#i kind of like it? it's better than just solid colours

[tobesolnelyx]

Hi!! I'm a huge fan of your blog!! Just wanted to say you make every day of my life so much better💗

Okay, so we’ve got the fratboys Shauna, Lottie, Jackie, and Nat… but how do you think they would react to a pregnant R? Who’d be the most excited? And… could someone have been careless on purpose? 👀 I’d love to hear your thoughts!

— juno || fratboy!yellowjackets x pregnant!reader 🌫️

a/n: thank you so much anon! that’s so sweet <3. read that and immediately thought about juno by sabrina carpenter 😭

summary: your girlfriend accidentally knocked you up! fluff. unexpected pregnancy. g!p yellowjackets girlies.

warnings: none! pure fluff!

shauna shipman who is terrified at the begging. you come to her, pregnancy test is in your hand and before she have a chance to greet you, you push small thing into her fingers. she stares at that, then at you, and you see how colours just drain off her face. you don’t have to say anything. of course she’s smart enough to understand. for once in her life she’s serious. thoughts are racing in her head, wondering when you two forgot about protection. well…you had many occasions, actually.

but once she’s used to that thought? she goes insane. she insists to do everything. she cooks, cleans, brings groceries. you try to tell her that you’re fine, you’re able to do things by yourself. not like she’s listening. she nods, acknowledging it, but still do all that.

she reads every single article in internet about being a mom, how to take care of someone pregnant, how you’d know if it’ll be girl or a boy…she even adjust diet for you. she doesn’t orders you what to eat or do, but she’s always there with advice. she actually might know more about pregnancy than you.

not to mention that she absolutely panics at first, when your waters breaks down. fortunately, she’s smart enough to get her shit together in time. overall? she’s going to be a great parent. maybe a little bit overprotective but still.

lottie matthews who laughs at you in disbelief at first. she acts like it’s all a good joke and you’re just messing with her. once she get used to thought that you’re really pregnant, she needs solid ten minutes to proceed. she sits on your bed and stares at the wall. later that day, she wraps arms around you, gently caressing your belly.

“i’ll take care of everything, i will,” she murmurs into your neck. and you know that no matter what you’ll decide, she’ll be there to help. to make things better.

the next day, she wakes up early. she goes around the apartment, studying it. at the end of this weird journey, when you’re in the kitchen, she lets out a small tsk, and hitting dad pose, she says:

“we need a new one,” she states and you furrow your brows.

“new…?” you stare at her.

“apartment,” she sighs like she’s talking about something obvious. “with another room. for our kid.” she explains. “unless you decided that you don’t want to…?”

and with that, she buys new apartment next week. not like it’s much for her dad to pay. even if her family is usually totally shitty, her parents are more than ready to give you financial support. so lottie decides to spoil this kid before it’s even born. of course, she arranges room, she buys furniture and assembles it. like proper baby daddy.

jackie taylor who offers you support immediately. of course she’s terrified. it’s not something she really planned in her life. not that early at least. but she guesses you might be way more scared than she is. god, at the end she’s not the one carrying her baby. and jackie is always there to take responsibility. she doesn’t know how she’s going to explain all that to her parents. or how she’ll manage to be a parent, but she’s there.

so she gives you kind of a pep talk. well, sweet pep talk. she reassures you, tell you that you’ll be great, that you two gonna get through this together. and she really means it cause… in the inside she’s excited. something about the fact that she managed to impregnate you is extremely hot to her.

she starts making plans. obviously she makes sure you’re okay, that you’re ready to keep this child. then, on those late evenings, she curls at your side. she spreads kisses all over your belly and rambles to this kid…well, fetus more like.

“you’re gonna play soccer,” she states and you shake your head, giggling softly. “or not. it’s your decision,” she adds sheepishly. “but if you do, i’ll make you a star player.”

“jax,” you say, brushing her hair. “you know that they can’t hear you yet?” she huffs only at that.

“shhh, im creating child-parent bond,” she says seriously like it’s the most important mission right now. with that, she keeps talking about everything she’s planning to do as a parent.

also! she’s on instant by your side when you say you need massages cause your back or your legs hurts. she can gently loosing knots for hours. everything for you. and it’s pretty much godly experience — her hands are stronger than they seem to be.

natalie scatorccio who denies it. you tell her that, and few minutes later she’s outside, taking a long walk. she doesn’t go drinking, but she just leaves. for a moment you’re scared that she won’t come back. regardless, she does. she always do. after few hours of pacing around the campus and trying to proceed everything, she returns to you.

she slips in your sharing bed, her hands gently wraps around your belly and she spreads kisses all over your neck. her fingers are tracing your abdomen. like she’s scared to hurt something so fragile. this little life growing inside you.

“we’ll get through this together,” she murmurs into your skin and you finally relax after hours of uncertainty. “i’ll be there, i promise, i just…” she presses another kiss and you melt. “needed a moment.” she finishes quietly.

natalie is scared — no wonders. not like she ever had proper parent figure. and sure as hell, she doesn’t exactly knows what to do. her eyes widens anytime you grimaces because of pain or discomfort. her hands are tentative, careful and soft. especially when she touches your stomach.

she’s stubborn to do everything for you. only to keep you well and happy. and even if she doesn’t exactly know what to do, or god, how this whole being parent works, she tries. she helps you to pick clothes for kid. she’s there to soothe your doubts and fears. sometimes you see her in the bathroom or living room, when she reads on her phone one of those articles how to raise a child. she won’t be like her parents. she can’t be.

[cosmic-spectre]

what a peculiar drone...

[lewdlepoodle69]

It's Tome Kurata from Mob Psycho 100! Everyone's favourite normal weirdo. This was a very casual piece so I don't feel there's all that much interesting to say about it unfortunately. It started off as a little flowy gesture doodle, and then I kept working on it. I don't think It's particularly standout compared to other stuff (only because it doesn't have dramatic lighting or really saturated colours, I am shallow). It's just a very nice, solid, normal drawing, and it was easy on the brain. Although... ...I've decided to be more thoughtful about the colours I pick. I really wanted to make this look like early morning golden hour but it ended up looking like a handful of minutes past that. I'm kind of tempted to go back and add more yellow in the highlights, blues in the shadows and bump up the contrast manually, but I'm not sure. It doesn't really feel like the piece to go above and beyond effort wise. In regards to the physicality of the scene, I think it's better than what I'm normally capable of. I'm quite proud of the sense of depth. ( This description is old. )

[koalayoo]

ɢᴏɴɴᴀ ʟᴏᴠᴇ ʏᴏᴜ, ɢᴏɴɴᴀ ɢɪᴠᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀʟʟ ɪ ᴄᴀɴ, ʙᴏʏ

michael kaiser x gn!reader

content: pure fluff for the most part, soft! bf kaiser, reference to his backstory, kind of cocky, better than my last fic for sure

author's note: wanted to write a good christmasy bday fic for him. bit late, apologies. not really proofread or beta'd. apologies again.

wc. 1.3k

Kaiser had never celebrated Christmas.

Christmas was also his birthday.

That means Kaiser has never celebrated his birthday.

This was what had become apparent to you in your relationship with Kaiser, when all the walls between you two had become bulldozed and you realised, yeah, this is the person I want to spend the rest of my life with. You had come to understand that with Kaiser’s upbringing and all that he would have probably never received a gift from his father. You wonder if at that age he knew what Christmas was.

