#thanks sac for putting that in specifically for me

[therealslimshakespeare]

🍸 Harry Crosby headcanons

18+ -helluva lot of nsfw under the cut but interspersed with a lotta fluff and domesticity…to me that’s the appeal of this man, cannot be separated one from the other: the unassuming sweater wearing vet at the block party is also a man of hidden depths.

Long promised and woefully incomplete, the word count was getting out of hand so I’m tossing it out, there’s more where this came from. Not edited so, apologies

Entirely co-written by myself and my comrogue @crazymadpassionatelove , enhanced and bedazzled by chats with @ab4eva including special additions from other guests who commented under my announcement post, credit is given at each specific point for their contributions

|screencap cred grabbed from: @hawkinsfuller

First off let me say it’s been ages since I read A Wing and A Prayer. I remember loving it, loving him and I cannot stress how much I respect and admire the real Harry Crosby and his Jean, the Missus of our dreams.

This is purely for fun, a heavy mix of both Boyle’s portrayal and a tad of Crosby’s real life vibes as taken from his accounts by me. Sometimes you gotta take historical figures’ virtues in one area -say navigation and math- and translate it to the more suggestive aspects of life -say, how to find a clitori- *gunshot*

Because this man’s biography is the most oral-leaning, drink-your-respect-women-juice book ever. Ok, almost ever. For a wwii book at least. Uhem so -I am prejudiced, sue me.

See, sometimes it’s the quiet, stressed ones with a self consuming desire to please who have the cozy sweaters and the attentive appreciation for your interests and the stubby fat schlongs and the propensity to keep you in suburban comfort all your days

The compulsive drive to call you “button” and be on time for church and thank you for your scrambled eggs each morning with eager kitchen countertop oral before waking you children up with annoyingly soft catchphrases they’ll recite fondly at his funeral: “rise and shine” etc

Also back to the perfectly respectable schlong for just a moment -This is a Thing! Justice for the perfectly adequate plug stoppers, not everyone needs a rolling pin, who can resist giving head when the head is the same gorgeous color as his lips?!

Mr Crosby is skipping off to lecture college kids about literature post-war with a pep in his step that you put there without fail, you can’t help it, it’s as essential as the matching “his and hers” coffee mugs you bought during your honeymoon

Cookies slightly burned cuz you’re busy as bunnies in the bathroom while the kids ride bikes in the cul-de-sac is a Crosby staple

This is a man who as husband keeps you well supplied with mixers and microwaves and cute little nighties and also loves your brain -SCORE.

Loves to gift you with bath oil and fun stuff to smell good. He's into lavender. It benefits him in the end, loves to sit on the edge of the tub and just talk with you for ages

Croz’s go-to distresser is to have Jean sit on his face until his vision spots

She knows as soon as he walks in the door. Fixes him a Shirley Temple, takes him by the hand to the bedroom and …..boom.

De—stressed

As for the ptsd nightmares? He just barely starts to thrash in his sleep and Jean is rolling that man over and taking matters into her own hands

You’re Jean now, you do realize that don’t you? It was never ever going to be anyone but Jean

This man leaves love letters on your pillow, in your apron pocket, in the dash of your car anywhere at all that you’re likely to be. All of this even though he’s gonna be home by six that evening.

Also, hear me out: lots of evenings he just lays down next to you for ages, facing each other on your sides, absentmindedly mapping your body with his calloused palms and fingering you for ages while talking about Persuasion.

Actually gives a shit about your opinions too, and not in the way of wanting to argue them. When you make a good point his eyes get even droopier and he grabs your neck and…

“You're one smart cookie Mrs Crosby”

“My clever, wise, beloved…”

Honestly though, deep connections and the ability to go vulnerable, and if those moments are often concluded with little laughs to shake off the moment -it doesn’t diminish it

Can actually talk about dying to you, not in a morbidly preoccupied way, but he can face it and admit it and be vulnerable enough to acknowledge the likelihood

Then get on with what needs doing

He appreciates how well you grow to know him, and he in turn makes a lifelong study of you

Also, this man is so highly attuned to your well being.

Yes you have to put up with his stress but for you? He will man-up repeatedly and without thought. He doesn’t even think twice about just up and leaving whatever situation is tiring you. did you see him hop up to get the fuck outta that bar fight? Yeah so, you’re bored? Tired? Stressed? It’s not even machismo it’s just a homebody not giving a fuck with the subtext of “my wife and I would like to go home and read and cockwarm”

Often gives the shiftiest excuses to army buddies and coworkers just to go home and hang with you, swears he has to repair that squirrel feeder -or that an alligator is in his swimming pool, “sorry guys maybe drinks next week”

Don’t tell the guys but…HE PAINTS YOUR TOENAILS

Maybe some of your high school friends snickered about Harry Crosby way back when. Making googly eyes at you and barely getting out the most stammered greetings? Bookish and a little clumsy at times?

Ha, you won in the end

He comes home in one piece, that beautiful schlong still intact

you prayed for that ok?

“Lord keep my husband safe -- and his girthy manhood in tact as well” …for the babies you’re hoping for of course...just that… kneeling in silk pajamas each night, adding this addendum with a blush but was always faithful to keep it in your prayers

Sometimes you have that thought in church as well...so you has to take a couple deep breaths and calm yourself...it's because you want children...not because you’re already so sprung off this man's dick after only a couple weeks of married life.

weeks that feels like a lifetime ago now, by the way

Prim and lovely Jean Crosby staring off into stained glass worlds thinking of having her tight little hole tugged open and her guts rearranged, it’s even worse than her thoughts prior to the wedding, because she’s had the experience, then suddenly it was ripped away

And she’s empty and scared to death for him

She gets asked to sing at the funeral of a lieutenant who never even got off the ground during a training flight,

work and church and such are hopeless distractions

Wanders through the department store wondering if every other wife misses this way, does everyone feel the same primal ache?

Dear Jean Crosby terribly worried she’s a freak yet entirely unrepentant for it

But ya know what’s probably funny? Across the ocean Harry Crosby is sometimes so direly missing his wife in the carnal way that he just about spaces out too, and god knows there’s zero privacy anywhere and the showers are the showers but like???? it’s just a no-go most times and everyone gets very confused when he’s in this mood?? Not at all suspecting baser distractions are what’s at play. Somehow someone figured it out, maybe he actually snapped a little about having five seconds to himself while reading a letter and they’re like

OH

And somehow there seems to suddenly be five minutes or so when NO ONE but Crosby is in the showers?!

It only takes him two minutes to get there but he needs to stand there catching his breath and clutching at his heart while he thinks of Jean sprawled beneath him

This is probably Douglass’ doing? Because he’s a good dude, he doesn’t underestimate Croz AND he’s a dirty little bastard himself

“Fellas, the man got himself a wife while half of you guys are virgins? Of course he has urges?”

In a quiet, rare moment, Gale bends his ear -Harry is so modest and low key...unlike some folks *looking at you Bucky*- “So, uh, where'd ya say you and the missus went off to before ya came here?“

Gale’s gotta casually open the door for this conversation “Lots of good sights to see? I, um, haven't done much traveling myself”

It takes Croz a few conversations until he realizes just what Gale means, until then there’s a lot bewildered eyebrows at the inquiry and bashful appreciation for the interest: “Major Cleven I-I already told you, sir, we had a little cabin in the Alleghenies for a week?“

He's been telling Jean about Major Gale Cleven, about how she'd really like him. Gale is a good fella. He tells her about all their "travel talk"

Until one day Jean writes back: “Oh honey, that Cleven of yours is a virgin”

Whether Harry divulges to Gale anything he learned about ladies in that little cabin in the mountains writhing before a fire on a bearskin rug, that first time Harry actually didn’t stop and ask if Jean was dying every time she made a noise but instead, kept going until her cried properly built and she screamed…

well, it was probably an abbreviated account that mostly consisted of “wives are just wonderful people, Major Cleven” with a far off look in his eyes

Gale leaves him to it after all- Harry was married for like 3 seconds before he left, It's literally either playback of the last horrific mission or thinking of the curve of her spine

He gets the dreamiest look on his face, eyes all shiny, mouth a little slack

Somehow these two can be so passionate and yet it’s so wholesome and good and angelic?!!! It’s the allure of them

Because it’s all in these gentle and safe and good boundaries? Like it isn’t complicated and yet it’s not simple and it’s neither settling nor is it turbulent. something to be said for “doing it right”

They genuinely thank God for each other, they’re so sure it was always intended to be just them

I have 1k of headcanons just for the homecoming ok? Y’all will have to request those separate

But once home:

The eye contact they make at social events?? It’s a whole language, the most loving and adorable thing ever

He may not be a real gem of a singer but he’s an excellent hummer. so much gentle humming around the house while he’s fixing the stove light or rocking a baby to sleep or-

You know what I mean don’t you? Some men can just humm and you’re instantly wet? No I don’t mean humming a Billie Holliday tune

I mean humming when you make a new reaction to his incessant fingering while he’s reading, makes him look away from the page and arch a brow, highly inquisitive puppy dog look on his face, reading glasses pulled down.

*a new spot? After all this time? Must investigate further*

This man, when in his element, is a goddamn tease, he’s impossible, he’s goofy, he makes sex the joyous sacrament its supposed to be every damn time and he ain’t shy to remain stark naked for ages

Praise kink for miles in that, once you’ve praised him, he will keep doing whatever earned it for the next two hours. Brace yourself

He can recite your favorite literature passages (he knows them and took pains to memorize them by your tenth anniversary) when he’s gently plowing you from the back with his hand on your neck and your ear lob in between his teeth

He’s a biter my friends -gotta keep quiet somehow, can’t scar the passel of children y’all made, after all

So many excuses given to kids about “mama and I need to talk about the mortgage” -very rarely is mortgage even thought of once the door is closed and locked

But that brings us back to the early days, it’s one thing to know someone so well after all those years but the early days?

Two Virgins named Jean and Harry went straight from the chapel to fucking like Bunnies before he went to war

Harry had done his research tho. All that reading…

Harry Crosby totally ate his wife out on their wedding night.

even though he’d never really seen a full vagina before

he’s a bit methodical, yeah? At first? with a hint of overly flustered and terribly delighted

So I’m just picturing him like hunkering down there, tentative but firm hands on your thighs: “to get my bearings, honey pie” as he takes in the lay of the land

because there’s a lot happening down there on a lady, ok? -there’s petals and more petals and slippery slopes and little buttons and a tiny hole that has to be for pee, no way he’s supposed to go in that one?! but, but she doesn’t have another? Well the backdoo- no can’t even think of that. Oh god ok, ok, vaginal opening, -I guess that’s a vaginal opening?! and due north, a little button that makes her squeak when I touch it. ok ok, might as well start there…

I can see him with a metaphorical pencil behind his ear, ready to jot down notes

Jeanie finally sighs and grips him by the ears and hauls him up for a kiss and just grinds against him and insists it’s lovely

“just kiss me, silly.” she says to him after awhile.

“Mmm, I do like kissing you, Jean” he grins back

he’s naturally kissing his way to her boobs and staying there a lovely long time but she starts pushing at his dark head, *hint hint* lower down her belly and lower, and lower and he’s so caught up he doesn’t even realize it until there’s a sweet little patch of curls under his chin and he looks up with the oddest expression of curiosity and doubt on his face only to be met with Jean’s expectant eyebrow

She wouldn’t want me to?—-*ah, she just face planted me in pussy, ok then*

Lapping at it with the biggest grin, there may or may not have been some noise complaints

the whole apartment complex just knows he’s a good husband, never would peg him as a stud if you met him in the hallway but, Jean sure takes forever to say goodbye to him in the mornings so he must do something right

All the neighbors just can't help but be happy for those two kids

They cook them food and leave the casserole dishes on the landing so they can savor each other for as long as possible before he leaves

Next Sunday they show up at church like dutiful little Americans and they’ve got hickies everywhere and his cheeks are a permanent pink, Her knees are red and raw under her church dress

I feel like maybe they get a little adventurous as their time together draws to a close? Maybe they break a dining room chair? She's too mortified to put it out on the curb

*saves it for 50 years*

Some of those wedding china ends up in pieces on the floor. Can't explain to her aunts why they don't have a full set all of a sudden

i really hope he never loses that occasional hair trigger premature ejaculation tendency.

Sometimes it even shocks him, “O-Oh...shoot”

The last day together is a dismal and precious night

The poor man probably laid there on her sweaty boobs after blowing his last load with the saddest *fml* face on as he processed it being, indeed, his last

But HOMECOMING!

and now the war is over they can set up house and make babies

A small breeding kink, after all, these men marched home from war and basically were told "get a job and let's repopulate for all the boys we lost!"

It’s so damn primal when you think about it but under the veneer of the starched and polished 50’s

Croz can't think straight in that tight little hole, let alone think of the ramifications of another baby

“Give it to me, give me another, come on Harry, we've got an empty space in the Christmas card anyway, think of it!! fill me up baby oh godddd Jesus bless your pretty dick-*

it’s the most mundane reasons and he still busts a nut like she’s some filthy vixen and not his sweet and slightly too optimistic wife

frantic love making with a sweater and socks still on, too

Jean is a writher because the longer they are married the longer he lasts and soon she’s come and he just keeps going and she cannot keep quiet then and he’s too big to ignore or calm down between, just thick enough to always be tugging just right and she fully sobs from it sometimes

Often she’s trying to cup herself?!? Fully spasming and shaking and curling in but his strong forearm is over her belly and his lips on her ear

This man is a god at spooning sex

she is so cock feral when she falls pregnant it almost alarms him

The books didn't say anything about this?! He's exhausted and dehydrated and his classes are suffering as a result

Wants to ask Egan if he encountered this phenomenon

His war buddies become a new father support group

"Hang in there pal, only three more months"

They’ll be in the kitchen just chatting before dinner, she wants to tease him. Scoops a little cherry pie filling onto her finger. He licks it and sucks it off -- bites the finger too, in the background dogs are barking and kids are running amuck

As the Crosbys you’re in for a life of very benign but nauseatingly idyllic Christmas parties.

Snow globes, y’all

Sweaters, spiked eggnog and very well thought out gifts

Harry is the sort to carry Jean's purse when they are out shopping and she is trying on clothes. He also has no problem going and buying her sanitary napkins at the drugstore when she's on her period, because it's completely normal and there's nothing for anyone to be embarrassed about. Basically, he is just stupidly in love with her. He's like a puppy who will always follow, but she doesn't take advantage of that fact (credit to:@noneedtoamputate)

He is Harry “Have You Met My Wife?” Crosby back home, too, it’s even worse when he gets tipsy and his confidence grows and good luck shutting him up about how beautiful she is

This is the sorta man whose kids only learn Daddy was a goddamn boss during the war when they’re outta college, a very casual “oh yeah, that was sort of a thing, pass the salt.”

