#since they’re the same template

[youdeserveanaward]

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[dandelionjack]

another really well-designed visual storytelling element of dot and bubble is the decision to have the fifteenth doctor star in it wearing his “doctoriest” costume yet. doctor outfits vary, of course, but a unifying trait is some kind of suit/smart-casual style and long jacket — subverted in many cases, obviously, but even thirteen wears the long hoodie and suspenders, and twelve’s punk fits still follow roughly the same template, nine has his leather jacket doing the job — whereas fifteen has most noticeably stepped outside that mold for the past few episodes, starting with the kilt and open-shouldered vest (!) in TCORR, then the t-shirts and, in general, far less rigidity.

but in Dot and Bubble, you take one look at this man and know: he’s the Doctor. which is why it creates such a powerful feeling of juxtaposition — all this ‘Doctor-aura’ posturing that usually works on side characters straight away completely fails to have any kind of effect in the face of unabashed, impenetrable bigotry. the clothing is a kind of uniform, it provides reassurance that this man *is* the doctor, that he’s come to rescue you, that he’s the same person he’s always been. but not to the residents of finetime.

since time immemorial (the second doctor’s era, but maybe even earlier, i haven’t seen much hartnell so correct me if i’m wrong) the doctor’s been asked — “why am i talking to you, why am i telling you my secrets?” and he’s always replied that he has a “face you can trust”. it’s time lord magnetism. people are naturally drawn to him. he commands a room. people begin to follow his orders because they know on some primal, innate, subconscious level that this entity is going to help them survive and make their existence better.

which is why it’s so jarring when they don’t. the racism, privilege and prejudice that clouds their eyes is genuinely so strong that it almost works like a perception filter, blocking out the doctor’s natural charisma, his bottomless kindness, all of the superhuman qualities that make him irresistible. they don’t see the charming 2000-year-old Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey that is going to “save their lives and everyone else’s”, long jacket fluttering out behind him as he runs, holding his hand outstretched like a beacon of hope. they see a Black man and nothing else, and that puts him beneath them no matter what he says, no matter what he does, how he proves that *he’s the Doctor*. to fascists, race stands above everything. you can be accomplished, talented, wise, clever, brilliant, but to them, the simple fact of the colour of your skin renders you unworthy. and that’s why they’re beyond saving.

[100vern]

the great british fake-off | xmh

you thought the guy in the hawaiian-print shirt who seems physically incapable of being quiet would be the most annoying person here, so imagine your shock when it's xu minghao, who has seemingly decided you're the enemy and keeps sabotaging you. a baking competition for charity might have others on their best behavior, but what's a little sugar without some spice?

❆ pairing: minghao x reader ❆ genre: great british bake-off, holiday au; crack, fluff ❆ wordcount: 5.5k ❆ rating: e for everyone ❆ warnings: some swearing, minghao is a saboteur, idiots abound. ❆ credits: this netflix psd template for the banner. this recipe for the yule log; this recipe for the gingerbread house; and this recipe for the entremet. divider from here. this post for the divider. this was roughly edited by me, so any and all mistakes are my own. ❆ written for: the winter with you collab hosted by @camandemstudios. thank you for letting me participate! please make sure to check out the rest of the stories as they're posted. ♡ ❆ author's note: i had this rotting away in my wips since literally 2021, so even though it started as a completely different story, i'm so glad it's finally seeing the light of day even if it's not what i originally intended. (also, i know the banner says 12 contestants but the holiday specials only had a couple, okay. i forgot when i made it and i wasn't going back to fix it.)

The obnoxious one is wearing an aloha-print shirt.

He’s also extremely loud, his raucous, fake laughter filling every corner of the large warehouse you’ve been assigned to for filming. Makes a show of batting his eyelashes, throwing his head back every time someone cracks a joke that’s not even funny, comes up with nonsensical nicknames for the entire crew just to suck up to them.

“John Davies? Mind if I call you Joe?”

Joe doesn’t even make sense as a nickname for John, but John fucking loves it, apparently. Looks at the annoying guy like he just watched him string the stars in the sky.

But it’s the shirt—god, the shirt drives you absolutely crazy. He’s about to go on national television, be a household name, and some ill-fitting, charity shop Hawaiian print shirt is what he woke up and chose to wear. What’s his angle here? Appeal to the public with some sob story about only being able to afford second-hand clothes so that’s why he’s competing? Needs the money to care for a sick relative?

(The expensive watch on his wrist and his limited-drop sneakers tell an entirely different story, but you’re keeping that to yourself for now. No reason to play your hand so early.)

As much as you hate the shirt, you have to admit it suits him. The colors are garish and unsightly, just as obnoxious as he is, and you can’t stare at it too long because you start going cross-eyed. Looking at him feels about the same as stuffing your mouth with a bunch of sour candies: you get that same burn in the back of your jaw, same scrunched-up, grossed-out look on your face; have to squeeze your eyes shut to blink back tears.

You don’t even know his name, but you hate him immediately.

Your eyes scan the other contestants. None of them inspire the same level of animosity within you as the annoying one does; all of them nearly unremarkable. A variety of ages, appearances, backgrounds. You hear one say they’re a retired investment banker. There’s an accountant, a teacher, a fucking aerospace engineer.

And then it’s his turn to introduce himself. He clears his throat, speaks with an easy, practiced confidence. Completely void of nerves. Makes eye contact with everyone in your conversation circle. Gesticulates wildly as he speaks, immediately endears everyone to him.

“I’m Tim,” he says, and you nearly recoil at how honeyed his voice is. “But you can call me Tim. I’m thirty-eight, originally from a small town. Work as a…”

You can barely stand to listen to it anymore, each “Nice to meet you, Tim!” like another punch to the gut. How can’t these people see right through him? How are they falling for his bullshit? You should’ve known. Producers always throw in at least one bomb to up the ratings—a secret millionaire, someone rude and confrontational, a flat-earther. Even if you’re competing in a charity baking competition, of all things, it’s still reality television at the end of the day.

Just because the bunch of you are going to spend the next few days creating confections out of sugar, spice, and everything nice, doesn’t mean you have to be part of that ‘everything.’

Tim thinks he’s got this in the bag. Thinks he’s going to show up and win easily, the rest of you be damned, and even if you are typically a very nice person, you’re also highly competitive. There’ll be no rolling over done by you, and if Tim wants to play dirty—

Game on.

As you introduce yourself, you feel his eyes burning a hole in the side of your head. Probably because you don’t bother with the faux-humility the rest of the contestants have. Polite and charming but firm, just the way your mother had taught you. You’re not boisterous, don’t crack silly jokes to play up to the cameras the way Tim loves to do, and you know he’s scrutinizing you the way you’d done to him, trying to figure out your angle.

Well, joke’s on him—you don’t need one.

And you really, really hope it drives him crazy.

Except maybe the joke is on you, too, because you don’t account for Xu Minghao.

In true reality television fashion, the tent is boiling hot.

As if the universe itself had looked down on all of you and decided what you all needed was a heatwave uncharacteristic of this time of year, just to up the ante. Not even ten minutes in the tent and you’re all fanning yourselves and wafting air up your shirts. Which is great, really, because it isn’t like you need to use ovens or stand over hot burners. It’s not like you aren’t going to be soaking through your clothes with anxiety sweats, either! Sweat dripping off your brow into your eyes won’t matter because you don’t need to use them.

Everything’s going to be fine!

But everything is not fine. Not only has the universe gifted you with sweltering heat, it’s given you the work station directly next to Tim’s. You’ll have to feel his annoying, off-putting aura near you for the entire competition. There’s always the possibility of him bungling it and making an early exit, but you know that’s unlikely. Obnoxious he may be, you also know a strong opponent when you see one, and something tells you you’re going to be stuck with him for the long haul.

Think of the cats, you tell yourself. All of this is for the cats.

It’s not like you never would’ve returned here of your own volition. No, your first go-round with feel-good, competition-based reality television had gone fine. You hadn’t won, of course, because you wouldn’t be here again if you had, but you placed respectably in the top three. Became a fan favorite, too, which was arguably more lucrative than winning. People make a living on social media these days.

So, it’s not the competition itself that has you white-knuckled gripping onto the edge of your station. It’s the man at the one beside you, cracking all these stupid jokes about the weather and how it’s a horrible day for tempering chocolate, so he bets that’s going to be the first challenge!

You suck in a deep breath. Try to remember the breathing exercises from that one yoga class your sister had dragged you to. It had been about the same temperature then, too—well duh, it’s hot yoga, your sister had said, which was news to you, because you never would’ve signed up for something called hot yoga willingly. Still, you endured it, just like you’ll endure this, and a little sweat is not going to get in the way of you delivering a check to all those poor, sad cats without families.

“Psst, hey,” you hear from behind you. When you turn, a man is smirking at you as he finishes tying his apron around his waist—has to wrap the strings around twice, you notice, because only someone hand-picked by the gods themselves would have that shoulder-to-waist ratio.

You don’t really recognize him. Can’t recall his name or where he’s from; can’t remember what he mentioned doing for a living. Probably something artsy, if you had to guess—he definitely has the style and demeanor of a creative, with his trendy shag-mullet and the multicolored, glitter-y snowflakes decorating his nails.

You aren’t sure he introduced himself at all, but the confidence with which he holds himself—easy, like it’d take a national emergency to rattle him even a little—implies he doesn’t really have to. Most of the people here already know him, if you had to guess, and he gives the impression that he’s not fussed with impressing any of them.

If only Tim was so inclined.

You clear your throat, vaguely aware you need to respond. “Yeah?”

“Are you nervous?”

“Ah, I don’t think so? We’ve done this before, after all. We should be seasoned veterans by now.”

He smirks. “Should be,” he emphasizes. “Feels different when it’s for charity. Extra serious, you know?”

“Right,” you agree, taking a look around the tent. “Anything for the cats.”

There’s an immediate shift in the atmosphere. What was friendly and carefree is now tense; where a smile and a floral giggle sat on the man’s lips has been replaced with a crooked scowl. And it doesn’t make sense, all you’d done was agree with what he said, but then the producers are yelling something at the front of the tent, cameramen are rushing to their equipment, and a woman appears at your side and starts clipping equipment to your clothes, and there’s no time to question it. On your right, Tim’s laughing and joking around with some crew members like they’re old drinking buddies. It drives you nuts, has annoyance pricking at your skin, flushing your cheeks—

So much so that the woman at your side leans in and asks, “Should I get hair and makeup over here?”

“I—no, it’s fine.”

The unnecessary members of the production team scatter away after a loud countdown. Hair and makeup don’t come to wipe the sweat tracks from your skin. You already know Man Behind You is standing there looking perfect because he’s equally as attractive as he is mysterious. God truly has favorites, and this guy somehow made the top five.

You stare down at the instructions in front of you, confident in your ability to read but not so confident in your ability to make sense of any of it. And it’s your own recipe, which is the worst part. You’d typed this recipe yourself. These are your hand-written notes in the margins. You’ve conceptualized, tweaked, baked, and eaten this recipe more times than you can count, and now all you can do is thousand-yard-stare into the ether.

