#it is a jack post though so i have lots of pictures of him currently

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Since Skully is a former student in NRC, what is his dorm? I'm not sure which dorm suits him especially he doesn't seem to fit Scarabia and Savanaclaw. Ignihyde has a reputation of introvert students which suits Skully but not with the technology. He also seem to want to follow halloween tradition like Heartslabyul.

The other possibilities is that he was Ramshackle dorm member before it got disbanded or another dorm that was remove years later.

[Referencing this post!]

They don’t state Skully’s dorm, just that he graduated hundreds of years ago. At one point in part 5, he is told about which dorms the (SSR) NRC students are from and seems to the name of the school?? But it’s not clear, he just sort of repeats the names of the dorms after the NRC boys say them.

We currently know that Pomefiore is “the oldest dorm”, implying that the other dorms were established later. Fans speculate that the relative age of the dorms is related to the original movie’s release in the real world, but this has yet to be canonized and doesn’t give us in-universe ages. Thanks to Ramshackle falling into disrepair, we also know it’s possible for dorms to fall apart and be forgotten. However, no one seems to know what happened to Ramshackle, meaning whatever led to its disgrace likely happened a LONG time ago. NRC itself has been well-established since Lilia first received his invite 500 years ago.

Since Skully graduated “hundredS of years ago”, the shortest length of time possible would be 200 years ago, but as long as 900-1999 years ago too. (Not over 2000 years ago because then the dialogue may have been “thousands of years ago”.) It should be noted that the Mirror of Darkness only started to see use as a student selection and dorm sorting method 100 years ago (see this post). lI personally think Skully must have attended NRC closer to 200-400ish years ago, due to him not using old offensive terminology like “witch” and “wizard” to refer to mages (terms which seemed to still be in use 500 years ago). He studied at NRC before Crowley was headmaster as well, but we don’t know how long Crowley has been headmaster for exactly… so that doesn’t help us.

This all means it’s possible some dorms didn’t exist in Skully’s time and processes that are common nowadays weren’t in place then. However, it seems like Scarabia, Savanaclaw, and Diasomnia might have been around, since Skully says them. Again though, not clear. If we go with the theory that the dorms’ ages correlate with the irl film release dates and Skully doesn’t recognize Diasomnia, Scarabia, or Savanaclaw, then that means the only dorms around at the time were likely Pomefiore and Heartslabyul.

For the sake of ease, let’s just assume all 7 dorms plus Ramshackle are candidates for Skully. After talking it over with some friends, these are the dorms considered:

Heartslabyul — How strictly the rules are followed varies significantly by dorm leader; Riddle is very stern whereas previous Heartslabyul dorm leaders were not. For Skully, Heartslabyul could have been a fit because of his general whimsical behavior + his sternness when it comes to adhering to his own concept of Halloween.

Pomefiore — His general polite mannerisms remind me a lot of Pomefiore. And again, Skully’s penchant for upholding tradition could also easily slot him here instead of Heartslabyul, since Pomefiore had a stories history. Pomefiore is also the “most likely” dorm for him to be in, since it was around for the longest. Finally, Skully seems to have some knowledge of poisons and potions (a key trait of Pomefiore students) despite being a first year, as he feeds a sleep-inducing drink to Jack. (Bcjssjwhekw It’s also just funny to picture Mr. Crusty Lips and Gap Teeth in the Beautiful Queen’s dorm… Vil would be so mad 💦)

Ignihyde — Skully is very Idia-coded in his general despair, gloom, and Halloweebjness. It was mentioned in the ask that he doesn’t seem to be tech savvy, but I think this could be explained; depending on when Ignihyde was established as a dorm, the technology of “back then” might have been very different than the very modern high-tech version of the dorm we know today. By “ye old day” standards, Skully could be considered up to date. It could also be that his tech skills weren’t mentioned in detail in the story because they weren’t relevant.

Ramshackle — It's possible that Skully was a member of Ramshackle when it was still a dorm. This could explain why Skully gravitates to Yuu in particular and calls them kindred spirits. (However, it also lends to the eerie fan theory that Yuu, too, is dead.) Some fans have also pointed out that in the photo of Skully was saw in the game, he is wearing the same Nightmare Suit that he wore in the book, just without the dark circular lenses. They then speculated that the Nightmare Suit is very close to what Ramshackle dorm uniform's might have looked like. The stitches definitely match the "ramshackle" name, and the colors don't match any other dorm we know of. (In canon, Skully saw the Nightmare Suit in his dreams and recreated it himself; he is quite proud of it.)

Those are all my thoughts for now. Maybe Skully can give us more details when we get his SSR card next Halloween. Until then...!!

[ssadumba55]

The Guys Overhear You Defending Them on the Phone

Request: Hello my darling friend! Can I please request headcanons for Hotch, Derek, and Reid overhearing their black female S/O arguing with her mom over the phone because she disapproves of their relationship?

A/N: Hopefully this is okay! I tried my best!

Hotch

Aaron is used to this by now, he's met your mother several times before and even though on the outside she always pretends to be inviting, it doesn't take a profiler to figure out her disdain for him

He never says anything to her, mostly because it's none of his business and also because he doesn't want to ruin the relationship you have with her

Still, he can tell it's draining for you and it hurts to watch you suffer, especially when the cause of that suffering is in a way him

The two of you had gotten engaged the weekend before and you'd posted pictures of the engagement party the team had thrown for you on social media, where your mom had seen them

That's why she was on the phone with you currently, and even though Aaron was on the other side of the room he could still hear her voice through the phone, saying all these rude things

Your eyes meet across the way, and he mouths that he's sorry

You roll your eyes good naturedly and hang up the phone

"Why don't we go for a drive before Jack gets home."

"She's not going to like that you hung up on her."

"Do I look like I care?"

Spencer

Unlike Hotch, not having your mother's approval will bother Spencer a lot. He will devote time to trying to please her, to making her happy, but all of his efforts will be for naught

It's not that she doesn't trust your choice in men, she just isn't keen on him, ironic considering any other mother would be head over heels grateful their child chose a man as clean and educated as Spencer Reid

You try to minimize the amount of time they spend together. It's not like you really care what she thinks anyway. You love Spencer and that's all that matters

Still, you can't help it when he overhears her on the phone. He's clingy and almost always close to you and you answer before you realize that maybe it isn't a very good idea

He is definitely not going to say or do anything while you're on the phone, but the situation will upset him. Even if he doesn't directly say so, you will be able to tell.

Instead of apologizing for your mother or making up some lame excuse, you decide that the best way to handle this is Doctor Who and take out.

He won't forget those harsh words, his memory will make sure of it, but at least you can let him know that you don't agree, that you'll always be in his corner

Derek Morgan

Unlike the other two, Derek isn't quiet by nature. When he sees/feels injustice, he has to say something

So he will definitely just rip the phone out of your hands and end up in a lowkey screaming match with your mother. You can't even say you blame him because the things she was saying were downright rude and callous

The phone call will end up with Derek hanging up on her

He decides somewhere in his anger that he doesn't want to deal with this and instead just wants to spend time with the person he loves

He jokes you should just cut off your mom and let his own mom adopt you and you consider it, her food is amazing and his mother and sisters adore you

The two of you won't even talk about it or think about it after that, you stop taking calls from her and eventually she just stops calling altogether

Oh well, it's not really a loss in either of your opinions

[heavyhitterheaux]

Church Girl, Don't Hurt Nobody Part 2 (Slight NSFW)

Synopsis: The time has now come for you to confront your mother about your relationship with Jack. Your mind is already made up, and the last thing that you would ever do is ruin your happiness. It doesn't go as planned, and you are left with a lot to think about.

Pairing: Jack Harlow x Reader

Read Part 1 first

Requested by: so many of you lol so I had to run it back

Please Do Not Repost My Content Anywhere

You currently had both of your legs on your boyfriend's shoulders as his face was between your thighs with the sunlight peeking through the floor length windows.

This had been going on for close to a week since you were hiding out from your parents for as long as you could. You knew that you were going to have to face them sooner or later, but later was beginning to sound better and better. 

After Jack had found out from his friends the truth about you as well as your family, he was obviously upset, but could understand from your point of view why you did it once you had explained everything to him and had a few days to think about. He was lowkey still upset about it, but didn’t want to let you see it since now everything was out in the open and he knew your mind was on overdrive. He had lost track of how many times you had cried about it.

You were scared shitless of what was about to happen when you went home and was putting it off for as long as you could. Of course that night even though Jack was clearly upset with you, he wanted for you to stay with him. In the back of his mind, even though he initially said that he was probably going to break up with you because you lied to him, he quickly changed his mind after hearing your explanation and the bottom line was he didn't want to be without you.

Your phone had been going off nonstop since the picture was posted and you hadn’t answered anyone. You were actually surprised that not once did your mother call you and you knew that she was pissed. But at this point, should you even care what she thought about you? Your fate was sealed anyway.

After the picture was posted the two of you were sitting across from each other in silence. You knew he was mad at you and you were trying to create a plan in your head for the both of you to get through this with no harm done, but you were coming up short.

You were always so careful when going out at night and the one time you weren't, someone snapped a photo of you. 

Wanting to give your boyfriend some space (if he was still your boyfriend at that point for that matter since you didn't know) you didn’t even say anything and had gotten up to start making your way to the door but as you went to open it, you saw Jack's hand come from behind you to close it.

"Where are you going?" Jack asked from behind you and when you didn't answer him, he turned you around to face him with tears in your eyes and a trembling lip and knew they were about to fall down. 

"I… just… you're my escape and my peace from everything that goes on around me and it's just why can I never do anything for myself? Why can't I do what I want? I am 27 years old, still sneaking out of my parents house to see my boyfriend. And I'm sorry for dragging you into this. I should have been honest from the beginning and I'm sorry for that.”

"Dragging me into what? I don't regret asking you to be my girlfriend so don't you think that for a second."

He wanted to be with you for the long haul and this was just something that the two of you had to face together. He was going to do his best to protect you to the best of his ability from the world and also your parents.

“Talk to me in a week and we'll see if you feel the same way.”

“The way I feel about you isn't going to go away in a week so I know that my answer is going to be the same.”

“I don't even know where to begin to fix this.”

“Let me ask you this. What exactly needs to be fixed? We're together like we want to be aren’t we? So what's the problem? You know that they already don't approve so fuck it.”

—

"Damn, baby it's like Niagara Falls down here." Jack said as he looked down at his fingers.

"You want a side of eggs with that?"

"HUH?"

"Pussy juice, side of eggs, that's my breakfast." You said while repeating Jack's lyrics to him and giggling. 

All Jack did was smirk and laugh at you.

"Nah, I don't need the eggs. This is enough to get me full." Jack said as he grabbed your legs to pull you towards the end of the bed and you let out a yelp.

Jack then leaned down to kiss you and you immediately wrapped your arms around his neck to pull him closer to give him several more. When he finally pulled away, he began to place kisses all over your face making you laugh.

Next thing you knew, you felt him slide into you and you immediately gasped since you had been caught off guard.

He was going at a slow, even pace taking his time to give you as much pleasure as possible to take your mind off of everything going on around you.

You then wrapped your left leg around him wanting for him to get as deep as he possibly could. 

You were now laying on Jack's chest as his arm was wrapped around you in a comfortable silence and Jack was the one to break it. 

"Baby, as much as I want to, we can't hide out in my condo forever. I have to promote this album and I've already done what I could to push it back for a week to make sure you were okay.”

"I know and I appreciate you for doing that for me because you definitely didn't have to. I'm not okay in the slightest, but I know that I just have to deal.”

"I would do anything for you. You know that. And I'm going to make sure you get to the point where you are okay." Jack replied as he leaned down to kiss your forehead.

"I just… don't want to face them. My mother more than anyone else."

"I don't like how she has it where you're actually scared of her." 

“I… it's not the fact that I'm scared of her. I just know that no matter how perfect I try to be, that it will never please her and that I'm always going to fall short. All of my siblings don't care for me either except my big sister Eden. Because I'm the only one that will somewhat challenge my parents. It's always been this way.”

“Just know that I only want the best for you and want you to be happy. You deserve that and not be stressed out all the time over what someone else might think about you.”

“I know.” You quietly answered, but your mind was still running a mile a minute.

“You think that you'll be okay when I leave later tonight? I'd rather you come with me. I just don't want to leave you here with them.”

“I don't really have a choice. I have to face them sooner or later. Even if I don't want to.”

“Look if anything happens, anything at all. Say the word and I'll come and get you.” Jack said as he moved a curl out of your face and lightly kissed your nose.

“You're going to be busy and the last thing I want to be is a distraction.”

“Baby, I can promise that you won't be. I would rather have you with me instead of people who upset you on a daily basis. Because how is that a good thing? You don't need to be in that type of environment.” Jack replied as he started playing with the bracelet that graced your wrist that he gifted you.

“She's probably never going to let me sing again.” You quietly said as you felt tears prick the corners of your eyes.

“Why do you need her permission to do it? Just because she might not want you to sing there, doesn't mean you have to stop altogether. Still not over how amazing your voice is and how well you hid that from me.”

“Trust me, it wasn't easy.” You said while laughing.

“No more secrets. Promise?”

“Promise.”

After you had helped Jack pack all of his things and the two of you decided to have a quick dinner together, it was time for you to make your way back home as much as you didn't want to while Jack was set to go to New York.

He had given you several kisses, but you were still holding onto him for dear life not wanting to let him go just yet. 

“You know you can come with me. The offer still stands. Because now you are definitely stalling.” He said while looking down at you. Jack knew your mind was made up, but he didn't want you going back there at all. If your mom is as bad as you had told him, he wanted to keep you far away from her. 

“As much as I want to, I have to do this. I don't want to drag it out longer.”

“Tell me when you get there and what happens when you two talk. I just have a strong feeling that you are about to call me in tears and that is the last thing that I want. If I have to protect you from your own family, then so be it.”

“It might go better than we think.” You said trying to reassure him.

“Babe, are you trying to convince me or yourself?”

“Hmm, maybe both? But I promise to call if something happens.”

