#and so it's not like even if hypothetically they were all done with filming and editing that they could just jump right to release

[chirpsythismorning]

Thoughts on this?

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but 2024 is even a little optimistic in terms of a release for Stranger Things 5.

I know right now there's been this assumed expectation that it will release in 2024, and that's definitely still possible! But from what we've seen, no one from the production, neither the Duffers, the cast, nor Netflix themselves have said 2024 will be the year s5 releases, definitively. (If I remember correctly, when asked in an interview about s5 coming out in 2024, Noah dodged the question and said that they want it to be really good and are going to try to get it out as soon as they can... if anything he was trying to hint here that fans should be prepared that it might not be 2024, but that's okay bc that means that quality is being considered over a speedy release).

Again there have been talks about it, and I'm sure that's what they're shooting for. But they don't seem to be making any official statements about 2024 being a for sure thing. Because I mean, how could it be?

Covid did a really big number on the industry, especially production for ST4. Not only that but workers are starting to unionize and fight back against long hours, shitty wages and unsafe working conditions.

And so there's this unknown looming. Could the global pandemic reach a point that causes the industry to come to a halt again? Could there be a strike that stops productions from filming, including ST5? There's just a lot of unforeseen factors to keep in mind.

Our perception of how fast shows should be cranking out between seasons, are from a rose-tinted lens and honestly a little bit naive. We're not taking into account that those same expectations we have are based on an industry that has thrived off of malpractice for decades.

So, would I be mad if ST5 came out in 2025? No.

Also important to note that this is the end. I know that a lot of fans are impatient and just want the final season ASAP, but even so, when we do get it, it's over after that. There's nothing else to look forward to for fans when it comes to these characters. Arguably, hiatus will be the time we'll look back on and miss most when this is all over. So enjoy theorizing and analyzing during the wait while you still can!

And again, let's keep in mind, a sooner release means they might have to rush and make quick decisions that impact the story negatively, with them settling for results that could have been better had they had more time. Whereas a later release, or at least later than we may have hoped, will probably mean they got the essential time they needed and therefore a lot better quality for the final cut.

David Harbour said late last year that filming will start in the summer. Noah just mentioned a few times recently that he starts filming in May. But it was also mentioned in an interview promoting WYFSTW with Finn that filming would be starting in March.

Who knows for sure right now, it'll probably require us getting closer to the start to know. But the good news is once filming starts, they'll tell us! However, this does bring up an important aspect of all of this that fans also don't seem to take into consideration, which is scheduling.

The main cast are all hot commodities now, with most of them having multiple productions to film in one single year. And so, imagine trying to get about a dozen A-B listers schedule's to overlap? It's not easy.

Though from what I've read, David is dealing with schedule issues because he's filming another movie at the same time as s5. And Noah specifically mentioned school being a factor when he brought up filming starting in May for him. And so it's possible overall production for s5 could be starting sooner than we think, with some main cast-members starting earlier/later than others.

I think the main good news (everyone cheer) is that we have no new characters for s5. And so I think that will allow filming to take a little less time. S1 was a lot smaller scale in terms of the characters focused on, with production going from September 2015 to early 2016 and with a release in July that same year. But s1 was also very very small scale in comparison to what s5 will be. While filming for s5 will definitely be shorter than s4 in terms of over overall running time, it'll still be longer and just in general bigger than s1.

I'm gonna take an educated guess and say at least 9 months for filming s5, but it's possible they could run up to a year because of scheduling issues, unexpected delays, unforseen events, with some cast-members potentially working earlier/later than the majority of the production. Best case scenario, filming could be done by December 2023, and that's taking into account filming may indeed not start fully until May 2023. This would give them roughly 8-10 months of filming.

And that's not even including post-production for VFX, which is likely going to take upwards of 6 months at least, because the upside down is expected to be a main setting for the story in s5, meaning a lot more time spent working on visual effects despite filming already being complete. Then there's editing and all that good stuff. And don't even get me started on marketing (they're watching us rn taking notes for ST5 social media promo... Smile and wave boys!)

Again, I do think 2024 is possible, though it would have to be later in 2024. Summer 2024 is still a little too optimistic, but I wont rule it out bc they love summer releases.

March 22nd on the other hand, is very much pushing it, as they'd only be like 2 months into VFX at that point.

Though, I could see the vision of this, assuming it released in 2025 (lands on a Saturday that year, but still according to new theories March 21st is potentially an important date related to Henry/Vecna and it's the day s4 started the story off, so that's possible!)

March 21st 2025 would be my ideal date if they had to push it further out to a 2025 release. And that is a big possibility, which is why I think they're not out here comfortably sticking to a year right now.

It's also likely that when we find out the official year of release, we'll get a poster potentially or some kind of short teaser hyping up the final season.

ST5 2025 is kind of iconic. But I guess we'll just have to see!

Even though I don't think March 22nd 2024 is possible, it would be cool to get some major news on that day, like an exact release date for the final season maybe? That would be birthdaygate proof in and of itself.

[estrellami-1]

The Easiest Thing (I’ve Ever Done)

Had an idea. I don’t know if it’s anything, or if it makes any sense, but I like it. I hope y’all do too!

The camera’s shaky, moving from Eddie trying to place his phone down, making sure to keep his face in frame. “Baby,” he sings, looking off-camera. “Would you peel me an orange?”

A slight pause before, “Hypothetical or literal?”

Eddie blinks. “Uh. Literal?”

“How many do you want?”

Eddie gapes. “Just- just like that? No teasing? Nothing about me being capable? Nothing at all?”

“It’s an orange, babe. ‘S not like me carrying you out of-”

Eddie scrambles for his phone, and the video cuts off.

It picks up again later. They’re in the living room now, and Eddie’s filming Steve, who had just asked him a question. “Say it again.”

“Say-?”

“The question you just asked me. Ask me again.”

Steve gestures to the TV. “We just watched 50 First Dates, Eds, I don’t think it’s crazy of me to ask if you’d do that for me.”

“Stevie. Baby. Light of my life. Look me in my eyes and ask me again. But before you do, think about two years ago when you got a concussion and the resulting short-term amnesia.”

Steve closes his eyes and leans his head back with a groan. “I’m an idiot.”

“Are not,” Eddie says hotly, and the video cuts off again.

It picks up again later. It’s dark in the room, and Eddie’s got his finger to his lips, as if he’s telling the audience to be quiet. “Say that again, baby?”

Steve mumbles something unintelligible, then, “The elephant’s back.”

“Yeah? What’s it doing?”

The camera moves to focus on Steve’s face. He’s clearly still asleep, even as he frowns. “He’s proposing. ‘S my job.”

“Your job?”

“Mhm. ‘M gonna do it.” Another frown. “Screw you, elephant.”

The camera jumps to Eddie, who’s got a hand covering his mouth. The video cuts off again.

It picks up again later. Eddie’s in the same position as the first part of the video. There’s background sounds—rushing water and clanking porcelain—that means Steve’s washing dishes.

“I feel like you’re mad at me.”

The clanking stops. The water shuts off. “What?”

Eddie shrugs. “You’ve been kinda tense ever since I got home.”

“Baby,” Steve whispers. “No. No, I’m not mad at you. I’m so sorry I made you feel that way. I’ve just got a lot in my head right now.”

Eddie nods. “Can I help?”

Steve hums. “You can listen.”

Eddie smiles. “I can do that.”

“Okay, cool.” The water turns back on. “So I was talking to Robin earlier-”

The video cuts off again.

It picks up again later. They’re back on the couch, but this time Steve’s engrossed in a book, lips silently moving as he reads. “Baby.”

“Hm?”

“You mouth the words to yourself when you read.”

Steve flushes scarlet. “Shuddup.”

“No!” Eddie laughs. “No, I love it! It’s adorable!”

“You don’t.” He sniffs, but does nothing to hide the smile on his face. “It’s not.”

“It is,” Eddie argues back, camera jumping around as he shifts to sit up. “And I’ll prove it.”

“Yeah? How?”

“Uh. That part I don’t know yet. But I’ll figure it out!”

“Mhm.” Steve’s lips twitch up at the corners.

“I’m serious.”

“Mhm.”

“I love every part of you.”

Steve’s smile softens into something lovesick. “I know.”

“Especially the parts you don’t like.”

Steve groans and covers his face with the book, and Eddie chuckles as he turns the camera off.

The last time it picks up, Steve’s the one setting it up. “Babe?” He calls.

“Yeah?”

“Would you love me if I was a worm?”

“If you were a worm?”

“Yeah. Would you love me.”

Eddie walks into frame to grab Steve’s hands and hold them. “My darling,” he murmurs, “I fall more in love with you every day. It’s the easiest thing I’ve ever done and the easiest decision I’ll ever make. And I make it every day, I have for years now. If you were a worm, I’d build you the best little worm house. I’d do all the research and find out what you can eat, and I’d always have that. I’d learn to speak worm so I could talk to you.” He lifts one of Steve’s hands to his lips. “If you were a worm? Baby, I’d love you more than any worm’s ever been loved before.”

“Oh,” Steve squeaks.

Eddie presses a brief kiss to his lips before pulling away. “Why don’t you turn the camera off and come join me upstairs?”

Steve gapes even as he reaches for his phone. “You absolute asshole-”

“I meant every word, baby. Let me show you how much?”

Steve flounders, and the video cuts off for the last time.

Permanent Taglist: @justforthedead89 @ilovecupcakesandtea @madigoround @bookbinderbitch @suddenlyinlove @nburkhardt @artiststarme @paintsplatteredandimperfect @i-less-than-three-you @alyelf @quarble @messrs-weasley @littlewildflowerkitten @vankaar @starman-jpg @bornonthesavage @steddie-there @goodolefashionedloverboi @mischivarien @cinnamon-mushroomabomination @platinum-sunset @just-ladyme @steddiestains @swimmingbirdrunningrock @imhereforthelolzdontyellatme @martinskis-lydias @notaqueenakhaleesi @sleepyboosstuff @bestwifehaver @m-owo-n @thatonebadideapanda @finalmoondragon @velocitytimes2 @callmeanythjing @ajeff855 @ilikeititspretty @knitsforthetrail @sillysparrow @that-one-corvid @ace-is-bored @inadequatecowboy @harpymoth @weirdandabsurd42

[asexualasshat]

Y’all remember the tiktok trend where grown ups realized that they’d forgotten how to skip. Headcannon that one, a few years after Derry part 2, Richie is being a silly sappy little fellow. Starts skipping while he and Eddie are a park or whatever. He grabs Eddie’s hand to bring him along for the ride. And Eddie??? Understands the hypothetical concept of skipping. And yet his feet? Doing a sort of botched gallop.

And Richie LOSES IT! Starts roasting him. And Eddie is freaking tf out. He’s yelling but also still trying to figure skipping out. You can’t really tell if he’s yelling more at Richie or at himself. And he’s still galloping away. Richie is on the ground, holding his face in his hands to muffle his laughter.

Eventually, Richie gets up and he starts coaching Eddie. Twenty minutes later, they’re hand in hand, skipping down the path.

Richie didn’t have a choice but to tell the losers everything. And the groupchat?? LOSES IT! At first? Just roasts tf out of Eddie at first. Ben comes to his defence pretty quickly. And then asks “when was the last time you guys skipped? Are you sure you remember?”

And the accusations fly right back at Ben. Asking him if he can skip. And Ben??? In his office wearing his fancy designer work clothes???? Takes a video of himself skipping. And he sure can skip! When he’s done showing off he comes close to the camera and says “we just had a daughter. I’ve prepared.”

And again, they’re going wild. Within minutes, videos start pouring in. Bev is first, obviously immediately ready to support her husband. She’s a dazzling skipper. She’d win first prize in a skipping competition. The technique is impeccable.

Stan is next. He gets Patty into it as well, to know one’s surprise. Neither is perfect. Patty’s footwork isn’t perfect but she has pizazz. Stan is pure technique, to the point that it’s awkwardly stiff. But the pair are smiling and skipping so it doesn’t even matter. Their own daughter just toddles around in the background. Kind of embarrassing for her, but she doesn’t know what embarrassment is yet.

Mike is out in a field, phone probably propped up on his water bottle or a log. He’s mostly just frolicking around, but there’s a few solid skips in there. It’s gloriously cinematic.

Audra is on camera next, and bill can be heard saying “show me! I want to see.” She hangs in the air longer than any mortal should be able to. Her flowy dress flounces out. She giggles in response to bill saying “wow!” and “you’re really good!”

But then hepassed the phone to Audra. Of course they don’t think to stop filming in between, so you hear all the shuffling. Audra says “okay, show me!” And Bill?? The bitch can’t get his feet off the ground. There’s no elevation at all. Audra is losing her mind. She’s scream laughing. Bill looks devastated.

A moment after his own roasting begins, bill texts back “so does this mean I’m a bad dad?” And immediately it turns to dad comfort. Ben’s “kids don’t usually start to try skipping until they’re four. You have two years to practice!” And Stan’s “your son is going to see you learn and grow as a man. You’re setting a great example.” Its really quite wholesome.

Obviously someone filmed it in the park. The world sees the graceful pursuit of Eddie learning to skip. Twitter obviously loves it because it so so silly and sweet. Richie tweets something stupid like (and funnier than) “bet your husband can’t skip, either.”

And Bev, because she has notifications on for Richie, immediately replies with Ben’s video and saying “my husband could beat your husband”

More videos start pouring in. Stan keeps their video as a groupchat exclusive, but tweets from his rarely active account “Richie I literally taught you how to skip when you were 6.” Richie responds calling him a bitch.

Bill posts their video saying “watch me realize I can’t skip.”

And later. Hours later. Many. Hours. Later. Audra posts a video to her insta story. She has taught Bill how to skip. Is it graceful? No. Does it have technique? No. Could you call it good? No. But goddamn he skipped.

