#dang he looks good in red or in any color really

[darlingshane]

Jon Bernthal at the Bob Marley: One Love premiere in LA on Feb. 6, 2024

[c0la-queen]

Heya, I just sort of stumbled across your blog and I’m genuinely so impressed by how good your writing is! I ended up binge reading a bunch of your works lol. I was wondering if I could request something for Eddsworld? Honestly, your last Tord piece has been stuck in my mind so I was thinking of a situation where the reader is either uncomfortable because of some other guy or even something more dangerous like being followed and Tord ends up being involved. I know it’s really cliche but I’m interested in how he would handle it and what he would prioritise first. Obviously, I know you’re gonna be busy for a while so don’t feel pressured to get this done soon or at all if you don’t feel up to it. Hope you have a wonderful day/night ❤️

HIII OMG reading this made me so giddy!! I had free time this weekend and your request got my neurons firing so I HAD to write a piece for this right away!!! Thank you so much for your sweet words, and I hope you enjoy it! Mwah mwah!

Scary Dog Privilege | Tord x Reader

Warnings: Creepy incel guy, heavy misogyny, homophobia if you squint, I cringed writing this guy, Tord makes a threat

Words: ~1.9k

----

The windows were down on Tord's car, letting the breeze in. It whipped your hair around, sometimes blowing a few strands into your face. It only made you giggle. A huff to your right drew your attention to the driver's side. Tord had one hand on the wheel, his other arm rested on the windowsill. His vape was in his hand.

"What are you laughing about over there?"

He blew a cloud out of the window before answering you.

"You're being silly. It's cute."

You settled back in your seat as you came to a stop at a red light. Without the rumble of the engine, the music playing from the speaker floated out into the town around you. You glanced at the display screen on the radio. fuK u lol by CORPSE. Your head bobbed as you took in the sights of the town. There was an older couple in the lane beside you. The woman seemed to be eyeing you suspiciously. It didn't bother you, though. You looked down, smoothing down the fabric of your outfit. White skirt, black tights, strawberry cardigan, and pink converse. Heart shaped earrings danged from your ears, and a matching heart shaped purse was at your feet. You felt cute and happy. Tord had, at least, put on a different outfit for your date, rather than wearing his usual red hoodie combo. It was still red themed, but you didn't expect any less. If your boys were anything, they were consistent.

You and Tord had always been opposites in most things. He was all doom and gloom, ice cold glares, vapes and cigarettes, black clothes and heavy rock music. He was blunt, he seemed apathetic, and often was rude. You were energetic and sweet. You loved bright colors and cutesy things. Cake and frappes with lots of whipped cream. You loved to share compliments with others, had a big heart, and cared deeply for others. That's not to say that you and Tord were incompatible - your relationship had been going strong for a couple of years now. Your opposite traits seemed to balance each other out. When you got too overwhelmed or worked up, he was there to douse you with a healthy round of realism, grounding you back to the present and calming you down. You were there when he started to feel like he wasn't himself, when he started to slip back into the person he was forced to be in the cold winters of Norway, you reminded him of the warmth of home.

And, over time, you developed similarities. Before you met him, you had dipped your toes into anime, but he let you watch them with him and soon it became a tradition of yours to binge-watch shows together. Tord had stopped drawing since high school, but watching you mindlessly doodle on blank paper while he tinkered away at his work desk reminded him of the joy it had brought him as a teen - so he started again. Plus, he had a brand new muse this time. Or if there was things that one of you enjoyed doing that wasn't quite the other's thing, that was okay too. Tord would sit at the kitchen table while you baked, scrolling away on his phone and occasionally showing you Tik Toks that you'd like. You would sit on his lap while he played PC games, either playing calmer games on your Switch or watching his gameplay until you fell asleep.

It looked strange to others, but for you and Tord, it worked.

You zoned back in as the car pulled into a parking space. Tord turned to you as he parked.

"Where'd you go, hm?"

"Nowhere. Just thinking of you."

Tord gave you a scrutinizing look, attempting to see if you were lying to him or not. (He always said you had a knack for downplaying your feelings. You insisted you had no idea what he was talking about.) Seemingly satisfied with what he found, he hummed and shut off the engine. You climbed out of the car, stretching out your legs.

The manga store that you and Tord liked to frequent was only a 20 minute ride into town from your neighborhood. It wasn't a little hole-in-the-wall, five sets of aisles in a tiny room type of place. This store was actually fairly popular, seeing an average flow of customers throughout the day. It helped that the owners had implemented a café area, where you could order anime character themed drinks.

The girl working the café counter waved at the two of you as you walked in. You smiled and waved as you walked over. She was familiar with you, since she worked on a lot of the days that you came in. You and her got along really well.

"Hi, Ruby! You dyed your hair a new color! The lavender looks really good on you."

"Thank you! I did love the red, but it was starting to get a little boring for me. Thought I'd spice it up."

She set down the equipment she was cleaning and walked over to the register.

"You guys gonna have your usual or do you wanna try something new?"

Tord was likely going to just have his usual drink, but you decided to give a new drink a chance. You looked up at Tord.

"I wanna try the Squirtle Sour Candy Boba."

He nodded, then ushered you off to the aisles. That's how things usually went during your outings here. He'd order your drinks while you went wandering off into the aisles, and he'd find you after the drinks were ready. It had taken a bit of argument between the two of you for you to give up trying to pay for your own drinks - he was just as stubborn as you were sometimes. You came to a compromise, though, when he let you buy your own manga and merch.

As usual, your first pit stop was to the romance manga. There weren't too many other customers - an older alt couple looking at the Jojo manga, a teenage boy at the BL section, and a small group of teenage girls giggling softly in the isekai aisle. You hummed softly as you looked over the covers, seeing if anything new caught your eye. You stopped once you reached the section you were looking for. Komi Can't Communicate.

You crouched down so you were level with the more recent volumes. Most of the time, you bought three volumes at a time. You huffed softly when you realized that this time, they were missing one of the ones you needed. Volumes 12, 13, and 15 were there - but no volume 14. With an exasperated sigh, you reached out and picked up volume 12, only to nearly drop it when a voice startled you.

"You know, there are more tasteful series that you'd probably enjoy more than that one."

You looked to your right. Someone had walked into the aisle with you when you weren't paying attention. It was a man, looking to be in around his 30s or so. You could feel yourself fight back a physical reaction to his appearance, and not in a good way. He had on what you could recognize as a Deadpool shirt on underneath a black zip-up hoodie that looked like it hadn't been washed in far too long. The ensemble was topped off perfectly with a leather necklace cord and a metal pendant that you would've guessed was a Naruto symbol of some kind (admittedly, you had never watched Naruto, and Tord mentioned that it wasn't really worth it in his opinion.)

Alarm bells were going off in your head at the sight of him.

"Oh. Is that so?"

As you stood up straight, you gave him a smile that you hoped wasn't too obviously forced. If he noticed, he didn't care.

"Since you're here by yourself, clearly you're a female of sense. You should start off with Dragon Ball. It is the very zenith of anime culture, and anyone who hasn't experienced it doesn't deserve to call themselves an anime fan."

Your alarm bells got louder.

"Actually, um, I know what Dragon Ball is. I've watched it since I was little - my older sibling showed it to me."

You hated the way an excited glint flashed across the man's eyes. He stepped a little closer to you.

"It seems I was right about you. You do have taste. It's not every day I meet a female who is familiar with real anime. Usually its only females who have been brainwashed by social media to think that they're bisexual, who come in here to read trash like Haikyu."

He stepped closer again. You tried to subtly shift backwards.

"Shows like that shouldn't even be categorized as anime. Its all woke propaganda that makes females change their dating standards for submissive men. But I can tell that you're different. You-"

"There you are."

Something solid and warm pressed against your back. You felt yourself immediately relax in Tord's presence. Turning to him, you gratefully took your drink from his hand.

His eyes weren't on you.

Tord was staring down the man in front of you, eyes the color of cold steel. He was easily taller than the other man, and definitely stronger. The man seemed to cower slightly.

"I was, uh, just talking to the lovely girl here-"

Tord cut him off by saying your name. Only when you tilted your head back to him did he finally glance at you.

"Get your other two volumes."

He didn't need to tell you twice. Ignoring the now blubbering man, who was once again the focus of Tord's piercing gaze, you dipped down and grabbed volumes 13 and 15. You could look for 14 some other time.

"Go to the plushie aisle. I'll meet you there."

You only spared one last glance at the man before slipping past Tord, heading around to the aisle filled with plushies and other merch. You couldn't see or hear Tord and the man, and you weren't sure you wanted to.

Standing in front of the bin of plushies, you slid your phone out of your purse and pulled up your private messages with Edd. You typed out a quick message to him.

'Tord might beat a guy to death.'

Edd, who was working on some commissions today, replied fast.

'Nothing new. What was it this time?'

'Creepy guy wouldn't leave me alone. Gave off incel vibes.'

'Yikes. I'm on Tord's side. Hope he kicks the guy's ass.'

Before you could continue the chat, you felt arms wrap around your waist. Tord rested his chin against your shoulder.

"You shouldn't tattle on me to Edd."

"Edd doesn't care, as long as you don't get yourself hurt. What did you do to the dude?"

Tord huffed. He was grumpy.

"Told him that if he was ever a creep to you again, I'd saw his balls off with a rusty scalpel and shove them down his throat. It was effective. He ran away, like a little bitch."

Despite it all, you couldn't help but giggle. You turned, and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek.

"My hero. Let's go look at the Jujutsu Kaisen section."

[yona049]

𝕄𝕚𝕘𝕦𝕖𝕝 𝕆'𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕒 𝕩 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕖𝕣

Part 2

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

𓆩𓆪𓆩𓆪𓆩𓆪𓆩𓆪𓆩𓆪

Disclaimer°

> Head trauma

>Passing out

>Slight sleep paralysis

°°°°°°°°°°°

[ I wrote this at 3am and there is a big chance there are typos, and grammer issues. - _ - Please let me know if there's anything that needs to be corrected. Enjoy~]

𓆩𓆩𓆩𓆩𓆩𓆩𓆩𓆩𓆩𓆩𓆩𓆩𓆩𓆩𓆩𓆩🕸️𓆪𓆪𓆪𓆪𓆪𓆪𓆪𓆪𓆪𓆪𓆪𓆪𓆪𓆪𓆪𓆪

Children laughed as they ran through the kindergarten playground. Teachers sat on small chairs with colorful coffee cups in their hands.

One small boy, maybe 3 years old was swinging back and forth on the swing. His hands lifted into the air as his swing went alarmingly high. One of the teachers seem to notice. "Ethan! Careful on there!" she stood up quickly.

Ethan looks up at her, before his small body slips from the seat and he flies off the swing.

A flash of read zooms by before Ethan hit the ground. Spider Woman 2099 landed with the boy in her arms.

"Thank goodness you got here-" the teacher is cut off when Ethan is shoved into her arms.

"Hurry! Evacuate the children immediately!!" Y/n urges on.

"There's trouble heading this way!" quickly she rushes all the children back into the classrooms and hopefully to the exit.

Lyla pops up to Y/n's side. "ETA 3 minutes, he is moving really fast."

As soon as everyone is off the playground Y/n uses her webs to secure the door.

"I don't understand, where did he come from? Doc Ock died almost 70 years ago!"

A sudden tentacle slams into the ground just as Y/n manages to jump out of the way.

With the use of his tentacles he effortlessly clumps over the playground wall with his hands resting behind his back. His coat made from a black material with white glowing stripes and circles to decorate. His goggles also looked like he had white lights for eyes.

Y/n lands on the roof of the jungle gym before yelling. "Hey! Tron wants their wardrobe back!"

Once Doc Ock spots Y/n he sends another tentacle flying in Her direction only to break though the plastic of the roof.

Y/n dodged again only to grab hold of Doc ock's 3 other tentacles. She rips it out from underneath him and he almost lands flat on his face if it wasn't for his 5 other tentacles.

"Dang It!" Y/n swears under her breath.

Lyla pixels herself back into Y/n's point of view. "This isn't gonna be as easy as the others, you've never been up against someone like Doc Ock."

Gritting her teeth she sends a web into Doc's chest before sliding underneath him. Using the web to yank him down into the ground.

"So what are you? Like a fan boy? Or a Doctor Octavius under study?" she questions before her leg is grabbed and she's yanked across the playground into a classroom wall.

Doc Ock growls before smirking. "I've said it once, and I'll say it again! I am the one and ONLY Doctor Otto Octavius!"

Three more tentacles shoot toward Y/n. She reacts quickly and claws shoot from her finger tips. She swiftly slices the tentacle that grabbed onto her foot and jumps our of the way.

"He seems to be pretty set on that answer. Lyla? Any theories?"

"Well, Judging from the scan, I think he might be right. His Dna doesn't match Doc Ock's from 70 years ago, he doesn't match anyone's dna on our database for that matter."

Realizing she can't keep dodging she quickly searches for anything she could use that could land the Doc out of commission.

"Ok, this might be far fetched, but do you remember Alchemax End of Year Party 3 years ago?"

"Yeah! You wore that short red dress, Miguel couldn't stop growling at everyone even looking in your direction."

Y/n smiles at the memory before shaking her head. "Focus Lyla! That night we got talking to another Doctor about the Multiverse theory."

"I remember, Miguel had his theories but he never spent alot of time on that. You think this could be another universe Doc Ock?"

Before Y/n could answer, she's grabbed and held in the air with no hope of moving.

"Finally! Now tell me where Spiderman is before I rip you in two!" Doc growls.

Y/n yanks her one leg free bed kicking doc in the jaw. "She's right here!"

While he tries to recover she kicks the tentacle with her heel to break free but he recovers to quickly.

"You asked for it!" Y/n feels the tension as her body starts getting pulled apart. Her arms felt like they might get detached from her torso.

Just before she could let out a painful scream, the sound of a motorcycle catches her attention.

Doc Ock is suddenly rammed into finally dropping Y/n. "Lyla, What was that?"

"It's called a rescue!" a strangers voice answers instead of Lyla.

Y/n looks up at 2 other Spidermen. One with a white pink look and one who jumped straight out of a 70's magazine.

"I'm Gwen, and this is Hobie. You ok?" she introduced herself as she lifts Y/n from the ground.

Y/n looks around a little confused. "I'm fine, but a little confused? You're-"

"Spider men~" Hobie hums putting his hand on his side. "From another universe, 'course!"

"So, My theory was right! I'm guessing he's from your universe?" Y/n makes wave movements with her hands trying to Imitate Doc Ock.

Gwen snorts and waves her off. "Nope! He's just not from this one!"

Just then Hobie and Gwen twitch before jumping to the side.

"What the-" A plastic table flies straight into Y/n and knocks her back. Grumbling she sits back up.

"Shit!" she yells before the pixels dissappear to above her nose to reveal a bloody nose when Hobie helps her up once more.

"Ey, sorry 'bout that! No spider sense huh? I mean makes sense."

Gwen looks down at her watch before hitting some buttons.

"Well, their spider verses are literally right next to each other."

Y/n was just about to object when her head started spinning a little, Gwen grabs hold of her arm but she pulls it away.

With her hand on her head she mumbles a quick "I'm fine."

Hobie looks back at Jess who's been holding Doc Ock back the whole time.

"Step back, Love. We got it from here." he turns with his hands in his pockets but Y/n grabs him.

"No way! I got this."

This caused Hobie to smirk before swiftly swinging his leg under her and knocking her back on her ass once again.

"Yeep! Definitely stubborn like the that old geezer!" he shoots some webs onto Y/n's hands.

"Brb!" he swings off with Gwen.

"Hey!!" Y/n yells in frustration yanking her hands back and forth trying to break free.

Claws out but her hands were too stuck. "Damn kids, damn head!"

Finally her head drops back and her eyes roll back into her head. Out cold.

°°°

"I swear, Mi amor! You'll be the death of me!"

Miguel laughs when Y/n smeers cream onto his nose. They were standing in the white modern kitchen, cooking utensils and ingredients scattered across the table.

"We have so much cream left, and all the Cream cake is already coated-"

Miguel interrupts Y/n when he nuzzles his nose into her neck and hugs her from behind.

"¡Dios mío! Then use the cream for the coffee, mariposa. Not to smother me." another bright smile when he rests his chin on her shoulder.

Y/n brings her head to the side of his face and pushed him closer to kiss his cheek.

"Hmmm, mari-... posa? New one. It's cute! What does it mean?"

Y/n continues mixing, feeling Miguel's voice vibrate when he talks. "Mariposa... Is a small butterfly that falls pray to the great and dominant spider."

His voice teases when his hand travels under her top. This earns him a smack with a spoon full of cream to the face!

"Ey-!"

He stumbles back a bit and smeers the cream out of his eyes. Y/n struggles to to contain her laughter until finally she starts belly laughing still holding a wooden spoon in her hand.

"¡Ahora lo pediste!" (Now you asked for it!)

Miguel teases and quickly storms toward Y/n. She reacts quickly and dodges is grabbing hug. She starts running down the hall from the kitchen still having a giggle fit.

Miguel rather unfairly, using his web to shoot from his wrist and yanks Y/n back into his arms.

Y/n presses her lips together trying to keep from laughing. "Oh no what is little Mariposa to do now?"

Miguel smirks and gives her a small kiss with a cream filled face.

Once he pulls back Y/n licks some cream off her lips and giggles again.

"Te amo, mi mariposa." (I love you, my butterfly.)

He whispers while looking at her eyes as if they had him entirely enthralled him.

"I love you too, My spider."

°°°

Y/n's head was pounding. The force she felt on her scull managed to muffle most of the sounds and voices she heard.

"She's going to be fine. But she can't stay here."

"Jess, listen. You've seen her file! She's more than suited for the Spider Society!"

"And what if Miguel sees her?"

A completely different voice quickly chips in. "Maybe it could do some good. He's gonna Botch it anyway when he finds out what universe we had to go to for the mission!"

"Just try Jess. Maybe he could use this. For the better." Gwen begs.

Jess sighs "Alright, but keep her mask on for now. It's her choice. Her Miguel wasn't so lucky either."

[simplyclary]

I Loved How Good You Looked: A TZP 2023 Fashion Wrap-Up (Part 1)

(Edit by yours truly)

In the world of fashion, every outfit tells a story, and 2023 has certainly been a memorable year for rising Hollywood star Taylor Zakhar Perez.

From his lead role in Amazon Prime's hit movie "Red, White and Royal Blue" to his unforgettable fits throughout the year, Taylor shows no signs of slowing down in both the acting world and the fashion world.

As 2023 comes to a close, it's time to take a glamorous stroll down the Taylor Zakhar Perez fashion memory lane! I'll unravel the variety of trends that graced the catwalks, adorned the red carpets, and became street-style staples.

This TZP fashion wrap-up promises a dazzling lineup of looks that defined the essence of elegance and daring creativity that made 2023 unforgettable, especially for Taylor and his ever growing fanbase.

Join me as I unwrap the fashion moments that left fans breathless, inspired, and utterly in love with the one and only Taylor Zakhar Perez.

So get comfortable, grab a drink and some snacks and let the fashion show begin..

Vanity Fair London- February 2023

Ahhh, look at how dashing he is in that black suit? Already slaying and it's only February!

Anyway, Taylor in this black ensemble is nothing but perfection. Also, the way that his hair was styled up and his clean-shaven look adds a bit of a pristine vibe to the overall look.

Give me Taylor in a black suit any day and you would just catch me swooning over it for the rest of the day.

Cyclops x Moncler Genius Show- February 2023

This is the lighter contrast to that of his look during Vanity Fair London, because instead of donning an all-black outfit, Taylor opted for more lighter colors like white, light blue and a dark(ish) aqua green shade.

For this event, he opted for a t-shirt with the name of the brand on it under a plaid flannel like shirt and dark aqua green pants that also has the brand's name on it.

The one thing that I didn't really like is the shades that he wore. It's too big for me and I would've preferred that he went without the shades. However, if he was going for an outer-space alien vibe with this look, I think he nailed it because those shades definitely looked like the eyes of an alien that's coming to invade or seek peace on Earth.

Versace Cruise 2024 Show- March 2023

This is one of Taylor's look that live rent-free in the minds of fans. I mean, how can it not? He looks so handsome.

This mesh tank top with leather pants is a combination that I never thought would work but it actually could, on Taylor at least. I love how his bits of jewelry added a bit of sparkle to the overall darkness of the outfit, similar to stars in the night sky.

I need Taylor to rock more outfits like this come 2024, because this look definitely had fans wanting more.

Green Carpet Fashion Awards-March 2023

I swear to the angels, this look is giving me real Rhysand vibes, and I'm not mad about that.

