#I added the colored background and lighting just because I wanted to embellish a bit

[quibbs126]

I was wondering why I wasn’t getting any notifications for my new art (like I know Tracks isn’t the most well known character, but still), then I remembered that I finished it like 8 minutes before I had to go to work, so that’s why

Well I’m on break now, so might as well write the post

So yeah, I drew Tracks this morning. Saw Auto-Bop, made me realize I think Tracks is pretty neat, and afterwards I proceeded to draw him

It’s mostly based on his g1 design (not that he has many others), though I tweaked the wings a bit to more resemble his Animated self and did my own thing with the helmet. I really wish I was able to do my own thing first try with the rest of the body, but oh well

I also tweaked some colors here and there

He originally had something more similar to a chevron, but I decided to change it and it ended up like this. It’s the wrong angle, but I think it looks good

Also I swear it looks like Knock Out’s helm, but I haven’t looked at his design to check. Tracks also having Breakdown colors and a posh sounding voice really don’t help him beat the KOBD love child allegations, even if he predates both of them (I haven’t even seen the Stunticons yet in g1). I don’t wanna relegate him to that but he does look similar

But yeah for the most part, I’m pretty proud of how he turned out. If only I could give him a proper, more modern redesign. But oh well, not at that level yet

Would be even better if Hasbro just put Tracks into more stuff. He’s a car that can fly, you can use him in stuff. And give him a human bestie like Raoul

[romillys]

hi everyone! so glad this is back!

romilly ‘mila’ van der woodsen was spotted in the fashion district adorning the jimmy choo thyra 100 jewel-embellished suede heeled sandals , with some airpod pros on . they’re most likely listening to blinding lights - acoustic by victoria voss . you may know them as romillys or as that casimere jollette lookalike . their twenty fourth birthday just passed . while living in  the upper east side , they’ve gained a bit of a reputation . they’re known to be defensive but on the other hand hard-working . wonder if they’ll be the next person to hit the headlines . ( cis woman / she/her + elle / 23 / she/her )

* character questionaire .

01. if you have three words to describe yourself , what are they ?

focused, daring, confident.

02 . what is your favourite alcoholic drink ?

it’s definitely wine. i used to only drink white but i’ve become really fond of red. my grandpa gave me a bottle of  1982 latour for my twenty first birthday and that was easily the most impressed i’ve ever been with wine. i’m not going to be basic and say dom perignon.

03 . what is your favourite season and why ?

i’ve always loved winter because of the associations of ballet and the performances of the nutcracker. it’s always help a special place in my heart and i continue to feel the same after all these years. plus, i love the parties and dressing up, feel like i can go more glam with more diamonds and sparkles than in the summer.

04 . what’s the most spontaneous thing you’ve ever done ?

it would have to be when i drunkenly booked a vacation to dubai for myself and a few friends after a wine and movie night. i spent a ridiculous amount but the trip was fun and i can safely say my friends and i still talk about it.

* character biography .

the only grand daughter of olivier van der woodsen, romilly would grow up surrounded by luxury olivier was the founder and controlling shareholder of woodsen enterprises, a company has investments in various industries including auto parts, energy, metals, rail cars, casinos, food packaging, real estate, and home fashion. it was more than enough for him to provide for his son and daughter-in-law and now his grand-daughter. like her parents before her, romilly was born into privileged and lived comfortably in an upper east side penthouse where she was waited on by endless nannies and housekeepers. her father was involved in the family business, hoping to be handed olivier’s shares one day but the other showed no sign of willingly stepping down any time soon; her mother a self-absorbed socialite that had her own ideas of how to dominate society meant that childcare did not land with either of them.

her parents were difficult to communicate with and this lead to many nannies leaving just when romilly had started to become attached. they were the closest thing to love that she had received but as they left constantly she would grow up with a great sense of inadequacy. they weren’t in love and it seemed the both of them only valued their own sucesses, not each others. as she grew up, she would become her grandfather’s favourite and it would leave both her parents with green eyes...

romilly always liked dancing and had a special connection with music. every time she heard it she wanted to move. she was too young to understand it but she had natural musicality. when they realised that it was harder for the help to stay, they pushed her onto olivier with the hope that she’d be a distraction to pressure him into taking a step back. The man, although one of the most powerful people in New York City, did have a soft spot for his granddaughter. he was the one that saw potential in her dancing as a child. he was quick to enroll her when she was six and everything else followed.

from that moment on, she would only look forward to dance and seeing her grandfather. he was the only one who understood her passion and was the one encouraging her at every stage. however, her parents were quick to criticise performances or her facial expressions when performing. no matter how hrd she tried, it wasn’t enough to impress them. she started distancing from them after that, only talking to her grandpa and looking to him when she needed emotional sport.

being accepted into the summer intensive programme for the school of american ballet was a game changer for her. she made good friends and loved breathing dance and being surrounded by people who had the same passion. she attended the same intensive two years running and her place there just felt right. the next year, she was enrolled as a full time student at the school of american ballet and moved into halls. it was a freedom she never had before and felt like it was her very first chance to have a real sense of community and support.

romilly worked extremely hard and was definitely one who focused on her success; that had seeped its way through from her parents. she was one of the lucky ones to become an apprentice at new york city ballet and the staff definitely took note. her skill level had almost been at prodigy level and she always maintained a ‘can-do’ attitute. she wouldn’t simply bend into the background.

this year, she became one of the youngest principal dancers in the company and it was the best day of her life. she had become a successful professional ballerina. she has also assisted with some choreography as her creativity has blossomed over the years. now her parents wanted to be proud of her and they did make an effort to see her, although it felt really strained from their side. they had ulterior motives but she wasn’t sure what.

romilly was hit hardest after the announcement of the death of olivier van der woodsen, her grandpa who she had loved so much. after the loss and added pressure, her personality has somewhat shifted. she’s out a lot more in clubs now, making out with people and deciding to lessen her control over herself. besides, she’s now a billionaire in her own right but can even comprehend how much money she actually has. she is more defensive and snaps at her co-workers a lot more. she’s secretive and does keep most things to herself. she’s embarrassed that she’s involved in family disputes over money that she never asked for and now worried that stories are leaking on the internet about her and have the ability to tarnish her image in the ballet world. she feels like if she doesn’t fix it soon, she’ll be on her way out of the company. still, she doesn’t help herself and continues to party and drink a lot more than she should do which leads to easily avoidable drunken stumbles that hurt her...

* extras .

profile:

Full Name: romilly annabeth van der woodsen

Nickname(s): mila, tiny dancer, ro

Age: twenty four

Date of Birth: december 19, 1996

Hometown: new york city, new york

Current Location:  new york city, new york  

Ethnicity: white

Nationality: american

Gender: cis woman

Pronouns: she/her

Orientation: bi romantic & bi sexual

Religion: none

Political Affiliation: none

Occupation: principal ballerina at new york city ballet

Living Arrangements: upper east side penthouse previously owned by olivier van der woodsen

Language(s) Spoken: english, french, chinese

Hair Colour: blonde

Eye Colour: blue

Height: 5′4″

Build: slender

Tattoos: none

Piercings: ears

aesthetics

a fully stocked wine cabinet, diamante earrings, chanel pumps, silk crop tops, crystal embellished stilettos, a pile of pointe shoes discarded in the corner of the main room, marble flooring, roof to floor windows, bobby pins gathering at the bottom of her purse, quickly applying glitter eyeshadow with her fingers, a collection of nude palettes and diamante earrings, deleting emails without reading them, golden chandeliers, rejected calls from parents, tops with puffed sleeves, berets, nineties colored purses, twenty hour days and booking trips aborad while under the influence.

[quickspinner]

MLValentines2k20 9. Cupid

Playing catch-up a little bit; I still have one more of these I want to finish before I call it done.

“Jagged,” Luka sighed, hands on his hips as he surveyed the set before him. “You know I usually trust your judgement, but I think your designer’s lost her mind this time.” He’d never met Jagged’s favorite designer, but Jagged had insisted they bring her in for this album cover. Jagged raved about her, but Luka generally tuned him out after the first few sentences. Jagged really only had two modes: total enthusiasm or absolute distaste. Either way, Luka always took his opinions with a grain of salt.

XY had bitched about her, but Luka had ignored that too, inferring from it only that the designer was attractive and that she’d had enough taste to shoot XY down. Luka hadn’t said anything, though. Speaking badly about the boss’s son was frowned upon even for up and coming rock stars. Unless Jagged decided to go independent and took Luka with him, they both had to put up with both Bob Roth and XY for now.

Jagged unknowingly mimicked Luka’s pose, giving away his uncertainty even though his words were confident. “Just...wait. Have a little faith. Let’s hear her out, I’m sure Marinette has a plan.” 

“Her plan better not involve making my album look like a perfume ad, Jagged.” Luka replied, wrinkling his nose. 

“I have asked you repeatedly to call me Dad,” Jagged said absently. 

“This is a disaster!” wailed a voice from the other side of the room. Luka and Jagged both looked that way to see a young lady in a business suit with her hands buried in her blue-black hair as she stared at the same set they’d been staring at. “This isn’t what I requested at all! This will never work, it’ll look like a perfume ad! How did this happen?”

“But Marinette,” said a saccharine voice that made Luka cringe. He couldn’t see the speaker but that voice made his skin crawl. “This is exactly what you asked for. I followed your directions.” The words that followed were smug. “To the letter.” 

“Oh my—” The young woman sighed, taking her hands out of her hair and straightening her back. She unbuttoned the coat of her suit and slipped it off, tossing it over the back of a chair and began unbuttoning and rolling up the sleeves of her blouse. “Right. Okay. This is not happening. Jagged and Luka will be here any minute and we’re going to do this shoot and it’s going to look amazing, and not like it belongs on the front of a Valentine’s card. When I was talking about Cupid, I meant the mythical Cupid, Lila, you know, the hot young guy with the bow, the literal embodiment of love and desire? NOT the chubby little baby cupid that sits on a cloud. You said you understood. Did you even look at the pictures I sent you?”

“But, Marinette, your notes said—” 

“Forget it,” Marinette said briskly, stepping up to the set under the lights. “I don’t have time for your excuses. I have to fix this.” She started ripping out the clouds. “Do we have any paint? Because there is no way we are photographing Luka Couffaine, the hottest rock star in the country right now, on this.” 

Holy hell, she was gorgeous, bold and determined and in charge, her feet planted as she reached up and pulled another piece of cotton batting down. She waved at the baby blue background. “Someone get me some black paint.” 

A hand waved in front of his face and he became aware of Jagged calling his name. He blinked and looked back at Jagged. “That’s your designer?” Luka asked inexplicably breathless.

“Best in the business,” Jagged said proudly. “Come on, wipe the drool off your face and I’ll introduce you.” 

Luka very much wanted to be introduced. He also wanted her phone number and a personal guided tour of the nearest supply closet. 

“Listen,” Jagged said, grabbing his arm and turning him so that the two men were eye to eye. “You watch how you treat her. I can make another son but I will never find another designer with that kind of talent, and if you piss her off I will put you right back on that boat with your mother where I found you, understand?

“Love you too, Dad,” Luka muttered, and Jagged apparently took that for agreement, hauling Luka forwards with him. 

“Marinette!” he called, and Marinette turned, a pretty smile lighting her face.

“Jagged!” Then she caught sight of Luka and her eyes widened slightly, the smile dropping immediately. “Mr. Couffaine!”

“Luka, this is Marinette, the most rock ‘n roll designer you’ll ever meet.” Jagged looped one arm around Marinette’s shoulders. “Tell us what you’ve got planned for us, Mari.” 

“Actually—well, I—” She only fumbled for a moment before she got her bearings back and straightened, stepping out from Jagged’s arm to turn to Luka with a professional air that didn’t make her one bit less attractive. Luka blinked at the not-quite-fake smile she gave him, absently noting the light smattering of freckles across her nose. “I’m so sorry, Mr. Couffaine, it seems there was a bit of a, er...misunderstanding and the set up is all wrong. I apologize for taking up your time but I’ll have this fixed as quickly as possible. In the meantime, is there anything we could get you while you wait? Would you maybe like a snack?” 

Jagged stepped on his foot before he could answer. It didn’t do much thanks to Luka’s heavy boots but it did remind him of Jagged’s threat. Not that that was necessary. Jagged was the one renowned for losing his shit in public, not Luka. No matter how much he really did want this particular snack, no one would know. Besides, he wasn’t XY. The woman was here to do a job, not entertain Luka’s fantasies, and he needed to get his mind off her very pretty mouth and back on the job.

Before he could come up with a professionally appropriate answer, though, another girl popped up at Marinette’s elbow. “Mr. Couffaine, if you’d like to come with me I’d be happy to make sure we find you something satisfying while Ms. Dupain-Cheng fixes her mistake.”

Luka recoiled slightly; this was the saccharine voice he’d heard before and it was even less pleasant up close. “No, thank you,” he said automatically, barely even glancing at her. “I’m fine.” He looked back at Marinette. “It’s fine, I don’t mind waiting. Honestly I’m relieved, I was a little worried when I saw the set.”

“Of course you would be,” the other girl said sympathetically, and Luka, who hadn’t moved his eyes from Marinette, saw the designer visibly grind her teeth.

Still, her tone was entirely professional as she said, “Lila, please go get us the black couch from the casting room, the one with the silver studs. I’m sure with your persuasive talents you can find some help to get it here.”

“Of course, Mar—Ms. Dupain-Cheng,” Lila said, and Luka doesn’t even have to look at her to know that her bright, helpful tone was completely insincere. She brushed past him, her fingers lingering on his wrist for a moment. He twitched it away without a glance in her direction.

“Well, if you’re sure you don’t need anything, Mr. Couffaine,” Marinette said, turning back to Luka. “Then if you and Jagged wouldn’t mind waiting, I hope I’ll have this cleared up shortly.”

“I have no doubt,” Luka replied, with a slow grin. “And please call me Luka, I hate being Mr. Couffaine.” 

“Of course,” Marinette smiled. “Feel free to call me Marinette. Jagged certainly does.” She made a cheeky face at his father, and Luka missed what Jagged said in response because Marinette laughed, and it was a beautiful sound and that was a real smile on her face and...wow, those eyes. 

His heart was suddenly pounding. Those eyes were familiar. Did...did he know her? He watched her, fascinated for a different reason, as she went over to take the can of paint from the assistant who’d brought it. She went with purpose to the backdrop, standing back for a moment as if to consider. Then she took a wide brush and began painting across the blue background in broad strokes that she left ragged at the edges. 

“I can change the color in post,” she mumbled. “Psyche’s lamp would be shining from...here, so this area stays light.” 

Jagged, easily bored as always, excused himself, leaving Luka there alone as Marinette made quick work of the backdrop. When she was done the smell of paint hung thick in the air but the scene was much better. A few more changes and the perfume ad look was replaced by a much grittier but still fantastical scene. The fluffy carpet was gone from the floor, revealing a hardwood platform. Marinette had taken some of the prop arrows and broken them in half (and watching her snap them like so many twigs had set his blood rushing again). Then she turned to Luka with a wide, much more sincere smile than she’d had before. “All right, I think we’re ready for our Cupid.” 

Oh...right. That was him. Luka sighed, but unbuttoned his shirt and took it off as he’d been instructed and removed his heavy boots, leaving him in his ripped jeans embellished with chains. He’d been through hair and makeup before they came. 

“We’ll start with you on the floor,” Marinette directed. “If Lila actually manages to get us the couch,” her tone seemed to indicate she thought it unlikely, “We can try that later and see what we like best. Vincent, can you show him where please?”

Luka followed the photographer’s directions and waited while they adjusted the lights. “I should warn you,” Luka said, glancing up at Marinette with a hint of trepidation. “I’m not a model or an actor. I’m not actually good at this part.” 

“I’ve seen you perform,” Marinette smiled reassuringly, and why were those eyes so familiar? “I’m not worried. If you can evoke that much emotion on stage I’m sure we can pull some of it out here.” 

Genuinely flattered, Luka smiled up at her. Marinette patted his bare shoulder. “It’s just another kind of performance,” she told him, and then she seemed to grow flustered, snatching her hand back. Luka couldn’t help a smirk. Marinette turned away, cheeks pink. 

Then it was business as usual, trying different poses while trying not to look bored out of his mind. Watching Marinette skitter about was entertaining, at least, but he couldn’t follow her constantly.

“He is so stiff,” Vincent complained, straightening and putting a hand on his hip. “Marinetta, can you not inspire the boy a little more?” Luka winced and sighed. Well, he warned her.

“Let’s take a break,” Marinette said, looking completely unbothered by this turn of events.

Luka sighed, sitting up and propping his elbows on his knees as she approached. “Told you,” he shrugged. Marinette knelt on the floor next to him and pulled out her phone. “Cupid brings love to everyone,” she told him, “but he never finds love himself until he meets Psyche. But he won’t let her see his true self until she comes into his room with a lamp while he’s sleeping. That’s what we’re going for with this shoot.” 

“Right,” Luka answered automatically. This had all been explained in the pitch, though he hadn’t paid all that much attention at the time. He actually didn’t get a whole lot of say in his album covers.

“Obviously we’re taking some liberties here,” Marinette continued. “Instead of being passive and asleep, you, as our Cupid, are finally ready to show your lover your true self, so you’re waiting for her to come in so you can really let her see you, and in doing so, allow yourself fall for her.”

His own music began to play from the speakers on her phone. She turned the volume all the way up, frowning in concentration. “There,” she said, looking up from the phone to meet his eyes. “The way you play the bridge, that’s what we’re looking for. That’s what inspired the shoot.”

Luka pursed his lips. The song was all about being ready to find love again after heartbreak, and the bridge was about that moment when you lock eyes with someone and choose to either look away or let yourself fall. It actually fit very well with the story Marinette had told him. He nodded slowly. “Play it again please.” 

Marinette complied, and Luka closed his eyes for a moment, letting himself sink into the music. Then he opened his eyes and looked at Marinette. Her lips parted in something like surprise, but she didn’t turn her gaze from him as she nodded slowly. “Yes. That’s it. Can you do that for the photos?”

“Can I look at you?” Luka asked. “It’s kind of hard just...staring into the lights.” 

Marinette’s cheeks pinked, but she nodded. “Okay. I’ll get Vincent to tell me where he wants you to look, and I’ll stand there. Don’t worry about the camera, just listen to the music and keep your eyes on me, okay? Vincent will do the rest.”

He felt the corner of his mouth tug into a smile, and had to take a breath to compose himself. “Yeah, okay.” Marinette smiled at him and again he was hit with that wave of familiarity. Luka tilted his head slightly. “Have we met before?” he asked. “You just...you look familiar.”

Marinette’s eyes widened in surprise, and then she looked mildly embarrassed. “I didn’t think you’d remember that.” 

“So we have met?” Luka asked, a little too eagerly. “It’s just—I swear I remember your eyes.”

Marinette blushed again, maybe even a little darker than before. “I went to school with Juleka. We, um, met on your mother’s boat once the year you left with Jagged. The music festival? You played with Juleka’s band and...I was there.”

Luka’s brow creased as he thought back to that day. “Ma-ma-marinette,” he whispered, a broad smile spreading across his face. 

Marinette made a face. “Oh good, you do remember.” 

Oh, he remembered. He absolutely remembered her now, as a skinny little kid with those beautiful eyes huge in her face as she babbled that they were ready for him to rehearse. She’d been so cute then, and he’d chatted her up a bit between the rehearsal and the concert, but then Jagged had come to the boat and everything had come out, and his whole life had been turned upside down, and he hadn’t seen her again. “Wow,” he breathed. “You’ve come a long way.”   

“So have you,” Marinette pointed out, giving him a hint of that cheeky smile she had turned on Jagged. “You’re a big rock star now.” 

“Oh, well I...yeah,” Luka slumped his shoulders a little bit, feeling his own face heat a little. “It’s been...well it’s been a trip, that’s for sure.” 

Marinette smiled. “You’re doing great. Are you ready to try again?” 

“Yeah, let’s do it,” Luka said, relaxing back into the reclining pose he’d been in. “Ready when you are.” 

“Okay.” She got up. “Hey Vincent?” 

Luka watched her, still marvelling that this confident little dynamo was the stuttering, blushing girl he’d met way back then. 

Well. She still blushed, he thought to himself with a smirk. 

“All right, we’re ready, Luka,” Marinette called, walking to a point off to his left. “Just like we talked about.” She played the song again, and Luka closed his eyes, getting into the music. Then he lifted his head and looked at Marinette, and she smiled. “Go, Vincent,” she said. “Just keep your eyes on me, Luka.”

Not a problem at all. The rest of the photo shoot was easier. Occasionally Marinette moved, directing Luka’s gaze to a different spot, while Vincent clicked away. Luka had long since stopped listening to the music she played. For one thing, he had a new song taking shape in his head...and for another, it was getting increasingly easier to look at Marinette like she was the girl of his dreams. 

Marinette was thrilled with the outcome of the photo shoot as she stood over Vincent’s shoulder, watching him click through the proofs. She knew immediately which series she would be using. The pose where Luka was half-reclined, looking off camera with an enraptured, expectant expression. He held one of the broken arrows in his hand, the point against his heart, ready to stab himself with his own arrow if it meant finding love again. She’d add wings made of light in post that would look electric against the dark background. She would darken the pale sky blue on the outside of the dark area she had painted to something that harmonized with Luka’s dyed hair, and then she would add a light source here for Psyche’s lamp…

It would be perfect. Not exactly like her sketch thanks to Lila’s sabotage, but just as good, if not better. She nodded in satisfaction, and went to tell Luka they had what they needed. 

He was hovering nearby, his shirt back on but only half buttoned. 

“You did great,” she told him, smiling. “I think we got everything we need. I’ll have the proofs in by the end of the week, but as long as you’re satisfied then I can say it’s been a pleasure doing business with you.” 

“Thanks,” Luka said, ruffling his hair as she was sure he’d been itching to do since the whole thing started. Most of it fell right back into place, stiff with product. He raised his eyebrows slightly. “So do you actually work for me, or…” 

“I work for Jagged most of the time,” Marinette replied, already checking her schedule on her phone for the next thing she had to do. “I suppose you could say I’m on retainer with him in a way. I work directly for him on his personal looks and concert gear when he needs me, and the rest of the time I run my own business. I’m not affiliated with the label unless Jagged brings me in for a project like this as an independent consultant.” She gestured vaguely, indicating the shoot. “So today, technically I work for Bob Roth,” both of them made a face, “But Jagged calls the shots.” 