Wearing one of Jack's hoodies and a pair of your black leggings, it was around 10 at night once you had slipped through the entrance to your part of the house. 

Once in your bedroom, you turned on the light to see your big sister Eden once again staring at you.

“For future reference, if you are trying to hide out with your boyfriend, turn off your location. Even though you only share it with me.”

“You have got to stop sneaking up on me, Eden!”

“Not a chance. I let you have your fun but now I'm about to yell but this is only out of love and concern.”

You simply nodded as you took a seat next to her on your bed.

“Now you know you can tell me anything and I will never hold it against you. Being in this family is hard enough and you are my baby sister. If you would have come to me, I would have helped you to tell them.”

“I… so many times I wanted to. But I was just scared. He's really important to me and I didn't want anyone or anything to ruin it. Not that I think you would, but everyone else. What did they say when they found out?”

“That was the first time I actually heard your mother cuss if that explains anything. And she was on Google looking him up for about two hours.”  Eden replied and you couldn't help but to laugh.

“And dad?”

“He simply shrugged and said if she's happy, then I'm fine with it.”

“I figured that he would be the one to say that.”

“And she was also upset that you have been M.I.A. obviously.”

“Why does she need to know my every move? She needs to get over herself.”

“You let me know when that happens. Anyway, tell me EVERYTHING. He's really cute and I'm definitely not surprised you two are together. A good match if I do say so myself.”

“Well we met at Taylor's birthday party a while ago and we've been talking ever since. It was only recently that he asked me to be his girlfriend. I've already met his parents and his brother and I absolutely adore them. His friends I only met at the album release party, but so far so good. He's funny, sweet, caring, always putting my feelings into consideration and I just love being around him. I know that you and dad would like him. I really don't care about anyone else.”

“And you shouldn't. He makes you happy and that's the important part and all that matters. As long as he is treating you right, we won't have a problem. Now did you even tell him about…?”

“No, he didn't know and I believe his friends told him and explained it to him which he was mad about and I can understand that. I wasn't honest and I should have been. He forgave me and we're just moving forward. I told him everything including how I know she hates me.”

“I can only imagine the look on his face. And I don't think she hates you. She hates that she can't control you.”

“Yeah, and then the picture didn't help.”

“Did anyone else know about you two? Perhaps, Tania?” Eden asked while eyeing you.

“Yes and she was sworn to secrecy. Just her and no one else.”

“Soooo, when can I meet him?”

“Well he's going to be busy promoting his album, but I'm sure if I bring it up he'll make time for it. I talk to him about you all the time.”

“I don't think I've ever seen you this happy and I hope the two of you stay together for the long haul.”

As Jack was sitting on the plane and playing with his phone, Urban came and sat next to him and simply eyed him.

“Uh, Urb? Can I help you?” Jack asked as he laughed. 

“Are you and Y/N okay? Did she talk to her parents yet?”

“We're fine but not yet. She said she would tell me when it happened. I already told her that I feel like she's going to call me in tears. I wanted her to come with me but she said that she just wanted to get it over with.”

“I hope she'll be okay. It seems like she's never been able to do what she wants.”

“She hasn't. But Neelam told us both not to say anything about it for now hoping that it would eventually blow over. The last thing I wanted to do was leave her in Louisville, but her mind was made up.”

“If her mother is as bad as she claims her to be, I know that this conversation that they are supposed to have is not going to go over well.”

“I'm literally just waiting for her to call me.”

“I wonder what they'll even say to her, I mean she's a whole adult.”

“And from the way that she talks about her, that clearly doesn't matter. She still looks at her like she's a little kid and it doesn't help that she's the youngest either.” Jack replied while shaking his head.

“I know she means a lot to you from the way that you talk about her.”

“She does, I'm just trying to let her see that it's okay to do what makes you happy and to not care what anyone else thinks about it.”

—

You and Eden hid out in your room until the next morning when you figured that it was time to face her. After taking a shower, you slipped on a yellow sundress along with white wedge sandals and straightened your hair. It was time for breakfast, so you started making your way towards the dining room. 

Once you entered the room, all eyes were on you as you took your respective seat in between Eden and Grace. Eden sent you a soft smile while Grace rolled her eyes at you. Matthew and Malachi simply exchanged glances with each other along with their spouses as your mother was burning a hole into you with her gaze. Your dad was simply reading his morning paper as he always did and sent you a small smile. You knew when it came down to it, the only people that you could truly count on in your family was your dad and Eden.

As the breakfast spread was placed on the table, your mother was the first to speak.

“Y/N, you have some nerve showing back up here like you didn't do anything.”

“I haven't done anything wrong and the last time I checked, I lived here.” You responded while piling your plate high with eggs, hash browns, and fruit.

“You call a night on the town with a well known rapper nothing? Where people saw the two of you together?”

“Adalaide….” Your father said to your mother in a warning tone, but she simply brushed him off.

“When you leave this house, you are representing this family, and so far this week, you have been nothing but an embarrassment.”

“That's your opinion and you're entitled to it. I am a grown woman who can do anything she wants and I don't need your approval. I have been under your thumb since the day I was born and have been in control of how I dress, who I talk to, my hair, my makeup, and my career path. It's time that I take control of my life without having you criticizing me.”

"No daughter of mine is going to serve the Lord and then be spreading her legs wide open for her rapper boyfriend. And don't even lie and say that you haven't. You look like the type to give it up to any man who ever glanced your way. And of course you think he loves you because he's told you exactly what you want to hear!" 

“MOM!” Eden exclaimed while looking at her in disbelief but all she did was take a sip of her tea.

"You don't even know him!"

"I know enough and I don't care to have you in my sight any longer. It's clear that you have chosen him over your family. So do me a favor and get out. Leave your house key on the table in the foyer. If he loves you so much as you claim he does, go live with him. And I for damn sure better not see you at my church singing for the Lord on Sunday."

“Adalaide, that's enough! If that's who she loves, who are we to stop it? We want all of our children happy and he obviously makes her happy." Your dad said while shaking his head at her.

“Then she can go and be happy with him and not be under my roof taking up space.”

“Now that's taking it a little too far.” You heard Grace say which you were surprised by.

“She's literally not hurting anyone and always did what you wanted her to do. Why are you ruining the one thing she's done for herself?” Your oldest brother Malachi asked and she rolled her eyes.

“What I said still stands. I want her out and if all of you have a problem with it, you can go and follow her. You better be out of my house by midnight and don't bother showing your face here or at church ever again. As far as I'm concerned, I only have two daughters now.”

A collective gasp was heard at the table, and all you could do was laugh to yourself before saying anything.

“Y/N, don't you get up from this table. You are a part of this family as much as anyone else.”

“It's okay, dad. Trust me, it is. I know how she feels about me.”

“This is entirely uncalled for.” Matthew said while looking at your mother who waa unfazed. You simply turned towards her before speaking.

“Keep in mind what you just told me and don't you dare crawl back to me later and try to apologize. If you want me out, fine. The next time I see you will be at your fucking funeral and not a moment sooner. I'll prove to you that I never needed someone like you in my life to begin with.”

“Y/N!” Grace called after you as you pushed yourself away from the table and made your way into the direction of your room.

You held your head high and was determined not to let the tears fall. You finally stood up to her and didn't regret saying what was on your mind.

Grabbing your phone, you facetimed Jack who immediately answered and could tell that something was wrong from the look on your face.

“Baby….”

“She literally just disowned me.”

[jupiitersreturn]

US Transit Predictions - Part One

More celebrities will be suing people OR getting sued by people for Defamation of Character. However, a specific trope or theme will be present. A lot of celebrities will be suing or getting sued by ex partners, unrequited lovers, and fans during this Neptune - Venus Square Transit. Venus is the ruler of the MC in the official US Birth Chart. We know that the MC rules our public persona. With it squaring Neptune, a lot of celebrities will be going to extreme lengths to protect their public persona against any rumors, assumptions, and lies, especially those about their persona, interpersonal relationships and finances. Since this orb has lessened we have seen the following DoC Lawsuits;

Jack Harlow is suing a Tiktok Creator for DoC for editing pictures of herself with him.

Dan Schneider has sued Nickelodeon for DoC calling "Quiet on Set" a "hit job".

50 Cent is suing his ex girlfriend for DoC alleging that she accused him of assault in an Instagram post.

The woman the hit Netflix show "Baby Reindeer" was written after is suing Netflix for DoC after the show neglected to tell the story from her POV and instead made her out to be a stalker.

The Housing Crisis will continue to worsen and to mitigate this problem houses are going to stop being built, partially due to the government not being able to support the continuation of building. Right now, TR Saturn is Opposite Natal Neptune. Saturn is the ruler of the 2nd House which rules our Finances and Material Possessions. Neptune is the ruler of the 4th House which rules our Home and Security. Saturn is the planet of Restriction and Scarcity. With it currently being opposite the ruler of the 4th House it can indicate either a lack of control over, or TOO MUCH control over both 2nd and 4th House matters, i.e Finances, Housing, Material Possessions, Security.

Celibacy and Abstinence could be reported to have increased amongst members of society with more celebrities revealing themselves to practice it. I also think that Birth Rates and Fertility Rates will be revealed to have been predicted to drop significantly. The ruler of the 5th House is Mars which is currently being squared by TR Saturn which can indicate a lack of children being born in general, or a sudden surge of women waiting until after their Saturn return to have children.

A change in Rulership (The Fall of Congress) The 10th House in Virgo is indicative of our Government in this chart, with it's ruler being Cancer Mercury. TR Pluto is currently square Natal Mercury which can indicate the sudden upheaval, abolishment, and restructuring of the current way of Rulership.

The increase of faith based organizations and movements and the redefining of religion. Pluto in Aquarius will soon be opposite Leo Mercury in the 3rd and 9th House axes which can indicate a sudden uptick in spiritual individuality, self expression regarding religion, spirituality, and more importantly ideologies that people will begin to live by rather than adhering to a specific religion.

An increase in division and fighting over gender, race, sexuality, and religious based conflicts. TR Neptune will be squaring Natal Mars which is sitting in the 7th House, for a long time and the orb is only going to get smaller. I think for now though, we will see a lot of hate and aggression being spread regarding these topics, as well as misinformation and false information to widen the division.

New laws regarding Military Service. TR Saturn (The Planet of Rules and Guidelines) will be Square Natal Mars( The Planet of Aggression and Action, and Military) which sits in the 7th House of Law. Additionally, TR Mars will be in Taurus, transiting through 6th House of Service. So some of these laws could pertain to material belongings, finances, veterans, military service, etc.

[something-tofightfor]

On Deck Part 3: Ducks on the Pond

Pairing: Jack Daniels x Female Reader Baseball AU

Word Count: 7,433

Rating: NSFW - smut, language, feelings (maybe. just a little)

Summary: Having Jack in your house is more than a little overwhelming - but when you realize that it's what he really wants, everything changes.

Author’s notes: 

This chapter was a hell of a lot of tun to write. Trying to strike a balance between what I know happens and what is happening here was a struggle; hopefully you enjoy.

(On Deck universe masterlist for all the extras!)

While there are a lot of baseball references within this story, you only need to know the basics to enjoy it and understand what's going on - we're not getting overly technical here.

As always, if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to reach out.

“Ducks on the Pond” is another term used to describe runners in scoring position. To be considered “in” this position, a player must be on either second or third base due to previous play action. When this happens, any batted ball that results in a hit is likely to score one - or more - of the runners. These players are ready and waiting for the current batter’s action.

He parked in the driveway next to your car, turning his head to look through the window and at you. Did I actually invite him back to my place? Jack waited to get out until you were standing in the driveway, motioning for him to follow. I did. Shit.

There was no other way to describe it: you were nervous. But you were also excited - and you hoped that that emotion was the one that would win out. I didn’t think it would get to this point. I never really believed I’d get the chance to have him here.

He was quiet as he entered your house, but by the time you’d set your bag and keys on the counter, Jack was talking again - and you liked the way that the sound of his voice filled your home. “I like this place.” He’d stopped to take his shoes off by the door, glancing up as he undid the laces. “Smells nice.” He straightened up, looking around at your front hall and into the living room. “It’s real lived in.” 

“I moved in when my uncle offered me my job.” You crossed your arms over your chest, stepping back toward him. “I don’t … plan on staying here forever, but it’s worked out for me so far.” Shrugging, you gestured with one hand. “It’s just me, so it’s all I need. I’m sure it’s smaller than yours, though.”

“I actually just have a condo here.” He sniffed, reaching up to scratch the side of his neck. “It’s nice, but it’s nothin’ fancy. Not real big either. My place back in Texas?” Jack groaned. “That’s home. And it’s a hell of a lot bigger.” You’d seen the pictures he posted online - nothing seriously revealing, but still enough to give you an idea of what his houses looked like.  “And I’ve been livin’ out of a hotel while I rehab, so this is much bigger.” He winked. “You gonna give me the grand tour?”

“Oh, shit. Yeah, I… come on.” You gestured for him to follow you, wincing as soon as you turned your back. Of course he doesn’t want to stand around and talk. He came here for a reason. No matter how much fun you had with him that day, Jack’s interest in you was likely purely physical. He’s not here to be a friend. “Bathroom’s right here.” You pointed, clearing your throat. “And my bedroom’s -”

Jack said your name, the sound of it freezing you in place. As he spoke, asking you to turn around, you felt his hand on your back before it slid over to your hip and was joined by his other one on the opposite side of your body. What is… He waited until you were facing him again to continue, his tone softening. “Are you nervous?”

“A little.” There was no point in lying to him, and you figured things would go smoothly as long as you were on the same page to start. “I’m not … this isn’t something I do often, and especially not with someone I just met.” 

“Can I make it a whole lot easier for you?” He stepped closer, his hands still on your hips. “No pressure. I didn’t come back here with you because I expect anything, even though it was implied.” He smirked at you, but the expression wasn’t unkind. “I would like to kiss you again, though. And since we’ve already gotten the first one out of the way, I figure the second will -”

You moved quickly, leaning in and tilting your head - and when you met Jack’s lips with yours, some of your nerves dissipated. His hold on you tightened, Jack groaning - but then he pulled away, his eyes wide. He looks shocked. Should I not have … oh, no. “Jack?”