Just another all-black Taylor outfit for the year (trust me, I know you know this ain't the last all-black outfit he wore), and dang, he looks absolutely handsome. With the clean-shaven look and his hair that styled up, this is a vision of a Night Court prince right here.

Yep, I'm just here throwing out my fantasies, but it is what it is.

Woolmark Trip to Australia-March 2023

One of his memorable supply chain trips that he took to further understand the fabrics that go into the very clothes that people wear.

For the first photo, it was a good choice that he wore a sweater to Australia because he went there during the fall season in the country (which runs from March to May). It's also a good pop of color and compliments really well with the green of the grass (and the white of the sheep).

As for the second photo (which was taken when he was in one of the shops looking at fabrics), he wore a plain whitish-grey shirt underneath a navy blue blazer. It exudes simplicity with a dash of elegance. I also love how it was during this time that he made a custom-wool suit for himself.

I love a man who cares about the environment. Men like him are a rare breed nowadays.

BMW x Coachella- April 2023

Be honest with yourselves, when you look at this picture, what did you look at first? The scenery? The car? Or Taylor? It would be the third option, obviously.

This was a collaboration of BMW with the summer music festival Coachella and to have Taylor as a model for it is perfect because it's like mixing together adventure (with the car) and music & fun (I mean, that's one of the reasons people go to Coachella, right?), which sums up Taylor's personality in a way (adventurous and fun-loving).

For this, Taylor wore a summer look, with a white tank top underneath a black jacket with black shorts and green rubber shoes. I love how the green adds a touch of color to his overall neutral outfit. It's a simple combination but he makes it look like a masterpiece, if I'm being honest.

Ralph Lauren Event- April 2023

Taylor, why are you wearing gray? What do you have against color (Kidding..)

To be clear, I have nothing against the color gray. It's just not my first pick for a color. It comes off as dull and boring for me, but that's just my humble opinion.

For this event, Taylor wore a grey and white ensemble, with a gray shirt paired with a gray blazer and white pants. The overall look may lack color, but do admit that Taylor looks good in it (he looks good in whatever color he wears, to be completely honest).

International Woolmark Prize (IWP) Event- May 2023

Knowing Taylor, he would not pass up on an opportunity to advocate about fashion sustainability while still being fashionable himself, which I honestly love.

During this event with The Woolmark Company, he wore a navy blue ensemble, which is composed of a white tank top and a striped navy blue button-down that is layered by a navy blue coat. He completed his look with black loafers and a pair of necklaces, which add a little shine to his outfit. Again, a simple combination but on him, it looks like a masterpiece.

Take it from Taylor, folks. This is how you advocate for a good cause while also looking good yourself.

Prada (Spring/Summer 2024 Menswear Show)- June 2023

*This is also an excuse for me to post Taylor's unforgettable shirtless entrance photo*

The iconic Prada SS24 Show!! Taylor's fashion week debut (he said so himself during the "Get Ready With Me" video). He really said "this is my first fashion week so I gotta make it memorable". And it was memorable indeed, maybe more for the fans, but regardless, it was an iconic event.

Taylor's photos from this event was one of the first photos that I ever saw of him the moment I became a fan, and it will be one of those events that will forever live rent-free in my mind. I mean, how could I not? Look at the stunning assembly of looks he pulled off for the show. From stepping out of the car shirtless to wearing a white Prada tank top at the end of the day, he surely made the 2023 summer even hotter.

I also love how he made it a designer summer. Prada is a designer brand and then he combined it with some summer essentials like a white tank top and sunglasses. Personally, I love that theme.

Maybe Taylor will be able to beat this on 2024, if he gets invited to the Prada event again (I have faith that he will be).

Givenchy Event- June 2023

It's one fashion show after another, I take it. After Prada (or before, I'm not sure), it's Givenchy.

I got to be honest, this all-black jumpsuit outfit is not my favorite, but I'll make an exception because it's black which is one of my most favorite colors on Taylor. What I love about this is that he made the jumpsuit ensemble not too plain-looking by adding silver jewelry and sunglasses.

This is more of a practical look but hey, something that's both fashionable and functional is what people really look for nowadays.

Tag Heuer Event- July 2023

Let's be honest, it's not Taylor if there was no picture where he does the peace sign.

In this particular photo, I love how his outfit was the dark contrast to the light colors of his background and even to the very couch he's sitting on. His dark outfit is something I can see a warrior in a fairytale wear and I'm not one to complain about that.

This ensemble is something people can wear in the summertime, consider the varying degrees of heat that the summer season brings in every country during the summer months.

Miu Miu Event- July 2023

I would like to point out that this look is very similar to the one Taylor wore to the Tag Heuer event, only with a different brand, but I'll look past that, I guess.

With this look, it still has the summer vibes. I can see people wearing this type of outfit during the summer time where people often opt for sleeveless clothes.

Maybe pair this outfit with your favorite pair of sunglasses, get on a boat and go sailing off into the ocean with the sea breeze in your face and you'll have an unforgettable summer.

Red, White and Royal Blue Billboard Sighting and NYC Street Style- August 2023

Ahhh August, the month where Taylor was catapulted into even more fame (and also the month that I knew of him).

August was the month of the premiere of "Red, White and Royal Blue" where Taylor played his first lead role as Alex Claremont-Diaz. It also premiered in the middle of the 118-day SAG-AFTRA strike, so sadly, there was no red carpet event for the movie but Taylor had to show off his style one way or another.

In the first two photos, it's just Taylor casually walking in the streets but he still looks so good. In the first photo, he wore a blue-black ensemble (two of my favorite colors on him) and the second photo was a contrast to the somehow dark ensemble of the first photo because it shows him wearing a much lighter outfit, which includes a cream vest and green track pants with sneakers.

The third photo is special because it was when Taylor was in New York (Times Square to be exact) with his parents and they went to see the billboard that had the poster of RWRB on it. His outfit is a wool (or cotton) shirt with a mix of orange, brown, black and white colors paired with dark jeans. It was a more casual outfit as compared to the magnitude of what he saw on Times Square that night.

Aperol Spritz Event- August 2023

I suddenly want to have a drink with Taylor and just chill. I mean, don't we all?

With this event, Taylor wore a white tank top underneath a blue striped button-down with matching pants of the same design. I honestly love how the color of his outfit compliments the color of the drink (In art class, blue and orange are known to be complimentary colors because the darkness of blue makes the lightness of orange pop off).

The darkness of the grassy green background also makes Taylor stand out, especially with the angle of this photo, so this outfit is a yes from me. Plus the slightly tousled hair and the little scruff adds more to the chill vibe of the event.

Vogue World: London- September 2023

This was the event that cemented Taylor's status as a prince in my mind. As an avid fan of fairytale stories, his two looks during this event was how I sometimes imagine princes when I read.

The white top with the attached waistcoat and the flared bottoms gives me the vibes of what people in the olden eras of London would wear. Think Victorian/Edwardian era. The second look of the night was this sparkling sleeveless number which is also unforgettable and provided a good contrast to the pristine white top.

I would also like to note that the grey sleeveless top is cropped so a bit of midriff was shown but I'm not complaining since Taylor is cut and fit anyway. These two outfits were really fit for a handsome prince like Taylor who is off to a stunning night in London.

Burberry (Spring/Summer 2024, London Fashion Week)- September 2023

If there's one thing I'm sure about, it is the fact that Taylor will slay even the most common of clothing. In this event, he wore a trench coat that is almost like a raincoat over a plaid long sleeve. It could be a common outfit for people who experience the rainy weather more often, but Taylor rocks it like a masterpiece meant to be exhibited in a fashion show, which is also a lovely idea.

I don't adore this outfit as much as I do the others, but one of the things that I like about this one is the practicality of it. It's a trench coat that can be used as a raincoat if one does not have an umbrella on hand and the rain suddenly started pouring.

Another thing was the idea that Taylor went to London Fashion Week and it generated like the highest media value. Like, that is a record and I'm not mad that he was one of the reasons that happened.

London and Milan Street Style- September 2023

Taylor is one of those people who could make street style look absolutely stunning. He could wear like a super casual combination of clothes like jeans and sneakers but combine that with his charm and you get a photo of him walking the pedestrian lane as if it's a fashion runway or him standing outside of his hotel yet it's gonna look like he posed for a fashion magazine shoot.

His street style in between the gorgeous ensembles he wore attending fashion weeks in London and Milan had fans gasping. Why? Because he looks so good in them.

These are four of my favorite Taylor street-style looks because it’s style and comfort, casual and preppy at the same time. All his clothes look plain at best but it still has the element of shimmer because of his accessories like his signature necklaces and bracelets, which is always lovely to see.

Ferrari (Spring/Summer 2024)-September 2023

Taylor was in his Doctor Strange era during this fashion week and I was so here for that era. It also made me scream because if you don't know, Doctor Strange is one of my most favorite Marvel characters ever!

Taylor could've played a variant of the character because to me, he kind of pulled the reverse version of Doctor Strange. Instead of wearing an all-blue outfit like the character, Taylor wore a dark red turtleneck top with a set composed of a dark trench coat and pants. He kind of completed his Doctor Strange look with tousled dark locks and a bit of stubble.

Honestly speaking, he also gave me a bit of Sherlock Holmes vibes with the trench coat which I honestly love, because I love the Sherlock Holmes stories.

Other than the fact that I completely rambled and disassociated, this look gives immense fall vibes to me, and it's perfect for that chilly stroll around the city while drinking a cup of cocoa or a cup of pumpkin spice latte.

That's A Wrap....for now...

Well, due to the limited amount of images I can put on here, I'm gonna need to put a part 2 for this fashion wrap up. This only means that Taylor had so many good looks this year that this site couldn't keep up with the insane amount of photos (kidding!).

But anyway, here's a link to Part 2 of the TZP Fashion Wrap-Up, so head over there if you want to see more of Taylor's fashion for the year.

[graythefae]

Ramble post about this pic!!!: :D

Okay okay so like everything else I do, I made this up as I went along, but I put a slightly unhealthy amount of thought into everything. This is basically just the part where I infodump random details that I’m proud of

Kaeya has stars in his hair, Albedo has a crescent moon on his belt, and Klee has sun emblems on her dress and in her hair ☀️🌙✨ I am obsessed with sun, moon, and star dynamics and it shows (Albedo also has stars on his boots but that’s just cause I couldn’t think of anything else to put there so shhhhh)

Klee’s signature color is red, and Kaeya’s is blue, so Albedo is wearing purple. I cried when I had the idea

Kaeya’s wearing a black shirt and light pants. Inversely, Albedo’s wearing a white shirt and black pants. Klee’s mimicking both of them with a light shirt and pants. (This was completely on accident and I only thought of it after I had colored everything)

They’re matching a little by all having braids in their hair. They had a little braid train and helped each other do their hair

Albedo also had a ridiculous amount of alternative outfits because I just could not decide what he should be wearing

This was the first one I tried, but it looked kind of Fontainian to me and I just wasn’t feeling it

Somewhere along the way I drew him in an ao dai because his English VA is Vietnamese and I’ve been looking for excuses to draw ao dais since I used to wear them as a kid

And then here’s a few of the many, many variations of his final outfit:

I liked the idea of a cape, but I just couldn’t find one that felt exactly right, so I ended up leaving it out

For Kaeya, I scrolled through the desi Kaeya tag and looked at different arts of him (fellow Kaeya enthusiasts, if you haven’t done this yet then please go do it all these artists make him look so good) and searched up a few different fashions/traditional wear for inspiration. I tried to be respectful while also interpreting the outfit loosely but seriously someone please tell me if I did anything disrespectfully cause I really don’t want to do that

I do kind of feel like he’s lacking in details and color range, and I sort of wish I’d included some peacock feathers, but I was having trouble visualizing any intricate details for any of them. I think the most complex decals is either the stars in Kaeya’s hair or the sparkles on Klee’s skirt

Kaeya also went through a couple different hairstyles; I started with his normal hair, tried a bunch of random stuff, and eventually settled on my take on the braid from his Sailwind Shadow skin

Here’s a couple that I tried during the process:

Hmmm okay now that I’m looking at these pictures I’m thinking I need to draw him with a high ponytail again sometime. And also the bun. And the chunky braid too. Dang it Kaeya, stop being so beautiful (I’m joking please don’t)

And as for Klee, she really didn’t change much from beginning to end. I had pretty much finished both Albedo and Kaeya by the time I even started on her, so I was both in the zone and losing steam, so I kinda just went with my first attempts at everything. Pretty much the only change was I tried drawing her with braids instead of pigtails for all of thirty seconds before I decided that the pigtails were just too iconic and couldn’t be left out

Anyway, that’s my ramble on this drawing! Thanks for reading! <3

[danydarkly]

Hi! I just wanted to say, thank you so much for making the Red & Wolf comic. I just found it by accident and read through the whole thing in one night, I am seriously loving it so far. I'm autistic and I've always had a strong interest in wolves, specifically Little Red Riding Hood versions of wolves, and always wanted to read a story about the wolf having a sort of redemption or it being more than just "big bad wolf is evil and wants to eat the girl". There's hardly any content for me to dive into in regards of even just the fairytale itself, most stories are very gruesome, the short films online are incredibly dark and uncomfortable since those are the adaptations of the original grimm telling, or all of the red riding hood movies are horror films instead of fairytale adaptations. Or some sort of like... idk love triangle thing where it's all modernized or something for televesion where Red is wearing jeans and the Wolf isn't even a real wolf? But yours... this is like finding gold. I was hooked immediately and I couldn't stop reading.

Your story of Scarlett and Leikos... it's just so gorgeous, your art work has such clean lines and the way you draw eyes and hands especially is so beautiful. The design for Leikos' hair is my favorite!! And the panel you made where Scarlett is lying down on the grass/tree stump and she's blushing while Leikos is talking with her, oh my gosh, that's my favorite panel out of every chapter so far. Just... the vulnerability of these two growing closer, like... augh clutching my heart when Leikos is like "no don't cross the path you're gonna get hurt :(" and she's like "but I want to dance with you :)" like!!! she trusts him and he refuses to hurt her even when instincts kick in!! HIS BACKSTORY? BRO? I'M IN SHAMBLES?? Ugh your art is so GOOD and this STORY is so GOOD and I am just so thankful to be able to dive into a Wolf/Red story that has action, romance, suspense, all the good stuff. It's so perfect.

Thank you for working so so hard to make this comic. I'm an artist as well and I could never have the patience to upload one comic page, let alone several. Laying out panels is difficult and time consuming and not to mention you're shading and coloring the entire thing. Your poses are always fluid, never stiff, you have good perspective and composition, most ppl who make comics can easily just draw one single pose and one facial expression for 20 panels, but you've always had the expressions and body language shift and change and the camera view as well... and you gotta draw all those damn trees omfg. The flower meadow in the first chapter must have taken forever to draw too! Your hard work really shows in your art and I am so happy to have stumbled upon your comic. If you make any more merch for Red & Wolf on your Etsy, whether it's prints or charms or stickers or really anything, I would be more than willing to throw some money your way. Or if you open commissions as well someday, ahh, I love your stuff so much I would totally pay you to doodle Leikos hehe. Please have a wonderful day and take care! <3

AAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaa

What a lovely message! Thank you so much, Anon! I really needed to read this today <3 I'm truly at a loss for words, like you basically complimented me on everything I'm mad-insecure about?? It's really nice, like maybe I really am too hard on myself?? Whenever I look back on my old panels (which I've been doing a lot lately since reformatting Red & Wolf for print), I always feel like I put way too much effort and kind of only see what I did wrong, but if you and others recognize the effort and like what I did - then maybe it wasn't a waste of time after all. That makes me feel way better about it, thank you :' ) Also, your favorite panel is one of my favorite panels too, where I felt "dang, I kind of nailed it here" - which is SUPER rare for me, haha. I should read this lovely message whenever the impostor syndrome kicks in, it really lifted my spirits <3

[totaldramafan-lauri]

Eurovision 2023 final thoughts

Well, it’s been a few days since the final....the post-Eurovision depression is surely hitting many people like it is me. That feeling of “......now what? We have to wait a whole year?” after the dust clears......

But, I don’t feel like it’s truly over until I give my full thoughts on the results after I’ve calmed down and rewatched, so.....here goes!

MAN this was a good year. I’m not sure I can call it one of my favorites - it wouldn’t be fair to do that since it’s still fresh in my mind - but it’s certainly up there! Not only ending with a worthy winner and a worthy runner-up, but the production was incredible! You would’ve never guessed that this contest has given the UK so much grief over the years, cuz you can TELL that they still love it. I-it’s like....an unhealthy relationship, pfffff......

B-but I’m getting ahead of myself.....so, here goes.

Just a warning: I-I may come off as a bit....harsh at times here. I’ve just....seen some things I don’t agree with, and I wanted to respond to them in my own way....None of what I say is meant as an attack on any specific people, and you don’t have to read this if you don’t wanna. I-I just think it’d feel good to....release it all at once, both my happiness and my frustrations.....

This is coming from an unbiased American perspective, keep that in mind. Also, I’m someone who loved both Sweden AND Finland, so if you expect the venting I mentioned to be about me taking a side, it’s not.

Thoughts under the cut!

O-OK......so, first of all, production-wise....I really loved the co-hosting this year. I thought it was really unique, and it worked super well! I loved how the interval acts incorporated music from both countries, how the hosts were from both countries, Eurovision alumni from both countries were brought back, etc. Super cool and heartwarming at the same time. I did look it up, and yes, this IS the first time this kinda thing has happened, so I’m surprised at how well it worked.

That being said, the intervals weren’t my favorites ever.....but I personally LOVED the Sam Ryder song (”Mountain”, I think it was called), and I liked the Liverpool Songbook (the highlight of which being Daði Freyr  FINALLY getting to sing live at this dang contest, complete with the audience singing along with him), but the covers weren’t all-time greats for me, and a similar thing already happened in 2019 with former contestants singing each others’ songs, which I thought was more entertaining. Still, I had a good time! However, I think my favorite interval was actually the drag queens in the second semifinal. (I can’t remember the last time I preferred a semifinal’s interval.....this might’ve been the first time?)

The energy in the arena was contagious throughout the whole thing, as usual (especially when they absolutely lost it whenever Finland got points and chanted “CHA CHA CHA”), and of course we also had Graham Norton just.....being himself. I loved getting to hear his comments without having to wait for cheeky fans to provide links to BBC feeds I’m geoblocked from. That was cool. Also, thank GOD they got him to host, even if just for the final. It would’ve been a huge missed opportunity if they didn’t. XD The other hosts were good too, but he stole the show.

My only real “complaint” (besides the jury vote segment being less varied and fun to watch), and I use that lightly, is more of a nitpick, and that’s.....there was WAY too much red. I have no idea why this was, like.....there’s no way the lights were THAT limited, so it had to just be a really weird coincidence, right? But this is just a nitpick. It wasn’t awful, it was just....pretty distracting in points, how we’d have multiple songs in a row where everything is just RED. I get wanting to use a striking color, but I really could’ve used more variety in places. XD

As for the results, it’s....mixed. I agree with a lot of what did well, but there were a FEW songs I think deserved better than what they got. I don’t have a LOT to complain about, especially when looking at these numbers, but there were a few results I was absolutely scratching my head at. I think this year had more of those moments than other recent years.

I-I’ll do my best to try to understand those results......but FIRST.....I have some choice words.

(This is your last chance to stop reading)

So, I’m SUPER happy Sweden won. I think it was a well-deserved win, even if a bit predictable. Their song was amazing and well-performed by Loreen. While I don’t like “Tattoo” as much as “Euphoria”, it’s still a masterpiece, and her voice is still incredible and elevates it further into greatness. Not only that, but this is one of those songs that I like more when watching the live performance. It’s such a BIG BIG BIG song, that having it boom and resonate throughout a full arena just feels so right. And finally, one thing that I cannot praise enough is the EMOTION she sings it with. Especially in the final, and especially at the end of the song, I got goosebumps cuz it legitimately sounded like she was tearing up at the slow bridge. She knows how to sell you on every emotion this song wants you to feel, and almost comes off as....unpolished, but in the best possible way. Sometimes, vulnerability helps a lot in music.....

So, yeah, even though I DID want Finland to win, since I loved them more, I literally have no complaints with Sweden winning. It was a moving performance, one of the best vocals of the night, a beautiful song, the staging was great too....yeah, it was pretty much flawless. And I think Sweden were FAR overdue for tying Ireland’s record, since they’ve given 100% effort every single year, are absolutely in love with Eurovision, they know how it works and how to send quality. Ireland clearly haven’t been the masters of this contest for a LONG TIME, and it’s pretty obvious who took over.

THAT. Being. Said.....