In the time since you were on the show, you’d somehow forgotten about the chaos. Not unlike that hormone women have that makes them forget about the pain and agony of childbirth, you reckon.

In addition to being one of the most bothersome people in history, Tim apparently doubles as a prophet.

Because it is a terrible day to temper chocolate, and you’ve got a bûche de Noël on the horizon that requires you to do so. You can pivot, maybe make some kind of buttercream, but a basic chocolate buttercream is not going to win you a world-renowned baking competition even if it is Swiss meringue. A child could make that.

You sigh. Push that wave of panic to the back of your mind. In a setting like this, you have approximately ten seconds to come up with a back-up plan and execute it and you wasted your time thinking, so you’re just going to have to temper the stupid chocolate and stick to your original plan. God, you have a headache.

But the show must go on, so you do too.

Step 1: Preheat the oven.

Easy enough. If nothing else, you can preheat an oven.

Step 2: Make the sponge.

Not as easy, but you’ve made so many sponge cakes throughout your life you could probably do it in your sleep. Whisk attachment on the stand mixer. Four eggs. Sugar meticulously weighed and added to the bowl. Sugar and eggs whisked together until the mixture is the color and consistency you’re looking for. Flour, cocoa powder, and salt sifted in. Metal spoon to fold it all together as delicately as possible. You won’t have a sponge cake if you beat all the air out of it, now will you?

“Good enough,” you mutter to yourself, staring down at the bowl.

At least you’d had the foresight to grease and line your baking tray, because the entire entourage arrives at your station just as you’re meant to be pouring the batter into it and sticking it in the oven.

“Ah, we meet again,” the group choruses, genuine smiles peeking through as if you’re old friends separated only by time and distance.

That’s the weird thing about being on television. For as long as you’re able, you exist within a microcosm of daily life. A world exists outside of your bubble, you know, but you don’t see much proof of it. All of your meals are eaten together; all of your conversations are had with one another. You share temporary living quarters and oftentimes too much of yourselves, and you’re thankful the show encourages teamwork and kindness because that’s the kind of thing that can grow sour if you leave it unchecked too long.

And then it just—ends.

Bubble burst, you all go back to your regular lives. You look back on that time fondly, but the friendships are thinned out by time and distance. Eventually it all starts to feel like a dream, except every now and then something breaks through the haze to remind you it actually happened: a stranger recognizing you at the store, a message on social media, the casting team contacting you to ask if you’d be interested in competing in a holiday special for charity.

“We certainly do,” you retort, smile matching everyone else’s.

All things considered, you are happy to be back. Even if the tent is crowded and far too warm, the atmosphere is unmatched, especially when it’s decorated for the holidays.

“What are you working on?”

You explain the general workings of your yule log: chocolate sponge, hazelnut liqueur cream filling, and chocolate icing to top it off. You aren’t sure how you’re going to decorate it yet—you’ll figure it out once you get there, depending on how much time you have—but you guarantee them it’ll look festive and professional.

Satisfied with your plan, they wish you luck and move on to the man behind you. It’s so great to see you again, Minghao, someone says, and you’re grateful they’ve spared you the embarrassment of having to ask for his name. It still doesn’t ring a bell, and you can’t recall what season he’d been on for the life of you, but he speaks with a patience and a gentleness that is so unlike Tim that you nearly drop to the floor in thanks.

But as the commotion of the tent reminds you, you don’t have time to waste thinking about Minghao. You’ve only been given an hour for your signature, and you’re going to need all sixty of those minutes if you have any hopes of presenting a finished product.

It doesn’t register at first.

It doesn’t register at second or third, either.

In fact, you’re sure you’re hallucinating when you open the oven door to pop the sponge inside and you aren’t hit with a blast of hot air. Room temperature. Perhaps a bit on the cooler side, if you’re being honest.

And that can’t be, because you know you preheat your oven. It was the first thing you did, because it’s always the first thing you do. It’s just… automatic, like opening your mouth to eat or washing between your toes in the shower. Instinctual. Not something that needs to even be considered, because it’s always the first thing you do.

No, this cannot be. Forgetting to preheat the oven is a rookie mistake and you’re not a rookie.

…Could it be?

Perhaps you were so caught up in the lights and buzz, the thrill of returning to the tent, that it had slipped your mind? Perhaps you’d pressed the wrong buttons and turned the wrong dials? While it’s not likely you’d somehow bumped into the oven and turned it off, nothing is impossible, so… maybe?

“Shit,” you hiss through your teeth. The producers are not going to be happy about your swearing. “Shit, shit, shit.”

“Everything okay up there?” Minghao asks from behind you. When you turn, he’s got a flour-dusted towel thrown over his shoulder as he nurses a cup of tea, and his composure in the face of your hysteria has your head spinning.

Your mouth opens and closes like a goldfish. Minghao is drinking tea without a care in the world and your oven isn’t even halfway to the temperature you need. “I—yes? No? I don’t know. I could’ve sworn I preheated the oven, but—”

“Don’t panic,” he offers, his top lip catching on the rim of his mug. “You got this. Work on something else while you wait.”

Something else. Right, you can work on something else. Both the filling and the frosting still have to be made, and quick mental math tells you there should just be enough time to get everything done if you’re efficient. Of course, that’s a big if, but that’s why you’d chosen a yule log, after all: sponge cake doesn’t need that long to bake, and anything can happen (and go wrong) in this tent.

So, you get to work on something else. Measure out a sheet of parchment paper, dust it with cocoa powder, and set it to the side. Decide to get to work on the frosting, because if one thing has already gone wrong, you don’t trust the universe to let you temper chocolate correctly.

The chocolate is halfway melted when the oven dings. A small harrumph of victory and you’re finally good to go, setting a timer for twelve minutes. Minghao offers you a discreet thumbs-up, fingers covered in something sticky you assume is marzipan.

Time flies after that. You get both the frosting and your filling made, and it’s only through divine intervention that your sponge cake comes out perfectly and with enough time to score and cool. When you dare a look around the room, everyone seems to be in a similar position as you: frazzled and covered in powdered sugar, making frantic trips to and from the refrigerators, chucking seized-up caramel into the trash and starting over for the third time with a pained expression.

A holiday special—it was supposed to be more laid-back, more for the vibes and festivity than actual competition, but it looks to you like everyone’s taking it just as seriously as your first go-rounds.

“Fifteen minutes!” someone calls, and your competitors fade out of focus. You’ve got a yule log to ice and fondant to roll out.

You make it by the skin of your teeth.

It isn’t perfect, of course, as few things on this show ever are, but it’s more than acceptable. It looks great and tastes even better which is all you can hope for. Much to your dismay, Tim also gets top marks, but it’s Minghao that shocks you all. His stollen wreath earns him a handshake and a lot of clandestine, private glares, but he’d been kind to you earlier, helped untangle that knot of pandemonium, so you return the thumbs-up he’d given you earlier with a smile that feels akin to getting away with murder.

Something is wrong.

On its own, this is not necessarily surprising. Gingerbread, tasked with bearing the weight of an entire house, can be fickle. On any other day you wouldn’t blame it if it wanted to rebel and go sideways, but the thing is—you’ve made gingerbread before. Tons of times. Another thing you could probably make in your sleep if you absolutely had to. So it doesn’t make sense when you look down in your mixing bowl and it just… doesn’t look right.

You tell yourself it’ll get better when you knead it. Maybe the color just looks off because it’s underworked, and a few good punches will set it straight.

But it doesn’t. The dough sits at your station like a sad, formless lump, giving you no indication it intends to become anything at all. Which is, admittedly, a problem. Your technical challenge is to build a gingerbread house—one complete with little windows and golden-toned nightlights, a scalloped roof dusted with powdered sugar to look like fresh snow, a working door!—and you’re far from an engineer, but you don’t think you can have a gingerbread house without gingerbread.

You sneak a peek at Tim’s station, where he’s well into measuring an immaculate-looking dough with a ruler. The contestant in front of you is in a similar place, too, so it’s with an oh fuck I’m doomed sigh that you turn around and hope to find a comrade in Minghao again.

“Hey,” you whisper, trying not to draw attention to yourself. “Does this look right to you?” You jerk a thumb in the direction of your dough-lump. Minghao, bless him, looks around you and tries his best to hide his grimace.

He does not succeed.

“Um. Well, no.”

You sigh. Place one flour-dusted hand on your waist and pinch the bridge of your nose with the other. “I can’t figure out what’s wrong with it. I’ve made gingerbread a million times.”

“Looks pale,” he offers. Of course, this is the exact moment he dumps his own dough—his beautiful dough, flawless chestnut brown—onto his station to knead it. “Was the sugar right?”

A strangled, disbelieving laugh escapes you. Was the sugar right—of course the sugar was right! Dark muscovado sugar. Everyone knows that's what you use for gingerbread, so of course the sugar was right because no one, both in their right mind and at this stage of competition, would use anything else.

Before you can respond, Minghao’s pointing at your jar of sugar. Your jar of pale, producer-supplied sugar, which even a blind person could tell does not resemble dark muscovado sugar.

A million thoughts race through your head at once, but it boils down to instinct, you think. Your brain had seen flour, butter, and sugar and went into baking mode, not stopping to take in the color of anything. Maybe a smarter, more perceptive person would put two and two together and get sabotage, but you don’t have enough time to play detective.

“Here, here,” Minghao says, hurriedly handing over his (correct) sugar. “It’ll be close, but you should have just enough time to redo the dough.”

You’re going to throw up.

In the end, a chunk of chocolate buttons is missing from the roof and the piping around the edges is far from your neatest work, but it’s passable. You already lamented your loss during the signature bake, because anything less than perfection was not going to win you much of anything, and you’re now 0-for-2 on showstopping, unbelievable, awe-inspiring confections.

Just like the devil, your fall from grace will be studied.

Overthinking isn’t going to get you anywhere, but you can’t help it.

You collapse sideways into a chair, immediately face-planting into the catering table. Everyone else buzzes around you—animated conversations that have your head spinning, words that jumble together and start to sound like nothing at all—but you’re a million miles away. One mistake is out of character for you, but two? It’s unheard of. Something you would’ve said was impossible if it didn’t happen to you just a few hours ago.

This is something you need to file away for later so you can think about it just as you’re about to fall asleep, horror and embarrassment there to keep you company when it keeps you awake until the wee hours of the morning.

A chill runs down your spine.

“Hi. Do you mind?” You startle. Bang your knee on the underside of the table. “Sorry,” Minghao apologizes, but he doesn’t look sorry at all. You shake your head. Gesture to the empty seat across from you as if to say it’s all yours. “I brought you some tea,” he continues, setting it in front of you. “I find it’s easier than coffee when you don’t know how someone takes theirs. Less chance of getting it wrong.”

You smile. Wrap your hands around the Styrofoam cup and delight in the warmth. “Thank you. This was very kind of you.”

“Seemed like you had a rough day.”