Luka nodded slowly, and then ducked his head a bit, hunching his shoulders so he didn’t tower quite so far over her. “Well then. First let me say that Jagged said he’d kick me off the tour if I upset you.” Marinette gasped and Luka chuckled. “He told me that he could make another son but he’d never find another designer like you, and having met you now I completely agree with him.” Marinette sputtered, having no idea how to respond to that, and to her embarrassment Luka chuckled through his nose at her. “Okay now I really believe you’re that Ma-ma-marinette.” Marinette pouted, folding her arms as Luka continued. “I’m just telling you this because I want to make sure you know there’s no pressure on you for what I’m about to ask, and if you say no I won’t breathe a word about it ever again. Okay?”

Marinette blinked. “Okay.”

“So...with that said, I’d really like to take you out sometime. Would you go on a date with me, Marinette?” Luka grinned, and it wasn’t at all like the rock star smirk he wore for his fans. It was sweet and hopeful and more like the boy from the boat than anything Marinette had seen since that day so long ago, when he’d teased her gently and played music just for her. She’d never forgotten that day and his kindness and she’d been happy to see him doing so well as he followed his dreams. 

Marinette found herself smiling back at him. “I’d um...I’d be open to that, if Jagged’s okay with it. You might not be my boss but you’re still the boss’s son, and…” She shrugged helplessly.

“I get it,” Luka smiled. “You’re a professional, I know that.” He raised his chin slightly to look over her head. “Hey, Dad!” he called. Marinette’s eyes widened and she turned around to see Jagged poking his head back into the studio. “Can I date Marinette?” 

“Oh God,” Marinette whispered, anticipating Jagged’s reaction. 

“Just wait until we announce our engagement,” Luka chuckled as Jagged’s whoop carried across the studio, the man himself barreling towards them. 

Marinette looked back at him in surprise. “You’re sure of yourself.” 

Luka’s grin only widened. “I’m sure about you. Pick you up at eight tomorrow?”

Marinette managed a weak “O-okay,” and then Jagged was on them, and nobody else got a word in edgewise for quite some time.

[appleb0mb]

Hyacinthus Art Process! (Part Two)

Continuation of Art Process Below! 

Yes, I’m still a little annoyed about it here me out

No, wait - continue the post-

Step Five: Shading

THERE’S THE OVERBLOT- 

I started this one around the same day, October 22nd, 2020 -12:13 PM 

This time I added darker colors such as black and dark brown to give that f o r m 

As usual, I prefer this over the final product! I don’t know why-

Anyways for the following here’s what I used:

Robes - I used a light red or pink (same applies to the fingernails and the Hyacinths), + black to darken some of the areas

Skin-  Dark brown and a tiny pink 

Hair - Dark brown and black

Veil - Black

White stuff on his arm - Orange + hints of blue 

Upper Body - Light, light blue

Thingy holding his hair - Orange + hints of pink

Neck - Dark yellow + bits of orange 

Neck - Diamond - Dark blue!

Neck - Pearls (Blue stuff on neck) - Dark green (unsure, but hecka likely)

Thing on his Head - Orange + Light, light blue

Hyacinths - Red-purple...? (Unsure)

Chest - Orange + Blue + Red (blue and red particularly on the patterns)

Jewelry - Used bits of orange and light, light pink

Note: I made sure that I didn’t darken it too much so it would lose its color and keep your eyes on that p r i z e.

Step Six & Seven: Final Background + Dark Red Lineart+ Highlights

HEHEHEHEHEHEH (October 22nd, 2020 - 1:51 PM)

Unlike the past albums, I would try to highlight the characters in the album but then I asked myself,

“Shouldn’t Overblots be different? Such as...mysterious?”

And that’s when I started to derive my whole goal (I actually didn’t have a full idea now that I think about it) and made the whole art piece go down the drain. 

I still love it as much as much as Lupine (in terms of music) and Mystique (in terms of art), but I think the background and highlights really brought the piece down altogether. 

Back to the subject - Unlike my other albums where I used multiple pieces of lineart to make it look static, I used a full solid layer of red, blue and three layers of black to give this result of a darkened layer.

Plus, I only used one layer (so 1 copy of the lineart) in a dark red in the exact same position as the original lineart, and just made it slightly noticeable for you guys to see (in this case, you can’t).

As for the highlights, I used two of the black layers to highlight the jewelry and his skin, so that it can be seen and embellish the painting above.

Step Eight: Darker Effect + Title -> Final Piece!

Oh yeah I added a darker effect cause I want it to be super ominous-

No seriously! For Step Seven I felt like it was a little too revealing for an Overblot, so I made it darker to add the ominousness and mystery of Overblots! Also I needed to put the title somewhere-

Meanwhile, I’m really happy that I went out of my comfort zone for this album, and especially how Jamil looks here (kind of). 

Though, just because it’s out of my comfort zone doesn’t mean I can’t do any better. 

I’ll definitely strive to do different types of stuff for the Overblots. So yeah! 

After this album, I’ll likely do a character design sheet of Scarabia, and finish requests in my inbox! There’s more stuff coming up, so please - stay tuned and continue along this weird thing of an AU.

Completion of Album Cover: October 22nd, 2020 - 2:44 PM

Time Taken: 2 days 

Release of Album: October 23rd, 2020 

Anyhow...

Thank you for supporting the fan-made music (and art) of Twisted Wonderland x Date A Live! 

Don’t mind me I’m just giving off happy brr vibes

Curious? Hyacinthus [ Art Process - Part One ] here!

[fortheloveoffanfic]

The One That Stays

Keanu Reeves x reader (A/n- Last week’s chapter had so many typos that it wasn’t even funny. This is very late, but I kept getting distracted.)

Chapter1  Chapter2  Chapter3  Chapter4  Chapter5  Chapter6  Chapter7  Chapter8  Chapter9  Chapter10  Chapter11

Chapter 12- Matrimony 

“Watch you spin around In your highest heels You are the best one Of the best ones.” -Dashboard Confessional, Stolen (Slow version.)

After the incident at his house, Y/n and Keanu had talked, not argued that time, but simply talked. He had been honest, telling her that it might only get worse from then on, and it had. Somehow, they had found her work and her apartment building and even if they weren’t shoving cameras in her face, the paparazzi were always lurking where she couldn’t see them. Pictures of her had started to make the rounds on the internet, along with speculations and of course, the occasional insult.

Who was the woman that had stolen Keanu’s heart?

Had he ever smiled like that with other women?

She’s spending a lot of time at his place, is she moving in soon?

How long had they been dating?

Why is she so young?

Where’d he even meet her?

The last one was one that Y/n couldn’t really get. Was it an insult? A compliment? It didn’t really sound like either. They had even managed to find out some of Y/n’s personal information, her name, her birthplace and where she went to school. Ah the woes of the internet!

Much to Y/n’s surprise though, there had also been the rare compliment and at some point through out the past week and a half, she had built up a small following; a tiny clique on social media that had already become obsessed with her. They fawned over the way she dressed, her make-up, how pleasant she seemed even if they’d never even met her and how much they admired that she had substance in her own right; she didn’t need Keanu’s fortune for stability, she was her own woman, not ‘arm candy waiting to cash in on his next paycheck’. 

Above the insults, the compliments and the questions being hurled her way, Keanu had been the loudest voice, and the holder of the only other opinion that really mattered in that situation. After the tour bus had gotten as many shots as they could, he’d been sure to make ensure that she was okay before telling her that they really only had two options moving forward as a couple; come clean and tell the fans what they wanted to hear, or keep running around and stealing kisses in the shadows. Keanu had told her to take all the time she needed to think it over, and that he’d be fine with either, as long as they were still together, but a week and a half later, Y/n could see through the cracks of his cool persona. He wanted an answer. 

It wasn’t like she hadn’t been debating it though, she really had. But with all the stress of Julie’s wedding, she found herself incapable of making a decision. Neither seemed to be the right one. On one hand, coming out as a couple meant that their lives would be on display, she’d never have the privacy she did before and there wasn’t a thing of her relationship that would just be there. But on the other, sneaking around was hard and there were only so many places in L.A that offered quiet calmness and good entertainment; by then being followed and going on regular dates seemed synonymous with each other. 

Even as they had navigated LAX, readying themselves to board the plane to Las Vegas, cameras were aimed at their faces and invasive questions shot their way. Thankfully though, things seemed to cool down upon their arrival at the hotel where Julie and Eric’s wedding would take place; right at the poolside.

The three days since they had landed went by in a blur and between making last minute changes to the menu and compiling the final guest list, Y/n had barely found a minute to enjoy the beginnings of their trip with Keanu. 

“You have your tux, right?” Y/n asked, checking through her bag again, making sure she had everything so she wouldn’t have to hurry back to their room in the midst of getting ready.

Keanu sauntered out of the adjoining bathroom, towel over his imitate areas riding low on his hips. Biting her lips, it took an insurmountable level of will power to even shift her gaze from his faintly defined ‘v’ line to his eyes. Keanu didn’t have one of those ‘gym bods’ that so many women fawned over, instead, he had the faintest definition at his chest and a soft stomach, but Y/n loved every part of it. He was real, and he was hers. Chuckling, Keanu approached her, his hair still wet from his shower, though his skin a bit toweled off, “See something you like?” He teased, grabbing her hips, his hands slipping under the hem of her pale yellow blouse.

“Maybe,” Y/n giggled, her hands skimming Keanu’s forearms and biceps, settling on his shoulders. Standing on the tips of her toes, she caught his lips in a deep kiss, yelping when his hands slid around her back to cup her ass, squeezing gently, “Don’t do that!” She protested, a wide grin still splitting her lips.

“Why not?” Keanu taunted, going to nibble on her lower lip, his words muffled by his lips on hers, “Seems like you’re enjoying it.”

Trying, though weakly, to push away, Y/n protested feebly, “I have to go get ready with Jules, that’s why. The wedding is in a few hours.”

“Wedding always start late,” Keanu counted, reeling her back in.

“Not this one,” Y/n objected. When she finally untangled from his embrace, very reluctantly so, it was hard to not give into Keanu’s playful pout, “We’ll have tonight, and the rest of this week.”

“Fine,” Keanu feigned annoyance; huffing as he looked away, folding his muscled arms across his broad chest, “As long as you promise.”

Sighing, Y/n rolled her eyes and biting back a soft smile, she closed the distance she had just put between them, placing her hands on his elbows, “I promise,” she emphasized, “Now, you never answered me about your tux.”

Leaning down to gently tap his forehead to Y/n’s, Keanu chortled quietly; that was probably the sixth time that she’d asked if he’d brought along a tux, and that was just since they’d gotten there. “It’s still right over there,” he pointed to the armoire where a black garment bag hung of one off the brass knobs.

“Right, right. Sorry,” Y/n shook her head, exhaling loudly, “I’ve just been...”

“Stressed?” Keanu lovingly pecked her forehead, “I know baby, it’s okay.”

“Yeah,” Y/n breathed, her grin faint, cuddling to Keanu’s chest so she could warp her arms around her middle, “Why are weddings so much work?”

Hugging her back, her fingers soothingly rubbing up and down her spine, Keanu bent his head so he could bury his nose in Y/n’s hair, “Because they’re special, and special things take work sometimes.”

“So wise,” Y/n hummed, only pulling away from their embrace when she felt her breathing even out and her heart slow; leave it to Keanu to be the eye of the hurricane, the sheltered harbor in the storm. “I should head upstairs.”

“Yeah,” Keanu kissed Y/n briefly after he’d walked her to the door, “I’ll see you later,” he waved, watching as she shrunk with distance, finally disappearing into the elevator. 

Three hours later From the glass panes on the door separating the hotel’s downstairs dining hall from the gorgeous pool area, Y/n could see how the small team of hired decorators had gone all out. A white carpet peppered with colorful flower petals lined the pathway towards the alter, which had been set up before the pool; the man-made waterfall providing the perfect background. White chairs adorned with baby pink and rose gold chiffon drapes and flowers flanked the walkway and on the right sat Julie’s guests while on the left were Eric’s The setting sun casted a dark orange hue over the environs and the mood was perfected by short candles, set in mason jars floating carelessly in the pool.

The officiant stood behind a white, short pillar, hands slipped into his pockets as he awaited the start of the ceremony. Not too far off from the greying man, was Eric, dressed in a light brown tux, nervously rocking back and forth as he awaited his bride. Next to him stood his best man and, several feet to their left, the string quartet had set themselves up, adding a melodious backdrop for the buzzing chatter. 

Y/n briefly glanced at Julie, who stood anxiously at her side, holding her bouquet in a death grip. She looked beautiful, her white tea length dress embellished with glittering rhinestones, a two-inch thick ribbon belt at her waist and capped lace, sleeves barely going over her shoulders. Julie and Y/n had spent hours the week before, searching for the perfect dress, though, when the clerk at the last boutique they had visited brought that one out, Julie had known from just the sight of it that she had found the one. The ivory silk and number looked like it was made for Y/n’s best friend. Her blonde hair had been pinned strategically with bejeweled accessories, her vintage netted veil falling over her face. Upon seeing her for the first time, Y/n had almost teared up; her closest friends, someone who had become family over the past twenty-five years, getting married, and she was right there at her side while it happened.

“You ready?” Y/n turned to Julie, who was buzzing with nervous energy.

Letting out a breath, Julie met Y/n’s eyes, her own wide and worried, “I don’t know,” blinking back unshed tears, she shook her head, “Y/n/n, what if this is a mistake, what if you’re right?”

Y/n furrowed her brows, fighting the urge to drag her red stained lips through her teeth. At first, Y/n had thought that Julie getting married so soon couldn’t be anything but a mistake, but then, it was clear that Y/n had only been projecting her own fears onto her friend’s relationship. And by the way Julie and Eric looked at each other, it was clear that above everything, they loved each other, just like she loved Keanu. Sighing, Y/n rubbed Julie’s shoulder affectionately, “It’s not, and I was wrong. Jules, you love him, and that man out there,” she pointed to Eric, “Loves you.”

Straightening her back and passing a hand over the skirt of her dress, Julie nodded firmly, “You know, I always thought you’d get married first,” at that Y/n just chuckled, rolling her eyes, and Julie continued, “But maybe yours will be the next wedding I go to.”

Y/n hadn’t ever though of her wedding being in the near future, but settling down was something she had always wanted. Maybe with Keanu, the thought, and its realization, wouldn’t be so far off. “Maybe,” was all she said in return.

At the nod of one the hotel’s staff that had been recruited for the wedding, the music changed from a serene instrumental piece to the Wedding March. A couple other staff members pulled the double doors open just as the gathered guests stood. It wasn’t a lot, just a few from either side, and Y/n could easily make out her own parents in the third row; Julie was like a second daughter to them, there was no way that they’d miss her wedding. Keanu sat, looking as dapper as ever, at the nearest end of the second row, one of Julie’s cousins next to him. 

Slowly, and arm in arm, Y/n and Julie walked up the aisle, the sound of cameras shuttering and clicking adding to the music and the trickle of the water. In what felt like no time, Y/n was tearing up again as she pecked Julie on the cheek and briefly hugged her soon-to-be, sort of, brother in law. “I’m so happy for both of you,” she offered softly, before taking her place as not only the maid of honor, but also the only bridesmaid. 

Julie handed over her bouquet and at some point, someone else gave her one of the rings to keep until they were ready for it. The lovely ceremony went off without a hitch and as the officiant recited a poem about love, Y/n searched the crowd, easily meeting Keanu’s eyes, smiling as his own grin widened. “I love you,” she mouthed just before Julie and Eric exchanged vows.

Putting his hand over his chest, he returned soundlessly, “I love you too.”

By the Julie and Eric had been pronounced man and wife, it was near night floor and before Y/n could reunite with Keanu, she’d stayed back with them to take pictures. The photo session had taken nearly hour and by the time she was finished, just in time to head back inside before the some one to announce the newly weds, she was all but falling into Keanu’s arms.

“Hi,” she sighed breathily, not hesitating before sinking into his arms, “It’s over, mostly,” she giggled.

Keanu chuckled, basking in their embrace as he pushed off the bar counter, “It is.” Even when they pulled away, Keanu’s hands lingered on Y/n’s arms, “I can’t believe I’m just now getting the chance to tell you how beautiful you look, a vison in pink,” he praised.

“Aww,” Y/n cooed, blushing, “Thank you,” for emphasis, she did a little curtsy; pulling on the skirt of her short dress. Since she had been the only bridesmaid, Julie had given her most of the power in choosing the dress, only asking that she stay within the color-scheme. Ultimately, Y/n had gone with a knee length pink, sleeveless, chiffon with a conservative ‘v’ shaped neckline and a crossed back, exposing some of the skin there, pairing her ensemble a pair of heeled sandals and a decorative bandeau. “You look quiet dashing yourself,” Y/n winked, “Who knew you’d be so fucking hot in a suit.”

Keanu laughed a little louder, his hand reaching for Y/n’s hip, pulling her in so he could plant a kiss on her lips, “You really know how to flatter a guy, don‘t you?”

“You make it easy,” Y/n hummed in returned, their sweet, short, kisses morphing into a full blown make-out session, “I love you,” she managed in the short time between kisses.

“I love you too,” Keanu barely returned before her lips were on his again. His arms snaked her waist and Y/n maintained a loose grip on the lapels of his jacket.

They were so lost in each other that neither of them noticed the older couple standing a couple feet away, until a man cleared his throat loudly. Springing apart, Keanu smoothed his hand over his jacket and Y/n put her fingers to her lips, turning around to see the culprits, eyes widening, “Mom, dad!” She smiled tightly.

Stiffly, she approached them, and they each pulled Y/n into quickly hugs as Keanu kept a safe distance, observing silently, “Honey!” Her mother grinned, though anyone one could see that there was a district curiosity in her eyes.

Though, Keanu would take curiosity over the dagger-glares from her father any day. The man who looked nothing short of very intimidating, offered a stare that suggested that he was ready to strangle who ever the man sucking his daughter’s face was. “Y/n,” he tried to smile affectionately, “You never told her you were seeing someone new.”

“Roger,” her mother swatted at his chest, “What your father means is that.....well, dear, we didn’t know you had a friend.”

“A boyfriend,” Roger gave Keanu a steely once over, “Or, in this case, a man-friend.”

Exhaling, Y/n laughed nervously, “I.....guess it slipped me,” or rather, she had conveniently avoided telling them in fear of their reaction. It wasn’t that she was ashamed of Keanu; she could never be, but Y/n was terrified that her parents would hate him, besides she hadn’t let any boyfriend meet them since collage. “Dad, mom,” she nodded to them, moving back a little to take Keanu’s hand, urging him forward even though he seemed nervous, “This is Keanu, my boyfriend. And Keanu, this is my mom Maryann and my dad Roger.”

“He’s an actor,” her father observed bluntly, narrowing his eyes in skepticism, “They don’t treat their women right.” Roger took Keanu’s offered hand, squeezing tight as he gave it a firm shake.

“Daddy!” Y/n gasped, moving closer to Keanu, slipping her hand around his back defensively, “Keanu is-”

“No, its okay Y/n,” Keanu glanced down at Y/n, his eyes communicating to her that it was okay and that he didn't need her to stand up for him. Clearing his throat Keanu nodded stiffly at Roger, politely retracting his hand, letting it fall to his side. Turning back to her parents, Keanu stood up a little straighter and plastered on the sweetest smile he had, “I know that people in my career don’t have the best rap, but I can promise you that I have the best of intentions for Y/n. She’s,” he glanced Y/n again, that time with love and adoration, “The most remarkable woman I’ve ever met, and I plan on treating her well.”

Roger raised his head higher, seeing to regard Keanu in a new light. Everyone seemed to hold their breaths for his next words and Y/n sighed in relief when he finally spoke again, slapping Keanu’s shoulder, “I was wondering if you’d have the balls to stand up to me, can’t have by little girl running around with a whimp.“

That time, both Y/n and her mother gasped loudly, looking to her father who just chuckled quietly. Realizing that Roger wasn’t going to say much more, having already gotten what he set out to find, Maryann spoke next, seemingly a bit taken a back, “So, how did you two meet?”

“At a party, Julie introduced us,” Y/n’s breath shuddered as she hung on for her mother’s go at testing Keanu, “We started dating a little while after.”

Nodding slowly, Y/n’s mother hummed, licking her lips, “Okay,” her brows knitted, “It’s just.....” Maryann’s smile faltered, “Y/n/n, can I just, steal you away for a second?”

Stuttering, Y/n frowned deeply. “Sure,” she nodded hesitantly, pecking Keanu’s cheek before following her mother to a quieter corner. When they were a distance away from Keanu and her father, Y/n spared them one last glance before turning back to her mother, “Mom, what’s up?”

Maryann worried on her words for a few seconds, “I don’t want you to take this the wrong way,” she reached for Y/n’s hand, “But are you sure a man like Keanu is what you want?”

Tilting her head, Y/n frowned, fighting the urge to suck in a nervous breath, “What do you mean?”

“It’s just....well...” What a heavy sigh, Maryann finally relented, “He’s so much older than you.”

Scoffing, Y/n shook her head, “Doesn’t matter how old he is; I love him,” she determined, squaring her shoulders, ready for that interaction to be over.

“Doesn't matter?” Her mother’s disdain evident, “Y/n, he’s at least twenty years older than you. Don’t you think it’ll matter when he’s ready for things that you aren’t?”

“Like what? Kids?” Y/n rolled her eyes; she hadn’t meant for her words to come across as harsh, but she wasn’t about to stand there and let her mother condemn her relationship. In fact, that was why Y/n hadn’t mentioned Keanu to her over their phone calls in the first place; she adored her mother, but really didn’t want her bad-mouthing her relationship with Keanu. 

“What the hell does that mean?” Maryann’s teeth were gritted, signaling that Y/n had struck a nerve, “I just don’t want you to make the same mistakes I made!”

“So marrying dad was a mistake, huh? Or was it just having us?” Y/n ripped her hand away from her mother’s loose grip, folding her arms defensively across her chest. Around them, guests navigated the grand hall, their giddy laughter and excited chatter was a vast contrast to the conflict bubbling between Y/n and her mother.

Anger flared in Maryann’s eyes, “That is not what I meant!” She hissed loudly.

“But it’s what you meant every time you say you regret not living your life before you were forced to become a mother. Newsflash mom, I’m not like you, I want marriage and kids and everything you didn’t, and I want it with Keanu,” taking a deep breath, Y/n blinked back her tears, “You know what mom?  I don’t need this right now, or at all, I love Keanu and if you’re not okay with that, I’m sorry. I’m sorry because he means a lot to me and there’s nothing you, or anyone can say that will change my mind, and I’m sorry that you can’t accept him because of something as menial as his age. But I’m not sorry for loving him.” Sniffling, Y/n swiped at her eyes, “I should go mingle.....or something,” shaking her head, Y/n turned on her heel, stalking off.