It’s canon this man cut his own son’s hair all his little life, propped him up on a little stool in the back yard and got to trimming -some of the only times the boy ever heard of those devastating missions

Imagine? Same man who used to take you out on the porch into the night air and rock against his sweater when you were a baby and wouldn’t settle is the same man who bombed the hell outta Fortress Europe

He’s the kind of man whose kids are so enamored over how both sides of the coin could settle in the same man, they end up making a documentary about him

Now I also need you to think of this man at bath time in the early 50’s -Shirt sleeves rolled up, top two buttons on his pristine white button up shirt popped with a peak of chest hair showing through, his curls getting steamed by his kids bubble baths

He’s got the prettiest slightly hairy forearms, y’all -according to Jean at least

Gives himself a bubble beard to make his kids laugh, will stay on his knees watching them play for ages, fully participating

His white shirt gets fully transparent with all this splashing and Jean has to really keep her mind on what’s next when she can so easily see his hair and pretty little nipples pebbled in a chill under them. Stops her whining about water on the floor in seconds.

Harry’s already hushing her and mopping it up with a towel anyway

The Crosby kids will have memories of their idiotically in love and enthralled parents who loved being parents, wrapping their baby selves snuggly into towels and setting them on the counter and just cracking up over how cute they looked with their chubby and shiny widdle faces poking out of terry cloth

Jean and Harry spend a lotta time doing that, they just love their kids, ok?

Brushing their cute little Croz curls

Jean can’t say no to a single one with their sad puppy eyes their daddy gave them

Sometimes they sit the kids in front of the fireplace (they obviously needed a house with a fireplace after that honeymoon) and line them up. Talk about them as if they aren't sitting right there. "Honey, look at those gorgeous eyes -- and his smile! Oh my, who do these cuties belong to?"

But it’s not all placid domesticity. Picture this:

Crosby with a mega phone, organizes a neighborhood Easter egg hunt. He's in charge, his aviators on, taking this so seriously

There are maps, he’s planned this for weeks, some of those traits and skills he picked up during the war come back at the oddest times

this gets even more intense if any of the war buddies are there

Harry writes letters to them strategizing, they all come and bring their own kids

It makes the local paper for being one of the biggest Easter egg hunts the state has ever seen

Night falls, children fall asleep and there are still some eggs left. Armed with booze and flashlights, the boys go out to collect the rest

Harry and Jean don't collect any though, they end up in a bush necking somewhere

Bucky gets very adamant about finding them and Brady is just as adamantly begging him not to

But Major Egan cannot be stopped, he rallies his men, hopping on the kids’ bikes and scooters

Everyone heckling each other in the dark suburban neighborhood

"Ya lost your touch Buck, keep up will ya?"

They all end up in a schnapps induced heap in the Crosby's backyard, long limbs all folded up on too small equipment

Jean and Harry leisurely stroll back up the street under lamp glow to their house where everyone is feral and collapsed and calling loudly for their hosts

Sharing soft little smiles and picking twigs out of each others hair

They tuck these idiot men in on the couches and floor, blankets, sleeping bags and dogs

Hear me out: Jean is the only human able to talk a belligerent Bucky out of his thirtieth beer

She has that sweet way about her that makes every person wanna be a better man for her

When he finally gives in and throws his arm over her little shoulders and swears she’s a good woman, Harry is there with the pan and the aspirin and the blanket

She makes them all the most perfect hangover breakfast the next morning, gingham checked apron stretched over swollen belly

Harry nuzzles her belly when she stops at his plate to dish up the eggs

Everyone wants to gag over how perfectly content these two are but that would be a waste of the best breakfast in the USA

And if Jean happens to make the best baked goods on the block - Croz is making sure everyone knows just who’s muffins those are on the bake sale table. Or if she wants to pursue a career or education? Harry is her biggest cheerleader, doing anything and everything to support her and being sure that everyone knows how incredible she is at what she does. (Credit @blurredcolour)

They may be the sweater wearing, block party and Sunday school couple but don’t think anybody gets away with being snide to Mrs. Jean Crosby -there will be comeuppance, even if it’s just an exquisitely literate verbal evisceration.

There's even more often a roaming band of local kids who kick the shins of everyone who's mean to Mrs. Crosby, because she gives them sweets and feeds them when they're hungry and cleans up their scrapes when play gets too rough and -if Mr. Crosby hands out a comic or two to the boys that "accidentally" tripped some bloke who was harassing his wife, well. All is fair in love and war. (Credit to @promptedwordsmith)

When in the summer of 49 the Crosbies get a swimming pool dug? It might as well be considered public property.

not just the kids who are attached to the crosbies, though. your home is a constant revolving door of visitors - including a bunch of ex-servicemen. if it's not bucky lounging in the pool, or rosie painting the fence in his shirtsleeves because he wanted to be helpful, then douglass is smoking a cigarette in the yard while trying to make you laugh. ev is asking harry to show him how to read this goddamn map bc they're supposed to be taking a trip to the grand canyon in a month, and bubbles is over for dinner every other night. even brady sometimes shows his face, if only to carp at harry for getting them lost over france that one time while working the barbecue because you asked him to. when you and harry bought the house with an extra room you weren't sure you would ever use, you didn't expect it to be occupied as often as a popular hotel. if anyone ever had any bad intentions toward the crosbies, they're definitely rethinking it. those that don't...well. being in the air corps teaches one all sorts of creative ways of getting back at people. (Credit to @fidelias)

Imagine all the different skills the Crosby kids (_and their neighbor friends who never seem to leave_) learn from these guys?

“Oh yeah, Bucky Egan taught me how to swim while wearing his aviators…”

In other words:

Harry Crosby went home and built himself a little Norman Rockwell Camelot and then opened the doors of the kingdom to his buddies and -that’s as it should be.

And that’s not even mentioning how the Air Force and the CIA walked up to his front porch and interrupted a backyard ballgame to ask him for his help

It sucks to be super smart and needed when all ya wanna do is teach literature, go camping and help keep the church life going

But still

Jean sure looked good in Pakistan, the kids enjoyed a new culture and Harry likes to say he may have done some good

[someone-always-cares]

Progress update

Edit: laptop broke (hard drive issue), so thing will either be delayed a week or A Lot depending if my shit is recoverable. Back up your files regularly yall

Realised I should probably update yall on how things are going! Things are almost ready, just need to stich the book together together and finish a couple things, then I can order a sample of the book. I don't want to start the kickstarter until I have a book sample in hand that I'm happy with.

Admittedly looking like my original timeline isn't quite going to fit but such is life. its a close enough timeline so im not too annoyed just not in time to advertise it this weekend

to thank yall for your patience with this, here a sneak peek of the stickersheets made because I'm very happy with them and also because I just approved the proofs the manu sent me for those samples:

disclaimer: colours may vary depending on how the samples turn out (converting rgb to cmyk, my beloathed).

[id: two stickersheets, one of characters from chapter 1, and the other chapter two: chapter 1 sheets has: rami (civilian clothes), his whole team, tsunami, inkmaster, swarm, sound flood, and mori. as well as some smaller stickers: a sparkling wave, rami's logo, two diamond shaped sparkles, a small fireball, swarm's butterly, and three hearts with the ace, trans, and rainbow pride flags. chapter 2 sheet has: lewis and sound flood (both in civilian clothes), iris, faete, mindforce, and omen (super costumes). also several smaller stickers: mindforce's eye, a yellow and pink rose, a snowdrop, faete's sword, iris's notebook (with the words "stay safe"), a starry sky with city view, rami's hand holding a rose, and 5 blue pink and white hearts. end id]

also here's the cover (minus the blurb)

[id: image of the cover design, layed flat. aka the front cover is on the right side, back on the left, and the spin inbetween. designed to look like a corkboard with photos pinned to it, and red sring connecting things. on the back there are photos that are from various panels in chapter 1 and 2 (redrawn, specifically faete after transforming, cam readying her forcefield, lewis on the roof, and tsunami riding his wave. the back also contains enamel pins: a trans flag, an ace flag, and mindforce's eye. as well as the corner of a missing persons poster, a business card for "cullen's bowls 'n' bowls", and a blank sheet of notebook paper where the blurb should be. the spine has some starry washi tape with the title written on. the front has a piece of blue paper torn off at the end with the title on it, and stickers of a silver star and rami's logo. below is a large image of rami sitting in the water staring intestly at the viewer, light emerging behind him. around him, hands all strech out towards him, hands belonging to the significant character significant in chapters 1 and 2 of sac. end id]

so specifically what is left (no particular order):

spellchecking

adding page numbers to the bottom

finishing the rest of the not comic pages (aka the thank you note, about the author, deciation and the bit where im going to add names of people who pledged to the kickstarter) 75% done

character bios (admittedly optional i just want to do them)

bonus pages for art and sketches (i have collected all the art and sketches, its just deciding which ones to ue and which ones to save for next time because it makes more sense to put them with the more spoilery chapters 3-5 specific arts)

assembling these and sending a sample off to print

actually starting the kickstarter (once i have decived book sample back and am happy. i am not starting it without knowing 100% that i can fufill it right then and there)

(in the intrest of transperency: while these are all easy and mostly quick (aside from character bios. havent started that one yet), i also have some upcomign events that will have to take priority. that being a convention this weekend, next weekend, and my sisters wedding the weekend after (and the wedding gift, which is custom artwork of my sister and future brother in law. like a wedding painted but not on the day and also digital. so that will take up a bit of time after [another reason i wanted to get this done before then but ah well])

for real though one day i hope to be able to do art stuff full time because i am. so tired of doing a day job

also also there are versions of lewis and rami stickers in super outfits, they'll be seperate stickers

[id: drawings of lewis and rami, same as the stickers in the sheets, just seperate and in different outfits, the drawings have been placed close together, so it looks like thye're holding hands. end id]

you can make them hold hands :)

[writingrenna]

"Learn to Love (Pt. 5)"

Oooh, unexpected 5th part

That's because of Tumblr's word count, lmFAOOO-

I will post Chapter 1 of the continuation pretty soon! Writing it as we speak, actually

_\V/_

You place two random little figurines on the table, before hurriedly taking them both off. Is it too much? Too little? You NEED to put on the finishing touches before they arrive, but something isn't quite right...

"They'll all be here any moment... ugh, WHY isn't my artist brain being all artsy right now...?"

There needs to be a certain amount of added detail to the table, to make it look fun yet not cluttered. But...

The sound of an enthusiastic chirp interrupts your thoughts. Oh no! They're here! You put the figurines back before making a move. Rushing out the door of the mostly empty storage room, you stop them from coming right in.

"Waitwaitwait! Not yet!"

You wave to dissuade them. Cap, Mimi, Jacq, and Saguaro. You called them in for one specific reason. A reason you weren't ready for, because... well, reasons.

"Oh, that's all right. I can wait for a moment, you?"

Jacq turns to Saguaro, who looks at him before nodding.

"Yes, I have some time."

You feel bad. Saguaro was a little more busy than usual today, having agreed to help bake something special in the cafeteria, which certainly threw a wrench in things. It wasn't either of your faults, however, and you'd be quick.

"Okay! Lemme just... er..."

You run back in, pulling the little gifts you had prepared out from under the tablecloth and in front of your display.

...huh, that... that actually helps. It makes the figurines look less like clutter, too, if that even makes sense. Still, though, you brush off your uniform, take a deep breath, and walk out again.

"Hah, so... you may be wondering why I had you all come over here..."

The boys all nod, but Mimi actually shakes her head 'no'. You're immediately worried.

"Wha- Mimi, did you figure it out already??"

She shakes her head 'no' again, trilling politely. Why? You think back on what it is you said exactly. 'You may be wondering why I...'

Oh, wait. Of course she wouldn't question you wanting to see her. You're her trainer, after all. You swallow down the feeling of the little heart attack you just had before clearing your throat.

"Hehe, r-right, right... ANYWAY, yeah, uh, the uhm... I have a..."

You back away into the room again, this time not closing the door.

"-yeah, sorry, I just wanted to do something for you, to show my appreciation."

"Ooh, really?" Jacq questions, eyes full of curious wonder. Ah... hopefully it isn't underwhelming...

"Y-yeah... so, uh, come in! For a second, at least, heh..."

You turn and walk in with your head down. They follow, and you're honestly kind of terrified of what their reactions might be, but you hear your duo chirp in surprise.

Turning to them, you see them running towards the table in awe. They look at the gift bags, noticing the ones with little doodles of their faces on the tags. Mimi trills in delight, rubbing the electic sacs on her cheeks and discharging a small amount into her own fur. Cap actually squeals- a sound you've never really heard from him before, after he bumps the tag to straighten it out a little so he can see it better. They seem happy just seeing the tags, their reactions actually making you feel a lot better. Grabbing the first bag, a pink striped one, you turn to the man.

"Okay! Saguaro, I wanna give you yours first. You can, uh, take it to your room if you like, don't worry about sticking around!"

You hand it to him, pointedly looking away from him, being sure not to let your hands linger too long. He takes it and bows a little.

"Thank you, I truly appreciate your thoughtfulness. It pains me to leave so soon, but we must thoroughly prepare for today's menu. Farewell, everyone."

He nods at everyone, giving you all a small smile before making his leave. You couldn't help but wonder what it was they were making. Regardless, you clap to yourself, refusing to look at the only other human in the room despite knowing he's looking at you now.

"So! Uh... it's... all right, come here."

You walk towards the table again, picking up his purple dot-patterned bag, the negative space resembling stars. Just like everyone else, his had a little doodle of his face on the tag, but you refused to look at it.

"Here ya go. It's not much, but it's... uh, a thing."

He looks at it. You can hear the excitement in his voice as he looks over the bag.

"Oh, hey! That's me!" He says, no doubt staring at the tag.

"Hehe, yeah, I uh, wanted to prepare you for the theme of the gift..."

He looks up at you, now even more curious before looking back down at it for a moment.

"Aww, you didn't have to do all this..."

You shake your head.

"It's okay, I really wanted to. Not just as thanks, but also because you deserve it!"

"M-"

He makes a weird noise, head shooting back up to look at you before quickly looking away, obviously a bit flustered.

"I see... well, then. I'm honored," he says, finally putting a hand in the bag to start unearthing its contents.

You're honestly horrified he went for the card first, looking away as his eyes scan the cover.

"For the greatest mind in Paldea- aaaww! That's..." he looks away, feeling bashful. "...that's not true..." He sends a little hand wavy gesture your way.

"Well, to me it is..."

You finally look over to him again while saying this, only to see him avoiding eye contact.

