttered something that you couldn't make out. You got to work, showing him how the width, length and depth of the groove would be transposed onto what would be the tongue. How you triple checked the measurements before committing to them with a saw. You got the table leg into position.

"Right, can you grab that mallet and hammer this into the groove for me. I'll keep it steady."

Jungkook grabbed the mallet, eyebrows knitting as he concentrated on hitting his intended target and not you. With his arms exposed, you saw how his muscles rippled and flexed with each heavy swing. He let out the occasional grunt of effort which you tried not to focus too much on, especially when you noticed his tongue peek out to wet his lower lip. And then he was finished and grinning down at you.

"What now?"

"Now it's your turn. We just have one more leg to attach before we can put the pegs through."

He nodded and immediately got to work copying what he had watched you do. 

"So what made you think you were too busy for a relationship? You clearly have time on your hands if you're here with me."

Jungkook briefly glanced at you then refocused on what he was doing, "My ex. She told me I clearly had two loves in my life, her and my work. Said she hated being runner up in my heart as I was so committed to my craft-"

"I'm sorry but that's bullshit. She broke up with you cause you're passionate about creating things? Because you're carrying on your family business?"

"When you put it that way, yeah."

"That is actual assholery on her part. A life without passion isn't a life at all. If someone had said something like that to me, I would have broken up with them."

"It's nice to hear that at least one person doesn't mind."

"If you don't mind me asking, how long ago was this break up?"

"Two years-"

"TWO WHOLE ASS YEARS?! You, a walking wet dream,” you waved your hand up and down, gesturing to him and his outfit, “have been willingly single for the last two years because of what your ex said."

His cheeks coloured. He set down the pencil and ruler and picked up the saw you had been using. He did two pulls then got to work sawing off the excess.

"Well it gave me time to focus on myself and what I wanted. Made some pretty baller things. And to be honest, it's been pretty hard to think about dating anyone when Namjoon has been talking my ear off about you and singing your praises before I had even met you yet."

Wait a minute… that sounded like Namjoon had been trying to set you up. You knew something was fishy about his ankle injury! It was all part of his plan! You facepalmed at your brother's antics.

"Jesus Joon. I'm so sorry about my brother, if I had known I would have stopped him."

"Hey now, I'm glad to finally put a face to the name. And as I said before, I'd like for you to get to know me. Then we see where it goes from there be it friends or something else, that is if you're interested. Which you seem to be otherwise you would have called me a walking wet dream. To be honest I like the forwardness." He winked at you. “Right, that’s this one all done, are you hammering this time?”

“Sure. As in the hammering.”

Jungkook knelt down and lined the leg up with its groove. Mallet in hand, you tried not to think about how, if the table leg wasn’t there, he would be at the perfect height to- You hit the leg before you could continue that line of thought. You were so focused, you hadn’t realised Jungkook was watching you much the same way you had done to him earlier. A few more good wacks and it was well and truly wedged in. You wiped the sweat from your brow.

“You got some impressive arms, do you go to the gym?”

You shook your head, “Nah, just comes with the job. All this manual labour requires some muscle. Can you help me flip this table?”

Jungkook moved to the other side of the table, lifting on your count and the table was now standing on its legs for the first time. You instructed him to try and hold it steady as you bored holes into the sides that went right through the centre on the joints.

“Since I did the drilling, how about you peg?” You said, handing him four perfectly sized pegs (you had made them earlier and chosen the corresponding drill bit with the right circumference).

“Is carpentry normally full of innuendo?”

“Depends on the carpenter.” You gave him a cheeky grin, “what you’re gonna want to do is hammer the pegs as far in as they’ll go, saw off the excess and finally, sand them.”

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

Next it was your turn to learn from him. You were back in his studio, waiting in his reception area for him to arrive. You spotted him through the window into his workshop, coming out of a door you hadn’t noticed last time. From what you could see, his hair was down, tucked away behind his ear. He was in a plain black oversized t-shirt and brown cargo pants. He walked over to some shelves and picked a few bits and bobs you couldn’t see and set them over by the grindstones. He turned and smiled when he saw you waiting. He jogged over to the door and unlocked it from the inside for you.

“Hey there, fancy seeing you here,” He said, still smiling. You were starting to melt for his cute grins.

“Oh you know, I got invited by some guy. I’m beginning to think the ‘learning each other's trades’ was all just an elaborate ploy to create flirting opportunities.”

He shrugged, “Well that remains to be seen. Come on in, I’ve got everything set up for you.”

“Since you’re not in a long-sleeve, we’re not doing anything that involves heat,” you appraised, walking by him.

“You got that right. I’m not the type to throw someone in the deep end.” 

He led you over to the grindstones where you saw what he had set down. It was a set of chisels. They looked new.

“What’s all this?”

“Today you’ll be learning how to sharpen these chisels, which I made myself by the way, and if I’m satisfied that you’ll be able to take care of them they’ll be all yours.”

You turned to him wide-eyed, “You’re fucking with me right.”

There was that smile again, “Nope. I figured it would do you some good not having to use Namjoon’s, give you some independence from him.”

You squealed and hugged him on impulse then sheepishly let go of him, clearing your throat, “I mean thank you.”

Jungkook rubbed the back of his neck, “No problem. It’s just my way of saying thanks for that… pep talk? Last week. And you know, they’re not as time consuming to make as a sword or something. Right, anyway let’s get started. You’ll be using the whetstone.” He pointed at the wheel you had seen him using before.

“Why not the others?”

“Cause we don’t want you losing your temper.”

“I’m not that easily annoyed.” You pouted.

He chuckled, “No not like that. If you try to sharpen something that's already been tempered, which by the way is a heat treatment to harden the steel and alleviate internal stresses, on a dry grind you’ll reheat the metal and lose the temper. So we use a whetstone because it keeps the metal cool. That’s also where the phrase lose your temper comes from.”

You had been nodding along as he spoke, “I see.” 

You picked up one of the chisels and inspected it. It was quite beautiful, a perfectly carved wooden handle (you’d have to ask him about his wood choice later) and the steel had a marble effect which your fingers traced over.

“It’s Damascus steel. A blend of iron carbide and ferrite folded into a steel billet. Not to be confused with real damascus steel because that technique was lost due to cultural suppression.”

“That sounds like a lot of effort for someone you’ve only known for like three weeks.”

“Yeah I know, but as I’ve said, thanks to Namjoon I already feel like I know you. And so far you haven’t done anything that goes against what I’ve come to know… God that sounded creepy.”

“No no, I get you. It’s like when my mum used to talk about her church friends and when I was introduced to them, I already knew what they liked and disliked so it was easier to talk to them.”

“Yeah, you’re the church friend here. Except I don’t mind it when you try to flirt with me. Anyway, shall we? I might need to put my hands on you depending on how well you do, are you okay with that?”

You shrugged, “I’m down with that. I doubt you’d use it as an excuse to grab my tits or something.”

Jungkook blinked at you a few times and shook his head, “Okay first, get the wheel turning, there’s a pedal on the floor which controls it.” You put your foot on it and got the wheel going. “Now what you’d want to do is with one hand on the handle and the other at the base of the steel, you want to angle it so the blade is going to meet the stone correctly.” You went to do as he said. “Ah wait.”

His chest met your back as his arms encircled you, hands guiding on yours to adjust the chisel to the correct angle. You then brought the chisel to the stone and the sound wasn’t all pleasant, neither were the small vibrations in your hands, but his heat was distracting you from it.

“That’s it, just like that. I’ll let you do the next one yourself. I’d say it's time to strop and test it.” He laid out some leather on the table next to the other chisels. You turned, stopping the wheel, and did as you had seen him do last time. “You’re picking this up quickly. You must have inherited all the steadiness that Namjoon didn’t get.”

You were about to question how you’d test it when he started rolling up a pant leg. His legs weren’t all that hairy but there were some noticeable strips missing. He then beckoned you to give him the chisel. You watched in bewilderment as he ran the chisel down a small patch, shearing off the hair there. He beamed at you.

“Cuts like a dream. That’s a pretty good job you’ve done there.”

“Can I ask why you just did that?”

He straightened up and put the chisel to the side.

“Quickest way to test, and as long as they’re washed properly afterwards, there's no harm… other than when I’ve nicked myself.”

“Maybe this is why your ex left you. Not because of your work but because you test the sharpness of blades on yourself-”

“That makes it sound like I self-harm. I do not. I shave. A very clear difference.”

“What I was trying to say is that it's ridiculously weird.”

He pouted this time, “Have I lost all appeal to you now then.”

It was only then you were reminded of how close he was to you. You gulped.

“I uh, I wouldn’t say that. Everyone has their quirks. Like me, I chew on stick-width bits of wood when I’m bored in the workshop.”

Jungkook laughed, properly laughed, a sound you wanted to hear again. “You called me weird and you’re out there literally chewing on wood like a beaver? Talk about double standards. At least my ‘quirk’ tests the quality. What are you doing? Testing the wood density?”

You blushed, “Look sometimes my mouth wants something to do. So what?”

He chuckled, pushed his hair back and got impossibly closer, his eyes darkening, “I had wanted to take this slow, maybe have a few more back and forths, but what am I to do when you tell me something like that.” He cupped your face, thumbing your lower lip, “what am I to think other than I can give it something to do for you.” His eyes flicked between your and your lips, “Can I?”

Jesus fucking christ, you had melted on the spot and all you could do was nod dumbly. The rest of the chisels were forgotten as he crowded your space, lips meeting yours in a slow, deliberate dance. His hands fell to your waist as you grasped at his shoulders, trying to pull him closer still. But you stumbled backwards, knocking the whetstone and breaking the kiss.

“Whoops, perhaps my workshop isn’t the place for this. Come on.” Jungkook took your hand and led you through the door you noticed earlier. “Welcome to my home-”

You pushed Jungkook up against the door, lips locking with his in a fever. Not missing a beat, his hands grasped your hips and pulled you into him. He licked at the seam of your lips, asking for permission which you eagerly gave with a moan. His hips rolled into yours and you lightly bit his bottom lip making him groan.

“Wanna take this upstairs?”

“Lead the way.”

Jungkook took you by the hand again and led you through his home, up the stairs and down the hall to his bedroom. You didn’t have much time to take in your surroundings before he was mouthing and sucking at your neck, thoroughly distracting you. You pressed back into him and felt how hard he had gotten against your ass. 