“I’m just trying to help you,” her mother stressed, hand on her temple as Y/n walked away

Nodding stiffly, Y/n was too far gone, at least for now, to continue that conversation with her mother, “I don’t need your help mom, I just wanted you to be happy for me.”

”Maybe you should slow down a bit,” Keanu mused, reaching for Y/n’s glass, which she tired to move out of his reach, “I love you baby, but nobody wants a drunk bridesmaid, especially when you’re the only bridesmaid.”

Y/n hadn’t told Keanu what she and her mother had talked about, instead, she had opted to drown her anger with alcohol and hope that the hangover the next day wouldn’t be that bad. Maybe getting drunk at her best friend's wedding wasn’t her best idea, but nearly a bottle and a half of champagne later, she was a bit past caring. “Not drunk,” Y/n frowned when Keanu moved the bottle out of her reach, “You need to loosen up babe, we’re at a wedding, not a funeral.”

Keanu furrowed his brows, wondering if Y/n could hear the first hints of slur in her voice. He knew something was bothering her, and he knew it had everything to do with what had happened between her and her mother. If only she’d tell him. “We don’t need to be drunk because we’re at a wedding,” Keanu reasoned.

“Don’t need to be sober either. Besides,” she sang, clumsily pulling off her bandeau and brushing her hair out of her face, “We need to have fun,” Leaning in to Keanu, who sat on the chair pulled close to Y/n’s, she brought her face close to his, “Don’t you want to have fun Keanu?” Y/n’s lips were an inch away from his and just when he though she was going to kiss him, Y/n reached out, trying to sneak the bottle out of his hold.

Thankfully, Keanu hadn’t had half as much as his girlfriend and was able to react quickly, raising his hand over his head, leaving Y/n stumbling into him. With his free arm, Keanu kept Y/n from falling over, “Maybe we should get you some fresh air.”

“You wanna go outside?” Her features brightened significantly, the alcohol tinting her cheeks rosy pink. 

“Yeah,” Keanu chuckled at her childlike wonder, “Come on,” he helped her stand, leading her with a hand on her lower back, through the doors, out to where the ceremony was held earlier. 

Outside, some of the candles still burned in the water while most of the chairs had been shifted around, no longer reflective of the earlier uniformed elegance. The air was cool, which was surprising, and with the door now closed, the music was muffled, though not inaudible. Shrugging off his jacket, Keanu helped Y/n into it, smiling at how the dark material swallowed her up.

Keanu led them over to a couple chairs near the pool, where some decorative plants would guard them from any prying eyes, “Do you wanna talk about it?” He broke their silence.

“Talk about what?” She feigned ignorance, not looing at him directly.

“What happened between you and your mother,” Keanu draped his arm around Y/n’s shoulders, keeping her tucked at his side, “You know that you can talk to me about anything,” he kissed her temple.

“I know,” Y/n hummed, her eyes glassy, her voice soft, “I don’t think there’s anything to talk about. She’s thinks that I’m making a mistake, I don’t,” she shook her shoulders.

“You don’t think you’re going to regret being with me one day?” Keanu angled his head to catch a glimpse of her face. He hadn’t thought about it before, but now that it was out there, he couldn’t help but worry that he wasn’t the best thing for her. What would happen in twenty years, the space between them would look so different when they were older, when the shine wore off and a loving relationship turned into....whatever it would? What about one day, when he wasn’t with her anymore? Could he bare to put her through it, could she stand the thought enough to stay with him?

For the first time since they sat, Y/n smiled, snorting a laugh, “No, of course not. I don’t care about what the future looks like, as long as you love me in it,” Y/n smiled wistfully, twisting and reaching out awkwardly to brush some strands out of Keanu’s “Are you gonna regret being with me?” 

Smiling, Keanu tentatively squeezed her shoulders, “I could never.”

“Good,” Y/n’s grin widened, “I don’t want to talk about this anymore.” Standing abruptly, Y/n went over to a cleared spot in front of the pool, “We shouldn’t waste such a beautiful night dwelling on that.”

Leaning back into his chair, Keanu put one hand on his thigh, the other still hanging off of what was Y/n’s chair. She seemed so lost in her own little, drunken world. Spreading her arms out at her side, Y/n spun in a full circle, her dress flaring carelessly around her knees. Keanu regarded her with wonder and amazement, not fully understanding what good deed could have accounted for Y/n coming into his life. How had he managed to get so lucky, when just two months ago, he was alone. 

But there he was, at a wedding, with possibly the love of his life. Happy, contented and excited for the future. She had come into his life, and changed it, faster than he could have ever imagined. She captivated him with her beauty, enthralled him with her sweet voice and captured his heart before Keanu could realize it. Y/n was a hundred times better than anyone woman he could dream up; she was his own personal piece of heaven, and if he could be fortunate enough to spend the rest of his life with her, then he couldn’t care less if he’d make it to the golden gates that everyone talked about.

Licking his lips, he continued staring as she came over to him, giggling, “Come on,” Y/n urged, reaching for his hands, trying to pull Keanu off the seat.

“Where do you want to go?” He chortled as she lead him to the other side of the pool, far out of sight.

Holding onto his shoulder, she undid her shoes, tossing them to the side. “Right here,” she chirped, and for a minute, Keanu was worried that she was going to get in, though, Y/n just sat on the edge of the pool, dipping her feet up to her ankles. “Sit,” she encouraged, patting the spot next to her. 

Shaking his head, Keanu kicked off his shoes, took off his socks and rolled his pants up to his knees. From the minute he sat, Y/n put her head on his shoulder and he pulled her in at the waist, laying his cheek on her hair, “I love you,” Y/n said softly, “Like, a lot.”

“I love you too,” Keanu smiled, “Very, very much.”

Taking a deep breath, Y/n pulled away to meet his eyes, reaching over to lace her fingers with those of his free hand with his, “I want everything with you Ke. Everything.”

“I want that with you too Y/n,” he assured her, giving her hand a loving squeeze.

Smiling nervously, Y/n continued, finally making a decision that she had been pondering on for the past two weeks, “Good, because I think we should do it, because I don’t care if everyone knows, or hell, if no one knows. But I don’t see why we should make this harder than it has to be.”

Keanu stammered; he couldn’t believe his ears, “Are you sure? Maybe you shouldn’t make a decision like this after drinking so much.”

“I’m sure,” Y/n nodded, a light breeze rustling their hair, and she leaned forward to press a kiss to his lips, feeling his grip on her waist tighten, “I can’t see myself being with someone else; tomorrow or ever. Lets go public Keanu.”

Laughing breathlessly, Keanu pulled her in for a celebratory kiss, “Okay,” he agreed giddily when they broke, “Lets do it.”

******

Tagging- @harrisongslimited​ @soarocks​  @a-really-bi-girl​  @kindainlovewithkeanu​  @bophmometwolf666

[batgirl-87]

Summary: The end of Fifth year approaches including the End of the Year Ball where the school says goodbye to the graduating students. While normally missed to catch up on much needed rest after Cursed-Vaults adventures, the entire gang is attending because it is Bill’s last year at Hogwarts. However, their original plan to go together as a group begins to fall apart as one by one members acquire dates to the ball. With Charlie’s recent realization of his feelings, maybe this is the best time to share them.

Word Count: ~14k

Genre: Fluff 

Warnings: A little angst, language? (Swearing but in French and Irish and British slang)

Note: I wrote this for my MC/OC and Charlie since I’ve had this idea for a while and it’s sort of a personal headcanon (I hope that doesn’t deter you from reading!). I know it’s not my best work but it has been quite a while since I’ve written something like this and I am excited to get back into creative writing. This also ended up much longer than anticipated – sorry! I tried to break it up for easier reading (I made scene transition images and a header, I’m proud of myself!). Also I unfortunately am not in Fifth year yet in the game so reference to new friends is limited.

*The reference made to Charlie realizing his feelings and falling asleep together while studying may be another fic I write and if so I will link it here! 

Needed information about My MC: Nereida Adelyn-Keira Black, goes by her middle names – most call her Keira but friends have a variety of nicknames for her, Charlie likes to call her Ady; born in Ireland but raised in Canada – duel citizen; demisexual

Soundtrack Suggestions: Perfect – Ed Sheeran, Under the Stars – John Legend, It Was Written in the Stars – Ella Fitzgerald, All of the Stars – Ed Sheeran

Preview: He knew it was cliché but he swore this is what it felt like. The moment he saw her walking towards him time seemed to slow, only a bit, enough for him to admire the way the bottom of her dress floated behind her as she descended the stairs and the hint of silver shimmer that glimmered much like the twinkling stars with her movements. The voices and sounds of everyone else around them faded into the background until her laughter that filled him with such warmth was the only thing he heard. And he knew it sounded cliché but he swore, for a moment, everyone else seemed to vanish and all he saw was her. And when her stormy sea eyes met his, his heart skipped a beat, he forgot how to breathe, and time seemed to stop, just for a brief a moment, as he stood there, frozen, completely captivated and mesmerized. It was cliché. But that’s how he felt.

“What about this one,” Penny asked as she held up a black gown to her bewildered best friend. The popular Hufflepuff was quite giddy as their little curse-breaking group shopped in Hogsmeade for the upcoming end of the year ball, as if she hadn’t been asked to attend every year.

“Are we all wearing black because we’re mourning Bill leaving us,” Keira asked with a small smirk earning a look from the blonde as she pulled the dress away from the young woman’s frame and hung it back up.

“Come on. How often do we get the chance to go shopping, not for school supplies, and get to dress up and attend a ball where we can spend the whole night dancing and having fun? And after everything we have been through since attending Hogwarts we deserve at least one night of fun,” Penny insisted, and Keira had to admit the case she presented was difficult to argue against. When the dark haired girl failed to offer a rebuttal a smug look briefly appeared on the Hufflepuff’s face. The amateur curse-breaker spent most of her time researching and hunting down these cursed-vaults, determined to find her brother, while also managing to stay on top of her school work and somehow balance her new Prefect and Quidditch Captaincy responsibilities. Their group was pretty sure she never slept. They were always concerned for their friend who seemed to carry so much on her shoulders, yet rarely show the strain of it, and who was always the first to offer help to any of them no matter how small the task and never appeared too stressed with everything they were juggling. Hence Penny’s determination to not only have a fun day out shopping in Hogsmeade but a night of fun at the ball where they could relax and enjoy themselves and not be worried about exams or cursed-vaults or lost siblings – which, Penny herself now understood more than every after that year and losing her baby sister if even for a brief time compared to what her best friend was going through with her brother. But Keira helped her save her sister and Penny was more determined than ever to help Keira find her brother. But she was also just as determined to give Keira a break whenever she could and this ball was the perfect chance to have a whole night off!

Plus she knew how close Keira and Bill were, he quickly becoming a surrogate older brother for her, and him leaving was hard on her. Certainly they would write to each other all the time but it wasn’t the same as having him there. So this was also a good excuse to spend more time with him and have one last hoorah before he graduated.

“Therefore, your arms should be filled with dresses to try on in a classic montage style,” Penny informed before shoving aforementioned armful of dresses into the unsuspecting Slytherin’s arms. “And most importantly, we should be having fun!”

As her grey eyes studied the grinning blonde in front of her Keira swore the young potions master literally glowed and radiated light. “Okay, okay,” she easily conceded earning a squeal of excitement from her friend.

“We rarely get the chance to wear formal gowns and you two want to wear suits instead?” As Keira changed in one of the dressing rooms, after being pushed there by Penny, she overhead Penny scolding others in their shopping party and was relieved to no longer have the Hufflepuff’s focus set on her. Curiosity did get the better her of, as it normally did, and caused her to peek her head out from the privacy curtain to see Tonks and Tulip looking quite dapper as they posed in formal suits men normally wore to these types of events.

“Everyone expects women to dress up in big, poufy ball gowns,” Tulip retorted. And she of course, being her rebellious self, refused to abide by any set rules even social ones.

“Besides, we look good,” Tonks added proudly as she struck another pose.

Penny huffed and folded her arms before noticing Keira’s head poking out from her dressing room. “Keira,” she gasped excitedly, “Are you ready? Come out, come out, come out,” she urged practically jumping up and down. Keira took a deep breath before pulling back the curtain to her dressing room and stepping out in an emerald gown probably chosen for the color matching her Hogwarts house.

“You look beautiful, Keira,” Rowan complimented from her seat as she watched her friends try on possible outfits for the ball. Rowan had plans to wear a beautiful embellish saree from her mother so while she waited for her outfit to be sent to her she accompanied her friends in their journey to find the perfect outfit for the occasion and offer her advice and encouragement.

“Thank you, Rowan,” Keira replied with a small smile, thankful her friend and roommate was there. She knew Rowan would provide her honest opinion and genuine praise. “And you look beautiful as well, Penny. That dress brings out your eyes,” she complimented, smoothly turning the attention away from her and onto the blonde in a blue ball gown which did make her blue eyes pop.

“Thanks but I feel too much like Cinderella,” Penny replied earning some quizzical looks from the purebloods in the group who were unknowledgeable about muggle life. After a very brief re-telling of the age old fairy tale so the others could be brought into the loop the dress up montage continued and the friendly bickering easily turned into laughter.

The windy March weather sent a chill through the group of girls as they left the store after making their purchases. Although the end of the year ball would not be held until June, to ensure there would be enough time for alterations they went out to get them early. This recommendation was brought by Andre who also offered his services to make any further alterations to the gowns they chose, after the seamstresses as the store were finished with them, to “take them up a level.” None of them were exactly sure what that meant but Andre obviously had an eye for fashion and designed most of his own clothes which always looked nice so they felt they could trust him. He also offered, well more like demanded, to accompany the girls on their shopping trip to approve of their choices but they somehow managed to convince him it was a girl’s only trip to have some girl bonding time, alone, without any men around.

Tonks and Tulip clearly had decided on formal suits which, once tailored to fit them perfectly, Keira had to admit they would probably be the best dressed at the ball. Penny had found a laced white and golden yellow dress which suited her very well, at least the group thought so. For herself, Keira had decided on an ethereal ice blue dress with a lace bodice adorned with some silver sparkle and sleeve chain detail dangling across her shoulders, the lace and hint of silver shine gradually cascading down to the flowy skirt. Something about the layers of blue, grey, and ivory of the skirt, the sheen of silver, the airy yet graceful movement of the skirt reminded her of the sea which made her feel this connection to the garment. When her other friends agreed it seemed perfect for her she bought it without any hesitation. And she had to admit, now that she found a dress she actually felt beautiful in she was looking forward to the ball and any reluctance or insecurities she had about attending washed away with the wave like movements of the dress.

“I don’t understand how you can stand being out here without a jacket,” Penny remarked as she hugged her jacket to herself to shield her from the wind chill on that cloudy day.

“I was raised in Canada, you get used to the cold,” Keira replied, adjusting the sleeves of her shirt down over her hands. However the cold from the snow and cold from the wind were different. The still cold from a winter’s day was actually peaceful and calm while the chill from the wind seemed to sting right to the bone. And she hated the wind.

“I think it’s impressive,” Tonks said, throwing her newly discovered cousin a smile, earning one back. As the group of girls made their way through Hogsmeade to return to their school they ran into the rest of their gang leaving the Three Broomsticks.

“So, how did the shopping venture go,” Andre asked, studying the group of girls closely. Andre continued to question the ladies on their way back to Hogwarts about their shopping choices while Keira wisely fell a few steps back to avoid the conversation. The windy weather drowned out the conversation of those in front of her causing the young Slytherin to shiver. Okay, next time she would bring a jacket even if it did go against her cool, tough reputation she tried to uphold. Ugh, she hated the wind.

After another gust of wind sent another icy chill through her slender frame, Keira was surprised to suddenly feel a weight on her shoulders and a warmth spreading through her. She glanced briefly at the large jacket now draped over her shoulders before looking up at the smiling, dragon obsessed Weasley.

“You were cold,” Charlie answered her unspoken question.

“But… what about you,” Keira asked, motioning to the sweater clad Gryffindor who assured her he would be fine – he was always warm, which was true. He seemed to radiate heat which the always cold to the touch Slytherin appreciated. Besides, they were almost back to Hogwarts.

His assuredness convinced Keira to drop it instead of arguing with him and just graciously accept his jacket, which she truly was thankful for, more than he might know. She was so used to doing things for herself, struggling to let others help her with anything. Her friends were already putting themselves in danger by helping her find the cursed-vaults and her brother, she didn’t need to bother them with other, trivial things. She could take care of herself. But she had to admit it was nice having someone do something for her, take care of her, even if it was something little like offering her their jacket. Although it was a little weird to think someone had also been paying that much attention to her to notice her shiver a little bit at a gust of wind. Shouldn’t he be participating in the conversation instead of watching her? Weirdo…

“Thank you,” Keira said as she slipped her arms through the sleeves of his jacket. His kindness and thoughtfulness spread a warmth throughout her chest. He really did make her want to be a better person. “Hmm,” she murmured as she snuggled up in his oversized jacket, keeping her thoughts to herself.

“What? Is something wrong,” Charlie asked with some concern.

“No,” Keira quickly replied to reassure him, but as he continued to stare at her she knew that answer wasn’t enough to satisfy him. “It smells like you,” she explained, which should be obvious considering it was his jacket.

“It…. What,” Charlie asked, clearly not expecting that answer.

“It smells like you,” Keira repeated with a smile as a small blush began to spread across the Gryffindor’s face.

“Oh, well…I’m sorry, probably smells bad then,” he replied somewhat awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. With all his adventures roaming the Forbidden Forest plus sweaty Quidditch practices and games, he worried it might not smell the best.

“No, it doesn’t,” Keira replied with a small laugh causing the Gryffindor to blush more. “It smells good,” she assured him, throwing him another smile. “Kind of earthy, but sweet.”

Charlie stared at her a moment silently. Her description of his scent only made him redder in the face. Unaware to the amateur curse-breaker, the future dragonologist had recently, very recently, burst out of his oblivious bubble and realized that he may actually have feelings for her that were more than one felt for a close friend, primarily with the help of his older brother.

It had hit him harder than any bludger had but practically knocked the wind out of him all the same. The weird thing was there was nothing particularly special about that day or how it happened. The gang was studying in the library, well in the Study Area to avoid Pince, or avoid an intense standoff between Tonks and Pince, like they normally did, and also as they normally did, they distracted themselves with idle chit-chat and random discussions to avoid actually doing their homework. And because Charlie was there, of course the conversation somehow got turned onto dragons.

“A Hungarian Horntail can breathe fire to fifty feet. Their breath alone can reach extremely high temperatures,” Charlie argue.

“But a Ukrainian Ironbelly’s scales are hard as steel and they’re huge,” Barnaby retorted. “One could probably just sit on a Hungarian Horntail and squash it.”

“Not to sound like Pince but could you two keep it down? You’re distracting me.” Tulip interrupted their dragon debate while hunched over a piece of parchment she was scribbling on vigorously, however it did not look like any homework they had but more like some sort of blue prints, probably for her next grand prank.

The two boys mumbled their apologies. “Do you think I could turn into a dragon,” Tonks asked from next to Tulip. “Never tried it before.”

“Which dragon would you turn into,” Barnaby asked curiously, and a bit excitedly. How cool would it be if she did?

“I don’t know, whichever,” Tonks responded with a shrug.

“Not everyone has a favorite dragon like you two,” Tulip informed the two magical creature obsessed boys sitting across the table from them. That was a harsh reality Charlie had learned at a young age. He used to assume everyone had a favorite dragon, asking everyone he came across what theirs was. He soon learned the sad truth that not everyone had one or even knew that much about dragons, cared as much about them as he did. Still, he couldn’t stop himself from asking people because some people did have a favorite and he felt that said a lot about them. Of course most seemed to say the Hungarian Horntail, possibly because it was the most infamous of the breeds. He actually got kind of annoyed that being most people’s answer. Maybe that’s why he liked discussing it so much with Barnaby because he didn’t share the same favorite breed of dragon.

“Well that’s dumb, they should,” Barnaby said with frown. Charlie chuckled and had to agree before turning his attention to the Slytherin sitting across from him who had been quiet this entire time, focused on reading their Alchemy book.

“What about you, Ady? What’s your favorite dragon,” Charlie asked, for some reason unable to recall if he’s asked her that before. He must have since that was normally his go-to ice breaker but conversation always seemed to flow so easily with her and typically the conversation revolved around the Cursed-Vaults if not school and Quidditch. Maybe he never got the chance to ask her? Or he did but… how could he forget her answer? He did ask everyone he came across practically. Maybe that’s why he couldn’t remember her answer? They all got jumbled together. But how could he forget her answer?

“A Hebridean Black, right,” Barnaby answered with a proud grin before Keira got the chance. The dark haired girl glanced up at him from her book giving him a smirk and a wink to indicate he was correct causing Barnaby to grin more and sit up straighter, proudly, in his chair. Charlie looked between the two Slytherins, well aware of how close they were but part of him couldn’t help be a little envious. But more prominent than that was the fact that she had in fact told them her favorite dragon – and she actually had one that was not a Hungarian Horntail! – and he had forgotten! How could he have forgotten?!

But yet even more impactful was the fact that after Keira agreed to help him buy an alleged dragon egg, which of course turned out to be scam, putting herself in danger for it, for him – something he was clearly still dealing with – they were gifted a dragon scale. A Hebridean Black dragon scale. Which Keira told him, urged him, to keep.

“Why would you give me the scale if it’s your favorite dragon,” Charlie asked, watching her closely. In case he didn’t feel selfish enough making her go on that wild and dangerous goose chase to get himself a dragon egg now he took the one good thing that came out of it from her.

“Because you love dragons,” Keira replied with a shrug, as if it was obvious, before looking up at him from her book with a small smile. It was a simple statement that everyone knew, even those who didn’t even know him, but for some reason when she said it just then it stirred something inside of him. She was selfless, thoughtful; she put him first.

When her eyes, which he liked to describe as the color of the ocean after a storm – that’s when Bill claimed he knew Charlie was completely smitten – met his they pierced right through him shattering the naïve and oblivious bubble he had subconsciously placed himself in and realization washed over him like an ice-cold tidal wave.

He loved dragons, but he also –

“I got to go.” And with that Charlie quickly gathered up his books, swung his bag over his shoulder, and hurried out of the library. He raced straight back to the Gryffindor Dorm and to his older brother and best friend where he then proceeded to pace back and forth in Bill’s room rambling on and on for about an hour about everything he had realized, had been thinking and feeling, trying to make better sense of it all. He was thankful his brother was so patient and understanding during it all. He went to bed that night unable to sleep and just kept staring at the dragon scale on his nightstand, thinking about her. And then the next day when they fell asleep studying didn’t help him either. Fortunately, she hadn’t behaved differently around him after that. Oh, but he was sure his behavior had changed around her.