Groaning, you try to wave away his words. “Please don’t speak of it.” Minghao jokingly salutes you before miming his lips sealed. “Anyway. Let’s talk about something that is not reality television or baking or a reality baking competition.”

So, you do. Most of the talking comes from you, to be fair, but Minghao is a good listener: nods along, chimes in when appropriate, keeps the spit in his mouth where it belongs. You talk about your hometown and what made you apply for the show the first time. He tells you about growing up in Haicheng and all the things he grew up baking with his mother. You swap stories from your respective seasons; Minghao shares anecdotes with a straight face that have you clutching at your stomach.

Hours pass this way, and you end the night feeling like you’ve made an honest-to-god friend.

Xu Minghao ends the night feeling the guilt weigh him down like an albatross.

In retrospect, it is probably a bad idea to make another sponge, but no one can accuse you of learning from your mistakes.

“It’ll be a patterned joconde sponge with two mousse layers—chocolate and raspberry—and a raspberry jelly. Then I’m going to attempt to top it with chocolate and raspberry decorations.” The judges blink. Are you sure that’s a good idea? you know they want to ask, but this is a holiday competition for charity, so they’re trying not to be pessimists. “Anything is possible through holiday cheer,” you tack on, hoping your smile doesn’t look crazed.

They nod. “Right, right,” they say in unison. “Well, good luck!”

And then they’re off.

Determined to nail this, you triple-check your oven, which is preheating to a crisp 400 degrees; you double-check all your ingredients and confirm they’re correct; when you can spare the time, you watch your refrigerator like a hawk, making sure no one tries to sneak their own work in there and displace yours when you aren’t looking, but everyone’s engrossed in their respective showstoppers.

Tim’s planning a shadow box of sorts, with blown-sugar baubles and isomalt fire. Someone else is stressing over their three-tiered cake, asking the presenter if they think they’ve taken on too much. From what you can piece together, Minghao is making a three-dimensional house, also made from cake that he imported special pistachios for.

“Special pistachios?”

“Mm, from Iran. They have a better color.”

“Iranian pistachios! Can you believe it!”

But you don’t have time to worry about Minghao and his special Iranian pistachios. You have so much to do and not enough time to complete it. Your paste is in the freezer and the sponge is in the oven, but you’ve still got two mousses to make, a jelly to infuse, and little chocolate trees to create—and all of this wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t pointless, but you don’t want to disappoint the cats by half-assing it. They deserve your whole ass, and your whole ass is what they’re going to get.

The result is stunning—not necessarily in stature, but rather craftsmanship and effort. This is what you’re capable of. This is why you came back to the tent. For all your complaining and wanting to put your head through a concrete wall, there’s nothing like seeing the judges ooh and ahh when you present your work to them. There’s nothing like the ego boost of someone taking a bite and watching their eyes light up. There’s nothing like carrying your cake back to your station feeling proud of yourself.

“Great job,” Minghao says, a genuine smile stretched across his face. He also exceeds expectations, of course. Must be those special pistachios, you think, but your congratulations are also sincere.

Production makes a spectacle of judging, much like they always do.

The set is decorated to look like a winter wonderland, even though you’re still in the midst of autumn: a giant Christmas tree in the center decked to the nines with garland and baubles; warm, golden bulbs strung from every awning they could find; all the participants bundled up tight in festive sweaters and scarves all the way to your chins, cheeks and tips of noses dusted with red-pink blush to mimic the cold that’s nowhere to be found. Fake snow falls from the sky, and it doesn’t feel real, but it does feel magical.

One of the hosts catches you by the elbow, asks who you think is going to win. “Oh, I’d have to say Minghao,” you answer, because you’d rather die than give Tim the satisfaction. “His showstopper was incredible, but he was really great the whole competition.”

In the end, however, neither of them wins—it’s Jeon Wonwoo, three-tiered cake guy, who comes out of nowhere to claim first place. He’s bashful as he accepts his prize and says he’s going to donate the prize money to an organization that provides underprivileged kids with video game equipment. No one has a whole lot to say about that.

Once most of the hubbub dies down (and you give Tim a half-assed you did great, so sorry you didn’t win), you find Minghao near the refreshments table. He’s frowning around another mug of tea. “Alright?” you ask, helping yourself to some cider.

“For some reason, I’m no longer feeling very festive,” he replies, which is a very funny thing to say while wearing a hat with a little pom-pom on the top.

You roll your lips to keep from laughing. Sidle in a little closer and knock his shoulder with your own. “Ah, I know how you feel, but you really did do great. You were my pick to win, for what it’s worth.”

“Please don’t tell me that. It only makes me feel worse for losing.”

“Yeah.” You sigh. “Would’ve been nice to donate some money to the cats, but shit, if I didn’t know better, I would’ve sworn some dark force was sabotaging me. Like, come on—forgetting to preheat the oven? Using the wrong sugar? Not even a kid would’ve made those mistakes.”

Two things happen in rapid succession: beside you, Minghao goes very, very stiff, and you realize you had been sabotaged. And not by some dark, evil force, either. You were sabotaged by the very man standing beside you—the man you shared thumbs-up with and thought was your friend. The man whose cake you complimented and picked to win. The man who is now standing ramrod straight, as tense as a corpse, and the thought of sabotaging someone in a charity baking competition is so ridiculous and unbelievable that you just—

You just laugh.

At first, it’s a bark of stunned laughter. Then, the more it sinks in how absurd, how nonsensical all of this is, you can’t stop. Tears are rolling down your cheeks. You gasp for breath as your stomach begins to ache. People are staring, including Minghao, who sort of can’t believe what he’s seeing, but none of it does anything to deter you.

“Oh my god,” you wheeze, “I can’t believe it was you—”

Minghao groans. “In my defense, it was for the cats!”

This was not the answer you were expecting. It makes you laugh harder. “What do you mean it was for the cats?”

He swallows. Removes the mitten from one hand to run it through his hair as if that one tic was enough to distract you from everything that’s happened in the last sixty seconds. (It is.) “Listen, you told me you were going to donate the money to a cat charity if you won and I just—so was I, was the thing. I was also going to donate the money to a cat charity if I won—”

“Okay, but which one, though?”

“The Cat’s Paw-jamas.” Much to Minghao’s horror, this sets you off again. “What? What’s so funny?”

“Minghao,” you try to choke out, but you can barely breathe around the cramp in your stomach. “Minghao, that’s the charity I was going to donate to. Oh my god, you sabotaged me and I was going to donate to—to the same fucking place. Jesus Christ, this is some Gift of the Magi shit.”

Your saboteur, who has gone deathly pale, is quiet for a very long time. Every now and then he’ll open his mouth like he’s going to say something before it snaps shut again. When he does manage to speak, what comes out are mangled apologies that sound like gibberish, and you wave all of them away. “It’s water under the bridge.”

“I—I really don’t think it should be?”

“Minghao, it’s fine, trust me, this was just for fun—”

“No, I really insist.”

You sigh, good-natured and exasperated. Something about the fake snow has you feeling romantic and a little bold, so you turn, grab him by the lapels of his coat. “Please tell me if I’m misreading this, but if you insist, maybe you can start by taking me to dinner…?”

This was clearly not what MInghao was expecting you to say. Dazed, he recovers quickly, the corners of his mouth tugging upward in a half-smirk. “Dinner, hm?” You nod. “I think I can manage that.”

You smile. “Great. How do you feel about cat cafes?”

[velvet-n-lace]

NSFW Alphabet (Satan Edition)

Series: Obey Me!

Genre: Smut/Headcanon

Word Count: 2k words

Pairing(s): Satan x Female MC

A/N: Sorry this took a while, personal stuff has happened y'know? Anyway so...

Original Template by @/the-coldest-goodbye 

CW: some mentions of sadism and blood

A = Aftercare (What they’re like after sex)

Satan first checks if you are still conscious. He would wipe away your tears and keep you safe in his arms while he whispers his undying love to you. After a nice warm bath, he would clean you up before patching any wounds and falling asleep in each other's arms.

B = Body Part (Their favorite body part of theirs and also their partners)

It’s his hands; not only can he use them to pet cats and read his books, but he can also use them to perform sadistic desires on your body. His slim and long fingers are often shoved in your mouth while he fucks you or fingering you violently. He loves any part of you that he can stroke and touch, but he especially loves your neck and collarbone. He loves leaving visible marks on your skin so he can trace them with his fingers. He won’t allow you to hide them either; he wants to show everyone he’s claimed you forever, especially Lucifer.

C = Cum (Anything to do with cum, basically)

Satan’s heart skips a beat when your body catches his seed. He smiles each time your cheeks burn with shame and pleasure. Cumming inside you is just as hot, but seeing his load on your body and on your face is another way of claiming you. If he wants to cum inside you, he prefers you cumming at the same time as him. His cum is very bitter, so he loves ordering you to hold it in your mouth before he gives you permission to swallow it. It may even leave your tongue a bit numb~

D = Dirty Secret (Pretty self-explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs)

Satan did a little bit of research on how he could achieve ultimate pleasure with a human. Being a demon, he was unsure of how capable a human like you could take in some demon cock at full force. Since nothing on the internet is helpful, most of his research was from the piles of erotica hidden in his many bookshelves, and it’s apparent that they are not used for research anymore. He buys all types of erotica to immerse himself in the arousing details and eventually began writing in a sex journal and anonymously publishing smut writing online. Most of it is based on his experiences with you, which is why they are so specifically detailed and self-indulgent.

E = Experience (How experienced are they? Do they know what they’re doing?)

He is semi-experienced. He never had the chance to show off his experience until you showed up; even he was surprised by his ability to pleasure you like he’s inherited them or something…

F = Favorite Position (This goes without saying)

He prefers any position where you are fucked beneath him; he especially loves it when he can hold you by the neck as he slams in and out of you without mercy. He lets all his grunts out like he’s some wild animal. He can make you scream if he wants, or he can bend you over and whisper all kinds of dirty words into your ear while he keeps your mouth covered or gagged with his fingers. The more you struggle, the harder he gets, so discomfort from Satan is always inevitable. 

G = Goofy (Are they more serious in the moment? Are they humorous? etc.)

He is very serious since he believes he’s at his most sexy when he is brooding and rough with you. You constantly need to remind Satan that he can let loose a little bit and that he’s much more than some dark and wrathful demon. Over time, he’s learned to be a bit more teasing and playful, and maybe he even starts smiling a bit more~

H = Hair (How well-groomed are they? Does the carpet match the drapes? etc.)

He’s very well-groomed and clean even though his living conditions suggest otherwise; he just smells of old books and burnt candle wax. He constantly needs to brush the cat hair off his clothes, and when going outside, he often sanitizes his hands. His carpet matches his golden drapes, and he only occasionally shaves. 

I = Intimacy (How are they during the moment? The romantic aspect.)

He is as intimate as he can be. Whatever position or kink you two try is done out of love but also by pure possessiveness. He whispers dirty things in your ear and licks the marks he’s made on you. As his hands roam through your body, you can sense his desire for you getting deeper and deeper.