His hands trailed to your stomach, slipping below your top, “Mind if I?”

“Jungkook, I appreciate the constant checking in but please hurry the fuck up.”

He huffed in amusement. He grasped your top and pulled it up over your head. You hadn’t expected things to turn out as they had done so you were in a sports bra. Again he muttered something you couldn’t quite hear. You took off your bra before you helped him to remove his own shirt and felt yourself grow wetter when you could see his whole chest unobstructed. Those pecs looked very squeezable. You licked your lips, you’d get that opportunity soon you silently vowed. 

“Get on the bed,” you ordered.

He raised a brow, “And why should I?”

You raised onto your toes so that you could reach his ear, “I believe you said you’d give my mouth something to do.” You didn’t have to tell him twice, he was more than eager to situate himself on the edge of the bed. He was in the midst of unzipping his pants when you settled on your knees between his spread legs. “Let me.”

You grasped the edge of his pants and boxers, pulling them both down in one as Jungkook lifted his hips off the bed to aid you. You salivated when his cock sprung up and slapped his stomach. You weren’t patient enough to tease him, opting instead to lick him from base to tip, taking his tip between your lips and easing him further in.

“Shit! Jesus christ!” His fingers tangled into your hair, stopping you from continuing as he tried to hold himself back. “Fuck Y/N warn me before you do something like that. Last thing I want is to be a quick shot.” 

You released him, “I don’t mind that. Come whenever you want.” With that you sank back down on him, taking him deeper until he hit the back of your throat. You gagged. 

Jungkook’s head kicked back with a guttural groan. His hips raised, pushing him deeper still and you gagged again.

“S-sorry, I wanna- can I move? Hum if I can move.”

You hummed. Jungkook used his hold on you to keep you still as he thrust into your eager lips. Your eyes welled with tears each time he made you gag but you paid it no mind. Your fingers made their way into your pants and underwear, you began to rub your clit in time with his thrusts. God, you were so wet already. You moaned around him as the heat in you started to build.

“Y/n” he moaned, “I’m gonna, fuck. Boutta cum. If you don’t want me cumming in your mouth- shit- you better stop now.”

You hummed again and stayed put. Jungkook came with a grunt, eyes shut in bliss as you swallowed around him. You only pulled away when you felt him begin to go soft. You held his cock as you licked the remnants of his cum off it, Jungkook whined.

“S-Stop, post nut sensitivity.”

You stopped immediately and sat back, “What would you like to do now?”

Jungkook’s eyes trailed down you, landing on how you still had a hand in your pants though it had stopped its ministrations at this point. “I would like to repay the favour and then after that, hopefully, fuck.”

You giggled, “I’m down for that.” 

You stood and were about to pull your pants down when Jungkook stopped you. Copying what you had done earlier, pulling them down for you but while also showering the newly exposed skin to open mouth kisses. You stumbled a bit since you were still stood up.

“Wait a second, let me sit-”

Jungkook led on the floor and beckoned for you to sit on his face with that damned smile of his, “I have your seat right here, come on.”

Oh you couldn’t say no to such an offer. You lowered yourself until your pussy was just above his mouth, not wanting to crush him. But Jungkook wasn’t having that, he palmed at your ass and pulled you down onto him properly. And much like you had done to him just moments before, Jungkook wasted no time in devouring you. He licked from your pussy to your clit and nipped at it, making you jolt. He eased his tongue into you, making you both moan. You rolled your hips as he kept going, your clit brushing against his nose. You gasped when he switched to sucking on your clit, instead pushing two fingers into you. Oh fuck. You groped your breasts, pinching your nipples for extra stimulation. Jungkook curled his fingers, rubbing against the spot that made your toes curl and a wanton cry leave you. You could feel his smirk as he made it his mission to hit that spot with deadly accuracy. That heat that had been building earlier reignited into a blaze, quickly building in intensity.

“Fuck, just like that. Don’t stop. Don’t stop.”

Jungkook hummed in acknowledgement, alternating between sucking and rubbing your clit. It didn’t take much more for the heat to reach its peak and spill over. Your pussy clenched around his fingers as you came but he didn’t stop. You sighed as he helped you to ride out your high. You dismounted him when you had your fill and watched as Jungkook slipped his tattooed fingers into his mouth, sucking them clean. You moaned. Jungkook got up and pulled you into a searing kiss, you could taste yourself on his lips and he could probably taste himself on yours. His erect cock pressed against your stomach.

Jungkook broke away, “How does my bad girl want it? Doggy? Cowgirl? Anyway, it's fine by me.”

“Doggy.”

Jungkook gave your ass a light slap, “Then get on that bed, babe.”

You scrambled onto the bed, making sure to teasingly shake your hips as you did so. Jungkook growled lowly and was quick to follow you. A hand ran down your back, over your slightly reddened cheek. Two fingers brushed against your entrance torturously, dancing around actually entering you. You noticed as well as felt him lean over you to reach into a drawer. He pulled out a foil packet. He opened it and expertly rolled the condom down his length. 

He lined himself up and eased himself into you, giving you a chance to adjust before he pulled out to just the tip and plunged back into you. You swear to god he hit your cervix right then and there. You keened at the delicious sensation, back arching. Jungkook pressed against you, littering your shoulder with marks as he sent spears of pleasure through you with each merciless thrust, his pace brutal. You tried to hold back your moans, knowing you’d be near screaming if your didn’t. To be honest, you felt like you could cream his cock just like this there was just one thing missing. 

“Don’t hold back. I wanna hear you crying because of my dick. Come on. Cry for me Y/N.”

You couldn’t hold back anymore, you were sobbing with each thrust as his tip continually kissed your cervix. He pushed you further into the mattress and anchored your hips into place, holding you still so he could abuse your pussy as he wished. Your fingers grasped at his sheets as all you could do was take it. You weren’t used to being passive when fucking but shit what else could you do? Your ability to think was melting away with each deadly snap of his hips. And then he was stopping and you cried in outrage but he soon had you on your back and his cock in you again. 

“Sorry, I just had to see your face. Oh look at you.” He wiped your tear streaked face.

He hooked one of your legs over his shoulders and abruptly continued his onslaught. With the way he was bearing down on you, you wouldn't have been surprised if your back was out of commission afterwards. In fact you think you heard a snap that wasn't from skin meeting skin. God you were so close. One of his hands snaked down to rub your clit in figures of eight. You were clenching around him, cumming just moments after. Your voice ripped from you at the intensity, leaving you gasping.

"Fuck you're so tight!" He groaned, brows knitting together as he concentrated on reaching his own climax. 

In your pleasure-addled state, your impulse control vanished. Your hands reached up and groped at his chest, squeezing them like you had wanted from the get go. Your fingers expertly toyed with his nipples, his hips stuttered as he let out a strained whine.

"It's okay, you can cum. Want you to cum." 

Jungkook let your leg fall so that he could bury his face into the crook of your neck, biting down as he finally released. He stayed like that for a moment, allowing himself a chance to regain his breath before rolling off you and discarding the used condom in a nearby waste bin.

"You are definitely not a good girl. I think I broke a slat in my bed again."

"I think you threw my back out so the slat will have to wait. Can't have my brother fix a bed I've been fucking on."

Jungkook laughed, "That's fine by me. Hey, would you like to have dinner with me tonight?"

"We totally went about this in the wrong order. But yes, I'd love to have dinner with you."

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

Namjoon was taking a break, an americano cupped in his hands, when you gingerly entered the workshop the following day.

“So how are things with Jungkook? Any interest there?”

“Well, he needs a new slat for his bed.”

Namjoon looked disappointed, “Aw I’m sorry. I thought he would be into you. Sorry for getting your hopes up.”

“Oh no, he’s very into me, that’s why I’m fixing the bed.”

A few seconds passed until realisation hit him and he dropped his mug. Scandalised, he shouted, “Y/N!”

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

Thank you so much for reading this very niche fic! I'm tagging posts relevant to this fic with "Finishing Touch" for any asks I get sent, and comments I reply to or possible follow ons are some people have already shown an interest in. Here is an example of the chisels Jungkook made:

And here is the poem:

My Dear Blacksmith

Engrave your design into me; etch your story. Grind, carve, chip and scratch away. Pass your judgement with your tools. In one hand, heat and torment, temptation and punishment. In the other, honour and warmth, loyalty and redemption. Give me depth. Temper me in flames and harden my edges in oil, unbreakable when mastered. You inlay me with precious gold and dazzling jewels to highlight the beauty in your work. Oak and guard, balance and poise just like those who came before. For I am but your sword, an extension of your will. When the time comes, I shall miss you, my dear blacksmith. And as the years will pass us by, you shall wither and age as I dull and rust. But your story shall forever be in my steel.

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

This work of fiction is copyright © JungkookieNoona and protected under UK and international law. All rights reserved. Any unauthorised broadcasting, copying or reposting will constitute an infringement of copyright.

#jungkook #boop #jeon jungkook #jungkook smut #BTS jungkook #jeongguk #jeon jeongguk #jungkook scenario #jungkook fanfic #bangtan #bangtan scenario #bangtan smut #finishing touch

[becauseicantthinkwritings]

His Best Kept Secret

A Billy Russo x Reader Drabble

Hey, @marvelmusing I haven't known peace since I met you.

Warnings: Smut (18+), major degradation kink, Billy talks down to her a lot, gentle face slapping, spitting, daddy kink, mild crying kink too.

A/N: alright i know how this looks, but reader could definitely be an independent woman.... if she wanted to be.

Anvil was mostly quiet at this time of night. Everything lay undisturbed, with the lights casting its white sheen on every surface.

The cleaners had already come and gone, leaving the company's CEO locked in his office, left to his own devices.

Except that now, things were different. Different and new for him, a man who had accepted some form of loneliness from an early age.

No one could pinpoint it, a difficult and barely recognisable change, made even more difficult and unrecognisable by the brooding man with an office at the top of the building.

The only way they'd really know, was if they were here now, working way too late to be normal and passing in front of his office at just the right time to hear the lamp sitting at his desk hit the ground with a muffled crash. It would make the person stop, lean an ear to the door, and they'd know.

They'd know Billy Russo's newest secret.

"There's nothing going on up there, hmm?" He hisses in your ear, his large hand covering your mouth, limiting the pitiful little sounds you're making, his eyes trained on the broken lamp beside his desk.

