Shes Right That Theyre Not In Manhattan. It Makes Riffs Skin Crawl. He Didnt Want To Leave, But Jo Had

She’s right that they’re not in Manhattan. It makes Riff’s skin crawl. He didn’t want to leave, but Jo had wanted to leave, so they’d left. He still misses it. Massachusetts is nice, but he misses the city. He could go to Boston, but he knows it wouldn’t be the same. It’s not like he can go back to the West Side, either. It’s probably gone at this point. He watches her fingers disappear into her pocket. “We don’t know the neighborhood yet.” He doesn’t want her getting hurt.

“Nah. I was already up.” He’d had a nightmare again. He doesn’t need to tell Johanna that, though. He doesn’t want her to worry about him. She doesn’t need to know that it had taken him fifteen minutes to realize he wasn’t in New York, and another fifteen to calm down. He’d gotten up to get a drink when he heard the door shut. “Where’d you go?” He gets a glass down from the cupboard and fills it with water from the tap, leaning against the counter as he watches her.

@notefinal's rolf lautmann asks, " where have you gone? just out for a walk? "

caught. one hand hovering over the door nob and the other drowning in her pocket, she slowly turns to her husband. as if she is still a little girl who got caught in the library after she was banned from it. there was no place to hide in the library. the walls were too close together, almost suffocating. there is no place to hide now that she's already been caught. despite there being nothing to hide, johanna tucks her other hand in her pocket. fingers fumble with an old receipt in there, tearing it into small pieces.

❝ there's no crime in going for a walk. this isn't manhattan. we're safe here. ❞ johanna still shivers. she only threw a sweater over her dress, not enough protection from the midnight wind. ❝ i just needed some fresh air. i wasn't gone for that long. ❞ although she is newly married, she feels more like an adolescent trying to plead her innocence. ❝ did i wake you? i didn't mean to. i tried to be quiet. ❞ she wishes she could tell him that she also locked the door behind her, but that isn't true. closing the door is enough to protect them, isn't it?

reblog this and make a post with 🐻 to let your mutuals comment nice things about you and/or your portrayal on!

canon dialogue open starters, yes or no?

meta — how art’s trauma affects how he views sex, relationships, and his sexuality

trigger warning for rape, sexual assault, emotional abuse, physical abuse, manipulation, cheating, and blackmail

art’s trauma

art was abused for fourteen years. he was physically and emotionally abused by patrick and tashi. both of them were also guilty of sexually assaulting him, but patrick was the worst. tashi knew about patrick’s abuse. she was cheating on art with patrick and she only objected to art being with patrick because it affected his performance on the tennis court. she didn’t do anything to help art get out of his situation, though. patrick would often tell art that if art refused to meet with him at a specific time, he would tell tashi or lily or the press what they were doing. he used art’s fear of people finding out to keep him in line and in control. tashi would use art’s fear of her leaving him to keep him in line. neither tashi nor patrick ever considered themselves to be bad people, and art’s restraining orders against them came as a complete shock.

art’s views on sex

art doesn’t like the thought of having sex with anyone for a long time. he would be perfectly happy in an asexual relationship. he doesn’t like the idea of his partner finding out all of the triggers and issues he has around sex, so he just avoids it whenever he can. if he thinks an interaction is heading in that direction, he’ll leave immediately. he won’t explain himself and he probably won’t talk to your muse for a few days afterwards. the same thing will happen if he needs to stop during sex. he’s been forcing himself through it for years, so he’ll probably try to pretend like he’s fine and he can continue. sometimes (most times), however, he’ll freeze up without any explanation. he tends to put himself as far away from his partner as possible whenever this happens, and he doesn’t explain why.

sex is not something that art has a good relationship with. he has multiple triggers that can be brought on by the simplest of things, and he will not tell his partner about any of these out of fear that they’ll see him as weak or pathetic. he avoids any interaction that could lead to sex whenever possible. if he has to stop during sex (and this is highly likely), he will not talk about it. he will just pretend like it didn’t happen and he will try to ignore whatever questions his partner asks him.

art sees sex as a means for him to be used for his partner’s pleasure. that’s all it was for him for years. patrick and tashi didn’t care about making sure art had a good time. they only cared about themselves. and although art knows that not everyone is like this, he’s scared of it anyway. he doesn’t want to end up where he started, and he’ll do pretty much everything to ensure he doesn’t end up in another relationship like the ones he was in for years.

art’s views on relationships

art’s thoughts on relationships are pretty much the same as his thoughts on sex. he avoids relationships for years. he keeps any interaction he has with anyone strictly platonic, and he will remind them that he’s not interested if the interaction starts to become more romantic or flirty. he doesn’t want to end up in a relationship like the ones he was in, so he just doesn’t pursue anything with anyone. it’s not the best coping mechanism, but it works for him. if someone were to bring up a potential date, art is either going to shut it down or suggest that he bring his daughter along. he doesn’t mean to be rude, but he really isn’t ready for or wanting any sort of romantic relationship with anyone. not for a long time.

art’s views on his sexuality

art is bisexual. this is, unfortunately, something he tries to ignore. he doesn’t like the fact that he’s attracted to men because he’s scared that if he pursues a relationship with a man, it will just end up like another patrick situation. because of this, he tends to avoid bi and gay men, especially in a romantic context. he doesn’t mean to offend, but he doesn’t want to end up in a relationship like the one he had with patrick again, and by avoiding men that aren’t straight, he guarantees it won’t happen.

Wormify your muse

tagged by: @whatsbehindthefacade

tagging: @clochanam, @trckstaer (mj), @polardestiny, and @theseancekid