“Didn’t seem too nervous there.” He winked again, straightening his shoulders. “Good. That’s real good.” You agreed, your eyes flicking over to the side and then back to him, your smile growing. “Do you want to keep going and show me that bedroom, or go back to -”

“I’ll show you the bedroom.” You bit the inside of your lip, eyes locked with his. “We’re already pretty close.” He laughed quietly, his fingertips brushing against yours when you turned away and started walking down the hall. “It’s a little messy, so -”

“You should see mine.” He entered behind you, Jack’s voice low. “I hate puttin’ clothes away, so I always have two baskets: one clean, one dirty.” You huffed out a laugh, scanning the room for anything embarrassing while Jack kept going. “And my underwear drawer? Pfft. Nothin’s folded. Socks either.”

“I figured you’d have someone doing your laundry for you. Maybe a housekeeper.” You leaned against your dresser, crossing your arms and watching as Jack took a seat on the edge of the bed. “Your schedule has to be really busy, and I’m sure the last thing you want to do is clean your kitchen or the bathroom or -”

“I do have a housekeeper.” Jack winced. “But she doesn’t touch my bedroom or my laundry.” Interesting. “You got me pegged, huh?” 

“It was just a guess.” You uncrossed your arms and pushed forward, heading for where he sat. “But… yeah, maybe I do.” He smiled at you, the expression genuine and reaching his eyes. “And Jack?” He hummed, waiting. “Laundry sucks, so I can’t say shit about the two baskets thing.” 

Jack’s laugh filled your room, and before you realized it was happening, he reached out for you and hauled you into the bed with him, both of you rolling onto the mattress. You braced yourself with both hands, ending up on your back. When you felt Jack’s weight atop you, you gasped, the sudden realization that Jack Daniels was in your bed flooring you. 

“You alright?” You nodded, staring up at him. “Good.” His eyes moved over your face, Jack’s smile locked in place. “I made you a promise at that park, an’ I think it’s time you let me follow through.” 

“I do too.” Swallowing, you cautiously reached up, putting your hand on his shoulder. “If you can.” He rolled his eyes before taking a breath, and then Jack was closing the distance between the two of you. Why am I challenging him? I already know he’s going to live up to it.

Your heart thumped in your chest, the beat slightly erratic. When his mouth met yours, your lips were already parted, giving him the perfect opening. He took it, the tip of his tongue poking out to meet the fullest part of your lower lip - and at that feeling, it was you that reacted, your hold on him tightening. 

And you moaned when he pushed it between them, your mouth opening wider to accommodate Jack’s. His response was to deepen the kiss further, his tongue stroking along the edge of yours, one slow drag after another. He was right. There’s nothing disappointing about this. 

You raised your hand from his shoulder to the back of his head, but when you pushed your fingers into the silky strands of his hair and pulled, he broke away, backing off with a grunt. “That’s what you like?” I mean… yeah. “Me too.” 

“Jack, you -” You didn’t get to finish the sentence before he was kissing you again, that one slightly messier and nowhere near as deep. It was followed by a series of shorter ones, each of them purposeful. 

In all of the fantasies you’d had about Jack, none of them included the fact that he liked to make out. You’d assumed that he would have just gone for it, uninterested in foreplay and wanting to get right to the main event. But I’ve never been happier to be wrong. 

You combed through his hair again when he moved his lips from your mouth to your cheek and then down over your jaw, his mustache dragging over the thin skin it met. And you angled your head so that he could move even lower, Jack’s mouth trailing down the column of your neck until it reached your shoulder. He paused there, sucking gently, but you didn’t even attempt to speak until your felt his tongue moving over the same area, leaving a damp trail in its wake. Before this gets too far, I need to … 

“Jack, wait.” You pushed him away, and he let you - propping himself up on his good arm and giving you a chance to collect your thoughts. “I don’t want to get carried away. Do you have…” You trailed off when you felt his fingertips moving along the inside of your forearm, though this eyes remained on your face. Unfair. This is unfair, he … “Do you have a condom? Because -”

“I do.” He nodded, his expression serious. “Not specifically for today, though. I just carry ‘em with me.” That didn’t surprise you - but his next words did. “And if we’re gonna do this, I’ve got a couple rules.” Oh. Rules? What … “No pictures or video. You left your bag in the other room, so I’m not worried about that.” You nodded, deciding to wait before you replied. “Anything that can be seen when I’m in my jersey … you can’t make marks there - nothin’ from your mouth or your hands.” That made sense to you, too, and you nodded again. “I’m not gonna stay over.” He looked apologetic at that revelation, Jack licking at his lower lip briefly and then giving you a tight smile. “That’s just for tonight though, it’s not a general rule. It’s because I’ve gotta be up early tomorrow to go to the stadium, and then I’m drivin’ back before the game, so I need time to pack.” 

“OK.” Your voice was quiet, heart still beating wildly. So it means he stays sometimes. Just not this time. “OK to all of those. What -” 

“And one more thing.” Something else? “I’m gonna need you to keep pullin’ on my hair as much as you want to, darlin’, because I like that a hell of a lot.” Good. I like it a hell of a lot, too. 

That made you laugh, but it was a short sound as you leaned in closer, nodding your agreement. “You got it, Jack.” Slipping your fingers back into his hair, you pulled on the strands, which earned you another low groan from him. You liked the sound - maybe a little too much. Detouring from another kiss, you turned your head to the side and craned your neck so that you could speak into his ear. “Take off your shirt.” 

He froze at the sound of your voice, but it only took seconds for him to push his weight off of you, Jack sitting up on the edge of your bed and taking a long breath. “You gonna do the same?” He tilted his chin down, the smile creeping back across his lips. “Now’s a good time.” 

You sat up, too, but you didn’t move your hands. 

Instead, you waited to watch as Jack used his left one to grip the bottom hem of his t-shirt before pulling it over his head in one smooth motion. Holy shit, I’ve never seen anyone do that in real life before. “Jesus, Jack. That …” He grinned and then stood up, giving you the opportunity to stare as he positioned himself in front of you. 

He was gorgeous  - even more so than you’d imagined he would be. You let your eyes roam from where his jeans sat low on his waist, up and over the slight curve of his belly. Jack put both hands on his hips, which made his muscles flex again. As your eyes continued their journey upward, you bit down on your lower lip. “You see anything you like?”

“You know I do.” Humming as you eyed his broad, freckled chest, you shook your head slowly. “Can’t believe they make you cover all this up with a uniform every night.” 

“I try to show a little skin.” He shrugged. “Always keep a couple buttons undone.” That made you laugh again, and when you realized that Jack was the type to joke in the bedroom, you shivered. I’m going to enjoy this. “I think it’s your turn to do the same.” He was right. You’d stalled slightly, enthralled by the sight of him. But in order to actually take the night further, you’d need to remove your clothing, too. 

“I can do that.” You didn’t stay seated, though. Standing in front of him, you also pulled your shirt over your head, letting it drop beside your feet. He reached out, both of his hands sliding over your sides, and at the first contact of his palms to your bare skin, you gasped. “Jack, y-” You didn’t get to finish. He urged you closer, hands moving over your body so that one could settle against your lower back, the other traveling up to stop between your shoulders. 

Both of yours found their way to his stomach, your fingers curling inward. “I forgot somethin’.” He spoke quietly, tilting his head so that he could kiss your cheek. His facial hair tickled your skin with each word, Jack continuing to speak the closer he got to your mouth. “Probably don’t need to say it, but my shoulder’s still not at 100%, so we also need to be careful with that.” 

“Of course.” You agreed, and your hand slid lower, fingers catching the button of his jeans. “The last thing I’d want to do is hurt you right before you’re set to come back.” You popped the button and then moved your hand to the zipper. As you undid it, he dragged the edges of his nails across your skin. It made your back arch and pushed your chest against his, which is what Jack seemed to be waiting for. 

Things moved quickly from there, both of you impatient to rid each other of your remaining clothing. 

You undid the zipper while Jack unhooked your bra, both of his large hands sliding apart so that the could grab the straps. By the time you were pushing his jeans down and over his hips, he’d eased the material over your shoulders so that it dropped down your arms, the elastic catching on the crook of your elbow.

Being so exposed in front of Jack after such a short time should have scared you. It should have worried you, especially after the other women he’d likely been with throughout the years… but it didn’t. Instead, his touch thrilled you, and when he stepped out of his jeans and kicked them to the side, you opened your mouth to tell him - and were cut off with a searing kiss. 

He wasted no time, mouth locked against yours, his lips parted and the tip of his tongue prodding against the seam of your lips and waiting for you to give him access. Oh, Jack. It didn’t matter to you that what was going on was likely a one time thing, It didn’t matter that within a few hours, he’d be dressed and gone. 

Because for the time being, he was there, with you. He was in your bedroom, with his hands and mouth on you - and yours were on him. And he started this. The kiss continued, Jack deepening it as his fingers curved around the back of your neck, keeping you close. 

You broke away with a gasp, letting out a shuddering breath. I need to focus for a second. Jack’s eyes were wide, but before he could question you, you reached down and undid your only remaining button. Here goes nothing. You glanced down to watch as your pants followed the same path his had taken, sliding down your legs before you could step out of them. You caught a glimpse of him then, the material of the trunks he wore straining to contain a sizeable bulge. Ok. That looks … 

Almost as though he could tell exactly where you were looking, Jack reached up with one hand to adjust himself. At the sight of his hand against the dark material, fingers curled around himself, you sighed, licking your lips. I want to know how he tastes. “Can I -”

“No.” Jack cleared his throat and then said your name, waiting until you were looking up at him again to say anything else. No? What did I - “We don’t know each other well enough for that yet.” Yet? Does that mean he wants to know me better? “Hey.” He used one finger to tip your chin upward, his mouth lifting in a smirk. “That’s my own rule, but that doesn’t mean it applies to you too.” The tip of his tongue flashed between his lips, his eyes locked on yours. “I’d like nothin’ more than to -”

“No.” You backed away, your own smile growing. If I can’t go there, neither can you. “We should play by the same rules. Make it fair.” He looked surprised at that, both eyebrows shooting up, but Jack didn’t question it. Instead, he bent over and reached into his jeans pocket for his wallet. 

Flipping it open, he pulled a condom free and then turned away from you, setting it - and the billfold - down onto the tabletop next to your bed. You used the opportunity to stare at his back and the way his muscles flexed with each movement, his skin smooth. 

There was a smattering of freckles over his shoulders that you knew you’d think about each time you saw him on the field, but after only a few seconds he turned to face you again, one brow arched. “Bed?” You couldn’t speak, and so you just nodded in reply, forcing yourself to turn away from him and climb back in. Ok. Ok, it’s happening, and he’s going to … 

You felt his hands on you before you could get settled, Jacks’s fingers sliding beneath the waistband of your underwear and then tugging. He eased them down, and when you straightened your legs and laid down on your stomach, folding your arms beneath your head, he removed them completely. 

Jack was silent for almost too long, and when you turned your head further to see what was wrong, you gasped. He was standing next to the side of your bed, staring down at you - but instead of both hands hanging by his sides, the fingers of one of them were curled around his length, the man as naked as you were. 

Jack stroked himself slowly, and when he saw that you were watching, one side of his mouth crept upward in a sly smile. “Found somethin’ I like lookin’ at, too.” 

You were fine until he winked. At the sight of that, you breathed out his name, both eyes closing. He laughed quietly, and when you felt the mattress dip a few seconds later, followed by the brush of his knee alongside yours, you knew what he was going to do. 

He swung his other leg so that he was straddling your thighs, and then Jack leaned forward, one hand flat on the bed next to you to support his weight with his uninjured arm. He touched you with the other one, fingertips trailing over your curves and then up, and your eyes flew open at the feeling of his mouth following those fingers, pressing kisses to the exposed expanse of your back. 

You would have been content to let him kiss his way up the entire length of your body, but only moments after you felt him run the tip of his nose up the line of your spine, Jack spoke again. “Roll over.” He nipped at your skin, the edges of his teeth dragging, and before he got out the next word - a quiet please - you were moving, slowly flipping over so that you were on your back and staring up at him. 

There was a warmth in his eyes that surprised you - and you wanted to take advantage of it. “C’mere.” You brought both hands up, one of them resting against his shoulder and the other urging him to move his face toward yours. “Let me k-”

“Not yet.” Jack nipped at the heel of your hand and then ducked down, zeroing in on one side of your chest. His lips closed around your nipple and when he sucked, your back arched, fingers tightening against his arm before you gasped and muttered the word sorry, moving it down and toward the space between his shoulders. But he didn’t pull away. Instead, he sucked harder and then released your skin, flicking his tongue against it a few times before you felt the graze of his teeth. 

You moaned then, wanting him to hear how turned on you were, and it was the right decision. 

He switched to the other side of your chest, mouthing his way across your sternum. When he reached your other breast, you groaned out his name, hips rising from their place on the mattress to meet his. He swore at the contact, but Jack chased your movement with his own, even as he lapped at the curve of your skin. 

You felt how hard he was - the length of him hot against your lower abdomen, a warm, sticky smear dragging against your belly with every short thrust of Jack’s hips. “Jack.” You whispered to get his attention, heart thrumming in your chest. “Jack, hey.” He raised his head at the sound of your voice, but he didn’t sit up, instead staring at you with his chin pressed against your heated skin. “You’re too far away.” Using your free hand as a demonstration of your words, you slipped it between your bodies. “I can’t reach you.” 

“That what you want?” Jack wet his lips, taking a deep breath. “You wanna get your hands on me?”

“Yes.” Dropping your hand, you pressed it to your belly. “As a matter of fact, I do.” Jack straightened up then, sliding both knees forward and then settling back so that his weight rested on his calves. Your gaze dropped from his face to his chest and then lower, and before you had a chance to talk yourself out of it, you were using both hands to push yourself up and into a sitting position, widening the spread of your legs just enough so that you could bend your knees and plant your feet to help you balance. “What do you like?”

