#hope the cat

[drmshope]

It's Okay (It's Alright)

•••

"It was just a nightmare."

"About what?"

Dream swallows, opens his mouth, closes it.

(warnings; death mention)

(/dsmp rp)

(read on ao3)

•••

Tommy wasn't sure what woke him up, if it was the strange new environment, or the bed hes never slept in before until he heard a sharp intake of breath to his left and he realized it was Dream, his new friend.

He turns his head to look at the other, asleep in his own bed, trying to figure out if he's having a nightmare or just snoring fucking weirdly, when Dream shoots up, his hand pressed to his heart and green eyes, that almost look radioactive in the dark, blown wide. He startles Tommy badly enough that he jumps in response and then rolls his eyes at his own reaction, taking a deep breath in and out before speaking:

"Are you good big man?" Dream's head snaps up, fast enough that Tommy's surprised he didn't break his neck, like he'd forgotten that there was another person sharing the base which Tommy takes great offense to, because how could he ever be forgettable, before Dream sighs and shakes his head.

"Fine— I'm fine." He replies, voice scratchy and raw and Tommy simply doesn't believe him.

"You didn't look fine."

"It was just a nightmare."

"About what?"

Dream swallows, opens his mouth, closes it, swallows again and Tommy starts to speak, starts to take the question back but he responds before he can.

"It was about... death, I think, or the ability to cheat it? That- that part wasn't clear but, there was a book, or something, papers." Tommy waits for Dream to continue and when he doesn't asks, soft and interested:

"Papers?"

"Of... writing, it- it wasn't understandable, it was like gibberish or something but it made sense to me, in the dream-"

"Ha, dream." Tommy says before he can stop himself and Dream snorts, rolling his eyes.

"-like I was saying, it made sense to me in the dream at least, I can't make heads or tails of it now though."

"Well, that's normal innit? Writing in dreams being all fuckin' wibbly wobbly and shit and then like making perfect sense while you're dreaming but not when you're awake."

"Yeah, I guess..."

"Anything else?"

"Um.. I mean, there was like, a person, and-" Dream chokes on seemingly nothing and coughs so hard and for so long that Tommys afraid he's going to cough up a lung for a moment before he swallows and whispers "Ow."

Tommy bursts out laughing, which makes dream glare at him, "Sorry- I'm sorry-" he says in between chuckles, "Sorry. That was just, funny as hell man, are you sure you don't have like fuckin' asthma or something?"

"I don't know, maybe, thanks for laughing at my misery though."

"You're welcome big D!" And he has no idea where that came from, but it's funny and Dream wheezes at him for the first time since he had his nightmare so he counts it as a win, "Also, you never finished your sentence."

"Oh." Dream says and his tone tells him that he knows that and probably didn't want to, "I was going to say that I felt like I knew them, like really, really knew them, I don't know, it sounds stupid probably, but, yeah.

"I mean... I don't think it sounds stupid Dream, hey! Maybe that persons like your soulmate or something and thats the first time you've ever seen them!!"

"I don't think so, like, we were close, or it felt like it in the dream I guess, but it didn't feel like we were soulmates or something like that, it felt kind of like we had fallen into each other because of something tragic..."

"Like... to fix it? The tragic thing i mean."

"I don't know, maybe." Dream replies, and he's started drawing little shapes into his bed sheet, eyes unfocused.

"Okay, well, did anything else happen or was it just boring as hell." He teases because he's growing very uncomfortable.

"Hey! It wasn't-" Dream cuts himself off, biting his lip.

"It wasn't?" Tommy asks jokingly and frowns when Dream doesn't respond.

"I... died, I think— in the dream I mean."

"Oh."

"It was painful, and they, the blond person whoever they were, did it... but I think I wanted it."

Tommy blinks, "Okay big man i think thats enough of whatever— stuff you're taking." Dream looks at him unimpressed and he sticks out his tongue in response, which somehow manages to make Dream look even more unimpressed.

"You're terrible."

"I'm hilarious actually!"

"Says who?"

"Your mom."

"Really Tommy?"

"What!? That was funny!" Dream shakes his head, "It was!" He shakes his head again but this time Tommy can see him trying to fight a smile.

"It really wasn't."