Then you started tumbling head-first into a hole of unanswered questions. What would he have even done for his birthday? Was anyone there to ever celebrate with him? You knew how bad he had it growing up, you regrettably knew. Part of you wished you didn’t know how bad it was, hoped that sometimes his father grew to be lenient or that maybe the old women in town that would see him around knew his name. Knew him to be more than Michael “professional neighbour thief” Kaiser and instead as the kid he was. That was just wishful thinking though.

He had received gifts, which was expected. He was a pro athlete but he also had Ness from the age of 15 who had most definitely gifted him something you assumed but weren’t privy to the details. However, he hadn’t celebrated. Hadn’t experienced true Christmas joy. He doesn’t know the feeling of waking up early and ripping open the wrapping paper on specially curated gifts that sit under the tree you both decorated together. Hasn’t felt what it’s like making cookies with the radios ruffled Christmas carols sputtering in the background. Wearing matching sweaters while watching stupidly predictable themed rom coms. Making a wreath to put on the front door. Kissing under the mistletoe. Ughhh, there was so much you needed to show him.

So, you did just that.

As soon as December started, you did your utmost best to get him into the festive spirit.

On the 1st, you brought home a tree and excitedly decorated it with Kaiser. Putting various coloured ornaments on, some the typical solid coloured balls, others with stripes and patterns, differing sizes, differing shapes. Then, Kaiser had placed you on his shoulders so that you could place the star on the tippity top despite your insistence it be him.

On the 5th, you went shopping with two very important things in mind. A wreath, and some ugly sweaters. On the way you slipped in some ingredients for cookies too.

On the 14th, you had started wrapping some presents. You had both agreed 3 presents was a good amount to give one another but you couldn’t help but feel a gnaw at the back of your head. It was also his birthday, you just had to double it.

On the 17th, you had put the wreath up which welcomed him home from a long day at practice.

On the 22nd, you had finally worn the sweaters which you had taken a polaroid of before promptly taking them off, sweltering from the heat of the oven that was baking the cookies you both had put hours into making. Later that night, bad christmas movie #1 was watched.

The 23rd and 24th followed a similar routine. Jam out to a different song before you got sick of it and watch another bad christmas movie. 

Then, it was the day.

All the extra presents you hid from him were placed under the tree and you made hot cocoa for two. You had to work quickly, Kaiser was used to waking up at the odd early hours of the morning and there was no doubt he would feel you missing next to him.

Soon, he had stumbled down the stairs and was greeted with you wrapping a blanket around him. You had pulled him down onto the floor and planted a present in front of him, a chaste kiss pressed against his forehead.

“Happy Birthday, handsome.” You whispered softly into the air.

He had begun to wake up more and noticed the excessive amount of presents under the tree. He looked at the presents, then at you, and an eyebrow raised comically.

“And, Merry Christmas too, I guess…” You playfully rolled your eyes with a small smile appearing on your face. “Although that one’s of lesser importance.”

He sighs although he can’t help the small upwards tilt of his lips. “Thought we agreed on 3 each?” “Yeah, but it’s your birthday too! I wasn’t gonna be one of those people, ya know? The ones who just say the Christmas presents are also their birthday presents. You deserve to be celebrated twice.” 

“Yeah but-” And you briefly cut him off because if there was one thing you knew about Kaiser which was wrapped behind layers just like the presents was this feeling of foreboding. That he didn’t deserve this. However, your job as his brilliant partner was to teach him to sit there and take it.

So you started to celebrate, taking turns ripping the presents you both put love and care into wrapping. For every 2 gifts Kaiser opened, you opened one of yours in tandem. You giggled seeing him get you exactly what you wanted and teased him when a small blush appeared on his face when he got the same.

Although, there was one last present you wanted to give him.

A house full of love.

You wanted him to learn this holiday season that you were truly never leaving. Not like his mother, or even his begrudging father. That you were full of love for him and everything that came with choosing him. The arguments, the boundaries, the fear; you couldn’t fix it but you could help and that’s the sentiment you hoped to get across.

Later that day when you finished putting your gifts away and throwing the egregious amount of wrapping paper, you enter the living room to see Kaiser plotting. 

Before you can fully enter he spits out, “Stay right there.” You murmur in acknowledgement and stay put, eyes trailing the figure that is walking towards you suspiciously, one hand placed firmly behind him. You shoot him a questioning look to which he shakes his head, not budging.

“Should invite Ness over.” 

“Why would we do that?” He questions. “Fine with just me and you here, no?”

“Season of forgiveness, champ. Do I need to teach you how to be a good friend too?”

He’s stalked all the way over to you now. He towers above you and the hand he isn’t hiding comes to hold the top of the frame, leaning down towards you. His shirt lifts a little. You look. Then you look back at your boyfriend who has leaned in even closer.

His nose nudges against yours and you knew this was one of his ways of trying to assert dominance with the way a small brazen smirk made its way to his face. Could this guy try not to be a dick for one day? You notice the way his lips brush against yours slightly and you sigh, trying not to be pulled in.

“Answer?”

“Mmm, I’ll think about it?” He chuckles and leans in to swoop your lips against his in a passionate kiss. It didn’t last long because his smile broke the seal between you two apart. His eyes have a gleam in them and they flick up causing you to do the same.

Oh. 

A mistletoe.

“When did you learn about this one?” You whisper softly, genuinely curious.

“I had a tough childhood, doesn’t mean I lived under a rock.” He laughs again, this time more joyfully. You’re not sure whether it’s the fact that he successfully tricked you or that you truly rendered him this clueless.

Then, there’s a knock at the door. You see the sliver of magenta hair through the window panels near the door before you hear him.

Oh.

Maybe Kaiser doesn’t need you to guide him after all.

Likes, reblogs, and comments are always appreciated! Title is from December by Ariana Grande. Thanks for reading!

[solshii]

notes to follow up from my last post<333

After YQY’s transformation into an alicorn, he was taught how to use his magic and flight by mostly his shizun, Qiong Ding peers and fellow head disciples.

LQG was the pegasus who helped him with his flight skills the most, though SQH was better at helping him grasp the basics of flight

Something about the basics already being second nature to LQG so he finds it difficult to convey the concept, while SQH is normally a weak flier who often gets winglocked (like Fluttershy) so he knows many ways to make the basics make sense .iykwim

I actually chose that weak flier who gets winglocked trait for SQH because I felt like it would make the Moshang Maigu Ridge scene cooler + it fits the flighty persona he has I guess ahah

Zui Xian head disciple is also a pegasus but was barred from teaching YQY because they weren’t gonna “teach the future sect leader to fly like a drunk”

YQY does give that ribbon to SJ as his first gift 🙂‍↕️ And if SJ noticed that it’s the same shade as his own magic then he didn’t say anything

Honestly I can’t figure out how to draw unicorn magic in a way that I like so for now it’ll just be represented via sparkles

Fun design detail ponies usually have one colour for their magic but YQY has two because I love that guy

Yes Bingqiu do tend to hook their horns together whenever they nuzzle<33 It’s like their pony equivalent of hand holding and/or hugging lol

More of an ‘on the whim idea w/o a solid reason’ I had while I was designing YQY, but the star shaped mark on his chest is more like a scar than his natural coat pattern. That’s why in the little ‘flashback’ Yue Qi doesn’t have it

The potential reason that I bullshitted at the time was because he was turned into an alicorn earlier than he should’ve been as his shizun’s attempt to stabilise his qi in the Caves or some kinda reason to that degree 💀💀💀 on top of the whole soul-bonding thing with Xuan Su too

Yk how in Twilight’s alicornification a weird blob thingamabob came out of her chest

Yeah idk bro was really going through it

Sorry YQY

It would be pretty sick cutie mark symbolism though cause I did imagine YQY getting his cutie mark in the Lingxi Caves and if you read my last note dump then you’d have read I had plans of using broken chains in its design