Since this jarring realization had occurred he had come to gain more self-awareness – why when she looked at him his heart skipped a beat, why when she laughed, particularly when he was the cause of it, it warmed him inside, why his thoughts always turned to her, why he always sought her out to talk to or spend time with when he had free time, why he disliked it so much when she appeared to be getting too close and friendly with others, or why he had been caught a few times staring at her. He had also gotten much more annoyed by others being close with her, trying to get closer to her (okay guess some might call it jealousy), and particularly annoyed at blatant flirty primarily done by Diego (he sometimes really wanted to punch that guy). Despite this realization the heart skipping a beat, the breath getting caught in his throat, the dragons in his stomach, none of it stopped.

But the bad thing was Charlie had caught himself doing these weird things like starting to drape an arm around her or wanting to reach up to move a strand of hair out of her face, shifting so their legs or arms touched while sitting next to each other, staring at her hand swaying next to her as they walked. He even caught himself reaching out to hold it on occasion but thankfully stopped himself before that happened. He had no idea how he would explain that.

He looked for any excuse to talk to her, spend time with her, be near her, touch her… he had no idea what to do in this situation, it was all new to him! Bill suggested telling her how he felt but Charlie was worried about possibly losing a close and dear friend. So Bill suggested to flirt with her and see how she responded, maybe she was interested too but afraid to say anything, but Charlie didn’t know how to do that! Like he told his brother, this was an entirely new situation for him and he was trying his best to navigate it!

Keira silently watched the rain fall as she leaned against the cool stone wall of Hogwarts. She was currently perched upon a covered balcony on the fourth floor of the school, one of the few places she liked to go to be alone and enjoy the weather, particularly a rainy day without having to be out in it or a window dividing her from it. Unlike most who found rainy days like this grey, cold, and depressing, Keira always found them serene and relaxing. And right now she needed a peaceful place to think.

It had been a little over a month since their shopping excursions in Hogsmeade for the ball and since then their plans to go together as a group had sort of fallen apart. It had started with Penny who, while sitting in the Great Hall one day for a meal, informed the girls that she had been asked to the ball. That announcement came as no surprise since Penny got asked out pretty much on a daily basis since she arrived at Hogwarts. However, the fact she was announcing it was odd.

“…And you accepted,” Keira asked, or more like stated, suspecting that was the reason for Penny informing them and the weird way she was acting, like she was worried she would get in trouble.

“W-well, yeah, kind of…” Penny admitted sheepishly. “But that doesn’t mean we still can’t all go together! There’ll just be one more of us.” Honestly the group was just surprised to hear she had actually accepted one of the many romantic invitations she received. But she wouldn’t have just accepted anyone’s invitation so clearly they had to be deserving, right? One more person couldn’t hurt.

From there it sort of snowballed.

Tonks and Tulips had derived so many plans for that night at the ball to mess with basically everyone in attendance with a grand finale to end the night, they informed the rest of their friends they would probably be pretty busy during the actual festivities. They invited Keira to join them if she wanted but, to be honest, she wasn’t that into pranks. Not like the ones those two did at least.

Andre of course had his choice of dates to take to the ball which he was in the process of narrowing down.

Bill of course would be busy with his class of graduates.

And Ben…well Keira gave him the benefit of the doubt that he was being controlled to attack her and she still was there for Ben whenever he needed a friend but she had been keeping her distance since the attack.

But Keira thought she would at least have Rowan to go with and spend an evening dancing and having fun with her best friend and roommate.

“You’re what?!” Keira’s exclamation echoed throughout the Slytherin Common Room.

“I’m going to the dance with Diego,” Rowan said again quietly, avoiding eye contact with her best friend.

“What? How? When?” Keira had so many questions! Sure, they chatted in Defense Against the Dark Arts sometimes but she had no idea they had grown this close! And sure, she admitted while in class she encouraged the light flirtation between the two and she did believe Rowan had a small crush on him but she was not prepared for this.

But she wanted her friend to be happy and assured her of that and to go to the ball with him, once the shock wore off that is. She would have a lot of fun and a night full of dancing.

And she still had Barnaby! Next to Rowan, Penny, and Charlie, Barnaby was one of the people Keira felt closest to. She loved Barnaby like a best friend or brother or second cousin. So imagine her surprise when Barnaby said he too had a date to the ball.

“I think I have a date,” Barnaby awkwardly explained when Keira asked him about going to the ball.

“You think?” How did one not know? Well, it was Barnaby.

“Well, I was talking to this girl in Care of Magical Creatures and she brought up the ball and I guess she sort of asked me and I said yes? I didn’t realize she was asking me to go with her, like as a date, until she told me the color of her dress yesterday to make sure we matched… because apparently we are going together…” Keira’s face fell as she listened to Barnaby explain his situation. “I’m sorry, but I didn’t want to disappoint her. I mean, I did sort of agree to go. Would be rude to back out now.”

“No, of course. You’re right. You should go with her. I’m sure you’ll have fun,” Keira assured him although it was hard to hide the disappointment in her voice. But she couldn’t ask any of her friends to ditch their dates for her.

“I’m sorry,” Barnaby apologized again. “But we’ll still see each other there! And I promise to save a dance with you.”

“Thanks, Barnaby,” Keira replied with a small smile.

Her friends deserved a night of fun just like her and if going with a date added to that then they should go with a date of their choice. Even if that meant her night might be less enjoyable… The girls still agreed to all get ready together which would be fun and Penny kept insisting they would just all go together as one large group but Keira knew even if they arrived all together in one large group the couples would pair off to have their night to themselves. As they should! She didn’t want to ruin any of her friends’ night. But she still couldn’t help being disappointed and feeling left out. She even considered not going but she couldn’t do that to Bill.

So now here she sat, watching the exposed half of the balcony ledge she was sitting on get struck by rain drops, trying not to feel sorry for herself. How could she when she had all these wonderful friends? Friends who she never thought she would have given her family’s history. She was very thankful and appreciative for them. But it was hard not to feel like… like she was being left behind.

Rowan and Penny had been their every encouraging selves throughout this little situation. Besides still getting ready and going to the ball together they were certain Keira would get asked. They were surprised honestly that she didn’t get asked out more often. Surely many people at the school fancied her? She was not only a great Quidditch player but Captain, and as Penny liked to point out, Quidditch players were very popular. Plus she was smart, funny, charming, attractive, and brave according to Rowan. Who wouldn’t want to be with a Curse-Breaker? That was one of, if not the, coolest things to be. And Keira was basically the definition of cool – Rowan always laid on a lot of compliments. Which Keira appreciated and it did help her feel better about herself but she kept the truth from them and replied with a simple thanks.

Truth was it didn’t matter how good she was at Quidditch or how smart she was or how good her grades were, how many witty remarks she made, how many adventures she went on, or how physically attractive she may apparently be – something that was supposed to run in the Black family according to rumors she heard – no one would ever be interested in her more than the interesting, and possibly, cautionary tale she was. Sure, her ‘alleged’ curse-breaking adventures around the school fueled rumors and were cause for most of the excitement around the school but she was basically some glorified article in the Daily Prophet – provided some captivating entertainment but the stories were most likely riddled with false and over dramatic information.

Truth was, she was cursed.

Not cursed like ‘I’ll never get a date because something’s wrong with me and I’m cursed’ and not cursed like ‘if I get kissed I’ll turn into a frog.’ It had nothing to do with dating or romance really.

Cursed like if you get close to her you may end up dead. Or at the very least seriously injured and used as a puppet for some dark witch or wizard.

She was cursed from the first moment she walked into Hogwarts and she still would be when she left.

While the students loved to talk about her and her ‘alleged’ adventures none of them wanted to actually talk to her, get to know her for her. They were all afraid of her. And not afraid of her because she was a tough badass who would knock all your teeth out which she would be fine with. But afraid because she put those who were close to her in danger.

How she still had friends she had no idea. She never thought she would have them and once she did she never thought they would stick around. Not after everything she put them through. And she never wanted to put them through such traumatizing and deadly conditions but those seemed impossible to avoid when dealing with these Vaults. But they continued to stick around and offer to partake in these adventures still, why she had no idea, but she appreciated it nonetheless.

“Hey! There you are!”

The cheery greeting snapped Keira out of her thoughts and she turned her head to see the grinning Gryffindor Seeker who appeared to have gotten caught in the rain with his wet hair and clothes dripping to the floor to create a small puddle around his feet.

“Out dancing in the rain,” Keira asked with a small smirk.

“Oh, no,” Charlie laughed as he reached up with his free hand to push back his bangs which kept falling into his eyes by the weight of the water. “Got caught in the rain on the way back from Hogsmeade. I like to reward the team after a good game or practice with a trip to Honeydukes,” he explained. “Uh, here. I got you something.” Charlie tossed the small package he was holding in his hand to her.

Keira caught the package and took a moment to study it. “Pink Coconut Ice. Thanks,” she read before smiling at the now blushing redhead. He always brought her something from Honeydukes after he went there with his team and she always appreciated the sweet gesture, especially knowing the Weasley’s were not the wealthiest family. Normally it was Toffees or Chocolate Cauldrons, or anything chocolate. She was sure he brought the rest of the group something to, although she hadn’t seen him hand any out to them, but he never handed out hers in front of them either. She assumed it was to keep them from fighting over the candy.

“Yeah. You’re like the only person I know who likes coconut so I thought you probably like those,” Charlie explained, his blush just growing more with his explanation.

Keira smiled more as she watched him nervously rub the back of his neck. “Yeah, I do. Thanks. It’s very thoughtful.”

There was a slight lull in the conversation which did not help Charlie’s nerves. So he had to say something to end it. Anything! Just say something!

“You know, I should give you my jacket to wear again.” Keira looked over at him quizzically. “…Be-because it doesn’t smell much like you anymore.”

Oh merlin. What did he just say? Why would he say that? She was going to think he was a complete git! He thought things were awkward before, well they certainly were now!

While this panic ensued inside the second eldest Weasley, Keira was still trying to make sense of it. “…Why would you want it to smell like me?”

Okay, maybe this was his chance for redemption!

“Well, because… you smell better than me,” Charlie answered with a shrug before mentally kicking himself. He should have just given her the candy and left!

Keira watched him a moment before laughing which visibly relaxed the Gryffindor. “You don’t smell bad, Charlie, stop worrying that you do. You smell nice.” While thankful she did not get offended or weirded out by his comments, her compliments meant to reassure him only caused a slight blush to appear on his freckled face. Fortunately, he managed to stop himself this time before saying more inappropriate comments about how nice she smelled.

“So, what are you doing up here,” Charlie asked after a moment, stepping closer to her.

“Just enjoying the rain. And thinking,” Keira replied, looking back out at the grey, cloudy sky. There was a slight pause in the conversation as, unaware to her, Charlie took a moment to admire her in that setting.

“Thinking about what,” he finally asked.

Keira took a deep breath before replying. She informed him how their group’s original plan to go together to the ball to send Bill off in style was no longer the plan. Everyone had dates, whether with another person or a date with chaos as it was for Tulip and Tonks. Which, she was happy for them, don’t get her wrong, they deserved to have a night of fun but…

“…But,” Charlie gently pried when Keira fell silent, stepping closer and leaning against the castle wall next to where her feet were perched to face her.

Keira took another deep breath as she watched the rain drops hit the ledge of the balcony. “But… It kind of feels like they’re moving on,” she answered quietly. “I know it’s dumb,” she added quickly, glancing up at him. “But that’s how it feels. Like they’re moving on and leaving me behind.”

“Just because they have dates to the ball or start dating doesn’t mean your friendship with them has to end.” Charlie was always ever the reassuring one. “Or are you really just upset because you don’t have a date,” he teased, earning a small glare from her. He was probably just trying to lighten the mood. “I’m surprised you haven’t been asked yet since I’m sure you have plenty of admirers around the school…”

Keira continued to glare at him, trying not to smile but it was proving to be very difficult. “Oh, but Charlie, haven’t you heard? I’m cursed.” The words stung him more than they did her. “Don’t think anyone is going to be asking me out any time soon,” she added, looking out again at the view. Before he had a chance to speak, to point out how wrong she was and passionately make his case that she was not cursed, Keira continued.

“It’s not just about them potentially dating, it’s about them connecting with new people who they will prefer spending their time with. People who aren’t going to put their lives in danger every year,” Keira tried to explain. She couldn’t help always having this anxiety and fear that her friends weren’t really her friends or would move on from her and make new friends who, like she said, wouldn’t be putting their lives in danger. She never thought she would have friends and now she was constantly afraid of losing them somehow.

“They’re not going to stop being your friend.” Charlie’s voice once again pulled her out of her negative thoughts. “Sure, searching for these vaults and breaking their curses is dangerous but it’s much more exciting than just sitting around gossiping about who’s dating who and studying for exams. If they didn’t want to help you they wouldn’t be. And they want to help you because they care about you. You have to give your friends more credit.”

Keira smiled back at the kind Gryffindor. “See? I told you it was dumb,” she laughed sheepishly.

“It’s not dumb,” Charlie tried to reassure. “Maybe silly and ridiculous, but not dumb,” he teased earning a small laugh from the Slytherin.

“And you’re not cursed,” Charlie added suddenly, much more sternly than the previous lighthearted tone. “And anyone who says you are is just intimidated by how brave and resilient you are while handling the situation you’re in.” Keira stared in shock at his short, passionate speech and his rarely seen intensely serious demeanor. Even while playing the fiercest game of Quidditch he was still all smiles and jokes. She fell silent as she let his words sink in, glancing away from his intense gaze.

“And, hey, we can always go together,” Charlie reminded her after a moment. He was part of this group too and he didn’t have a date. Well not yet…

“You’re sweet but I don’t want a pity date,” Keira replied. “I mean, you should go with who you want to go with, who you’ll have fun with. Like your Quidditch team,” she suggested, unsure what that strange look on the Seeker’s face was.

Honestly Charlie wasn’t sure how to feel either. Somewhat offended that she thought he would only ask her out of pity, hurt that she rejected him, but also dumbfounded that she really thought he wouldn’t want to go with her when she was the one person he would want to go with the most, the one he knew he would have the best time with. Before he could say anything more she spoke up again.

“Hey, is Percy free,” she joked.

Charlie’s hand flung up to his heart as he feigned heartbreak. “You would rather go with Percy than me?” The betrayal!

Keira laughed and shook her head. “No, of course not,” she assured. “But I can’t ask you to go with me out of some sort of obligation.” She held up a hand to stop him before he started to dispute with her.

“Well guess I better go get into some dry clothes,” Charlie said as he looked down at his still damp sweater. He knew better than to try and argue with her when her mind was already set.

“Yeah, you’re starting to smell like mildew,” Keira teased with a smirk.

“I thought you said I smelled good!” The two laughed before Charlie motioned for them to get going.

“What? You need me to pick out your clothes like your mum does for you?” Charlie tried to narrow his eyes at her but was unable to keep from smiling. He knew her teasing was a weird way of showing her affection.

“No. I just thought we talked, hopefully you’re feeling better because of it, so we can go now.” Keira studied him closely a moment before a devilish smirk slowly spread across her face.

“Charlie… Are you uncomfortable with me sitting on the ledge?”

“What? No,” Charlie scoffed, although it wasn’t very convincing.

“Is the big, brave, courageous Gryffindor scared,” Keira continued to mock.

“No,” Charlie claimed, stubbornly folding his arms.

Keira only smirked more before shifting to lean out the opening. “Oh no, I’m going to fall! Help me Charlie!”

“Very funny. This doesn’t affect me. I don’t care.” Charlie continued to act unfazed as Keira continued to pretend to be falling off the balcony. “I know you think this is getting to me but it’s not. This doesn’t freak me out. At all. I’m fine. I don’t – Okay, will you stop that!” He had finally had enough when she was hanging half out into the air and reached out to grab her arm before yanking her back inside. She was going to give him a heart attack!

Keira just laughed as she regained her footing. “Aw, I knew you cared.”

“I should have let you fall,” Charlie muttered, although as usual he was unable to keep from smiling.

“You would never let me fall.” And with that she turned to leave, opening up her bag of candy he brought her before popping one in her mouth. “And thanks again for the candy,” she called with a wave as she headed down the hallway leaving Charlie staring after her.

‘Addison, will you go to the ball with me?’

The fireworks request lit up the sky in the courtyard. Yep, it was that time of year again with grand proposals to the dance. Normally this was only done by the older students but now most people in Keira’s year were participating as well – guess they were getting older.

Besides the fireworks there had been singing telegrams, poorly written poems read out loud in the Great Hall, end of presentation surprise asks, time-outs used in Quidditch to ask someone in the stands, a scavenger hunt – which Keira had to admit was a good one, probably the best one she’s seen yet – and notes hidden in text books or even just a note passed in class. There were many more elaborate, extravagant gestures asking people to the ball but she couldn’t keep up with all of them.

On one hand they were a bit obnoxious and could put people on the spot, putting the pressure on them to accept. On the other hand, if done correctly such as it being personal and meaningful to the person being asked, like that scavenger hunt, and by the right person, it could make someone feel very special. Fortunately, the Professors were more lenient with the students’ and their ball proposal shenanigans during this time.

“Keira, you forgot your telescope!” She had been so focused on getting the students organized in an orderly fashion to head up to the Astronomy Tower she had completely blanked!

“Merde! Thanks, Rowan. Can you start leading everyone up there? I’ll catch up. Barnaby will help.” Before Rowan even had a chance to respond Keira was already running back to the Slytherin Common Room. She knew Rowan would handle it.

Rowan watched her friend run off before instructing everyone to follow her and starting to lead the way to class. “Yeah, you heard her, get going,” Barnaby commanded, doing his best to help. However, his eagerness to help earned him getting hit in the head by a balled up piece of parchment. “Okay, who threw that? You’re going to get it in Dueling Club, Reyes!”

Keira hurried back to her Dorm and located her telescope in her room before hurrying back to catch up to the rest who were already making their way up the long winding staircase of the Astronomy Tower. “J’en ai ras le cul with stairs,” she swore under her breath as she climbed the seemingly never ending staircase. She tended to prefer swearing in French believing she could get away with it more than if she did so in English.

Professor Sinistra greeted the group of Slytherin students as they reached the top of the Tower. “Where is your Prefect, Miss Black?” Rowan and Barnaby shared a look.

“Was that a shooting star,” Rowan suddenly exclaimed, pointing behind Professor Sinistra causing her to quickly turn around just in time to miss Keira sliding to a halt next to Barnaby.

“What? Where,” the Professor questioned before Rowan sheepishly admitted she was mistaken, probably just saw something, a lightning bug perhaps. Professor Sinistra frowned at her before looking over at Keira curiously. “How nice of you to join us.”

“What? I’ve been here the whole time,” claimed Keira as Barnaby nodded his head to confirm. The Professor gave her a look but fortunately told them to go set up their telescopes instead of punishing her for being late – allegedly being late.

Keira set up her telescope next to Rowan before taking out a quill and some parchment from her bag, thanking her friends for helping her out. Despite the rush to get to class, the class itself seemed to move very slowly. At least they were able to enjoy the fresh air and a beautiful scenery instead of being stuck sitting in a stuffy classroom.

“Why is there a constellation named after a dragon but not a kneazle,” Barnaby questioned as he stared up at the night sky through is telescope as the class drew close to being over.

Keira laughed slightly and glanced over at her fellow Beater from marking the constellation of Draco on her parchment. “You ask such thought provoking questions, Barnaby.”

“Really?” Barnaby moved away from his telescope to grin at her. “Normally I’m told I ask dumb questions and to shut up.”

Keira frowned slightly as she glanced down before looking back up at him with a smile. “Well I think you ask very interesting questions that no one else would think to ask. And that’s important, to have a different way of thinking, a different perspective.”

“You’re always so nice to me,” Barnaby replied causing Keira’s heart to ache slightly instead of relishing in the compliment. She knew he meant well and she was glad to always see him so happy when she did compliment and encourage him but it was also so depressing to hear how he had been treated so poorly by most people in his life.

“I just treat you how you deserve to be treated,” Keira told him. “And you’re my best friend.” She gave him another reassuring smile before looking through her telescope and frowning. “Hey, wait. Were those there before?” She looked back and forth between the mapped out constellation she drew and the starry night sky through her telescope which were no longer matching up. Now there appeared to be more stars appearing in the sky. She wasn’t sure how that was possible exactly but it was ruining everything she just worked on all class!

“Uh, Keira, I think you’re notes are safe,” Rowan told her as Keira scrambled to fix her constellation drawing. She paused in her frantic scribbling and looked at her other best friend quizzically who was smirking smugly at her. Why was she not panicking to fix her notes? Rowan of all people should be hurrying to do that!

“Look,” Rowan gently instructed, motioning up to the sky. “I think the stars have a message for you.”

Keira stared at her friend in confusion. What the hell did that even mean? That was oddly cryptic, especially coming from Rowan.

“What,” Keira asked but after another encouraging motion from Rowan to look up she dropped her questioning and turned her head to look up at the starry night sky.

She didn’t need her telescope to read the twinkling star-like words written in the clear midnight sky.

‘Adelyn-Keira Black, Will You Go To The Ball With Me?’

Keira stared at the message in shock, unaware of the rest of her class’ reaction. She had to read it a few times over to make sure she was reading it correctly and then had to look over at Rowan for confirmation that she wasn’t hallucinating and it really was up there written in the sky.

Once Rowan confirmed that it was, in fact, real Keira returned to staring at her starry message in disbelief. What? Why? Who?

Her eyes drifted to below the message where, as if this entire thing had been orchestrated to perfection meticulously, the dragon constellation they were just studying lay.

“Really,” Keira muttered to herself, incredulously as a small grin crept onto her face.  

As if on cue a familiar redhead with a Cheshire grin appeared before her, flying gracefully on his broom.

“Eejit. Have you gone daft?”

“So, is that a yes or…” Charlie questioned with a sly smirk.

“Charlie, why,” was all Keira could muster up with a small, embarrassed laugh.

“Because, you deserve to be asked out to the ball properly,” Charlie answered. “And maybe if I did so properly you’d realize I’m serious and this isn’t a pity ask.”

Keira studied him a moment, trying to keep a neutral poker face but the smile she fought against tugged at the corners of her mouth. “I had no idea you were such a romantic.”

“Is this where I make a comment about moving the stars for you or about it being written in the stars? There’s something there, hold on, I’ll figure it out.” Keira laughed as she watched Charlie struggle to come up with whatever line he was trying to create.

