#dolhood

[lighthouseborn]

Gentle Touches || @dolhood ( Carina )

✿ : trailing soft kisses down their arm (to reach his hand )

  The first kiss lands on the height of Henry's shoulder, surprising a light hum out of him. The wooden frame of the bed squawks quietly, joints shifting as Carina sits on the mattress next to him. They've rented a room with view of the quay. The wind and the water are free, then, to keep calling, but for now the ground and the room and all are refreshingly sill and solid and spacious and solitary. With walls and a door and everything between them and the rest of the world.

  The second kiss surprises him, too. Appearing against expectations, and, even further unexpected, it is further down, pressed against the top of his arm. She says nothing, and he wonders if she's trying to test his commitment to sitting there. Eyes closed, propped up on one lumpy little pillow, head leaning against the wall. Tired, but waiting. He hadn't wanted to settle in or douse the lamps before she was beside him. Now he was simply curious of her aims.

  She pulls his arm to her, and the third kiss goes again a little lower, and this time shifts in toward him. The time between them is narrowing, and he thinks the first may have been an impulse, but now she has a plan. When she begins to mess with his sleeve, rolling it up a little higher, he's certain of this.

  The next kiss she places into the cradle of his elbow is the first to find his skin. It's a curious place for a kiss. All he can seem to think is that she would not have dared while they were on the ship. The crew had grown accustomed to their nearness (and squabbling) and if anyone had thoughts about the propriety or suitability, they kept it wisely to their own counsel. But that did not change the fact that hammocks strung across the covered decks and even passenger bunks were not especially private places. She had kissed him before, in both of these places, but had never lowered her guard.

  The fifth kiss goes to the scar on the inside of his forearm. He cannot remember what put it there. He must have deemed it unimportant, at some point. Either the very day he earned the cut or else when it had ceased paining him. The way she brushes her thumb over it after the kiss makes him reconsider the decision.

  Next, one to the middle of his forearm, then the forward fourth, then, warm and lingering, over the pulse in his wrist. He decides she is making a map. Equal turn for the way his idle hands always find a way to be with her; laced in hers, or resting on her back. Tracing aimless circles on her thigh. It seems, also, the whole thing has been her way to move his arm around and tuck herself behind his shoulder, drawing him toward her to that their heads lean together. He has no complaints.

  She kisses the middle of his palm. Like with his elbow, it strikes him as curiously tender — that quiet gentleness she does not speak of and keeps well hidden unless they are alone.

  They sit that way for awhile, shifting only lightly, so his hand is more against her cheek than her lips. Henry hums the melody of a song he can't quite remember the words to, and traces those little circles on her temple. The wind and waves accompany him. Carina keeps his arm like a prize she's caught.

  Privately, Henry hopes she decides to never let it go.

#dolhood #i want to leave no one behind — to keep & be kept ( ic. ) #arc iv — i have learned to travel light ( travel. ) #how we doin are we doin ok are we alive #me personally i'm sort of #screaming. maybe a little bit dying nbd nbd #one foot in a fairytale & the other in the abyss ( my art. )

[ru5t]

🐇 for cj bc like i know we said...... if they met it'd be so likely some variation of biting each other and then getting really mad and then leaving but. i'm still curious unfortunately KHBSCJKHN this shape of sandbox is so fun to play in

If you drop a 🐇 in my inbox I'll give you some starter ideas for how your muse might fit into the Dustverse!

Ok so what we have here is. a certified Feral™ dustkid. Dustbaby, even. Born smack bang in the middle of the desert in the middle of the war. Never known peace or civilization or soap. Her dad's some self-congratulatory bastard leader of a bastard crew, the kind that attack other crews and isn't even worth the title "killjoy": universally hated by every possible side of the conflict. And her mom, if she even counts as one, is in the wind. Nameless, formless. Probably ghosted. Not that it matters anyway because obviously CJ's siblings have always been who looked after her, and they cut ties with their bastard of a father and his bastard crew as soon as it wasn't suicide to be out there alone (and maybe even though it still seemed like it was) and have had to look after themselves. Legacies live in the desert though, and with their only ties being to aforementioned bastard crew... it was probably hard for them to find anyone who'd trade with them. Might still be, given she's probably got her own reputation now. But hey you keep scrapping and scraping and living for the spite of it all anyway, right? And nobody has to like you, really, if you bring something valuable to the table, and CJ could definitely bring some kind of chaos. Maybe it's striking against BLI patrols? Or some kind of weapons-smith- bomb makers do well, whether they're friendly or not.

