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eyluslipa · 1 year
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arch-obsessed · 11 months
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Inside the Barbie Dreamhouse, a Fuchsia Fantasy Inspired by Palm Springs
Barbie’s Dreamhouse is no place for the bashful. “There are no walls and no doors,” says Greta Gerwig via email. “Dreamhouses assume that you never have anything you wish was private—there is no place to hide.” That layered domestic metaphor has proved rich fodder for the filmmaker, whose live-action homage to the iconic Mattel doll hits theaters July 21.
To translate this panopticon play world to the screen, Gerwig enlisted production designer Sarah Greenwood and set decorator Katie Spencer, the London-based team behind such period realms as Pride & Prejudice and Anna Karenina. The two took inspiration from Palm Springs midcentury modernism, including Richard Neutra’s 1946 Kaufmann House and other icons photographed by Slim Aarons. “Everything about that era was spot-on,” says Greenwood, who strove “to make Barbie real through this unreal world.”
Neither she nor Spencer had ever owned a Barbie before, so they ordered a Dreamhouse off Amazon to study. “The scale was quite strange,” recalls Spencer, explaining how they adjusted its rooms’ quirky proportions to 23 percent smaller than human size for the set. Says Gerwig: “The ceiling is actually quite close to one’s head, and it only takes a few paces to cross the room. It has the odd effect of making the actors seem big in the space but small overall.”
Erected at the Warner Bros. Studios lot outside London, Barbie’s cinematic home reinterprets Neutra’s work as a three-story fuchsia fantasy, with a slide that coils into a kidney-shaped pool. “I wanted to capture what was so ridiculously fun about the Dreamhouses,” says Gerwig, alluding to past incarnations like the bohemian 1970s model (outfitted with trompe l’oeil Tiffany lamps) and the 2000 Queen Anne Victorian manse, complete with Philippe Starck lounge chairs. “Why walk down stairs when you can slide into your pool? Why trudge up stairs when you take an elevator that matches your dress?” Her own references ranged from Pee-wee’s Big Adventure to Wayne Thiebaud’s paintings of pies to Gene Kelly’s tiny painter’s garret in An American in Paris.
For Barbie’s bedroom, the team paired a clamshell headboard upholstered in velvet with a sequined coverlet. Her closet, meanwhile, reveals coordinated outfits in toy-box vitrines. “It’s very definitely a house for a single woman,” says Greenwood, noting that when the first Dreamhouse (a cardboard foldout) was sold in 1962 it was rare for a woman to own her own home. Adds Spencer: “She is the ultimate feminist icon.”
In Barbie, as in previous films like Little Women and Lady Bird, Gerwig set out to realize a whole world. “We were literally creating the alternate universe of Barbie Land,” says the director, who aimed for “authentic artificiality” at every opportunity. As a case in point, she cites the use of a hand-painted backdrop rather than CGI to capture the sky and the San Jacinto Mountains. “Everything needed to be tactile, because toys are, above all, things you touch.”
Everything also needed to be pink. “Maintaining the ‘kid-ness’ was paramount,” Gerwig says. “I wanted the pinks to be very bright, and everything to be almost too much.” In other words, she continues, she didn’t want to “forget what made me love Barbie when I was a little girl.” Construction, Greenwood notes, caused an international run on the fluorescent shade of Rosco paint. “The world,” she laughs, “ran out of pink.”
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Favorite Disney Parks Attraction Showdown: Round 4
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Videos and propaganda under the cut!
Toy Story Midway Mania: WDW Hollywood Studios, California Adventure, Tokyo DisneySea
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Haunted Mansion: Disneyland, WDW Magic Kingdom, Tokyo Disneyland
Propaganda:
"The ride system was perfected by Bob Gurr, gay icon. Seriously, any Disney gays and Haunted Mansion gays, thank gay icon, Bob Gurr for giving us an iconic ride vehicle and system. The whole ride is iconic. It inspired modern day horror tropes, gives goth kids a cool ride to enjoy as they pretend not to enjoy their trip with family when they actually do, has that really interesting spider story in the ballroom scene, X Atencio giving us an iconic song, story, script, and voice acting in the Lemme Outta Here ghost and the break down spiel, THE FREAKING STRETCHING ROOM, THE WALLPAPER!!!!!! Hatbox Ghost being an urban legend, with his existence being argued and questioned for years until we finally got a blurry picture confirmation and him coming back years later, ICONIC! Madame Leota and Little Leota! The hitchhiking ghosts!!! GHOST HOST!!!! The freaking conveyor belt at the end of the attraction that you step off to and if your not careful, it's easy to almost fall, accidentally giving one last scare before you leave the ride and makes you realize how clumsy you are? Iconic. "
"This is a ride that I was absolutely terrified of when I was a little kid. I actually have photographic evidence of this (ask for it if you'd like). But, my goodness, this rough start only made me love it all the more as I grew up. This is such a fun and goofy ride despite the morbid theme and occasional eerie bits! It's a duality. The ghosts have such a personality and the Ghost Host is such a charming guide (and I find the fact that he abandons you to go join the swinging wake hilarious, especially because you wander into the attic with Constance when unguided). It's just such a well-crafted ride! There's so much to see and I never get tired of it. The Doombuggy itself is an ingenious way to move people through the ride with such a distinctive design. The Ghost Host raising and lowering the lap bar for you is neat (fun fact, The Phantom in Phantom Manor is a terrible host and doesn't do this for you, probably because he's too busy planning your death. Asshole.). The effects in the ride are so cool and hold up, especially the Pepper's Ghosts effect. The rooms are distinct and eccentric. The Grim Grinning Ghosts song is absolutely delightful, and it's such a nice touch that you can distinguish the vocals of different ghosts you see in the graveyard. I should also just give a shout-out to the soundtrack for the ride as a whole, which wonderfully warps the Grim Grinning Ghosts theme to match the scene you're in. The ride also does such a good job of plunging you straight into the experience with facade of the mansion (I adore the look of the conservatory) and the queue. The tombstones are so funny and I really appreciate the interactive elements they added in the exterior section. And then you get inside the mansion, hear the Ghost Host's narration, and get into the Stretching Room. How can I describe that room other than frightfully fun? So, why Walt Disney World instead of Disneyland? I prefer experiencing the changing portraits on the ride rather than in the queue. I love the library as the setting for the busts that watch you. The music room with the ghost you can only see in shadow playing a version of Grim Grinning Ghosts is captivating. And, my goodness, the staircase room takes my breath away and I love watching the ghostly footsteps on the stairs. It's even going to have the Hatbox Ghost soon (I am not weighing in on the discourse over the potential location for him).
"I love it. I love ghosties. I love the effects. I love women who murder their husbands. I love the jaunty tunes. I love having to stop for 4 minutes not even partway into the ride and having to watch the same things going on for ages. I love a good ghoul ride, man "
"Epic conveyer belt keeps the line moving (though that won't always stop the line from being long)."
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xienst · 2 years
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MASTERPOST: enstars! summary project
THE ENTIRE ENSTARS! EVENT LORE SUMMARISED: for those who want to speedrun enstars! lore
here is a timeline of all the events in enstars!
this project will aim to summarise as many enstars! stories as possible so u can get the gist of the event stories without having to read through 100 eichi monologues
credits: timeline is copied from wiki
will be updated with links after every story summary!
[PRESENT DAY: year = !]
** events will be referred to by "<season> + <index>
春 SPRING: (C)
Shiny First Years
The Flag's Honor ✻ Crowned Flower Festival
Revival Festival☆Easter Night
Palace of the Ocean
Marching Band
Spring Storm! Dancing Petals, Sakura Festival!
Gang
Sweets Patisserie
Pyjamas
Mail Delivery -> spring section 1 summary
Devil's Mansion
Spring Breeze*Iconic Book Fair
Lift the Curtains! Yumenosaki Circus
Sacrifice◆Resurrection Sunday of the Undying
Falling Cherry Blossoms*Wisteria Purple of May
Toy Box
Angel's Wings
Card Battler
Runway
Dream Coloured Prince -> spring section 2 summary
In the Rose Garden
Fresh Green Martial Arts
Yell✳︎Sprawling Happy Spring
Evening Banquet ♪ Band Ensemble
Performance! The Tragicomedy of Romeo and Juliet
Secret Labyrinth
At Your Service! UNDEAD Cafe
Leap! Principal of the Lake's Surface
Play Your Part! Cinderella's Grand Stage
Terror! Tamayori's Haunted Dollhouse
School Festival★The Scramble of a Startup Hero
Billiards -> spring section 3 summary
夏 SUMMER: (X)
Ukiyo Air Ride
Merc Storia
Hero Show
Biblio
The Rainy Season's Blossoms
Breakthrough! The Revolutionary Live Which Heralds the Dawn
Chinatown
Nuclear Ignition ☆ A Sparkling Quintuple-Color Supernova -> summer section 1 summary
Victoria
Amusement☆The Live Party of Cats and Rabbits
Gondola
Judge! Black and White Duel
Round Game
Devotion! Brocade of Driving Away the Rainy Season
Gunmen of the Wilderness
Bridal -> summer section 2 summary
Symphony*Magnolia of Blessings
Seven-Colored*Sunshower Festa
Saga*Rushing Up Rainbow Stage
Pool Opening
Comic World
Shot☆Splash Pool!
Challenge! Tanabata Festival Wishes
Dance Performance! Thoughts That Bridge the Milky Way
Facing One Another! The Celestial Globe of the Night the Stars Meet
Dance Floor -> summer section 3 summary
Dogfight
Ghost Stories
The Seven Faces of the Shapeshifting Youkai
Little Kings
Frozen Ice
Summer of Clear Skies! Summer Camp
Concerto
Set Sail! Pirates at Sea Festival -> summer section 4 summary
Kiseki☆The Preliminary Match of the Summer Live
Radiant! Sunflower Live of Smiles
Scorching Hot! The Scenery of Southern Lands and Summer Vacation
Surfing Ocean
Stars★Glitter of the Prism
Summer Flowers
Late Summer Lesson -> summer section 5 summary
Luminescence*Summer Night Festival
Yumenosaki Restaurant
Remember! A Midsummer Night's Dream
Best Shot
Holiday
Scorching Heat ☆ A Seaside Beach Match
Buddy -> summer section 6 summary
Farewell! Festival of Memories and Quarrels
Launch! The Night Sky of the Shooting Star Festival
Carmen of Passion
Lost Star*Wavering Light, Pleiades Night
Deep Sea Mystery
Drop*The Far Sea and the Aquarium
Summer Sky*Galloping Cheval Live -> summer section 7 summary
Onibi
Burning Up! Yumenosaki Academy Sports Festival
Fight! Yumenosaki Academy Sports Festival 2
Competition! Yumenosaki Academy Sports Festival 3
Cinema Theater
1001 Nights -> summer section 8 summary
Blue Filament
Cooking
Brilliant Star Air Force
Police Man -> summer section 9 summary
秋 AUTUMN (Q)
Kung Fu
Night of the Full Moon * Hopping Moonlight Luna
The Coloured Flower Cards
Special Training! Mismatched Pair Lessons
Doctor
Rebellion! The King's Horseback Ride
Kiseki★Blitzkrieg Autumn Live
Robin Hood -> autumn section 1 summary
Science
Fruits Parlour
Happening◆Music Festa of Reversals
Secret Acts! The Moonlight Scroll of the Elements
Festival*Graceful Fleur De Lis
Toryumon
Rosicrucian Story
Showtime
Howl★The Rockin' Star of the Night Sky -> autumn section 2 summary
Afternoon
Boutique
Raising Curtains! Dark Night Halloween
React★Magical Halloween
Lots of Monsters☆Sweet Halloween
Cacophony◆Whirling Horror Night Halloween -> autumn section 3 summary
Enjoyment♪ Autumn School Trip
Invitation★Black Blood Banquet
The Golden Wind*Wishing Live of Encouragement
Teddy Bear
Colourful Autumn
Meikyoushisui
Hot-Blooded Tough Guy
BADBOYS -> autumn section 4 summary
Scramble * Toyland in a Dream
The Songbird’s Song*Soirée in the Canary Hall
Underdoctor
Autumn Forest
Discovery! Steampunk Museum -> autumn section 5 summary
冬 winter (D)
The Wolf and Red Riding Hood
Greek Legends
Philosopher's Guidance
SnowboardDream of the Butterfly
Rail◆The Cat in the Snowy Winter and the Camellia Train -> winter section 1 summary
Nocturne
Snow Globe
Agents
Snowflake❄Street Performance Of The Falling Stars
Shine! A Sparkling Starry Night Festival!