While she HAS gotten a lot of love, I’m not gonna act like it’s all sunshine and rainbows. And the way some of Käärijä’s fans have been taking Loreen’s win, particularly on Twitter and even YouTube comments, has been just downright toxic. I can’t even read it after a while. Not saying they’re ALL like that, far from it......I’m just talking about the ones who say things like:

“The contest was RIGGED!” “The juries are ALWAYS biased towards Sweden, no matter what they send!” (they aren’t, but OK) “The result was predetermined from the start!”

Um.......did you miss the part where she came SECOND IN THE TELEVOTE!?!?

With Sweden’s highest televote score in....probably close to a decade!?

She did win the jury vote, yes, but jury winners have lost before. Heck, that exact thing happened to SWEDEN before. And Sweden have gotten poor televote results before, and they ARE able to finish on the right side of the scoreboard, which happened in 2021. The system is NOT rigged towards them at all, from what I can tell. And heck....I’ve been watching this contest since the votes were split, and literally the ONLY TIME the juries have piled votes on Sweden that they didn’t deserve was 2018 with “Dance You Off”. That’s it. (And before anyone says “well what about 2019?” THAT song was INCREDIBLE and it DESERVED its jury score and should’ve had more love from the televote, FIGHT ME) Yes, “Dance You Off” wasn’t that good a song, and didn’t deserve finishing in the top five. But it was elevated by its staging, so I can somewhat rationalize it? But that was literally the ONE TIME.....

From an unbiased point of view, I can say that Sweden ARE just that good at Eurovision, and people just LIKE their entries that much. This one, they brought back not only a former winner, but a near-universally-loved one, with an honest-to-god emotional powerbomb of a song. You shouldn’t immediately shout “RIGGED” when the juries love that, OK?

And AGAIN, even though their lead in the jury was by a wide margin, it wasn’t an insurmountable lead by any means! Finland would’ve won...

....if YOU PEOPLE didn’t vote for her so much, too!

You liked her. You loved her, even. Stop acting like you suddenly don’t love her anymore, just cuz she wasn’t the winner you personally wanted. Shouldn’t you be happy that A song you liked won, even if it isn’t your number one? C’mon....it should go without saying, right?

I myself would’ve LOST IT if Finland won, don’t get me wrong. Finland were my number two this year, and Sweden were my number eight (six in the final). So, yes, I WAS rooting for Finland. But I do love them both, and either would’ve been a worthy winner. Even though Loreen wasn’t my ideal winner, I still celebrated when she won, cuz hey, a song I loved still won! A good song, that deserved its acclaim! Even if it wasn’t the one I wanted more.

......I-I probably shouldn’t dwell too much on this.....There’s barely ever a winner that doesn’t have discourse around them in recent years....It’s in a Eurofan’s nature to be competitive....so, I-I’m sorry for going on about this. I-I just....got really bothered by the people claiming this win wasn’t legitimate in some way. I think it’s gross. This was a clear fan-favorite song, people loved it, and it got a lot of votes!

If there ARE people who actually didn’t like the song, and NEVER liked the song, and didn’t contribute to its win, then......I can’t, and won’t, force you to like it. And I get being salty when something you didn’t like won. I would be a hypocrite if I called you out on that, cuz I was in that exact position in 2017. I still remember how disappointed I was. But do you know how I dealt with that in 2017?

I kept my complaining to my personal bubble (this blog) and didn’t attempt to shove my opinions in people’s faces. I didn’t try to directly insult the artist or his fans when I did. I didn’t try to claim that he cheated! I just let off some steam, and talked about how I hated the song and didn’t agree with the win, and once I got it all out, I moved on. I got over it. No matter how I felt, he won fair and square.

And Loreen won fair and square. If you wanna cry about it, go ahead, but don’t claim the system is rigged just cuz you couldn’t handle it. The system is fine. She came first in the jury vote and second in the televote. That means she won. If you can’t deal with that, then cry about it where we who support her can’t see you....

Also, while a lot of people do agree with me on this, I still feel like there are some people who don’t realize how amazing a second place is for Finland. Normally such an underdog in Eurovision, this is literally their FIRST second place and only their SECOND TIME in the top ten after their win in 2006. Heck, it’s their FIRST time in the top FIVE since their win in 2006. All other years, either DNQ or towards the bottom in the final, no matter what they send. Good song after good song, overlooked. This is AMAZING for them. I don’t think anyone over there is complaining about this result. Even if they go back to the status quo next year, they can be proud of this one runner-up for a looooong time.

Not to mention that runners-up can be winners in their own right! Look at how iconic “Dancing Lasha Tumbai” has become! Heck, I even made a comment on Twitter saying something like “Why do I get the feeling that ‘Cha Cha Cha’ will be to ‘Tattoo’ what ‘Dancing Lasha Tumbai’ was to ‘Molitva’“. I was partly joking when I said that, pffffff...but I did make that parallel. The goofy, fun runner-up that was a huge fan-favorite, and the emotional winner that won people over come the contest proper. Which one of those two songs is the one that keeps showing up and has been kept alive as a symbol of the Eurovision spirit? That’s right....And there’ve been plenty of other songs that didn’t win, yet still became iconic. Ooh, ah, just a little bit~! Heh, so yeah, I really do think that Käärijä could easily become a Eurovision icon. You don’t have to win to become one of those~

Actually, since I’ve said all I wanted to about Sweden and am moving on to Finland.....Even if they didn’t get that win, they actually.....still did BETTER than I was expecting? I was legit worried about their jury score. I didn’t know how much the juries would like such a strange song, especially the live performance when the music kinda swallows him in the second half. But Finland actually got fourth with the juries, which made me super happy! They DO know how to have fun!

In my rankings post before the contest, I called “Tattoo” a masterpiece, but now that I think about it, I think “Cha Cha Cha” is a masterpiece too. I loved the song from first listen, but I mainly loved it for its catchiness, its wild energy, and how intense yet fun it was. But when I really listen to it hard, it’s kinda....INSANE how well it works? The two halves are so distinct from each other, yet they transition into one another so seamlessly, it’s crazy! If I tried to tell past me that I’d be in love with a song like this, and tried to describe it in text, I wouldn’t believe myself. On paper, this sounds like it’d be super disjointed and messy. “So, the first half is an intense nu-metal rap, and it turns into a happy party song in the second half“. WHAT? The fact that this works so well just means it was put together expertly and I HAVE to get credit where it’s due. I guess that could be part of what the juries saw in it too.

This might not be my overall favorite Finnish entry (that’s “Jezebel”), but it’s definitely in my top five favorite Finnish entries now. Could not be happier that it did so well and got Finland their second-best result ever. This song deserved to be the one to do that. They might’ve not beat Sweden, but they were the true underdog story this year. Finland CAN DO WELL IN EUROVISION, they can send bangers of songs, and people have FINALLY put respect on their name. WOO!

So.....I-I think that’s all I have to say about the top two......So, on to how I feel about the rest of the results. I-I’ll try to go a bit faster now.....

So, Israel in third......I-I didn’t totally call this at first, but after watching the performance, I realized how badly I underestimated them. Their song is normally only one that I can enjoy when I’m not thinking too hard, cuz the lyrics bug me and are, uh, hard to take seriously.....but as a spectacle, I enjoyed it a lot more, and I totally got swept up in it. It got the crowd energized in the similar way Finland did, and the dance break was the best one this year. It’s still far from a favorite of mine, but I get what people saw in it. I will admit that, once I figured out that they were gonna do a lot better in the jury vote than I expected (and Sweden weren’t super far ahead yet), I was briefly scared. I-I think I’ll always be scared of Israel winning in the upcoming years, cuz it’s.....it’s not worth the....everything that a win from them would cause, even if their song is good, so.....Yeah, I was briefly worried, but there was nothing to be worried about in the long run, so that was on me for having my mind jump to that, pffffff.

Italy did a LOT better than I expected in both votes. I did think the juries would like it, but I didn’t see this as a top five song, and I especially didn’t see it doing so well in the televote. This was definitely one of the best vocals of the final, hands down, and the song itself is gorgeous, yet I still underestimated it.....This is probably because I was comparing Marco’s result in 2013 with a similar ballad, and was like “this is of the same quality as that, so it’ll probably do about as well”. I....I have to stop underestimating Italy. They clearly know what they’re doing. Their streak of top five finishes does indeed continue....Do I agree with this result? Hmmmm.....um, not sure. I think I do. Like I said, one of the best vocals in the final. Definitely the best male vocal.

And Norway round out the top five! This was one of my favorite songs, and the favorite of so many other people to. I think that this is one result this year that literally no one will have a problem with. Even on Twitter, I have seen NO hate for this song. Everyone loves it. It’s the perfect example of a great, solid entry that doesn’t take huge risks or anything, but instead aims to just be a good dang song, and it succeeded at that. Everything about this song works and comes together perfectly. A top five finish feels so RIGHT for this cuz it just does its job so flipping well. Do I wish they did better with the juries? Of course, but I wasn’t worried about them for a second. I knew this would be in the top three in the televote. Again, everyone loves this song, or at least, no one dislikes it.

Ukraine came sixth. I did originally call them finishing in the top five, but Italy doing much better than I expected pushed them down. XD I was actually really impressed with their staging! I thought it was really creative, and probably one of the best of the final. And no, I’m not saying this cuz it was one of the few that didn’t use nothing but red. XD I thought the screens were cool, and there was always something interesting to look at. The song’s still not one of the best, but I saw their 100+ televote score coming, so I didn’t mind it. They didn’t do nearly as well as last year, that’s the important part. Don’t wanna open that can of worms again....

I’m really happy Belgium finished in the top ten! I thought that was definitely a top ten-worthy performance! It was cool to see them get multiple 12s from the juries, too! I expected their televote score to be, ehhhh, a BIT higher? Cuz it really felt like the arena really got into the song, so I thought people at home would too. But I cannot complain with this result, cuz it’s still Belgium’s best in a few years. The song’s fun and was performed well. And I gotta remember that Sweden, Finland, Norway, Italy, and Israel stole a looooooot of the televotes this time around, so songs like this probably suffered from it.

If you ask me, probably the one song I underestimated the most was Estonia’s. This was the only song I was indifferent to. I liked the vocals and the lyrics, but thought it was too boring music-wise to keep my attention. And that opinion does stay true, but I can see why others would like it. I can especially see why Estonia did so well with the juries. This is the kinda song the juries eat up every year. Even with 100% televoting in the semifinal, at least one of these songs still got through, heh....But I can’t say I’m surprised. They did well in the semi, but in the final, they were stuck between Italy and Finland. Their televote score surely suffered from that.

Coming in ninth are my semifinal-winning, best-of-the-worst kings, Australia! Look, I’m not even gonna front, I adored Finland, but my actual favorite song was this one. I ADORE this song and I’ve been quoting it constantly all week. It’s just such a perfect song to me with how it captures an emotion I feel all the time, and to have a song I can listen to when I’m in that mood is SO nice. I’m gonna be listening to this song many times in the future whenever I wanna be told everything’s gonna be alright, while also in the mood to shout at the top of my lungs at same time.....Not every comfort song has to be happy and cheerful, or soft and sweet, right? It’s perfect. And I literally cannot complain with their result either. Do I wish they got more televotes after that kinda performance? Yes. 21 points is way way waaaaaaayyyy too low. (And yet it’s Australia’s best televote since 2019, so blegh) The only real justification I can come up was that Finland took votes from them, or Belgium took votes from them (Belgium performed right after them) But at the same time....they broke even, like I said before. I expected a higher televote score, but I also expected a WORSE jury score, by like, a LOT.....but the juries had them so firmly in the top ten that they stayed there after the poor televote score! That’s nothing to complain about, not to mention that this is the best result a number one favorite of mine has gotten since.....really? 2016? Gosh, my luck with favorite songs hasn’t been the best since my lightning-in-a-bottle year....So yeah, ninth! Solid ninth! Considering Australia’s luck AND my luck, that’s awesome!

I read that this might’ve been Australia’s last Eurovision. Took long enough, honestly.....but, y’know? They finished well. Part of me still thinks they overstayed their welcome, but this song made it worth it. I also think it’s kinda funny that, if this ends up being true......then, the only Australian entries that’ve been in my top five were their first one and their last one. Pure poetry, huh? XD

Rounding out the top ten is Czechia, one of their best results! Another country who didn’t do super well in the televote, and for good reason - they were stuck between Finland and Australia. It was EASY for them to get overshadowed (and yet, I think they still got more points than Australia? I think?) Still, tenth place for a normally underdog country is solid, and I think they deserve it.

Right outside the top ten is Lithuania, who also did better than I expected with the juries, but the televote....Look, songs that qualified from the second semi, even that semi’s winner, didn’t do well in the televote in the final (Estonia were carried so high by the juries). The two semifinals were SO lopsided this year, to the point where it was a slight problem. NONE of the songs from the second had any winning power when put up against the ones from the first, and I’m pretty sure everyone knew this. The only possible exceptions were Australia (who I already talked about) and Austria (who I’ll get to soon). I really hope that next year, this isn’t that bad of a problem, cuz seriously, having ALL the hard-hitters in one semi makes that one semi overly stressful and the other feels like it has barely anything going on, or it gets your hopes up for some songs doing better than they end up in the final once they have stronger competition. Lithuania did well with this, eleventh is a great result, better than I expected, and her vocals were great which was definitely the reason, but the same can’t be said for the other second semi songs (except Estonia and Australia cuz, again, juries).

Another song I majorly underestimated was Cyprus. While I don’t agree with them doing better than Austria, I will freely admit that they made me eat my words. Before the contest, I wrote them off as a non-qualifier, cuz, and I quote “It’s not catchy enough, or emotional enough, or punchy enough. It’s just....there, and I say that as someone who likes it” (I’ve always liked the song, but cuz of slight bias reasons). Come the live performance, I was VERY impressed. It was staged well, and he sounded great. I couldn’t complain with being proven wrong. I do think they deserved to be in the final. I don’t think they quite deserve twelfth in the final, but it’s still a song I like. It’s not their fault, it’s just that I believe multiple songs below them should’ve done better. XD

Then we have Croatia at the bottom of the left half, and aside from the top two being the top two, this was easily the most predictable result of the final. I called it a MILE away. Of COURSE this would rank toward the bottom with the juries, and of COURSE they’d be saved by a 100+ televote score. Especially since they performed second-to-last. Have you heard this song!? The result writes itself! This isn’t so much of a song as it is...an experience. And it wasn’t an experience the music professionals wanted anything to do with, but for the audience? I could hear them singing along. There was no way this was gonna do any worse.

Now we move to the right side of the board, which is where the problem results are for me.....Armenia’s fine. It’s whatever. I know a lot of people loved them, and their staging was really good, but for me, there were plenty of better songs than this one. They were still good, but this was still about as well as I thought they’d place in the final.

No, the problem results for me start with Austria and France. What the heck- O-OK, I don’t really have THAT many complaints with the top ten we got, but that doesn’t change the fact that I really believe these two should’ve been up there. And yes, they still scored more than a hundred points each, so they weren’t flops. But come ON! What happened!? These were fan-favorite songs! Consistently both in the top ten in the betting odds, too! And both of them had great performances!

With Austria....you CANNOT convince me that they were penalized THAT HARD just by opening the show. Songs that’ve performed first can still do well in the televote and score highly! Ukraine 2014, Belgium 2016! This song should’ve done as well as those! It had it in the bag! Everyone I know loves this song! So.....what happened? I can think of two things: one is that the staging didn’t make them stand out well enough (I do agree that their staging should’ve been better), and the other is that the people who would normally vote for them voted for Croatia instead, who was fresher in their memory. But still, even if those things happened, it’s not much of an excuse!

But at the very least, Austria did get one set of 12 points from a jury. We got to see them celebrate that. France didn’t even get that much. Again, this wasn’t a flop like last year, so I guess my prediction of “justice will be served” was....true? But more like “justice will be technically served”.....Still disappointing for such a good song that was seen as a darkhorse for so long. And I can’t even think of a reason for this one other than just “it’s France”! Being performed so early is not an excuse when SWEDEN also performed early, and the staging was pretty, and the live voice was great....My brain hurts trying to think of what happened.....Maybe I can just chalk it up to “there were just songs people liked more”, but that still doesn’t excuse that the juries also mostly overlooked them, so.....I-I’ll just move on....

After those two is Spain.......Look, I don’t like their song. I’ve never liked their song. But I still respect it, and I respect Spain for taking a risk with it this year. And I was still surprised by this. Coming last in the televote.....Even if it was my least-favorite song, I still respect it enough to kinda think it was unfair? I mean, it was unique, and the live performance sounded just like the studio version! Shouldn’t it have...stood out more? Then again, maybe it stood out in a bad way.....I-I didn’t expect that many people to be on the same page as me....I thought this was an unpopular opinion.....but no! How should I feel about this.....? I dunno....I guess I’m happy I don’t look like an uncultured idiot for not liking the song? But I’m also kinda stunned....? I-I’m not used to feeling these kinda....mixed emotions....

After THAT are the last of my top five favorites, Moldova and Poland in 18th and 19th, doing worse and better than I expected respectfully. I thought Moldova would be in the top 15, but this wasn’t that far off, and their televote score was respectful (I think it was over 60), so I can’t complain. I’m glad there are people who loved their beautiful song as much as I did. And while Poland tanked with the juries like I called, getting over 80 points in the televote blew my mind! I remember when I was told how HATED their song was....I believed it. I believed it, cuz of the stories I heard, and how it really is just a catchy, mindless song that doesn’t make you think too hard. That’s why I love it, but that could also be why others hated it.....but now.....geez! You played them dirty, but now who’s laughing? Sure, 19th is 19th still, but for a song I was surprised even qualified for the final? Again, no complaints! Poland really went all out with their staging, too, so I could tell how much effort was put in to make people like this song. And surprisingly, they succeeded.

Switzerland....I find that I can only slightly enjoy their entry when I’m trying not to pay attention to the lyrics and just focus on his great voice, but it’s hard, especially when part of the staging resembles.....y’know what...raining down....I still don’t like this one at all, but the staging is disgustingly good, and his voice is great, so I actually did expect it to do better. I predicted this’d be in the top ten with the juries, actually. But again, like with Spain, more people were on the same page with me than I expected. Good. Stay down there. Send something fun next year, or if you’re gonna send a singer that good again, give them a song that doesn’t leave the listener feeling depressed. I couldn’t be happier that this was performed third. Got it outta the way. XD

Slovenia, I expected better from, since they were so late and also sounded good live. Can’t think of what happened to them other than they just got overshadowed, perhaps due to going right after Israel. Still, the people who loved Slovenia, REALLY loved Slovenia.....I guess they were just fewer in number than I thought. Albania and Portugal did about as well as I expected, so not much to say about them.

Serbia, tho....I do feel bad for them, but I also get it. After learning that they were only three points away from not qualifying for the final, I’m just happy to have them there at all. I really do like the song, it was in my top ten, but let’s be real, it was always a guilty-pleasure type song. It’s.....OUT THERE, and not everyone’s thing. The whispery vocals were hard to hear in places live, too. I didn’t mind since the vocals aren’t my fav part of the song (I love the instrumentals), but that might’ve cost them a bit. They’re LUCKY. If the semifinals still had a jury vote, they definitely wouldn’t have qualified and we would’ve had Latvia instead (whether that’s an improvement is up to you).

Every few years, there’s an entry where the song isn’t the best, but the live performance is a spectacle, having creative and fun staging, and/or the artist having a great stage presence, and when that entry doesn’t qualify, fans online fly into a rage, crying out “Why didn’t they qualify? They were so fun! They know what Eurovision spirit is!” and maybe pin the blame on a ballad that got in over them. Off the top of my head, there’s “Igranka”, “Space”, and last year had two of these in “Eat Your Salad” and “Stripper”. “Samo mi se spava” was SO CLOSE to being one of these. It just BARELY made it to the final, getting the respect it deserved. If it had lost to Latvia, the fan outrage would’ve been massive. And I’m so happy for that, cuz I really do like this song (and its staging) a lot. I really hope Serbia keep sending out there and experimental stuff. Their entries have been so interesting the last couple years.