"Hehe, thank you..."

He reads the rest, mumbling to himself now. He's smiling, and you can tell it's real, you just find it hard to believe he actually likes it. Maybe it's the self-doubt talking. Maybe you can see how bad it is now that it's been a while since you drew it. You have no clue...

He's looking through everything else in the bag, now completely silent. It's all stuff you either made/drew yourself, grabbed based on random tidbits you got, or stuff that reminded you of him as a person. It felt... personal enough. Oh no, what if it looks like a grab-bag of junk?

'Ohnoohnoohnoohno, please don't hate it, or at least, make fun of me behind my back like a decent person, maybe.'

He's still smiling, though. His upper eyelids are slightly drooped, so it's a weird mix of happy and sad. Solemn, even. He sits down on a large box behind him, bag now in his lap as he goes through the rest of it. The card, a little Arcanine figurine, a small box you painted and filled with random items related to Pokémon, some nerdy memorabilia you knew he (might) like, as well as other stuff on the bottom of the bag itself to really round it out. Just small things, but hopefully it adds up. You're honestly kinda too afraid to look at him, but you force yourself to take a peek, only to notice he's crying.

He's crying. Why? Why is he crying? Ohgodswhatiswrongwhyishecrying-

"...Jacq...?"

You bend down to see his face a little more. He's staring into the box, occasionally looking at the art you did of his team on the lid, trying to stay quiet, but he sniffles a little and makes an even tinier noise. You hesitantly place a hand on his shoulder, which causes his eyes to widen for a moment.

"Uh- sorry, sorry..."

"Nono, don't apologize, please..."

He nods, before falling mostly silent again. You decide to give him a moment, going over to sit next to him, hand placed lightly on his upper back. You take a moment to let the silence set in. It was quite nice, being able to have a quiet moment together, save for being worried about Jacq, of course.

You finally look up at your two Pokémon, before noticing them quickly look away from you. Huh, strange. Cap seems to stare at the tag again, as if trying to will it to do something, but Mimi politely puts her arms behind her back, rocking back and forth on her hind paws just a little. It was then that the fact that they haven't opened their gifts yet hit you like a sack of bricks. Wet bricks, even, if that makes a difference.

"Oh! You guys can open your-"

You don't even get to finish your sentence. Mimi starts to squeak as she excitedly rips the tissue paper out, plopping down and holding the bag as she digs into it. Cap actually jumps up with a chirp and cannonballs into the bag itself, causing it to tip over, him spilling out and back onto the floor in the process. Yikes. Good thing nothing in their bags were particularly fragile...

You watch with an effusive sense of love, just wanting this moment to last forever. You couldn't wait for the rest of your lives together! You'd celebrate their Gotcha Days, show them more of this world you share, you'd let them know you'll never let them go...

Bleh, here you go again. But y'know what? This is better than anything you ever could've asked for, all thanks to this school, as well as the man next to you, who is also watching the scene unfold with a soft smile on his face. You gently rub his back, eliciting a little nod of acknowledgement.

"...this is nice..." he simply states as your Pokémon freak out over their gifts.

Yeah. It is, isn't it?

_\V/_

"...sooo, for reasons completely unrelated to any previously mentioned, I caught a Klawf-"

"-are you kidding?" He asks with laugh. He's amused, but also mildly concerned.

"Nope! Actually, though, I uh... caught a pretty interesting fella," you say, eyes drifting off toward the side a little.

This piques his interest for sure. With a raised eyebrow, he glances over at the battle court, as if telling you to show him without words. You grin, tossing the Pokéball up.

"COME OOON OUT, OLAF!"

Bracing for impact, you hear the sound of a deep bellow, as well as a rather large creature landing nearby. You then hear a surprised gasp coming from Jacq.

"You found a SHINY Klawf?!"

You knew he'd be interested, but anticipating it doesn't stop the uncontrollable beam on your face.

"Yup! I wasn't intending on catching a shiny, but while sizing up another one I found, this guy caught my eye, and I was like, 'wow! Life out here must suck for you,' so I caught him instead!"

You were so excited, you didn't even notice yourself rambling. Pokémon just get you so jazzed, especially your own now that you're diving into the whole "trainer" thing. He doesn't mind, however, cautiously approaching the Pokémon, who was currently looking around the plaza.

"I see... you are very lucky, then! Do you know the odds of finding a shiny...?"

He bends down and observes Olaf, watching as his eyes dart around before catching a glimpse of the man, looking away without fully noticing him before doing a double-take, eyes finally settling on him. Olaf moos curiously.

"Err... one in 4,000... -ish?"

"Correct!" He says, now sitting back up and turning toward you again. "It's quite a special experience finding a shiny. And especially as your 3rd Pokémon, what?!"

You smile, face heating up again as you look away. You really didn't do anything special, but maybe there was just... something in the air today?

"Hehe, yeah, it's pretty neat. He seems pretty cool already, too! See?"

You walk over, grabbing Olaf's claw as you awkwardly shake it.

"See? He just kinda... lets it happen."

Jacq nods curiously, inquisitive eyes searching the Klawf's face. He isn't distressed at all, but he seems confused. Just as confused as you seem to be, actually. Nothing seems wrong to him, so he turns back to you, which catches you off-guard. Isn't he more interested in Olaf...?

"Hah, but uh, yeah! Great news, also. Cap actually listened to me!"

"Oh?" He tilts his head, looking excited.

"Yeah! I think it's time we do a little showcase again..."

You walk towards the center of the battle court, hands slowly moving towards the other two Pokéballs on your belt. You grab them, grinning, before tossing them up as well. Cap and Mimi emerge, letting out their own little battle cries before landing on the ground. They look up at you, both ready for whatever you have planned. You hold out the Pokédex app. Jacq noticeably flinches, but he then smiles.

"All right, you two! Ready to show us what you got?"

They both nod, determination burning in their eyes. A wonderful sign. Mimi runs over first.

"Okay, ready?"

Mimi squeaks before taking a deep breath. It then begins.

She makes a digging motion on the ground.

'Dig'

She hops forward, kicking and swiping furiously at the air.

'Close Combat'

She lets loose a flare of electricity.

'Discharge'

She dances with a very odd rhythm.

'Entrainment'

You clap, whooping and cheering. Cap even mimics you, whooping enthusiastically. Jacq simply claps, but he does seem proud.

"WHOOOOOO! ATTAGIRL, GREAT JOB!!"

Mimi squeaks and bows, eliciting a round of applause from the small crowd you... didn't... realize formed. Eh. Anyway...

"Okay, Cap'n! You're up next!"

Cap chirps, running over to the spot Mimi just occupied. She walks over, joining you, Jacq, and her new teammate Olaf, who she curiously looks up at. Olaf is too preoccupied watching Cap.

"Alright, buddy. Moment of truth..."

Cap lowers his head for a moment before standing up as tall as he can, crying out, and running around to charge up an attack.

"Oh! Zen Headbutt!"

He stops, nodding cheerfully before going to perform his next move. Huh...

He summons sharp leaves before launching them.

'Razor Leaf'

He jumps up, opening his mouth before forcefully biting down on a still-falling leaf, doing a little flip as he lands.

'Crunch'

He forcefully spits out a barrage of seeds into the air.

'Bullet Seed'

You're all overjoyed, loudly cheering him on as he lets out a triumphant laugh. His little underdeveloped arms even mime putting his hands on his hips, just like a Scovillain... he runs over to you, happily jumping up and chirping. You scoop him up in mid-air, squeezing him to your face in a little 'hug'.

"AHHHH, YOU DID IT!! GREAT JOB, CAP!!"

Cap chirps again, rubbing the side of his face against yours, before noticing something wet touch the top of his head. He leans back, only to chirp in surprise when he sees the tears streaming down his face.

You're crying in public. Crying tears of joy of course, but crying nonetheless. In front of people who probably came to see the funky Klawf, only to stay to see your Pokémon perform. You're crying in front of people who have no idea why this moment is so important to you, but surprisingly, you really don't care. This is it, you two are finally in-tune with each other...

You take in a shaky breath, looking him in the eyes. He seems to stare back, as if you're slowly coming to a mutual understanding on something you aren't quite sure of yet. But something deep down inside you tells you things are somehow different now.

You turn to Jacq, closing your eyes in contentment and smiling.

"AHHHH!! The day has COME!! Can you believe it?!"

His response matches your enthusiasm.

"Sure can! You really have come so far. It feels like you first came barreling through my door just yesterday..."

This comment actually makes you pause. Oh yeah, autumn is right around the corner. Something about the thought made you feel kinda cozy, officially being at the school for longer than you planned. This is sorta it, you realize, not even noticing the season's starting to change until now, those cast shadows giving the current tilt in the Earth's axis away...

This brings a look of comfort to your face, smile soft and eyes half-lidded as you stare at the ground. Cap is still in your hands, looking tired as well. It'd be nice, taking a nap or something.

...

...wait...

"Bullet Seed? I thought you were practicing Seed Bomb..."

You look down at Cap, who's face gives it away. He was waiting for you to realize it. You squint one eye, giving him a suspicious yet playful look.

"Hey, buddy? Why are you still focusing on using THAT move, huh?"

His eyes crinkle a little as he lets out a quick laugh, which basically amounts to "Ooh-hoo! Ooh-hoo!"

Jacq leans in after letting out a subdued little laugh.

"Hey, remember, that's the move that brought you two together! He could just be holding on for sentimental reasons."

You smile a little wider. He was probably right. Maybe he keeps using it because of sentimental reasons... or maybe it's just because he's little asshole. Perhaps both reasons are equally valid here? You can honestly see it going both ways at this point. Whatever the reason though, you were happy to admit: you really and truly do love him and the life you've built together.

You feel tears coming yet again, but they don't fall this time.

"Aaaaaww!"

You raise your free arm up, causing Mimi to look up, covering her mouth in anticipation as Jacq's eyes widen in surprise.

"C'mere, you!"

Mimi squeaks, jumping up and throwing herself into your side without hesitation. You take the initiative to pull Jacq into the hug, savoring the moment. Klawf is a bit too frazzled by the whole experience to join, but he observes the four of you, as if getting used to the idea of your dynamic. You give him one more tight squeeze before backing away, making sure to hang onto Mimi as you do so.

Upon seeing him, she squeals in delight. It takes you a moment before you can see his face, placing Cap in your uniform's pocket so you can hold her on your hip better, but when you do...

...hah. Calm down, brain. He's only blushing. You would too if you were hugged out of nowhere like that.

...

Is dating a former student off the table for him, or-

_\V/_

A/N

SORRY JUST HAD TO THROW IN ONE LAST CRINGEY THOUGHT, AHHH

Part two to the series (now called Nerds of a Feather unless I come up with a better name) coming soon-ish! And don't worry, the trauma plot wasn't dropped, it's just... brewing.)

[torra-and-the-toons]

What's your opinion on the flanderization of the Eds during the later seasons? More specifically the school episodes.

I remember being so upset about it as a kid.

Double D and Ed are relatively reserved people with Eddy being pretty much the most extroverted of them. Especially in the start of the show. Ed is that weird kid that makes obscure references to TV shows and movies he's watched, he's so absorbed into science fiction comics and horror flicks he believes it's real. Double D is too weak for the other kid's games and too much of a know-it-all that'd it be a put off to most of the Cul-de-sac kids and Eddy was well.. small and a loud-mouth bossy but, he meant well. They all meant well.

He just wanted to fit in, they all did. (felt deep in my soul)

With Eddy, Ed and Double D had a sense of belonging, they had each-other and that's what mattered to them. They're social outcasts but they are outcasts that weren't alone. Them growing apart with the school episodes just made so hurt especially as I watched the re-runs while in Junior High/Middle School myself.

Am I going too deep into this? Probably. Thoughts?

Ooohhh I love talking about season 5/6!!

Opinions under the cut bc this will probably get long. (You're afraid you went too deep but I've already dug to china, my friend lmao)

My opinion of it used to be the same as you way back in the day. I remember seeing the first new episode and literally turning off the television because I was so irritated. Everything was so different, I could tell the animation was different, they were going to SCHOOL... something I hated thinking about when I was a 14-15 year old teenager myself. I used to watch this show to get away from reality, not relive the experience. I didn't like change as a kid. Change is scary, but I've come to discover as I got older that change is inevitable, and the sooner we embrace it, the happier we'll be.

However, my opinion of the later seasons as an adult has changed drastically.

I actually really love the later seasons now. The characters are so much more expressive and silly. Sure, some of the episodes are a little cringy, but don't we all have memories from our childhood that make us cringe? Looking back at my own childhood, school was just a part of the experience. It sucked in the moment, but I have so many fond memories of my friends and I going through school that I will never get to relive again.

The one thing I've always admired about this cartoon is how much it reminds me of my childhood. And part of the reason I still love it today is because I get to relive the experience of being young through the Eds over and over again. It's not about magic, or spies, or superheroes... it's just three kids being kids. It's so simple, but so powerful.

I'm sorry, but I have to hard disagree with you on them drifting apart in the school seasons though. They're growing up, showing their differences, but what mattered at the end of the day was that they were still friends. I had a couple of friends since the first grade, we all grew into different people, but despite EVERYTHING we are still best friends to this day. That's how I see the Eds. That's how I want the Eds to be if there ever exists a canon version with them as adults. No matter who they've become. No matter where they are. No matter how much time has passed, they'll always be friends.

So, to answer your question: Seasons 5/6 are one of my favorites, actually. They're different for sure, but school is just another part of being a kid. And friendships are definitely tested in school, especially for such different personalities such as Ed, Edd and Eddy. But the bond they share is even stronger at the end of the day. That's how I view it.

Idk, maybe I've spend way too much time reading in between all the lines.

I hope I was able to articulate my thoughts well enough <3 Sorry if it wasn't the answer you were looking for. But thanks for asking!

[inquisitorius-sin-bin]

What's been your favorite part about developing Plainsmen culture?

Thanks for asking!

Incorporating little bits of knowledge from my local region, forgotten parts of human history, and grounding Star Wars sci fi in fact.

Examples:

The pregnancy test, using rye seeds? Based on an Egyptian papyrus showing pregnant women urinating on barley and wheat seeds. Scientific testing has shown this to be roughly 70-85% accurate in predicting pregnancy, due to a chemical compound in pregnant women's urine that causes seeds to sprout faster.

Beetle clan's use of insect exoskeletons in the production of red dye comes from a long human history of doing the same <- btw this article on the subject is incredible.

The placement of Theo's tent on top of a plateau above his camp comes from experiences at Moundville Archeological Site, where the patrician members of society were thought to have residences on top of earthen mounds raised higher than other residences, and the highest mound was thought to be for the highest ranking member of society. The region the Dactillion clan inhabits is already full of plateaus, so I don't think it is outlandish to think they would put their leader on a raised platform even higher than that.