"You broke my lamp, you silly little girl. Do you know how much it cost?" He asks, with a restrained hiss of rage as if he cared for the lamp at all. His eyes burn into your frightened ones, your body shakes in fear and there's nothing that can make him harder in the moment.

"That's right. You don't. You have no fucking idea how much anything costs because Daddy buys you everything, right?"

He pulls his hand back to lay a gentle slap across your pretty cheek.

"Answer me. Does Daddy buy you everything?"

Your eyes well with little tears.

"Yes, daddy, you buy me everything. 'M sorry, I didn't mean to-" You're cut off by him burying two of his fingers into your mouth.

Your eyes squeeze shut, resisting the urge to gag because you know it's hard to stop once you start.

"I don't want to hear, another fucking word from your dumb girl mouth."

He feels the little whimper around his fingers.

"If you can break my things, then it's only fair that I can break your things. Yes?"

He doesn't have to wait long for your nod of consent.

It makes him want to burst.

It was one thing to look so demure while he berated you, it was another thing to want him to berate you. This pretty little creature being forcefully pinned to his desk, with his fingers in her mouth actually wanted this. Wanted him. Was probably ruining her cute underwear with thoughts of how he was going to degrade her.

"Well," he says, acting pleased in the moment, "Let's start breaking you."

Your cozy sweater is cut off your body in seconds, leaving him to tug the cups of your bra down so that he can pinch at your nipples.

Your sobs are mixed in with gasps of pleasure.

"I'm so sorry," you cry, and he laughs a little.

"What are you sorry for, hmm?"

"For- For-" you can't finish your sentence because each time you start, he gives a borderline painful pinch to your nipples.

"Dumb little girl can't even speak." He teases, unclasping your bra and pulling every shred of clothes off the top of your body. He pauses for a moment, framing your breasts in his hands, before leaning forward to dribble an ample amount of saliva onto each breast.

He hums with delight, circling your nipples and spreading his spit all over your breasts.

"Nice and wet for me," he gives another slippery pinch, "Are you my dumb little girl?"

"Yes, sir." You sigh.

"Yeah baby? Do you have a job?"

"No sir."

"No? I'm sure a pretty little girl like you could find a job doing something."

"No sir, 'm too dumb."

He smiles.

"Poor little thing. Doesn't work, doesn’t pay any taxes, needs daddy to buy her everything."

"Yes, and I'm so clumsy too, sir."

He huffs with delight.

"You have to have something good going for you." He muses.

"Yes, sir, I do."

He pauses his torment of her breasts to look up at her.

"Well? What is it?" He prompts when she doesn’t respond.

"My cunt, sir."

"Your cunt?"

"Mmhmmm, I have a cunt worth keeping around."

It was a miracle that she was his, and a miracle that he hadn't blown his load yet.

He pulls away and you whine in displeasure.

"Go on then, show daddy that dumb little cunt."

Biting your lip, you stand up to quickly push your skirt down, along with your soaked panties.

You climb back onto the desk, fully naked, spreading your legs to show him your most intimate parts, knocking a small cup of pens over in the process, the sound louder in the quiet room.

"Oops." You whisper, watching the way his eyes trace the dripping seam of your core.

Billy smiles.

"Well who needs braincells with a cunt that pretty?" He asks.

Certainly not you.

#billy russo #billy russo x reader #billy russo x female reader #the punisher #MUAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHA #i am evil #a true menace

[ragnarfanfics]

Valhalla part one

Ragnar X Reader part one

Warnings: None yet

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Your hands grip the side of the boat as if your life depends on it, perhaps it does. You manage to keep a hold of the side as you pull yourself up to look out. The waves are monstrous clashing into each other and the ships slowly drifting farther away from the one you reside on. The deep gray over takes two of the ships pulling them into the depths, your screams for the fallen fall on deaf ears, the storm silencing everything but the thunder up ahead. Thor, The beautiful bright blue lighting overtaking the sky's as he strikes his anvil. Why must the Gods be so angry with you? You look over to the captain of the ship, his eyes full of fear as his mouth moves with prayers drowned out over the storm. What should you do? What can you possibly do? The captain's eyes fall upon you as he screams, “Row!” His finger leading the way to a bench that’s empty. You made your way over gripping the ore, thinking ‘how could I have not noticed someone fell overboard?’ You thought as you row as swiftly you can, for as long as you can. Praying to Odin for strength, your arms burning with each pull, water blinding you as it strikes your face. Just as you thought you couldn’t move your arms anymore, a wave comes head on for your ship. As suddenly as you noticed the wave, it took over your boat filling it with freezing water, tipping it as the wave continued. You lose your grip on the ore and grab onto the side of the ship as it tips. The wood creaking under your fingertips that desperately grip onto the ship. Water suddenly surrounds you, the salt stinging your eyes as you look for your way up. Everything is so dark, so dark you couldn't even see your hands as you moved around in the water from the force of the ship tipping then being pulled under. Not sure of how long you have been under the water your lungs burn for air. Instead of panicking when you let your last gasp of air out you take a moment to stop and look at the bubbles, studying as the orbs of air floated upwards. you moved the way the bubbles went swimming up to the surface of the water. Gasping as your head broke the surface you can only see more monstrous waves heading to you and no ships. Debris floats around you, parts of ships and the possessions people had with them. You managed to grab onto a part of a ship large enough for you to hold under your arms to help floating, but alas not enough to hold you above the freezing water fully. The last thing you could see was the sky full of dark clouds matching the wave coming to you. You prayed that the end would be kind and take you fast, that you would be reunited with your lost loved ones. 

You woke up gasping for air, your hands reaching for your stinging throat. Coughing as you look around you, you see some tall figures looking down around you, and one kneeling beside you. Your clothes are damp and smelling of salt, as well as your hair with sand clinging to both. You are on a beach of some sort with white sand. Remembering your ship has fallen you start to look around the beach in hopes for anyone else. Seeing nothing but an empty beach around you and the men you realize no one was near you, that you recognized, you started to run. Looking for the family’s you have promised a better life, an actual future where they can peacefully live. One of the men ran after you, his voice laced with concern and confusion. “Where are you going? No one else was here besides you, what has happened?” He said catching up to you grabbing your arm. Turning to him, your hand met his face without hesitation, “Let go of me!” Shocked, he slightly smirks, rubbing his cheek with the hand that has fallen from your arm. He has blue eyes, tattoos littered on his skull, and a strong physic about him . “You could have just asked, " What has happened?” He asked his hand gesturing to the bits of wood and items of fallen ships. After a moment of looking at everything and gathering a few things that you washed up with, you calmed yourself and turned fully to him. “My ship has crashed,” you informed quite snippily as it was obvious to anyone what had happened. You’re only greeted with a smirk at your attitude to him, “I can see that, I mean, why have you come to katagate in a storm?” This was the great trading place with the infamous Ragnar Lothbrok. You didn’t mean to end up here but yet a farm outside of it, a small settlement your earl has arraigned to settle. Realizing who this man is, you curse in your head and your position to him you quickly take a knee, “I apologize Ragnar Lothbrok I have not recognized you after waking up, I am (y/n) shieldmaiden of Earl (name too lazy to actually think put one in later.) I swear to you on my armband that whenever I am called upon I will respond to you.” The man you now recognized was smirking now at you as you kneel in front of him. You cured the Gods as this is the way you meet, a mess thrown upon him, a mess with an attitude no less. “Well this is interesting,” he starts on as you stand looking at him, “you are the only one to arrive from the ocean in such conditions, tell me why would anyone sail in such conditions?” He questioned his hand moving as he talked to you, his fingers moving slightly with his hand. Looking at the other men all you could manage was, “May I talk to you in private about such things?” He looked puzzled for a moment before gesturing to the men behind him, “these are my brothers, we speak together there is nothing to hide from them,” The men nodded in agreement as you rubbed the back of your neck. That wasn’t the issue, it was the fact the words got caught in your throat, embarrassed to admit defeat in front of powerful men. “My earl, she was trying to escape her husband for acts unkind, I have promised my sword to her and only her until now. She heard of you and the things you are able to accomplish. She bought a farm with a few cottages to start anew, under you.” You spoke as you rose from your knees. Only to see his smirk now gone replaced with a confused look, “What has he done?” He questioned you, his bright blue eyes looking down at you. “That I will not say in front of others I simply do not know, and certainly not without my mistress.” You stood your ground not wanting to humiliate or go against your Earls wishes. He simply nodded and waved his hand to the other men behind him without looking back, gesturing them to leave, “I understand now, come, let's get you by the fire with some food?” He stated it more as if a question as he wrapped his arm around your shoulders leading you into the town, heading to his residence. The town was large, bustling and full of people, traders at some post holding up items as you moved along shouting what they had. You haven’t been here since you were a kid, much has changed around the town. As you near Ragnar’s residence, nerves filled your body. So many things could go wrong seeing as you are the first and only to wash ashore. 