And finally, at the bottom of the board once again, are the UK and Germany. These are the other two songs I 100% believed deserved better, especially Germany’s. The UK’s song was a lot of fun and had cute staging (that WASN’T RED), but I can.....kiiiiiinda see how it’d be overshadowed? Germany, not so much. That song should NOT have been overshadowed. If that kinda music isn’t everyone’s thing, that’s fine, but that can’t be the whole story, right? Rock music has done well in recent years....I know rock and metal aren’t the same, but there’s overlap! What happened? They performed toward the end, and they sounded great! The audience really got into it too! I guess that’s the kinda song that probably goes over better in the arena than at home, since, like I said before, it’s the kinda song that was MEANT to boom throughout an arena, filling every corner.....At the very least, Germany actually got points from BOTH votes this time, but still, I feel awful for them. I REALLY want them to do well again. It’s been years. This should’ve been the song to break their streak, and people just weren’t feeling it for whatever reason. =/

And......I can’t believe I’m saying this, but.....that’s it for this Eu-red-vision! Overall, good results, with only four songs I think were either slightly (Austria, France) or majorly (Germany, UK) robbed, but up top, I have little to no complaints! I’m happy for both Sweden and Finland, and MAN I can’t wait for next year. Sweden KNOW how to host Eurovision. There were a lot of different factors that added up to 2016 being my favorite contest (I can’t list them all right now), and their production was one of them. “Love Love Peace Peace” part two, anyone? XD Also super excited for the return of Luxembourg! I never watched any contest they participated in (they dropped out before 1997), so this’ll be a first! I hope they send a good song, or else that’ll be a major anticlimax....if they DO send a good song, their return will definitely be a highlight of the year. We’ll see how it goes!

(Also, one final note: I’ve been watching......SOOOOO many reaction videos on YouTube over the week, and it got me a bit motivated to.....maybe....KEYWORD: MAYBE.....t-try to.....record some audio next year? Like....instead of my normal text rambling for my rankings, I could try that? Again, I DUNNO if it’ll happen....it’s too early....but I’m kinda in the mood to try it right now, so maybe....? O-one of my new year’s resolutions this year was to be nicer to myself, and one of the things I’ve always hated is my voice, so I’ve posted videos on Instagram with my voice in them to start....maybe I can try working my way up to something more elaborate....? I-it really depends on how I’m feeling next year tho, and how reception is, so maybe I’ll try some small things first)

See you next year! Cross my heart till the sky turns red in the sunrise!!

Promise me it’s gonna be alright! (BE - AL - RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT) ALRIGHT!!!

And a final “thank you” if you were one of the people who contributed to Malta’s three points in the first semifinal. You were doing god’s work. XD

[christaspirit]

Damian's eyes snap open, and he sits bolt upright. He quickly glances around.

"Damian? Oh, thank goodness..."

His eyes snap over to the voice. Some odd man in a black suit. Around him were several other people. Adults, it seemed, in several colorful but dark suits, most with black hair, but the only girl had orange hair. There was an old man as well.

"Damian, are you okay?" a boy in a red and black suit asks.

Damian scans the people, then his surroundings. It looked like a large cave.

"Who are you people?" he asks. "Where am I?"

They exchange glances, filled with worry.

"Damian, chum," the man in the black suit says. "Its us. Your family."

Damian slowly shakes his head.

"No... no." He slides his feet off the bed he was on. "No, your not my family. Where am I? Why did you take me away?"

"Dami, it's us," says an adult in a black suit with a blue symbol across his chest. "You're in the Batcave."

Bat...cave?

What kind of idiot came up with that name?

"Where?" Damian asks more forcefully. If he can get an actual location, he can get back to home.

"Under the... manor," blue symbol says.

"What manor?" Damian asks. "Where am I? Who are you?"

"I'm... I'm Dick. Your older brother," blue symbol says. "We're your family."

"No, you're not..." Damian says, his voice shaking. Dang it, no!

"Do you not remember us?" red and black asks. "I'm Tim. You tried to kill me to take the Robin mantel."

"Robin?" Damian asks with a frown, and he looks down at his clothing. "What am I... wearing?"

It was a mix of red, green, and yellow, though with a fair bit of black.

But he recognized it, and his eyes went wide.

"No... this is... this was what I was..."

No... he couldn't have...

"Chum..." black suit says.

"You... you revived me," Damian mutters. "That means I'm... no."

He stares at his hand, trying to activate his abilities. He squeezed his eyes shut.

C'mon, something, anything!

"Damian?!"

He opened his eyes, and could only faintly see his body.

Invisibility was working then.

Damian slipped off the bed and pushed past the people around him.

How did he get out of here?

An elevator!

Damian ran toward it and slipped in, hitting the button.

What was he going to do?

How were Dad and Ellie going to find him?

His powers were still working, so was he like Dad and Ellie now?

Except Dad started out alive, and Ellie was created.

What did that make him?

The elevator dinged, and he rushed out.

Nothing looked familiar.

His invisibility flickered out.

What was he going to do?

-

Bruce's attempt to resurrect Damian using the chaos shard... didn't go as planned.

Damian was alive, yes. But... he didn't remember them.

Dick stood under the shower, letting the water run over him.

"You... you revived me."

Damian had known he was dead. He claimed they weren't his family.

What had happened?

The Damian that they had revived... he didn't act like Damian. Not entirely.

Damian had been rough, brash, self-important. Always ready to spring to his feet for a fight, he was so violent. Some of those tendencies had mellowed out a bit.

Damian spoke formally.

But this Damian...

He acted more like the ten-year-old kid he really was.

He didn't recognize Robin. He didn't recognize any of them.

Dick turned off the shower and stepped out, toweling off.

They didn't know where Damian had gone. He'd taken the elevator up, but had vanished by the time they had gotten up there.

Well, he'd vanished before that, by somehow turning invisible.

Dick pulled on normal clothes, and left his room.

He paused, and turned. There was soft sniffling coming from down the hall.

Dick walked down, and stopped at Damian's room.

The door was open. Dick's eyes widened, and he pushed the door open.

Inside, he spotted Damian's Robin suit, discarded on the floor, much more carelessly than Damian would have ever done before. Damian's dresser was open.

Damian himself, was curled up on his bed, crying.

"Damian?"

Damian jerked his head up, then looked away.

Dick walked over, and sat down next to him.

"How are you feeling?" Dick asked. "Probably weird, suddenly coming back to life?"

No answer.

Dick let out a sigh.

"Bruce has been looking for a way to bring you back since you died," Dick said. "We all kinda thought he was crazy, but then, well, it worked. Only been a couple of months."

Damian's body tensed.

"But I guess... being dead wiped your memories?" Dick said. "But Dami..." he moved to put an arm around his little brother, but Damian pulled away. "...we love you, you know that right?"

"...I want to go home."

Dick frowned.

"What?"

"I want to go home," Damian muttered. Gosh, he sounded so young. "I never asked to be revived... I liked my afterlife. I liked my family. I want to go back."

"Damian, we aren't going to kill you," Dick said. "Dami, we missed you."

"You were my living family," Damian said. "But I don't know you. Most don't remember their living families. It doesn't matter. I loved the family I had. Send me back!"

Damian vanished from sight, and when Dick tried to reach out to grab him, he found nothing but air. Dick's heart stopped.

He hadn't even heard a sound.

-

"I've checked everywhere, he's gone," Ellie said, pulling at strands of her hair. "Dad... I don't think he's in the Realms."

Dad grimaced.

"I'll try to locate his ecto-signature again, but it's weak," Dad said. His eyes began to glow as he tried to locate her little brother.

After a few minutes, his eyes stopped glowing.

"I've tracked down which universe he's in, but I can't find a precise location," Dad said.

"We can't search an entire universe, that would take forever!" Ellie said.

"He's on this universe's Earth," Dad said. "We've got someone there who will need to help us."

"Patchwork guy?" Ellie asked. Dad nodded. Ellie grimaced. A guy that careless surely wouldn't be much help, would he?

-

A neon green portal opened up in front of him.

That... was not good.

Two eldrich looking beings floating out of the portal?

Even worse.

One of them wearing a crown made from the Aurora Borealis and the other wearing a tiara?

Much much worse.

"You're majesty," John said, dropping into a bow. "To.... what do I owe this pleasure?"

What in the name of every demon he's ever made a deal with before was the King of the Infinite Realms doing here?!

"John Constantine," the King said, with a reverb in his voice. "My son has vanished and is in your dimension. Do whatever it is you can, but you need to find him. Otherwise..."

"O-of course," John said.

Since when did the High King of the Infinite Realms have a son? It had only been a few months since he had checked in with the realms. Though, with the inconsistent flow of time in the Realms, that didn't mean much.

"Good."

With that, the King and the Princess vanished.

John took a deep breath, trying to calm his racing heart.

He grabbed his communicator and messaged the Justice League.

"We need to find the son of the King of another Realm or we're all doomed."

When Damian died by the heratic, he woke up as a ghost in the Infinite Realms.

From there, the 10 year old murdered ghost of a child meets Ellie Phantom.

12 year old Ellie Phantom really wants a younger sibling. There's no way her Dad, with his protection obsession, wouldn't see this child ghost and adopt him immediately.

He's the biggest motherhen, she swears.

Everything's pretty great with the Phantom Family until Damian gets revived by the chaos shard. Well, partially anyway.

Now, the King is furiously looking for his son.

Reverse halfa Damian. He goes from ghost to half-alive

[h2bakugou]

4k special | WAP dance reactions

a/n: it’s here! the big moment!! (edit 9.12.2020 - requests are closed and will reopen again soon!)

-

thank you for 4,000 followers, and as of editing, we’re at 4.3k, it’s insane, thank you so much, i love writing, and your support is what makes it possible. here’s to more in the future. thank you for all your love and support <3

-

dance credits go to @/ besperon on tiktok!

all characters aged up 18+ au!!

headcanon: them reacting to their s/o doing the wap dance

key: (y/n) - your name / (f/n) - first name / (l/n) - last name / (e/c) - eye color / (h/c) - hair color / (y/q) - your quirk

warnings: swearing, suggestive themes, fluff, no smut but 16+

»»————-　★　————-««

katsuki bakugou

»»————-　★　————-««

Before you even start the dance, you’re pumping yourself up. The song is playing, and you’ve just decided you’ll dance to the part when it gets to it.

You practiced hard enough, and you had a few injuries but now you were ready.

Bakugou’s watching you closely. This song was very interesting to him.

All of the analogies in the song are shocking him the more he listens to it. It’s kind of groovy though.

Bakugou’s waiting, and as he reaches for his phone the ending hook comes and he’s frozen as you kick your leg up and begin to dance.

He watches as you bounce back in forth, your curves moving to the music.

He’s shocked by the way you move, he’s never seen you do anything like that before. But he’d certainly like to see you do it again.

“What was that?” Bakugou smirks. You catch your breath and stand up, smiling.

“The new dance I learned, did you like it?” You question, walking over to him.

“Oh I loved it.” Bakugou smirked. You rolled your eyes and sat down on his lap.

“Glad you enjoyed it.” 

“Could you teach me how to do it?” Bakugou’s eyes were speaking for him, you knew exactly what he meant, but before you’d show him the dance privately, you’d worked his ass out and had him learn the dance.

He nailed it-

»»————-　★　————-««

shoto todoroki

»»————-　★　————-««

You’ve been practicing this dance for about a week or two now. And you were so excited to see Todoroki’s reaction of it.

“Hey Sho?” You call for your boyfriend and he emerges from his room. You were at his house, and thankfully there was plenty of space for you to do said dance.

“Yes baby?” He asks, standing in the doorway of the large studio you’d been warming up in.

“I have a dance I’d like for you to see me do.” You smile innocently.

“Alright.”

You begin to play the music, just before it gets to the part you’ll be dancing too and Todoroki’s face is already red.

And when the beat drops, you’re kicking your leg up and dropping down to the floor, popping your ass out and going at it.

Todoroki is entranced as he watches you, completely mesmerized by how you’re moving.

It’s so beautiful.

When you get to the split, Todoroki’s eyes widen as you move. He’s blown away.

“That was amazing.” Todoroki compliments. It was hot.

“I’m glad you liked it.” You whisper to him, pecking his cheek as his face reddens even more.

“Hey wait.” Todoroki grips your wrist and looks down. 

“Do you have a few minutes?”

“Do you want a private dance lesson?”

“Yes.” Todoroki whispers.

»»————-　★　————-««

izuku midoriya

»»————-　★　————-««

Be prepared. Because Izuku is going to be a blushing mess before and after.

You’ve practiced, and he’s heard the song you practiced too. It was all over social media and he accidentally interrupted you while you were practicing.

But you shooed him out and finished up alone without any interruptions.

Deku can be a shy boy but he can also be dominant. A true switch.

“You ready?” You ask as Izuku sits down on the couch nervously. He nods and relaxes, sitting back into the dark green sofa.

The music starts and you sway your hips, waiting for the beat to drop, and when it does, you do too.

Izuku’s eyes are glued to you as you kick your leg up and land on the floor, throwing your ass out and following the routine.

Midoriya’s cheeks flush red as he watches, but he can certainly tell how hard it must’ve been to learn the dance, let alone how badass it was as well.

When you finish the dance, you bow and smile at Izuku, who’s trying his best to contain his excitement and fluster.

“That was amazing!” He was proud of you. He knows how hard training can be.

“Did you like it?” You questioned innocently, striding over to him on the couch, taking a seat on his lap.

“I loved it! You did great!” Deku beamed, no longer trying to hide his blushing face.

“There’s a lyric, in this song...”

“Yeah?” Deku’s hands rest on your hips.

“I think I’d like to spell my name out for you sometime.”

»»————-　★　————-««

denki kaminari

»»————-　★　————-««

Horny. Jail.

If anyone knows this song, it’s Kaminari. He knows it word for word, and it’s probably one of his most played songs at the moment. Not for its lyrics, but because he genuinely finds it pretty groovy.

He also finds the ‘touch that little dangly dang that swing in the back of my throat’ part funny.

He’s probably also seen the dance a few times, he’s woke when it comes to tik tok culture.

So when he overhears you practicing the dance, he’s very curious.

“Whatcha doin’?” He peaks his head into the room and you quickly snap out of the position you were in.

“Nothing! Go!” You shoo him away with a smile, closing the door so you can finish practicing.

Kaminari has an idea of what’s going on.

So when you perform the dance for him, he’s aware and he knows what he’s expecting, but at the same time, he did not expect it at all.

The way your body moved and flowed with the music, you looked good, really fucking good.

“Shit.” Kaminari cursed, biting his bottom lip as you brought your leg back around, bouncing into the final split as you bounced up and down.

Kaminari’s never really seen you move like that before, but he knows now that he loves every second of it.

“What’d you think?” You ask, stepping over to him.

“I-It was good.” Kaminari had drool leaking from his mouth as he stared at you, his entire body threatening to short circuit.

“I’m glad you liked it.” You lean down and kiss his cheek, knowing that he was going to be smitten for you even harder.

»»————-　★　————-««

eijiro kirishima

»»————-　★　————-««

He’s heard the song maybe once or twice thanks to Kaminari. He likes the song and thinks it’s actually pretty good.

He doesn’t know there’s a dance for it, and he certainly doesn’t know that you’re practicing it.

So when you bring him into your bedroom and sit him down on the bedroom, he’s a little confused.

And when you start dancing, his faces turns a shade of crimson, very similar to the one he dyes his hair.

Your body moves swiftly, and Kirishima’s eyes never seem to leave you as he watches you dance.

From the way you move your hips, to the point of your toes as you kick into the split.

Watching you do something like that is impressive, Kirishima is impressed.

“Wow.” Kirishima utters as you rise to your feet, clapping your hands together with a big grin on your lips.

“Did you like it?” You question, excitement bubbling inside you. It’d taken hours, probably close to a few days in fact, of practice to nail it. And it was well worth it.

You felt sexy, and validated, and strong, and badass.

“I loved it. You did amazing.” Kirishima smiles, trying to ignore the heat on his face.

“You’re blushing Kiri.” You comment, teasing the red-head as you walk over to him.

“I’m not! I’m just...”

“Being manly. I know.” You kiss his cheek and sit on his lap, wrapping your arms around his shoulders.

“Are you tired?” Kirishima asked quietly, his large hands resting on your hips.

“Why? Do you have something in mind?”

»»————-　★　————-««

tamaki amajiki

»»————-　★　————-««

Tamaki is flustered just being around you. He’s a nervous kind of guy, granted he can swallow his nerves when he needs too, but generally speaking, he’s gonna be a blushing mess when you mention even holding hands.

It’s no surprise what this song does to him.

Between the loss of words, and the sheer heat that radiates off of the bright blush on his cheeks, he’s flustered.

Even more so when you begin to dance.

It’s not like he’s embarrassed of sex, or songs that mention it, he just happens to get flustered easily.

Especially when you dance. 

And you dance well.

He’s battling watching you or looking away and not trying to imagine the dance as anything more than a dance. It’s hard, but you wanted him to watch you. Why should he feel bad?

“B-bunny.” He stutters quietly as you transition into the split, popping your hips out, bouncing off the ground.

When the music fades out, he covers his face to hide the enormous blush on his cheeks.

“Awe, Tama-”

“Bunny. T-That was so beautiful.” He stutters, peeking through his fingers to look at you as you approach him.

“Thank you. Are you alright, your face is really red.” You peel his hands away and get close to his face, admiring your boyfriend up close.

“I-I’m fine. J-Just a little hot.” Tamaki gushes, looking away quickly.

“You don’t have to be so flustered about it, I wanted you to see me dance! It’s okay Tamaki.” You kiss his cheek and hold his hands, earning his gaze.

“Bunny.” Tamaki pulls you on top of him and you laugh at him for a second before admiring him even closer.

»»————-　★　————-««

mirio togata

»»————-　★　————-««

Ass man ass man ass man.

He literally sticks his ass out of a bush and you’re gonna tell me he isn’t-

He’s sold the second he hears the song, he already knows what’s about to happen because he’s kind of into the whole tiktok thing.

He watches in antcipation as the song plays, waiting for the moment you drop to the floor.

And he’s so into it. He’s grinning like an idiot, practically drooling over you as your hips move in ways he’d only ever imagined them to move.

More so, when you do the splits, he’s curious about how long you can do them for.

And when it’s over, he’s clapping.

“That was amazing, I had no clue you could move like that.” Mirio hus as you walk over to him.

“I’ve been practicing. I’m glad you liked it!” You smile, giving hin a short hug.

“Could I see those moves again sometime?” Mirio asks cheekily. You giggle and sigh.

“I guess I could teach you a little about them.”

»»————-　★　————-««

hawks/keigo takami

»»————-　★　————-««

This motherfucker.

He knew from day one what you were going to do. Just from hearing the song a little more often from your shared room, and the denial of him entering said room while it was playing-he caught on really quick.

So he did a little research.

And after watching a few videos of people dancing to it, he couldn’t fucking wait.

To see you do those moves? To see you move like that? Oh god he was foaming at the mouth.

He’d purposely try and spy on you while you were practicing, even daring to peep in from the window by flying outside of it.

But at the same time, he wanted it to be a surprise. He’d catch himself in the act of trying to watch you practice and he’d curse himself for being so impatient. Being patient was going to make the final experience even better.

And oh how happy he was to have waited.

Watching you pop your ass and move your hips, laying on the floor and bouncing your ass upward and even doing a split.

He was impressed.

And he was even more so, very intrigued.

“You gonna put all that training to use, Babybird?” Hawks’ sly smile and relaxed position on the couch made the comment that much more sensual.

With his arms stretched out over the tops of the cushions, and his legs pointed outward, you crawled and sat right between them, gazing up at him with bright eyes.

“You’d be lucky if I even let you sleep in the same bed with me tonight, horny ass.”

“Hey- I’m not even in season yet!”

“Shut it bird brain! You can test them out for yourself!” You joked as you got up, walking away from the winged man.

“Oh Babybird, you have no idea.”

»»————-　★　————-««

dabi

»»————-　★　————-««

Much like Hawks, this bastard is way too horny to not know what the fuck is going on when he hears the song WAP playing.

Even more when you practically beat his ass for barging into your apartment without knocking.

“I’m busy! What do you want?” You ask as you push him out of your bedroom, into the hallway toward the front door.

“I’m just checking in on my baby. Is that illegal?”

“Dabi, you’re literally a criminal-”

“A criminal of love baby.”

“Get out. I’ll text you if I need you dumbass.”

Back to practice, it’s tricky. The dance is very fast-paced, but you nail it. after way too many ice-packs and ‘fucking shit’s said later, you have mastered the WAP dance.

Around ten minutes after a ‘come over’ text, Dabi arrives to your apartment.

With candles set out, awaiting Dabi’s blue flames to light them and set the mood, you’re dressed simply in one of Dabi’s favorite outfits.

“Oh baby.”

“Light the candles and sit down.”

With no further questions, Dabi does as he’s told and takes a seat on the couch which he quickly notices is pushed back further than it usually is. Come to notice even more, most of your living room furniture is moved out of the way entirely.

When the music begins, you begin to dance as well, not wasting a second as the lyrics float into Dabi’s ears.

Watching your hips and your ass, Dabi is clearly interested in what you’re serving him. You look good too, but when you move like that, of course he’s going to be a drooling mess.

In a less sexual way, he’s impressed with your moves, he knows training is a big step to anything, so he wonders how hard you worked, and for how long, it took you to master this dance.

“Come here baby.” Dabi ushers for you to come to him with his pointer and middle finger after you finish dancing.