J = Jack off (Masturbation Headcanon)

Satan is the most comfortable when his door is locked, and he’s lying on his bed reading or writing erotica in his candlelit room. He imagines you in sexual scenarios like in the books he’s reading, or he inserts you and himself into what he’s reading. His eyes don't leave those words; he moans your name and jacks himself off as he loses himself in his fantasies. He may think that he’s keeping his moaning low, but at times, you could walk past his room and listen to the rustling of paper and low grunts as clear as day~

K = Kink (One or more of their kinks)

S&M is a prominent one, and he loves seeing you beneath him, being collared and tied up for him. He’s shamefully into Pet play, and he often clips on some cat ears on your hair and inserts a plug tail inside you. Seeing you with those clip-on cat ears and tail before him makes him feel so powerful, but his ultimate weakness is when your moans come out as “meows.” He can't resist you worshiping him and begging him to touch and maybe hurt you more. He can pull your hair, leave scratches on your body, and bite anywhere he pleases.

L = Location (Favorite places to do the do)

His room and your room are the safest options. However, he’s down for some foreplay in the library if you can hold it in as a challenge. The quiet library can make everything sound louder, making it more tense and exciting. Maybe you two can even try it in Lucifer’s room for fun~

M = Motivation (What turns them on, gets them going)

Whatever desire Satan has in mind at the moment is one thing, and your willingness to do it only adds to that motivation. The motivation helps him write new material, but overall, he loves whatever you do and loves you more each day.

N = No (Something they wouldn’t do, turn offs)

He doesn't want you getting extremely hurt. A bit of blood is expected, but Satan knows not to go that far since learning that humans are more fragile than demons. He will always keep your pain tolerance in mind if you are sensitive.

Also, don't you DARE compare him to Lucifer; in fact, don't even mention Lucifer before you have sex with Satan unless you want to be fucked rough with no mercy. Don’t try to tease him about it either; he doesn't take it lightly at all.

O = Oral (preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc.)

His tongue laps up your wetness as his hands keep roaming your body, taking note of every reaction he gives you. Often, he would leave love bites on your thighs, sink his fangs down your flesh, and lap up the red leaking from your small wounds.

When you suck on Satan’s cock it’s like sucking on sin itself. Hearing you gag on it only makes him want to shove himself down your throat deeper until you are choking on it. You can do it when while he’s reading or writing his erotica. If his cum gets all over his crotch and your face, you’re gonna have to clean it up~

P = Pace (Are they fast and rough? Slow and sensual? etc.)

Satan is often fast and rough; when he holds, you better believe he’s gonna leave you aching from the waist down by morning. Being slow is fine, but he will be rough even at a slow pace. He’ll be soft if he can, of course, that only if you are still aching from the previous night. Whether you want to be broken by him is your decision~

Q = Quickie (Their opinions on quickies, how often, etc.)

No good. He avoids them completely and would rather wait until he is in a more comforting place. However, there are times when he can get away with more “sneaky” actions, such as jacking himself off while his bookbag is over his lap~

R = Risk (Are they game to experiment? Do they take risks? etc.)

He’s down for some risks, but he mostly plays it safe and only tries new things when it intrigues him. Satan is the type who wants to make sure it not only gives him pleasure but that it’s something you would be down to try with him.

S = Stamina (How many rounds can they go for? How long do they last?)

He can go for several rounds but tries not to be too rough in the first few; otherwise, it would tire him out quickly. He mostly reserves all his energy until the end or until both of you cum at the same time.

T = Toys (Do they own toys? Do they use them? On a partner or themselves?)

Nothing at first, just a few accessories like a collar, the cat ears, and the cat tail plug, just for you. Little by little, he’s bought items like handcuffs, whips, and rope to make things more interesting.

U = Unfair (How much they like to tease)

Satan does tease, but it has more to do with physical touch. He can do cute and innocent things like hugging you from behind or petting your head, but the more the relationship went, the more sexual it got. He would kiss your neck or pinch your ass, and if he really felt like it, he would send you some lewd text messages during class or if you were helping Lucifer with something.

V = Volume (How loud they are, what sounds they make, etc.)

Satan is not too loud, but he grunts and moans like a beast. The more you tighten around him, the louder he will get. He tries his best not to be heard by anyone, no matter the volume, but he’s unaware of just how loud he really is. You make him growl louder tho. It really depends on the mood and where you two are fucking at.

W = Wild Card (A random headcanon for the character)

Yeah, Satan can be rough and dominating if you want, but if you make him more submissive. He doesn't mind being the one collared up and meowing on your lap while he licks between your thighs and calls you Master. He loves you so damn much that he will allow you to “tame” him; no one can do that except for you~

X = X-ray (Let’s see what’s going on under those clothes)

Another big demon cock, but Satan’s is almost bull-shaped, and it’s the only one among his brother that’s uncut. The veins give him a more textured appearance. It may look a bit intimidating when it’s throbbing on its own and leaking with precum like it’s begging to be buried deep inside you.

Y = Yearning (How high is their sex drive?)

Satan knows how to control his drive. If you are driving him wild throughout the day, he will often show it through the teasing. All that yearning you gave him would be felt once you two are finally in bed or alone with him in a room.

Z = Zzz (How quickly they fall asleep afterward)

When the aftercare is done, he sleeps with you, all comfortable in his arms. He often strokes your head and drifts off to sleep shortly after you close your eyes and feel safe with him holding you against his chest.

[eobe]

And here he is – Captain Vaughn 🤩

Captain Rex didn’t feel like being Commander, but this is how we got Captain Vaughn, showing his loyalty and kindness only within moments in the 332nd company for Ahsoka (s7e9), so he's one of the underrated clones which would have deserved more sceentime *sigh* ♥️

We never got to see his face, so there’s so much space for head canons, isn’t it? 🥰 His look in this piece is inspired by this gorgeous look (<-) designed by @lonewolflupe 🫶 

I also want to share some process magic while I was working on Captain Vaughn, so ramble incoming 😁 Take a seat and have a caf ☕️ 

It’s always the eyes when I draw. They just lead the main energy of the character and that influences the face. So I sketched line after line and his face got clearer… with some unforeseen vibes! Since I’m not that fixed to templates anymore, there can be more variation, no matter how much I try to catch the right copy paste clone-face angles... or even colors 🤯 

Have a closer look into unusual clone eyes, oh yes 👀

Lupe and I were chatting about his lighter look with freckles in her artwork (a bit Tech color palette with golden and copper tones) and I told her that I don’t know why, but I feel like some heterochromia in his eyes 😀 So his eyes are like this now – not planned and unforeseen, like it is often when art takes over ✨

I really don’t know what the Kaminoans were doing during the cloning process 😂 but we got some varied clones – for example ‚icy eyes‘ Edge from the Tango company, or the blue eyed drunk one meeting Fives in front of the 79s (I named him ‚Blues‘ hehe 😜).

Without guiding my lines along a template, doing everything out of my mind, sometimes I might get either feeling like crooked fingers or odd sight, but this can be the point where the true art magic begins, because I’m not in charge anymore. I can only shrug and surrender to the flow and I love it 🥰

So I don’t know when it happened, but look at him… 👀 WHY does he look a bit like Echo? AND Rex? And there’s something soft in his eyes what reminds me of Kix, too? And it just fits his calm and loyal character!

For Commander Wolffe for example it could never be this face and it would never happen in the drawing process like that, it wouldn’t fit, but… I’m rambling – I could never point to the lines or the moment where things like this happen. Yeah, they’re all clones and share the same face, but faces do shape after their thoughts, experiences and their lives – more frowning or more smiling 😀

Oh, I love this. Not really being in charge while drawing, but achieving so much more without being under the illusion of the concept of control what is we’re all be taught… holy force I’m really rambling and diving

Sorry not sorry, art is my passion I guess and art is my healing thing, too 🤩 I’m proud of you, if you read all this! Enjoy 🫶 

My personal ALT text mission (1 additional ALT text for a previous artwork with each new art posting!):

Captain Gregor's faces part 1 one of my oldest clone drawings, what an improving process since then, I barely can't believe it 🤩

Taglist: @eclec-tech @bixlasagna @returnofthepineapple @sunshinesdaydream @covert1ntrovert @general-ida-raven @vrycurious @dystopicjumpsuit @chaicilatte @groguandthebadbatch @justanotherdikutsimp @ladylucksrogue

[scarnatlover]

Natasha Romanoff Nfsw Alphabet

Pairing: Natasha Romanoff x Reader (romantic).

Nfsw Alphabet template credits @the-coldest-goodbye

Warnings: sexual themes, basically just smut (MINORS DO NOT INTERACT).

A/N: I'm sorry if anything is spelled incorrectly, but English is not my first language. I apologize in advance for my grammar and spelling. If you have any request, I will try and write them.

A = Aftercare (what they’re like after sex)

After spending an intimate and special time together, she becomes very affectionate and caring. She holds you tightly to herself, cuddling you with tenderness, kissing you and hugging you. She praises you with sweet words, reminding you how important you are to her and how only you can make her feel that unique way. Often, she likes to keep you close, kissing your hair gently and covering you with kisses wherever she can reach, in a gesture of great intimacy and connection.

B = Body part (their favorite body part of theirs and also their partner’s)

Her breasts are her favorite part of her body. She likes to see them in a new bra or even just when she puts on a dress. But above all she loves how they fit into your hands, almost as if they were  made to be handled by you.

Your back is her favorite part of your body. She loves to hear your muscles contract while you pound into her. As soon as she wakes up in the morning, she likes to see you stretching all the time for the same reason. She loves to scratch it to get you to sleep, both every night and after having sex.

C = Cum (anything to do with cum, basically)

She loves to taste her own cum, whether it's from your fingers, your lips, any other part of your body or from toys. She loves the feeling of cumming. Another thing she loves is, as a punishment, to have you watch while she plays with herself and then, once done, clean her own fingers or put them in your mouth, making you lick off her cum.

D = Dirty secret (pretty self explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs)

She loves when you use the cum-filled strap on her.  The feeling of the cum inside her pussy or ass is one of her favorites.  When you use it, after you release your load inside her, she asks (commands) you to continue pushing the fake cum deeper.  She won't let you take it out until she says so and in the meantime she praises you and caresses your back that she was scratching just seconds before.  Once you pull it out of her, she loves to see the cum slowly leak out of her pussy, and then try to push it back into her with her fingers, while maintaining eye contact with you. Usually afterwards, she puts a plug inside her to prevent cum from coming out of her pussy or ass, and walks around wearing it.

E = Experience (how experienced are they? do they know what they’re doing?)

She has a lot of experience in this field, much more than you. She knows exactly what she's doing. She knows what phrases excite you, she knows what places to touch, she knows what looks to give you to make you understand that it’s time to be alone and to explore her body.

F = Favourite position (this goes without saying)

Her favorite position is the cowgirl. She loves to see you under her, especially since she's the one who dominates. She loves to see you try to move your hips up and down to pleasure her more.

