#cowboys are hot in any galaxy

[livelaughlovesubs]

Hi! Sorry i wasn't specific!

The the virus/usb/ software one with retractable cock/pussy boothil like omg... Like there's a lot of things you can do with this promt nini... I'm going feral like i have a lot of ideas

Please tell me your ideas <33 I’d love to hear them mannnn, hsr isn’t treating my space cowboy right so I have to

Dom!reader x sub!boothill

Warning: boothill has a pussy, fingering, dirty talk (a little), finger sucking, overstimulation

“You muddle-forker! What did ya do?” Boothill stormed into your room, slamming the door shut behind him. “What’s the problem, cowboy?” You stayed seated on your bed, tapping away on your laptop without looking up at him. “That update ya promised me, that would help me identify oswaldo even among tausends of people! Are you shirt-bag kiddin’ me?” His footsteps got louder as he approached you, then he slammed his hand onto your nightstand, leaving behind an USB-stick. “This thing here is nothing but trouble, it’s fudgin’ broken!”

Your gaze eventually left the screen on your lap, now staring up at the cyborg. His face was all red and sweaty, suggesting he hurried over to you. “And what exactly is broken with it?” The expression you wore was nonchalant, your voice was unimpressed and almost condescending. As if you looked down on him. “All it did was causing my system to overheat, fudge, it’s already hot enough without it, no need to make me get a heatstroke.” Boothill clenched his teeth, scratching his head a little. Huh? But you didn’t remember adding a heating function to that Programm you’ve written. Without giving you any time to think, he continued with, “.. and there was a text saying I should fudge with someone. Seriously, are you forking joking?” Oh. So that’s what happened. You thought about it for a while, before coming to a conclusion. “Hah.. I told you to use the blue USB-stick, you took the red one didn’t you?”

He blinked, searching through his memory bank before snarling at you, “Forke me, you told me to use the red one!” You shook your head in opposition, “I’m pretty sure I said blue.” An audible sigh came from the galaxy ranger, he then uttered under his breath, “Why am I even arguing with you… just fix this, ol’ friend. What was that port for anyway.” Your hand plugged a wire to your laptop, before commanding, “it was just a pass-time project, now turn around.” The male did as you said, showing you his hips and pulling his hair out of the way. Soon, you plugged the other end into his body, thus connecting the two machines.

It would be a lie to say he wasn’t a little on edge the whole time, especially when you sticked the end of the wire in, he felt a weird sensation coursing through his body. So he cursed in response, “mother-fudger.” A slight tremble could be heard as he spoke, as well as the troubled expression on his face. “Alright, I’ll start looking into it now.” You gave him a heads up, now resuming your previous actions and staring at the screen before you. The USB-stick this unfortunate cowboy used was originally meant for him, but according to your words it wasn’t time yet. You quickly tried to suppress the virus, groaning a little when it turned out to be more difficult than expected.

Boothill on the other hand got more impatient with each passing second, for him it was like torture. Somehow he was feeling all hot, and up to this point he’s been blaming it onto the weird thing that infiltrated his system, though it seems like the heat only grew after being in your company. “Tsk, there is no other way then.” You mumbled, your expression was serious. “What?” The man who was still standing next to your bed asked, he had a confused look on his face. “I’m saying, we will have to solve this in a less appropriate manner.” Even though you were pretty bold, you still tried to word it in a refined way, but it only frustrated the cowboy more. “Don’t talk in riddles, just forking tell me.”

“Haaah.” You sighed, before shouting, “it means you’ll have to do what that text wants from you, easy enough to understand?” You rolled your eyes and scoffed, but your eyes glimmered, as if you’ve been waiting for this. “I-… forkeroni, why would you create something like that?!” He screamed back at you, his face now completely flushed red. To think you got him flustered and blushing so easily, you didn’t even need to make that virus. Gently, you plugged the wire out and put your laptop to the side, instead you grabbed his hips and pulled him in. He yelped and stumbled a little, yet he didn’t resist and sat down on your lap without much trouble. Then you said, “for you, of course. I didn’t expect it to happen this early though.”

For him? So you wanted him to catch this virus and become a mess, hah, you really did look down on him didn’t you? “So it’s because ya want to get’in ma pants?” He snarled cheekily, though that front of his wasn’t very convincing, considering how he shook in your grasp. “You caught me.” You replied, before fumbling with his belt. “Ughh.. is this- really necessary?” Just like that his confident attitude vanished, now back to being the shy cyborg he was. “You don’t have to do it with me, I think you can take care of it by yourself as well.” After finishing your sentence, you took your hands away from him. His weight was still pressing down your thighs, and his metallic body leaned back against your chest.

His eyes widened at your suggestion. Next thing you know, he immediately denied that possibility. “Y-you are the one who started this mess, so you cant back out halfway.” You noticed how his hands were bawled into fists, resting on top of his own thighs. Not to mention the stutter in his voice, so he did want you to help. “Right, it wouldn’t be proper of me to not take responsibility.” A chuckle slipped from your lips before you agreed to his statement. He nodded, as if to confirm what you said. “Then, am I right when I say I have your consent?” Boothill gulped loudly, before nodding again, trying to act unfazed. “Do what ya have to.”

You stared at his face for a while, taking in his features. Then your hands moved on their own, pulling away his belt and unzipping his pants. “Mhm, I’ll.” The poor man didn’t even have time to register your action before feeling your fingertips on his artificial cunt, caressing the area around it. “Ughh! Don’t.. don’t try anything funny.” He snarked at you, the embarrassment he felt was almost too much to handle. “I won’t, I’ll only do things you like.” You reassured him while rubbing his clit gently, intrigued by his reactions. It was truly amazing how he was able to feel pleasure even though it was a real one, considering it was made out of rubber or latex. Heck, you even thought he was a Ken doll for the longest time.

“HNng- you son of a.. bench. What are ya doing to me?” Boothill gasped, now his hands were clenching onto your arms for support. He turned his head to the side, to gaze over his shoulder and glare at you. To his surprise you took that opportunity to kiss him, causing him to whimper. “Nghh!! I’m really a J-joke to you ain’t I?” A breathy moan escaped him afterwards, and he shuddered when he noticed your finger circling around his entrance. “I’m taking this very seriously.” You commented, one hand moved up to his face and cupped his chin. Your thumb was resting on his bottom lip, after that you chuckled, “here, if you don’t have a better use for that foul mouth of yours, why don’t you suck on my fingers?” The cyborg glared at you again, his eyes sharp and half-lidded. You would have taken him seriously if it wasn’t for the adorable blush across his cheeks.

With lingering hesitation, boothill opened his mouth, letting you stick your finger inside. When you did, you took extra care to not brush over his sharp teeth, instead you instantly started playing with his tongue. It didn’t take long until your finger was coated in his spit. “GuuHh, nGhhm!” He gagged around your fingers a little, eyes now tightly sealed and brows furrowed. “Shh, focus on your breathing.” You advised him, before slowly sticking one finger inside his surprisingly soft cunt. The first one went in pretty easily, the second one was more difficult, considering he couldn’t get wet or anything like that.

“Hey, boothill, can you take out the lube from my drawer?” You ordered, right now only wriggling one finger around his insides while the other one was still in his throat. “Mmmhff… uhhhnm, mmHFFf!!!” He tried to complain, but it all got muffled by your digits. In the end he just complied without causing anymore trouble. Hands shaking uncontrollably as he fumbled around, trying to find the bottle. He couldn’t see it, only feel it, because he head was thrown back and resting against your shoulder. Just one finger was enough to make him feel this way, be this loud, you couldnt even imagine how it would be if you replaced it with something bigger.

After a while, he finally managed to find the bottle, hands still quivering as he hand it over to you. “Good boy.” You praised him, then took your finger out of him. After popping the bottle open, you squeezed some of the lube onto your fingers, and covered his hole with it. His entire body twitched and he arched his back off your body again. If only your digits weren’t down his throat, then he would have cussed you out already. At the same time he is grateful for it, because it helped him silencing some really shameful noises. A sudden whine broke off his train of thoughts, when you pushed two of your fingers inside him with one smooth movement.

“HnngGGHh! MHnHgg.?!” Now he was chocking on his own moans, drool hanging out from his lips as he gazed down at your hand. The two digits you sticked into him were burried inside his walls up to your knuckles, until you reached the most humiliating and deep parts of his body. There you accidentally grazed over his weak spot, causing him to throw his head back once again. His eyes were blurry and hazy as waves of pleasure crashed down onto him. He never knew this could feel so good, fudge it, he never knew he could feel anything at all. You saw how his entire frame was quivering like crazy, overheating even. The metal was almost too hot for you to handle.

Without further delay, you started thrusting your fingers in and out of his sloppy hole. He tried to close his legs, thighs pressing against your hand, but you just continued to finger him roughly. Boothill could swear he was going to shortcut if he doesn’t do something, he could already feel his consciousness fading away. Only whimpers left him since his groans were stuck in his mouth, high-pitched whines paired with lewd squelching founds filled the room. You kept brushing your fingertips against his soft spot, and each time you did so electricity would be send to his brain. All those sensations were too much, really. He couldn’t take any more.

You eventually took your fingers out of his mouth. Now, one hand was playing with his puffy cunt while the other one was smearing his saliva onto his cheeks. As soon as your digits left his lips, he cursed at you, “fo-fork you… hNgg..” You only smirked at him, before picking up your pace. Boothill was gasping and panting, tongue hanging out as he tried to calm down his breathing. His hands were clutching your arms so hard you were sure it would bruise the next day. “Sh-shirt… tis’ so good, mmHgnn, too mu-much..!” All these sensations swelling within him were too overwhelming, yet you didn’t even pity him! When he’d ask you to slow down, you’d answer with, “aw, but I want to fix you as soon as possible!”

His eyes widened when suddenly waves of pleasure and ecstasy washed over him. He would have screamed if he didn’t suffocate on his own voice, biting his tongue in the process. The little cyborg finally reached his orgasm, though nothing came out. Even then it was so good that his eyes rolled to the back of his skull, his bangs stuck to his face and his metallic body was shaking uncontrollably. You also noticed how his hole was gaping around you, as if it wanted more. Poor little thing was so unresponsive now, his head was all empty. He didn’t even have the ability to form coherent sentences or think about anything but the pleasure. All because he’s been consumed by lust and bliss, because of your touch.

Sadly you didn’t notice that he reached his orgasm already, so you continued to pound and tease his squishy walls. “HnnGh, no.. I can’t ♡!! NGhnm, no mo-more, ah-nHgh..!” He managed to mewl out after much efforts, but you only grinned in response to his pleads. The virus has also been taken care of, so there is no need for you to keep going! Boothill tried to tell it to you, so that you would finally stop. He was so sensitive he can’t possibly go for another round, or he’ll really break. So why did his voice have to fail him in such a crucial moment? It’s all because of your fingers overstimulating him like this, he can barely even sit straight now because he felt so weak.