I clearly hate this man but it’s just a tentative idea rn

Behind SJ’s cracked horn (TW: Abuse (read: Qiu Jianluo)) I imagine receiving abuse as a foal often resulted in strong magic surges from him (kinda like qi deviations but for unicorn magic) and out of fear QJL would inflict pain to his horn or use some kind of blocker to stop and permanently damage his magic

I entertained the idea of his horn being fully broken off in the first place but Wu Yanzi probably saw a use in his unicorn magic, so he could’ve restored his horn as best he can using backwater cultivation and magic methods lol

Bingge does snap off his horn on top of his limbs in PIDW tho

So yeah while he’s still able to use his magic he can’t control it with the same proficiency as he used to

I think the horn guards he wears, atop of hiding the scars/cracks, are probably made with engraved arrays that help to stabilise his unicorn magic

And the horn guards are probably like a status and wealth symbol too in the same way nail guards are, so it does feel a bit gaudy for SQQ to walk around with it all of the time as if he’s flaunting it

[kaleidoscopic-quiddity]

i cant stop thinking about how fucking illegal bluelock is...

as has already been pointed out, these kids are NOT getting fed properly

also the whole 'score more goals and you'll get better food' thing like, has to be against the geneva conventions or something

directly tying sufficient nutrition to physical labour performance CANNOT be legal

also you're telling me none of these kids have dietary restrictions? like oh you're celiac and can't eat miso soup or gyoza? have fun surviving solely off of white rice ig

why does the bluelock building have no windows. do these kids get sunlight and fresh air any time other than when they're playing football?? are they all just super vitamin D deficient???

is the grass on the football pitches in bluelock even real? or is it all artificial?? im pretty sure not being around any kind of nature/plantlife for months at a time is bad for your mental health

(it probably explains why everyone in bluelock is so rabid, when's the last time any of them saw a tree?)

also the lack of windows is a fire hazard, does the building even have fire escapes? smoke detectors? emergency exits?

none of these kids fucking consented to being a livestreamed reality TV show/sports documentary

do they get royalties from BLTV? its obviously making money but somehow i doubt that ego is giving all the bluelockers a cut of the profits

also; i forget which volume its from but theres an extra with the top 5 most popular BLTV clips, one of which is kaiser confronting/issuing his declaration of war to isagi in the BM locker room

this suggests that theres cameras and mics in the locker rooms in bluelock, the locker rooms where people change clothes, the locker rooms where TEENAGERS change their clothes

idk the exact intricacies of sports academy type situations but japan has child labour laws and im pretty sure that making kids work out so much every day theyre regularly throwing up or can barely stand goes against said labour laws

also like; safe guarding, and duty of care, and child protection laws, probably

schooling is only compulsory up to the end of middle school in japan so technically none of the bluelockers have a legal requirement to be recieving an education

BUT; doesnt bluelock essentially make them high school drop outs?? its not as if they can miss months of class and then still graduate on time

what happened to all the kids who got locked off?? are they just repeating a year or did ego crush their regular career prospects along with their footballing ones?

do the NEL coaches (minus loki i suppose) have the correct legal permissions to be coaching minors?

typically, adults need qualifications and background checks to be in a position of authority (like coaching) over children or teenagers, so like do we think the NEL coaches have that orrrrr... ?

also like how the fuck does all that work with Loki, who's only 17?

the way pre-NEL, ego was constantly popping up to chime in on conversations suggests that he was visually and auditorally monitoring these kids 24/7, including in the communal bedrooms

if thats not technically ilegal then its at least DEEPLY FUCKING CREEPY

whatever the fuck is going on with kunigami and the wildcard HAS to be some kind of illegal, like i think we're actually bordering on human experimentation and/or psychological torture at this point

the NEL is like multiple weeks long right? what fucking VISAs are all the non-japanese players on?? a solid chunck of them are probably under 18 too right?? this is a paperwork nightmare

does the NEL bidding system constitute as gambling under japanese and/or international law? what laws are there when it comes to betting on u-18 athletes/athletic leagues? is this extortion? i feel like this may be extortion

this is such a minor detail but that one colour spread of ubers doing barou's hair shows aiku holding scissors and like im pretty sure sharps being accessible to minors (not aiku obvi, but most of the other bllkers) with no adult supervision is a safeguarding issue

there's fucking tasers in their suits, tasers that they didnt know about

im like 99% sure even manufacturing those clothes is illegal, let alone having people, especially minors, wear them

also, again, isnt that a massive safeguarding issue? what was ego gonna do if he sent shidou into cardiac arrest?

so i know they all 'consented' to participate in the bluelock project and live at the facility (if you can call impulsively running through a door 'consent') but that wasnt with the knowledge that they'd basically never get to leave unless they flunked out

so like, does this count as unlawful imprisonment? there was something about parents consenting too so maybe not, but it still feels iffy, especially considering most of them didnt get their phones, their ONLY means of communication with the outside world, back until after the u20 match

which is, again, a safeguarding issue; denying anyone (but esp kids) communication with the outside world for weeks at a time is cult shit, if it's not specifically illegal in japan it's still, in the very least, immoral

speaking of the u20 match, did the bluelock XII get paid for that or what? it counted as a professional football match right? i feel like they should be getting paid for it

same goes for the NEL actually too, like even forgetting about the BLTV aspect, the bluelockers are playing in a professional football league on the u20 squads of professional football clubs, they should be making fucking wages from this

i know theyre getting bid on but theyre not actually GETTING that money rn so are they just doing all this work for these clubs for free currently?

do the tracksuits have the taser function too or is it only the athletic body suits? what if team Z had decided to jump kuon in the communal bedroom after lights out? does ego have any way to stop these kids from beating each other to death when theyre not on the pitch??

like, are there any staff at bluelock other than ego, anri, the canonically-mentioned-but-never-seen-medics, and what i assume must be a decently sized team of catering and cleaning staff??

also; no way was putting shidou in a fucking straightjacket and muzzle legal

like, even the cops in japan are only allowed to handcuff people or hold them in restraint positions, let alone ego and anri having someone forcibly cosplay hannibal lecter, shidou should sue

honestly i think the whole 'throw away your self preservation and dedicate your every breathing moment to football' ideology probably counts as emotional abuse and/or brainwashing

in chapter 204 after he collapsed at the end of the BM vs MC match, isagi wakes up in a bed in noel noa's office

he'd been changed out of his clothes whilst unconcious and then, rather than kept in the infirmary or sent back to his own room, was left alone with an adult in a room with (im pretty sure) no cameras or other people for literal hours???

not that im saying noel noa would do anything creepy, but just that conceptually that whole situation is an absolute legal nightmare on so many levels

do you think the non-bluelock NEL players get to leave the building orrrrrrrr..?

im fully aware that half of these thing are explainable by suspension of disbelief and also that kaneshiro and nomura werent thinking about this stuff when they wrote it, but please consider the following; i love being a hater <3

[rikebe]

couple of ladybug redesigns ive been doodling while stark raving mad about how this show for little kids doesnt have more badass outfits for the characters. i basically take a crack at these every couple of months but this is the first time im really pleased w what i came up with!

i def wanna come back to these and tweak them or come up with more designs for the other characters. and i esp wanna do a hawk moth chloe..........

long winded explanation of my design concepts unser the cut

ladybug - this is kind of my brain process here. her canon design (the worst one in the show imo) just kinda looks like a polkadot onesie so i really wantes to give her more bug-like features. i gave her black eyes bc i think its really cool when miraculiur holders change eye colours to something unnatural and i think its pretty neat and comicbook-y, and also insect-like. i also gave her bug-wing hairclips and changed her pigtails to twin buns so they had more of a shape contrast to the clips. for all wing details i added turquoise as a third colour to give it some SPICE.

my first designs (1-4) went off the idea of a short dress/coat with puff sleeves to suggest the shape of bug-legs, and the coat tails serving as her wings. i think its a cute design that fits marinette's girly style, but i wasn't quite happy with it.

i had the idea of her sleeves serving as her wings instead of her skirt or coat tails, and looked a little into chinese styles of clothing with big sleeves like this to lean more into marinette being half-chinese. i found a style called hanyuansu, which is modern clothes modified with hanfu elements and took inspiration from looking at a few outfits, so i tried a couple different takes. i really like design 6 with the big coat, but it seems really impractical for crime fighting :/ maybe its like a formalwear alt look lol.