--And you know I actually think there's a solid chance of them immediately ticking each other off or, in the right circumstance, biting each other and deciding that actually it made sense and was a very respectable thing for the other to do and now there's some sort of weird mutual understanding going on. (It happens that way in the desert, sometimes. Sometimes violence is the clearest, cleanest language for figuring each other out. It's not always so personal, but just another way of talking.)

#dolhood #no alternatives i'm just Correct #r;gkwjtg;lksjfd;glkjdfg

[tiderider]

things had been quiet, too quiet. he could feel the all too familiar tension settle between his shoulders, the restless unease of things becoming too comfortable, too pleasant. there were no conflicts, the other pirating crews were surprisingly content, the neighboring gangs and factions busy tending to their own affairs, too wrapped in their own dealings to care enough to intrude on theirs. even auradon was suspiciously docile during court talks and for them peace may have meant rest and relaxation, but for someone like harry, it might as well have been a death sentence for how fucking boring it was.

❝ let's rob snow whites treasury, ❞ harry said as way of greeting to his younger sister. he was itching to do something, and he only had so many vices to call on. he was so bored that hitting something would do nothing for him, fucking would only last as long as he did and then that boredom would return with vengeance. he could kill something, but he doubted uma would be happy about it. so that left steal. he'd stolen from everyone on the isle at least once already but he'd only stolen from a handful of people in auradon and snow, well, he didn't like her.

❝ right now, you and me, whatever we can carry, ❞ // @dolhood , devil sibling shenanigans .

#dolhood #dolhood ; ceej . 001 . #. interaction . › thread . #. arc viii ⤍ post d3 . › a knife that never stops .

[loetise]

@dolhood

#finally was able to tag it <3

[nolambs]

@dolhood

#pov i moved :)

[lighthouseborn]

#dolhood #dyn — ( henry / carina. ) #one foot in a fairytale & the other in the abyss ( my art. ) #it's rare for me to be happy i procrastinated something except this time it worked out b/c now i get to post this on valentines :3c #do not ask me when i started it though :) #also there's something kind of funny about the way i keep doing these pieces in like. landscape ratios #and then i'm like. ''tumblr posts work best in portrait and/or squares.'' and then i have to crop them #and then i realize all the surrounding space wasn't doing a whole lot for the composition anyway #(and actually this used to be an entire full body piece but at some point i was like ''fuck that'' lmfao) #anyway! #suggestive cw #for safety but i'm actually not sure anyone's asked me to do that #and iiiiiiii did not mean to stay up this late Whoops #and i do not have whatever brain cell is required to caption it either but nevertheless i WILL be posting it yeehaw gOODNIGHT

[lighthouseborn]

She Creature Starters || @dolhood ( CJ )

“I'm not much of a sleeper. Not anymore.”

  Henry levels CJ with a look made of raised brows and a fond something-or-other tucked, as inconspicuous as he can quite manage (not very), into a half smile. She looks like a ship cat here by the helm. Her entire manner speaks of lazy disinterest, all but literally examining her nails while she spoke, and yet of all the places to not sleep, it was here that she perched, mostly ignoring him but occasionally giving him some glance or little comment. Too disjointed, of course to constitute a conversation. “Were you ever?” he asked anyway, voicing the obvious doubt of the matter. It was very easy to imagine her as the world's most furious infant, already at war with the world, fighting such injustices as sleep and quiet.

  Wind buffets their faces. The Tempest sets out like she's made for it — not just sailing, because of course a ship is made for sailing, but setting out specifically. Turning from the known to forge ahead, chasing the wind. Maybe even racing it. Henry checks their bearing and gives the wheel the lightest nudge. In a marvel of tillers and rudder chains, the ship dances back on track.