"Oh fuck off, whatever, just, lets go back to sleep, its still late as hell to be up." Dream nods, but doesn't lay back down, and Tommy realizes belatedly that he never stopped clutching at his chest, "Were you okay in the dream, after you died, I mean?"

"What kind of question is that?! I died!"

"Well yeah but, you said something about cheating death, or whatever."

"I mean... I don't know, I woke up after- after the sword... yeah."

"Oh. well, you're alright, you're still alive."

"You're really bad at this whole comforting people thing aren't you."

"Shut up! I'm amazing at this actually." Dream raises his eyebrow at him and he scoffs before sighing, "Yeah, no I'm not great at this, but I made you laugh so that counts for, something right?"

"Yeah- you're right, thanks Tommy, even if you're annoying."

"Hey! I'm not fucking annoying you green— bitch." It's supposed to be insulting but with how quietly he says the last word it just sounds, sad. Dream to his credit ignores this.

"Yeah, yeah whatever, we need to go to bed, it's almost sunrise."

"How do you even know that?" Dream points at a clock that Tommy does not remember putting up, "When the hell did that get there? Did you do that?"

"Yeah... it felt, right, or something."

"Weirdo."

"Hey!"

"It's true, anyway, why sleep now when we can just get up and do things earlier."

"Tommy theres still mobs outside."

"And?"

Dream sputters, "What do you mean and? They could kill us!"

"Not if we're better than them at everything."

"I- what- ugh fine, fine. But stay close to me, and for the love of god dont run off like yesterday." He says, pulling the covers off of his legs and swinging them over the side of the bed and Tommy sees this as an absolute win.

"There was a spider!"

"Yes, that you ran after, and decided to name Shroud for some reason, and then you started crying when it left."

"I wanted it! And I had thought we had a special bond!" He yells, standing up out of his bed and stretching.

"Tommy you were basically harassing it you're lucky it didn't get annoyed and try to kill you."

"Oh fuck off."

"Plus there's other mobs that aren't hostile that you can have."

"Oh but, none of those ones are interesting."

"Hey! Cats are interesting!"

"Cats? Really big man?"

"Oh shut up!" Dream shouts, and then throws an axe at his feet and in the dark for just a second it looks almost purple, though it's definitely not because it's stone not netherite.

"Whatever, why not choose a cooler animal, like a fucking cow or something."

"A... cow?"

"Yeah!" Dream stares at him for a moment before shaking his head, "What!? Cows are awesome!"

"Uh-huh." He responds absent-mindedly, seemingly paying very little attention to Tommy as he crouches down and starts rummaging through a chest.

"Whats so fuckin' interesting in that chest that you aren't listening to me about how cool and awesome cows are?" Dream doesn't answer him but he does pull out to leads, smiling softly at him.

"We can go get a cat, and a cow." Tommy blinks and then smiles so wide his cheeks hurt, running over to Dream and hugging him before he really registers what he's doing. Dream freezes in his grip and Tommy almost pulls away, but then he relaxes head resting on his shoulder and he smiles, patting the other on the back before pulling back.

"Lets go get those mobs big man."

Dream laughs, "Okay Tommy. Let's go get those mobs." Tommy pulls them both off the floor and toward the door, stopping only for Dream to grab his weird mask.

"What are you going to name your cat?"

"...Hope." Dream whispers softly as he hooks the mask over his face.

"That's a shit name."

"What the hell! Okay fine, what would you name a cat?"

"Pussyboy."

"What?!" Dream shouts as Tommy opens the door, voice echoing off the trees, "You're so weird."

"I'm not weird! I'm fuckin' awesome actually!"

"Uh-huh, please tell me you aren't going to name your cow like, bitch or something."

"I would never insult a cow like that."

"Well then what are you going to name it?"

"I don't know yet... maybe... wait I know! Henry!"

"Henry? Really?"

"What? It's better than Hope."

"How dare you, Hope is a great name."

"If you think so big man."

"Whatever- hey look over there!" Dreams points at the top of a hill and Tommy's eyes widen when he sees what's up there

"Cows!!" He shouts, running off and leaving Dream in the dust and he hears him chuckle behind him.

"Wait for me!"

"Hurry up!" He calls behind him, almost tripping over himself with a laugh.