Eddie holds it over him for weeks that he’s the better beginner skipper

[cfs-melkire]

FFXIV: WoL, OC, and Roleplay

Since there were some questions and confusion in tags, I figured that an educational/informative post like this might be helpful for some folks, so I'm going to break a few things down for those who might be unfamiliar.

Namely, we're going to get into what "Warrior of Light" means to different people, what "OC" means in the FFXIV context, and what "roleplay" means to different people (and why those distinctions exist).

Since this is going to be a long post, click the "Read Below" for more under the cut!

Warriors of Light

"Warrior of Light," in general, refers to the main protagonist of the critically acclaimed hit MMORPG, Final Fantasy XIV. Lore fanatics will know that this title once saw more widespread use in-setting (to refer to the Twelvesblades but also to historical heroes in general), but put that aside for now. WoL - Warrior of Light for short, in handy acronym format - is the main character, the hero, the person you play as. You even see the XIV devs (Yoshi P & everyone at CBU3) refer to the players themselves this way, as Warriors of Light.

FFXIV takes a different approach from other MMORPGs by making the story centered around a specific individual: you, as the WoL. This shift really kicks into gear towards the end of A Realm Reborn (2.0), as prior to that, you were just one of many adventurers in the realm of Eorzea (unless you were a 1.0/1.x player; again, set that aside for now). But starting with Operation Archon, your character starts taking center stage in terms of global affairs. By the time you're into Heavensward content, the story of the Scions is, fundamentally, your story: the Warrior of Light's story.

This creates an interesting situation in which players have a shared experience with different takes on how the main character did, should have, and or would have act, acted, react, or reacted. Part of that has to do with our differing selections on race and gender for our characters. Part of that has to do with us projecting our own thoughts and feelings onto the WoL, in effect playing the game as our own self-insert of sorts! Observant newcomers may have noticed that the game progressively gives you more and more dialogue options the further along you get; we had very few of them in ARR and HW compared to later expansions! That has been a good change, and it's really helped players to see how a story could take different twists and turns depending on what kind of person would be at the helm of making those decisions as the main character.

As a result, we've seen a lot of prompts crop up on social media - on Twitter, here on tumblr, even on Reddit - about how people's characters differ from one another. How would YOUR Warrior of Light react, what would THEY have done, but also: what was their childhood like? What do they do for fun? Who do they get along with best? So on and so forth, all sorts of questions. Anyone who's ever been in fandom for any length of time knows that these kinds of questions, these sorts of hypotheticals, are very fun to explore. We've been doing this since we were kids! "Oh but what if this happened instead in my favorite film/show/story?" It's our imagination at work, and it feels great to turn something over in our heads like that.

On Twitter, mainly, these prompts came to be referred to as "WoL prompts" and were often tagged something like "wolqotd" (Question of the Day). But as folks have been fleeing Twitter in droves lately thanks to a certain billionaire manchild being grossly incompetent and generally unsafe, there's been a lot of cross-pollination between social media platforms. Since tumblr has had a historically different approach to FFXIV prompts and our FFXIV friends from Twitter seem to have developed a blindspot, I posted a well-intentioned blurb about how, and I paraphrase, "not all OCs are WoLs."

There was some mild confusion on that point, which brings us to this post. I'm gonna help clear that up right now.

Original Characters

Most of us have probably seen, at least once on the internet, some form of the phrase "OC do not steal" (often humorously misspelled as the meme "OC donut steel"). An OC - short for "original character" - is a common concept in fandom. In fandom specifically, it generally refers to any character that a fan has created for their own use, whether that use be for artistic expression, drawing doodles, writing short stories (read: fanfiction), etc. The character is original, meaning they're not part of the established setting or lore as produced and put out into the world by the makers of the show/series/novel/game/what-have-you, and the character is unique, meaning the character itself (their personality, their history, etc.) is specific to that fan and they're not just Pidgey #2761 caught on Route 1 in the years since 1998 by one out of millions of kids with no other discernible traits, features, or background details.

In the FFXIV context, OC refers to any original character made or created by a fan or player. Often (but not always) this takes the form of their playable avatar, the character they sign into the game with and play as. But there's a context, a MMORPG-specific context, in which "OC" means something more specific to folks in the FFXIV community. The best way I can explain that other meaning is to walk you through the thought process, but in short, a FFXIV OC is a character who is NOT the main character you play through the events of the game as, but rather a character who inhabits the setting and has their own life full of adventures & misadventures, with their own story to tell.

The thought process goes a little something like this: I'm really having fun with FFXIV, but I'm getting real bored of my character. Maybe I'll fantasia them. You know what, I'm tired of seeing what my Warrior of Light gets up to. I'm more curious about what the average person deals with. There's all these monsters out there beyond the city limits! How does anyone get anything done? Maybe they need, like, caravan guards. Yeah, that's cool... but what about Lalafell? They're so small compared to other people, but they get by fine. Hmmm, let me go back to the character selection screen and fantasia into a Lalafell. I'll make something really cool and cute looking. Now, where would they be from? I see a lot of them in Ul'dah, a few in Limsa... you know what, I don't see a lot of them in Gridania or the Shroud. It'd be really interesting to learn how a Lalafell ended up living there. Yeah, let's do that! Fantasia's done, now to find them some day-to-day clothes to wear. I wonder, if they're a caravan guard, where'd they pick up their fighting skills? Are they an archer or a mage? Did their family help them get into a guild? Hmmm.

On and on it goes, in this very manner, with all sorts of characters and stories. This is a FFXIV OC, and even though the player will be progressing through this game with their new Lalafell, they're not really viewing this character (or whatever race they might choose, e.g. Roegadyn or Elezen) as the Warrior of Light. Sure, they'll play to see what the Warrior of Light experiences, but there's a distinction in the player's mind: this is Toro Tororo, of Gridania, they sometimes sign up as a guard to make money but on most days they help out their family at the botanists' guild. They've never once seen or fought a primal.

This is, fundamentally, an MMORPG OC, just specific to FFXIV. This is very much the exact line of thinking that gave us Dungeons & Dragons and other tabletop RPGs! Someone was playing war games, said to themselves, "I really don't care about Napoleon or whichever general I am as I move these armies around, I really want to more about THIS soldier here, this guy, what's THEIR story?" and pointed at a single figurine of an infantryman standing alongside identically uniformed troops (thank you to Dave Arneson and his players). The full story is a bit more complicated than that, but the process itself is central to a lot of our own musings about tales and stories that we then spin out into our own creations.

But who plays FFXIV like this? Who goes through all of that effort to NOT be in the shoes of the WoL, and why?

In short: roleplayers.

Roleplay

Let's get the giggling out of the way. You've probably seen ERP referenced - short for "erotic roleplay" - and that has a long history that spiraled out of playing pretend in the bedroom & early internet chatrooms. But no matter what big streamers or people on Aether datacenter might tell you (I'm looking at you, Gilgamesh), that's not what most people mean when they talk about roleplay. ERP is only a very small facet of roleplay in general, the same way the horror-thriller genre is only one genre among many genres of film.

Roleplay is, fundamentally, writing in a collaborative setting where one or more writers act out the parts of one or more characters and make decisions for them.

You've seen this a lot, and have probably roleplayed without realizing it. Constructing a castle made out of Legos and having the knights fight each other, or setting up Barbie and Ken at the pool for a relaxing day and some barbeque, is roleplaying. You and a friend grabbing notebooks and writing out stories or drawing comics about your favorite characters from a popular series is roleplaying. Sitting around a table and playing Dungeons & Dragons is roleplaying, even if you're not doing character voices like the folks on Critical Role. Exchanging prompts about your WoL on social media is roleplaying.

Roleplaying within the actual game of Final Fantasy XIV is an extension of the above! Some folks really like to use the tools that MMORPGs gives them - character models, emotes, a chat box - to visually play out stories about all sorts of characters. FFXIV is particularly well-suited to this due to some crazy quality-of-life features, like target tracking (not only your character's head but their eyes move to follow whoever you target), multiple idle poses, an enormous range of emotes, being able to sit or lay down on furniture, etc. So when Felicia signs in on Toro Tororo, exits Gridania, and mounts up on their chocobo to head down to Bentbranch Meadows to meet her fellow player, Diego, who's on Heuloix Durendaire in order for Toro to sign up for the latest caravan down to Highbridge in Thanalan... that's roleplay!

There's such a breadth of stories to explore in any fictional setting, and FFXIV is no exception in that regard. It's often easier to make an OC who isn't saddled with the WoL's baggage in order to explore stories like this. Maybe someone wants to roleplay an Allagan who just woke up after being on stasis for 3,000 years. Or maybe someone else wants to play a Roegadyn pirate out on the open seas, and they put into port in places like Limsa and Kugane. Maybe Rockfist and Deathstaff want to host a fighting tournament to figure out who's the baddest of the bunch, or maybe the hardworkin' Miqo'te fellow wants to head into the Goblet for the evening to find a nice restaurant for a good meal and a nice drink, and maybe avoid being pressed for conversation by anyone other than the wait staff and that bartender who used to be their childhood friend.

Roleplayers make OCs to explore settings via collaborative writing, and often times those OCs aren't WoLs.

And sometimes they are!

And sometimes people roleplay via prompts or over Discord/messaging rather than in-game!

All valid. All good.

I could go on ad nauseum, but that just about covers it. If there are questions, please ask. In comments, in tags, via Asks, etc. I'll try to answer... or point folks to people who can provide better answers than I can.

Thanks for reading!

[icanseethefuture333]

The Astrological Observation of Gen Z, (a series)

Part I 👼🏽🩷:

The rise & fall of "chick flicks" & the possible resurgence of those films thanks to Barbie? 💗 + Victoria's Secret Angels/fashion show makes a come back, will it succeed 👼🏽?

SPOILER ALERT

Here is the birth chart (placidus) of the most loved and adored doll of all time, Barbie! The Barbie movie begun filming in March 2022, had it's first premiere on July 9th, 2023, and was aired officially on July 21st, 2023. If the movie started to be filmed in March 2022, then that means the movie would have been created during Barbie's solar return. The movie was going to have a big impact on the world from the moment it was produced. Although, yes of course it's Barbie who's super famous, but I believe that the intention behind the film was more sincere than other movies in comparison. In Barbie's solar return chart, there is a fear of being "forgotten" or "lost", which is exactly what Barbie struggled with in the movie. There is an Aquarius dominance and a 11th and 9th house stellium. Her North node, Moon, and Uranus are in her 12th house which deals with the subconscious. In the film, Barbie and the woman who owned her as a little girl had a telepathic connection (Aquarius Venus at 2° in the 9th house), which she did not know until she started having "oppressive thoughts about death" (Aquarius Mercury in the 10th house at 28°). Which Weird Barbie gives her a "choice" of going back to normal or knowing the secrets of the universe (a spiritual awakening). Which then explains how her 11th house and 9th house partnered together in the film. Friendship, philosophy, and wisdom all being important lessons that Barbie was forced to experience. Barbie's journey throughout the movie was painful and scary. She wasn't able to be the one to give advice or help little girls anymore, this time - people had to help her, which gave her the confidence to become the woman she wanted to become (Barbie has so many squares and conjuctions in her solar return chart, like let me go buy a Barbie doll and tell her how much I love her, I'm so sorryyyy 💔😭).

Barbie's transits on the day of the Barbie movie's official release. Aspects that are standing out to me are Part of Fortune sextile Pluto, Uranus sextile Moon, Pluto sextile Jupiter, Mercury trine Venus, and Mars square Ascendant. The movie will go down as a cult classic. It globally is a big hit on social media and caused people to even dress, think, and feel differently (especially regarding their femininity). The mars square ascendant could be why men or people with internalized toxic masculinity feel uncomfortable with the movie. It triggers something in them and I feel like secretly that men who say they hate Barbie, actually love her??? They could be remembering childhood memories of the doll and possibly even wanted to play with one but weren't allowed to or wished they spent more time with their moms or sisters. The Mercury trine Venus represents how the film was able to convey women's thoughts well and the things they wish they could say but were suppressed due to the patriarchy. Women as a whole really love Barbie or think highly of her. The film's hypothetical birth chart has a 12th house stellium and still conveys the significance of intuition and the subconscious mind. What's beautiful is the film's Pluto is in the 5th house at 29° in retrograde. If they intended to have people reconnect with their inner child, then it was done successfully. Which confirms my belief and also hope for sweet, sappy, inspiring chick flicks about friendships and self love happening again.

This wouldn't be a post about the 2000's if we didn't discuss the Victoria Secret's fashion show. The first episode was released on August 1st, 1995 during prime time so around 8 pm PST / 10 pm EST. Here is the hypothetical chart (placidus) of the Victoria's Secret Fashion show. I have never in my life seen so many retrogrades before, YIKES! The show has a lot of karmic debt and with the amount of scandals the company had, I'm not even surprised. Saturn in the 1st house, so there is a strict beauty standard that the show wants to uphold and dislikes when someone else tries to break the mold. I watched the Victoria Secret documentary and this is what was said as well. The women who worked there tried to bring more inclusivity to the company and the men acted very pompous and stubborn whenever they tried to create positive changes. They wanted to get away with their cookie cutter looks and corrupted desires. North node being at 0° the fashion show was supposed to embrace change and throughout the years resisted it's main intention or purpose of making women feel sexy. Now that they are trying to rebrand, they'd really have to really get over their ego in order to succeed. The exact date and time of the upcoming fashion show is unsure but it will be aired sometime in the fall. With the Victoria Secret's Fashion Show Sun sign being in Leo, then that means the episode will air right after it's solar return (I'm noticing a pattern here of companies releasing projects after it's solar return👀). Things seem to be going in the show's favor and it will be fair or more inclusive as they said it would be. There is a 7th house stellium here and a Moon in the 1st house so it seems as though they want to come off as genuine as possible. Saturn still remains in the 1st house, so there is still some stern energy here, maybe the rules for the models is strict or there is some sort of tight schedule for the show? Jupiter in the 3rd house, people will be talking about it or there's going to be articles/podcasts about the show. Pluto square South Node, the company's past scandals will still linger in the air. Uranus trine Chiron, someone in PR could write formal apologies to the staff? Saturn square Jupiter, Saturn is not done with them yet. It's literally grabbing them by the throat and saying "repent for your sins". It's not great, but not terrible either, but I'm leaning towards the fashion show will do just fine. The women will be exceptionally beautiful and the style of the clothes is gonna be different. It could take some time for people to be on board again with the show airing due to past controversies. Some will enjoy it for nostalgia, while others will not care to watch because it's not their thing or won't watch out of support for the victims.