7 is my final design that i'm happiest with, as it has all the elements i wanted but is still simple enough to not feel overloaded. i made the yoyo black for a little contrast and just bc i think it looks really cool!

queen bee - chloe was robbed of a character arc and a cool design. i will avenge her.

this ddsign came to me muchhh easier. a beehive hairdo seemed like a no-brainer, as well as fur trims both because she's a bee and because she's a bougie rich girl. i wanted the look to scream elegance and be a little retro and 60ies-inspired to go with her hairdo. the shape and tights are like a cute minidress married to a fur coat meets bee stinger, which is the vibe i want! the gloves are full chic and also sort of like black insect legs.

again a light blue wing detail for a pop of contrast and just because wings are fucking cool, and it gave me an excuse for 60ies inspired blue eyeshadow! yellow eyes cause i love weird eye colours, and it just looks a little creepy and jaundiced hehe

no mask because everyone knows its's her anyways, so why bother? plus masks are sort of annoying to design around lol. i kept her feelers because theyre really cute!

queen bee x butterfly - ive wanted chloe to become the new hawk moth since the concept was teased. well now my heart is broken forever, but i can still dream!! so this is like, an au where she has a full epic villain arc, keeps the bee and also gets the butterfly miraculous and becomes the new big bad!

i kept a lot of thw elements from the queen bee design but modified them. the dress changes shape into something less like a stinger and more like a chic mini winter coat to match the giant fur trim she has now! obviously huge moth wings are a must, and more of a staff than hawk moth's cane because, hey. she's royalty.

her queen bee feelers change to fuzzy moth ones, and the colours are a little different to match better with purple! plus a butterfly mask now, and white eyes with solid yellow irises to diffirenciate her from.......

hawk moth - who is a fashion designer and should really have a better look!

i gave him solid white eyes to make him look less human and goofy, and again for that cool comic-booky look.

i based the whole design on wanting his silouette to mimic thw butterfly miraculous, so i kept and exaggerated his canon lapels and added two pointy coat tails for the bottom of the wings.

the long coat is a bit more dramatique and less basic, and i tried to give his mask a little flourish to keep him from looking so much like a silver thumb.

the only place i kept the silver is for the vest, which is segmented to imitatw to look of a butterfly or moth's belly. i spent the least amount of time on this one but i'm pretty happy with it for a rougher draft than the other three designs.

[aurorialwolf]

so what if i told yall that maybe i had a slightly angsty idea when it came to Sam and Darlin having a kid.. (w/ sams genetics, doesnt have to be genetically darlins) (also the onlyyy part of this that is canon is that Sam's eyes are brown, otherwise im making stuff up)

Sam who anxiously awaits his child's birth, practically pacing a trench into the floor, until the day of delivery, and he finally holds his child in his arms. He's nervous for this new phase of life, but with the support of his partner and the pack, he believes he can overcome any generational problems, ending his family's cycle of abuse.

The baby is healthy, and is growing well. Their eye colour hasn't come in yet, but Sam is hopeful that they'll have his brown eyes, even if it may bring back memories of before his turning.

One day, when his baby has just reached 7 months of age, they're on the couch together, Sam bouncing the baby on his knee and Darlin watching fondly. Then, Sam notices that his baby's eyes look different, and there's a solid colour there, something that must've been coming in gradually for a while. But they aren't brown eyes.

They're bright green, just like his fathers eyes, like his brothers and sisters eyes. His family has had green eyes as a dominant trait for generations, due to a long ancestry of mainly green alleles being present. He was an outlier, as was his grandmother, who also had brown eyes.

But now, all he sees is a reflection of a family he left behind, a family he escaped, a family that haunted his nightmares for years after moving. This doesn't change his love for his child, but every time he looks at them, that's what he remembers.

The kid grows up healthy and happy, and Sam does successfully break the cycle of abuse. They're his spitting image, all except the eyes, and they act like a mix of him and Darlin', reckless, but caring, and kind. They don't remind him of his family anymore, and this is good, as that was a hurdle in Sam's recovery from trauma that he had to overcome.

Eventually, the kids core activates, and they become a Freelancer, making Sam overjoyed, although a bit nervous. It's hard to teach a new Freelancer after so many years without a Freelancer core. He perseveres, and succeeds in teaching the child some small magic, simple elemental command.

He steps back to watch them attempt to mimic his demonstration, only to see a trait he hasn't seen in 28 years; the kids eyes seem to shimmer a brighter green as they focus their magic for the spell. It startles him, reminding him of his brothers eyes before he shocked him with electricity, something he did repeatedly when they were younger, after his brother had unlocked his core. He manages to clamp down any response he might've given, and watches as his child manages to carve a cube from the ground, using only their magic.

They look to him excitedly for approval, their eyes still emitting a faint green glow, and he smiles back warmly, praising them for learning so quickly.

Maybe he really can do this, and be a better parent than either of his parents were to him, despite all the hurdles.

@nevaroonie :D

[enkas-illusion]

Double Trouble

Fandom / Pairing: Jujutsu Kaisen / Gojo Satoru x f!reader

Rating: SFW

Genre/Theme: Established relationship; non-sorcery au

Content warning: fluff, suggestive, no smut, language.

Summary: Boyfriend!Satoru with a twin and they're exact copies of each other, down to their mannerism so they often switch places just to test how long it takes for you to figure out you're talking to the other one.

Author's Note: The one where he isn’t the only Honoured one. I hope you enjoy this one shot. Thank you for reading! 

~ Eren’s Birdie

Song Dedication: Say Yes by Loco, Punch

Satoru Gojo was everything you could've asked for in a partner. He was kind, funny, intelligent, sexy, and had better emotional maturity than most men despite being somewhat of a nihilist in his own way – perfect was the word to describe him.

The only problem was that he was a bit too much to handle at times, or dare one say, a bit *too many, – meaning his mother gave birth to him and thought ‘he's perfect!’ so she popped another xerox copy 2 minutes later.

And thus were born Satoru and Soichiro, the most identical twins in the history of twins. The two not only shared the same face but had gained quite some notoriety among friends and family for sharing the same brain cell as well. 

While you had no reason to complain about their flawless personalities, they'd taken a liking to mess with you each time they got together. One would think they'd go easy with the pranks if it's someone they love, right? Wrong! It meant the shit you had to endure was way worse than any other normal friend would have to.

On one such instance, Soichiro tagged along with Satoru after work and it wasn't until halfway through dinner that your instinct went off and you figured out it was the twin who was sitting next to you instead of your boyfriend as usual. Later that night, you'd warned Satoru about it, presenting a solid argument even he couldn't resist.

“You know I almost grabbed his thigh under the table tonight!”

“No, you didn't,” Satoru scoffed.