The fire was warm flickering onto your exposed skin, food in front of you with a curved horned cup full of mead. The clothes they have provided you are soft, fitting your form quite nicely, you're thankful for this seeing as you lost most things to the storm. Ragnar sat across from you with his own cup in hand. “So tell me shieldmaiden, what has happened?” His voice takes you away from your personal thoughts about others who could be so close and with no help. With no one around you found it easier to speak to the man. You took a moment to take a bite and savor it. The food they gave you was some kind of soup that tasted amazing compared to the bread you lived off of on the boat. You closed your eyes for a moment taking a bite enjoying the taste, meat and a hint of some spices, with vegetables. “Seeing as my mistress is most likely feasting with the gods, I am confident enough to let you know.” You spoke as you grabbed your cup lifting it to your lips taking a drink of the sweet mead. “He has treated her as if she was a slave of a raid, he has treated rabid dogs better than the woman of the house.” You explained setting your bowl down on the hearth's edge suddenly not feeling hungry enough to eat and speak about such horrors. You look up to see Ragnar's piercing eyes staring deeply into yours, leaning forward one hand on his chin as he listens. He waves his other hand to you to go on, “He often beat her without reason, withheld food as if it was a luxury she couldn't afford.”  Your hands messed with the clothing covering your knees feeling a bit nervous about speaking of her traumas to a man she doesn't know. “He often treated many women like this, causing it to be seen as normal, the horrid treatment of women. It wasn’t punished so instead of staying to be beat like a dog, all of us came here in hopes to start anew. The women and men that didn’t want to live like that.” That was true, the treatment of women was horrid and normalized amongst your people. Not everyone wanted to come as their households didn’t treat each other as such, or they didn’t want to change. You could convince most women in abusive households and even save them if they asked. Ragnar's voice pulled you from your thoughts of everyone and how the Gods can be so cruel. “Why in a storm?” His voice was full of confusion, not quite understanding the severity of the situation. Looking into his eyes you spoke without hesitating. “Because she was going to be fed to his dogs along with her daughter, and everyone caught helping her to escape or even help, executed. I couldn’t have run away. I swore my life to her so we did the next best thing, risking our lives instead of handing them over. How could I not try when my life is hers?” Fire was in your eyes as you spoke, anger heated you more than the fire ever could. “I don’t understand how someone they love can treat them so cruelly.”  The last sentence you spoke had a bite to it. The horrors you have personally witnessed would be enough for anyone to be enraged with the actions, the horrors you have been told about only break your heart more for your people. That was clear enough to Ragnar from how you spoke about the situation. Ragnar finally spoke with a questioning look, “So where were you when the cruel treatment began?” His hands now not stirring as he spoke, but clasped together in front of him.  “I was a simple daughter of a farmer when this started, we didn't even know each other. It was about a year of me fighting, she finally wrote to me.” You spoke, picking your bowl back up to continue eating the soup. “I started fighting when my father started to become cruel. You see I didn’t do much besides do my chores and help my mother tend to things, but I wasn’t stupid enough to see no one was speaking out about this. I decided I would steal coins from my father as well, saving the few I was given by my mother to have a man teach me how to fight. Women fighting was looked down upon, I think it was to control us easier.” You informed him as you ate. The food that filled the wooden bowl slowly vanished as you spoke taking bites, “In her letter she mentioned I was in danger, that I was causing myself to be seen by her husband. I wasn’t even sure if it was her. Why would she put herself in danger for me? It was too late as two men tried to attack me but killed my mother in the attack. Her letter has saved me and she never stopped from that day to save me, I couldn't ignore her any longer. I spent the last of the coin I stole and saved up to send her a letter in secret.” Your bowl sat empty as you set it back in front of you, grabbing your curved cup to finish the mead that sits inside of it. “From there she paid for my training, and I swore my life to her rightfully so seeing as she tried to save me from her husband and his goons more than once. Even so far to buy her people land with her own riches.” You admired the woman you knew to be a friend, if you could carry an ounce of her kindness and empathy with you, you would be the kindest woman in kattegat. Ragnar's gaze never left you as you spoke of your past, his hands still wrapped around each other. “I see thank you for telling me about your difficult past, I understand why it would be hard to share that in front of other people.” He stands looking around the room settling his hands on his hips before he speaks. “We can’t have our people treating free individuals like this.” Well that is one problem solved for now, but many more lay at your feet. “We have to set up a search party for everyone that crashed, and a sacrifice for the ships that didn’t so they may find their way.” Your voice moved faster than your mind, still worried for your people who have been shipwrecked. You stood up gathering the few items you had when you washed up. Quickly walking to the door to head out to start up looking around the beach and shores for anyone. Ragnar stood there for a moment letting you go before starting on his own to get people to help you. 

You didn’t find many survivors as you made your way along the white sandy shores. A few people accompany you taking back the injured and dead back to Kattegat. You feared at first that you would be the only one left, that the Gods would have been so cruel to play with lives like that, cutting theirs short after trying to escape from terrors. After a few countless hours you made your way back to the sleeping town. Your mind is occupied with thoughts of the injured and still lost as you make your way to where the injured rested. You quietly crept through the door making your way to the few people you knew. Taking a seat you slumped back wondering if you have looked enough, or if anyone was out there waiting for you. Tired and exhausted at the experience you and everyone have endured you drift off into a light sleep. 

You woke at a few people walking in and out of the building they provided for all of you. One of the people heading to you was Ragnar accompanied by a woman. She wore a fine dress that was accompanied by fur, earrings hanging off of her ear lobes, her long hair framing her face. That must be Aslaug the queen of Kattegat. You stood as soon as you noticed them both, “It is very nice to finally meet you my Queen.” She reached out her hand for you to take and kiss her knuckles, something you did not like, Ragnar even took notice of this behavior and raised an eyebrow at the new change of behavior of her. “Anyway, there is a ship arriving, we think it may be one of your party’s?” He said with a questioning tone watching you start to rush for the door. They let you through them and out the door, they trailed behind you as you ran to the dock with joy that someone could have made it out of the storm. Looking out to the once harsh waves overcome with gray whipping waters that took lives of people you cared for holding a ship, now light blue and calm waves gently lapping onto the shore. The ship was too far to make out the emblem on the sail that rested on the mast of the ship. Taking a seat on the edge of the dock the Queen and King of Kattegat reach up to you. “I told you I think, It’s too far out to tell just yet, but we aren't expecting any visitors.”  Time seems to pass slowly as the ship makes its way over to you. As soon as you can see the emblem your eyes teared up. It was more survivors, you let so a breath of air you didn’t even know you were holding. As the ship docked and people started getting off you looked around to each and everyone of them, but despised your hope you did not see your Earl. Your heart sunk with disappointment as you knew what needed to be next, someone else to lead them in this fragile time. That someone had to be you, she has always told you to protect and serve everyone as best as you can. Turning to Ragnar who was busy with telling a few other people how to aid the new people of Kattegat. You walked up to him wanting to speak about everything including the lands in your Earls name. “Ragnar?” Aslaug looked at you thrown off by your use of his name so casually instead of using his title. He turned to you with a smile, “(Y/n)? Did you find your Earl?” He questioned you with hope lingering in his voice. “No, and that is what I would like to speak to you about. She had a farm with a few houses right outside of Kattegat. I would like them to be put in my name?” You didn’t mean to sound so questioningly but it just managed to come out that way. Maybe it was the nerves that build up in your body at the thought of having to lead people. Ragnar’s voice took you from your thoughts and concerns that come with the position of being a leader. “Yes we can speak about that in a while, let's have the new arrivals taken care of and I have some other business.” He confessed turning to Aslaug to walk back with her. You watched them walk away as you led others into the building holding your people. You smiled as you watched families reunite taking each other in an embrace with warm hellos. Once people started to calm down from the happy greetings, you stood on a chair to address them, the chair creaking slightly as you did so. A few people noticed you climbing the chair and turned to you. “ I am afraid there is no sign of Earl (name) , no other ships have yet arrived nor anyone else to wash up on the shore.” The rest listened and looked at you while you spoke about what had happened. You informed them as they all grew worried for the people lost in the depths of the ocean worried they would never see them again. “But we will continue on and keep her memory alive, for she has given us this chance, we will thrive here as a community for one another.” You explained getting down from the chair seeing as you have everyone’s attention. Speaking made you nervous but with the people you grew up around, and with you felt more at peace speaking to them, like it was a second home waiting for you. “We will head to our lands and once settled I will have your personal lands in your own names, it may take a while to get established because this is the first time I had to do anything like this,” You confessed slightly laughing at the nerves of this new experience, as you made your way around the room full of people, picking up your few items. “If you are too injured to join us now that is fine, stay here and rest up the rest of us should go.” A few people stayed behind but the majority of people came with you to the decent sized farm with wagons and supplies to help everyone to live their new life. 

The farm was more beautiful than you expected, the buildings carved with intricate designs showing character, the main farm having a carved serpent's head on the pitch of the roof. Fields surrounding all of the buildings littered with a few trees. It was more than you could ever hope for, a home you could finally live in some peace. You got settled in one of the smaller cabins seeing as you were by yourself, and others needed the space for their large family. The small cabin was a little ways away from the rest, sitting on top of a hill, a stone path leading you inside your new home. The cabin you picked was open with a small dining table, two benches, a bed on the opposite side with a hearth in the middle to keep you warm. Happy with your new home, you go to open the door to go explore the rest of the land and to see how people are settling in. As soon as you opened the door you jumped back startled by Ragnar standing there with his hand raised to knock. “Oh-” You said as he tried to speak at the same time. “Sorry I-” You both pause as Ragnar begins to smirk, almost chucking to himself. “I didn’t mean to scare you, you frighten easily.” He comments as his smirk grows on his face. “You didn’t frighten me, just took me by shock when- no what are you doing here?” You lost your train of thought of defending yourself to wondering why he was here so soon thinking he would have taken a few days to take care of his own business. “I was able to sneak away to discuss the land issue and some other things,” Puzzled by the mention of other things you step aside to let him in. “I haven’t had the chance to start the fire or even candles I just got in,” you explained gesturing to the room of the cabin. “I thought you would have taken the main building for your own, seeing as you're going to lead them.” He says moving to the hearth quickly starts the fire. As he started the fire you sat down on one of the beaches resting near your table. The flame quickly grew with flickers filling the room with some much provided heat. He took the bench across from you as you spoke, “Well no why would I when I don’t need that much room?” Speaking with genuine confusion. He studied you as you spoke like he was trying to figure you out in some way. “Wouldn’t you want all the lands in your name?” He asked you, confused still why you wouldn’t take the best for yourself. “Well no-” You started as you looked from the table back to him, not much else to keep you occupied as you spoke to Ragnar. “I want this cabin and enough farming land to sustain myself and make a profit off of it to live, but I would like everyone to have their own lands in their own names, they are free people and that's what my Earl would want.” You want to stay true to her plans as much as you can, no matter how difficult or if it takes your life, providing them with a life you always would want is the least you can do for her. Ragnar looked as if he solved a puzzle when you spoke to him watching you move your hands as you speak, “Ah so you are very loyal to her.” He commented with a smirk proud to be able to start putting the easy parts of you together. Of course he was trying to figure you out, if you were to lead people under him you two should get to know each other. Or seeing as he is the king of Kattegat, your king. “Why should I not be? If it wasn’t for her actions or kindness I wouldn’t be here or possess any of the fighting skills I have today, or be here to lead the others in a new start.” You reminded him all you owe to her for giving you this life, and saving other’s lives as well. “I should watch you fight sometime, or I can teach you a few things.” His smirk only grew wider on his face as he spoke to you. Not sure if his tone was flirtatious or teasing you quickly spoke without much thought. “Or I could teach you a few things,” You teased back at the king with a smirk of your own on your lips. His grin turned into a full blown smile with an eyebrow raised. Maybe it was a bit flirtatious after all. “Oh the shieldmaiden from far away will teach me a few things will she?” He leaned towards you, his gaze moving over your body as he spoke. You smile back at him with confidence in your voice. “Oh I know I can.” He chuckled as he stood walking to the door, his hand grabbing the handle before he told you. “Have the names with what land exactly and I will have the rest taken care of, I expect to be taught a few things when you come by.” His eyes looked you over like a hungry wolf, or you sore he did as he left. “Definitely.” You said to him as he left, hearing him chuckle one last time before the door shut. Laying on your new bed you thought about what all has happened in the last two days, was Ragnar always like this with everyone or was there something more to it? He was a married man, yet has left the famous shieldmaiden Lagertha for another woman he didn’t know. Your thoughts slowly faded away as exhaustion overtook you, perhaps next time you will get a few more answers. 