[justanoakbucket]

Dream with Hope the prison cat.

Tommy seems to call it puss (?) Boy. Cant understand him half the time tbh.

Screen shots from here

https://youtu.be/sGv0hEY5XsE

[badolmen]

WARNING 18+

19

[great-and-small]

Anyone else think the “phantom cat shaver” might be an inside cat vigilante trying to send a message? This is already making some Brits say they’ll keep their cats indoors.

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

getting older can be so amazing? you get more familiar with yourself. learn tips & tricks for troubleshooting your own brain. trial & error helps you build routines that minimize discomfort, maximize reward. your preferences/interests don't get set in stone, but you do find out which ones are going to stay with you in the long-term, and which ones are fun but transient joys to appreciate in the moment.

you learn that the world is so much more complex than you were taught, and that that's okay, and that there's an endless supply of things you can learn or watch or experience or think about if you want to. if you're lucky, you loosen up, stop putting so much pressure on yourself. if you're lucky, you learn to recognize that negative inner voice, and whack it with a baseball bat until it hushes up. if you're lucky, you learn to treat yourself gently, not because you are fragile but because you are worthy of gentleness. (i hope you are lucky.)

and some things will change. some things will get better. some things will get good. and maybe you start to recover from the dehumanizing stress of childhood/education. maybe you learn the power of your own autonomy. maybe you learn how to walk away from bad situations (which is a superpower even if you don't realize it yet). and you get to choose your own clothes. and your own food. and which relationships to pursue! and what you do with your free time. and with your life (but don't worry you get to choose that gradually). and that's crazy! and sometimes scary. and extraordinarily, indescribably precious.

[hrokkall]

"Sad Cat Poem" by Spencer Madsen

[obsob]

the joy of creation :3 !! (anything worth doing is worth doing badly)

[korppipoika]

Snowball in Hell, acrylics, 30cmx20cm

I used a random piece of wire to paint the smallest details..!

[artaway]

The Trio Together....(from Lackadaisy)

Still One of My Most Favorite Artwork I have Made. Feels Right Starting with This x3

[kentopedia]

nanami kento, who hates dating, and didn’t do much of it in his early twenties. but now, he’s almost thirty, watching all the people he works with settle down, have kids, and he thinks he wants that. so he might as well try.

so satoru sets him up on a few dates — friends of friends, he calls them. and at the end of every one of the dinners, kento goes home empty, exhausted, because he knows what they want is not the same.

still; he thinks maybe he’s being a little self-destructive, maybe too picky, maybe he just got so used to being alone. with satoru’s insistence, he gives all the women another call, invites them over to his apartment.

the first time was a disaster… kento had barely set the dinner on the table before his cat had hissed at her, scratched her down the arm in a thin gash. and though it did draw blood, it was hardly enough to warrant that reaction.

he didn’t even try to stop her as she picked up her bag and left, huffing like she’d been morally offend. kento, though, could only smile to himself in amusement.

because maybe kento was a poor judge of character, a man who was secretly hoping nothing would pan out — but his cat could certainly tell the good from the bad.

it became a little game to him, after that. seeing if anyone could win his pet over, and if they could, perhaps they were the one. his darling animal was a fickle thing anyway. a bit too defensive, quick to bite anything threatening after years on the streets.

naturally, no one came back twice.

he was close to giving up, accepting his solitude because he was tired of empty conversations over dinner. but then, he ventured out over the weekend to a new coffee shop, during hours he normally didn’t spend out of his home, and met you.

though you only talked for a moment, kento felt like maybe he’d known you in a past life. a part of him thought maybe it was strange, the way he kept coming back to talk to you, catching you at the end of your shift to see if you wanted to grab a coffee sometime.

by the second date, kento started to think you could turn out to be his best friend.

by the third date, kento wondered if soulmates were real.

on the fourth date, almost two months later, an appropriate time to get to know someone when you were as reserved as kento, he invited you over for dinner. it was, perhaps, the final confirmation he needed to let himself be with you.

he let you through the door, smiling softly as you told him about the book you were reading, and hung his coat on the rack. a moment later, you stopped, distracted, hands covering your mouth in a gasp.