Although this is her favorite, she also loves missionary. She loves to feel your breathtaking breath right next to her ear. When in this position, she loves to leave marks on your back, but above all she likes to touch your abs and feel them contracting at every push inside her.

G = Goofy (are they more serious in the moment? are they humorous? etc.)

She’s very serious during these moments. It doesn't happen very often to be able to find such intimate moments. She takes these moments very, maybe sometimes too seriously. Although sometimes she lets go and shows her playful side, which she rarely shows, except with you or other Avengers.

H = Hair (how well groomed are they? does the carpet match the drapes? etc.)

Natasha prefers to be trimmed completely down there. Not that it would bother you if it weren't, but it's just a preference of the redhead. Anyway yes, the carpet matches the drapes.

I = Intimacy (how are they during the moment? the romantic aspect)

She, most of the time, is very romantic. She loves caressing your hair and praising you in the sweetest possible ways. Sometimes, however, for example after a quarrel, given the fury of the moment, it is slightly harder and more severe. After these moments, however, she ensures that she has not gone down too heavy and so that you are okay and that you feel safe as always.

J = Jack off (masturbation headcanon)

When you're not there, almost always when she feels excited she looks at some of your photos that you previously sent her, possibly one where you see the muscles. Sometimes, however, it is possible that you get a call, or even better a video, while she plays with herself. If he calls you and you don't answer, however, you get a lot of dirty messages, which can be photos or videos or simple messages.

K = Kink (one or more of their kinks) 

mommy kink: being the dominant of the two, she loves to see you to her complete piety and to feel called “mommy” by you always makes her a certain effect;

edging: She loves to deprive you of coming, always for a sense of control. She likes to feel you crying in her ear whenever she stops riding you (if in a cowgirl) or if she prevents you from moving (If in missionary);

dirty talk: She likes to whisper to your ear something dirty and hear you whimpering even more after those statements. “Make me yours, baby”, “Be a good little girl and make mommy cum” and “You make me so wet” are the sentences she says most often in bed.

L = Location (favorite places to do the do)

Her favorite place to have sex is probably the shower, simply because of the atmosphere it creates. The warmth of your bodies together with the steam that causes the hot water of the shower make the perfect combo for you. Other places are, for example, the kitchen or in the car. The first is because she likes the idea that someone can walk into the room and see you with your head between her thighs. The car has always been her fantasy, so after the first time you did it there she can't live without it.

M = Motivation (what turns them on, gets them going)

Seeing you train, whether it's sparring or lifting weights, always gets her going. She loves to see the sweat drops descending along your carved abdomen. She loves even more to see that smile appear on your face when you can throw Steve or Bucky to the ground, or when you finally can lift a few extra pounds than usual.

N = No (something they wouldn't do, turn offs)

She would never involve knives or sharp things during sex. One reason is that, somehow, it reminds her of the Red Room and therefore of a past she would like to forget. Another reason is because she's afraid to hurt you. You already have a lot of scars, she would not unwittingly want to get another one.

O = Oral (preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc.) 

She likes to dominate, so she prefers to receive it. She loves pushing your face towards her center, pulling your hair and generally “forcing” you to do as she says.

But she also likes to give it. Feeling you fall into pieces under her tongue, as you beg her to stop because you're now overstimulated and you can't do it anymore. As soon as you say it, she looks at you and tells you that you can give her one more.

P = Pace (are they fast and rough? slow and sensual? etc.)

For example, after a romantic date, sex is always slow and sensual, with her making you see that sweet side that she doesn't always show in bed.

On the contrary, if during a meeting you provoke her, as often happens when you put a hand on her thigh and slowly you get closer and closer to her center, you already know that what will happen in the bedroom will be the gossip of the whole morning.

Q = Quickie (their opinions on quickies, how often, etc.) 

She likes to have her time with you. Obviously with the work you do, this time isn’t always there, so she won’t turn down a quickie. Most of the time it's you who takes her away from whatever she's doing, taking her hand and taking her somewhere. Besides, she also likes these moments for the adrenaline of being seen while she is open-legged on a table with you in the middle of her legs.

R = Risk (are they game to experiment? do they take risks? etc.) 

It happened that she asked you to finger her under the table at her parents' house during a dinner with them and Yelena just because it was two weeks since you had sexual intercourses. Another time, trying not to get noticed, she dragged you into the gym shower because she saw you smile as you panted after you crossed your maximum in the bench press.

S = Stamina (how many rounds can they go for? how long do they last?) 

Natasha has excellent endurance. She can go on for hours, with a few breaks in between. Usually after the third or fourth orgasm you stop, but if you have been away for so long or have not had any sexual intercourse for a long time, sex can also come to the sixth, although it is very rare. Although already at the fifth she gets a bit too sensitive but still wants to be satisfied even if it means not to walk the next day. 

T = Toys (do they own toys? do they use them? on a partner or themselves?)

She has a variety of toys.  Vibrators, dildos, butt plugs, anal beads, ben wa balls, you name it.  She has them in all shapes and sizes.  She uses them regularly, every time you have sex and of course when she's alone, whether it's because you're out or because you're on a mission or because she is.

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease)

She's a big ass tease.  She knows what gets you in the mood, and she does everything to have even just 10 minutes to do something with you.  She knows you like it when, especially in summer, she wears floral dresses.  Or when you tie your shoes in front of her, she will ruffle your hair and give it a little tug, not to hurt you, but just to turn you on.  Or again, she loves to leave her red lipstick marks on you, especially on her cheeks and neck.

V = Volume (how loud they are, what sounds they make, etc.)

She is not someone who is very vocal in bed.  Especially at the beginning of the relationship, you didn't hear any sounds coming out of her mouth, even if the sex at that moment was very rough.  After many chats, however, she took courage and made herself heard a little more.  She's not very loud anyway, but the only sounds she lets you hear so far, aside from her voice when she talks to you, are whispers or moans.

W = Wild card (a random headcanon for the character)

She loves brushing her thumb against your bottom lip.  She especially likes to do it while she's sitting on the bed, with you on your knees in front of her.  In this position, she gently slides her thumb into your mouth, slowly pushing it deeper, doing so until she sees your eyes fill with tears, while meanwhile praising you “Such a good girl for Mommy, baby” “Yeah, just like that, sunshine” “I know you can take it deeper, Sugar”.

X = X-ray (let’s see what’s going on under those clothes)

Even though she's shorter than you, that doesn't mean she doesn't have muscles.  In fact, quite the opposite.  She is muscular and doesn't hide it.  She loves to wear tops that show off her abs and back, or tight leggings, to show off her calves or thighs, which she knows drives you crazy.

Y = Yearning (how high is their sex drive?)

She is always ready for sex.  After a meeting, after a mission or just after lunch to pass the time.  Any spare moment, if she's in the mood, she'll jump on you.  Moreover, it doesn't take much to get her into the mood: a touch on the back, accidentally placing your crotch against her ass, seeing the movements of your throat while you drink or watching you drive the car with one hand, can mean that later, when you are alone, it will be some time before you leave the bed.

Z = Zzz (how quickly they fall asleep afterwards)

She'll stay up until you fall asleep.  Usually, after you're done, you're bothered by the feeling of sweat on your skin, so you both immediately go to the bathroom to do your business and take a shower.  Sometimes she stays with you on the balcony while you smoke and, even if she doesn't like when you do it, it's one of the only times when she's the one ld close to you and not the other way around.  Immediately afterwards, however, you both go to bed and, especially after smoking, you are the one who falls asleep first.  She stays up cuddling you until she doesn't fall asleep herself.

[sashi-ya]

[𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐠𝐚𝐫 𝐋𝐚𝐰 ✦ +𝟏𝟖 𝐀𝐥𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐭 ]

✦ requested by Anonymous for the free requests ➜ Sash! have you ever wrote an n sfw alphabet for Law? if not, can you do it? thank you 💞 ➜ never wrote these alphabets so I will try! I hope you enjoy 💖 ✦ alphabet template by @the-coldest-goodbye ✦ tw: mentions of kinks. toys. masturbation. minors dni. ✦ masterlist

A = Aftercare (what they’re like after sex)

Law is a doctor, so he will take care of any of your physical necessities with utmost care. He will ask precise questions to assess you and know your status. Once that’s out of the way, he will lay on his bed with spread arms inviting you to cuddle right over his chest. A man of few words, but loving acts. His hand will go up and down through your back and even some butterfly kisses will be given if you crawl with your head up in search for his lips. He enjoys peace and silence. Relaxing after an intense session is what he likes to do the most.

B = Body part (their favorite body part of theirs and also their partner’s)

His fave body part has to be his chest. Law loves to show off how proud he is of his Cora-san’s legacy. Kiss and trail a path with your finger tips on top of his tattooed heart, you will have him melt under your sweet touch.

His fave body part from you has to be your belly. Law enjoys placing kisses and rest his cheeks on top of it. He is specially in love to bulges, so if you have one (or he creates one with uh… you know) be prepared to be double praised.

C = Cum (anything to do with cum, basically)

Law is a very intelligent man and that includes a healthy relationship with contraceptives. He will wear condoms most of the times to take care of you and him as well. However, if the relationship has reached higher trust levels, he will tend to go raw. Is not that he wouldn’t love to stuff you like a thanksgiving turkey (in fact, is all he wants to do) but he is a very responsible man if you can bear children. He has to make sure you are ok with it and in which place both are in terms of pregnancy possibilities.

D = Dirty secret (pretty self-explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs)

He was the one who stole your pair of panties. Yes, those you couldn’t find anymore when you joined his crew. The ones you thought flew away while letting them dry on that island. Those, those are Law’s One Piece. (Perhaps he has even tried them on more than once…)

E = Experience (how experienced are they? do they know what they’re doing?)

Not really experienced. He hasn’t got intimate with many people before. Being a pirate like him, and especially since he was focused on his plans didn’t let him have much free time to meet and date other people. In any case, he wasn’t really interested in hooking up. He, however, knows very well how to treat your body. He has study anatomy to perfection and so Law knows exactly what and how to touch you. Plus, as he is a very intelligent man he probably loves to do some “research” (meaning videos, too). He will be prepared, and he will learn along with you.

F = Favorite position (this goes without saying)

You against the wall or bowed against his desk. Law loves to top you, pull from your head and be able to inspect your entrances before burying deep into you.

G = Goofy (are they more serious in the moment? are they humorous? etc.)

Well, he is pretty serious and most of the times it comes as a way to cope with his own shyness. But he will scoff and smirk as you moan his name or plead for more.

H = Hair (how well groomed are they? does the carpet match the drapes? etc.)

Short, well-groomed hair. Pubic hair is there for a reason, and it’s healthy. So, he will have it perfectly trimmed. Also, it connects with a happy trail that goes from the little bump under his belly button towards his pelvic area. (Also, he has a tattoo on his right side. It goes with the same style as the rest of his body, and hell it is sexy as fuck. He loves it for you to kiss it)

I = Intimacy (how are they during the moment? the romantic aspect)

As mentioned before, he is not really interested in hook ups or one-night stands, meaning that he needs to have a real connection to be intimate. Being romantic is not his forte, he is not a person that would recite poems nor very sweet things. However, he has his own way of showing you how much he loves you. Of course he will whisper about it, probably when both are about to reach climax. But his romanticism shows in terms of actions; protecting you with his life or taking care of you. Also, placing little kisses before and after intercourse.