“I’m gonna like whatever you do.” He leaned in, voice low. “So don’t you worry ‘bout that.” Those words were all you needed, your eyes closing as you met him in another kiss. That one was slow, and it was you that slipped your tongue between his lips first, the sound Jack made almost too quiet to notice. But you liked that, didn’t you. 

You wondered if he could hear - or feel - the thudding of your heart, the beat of it traitorously quick. He knows. He’s gotta know. You reached out slowly, your fingers closing around Jack - and when you stroked him for the first time, the thrust of his hips toward you was immediate, Jack’s kiss turning hungry. He held you close, one arm wound around your shoulders, the other hand pressed flat against your lower back. Wait, though. Wait a second … 

Releasing him, you pulled your hand away slowly, and when Jack mumbled your name, backing up, it was your turn to wink. “Just a sec.” Averting your eyes, you looked down, hoping that he would do the same. Am I really going to do this? The sight of him - so close to the apex of your thighs - made the decision for you. Yes, I am. You slid your fingers between your own legs, coating them. 

“Oh, fuck.” You heard him - and knew that he was watching. Good. “Can I -”

“Yeah.” You let out a shuddering breath and moved your hand back to him, your slick fingers gliding up and down his length. “Yes, Jack.” He scooted back a few inches, and though you never broke your rhythm, it changed the angle, making it easier for you to pause at his tip to swirl your thumb around and over it a few times before giving him another firm stroke. 

He rested his forehead against your shoulder and stared downward between your bodies, Jack’s breathing quick. And when he touched you for the first time, it caught you by surprise - the press of his thumb turning into a slow circle of the digit. Then it was you that cried out his name, hips jerking forward and your grip tightening around him. Fuck that feels good.

He couldn’t do much else with the way you were positioned, but when Jack lifted his head to meet your eyes again, he grinned at the sight of your face - mouth hanging open and both eyes wide. “Lay down.” He swallowed, closing his eyes and shaking his head briefly. Wait, what? “Lay down.”

“But I won’t be able to -”

“I know.” He moved his hand, letting it rest against the crease of your thigh. “Lay back.” You stroked him twice more and then did as he asked, reluctantly pulling your hand away as you settled against the blankets and pillows. You wanted to bring your hand to your mouth and pop your thumb between your lips - tasting even the slightest bit of him. But he said no. He said not this time. And so you didn’t, getting comfortable and raising your hips as you waited to see what Jack would do, both hands resting by your sides on the blankets.

He repositioned himself, too, moving so that he was kneeling beside you before urging your legs further apart with one hand. It had only been a few minutes since you’d climbed into bed together, but time slowed as Jack twisted his wrist and slipped three fingers between your legs, two of them spreading you open and the other pushing slowly into you. 

He focused on what he was doing, the smile never leaving his lips, and even though you wanted to watch, you couldn’t. Your eyes closed and you turned your head to the side, mouth open as your hips rocked forward and into his touch. One finger inside of you turned into two, each thrust of them a little deeper than the last. 

He knew what he was doing - that much was clear - but Jack wasn’t trying to make you come. Instead, he was focused on pleasuring you, opening you up carefully. Because he’s big. Swallowing, you opened your eyes and forced out a breath, turning your head to watch him again. 

For a brief second, you considered saying fuck an even playing field and telling him you wanted his mouth. Jack would have done it without question - you could see the look in his eyes, watched the way he licked at his lips while his fingers pumped in and out of you. Even just the thought of it turned you on, and you wondered if he could tell. 

You wanted to know what it felt like to have him between your thighs, and could very clearly imagine how good the rub of his mustache against your sensitive skin would feel. Not tonight. Not this time. Not - 

“I need to fuck you.” His voice broke you out of your thoughts and when you met his gaze, Jack’s chest was heaving. “Grab the condom.” You groped for it without looking away and when you handed it over, he accepted it with one hand, the other still on you. “I can’t…” He groaned, closing his eyes and pulling his fingers out. You inhaled through your nose at the loss of contact, but Jack didn’t keep you waiting. The sound of the condom opening was followed by a quiet hiss as he rolled it on and then held it in place, squeezing himself. “I can’t hold myself up.” 

It hadn’t even occurred to you. Of course he can’t. Holding himself up would be … “Ok.” Nodding, you moved to push yourself up again. “Ok, so I’ll get on top, I -”

“No.” Jack stroked himself once, pushing his shoulders back. “I’ve got a better idea.” Gesturing with his free hand, he pointed. “Lay down on your side.” 

You thought about it for a few seconds and then did just that, rolling onto the side that would allow him to keep his injured arm free. Jack got into position behind you, his body pressed against yours. One arm slid between you and the mattress and then bent at the elbow to cross up and over your chest. He wants me close.“Wh-”

“Relax.” He kissed the back of your shoulder and then squeezed your arm. “I’ve got you.” Reaching down, he gripped your thigh and then eased your leg up and back, urging you to drape it over both of his. “This alright?”

“Yeah.” You nodded, a smile on your face as your eyes closed. “It is, Jack.” He squeezed your hip and then reached between you, guiding himself into place. You held your breath in anticipation, and Jack didn’t keep you waiting. Nudging his hips forward, Jack slipped partway in - and your body did the rest. 

Rocking your hips back at the same time he pushed forward ensured that he was buried in your heat in a single, smooth stroke. You gasped at the feeling, but that reaction was nothing compared to Jack’s. He didn’t speak, instead turning his head and then ducking it so that he was pressing his lips to your throat, breath leaving him in rapid pants that warmed your skin further. 

He only gave you seconds to adjust and then he pulled back slowly, hips easing away from you before he urged them forward again, setting the pace. He gripped your hip hard, fingers digging into your skin, and for a few minutes, you let yourself get lost in him - in the way he felt and sounded and the way he was touching you, the hand on your chest sliding down so that he could cup one breast in his palm, squeezing just enough that you could feel it. 

He groaned against your neck and then bit down - not hard enough to hurt but hard enough to make you whine. While you reacted to that, he moved the hand from your hip down, returning it to the space between your legs.  

That angle was better - and Jack wasted no time in zeroing in with his fingertips, circling against you with quick, precise motion. It felt good - better than good, if you were being honest - and your body fell into rhythm with Jack faster than you anticipated. But something’s… Opening your eyes, you frowned. Something’s missing.

It was just sex. You knew it was just sex, and you understood the need for the positon; Jack’s health and well-being the most important things to consider. But … “Hey, you alright?” Murmuring the words into your ear, he slowed the motion of his hips and hand, though he didn’t stop either of them entirely. “You got real… stiff.” 

“Yeah, I …” Closing your eyes, you reached up with one hand, wrapping your fingers around his wrist. “I’m fine, I just …” Moving your hips backward to meet his as he thrust forward, you sighed. “I’m not used to not doing anything, and I feel like I should b-” 

“How ‘bout this?” He kissed the underside of your jaw, saying your name as he sunk back into you. “Next time, you’re in charge?” Next time? So that means… He circled his hips slowly, but didn’t pull out, leaving you completely full of him - and waiting to see what he’d say next. “How’s that sound?” 

Twisting your upper body so that you could look up at him, you took a deep breath and nodded. “Yeah. That sounds … acceptable.” He laughed at you, the corners of his eyes crinkling. It was just a natural reaction - Jack’s response to a humorous comment - but it made your chest tight, nonetheless. I want to make him look at me like that again. You reached up then, your hand sliding along the side of his neck and then further back and into his hair, the roots damp with sweat. Jack got the hint, leaning forward until he could kiss you again. 

That time, he bit down on your lower lip, taking it between his teeth and tugging before he released it, mouth sealed over yours. It was a familiar kiss - much more familiar than you’d expected with him, but it helped to put you at ease. You nodded slowly as you kissed him back, fingers tightening in his hair as Jack’s hand resumed its previous pace - and so did the pace of his hips. 

You wanted to prolong things - wanted to extend the time you’d get to spend in bed with him, but your body had other ideas. In the space of only a minute or two, you felt the heat gathering low in your belly, your breathing quickening by the second. Jack’s hips snapped against yours, and when he groaned, you felt the vibration before he broke the kiss and rested his forehead against the side of your face. 

He was sticky with sweat, but it was the sound of his voice you focused on. You weren’t even sure that he knew he was speaking, but each word went straight to your core, your fingers closing around his forearm as your mouth fell open. “Feels amazing. So fucking good. Wanted you all week.” You did? He groaned and tilted his head so that he could kiss the top of your shoulder, and you moaned at the feeling of the edge of his nail as it grazed your skin, the motion of his hand slowing. 

That got to him. 

Jack’s hips stuttered, and when your eyes opened, you realized that it wasn’t going to be you that came first. “Oh, fuck, Jack.” Lifting your hand again, you threaded your fingers through his hair, pulling harder than you had earlier. “You’re right there, aren’t you? So fucking close.” He nodded, each of his exhales hot against your sticky skin. “Let me feel it.” You sighed again, turning your face away from him to press it against the blankets and biting your lip as you arched your back, forcing him in deeper. “Feel you.” 

He came without warning, a low, almost strangled moan erupting from his lips as his hips slowed, the muscles in his thighs tensing along with the ones in his abdomen. You felt the heat through the thin latex, Jack filling the condom as the pressure of his fingers between your legs increased. “Feel that?” He groaned the words out, his voice uneven. “Made me come fast because I wanted you so goddamn bad.” He grunted, continuing to move. “‘S’your turn now.” 

“Yes, I -” You stopped when he latched onto your shoulder again, the pressure of his teeth firm. Your hips jerked backward and toward his, the combination of everything he was doing too much to hold off your own orgasm any longer. 

But unlike Jack, you were vocal about it, his name tumbling from your mouth over and over even as your muscles seized around him, the heat uncoiling and spreading through your body as your hold on him tightened. Oh, fuck. 

Jack’s hand slid back down your chest and settled over your heart, and when he released your skin from between his teeth, you felt him smiling against it, even as the movement of his fingers stopped and his hips slowed. “Fuck you feel good.” Yeah, so do you. Both of you were breathing hard, but it was Jack that moved first, swiping his fingers in one more slow circle against you and causing you to jerk backwards and press against his body before he pulled his hand away. What is … 

You got your answer moments later when his damp fingers trailed over your thigh and then your hip before moving between your bodies to steady himself  as he withdrew. Humming as he pulled out, you brought your hand up to rub at your face while you caught your breath, already steeling yourself for the loss of him behind you. “Jack, I -”

“Shh.” He eased free, a long exhale hitting the back of your shoulder. “Can you move?” Move? You want me to get up? “Face me, I mean?” The question shocked you, but you did what he asked, moving your leg first and then carefully turning in his arms. “You good?” 

“Good? Yeah.” Fighting the urge to lift your hand and push the hair away from his forehead, you narrowed your eyes. “Why wouldn’t I be good?” 

“Donno. That was pretty quick.” He swallowed, the tip of his tongue emerging to wet his lips. “Didn’t mean for it to be.” You didn’t? “Sorry abut that.” He used his right hand to touch your shoulder, his eyes dropping to the skin and his lips turning downward into a frown. “I know I said you had to be careful, and then I just -”

“Don’t apologize.” You did reach up then, fingers brushing over his temple and easing the hair away from his face. “I liked it.” His eyes widened and then Jack laughed, ducking his head to kiss you quickly, his hand gripping your hip. “A lot.” Instead of backing away after the kiss, Jack stayed put, his mouth hovering just above yours. You wondered what he was waiting for - if he wanted you to say something else or if he was about to speak again, but instead of giving you too much time to consider, he acted. 

It caught you by surprise when he kissed you again, his tongue licking over the curve of your lower lip. You didn’t keep him waiting, though, angling your head and opening your mouth for him. If you only had a few minutes left before he was gone, you were going to make the most of them - and if Jack wanted to kiss you like he had no intention of leaving your bed, you sure as hell weren’t going to stop him.

Eyes closed, you kissed him back, one hand absently moving over the curve of his shoulder and then down, trailing along the muscles of his bicep. You would have liked to continue exploring his body, but Jack broke the kiss with a sigh, shaking his head.

“I’ve gotta go.” You knew it was coming but it still hurt, the sting of knowing that he was just going to leave canceling out some of the elation you felt at being in his arms. “I fucking hate to just …” Jack trailed off, taking a deep breath. “I wish I could stay.”

“You don’t have to do that, Jack.” Bringing your hand to the front of his body, you spread your fingers against his chest. “I get it.” You repositioned your shoulders, nodding. “Places to go, suitcases to pack, baseball games to play.” His eyes darkened briefly, lips falling back into a frown - but Jack recovered, smiling as he nodded at you. 

“Can I use your bathroom?” He got up as soon as you gave him permission, one hand holding the condom in place while he rolled away and then got out of the bed. You watched shamelessly as he crossed the room and then left it, pushing the door all the way open and disappearing into the hallway. As soon as you heard that door close, you sighed, rolling onto your back and covering your face with both hands. 

“Holy fuck.” You needed to get up, too. You needed to get out of the bed and get dressed, so that when Jack came back into the room, he didn’t find you laying where he’d left you. There would be plenty of time to think about him and about the time you’d spent with him after he was gone. I wonder if he’ll think about me, too. 

That question motivated you enough to get you on your feet. 

After you’d used the towel from your shower earlier to clean yourself up, you pulled on a t-shirt and a pair of pajama shorts, glancing at yourself in the mirror after you were dressed. He’s going to need to come back in here, and he’s naked, so… 

You padded down the hallway and knocked softly on the door, letting him know that you’d be downstairs. But you didn’t wait for a reply, heading briefly into your second bathroom and then into the kitchen, pulling two bottles of water from the fridge. You downed most of one before he appeared in the doorway of your kitchen, once again dressed, though his hair was still somewhat unruly. I like it like that. 

“That for me?” He pointed at the second bottle and you nodded, sliding it across the counter. He drank from it, keeping his eyes on you. It was awkward, but only slightly, and when he finished with his water, Jack swiped a hand across his mouth and grinned at you. “Thank you, darlin’.” 

“Of course.” You sipped, shrugging. “A bottle of water is the least I can do.” 