“Didn’t come very prepared, eh? Maybe you should have had Bill write you some notes on what to say,” Keira teased.

“I am much more charming than Bill,” Charlie informed her before noting the look from Professor Sinistra to wrap it up. He was lucky she was allowing him to interrupt her class, even if it was the end of it. She was just glad there were not loud fireworks or anything of the sort or else she might have punished him despite the leniency the faculty showed to the students while they made their dance proposals.

That look from the stern teacher almost knocked Charlie off his broom (and his game). “Uh, so, you still haven’t given me an answer.”

Keira glanced back up at the message asking her to the ball one more moment before it would inevitably fade away – she wished Penny was there to snap a picture so she could have a keepsake to remember this moment more vividly – before turning back to the nervously waiting Weasley.

“I would love to go to the ball with you, Charlie.”

Charlie grinned from ear to ear. Not like he expected her to cruelly reject him, they were close, but part of him was still nervous she would say no with some lame excuse. He was extremely relieved, and overjoyed, that she accepted.

“Is this where I whisk you away,” Charlie asked with another sly smirk as he held his hand out to her.

“No! Absolutely not! There will be no flying off the Astronomy Tower in the middle of the night during my class,” Professor Sinistra finally interjected.

“But class is over,” Rowan gently pointed out. She was clearly happy for her best friend and didn’t want anyone, even the Professor, to ruin it! Unfortunately, Rowan’s attempt to politely disagree with the Professor only earned her a stern look before Professor Sinistra turned that stern look to the Gryffindor.

Charlie’s eyes widened slightly as he quickly withdrew his hand upon being scolded and glared at by the strict Professor. “You can whisk me off some other time,” Keira assured him. “I think right now it’s probably best if you just go.” Charlie had to agree with that statement.

He nodded his head as he timidly watched Professor Sinistra before throwing Keira one last smile. “I’ll talk to you later.” And with that, the Gryffindor Seeker flew quickly away from the Astronomy Tower just as her ask to the ball faded away.

“You better go straight back to your dorm, Mr. Weasley,” Professor Sinistra called after him before telling her class to finish up their star charts and pack up their things to head back to their own dorm as well.

It was the first time Keira didn’t complain about all the stairs as they made their way down the winding staircase. Rowan claimed she was practically skipping down the halls and could not stop smiling the rest of the night.

“Tulip, you better not let off that dungbomb,” Penny scolded sternly.

As planned, the girls were all getting ready for the End of the Year Ball together, gathered in the Ravenclaw Tower. By now, after years of inter-house friendships and Penny’s popularity that taught her how to get into any house’s Common Room, particularly when there were house parties, the gang managed to figure out to hang out together in the different house dorms. They were originally going to get ready together in the Hufflepuff Dorm but Andre insisted they get ready in the Ravenclaw Tower so he could inspect their looks and make sure they were perfect and something about the stairs helping to create a more dramatic entrance. So the girls gathered up their things and headed up to the windy Tower. However, preparing for the ball differed among them.

While most girls were doing their hair and makeup as prep for the ball, Tulip and Tonks were determining how to best sneak all their pranking supplies into the ball without it being noticed. Fortunately, their perfectly tailored tuxes had plenty of pockets! And, as Keira predicted, they looked very dashing and would probably be best dressed at the ball, which would be well deserved.

Penny sat down next to Keira with a huff once she had ensured Tulip would not accidentally let off one of her many dungbombs as they got ready. She did not want to stink all night! Her frustrated attitude soon disappeared as she watched her friend get ready for the ball. “So I heard Charlie actually moved the stars for you to ask you to the ball.”

“No, he didn’t move any stars,” Keira corrected, unable to keep from rolling her eyes at these rumors that spread around. “He said he had been working with Flitwick for weeks after class on perfecting the charm so it would appear like he wrote it in the stars.”

“And he signed it with a dragon,” Penny asked, making a small face. This dragon obsessed boy – she did not get it. Although, people may not understand her passion for potions.

“He didn’t sign it with a dragon, it was written over the constellation Draco, which Charlie claims he did not intend but I don’t know if I believe him,” Keira explained.

“Mhmm… And you’re excited to be going,” Penny asked with a slight mischievous glint in her eye.

“Sure, but I was always going regardless if I got asked to go with someone or not. I’m going to Bill,” Keira replied.

“I mean, you’re excited to be going with Charlie,” Penny specified.

“Oh. Well, sure. We’re close friends and we always have a good time together,” Keira replied with a shrug. Penny watched her friend closely with a knowing smirk. Keira glanced over at the blonde, squirming slightly under her intense gaze. “What?”

“I’m just very happy you’re going with Charlie. That this is finally happening,” Penny answered as she turned her attention back to her hair possibly as an excuse to avoid the Slytherin’s stare.

Keira frowned slightly as she watched the Hufflepuff curiously. “What does that mean?”

Penny paused a moment as she thought of how to explain this. Their group was aware there was something there between the two and admittedly, often, their conversations would turn to the topic and how oblivious the two were. However, now it seemed one of them had at least realized it while the other was still reluctant to.

“You two just seem to have this close connection. A connection you two don’t have with anyone else. Never even seemed interested in trying to create with someone else. I don’t really know how to explain it exactly but… I’m just happy for you. I think this is good for you,” Penny told her with a small smile.

“Because I won’t be sitting all alone at the ball, moping in a corner somewhere,” Keira teased earning a small laugh from the Hufflepuff.

“No, well… sort of. I think it is good you’re going with Charlie to the ball so you’ll have a fun time, which you deserve,” she pointed out as the Slytherin appeared to almost argue with her. “But I also think it’s good for you to be…exploring this connection you have with Charlie and taking it to another level. I know you put on a brave, cool and collected front but I know everything you’ve been going through all these years is really hard on you. When I lost Beatrice, for a short time compared to what you’ve been through with Jacob, I was an emotional wreck. Crying all the time, always in a panic, frantic, literally pulling my hair out. I don’t know how you cope with it with death threats on top of it.”

“I have you guys,” Keira answered, giving Penny a small smile. “I don’t know what I would do without all of you,” she admitted quietly.

Penny smiled back at the Slytherin and reached over to place a hand on hers. “We’re always going to be here for you, Keira.” The two shared a quiet moment together before Penny continued with her original point.

“Even with the support of our great group of friends, you still keep a lot inside. And you need someone you can talk to, like really talk to. Be open and vulnerable with who you trust and can rely on. And someone who makes you happy. Because you deserve to be happy too. And I think Charlie is that person.” Keira sat there silently as she let Penny’s words sink in. She didn’t realize Penny or any of her friends thought about her this much, or her and Charlie. What did they talk about exactly when she wasn’t around?

“Here,” Penny said as she pulled something out of her bag she brought with her to help her get ready for the ball. She slid the item over to Keira who stared at it in disbelief.

“What? How?” Laying before her on the table was a picture of that night where Charlie asked her to the ball, the starry message in the sky, Charlie appearing in front of her on his broom with that cheeky grin.

“I have eyes and ears everywhere. Everywhere,” Penny informed. “I know everything going on in this place. Everything.” Keira stared at her friend a bit fearfully. Everywhere? Everything? Why did that sound more like a warning? Penny was more powerful than most people knew or wanted to admit. But that was one of the many reasons Keira loved her.

“My hair is being positively unruly. Can you guys help me, please,” Rowan pleaded as she sat down with a huff between the two girls. She was never one to do her hair or wear makeup and all of this was confusing to her. Which was hard on her because she was so smart and excelled in all her classes but she couldn’t figure out how to do her hair?

“Of course we can help,” Penny assured her with a beaming smile, moving behind Rowan to fix the tangled, frizzy mess she somehow made.

“Here, I’ll help you with your makeup,” Keira offered, moving to do just that.

“Thanks. I know it’s kind of stupid to be fretting so much over all this stuff but, Penny is right. We never get to dress up in fancy gowns and get all done up for a glamorous evening and I think we should take advantage of it. Go all out,” Rowan said, clearly relieved to be getting help.

“I don’t think it’s stupid, I completely agree,” Keira assured her with a small smile. “It’s not every day we get to do this – do up our hair, play with makeup, dress up – it should be fun, not stressful, because we deserve to have some fun.” Penny beamed from behind Rowan, glad these girls were finally coming around.

Penny and Keira helped Rowan with her hair and makeup and honestly that little makeover was probably the most fun they had all night, talking, joking, laughing, especially when Tonks and Tulip got involved, dancing and singing loudly, and obnoxiously, to the music Penny played, and overall bonding.

“Let’s go, ladies. The guys are waiting and the feast is about to start.” At Andre’s call the girls wrapped up their final preparations before heading down to meet the rest of their party. Penny made sure to grab her camera and informed them all to be prepared for many, many pictures. In case any of them thought she was kidding Penny hurried down the stairs, much to Andre’s exasperation, to take pictures of the girls coming down the stairs and the boy’s reactions because she felt this entire night had to be documented. Doubtful they would go to next year’s ball and at their own graduation they may be too wrapped up in everything, although she would still probably make sure every was documented then as well. And Merlin forbid something happened to their group before graduation. People did grow up and grow apart, friendships could end, these vaults were dangerous… She just felt it was important to document as many happy moments together as possible so they could all look back on these days fondly and remember each other, no matter where they were in the world, no matter where life took them, no matter what happens in the next couple years left at Hogwarts, that part of them would always be friends.

He knew it was cliché. This wasn’t one of those romantic comedy talking and extended moving picture things that Penny brought from the muggle world and made them watch, what were those things called again? Movies, that’s right. It wasn’t a movie, a rom-com as they were apparently called if he remembered correctly. This wasn’t a scene in one of those movies where one of the main characters has a sudden epiphany upon seeing the other in a different light and realizes they have feelings for them. Of course it wasn’t one of those moments because Charlie already had that epiphany months ago.

He knew it was cliché but he swore this is what it felt like. The moment he saw her walking towards him time seemed to slow, only a bit, enough for him to admire the way the bottom of her dress floated behind her as she descended the stairs and the hint of silver shimmer that glimmered much like the twinkling stars with her movements. The voices and sounds of everyone else around them faded into the background until her laughter that filled him with such warmth was the only thing he heard. And he knew it sounded cliché but he swore, for a moment, everyone else seemed to vanish and all he saw was her. And when her stormy sea eyes met his, his heart skipped a beat, he forgot how to breathe, and time seemed to stop, just for a brief a moment, as he stood there, frozen, completely captivated and mesmerized. It was cliché. But that’s how he felt.

Gradually all the voices and sounds that had faded into the distance returned and he was jarred back into reality with a firm hand on his back.

“Well I must say I did wonders on your atrocious dress robes,” Andre praised himself as he studied his fine work on Charlie’s once embarrassing and fashion disaster of dress robes that were sent to him from his family. His and Bill’s looks for the ball were the ones Andre had to do the most work on. But he did an amazing job on fixing them up, tailoring them to perfection, and even adding personalized details for the two gentlemen such as some dragon embroidery for Charlie, if he did say so himself.

“Yeah, thanks,” Charlie chuckled, trying to hide his embarrassment of possibly being caught gawking at Keira.

“Hey. You clean up nice.” Charlie whipped his head around and stared at the beautiful girl in front of him. Keira smiled charmingly at the Gryffindor as she admired his fixed robes. She did have to commend Andre on his great job. When Bill and Charlie received their packages of dress robes they group had their fun of teasing the two. But now Charlie, and she was also sure Bill, looked quite dashing in them.

“Th-thank you,” Charlie replied, clearing his throat, before mentally kicking himself. Oh, Merlin, did he just stutter like a nervous tosser?

“Compliment her,” Andre whispered in his ear. Did he have to do everything for them?

“Oh uh…” Charlie stared at the ethereal dark haired girl in front of him as he tried to come up with a good compliment to give her. All he had to tell her, without stammering or sounding like a complete tosser, that she looked beautiful. Radiant even. Breathtaking? No, maybe that was too much even if it was true.

“You look beautiful.”

Keira smiled at him before glancing down and, he may have been mistaken but he thought he saw a slight blush spread across her face. “Thank y-“

“Like an Antipodean Opaleye.” He should have stopped at she looked beautiful. Andre groaned and smacked his forehead with his palm, muttering about how Charlie was hopeless before walking away from the couple.

Keira whipped her head up at his interruption and stared at him a moment as she processed what he just said before she started laughing. Charlie visibly relaxed when he heard her laugh and was relieved she didn’t think he was weird or a freak like most did in regards to his obsession with dragons. But that was never really a concern of his from her. She was always willing to listen to him ramble on and on about dragons, even asked him about his interest – the uses of dragon’s blood, interesting facts about the creatures, etc. – found and brought him dragon related books from the library or bookstore. And never once did her eyes gloss over as she spaced out during his ramblings nor did she ever roll her eyes or seemed annoyed or bored. She always listened intently, asked questions, and sure joked around with him sometimes about it but she never discouraged his passion.

“You’re such a dork,” Keira teased him, playfully hitting his arm and snapping him out of his thoughts. “But thank you. That’s quite the compliment coming from you.”

Perhaps just in time to save him from making a fool of himself again, Penny called everyone over to take some pictures before they headed off to the feast and ball. And when Penny said pictures, she meant photo shoot.

There were group shots of everyone, all the girls, all the guys, those who played Quidditch, Prefects, the members of each Hogwarts house; there were couple shots of dates and basically everyone in their group paired off together and other random combinations they could come up with. Some were serious, some were ridiculously posed, but the best pictures of the whole night were the candid ones Penny took of them.

Finally, after their extensive impromptu photoshoot which could have gone on longer if they hadn’t convinced Penny they were going to miss the ball entirely at this rate, the group was free to go to the Great Hall together which had been transformed. Round tables had been set up along a perimeter surrounding a dance floor. The gang was fortunate to find a table for all of them, possibly having to convince others to move to a different table so they all could sit together, and enjoyed the feast which was accompanied by speeches by the faculty wishing the graduates well. It was hard not to get emotional thinking of Bill no longer being there with them. Of course Keira and certainly Charlie would write to him almost every day but not having him there to help them would be hard. He had become the group’s surrogate older brother. It would be hard without him there.

Once the feast and speeches had concluded and the music started they were free to mingle and dance. But before any dancing was done Keira wanted to see Bill – get the emotional stuff done and over with so they could enjoy the rest of their evening.

She hugged the eldest Weasley tightly, refusing to let go but Bill didn’t seem to have any problems with that. “I’m going to miss you.”

“I know, I’ll miss you too. But I’ll write to you all the time,” Bill promised. “And you’re going to write to me too, right? I need to be kept up to date on all your Cursed Vaults adventures.”

“As long as you keep me informed about all your Curse-Breaking adventures too,” Keira negotiated before demanding him to stay safe.

“After all these years of hunting down and break these Cursed Vaults, I am prepared to handle anything, thanks to you,” Bill assured her before smiling warmly down at her. “I’ll be safe, I promise. And you two be safe too,” he added quickly in that classic older brother tone. Cursed-Vaults, death threats, and trying to find a dragon in the Forbidden Forest amongst all the dangerous creatures lurking in there – they were in more danger than he was!

Keira reluctantly let him go as Bill began to address Charlie and lecturing him on being the eldest brother at the school now. With Bill gone, Charlie had to watch out for his little brothers. Percy shouldn’t be any trouble but next year the twins would be arriving and Charlie had to look out for them.

“Funny how you’re leaving just in time before Fred and George arrive,” Charlie noted.

“Yeah, almost like mum and dad planned it that way,” Bill retorted with a smirk.

The two brothers continued their bickering for a bit before Bill suggested they should be enjoying the evening instead of standing around him all night. Keira groaned slightly before flinging her arms around the towering Weasley once again.

“I’m not dying,” Bill reminded them. “You’re going to see me again.

“If you don’t get mauled to death by a Sphinx,” Charlie muttered. He tried not to show it but he was really going to miss his brother too. Bill was his best friend, well besides Keira now, but they grew up together, shared the same bedroom. He couldn’t even go to sleep without talking to Bill before going to bed, what was he supposed to do now? He talked to Bill about everything, always turning to his older brother for advice! Sure, he would write his brother letters but some things were time sensitive and needed to be said in person in the moment. And now being the eldest Weasley at the school, leaving him to watch over his younger siblings and be the role model was nerve-racking. He loved them dearly, and while Percy shouldn’t prove to be too difficult, his siblings had been known to cause some trouble and be a handful, particularly the twins.

“I’m not going to get mauled to death by a Sphinx,” Bill spoke sternly as Keira gasped and tightened her grip around him at Charlie’s comment. “I am not going to die. I’m going to be fine. And I have you guys to thank for that. Preparing me for curses and dangerous creatures. I’m going to be alright and so are you guys.” Keira’s grip loosened around the eldest Weasley as she slowly let him go, trying to hold back her emotions. She was not going to start crying at the ball. What a mood killer.

Bill gave them another brief pep talk, reassuring them they would be fine without him, he would be safe, they would write to each other all the time and if they ever really needed him he would find a way to be there. And he’d see them for holidays!

“And hey, in a couple years you’ll probably be joining me. Right, Keira?” Keira paused and mulled over Bill’s question. Honestly, she hadn’t thought much about a future outside of Hogwarts. Her whole focus while going to school was finding these Vaults in hopes of finding her brother. And of course to learn magic and all that. Especially when that was necessary to break the curses on these Vaults!

“I don’t know, maybe,” was all Keira could muster up at the moment. If she was completely honest, which she wouldn’t be at the moment because that would be a serious mood killer, but she wasn’t even sure if she would live to see graduation some times. She had made that dark, it’s-funny-because-it’s-true joke to Bill before when she suggested him to be Madam Rakepick’s apprentice instead of herself. Bill didn’t find it funny.

“They’d be lucky to have you,” Bill told her in an attempt to put any doubts or insecurities she may have to rest. “Heck, you could probably stroll right in there and be Head Curse-Breaker on your first day once they learn you broke your first curse at the age of like twelve.” Keira couldn’t help but smile at his compliment. She was really going to miss him and was going to drown him in letters, needing his wisdom and reassurance. He had easily become one of her dearest and closest best friend. And after all this was over, if she survived it, working alongside her brotherly best friend would be nice. Could be fun. Almost ideal even! Could be worse…

“Okay, you two are depressing me now. Go have fun,” Bill instructed, shooing them away.

“But-”

“No buts! You can’t spend all night crying over me, literally. Go have fun,” Bill demanded. “And I’ll see you on the dance floor or by the punch bowl. This isn’t goodbye just yet. This is about celebrating all the great times and adventures we had here together. Tomorrow we can have our tear-filled goodbyes.” Well, he did have a point. Tonight was supposed to be fun, a party. Tomorrow, on their official last day they could all cry and hug Bill and never let him go.

Despite this being Bill’s last hoorah with them, at least for now, the gang had a really fun night. They ate, drank, talked, laughed, and danced together. Rowan, albeit a somewhat awkward dancer and therefore a bit shy at first, was swung around the dance floor by Diego who seemed to really help her let loose and not be so self-conscious about her dancing. Tonks and Tulips darted all around the ball, setting off their pranks and then hurrying back over to their friends to dance with them, like they’ve been there the entire time, hide behind them, or sometimes even under the table to escape from Filch and his wrath. Tonks tried to get herself, Ben, and Talbott when he was suddenly located, “just checking things out” after claiming to not want to attend this “stupid event,” to be crowd surfed, only to have her efforts thwarted each time, unfortunately. Barnaby kept his promise and saved a dance for Keira which also provided him with the opportunity to surprise the group with his waltz and general ballroom dance skills. Didn’t all pureblood families, at least those wealthy pureblood families, learn classic, perhaps even archaic, proper etiquette such as ballroom dance or playing a classical musical instrument? (No guitars here!) Anything to show off to their other rich friends like all that somehow made their children better than others.

Overall it was a night of fun and laughter and happy memories. Memories they could look back on fondly especially with Penny capturing them all on her camera. While laughing and dancing with her friends was a lot of fun, after a while, being surrounded by so many people with so many conflicting, competing noises reverberating throughout the space, it all became a little overwhelming so Keira excused herself and headed out onto the balcony that surrounded the Great Hall.

The fresh air and cool breeze that blew her loosely curled hair was refreshing and welcoming as she stepped out onto the mostly empty balcony. She had to wander a bit to find a space for herself, away from couples who had escaped out there for their own private snogging session. She reached up to adjust the antique looking silver decorative hair pin Penny convinced her to buy for the ball that held back part of her hair before resting against the balustrade of the balcony. The quiet and stillness of the night air was peaceful and invigorating. Keira sighed contently as she enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere the calming night and faint music from inside created.

“There you are.”

Keira turned around when she heard a familiar voice behind her and smiled at her date.

“You’ve been gone for a while, just wanted to make sure everything was okay,” Charlie explained as he walked closer to her.

“Oh yeah, I’m fine. Just needed to get away from all the crowds and noise for a moment,” Keira informed him as Charlie leaned on the balustrade next to her, gazing up at the clear night sky.

“Yeah, that makes sense,” Charlie replied. Keira watched him a moment, admiring how the moon light highlighted his handsome face before turning to rest against the balustrade again and sunk into the comfortable silence that fell between them.

After some time Keira felt someone staring at her and turned to head to meet Charlie’s adoring gaze. There had been other times where she felt someone’s eyes on her such as during class, and she had assumed it possibly was Charlie since it seemed to always come from his direction and her friends always claimed Charlie stared at her and gave him a hard time about it, but any time she looked over he looked away and she never caught him actually doing it. But this time his gaze held strong. He didn’t appear to be embarrassed at being caught or even fazed at all.

Keira shifted nervously under his intense gaze, feeling her face heat up causing her to avert her eyes from his. “What? Why are you looking at me like that,” she asked self-consciously.

“You’re just really beautiful,” Charlie answered softly, genuinely, not trying to be funny and charming, which just caused her face to grow redder.

“I think you’ve had too much punch,” Keira replied jokingly, obviously unsure of how to handle a compliment like that delivered so honestly. And she fully admitted she may have some intimacy fears and issues.

Fortunately her comment didn’t seem to offend Charlie or ruin the mood, earning a small chuckle from him which filled her with warmth, although she didn’t really need it when her face already felt like it was on fire. She glanced over at him to catch his usual caring smile which always caused whatever winged creatures that were in her stomach to flutter.

Charlie only broke his fixed gaze on her to glance behind them, back towards where to roaring party was still raging on, as a slow melody began to flow out from the Great Hall and fill the air.

“Come on,” he said, holding his hand out towards her.

Keira looked down at his hand curiously. “What?”