Winter Santa -> winter section 2 summary
Brilliance★Knights' Starlight Festival
Noel*The Angels' Starlight Festival
Carol*White Snow and the Christmas Eve Starlight Festival
Radiant☆Hot Holiday Party
Throwing! A Snowy Silver-White Snowfight
Eccentric -> winter section 3 summary
Kiseki☆Winter Live Showdown
Winter's New Year Shrine Visit
First Dream Tales (Part One)
First Dream Tales (Part Two) -> winter section 4 summary
Zodiac (Part One)
Amusement Park Show
Zodiac (Part Two)
Daikagura! Celebratory New Years Live
Showdown! Magnificent Phantom Thief VS Detective Brigade
Transparency and Masks -> winter section 5 summary
Clash of Arms! Opera of Moonlight Romance
Dance on Ice
Depart☆Blue Skies Dream Travel
Opening★The Fortune Banquet Live
Saga*Clashing Rebirth Live
Revival☆Dream Diner Live
Shoufuku*The Ogres and Brothers' Setsubun Festival -> winter section 6 summary
Last Period
Jewel Candy
Poison À La Mode
Tea Party
The Four Beasts of Fistfighting
Salon de Thé -> winter section 7 summary
Sincerely! Bitter Chocolat Festival
Melty❤Sweetly Unraveling Chocolat Festival
Decorate♥Crimson Chocolat Festival
Marble ♥ Heartfelt Chocolat Festival
Home Party
Onigashima -> winter section 8 summary
Yumenosaki Youth Radio♪
Military
Cunning ◆ Wonder Game
Beauties of Nature
Flutter! Chick and Emperor's Triumphant Return -> winter section 9 summary
[NEXT YEAR: year = !+1]
!+1 spring i think? (context: third years in ! are graduating)
Beasts
Memorial◆Class Live We Make Together
Noble Game
Chuunibyou Trouble
Bouquet of Desire
Chorus★Operetta of Beginnings -> !! spring section 1 summary
Every Pitch With All One’s Heart! Youthful Play Ball
Clash! Recollect--A Festival of Giving Back
Baton Pass! Repayment Festival of Tears and Bonds
Moment*The Repayment Festival of Moving Forward Toward the Future
Requiem*Sword of Oaths and the Repayment Festival
Link♪The Symphony that Starts from Here -> !! spring section 2 summary
!+1 post-graduation stories
Photoshoot! Warm Athletics
Puppy Mischief Picnic
Bounce! Hearts and Flowers Bloom--Mall Live
Strawberry Picking -> post-graduation summary
[BACKSTORIES: read with caution *** recommended reading is from year = enstars!]
(year: !-12)
(1) Rainbow (2) Revival - 20
(year: !-several)
(3) Gang: Midnight Gangster
(year: !-2)
(4) Zodiac (5) Meteor Impact (6) Jingle Bells
(year: !-1)
(7) Reminiscence*The Crossroads of Each One (8) Reminiscence*Monochrome Checkmate (9) Reminiscence*Spring Cherry Blossoms and a Night's Encounter (10) Reminiscence*Ryusei Bonfire (11) Reminiscence * End of the Marionette's Strings (12) Reminiscence*Gathering of the Three Magicians
-> all backstories summary
AND... THAT'S IT! THATS THE ENTIRE ENSTARS! SUMMARISED
a few things to note:
main story not included -- because it should be read before everything
CN/TW exclusive not included
timeline is definitely shaky but overall flow of stories should still be okay
-project start date: 17 Oct 2022- -last updated: 22 Mar 2023-
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ellaenchanting · 1 year
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Ella’s Hypnovembers- Just the Hits
I’ve written...a lot of Hypnovember stories. You’d be forgiven for not wanting to read all of them- because of time constraints some end up being shorter or unrealized or just kinda mediocre. If you want to just read my favorites, here's a good master list. 
Icons- 📰- story. 🔊- audio 💻- technology 😍- romantic 🌈- queer 😴- regular ole’ hypnosis 🛀- brainwashing and/or hypnotist in a tub 👻- spooky ❓- bad or reeeally questionable consent ✝️- author's weird religious feels that somehow kept coming up 👨‍🔬 -science! 🤪 -crackfic #-#sceneideas 😭-feeeels 🧙-witches 😳-exhibitionism 🦄 -mythological creatures   🔥 -explicitly sexy  🔁 switchy switches 😵‍ -intelligence play 
2019
Day 1: Base Character-F/f 📰😍🌈🛀🔥
Choice quote: ”Or maybe it was the ship of Theseus- Janine seeing how many little pieces of her she could replace until she fundamentally just wasn’t the same person anymore.”
Extra: @undersleeper requested some extra information on how the brainwashing was actually done in this story so I added this non-canon sequel. 
Day 8: Neighbor- F/f📰😍🌈 ❓
Choice quote: “When Jiyeon tapped her pencil, Alyssa tapped her pencil lightly to match.”
Day 10: Smell- F/m 📰😴😍🛀🐈
Choice quote: “Belinda had also woken up from sexy dreams at night to the feeling of Ray’s head buried in her cunt.”
Day 14: Machine- M/f 📰😴💻😍✝️
Choice quote: “For as long as she could remember, Deidre had longed for self-annhilation.”
Day 15: Ooze- there’s a m and a f 📰😴🛀❓
Choice quote: “For example, your badge- did you know that putting all the stickers on the top of your badge like that usually means that you’re a hypnotist?”
Amy’s eyes widened a bit. “It does?”
Day 19: Hideout- F/f 📰  🔥 😍😴🛀🌈
Choice quote: “’Come to me, pet. Come to me.’
Mesmera.
She could always sense when Galaxy Girl was weak. She consistently picked the perfect time to strike.
And now, she had found her apartment.”
Day 25: Babble F/m📰 😴 🛀 (💻 kinda)
Choice quote: “You can feel your access to language lessening….and lessening. Feeling those parts of your brain losing blood, quieting, going to sleep. Imagine what that might look like on the fMRI- the color draining, darkening, going black. Your ability to use language can be almost completely gone.”
Day 26: Enemy M/f 📰 😴😍🔥
Choice quote: “When she was denied for long periods of time, everything became sexual.”
2020
Day 4: Psychic F/nb 📰 😴 🌈 😍 👨‍🔬
Choice quote: “Something about the hypnosis- being in and out of each other’s heads and in and out of each other’s bodies all weekend- made her feel like she and Tris had merged in some way. Like there was a new, deeper understanding between them now- a telepathic bond.”
Day 8: Performance unknown/f 📰 👻❓😴# 
Choice quote: “With each snap, the gears inside her doll body click click click clicked into action. She turned, jerky but graceful. She was determined to do well. “
Day 9: (Hot Under the) Collar F/f 📰 😴🛀🌈 🔥#
Choice quote: “She was wearing her collar. She was aroused. It was as simple as that.“
Day 15: Serve F/m 📰 😴#
Choice quote: “He had put his heart and soul into the dish.They were hers now.”
Day 17: Toy F/f m/f 📰 😴 🛀🌈🔥 #
Choice quote: “Dolly hated to have Bad Manners.“
Day 18: Monster m/f 📰 😴 ❓😭
Choice quote: “That kind of stuff wasn’t fair to think about here. It wasn’t everyone else’s fault that she was so warped.”
Day 26: Fey M/f 📰😴 😭
Choice quote: “Humans do not know the spells they weave.”
2021
Day 1:  Don’t Cum, Create! (Bimbo/Himbo/Thembofication)  🔊🔥😴  
Choice quote: “There’s a life giving impulse inside you to squirm and make and touch and  create and connect new ideas in a way that feels SO Good. So pleasing. So creative. Sometimes that energy feels like it just moves through you, the second that you tune in.“
Extra: Fun Fact- The amazing @mindthebaron recorded this too here and it’s INCREDIBLE.
Day 5: Mirrors F/f 📰 😴 🛀  ❓🔥#🌈
Choice quote: “See? She told herself. This was fine. She felt ashamed that she had assumed that Brett would still be the same person she was when they were kids. She had under-est-im-maaaaaaaa......Darkness.”
Day 11: Aftercare F/m 📰 😴❓ 🛀  
Choice quote: “Jason was a very good boy for you today. He did exactly as you said.”
Day 13: Kidnapping F/multiple  📰 👻# 🧙
Choice quote: “Everyone knew Esmeralda was the worst witch at the age play con.“
Day 18: Performance F/you 📰 😴 ❓🔥😳#
Choice quote: “Actually GOING to a kinky hypnosis convention was a huge step for you.”
Fun fact- Very much inspired by @wellgnawed‘s amazing Stage Hypnosis fantasy file.
Day 19: Doll F/f 📰 😴 🌈 😍🧙❓
Choice quote: “In another town, Goody Hulbrit may have even raised suspicions of being a witch.”
Day 27: Clingy Nb/f 📰 😴 🛀  🔥😳#😭(maybe❓)
Choice quote: “Tonight at the party I’m going to make you be so fucking clingy. “
Day 28: Siren m/creatures 📰 😍🦄 👻
Choice quote: “Odysseus had tied himself to the mast, but he had never quite gotten their song out of his head..“
Day 30: Hospital  M/f 📰 ⭐😴😳❓🛀
Choice quote: “Jenna had never gotten into a soap opera before- she wouldn’t have considered herself the type- but something about Hypno Hospital’s happy campiness just charmed her.”
2022
Day 4: Master/Pet M/f, F/m ⭐ 😍😴 # 🔁 😺
Choice quote: “Instantly the warm, dazey sensations of kittenspace took over her thoughts.”
Day 15- Objectification M/f 😴 #⭐🔥😳🪑
Choice quote: “Monica was asking me about breast inductions. She has a thing for them."
Day 22: Betrayal M/f 😴#⭐
Choice quote: “Her favorite part of resistance play was the little betrayals.”
Day 26: Long Distance F/m 😴😍⭐# 🤪🔥
Choice quote: “This is not an orgasm. This is a blender.”
Day 27: One for All Multiple/f 😴😍⭐#
Choice quote: “The idea of being their group project was so sexy- four brilliant, creative minds  hyperfocused on the best ways to completely fuck her up. “
Day 29: Alter Ego M/f F/m 😴😍⭐#🔁
Choice quote: “She gave him a smirk, enjoying watching the understanding dawn on his face.”.
I hope you enjoy! Please feel free to leave feedback - and any reblogs are appreciated!
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tempobrucera · 2 years
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Trick or Treat
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Pairing: Vampire!Ethan x Human!Reader x Demon!Thomas Summary: There's nothing hotter, more dangerous or more heartwrenching than spending a night with a vampire and a demon. Word Count: 7.4k Warnings: Smut, it's a demon and a vampire with a human Other: Wanted to write some Halloween smut and there will be another silly story on Halloween itself. Maybe something inbetween but I'm not gonna promise that. 🦇👻🎃🦇
Add yourself to my taglist.  / Masterlist
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Every year their annual Halloween party is on the day of the closest full moon to Halloween. Last year it was during the Blood Moon, to Ethan's and Thomas' delight. This year it falls onto the Darkest Depths Moon in early November, to Thomas' and Ethan's delight. It can only fall on these two options, you figured out, and guessed that Ethan and Thomas would be delighted anyways. They are excited for Halloween and to be normal between all people around. Ethan's sharp vampire fangs a cool feature for any costume, not hiding them away, like he usually does. Thomas' ever changing eye colour a prop no one questions at a Halloween party. Finally he can let the colour change how his eyes want to, let them flicker when he's excited instead of surpress it, and not only play around with his human eye colour that changes with the weather and sometimes with his mood but not quite as they want to.
"Nice costume," Victoria says when you open the door for her and she sees you in your pink ensemble, pink jacket, pink pencil skirt with a slit, the black sunglasses with the pink shades and the plush dog you are carrying with you which you put into a pink and purple sweater, "Elle Woods."
You laugh: "Thank you, likewise, you look hot."