The Tour '23's birth chart (whole sign)

The show having its Aquarius Moon in the 12th house 24° is very significant in my opinion given the fact it displays the hidden nature of women and the different aspects of the divine feminine. I watched it today and there was a lot of focus on motherhood, feeling unique or out of place in the world (a lot of people saying they felt like an alien), and having different body types, attributes, or features being seen. With an Aries chiron and north node, I feel their way of approaching things was more blunt and why they were more comfortable exhibiting/talking about scars, stretch marks, protesting, and (tw:) eating disorders. Another interesting aspect I noticed was mostly the narrator Gigi Hadid and the show has a Virgo Mercury in the 7th house 16°. Quite a few of the women narrating were mothers themselves, such as Gigi Hadid. Gigi has her Mercury in the 1st house and she has a Taurus stellium. The 7th house is connected to Venus and it is known for beauty, femininity, and love. There was also 5 segments all around the world but the show made its debut in Lagos, Nigeria. The Pisces ascendant I believe explains the fluidity and ability to transform or adapt to your environment. As well as being sensitive, free spirited, and having spiritual consciousness, for example, there was the use of Yoruba and Igbo mythology in the fashion show. The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show originally had a Leo stellium and it was more superficial, a lot of hyper focus on glitz and glam. Where as now there is a Pisces stellium and still has a familiarity of signs from its original birth chart (the essence of Libra, Taurus, and Leo still being there). The Capricorn Pluto in the 11th house 27° acknowledges what they have done in the past and their problematic behavior. With 27° being a Gemini degree, its as if the company is wanting to say to the generation: "Let's talk about it". The fashion designers in the documentary all discussed the importance of self expression and their hardships to get there. Doja Cat being the main performer of the series isn't surprising given the fact she is also a Libra Sun. Similar to the show, Doja and Victoria's Secret, are both known for being quite controversial (perfect pair, don't you think?). With The Tour 23's Sun being in the 8th house, it feels that it is the death of their ego. A new chapter for the company, while still keeping some parts of itself and it's past. Neptune and Saturn being in the 1st house explains why everyone was so vulnerable about their journey, insecurities, and dealing with self criticism. With its ascendant being a leo degree (5°) I believe it will gain some traction or buzz because of the individualistic style and fresh new faces / designers, but it won't be anything that will people talk about long term.

[runwayrunway]

I was recently surprised to see this livery while boarding, and snapped a pic. Apparently enough people asked the crew questions to the effect of "Why is the plane yellow?" as we were boarding that the captain explained it during his take off announcements. Turns out we were on 'New Mexico One' (N8655D).

Maybe they were worried they accidentally got on a Spirit flight. Happens to the best of us. (Also, knowing pilots I think there's a legitimate chance he was excited about it himself and would have brought it up no matter what.)

This is your girl! This is actually New Mexico 1.2.0 - the New Mexico One livery is the fifth Southwest state livery, and one of the first special liveries they had full stop.

Southwest Airlines has had a lot of special liveries. The documentation is incomplete, but they have a timeline for them up to 2013 publicly available. It turns out there were at least three Shamu jets (unfortunately I cannot find the purported pictures of Herb Kelleher in a penguin suit), and that my guess was right - their first state-themed livery was a Texas one to commemorate their origin as an intrastate carrier.

Since then, they've released quite a few more in honor of some of their more-served or milestone states. The states with special liveries are Arizona; California; Colorado; Florida; Hawai'i; Illinois; Louisiana; Maryland; Missouri; Nevada; New Mexico; Tennessee; and of course Texas. These really vary in level of detail and inspiration, and I definitely have no desire or plans to do a massive joint post on them all. That is thirteen liveries. But there's one or two that have been hanging out on the distant fringes of my interest and one (Colorado One) has already been requested, so if anyone particularly wants to see any of them covered just know I am treating them as full, separate, self-contained liveries even though they're technically sort of a set. It just doesn't make any sense to do it any other way.

(I never want to see a Massachusetts One. The concept is actively repellant to me.)

Most of Southwest's special liveries have 'one' at the end, like Air Force One, you know, it's the famous plane, Air Force One, they made a film about it with Harrison Ford in. I do think hypothetically the implication of 'New Mexico One' would be a plane transporting the governor of New Mexico, but, well, that's their name scheme.

image: Southwest Airlines

This is the original New Mexico One, N781WN. Thanks to the information Southwest provides on its website for once I know the exact date a livery was debuted - 18th September, 2000. I'm not sure how to feel about the fact that this picture is younger than me, because it looks incredibly crunchy and vintage, like it couldn't have been taken later than 1985. I have a Polaroid SX-70 that was kept in working condition by a relative and it takes cleaner-looking pictures. It must have been taken very early on in the livery's lifetime because when Canyon Blue was introduced the tailfin was updated to match. As with all Southwest's special liveries - the tailfins remain untouched from the default.

image: Eddie Maloney

The initial iteration with the mustard-yellow and red tail looks very nice, seamless with the main body. Although the placement of the name on the fin is quite subdued and against the ethos of the low-cost carrier it is in the case of special liveries useful, making the interaction of the wordmark with the main design a non-issue. Part of me really wishes that they'd kept the old colors for longer or maybe even done custom schemes for the stripes on each of their special liveries, because the blue looks pretty out-of-place on the New Mexico livery. I'll be completely honest, I also think the older, more angular shape of the stripes suits the similarly geometric bulk of the design while the modern incarnation - the haphazardly placed little wordmark with no natural home on the tail, the fin which looks like it was removed from a wholly different plane - is just sort of generally worse than the original state. The use of a minimally-altered tailfin with a crammed-on wordmark does seem to be something about which Southwest is unwilling to negotiate, though, and I guess that's what I'm going to have to live with.

(...generally, I do have to live with all the liveries I discuss here, until the magical day that someone at a massive company decides that the opinions of a blog with under 1,000 followers are something they want to capitulate to.)

The basis of the livery is extremely straightforward. It's...the flag of New Mexico. This is a fantastic starting point. The New Mexico flag is my favorite of the US states' - though, to be fair, that's damning by faint praise in the extreme. Just based on the sorts of people I've met I feel like at least a few followers of this blog will have particularly vivid opinions about vexillology, but it doesn't take someone with the level of investment I have in liveries to know that most US state flags are just absurdly poorly designed. New Mexico's flag is not just acceptable but good.

Yellow and red aren't uncommon colors in flags, but the complete absence of very popular choices like blue and white definitely is striking. Unlike many US state flags, which are morasses of complex and jumbled iconography, it contains only one image - the sun symbol of the indigenous Zia (Tsi’ya) Pueblo group. Unfortunately, not only was the design not suggested by Zia individuals but it was used without the group's knowledge or consent, and there has been an ongoing discussion about this being properly acknowledged by the state - a good summary, albeit from 2012, is this El Palacio article written by the Zia Pueblo administrator.

I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Southwest actually did consult the Zia, including administrator and author of the above article Peter Pino. A contemporary news release from Southwest even discusses Zia children performing a Crow Dance as part of the ceremony. I was able to find a photograph of this in a blog post by a Southwest employee.

So safe to say people were pretty excited about this livery! Southwest's state liveries tend to be pretty beloved by the people from said state, as far as I can tell.

N781WN was retired earlier this year and sometime in the late summer the livery was repainted onto N8655D. The livery is largely unchanged except for the fact that it's on a longer plane now.

Anyway, I like New Mexico One. Not terribly much happens here in the way of detail so there's not much to say about it but I like the way it's placed at a sort of angle instead of just smacked in the middle of the plane directly above the wings or something. The fact that there's some yellow and red in the tail prevents it from looking as bad as it could (and definitely does on other state liveries) even though I kind of really genuinely dislike the wordmark placement like a lot. I'm not sure how they could have done it better. I just think if you're making it that small and out-of-the-way you could honestly just go without. Not like there's even one other plane flying around with this livery.

Why is the inside of the winglets totally bare? I can't be the only one that thinks that's strange, can I?

I'll give her a C+. I think there's a pretty low ceiling on how good a livery that's just the flag of New Mexico can be, and Southwest did a job I would call 'correct' - they didn't really mess anything up and they didn't have some sort of brain explosion that let them create a design more captivating than putting a good flag onto an airplane but leaving the tail Southwest colors. This is a good special livery and it seems like a nice little tribute to New Mexico, and it's always nice to see a beloved old livery be preserved on a new airframe. Congratulations to the people of New Mexico, particularly the Zia, on a pretty neat commemorative livery.

[stratossphere]

cheater cheater | j.k

*disclaimer: i in no way support cheating, and do not see johnny as a cheater! this is just a hypothetical scenario :)*

you and johnny have been broken up for months now, and he’s started to ‘move on’, but you’re not done yet.

warnings: mentions of smoking and drinking, very slight angst, cheating, smut, extremely irresponsible sex, unprotected sex, slapping, choking, Knoxville’s Dirty Mouth

word count: 6.9k

— —

You and Knoxville had been…in a funk. You had been broken up for months now, and up until this point, you’d been almost 100% sure that there was no chance of reconciliation. But tonight, something felt different.

You’d been trying your best to avoid him, because you knew that if you let yourself slip up even a little bit you were going to do something you would really regret, but you couldn’t avoid him forever. Especially with your friends’ love for partying.

You had all finished filming for the day, and had all been invited out to a set producer’s house to party for the night seeing as no one really wanted to deal with the laws and charges that came with partying in public places. So, once again, against your will, you found yourself looking for him as soon as you walked into the house.

As a result of the privacy freedom and all of the booze and drugs flowing throughout the house, everyone was acting like a fucking idiot in someone’s half-dark living room with shitty music blasting so loudly that the walls felt as if they were vibrating. And Bam, who you had somehow ended up next to, had decided that it would be hilarious to start pestering you with questions and ‘concerns’ about Johnny.

“You’re lying.” He was singing in your ear after you had been very adamant that you and Johnny weren’t still fucking. You shoved his face away in irritation, only for him to gleefully continue to talk despite your palm shoved against his cheek. “Who cares, dude? Just fuck him and get it over with so you stop being such a pissy bitch.”

“Will you put a fucking cock in it? Why do you want me to fuck Knoxville so bad?” You complained, taking a long drink of your beer after you spoke in an attempt to relax yourself a little bit. You were pretty drunk already, but he was still finding a way to stress you out regardless. You did, in fact, kind of want to fuck Knoxville, but he didn’t need to know that.

“Because you two are so annoying when you’re not fucking. He’s literally just sitting in the bathroom drinking by himself like a goddamn loser right now.” Bam groaned, motioning vaguely towards where you knew there was a bathroom around the corner. You raised your eyebrows in surprise. To be fair, there were a lot of people crammed into a house that wasn’t built for it, and not everyone could be expected to shove themselves into the living room like you and Bam had done, but the bathroom? Alone? Seriously?

“Why? Is he okay?” As soon as the words were out of your mouth, you winced at how ‘I wanna fuck Johnny Knoxville’ they sounded. Bam clearly didn’t miss it either, because he smirked.

“I don’t know. You should probably go find out.” He nudged your shoulder, and you took another long drink whilst staring him down.

“If we fuck, you can’t judge me. Like, at all.” You said with finality, raising your eyebrows at him because you knew it was going to be a monumental task for him. Bam, for some reason, was the nosiest person on the planet, but then had the nerve to judge you and act grossed out about anything involving sex if you actually told him. He made a face at your proposal.

“Fine. But don’t do anything super disgusting.” He caved, suddenly reaching back and pulling out a long strip of condoms. When you deadpanned, he pressed the entire thing into your hand before you could get a word in edgewise. “Would you like to add pregnancy to the mix, you fucking idiot?”

“Okay! Jesus!” You accepted the condoms with an extremely dirty look, shoving him slightly as you got up off the floor that the both of you had been sitting on in the corner of the room and dropped your coat down towards him so that he could hold onto it. You had never actually been on a mission where the only clear objective was to get in Johnny Knoxville’s pants (usually it wasn’t really a mission, more of a ‘look at him and he’s already taking his pants off’ type of thing), but with a row of condoms in one hand and a beer bottle in the other, that’s exactly what you set out to do.

When you rounded the corner, you were met with a shut (and locked, as luck would have it) bathroom door. You paused for a second, because there was a chance that Johnny had just moved on to a different part of the house and you were about to fuck with some poor person who was just trying to take a piss, but then decided that who gave a fuck. Everyone was too drunk to be offended, anyway.

When you banged harshly on the door and then kicked it with your foot for good measure, you heard a deep sigh from the other end that sounded suspiciously like your ex-boyfriend. You caught yourself smiling for a second at the sound, and quickly reached into your back pocket to fish out a cigarette to stop yourself from doing it again.

“What?” Oh yeah. He was pissed. You sighed softly as you lit the cigarette now perched between your lips, resting your head against the door momentarily as you puffed small clouds of smoke out through your nose as mentally prepared yourself for what was on the other side of the door.

“Let me in! I gotta pee!” You lied, banging on the door a couple more times just to urge him on. There was a pause, which was clearly him grappling with the fact that it was you on the other side of the door, before you heard footsteps and then PJ Clapp himself was standing in front of you with his hand on the doorknob as he pulled the door open. You grinned, pushing past him and then pulling the door shut behind the both of you before he could get a chance to escape. “Hey! Whatcha doing in here?”