“Let’s dance. They’re playing our song,” he added with a charming smile.

“We have a song,” Keira asked with a small laugh as she shyly placed her hand in his.

“We do now,” Charlie answered before taking her hand firmly in his. He spun her around once, causing Keira to laugh more, before pulling her close to him. He slid his free arm around her waist to hold her securely to him. They swayed along to the dreamy melody, gliding along the terrace as one, the romantic lyrics seeming to narrate the moment between them perfectly.

It was funny. Before he had asked her to the dance, Charlie had always been the nervous, self-conscious one around her. They still spent a lot of time together, talked, laughed, even at his lighthearted attempts at flirting and cheeky charming comments, but sometimes the nervousness would hit him. Then he would be the one with the red face, nervous laughter, and stammering; pretty sure he made quite the fool of himself. But now, ever since she accepted his proposal to the ball he had this new found confidence. Sure, she still caused fluttering in his stomach and his heart to skip a beat, still made him nervous (he did call her an Antipodean Opaleye dragon), but seeing her reaction when he asked her to the ball, getting this chance to act on his newly understood feelings and make this something real somehow ignited this determination and confidence within him.

And on the other hand, normally cool, calm, and comfortable being herself, Keira now found herself being the nervous, self-conscious one. Perhaps it was because before this she was in blissful ignorance of any deeper feelings Charlie may have for her. Sure, she had heard her friends joke about it but she never thought it was real. Charlie wasn’t one to be lusting after others, show any interest in dating or romance, something she and him had talked about before and bonded over since she felt similar, so why would he feel those feelings towards her? And yeah, maybe she did have certain feelings for him but she was too afraid to admit that to herself, let alone anyone else. Although she was pretty sure most of her friends, especially Penny and Rowan had already figured it out based on their comments and questions to her about it.

But as long as she believed there was no way he felt the same way, there was no chance of something more, she was free to be herself, no matter how ridiculous or embarrassing, and still got a very close and reliable friend who she cherished. Now suspecting he may actually have deeper feelings than friendship for her, which was just speculation still since he hadn’t ever actually said anything on the subject, Keira found herself suddenly hyperaware of her behavior, things she said, how she looked, his behavior, things he said, how he responded to things she said, how he looked at her – everything. And it was making her more self-conscious than she had ever been before, especially around him since he was the most accepting, understanding, and least judgmental person she knew. She just didn’t want to do or say anything to mess this up and lose someone so important to her.

They floated across the terrace floor slowly, gracefully, Keira quite impressed and surprised by Charlie’s dancing abilities. The entire time Charlie looked down at her warmly, unable to stop himself from smiling, and while Keira may have needed to occasionally coyly avert her gaze from his, she could not stop smiling either.

The waning moon cast its spotlight upon the dancing couple who moved together harmoniously under the velvet night sky with only the twinkling stars as their audience. The more they danced the more comfortable this felt, the more right it felt.

As the song neared its end, Keira peered up to meet Charlie’s steadfast gaze. Their eyes remained locked as they gradually slowed to a stop but neither made a move to part from the other. Instead, Charlie leaned down to close the small distance between them, his eyes falling half shut as he hesitantly brushed his lips against hers causing a spark to jolt through them both leaving a tingling sensation, a rush of anticipation as their hearts pounded in their chests.

When his lips met hers the first thought in Keira’s mind was how surprised she was by how soft they were. That thought was quickly followed by her utter disbelief and shock that Charlie Weasley had leaned down to kiss her – that he wanted to kiss anyone but especially her! Maybe she should have checked to make sure no one had drank a polyjuice potion and was parading around as him.

His hesitancy, though, spoke volumes.

This was new territory for both of them and until now he had appeared so confident in what he was doing. But now this – there was no turning back from this. Was he sure about his feelings? Was he sure about her feelings? Is this what they both wanted? Did she want this? What if him doing this ruined everything? He was unsure and nervous about making a mistake, which was valid. Neither of them wanted to lose their close friend. But his uncertainty only made her more certain that this was right, confirmed for her how much this meant to both of them. Suddenly she wasn’t afraid any longer of all the what-ifs. This is what they both wanted. This was right. And they would be fine.

Keira smirked slightly against his lips before leaning up to meet him in a silent effort to put his insecurities to rest, her eyes falling shut as she allowed herself to give into the moment. Her gesture provided Charlie with the reassurance he needed. Once he felt the enticing sensation of her lips on his, his eyes fell shut as he felt free to give into his emotions. He kissed her gently at first, both taking their time to slowly enjoy this moment and the awakening and intensity of new feelings and sensations with each other before his arm around her waist tightened and his hand grasping hers moved to hold the side of her face as their kiss grew deeper and more passionate.

Under the night sky they remained wrapped in each other’s embrace, taking a chance on expressing their long hidden feelings for one another. Once again time seemed to still and everything around them faded away until all that existed to the couple were each other and the moon and stars that shone down upon them, preserving this intimate and pivotal moment they designed.

The night sky was suddenly illuminated by countless fireworks set off from the opposite end of the balcony surrounding the Great Hall. Tonks and Tulip promised a grand finale. But neither Charlie nor Keira seemed to even notice them, lost in each other.

Keira lay on the couch in the Slytherin Common Room, staring up at the ceiling with a dreamy look and blissful grin on her face. She knew it was there and probably made her look insane or worse, love-struck, but she couldn’t stop smiling.

“Come on, Keira!” She suddenly felt herself being pulled up off the couch by Rowan who apparently had her inner dancing spirit awakened. The two girls laughed and danced around the Common Room, twirling in their dresses they refused to take off even though the ball had ended hours ago.

“Woo, dance party,” Barnaby cried before literally jumping in to join them. The Slytherin trio laughed as they danced around before Barnaby seemed to suddenly remember something. “Oh yeah, I’m supposed to give you this.”

Barnaby handed Keira an envelope and while she stepped aside to open it, Barnaby and Rowan continued their lively dancing. She studied the plain envelope curiously before opening it and pulling out its contents.

She stared at what she held in her hand in shock.

The picture the envelope bestowed showed her and Charlie on the balcony in the midst of their first kiss under the waning gibbous moon, twinkling stars, and fireworks that shot up in a spectacular explosion in the sky around them. She turned the picture over to see the date written on the back along with a message which caused an eerie chill to creep throughout her body as she nervously looked around the room.

‘I know everything that happens at Hogwarts’ ♥ Penny

Merde – Shit

J’en ai ras le cul – I have fucking had it (with stairs)

Eejit – Idiot

I think it’s safe to say we all know, or can at least figure out, the British slang words (I hope I used them correctly or else how embarrassing!)

A/N: Could I have ended it with them kissing under the night sky on the balcony? Sure. But then this idea popped into my head and I thought it was funny. You can pretend it ends with the romantic scene.(I’m still not perfectly happening with the ending scene of them kissing but I can’t keep obsessing over it and tweaking little things here and there throughout the story, I need to just post it and be done! Also still kind of wish it had a better title but whatever - ugh the perfectionist in me!)

I didn’t write this all in one sitting so hopefully it flows, and again it has been so long since I’ve written something like this but I enjoyed doing it. I know I can tend to ramble and be over detailed and I do love my commas but that’s just me being excited to write this kind of stuff again. Sorry it ended up so much longer than anticipated! I also know I could have just focused on the relationship with Charlie but I love the relationship with the whole gang and wanted to highlight that as well. Oh, and the Rowan and Diego thing – I see one screenshot of them talking/close to each other in DADA and now I kind of ship it? I don’t know…Barnaby could have possibly gone with Liz, I don’t really know her but they both love magical creatures and she is rather socially awkward so I could see her asking him to the dance without him realizing =p Or it was some other girl. Shout out to all the Addison’s out there! I kept seeing this name in reference to the game and thought ‘well this is a popular name I should use it.’

As mentioned before the reference to Charlie realizing his feelings and falling asleep together while studying may be another fic I write as well as a sort of aftermath of the ball where they make it official. I also have some other one shot ideas or headcanons I’ve mentioned in others posts I may actually write out as well (e.g. Keira getting a concussion during a Quidditch match and being caught by Charlie, Keira and Barnaby accidentally knocking a ball into the Potions classroom). I don’t know if anyone would be interested but might be something I do. I am really happy to be getting back into creative writing.

Let me know if you are interested; I noticed some people tag others to keep them updated on their fics and if you’d like that let me know! And if you have any prompt ideas or collab ideas or anything let me know too! I would just really like to connect to others, maybe even make friendships - how crazy would that be =p

~ Hope you enjoyed =)

[pagesoflauren]

Premiere Nights with Jack (Jack Lowden x reader)

Masterlist

You had spent countless minutes pinning and repinning strands of your hair in place to fall just the way you wanted. You had taken extra care when lining your lips so that there would be no mistakes when swiping the lipstick across to create the perfect dramatic pout that complemented the smoky look on your eyes. It had taken you a few extra minutes to apply a strip of fake eyelashes that added the perfect amount of drama and once you were done you had felt accomplished…until you sent a selfie to your friend and she pointed out the unevenness of your eyeliner. You were ready to fix it until Jack called to you from downstairs.

“Y/N! C’mon, lass, we’re gonna be late! The car’s gonna be here any minute!”

“Okay!” you yelled back, taking off your bathrobe that you had wrapped around yourself to make sure nothing ruined your embellished chiffon gown that a designer was far too kind to give you for the evening. You gave yourself another look in the mirror, interrupted when Jack called your name again. You quickly grabbed your clutch and your phone, coming down the stairs in a bit of a frenzy as you searched for your shoes.

“Love,” Jack singsonged, bringing your attention to him. He stood by the couch with your heels in his hand. You hurried over to him, grabbing the shoes and falling onto the couch. You practically dug through your gown to pull it over your knees, enough for you to see your feet and slid the heels on. You couldn’t seem to fasten the buckle, hands shaking before two large, warm hands grabbed yours.

“Let me,” he says. You retract your hands without saying a word, folding them in your lap as Jack works to buckle the strap around your ankle. “Alright, other one,” he says when he’s finished. You cross your legs to bring the other foot with the unbuckled heel in front of him. “I quite like these, actually.” “They’re nice. And I won’t be falling over because they have a chunky heel,” you say, your mind far away. “Good to know you won’t be teetering and I won’t have to bring you home with sprained ankles or anything,” he says, fastening the buckle and dropping a kiss to your knee. He looks up at you and smiles, standing up with his arms outstretched to help you stand up. “Stop fretting, lass,” he chuckles down at you, “everything will be fine. It’s just walking and a couple pictures.” “I can think of a million things that can go wrong,” you say, dusting off your dress to make sure nothing’s on it. “Then don’t think.”

You scoff. He says it as if it’s so easy. This isn’t your first red carpet, but it’s the first red carpet for a film where Jack plays a leading role and therefore will have a lot of attention on him and, in turn, you, the woman on his arm. “You’re thinking.” “Because it’s hard not to!” you burst. “Hey,” Jack says, grabbing your hands. “There is nothing that could possibly happen that can’t be fixed.” “I could fall and become your trash girlfriend that all your fans make fun of.” “If you fall, then I’m falling too. Even if I have trip myself. Trust me,” he says, kissing your forehead, “no one’s making a fool out of my lass.” You squeeze his hands and sigh. “You’re putting too much pressure on yourself, my love. It’s gonna be a fun night, I promise.” “Okay.” You smile and feel your nerves dissolve. “Come, give a turn,” he says, bringing his right arm up to help you balance you as you twirl, your dress glittering in the light of the lamp standing in your living room. He grabs your waist to steady you, laughing with you as you plant your feet on the floor to stand. “Beautiful, absolutely gorgeous.” “Thank you,” you say, suddenly feeling shy. The moment is ruined when you hear a car horn sound from the curb outside the house. “Better get going,” he says, bumping his nose against yours.

The white noise of the radio is drowned out by the sound of you crinkling your empty water bottle that you had downed during the drive to the premiere venue.  “You’re thinking again.” “Hmm?” you say, your head snapping to look at your boyfriend. He holds his hand out and you place the water bottle in it. He discards it in a small receptacle on the side of the seat before grabbing your hand and squeezing. You feel the car stop and he smiles at you. “You ready?” “No.” “Yes, you are. Come on,” he says.

An usher opens the door for him and he unbuckles his seatbelt, stepping out and quickly waving to some fans. You work on carefully unbuckling yourself, making sure the seatbelt doesn’t catch on any of the stones sewn onto your dress. Another usher opens the door for you and Jack is there to take your hand and help you out of the car. You step out, eyes widening at the scale of the event. You imagined big, crowded, chaotic…you got that multiplied by ten.

You slowed your breathing down as you took it all in—or tired to—and Jack hooked your hand around the crook of his elbow to start walking. You stand back while Jack poses in front of a group of photographers. He looks straight ahead, one hand in his pocket and the other hanging casually at his side, resembling the picture of him you currently have as your home screen background on your phone. He turns and motions for you and you quickly look behind you to make sure he’s not gesturing for someone else.

“No, you!” he guffaws, almost doubling over in laughter. You feel your cheeks flare up and you’re sure if you weren’t wearing makeup, you’d be bright red. You lift your dress to prevent yourself from tripping over the hem and walk over to Jack, who’s holding an arm out to wrap around your waist. You smile your “photo” smile, the one that doesn’t quite reach your eyes and is rather modest. It’s plastered throughout all your social media, and as beautiful as you look, Jack huffs a bit when he sees it out of the corner of his eye. “Smile,” he mutters quietly. “I am,” you reply, keeping your smiling guise up.

He surprises you by planting a kiss on your cheek and the photographers go crazy, shutters clicking twice as fast and the flashes from the bulbs nearly blinding you. You let out a surprised laugh and turn to him, smiling widely with bright eyes. “There we are,” he smiles back down at you. Your laughter dissolves into giggles, something resembling a giddy teenager after her first kiss at a dance. “Come on,” he says, cocking his head toward the rest of the carpet, where interviewers wait. You chat with a couple of his co-stars and their significant others, making small talk and exchanging compliments on each other’s attire as Jack answers questions, animatedly pointing and gesturing and nodding his head as he speaks. When he’s done, he greets his friends cheerfully before pulling you to the venue. You opted for a small bag of popcorn, to help calm the nerves that were still ignited throughout your body.

“How’s my lass?” Jack asks, bringing you a small paper cup with soda, remembering the night you met in the pub. It’s almost comedic; everyone’s all dressed to the nines, sipping on whiskey and wine, and you’re standing with popcorn and soda as Jack takes a swig from his own glass of white wine. You laugh at yourself a little, but thank him for the drink. “Still a little nervous, but it’s not as bad,” you say. You frown as Jack reaches his hand and fishes out a handful of popcorn to stuff into his gob. “Sharing is caring, love,” he chides, tapping your nose as he eats, “first thing you learn in primary school.”

You keep up the act though, snatching the drink from the table and scowling at him as you sip. He laughs at you and squeezes your side, giving you a quick tickling jolt and you smack his arm in retaliation. He’s giving you the cheekiest smile and suddenly you’re aware of people looking at you and your cheeks once again flare up at unwanted attention. “We should take our seats,” you say, finishing your snack and tossing them into a nearby trash can. “Hey,” he says, “not shy, are you, love?” You can tell that he’s feeling apologetic for what he’s done and worried that maybe he overstepped an unidentified boundary. “No,” you say quickly. “It’s just…people were staring.” “So what?” “I don’t know, I just…” “You were thinking again.” “I don’t want to embarrass you.” It’s his turn to scowl, “What? No.” He leans down and kisses your forehead, “You can never embarrass me. Ever.” You look down, feeling sheepish. “Look at me,” he says quietly. When you do, something about the way he’s looking at you makes everyone else disappear and, as cliche as it sounds, you only see and hear Jack. “I couldn’t be more proud to have you on my arm here. I feel so damn lucky that you even want to be here with me. You’re my girl and I always want you here with me; I wouldn’t be here if you weren’t supporting me all the time. Okay?” You nod. “Can I have a kiss?” “My lipstick—“ “Eh, it’s fine, it’ll probably look good on me anyway,” he shrugs, not hesitating to lean down and press his lips to yours. When he pulls away and smiles down at you, you laugh and use your thumb to wipe away the smeared berry color that transferred from your lips to his. “Doesn’t even look like it budged,” he observes, eyes focusing on your lips. “Well, it better, I paid good money for this.” “What color is that anyway?”

You laugh. You hadn’t planned on telling him.

“What? What is it?” he asks, his head cocking curiously. His curiosity fades into confusion as you begin walking to the auditorium, turning back to throw him a smirk over your shoulder. “It’s Tom Ford in the shade ‘Jack’.”

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btw “Jack” is an actual shade of lipstick and I bought it because of the name it’s such a pretty color :D

[biofunmy]

How to Make the Most of a Powder Room

The powder room is the hummingbird of the home: a room so small you may wonder whether it’s a room at all. (There’s a reason real estate agents call it a half bathroom.)

No matter how diminutive, though, it’s a space that can be used to create an outsize design statement.

“A powder room is a perfect opportunity to get a bit crazy,” said Paris Forino, an interior designer in New York. “We look at the powder room as a little jewel box, a little wow factor, and somewhere you can impress your guests. You can be bold, because it’s not a space where you have to worry about getting sick of something.”

Dark, saturated colors and large-scale patterns that might seem overwhelming in a living room or bedroom are often ideal for a powder room. And you can use high-end materials that might be too expensive to install in larger spaces, said the interior designer Katie Ridder, because “there isn’t a lot of floor and there isn’t a lot of wall.”

For advice on how to create a showstopper of a powder room, we talked to Ms. Forino, Ms. Ridder and other designers.

Focus Your Efforts

While eye-catching and even provocative design elements are fair game in a powder room, it’s important to determine your overall vision at the outset, so you don’t end up with a mishmash of clashing styles.

It’s best to start with a concept, as many designers do. For instance, Brian Paquette, an interior designer in Seattle, wanted to reflect a client’s passion for travel in a powder room he designed for her home on Mercer Island, Wash.

Because the room “was inspired by the client’s love of Mexico,” he said, he chose wallpaper with a jungle-vine motif from L’Aviva Home and a vintage mirror with a hand-carved wooden frame. “She didn’t want that look all over the entire house, but it can be in this one place.”

Or you could choose one dominant element — a beautiful wallcovering, unique ceramic tile or marble with intricate veining — and build the rest of the room around it, with subtler details in a coordinating color palette.

“Everything has to balance out,” Ms. Forino said. “If you have a very graphic wall, you might want to have a calmer floor.”

Dress the Walls

One popular way to bring life to a powder room is with wallpaper in a bold pattern.

“People think a small space shouldn’t be dark or have pattern all over, but those rules are completely subjective,” said Jennie Bishop, a partner at the Chicago- and Los Angeles-based interior design firm Studio Gild.

So feel free to break them, like Studio Gild did in a powder room in Highland Park, Ill., where the walls are covered in Serengeti paper from Hygge & West, a striking pattern featuring gold cheetahs on a black background. For another powder room in the same house, the designers chose an even more intense wallpaper called Gilded Age, from Phillip Jeffries, with an undulating metallic stripe that makes the walls glitter.

Distinctive ceramic tile, or even an unexpected grout color, can have a similarly theatrical effect.

For a powder room in a house in Los Angeles, Mr. Paquette installed a seemingly random mix of black-and-white Sitio tiles from Exquisite Surfaces. The tiles, in various geometric patterns with occasional brass inlays, cover the top of the wall behind the sink, making a big statement with a minimal amount of material.

“We used it kind of like wallpaper,” he said, “just on one accent wall.”

Or, Focus on the Floor

If you have a quieter wall finish in mind — paneling, paint, subway tile — consider making a statement with the floor.

“I like to use wallpaper in a bathroom when there isn’t a lot of other detail,” Ms. Ridder said. But when the bathroom is more than just a simple white box, she often embellishes other surfaces.

For a recent project on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, where John B. Murray, an architect, had designed handsome wall paneling and molding, she installed a floor of graphic black-and-white cement tile from Mosaic House to create a high-contrast surprise for anyone who steps inside.

Ms. Forino took a similar approach in the powder rooms at the Galerie condominium in Long Island City, N.Y., where she designed simple walnut paneling for the walls and contrasted it with an attention-grabbing herringbone pattern of green, pink, black and white stone on the floor.

Choose Your Sink or Vanity

The sink is the centerpiece of the powder room, and there are countless styles to choose from. For extremely space-constrained situations, or in rooms where you don’t want the sink to be the center of attention, a simple porcelain wall-mounted or pedestal sink may work best. For slightly larger rooms, many manufacturers offer complete vanity units, with a base, top and sink.

But if you want a unique, dazzling place to wash your hands, it’s hard to do better than a custom vanity top made from exotic stone.

In the powder room of a Chicago home, Studio Gild built a vanity and backsplash out of Bianco Giada marble, a white stone with swirls of gray and black, covering the walls with cost-effective grasscloth. “The big moment is that beautiful stone, and then the other elements of the room are the supporting actors,” said Kristen Ekeland, a partner at the firm.

A custom vanity top can be paired with a sink mounted underneath for a streamlined, integrated look, or with a vessel sink that sits on top, for a more sculptural appearance.

For support, the vanity top can be mounted directly to the wall, so that it almost appears to float. “When you float a vanity in a small space, it makes the room feel a little larger, compared to something that goes to the floor,” Ms. Ekeland said.

Alternatively, it could be supported by a washstand, with legs but no cabinet, for a similar feeling of airiness. Or, if more storage is needed, it could be placed on a small cabinet with a door or drawers.

Consider Stone Remnants

Natural stone is usually sold in large, expensive slabs, but because so little is needed for a bathroom vanity, it’s possible to use remnants from stone suppliers, or reclaimed pieces from architectural salvage operations — like Mr. Paquette did for the Nero Marquina vanity in his project on Mercer Island.

“You don’t have to buy a whole slab for one tiny powder-room sink,” he said, noting that it would be both wasteful and expensive.

While you might not always be able to find exactly the stone you were hoping for — and you’ll have to do a little legwork — the savings could be substantial. A stone fabricator can then transform your remnant into the vanity top of your dreams.

Add a Warm Glow

The powder room is where guests will check their hair and makeup, and you can enhance their experience by adding fixtures that provide flattering light. Avoid using bright fluorescent or bluish-white LED lights. Instead, aim for low levels of warm light with a color temperature of about 2,700 Kelvin.

Sconces or pendants hung near eye level on either side of the mirror will provide light where it’s needed, while an overhead fixture can deliver general illumination for the rest of the room.

And beyond functionality, think of light fixtures as an opportunity to add sculptural appeal to your bathroom.