What a pitiful boy.. all he could hope for was for you to realise the situation. He trusted you and your sharp intuition. But, to be honest, would you stop even if you found out?

[itstimetojellyfish]

Decency? What’s that?( Boothill x reader

…. This is the first thing that came to mind for inspiration

This cyborg cowboy ….. was inevitably going to be the death of you .

Whenever he fights his hips just go in the most unnatural way ever , he tips his head down and looks mysterious, and his body positioning is just so sexy…

Also, whenever he smiles and talks to you , it makes your heart flutter in such a way , you thought you’ve died already due to how many times the butterflies in your stomach flutter.

And on top of all that , He’s hot.

So , if you add all of those slutty things together, you get a dude with an incredibly sassy attitude and slutty movements .

Every time you fought with him as a part of the galaxy rangers your eyes kept looking towards his waist . What was wrong with you?!

Every . Single . Day .

YOU THINK OF THAT RIDICULOUSLY SMUG DUDE .

That black and white hair with a red undertone…. It drives you crazy . And that smug little smile of his just sets you off and makes you blush furiously!

Your behavior doesn’t end up unnoticed.

Boothill sees the way your eyes linger on his waist when he prepares to fire his gun , he also sees how you lick your lips when he curves his back and tips his head down .

He won’t let you go .

Soon enough when you were on a mission with Boothill , he confronted you about your red face and how always avoided his gaze.

“ Oi, yer avoiding me.”He went over to your side as he cornered you somewhere in some alleyway in penacony.

“ Well , I’m sorry for your very sexy actions. “ You raised an eyebrow as you watched his circuits process what you said .

Soon he gets what you were trying to say , and promptly short - circuits in front of you as he realizes what you mean .

You smile gently before complaining about having to haul him to the mechanics and then breaking your back in the process….

When you tried to pick him up bridal style , an audible crack came and you had to lay down for 30 minutes to recover your ruined spine .

After laying down on the concrete floor , you finally push through the pain and drag Boothil, undoubtedly scratching some of his metal plates , to the workshop.

As you get to the mechanic , they just look at you and Boothill’s blank expression and sigh deeply. They look so done with both of you.

You give a sheepish smile before plopping Boothill on a seat and the watch the mechanic work on him as you smile .

You see how the mechanics head snaps towards you and glares at you as they realize the metal plates on his body were damaged and they would have to replace them .

Eventually , the mechanic manages to get Boothill functioning again and soon enough he’s back to the normal , sexy sway of his hips .

You just smirk before looking at the enemy and think to yourself.

This man has no really doesn’t have any decency , and you love him for it .

[thewriterowl]

Dinluke where it's still sci-fi, but like a different sci-fi, less star wars more star trek/firefly crossover, where the mandos are on a big ship and they're basically pirate cowboys and they land on Luke's planet and he's unbearably pretty and the planet is gorgeous and green but somehow not on their map. And they think he's like a stranded human but then he levitates their ship to be helpful so yeah *not* human. The mandos are like what're we gonna do Captain? And Din's like don't be stupid I'm gonna marry him. Bonus if Luke speaks a pretty alien language they can't make heads or tales of but Din's like "I absolutely agree put this ring on"

Sorry for the delay in this!!

Ooh, yes! Go towards that SCI-FI and yeah, like Firefly, with the Mandalorians doing mercenary stuff or just traveling doing less than legal stuff, and then after a skirmish they have to hide on a uncharted planet for a while to fix things up and, whoops, not as uninhabited as they think.

The planet actually has a beautiful civilization that is hidden because the people don't want to be found or used or anything (aka Jedi) from the rest of the galaxy. Luke is like a deity or just highly ranked official or prince(ss) and the Mandalorians are in absolute HEAVEN.

No, they don't know what the Jedi are saying...but are they hot, powerful, and hot? Yes. Is there only like twenty-ish Mandalorians and about 300+ Jedi so they have option of imagining a harem situation? Also yes. Is Din, the leader of the group, absolutely feral and obsessed with Luke only and following after him to try and get them married as soon as possible? Major yes.

Are the Mandalorians making plans to leave any time soon? No.

[unsleepingtales]

Fhjy e2 reactions this episode is batshit and I love them but also I’m so sad

I’ll be so real gang I am stressed and have been in a downwards thought spiral so we’ll see how this goes yeah?

I love Adaine making her mage hand look like Riz’s ringed hand that’s so fun and lovely

Also the mage hand mini is so cool

Don’t patronize me, it’s bad 😔

Goddamn they’re good

Would you be interested in healing us?? Spare healing o cleric??

I love that they could heal the hangvan

The night yorb’s art is SO cute I need a plushie of it. I’m gonna just buy galaxy patterned fleece and make one.

It feels like a stretch???

It’s gonna bite!

I just thought if I acted excited it would be good

Naur 💀

Armor of ayda!!!

Go sit on a whisky bottle you punk bitch !

Duggan and Balthazar definitely explored each others bodies we’re all agreed on this right. In my mind they had something like the cowboy and the roman soldier from night at the museum had.

“This is hot” Emily I agreeeee

Perfect example of gambler’s fallacy but y’know what this did just reinforce it

Nothing I can do! Brennan. Brennan come on.

That’s a feat I took in LIFE

They THREW that that die TRAVELLED

“You know I’m always rooting for you”

Oh GOD

No more probability smashing ok murph?

Y’know what for being fully run over by a van? 22 points of damage is not bad.

Was last episode really only two rounds of combat

He is So defeated

I’m hurting 😡

ALSO the portal is so cool. This battle set is amazing.

The blood on the windshield I can’t

Oooooof

Can she resummon Baby?? Has he died before I can’t remember?

“From when you ran me over” as if Fabian is not Solely responsible for the choices he’s made. Riz didn’t intentionally run you over babe you fell out of the van.

This is. Not great!

What hell!

Oh nooooo

Cmon Murph please

SHIT

Oh god

Oh my god you are about to kill your healer

She had 23!!

Aaaaaaaaa oh god

:( I feel bad for the cute manta ray

Ally’s gonna sue you if they hit you

With my wizarding powers and my absolutely fucked van ! Gorgug thistlespring the man that you are

OH SHIIIIIIT

Yessss

Ok yeah that makes sense that was on the bingo

Ok so the van now holds the night yorb sealed in its roof and an angel in the engine. Fantastic.

That mural is beautiful

They’re so exhausted guys. School starts tomorrow.

(What an episode to air the week I go back to class and have Such A Bad Time Guys)

Eeeeeeeeeesh

Don’t menace me!

It means something to me emotionally. Gorgug Car Guy Thistlespring <3

You wanted to do a bit so now we’re doing a bit. Suffer for your bit.

Does the back door of the van mini open?? Bc that’s sick

Ooooh Ally has custom spell cards with the d20 logo on them. Those are neat

He’s gonna stab these guys but it’s not with any of the normal zeal 😔

Jesus

Just to try and feel something

JESUS

Why do you guys careee you’re bugssss

Brennan.

Zac oh god

‘Guys I think Fig’s getting hit with the ballista right now’

She doesn’t even cutting words she just takes it 😭😭

It’s that era, The Ball 😭😭

Oh my fucking god

The noises of defeat they’re all making

I want an ice cream. Like the old days.

Just like that ART oh I’m gonna reblog that art of them at basrar’s so bloody after a fight

I love them. I missed the bad kids guys.

I think we’ve gotta go to sleep.

Wooooo

Love an aso callback

Love wins 💅

We’re done doing this!!

ARE YOU KIDDING ME

What kind of BULLSHIT

God this is so unhinged

No bonus action healing or anything Kristen?

Brennaaaaaan

So tactical. So late. So dead.

The slowest and saddest three point turn

The least enthusiastic stab

You didn’t! Have! To do it! You could! Have had! Ice cream! I! Want! To go! Home!!!

Oooooof

OOOOOF

That Turncoat 😢

This is so fucking sad.

What the fuck man

I don’t know why anything happened. Why did any of that happened.

The shard of the day yorb

Fig why would you ask that.

Riz desperately trying to keep the group together is so heartbreaking

The fucking dry guys

BY MEPHITS FOR MEPHITS

Gotta stay awake in the dome motherfuckers

Oh my GOD

They’re gonna cry man

Dome art!

Brennan what are you about to do

Daisy Cubby!!!!

Fig. What.

I’M gonna cry.

Everyone’s gonna cry.

Is it fun man. Is it really.

Map!!!

It says fuck you zac ☺️ in beautiful writing!

Emily Axford the woman you are……….

What the fuck is happening right now.

Oh god oh no

This is so horrifying

Kristen. Kristen No.

I love the map!

Oh god.

Oh the Hallariel art is FANTASTIC

Are they going on their honeymoon. I have paused the episode to write this are hallariel and Gilear going on a honeymoon did they get married and not invite their kids because they were saving the world I’m gonna be so pissed

Oh the Gilear art is cursed

Okay they’re going on a cruise.

Gilear’s voice has dropped

Oh SHIT okay so I wasn’t that far off

This is just. So fucking sad. I know that it’s gonna get happier because it’s fantasy high but right now this is so fucking sad

They’re newlyweds??? So they did fucking get married?????

Leaving for MONTHS after your only child gets back from saving the world and you got married to one of his best friends’ dad without your child or your new spouse’s child there is so horrible oh my god. I am real life mad about this.

Ok interesting things happening with Gilear and luck. Is Gilear not gonna go see Fig at Mordred before he leaves for a year???

Guys there is still almost an hour left in this episode is it all gonna be this fucking sad

Oh my god he inherited the singing barrel pirates

Good for them being unionized

Sklondaaaaaa

She’s got her own boarddddd

I love her

God they’re powerful this season

SKLONDA ART FUCKS

Oh thank god a loving mother.

It was… ssso tactical

That summer before junior year growth spurt/style shift combo is so real

Oh shit. The single mother struggling to pay for college storyline is gonna fuck me up monumentally I think. Fuck.

Scholarships are gonna be really important 🥲 line taken from my real life

Setting up a board is to riz gukgak what a spreadsheet is to me. I am him he is me.

Please god I need the thistlesprings to not make me sad

They’re so cute!!!!

Zac looks fucking near tears

Oh god any time Brennan’s face gets a little more serious and the music kicks in my heart just sinks

GORGUG AND ZELDA BROKE UP? 😭😭

That does not make any sort of sense

Staying tight with your ex’s parents is also so real lmaooo

He had a toothbrush at her house??????