J = Jack off (masturbation headcanon)

He has a healthy relationship with masturbation. Whenever he gets hard he will search for you. However, if he happens to be alone and you are out of reach… well, that’s when he will rely on his hand. And mind you, he loves it. I think he is the type to overly stimulate himself with the palm of his hand grazing his gland when he is about/he just came.

K = Kink (one or more of their kinks)

Law is a little bit of a sadist (we all know that) I think he is probably into bd/sm related practices but maybe not so much into physically hurting his lover. The most “pain” you could experience is by your wrists and ankles being tied. He would, however, love to make you beg and plead for more. Law would enjoy overstimulating you, and I see him as a man who would love to play in the dark with you. Not just blindfolding you, but both unable to see, relaying only in the memories of your bodies and the sensations you can experience when sudden touches explore each other’s skins.

L = Location (favorite places to do the do)

Anywhere you and him feel comfortable. Law doesn’t need fancy beds to fuck you. He loves his office specifically and also to pin you against the big glass wall of his room when the Polar Tang is submerged. To have your body kissed by a blueish light, playing with the concept of exposing you but still with nobody able to see you is something he really enjoys.

M = Motivation (what turns them on, gets them going)

Your existence. Whenever you say something he finds absolutely interesting, he will get really motivated. But also, when you get him on his nerves. A sudden outburst of punishment need creeps inside and nests on his lower belly. The more you contradict or tease him, the more he fantasises to grab you by your wrists and pin you against the wall to teach you how frustrated he is feeling.

N = No (something they wouldn’t do, turn offs)

Things against your will. Medical play… ffs he is so tired of it. (As a worker in the medical field, it’s pretty weird to sexualize our daily work :P) Cuckolding… you being fucked or even touched by other man while he watches? Nah.

O = Oral (preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc.)

Giving: OOOOF MAN, he will be thirsty and hungry. You know how Luffy eats meat? well, that’s him eating you out.

Receiving: he will try to hold back, but he won’t be able to stop himself from making you gag and fucking your mouth if you dare to play with his balls while you suck. In fact, he wants to hear you gag and tear up.

P = Pace (are they fast and rough? slow and sensual? etc.)

I think it depends. If he is “teaching you a lesson” I think he will go fast and rough, but the more you whimper and cry because you are about to cum he will go slow, sloooower and so deep to make you burst. If it’s some kind of sleepy sex, you know when you just wake up (cause he is usually pretty hard during mornings) he will go slow and sensual, grabbing your face, whispering how tight you are with his lips lingering on top of you and his sloppy eyelids.

Q = Quickie (their opinions on quickies, how often, etc.)

Loves quickies but prefers going for more than one round and indulging in the full experience. He will, though, fuck you so rough in the bathroom of some place if he needs and wants to. Or even smiling pleased if you kneel down his desk while he works…

R = Risk (are they game to experiment? do they take risks? etc.)

Yes! But always if you aren’t in danger or the practice is gonna hurt your emotional or physical health. However, if it’s something you ask for, he will be absolutely careful and fully inform himself before doing it.

S = Stamina (how many rounds can they go for? how long do they last?)

Depending on the day. He is not a beast, nobody is. But surely he can go up to 3 rounds. In any case because he cares to make every round a pleasure explosion for you, you won’t resist a lot more than those either :P

T = Toys (do they own toys? do they use them? on a partner or themselves?)

Not a super fan of toys, he knows he can do everything just fine with those inked fingers of his. However, as he is a little bit of a sadist, he will enjoy making you use one tiny vibrator outside. Law enjoys your faces while trying to dissimulate the pleasure the sudden pulses trigger on your sex.  

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease)

A LOT. He really likes to tease you. He indeed loves to. You will want to punch him in the face for making you so aroused just to leave you waiting or denying your orgasm when he gets to pleasure you. This happens especially if you had teased him before 🙊

V = Volume (how loud they are, what sounds they make, etc.)

Not really loud until he is about to come. He is more of a grunts and growls man. He sometimes moans too, but the best part of it is when he seems to be in pain but in reality he is about to burst. You hear him pant and hiss with his mandible clench and his neck muscles stretched. Sometimes he can murmur “fuck” or “ugh…” as he buries his nails on your hips.

W = Wild card (a random headcanon for the character)

He enjoys nipple play spiced it up with his devil fruit. I had this HC since I saw what the Ope Ope could do for the first time :p he is able to create little electric shocks in between his fingers to make you squirm and arch your back when he pinches your nipples.

X = X-ray (let’s see what’s going on under those clothes)

OH WAIT. I HAVE A MATHEMATICAL METHOD I DEVELOPED TO ESTIMATE ANY CHARACTER’S DICK LENGTH: (sorry if you don’t use metric system, but just convert cm to inches or whatever you use)

Sashi’s Method for Dick Estimated Length: So, you need a good figure and the scale of it. For example, I have a Grandista Law one that’s 1/14.  Law is 191cm tall, the figure is 23cm. So:  if 1/1 – 191cm, then 1/14 – 23cm Now, we usually estimate in medicine that genitalia is ~9% of the body size, ok? So what you wanna do is to take a ruler and measure approximately Law’s crotch in the figure. Mine is about 2cm. So if: (1/14 scale) 23cm – 2cm (1/1 scale) 191cm —x = 16.60cm Then, Law’s dick is about ± 17cm

Y = Yearning (how high is their sex drive?)

Normal sex drive. He is not a sex addict and he knows he won’t always be able to act on his urges. But, the more stressed and frustrated he feels (usually after spending some time with Mugiwara-ya) prepare yourself… he WILL NEED to release some stress 😏

Z = Zzz (how quickly they fall asleep afterwards)

Law, the king of insomnia and red bull is not the type of man to fall asleep very easily… however, there is nothing like you to put him down to sleep like a baby. This happens, particularly, after a rush energy shock to fuck you. The more tired he is, the more he will pull energy from somewhere inside him to go ROUGH on you, but then, as he finishes, he will crash and suddenly fall asleep. He will snore too. LOUDLY.

[a-twistedheartslonging]

I love that in non-human AU humans are like, rapidly disappearing

So nobody really know what humans like since they’re kinda the template for everyone, like most carnivores assume humans eat just soil and herbivores assume humans eat just bones leftover (based on stereotypes on each other)

Imagine everyone being genuinely worried that they stepping on dirt is like them walking on Yuu’s food or carnivores handing Yuu bones from their leftovers bc they have no idea that humans can eat almost anything (besides raw meat)

(Only the science boys (Trey and Vil) would realize that humans have a very general ability to eat whatever.)

Hmm, kind of but not quite.

There used to be a lot more humans but that war with the fae, despite ending in the human's favor, led to a lot of numbers dwindling. Then after that...well mages only make up a small number of the population, and beastmen are all around stronger with better instincts and can better handle a dangerous magical environment.

Humans...well, although they can survive a great many things, still, slowly and steadily, small numbers become smaller because of this, along with the fact that hybrids' children between beastmen and humans always end with the offspring taking after the beast parent, humans were again becoming less and less.

Small numbers make it pretty difficult to find a mate of your kind that you aren't related to, which leads to more breeding outside of your kind. Then the hybrids that are born from that don't take after their human parent much aside from some less aggressive features and a calmer temperament, which is useful when it comes to more aggressive types of beastmen. Another thing that led to certain kinds of beasts in the past to seek out human mates and help in breeding out some unwanted traits their kind have but not changing them by too much.

Now as for not knowing what humans like...well, many assume that since humans and primate beastmen share common ancestors and certain traits, it means that they like a lot of the same things.

So, as a result of you being a human, you would be more likely to be gifted something like fruit and some bug snacks than..."dirt or bones" from a beastmen since that are just basic known likes for your monkey schoolmates at NRC.

Most primate beastmen see us as a weird kind of distant cousin and find it odd how differently we evolved. No tail or fur and weird flat feet, so much less nimble...poor things.

As for the general diet of beastmen, it's not too different from your basic human diet except certain beastmen prefer certain things. Carnivores can eat vegetables and fruits but prefer mostly meat and can handle raw meat better than others, though it's still recommended that they don't because of parasites. They still of course have the craving for it and it's part of why the cafeteria has meatballs with secret deworming medicine in it. They know the boys are just gonna do what they want.

Deer and bunny beastmen can handle meet just fine but typically stick to a mostly blant-based thing unless they're having a particular craving or need a bit more in their diet to keep healthy.

Admittedly though in general, eating bugs is pretty common among most beastmen but it's usually special ones from the store since eating random ones from outside isn't recommended because, again, parasites...they find it pretty weird if your grossed out by it.

Jamil is happy though that someone else finally understands his dislike for such snacks. If you want something to eat that for sure won't have some kind of bug powder in it for protein or whatever, go to Jamil.

[lupinescribbler]

Writing Characters: Getting from a ✨vibe✨ to something concrete.

Writing characters is my favorite part of writing, so I figured I’d chat about one of my methods. As far as I know, I came up with it on my own, but I don't doubt a lot of other people use a similar or even the same method.

If you have a vibe you probably know their sense of humor. Their voice. Bits and pieces of their personality, etc. I start from here a lot when I’m writing fanfic especially, since the character is preexisting. Problems I tend to run into from here can be struggling to make them a driving force in the plot, developing a clear and executable character arc, and other… tangibles.

Word Bank. Write down every descriptive word for their personality/who they are. Brave. Reckless. Sarcastic. Loyal. Whatever you’d use to describe them. Then cull the words, think critically about them. Eliminate unnecessary synonyms, or replace with better/more exact words.

Sorting. Draw connections between these traits based on your understanding of the character. There isn’t right or wrong answers, as long as you can explain or justify your reasoning. Are they brave because they’re reckless? Reckless because they’re brave? My primary goal with this step is to be able to isolate a few core tenets of their character by seeing which ones I keep circling back to as influencing or causing others. Usually I end up with 2-5 tenets, 3 tends to be the sweet spot. You want these traits to be distinct from each other. For example you probably wouldn’t want both ‘brave’ and ‘reckless’ to be two of your tenets, or ‘kind’ and ‘encouraging’.

(Note that actually drawing this out isn’t necessarily necessary, and if you do you can do it to whatever level of detail helps. Here I added behaviors resulting from/affirming the personality traits as an example of how you can evolve from this/do whatever you want to with it. It’s a tool, not a template)

So, you got a flowchart, now what? Well, it can be a handy rubric to refer to when writing your character. In its most extreme usage, every decision your character makes should be derived from one of your primary tenets. I generally use it to a less rigid degree than that, but you do you.