The Bluestem that the Kite clan uses in their ceremonies and smoke before business meetings is actually one of the predominant native grass types of North American prairies, but is so poorly known that I didn't feel I had to change the name. No, you can't actually smoke it, I just wanted to borrow the name of something important.

Toothache grass, which I briefly describe in one chapter, is a real grass which has a chemical in its root similar to lidocaine. My academic advisor in college was a botanist, and he taught us all about native plants on out outings as a member for the Society for Conservation Biology. I have chewed on the roots of Toothache grass, and it does make your mouth go totally numb!

I have a deep passion and feel of loss regarding my region's prairie ecosystem, which is formed from an ancient seabed, much like Utapau! It would share similar soil and rock types to Utapau, and I've been in the natural limestone cave systems as well to survey life within. If you've never been within a natural cave system, it's a wild feeling! Crawling on your hands and knees, counting bats and cave crayfish and cave salamanders, it's a beautiful thing. Turning all your lights of so you can experience true darkness- just don't think about The Descent movies. I try to incorporate bits of my personal experience where I can.

The stitch-weaving Bolen and the rest of Weaver clan does? That's Tunisian crochet. I can't Tunisian crochet yet, but I do regular crochet and knit. I just think Tunisian crochet is the most beautiful fiber art I've ever seen, the stitch variation is incredibly beautiful and the drape is spectacular.

The singing I describe from the Pau'an is based on a combination of knowledge from avian respiratory systems and throat singing mechanics. In Last Shot, Fyzen Gor describes feelings something in his "hollow bones". I extended this to mean Pau'an have hollow bones, and like birds, have air sacs that extend into those bones. They were said to scream loud enough to be heard halfway across an asteroid, so it makes sense they have an extensive volume to their respiratory systems. Throat singing is accomplished by reverberating tones through the throat at specific frequencies, so to me, it followed that a more expansive respiratory system, like those in birds, would allow an expanded range of throat singing like we see in humans.

[takethistoyourstardust]

ahhh good thoughts good thoughts YOU GET IT...

Mine if I ask one more? I am so bad at articulating my own thoughts towards music but I LOVE knowing other's. Thnks Fr Th Mmrs?

HELLO THANK YOU FOR WAITING. I'M ALSO BAD AT ARTICULATION BUT I DO LOVE TALKING LIKE I KNOW WHAT I'M SAYING. we all know what mmrs sounds like so i won't link it here, but I do have quite a few thoughts on it!

I have kinda a special connection to this song because, while I only got into fob in 2023, Mmrs was the first fall out boy song I remember hearing!! I have a distinct memory of waiting to be dropped off at elementary school, and while my mom was in the cul-de-sac thing waiting to get close enough to the school to drop me off, Thnks Fr Th Mmrs was playing on the radio!

anyways, i think it's a really fucking good way of playing into the character that the tabloids made out of fall out boy and specifically pete wentz. i feel like most everything about mmrs and how it relates to them playing into the image has been said, but my favorite part is the bridge, or rather, how it starts:

they say i only think in the form of crunching numbers in hotel rooms collecting page six lovers

because if you're not listening for it, it's incredibly easy to miss the "they say", and i think that's on purpose!! almost like the narrator doesn't want to let the tabloids/the wider world know that he's a little bothered by what they're saying (especially when the first verse ends with the sarcastic "'who does he think he is?'/if that's the worst you got, better put your fingers back to the keys", almost daring the media to talk even more shit about him). but the "they say" implies that, on some level, the narrator IS bothered by it, but tries to play it off, especially with the rest of the bridge. idk it's a detail that's stuck with me, and really plays into infinity on high's overall theme of contrasting playing into the image of the tabloids with far-too-personal lyrics.

Soooooo yeah!! those are my big thoughts on mmrs!! :)

[thisisadecisionimayregret]

thanks for letting me know! though it’s a little unfortunate that seasons in hieron is very death existential / parental death heavy because that really might have to make me not listen to it? especially since those are HUGE triggers of mine, specifically death existentialism. though i deeply want to give this series a chance! i’d say i’d be able to push past it, but i’m not really sure.

may i then ask slightly what the plot is in these over-arching seasons? just to kinda get a feel for it and kinda be aware of what death related content may or may not be involved.

obviously feel free to detail as much or as little as you’d like, and no pressure to talk about ALL of them either, especially since it’s probably a LOT to recollect and explain.

anyways! just wanted to say that, but i would probably enjoy hearing most about the plot of seasons in hieron and sangfielle, just to let you know.

my apologies for sending so many asks, but thank you immensely for this! genuinely i cannot express this enough <3

Yeah no worries! And honestly I should thank you for giving me an excuse to talk about fatt, I love this show so much lol

(also i am on mobile rn and cannot remember how to add a read more so uh, I'll go back and add it in later, sorry for the long post)

So like. Seasons of Hieron are like, it's a post- post- apocalyptic fantasy world. The apocalypse happened, but enough time has passed that any details of the apocalypse/the world before has been largely forgotten. They play Dungeon World, which is a pretty cool game that is analogous in many ways to dnd, and there's a fairly typical fantasy party. You've got your paladin, your warrior, your druid, your wizard, your bard, etc (but the table friends put their own spins on all of these tropes — their conception of bards and "pattern magic" is fantastic, and they also reimagine a lot of stereotypical fantasy groups like orcs, removing a lot of the shitty undertones from the standard you see in dnd). There's gods (you may recognize SamSam from the divorced tournament, go vote for them lmfao). And the main parties are (at the start) going to find magical artifacts from pre-apocalypse times.

But the bigger story that is more fully introduced in Marielda, is about the fact that the world — more specifically, the god Samol, who is the world of Hieron — is dying, slowly, and no one knows how to save him (and by extension the world). His sons, Samot and Samothes, get divorced (messily) since they have different theories to the question of how to save Samol from the Heat and the Dark. iirc, Samol and the Heat and the Dark are very specifically inspired by Austin's experience of his grandfather dying of cancer, and he is not the only parental figure dying in the series.

The players in the seasons of Hieron get drawn into these larger events, trying to stop the destruction of their world from the heat and the dark, with varying amounts of success. Hieron more than the other seasons (imo) deal more explicitly and deeply with death and undeath as themes, so it's totally understandable if that's not something you're up to listening to. It can get really heavy.

Sangfielle takes place in a world where the center of the world is cursed and wild, and a great ringed city encases it to prevent that cursed area expanding. The season takes place within that cursed area, called Sangfielle, and it follows the Blackwick Group, who are a crew that handle weird and cursed things. The crew includes a human who is actually a bunch of bees, a person slowly transforming into a terrifying creature, a spirit (sorta) that is (consensually) possessing someone, a giant goat lady who fights trains (there are fucked up evil trains no one created that just appear in Sangfielle and can take ppl hostage), among others. There's capybara people, goat people, devils, ox people, communist seahorse people. The group are hired to deal with problems, i.e. a cursed/haunted house demanding sacrifices, or finding the egg sac of the dead Mother-beast god that went missing. Y'know. Normal stuff. This season is the one where things get gory and gross and unsettling, and I think they did a great job with it. There's death in this season, but the things that don't die are much worse.

fuck I am going into so much detail here, gonna try and be brief for the other seasons since those were the two you wanted more info on and also it's later than I thought it was and cha girl's got work in the morning lmao

Divine Cycle writ large is: what if we're in space and also we made giant machine gods. your favorite mecha anime that doesn't exist. giant robots!!!

counter/WEIGHT: "we could have made them look like anything but we made them look like us." let's go fight against capitalism!!! (I remember this season the least out of all of them ngl, but the characters are all so so amazing. what if han solo used to be beyonce)

Twilight Mirage: "we weren't building mirrors, we were setting fires" they're living in a declining utopia society, and things are falling apart. how do you take care of people & face what happens next

Road to Partizan: what happens in the 5000 years following the twilight mirage era, as an imperial power grows and conquers

Partizan: "do we bring our own gravity with us" fighting against empire, is it possible to avoid empire and imperialism, and can individuals do anything to fight back such a massive institution

Road to Palisade: 5 years between end of Partizan and start of Palisade

Palisade: sequel to Partizan, revolution babeyy

And there we are!! I feel like I can't do any of these seasons justice in my summaries lol, but I've done my best here

[alizaydfuckingalqahtani]

every time ali and nahri hold hands i get such a thrill. it’s like getting hot with energy that is definitely either adding or taking years from my life, but i don’t even care which it is i just want more

[pxrxcxa]

Opposite Ends

Chapter Two - Newest Members of Hellfire Club

C1 | C3 | C4 | C5 | C6 | C7 | C8 | C9 | C10 | C11 | C12 | C13 pt1 | C13 pt 2 |

Chapter Three is out now, enjoy Sunflowers x 🌻

Pairing | Eddie x Female reader 18+. Steve x Robin x Female reader platonic friendship

Series summary | Dustins older sister got brought into the group during the events of Starcourt mall, 3 months on she's in her senior year and the kids are starting high school. After everything that went down she feels that she has to keep them safe at all costs, that includes keeping them way from the charismatic 'freak' Eddie Munson that runs a club based on their favourite game. They've both hated each other since freshman year -with good reason-, but when keeping distance between the kids and Eddie means putting herself in the firing line, boundaries get blurred, intentions get lost & the heart speaks louder than the brain.

The story is told from both Y/N & Eddies point of view.

What to expect | Slow burn enemies to lovers, Angst - with a happy ending, fluff & smut (in the later chapters). 18+ to read this story.

Series Warnings | Mentions of abuse, drug use, 18+ smut content

Chapter word count | 3k word count

Chapter warnings | Mention of exposure & Drug use

Any & All comments/reblogs are most appreciated - Love, P. x 🌿

Authors Note | I stayed up to 4am writing this even though I have work in the morning - I just had so many ideas for this story I had to write them before I forgot, I'm just so excited to continue this. - Anyways, if you read the entire chapter than thank you for reading & I hope you enjoyed it 🌻 P. x

Eddie | October 1985

'Well, her funeral' I smirked to myself as she cut me off. Y/N had come to class late, rushing to her seat and slamming her books down, not even noticing me seated next to her, eagerly awaiting her arrival. Calculus was single handley the only reason I was in my third senior year, well it was the easiest class to fail on purpose at least, its only redeeming quality was the fifty minuets of uninterrupted time I had y/n all to myself. Fifty minuets of eliciting delicious sounds from her downturned mouth due to my presence. She ignored me for the most part, like my existence could have meant less than nothing to y/n, but her facade wasn't as convincing as she thought it was. Often, I would hear her frustrated sighs at my incorrect answers to Mr Mundy's questions or when I would fiddle with my hands as I struggled to keep focused. I liked to draw as many of those sighs from her lips as I could, with trial and error I discovered what would earn me either a quiet groan or a deep scowl.

She hated me as much as I despised her.

And I loved every second of it, taunting her helped pass the time while I suffered through the most humdrum subject to torture every high school student ever. 

It wasn’t y/n I hated specifically, just the stereotype she embodied to a perfect ‘T’. Perfect Grades. Perfect Family. Perfect friends. Perfect college. Perfect - boring white picket fence at the end of the cul de sac -life planned out for her. Just another sheep’s brain falling to the pressure to conform. The only interesting thing about her that didn’t make me internally cringe, was that she had apparently picked up smoking in the past couple of weeks. It was probably the most exciting rebellious act she could come up with, the quickest way to give her straighty one eighty parents early on sought heart attacks. Which is probably exactly why she went straight to the supplier and not the dealer, knowing the absolute shit I would have given her over her new found habit. 

She could have been my arch nemesis, but I was still a gentleman at heart and was not about to let her embarrass herself. Well, that was until she snapped at me. I turned my face into my hand to stifle a laugh as she twisted away from me, watching Mr Mundy make his way over as the idiots behind me cat called y/n. 

“What’s all this then?!” The teacher brandished his hands in the air in an attempt to regain control over the room, annoyance clouding his face. A face that turned beet red as he stood next to y/n desk. “Miss Henderson” He exclaimed, she gasped and stood ram rod straight, letting her skirt flutter down her thighs to cover her formerly exposed ass. In her hurry to get to her seat, her skirt had become caught in the metal bar that stretched across the backs of our chairs. We were in the third row, so she had only flashed her ass in – what I had to admit were pretty sexy, not what you’d expect from perfect little miss y/n – black lacy panties, to a couple of jocks on the basketball team. Although with their loud mouths, the entire school would know by lunch. With a few embellishments added to the story, I was sure. 

She seemed to be thinking the same thing as she shot me a betrayed look, almost like it was my fault. As her big rounds eyes filled with accusations met mine, I knew nothing but indifference was reflected there. It was hard to tell whose face had turned a deeper shade of crimson, y/n or Mr Mundy’s, the teacher was certainly more mortified. Y/n had nothing to worry about, she had a great ass, it would only make her more desired by majority of the guys in school, even Mr Mundy seemed to be hiding a hard on as he half ran to hide behind his desk. Great, all she needed was an ego boost to that already enormous head of hers. 

“Right, quieten down!” Mundy barked, writing some foreign equation on the black board, the screeching of the chalk competing against the hushed whispers that broke across the classroom. I peaked at y/n from the corner of my eyes, seeing that the colour still hadn’t drained from her face as she stared forward, rigid in her seat. She stayed like that for the rest of the lesson, but as soon as the bell rang signalling the end of class, she peeled herself from her desk and fled the classroom, I could feel the fury radiating off of her. With movements ten times slower than hers, I slid from my seat, silently laughing to myself as I imagined her face when she finds out she could no longer avoid me and go straight to Reefer Rick for the good stuff. He wasn’t getting out of jail anytime soon and if y/n wanted to keep up the act of good girl turned bad, she’d have to come to me sooner or later. I grinned like a manic at the idea of more time carved out of my day purely for taunting y/n. 

“No absolutely not.” I grunted, not bothering to look up from the panic-stoking magazine article claiming Dungeons & Dragons has been tied to “violent behaviour”, “satanic worship”, “and even murder.”, to consider whatever freshman Gareth had imposed on me during lunch, I toyed with my food as he continued to beg. Even over the constant tinkle of excited chatter that filled the small cafeteria, I could practically hear the two smaller bodies buzzing with anticipation, practically levitating on the balls of their feet. 

“Awh c’mon Eddie, we all leave this year. And you even said it yourself, Hellfire is your legacy and you’ll be dammed if it disappears with you when you graduate.” Damn, I thought. He had me there. 