You take a seat on his lap and smile.

“We’ve already set the mood, why not continue? You could give me a private lesson on those moves you just did.”

»»————-　★　————-««

overhaul/kai chisaki

»»————-　★　————-««

He has no clue what you’re doing. You asked if you could show him something and now he’s in a room alone with you.

You’re setting up some music and he can’t keep his eyes off of you and the way you’re dressed. He was thankful he was alone in the room with you or he might’ve had to tell people to step out.

You were his angel after all, not anyone else’s.

When the music starts, his the tips of his ears begin to burn bright red. This music is raunchy and sexy, but he likes it. It’s got a good tune, and it’s empowering, and then he sees you.

You’re swaying your hips to the music until a certain point and you drop to the floor, popping your ass and grinding against the floor, dancing to the music erotically.

He’s impressed. Not as much that you’re dnacing on the somewhat dirty floor, but he’s impressed nonetheless.

“Angel, that was riveting.” Chisaki comments, his arms crossed over his chest. He can feel his pans becoming tight but he decides to ignore it.

“So did you like it? I worked extra hard on it.” You look so innocent as you approach him, your pink lips pursed and begging to be kissed as you stand in front of him.

“I loved it.” Chisaki nods, a smile rests on his lips under his mask unable to be seen.

“I could show it to you again up close if you’d like.” You hint at something a little more physcial which only stirs Chisaki more.

“That sounds like a good idea, angel.”

»»————-　★　————-««

tomura shigaraki

»»————-　★　————-««

I’m not sure if Tomura is a big tik tok guy. He’s into video games, and probably graphic novels too, but depending on his fyp, he probably won’t even get close to hearing the WAP song or know anything about the dance.

That being said, he’s gonna get annoyed if he hears “now from the top, make it drop’ one more time.

Currently wishing he could grip a sound wave and decay it.

But, when you pull him away from a video game, or say a meeting with league and sit him down in a chair in a dark room with some rather unpleasant lighting, maybe just enough to illuminate the two of you and nothing else, he’s confused, but also very interested in what you’re about to do.

And there’s that stupid line- ‘now from the top,’ and- you’re dancing.

His crimson eyes lock onto your figure as you dance, the growing urge to turn the music off suddenly dies as he watches you bounce and pop your hips.

The way your body moves, he’s addicted. Like you’re administering some sort of drug, he can’t look away.

When you lay on the ground and roll onto your back, spreading your legs as you roll into a crawl and then into split and continue to bounce your ass, he’s completely speechless.

The very definition of no thoughts, head empty.

And the aftermath of it all.

forget whatever the fuck he was doing before, forget the grudge he was holding against the lyric’ now from the top, make it drop’, forget the terrible lighting, he’s getting down to the bottom of whatever you just did.

“What was that?” Shigaraki ask, his hands daring to scratch at his neck.

“Did you like it?” You ask, batting your eyes at your flustered yet confused boyfriend.

“I liked it yes.” He mumbles, looking at you from the chair, you’re still sitting on the ground as he stands and walks over to you.

“You’re really flexible. Why didn’t you tell me that before?” He towers over you before squatting to your height.

“Meet me in my room in ten minutes.” He whispers.

»»————-　★　————-««

eraserhead/shota aizawa

»»————-　★　————-««

A man addicted to black coffee and funny cat videos on youtube has no knowledge of WAP or it’s current dance craze on tik tok. But do not let that discourage you.

After hearing the song a few times while you practice your dance, unbeknownst to him, of course, he might get a little curious.

You’re being secretive and it leads him to do a little research. Simply typing in a few lyrics, he finds the song and the dance shortly after.

He’s more or less very interested in what you might have to be doing. Because if you’re learning this dance, he might not know what to do with himself.

Sure enough, you come striding out of your shared room one day, wearing something cute for Aizawa.

“Got a minute?” You ask, pulling him away from grading papers. 

Sitting him on the couch, you step back and turn on the song, smiling as he watches you.

And watch you he does. From the second you kick your leg up, to the second you bounce your ass the last time, ending the dance.

His eyes never leave you. The way you crawl, the way you lay on the floor and pop your hips up, he’s not the least bit uninterested.

“Where’d you learn all that Kitty?” He asks, folding his arms over his chest, his long raven hair parted to watch you even better.

“From the internet. Why? Curious to learn it too?” You tease, crawling over to him.

“Only if you teach me.” He says slyly.

“You’re supposed to do the teaching not me.” You smile up at him.

“Is that how you want to play?” Aizawa smirks and crosses his leg, cutting you off from crawling between his legs.

“You tell me, Kitty cat.”

»»————-　★　————-«« 

masterlist

[sgcairo]

My Genshin OC Masterlist

Happy 300th post! It's time to break out the OC's, because the Babytorre AU is growing, and I also have a hoarding problem. So here we go, all the characters I have (so far)! Do keep in mind that these are just overviews and ones like Sveta's (and a few others) will be a little confusing because of plot reasons, and because I tried to cut them down to the bare bones as much as possible. These are all over the timeline in terms of their main appearances, but here's a general grouping:

Pre-current Genshin timeline: Brighella, Argadros.

Current Genshin timeline: Sveta, Gei Yue, Gei Limei, Irnes, Sasha, Miriam.

Post-current Genshin timeline: Anastasiy, Earl, Gei Huojin, An Xishin, Mo Hengzhu, Jing Ya.

Be warned: this is a really long post. I'm scared of it, honestly. But it runs through the basics of every character and their affiliated stuff. If you do have questions, run to my asks! I don't bite (usually).

[Quotes are from many media, not from my own works.]

Snezhnaya

Anastasiy Danya-Ilya

"I'll bless my homeland, 'til I die..."

Known as "babytorre" and Pantalone's adopted son. An anomaly in a cloning experiment which bore a successful and healthy child, rather than a dying image of the past. A mirror image of Dottore as a child, minus the part where he went down the mad scientist route, as Anastasiy went down the arsonist route instead. His poofy and curly hair is his staple, which partially covers his right eye, and he wears the Harbinger uniform, as his honorary position is to assist the Sixth Harbinger, Aurelio.

In terms of weapons he uses small vials filled with a mysterious red liquid: a fire potion, except it's a carefully balanced chemical formula that he hand crafted himself. When thrown, they create an explosion, which is further magnified by the quantity of vials used and the concentration that's within them. He also has a pyro delusion, but it is a last resort, and should not be used under any circumstances. There are a few hidden blades on his body, a trick he learned from Pantalone, but he has yet to use them.

His childhood was relatively painless, compared to what it could've been. Pantalone did his best to keep Anastasiy out of his work and well protected, which was fairly successful. With the additional protection from his creator, Il Dottore, Anastasiy was one of the best kept secrets of the Zapolyarny Palace, only known to the Harbingers and their few trusted associates. Those who dared touch him are now six feet under, taken care of by his father and папа, never to be seen again.

Anastasiy is oddly kind, which is a trait that no one knows the true origin of. Perhaps it is merely his childish nature, perhaps he is just to sympathetic for his own good. But he certainly did not pick it up from either of his parents, their cruelty knows no bounds. Anastasiy knows true love towards all things, while their greed will be their downfall, taking what is not theirs. He's too trusting, his fatal flaw, which ultimately led to his own destruction. A scar over his chest reminds him every day of his own foolish trust, though he continues to reach out to those who have hurt him.

Earl

"To be, or not to be, that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer, The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune or to take arms against a sea of troubles..."

Earl is no anomaly to Il Dottore's experiments, he is a triumph. A fusion of Il Dottore's and another Harbinger's genetic code, he looks uncannily similar to Pantalone, minus the white streak in his hair and eyes the color of blood. Experimented on endlessly to see his full potential, not allowed rest lest research be lost. Blood is taken from him to the point that he is sickly and hardly able to walk, let alone reach his full potential as the corrupted blood of ancients runs through his veins. He is little known through the palace, as he is hidden away where no eyes other than Il Dottore's can behold him.

The details of his corruption are vague, but when actively in danger, his corruption will activate and put him into a bloodthirsty haze, in which he is not directly in control of his body or his mind. He becomes increasingly more violent the longer the threat persists, and in the occasion of an extreme threat, red lightning and sparks have been known to manifest, a sign of elemental energy being stored unnaturally in his body.

His own weapon is a geo vision, granted after leaving Snezhnaya and settling in Liyue. While he doesn't have a specific weapon, he is quite skilled in using a catalyst, and his geo attacks are more focused on disarming and neutralizing, rather than the intent to maim or kill. His constructs are startlingly similar to ruin guard arms and pieces, perhaps derived from Irnes' fascination with ruin guards that he passed to Earl, perhaps out of his own subconscious protection.

Earl is tired, more often than not. Weary, aged beyond his years, hardened by his experiences in the Zapolyarny Palace. Though beyond that, he is also subject to the strange fascination that the other clones of the Doctor have shown, and wishes to explore new world that he has encountered. But at the end of the day, he is a somber individual, a bit shy and quite worried most of time. It's hard to catch him in a completely serene state.

Irnes

"What’s the matter my dear, don’t you care for tea?"

Yet another error in Dottore's experiments, but for a very different reason. It is said that he emerged from incubation early, and no one was there to catch him, leading to a nasty fall and a scar on his forehead where he hit the floor. No one's sure if that's what actually happened, but he's been a strange individual ever since. Dramatic, bouncing off the walls- not to mention strangely affectionate-, he leads the clones as their honorary "older brother". Most love him, some hate him- but he's especially loved by both Anastasiy and Earl, and takes care of them in turn. He has a strangely affectionate attitude, which is very uncharacteristic of the Doctor's clones, but makes him much beloved as a result.

In terms of dress, he's quite peculiar, wearing a classic grey waistcoat and slacks, with the most horrendous blue striped bow tie you ever did see. It's horrible. A disgrace to fashion. But he's never caught dead without it, and Anastasiy likes it, so he keeps it on at all times except for when sleeping. His outfit out of the palace is a lot more formal, in a big coat and usually with a letter in hand. His boots can be heard from across the palace, and are especially ornate around the heels- Pantalone did say that silver looked rather stunning on him, after all.

The other clones aren't sure what his job is: after all, Irnes isn't typically seen doing jobs around the lab, due to his outgoing and sometimes quite clumsy nature. It's suspected that he works for Her Majesty as a messenger, especially for her more discreet business. He's also a master escape artist on top of that, which is an issue for many reasons. The main one being that he regularly is found outside of the lab, and it's a pain to wrangle him back inside. It does make for a wonderful messenger when things get messy, however.

He once worked as the overseer of the ruin guard factory in Liyue (which was shut down after Il Dottore's interest waned), which was how he got all the burn scarring on his arm, along with the broken bones and torn flesh that sourround it. No one's sure how he got them, but there's a rumor that his arm got stuck in some of the mechanics and was permanently damaged as a result. He favors his left arm for a reason.

Scapino (Sveta)

" She used me very badly; and I felt so enraged against the ingratitude of our age that I determined never to do anything for anybody. But never mind; tell me about yourself all the same."

The tragic escape artist, and the successor of La Signora as the Eighth Harbinger, though short lived. Known for her unusual cruelty despite her friendly deposition, Scapino was made to be the Jester's blade, his ward and successor when the time came. But fate twists in strange ways, and with the untimely death of Signora, Scapino was brought into the lofty position of a Harbinger for her prowess in battle and survival through the years, to keep the people of Liyue in line with the Tsaritsa's wishes.

Scapino's crescent blades are the nightmare of recruits, as they cut viciously and spare no one. Those who do go up against them have scars from the encounter, and Scapino's heavy yet agile fighting style makes for a difficult opponent. She's unpredictable and relentless, with laser focus on her prey. Few escape unscathed, and her icy delusion stops the blood in the veins of the fools who challenge her. The pyro vision at her side gets very little use, but those who have witnessed its power refuse to face it again, and for a good reason.

It is rare that a Harbinger will find romance, especially of their perpetual enemy. But it is well known that Scapino fell for a Liyuen soldier- Gei Yue by name- which caused her to defect. It is tragic that she was lost to the hold of the abyss shortly after her recognition of her love for Gei Yue, her heritage finally coming back to claim her. Through many battles, did Scapino win her freedom from both the abyss and the Harbingers, but all good things come to an end. The Harbingers always come back to claim what's theirs- Scapino was brought back to the homeland in chains.

Few know her as the Imperial Tutor, in scarlet, fur-lined uniform. It is said that she taught the Gli Innamorati everything they know, though her complexion has long since lost the glow of a brilliant smile that it once held. So much is hidden behind eyes that resemble the glaciers that coat Snezhnaya's mountains, pain that has twisted her body to the point that a gold cane accompanies her down the Zapolyarny Palace's corridors. And it won't stop until she is free.

Brighella*

"My only love sprung from my only hate. Too early seen unknown, and known too late!"

Not much is known about Brighella. Only that she was the Fourth Harbinger, before her untimely death, and quite close with the Jester. Some even say he was infatuated with her, though it remains to be seen if her death truly impacted him, as he was silent and unreadable at the funerary service. Though she was known for being reliable and quite energetic, a cold blooded killer was hidden under the surface, which enjoyed the chase above all else.

Her weapon was notoriously a greatsword, as Brighella was a tank before anything else. Her bodily build was unfit for the agile and quick style of fighting that many of the other Harbingers favor, making her favor the greatsword over any other weapon. Her charges were enough to nearly knock Capitano back, and the two often trained together for this very reason. Her thirst for blood was known among the legions, and few sparred with her as a result.

One of her missions bore unfortunate and strange fruit, that being the encounter with an Abyss Lector, deep in the woods. A general by the name of Argadros, gifted with the crown of frost. Matched against the holder of a cryo vision, it was a duel that shook the surrounding forest, two equally matched forces doing their best to draw first blood- unsuccessful for hours. Once the two finally stopped, it was clear that the General would win because of his supernatural abilities alone, not his skill. That was the beginning of a series of meetings, which bore not only a union, but an unknown child that was lost in the many villages that dot the countryside of Snezhnaya.

Brighella's death was cause of the Harbingers alone. Upon hearing of her tryst, she was deemed a traitor, and hunted until she was speared seven times, killed in the icy hills beyond the palace. Even in her last moments, did she beg Pierro for her life, which the mighty Brighella had never done in her life. Only in that moment did Pierro regret giving the order for her death, as he held her close, surrounded by her lifeblood in the cruel cold.

Sasha

“Fire and water looked so lovely together. It was a pity they destroyed each other by nature.”

It's said that Sasha originally got his vision after nearly drowning in a frozen lake as a child. A gift straight from the Hydro Archon themselves, and a mark of his Fontainian heritage. Born from an arranged marriage between his father, a Snezhnayan nobleman, and his mother, a Fontainian patron, he inherited the snow white hair of his father, the Tsaritsa's blessing. His position as Scapino's second and the sole male mirror maiden makes him quite prestigious and well known within the ranks, especially with his adept healing abilities and illusions.

His childhood was relatively easy, though he was trained in the use of his vision earlier than most. He was taught so young that it's practically ingrained in his blood, the use of its power. His illusions are small, but near impossible to tell from ordinary and actual objects, his healing powers impeccable. His only flaw is his attitude- which has made for some troublesome encounters under other Harbingers or officers. He was almost disbanded for his refusal to heal them over petty scuffles, but becoming friends with Scapino ultimately saved him from being discharged permanently.

Sasha is known for his pointed critiques of Scapino, and is the voice of reason between the two. It's true, Scapino doesn't know what's good for her, and that's why Sasha is there to set her straight. Though she ultimately makes the mistake of not listening to him, and the consequences are... grave. A word of advice- listen to what he has to say, he's been through some rough stations. He knows how the world works, especially under the Tsaritsa's rule.

Ironically enough, Sasha is also in an arranged marriage, much like his father. Though his future wife is a part of the Adventurer's Guild in Mondstadt, and she's quite the inventor from what he's heard. They occasionally exchange letters, which never fail to make Sasha smile. He has never seen or met her, but from the way she writes so happily and excitedly in her letters... He knows that he loves her. Truly. His parents might not have had the most loving relationship, but he will treat his fiance the way she deserves. That's the least he can do.

Liyue

Gei Yue

“It hurts to breathe. It hurts to live. I hate her, yet I do not think I can exist without her.”

As any good story begins, Gei Yue's has a noble start. Born to a prestigious family of vision holders, she is the oldest daughter of the Gei Family, renowned for her skill with the spear and her family's legacy within the Harbor. Though she has little claim to it, as her vision never appeared, and she was left as one of the only members in her family to never receive one. Her sister instead received a geo vision at a very young age, leaving Gei Yue in her shadow, despite being the older of the two.

Gei Yue's weapon, the spear, is commonplace within the Millelith, which she is a part of. But she wields it much differently from the others, with the grace of the wind on a mountain peak, and with moves that are more akin to water than the earth. It impresses Scapino to the point that she remarks that Gei Yue would be an excellent soldier under her command, though Gei Yue refuses. The two sparred quite often, mostly out of Gei Yue's hatred for Scapino (and Scapino's provocations) and her need to prove herself without the use of a vision.

In fact, Scapino and Gei Yue were at each other's throats the first time they met, and their loathing for each other when they were younger has long since faded, giving way to tenderness. Though Gei Yue did try to decapitate Scapino at least once. Their sparring gave way to begrudging companionship over time, especially after Scapino gets seriously hurt because of her delusion. Gei Yue didn't have the heart to cast her aside, and Scapino grew on her somewhat.

While Scapino is back in her homeland, Gei Yue finds herself on the docks often, watching for the cold steel of the Snezhnayan fleet, though it never comes. Their son, Gei Huojin, is born shortly after Scapino is dragged back to Snezhnaya, and Gei Yue does her best to raise him as best she can. It's hard, especially with his appearance, but their family has nothing left to lose, and she has to try. For Sveta.

Gei Limei

“The emotion that can break your heart is sometimes the very one that heals it...”

The younger sister of Gei Yue, she is the prodigal daughter of the Gei Family, and the one who took over their generational business in healing. Her geo vision is known to resonate and emanate healing pulses, which fits well with her gentle and accepting nature. She tends to act as a counterbalance to her sister's impulsivity, but also notices how Gei Yue triest to distance herself as much as possible- because of jealousy.

Gei Limei's abilities are somewhat limited in the combat aspect, but her unique geo resonance is known through the Harbor as an excellent way to relax the muscles and relieve tension. Many of her clients find that just her presence soothes them, and her vision's abilities are well known and praised by those who know her. Collecting herbs for her healing concoctions is also easier, as she uses her vision to track the tunnels in the earth that the roots leave behind.

Gei Limei is considered of the marriageable age, and has several suitors as a result. Despite her distance, Gei Yue is adamant about not letting any of them pressure her younger sister into marrying them, which Limei is silently grateful for. Though she has a crush on a certain someone... Gei Yue has yet to figure out who it is.

She's quite close with Herbalist Gui, given how similar their occupations are. In fact, he's like her older brother, and she often hangs around Bubu Pharmacy whenever she has free time, not only to purchase the harder to find herbs, but also to talk to him about her new balms and incense. Of course, she's the one who got Earl the job at Bubu Pharmacy through some sneaky suggestions, which Baizhu gave her the look for. Though he's indebted to her due to an accident that ended with her carrying him back to the pharmacy, so he can't complain.

Gei Huojin

“You must perform amidst the pain, this is the act of perseverance.”

The son of Gei Yue, under extraordinary circumstances. As the son of two humans, logically he should have been born as a human, which led to the peculiar event of his birth... as a half adeptus? Especially of the draconic nature. While it was originally considered the blessing of the Archons, many of the people in the Harbor are convinced that Gei Huojin is the reincarnation of Rex Lapis. Though there is no telling if this is merely the intervention of celestia, or the doing of an ancient adepti hiding among the people of the Harbor.

His weapon is a spear, which he was taught from the moment he was able to walk. Lined with gold, the head so brilliant that it catches the light and the eye of those who set eye on it, his spear is a distinct shape, made by his own hands in the deep forges in Jueyun Karst. When he performs with his troupe, it is the signature of his character as Rex Lapis, known to the people as Skysplitter, like the mountains it was made from.

He lacks a geo vision, but his power as an adepti allows for a full draconic transformation, as well as his own manipulation of the earth. His powers will never match those of Rex Lapis, but they are impressive nontheless, as his signature move involves a shockwave that can overturn earth easily.

His troupe travels to the places around the Harbor, a small group formed by Yun Jin with the mission of reviving the old arts and tales of Rex Lapis and the Guili assembly. Huojin himself usually performs as Rex Lapis, and is extremely flexible as a result. It's also how he met Earl, straight off the ship from Snezhnaya and looking like death. That was the beginning of a lifelong friendship, over a plate of bao, perhaps even more, once Huojin becomes the new Prime Adeptus of the Harbor. But that's still a ways off... or so Cloud Retainer says.