"Hmmm," she doesn't look too convinced. Which isn't like Vic, she's standing in front of you as a nun. A really sexy version of a nun, you have to admit, which makes her disappointment even more confusing. Her habitat dress is short, showing off her legs and her thighs, the top part out of black sheer, showing her bare boobs underneath, flowy bell sleeves and a white scapular collar - both also out of sheer. To top her outfit of, she has a veil on her head and a cross necklace around her neck, you are sure you have seen it on Thomas before. "I wanted Thomas to go as my little demon toy but he told me, he found something better when I was already getting dressed. What better is there than playing possessing a nun?"
The moment you open your mouth to tell her how much that sucks but that you will happily offer her your vampire boyfriend, Thomas is walking down the stairs. All words in your brain die the second you see him.
"Oh great, you could have told me sooner." Vic says when she sees him, "Now you two are matching. Two iconic blondes out of movies. Cher and Elle, Clueless and Legally Blonde. Thank you, Thomas, you asshole."
Your gaze lingers on his long legs. The white stockings, the really short yellow tartan skirt, his hairy thighs. The matching yellow tartan blazer, he went for nothing underneath. You can see how his eyes flicker with excitement when he looks at you and Vic and does a little twirl.
"You look great!" You assure him - he does, you swallow. Vic only groans next to you.
"You do," Vic has to admit as well, "If you wouldn't have left me hanging."
"Sorry!" He smiles at her shyly, pulls his skirt down a bit and changes the topic. "Who are we waiting for?"
Your group decided to meet up at Ethan's place, you staying over most of the time when he's home. Thomas securing himself Ethan's guest room because Ethan's maisonette is closer to the place the party takes place. Vic deciding to come over so you can go together and Damiano driving himself and his girlfriend directly to the party, without any stops.
"Only Ethan," you say. "I probably have to help him with his wings."
"I'll go," Thomas is already skipping up the first stairs. You can't help yourself to look at his legs again, skirt swinging. It doesn't take him long to come back down, ten minutes you talk with Vic, and he's there again. You can see that there's lipgloss on his lips now that wasn't there before, subtle eyeshadow and mascara on his lashes. "He still needs a few minutes and then we can goooooo."
"Let's play a little game until then," Vic looks at you, "Ethan, Damiano, Thomas - fuck, marry, kill?"
"What?" You look at her in turn, she smirks at the shock on your face.
You can feel how you're blushing, Thomas is blushing as well. He radiates heat even more than usually. A thing you got used to quickly after meeting him when you got together with Ethan. Kind of a shock, to first fall in love with a vampire and then being introduced to his demon friend, he's in a band with. You had an ordinary life before, nothing do with the supernatural - even though you were interested. Who couldn't be interested in something so special, not everyone gets to see. Thomas is always hot to the touch, always heating up a room when he's in it. You don't know, how many times you already cuddled up into his arms when you were cold. It's such a difference to how cold your boyfriend feels under your touch. But Thomas feels always cold himself - I think, I just radiate it everywhere, I don't keep it in. I'm always fucking cold. While Ethan is always feeling hot, whatever the weather - I keep all the heat in, I'm always warm.
"It's okay, you can say that you want to kill me, sink me to the bottom of the ocean, ram a dagger into my heart, a cruxifix." Thomas' eyes change from normal to a red blazing gaze to deep black and back to normal again, he smirks. "But I'm not that easy to kill."
Of course - you're a demon. And it instantly gets you heated too - it shouldn't, you think. Then Ethan gets down the stairs, you think you can avoid giving Vic an answer now. You don't want to kill any of them off, not even for Vic's mindfuck game question. Your breath gets stuck in your throat when you see him. He's in white wide-leg sheer trousers, a cropped white blazer with golden stars on it, like Thomas he went for nothing underneath. He has a black glittery smokey eye, that looks a little bit to good on him, like the dark red lipstick he put on and instead of a halo, he wears a flower crown out of white lilies and roses. When he smiles, you can see his pointed teeth. Out of the corner of your eye, you can see how Thomas longingly stares at his big, feathery, fluffy wings - they are black.
"You look so stunning," you have a closer look at his make up when he stands beside you. Carefully you leave a kiss on his cheek.
"And you can be my sidekick." Vic looks at him happily. "As Thomas, the idiot here, isn't matching anymore, but we would be the perfect fit."
"We're ready to go then."
"No," Vic says, "We aren't. Your partner in crime here still has to answer a question."
"I won't be offended, I promise." Thomas says, "I'm not gonna haunt you or something like that."
"What question are we talking about?" Ethan asks.
"Fuck, marry, kill. You, Damiano, Thomas."
"What an interesting question." Ethan looks at you. "I would like to know the answer as well."
"Marry Ethan."
"Obviously." Vic and Thomas say simultaneously, Ethan next to you laughs.
"Kill," you swallow, "Damiano."
You can feel, how Ethan looks at you. You can see, how Thomas' eyes flicker for a few seconds - then they turn completely white which is new, before you have to look away.
"That only leaves Thomas to fuck," Vic points out - you're sure, you are all aware, "Guess humans are too boring."
You wouldn't say that humans, like Vic and Damiano, are too boring but she has a point, you have to admit. After getting together with a vampire, Ethan being the gentlestest soul you have ever known, you wouldn't go back. There's so many stories he can tell, so much wisdom, so much fun, you wouldn't change it for the world, even when you're aware of the danger. What's a little danger for all the fun you can have? Maybe she's right, they are too boring. Thomas draws you in like a moth is drawn by the lights, you would have chosen Thomas anyways.
"We can leave then," Vic says and smirks at you and then at Thomas who nervously plays with the hem of his skirt, "Thanks for the interesting answer. Who would have known?"
Somehow you all didn't think about the fact, that Ethan's wings won't fit through the doors. It ends in a lot of giggling, Vic and you going out of the door first, grabbing one wing each carefully, and getting him through the door, while Thomas looks on. You know, you could have taken them off again, but where's the fun in that. On the way, people look at him, he hits some people with his wings and apologises profoundly to each of them. Going into the bar, Ethan, Vic and you repeat the same procedure as to get him out of the house.
You are already sweaty from dancing with Vic and Ethan when you get yourself a new drink later in the night, Ethan and Vic in the toilets to reapply Ethan's make up. Thomas went to look for Damiano when you arrived earlier, you have only seen him dancing with a girl and some guy laughing at his eyes during the evening. But sometimes, you can feel the heat creeping up on you but you can't see him anywhere. Like now, and then there's arms wrapping around your waist. Thomas' chin on your shoulder, his warmth is giving you the chills.
"You didn't have to say that just because Damiano wasn't there." His breath is hot against your ear. His body too close to yours, you shiver. It's too hot, to be cold but it shakes you to have him so close. Thomas doesn't step back when you turn around in his arms.
"That wasn't the reason, Thom."
"You sure? That wasn't a lie?"
Shuffling even closer, he puts one of his hands on your cheek. All his heat flowing through your body. Out of nowhere there's a quiet peng and Ethan stands next to you. Thomas startles a little and draws himself back, looking at Ethan apologetically.
"You don't have to stop just because of me." Ethan grins, puts one hand on your ass and pinches slightly.
Thomas looks at both of you unsure, his adam's apple bobbing. You bite your lip.
"Oh, I know this look." Ethan says, "That earlier wasn't a lie. I know."
And then, with a snap of his fingers, he's gone again, leaving you behind. Behind with a Thomas that looks at you nervously.
"I'll never get used to him doing this," he says.
Before there can be said anything else, the girl he danced with earlier turns up to get him. He leaves a light, hasty, sweet kiss on the corner of your mouth. Then he's gone and you're on your way back to Ethan again. You always find him, he makes it easy for you, you always find him when he wants to be found, your feet are just leading the way, when you want to turn the wrong direction they always stop and push you into the correct one. Another weird thing, you had to get used to. Magical but nonetheless, weird. Some clichés you had about vampires ruined during this time - No garlic? I'm Italian; No churches? I'm Italian; All lies. Sunlight just slightly hurts but with the right SPF everything is possible. You learned some new things as well, like this. It doesn't take long, he's sitting in a corner on a plush sofa.
"I thought, he isn't your type." Ethan says when you sit down next to him.
"He isn't." You draw circles and stars on his exposed stomach with your finger. "But have you looked at him?"
"Yes, babe. I see him every day." He smirks. "And he can be the goodest boy or a little shit, maybe we should find out …"
How that would translate into having him in your bed, you think.
Ethan's smirk gets even wider.
"Heeeey, get out of my head," you complain but laugh, "You intruder."
"Sorry. But I would really like to stay here for a bit longer, if you don't mind. They taste delicious today."
You let him. He's talking about your thoughts, you know. Ethan's species of vampires can read the minds of their loved ones, a feature only a vampire in love possesses, you learned this as well. They can feed on blood and thoughts. Ethan never takes advantage of it, usually he asks if he's allowed in, tries not to intrude or make it his advantage that he knows what you are thinking. But you also know, that sometimes, like today, his vampiristic traits want to take over because this is yet another thing you learned. The most vampire thing is for them to gather knowledge about the things surrounding them.
"We should try getting him there." He places a kiss to your temple.
Besides Ethan building up the heat in your core, with whispering dirty things into your ears, grazing your neck lightly with his fangs - leaving faint lipstick stains behind - or commenting on Thomas' long legs in that skirt, the night goes and ends with any further accidents. You almost think, that Thomas went home with the girl earlier but when Ethan and you're gathering your stuff, he's there to leave together with you.
For some reason, you get Ethan out of the door and into his home, the same way you got him out earlier in the day, instead of taking the wings off. Thomas watches when you take the wings off Ethan's shoulders. You can see the longingly stare again.
"I miss my wings," he says when he sees your questioning face. He wraps his arms around himself. "They were the fluffiest wings, with the softest feathers, and the most comforting. It was nice to wrap them around myself or to wrap them around others."
You look at Ethan, who nods and you go to Thomas to hug him sideways, leave a kiss in his hair: "I'm sure, you had the most beautiful wings in heaven, but I'm also sure, you're the hottest and cutest demon in hell."
Thomas blushes, before he excuses himself and says that he'll be back in a few minutes. You can hear how the wind is getting louder outside, how it whistles through the windows. You had a feeling it would rain all day. Sitting down next to Ethan, who still wears his flower crown, he almost automatically pulls you into his lap. He kisses you passionately, lets his hands wander over your hips, under your top to caress your back. You can hear how the rain starts dropping against the windows, before Thomas comes back into the living room.
"I should go to bed in my room," Thomas says when he sees you sitting on top of Ethan.
"Or you could join us in ours," Ethan says against your lips - but he isn't looking at you. "If you're interested."
You can't see Thomas' reaction behind you, but Ethan pulling you in for another kiss, wilder then the one before, pushing his tongue into your mouth, sneaking his hand under your skirt and Thomas breath hitching gets it away. When you get up from the couch, you can see how Thomas' eyes flicker with excitement and how he licks his lips. You leave a kiss on his lips. You're the first leaving for the bedroom - Ethan and Thomas staying behind to smoke a cigarette - Ethan slapping your butt lightly on the way out. You aren't complaining, it gives you time to undress yourself, except for your black and golden panties and to get comfortable on the bed - even a little bit too comfortable. You let your hands wander over your own body, down to your stomach and into your underwear, you close your eyes. You can feel that you're getting wet and when you lightly touch your clit, you let out a loud moan. And another moan when you can hear the door click, seconds later feel Ethan's hand in your hair.
"You playing with yourself?" Ethan whispers into your ear. At the same time, his other hand takes the same way, your own did before. Down your neck, a calloused thumb gliding over your nipple, further down over your stomach, he draws a circle around your navel before dipping his hand into your panties. Touching you only lightly, you try to buck up your hips, to get more of his touch. Instead of getting more he takes your hand and pulls it out of your panties. An unhumanly hot tongue around your fingers is the next thing, you can feel, it has you open your eyes. Ethan holds your wrist in a tight grip, while Thomas enthusiastically and sloppily sucks on your fingers. He moans around your fingers and his eyes turn white again. You have already seen it one time before today. First you thought, it's only another way his excitement shows and it is. But he's not only excited, he's aroused. It has you moan as well. With a loud plop he lets them go. Before you can pull them back, Ethan licks over your fingers as well, his tongue cold. You shiver.