“What are you—” He made a face when you didn’t let him past you and out the now-closed door, looking between you and the door momentarily before sighing. “What do you usually do in bathrooms, Y/n?”

“Coke? Drink, apparently.” You said wryly, motioning to the large collection of beer cans that were on the floor by his feet. You knew he probably hadn’t done coke, but that’s what most of the Jackass crew were up to if they were in the bathroom for more than five minutes at a time.

“I thought you had to pee.” He sounded suspicious, and you could see that he was glancing towards the door like he was getting ready to leave. You shrugged, taking your cigarette out of your mouth and offering it over to him.

“I will have to pee. At some point.” You couldn’t keep the hint of a laugh out of your voice as you spoke. You were drunk, okay? You could tell that he could tell, and judging by the number of cans on the floor. He couldn’t have been much better. He seemed to be in a sulky drunk kind of mood tonight. “In the meantime, whatcha up to?”

“Trying to get out of here. You’re blocking the door.” He said uninterestedly as he puffed on your cigarette, motioning to the fact that your back was pressed up against his only escape. You pretended to pout, not moving from where you were standing despite his clear attempt to end your conversation and then taking your cigarette when he handed it back.

“Come on. Just hang out with me for a little bit.” You whined, reaching out and taking his hand in an attempt to entice him into giving you the time of day. He looked down, sighed, and then made a face when he looked at your hand.

“What the hell do you have these for?” He removed his hand from yours so that he could peel your fingers open, revealing the bunched up strip of condoms that you had fisted in your hand. You waved them in front of him enticingly, a smirk on your face.

“Propositions. Just in case I need them.” You said vaguely, winking at him like he was in on your joke. He just stared at you, letting go of your wrist and then taking a step back from you. Collecting them back up so that they were stacked in your palm, you took a sip of your beer. “Bam ‘gifted’ them to me. You can use them on that bitchass blonde chick, if you want.”

God, you sounded drunk and jealous. ‘That bitchass blonde chick’ you were referring to was a girl that had been half-tagging-along to a lot of parties as of late, and had seemed almost attached to Johnny’s hip every time you’d seen her in the past few weeks. Johnny sucked on his teeth.

“My girlfriend?” He corrected, narrowing his eyes at you as he spoke in a tone that basically spat in your face. Your jaw dropped slightly despite your best attempts to control your reaction, and the cigarette you had been holding between your lips fell right down onto the ground. It would’ve been almost comical had it not felt like he had just punched you right in the chest. What. The. Fuck.

“What?” You couldn’t even form a coherent thought to respond to his news. A fucking girlfriend. After all of the long stares and the extra touching that had made you think you still had him even when you weren’t sure you could want him. Once again, what the fuck.

“Stop.” He clearly read your reaction clear as day, because he spoke before you could even give him an idea of what you were thinking. “Don’t get like that.”

“I didn’t say anything. I’m just…surprised.” Suddenly you were desperately wishing that you were anywhere but trapped in that bathroom with him. You hated the fact that you felt so crushed by his news when you’d been so sure that you didn’t even want to be with him anymore. You toed the cigarette that you’d dropped out on the tile floor to cover the fact that you’d dropped it by accident, not moving your eyes back up once they landed on your feet.

“Why did you come in here?” His words just crushed you more. You were starting to silently wish that you’d accepted the molly that Ehren had offered you when you’d showed up for the night.

Maybe you did hate him.

“I just wanted to check on you.” You hated the way your voice had gone quiet, and you just added fuel to the fire when you tossed the condoms towards him and turned to open the bathroom door. “You’re clearly fine, so…”

“Y/n.” Suddenly a hand slammed onto the door above your head, stopping you from being able to open it and essentially blocking you in just as you had been him no less than a couple minutes before. You clenched your jaw.

“What.” Deep breaths. As soon as he let you out, you were going straight for Ehren. You didn’t want to remember this interaction by the time that morning came. Especially because you knew that Johnny was reading you like a fucking book; scrutinizing page by page with every second that went by.

“You can stay in here for a while.” He was fucking serious. And motioning to a pack of beer that he had apparently stolen and hid on the floor by the trash can. “This party kind of fucking blows, anyway.”

Suddenly, something in your mind clicked. He was clearly unbothered by the fact that he was in a very small bathroom with his ex while he was (apparently) dating someone else, and he was inviting you to stay. He didn’t give a fuck about that girl. And if he didn’t give a fuck, you were starting to realize that you didn’t give a fuck either. If he wanted to make bad decisions and ruin another relationship, by god if you weren’t going to help him towards his demise.

“Yeah? Why?” You crossed your arms, meeting his eyes when he didn’t move his hand from the door behind you. “I gave you condoms to get out of here and fuck her, didn’t I?”

“Will you stop? I’m trying to talk to you.” His eyes searched yours, and you wondered if he could see the lack of care that you were slowly falling into. So, based on his close proximity and the liquor in your system, you took a leap.

“I don’t want to talk.” You moved your hands to rest your fingers on his belt buckle, fingertips brushing the soft skin under his shirt just like you knew he liked. It had worked every single time when you’d been together, and you could tell by the way his breath caught in his throat that it was close to working now. “Why do you think I came into this small-ass bathroom with you with a handful of condoms, PJ? To fucking hang out?”

“I don’t know if…” He spluttered over his words as his hand pushed yours away, eyes wide and demeanor completely stiff as he struggled to swallow the medicine that he had fed you so many times before. Serves him fucking right. “Y/n, I’m not sure if…”

“You know, all these times that we’ve been around each other lately, I thought we were going to fuck again.” You put your hand right back where it had been, because you knew his limits, and he knew yours. If he was really against what you were proposing, he would’ve been out of that bathroom long ago. And he wouldn’t be staring at you the way he was.

“You said you never wanted me to fuck you again.” He breathed unevenly as he spoke, your hand slowly starting to peel his belt open as he watched with hooded eyes. It was the stupid ‘Knoxville’ belt that was becoming more and more of a staple in his wardrobe as the days went on. Hell, he’d even let you wear it a couple times before…well, before.

“I lied. I miss you.” More missed his dick than anything else, but that wasn’t in great taste to say at the present moment. Especially when you could tell that he was still teetering between feeling guilty for what he was doing and helping you pull his belt from each loop of his jeans.

“Don’t say that.” He muttered, pulling his lip between his teeth and looking down at you like it pained him to listen to you talk. You just gave him a sour look, dropping his belt onto the floor and listening to the satisfying sound of the buckle hitting tile.

“Is she here?” You asked boldly after a second of letting him look at you. You weren’t sure whether or not you were going to be annoyed if he said yes or slightly disappointed if he said no. Maybe a little bit of both. His jaw clenched, and you started to undo the zipper of his pants to add fuel to the fire that was what you suspected his answer was going to be.

“Yes she’s here. Would you–would you slow down, please?” He said, sounding slightly agitated as his hand stilled your fingers at the zipper of his Dickies. You clenched your jaw in an attempt to control your temper, starting to get irritated with his indecisiveness over your current situation. “She’s…she’s waiting for me.”

“Yeah? Then why the fuck have you been sitting in a bathroom with a case of beer and a bitchy look on your face all night?” You asked critically, letting your lack of patience bleed through your voice for a moment. He looked a little taken aback by your observation, and he spluttered momentarily before he cleared his throat to respond.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” That’s what he came up with. That was his lame-ass fucking excuse while he forced you to stand there and wait for him to make up his mind about some stupid girl you had never even heard speak before. You were sure he cared about her just as much as he cared about everyone else he was supposed to be showing an ounce of respect towards. You threw a hand in the air, starting to put space between the two of you. You weren’t going to stand in the bathroom with him all night while he decided on whether or not he was going to commit. God knows how he did with committing to things.

“I’m not asking you to talk about it, for fuck’s sake. I’m asking you to make up your fucking mind and stop acting like a mopey little bitch while you sit here and whine.” You spoke a little harsher than you intended, but you knew deep down that he could handle it. It wasn’t like he didn’t deserve it, anyway. “Fuck me or don’t. You’ve got ten seconds.”

And, of course, he chose to use those ten seconds to stare at you, lips parted in a look that you had seen so many times before. He was giving you your answer without making a sound. Despite how macho and composed Johnny Knoxville wanted to seem, he would fold at your feet if you raised your voice at him even a little.

Just as you were opening your mouth to give some smart-ass retort about his weak resolve in that very department, he was suddenly reaching out and pulling you back from where you’d stepped away from him, his lips finding yours as soon as your chest pressed up against his. You could taste the beer on his breath, and you couldn’t help but smile into the kiss at the triumph of getting what you had secretly known you wanted so fucking badly ever since you’d gotten over the initial anger of your breakup. You knew it was hypocritical to tease him for his weak resolve when you didn’t even have a resolve when it came to him. He was your Kryptonite.

Johnny broke the kiss after a second, his demeanor now completely relaxed as he kept one hand on your arm and the other on your cheek. “God, you make me miss you so fucking much.”

You didn’t respond, just kissed him again. You weren’t ready for the whole ‘I miss you every waking moment that I’m not around you and it physically pains me that you’re not mine anymore’ conversation in the middle of someone you barely knew’s bathroom, and you had grown sick of talking anyway. Johnny didn’t complain, and this time he allowed you to get his zipper the rest of the day down without a word as his lips trailed down your neck.

“Fuck me. Right now. I don’t want to wait.” You said as soon as you had his zipper undone, your hands already pushing his pants down his hips as you leaned away so that he was forced to look at you. You’d been staring at him for too long with no outlet over the past few weeks to go through even more waiting when you had him right there and ready in front of you.

“Yeah. Okay.” He was breathless, and seemed to be stuck in limbo as he watched you push his Dickies the rest of the day down before hooking your fingers in the waistband of his boxers and doing the same. He was already haard, just as you had anticipated despite his protesting about his so-called ‘girlfriend’. It made you feel a small, spiteful surge of accomplishment as he returned the favor, pulling the dress that you were wearing up over your hips before ripping the fishnets you were wearing right at the crotch. You huffed at him.

“Seriously? I just got these.” You couldn’t decide whether or not to be mad that he’d just wasted ten dollars of your hard-earned money or deeply aroused that he was being so careless with you. It was like he was reading your mind. He scoffed, showing that he clearly didn’t care as he pulled your underwear to the side through the crude hole in your tights.

“Good.” He breathed, pushing you back slightly so that your ass was up against the sink as he pulled one of your legs up so that he had a grip on the bottom of your thigh and your legs spread wide open for him. Your mouth dropped open as your body quickly decided on the deeply aroused option, and you wrapped an arm around his shoulders as you stared at him.

“Can you go rough?” Your voice had suddenly lost its force, and you sounded like a little kid begging for ten extra minutes after bedtime as he lined the head of his cock up with your entrance with the hand that wasn’t holding your leg up. You were already dripping wet (who could blame you?), and you knew he could tell by the way his eyes darted up to yours with a small smirk on his face.

“Stop fuckin’ begging me for things.” He said after a second, his lips dropping down to your neck as he pushed into you. Every back-of-your-mind warning about how bad of an idea this was immediately dissipated at the feeling of his cock sliding fully into you, a sensation that made you gasp out at the same time that he let out a little groan right in your ear. If you had been fucked before, you definitely were now (no pun intended).

“Fuck, baby–”

“Stop.” The moment that he stopped you from calling him baby, which was more of an accident and a reflex than an actual formed thought, would’ve been awkward at any other time, but you were too turned on and distracted by the feeling of him pulling out and then slamming back into you to care. “I’m not in the mood, Y/n.”

“Yeah? Then fuck me like it.” You were so clearly instigating as you mumbled into his ear, and you could tell that you hit him right where you were aiming for when his lips stilled on your neck and then his head pulled away from you. Then, in a moment that nothing was ever going to compare to for the rest of your life, he slapped you right across the face and then grabbed your jaw between his fingers while he continued to fuck you.

“Shut the fuck up.” He said through his teeth, a moment of something you didn’t see in him often taking over as the hand that had just made contact with your cheek moved to your throat instead. He didn’t grip tight, but he didn’t have to. Despite the fact that he’d literally just told you to shut the fuck up, you moaned loudly, one hand coming up to circle his wrist where his hand was at your throat. You couldn’t help yourself. You had no reserves when it came to erotic violence.

“PJ.” That definitely hadn’t been on purpose, and you almost blushed at how loudly his name had just fallen from your lips. At that moment he seemed to realize what he’d just done, and even though he didn’t stop thrusting his cock into you hard enough to guarantee that you were going to be extremely sore by the time you left the bathroom, he grimaced and took his hand off of your throat to brush his fingers across your probably-red cheek.

“You okay?” He mumbled, clearly not taking a good enough hint by the unbroken stream of gasps and whimpers that were coming out of your mouth as he continued to fuck you like his life depended on it. Every thrust of his hips seemed to hit you deeper and deeper, and it didn’t help that it felt like he was subconsciously pulling your leg up higher every few seconds to make sure that he had you as open as possible for the cock that was currently splitting you open.

“Again.” You begged, voice coming out strained and broken as you tried to form coherent sentences through the waves of pleasure that were making your heart race and your legs shake. No one knew how to fuck you like Johnny did. You had to shut your mind off when you started to wonder how many girls thought that same exact thing when he was fucking them. That was not a place you wanted to go when he was currently so intimately close to you. He let out a chuckle of disbelief.

“You’re fucking crazy.” He shook his head as he let you take his hand and bring it back to your throat from where it had been at your cheek. You couldn’t call him baby, but he could cradle your face like he did when you’d been deeply in love and having sex way nicer than what you were having now. Typical.