In my opinion, it gets fun when you think about the dynamic between your primary tenets. Can the tenets be in conflict with each other? IE, what type of situation could you put the character in where the individual tenets indicate different actions? (In my example sheet: Is he distrustful about a job offer, or is he not taking it seriously enough to even be distrustful? Maybe different tenets predominate different parts of his life?) How do these tenets reinforce or contradict each other? Maybe use internal contradiction to show character complexity, or use internal conflict to drive character growth. Maybe a behavior that is reinforced by 2+ tenets (ex: recklessness) can be a dominating character trait or flaw due to how ingrained it is. What different belief system or coping skill is the scaffolding for each tenet? Could two different tenets erupt from the same belief system and/or coping mechanism? What happens to their traits and behaviors if one of these belief systems is challenged or reinforced? Sometimes just having a new lens to look at characterization through brings up new questions and ideas.

Finally, use whatever method or lack thereof works best for you personally, and have fun writing :)

[ilikekidsshows]

Since you mentioned the name several times now I looked up who Nikki Maxwell is. From the basic description of her on her wiki page I can kinda see some similiarities to Marinette and now I wonder if you have some more in-depth comparisons between the two to share that would explain your remark on Marinette beeing a copy of her. I think the description of the character doesn't make her seem particularly unique and a character-type I'd expect to appear often in these kind of youth novels.

---

Sure thing! Here's some fun facts about the Dork Diaries series, one of the most best-selling kids’ books of the 2000s, that have been translated into 50+ languages, including French:

Nikki's iconic look is having her hair in pigtails.

She often babysits a small girl with pigtails.

She is a good artist.

She is, despite her poor self esteem, very talented in many areas.

She is extremely clumsy and prone to getting into embarrassing situations.

She gets overly embarrassed about the most inconsequential things.

She has a tendency for highly exaggerated panic spirals, where she comes up with imaginary scenarios that are full of fantastical events and are often illustrated in an anime/manga style.

She gets mad easily and it can take her a while to get over perceived slights.

She’s a bad liar but people believe her anyway.

She is a huge hypocrite, who often does things she claims to not do. (Unlike Marinette, her internal narration almost always points this out.)

She has a crush on a boy in her class, mostly based on the fact that he is nice, and her rival in school also likes him.

Brandon, said crush, is very popular but still a loner, and socially awkward.

MacKenzie, Nikki's rival, is a rich blonde bully who wears diamonds often (and very familiar-looking sunglasses at one point). Despite her vast resources, she always loses against Nikki in whatever they're competing in.

MacKenzie is a more classic “queen bee”, than Chloé, but does get called such canonically.

MacKenzie eventually transfers schools because she stopped having power and prestige over her classmates.

Nikki's biggest character flaw is a lack of communication, where she puts off telling people things she thinks they won't like hearing. (Unlike Marinette, she actually has to make it up to people when they find out she's been lying to them.)

A typical plotline in Dork Diaries is that, despite being well-liked, having devoted friends and caring parents, Nikki often hides her problems from them and struggles needlessly.

Nikki eventually gains a secondary love interest, André, who looks eerily similar to Luka in illustrations, in addition to having Astruc's favorite French guys' name.

Nikki's classmates include characters named Max, Chloe and Zoe, with Chloe and Zoe being closely associated with each other. (You know what I always say: two is a coincidence, three is a pattern, and we're now counting four same names.)

Many of these things are, to be fair, very basic school drama protagonist cliches. However, when it's this much similarity between two supposedly unrelated characters, especially with some of the highly specific similarities here, like the animesque imagine spots, it's a pattern and not a coincidence. Is the pattern that there's some template both Nikki and Marinette are based on (like how Vegeta and Hiei’s similarities are because they’re both based off the same older character), or did Astruc copy his protagonist from a mega hit of children’s, especially girls’, literature to try to copy that success? Who knows. It's not like we can expect Astruc to be honest about whether or not he copied Marinette's personality from literature.

I know Astruc hasn't actually read the stuff he claims to have read, so that's a point in favor of Astruc being a too lazy reader to copy someone else's work. However, he must have grown familiar with all these tropes somehow. You can’t hit this many hallmarks of a genre without being somewhat familiar with it, and this genre is the most prolific in literature, and there is research data showing that children often prefer either books or television, so he could reasonably expect the audience not to realize how copy-pasted Marinette is.

Miraculous and Dork Diaries share DNA. How directly they’re related I can’t tell, because I’m not that knowledgeable about the school drama genre.

[athforskz]

More Random Ult Kpop Group Questions: SKZ Version!

I did something like this a while ago when I first started this blog. So it’s time for another round! Questions below the cut I'm marking as MDNI. Like before, feel free to use this template of questions for your own ult group & tag me (and some friends if ya like). I love to see everyone’s responses 🤗

Dumbest thing you believed as a new fan?

Oof… there’s a few things I fell for as a baby stay, technically I still am a baby stay I think, BUT here’s my uhhh list: 

I thought Hyunjin had an identical twin brother.. 🫣 wait WAIIIT before you come at me, there was a rumor/joke going around at the time and obviously I didn’t know any better, so I believed it. There were even really good edits of Jinnie and his “twin” too. Then when I watched interviews where Hyunjin said he was an only child I was like ???? but eventually I figured it out.

I thought the sunshine twins were legitimately twins (they are) . Like biologically. Wtf is up with me believing twin things??

At first, I could NOT for the life of me tell the difference between Lee Know and Jeongin. No joke thought they were the same person. Which looking back on this one… how could I ever have trouble with them? They literally look nothing alike in facial structure and sound completely different in the way they talk & sing. Only thing they’re the same in is their menace behavior. 

2. Favorite duo/ship?

Usually not a shipper type of person but in regard to favorite friendship dynamic in skz, it’s gotta be SeungChan. Just watch this and there’s my reason why. Jilix is a close second because, again, sunshine twins. Followed by MinChan because watching Lee Know with his only hyung is so precious.

3. Favorite Racha (or other mini group within the whole group)? 

MeanRacha (Minho, Seungmin, & I.N) One of these 3 is literally always up to something. Causing chaos when you least expect it. The phrase “Lee Know is linoing” has become a favorite of mine because it always means he’s doing some menace antics again.

4. Favorite unreleased song?

There was a song that Hyunjin and Chan recorded years ago that Chan supposedly lost. We got a snippet of it and when I heard it I went feral because like Red Lights part 2???! PLEASE I NEED THIS SONG LIKE I NEED AIR! Chan like wtf do you mean you lost the track?! FIND IT. RECORD IT AGAIN. 

Also, all the solo performances they did at the opening concert in Seoul for the DominATE tour. Yeah, I need all those unreleased songs to be RELEASED right tf now. Give us another Replay album! And Chan… ykw let me shut up and be good for once, but I just wanna say THE GRASS AINT WORKING 

5. Favorite old song of theirs? Favorite song from their most recent project?

HEYDAY by 3racha. The whole song is a vibe but Jisung’s lazy rap when he first starts his part just does something to me 😩 

In regard to the whole group, I’d say the song 'YAYAYA' is one of my go-to jams from their older stuff. I love the tempo changes, scratches my brain in a good way.

Now as for the new album “ATE” this may be controversial to say but “I like it” is my favorite. It’s just so catchy!

6. Has your bias/bias line changed?

Since the last time I did this, yes and no? I mean as I’ve grown more as a stay I can confidently say OT8! But if I was forced to choose I say Hyunjin no surprise there and Minho.

7. What about your wreckers?

Chan continues to wreck me every. single. day. Like it’s truly insane, that man KNOWS what he’s doing. I’d also like to add that I.N has been wrecking me left and right the last few months which I blame his hyungs for that. 

NOW FOR THE UNHINGED QUESTIONS!

Please skip this portion if it makes you uncomfortable. This is the delulu brain talking. 

8. Which member are you attracted to the most physically? What about emotionally?

Physically I’m going to say OT8! Like have you seen those MEN?! I would be lucky to even get a crumb from them like bffr. Changbin, Hyunjin & Minho

Emotionally probably Changbin & Chan. From the glimpses we get of their true feelings & perspectives on things I relate to them the most. Honorable mention for this one will be Hyunjin because he’s such a romantic and I wanna say Seungmin too. I feel like before we didn’t get to see a lot of Seungmin ‘off camera’ per se, but with his [Song by] series we get to see more of his real personality and thoughts.

9. If you ever actually had the chance, who do you think you’d work out in a long-term relationship with (please remember the first rule of Kpop)? 

Probably, Changbin. Mans is a walking green flag. He’s a good listener, considerate of other’s feelings while still being honest. Always there for you. Funny af too. Overall, considering how I am as a person I think, Changbin would just be a good match for me. Like in my delulu brain me and Binnie would have that friends to lovers trope going for us. Even my dearest honey bun thinks so, she did write about it for me afterall💕 

10. A favorite kink of yours and member to fit that kink?

To keep it somewhat light in the kink department I’m going to go with hands. And a member to fit it the best, aka who I think has the most attractive hands will go to Jeongin. Innie has giant and such well structured hands. Rings sit so pretty on his fingers too which makes me feral. Like AHHDKSISVJKDW please grip my wrists and throat sir! *ahem* I mean, please let’s hold hands 🫶🏽 

Honorable hands mention will go to Minho because the veins on that man’s hands are just so ✨🥴

11. Favorite sluttiest choreography/move they’ve done?

Damn do I have a lot for this one *cracks knuckles*

The choreo for Silent Cry. Need I say more?

Anytime Hyunjin body rolls

Every single hip thrust/roll from Minho

The “POPPIN 🗣️” part in Maniac, especially when Binnie does it.

That one part in Charmer. Y’all know exactly what part I’m talking about.

Red lights. Need I say more, pt 2

The entire choreo for Taste. Bonus points to Minho when he did the special stage where he’s fucking hip thrusting from the side (I hope y’all know which one I’m mentioning here)

12. Most unhinged fic or edit you have enjoyed of them?

There’s a lot for this question too but I’ll keep it short. I’ll start with unhinged fics. I enjoy dark themes because let’s face it. Trauma. Please be warned these fics aren’t for the faint of heart, so if you read them, be warned. Some are lighter than others, but please read warnings!

Game Over feat. Seungmin & I.N by @sanakimohara

Games feat. I.N by @dandelions-143

Chemical Infatuation feat. Han by @hanjisick

ABANB series feat. OT8! by @doitforbangchan

The SKZ House series feat. Chan & Hyunjin by @writeonwhiskey

As for edits, there are even more that I enjoy. But I’ll only choose 1 for the sake of time and it’s only letting me attach one video.

Alright, that’s it! Thanks for reading if you stuck it out this far! I really didn't intend for it to be this long but it was so fun that I got carried away. Now for tags, I’ll go with my typical beautiful babes @doitforbangchan @jehhskz @torialefay + anyone else who wants to join!

[izicodes]

After taking a "blog break," I’m excited to start sharing some of the projects I’ve been working on during my time away! One of the highlights is a custom widget I created for Notion—a photocard featuring my favorite band, PLAVE. This widget is perfect for fellow PLAVE fans (Plli), allowing them to display a "fanmade" photocard of their favorite band members right on their Notion pages.