The bad girls are so important to me

Awwwwwwwww

They’re aaaall crying

ZAYN THE RETURN OF ZAYN MY BEST FRIEND ZAYN DARKSHADOW

And Ragh and Lydia!! Yay!!

SANDRA LYNN FAETH THE WOMAN THAT YOU ARE. I WOULD BE SO GOOD TO YOU YOU DONT’ EVEN KNOW.

Brb printing out the new Sandra Lynn art to hang on my wall

They’re so tired guys

Squeem is alive? Ok

Jawbone man.

Oh god. Literally.

Sobbing this is literally the high school mentality

Guys. Guys.

It’s a real crapshoot for me finishing things. Yep.

Babe that is not a measurement of classes.

Yes that is a thing you can do. You can take time off for extreme circumstances.

LOVE the Aguefort art. Slay.

Also love that the way Brennan gets into the Aguefort voice is to do the peace hands

He’s going on vacation with ayda?????

Ayda looks great

Oh God No

How could this possibly go wrong?

What is the quangle and why is it going to cause so many problems

Oh nooooooo

That’s so fucking sad christ alive

Oh god

Emily.

PEOPLE LOVE SKITS ON ALBUMS

���Does nobody respect the fact that it takes time to save the world” feels like the thesis of the season

Trackerbees breakup about to be confirmed??

ZAYN ART ZAYN ART ZAYN ART

Look at my best friend in the whole wide world and his pet rat. He’s so fucking pretty.

Aelwyn moved out??

Augh.

Oh that’s lovely actually

Oh aelwyn looks GOOD.

And she’s got cats and is teaching middle school??? Good for herrrr

Awww that’s sweet

Oh right somehow I completely forgot that Fig did a fucked up devil deal

Oh god fig’s spilling on her shirt. Did she somehow swap fates with Gilear or something.

Sandra lynnnnnnnn

That is a good way to think about classes :)

What??

Nooooooooooooo

Sometimes you really do just have to give Nothing constructive in an improv scene sometimes it’s better

Trackerbees breakup confirmed. Tracker’s doing great.

Still interested in the retcon or whatever happened with Tracker originally being a cleric of Lida and then switching to Galicea

Cassandra I’m sorry you and Kristen are both struggling so much

Oh Whatttt no

If Cassandra dies and goes to the astral plane I will be so sad.

Holy SHIT guys.

[orchideous-nox]

Have Yourself A Merry Roseweed Christmas

In honour of it being the season for giving, I decided to bring back my favourite crack ship, Roseweed (Evan Rosier x weed selling cobbler's boy < 3 from my cowboy au fics) as a present to my friend @futurequibblerjournalist

If you are seeing this and don't celebrate Christmas or havent read my wolfstar or rosekiller cowboy au, then enjoy the most niche 420 (ha) words that will probably mean nothing to everyone else! Without further delay (because I have been annoying my dear friend about this for a week and a half at this point), enjoy! ~~~~~~~~~

Snow fell in Montreal on Christmas Eve like a thick flurry of cocaine. Not that weed selling cobbler’s boy < 3 had any experience with coke, his heart only beating with the adrenaline of two addictions, weed and Evan Rosier. Shovelling a clear path on the driveway, he glanced up to see the front door opening. Out stepped his fiancé, holding two mugs of hot chocolate, offering one out to weed selling as he got closer. Weed selling pulled him in by the waist, kissing his lips quickly before taking the mug and watching steam curl up.

“My love, my light, my life, I do not deserve you. You are too good to me.” Grinned weed selling, hand resting on the small of Evan’s back. They were a long way from Oklahoma, visiting the Rosier family for Christmas before returning home in the new year.

“Oh, weed seller, there is no doubt in my mind that my love for you could stretch father than the edge of the last galaxy a mind could even fathom.” With a blush to his cheeks, weed seller, kissed Evan again with a smile, letting himself linger.

“You always say the most wonderful things. You must truly love me.” He muttered against Evan’s lips before finally pulling away and taking a sip of his hot chocolate, smelling something different about it.

“It’s hot chocolate infused with cannabis.” Evan grinned, drinking from his own mug and watching as weed seller began walking inside, leaving his shovel propped up on the porch. Evan must have lit a candle because weed seller could smell the strong scent he’d come to associate with the night they got engaged.

“Oh, babe, you really are the best.” He sighed as he walked into the living room. Around the room, his favourite candles covered every surface, lit to fill the room with the ever present smell of weed.

“Don’t get emotional, please!” Evan placed his mug down, hurrying over to weed selling cobbler’s boy < 3 and cupping his face in his hands, thumbs wiping away tears he hadn’t even realised were there.

“I’m not crying, love, the candles are just really strong.” He laughed, shaking his head until he realised the record player was on, the soft sounds of La Vie en Rose crackled through the speaker and he set down his hot chocolate, taking Evan into his arms. They swayed gently, whispering sweet nothings to each other.

“Merry Christmas, weed selling. I love you.”

“I love you too, my dear, Merry Christmas.”

[superfan44]

The 100 Favorite Movies Challege

As a huge movie buff, I thought I'd try something fun on here. I have decided to launch a new internet challenge: "The 100 Favorite Movies Challenge". The rules are pretty simple and straight forward. You create a list of 100 of your personal favorite movies in alphabetical order, post the list on your home page, then nominate other people/users of your choosing to do the challenge.

There is no limit to what movies can be included on your list. Films within any medium (live action or animated), genre, and decade are more than welcome. Whether it's longtime favorites you were introduced to when you were younger, favorites that you've picked up over the years, or recent discoveries or releases that quickly became your favorites, anything and everything is on the table here.

I'll start off by sharing my list. To be clear, I have way more than 100 favorite movies, but to have the number be anything past that may be a bit much for some people. Please don't judge me if it seems like there might be a few noteworthy titles missing on here. I mainly put this list together just for fun. Alright, here we go!

9 (2009)

Airplane! (1980)

American Graffiti (1973)

Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)

The Avengers (2012)

Avengers: Endgame (2019)

Baby Driver (2017)

Batman Begins (2005)

Beetlejuice (1988)

Beverly Hills Cop (1984)

Big Hero 6 (2014)

Black Dynamite (2009)

The Blues Brothers (1980)

Broadway Melody of 1940 (1940)

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

Castle in the Sky (1986)

Chicago (2002)

Cowboy Bebop: The Movie (Knockin' on Heaven's Door) (2001)

Deadpool (2016)

Death Proof (2007)

Desperado (1994)

Die Hard (1988)

Django Unchained (2012)

Double Indemnity (1944)

Dragon Inn (1967)

Fantasia 2000 (2000)

Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)

Flash Gordon (1980)

Ghostbusters (1984)

The Godfather (1972)

Goodfellas (1990)

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)

The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

History of the World, Part 1 (1980)

Hot Fuzz (2007)

How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014)

The Incredibles (2004)

Independence Day (1996)

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

Inglourious Basterds (2009)

The Italian Job (2003)

Jaws (1975)

John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum (2019)

Jurassic Park (1993)

Logan (2017)

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)

Lupin the 3rd: The Castle of Cagliostro (1980)

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

Meatballs (1979)

Men in Black (1997)

Moana (2016)

Monsters vs. Aliens (2009)

Mr. and Mrs. Smith (2005)

The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)

National Lampoon's Animal House (1978)

Network (1976)

The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

North by Northwest (1959)

Notorious (1946)

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019)

The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)

Porco Rosso (1992)

Princess Mononoke (1997)

Pulp Fiction (1994)

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

Ready Player One (2018)

Rear Window (1954)

Rio Bravo (1959)

Robin Hood (1973)

The Rocketeer (1991)

Romeo and Juliet (1968)

Scream (1996)

Seven Samurai (1954)

Shaun of the Dead (2004)

Sherlock Holmes (2009)

Skyfall (2012)

Smokey and the Bandit (1977)

Spaceballs (1987)

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)

Spirited Away (2001)

Star Wars: A New Hope (1977)

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (1983)

The Suicide Squad (2021)

Surf's Up (2007)

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006)

The Thin Red Line (1998)

Tombstone (1993)

Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

Treasure Planet (2002)

Tremors (1990)

Tron: Legacy (2010)

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007)

The Wind Rises (2013)

Wonder Woman (2017)

Yojimbo (1961)

Young Frankenstein (1974)

Zombieland (2009)

Now, before I wrap things up, I would like to nominate @skygent, @is0gild , @firecraker-j, @mrcowboytoyou, and @piglets-not-so-big-adventure to do this challenge. Hopefully we can get the ball rolling so more and more people can join in. I look forward to seeing what kind of lists you guys will put together. Good luck!

[captain-astors]

I don’t feel like tagging anyone, but I’ll do this, 

tagged by @takatsukisdesk

Three ships: Furutui, ZazieMeryl, and whatever you’d call Beyond x Mikami I guess. All of them are rarepairings at best and crackpairings at worst, with a population of me and at most 5 other people but I’m THRIVING. 

First ship: Probably Yukito and Touya from CCS. I haven’t been at this for long, but man I wanted what they have as a 12 year old. Still do. I want to ride on the back of someone’s bike and be worried over frequently as my health declines because I am turning into the moon.

Last movie: The Adam Project I believe? Good color palettes. Don’t remember much of what happened.

Currently reading: 

Dune (again)

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (again) 

Dracula (Not dracula daily, I’m reading the book of my own volition again by complete coincidence, I didn’t know what dracula daily was until about a week ago.) 

William Shakespeare's Star Wars “The Empire Striketh Back” (For the first time) 

The Los Angeles BB Murder Cases.

Tokyo ghoul :re 4-7 (Again, but I have physical copies now, so the translation’s different. Furuta’s somehow less of a misogynist and more of an asshole in this one.)

Trigun Maximum 

Last song/album: I’ll give you the last three! “Killer Queen” by Queen “Can’t Stop” by The Red Hot Chilli Peppers and “Mr. Grieves” by the Pixies. I’m on a certain kind of kick right this moment, but these aren’t the typical genres I listen to.

Currently watching: Cowboy Bebop, Death Note. 

Currently consuming: Water, and every old character examination comparing Ui Koori to Anakin Skywalker because they’re not wrong and that’s the funniest part of it. 

Also old fan theories for how the ending was going to shake out, because they’re all so much more satisfying (for me) than the actual ending. I get that the lesson is to live but why does everyone who inconveniences Kaneki either die or disappear. 

Currently craving: NARRATIVE FULFILLMENT FOR MY FAVORITE CHARACTERS and absolutely any food. 

I lent my only snack to my friend, and now I have to wait until I’m finished with a couple tasks to find something to eat. If I could have anything, I’d have a nice slice of cheese pizza.