“Ple–” You had just been about to give up your pride and beg, when suddenly he cut your voice off by doing exactly what you’d asked, hitting you just as hard as he had before at the same time that the tip of his cock hit that sweet spot inside of you for the first time that night. If what the two of you were holed up in the bathroom doing together had been a secret before, it definitely wasn’t after that, because the sound that came out of your mouth was not one that could’ve been mistaken for anything other than proof that you were definitely getting the attitude fucked out of you. You secretly hoped his stupid girlfriend was in earshot.

“Good fucking girl. Show me how much you love taking cock.” Johnny crooned his words like it was the sweetest thing he’d ever said despite how filthy what he was saying really was. You were a little surprised, because you’d assumed that he was going to want you to be as quiet as possible, but with your orgasm getting closer and closer, you didn’t really stop and think long enough for you to actually care.

Despite how much control he’d been displaying so far, you could tell that Johnny’s resolve was starting to crack. He was fucking you so hard that your head and shoulders were hitting the cheap mirror/medicine cabinet behind you, which was making aloud slamming sound, and every break of his voice was villed with a grunt or a groan that got louder with each second that passed.

“Shit, PJ. I’m gonna cum. Fucking…keep going.” You moaned, the hand that was gripping his shoulder starting to dig your fingernails in a little deeper than what was probably comfortable for him as he picked up his pace up in lieu of what you had just said to him. This was what you loved. Ridiculously loud sex where everyone around you could probably easily figure out what you were doing while the two of you were so entrance with each other that neither one cared.

“You gonna cream on my cock? Mark what’s fucking yours?” God, he was just making it worse and worse. It’s like he wanted you to make you fall in love with him all over again…because you’d totally stopped doing that. You really hoped he didn’t notice the heart-eyes stare you were giving him. There was a thin sheen of sweat coating his forehead, and his eyes were slammed shut in pleasure, which was when he was at his hottest in your opinion.

I love you. I love you. I love you. You couldn’t help it. It was all you could do not to let those words make it past your lips as he hit that sweet spot once more, pushing you into spilling over the edge as you did exactly what he had just asked of you. You dropped your forehead to his shoulder as you cried out, your whole body jerking as your orgasm was pushed further by the fact that his thrusts didn’t cease their harsh pace.

“Fuck, sweetheart. This pussy was fucking made for me.” Johnny groaned, pulling your leg up just a little more than what you could handle in his fucked out haze. You gasped slightly, half because you were bordering on overstimulation and half because he had for sure just pulled multiple muscles in your leg. Suddenly, his eyes shot back open. “Damn it. We forgot a condom.”

Fuck. So much for Bam’s present.

“Pull out.” You panicked, hoping that he was actually listening to you and not just going into ‘fuck until I can’t anymore’ mode, which was a frequent habit of his. He managed to chuckle through the increasingly frequent moans making their way out of his mouth, an idea clearly forming on his face as he looked down between the two of you where his cock was still dragging in and out of you over and over again.

“Look.” He demanded, clearly requesting that you let your eyes drop down to where his were focused. You grimaced, because he didn’t always have the best ideas, but did as he asked, looking down where his hips were starting to stutter. Sometimes you were really shocked by how impressive his stamina was even after as many beers as he had gone through in such a short period of time. “M’ not gonna cum in you. Just gonna make sure you’re not fuckin’ anyone else tonight.”

“What the fuck does that m–” Before you could even fully get your sentence out, he let out a loud, stuttered groan, and then he was cumming directly onto your pussy, stroking himself through his orgasm as he took his turn to drop his head onto your shoulder. He was insane. Actually. Fucking. Insane. You just stared at him for a second, in shock that he had actually just done that. Johnny Knoxville, who had started the night out trying to get away from you so that he wouldn’t have to talk to you.

“Wish I had a camera.” He said breathlessly, loosening his harsh grip on your leg a little once he realized how high he’d been holding it, and in the weird position that he had been holding it in. If you hadn’t known fully well that the girl he had shown up with was probably actively looking for him by now, you would’ve immediately pushed him down to his knees and made him clean you up with his mouth. But, instead, you were forced to let him pull your underwear right back into place, watching as he pressed his palm directly into place to smooth the fabric in while he grinned like a fucking idiot.

“Come here.” If he was going to do that shit, you were getting payback before you made your exit from the bathroom that was starting to reek of sex. You didn’t know how he fell for it, but he did, immediately accepting your request and letting you wrap your arms around his waist. You began to press kisses to his neck, which earned you a lot of responsive gasps and shaky breathing as he was distracted by the fact that you were hitting all of his sweet spots. What he didn’t notice was that you were sucking the biggest, darkest hickeys you could possibly muster on every inch of his throat and jaw, leaving him looking like an overzealous teenager in their first real romance.

However, when you broke away from him and handed him his boxers, he happened to glance up at the mirror, and immediately went pale at the sight of his dark and purple-spotted neck.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” He deadpanned, a hand running over the expanse of his throat as he stared at his reflection with a look that had rivaled your own when you’d watched him cum on you only a couple minutes before. You weren’t much better off, with two decently-red handprints on your cheek and a couple of faint hickeys on your neck, but you still laughed at him.

“Payback’s a bitch, Knoxville.” You blew him a kiss over his shoulder as you pulled your dress back down, hoping that you looked at least half-presentable so that you didn’t have everyone eyeing you up suspiciously for the rest of the night. You really didn’t mind the post-fuck look, but you did mind the crude comments that came from space-invading men with a little too much booze in their system. It was a good thing you were starting to get a craving for a joint, because you knew Bam would go outside to smoke with you even if he didn’t want to hear about the sex you’d just been having. You looked back at Johnny once more as your hand made contact with the door handle. “Give your girlfriend a kiss for me. And tell me what she thinks of my decorations when you get the chance.”

You made sure to slip out of the bathroom before he could get a word in, because you knew that you had just royally pissed him off, only to run almost directly into the back of a loudly-shouting Bam Margera. He whipped around as soon as you made contact, evidently about to lay into the douche party-goer that had just spilled a little bit of his beer, only to have a look of concern flood his face instead when he got a good look at you.

“Did that motherfucker slap you?” His eyes immediately darted towards the door as his face changed like he was going to storm towards it, and you grabbed his arm before he could go rushing in there to berate a probably still-pantsless Johnny Knoxville inside.

“Consensual! Don’t worry!” You said with a playful grin, watching his face screw up in disgust as soon as the words were out of your mouth just like you thought it would. He looked you over, his eyes clearly catching the hickeys and the rips of your fishnets that were just visible below the hem of your dress with an extremely judgemental look on his face.

“You two sounded like you were fucking killing each other in there. Did you use all of those condoms?” You couldn’t tell if he sounded impressed or disgusted. Probably a little bit of both. Your playful grin turned into a sheepish one, and you made sure to take a step away from the rest of the people around you so that everyone else wasn’t getting more of an earful about what you had just been doing than they already had.

“Uh…actually none of them.” You admitted, wincing when you saw the look that quickly set on his face. You put your hands up in defense, mentally reminding yourself that you were blaming it on alcohol consumption and definitely not the fact that you might’ve been a little obsessed with the feeling of Johnny cumming in you. Bam certainly didn’t need to know that. “It was an accident! And he didn’t even really cum in me, anyway.”

“Dude. What the fuck is wrong with you guys?” Bam groaned, throwing a hand in the air like an exasperated parent of irresponsible teenagers. “I gave you condoms for a reason.”

“Did you know that he has a girlfriend?” You ignored his lecturing, making a face at how quickly alcohol pushed that admission right out of your mouth. Bam looked bewildered as he handed you a new beer.

“And you two…fucked?” Bam, of all people, was giving you a judgemental stare. You shrugged aggressively, popping your beer tap with one of the rings on your fingers and then taking a big swig.

“Don’t give me that look. Have you ever actually seen those two within five feet of each other?” You defended yourself, pulling a joint out of the pocket of your coat that he was still holding before motioning towards the side door that led outside.

“No, but…damn, dude. I didn’t know you could just openly admit that he’s cheating.” Bam muttered, opening the door for you and then sliding it closed behind himself once the two of you stepped outside.

“You’re making me feel guilty.” You complained as he handed you a lighter to spark up the joint that you had just put between your lips. Surprisingly, there was no one outside except for a couple who looked like there were a couple seconds from fucking in the pool, so the two of you just turned your backs and faced the other way for decency’s sake.

“Sorry, man. You two are just some weird-ass people.” He shook his head to himself, side-eyeing you like he hadn’t told you some seriously fucked-up shit that he’d done with and for significant others. Hypocrisy at its finest.

“Don’t care.” You took the first hit off the spliff, savoring the burn in your throat that cleared the fog out of your head a little bit of the mess that had been this night. “On the bright side, that was like, the best fucking sex ever.”

“I don’t understand how you like being hit. On purpose.” Bam judged, motioning to the handprints on your cheek before accepting the spliff when you handed it over. You wrinkled your nose at him, taking another sip of your beer and glancing through the window of the house to see if you could make out Johnny. You kind of wanted to see the aftermath of what his girlfriend seeing all the hickeys on his neck was going to be.

“Will you just let me exist? God. You don’t know what it’s like until you’ve done it, asshole.” You groaned, running a hand over your face and silently wishing that he wouldn’t take so long deepthroating your joint.

“I’ve been slapped by Knoxville like, a million times. Never made me jizz my pants.” Bam said crudely as he handed the joint back over, shrugging like it couldn’t have concerned him less.

“Well good for you. Can’t say the same.” You grinned at the disgusted look that quickly formed on his face at your words. Suddenly, as if the two of you had spoken it into existence, the side door slammed open, and then shut, and then you both turned and watched a suspiciously familiar blonde girl stomping her way across the lawn and then out of sight towards the side street behind the house.

“No fucking way that’s her.” Bam snickered, looking back towards you with a look of pure enjoyment on his face that rivaled your own as you both broke into a fit of laughter at the sight of Johnny’s girlfriend clearly running away from him. And then, just to make it ten times better, suddenly the side door was behind pulled open again, and then out came the man of the hour.

“Knoxville, you are one stupid fucker.” Bam whooped in Johnny’s direction, flipping him off while Johnny just, as always, grinned like an idiot. And, of course, things could never go well for you, because then Johnny was diverting off of his path to come straight in your direction.

“Why thank you.” He said, sounding completely good-natured despite the fact that his girlfriend had just vacated the party for reasons that everyone could easily guess. The hickeys on his neck had only deepened in color since you’d left him in the bathroom, and you could so clearly see that he didn’t care. He jutted his thumb back in the direction that his girlfriend had gone. “Probably fucked that up, though.”

“Can tell you’re really torn up about it.” You said dryly, taking a long hit in an attempt to keep yourself calm and collected. If only he could take things seriously for once in his life instead of turning everything into one big joke.

“Yeah, and I have you to thank for that, don’t I?” Suddenly he was way too up close and personal in your space, and then he was towering over you as he used his height as an advantage that he didn’t often take. “Don’t go switching up on me, now.”

“Okay. You should probably go chase after Melissa or Courtney, or whatever.” You pushed him back a little bit by his shoulders, consciously aware of the fact that Bam was watching every second of your interaction with an entertained grin on his face.

“Whaddya mean? I got the only girl I need right here.” It’s like he wanted to be punched. Or slapped, at the very least. And then, to add the sickly sweet cherry on top, he looked right at the dirty look on your face and then pressed a kiss to your lips. Right in front of Bam.

“PJ.” You snapped, giving him a warning look with your hand now permanently pushing him back by his shoulder. Deep down you knew that if Bam hadn’t been there, the two of you would’ve been making out by now, and you could tell that Johnny was thinking the same thing, but for the time being he just put up his hands in surrender.

“I’m going! I’m going.” And then he was walking off in the direction that his girlfriend had run off in, whistling to himself as he went. You slowly looked towards Bam, who was already staring at you, and jabbed a finger at him when he opened his mouth to speak.

“Don’t say anything. Not. A. Fucking. Word.”

[fairys-dream]

"They're given a 4 day special pass. And Creed has a plan on how to most efficiently spend it."

EVERYBODY WAKE UP CHAPTER 3 IS FINALLY OUT smut happens. emotions happen. things? happening.

i also slightly rewrote chapter 1 cuz i realized i got the interior of the truck wrong lol...its still mostly the same tho.

read it under the cut too if u want⤵️⤵️⤵️

A 4 day special pass.

And it was just gonna be Creed ‘n Logan.

North was off on a special mission, Fox was off doing God knows what, nobody gave a enough of a shit about Wraith to hangout with him, and Logan had this new thing goin’ on where he actually bothered to think about Creed's intentions instead of just jumpin’ straight to evil conclusions. 

He had 4 days... to make this guy fall head over heels in love with him.

Ideally. 

Should probably start with gettin’ him back as a friend first.

At least it was better than the regular 3 day pass. 4 days might actually give him a genuine bonafide chance at pulling this off. 

It’s now or fuckin’ never.

--------------------------------------

Logan could feel Creed was planning something. 

Sure, he was a bit clingy sometimes, but he didn’t usually hang around to this extent. 

As the 1st day of the break began, Logan went through his regular daily routine. He could sense Creed hovering in the background, just out of view, for everything he did. 

The 2nd day, Creed actually showed his face, occasionally helping with little things in Logan’s routine, like it was normal for him. 

3rd day was much of the same thing, Creed hanging around, except he was now blabbin’ on about anything and everything. A mix of bragging about old op missions and a seemingly endless amount of film trivia. Every so often, Logan would reply if he brought up something that interested him, but he mainly just listened. 

He didn't mind listening, though. 

He thought it'd be annoying, but this seemed sort of…familiar to him. 

That evening, Creed was out for a bit, so Logan had some time to himself. 

He spent it trying to peace together his emotions from the past couple ‘o days. The emotions he’d been reading from Creed, they felt new. But also felt oddly normal. Like a part of him recognized the way he was acting, and had just been blocked off till now.