I began this project not only to celebrate my love for PLAVE but also to dive deeper into the world of Notion widgets and explore what’s possible.

Let’s dive into the details of how I built it and the creative process behind it!

I started this project back in May, right after I discovered PLAVE in April! Around that time, I started following a 'photocard editor' on Twitter who creates these fantastic 'unofficial' collectible photocards of PLAVE. I fell in love with her edits immediately. I was also using Notion extensively to keep my Korean studies organized, so I thought, why not combine my passion for Korean learning with my love for PLAVE?

I wanted to create a public widget that other PLAVE fans could easily add into their own Notion pages. To be respectful and ensure proper credit, I reached out to the editor, Jane, to ask if I could use her edits in my widget. I explained my project idea and shared some Figma wireframes to show how the widget would look and function. Jane was excited about the concept and gave me her blessing to move forward. I didn’t start any programming until I had her approval!

For this project, I needed to create two main components: the widget itself and a webpage with information and installation instructions. Surprisingly, the info and installation page turned out to be more challenging than developing the widget! I’m a bit of a perfectionist, so I wanted to ensure the page was user-friendly, responsive, and easy to navigate. It was tougher than I wished for!

As for the widget, it was relatively straightforward to develop and only took me about two days. However, I did face some issues with broken links that I still need to fix, and I’m not quite sure why they’re not working. Usually, I’m a ReactJS enthusiast, but since this was a smaller project, I decided to use my "beginner combo": HTML, CSS (including SCSS), and JavaScript. I quickly realized how accustomed I’ve become to ReactJS because I kept writing code that didn’t work in Vanilla JavaScript—talk about a wake-up call!

In the end, I completed the project to a point where it was ready to present to both the PLLIs (PLAVE fans) and Jane. I found myself eagerly awaiting Jane’s feedback because her artwork was integral to the project. If she wasn’t happy with the outcome, I would have felt the same. Thankfully, she loved it! I officially posted the widget on Twitter/X, and Jane shared it as well. Although most of the users were Korean, reading their translated positive comments made me genuinely happy.

Who knows? Maybe in the future, I’ll work on another PLAVE-themed project. I really enjoyed creating this one!

Feel free to check out the project and try installing the widget on your Notion page:

The official tweet about the project

The installation page

The widget in template Notion page

fyi, it still needs work, I will get to it eventually~~~!

[dazeddoodles]

Would grimwalkers be classified as undead, or are they more akin to golems in that they’re inanimate matter given life?

I’m leaning more towards golem, since they’re more like clones of the person as opposed to that same person being resurrected. If the recipe required the “template being” to be dead, I could see an argument that it’s a sort of resurrection, but the only real requirement is a bone from them, which can technically be acquired without death.

And on a separate note, I wonder if grimwalkers just can’t have magic at all, or if that’s just because Caleb was human.

I don't think they'd be undead because the clones themselves weren't dead before being brought to life, so I think they're more like golems

I also think they don't have magic because Caleb was human

[knightowl-studios]

“This is a warning for Kray Foresight - free all captive Burnish immediately, or I’ll burn Promepolis to the ground!”

Many hours, layers, micromanaged bg assets, and egregious amounts of colorpicking later, it is finally done //passes out

As soon as I watched Promare I was legally obligated to draw the dragon.

Please do not reupload without permission!

(Very ramble-y) process notes and wips below the cut:

[[Shoutout to Tamberella’s wonderful city brushset, the bg would not have been possible otherwise!]]

I had to cross-reference so many stills and gifs from the movie in order to try and recreate the atmosphere and style XD This whole drawing was also the perfect excuse to whip out the polyline tool again, it’s one of my favorite things to draw with but I don’t actually use it much for...some reason lmao.  Habit?  Who knows...

As you can see, it was initially supposed to include his lil arms, but I couldn’t find a way to make them flow well with his line of action and had to exclude them (which was a bit painful as I was really happy with how the claw shapes turned out).  I figured since the film seems to cheat it the same way, it was fine for me to do it as well XD Though I don’t have a capture of it, originally his body was also in a more straightforward loop-de-loop kind of shape.

I wanted to put special focus into the pose and sense of action (two things Trigger really excels at), namely when it came to the head and jaws.  I noticed that in a couple of shots the dragon’s jaw is “broken” - opened at an unrealistically wide angle - to better emphasize the action, and while I didn’t take it as far as Trigger did I wanted to try and capture something similar in my own way.

The windows required SO much micromanaging.  I blocked out a “template” of windows using one of the brushes in the mentioned set, grid-warped it to align with the perspective, and then copy-pasted it onto each building and then manually went through each one to make sure every patterns of “lit” windows was unique and felt believable.  The process had to be repeated twice, for both visible sides of the buildings.  As far as individual parts of the pic go, that step probably took the longest.

I also really wanted to somehow incorporate triangles into the drawing since they’re so representative of the Burnish and the Promare, and adding some around the face seemed the most intuitive way to do it.

A lot of miscellaneous things were added at this point, such as the ground flares (polyline tool my beloved), the smoke, and smaller details like making sure the dragon felt more “sourced” in the scene by clipping the tail behind a tower.  The background was also blurred, to help sell the perspective as well as keep the focus on Lio.  The flares were one of the hardest things to manage in the latter regard, too, as due to some oversights in my initial color choices they were actually brighter than Lio and stole his thunder!  So it took several different tries to find a way to successfully de-emphasize them without inadvertently making them some weird sickly color XD

If you read through all of these notes, thank you so much, I love you!!  //hands you a cookie

Bonus layer screenshot:

[saltedcavessys]

Intro post!!

Hiya! We’re the Salted Caves System! Pleasure to meet you ^^ we might not post here much since this isn’t our main blog but yeah!

Info under the cut for connivence :3

GENERAL INFO!

We’re an OSDD-1b system, and while we don’t experience blackout amnesia, don’t expect us to completely remember everything

We’re diagnosed with Autism, OCD, and GAD. While we don’t have a diagnosis for OSDD-1b, we have done MOUNTAINS of research and continue to question daily.

We are questioning NPD and DPDR.

We’re collectively transmasculine and use he/they pronouns

We’re also very fictive-heavy!

Along the lines of that, please do not treat our fictives as their source unless otherwise specified ^^

We are anti-endo.

We will usually put in sign offs at the end of our posts :]

BOUNDARIES

DNI

Basic DNI criteria

NSFW accounts

Endos/Pro-endos

Trans-ID/Radqueer

TERFs

No system accountability

People who throw around the term “anti-recovery”

Use the terms “sysmed” or “traumascum”

Fakeclaimers (people that post on systemscringe and FDC, looking at you. get off this blog.)

Anti-Xenogenders

Pro-Israel

OTHER BOUNDARIES

Neutral-endo traumagenics can interact as long as they’re respectful and understand that this is an anti-endo blog!

Same with people who have a complex/other/no opinion on syscourse! As long as you don’t actively support endos or are one you can interact, just respect our beliefs :]

Singlets, neurotypicals, and cis-hets can interact as long as they’re respectful ^^

We’d prefer if you didn’t bring syscourse into this blog, but we won’t like yell at you for it

You can send asks freely but pls don’t DM us (unless you’re one of our mutuals!!! mutuals ftw <33) ^^

While we do have SP, PK and Octocon, please do not ask for it! We only give those out to people we trust :]

Along those lines, please do not ask abt our headcount ^^ while we wouldn’t consider ourselves a large system, we’re still insecure abt how many alters we have!

Our syscourse code: 👎/💚/📗/🔻/🟠/🌑/🟦/🌳/🌦️/🥧/🐲/🐝/💭

SIDEBLOGS

@the-mushroomgarden

Ran by Riends and Theo, we do stimboards, userboxes, and templates for alters and systems!

@themoon-andstars

Ran by Luna. Vent about anything system related, I’ll always be here for you dear ❤️

@holder-culture-is

Ran by C (staying anonymous!). A culture blog specifically for alters that hold stuff! Emotions, memories, symptoms, etc etc!

@corals-gender-ocean

Ran by Coral! I do xenogender coining, requests are open! <33

@ciphers-chaos-corner

Individual alter blog for Cipher, a Gravity Falls introject :]

FREQ. FRONTERS

Dylan (He/They)

Brainmade

Transmasculine, pansexual, polyamorous

Host

Sign off: -🚪 or -Dylan

-

Adam (He/It)

Fictive (The Mandela Catalogue)

Male, gay

Co-host/caretaker/protector

Sign off: -🔦 or -Adam

-

Dyn (She/They)

Brainmade

Demigirl, asexual panromantic

Co-host/Trauma holder

Sign off: -🏅 or -Dyn

-

Natsuki (She/Her)

Fictive (Doki Doki Literature Club)

Female, questioning

Gatekeeper/Hygienist

Sign off: -🍰 or -Natsuki

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Kelby Vera at HuffPost:

An Ohio woman whose police report was used to power racist rumors about Haitian immigrants stealing and eating neighborhood cats has admitted her pet was found in her home, just days after she reported her Haitian neighbors to local police. Baseless reports about missing pets in Springfield, Ohio gained national attention after Donald Trump parroted the rumor during his debate against Vice President Kamala Harris last Tuesday. “In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs,” he said. “The people that came in, they’re eating the cats. They’re eating the pets of the people that live there. And this is what’s happening in this country.”

Despite the former president receiving an instant fact-check from moderator David Muir, his unfounded anti-immigrant rhetoric continued to circulate online and in the media, backed by several of his campaign surrogates. Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), doubled down on the misinformation during multiple media appearances this past weekend. But the day before the Trump-Harris debate, Springfield City Manager Bryan Heck had explicitly debunked the rumor to a Vance aide, according to a Thursday report from the Wall Street Journal. When the Journal approached Vance’s team about the cat-eating claim, a spokesperson provided a police report from a Springfield resident who accused her Haitian neighbors of being responsible for her cat going missing in late August.

But when the outlet contacted the person who filed the report, Anna Kilgore, she told the paper that her pet, Miss Sassy, was found in her basement days after she contacted the police. Kilgore, who was wearing a Trump shirt and hat when the Journal spoke with her, told reporters that she had since apologized to her Haitian neighbors. While Miss Sassy was not in any harm, the same now can’t be said about Springfield and the city’s Haitian community.

[...] Another Springfield resident, whose Facebook post began the pet-eating rumor that Kilgore’s police report ostensibly proved, has apologized for inciting a backlash against her city.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump supporter Anna Kilgore, the one who filed the report that blamed Haitian immigrants for causing her pet to go missing, revealed that her cat Miss Sassy was found in her basement a few days after she contacted the police.

Kilgore’s report was fuel for the right-wing media and the Trump/Vance ticket to amplify racist and xenophobic cat-eating hoaxes against Haitians and cause the city of Springfield, Ohio needless trauma.

See Also:

The Present Age: The Wall Street Journal Provides a Template for Covering the Right's Springfield Lies

MMFA: JD Vance, Springfield, and how MAGA media spun a racist lie out of control

Daily Kos: Vance knew Haitian immigrants weren't eating pets—and lied anyway