Ethan gets his hands back into your hair and pulls you up on your knees. Slowly you take off Ethan's blazer, kissing over his toned muscles, his skin feeling cold to your touch. Just when you kiss his nipple, you can feel another hand in your hair, long fingers. Thomas pulls you into a filthy kiss - it's a lot of tongue, his tongue hotter than anything you have ever felt, pulling your hair as he pleases. You take off his blazer, his skin hot under your fingertips. Under your tongue, when you let it wander over his neck artery, when you lick and bite into his stomach. Next to you, Ethan takes off his trousers without making a big show out of it. Thomas puts hands on the waistband of his skirt to get it off as well, you look up to him, lips still on his warm stomach. When he sees your face, he stops himself, instead he only takes off his briefs and leaves the white stockings and the skirt on.
"Trick or Treat?" Ethan asks.
"What's the treat?" you want to know.
"A surprise."
"And the trick?" you ask.
"You'll have to find out," he looks at you and smiles.
"Trick!"
"Good girl!" It's coming from Thomas, not what you expected. You expected Ethan would be the trick as you can have him as a treat every day, but you apparently where mistaken.
You put a hand on his thigh, under his skirt, your head follows and you leave kisses all over his upper thigh. He radiates so much heat, you moan. But before you can put your lips around his dick, he pulls you back by your hair.
"No cara, I don't want you to burn yourself like that."
You swallow, when you look at him. If he thinks, he runs too hot to blow him, how hot is he going to feel other places, when he …
Ethan getting behind you on the bed, snaps you out of your thoughts. He's sitting against the headboard, he looks beautiful, his long black hair with the white flowers - otherwise naked - pulling you with him between his legs. His skin touches yours, his cold skin against yours that feels more and more heated thanks to Thomas. It has you whimpering, going from one opposite to the other. Getting down on the bed, Thomas' skirt slips a little bit and he bats his lashes at you when he readjusts it.
"Spread your legs for him," Ethan whispers and bites into your earlobe, almost nibbles on it. You do spread your legs, Thomas coming closer, skirt slightly swinging before he is between your legs, puts his warm hands on your waist and his hot lips on your shoulder, lipgloss sticks to your skin. "Can I stay in your head?"
Yes, he can stay. You want him there, you trust him. It is never an unpleasant feeling, just feeling his presence on another level. You know, he wants to because this is new, because Thomas is there. You wonder if this would work with him as well, with a demon. Ethan laughs against your ear while Thomas sucks on your neck until he left a hickey and looks at you: "I can't read your mind."
"Sorry," you pull him up to kiss him, "I was just wondering, if this would work with you too, Ethan getting into your thoughts?"
"I probably would have to leave him in," he tilts his head, "I don't think he can otherwise do it or … not sure if that would work at all."
Thomas is kissing down your neck again, between your boobs, then your thighs, leaving more sticky lipgloss - the right one first, then the left one. You are writhing in Ethan's arms. Thomas kisses the fabric of your panties, licks over the fabric and then lightly sucks at your clit through the fabric. Slowly, so slowly, he's taking your underwear off, lets it glide off your legs. Then he puts his lips on your clit again, drawing circles, before moving down and licking over your entrance, licking into your pussy. Pushing his tongue in and out, still so slowly. Sloppy, sticky, hot - you're sure the lipgloss is completely off his lips now.
"How does that feel?" Ethan still asks even though, he knows. He can see all your thoughts, he knows how it feels for you what Thomas is doing with you.
You grab for Ethan's arm, clawing at it - pressing your nails into his skin. The heat is travelling through all of your body, your toes curling in pleasure: "Hot, good, so good. God, god fuck, it feels so hot."
You enjoy it, but it's so much, you yank at his hair to get him off. It's too much, too hot. You feel like burning. From the outside and the inside.
"Sorry," Thomas looks up at you - your hand still in his hair, "I'm trying not to overheat."
One second ago, you thought how it is too hot but you want him to be what he is, to not restrict himself. To show his demonic self. You can hear how Ethan says something to him but you can't register what is being said. Thomas is even getting a bit warmer on top of you, pressing his warm lips to your throat again. Ethan sneaks his arm around you, between Thomas' and your body. Thomas whimpers, Ethan's cold hand also touching his skin before he lets his fingers dance over your skin. He pushes one of his cold fingers into you, cooling you down, it's soothing, and then a second one. Until Thomas adds one of his slim nimble, and above all hot, fingers. Hotter than before. You wish, he would put his tongue somewhere on you again. Ethan pulls Thomas by his hair to your nipple - he puts his mouth on you. He licks over your nipple and then switches to the other one. You whine when Ethan pinches the one Thomas isn't grazing his teeth over, cold slowly taking over again, while Thomas sucks on your other one.
He lets go of your nipple, and sits up. Thomas lifts his skirt playfully. Shows you a bit of skin, shows his hairy thighs, lets it fall down again. Plays with his stockings, then lifts his skirt completely. He's a tease. He teases you even more when he gets between your legs again, pushing his dick between your folds, before he pushes in to you. Thousand little flames are lighting up everywhere in your body. He teases more, pulling back and stopping until you push against him. He still pulls back, grinning at you, before he pushes into you again, harder this time. But he remains playful all the way. Playful and sweet but teasing and passionate. You wonder if it has to do with him being an angel before becoming a demon. There's no time to think about it further, Thomas pushes your legs upwards against your upper body, Ethan ghosting his lips along your neck, probably still leaving light lipstick marks on your skin. It's so hot and he gets so deep, you almost scream and you shake in Ethan's arm. You can't tell if you just came or not. Thomas stops, making sure you are okay, before building up a rhythm. It reminds you of the first time with Ethan, when he played a mindtrick on you - you wanted to try it, but you don't do it often now, passionate but too draining for both of you.
Calm is still washing over you. First you thought Thomas' ways of being calming to be out of place, for a demon of all creatures, but Thomas disagreed with you. Demons have to be calming, or at least know how to be calming because it's easier to possess people, he explained. He chuckled when you pointed out his chaotic tendecies. Everyone has their flaws, he said, even a fallen angel. Sometimes you see how he possesses Vic just for fun and for the chaos that it leads to, Vic an unwilling participant for the most part, always complaining to you it feels like he's trashing her insides but that it's wildly satisfying and mostly she laughs about it with him together when the chaos is over. Otherwise you never asked how possession works or how it looks like or what he's doing as a demon - you trust him nonetheless.
"Are you sure, you should be this trusting," Ethan whispers into your ear, so that Thomas can't hear him, "He's a demon after all?"
Ethan drags his teeth and especially his fangs over the skin on your neck and then over the sensitive skin on your neck. You trust him as well, even though he's a vampire. He wouldn't bite you, drain you, sometimes he just pierces your skin softly with his sharp fangs to get a little taste of blood but never more. Thomas alters his rhythm slightly and gets your full attention back in a heartbeat. You moan, and then you moan into Thomas' mouth, one hand buried in his hair and the other one pulling at Ethan's hair behind you, knocking off the flower crown that was still on his head.
"You should ride him. Thomas deserves a Halloween treat as well, right?"
You turn around together, to get on top of him. Thomas moans, holding you, both of you moving your hips in the same rhythm. The little flames are still dancing - the light of the lamp on the bedside table flickers. Outside is lightning, thunder not too far behind. Thomas is sweaty, he's so unbelievable sweaty under you, his hair a mess, his bangs clinging to his forehead. Sweat on his throat that you lick away, your tongue tingling.
Interested you see how there's black reddish smoke coming from between Thomas' lips but he draws it back before you can get closer. He looks at Ethan.
"I'm not the one you have to ask. If you both want to."
He looks at you again: "Can I?"
"What?" You only have a vague idea.
"Get in you."
You thrust your hips downwards. He chuckles: "Not that kind of in."
He looks at you smiling, tiny bits of smoke still swirling in the air, and you realise that he means possessing you. You nod, you want this, you want to know how it feels. Thomas puts his hand on the back of your neck and then kisses you open-mouthed, the smoke still swirling between you, then leaving Thomas' body to find it's way into yours. If anything else before felt like burning and a thousand little fires, this feels like forest fire settling low in your stomach. On it's way Thomas touches something in you that you can't quite place.
You can feel how Thomas' skin gets colder, his eye colour turning into a pleasant grey-ish green, flickering only lightly. In the same moment, your body heat spikes up. You can feel how your eyes go through the motions like Thomas' before. They flicker because of Thomas' and your own excitement, you go to a dark place when they turn into black orbs, you feel Thomas' passion and wild rage taking over your body when they turn red and they stop at white, you both being incredibly aroused.
This time you can feel your orgasm build up, it's slow. Never did it feel this slow before. Ever. It builds up and up and up, but you don't release. You can't. You want to, but you can't.
"You can let go, it's gonna feel good for both of us."
It sends sparks through your body, Ethan got up and behind you, slowly grazing his fangs over your throat. Thomas pulls you down into a sloppy kiss, draws his demon back, the smoke between you, when you cum and cum and cum. It doesn't stop, it holds on for so long, you almost get dizzy, your head spinning. You crash down over him, he leaves gentle kisses in your hair and on your face while you still shake and whine. And then you can feel how he shakes as well, how he cums and moans into your mouth, his eyes white. The light turns off completely, it turns on again when he holds you in his arm, his breath slowly evening out.
"Vic said this hurts?" you mumble against his lips. You are curious, because it didn't. It didn't hurt, a little unusual. But otherwise there was just blinding pleasure and comfort.
"Yes," he mumbles back, "but you gave yourself willingly and it was for pleasure, not for chaos. She's always so shocked when I do it."
You stay like this, twirling strands of his hair between your fingers, you both breathing together and Ethan behind you drawing a pattern on your back.
"Ethan deserves a treat as well, don't you think?" He chuckles, it's cute. "And he's your treat as well."
You're tired and so calm in Thomas' arms but deep down in your soul you know, that you want to pleasure Ethan as well. And then it hits you, that Thomas touched your soul when he was possessing you. Before them, you never thought about the fact that your human flesh might house something else than organs. But then Ethan came around, a vampire with a soul, who explained that there are such and such, some with and some without - it depends on how they were created. And Thomas, a demon, that shouldn't have a soul but the longer you thought about it, and about your own, you think there's still something like a store somewhere in him. Ethan looks at you for a second, before looking at Thomas, showing him his fangs. Even Thomas seems to be intimidated by them, he recoils.
"I didn't take anything, I swear!"
"You better not."
It reminds you, how dangerous this is. You're between a demon that could do god knows what with your soul and body, burning through your skin, and a vampire that could drain all your blood from you. They wouldn't, you know - you trust them. But the possibility still remains, you shiver. You feel hot all over again. Ethan gives him another look before you get off Thomas with a heavy heart to give Ethan your undivided attention. Getting up, you can see how Thomas' cum is black. Such a stark contrast to Ethan's translucent one you are so used to.
"I thought, you told me, it's normal," Ethan says.
"It is," Thomas rolls his eyes, "Usually it is, I'm not having sex as a demon that often. It's too hard to control myself and only then it happens."
For a second or two, you ask yourself how that would look like, Thomas not controlling himself. In your bed. You bite your lips, Ethan growls at him and Thomas' eyes turn the darkest black you've ever seen, then a blazing shade of red before going back to normal. You kiss Thomas again, before Ethan pulls you back and kisses you possessively, leaving lipstick behind. He lays you down on the bed again, your head hitting the mattress - Thomas pulls your head onto his thigh, you leave a kiss on his skin and play with the hem of his skirt.
Ethan spreads your legs, he kisses you, cooling you completely down when he thrusts into you. He finds a rhythm quicker than Thomas, being used to you, to your needs, probably still being in your head, knowing exactly what you want. His thumb slowly circling your clit - Thomas slowly carding his fingers through your hair. Biting your tongue, you can taste the metallic taste of blood. Ethan kisses you, his lipstick already smudged, lets your tongues swirls together, moans when he gets blood on his tongue.
Ethan has more strength than Thomas and he shows it off, fucking you into the mattress. He's not letting you cum. He makes it look like, it's your choice but all three of you know that it's just show. It's his decision, not really yours anymore but one time he doesn't stop you.
"When you cum, Thomas can use the paddle on you." It gets you so excited, you almost don't stop yourself. "Or you can use it on him, whatever is worse."