Soon, Creed returned with a bottle of fairly expensive alcohol, and shared it with him in the kitchen. Not many words were exchanged between them, but that didn’t bother Logan in the slightest. It felt good not drinking alone for once. 

Come the 4th day, it felt like they'd always done this.

As it came to an end, Logan donned his leather jacket, one of the only things he owned to his name, and went out for his nightly smoke. Creed followed soon after. 

He invited to take him out to a nearby bar. And as tempting the idea was, since Stryker basically kept him locked up like a house cat, Logan declined. 

So, they trekked out deep into the woods that surrounded the base.

The 2 of them sat on the damp ground, passing a cigar back and forth. 

Logan wondered who’d been the last person he shared a cigar with, if he ever did. He got the notion something like this was a fairly rare situation for him.  

Even long after the cigar had been finished, they both stayed seated, and got to talking about each of their hypothetical fantasies regarding what they'd do after all this.

Logan didn’t remember much of where he came from, so he described where he would like to live. 

“A cabin, rustic and wooden, somewhere deep in the mountains of northern Canada.”

“Why Canada? ”

Logan shot him a look.

“Cuz I’m Canadian? ”

“Right, right, keep forgettin’ that. ‘Ya just don’t seem like the canuck type…why a borin’ ol’ cabin, then?”

“Dunno, just feels familiar. Saw a picture in a calendar once, and I guess somethin’ in my brain felt like it clicked.”

“Heh, they really fucked ya up, huh pal?”

Logan gave a hard punch to the other’s shoulder.

“Unf- hey, I’m just joshin’. Sounds nice. Like a sweet little fairytale.”

A fairytale…right. That’s all it was. 

Then, as Creed then started a long dramatic explanation about his own fantasies, some based on some crazy shit he claimed to have already done before, Logan felt his mood perk up again. 

He hadn't remembered the last time he felt like this. Feeling so calm and...comfortable. 

He'd never thought it were possible, but he’d found himself actually enjoying Creed's excessive company these last few days. 

There’d been a change in the other feral, one he hadn’t expected, he might even- 

Holy shit Creed was kissing him. 

And holy shit, Logan found himself kissing back.

He felt he didn't even need to think about it, letting himself be lifted into Creed's lap, straddling his legs, getting comfortable against him. 

Creed moved his head down to kiss and lick at his neck, sandpapery tongue lapping up the taste of his skin. 

Logan shrugged off his jacket, feeling Creed’s hands immediately descend onto his back, claws pricking through his shirt as he caressed him. The attention was exhilarating. Logan didn’t know what to do with his hands in return, so he opted to grip at the others shoulders as he got lost in Creed’s never slowing touches. 

--------------------------------------

Creed's plan had worked. 

Shockingly well. 

His plans were always pretty good, but it was still a bit of an adrenaline rush that Logan was actually going along with it.  

All it took was some researching and convincing the boss to put North out on a mission, and doing some slight threatening to Logan's fake girlfriend. She didn't even need that much talkin’ to, which honestly made him feel a little bad, knowing how Logan felt for her. 

Only a little. 

But then.... 

--------------------------------------

Wolverine's body was shaking. 

Badly. 

He didn't deserve this. He didn't understand. 

His mind went to Silver Fox. Her touches feeling forced, but Logan taking them anyway, just to have something . 

He tried to think of past lovers, but couldn't remember. He remembered touches, but no faces to go along with the feelings. Were they even real?  

Bottom line was, no one felt for him like this. So why should he trust that Creed was really feeling anything towards him?

Creed. 

He's making fun of him. He's toying with him. No, it's pity. 

"Logan, hey..." 

lying lying lying lying lying- 

"I can tell yer thinkin’ too hard about this." 

The touches stopped. Creed's voice felt far away. 

His instincts were screaming that there was something else he was doing. Something else he was planning. That he was manipulating him for some reason he hadn't come to realize yet. 

Guys like Creed were supposed to go for pretty girls; legs, body, and attitude. Hell, even his taste in men should have higher standards for someone with a pretty face like Creed’s. 

He wasn't supposed to like Logan. Not supposed to like a man like him. 

But it was hard for Logan to doubt what his senses were picking up. 

"Why? " 

His voice sounded so small he was almost convinced it was someone else's. 

Creed sighed, wrapping his large hands around Logan's shaking wrists, rubbing soft circles onto his palms with the pads of his thumbs. 

Creed's hands felt warm. 

And surprisingly soft. 

Why the hell is he doin’ this fer me…

Creed wasn't the best at words when it came to explaining his emotions, but he had to give it a shot. 

He couldn't keep assuming Logan knew what he was trying to say all the time. 

"Cuz I like you." 

Logan stared blankly at him. 

"A lot." 

The runts expression didn’t change. 

"C’mon, say somethin'?... please? " 

Logan stayed quiet. 

But then, he sniffed. 

Closer and closer, right up against Creed's neck, causing his breath to hitch at the feeling. 

Logan pulled back, with a soft look on his face as he looked into Creed's eyes. 

"You...actually like me." 

Creed chuckled.

"Dang runt, who hurt ‘ya?" 

"Dunno. Can't remember." 

"Yeah, well, it ain’t gonna be me, alright? I mean it. I'm full truthin’." 

Logan gave him a cocky look of disbelief. 

Creed gave him his usual toothy grin in return.

"Yeah, well, emotionally I won't hurt ya. An' I don't gotta hurt ya physically all the time, I got more skills t’ offer than that…”

The blonde leaned in close, speaking in a low seductive tone.

“Could even make ‘ya feel pretty good. Physically. If yer up for it." 

--------------------------------------

Logan found himself leaning back against a tree, pants pooled around his ankles

With Creed down on his knees in front of him. 

Creed was gently pressing his teeth down onto Logan's dick, giving little nips down its length, grinning ear to ear. 

"My dick ain't a chew toy, bub." 

Runt’s attitudes back. Good. Means he’s startin’ to calm down…

Creed removed his mouth, caressing his claws up and down the others length 

"Yeah, you like it though. Can feel yer dick throb whenever I..." 

He slowly grazed his teeth up from its base alllll the way to the tip, causing a full body shudder and drawn out groan from Logan, his hands gripping into the bark of the tree behind him. 

Creed finally seized his playing and eased Logan's cock into his mouth, the tip pushing down his throat as he effortlessly swallowed the whole thing. 

Logan breathed out a relieved moan. 

Damn, either he’s had tons of experience or this guy simply lacks a gag reflex…

Though, Logan didn’t have much of one himself either, so there’s a chance it had something to do with their mutation. 

Creed held it there...savoring it. The scent, the taste, the fact that it was Logan’s.

He then looked up at Logan, a wild look in his eyes. He took the other’s hand and placed it on the back of his head. 

Logan, immediately getting the idea, pulled Creed's head back a bit in order to make space as he began rocking his dick back ‘n forth into Creed's awaiting mouth. 

Creed relaxed as he let Logan take control. 

He loved it when Logan took control. Only from him. 

Only ever from him. 

Clawed fingers groped and kneaded Logan's ass, the slight pain from their sharpness sending pleasurable tingles up his spine. 

Creed's tongue swirled along with the thrusts. 

God, that tongue is somethin’ else…how the hell is he doin’ that? 

The blonde stared up at Logan, gaze never faltering, unable to look away from the reactions he was managing to pull from him.  

He wanted to memorize every one of these pleasure filled expressions, every small twitch of his face. If they ever tried that memory erasing shit on him, he'd kill them. 

No way in hell am I gonna lose this. Not again.  

Logan's panting and thrusts sped up, now desperately jack hammering into Creed's throat. 

A mix of drool and precum dripped down Creed’s chin as he continued to take it.

"nn... nggh.... fuck .... Creed .....grhh...ungh..." 

The noises and growls Logan was making, overshadowing the sloppy obscene sounds of Creed's mouth getting railed, was like a sweet melody to Creed’s ears. He'd record a tape copy if he could. Maybe he would someday, if he got the chance. Logan's normal voice already made him feel all kinds of mushy things, but hearing him like this , hearing him let into the side of himself he tries so damn hard to keep locked up, it made Creed’s heart melt like butter.

"nghFUCK fuck fuck fuck.... please ...grrh CREED- more more- "

And made his dick hard as a rock. 

Damn, it was so hard it startin’ to hurt . 

Part of him wanted to see if he could climax just from the feeling of Logan's dick down his throat. 

Yeah, a weaker man would be jacking off… and boy howdy was he the weakest man on the damn planet. 

He'd prove that sappy stuff later, but right now he couldn't stop himself from pulling his neglected cock free. 

The sight of Creed stroking himself with such ferocity, being so genuinely aroused by him, for him, pushed Logan to the edge. 

Logan slammed himself down deep with a growling shout , gripping Creed’s hair and smothering his face against groin, which brought out a low groan from the other feral. He rode out the rest of his orgasm in close quick thrusts, gradually slowing down, as Creed’s hand sped up. 

Creed's mouth slid to the tip of Logan's dick, panting heavily and lapping up the remaining drops of cum. 

“F-UCK! ”

He let out a loud roar of a moan as he came. 

“hah… Logan ….”

Their heavy breathing sounded harmonically together, both in a dreamy post orgasm haze. 

Suddenly, Creed pulled Logan down, Logan dropping down fairly easily due to his legs feeling like pure jelly, and into his lap. Creed wrapped his large arms around him and nuzzled his face into Logan’s.

Then flopped them both down onto the ground with a thwump , pulling Logan close against him. 

With his ear against Creed's chest, Logan could hear, and feel, a low rumbling... 

Creed was purring. 

Logan felt like purring himself, if he could. 

Could he? 

He tried replicating the sound- 

Nope. 

Hm. That weirdly disappointed him. 

Meanwhile, Creed was thinkin’ about what to do next. 

He'd just confessed his feelings and sucked him off, now what? Ask for his hand in marriage? 

Nah, that'd be a dumb move to make so soon. Gotta keep goin’ with the small stuff. 

"Feelin’ better?" 

"This whole time you coulda been givin’ me mind blowing head instead of kickin' my ass?" 

"Shit, am I gonna have to give one of those up? Not gonna let me keep both, are ‘ya?" 

"Depends, how often wouldya be willin’ t’ suck me off?" 

"Oh, anytime, just gotta ask. I'm at yer beck ‘n call, babe." 

Logan laughed into his chest, Creed chuckling along with him.

‘S nice bein’ able to talk like this again…

Propping himself up on his arms, Logan looked down at Creed's content expression. 

"Lemme think about it, alright?" 

Those words made Creed's face immediately fade from joy to fear. 

Shit. I’m losin’ him. 

"Good thinkin’ or bad thinkin’?" 

"...regular thinkin’." 

Creeds hands shot up to grip Logan's shoulders 

"Woah-" 

"Logan. " 

Logan struggled against his hold, and Creed instinctually tightened his grip. 

"Why's it so hard fer you t’ like me?" 

"Creed-" 

"You used t’ fuckin’ like me, I KNOW ‘ya did." 

Logan gave up on struggling, his shoulders sagging. 

"Creed..." 

"What the fuck do I have to do, Logan? What the FUCK do you want me t’ DO ?" 

Logan let out an exhausted sigh. 

"I do like ‘ya." 

Creed stared at him, breathing hard. In his panicked state, he didn't really seem the most convinced.

"Look, there's somethin’ there, I’m just…I just ain’t...I ain’t sure-" 

"God, ‘ya ain’t sure- " 

"I ain't sure how to handle this yet! I don't know what I'm supposed t’ be doin’ either, alright?! This constant mind wiping is takin’ a bit of a big toll on my emotions, bub. Fer Christs sake , I don't know what I’m feelin’ half the time, and other times I know I should be feelin’ somethin but I ain’t. I don't even know if I wanna stay here or not." 

He looked out at the woods surrounding them 

"But it ain't like I got much of a choice, do I…" 

Creed didn't know how to convince him to stay. 

Didn't have the slightest clue on knowin’ where to even start.  

But those words made him realize that if he wanted Logan to stay with him, then… Logan couldn't stay here. 

Which meant they both couldn't stay here. 

And just the thought of leaving his safety net terrified Creed. 

Here, he could kill without consequence, show the animal without havin’ to worry, be free to let out all that constant never ending pent up anger and rage. 

This is what he was good at. 

What he was best at. 

He'd been deemed a failure at everything else…he was safe to exist here. 

He'd spent his whole life convinced that if he wasn't hurtin’ others, others would be free to hurt him. He wasn't safe out in the normal world. They were out for him even if he was doin’ nothin’.  

Though maybe...if he had Logan around...Logan could be a safety net too. 

He'd still be a freak, 

But at least I'd be a freak with a friend. 

He knew what he had to do. 

But he was just gonna hold him for a bit longer. 

Creed wrapped his arms around Logan, burying his face into the other's neck. 

Just a little longer.... 

God, he was so freakin’ scared. 

Creed’s breathing picked up. 

He knew Logan could easily sense his fear...and for once, part of him felt good about him knowing. 

Creed let out a shaky sigh, leaning in close to Logan’s ear to whisper–-

"...’m gonna get ya outta here." 

Even outside the base, he couldn't be too careful about someone eavesdropping. Logan picked up on this, whispering back—

" Just me?" 

"Both ‘o us. Hell, I can leave anytime I want, they don't suspect a damn thing from me. But I’m already riskin’ a whole lot gettin’ close to ‘ya again, an’ they're probably gonna be tight on yer ass as soon as this breaks over an’ done with." 

"So…yer sayin’ it's now or never." 

Creed loosened his embrace to comb a hand through Logan's hair. 

"Yup, pretty much." 

Logan breathed out a mix between a sigh and a laugh, letting himself relax again, slightly, in Creed's hold, trying to process the urgency of just what they were about to do.

Just a little longer…they could have some peace for just a little longer. 

But, if they got lucky, they could get that peace for a lot longer. 