The days slowly passed as you haven’t seen the King since your encounter in your little cabin. You passed the time by getting your farmland ready for the next plant and trying to help the others with theirs as well. After a week you feel confident enough to leave the others to themselves for a while while you explore Kattegat. The town was much larger than you were used to, busy with people in the streets conversations and smells of food filling the air as you pass by. The goal of your trip is to find a few things to make your home feel more like yours, as well you lost most of your clothing in the storm. The vendors had everything you could imagine and then some, you tried to pass over the food vendors as tempting as they were, you wanted to only get things you needed. After passing a few vendors you find one full of clothing with golden jewelry scattered across a table. You took your time looking at the items of clothing not sure what to get or all to grab. They had an array of dresses, tunics pants and even some leather armor. After spending some time picking out a few beautiful dresses, and a few spare clothes for work, you look at the armor disappointed you have lost yours. You study the armor taking it into your hands, it was rough and thick like a bores back. It was black with a dark brown adoring it with a raven right on the heart. You move your thumb over the leather raven attached to the armor thinking for a moment. ‘Would you be able to make a set that's custom to me? Your stitch work and leather craft is amazing. I would love to have some.” You looked to the merchant as you spoke about getting armor for yourself. “Yes I would be able to if you paid in advance,” The merchant spoke softly, their voice aged by years. You set down your items in front of her gently with a smile. “Great, I would like these as well.” After the woman has finished discussing your armor and the specifics you want, you grab the bag you brought once empty now full of clothes. You put the strap over your shoulder as you turn back to the street to be met with Ragnar leaning on the pole of the merchant's shop. “A Valkyrie should be adorned with gold jewelry too,” He comments standing up moving to the table with the jewelry. You got confused for a moment for one, how did he find you here and how you didn’t notice him, and two what he was speaking about. “What could you mean? I don’t need it and I am definitely not a beautiful Valkyrie.” You said, rolling your eyes as he picks up a necklace with a round golden pendant with a raven carved into the precious metal. “We both know that's not true.” He stepped behind you with the necklace with one hand, using the other to gently pick up your hair. “Hold your hair.” He spoke softly right behind your ear, he was close enough for you to smell him, the ocean, woods, and fire, you never knew someone to smell quite like that. You took your hair into your hands as he put the necklace onto you. “It would be a shame to have a beauty walking around without something as precious.” He still spoke into your ear, his hands leaving the back of your neck leaving the necklace behind. The words and actions of this arrogant king left you blushing in the stand for a moment, as you turned to him you noticed him tossing a coin to the merchant. “I can pay-” You started to say before Ragnar waved his hand to you as he spoke, interrupting your protest to pay for the necklace. “No never, it is a gift from me, you will never have to pay me in any way for what I do.” He had a smirk on his face as he noticed the blush across your cheeks winking at you. “I see you don’t hate it.” His voice had a slight teasing tone to it letting you know the heat on your cheeks is visible to others and with that smirk it only grew. “What are you doing here?” You asked him as he turned to the street to continue looking at the vendors, you followed after him. Many of them are clothes in this area, the next area tools and equipment “This is my home. I should be asking you that.” He chucked at you confused how he randomly popped up. That chuckle seemed so innocent to what he is doing to you, making you blush this way. “Ok then how did you know I was here?” You asked him to walk next to him, smiling at his chuckle. You wondered if he watched you or had others tell him about you due to his curiosity. “ Well simple, I didn’t know. I simply saw you after getting a few things for myself.” You rolled your eyes at his answer, not satisfied, maybe it was random and not him seeking you out. “Ok well then why did you get me a necklace?” You said gently touching the raven pendant fiddling with it in your fingers. He turned into another small shop as he spoke with you trailing besides him. “Simple I wanted to.” You now realize getting answers from this man is like pulling teeth, teeth from a rabid dog impossible and stupid. You simply punch his shoulder with a small laugh at his antics. “I am serious, I want to know if you treat everyone like this or if you're giving me special treatment?” You egged on wanting to know if he is truly just this charming or if he is treating you any different. He picked up an item before looking at it and putting it down and moving to the next, then the next. “Ragnar.” He turned to you and put down the item of clothing. “I don’t treat everyone like this, I am not quite so friendly all the time.” He teased you with his tone of voice, watching your face for your reaction. “I can bite.” He teases watching you with that signature smirk. You are not too sure about this behavior to you, and what to think about this man. Was he just flirting with you to tease you or was it something more? He was inches away from your face watching your reaction to his words. You were just confused and flustered by this man's actions. Looking up at him he seems satisfied that you're flustered at his words. “Could we speak sometime? If we can, you can just meet me at my place.” You said trying to hold yourself together then quickly turning away from Ragnar to leave. Ragnar didn’t stop you amused by your reaction watching you walk away. He has never met a woman quite like you, everyone wanted him yet you, only you had him in a trance. 

Once you made your way back to the settlement you have grown to know as the first home you love, you stopped on the way to a good friend of yours, Moeiour. She has always been a support system for you when you have a hard time, as well you help her whenever she may need. You knock on the wooden door nerves overtaking your body about what has happened. She soon opened the door looking at you with a small babe in hand cooing. She smiled right at you and let you in. “(Y/N), sorry I haven’t seen you yet you know with him it's always busy.” She starts off as she sits down in a chair resting by a fire. “No, don't even I should have come over sooner I’m sorry Moeiour, but I do need your help with a few things. How much do you know of this place?” You ask as you sit down in a chair besides her watching her face light up as you asked. “Yes! I actually do because my mother was from here and never actually left so we have caught up over the past few days. You would not believe the drama here if I told you.” She spoke quickly, eager to gossip with you about all she has learned. She has always been this bubbly personality. You knew her mother was from somewhere and chose to stay instead of moving with her ex husband and two kids, at the time it seemed like the best idea for them. “Like what? I really need to know about Ragnar Lothbrok.” You confessed to the kind woman next to you butterflies taking off in your gut. She smiled and looked at you with excitement you didn’t understand where it came from. “You mean the King? King Ragnar?” She asks, her smile only growing as you internally die at the fact you're using his name casually, after all he is a king you should be addressing him as instead of a common man. “Yes, that's the one, King Ragnar forgive me for not leading with that.” Your voice trailed off as you spoke, embarrassment creeping up on you. “Something is up you would have said King if you didn’t meet him like any other king but you addressed him as just Ragnar. Tell me what has happened.” The blush on your cheeks gave you away as you tried to sink back into your chair to disappear from her gaze. “I know so much! Ok so first he had a first wife and two kids, he lost one sadly, and out on a trip he meets this other woman right. So this other woman and him are only together for this short trip and his first wife finds out about it, then nothing happens for months then suddenly she shows up.” You blinked a few times knowing he had two wives but not sure the reason why. “Well what happened?” You inquired trying to get her to continue speaking. “Pregnant. Then his first wife left with their son, he married her and now they have 4 sons.” You took a moment to take all of this information in and simply said. “He's blessed.” She snickered at your reaction and pushed your shoulder. “Why do you ask? Have you met him?” She asks once again excited about the gossip. “I thought he was flirting with me, so he bought me a necklace and put it on.” You confessed after a few moments of being quiet. “What do I do? I never even looked in a man's direction and now that he is here my gaze is only on him.”  You put your face in the palms of your hands with a groan. “The gods hate me and want me to suffer a terrible fate, I know it. I will die out of embarrassment.” Your friend lightly rubbed your back with caring shushes. “No no (Y/N) they love us and they love you I just know it. Why else would Odin's descendant look your way?” She teased with a slight snicker at your groans. “What?” You looked up at her with an eyebrow raise dumbfounded at this statement. “Did I not mention that?” Surely the gods hate you for this is a game to watch you suffer at the entertainment of their own. “I need to drink” You simply replied to her while removing your palms from your face. She chuckled at your comment and stood up calling to her husband to take care of their child. He came in with a smile to take their son waving a hello to you. “I'll accompany you and get your mind off of the beast hm?” She says hitting your shoulder as her husband takes their kid from her arms, causing a groan come from you. “That would be better than drinking by myself, and don’t ever say beast again.” You admitted standing heading for the door. She followed you back to your cabin as the sunshine slowly turned into dusk littering the sky with stars. You spent the rest of the night drinking and making jokes with Moeiour, your thoughts of Ragnar out of mind. Well that is until there is a knock on your door in the middle of you two drinking. “Hold on hold-” You opened the door with a wide grin laughing back at your friend at your drunken antics, only to turn to the door and stop laughing realizing who stood in your doorway. Ragnar stood there in a dark tunic with the v neck laced with cord but not pulled shut, leaning on the frame as he looked down at you. Your friend quickly stood to try and greet him properly but fell as soon as she got up, causing you two to laugh again like drunken fools. Your friend eventually stood and simply said. “It looks like it's time for me to go. My husband is yelling my name. Nice to meet you.” You waited a beat to listen to the crickets chirping with not much else making noise at this time of night. You stepped aside, allowing Ragnar in as you spoke. “No you don’t!” you laughed at her making her escape with a few hiccups trailing behind your yells at her. “Well I hear him.” She shoots back at you while she leaves, closing the door behind her. You loved her but angry she left you alone with Ragnar. “You sir can’t keep doing this.” You said turning to Ragnar pointing a finger at him. “I know what you're doing.” You started on about, swaying slightly cheeks red from being obviously drunk. He held up his hands with a smirk and a fake shocked look for a moment. “What? Me? I am not doing anything.” He says trying to act innocent of any wrong doings. “You are, and you know it. You have a wife yet you treat me as if you're trying to swoon me.” Your sentence was interrupted by a few hiccups in between words. Ragnar didn’t speak for a moment instead he took a seat on your bed, his gaze off of you for a moment then back to you. “We do not love each other, I do not love that woman for neglecting my children and they almost lost their lives, due to her lust.” He admits watching you stand slightly swaying still not too sure if you would remember this encounter. “She hasn’t loved me longer, I was always gone on raids and she found someone else to comfort her.” As he spoke you walked to him and took a seat right by him, offering him a cup of mead. “We all have been through storms, we all came out stronger.” You said after he took the cup, not sure what else to say. “I don’t understand why we are still together, besides that’s what's best for the kids.” He took the cup of mead in one drink, downing it all after he spoke. “Cheating, seeing your parents fight, learning that's what love is, is best?” You said not really thinking about what you were saying first. He took your words in for a while enjoying his drink as he thought and sat with you. You wondered what he could possibly be thinking about and why he was here. Maybe this wasn’t the time to have this conversation, but if not now then when?  “You're right in the end. I don’t want them to treat their wives like this, cheat on them and abuse their trust. It isn’t the best feeling in the world.” He chuckles at his own pain getting up to refill his cup, as he poured the mead into his cup he held it up. “Need anymore? It does seem like you don’t but I have learned to never challenge a powerful woman.” An involuntary smile appeared on your face at the mention of a great fighter thinking you're powerful, or even referencing you as such. “I am fine thank you.” The hiccups have died down from your throat now. He rejoined you on the bed with his cup in hand. “They say our fates are decided.” You started falling back onto the bed drunk enough to not care about sitting up on your own. “I don’t think they are if you are unhappy, take matters into your own hands and change things, no matter how small they may be.” You stare up at the ceiling of your cabin trying to keep focus on the topic at hand. “No one deserves to be unhappy with their life, and you're a king! It is a lot easier for you to have a change than most.” You two sat there in silence for a while while he enjoyed his drink. It felt like an eternity to Ragnar before he spoke again. “You're right.” That was probably the only time he has admitted someone else was right. Too bad you were sound asleep to hear it, he took notice of this and made sure to cover you with a blanket. “Goodnight (Y/N).” He said softly to not wake you up from your slumber, leaving shortly after.