An Xishin

“Power does not corrupt. Fear corrupts... perhaps the fear of a loss of power.”

It's said that Osial had many attendants, but An Xishin was one of the few that managed to escape Rex Lapis' wrath. Though his corruption nearly consumed him in the process, leading to the battle that created the watery crater in Bishui plane, where the Oceanid now roams. Rex Lapis was generous enough to spare him, however, and as a result, An Xishin received his name and a cleansing of the corruption that had rid him of his mind. Every few months or so, he must be cleansed of his corruption once more by Xiao, but he lives a mostly peaceful life as a performer in Gei Huojin's troupe, and with his friend Mo Hengzhu.

An Xishin is known for being a pacifist. While he may seem helpless or a pillow princess, for lack of better words, he is anything but. His form closely resembles that of Rex Lapis, but his true abilities lie in shapeshifting, as his body is technically composed of condensed water, which can be hard to pin down and versatile in how it defends itself. However, An Xishin tends to flee instead of confront.

His friendship with Mo Hengzhu started curiously. As a young geovishap, Mo Hengzhu was quite cuddly, weirdly enough. And from being exposed to Rex Lapis' power, his human characteristics began to manifest over time, eventually in the form that is known so readily around the Harbor. An Xishin watched it happen, and practically taught Mo Hengzhu everything he knows, and they've been as close as brothers ever since their first meeting.

An Xishin is something of a mother hen to the troupe, and readily takes in new recruits without batting an eye. His role as Osial in performances may give him a standoffish reputation, but he is anything but- Earl was taken under his wing with no hesitation, and he's always cooking or providing food for the group, as they must "keep their bodies strong". He's quite adamant about taking care of others, as he was never shown the same kindness.

Mo Hengzhu

“Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.”

The backbone of the troupe, and the most physically strong among them. His geovishap origins as a son of Azhdaha give him poor vision, but his tunneling abilities and physical prowess easily outweigh the disadvantages of his heritage. As the performer that typically plays Azhdaha, he's very popular among the people of the Harbor, and his strength allows him to assist the people in many ways, as kindness was the first thing he was taught.

His name was originally given to him by An Xishin, when the other first found him. As a geovishap, an indirect son of Azhdaha, he holds high prestige within the existing Adepti, and his formal title is Prince of Hongda Ravine. Though a landslide destroyed and filled what remained of the ravine, Mo Hengzhu still holds the title as its honorary prince and protector. He visits whenever he has the time, though his birth place no longer exists on the map, and has been taken over by a small village in the recent years.

His friendship with Gei Huojin is very close, as Mo Hengzhu helped Gei Yue raise him. In Sveta's absence, the Adepti filled in, and Hengzhu taught Huojin most of what he knows in terms of the manipulation of geo- which is a big part of the reason why Gei Huojin's attacks are of the impact type, similar to a vishap. Mo Hengzhu also acts as the "uncle" to many of the other children in the Harbor, along with An Xishin, as he has a particular soft spot for children.

Mo Hengzhu is not exactly the brightest, but he's definitely intent on learning new things. An Xishin is considered the brains of their friendship, while Mo Hengzhu is the brawn, but he also enjoys asking about seafaring vessels. While he's most comfortable on the ground because of his poor eyesight, he thinks that boats are marvelous (and scary) inventions, and is very interested in how they work. They do separate him from the ground, where he uses the vibrations to see, but they also are just so masterfully crafted...

Jing Ya

“If you are a boat that wants to sail in windy weather, you must be more stubborn than the waves!”

Many have commented on how oddly similar both Xiangling and Jing Ya look, but they are quite different. For starters, Jing Ya was blessed by Barbatos, and has a glaring anemo vision that is known for its soft breezes to contrast her standoffish nature. Having grown up with Gei Huojin, she's quite stubborn, and one of his closest friends. In fact, they started the troupe together with the help of Yun Jin, with Jing Ya still playing the part of Guizhong to this day.

Her bull-headed nature is considered rude by many people, but in a family with eight sisters and three brothers, most of them younger than her, she has to be. Her shouting is considered a disturbance, but the boys are used to it by now, and most are shocked that she's the same person onstage. Her dark green hair concealed and soft makeup aside, her role as Guizhong is gentle, which is a rude awakening for most when they find out how brash she is.

Her talents lie in the martial arts, though she also has a bow and arrow at her disposal, which she despises but keeps around regardless. She's often found wrestling or sparring with Gei Huojin or Mo Hengzhu, as she's one of the few that can actually give them a challenge, with her agile disposition and palpable physical strength. Though they can both overpower her easy, her anemo vision makes it harder for the blockheads to pin her, giving them an actual challenge.

Ironically enough, no one has approached her for marriage, or even with a romantic prospect in mind. The Millelith have tried to recruit her many times, with no success. She's perfectly content with her troupe, and someone has to keep the blockheads in line, else they destroy something. Her haggling is also unmatched, so An Xishin doesn't get tricked into paying double for the cor lapis he's often found munching on as a snack.

Mondstadt

Miriam Brusset

"To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk."

The marvelous inventor, Miriam Brusset! Born and raised in Mondstadt, her inventions are known far and wide for being peculiar yet useful. From small flying machines to lights that use electro to illuminate a room, she has made creations that put Fontainian innovators to shame, all in the service of Mondstadt's branch of the Adventurer's Guild. Her brilliant smile and upbeat attitude never fail to bring joy to the hearts of those who know her.

Her arranged marriage was decided long before she was born, to a wealthy Snezhnayan aristocrat. In a time of need, his family provided much needed funds to the Guild, in exchange for his hand in marriage to one of their own. Their reasons remain a mystery, though it is suspected that it has something to do with the Doctor's plans- likely surrounding the corruption in Mondstadt's ancient ruins.

She regularly receives letters from this mystery fiance of hers. He writes quite eloquently, and often talks of his days in the Snezhnayan military, under someone called Scapino. The amount of stupid or chaotic stories she receives is through the roof, but hearing from him after a long day of failed experiments definitely brings a smile to her face. He promises that once his time is over, he'll come to Mondstadt to visit. She can't wait for the day.

She's often found with Bennett, making sure he doesn't get too hurt while adventuring. She even makes the medkits that he carries on him, and a few little gadgets to help with his burns that he often gets from his vision. Though she enjoys visiting old ruins with him particularly, she finds the Ruin Guards very fascinating, and doesn't mind if she gets a little scraped up because of his bad luck. It's for science!

Abyss & Khaenri'ah

Argadros, the Frozen General*

“To love is to destroy, and that to be loved is to be the one destroyed.”

How tragic the tale of Argadros is. Fated to love, destined to lose. A general of the darkened underbelly of Teyvat, he was once a young soldier, with eyes full of light, sent by his king to defend his lands. But the gods ruled otherwise, and the destruction of Khaenri'ah ripped his family and life from him, leaving him half dead on the outskirts of the once beautiful nation. Now, he seeks his vengeance, to pay back the pain that the Archons and their kin inflicted on him, all while his body rots itself to death.

It is little known that he once had a little sister, Remidra. His family was small, just his father, his sister, and himself. He originally joined the forces of the king to get enough money to cure his father of Eleazar, which a pompous and manipulative merchant had tricked him into believing. He took great pride in his work, wearing his badges with little shame.

But the fall of Khaenri'ah came, and it's said that he was cleaved in half. However, through the intervention of the Abyss, his body was reassembled, but at a price. The rot in the wound was never extinguished, and it continues to spread, to someday consume him completely and make him nothing more than a walking corpse. His ability to use ice has slowed it down, though it continues to spread, feasting on his body for as long as it lives.

His love for Brighella bore them a child. One he eventually returned to claim, to replace him as the new general once his body gave out. Though she fought against him, tooth and nail, resisting him until she was dragged back in near-death. The scar across her throat is a reminder of how far he would go for his family, as she is the last of his kin, and his beloved daughter. Twisted, horrible love fills him, which once possessed Brighella, and he loathes the Fatui for her death along with the corruption of his daughter. He will not stop until his family is reunited, even if it is in death.

(List is subject to change)

If you made it all the way down here, congratulations! You just went through forty years of plot in a few minutes!

Anyways, more soon! Toodles!

[anxiety-elemental-kay]

I sense some fandom asshattery has occurred, and that I cannot abide! I fucking love Stampede so much there’s so much great shit in there so let’s get to work (cracks knuckles) THE CINEMATOGRAPHY!! This show is just fucking pretty, every frame a painting. Just look at any dang screenshot of this show. Yes even the goofy smear frames that's how you get that fluid movement! THE ACTION SCNES!! The choreography, the camera, the fun choice of making Vash fight using his gun as a tonfa if he can avoid firing it! It's exciting and creative! I’ve used this clip with Livio to sell Trigun Stampede to some friends before, it’s a good example of everything I just screamed about:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cw9_Kh3KSrA THE SCORE!! The whole thing is great front to back with repeated leitmotifs and clever instrument choices and shit, but we all gotta acknowledge the king here, Knives Theme Vocal Ver. (which was never used in the show but fuck you it’s going in this list.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-D1XBzd-VU IT’S A GOOD ADAPTATION/EXPANSION OF TRIMAX!! Orange was given the chance to make some really creative and clever choices in adapting from a manga to an anime! Taking the one time we see Knives with a piano and expanding it into both important symbol that connects him and his brother, and a musical motif for Knives. Think of the duet scene, you can’t have that in a manga! Or the colors, the different ways red and blue are used to indicate humanity and plants, death and life, etc. You also can’t have that in a black and white manga. Or the things that would be a pain to animate in 2D but can be done easily in 3D, like literally a million knives, or the plant markings!! Orange thought about what a cg animated show could do differently to enhance the story!

This is by no means an exhaustive list, there's SO MUCH TO LOVE and I have SCREAMED ENOUGH!!!!!

IN CONCLUSION: Listen, it’s not perfect, but here’s the secret: literally nothing is! There’s always going to be something that could’ve been done better, something problematic, and somethings that just aren’t to your taste. That’s just what happens!! If something doesn’t work for you for any of those reasons that’s totally fine! What matters is does something work for YOU, does the good outbalance the bad, does it SPEAK to you. TRIGUN STAMPEDE IS SO GOOD WE DO NOT TOLERATE HATERS IN THIS HOUSE.

This is the stampede positivity post

Comment something you like about stampede

Get wild on the tags

Rb cool stampede art

Have fun

[undertale-writing-times]

I'd love to have the snake bad sanses !! More bitties!

Of course! Thank you for adopting :)

Learning that your friend bought you Bitties for your birthday was... good but also, you know, a little annoying. They should have made sure that you could take care of them before ordering them for you! They told you that it would be at your house by the time that you got there in their tanks and all set up!

You felt a little... worried.

Did they get you more than one? Or just one that didn't know their gender or didn't have one? No matter the reason or thought... you were going to have to deal with that later.

Finally, after a few hours, you were allowed to go back to your house after the party. It was a lot of fun! When you got in, you saw on the table was a really large tank. It had a lot of things in it! That's pretty cool. 

You slowly walk over, peeking into the tank then sit down and cross your legs under yourself then lightly tap your finger against the glass, "Hello? Bitty?" 

This was just the smallest bit worrying! What were you going to do? What Bitties did your friend decide to get you? Or Bitty? Hopefully!

You see something moving around in the tank, and it was a bright red color. Slowly the creature comes out, and you saw that it was a snake! Or, at least, a snake Bitty. He was very large and a nice red color. His teeth were very sharp looking and he had a hole in one side of his skull. Guess this was an Axe version of the snakes? 

"Oh hello," You say, with a little smile on your face, "I'm Y/n. It's my birthday today" he slowly moves closer, pressing his hands against the glass turning his head one way and then the next. Another one came out. Smaller than the red one. They were more white, and he squints at you. You make a small sound, "Hi there too... how many are there of you?"

The white one moves closer to the red, who nuzzles him a little, "Five... I'm Ghost and this is Big Red... There's Coal and Dusky too" Big Red adds, "AAnnd... Regal"

So your friend decided to just buy the Bad Sanses? But snakes. Okay, that made sense? At least they didn't go CRAZY just a little crazy.

"Alright then" you mumble, thinking about everything. You stand up to go and check out stuff in the kitchen. You'll have to figure out what these Bitties eat. The Big Red one was most likely the biggest out of them. He seemed pretty thick in shape too so he would maybe need to eat more than the others.

Are there any that don't eat mice? Would they eat bugs? Or... eggs? You remembered there being some snakes that ate eggs. Ughhh you wished that they told you that they adopted these guys before doing it! You need to read up on them. 

Once you were finished yelling in your mind, you walk back into the living room to see the rest of the snakes in a place where you could see them. The one named Regal most likely was draped in the plants, their arms crossed over their chest, squinting at you, and the one that looked like a Nightmare Bitty nodded his head in greeting. 

"Hello, I have decided since you have decided to adopt us, we will help you to the best of our abilities. If you have any questions, ask us but don't ask stupid ones" and Dusky adds quickly, "Or do! They're fun" Ghost smacks the back of his head with his tail, making Dusky snap at him. Of course not making contact, more of a threatening type of deal which gets Ghost to glare. 

Dang... this might be more dangerous than you first thought.

[scarlettriot]

Mina Ashido Headcanons!

@jewel116 requested some headcanons of our Alien Queen and I am here to deliver!

Some of these also could be considered BakuSquad HCs, hope that's alright.

I also went ahead and included some Adult Mina and 18+ Mina Headcanons too. Both are below the cut and clearly stated. Warnings are posted at each header mark.

If anyone has any other requests, lemme know!

Basic Mina Headcanons

Warnings: It's as fluffy as her dang hair! (Swearing)

. Most definitely has ADHD! In class, she is constantly tapping her foot on bouncing her leg as a means of trying her best to keep focused.

. Has a collection of shirts that she has designated for sleep and loungewear because she's burned acid holes in them by accident. Sometimes she'll wear them to concerts and shows if the design is cool enough.

. Loves piggyback rides! Frequently will run and jump on the backs of the guys in the BakuSquad. Even Katsuki himself puts up with it after a while.

. While Katsuki is the 'mom' of the squad, Mina is the one everyone goes to when they need comfort. Denki will curl up in her lap after a long day, Eijiro frequently goes to her when his insecurities creep back in, Hanta shows up late at night and they talk in her room about nothing just because he doesn't want to be alone, and Katsuki, well, he shows up to her room, slams the door and complains for a solid half-hour after reading a particularly heartbreaking scene in a manga while she listens to every word and validates his feelings.

. Mina worries far more than people believe she does. Her bubbly, loud, personality usually masks it but she knows when people are lying to her about what's going on in their heads.

. Sitting properly in a chair physically bothers her. She'd much rather be hanging upside down off it.

. She lowkey likes that the boys get protective over her.

. Mina is the type of person who gets A LOT of random thoughts that pop up in her head and one of the few people who actually will engage with the sheer randomness of the ideas is Shoto. Not only does he engage, he comes up with his own! The two can talk for hours.

. Loves hosting 'spa parties' in the common area of the dorms, everyone is welcome to join.

. When road trips happen, she's making the playlists (technically, she and Kyoka switch off).

. Tries teaching Tenya, Izuku, and Shoto how to flirt. After a very embarrassing first hour, Shoto didn't learn a single thing, Izuku was only good at it when paired with Shoto and Tenya... Tenya had her SHOOK! Man has game and she made sure everyone knew!

. Has weekly meetings with Yuga where they drink tea and spill the tea.

. She is so damn ticklish. Hanta was teasing her one day, she warned him to stop, he received an elbow to the face for not listening.

. Tried to grow her hair out once but it didn't grow down... it grew OUT. Mina thought she rocked it, and she totally did but ended up having it cut back down so poor Tsyu could see in class.

. Wakes up early three days a week to practice her hand-to-hand combat with Eijiro. Mina wants to improve her technique and Eijiro needed to work on his mobility, it benefits them both.

. Just Dance is her favorite game, she dominates.

. Easily forms new interests.

. Won't admit it but she gets jealous super easily.

. Will be the first to attempt to throw hands for a friend! I HC she was picked on as a child for looking so different but it never really phased her too badly, she likes looking different but understands that not everyone thinks like she does. So, if someone were to say something about Mezo's facemask, she's stepping in to defend the guy without hesitation.

. Knows every TikTok dance EVER. If a new one comes out, she's mastered it by end of the day and her account is always up to date.

. (Popular idea but important to reinforce) Mina and Eijiro co-founded a club, Horn Buddies, specifically to make Eri feel more welcome. They take her on trips and group outings. The only horned person who's not allowed to join is Pony because she was rude as heck to Mezo.

. Mina gets extra competitive over board games.

. She can ice skate and roller skate like a champ.

. Mina is resilient, dedicated, and passionate. She has goals and the girl will achieve them.

Pro Hero - Adult Mina Headcanons

Warnings - Mentions of alcohol use and swearing

. Gets several tattoos and piercings.

. Starts a roller derby club with most of the girls from 1A.

. Loves going out to the hottest dance clubs just as much as she enjoys staying in and munching on take-out food with friends.

. The Horn Buddies club she formed with Eijiro has now expanded into regular society and both young heroes couldn't be more proud. Together they've formed a foundation that strives to help those with non-flashy, unconventional, or misunderstood quirks feel welcomed and loved.

. Does her best to shop small whenever she can. Mina wants to help her community in as many different ways as possible.

. Becomes a fashion icon for many small, just starting out, alternative clothing lines. They love her look and the standard she sets.

. Goes to fashion and runway shows with Momo on the regular. While Momo prefers buying right off the rack, Mina goes to thrift stores and buys items that are coming back into style.

. Does her best to stay in touch with her classmates. She really cherished the friendships she made and goes the extra mile to make sure everyone stays connected.

. Has told off Shoto's father. Sent the man an anonymous bag of flaming dog shit as well for making his son so damn stressed. Sorry, not sorry.

. As long as she isn't in the middle of a fight, Mina will always stop to take a photo with a fan or sign an autograph. In or out of costume, she doesn't care.

. In high school, Mina's room was always decked out for the holidays. She goes decoration crazy and it is always done well. But, now that she's an adult with that pro hero money and her own place, she's the best house on the block decorated for each and every holiday! Inside and out! Also throws holiday-themed parties.

. Got absolutely trashed with the BakuSquad one night and taught them all how to twerk. By the end of the lesson, she deemed Katsuki was the best of her students.

. Loves to drink. Is a lightweight. Katsuki and Eijiro have carried her home more times than they can count.

NSFW 18+ Mina HC Below - Minors DNI

Warnings: Drinking, rough sex, mentions of orgies, handcuffs, impact play, and praise kinks. Subtle sexual relations with BakuSquad, Jiro, Todoroki, and Ochaco.

. The Queen of stripteases and lap dances.

. If any of her friends are at a party or some event and they need a fake date, Mina is their go-to person. She's handsy. She's flirty. And has no problem with platonic make-outs.

. Always encourages kissing-themed games at parties. Seven Minutes in Heaven, Spin the Bottle, those sorts of games. Mina also loves to play cupid and has rigged a game or two to get people together.

. Has made out with every member of the BakuSquad at least once as well as Kyoka, Shoto, and Ochaco simply because she was curious.

. Has attempted to start an orgy with the BakuSquad before when intoxicated. Still mentions it in passing just in case they change their minds.

. Has gone further with Katsuki and Eijiro though. Maybe both at the same time once or twice or several times...

. Wonderfully filthy dirty talk. Can even make Katsuki blush.

. (A personal favorite of mine that was in a previous post) When they were first years, Eijiro asked innocently enough, to touch her horns. He was gentle but that didn't matter. Our poor girl was so damn flustered! Her face turned red bright, she felt hot, and she had to go take a very cold shower!

. Ei felt terrible about it. It took them both maturing for her to explain exactly why she reacted that way... and then asked him to do it again.

. Is likely to send NSFW texts and photos while people are indeed at work. She is a Pro Hero though so only certain people are allowed to have those photos. A scandal is the last thing she wants.

. Very good at communication and is not afraid to speak her mind about what she wants and needs out of a relationship and her sex life.

. Loud, very loud, very needy.

. Fuzzy handcuffs in every color she can think of and adores impact play.

. Let her know she's doing a good job, Mina responds well to praise.

. Big cuddler after sex. Wants to snuggle into you and more than likely take a nap.