[xinambercladx]

Shoulda Known...

Me: a woman born and raised in the great American South West watches Star Wars all her life but never develops a crush on a single character until... Cad Bane: a Space Cowboy rolls up in a speeder and proves to be extremely capable in less than 2 minutes of screen time...

[kinsey3furry300]

So how the heck do the Avengers pay for stuff, and how rich are they?

So, in the wake of “Falcon and the Winter Soldier” There’s a lot of debate about why Sam didn’t seem to get paid well for his work in the Avengers (at least in the MCU continuity), and this has got me thinking: we’ve got no evidence that the Avengers are, financially, anything but a hot mess. So lets break it down, Avenger by Avenger, using real-world pay scales for the ones who have jobs.

Tony: a billionaire, so clearly he’s a financial genius, right? Well….. his actions say otherwise. He’s shown to be wildly irresponsible with his money. He inherited a lot of wealth form his parents which was managed by the first Jarvis, Obadiah, and Pepper for him, he buys and then gives away not just woks of art, but entire collections by major 20th century artists on a whim, destroyed his own cars and home without concern, he tanks the value of his own company in the first Iron Man with a bad press interview, gets kicked of his own bord of directors, and ultimately, in Iron Man 2, gives control of his company to Pepper. He’s insanely rich, and insanely smart, but man, he’s not smart with his money. So all the cool stuff, his suits, the Avengers tower, the facility up-state: that’s all paid for by him, but Pepper is holding the purse-stings.  So, does he pay the others? We have no evidence for most of them… but we do with Spidey. Peter Parker is in the Stark Internship Program a euphemism to hide the fact he’s training and mentoring him as a super-hero, but I find the wording interesting: he refers to Spidey, his surrogate son and chosen heir, as an intern. I.E., Unpaid.  I’m guessing this is Howard’s influence over him, some sort of ‘make you own way in the world, son’ attitude, but  if he’s not paying Spidey, is he paying anyone else? He certainly pays for stuff super heroes suits and things, equipment, fuel, the base, but does he pay anyone a wage? No one ever mentions it. You think it would come up.

So, if he’s not paying them a wage, where do Avengers  (and thier allies) get their day-to-day money from, and are they rich? Using google and https://www.federalpay.org, lets find out.

Cap: Well, before Civil war, he’s a shield operative, and he presumably still holds his military rank: he’s a US Army captain, with (well) over 40 years service, so USD$88,142.40 per year, with $237.71  drill pay (pay per drill you have to do on weekends, on leave or outside of normal service) and $175.00 per month hazard pay (which I bet is interesting) on top of that. As a WW2 veteran, he’d be eligible for a war pension if he:

Was not discharged for dishonorable reasons; and,

Served 90 days of active military duty; and,

Served at least one day during wartime ("wartime" as determined by the VA); and,

Had  countable family income below a certain yearly limit; and,

Is  age 65 years or older; or

Regardless of age is permanently disabled, not due to wilful misconduct.

As he’s still receiving 90k per year, he’s ineligible for a pension as his countable yearly income is above the limit.  So if shield pays him in accordance with his rank and years of service, about $90, 600 per year incuding hazard pay.

After civil war, he’s a fugitive on the run, so presumably flat broke. I’d asume he gets his pension returened to him after the snap.

He’s also just gone from the 40’s to the present day, so 70 years of inflation probably makes buying things very confusing for him: everything would seem insanely expensive at first. He’d also not know what the correct prices are for anything invented after 45. You might get used to how much more expensive food and coffee is, but how much is a smart-phone worth? $200? $2000 $20000? Who knows? I bet the others have to facepalm a lot when he either refuses to pay for what he sees as clear price-gouging, and at the same time regularly pays insane amounts of money for goods and services because he doesn’t know better. He also has no known assets other than his pay: he rents an apartment making him one of the few American males in his age-group who isn’t a home-owner

Thor: Does Asgard even have currency? It’s depicted like a “Crystal spires and toga” type utopia with no poverty: even working class Asgardian’s like Scourge seem to be pretty well-off and want for nothing, so he’s from a post-scarcity society where actual magic is a thing. His “Another” coffee cup smashing and the fact he doesn’t have a computer of phone in Ragnarök might indicate that, no, he just doesn’t have, need or understand money. Splitting a bar tab with him must be a nightmare. His breakdown post snap indicates he’s got some cash, but not a huge amount, and is probably skiving of Valkyrie and the other Asgardians.

Banner: Okay, so a PhD could make you a lot of money from patents… in pharmacology or engineering. Theoretical physics? Not so good. And if Banner did have any patents, they’ve probably been seized under eminent domain by the US military.  At the start of The Hulk film, he’s working a entry-level factory job at a botteling plant in Brazil. The minimum wage in Brazil is 1069.62 Real per month, that’s 12,835.44 Real per year, or around $2437.79 US per year, before everything goes wrong for him! He then runs off to India, works for Tony for a bit and then gets shot into space. Spidey may actually make more in allowance than Banner does, and Banner is a gown ass man with bills to pay: I’d imagine he loses a lot in ripped clothing.

Natasha and Barton: Pre Civil-war, both are government spooks, so how well does that pay? The salaries of CIA Intelligence Analysts based in the US range from $25,838 to $685,701 , with a median salary of $125,340, so let’s assume that Shield pays in a similar range: $685,701 per year for Director Fury, around 125,000 for Natasha and Cliff, which explains Cliff’s nice, middle-class mid-western home. Post civil war, presumably not great: we know that Natasha spends a lot of her savings running and hiding all across the world, and Cliff takes a deal and presumably lives of his savings, pension and his wife’s income.

Rhodes: Full USAF colonel with over 10 years service? $105,562.80 per year, plus $293.23 drill pay per drill and $175 per month hazard pay, and because he’s team Stark and not Team Cap in Civil War, he’d not lose any of that. He presumably also gets an injury pay-out after his accident. After T’challa and Stark, he might be the best paid avenger.

Dr Strange: spends all his money he made as a surgeon on trying to cure his hands: spends literally his last dollars heading to Nepal to train. Wong even jokes with him about their lack of worldly money when asking for a tuna-melt. But, can use illusion to make people think he has money, and his home and clothes etc. come with the job, so in the same boat as Thor in that he has no money, but needs none AKA, he’s a bastard to try and split a restaurant bill with.

Wanda and Vision: No know source of income, just sort of live in Tony’s hose and eat his food, and on top of that Wanda goes on the run after civil war… yet they can stay in fancy hotels in Edinburgh, a relatively expensive city, and Vison apparently bought them a house to retire in, so one of them has some source of money. Maybe Tony gave Vision years of back-pay form when he was still Jarvis, or maybe the vison has a day job, which is, frankly, hilarious. Could you imagine him as a barista? I can, and it makes me very happy.

Scott Lang: I’d assumed he’d be super, super broke, but apparently the average pay for a private security consultant in the Bay area is $85,430 per year. Not bad. Pity he gets sucked into the quantum realm just as his business is taking off, so presumably, flat broke again.

Bucky: no known income, and I doubt Hydra paid him for being the Winter Soldier so he probably has no savings, but he should, technically, qualify for a military pension. As a single veteran, he’d be  eligible for federal tax-free pension of up to $1732 per month, or $20,784 tax free per year. Not much for someone who lives in NYC. He may also be eligible for medical benefits over the loss of his arm. Whether or not he got to see any of that money given how confused his life has been over the past 10 years is unclear, but on paper he’s eligible.

T’challa: He is, quite possibly, richer than Stark, and as an absolute monarch pays no tax and has access to his Nation’s vast wealth in vibanium. It’s good to be the king!

Captain Marvel: USAF captain, and a test pilot; the test pilot school only accepts applicants with a service length of less than 9 years 6 months (10 years six moths of helicopters) as they don’t want older applicants. With 8 years service, $79,538.40, plus drill pay and hazard.  However, no know (human) pay since 1990. Flat broke.

Guardians of the Galaxy: no data, but I’m assuming “Cowboy Bebop” levels of perpetual never-ending poverty given the way they choose to live. I’d also assume Rocket has taken all their cash into some sort of Ponzi scheme of his own creation, because just look at him, of course he has.

Spidey: he’s got about $10 of his aunts’ money at any given time, so he can buy lunch… which may in fact be more than Banner or Lang, and we know it’s more that Strange or Thor.

 So, here the big one: how rich or how broke is Sam?

Sam Wilson: annoyingly, we’re not directly told what rank Sam held in any MCU film. USAF pararescue “Maroon berets” are generally NCO’s (but there’ are officer-ranked pararescue) , and he’s seen working on his wings at one point, where as officers don’t generally work on or maintain airframes. He’s shown wearing a Nation Air guard grey while jogging at one point to confuse the matter further. The general consensus on redit is he’s a former USAF tech sergeant (E-6). But how long was he in the air force? With six years service (the minimum sensible time he could have served to work in pararescue based on his age), that would be $41,464.80 per year, plus drill pay and hazard. As Anthony Mackie, the actor that plays him, was 36 as of Civil War, and assuming the character is the same age, and assuming he retired from the air force that year, and he joined the USAF at 17, the youngest you can join, he’d have served 19 years, giving him a pay of $51,566.40, the maximum pay you can get at this rank before promotion to Master Sergent,  but meaning he left just before he’d qualify for the 50% final salary pension you’d qualify for after 20 years. Which seems weird. So let’s assume the character is one year older than the actor that plays him and served 20 years (ages 17-37), that means Sam has a military pension of $25,783.20 per year (20,784 of it tax-free), plus any injury benefits. He councils other veterans, but doesn’t get paid for that. He also chooses Team Cap in Civil War, so would become a wanted criminal, and so lose his income between 2016 and 2018, and then gets snapped and has no income for 5 years, which would destroy his credit rating. Like the rest of Team Cap, he presumably gets his post snap pardon, and goes to work for the US government at his former pay and rank. However, given how Captain John Walker treats him as an equal, it’s possible he’s been promoted to a captain when the  hired back, giving him a pay of between $54,176.40 to $88,142.40 (with 20 years experience, depending on if they take into account his prior service or not, and how much prior service he has), but either way, he’s just starting this as a new job after being legally dead for 5 years: no savings, and no credit.

Commercial fishing vessels cost about 10% of their total value per year in maintenance alone. I can’t identify what sort of boat the Wilson’s have, but some quick googling indicates that the cheapest  15m long wooden in-shore shrimp trawler costs around $140,000, so that’s $14,000 per year in maintenance costs alone, minimum. And that’s a lower estimate, assuming the rest of the business is sound, which we know it isn’t.