“If you graduate.” Jeff muttered under his breath. I pegged whatever piece of food I was holding at him, he leant back the fragile cafeteria chair on two legs as he brushed crumbs off his front.

“‘86 is my year, I told you that.” I snapped.

“Didn’t you say that last year?” He questioned, smiling slightly to take the sting out of the insult. 

“And the year before that?” Gareth chimed in; my eyes flittered between them both. 

“Yeah, yeah and I was full of shit.” I shovelled a fist full of food into my mouth. “Who the hell is this?” I questioned, partially to get the attention of my possibility of failing, gesturing to the short curly haired kid with a goofy smile and familiar eyes, he was wearing a Weird Al t-shirt, which I thought was brave, and his tall, freckled friend hovering at the edge of the table. 

“Mike Wheeler.” I snapped my head up to soak in his features, yeah there was definitely a hint of Nancy in his bone structure. I didn’t mind the older Wheeler; she’d tutored me in a few classes to help me pass. And after she’d dumped Steve Harrington, sending him toppling from his pedal stool at the top of the school hierarchy to date another social outcast – Jonathon Byers - like myself, I'd decided she was alright. But Hellfire was in the middle of a campaign, I was about to point that out and question if the newbies were level one dwarfs or even had a clue what DnD was, when Gareth spoke again. 

“And this is-“ He began but the shorter freshman beat him to it. 

“I’m Dustin Henderson” He exclaimed proudly, grinning from ear to ear. 

“Like Y/N Henderson?” I questioned loudly as my eyebrows shot up into my bangs. 

“Yeah, that’s my sister-“ He responded excitedly, before dropping into a murmur as he took in my expression. 

“Speak of the devil-“ Jeff mumbled. 

“And the devil shall appear” Gareth finished. 

I followed their eyeline, meeting the same pair of eyes from earlier in the school day, only pure unyielding rage filled their depths this time. 

Alarmed chatter broke out between the current member of the hellfire club. 

“Shut up.” I screeched, wielding my arms. My eyes never left y/n as she stormed over to our table, the crowds in the cafeteria parted for her like fish in the ocean did whenever a shark was nearby. An excited smile fixed itself on my face as my mind ticked over rapidly. I stood swiftly, sending lunch trays flying across the table. 

“Jesus Christ” Little Henderson puffed. I pinned a hand behind my back and leant forward in a little bow, sweeping my free hand across the empty space in front of me in a grandiose gesture. 

“Y/N Henderson.” I beamed as she reached our corner of the dining hall, steam practically blowing out of her ears.   

Y/N | October 1985

I followed the familiar path to our usual table as the hallway gave way to the - slightly not big enough to house the entire school – cafeteria, balancing both mine and my lunch buddy’s tray in my hands. My classmates spilled out around me, exclaiming as they reunited with friends they had only been with a few hours earlier. I rolled my eyes and tried to tune into Robins fast paced chatter – “"Fast Times at Ridgemont High", paused at exactly "53 minutes and 5 seconds. Steve says that means she likes boobies! Boobies!" She whispered-shouted, a pang of guilt stabbed through me, Robin had come out to me a few weeks earlier, after incessantly badgering her about her seemingly relationship with Steve, she had told me the truth about her. She had assured me a hundred times that if she didn’t feel comfortable or trust me, she never would have told me. But I still couldn’t help but feel that I had forced her hand. I smiled at her as her curly haired bob shook as she animatedly repeated her conversation with Steve from last night’s shift at Hawkins local Family Video. Hard to believe that a year ago I would have avoided eye contact with someone like Robin, lest someone see me conversing with a band geek, and now she was one of my favourite people in the world. 

We tittered on the edge of the cafeteria, looking for Max as she continued. “And like sometimes I get these vibes from her during practise, like she looks at me for just a second too long but maybe because there’s something on my face or I look stupid while I’m playing or I’m reading into things too much – look there’s Max.” She tugged on my arm, but I didn’t budge. While looking through the throng of teenage bodies, looking for a whisp of Max’s tell-tale red hair I had set my eyes on something that rooted me to the spot, frozen with cold anger. Only for a second though, before my brain caught up with my what my body had decided, shoving our lunch trays into Robin’s arms as my legs carried with me with long purposeful strides across the dining hall towards my younger brother, enthralled in conversation with Edward Munson. For a second the wild thought of Eddie telling them what happened in calculus earlier, crossed my mind. No, Eddie and I didn’t like each other but I had never actually done anything that bad to him to warrant such behaviour. Surely, he had enough decency to keep those plump lips of his shut. 

I hadn’t warned Dustin away because Eddie played DnD, it wasn’t because people called him a freak or the fact that he wore that title like a proud medal on his chest, never missing an opportunity to live up to it. It was because I was sure he was well aware of the habit I had recently picked up, and even though he had never let on that he knew or questioned if I really hated him that much to have gone to the much scarier Reefer Rick instead of the pariah high school kid. I did not trust him to not let something slip to Dustin, accident or not, he would definitely let my brother in on the know somehow, just to cause shit for me. I would also never live down the 'hypocritical' title if Dustin found out and thought I judged Eddie for participating in the exact same activities I did.

Robin pulled at my sleeve “Y/n, y/n, what are you doing?” she questioned loudly as she struggled to keep up with me. People turned to shout at me as I shoved through the crowd, their angry expressions quickly fading to one of minding their own business, backing off as they took in my appearance, which no doubt was murderous. Robin slowed as she honed in on what I was heading to. 

“Oh” She trailed off. 

“Y/N Henderson.” For a crazy moment I thought Eddie prepared himself to embrace me, but he just bowed low in front of me, in a very Eddie like fashion. I ignored him completely, spinning to face Dustin. 

“What the hell did I tell you.” I spat. 

“Hey, Hey, Hey.” Eddie grinned, rushing to the rescue, he slid in between me and the table, resting back on the ancient surface. He had his hands up in a non-threatening way like he was dealing with a dangerous animal, hell with our history, that’s probably exactly what he thought of me. He leaned further back on the table, smiling cockily and I stood back automatically, his position exposed himself to me in a way that made me extremely aware of the contours of his body. “That’s the newest members of Hellfire you’re abusing there Miss y/n” He cocked his head to the side, a movement I would have missed if I hadn’t of been watching him. His eyes appraised me, waiting for my comeback. Well, I wasn’t one to disappoint. 

“And that’s my underage brother you’re corrupting Munson,” ‘Newest members of hellfire’ I repeated with a slow shake of my head. “Like hell they are.” I turned back to Dustin. 

“You are not joining them.” I half growled. 

“I’m in high school now y/n, I can do what I want.” He puffed out his chest, backpack sitting nerdly high on his shoulders, my demeanour softened at his innocence. I was subconsciously aware of Max cautiously elbowing her way to stand at my side, her eyes silently questioning the exchange between me and my brother. Robin tottered on her feet, anxiously chewing her nails as her eyes bounced back and forth between me and Eddie. The latter clasped his hands together eagerly.

“Perfect, your first meeting will be tonight, at seven!” His words were for Dustin, but his eyes were on me, daring me to disagree. 

“And how exactly do you plan on getting there kids?” I asked mockingly, both Mike and Dustin’s faces fell at the use of that word, since they had both grown taller than me apparently I wasn’t allowed to use it anymore. 

“You’ll drive us.” Dustin assumed, looking at me with pleading eyes. 

“Like fu-“ 

“I can pick you up, my van is big enough for you both, I’ll just call corners cause there is no seatbelts in the back.” His seated group at the table sniggered. I spun back to Eddie, giving him my full attention now, it seemed to be what he wanted. He raised an eyebrow suggestively, waiting for me to accept my fate. 

“You. Are. Not. Driving. Them.” I spat out each word slowly with venom, so even someone as obviously reckless as Eddie could understand. He smiled slowly, waiting for me to accept defeat. 

“So…?” He drawled, but I whirled away before my violent thoughts turned into violent actions. 

“So we’ll see you at seven.” I heard Dustin gleefully say through a toothy grin. Max and Robin, who had stayed quiet through the whole exchange, watching with bated breath, followed hot on my heels as I tried to escape the suffocating presence that was Eddie himself. I should have known it wasn’t going to be that easy. I wasn’t watching him, but I had sat through too many of his random outbursts over the past four years, to easily picture how he looked now as I heard him mount the table. 

“Oh y/n” He cooed, loud enough to catch the attention of surrounding tables, their occupants chatter died down to watch the mockery. I turned to face him, knowing exactly where to meet his eyes, my back ramrod straight as a prickly heat grew from my stomach. A cheeky smirk played on his lips as his took in the sight of me, apparently deciding something. Resolve hardened in his eyes and he stepped across the table, moving closer so he could lower his voice. “Rick is currently…. Indisposed. Come and see me sometime” 

With a quick smile his hands shot up to form devil horns at his temples, his tongue flicking in my direction as a husky sound grew in his chest. A sweet smile – such a different contrast to the display of rudeness earlier – slowly spread across his face as his hands dropped to his sides.  

Robin gasped at my side and Max turned to look at me uncertainly. Suddenly the baggie that was sitting, crushed underneath heavy books, at the bottom of my school bags front pocket, only containing less than a gram at this point, felt like it was glowing red and blistering hot, with a sign screaming empty.

My thoughts clouded. Son of a bit-. 

Chapter Three

I hope you enjoy the second chapter! If you would like to be added to my Eddie tag list, let me know! :) Enjoy Sunflowers - P. x

Copyright © 2022 by P.McCann

All rights reserved.

[mooncakesofpan]

Can I request Billy Hargrove and a gender nonconforming black!reader just being friends and causing mayhem Idk if you write 4 that tho

Water fights

Billy Hargrove x Platonic!Gender-nonconforming!Black!Reader

A/n: as someone who's black and genderfluid I am always open to writing different types of readers an often prefer to write gender neutral readers. i did also see your other ask and didnt use any specific pronouns 

Warnings: strong language, brief mentions of Neil's terrible and abusive parenting, no pronouns used 

Word Count: 544 

Stranger things Masterlist | Main Masterlist DO NOT STEAL MY WORK

Since Billy’s been in Hawkins he's found that so many people were so interested in him cause he was new, that wasn't to say you weren't curious but you weren't always bothering him and you weren't asking him to do things constantly or sleep with him. You had walked up to him one day at school offering to show him around Hawkins high since the school tended to just let new students wander around confused with a printed map of the school.

“I'm Y/n, anyone showed you around school yet?”

he shook his head no to your question.

“Well, I can show you your classes so you're not running around like a chicken with its head cut off,” you say laughing and patting his shoulder.

You motion for the dirty blonde to follow you. that started a good friendship you weren't fake like his other friends you felt genuine like some of the friends he had back in Cali. it took him a minute to get you though. You were comfortable with yourself not really fitting between feminine and masculine stereotypes but after a while Billy got used to it and felt like he could wear what he wanted around you, it was refreshing compared to the stuff he’d get called at home when he simply paid attention to his appearance.

“Hargrove think fast,” Billy didn't even have the chance to look up from his porch to see a water balloon hit him, looking down to his shirt and back up at you on skates with a wagon full of water balloons.

“Y/n what the hell,” he said looking down at his now wet shirt

“gotta be faster Billy, that's sad considering your on the basketball team,” you say laughing at your best friend.

“maybe don't go around throwing water balloons at people on their porch,” he says now wet.

“its just water you'll dry off if your come skate with me and we can see if the basketball player can actually aim,”

Billy puts tilts his head back. sighs walking down the steps he just walked up.

“your real lucky I know how to skate,” he said grabbing the other pair from your bag.

the both of you spend the day skating around Hawkins on the warm spring day and throwing the water balloon at people.

“Billy I swear to god if you hit me with the water balloon I will dump this entire wagon full of water on you” Billy threw the balloon at you bursting against your shirt. it was the last water balloon and he chose to throw it at you. in retaliation you poured the wagon on him soaking him. both of you skating in front of your house.

"your not too bad Billy,” you laugh.

”not too bad I'm great,” he said in response.

“Well, I did almost see you fall on Mainstreet so great might be pushing it,” you say.

as Billy stops, sitting on the curb tired, "I know I never say this but seriously thank you for being my friend,” Billy says smiling up at you still skating around the cul-de-sac. you stop looking at the blue-eyed boy.

"well I've gotta thank you for giving me a chance Billy,” you say smiling at the boy.

[geraltrogerericduhautebellegarde]

Geralt and eskel taking turns eating jask one night during winter at kaer morhen 👀👀👀

For this prompt I was very specifically told to obliterate the twink, to make him cry. So, here ya go! 5 months later

Title: An Absolute Disaster

Pairing: Geralt/Jaskier/Eskel

Warnings: buckle up buttercups, this one’s a ride (literally) - threesome, double penetration, cum eating, rimming, dom/sub dynamics, overstimulation, orgasm delay/denial

The biggest of thanks to @thecomfortofoldstorries for beta-ing the shit out of this for me

-

Jaskier shivered under Eskel's intense gaze.

When Geralt had first suggested it, Jaskier had been unsure about bringing someone else into their bed. But now, with his eyes burning into Jaskier's skin, Jaskier was thrilled.

He focused on the sight of Geralt, sprawled out on their bed, piled high with furs to help keep Jaskier warm during the harsh winter at Kaer Morhen. Geralt looked like a dream, splayed naked, his hard cock already straining, leaking on his stomach where the tip rested. His normally pale skin was flushed with his arousal, a look Jaskier had come to know well. His hands were folded back behind his head as he gazed back at Jaskier, his eyes roving Jaskier’s equally naked form.

Jaskier never felt more wanted, more desired, than when Geralt watched him so intently. Jaskier felt waves of heat behind him as Eskel moved closer.

Jaskier had been instructed to keep his eyes focused on Geralt until Eskel told him otherwise, so that was what he would do. Eskel’s presence was dominating, demanding attention and obedience in equal parts. Jaskier was drunk off it.

Roughened hands settled on Jaskier’s hips, squeezing briefly before trailing up Jaskier’s sides in a comforting motion before moving back down.

“Geralt,” Eskel said, the deep bass of his voice making Jaskier whine, “why don’t you get started? Give Jaskier a show.”

Jaskier’s eyes met Geralt’s as the man smirked, following Eskel’s order slowly but surely. Jaskier followed Geralt’s slow movements, relishing in the strong grip on his hips and he felt his knees weaken at the sight of Geralt, stroking himself.

Geralt’s mouth fell open as he began to pant lightly and Jaskier let out a ragged moan at the sight.

“Mmmm… you like watching just as much as you like being watched, don’t you?” Eskel asked, his breath warming the outer shell of Jaskier’s ear.

Jaskier nodded, unable to find his voice, his eyes still focused on the downright sinful picture in front of him.