“kento! she’s the cutest cat i’ve ever seen, you didn’t even show me pictures!” you exclaim, and, a few feet away, crouched down. “look at her pretty eyes…”

“careful,” kento said, “she’s not very—“

but the cat approached your outstretched hand, sniffed once, before letting you scratch her under her chin, purring loud enough for kento to hear across the room.

“shes such a sweetheart, you told me she was mean!” you smiled, making a cooing noise as you threaded your fingers through her fur. “kento’s a liar, isn’t he… you’re so precious.”

a few moments later, she snapped her jaw at you in a biting motion, and you only laughed, withdrawing your hand. “alright, i get it, i won’t bother you anymore.”

though she still brushed against your legs, just as she did kento’s, and seemed to communicate some sort of message to him.

“do you want any help cooking?” you ask, tucking your hair behind your ears. “i’m a disaster in the kitchen, but—“

“sure,” kento said, his chest tightening as he blinked back at you, only in his apartment for minutes and already looking as at home there. he wondered if it was possible to fall in love so quickly. “but only if you want to.”

[pangur-and-grim]

HELLO, welcome to the kitten gacha game!

here's how it works: all pointed cats are born white and mysterious. that's because pointing is temperature dependent, and cats are baked at an even temperature in the womb! as they age, their colder extremities develop colour

a while ago, I received photos of three pointed kittens, and had to guess where they fell on this chart based on subtle clues:

I ended up choosing a grub who developed into a seal point with white (my sweet Belphegor!)

and now I'm giving YOU the chance to choose! kittens A, B and C will each become one of the colours on the chart as they are manufactured age.

reserve them now at greerstothers.shop, and receive your enamel pin grown kitten in the mail!

(close-ups of the clues under the readmore)

feel free to guess their colourations in the replies/reblogs! I'm curious to see how many people get it right.

the enamel pins will come with a breakdown of their colour genetics on the backing card!

[drmshope]

Jingle Bells Swing (Jingle Bells Ring)

•••

"Dream did you even hear me?!" Tommy asks, still just as loud as before, "It's fuckin' Christmas!!" Dream blinks at him then realizes what he just said, eyes widening in surprise.

"Holy shit- it's Christmas."

(/dsmp rp)

(read on ao3)

•••

Dream blinks himself awake, confused for a moment about what woke him up before he realizes that Tommy is stood on his bed, a big smile on his face.

"What-"

"Wake up big man! It's Christmas!!!" He shouts jumping on the bed which makes Dream bounce slightly and he sighs, still not quite awake yet.

"Thats nice, Tommy." He says, only half registering whats going on as he slips out of bed, bare feet hitting the cold stone floor of their base and he hisses, wishing he had worn socks to bed.

"Dream did you even hear me?!" Tommy asks, still just as loud as before, "It's fuckin' Christmas!!" Dream blinks at him then realizes what he just said, eyes widening in surprise.

"Holy shit- it's Christmas."

"Yeah, that's what I've been saying big man, now lets go!! I want to unwrap the presents already!"

"Okay- okay, lead the way." His voice is still soft with sleep, so he sounds more calm than he actually is, but he is incredibly excited to see what Tommy got him, and if he likes what he got him.

Tommy jumps off his bed and all but runs into the living room, Dream following behind him at a much slower pace, and by the time he gets there Tommy's already sat down on the floor, a present in hand, which makes Dream chuckle.

"Well, go ahead, open it."

oooo

The rest of the morning is spent opening presents, and they both have a very good time.

By the end of it theres wrapping paper and boxes strewn everywhere, which Dream knows he's going to hate cleaning up later, but right now he's just too happy.

Tommy stands up suddenly, almost stepping on the cow plush Dream got him in his hurry to stand and he looks up at him with a raised eyebrow.

"We have to go outside now big man!"

"Why?"

"Because it's snowing!!" Dream blinks and then looks out the window and finds that Tommy is right and it is snowing.

"Why didn't you say anything!?" He shouts, just as loud as Tommy was moments ago, jumping up excitedly.

"I thought you knew!" Tommy calls after him as he runs to his bedroom, finding his coat, gloves, and snow boots in record time. "Slow down!" He says, grabbing his coat, gloves and boots as well and Dream slows his movements, halfway done with putting his coat on already.