“Okay, maybe not. But it’s highly likely that I could've! Ummm… what if one day you return home and I greet you in some skimpy lingerie but instead of you, it’s your brother who sees me, all titties out???” You were grasping at straws really.

“Will you do that!?” His ears perked up.

“Not the point, Toru…”

“Hmm… okay fine, I won't let it get that far,” he assured you. 

“But you'll still continue to tease me?” You huffed and he nodded his head, smiling innocently. You rolled your eyes at him, complaining about how he was the ‘worst’ while he simply gave you a bear hug and a few kisses to make it up to you.

~~~

So, even after being with Satoru for more than a year, you still did not know how to distinguish between the two. The only people to do so in a split-second were his parents. You had once sat the twins down to compare their faces for any tiny details you might’ve missed but you came up short regardless. 

You could only tell the difference by instinct, after having a conversation with them – maybe you were more delusional than you'd like to admit but to you, Satoru's voice held a lot of love each time he called your name.

In an attempt to distinguish the two, you thought you'd successfully managed to get Satoru to dye his hair black with temporary colour last time you went to their family house, only to find out Soichiro had done the same and was waiting for you, waving his arm at you in the driveway with a victorious grin.

So when you don't find the twin greeting you like a devil inviting you to hell this time, you turn to your boyfriend who's undoing his seatbelt.

“Listen to me, Satoru,” you grab his collar to turn him to look at you as you speak in a serious tone, “Please don't fuck with me this time. One of these days, I might really embarrass myself due to your games.”

“I'm betting on it baby,” he grins as he gives you a quick peck before swiftly making his way out of the car to avoid your scolding. You were going to stay at his parents’ country house for a weekend and you could already tell it was going to be a long weekend.

You sigh as you grab your bag and he opens the door for you before pulling the bag out of your hand and holding his hand out for you. It's impossible to be annoyed at Satoru for long when he pulls shit like this.

When you enter the house, Satoru excuses himself to find his father and you make your way to the backyard garden where you guess his mother might be. You smile to yourself when your guess is right.

“How can I help?” You smile, making his mother turn to look at you. She gently puts the shovel down next to the plants she's depotting.

“Hello dear, you've arrived just in time… would you mind bringing the remaining pots? They’re near the window in the reading room,” she instructs and you nod as you make your way back inside.

You walk the long corridor before you reach your destination, making your way to the window where the pots were placed. You lift two in each hand, holding them with care, trying not to drop them or stain your t-shirt. 

“Need some help?” you hear a voice and turn around to see the other twin at the door. The only reason you can tell it's Soichiro is because he's wearing a grey t-shirt and black sweatpants as opposed to your boyfriend who was wearing a purple hoodie and coal grey pants. 

“Hey Sochi, could you pick the last one?” You motion your head in the direction of the last pot, “Gotta move it to the garden.”

He nods before picking up the pot and walking with you, back to the backyard garden. 

“Did you arrive before us? I didn't see your car in the driveway,” you make conversation along the way.

“My car's out for servicing. I arrived with the mothership yesterday when she was in town shopping,” he explains.

“Hmm…” you nod as you stop near the area where the soil has been rooted out of the ground, “here.” 

You motion to him to keep the pot down and he obeys as he leans down to place them there gently. You're busy looking around to find Mrs. Gojo when you hear him speak, “Anything else, princes–”

Your eyes widen as your head snaps back to look at him.

“SATORU!” you gasp at the nickname that accidentally slips out of your boyfriend's name, making you realise it's not his twin.

“Soichiro! Leave my poor girl alone,” the other blondie walks out wearing the exact same clothes. You look between the two as you stare in disbelief, not being able to tell who's who.

You're about to speak when you hear their mom's voice as she moves closer to you, pressing an arm gently around your shoulder, “Satoru… I'd expect you of all people to be nice to her,” shaking her head at the twin standing next to you.

You were right! The twin next to you is Satoru!

“No, it's okay! The best way to deal with them is to avoid both of them the entire weekend,” you give your boyfriend the fakest smile you can muster up as you walk hand in hand with his mother to fulfil your gardening duties.

As it's the only exact identical matching outfit the twins have, they don't mind wearing it all weekend. As the day progresses, you find yourself working your brain full time to notice any difference you can find, but the guys are relentless to the point where even their sleeves are rolled to the exact same length.

And of course, the whole day is spent the way you’d dreaded and almost predicted it’d be like. Later when you’re out on the porch having coffee and watching the sunset with your boyfriend, you notice Satoru has an insect bite on the side of his wrist.

“Toru?” you question, wanting to make sure you have the right twin next to you.

“Hmm?” he peels his eyes away from the pretty sunset to look at you. 

“Kiss me?” you ask softly.

“Wha– is this a test?” He raises an eyebrow.

“You know what, nevermind… I just felt like it cause this is the first time we’ve been alone all d–” your words are cut off by his lips capturing yours. You smile into the kiss as Satoru cups your face, caressing your cheek.

Satoru check completed! You make a mental note to observe his wrist for the mark each time you interact with the twins.

After dinner when everyone's lazing around in the living room and watching whatever reality tv show is playing in the background, you excuse yourself to go to the washroom. Roaming around, you end up in Satoru's old bedroom. It's endearing seeing how you can still find pieces of his current personality, likes, hobbies and interests in bits, plastered everywhere around his room.

You find yourself craving some alone time with your boyfriend all of a sudden so you pull your phone out to text him to come up to his room. You only have to wait a few minutes before you hear a knock on the door.

“It's open,” you say as you place the book that you were holding back on the shelf. With a big grin, you extend your arm out to him and he takes it.

“Hello, darling,” he says in a playful tone and your eyes briefly glance at his wrist. No mark. It's Soichiro. He pulls you into a hug and pats your head.

Fine. If your boyfriend still wants to mess with you even when you’re needy for him, he's gonna get his payback. You decide at that moment – this switcharoo bullshit stops today.

You smile innocently at Soichiro as you pull away, your hands travel up to his chest to push him back till he falls on the bed.

You hop on top of him to straddle him but are careful enough to not actually make any sort of inappropriate contact, hovering above without closing the gap between your bodies. You simply wanted to push him enough to get him uncomfortable and to confess.

You can see the nervousness on his face as he clears his throat to come up with an excuse to get out of this situation without making it awkward, “T-the door’s open, let me–”

“It’s just us Toru… I doubt anyone’s gonna bother coming up to find us anyway,” you purr as you lean your body forward, placing your palms on the sides of his head to support your weight. You start feeling anxious too, you need him to break soon or you’d have to abandon the act, so you persist and whisper in his ear, “You look so sexy, I’ve been wanting to feel you inside me all day, Satoru.”

You cringe internally at your own words. But in that moment, you can see his face get paler than it usually is and you want to laugh at how nervous he looks when he hits his limit at your lewd comments.

“Wait, I’m no–” Soichiro pushes you by the shoulders as he begins in panic, another voice interrupts, pushing the half-open door forcefully, “Baby, wait!”

You feel a large arm hook around your waist to pull you away. As you stumble to your feet, breaking free from his hold, you turn around to see an annoyed Satoru, knitting his eyebrows as he looks at you. He looks more annoyed at himself than at you.

“Satoru?” you question as you bring up a hand to his cheek.

“Yes, baby?” he asks in that loving tone you’re so used to as he wraps his arms around your waist tighter.

You smile as you caress his cheek, trying hard to hold in your laughter, “What… A… Dumbass!”

You burst out laughing as you break free from his embrace and he stares at you in disbelief. You look from him to Soichiro, who’s already stood up from the bed as you hold your stomach, hurting from laughing so much, “That should teach you both!”