“No, not for that.” He scratched at his cheek, keeping his eyes on you. “For today.” He’s thanking me for sex? Your expression must have fallen enough that he saw it, because Jack immediately circled the counter to where you were standing, reaching out to wind an arm around you. “No, not like that. I’m not thankin’ you for … shit. I sound like such an asshole, don’t I?” He paused, glancing up. “It was real nice to not feel like this was just a hookup because of who I am.” Oh. Oh, that’s different. 

“You’re welcome.” You reached for his hand, linking your fingers together and squeezing. “I had fun today, too.” His smile widened at your words and to your surprise, Jack pulled you into a tight hug, letting go of your hand to hold you close. You hugged him back, turning your head and pressing your cheek against his broad chest. “Maybe we can do it again sometime.” 

The words slipped out before you could stop them, but Jack agreed, taking a step back and saying your name quietly and looking directly into your eyes as he continued. “I’d like that.” There was nothing left to prolong his leaving, and when Jack turned away and toward the hallway, you followed, though not closely. “I’ll be back up here later this week, if everything goes well.” He put on one shoe and looked up at you, nodding. “Can I call you?” 

“Sure.” Crossing your arms over your chest, you bit the inside of your lip. “That would be great.” You wanted to say more, but chose not to. And when Jack stood up, patting his back pockets to make sure he had everything, you leaned against the wall, watching. I have to lock the door, it’s not like I’m hovering. “Drive safe, Jack. You’re gonna be on the road a lot this week.” 

“Yeah, I am.” He reached for the doorknob then, fingers closing around it. But before he pulled it open, Jack spun back to face you and crossed the small space, crowding you against the wall. “I know I have to go, but …” He trailed off as you tried to process what was happening, but before you could get your bearings, he was kissing you, the wall at your back and his body pressed to your front. 

Is this fucking happening? He pushed his tongue between your lips, letting out a quick breath through his nose, and then Jack’s hand slid beneath your shirt and up. His fingers splayed wide against your side, though they curled inward when you nipped at his lower lip, tugging on it. It is. And he started it and… 

You broke apart with a quiet gasp, and after Jack pressed another kiss to your mouth, he said your name, tone serious. “No maybe about it. I want to do this again.” 

Straightening up, Jack winked at you and then moved to open the door, lips curving up into the smile that you were all too familiar with. Ok. Ok, yeah. Yeah, me too. 

“Yes.” It was all you could manage - one word in a breathless exhale - but it seemed to be all he needed, because you got another grin before he stepped outside in the the still-warm darkness of the mid August summer, closing the door behind him. 

---

[ryuichirou]

Replies

Some replies!

Anonymous asked:

Do you have an Ao3 account?

I honestly forgot that I had one because I don’t read or write fics… so it’s just for leaving kudos from time to time when I remember to log in lol

Katsu’s account isn’t as empty as mine though! But Katsu doesn’t write fanfics very often; the one I posted a sketch for yesterday was the first twst one Katsu wrote.

Anonymous asked:

I was looking at Union birthday interviews again, and the deserted island answers spark some really really reallyinteresting scenarios... Stuck in a deserted island without Internet with a guy who now can do whatever he wants with you(r body) 👀👀👀 And you can't even complain because YOU chose him!!!

Truth to be told, I originally thought of this with Lilia/Vil considering how Lilia behaved back in Stitch event, but then I realized it could be so scrumptious with other ships too! Ruggie/Deuce, Kalim/Leona, Jack/Jamil (and these three who picked victims to stuck with on an deserted island: Jack/Epel, Rook/Silver, Ortho/Malleus)

I really love this question, I wish the next bunch of birthday interviews would have more “theoretical scenario” questions like this one. It’s like the characters themselves give us a prompt for a fic or a doujin lol Stuck in a deserted island…together…

Lilia/Vil on a deserted island sounds like a delightful time, but I also don’t know what Lilia did in the Stitch event, so maybe it’s not as delightful as I picture it LOL But all of these combinations are so fun… I think Rook/Silver and Ortho/Malleus are the ones I would love to see the most.

Also, if I remember correctly, Idia went through an entire list of characters before making his pick, the boy ANALYSED IT he is so picky!!

Anonymous asked:

I was rereading Lilia's union birthday card (spoilers now if you haven't watched it— you should!!!) And thinking that his ideal brother being someone who is not "boring or too independent" but more unpredictable and interesting is really silly when it sounds like his ideal "baby brother" is the total opposite of Silver lol 😭 I can't help but think Lilia has been waiting Silver's whole life for him to hit his rebellious phase and start acting out, but Silver remains as adoring and steadfast as ever... I wonder what Silver would think of this lol

OH I remember that one!! It’s funny how pretty much the first thing he said was “well not Vil or Trey”, like why would you even mention them then, Peepaw? So mean lol

It really is very easy to imagine Lilia waiting for Silver to become a little rebel… If he had had a moment of disobedience or brattiness, Lilia would’ve probably secretly be very pleased. It’s like wow! I’m raising a little firecracker. Or maybe it was a pleasant contrast with Malleus: finally, a child that isn’t trying to burn your face out of pettiness lol

Maybe Silver would get confused and/or upset by it… he is trying his best to be the best son for Lilia, and all this time Lilia just wanted more trouble?

Anonymous asked:

do you ever intend to watch cloudcalling on the savanna/tamashina mina? i know you’re not a big fan of leona and leona’s the star of the show, and i honestly can’t say i disagree with your criticisms of book 2 — frankly, if you said it’s the weakest book, the majority of the fandom would agree with you (and idk if you know but there’s a theory that book 2 was originally book 6, bc when the books were being announced before the game’s release, they were largely in order except savanaclaw being 6 instead of 2. which is admittedly not amazing evidence that the order was rearranged way too late in development, but it’d explain why b2 is so rushed and just… bad, and p. much all other advertisement and promotional material for the game since then has been in the current order). however i feel that this event does a lot for leona’s character, and also offers a lot of worldbuilding for the savanna and context for the way he is. almost like an apology for fumbling the bag on book 2 haha. i’m not trying to force you btw and it’s totally fair if you don’t want to or have other things you want to watch first!!! i’m just a faceless blob on the internet and i obviously can’t (and don’t want to!) force you. i just recommend this event, as a resident catboy lover and lion snuggler!! :3

besides that, are there any potential events that you want to see? for example i’d love an event that takes us to the coral sea, briar valley, or even the isle of woe!!

In general, Anon, we would love to watch all the events at some point (or at least the majority of them), but yeah to be honest Tamashina Mina isn’t really in our top-10 when it comes to priority.

Even though it has Lilia, Vil and Kalim, whom we love a lot, and actually learning more about Savanna would be very cool, and the idea of Leona’s character being better written there is inviting, I guess we’re just not in a Leona mood most of the times lol It all boils down to how I just don’t like the way he is written the majority of times. This balance always feels off somehow, and the way he bounces off other characters doesn’t feel as fun, but maybe it’s due to my personal taste and me disliking this type of character in general. I don’t even know how to describe it in a way that makes sense.

But the thing is, Leona has moments that I genuinely enjoy; for example, I love it when he gets called out or when he is stuck in a funny situation. I liked his fighting scene in the Playful Land event (if you know you know, I’m not spoiling it since it’s not out in EN yet) because it shows him being smart and skilled and then adds a punchline on top of it. So it’s not completely impossible even for me have fun with Leona, and I hope this event has moments like this. But we’ll see… eventually.

The theory that Book 2 was originally Book 6 makes sense because it feels super rushed and “raw” with writing all over the place at times… Honestly, I hope we’ll get some info on it at some point! I doubt we ever will unfortunately, but it would explain a lot. But I’m happy with their order now because we got a lot of stuff from Book 6, which we love so dearly. If Leona had to be sacrificed for it, so be it, we won’t complain lol

THE CORAL SEA EVENT, YES!!! This is the one we are the most excited about, I really hope we’ll get to see it soon! And Briar Valley too of course, and the Isle of Woe since in my head I almost always picture S.T.Y.X. facility, which is so unfair because they have their own (fake) ecosystem underwater, so it’s pretty much Greece-like place!

More events…. more….

It also depends a little bit on the character combo which participates in the event, we clearly have our biases too lol Events with the characters that we strongly ship will most likely get our attention asap. We actually planned on watching the Stitch event back in April, but personal stuff made us delay it for so long that it actually came out in English. We didn’t want to overlap with the Western fanbase, so instead we watched White Rabbit Fest and Ghost Marriage Event or whatever it’s called. The second one is not fully watched though, I’ll mention the reason below. And now I’m not at home so we won’t be able to finish it properly.

What hinders us in most cases is the lack of non-official translations because as soon as the official one is out, nobody is going to bother with translating the event since it doesn’t make sense. But it matters to us :c Same with vignettes, which are even less likely to get translated after their EN release. It ruins the flow of watching TWST by making us constantly looking for videos with the events being unfinished or nobody bothering with the vignettes for the event. It’s a pity, but I understand that it’s a very hard work to translate stuff in general and not to get demotivated by the official translations, because who then needs yours? I NEED!!! Please...

[spidrgrl]

ur so sigma... infodump abt ur current biggest interest girl we are listening

— ur humble dave fict

Okay buddy you just asked for a BIG yap sesh cmere as I tell you the tale of my rambling thoughts

Lately I've been thinking a LOT about the mspfa I'm co authoring (Bloodboil) and Soulsborne games!!!!!!!! Mainly Elden Ring and Bloodborne, but DS1 too!

Since I can't yap tooo much about Bloodboil and spoil it for all potential readers (especially since I haven't made another panel in a WHILE), I'll yap about my current playthroughs!

In my current playthroughs I've been basing the builds off of my characters, so for example, in Elden Ring I currently have this build:

And I'm playing as Roxy Strider from Bloodboil!

For this playthrough I'm going for a vigor, strength, and faith build! Secondarily I'm going to dexterity, mind, intelligence, arcane, and endurance (in that order). I'm going to get the Sword of Light from the DLC for her, maybe another sword as my main, and a couple of spells, but I'll be mainly using strength and poison based weapons.

Roxy Strider is a strong willed, intelligent, and very kind girl who's a Knight of Light! She's also a huge country gal if you look at that MULLET!!!!!!!! She's Christian but the loving kind not the hateful kind, which won't pop up much in the comic but it's still an aspect of hers that reflects on her optimism, her trust in most people, and her love for the world around her despite it crumbling around her. She can take a LOT from (her friend's, mainly) problems and turn it around with her wisdom. Plus, she'll be having Poison as her little placeholder for the Associated Classical Element in the webcomic. So I wanted her build to reflect all that!

I did kinda fuck up though and I chose the Warrior as my class the first time I tried doing a build based off of her, but it's okay! I restarted the playthrough since I was already early game and I chose Confessor instead.

I'm striving for the Age of Order ending for her. Currently I'm leveling up for the second step in Boc's quest, which is to defeat the DICKHEADS that kicked him out of the cave and stole his stuff, and give him his stuff back!!!!!!!! I'm trying to do everything I think that Roxy would do here, and she'd definitely help the poor guy.

For Bloodborne, this is currently what I've got:

(Trying to get the secret drip in the sewers of Central Yharnam do NYATT talk about my play time ☝️)

And I'm playing as Jane Egbert from Bloodboil! Who woulda thunk

I've already posted a picture of her before on the blog soo I'll do these instead

(Jane Egbert in godtier!)

I'm not even gonna lie I completely forgor what build I was going for, I haven't played Bloodborne in a fat minute but I WILL get back to it

I do remember that I'm going to be doing the DLC and the Childhood's Beginning ending for her run. Also I chose the Saw Cleaver to represent her weapon in the webcomic, which is scalpelglovekind, since it's a jack of all trades weapon and is short ranged!

Aaand in my Dark Souls 1 playthrough, I'm playing as myself >::::)

I'm gonna go through Darks Souls 1 mostly blind since I wanna do what I'd do if that makes sense. I defeated the first boss and I'm on my way to the second area now!

Soooooooo yah, that's about it! Thank you for asking vrotha Dave

[mycatdog]

my name is luna. i'm 26 years old and use she/her pronouns. i am from the uk.

my dog is called catrin. she was born in september so she's still very puppy. she's a golden retriever and the hope is to train her as an assistance dog, though right now i'm just trying to get her basics down!

the dog currently in my icon is my parents dog. he is called ezra, he is about 10 years old and he is a jack russel/poodle cross. in the picture i wrapped him up in a blanket and thought he looked funny.

i made this blog to post about dogs and to see other people's dogs because i love dogs (and also because i wanted one social media account that was stress free)

i won't post anything political, argumentative or discourse-related here. the heaviest things i post will be vents related to disability. i may also reblog some posts about disability activism, which will be the only political posts present on this blog.

i may not follow you back if you post a lot of heavy things for my own wellbeing, but you're still more than welcome to interact :)

if you don't understand why i followed you, i may have a relevant sideblog. feel free to ask!

[chatange]

i treat ask games like surveys this is make me admit stuff by lost-head-adventure or smth idk its deactiviated

Would you have sex with the last person you text messaged?

not including messages i consider too private to share on tumblr. yes

You talked to an ex today, correct?

nope.

Have you taken someones virginity?

no i dont think so. all of my partners have been more experienced than me

Is trust a big issue for you?

yes ): im working on it

Did you hang out with the person you like recently?

i like lots of people but as far as "crushes", no not recently. i should though

What are you excited for?

my partner system to get home from work. our next grocery run. autumn. my birthday next month

What happened tonight?

i posted about that today but, other than all that, i ate some pizza... honestly i should write or record or something tonight

Do you think it’s disgusting when girls get really wasted?

no? wasted chicks are super funny

Is confidence cute?

confidence is hot yeah

What is the last beverage you had?

a monster. i should get water or something

How many people of the opposite sex do you fully trust?

none but i dont really talk to a lot of people. only the women in my family and i cant trust them. its not about being the opposite sex tho

Do you own a pair of skinny jeans?

yes

What are you gonna do Saturday night?

its sunday rn but yesterday i cried so hard i gave myself a headache and listened to a new album

What are you going to spend money on next?

probably a new microphone or sushi

Are you going out with the last person you kissed?

yes

Do you think you’ll change in the next 3 months?

yes? of course

Who do you feel most comfortable talking to about anything?

my partner system, but specifically mar, rich, robin, and trent

The last time you felt broken?

today at like 7pm

Have you had sex today?

yeah lol <3

Are you starting to realize anything?

being 23 aint shit. i dont know fuckin anything.