So, in concussion, yes, Sam is in some serious financial trouble until he can re-build his savings and credit, but the scary bit is he’s not alone in that: he’s probably better off than Lang, Banner, Danvers, Strange, Thor, Bucky, Wanda and Parker. Only Clint (if he gets a full pardon and gets his full pension), Rhodes, Stark and T’challa aren’t in some sort of potential financial problems. That asshole bank teller was right: despite the fact it seems to pay well on paper, with a few exceptions, the Avengers financials are probibaly a mess. EDIT: Rocket is running the Ponzi scheme, if that’s not clear from context. The others know they have money somewhere, but not where it’s gone. And It’s been pointed out to me that as he’s technically a POW while he’s the Winter Soldier, Bucky is owed over 70 years back-pay, equal to over 3 million dollars, details in the notes.

[charlesoberonn]

I'm gonna make a bunch of OCs from scratch.

Mark July: A man stuck through endless reincarnations. He started out as a prehistoric man and reincarnated as a Babylonian priest, a Roman legionary, a Japanese samurai, a cowboy, and many more. Every time he was hunted down and killed by some sort of entity. His current identity is of a traveling space salvager in the 24th century.

He is a simple man living by simple values of hard work, kindness, and most importantly integrity. He can make friends if he feels a strong bond with somebody but he tends to be the loner type.

Alyana: A scholar of history in the galaxy's biggest university. She noticed the occurances of Mark throughout time and she calculated that he would reincarnate again in her present. And so she sought him out and revealed his secret past to him, as well as warn him about the thing hunting after him throughout his many lives.

She's a bit of a hot head who thinks very highly of herself, and expects to always be in the center of attention. She gets very frustrated and defensive when that doesn't happen. Despite her egotism she also cares for others and tends to spend her time trying to improve their lives, often at the expense of her own health.

EPOS: The on-board AI on Mark's ship, which Mark salvaged from another ship years ago. It claims to be an ancient alien AI that's billions of years old but it's very clearly lying. It fancies itself a storyteller and an amuser, but it can get annoying at times.

In addition to being housed in the ship's computer, it also embodiea various robot bodies of Mark's and its own design. They're made from salvaged parts that Mark couldn't or decided not to sell, and come in many shapes big and small, useful and not.

The Memory: The alien entity after Mark. It was once an immortal being able to reincarnate like Mark. But it lost its ability to Mark when it encountered him in prehistoric times. It managed to maintain its current body alive for tens of thousands of years through stasis. It only wakes up when it identified Mark has been reincarnated so it can try to take its power back.

The Memory doesn't have any animosity towards Mark but it also doesn't see value in individual human lives. It claims its immortality is important so that it may pass on knowledge of the past to the future. Mark's millennia-long existence is but a brief interruption in its trillions of years long journey.

[mellowswriting]

Age Difference Headcanon

Mando: The romantic and sexual aspects don’t bother him in the slightest but a different issue arises - he feels like he’s stealing your youth. The life of a bounty hunter is far from an easy one and even though he was entirely used to his lifestyle from a young age...he doesn’t want that for you. You should be carefree and enjoying yourself before settling down with a nice person who can give you everything you want, not covering his six with your blaster and helping to take care of his kinda-sorta-adopted son. Mando’s silent disposition doesn’t help things; his guilt and fears stew until it boils over and out of nowhere, he’s telling you to go, that you deserve better than the kind of life he could give you. Mando sounds downright pissed when he’s saying it, but you can look at what appears to be anger and see it for what it really is - fear. You give him a moment to let him cool off - you were honestly surprised the beskar he wore wasn’t red hot with the intensity he gave off - and then settle yourself right in his lap in the pilot’s chair. Mando tries to usher you away but freezes when you tell him to ‘shut up, because it’s my turn to speak now’. You tell him everything. How you would take life with him however it happened - whether you spent everyday in the Crest until you met your Maker or settled down to raise your own herd of verda (warriors) together. How you couldn’t imagine your life without the man and child you love. How you would burn down the entire galaxy if anything happened to either of them. That is the exact moment Mando knows he needs to take a detour to the covert so he can sit down with the Alor and ask for their blessing to pledge a riduurok - Mando has found the one he will spend the rest of his days with. 

Frankie ‘Catfish’ Morales: Simply cannot handle the whole ‘young, irrational, and immature’ thing. This is a grown ass man, an experienced, elite soldier who has honestly put up with enough bullshit in his life and does not need any more of it. The only way he’s with someone significantly younger than him is if they’ve got the same mindset of communication and maturity. It isn’t something he expects or actively seeks out, but if a sharp, strong, beautiful young woman walks into his life and wants him… well, shit. Sign him the fuck up. He isn’t going to deny what would otherwise be a great relationship over an age gap. 

Marcus Pike: This man is Conflicted about it sometimes because he almost feels… gross. Like he’s somehow taking advantage? But he also knows that you love him, he loves you, and you’re both consenting adults, so there’s no point in complicating it unnecessarily. 

Oberyn Martell: The Red Viper beds young women in brothels by the dozen, so it isn’t a surprise to anyone that the woman he marries is younger than him. It isn’t even something he worries himself with, beyond ensuring you’re of age. He’s more concerned with the hope that you’ll explore the delectable world of pleasure with him, in all that it has to offer. 

Max Phillips: When it’s just sex, the little bastard really doesn’t think twice. You’re of age and consenting, so he’s railing you into next week - that’s just how he works. If it progresses into feelings on the other hand… well, we already know he isn’t exactly the best at those. On the one hand, you being so much younger than him gives plenty of time for you to make the huge decision of whether or not you want to become like him and spend eternity with his frat boy ass. On the other, he doesn’t want you wasting yourself on a vampire who can’t give you the life you deserve, one of kids and a husband and a white picket fence. So, honestly? Max leaves. Straight up dips without giving you a real goodbye or an explanation. He knows it’s a cowardly move, but as much as he hates to admit it… he loves you and can’t stand the idea of ruining the  life you could have. What he didn’t expect (but should have) was you hunting his ass down and showing up at his hotel thousands of miles away and damn near whooping his ass over his little stunt. You’re in his face and downright yelling at him for being such a little shit that he can’t even accept the love and affection that you’re so openly and willingly giving him. It isn’t until you’re shoving a finger into his chest and growling out, ‘I swear to god, Max Phillips, I will stake you myself if you ever pull some moronic shit like that again!’ with that fierce glint in your eye that Max realizes he not only completely (and stupidly) underestimated you, but he could not imagine going on with his life (afterlife?) without your feisty little ass by his side.

Pero Tovar: Another who doesn’t think much of the age difference. It’s a product of the times as well, a man taking a younger wife. Besides, this gruff mercenary may be downright terrifying in his skill with his sword, but he wants a happy wife with many babes in his home. If Pero has his way, he’s got a huge family - children pulling at your skirts with another at your breast and another growing strong in the swell of your belly. It eases that almost primal urge, knowing he was a young and healthy wife to breed his many children off of. 

Agent Whiskey: Okay, as much as I love Jack… I’ll just say: at least he was someone who can match his ‘golden retriever puppy’ energy. This suave cowboy thrives off of the energy a younger woman gives him and will also 100% be a little tease about the age difference every chance he gets. God forbid you jokingly call him an old man, though. Then you’ve got one very handsy Whiskey on your hands, dragging you to bed to show you just how many different times that old man can make you wail his name.

[creativeashproductions]

If I Stay Part One // Luke Patterson

Summary: A beautiful day Luke visits a record store to relive the times he would buy an album, but he finds more than memories. He meets you and a connection blossoms between you two and then Reggie and Alex as well. All is well until Julie discovers something.

Warning: Swearing, talk of death and car accident!

Words: 2.6k

A/N: This is based off the movie If I Stay and the movie Charlie St. Cloud. Sorry for not posting sooner, my sister in law along with my three nieces were in a car accident. Thankfully the kids are okay but my sister-in-law in currently in hospital due to minor injuries thus far.

TO BE TAGGED SEND AN INBOX PLEASE!

Masterlist

So, Julie’s life changed dramatically in the lost year and few months, firstly her family lost their mother. Secondly, Julie’s love for music faded until the melody and lyrics were haunting memories. Thirdly, after losing her place in the music program, she had to question her sanity. For in her garage lived three teenage ghosts to her disbelief and horror quite frankly; the ghosts grew on her so much she was in a band with them.

In the hours that Julie was attending school, the boys tended to tour the entire city. They enjoyed seeing the changes that had happened for the two and a half decades. Reggie really enjoyed the western-themed stores, even scaring a little girl with a floating cowboy hat that disappeared once on his head. Alex adored learning about the drastic changes within in the LGBTQ+ community, he had plans for when 2021 LA Pride came in June. Luke, of course, would go anywhere that had music such as music stores, record stores, concert venues and even followed a rock legend once.

“Ooh.” A voice spoke in the record store, “This would be the perfect gift.”

Luke turned to see you gazing at the Rock N’ Roll records with a passion in your eyes and an adorable smile that melted his heart. He couldn’t help but walk closer even if he had no clue if you could see him or not.

“Def Leppard? Definitely one of my favourite bands.” Luke spoke anticipating the usual one-sided conversation. His speculation shattered when you turned to face him with big eyes, “You can see me.”

You nodded your head, pushing your hands into your faded blue jeans glancing around the store, hoping the owner didn’t notice. To your relief the man was oblivious, Luke glanced over before stepping closer.

 “You’re alive?”

“Mhm.” You spoke, removing a single hand to play with your burgundy jacket that cinched at the waist to give form. It was open to reveal a plain black shirt that left an inch of your midsection free, “I always wondered if ghosts were real. I got my answer.”

“This is so cool! My friend is the only person that can see my friends and me.” The grin was breathtaking on the teenage ghost. There was a connection between the two that was immediate and intense.

“At least you’re not alone.” You supplied turning to pick up the record, turning it around to read the tracklist. In the end, you decided you didn’t feel like buying it, replacing it you started for the front door.

A college-aged person walked in glued to the screen of the phone not replying as you mentioned a thank you before the door closed. Luke rushed to follow your steady pace in black hiking boots.

“Where are you going?” Luke questioned coming to the same stride as the girl that had taken his attention quickly. His interest had grown when he found he could hold a conversation with her.

“It’s a nice day. I thought I would go for a walk.” You replied, stopping to look around the street with curious eyes. Luke yearned for those eyes to look in his again because he swore he saw a galaxy in them, “Would you like to join me?”

Luke’s head was nodding in response with a new pep in his step as you walked down the street filled with all different kind of stores. Luke recognized Family Living Grocery store as the one that the Molina got their groceries, he and the guys had joined Julie on a trip once. It was one of his worst memories as a ghost, surrounded by snacks and food he couldn’t indulge in.