"Sorry." He responds, waiting until Tommy has his coat on to finish putting his on. They both finish getting ready together and Dream just gets done with tying the shoelaces on his boots when Tommy grabs him by the arm and all but drags him out of the house, not that he's complaining.

°°°

"We have to make a snow man Big D!" Tommy says as soon as they get outside, door closing behind them with a click and Dream nods his agreement.

"Okay, I'll roll the bottom and you roll the middle, then I can do the head while you go find sticks for the arms and rocks for the face."

"What about the nose?"

"We'll go inside after and get a carrot and some accessories for it."

"Got it!" Tommy answers and immediately runs off to go roll the middle, Dream gets to work on the bottom while he does.

They finish their snow man in record time, though he's slightly tilted to the side, which Dream hates but its Christmas so he is trying to not be a perfectionist about how stupid he looks.

"He's perfect." Tommy says from besides him and he rolls his eyes.

"He's silly."

"He's perfectly silly!" Tommy exclaims like he just found the secret to infinite life and Dream snorts.

"Yeah, okay, he's perfectly silly." Dream stares at it for a little while longer, fighting the urge to try to fix it before something wet and cold hits him in the back of his head, sliding down his neck and he turns around slowly, face carefully blank as he does so, finding Tommy looking at him with a smirk on his face before he sees his face and he blanches, booking it immediately.

Dream races after him as fast as he can, the crunching of snow getting faster and louder as he picks up speed and he's pretty sure he can hear Tommy mumbling 'oh no' over and over again under his breath.

"Oh Tommy!" He calls, drawing out the y and he almost laughs when Tommy trips over his own feet, "Just stop running already, this isn't a fight you can win!" The entire situation gives him a weird sense of deja vu but he ignores it, having too much fun chasing Tommy to care about the fact that it feels like he's done this before.

Finally Tommy ducks behind a tree and Dream slips behind his own with ease, despite the fact that his lungs are burning and he feels like he can't breathe. He leans against the tree for a moment to catch his breath, chest heaving with exertion, before he leans down to gather some snow into a ball in his palm. He peaks out from behind the tree, dodging the snow ball that Tommy immediately throws at him, before he peaks out again waiting for Tommy to do the same.

He does eventually and Dream immediately throws his snow ball at him, missing him but just barley before he ducks behind the tree again, scooping more snow up.

"You're gonna have to try harder than that Dream!"

"Oh shut up, how about you focus on hitting me instead of shit talking!"

They continue to throw snow balls and miss each other for a few more hours before Dream nails Tommy in the face and he falls to the floor dramatically, wet snow on his nose and cheeks.

"You killed me, I'm dead."

"Tommy."

"I'm dead stop talking to me, do you usually talk to dead people Dream."

He rolls his eyes, "How do I make you undead so we can go inside and have hot chocolate." Tommy shoots up at that, snow falling from his hair and he looks at Dream with wide eyes.

"Hot chocolate!?!"

"Yes."

"I'm alive again, lets go!" He shouts, standing up and running off in the direction of the house and Dream snorts, following after him.

°°°

The hot chocolate is perfectly warm slipping down their throats and the mugs chase the chill from their hands as they stare out of the window at the snow covered ground. Hope has woken up by now, tiredly blinking at them from her place on the kitchen counter and Dream runs a hand through her fur, enjoying her purrs and chirp's of enjoyment.

"Today was nice." Tommy says, leaning against the counter and sipping his hot chocolate.

"It's still morning Tommy the days not over yet."

"Well yeah but we aren't gonna do anything are we?"

"True."

"Exactly big man! So days over."

"Pretty sure that's not how that works but okay sure."

"I say that's how it works so that's how that works." Dream rolls his eyes but doesn't argue.

"Alright Tommy, then yeah today was nice, thanks Tommy."

"You too big man, especially for that plushie."

"You're never letting that thing go now are you?"

"Nope." He responds, popping the p.

They lapse into comfortable silence after that, just drinking their hot chocolate and Dream thinks that today was in fact a pretty good day.

[lolbatz]

Race to the top!!!

[chloesimaginationthings]

oh,,

cat's...

My addition… scooped Michael cat

[yudol-skorbi]

i am at the point where if i dont finish now i'll newer finish so yeah the rest of the gaaaaaang

[constantlyfalling]

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