“Geralt lay back, prop your head on a pillow and get comfortable.” Eskel ordered, the command sending sparks racing down Jaskier’s spine, even though it wasn’t directed at him.

Eskel squeezed Jaskier’s hips again. “Alright Jask, I need you to sit on Geralt’s face for me, okay? Face me.” Eskel’s voice was calm, but held an undercurrent of dominance that made Jaskier shiver. 

Jaskier hurries to do as ordered, clambering up the bed and Geralt’s body, carefully straddling the witcher’s face. As Jaskier maneuvered his legs into a good position, balancing on his knees, Geralt’s hands came up, providing support. The anticipation of what was to come had stolen Jaskier’s breath and he gasped shakily as he settled, hovering over Geralt.

Using his grip on Jaskier’s waist, Geralt pulled him down eagerly. Jaskier lost his balance, tilting forward as he felt Geralt’s tongue circle his hole. The relief he felt was immediate, the sensation sending sharp bursts of pleasure through him. He put his hands on Geralt’s chest to keep himself from falling as he grinded back on Geralt’s face, making the witcher moan.

Geralt’s hands came up, spreading Jaskier’s cheeks, allowing the witcher to press even closer. Jaskier’s eyes fell shut and he whined when he felt Geralt’s tongue push inside of him.

“No, no, little lark, eyes open and on me.” Eskel’s voice sent another shock through Jaskier and he forced his eyes open slowly, his vision blurry as he gazed towards Eskel’s large form.

The larger witcher had climbed onto the bed without Jaskier noticing and was now resting on his knees in between Geralt’s legs. His hands were rubbing a gentle rhythm on Geralt’s spread thighs as he watched Jaskier intently.

“Geralt, let’s give Jaskier a little more, okay? Use your fingers.”

Jaskier groaned weakly as he felt Geralt’s arms shift, a finger prodding at Jaskier’s hole. It was slick, the jar conveniently left in Geralt’s reach by Eskel at the start. Geralt’s thick finger finally pushed in beside his tongue, brushing up against Jaskier’s prostate and making him shake from the stimulation.

He was aching.

His cock throbbed as he reached for it, desperate to give himself some friction.

A growl made Jaskier freeze, his only movements caused by Geralt shifting him around minutely. His eyes met Eskel’s.

“Who told you,” Eskel asked, his voice low and powerful, “that you were allowed to touch yourself?”

Jaskier shivered under the fiery gaze of the man in front of him.

“I’m sorry.” He whispered, shaking from desperation.

Eskel hummed, “You won’t touch yourself little lark, we’ll give you your pleasure as you earn it.”

Jaskier nodded, his hand settling back on Geralt’s abdomen for support.

“Is Geralt not doing a good enough job?” Eskel asked, shifting Geralt’s legs so that Eskel could slide his bent knees under them. Geralt wrapped his legs around Eskel easily as he continued his ministrations.

Jaskier was panting, Geralt now pistoning a finger in and out of him at a harsh pace, “No, no!” the bard gasped out, shifting his hips, “so good… just… wanted more. Want to cum.”

“You will, Jaskier. I’ll tell you when. Got it?”

Jaskier whimpered and nodded, rocking back onto Geralt’s finger and tongue.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, Geralt stroked Jaskier’s prostate, making the bard howl with pleasure. Jaskier was quickly becoming mindless with it, rocking his hips and practically smothering Geralt, chasing the pleasure jolting through him at every movement Geralt made. His fingers, now two pressed in him, were focused directly on Jaskier’s prostate, hitting it with every thrust in. His tongue licking inside of Jaskier, helping stretch him while he occasionally nipped at Jaskier's rim with sharp teeth, making the bard squirm and wriggle and mewl.

“Four fingers, Geralt. He’s ready. And he’ll need at least that to take my cock.”

Geralt pulled both his hand and mouth away from Jaskier, making the bard whimper. He quickly slicked up his hand and put his fingers back to Jaskier’s hole. He pushed in slowly with all four fingers, making the bard whine from the pressure. The stretch was just this side of too much and it felt amazing.

Jaskier couldn’t think of a time he had been more desperate or more fulfilled.

He was babbling now, the words nonsensical as he rocked back onto Geralt’s hand, his pleas making absolutely no sense.

He felt himself being shifted again and then suddenly a wet heat was on his balls. He keened as he felt Geralt’s mouth draw him in, suckling gently at his sac. Jaskier was overwhelmed.

“Please,” he cried out. He could feel tears streaking down his face.

“Please what?” Eskel purred.

“I need to come. Please let me. Let me touch my cock please. Please, please, please, please.”

“Shhh it’s okay, buttercup. You’re doing so well. Being such a good boy for me. Do you think you’re stretched out enough for my cock?”

Jaskier groaned and feverishly nodded, “Please. I want it so bad. Please.”

“You’re being so good, buttercup. So good. But I don’t think you’re ready yet.”

Jaskier whimpered.

Eskel muttered something so quiet only Geralt could make out the words and then suddenly two sets of hands were on him, lifting and shifting until he was sitting on Geralt’s crotch, his ass pressured right up against Geralt’s cock.

“Alright buttercup, we’re gonna let Geralt get you nice and open for me first, okay?”

Jaskier nodded, the tears still slowly trailing down his face. Strong hands gripped him again and he was seated comfortably on Geralt’s cock, letting him slide down slowly until Geralt bottomed out. Jaskier’s head was thrown back from the pleasure of the stretch. Geralt’s cock was thick and beautifully curved so it hit Jaskier’s prostate unerringly every time.

“Come on, buttercup, think you can bounce on him for me?” Eskel’s deep voice made Jaskier shiver. He tried to get his legs underneath him and lift up, but they were too shaky.

“It’s okay, buttercup, we’ve got you. Geralt can do all the work, beautiful. You just enjoy.”

Geralt’s hands settled back on Jaskier’s hips as he rolled his hips, grinding inside the bard, making him wail. “That’s right, Jask,” Geralt whispered, “let me take care of you.”

Geralt wasted no time, beginning to lift Jaskier up as if he weighed nothing, thrusting his hips.

Eskel hummed, “Look at that. How does it feel, Jask? Geralt’s using you like a toy, moving you around for his own pleasure. Do you like that? Being used?”

“Yes,” Jaskier sobbed, the tears renewed as Geralt pounded into his prostate, “please, please, please”

“Just enjoy buttercup, we’ve got you.” Eskel leaned forward and pressed a hard kiss to the bard’s lips. Jaskier was so fucked out he could do nothing but moan into it.

Eskel shifted again, reaching for the lube and slicking up two of his fingers, “Geralt slow your thrusts down, we don’t want to push him too far too soon.”

Geralt did as ordered with a grunt, slowing his powerful thrusts down until they were smooth rolls of pleasure.

Jaskier’s whine threw his voice into a pitch he didn’t think had ever achieved before.

From his position, Jaskier had the perfect view of Eskel fingering at Geralt’s hole, circling the muscles before pushing in quickly with two fingers.

Geralt grunted and bucked his hips, making Eskel chuckle, “missed the stretch, wolf?” Geralt grunted again, pushing down on the fingers inside of him just as he lifted Jaskier, nearly unseating the bard from his cock before slamming him back down.

Jaskier nearly toppled forward from the force, reaching out to grab hold of Eskel’s shoulders.

Eskel smiled at him, “That’s right little buttercup, you can hold on to me, okay?”

Jaskier nodded, burying his head into Eskel’s neck, tears leaking steadily from his eyes as Geralt’s thrusts began getting more powerful.

Eskel hummed and trailed one hand up and down Jaskier’s back, the other still fingering Geralt open, “Geralt’s close, Jaskier. Can you feel it? How desperate he is?” Jaskier nodded, head still in Eskel’s neck. “Has he done well, buttercup? Does he deserve to cum in you? Mark you?”

Jaskier whimpered, his hips making aborted thrusts, desperate for friction on his cock.

“I think he’s done well. Alright Geralt, cum inside our buttercup for me.” Geralt thrust one more time inside of Jaskier before shivering, his cock throbbing as Jaskier felt his hot seed spill inside of him.

He didn’t feel Geralt soften.

Eskel made a pleased noise as he ran a rand down Jaskier’s back, fingers prodding at Jaskier’s opening. “Still just as hard for us, Geralt?”

Geralt grunted.

“Use your words wolf.”

“Yes.”

“Prop yourself up, Geralt.”

Jaskier remained seated on Geralt’s cock, his head still buried in Eskel’s neck, whimpering quietly every time Geralt shifted inside of him as he resituated.

“Perfect. Jaskier, lean back onto Geralt, okay?” Jaskier whimpered. Eskel chuckled and shifted forward, moving Jaskier back until he was settled against Geralt’s chest, still seated on Geralt’s cock.

Geralt’s arms came up and wrapped around Jaskier, strong and solid. Comforting.

Jaskier whined and bucked his hips. His cock was red and angry, and he was so desperate. “Please,” he whined, breathing hard, he begged again, “please”

 “Not yet, buttercup.”

Jaskier let out a sob and closed his eyes he wasn’t sure he could take anymore.

He bucked again when he felt more pressure pressing against his hole. Opening his eyes, he saw Eskel in front of him, a slick finger prodding at his opening.

“I think that you would feel amazing if I slipped in here beside Geralt, what do you think, buttercup.”

Jaskier froze, the idea alone enough to make him feel so incredibly close to his orgasm. He bucked his hips again, so close.

Suddenly Geralt’s hands settled on his hips, stilling Jaskier’s hips just as one of Eskel’s hands circled his cock, gripping the base tightly.

Jaskier sobbed again.

“None of that, I told you that I tell you when to cum.”

Jaskier nodded.

Suddenly the fingers were back at his hole, pushing in, Eskel’s other hand still wrapped almost painfully tight around the base of Jaskier’s cock.

“Gods you’re already loose and sloppy Jaskier. Geralt’s cum inside of you. I could just push right in, couldn’t I?”

Jaskier stared at Eskel cock, larger than any he had ever taken.

He had never wanted something more.

“What do you want, Jaskier”

“Wanna be full,” He whimpered, trying to shift but Geralt’s strong grip stopped him.

Eskel pushed another finger inside of him. It slid in easily, Jaskier’s opening around him beautifully.

Eskel smiled and pushed two more fingers in him on the next thrust. Jaskier whimpered at the stretch.

“Please, please, please, want you in me, please.” Jaskier was desperate for more. For everything.

Eskel tutted, “Patience, buttercup. If we go too fast, we could hurt you. Just sit back. Let us take care of you.” Eskel’s composure was infuriating. Jaskier was reduced to a shivering, sobbing mess but it seemed like Eskel was completely unbothered by the whole situation.

Jaskier felt another sob escape him as Eskel continued thrusting his fingers in and out of him. The additional stretch alongside Geralt’s cock was mind numbingly amazing and Jaskier couldn’t focus on anything else.

He felt like he might pass out from it.

Eskel’s position was perfect to hit his prostate but he just skirted around it, sometimes grazing against it enough to make Jaskier shout.

Jaskier didn’t know if it had been minutes or hours when he finally felt Eskel’s hand pull back. Jaskier felt empty despite the hard cock still inside of him.

Suddenly, Eskel was on his knees, his hard cock slick and pushed up against Jaskier’s opening, “You still want this buttercup?”

“Please” Jaskier couldn’t take one more minute of this delicious torture but he would rather die than be anywhere else.

The stretch was divine, something Jaskier couldn’t remember ever feeling. It stung but the pleasure far outweighed the pain. Jaskier couldn’t have imagined a feeling like this.

It felt like ages before Eskel finally bottomed out inside of Jaskier. The two thick hard cocks stretching Jaskier far past what he would have ever thought he could take.

It was bliss.

Jaskier tried to buck again but Geralt’s hands still held him in place.

Eskel pulled out and thrust back in slowly, over and over, drawing groans from both Geralt and Jaskier.

Finally, Eskel smirked, “I think you’re ready, buttercup. Hold on.”

Eskel pulled out to the very tip, slamming back into him just as Geralt lifted him just enough to thrust out. They set a brutal pace, pistoning into him alternatingly so he was never empty, their cocks dragging against each other inside of him as Jaskier felt like he was being pounded into oblivion.

He really might pass out.

His cock was long forgotten, the stimulation he was receiving was more than he thought he ever would.

All he could do was lay there and take it.

Geralt was the first to break, shaking through his second orgasm of the night and Jaskier could feel him go soft inside him.

Eskel kept thrusting.

Jaskier was reminded of the throbbing of his cock and he tried desperately to angle his hips so he could get some sort of stimulation on it.

Eskel puffed out a breath, “You ready too, buttercup? Gonna come on my cock?”

Jaskier bucked his hips again, desperate for more. Desperate to cum.

The hand that wrapped around him was the best thing Jaskier had ever felt. Eskel’s hand was still slick from fingering him open as he pumped Jaskier’s cock in time with his thrusts.

When Jaskier came, he swore he could feel chaos raging through him.

His vision blurred.

When Jaskier came to, he was lying on the bed, covered in a thin sheet. Geralt lay beside him, facing him, his eyes closed and face screwed up in pleasure as Eskel fucked into him from behind.

“Buttercup,” Eskel said brightly, only the slightest hitch in his voice indicating he was doing anything more strenuous than laying in bed, “welcome back.”

“How long was I out,” He asked, voice raw,

“Just a couple minutes.”

“Fuck.”

“Had fun?”

Eskel’s thrusts were speeding up, shaking the bed and jolting Geralt. He shuddered as he came inside the white haired man, his thrusts slowing until he finally stopped.

Eskel’s eyes found Jaskier’s, “It was a shame I didn’t get to come inside of you before you passed out.” He barely even sounded out of breath.

Jaskier’s hole was throbbing but he wanted, oh how he wanted it. To take Eskel’s cock again, have it fill him up.

His over sensitive cock gave a twitch.

Eskel chuckled, “It’s okay, buttercup. We can do that next time. I’ve got dinner duty tonight so I need to get going anyway,” Eskel slid from the bed, graceful despite his size, “I’ll see you both in a couple of hours.”

He slipped his clothes on and was out the door before Jaskier even realized what happened.

He looked at Geralt laying beside him. He looked sleepy and content. Except for his achingly hard cock.

Despite everything, Jaskier felt heat pool in his groin. Fuck, he would be so sore later.

His movements still shaky, Jaskier slid down the bed and settled between Geralt’s thighs where he was now lying on his stomach. Jaskier cupped his cheeks, pulling them apart and watching as Eskel’s spend dribbled out of Geralt’s hole still stretched and gaping from his cock. Fuck, Jaskier could only imagine what he looked like... He groaned at the thought.