[thistaleisabloodyone]

Out of pure curiosity and hypothetically speaking, who from The Rampage have a chance of joining Exile if they are adding new members?

My picks are Shogo and Riku. Shogo just has an ernest and sincere way of dancing and Riku can sing and dance which makes him versitile as a dancer or singer.

This one is difficult 😂 I can't give you much more than Vibes:tm: as justification for most of them, sorry, anon!

Quick overview: Likiya, no; Zin, no; Riku, yes; Kenta, maybe; Rui, maybe; YamaSho, maybe; Kazuma, no; Hokuto, no; Shogo, yes; Shohei, maybe; Itsuki, no; Kaisei, yes; Makoto, no; Ryu, no; Takahide, no; Takuma, no.

(bolded names means I have thoughts placed below)

Riku - I am hardcore biased for my boy. It's a lot of debate on my end, but I'm landing on yes. He could either slip into the same position Shokichi and Nesmith currently hold, as a Vocalist/Performer, or I think he could maybe be a full Vocalist like Takahiro or Atsushi. At this point, I'd think any vocalist they pick up would need to be able to sing the songs at the current arrangements and I think Riku's voice is close enough to what they currently have he might be able to do it. He also has a year of backup dancer experience - I don't think they'd pick him up as exclusively a performer, but performer/vocalist maybe.

Kenta has the stage presence, I'd argue, to go to Exile. He's very eye catching on stage, super fun to watch. For him, my thoughts are Kenta very much dances to beat of his own drum, he often does his own little - additions or flourishes to the choreography, I am wondering if that wouldn't make him stand out too much? So he's a maybe.

Shogo, I do agree, has a good chance. He's fun to watch on stage and he always catches my eye, I love how intense he is when he performs. He's also got the technical skill. And I'm not gonna say backstage politics would play a huge part in it, but I don't think it's gonna hurt. He was a backup dancer for years before RMPG and he's close enough with Bobby (one of the original founders of the original J Soul Brothers with Hiro) that the man gave him the 1992 hat he wears all the time. The hat is embroidered with JSB on the side, there are exactly two of those hats in Japan - one is now in Shogo's possession and the other belongs to Exile's founder and LDH's current CEO, Hiro. Again, not saying backstage politics would matter a lot, but his position there probably wouldn't hurt.

Back in 2014, Kaisei, Rui and Shohei almost made it into Exile - they were chosen as finalists, even though they weren't chosen ultimately. That's why Shohei and Rui are both listed as maybes, they've already almost done it.

But of those three, I feel like Kaisei has the best chance. He got that far at sixteen, he's the youngest of the Exile audition finalists. He's often put at the center of formations in RMPG and he had the opening at the filmed Go on the Rampage concert and he had the jazz dance solo at the same concert - they have a lot of faith in him and they've had a lot of faith in him for a long time. So I will argue for Kaisei as an option.

I don't have a justification for YamaSho's maybe beyond - I feel like he has a chance. Not as solid of a chance as, like, Kaisei and Shogo, but I feel like he has a chance. He's a maybe with Rui, Shohei and Kenta.

[thegirlwhowrites642]

For me, the biggest "let's make Harry & Hermione's relationship come off as better while undermining his friendship with Ron & beige-dishragificating his future wife" moment the films ruined for me was the scene where Harry says his goodbye to Ron & Hermione. I don't blame the actors, but the Fing script. How wood Hermione know Harry's a horcrux? Y did they make Ron "HE BEAT U!" Weasley awkwardly stand there without showing a reaction? Where was the fact that Harry INEXPLICABLY thot of Ginny?!!

Hahahaha. Do you know what the funny thing is? This was just one of the millions of scenes whose general concept they took from the books but then made everything go in the exact opposite direction. The excuse that the movies are a summary doesn't count anymore there.

In the book, Harry doesn't even see anyone he cares about but Ginny (sorry Nev, it is what it is) and he's not able to say goodbye because otherwise, he would never be able to do what he has to do. It's a gut-wrenching moment. The whole sequence from when Harry understands that he has to die to when he dies is my favorite one of the saga and in the movie they completely destroy it. And don't even get me started on the erasure of Harry's last thought, completely ruining the allegory of his two families, the past and the future.

But also the idea that book!Ron and book!Hermione would let Harry go is so absurd. Ron would've taken Harry and locked him in a room and Hermione would have gone crazy and rushed to the library frantically claiming that there needed to be another solution.

The only person that I could ever maybe hypothetically consider having the emotional strenght to let Harry go would be Ginny. But Harry thought he was going to die and he would have never let Ginny live with the fact that she didn't stop him. It's also true that Harry wouldn't have been able to go anyway, so problem solved.

Movie!Ron standing there and not even hugging Harry was so ridiculous and can I also say cringe? The movies from the fourth one on are a cringe-fest, honestly.

One last thing about Ginny being Harry's last thought is that it is only one of the many scenes between them that is incredibly cinematic in the books, scenes that were all erased when they made the actual movies. We have Ginny running after the train and Harry looking at her, their looks at each other when they share a joke would have worked so well on screen, the first kiss, the break-up scene, and the kiss in Ginny's room where they could've done so many interesting things with the light from her window...

The last thought would have even worked referencing that shitty first kiss from the HBP movie. When Voldermort throws the Avada Kedavra, you make Harry close his eyes, suspension of reality, the scene slows down, there's Ginny who takes a step towards Harry and kisses him, Harry opens his eyes, Ginny is not there instead the scene returns to the normal pace and the curse hits Harry. All of this done with the appropriate camera angles obviously.

And you know, as much as I'll be eternally angry at Kloves, the worst one will always be JKR never saying anything bad about the movies just because it was economically convenient for her. She knows they suck, everybody knows that. They are bad movies even if you haven't read the books (besides the first two). There's even an interview with Radcliffe where they basically make fun of the fans who didn't like the differences with the books pretending that people's issue was that there wasn't every single scene from the books. Pathetic.

[chirpsythismorning]

I feel like I missed something from today - was there news released that made everyone think a 2025 release date is more likely?

@kittykat940 posted this. It's from a casting call for extras in Atlanta. This is official as they do drop publicly right around the time filming starts bc they need background extras in the area to film on a moments notice. They are always public, though really hard to find. You have to have the right links to get to them bc there are scams out there and they only want people that are actually genuinely inquiring to find them for major productions like this.

Filming for s5 from June 2023-June 2024 (exactly 1 year), means that post-production wont officially be in swing until July 2024. While they will definitely be trying to get a good chunk of post-production done while filming s5 (esp time consuming VFX), they still need to be able to mostly focus on filming while they are literally filming. They also might even be writing parts of the last episodes while just starting to film the first episodes. It's a lot!

The bulk of editing and quality control-esque final touches is saved for the long phase afterwards, when they can actually focus on post-production full-time. Also note, post-production includes making trailers and planning for promotion which is directly tied to the Duffers vision... meaning it requires more than just an intern behind the official ST instagram. They have to dedicate time to not just editing, but also focusing on critical reception and how they can plan to make their decisions around that as well. A lot of thought goes into all of this.

Post-production, completely separate from filming will probably take at least 7 months, though it could be more. Working conditions and quality are also big factors (arguably the biggest). And then there's Netflix who probably has somewhat of a say, since they are always planning their releases around each other. Netflix is probably willing to wait as long as the Duffers want as well bc they need to keep the hype of this show as long as they can. Which means if the Duffers were hypothetically negotiating for a little bit more time, I don't really think Netflix would put up much of a fight.

Overall they are giving themselves a lot of time early on with this approach, so that is a good sign they are trying to be ahead of the curve, at least right now I feel that way. And I do imagine they will have the ability to get a lot of post-production done for early s5 as swiftly as they can. But I don't think they'll want to rush too much, IF they don't have to.

Like best case scenario within this scenario, I think they could have a 2024 release, but it would have to be two volumes with the first in 24' an the second in 25', so that they still have time to continue post-production for vol 2, similar to s4 while vol 1 was premiering. Otherwise 2 volumes isn't technically confirmed for s5, so I would say best case scenario separate from that, they manage to finish 90ish% of post-production by Jan 2025 (7 months) and they will have to rush with like the last 10ish% bc they're human.

And I think that could land them on a March release comfortably, assuming everything goes as planned.

I don't think Summer 2025 is necessary with how much time they're giving themselves overall, but it would be naive to say that unforeseen circumstances couldn't make that a reality. I'm personally choosing to hope early 2025.

[hael987]

Although i think the kind of people who sent Kit those messages are the least likely to care about the damage they cause. I do think it is important to inform them that their impact is not only offensive but it can create a very toxic environment. I also wonder why some celebs don't take a long hiatus from their public socials? They can not control the hateful things that people do, not many can, but they can certainly limit their interactions with randoms online, no?

Hi Anon,

I agree — those that spearheaded the harassment probably don’t even care about they damage they caused. However, hopefully the sheep, the followers, those that jumped on the bandwagon or those that were temporarily swayed by the simplistic ideas behind it who believed what they were doing was for the greater good, may have had their eyes opened and understand the damage they caused and contributed to. If just a few realise what they’ve done wrong, maybe when it happens again (to anybody) there’ll be less people. Sadly, I think that’s the best we can ask for right now.

I 100% agree sometimes it’s important and also the correct method to remove yourself from bad situations. In theory it’s a really good solution — I really wish such a simple solution of “just don’t go online” existed — but unfortunately it’s not that simple in practice. I believe they don’t do it because it simply won’t work. Leaving may be a great temporary solution for your emotional well-being but the issues never get resolved, it still looms in the background.

Specifically for Kit’s situation:

I believe the harassers weren’t going to stop until they got their answers. He could have disappeared from social media but the harassment might not have stopped. Instead, there could be the potential that the harassment would have escalated. Unable to harass him personally online they could have turned to methods such as hurtful “”fan mail”” or harassing answers out of other cast mates, friends or relatives. More drastically, they could have resorted to finding him in person or, if he secured another acting project, shown up at the film site. Imagine he bumped into one on the street while he was out, they’d try getting their answers there instead. He’d always have to worry.

I know it’s all hypothetical, but I think they’re likely possibilities that would have had to have been considered.

Admittedly yes, maybe the harassers would have lost interest. But much like the common advice “when someone bullies you they’re trying to get a rise out of you, so just don’t react” it’s unhelpful and more often than not it’s not even true - they’ll continue to bully you. Or they’ll leave you alone for a while but as soon as you cross their sight again they’ll pick up right where they left off. So after coming back from a long hiatus maybe the harassment would just start all over again, then what would the sacrifice have been for?

More widely though:

If leaving social media became the prevalent go-to reaction/response to harassment I feel like it could lead to very bad things. For example, someone online dislikes a certain celebrity or public figure on social media, then all they would have to do would be to intentionally start a harassment campaign and *poof* they’re gone. With the rise of the far-right on most social media platforms this would be very very bad. If taken far enough whole platforms could end up being overtaken by the far right and good voices suppressed. I feel like that’d have very negative consequences without ever tackling the proper issue.

Further, in Kit’s situation it wasn’t just solely about the emotional impact of the harassment either. If people kept harassing him and he did choose to disappear from the public eye (i.e social media) then he could probably kiss goodbye to any future acting projects. He wouldn’t be able to engage or promote with fans on public socials like most cast are now required to do. He’d be followed by unresolved, uncontrollable ““controversy””. Future casting may invite the same trouble to a new project - who would risk it? Add it all up and he’d no longer be deemed a valid, good, profitable or marketable choice.

Taking a long hiatus from public socials is a valid short term solution and would definitely reduce their direct interactions with the randos and harassment online but in my opinion it also doesn’t solve anything long term. I don’t know.

I’m not saying you’re wrong and I’m not saying I’m right. It’s a really complex situation. I simply don’t know. Is there even a right answer/solution to online harassment like this? I doubt it as things currently stand.

Sorry this ended up way longer than I expected or intended but it all seemed too relevant to cut down.

[starblue2406]

Now with the Disney live action boom which are announced every three days , the Harry Potter remake and the FNAF film that already has almost confirmed .Lately I've thought "If a love actions of my fic were made, what would be the cast of actors?".

I've been thinking about this during the showers! So here I leave my cast list of my imaginary live action cast of my fanfic XD: love actions cringe was made from my fic XD:

Attention: I don't know many actors, I prefer to see things in animated format, so forgive me if many appear in the same work or are very generic and predictable xd

Andrew Garfield: Damos Gaspar.

I know Andrew doesn't stick around to make the canonical Damos, but for my fic's version I think it's fine, after all in my fic he's a 24 year old guy and the way I draw him I try to favor that point of my fic.

I think Andrew without any problem can play the young priest who at the beginning is an optimistic young man with his destiny and little by little he discovers that the reality that he has believed all his life is more complicated than it seemed, besides that despite being a good guy he has his shades of gray.

I also like to imagine the interpretation he would make in the funny moments with Pili and the tense moments that will be quite drastic, if I can call them that.

Chris Evans: Arceus

As I said, I don't know much about actors, but in the hypothetical case that this live action had been done about 5 years ago, I would have chosen this guy for Arceus. Now not so much or maybe yes?... It's complicated, it's that Chris already notices the change weather after end game xd

But let's imagine that we have in front of Chris from about 5 years ago, so without a doubt he has the role for our llama perfectionist.

Ryan Gosling: Argique

The same as Chris, but if I give him a chance, he currently doesn't look so bad to try the kaloshiny.

Can you imagine Ryan playing Argique eating? It would be historic because of how funny it would be.

Tom Hiddleston: Marcus Koroterna

This would undoubtedly be our beloved emperor. With the great interpretation of him to Loki,he already has experience with characters who are charismatic villains. Also, just look at it! The wardrobe would be perfect! Not even Marcus's weird hairstyle could ruin that!