#ragnar lothbrok #vikings #Ragnar Lothbrok X Reader #ragnar x reader #vikings fanfiction

[the-cult-of-russo]

Endorphins (Part 1)

Pairing: Reader/Billy Russo

Warnings: cursing, angst, pain, the usual dark shit. I don't wanna tag it too like specifically to keep the suspense alive lmao the usual Punisher type of bullshit. It’s nothing you haven’t read before if you’ve read my other angsty shit.

A/N: Soooo this was a request but it turned into multiple parts because I got carried away. And I don't wanna put the request on here like I usually do because of spoilers lmaooo Also, I’ll just be posting these one after the other ‘cause I just wanna get this out there.

But to answer the rest of your ask anon, I know, I was away awhile. Life hasn’t been kind to me and then I ended up knee-deep in another fandom lmao But I’m back babeeeyyyy!! ;)

Also, the name of this series is from a Don Broco song with the same name. If you don’t know who they are, check them out. They’re my fav band and I love them. 

Endorphins are running through my veins and it's pathetic

Endorphins are rushing out my brain and it's pathetic

Mighty morphing into a piece of shit, it's so pathetic

I'm so pathetic

I'm so pathetic

—--------------------

Your leg bobbed nervously, eyes darting around at the other people sitting around in the hallway. You were interviewing for a job at a company called Anvil. It was a secretary/PA position. You'd done this kind of work before but the company you'd been working for had to close down, so now you were broke and out of work. You knew Anvil was doing well. The company had gained a reputation for itself and working here would mean good pay and opportunities. But the company wasn't the only thing that had a reputation. You'd heard many things about the man sitting on the throne. A serial womanizer. Rumor was, his last PA was fired after he fucked her. And she wasn’t the first. But maybe that's all it was. A rumor. But still, as you looked at the other people here, you couldn't help but feel like a sack of potatoes. All the leggy pretty women that looked like they should be on a catwalk and not interviewing for a job like this. If he really was as shallow as you'd heard, you'd have no chance. You'd not had to be interviewed in so long, being at your last job for as long as you did, and the nerves were chipping at you. You were just considering bolting out of the door when your name was called by a blonde woman with a kind face. 

She'd introduced herself to all of the interviewees as Karen Page. She'd told you all that while she didn't technically work here, she helped out from time to time. Her partner was Frank, the head trainer and Billy Russo's best friend. You blinked at her for a long moment, eyes wide as your heart hammered in your chest. She gave you a warm and encouraging smile as you stood. Your legs felt like jello, ready to give out at a moment's notice. You hadn't expected to be so nervous here. But you were on the verge of losing your apartment and you needed this job. But you weren't like all the others here. Calm and composed, seemingly not fussed in the least about the interview. You stuck out like a sore thumb and you were sure that's why Karen decided to give your arm a reassuring squeeze when you stood next to her outside of Mr Russo's office.

"You've got this," she smiled warmly. You wondered if she felt bad for you. You knew you must have looked ridiculous with how nervous you were. You blew out a shaky breath with a nod.

"I've got this," you repeated, not too convincingly as your voice wobbled. After one more smile, Karen opened the door for you. You stepped in, almost flinching at the sound of the door shutting behind you. 

The office was large yet simple. A minimalist look to it. Only one painting hung on the wall. Some scenic oil painting that looked legit and like it cost a shit tonne of money. You swallowed thickly as your eyes landed on the man behind the desk. His suit looked like it was made just for him and his hair was perfectly styled. And now you had to impress him or you'd be living in a cardboard box on the streets.

"Mr Russo," you greeted meekly, a polite yet shy smile on your face.

"Ms Y/L/N, please take a seat," he said cordially, gesturing to the chair on the other side of his desk. You walked over, sitting down before your eyes flit around anxiously. There was no way in hell you'd be able to impress this man given your competition. Your heart thudded away dully in your chest. When your eyes landed back on him, he was already watching you. His eyes were dark, darker than you’d ever seen before. They felt like they saw right through you and sucked you in all at the same time. His lips quirked up slightly and you realized you'd just been sitting there looking at him like a deer in the headlights. You felt your cheeks burn.

"I'm sorry. I swear I'm not usually this… nervous. It's just been a long time since I've had to sit for an interview," you admitted with a self-deprecating chuckle. You figured if you couldn't win him over with looks, you might as well just be honest with him.

He smiled at you, glancing at the paper on his desk.

"I noticed. Your resume is quite impressive. A loyal employee. You worked at Johnson and Sons for…-" he trailed off as he glanced to the paper again.."-8 years. He must have thought you were a good employee to keep you on that long," he mused, his dark eyes going back to you. You felt your face heat up a little at the compliment as you looked down at your hands clasped in your lap.

"I guess so," You shrugged with a wry smile.

"Mr Johnson was a good man. Was a shame what happened to him," he murmured thoughtfully. A small frown creased your brow as you felt a pinch in your chest. Mr Johnson had worked his whole life to get his business to where it ended up. And then a month ago he had a heart attack in the middle of a meeting. You'd witnessed it. Now he was dead and instead of his sons carrying on the business as they were supposed to, they closed it down.

"He was a good man. He always looked after me," you replied sadly. He gave you a sympathetic look, His finger tapping on the desk a little.

"So… why do you think you'd be a good fit here at Anvil?" He asked you, eyes boring into you. You licked your lower lip, mouth suddenly feeling dry like all the moisture had evaporated.

"I'm a hard worker. I always go above and beyond what's expected of me. If you need me to do something, then I’ll do it. Whether it's staying here late to help you prep for a big meeting or just running down the street to get you a bagel and coffee,” you tried to sound confident but you weren’t sure if you succeeded or not. He nodded, leaning back in his chair a little like he didn’t have a care in the world. 

“I gotta be honest, when I saw the name on your resume, I already knew who you were before I read it,” he said, lips tugging into a wry smirk as you blinked at him.

“You did?” you asked, slightly confused. He chuckled, raking his teeth over his lower lip as he looked at you.

“I did a lot of business with Mr Johnson. He never shut up about you, how good his PA was. Made me pretty jealous about it. I don’t know if you remember, but we met two years ago, at the Charity ball for homeless people your company ran,” he murmured, a note of amusement in his voice. Your brows furrowed a little as you tried to remember the night. You’d planned all of it and Mr Johnson insisted you attend it to at least enjoy the fruits of your labors. He’d even bought you a swanky dress that was still sitting in your closet despite the fact you'd never use it again. You couldn't just chuck something away that you knew cost so much. You tried to quickly flip through the memories of the night. You’d met so many people then, so many business contacts. And then you remembered briefly being introduced to Mr Russo but you hadn't done more than say a polite hello with a smile. Mr Johnson liked to call you a workaholic. Even at the event you were working and making sure things were in order, taking notes when important people were around. 

“I completely forgot about that,” you muttered, feeling a little sheepish. You weren't quite sure how you could forget someone like Mr Russo. He shot you another amused grin as he shrugged lazily. 

“I’m not surprised. Mr Johnson said you’d work yourself to death. You were supposed to be enjoyin’ the party and instead you were workin’ your ass off,” he teased. You bit your lip with a smile, feeling a little more at ease with him the more he spoke. He was intimidating yet calming at the same time and it was strange.

“Yep, sounds about right,” you snorted. He moved to sit forward again, hands clasped on his desk in front of him. 

“Look… I’ll be real transparent with you, Y/N. Your resume is one of many I’ve had to go through, but as soon as I saw your name, I already knew who I was gonna pick. If you got Mr Johnson's stamp of approval then you already got mine. I know he didn’t keep anyone on his team that wasn’t capable of workin’ hard and keepin’ cool under pressure. I knew you’d be perfect for the job. I’d be stupid to hire anyone else out there over you,” he admitted, his face deadly serious as his dark gaze cut into you. You blinked dumbly at him for a moment. You weren’t really expecting this. You’d been sure you didn't have a chance. And you felt flattered that Mr Johnson had been so impressed with you that he’d spoken about you so much. 