Geralt’s hips shifted as he grinded his cock into the bed, “You want to cum again?” Jaskier asked.

Geralt let out a sleepy hum, “fuck me?” he asked quietly, shifting to spread his legs even more.

Fuck.

Yeah, Jaskier could do that. His cock was filling out quickly, leaving Jaskier feeling light-headed and sensitive.

He could feel Geralt’s cum where it was drying on his thighs as it leaked out of him. Fuck they were a mess.

Eskel’s cum was still spilling from Geralt slowly, the sight was beautiful and Jaskier couldn’t resist, leaning forward and tonguing at the spend.

Geralt keened.

Jaskier buried his face into Geralt, licking sloppily at his hole. Geralt whined and thrust his hips back when Jaskier’s tongue pushed passed the loose practically gaping muscle.

Jaskier took his time, licking Geralt open and cleaning him out until he was whimpering, thrusting minutely against the bed.

Deeming him clean, Jaskier slid up, pressing a gentle kiss against Geralt’s shoulder before grabbing him by the hair, pulling gently to bring Geralt’s face from the pillow he had buried it in. His eyes were red rimmed and there were tear tracks on his cheeks

He looked ruined

Jaskier couldn’t help but wonder if he looked the same. He certainly felt the same.

Maintaining his grip in Geralt’s hair, he pressed a gentle kiss to his lips as he slid inside of Geralt.

The slide was easy and wet, Geralt more than opened enough to take him.

“I won’t last long,” Jaskier bit out, his thrusts already speeding up as he chased the edge.

“Me either.” Geralt grunted, grinding his cock onto the bed beneath him as Jaskier pounded into him.

In what felt like no time, Jaskier could feel Geralt tighten up slightly around him, still looser than Jaskier had ever felt him before, and it pulled Jaskier with him over the edge. Jaskier rolled to the side, wrapping his arm around Geralt and muzzling up to his side, “We should clean up,” he whispered sleepily.

Geralt rolled so he was being spooned by Jaskier, his back pressed to Jaskier’s front, “Sleep now.” He said quietly.

Jaskier pressed a kiss between Geralt’s shoulder blades and let his eyes fall closed. They would regret not cleaning up when they awoke, but in that moment he couldn’t find it in himself to care.

They would definitely be doing this again. At least once a week until they all departed, if Jaskier had anything to say about it.

-

Check out my masterlist!

 Tag list: @stinastar @feraljaskier @bastardofmothman @hailhailsatan @moonysourenza @its-onions @elliestormfound @dapandapod             @jaskierswolf @fontegagrilledcheese @negativenuggetz @veritasrose @feral-jaskier @kozkaboi @kueble @llamasdumpsterfire @selectivegeekwithstandards @dani-dandelino

[someone-always-cares]

chapter 5, page 11

first - previous - next

[image description: an sac webcomic page. lewis blankly points offscreen in the dirction to where the door once was, before squeezing the bridge of his nose frustratedly. “Fuck it. Sure. Why not.“ he says to himself, before rolling his eyes and contuning, “Why wouldn't the nightmare infinate dark stair dimension have a vanishing exit, makes complete sense.” his hand now signing along [the panel specifically showing the sign for dark]. “stop laughing at me so you can see me talk shit to you” he says as the panel zooms out to show jade standing next to him slightly hunched over with laughter. “what the fuck. If its easier for you to show me where we are, then how confusing was your explaination going to be??” “sorry- the look on your face was just-” jade says, grinning. the shot now is zoomed in to just show both their faces. “i’m so very glad my confusion amuses you” lewis responds, glaring and pointing a finger at her. end id]

realised i forgot to put laugh effects and arrow for the hands, but my drawing program is currently frozen and its late and i probably wont manage to get 5 hours sleep tonight before work so it’ll do

anyway yesterday was the 5th anniversery of sac!!! 5 whole years! many more to go, but i hope you all enjoy the ride with me!!

i would be more sentimental about this but its 1am and im dead inside but i very much appreciate that people read and enjoy my comic. thank you all so much for being here

[jayjayjewell]

Pls by all means tell us more about the hs au!! Do the boys get into any trouble? Any relationships?

HELL YEAH a chance for me to talk abt this au thank you for asking abt it :D it mainly revolves around the main four + occasionally Alluka actually!! 

they’re all neighbors living in this cul-de-sac and u already know they’re gonna be visiting each other almost every day !! imma be talking abt my favs but if anyone wants to know abt the main four then dont be afraid to ask :) 

ill put everything under the cut lol bc its kinda long lol

- phinks, fei, nd Shal always get into some trouble. they’re literally the most unlikeliest of friends, but they all fuel each others energy in the worst way possible LOL. phinks (sometimes fei) is usually the one that comes up with the idea, feitan always agrees with it, and then shalnark is the one that usually thinks of the consequences but at the same time goes along with it

- even though shal loves hanging around them, phinks and feitan are pretty close with each other. they both rlly enjoy each other’s company and they almost ALWAYS start trouble when they’re together. they’re always out a lot bc they never like staying at home, so Phinks + fei are always out doing something to pass the time

- now more abt shal: I love the idea of everyone perceiving him as this pretty boy who gets good grades and gets a long with everyone, but deep deep down this mf is a little trouble maker LMAOO. i like the idea of him just spreading rumors around just for his entertainment to see how shit goes down 💀and since LOTS of ppl trust him, shal knows a LOT of secrets from ppl (imagine him just owning a burn book lmfaoao).

- of course the only few ppl who see right through this are DEFINITELY ppl like machi and feitan (and some other troupe members + maybe even Leorio and kurapika)

- for relationships: hmm I dont rlly emphasize any relationships in this au except for like killugon and such,, but hisoka and illumi and chrollo all have this thing going on that idk how to describe 💀💀hisoka is always flirting with them, and illumi is always “😐” with it, but still kind of enjoys Hisoka's company(mainly bc he doesn’t hang out w/ anyone else). chrollo is pretty whatever abt Hisoka’s flirting, but sometimes he likes to just play into it in his own way lol

- ALSO PAKUMACHI !! a bunch of flirting between the two of them. machi has this soft spot for her, and she rlly likes Paku’s presence bc there’s something so calm she finds abt it. Paku usually likes to tease her with a bunch of (lowkey) flirtatious jokes which makes machi very bashful aghhhh so cute

- MORE ABT THE TROUBLE TRIO + sports !! Shalnark plays basketball and im conflicted with phinks either playing the same OR baseball. feitan doesn’t do any sports. he definitely has the potential to be great at something but he honestly likes spending after school by himself doing something quiet orrr out w his friends

- almost of all of the troupe members like to skip school 💀 the most responsible would def be Franklin and chrollo. Franklin always reminds these mfs (specifically uvo, Nobu, and sometimes shizuku bc she’s forgetful), to do their damn hw

- also ofc kurapika literally hates all of them

I have so so many hc’s but I dont wanna make this too long yknow ? if u wanna know more abt some other characters ill be more than happy to answer :D

[book-o-scams]

One Of Those Eds - Alternate/Deleted Scenes

Thanks to Scott "Diggs" Underwood for sharing these in this interview he did for Concept Art Empire!

'One of Those Eds' is one of my favorite season 4 episodes, and a while back, Scott Diggs posted these lost scenes that reveal quite a different early interpretation of the episode's outline!

First up, an incredibly different approach to Eddy's mattress scam. Eddy is in some sort of an exaggerated doctor outfit, directly acknowledges that he kidnapped Jonny, and tries harder to do a bit with Jonny about how tired Jonny is. In this version, Jonny is not ready for his 3pm nap and is instead wide awake. I prefer the aired episode's much simpler interpretation, but Doctor Eddy is cute.

Eddy sits Jonny on a shopping cart or something.

Eddy: "Sorry for the kidnap but it's an emergency."

Jonny: "Say what?"

Eddy: "You've got all the symptoms... (drapes handbags over Jonny's eyes) You've got bags under your eyes."

Jonny: "Clever."

Eddy does bits sometimes, but this feels pretty heavy-handed, lmao. Jonny having a sarcastic response feels very out of character, sounds more like an Edd response to Eddy's joke.

The handbag handles effectively lower Jonny's eyelids.

Eddy: "Eyelids gettin' heavy..."

Jonny: "It's the bags!"

Eddy: "Why, you can barely walk!"

Jonny: "These bags are heavy!!"

Eddy: "Denial is the last symptom."

Eddy looks woefully as Jonny walks forward until the bags falls off his eyes, Jonny looks at Plank.

Again, Doctor Eddy is an adorably design, and a scene focused on Jonny's walk cycle has a nice season 1 feel to it, but this is all a bit much for this dumb scam, and Jonny's backtalk continues to feel out of character and a little too obvious of a bad idea for deception.

On this page, we learn that 'One of Those Eds' originally had the much more straight-forward title, 'Eds-Calibur'. Come to think of it, I guess this is another parody episode in a way... Guess season 4 was loosening up on the non-parody rule from the series bible.

We also learn specifically why Edd arranged the kids' Quarter Removal lineup in the order he did...

Edd: "You have been placed in a lineup in the fairest way possible... Namely, of course, brain mass to cranium girth ratio."

Jimmy: "I AM SO SMART!"

Eddy to Ed: "So how come YOU'RE in front of ME?"

Ed: "Swelling, Eddy!" (points finger... up Eddy's nose)

Edd: "It appears you're..." (starts to open the rope for Jimmy)

Edd was trying to low-key put brains ahead of brawn, even when it put his friends at a disadvantage... Also that's an extremely troubling gag that Ed is apparently suffering from cerebral edema, pretty glad that's cut, hehe.

Edd: "It appears you're first, Jimmy."

Sarah: "Go Jimmy!!"

[Kev and Rolf speak off screen while Eddy watches Jimmy nervously]

Kev: "Yeah right."

Rolf: "A sour chance at best."

In this version, we see Jimmy's attempt-- hard to tell from the sketch but I think he's still using his eyelash curler. However, the outcome is less interesting in this one, it doesn't injure him, he just runs home crying over his failure.

In the aired episode, we don't see his attempt at all, and it's implied his curler curled some part of him that required an ambulance. The cut to his house would've felt a little out of place, since that episode's camera is notably pretty fixed on the location of the quarter. I believe the beginning with the mattress scam is the only departure from that stretch of sidewalk between the cul-de-sac and the playground the entire episode.

Rolf: (offscreen) "Idiot Box." (I believe that's the end of dialogue that is still in the episode?)

(Rolf squeezes open a miniature barrel of beets and chomps 'em)

Eddy: "What's he doin'?"

Now we skip ahead to Rolf's turn and Eddy's very worried. Rolf does a Popeye parody and I think that's why Danny wasn't into it. He likes a Popeye reference as much as the next guy, but this is a bit specific for this show.

Edd: "Um... Rolf? If we could just quickly review current copyright law."

(Rolf's arms become goat heads and DING Edd away, Rolf's tongue flexes a big muscle with a little animated tractor imagined within it)

Eddy: (pressing down the rope in stress) "AAAH..."

Rolf: (gears up for attack) "SHASHBYATROT!!"

Rolf's tongue with the tractor image in its muscle is a pretty funny switcharoo from how Popeye's gag goes, but Rolf's arms randomly turning into goat heads for one moment just to bop Edd is a bit far to take the surrealism. That art of Rolf's reflection in the quarter is awesome though, they should've found a way to put that in.

[i-am-not-a-who-i-am-a-what]

there was a moment from yesterday’s episode that set off so many alarm bells in my head and i haven’t seen anyone talking about it yet so i’m going to get my thoughts out there. i’m putting the majority of this post under a readmore bc it got very long thanks to all the transcript quotes i pulled but i really want to know what everyone else thinks about the Implications™

BASIRA

Okay. So… what do we know about Hill Top Road?

ARCHIVIST

Not much.

BASIRA

Another blind spot?

ARCHIVIST

No, it’s – I could look at it, but it… it was… it was like a… a hole. You know that feeling you get when you look down from a, a great height, like you’re being pulled into the abyss?

BASIRA

Kind of?

ARCHIVIST

[Getting lost in thought] Well it was… was like that. Normally I can see it, see the… webs, and feel the power of The Spider emanating from it, but… as I would look… it’s like my mind…. follows the paths of The Web,

[STATIC RISES]

the strands going down and… out… [Catching self] It’s quite disorientating.

[STATIC FADES]

my first thought after hearing this exchange was “huh, that sounds eerily similar to the description of the table the not-them was trapped in.” here it is from mag 3 - across the street:

I’d become enraptured by the table on which he’d placed my tea. It was an ornate wooden thing, with a snaking pattern of lines weaving their way around towards the centre. The pattern was hypnotic and shifted as I watched it, like an optical illusion. I found my eyes following the lines towards the middle of the table, where there was nothing but a small square hole.

my first instinct was that this was some foreshadowing for jon meeting some kind of horrible fate, because well... remember what happened the last time someone got mesmerized by the table?

SASHA

Oh, hey. I’ve found… I’ve found that table you were talking about. Don’t really see what all the fuss is about. Just a… basic… optical illusion. Nothing special… just… just a… wait…

[Hushed and panicked] Jon! Jon, I think there’s someone here. Hello? I see you. Show yourself!

but then i started thinking more about why the table specifically would be referenced, and i remembered the earliest we see it used as artifact of the web, and where: with raymond fielding in hill top road in mag 59 - recluse:

On Sunday evenings, however, we’d all gather for the evening meal, and before we sat down to eat, he would remove the bright white tablecloth that covered it, and we’d gather around the dark wood. I remember it was carved in all sorts of strange swirling designs and patterns. It felt like if you picked a line, any line, you could follow it through to the center, to some deep truth, if only your eye could keep track of the strands that had caught it.

it was while i was checking the transcripts to find the above quote that i also remembered the hole in center of the table that the web pattern leads towards wasn’t always empty - it used to contain a box, and that box contained an apple.

again from again from mag 59:

The center of the table looked, at first, like it was simply part of the wooden top, but if you looked closely, as I did so often, you could see an outline marking the very middle as a small, square box, carved with patterns just like the ones that laced their way over the rest of the table. I don’t remember how long we sat around the table those evenings, nor do I have any memory of what we might have eaten.

...

I reached over and pulled the wooden square from the center of the table. On its own, it appeared to be a small wooden box, and the lid opened smoothly, as my hands moved in a practiced motion. Inside was an apple, green and fresh and still wet with morning dew.