“So, what’s your story, Caspar?” You questioned stopping to look as at a beautiful dollhouse, “My cousin had one. We actually renovated it a while back for her unborn niece.”

“Caspar?” Luke teased, watching the nostalgia faded from your expression as you continued on the walk. His hazel eyes, greener at the moment, glittered at the different banter he had with you than the guys or Julie.

“Well, I don’t know your name!” You exclaimed turning the corner at a parlour with gorgeous stencilled artwork on the glass.

“Luke. My name is Luke. Hey! I know this shop!” Luke beamed, stepping back to take in the storefront. In the twenty-five years since he last saw it, the blue faded into a teal, but the door was still the same as it always was.

“You have a tattoo?” You asked, scanning his arms bare in the cut off shirt he wore. You couldn’t see any ink on his skin. Luke couldn’t help the smirk on his face at the blatant heated gaze.

“No. It was 1994. We just played our biggest gig at the time, and Bobby decided we should get tattoos.” Luke’s mouth twisted at the mention of his former friend, “Of course we were sixteen and Alex just about fainted in the shop. The guy took one look at Reggie and laughed at our fake IDs. Told us to come back in a few years.”

One of the few memories that weren’t tainted by the betrayal that Trevor Wilson had gone on to do a year after the tattoo fiasco. It was more than not being credited or his songs being stolen, but it was also that someone he wholeheartedly trusted turned his back on them. Luke frankly didn’t care how Bobby coped after that fateful night. Still, he changed his name and refused any mention of his previous music experience. That hurt a lot.

“So, you’re a ’90s kid.” You raised an eyebrow coming to a stop on the edge of the street, pressing the button to cross.

“Technically a ’70s kid. We died in ’95 a few hours before a life-changing gig.” The mood turned sombre as Luke thought back on that one night that life decided to raise both middle fingers at his dreams, “Death by a hot dog.”

The snicker fell from your mouth before you do anything about it but sobered up quickly in the view of his painful admittance.

“So, you’re seventeen?” You asked crossing when the crosswalk light flickered on. Your attention focused on crossing while listening to the teenager.

“Forever seventeen but I would eighteen physically, but if I had survived I would be forty-three.” Luke mused shoving his hands into his staple black jeans with the chains and his constant accessory of a blue rabbit’s foot.

“Oh, damn. I’ve seventeen as well.” You replied dodging pedestrians before humming a to a song you had heard recently but where you did was unknown. You didn’t want to bump into anyone.

Luke glanced down at his watch, somehow even in death it worked, noticing that it was around the time rehearsal would commence. The thought barely ended before a flash of light preceded Alex’s presence. You slightly jumped in response.

“Luke! Julie’s wondering where you are. We have rehearsal.” Alex was surprised that Luke wasn’t already at the studio. He was always the first one holding his guitar for the rest of them.

One glance at the girl beside Luke cemented a reason for his tardiness. Alex could see that you were the reason and a pretty reason too. Alex wished he had your jacket with such a beautiful colour, but the music was more important.

“Oh, man!” Luke panicked fearing that being late would cause Julie to leave the band after the whole school dance fiasco.

“So, Luke. I like your name by the way. I’m Y/N.” You greeted holding back from offering you a hand, your theory would have been proven correct. Ghosts can’t touch other people, all the movies portrayed that.

“Nice to meet you! I’ll find you soon!” Luke shouted seconds before Alex poofed them both away with a single hand on his bandmate’s shoulder.

A content smile appeared before you continued on your way, unaware of the lack of acknowledgement from people on the street.

The next few days, Luke would find you either in the record store or just out front during his free time. He hadn’t realized how lonely he was touring the music entertainment spots until he had your company. Soon you were joined by Alex and Reggie every once in a while.

The three were planning outings with their new lifer friend as Julie grabbed her songbook from her room. She was amused when the three wouldn’t shut up.

“What are you planning?” Julie questioned scanning their animated expressions, even taking in the slight change in Alex’s appearance.

Alex had a braided bracelet of the rainbow on his left wrist that definitely hadn’t been there yesterday. He even seemed calmer and less anxious, as well.

“What happened to Alex?” Julie questioned with a small smirk, “Did you bump into Willie?”

Alex shook his head, “No, Luke met this girl at a record store and then Reggie and I met her. She’s cool! There’s this app she showed us, and it had videos of anything you could imagine!”

Julie’s teasing smile faltered at the mention of Luke meeting someone before it returned once more. She pushed the feeling away as this girl had brought peace to the drummer.

“What’s her name?” Julie asked, pushing the songbook away to listen intently to the new piece of the boys’ afterlife. The three burst into stories of the girl.

“She took me to this cool place nearby where people store their horses!” Reggie burst out, clapping his head, “I already have a country song started! This is so a hit single for our future country album!”

Alex only released an exasperated sigh at Reggie’s idea that he voiced every single day since the beginning of the band. Luke was just used to finding sheets of songs from Reggie around the studio and often his songbook too.

“She also brought me a bag of clothing she had in her house that she let me go through. Apparently, her house is the place where cousins take their old clothing.” Alex supplied striking a pose in his new white sweater with a rainbow logo on the front.

Julie grinned at the positivity radiating off the two boys.

“Is she a ghost?”

Luke shook his head, “No. She’s alive.”

A spark of happiness flits itself inside of Julie before it dissipated because Flynn had already gently let the girl down about Luke.

“What’s her name! I’m gonna find her Instagram!” Julie took out her phone waiting as Alex supplied her the name. Her thumbs froze before she could type staring down at the black screen.

The name was familiar.

Laying on a bed on San Pablo Street was a girl with her eyes closed and a serene expression. This bed wasn’t just any bed in a home. Instead, this bed was one no one wished to be in. A bed with machines surrounding and right in the middle of those machines was Y/N.

The very girl that had met Luke, Reggie and Alex were in fact in the ICU of a hospital recovering in a coma.

“Why do you look like that?” Luke demanded as the colour drained from the lead singer of their band.

“Are you sure it was Y/N Y/L/N?” Julie gulped dread filling her veins as each boy nodded their head and the girl slumped, “I go to school with her. The thing is she’s been in a coma for two weeks now.”

You were outside the record store once more as the three ghosts appeared in front of you each looking the worst you had ever seen them.

“Did you lie?” Luke questioned stepping closer to the teenage girl that furrowed her brows in confusion, “You said that you are alive. Why did you lie?”

“Lie?” You asked, taking a step back from the odd energy the boys had. A look of distraught on each face, “What are you talking about?”

“Why are you here every day at this exact time. Never late, never early.” Alex questioned sick to his stomach as your brows came together.

“I- walk…” You trailed off thinking of the last week in deep thought paling as you had no recollection of going home or getting to the store. It was like you blacked out each time.

Actually, the last time you remember not being with the guys or at the store was two weeks ago.

“I don’t re…member.” You whispered, “I haven’t seen my family since…oh my god.”

Luke stepped closer, terrified as he reached out, hoping with his entire being his hand would go through you. It didn’t. Luke’s hand rested on your arm, still wearing that burgundy jacket. Your eyes flickered between his solid hand and the same outfit you wore for weeks now. Why would you be wearing a jacket and hiking boots in Los Angeles?

“My cousin had been saving up for a trip for her eighteenth birthday. She wanted to go skiing, so we split the cost between our families.”

As if a wall broke, you realized with horror that the college boy that hadn’t held the for you like you first thought. He hadn’t seen or heard you because in his world you weren’t there. No one had acknowledged you because they couldn’t see you just like they couldn’t see Luke.

“What else do you remember?” Reggie spoke up next, noticing that Luke was getting more upset. His eyes going so light the green appeared to be blue and glittered with tears and his heart dropping.

“My parents, my cousin and I were driving up the mountain in the rented car. There-“

Two Weeks Ago

Your head leaned again Lou’s head sharing the headphones connected to your phone blasting the carefully curated playlist. Lou had been living with your parents and you the last six months as her parents were travelling for work. It was a dream because she was like a sister already and vice versa; Lou as a surprise baby with her older sister being ten years older.

“We haven’t been to the slopes since we first got married.” Dad said glancing over at your mother in the passenger seat, “Didn’t we conceive-“

“Dad! Gross!” You shouted, wrinkling your nose as he glanced in the rear-view mirror to smile at your antics. Your mother’s laugh was probably one of your most favourite sounds in the world, it was warm like hot chocolate on a cold day.

“Did you see that video of the hologram band?” Lou asked, not paying attention to your family’s antics, “It’s super cool.”

“We still have half of our playlist to go through. You should show me when we get to the cabin.” You replied, “We could put it on the projector with the others.”

The others being your extended family, including the surprise of Lou’s parents. Your mother pointed out the snow on the mountain gaining everyone’s attention. It was beautiful compared to sunny Los Angeles.

Lou’s thumb was just about to click the video of Julie and the Phantoms against your wishes. You felt the fear before the yell, snapping your head up you watched as a pickup truck hit ice swerving into your lane. The screech of tires preceded the crunch of the vehicles hitting each other. Throughout the surrounding area, the echoes of the crash bounced off the mountains scaring birds away. Miraculously Lou’s phone survived the crash and played the electric video of ‘Edge of Great’ by Julie and the Phantoms. A song you would hum under your breath during your walks meeting the guys.

The snow turned red under four of five bodies. You lay nonconscious a stark difference in the burgundy jacket and black shirt you had painstakingly chosen that morning.

If I Stay Part Two (Final)

Tag List (PLEASE SEND AN INBOX TO BE ADDED!)

@safehavenmuse @siennanoelle01 @whiterose291 @mell-bell @blackhood5sos @ficrecsideblog @ifilwtmfc @deadpoolgirl23 @crappy-unicorn @sunsetcurve-h@elioelioeli0 @lovesanimals @popcrone818 @lolychu @deepsleepnat @tenaciousperfectionunknown @aunicornmademedoit @just-a-writer-here @simp4reggie @parkeret @faithiebrock01 @overlyhypedup @differentsoulrascalsalad @aesthetic-lyss @versaceapa​ @carleywhittaker​ @lostgirl219​ @itsalexx21​ @elllaoo4 @merxxleighann​ @mediocremunge @fantomlovesjuke4ever @dpaccione​

[theoriginalcarnivorousmuffin]

"I have some problems with [Luke] as a character)" was mentioned in your Reylo response post. Very interested in what your thoughts are on Luke! 👀

Do you want me to get murdered?! Well, if I didn’t get lynched for calling Sirius Black a Stephen King villain I can surely do no worse here.

Let’s do this.

Caveat that, as usual, I am wearing a heretic hat and expect no one to agree with what I’m saying.