Are you in a good mood?

its alright. could be better

Would you ever want to swim with sharks?

yeah theyre chill

Are your eyes the same color as your dad’s?

no thank gawd. otherwise id be the type of douchebag to go around calling my shit hazel.

What do you want right this second?

a haircut... jack... a punch to the jaw. (not sft text beyond this point to the end of the answer) to be dressed up in vinyl lingerie to match someone elses military gear and ride his dick while gagging on his fingers

What would you say if the person you love/like kissed another girl/boy?

nothing. id end up in jail

Is your current hair color your natural hair color?

nah i recently dyed my roots again. its black but im a natural blonde

Would you be able to date someone who doesn’t make you laugh?

usually people who arent intentionally witty are unintentionally hilarious so thats hard to picture. but if our humor just isnt compatible i mean. maybe. probably not tho that speaks to a lot of other shit

What was the last thing that made you laugh?

@fuckin-pistol-whipped's replies

Do you really, truly miss someone right now?

yeah. sunset eyes, if this somehow gets back to you, im sorry i didnt give you a better warning. ill be back sooner than you know. it wont be months this time. i want to figure something out but i dont want to keep giving you half promises. soon, i dont know when. i love you. it means something, i swear.

Does everyone deserve a second chance?

yeah id say so

Honestly, do you hate the last boy you were talking to?

sometimes <3

Does the person you have feelings for right now, know you do?

oh yeah for sure. i think we're in a situationship. maybe we're dating? idk i cant rember. god i need to see him again soon. i should watch some videos or smth

Are you one of those people who never drinks soda?

nah but i usually drink diet soda. if im buying it out at like a gas station or smth ill go full sugar cuz its just a one time thing but. i think i drink two diet cokes a day. i dont always finish em

Listening to?

+ shuffle queue

Do you ever write in pencil anymore?

yeah but i prefer pen tbh. i keep like two hand notebooks a pencil and a pen on me at all times

Do you know where the last person you kissed is?

probably at his house with his cats. or with his band

Do you believe in love at first sight?

i believe in instant chemistry but love is kinda something u collaborate on. its like a living thing. ive recently figured out that two people can be in love and still wanna maim each other a little bit from time to time

Who did you last call?

@fadenkreuze but thats like a given. it was @antichristxsuperstar in front

Who was the last person you danced with?

my cat. it counts, in my book

Why did you kiss the last person you kissed?

we were having sex and i guess my mouth just looked that good hanging open and drooling

When was the last time you ate a cupcake?

i dont think its been a year but. it was probably springtime i wanna say-- no, late winter. valentines day cupcakes. mini ones.

Did you hug/kiss one of your parents today?

nah im not a hugger. he knows i like him ok tho

Ever embarrass yourself in front of a crush?

i dont believe in embarassment. but yea sometimes i make a fool of myself. usually it makes em giggle and then its fine <3

Do you tan in the nude?

i do a lot of things in the nude but i dont tan. im goth so

If you could, would you take back your last kiss?

i dont remember it

Did you talk to someone until you fell asleep last night?

yes actually it was rich. hey rich

Who was the last person to call you?

Do you sing in the shower?

yes sometimes but i sing all the time

Do you dance in the car?

Ever used a bow and arrow?

Last time you got a portrait taken by a photographer?

Do you think musicals are cheesy?

no theyre an art form. i think A musical can be cheesy but not all of em. having said that ive never been a huge theater person but ill watch a bootleg every now and then

Is Christmas stressful?

it doesnt have to be but some people make it stressful. its lonely tbh

Ever eat a pierogi?

yep. theyre p good

Favorite type of fruit pie?

peach

Occupations you wanted to be when you were a kid?

equestrian, veternarian, rockstar.

Do you believe in ghosts?

"do you believe in barometric pressure" "do you believe in wool fibers" "do you believe in the oxidation of metals"

Ever have a Deja-vu feeling?

all the time

Take a vitamin daily?

Wear slippers?

yes and i encourage others to do so as well

Wear a bath robe?

nope too warm and humid where i am

What do you wear to bed?

the buff

First concert?

it was a festival for nu metal bands in like 2008 or something. metalfest i think it was? or something close to that name. i dont remember all the acts that played but mudvayne was there i know for sure

Wal-Mart, Target or Kmart?

in my town theres only a walmart but i prefer target

Nike or Adidas?

Cheetos Or Fritos?

fritos are more versatile. remind me of chilis and soups

Peanuts or Sunflower seeds?

Favorite Taylor Swift song?

Ever take dance lessons?

Is there a profession you picture your future spouse doing?

yeah. professional cocksucker

Can you curl your tongue?

some people cant do that?

Ever won a spelling bee?

this is a traumatizing memory for me i refuse to elaborate

Have you ever cried because you were so happy?

yes often. usually during sex

What is your favorite book?

i hate these questions cuz then i forget every single book ive ever read. idk ill say the most recent book i read. the long hard road out of hell by marilyn manson

Do you study better with or without music?

with but it has to be instrumental or so loud its mind numbing owwww speaking of my ear fuckin hurts fuck you billy corgan

Regularly burn incense?

not anymore

Ever been in love?

Who would you like to see in concert?

obvious answers are like. mm. nin. slipknot (but like in 2002 or smth).

What was the last concert you saw?

in person? i dont even remember. its been over a decade

Hot tea or cold tea?

cold tea always preferable

Tea or coffee?

coffee. also cold

Favorite type of cookie?

sugar cookie or chocolate chip

Can you swim well?

nah

Can you hold your breath without holding your nose?

yes??

Are you patient?

extraordinarily

DJ or band, at a wedding?

either or. both? both

Ever won a contest?

nope

Ever have plastic surgery?

nah

Which are better black or green olives?

ew

Opinions on sex before marriage?

theres another type of sex?

Best room for a fireplace?

the den

Do you want to get married?

yes

[spacedhead]

HOMESTUCK REREAD #17: END OF HOMESTUCK (act 6 act 6 act 6 and act 7)

this is it!!!!!! this is the end of homestuck!!!

the song setting the scene for all of these battles that are about to take place concurrently is called creata, and it has leitmotifs from MANY songs in homestuck, as do all of the songs in this 18 minute sequence! also check out this fortnite squad....

the second song is called oppa toby style... oh man this is gonna be sick.

GOD LOOK HOW STRONG SHE IS SHES BEATING UP FOUR OF THEM EFFORTLESSLY

roxy my son is fighting so hard actual goat of this section btw no cap you will see later

of course this part is.... not as important but still certainly something i suppose.. karkat and jake are giving it their all as the weakest members of the squad

here come the striders and terezi!!! they are about to mix the shit out of these jacks

side note but not really its kind of crazy how owned dirk gets in this fight he dies like three different times and is saved by dave terezi and jane a bunch . talk about an unlucky break

meanwhile jade is struggling with her dog friends/ enemies and caliborn is fighting his denizen yaldabaoth ( wrdgaf). also vriska is fighting hussie? (WRDGAFX2)

okay so caliborn beat his denizens ass. so called strongest denizen is weaker than caliborn who was beaten by john fucking egbert.

anyway the current song is eternity served cold but only the second half.. its very good. variation on johns theme for a bit, then into lord english theme.

ive always loved this shot

davepeta makes an undertale reference.... which i guess was topical at the time. my undertale phase is long gone though. so . cool reference anyway !

last song. heir of grief is starting. VERY good song. love this shit!!! pic of one of the squads... theyre getting roughed up

oh my god... the four original kids and the pictures of their houses from the beginning of the story really reminds me how far they have come... ive been reading this shit only for a few weeks but man it feels like it really has been such a long time since things were that simple.

cool ass shot of these guys

oh no!!! theyre getting fucked UP dude shes beating their ass... but who is that back there...?

to be honest. i am not sure what jade was trying to accomplish in this sequence. she seems to just be teleporting her and the dogs around.... like to get them to stop fighting maybe? idrk but either way they kinda just fight anyway. or at least PM does

i think this moment of dave chopping dirks head off is not really significant for dave as much as it is for dirk. he finally relinquished control for once!

anyway, PM FINALLY gets jacks ring off, and now he is no longer a threat. its been so long. wow . goat much?

roxy being the one to finish the condesce is deserved. great job. my goat. props to all of these crazy kids they fucking did it they won!!! holy shit good fuckin job!! but we arent quite done yet.

this is beautiful art that is the rest of the comic basically until act 7. i just love these panels so much. one of them has actually been my background for about a year and a half!

its this one . i really love this one it shows so many of my children look at them all god im so proud of them they did it.... YES!!!! i knew this would happen but im still so happy for them.

look!!! the mayor and pm reunited once again. its been since before cascade since they saw each other last! and serenity too!!

this one is a real standout as well... so good i love all of them. am i repeating myself? surely not.

:))))

it is time for act 7. the finale of homestuck, essentially. it has been a long and winding road.... only a little left to go :)

LOOK AT JOGN EGBERT I WANT HIM TOBE HAPYP FOR ALL ETERNAL

a lot of this animation shows the new universe being formed, like the tadpole turning into the frog and stuff. it is very cool, and visually stunning to be honest, but i like to focus more on the characters with my limited images per post. but trust me, act 7 is very beautiful the whole way through :D

LOOK AT MY CHILDREN IN STUNNING HD QUALITY

THE LOT OF THEM. I SIRED THEM ALL? INCREDIBLE

do you see how fucking beautiful these kids are and how much they mean to me. i would do anything for them

holy shit vriska is serving like crazy here. i mean they all are but... okayyy vriska

look at these two. leaders of their sessions. coming together. finishing. it all makes me tear up a little i wont lie. also this music called overture is fucking beautiful.

oh man okay yeah. i am really misty eyed here. this never happened before?? god i fucking love this story

IM GONNA START CRYING DUDE FUCK

well here it is. first view of the idyllic earth c. they did it. they won . they created their universe and they got to live in it

heres one last squad shot of them all being goated and fucking awesome maybe? ever think of that

it started with him and ended with him. my son john egbert i love you so much

okay. its actually over. it feels weird to say but i have indeed completed homestuck yet again. this time was maybe my favorite reading of it other than probably the first time. maybe it was cause of the blogging it? i did genuinely love blogging my thoughts about it. even if no one is paying too much attention, its cool to get it out there :D

overall thoughts? the first part is a little slow to get going, but once it does get going, it's so fun and just a blast to read. things are incredible up until right after cascade where it slows down a lot. which i get. introducing a ton of new characters and essentially a new main villain into the plot can be a lot. i would say that the first half of act 6 is like... a definite decrease in quality? but it starts picking up again when they actually arrive in the new session. and me personally, ive always loved the ending. i know some people were like oh they just win and their plan goes smoothly. like, yeah i get that, but also things did NOT go smoothly when game over happened, and that was definitely the everything goes wrong moment. everything after that is cool and fun and very entertaining to read. i just love this story guys i love it so much there is a reason why it is my favorite piece of fiction and why i constantly come back to it . it is just so good i love the characters i love the concepts the plot is sprawling and self referential and just plain cool . of course it has flaws, namely its villains are a little weak. sometimes i love villains who are just plain evil but sometimes in a story like this i may have preferred a villain who has a little more motive than just being evil and wanting to destroy and kill things... but its alright. the heroes were the main focus anyway, so its not like it ruins the story or anything. i think homestuck goes from an ironic shit post story that makes you feel like an ass for reading it to a heartfelt tale of empathy and self improvement and self actualization. its characters go from asshole kids to pretty good adults. and you can see the writing grow up too. its honestly great and if you know me you probably already know lots of bits and pieces about it and/or i made you read it. but if you dont you should give it a shot. it has NOT aged well i will say but if you can manage to ignore the usage of slurs and probably other bad things i can honestly say it ends as a story about growth and acceptance of the self and others. that is all.......

thanks for reading this to all my friends i had tons of fun

p.s

im reading the epilogues. FUCK

[merry-death]

Ok I have so many thoughts about The Substance and your post is a good jumping off point.

You mentioned the alienation and isolation Elizabeth experiences, and that feeling of loneliness in the movie is what really makes it hit for me and I don't see many people talking about it. Gonna put this under a cut because I have more to say than I thought lol

A lot of people have mentioned all of the references to The Shining, but I haven't seen many people talk about what that means for the themes of the movie.

For anyone who hasn't seen The Shining (how? Go do that), the basic plot is a man named Jack takes his family to be winter caretakers of this hotel that gets completely snowed in and impossible to get to (or leave) so he can work on his writing. Over the winter, he talks to the ghosts there, learns more details about the gruesome history of the hotel's past, and eventually loses his mind and tries to kill his son Danny and his wife Wendy (or he was crazy from the beginning and hallucinated the ghosts too, or several other theories about what's really happening). I'm not going to get into all the interpretations of The Shining or even do too much to digging into the details of how you could interpret The Substance's specific references to The Shining. This is mostly vibes-based from what I remember of The Shining and how I felt seeing references to it in The Substance.

The first reference is the hallway of the studio has carpet extremely reminiscent of the carpet in the maze-like hallways of the Overlook Hotel where Danny gets lost and encounters ghosts. To me, this immediately made me think the studio was trapping Elizabeth. However, this hallway isn't a maze; it's a perfectly straight hall with posters of Elizabeth all over, so to me that means she's less of a victim like Danny, and actually is somewhat responsible for the studio being like it is, just as Jack is pictured as the original murderer at the Overlook.

And in the scene in the bathroom where she overhears that she's being let go for being old, the bathroom really reminds me of the one in the Overlook where Jack learns the details of the past murder and the dangers to him and his family, but he stays and that cements that he's going to repeat the cycle. Elizabeth is just like Jack to me. She's not solely responsible for the studio being the destructive trap that it is, but she is the current "caretaker" keeping it that way. And that bathroom scene is where she finds out how dangerous it is, but she still wants to be there.