  “Is it... opposition?” Henry muses, genuinely curious but almost sure he's speaking aloud to himself at this point. “Or .. reluctance to miss out?” Or fear? But that's a question ill suited to the breath of promise at the start of a voyage, and bad luck besides. Anyway the answer probably wasn't so easily labeled. Unless— “Or do you just have something against pillows?”

#dolhood #i want to leave no one behind — to keep & be kept ( ic. ) #au — the seeds fall far from this earthbound town ( descendants. )

[lighthouseborn]

@dolhood ( Carina ) || just 'cause ♥

  He was standing at the ship’s rail when she appeared alongside him. They exchanged a quick, skating glance (the same as twice earlier in the day, like they both were scared to look for any longer) and then proceeded to spend the next minutes in silence, Carina’s eye trained to the heavens and Henry, as always, fixated on the horizon. He’d shot down maybe a hundred thoughts as openers, too bold or too banal or too unrelated, and through it all was yet unable to stop wondering—

        “What was England like?” he asked without looking looking. Well- without turning. He was watching from the corner of his eye, his fingers curled loosely around his father’s necklace. “You mentioned it and I've.. never actually been.”

#dolhood #i want to leave no one behind — to keep & be kept ( ic. ) #arc iii — as the dead man's tale is told ( movie. ) #this;;; is the same starter but i changed the question b/c there's something in the fic that is effectively the 'got arrested' conversation #so my brain rebelled Loudly against that question #but otherwise this is just. the same starter yes ;lkdjf;ldkjfg #you could also rb the other one (cat one i meant) or i can repost it too if u want !

[lighthouseborn]

⭐️⭐️ i changed my mind i don’t wanna switch blogs but this one is for henrina :D

Every ⭐️ exchanges for a headcanon (or we-haven't-plotted-yet theory / plot bunny) about our characters' (potential) dynamic.

This is so hard I feel like I have simply sprinted to the dms every time I have a thought s;dkfjg;ldkfjg - if I repeat something I've said before it's because I forgot I said it

They are such a book couple to me actually it's unreal. I think they probably just sort of do their own thing a lot of the time, read their own books in silence at the same time, but like while sitting near to each other or touching or one person laying on the other kind of thing. Every now and then -if they come across something the other will find interesting they might trade books for a paragraph, or just read the part of it out loud if they in a more let's-argue-with-this-writer kind of mood. And they also are book people in a way that would stress a 'books must be pristine' person the hell out because I'm 100% sure they both write in the margins and leave notes and stuffed inside the books (which is bad for the binding btw, even bookmarks can mess with books sometimes) and they both always have done that almost just in a thinking-aloud fashion but now when they write inside the books it's almost always to each other. Even if it's not directly addressed it's the kind of thing where they write it thinking about the other person. So sometimes they open a book and get a surprise little conversation-of-sorts from the other. Of the two of them, Henry's the more likely to leave in little scraps of other things that, at first glance, don't seem to relate to the book at all, as well as separate little notes that really don't have anything to do with the text but are just notes to her. Sometimes sketches, too. Carina's left entire essays either disproving or further expanding on certain topics. They've both wandered out of their previous genre-staples through all of this, reading things they might never have picked up otherwise.

I don't think she's much of a fighter (at least not in a wants-to-study-the-sword kind of way) but I do think there's been a little bit of teaching, on this front. Because she's got the spirit for it and is not afraid to throw down to defend herself, you know? So I doubt it's anything quite as swashbuckling as a dancing sword but Henry's definitely taught her a thing or two to give someone who might try to mess with her a really hard time of it. A nice solid punch, to go with that slap. Probably she never has to use it because she's just never really alone in those kinds of situations he is always right there but. It's nice to know she can, if there's ever a call for it. I'm very certain she also kicks really hard, which probably has nothing to do with Henry and everything to do with growing up in a children's home, but this is also nice to know (and maybe something he found out the hard way, while being an ass.)