“Really?” you asked, feeling stupid as soon as the words left your mouth. His serious face changed then as his lips quirked up at you.

“Really. If you want the job, it's yours,” he offered with a warm smile. All the nerves that had gripped you tightly since you’d walked in seemed to melt from you, your body sagging a little in relief after being held so tightly for so long.

“I really do want the job,” you nodded eagerly. His grin widened then, reaching a hand out for you to shake. You took it, shaking it with a smile.

“Welcome to the family, Y/N. I think you’ll love it here,” he grinned. 

—-

You pulled your coat tighter around yourself to stave off the bite of chilly wind as you walked briskly home. Your heels sounded like the only noise in the street, clicking on the pavement at your hurried steps. You’d been working with Anvil for exactly a week. It was Monday and you’d quickly gathered Monday was a busy day. There would always be tonnes of messages for you to sift through that had come through at the weekend. You didn’t mind it though. It was pretty much the same as it had been back at your other job. You’d met mostly everyone there and everyone seemed nice. Frank had been polite and sweet to you, which hadn't been expected with his grumpy face. You'd even gotten to know Karen a little better. She’d come in sometimes to see Frank and wind up speaking to you for a bit too. Mr Russo was a really good boss too. Not the hard ass like you thought he might be. He’d even shown you the ropes himself and made a point of showing you around and introducing you to people there. Overall, you were enjoying the job. But as you walked home, you were feeling an unsettling feeling and it wasn't the first time you'd felt it since you started working there. It started on your second day. You’d been walking home when you felt uneasy. That feeling you get when you know someone’s watching you. You knew you were being paranoid, you hadn't seen anyone when you’d glanced around. But the hairs on the back of your neck were prickling up and it made your stomach churn. You’d convinced yourself you were being silly. It was an overactive imagination or something. But it happened every night when you walked home from work. You’d never felt this way when working at your old job and you couldn't shake it. And so, as it happened once again, you hurried home feeling your chest constrict like you were on the verge of a panic. You’d never been an overly anxious person walking around, even at night. You knew what New York could be like but it didn't really bother you. So you weren’t quite sure just why you were feeling this way. You always felt like you were ready to get snatched into an alleyway or something. You hated it. You wished it wasn’t winter. It wouldn't be dark on your way home in the summer.

As you were almost at your apartment, you heard a crash from the other side of the street. Your head whipped around quickly, your heart stuttering for a moment. On the other side of the street, there was a figure all in black, a hood pulled over their head and obscuring their face. It looked like they’d knocked over a trash can. There was something really ominous feeling about the person, especially since he hadn't been there when you’d looked over your shoulder a few minutes before. You turned around quickly and ran the rest of the way, almost ripping the door to your apartment building off the hinges once you let yourself in. You stood in the hallway, chest heaving a little as you told yourself to get it together. You were being stupid. It wasn't like you were the only person allowed out at night. It was probably just some guy minding his own business. You walked back over to the door, peeping through the long window curiously. You felt your stomach drop when you saw the hooded figure across the road standing there unmoving. Looking right at your building. You backed away slowly, trying to shake the uncomfortable feeling settling in the pit of your stomach as you rushed up the stairs. It was only once you were in your apartment you felt a little safe. When you chanced a glance out of your window, the figure was gone and you felt yourself unwind a little. It was weird and you didn't like it. You wondered if you should mention it to Mr Russo. He did own a security firm after all. Maybe he could give you some tips to keep yourself safe. You weren't quite sure why it had only just started but maybe Anvil came with some cons as well as pros. You weren't sure but you found it hard to go to sleep that night. 

—--

You stood outside of Mr Russo’s office anxiously, gnawing at your lower lip. It was lunchtime and you’d already given him his lunch. But you’d been on the fence about speaking to him about your nightly scares or not. Once the morning came, you weren't sure if you’d been imagining it or not. You felt a little bit silly going to him about it. But you’d be a liar if you said you weren't already dreading the walk home. It wasn't far which is why you never bothered with a cab. You were starting to wonder if maybe you should start. After heaving a large breath, you knocked on his door firmly. Once he told you to come in, you opened the door and hovered inside uncertainly.

“Mr Russo… could I speak to you a moment?” you asked tentatively. 

“I keep tellin’ you, call me Billy. Come and sit down,” he gestured to the seat, giving you a smile as he balled up his sandwich wrapper and tossed it into the trash can. His casual demeanor put you at ease instantly. He’d been telling you to call him Billy since your first day but for some reason your brain was having a hard time with it. To be fair to you, you’d never done it with Mr Johnson despite his insistence to call him by his first name. 

“Billy, sorry,” you murmured wryly as you moved to sit down. 

“What's worrying you?” he asked pointedly, raising a brow at you.

“How do you know I’m worried?” you countered, giving him an amused smirk. Despite being cordial and professional with him, he had a way of always putting you at ease and making you feel comfortable. It had been easy to talk to him in your short time here and he’d even joke with you sometimes. You’d admit it was refreshing working with someone closer to your own age. He gave you a look that you’d quickly learnt meant ‘cut the bullshit’ and you sighed. 

“It’s… It’s gonna sound stupid. I think I’m just being paranoid or something,” you muttered, feeling your cheeks burning a little at your words. You felt silly in front of him now. 

“Paranoid or not, somethin’s got you worried. You know you can talk to me. What happened?” he asked seriously. You chewed on your lower lip again, fiddling with your hands on the desk as your eyes landed on anything other than him. Suddenly his large and warm hand settled over yours, stilling their restless motions and your eyes snapped to his. That was another thing you weren’t quite used to. Mr Johnson never put his hands on you, no matter how gentle. Billy had done it a few times. Just little touches like a squeeze to the arm, his hand on your back for the briefest of moments. You didn't mind it though really. 

“I think… I think someone’s been following me home,” you admitted quietly. A deep frown graced his face then and you idly thought about how he hadn't removed his hand.

“And you’re sure?” he asked after a moment. He didn't sound happy at the notion and you were slightly touched he cared.

“I mean… I don’t know. It started my second day here. You know you can just… sense when someone’s watching you? And it's been every night when I go home. And then last night, there was a guy all in black. I wasn’t sure he was following me at first but once I got inside my building, he just… stood there watching me,” you swallowed thickly, getting a chill down your spine just remembering how weird it had been. Billy was quiet for a moment before he squeezed your hand and stood up. He walked over to a cupboard across his office, rooting around in there before he came back over to you with something in his hand. It was pepper spray. You took it gratefully, feeling at least like you had something to protect yourself with.

“Use it if you feel threatened. Even if some poor innocent bastard gets sprayed. If they're close enough to make you scared they deserve it anyway,” he mused as he sat back in his chair. 

“Thank you,” you breathed with a smile.

“Look, I know you don’t live too far but I think maybe walkin’ isn’t too safe out there at night,” he frowned thoughtfully. You looked from the pepper spray in your hands to him, tilting your head a little.

“I’m thinking of taking cabs from now on, just to be safe,” you admitted.

“Good. You ever taken self-defense classes?” he asked seriously. You felt small under his gaze and you knew your answer wouldn't please him given his line of work.

“No,” you gave him a sheepish smile as he rolled his eyes goodnaturedly at you.

“Frank’s been teachin’ Karen in the private training room in the back. Does it most days after work. You up for it?” he asked expectantly. 

“Yeah, that sounds good,” you smiled. You’d always wanted to learn but you’d always been so busy that it would slip your mind. But given how you were feeling lately, you knew it would make you feel even safer. He shot you a grin with a pleased nod.

“Alright, tomorrow after work. Bring something comfortable to change into,” he instructed. 

“Thank you, Mr- … uh Billy. I really appreciate all this,” you said softly, a grateful smile on your face as you stood. You figured you’d taken up enough of his time as it was. You knew just how busy he was. He stood too, walking you to the door.

“Anytime. You know you can come to me about anything. No matter how small you think it might be. What kinda boss would I be if I let somethin’ bad happen to my favorite PA?” he asked with a mischievous smile. You snorted, feeling your cheeks burn at his praise. You felt like a cat getting a head rub and you almost smacked yourself for your own reaction.

“I’ve only been here for a week,” you replied amused. He gave you a cheeky grin and shrugged.

“And you’re still my favorite PA,” he countered. You left his office feeling a little better about the whole thing. You’d take cabs and you now had pepper spray if you needed it. And soon, Frank would have you trained up so you’d be able to defend yourself. 

—---

You made your way to the training room in the back slowly. You were in a tank top and some leggings with some sneakers on. Your work clothes now in the bag you were holding. You’d changed in the bathroom. The night before, you’d taken a cab home. But as you were going inside of your apartment, you’d felt that feeling again. This time you couldn't see anyone, but you’d hurried inside anyway. You’d barely seen Billy that day. He’d been swamped with meetings but when you had briefly seen him as you gave him his lunch, he’d asked you if you were still up for training and of course you told him yes. You felt a little strange though in crashing the couples time training together, like you were intruding almost. But you knew Frank was head trainer here so he’d be good. You also hoped Billy had mentioned you’d be dropping in. But as you walked into the training room, it wasn't just the couple there. Billy was there too. For some reason, that thought hadn't even crossed your mind but it did make you feel a little better. Karen was standing off to one side as Billy and Frank wrestled with each other. It looked like they didn’t even notice you come in. You wandered over to Karen, plonking your bag down on the floor.

“Boys, am I right?” she asked with a wry smirk, making you snort as you watched them. They were scrambling on the floor looking like a pair of kids play fighting and it amused you. Billy ended up behind Frank, getting him in a chokehold.

“How’dya like that?” He asked gleefully, making Frank huff and throw his elbow back. It connected with Billy’s side and he let him go with a grunt.

“Afraid I’m gonna make you look bad in front of your girl, Bill?” Frank asked teasingly. It was at that moment that Billy’s eyes shot up and connected with yours. And the same moment Frank decided to pounce on him and tackle him to the floor, pinning him down. You tried to ignore the weird feeling in the pit of your stomach at Frank’s words. They were just talking shit to each other.

“You’re an asshole, Frankie,” Billy wheezed, looking disgruntled yet amused. Frank grinned, tapping him on the cheek before standing up and offering Billy his hand. He took it, letting Frank pull him up before they hugged it out in a manly way. You smirked to yourself. Karen made a beeline to Frank as Billy waltzed over to you, swiping a bottle of water from a bench near where you stood. 