“Well then, I’m gonna go watch tv with the only two sensible people in this house,” you wave the baffled twins goodbye and turn around to leave the room. The very next second, you’re taken by surprise when you feel a hand grab your wrist to keep you from moving.

You turn around to see that your boyfriend seems… mad at you?

“Sochi, do you mind? I wanna talk to her alone,” Satoru motions his brother to leave the room.

“Yikes, just keep it quiet,” the twin chuckles in embarrassment as he walks out hastily. You hear the door close behind you before footsteps recede down the hallway.

You look at Satoru, expecting him to speak up. But your boyfriend simply grabs both of your wrists before twisting them behind your back and closes the distance between your bodies.

“Waitttt… is this Toru or Sochi? It is impossible to tell!” your words are dry and sarcastic as you giggle at him.

“Baby, I don’t think you’re in a position to be laughing at me right now,” he towers over you, his grip on your waists tightening.

“But here we are! I told you not to mess with me,” you chuckle as you try to wriggle your wrists out of his grip.

“And I’ve warned you not to press my buttons… or do I need to remind you again?” he grunts as he flips you around, walking you to the bed till your knees hit the edge of the bed, making you stumble on the mattress with him behind you. He brings a hand to the back of your head to press your face down into the mattress and you take this opportunity to try to hold him. He tsks at your movement before moving away from your completely.

You flip your body around to lie on your back and see what’s going on, only to find him rummaging through his closet. When Satoru turns around to walk back towards the bed, you notice two ties in his hands. 

This isn’t how you’d expected your little prank to turn out but you definitely weren’t complaining. However, just as Satoru straddles you, grabbing your wrists, his phone buzzes in his pocket.

“What?” he groans into the speaker.

“Mum’s calling you both downstairs,” you hear Soichiro’s voice on the other end.

You press your lips together to keep yourself from laughing as Satoru groans once again before cutting the call with a ‘be right there’.

“I think god sent a guardian angel disguised as your mom for me,” you chuckle as you sit up, making your way out from under him.

“You’re lucky,” Satoru grabs your jaw, “but don’t get ahead of yourself, guardian angel can't save you past her bedtime.”

You poke your tongue out to tease him, breaking free and springing out of the bed, mumbling a ‘whatever’, walking out towards the living room. 

As you make your way back down the hall, you hear your boyfriend’s footsteps behind you. You smile to yourself as you begin to brew different ideas of riling him up further throughout the night.

~fin~

[roadtohell]

finally saw the lotr musical!! thoughts under the cut

my expectations were to have fun and enjoy the music. frankly i was thinking the book was going to be a total hot mess from a theatrical point of view. it was, in fact, perfectly serviceable! pacing-wise it felt just a little rushed especially in the final push towards mount doom - the actual destruction of the ring in particular really needed more gravitas. but overall issues were nowhere near as much as i feared. while plot points were very condensed the only thing i felt was super handwaved was gandalf reappearing just fine after being trapped by saruman.

i loved the music, i knew i would ever since i got obsessed with lothlorien a decade ago. but i was really impressed with the quality of arrangements and playing. onstage bands with actors playing seems to be increasingly common but this is the first musical i've seen that tries (and succeeds) to evoke a full orchestra at points. the brass in particular adds such an important richness to the score. and i loved the fact that it was completely unapologetic about things like gimli whipping out a guitar in the mines of moria (and not one that could be considered an axe). it truly added to the sense of collective storytelling. also, bilbo playing the harmonica is perfect. also also, ent boomwhackers.

costumes were somewhat hit-and-miss for me, boromir's being by far my least favourite. why was that breastplate so loose! i didn't mind the gas mask orcs though. and i really dug the colour-coded kurta-like elf costumes, as well as gimli's design (distinctly earthy and dwarvish despite the actor being one of the taller members of the fellowship from what i could tell).

i liked the stage design, particularly the wood knot at the back doubling as a door, projector screen and eye of sauron. special effects, like the script, did the job and not a lot more. which i understand given the scope of the production. the introduction of shelob was really sick though. and sometimes one moment like that is all you need.

the cast was overall a very solid ensemble cast. of note, on this night stefanie caccamo was on for galadriel and ruby clark on for arwen. they both had a lot of presence and sounded phenomenal. i'd always kind of wondered why those two characters had such prominent songs in the musical but i get it now.

gollum was perfect, 10/10, no notes. while i think the audience took him a bit more comedically at certain points than they should have, imo it was really more down to the script than him.

frodo and sam were excellent and had great chemistry. no notes for them either, though i suppose they could have upped the homoeroticism lol

i really enjoyed gandalf and bilbo, both nailing their respective brands of old man humour.

i was kind of lukewarm on strider and boromir, however rob mallett did sell me on his kingly speeches. i think rohan campbell felt like the weakest link acting-wise - boromir came across as more boyish and inexperienced than strongwilled and proud to me.

idk if there's a better way to sheath daggers but poor legolas always seemed to take a while to do it properly. but maybe it's just a practice thing. otherwise there's no way you'd realise it was his first performance (afaik) compared against anyone else, standing up well to gimli who was great.

all in all this show exceeded my expectations! i had a blast and i would definitely recommend it to both lotr fans and people who enjoy somewhat novel musical experiences.

---

cast (this list maaaay not be completely accurate as i didn't see the At This Performance tv. but i was second row so i got a pretty decent look)

frodo - rarmian newton sam - wern mak merry - cameron davey pippin - hannah buckley gandalf - terence crawford gimli - connor morel legolas - hanlon innocent strider - rob mallett boromir - rohan campbell gollum - laurence boxhall saruman - ian stenlake bilbo - laurence coy galadriel - stefanie caccamo arwen - ruby clark elrond - andrew broadbent

[chipchopclipclop]

i just started rewatching soul eater for the first time since i was 15 and Stein is so much more interesting to me than he was then... what are ur soul eater thoughts chip if youre willing to share

i did not experience soul eater as a wee youth, the first time i watched (and then read it) was 4 years ago (give or take) so i do not have the beautifully tinged nostalgia for the series others might. i say this only bc it colours my thoughts of the series pretty well lmao.

the anime is alot better than the manga just by virture of bones' animation being incredible but also its like 40% less painfully fucking horny (though still is its shounen) and the way some of that plot goes in the second half is so fucking bad in the manga (though not all, but god). It's not like the anime gets rid of everything like that stupid ass argument black star has with maka still makes me want to murder him but ultimately i like the anime and its writing more. i think my minds canon is just a meld of parts i like from both lol.

ohkubo is also just on my top ten list of mangaka i need to actually kill like hes a solid #3 on the needs to die list. his designs and art improvement were fun to watch and i do love halloween world and his toony stuff, undeniably bangs, but you can really tell by the end where his transformation into horny moe artist came from. sometimes i see people shocked by this and soul eater not's existence and i have to think did we read the same fucking manga...??

sorry i needed to get my bitching out before talking about stein. i love stein. so many things wrong with him. he is 70% of the reason i got around to watching it and 95% of the reason i kept reading it. i think how expressive he is is alot of his charm, like he does alot of moe body language you might not expect of his type of chara.

hes #crazy and #madscientist and #edgy and #insaneasylum but also very silly and whimsical... kind of emblematic of the world of soul eater at large actually, this is also alot of the other characters appeal in this universe too (DEATH THE KID).

he's obsessive, hes empathetic, hes also sadistic, hes got a screw in his head, megane, fun with kids, perfect man. hes also got both an equal capacity for getting worse and better in him which can be fun to think about in either direction, and you've got characters that do influence him either way for that in the series. im also kind of remembering clicking the screw in his head is to help somewhat deal with his mental state actually, king of the disability aid...(?)