I feel like this is one we've said something about but I think about him thinking about her every time he comes across hair ribbons and good hair pins, and bringing her new ones when she's lost one or just because. They're all, always, at risk of disappearing, whether she loses them for mundane reasons or in the midst of adventuring (so many hair pins lost and broken in locks, may they rest in pieces) but this isn't really a problem? Like even though he gave them to her it's not like 'oh you lost the one I got you?' it's just. The whole part where she uses them and they often get lost is very endearing to him and what makes him think to pick them up to begin with. Her ribbons get sacrificed as book marks and as charting tools and the pins go to locks and even -sparingly- as defensive tools and Henry thinks it's the best. And the next time he sees a pretty ribbon or a good sturdy pin, he's bringing it home.

#loetise #dolhood #dyn — ( henry / carina. ) #apparently i can't count but i'm not deleting anything ♥

[lighthouseborn]

She Creature Starters || @dolhood ( Carina )

“What is it you want from me?” (affectionate)

  And thus she finally decided to dignify the absurdity that was Henry gradually working his way to sit behind her in an upright wooden chair (which had, decidedly, been built with a single sitter in mind) with a question. Henry laughed softly. He could picture the attempt she was surely making to look cross, though how he was supposed to see it from his place at her back remained a mystery.

  “Nothing at all,” he mumbled into her hair. He wrapped his arms around her middle, drawing her back against his chest. “Keep writing.” He said it like don't let me stop you. ...Or maybe if you can— what would it take to turn the lettering illegible? He pressed his mouth to the bit of her shoulder that the square neck of her dress left showing and kissed her there, soft and slow.

#dolhood #i want to leave no one behind — to keep & be kept ( ic. ) #arc iv — i have learned to travel light ( travel. ) #henry (making a nuisance of himself): I Have No Idea What You Mean I Am So Innocent #theoretically i could make this longer but it was just such a snapshot 2 me idk

[lighthouseborn]

She Creature Starters || @dolhood ( CJ )

“Put yourself in my shoes. What would you have done?”

  “Well for starters I wouldn't have blown anything up.” A shade hyperbolic –it had only been a fire– but Henry continued to mutter about it as he marched CJ down the dock. His hand rested on her shoulder to discourage any more antics for the day. Thus far, she'd tolerated it. Henry had no doubts, though, that if she changed her mind about letting him steer her along like a toddler aimed for time out, he'd be the first to know.

  If he was honest, he was not convinced the accusation was sound. The damage was too random and superficial. If CJ had meant to destroy the wharf's warehouse, there wouldn't be a handful of scorchmarks and a few lost crates of fabric. There would be ash. And likely blood. Henry was thinking impulse. Confusion. He was not even thoroughly convinced that the guilt was hers alone, either, but if there had been a confrontation she'd yet to open up about it. He'd decided he wasn't going to ask. Not yet, anyhow. In fact, as their steps echoed, hollow, underneath the planks, Henry wasn't sure what he was going to say at all. Put yourself in my shoes was echoing just as hollow in his mind, drawing his face in a mild scowl.

  They crossed the gangplank onto the Tempest. Henry had CJ face him.

  “You're right,” he said, “they shouldn't be allowed to do what they do.” Namely, prioritize certain cargos and all but entirely neglect others, all the while gouging everyone, as it was everyone who, per ordinance, had to unload their cargo into the warehouse to be held for inspection before it moved on to the buyers. There was a proposed change floating around somewhere in the chain of things, but he did not pretend to know where. Or how far it would get. She was right, “But if you fight them this way, it only gets worse. And if the warehouse goes, everyone gets set back weeks and nobody gets anything. I've seen it happen. You're right, alright? Just... call me next time. Or... something.” He almost said 'Or get Bee' but thought better of it. Two chaos-magnets did not spontaneously conjure de-escalation any more than two lefts made a right.

#dolhood #i want to leave no one behind — to keep & be kept ( ic. ) #au — the seeds fall far from this earthbound town ( descendants. ) #chaos magnet (affectionate (exasperated))

[lighthouseborn]

who is shabira?