In the end, you do control yourself, when you see Thomas looking intimidated, his eyes going wide. But you also see interest flashing in his eyes. Even more interest and fascination reflects on his face when Ethan bites into your throat, exactly where Thomas left a hickey earlier, he's still fucking you, and draws blood from you. Cold lips on your throat, your eyes are rolling back, Thomas licking his lips. Ethan cums before you, still sucking on your throat but it doesn't take you long to follow.
All three of you are a cuddle pile, exhausted. There's Thomas' sticky lipgloss everywhere, Ethan's lipstick - smudged, stains on your skin, dark eyeshadow - wiped away, Thomas' mascara - also smudged. You know, that you don't look any better, you're happy.
"You really didn't take anything?" Ethan wants to know again, he wants reassurance for something. He puts his hands around Thomas' throat, you putting your hands on his forearm, and he loosens his grip.
"I wouldn't, I would never! You know that!"
Ethan gets his hands off then, looking at him apologetically and whispering a silent sorry.
"What are you taking?" You ask, you put your arm around his hips, your other one around Ethan's. You know a lot about vampire lore and Ethan's history but you still don't know that much about him, you would like to know more.
"The souls of people who made a pact with Satan. And … Some here and there, consensually, of course. I would never take some for myself when my opposite doesn't want to give. And I would never only take a part of it," he looks at Ethan angrily. It seems like he was accused of a greater crime than just taking a soul.
"Why?"
Thomas sighs, and Ethan sighs as well.
"Some demons only take parts of human souls, it fucks them up completely, it's worse than when you just take them whole, it makes most humans go insane and …," he swallows, "Some of them just have fun feasting on the best chunks. I wouldn't. I only touched because it looked so pretty and warm, I'm sorry."
"I know, I'm sorry too, I'm just protective." He presses a kiss to Thomas' sweaty forehead - leaving a smudged lipstick stain there as well, to his sweaty bangs and you do the same.
"What happened to your wings?" Your own curiosity is taking over now, Ethan caresses your shoulders and Thomas takes your hand for a short moment.
He rolls out of bed, still dressed in the yellow skirt, the white stockings slipped down. Ethan is behind you, holding you securily in his arms. Your breath catches in your throat and you can hear the little oh Ethan breathes into your ear.
Thomas' wings are a dirty grey, some dirt sticking to them, a tiny bit of blood. You can see that he stopped taking care of them a long time ago, but for the most part, you see that his wings are clipped. It breaks a piece of your heart to see it, and this is new, you can feel something break in Ethan too. Snap - just like that. It's a weird moment to know something like this, but in this moment you know that you two belong together. And still Thomas' wings are one of the most beatiful things you have ever seen.
"Could I touch them?" You don't want to be rude but the feathers are drawing you in like a magnet.
"They are dirty," he blushes.
"We can wash them," you offer.
"We all have to shower anyways," Ethan says, "You can go, I'll do the bed first."
You get him under the shower and Thomas shudders and shakes his wings at you when the water is still too cold for him, hits his wings and then your face, you laugh. Carefully you wash them with a soft sponge you found hidden deep in Ethan's bathroom cabinets.
"Why did you become a demon?" There's still the fear to overstep but he seems open for the conversation.
"You know why Ethan turned? Same reason, but I did it out of my own will."
Love. That was the reason.
Ethan was a normal person at the beginning of the 1800's. He opened one of the first bookshops in Italy. You suspect that his old love for books as a human only amplified the love for knowledge a vampire has even more in his undead life. He was in love with a girl who wasn't allowed to see him, because her father thought she could have something better than him. So they met during dark nights, having dinner together in fields. Until one night, he didn't make it home. He died that night on the way home. He fell, his oil lamp falling with him, catching his feet and the next day only his corpse could be found. The girl felt deep guilt and blamed herself, like Ethan having a knack for the occult, she searched the hidden section in his bookstore until she found something interesting. She had a cat jump over his corpse to become a vampire. It looked like it didn't work but three nights later, he was standing in front of her, in one piece, no burn mark except one on his body, with fangs and an unquenchable thirst for blood. You asked how he felt with it but he reassured you, that it was absolutely fine; he can't remember the way home, or dying, there's no trauma. Just a pair of fangs - could have been worse.
"Can I ask what happened? Who did this to you?"
"I played dice with Satan to safe the soul of a loved one. I … I lost. So I gambled my own soul, to have another chance at it. I won, she released the soul of my loved one but kept mine instead. I should have read the fine print on which conditions she would have play me again, I was never suppossed to get both back. But stupid trusting me having faith, went for a another game, I already lost my soul and already knew I would be cast out of heaven. She offered me that she'll let me go, live a soulless life with my loved one, but leave us and any offspring past that alone, forever. I went for it, it went okay, I was finally lucky until I wasn't and I lost. In return she kept me in hell for fifthy years and had the pleasure to turn a fallen angel into a demon unwillingly." He looks at you, and you look back, carefully washing away at his wings. "She cheated on me, she played with a loaded dice."
"Was it -, was it for another angel?"
"No, she was human, like you or Vic. She lived a long and fulfilled live, had kids who had kids who had kids who had kids who had kids and so on over the years. She died a long time ago, but I still visit the family from time to time. I'm still always invited for birthdays." He smiles at you sadly. "I … I would do it again, you know. I would always do it again, if it means she had a peaceful happy life in the end, I would do it."
"I'm sorry." You don't know what else to say. You remember some yellowed, old looking photographs in Thomas' wallet, you can have a guess now that this is her family and somehow his as well.
"It's not too bad, it could be worse," he smiles, "I love the chaos I can cause, I could have never in heaven, even when I would have liked too and I would have liked to, believe me, and some things are more of a perk than a burden. It's okay, trust me."
Ethan joins you in the bathroom as well, he washes his face first, before having a look into the shower.
"You okay in here?"
"Yes," you smile at him, "Could you just hold that wing, he always moves it when I touch there, I just can't clean that one spot."
Ethan does you the favour, smiling at Thomas, who in turn isn't having it at all. His wing is flapping again and he splashes Ethan with water that drops out of the feathers.
"Lets try the other way around," you say and hold Thomas' wing again, "Can you clean it?"
The sponge hits Ethan' face - Thomas giggles.
Ethan somehow does manage and you finally get out of the shower. All clean, getting wrapped into warm and fluffy towels.
"Sorry that these are still grey."
"Don't worry, they won't get any better, they are supposed to be a shiny silver but that's long gone."
"It's still a lovely colour." You kiss the tip of his nose.
Ethan kisses your cheek: "We can have some tea in bed and I stole some cake from the party."
You raise his eyebrows at him, sounds more like a Thomas' thing to do.
"I'm full of surprises! It's shaped like little bats, how could I not?" He laughs and you kiss him lovingly. Thomas looks at the floor, you kiss him as well. Not because you feel sorry for him, but because you want to. Ethan smiles at you both.
You all have tea together in bed, the cake Ethan nicked from the party on a plate between you. You are talking more about Ethan's earlier life, but also about Thomas' earlier life - your head rests on Ethan's shoulder. Thomas tells you something about another stint in hell because he refused to get a soul from someone who didn't want to let it go, but that after this he met Vic. And how he mostly prefers being a chaotic, independent demon over being an angel bound to heaven. It eases you a little bit.
When all the cake is eaten and the teacups are empty, Thomas wants to leave and go to his own bed. Ethan and you look at each other, it's not an option. You pull him back into bed and Thomas smiles shyly at both at you but doesn't complain.
Thomas was right, he has the fluffiest wings, it's the most comforting experience, there's still a thunderstorm outside: You fall asleep with Thomas' wings wrapped around Ethan and your own body.
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END.
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Trivia (aka useless facts about this, with me, a section no one ever asked for):
Elle Woods - Legally BlondeCher Horowitz - Clueless Lilies and roses - Lilies represent the Holy Spirit and stand for the link to the afterlife. Roses "attract angels of love" and they strengthen and cultivate new relationships. Bookstores in Italy - The first bookstore in Italy was opened in 1810 in Genoa Legend about Pope Sylvester II - The legend says he played dice with the devil to become pope
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Taglist: @writingmaneskin, @oro-e-diamanti, @iamtashaquinn, @teenyweenynightghost, @findaqueenwithoutaking, @foreveryking-thatdied, @findoutwhoyougonnacall, @maneskinbrainrot, @little-moonbeam-666, @ethaneskin, @maneskin-dimensione, @l0standn0tf0und, @butkutee, @gr8rainbowpunk, @maneslut, @maneskintifoso, @weareoddlydrawn, @hiraetheral, @imjustanerdwholikestoread, @cuzimitaliano, @hopelessromantic727, @dating-villain, @maneskinsimp, @lauraosheaoh, @till-you-scream-and-cry, @wonderlandishell, @h1ppieth1ngs, @paralianeyes, @roisinmillar, @livvyysstuff, @que--sera--sera
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p4latinus · 2 years
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loading screen... | genshin characters [fluff headcanons]
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characters: [all characters are aged up to 21+] thoma, jean, kaedehara kazuha, kamisato ayaka, gorou, albedo, zhongli, keqing, tartaglia, diluc, kujou sara, raiden ei, ningguang, xiao, yanfei, yae miko, kaeya, arataki itto, hutao, beidou, kamisato ayato, scaramouche, venti, eula, ganyu, yanfei, lisa, yelan, shenhe, sangonomiya kokomi, yoimiya
genre: fluff headcanons
tw: !sfw, gn reader, swearing, non-implied nsfw (fully sfw), mentions of toxic gamers
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cosiest setups. maybe with a few succulent plants, but definitely some tiny figurines lying here and there. really organised yet clustered desk. minimal colour schemes. always have an extra chair tucked under the desk with your favourite pillow or plush toy. would play relaxing games with you such as animal crossing, calico, terraria. always has the playlist you made switched on during gaming sessions, whether you are here or elsewhere. loves it when you would slip into the gaming room with a mug of hot coffee/tea. sometimes would sketch or doodle pictures of you or make picrew avatars for the both of you. would definitely set it as their twitch, discord or social media icons. streams on twitch every now and then, but would rather focus on gaming with you. it’s a lot more private and intimate. cries during emotional quests and stories in front of you so please give them a hug :-( literally looks at you for reassurance that there will be a happy ending or some good out of it. “thank you for comforting me, i love you” and they will always love you unconditionally.
— thoma, JEAN, kaedehara kazuha, KAMISATO AYAKA, gorou, ALBEDO, keqing, yoimiya
invests a lot in gaming. built their own pc, and definitely will build yours including a table, the gaming chair - everything you need for top quality gameplay. plays a variety of games. doesn’t have a favourite, but will like whatever you pick or enjoy. occasionally or regularly streams with friends, and especially with you. definitely yells out, “y/n come here, chat wants to see you”. effortlessly good at video games with minimal practice. gets emotionally invested in characters, lore, or competitive rounds/matches so they need your hand on their shoulder when things get too tense. pretty much a clear desk btw. except for the little figurine, mini speaker or controller you bought for their birthday. has pretty light decor and 1 or 2 posters above the monitor. streams privately for you on discord and loves your lil’ reactions. made a private discord server between the both of you. puts their favourite selfies/ootd pics of you there. always feels more confident and/or comforted with you during streams. kisses your cheek when people simp for you. “i’m so lucky to have you”, they whisper in your ear to watch you blush on stream.
— TARTAGLIA, yanfei, KUJOU SARA, raiden ei, ningguang, xiao, DILUC
complete ass wipe (as a joke). toxic troll in almost every lobby. but would definitely turn the swearing and toxicity down a notch when you are around. relatively messy table but will definitely have a picture of the both of you. gets embarrassed when you tell them off for being mean/toxic but secretly loves getting attention from you. deliberately doesn’t want another gaming chair so you would have to sit on their lap. sometimes, they would play horror games just to take a piss on your reactions with jump scares. would occasionally toss the controller at you and ask you to carry the game while they run to the kitchen or bathroom. wouldn’t even help you when they come back but make some annoying remark like, “aww baby y/n missed 3 shots and respawned again?? wow…” with a smug face. super, duper annoying. but will be quick to call anyone out for being harsh/rude to you in lobbies or games. quick with comebacks and the funniest insults. absolutely no one can disrespect you on their watch. “i got you, baby.” and they never fail each time.