you can treat his character very seriously or lightheartedly, i think the writing in both versions maintains that balance well. It also makes everyone else who actually sticks around him somewhat deranged too (the fact he did surgery on spirit at school but spirit still interacts like pretty normally at work with him after meeting again. lmfao. THEY WENT DRINKING TOO) the fact he still calls spirit senpai also is so funny. its like 40% a dig at him but also 60% genuine. i hate gay people btw.

i like the thought that he was more stoic when he was younger but as he got older stopped trying to hide his eccentricities as much, and became more expressive lol. younger stein to me is a guy screaming in his head 247 but looking like 😐 while spirit stares at him trying to decipher what his eyelid twitching today means.

[alpinesmommy]

worship in decay ( bucky barnes x reader)

Warnings: female!reader, dubious consent, lots of alcohol consumption, mentions of casual sex, addiction mentions, the avoidance of genuine feelings, foul language, self-destructive behaviors, self-hatred?, self-esteem issues, parent issues, childhood trauma, bucky is no saint, but he tries to be a good boy, mentions of mental health.

Author’s note: this was affectionately nicknamed the hoe fic. i have been working on this for the better part of the past two (three?) months. im still adding, re-writing and editing a lot of the chapters. so far i have 7 chapters planned, though this may change as it's expanding by the second. weekly updates are planned, and to be perfectly honest this is just self-indulged and an ode to the sluts. please validate me, feedback is welcome. also sorry i've been gone for so long (i got married)

MINORS DNI! 18+ ONLY

PROLOGUE 

You don’t know why you do it. 

You suppose you could put the blame on your absent father, or the degradation and restrained hatred your mother held for you. You remember being that small child – begging for their love. 

Now you find it in the hands of strangers. 

Maybe you could blame it on the liquor that burns your throat and melts the ice off your bones and paints the world in some rose-coloured hue.

Or maybe (and this is the part that scares you most) you’re just truly a despicable human being, in which all of the ugly parts of your parents made you whole. 

You try not to think too much about that. So you find comfort in the warmth of bodies, the hunger in kisses, the worship of strange men that bring you closer to God than any religion could. 

At the end of the day; human beings are mammals at their core, it’s a dog eat dog world, and you’re starving.

‿︵‿︵ - - ‿︵‿︵ 

Waking up in the 21st century initially shook Bucky to his core.

American culture had fallen into a frenzy of degeneracy that could’ve made James Buchanan Barnes cry. 

But he wasn’t James Buchanan Barnes anymore, he was something else.

And he was already desensitized to the dread of the world thanks to the recollection of his own mental house of horrors.

He just couldn’t believe there were more people like him.

People who are more desperate, self-serving, and shameless, he notices. He feels right at home with them. 

Let them say Bucky Barnes was their king. 

That debauched urgency to chase a temporary high to replace the self-hatred even just for a little while was something he and these kinds of people shared.

Addicts, the depraved, the lost, the broken. 

He's learned quickly that being brainwashed and kept on ice for the past 70 years really took a toll on his libido, go figure. He’s like a damn teenager full of raging hormones wanting to stick his dick in anything that moves. Now all he craves is the warmth of a human, living breathing body beneath him while their essence fills the holes in his soul. 

What surprises him more is that they let him. They let his blood stained hands all over their silken soft skin, they let his rotted essence into their core, infecting them, tainting them, over and over, and they enjoy it.

His teeth graze their neck, and they should be scared that the Winter Solider could rip their throat out in a millisecond.

Instead, they coo and sigh and hold onto him tighter. It's addictive.

He loves them, every single one, for one reason or another. 

This one makes pretty noises in his ear and smells like candy, that one has a beauty mark beneath her left eye and can make him laugh, those other ones look pretty in sundresses and make him breakfast in the morning. 

They all give him something, things he never knew he needed. To be adored, taken care of, loved.

[csuitebitches]

I apologize for the long ask and if this question is a bit juvenile but objectively, how can one “gain” pretty privilege/gauge how they are viewed? I’ve done well in career pursuits for how early on I am ( I graduated in 2020) but started noticing that the invites to events/opportunities where one can really establish themselves not only professionally but socially, I was getting passed over by some higher up colleagues. In speaking to a female mentor who is related to my field and the same background as me (Black), she alluded that while my race may play a small factor in it, it’s more so my appearance that may be holding me back as the personality and poise is there. Some coworkers of mine who are brilliant and POC have similar credentials and positions as I and while we are all wonderful and hard working, they (who I feel are more beautiful and put together looks-wise) have discussed privately to me they have noticed a difference in treatment between us. While it’s not right, I am adult enough to know not to let things that can be fixed hinder the life I want. Your page is a wealth of information and I appreciate how encouraging you are!!

well. I’m going to be very blunt.

it’s all fun and games to say “oh fuck the beauty standards they’re terrible and they shouldn’t exist” yes, true, unfortunately they do exist and they play a bigger role than we imagine it to be.

the first thing you have to get right is your mindset.

you need to be strong enough to admit that you need changes in X, Y, Z area but not in A, B, C area. You also need to be a little loyal towards your racial identity (for the better or worse) because that’s what is going to make you stand out.

if you have a sensitive, overly emotional mindset and you get hurt very easily / become obsessive by nature, I highly recommend you to STOP reading now.

Understand what is considered pretty in your country and area. Even in one country, beauty standards can different from the north and south. Don’t exactly try to become attractive for the opposite sex but understand what they find attractive because these guys are your primary responders to your pretty privilege. Women will be kind on the surface and so it can be difficult to get constructive criticism from them.

Understand what YOU consider pretty. Who are the women who you think are crazy beautiful? What do they look like, dress like, how’s their hair and their make up, can you replicate any of it? Rule of thumb when it comes to hair and beauty - look at influencers / celebs who are of your racial background for the best fit.

there are always a few things that are universally considered “respectfully attractive” not “you wanna fuck me attractive”- semi modesty/ modesty outfits (my father always told me that when in doubt, go for a more conservative look), hygiene, well kept hair, clean nails and toe nails, soft skin, natural make up, natural hair colour, perfume, clothes that fit, skin care, a workout routine.

pretty privilege is not just the art of looking pretty. It’s also bringing in something of value on the table. Value = money / connections / knowledge/ humour / being the fun social person / whatever value the target group considers to be the most important for you to be relevant to them. Work on your soft skills. It’s better to look half baked but have solid soft skills than to look amazing and not know how to converse.

things that one normally notices when meeting someone new:

Skin - is it clear, is the make up overdone?

hair - is it messy or does it suit your face structure?

how you smell

teeth, when you talk - and dental hygiene

shoes - are they filthy?

shirt/ top - does it fit you well (always check that the seams on your shoulder and your actual shoulder line up), the colour of your clothes

body type, posture, how you carry yourself

start with incremental changes. Make a list of things you think you could improve on (this is not a list of “ugly” things, it’s an “improvement/ potential” list). Sort them according to ease of improvement (is this going to be expensive and difficult or affordable and easy?) and time (can this be done overnight or will it take some time).

Use point 1 and 2 only as launching pads. You do not have to look like Beyoncé, you’re simply understanding what her MUA and hair stylist does for her that could work for you. After a point, you have to ensure that YOUR identify sticks out and is still there, you’re not born to imitate someone else and also, it’s very obvious when someone is trying to be someone they’re not.