The references to The Shining really emphasize both Elizabeth's isolation and her complicity in the system that isolates her (to me, I'd LOVE to hear other people's takes).

There's more non-Shining related things that also add to the loneliness and Elizabeth's responsibility for it that I want to talk about.

There's one scene where I think she's on the phone with the Substance person and in the background, there's a maid. This is the only time we see someone in her apartment that isn't there for sex. The maid has no line, and Elizabeth doesn't even acknowledge her presence. We never see the maid again, but Elizabeth/Sue's apartment is always cleaned up even when we don't see the cleaning happen. This maid is a part of Elizabeth's life, taking care of her living space and apparently someone she trusts enough to not watch her do her work and to call the Substance number while she's within earshot. And yet...we don't know anything about her or how much she knows about what's going on. Surely her maid would know something's up, right? But we don't see Elizabeth or Sue tell her anything, even though she must still come by to clean.

In fact, I don't think we ever see Elizabeth or Sue talk to a single woman other than a few words to the other dancers. Her whole life is dedicated to earning men's attention, and she built that life and has trapped herself there. The only chance Elizabeth sees for happiness as herself is on a date with Fred, a man she barely knows and who still seems to only value her for her appearance ("you're still the most beautiful girl in the world"). Like yeah, he's definitely not as scummy as the other men around her, and maybe he would even value her as a person, but he's still primarily a romantic/sexual interest. And that's why she misses the date, because she no longer sees herself as a worthy sexual being and also can't see herself as anything else, as having any other value. She built a life where she is the only woman and the ideal woman, and she lost the ability to just be a person. And yes, she's eventually discarded as no longer the ideal woman in the patriarchal system she's a part of, but that's because she actively took part in it for decades, telling other women they should do her workouts and be just like her while refusing to actually interact with other women, and only building relationships based on her status as a sex object rather than as a whole person.

Sorry for the rambling, I still have so many thoughts but I've already derailed from my original points about The Shining and isolation so I'll wrap it up here

The Substance

short version: five out of five stars, I had so much fun, for God's sake read the CWs. there are so many needles in this.

further thoughts: I think the viciousness of this movie rests on Elisabeth (Demi Moore) having built her career on promoting the very same unattainable beauty standards that she finds herself in conflict with. It's no coincidence that she's not just an actress, she's a celebrity fitness instructor. Going on TV every morning to tell us all that our bodies aren't good enough. She threw her lot in whole-heartedly with the beauty merchants, she preened and profited, and then she was shocked -- shocked! -- when they inevitably, predictably turned on her.

It's also telling that once she's injected the titular Substance and generated a new, young, beautiful version of herself, what does she do? She goes right back to the same business as before. Being sexier, fitter, more desirable than anyone else. Telling everyone their bodies still aren't good enough. Well, why not? Even her own body wasn't good enough for her anymore.

Coralie Fargeat has zero fucking sympathy for her and I feel the same. Oh, is it hard now? Is it alienating and dehumanizing and humiliating? Did you never bother developing yourself as a person because you were too busy peddling feminine oppression for Dennis Quaid, of all people? Fuck you! Suffer harder! You are complicit!

I would love to know how this lands for conventionally attractive women -- I never put in a sustained effort of this kind because it was made quite clear to me from a young age that the "right" kind of beauty would not be available to me. That comes with its own pain and its own fantasies about a "perfect" version of myself, but I suspect it's a different set.

I also wonder what trans women think of it, because while it's a very cis woman story (in that Elisabeth has always been a conventionally attractive girl and woman) it's also like... about transforming into a more desirable version of yourself, which, come on.

Finally, I feel like there's some disability commentary to be had in here, though that's not a subject I'm well versed in. I did find myself thinking, from time to time, that to many people it would be very tempting to have a body with no pain, a body that always moved easily and performed all its functions with no trouble. Even if only sometimes.

[stargatenerd]

Hello all, this is ostensibly my writing blog, though most of what you’ll find is things I’ve reblogged to use as references for writing or interesting ideas or pictures that I liked the vibes of. Things I post (both random thoughts as well as random snippets) will be tagged with “words from the nerd”, and posts regarding my various fics will be tagged with both the fic title and its abbreviation if it has one.

Feel free to ask me questions about my stories, but be polite.

List of things I’m working on under the cut, stories linked are to the versions of them on AO3 so you will need to be signed in to read them as I have them locked to registered users to prevent bot scraping. Please read the tags as some of these are fairly mature.

Current projects:

Shrinking Violets — MHA, Shinzawa-centric, omegaverse, underage arranged marriage (but nothing happens between them for a while) - feel free to ask me worldbuilding questions about this for my worldbuilding doc :3

Venus Conjunct Pluto in Scorpio — Hannibal/MHA fusion; ShinzawaMic with Hizashi as Hannibal, Shouta as Will, and Hitoshi as Abigail for a lovely little Murder Family <3 Very slow burn and does not stick to Hannibal canon except for some spots where it does. Can be read with little to no knowledge of Hannibal as a whole.

Color Seeping Through My Cracks — MHA, Yakuza soulmate AU, ShinzawaMic. Yakuza duo ShinMic find their soulmate in barista/waiter Aizawa and take in him and his totally legally adopted daughter.

Turning Tables — MHA, Shinzawa, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat. Seriously. Read the tags. Teen serial killer Shinsou gets kidnapped by more experienced (in every way) Aizawa.

In the drafting stage:

Parallelism — OC-centric, my Stargate OCs from SG-13 (Muki, Tyler, and Kira) get reincarnated in MHA and make friends. Worldbuilding abounds.

A sequel to Three Sheets to the Wind (in a bed for two) — MHA, genderbent Shinzawa, the morning after.

On the back burner (projects I intend to get to once I finish at least one of my current fics):

Schismatic — DCMK, originally KaiShin, now KaiShinHei. Set after Movie 13, my first attempt at writing dark!fic. A member of the Black Org finds out Conan is Shinichi and tries to protect him in dubious ways. Gotta figure out where I was going with the end of the plot (bc I have the middle plotted out) and write that.

Shadow Bride — RotG, BlackIce with genderbent Jack. AU where she and Pitch meet a couple hundred years ago and become friends, then eventually a couple. Finishing up the last few chapters.

A Wonderful World (of Magic) — Hetalia/HP, England becomes the History of Magic teacher during Harry’s sixth year, not HBP compliant. No longer write for either of these fandoms due to various reasons, but I have a rough outline of plot points and how it was going to end so I’m going to flesh that out for basically a summary draft of how the story ends.

SG-13 proper — Stargate SG-1/Atlantis, my OC team and their hijinks, mostly set during/on Atlantis. Might possibly rewrite it as a whole, might just write the parts that are vaguely referenced in Parallelism bc it’s changed plots so many times over the years with so many fandom crossovers and now I’ve swung back around to it being fully Stargate focused and all three of my characters have gone through a lot of development and I want to share that with everyone <3

On the counter, off to the side (who knows when this will happen):

The Universe of the Four Tanteis — DCMK/Fushigi Yuugi, members of the Fushigi Yuugi cast get reincarnated as DCMK characters. Gotta slap together a rough outline of where I remember the story going so I can post that and be done lol

In the Arms of Death — DCMK, veeery vaguely remember the plot I was going for with this one, I want to slap together an outline for readers and in case anyone wants to adopt it bc I think it’s a cool concept.

Hope’s Child — RotG/HP crossover, Bunnymund adopts Harry, JackBunny. I don’t write HP anymore but I have a sort of vague idea where everything was going for this fic so I might put together an outline for readers or just put it up for adoption ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Houseguest — RotG, pre-movie Tooth finds an injured Jack and takes him in. Apparently I started drafting a second chapter for this? Might finish it.

Stop Poking Logic-Shaped Holes in my School! — DCMK/HP, was pending a rewrite but since I no longer write HP I’m waffling on what to do with this. Pending decision.

A Beautiful Relationship — DCMK, KaiShin and HakuHei, a continuation years later from my oneshot A Beautiful Friendship. Might continue this, might post an outline; haven’t decided.

Love in G Major — Hetalia, USUK, PruCan, Giripan and a host of other ships, Nyotalia human high school AU. Had a vague idea of some plot points so might post that in case someone wants to adopt it.

Cardgate — YGO/Stargate crossover, I know I have like half a chapter in a notebook somewhere that I never posted, so I think I’ll finish that chapter and then post an outline lol

Relics of the Tau’ri — Hetalia/Stargate crossover, might post an outline of where the story was headed.

Magical Cicadas — Higurashi/HP crossover, Higurashi characters get reborn as HP characters. I have a chapter or two of this in a notebook somewhere that I’ll post once I find it.

[sunshine304]

For the fandom asks, 3,4,19, or 20?

Oh I'll just answer all of them. XD

3. a character that fandom has helped you appreciate

Hm, I think Yu Ziyuan gained much more depth for me through reading meta about her/the family dynamics and genre conventions behind it. She’s a divisive character for sure, but I never saw her as extremely negative as some other fans seem to have. She always seemed like a commentary on the tiger mom stereotype to me, and I couldn’t help but also at times think she’s kinda justified in her bitchiness? Because Jiang Fengmian is like that… But yeah, her character definitely became more interesting and tragic to me through fandom.

None of the others needed any help, I think, I could appreciate all of them for what they brought to the story (I mean, except for Jin Guangshan, no-one appreciate shim and he can go die in a ditch).

4. say something nice about a ship you don't ship (it can be another ship in your fandom, a mutual's OTP, etc)

Sparrabeth. I very much refused to engage with this ship back in my PotC days because the shipping wars between Willabeth and Sparrabeth shippers became incredibly obnoxious after the second movie. As I really enjoyed Willabeth and was more of a Jack/Anamaria shipper (if we have to pair him with anyone… that was before I discovered slash XD), I did not like Sparrabeth at all.

I can see the appeal, though! Elizabeth became ever more of a pirate as the movies progressed, showing a side of herself that had mostly been suppressed in her previous sheltered, prim and proper life. She obviously had a taste for adventure and overall seemed actually more suited for and interested in this kind of life than Will, who gets rather reluctantly dragged into it all again and again. To have her as a counterpoint to Jack, as someone who can hold her own against his scheming and word games and teasing, can be intriguing. They’ll banter, he can teach her all kinds of stuff about life on the high seas, and they’ll definitely be a force to be reckoned with.

19. your current fandom(s)

Since 2020, it’s The Untamed/MDZS – still going strong, with no sign of slowing down. I tend to fixate on one main fandom for quite a while and it really takes a lot to make me switch to something else. And still, the old ones never really leave me – I recently reread some Teen Wolf fic, last year had a bit of a Sherlock revival with selected rereads. Now and then, I revisit some old PotC favs etc.

But yeah, now it’s CQL/MDZS with a side of some other cdramas/thai dramas like KinnPorsche or Word of Honor. It feels like the fandom is slowing down a bit as people move on to other dramas, but I’m still very much in love with it.

20. your very first fandom!

That depends a bit on how you’d define this. The first thing I was totally obsessed with was The Animals of Farthing Wood, a truly great animated tv series based on Colin Dann’s book(s). I drew so many fox pictures for that series, had a whole bunch of OC foxes and invented new stories with them (yes, only the foxes! XD). Of course, I was somewhere between 7 – 10 years old at the time and had no idea what “fandom” was!

I think I became aware of fandom as we know it when I looked for content for LotR online. I discovered message boards that were full of fans of the book and recently released movies.

The first fandom I was actually in, with the full awareness of it being a fandom, was Pirates of the Caribbean. That trilogy was incredibly important to me for many years and I’ve met a few friends through it that I’m still in contact with to this day. <3

I actually was asked this for a meme on Dreamwidth, so check out this post for a bit more on this topic.

Fandom question meme

[coquelicoq]

Pretty // Bitchin’

xing tian meme 20/?

[sojourner-between-worlds]

Well, if no one else is going to point out the hole I found a few hours after posting, I'll just have to do it myself, lol -- especially since I can fill it in and I will never miss a chance to talk about my current spin. So here we go.

The hole: Yusei and Jack's first duel. If there is no real connection between the dragons and signers, and the dragons don't really matter, and Yusei wasn't a signer yet, why did the Crimson Dragon show up at all?

This may have turned into a bit of a rabbit-hole response, but allow me to explain my theory on how the Crimson Dragon chooses signers anyway.

It's all about willingness to fight.

Jack is a fighter by nature, always has been and always will be. Canon doesn't give us exactly when the mark showed up for him, but he initially calls it a 'birthmark', implying it's been there as long as he can remember. But this makes sense with his character, given what we see. He may have made some questionable decisions (read: really horrible decisions), but it was always him fighting for something -- whether that was for others (their gang days; Carly later) or for himself (doing what he had to do to obtain a better life for himself). He's always been a fighter.

Aki received her mark mid-duel, in a refusal to stop fighting despite her father being called away. After that, she never stopped fighting. She may have gone about it entirely the wrong way (with the Arcadia Movement), and she may have given up her will to think for herself, but she still never stopped fighting for equality and acceptance (even if that goal was skewed into something sinister).

Ruka is a little different from the others in that her fighting spirit comes from a different set of circumstances entirely. Her will to fight came from the promise she made to Ancient Fairy Dragon. She may have forgotten that promise for a while, but when she remembered it, she was all-the-more motivated to keep it.

Even Rudger/Roman Godwin fits this same picture. We don't know a lot about him, but we do know that he fought the effects of Uru for as along as he could and then went as far as to cut off his own arm so that humanity would have a fighting chance. (Even Rex, who was not actually chosen, exhibited a fighting spirit rightfully attributed to those who are chosen, in seeking to find the others and trying to contain the damage -- as terrible of a decision as that really was, it came from a place of wanting to fight the darkness. This is how he managed to unify the marks on himself even though he hadn't technically been chosen himself. More on that later.)

(I don't need to talk about Crow again since that was in the original post, but he rightfully ended up with the tail mark when they were redistributed because he fought without even needing to have been chosen first. The same goes for Rua; he resolved to keep fighting when everything was against him and rightfully earned his place.)