— YAE MIKO, KAEYA, arataki itto, hutao, beidou, KAMISATO AYATO, SCARAMOUCHE, venti
doesn’t play video games but will sit patiently next to you, or join your streams on twitch or discord. will definitely offer to be your moderator and pay close attention to hateful/problematic comments. listens diligently about the rules and tips for games. sometimes does their own research so they can learn to play your favourite video games. will be too shy to offer but would hope to impress you with their skills. would give you really educated and helpful responses to better your gameplay. they’ll end up as a walking encyclopaedia and you would learn from them, more than you could ever teach them. definitely your number one fan through thick and thin. “i’m proud of you, dearest.” without fail, you always made them proud.
— EULA, GANYU, lisa, yelan, SHENHE, sangonomiya kokomi, ZHONGLI
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undeadgoathead · 9 months
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Love her or hate her, Barbie is iconic. I have no clue why she was stereotyped as an airheaded bimbo, when canonically she has been a doctor, astronaut, scientist, etc. Like most girls, I have fond memories of playing dolls with friends, and not-so-fond memories of siblings, cousins, etc ruining my toys, cutting their hair, covering them with mud, tattooing them with sharpies, etc.
In girl scouts, I remember each troop had to represent a different country/culture for world tolerance day or some such. So our project was singing the Barbie song in German! I still kinda remember the lyrics. 🎼Ich bin ein Barbie frau, en einer Barbie velt...🎶
On a side note, I also remember our troop representing the UK one year, because I was obsessed with The Beatles and JRR Tolkien. Good times, good times. I was a weird, nerdy kid, and I haven't changed much over the years. This is kinda embarrassing, but I played with dolls well into middle school. What can I say, I loved making up stories in my own imaginary fantasy world. Still kind of do, as a writer.
I had a Pocahontas Barbie... Hip to be Square Barbie...Of course I had the mermaid that changed the color of her hair and tail, depending on if the water was hot or cold...I had a slumber party Barbie with a soft body like a stuffed animal, so you could snuggle in bed. She also came with accessories like an inflatable chair, a box of pizza, a houseplant, and a globe. Perfect for 90s sleepovers!
One Christmas, I was gifted a special edition millennium Barbie for the year 2000. I was too young to understand collectibles, all I knew was it was the prettiest doll I'd ever seen, with her fancy gold dress and matching Christmas ornaments, and couldn't wait to play with it, so I didn't understand why everyone was so shocked when I opened the box and did just that.
I had a few of the Mattel pets, including a fluffy white cat, and a fancy Collie dog. Of course I had the sparkly white unicorn/pegasus horse with wings AND a horn, and a long pretty mane and tail that you could brush, braid, and style. I had a ton of horses in general. Including My Little Pony. And lots of dolls, not just Barbie, but also Polly Pocket, random stuffed animals, etc. Another random sidenote... I remember I used to watch a lot of PBS as a kid... I was fascinated by The Nightly Business Report... So I had my own version, The Nightly Horse Report, and all the new anchors, journalists, and correspondents were horses... Facepalm. 🤦🏽‍♀️
But in high school, I was an edgy, angsty teenager. I rejected Barbie as a sexist symbol of rigid gender roles and corporate greed. One of my aquaintances had dismembered Barbie body parts dangling from her backpack, which I thought was pretty cool. I also took the Barbies from a classmate's diorama when they didn't want them anymore. I don't know what book they were reading in the other Senior AP Literature Class, but it must have been a dark one, because the Barbies were scantily clad in plain white robes/togas, their hands were bound, they were blindfolded, and they were hanging from nooses. Yeah. Yikes. Anyway I used them for home decor in my college dorm, and even in my first apartment. Like I said, I only seem to get even weirder and creepier with age!
Then again, when I was a bratty teenage girl, my idea of feminism was misguided. In retrospect, I actually embodied a lot of internalized misogyny and toxic femininity myself. Joining the GSA (Gay Straight Alliance), poetry club, yearbook, and other extracurricular activities helped me keep an open mind and learn better social skills. But still, one of my favorite computer games at that age, was called Feed the Model, where you crash a haute couture high society fashion catwalk, and you throw tomatoes and other food at the model, hoping some of it lands in her mouth and she'll finally eat something for once, lol. Yes it was hilarious, but also problematic. I also frequented several feminist websites, including About Face and Adios Barbie. Again, I meant well, but the misandry was a little bit hypocritical.
Just like the Barbie brand is taking affirmative action to be more inclusive, I also eventually outgrew my "Hear me roar" phase, and embraced a more modern, intersectional sort of feminism and gender equality. Including a shameless appreciation for girly hobbies, such as dolls. Even in college, a roommate gave me a special Bjork Barbie with a handmade dress, custom haircut, and face painted with nail polish. He customized it himself, and it looked awesome and unique! Again, that Bjork Barbie remained dorm/apartment decor well into my mid twenties.
Now I'm in my 30s. I work at an antique store, and I do sell expensive vintage collectible Barbies to wealthy connoisseurs, as well as the cheap ones to little kids who only have a few bucks of allowance to buy used toys from secondhand thrift stores. So Barbie is still very much a part of my life on a daily basis. Grown adults pay hundreds of dollars for the right doll. I've had deep conversations with coworkers and customers about the magic of imagination, the nostalgic sense of wonder, and the simplicity yet complexity of children at play.
So I'm totally going to see that freaking Barbie movie, damn it! Who's coming with me?
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desertdollranch · 2 years
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Ruby Red Fashion Friends is having a fan collaboration competition, encouraging kids to design their own dream doll. The winners have their designs made into real dolls. One of the winning entries was made by 9-year-old Naomi Joy McMillan, who designed Winona and Wyatt.  
“We choose Naomi’s sketches because the design team really loved the matching dolls and western-themed stories. They thought they would make a perfect pair of Siblies. Naomi’s designs were really detailed and inventive, not only did she create beautiful clothing for the dolls, but also loads of accessories and even their very own pets. Overall, we thought the designs had a fun and whimsical feel and would be perfect for playing make-believe! Naomi also wrote complete stories for both of her dolls. Winona and Wyatt’s stories told us about these dolls' personalities; how they love to help others and be kind to animals. We believe these are important lessons that align with the Ruby Red Fashion Friends philosophy. Winona and Wyatt show us that we should always be kind to others!”
“Winona & Wyatt’s final designs stay true to Naomi’s cowboy and cowgirl concepts and make sure to include each doll’s fabulous accessories. For example, both dolls wear cowboy boots and a cowboy hat, iconic western staples, and they each arrive with their respective pets, Wigwam and Brodie. These plush dog toys feature Naomi’s original artwork and make the perfect companions. Each doll wears a classic wrangler outfit, complete with button-down shirts, denim jeans, and fetching leather-look waistcoats. These cowpokes are dressed and ready for any adventure!”
Winona is a Native American girl who lives on a ranch. Her family uses the horses to provide occupational therapy for differently abled people, to help them build confidence and overcome their fears. Her best friend Wyatt also volunteers with the therapeutic program, and someday he and Winona want to start a rodeo for the graduates of the program.
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margridarnauds · 4 months
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All I know about BG3 is through osmosis, but am always happy to enable talking about things you enjoy, so 105 for the ask game?
THANK YOU.
Something random is that I'm meticulous when it comes to planning out outfits. There are a couple of exceptions, but I try to always choose clothing that both fit the character's skillset, background, and place in the story.
Malla wears black clothing, slightly asymetric to give her an "edgy" look, and heavy black eyeshadow. This is both to create a contrast to her pale skin + hair AND to highlight that she's a ranger/rogue. She needs to blend in with the shadows as part of her infiltration work, so it makes sense. She's used to taking whatever she has available, so she doesn't change clothing throughout the game, and her overall "look", from her short hair to her choice of clothing to her tattoo are all totally out of line with the conventional Drow look. The only time she wears Drow armor is when she's in the Underdark and she's trying to play up that connection. Other than that, she's been living outside of Menzoberranzan for a long time, and she's adopted a totally different look for herself. Even if she stays loyal to Lolth out of a sense of pragmatism + fear, she enjoys the sense of liberty she gets from the surface world and has integrated into it.
Kitrye still wears her hair long, pulling it back to keep it manageable in fights, highlighting that, even though she's in exile from the Drow, she still very much keeps certain aspects of Drow culture around her. She starts off wearing whatever she has available, then begins wearing Minthara's armor after killing her. This was a part of a long arc with Kitrye having to face down the Underdark for the first time since she left it. (She never wears Minthara's camp clothing, partially because it's STILL too difficult for her -- it reminds her too much of the life she left.) When she faced down Nere in the Underdark, in what can be the Act 1 boss fight, she was wearing Drow armor, wielding a sword blessed by her goddess, and facing down her own relative in an dead forge beside an active pool of lava. Iconic moment. For Act 2, she went from a pale blue + black color scheme (since that was the armor that she picked up from the forge) and a white/gold one -- this was Kitrye at her most heroic, being more secure on her own two feet, aiding an angel, breaking the Shadow Curse that was afflicting the land, fighting the avatar of an evil god. She carried that white/gold look into Act 3...with two exceptions. The first was for Gortash' coronation ceremony, where she wore her hair up and wore a black and red dress with matching earrings, gauntlets, and diadem. I toyed a LOT with looks for her for this, more than anyone should, but the red/black look was chosen for two reasons: Most importantly, she looked hot and secondly, it was my way of indicating Raphael's growing influence on her, as she's adopting elements of his color scheme and style. (Even though she still hasn't adopted The Duchess Look that she'll have. Like. A couple centuries from the end of the game).
But the major change came when she broke her oath. I came to the conclusion as early as the first act that, if there was ever a *story* related reason for her to break her oath, not something stupid, I would let her become an oathbreaker. And so, when she did, I decided that it had to be a major thing for her, because it feels, on her end, like everything she's been doing the whole game, her entire personal arc, just ended in failure. She's lost her life's purpose, she thinks she's lost her connection to her goddess, her companion has been kidnapped, and there's nothing she can do. So for several in-game days, when I decided to RP her as going through a crisis of faith, she actually got rid of her sword, even though she kept carrying it in her inventory (because it was too much a part of her for her to toss away). Replaced it with a morning star. Dyed her clothing a black/red/gold color scheme. Tossed out her golden gauntlets because she thought she didn't deserve them. After she roused herself from her depression, she brought the sword back, but the color scheme stayed, as she chose to stay on as an oathbreaker, and that was how she ended the arc.
Overall, Kitrye's style changed a lot more than her sister's has thus far (I have no plans on changing Malla's style) -- she tends to bring in more Drow elements to her appearance, and she also has much more of a taste for luxury in her clothing, even though she kept her plain cotton shirt as camp clothes throughout the entirety of her canon run (because, from her perspective, that was something she'd fought to have, the simplicity of a comfortable shirt to sleep in at night beneath the stars), highlighting her slight vain streak. In general, Kitrye is very deliberate with her clothing choices, because she *knows* how to convey a message with tiny details. Malla does as well, but in a different way -- If Kitrye tries to convey heroism, elegance, and chivalry, Malla tries to convey rebelliousness and a hint of danger. She enjoys being the edgy rebel, even if her allegiances are a lot more complicated than they seem.
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eyluslipa · 2 years
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nothingtowear05 · 11 months
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Top: Jigsaw LINEN TIE NECK TOP (£60) | Skirt: LoveShackFancy Stefana Striped Cotton Skirt ($345.00) | Socks: 靴下屋 薄手の三つ折りショートソックス (¥660) | Shoes: Repetto Roseline ballerinas (€285.00) | Handbag: St. Agni Shearling Tote Bag ($455.00) | Necklace: Disney Woody Sheriff Star Pendant Necklace ($29.95) | Hair tie: Chanel ACCESSOIRE DE CHEVEUX (590 €)
This week's Disney hotel is the Tokyo Disney Resort Toy Story Hotel. As the name suggests, the hotel is themed after the Toy Story movie franchise. For this week's outfit, I decided to base it on one of the characters from the franchise: Bo Peep.
I previously created a Bo Peep-inspired look around 3 years ago, so this is a revisit of the character. For the outfit, I chose a blue top to represent the blue jumpsuit she wears under her dress, and a pink skirt to represent her iconic pink dress.