“Don’t disregard the opportunity for a really cool light fixture,” said Cortney Bishop, an interior designer in Charleston, S.C., who has used a range of fixtures in powder rooms — from a vintage chandelier to an overscale brass-and-glass pendant from Apparatus. During parties, “people are spending a little moment in there, looking around,” she said.

Choose Accessories With Personality

Because powder rooms have so few objects in them, every accessory is an opportunity to introduce a little personal style.

The mirror, for instance, can be more than a standard reflective rectangle. Instead, you might hunt for a vintage mirror with an ornate frame or a contemporary mirror in an interesting shape.

If you’re tired of standard chrome faucets and towel bars, choose a less common finish, like copper, unlacquered brass or matte black.

And to hold soap and toiletries, you can find handmade vessels with a story behind them. “It’s a great place to add something you collected while traveling,” Cortney Bishop said.

Because in the end, a powder room isn’t just a bathroom, she said: It’s “a tiny, little sanctuary where you can really show your personality.”

For weekly email updates on residential real estate news, sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @nytrealestate.

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[evodex]

Corporate Styling Tips For Working Women By Style Coach : Divya Vishwanath

Corporate Styling Tips For Working Women

    You can have anything you want if you dress for it.

-Edith Head.

Women of today- they rule almost every sphere of the corporate world.

Despite all the added challenges they had to face, they achieved success and power and what arose from this was a new age woman, the Working Women. Aware of her powers, her brilliance, and her abilities. As they moved forward into the corporate world, so did their wardrobe. The wardrobe of working women was a combination of success, restraint, rebellion, strength, fun and of course a little bit of drama. Women started to dress in clothes which made them feel powerful and invincible.

The question then arises, “Why so much stress on work wardrobe”? Well, why not! Here are some reasons I can think of:

If we dress well, we feel more confident and our body language portrays that. People we work with perceive us as more authoritative, competent and reliable. Nothing can match up to the feeling one gets when they know they are looking good. If you look good, you feel good and you work well. This automatically makes you feel powerful. Over time, you realize that you can control how you feel about yourself and this again is a great feeling to have. First impressions matter. We always associate a person with the first impression we have of them, the image that was stored in our minds within 5 seconds of meeting them, and that image lasts a lifetime. As someone truly said, “ There are no second chances to a first impression.” so make it a good one.

Without a doubt, the way we dress plays an important role in our work life. So make a little effort to learn about it, spend a little time to work on it and use this subconscious visual association to your advantage.

“Vain trifles as they seem, clothes have, they say, more important offices than to merely keep us warm. They change our view of the world and the world’s view of us.”

– Virginia Woolf.

Now let’s talk about some do’s and don’ts for the wardrobe of a Working Women:

Always dress according to what’s appropriate for your workplace. If there is a dress code, FOLLOW it. Read a little about the dress code and apply it to your everyday dressing. It creates a positive impression of you. Clothes must always fit well. Too tight or too loose is distracting. Inappropriate clothes can give a wrong impression too. After all, you want to be remembered for what value you bring in and not what you wore. Right!

The perfume you wear has to be subtle and not strong. If you cannot figure out on your own which perfume to buy for work, ask the store lady for a mild one. She’ll guide you.

You need to wear appropriate shoes and they must be clean and in good condition. Heels look good, but it’s a personal choice. Go for wedge heels, kitten heels or even flats, as long as you are comfortable. But they need to go with what you are wearing and they need to be appropriate. You cannot wear bathroom slippers or open sandals to work, just because you find them comfortable.  Nor can you wear the shoes you will wear while you go out partying. Follow the dress code. But still get a little adventurous.

Personal hygiene is precious. Bad body odour, dirty hair, unkempt hands, and feet will not take you too far. Be well groomed.

Get regular manicures and pedicure, especially if you want to wear open shoes. The sight of chipped nail paint is not professional at all.

Keep your hair clean and neat. If you can’t manage the hairstyle you have without elaborate parlour work, you definitely need a change. Visit your hairstylist and tell her what your requirements are. Take tips from her on how to manage your hair easily. Never reach work with wet hair. It shows that you are not organized and lack time management.

Simple Tips To Keep You And Your Jewellery Glowing This Wedding Season

Pay attention to colour choices. Darker colours always give a stronger impression. Never wear colours that will blend in with the background. You want to stand out, not fade out.

Don’t get carried away with accessories. You cannot wear the same kind of jewellery to work, what you would wear to a pub or discotheque. And your jewellery definitely cannot make noise. Keep it striking, yet subtle.

Carry a bag that is neat and stylish and not something that has your stuff pouring out of it. You cannot carry a suitcase either while at work. If there is a lot of things you need with you, make a little storage space where you work. A bag has to look like the stylish accessory its meant to be, yet it should blend in with the professional image you want to project. So, no gym bags, plastic bags or shiny or embellished clutch to work.

Don’t overdo makeup. Smokey eyes are for parties. Wear the amount that would make your complexion look flawless and yet natural. Also use moisturizer always, for face, hands, feet, legs… It makes you look fresh and awake.As far as work makeup is concerned, LESS IS ALWAYS MORE.

Leggings/tights are not trousers. You cannot wear them to work !!

Come up with your own style, which works well for you. Nothing will ever compete with your own signature style. This might take a little bit of effort, but its worth it. Once you know your style, be consistent with it.

While dressing, don’t forget that you are a woman. Take pride in who you are.

You are strong, powerful, magnificent, smart, intelligent, efficient and beautiful. Believe in this. And the word will believe this too. Wear the right attitude.

Dressing right for work, once mastered, is an empowering and liberating experience. It’s an armor you wear to work every day and definitely spend two-thirds of the day in it. So, why not make your Working Women look stunning one!

“Fashion is what you’re offered four times a year by designers. And style is what you choose.”

– Lauren Hutton

Here are some looks I have created for you to help you with your work wardrobe.

We all have bad days when we are not feeling too good. It’s normal. For days like that, Wear something loose comfortable and hassle-free. This long flowing dress is perfect for such days. Worn with comfortable shoes and a little makeup, you are good to get through the day.

This slim fit dress is a staple, yet stands out of the cause of the color. The flower adds a bit of fun element

Bright pink linen top is paired with grey trousers and grey beads. The whole outfit looks bright and elegant. The fun element gets added with the matching pink peep toe heels and pink bag.

This white A-line skirt is worn with a knitted top and printed scarf. It will work for a formal Friday casual dressing too. For an extra formal look, add a jacket.

This bright yellow chiffon top is paired with white cotton trousers. The accessories are minimal as yellow is really striking on its own. Never contrast yellow with any other strong color, it can become too overpowering. In this case, since the top has small blue dots, it can be worn with blue trousers too.. Beige goes well with all colors.

Black is a staple in all our wardrobes but a bit of color adds more dimension and interest. Here the black dress is paired with an orange jacket and orange bag. I have worn black stilettos, but feel free to wear wedge heels, kitten heels, peep toes or flats in matching the colour. A bright color jacket works really well when paired with solid color dresses.

This warp dress will never let you down. It suits almost any body type. What makes it more interesting is the patterns on it. Here they are worn with red jewelry, red heels and paired with a red bag. Try any other combination and it will look good.

This round neck, frilled top in flowing material doesn’t bulk up and can be paired beautifully with almost anything. Here this top is worn with a black straight skirt and a green bag adds a pop of colour. Wear it with pants or flared skirts or with jeans on a casual Friday, and it looks stunning.

Why not make a casual Friday fun. Printed brown dress, paired with a light green woven silk scarf and brown bag.

Nothing screams out power and success more than this outfit. Black embroidered silk skirt is worn with black top and suede jacket and printed scarf. This is paired with high heels.

  Sarees look really elegant, as long as you can manage to drape it well and keep it well draped throughout the day. Wear saree with a little heel (adds grace) and no hanging and chunky jewellery with it. Keep it all minimal and noise free. In a saree, you would definitely leave an impact on anyone. Its probably the most powerful attire I have seen. Salwaar- kameez is very comfortable too. Wear well-fitted ones.

Any of these outfits can be altered according to the weather. Use a colourful knitted scarf or warm well-fitted jacket or both. Just don’t add too many colours, we don’t want you looking like a fruit basket. For a professional woman, style is her expression of confidence, power, and success. Finding your style and following it will give you a definite winning edge in this ever so competitive world. With our world getting so visual, with technology developing almost every hour, the visual impact has gained immense importance.

So all you gorgeous ladies, its time to let your visual voice speak and make sure it gets heard loud and clear. Get out of your comfort zone where work dressing is concerned; don’t clone but find your true style and you will shine even more.

This post was contributed by, Divya Singh Vishwanath. She is a style coach from Mumbai, India.  She has done her designing course from NIFT, New Delhi and has worked with a few designers and fashion houses. She took a break for a few years to raise her family and for the last three years, she has been working as a stylist and a personal shopper. She started her blog stylefashionshimmer in September 2017 and have been working as a style coach ever since.

If you have any questions, she is there to help.

divya@stylefashionshimmer.com

  The post Corporate Styling Tips For Working Women By Style Coach : Divya Vishwanath appeared first on Maa of All Blogs.

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[agosnesrerose]

Studio Saturdays: Mixed-Media Vision Board

How are you doing with your New Year’s resolutions so far? I’ve been trying to keep up with my goals, but somehow life gets in the way. Just in time, mixed-media artist Rae Missigman has created a vision board that’s perfect for staying inspired, no matter what you want to achieve.

Her project is featured in the January/February issue of Cloth Paper Scissors magazine, in the article “A Vision Board: A reminder to create every day.” I love this board for a number of reasons: It’s creatively satisfying to make, can be customized, and is a piece you’ll be proud to display.

I decided to make one for myself when I realized that since the start of this year, I’ve barely worked in my sketchbooks and art journals. I know that even 15 minutes a day can make a difference in an art practice, but I haven’t been carving out the time. A vision board was exactly what I needed to get me motivated.

For a substrate, I chose a discarded book cover, and painted it with off-white acrylic paint. Although the back of the vision board may never show, I still wanted it to look nice, so I stamped over it with some damask stamps in turquoise and dark magenta paint.

I repurposed a discarded book cover to use for the base of the vision board, then painted and stamped it with acrylic paint.

I added a few more stamped images and aged the cover with a burnt umber glaze, then sanded everything back a bit. I painted the interior off-white, but you can art it up any way you like with paint, collage, stamps, etc.

I aged the cover for a more vintage look.

I wanted this vision board to be something that I could change as I set new goals. I created a quilted fabric piece to hang over the inside of the book cover, so I could clip and pin things to it, altering it at will. Rae’s substrate is made from pieces of natural muslin and linen fabric that are free-motion stitched together. I sandwiched a piece of cotton batting between two pieces of washed canvas duck that I ripped, instead of cut, to get ragged edges.

The board itself was made from two pieces of canvas duck and cotton quilt batting.

I’m no expert quilter, but I eyeballed the lines for a diamond pattern, spacing them about 1″ apart. Don’t look too closely at the stitching. I figured if I messed up, I’ll be covering up most of the piece anyway, so no harm, no foul. Sometimes you just gotta go with it.

After quilting the pieces, grommets were attached, and the fabric piece was attached to the book cover with a hanger.

Holes were punched in the top corners of the book cover, and matching holes and grommets were put in the quilted piece. I laced a braided rag handle through all the holes for hanging. One thing to note: The piece will buckle if you try to place it on one hanger, because the book cover is not stiff. I created mine this way because I want to be able to fold it up when it’s not in use. If you want the book cover to be stiff, glue heavy chipboard to the inside cover.

One of Rae’s most fun techniques for her vision board is dyeing paper and ribbon with spray inks; the paper can be used for art journaling or sketching, and the ribbon for tassels. To do this, spray some inks into a shallow pan. I used analogous shades of pink and purple. If the color is too concentrated, mist some water in the pan as well. Place sheets of watercolor paper into the pan and let them soak up the inks for a few seconds. Remove, flip them over, and let them dry.

Paper was dyed with spray inks to create colorful backgrounds.

I like allowing the pools of color to dry naturally, rather than speed the drying time with a heat tool, because I like the way the color saturates the paper. When the papers are dry you can add complementary colors without getting a lot of mud; I oversprayed some with shades of green and blue, and wiped another across a non-stick craft mat that had some color left on it.

After the papers have dried, you can add more spray inks to them.

If you have any leftover ink in the pan, grab any scraps and dye them: book text, ledger paper, watercolor paper, envelopes, tags, fabric scraps—I guarantee you won���t regret it. Try wrinkling some papers before you place them in the ink. I dyed some ½” strips of muslin; wetting them before placing them in the ink helps them absorb the color better. I used them to create a tassel, a la the one Rae creates in her vision board article.

Grab any scraps you can find and color them with leftover dye. I used fabric strips to make a tassel for the vision board.

When I thought about how I’d attach the pieces to the board, I envisioned the usual suspects: clips, pins, etc. While gorgeous ready-made clips are easy to find, altering and embellishing my own seemed like a better idea. I gathered some boring bulldog and binder clips and straight pins and went to work. I glued scraps of paper and fabric to the binder clips with a glue stick. Alcohol inks were brushed onto the bulldog clips and heat set, and I glued round plastic epoxy stickers to the handles. Straight pins were glued between ½” punched circles of decorative cardstock. Mini wooden clothesline clips were painted with acrylic paint and decorated with a black permanent pen.

Embellish your own clips for your vision board, using office and sewing supplies.

I used a couple of the inked papers as backgrounds for sketches and art journaling techniques and clipped them to the board; these help me remember what can be accomplished in 15 minutes. I also drew a pocket watch as a reminder about those 15 minutes. A hand-stamped piece that reads, “Progress, not perfection,” prompts me to not get intimidated or stymied by thinking everything I do has to be a gem. A few other key elements include a couple of magazine photos that I can use for sketching practice, a vintage paintbrush just for its beauty (attached with embroidery floss), and a vintage photo, which I sometimes like incorporating into art journal pages.

I have this vision board hanging in my home, and so far it’s done its job–I regularly steal 15 minutes and do a sketch or work on an art journal page. It’s made a huge difference in my art practice, and I’m already thinking about my creative goals for March.

I can add and subtract to this vision board, changing it as I add new goals.

I hope this inspired you to take a look at Rae’s article, and also to check out other resources from the North Light Shop that will make a difference in your creative life!

See Rae’s full article on making a vision board in the January/February 2017 issue of Cloth Paper Scissors magazine.

Get inspired to create with the great columns and essays by artists in this Art Inspiration digital download.

Get more of Rae Missigman’s techniques in the digital download Art Lesson Volume 6: Nature’s Stamps.

Encourage your artistic genius with Creative Strength Training by Jane Dunnewold.

Add some hand lettering to your vision board with techniques learned in the video Artful Lettering with Joanne Sharpe.

Overcome your creativity blocks with the ideas and prompts in the book Creative Freedom by Maggie Price.

The post Studio Saturdays: Mixed-Media Vision Board appeared first on Artist's Network.

from Artist’s Network http://ift.tt/2lXbXXq

http://ift.tt/2kSHMzW

[mredwinsmith]

Studio Saturdays: Mixed-Media Vision Board

How are you doing with your New Year’s resolutions so far? I’ve been trying to keep up with my goals, but somehow life gets in the way. Just in time, mixed-media artist Rae Missigman has created a vision board that’s perfect for staying inspired, no matter what you want to achieve.

Her project is featured in the January/February issue of Cloth Paper Scissors magazine, in the article “A Vision Board: A reminder to create every day.” I love this board for a number of reasons: It’s creatively satisfying to make, can be customized, and is a piece you’ll be proud to display.

I decided to make one for myself when I realized that since the start of this year, I’ve barely worked in my sketchbooks and art journals. I know that even 15 minutes a day can make a difference in an art practice, but I haven’t been carving out the time. A vision board was exactly what I needed to get me motivated.

For a substrate, I chose a discarded book cover, and painted it with off-white acrylic paint. Although the back of the vision board may never show, I still wanted it to look nice, so I stamped over it with some damask stamps in turquoise and dark magenta paint.

I repurposed a discarded book cover to use for the base of the vision board, then painted and stamped it with acrylic paint.

I added a few more stamped images and aged the cover with a burnt umber glaze, then sanded everything back a bit. I painted the interior off-white, but you can art it up any way you like with paint, collage, stamps, etc.

I aged the cover for a more vintage look.

I wanted this vision board to be something that I could change as I set new goals. I created a quilted fabric piece to hang over the inside of the book cover, so I could clip and pin things to it, altering it at will. Rae’s substrate is made from pieces of natural muslin and linen fabric that are free-motion stitched together. I sandwiched a piece of cotton batting between two pieces of washed canvas duck that I ripped, instead of cut, to get ragged edges.

The board itself was made from two pieces of canvas duck and cotton quilt batting.

I’m no expert quilter, but I eyeballed the lines for a diamond pattern, spacing them about 1″ apart. Don’t look too closely at the stitching. I figured if I messed up, I’ll be covering up most of the piece anyway, so no harm, no foul. Sometimes you just gotta go with it.

After quilting the pieces, grommets were attached, and the fabric piece was attached to the book cover with a hanger.

Holes were punched in the top corners of the book cover, and matching holes and grommets were put in the quilted piece. I laced a braided rag handle through all the holes for hanging. One thing to note: The piece will buckle if you try to place it on one hanger, because the book cover is not stiff. I created mine this way because I want to be able to fold it up when it’s not in use. If you want the book cover to be stiff, glue heavy chipboard to the inside cover.

One of Rae’s most fun techniques for her vision board is dyeing paper and ribbon with spray inks; the paper can be used for art journaling or sketching, and the ribbon for tassels. To do this, spray some inks into a shallow pan. I used analogous shades of pink and purple. If the color is too concentrated, mist some water in the pan as well. Place sheets of watercolor paper into the pan and let them soak up the inks for a few seconds. Remove, flip them over, and let them dry.

Paper was dyed with spray inks to create colorful backgrounds.

I like allowing the pools of color to dry naturally, rather than speed the drying time with a heat tool, because I like the way the color saturates the paper. When the papers are dry you can add complementary colors without getting a lot of mud; I oversprayed some with shades of green and blue, and wiped another across a non-stick craft mat that had some color left on it.

After the papers have dried, you can add more spray inks to them.

If you have any leftover ink in the pan, grab any scraps and dye them: book text, ledger paper, watercolor paper, envelopes, tags, fabric scraps—I guarantee you won’t regret it. Try wrinkling some papers before you place them in the ink. I dyed some ½” strips of muslin; wetting them before placing them in the ink helps them absorb the color better. I used them to create a tassel, a la the one Rae creates in her vision board article.

Grab any scraps you can find and color them with leftover dye. I used fabric strips to make a tassel for the vision board.

When I thought about how I’d attach the pieces to the board, I envisioned the usual suspects: clips, pins, etc. While gorgeous ready-made clips are easy to find, altering and embellishing my own seemed like a better idea. I gathered some boring bulldog and binder clips and straight pins and went to work. I glued scraps of paper and fabric to the binder clips with a glue stick. Alcohol inks were brushed onto the bulldog clips and heat set, and I glued round plastic epoxy stickers to the handles. Straight pins were glued between ½” punched circles of decorative cardstock. Mini wooden clothesline clips were painted with acrylic paint and decorated with a black permanent pen.

Embellish your own clips for your vision board, using office and sewing supplies.

I used a couple of the inked papers as backgrounds for sketches and art journaling techniques and clipped them to the board; these help me remember what can be accomplished in 15 minutes. I also drew a pocket watch as a reminder about those 15 minutes. A hand-stamped piece that reads, “Progress, not perfection,” prompts me to not get intimidated or stymied by thinking everything I do has to be a gem. A few other key elements include a couple of magazine photos that I can use for sketching practice, a vintage paintbrush just for its beauty (attached with embroidery floss), and a vintage photo, which I sometimes like incorporating into art journal pages.

I have this vision board hanging in my home, and so far it’s done its job–I regularly steal 15 minutes and do a sketch or work on an art journal page. It’s made a huge difference in my art practice, and I’m already thinking about my creative goals for March.

I can add and subtract to this vision board, changing it as I add new goals.

I hope this inspired you to take a look at Rae’s article, and also to check out other resources from the North Light Shop that will make a difference in your creative life!

See Rae’s full article on making a vision board in the January/February 2017 issue of Cloth Paper Scissors magazine.

Get inspired to create with the great columns and essays by artists in this Art Inspiration digital download.

Get more of Rae Missigman’s techniques in the digital download Art Lesson Volume 6: Nature’s Stamps.

Encourage your artistic genius with Creative Strength Training by Jane Dunnewold.

Add some hand lettering to your vision board with techniques learned in the video Artful Lettering with Joanne Sharpe.

Overcome your creativity blocks with the ideas and prompts in the book Creative Freedom by Maggie Price.

The post Studio Saturdays: Mixed-Media Vision Board appeared first on Artist's Network.

from Artist's Network http://ift.tt/2lXbXXq

[evodex]

Corporate Styling Tips For Working Women By Style Coach : Divya Vishwanath

Corporate Styling Tips For Working Women

    You can have anything you want if you dress for it.

-Edith Head.

Women of today- they rule almost every sphere of the corporate world.

Despite all the added challenges they had to face, they achieved success and power and what arose from this was a new age woman, the Working Women. Aware of her powers, her brilliance, and her abilities. As they moved forward into the corporate world, so did their wardrobe. The wardrobe of working women was a combination of success, restraint, rebellion, strength, fun and of course a little bit of drama. Women started to dress in clothes which made them feel powerful and invincible.

The question then arises, “Why so much stress on work wardrobe”? Well, why not! Here are some reasons I can think of:

If we dress well, we feel more confident and our body language portrays that. People we work with perceive us as more authoritative, competent and reliable. Nothing can match up to the feeling one gets when they know they are looking good. If you look good, you feel good and you work well. This automatically makes you feel powerful. Over time, you realize that you can control how you feel about yourself and this again is a great feeling to have. First impressions matter. We always associate a person with the first impression we have of them, the image that was stored in our minds within 5 seconds of meeting them, and that image lasts a lifetime. As someone truly said, “ There are no second chances to a first impression.” so make it a good one.

Without a doubt, the way we dress plays an important role in our work life. So make a little effort to learn about it, spend a little time to work on it and use this subconscious visual association to your advantage.

“Vain trifles as they seem, clothes have, they say, more important offices than to merely keep us warm. They change our view of the world and the world’s view of us.”

– Virginia Woolf.