And then we get to Yusei and the hole I mentioned. If the dragons and signers aren't connected really, and if the dragons are irrelevant, and if Yusei wasn't a signer yet, why did the Crimson Dragon show up?

It's entirely possible the Crimson Dragon showed up because of the dragons because its entirely possible that the Crimson Dragon, after the successful battle 5000 years earlier, thought that the same dragons would still make good allies for the next battle. Because of that, the Crimson Dragon showed up because two of those allies were fighting and it didn't want that.

It shows up because the dragons are fighting and so is one of the people its already chosen to be a signer. The other human -- well, he's not a signer but he sure is fighting hard to hold onto Stardust, the monster he treasures the most. And the Crimson Dragon thinks to itself "maybe this one." Only maybe because this one...he's not a fighter -- not in the same way as the others it has chosen, at the very least. So it temporarily marks him, gives him that potential -- just to see what happens.

This explains why only Yusei's mark comes and goes initially -- because Yusei is a fighter but only when he has to be. And this isn't a fight he's decided is his yet.

His mark doesn't stay until after his second duel with Jack (if I remember correctly; it's been a while since I watched the whole arc through, so correct me if I'm wrong). It finally stays after that point because, after seeing the future, that is when Yusei decides that this is something he has to fight for. Once he decides, the Crimson Dragon gives him the mark to keep.

The Crimson Dragon doesn't show up to that first duel because Yusei and Jack have both already been chosen; it shows up because of the potential.

This idea further makes sense of two things that happen in the second half of the series. In Yusei vs Placido, Yusei is struggling to keep fighting and is, honestly, on the verge of giving up. At this point, we see his mark lit up, but it's not the steady glow we're used to -- it's flickering. Why? Because that power is based on resolve and Yusei's resolve is crumbling in that moment. Additionally, when Yusei is facing Jose, he very easily unifies the marks. Why? Because his resolve to fight is strong.

The Crimson Dragon did not chose its signers arbitrarily, but those choices had nothing to do with the dragons themselves, either.

The Dragons Don't Matter

(And why you shouldn't get hung up about Black Feather Dragon especially.)

Before I dive into this, I want to make one thing clear: yes, I know this isn't what the writers intended. I also don't care. Because when it comes to Yugioh world-building, sometimes you just have to take your idea or theory and run away from the writers really, really fast, okay? Okay. This is purely about world-building, not show-writing, so don't come at me from a writing standpoint. Now that that's settled, we can move on.

First, I'd like to introduce you to a theory that isn't wholly mine but is based in what I've seen other Yugioh fans posit about world-building and time lines. (I can't entirely credit any of them because I've watched so many yugitubers in the last year that I just. don't remember who said what, but if you're into Yugioh and on YT, you'll probably already know what I'm talking about, haha.) At one point, someone mentioned that all of the "past events" across the franchise probably take place about the same time, two of the "past events" in question being things like the Crimson Dragon battling the Earthbounds happening at the same time as some battle in Egypt that's referenced in the original DM. I am not well enough versed in any series outside of 5Ds to make any comment on this, so I'm taking that at face value here.

Why does that even matter, you might be asking? I'm getting there, but first I need to introduce another theory, and it's this: duel spirits have existed since the beginning of time, and because of this, it is the spirits that create the cards rather than the cards creating the spirits. This is supported by the fact that duel monsters is an ancient game (I don't remember much from watching DM as a kid, but I do remember this much, lol) which means that spirits like Dark Magician and Blue Eyes existed far before Pegasus turned them into cards. In other words, all monsters that will ever become cards already exist in the spirit world. This idea is also not wholly mine; it has come from some yugituber as well, and I piggy-backed off of that, wherein said person posits that summoning types are discovered rather than created -- meaning they already existed and someone just had to figure them out. While this was solely on summoning methods, I feel like this applies to monsters, as well.

To sum up: duel spirits have always existed and the creation of cards was a discovery of those spirits rather than an actual creation of the spirit.

(Now is a good time to add that I realize there are exceptions to this rule, such as Red Nova Dragon, but it is just that: an exception, rather than the rule.)

So now we can get into why the dragons themselves don't actually matter.

We have to start by asking ourselves what is so special about the original five dragons in particular? Stardust, Red Demons/Archfiend, Ancient Fairy, Black Rose, and Life Stream. Why them? If all duel spirits already exist (with the noted few exceptions), then there are tons of dragons available! Not only dragons that had already appeared in a previous series (like Red Eyes and Blue Eyes), but ones that wouldn't appear until later (like Firewall)! (Even if you only take past cards [for that writing standpoint that I will not argue on], there are still so many dragons! Red Eyes and Blue Eyes and Chaos Emperor and Judgement!) So if we go with the above proposed theory, then there is no reason at all that these five were necessary in and of themselves. In fact, there would have been other dragons that would have better suited since their effects...really don't matter here. If we're going on pure strength, Blue Eyes would have been far better suited than Black Rose or Stardust, or example.

So, then, why those five? No idea. Maybe because of other conflicts going on, they were the only ones available (Blue Eyes off fighting in Egypt? all of them dealing with other world-ending catastrophes?). Maybe they were personal friends. Maybe they just happened to be in the right place at the right time. But the fact of the matter of is, there is no relevance. The Crimson Dragon could have chosen any five dragons it wanted. It could have chosen spirits that weren't even dragons if it had wanted to. For that matter, it kind of did when it also chose five humans. But the humans and the dragons? They weren't actually connected at the time. They weren't even technically fighting together because the humans were channeling the Crimson Dragon's power, not the other dragons' powers.

Also consider: if those specific dragons were vital, then only four of the marks would have ever shown up in the first place because they only had four of the dragons -- technically, they only had three, actually, since Ancient Fairy was stolen away. Yes, Ancient Fairy was "fated" to land with Luna/Ruka, but the fact remains that she had her mark long before she had her dragon, meanwhile Yusei had his dragon long before he had his mark. The two things simply are not connected in a way that actually means anything.

Additionally, they did not have five dragons fighting the god of the underworld anyway. Only two faced off against Godwin, and only ONE actually attacked the god of the underworld, and it wasn't ANY of the original signer dragons at all. It was Yusei's Majestic Star Dragon.

This is why I just kind of have to chuckle when I hear the argument "but Black Feather Dragon wasn't one of them that fought in the past!" because yeah, man, neither was Majestic Star but here we are.

Those who were bestowed the mark of the Dragon were first and foremost just servants of the Crimson Dragon. Which is why it makes perfect sense for Crow to end up with a mark (even excluding later when he gets a dragon) because he chose to stand up and fight without having to be chosen first. It doesn't matter that his dragon wasn't at the fight 5000 years earlier. It doesn't even matter that he has a dragon at all. It's irrelevant because that's not how the Crimson Dragon choses its servants -- not in the past, and not in the present.

This also makes sense of how a sixth mark manifested later for Leo/Rua at the conclusion of the series. Because it didn't matter that Life Stream was "hiding" in Power Tool because the dragon itself is irrelevant. What mattered was that Rua kept choosing to fight when everything was against him. The Crimson Dragon honored that. (The original number of five was always arbitrary, too. The number never mattered. It was just a number.)

This is also why their marks disappear at the finale. They aren't needed anymore. They don't need to serve the Dragon anymore, so the Dragon took back its power from them, but guess what? They all still have their Dragons. Why? Because the dragons never mattered -- not really.

The Dragons were chosen, but so were the people to bear those marks. And, just like how the people change, so can the dragons.

[katskitoshi]

"sheepy!" with twisted wonderland 

synopsis: an accident it alchemy class tuns [name] into a sheep! how do the dorms react to sheep! [name] when they are tasked with taking care of them?

characters: heartslabyul, savanaclaw, octavinelle, scarabia & pomefire x sheep! gender neutral! reader

includes: imagine sheep mc! from obey me as you,

heartslabyul: riddle, trey, cater, ace & deuce.

you will be in pretty good hands with these five most of the time in heartslabyul. it's a nice dorm with it's pretty roses and a nice big rose maze to get lost in. you get along well with the hedgehogs and gossip about the flamingos with them! the halls are all twisty-turvy so it's easy to get around.

riddle is a good caretaker surprisingly. he is a stickler for the rules and has never collared you because he says it's animal cruelty even though you're still human(and he has a big fat crush on human you). he leaves you with the hedgehogs sometimes and like i said, you and the hedgehogs get along pretty good. he enjoys you in this form because he's now severely taller that you!

trey is so nice! he's a good caretaker too and makes sure to make special cups of tea for you to drink during unbirthday parties. he also lets you sit on the counter while he bakes, he might even let you attempt to crack open some chestnuts! he even gives you a mini chef hat to wear!

cater is fun to be around. he takes lots of pictures for magicam with you because you're so cute and lovable. he styles your wool sometimes to match his hair and puts it in cute little hair pins in the shapes of diamonds! (his top post on magicam is a picture of you in a teapot with the teapot lid on your head.) you are always held in his arms because its super magicam-able. he makes sure you see all the pics once you turn back human.

ace is very troublesome. he should never be trusted alone with you because he is very troublesome. he has (more than once) lost you, kicked you by accident, hit you with a basketball by accident, gotten you stuck in tree, spilt tea in your wool, cut your wool, and so many things. he gets his caretaker privileges revoked when he accidentally left you with floyd, who almost drowned you. he is currently doing all the chores of heartslabyul as punishment. he doesn't apologize after you turn back so you might need to look for a new friend.

deuce is mid when it comes to his caretaking skills. he sometimes forgets about you, but other that that, you are pampered! he distance himself from ace every time he has to watch over you. he avoids fights when he's with you.

savanaclaw: leona, ruggie & jack.

savanaclaw is a scary dorm to be in! despite all the beastmen who live here, it is not safe for a small sheep such as yourself. it is a hot dorm, so hopefully you can handle the heat under all the wool! luckily, you have three very good beastmen to take care of you.

leona is lazy. "[name]"? who's that? he only knows herbivore. he does the bare minimum if anything at all. he might let you have the veggies that are in his lunch if you're lucky and it proves his point that you're a herbivore. you live 24/7 as a pillow for him. when he's up, you're up. when he's sleep, you're sleep. being honest, he probably just throws you (literally) at ruggie to take care of you.

ruggie is a very good caretaker. he is very happy about taking care of you because leona is throwing extra money at him to buy you food. taking care of a tiny sheep and a lazy lion isn't too hard since you're always trying to help! leona probably forgot that you can't eat a full serving but ruggie will gladly eat for you! he leaves you in the botanical garden if he can't watch you.

jack is such a good boy about it. he is such a good care taker. he knows just the right way to take care of your wool and feed you and clean you and everything like that. when he's tasked with taking care of you, he's the only one who takes care of you unless he can't. and when he can't he always trusts you with someone responsible. when you revert back to human form, his old habits die hard and it takes a while. make sure to give him lots of head pats for his help!

octavinelle: azul, jade & floyd.

trust me on this, octavinelle might not be the safest place for you. it's bustling with students almost all day and some of the dorm members enjoy making your life living hell during your time in the dorm! shady characters try to make contracts with you or even try to use you as promotion for sales! also watch out for eels, some like to drown unsuspecting sheep like you...

azul always has you in his office or in the lounge for promotion. a cute little sheep who happens to be the prefect of ramshackle dorm loves the food, so you should too! he may or may not try to convince you into a contract. your human form for the rights to ramshackle, how does it sound? despite all the shady business he uses you for, he usually keeps you out of harms way!

it's hilarious to jade. he loves watching you scurry around the bustling floors of the monstro lounge avoiding customer's and staff. and it's so funny watching the fear on your face as you have to strain yourself to look up at him and literally anyone else. he will forcibly bring you along with him on his hikes for mountain lovers club. don't worry, he has a really pretty leash for you so you don't get lost!

floyd is happy with your change but is horrible at taking care of you. while you're in your sheep form, you only get called "sheepy" and never "shrimpy" even if you're more shrimp-like now than before. you're always scurrying away from him and that makes him sad. but in all fairness, he has almost drowned you, dropped you from on top of his head, stepped on you, lost you, dangled you over the deep-fryer and a lot of other crimes he should be accounted for.

scarabia: kalim & jamil.

scarabia is a very hot dorm so you'll probably sweat under your wool. at scarabia, you're treated like royalty and always pampered with gifts and food! this dorm is great and you have two caretakers to take care of you! well, how do they do?

kalim is barely taking care of you. if he isn't doting on or spoiling you, he's probably forgotten about you. but while he is taking care of you, you luckily have many sheep items and food at your disposal. you could literally be in this sheep form for like 2 hours and been in his care for 30 minutes and he's already spent over 3,000 madol on you. in short words, kalim is bad caretaker but you are a very spoiled sheep for however long he's watching you.

jamil is your main caretaker and honestly one of the best people you can end up with. he knows how to take care of you. he makes you delicious sheep-friendly food for you to eat! it tastes really good, promise! as long as you're not bothering him, he's fine taking of you.

pomefiore: vil, rook & epel.

the dorm of pomefiore is a is perfect for a sweet sheep like yourself! the dorm is filled with pretty things such as its students and leaders - oh, and the scenery too it seems. but don't worry, you have the three prettiest pomefiore residents to watch over you. you're in good hands with their perfectly manicured hands.

you are treated like royalty anywhere on pomefiore land. that's what vil schoenheit has made required. you will look like nothing but the fairest sheep while under his care. if he can't find sheep-care products for your wool and hooves and horns and whatever, he would mix something up with his amazing potion skills. i promise you, you will look like the prettiest sheep in all the twisted wonderland.

rook is having a bit too much fun with you in this form. he's not a good caretaker. he is instead chasing you around the pomefiore courtyards and such. you're unleashing his natural hunting instincts! run little sheep, a hunter is coming for you! he takes a billion photos of you like this and he has to make a whole new photo album of you in sheep form because the other 188 photo books he has of you are full.

epel is so sweet to you. he cuts you little apple slices. he lets puts you in the water and watches you swim around while practicing his singing. he finds your little "bah"'s and belts really cute! don't worry, epel is a really good caretaker when he has time. he even carves a sheep replica of you from an apple! he uses a preservation spell and gives it to you once youre back in human form!