To match Bo Peep's look, I chose a pair of black Mary Janes and white socks. The outfit is completed with a shearling tote as a reference to her three-headed sheep and a pink bow hair tie as a nod to the Toy Story 4 version of the character. Finally, I added the Woody Sheriff Star necklace, just like I did for the outfit 3 years ago, as a reminder of her forever partner.
Whether you're visiting the Tokyo Disney Resort Toy Story Hotel or just looking for a playful new look, this Bo Peep-inspired outfit is sure to capture hearts and turn heads.
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onlymusika · 1 year
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The story of the soundtrack to Amelie
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Welcome to the "Soundtrack" column, in which we'll look at iconic soundtracks. Opening this column will be the charming and whimsical soundtrack to the 2001 French film "Amelie," written by Jan Thiersen.
The music for "Amelie" was written and performed by Jan Thiersen, a French musician and composer known for his experimental and minimalist style. Thiersen used a mixture of acoustic and electronic instruments to create a distinctive and playful sound to the soundtrack. The music is a mixture of French folk, classical and contemporary styles, with influences from Eric Satie to rock music.
One of the most striking instruments used in the soundtrack is the accordion, a traditional French instrument that gives the music a distinctive Parisian flavor. Thiersen also used a toy piano, a small and unconventional instrument that gives the music a childlike and whimsical atmosphere.
Another notable instrument used in the soundtrack is the mandolin, a stringed instrument that gives the music a rustic and folk character. Thiersen used the mandolin in the composition "La Valse d'Amélie," which is one of the most memorable compositions of the soundtrack.
In addition to the accordion, toy piano, and mandolin, Jan Thiersen used many other instruments to create the distinctive sound of the soundtrack for the film Amélie. One of the most notable instruments used in the soundtrack is the piano, which is heard in several compositions, including "Comptine d'un autre été: l'après-midi" and "La Valse d'Amélie." Thiersen used a Steinway & Sons Model O grand piano to record the soundtrack.
Another notable instrument used in the soundtrack is the harpsichord, a keyboard instrument with a distinctive plucked sound. For the track "Les Jours Tristes," Thiersen used a French harpsichord made by Pleyel.
In addition to these acoustic instruments, Thiersen also used several electronic instruments to create the unique sound of the soundtrack. Among them were a synthesizer, a sampler and a drum machine" Tiersen used a Roland Juno-60 synthesizer, which features a haunting and melancholic synth melody.
Overall, the combination of acoustic and electronic instruments used in the "Amelie" soundtrack creates a unique and playful sound that perfectly matches the tone of the film. The "Amelie" soundtrack is a masterful piece of musical storytelling that perfectly captures the quirky and charming nature of the film. Thiersen's use of unconventional instruments and techniques creates a sense of playfulness and wonder that perfectly matches the whimsical tone of the film.
One of the most memorable compositions on the soundtrack is "Comptine d'un autre été: l'après-midi," which features a simple and melancholy piano melody that perfectly captures the bittersweet nature of the film. Another notable track is "La Dispute," which features a driving and playful accordion melody that sets the tone for the entire film.
Interesting fact: Jan Thiersen wrote and recorded the entire soundtrack in less than a year, using only a few instruments and a simple recording machine. The soundtrack has become one of the most successful and beloved movie soundtracks of all time.
All in all, the soundtrack to the film Amelie is a delightful and quirky work of art that has captured the hearts of listeners all over the world. If you're a fan of French music, classical music or just good movie soundtracks, this album is a must listen.
Subscribe to our cozy Telegram, there's a weekly selection of the best new releases coming out every Friday : https://t.me/onlymusika
The full soundtrack of "Amelie."
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angelhummel · 1 year
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Blaine isn’t liked as much as Kurt.Kurt had a huge fandom in season 1, rightly so as he was the golden boy, an iconic gay figure on tb, along with the brilliance of Chris Colfer.
He was alresdy shipped with others, including a huge push for Hevans in season 3, so many had opinions what a boyfriend should be liked. Then Blaine/Darren joined and many adored him, but they toyed around with how they were developing Blaine:Klaine and many were put off that he didn’t fall for Kurt straight away. And wanted Kurt with someone who truly appreciated him (and maybe wasn’t as talented?) such as cough cough Karofsky?
Season 3 onwards we had the criticism that Blaine sung and got more screen time than others, Blee, the better boyfriend issues, people thinking Kurt isn’t getting what he deserved because he’s tied to the Klaine plot, the real life stuff, cc/ popularity of actors etc etc.
By 6 many were calling him toxic and wanted Kurt with an old man rather than married to Blaine. Plus the rushed wedding also put people off.
It’s really only in the last six months that there’s been a growth in Blaine’s popularity that he now pretty much equals Kurt’s. Why ? Kurt stans leaving the fandom, or not writing or producing as much art as Blaine fans and also Darren being more in public eye than Chris and still with a huge following. But as a character, I think Kurt still is loved more than Blaine and people still belittle the contribution Blaine had played in the lgbtq story on tv.
That’s my view of it!
Oh trust me babe, it's all known to me <3 But I'm posting it for a history lesson for the newbies alksfjdslk
And of course like I've said before, it probably doesn't hurt that I've done better lately at blocking people who post dumb shit lol. Plus it's nice to see new Blaine stans popping up, and I make sure to follow them. But if those weird Kurt stans have left the fandom, fine by me. I won't miss them uwu
But yeah these people just needed any excuse to hate Blaine. And they only needed to look at any other man to know he was automatically a better romantic/sexual match for Kurt. Including, but not limited to: a minor when Kurt is an adult, an old man who lured him on a date under false pretenses, or his actual stepbrother. OTPs!!
Whatever the case is, I'm glad things have mellowed out. Blaine never deserved the hate and I'm glad he's getting the love he deserves now
But also fr these people just have brain rot??? Kurt was one of my faves from the start and I was still so so happy when Blaine came along, I was here for all of it. Idk maybe it's bc I binged s1? Maybe watching it week by week is what altered their brain chemistry and made them decide Kurt would be better off romantically and sexually linked with Rachel over Blaine. I guess we'll never know. Probably for the best
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perkins-buzo · 1 month
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Midjourney Creates a Feature to Advance Image Consistency
Artificial intelligence imaging service Midjourney has been embraced by storytellers who have also been clamoring for a feature that enables characters to regenerate consistently across new requests. Now Midjourney is delivering that functionality with the addition of the new “–cref” tag (short for Character Reference), available for those who are using Midjourney v6 on the Discord server. Users can achieve the effect by adding the tag to the end of text prompts, followed by a URL that contains the master image subsequent generations should match. Midjourney will then attempt to repeat the particulars of a character’s face, body and clothing characteristics.
From MidJourney founder David Holz’s note about it:
… we’re testing a new “Character Reference” feature today This is similar to the “Style Reference” feature, except instead of matching a reference style it tries to make the character match a “Character Reference” image.
How it worksType  --cref URL  after your prompt with a URL to an image of a character
You can use  --cw  to modify reference ‘strength’ from 100 to 0
strength 100 (--cw 100) is default and uses the face, hair, and clothes
At strength 0 (--cw 0) it’ll just focus on face (good for changing outfits / hair etc)What it’s meant for
This feature works best when using characters made from Midjourney images. It’s not designed for real people / photos (and will likely distort them as regular image prompts do)
Cref works similarly to regular image prompts except it ‘focuses’ on the character traits
The precision of this technique is limited, it won’t copy exact dimples / freckles / or tshirt logos.
Cref works for both Niji and normal MJ models and also can be combined with --sref
Advanced FeaturesYou can use more than one URL to blend the information /characters from multiple images like this --cref URL1 URL2 (this is similar to multiple image or style prompts)How does it work on the web alpha?Drag or paste an image into the imagine bar, it now has three icons. selecting these sets whether it is an image prompt, a style reference, or a character reference. Shift+select an option to use an image for multiple categoriesRemember, while MJ V6 is in alpha this and other features may change suddenly, but V6 official beta is coming soon. We’d love everyone’s thoughts in ⁠ideas-and-features We hope you enjoy this early release and hope it helps you play with building stories and worlds
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magic-ace · 3 months
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[Dolls, Barbie] The Short Yet Fabulous Life of Earring Magic Ken
Or, that time Mattel gave Ken a cock ring and created a legend.
This is my first time writing a post here, but this story has made me laugh for years now, so I'm excited to share it with all of you. I'll have my sources listed at the bottom of the post. If I get anything wrong or miss any crucial details, please let me know and I'll edit the post.
Anyway! Gather 'round for a tale of marketing, frosted tips, and kitsch.
# Who is Ken?
Ken, full name Kenneth Sean Carson, is a fictional character and fashion doll sold by Mattel. If you know who he is, you probably know him as "Barbie's boyfriend," and that's because that's exactly what he is. Barbie is *the* fashion doll, easily the most iconic doll in America and one of the most famous toys... ever. She's had hundreds of careers and thousands of iconic fashion looks, and has appeared in a wide variety of media, including a movie coming out July 2023 where she's played by Margot Robbie. Barbie is The Legend. Ken, while not quite as famous as she is, does have a lot of name recognition - at least, while he's standing next to Barbie.
While various toys and tie-in media has depicted their relationship in various ways (coworkers, serious committed couple, childhood besties, friends with a mutual crush they're both too shy to act on, sometimes they're even married), Ken is Barbie's primary love interest, male companion, and boytoy/trophy husband. (Okay, okay, to give the guy some credit, he's had 40ish careers since his introduction. Not quite as impressive as Barbie's resume, but then again, few things are.)
Ken debuted in 1961, two years after Barbie, both characters invented by Ruth Handler. (Fun fact: just as Barbie was named after Ruth's daughter Barbara "Barbie" Handler, Ken was named after her son. Feels a little weird to name love interests after a pair of siblings, but it is a cute tribute.) Ken dolls tend to be less detailed and complex than Barbie dolls. Ken dolls, especially in the early days, didn't always have bendable limbs or torsos, and in general there's less clothing options available for them. One fun fact is that while the first Kens had felt hair, after a couple years, he started having molded plastic hair, rather than the brushable synthetic hair Barbie had.
Barbie at her core is a feminine power fantasy, and Ken is very much part of that. If Barbie is meant to emulate who the little girl playing with her wants to be, Ken is meant to emulate that girl's ideal boyfriend. (Of course, not everyone who played with Barbie is a girl or wants a boyfriend - a young not-yet-realized queer kid, I thought Ken was boring as hell and never wanted one; I was perfectly happy to have my Barbies living in a vaguely gay girls-only castle going on adventures.) He's handsome in the blandest way possible, and always dressed to the nines, and if you buy a Barbie and Ken doll that are packaged together, or a set of clothes for both dolls, Ken's clothes will always match and complement Barbie's.
So, that's Ken. Handsome, well-liked, presumably rich, multitalented and with the world's most beautiful and accomplished woman as his adoring girlfriend. He's even going to be played by Ryan Gosling in the upcoming movie! Let's be real - Ken's got it made. Why would anyone want to shake things up?
# "Cooler"
Well, like I said before, Ken just isn't as impressive or #iconic as Barbie. He's not as sparkly or fun or memorable, and is often more of an accessory than a character. There's a reason the meme of the moment is "Barbie is everything. He's just Ken." That has been their dynamic for decades, and Ryan Gosling GETS it. Lots of kids ask for a new Barbie for Christmas, and can often point to one or three or seven specific Barbies they want - but how many ask for a Ken? Apparently, this showed up in the sales numbers, too.
So, in the early 1990s, Mattel sets out to find out what they can do to make Ken more popular - or if he should even stay at all. Yes, you read that right, Mattel was considering getting rid of Barbie's boyfriend altogether. So, what do you do when you want to find out what your demographic will buy? You ask them what they like! Working with a focus group of 5-year-old girls, Mattel asked them what they wanted, and what would make them like Ken more. Should Barbie dump Ken for someone more hip with the kids?
The girls responded with, no! They liked Ken! Barbie should definitely stay with Ken. Phew! The then-thirty year old romance was saved.
(This would not, however, be the last time Ken would be on the chopping block - anyone growing up in the early-to-mid 2000s like I did who was into Barbies likely remembers the tragic but ultimately temporary breakup between Barbie and Ken, during which Barbie dated an Australian surfer named Blaine. But that's a different story.)
But, the girls said, they did wish Ken was... cooler.