Now let’s talk about some do’s and don’ts for the wardrobe of a Working Women:

Always dress according to what’s appropriate for your workplace. If there is a dress code, FOLLOW it. Read a little about the dress code and apply it to your everyday dressing. It creates a positive impression of you. Clothes must always fit well. Too tight or too loose is distracting. Inappropriate clothes can give a wrong impression too. After all, you want to be remembered for what value you bring in and not what you wore. Right!

The perfume you wear has to be subtle and not strong. If you cannot figure out on your own which perfume to buy for work, ask the store lady for a mild one. She’ll guide you.

You need to wear appropriate shoes and they must be clean and in good condition. Heels look good, but it’s a personal choice. Go for wedge heels, kitten heels or even flats, as long as you are comfortable. But they need to go with what you are wearing and they need to be appropriate. You cannot wear bathroom slippers or open sandals to work, just because you find them comfortable.  Nor can you wear the shoes you will wear while you go out partying. Follow the dress code. But still get a little adventurous.

Personal hygiene is precious. Bad body odour, dirty hair, unkempt hands, and feet will not take you too far. Be well groomed.

Get regular manicures and pedicure, especially if you want to wear open shoes. The sight of chipped nail paint is not professional at all.

Keep your hair clean and neat. If you can’t manage the hairstyle you have without elaborate parlour work, you definitely need a change. Visit your hairstylist and tell her what your requirements are. Take tips from her on how to manage your hair easily. Never reach work with wet hair. It shows that you are not organized and lack time management.

Simple Tips To Keep You And Your Jewellery Glowing This Wedding Season

Pay attention to colour choices. Darker colours always give a stronger impression. Never wear colours that will blend in with the background. You want to stand out, not fade out.

Don’t get carried away with accessories. You cannot wear the same kind of jewellery to work, what you would wear to a pub or discotheque. And your jewellery definitely cannot make noise. Keep it striking, yet subtle.

Carry a bag that is neat and stylish and not something that has your stuff pouring out of it. You cannot carry a suitcase either while at work. If there is a lot of things you need with you, make a little storage space where you work. A bag has to look like the stylish accessory its meant to be, yet it should blend in with the professional image you want to project. So, no gym bags, plastic bags or shiny or embellished clutch to work.

Don’t overdo makeup. Smokey eyes are for parties. Wear the amount that would make your complexion look flawless and yet natural. Also use moisturizer always, for face, hands, feet, legs… It makes you look fresh and awake.As far as work makeup is concerned, LESS IS ALWAYS MORE.

Leggings/tights are not trousers. You cannot wear them to work !!

Come up with your own style, which works well for you. Nothing will ever compete with your own signature style. This might take a little bit of effort, but its worth it. Once you know your style, be consistent with it.

While dressing, don’t forget that you are a woman. Take pride in who you are.

You are strong, powerful, magnificent, smart, intelligent, efficient and beautiful. Believe in this. And the word will believe this too. Wear the right attitude.

Dressing right for work, once mastered, is an empowering and liberating experience. It’s an armor you wear to work every day and definitely spend two-thirds of the day in it. So, why not make your Working Women look stunning one!

“Fashion is what you’re offered four times a year by designers. And style is what you choose.”

– Lauren Hutton

Here are some looks I have created for you to help you with your work wardrobe.

We all have bad days when we are not feeling too good. It’s normal. For days like that, Wear something loose comfortable and hassle-free. This long flowing dress is perfect for such days. Worn with comfortable shoes and a little makeup, you are good to get through the day.

This slim fit dress is a staple, yet stands out of the cause of the color. The flower adds a bit of fun element

Bright pink linen top is paired with grey trousers and grey beads. The whole outfit looks bright and elegant. The fun element gets added with the matching pink peep toe heels and pink bag.

This white A-line skirt is worn with a knitted top and printed scarf. It will work for a formal Friday casual dressing too. For an extra formal look, add a jacket.

This bright yellow chiffon top is paired with white cotton trousers. The accessories are minimal as yellow is really striking on its own. Never contrast yellow with any other strong color, it can become too overpowering. In this case, since the top has small blue dots, it can be worn with blue trousers too.. Beige goes well with all colors.

Black is a staple in all our wardrobes but a bit of color adds more dimension and interest. Here the black dress is paired with an orange jacket and orange bag. I have worn black stilettos, but feel free to wear wedge heels, kitten heels, peep toes or flats in matching the colour. A bright color jacket works really well when paired with solid color dresses.

This warp dress will never let you down. It suits almost any body type. What makes it more interesting is the patterns on it. Here they are worn with red jewelry, red heels and paired with a red bag. Try any other combination and it will look good.

This round neck, frilled top in flowing material doesn’t bulk up and can be paired beautifully with almost anything. Here this top is worn with a black straight skirt and a green bag adds a pop of colour. Wear it with pants or flared skirts or with jeans on a casual Friday, and it looks stunning.

Why not make a casual Friday fun. Printed brown dress, paired with a light green woven silk scarf and brown bag.

Nothing screams out power and success more than this outfit. Black embroidered silk skirt is worn with black top and suede jacket and printed scarf. This is paired with high heels.

  Sarees look really elegant, as long as you can manage to drape it well and keep it well draped throughout the day. Wear saree with a little heel (adds grace) and no hanging and chunky jewellery with it. Keep it all minimal and noise free. In a saree, you would definitely leave an impact on anyone. Its probably the most powerful attire I have seen. Salwaar- kameez is very comfortable too. Wear well-fitted ones.

Any of these outfits can be altered according to the weather. Use a colourful knitted scarf or warm well-fitted jacket or both. Just don’t add too many colours, we don’t want you looking like a fruit basket. For a professional woman, style is her expression of confidence, power, and success. Finding your style and following it will give you a definite winning edge in this ever so competitive world. With our world getting so visual, with technology developing almost every hour, the visual impact has gained immense importance.

So all you gorgeous ladies, its time to let your visual voice speak and make sure it gets heard loud and clear. Get out of your comfort zone where work dressing is concerned; don’t clone but find your true style and you will shine even more.

This post was contributed by, Divya Singh Vishwanath. She is a style coach from Mumbai, India.  She has done her designing course from NIFT, New Delhi and has worked with a few designers and fashion houses. She took a break for a few years to raise her family and for the last three years, she has been working as a stylist and a personal shopper. She started her blog stylefashionshimmer in September 2017 and have been working as a style coach ever since.

If you have any questions, she is there to help.

divya@stylefashionshimmer.com

  The post Corporate Styling Tips For Working Women By Style Coach : Divya Vishwanath appeared first on Maa of All Blogs.

Corporate Styling Tips For Working Women By Style Coach : Divya Vishwanath published first on https://bestbabyinc.tumblr.com

[evodex]

Corporate Styling Tips For Working Women By Style Coach : Divya Vishwanath

Corporate Styling Tips For Working Women

    You can have anything you want if you dress for it.

-Edith Head.

Women of today- they rule almost every sphere of the corporate world.

Despite all the added challenges they had to face, they achieved success and power and what arose from this was a new age woman, the Working Women. Aware of her powers, her brilliance, and her abilities. As they moved forward into the corporate world, so did their wardrobe. The wardrobe of working women was a combination of success, restraint, rebellion, strength, fun and of course a little bit of drama. Women started to dress in clothes which made them feel powerful and invincible.

The question then arises, “Why so much stress on work wardrobe”? Well, why not! Here are some reasons I can think of:

If we dress well, we feel more confident and our body language portrays that. People we work with perceive us as more authoritative, competent and reliable. Nothing can match up to the feeling one gets when they know they are looking good. If you look good, you feel good and you work well. This automatically makes you feel powerful. Over time, you realize that you can control how you feel about yourself and this again is a great feeling to have. First impressions matter. We always associate a person with the first impression we have of them, the image that was stored in our minds within 5 seconds of meeting them, and that image lasts a lifetime. As someone truly said, “ There are no second chances to a first impression.” so make it a good one.

Without a doubt, the way we dress plays an important role in our work life. So make a little effort to learn about it, spend a little time to work on it and use this subconscious visual association to your advantage.

“Vain trifles as they seem, clothes have, they say, more important offices than to merely keep us warm. They change our view of the world and the world’s view of us.”

– Virginia Woolf.

Now let’s talk about some do’s and don’ts for the wardrobe of a Working Women:

Always dress according to what’s appropriate for your workplace. If there is a dress code, FOLLOW it. Read a little about the dress code and apply it to your everyday dressing. It creates a positive impression of you. Clothes must always fit well. Too tight or too loose is distracting. Inappropriate clothes can give a wrong impression too. After all, you want to be remembered for what value you bring in and not what you wore. Right!

The perfume you wear has to be subtle and not strong. If you cannot figure out on your own which perfume to buy for work, ask the store lady for a mild one. She’ll guide you.

You need to wear appropriate shoes and they must be clean and in good condition. Heels look good, but it’s a personal choice. Go for wedge heels, kitten heels or even flats, as long as you are comfortable. But they need to go with what you are wearing and they need to be appropriate. You cannot wear bathroom slippers or open sandals to work, just because you find them comfortable.  Nor can you wear the shoes you will wear while you go out partying. Follow the dress code. But still get a little adventurous.

Personal hygiene is precious. Bad body odour, dirty hair, unkempt hands, and feet will not take you too far. Be well groomed.

Get regular manicures and pedicure, especially if you want to wear open shoes. The sight of chipped nail paint is not professional at all.

Keep your hair clean and neat. If you can’t manage the hairstyle you have without elaborate parlour work, you definitely need a change. Visit your hairstylist and tell her what your requirements are. Take tips from her on how to manage your hair easily. Never reach work with wet hair. It shows that you are not organized and lack time management.

Simple Tips To Keep You And Your Jewellery Glowing This Wedding Season

Pay attention to colour choices. Darker colours always give a stronger impression. Never wear colours that will blend in with the background. You want to stand out, not fade out.

Don’t get carried away with accessories. You cannot wear the same kind of jewellery to work, what you would wear to a pub or discotheque. And your jewellery definitely cannot make noise. Keep it striking, yet subtle.

Carry a bag that is neat and stylish and not something that has your stuff pouring out of it. You cannot carry a suitcase either while at work. If there is a lot of things you need with you, make a little storage space where you work. A bag has to look like the stylish accessory its meant to be, yet it should blend in with the professional image you want to project. So, no gym bags, plastic bags or shiny or embellished clutch to work.

Don’t overdo makeup. Smokey eyes are for parties. Wear the amount that would make your complexion look flawless and yet natural. Also use moisturizer always, for face, hands, feet, legs… It makes you look fresh and awake.As far as work makeup is concerned, LESS IS ALWAYS MORE.

Leggings/tights are not trousers. You cannot wear them to work !!

Come up with your own style, which works well for you. Nothing will ever compete with your own signature style. This might take a little bit of effort, but its worth it. Once you know your style, be consistent with it.

While dressing, don’t forget that you are a woman. Take pride in who you are.

You are strong, powerful, magnificent, smart, intelligent, efficient and beautiful. Believe in this. And the word will believe this too. Wear the right attitude.

Dressing right for work, once mastered, is an empowering and liberating experience. It’s an armor you wear to work every day and definitely spend two-thirds of the day in it. So, why not make your Working Women look stunning one!

“Fashion is what you’re offered four times a year by designers. And style is what you choose.”

– Lauren Hutton

Here are some looks I have created for you to help you with your work wardrobe.

We all have bad days when we are not feeling too good. It’s normal. For days like that, Wear something loose comfortable and hassle-free. This long flowing dress is perfect for such days. Worn with comfortable shoes and a little makeup, you are good to get through the day.

This slim fit dress is a staple, yet stands out of the cause of the color. The flower adds a bit of fun element

Bright pink linen top is paired with grey trousers and grey beads. The whole outfit looks bright and elegant. The fun element gets added with the matching pink peep toe heels and pink bag.

This white A-line skirt is worn with a knitted top and printed scarf. It will work for a formal Friday casual dressing too. For an extra formal look, add a jacket.

This bright yellow chiffon top is paired with white cotton trousers. The accessories are minimal as yellow is really striking on its own. Never contrast yellow with any other strong color, it can become too overpowering. In this case, since the top has small blue dots, it can be worn with blue trousers too.. Beige goes well with all colors.

Black is a staple in all our wardrobes but a bit of color adds more dimension and interest. Here the black dress is paired with an orange jacket and orange bag. I have worn black stilettos, but feel free to wear wedge heels, kitten heels, peep toes or flats in matching the colour. A bright color jacket works really well when paired with solid color dresses.

This warp dress will never let you down. It suits almost any body type. What makes it more interesting is the patterns on it. Here they are worn with red jewelry, red heels and paired with a red bag. Try any other combination and it will look good.

This round neck, frilled top in flowing material doesn’t bulk up and can be paired beautifully with almost anything. Here this top is worn with a black straight skirt and a green bag adds a pop of colour. Wear it with pants or flared skirts or with jeans on a casual Friday, and it looks stunning.

Why not make a casual Friday fun. Printed brown dress, paired with a light green woven silk scarf and brown bag.

Nothing screams out power and success more than this outfit. Black embroidered silk skirt is worn with black top and suede jacket and printed scarf. This is paired with high heels.

  Sarees look really elegant, as long as you can manage to drape it well and keep it well draped throughout the day. Wear saree with a little heel (adds grace) and no hanging and chunky jewellery with it. Keep it all minimal and noise free. In a saree, you would definitely leave an impact on anyone. Its probably the most powerful attire I have seen. Salwaar- kameez is very comfortable too. Wear well-fitted ones.

Any of these outfits can be altered according to the weather. Use a colourful knitted scarf or warm well-fitted jacket or both. Just don’t add too many colours, we don’t want you looking like a fruit basket. For a professional woman, style is her expression of confidence, power, and success. Finding your style and following it will give you a definite winning edge in this ever so competitive world. With our world getting so visual, with technology developing almost every hour, the visual impact has gained immense importance.

So all you gorgeous ladies, its time to let your visual voice speak and make sure it gets heard loud and clear. Get out of your comfort zone where work dressing is concerned; don’t clone but find your true style and you will shine even more.

This post was contributed by, Divya Singh Vishwanath. She is a style coach from Mumbai, India.  She has done her designing course from NIFT, New Delhi and has worked with a few designers and fashion houses. She took a break for a few years to raise her family and for the last three years, she has been working as a stylist and a personal shopper. She started her blog stylefashionshimmer in September 2017 and have been working as a style coach ever since.

If you have any questions, she is there to help.

divya@stylefashionshimmer.com

  The post Corporate Styling Tips For Working Women By Style Coach : Divya Vishwanath appeared first on Maa of All Blogs.

Corporate Styling Tips For Working Women By Style Coach : Divya Vishwanath published first on https://bestbabyinc.tumblr.com

[evodex]

Corporate Styling Tips For Working Women By Style Coach : Divya Vishwanath

Corporate Styling Tips For Working Women

    You can have anything you want if you dress for it.

-Edith Head.

Women of today- they rule almost every sphere of the corporate world.

Despite all the added challenges they had to face, they achieved success and power and what arose from this was a new age woman, the Working Women. Aware of her powers, her brilliance, and her abilities. As they moved forward into the corporate world, so did their wardrobe. The wardrobe of working women was a combination of success, restraint, rebellion, strength, fun and of course a little bit of drama. Women started to dress in clothes which made them feel powerful and invincible.

The question then arises, “Why so much stress on work wardrobe”? Well, why not! Here are some reasons I can think of:

If we dress well, we feel more confident and our body language portrays that. People we work with perceive us as more authoritative, competent and reliable. Nothing can match up to the feeling one gets when they know they are looking good. If you look good, you feel good and you work well. This automatically makes you feel powerful. Over time, you realize that you can control how you feel about yourself and this again is a great feeling to have. First impressions matter. We always associate a person with the first impression we have of them, the image that was stored in our minds within 5 seconds of meeting them, and that image lasts a lifetime. As someone truly said, “ There are no second chances to a first impression.” so make it a good one.

Without a doubt, the way we dress plays an important role in our work life. So make a little effort to learn about it, spend a little time to work on it and use this subconscious visual association to your advantage.

“Vain trifles as they seem, clothes have, they say, more important offices than to merely keep us warm. They change our view of the world and the world’s view of us.”

– Virginia Woolf.

Now let’s talk about some do’s and don’ts for the wardrobe of a Working Women:

Always dress according to what’s appropriate for your workplace. If there is a dress code, FOLLOW it. Read a little about the dress code and apply it to your everyday dressing. It creates a positive impression of you. Clothes must always fit well. Too tight or too loose is distracting. Inappropriate clothes can give a wrong impression too. After all, you want to be remembered for what value you bring in and not what you wore. Right!

The perfume you wear has to be subtle and not strong. If you cannot figure out on your own which perfume to buy for work, ask the store lady for a mild one. She’ll guide you.

You need to wear appropriate shoes and they must be clean and in good condition. Heels look good, but it’s a personal choice. Go for wedge heels, kitten heels or even flats, as long as you are comfortable. But they need to go with what you are wearing and they need to be appropriate. You cannot wear bathroom slippers or open sandals to work, just because you find them comfortable.  Nor can you wear the shoes you will wear while you go out partying. Follow the dress code. But still get a little adventurous.

Personal hygiene is precious. Bad body odour, dirty hair, unkempt hands, and feet will not take you too far. Be well groomed.

Get regular manicures and pedicure, especially if you want to wear open shoes. The sight of chipped nail paint is not professional at all.

Keep your hair clean and neat. If you can’t manage the hairstyle you have without elaborate parlour work, you definitely need a change. Visit your hairstylist and tell her what your requirements are. Take tips from her on how to manage your hair easily. Never reach work with wet hair. It shows that you are not organized and lack time management.

Simple Tips To Keep You And Your Jewellery Glowing This Wedding Season

Pay attention to colour choices. Darker colours always give a stronger impression. Never wear colours that will blend in with the background. You want to stand out, not fade out.

Don’t get carried away with accessories. You cannot wear the same kind of jewellery to work, what you would wear to a pub or discotheque. And your jewellery definitely cannot make noise. Keep it striking, yet subtle.

Carry a bag that is neat and stylish and not something that has your stuff pouring out of it. You cannot carry a suitcase either while at work. If there is a lot of things you need with you, make a little storage space where you work. A bag has to look like the stylish accessory its meant to be, yet it should blend in with the professional image you want to project. So, no gym bags, plastic bags or shiny or embellished clutch to work.

Don’t overdo makeup. Smokey eyes are for parties. Wear the amount that would make your complexion look flawless and yet natural. Also use moisturizer always, for face, hands, feet, legs… It makes you look fresh and awake.As far as work makeup is concerned, LESS IS ALWAYS MORE.

Leggings/tights are not trousers. You cannot wear them to work !!

Come up with your own style, which works well for you. Nothing will ever compete with your own signature style. This might take a little bit of effort, but its worth it. Once you know your style, be consistent with it.

While dressing, don’t forget that you are a woman. Take pride in who you are.

You are strong, powerful, magnificent, smart, intelligent, efficient and beautiful. Believe in this. And the word will believe this too. Wear the right attitude.

Dressing right for work, once mastered, is an empowering and liberating experience. It’s an armor you wear to work every day and definitely spend two-thirds of the day in it. So, why not make your Working Women look stunning one!

“Fashion is what you’re offered four times a year by designers. And style is what you choose.”

– Lauren Hutton

Here are some looks I have created for you to help you with your work wardrobe.

We all have bad days when we are not feeling too good. It’s normal. For days like that, Wear something loose comfortable and hassle-free. This long flowing dress is perfect for such days. Worn with comfortable shoes and a little makeup, you are good to get through the day.

This slim fit dress is a staple, yet stands out of the cause of the color. The flower adds a bit of fun element

Bright pink linen top is paired with grey trousers and grey beads. The whole outfit looks bright and elegant. The fun element gets added with the matching pink peep toe heels and pink bag.

This white A-line skirt is worn with a knitted top and printed scarf. It will work for a formal Friday casual dressing too. For an extra formal look, add a jacket.

This bright yellow chiffon top is paired with white cotton trousers. The accessories are minimal as yellow is really striking on its own. Never contrast yellow with any other strong color, it can become too overpowering. In this case, since the top has small blue dots, it can be worn with blue trousers too.. Beige goes well with all colors.

Black is a staple in all our wardrobes but a bit of color adds more dimension and interest. Here the black dress is paired with an orange jacket and orange bag. I have worn black stilettos, but feel free to wear wedge heels, kitten heels, peep toes or flats in matching the colour. A bright color jacket works really well when paired with solid color dresses.

This warp dress will never let you down. It suits almost any body type. What makes it more interesting is the patterns on it. Here they are worn with red jewelry, red heels and paired with a red bag. Try any other combination and it will look good.

This round neck, frilled top in flowing material doesn’t bulk up and can be paired beautifully with almost anything. Here this top is worn with a black straight skirt and a green bag adds a pop of colour. Wear it with pants or flared skirts or with jeans on a casual Friday, and it looks stunning.

Why not make a casual Friday fun. Printed brown dress, paired with a light green woven silk scarf and brown bag.

Nothing screams out power and success more than this outfit. Black embroidered silk skirt is worn with black top and suede jacket and printed scarf. This is paired with high heels.

  Sarees look really elegant, as long as you can manage to drape it well and keep it well draped throughout the day. Wear saree with a little heel (adds grace) and no hanging and chunky jewellery with it. Keep it all minimal and noise free. In a saree, you would definitely leave an impact on anyone. Its probably the most powerful attire I have seen. Salwaar- kameez is very comfortable too. Wear well-fitted ones.

Any of these outfits can be altered according to the weather. Use a colourful knitted scarf or warm well-fitted jacket or both. Just don’t add too many colours, we don’t want you looking like a fruit basket. For a professional woman, style is her expression of confidence, power, and success. Finding your style and following it will give you a definite winning edge in this ever so competitive world. With our world getting so visual, with technology developing almost every hour, the visual impact has gained immense importance.

So all you gorgeous ladies, its time to let your visual voice speak and make sure it gets heard loud and clear. Get out of your comfort zone where work dressing is concerned; don’t clone but find your true style and you will shine even more.

This post was contributed by, Divya Singh Vishwanath. She is a style coach from Mumbai, India.  She has done her designing course from NIFT, New Delhi and has worked with a few designers and fashion houses. She took a break for a few years to raise her family and for the last three years, she has been working as a stylist and a personal shopper. She started her blog stylefashionshimmer in September 2017 and have been working as a style coach ever since.

If you have any questions, she is there to help.

divya@stylefashionshimmer.com

  The post Corporate Styling Tips For Working Women By Style Coach : Divya Vishwanath appeared first on Maa of All Blogs.

Corporate Styling Tips For Working Women By Style Coach : Divya Vishwanath published first on https://bestbabyinc.tumblr.com