!!!!!! Shabira is part of the (blog canon!) future-plotting me and @/dolhood have done:

Shabira is a girl from Singapore. Her parents, Teratai and Jebat, were a young, newly married couple who opened shop in the wharf-town where the pirates were known to gather and do business. (Why there? ... I wobble on, but it stands to reason they were somewhat outcast, or breaking free of circumstances they didn't enjoy.) They quickly became close contacts of Elizabeth's, working with her to manage the re-sellable goods that came in off the ships of her fleet and waters. Growing up, Henry was left with them a few times, when he was younger and Elizabeth needed him looked after for one reason or another, so the families became close. Allies, but also friends. This, naturally, leads to Teratai and Jebat's shop becoming a regular landing place for Henry and Carina once they set out on their own.

Enter- Shabira! She is born in this era, closely post-canon, when Henry & Carina are newly set out to explore the world. So Bira grows up knowing Henry & Rina all her life, coming with the wind and tide to stay awhile -seemingly, by her perspective, just to see her!- and they get to watch her go from wiggly little bean to a brilliant kid. And probably Henry teaches her at least one really horrible trick she absolutely should not have been taught, but what can you do.

Some a few years into this general state of things, Shabira's parents are killed. I have a couple concepts of the who and why but nothing concrete, right now, but. Bira's parents (and many of their neighbors, the community of the town at large) die, and... either she was already with Henry & Carina for some reason, or when they get there they finds her, but either way she really just. Latches on. They're the last people she really knows.

Initially Henry & Carina plan to find her other family. She's got an uncle and cousins -her father's family- in theory, but finding them proves to be a nightmare endeavor. And you know, days turn to weeks. A couple months. They, admittedly, kind of stop looking. And it gets to a point where it seems more cruel than anything else to send her away to a new place nothing like the life she's known where she'd have to start all over with nothing and no one familiar. (Which is ...debatable, in terms of if it was the "right" thing to do, and really kids are generally very adaptable and she probably would have been fine if they committed and sent her to live elsewhere, but it comes from a place of love and good intentions (and also Henry's inability to let go.)) Bira, who has always been dear to them, really just gets... shuffled into the strange little family of the Lighthouse Island. And this is really what shifts gears for Henry & Carina, pulling them from their wilds and grounding them a little more firmly to Shipwreck. Transitioning event from arc iv. -> arc v. (so if you write with me in Henry's Shipwreck-bound verse, Bira is there!)

Primarily, Rina & Henry look after her. And it settles into... they both are, and aren't, her parents? She had parents, and she remembers them, and Henry & Carina do all they can to keep Shabira's memory of her parents alive and maintain that tie to who she is. And also, that's her parents. That's her family, anyway. She's known them all her life and Henry was always her favorite for silly games and Carina understands completely what it means to be a little girl who got left behind and they just. Cling to each other. Family!!

And all of this prompts Henry & Carina to kind of realize.. family. And settling a bit (not all the way, they're all still pirates living among pirates on untamed seas!) actually sounds... Nice. And wouldn't you know it before very long at all Bira has a (yet unnamed, we're working on it) little sister--

uhhh additional details I know but didn't make it into the paragraphs:

Bira & her mother, Teratai, were born in Singapore, but Bira's father, Jebat, moved there as a young man; this is why they're so cut off from her only other (living) family

Bira is around 5 or maybe 6 years old when her parents die

She is a little bit shy. She might outgrow it, who can say! but she's a little bit shy and quiet, it takes her a little time to open up

a natural bookworm, who spends a lot of time in the company of grownups, and her language skills are crazy impressive

#i love her i really do #there's a light that never goes out ( hc. ) #dyn — ( henry / carina. ) #arc v — love them through and through and through ( shipwreck. )

[loetise]

𖡼.𖤣𖥧  𝑙𝑜𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑠𝑒  , a  selective  and  independent  rp  blog  for  valentine  "allie"  fleur,  an  original  fandomless  character  attached  to  fae  lore with several fandom based verses, established in july, 2020.  (  wavering  rp  activity/writing,  but  i'm  usually  here  frequently.  i am also  at  @dolhood,  a  multifandom  multimuse )  written  by  aurora,  23,  she/her  pronouns.  

˗ˏˋ  carrd with muse info + rules,          pinterest,          inspiration sideblog,          headcannons / v2,          playlist.  ˎˊ˗

#i might... add verses on this later #pinned.