again. I repeat. If you’re going to get obsessive and make yourself sick over this it’s NOT WORTH IT. If you’re not mentally capable of making these changes, do not go through it.

[adobe-outdesign]

have you ever done a kiko review?

Kikos are one of the more unique Neopets, working as kind of a counterpoint to the Jubjub by having a round body with clawed hands and arms but no legs, and being smooth instead of furry (they're also aquatic, though that doesn't factor into the design much). Oddly enough they also have a pair of bandages on their heads, which has never been explained in-universe and I don't think was ever really explained out-of-universe either.

In terms of base colors, Kikos just have one solid color for their bodies with blue eyes. It's simple, but it works, and most of the hues they picked out are pleasant.

As for the rest of the design, Kikos are weird because they are very detail-specific—how good they look depends entirely on the following:

Defined muzzle/nose vs completely round

Larger pupils/highlights vs smaller

Mouth length

Eye spacing

Kikos can look very, very cute when they're portrayed with no nose, big pupils, close eyes, and a small mouth. When they're not, they tend to look offputting. How does the current design fare? Not... great.

With the original, the eyes were close together, there was no muzzle, and the mouth was small, making them look much more appealing. Don't get me wrong, they were in bad need of a redraw—the old art was dated, with bad shading and a poor sense of depth—I just don't think the direction they choose was the best. Here's an attempt at a combining the designs; it's obviously not perfect but it's maybe a bit closer?

Another thing that I dislike about the customized version is that the bandage was always the worst part of the Kiko's design, so you'd think they would make it a wearable, which would make sense. Nope! Outside of paying for Antenna & Horns Be-Gone! in the NC mall, you're stuck with that bandage. What a strange choice.

Favorite Colours:

Coconut: A new release, the coconut Kiko is super fun! I like the choice of making it a drink instead of just a normal coconut, and stuff like the leaf arms really go the extra mile (though weirdly enough they're wearable, while the umbrella isn't for some reason). The texturing on the body is realistic but not over-bearing, and the bandage blends in so you don't have to look at it too much. I do think the semi-transparent eyes are a little odd, but overall this one's pretty great.

Halloween: Making the Halloween Kiko a pumpkin was an obvious choice, and it works very well with the Kiko's round body shape. It also plays around with the head hair in a cute way by making it into the pumpkin's stem. My only issue is that they kept the head bandage for some reason, and if you remove the outfit in customization, you end up with... a second, smaller bandage underneath. What?

Both versions on this one are good; the customized version lacks a muzzle and thus is better-looking than most other converted Kikos, and the sense of depth and ability to take off the costume is nice, while the unconverted looks a bit more like an actual pumpkin.

Maraquan: Based off a user design, the Maraquan Kiko is both pretty and fun. A clam was a great choice, and the colors used for the shell are beautiful. Also really like the use of a starfish in place of the standard bandages. I just wish they dropped the hair—it's already a bit weird on the regular Kiko, but it looks even more out-of-place here.

BONUS: I have to give the transparent Kiko a shoutout for having to answer the question "what is a Kiko's anatomy" and not doing a terrible job at it. The head and body make about as much sense as they can, and the transparent bandages are a nice touch. For extra fun, you can also apply mouth-be-gone for a slightly creepier look.

[eybefioro]

Yesterday @isiaiowin and I shared our contribution for GOetry pillow fight week 4 (you can read it here !). Together with the poem, both of us also painted something, and this is mine :D

[Timelapse and rambling under the cut, as usual]

AAAAAAAAAA I HAD SO MUCH FUN WRITING WITH MOON. She's incredible at this, and jumping ideas with her was sooooo good! And then the back and forth of sharing the poems was so nice 😭 I wrote Michael’s POV in this one... she was supposed to be more snarky and bossy at first but then I got too sappy 😂 I'm not mad about it though, all the love talk in the poem fits very well with the pillow fight, and honestly, I was in need to writing something very soft. This ship is also soooo good. I love Angelfish (or Institutional problem, as I like to call it 😂) so much. I should write more about them in the future. Maybe a human/office AU...

Anywaaaays. This is a different style than all my other drawings. I always tried to go for clean and smooth lines, and never messy/sketchy ones. The thing is, as I worked on the sketch I really start to like how it was looking, and when I tried to make the linear using it only as a base (as I usually do) it lost all charm. The line art wasn't looking good this time. So I just... abandoned it and embrace chaos lol

I cleaned up a bit the sketch,and defined better the shapes with a thicker pen, adding more details with finer lines here and there. I reeeeally love the result; I mean, I know it can be better, and that I can take this further, but for a first try with this kind of style I think it looks surprisingly nice.

I like how it gives a bit of a pencil drawing quality to it, something that I'd probably doodle in the back of my notebook, but it was lacking texture. The pen I was using for the lines didn't have any, just a clean straight one I use for sketches and the final line art, so I tried to compensate in the colouring.

I discovered some really good pens for texture that are native from ibis paint, and I used them here. I think it worked well enough. I didn't want to paint everything in solid colours, but rather give the idea of colour like I'd do with colour pencils. So I just filled in near the borders, making it soft and not completely opaque, showing the white of the "paper" behind.

Speaking of colours... aaaaaagh the combination of Dagons blue/green skin with her guger hair is soooo nice. I never stopped to appreciated it before and I was so wrong for it. I love her outfit, and the makeup they used for her in the show, and her scales... and the same goes for Michael. Her hair in the show is just perfection, and the subtle gold in her makeup drives me crazy, so I tried to put it in the spotlight for a but here. In my head Michael’s skin is golden and no one will convince me otherwise now <3

I'm thinking of playing with this style of drawing more now. It made me very happy to not aim for a perfect line art, and the soft colour are so pleasing to me.

Go read our poem!! I loved writing it, and I hope you will enjoy it too. I do feel like this art fits with the feeling of the poem, and so does Moon's art. It's incredible the way she paints skin!! I am still looking at those ears aaaaaaaaaaa

[thesophistiicate]

I’m 17 and just started applying to jobs, mainly fast food. My big question is what do I wear? I don’t want to over dress, but I’m scared I’ll underdress and be rejected right away.

what an exciting time for you! so i think smart casual to business casual dress code is fine. i’m in some parent groups and have heard anecdotally young people are actually often dressing superrrr casual for these kinds of interviews but i think it’s better to be slightly “overdressed” rather than under. some key things to consider:

the most important thing is to look clean and neat. clean and neat hair, skin, nails will do a lot of the talking (and so true in the rest of life too).

basic silhouette of your outfit should not be too revealing - cover shoulders (ie. no strappy tops), obviously no crop tops or low cut tops, no mini skirt or shorts (doesn’t have to be fully knee length, just not above mid thigh - trousers also great), closed toe shoes, very minimal accessories/jewellery

it’s better to wear something that’s perhaps a middle ground of what you’re comfortable in if smart casual isn’t your typical style - or get used to wearing your interview outfit before the day - the problem is if you don’t feel used to wearing that kind of thing it can impact your confidence

better to stick to solid colours, no large or loud prints and colours, simple and neat details on the clothes (nothing distressed like ripped jeans for example), one stand out detail max (necklace, interesting buttons, etc)

keep hair neat, whatever that means for your hair type. personally for a fast food job i’d have it up in a bun or ponytail (if that’s relevant for your hair).

simple and natural make up if you wear it - again goal is looking clean and neat, not glam or sexy or whatever

don’t forget they WANT to hire teenagers/young adults, they don’t expect you to look super polished and adult or have the perfect outfit

some examples of silhouettes, but consider what you already own first of course:

and a bit of random advice but truly don’t stress about missing out on a job. if you don’t get that one it’s because it’s not meant for you. maybe you were there to learn something, improve your skills etc so that you’re ready for the one that’s meant for you 🤍