Luke Skywalker, much like Harry Potter, is not the character the authors and vast majority of the audience seem to think he is. Luke is seen as the true coming of the Jedi, the light side of the Force incarnate, and someone so innately good he was able to redeem his father, restore peace to the galaxy, and restore the Jedi Order.

I disagree with all of this.

I think this is what Luke thinks he did but the truth is far sadder and, well, in general worse.

First, let’s start off with Luke’s hero’s journey throughout the saga.

Luke starts your ordinary guy, he’s not bad by any means, but he’s not particularly good either. He lives in the middle of bumfuck nowhere, part of a relatively well off family, and set to inherit the world’s most boring business: moisture farming. He has dreams of going out, seeing the world, and becoming a great pilot.

Important to remember but what most people gloss over: Luke starts if not pro-empire then neutral towards it. Luke wants to attend flight school, given his desire for glory and adventure, he probably wants to join the empire’s military. He might not like Storm Troopers all that much but the fire of revolution doesn’t burn in his heart the way it does Leia’s.

Now, personally, I like this about Luke. It makes sense to me. Given where and how Luke grows up, given all he’s ever known, I think this makes perfect sense for his viewpoint. He might get hassled by stormtroopers now and then but the empire really doesn’t interfere with his life except in a) propaganda b) offering an escape from his dull existence. What would someone like Luke know about the Rebel Alliance?

The movie however... sort of goes out of its way not to acknowledge this, and this is where I start having problems with Luke. Luke gets Leia’s message about Obi-Wan Kenobi, sees the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen in his life, and gets to embark on this amazing adventure. The story sort of takes it for granted that he then agrees with old hermit, Obi-Wan, that the empire is evil. This is helped because Luke does too.

In other words, Luke’s opinions are very shallow and lack any introspection. Finding himself in the company of Jedi, smugglers, and hot rebel princesses, Luke suddenly goes, “Ah, yeah, I hate the empire!” We never really see him change his mind by reflecting over what the Death Star means/the destruction of Alderaan, the death of his relatives, or his meeting with Darth Vader. Luke seems to be won over... Honestly, it feels like it’s because the Rebel Alliance let him fly a plane before the Empire did.

Then he blows up the Death Star, is a galactic hero/enemy number one of the empire, and he’s full on board resistance man and the next Jedi.

Which brings us to point number two, Luke legitimately thinks he’s a Jedi.

Obi-Wan gives him half a word of advice for maybe half of a day, watching Luke swing a sword around and get shot at by a robot. Yoda trains Luke in a swamp for, generously, maybe a week or so before Luke ditches him (against his advice even) to go save his friends. Luke has 0 training (beat out only by Rey, who wasn’t trained at all). More, he lives in a world where everything he knows of the Jedi is colored by Palpatine’s propaganda and old legends. The Jedi temples have been ransacked and presumably next to nothing of the Jedi culture remains, I can imagine Palpatine as being nothing but thorough in his elimination of the Jedi religion. The Jedi survived in Obi-Wan, Yoda, and in some sense Anakin Skywalker.

They do not survive in Luke. Luke puts on some quasi-Jedi robes, slashes his sword around a few times to save Leia from Jabba, and he says, “Now I am a Jedi!” Luke is that kid, LARPing, yelling “firebolt, firebolt, firebolt!” Only, that is, if the LARPing consisted of him representing a massacred culture thinking he’s it’s sole legitimate heir. So... Luke is playing Cowboy and Indians, and he’s the Indian.

In my opinion, Vader wasn’t so much redeemed as he always had a very high priority in finding his son and keeping him alive. The obvious way to do this would be to take Luke as an apprentice and, eventually, murder Palpatine. Well, that didn’t pan out, and eventually Anakin chooses murder-suicide to save his son’s life. It’s very touching, I’m not knocking the moment, but I do think a lot of that was Anakin vice the inherent goodness of Luke.

Anyways, Luke and pals save the day, they start a new republic and then they learn life is complicated. The new republic fails within decades, worse, it’s feeble and likely torn apart by civil war, strife, and constant infighting. It is utterly powerless, to the point where the First Order easily rises to replace the Empire and take over its vast resources (with Palpatine building a secret sith army on the side no less). That Leia rather than lead an army through the new republic in the sequels is leading her own private resistance army is very telling.

Fitting in with this, Luke starts a Jedi Academy. The prequels, and yes go ahead and slander them all you like but they’re better than many admit, taught us a few things but one of them is that it is hard to be a Jedi. To walk the path of a Jedi is to open yourself up to great temptation to use the dark side, and the dark side isn’t just some strange quirk or sense of duality, it is the equivalent of selling your soul. It is an unnatural action that leads to unnatural abilities. 

You get a bunch of Force Sensitive kids in a room: you better know what you’re doing.

Luke doesn’t. He collects a handful of the remaining Jedi artifacts that Palpatine somehow didn’t destroy, opens up his Jedi School (even teaching his nephew), and within maybe five years the place is burned to the ground, his students murdered by his nephew, and his nephew runs off to join a Sith Lord who appeared out of nowhere (Luke not realizing that this was just immortal cockroach Palpatine). 

Luke then becomes a grumpy old man who just can’t deal, sits on a rock drinking blue milk, and whines that for how shitty of a teach he was that Obi-Wan guy was worse for messing up with his father. Which, frankly, is very in character for Luke.

Luke has never really failed in his life, or at least, never had to recognize his own failure. So, when he does, he a) doesn’t realize what went wrong b) blames everyone but himself c) sits on a rock and waits to die.

So yeah, that’s Luke for you.

A whiney, shallow, stupid, somewhat narcissistic, hero. I... don’t dislike the concept of his character, played more straight I’d love his character, but I dislike that people talk about him like he’s the most noble creature to ever grace the planet and has this inherent understanding of a murdered people that the murdered people themselves never had. 

(All the Jedi were doing it wrong! Luke made the real Jedi Order! Is something I see a lot and... well... say what you will about their philosophies, but this kid who was not a part of that culture “doing it better”... That’s real problematic folks, real problematic.)

[obiwanscloak]

I am such a fan of literally any ship involving mando-

Mando and Omera??  adorable, would definitely have lots of kids, the sweetest couple.

Mando and Boba? power couple, would comfort each other so well, could take over the whole galaxy but look cute while doing it.

Mando and Cobb Vanth?? gay cowboys, need I say more? (that first scene in the diner though,,their tension is unmatched)

Mando and Cara? I prefer them as a brotp, but their potential, they would be such a hot couple (and she definitely tops)

Mando and Luke?? I’m in love with this crackship even though they exchanged only a couple of words. best dads for Grogu.

[omegatheunknown]

AEW Double or Nothing 2021

In which the spirit of WCW is alive in confusing and delightful ways and we are left to parse whether overbooking and extracurriculars are offset by having actually very good wrestling happening at the same time.

- Lessons learned from Revolution on the production side? Maybe just cool it on pyro, though the rappelling adventure in the Stadium Stampede showed some of that now-characteristic 'trust us it'll look better on TV' flair. Hot crowd tends to paper over most woes, and the crowd was pretty hot. My one gripe is that the casino theme is hanging around like yesterday's takeout containers. Nothing wrong with clinging to a theme, I just think it's time for season 2. My suggestion? Under the Sea.

*Pre-Card Serena Deeb (C) v Riho for the NWA Women's Championship (***1/2) - Serena Deeb's star has finally risen. She's a remarkably consistent technician and she can get a match out of anyone at this point. She's working at the level of Mercedes Martinez or Madison Eagles at this point, it's amazing that she was overlooked or considered fit only to be a coach for so long. With the NWA belt she has this new swagger, she's basically everything Tessa Blanchard might bring to the table with none of the downsides (Serena has a lot of friends and seems like a lovely person, even!) - Riho's back and here to stay. Her time in Stardom didn't do much for my evaluation of her, which is that there are many better wrestlers that would be better representatives of the joshi style and she's merely pretty good. - The match was very good. Serena showcased a champion's aggression against a sympathetic Riho, they really work well against each other, Deeb's technical prowess against Riho's flexibility led to a very dynamic finish.

*Main Card Hangman Adam Page v Brian Cage (***1/2) - Here the shenanigans start. Brian Cage is on Team Taz, Team Taz has nothing else much to do tonight, so why wouldn't Team Taz flex their muscles, bait us with HOOK, etc? (Because it would be nice to have some variety in the card in terms of a match where one competitor stands across from another competitor?) - Hangman is (checking notes) yeah, still over as fuck, as befits the Anxious Millennial Cowboy. Cage terrifies me, he's a child's drawing of a body builder. He do be very agile for a man of his immense musculature tho. They match up well, Page is biggish for a flyer, Cage loves to play catch. Nothing much to write home about, other than Hangman's beautiful moonsault to the floor and what was overall a very good curtain jerker. - Okay fine, I am curious about Cage's reluctance to lean on the goons, Starks can't come back soon enough.

The Young Bucks v Jon Moxley & Eddie Kingston (***) - I will not be referring to Mox & Eddie as (The) Wild Things because it gives me 'he calls it the wacky line' flashbacks for some reason. - The Bucks have to cheat and abuse Rick Knox's attention span constantly to be on even footing with Mox & Eddie, which is a clever sort of thing that gets washed out by the appearance of LG and Karl Anderson, which again, is cool in a vacuum but was the story of the evening. - Pace was weird - repetitive in eliminating Eddie, then Mox fights back, failed hope spot, Bucks team up, Eddie saves x2/3 in a row. - Mox, unlike Cody (in so many ways,) will probably actually be taking some time off with Renee, which is the kind of thing I would prefer not to know in terms of booking, but they really uh, put him down on the canvas here, and it felt pretty finale-esque.

Casino Battle Royale (n/r, but on the balance pro) - Any changes to the theme of the PPV would likely include changing up the nonsense suit format of these largely joyless slogs. - Obviously anticipating a NJPW talent, or... I dunno, actually -- Lio Rush was a surprise. Got in a quick demonstration of his otherworldly quickness, and you know what, there's probably a fun place for him in AEW. He'll need some friends, of course, feel like Team Taz might fit his temperament. I wonder if he was aware of the Mark Henry news... - Christian does not need to win this kind of match to get a title shot, obviously, but that said it was super lovely to use him to give Jungle Boy the shine. Jungle Boy would be a license to print money if he was even as big as Hangman. - Could register some continued griping about how Penta is not getting his due in AEW but he also literally was dressed as the Joker so I'm low on sympathy on this one particular night.