[sheepiemc]

MC Outfit Headcanons

outfits i think the boys would like on any MC so inclined to wear these kinds of fashions

Lucifer

Much like himself, i would imagine that he would like MC covered from head to toe lmao

Ok maybe not HEAD to toe but pretty dang close lol modesty is the best policy

Like ideal outfit i think would be simple black turtle neck, pencil skirt, tights and either pumps or booties depending on the weather. Hair UP. subtle “natural” makeup - maybe a red lip if they’re feeling feisty. a coat if its cold. Tell me lucifer wouldn't be a SUCKER for a pencil skirt

Since we’re dealing with pride incarnate, MC always has to look their best so casual clothes is a no-no. Business casual MAYBE but absolutely NO JEANS. Signature colors of blue and red. I think he would like simple but EXPENSIVE jewelry and obvi wearing the matching necklace u got for his birthday

For like a formal wear/evening gown type thing im thinking of ONE SPECIFIC DRESS from the sims but I imagine his taste would lean to long sleeve, square/high neck gown - no embellishments but a nice textured material, maybe ombre? - with a very low back, so its like a surprise and when he touches the small of ur back he feels ur skin ☺ I just think its cute and if u subscribe to the "pactmarks make tattoos" camp then bonus if his pactmark is on ur back lmao

I think it would be like- he likes u looking all dressed up in public bc then him and only him will get to see the real u in private and vice versa… thats what im going for anyway :^p

Mammon

Now on the complete opposite end of the spectrum, mams would SHOWER mc in expensive/designer clothing that SCREAMS money!! Flexing on the haters smthg smthg drip right?? Idk im old now idk but VERY FLASHY

And he's a model yea? So like they get free shit so that they can be seen wearing it right? So I dont really think it's so much that *he* spends money on them (bc avatar of greed? Spending money on other people? Unheard of ;^P) but he gets free shit and is like "I can't wear this its too old" or "it doesn't fit me" or w/e excuse he can come up with

Idk who started this but i agree with the HC that mammon is a leg man so mini skirts/shorts are the demon’s UNDOING

I see mammon’s style as veering more toward casual/street fashion.. if I had to call it *smthg* ig i would say hypebeast??

So like ideal outfit would be like some fancy expensive sneaker (sneakerhead!mammon just makes so much sense, doesn't it??) like jordans or nike sneaks or those balenciagas the ones that look like socks or like those chunky sneakers u kno the ones, embellished/distressed cutoff Jean shorts, a simple white crop top with like some designer logo right and like an oversized fancy embellished jacket - leather or jean or bomber - and cute but ineffective sunglasses right 😆 to match ofc

We out here drippin in finesse

Fave color on u is gold bc DUH and I can see him liking a dramatic/smoky eye like a brown/gold smoky bidness… and jewelry would be gold too of course and like BIG gold jewelry like a chain and earrings and sunglasses are like his signature accessory

I think an evening gown/dress for him would also have to be gold and VERY SPARKLY… much like his character song, he’d want all eyes to be on you so that everyone knows how good *his* human looks, when at the same time he’ll be very protective and p much hanging off u the whole time, making sure that ur only paying attention to him ;^)

Leviathan

So like the obvious answer here would be cosplay right? And like that’s canon im p sure if MC indulges him by cosplaying his faves like ruri-chan OFC he’s gonna love it but like i think he would find it adorable if they did closet/casual cosplays inspired by his faves and otaku!MC’s faves too… its subtle enough that in the beginning he’s not sure if ur doing it on purpose or not but after like the third time he’ll catch on and ask

Another clothing style i think levi would like on MC (bc u can only closet cosplay so many times) would be the kawaii harajuku type clothes

Like specific outfit im picturing is like oversized anime-type t shirt or sweatshirt/pullover hoodie and a pleated mini skirt, probably plaid, knee high socks (or THIGH HIGH if u want to kill the demon), a cute plushie purse too if ur feeling it and wanna complete the look (YES i went on pinterest BEFORE writing this one up this time) shoes??? Idk what would go with that… sneakers? Mary janes? Oh like platform sneakers? Egirl shoes lmao

I cant see him being picky about makeup and hair and jewelry and stuff bc he mostly wants to hangout with u in his room so comfy/casual clothes are all but guaranteed in his presence *shrug emoji* and when he does go out, it's not usually to anything fancy so comfy/casual still wins … a couple days later and im considering him being partial to egirl makeup… bc that like kinda anime inspired already..? LIKE i still stand by him not really caring BUT egirl makeup is fucking cute

Fancy events still do happen, however, and he gets dragged to ones that have to do with diavolo SO I was thinking about his preference for that sorta thing and I cant see him picking a typical evening gown/fancy dress where its like slinky or sparkly or whatever (though if u did pick one i think he would like one that compliments his scales…. Not that he would tell u that and i also cant find one on pinterest like that lmao) again i think he would like this specific style of dress that i found on pinterest thats apparently japanese but its like mostly made of tule? Sometimes embroidered, high collar -either with tule or another blouse type thing underneath, long/three-quarters sleeves, mid/knee-length skirt… they're like ALMOST Lolita but not quite… idk they just looked really pretty and matched his style

I also looked at sailor dresses bc admiral of hell’s navy but the american sailor dresses werent doing it for me and the japanese sailor dresses looked too casual for like a formal event but i think levi would also like the sailor look bc its freakin adorable how can u not love it

I had trouble figuring out what his “favorite color” on u would be bc this man’s colorscheme is all over the god damn place -his sin color is orange but his hair color is purple but his eyes are yellow but his NAIL color is blue and the dominant color scheme of his casual clothes is like yellow and blue?? And the dominant colorscheme of his demon for is purple and a little yellow AND THEN HIS HUMAN WORLD LOOK IS ORANGE AND FUCKING TEAL so like he’s all over the god damn place and i decided that his fave color on MC is pastel purple bc then they always match his hair color *WHEEW* that was a lot…. Oh my god i just realized his human world shoes have different shoelace colors on both feet…. Hoo boy……

Satan

Ok now here’s an easy one… at first when i was coming up with a style for him i was thinking “kinda preppy with a little bit of edge?” and it took me till today to realize “oh that’s dark academia” LMAO

So obvious answer is obvious but hey if it aint broke right? Its like librarian meets dark wizard which is TOTALLY his aesthetic duh its just enough rebellion to not be like lucifer too goody-two-shoes, ykwim?

So like a lot of browns and plaids and dark greens (ofc), cozy sweaters and cardigans, slacks OR skirts either works, coats sometimes if its real chilly, like boots or oxfords if ur feelin fancy

OBVIOUSLY if u throw in a cat themed accessory here and there he would find that absolutely endearing but it would have to be something subtle and not too tacky.. After all, im p sure aesthetic beauty is like a big thing for satan… if im not mistaken..

For a dress i struggled bc he’s one i also can't see really being into like a typical fancy flowy gown - though if he had to pick one i think it would be a velvet emerald number that looks very very pretty - his dress choice would be a more toned down, like vintage 40s inspired look? Like not too long but not too short, its got like three quarters sleeve and asymmetrical embellishments bc again rebellion

Ok ik i just said that satan appreciates beauty but like i can see him being picky about a makeup look either? Obviously like green to match the fancy outfit but like other than that all bets are off THO…. i do feel like he would be the opposite of partial to red lipstick… for no reason in particular… I looked up dark academia makeup and it's mostly brown... Yeah that'll work, it's pretty.

Asmodeus

So asmo's aesthetic pinterest board is the biggest one out of all of them and that wssnt on purpose at first but doesn't that make so much sense?? I just kept adding stuff like "oh that's cute" "oh THATS cute" "oh that's CUUUTE" and i just went off from there

So unsurprisingly asmo LOVES to dress up MC, unlike the others who passively like their MC's style, asmo is ACTIVELY involved in shopping with/dressing up MC however he likes

And boy does he LIKE… so like I got it in my head that asmo is the opposite of lucifer: where luci wants MC to cover up, asmo wants to see as much skin in as many creative ways as possible (without making MC uncomfortable ofc - I had to draw a line somewhere)

Heavily influenced by the popular fashions of today, more so than the other bros. If I had to give it a name I'd call it "mean girl aesthetic" bc its like mostly pink, got fuzzy elements, sparkly elements, lots of short things, lots of tight things, for some reason i can only picture like strappy shoes? With high heels obviously… i think of like stripper shoes but like a little less dramatic… asmo would wear them tho (the stripper shoes i mean) or maybe also like thigh high boots n go go boots idk FOR THE AESTHETIC

For like dresses, I got a lot of like club dresses with interesting cut outs and lots of glittery elements… for the stray formal event, I got slinky pink numbers with like high slits, they didn't have it on pinterest but probably fur or feather boas type things ya know old hollywood glamour but also make it modern

Another OBVIOUS type of clothing asmo would prefer to see MC in is LINGERIE DUH i only added like 3 to the pinterest board but like theres a lot of cute underwear out there… ALSO those big ol sheer robes with the fuzzy trim is very asmo aesthetic, right?

As far as makeup goes, I think he would be more experimental with like glitter and rhinestone elements… just picture asmo doing MCs makeup like that image of those two girls with the strong gay energy … idk kids call it the euphoria aesthetic right?

Beelzebub

Finally… my boy… funny enough i dont think beel (or his twin for that matter) cares that much about clothes in the first place so this part won’t be super long (probablyy)

So i got another obvious answer for ya: workout clothes! Duh! Because i and some other beel enjoyers ive seen share the sentiment that beel and MC workout together for bonding purposes and ya kno to spend more time together whether MC is a gym rat or not, i know even *I* would workout if my gym buddy was beelze-fuckin-bub but i digress

So yeah workout clothes! Or athleisure wear if ur really not keen on working out lol i imagine he likes it bc a. Its representative of ur spending time together and b. A lot of workout clothes is lowkey sexy by design and like ik some people think beel is a dummy or oblivious - even when it comes to things of *that* nature but u and i both know better than that… [*wiggles eyebrows*] and for shoes i think it would be obvious that theyre like running shoes and sneakers but the sneakers u can actually use and scuff without having to wipe with a damp cloth every time that u wear them out lmao

SPECIFICALLY, i think his fave would be leggings with the mesh cutouts bc WOW some of those leggings show A LOT of skin - u just dont notice at first glance. 👀 And like sports bras and crop tops and crop sweaters OH i also think he would like those really short like faux gym shorts? Like those are you nasty shorts but without the words [is this perhaps subconsciously influenced by my memories of the ghost and the goth? Maybe so…]

But one can’t wear workout clothes ALL THE TIME [i mean they can but where’s the fun in that] so like brighter/warmer colors like yellows and oranges and reds, flower prints like sunflowers and daisies, shorts and joggers and sweatshirts and the like… aw rompers! Thats cute

As far as picking a fancy type dress? I couldnt find EXACTLY what i wanted on pinterest but i was going for a celestial sun inspired number with like tule and glitter stars and gold and yellow and orange and if u r feeling extra, one of them like sunray halo headpieces

Also i said he prob wouldnt care and its dumb to put on make up when working out anyway but im also biased so i think he would like peachy/orangey looks, specifically orange blush+freckles bc thats cute i think!!

Belphegor

As previously mentioned, i cant see belphie being picky about clothes, even more so bc dressing up takes effort and its so much easier to not put in effort into anything so why would u bother for the avatar of sloth

That being said, obvious answer is obvious but, his fave clothes on MC are pajamas!! If one likes to sleep in their birthday suit or no pants thats fine too 😆 but i was definitely thinking in the realm of very cute pajamas that i found on pinterest... for shoes: do i even need to say it? Slippers obviously lmao bc i love to hoard slippers and they kinda get beat up when u wear them a lot, i think MC would have a small collection of mostly novelty slippers lmao

Mostly consists of graphic tshirts/tank tops with like sleepy slogans and imagery and shorts or pj pants, lots of cow themed stuff lots of star themed stuff ya know, all very cute i think

But one cant wear pjs all the time (again) and tshirts/sweatshirts/sweatpants are all very comfy and very lazy so like its not so much that i think *he* thinks MC looks good in those kinds of clothes (bc who can say that they look *GOOD* in sweatpants…. Ill wait aND NO BEING SKINNY IN SWEATPANTS =/= LOOKING GOOD IN SWEATPANTS), moreso i think that he likes the influence of his sin on those choices bc i for one subscribe to the notion that all of them have like a sin radar that detects their sin in people and it feels good to have that influence over someone!! Bc demons!!

SINCE I WAS BULLIED INTO PUTTING REAL CLOTHES ON THIS LIST, we’re sticking to lazy theme with like long dresses/skirts bc no pants is the ultimate lazy fashion choice, flannels, loose overalls, sweaters, those spaghetti strap dresses with tshirts underneath and since im being FORCED to pick a fashion “aesthetic”, were gonna go with a weird mix of lazy 70s style, twilight-core/elena-gilbert-core and goblincore, all with a purple/blue, cool color palette bc ofc

Anyway when dressing up cannot be avoided, i also think its very obvious to chose a dark blue/black dress with glittery stars and moons on it!! That also parallels beel’s dress of choice bc twins of light and darkness!! Parallelism!! Parallelogram!!

And once more (with feeling) makeup = effort and we aint about that here BYUT, ik theres a lot of motherfuckers out there that call belphie an eboy so why not do egirl makeup again, but we’ll go for the slightly more depressed egirl that makes her darkcircles even darker on purpose lmao

Diavolo

So of the formerly-undateables, only dia came easy to me ig bc ive read enough ff to come to a conjecture about his personality type? Whereas the other ones are way more of a mystery to me and like i could come up with fashion choices that i think they would like but it didnt feel genuine?? or correct?? Like i was just saying anything to say something…. BUT DIA……

So it came to me very quickly and all at once - i think i even completed his pin board b4 asmos - and its all bc i saw something that i thought i should add to luci’s pin board when it hit me… NO… THIS IS FOR DIA’S MC… and that first outfit was: a tweed 2pc skirt/jacket combo and suddenly i was like oh ok… so dia’s style for MC would be a perfect combo of lucifer’s and mammon’s MC styles… where its kinda professional-ish?? With like the jackets and stockings and stuff (luci) but its also fun and very “show off ur wealth”-y in a more subtle/tasteful way (mam).

Probably more of the blair waldorf-y aesthetic, with a LOT of tweed, suits, jackets, dresses, all of it, 2pc suit/skirt combos but more fashion than business, a lot of that damn gucci belt 😆 i imagine that its all designer shit but shit u likely wouldnt recognize as designer unless u were a fashion person and idrk how to look for this kinda stuff on pinterest so i only found like 2 but prob vintage designer stuff that only celebrities can get like on loan?? Because he is extra as hell!! Shoes?? Also designer ofc probably more heels than anything but there are many types of designer shoes i guess

It would also absolutely be a power move on Dia’s part to dress up his MC this way, to show off his power and influence and he also wants MC to look good and if ur the type of person that feels good in UBER expensive designer clothes than more power to ya… so like this “style preference” is unique in that its a preference that only he would be able to give you, like its super unlikely that any MC just has this stuff lying around in their closet, unless ur MC is also super rich.. So take from that what u will 😏 this was not initially a deliberate choice but I am making it one now

Now for a fancy ball/evening gown, i have zero doubt in my mind that he would love to see MC in a “princess diavolo” type dress bc he is - what? - extra 👏 as 👏 hell 👏!! So like i was trying to find something VERY specific on pinterest that nothing could actually match but its red and black and gold (surprise thats his favorite color scheme) with like a lot of intricate embellishments with like embroidery and beading and lace and tule but like really beautiful and not tacky or kitschy or gaudy (hopefully) maybe some ombre dyeing ya know? Things to make the dresses more expensive lmao the only part directly replicated from the "princess diavolo" sticker [bc *that* dress *is* tacky as hell] is the choker necklace type thing bc I think that would look really pretty I also think he would like MC to wear like crown-adjacent headwear like circlets and maybe a tiara if they will let him but pretty luxurious jewelry because I understand what the appeal to lord diavolo, demon prince and acting ruler of the devildom, is EXACTLY

Now we've established that dia is extra af but I think daytime makeup looks would be pretty reserved… this time I think a dark red lip would be his shade… party looks however we would go ALL OUT, RED EYE, RED AND GOLD EYE, RED SMOKEY EYES JUST VERY DRAMATIC he'd prob be into like a black lip or even a gold lip im sure magic can make that happen lmao im sure he'd like to use magic to have fun with ur appearance in other ways too like changing eye color or making it look like u have horns (thinking of a very specific situation in a fic I read lmao) I think it'd be fun, if MC was comfortable with that ofc

Now side note, I wrote all this (and all the rest of the boys too) with the intention of nailing down a human world style that each of them would like and I stand by what I've picked for dia… BUT, I think that the clothes that he most like to see MC in is the RAD uniform, not be its hot or sexy or whatever but it's representative of this project that he's worked so hard for and u being there, alive, willingly attending classes and participating in stuff that many just dismiss as "the whims of a silly prince" just makes dia swell with pride and joy… maybe the human world suit combos remind him enough of the uniforms too actually lol 😆

I have a lot of dia feelings that I haven't been able to get a full grasp on yet ok

ALSO forgot to mention but dia canonically likes cute things!! So like if u can incorporate those kinds of things into outfits then all the better!! Good luck finding a way to match idk a stuffed animal purse? With vintage gucci lmao

[maverick-werewolf]

Modern Dragon Designs - Where they came from

Your regularly scheduled werewolf facts will return soon. For now, we provide this special, because you may not realize this, but I love dragons. There’s a reason one of my protagonists is basically obsessed with dragons.

Once upon a time, there was a movie - I don’t see anyone talk about it, I’m not even sure how many people are familiar with it...

It’s called Reign of Fire.

This movie shaped the modern Hollywoodian concept of dragons. Seriously, it did. Hear me out.

Released in 2002, Reign of Fire was a movie about - essentially - dragons as that age-old trope of “let’s take one monster and turn them into an overpopulated zombie plague so we can use them to tell a story about humans and make the monster just this brainless evil locust swarm backdrop.” This has happened to a lot of monsters by now.

But wait, these dragons aren’t like the dragons you might be used to: these dragons were completely redesigned from the ground up by the filmmaker(s) in order to make a more “realistic” and “animalistic” dragon that was acceptable by Hollywood, who generally views “dragon movies” (like so many other fantasy things...) as cheesy and silly. Market your movie as a film about dragons and you probably won’t get a deal. Well, turns out, coming up with your own gritty dragon designs worked!

Doesn’t this remind you of every other dragon you’ve seen in a movie for the last, you know, 18 years? Although it actually looks quite a bit cooler than those other ones that came after it

Please note that while I may sound sarcastic, jaded, and often maybe a bit scathing, I mean nothing against the creators of Reign of Fire or director Rob Bowman. I watched the movie in theaters when it released. I applaud Bowman for coming up with unique and interesting dragon designs, in order to have a different take on the creatures, so that they fit the story he wanted to tell, instead of doing what so many people do and completely co-opting concepts without trying to alter them to fit anything and... yeah... okay, I’m not going to talk about werewolf things in this post. Getting back on track:

What I don’t applaud is everyone ripping off Reign of Fire for their own dragons, doubly so because most of these people didn’t even take into account the reasons why it was designed that way. They should have left his dragons alone and come up with their own thing, but at least I guess Bowman can go down in history as the man who designed every Hollywood dragon for over a decade to come - with no signs of stopping - even down to the tail shape.

On Vice, you can find an article and interview with Rob Bowman, the director of Reign of Fire, discussing how he came up with this dragon design and how influential it has become. I highly recommend giving it a read.

Please note the Vice article is clearly written with the bias of someone who “can’t take dragons seriously,” so it’s also a good look at the Hollywood mindset about dragons and how much Hollywood treats fantasy in general like garbage (jerks).

It’s impossible to pretend this movie didn’t basically reshape modern dragons. Let’s get to the details...

Animalistic Design

Dragons in popular culture are generally - or at least they were generally - assumed to be powerful, intelligent creatures, often of a higher nature than humans and other mere mortals. They may be good or evil, but one can’t understate that traditional fantasy dragons are regal and majestic either way.

Reign of Fire wanted to usurp the majestic, intelligent dragon image, creating a smaller, hunched, knuckle-dragging sort of dragon that looks more like an animal - like a pteranodon. This is because the dragons in Reign of Fire are not exceptionally intelligent, noble beings that speak and hoard gold and have the wisdom of the ages. They are brutal hunters that set things on fire and eat everything smaller than them. So this design choice was a conscious one and a smart one.

The dragons in Reign of Fire are meant to be more scientific, more plausible, and also simpler, in a manner of speaking. They are not colorful, magical, ancient fantasy dragons...

Trouble is, everyone took cues from this design for their talking wise noble fantasy dragons, and it... doesn’t really work, at least if you ask me.

The dragon design in Reign of Fire looks like an ancestral throwback, an evolutionary ancestor to the intelligent, talking fantasy dragon, although they are smaller. They’re hunched, they haven’t evolved forelegs independent of their wings... you get the idea. Take a look at the “proto-drakes” in World of Warcraft versus the ordinary drakes, which have tiny dangly T-rex forelegs that haven’t fully developed yet, so they walk like the Reign of Fire dragons.