Jenn Murray: Acomfire

The same as with Tom Hiddleston. The character is made for her!I was literally based on Gerda from the movie Maleficent 2, for its great design and redesign. So I think she is the one, in addition to her, her fixed and penetrating gaze will transmit to the viewer that it's not a good idea to mess with the Emperor, because he has someone dangerous behind him.

Emma Watson:Olga Koroterna (young age), Ava Gaspar or Martha

Any of those three would suit you.

She could play Olga when flashbacks are shown of her when she was a young princess, with big dreams and determination to be a good girl.empress for her people.

Also the great Ava Gaspar, that restless woman who sought more land than the horizon showed her with great kindness and love towards her friends and loved ones, from the only Pokémon trainers of the dynasty and the great guide of our little Heatran.Can you imagine Emma in Ava's uniform? She would look amazing!!!

A character like Martha would also suit her well, after seeing her participation in the Beauty and the Beast live action and now that I have accommodated Martha's presence and role in the story, Martha would definitely suit her well! Now with Martha's new changes, they make her a candidate for the honor of being played by Emma. Pretty good for a character I owe a lot xD

Elizabeth Debicki: Olga Koroterna

What better role of an empress for someone who played the queen of the people?That's how it is! I speak of Elizabeth Debicki,who previously performed for the dearest Princess Diana. I haven't seen ALL of The crown, but for me she is the one to play the dearest Olga/mother-in-law of my friend Elgu xD.Also just watch it here! Olga's short hair and her crown would suit her perfectly!

In addition, she undoubtedly knows how to capture the pain and suffering of a woman in overwhelming situations that little by little destroy her.

Sarah Jeffery: Kenia Gaspar (young age)

I like the interpretation of this actress, her experience with the character of Audrey in descendants, I think it would help her with the interpretation of Kenya in flashbacks, since let's say that she was...A difficult girl to deal with, especially with Olga... Acomfire already talked a little about it and little by little I leave crumbs of it.

Michelle pfeiffer: Kenia Gaspar

Currently Kenya has not gone beyond mentions, technically we know nothing about her other than some things she has been involved in.I don't want to make spoilers, but if this actress is here it is because there is a specific role that makes me take her as an immediate candidate, it is a role of a character from a movie mentioned in this post. This character will be relevant later on, whether it is just a cameo, reference, flashback or full appearance is left to your speculation.

Hunter Doohan: Stephen Koroterna

He has that air of naive, of a good boy, different and familiar with loved ones. The perfect emperor.

Tom Holland: Pablo Gaspar (young age)

Just look at it! He is without a doubt Mew's apprentice, that innocence and hope for what the future holds fits perfectly in this actor I see this guy using the power to speak to the hearts of Pokémon and with a suitcase in hand to leave his toxic family and go see what fate has in store for him.I see the story of Pablo interpreted by Tom and without a doubt I believe that he is the chosen one of Mew.

Robert Jack:Pablo Gaspar

After watching his great performance in the series "the last czars", I realize that he is a very good candidate for the first Gaspar of the dynasty.A nice guy, but with problems when it comes to talking about his performance and the acts he did while holding the office that God gave them.

No doubt he is already an expert for that character archetype.

Luise Wolfram: Alix Koroterna

He already has experience with Alix, I can only say that xD

Angelique Boyer: Lesly

Oh yes, the great traitor of the archestian religion. The woman who made the pure angel of Arceus fall into pain, anger, disobedience and imperfection for the sake of jewels and a new status. The woman who was once called a heroine, the one who fooled everyone and the girl who is blamed for Arceus being so disappointed with the human race.

No doubt Angelique Boyer is the one for Lesly, she already has experience with sexy bad girls. Just tell you that she acted to be Teresa in the telenovela of the same name(jewel of Mexican telenovelas). Without a doubt I think she is the best of all this cast.

And that's my great cast! There are still many characters missing but I think those are the ones worth talking about for now, also as I said I hardly know any actors so it makes it much more complicated the situation xD.

And you? What do you think of this cast that occurred to me in each shower? Any new option or suggestion? Do you have your imaginary cast for your own story? Show me what's on your mind!

[bedlamsbard]

read a bunch of Endgame criticism and now I just feel feral, but not in the way where it actually helps with my IW/Endgame AU

look, since I came back to marvel last year Endgame is arguably the most influential of the films in terms of what it made me write (Yonder/Horizon/Reaches, Morning), but that’s mostly because it’s the full “makes no damn sense, compels me though” of a movie where it’s a very specific kind of 5d chess where I’m like “I can work with this.”

for Yonderverse I made a lot of assumptions rolling it back to the original IW AU (Loki lives, Thor dies) about why things go differently in this ‘verse than in canon, because in the back of my head at all times I’m aware that the canon ‘verse still played out on a different branch of the Cosmos Tree (in a different timeline if, as Loki would say, we’re going to be pedestrian about it), so the reasons things happen differently have to somehow go back to that original divergence point. well, the Snap’s random, right? well, Loki surviving and Thor (not actually dying and) getting snapped is going to have knock-on randomization effects (also, like, because Loki and Thor have different fighting styles there were probably different casualty rates in Wakanda on both Thanos’s side and Earth’s side). because of that, Yelena doesn’t get snapped, but the other two Widows there do. Loki has a completely different fight with the UN over the founding of New Asgard than Thor did in the main timeline, which is why it doesn’t look anything like main timeline New Asgard; because it’s Loki instead of Thor, Steve, Nat, and Bruce are all there rather than staying in the U.S. the way they presumably did in canon.  I don’t think the whole plot of Horizon happened in canon, because unless proven otherwise, I’m going to assume the main bad guys in Horizon got snapped in the main timeline but didn’t in this one, which means that Yonderverse Steve had a very different five years than main timeline Steve (as did, like, everyone else, but specifically Steve).

and that’s partially because the hypothetical sequel to Yonder actually does involve the main timeline Endgame characters (or some of them, anyway), but also because I like being able to logic stuff out for reasons other than “I hated thing and I wanted it to not happen.” like, that’s a totally valid way to approach fanworks, but not enough for my brain specifically because I focus a lot on cause-and-effect.

(I came very close to having what would end up being Reaches!Thor have TVA!Loki’s role in the show and decided against it, partially because the way I work TVA!Loki is out there already and that may be why this ‘verse exists at all, and I didn’t want to hobble myself by having a separate TVA. so like. it’s not come up and it may never come up, but it’s in the back of my head.)  (even though as you may or may not be aware I actually...really dislike...the way that the MCU has done the multiverse. single point divergence or gtfo, but you know, like, whatever.)

[toomanyf4ndoms7]

My conversations with @twobellsilence have given me an idea.

A way to explore these characters beyond just the story.

There are two ideas we came up with.

A. Individual character stories like SFV where it outlines where the character will be during the events of the story.

B. Make the individual character training more like Konquest from DA where you get lore snippets.

If they were to choose any, it’d probably be the second option because that costs less resources.

So, what would this hypothetical training mode look like? Imagine like an updated version of Konquest. But instead of explaining the origins of the characters fighting styles and weapons, it’s used for lore. This can be used to great effect on new characters. Maybe there would be a visual novel esque style instead of just a monk on a journey.

For example, let’s assume this is a game where the other Kombat kids appear instead of being shafted-

There is an ancient technique in the Cage lineage. A powerful technique to bring any opponent to their knees. Perform the ball buster on your father three times. You don’t need a sister anyway.

Cassie enjoyed watching her dad’s films as a kid. She still does, but for different reasons. He promised to teach her a few moves from his latest film. Make him proud.

Bi-Han may have not been the kindest man, even to his allies. But Kuai appreciated the little tutelage he gave. Perform the ice ball.

Despite the alliance between the Lin Kuei and Shirai Ryu, some habits die hard. Spar with Hanzo, for old times sake.

Erron Black is a skilled mercenary and an even better shot with a gun. This Shang Tsung fellow wants a job done. Tell the old man you don’t take a job for free.

Training with master Bo’ Rai Cho was certainly a difficult experience. Jin’s streetwise past gave him unique Kombat experience. Put the drunken master on his ass.

Frost’s cybernetics maybe be less armoured than Sektor’s, but they outclass him in many ways. Show him his obsolescence!

The saurian people can possess mainly reptilian traits. Reptile specialises in invisibility. Perform invisibility, then this combo on Johnny Cage.

While he is not at the level of his father, Takeda’s latent telekinesis is nothing to scoff at. Demonstrate to Master Hanzo.

Even without blood magic, Skarlet’s skill with a dagger is impressive. Perform her basic attacks on the Tarkatan general.

Mileena’s penchant for sai is a holdover from Kitana’s memories. However, Mileena uses them to a far more vicious degree than her “sister.” Use this failed experiment as a target. (The experiment is Meat.)

And instead of a fight against a doppelgänger of the character, it’s an important match up in the characters story. EG. Frost versus Sub-Zero.

The game could change the costumes to further differentiate the points in characters lives. I think it’d be neat.

Maybe you get special “origin” skins for completing a character. Like Cassie’s MKX Comic appearance or Mileena wrapped in white bandages or wearing rags as a sort of “test” attire.

There would be a reward for completing all characters, I’m not sure what, but it wouldn’t be just a costume like the MK9 challenge tower. That flesh pits costume does not seem worth all that trouble.

And, that’s all I have for this idea. Hope you enjoyed, maybe one day we’ll get something like this.

Oh, who am I kidding?

[the-shinysnorlax]

The Green Lantern cycle: How DC uses and mischaracterizes their “forgotten” characters

As of me writing this, I just finished Green Lantern: First Flight, and it had me thinking: Just how many adaptations of different GL stories are there? (No, Justice League doesn’t count)

The answer? Not a lot. At least, not a lot of good ones.

Sure, you have First Flight, which is a pretty decent film. And you have the animated series, objectively considered one of the best adaptations of the GL comics to exist. And if you are a “hardcore” GL fan you might even remember Emerald Knights was a movie too.

But the animated series was canceled before it got any real potential, first flight got forgotten to time, and emerald knights is really just a bunch of shorts complied into a movie. And these were all released 10-15 years ago. What have we gotten since?

Well there’s that disaster that is the live action movie with that guy from Deadpool (And the equally as awful theme park ride that came with it which squandered the name “First Flight” for the GL franchise) and there’s Beware my power which pisses me off for reasons that I won’t talk about for this essay (Wasted potential of making a proper adaptation of Emerald Twilight)

And that’s about it really. DC has been hesitant to adapt any GL comics into movies/shows outside of the same old Hal origin rewritten for the millionth time and really just brings them out to put them as a JL member.

And that got me thinking. DC has done this before. Not just with Hal and his buddies either. The JSA, the aquafam, Arrowfam, young Justice and much more have been brought back only to be put back in the void and largely forgotten outside of their fanbase. Thus making me to dub this

The Green Lantern Cycle

It consists of these steps. I’ll be using its namesake as an example, notably Kyle Rayner (Because hes my favorite GLC member I’m sorry I have a bias)

1. A comic run or a hero gets a sudden resurgence

This could be more people reading the comics, or nostalgia catching up to the older audience and remembering how good it was to read the comic back then. More people are talking about it, and it gets popular again.

So hypothetically let’s say that Kyle’s original 90s run just. Suddenly gets popular again. More people are talking about it outside of his fans in their little circle, it blows up, more people read it, talk about it, all that.

It’s also during this part of the cycle DC starts to take notice and do minor things like, say, acknowledge him in a social media post, or put him in a comic issue in a major role, or even reprint his comic run again. This satisfies people, but it’s only a temporary thing. That’s where we move onto step 2

2. DC decides to make a movie/comic run of character

When I say movie, I mean their animated movies that take less time to produce, not a blockbuster theater movie.

So now that the character is mainstream (At least in comic fandom sense) DC announces they’ll do a comic run or in the very rare sense, a whole movie about them! Of course fans get excited because they’re getting a resurgence, and they’ll hype this up to no end.

DC being the bastards they are, don’t market this at all but the fans sure do. As the release date inches closer and more is being released, the more fans get excited. And then the big day comes and the comic/movie is out! And that leads us to step 3

3. The movie/comic is plagued with mischaracterization and bad writing.

Sometimes we can see the bad writing show as the first previews are out. Sometimes it’s not obvious until it’s out. But regardless, with DC being well. DC. It releases, it’s bad. The fans are disappointed.

The 2 main places we’ve seen this is with YJ2019 and Tim Drakes newest run. Both hyped up by fans only to crash and fall and ultimately getting cancelled.

It also happened to the injustice movie from 2021 as well.

Let’s go back to that Kyle example. Hypothetically, DC released a movie about Zero Hour or Kyle’s first few issues. Of course fans will be excited (Myself included) and then when it releases, it’s a hot mess.

Maybe they just completely disregard Emerald Twlight. Maybe they butcher Kyle’s origin hard. Maybe they mischaracterize him entirely. Regardless, the movie is bad.

But doesn’t sway fans that much. Sure, the hype has probably died down, but they’re still going to have loyal fans who can’t wait for the next time the character will appear.

But DC doesnt get the memo

4. DC assumes fans don’t care for the character anymore, and puts them back in the void

Instead of realizing they are in the wrong, DC instead thinks the fans just. Don’t care for the character. It wasn’t bad because DC fucked it up, it was bad because the fans just wearnt ready!

So what do they do? Well, DC puts them back in the void for multiple years and only brings them out for cameos and minor roles.

And rinse and repeat. Over and over and OVER again.

Of course, this green lantern cycle doesn’t happen to everyone. Kon-El is doing fairly well right now. Dick Grayson has gotten a massive resurgence (For better or worse). The Arrowfam is doing decent enough in the GA series.

But that’s very few and far between.

For the most part, any character that isn’t associated with the big 3 or was made in the 90s just keep falling into this cycle and rarely ever escape it.

And it sucks for the fans who just want more good content of the character. They just want to see the character break this cycle and quit being stuck in this purgatory till the end of DC itself.