Anthony Ogogo v Cody Rhodes (*) - I did not like this. It's hard for me to read jingoism as a face move to begin with, and Cody's was egregiously tone deaf and kinda silly yet delivered without a trace of irony because Cody doesn't do irony on purpose, ridiculous neck tattoo aside. - Great argument to be made that Ogogo just isn't experienced enough to be winning matches against Cody. But like, what are we doing here? Cody needs to take some time off, maybe. I thought that's what was happening when he had his mini feud with Penta that really just ended in quick decisive Cody win. I though maybe Cody was being turned when QT and The Factory snapped-- sure, they're a group of impotent player 2s, but Cody is an out of touch elitist with a callous and manipulative streak. Alas, also no. America #1. - Cody is approximately 8 times as tough as Billy Gunn based on his weathering of the one punch man. Match ran a bit long given how little there was to go on. Cody gigged? Quelle surprise. - Cody had the best match on the card like, 3 out of the first 4 AEW events or something, and that was all booking and storytelling. I do hope Cody follows Moxley's lead into a little sabbatical.

Miro (C) v Lance Archer for the TNT Championship (**1/2) - Card's hossiest hoss match, a quick burst reminiscent of a car wreck. Absolutely hit on what it should've hit on but a little slow moving considering it went all of 10 minutes. - I will not complain about Jake the Snake, who I love. And also the gimmick spot, with Miro very astutely yeeting what was definitely a snake in a bag (surely.) back down the tunnel.

Dr Britt Baker, DMD v Hikaru Shida (C) for the AEW Women's Championship (***) - Picked up a lot of steam toward the end but seemed a little toothless (heh) until the last five. - Shida 'deserved' some more time as champion in front of crowds but also it's time to let heel Britt reach her peak, I can't even imagine how obnoxious she can be as the champ, it's going to be great.

Sting & Darby Allin v Ethan Page & Scorpio Sky (***1/2) - Such is the power of STING that I feel like I might be underrating this match... I mean it was an okay match about very simply getting some revenge and the sixty year old man did a very subdued Code Red and a slightly less subdued dive. He's also Sting. They missed an opportunity in calling it the 'Scorpio' Death Drop, but the main takeaway here is you see something like this where it's The Icon and you start to understand why WWE trots out their legends to come out of incredibly still kick ass without bending their knees. - The difference, I guess, is that Sting is absolutely being used to build up Darby Allin, whereas it's not like the fed brought back Goldberg and his attendant aura to pump up... anyone but Goldberg?

Kenny Omega (C) v PAC v Orange Cassidy for the AEW World Championship (****) - Off the top I have to say I'm very sad that the rest of the Galaxy's Greatest Friends were seen only very briefly, nice of them to bring OC's backpack. - Also have to point out that PAC's promo featured one of my favourite jokes, that Kenny must be short for Kenneth as a sort of legal/birth name belonging to a professional wrestler. (See also: Samoa Joseph) - And Mr Cassidy certainly did try in this match, ragdoll sells and all. Kenneth and PAC are absurd talents who bring aerial, power and technical maneuvers in equal measure and OC is not doing any of those on the same level, but he picked his spots, showed his genre savvy and hung in there to the point that he wasn't just the fall guy. - The extracurriculars continue in a match that was already a little overboard for silliness due to asymmetry... I think if you're the Invisible Hand it would've made sense to save up all your tricks for this match, but who am I to question the golden goose? - Sure, Kenny and Don ran the classic heel manager interference spot and taking out the ref in desperation spot but having to take out the ref because PAC wouldn't break the hold is fun, as is the stupid/inspired sense in running the 'smash opponent with the belt' spot four times so as none of your heavy gold prizes feel left out. (I love that AAA Mega Championship, they weren't on TV so we get to see it?) - "Fuck You, Don," indeed.

The Inner Circle v The Pinnacle in 'Stadium Stampede II' (***1/2) - This one had to grow on me for two reasons, first that it's usually pretty unforgivable to co-opt the main event spot from the championship match, and second to law of diminishing returns on dumb gimmick matches. - But grow it did. There's a full on meat locker? Commentary will refer to a cardboard cut-out of Shahid Khan as Tony Khan's father (that's canon now,) and Jericho will lovingly pat it? Konnan happened to be the DJ at whatever night club there is a Jaguar Stadium? Spears surrounds himself dramatically with chairs and his hoisted by his own petard? - Ultimately it comes down to letting Sammy shine. His involvement with the Inner Circle has sometimes come at the cost of being able to showcase that prior to AEW he was an ascendant talent in PWG, on his way to Ricochet level feats of acrobatic excess. Still feel like Sammy could've/should've been the one tossed off the cage a few weeks ago, but even better is being the guy getting the pin in the ring.

[blazehedgehog]

As an Internet veteran and draw-person, I really need to ask: what anime influenced you and many online artists circa 2000s? There's a specific style from those early 2000s webcomics and fanart I'm looking for and trying to replicate, and your old art fit in that "style", in my opinion. Thank you!

It’s hard to narrow it down, but it’s also not that hard to narrow it down. Anime was a much, much smaller industry back then. The “boom” was just beginning thanks to efforts by the Scifi Channel and Cartoon Network to bring anime to television in timeslots that people would actually watch.

So here’s your crash course in casual anime history, I guess, from someone who definitely isn’t like... obsessed with anime. Or isn’t anymore, but was back then.

For me, it all kind of started with, like... Dragon Ball, and this was a show that struggled to gain any traction at first. Where I lived, it aired at 5am on Sunday mornings. If you knew a kid that watched Dragon Ball, there was a solidarity there like, “Yup, you get it.”

Then DiC got the license to Sailor Moon and started airing it in the weekday morning slot I would typically describe as “right before you catch the bus.” You’d wake up around 6am, maybe 6:15, and watch whatever was on at 6:30 while you ate breakfast. As the credits were rolling, you’d head out to catch the school bus. Sailor Moon was what I remember doing that with the most. That combined with Dragon Ball formed my foundational interest in anime.

Around this time (1995, 1996) you were starting to see anime start to seep in to the mainstream elsewhere. There was a commercial I remember for, like, an anthology of anime classics like Akira...

And, y’know, when you’re like, 14 or 15 and you see a commercial like this -- cartoons! With blood! And nudity! It’s like, holy crap. Most of the classics we know today (Akira, Ghost in the Shell) were only really available via mail order like this back then.

More shows started getting localized for TV, too, like Ronin Warriors was one a lot of my friends got in to. It was considered “The Manly Sailor Moon.” And then there was, of course, Samurai Pizza Cats. Eventually Saban stopped dubbing Dragon Ball altogether and moved straight over to Dragon Ball Z, and that gained enough popularity that I think it eventually shook it out of its Sunday Morning time slot to somewhere a little more visible by general audiences.

Coming in to 1997 and 1998, anime was really starting to gain some momentum. The Scifi Channel had begin doing their “Saturday Anime” show, which aired at 3am every Friday Night/Saturday Morning. They probably figured it was one of the only ways they could get away with showing violent cartoons.

For me, this was where I got my first “real” taste of anime. They had a stable of about 5 or 10 movies and OVAs they’d run. Venus Wars, Vampire Hunter D, Project A-KO, Robot Carnival, Tenchi Muyo In Love (my favorite), Project L.I.L.Y. Cat, Beautiful Dreamer, Galaxy Express 999, Fatal Fury The Motion Picture, Record of Lodoss War, Dominion Tank Police, Roujin-Z, Demon City Shinjiku, Gall Force...

That felt like the bandaid got ripped off. Suddenly we were all buzzing about anime. Hey, have you heard about this movie called Ninja Scroll? There’s hardcore sex in it! No American movie, live action or not, could ever match the body horror of Akira! Hey, does anyone remember Robotech from the 80′s? That was actually anime, too! Wow!

Cartoon Network was smart enough to take notice and snatched up the rights to air Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball Z at reasonable, non-morning hours, and they dug out Voltron and put together a simple block of anime. I don’t even think it necessarily had a name, it was just an hour or maybe 90 minutes of anime a day, and it exploded. Right place, right time. So Cartoon Network expanded.

They added more classic anime, and some shows that were similar in tone, and called it Toonami. Robotech, Ronin Warriors, The Real Adventures of Johnny Quest, Reboot, Thundercats...

And this became the place to watch anime. Which is when we enter the era you’re asking about, the early 2000′s. This is where it starts to feel like a little too much to cover, because it came hot, heavy, and fast. There was a thirst for anime that was hard to quench because production companies were small and choosy about what they’d dub, but at the same time, a sort of gold rush was starting.

When I think of peak, classic-era Toonami, the stuff that really influenced me artistically, it was shows like Outlaw Star, Ruroni Kenshi, and Gundam Wing. I’m sure I’d also have friends speak highly of Big-O, G-Gundam, and Yu Yu Hakusho, three shows I never really got in to.

Eventually, Cartoon Network (and Williams Street, then called Ghost Planet Industries) began to realize that there was a growing library of anime they couldn’t show in the afternoon because it was too intense for the kids. There was also an undoubtedly vocal contingent of anime fans who were frustrated when their favorite shows had to be edited for broadcast. This gave birth to Toonami: The Midnight Run, the precursor to what would eventually become Adult Swim. The Midnight Run became home to uncut (or simply less-cut) episodes of afternoon shows that restored blood, alcoholic references, and the few cases of more extreme violence.

Midnight Run started getting exclusive shows, too. When I think about what Midnight Run (and later Adult Swim) was known for, it was shows like Cowboy Bebop, FLCL, and again, though it wasn’t really something I saw a ton of, Paranoia Agent.

Other networks did try to cash in on the anime craze. I think Tech TV/G4 tried to get in on things with Serial Experiments Lain and a few other shows, but to be honest, it never hit as hard as Toonami did. Then there was obviously the work of guys like 4KIDS, with the Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh and Digimon shows on Saturday Morning, but those felt noticeably different in vibe and in tone (something that only got more pronounced when Kids WB started a Saturday Morning Toonami block that was even more aggressively sanitized than what could be shown on Cartoon Network).

Beyond broadcast TV, the stuff I remember being popular among my circle of friends were things like Tenchi Universe, Ranma 1/2, Slayers, Saber Marionette, and.... like, Di Gi Charat and Chobits? This was probably right around the era of Azumanga Daioh, too.

Unfortunately, much past 2003 or 2004 is where I started falling off of anime. The feeling of it being “new” and “special” was starting to wear off, and there was enough coming out that the standard of quality was beginning to drop. Whereas small studios like ADV and Manga Corps. could only afford to bring out the best of the best, we were starting to get junk like Duel Masters, Rozen Maiden and Tenchi Muyo GXP.

I remember friends speaking highly of shows like Bleach (heh), .hack, Full Metal Panic, Midori Days, Tenjo Tenge, Yakitate Japan, Eureka Seven, and Air Gear, but I can’t tell you anything about them, personally.

Either way, I’m sure I’ve given you more than enough to chew on.