“Having fun?” you asked knowingly. He’d told you before how he loved sparring with Frank. He wasn't afraid to really lay into him and give him a good challenge like his recruits were. 

“What d’you think?” he answered cheekily. He looked like he was glowing. A radiant smile on his face. That one that made his eyes crinkle. It made you smile at him. Your eyes drifted to Frank and Karen then. They were adorable together. Frank could seem mean on the outside, an intimidating aura about him. But with Karen, he was all soft and squishy and you loved it.

“You’re gonna be with me. You ready?” Billy asked, breaking you out of your thoughts.

“I hope so,” you murmured wryly, making him shoot you a smirk.

The training went really well. Frank and Karen were doing their own training as Billy focused on you. You’d felt self-conscious at first, never having done anything like this before. But Billy was a really good teacher and would praise you every time you did something good. He never made you feel stupid for getting things mixed up or wrong. He’d gently correct you and make sure to compliment your technique on something. You appreciated it. He’d taught you how to disarm someone and various self-defense moves. And then he had you spar with him a little bit to practice the moves out on a moving target. After almost two hours, you were tired. He went to grab you and you stumbled backwards, grabbing his wrist as you started to fall, bringing him with you. You weren't sure just how his reflexes were so fast because you didn't hit the floor. You landed on Billy instead who had somehow maneuvered you both to swap places. You were sprawled on top of him and blinked at him in shock for a moment. 

“You two wanna get a room?” Frank called over mischievously, making Karen giggle a little. Your cheeks felt like they were on fire as you scrambled off Billy, waiting for him to look disgusted by the comment. Instead, he tilted his head to look at Frank from where he was lying with an amused smirk before giving him the finger. He had the grace of a cat as he hopped to his feet and he held his hand out to you to help you up. You gave him a sheepish smile before taking it and letting him pull you to your feet.

“I think I’m wiped out,” you murmured with a yawn. He grinned at you as you both walked over to your bottles of water. 

“You did good today. Pushed yourself hard. We do this a couple of times a week, you won’t have anything to worry about,” he said softly. You shot him a grateful smile before taking a long pull of your drink.

“Want me to drive you home?” he asked, wiping his forehead with his t-shirt. You tried not to look at his abs. He looked good like this in basketball shorts and a tee. You’d never seen him look anything other than pristine. 

“You don't have to,” you shook your head. It would be even later now with staying behind for training and you didn't want to walk home. But even though cabs were a safer option, you couldn't help but worry about the cab driver too. It wouldn't take much to lock the doors and drive off somewhere and murder you. Why did working here make you so paranoid?

“I know I don’t. I want to,” he countered, giving you a look that was a mix of amusement and determination. 

“Only if you don’t mind,” you shrugged. He playfully rolled his eyes at your unwillingness to just say yes.

“I don’t,” he said firmly, signaling the end of it. You slipped your jacket on before you and Billy said your goodbyes to Frank and Karen and then you were in his car on your way home. His very fancy car.

“I bet this car cost the same as a year's worth of my rent,” you snorted, glancing at him as he drove. You really didn't live far so you knew it would be a short drive. He smirked to himself for a moment before his face softened into a more earnest look.

“It’s alright, I guess,” he murmured. You blinked at him for a moment and he didn't take his eyes off the road.

“You don't like it?” you questioned. He had the money to buy something else if he wanted. You weren't sure why he was still driving it if he didn't like it.

“I do, it’s just… I used to think I wanted money more than anything. Money is power, right?” he asked, glancing at you briefly before back at the road. “But the past few years… I’ve been thinkin’ about how it ain’t everything. There’s more to life than money. Than power. It’s not what makes you happy,” he mused softly. You weren't really sure what to say to that if you were honest.

“Didn’t realize you were so philosophical,” you grinned teasingly, making him snort and shoot you a look. 

“Maybe I’m just finally growin’ up,” he shrugged. With that, he pulled to a stop outside of your apartment. 

“Thank you. For the training and the ride… just everything,” you murmured, glancing to him. He looked at you properly then with a soft smile.

“You don’t gotta thank me,” he shook his head.

“Well I did, so deal with it,” you smirked. He let out a surprised laugh at you and it made you smile to yourself. You preferred the carefree happy Billy to the overworked stressed one. He watched you for a long moment and it made you feel all funny as you just blinked at him.

“I’m really glad you took that job,” he admitted, a small smile playing on his lips. You bit your lower lip with a shy smile as you nodded.

“I’m glad too,” you replied. You felt a little weird now. You knew you needed to get out of the car and go home, but this was such a strangely soft moment between the pair of you and you felt weird breaking it. But then you reminded yourself that he was your boss and that you were reading far too much into everything. It was easy getting sucked in by him and his charm but all he saw was his PA that maybe he was becoming friends with. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” you said with a smile, opening the car door.

“See you tomorrow,” he replied quietly, watching as you got out. As you went inside, you gave yourself a good telling-off. You were acting like a schoolgirl with a crush and it needed to stop before it got you fired. Whether that was from Billy finding out and being grossed out or by ending up in bed with him. Because you knew his track record and how that always went. 

#billy russo #billy russo x reader #billy russo fanfic #billy russo imagine

[indygotcha]

They had a full episode given as a preview for Tiny Toons Looniversity on CN's official channel... and it's US-ONLY

One proxy-watch later though... wow. Like, I'm actually kind of impressed, sold in even. The writers are really digging in deep with all of the possibilities and jokes the premise of Tiny Toons' setting had since it's inception!!

Enjoyed the hell out of how they rewrote characters like Plucky to be actually be pretty funny (YMMV), and the episodes look to be really well-written too!

I really, REALLY like the way Plucky got rewritten in this show: they made him so full of himself, reaching these hilarious levels of ignorancy to everything, or everyone around him. And even then, he's kind of chill with everyone - most of the time.

I don't think I was that much into him in the original show, with how he was essentially Chuck Jones' Daffy, but younger, not really bringing much originality out of him. On that end, the original show often tended to reduce him into the butt of Acme Acres - sometimes even by the Bunnies' expense (Anvil Chorus), or in spite of helping them out like how he's jailed along with Daffy in Who Bopped Bugs Bunny" .

Now yeah, that was because Chuck Jones' Daffy was the designated fall guy of LT back in the 80s to 90s, and this was naturally passed down on to his Tinier counterpart - but it always made me feel like the show couldn't escape falling on being the "Muppet Babies" of Looney Tunes, with good sum of the characters being pretty carbon copies of the original Looney Toons.

This only made certain toons who defied their direct counteparts stand out all the more, like how Calamity Coyote was just this nerdy but amicable kid prodigy when he wasn't paired with Lil' Beeper... or Elmyra, undoubtedly the "Shirley Temple" of the WB Animation Studios back in the 90s.

Seeing the Tiny Toons engage on gags and showing them off to each other with banter-y feedback on top is such a novel, fun concept on a premise all about school geared for training upcoming toon stars. I always felt this was a very underutilized aspect from the original show, with only few of them playing with this in favour for more education or regular school-centric antics (which aren't like, bad - but I was specifically drawn on this show due the possibilities presented by it's cast and the first episode implying the teachings of Toon Arts.

Alongside the whole "Toon DNA" explaining the comedic immunity of Toons at large, and then utilized well on the conflict of this episode, is making me really excited about how just much the writers will go on digging on the concept of Toon Physics or Toons. that really drew on these types of works at the first place (such as Who Framed Roger Rabbit)

While at it, huge props also on Hampton getting to have a really cool starring episode, which even had a pretty fun B-plot tying it all up together. Watching Wiley being a scientist still pursuing Road Runner amidst of showing how Toon DNA works was just so delightful - and so was With Hazel being used well with her iconic laugh as nice flourish for the whole episode's resolution. (Also Granny's gonna be a real MVP in this whole show, huh...)

The animation might need to be given some bits of polish and tonal balance - as of right now, the well-animated bits are there aplenty in the show, but it seems to easily shift on the other side of a spectrum where characters are "under-animated" to bridge them. Feels like cutscene quality jumps in Kingdom Hearts, but with the overanimated bits we see in Spongebob (not as egreciously bad, though).

I'll bear with it for now because writing's really damn good for a show like this.

#tiny toons looniversity #tiny toon adventures #and now to do the waiting game for the rest of eps to come out in following days I guess

[russosafehaven]

[ dolly - b.r ]

pairing : billy russo x reader

content : fluff , porcelain dolls , pre-anvil!billy , roommate!billy

tag list : @snowkestrel @judig92 @k-marzolf

~

For years you had collected dolls. Pretty porcelain portraits of lives once lived. When Billy had first seen your collection after he moved in with you he was slightly terrified.

The Marine’s eyes had looked at the collection. Sitting perfectly looked after on a large bookshelf in the living room. Billy had found your ad for a roommate in a paper while he was out with Maria and Frank. Deciding he needed a place to stay that wasn’t on his friends couch he swung by.

The two of you instantly clicked. Having similar childhoods. Both tormented by the foster system. Parents who abandoned their children because of addiction.

One day when Billy was out with Maria and Frank his eye caught on a porcelain doll. Curly brown hair, blue gingham dress and white apron. Like Dorothy from Wizard of Oz. A movie you often had on in the background. Billy walked into the store, asking about the doll. It was expensive but worth it for you. For his dolly.

The Castles had come with him to the apartment that afternoon. Curious as to what the reaction would be once Billy handed you the doll. As he fumbled with the keys through his excitement Billy couldn’t help but burst out into a smile.

Once he was finally in he walked over to you. Half asleep on the couch with one of your dolls sat on the coffee table. Fabric softener and a sewing kit out. Billy’s touch was gentle as he shook you awake.

With beady eyes you look at him. Mumbling softly, the Castles in the background as they watched you and Billy. As the man in question pulled the doll out of the bag he had your eyes lit up.

“Her name is Dorothy”

His voice was barely a whisper. If you paid enough attention you could see how red Billy was turning. Blushing at the idea of taking care of his own little dolly. Even if you didn’t know it yet.

#billy russo #billy russo x reader #billy russo imagine #ben barnes #the punisher imagine #x reader #billy russo fluff #the punisher #billy russo x yn