I knew I was going to eat it. I could feel tears desperately trying to push themselves out of my eyes, but I instead decided not to cry. I placed the box down on the table, reached over, and picked up the apple.

the box from the center of the table makes its first appearance in the very first hill top road statement, mag 8 - burned out, where we learn that apparently the apple was full of spiders. 

considering the web’s predilection for filling it’s victim’s bodies with spiders (carlos vittery, annabell cane, the spider husks trevor encountered, the victim of the chelicerae website, the old woman in annabell’s statement, francis, etc.) i think this goes a ways to explain what happened to raymond’s other victims, and what would have happened to mag 59′s statement giver if he’d bitten into the apple:

They lay still now, wrapped in their sticky cocoons. Their bodies seemed warped and bloated in a way I didn’t recognize. But that’s only because at that point in my life, I had never before seen a spider egg sac.

more importantly though, we also learn that the box was buried under the burnt up tree in hill top road’s garden, the one whose uprooting was implied to be linked to agnes’s death: 

STATEMENT

At that moment I made my decision. It was easy, like destroying this tree was the only thing to do, the only path to follow ... When the tree lay on its side, uprooted and powerless, I gazed into the hole where it had sat and noticed something lying there in the dirt.

Climbing down, I retrieved what turned out to be a small wooden box, about six inches square, with an intricate pattern carved along the outside. Engraved lines covered it, warping and weaving together, making it hard to look away.

...

ARCHIVIST

Except… We cannot prove any connection, but Martin unearthed a report on an Agnes Montague, who was found dead in her Sheffield flat on the evening of November 23rd 2006, the same day Mr. Lensik claims to have uprooted the tree.

and keep in mind that the only reason the statement giver in mag 59 didn’t eat the apple, didn’t succumb to the web... was agnes’s kiss:

As the man in the suit told me to follow him in a clipped BBC accent, Agnes walked over, and gestured for me to lean down and listen to her. I did so, but instead of a conspiratorial whisper, she just gave me a quick kiss on the cheek, then ran off down the hall.

...

All at once, my cheek erupted in pain. It was like someone had pressed a hot branding iron into my face, and I could swear that I heard the flesh sizzle as I let out a scream and fell to my knees. I raised my hands to my face and realized in that moment two very important things. The first is that my face seemed to be untouched; I could feel no injury or burn. The second was that raising my hand had been a truly voluntary act. I had willed it myself, and whatever power had been gripping me, tugging me into its web, I was free of it.

at this point you’re probably wondering why i think all this is relevant in terms of what might happen with hill top road, and i have two potential ideas: 

my first idea has to do with the theory that agnes is lingering on as a ghost. this theory isn’t mine, i first encountered it shortly after mag 167 - curiosity aired through this post’s attempt to fix what bits of the timeline were thrown out of wack by the new info. if anyone has any other posts or general thoughts about this theory feel free to share them, i’d love to read them!

this theory is relevant to my speculation that agnes might finally make an appearance because she might have been the ghost seen by one of the statement givers in mag 100 - i guess you had to be there:

MARTIN

Right. Right.

[THROAT CLEARING]

Statement of Lynne Hammond, er, recorded 2nd of May 2017, regarding…

Uh, what, what’s this one about?

LYNNE

I saw a ghost.

MARTIN

O-kay.. Regarding a… a ghost. Statement begins.

who appeared as one of the cultists in mag 190 - scavengers: 

MARTIN

[Puzzled] Celia?

CELIA

Probably. The, um… place I was trapped in, they took my name. I never got it back. But I like Celia, so… yeah! Celia it is.

MARTIN

Uh… H-Hello… Celia.

and was recognized and directly confirmed to be the same person by martin in mag 191 - what we lose:

MARTIN

…

Hey, I meant to ask. Do you recognise that woman, Celia?

ARCHIVIST

Um… no, I, I don’t think so. Why?

MARTIN

I’d swear she gave a statement once.

having her only pop up in mag 190 would have just been a fun easter egg, but having martin directly call out her presence the next episode sounds to me like jonny telling the audience to pay attention, to remember that her statement had to do with the ghost of a young woman on fire who might have been agnes. 

my second idea involves web lighter.

over various statements throughout the previous four seasons we’ve been shown that the web and the desolation have been at war, and hill top road has been their battlefield. the best examples of this come from mag 139 - chosen and mag 149 - infectious doubts respectively. 

on the one hand we have agnes being planted in hill top road by the cult of the lightless flame in an effort to both control her powers and derail the web’s plans, which seems to begin the conflict:

The compromise we came to was Hill Top Road. We knew it was a stronghold of the Web, full of other children Agnes’ age. We would supervise from a distance, but were confident she would be in no danger. The Mother of Puppets has always suffered at our hand; all the manipulation and subtle venom in the world means nothing against a pure and unrestrained force of destruction and ruin.

and on the other we have the web binding gertrude to agnes, thus thwarting the desolation’s ritual, which also involved hill top road:

ARTHUR

Alright. Agnes. How’d you do it? Never did understand it, not really.

GERTRUDE

Ah. That’s a fair enough question. It was the Web. I didn’t know it at the time, of course, and I would call it an accident, but it never is, with them. It’s only after the fact that you can see all the subtle manipulations

... 

So, I began researching what I thought was a counter-ritual of sorts. Like I said, I was young, naive. I somehow found just the right books, made just the right connections, and even got what I thought was a piece of blind good luck when I found a tin box in the ashes of Hill Top Road, containing some perfectly preserved cuttings of her hair.

wouldn’t it seem symbolic, fitting with the dream logic we’ve been working with all season (and that the fears have always tended to work with), if what ended the metaphysical war was an artifact touched by both the web and the desolation? 

say perhaps... a device that creates fire while being marked by a symbol of the spider? one that just so happened to be delivered to the institute at the same time as a certain table?

TIM

Er, what is it?

ARCHIVIST

A lighter. An old Zippo.

TIM

You smoke?

ARCHIVIST

No. And I don’t allow ignition sources in my archive!

TIM

Okay. Is there anything unusual about it?

ARCHIVIST

Not really. Just a sort of spider web design on the front. Doesn’t mean anything to me. You?

TIM

Ah no. No.

ARCHIVIST

Well… show it to the others, see what they think. You said there was something else as well?

TIM

Oh, ah yes, yeah, it was sent straight to the Artefact Storage, a table of some sort. Ah, looks old. Quite pretty, though. Fascinating design on it.

all signs point to the best hope of escaping whatever plans the web has for jon lying with the desolation, or at least with fire, and who should be waiting in hill top road than someone who’s been known to burn statements in the past... and someone who, as of mag 162 - a cozy cabin, was the last person to mention the lighter: 

MARTIN

So, should we destroy it? Before we go?

[THE CABIN CREAKS VERY LOUDLY.]

ARCHIVIST

I honestly don’t know if we can.

[HE SIGHS.]

MARTIN

Mm.

ARCHIVIST

Besides, there’s – far worse out there. Better to try and avoid it, I think.

MARTIN

We’re not even gonna try? Look, we’ve got your lighter; maybe if we just –

i haven’t even begun to touch on the multiple instances of spiral marked individuals interacting with hill top road, or the potential role of the rift leading from the world without the institute to the reality with the institute from mag 114 - cracked foundations, or the foreshadowing we’ve gotten throughout this season that the archive might be destroyed by fire and how it’s looking more and more like that means jon might die, or the significance of the tapes and what power might be behind them...

but it’s nearing five in the morning where i am and i’ve been working on this frankly gargantuan post since about midnight, so i’m going to let more meta-inclined minds take it from here. tell me what you think! where do you agree with me, where do you think i’ve gone astray? hell, tell me if you think i’m just spinning my wheels, this is the first real theory post i’ve ever made so i might be completely off base, at least i tried lol.

tl;dr: 

the call back to the imagery surrounding the web table and its long history with hill top road and the desolation is leading me to believe that whatever plans the web has in hill top road for jon, fire is going to have a significant role in whether or not the web gets what it wants; either agnes herself might finally make an appearance or the web lighter might finally come into play.

[catgrump]

Hi! :) Your writing is great! I saw you have requests open, so are you okay with writing oumota with the dialog prompt "take a guess"? Thanks a lot

Hey there! I watched you going through my fics in my notifications all day the day you found me lmao I’m glad you like my work enough to send in a request!

This is some sort of College AU but it isn’t connected to the other Oumota College AU I’ve done

Also TW for smoking! Please don’t smoke; I just used it as a plot device!

🌻🌻🌻

Kaito took another drag of his cigarette. He watched as the smoke drifted away in the chill of the October night.

He was alone on the balcony that overlooked nothing. Just an endless field of trees that separated the apartment building from the cul-de-sac on the other side.

He leaned back against the wall beside him and sighed, trying to block out the pounding music on the other side of the bricks. Why do I bother coming to these things? He thought

He put the cigarette back to his lips as the balcony’s glass door slid open. He quirked an eyebrow, surprised someone else wanted to escape.

A shorter guy dressed in all black and white burst through, and he looked like he was trying to catch his breath.

“Hey, you okay, man?” Kaito asked, tapping loose ashes over the railing

The guy looked surprised to see another person. It was blink and you’ll miss it: his face changed from scared and confused to cocky and... attempting to be alluring. “Better now that I know you’re out here, handsome,” he smirked

Kaito rolled his eyes. This guy isn’t necessarily his type on paper, as far as he can tell. He reached into his pocket to try and change the subject as he retrieved a small lighter, “You need a light or?”

“Take a guess,” the guy crossed his arms across his chest and tilted his head. This coy act is... not what Kaito was expecting when he decided to take a smoke break.

“How should I know?” Kaito bluntly asked

“Nope! I don’t smoke!” And he paused, then started batting his eyes, “Or do I???”

That somehow got a smile out of Kaito. He shook his head and leaned forward on the railing, feeling the cool of the metal through the fabric of his jacket. “I don’t know,” he started playing along, “DO you?”

“What do you think from just looking at me?” He asked

Kaito looked him up and down as the guy got closer. He has a flourish whenever he moves, but Kaito saw the guy’s fingers shaking. Interesting. “I think if you DO smoke, you need one right now,” Kaito told him before bringing his cigarette to his lips again

Kaito deliberately watched the guy stare at him as he took a drag. Oh, this is fun, Kaito thought, He’s into me, isn’t he?

To test the theory, as soon as he blew the smoke out toward the trees, Kaito looked back at the guy, made eye contact, and bounced his eyebrows. The guy smiled. Well, he hit on me basically as soon as he saw me, and he’s definitely been staring. Two strikes, Kaito thought

“You sure you’re good?” Kaito asked as the guy sat in one of the balcony‘s patio chairs and rested his head in his hands, “The only time I’m ever on a balcony during a party is to smoke, have a private conversation, get some air, or make out with someone, so—“

“I’d be down for the latter,” he practically sighed

“Dude,” Kaito couldn’t believe the audacity of this guy.

“What?”

“First of all, you’re avoiding the subject. Second of all, I don’t even know your name.”

“Oh so you’d be interested if you knew my name?” Alright, that’s strike three. He may not be Kaito’s type on paper, but he’s interested... and he’s kind of cute in an oddly charming way.

“Potentially,” Kaito almost scolded, “You gonna tell me your name?”

“What if I don’t have one?” He’s definitely teasing now

“Make one up,” Two can play at this game.

“It’s Kokichi.”

“Is it?”

“That’s the truth, I promise,” ‘Kokichi’ crossed his fingers over his heart as he said that

“So if I call you that, you won’t forget the fake name you gave me, right?” Kaito took another drag through a smile

“I won’t forget because it’s my real name,” alright, Kokichi it is, “Besides, I wanna hear what it sounds like coming from you.”

Kaito studied Kokichi again after releasing his smoke. He’s confident as all hell— especially for someone his size— but Kaito saw Kokichi’s foot tapping under the patio table. Is he confident or not? Or is he just trying to recover from whatever went on inside?

“You still haven’t answered my first question,” Kaito redirected the conversation, “You SURE you’re okay?”

“Oh, I was taught not to talk to strangers,” Kokichi was playing coy again, but Kaito was quickly learning how to throw it back at him.

“That’s funny; you’ve been doing a hell of a lot of talking so far, Kokichi,” he made sure to make eye contact when he said his name.

Kokichi’s head fell back as he groaned with satisfaction, then he fell right back into his palms, leaning forward and kicking his legs back and forth, “OH, that does sound nice—“

“What’s that?” Kaito was having fun toying with him now

“My name coming out of your mouth,” he smirked. Legs were still kicking, “I wonder if it would sound any different in my bedroom.”

“Alright, easy, Tiger,” Kaito rolled his eyes with a smile, “You don’t even know MY name.”

Kaito had to admit: that was a damn good line. ‘I wonder if it’ll sound different in my bedroom’. And he has to admit he was becoming more and more intrigued the more he talked with him. He’s learning so much and yet so little about this guy.

“There’s something about kissing a stranger that’s a bit more... passionate; wouldn’t you agree?” How was Kokichi so good at this?

“Oh so kissing strangers is fine, but talking to strangers is where you draw the line?” Kaito asked as he left the railing, and leaned a hand on the patio table, looking down at Kokichi just about a foot from his face

“I never said I did what I was told,” Kokichi whispered with an irresistible smug smile

Alright, this is suddenly hot. It was fun to flirt with this guy and mess with him but now, things are sexy. Kokichi was batting his eyes and Kaito bit his lip. Am I actually...? He thought, glancing down at Kokichi’s lips briefly, then chuckling to himself

“You can tell me your name, if you want—“ Kokichi started to speak again, but Kaito made his decision

He snuffed out the cigarette and stepped closer, then brought the hand that was still warm from the cig to Kokichi’s face, which made Kokichi instantly stand up.

Kaito heard fingers tapping on the table, and glanced down to see that Kokichi was tapping out sporadic rhythms on the glass. He put his own hand on Kokichi’s to make it calm down as he slowly leaned down to kiss him.

He was right. There IS something more passionate about kissing a stranger. There’s something about just giving in to carnal desire with someone you have no specific attachment to that’s incredibly hot. It was easier to move forward quickly when you aren’t worried about what this person thinks of you, because you already know they’re attracted to you and that’s all that matters right now.

As Kaito bit Kokichi’s lower lip, Kokichi let out a soft moan disguised as disgust, “You taste like nicotine.”

“You love it; don’t lie to me,” Kaito whispered in a low voice against Kokichi’s ear, feeling him shudder in his arms

Kokichi responded by moving Kaito’s face back to him so they could continue to kiss with aggression and determination.

Their hands moved all across each other’s chests, necks, waists, hips, backs, gripping fabric in their fists and breathing grunts against each other

As much as Kaito wanted more, he thought of a better way he could leave an impression.

He broke away, pulled a loose receipt and a pen out of his pocket, wrote down his phone number and said, “It’s Kaito, by the way,” before going back inside.

If you like my work, please consider leaving a tip on Ko-Fi if you’re able! 💛

Prompt from This List