"Make it cooler" is quite possibly the least helpful bit of advice ever, right up there with "do what feels right" and "take that business opportunity from your high school friend." There's a reason there was a My Little Pony meme about this.
But, okay, the girls said they wanted cooler. Mattel could do that. They could totally do that. They knew what was cool.
Right?
# The Makeover
How exactly the Mattel execs collected their coolness data is unclear. This was pre-social media, so figuring out the hottest trends wasn't as simple as opening TikTok and scrolling until you have 4 new insecurities. Most sources I've looked at seems to agree that what *probably* happened is that Mattel looked at what little girls found cool - aka, singers on MTV, dressed in bright colors and funky jewelry - and also did some research to find out what the hot trends are. And where do you go to find the hot trends? Go to the hot clubs! It's worth noting that we can't be 100% sure, because Mattel hasn't ever talked about the process behind creating Earring Magic Ken. Actually, they don't like to talk about him much at all. Strange.
What we do know is that within two years of the focus group, Mattel had given Ken a makeover. You can check out Ken's look [here](https://www.nyhistory.org/blogs/earring-ken-proud-billy-new-york-historical-celebrates-pride-two-new-acquisitions), but I'll break down the basics.
First, he had platinum blonde highlights. And he was wearing a leather(?) purple vest over a mesh purple top in a look that I'd describe as "so tacky it circles back around into being kind of awesome." Like Tyler Durden's fur coat and bright orange pants. The key is confidence!
Per the name, Ken also has an earring in his left ear. Interestingly, Mattel *did* expect some pushback from this line, but they thought it'd be about the earring, which in hindsight is hilarious. But it does make sense from their perspective; in the early 90s, men wearing earrings wasn't exactly mainstream or accepted fashion. But, times were changing, Mattel reasoned. You see more and more guys wearing earrings nowadays, and Ken should keep up with the times. People might complain, but so what? Little girls would love it.
The most important detail to note for our story is Ken's necklace; a long chain with a big, silver ring on it. Now, Mattel will swear up and down that the ring is meant to match Barbie's accessories - he can even wear some of the charms from her bracelet on his necklace, how cute! And, to be fair, all the Barbies in the line wear rings like this, too, on their belts.
Mattel had *greatly* misunderstood those pretty necklaces that some guys were wearing out to the club. But they didn't know that yet. (As I stated in the Hobby Scuffles thread, there must've been at least one employee - probably several - who *did* know that and could make a couple predictions about how this was gonna go, but they couldn't say anything without explaining *why* they knew that. Or maybe they just thought, "Oh, this will be *hilarious*.")
Earring Magic Ken was released in 1993.
# Ken-sation!
Honestly, whoever set up that focus group with those little girls must've been spiking the football when Earring Magic Ken hit the shelves. Because the grand plan to make Ken cooler and sell more toys? Reader, it fucking *worked*.
Earring Magic Ken was not a standalone doll, but rather, a one in a collection of six. The "Earring Magic" collection featured Barbie and her friends in bold, bright colors, with their hair done up in big bouncy curls, with flashy, sparkly earrings. You can check out the other dolls [here](https://www.flickr.com/photos/20837663@N08/4671335912). (Wikipedia says it was six dolls, but for the life of me I cannot find a picture with all six dolls in it, so unless someone has one they'd like to drop in the comments, you'll have to settle for five.) Each doll comes with a pair of clip-on earrings for the owner to wear and match with their doll.
By all accounts, all the dolls in the line sold well, but none more so than Ken. I have to imagine they were pouring the champagne over at Mattel - the line was doing great, and for the first time ever, Ken was outselling Barbie. Hell, they couldn't keep that doll stocked!
Earring Magic Ken was the bestselling Ken doll of all time when he came out, pun intended. (Whether or not he still is is unknown.) He was inevitably the butt of some gay jokes; a man wearing an earring? Absurd! Frosted tips? Hilarious! A mesh top? Get out of here! In many ways, it was the same kind of jokes late night hosts would crack about male pop stars who dressed flamboyantly. Annoying to some, sure, definitely at least slightly homophobic, but ultimately, nothing Mattel didn't probably see coming. And, hey, kids clearly loved Ken's new look. They were raking in the cash, so what did they care what adults had to say?
And then one man, like the child who finally points out that the emperor is naked, was brave enough to stand alone with his head held high. And he said:
"That doll is wearing a fucking cock ring."
# People Notice the Cock Ring
I didn't know until I started research for this post that the "whistleblower" as it were in this whole rainbow debacle was Dan Savage. But now that I do know that, I am not even slightly surprised. Like of course it was him. For those of you who don't know who he is, Dan Savage is a relationship/sex advice columnist. He's openly gay and known for being very sardonic, very blunt, and, depending on who you ask, very funny or very obnoxious. Sometimes both. His column, Savage Love, has been going since 1991, and he also has a podcast by the same name. (He also started the It Gets Better Project, which is neat.) To give you an idea of his general vibe, his catchphrase is "dump the motherfucker already," aka DTMFA.
It really is no surprise to me that when Dan Savage sees "cock ring," he *says* "cock ring."
See, Ken's outfit wasn't just any old clubwear. It was *gay* clubwear. It was stuff that gay men were wearing to raves and nightclubs and parties.
And that necklace? Yeah, that circular "pendant" would be a cock ring. As u/ginganinja2507 put it in 4/10/23's Hobby Scuffles thread: *"yeah if it had been barbie finger sized it would've probably not raised any eyebrows but it is. not that size."*
Obviously, Dan was not literally the first person to notice this, but his article helped bring the conversation from "this doll looks kinda gay with his vest and his earring" to "no, y'all, this doll is literally wearing a gay sex toy. He's gay."
The irony that this doll with no genitalia was wearing a cock ring was lost on nobody.
I'll let Dan himself explain, in his article "Ken Comes Out." I linked to the article in my sources below if you want to read the whole thing.
>*When they’re not fashion statements, cock rings are worn around the base of your cock or your close personal friend’s cock if you don’t have one of your own. Slip one on when you’re soft; once you’re hard, it traps blood in the penis, increasing sensitivity and prolonging orgasm.*
>
>*Chrome cock rings like Ken’s were long worn by the leather crowd on the shoulders of their biker jackets (left for top, right for bottom). In the waning years of our long national nightmare (aka the Reagan-Bush years), younger gay-boy-activist types with brand-new leather jackets took to wearing cock rings on whichever side looked best or, to the horror of the leather crowd, on both sides. Tops? Bottoms? Versatile? Clueless? Who knew? Then dykes started wearing them—cocks or not, they didn’t want to miss out on any of the sex-positive accessorizing.*
>
>*Cock rings exploded (ouch!)—as vest zipper pulls, as key rings, as bracelets; rubber ones, leather ones, chain ones. But the thick chrome variety, the Classic Coke of cock rings, was and is most often worn as a pendant. Chrome cock ring necklaces became de rigueur rave wear. For about a year every gay boy at a rave was wearing at least one—these cock rings were often pressed into service later in the evening, to help totally tweaked ravers keep up what the X was pulling down.*
>
>*On closer inspection, Ken’s entire Earring Magic outfit turns out to be three-year-old rave wear. A purple faux-leather Gaultier vest, a straight-out-of-International Male purple mesh shirt, black jeans and shoes. It would seem Mattel’s crack Ken-redesign team spent a weekend in LA or New York dashing from rave to rave, taking notes and Polaroids.*
What I find especially funny about this is the fact that Ken wasn't just wearing gay clubwear, but *outdated* gay clubwear. I feel like Barbie would be more affronted by that than anything.
So, a lot of those astronomical sales turns out to have come from adults buying the doll not for a kid, but for themselves. This is nothing new; loads of adults collect fashion dolls, either because they find a specific doll really beautiful or interesting, or they consider it to be culturally significant, or it has a schtick or branding that aligns with another interest of theirs. In this case, a lot of the buyers were gay men, who found the doll hilarious and honestly, kind of iconic. (In a bit of anecdotal evidence, my mom, who's always had a lot of queer friends and remembers when this all went down, says she knew gay men who owned multiple "Cock Ring Kens." I assume some were given as gifts, but I also know people who would definitely have, like, four of these guys around just for the hell of it.)
It's worth noting that Ken, to quote Savage again, "always read kind of gay." I'm guessing it's a combination of the fact that Ken often wears soft, pastel colors (to compliment Barbie!), rides around in a pink sports car (he's a passenger princess!), and, well, look at that hair. I've always seen jokes about how Barbie is Ken's beard... or maybe they're each other's beards.
While some of this is pure "haha, man cares about appearance is gay! Children's characters being gay is funny!" coming from cishet people, I do know a lot of queer people (myself included) on social media who love Barbie and Ken, and consider them to be "ours," whether because Ken is a bit on the "meterosexual" side (to resurrect a term that died in 2008), or because Barbie is an ultra femme icon, or because of the campiness of the franchise, or because some of those direct-to-DVD Barbie movies are kind of sapphic (hello, Diamond Castle), or because the franchise was near and dear to us as children and we want to make it our own in adulthood. I think that's why Earring Magic Ken was such a hit; not just because of the inherent hilarity in Mattel unknowingly making Ken a gay club-goer, but because, in a batshit, accidental way fueled by capitalism, he *is* ours. I know I'd love to get my hands on one.
# The Aftermath
Obviously, once the alarm rang that Earring Magic Ken was getting the nickname Cock Ring Ken, and for good reason, Mattel issued an apology and the doll disappeared from shelves. Cowards!
EDIT: I originally said there was a recall, and many articles on this whole thing say this. However, as u/InevitableBohemian pointed out, it's hard if not impossible to pinpoint where that claim started, and no contemporary articles about a recall seem to be out there. It seems highly likely that the doll was simply discontinued and unsold dolls were pulled from shelves, but that the "recall" detail is an exaggeration.
They adamantly denied that they'd meant to put a cock ring on a Ken doll, because of course they did. To be clear, I do believe them - there's absolutely no way they would've let that go through on purpose. But it did give us this amazing quote from Lisa McKendall, who was working for Mattel's marketing department at the time.
>We’re not in the business of putting cock rings into the hands of little girls.
Incredible.
# The Legacy
Earring Magic Ken is still famous in the Barbie enthusiast community. It's one of the first stories you hear when you get into dolls as an adult collector/enthusiast, and these days, he's highly sought after. (As of this typing, a new Earring Magic Ken goes for $179 on ebay. A commentor on the lot said they have one, which they keep next to their Cher doll, which - amazing, incredible, no notes.) This is one of my favorite stories to tell to people who don't know much about dolls, so writing this up has been an absolute joy. I really hope this Ken gets a cameo or a reference in the movie, because it's such an iconic story and doll; it's just the right blend of camp, corporate cluelessness, funny, and audacious to be not just a memorable scandal, but one that's looked back on with fondness. (Seriously, it is so nice to talk about a drama where the worst outcome was some embarrassment.)
I think Dan Savage put it best:
> The little girls of our great nation wanted a hipper Ken, and Mattel gave them a hip Ken. A queer Ken.
He may have only been on shelves for six months, but Ken and his purple mesh shirt and his glorious, glorious cock ring will live on in our hearts forever. Amen.
# Sources
* My mom, when she could stop laughing.
* [Ken (doll)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_(doll))
* [Earring Magic Ken](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earring_Magic_Ken)
* [Barbie Media: Ken Timeline](http://www.barbiemedia.com/ken/timeline.html)
* [How Barbie's Boyfriend Ken Became an Accidental Gay Icon](https://money.howstuffworks.com/barbie-earring-magic-ken-gay-icon-1993.htm)
* [The True Story of Mattel Accidentally Releasing a Super Gay Ken Doll](https://www.intheknow.com/post/earring-magic-ken-gay/)
* [Ken Comes Out](https://chicagoreader.com/news-politics/ken-comes-out/)
* [Toys Will be Toys: The Stereotypes Unravel](https://www.nytimes.com/1993/02/11/garden/toys-will-be-toys-the-stereotypes-unravel.html)
* [Earring Magic Ken and “Out and Proud” Billy: New-York Historical Celebrates Pride with Two New Acquisitions](https://www.nyhistory.org/blogs/earring-ken-proud-billy-new-york-historical-celebrates-pride-two-new-acquisitions)
I do not know how to respond.
...Penis blast?
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