A proto-drake in World of Warcraft - also say hi to my worgen warrior

So many things taking this design for their intelligent, “higher being” dragons seems kind of... odd to me, to say the least. Unfortunately, Hollywood decided that’s the only way moviegoers can “take dragons seriously,” so here we are.

“Wyvern” - Two Legs vs Four

Municipal arms of Stjørdal, Norway

In medieval heraldry, there came to be a creature called a wyvern. Now, the etymology on the term “wyvern” is a little shaky. It originally didn’t specifically refer to a “two-legged dragon.” It is thought to mean/be derived from words meaning anything ranging from “asp” to “light javelin,” and essentially boils down to a flying serpent. It is noteworthy, of course, that the word “dragon” basically just means “serpent” too.

In heraldry, though, “wyvern” came to refer to a two-legged dragon - at least, if you ask the English, Scottish, and Irish; elsewhere in Europe, they may not be so picky. And now, in modern pop culture (such as Dungeons and Dragons), we often use it in the same sense.

Wyverns weren’t really a “thing” in folklore, just as dragons in folklore didn’t look like our modern idea of a dragon. It’s debatable whether the father of our modern concept of dragons, Fafnir (from whom Tolkien drew inspiration for Smaug), even had wings at all; he was essentially a serpent, perhaps with legs. Point is, wyverns come from heraldry, especially the specificity of two legs versus four.

So now you know why you might see a lot of people (myself included) referring to this design as a “wyvern design” for a dragon.

Dull Coloration - Grey and Brown over Red, Blue, Green...

There’s something else - something very important - that Hollywood took from Reign of Fire... the concept that dragons aren’t pretty colors and are, in fact, various hues of grey and brown, and any more contrasting colors are just vague indications instead of bright red scales.

Now, Reign of Fire obviously did this because - again - they were going for the more animalistic, natural look as opposed to the mysterious majestic magical being look. Okay, that’s fine. But then Hollywood decided that fantasy, too, has to be devoid of dragons with bright colors.

The green dragon in Game of Thrones

There are countless examples of this in modern media. Any dragon that was previously brightly colored has been dulled pretty much to an extreme. Sometimes you might catch a fleeting glimpse of them looking like a brighter shade, but it was probably just a trick of the light. Why? Because all dragons are desaturated to the point of being almost indistinguishable by color.

The golden dragon in The Witcher Netflix series

This is also why you see so many mods on the Skyrim Nexus called things like “true red dragon.”

There are plenty more examples of this - I’m sure you can see the difference when you look at those dragons and other modern film dragons over, say, something like this...

Red dragon in D&D

And now we move on to...

The Fire Breathing - Chemicals, not Magic

Bowman insisted on ditching traditional fire breathing (you don't want the audience wondering whether the dragon's mouth is being burnt up with every flame) and again looked to the animal kingdom for inspiration. The king cobra, once again, was a great starting point. It doesn't spray fire, but it can spit its venom. Even more useful was the bombardier beetle, which shoots two chemicals from its abdomen that, once mixed, create a hot, burning spray. Bowman used these real-world examples to inspire his own dragons. They don't breathe fire exactly, but rather spit chemicals from two different sacks in their mouths that, when combined, ignite. "That's anatomy. That's already been designed, so we're going to draw from there," he said.

(quoted from the Vice article linked to earlier in this post)

The Hungarian Horntail in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - fire is streaming from two separate organs in the mouth, but they aren’t chemicals mixing together like in Reign of Fire...

The director of Reign of Fire wanted his dragons to be more natural in that they breathe fire through organic means, based on chemical reactions, instead of the usual dragon magic. But lots of people loved this “mouth flap”/”mouth organ” design with “streams” of fire coming from the mouth instead of fire flowing directly from the dragon’s throat, so now you see it pretty dang often.

Horns? Brow Ridges!

Another thing that is basically out now in dragon designs is the real horns of many traditional dragons, like Spyro, and like the dragons in Dungeons & Dragons used to have.

These days, it’s all about brow ridges and big spiny scales that aren’t separate horns, they’re just big pointed scales or piles of scales or bone ridges - and they aren’t a different color than the dragon’s scales, either, pretty often. And, in general, dragon’s horns have become much smaller and far more numerous, and more like spines/ridges, as opposed to the great, sweeping horns of classical dragons.

Firkraag, the red dragon, in the D&D video game Baldur’s Gate II, from 2000

Firkraag is a very traditional dragon. Now, while Dungeons & Dragons has generally kept more traditional dragons (yay!), they did fall into the brow ridge horn thing - although they, thankfully, didn’t make the horns smaller and subtler and more numerous little spikes, like so many other modern dragon designs. They also went with the brow ridge horns for tieflings (once humans with demon blood, then some weird thing in 4E, and now I think they’re humans with demon blood again), as opposed to the ordinary horns of the tieflings in previous editions of D&D.

Skyrim dragon head concept art

The Desolation of Smaug(’s design)

Here is... a big one. Here, we’ll talk some about the production of The Hobbit films over time, so we’re going behind the scenes.

Alright, so we all know Smaug, probably, by pop culture osmosis if nothing else. He is the quintessential dragon. He’s basically the founder of all Western dragon concepts: he’s big, he’s red, he hoards gold, he’s extremely intelligent and talks, etc. You get the picture. Every dragon that we have borrowed at least something from Smaug. And, in turn, he was inspired by Fafnir, the father of all our dragon concepts, from Norse mythology - but Tolkien took it all a step further and created the concept of dragons that we have today. Or, well, the not Reign of Fire ones. The fantasy ones.

A map drawn by Tolkien: notice the winged, four-legged Smaug over his mountain

During the first Hobbit movie, An Unexpected Journey, we see Smaug attack the Lonely Mountain...

In this clip, you can plainly see that Smaug has four legs. This was actually edited slightly for later editions of the movie, or so I’ve heard (I haven’t watched any later editions).

I can tell you for certain that when I saw the theatrical release, it was like this, too. It is apparent throughout the scene that Smaug has four legs and wings, separately. I know because I was paying very, very close attention, because I was going to be very upset if Hollywood turned Smaug into a wyvern.

Well, they did - later.

Smaug the wyvern looking like just another slightly different take on the bog-standard Hollywood dragon

Apparently, some studio exec decided that having a traditional fantasy dragon, even if this dragon happens to be frelling Smaug himself, would not be okay in this modern Hollywood world. So we ended up with a dull reddish spiney hunching knuckle-dragging wyvern with an angler mouth (I’m sorry; I really am sorry if you like the design, that’s totally fine, it’s a fine design, I am glad you enjoyed it, but Smaug shouldn’t have looked that way IMO and forgive me but I am still in pain over it) in place of a more traditional dragon that held more to things like, I dunno, how Tolkien himself drew Smaug. Smaug’s movie design flies right in the face of that and destroyed our chance to finally see a proper traditional dragon done justice on the big screen.

Tolkien’s art of Smaug - note the position of the forelegs, separate from the wings, like in the earlier map

This is all just one big example why we should be thankful that The Lord of the Rings films were all shot in one go, so no one could alter important things like the design of the fantasy genre’s father of all dragons, in the middle of production. Of course, the production on The Hobbit movies was a nightmare at best, as you can read about in assorted other articles, and Peter Jackson was very unhappy with what the studio had him do to the series. All of that is just another story, I suppose.

Dragons Redesigned by Reign of Fire: Example List

Now that we’ve gone over just a few of the talking points about Reign of Fire’s dragon designs (although I didn’t even get into the flat, spaded tail look in detail), here’s an undoubtedly incomplete list of several examples that have either entirely taken the design and/or were massively influenced by it...

(please note that not everything in this list held entirely to Reign of Fire’s design, obviously; some have the fire, some don’t; some have horns, some have head/brow ridges; but all of them are wyverns and most are darkly-colored)

Skyrim - Obvious influence with the general design, skin/scales and ridges design, as well as coloration; however, it is noteworthy that the Elder Scrolls has had dragons with no forelegs since at least 1998, in the game Redguard - though that dragon was also very brightly-colored (also of note: Peryite, while technically a Daedric prince and not a dragon, had four legs at least as far back as Daggerfall in 1996)

The Hobbit films, specifically The Desolation of Smaug onward - as mentioned before

Harry Potter movies - Wholesale. Two streams of fire from mouth flaps in Goblet of Fire, generally dull greyish and/or brownish colorations, no forelegs, short/simple horns that are mostly ridges...

Gods of Egypt - The giant fire-breathing cobras have the mouth flaps

Game of Thrones - This one’s pretty obvious too.

Disney’s Maleficent - In the new live action Disney movie(s), the dragon falls right into this design (though the fire doesn’t come from mouth flaps)

Netflix Witcher series - Villentretenmerth is very much a wyvern design and a dull shade, and he in fact has no horns at all, even though dragons weren’t portrayed this way in any previous Witcher adaptations

Stargate SG1 (season 10) - In the episode series “The Quest,” a dragon appears and... well, it looks just like all those other dragons, though the fire does come from its throat.

Beowulf (2008) - I try not to ever talk about or think about this film, but I have to just throw out there that the dragon is very much Reign of Fire, especially with that wyvern design.

Seventh Son - If you can call Malkin a dragon  - she was called one, I think - she definitely also has the same kind of dull-colored wyvern design.

Sucker Punch (movie)

Lots and lots of B-movies and direct to DVD/streaming films - Dawn of the Dragonslayer, Dragon (2006), Dragon Crusaders...

Something to note, also, is that cartoons, anime, and other non-film media is mostly - but not entirely - free from this influence. Cartoons especially are free from it, partially because they aren’t influenced by Hollywood producers who want “serious” and “realistic” dragons. Cartoons are allowed to have magical, colorful, four-legged dragons. Unfortunately, we are deprived of those in live action film and television, by and large.

There are still other exceptions - most notably things that were created before this influence, like Dragonheart and its spinoffs and sequels, which have thankfully kept their dragon designs consistent instead of erasing their forelegs.

Of course, why dragons are depicted as four-legged and winged in the first place - and when this depiction arose - is another topic entirely. I’m not going into that right now, seeing as how this post is already preposterously long.

Long story short, I was rewatching the movie Gods of Egypt and, when I saw the giant cobra monsters breathe fire, I was possessed to write this article. Because Reign of Fire’s influence is something I have always noticed ever since its release, and something my brother and I talk about a lot (and everyone who knows me has surely heard me talk about it, too) - because, frankly, it’s always bothered me. My favorite dragons are traditional dragons: four legs, bright colors, wings, horns, breathing fire, the works.

So, although the original creator of these design ideas did something cool and different because he wanted to do his own take on dragons, Hollywood decided that these design cues should be taken to dumb down all dragons forever, the same way that Hollywood has dumbed down so many monster designs so that the only acceptable ones just a bunch of near-replicas of each other, including werewolves.

I think it’s very sad that film producers think you can’t take something like dragons or werewolves seriously unless they are dull, nontraditional, and ugly. And I say ugly in the sense of these are not pretty, majestic fantasy designs - they are, many of them, intended to be ugly. Though I personally also hold the opinion that most of them are ugly regardless of if they are intended to be ugly.

So - now you know! If you haven’t seen Reign of Fire, go check it out to meet the father of modern dragon designs, from the color of their hides to the shape of their bodies, the smaller horns, and - sometimes - even their tails.

(Special thanks to everyone on my discord who helped me compile this list, as well as of course my brother and all our ranting at/with each other on this topic over many years)

If you like this post, maybe you’ll enjoy the rest of my blog, where I post a lot about folklore and all kinds of monsters (especially werewolves)!

Werewolf Facts --- Patreon

[olivia-anderson-fanfic]

Routines

Tim and Marinette lived busy lives.

It was by choice, of course.

They were both prominent figures in their fields that could pick and choose the assignments they wished to take, had more money than they could ever dream of using thanks to the hefty trust fund that being even tangentially related to Bruce Wayne provided, and no one would blame them if they were to lessen or give up their vigilantism. If they wished, there was nothing stopping them from taking a smaller workload, from using up all of their sick days, from taking vacations, from quitting their jobs entirely...

That being said, they likely never would.

And the tabloids loved to speculate on their relationship because of it. How could they spend much time together if Tim was always at work, developing new technology for Wayne Enterprises? Marinette was cheating, how could she not when so much of her job as a designer involved getting up close and personal with models? Not to mention all of the business trips. Surely, the relationship had some kind of monetary motivation, or maybe it was just to more seamlessly merge their companies, or it had only happened for PR reasons.

They let them speculate. They simply didn’t know better.

The tabloids didn’t get to see how they acted behind closed doors, after all.

There would be days where neither of them went in to work. It wasn’t due to some sort of sickness that Tim had caught thanks to his lack of spleen, nor would it be because Marinette had hit some kind of artist’s block. No, it was simply because they wanted to spend time together.

~

They took breaks. Technically. If you squint.

There would be days where neither of them went into work. It wasn’t due to some sort of sickness that Tim had caught thanks to his lack of spleen, nor would it be because Marinette had hit some kind of artist’s block. No, it was simply because they wanted to spend time together.

They would turn on the coffee machine and then make their way over to the sofa. Marinette would nestle herself into his side and smile as he wrapped his arm around her. He would pull her as close as he possibly could so he could still use both arms to type.

He usually took video calls like this. It was always so much easier to maintain a pleasant smile, even when people often looked down on him for his age, because whenever he felt it start to waver he could simply look down at his girlfriend and suddenly he would find that it would be back in full force.

She would prop her sketchbook on her legs and start on some new designs. The designs she did like this were always, inexplicably, more lively than the other ones -- full of vibrant colors and swooping curves in a way that some of her other works lacked. If asked, Marinette would joke that the secret ingredient was love.

And, sure, this wasn’t technically taking a break from work. They were still productive, still did tasks...

But they counted it. They always came back to work the next day with the same euphoric feelings in their chests, the same springs in their steps. How could they not? They’d spent the entire day doing what they loved with the person that they loved. Who could ever want a break from that?

~

Every time one of them came back from a business trip, they made sure to spend the night together.

Tim would lay back in bed, Marinette on top of him. Her head would come to rest on his chest, clutching the back of his shirt tightly. His fingers would find their way to her hair and she would huff a little, knowing that her hair was about to get hopelessly tangled as he fidgeted with the silky strands, but she would nuzzle into his chest all the same.

They would watch a TV show. It didn’t matter whether it was good or bad. As long as there were people and some semblance of a plot, they would gladly stay wrapped up in each other’s arms to watch it.

Tim would rattle off whatever theories he had developed as they came to mind. Some of them were absolutely insane, he knew, and would never happen… but it was worth making a fool of himself if it got Marinette’s face to light up or if he earned one of those little giggles that escaped her when he was instantly proven wrong.

Marinette would, at least, pause the show whenever she wanted to talk, though it wasn’t out of an understanding of how time works. No, it was so she could sit up a little in his lap and point at whichever character had offended her this time. She would go on long rants about how makeup was just as important as outfits in costuming, but it was often overlooked in favor of making the actors look pretty. And, maybe she had already said all of this before, but it’s important, Tim! And he would just nod his agreement. Because it was important -- a TV night certainly wouldn’t feel like a TV night without at least one rant.

And then the screen would go black, the most recent episode done.

Tim would draw back a little and then pretend to be shocked when his hands were stuck in her hair.

“Oh noooooo,” he’d say. “I guess I can’t let go yet.”

“How unfortunate,” she would deadpan.

He’d smile cheekily at her.

“Shut up.”

“But I didn’t even say anything!” He’d argue with overexaggerated offense.

She would smile, shaking her head as much as she could with the fingers in her hair. “You didn’t have to. You have a presence about you.”

“I’m going to take that as a compliment,” he’d say.

And, sometimes, she’d bring her hands up to cup his face. “Not sure if it was a compliment, but I definitely wouldn’t have it any other way,” she’d whisper before pulling him closer for a kiss.

… but, most of the time she would just laugh and say: “It wasn’t one.”

~

Once a month, Marinette tried to teach Tim to cook. Of course, they both knew it was a hopeless endeavor. He’d failed to make mac n’ cheese once, and Marinette -- who had lived the first eighteen years of her life in a Parisian bakery -- wasn’t good at discerning which meals were ‘easy to do’.

But that didn’t stop her from trying.

She would come up with a new recipe, would claim that this one was truly dummy proof…

And then Tim, dummy that he was, would manage to mess it up. Without fail, he would find some way to do something wrong. He would leave the milk on the stove and then be surprised when said milk on the stove decided to revolt against the system. He would raise the temperature on the thing they were baking so it would go faster and then be shocked when the cake didn’t rise at all. He would put too much in the mixer and then not understand why the contents had exploded over the two of them.

Worst thing was, she was pretty sure he was actually trying. He just… couldn’t seem to do it.

So, she would just kiss the disappointed frown off of his face and promise that they would do better next time.

And, every time without fail, he would light up.

“There will be a next time?” He would ask.

“Yeah. You’re lucky you’re cute, I can’t say I love being covered in ingredients.”

Tim would kiss her cheek, and then draw back and lick his lips. “I don’t know, I kind of like it. Something about my girlfriend being covered in tasty food really does something for me.”

“Like I said: you’re lucky you’re cute.”

And, even though she would say that, there was no mistaking the amusement dancing in her eyes.

~

They weren’t particularly religious, it was hard to be when Marinette had a god living in her earrings that obeyed her every command…

Which meant celebrations for the two of them were few and far between.

But, at least, they celebrated their anniversary.

They would sit on the rooftop, the blankets doing nothing to keep the hard tiles of the roof from digging into them and they did even less against the chilly Gotham air.

She’d stare up at the sky with him.

And, since it was Gotham, there were very few stars to be seen through the dark red and black haze of clouds that hung over the city.

But they didn’t mind.

Marinette smiled. “It’s our colors.”

He didn’t look over, watching the colors swirl above them. “Even the sky thinks we’re a good couple.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised. The sky god really does have a thing for love.”

He gave a short puff of laughter and finally tore his eyes away from the sky. “Really?”

She shrugged, grinning at him. “No clue. There might not even be a sky god.”

He scoffed and untangled his hand from its blanket prison to give her a tiny shove. She could have dodged the attempt with ease, but she allowed the hand to make contact.

To her surprise, he grabbed ahold of her shoulder and pulled her into him. She gave an undignified little squeak and, if it weren’t for the fact that he was right there, she would have probably faceplanted onto the tile.

But, instead, her face came crashing into his soft, pillowy shoulder.

She looked up at the crooked grin that she had come to love over the years and huffed, pulling her own arms free so she could shove him. For real.

He flopped back, the hand he’d managed to get out coming to rest over his chest as if he were hurt.

“How could you? Roofs hurt, you know.”

“Well, yeah, if you throw yourself down on tiles it’s not going to feel too great.”

He cracked a grin, though he quickly tamped it down to keep up the act: “Victim blaming at its finest.”

She rolled her eyes and leaned over him. One of her hands cradled his cheek, her thumb tracing the tiny scar on his cheekbone.

He looked up at her. And she thought, somewhere, that maybe the reason the pollution in the city was just some kind of coverup so no one would know that they all resided in Tim’s eyes.

And then she cursed herself mentally for thinking something so cheesy.

She had to make up for it somehow:

“You’re the worst, I hope you know that.”

“I am. But you love me anyway.”

Dang it. How was she supposed to feign being annoyed when he looked at her like that? With that soft smile and thick lashes and hair that framed his face just so.

She decided it wasn’t worth trying to pretend.

Marinette let herself match his smile.

“I do.”

“Save those words for our wedding,” he joked softly.

She rolled her eyes. “You haven’t even proposed yet.”

“I could be doing that right now. Who knows, this could all be my plan.”

“It’d be a good plan,” she said. “I’d probably say yes.”

He narrowed his eyes just slightly. “Isn’t that essentially you proposing to me?”

She tipped her head to the side, considering, then she laughed a little. “I guess it kind of is. So, Tim, will you marry me?”

His eyes widened to an almost comical degree.

And then his face lit up with a smile that made her heart flutter.

“I hope you know I want a ring.”

She giggled. “Just say yes, you idiot. We can always get the ring tomorrow.”

His smile only stretched further. “Yes. I’d love to marry you.”

“I love you,” she whispered, leaning closer until her lips brushed against his.

“I love you, too,” he breathed.

Marinette didn’t hesitate any longer, tilting her head to give him a proper kiss. He freed himself of the blanket and she gasped a little against his lips as he wrapped her up in it as well, drawing her close.

She pulled away just a little, her forehead coming to rest against his. She couldn’t seem to get the dopey smile off of her face, but she wasn't completely sure she even wanted it gone.

“I proposed first, so I won,” she said, sticking her tongue out at him playfully.

He smiled. “No, I did.”